- Lucifer's side (Present) -
Ash pulled the bow across the violin strings with a speed and intensity that made Peter and Elijah assume she was about to break the instrument. The fear of the violin being broken was balanced out by the wonder created by the beautiful sound Ash produced. Ash finished playing and bowed with a large grin.
"Ya can keep it," Peter said as he clapped softly. "The only one who played was Heinrich. Lao gave up after snappin' multiple strings."
"Thank you!" Ash placed the violin in its case. "I've wanted to play a sax, but the only smiths capable of making it are in the Three Realms or Adamantia, neither of which I feel like visiting."
Elijah and Peter wanted to ask why but felt the question escape them for some reason. Ash hummed and waved goodbye as she left. After hearing Ash's humming, Elijah had a question for Peter.
"Is she humming the Tetris theme?"
"What?" Peter asked. "No, it's an old Russian song. Dimitri used to hum it but stopped after that game got popular. Modern humans kept askin' him about it."
In another part of the territory, Amaterasu was panting as Yvere healed her burn wounds.
"I don't know how I can tolerate it," Amaterasu clenched her teeth. "I've felt worse burns, but the constant sting of the black marks makes it impossible to concentrate. I know I'm wasting my time by asking," she looked at Lucifer, "How do you deal with the pain?"
"Repetition," Lucifer sighed. "And...I had prior experience dealing with severe injuries."
Amaterasu chuckled, "So you have an even longer history of being absurd than I previously thought? How is it by the way?" she looked at Yvere.
"Quite good, actually," Yvere said as she wiped her mouth. "It has a warm citrus flavor to it, similar to that of a cider."
"Hmm," Amaterasu sounded pleased. "I'll have to ask my mother about her ability and see if there's anything new she can tell me."
Lucifer wasn't speaking much as he thought about Amaterasu's new powers. Magic had always been a game of discovery, but given recent events, Lucifer was more keenly aware of things that seemed out of place.
'Izanami's ability, Amaterasu's, my black wings and blue fire...' Lucifer tried to find a connecting piece. 'Is it related to self-damage?'
Something was in the back of Lucifer's mind, a scratch that felt like he was just in reach of the answer. Lucifer saw Ash's approach and lost his train of thought temporarily. Ash went straight to Yvere.
"I've been meaning to ask: you into women?"
"No, sorry," Yvere politely responded.
"Oh well," Ash shrugged. "I love heterochromia, but none of the vampires here have it."
"What's that word?" Amaterasu asked Ash.
"It means two different eye colors," Yvere answered. "Most beings don't know it."
"Hell's a great source of information," Ash grinned. "I try to keep up with anything new in the human world. Oh!" she held out her arm to Yvere. "Before I forget."
Yvere looked from the Ash's arm to Ash's large grin. "Sure..." she bit her fangs into Ash's arm and began to drink. "Tsukuyomi!"
Tsukuyomi walked over, unsure of what Yvere wanted. Yvere held her arm and pointed. Tsukuyomi held out his arm. After taking in a large mouthful of Tsukuyomi's blood, Yvere wiped her mouth and spoke to Ash.
"Delicious, but my mouth felt like it was melting."
Ash laughed. "Most of the other vampires spat it out the moment it touched their tongue."
- ??? -
A blue-eyed man sat cross-legged floating atop the water in the middle of a lake. Two grim soldiers on the lake's shore were speaking about the being.
"No records of a reborn or natborne blue-eyed Asian human that matches his description. He must be old, given his skill with water magic, but there's no information on him in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory."
"Not human, maybe?"
"That's the problem, though. When I asked him his name, he said Hao. I asked if it was his original name, and he said no. He proceeded to list off several different Asian names from various human-world regions. As he did, I noticed that he was more mixed than I originally thought."
"What do you mean by that?" the one Grim sounded offended.
"I mean," the Grim sighed, "that he resembles a modern human more than an old one. Most older humans are nowhere near as racially mixed. There are multiple possibilities but still, it's perplexing. How many more Unknown are going to appear in this world?"
- Lucifer's side -
Lucifer's team left Passage. The journey was mostly uneventful for a few days until one night. Lucifer's group was camped in a forest grilling meat over a fire when a sharp-eared, purple-skinned being appeared out of one of the trees, greeting the group.
"Stand down," Lucifer motioned to Amaterasu, Fensyr, and Elijah. "It's a woodwalker, they're used as neutral messengers in these parts. What's the message?"
The being created two illusory images, one of Julius and one of Salim. "These two wish to speak with you but require your assurance that you will not kill them."
"Luce..." Peter growled with anger.
Lucifer sighed, "If all they wish to do is spe-"
"NO!" Peter stood up. "FUCK NO! HOW MANY FUCKIN' TIMES ARE YA GONNA DO THIS?!" he got in Lucifer's face.
"Consider the circumstances," Lucifer said calmly. "They know our position but didn't attack and even revealed their presence. If they wish to speak it must be for the sake of an armistice."
Peter grabbed Lucifer's collar. "An armistice they don't fuckin' deserve. How many fuckin' times do ya plan on forgivin' pieces o' shit that tried to kill ya?"
"In fairness-" Tsukuyomi tried to join in.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Peter whipped his head around to face Tsukuyomi as he yelled. "Tell me," he turned back to Lucifer, "if Cytus or Azriel came back to life, would ya give them the same kindness?"
"Peter," Yvere interjected. "It's not the same, you know that."
"Whatever," Peter let go of Lucifer's collar. "Talk to yer assassins, just make sure ya let 'em know yer too fuckin' stupid to die. I'll be in the cart, wake me if Lucifer starts gettin' killed."
The messenger patiently waited, their body partially sticking out of the tree. They pointed at the food Peter had left behind.
"Go ahead," Lucifer handed the food to the messenger. "I swear on my name not to attack the two when they show themselves."
The messenger nodded, unhinged its jaw, and swallowed the food. The loud gulping sound caused a look of disgust to form on Elijah's face. The messenger told the group that the two would appear by dawn at the latest before disappearing into the tree. At dawn, Julius and Salim appeared before the group.
"Greetings," Julius waved. "We greatly appreciate the willingness to-"
"Two things," Lucifer interrupted. "Are either of you being tracked, and why the change of heart?"
"To the point..." Julius rubbed his neck. "No, I swear on my soul that we are not being tracked."
Lucifer's eyes stared deep into Julius' before switching to Salim's. Salim couldn't help switching his vision from Lucifer's eyes to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi's rings.
"Insurance," Lucifer confirmed.
"Right," Julius said. "For the sake of not suffocating each other with this tension any more than we already have, let's make this quick. Salim and I have refused to continue our mission of assassinating you. We are no longer your enemies and wish to quench any fires of aggression you have for us."
"Mmm," Lucifer tilted his head up slightly. "Continue."
Salim started, "We believe our organization's-"
"[Salvation]," Lucifer added.
"Right, [Salvation]," Salim hesitated. "The obsession with you and Death has been a point of contention for some time now. Neither Julius nor I wish to die for the sake of killing two beings we wish no conflict with."
"Why me?" Lucifer asked. "Death I can understand somewhat, but other than Gaia's hatred for angels, why target me?"
"We're unsure," Julius looked at Salim. "We weren't given any reasons. No offense, but neither Salim nor I hold strong feelings about you so we didn't ask at the time. You were just a target."
"That's fair, I suppose," Lucifer shook his head and sighed.
Tsukuyomi spoke up, "You had one failed attempt on Lucifer's life and you are already turning traitor on an organization you had dedicated your lives to?"
"It's a good question," Lucifer said.
"No," Salim said. "We're changing sides within the organization. The side we'll be joining does not wish to kill you or Death."
Lucifer took a deep breath. "Two final things: What information can you give me about [Salvation] and what are your," he pointed at Salim, "abilities?"
Julius revealed everything he knew. To Lucifer's dismay, none of the information was new. Salim revealed that he had a contract with a dragon and that the dragon in question was not a part of the draconic coalition.
"Figured as much," Lucifer said. "Why didn't you activate your contract against Xiao?"
"Couldn't," Salim answered. "Well...I could have but given the distance between Ghiln and me it would have burnt mana too quickly. I was saving the activation for killing you."
"Honest," Lucifer sounded surprised. "Am I right to assume that Gaia cannot reclaim her blessing from you?" he looked at Julius.
"Correct," Julius confirmed. "Not unless I die, but even then she would need to reclaim the piece of stone."
Lucifer had some final questions for Julius and Salim in regards to the lives they had lived before joining [Salvation]. The two's reveal of their ages surprised Lucifer.
"Explains why neither of you was in Hell or Purgatory's databases."
The two imprinted their echo with Lucifer's. They told him to contact them if he had any further questions for them. As the two left, Warden appeared next to Lucifer.