Michael stood alone in a dimly lit room, the few torches on the wall giving an ominous glow. Lucifer had taken his demons out into a small adjacent chamber, slamming the thick metal door behind them. Even with his excellent hearing, the Seraphim could only make out murmurs from the other room, so he instead focused on the dancing of the flames against the wall.
The anticipation was giving an unpleasant gnawing in his stomach, and the angel crossed his arms in front of his body, trying to ignore the discomfort. –What does Lucifer intend to do to me? He mentioned using the Seven Sins to unleash my power, but when we first met, he also said he turned his rage into magic and his pride and pain into power... what does that even mean? And what do his demons know that I don't?–
A grinding metallic sound alerted Michael to the return of the others, and the anxieties doubled in him. Hellena led the demons, and Lucifer was last in line.
"Are we still ready, Michael?" Lucifer's words were almost taunting, as if he could sense the Seraphim's unease.
"I am." He kept his words short, so the Fallen man could not detect any hint of shakiness in his voice.
"Excellent. Vincent, the brimstone, if you would."
"Yes, Sire." Vincent stepped between the realms, disappearing from the dim room, soon returning with a large velvet bag, passing it to his master.
"Hellena, darling, if you would translate for Adam?" Lucifer grasped the female demon's hand with his free one, and she smiled, giving a polite nod. His request accepted, the Ruler of the UnderKingdom turned to his long-awaited ally, and began his work.
Reaching into the bag Vincent had procured, Lucifer began creating a large circle on the floor with the crushed brimstone, leaving Michael as its center. At equal intervals, he left the insignias of each Deadly Sin, until Michael was surrounded by brimstone symbols waiting to ignite. He put the velvet bag down, brushing his hands clean of the crushed stone.
"This ritual is very similar to the one I did to myself," Lucifer began, with Hellena signing to Adam. "Nowhere near this elegant, you should feel honored that your ceremony is much more eloquent than my own was. I tried for years to figure it out, but with my knowledge, you do not have to suffer such failures. We are going to call upon all the Sins in your heart and soul, and since you have Fallen, it will awaken your powers that the Ruler so unfairly suppressed for so long."
"The Ruler claimed I had committed five of the Seven Sins before my Fall. But only the Fallen can have their powers brought forth?" Michael gently touched his back, feeling where his wings were so violently stolen from him.
"I had tried to bring out any extra power I thought was hidden during my time in the Kingdom, but nothing worked until after my Fall. The fact that you were accused of five Sins solidifies my theory that only the Fallen can reach their truest potential. But if you have committed them before, it'll be easy to do again." Lucifer sounded nearly proud that the fates had brought him an ally so open to the Sins.
"Now tell me, since your wounds are mostly healed... how are you feeling toward the Ruler? The man who humiliated you. Tore the wings from your back. The one who would have let our darling Ravenna fall prey to someone who felt he had rights to her body?" Lucifer's words were enticing, coaxing.
"I don't want to think about Him anymore. I'm trying to move on. Live my new life with Ravenna."
An annoyed growl escaped Lucifer's throat. "Surely the Ruler deserves to know exactly the pain He caused you!"
"What do you mean? What can I do? I'm only one, and He has many!" Michael's answer made the demons begin to gesture Adam's language between themselves, and he wondered what they were saying about him.
The Sloth symbol began to burn, and Lucifer frowned.
"Don't you understand that inaction harms many more than confronting that sadistic man? Look at all my demons! Every single one of them, the Ruler failed! Each of their stories, a personal failure- the Ruler could have saved them and chose to do nothing! Look at your darling Ravenna! He could have saved her, and chose to sit idly by, while you risked everything for her. Doing nothing is the worst thing you can do"
Michael turned, watching the symbol of Sloth burning bright in the brimstone. –Doing nothing is the worst thing you can do…–
"William, come forward!"
The tallest demon took a step forward, approaching his master. The pair shared a knowing glance.
"Do you know who this man was, Michael?"
"I...I don't, I'm sorry. "
"My name is William Reed, although you may be more familiar with my son. Samuel. The one you very nearly came in second to. My son died a hero, Michael. Could you ever say the same? He died saving your sweet Ravenna's grandmother. You saved a woman you'd been pining over without ever having met her. Did you truly save Ravenna for her sake, or did you do it for your own? My son deserved her. Can you say the same?"
The brimstone symbol of Envy roared to life as the demon's words pierced Michael deeply. Samuel deserved Ravenna, and he was deeply jealous of the young man, even after he had won the healer's heart. The envy he had felt that afternoon in the forest as he watched their date flooded his mind all over again, and his heart pounded. The second sigil having ignited, Michael began to feel a little less like himself, a strange set of emotions threatening to take over.
The demon turned away from the man he had scorned, Lucifer winking at him as William took his place among the other demons.
Lucifer's emerald eyes sparkled with joy, his voice gleeful. "I didn't realize how fun this would be when it's someone else being encouraged to have these feelings brought out in them. What else do we have on the list for today? Edward, do you have any memories for us?"
"Yes, Sire." Edward grabbed a torch from the wall, and a vial from his pocket. He poured the vial over the torch flame, and handed it to the angel in the brimstone circle.
Images shimmered in the flame, and Michael began to watch Edward's chosen memories. The way Ravenna watched him as he told her his story of his death and redemption. The way she clung to him with fear when she encountered her attacker in the depths of the UnderKingdom. How she immediately turned to him for help when Henry Yarrow had come for his Judgement. The Envy symbol flared brighter, and the Greed symbol crackled to life slowly as Michael began to tremble.
"Ravenna is MINE! I nearly lost her to HIS son!" Michael glared at the demon who had chastised him. "And now you dare show me these things? You were temporary, a small comfort while I was locked away for saving her! But she is MINE! Today, tomorrow, and yesterday!" He threw the torch, hearing it clatter against the wall as it landed, extinguished, taking Edward's memories with it.