Lore VIII - Within The Wreckage

“You left us with nothing to lose, and nothing to fear. That was your mistake.”

-Raphael to Father

Some day I’d really like to get art of this AU captioned with matching “Together, Against The Sisters” lyrics 

Amazing!! Hit me right in the feels.

Never thought I'd have something new to post on this account again, but... here we go!

And poor Michael 😭 this portrayal is honestly even more brutal than I originally envisioned. I always imagined him still able to speak, though his voice warped.

Though, applying that here may paint an even bleaker picture than the current implication. That it's not that he can't speak, but that he's too ashamed to, and that is the reason for his silence. Either way, this is chilling. My poor baby.

Also love the detail about cold damaging eyesight!! Didn't even consider that.

I prayed i'd meet You again, but why like this?

A/N: I finally got the motivation (and time) to finish a Michael and Lucifer angst minific i begun in [checks calendar] march. :). This piece takes place in the armageddon AU timeline. While i do reccomend you go read the source material to understand this fully, here's a 'quick' summary:

The Demon King and Father never step away from leadership, and the exchange program is never created. Tension between the realms keep rising, and eventually spill over, which results in a war.

In an effort to prevent invasion, the Celestial Realm and Devildom become nigh inhospitable. The Celestial Realm becomes blindingly bright, even at night. Heat from the light results in burns, scorched feathers (loss of flight), and vision loss. The Devildom is clouded by a light-consuming mist. It becomes too dark and too cold to grow any kind of tree, crop or flower. Demons try to cope with famine through canibalism, all while dealing with wide-spread hypothermia* and madness. Sometime during this period, Michael's form is warped beyond recognition in an attempt to make the perfect demon killing machine.

Many angels and demons lose faith in the ambition of their sovereign, and thus create rebellion groups, which eventually fuse into one. Both Father and the Demon King are overthrown. The war is over, but the realms are still far from peace. Infighing in the Coaliton begins. The minific takes place at this point in the timeline. Two ideologies arise from the sea of arguments and discussions; Cohabitionism - belief that the CR and DD are far too damaged, and that angels and demons should permamently reside in the human world (as they have for a while already, many chose to flee to the Human World) Reformism - demons and angels miss their homes, humans want them out of theirs, so a plan of re-establishing CR and DD under new, proggresive leaders hangs in the air.

Reformism died out due to failed attempts to re-ihabit the other realms.

An institution called the World Council is established, angels, demons, and humans all inhabit the Human World.

For the first time in forever, the future that awaits everyone is a bright and happy one.

Written in 2nd person | Lucifer’s point of view Warnings: Angst | body horror | mentioned character death | mentioned self mutilation | existential dread? | post-apocalyptic world | heavily dependent on the source material [Obey me! armageddon AU created by @luckykittysshowerthoughts] Word count: 0.8k (+ 0.3k AU summary) tag list: @floydsteeth @lemidvet

You stand atop scorched ground covered by blood and ash. You and your brothers are here to participate in one of the many  meetings discussing the future of the realms and their surviving citizens. There are many people you know here-  Solomon, Thirteen, Diavolo, the surviving members of the Devildom House of Lords and the seraphim, a couple of other angels (including Simeon), and also a few high ranking Sorcerers’ Society members, guessing by their uniforms.

Although, this time there is a very peculiar… person? Amongst the Celestial Realm representatives that you don’t recognize. You also notice Michael isn’t in attendance again, but it’s no wonder he isn’t after what happened to him.

…

The mysterious angel bothers you. Well, it’s not doing anything to you, you just find it unsettlingly familiar - but you’ve never seen anything quite like it. The creature’s head, ankles, and four wrists are circled by golden bands littered with eyes. There are even more eyes on its wings, but you’re not sure how useful they are, given that said wings are on fire. Its eyes are frantic - looking, observing, but never quite locking eyes onto anything or anyone. Such features are only reserved for an angel’s higher form, but seeing how it was let into the conference like this, it mustn't be able to turn back. 

That was a person, once - or maybe it never was. Maybe it was created specifically to be a killing machine, without a choice and no mouth to voice its complaints.(Maybe its literal facelessness is meant to signify its lack of identity?). Is this really your father's doing? In pursuit of eradicating demon kind, did he truly go as far as to do this to one of his own children  your kin, once? Is this really what he wants? To create an inhabitable world for children malformed, dead, and broken? Is that how he shows 'love'? 

…

Staying in the Devildom’s frozen wasteland for so long clearly didn’t do wonders for your eyesight.*

The golden flames of its wings blinded you from noticing the most important detail about the angel. Beautiful, knee-length hair that shines like the purest gold. You know who this hair belongs to- you ruffled it a lot when you were still your Father’s favourite.

(How could you not have recognised him? You grew up with him. Did all that time you spent together mean nothing to you?)

This isn't just an angel- this is the angel who entrusted Mammon into your care, the one who commissioned the construction of the first ever planetarium in the celestial realm, the one you got a leg up on by going to it before he could, the one you playfully shoved your responsibilities onto when he did the same to you, the very same one you once co-ruled the celestial realm with, this- this is-

Michael is attending the meeting, after all.

The realisation is horrifying. Father did this. He did this to his most loyal and faithful soldier. His current favourite. His own child. If you hadn’t rebelled, if you hadn’t torn out your wings in anger, hadn’t lost your sister- would he have done the same to you?

A distant shout brings you back - the debate is getting heated. You watch as a member of the now nonexistent devildom nobility hollers profanities at an ophanim - Ribkiel, if memory serves you right. The angel can barely wait for the noble to finish before they slam their fists on the table and yell something back. Their pointless squabble incites many others to join in. A few people try to calm the screaming match, though, with Simeon included among them. This isn’t all that surprising -  the last meeting was just as disorderly as this one too. You can’t help but sigh. Something tears your attention again, but this time, away from the ongoing scuffle. There’s a dainty and delicate hand squeezing your arm. Despite your deteriorated eyesight, you can see the scarring on them - and something quite unheard of in such times - nail polish. Things have been peaceful enough recently for Asmodeus to paint his nails his signature blue and pink. Good. Though, the frown on Asmo’s face isn’t. He’s probably worried that you’re zoning out so much. You shake your head and he slides his hands away from you. You don’t notice him shooting you another concerned look as your eyes return to boring into Michael.

This time, he looks at you, too. His brilliant blue eyes gaze deep into your own. Maybe it’s just your imagination, but you swear there was a flash of pain and longing in them.

*- Extreme cold can damage your eyesight, and even lead to blindness. Though this isn't mentioned as something plauging the survivors from the Devildom in the AU.

Lore IV - Hell Frozen Over

<-------(Lore III)-------«

After flooding the realm with the power of unimaginable darkness, Devildom was in just as dire a state as the Celestial Realm. Even the strongest of light sources hardly make a dent in the darkness anymore. It is, for all intents and purposes, pitch black.

After being overtaken by frigid darkness, the Devildom froze over. Most demons have blackened splotches all over their bodies, especially at their hands and legs, due to frostbite. Unable to see and with most life killed off in the freeze, surviving demons were left without anything to eat. Out of desperation, many turned to cannibalism. Many demons bear bite marks from their fellow demons on a blackened, emaciated body.

Due to the starvation and the constant darkness, a lot of demons have gone completely mad.

»-------(Lore V)------->

Like seriously.

Imagine this.

Black background with white text reading “ “I gave you my sword, my heart and my faith."

fading to an image underneath, of Raphael’s silhouette staring out into a destroyed Celestial Realm

“But now the sky is burning, and I scream and wonder...”

Gahhhhh I have so many ideas in my head if only I had skill

Some day I’d really like to get art of this AU captioned with matching “Together, Against The Sisters” lyrics 

believe it or not this AU is actually really tame compared to what inspired me to make it

“Our prayers are no longer pleas; they are threats.”

-Raphael

walking kettle boy GO!!!! [bullies him bullies him bullies him bullies him bullies him bullies him-]

Bestie what 😭😭

I wonder if the Cold Snap from the previous event is like a weaker version of what’s going on in the Devildom in this AU

Texting

(Takes place over the course of Lore II through Lore VI. Major characters: Solomon)

MICHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hey, Michael.]

Solomon: [How is everything going?]

Solomon: [I’d like to meet with you soon. I have some concerns I’d like to bring to your attention.]

Sent 127 days ago

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [I know you must be busy, but I really think this meeting is of top urgency.]

Sent 126 days ago

RAPHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hey Raphael. Is Michael busy? I’ve been trying to get in contact with him for a few weeks now.]

Sent 102 days ago

Solomon: [I need to meet with him to discuss some pretty urgent matters, but he isn’t answering his phone. I’d really appreciate it if you could tell him to call me.]

Sent 100 days ago

Read 91 days ago

SIMEON

-------------------------

Solomon: [Hi, this is Solomon the sorcerer. I was wondering if you could get me in contact with Michael? It’s important.]

Sent 88 days ago

Simeon: [Hi, I’m sorry to say Michael isn’t available right now.]

Solomon: [I understand; he is quite busy after all. When will he next be available? The sooner the better.]

Simeon: [He isn’t taking meetings outside the Celestial Realm at all right now, I’m afraid. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a more satisfying answer.]

Sent 61 days ago

MICHAEL

-------------------------

Solomon: [There have been a concerning amount of angel sightings in the human world. It’s all over our news. Isn’t interference with humans strictly against the rules? What’s going on?]

Solomon: [Michael?]

Solomon: [Michael?] Sent 29 days ago

Solomon: [Michael, New York City has just been flattened. I went to take a look, and found strong traces of both demonic and angelic magic at play.]

Solomon: [Maybe “traces” isn’t the right word. It was too strong for that.]

Solomon: [Did you and the Demon King himself duke it out down here? Because that’s what this strength of magic is indicating to me.]

Solomon: [Actually, no. No offense, but I’m fairly certain neither of you could physically handle exerting this amount of power at once.]

Solomon: [I really think we need to have a meeting to discuss this. The humans are freaking out.]

Solomon: [Michael?]