#All aboard the angst train! Choo *sniffle* CHOO!

[absolutepokemontrash]

The Celestial Realm Was Perfect

(Part of the half-demon series, this fic takes place in the early part of season 2)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 2.5 Part 3 Part 4

This one is REALLY angsty, so be prepared, it’s got a... somewhat happy ending? I can’t exactly write something depressing and not make everyone feel better at the end... I’ve been wanting to write something like this for a while though, so I hope you all enjoy!

((Content warning: mentions of wings being torn off, nothing too visceral))

L!MC: Lucifer’s Kid!MC | M!MC: Mammon’s kid!MC | A!MC: Asmo’s Kid!MC

The Celestial Realm was perfect.

L!MC finally understood exactly why Luke sang its praises so often. The little angel had made it his personal mission to paint the perfect picture of the place to L!MC to convince them that it was just so much better than the Devildom. It seemed that Luke didn’t need to stretch the truth that much, the Celestial Realm was aesthetically perfect.

It was just a visit, mind you. Word had gotten up to the Celestial Realm about the three half demons and just about every high ranking angel was practically falling over themselves to invite the rulers of hell and the children up for a friendly visit. Diavolo of course, accepted immediately.

One would think L!MC was worried about how the angels would react to them, a half human half demon child, but that would be ridiculous. L!MC didn’t worry about dumb trivial things like that, the fact that they stuck close to their father and attempted to hold their head up high like he did was just a coincidence.

Their worries were completely unfounded. The angels made their awkward greetings to Lucifer, who responded coldly and professionally, but all the awkwardness faded once they laid their eyes on L!MC. They doted and cooed at them, asking about school and friends they had made.

It reminded L!MC about all the human family gatherings they had been brought to, the entire experience was complete with cheek pinches and hugs from people they didn’t recognize. It didn’t matter, L!MC basked in the attention.

“You look just like him, but just look at that smile!” Uriel chirped. “Lucifer never gave us a smile that bright.”

“Not even as a little kid?” L!MC asked, Uriel shook his head.

“Nope!” Uriel grinned cheekily. “Legend has it he came into existence scowling about something or other!”

Lucifer sighed and grumbled nearby, turning away from the two angels he and Diavolo were talking to. “Uriel, do you plan on being like Simeon and spending all your time gushing about me as an angel?”

Uriel seemed to shrink back slightly. “N-no... why would I do that?”

L!MC had to withhold a giggle, it seemed Lucifer had the same affect on angels as he did on the lesser demons.

The angels had been nothing but sweet, they doted on A!MC and M!MC in a similar manner. L!MC couldn’t hide their smile as they continued their walk through the Celestial Realm. It seemed Luke was right about another thing, the Celestial Realm’s inhabitants were the perfect hosts.

They imagined how their father must have looked back then, they knew only the bare minimum from the ramblings of Luke and the time Diavolo spent gushing about how gorgeous Lucifer was. Six pure white wings, a halo, celestial armour that shone in the light, making him as bright as a star...

It must have been a truly gorgeous sight to behold.

L!MC imagined how they may have looked... white wings, a halo, pretty flowy clothes, a life in the Celestial Realm. They paused the daydream and laughed softly, it was so bright in the Celestial Realm they would need to be constantly be wearing sunglasses!

Asmo was pulling A!MC around and pointing out all the things he deemed, A!MC looked around with starry eyed wonder.

“Oh! I remember this place! Beel and Belphie ended up falling down those stairs more times than I can count. It’s a miracle they didn’t get hurt!” Asmo then smiled brightly and examined his reflection in the shining marble staircase. “A!MC, don’t we look great? We should make all the staircases in the Devildom shining marble!”

A!MC half nodded as they stared up at the sparkling buildings. “Yeah... marble...”

L!MC tore their gaze away from the pair to see M!MC on Beel’s shoulders, pointing and laughing at the... somewhat awkward shape of one of the spires. “The view up here’s great. Jealous, Belphie?”

Belphie scoffed and shook his head. “Enjoy it while it lasts, kid. I’m up next.”

The group was led into one of the buildings, a really old and absolutely gorgeous parliament building that almost made MC’s jaw drop in sheer awe. Angels milled about inside, casting curious glances at the group as they walked through. Paintings lined the walls with frames almost as magnificent as the paintings themselves. And of course, the floor was just as clean and shiny as all the marble staircases.

The Avatar of Greed had slowed his pace considerably, quieting down and slinking to the back of the group. L!MC, who was in the middle of the group nearly rolled their eyes. Of course Mammon would be sneaking off to try and steal something.

As Mammon disappeared down a hallway with no one but L!MC the wiser, they took it upon themselves to go after him. And to think, when MC first got there he thought he’d have to babysit them...

L!MC snuck away from the group, everyone too preoccupied with their rosy nostalgia to really notice their absence. As they sped through the hallways after Mammon, they noticed the farther they went, the fewer angels there were, and the less grand the building became. It slowly morphed into what a human world’s storage building’s hallway looked like. No gorgeous paintings, no sparkly floor, and the doors that were open contained row upon row of shelves containing files and folders. The files would sometimes float on and off the shelves, moving themselves around and sometimes float out the door and down the hallway.

It wasn’t creepy per say, just a bit odd. L!MC picked up their pace as they caught a flash of white hair disappear into a room as they rounded the corner.

“Mammon!” L!MC hissed, they moved closer to the door. “Mammon! I’m going to tell Lucifer if you steal something and cause a-”

Mammon burst out of the room, his face drained of all colour. Upon seeing L!MC he wordlessly grabbed their hand and pulled them away from the room. L!MC tried to steal a glance inside, but Mammon yanked them forward and shook his head.

“Don’t go in there.” He said, his tone unusually serious.

“Why? What did you see?” L!MC asked as they tried to keep in step with the taller demon.

Mammon whirled on them, his eyes wild and sweat beading on his forehead. He stopped suddenly and put his hands on their shoulders. “L!MC, clean the wax out of your ears and listen. You can’t go in there. Nothin’ good’s in there. Got it?”

L!MC hesitated, what was in there that could have spooked him so much? They slowly nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

Mammon let out a deep breath and patted their shoulders. “Good... now we should get back to the others.”

The glare Lucifer gave Mammon did nothing to alter the second-born’s strange behaviour when the two returned to the group.

“And where exactly did you two disappear to?”

Feeling the need to cover for their uncle, L!MC responded with a smooth practiced shrug. “Went off to try and steal something. Don’t worry, he didn’t manage to nab anything. Don’t bother with punishment, either. The state I found him in was punishment enough.”

When L!MC would make a fool out of Mammon to get him out of a punishment, he’d usually scowl at MC and agree with the story, but that time, he only nodded.

“Yeah...”

Not very convinced, Lucifer kept a much closer eye on Mammon for the rest of the tour.

L!MC, A!MC, and M!MC had made plans to meet up with Luke later, but L!MC had forgotten their DDD at the parliament building, so they had to quickly turn back and grab it.

Their DDD was placed on the front desk, evidently some kind soul found it and placed it there for the owner to find. How nice of them.

As L!MC turned to leave, they paused. What exactly scared Mammon so much? They took one step back, then another, and another, and soon they were rushing down the nearly empty hallways.

They reached the door, which was closed, but the lock had remnants of magic being used to open it. L!MC snorted and twisted the doorknob. Of course Mammon would find the first locked door and assume there was treasure inside.

L!MC swung open the door, only to find a completely pitch black room, they had to blink a few times to see if they were seeing things right, a completely dark room... in the Celestial Realm of all places? This couldn’t have been what freaked Mammon out so much, sure he was a little afraid of the dark, but when the dark freaked him out it didn’t make him go completely wooden. If anything it made him louder.

Demons could see in the dark no problem, but even L!MC was having some difficulty. They felt around for a light switch and flicked it on. The room was... completely empty save for a crystal ball in the centre. Ignoring any and all red flags, L!MC walked over and tapped the crystal ball, it’s milky surface remained the same. Sure... this whole thing was kind of creepy but there was nothing to be that afraid of-

L!MC felt their stomach drop as gravity seemed to abandon them and they felt themselves fly upwards after a massive ball of light enveloped them. When they felt their feet touch the ground, they blinked a few times as their vision returned to them. Their breath hitched in their throat as they looked at what stood in front of them.

On a pedestal, encased in glass, was a small pile of shining gold feathers. MC didn’t dare breathe as they stepped closer to view them. They were so completely gorgeous... every slight movement made them twinkle and sparkle, L!MC could only imagine what they might have looked like attached to a pair of wings.

L!MC reached their hand out to touch the glass, completely mesmerized by the beauty of the feathers, they called out to them to hold them, to take them, return them to where they belonged...

The half demon felt their conscious get ripped from their body the moment their fingertips touched the glass.

The angel loved his wings, the whole world knew it. They sparkled and glimmered in the light of the person he held in the highest regard. They made a good pair, the two of them.

In a world where the angel could not keep too many material possessions, he took pride in caring for his wings, they were his most prized possessions, after all. Every time he took to the sky he basked in the admiring glances the other angels gave him. They were truly perfect, even the fact that he was a rampant troublemaker couldn’t stop people from staring in awe at his wings.

As a young angel when they first grew in, he lamented at their upkeep, but as he grew, he learned to love this part of himself. These were his wings. His brothers and sister often compared his to the eldest, he’d always tease that he may have only had two wings, they were still better than all six of the eldest’s. The eldest brother would always scoff and shake his head, a fond smile on his face.

He is glad.

One strike to the base of his skull was all it took. One hit from someone he once called a friend sent him falling from the heavens after the eldest.

He is glad that he was unconscious when his most prized possessions burned.

L!MC snapped their hand back and nearly let out a scream. They shook their head frantically as they stepped back, knocking their elbow into the crystal ball. They felt themselves lurch upwards again.

This time, they were placed in front of a broken bow. The bow itself was silver, intricate gold designs were etched in its surface. Such a beautiful creation should have never seen battle...

Refusing to be tempted by the object, L!MC felt themselves get thrown towards the glass anyway, their palm slammed against the display as their conscious abandoned them for the second time.

He was jealous.

It’s a sin to envy one’s neighbour, but the angel did so anyway.

His brothers and sisters welcomed him home from the war with open arms. Hugs and conversations were exchanged, funny anecdotes and laughter were clear to hear from blocks away. The angel felt loved.

There was no more war to fight. The war with the demons had ended in a stalemate. The army of heaven no longer needed a general.

The angel felt useless.

A burden on the Celestial Realm. That’s what he thought he was. His siblings all had their duties, they did their jobs with a smile, but he had no job to do. No battles to fight in.

He envied their ability to feel needed. Maybe that’s why his elder brothers gave him the bow.

The bow itself was the perfect weapon, but it was never meant to be brought into battle. Each gold design told the story of a battle the angel had emerged victorious from, the battles that the army of heaven wouldn’t have won without him.

The bow not only told the tales of his greatest victories, it told the stories of his time with his siblings. The times he took care of them, listened to them ramble aimlessly about the things they loved and enjoyed. The bow told the stories of how his siblings enjoyed listening to him talk about what he loved dearly.

The angel cherished that bow more than anything else he owned. He put it on a higher pedestal than any of his militaristic achievements. He loved it dearly.

Such a perfect bow should have never seen battle.

One slash broke the bow, the next slash severed one of his wings. 

He fell like the rest of his siblings. His other wing was damaged beyond repair. And the perfect weapon that should have never seen battle...

The bow remains here. It remains here with the fallen angel’s sense of self worth.

Completely unable to hide their grief, L!MC snatched their hand back and suppressed a sob. These feelings were not only their own. They wanted to leave.

Slumping against the crystal ball, a familiar sense of weightlessness carried them to the next room.

The next room, L!MC almost pitched over and vomited at the sight. Wings...

A pair of the most beautiful and colourful wings they had ever seen. They looked like butterfly wings, but no human world butterfly could compare to the wings that stood before L!MC.

Though, there was something marring the beauty of the wings, the base of the wings where one would think they would connect to the angel blessed enough to have been born with, were torn and shredded. The injuries seemed almost recent as the wings sat perfectly preserved, the blood caking the edges seemed to glimmer slightly in the light.

“Don’t make me... don’t make me...” L!MC whispered. No one was there to hear their pleas as their fingers brushed the glass.

The Jewel of the Heavens was vain.

This was not an unusual thing to note, every living thing in all three realms celebrated and adored him for his beauty. It was only natural that he become at least slightly vain.

From his birth to the present day, all he had to do was bat his eyelashes and plead and everyone would fall under his spell. He was an adorable little troublemaker, beloved by all the Celestial Realm.

His wings came in later than the others, he longed to take to the sky like those he called siblings. When his wings appeared, so perfect and beautiful, he soared through the sky like the rest of his family.

They compared in beauty to the second and first born’s wings, but it truly couldn’t be fairly judged. His wings were different, they were unique. It certainly didn’t stop the the friendly jabs and competition the fifth and second born took part in.

It didn’t matter. Everyone adored him and his beautiful, perfect wings.

The wings that allowed him to help teach his younger siblings to fly as well, the wings that allowed him to monitor the humans and their affairs, the wings that allowed him to retain his fitting moniker as jewel of the heavens...

He did not have the luxury of falling with his wings like the eldest. We count it as a blessing that they were severed without damage right here in the Celestial Realm.

Now their beauty can remain without the sin they were attached to marring their perfection.

L!MC didn’t have the energy to weep like their body begged them to do. This wasn’t fair... they shouldn’t have come...

The crystal ball was not finished with them, it sent them onto the next room.

Jewelry. That was what was proudly placed on display in front of them. L!MC didn’t have the energy to fight against the pull of the item as their hand brushed the glass.

He loved his family.

The entire realm knew that. That’s why he guarded the gates so fiercely. He was going to protect his family, no matter what.

The Celestial Realm admired his loyalty. But his loyalty was not to the realm or to our father, but to those he deemed his true family.

The gold that adorned him was meant to symbolize his future as an angel. He would have gone far. A seraphim, maybe even an archangel one day.

He wore the gold with a sense of pride, the gifts he had been given for his love for his family. Even if they didn’t adorn him with all the love they could, he’d protect them all the same.

He loved them dearly.

The angel’s folly came from loving his family and not the realm.

That is why the gold burned his skin. That is why the scars remain today.

The gold burned so painfully he had to stop to tear them off of him. That is the only reason we didn’t lose more people to his rampage, he stopped to tear off the gifts the Celestial Realm had given him.

This is a good thing.

One whose loyalty does not lie with us does not deserve our gifts.

Slumping in front of the display, L!MC got a better look at the jewelry. It was bent in some places. They tiredly chuckled as the tears pricked at their eyes despite themselves.

It seemed the angel didn’t remove them carefully enough.

The next room, was odd. A stuffed doll stared back at them, it didn’t seem to be any particular animal, or a humanoid figure for that matter. Four limbs made of grey fabric, a blank face, and nothing interesting.

L!MC was less disturbed, but their hand moved to the glass anyway.

The doll was something he had found while breaking the rules.

The angel broke the rules flippantly, like most children did. The problem was it was never corrected. His older brothers doted on him and his twin, and it rotted him to the core.

One wouldn’t think that, he was sweet, he was curious, and he was clever. Curiosity is what led him to the human world to find the doll.

He lived for these quick little visits, he loved humans as much as he loved his fellow angels, he brought his dear siblings down to visit as much as possible. His brothers were not as taken with the humans as he was, but his sister loved them just as much.

The doll was the perfect souvenir. The youngest brother loved to rest, but he never shirked his duties. No matter how tired he was, he worked diligently. The doll was his partner in rest.

It truly was a perfect souvenir from a trip that never should have happened.

A doll should not be taken into battle, so it wasn’t. The battle was not won. So the youngest’s doll remains here.

Similar to the doll, the youngest should not have been taken into battle. He was not built for fighting. That is why he fell. His brothers doted on him, which is why his twin took the hits meant for him.

This doll remains here as a warning. Angels are not humans, an angel forgetting that fact leads to despair.

Silent tears rolled down L!MC’s cheeks. They wanted to go home...

They wished for no more rooms. No one heard their wish.

A sword. A dazzling sword with a diamond studded hilt and a wickedly sharp point was what awaited L!MC in the next room. This was a sword anyone would be proud to wield. L!MC’s breath hitched in their throat.

This sword was calling to them. It begged them to take it, it was their’s after all. L!MC felt their own magic flare up in response.

It was their sword.

Their hand touched the glass.

It was their’s... it had to be!

The Morning Star was the most perfect and beautiful of all the angels. He commanded the angels alongside his counterpart.

The sword he carried with him complimented his armour perfectly, and the armour his counterpart wore complimented him as well.

They truly were a perfect pair.

The two were raised together, they learned together, fought together, so it was only fitting that the two be gifted matching swords.

They were the pinnacle of what angels should be. The pair of them watched over the Celestial Realm with pride.

The swords should never have been used against each other.

Sparks flew as the swords clashed against each other, the sounds of the pair fighting was alien to the ears of all the battling angels. The Morning Star was losing.

He may have been losing, but he was a prideful being, and brings of pride did not yield to defeat.

He had been disarmed, the blades of his own sword rested near his neck as he looked up at his opponent.

The pair should not be fighting.

The Morning Star refused to yield. The Morning Star refused to grovel for the forgiveness of the realm. The Morning Star was prepared to die.

He didn’t. The one he had started the war for slammed into his opponent, knocking the sword away from him and levelling her own sword at the Morning Star’s adversary.

She demanded that he not lay a hand her brother. He did not submit to her command. They fought.

The angel would have helped. He would have gotten up to fight as well, but with no weapon and too drained to use magic, what could he do?

His sister’s battle took her farther and farther away, he needed to get to her, he needed to help her. He needed to protect her.

His sister’s opponent fell to the ground. She held the Morning Star’s sword in her hand. He felt a twinge of pride upon seeing her wield it with such ferocity.

The sword was not meant to be wielded by her.

He was just too far away. Too far away to protect her from the arrows that pierced her wings.

She was the first to fall.

He could not let her fall alone. He would protect her.

He would protect her like a brother should.

L!MC knew he couldn’t protect her. Not after she crashed through all three barriers that separated the realms from each other.

They had heard the story once and never wanted to hear it again. The story of their father’s greatest failure.

The half demon giggled as their tears spilled from their eyes. Their earlier daydreams of being an angel were ridiculous... they never would have existed.

No proper angel would ever be with a human. No proper angel would have a half human child.

They would never be an angel, and they didn’t want to be.

And the Celestial Realm didn’t want them to be either.

The crystal ball released them, they were back in the room where they started. A golden feather rested in their palm.

They checked their DDD. Only a minute had passed.

They silently walked out of the room.

L!MC forewent spending time with their friends. They found Mammon alone on a balcony, he rested his elbow on the railing and held his head in his hand. The wind lightly ruffled his hair. He seemed calmer than he did that morning.

He turned to look at L!MC, a smile on his face. “Hey kiddo, why aren’t ya with the others?”

His smile vanished when he saw L!MC’s expression. “Oh kid... tell me ya didn’t-”

L!MC let out a wail and ran into his arms, burying their head in their chest as they sobbed.

“I should have listened...” MC whispered. “I should have listened...”

Mammon said nothing, he only wrapped his arms around them.

L!MC collected themselves, and wiped their tears away. They held out the feather. “This... this is yours... isn’t it?”

Tears welled in Mammon’s eyes as he delicately took the feather. He smiled softly as the tears rolled down his face.

“Y-yeah... it is...” Mammon whispered. “Y-ya should have seen em’ L!MC... they were amazin’...”

“I’m sure they were.” L!MC nodded trying to hold back another wave of tears.

The Celestial Realm was perfect.

L!MC, Mammon, and everyone in the three realms knew that. And perfection had no place for beings like them.