One Last Errand
When Barbatos tells me that he wanted us to make one last stop before we visit Lucifer, I thought that we were simply stopping at a store or something. So, imagine my surprise when he guides me to the underground tomb under the House.
"What are we doing down here?" I ask Barbatos. Instead of answering my question, he simply walks over to a coffin where a grimoire--no, the grimoire--rests.
"I've been told that you've been told bits and pieces about the events after the brothers' fall from the Celestial Realm, but you don't have the complete story," Barbatos states once I've joined him at the coffin. "To my knowledge, this grimoire contains those memories, and there's one in particular that I believe will be useful to us."
"Are you aware of what happened the last time someone touched that thing?" Barbatos faintly smiles as he nods his head.
"You're in safe hands this time, MC. No harm will come to you, I promise. Plus, I don't think she'll mind." He looks down at the coffin, and for the first time I notice that the lid depicts the figure of a young girl.
"This is Lilith's coffin, isn't it?"
"Yes. While the coffin itself is empty, I believe that the grimoire contains her soul." All of this is making me quite nervous. Barbatos instructs me to take a few deep breaths.
"I don't want to die."
"You won't. Besides, I'm coming along with you."
You can trust Barbatos, I hear someone state in my mind. Barbatos looks up behind me, causing me to turn around, only to discover Cerebrus standing only a few inches away from me.
"Hello, Cerebrus," Barbatos greets. "I trust that you're doing well."
Other than the fact that Lucifer's in trouble.
"I know. MC and I are helping him get out of it." At the sound of my name, Cerebrus turns his attention to me.
Can you hear me?
"Yes," I answer. I think that causes Cerebrus to smile. At least, as much as a dog is capable of smiling.
Excellent. That means you're still in good standing.
"What does he mean by that?" I ask Barbatos.
"Cerebrus is Lucifer's dog. They've been together ever since he was a tiny puppy. As a result, they've developed a magical bond that extends to people that Lucifer trusts."
Which essentially means that you can hear my thoughts, Cerebrus adds. You're the first human that has had that capability. Before I can even process the statement that Cerebrus just made, Barbatos asks,
"Cerebrus, can you do us a favor?"
Anything for Lucifer's friends.
"Can you keep an eye on things while we're away and ensure that no one disturbs us?" Barbatos glances down at the grimoire, which seems to be all the explanation Cerebrus needs.
Of course! I wish you safe travels.
"Thank you, Cerebrus." Barbatos looks back at me. "Are you ready, MC?" I take a deep breath.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Together, Barbatos and I place our hands on the grimoire, and we're instantly transported to a park somewhere in the Devildom. At least, I think it's the Devildom. The streetlights are reminiscent of the ones downtown. Barbatos quickly grabs my hand and guides us to a hiding spot that's close to the scene unfolding in front of us.
"Even though this is merely memory, I don't want to risk tapering with it by someone seeing us," he whispers. The two of us watch in silence as three men--Diavolo, Lucifer, and Barbatos--are on the ground, kneeling around something. As soon as past Barbatos mentions that her injuries look severe, I realize that the 'something' is actually a 'someone': Lilith.
Present Barbatos and I watch in silence as the scene unfolds in front of us. I have to physically bite my tongue in order to stop myself from screaming when Lucifer cries out in pain as the Mark of Diavolo sears itself onto the back of his hand. Present Barbatos places a hand on my thigh as a way to ground me, and it works to an extent.
The memory ends soon after that, and Lucifer's final words to Lilith echo in my mind as we return to the underground tomb.
"Are you okay?" Barbatos asks once we're settled in the present. I nod my head, too shocked by the memory to speak.
"Good. I think we're ready to pay Lucifer a visit."
Can you tell him that I miss him? Cerebrus asks. His voice almost startles me.
"Of course. Would you like me to bring you back something to eat once we're done?" Cerebrus starts panting in excitement. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll grab your favorite, then."
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Mr. Thunderman, Your Son is a Rocket Scientist, Part III
-O-
Hello! The last time I posted anything for this little fic of mine was... 27/7/2020 I guess! Today is 12/6/2022! Yeesh a nearly two year absence...
Well, I'm back now so... Yay? Yeah yay!
I hope you guys like this, my writing style changed quite a bit since 2020 and I scraped off the entire idea for the old Part III! Hopefully this has more substance so I can start working in the fourth and final part!
Now, I'll leave you with the fic!
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Original Snippet - Part I - Part II - Part III (Draft) - Part IV
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"Nora, honey, would you go check in on Max?"
Nora looked up from her doll in order to meet her mother's eyes as the woman called for her attention. Normally, Barb never bothers to ask her youngest daughter to help with anything (other than the standard chores of course) and thus, the 8-year-old girl was slightly perplexed.
Nora wrinkled her nose as she processed her mother's orders, obviously not wanting to do it, and decided to settle for the easiest thing she could do.
Complain.
"Why me?" Nora whined in exasperation.
Her mom rolled her eyes at the (typical) reply, "Because," Barb started pointedly. "Phoebe is helping me out with dinner and I'm, obviously, too busy making dinner."
Nora scowled. "Can't you ask Billy to do it then?"
Barb sighed loudly as Phoebe mumbled something from her place next to the stove.
Barb shot her eldest a pointed look (as the girl sighed dramatically and turned her attention to the stove) before directing all her attention to Nora. "Sweetie, we all know that Billy lacks…. Tact."
"But-!"
Barb straightened up sharply and gave her youngest daughter 'The Look™'. "No buts!" Barb cut in. "Besides," The woman sighed tiredly. "Your dad decided it was a good idea to take Billy for some 'last-minute’ shopping at the Chocolate Festival in Belgium. I doubt they'll be back any time soo-"
Suddenly, wind-whipped by Barb's face, upturning her perfectly styled hair as the older woman blinked in surprise. Nora had to stifle a laugh as Billy perched himself next to her looking both hyper and aware at the same time.
"We're back!" Her dad's exhausted voice trailed from the living room.
Barb blinked before she sighed in exasperation. Nora groaned as her mom shooed her and Billy out of the kitchen and into the living room, where their dad was already sprawled on the couch.
"Billy, put those away in the fridge." Hank said, handing Billy two big paper bags. "And don't use your super speed! We don't want your mom to kill us."
Billy smiled at him bouncing slightly. "Will do!" He said as he ran (normally) to the kitchen.
Nora sighed loudly as she distantly heard her mom tell Billy to 'go and sleep off this sugar rush'. Great. Now she had to go and check up on Max herself.
"This stinks.” The young girl muttered, as she started heading towards Max’s room.
"Hm? What's wrong sweetie?" Her dad asked, straightening up a bit so he could look at her properly.
Nora frowned. "Nothing." She sighed. "I'm just going to check on Max."
"Okay." Hank shrugged a little dismissively. "Yell for me if anything's wrong."
"Will do." Nora replied as she opened the door to the basement a little forcefully.
Walking down the stairs, Nora noticed two things. 1) Max's lair was too quiet. 2) It was dark.
'Weird.' The 8 year-old thought. 'Max hates working in the dark.'
Nora paused for a moment. If Max's lair was dark did that mean… was Max finally done with his project?
Well, only one to find out.
Nora carefully stepped into the lair, noting how dim the blue LED lights were. Normally, Max had those obnoxious things on 'full luminance' or something. Right now they were barely making any light, a stark contrast to how they normally are.
Luckily, there was just enough light for her to see where she was stepping and where Max's work tables were. There was also enough light for her to clearly see a human-shaped lump on her brother's bed.
Nora frowned a little worriedly. Max almost never sleeps deeply. If anything he mostly functioned on power naps and barely 4 hours of sleep almost everyday. Or so she heard her mother say whenever she scolded her eldest brother for not taking care of himself.
The 8-year-old slowly approached her brother's bed and leaned in to get a closer look at his face. Max's mouth was a little bit open and, if she concentrated hard enough, she could hear him breathe softly through his mouth. She slowly waved her hand in front of his face.
No reaction.
Okay, now she was getting worried. Max was the type of person to wake up if people so much as breathed a little loudly next to him and here she was, standing next to his bed and practically leaning over him. Her presence alone should have woken him up.
'Should I just call for dad?' Nora wondered.
"Hey. Girlie."
Nora jumped in her place at the sudden sound and spun around.
Dr. Colosso was watching her from his cage, his beady little eyes looking directly at her as she hovered next to her brother's bed uncertainly.
"You scared me." Nora hissed a little harshly.
Dr. Colosso snorted. "You were looking a little worried there." He whispered. "I was doing you a favor."
Nora raised an eyebrow. "You're a supervillain. Villains don't do favors."
"Well, look at you being a smart munchkin."
Nora wrinkled her nose. "Shut up." She looked back at her brother. "Is he okay?"
Dr. Colosso didn't respond.
Nora fidgeted in her place. "Uhh, Dr. Colosso?"
"What? You told me to shut up."
"Dr. Colosso!"
"Fine fine, yeesh. Kids these day." The bunny adjusted himself a little in his cage. "Yeah, yeah, the kid's fine don't worry too much."
Nora frowned. "But-"
"He overworked himself a little these past few days, that's why he's out like a light. He'll be back up and running after a little snooze time, so don't worry that little head of yours."
Nora relaxed a bit. "Okay then." She approached Dr. Colosso's cage. "So, what was he making?"
Dr. Colosso's mouth did that weird thing it does whenever he smiles. "It's a surprise."
Nora felt her lips curl into a pout. Now she wanted to know even more!
"Well, can you give me a hint?"
"Personally, I think it's a bit less impressive than what he normally creates, but the simpletons at NASA? They'll lose their absolute minds."
"That's not a hint Dr. Colosso!"
"Well, that's all I have for ya so why don't'cha beat it, huh?"
Nora huffed. "Whatever." She muttered, as she left the room.
Opening the basement door, Nora was met by her parents and sister in the living room. Her mom was fidgeting a little in the middle of the room while her dad looked concerned. Phoebe was just on her phone.
Her mom stopped moving the moment she saw her. "Nora!" Barb exclaimed. "What took you so long? You've been down there for fifteen minutes!"
Nora blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah." Hank sat up even straighter. "Did something happen?"
Barb leaned a bit towards her daughter. "Yeah, is your brother okay? Do we need to get down there and check on him? Do we call an ambu-"
"Mom you're overreacting." Phoebe huffed, not looking up from her phone. "If something was wrong Nora would've started screaming, like, 10 minutes ago or something."
Barb didn't seem too convinced. "Well, how is Max, Nora?"
Nora blinked. "Oh. He's asleep."
"Oooh." Hank nodded. "Well, is he coming up for dinner? Your mom made a casserole.
Nora shook her head. "I doubt it. He didn't wake up when I stood next to him and waved my hand in his face."
That gave everyone a pause. Even Phoebe had her fingers hovering over the keyboard of her phone, almost as if she'd frozen.
"Wait, you mean Max is asleep? Like actually asleep? Like, deep deep asleep?" Hank asked, already halfway off the couch.
Nora nodded. "Yeah. Dr. Colosso said he overworked himself a bit and that's why he's sleeping super deeply."
Barb frowned. "I see." She exchanged a look with Hank. "Well, you kids go wait at the dinner table. Your dad and I will check in on Max and come join you in a little bit "
Nora agreed quietly as she followed Phoebe to the kitchen. She wasn't surprised her mom and dad were worried. Max has never (to her knowledge) slept so deeply before. Even when he does, he's almost never still. He keeps on twisting and turning on the bed. That's how they found him on the floor the couple of times he slept on the couch of the living room.
She really hoped Max is okay.
(10 minutes later her mom and dad joined them. Nothing was terribly wrong, at least according to the various first aid scanners they have in their house. Max was just a little too tired, they told her.
Nora was glad he was okay. She would hate not having anyone to talk to whenever Billy wasn't available.)
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