Author's note: OMG! This is already the last chapter. I am planning to blow your mind with this crazy idea I developed and for which I gave you some clues all along this story. It's gonna be intense, so buckle up for the ride. Enjoy!

Chapter 15

The Secret of Creation

A flash of lightning illuminated the church's entry for a moment, followed closely by a clap of thunder that rumbled ominously above them. The storm was raging outside as strongly as it was inside Chloe's mind.

She should never have come here!

Her mere presence was endangering the whole operation, Lucifer's life, her friends', and humanity's future. If everything came apart it would be her own fault and she knew it. It had been the worst of mistakes, and one that Lilith had apparently seen coming.

Chloe now suspected that it had been a trap right from the start. Finding Lilith shouldn't have been this easy, and of course she had to know that Chloe would stay as close to Lucifer as possible, like she had at the Mayan... Lilith had undoubtedly been told about those events. Chloe couldn't believe how stupid she'd been to underestimate this formidable enemy.

A rough push from behind forced Chloe to move forward further inside the church and away from the storm. She could feel Father Kinley's new body pressed against her back, and the canon of his gun digging into her temple. In spite of the oppressing fear weighting down on her chest, she kept the most challenging air that she could muster. She was not about to give Kinley and Lilith the pleasure of seeing her scared to death even if she was.

Kinley had surprised her in the surveillance van when he ripped the back door open with his inhuman strength and killed her SWAT guard with a bullet to the head. Chloe had just enough time to draw her gun and shoot blindly before being rammed into by the former priest. A bullet connected with his shoulder, but it would have taken far more than that to stop him.

Once he'd disarmed and incapacitated her, the first words he whispered dreadfully into her ear immediately convinced her of who he was.

'I told you that we would meet again, Chloe.'

He'd dragged her towards the church through the storm, all along bragging about the easiness of catching her and how predictable they had been. She couldn't agree more.

And now Kinley was chuckling madly into her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin and sending a shiver of disgust through her body. Could being turned into a demon drive someone's soul to become crazy, she wondered? She thought Kinley definitively was.

Now that she had fully entered the church, Chloe could better evaluate her surroundings in the dim lighting provided mostly by chandeliers. The sight was horrifying to say the least, with all those people drenched in blood from evident torturing. They were moaning and weeping in terror even though their persecutors seemed to have lost all interest in them, their focus being now completely drawn to her three friends and to herself. Over twenty of what could only be possessed beings were holding weapons threateningly to keep Lucifer, Maze, and Dan from intervening. Not that they would with her being threatened at the point of a gun, she thought bitterly.

Chloe's gaze finally followed the sound of the joyous hand clapping coming from the back of the great hall to settle on Lilith. The Mother of Demons started laughing jubilantly at their evident discomfiture.

"Oh! This is sooo perfect. Thanks for coming Detective Decker! You just made my life so much easier," the demon purred in that annoying way of hers.

As a new wave of desperation hit her, Chloe searched for Lucifer's gaze on the right side of the hall and locked eyes with him. She could see that he was in as much turmoil as she felt, and as terrified. Knowing that she was the cause of his distress was heightening her own torment even more, as was the knowledge that a desperate Lucifer could be a danger to himself, most of all if her life was being threatened. Chloe sobered up instantly at the prospect of seeing him act rashly in a desperate attempt to save her.

In a moment of lucidity, Chloe realised that she could talk to him, warn him.

«Lucifer, please don't do anything crazy. Try to gain time,» she sent to him in prayer.

Chloe might not know Lilith very well, but she knew enough by now to guess that the demon would not want to miss a chance to gloat. Time was the only thing on their side at the moment. With enough of it and a little bit of chance, an opportunity might present itself to fight back and get the upper hand. At least that was her reasoning, for what little of it she could still muster right now.

The surprise she saw crossing Lucifer's features confirmed that he'd received her message.

Lucifer forced a confident smile over his face, not that she believed it, and gave her the barest of nods.

Kinley called out from behind her. "Dromos! You twisted little genius. You were right, the detective was waiting outside, probably just far enough from Lucifer to keep him invulnerable. Now that we are all here, the fun can begin."

Dromos, who turned out to be possessing one of the corpses closest to Lucifer, beamed proudly. "I told you one didn't go without the other. The Devil has been totally bewitched by that human, and he'd do anything to protect her, as would she."

Kinley turned to Lucifer and added as an afterthought, "Oh! And if by any chances it turned out that your sister accompanied you, Lucifer, and is creeping up around as we speak, well, she better know that I'm only a fraction of a second from pulling that trigger. If she tries to pull on me the same thing she did on Squee, the Detective is as good as dead," he finished in a dangerous tone.

Lilith took advantage of Kinley's speech to give her own warning at the empty air around her. "I can say you're here somewhere, Little Death. You know you can't take me by surprise. Next time you try something on me, I won't let you survive it. So think carefully before you take any action."

Her evil gaze turned to Daniel who was now pointing his gun at the demons closest to him while trying to keep an eye on Chloe. "And I suggest that Detective Espinoza drops his weapon. We wouldn't want an accident to happen, now would we?"

Lucifer motioned for Daniel to obey. There was no chance to be taken with Chloe being held hostage and Dan seemed to agree since he immediately lowered his gun and threw it a small distance away from him.

Having reached their level on the other side of the rows of benches, Kinley and Chloe stopped their progression and turned towards them. Kinley was chuckling madly again, his hands firmly clenched around his weapon and the detective's waist.

Lilith took another moment to bask in her victory before addressing Lucifer again. "Did you really think I wasn't aware that you were coming for me? I saw that agent outside the church the moment I set foot in here. I was waiting for you and you didn't disappoint me."

All Lucifer wanted in that instant was to wipe Lilith's infuriating little smile off her face, but Chloe was right, he had to be smart and gain time until he found a solution.

"It's me you want, Lilith. Let's make a deal. You let go of them and I will return to Hell willingly."

"Lucifer no! " screamed Chloe. Giving himself up certainly counted as a crazy act in her book.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Lilith shook her index in front of herself. "I learned long ago not to make a deal with the Devil. You're far too cleaver in that area. I won't risk letting you find a loop hole and come back to bite me in the ass. No chances there. I need a long term solution to our problem."

Always the dramatic one, Lilith let the silence last for a moment for better effect before stating her conditions.

"Come to me without resistance Lucifer, and I will kill you as painlessly as possible. That's the only deal I can offer you in exchange for your friends' lives. But if you make it difficult...," Lilith let the threat hang in the air.

Chloe watched Lucifer consider his options during an endless moment. She'd asked him to gain some time, but the perspective that he could really accept Lilith's offer terrified her.

When she saw him take a step towards Lilith, she snapped. "Nooo! Lucifer, please! Don't do this!"

"It's the only way, Chloe," he said sadly, giving her only a tight smile before resuming his slow walk to the dais.

"Maze, do something!" Chloe screamed at her in panic. She could feel Kinley tightening his hold around her in case she would attempt something.

"Mazie will never take the Devil's side over her Mother's. Am I not right Darling?"

Maze heard Lilith's words and felt them vibrating inside her as if they were a command. She shook her head to try and clear off the fog clouding her mind. She wanted to fight it. It was just increasingly difficult to remember why she should.

Chloe called to her urgently once more, begging her to do something, and this time Maze turned to look at her in the eyes. Chloe's face was contorted by fear, a fear Maze could barely feel right now, but somehow, she knew that she too should be afraid for her friend and for Lucifer. She'd willingly chosen to follow Lucifer and keep protecting him those last years, as she had chosen to be friends with Chloe. Maze liked to believe that she'd acquired freewill to make her own decisions. So why couldn't she anymore? Asking herself that question seemed to help diffuse the confusion in her brain.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Maze gazed back at Lucifer who was walking to Lilith, to his death, then she looked again at Chloe, who had a gun held against her head... Her friends were in danger and she was just staying there, doing nothing.

The fear that had been out of her reach until now came back in a rush.

She had to do something or Lucifer would die! And she wasn't even sure Lilith would keep her promise to spare Chloe's life if Lucifer surrendered. But what could she do? She knew it was vain to think she could fight her Mother even if she wanted to. The pull to obey her was still too strong for that, but not enough to stop her from helping her friends.

"Lilith, stop!" Maze finally screamed.

Her words froze Lucifer mid-step when he was just arriving on the dais, still a few feet away from Lilith.

Lilith stared at her, looking half-intrigued half annoyed by the interruption.

Even though she'd gotten her attention, Maze had little hope that her arguments could help change Lilith's mind, but she could at least try. "It will never work out, Lilith, even if you kill Lucifer. Humans will fight you forever, with everything they have. They will never accept your tyranny."

Lilith startled in surprise. "Who's talking about tyranny?" Her demeanor and speech suddenly changed into those of a monarch. "I am not here to hurt them, but to humble humanity before me."

With that statement, Lilith's appearance slowly changed into her demonic one, her clothing being torn to pieces in the process. Once the change was over, she was looking as impressive and dangerous as Lucifer had in his full Devil's form. Her demonic face could be considered as the female counterpart of the Devil's, and her body was also quite similar with its red cracked skin and ridges. Her bath-like wings were also disturbingly resembling those of Lucifer. Maze had never made the parallel before, probably because she hadn't seen Lilith in that form for at least a few thousands of years and that Lucifer's full Devil appearance was only a recent development. Maze had no idea what the similarities could mean.

Lilith's voice boomed like a thunder through the church. "They will worship me more than God himself. It has all been written in the prophecy. I was foreseen to take my place here on Earth one day, and that day has come. You really think that the world is good as it is' Mazikeen? Don't be ridiculous! Look at all the souls ending up in Hell as punishment for their sinful lives. I will create a new world, and in the end God himself will have to agree that it was for the best."

Maze shook her head in denial. "You are mistaking, Lilith. Demons can't create, they can only destroy. You don't belong in this world, go back to Hell where you belong."

Demons can't create...

The words rang inside Lucifer's mind, and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

And he understood...

He understood why some demons were obeying Lilith instead of him and how she was able to come up here in the flesh. The enormity of the truth almost blew his mind.

In that instant, Lucifer felt real hope rise in his heart.

They didn't need to fight. There was another solution...

Lucifer lifted his eyes slowly up to Lilith. The maelstrom of emotions he felt in that moment had to be evident for everyone to see, even for Lilith. Unfortunately, The Mother of Demons was not good at deciphering emotions in anyone, so of course she misinterpreted it.

He saw Lilith flinch as if thinking that he was about to attack her. Then, too fast for him to stop her, she reached for something hidden on the altar behind a vase. He only had to get a glimpse of the object to realise with cold dread that everything was over. Because there was absolutely nothing he could do before he saw Lilith press the trigger, besides hoping that Chloe was far enough to survive the blast.

Because he knew he wouldn't...

Kinley's grip around Chloe had loosen while he was listening raptly at Lilith's crazy speech about the prophecy and her future reign over Earth, and he now seemed transfixed by the sight of her demonic self. This was the moment Chloe had been waiting for all along and she hoped that Azrael would be ready to act when she did.

Inspired by her successful prayer to Lucifer from earlier, Chloe sent a last second warning to his sister. Then, as Maze was arguing that Lilith should return to Hell, Chloe sprang into action.

Pushing Kinley's gun away from her head, she spin around out of his reach in the same movement. When she found herself facing him again, Kinley was still in the same position, his eyes wide with surprise. He tried to talk, but only a trickle of blood came out from the corner of his lips along with a burbling noise, then he was falling to the ground. Behind his now limp body was standing a furious Azrael with her celestial dagger held high and at the ready to take on any demons who might come into her path.

But before the angel or she could do anything else, a loud explosion shook the church hard enough to send Chloe sprawling on the floor under a rain of debris.

Chloe cough the dust out of her lungs and dragged herself up on trembling legs. She could hear the moans of the captives all around her who might now be even more injured from the blast. It was not them she was most worried about though, nor was it for herself, but for Lucifer who seemed to have been close to the source of the deflagration.

With an increasing sense of panic, Chloe turned towards the dais where she last saw Lucifer standing, and her heart literally stopped beating...

There was nothing anymore left standing on the dais, but a huge hole surrounded by mountains of debris. Part of a wall had even crumbled down under the shock.

No, no, no, no! This couldn't be happening!

"LUCIFER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

When he didn't answer, she screamed his name again, and again, and again, with increasing panic and terror. But nothing was moving among the debris and Lucifer was nowhere in sight.

He couldn't just be gone! It couldn't end like that!

To add to the horror of the situation, Chloe suddenly saw Lilith rise slowly from a mountain of debris and spread her wings out mightily.

True to herself, Lilith started laughing merrily, her voice sounding more cavernous in her demonic form.

"I doubted that such a weapon would be of any use against the Devil, but Kinley was right, it worked splendidly. I should reward him for this great idea when he comes back in another body. Oh...!" and she turned towards a petrified Chloe, "I guess I should also thank you for making the Devil's death possible, my dear." Her widening smile was showing rows of sharp demonic teeth. "However, I'm afraid you must die now..."

"Kill the humans!" Lilith ordered her demons.

For a fleeting moment, Chloe didn't care in the least to be about to die. Lucifer was gone, back to Hell where he would be stuck for eternity alone. Nothing seemed important enough to overcome the horrifying knowledge that she would never see him ever again. What good was there to even try to fight back if he wasn't there with her?

But then, a scream shook her out of her spiralling descent into despair.

"Decker! Move your ass!" Maze through at her from the other side of the church.

In a daze, Chloe turned to her friend to see her fighting against two demons. Dan had already picked up his gun and was in the process of shooting at several possessed beings rushing towards him. Here and there, she saw Azrael blink into existence and dispose efficiently of the demons closest to Chloe in an attempt to protect her. The sight of her friends in danger brought her out of her torpor and forced her to take actions, if not for herself at least for them.

Chloe picked up the gun that Kinley dropped a moment ago and started shooting at the closest demons who were apparently single minded on eliminating them now that Lilith gave the go.

The realization that Lucifer was dead at Lilith's hands shook Maze to her core. Whatever hold her Mother had over her disappeared instantly and she was free. Free to do as her conscience dictated her, and free to kill Lilith for what she had done...

Maze swiftly made her way towards Lilith through the demons, leaving behind her a path of blood. Her Mother was standing on the only part of the dais still free of debris, overlooking excitedly the bloodbath that she was responsible for.

"You would fight me, Daughter?" Boomed Lilith's voice over the tumult.

"I will do a lot more than that, Mother." Maze stressed out the title while she finished bashing a demon's head against a bench. "I intent to kill you," she snarled with disdain.

Clearly frustrated by this unpredicted turn of event, Lilith got into combat stance while waiting for Maze to reach her.

Screams of fighting and gun shuts kept reverberating in the great hall behind her as Maze made her way to the dais. She could only hope that Azrael would keep protecting Chloe and even Dan, because there was nothing more important right now than stopping Lilith.

The fight was going well for Chloe and her friends, thanks to Azrael and Maze who were taking out twice the numbers that Dan and she could manage with their guns. The group of demons was already down by half and none even came close to reach and harm them. The dozen hellish beings that remained had become weary and were now advancing towards Dan and her stealthily by staying hidden behind the numerous wooden benches, out of reach of their bullets. Though that wouldn't keep them from being slain by Azrael's celestial dagger.

Chloe felt as if she were in a dream. It was too surreal thinking that Lucifer was really gone, and her heart was already crying out for him. Between two well aimed shots and a lot of uncontrolled sobbing, Chloe spared a glance towards Maze who was about to throw herself at The Mother of Demons. Chloe had no idea if her demonic friend had any real chances against Lilith, but prayed that she could stop her and avenge Lucifer's death.

Before Maze could jump at Lilith's throat, she was stopped mid-stance by a thunderous voice.

"Stop it!" the inhuman voice bellowed.

Not only did Maze stop her attack, but also everyone, humans and demons alike, and silence fell over the ravaged church.

Chloe's eyes, as well as everyone else's, turned to the source of the voice to land on a bright angel, with his white wings still partially wrapped around himself protectively as he was getting out of the rubbles.

Lucifer shrugged off the last bits of debris still clinging to him and straightened up fully. He spared a glance towards Chloe and winked at her in a way that seemed to be as much to reassure as to amuse her.

The shock of seeing him alive was so great that a few shuddering sobs of relief burst out of Chloe's throat. They were not out of the woods yet, but at least Lucifer was alive. How amazing was that? And now everything was possible once more, for the world, and for them...

"You got to be kidding me! How can you even still be alive?" shot Lilith in utter exasperation. Turning towards him, she prepared herself to fight. She had been hoping to get rid of the Devil without risking her life, but that option didn't seem to stand in the realm of possibilities anymore.

Lucifer looked down on Lilith from his position on the other side of the hole left by the explosion. He considered her for a moment, as if weighting down his options. All the assembly seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for him to act.

"I won't fight you Lilith," he said calmly, deliberately ignoring her question about how he could still be alive.

Lilith stared at him in disbelief. "Are you telling me that you'll go back to Hell willingly?" She didn't sound like she believed he would.

"Not at all, but I may have a deal for you...," he offered enigmatically.

"I already told you what I think of making a deal with the Devil," she answered with finality.

Lucifer ignored her refusal and went on with his explanations as he walked slowly around the hole to get closer to Lilith. "You see, I had an epiphany of sort. Maze was totally right when she said that demons can't create. Only celestials can do it out of nothing."

Lilith's demonic eyes narrowed in confusion. "What are you trying to say? You make no sense Lightbringer."

Lucifer came to a halt about two meters away from Lilith. "Oh I think it actually makes perfect sense. You, Lilith, are a celestial..."

Lilith backed away from him as if the mere thought of what he was implying was repulsing her to no end. "You are mistaking," she accused shakily, "I am The Mother of Demons, the first of demons to have ever walked the hellish realm."

"Yes, you are The Mother of Demons, but you are not one of them. Father did not turn you into a demon when he kicked you out of Heaven. He turned you into an angel, or something akin to it at least."

Lilith's foundations were slowly starting to crumble around her and she clang desperately to her truths. "Look at me!" she screamed in defiance. "Do I look like a freaking angel to you? Shouldn't I have wings if I were one?"

Lucifer shook his head patiently in negation. "Not necessarily. Think about me. My wings recently acquired a demonic appearance, along with my whole body when I was at last convinced that I was truly evil. I think that Father knew perfectly well that you already thought of yourself as evil when he threw you out. He needed you to create the hellish host, so He gave you the power to do so. Only, instead of making yourself appear in the purest form reserved for angels, your subconscious opted for a different appearance more fitting to what you knew you had become; true evil."

"It can't be..." Lilith's words had become faint with a lack of conviction backing them. She was starting to believe that there might be some truth to Lucifer's theory.

Seeing that Lilith was not voicing more argument than that, Lucifer pursued with his reasoning. "You stayed in Hell all that time, not because you were locked up down there, but because you felt that it was your place. And you were right..."

The way Lucifer said the last statement brought Lilith to stare at him in the eyes for what he was about to say next.

Lucifer was wearing a look of utter bafflement as he continued. "Father never intended for me to rule Hell. It was supposed to be you all along..."

They kept staring at each other for a long moment, trying to wrap their heads around what they now both believed to be true.

"What about the prophecy?" Lilith finally mused aloud. "Was I not supposed to come here, on Earth to claim my rightful place?"

"As with every bloody prophecies, we didn't get that one correctly apparently..." Then Lucifer stilled his features and glared at her as the King of Hell that he still was. "Lilith!" his voice boomed with power. "Do you claim your rightful place as Queen of Hell?"

Lilith's red eyes brighten with understanding and excitement. She answered without hesitation, as solemnly as Lucifer had asked the question. "I do."

Lucifer let pass a few long seconds before letting his decision known. "If you swear that no more demons will ever come to Earth in the future, and that you will keep tending to the souls the way it has been done since the beginning of humanity, then I will abdicate and let you rule as you see fit."

"I swear I will," she assured with fervor.

"But," Lucifer lifted his index in warning. "Break your vow and I will remove you from the throne myself. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes we do."

"Then Hell is yours," Lucifer bowed his head in acknowledgement of her new status, "your Highness."

Lilith stayed silent and still for a long moment, as if trying to make sense of what just happened, before she beamed and laughed joyously.

She looked at him in wonder. "You are an incredible creature, Lucifer Morningstar."

With that, she turned towards the great hall and addressed her demons. "Come on boys, time to go home."

The remaining demons departed instantly and the bodies they had been possessing for the past few days fell limply to the ground as one.

Lilith turned to Lucifer one last time. "I look forward to never see you again, Lightbringer. Have a happily ever after. I know I will," she smiled crookedly.

Lucifer simply gave her a small nod of farewell and then she was gone.

For a moment, no one dared to disturb the silence that had settled in the church, not even the stunned humans who had witnessed the inconceivable.

A bit stunned himself and still trying to make sense of what he just did, Lucifer looked down at his friends. Maze's lower jaw was still hanging slack from shock, yet with a little wicked smile at the corner; Dan had a look of utter bafflement –Lucifer even wondered if the Douche understood anything that happened–; Azrael was just smiling at him in happiness; and Chloe...

Lucifer locked eyes with her, and everything made sense once more. Everything he did had a sense, and above all else, the sense was her.

A vibrant happiness took a hold of him and he smiled, the most relieved and joyous smile he ever formed in his entire existence.

Lucifer saw and heard Chloe chuckle happily through her tears before she dashed up the stairs to joins him.

She crashed into him and hugged his body as tightly as possible while Lucifer wrapped his arms and wings around her tenderly. He gave her a lingering kiss over her hair then rested his head against hers. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to bask in the feel of completeness that washed over him. His place was by her side and now everything was possible... His heart was literally bursting with joy.

Chloe was still shaking and crying softly, her tears having changed from ones of deep devastation to tears of relief and hope.

"How?" She finally managed to ask once her tears had dried out. "How can you still be alive when I was mere feet away from you?" She looked up at him in incomprehension, while at the same time displaying the most loving smile ever. "You should have died..."

Lucifer gazed back at her adoringly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear to better see her amazing blue eyes. "You being a miracle might not have as much to do with my vulnerability as I liked to believe. As I already suspected, but didn't really want to believe, it was well and truly I who was the cause of this vulnerability, but not for the reason I thought. I first believed that I became vulnerable around you because I fell in love with you. In spite of all the proofs that supported that, I couldn't believe that something as beautiful as loving you could hurt me. But now I understand. It was not exactly loving you that made me vulnerable, but the fact that I always felt that my love for you was a vulnerability, a weakness. Not anymore. For after having surrendered myself completely to you, after having made the choice to love you with everything I am, now I see my love for you as a strength, and so it has become one."

Chloe's smile widen even more. She wasn't sure to understand everything about his theory, and yet she could relate entirely about the surrendering part of it, because she loved him utterly and completely, without any restraint nor doubt, and she also believed that this amazing love was making her stronger.

"I guess that's a good thing then," she teased a bit.

Lucifer chuckled merrily while nuzzling her cheek softly. "A very good thing indeed," he whispered hotly.

The pull of kissing him was becoming so strong that it was almost dizzying. But before indulging into it, Chloe wanted to set her mind to rest completely, even if she already suspected what his answer would be. At least she hoped she knew.

She spoke softly with her lips brushing lightly against his. "And now that you are no more the King of Hell, what does that mean for us?" She was allowing herself to hope, to dream...

He answered as softly as she had spoken, his eyes never leaving hers. "You asked me for a night together. What about a lifetime?"

Chloe bit her lower lip and smiled roguishly. "That sounds like a good start."

They both chuckled in blissful happiness under the protective cocoon created by Lucifer's wings, until the pull to kiss each other became too strong to resist anymore. They came together in a mind blowing kiss full of love and promises.

They continued kissing passionately, totally oblivious to the chaos around them.

Chloe truly believed in her words; it was just the beginning, for they both knew that their love would never end and that they would be together for at least a lifetime...

Author's note: I can barely believe that this story came to its end. I can only hope that I could surprise you agreeably and that you feel satisfied with this ending. Please let me know if you loved it and if you liked my crazy idea about Lilith being a celestial. Thanks to all of you for following this story and a special thank you for all of those who left me kudos and comments. Those always make me so proud and happy :)

I will now return to write «Back from the Shadows», and will be able to update more often this story now that I won't be working on two of them at the same time. Yeah!