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Here is a new translated chapter for you, guys!

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WHAT A WONDERFUL COINCIDENCE

He thought at first of a banal physical discomfort.

What else could it have been?

After all, Lucifer was here...outside, sheltering summarily under the metallic structure of the back stairs from this torrential rain. Also protecting his precious cigarette from the elements. A fresh breeze accompanied the incongruous rain... the perfect culprit for this strange cooling sensation that went back slyly along his spine, wasn't it?

This could explain that. Just like his deep physical fatigue. This stubborn exhaustion which never ceased to leave him for many weeks. Since his departure. Since...

Lucifer didn't run of culprits to point the finger at this strange physical sensation.

And yet...

None was sufficiently plausible to him.

Something was wrong. And not a little.

But... What exactly?

He stroked absently the smooth surface of his cigarette with his thumb. Slowly, he brought it to his lips, appreciating more the pungent taste of the damp tobacco along his palate before searching the inside of his pants pocket. For any outsider, Lucifer would simply had the appearance of a banal guy in the rain smocking just as simply a cigarette. It was his initial desire, indeed. Try to relax his mind, his body this tenacious habit. An envy... A gesture hiding henceforth the deep and complex investigation which inhabited him in this time. He pulled his lighter out of his pocket - his face still lowered in the direction of the ground, rendered moist by the nocturnal rain – apparently relaxed.

Reality was quite different.

Lucifer focused on each sensation, each sound...each suspicious movement around him. He listened to the icy rain sink gently along the staircase structure and end its race in a trough much denser and sonorous than its initial shape around him. The subtle wind blows against his skin. The weak echoes resonating inside the bar. He analyzed meticulously what surrounded him...what he felt...what he sensed.

A presence.

Not just any presence.

Lucifer activated the lighter, lighting his cigarette with a perfectly feigned relaxation. He watched from the corner of his eye the shrill light of the lamppost on his right falter briefly, a nuisance of electrical origin equally brief accompanying this curious dysfunction.

Thought...not so curious.

He deeply inhaled a puff before slowly exhaling the smoke through his half-opened mouth, closing his eyes for a moment. An important moment. Once again, for any gullible human, Lucifer would had just appeared to relieve the pressure...to close his eyes to...relax or otherwise.

Once again...It was quite the contrary.

This moment...so short for anyone else... was much longer for him. A suspended moment of... temporal notion. An almost infinite moment, responding only to him. Only him. Lucifer plunged into himself...losing himself in this disturbing physical sensation. This touch on his skin. This disturbing coldness. Confusing. This needle placed deep between his shoulder blades.

This sensation...

A sensation that wasn't unknown to him and which nevertheless...seemed to be significantly different from everything he had experienced.

This...insidious pulsation...Powerful...vibrating the inside of his body.

This pulsation...

Before him.

Lucifer opened his eyes, all comedy fading instantly to give way to an intense bodily tension. He stiffened, straightening his head and scrutinizing the space in front of him. A darkened area. Trivial.

No.

A threatening obscurity. Dangerous.

Even for him.

He took his cigarette between his fingers before exhaling a new puff, not taking his eyes off this unlighted area.

" I know you're here...", he said wearily. " I'm not in the mood for hide-and-seek games tonight... Show yourself! "

Only the repetitive contact of the rain onto the ground followed his request. For a second. A tiny second before a crystalline laugh with frigid intonations filled the alley. A familiar and...terrifying laugh.

Lucifer was...terrified.

He knew this voice... That laugh... A laugh he hadn't heard since...the beginning of times. And it was barely exaggerated! How...How was that possible? He saw... felt through all his pores... the walls in front of him, the air around him react to this presence. An echo of power... A silent wave disrupting these solid and impalpable structures, disrupting the Devil himself. Formerly Devil...

The wave reverberated in his body, caressing his feet then sailing along his tense limbs. The electric light provided by the lamp post flinched once again, an equally electric roar and particularly unpleasant joining to this threatening laugh. The darkness before him was traversed by a...movement. Almost undetectable to the naked eye. For a human being. Not for him. The shadow area changed...was transformed, hiding...somebody. A delighted exclamation sprang up from the darkness, quickly followed by some deliberately spaced applause.

"Well...Well...Well...What a clever boy you are! ", a disembodied and strangely haunting voice raved about.

Lucifer brought his cigarette to his lips, feigning once more the relaxation when his surprised – and highly undesirable – guest was revealed to him. Not a human being. Nor a demon...or an angel who is a stinker attached to his manipulative family. Even thought the family was more than represented here. Il all its...apocalyptic splendor.

A face... A body... emerged form the darkness. A face he didn't expect to see again. That he would never have liked to see again. Once again, what he wanted was never respected by his family. The height of irony for the Lord of Hell...This night was like a nightmare. He examined this fine face with a pointed chin, her straight nose and her greyish skin...These almond-shaped eyes...These piercing red irises. This slim body wearing a lilac dress clasping her chest gracefully. This body...that wasn't really one. Could we speak of a body when there only existed a...malleable envelope? A body, certainly...but devoid of flesh and blood. This body devoid of real legs. Rather...a sketch, a trace in the air. A body...a person whom he wasn't able to handle.

Literally.

Lucifer sighed long - feigning weariness as his heart drummed ferociously in his chest, responding to the intense fear provoked by this unwelcomed newcomer.

" Eris...So bad to see you! ", he exclaimed, acerbic.

Eris threw back her long black hair – these strangely floating in the impalpable movements of her body – before offering him a broad smile.

" Come on, Lucifer! No airs and graces between us, okay? You can call me auntie ! ", proposed the latter in a jovial tone.

Lucifer let out a mock exclamation following the familiar request of the goddess. A goddess supposed to be locked up forever in the Depths of Hell. A living and speaking atrocity – which greatly increased Lucifer's repulsion towards her, a mute horror was still more tolerable than the reverse after all – standing before him.

Why? How?!

He'd have liked to know!

Lucifer remembered perfectly her imprisonment. Her banishment to Tartarus...The most remote...The most inviolable place of The Underworld. Even he – armed with all his demonic power – wouldn't be able to release her from this prison. The rest of Hell looked like a playground compared to Tartarus...Even his Paternal Bastard had avoided this option for his adorable manipulative mother.

What the hell was she doing here? On Earth? Here, before him? What does she want?

" I'll pass, thanks...", he said, bringing his cigarette up to his lips.

Eris tilted her head gently to the side, vaporous filaments to the various lilac shades gently swirling around her and stroking Lucifer's shoes as she displayed a sulky face. She crossed her arms against her chest, a gesture accompanied by another vaporous shudder around her.

" What a nudge! ", she said, shaking her head gently. " You could at least pretend to be glad to see me! "

" Well...I'm rather surprised to see you here! ", rectified the latter, watching every vaporous gesture of the goddess, on his guards. " Shouldn't you be...locked up somewhere? You know...in Tartarus? I shouldn't even be surprised at your coming here...", he complained. " Earth seems to be the popular base from all supernatural beings lately! First my brother, then your sister to finish with the Goddess of Discord! I came here to take some vacation but I should have stayed in Hell..."

Indeed...If he had remained in Hell...None of this would have happened. All that...shit in his life.

Chloe. Uriel's death...

Staying in Hell would have saved him much inconvenience...starting with this one.

The so-called problem shrugged her shoulders, her perfect black hair caressing her grayish bare shoulders. She faded briefly into a vague heap of smokes before re-materializing near the lamppost to the right of Lucifer, stroking the metal structure with a fingertip with a certain fascination into her gaze.

" Well...", she began, turning to him. " You can't blame me to get some air after this endless captivity...This world is really fascinating! So...chaotic! ", she exclaimed, delighted.

" I suppose it is...", mumbled Lucifer, squinting in distrust. " Speaking of your captivity, Eris...I'll have some questions about this...like...How come you're here?! "

Eris smirked at him before disappearing back into a vaporous cloud. Lucifer stiffened, nervous, staring at the space around him before feeling a gentle pressure against his left shoulder. He slowly turned his head on this side, swallowing hard as his black eyes met the purple irises of his aunt. The latter caressed her nephew's shoulder with her palm, her black hair tickling the edge of his jaw as she approached her lips to his ear, sighing languorously:

" Oh come on, Luci... With your extended experience...Don't you know that every woman has her little secrets? "

Lucifer quickly freed himself from her embrace with a sudden movement of shoulders, Eris disappearing again before materializing in front of him – sitting on some wooden boxes – laughing out loud in response to his vivacious and angry gesture towards her. She brought back a few moving black locks behind her ear, containing her crystalline laugh as well as she could.

" Ooow...Careful! He bites! ", she snarled.

He gave her a hateful look before throwing his cigarette butt on the damp floor, crushing it under his heel while sharply retorting:

" You're certainly not a woman, Eris. You're a goddess addicted to chaos and destruction...A goddess who has absolutely nothing to do here! Especially if the end is to mess with me like the rest of my family! Why don't you bother these degenerates while I continue my life on my own side, eh? "

The goddess scrutinized him silently, to the delight of Lucifer. She materialized again before him, staring intensely at his face with a strange gleam in her eyes. Lucifer put his hands in his pockets, irritated by the situation.

" It's true, then...", she whispered, delighted for some unknown reason.

Lucifer arched an eyebrow, puzzled. What was she talking about? The surrounding air underwent an imperceptible fluctuation of matter, a fluctuation that tended more Lucifer as his aunt turned away from him while saying:

" I'd heard that my dear sister was here...on Earth. And that you were no longer in good terms...What luck! Exactly what I needed! "

" And? "; exclaimed Lucifer, intrigued. " What does all this have to do with you, anyway? "

" ...With us, Lucifer! ", she rectified, caressing the base of her neck with her hand, her black hair swaying sickly all around her. " I can help you get your revenge... Our revenge! "

He stared at her, perplexed, sketching a seductive smile towards him. What did she mean...their revenge? What had she in mind?

" What do you mean, Eris? ", he asked her.

The latter smiled even more, sensing the question as a semblance of appreciation. She sketched a gesture of the hand to indicate her whole body, the goddess appearing suddenly distressed and irritated at something.

" As you can see, I haven't yet regained... my power of yesteryear. ", she said in a plaintive voice, taking an annoyed look at the vaporous clouds at her feet...rather her vaporous feet.

" Oh, no no no! I thought this disturbing smoke around you was due to bad weather, really! ", he replied seriously.

The goddess made a sharp movement of the hand, bothered by his provocations, pursuing with more enthusiasm this time:

" I have some score to settle with my sister and the rest of your family...as you have, obviously! We could...help each other, what do you think? Would the...Devil go for a small family punishment? ", she finished, stroking Lucifer's chest with her finger, her face a few inches from his.

A vendetta.

Punish them...

Them.

Her...and...Him...

Get justice for himself...Finally?

No.

No...

All this was ridiculous. He would never get justice alongside Eris. She who only swore by chaos and destruction...justice wouldn't be in the lot.

She was like all the others.

Like the rest of those filthy bastards who had so skillfully destroyed his existence.

She only wanted to use him at her advantage.

Like a pawn.

Lucifer Morningstar...The eternal pawn in family machinations.

He'd had enough of all this.

Lucifer felt the rage boil in his veins, irradiate his body... ignite his dark eyes in a flaming furnace. No matter how much fear this woman could inspire, it was nothing compared to the rage lying storied towards his family. Towards this constant manipulation against him.

Did he seem so naïve?

Really?

Lucifer gripped the goddess's wrist, the latter widening her eyebrows with amazement, and pushed her dryly before turning to the door of the bar.

" Thanks, but no thanks...", he simply replied, taking a few slow steps towards the exit door below the metal staircase.

He didn't care anymore. May she take revenge. May she destroy his Father...his mother...his entire family. He didn't feel at all concerned with these craps. All these tricks and Machiavellians plans against the Old Man...Revenge...whatever the name given to justify the illusory cravings of all these morons.

He didn't want to be involved in this anymore.

Never again.

He heard Eris deeply sighing behind him.

" What a shame...I really wanted to avoid this situation...", she complained.

Lucifer turned to her, intrigued. Avoid what? His question...this question he was about to ask died on his lips. He scrutinizing the bottom of the cul-de-sac, devoid of any repugnant family presence. The goddess was gone.

An absence of vaporous presence which didn't bode well.

Lucifer turned to the door, stupefied at the sight of his aunt before him, the latter offering him a wicked smile before touching his torso with the tip of her finger. A simple touch and yet... without understanding how, Lucifer ended up unceremoniously against the wall a few meters from his initial position. A cry escaped him when the back of his skull brutally met the more than solid wall, an intense pain exploding at the level of his neck.

Lucifer slid down the wall, falling on his stomach against the wet ground in front of him. His whole body was tetanized by this hit...this simple touch. A muscular tetany that didn't stop his mind from running at full speed.

How...How could she rival him? Take over so easily...catch him? Was it his fault? Because of his...relaxation? Of this aberration which had inhabited him from six months?

Maybe.

Who cared?

He felt dizzy, but he distinctly heard the crystalline and irritating laughter of his dear aunt near him. Within once second and without understanding – once again - how, Lucifer was pinned against the wall; the thin, graceful hand of the goddess clasping his throat strongly, like icy and indestructible bird-talons. He tried to loosen this suffocating pinch around his trachea, his mouth opening pitifully in search of air. Eris watched him struggle without any conclusive result, a satisfied smile widening from second to second before his powerlessness. She tilted her heard to the side, a disappointing pout quickly replacing her joking smile.

" Why everything is always complicated? It would have been much simpler if you'd helped me willingly...Anyway! So be it... We had to make do with what nature gives us! "

With those words, the goddess accentuated her mortal embrace around Lucifer's throat, the latter only succeeding in producing a feeble whistle. His eyes got blanck as the air ran out of his painful lungs. He thought he felt Eris's palm against his side...It could just as well have been a figment of his imagination. Or a sensory hallucination due to the significant lack of oxygen.

It was really...ridiculous.

Even now... even by having left everything...by having left the most important person...the only one that really counted for him...

Even after that...After all these sacrifices...He was still paying for the others.

He was stripped of his choices.

Over and over again.

Lucifer refused to help for some vendetta? No problem...let's strangle him in a sordid cul-de-sac to get rid of him!

Brilliant idea, indeed.

A familiar sound explosion suddenly disrupted this calm murder.

Lucifer felt Eris's grip fade until completely disappeared. He fell on the ground, letting out a hoarse grunt as he tried to inspire a tiny amount of air vital to his survival. He remained for a moment lying on the ground, panting and confused, to wonder what the hell had happened.

What was that detonation? He knew this noise...he was sure of it. A new detonation sounded not far from him, Lucifer turning his head – heavy as lead – in that direction. He widened his eyes, confused.

No...No way.

He must have been... hallucinating.

What...What on Earth was she doing here?!

He stared at his blurry gaze Chloe pulling his entire firearm magazine on Eris, still vaporous and mocking not far from him, taunting the detective by her obvious lack of gunshot wounds no matter how many salvoes fired at her.

Chloe was here...here, near him.

How...Why?

Why did she not run away?

She had to leave...

Lucifer grunted weakly while trying to lean on his forearms to straighten up. Wasted effort. The insistent swinging of his temples grew dangerously, causing his vision to falter almost immediately as his hands slid against the damp surface offered by the ground beneath him. He felt back on the latter, breathless. Since when was he so weak? Even with Chloe near him, he'd never experienced this tiredness. It was incomprehensible and undesirable. He wanted to straighten up...to protect Chloe...destroy Eris...But...he was just powerlessness, lying on the cold floor...his painful temple – as the rest of is body – tasting the icy puddle under him. His heart missed a beat at Chloe's strangled cry. A cry quickly followed by the crystalline laughter of the goddess.

A cry which he became mad.

An adequate fury to take over this strange physical weakness. Lucifer opened his eyes, leaning once more on his forearms to move away from the ground. An icy breath caressed the back of his neck as he heard Eris whispering to his ear:

" Thank you so much for your help, Lucifer...See you soon, big boy! "

Before Lucifer was able to sketch a single movement, the oppressive presence of his aunt at his side totally disappeared. Lucifer inhaled loudly through his opened mouth, surprised at having held his breath so long. He groaned, bringing a hand to the back of his neck stiffened by pain. He brought his hand back to his stubbornly blur sight, scrutinizing the red tint permeating the epidermis of his palm with an unfocused eye. He carefully turned his head towards the staircase, looking for Chloe...and any threatening trace of Eris. The matter was obviously no longer around.

A good thing.

The only single good thing.

Lucifer's heart missed a new beat as he saw the detective inert on the floor, not far from the door.

" D...Detective! ", he exclaimed, worried.

He straightened up on his legs, staggering up to her and kneeling rapidly at her side. He took her face between his hands, caressing the inside of her neck in search of a sign of life. He let out a long sigh of relief as he felt a sharp pulsation against his trembling fingers. He scrutinized Chloe's face, lost in this essential contemplation.

That face that haunted his nights. That face...he never thought to see again.

How did she find him?

Why did she come here?

The door opened violently, extirpating Lucifer from these insistent questions, the latter surrounding the detective with his arms in a protective embrace. He looked puzzledly at Mazikeen who raised her arms in the air while displaying a sincerely dismayed look:

" What the hell happened?! ", she exclaimed forcefully.

Lucifer didn't answer. He had to admit that he had exactly the same question in mind.

What a wonderful coincidence.

to be continued...

Eris is the Goddess of Discord, a vilain well-inspired by "Sinbad" (go check on Google if you want to visualize her temper and features). XD

Until next time!

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