Chapter Text
The city of Constantinople was unlike any city Lucifer had visited through the centuries.
The streets were buzzing and vibrating with life, merchants offering their wares for the right coin, Inns where travellers could rest, the scent of spices and strong tea were always present wherever Lucifer wandered, and old men with long grey beards called their god’s words down from high towers.
Lucifer had listened to them before he turned away while shaking his head.
Humans kept fighting wars for their “one true god” and never realized that it didn’t matter what they named their god as they were all praying to Him and Lucifer knew that his Father wasn’t listening to any of them. Just like his father wouldn’t care for their puny little wars, and Lucifer would scoff and laugh at his Father’s followers. Fools, all of them.
However, Constantinople was different from the cities of Europe during this time.
Europe was becoming a dark place for those not following the words of their priests, and the punishment those people had to face would make demons howl in excitement.
Lucifer always ensured that these people would suffer endlessly in their Hell Loops as they experienced the same torture they commanded done dished out by their victims. A small victory, but even this made Lucifer glare at the sky as he asked himself why his Father would allow his beloved creation to turn at each other in such ugly ways.
Yet, this city was bustling with life in a different way, more open-minded with a spark left of the old world when humans still believed in magic with their views not blinded and twisted by his Father’s followers.
This place was different, but Lucifer could already see the city change as it was already on the edge of becoming something else. While a change was inevitable, Lucifer couldn’t imagine that the city’s soul would survive it.
Lucifer wandered aimlessly over the Great Bazar, stopping several times to look at the goods the merchants had to offer, but nothing could hold his interest for long. He didn’t know why he had left his Kingdom without an actual goal in mind, but when the urge to fly up and taste air without ashes, he spread his wings and was gone in a flurry of ashes and flashes of light.
He kept wandering until he reached the other side of the city, and Lucifer was walking through narrow alleys when suddenly a cat blocked his way.
The animal looked up at him with bright eyes in different colours. One eye of gold and one eye of copper framed in an all-black face, the cat stared at the fallen angel without blinking. It was an impressive face for an animal with the fur of the darkest night. A warrior’s face marked with scars and ears which been injured more than once. The cuts and a missing ear tip reminded Lucifer of a honed gladiator in the great arenas of Rome...before the Huntress burned the city to the ground.
The cat stared at Lucifer for a long moment before the animal got up and started to walk into a narrow passage Lucifer hadn’t seen previously.
Shrugging, Lucifer decided to keep going, but when he passed the narrow passage the cat had shown him, he heard a raspy voice yell at him.
Meow!
Frowning, Lucifer stopped and looked down at the black cat who suddenly sat in his way again.
“If this was your way of talking to me, cat, I suggest you visit a healer. This doesn’t sound healthy at all.”
The black cat only stared at him with its fluffy tail twitching behind them.
Shaking his head, Lucifer tried to step over the cat, who suddenly decided that moving right under Lucifer’s boot seemed to be a fantastic idea.
Sighing, Lucifer hunkered down and looked the cat right into its two-coloured eyes.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be, cat?”
The cat seemed to frown at him, him, and Lucifer started to ask himself if eternity was catching up with him at last because he was talking to a cat who dared to frown at him.
The cat blinked slowly, and Lucifer could hear a rumbling purr, followed by another raspy sound.
Meow
The cat got up again and walked back to the narrow passage but stopped when Lucifer didn’t follow.
Rolling his eyes, Lucifer got up from his hunkered down position and followed the cat into the narrow passage.
“Lead the way then, little black Earth-Demon. I have no idea why humans seem to be so fond of your kind. You are as arrogant as my siblings up in the Silver City.”
Meow
Lucifer kept himself from rolling his eyes because rolling his eyes at a cat talking back at him seemed to be too much, even for the Devil himself. However, he still followed the cat, who appeared in no hurry to lead Lucifer to their destination.
The cat kept moving and led Lucifer through narrow passages hidden behind curtains, ways unseen by others, past merchants and only then did Lucifer realize that no one seemed to notice him.
He knew he could vanish in a crowd of people, walk past someone, and those behind him wouldn’t see him dissolve into shadows to return to his Kingdom, but this was something else.
People stepped out of his way while he followed the black cat, but they saw right through him, and they didn’t seem to notice the black cat either.
Curiosity awakened like a sleepy beast, and Lucifer kept following the black shadow, who stopped now and then to look back with his eyes of gold and copper to make sure the fallen angel was still following him.
Lucifer was led on a journey through the whole city until they reached a part he had yet to visit.
Old buildings threw their long shadows over the streets while people tried to hide in the darkness between the buildings.
An old man, holding himself up on a cane, stumbled into the street but blanched when he saw the black shadow marching down in his direction. Lucifer heard the man mumble a low prayer before he averted his eyes and tried to hurry as fast as his old body allowed him to leave the street while keeping track of the cat from the corner of his eyes.
The old man had no eye for the fallen angel following the shadow.
Lucifer had no idea how long he had followed his feline guide, but when the cat stopped in front of an old building, Lucifer looked around and noticed that he was now in the oldest part of the city and the building he was standing in front of was the home of one of the many Inns.
There used to be a plate over the door announcing the Inn’s name, but time and sand had eaten away the name and only a barely visible carving remained:
A moon sickle crossed by an arrow.
A pang of longing felt Lucifer’s being so suddenly that he looked down at the black shadow sitting by his feet.
“Why did you bring me here, little Fea?”
Meow
A smile tugging at his lips, Lucifer shook his head...before he answered the little Fea.
“I have no idea what you want from me, but I guess I’m supposed to go in, right?”
Meow
Shaking his head while the smile never left his face, Lucifer ducked his head, bloody tiny humans of these times, and stepped into the Inn.
The general room was filled with tables and chairs, but only a few of them were occupied by guests who looked up when Lucifer stepped into the room.
Barely audible gasps filled the air, and fearful glances were thrown at Lucifer and the little shadow before the guests went back to their tea and spicy-smelling dishes.
Lucifer didn’t pay much attention to the other guests, but he saw the mortals wince when the shadow reminded the fallen angel to keep following him.
MEOW
The raspy-ness of the cat’s voice was more amusing than anything else to Lucifer, but the mortals looked at both of them with fear in their eyes...and made a gesture that was supposed to avert evil spirits.
Pausing in his step, Lucifer looked around, but those looking at them lowered their eyes hastily when they met the Devil’s gaze burning with Hellfire. Chuckling, Lucifer followed the shadow deeper into the room where no mortals cowered over their tea and food but where a single figure sat at a table close to the fire.
Stopping in his tracks, Lucifer saw the fire’s light reflect from the bracelet on the Huntress’s right wrist but never before had she appeared so...other.
She stared at the fire like she expected to find the answers to all questions in the dancing flame with her long leather-clad legs stretched out in front of her. Lucifer spotted several rows of throwing knives strapped to her thigh, and her bow leaned in easy reach against the table.
There was an aura of restlessness around her, but it only showed in the way she kept drumming with her fingers against the table. At the same time, her moon-bright eyes reflected the fire in a way that reminded Lucifer of his own eyes when he allowed the Hellfire to shine through his usual dark eyes.
Never before had the Huntress looked so inhuman and predatory, so...immortal to Lucifer and he felt even more drawn to her at the blatant display of power dancing around her like moths around the flame of a candle. Yet, Lucifer knew that he would gladly burn in her bright moonlight.
“Huntress.”
She didn’t react to him at first, but then she blinked slowly and looked up at him without changing her seemingly relaxed position of a cat ready to pounce and kill.
Her smile ignited a different kind of fire in her eyes when she saw Lucifer standing next to her.
“Lucifer, what a surprise to see you here. What brings you to Constantinople?”
The little shadow jumped onto the Huntress’s lap, who adjusted her position to offer the cat a more comfortable seat on her lap.
Lucifer dragged a chair over from one of the many empty tablets around them and sat down next to the Huntress only to mirror her position with his legs stretched out in front of him.
“Curiosity, I guess. Hell was getting boring again, and you mentioned an interesting city in the East. That’s why I came here, I guess, but it was your little friend who led me here.”
Surprised coloured her face when the Huntress looked from Lucifer to the cat resting and purring in her lap.
“That’s what you’ve been up to, Te’oma? Why am I not surprised? You love to play with my bracelet, after all.”
The cat, Te’oma, blinked his gold and copper eyes at the Huntress and rubbed his face against her hand.
“He found and yelled at me!”
The Huntress laughed at Lucifer’s accusing words and leaned over to him until their shoulders almost touched.
“I’m sure you’ll get over it soon, Lucifer.”
There it was again, the liquid amusement dancing in her eyes and Lucifer felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her.
Smirking, Lucifer leaned closer as well until there was barely any room left between their lips, and he was sure she could feel his heat warming her skin.
“And what do I get for my troubles of walking through the whole city while your little Fea led the way?”
The Huntress licked her lips and looked at him from below her long lashes.
“I’m sure you have something in mind as compensation for your troubles, don’t you, Lucifer?”
Leaning closer, Lucifer couldn’t suppress the red glow of his eyes, but before he could say what he had in mind for proper compensation, the Huntress laughed and pressed her fingers against his lips.
“Not that, though, Lucifer.”
Rolling his eyes at her, Lucifer kept himself from licking her fingers pressed against his lips.
“I didn’t say anything, Huntress, but if you consider a proper romp in the sheets a fitting compensation for my troubles, I wouldn’t say no.”
The Huntress’s laugh was husky, and she regarded him with feline head tilt while the little Fea purred in her lap.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t decline should I offer you the pleasure of my body, Lord of Sin and Pleasure. One has to be dead to be immune to your charms.”
Now Lucifer saw no reason to keep himself from tasting her skin, and so he slowly dragged his tongue over her finger still pressed against his lips. Lucifer was delighted to hear her breath hitch, and he watched the black of her eyes eat away the bright moonlight until her eyes turned into fathomless darkness with flecks of red from the fire dancing in her darkness.
She didn’t pull back from his touch, and so Lucifer decided to try his luck when he saw nothing in her hooded eyes that told him to back off.
He took her hand between his own and turned her hand around until he could press a kiss to her palm while her fingertips touched his beard stubble, just the barest hint of touch against his skin. Her reaction was to bury her teeth in her bottom lip and maltreat the soft skin until her teeth left marks behind.
Trying his luck, Lucifer pulled her hand closer to his body until her fingertips brushed against his chest and he could reach her wrist. Lucifer felt her strength vibrate under his grip, and he hummed low when she didn’t pull her hand back when he placed another kiss in her palm to feel the warrior-rough skin there, and he asked himself how her fingers would feel on his skin.
Lucifer kept looking up at the Huntress, who stared at him with wild eyes full of feral hunger and night-dark eyes.
However, when he dragged his teeth over the sensitive skin on the inner side of her wrist, the Huntress tensed, and the storm he had seen the last time they met returned to her eyes.
A warning and the little Fea gave voice to the storm his mistress was calling upon as he hissed loudly.
Pulling back slowly, Lucifer placed her hand against his chest without holding her in place.
“Do I need to apologize?”
She looked at her hand splayed over his heart, and Lucifer felt like he was standing in the heart of a storm. The winds roaring in the distance hit stronger than any whip, and lightning illuminated the day turned to night with the storm eating away the sun itself.
“No.”
A single word spoken by the Huntress with the thunder in her voice.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes while she buried her fingers in his clothes, but Lucifer remained silent and willed his heart to beat slower as he felt as affected as she was, but her reaction had been apparent.
She had said no, and the Devil especially would never deny someone their right to decline what he had to offer. However, he wasn’t expecting her to move this fast, but suddenly he held the Huntress in his lap while she placed her head against his shoulder with her hand still over his heart. The little Fea was protesting somewhere around them.
“You know why we can’t be, don’t you, Lucifer?”
The wind was still strong in her voice and gave Lucifer the impression of feeling it drag through his feathers hidden from prying eyes.
“Yes, I understand.”
They couldn’t be because he needed to return to his Kingdom while she remained on Earth, unable to follow him. He was part glad and part furious because a piece of him that will be forever the Lightbringer demanded her by his side with his wings held high and feathers like blades to fight anyone who would dare to keep him from her.
When she pulled back and looked at him, the storm in her eyes was gone, and the moon had risen again.
She was about to speak when suddenly the little Fae jumped up and sat down in the small space between their bodies.
Meow!
And the tension was broken as she laughed at the cat’s antics.
“It’s okay, Te’oma. There is no need to worry about me.”
Meow!
Rolling his eyes, Lucifer was about to lean back in his chair but found himself trapped in the Huntress’s grip.
Before he could ask what she was doing, the Huntress leaned over the cawing cat between them and pressed her lips to his in a fierce kiss that was so much more and yet not enough.
Meow!