Lucifer's Bride

Chapter 3

"What are you looking for?" Rosaline asks once they're outside the house.
"Nothing you will be able to find," Lucifer tells her.
"I can help!" she protests. "What does it look like?"
What does it look like? Lucifer hadn't thought of that before. What would grace look like from the perspective of a human? To angels, it's indescribably perfect; everything one could want. Would it mean anything at all to a human? Probably not. It's not something a human could comprehend, most likely.
"Perhaps you could be of use right now," he says thoughtfully. "Have you noticed anything... Strange? Anything that seems out of the ordinary, from just before our first encounter?"
"Strange meaning...?" she prompts.
How would Lucifer know what is strange? He doesn't even know what is normal on this sad excuse for a planet.
"Anything not normal?"
"That was very helpful." It takes Lucifer a moment to realize that Rosaline was joking. "There were two shooting stars very close to each other, if that is what you mean," she informs him. "They seemed much closer than most we see.
Two shooting stars. He knows stars are the dots in the sky, and shooting something means it moves very quickly, so he can only assume a shooting star is something in the sky that moves vey quickly. That could mean him and his grace. He hopes that is true.
"Do you know where they landed?" he asks hopefully.
"I do not believe shooting stars land..." she tells him uncertainly.
"Did one go in the direction you found me in?" he tries again.
She thinks about it for a moment, and then nods enthusiastically. "Yes it did, actually! Why?"
"Where did the other one go?" he asks.
"-Um... Why do you care where a star went?" she asks, clearly confused as to what this has to do with his lost thing.
"I can't explain, but it's very important. Which way did the star go?"
She purses he lips as she thinks. After a moment, she turns to the left and looks off slightly to the right, where she points as she turns back to Lucifer. "It would have been somewhere over here, I believe."
"Okay," he says, and starts walking in that direction quickly, hoping he will find it sooner rather than later. Rosaline hurries to keep up.
"What are you searching for that you believe a star will help you find it?" she asks.
"It's a long story," Lucifer says vaguely.
"We have time."
Lucifer sighs. This girl is going to be the death of him. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you."
"I doubt that," she says. "I can believe quite a bit."
"When I find it, I will show you." Lucifer is careful to avoid the word "if." There is no "if" about it. He will find his grace; it's only a matter of time. When he does, he will show her and every other miserable excuse for a living being what Heaven is capable of.
"Of course you will, because we will have found it together, and I would have seen it as well."
Lucifer frowns. She expects to come the whole way with him? He doesn't know how long this trip is going to be, and spending any more than an hour with her would be absolute torture.
"What would this mysterious item look like?" Rosaline asks.
Lucifer doesn't know what form it will come in. Perhaps it would be a new creation that hasn't been there before. Maybe it would speed up another creation that God has already set in motion. Whatever it looks like, Lucifer knows he will feel it when he's near. It's his grace, part of his being in a sense, plus the power will be radiating off of it.
"It is hard to explain," Lucifer says finally.
"Why are you so adamant about keeping this a secret?" Rosaline asks. "I can help you find it if you would tell me what I am looking for to begin with."
"But I cannot tell you what it is, so that causes a bit of a problem," Lucifer replies icily. This girl is so annoying. Why won't she just leave him alone?
"Will you please tell me what it is?" she begs him.
"Will you please stop asking?" Lucifer counters.
Rosaline frowns. "Okay," she agrees sadly. "What else would you like to talk about, then?"
"Nothing?" Lucifer says it hopefully, but knowing it will not work.
"That is no fun at all!" she protests. "Why would you rather not talk?"
"I'd rather you not be here at all," he mutters to himself.
"Why?" she asks. Lucifer should have been quieter. He doesn't answer. "We've only just met. You cannot dislike me yet."
"I don't see why not," he replies.
"You do not know me," she reminds him. "I may be the most amazing person on the planet, for all you know."
"I would not like the most amazing person on the planet either."
"Why not?"
Lucifer looks down at the girl, exasperated. Why does she have so many questions?
"Because I wouldn't," he replies simply. He wouldn't like any people, even the best on the planet.
"You need to be more social," Rosaline tells him.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because otherwise you will never have friends."
"I am not looking for friends," Lucifer says. He's looking for his grace, and that is all.
"Perhaps that is your problem," she suggests. "Just try talking to me. Please? Pay attention to me, I'm bored!"
"Then you should turn back while you are still able to return."
"If I were to leave, you would not know if you were going towards the star," she reminds him.
Lucifer frowns. He had nearly forgotten the star. Maybe he does need her, if only for a little while. She will be gone soon enough, and until then, he will have to suffer through her attempts at a conversation he wishes not to have.
He sighs. "Okay."
Rosaline grins. "Yay!"
"But I will not tell you what it is I'm looking for, nor will I tell you where I come from," he adds quickly.
She shrugs. "Okay, that does not matter, I suppose." She pauses, then points to his arm. "What is that?"
Lucifer glances down at the spot she pointed at. It's the Mark that God gave to him when they locked up the Darkness, with the help of his brothers. That may be a bit of a strange explanation though, and he does not want to deal with follow up questions. At the same time, he must tell her something. He has already told her not to ask about his past at all, so he cannot hide everything after telling her he would attempt to talk. He needs her for now, after all.
"It is called the Mark of Cain," he tells her finally. "My father gave it to me a long while ago."
"What does it do?"
"It is sort of a key, I suppose," he explains.
"And where is the lock? If there is a lock, there must be a key, and if there is a key, there must be a lock."
"I do not know," he admits.
"What does it keep locked?"
"Darkness," he tells her. It is true, though it will not be taken the way it should be. Lucifer means his aunt, but hopes to make it appear as if he means what there would be without the sun.
"Why would you ever want to lock away darkness?" she asks, confused.
"Because otherwise, none of us would exist."
She gives him a perplexed look. "I do not understand."
"You would not," he agrees. "There is a reason I did not want to talk about myself, and this is it." It is not precisely true; he does not want her to run from him now, before he finds his grace. If she knew his whole truth, she would never help him. Still, her confusion is not unexpected.
"How far are we from the mysterious object?" Rosaline asks.
"It cannot be too far..." Lucifer says slowly. Could it be far? He would not have expected his grace to separate from him, so he doesn't quite know where to expect it. How far could it have gotten from him before it too crashed into the ground?
"Will we be home by nightfall?" she asks.
"I do not know," he admits. "I cannot tell how far away it is, and until I am close, I will not know."
"Then I suppose we better move quicker."

A/N just realized that Cain would have been alive already oops oh well the Mark stays. Sorry I kinda failed.