The Devil & The Draxon

50. The Letters

Lucifer lands on the throne room balcony, his body and mind both numb. Jinx escorts the devil into the throne room to where Chloe, Dan and Ella wait, pacing the floor anxiously.

"Oh god, finally!" Ella exclaims. She goes still, seeing the state the devil is in, "What happened? Wait... Where's Nyx?"

Jinx shakes his head sadly, "We had no choice. He's gone."

Ella's hands cover her mouth as Dan's eyes widen and he sits on the dais of the throne, his elbows on his knees, hands hiding his face.

"Lucifer," Chloe says softly, taking the devil's hand gently in an effort to comfort him. "Lucifer, it'll be alright."

The devil's eyes flare and he wrenches away from her with a shout. "No, Detective, it won't be alright! It will never be alright!" Lucifer stops, tears starting to fall down his face as he whispers, "Not without him..."

Chloe watches wide-eyed as Lucifer retreats back into himself, his gaze becoming glassy as he stares at the floor.

"He's grieving," Jinx says softly. "And I don't know how long it will take; Nyxeus is such a huge part of his life... I'll take him to bed, then it's best you return to Earth. There's nothing left to bother yourselves with here..."

Chloe keeps her eyes on the devil for a long moment before giving Jinx a nod. A heavy feeling settles in her chest as she watches her honorary brother be led away by the dragon. She's seen just how much the devil depends on the draxon and vice versa and she's worried how the devil will handle the loss.

Glancing out of the balcony's glass doors, she sees Nebula and Hex carrying the limp body of La'rayel by the roots of her wings while Nyx's body is carried carefully by Kirillion's coil as he slithers along. The firsts bring the bodies to rest near the main entrance of the palace, carefully arranging both of them to appear as if they're merely asleep.

"He's really gone," Dan says quietly, having come to stand next to Chloe. "His body always disappears when he dies, but this time it hasn't."

Chloe doesn't reply, a sense of denial running through her veins.

It doesn't take long until Jinx returns with the clothes the three humans arrived wearing. They change quickly and meet the other firsts outside, along with Nyx's guard.

"How is Lucifer?" Votex asks.

"As you expect him to be. We'll need to make sure he takes care of himself. I get the feeling he's going to avoid the Dragonlands because of the memories, so I believe we'll need to have someone in Hell with him. For now, let's prepare for the adjustments needed and plan on how to tell the dragons. Vortex, can you, Qietiye and Teiterin return these three to their homes?"

Vortex nods, "Of course."

The dragon bends his head, allowing Chloe to climb onto his back, her legs in front of the roots of his wings.

"Well, it was amazing being here," Ella says softly with a sad smile on her lips as she sits along Teiterin's back.

"It was fun having you here," the deep purple lung dragon replies, "We don't get many visitors. Maybe you can come back sometime."

Ella nods, "Maybe."

And with that, the three dragons lift into the air and disappear.

⚯

Ella arrives home silently, saying goodbye to Teiterin before the dragon disappears from her apartment.

"Margaret, I'm back," she calls, checking on her bathtub chicken. "You miss me?" The chicken clucks at her, making the woman smile. "Good thing I got you that automatic food and water dispenser, huh?"