Lucifer entered the private upper chambers of the Origin Palace beneath the crimson moons already waiting. Visions of the past danced through the wide-pane windows long shadows from the twin red moons painting long strokes of red along the carpeted floor. Ella leaned against the wide table with her arms crossed loosely in front of her watching him with the same calculating gaze she had worn for years. Luna sat on the edge of the low couch with her hands folded in her lap, tension coiled in her relaxed posture, waiting. Vina stood almost against the far wall, stance straight, blades already cleared away, her dark eyes locked onto Lucifer with a focus that had no purpose remaining to hide behind obligation.
A pause seemed to stretch in the charged silence, heavy with the weight of the caldera, the loss of Selene, the years of absence pressing down on Lucifer's shoulders before Ella pushed away from the table to take a slow measured step toward the immortal.
