In the morning I woke up in the hotel room—it was large and very beautiful. I stayed sitting on the edge of the hotel bed. I had slept very little thinking about what I was going to do, looking through the only open window of the hotel for obvious reasons toward the city's dawn, with the phone in my hand and a decision crystallizing in my mind.
I dialed the number that had become so familiar in recent days as a video call.
"Alexander?" Lucifer's voice sounded relieved and slightly worried. "How did you sleep?"
"Well, Dad. Very well, actually." I took a deep breath. "I have something very important to tell you all." I hesitated a bit but this was necessary. "I've chosen the basis of my punishment."
There was silence on the line, then I heard murmurs in the background as he apparently gathered the others.
"We're all here," he finally said. "Voren, Kael, and some of your uncles. What's your decision?"
I took another breath—it was a difficult decision even for me, not because of feelings toward my former family but because of the fact that this would put me in the direct line of attack.
"I'm going to force them to completely rewrite their laws," I said, feeling how certainty settled in my voice. "Especially those related to alpha, beta and omega species."
The silence that followed was longer this time.
"Alexander," Voren finally said, and I could hear the concern in his voice, "that will put you more in their line of attack. If you force them to change their fundamental laws..."
"They're going to rebel," Kael finished. "They're going to try to find ways to resist or avoid the change."
"I know," I said simply. "But the other option would be to leave them alive without a trace of their gods' power—to become normal humans." Everyone was shocked—it was like killing them.
"It's the right punishment. A forced reform. Last night I talked to vampires, and they treat their omegas as complete individuals, not as property, and I'm going to force them to be like that. But I need more information so they can't find any loopholes."
"How exactly do you plan to structure this?" asked Gabriel's voice from the background.
"That's the problem," I admitted. "I only have the foundation. I need to structure the entire legal framework, and for that I need help. I need someone who has lived long enough to know the laws of multiple supernatural species."
"Quetzalcoatl?" Lucifer suggested. "He was the one who announced the chosen punishment decision."
"Yes, I need to talk to him to formalize this. But I also need more extensive legal consultation—he only knows about some things. I need someone who lived long enough to know these matters firsthand."
I paused, feeling how an unwanted thought slipped into my mind.
The only person I can think of is... Kaius.
I shook my head violently. No. I wasn't going to trust him again—he chose who to trust. Besides, I wouldn't trust him with anything, especially not with something as important as this.
"I think my second option is to go to each supernatural species directly and ask them about their legal systems. I mean, everyone already knows me from what I heard from the vampires," I continued. "I also realized that many want the Bearers to fall, so I assure you more than one species will help me with field research."
"That will take time," said Voren, though I could detect fear in his voice. "And you'd have to be very thorough."
"But you'll give them a punishment that would be worse than death for them," added Kael. "I like it."
"But first," I said, smiling despite the seriousness of the conversation, "I'm going to return home this morning. From what I can hear in the background, someone is hysterical about my overnight absence."
"I'M NOT HYSTERICAL!" Voren shouted from the background, which was immediately followed by laughter from my uncles.
"He's completely hysterical," Gabriel confirmed with amusement. "Michael and Raziel have been trying to calm him down for the past three hours."
"Anything could have happened!" Voren continued, clearly having grabbed the phone. "That creature that attacked you last night could have had reinforcements! You could have encountered more hostile Bearers! You could—!"
"Dad," I interrupted gently, "I'm fine. But I'll return in an hour, okay? Besides, I sent someone to investigate where those creatures really come from. Satisfied?"
I heard how Lucifer recovered the phone. "Please come back soon. Your alpha father is having a crisis."
"A crisis?"
"Apparently he spent all night pacing around his study, muttering about all the possible catastrophic scenarios that could have happened to you. Kael finally had to hide all the weapons because he was considering coming to look for you."
Despite all the seriousness of the situation, I couldn't help but smile. It was strangely comforting to have someone worry so much about my wellbeing, even when it was excessive.
"I'll be home soon," I promised.
"I love you, son," said Lucifer, his voice softening.
"And I love you all."
After hanging up, I took a quick shower and changed into one of the new t-shirts I had bought the day before. The mirror showed me someone I barely recognized—golden hair that shone even under artificial light, violet eyes that seemed to contain depths they hadn't had before, and a presence that radiated power even when completely relaxed.
Cole was already awake when I went down to the lobby, drinking what appeared to be blood from an elegant coffee cup.
"Returning to Hell?" he asked with a smile.
"Hysterical parents," I confirmed. "But thanks for last night. The conversation about omega dynamics in other species was exactly what I needed."
"Anything to help reform those bastards," he said with a smile that showed fangs. "If you need more information about how we handle things here in the vampire world, don't hesitate to ask."
"I will."
I left the hotel feeling like a supreme court judge—at least I think that's how they feel when approving some law. My plan was solid—forcing the Bearers to rewrite their laws to treat omegas as equals was exactly the kind of reform their society needed.
But the logistics would be complicated. I would have to visit multiple supernatural species, understand their legal systems, and then create a framework that could be effectively implemented without leaving legal loopholes that the Bearers could exploit to return everything to how it was before or to something much worse.
I found an empty alley and opened a portal back to Hell. The familiar smell of sulfur and power welcomed me like an embrace.
When I emerged in the palace gardens, Voren was already receiving me with open arms. It was strange—Voren had always been hard-faced and cold, even in my past life he almost killed me once, but now when it comes to me he seems more like my mother.
"Alexander," he said, wrapping me in a hug that smelled of paternal worry and relief. "Are you hurt? Did anyone bother you? Is last night's wound healing properly?"
"I'm fine, Dad," I said, returning the hug. "I just needed time to think."
"And now you have a plan?" asked Lucifer, appearing with Kael and several of my uncles behind him.
"I have the beginning of one," I confirmed. "But it's going to require a lot of research work."
"Then we'd better get started," said Michael with a smile that promised the entire infernal family was going to be involved in this project.
As we walked toward the palace together, I couldn't help but feel that this was the real beginning of my reign as Prince of Hell. Not with ceremony or fanfare, but with the conscious decision to use my power to create real and lasting change.
The Bearers had created a system that oppressed their own most vulnerable members. Now they were going to learn what it felt like to have their world turned upside down by someone with more power than them—someone who was supposed to be the weakest of them all.
It was poetic justice.