Chapter 16
As much as Alastor enjoyed having access to the royals and gaining useful intel, he really didn’t care much for their ‘family’ dinner. However, ‘unofficially knighted’ he may be, he was still certain that ‘the help’ didn’t normally have a seat at the table. Furthermore, the day had already proven to be a long one and with the wound on his chest still very much making its presence known to him, he really didn’t have the energy to continue entertaining the trio of physically and emotionally taxing Morningstars.
Alastor was beginning to wonder if his new deal was going to regularly require such tedious niceties from him. “While I don’t wish to sound ungrateful, I must inquire as to the rather odd opportunity of my having the pleasure of enjoying your company this evening. I had thought it to be intended as a private meal for the three of you to get reacquainted and catch up. I feel like I may be imposing.”
“Nonsense. You made this lovely meal and I requested your company.”
“Hmm, yes, about that, I understand from Charlie you had something you wished to discuss?”
“Oh, very well. I thought we might first finish the dinner you so painstakingly prepared for us, but onto business if we must.”
“Oh, I insist.”
Lucifer couldn’t understand why the overly exaggerated exchange of dated formalities between Alastor and Lilith was bugging him, but there was only so much a man could take. “Can we all just speak plainly? What is this, the bygone human era? What century are we in?”
“Why I do believe we’ve long since entered the technological and artificial age of human advancement. I understand you’re an ancient being with a different concept of time but do try to keep up. Has that rusty old brain of yours finally fossilized from a lack of use? Is this the equivalence of senility for infinite beings?”
“I was being sarcastic! Obviously! But I don’t expect a relic like you, stuck in whatever time period you’re from, to understand the modern rhetorics of the kids these days, am I right?” Lucifer waggled his eyebrows at Charlie seeking her amusement and admiration at how he’d turned Alastor’s old jokes against him and called him out on his hypocrisy. “What do we even need this overdressed antique here for, anyway?”
Lilith and Charlie were completely unfazed by the childish bickering at the table. At this point they were both growing immune to Lucifer and Alastor nit-picking back and forth.
Lilith merely set her cutlery to the side and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “If I may,” she interrupted, “I asked Alastor to be here so that I ay impart a crucial, forgotten bit of history onto both him and Charlie. It concerns the exact nature of deals and deal making. I expect your recognition of the importance of this matter, Lucifer.”
Geeze, Lilith really must have spent these last eight years in Heaven, she was beginning to sound like Sera. “Alright, Lily, I get it. I suppose it IS about time Charlie heard this, but I don’t see why HE must know.”
“The way Alastor, and his fellow overlords, go about making deals? I should think you’d want them to understand more.” Lilith raised any eyebrow in question, “don’t you think it could go a long way towards them appreciating and respecting deals, not to mention valuing their souls?”
Well now Alastor was intrigued. If Lilith was about to disclose some archaic knowledge regarding souls and deals, this dinner charade was merely a small discomfort to endure in exchange. “You have my undivided attention, my dear.”
“Well as you know, a soul can be exchanged as currency in a binding deal. However, before demons learned to forcibly trade souls in such a manner, the exchange of souls was a rather rare and valuable experience between two like minded beings whose goals aligned and who trusted one another. Do you understand?” Lilith looked between Alastor and Charlie seeing two very different expressions indicating two very different conclusions. Both then spoke at once.
“So…it was like a binding promise formed through friendship and trust?”
“Hmm, an unfortunate discovery made through rare happenstance, then?
Lilith sighed. “To be fair, you’re both correct, in a manner of speaking. It WAS only through rare happenstance that the ability to exchange souls was discovered, but it isn’t merely an acquired skilled learned by accident. Likewise, while it is a promise intended to be everlasting, trust wasn’t really a require element. In fact, modern deals are made due to a lack of trust and the ever-looming possibility of betrayal.”
“Oh, but, mom, didn’t you say it came from people trusting one another?”
“Yes, but, Charlie, where does trust come from?”
Charlie looked as though she were straining her brain to solve a riddle. Alastor surprisingly let out a sound of disgust and annoyance, clearly having understood what Lilith was talking about and being put off by it. “What’s the matter, Bellhop? Are you starting to understand how weak, insignificant, and utterly pointless all your deals and scheming really are? Ha!”
“Lucifer! You’re not helping!” Lilith admonished.
“You’re quite mistaken. I’m just surprised and disappointed that our dear Charlie doesn’t know. I thought you, as a father, would have explained it to her long ago. Especially considering the implications regarding her own parents.”
“Alright, that enough out of you too, Alastor!” Lilith cut in sensing Alastor had caught onto another troubling issue and hearing Lucifer’s breath hitch even from across the table. “Yes, we’ve been distracted by our own faults and insecurities and have failed our daughter. We should have focused more on her and less on our own problems and for that we have a lot of making up to do. However, you are in no position to judge us or anyone else who finds themselves in our realm. Hell is for those who make mistakes. Last I checked, you’re here with the rest of us.”
After that very motherly tongue-lashing Alastor wasn’t about to push the issue. He did think to himself ‘I’m only here with the rest of you because I choose to be and not because I made a mistake’, but he decided against voicing that. No need to allow her to bait him into revealing too much of himself. “My apologies. Do continue.”
“What I’m trying to convey is that souls were never intended to be exchanged as cheap currency. They are priceless gifts meant to be given freely. The first ‘deals’, if you could even call them that, were the selfless exchanges of souls between lovers.”
It finally clicked with Charlie, “Oh! I get it! When two people are so in love they give their souls to each other, right?!”
“Well, usually a soul is gifted without expectation of return. A selfless act. Anyway, a some point it did become tradition for those who claimed to be in love to prove their love by exchanging their souls and eternal promises, aka vows. This practice later found it’s way to the humans of Earth and became known as marriage. Though, as the religions and politics of humans changed, marriage became more of sham, and sometimes even a weapon. While there are still many among the humans of Earth who believe in eternal love and binding their souls through marriage, others use it as a means to entrapment and enslavement. For those with tainted hearts, marriage is just a means to use established mortal laws to keep a person bound to them. In that regard, I suppose you could compare it to the farce that was my first ‘marriage’ to Adam.”
“Well, you’ve certainly given us a lot to process. Having lived on Earth as a human myself I had, unfortunately, already come to understand the potential dangers of marriage. However, I fail to see what this has to do with the modern deals being struck among the denizens of Hell.”
“The citizens of Hell disregard their souls. They use them as currency to willingly enslave themselves for shallow, sometimes false, gain and vague promises. More to the point, true soul-binding is not achieved through deals. It is only accomplished through a selfless desire to gift your soul to another without want or expectation of reiving anything in return. Meaning, in order for two people to truly merge their souls, they must both be willing to gift their soul to the other without seeking anything in return.”
“An act of love! If you give someone your souls just beaus you love them it’s a selfless gift, right?” Charlie paused as realization finally dawned on her. “So…you and dad…?”
“Were never able to achieve this, I’m afraid.” Lilith finished for her. “Although I do le your father dearly, in my on way, I was never willing o surrender my soul to anyone, not even him.” Lilith lowered her voice and her gaze and added, “I doubt he could have ever given me his either.”
“No…” Lucifer admitted only above a whisper, “I wanted to, but I…I just couldn’t. I always knew who you were, who you still are, and love you for all of it, but the doubt was always present. I couldn’t gift my soul to someone who didn’t love me the same way, and who…didn’t want me.” The last part was said as a barely audible whisper.
“Lucifer, you will always be my most beloved friend and I will always love you.”
“But…I don’t understand. How can you two have so much love foe ah other, but still not love each other enough?” Charlie looked back and forth between her crestfallen parents.
Lucifer merely stated flatly, “how can anyone love The Devil?”
“Lucifer…”
“Don’t Lily, we’ve rehashed that argument enough. I am convinced it is my punishment to never be loved, to be the most hated being in all of creation. I deserve it. I condemned us all.”
Alastor had been listening amusedly up to this point. He had found it interesting that not only could Lilith not gift her soul to Lucifer, but Lucifer also couldn’t give his to Lilith. However, something about hearing Lucifer declare himself unworthy of love didn’t sit right with Alastor. It had always bothered him how much hatred, blame, and condemnation had been placed upon this one individual who had only disagreed with Heaven and disobeyed for reasons he believed were in the best interests of humans.
Lilith didn’t want tonight’s conversation to end on such a low note. It wasn’t her intention. “Maybe you should try loving yourself first. It starts with forgiving yourself.”
“Right! There are lots of people who love you, dad. Maybe not ‘give up their souls’ love, “Charlie said awkwardly,” but like family and friends who value you and want to spend time with you, love. Like me, and mom, and the sins!”
Lucifer pulled Charlie from her seat at the table into a crushing hug. “And that’s already more than I could hope for! My daughter loves me!”
Alastor didn’t notice himself watching the display with a look of sentimental fondness on his face, but Lilith noticed.
Follow me on X/Twitter https://x.com/AlienAnatomyTC
Leave a Reply