L'aprés Midi Avec Lucifer

Disclaimer: I don't own my friends…and the last time I checked, I don't own Lucifer either. However, I do own the plot line, settings, and the Beyond.

Other Credits

References of the Sartans and Patyrns are taken from the Deathgate Cycle series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

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Chapter One

She woke up to screaming, the smell of fire and blood in air. Smoke filled her vision, and soon, lungs, causing her to start coughing violently. Her almond shaped eyes started to water as L'Ran fought her away out of the wooden room in the tree the lower Underworld had provided her. Shrill voices stun her ears as she tried to understand what was going on.

"Brother!" someone cried. Only later did she realize that it was her voice, throaty and sore. Blond hair swept across her hazed vision as the elf maiden frantically searched for her family.

"L'Ran! L'Ranna!" someone yelled her name back. Aritius! Her brother! He was alive.

Fire glinted blindly off his almost white hair as L'Ran made her way to him, stumbling in the flames. They licked up against her tanned skin, but didn't do as much harm as it would do to a human or dwarf. Whoever had attacked her clan was obviously really stupid or was only using fire as a distraction.

"Aritius! What's going on?" she asked, fear nearly overpowering her.

There was panic in his eyes. "Go now! Run away, L'Ranna!"

"What? I don't—"

Before she could get her next word out, Aritius had dropped dead at her feet. Someone had managed to slice his back open so that his internal organs could be seen. L'Ran raised her hand to cover her mouth; afraid she was about to hurl any second. "Aritius?" she whispered, her shock drowning out all the other sounds.

Go now! Run away, L'Ranna!

His last words echoed in her mind as L'Ran ran out of there, tears blinding her way.

Thorns and low hanging branches whipped in her face and tore at her skin. Now her tears were a mix of salt water and blood. She ran until she slipped on a rock in the stream, severely injuring her ankle.

Voices were heard behind her, a strange language she could not decipher. The Underworld's moons did not shine and she had no idea where she was. The friendly forest glared at the elf.

The voices were closer.

L'Ran whimpered, a pathetic sound for one so proud. She clutched her hands together and did what she vowed only to do in a time of emergency.

TRACY! HELP ME!! HELP ME PLEASE!!

In her thoughts, she wept, a million nightmares filling her mind.

"What? He's bored?" Tobias stared at Michael in amazement.

The archangel shrugged. "Lucifer really has no job other than to watch over the Lower Astral Plane…which most people call Hell. The shadows there are actually pretty tame, believe it or not."

Tobias stared some more. "…tame?"

Tracy toyed around with her black box, her eyes half closed. She was tired to the bone and would have paid for some sleep at the moment. Yet, business kept her awake. "Look, we'll find some work for Lucifer soon. I mean, what's a little vacation gonna do to him?"

"He's a corrupted angel. We don't even watch over him, Tracy. We don't know what he does down there."

Tracy lifted a weary eye. "As you said, he's corrupted. What can he do? He kills, he rapes, he tortures. Sounds fine to me."

Once again, Tobias stared. Then, finally, he sighed, closing his eyes. "You're right, you're right. I…I just hate this job." He raked a hand through his dirty blond hair before turning back to Michael. "Thanks Michael. You can go now."

The archangel gave him a slight bow of parting and backed out of the room without turning his back to Tobias.

The prince stared once more. "Is that some sort of tradition I'm not aware of?"

Tracy snickered. "You're so naïve when it comes to these things." She covered her mouth when a yawn sneaked its way through. "I think I'll try and take a nap…I'm so tired." She stood up and found Tobias's arms circling around her waist, his lips near her neck. She raised a thin eyebrow. "Horny today, aren't we?"

"Nah…just…always this way…"

She snickered again and turned to face him, her lips playing a game of catch. "Well, I suppose I could…" She froze.

"Hm…? You could what?" He then saw the look of terror on her face. "Tracy?" he cautioned, his face clouded with worry.

"RANNA!" Tracy suddenly screamed. She spun around, too fast for anyone to stop her and dashed out of the room.

"L'Ran?" Tobias asked to thin air. "What's happened to her?"

Kiora nearly got plowed over when Tracy ran past her.

"Gods, what's gotten her in such a panic?" the archangel muttered under her breath. Tracy never lost her cool in most situations.

"Did Tracy just run by?" Sabriel asked, appearing ever so suddenly out of the dark corridor.

"Yeah…she was sure in a hurry."

Sabriel shrugged. "Well, anyway, we were asked to scout something out. Apparently, Lucifer's lost track of some demons and asks for us to scout them."

"Lucifer? He…lost…" Kiora stared at Sabriel, a slow dread creeping onto her face. The other archangel nodded.

Kiora groaned. "Holy shit, this is not good…"

L'Ran struggled to repress a scream when she felt her hair being twisted back, bending her neck in the most uncomfortable way. Harsh laughter tampered with her ears.

A bitter taste crept into her mouth and L'Ran soon recognized it as her own blood. Her clothes were ripped off by cruel claws and tossed aside, lost from the face of the Underworld.

Suddenly, the laughter stopped. The elf felt the pressure on her hair release, but she was too weak to keep her neck held up right. However, all the pulling had numbed her skull so badly that she hardly felt her head bang up against the ground. In fact, she hardly felt anything.

Her elf ears, as always, were keen and sharp.

She heard the sound of her attackers yelling something and then…it was silent. Too silent. No nightingale offered song, no owl hooted it's pride, and not even a raven gloated.

Too silent.

Footsteps stirred up the leaves and L'Ran felt her heart quicken once more. She felt her body tense up, preparing to be attacked again.

Instead, nothing came.

A cold, heartless voice rang against the dead. "Get up."

She could hardly breath, much less move. How could this stranger want her to get up? And plus…this was a man, a human she guessed from the harsh voice and the dragonhide clothed feet. What did he want of her?

"What are you waiting for?"

L'Ran tried to speak but her lips refused to obey. She was too weak. Her face flushed, shamed at her vulnerability and anger at his heartlessness. "Please…" she managed to gasp out, her usually musical elf voice stained with blood and the harsh human language. "Help…me…"

The man gave out a short laugh. "Help? Fine, I'll help you."

L'Ran nearly screamed at what came next. He grabbed her arms roughly and held her upright. Her legs let out beneath her but his arms supported her weight. The man was not gentle at all, and his ways only damaged her wounds further. A soft whimpering noise escaped her mouth. Where was Tracy? Had the shaman heard her cry? Was her connection strong enough?

Her eyes, stiff from dried tears, opened, to only close again, in fear. She saw his eyes, the chilly blue orbs, and the cold fire, which burned within. They pierced her skull and sliced open her soul, as if they knew all her sins. This man was of pure evil; L'Ran felt it with all her senses.

"L'RANNA!!" A panicked voice rang through the stillness of the night.

The elf nearly wept in relief. At the same time, she could not help but notice that the man's posture stiffened up, his arms dropping to their sides.

That would be a problem for her. As soon as he let go, L'Ran's knees buckled and she fell back to the ground, a small cry of pain that was miserably muffled.

"L'Ran!" Tracy's voice was closer this time and soon the elf found her in an embrace of a trusted friend. "Oh, Ran, why didn't you call me sooner? You know I can't teleport in the Overworlds. It's too dangerous."

She tried to speak, but tears threatened to emerge. Without a word, the air guardian understood.

"Queen."

The elf froze, her blood suddenly turning cold. There was a new tone in the man's voice, the death of all the Lower Astral Planes combined. Who was he? The elf opened her eyes once more, in caution.

In the faint moonlight that had dared to shine through, she saw a tall figure. He wore what humans on the Physical Plane would call a trench coat of some sort. The black coat seemed to be looser at the bottom, and when he moved, L'Ran could only guess that it flared. It was a frightening funny idea, the flare, because it seemed to be like a dress. He wore boots of dragonhide and the elf could only guess something black under the coat. His skin was deathly pale, like Tracy's, and the only thing with color were his eyes. Those luminous eyes that could make ice melt yet freeze fire at the same time.

Tracy blinked in surprise. From the look on her face, the elf knew that the air guardian knew this man. And he had called her ‘queen'. But he did not show any respect at all.

"Lucifer, what are you doing here?"

A shudder broke through the elf's body. Lucifer? The dark angel? Was it possible that the man that had just rescued her was the infamous Lucifer?

"I came to seal the demons that had escaped me. They're powerful enough…with the secrets of Patryn magic."

Tracy's eyes narrowed. "Who gave you permission to experiment with Patryn magics?"

There was no answer.

Tracy turned back to L'Ran and picked her up. The elf could not but feel a bit embarrassed along with her terror. After all, she was unclothed. However, there was no reaction in Lucifer's expression. "We'll have to talk, Lucifer. You know better than to play around with that magic."

He glanced down and L'Ran could see his eyes narrowing into a glare. "Yes," he hissed between his teeth.

Tracy's expression mirrored his, with the exception of a glare. "I want this problem solved by the end of this week. The other angels might be of some help…don't wait until it's too late."

Confusion built up in L'Ran. The air guardian was usually so gentle with her soldiers; her orders were never exactly barked out unless it was an absolute emergency.

Well…then again…considering the state she was in…

Tracy scooped up L'Ran in her arms, feeling the elf shivering in the cold. Clothes, a simple white dress, appeared on the elf suddenly. However, the white soon became mingled with the crimson of her blood.

The air guardian took notice. She began walking away from Lucifer, who was standing there, still as a stone pillar. No, L'Ran reminded herself, not a stone pillar. Only a few months before had she discovered stones that could walk and talk.

"Tracy?" she croaked, her throat dry.

Tracy gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, you're safe now. I'm taking you to a stone circle, and then, perhaps Lorac's cave."

"Tracy, who was that?"

A puzzled look greeted L'Ran. "That was Lucifer. Don't you recognize him?"

"No…we-we were taugh-aught," she stuttered.

"Don't talk while you're still very weak, L'Ran," Tracy whispered.

That was the last thing the elf heard before she nodded off into sleep.