Purgatory was the one place that angels and demons never really went to if they could help it, and because of that, it usually slipped our mind that it even existed. It was a place filled with barren, cold nothingness. It was carved out to be a waiting room for spirits that were within the five percent range of being sent to either Heaven or Hell.
When a person died their soul immediately went to the soul sorters: the angel, Raguel, and the demon, Minos. You would think their job was detailed and took a lot of thought, but because deaths happened so frequently, they developed a super easy system with a soul scale.
A recently deceased soul was placed on a counter scale, and the scale showed how much good or evil they had done in their lives. For example, if a baby died, it couldn't have done any evil, so when its soul was placed on the scale, the angel side would say a hundred percent and the Hell side would read zero percent. Then Raguel would send the soul up to Heaven for it to be given an assignment.
On the flip side, if the soul had a higher percentage on the Hell side, Minos would slingshot that soul down into Hell, and the princes would figure out which circle it belonged in.
Now, let's say a soul was put on the scale and they had a forty-nine percent good and a fifty-one percent evil rating. Raguel and Minos would need to dig deeper into the soul’s history to find out more about the specific sins or good deeds and who it all affected, and if any of that would change the outcome. That obviously required more time and energy and effort, which was in short supply, and they needed a place to put the souls while waiting on a decision. That place was Purgatory.
Since the soul was waiting for either Heaven or Hell, it didn't need to feel anything or really do anything, so they made sure that Purgatory was more of a nothingness. No magic. No feeling. No thoughts. Just a state of being, and that was it. Now you can understand why angels and demons forgot about that place, because it’s forgettable, but those who have ever been there never forget the feeling of it. The feeling of not really being alive but not really being dead, either. It was this stagnant feeling of ickiness that would make me beg for either Heaven or Hell if I was left there for too long.
When we entered Purgatory, I immediately started to dry heave. Even as I was partially bent over, Michael started to nag at me.
“Come on. Get up. We need to get this over with as quickly as possible.”
I looked up at him with a sickly grin. “So the big bad Michael is scared of Purgatory. Interesting.”
I made a gesture of putting that thought into my brain and locking it up as he growled at me and prowled forward. I limply followed after him, not wanting to wander Purgatory on my own. This place gave me the heebie jeebies.
After far longer than either of us wanted—Michael enduring my complaining every step of the way by grinding his teeth—we came across a weird-looking cave. It was weird because it looked like it had been recently carved out, and there was a shovel next to it. Michael and I both looked at each other, silently agreeing that we needed to search that cave.
We went in slowly, trying to hear if anyone was inside, but it seemed to be quiet as a ghost.
“Who do you think made this?” I asked as I looked around.
Michael shushed me, but being the hypocritical ass he was, he answered me. “I have no idea, but I do know that no one can get here except for an angel or a demon.”
I faced him, quiet be damned, as I snidely added, “Ooohhh… wow. That took some real detective work there.”
He gave me his big-man scary stare as he pushed past me, going farther into the cave. I just followed like none of that had happened and I continued talking.
“I swear sometimes, Michael, you’re such an arrogant asshole that it makesmeseem like the sane one. Do you know how insane that is?! That I, Lucifer, would be the sane brother? Even I don't want that!” I threw my hands and eyes up in emphasis.
I wasn't looking where I was going, because I felt like I was really figuring out my stride in this argument, when I smacked into his steel-hard back. I cupped my nose, though I knew I wasn’t bleeding.
“What the fuck, Michael?! Who stops in the middle of—” I stopped speaking when I noticed his face was focused on something ahead of us.
I stepped around his large frame to see something on a slab of rock, glowing with light. Was that…?
We both staggered forward at zombie speed, our eyes getting wider the closer we got, because right there, lying with his eyes closed, surrounded by a glowing shield, was our father.
We looked up at each other at the same time, all our earlier fights and disagreements silenced as we realized we’d done it. We’d found him. Together.
A light, chipper voice called out from behind us. “You really should’ve left this whole thing alone, guys.” And before we could turn around to face who it was, I felt weird, distorted magic hit me.
Then everything went dark.
Chapter 36
Afterwegothome,I helped Lillian put the hounds back into their kennel, which was more of a mega mansion for the beasts. I was really starting to like the two buggers, and I wanted to make sure that we bonded as much as possible. If my little goddess loved them, I was going to love them, and them me. I was determined. Also, now that I knew where they were kept, I could sneak them treats for some extra love. I wanted to bank as much of that as I could.
After we got the hounds situated, I could tell that she was still deep in thought about what we’d seen, trying to come up with some solution or explanation. When her stomach grumbled, I told her I was sure my brothers were getting lunch ready so we should head over to the main house to feed our bodies before we let our minds do the heavy work.
She looked up at me with the brightest smile I had seen grace her face and agreed with me. She slowly put her hand in mine, and we walked to the house. It was an amazing feeling to have her small hand in my overly large one. It made my heart pound in my chest like a sledgehammer, setting all of my nerve endings a buzz. I didn't want to ruin anything, so I just kept walking, not mentioning the hand holding or how much I craved any affection from her in case it scared her away.
When we got to the main house, Reggie escorted us to the room where I’d found Fame, Con, and Lillian in earlier, saying he had lunch already waiting for us. Fame had some special sushi roll that looked like it had come from that fancy place that put all the spicy crab toppings and eel sauces on top. Yuck. D had a surf and turf with lobster and skirt steak that reminded me of his days in the Vegas casinos. Con was the only one out of us boys who was eating something relatively normal with his fancy avocado and fried egg burger, with waffle fries and a small salad. I was tempted to ask him why he’d ruined a good meal with lettuce, but I let it go.
My man Reggie was a master at the culinary arts and put in front of me the best grilled cheese sandwich I’d ever smelt in my entire existence. The cheesy goodness had to be straight out of Hell because it was to die for. He paired it with some kettle chips, and I was surprised when he also put a T-bone steak on a separate plate next to it. My favorite!
