***
Lucifer led the way to the Coliseum entrance, but as they got closer, more and more elven guards surrounded them. They pushed the Kadingirs toward a side gate, and Lucifer caught glimpses of several demon diplomats strolling through the front door.
“Have you lost your mind?” an elven guard asked him.
“What’s your name, friend?” Lucifer said.
“Alex.”
“Well, Alex, do you realize that over a hundred Chaos assassins are pouring into this stadium as we speak?”
“Of course,” Alex said. “And I’m sure you know what demon assassins would do if they felt they were surrounded and their covers were blown, right?”
A guard pushed Lucifer forward. “Hurry the hell up! They’re going to see you.”
Lucifer picked up his pace, and Sariel pushed the guard aside to join them.
“Stay low,” the prince assassin said. “Maybe they’ll think we’re just a couple more VIPs.”
“You better hope to your deities that none of them are wizards,” Alex said. “Because if they unleash a Chaos bolt into that crowd of globi, our universe would never forgive you—no matter what your uncle did for us.”
Batarel joined them at the front of the mob, followed by Anne. Alex’s mouth went agape as each guard bowed awkwardly in their plate armor.
“It’s an honor, sir,” Alex said. “A real honor.”
“You must have me confused with someone else,” Batarel said. “I’m a demon and a wizard, and I have killed more than my fair share of your people.”
“That may well be,” Alex said as he bumped into an elven woman and confiscated a ticket. When she protested, he pointed toward Batarel and motioned for her to follow, which she all too readily did.
“Sir,” Alex continued, offering the ticket to Batarel and grabbing a pen that the woman had between her breasts. “Please, would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Sign. My daughter would absolutely die.”
“What is he going on about, father?” Anne asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Batarel blurted. “I haven’t the slightest idea what is going on here.”
“Stop!” Alex commanded.
The elves halted their progress and hemmed in their demon VIPs. Each stared straight ahead as thousands of elves streamed around them.
“Allie,” Alex said, pushing the ticket and pen toward Batarel.
“Excuse me?” Batarel said.
“My daughter’s name is Allison, but we call her Allie.”
Batarel grabbed the pen like he thought it might be wet or covered in filth. Lucifer laughed.
“Our uncle, the celebrity,” he elbowed his brother. “Some people just can’t handle the limelight.”
“Dear Allie,” Batarel read his writing aloud. “Your father is very persistent and appears to be unaware that I could easily vaporize him. All the best, Batarel.”
Sariel bent over in mirth and used Lucifer to steady himself. “I don’t know, Luke. I think he’s handling it just fine.”
But Alex was just the beginning. Screams echoed around the crowd as spectators began to recognize the wizard.
“It’s him! Bless the Architect, he’s here!”
“Get us out of here,” Lucifer said.
“To the side gate!” Alex yelled, and the guards moved once again.
“Thank you,” Batarel said, as he dodged grasping hands. Several women offered their chests to him as signature space.
“I find it remarkable that you don’t have more children,” Anne said.
“If our escort doesn’t pick up the pace,” Batarel said. “I fear I may have procreation forced upon me.”
“Oh, God,” Anne said, covering her eyes with a white leather glove. “Mental images. Mental images.”
The guards pushed the demons through the side gate and into the gladiator corridors. Lucifer heard hundreds of fists pounding on the walls behind him. As he walked farther into the darkness of the hallways, the thudding became a low buzz and then a soft hum. His footsteps echoed against the stone and mortar, but a growing cacophony drowned out these softer sounds. Above him, the crowd could be heard stomping their feet in cadence, and Lucifer’s silk suit vibrated against his skin from the magnitude and harmony of the festivities outside.
“You ready?” Alex yelled as they approached the stadium doors.
Lucifer extended his wings through the slits in the back of his jacket and nodded as he brushed his sleeves free of dust.
Sariel pushed Lucifer in the back as Alex opened the door.
“Let’s put a damper on Eranos’s day, shall we?”