***
The two brothers locked arms with Rosaline, but Lucifer was not actually trying to be formal; he was simply attempting to stay upright. A stately old elf with long white hair and a clean-shaven face pushed the doors to the throne room inward, and led them in. The hall was bedecked in lush dark blue, gold and white carpets, curtains, and tapestries. Where there wasn’t blue cloth, there was stone and silver.
“The Demon Princes Lucifer and Sariel Kadingir, my Lord,” the elf servant said.
“Thank you, Galto,” Elandril said from his raised throne. He hadn’t looked up yet and was busy signing a long piece of parchment. “Leave us be.”
Galto closed the doors in front of him as he bent low and walked backward from the room.
“My singuli spotted you at a local café having a drink with our old friend,” the King said. “How are you, Rosaline?”
“I am well, Your Majesty. Thanks for asking.”
“So, what can I do for my drunken in-laws?”
“I fish!” Lucifer said solemnly and slapped himself in the face accidentally instead of rubbing his mouth.
“Wish,” he corrected himself. “I wish.”
“We came very close, didn’t we? My sister loved you, and I love both of you still. What’s on your mind?”
Lucifer nudged Rosaline forward and motioned with his eyes toward the throne. “You thell him.”
“The princes wish to see the Architect,” she said.
“Why would they need to see the Architect?”
“They didn’t say, my Lord.”
“And what did you say?”
“I don’t think they are his type,” she smiled.
Elandril reclined in his chair and laughed heartily. “No, I guess they’re not.” He called to an aid. “You, go fetch Persephone. Ask her to bring the scrolls. Maybe the prophecies can help us figure out what is afoot here.”
“No prosthesis!” Lucifer begged him.
Elandril put his hand to his mouth but did a poor job hiding his mirth. “What am I going to do with you two? If this gets into our networks, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
“They already have a million followers on their channels,” Rosaline said.
Lucifer pulled Rosaline toward the throne, and she in turn dragged Sariel forward, who was rubbing his face against the plush carpets.
“We need to squeeze him,” Lucifer said. “Arshimedes,” he added for clarification.
“If I knew how to summon Archimedes,” Elandril said, “believe me, I would. The prophecies are all coming to a head, and I could use his advice. I keep hoping that he’ll show up and tell me he has found the anomaly, but I haven’t seen him in over a year.”
Rosaline whistled a low note and shuffled her feet as Elandril peered down at her.
“How many times have you seen him in the past year?” he asked.
“At least once a month.”
Sariel grabbed her by the shoulders. “If I was a supreme creator guy like Arfimeatus, I would totally visit you like once a day.”
“That’s sweet,” she said. “I think.”
He nodded enthusiastically.
The doors creaked open behind them, and Lucifer could hear bare feet against stone and then carpet.
“Pheenie, there you are!” Elandril said. “You look lovely today.”
“Thank you.”
As Lucifer attempted to turn to see who the newcomer was, his hand somehow locked with Rosaline’s forearm, and he struggled to free himself.
“Hold on,” Rosaline said. “You’re going to rip my arm off!”
She pulled her arm free, and Lucifer reeled backward. He tripped on a corner of a thick rug and whipped around in a half-circle. He mumbled curses as he reached out with his hands, expecting to land hard on the floor, but instead his palms found something far softer and more yielding.
She wore a deep green, wispy see-through dress that left little to the imagination, and as he brought his eyes upward, preparing a slurred apology, he gasped at her jawline, nose, and the red hair that parted around her milky white eyes.
“What the …” she said.
He grabbed her under both of her ears and pulled her to his lips. He closed his eyes, and she returned the kiss. He felt his tears against their pressed cheeks and lips, and when he finally let her go she fell into a pew, which slid a few feet across the stone floor.
He only started to feel awkward when she didn’t get back up after twenty seconds or so. This was also about the same time that he noticed she was considerably less toned and more frail than Anne had ever been. Then there were the white, pupil-less eyes; this woman was obviously an oracle.
“Pheenie … Persephone,” Elandril said from behind the embarrassed prince, “this is your twin sister’s lover, Lucifer.”
Persephone finally exhaled and laughed. She sounded just like Anne, and then she froze. Lucifer thought she had stopped breathing again, but as he turned around, he noticed that no one in the room seemed to be moving.
Sariel was pointing at him and his head was cocked backward in what looked like a satisfying cackle. Rosaline’s face was buried in her hands behind a few locks of red hair, and Elandril was standing now with his hands on his hips, smiling at him.
Lucifer turned around in time to see a portal open beside Persephone, and a man with brushed bleach-white hair and a combed beard stepped out. His white robe was frayed and looked extremely comfortable. He walked briskly toward Lucifer and pushed Persephone hard in the back as he moved past her. Lucifer expected her to fly face first into the floor, but she was still bent forward with a huge grin on her face.
“And I thought I was a horn dog,” the old man said. “But her twin sister? In front of her brother?”
He bowed low.
Lucifer smiled. He didn’t have to ask for the man’s name. Stopped time, portalled into the King’s throne room, and confessed to being a horny old man? Must be Archimedes.
“I thought she was Anne,” Lucifer explained weakly.
“Keep that one handy, but I think it will only work once.”
Lucifer shrugged and nodded. He was suddenly very sober.
“Well, don’t just stand there looking like an idiot,” Archimedes said. “Let’s go grab what you came here for.”
Before Lucifer could say anything, the old man leapt back into the portal, which immediately started shrinking.
“Wait for me,” Lucifer yelled before jumping through.