All In Due Time
Stitches kicked at the clear water in the creek of Alastor’s bayou and sighed. Breakfast had gone great until the other shoe dropped: the fact that somehow, the higherups in Hell had been alerted that a Magne had been added to the registry. At first, she thought it had been the party because, after all, a whole room of demons had revealed quite a bit of her skin, so they could have seen the Mark. Or maybe the Vees had seen it on one of their spy cameras somehow.
Nope, it was Paimon. Motherfucking Ars Goetia Sire, sticking his damn nose into documents because he was oh so curious about what the King of Hell was working on over the last year as he made his way into the role of King of Hell. Who was now insisting that Lucifer introduce his “newest ward” to “at least the upper class”. The only saving grace was that the paperwork while needing a drop of her blood, did not list what kind of demon she was, so no one knew she was a Sinner yet. It also listed her Human name, Brandi, and since only her family at the Hotel knew it and called her that in private (mostly, there had been some possible slipups around the hotel where guests could hear), no one would connect the dots to Stitches the Doll Demon.
For now.
“Cheer up, sweetie,” Lucifer whispered, pulling her close. He was also soaking his feet, er, hooves, in the water. “We will put it off as long as possible. I am still King. The Sinners might not respect me, but the Hellborn and higher-level demons do.”
Stitches scoffed and leaned on his shoulder, staring into the water. “That may be so, but Paimon is already blabbing to the other royal classes. You said even the Von Eldritch family messaged you about it, and they are all the way in Envy! It’s spreading like wildfire, and it has only been a couple of days. How long before rumors start circulating through the common Hellborn population, and then how long before the Sinners catch word of it?” She groaned. “He started spreading the word before reaching out to you for a reason. He’s forcing your hand!”
“Now now, Vixen,” Alastor assured her, placing a tray of hot tea and biscuits on the stump close by. “You know that no one forces your father to do anything he doesn’t want to do, certainly not without a fight! If he claims he can stall, then you know that is exactly what he will do.”
“Al’s right, Duckling,” Lucifer confirmed. “Legally speaking, I don’t have to introduce a Magne to court for one year after bestowing the Mark. I placed it on you, what, almost 6 months ago? I can push out the date for another 6 months, easily. Lilith created that clause to give new Magne time to study and prepare them for court. I can’t stop the rumor mill, but I can control the narrative and buy you time to complete your mission.” He patted her head. “Is six months long enough for you to confirm the timeline effects?”
Stitches thought for a minute then sighed. “I already confirmed that the timeline, so far, seems to be unaffected, yet. The spinoff show from my world and the people and events happening here are moving in the same direction. Meaning my mere presence in this universe isn’t causing the shift.”
“So, what will you do now?” Lucifer asked.
“Easy!” Stitches grinned. “It’s time to start tugging on reality’s threads. Start slow, tug a small, barely noticeable piece, then wait to see if anything changes. Rinse and repeat, working my way up to a more major thread, until I see what does or doesn’t change.”
“And that will do… what, exactly?” Lucifer inquired, tilting his head, confused, and she only knew that because of the shift of his body and the tone of his voice.
Alastor sighed. “Once she discovers the patterns, she can retrace the steps in this timeline and better predict how our reality has shifted, Ducky.” He handed Stitches a cup of tea on a saucer, which she eagerly accepted. “Isn’t that right, my little fox?” he asked.
Stitches nodded and sat up so she could take a sip. Mmm, peppermint! “Yeah, that about sums it up,” she confirmed. “The trick is to go slow and patient, in the right order. I am trying to also preserve the timeline as much as possible for as long as possible, so certain things play out as they are supposed to.”
Alastor hummed. “Setting up pieces for your future board, are you?”
Stitches gave him a mischievous grin. “Yes, but,” she said teasingly, “also ensuring that certain antagonists dig their own grave.” She sighed and took another sip of tea, her expression growing more serious. “We have enough villains and rivals on our hands. If I can let certain events play out and collect the evidence along the way, I can remove those more troublesome pieces before they become a problem. Because, at some point, there is going to be a large, unavoidable timeline split. It was bound to happen eventually, especially with how wide your lives changing has spread that net. But with my experimenting, it is likely going to lead to it faster.”
“Within 6 months,” Lucifer murmured, frowning into his own tea.
Stitches nodded. “Which is where the two of you come in. I think it is time to start feeling out our rather enthusiastic Overlords that have been so… curious, as of late.”
Alastor’s grin turned predatory. “Oh? I thought you wanted us to wait until your mission was over to make a move.”
“Things change,” Stitches shrugged, but she was also feeling hungry for a little murder. “They escalated their tactics sooner than I anticipated. Once Bel and Angel confirmed it was on the Vee’s drugs, it confirmed that they were behind this latest episode. Whether they were trying to send a warning or were trying to get some sort of blackmail, I am still not sure, but they are getting cocky.”
“So I can murder one of them?” Alastor purred.
Stitches giggled. “No, nothing that obvious yet. I want all three of them to pay because there is no way that any of them are innocent in this. We still need to let them dig themselves in deeper. If we want to secure Dad’s support of the Sinners when he fully takes over as the true ruler, with as little resistance as possible, we need to play to the Overlord and general public’s best interests. Toppling the economy by taking out the Vees too quickly and without support is not going to encourage their better nature.”
“‘Might makes Right’ in Sinner society, though, doesn’t it?” Lucifer asked thoughtfully. “Lilith set up the Overlord system with that in mind, to help bring some sort of order to the chaos, but at the end of the day, Sinners respect power over reasoning. If we take out the Vees, eliminate the threat, no one can really stop us, especially if I do it.”
Stitches shook her head. “That may be true in most cases, but even in total anarchy, certain boundaries pop up, unspoken but no less there. Take Alastor for example: he popped up in Hell, around a century ago, and immediately started picking off Overlords and spreading terror throughout the Pride Ring, right?”
Alastor preened at the acknowledgment while Lucifer nodded slowly, still not seeing where she was going with this. She rolled her eyes. “The only reason he was granted Overlord status and not hunted down was because giving him that title ensured that he would stop picking them off one by one. Overlords have to agree to certain boundaries and treaties to be officially recognized. Things like not interfering with each other’s territories or private matters, so long as it is not messing with another Overlord’s interests; agreeing to not poaching Sinners that belong to someone else; settling disputes via the Overlord Council. It helps keep some sort of order at the top of the hierarchy, which is why Lilith created it that way.”
Alastor nodded. “It’s true, though I prefer to think it is also because they knew I was too powerful for the Council to defeat. It was their only option to protect the status quo without risking their own necks. One of the clauses states that I cannot directly dismantle another Overlord on the Council. Meaning I cannot harm them in such a way as to permanently take them off the board.”
“No angelic steel or trapping their souls in your microphone, got it,” Lucifer grumbled. He paused, thinking. “Wait, what did you get in return? You seem confident you could have taken them, so why did you just accept?”
Alastor shrugged. “Usually, one of the stipulations to join the Council is by owning a large amount of souls or taking over a large chunk of territory. At the time, I only had a few Deals, as I preferred collecting screams or simply slaughtering anyone I deemed annoying, letting them regenerate days or weeks later, didn’t matter to me. I also never much cared for land grabs, too much effort to maintain. They agreed to allow me to conduct my business without territory or a soul quota, which gave me access to various privileges and statuses I desired. A rather advantageous opportunity, I believe.”
Lucifer rolled his eyes, but it was rather fondly. Stitches pretended to gag at the obvious flirting, and both of them settled down. “Okay, so, like I was saying, the Council is there to upkeep the status quo. Removing key players, like the Vees, could lead to them growing resentful at best and hostile at worst. We need to gain their support in taking out the Vees or the Council could potentially be our next adversary, and I would like to avoid a war against the people, if only for Charlie’s sake.”
Lucifer nodded. “Okay, so what is the plan then?”
“We start small,” Stitches began. “Alastor drops subtle hints that we know they have spies here at the hotel and are watching us, that we know they are targeting me for some reason. If I am correct, their plans are still too unrefined for them to feel comfortable escalating further when they know we are on to them. If I am wrong, they will move up their timeline, which will force them to rush and make mistakes. Either way, we either buy some time or force their hand, which both benefit us.”
Alastor patted her head proudly. “Well thought, my vixen!” he praised. “I have known Vox for many years, so I will be able to tell which way it is leaning. There is an Overlord meeting in three days, so I will be able to start needling them then.”
“Excellent!” Stitches turned to Lucifer. “Dad, on your end, at the same time Alastor is in the meeting, you confront some of the known spies. Subtlety isn’t your strong suit-”
“HEY!” he pouted.
“-But we don’t need it to be subtle.” Stitches grinned and patted his knee. “Just let them know we know, no need to threaten them just yet. The weaker ones will get spooked and either confess or leave. The stronger ones will call or run to the Vees and let them know that their cover is blown.”
“I can do that,” Lucifer grumbled, still pouting. Shade came up on his other side and nuzzled him, chirping and purring until he relented and laughed, nuzzling it back. Alastor gave a grumpy but doting bit of static, and Stitches decided she didn’t want to know what was going on with that triangle, thank you.
“Great, then, Dad, you deal with the Paimon situation, we’ll start our move against the Vees in three days, and I…” she took out her phone and glanced at it. “Need to hurry to therapy. I will check in once I get back so you guys can show me my gifts and we can put together a training schedule.”
Alastor gave her a towel for her feet and she got her legs out of the creek and walked over to a log near the trail leading out of the bayou. She dried off and slipped back on her flats while Lucifer used magic to dry himself and get his boots back on. She pretended not to notice the quick kiss he stole from Alastor as he made his way over. He would help her with a portal to therapy, and then, hopefully, he would teach her how to use her Asmodeon crystal so she could make her own portals from now on.
With plans laid out, she felt much calmer.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Stolas, calm down, it’s not that big of a deal.”
Stolas stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing on the tempting, naked imp in his bed. “Blitz, this is very MUCH a big deal!” he snapped, crossing his arms and popping out his hip. His robe slid off a shoulder, but he ignored it. “My father has spread the rumor about Stitches to bait Lucifer into presenting her at court! That means a lavish ball with the Sins and the Ars Goetia and the Who’s-Who in Hell’s hierarchy! That poor girl is going to be eaten alive when they realize she is a Sinner!”
Blitz rolled his eyes. “So? You said all kinds of Hellborn have been Magne, even imps, and I am pretty sure we rank below Sinners in the food chain.”
Stolas turned away so Blitz wouldn’t see him wince. He wasn’t wrong, but he hated thinking about how imps were treated, how Blitz was treated. He may not have much room to talk, he knew he wasn’t innocent in the treatment of the little creatures, but he was better than most, didn’t go out of his way to abuse his staff… Okay, not a great excuse, but surely Blitzy didn’t think he thought of him that way.
“This is very different, Blitzy,” he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “A Sinner has never been a Magne, it simply has never been done. It upsets thousands of years of precedent and tradition. Magne are adopted children of the Morningstars, which is no big deal when most Hellborns have shorter lifespans. Sinners can potentially live forever, meaning someone of lower birth is going to be above them in title and power, and people like Father are not going to take that lightly!”
Blitz, clearly bored of the conversation, snuck up behind him and started kissing his neck and shoulders, hands wandering seductively. “The fucking Queen was technically a Sinner, and no one batted an eye, far as I can tell. Besides,” he licked a trail from his left shoulder up to the nape of his neck, making Stolas shiver, “Lucifer is head honcho, active ruler or not. He has to have some kind of bitchin’ powers to have been in power for so long. Pretty sure he can protect his own foster kid.”
Stolas moaned and melted into the touch, his resistance falling away as Blitz’s talented hands made their way lower. “I… suppose you are right…” he finally whined, voice weakening as his breath hitched.
Blitz chuckled. “No shit, bird brain,” he hissed mockingly. “Now, relax and let me do my job. You have your kid next weekend and a wife to move out, so let me destroy that ass and make you forget for a while, yeah?”
Stolas didn’t have time to answer before Blitz, indeed, made him forget.