About three days after Husk's near-total breakdown, everyone in the Hotel is sitting in the common area as Charlie goes over the latest exercise - one that specifically seems geared to try and clear the air between Calli, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
Or, perhaps more specifically, Calli and the three visiting Archangels - because she sure seems determined to be at Lucifer's side whenever possible if any of them are alone with him and Charlie's surrounded by people.
And, despite their apparent attempts at breaking the ten-foot-deep ice with her, she's skeptical at best. Lucifer to, though, so it's apparently justified for her to be skeptical when they're trying to bridge the gap she's content with keeping between them.
The exercise is that they're all supposed to share a very personal experience and how it affected them - Charlie's hoping it'll get her aunt to at least somewhat thaw towards her previously-unknown Uncles. How well that goes...is honestly up for debate by everyone.
When Charlie gets to Lucifer - who's sitting next to Calli - he clears his throat and says "A personal experience, huh? Well…there's the time I gave Eve Calli's apple."
Most of the Sinners glance at one another in surprise, Calara asking "Miss Calli's apple?"
Lucifer nods, saying "Yeah, it was just a regular Apple Calli conjured and then Enchanted. No Forbidden Fruit or anything like that. I'd gone to visit the Garden a few years after Lilith came to stay with Calli, see how Humanity was doing. Adam was his usual jerk self, but whatever, right? Then I met Eve, and…honestly, I could tell almost immediately that something was wrong with her. Adam just barked orders at her, treated her like a slave or a toy for his own pleasure, and she seemed like she was in a dream or something - and sat down on the ground, dumping a load of laundry into the mud, just because I asked if she wanted to sit for a moment. Lilith wasn't like that, Adam…he was a jerk, but he wasn't all spacey and dream-trance-like either. I went to Calli to see if she could think of anything that might've happened to her - honestly, I don't know what I was hoping to hear, but a head injury would've been preferable to blatant mind-control. So, after Calli stopped losing her shit and Lils and I talked her down from storming Heaven and using the head of whoever decided mind control was an acceptable option for getting two people together as a bowling ball," there's more than a few muffled laughs and bitten-back snickers, right up until the lights flicker ominously as Calli glares at the far wall, "we came up with a plan. Someone in Heaven had obviously controlled her, but now that she'd had a few kids they'd have no more use for doing as much…so we thought, anyway. So, we decide to free her and spirit her away to Calli's cottage. Humanity already had a good start, so we'd thought Eve's disappearance would go unnoticed. We eventually settle on her eating an antidote to any form of mind control, as my powers have always been more about creating things…so Calli makes a bunch of different kinds of fruit. Figured there had to be somethingamong the twenty different kinds that she'd like. She enchanted them all with a spell to purge any form of magical manipulation from whoever ate the fruit, be it a spell or some kind of potion - she also said that Eve would either black out or start throwing up depending on what it was that had been done to her, so at least I was ready to catch her. Anyone else that ate the fruit would be perfectly fine, as they wouldn't have anything controlling their thoughts and feelings…hopefully, anyway. If they did, then I was really sure Heaven would end up razed to the ground, and the entire Council getting killed."
Calli shrugs at most everyone's horrified looks, and says "A, they never liked me to begin with. B, someone decided to mind control at least one person and the average Heavenborn doesn't have that kind of power. C, it didn't happen and I'm not about to apologize for things that didn't come to pass."
Lucifer clears his throat, saying "So, when I get to the Garden, Michael's standing guard at the gate for some reason."
Michael coughs, saying "That would be because of Calliope's reaction to Eve being controlled. Nobody knew what was happening, thought the world was ending, and I was stationed there to protect humanity from any possible threats that might be coming."
Lucifer blinks, then says "Well, you saw me, Michael, and it threw a massive wrench in the plan to save Eve. Eve couldn't disappear the same day you saw me enter the Garden, I didn't even need to think about that. I also didn't want to give Sera any reason to take any more of an interest in Calli than she'd already drawn, given the detail that every time I'd take her up on her offer of support when presenting an idea to the council it'd end in a screaming match between them, so…"
Calli just shrugs, saying "Well, if nobody else was going to stick up for you…"
"So, I had to make a change of plans. I still met with Eve, still offered up a bunch of fruits to choose from…she picked the apple, blacked out, came to utterly confused then absolutely terrified until I managed to calm her down. Once she stopped panicking, I told her about Calli, told her we'd come back for her once we were sure it was safe to do so, told her Heaven wouldn't make her do anything ever again. Told her that, if she saw any people with wings that weren't me or Calli with her black wings, to act like she was before and play dumb, since we didn't know who it was that had controlled her back then. The new plan was to wait until things in Heaven calmed down some, since it was like a stirred-up hornet's nest when I got back that same day. If Michael was still guarding the Garden when Calli and I went back, I'd distract him while she snuck in and got Eve out the same way she did Lilith. But that…that never actually panned out. I was giving Calli and Lilith an update on how things were in Heaven when Gabriel showed up at Calli's door for the first time ever, and…well, we came down to Hell after that."
There's a somber, borderline morbid silence in the room for at least a minute, nobody seeming to know what to say to that - especially the Winners. It's one thing to see it on a reflective surface, or hear a version of that in a legend, it's quite another to hear it from someone who was involved in it all.
Finally, Calli claps her hands together and says "Seeing as Lucifer's always been better with his words than me, and since this is blatantly an idea to try and clear the air between myself and the three visiting Archangels, I might as well skip the talking bit and just put my memories in a Pensieve for them to see. Takes the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' to a whole new level."
Charlie, Vaggie, and pretty much everyone else in the room trade looks, and Charlie says "I…guess that counts…"
Calli clearly doesn't particularly care if it counts or not, as she's already got a round mostly-flat object floating midair in front of her. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael trade concerned glances as Calli pulls a silver thread from her temple and drops it in, and Gabriel asks "What does that do, exactly?"
Raphael adds "And what did you just put in there?"
Calli says "A Pensieve allows someone to view a memory, be it one of their own or another person's. It was usually used to get an objective perspective on a situation, rather than relying on hearsay and what someone thinks they remember. The silver thread I dropped in was a series of my memories. They're what you'll be seeing…if you've got the balls for it, that is." She altered the spell just a little bit - ages and ages ago, but still - to make it so the viewer experiences the memories from her point of view - essentially, they'll be her for the duration of their time in the Pensieve. They'll feel what she felt, think what she thought, say what she said - literally walking a mile in her shoes.
Lucifer leans forward, asking "You sure, Calli?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure."
Calli has a brief staring contest with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, until Michael suddenly stands up, walks over, and asks "How does one use this…Pensieve?"
Calli raises an eyebrow up at him, but says "Stick a hand in, and your mind will start experiencing the memories. Your body will stay here, so you might want to try not to hit the floor when you're finished in there."
Gabriel and Raphael come over as well, and Raphael glances at the Pensieve before asking "It's not dangerous?"
Calli shrugs, saying "Physically? Not in the slightest. Nothing that happens in there will happen to your body - it'll quite literally be all in your heads."
Riley chuckles nervously, asking "How bad could it be, then, right? You didn't put any memories of being tortured in there, right?"
Calli shakes her head, saying "No. All the memories I entered into the Pensieve are from this world." It escapes nobody's notice that she doesn't specify which memories she just dropped in there.
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael all trade glances, then simultaneously dip their hands into the Pensieve up to their wrists.
Calli hums, not having actually expected them to do as much, and says "They'll be in there a while, everyone. Go on without me, I'm gonna bake some cookies. And, no, Azrael, you can't have any of the dough!"
Azrael sends her a pout, having been trying to sneak some food since the morning after he arrived - every single time, he's found she's either covered the food with something he can't move or is waiting with a mild Stinging Hex for his hand. When the pout doesn't work, he mutters "But it's always so good…" Glancing at Charlie and Emily, he starts thinking of how he can bribe the cousins to help him - maybe if he offered to share the spoils?
Calli glances around at the new version of Earth, trying to keep her wings from catching on any branches or twigs in the forest she ended up in - they're ridiculously sensitive, something that doesn't seem like it's going to go away any time soon. Every twig that pokes into them feels like an entire tree trunk, every breeze that goes through them feels like a thousand fingers running through the feathers…is it because they were created straight from her magic? If so, why are they black?! Her magic is green! And why can't she get them to do anything, then?
The sound of voices draws her attention, and she starts making her way over to where they are, Hedwig scouting ahead for her and giving directions. Finally, she comes to the edge of the forest she's in, and sees a wide-open plain…with four similar-looking winged people looking around curiously - Angels, Life called them. From the power she can sense coming off them, they're likely Archangels if she remembers the power hierarchy Magic showed her. Glancing at her own black wings, and then at their multicolored ones, a familiar doubt sprouts in her mind - what if they don't want anything to do with her?
She's not like them, she doesn't even look much like them, and that's all the reason people would need to ostracize her yet again - and that's without knowing about her magic, or the way her Luck Curse just makes insane shit happen around her all the time! Plus, she hasn't had any actual human interaction in well over three-thousand years-
"Who are you?"
Fear and adrenaline shoots through Calli at once as she registers a solid wall of golden armor, her magic surging up inside her simultaneously, and a shriek of alarm escapes her lips just as a beam of bright green energy escapes her hands…hitting the unfortunate Archangel directly in the chest and sending him flying. Calli stares at her hands for a split second, because that never happened before - then she has to shove the alarming revelation that her magic was altered as well as her body when the armored Archangel that's built like a wall leaps to his feet with a snarl on his face and the sword at his hip in hand.
The sword coming straight for her head kickstarts ingrained reflexes, and Calli deftly avoids the attacks on autopilot - then sees her chance to get away when he buries the blade in a thick tree trunk. Two silent Sticking Charms later, Sticking the blade to the tree and the Angel's hand to the hilt for the next five minutes, and she's in the clear to get away - luckily, Hedwig listened when she told her to fly away. She doesn't even glance back as she sprints headlong back into the forest, uncaring of how the twigs and branches poke and tear at her overly-sensitive wings - she's got bigger things to worry about now, like avoiding everyone in existence until humanity is made so she can blend in until this world dies as well. Still, that's every possible interaction she could've had for the next century or so completely fucked up…as per usual.
Calli hesitates as she and Lucifer land just outside the Golden Gates, her wings folding themselves over her body as she stares at the structure.
Lucifer glances back, and gives her a winning smile before saying "It'll be fine, Calli! Really!" She's not so sure, but who is she to burst his bright little bubble? Lucifer walks up to the gates, saying "Hey, Calli's with me!" The many-eyed gatekeeper stares at her unblinkingly, then eventually opens the gates without saying a word to either of them.
When they get inside the gates, Calli internally screams at what she sees - Lucifer did NOT say there was a whole CITY up here! Or that there'd be enough Heavenborn to fill it, for that matter! Her heart starts jackhammering away in her chest at the mere sight of everyone, most of them in white or gold - the detail that most of them don't look remotely human like Lucifer and his brothers do isn't the problem, she's met with every species of intelligent being under the sun and under the ground back in her old world. But who knows what they can do, what their powers are - and she, an obvious outsider, is so clearly not one of them that the chances of someone deciding to toss her out is highly likely.
Lucifer takes her wrist in his hand, saying "Hey, Calli," she turns to look at him, "it'll be fine, really. Just stay by me, alright?"
Calli nods wordlessly, not really trusting herself to speak right now - but she can feel everyone else's gazes on her, practically see the judgement and wariness coming off them. What they think about her doesn't matter, but what they might do to her is another matter…not to mention what they might do to Lucifer for bringing her here. Still, she forces herself to not cling to his arm like a scared little kid - she's a grown adult, she doesn't need anyone to protect her!
They're about halfway to the giant building towering over the rest of the city when a voice she doesn't recognize yells "Lucifer!" A pale green blur suddenly slams into her best friend right then, knocking him back a few steps away from her as it resolves into a figure in green robes with wings buzzing a mile a minute. Two other figures come running over, and…oh, oh fuck.
She recognizes them - they're Lucifer's brothers, collectively the first four beings she ever saw in this world. Including Michael, the Warrior of the four of them…the one with the sword she accidentally hit with a beam of Angelic Energy. All three of them stare at her for a moment, before Michael's expression turns to fury - Lucifer gets between them instantly, saying "Easy, Mikey, I invited her here! I told Calli I was gonna present my next idea to the Council, and asked if she wanted to come along!"
One of Calli's hands moves to rest in Hedwig's feathers, party to reassure herself and partly to keep her Familiar from acting on the urge to attack the giant Archangel right then and there.
Raphael glances at his other siblings, then asks "Can we talk for just a moment, Luci?"
Lucifer blinks, asking "Yeah, what about?"
Gabriel cautiously steps forward as Raphael starts tugging Lucifer away from her, and says "Hello. I'm Gabriel. You must be…Calli, Lucifer called you?"
Folding her arms, Calli says "My name is Calliope Liliana Peverell. My friends call me Calli." And they aren't friends, that's for sure. Crossing her arms over her chest now that Lucifer's no longer holding her hand, she says "Lucifer talks about you three a lot."
Lucifer's voice drifts over, asking "Raph, what's going on? Really, I'm fine-"
"Luci, hold still just a moment, really!"
Michael shifts slightly to try and block any view she might have of Lucifer getting checked over by Raphael, a scowl on his face that would be scary if she were anyone else, but it's too late. She already knows they think she did something to her best friend - what it is they suspect her of doing to him, she's not sure. But the knowledge that Lucifer's family will always assume the worst of her is an unexpected knife to the gut.
She doesn't care what total strangers think of her, but…these three aren't quite strangers. They're Lucifer's family, people that might come to visit someday if he's ever successful in his attempts at talking them into coming over. Fat chance of that happening if they believe she's…what, drugging him? Hurting him?
Burying her hurt behind her Occlumency walls, she puts on an air of nonchalance for Gabriel and Michael - something she got very good at in the decades she spent on the Wizengamot, basically forcing Britain to be a better place - and waits out Gabriel's amateur attempt at distracting her until Lucifer pulls away and walks back over.
Calli glances towards the door as she, Lucifer, and Lilith dig into a fruit salad she made for everyone, saying "Someone just crossed the Wards."
Lilith frowns, asking "Who would be here? You said the Garden is ten miles away…"
Calli nods, saying "It wouldn't be Eve, Adam doesn't even know I exist…and nobody else from Heaven likes me enough to visit." Probably don't even know where the cottage is, to be honest.
Seeing as the presence is getting closer to her home, Calli says "I'll get the door, see who it is."
To her utter surprise, it's none other than Gabriel standing at the door, hand raised like he's going to knock.
Suspicion instantly blooms in Calli's chest, why would Gabriel be here? Why now? It's barely been a week since Lucifer snuck Eve that fruit she Enchanted to free the poor girl from whatever had happened to her to make her Adam's willing slave.
Aside from all that, nobody from Heaven bar Lucifer has ever even wanted to visit her before now. Michael always scowls at her whenever Lucifer brings her up to Heaven, while Raphael obviously checks him over as Gabriel makes really bad small talk in an obvious attempt to distract her from the detail that they think she'd do something to her best friend.
"Gabriel? What are you doing here?"
Lucifer gasps in utter delight, exclaiming "Gabby!"
Gabriel swallows, then says "Looking for Lucifer, actually-"
"C'mon in, Gabby! We're having some fruit salad!"
Calli moves back as Lucifer practically sprints over, a smile on his face that she'd think was absolutely genuine had they not been discussing who in Heaven might've mind-controlled Eve not two days ago. As it is, Lucifer's internally panicking, she can see it…because she is to.
Does Heaven know Eve's free?
Are they here to ask about it?
Tell her to leave and never show her face again?
Still, they have to act natural…or, as natural as they can when something that's never happened before suddenly happens out of the blue.
Gabriel glances around as Lucifer pulls him inside, and eventually says "This is…certainly interesting. Did you make it, Lucifer?"
Lucifer shakes his head, dragging Gabriel towards a chair, saying "Nope! That was all Calli, actually. Moving pictures and all!"
Gabriel blinks once more, then just nods his head as Lucifer gestures for him to take a seat. The blue-winged Archangel blinks in surprise at Lilith, who's staring at him in total shock, fork poised over the fruit bowl, then eventually says "Erm…hello?"
Calli passes a bowl of fruit to Gabriel, then asks "Can you take Hed out back to hunt? I'd go myself, but I'd be a pretty rude host if I left a new guest alone on his first-ever time here."
Lilith nods as Hedwig settles onto her shoulder, heading out to the back door of the cottage that's facing the forest - Hed's not going anywhere and all four of them know it, but Gabriel doesn't know it and Lilith's the defenseless one in the house. And none of them want Heaven to know where Lilith is if someone's going around controlling women for Adam to treat like his slaves. Once Lilith is out of sight, Lucifer asks "You said you were looking for me, Gabby?"
Gabriel nods, pushing the fruit in his bowl around with his spoon, and says "The Council needs to ask you a few questions, Lucifer. I was sent to find you and deliver their summons."
Calli deadpans "They couldn't have just written them down and had Lucifer write the answers out? Considering the way Sera treats him, Lucifer doesn't owe her shit."
Gabriel's eyes widen, and Calli's sure her eyes are glowing Avada-green…or maybe it's just the detail that there's half-manifested armor over her regular clothes, brought into reality by her desire to punch Sera square in the face.
Lucifer quickly says "It's fine, Calli, really. I'll head over with Gabby, answer any questions they have, and we'll go flying like we planned. No biggie, right Gabby?"
Gabriel blinks, then says "I'm afraid I don't know what they want to ask, Sera didn't give me any details beyond it being you she wished to question, Lucifer. Apologies."
Calli frowns, but holds her reservations for now - voicing her concerns won't get her anywhere, not with Gabriel there to just keep stonewalling her.
Once the two brothers leave, Lilith and Hedwig come back to the kitchen and Calli says "Lils, stay here. I'm going after them. I've got a bad feeling in my gut, and it's never led me wrong yet."
Lilith nods, one hand going to bury itself in Hedwig's feathers - Calli takes a solid three minutes to make a Ward around Hedwig and Lilith that'll act as a personal shield for them, then hands Lilith one of the kitchen knives and says "If worst comes to worst, Lilith, don't go down without a fight. Alright? I'm locking the Wards down, but if things go sideways…"
Lilith nods, saying "I may be only human, but…but I won't let them just make me into their puppets." Calli nods, then runs out the door.
Nearly an hour later, the Wards are completely locked down and reinforced with Blood Magic so Calli takes off flying, going faster and harder than she's ever flown before - if she's wrong, then she's paranoid over a misunderstanding and her own experiences, but if she's right…gods, she hopes she's not right.
Her wings feel like they're about to rip straight off her back by the time she gets to Heaven, but she doesn't land - instead, she goes straight to the massive building at the center of the city, dodging or moving people in her way. She only lands when she's blown the massive fortress-like doors down, and starts sprinting towards the usual courtroom Sera likes to use.
Raphael and Gabriel standing outside it, Gabriel holding his slightly-younger brother as he shakes and cries, only confirms her worst fears. The sudden sound of Lucifer screaming tells her what, exactly, is going on and what they're doing out side the room though - he's not gone, there's still time to save him, but these two are just standing there doing absolutely nothing to help!
Gabriel looks up and sees her, and manages to catch her before she can get inside. Raphael's weight drapes itself over her from behind, and she can tell he's been crying when he says "I'm sorry, this is Heaven's Will. There's nothing we can do."
Calli feels absolute fury and second-hand betrayal bubble up inside of her at that, and calls up her weakened magic to throw them off her - somehow, though, the two of them manage to subdue her, force her magic back inside her body for the first time ever.
If she hadn't poured as much magic as she did into the Wards to protect Lilith, they wouldn't stand a fucking chance of restraining her powers.
And that would be when she sees just why Lucifer's screaming like he's getting his limbs ripped off one bit at a time - he is getting limbs ripped off. Michael's ripping Lucifer's wings straight out of his back.
Trying to break out of Gabriel and Raphael's grips, she screams "What do you lot think you're doing to- let me GO, you two! How can you call yourselves his brothers and yet let THIS happen to him?! Michael, don't you goddamn DARE keep going! LUCIFER!"
Lucifer glances over at her, face streaked with tears and contorted in agony, eyes wide and terrified, just before a giant portal that opens up to nothing but red appears. And Lucifer, wrapped in glowing golden chains as he is, can't even hang onto Michael's arm as he lifts his sibling from the ground…and throws him in headfirst.
In a fit of desperation, Calli stomps on Raphael's foot as hard as she can, punches Gabriel in the face, and then sprints forward while shooting off a beam of energy that's far more draining than it should be. She dives through the portal before anything else can happen, and almost immediately feels like she's burning, her skin set on fire and her lungs being consumed in an inferno. Shrugging off the pain, she forces her aching wings to go faster, harder, and finally sees Lucifer's form hurtling through the clouds below.
Thinking fast, she Summons his body to him, and the weight of him slamming into her feels like it dislodges the fear settled in her gut.
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael all fall to their feet as soon as their minds are released from the Pensieve's grip - that…if they never see another Pensieve ever again, they'll be eternally grateful. As it is, all three of them are shaking like leaves, Raphael already starting to sob as the memories refuse to fade from his mind - it takes a solid minute to remember where they are, who they are, and then Raphael scrambles up and shouts "LUCIFER!!"
"Um," a familiar voice says, "yeah, he's up in his room. Everyone is, it's…twelve-twenty at night."
All three shaken Archangels whip around to stare at the owner of the voice, and see the same semi-familiar person they've spotted around the Hotel since arriving. She looks…she looks like she could be related to Alastor and Calliope, honestly.
Gabriel shakes his head, asking "What do you mean…how long has it been?" It was...what, ten in the morning when they started the exercise!
Michael asks "Have we met you before?"
She frowns, asking "You really don't recognize me? It hasn't been that long since I left."
Raphael blinks, piecing it together first, and asks "Emily?!"
Emily nods, much to their shared surprise, and says "Yeah! What, did you think I was dead or something?" Calli told her they always assumed the worst of her, but...still. She literally went up and saved her from being Fallen! Why would Calli kill her after that?!
Michael runs a shaking hand through his hair, asking "What happened to you?!"
Emily keeps sucking on the popsicle she's holding, having split one with Anthony when he came down to grab one of his own, then says "My par- I mean, Calli and Alastor. I was changing, being corrupted, and they made a potion that made it easier on me. And, well, this is how I look now." She's caught onto the detail that calling them her parents - or even remotely referring to them as such - tends to send the both of them into an emotional hurricane. It still slips out at times, though, when she's not paying attention.
Gabriel shakily gets to his feet, asking "So, why did it change your appearance? Is that just how you ended up looking when you were…you called it corrupted?"
Emily shakes her head, saying "Calli called it a Blood Adoption Potion, said it would make me half-demon like her…if the other participant in actually making the potion was a Demon as well. It also technically made them my parents. Alastor agreed to give some of his blood for the potion after hearing about it."
Raphael swallows, trying to force his voice into some semblance of stability - he was just Calliope for an entire damn day, apparently, so he can damn well make his voice steady for the space of one conversation like she knows how to do…or even just a question. After a good minute, he asks "Where's Luci?"
Emily frowns, asking "What memories did she put in there?"
Michael shakes his head, saying "You…you don't want to see."
Emily shrugs when she doesn't get any further answer, and says "I came down here because I figured you guys would need some company when you got out, but…if you don't want me around…?"
Gabriel gives her his best attempt at a smile, and says "Thank you for the offer, Emily, but…we need to see Lucifer."
"Now," Raphael chokes out, losing the fight with his tears, "we need to see him now."
Emily blinks when all three Archangels dematerialize, and runs a hand through her hair - that…that's what she was hoping to keep from happening. Three emotional Archangels just ambushing Lucifer out of the blue.