endoftheverse | Lucifer's Dreamwalking

"I'm seen as a threat. For what I am. Unfortunately, people aren't quite so comfortable around a being that is different from them," he offers the butterfly a little smile. "But the butterfly's not entirely wrong there. Unfortunately, I have only a shred of my power here; fighting back has become a... difficult task."

He waves a hand, dismissing it.

"It's nothing I can't handle; I'm sure I'll find a way out. And, well — the people who trapped me think they have good intentions."

Willow nods, mulling over his story. "Yeah, Deerington seems to have that affect on people's powers, I guess. Who, um. Who trapped you?"

It's disturbingly similar to the story of Ben and Glory. Except Glory was not an angel, but a fearsome hell god imprisoned in a mortal body in an attempt to contain her and her power. Glory who sapped away Tara's sanity, and almost killed all of them at one point or another. Glory, whose plan to tear down the barriers between dimensions was foiled by Buffy sacrificing herself to save the world, and Dawn. They're not exactly happy memories.

It's enough of a reminder that the scene shifts suddenly away from the brightly lit hedge maze with a flash and crack that sounds like thunder to a construction site with a large, albeit somewhat unstable looking tower at night.

The butterfly is still with them, still perched on Willow's shoulder, but the anxiety is clear in her small voice. "Willow, we don't want to be here..."

He sighs.

"Someone named Sam Winchester. He's unfortunately extremely unwell in the head, so... I can't entirely blame him for the hostage situation. Grew up in a violent family with a history of crime, convinced that supernatural beings are all evil and need to be destroyed... Best to just leave him be — and keep your distance. His type have had a history of hunting witches."

He glances to the tower, after his gaze flicks away from the butterfly. His fingers are pressed to his lips in a thoughtful manner, and he doesn't look much concerned; more just curious.

"Now what's this?"

Edited (grammar yeck) 2020-12-18 02:22 (UTC)

As much as Willow is unsure about how much she really wants to trust Nick, his warning about Sam doesn't fall entirely on deaf ears. Her own mother tried to burn her, another witch named Amy, and her friend Buffy at the stake when they were in high school; The whole town under the influence of a demon posing as two murdered children that led them to believe it was the work of witches.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks. He intentionally trapped you, then? In his own mind?" That seems... ill-advised.

She glances at the tower as he asks the obvious question, clearly uncomfortable. "This? It's a memory. The butterfly's right, I don't want to be here. Let's talk about something else."

He nods, none too pleased.

"There aren't a lot of ways to trap an angel. He's creative, I can give him that." Goodness, though, he's so incredibly interested in the weird scenery laid out before them. No fair. Glancing at her, he raises his eyebrows. "Are you so sure you're not meant to face this place? Seems like your subconscious is throwing you some bones."

"I dunno. I mean, we have demons, and vampires and stuff back home - I've never met an angel before, though, so I don't have much to compare to. It just... sounds like a bad idea to intentionally trap a powerful being in your own mind." She smiles a little. "Kinda like having a roommate you can never get rid of, but you really, really don't get along with."

Willow shivers and wraps her arms around herself, frowning. "I've seen this plenty of times already. I don't need to see it again. My best friend died here."

"It's a terrible idea," Lucifer says, as a matter-of-factly.

Looking back up to the tall tower, he tuts at the explanation.

"Sounds like something you have a hard time scrubbing away. Well, if we're not facing some long-lasting trauma, which direction would be more suitable? Unless... this is the exit you've been looking for."

Willow follows his gaze to the tower, and quickly looks away, frowning. "I-I dunno. Usually it just plays out the way it really happened. A portal opens just under the tower... Buffy jumps into it to save her sister, and the world, and we find her, and I wake up."

"We couldn't save her," the butterfly adds sadly. "We tried, but we didn't see what was happening quick enough to stop the portal from being opened in the first place. There was a lot going on on the ground too."

Lucifer smiles somewhat.

"Sounds like your sister is a very brave and daring individual."

Lucifer doesn't care much about humans, sure, but he can appreciate one that tries to rise above what she is. That's what he likes so much about Sam, after all — a vessel with something... extra. Something Lucifer can't help but appreciate, even as he unintentionally (and intentionally) torments him.

"What was this portal for, exactly?"

"She was my best friend. But close enough to be like a sister," Willow answers. Buffy's death is still hard to talk about, and she carries some guilt over not being fast enough, or strong enough to have prevented it. "But yeah. She was really brave. She saved the world a lot."

It's the butterfly who fields the question about the portal, as she has been any other time Willow herself has been reluctant. "There was this god from another dimension. Crazy strong and crazy... well, crazy. She was trying to get home and the only way for her to do it was to tear down the barrier between worlds. It would have unleashed hell on Earth. Buffy stopped her, but one of her acolytes was going to start the ritual. We tried to stop him, but we were too late. We should've noticed sooner."

The butterfly pauses. Apparently it's hard for her to talk about as well. "The only way to close the portal again was for either Buffy, or her sister to die. So Buffy jumped into it."

Lucifer rolls his eyes at the heavens.

"Oh, yes. Gods. However could I forget such kind and compassionate beings." It's rich, coming from someone who would love to smother the life out of humanity at any given moment, but he really just has a terrible dislike of gods from any and all backgrounds. Ugh. Makes him want to leave a party.

... Hell on earth, though...

... Not bad.

The story does have a familiar twang to it, though. An old song of siblings, of how one or the other has to die for the happy ending. Lucifer wouldn't know it all too well; in his timeline, he won, after all.

"So the world was spared, in the end."

Willow studies Nick quietly for a moment. She wasn't expecting him to be pro-hell god or anything, but he seems to be painting all gods with the same brush, including, presumably, the one that made him. Huh.

"Well... I'm sure they're not all bad?" She offers. "You know, the ones from horrifying hell dimensions aside. Not that I'm in any hurry to meet any more to prove that theory. One was definitely more than enough."

"Yeah. The world was saved again in the end," Willow echoes. "For now, at least."

"Oh?"

He looks at her eyes shining with curiosity in the light.

"The world was saved again?"

Sounds like these gals have a habit.

(A bad habit, as far as Lucifer's thinking.)

"Yeah," Willow replies with a nod. "Someone - or something - trying to destroy the world, or the world as we know it, isn't really totally unheard of where I'm from. I mean, it doesn't happen every day or anything, but... It's been at least... Six? I think. You kinda stop counting after awhile."

He would hate all of her friends so much.

"Six whole times? Over six?" He whistles, impressed. "Makes me wonder if your world is supposed to end. People seem to be very drawn to end it, anyway."

He smiles slightly, rubbing his chin.

"But then again, perhaps they just didn't realize what tenacity your protectors seem to have. Impressive, I have to admit."

People aren't usually that good at preventing the end of the world, anyway.

Willow beams, that is high praise coming from an angel. Or it feels like it ought to be. "Thanks. We, uh, just kinda do what we have to, really. That's how I got into practicing magic in the first place, trying to save the world."

She glances at the tower and sighs. It's going to be a lot harder to prevent the next apocalypse without Buffy. Hopefully that will be a moot point, though, and she'll be able to fix things once she gets back home.

"So how long have you been here, Nick? In Deerington, I mean."

Then Willow could be a potential threat, in the future.

As much as he'd love to keep her in the dark eternally about what he truly is, he has a feeling one of the boys and their little legion will completely out him; rude, that, but he'll just take it as it comes.

"For about a month, now. Not very long, I suppose. Compared to other unfortunate souls who get dragged into town." He makes a noise of disgust, shaking his head. "In Maine of all places, at that."

"Me too," Willow answers with a nod. "Maybe just under a month."

It might be a fast one-eighty when she finds Nick's true identity, but for now he seems friendly enough, Willow's content to engage with him. "Not a fan of Maine, huh? I've never been here before. So, where would an angel rather get stuck? If they had to be stuck on Earth, that is."

He hums, and looks to genuinely consider the question.

(It pains him to find company in humans, but, well — better than twiddling his thumbs. He supposes.)

"... the Iguazú Falls, in Argentina."

He snaps his fingers, and suddenly they're out of the maze — away from that tormenting tower that Willow seemed to dislike so much. They stand on a long bridge impossibly high, and it overlooks a very gorgeous landscape full of waterfalls and lush green trees.

Willow's grateful enough for the shift in scenery that it doesn't bother her much that Nick just influenced her dream. The falls are by far the prettiest spot she's seen. Even the butterfly is intrigued enough that she leaves Willow's shoulder and lands on the rail on the bridge to survey the view.

"I can see why this is your first choice," she smiles, looking over the side of the rail. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?"

He looks very pleased with himself, and would honestly be content with marveling at this place for a lot longer. But... well. Sam Winchester is starting to stir, and good ol 'Nick' can already feel himself getting sucked back toward that prison of a body.

With a huff, he looks to her.

"Whelp, I suppose I have to return to the ol' jail cell. One of the woes of not having any bodily autonomy at the moment... Would you prefer me take you somewhere particular, before I flitter off?"

Usually, he'd just dump a human somewhere particularly grisly.

... But he's trying not to immediately burn bridges.

(Yet.)

"I think I'd like to just stay here for now," Willow smiles, leaning on the rail next to the butterfly. "It was... definitely an interesting way to spend the night, Nick."

The butterfly takes off and hovers right in front of his face. "Good night, Nick. Er. Morning. Come by again, will you?"

Will he come by again...? Well. The nights are long, and he's particularly sick of being left alone — even if there's mostly only lowly humans as company.

A couple millennia is long enough, and he's willing to begrudgingly take what he can get.

So with that in mind...

"It's an invitation to keep in mind."

He gives her and her little butterfly friend a small wink in response.

And with that, he's gone, much like a mirage.

Lucifer's Dreamwalking

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tmw you write sister instead of friend, MY TOTAL BAD :'D

Ngl, I thought I screwed it up in my tag lmao

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