Worship

"...The boy seemed very nice when I met him. He seemed like he had potential, Lucifer-- for a human, he was very promising. I... I should have known, I suppose. Humans are so disappointing. And stupid too, it seems. Who would ever disappoint someone as fabulous as you, Apollo? That idiot boy doesn't know a good thing when he sees it. I can assure you he will get what he deserves for this," nodded Mai firmly. She wasn't one to spring to physical punishment, even despite being the occasional executioner in Hell, but if someone she cared and loved was hurt, she saw no other option other than death for the perpetrator.

"You don't have to explain, not to me at least. I just want to know if... well, did he have something else he had to do or... is it over?" She asked gently, reaching across the table to take his hand in her own, her hard expression fading as the other's sniffles continued. "Because last night you both seemed so... in love. There didn't seem to be any tension, I don't understand how... things could have changed so quickly. Humans do really confuse me, I'm afraid."
 
"I don't either," Apollo replied, his eyes locking on his glass now that he was unable to hide his emotions. Wiping his face quickly, he sniffled again while trying to at least not start bawling like he wanted to. "He... said he was going to his sister's home for breakfast and when he was there for too long, I got nervous and called him. He had blocked my number so I called my followers. I called Cameron, who is in a relationship with his sister, and he was there even though Cameron said he wasn't. Then he said that he didn't want to see me because he didn't like... who I was, I guess? He said he loved me and I-I'm just really confused," he admitted quietly, his hands fiddling with the edge of the tablecloth anxiously.

"Humans are pathetic," Lucifer decided bitterly, his face only twisting more. "How dare some insignificant human do this to my son. Did you tell him who you are?" He asked, watching as Apollo nodded. "He's a complete moron, hm? No surprise. You're too naive, Apollyon. You need to open your eyes and realize that humans are scum and it will be a lovely day when I get to watch him scream as he burns in the pits outside of the castle."
 
"He saw me in my real form last night and barely flinched-- and I like to think I'm among the scariest demons. I don't think his excuses are very well thought out-- but we'll question him when your father and I manage to find him, I assure you. He won't get away with treating you like this, Apollo. Maybe next time you can find yourself a nice demon who won't run away at the first sign of pressure; someone who actually loves you, hm? There'll be plenty of suitors waiting for you when you return home," smiled Mai as she returned to scouring the menu. Just because Elijah had failed to show up didn't mean she was going to go hungry; it wasn't her problem he had been too cowardly to arrive, and she wasn't going to starve because of it.

"Let's get some wine and hot food and forget about him. He wasn't all that anyway, you could do much better. He was awfully rough. You need a gentleman; someone who will treat you correctly. That boy was clearly too self-obsessed," she tutted from behind the menu tapping her newly manicured nails on the table. "It won't take us long to find him. Your father is very good with these things."
 
“I know he’s rough a-and... not proper or articulate but I love him. I don’t know what it is about him b-but... I don’t think I could ever be with anyone else. H-He was my soulmate and he just wants to dump me? Am... I not good enough? I can’t help who I am. I’ve been trying to make compromises with him throughout this entire relationship a-and... I get in trouble because HE decides to spoil the beans? I couldn’t just let that go, right? I-I... I mean, I was building such a good following a-and now, what’s the point?” He whimpered, clearly defeated. “I’m sorry, daddy. I really tried a-and I couldn’t even get a proper boyfriend. He... he proposed to me,” added Apollo, that fact causing him to finally begin to actually cry, hiding his face with the napkin in embarrassment.

“I’m not upset, you’ve done beautifully,” reassured Lucifer, smiling affectionately. “Please don’t blame yourself for the action of this useless little man. Now eat, please. You need as much energy as you can. Then we can go home for the night if you’d like, hm? I know you miss home. I miss you.” He urged before motioning a waiter over, urging for the most expensive wine available.
 
Seeing Apollo breakdown in front of her only made Mai emotional herself, unsure how to proceed other than to observe with a sad frown on her face. Elijah was equally as emotional as he busied himself at his laptop, hearing Apollo's voice break over the phone over the news that he was being dumped being the main cause of that. He didn't want to leave him, but the more he regretted the decision was when he also realised that he couldn't be with someone like him; not when it would lead him into a life he really didn't want to lead.

Not that he would be living for much longer if he was caught, and it was that knowledge that meant he didn't want to drag the others with him. Unfortunately, letting them go now would put them at risk too. How was he to now they wouldn't get killed simply through their association to him, to hurt and spite him?

"...We need to go tonight, I... Apollo's father will find us here-- he's not human, he'll find us. They both will, easily. Which is why we have to leave right this second. I mean, you can go back if you want. I just think they might kill you to hurt me," he muttered coldly to Mary, packing a few items from the apartment to keep him going a few days. "I could go alone if you wanted to head back, I just-- I can't be sure you'd be kept alive, Mary. They're monsters."
 
“Where are we supposed to go, Elijah? I don’t have any money and now that you’ve cut receiving funds from your boyfriend, how are we supposed to just uproot our lives? Do you not understand how much Agnes and I have done to get where we are?” Mary countered as she comfort her friend, who had been in a state of shock to know that she was being rescued by Mary only to be moved again without having the chance of getting her things.

“I don’t think you understand how... how much money we’ve put into this. I just - I don’t understand why we can’t just talk this out? I get that they’re not human or whatever but it’s clear Apollo loves you, right? If you talked to him and just... I don’t know, okay? I’m scared a-and I don’t want to abandon all of this, Elijah. I’m just... scared,” Mary admitted, her eyes avoiding everyone.
 
"Then go. You're an adult, I guess you don't have to listen to me, huh? You can probably get a taxi back to your place for under £20 anyway, we're really not that far away. Don't come crying to me when Apollo messes your life up out of spite, though. I'm not sticking around to protect you if you don't fucking want my help," he decided with a grimace, tossing the apartment keys onto the table before returning to his packing. He wanted to protect her, to help them all out, but he wasn't prepared to have them whine at him that he was making the wrong decision and that everything could be solved by talking. He was way past that point and he wasn't going to explain himself time and time again.

"I'm literally about to go so if you want to come, that's cool. If you'd rather leave and go back to your life, that's fine too. I just can't see you all living that much longer if that's the case."
 
“We’re all going to die soon because of you no matter what, this is just prolonging the inevitable,” countered Agnes, her eyes locked in Elijah with a glare. “If Apollo is some supernatural being, what makes you think he won’t just find us with whatever weird powers he has? Or did you not take that into consideration? You seem to know so much about him, so you must know that he’ll find you and he will kill you no matter where you are.”

“Let’s just... go with Elijah,” Mary decided, albeit with intense reluctance. She was throwing away the one good thing that came out of years of abuse by her family and now she felt as if she was being abused by her brother too. She was too emotionally exhausted to deny anything at this point.
 
"He'd have found me by now if he could do that. He wouldn't be resorting to calling a wimp like Cameron if he could just magically find me, Mary. this is the best shot of surviving so... this is what I'm doing. I gave you a fucking chance to back out so stop whinging about it. You're doing my head in."

"...I'm sure he doesn't mean that, he's stressed. We all are. I... I think this is the best chance," nodded Cameron as he awkwardly watched Elijah storm out to start the car, reluctantly trailing behind him with a supportive smile to the two girls. "And if he does find us, you're both mostly innocent in all this. Elijah ran away and I was... pretending to be friends with Apollo in order to get close to him. We're the guilty ones. You'll both be okay, I'm certain of it. This is just to be on the safe side, I suppose."
 
Once again, Mary didn’t react well to anger or yelling because of her past so it was no surprise she simply grew quiet and awkwardly hugged herself, her eyes locked on the ground. She had hoped her brother would have learned from their situation yet she felt the same level of stupidity and worthlessness she had when she was back home when in Manchester. The difference was that Agnes knew the signs of Mary seemingly dissociating and carefully held the girl close, trying to calm her down and at least bring her back a bit. Was it better than Mary crying? Her parents thought so; it meant that she would finally shut up.

“Let’s just go,” Agnes murmured, her eyes meeting with Cameron to frown deeply. “This situation is fucked. I’ll... text the guys and try to explain the situation, hopefully they’ll understand. Elijah took my phone but he hasn’t taken Mary’s yet.”
 
"You can use my phone if you wanted. He gave it back to me; I'm not sure he's thinking straight," he replied with the same awkward smile; one that grew more awkward upon the sight of Elijah at the steering wheel, on the verge of completely breaking down. He had never seen the man cry before; hell, he'd never even seen him visibly upset, so to see him all but sobbing at the wheel was something he never thought he'd witness, and thus, he didn't quite know how to deal with it. He chose not to draw attention to it, entering the car and forcing a smile when Elijah hurriedly wiped his eyes and pretended like nothing was wrong, even though the tears were still staining his cheeks.

"You guys ready then? I... I thought we'd go east. We can get a ferry across to Ireland tonight; I've booked the tickets," he mumbled as he buckled himself in, avoiding looking at his sister in guilt over his outburst. "I... I'm sorry about this, I... I know I could handle this better but this is the only way I can be sure you're safe, Mary."
 
“Just go,” begged Mary who had clearly resigned to the situation, buckling up her seatbelt neatly before clutching her favorite pillow tight tic her chest. “I... just want to get this over with, Elijah. I’m fuckin’ tired and I just want to go. I’m... done with you yelling at me. “ she then leaned close to Agnes and whispered in her ear, something that at least made the other smile.

Lastly, Mary rested her head on the window and closed her eyes, tired of the whole situation. She wanted to go home but she also wanted to keep her brother with her. She was sacrificing way more than her brother for the mistakes he had made but she just didn’t care anymore.

“You do realize that I want to pummel the shit out of you right now, right?” Agnes began, her eyes locked on both Elijah and Cameron in the front. “Now that you don’t have your rich boyfriend to pay for everything, what is your plan exactly? Obviously Mary and I don’t have a job anymore nor does anyone else in this car. We’re fucked.”
 
"You know, maybe if you were a better actress, we wouldn't be in this shit. Apollo knew something was wrong when he noticed how you reacted to him at the club. Pity you're such a shit actress, ain't it? 'Cos then he wouldn't be so suspicious. Just shut the fuck up, alright? I'll figure this out. I could always stop the damn car and you can all piss off back to your apartment if you want, I gave you that option. Don't blame me when you opted against it," he grunted from the wheel, tempted to pull over and force them out. He could deal with Agnes' anger and Cameron's unsubtle disapproval, but Mary's disappointment and disgust was almost too overwhelming to deal with. He didn't want to be apart from her, nor did he want her to get hurt without him being around to help, but dealing with her hatred of him for ruining her life was something he could only deal with for so long.

"...Go on, get out then. Go back to your life. I mean, I tried helping 'ya. If Apollo comes knocking, i'm sure you'll tell him everything you know-- which is fine, I guess. It'll probably save you all getting killed if you're honest with him," he nodded, unlocking the doors and gripping the steering wheel hard, his eyes locked ahead of him. "Do I have to fucking drag you out or can you get out by yourself? You wanna leave, so go. I'm not listening to you whine on when I've given you chances to go-- so now I'm forcing you out. I'm not dealing with this shit."
 
“No, we’re staying. You got us into this shit situation now you have to fucking deal with it,” Agnes replied with a scoff of disbelief, sitting up a tad. “You keep on driving. I can complain all I fucking want because I was fucking kidnapped, why? Because you couldn’t control your alcohol and decided to go and blabber about you being in a cult. You need to face the consequences of your actions and we’re those consequences. So I suggest you shut up and drive or I’ll call the police and tell them what happened. Then there’s no way your Twink boyfriend couldn’t find you in jail.” Agnes sternly replied, the reason behind her and Mary’s friendship being evident.

At this point, it was nearing 8 at night. Once again, Apollo’s number had shown up on Caneron’s phone. Much to his father and Aunt’s suggestion, eating a nice meal did in fact make him feel a bit better. His tears had dried up but his eyes were still red. Neatly dabbing the ink sauce from his lips after eating his favorite meal of squid ink pasta, he waited patiently to get a response.

“They’re on the run,” announced Lucifer as he sipped his drink casually, offering a smile to Mai. “It’s tragic.”
 
"I can't imagine his friends had much say in the matter, Lucifer. I can't see why they have any reason to run. Again, it just highlights the boy's stupidity. It's pathetic, really-- they're not going to answer you, Apollo. You're only going to upset yourself by calling them," remarked Mai as she set her wine glass down, though her smile peaked again at the call being answered. She assumed that the humans in the car were stupid, but even she was overcome by just how idiotic they seemed. If anything, it at least gave her some amusement, though she would find it a lot funnier if it wasn't directly impacting someone she cared deeply about.

"...I can't keep answering your calls, Apollo. I've said all I have to say," replied Cameron quietly, ignoring Elijah's stern glare. He had been instructed not to answer the phone, but curiosity inevitably got the better of him. "I... I don't know what else there is to say to you, Elijah's told you it's over, so... so stop calling, maybe? I don't know, this is... it's stupid now."
 
“So you’re running away?” Apollo confirmed, taking a sip of his drink. “”Why? You’re still in the UK so I don’t know how far you think you can go. Not only that but I’m pretty sure you aren’t swimming in wealth, how long do you expect to be running from me? I truly just want to talk to Elijah, I don’t intend on any harm. If he wants to break up with me, I would at least like it face-to-face instead of this rash running away you think is such a brilliant idea.”

Now Apollyon wasn’t nearly as omnipresent as his father but he could get a sense of people were, if only in vague instances. With his eyes turning white, he could was able to at least track the car’s movement a bit.

“So you’re heading to Ireland?” He confirmed, his father offering a proud smile in return. After all, his son would one day be King and he hardly wanted to have a powerless ruler taking over. To see him trying to hone his skills instead of keeping the whole ‘human’ schtick going. “Why?”
 
"...For the record, I didn't have a say in this. He... none of us did. We don't want to be doing this," he began to babble, unable to go along with Elijah's demands the moment he saw a potential opportunity to clear himself and the girls of blame. For all Apollo knew, the four of them were working together and that was far from the truth. If he believed that, then everyone would be hurt. If he had a chance to alleviate the blame and place it all on Elijah, he was going to snatch at it... however angry it made the other.

"He forced us to come, he... I don't want this. Mary and Agnes just want to go home, so do I-- it's Elijah that's doing this. We told him to talk to you to make this better but he refused and-- and he's going to Ireland, yeah. We're just out of London, on the motorway-- he won't talk to you, he-- he's really pissed at me for even answering your call."
 
“Oh, Agnes is still alive?” The demon questioned in clear shock, though he didn’t dwell on it. It was just another thing to add to the list of reasons he was mad at Elijah. It was a very established thing that if there was one thing he hated, it was liars. Sighing deeply, he pinched his brow in frustration.

“Gross. Okay, sure. This is really unfortunate - I recommend you pull over now,” the demon suggested because with the flick of his finger, tires on the quite expensive and nearly brand new car began to pop, causing Mary to be startled awake by the screeching of the bare metal against the road. “I’ll pop another one if you don’t pull over now.”
 
What followed was a clearly heated and desperate argument, with Cameron, obviously fearful for his life, begging Elijah not to be 'stupid' and to pull over before anyone got hurt, though all he seemed to receive for his efforts was the man yelling back at him that if they pulled over, he'd lose his temper and 'batter' him. The argument didn't continue for too much longer, the car coming to a screeching halt at the side of the small road Elijah had turned into - though not because he had seen sense and wanted to do what Apollo suggested. Rather, he came to the abrupt stop as a result of a man standing in the road, seemingly perfectly calm as the car approached and stopped just before it hit him.

Too stunned to really do anything, Elijah watched as the stranger first approached to open the car door, retrieving the phone from Cameron with a playful wink, as though the situation was perfectly normal and they were well acquainted. They weren't, of course, and Cameron was far more scared than ever, though was too scared to really argue against what was happening.

"I assume I'm speaking to Apollyon, hm? I think I've just stumbled upon your boyfriend-- or ex-boyfriend, I can't keep up with your drama, little brother. It's all terribly predictable. Is Father there with you? Course he is. Daddy runs to precious golden boy at the first sign of trouble. Again, terribly predictable," droned the man, leaning on the front of the car with a playful wave at the four humans sat inside it.

Darius had no trouble acting like an asshole to the other -mostly because he was an asshole and knew it. Though, the hatred mostly stemmed from the fact he was older than him yet had been overlooked for any privileges simply because he technically wasn't a legitimate son. The unfairness never really went away, so any chance he had at intervening in Apollo's life and fucking with it, he would take.

"...Now, you aren't going to track down these nice people, I'll shield them from that. You really ought to have realised I'd be all over this. I can sense when you're distressed. It fucking makes my day when I know you're crying. Nothing funnier than knowing you're upset, Apollyon."
 
Darius?!” Apollo spat, what little anger he felt rising immediately, so much so that he pushed out of his chair to leave. “Get off the phone, this has nothing to do with you. Elijah isn’t my ex, don’t be daft. We’re merely fighting, as all couples do,” he tried to explain simply while sounding calm despite his fuming anger, only briefly looking back to his father and Mai, desperate for some advice before hurrying off.

Watching his son walk off in addition to hearing Darius’ name only made Lucifer cringe. He had plenty of illegitimate children but it seemed Darius was the the only one that seemed to be so bitter. Rolling his eyes, Lucifer decided to press forward after leaving a healthy tip for the waiter along with paying for the meal. “This is ridiculous.”