"Even angels have their wicked schemes, but you take them to new extremes. But you'll always be my hero, even though you've lost your mind," Love The Way You Lie (Part II) ~ Rihanna

Helpful hint; stay strong

Her tiny hand was laced tightly with Lucifer's, using all the strength that her thin arm could muster as she swung their interlocked hands back and forth. The young blonde was humming off-tune to the theme song of one of her favorite shows, head swaying to and fro. Today, Lucifer and Mary were going to the store to buy some groceries and he knew that she was excited for it. Usually, if he had enough money to afford it, Lucifer would buy her a small treat. It was usually along the lines of chocolate, but her favorite was the small caramels that he would get her from the small candy shop near the market.

He wished he could get her them more often then he does, but the candies were expensive. And he could barely afford to buy her the cheap store chocolate as it was. That is, if he wanted to stay on schedule. Only a few months longer, and they could finally escape their drunkard and druggie of an uncle. Only a few months longer and Mary would get the education she deserves. So until then, he could only buy necessities with the slight chance of buying candy.

"Lucy," Mary called out her nickname for her older brother. "Why does Uncle Claude hate me?" She looked up at the black-haired teen, her deep blue eyes filled with curiosity that swirled with confusion. His heart twisted and a hard lump formed in his throat, making it hard for him to swallow.

Lucifer knelt to the ground, hands on her small shoulders as he looked her in the eye. "He doesn't hate you, Mary. Uncle Claude is just confused, and he's not making the right decisions with his life, and not with ours either. He might act weird," Because of the drugs and alcohol, "but he doesn't hate you."

Mary wore a wide grin, showing off her missing front tooth that she had recently lost. She nodded her head in response as Lucifer stood up. She took his hand once more and they continued their walk to the grocery store. "I love you, Lucy!"

Lucifer chuckled softly before telling her that he loved her too. They walked past the small candy shop that held Mary's favorites and approached the store.

"Now, do you remember what we came here for?" Lucifer asked as Mary's hand slipped out of his. With his hand now free, he lifted her up and placed her in a nearby shopping cart. "Yep!" Mary said, enthusiastically bobbing her head up and down, the golden curls that framed her face bounced as she did so. "We came here for chocolate!"

Lucifer laughed while shaking his head no, pushing the cart she was in down the first aisle. "Maybe later, but what do we need at home?" The young girl pursed her lips in concentration as she thought back to what her older brother had told her before they left the house.

"Mmm, pancakes?" She guessed, looking up at him with wide, navy blue eyes. "No, cereal!" As he walked further down the lane, Mary spotted some packages of instant ramen and near them were the boxes of macaroni and cheese. "Oo! Lucy, Lucy I want those!" She's excitedly jumping in the cart and pointing at the noodles. Nearby, an older lady watched in amusement at the scene, her smile soft.

"Okay, okay..." Lucifer agreed, piling a bunch of packages of the cheap ramen along with a few of the mac and cheese boxes. "So what else do we want from here?"

The duo spend the next half an hour looking around the store for food that was on sale. Fifteen minutes later, Lucifer was carrying several plastic bags filled with their meals for the next couple of weeks. He kept a tight grip on Mary's hand as they walked through the dark night. Mary stayed close to his side, and Lucifer didn't know whether or not she was doing it on purpose but it made him feel better knowing she was so close to his side.

Briskly, they walked past a huddled group of men next to a brick building, Lucifer tugging Mary along.

"Hey," A calloused hand gripped Lucifer's shoulder, jerking him back and stopping him dead in his tracks. "Aren't ya Claude's kids?" Lucifer pulled his shoulder free, a hand coming down to push Mary behind him. One of the men had broken out of the huddle, his dark eyes on Lucifer.

"Woah, Pierre come check this out! Claude wasn't kiddin' about his brat havin' purple eyes!" Lucifer could smell the whiskey and vodka that were mixed in the man's breath, the distinct yet familiar stench of marijuana on him as well. Behind him, Mary hugged his leg to her chest, hands balled up into fists as she bunched up the denim of his jeans. Sparing a quick glance down to her, he could see the fear swirling in her dark blue eyes.

Another man, presumably Pierre, shoved his way from the group and over to the trio, quizzically looking at Lucifer's face. "Holy shit, Cedric!" By the looks of it, Pierre was as high and drunk as his friend Cedric was. A small whimper came from Mary, drawing both of their attention down to her.

"Aw, wouldja look at 'er. She's gonna be a real beaut when she gets older," Pierre cooed, squatting down so he was eyelevel with Mary who hid further behind Lucifer.

"I don't know Pierre," Cedric slurred. "She's cute now. Just imagine the stuff we could do to 'er." Cedric reached out for her golden locks, but was quickly shoved back by Lucifer who did the same to Pierre.

"Don't touch her," Lucifer growled. He didn't care if the grown men gawked at him as if he were some lab experiment gone wrong, but looking at his five-year-old sister in such a lewd and disgusting way was too far. His stance in front of Mary changed into a defensive one as Pierre and Cedric glared at him.

"What didja say, brat?" Cedric snapped, catching the attention of the rest of his friends. And all of them were either drunk, high, or both. Lucifer's lip curled into a snarl, his face contorting from the happy one that Mary knew.

"I said, don't touch her." The men circled the siblings, each one sporting their own glare. Cedric pushed the teenager. Lucifer stumbled, careful not to step back on Mary who was still holding on to his leg, but ended up dropping their groceries.

"You don't tell me what I can't do, brat," He moved to shove Lucifer again, but this time Lucifer managed to dodge it. Fed up, Cedric kicked Lucifer in the gut, successfully making the violet eyed boy fall to the ground. Before he did, however, Mary was moved on top of Lucifer, safely tucked in his arms and not beneath him.

Lucifer rolled them over as Pierre tried to bury his foot into the black-haired boy's ribcage. Mary's tears stained Lucifer's white shirt, sobs escaping her lips as she held onto her brother tightly, too scared to open her eyes. Lucifer scrambled back, one arm wrapped around Mary before pushing himself back up to his feet. Just as he stood up, Pierre landed a punch on his jaw, knocking him back down. Mary cried out as she fell out of Lucifer's arms and into Cedric's, screaming loudly and kicking wildly.

"Mary!" Lucifer surged forward only to be knocked in the back of the head with a half-empty beer bottle. Lucifer fell to the ground, his head spinning. He blinked in a daze as a hot liquid slowly seeped down from his crown to the back of his neck. Disoriented, he heard Mary shout her nickname for him. Looking up, he was just in time to see Cedric throw Mary to the ground. She hit the brick wall, and instantly her dark blue eyes rolled to the back of her head. She slumped over. Through his blurred vision, he could see a puddle of red beneath his beloved sister.

Her once golden hair was now dyed a bloody red, her white dress covered in it as well. A freezing cold seeped throughout his body, starting from his heart. Tears were littered in Lucifer's eyes, making it even harder to see her. In the background the men muttered a few choice words before the sound of feet slapping cement came, the group of men running away from the scene.

"M-Mary..." Lucifer croaked, his throat suddenly dry. Through pure determination, he fought off the urge to fall asleep, instead digging his numb fingers into the sidewalk, dragging himself closer to the unconscious child. His fingers were scraped and cut as they helped pull him near Mary.

Reaching for her, he gently cradled her into his lap, his Adam's apple bobbing continuously as he bit back the sob that so desperately wanted to come out. The bleeding wasn't stopping, he realized. He needed help, and he needed help fast.

"H-Help," His voice cracked as he spoke quietly. "Help! Please!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, resting his forehead against Mary's. He pressed his hand against her wound, covering it with part of his shirt. He wasn't going to be able to stay awake any longer, the urge to pass out growing stronger every second. "Someone, m-my sister! She needs help!"

Black rimmed his vision, slowly swallowing it up. "Please..." He whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek. The tear dropped onto Mary's face. The last thing Lucifer saw was a woman, maybe the woman from the grocery store? She was running towards him, her phone pressed against her ear as her mouth moved rapidly.

His only thought, was thank you.

~~~~~

Lucifer groaned, pain throbbing at the back of his head. His eyes refused to open, as if they were glued shut. Stickily, he opened his eyes. Bright lights blinded him, but slowly everything came into focus.

"Oh, you're awake young man." His violet eyes zeroed in on a doctor standing next to him, a clipboard in his hand. The doctor glanced up momentarily, before returning to the paper he was holding. "I just gave you some medication, so you might feel a bit loopy for some time." He informed Lucifer.

"Where... Where am I?" His throat was dry and he was thirsty, god was he thirsty. Next to him was a bloody white shirt and some jeans. On top of the jeans was a familiar blue object. The doctor looked back at him before answering.

"You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" Does he remember what happened? Not really. The only thing he could think of was-

"Mary! M-My sister! Where is she? She needs help! She- She-"

"She's in surgery."

"W-What?" His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. Why did this happen to them? All they were doing was going to the store, they weren't doing anything bad. Mary didn't deserve it- he was the one that deserved to be in surgery, not her!

"She took a critical hit to the head and unfortunately, she didn't end up with a concussion like you. There was some internal bleeding..." Lucifer couldn't hear the rest of the doctor's words, the only thing running through his mind was that his sister, the only person he loved in this cruel world, was in surgery. His heart was pounding in his chest, the monitor's beeps speeding up. He couldn't breathe. It was too hard.

"Sir- Sir take a deep breath. I understand that this is a lot-" No, this guy didn't understand. This guy wasn't named after the devil. He wasn't bullied his entire life because he had purple eyes. He didn't see his mother bleed to death inside one of these sick and atrocious hospitals. He didn't have to live with a drunk and drug addicted uncle, all the while raising his little sister and teaching himself. He didn't work three jobs a day to support him and his sister. And he didn't see the only person in the world that he loved get beaten into a surgery. He didn't understand.

Anger coursed through Lucifer's veins, bubbling up inside of him. He'd never been so absolutely pissed. This so-called doctor was emotionless as he told him Mary's condition. Red filled his vision as his arms quaked in anger, nails digging into his palm and drawing blood.

Those men, Claude, Pierre, and Cedric. They were to blame. They were the ones who hurt his dear Mary. They're the reason the sweetest girl to ever be alive, was in surgery and might not make it out.

To his right, a purple butterfly squeezed in through the window, fluttering over to Lucifer. He didn't watch as the akuma combined with his most important object. Black bubbles covered him in head to toe. He could hear the doctor shout in surprise or fear, Lucifer wasn't quite sure.

And when he next opened his eyes, he was the Puzzlemaker.

There you go! Now you know why Lucifer got akumatized. Summer has officially started for me, so hopefully I can get more updates and get them uploaded on my regular schedule!

Word Count: 2,208

Date, May 30th, 2017

Until next time, peace!