Before Lucifer could speak, he heard a knock on the door. Curious, he opened it. Before him stood Lord Nergal, his expression calm and measured.
"Your Majesty," Nergal said with a graceful bow. "I wish to speak with you regarding your visit to Cruciata Carrionfly."
"What about her?" Enoch asked.
"Your father payed her a surprise visit," Nergal said with a deceptively jovial laugh. "I imagine he wanted to interrogate her regarding the charges. Alas, he is not a professional in these matters. I have deduced what Cruciata likely told him, and I am here to set the record straight."
"I'm listening," Lucifer said, stroking his trimmed goatee musingly.
"She no doubt spoke of my presence at Chaos rituals attended by Beelzebub and Adrammelech," Nergal said.
"WHAT?!" Enoch gasped.
"I assure you, the silly girl misunderstood what she saw," Nergal said. "I did indeed intend their rites, but strictly in my capacity as a double agent protecting your father's interests in the secret police's covert fashion."
"Then why make no arrests?" Enoch scoffed.
"Because I've been trying to gather all the information I need to smash this conspiracy once and for all. Personally, I think Kushiel's been using Beelzebub and Adrammelech. He wants to use them as pawns to overthrow and replace Jehovah as God. You know he's been planning it for a while."
"It wouldn't surprise me," Lucifer remarked. "When I tried to invite him into the rebellion, he said something I'll never forget. He said 'you aren't the right man for the job.' I thought he was trying to say Jehovah was at first. Now I think he meant himself."
"Agreed," Nergal said. "I've been continuing to play the part of conspirator until I can find evidence of Kushiel's involvement. Alas, the bastard keeps himself well-hidden."
"Pity," Lucifer said vaguely.
"I'm organizing a raid on the Palace of Vermin as we speak," Nergal promised.
"Why you?" Enoch spat, slamming a fist down on a table.
"As Chief of the Secret Police, I have jurisdiction over matters of treason, sedition, and heresy," Nergal said icily, glaring daggers at the rankled wolf-taur demon. "My agents and I will scour the palace and report ant Chaos paraphernalia we find."
Lucifer bit his lip. He had wanted to appoint Enoch to lead this raid, but Nergal was right about jurisdiction. If the secret police wanted in, Lucifer had no legal right to stop them. "Very well. May Enoch at least go with you?"
"I'm afraid not," said Nergal, shaking his maned lion head. "He'd only get in the way."
"But he's the new Chief of Justice!" Lucifer protested.
"Exactly," said Nergal. "He's a legal bureaucrat now, not an investigator. Any evidence we find will be reported to him. He may then decide how to proceed."
"This is bullshit!" Enoch shouted.
"You should attempt to be more civil," Nergal laughed. "You're back in court, after all."
"Look in the east tower in the Palace of Vermin," Lucifer instructed to Nergal. "Cruciata says there's a secret door behind a statue that depicts Betzalel Papilio, only his angelic feature have been mockingly replaced with demonic ones."
Nergal recognized the name of Betzalel Papilio. Betzalel was Beelzebub's angelic father, who Beelzebub himself had cut down with his sword when the loyal angel had tried to talk his son and Lucifer out of the rebellion. Beelzebub had then renounced the Papilio family name and proclaimed his surname to be Carrionfly from hat day forward. The demonic statue of Betzalel had been Beelzebub's idea of a joke, the final disrespect to the slain Jehovah loyalist.
"I know of the statue," Negal chuckled. "I was there, after all. Spying and infiltrating and such."
"Ah, indeed," said Lucifer. "Well, I suppose you'll have to be on your way."
"I will, Your Majesty," Nergal nodded. "For the majesty of Darkness!" With that, Nergal strutted out of the room to prepare the raid.
"I am beyond confused!" Enoch said, turning to his father and pawing restlessly at the carpet. "So much is happening at once, and I only understand half of it. I feel like I just got pranked by Loki again!"
"Trust me, your brother and his husband are to busy with the upcoming baby to have time to bother you," Lucifer laughed as he re-sealed the door. "Long story short, I spoke to Cruciata. Believe it or not, she's an angel now!"
"That can happen?!" Enoch gasped. "But she isn't even a fallen angel like you or the other old-timers! She's a natural-born demon like me!"
"She prayed to God and the Light," Lucifer answered. "Her prayer was so sincere that the Light was able to enter her heart and change her, just as the Darkness did to me and my comrades when we first entered Hell and cut ties with Heaven." Lucifer sighed a bit regretfully. "Point is, Cruciata's an angel now. I helped her escape to Heaven, but the court will still probably demand that she be put on trial. If that happens, you have to do what you can to see that justice is done."
"I will," Enoch nodded.
"She also said that Nergal is working with Beelzebub and Adrammelech," Lucifer added, "to which we owe Nergal's little visit."
"Do you believe his alibi?" Enoch scoffed.
"Hard to say," Lucifer sighed. "I know Cruciata isn't lying, but Nergal's side of the story is that Cruciata didn't undstand what she was seeing. That's possible. She wouldn't have the clearance to know about a secret police mission to spy on her father. On the other hand, he could be trying to save his own skin."
"I still don't trust him!" Enoch growled. "Why didn't you force him to take me with him?"
"The court would have a fit if I broke protocol and told the Chief of the Secret Police how to do his job," Lucifer groaned. "My hands are basically tied. If Nergal is guilty, he just out maneuvered me. For now, we need to focus on keeping Cruciata out of trouble."
"I'll help her," Enoch nodded. "She won't be convicted. I'll see to it."
***************************************************************************************************
Nergal and his secret police agents swept through the Palace of Vermin, destroying anything Chaos-related that hadn't already been taken by Beelzebub to his hideout. Magic flame burned grimoires, scrolls, amulets, altars, and idols away without a trace. Nergal made doubly sure to destroy anything related to him.
"Perfect," Nergal smirked. He would return to Lucifer and report that all of Beelzebub's tools of Chaos sorcery had vanished. He would theorize that Beelzebub had placed a spell on his secret items to set them to vanish into nothingness in the event of his death. Lucifer's unexpected meeting with Cruciata had been a close call, but Lord Nergal Deathfire was not so easily ousted. He would live to scheme another day, just as he always did. Beelzebub would no doubt reward him for his skilled service upon usurping Hell. When that happened, Nergal would make doubly sure to make that obnoxious, cocky Enoch Morningstar suffer.