Chapter Text
Sometime in AU1, prior to dimension travel
“What the fuck is this?”
The demon shrugged, the movement drawing attention to his blue polo, which was rumbled and dirty in places, making Kore’s eye twitch in irritation.
“‘Dunno, addressed to you, my Lord.” the creature murmured, its sluggish appearance rippling under its human guise.
Kore stared at the stacks and stacks of mail covering her office space, and the other demons, also wearing blue polos and dark blue cargo pants, brought more boxes in. Nick looked stressed, having called her from her meeting once the mail had begun to arrive in droves.
Kore picked up a letter from one of the boxes and looked over the messy, childish scrawl.
‘To Satan’, is what it read in big green crayon, with drawings of blue snowflakes and green pine trees covered in red dots, also in crayon. Half a dozen stamps were pasted on the front, completing the look. She turned it over to read ‘From Dennize’, also in green crayon.
She opened the letter and pulled out the sheet of loose leaf paper, which was also written on in green crayon.
‘Dear Satan,
For Chrismas I want a gren truk, with brite red flams on the side. Gren if my favret color!!!!
From, Dennize’
Kore groaned. She remembered the jokes from when she was human, about kids who couldn’t spell or who were dyslexic writing letters to Satan instead of Santa. She didn’t think these letters would actually make their way to her, though.
Curiosity had her opening another one, the envelope was stained with something that smelled like old coffee, and the letters were shaky and in pencil.
‘ Deer Satan,
For chisms id want my Grandpa to be niser to my Mom and me.
He is very lod and meen and does meen things to us when he is having his drink.
I want my Mom to happy for chrisms and too smile.
I want a puppy dog too, plese!
From Madeline '
Well… Shit .
She enlisted Nick and Gabriel to help her piece through the many letters, sorting out the urgent and less urgent ones into piles for her. The two embraced the job with gusto, and Gabriel snapped up the pair green pointy hats with elf ears for giggles. Kore, now proudly wearing a red Santa hat, paged through the pile of ‘Urgent’.
Missing pets, dead family members, abusive houses, financial hardships, etc. Each one made her boil with rage in different ways. She made a list, and checked over it twice, to make sure no child was missed.
Kore had a soft spot for children. While she wasn’t overly fond of the human race, children were a soft exception. Their souls sung in a way adults didn’t, one reminiscent of The Beginning of Creation. Souls were composed of primordial energy, similar to that of her Father, and children’s souls were the closest in resonance and feeling to Him. Before the nasty corruption of human nature set in and fucked them up.
It filled her with nostalgia and longing, of a time before when things were simple and beautiful. You know, before the shit happened to make it all fall apart.
Anyway
Kore had taken off, over a dozen of the more urgent wishes in hand. The letters, it turned out, worked a lot like prayer. The children had put a lot of intent and faith in their writing, penning out their hopes for Christmas and the magic behind it. They didn’t intend it to her , she knew, but it worked well enough.
Gabriel, the little shit, had sneakily changed her white pantsuit to red. He was lucky that she liked him, and that the red went well with her eyes and skin tone.
Grabbing out the first letter, the one from Madeline, she felt along the edges of its energy, latching onto the tether of its origin and following it like a guideline.
It took her to an old house in the middle of an impoverished suburb that the local Government tried to forget existed. Complete with bars on windows, potholes knee deep, and broken furniture on the curbside. Kore felt her nose wrinkle in distaste. Humans were disgusting . How they could cling to their excess resources, hoard their wealth and food while children like Madeline lived in squalor sickened her.
Kore turned her attention to the house she had been drawn to. The paint was peeling, the roof sagged dangerously, and the front steps were warped with rot. But it was what lay within that held her attention: a trembling, dim light—a child’s soul, still bright despite the darkness pressing in around it.
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she approached the door, grace curling around her hands like thorns. She didn’t bother knocking; her fingers brushed the worn doorknob, and with a flicker of energy, it turned, the lock giving way without resistance.
Inside, the smell of mildew and cheap whiskey hit her like a wall. The living room was a mess of overturned furniture, stained carpet, and an ancient television flickering weakly in the corner. A man—presumably the grandfather from the letter—was slumped in a recliner, a half-empty bottle of liquor in his hand. His snores were loud, his presence oppressive even in sleep.
Kore’s gaze shifted, her senses honing in on the source of the letter. She followed the faint hum to a small room down the hall. The door was slightly ajar, and she pushed it open with care.
Inside was a little girl, no older than seven, curled up on a mattress without a frame. Her blanket was thin, her cheeks red from the cold seeping through the cracked window. Beside her lay a stuffed dog, its fur matted and worn but clearly loved.
Kore’s chest tightened as she stepped closer, her gaze softening. The child’s soul flickered faintly, resilient despite the circumstances. She was impressed by the little girl’s strength, and the faint dreams she could read from the child’s mind sung of a happier world.
She knelt beside the girl, her fingers brushing the edge of the threadbare blanket. “You don’t deserve this,” she murmured softly. “None of you do.”
Kore stood, her grace unfurling in earnest now. She let it seep into the room, warming the air and mending the cracks in the walls. The mattress transformed beneath the girl, expanding into a proper bed with soft sheets and a thick quilt. The stuffed dog was restored, its fur pristine and its button eyes shining. A small heater appeared in the corner, humming gently as it chased away the chill.
The child stirred but didn’t wake, her head burrowing into the now-plush pillows and blankets. Kore allowed herself a small smile, though it was fleeting.
Her grace surged outward again, sweeping through the entire house. The rotten steps became solid wood, the sagging roof mended itself, and the smell of mildew and alcohol vanished. Food appeared in the kitchen—fresh bread, fruit, milk, enough to last for weeks.
As she turned to leave, she glanced back at the sleeping girl, her expression softening. “Merry Christmas, Madeline,” she whispered, her voice carrying a warmth that echoed through the house.
She left the room, closing the door shut with a soft click. A grin formed, a sharp-toothed smile that split her face in two dramatically.
Now the fun part.
Kore reappeared in front of the old man and grabbed his neck in one hand, squeezing it harshly. The man let out a squeak as he woke violently, his whole body jerking as his windpipe was closed off. His eyes bulged out, rolling in their sockets until they landed on her still grinning face.
“Hello there,” she purred, her voice distorted and layered with others. “Time to die .”
She pushed him backwards, tipping over his chair and following him down. The ground split open beneath them, cracks forming and spilling out reddish light as she pushed the human through, swallowing them both whole. The ground reformed behind her, leaving nothing but a toppled chair in the living room, no signs of the man or his cheap liquor remained.
Kore laughed maniacally to herself as she pushed the human, body and soul, through the Earth’s crust and lower layers, dragging him into Hell. She landed, human first, into the first layer of her domain. Demons scampered over, shrieking with glee at the sight of their Master’s gift to them.
She twiddled her fingers in goodbye as the man was dragged away, his skin already being peeled from his flesh as the demons clawed into him. His screams echoed off the walls and hit her ears, more beautiful than any carol.
“Merry fucking Christmas.”
Madeline would wake up the next day in wonder, race to the large, beautiful evergreen that now grew in their backyard that twinkled with lights and decorations. She’d unwrap a large parcel to find a small, odd looking dog with red eyes snoozing happily, small billows of what must be steam (it was rather chilly out) coming from its nose. Madeline’s mother would look around in a daze, scared but thankful for the changes. The mother would later be contacted by the local authorities saying that her father had died in a driving accident, and that she was the benefactory of a substantial life insurance payout. She would chalk it up to a Christmas merical, and would end up going to church again that sunday, and every sunday following.
Kore found this more cathartic than she thought it would be. It was fun doing the big stuff: taking over governments, upheaving corporations, destabilizing foreign economies so they relied on her and her innovations, etc etc. But sometimes, the small things felt just as good.
Her next letter she chose was about a missing cat named Whiskers, penned in shaky handwriting by a small boy who signed with “Love, Jamie .” Kore traced the letter’s faint energy trail to a run-down alley in a small suburban neighborhood. The cat wasn’t hard to find—it was perched on a garbage can lid, glaring at her with glowing green eyes as if challenging her authority.
Her grace soothed over the cat’s emaciated form until its ribs no longer showed. Its fur was once again silky and smooth to the touch. She picked up the animal with both hands, avoiding the half-hearted swipes it gave her for the audacity.
A flick of her fingers later, Whiskers sported a bright red bow tied around its neck, complete with a tiny gold bell that jingled with every indignant wiggle. Kore carried the cat to Jamie’s house, where she eased the front door open without so much as a creak. The house was silent, the family clearly still asleep.
She set Whiskers down in the middle of the living room and gave the cat a soft nudge toward the bedrooms. “Go on,” she whispered, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. “Time to play Santa.”
The cat padded silently toward the hallway, its bell jingling faintly. Kore watched as it disappeared into one of the bedrooms. Moments later, she heard delighted giggles and muffled cries of “Whiskers!” from the children inside. She allowed herself a rare, genuine smile before vanishing into the night.
The next letter was from a young girl named Emma, written in blue ink on notebook paper with uneven lines and smudged words.
‘ Dear Satan ,’ it read, ‘ Please bring my litle brother back. He is only six. He is scared of the dark. I miss him so much. I know Mommy does too. Please bring him home. From Emma .”
She sniffed her way around the little girl’s home, noting the sad atmosphere and a single empty bedroom decorated with superheroes and comics. Some light mindreading gave her the story:
David, 6 years old, had been playing outside in the front yard. A black truck had stopped, and a woman had gotten out and swiped the child before either parent could blink. A firm press of her grace sharpened the image in the mother’s mind, and Kore was able to make out a plate number.
A quick break in at the local PD office and a careless worker’s login on a bright yellow sticky note had her an address.
She almost skipped back to her office.
“Oh Gaaaabriel~” she sing-songed, the bell in her Santa hat jingling with each step. The golden archangel looked up from where he had been sorting through letters, his green elf hat still sitting proudly on his head.
“Hey there, Sister-mine.” Gabriel hummed back. He flapped some of the letters her way. “Hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of granting some of these little tykes wishes while you were away.”
Nick, also still sporting his elf hat, gave her a haunted look.
“One kid wished for a hundred tarantulas.” he said lowly, “he made me come with him on that one.”
“Stop traumatizing my staff, you little miscreant.”
“Fuckin’ narc,” Gabe grumbled, but the grin never left his face. “I got the next batch for you ready.” he pointed to the stack of letters on her desk.
“Thank you, but I’m not done with mine yet.” The two gave her a questioning look. “Santa needs her little helpers on this next job. Some child-nabers need to be put on the naughty list.” she beat her fist into her palm. “ Old fashion style.”
Two dark smirks answered her.
‘ Sleigh bells ring,
Are you listening?’
“Oh God please no!”
‘In the lane,
Snow is glistening ’
“Pass me that giant candy cane will you? Thanks. Up an’ in ya go!!”
‘A beautiful sight,
We’re happy tonight’
“AHHHHHgggghkk-”
‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland! ’
David had not been at the first address, but extracting the information from the couple hunkered down there had been easy.
The three appeared in front of the shipping yard that was lowly illuminated by some hanging Christmas lights along the main buildings.
Gabriel, still sporting his large decorative candy cane, still coated in blood and human excrement, pointed to the far end of the dock.
“I'm sensing a whole lot of bodies near that freighter.” He said, “at least a dozen kids, and twice as many adults.”
Kore hummed in acknowledgement, allowing herself to see through the many boxes until her sight landed on the children and their captors. She was able to pick David out of the group, recognizing him from his mother’s memories.
“Lets go get ‘em,” she declared, sharing a delightfully sinister smile with the two.
The three took off, each in different directions. With a click of her fingers, cheery Christmas music began to play over the docks loudspeakers.
‘ Rockin around
The Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop!’
Lucifer giggled gleefully as she stepped in front of one of the men sent to check it out, her red and white silk suit reflecting the multicolored lights. One of her, now black, stiletto heeled boots made contact with his chest, the force strong enough to collapse his rib cage, crush his internal organs, and send him flying 30 feet away into a container. His body left a considerably large dent in the side, and a smear of bodily fluid and meat pulp on the side.
Beautiful screams began to fill the air from the other sides of the yard, mixing well with the holiday bops that continued to blare over the speakers.
‘Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop!’
She checked in with Nick, happy to see him using his demonic powers with such ease as he tore into two men and a woman, their tactical gear no match for his rage. The teal of his irises shown merrily as he clenched his fists around one of their spines before ripping them in half. He tossed the two parts to the side and lunged at the next human with a screech, their bullets doing nothing to stop him.
Gabriel was having just as much fun as he conjured dozens of movie-accurate Gremlins, complete with elf and Santa hats, with sharp pointy teeth to rip into his humans.
“Dont feed these after midnight!” he yelled as he skipped along, passing by the downed humans as the Gremlins peeled them apart with their claws and teeth. He gleefully stabbed his candy cane through the head of another that just turned the corner, howling along with Jingle Bell Rock.
Kore laughed at his behavior before moving onto the area where the children were being kept.
‘Feliz Navidad!
Feliz Navidad!’
Kore landed on the head of the human that stood next to the container, squishing him flat to the pavement in a gooey explosion of fleshy bits and bones. The 6 other humans there screamed and open fired on her as she began to sing along
“Feliz Navidad, Próspero año y felicidad,” she charoled, grabbing the nozzle of one of the guns and crunching it closed. It exploded in the human’s hands when they continued to fire, blowing their arms off with the shrapnel.
“ I WANNA WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS !” She threw her head back and laughed, kicking a leg out and breaking the knees of a woman who came at her before kneeing her in the face as she fell, pulverizing her skull and sending bits of brain spraying outwards.
She broke out some cool dance moves, sashaying over to two of the others who continued to fire their guns on her, despite the bullets stopping a inch from her skin.
This was genuine sea silk, she wasn’t going to let their bullets ruin it!
At the beat drop, she struck a pose, grasping two bullets out of mid air before flicking them back to their owners, straight through their faces.
“I wanna wish you a merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heeaaarrttt!” she belted out, coincidently ripping the heart out of one of the last humans and using it as a mic as she did.
The last human had made a run for it. Unfortunately for them, it was in the direction of Gabriel and his Gremlins.
Lucifer grinned to herself, feeling the ease settle over her shoulders as she collected the souls of these damned individuals, tucking them into her pockets for Hell disposal later.
A quick flick of her fingers cleared the gore before she made her way to the crate the group had been protecting.
She flicked her fingers again, and the heavy steel doors of the container unlocked with an audible click, swinging open effortlessly.
Inside, a dozen pairs of wide, tear-streaked eyes stared back at her, their owners huddled together for warmth and comfort. Among them was David, his small frame pressed against the wall, his arms wrapped protectively around another child who couldn’t have been more than three.
“David,” Kore called softly, her voice shedding its earlier glee to become something gentle and warm. She crouched to make herself smaller, her crimson eyes softening to a glow that wouldn’t frighten the children. “Hey there, buddy. Your sister sent me.”
The boy blinked at her, his lower lip trembling as recognition lit up his face. “Emma?” he whispered.
“That’s right,” Kore assured him, extending a hand. “She misses you like crazy. Let’s get you all home.”
The other children remained cautious, their gazes darting between Kore and the now-open doorway, as if they expected something worse to come through. Kore frowned slightly, her grace expanding to wash over the space in a gentle, calming wave. Small glowing snowflakes filled the air, dancing around the children’s heads as they gasped in wonder, their little eyes widening at the sight. Several reached out to grab the snowflakes, giggling at their cold touch as they cupped them in their hands. Bright, hopeful smiles replaced their scared frowns as they looked at her and Kore felt her heart grow three sizes in her chest.
“Atta kids,” she murmured, her smile showing. She helped them to their feet one by one, letting them cling to her as they shuffled toward freedom.
Gabriel appeared at the entrance, his candy cane weapon now clean and glowing like a holiday beacon. His usual mischievous grin softened when he saw the children. “Well, if this isn’t a Hallmark moment,” he teased gently, stepping aside to let the kids pass. “You’re all are safe now, okay? Santa’s got your back.”
One of the older kids, a boy with a stubborn set to his jaw, eyed Gabriel skeptically. “You’re Santa?” he asked, his tone dripping with doubt.
Kore snorted. “He’s the elf. I’m Santa.”
The boy blinked, his confusion giving way to tentative acceptance. “Cool,” he muttered, as if this were the least strange thing that had happened to him tonight.
Nick appeared next, his clothes and hands also shiny and clean. He held out blankets and handed one to one of the smaller children, who immediately burrowed into its warmth. “C’mon, kiddos,” he said gruffly, his usual snark muted by the gravity of the moment. “Let’s get you out of here.”
With a snap of her fingers, Kore transported the children and her team to a side space in her office she quickly conjured. The space glowed with golden light, filled with soft beds, plush toys, and a comforting fire crackling in the hearth. The children gasped in awe, their terror replaced with the first hints of joy. A little magic had the lights twinkling and the plushies waving and cuddling into their new human owners.
Kore knelt before David, brushing a lock of hair from his face. “You’ll be home soon, kiddo,” she promised, her voice as warm as the fire. “I just need a little time to make sure your family’s safe, too.”
David nodded, his eyes wide and trusting. “Thank you, Santa,” he whispered.
Kore’s smile softened. “Merry Christmas, David.”
Later that night, a commotion woke Emma and her mother from their restless sleep. The sound of small feet pattering through the house followed by a shriek of joy sent the older sister rushing out of her room.
“Emma! Emma!” David called, his voice ringing through the house like a bell. He barreled into her, his little arms wrapping around her waist as tears streamed down both their faces. A bright red bow sat stuck to his wild hair.
“David!” Emma cried, hugging him tightly as their mother stumbled into the room, her face pale with disbelief.
“Is it really you?” their mother whispered, her hands trembling as she reached for him. When David flung himself into her arms, she broke into sobs, holding her son like she’d never let him go.
Emma watched as the red bow fell from her brother's hair, fluttering down to the floor. She picked it up and noticed a small card attached to it that read: From Santa .
Gabriel gave her sappy-goo eyes after she returned.
“Shadup, you.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he raised his hands up in surrender, his eyes glowing a warm gold. “.. . Santa. ”
“I'm going to beat you up.”
And so the night continued, with Luce, Gabriel, and Nick doling out their own version of Christmas miracles. Leaving a trail of dismembered bodies and happy children in their wake.
The End
