Chapter Text
Carmilla, like every damn night, was locked in her office busy filling out paperwork. Being the CEO of the largest weapons manufacturing company in Hell (or rather, the only company given that all potential competitors had suffered unfortunate... accidents along the way) unfortunately also required carrying out unpleasant tasks, such as spending the nights blank to read all the bills, checks and contracts that she was forced to sign to keep the whole thing running. Which made her mood, already perpetually austere and irritable, even worse.
It was for this reason that when the window crashed open, her reaction was to jump up from her chair and scream furiously: "Who the fuck is the idiot who fell on my balcony!?"
In Hell, having your window or wall suddenly smashed in by a demon who had been thrown away with inhuman force by an enemy, or who was simply a complete idiot who had started messing around with explosives, was considered almost normal. However, that didn't mean it wasn't something beyond hateful. And the dark mood in which Carmilla was already in didn't help to reduce her urge to kill the imbecile who had just caused structural damage to her office. Her long fingers clicked her nails menacingly.
However, the one who entered immediately sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn't because of his appearance, obviously: in Hell you could see so many freaks of nature that someone like that strange intruder would have gone almost unnoticed. They were a rather tall and large guy, but she couldn't see anything about their appearance because they werr covered in some sort of armor similar to that of a knight; it was armor that was quite close to their skin, not bulky, which certainly allowed them to move with all the flexibility they wanted. Their face was hidden by a helmet that closed their entire head, complete with a darkened visor that prevented her from seeing their eyes, and the only distinguishing feature was a strange curved metal structure that started from their head and curved downwards, as if there was an oddly shaped head underneath or maybe a horn or two. On the back they had two very strange wings: they looked like the classic ones of a bat, but there were small pores on them, as if they had first been covered by hair or perhaps feathers then torn away. They were the only part of the body that the strange individual was showing that was not covered by the armor, except for a long tail ending in a hook with a strange curved shape, which vaguely resembled an... apple?
Carmilla didn't find that look strange, nor very threatening; yet, she still felt every hair on her body stand on end and felt a shiver all over her limbs. Her heart rate accelerated and so did her breathing. It was as if her body knew she was in danger. "Who are you...?"
Before she could finish her sentence, the strange individual moved; a split second before they were in front of her, a split second later they were behind her. Carmilla felt a sharp pain in her left cheek and realized that a cut had opened on it and was bleeding. She whirled around and saw her attacker using her own blood to write a strange symbol on the wall: a sort of inverted triangle that contained the letters ADS. Carmilla's eyes widened at the sight. "You... you're him!? You're Army of One!?"
"You can call me that if you like" the guy replied; from the tone of voice it actually seemed to be a man. "I don't care much about the nicknames the fucking media in this shitty place give me. Just use the name they called me"
Carmilla gritted her teeth; the absolute disinterest of the attacker, combined with the reputation he had gained in less than two weeks, made her heart leap into her throat. She got into a position ready to react to a possible attack, while he finished writing the number 6 next to the symbol he had just drawn. "Why are you here?"
The guy named Army of One didn't answer her until he was done writing, and then he walked over to her desk and took one of the chairs that were normally reserved for guests. "I'm here... on a courtesy visit" he replied, sitting down, and then he pointed to the CEO's chair: "Shall we talk about business?"
Carmilla didn't move from where she stood; on the contrary, she narrowed her eyes and lowered her posture slightly, ready to spring like a spring. Army of One let out a sigh. “Whatever. Stay standing if you prefer” he said. "I know it's customary to bring a gift when you show up at someone else's house, but... just the thought of giving you something makes me vomit"
Carmilla did not react to the provocation, and remained firm in her position. Army of One remained silent, as if expecting her response; because of his helmet, it was impossible to tell whether he was disappointed or not. When he understood she wouldn't have said anything, he moved his hand towards the desk and touched its surface. "You... seem like a calm and common-sense person. Are you?"
"If it's time to stay calm" Carmilla replied with a lot of acidity in her voice.
"I say the moment calls for calm, yes" Army of One replied to her. "Word on the street is that you're the best at making weapons. I need your help to build one"
"Why?" Carmilla asked him.
"What a silly question. Are you sure you're a weapons manufacturer?" Army of One replied. "What good is a weapon if not to kill someone?"
"If you want to kill someone, you could have bought any of our weapons" Carmilla pointed out. "You don't need to barge in here..."
"Those? Tsk. I'm not going to settle for something so pathetic" Army of One replied to her. "No, the weapon I want you to make me is something much more powerful. Something... divine"
Carmilla clenched her fists. "The weapons that are already in circulation are also the most powerful in our arsenal. We have tried to smelt angelic steel in other ways but..."
"No, no. What I have in mind isn't built with angelic steel" Army of One retorted. "You don't have to worry about the materials, I'll get those for you... soon. What I want from you is your knowledge to create tools that will allow me to shape the aforementioned materials and forge a weapon from them. Oh, and of course I need... discretion"
Carmilla's eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying? It's impossible to create a more powerful weapon than an angelic one. It can't be..."
"Yes, it can. You can" Army of One interrupted her. "You are a woman with a rather brilliant mind, even though your soul tastes so foul. And you will have at your disposal literally the best team in all of Hell. I will give you everything you need to create your greatest masterpiece. I can assure you that you will realize something that no one in this universe ever were able to create"
Carmilla trembled slightly. For some reason, she felt like the temperature in the room was dropping. "If you only want this, we can agree..."
"There's no need. Your new lab is already waiting for you" Army of One said standing up and scrunching his shoulders. "You will come with me"
Carmilla took a step back. "Don't even think about it!"
"Oh, don't worry. I don't mean to beat you, torture you, or do anything with your body" Army of One told her. "Not that I mind a beautiful woman, but... I'll feel really bad at the thought of fucking someone like you. I have a standard, I don't sleep with a beast"
Carmilla's eyes flashed and she moved; her angelic shoes cut the air, passing a few centimeters from Army of One, who however dodged all the blows with great ease. With one hand he took her arm and slammed her against the wall with such violence that it cracked. "You have to do better if you want to stop me" he warned her. "What are you waiting for? Release your demon form. I'm curious to see what a horrible monster you really are behind that fake adorable face"
“Urgh… you don’t want to see me unleash my power!” Carmilla replied.
Army of One laughed. "Oh, instead I really want it"
He grabbed the woman's desk and threw it towards her as if it were a twig; Carmilla zigzagged and dodged it, and then he threw all the other furniture at her. She gritted her teeth: her opponent possessed inhuman strength, to say the least. Even for an overlord, lifting an entire wardrobe and throwing it into the air with such force that it swirled like a feather was no mean feat; she herself would have needed to free her demon form to do this, but Army of One, despite not having transformed in the slightest, was able to throw any piece of furniture in the room as if it were made of paper. "Come on, what are you waiting for? I'm not having fun like this, fight seriously!"
Army of One hit the wall, and his fingers penetrated several inches into it; a brief movement of the arm, and the wall cracked as if it were made of plaster. Carmilla narrowed her eyes as she saw a mass of reinforced concrete reinforced with steel bars coming towards her, and her pupils flashed and took on a more silvery color; suddenly her movements became much faster and she moved her shoes as if they were scissors. The wall that was coming at her shattered into pieces, but Army of One came out from behind it and jumped on her before she could react. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the wall. Carmilla felt as if a hydraulic press had hit her, and deep cracks formed in the wall. A gush of blood exploded from her mouth. "Pathetic" Army of One commented. "How much longer are you going to waste my time...?"
"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"
"Mh?" Army of One muttered, and he moved just in time to avoid four more angelic steel slippers that passed within inches of his head; he jumped back several times, and when he stopped he could see two girls, one dark-skinned and one pale-skinned, grabbing Carmilla and helping her up. "Mother, are you okay?"
"Cuff... yes, Odette, Clara, I'm fine" Carmilla murmured, wiping the blood away from her mouth. "Be careful. He is very dangerous"
"What a beautiful family picture" Army of One muttered with no small amount of disgust in his voice. "If it weren't made up of such horrible beings, I might even be moved"
The three women didn't accept his provocation and instead attacked him all together; Army of One responded by defending himself admirably, repelling their attacks with ever greater precision and speed. Strangely, it seemed to Carmilla that the more they fought, the more fluid and free his movements became. Odette and Clara in turn narrowed their eyes and their pupils turned silver, and their movements became so fast as to be almost imperceptible to the human eye; the simple movement of air would have been enough to make anyone fall to the ground, yet Army of One didn't bat an eyelid. Finally, he grabbed them both by the leg and threw them away.
"Damn!" Odette screamed, and she pulled an angelic gun from her pocket, emptying the entire magazine onto him. But Army of One made several leaps and somersaults in the air, moving in a strangely similar way to them, and as soon as he realized that she had no more bullets he reached her and kicked the gun, just in the same way they would have done with their shoes, with the difference which instead of cutting it in two he shattered it completely.
Carmilla, Odette and Clara backed into a corner of the room, gasping with effort. "Mother, this guy is absolutely not normal!" Clara exclaimed. "You must fight at your best!"
"Let us give you back your powers!" Odette told her. “You can transform with those!”
Carmilla gritted her teeth. "There's no time. And I can't leave you defenseless..."
Army of One's laughter shook them out of their thoughts. "As I imagined. You have shared your power with your offspring, altruistic indeed. You can no longer turn into a full overlord, but you are sure that your daughters have a better chance of defending themselves. I am impressed, I admit it" he said. "Go ahead, take your powers back. I will wait, and I will not attack them"
Carmilla narrowed her eyes. “Should I trust your word?”
"My word doesn't mean shit. My interest does" Army of One replied. "I came here to fight the real you, not the happy little family. Take your powers back calmly. I won't interfere"
Carmilla's shoulders shook slightly. Army of One had spoken with a decidedly too confident tone: either he was a really good actor, or he considered himself so superior that he didn't have to fear defeat in any context. She looked at her daughters, who were holding out their hands to her; with a sigh, she took them and felt the demonic energy flow through her again. Army of One, as he promised, did nothing to stop them; he waited patiently, until Odette and Clara let go of their mother's hands and walked quickly away; as soon as this happened, Carmilla let out a creaking sound and her body changed, becoming at least twice or maybe even three times as tall. Her skin hardened and seemed to become made of steel, with joints that looked like those of a machine gun in place of joints. Her dress, her shoes, and even her bodice changed, becoming composed of what looked like knives, blades, and daggers tied together; her shoulder pads turned into the ends of cannons, and her nails lengthened and became similar to scythes. Her hair completely melted and seemed to become a whip.
"Interesting" Army of One commented. "Bring it on!"
Carmilla didn't have to be told again and attacked; her movement was so rapid and instantaneous that Army of One failed to react and was flung away like a bug, and the armor he was wearing cracked in numerous places. He, however, did not appear to suffer serious damage, because he immediately got up. Carmilla struck him again, but this time he moved out of the way in time to avoid her attack. The woman gritted her teeth and attacked again and again, and each time Army of One seemed to get a better grasp of her style. Furious, Carmilla jumped and spun through the air so fast that no one could even see her, and she kicked with all her might straight at Army of One's head.
The kick came within inches of his neck. A little more and she would have cut off his head...
But suddenly Army of One raised his arm and blocked the attack. Carmilla's leg hit the solid armor, breaking it a little, but the man's arm on the contrary was not damaged at all and in fact it was she who let out a groan of pain, but before she could react he grabbed her by the hair and made her fly across the room. "That's... interesting" he said. "Thanks for the dance lesson"
Moving with a grace and ease he hadn't shown until then, he spun around, holding Carmilla by the shoulders, and then he slammed her to the floor. The woman immediately stood up and twirled in the air again like a magnificent swan, but this time Army of One had no problem parrying her every blow and responding in kind, quickly putting her in trouble. Odette and Clara were shocked. "T-That's not possible... how did he adapt so quickly?" the latter murmured.
Carmilla let out a growl, and she tried to strike her enemy again; while doing so she performed every possible trick she knew, but each time Army of One parried her attack with extreme precision. Too much precision. And suddenly, he began to return the blows, and with much more force than she was throwing. "Thats enough!" Carmilla roared. "Let's see if you can block this!"
Her eyes lit up so much that it seemed as if an atomic bomb had exploded inside them: the light emerged from them like a river and even seemed to generate a movement of air like a shock wave. And soon after, a gush of demonic energy exploded from them, traveling straight towards Army of One, emitting an unhealthy amount of radiation around it. That was Carmilla's most powerful attack: the force of the most powerful weapon ever created, concentrated in two beams the diameter of a pupil. Enough to vaporize anything in front of them with the force of a million suns.
But then the unexpected happened: Army of One touched his helmet and his visor seemed to open for an instant, and from it emerged a jet of demonic energy identical to Carmilla's; the two beams collided, emitting powerful sparks. Carmilla made a sound of surprise and intensified her attack with all her strength, but her enemy's attack quickly overwhelmed her and the beam hit her, throwing her backwards.
Odette and Clara were left speechless. "M-Mom! Stop fighting!" Odette screamed. "He's copying your skills!"
"Urgh... yeah, I figured it out" Carmilla muttered, rubbing her sore eyes.
"That was your strongest attack?" Army of One asked her.
Carmilla didn't respond, just gritted her teeth and looked for any weak spot in her opponent's defense. But Army of One left her no time to do so: "If you can't teach me anything else, then I have no reason to continue this fight!"
Carmilla just perceived a shift of air in front of her, and then she felt as if a mountain had hit her in the stomach; it took her a moment to realize that Army of One had moved so quickly that she hadn't been able to see him and had punched her in the gut. She felt her bones shatter even with her powerful overlord healing factor, and she was thrown away with such force that she broke through the walls several times until she came to rest in a corridor at least five rooms away. Her body returned to normal and she spat out streams of blood from her mouth, feeling as if her internal organs had just been reduced into dust.
"MOM!" both Odette and Clara screamed in unison, rushing to help her up.
"Now I can also tell you: you never had a chance" Army of One told her as he walked towards them. "But thanks anyway. I'll put everything you've taught me to good use. Now it's time to come with me"
Carmilla gritted her teeth. "Go" she whispered. "From here on I'll take care of this alone"
Odette and Clara opened their eyes wide. "Mother...!"
"GO!" Carmilla screamed. "Run and don't look back!"
"We won't leave you alone with him!" Odette replied by pointing to their attacker, who remained motionless as if wanting to give the family time to decide what to do.
Carmilla glared at her. "I am your mother, and you will obey me!" she said in an extremely authoritative voice. "Just go! Stop protesting, now's not the time!"
The two girls felt the ground slipping beneath their feet. "But... mom..."
"If you stay here, all three of us will die!" Carmilla told them. "Don't think about me, think about yourselves! Odette, you have your sister to defend! Clara, you too! Think about this! Each of you must defend the other! So run!"
Odette and Clara remained motionless for a long moment; mother and daughters reflected each other's eyes. And then, with a sob, the two girls closed theirs and ran away through the hallway.
Carmilla looked at Army of One again. “Staying behind to hold me back and give your daughters more time to run?” he commented. "Predictable... but it still does you credit. I admit to being impressed... I have rarely met demons capable of performing selfless actions such as sacrifice"
Carmilla stood up slightly, not even able to stand up straight, but still she moved her ballerina shoes and prepared to strike. "I know I can't defeat you" she admitted. "If you want to kill me, fine. But please, let them go. Whatever enmity you have with me, they have nothing to do with it"
"Your concern is unfounded" was her enemy's simple reply. "I have no interest in killing your two daughters. I would have let them go even if they had stayed, although I probably would have ripped off one of their arm to make them understand when it is time to run"
Carmilla swallowed slightly, but still she breathed a sigh of relief. Her enemy had a flat and uninterested tone: he was telling the truth, he wouldn't have gone after Odette and Clara. "Thank you"
"Pff! Don't thank me" Army of One said with a chuckle. "I am certainly not seeking your gratitude, you filthy creature. I am letting them go because they must carry a message for me to a certain person. Don't confuse my actions with pity; I could never feel pity for deplorable people like them... or you"
Carmilla's eyes narrowed. Even in the precarious situation she was in, she was not willing to tolerate such words. "Don't you dare call my daughters that...!"
"Odette Carmine, dead at the age of just twenty-seven. In life, a prodigy with extraordinary intelligence with chemicals, inventor of various acidic substances suitable for torture, war and extermination. Producer and seller of such substances without the slightest scruple, even with lots of experimentation on human beings. The total number of victims she personally intoxicated with her poisons amounted to three hundred and sixty-two, of which fifty-eight were children. Her death was due to the hands of the father of a seven-year-old girl whose face she had mistakenly burned for an experiment". Army of One paused for a second, and then he continued: "Clara Carmine, dead at twenty-nine. Leading seller of armaments. Often went there to see their effectiveness herself. Some of them were tested on living people. The number of victims that she has on her conscience amounts to one hundred and ninety-six. She died following an ambush by a warlord, in an arid land in Iran"
Carmilla had completely frozen. Her eyes had widened and the air had completely left her lungs. "But... how... how do you know...?"
"And finally..." he raised his hand and pointed at her. "Carmilla Carmine, the mother of the two, as well as the owner of one of the largest arms manufacturing companies of the twentieth century. Initially a simple dancer in an ordinary theater in Valencia, you seduced the one who would later become your husband and killed him with a poison after he got you pregnant ensuring your position in the family. You appropriated his fortune and took advantage of the tense climate of your time to make money by selling weapons to everyone, to any faction, whether it was the Allies or the Axis powers. You have never had any qualms about using your body and your dancing skills to seduce and kill any of your opponents. The body count on your conscience is so high that it would take me too long to say it all. You died at fifty-four, and not from assassination or revenge, but from a simple military mistake... a bomb that fell two blocks ahead of its target. It was a bomb that your company had produced. Ironic, isn't it?". He groaned in disgust. "Tell me, in light of all this... why shouldn't I call you deplorables? It's certainly not an insult. It's simple objectivity"
Carmilla instinctively took a step back, but Army of One suddenly moved. She reacted instinctively and jumped, moving her angelic shoes at him, but he moved with extraordinary fluidity and grabbed her leg, and then with extreme violence he slammed her against the wall. Carmilla felt her bones crack like breadsticks, and the wall behind her collapsed; the strength of that guy was truly overwhelming. She felt him grabbing her legs, and when she opened her eyes again she could see that he had just taken off her shoes. "You don't need these anymore"
"Cuff... give them back to me, asshole... they're mine...!" Carmilla whispered trying to get up.
But he jumped on her and pinned her to the ground. Carmilla felt his fingers tighten around her neck, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself. For the first time in her existence, she felt absolutely helpless in front of someone else. Not even that time she had foolishly tried to face Zestial had she felt so inferior. She was like an insect trying to fight a dragon.
But suddenly, Army of One raised his free hand and clicked a small button on his helmet; the visor opened again, revealing two eyes. They were yellow eyes without pupils... or at least, they were initially, because after a couple of seconds they changed and took on a new shape. The right one had a golden pupil but broken in half, while the left one was instead red and seemed to resemble the smooth surface of a ripe fruit. “Tell me… what does it feel like to have so much sin in your heart?” he hissed in a voice similar to that of a snake.
Carmilla met his gaze for a split second, and suddenly the world around her changed.
She was sitting in an armchair, next to a fireplace, reading a book. Someone handed her a cup, which she gladly accepted. She drank from it.
Suddenly, her body stiffened.
She felt every muscle grow cold.
She could no longer move.
She wanted to move, but her fingers wouldn't respond either.
The air left her lungs.
She couldn't breathe.
Her diaphragm was paralyzed.
She was afraid.
She wanted... she wanted to breathe so bad...!
Her vision was blurring.
She couldn't hear anymore.
She could almost feel the life slipping away.
No!
She did not want to...!
The heart... was slowing down...!
Carmilla opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath. The world around her was back to normal, and above her there was still that mysterious attacker with strange eyes staring at her. Her whole body was covered in sweat and she was shaking like a leaf. “What… what did you do to me…!?”
"Tsk. Disgusting" Army of One hissed with a lot of venom in his voice. "So many sins on your conscience, and you can't even handle one? Pathetic. Don't think it's over, you have many things you have to pay for"
The shaking on Carmilla's body intensified. She thought she'd forgotten what it was like to feel real fear, but now she was seriously starting to remember it. "Who... who are you...?"
Army of One grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. "Let's say I'm the Frankenstein's monster" he answered her. "And I'm looking for my creator"
Carmilla instinctively grabbed the man's fingers, trying to remove them from her neck. He wasn't choking her, but just letting him touch her scared her. "Why...?"
"To punish him, it seems obvious to me. Exactly how I intend to punish you, and everyone else in this crap world" he told her. "Your daughters will go and call the person I wish to meet. Soon, they will bring her to me. The game has already begun, and it will be a lot of fun... for me". His eyes lit up with a merciless light. "But now... let's think just about you. We have a lot to talk about, the two of us"
Carmilla was sweating so much her skin could almost reflect the light. "P-Please..."
"Let's go somewhere more secluded" he said, ignoring her, and his wings opened to their full size. "You don't have to worry, I won't lay a finger on you, and I won't kill you. I'll let your own evil heart torture you. And believe me... by tomorrow morning, you'll be begging me to take your life"
And having said that he took flight, dragging her into the air with him. The roof above them split as if it were made of chalk, and the two of them flew into the red sky of Hell.
Meanwhile Odette and Clara had left the factory, and they could thus easily see them disappear into the sky. Clara couldn't hold back a few tears. “What… what do we do now?” she whispered.
Odette sniffed, but her gaze remained determined. "Let's call someone who has a lot of power... and who owes us a big debt"
Notes:
Here we go!
As I promised in "The imprisoned genocide", the long-chapters story based on it is officially out! I would like to point out that this is not a sequel or a prequel to that story, but rather a separate story with the same basic idea (if you've read it you know what I'm talking about; if not, go and get it). The publication will take place for the moment with two chapters a week, Monday and Thursday, always at 15:30 (New York City hour). Get ready because in this story you will see a lot of fights and epic scenes that Kratos can only imitate. Well, as Alastor is wont to say, stay tuned!
As usual, I leave you guys the link for all my other stories, that I invite you to go to read, comment and leave kudos:
Fathers understand each other (HH/Fallout): https://archiveofourown.org/works/56693263
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (HH/Fallout): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/145477318
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc I: Pestilence (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/53721301/chapters/135991609
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc II: War (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/56207665/chapters/142788145
How the legend of Santa Claus was really born (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/52426852
How to handle two idiots in a complicated relationship (OR why Vox and Valentino didn't show up at the Overlords meeting) (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/53289982
Note to Angel: if you think yours is a good plan, it is NOT a good plan (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/53406268
The day Adam had to go back to church (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/56142682
The imprisoned genocide (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/56178616
Here in the garden (HH): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57563197
The adventures of Luz Noceda: story of a wooden girl (TOH/Pinocchio): https://archiveofourown.org/works/51202240/chapters/129375676
A Christmas Carol - an Owl House version (TOH/A Christmas Carol): https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
I also leave you the link to my Tumblr page, where I publish the links to my works in real time as soon as they are ready. By following me there, you will have the opportunity to receive notice of my stories even before AO3 places them on the main page and sends the email to those who follow them. I will also occasionally post any fanart and descriptions of some of the characters there. If any of you readers would also like to create a fanart for this or my other stories (and you have a lot of material available), all you have to do is send it to me via Tumblr, and I will be happy to publish it with lots of thanks.
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
I also inform you that the fanart you saw at the beginning of this chapter was created by the artist Mavs_vs_theworld, who had already drawn a Fallen Emily fanart for me for my story "If Hell is forever than Heaven must be a lie". I leave you his Tweeter address (Ghidorahstan64) in case you want to look for it. Go follow him because he deserves the fame, he truly created a masterpiece
Chapter Text
Two weeks had passed since the angels attacked the Hazbin Hotel, an attack that culminated in their defeat and the death of their leader, Adam, the first man. Since then, a period of restoration had begun: the hotel had been rebuilt from top to bottom, in a new area far from the rubble of the old one which now remained on the old hill as nothing more than a pile of wreckage and walls that in some places they were still smoking. Charlie would have liked to rebuild the hotel there, but Lucifer had advised him against it because, although this was unlikely, it was possible that some of the angelic energy released by Adam's attacks and even his own blood had contaminated the ground; this was not a problem in itself, but there was the possibility that such contamination had penetrated into the aquifer, making the water poisonous to demons. So, they simply changed locations and built a new hotel that was much nicer than the first.
Lucifer had helped a lot in the construction, probably just to be able to annoy Alastor since he changed all the things that the radio demon had brought to the old hotel with others with the same use but created with his style (for example the bar). Obviously the radio demon had not stood by and had in turn continually brought new things into the hotel with the excuse of wanting to furnish it better, often replacing what had already been placed there by the king of Hell. Needless to say, within less than a day a real silent war had begun between the two of them, which at least had helped to obtain very beautiful rooms and spaces given that both did nothing but seek every means to improve them.
Charlie had been happy (about the hotel, not about the absolute rivalry between the king of Hell and the radio demon which often led to situations that to define as ridiculous was an understatement), and finally after two weeks of work she could pick up where she left off. Her heart was more sure than ever that she had to do her best to carry the project forward.
Some other hotel residents were a little more pessimistic. One in particular.
"We have to move on tiptoe" Vaggie was telling them. "We don't know how Heaven might react after the beating they've suffered. And I'm willing to bet that Lute is already plotting revenge"
"Oh, come on! We crushed them, I doubt they'll show up anytime soon" Angel protested as he tried out the couch just brought by Alastor, which he said was at least fifteen times more comfortable than the one Lucifer provided.
"Well, we can't let our guard down!" Vaggie exclaimed irritably. "Until Heaven tells us they want a ceasefire or something, we should expect anything! The embassy is still completely silent, have you forgotten?"
Charlie knew she couldn't completely blame her girlfriend. Her father had tried to contact Heaven several times to find out what their next move was, but according to him no one had ever responded. She herself had gone to the embassy at least once a day, hoping to see some changes, but it was always empty and the countdown on its top was still marked at zero. No changes, no variations. It was as if the whole of Heaven had suddenly gone silent.
Charlie knew they couldn't let their guard down. However, she was more optimistic than her girlfriend. True, they had no guarantee that the angels would have left them alone, but that didn't necessarily mean they planned to burn the hotel to the ground again. After being defeated once they would have thought twice before attacking again. At least, that's what she hoped for.
"I agree with the one-eyed angel in perpetual menopause" Husk muttered boredly from the bar. "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that shit always ends up hitting a fan"
"Oh, thanks Husk! And fuck you too" Vaggie told him, not knowing whether to be grateful for his support or feel angry at the unkind description of her he had been given. "Niffty, what do you think?"
“I want to stab bad boys!” was the response of the little cyclops demon.
A small bead of sweat formed on Vaggie's forehead. "Yes, but... now there are no bad boys..."
"Then let's get them here! Call them like you did last time!" Niffty answered her.
"But we didn't… urgh, never mind" Vaggie muttered, rubbing her forehead.
"Yes, trust me, it's a losing battle. I've been trying to make her understand for two weeks" Angel told her. "I'm not even sure she understood that the fight is over. We should..."
Just then heavy footsteps were heard and everyone fell silent. Cherri appeared, shuffling her feet as if she had iron balls attached to them, and she sat down at the bar with a yawn. Her dress was quite undone, a sign that she hadn't even changed her clothes since she went to sleep, her hair was a mess, and she seemed to be able to stay up just out of pure divine mercy. "Yawn... hi, guys. You're early risers, I see"
"Cherri, it's eleven in the morning" Angel pointed out.
"Oh, really? Damn, I really lost the track of time" Cherri muttered thickly, and immediately went to sit at the bar where she downed an entire bottle of margarita. Once she had finished doing this she let out a burp, and then she turned back to the others: "Mh. Ok, now I'm ready to hear your complaints. So, what were you arguing about?"
"Of the possibility of being attacked by Heaven again" Angel answered her.
"Oh, yeah. Well, don't worry, we'll kick their ass again if they come back" Cherri answered him, and she seemed to be trying to smile, but her lips moved strangely, as if they refused to do so. "Sorry, my body is getting used to it by now, I need another bottle"
Charlie sighed seeing her like this. Cherri hadn't been sober since the battle with the angels ended; by now it was as if she physiologically needed to have a high blood alcohol level twenty-four hours a day. Whether it was during reconstruction, redecorating, any other job, or even just a conversation between friends, Cherri had always been at least tipsy.
She said she acted like this because she had decided to spice up her life after coming so close to death in the battle.
Everyone knew that in truth she was just trying not to think about Sir Pentious. And destroying her liver with alcohol was the most efficient way she knew to do so.
Cherri had denied it, but her actions betrayed the truth very well. Whenever anyone mentioned Pentious, she changed the subject or left the room, and immediately she drank another bottle. Passing by the painting they had created specifically to commemorate the snake demon seemed to be a categorical prohibition in her brain, to the point that she was willing to walk around the entire hotel or even go out and go through the window to avoid it. Pentious's belongings, or at least the few that had survived, were always far away from her, and touching any of them was out of the question. And as soon as the alcohol level in her body started to drop, she started to get stiff and unmanageable, and immediately rushed to drink again.
Charlie knew that sooner or later Cherri would have had to face the loss, and if she didn't they would have had to force her. Also because the more time passed, the more harmful her behavior became. Cherri initially drank a maximum of ten bottles a day; now she had reached over thirty. She had started to care less and less about herself, letting go of her body and her clothing, to the point that she now didn't change clothes or style her hair unless someone pointed out that she should. Charlie knew that the situation couldn't magically go away but only get worse, and considering they were in Hell where temptations were countless, if they didn't do something soon it was only a matter of time before Cherri started engaging in much more harmful behavior... and she wasn't the only one who felt that way, since Angel had made all his secret stashes of drugs disappear for fear that she would have found them and take a hit.
Vaggie too felt sorry for the cyclops demoness, but still she did not lose her composure. "However, we must always prepare for the worst. I propose to organize lookout shifts, constant patrols and..."
"Vaggie, this is not a military barracks" Charlie reminded her. "Look, I appreciate that you want to protect us, but don't you think you're a little..."
"... out of mind? Paranoid? Delirious?" Angel finished the sentence for her.
"... exaggerated" Charlie said trying to ignore him, or at least focus everyone's attention on what she had just said and not on the spider demon. "I understand the apprehension, but I don't think we should go crazy with fear either"
Vaggie was busy glaring at Angel, but then she let out a sigh. "Look... I know I may sound a little paranoid, but trust me when I say it's better to be paranoid than sorry. We really should..."
Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. Charlie immediately beamed, but she didn't miss the fact that the knock was rather hasty, as if it had been done by someone who had a great desire to come in immediately to escape something, which gave her a bad feeling. She acted like a good host anyway and went to open the door: "Welcome to Hazbin Ho-"
She hadn't even finished her sentence when two quick figures broke down the door and entered, closing it loudly behind them. It was all so fast that it took Charlie a couple of seconds to recognize them: "You two!?"
"Odette!?" Vaggie exclaimed. "Clara!? What are you doing here!?"
Both girls took deep breaths. It actually seemed as if they had been chased by someone all that time. "You have to help us!" Odette exclaimed. “He got her!”
“Wait, what?” Charlie asked not understanding what they meant. "Who was gotten...?"
"Our mother!" Clara answered her. “He took her away!”
"WHAT!?" Vaggie immediately snapped to attention. "Did someone kidnap Carmilla!?"
All the hotel guests were suddenly very interested, even Alastor. "Who did it?" Charlie asked them.
"Who could have been? Him!" Odette replied. "Army of One!"
There was a moment of silence. And then Angel asked: "Who?"
Both Odette and Clara were stunned. "What...? You really don't know who Army of One is?"
"Well... no" Angel admitted. “Is he a cool guy?”
"How do you not know? The news has been talking about nothing else for almost two weeks!" Odette exclaimed. "You know, Army of One? The mysterious sinner who's making overlords disappear one after another? The one who's been on everyone's lips lately? The one who signs himself with ADS?"
"Wait, what? This guy signs himself with the name of a sexually transmitted disease?" Husk asked in a voice somewhere between shocked and disgusted.
"No, that's AIDS" Angel corrected him.
Husk looked at him confused. "What?"
"The sexually transmitted disease is called AIDS. This guy instead signs himself ADS" Angel explained to him.
Husk gave a disdainful grunt. "And what's the difference?"
"Can you just shut up!?" Vaggie blurted out in exasperation. She wasn't in the mood to put up with too much imbecility which unfortunately tended to be quite common in the hotel. "Can you explain to us exactly what you are talking about?"
Despite the obvious concern on their faces, both Odette and Clara had become quite astonished. "You really don't know anything about him?"
"None of us have watched television lately" Charlie explained to them. "We were too busy rebuilding the whole hotel... we didn't exactly have time to watch the news"
The two girls were still quite shocked, but despite this they soon regained their composure. "Okay, then we'll give you a summary" Odette began. "A little less than two weeks ago, a new sinner appeared in Pentagram City. No one knows who he is, we don't even know his face because he always hides in armor. His goal is not known, nor his name, but what is known is that he is facing all the overlords one by one and so far no one has managed to defeat him... and he has already faced at least fifty of them"
Everyone's eyes widened in amazement. Defeating fifty overlords alone was a mission that should have been impossible for a sinner newly arrived in Hell. Well, maybe he hadn't just arrived considering he was hiding, but still it was quite an impressive feat. "Did he kill them?" Charlie asked.
"No, he just kidnapped them. Well, the overlords at least... any witnesses rarely end well due to the effects of the battle" Clara replied. "And here is the strangest part. What all the witnesses say, and what we have also seen, is that this demon seems to... steal the powers of everyone he fights"
"What!?" Angel exclaimed in shock. “This demon… steals powers?”
"What does it mean?" Cherri muttered. "That he absorbs them as if he were a sponge?"
"No, he doesn't steal them in that sense. What I mean is that he adapts so perfectly that he mimics the powers of those he fights against" Clara explained further. "And he does it extremely quickly. And he doesn't just imitate powers or fighting styles, he actually improves them as he uses them, as if he's become familiar with them and is used to finding ways to make the most of their potential"
“So this is how he beats all the overlords?” Vaggie asked. "Mimic their powers and then defeat them with improved versions?"
But Odette and Clara shook their heads. "No, that's exactly the disturbing thing. He already has strength that goes beyond normal standards. He doesn't need powers to defeat anyone. He knocked our mother out with one punch!"
At those words Vaggie opened her mouth, and everyone else had no very different reactions. Even if they didn't know firsthand how strong Carmilla was, taking down one of the most powerful overlords around with a single punch was certainly no small feat. "Wow... our friend sure knows how to work out..." Angel commented.
“When he fought with our mother, he could have knocked her down in a second if he wanted” Odette continued. "Instead he always gave her time to use her powers, even waiting while standing still at times. We believe that these duels only serve him because he wants to take all the fighting abilities of the overlords, and a life-and-death battle is the way better even if he already knows he will win"
“And then he takes her away to do… who knows what with her” Clara concluded. "You must help us find our mother! Who knows what monstrosities he is doing to her!"
"Stay calm. We'll help you" Charlie reassured her. "You helped us, so the least we can do is give you our help too"
Odette and Clara seemed a little more heartened. "Thank you" they whispered almost in unison.
Husk let out a snort through his nostrils. "So... a serial kidnapper of overlords, who possesses extraordinary strength and who is able to perfectly imitate the powers of other demons, even improving them" he commented in a sour voice. "And he's called... Army of One?"
"How do you know that's his name?" Angel asked. "Didn't you say that no one knows him?"
"Army of One is the name the media gave him" Odette explained to him. "They originally just called him the Overlord Kidnapper, but that was too bland a name. When they learned that he could mimic the powers of others, they nicknamed him the Army of One. And since he's so strong that he's practically an army on his own, that name stuck. He also leaves an A among his symbols, so that name was perfect"
"Symbols?" Vaggie asked. "What kind of symbols?"
"As we told you, he always signs himself with ADS. And then, every time he kidnaps an overlord, he also leaves a number" Odette replied.
"Wow... this guy really looks like a serial killer... even though he's technically a serial kidnapper" Charlie commented scratching the back of her neck. “ADS… numbers… what does that mean?”
"We have no idea. Nobody knows what these symbols mean" Clara replied. "Zestial has been investigating this for days, but he hasn't been able to figure anything out. He's convinced that these symbols could be a message, perhaps even a map, but he can't decipher it"
“A map to what, his lair?” Angel asked. "It's absurd. Why would a kidnapper leave a map on how to find him?"
"I would do so" Alastor said aloud, speaking for the first time since Odette and Clara had arrived. The radio demon had a strange expression on his face, and his eyes had narrowed to two slits. "Why commit perfect crimes if you can't take credit for them? Even I would leave crumbs to find myself. I've already done it once, technically"
Charlie swallowed slightly. The radio demon's gaze had become quite frightening. "Alastor...?"
"I'm sure this guy wants to be found" Alastor commented, and although he didn't lose his smile, a slight snort came from his nostrils. "Why... I don't know. But no one leaves so many clues without a reason. Maybe he's playing a wicked game, or maybe he has a deeper reason... but it's obvious that he wants those who search for him to understand something"
"If that's the case, why hasn't anyone figured it out yet?" Odette asked him.
"Maybe because they aren't the right people. Maybe those clues were left on purpose for someone in particular to figure it out. Or maybe such investigators have too little brain matter" Alastor replied. "I will understand better very soon. I intend to investigate about this myself"
"We're all going to investigate" Charlie stopped him. For some reason Alastor seemed much more irritated than usual. It was as if he took the matter quite personally. "Vaggie, come with me and Alastor. You guys stay here and keep tabs on the news. If this... Army of One... really kidnaps overlords on a daily basis, then he might do it again while we're gone"
"Yeah, that makes sense to me" Angel commented. “Well… good luck, girls”
"We'll lead the way" Odette told them, and Clara nodded.
"Okay" Charlie told them. "And as we go, tell us in detail everything that happened. And hopefully we'll find some clues"
Notes:
20 comments, 83 kudos, 26 bookmarks and almost 1000 views just for the first chapter? Guys you spoil me like that! Just kidding, continue like this that you give me a lot of motivation😉🥰
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
Odette and Clara took Charlie, Vaggie, and Alastor to the industrial complex where their mother normally worked. They both looked quite uncomfortable, and it was evident from their eyes that they would have preferred to stay far away from there; they looked around as if they were afraid that at any moment Army of One would have jumped out and get them too. Charlie felt quite sad seeing them like this: it was clear that their mother's kidnapper had left quite a lingering trauma on them. "If you want to go back to the hotel..."
"No, we're fine. Don't worry about us" Odette said hastily. "Follow us, we'll take you to where the clash occurred"
They quickly climbed the stairs and came to an area that was completely empty... or rather, it would have been if it hadn't been for the large number of journalists present, who apparently already knew everything and as soon as they saw them they ran towards them as a swarm... in fact, quite a few of them were insect demons. "Hey, you are Mrs. Carmine's daughters!" one of them exclaimed. "Tell us, did you see anything?"
"Was the battle hard fought?"
"Did Army of One say anything interesting?"
"What do you think of him?"
“Has he finally revealed his identity?”
"His goal?"
"His intentions?"
“How do you feel about it?”
"Do you think he will kill Mrs. Carmine?"
Odette and Clara took a step back, clearly not liking those questions. Charlie tried to calm the journalists: "Guys, please, it isn't..."
It wasn't a good idea.
"Hey, the princess is here! Anything to declare?"
"What does the royal family think of all this?”
"Do you know who Army of One is?"
"What do you think of him?"
"Why do you think he does what he does?"
Ok, intervening definitely wasn't a smart move. Charlie was happy that they were finally leaving Odette and Clara alone, but now she felt quite pressured. "Um... well..."
"Gentlemen, please" Alastor suddenly slammed his radio stick on the ground and spoke in a menacing voice. "There's no reason to bother others in such an impolite way, don't you think?"
Everyone stopped, and had a shiver down their spines upon hearing the radio demon, and even more upon meeting his gaze. The journalists remained silent, and the smartest among them left in a hurry... but then someone had the courage to say: "Mr. Alastor, what do you think about the fact that Army of One is taking the record away from you?"
Alastor's eyes turned to slits. "Out of the way. Now" he hissed.
Other journalists quickly left, not wanting to push their luck any further. But still, there were still a few crazy people who remained: "Mr. Alastor, do you have no statement to make at all? This man is challenging your...!"
Dark tentacles began to emerge from Alastor's shoulders, and Charlie feared for a moment that heads would have been cut, but then a cavernous voice said: "Alastor, my dear old friend, stop wasting your time with such fleas. Come here, you might be of use to me"
Everyone turned and saw a demon looking extremely similar to a hideous black spider; as soon as he entered the field of vision of the few remaining journalists, they wasted no more time and ran away, even jumping out of the window. On the contrary, Odette and Clara smiled and ran towards him: "Zestial!"
“Girls, I'm glad to see you're okay” the spider overlord told them. "I didn't find you here and I feared he had taken you too"
"We went to call the most powerful help we had available" Odette explained pointing to Charlie, who blushed a little.
Zestial walked towards her and bowed his head regally. "Yes, I understand, it was a good move. It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Royal Highness"
“Just Charlie is fine” the princess hastened to say. "So, you are Zestial. What are you doing here...?"
"I'm investigating, of course. I'm looking for Carmilla, just like you" Zestial replied. "I was hoping to find a few more clues than usual, but unfortunately the modus operandi of this... Army of One... is always the same and the signs he leaves are difficult to interpret"
Charlie raised an eyebrow slightly. Zestial looked extremely stoic and poised, but she could recognize some apprehension in his eyes. He was probably just as worried about Carmilla just like her two daughters, if not more. She mentally complimented him on his ability to stay calm. "So, you don't know anything about our mother either?" Clara asked him with some disappointment.
Zestial shook his head. "Since the start of this thing I've gone through every single... crime scene, if we want to call them that, but this man is good at hiding his tracks. But I promise you that I will do everything I can to find your mother" he told them. “Anyway, you two better hide now”
"What!? Why?" Odette protested. "We must search...!"
"You are the heirs of Carmilla Industries, so now you have a target on your back. And we don't know if Army of One will come for you too" Zestial explained to them. "It is better for you to disappear for a while. Even if he leaves you alone, anyone who seeks your mother's wealth will not hesitate to kill you as soon as possible"
Clara and Odette were clearly disinclined to do this, but they could not deny that what Zestial was saying was true. "You can come to the hotel" Vaggie offered. "There's room there and no one would think of attacking it with Charlie present..."
"I advise against it" Zestial said. "Anywhere there is an overlord right now is dangerous, including your hotel and my castle. It's best for them to stay away"
Charlie was about to retort, but then she realized that Zestial was staring her straight in the eye. Her voice died in her throat: it was clear that there was a very good reason why the spider overlord didn't want the two girls at or near the hotel. That eye contact only lasted a second, but it was enough to convince Charlie to wait before speaking.
Seeing that she seemed inclined to listen to him, Zestial looked away and turned back to Odette and Clara: "Down here in the parking lot there is a black car. Get in, it will take you to a safe place that only your mother and I knew about. Don't worry, I'll show up at least once a day to update you on how the searches are progressing"
Odette and Clara made a noise of dissent, but they still obeyed and left towards the stairs. As soon as they were gone, Charlie turned to him again: "Why don't you want them to go to the hotel?"
"Let's say I have good reason to believe it's not a safe place" Zestial replied. "I will explain in due time. Follow me"
Zestial led them through the corridors until they reached Carmilla's study. Both Charlie and Vaggie's eyes widened as they saw the walls broken down as if they were made of paper. "Wow... considering he did it with just one punch, that's pretty impressive..." the princess murmured as she stared at them.
"A little more strength doesn't make him invincible" Alastor commented sourly.
Vaggie raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so hostile today? And what did those reporters mean by saying that Army of One is stealing your position?"
"Nothing but media frenzy" Alastor answered her through clenched teeth. "Today reporters make up absolutely everything"
"They're referring to the fact that Army of One is doing a... cleanse... just like the one Alastor did many decades ago" Zestial said. "He's essentially questioning his position as Hell's number one killer"
Charlie and Vaggie widened their eyes slightly and looked at Alastor, who smiled slightly less. "It's just a slanderous accusation. That guy certainly isn't an opponent for me"
“Actually, if he keeps disappearing overlords at this rate, it's very likely he'll surpass you soon” Zestial corrected him. "If you want to remain first in the standings you better take action quickly"
Alastor let out an annoyed sizzle from his horns. Charlie, on the other hand, was looking at him rather disappointed: "Seriously? There are lives at stake and you're worried about your reputation? Ah, but why am I even asking you..." she muttered, and then she turned to Zestial: "What can you tell us about this man?"
"Not much more than what is already being told on TV" the spider overlord answered. "No body found and according to witnesses he is very careful not to get too heavy in fights, so it is unlikely he kills his victims. However, we don't know what he uses them for"
"Well... at least they're still alive" Charlie commented trying to be optimistic, even though she knew that considering how things worked in Hell this might not be a good thing. "What else do we know?"
“We know that he can perfectly copy the abilities of anyone he faces after seeing them just once, that he adapts to his opponent in no time, and that he has extraordinary strength” Zestial said. "No one has ever seen his face, no one knows his name. We know that he is probably a man because he refers to himself as masculine. During battles he talks a lot and gives his opponents time to prepare, a sign that he knows so much about win anyway. He rather expresses disgust towards everyone he meets..."
"Really? I didn't know that part" Charlie admitted.
"That's right. Apparently, he doesn't like demons much even though he is one himself" Zestial said.
Charlie wondered if this might be a clue. "Mmm... I was told it leaves marks as it passes..."
"Of course. Here, they are right there" Zestial said pointing to a wall, where an upside down triangle with the writing ADS inside and then a 6 underneath it were painted in blood. "That triangle is his symbol"
Charlie looked at the wall carefully. She was a little disgusted that it was written in blood, but not too much since she was used to seeing much worse in Hell. "An inverted triangle?"
"It might symbolize something, or it might not" Zestial told her. "The triangle is an important symbol in many cultures. The trinity, the pyramid... it is often understood as something that indicates the divine"
Both Charlie and Vaggie looked at him in surprise. "The divine?" the ex-Exorcist asked him.
"Exactly. Therefore, the inverted triangle is synonymous with the opposite of the divine, namely darkness and evil" Zestial answered him. "But it can also be understood as a descent towards evil. Just as the triangle allows you to go upwards, an inverted triangle is a staircase downwards... and is easier to walk due to its position"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “So Army of One is telling us that he… is going down?”
"Maybe. Maybe he means he's already gone there. Or maybe he means something else. Or maybe he means nothing at all and the triangle is just a pretty frame" Zestial replied. “Like I said, these are just guesses”
Charlie bit her lip. It was really unnerving not to understand what that mysterious serial kidnapper wanted to communicate to them. "Well... what can you tell me about the letters?"
“They're clearly initials” Zestial told her. "ADS, they couldn't have been chosen at random, that's for sure. However, it's not easy to understand what they mean. I don't even know if they were intended to form a sentence, but I don't think so". He pointed to the A: "See the initial letter? It's drawn above the others and is slightly larger. Clearly it has a greater meaning"
Charlie agreed with him. "What kind of meaning?"
"Like I said, it could be the initial of something important" Zestial replied to her. "But it's hard to say what"
"It might even have a symbolic meaning" Alastor commented, rubbing his chin. "The A usually represents something powerful in cultures. It is the first letter of the alphabet, and as such it is very strong"
"But it's usually accompanied by the final letter" Zestial opined. "And it doesn't allow any other letters in between"
"Yes... unless whoever wrote it meant to give a further clue" Alastor replied. "Alpha and omega, but only with alpha. The beginning, but not the end. A new beginning, perhaps?"
Charlie and Vaggie were having a hard time keeping up with the two overlords and their hypotheses. "Um... so, in simpler words, we don't know anything in this case either?" the ex-Exorcist asked in an annoyed tone.
“We have hypotheses” Zestial retorted. “Hypotheses are just hypotheses until they are tested, and unfortunately we have no way of doing that”
"Yeah..." Charlie admitted. Even though she wasn't an expert in that field, even she could see that the only way to test any hypothesis would be to ask Army of One himself. "And the numbers?"
"The numbers are the most interesting part, because they change every time. I think it's a sequence aimed at explaining something" Zestial replied, and he handed her a piece of paper: "These are all the ones he left, in the order in which they appeared"
Charlie took it and her eyes bulged. "1-0-6-6-6-1-2-1-0-3-3-3-6-6-6-0-1... what kind of stuff is that? Is it binary code?"
“I initially hoped so, but binary codes only have 0s and 1s” Zestial said. “This sequence clearly has another purpose”
"Maybe they're coordinated?" Vaggie proposed. "Maybe we need to put the numbers together... let's see... 10, 66, 61 and 21, 10, 33... no, there are too many numbers... unless we also count the altitude... 36, 66, 01... it fits!"
"Unfortunately, I already tried. I inspected the place they might indicate and found nothing" Zestial told her, extinguishing her hopes. "I even tried to read them backwards, to change their arrangement... but every time it didn't help. I don't think they're coordinated"
“What's your guess then?” Alastor asked him.
"A code" was Zestial's response. "These numbers mean something... not letters, but actual words. They have a meaning that must be understood"
Alastor let out a soft sizzle. "Mmm... that would make sense, actually"
Charlie let out a sigh. “Damn, this guy really is a fan of riddles” she muttered, rubbing her head.
"At least we have the certainty that Alastor was right. He wants to be found" Vaggie admitted with a lot of bitterness. "No one leaves so many clues if they want to hide"
"For once we fully agree" Alastor commented sourly. “This is definitely a game, and we are the players who must interpret the clues left at the scene”
"What if we don't succeed?" Charlie asked apprehensively.
Alastor's smile widened. “I guess we'll find out" he said. “But… considering this is a game… if the players lose the game, there are likely to be consequences. Game over, basically”
Charlie gulped at the radio demon's words. Normally she wouldn't have been too worried if a madman was wandering around Hell leaving clues, but considering how powerful Army of One apparently was and the fact that he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, the situation could end in a very dangerous way. What if the game over had been a bomb, or a series of bombs?
"Sgrunt! I like this story less and less" Vaggie growled punching the wall. "We don't know what this guy wants and all we have are letters and numbers that we don't know what they mean. It's frustrating"
But to everyone's surprise, Zestial cleared his throat. "Actually... there is a clearer clue"
Everyone's eyes widened, except for Alastor's who instead narrowed. “Why are you only talking about this now?” he asked him.
"Because it concerns you directly. And it is also the reason why I don't want that Odette and Clara stay at your hotel" Zestial replied, and he pulled a photo from his pocket. "This was taken at the place he attacked before this. And before he went away, he left a very clear message"
He showed them the photo, and no one had any doubts about what it represented. It was a broken radio with a knife stuck in the center. And the radio was not just a simple radio, but a beautiful vintage radio, a typical model of the 1930s.
The message was very clear. It was a declaration of war. The promise that the person represented by that radio would have met the same end. And it wasn't difficult to understand who the radio represented.
Alastor grabbed the photo and squeezed it so hard he almost tore it. "Okay..." he hissed as his eyes glowed red. “Now this is personal!”
"Alastor, calm down" Charlie tried to reassure him. "It's just a broken radio..."
"It's not just a broken radio! This bastard dared to challenge me publicly!" Alastor exclaimed as he snorted. "And in such an outrageous way, to boot! He just paid his ticket to go two meters under the ground!"
Charlie swallowed. It didn't happen often that the radio demon lost his temper, but when he was truly enraged it was quite noticeable "Alastor, you can't just kill him. We have to find him alive if we want to recover Carmilla and the other overlords..."
"You don't understand, Charlie!" Alastor said through gritted teeth. "This pathetic wannabe is not only usurping my position, but he is also challenging me! This is a declaration of war on me! I will not let him humiliate me like this!"
"Alastor, I fully understand your anger" Zestial interjected. "But I remind you that at the moment none of us can predict where this new enemy will strike. If you want to find him, you must also find the place where he is hiding, and consequently all the people he has kidnapped"
Alastor's sizzling died down a little. "Yeah... right" he commented. "Okay, let's do this treasure hunt. But remember: as soon as we find him, he's mine!"
"Army of One knocked Carmilla down with one punch, and we don't even know if he was using his full strength" Vaggie reminded him. "Not to mention that he can adapt to his opponents and copy their powers. How do you plan to defeat him?"
Alastor clenched a fist. "With one shot. He can't adapt if I knock him out immediately" he replied with a menacing hiss.
Vaggie and Charlie bit their lips. The radio demon was clearly furious like few other times; evidently seeing his absolute supremacy questioned like that was irritating him quite a bit. Vaggie was about to say something else, but just then her cell phone started ringing and she walked away to answer it.
Zestial had remained impassive the entire time, and called attention to him by clearing his throat: "Alastor, if this man sent you such a message, then it is likely that you are the person who must decipher these clues... unless it's just a decoy"
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked him.
"I say that it seems strange to me that Army of One left such a blatant message just now. If he had wanted to challenge Alastor from the beginning, he could just have smashed a radio from his first victim" Zestial replied to her. "To me this declaration of war seems much more like just a distraction... or perhaps another clue. The radio certainly represents Alastor... but perhaps it is not a declaration of war, but something else"
Charlie scratched her head in confusion. "Well... it really seems like a declaration of war to me. I mean... what other meaning could it have?"
Again Zestial did not give a precise answer. “I don't know. I'm just guessing”
Charlie sighed. She was about to ask something else, when suddenly Vaggie came breathlessly back to them. "We have to go to the hotel right away" she said. "Angel just called me. There was another kidnapping... it happened right in front of him"
"What!?" Charlie exclaimed worriedly. "Is he okay!?"
Vaggie nodded. "He said yes. But he seemed quite upset. He said the fight he witnessed was... intense". She bit her lip: "It was three against one and they still lost. The two survivors are now at the hotel with him, they want to talk to you"
"Three against one?". Charlie's eyes narrowed. "Who is the kidnapped person?"
Vaggie sighed. "Vox"
There was a moment of silence, and then Alastor sizzled furiously: "Are you kidding me!? Now he's even going to kidnap my enemies!?"
Notes:
I decided to change the title of the story, and from "The first sinner" I renamed it "Hell's Coming With Me". Because... you'll find out, but know that it's going to be crazy cool. I also decided to increase the number of chapters published from two to three per week; I expected it to take longer to write the story, but I'm already at chapter 16, so I might as well shorten the wait you have to endure... as long as you keep commenting and leaving kudos to motivate my work. Therefore, from now on, a chapter will also be published on Saturdays, at the same hour of other pre-established days
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
Angel had received the call from Valentino not even twenty minutes after Charlie, Vaggie and Alastor had left the hotel along with Carmilla's two daughters. The moth demon had ordered him to come to the study at once, and he had been forced to obey him. He could tell from his tone of voice that he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. And this belief became even more evident when he arrived in front of the study and found Valentino waiting for him directly on the doorstep. "Oh, here you are, Angel-Cakes" the moth demon said waving his cigarette as he saw him. "Please come in"
"Yes, Val" Angel murmured, trying to be as submissive as possible. The more he avoided showing any personality, the better his chances of not irritating the moth demon.
Valentino put his arm around his waist in the classic manner normally done by a lover, but he did so by digging his claws into his skin. "You were missing for a long time, you know? Two weeks in which you showed up so few times... I was starting to think you forgot you had a job" he commented, continuing to smile, but with an increasingly menacing voice. "When are you going to give up that hotel? It's clearly a bad influence on you"
Angel swallowed. Technically Valentino hadn't ordered him to come to work during those two weeks, probably too busy gloating with his two buddies, but in any case he knew he had been imprudent not to show up more often. "I assure you that I will be more present from now on"
Valentino inhaled his cigarette for a long time. "Mmm... you know, I have nothing against it if you want to do some charity work and help the princess rebuild her hotel. It's your life, I don't mean to pry into it. But still, I demand professionalism from you. You're the best pornstar in Hell, Angel-Cakes, it's important that you work hard to keep your image high... you understand, right?"
The last words had been accompanied by a greater grip on Angel's waist. The spider demon gulped. "Yes... Valentino"
The moth demon grinned in satisfaction. "Good. I'm glad you understand. I'm sure you won't disappoint me" he said, and a little saliva dripped from his mouth. "I've prepared something interesting for today. So, first things first..."
"Mr. Valentino?"
The moth demon's words were cut off midway by Summer's words. In an istant, Valentino looked like he was about to explode. "What do you want!? Can't you see I'm busy!?"
Summer put her hands in front of her face and made a frightened noise, but for once it seemed like it wasn't the moth demon that terrified her the most. "M-Mr. Valentino... there is someone who wants to talk to you... over there"
Both Valentino and Angel turned to the corner of the studio that Summer pointed to, and they saw that someone was sitting in the director's chair where the moth demon normally sat. Needless to say, Valentino turned red with anger. "You there!" he shouted, letting go of Angel and striding towards the newcomer. "I don't know who you are, but get immediately your ass out of my...!"
The person sitting there stood up, revealing himself to be an individual completely covered in armor that revealed nothing of the person underneath, except for two large membranous wings and a tail ending in a hook. Angel expected Valentino to continue his rant, but instead the moth demon suddenly stopped and seemed to become more serious and cautious. And all the other people in the studio seemed to have turned into ice statues. "Um... what's going on...?"
"What do you mean 'what's going on'!? Can't you see it!?" Summer stammered in terror. "It's him! Army of One!"
Angel's eyes widened. That was Army of One? Well, he sure was creepy. Now he understood why Valentino had stopped.
The moth demon let out a snort from his nostrils. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for your partner" Army of One answered him calmly.
"Voxxy is currently doing one of his things in the broadcast room" Valentino told him. "He won't come out for any reason"
"I know, his employees already told me when I went looking for him. Apparently your partner has built himself a nice fortress, and I can't get in without him noticing me and escaping through some electrical wire. But maybe he will come out for you" Army of One replied. "Call him and tell him to come. Otherwise I'll need new prey"
Valentino narrowed his eyes. "It's a threat?"
"No. It's just the reality of things" Army of One answered him without changing his tone. "So? Do you want to call him... or do you prefer me to break your bones?"
Valentino let out a growl. He wasn't stupid, he knew he had to be careful with the person in front of him, but he wasn't willing to let himself be treated that way. "You won't get anything from me" he replied in a challenging voice. "Got it, you pathetic wannabe? I don't give a shit if you're the terrible Army of One or whatever the fuck you've been calling yourself lately. I can open your ass however and whenever I want. So, do we have an understanding?". Valentino's tone became more threatening than ever: "Get the fuck out of my studio"
Silence fell, and no one dared to say a word. And then Army of One just let out a few words: "I'll smash you into the wall like the insect you are"
Valentino widened his eyes slightly, and then he burst out laughing. "Damn! That was a great lin..."
Army of One's fist landed squarely on his sternum, sending him flying across the room with the force of a bullet. Valentino crashed into the wall with such violence that it cracked and he was left flat on it. The moth demon spat out a lot of blood from his mouth, and he slid to the ground on his knees. "Your studio? How cute" Army of One commented. "I'm not here for your studio, and I'm not here for you. Weakling"
Valentino immediately got up with a hiss mixed with a growl, and he opened his wings wide, throwing himself at him. "Does this seem weak to you!?" he roared, and grabbed Army of One by the face and slammed him violently to the ground, cracking the floor and making the entire building shake.
Army of One didn't even seem to felt the blow. "You had your turn" he told him. "Now it's mine"
His hand reached up and caught the moth demon by the scruff of the neck, and threw him towards the window; it broke and Valentino fell into the middle of the street, where he smashed into a couple of cars, and finally stopped after hitting the wall of the next building, causing the plaster to fall due to the vibrations. A split second later Army of One too emerged from the study, smashing through the wall as if it were made of cards. As soon as the people on the street saw him they let out a scream of terror.
"It's him!"
"Army of One!"
"Run away, quickly!"
"Run for your life!"
"RUN!"
Army of One let out a grumble. "What annoying bugs" he commented, and a beam of red light exploded from his visor, disintegrating every demon within a radius of twenty meters in front of him.
Angel swallowed hard. He never thought that one day he would have seen Valentino get swept away by a simple movement of the hand as if he were a fly. That guy, that Army of One, was truly an abomination when it came to physical power. He knew that staying there wasn't a good idea, but since going out into the street wasn't a good idea either, he hid and waited for the fight to end.
Valentino got back to his feet. He was more furious than ever: he felt pain everywhere, his clothes were ruined, and that guy continued to walk calmly as if he wasn't the least bit worried about his presence! He was hating it. A smoke of toxic saliva emerged from his mouth, together with a scream of pure rage: "BACK OFF!"
Army of One finally stopped for a moment, but seemed to do so more out of curiosity than fear. Valentino roared and his limbs stretched out; his clothes tore and his wings spread behind him. The moth demon's true form emerged in all its horror, no longer restricted. Valentino emitted a sound similar to a mixture between a high pitch and a creak, and he moved much faster than before: his wings emitted a strong wind and spread his toxic vapor in every direction, creating a patina that almost completely blocked visibility. Once this was done, using his antennae to orient himself, the moth demon hit Army of Ond from every angle, over and over again, and then he grabbed him, carried him high in the sky and violently threw him to the ground, breaking the asphalt and creating a crater, with such force that the cars lifted for an instant.
Army of One emerged from the hole he had created, dusting himself off. "Oh... excellent combat skills" he commented. "But I think I've learned now"
Valentino let out an annoyed growl, and then he let out more toxic vapor from his mouth and tried to attack him again, but this time Army of One predicted exactly where he would have come from and grabbed his arm, then he slammed him to the ground and thinned the cloud out again.
"No way..." Angel thought as he was observing the whole scene. "He can really adapt that fast!?"
"Your toxic saliva and ability to sense vibrations are interesting" Army of One told Valentino as he stood up. “Is there anything else you can teach me?”
The moth demon let out an enraged screech. "I'll tear you to shreds!"
"Inform me when you intend to start" Army of One answered him without losing his composure.
Valentino rose to his full proud height and let out a roar of rage, and his antennae almost seemed to sizzle. "I'll beat the shit out of you!" he screamed in total wrath. "I will fucking burn you and every goddamn thing you…!"
Army of One suddenly appeared before his eyes and grabbed his jaw, tearing it clean off. The moth demon opened his eyes wide and touched his torn mouth. "You talk too much" his opponent told him, and he threw him a headbutt that sent Valentino to the ground with the sole force of the air movement, opening a painful wound on his forehead.
Army of One jumped onto the moth demon's belly, causing it to let out a small choking sound. He raised his fists and started punching him in the face, without giving him time to react. Valentino's head was soon reduced to a mask of blood.
But just then a blue bolt of lightning crashed into Army of One and knocked him away. Valentino let out a cough, but he was reassured to see a familiar television-shaped face in front of him. "Ugh... V-Vox..." he muttered, barely able to speak even though his jaw was already regenerating.
"Don't talk. Think about regenerating yourself" the media overlord told him. Despite his clearly worried tone, however, he didn't refrain from telling him: "Facing Army of One... can you really be that stupid? Why didn't you run away immediately?"
Valentino let out a grunt. "Running away... is... not my style..."
"Well, this time it will be" Vox told him. "We're leaving here immediately, fighting with him is suicide..."
"Vox"
Both the media and the pimp overlord stopped and looked at Army of One. He was already back on his feet and didn't appear to have suffered any major damage, although he still jumped every now and emitted some sparks. "You're my prey now" he warned him. "I'm here for you"
Vox gritted his digital teeth. "You'll have to go home empty-handed, I'm afraid. My partner and I are leaving"
"Do you really think I'll let you?" Army of One asked him.
Vox let out a snort, and then his and Valentino's entire bodies turned to electricity and entered the antennas on nearby rooftops. They began to move away quickly using the electric cables, but after less than half a minute another mass of electricity appeared behind them and hit them, forcing Vox to get them out of their escape route again and regain their physical forms. Army of One emerged from the electricity just two seconds later. “Thank you for showing me your technique” he told Vox. "Do you want to try again?"
Vox hissed. "That bastard..." he muttered. "It's enough for him to see our powers just once, without even using them against him...?"
Army of One moved again and lunged at them, but Valentino, though still injured, stepped in front of the media overlord and belched a mass of poisonous gas from his lips, and at the same time Vox emitted thousands of electrical bolts from his fingers. The cloud and lightning merged together, creating a powerful electrical storm that hit their opponent squarely, slowing his attack and pushing him backwards. When everything stopped, he was bent over slightly, and his armor was corroded and even broken in places; pieces fell from his fingers revealing the dark skin underneath. For the first time ever, he appeared to take some damage. "Okay..." he said in an irritated voice. "I actually felt that"
Vox and Valentino felt the urge to smile, but they didn't have time to do so: Army of One moved at lightning speed, breaking the sound barrier, and hit them both in the stomach. The two of them flew away in different directions: Valentino broke through a house and was half buried under the rubble, and he completely abandoned his demon form to return to his normal one, breathing heavily. He had taken far too much damage at once. Vox, instead, managed to stop before crashing, but still he left a long streak in the asphalt, and spat digital blood from his mouth due to the blow he received.
The media overlord took a deep breath, trying to keep his head clear. He felt a shift of air in front of him, and he looked up to see that Army of One had appeared just a few centimeters from his face. "You can be proud of yourself. Very few people can boast of having caused me so much harm. Well... you won't have a chance to brag about it anyway"
Vox made a strangled noise. He was smart enough to understand that the guy had been holding back until then. The force with which he had thrown him and Valentino away was quite explanatory: if he had hit them with such violence from the beginning, the fight would have already ended from a while.
He was just toying with them.
And without even assuming his true demon form.
What a monster.
"I thought I could prolong the fight a little longer, but I'd rather stop here" Army of One commented. "Come on. There's a lot to do, and I need your skills"
But Vox wasn't willing to give up. "Not so fast!" he shouted, and his eyes immediately began to sparkle, activating their hypnotic mode.
Army of One let out a soft grunt, and for a moment Vox thought he had done it, but then his opponent punched his screen and smashed it. "Nnnngh... do you really think you can beat me with a trick like that?" Army of One growled, even though it was clear that they had had some effect on him. "But thank you... I will make good use of these eyes of yours"
Vox let out a groan as he realized that he had just given him yet another power up. Army of One grabbed him by the neck. "Now let's go" he said. "And don't try any other tricks..."
A wooden hand like a doll's hit him in the arm with a perfect karate move, and Army of One lost his grip. Vox felt himself suddenly grabbed and in a flash he found himself dragged at least twenty meters away, appearing right above a cell phone that someone must have dropped while running away. "What...?"
"What are you doing, idiot? Get up!" Velvette's voice shook him. "Don't play dead like your fucking boyfriend!"
"Urgh... Velvette, forget it! Leave now!" Vox told her. "This guy is out of the norm! Take Valentino and run, he only wants me!"
"Don't be arrogant! That asshole wants all of us, and I won't run away from an idiot without the slightest sense of aesthetics!" Velvette answered him, and immediately she turned into a mass of pixels and went back into the cell phone.
Vox's eyes flashed on his broken screen. "Velvette, no!"
Too late: Velvette reappeared in front of Army of One, already in her demon form, and she threw a hundred cell phones on the ground. She continuously transformed into pixels and traveled from one cell phone to another, always appearing behind him and continuously hitting him without him being able to defend himself. "I've learned every single martial art in existence in the last three microseconds, and every strategy game possible in the last four" Velvette said as she showed off moves from karate, taekwondo, and joujitsu. "I will continue to hit you until..."
Army of One stomped his foot on the ground, and the asphalt shattered as if it were made of paper; the phones flew through the air, disorienting Velvette for a moment, and a split second later he appeared before her eyes. "Martial arts? Strategy games?" he murmured. "These things work in an even fight, little girl"
Velvette gritted her teeth and tried to transform back into pixels, but Army of One's hand became pixels too and moved faster. "Now disappear" he told her simply.
His fist hit Velvette square in the right side of her face; it was so powerful that the doll broke as if she were made of cardboard, and the pieces exploded in every direction: joints and mechanical parts fell like bullets on everything, being reduced to shreds. Velvette's head rolled on the asphalt like a balloon, the skin half split where it hit, and she never moved again.
"NO!" Vox screamed in a muffled voice. With a roar he too abandoned his normal form and took on the demon one, generating a torrent of electricity that lashed out at full power against Army of One, but he again threw a punch in his direction. The blast caused Vox's electricity to explode and travel back to him, hurling him away like a twig.
Vox once again found himself spitting out blood profusely, and his body regressed to his normal form. He no longer had a shred of energy. He felt like he was facing a living mountain. "Like I said, enough playing games" Army of One said appearing in front of him. "We have to go"
Vox gritted his teeth, and looked over his opponent's back. Valentino had recovered and was struggling to get up, and was looking in his direction. Their eyes met.
They both knew that there was nothing the moth demon could do.
They both knew... that they had lost.
Finally, Valentino turned and opened his wings, and he took flight; he grabbed Velvette's head with his few unbroken fingers and flew away as fast as he could.
Vox didn't blame him. That was the only option.
"Mh?" Army of One muttered as he noticed the moth demon. "Coward..."
Vox took advantage of his distraction to launch another electric shock at him; he summoned every drop of power he had left. His hands almost seemed to turn into LEDs from how much energy they were emitting. Army of One took a slight step back. Vox continued without stopping. He could still buy Valentino and Velvette a few seconds of time to save themselves.
Army of One suddenly moved and grabbed his hands, and he broke his fingers with one sharp blow. Vox let out a groan of pain, and his opponent gripped his neck so hard that he almost suffocated him. "Now let's go" he said, and he spread his wings and took flight, dragging the media overlord with him.
Meanwhile Valentino had returned to the only place that came to mind at that moment: his studio. His wings were still badly damaged, and in fact he landed in front of the door in a not at all graceful manner. His employees, hidden inside the studio, made a sound of surprise when they saw him. Evidently they had already considered him gone.
Valentino tightened his grip on Velvette's head. He didn't have to be afraid for her: she hadn't been hit by angelic weapons, she would have regenerated sooner or later, although after such a blow it was likely that it would have been a long 'later'. At least he could rest assured about that.
But he knew he needed a safe place now. Army of One could have come back to finish the job. But where could he go? His studio was certainly not a place that fell under the definition of a 'safe place'. Nor their penthouse, or any other place they regularly frequented. Army of One could have tracked them anywhere. He needed a place where he wouldn't have gone, and there was someone powerful enough to protect them...
"Val!" Angel exclaimed as he walked out of the study. "Goodness, you're alive!"
An illumination.
Yes... it could have worked.
"Hey, Angel" Valentino said to his favorite whore. “Take us straight to that famous hotel”
Angel blanched. "What...?"
"You heard me right" Valentino replied, and despite the situation he couldn't avoid being sarcastic: "From today, we are roommates"
Notes:
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
Husk had been notified by Angel via text message of what had just happened, which was good since he was able to convince a rather drunk Cherri to go back to her room and sleep; he was pretty sure that she would react quite badly if she saw Valentino enter the hotel... and considering that her brain wasn't exactly capable of reasoning at the moment due to the excessive blood alcohol level in her system, it was likely that the situation would have escalated quickly if she had been present. According to Angel Valentino had taken quite a few beatings, but he was still an overlord; before starting any potential brawl it was best to have Charlie or at least Alastor there with them, who were powerful enough to stop the moth demon if he tried to harm anyone.
Not that he had taken Valentino's presence very well. The first thing he did when Angel returned to the hotel was to ask him in a low voice: "Why the fuck did you bring him here!?"
"He forced me, okay!? I couldn't say no to him!" Angel answered him. “Tell me you locked Niffty up somewhere"
"She's with Cherri, I told her it was a good idea to play with Frank in her room and she bought it" Husk told him.
"Good. I don't want to piss Val off when he's already annoyed about losing his boyfriend" Angel muttered.
"HEY, ANGEL!" Valentino's voice came from the living room. "WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP THE MEDICINE IN THIS PLACE!?"
"Better give him what he wants" Husk said.
"You think?" Angel replied rhetorically.
The two of them took a medical kit and brought it to Valentino. Husk widened his eyes as soon as he saw the rather ruined appearance of the moth demon, and especially when he saw Velvette: the doll demon had already started to regenerate and her torso had begun to regrow, but the signs of battle were still quite evident on her. “Did Army of One really do this?” he couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Nooo, Santa Claus did it! Of course Army of One did it, you idiot!" Valentino blurted out somewhat irritated. "Seriously, these are the people you hang out with, Angel? I thought you were smarter"
Husk avoided answering him, knowing it would only make the situation worse. He remained silent while Valentino rubbed some disinfectant on his numerous wounds. Even though sinner demons could regenerate, cuts, broken bones and bruises still hurt like hell. And getting an infection meant suffering for days, until they died and respawned a few hours later. Better to avoid it.
Valentino, surprisingly, was not too talkative; he certainly spoke much less than usual. He just continued worrying about Velvette and ranting at Angel for not helping him enough, even though the spider demon had already done everything he could. Evidently that tense situation was having an effect on him too: he looked like a chimney that continuously spit out his pink vapor from his mouth and never abandoned his frowning expression, and he wasn't even worrying about his slightly torn clothes, which never happened first seen how much he cared about his style.
Angel wasn't sure if the moth demon's calm and lack of immediate outbursts was a good thing. He would have much preferred that Valentino started screaming and growling as usual, rather than showing off that facade which, by his average standards, could be considered almost stoic. The moth demon wasn't known for being good at managing his emotions, and if he was now too shocked or unsure of how to act to let them out, it was only a matter of time before all the pent-up feelings burst out.
Had just losing Vox destabilized him so much psychologically...?
For some reason, Angel was pretty sure that Valentino was acting way too calm given the situation. It almost seemed like he didn't care about his lost boyfriend, or at least didn't consider it too serious. Which could mean either that he had never really cared about Vox, which was unlikely given their fairly solid relationship... or that he had some other trick up his sleeve.
Either way, it wasn't a good thing. Angel didn't care how Valentino handled the situation, but as long as he was there in the hotel, any of his actions would have had repercussions on all its occupants.
Luckily, Charlie, Vaggie, and Alastor returned just over half an hour later. Zestial had guaranteed them that he would have taken care of Odette and Clara, to the delight of the princess and the ex-Exorcist (the radio demon didn't care much... in fact, it didn't matter at all for him), so at least on that front they could rest assured. But given the storm they knew they would have had to face at the hotel, there was little to stay calm about. "Angel, are you okay?" Charlie asked the spider demon as soon as she saw him.
Angel nodded. "I don't even have a scratch on me" he confirmed.
Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly. Even though Angel had already written in the message he sent to Vaggie that he wasn't hurt, she really needed to see him in person to be sure. She had spent the last half hour afraid of finding him missing an arm or a leg.
"Ehm! Excuse me, I am the one who fought!" Valentino blurted out irritably.
Charlie and Vaggie didn't stop themselves from glaring at him. Alastor instead laughed loudly. "I can see it. Damn, you're reduced to... what do you young people say today? A shit"
Valentino let out a muffled growl, but then he flashed the brightest smile he could muster: "Princess!" he said trying to sound more compliant than ever. "I know you and I didn't exactly start off on the right foot, but I'm sure we can come to an understanding if..."
"Cut it short" Charlie stopped him immediately. "You're afraid that Army of One will come looking for you too and you want a place to hide. Don't try to make it seem like you have no other reasons for it"
Valentino gritted his teeth. "Now, now, don't be so hostile. I'm just trying to..."
"Mr. Valentino... the point" Charlie told him, not wanting to hold a conversation with the moth demon for any longer than was necessary.
Valentino let out a grunt. "Oh, fine. Yes, I want a room here. This is a hotel, right? I want to stay. I'll pay whatever..."
"Only those who are committed to the redemption program can stay here" Charlie told him.
Valentino raised an eyebrow. "What about him then?" he asked pointing at Alastor.
Charlie realized she just had made a gaffe. "Okay... those who are not a danger to others can stay"
"I repeat, what about him then?" Valentino repeated, continuing to point to Alastor.
Charlie put a hand over her face. Seriously, maybe she should have checked her staff's criminal records better... or at least not kept a notorious serial killer in such plain sight in the hotel.
Valentino took advantage of her silence to try to regain control of the conversation: "Come on, princess! I know, I'm not a person you like, and it's my fault, I admit it. But do you really want to leave me without a safe place to go? Or abandon my friend?"
And in saying this he pointed to Velvette lying on the sofa, who was now almost completely regenerated except for a few fingers, but she was still out of action and seemed very sore. Charlie immediately felt her kind heart tighten, and she bit her lip to maintain seriousness. "Okay, we'll take care of her. But you stay out"
"What!? Oh, come on! Velvette is bitchier than me when she wants!" Valentino protested. "Do you really want to leave me out there alone!? That guy, Army of One, whatever the fuck his name is, could come after me at any moment! My blood would be on your hands! Don't you have an ounce of mercy?"
Charlie knew Valentino was only saying those things to make her feel guilty, but that didn't stop her from feeling a bitter taste on her tongue. Abandoning someone to their fate was not in her nature. But still she steeled herself and remained adamant: "Here there is room only for those who have not harmed other members of the hotel. Velvette can stay, not you"
Silence fell. There was a long moment when no one spoke, and then Husk muttered under his breath: "Really? What about him then?", pointing at Alastor again. The radio demon glared at him, silencing him on the spot.
Valentino clenched his fists. "Okay... so let's put it this way: you let us stay, and I'll tell you something I discovered about Army of One"
Charlie's eyes widened slightly, and so did all the other hotel guests. "What are you talking about?"
"During the battle, I noticed a detail that can be classified as a... weak point" Valentino replied to her. "And since this guy is literally a living tank, I think you might want to know it"
"We accept" Alastor said immediately.
"Al!" Charlie scolded him. “You can't just accept!”
"Of course I can" Alastor replied. "I am the host of the hotel, I can accept whoever I want in here"
"Marvelous!" Valentino exclaimed satisfied. "I figured you'd agree, radio demon. You want to catch that asshole too... you don't like him taking the record from you, huh?"
Alastor made a broken radio sound. "No, not at all" he replied. "And I would like everyone to stop telling me that"
Valentino seemed a little intimidated, but still didn't lose his pompous expression. "Very good. So we have a deal...?"
“No deal!” Charlie quickly interjected. "Alastor, I don't know if you forgot or are pretending not to remember, but you are no longer the host of the hotel. It's me since my father had it rebuilt"
Alastor let out a groan, and judging by the look on his face he was quite annoyed. Valentino also grunted disdainfully: "Ah, you wanted to screw me? You asshole!". He yelled a couple more times, but then he became serious again: "Anyway, my offer still stands"
“Charlie, I need that information!” Alastor said. "Would you like to give it up just because your favorite customer has a problem with this guy? Where did the 'it starts with sorry' and all that stuff go?"
"First, I'm not aware of Valentino having ever apologized to Angel. Second, I'm not going to pretend he's a good guy just so you can carry out some petty revenge" Charlie replied.
"And third... keep your head down, because Charlie and her benevolence are the only reason you're still here" Vaggie pointed out, glaring at the radio demon very badly.
Alastor didn't give up. "Charlie, any information about Army of One is vital. Don't you want to help me maintain my lead? Okay, I'll fend for myself. But you can't deny that stopping him is important! How many more people have to be kidnapped before you decide to act?"
Charlie bit her lip. Unfortunately Alastor, as always, was right. The longer she waited, the more more people would have been kidnapped... and who knew what Army of One would have done to them. Any information about him was vital, even just to understand how to anticipate his moves and capture him.
Seeing that he was hitting the right spots, Alastor continued: "I agree with you that Valentino is not a pleasant person to be around, but he can stay in his room with Velvette. If he never comes out, who cares about his presence? The dear Angel won't have to worry about anything"
"I will be a shadow" Valentino confirmed. "You won't even notice me"
"See? So, what's the problem?" Alastor said satisfied. "Come on, isn't the hotel really about giving everyone a second chance?"
Charlie began to sweat on her forehead. She couldn't accept Valentino into the hotel, not with Angel there; the spider demon would no longer have been able to sleep peacefully if this happened and it would have been her fault. But on the other hand, if she had refused, a lot of people would have gotten hurt. And Carmilla needed help as soon as possible...
Angel's voice suddenly shocked everyone. "Charlie, it's okay. Don't worry about me"
Everyone looked at him in amazement. "Angel, don't let them affect you" Husk whispered softly to him.
Angel didn't listen to him. "Guys, seriously, I don't care if he stays here. Our contract takes place in the studio, not here. Just give him a room, so he tells us what he knows about this guy and we can prevent Smiles from getting killed"
Alastor didn't like that comment. "I won't get killed"
"Believe me, Smiles" Angel told him seriously. "If you'll face him head-on, you will end up badly"
Angel hated the idea of having Valentino at the hotel, but after seeing Army of One fight, he knew that any means to defeat that guy was important. If Alastor had faced him, he would surely have ended up in a bad way... and something told him that everyone else, including Charlie, was not exempt from danger. After seeing Army of One wipe out three overlords with his fists, Angel was sure that it was imperative to know every detail about that guy in anticipation of a possible battle. He could handle Valentino for a few weeks, he had faced worse.
Beside him, Husk sighed. He knew that was probably what Alastor had been aiming for all along, that's why he had spoken out loud; and Valentino had gone after him. And Angel had fallen into their trap. He could have warned him... but he knew that if he had done so Alastor would have made him pay.
Charlie was silent for a moment. "Are you sure?"
Angel nodded. "Yes, Charlie. Stop asking me"
Charlie didn't seem convinced at all, but she respected his wishes anyway. "All right" she said to Valentino. "You can stay, but on the condition that you don't hurt anyone in here. Do it, and you are out"
"I'm okay with it" the moth demon replied satisfied. "I told you, you won't even notice me. I'll be like a ghost"
"Of course" Charlie said tired. She was sure she would have regretted that decision.
"Enough talk" Alastor said. “So, this information?”
"I'll tell you right away" Valentino replied. "Here it is: our kidnapper friend can't adapt to more than one ability at a time"
Silence fell again. For a moment no one even seemed able to breathe. "Are you sure?" Vaggie asked him.
Valentino nodded. "When we fought him individually, both Vox and I were unable to do almost anything to him. Every ability we had was instantly copied and he reacted to our hits in the same way, nullifying them. But as soon as Vox and I combined our powers, he wasn't able to copy us. We hit him, and inflicted some damage"
Alastor touched his chin in a somewhat inquisitive manner. "Hmm... so you're telling me that if numerous overlords attack him, he couldn't adapt to them and thus nullify all their attacks"
"Exactly. And like I said, he's not invincible. He can take damage" Valentino said. "Although you still need a plan to fight him. His strength is out of the norm, even if he can't copy the abilities he is still a formidable opponent. And I believe he can keep the abilities he already stole, because while fighting me he used a power that I believe belonged to Mrs. Carmine"
"I can confirm. I saw him use some sort of hot ray to vaporize every person in his path" Angel said. "From what I know, it should be one of Carmilla's abilities"
“So, in summary, we know how to counter this guy's powers, but we still don't know how to stop him” Husk grumbled.
"Well, not really" Angel corrected him. "Val said that the combined attack of him and Vox damaged this guy, so if someone powerful enough hits him he should die or at least be seriously injured. If we find enough overlords willing to cooperate, and maybe even get Charlie into play..."
"Charlie won't be needed" Alastor said. "I'll do it"
"Guys, may I remind you that we don't want to kill him?" Vaggie blurted out in exasperation. "We need to get him to tell us what he did with Carmilla... and the other overlords too!"
"I don't see the problem" Alastor told her. "I'll hurt him a little, make him tell me where your friend is, and then I'll kill him"
"Sounds like a good plan to me" a voice behind them commented.
Everyone turned towards the sofa. Velvette had reopened her eyes, and she was staring at them with a determined and very frowning look.
Notes:
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
"Babydoll!" Valentino exclaimed. "You got better..."
"Yes, and from what I see you already have a plan" Velvette replied sitting up. Judging by her expression this was causing her quite a bit of physical strain, but she still tried not to show it. "Where's Vox?"
Valentino sighed. "He took him..."
Velvette made a strangled noise. "And you didn't chase him!?"
"To do what, get beaten up again?" Valentino replied to her. "I preferred to ensure my safety and yours. Picking you up and taking you away while that asshole was distracted was the best move..."
“So you left him there!?” Velvette screamed. Her face suddenly tightened into a grimace of pure fury. “You… how could you…!?”
"Hey, calm down now, Babydoll" Valentino replied clearly annoyed. "The choice was between risking all three of us dying or saving at least the two of us. I chose the second option"
Velvette's eyes flashed. The doll demon looked like she was about to explode. “This is your justification!?” she growled, grabbing one of his wings and pulling him towards her. "You bastard... we're talking about Vox...!"
"I know exactly who we're talking about! Do you think I liked it?" Valentino exclaimed clearly exasperated. The moth demon already had little patience normally, let alone in this context. "Sometimes in life you have to make difficult choices, Vox himself was aware of this! He agreed with my choice, I saw it in his eyes!"
Velvette trembled all over. "You... you... are the most selfish, bitchy, bastard being that...!"
“O-Okay, guys, let's all calm down" Charlie said, stepping between them. "I'm sure you should talk to each other now and..."
"What the fuck do you want?" Velvette muttered sourly. "I don't need the most useless psychologist in Hell, I need someone that helps me to get Vox back! And possibly that is more useful than this idiot!"
Charlie blushed slightly at being addressed that way. She knew that Velvette wasn't exactly in her right mind at the moment, partly because of the experience she had just undergone and the intense shock she was experiencing upon discovering that her friend had been kidnapped, and partly because she was still regenerating and this created problems for her brain as new neurons were continually added and therefore they created an imbalance; however she still felt at least a little offended. Fortunately, she was used to hearing demons who didn't trust her, and so she managed to stay calm, but she still got upset enough to say: "Hey, I remind you that you're a guest here!"
"And who cares!" Velvette blurted out, trying to stand up, even though it was clear that she would never have been able to due to her still rather unsteady legs. "I never asked to stay here! I'm going to look for Vox...!"
"We can't do so" Valentino told her, giving her a pat on the head which made her fall back onto the sofa. "I just traded some very important information for protection. Now we stay here, where we are safe"
Velvette's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me!? This is your plan!? To stay here while Vox is in danger!?"
"Absolutely" Valentino replied. "I've already lost one partner, I don't want to lose another"
"He's your boyfriend, for fuck's sake!" Velvette growled.
"Yeah, and the guy who kidnapped him is someone who beat you, me, and him in a three-on-one fight" Valentino reminded her. "Seeing as things are, I'm not stupid enough to go around all over Hell screaming that I'm looking for a person who munches on overlords as an aperitif"
"What a sweet description to say you want to abandon him" Vaggie commented with a lot of contempt in her voice. Even though she knew the moth demon's personality well, she was still somewhat disgusted by his behavior.
Valentino let out a snort. "Do you mind? This is a personal matter!"
"Why? I liked Vagatha's intervention" Alastor commented, who was obviously delighted to see so much tension in the air and was barely holding back his laughter.
Valentino glared at the radio demon. "Alastor, mind your own business. I promised not to touch anyone while I'm in here, but once I'm out I won't hold back and kick your ass"
"You can try" Alastor replied narrowing his eyes. “The last one you tried to tackle sure got away with a lot of ass-kicking, didn't he?”
Valentino's eyelid trembled. "You know? Vox was totally right, you're really obnoxious!"
"Coming from Vox, I might consider that a compliment" Alastor replied. "But at least I'm not a coward"
"Oh, really? Sorry, I must have more serious vision problems than I imagined" Valentino said with a grin. "It actually seemed to me that you ran away like a rabbit during your last battle! It was to protect this same hotel, wasn't it?"
This time it was Alastor's eyelid that visibly twitched. "First, it was the other hotel, this is the new version we just rebuilt. Second, it was a strategic retreat!"
"Does the strategic retreat involve abandoning everyone and returning after the battle is over when the others have already solved everything?" Valentino mocked him. "Truly an extraordinary strategic retreat... it reminds me a lot of those guys who cum in a quarter of a second using the excuse that they have to hurry..."
Alastor made a broken radio sound. "Can you please refrain from making such sexual innuendos in my presence? I would like to maintain a minimum of decorum in my hotel"
"It's not your hotel anymore" Vaggie reminded him.
Alastor glared at her very badly. "Excuse me, but which side are you on?"
"Honestly, I'm having trouble deciding right now" Vaggie answered truthfully.
Charlie inspired deeply, and then she intervened before the two overlords decided to ruin everything they had agreed and just fight on the spot: "Okay, guys, that's enough. Stop it, you're acting like children"
Alastor and Valentino didn't stop glaring at each other... or rather, Alastor started looking at a random point with an air of superiority and Valentino continued to give him sideways glances, but with an effort that seemed inhuman they both stopped teasing each other. Charlie thanked the heavens that calm had finally returned, and then she cleared her throat: "Good, thanks for your cooperation. Now, can we please..."
"THE BAD MOTH BOY!"
Everyone turned and saw that Niffty had somehow appeared on top of the chandelier. "Oh, no! Not her!" Valentino exclaimed. “Can I make an exception to the deal in case she jumps on me?”
"Absolutely not! Just call us, we'll keep her away from you..." Charlie answered him, but she didn't have time to finish the sentence before Niffty jumped down from the chandelier and got into Valentino's fur.
The moth demon stirred as she continued to paw at him. "Good, then get her FAR away from me!"
“Did you come back for me?” Niffty exclaimed grabbing him by the neck. "I love bad boys! I knew you had feelings for me too...!"
"Hey, don't even talk about it! I wouldn't even touch you with someone else's cock!" Valentino replied trying to shake her off. "Get away from me!"
Angel glared at Husk: "Didn't you say you locked her up with Cherri?"
"I locked her!" Husk answered him. "I don't know how she got out!"
"Stop talking and get her off me!" Valentino screamed, as even with his four arms he couldn't catch her.
Eventually Charlie, Vaggie, Angel and Husk intervened and almost miraculously managed to detach Niffty from Valentino's fur. "Leave me!" she protested as Angel tied her tightly. "I have to get back to my bad boy...!"
"I told you to gag her!" Angel growled at Husk.
"And I told you she bit me!" the cat demon replied while waving his hand in an attempt to soothe the pain.
Only when Niffty was at least two meters away from Valentino did Alastor decide to intervene: "Niff, my dear, please, let's not bother our guest" he said with his usual smile, and then he looked at Husk too: "Understood, guys? No one must bother our new guests"
"Couldn't you have said that before!?" Valentino ranted as he rubbed a rag on himself as if he was desperately trying to remove something disgusting.
Alastor's smile widened in response. "It was too funny"
Valentino's eyes flashed. "I'll…!"
"Enough!" Charlie exclaimed, having reached the edge of her exasperation. "Let's all calm down, okay? This is a hotel to redeem people, not a fight club!"
Valentino summoned all his self-control to avoid jumping on the radio demon, and he did so only to keep the pact he had just signed. Alastor in turn tried to stop teasing him, and only out of respect for the owner of the hotel.
At that moment Velvette let out a cough. "Ehm. If you're done playing idiots, please make that one neuron you have at work... and no, I don't have time to explain you what a neuron is!" she exclaimed, noticing Niffty's confused expression, and then she raised her cell phone: "While you were arguing like monkeys in a cage, I took a look at the news. If you had turned on the television you would have realized that after taking Vox, Army of One has already gone to kidnap another"
Everyone's eyes widened: not much time had passed since Vox's kidnapping, just a few hours to be optimistic. Had Army of One already gone to kidnap someone else? Well, in fact, Carmilla had also been kidnapped just hours before Vox. "Damn, this guy is such a workaholic" Angel commented. “Who is the victim this time?”
“Zeezi” Velvette replied, and then she looked at Valentino: “That’s exactly who we… hey!”
Before she could end the sentence the moth demon had taken the cell phone from her hands. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you're still recovering. This is seized" he told her. "And then where did you get it? Yours was destroyed"
"Hey! That's MY cell phone!" Vaggie exclaimed as she took it back.
"Give it back to me immediately! And you stop acting like a mother hen!" Velvette screamed while looking very badly at Valentino.
"Well, he's not entirely wrong" Charlie tried to mollify her. "You have to think about your health, the continuous use of a cell phone is tiring for the brain, especially when you are not in top shape..."
“What are you now, a doctor?” Velvette answered her with a growl. "For your information, I'm always in top shape! Now give me back...!"
"Get it over with" Valentino told her, forcibly covering her mouth, ignoring her protests.
Vaggie took advantage of the newfound silence to speak: "Guys... it says here that Army of One left another clue" she said while reading the news on her cell phone.
Alastor immediately became alert. “Where he kidnapped Zeezi?”
"No, at Zeezi's place the modus operandi is the same. Apart from the numbers, nothing has changed" Vaggie replied. "The clue was left at Vox's place... right at the top of his tower. Apparently instead of flying away immediately he came back to sign himself as usual... and also left... a pile of ash?"
Everyone raised an eyebrow. "A pile of ashes?" Charlie repeated in confusion.
Vaggie nodded, and she seemed as lost as she was: she turned her cell phone to show everyone the photo of a pile of ash placed under the usual triangular symbol. Angel rubbed his chin: "Is it just me, or does that look more like shredded snakeskin than ash?"
Charlie looked at him in surprise. "What?"
"Yes, when I was alive I sometimes saw snakeskin. You know, the one they shed" Angel told her. "To me that looks more like a snake's skin torn to pieces than ash"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "Mh. A strange clue..." he murmured. “Have the numbers changed?”
"Yes, as usual" Vaggie confirmed. "The new numbers are 1 and 4"
"1 and 4..." Alastor murmured thoughtfully. "What could that mean...?"
"Your IQ multiplied by two?" Velvette commented harshly, clearly not liking the treatment she had just received.
Charlie intervened before the situation escalated again: "Guys, please. Instead of arguing, let's try to think of a way to track down this Army of One before he causes more trouble..."
"You do whatever you want" Valentino said. "Vel and I retire to our rooms"
"What!?" Velvette exclaimed. “You can't really want to just hide in here!”
"Of course I want. I really don't think about going back out there if there's a madman hunting overlords. I never said I want to play detective with these people" Valentino replied.
Seeing that the situation was heating up, Charlie tried to mediate: "Mr. Valentino, please be reasonable. At least stay here and listen, no one is forcing you to cooperate, but hearing a possible plan..."
"... it's not in my interest" Valentino anticipated her. "If I ever feel suicidal I'll shoot myself in the mouth, I won't scream at a madman to come and kill me. If the deer over there wants to take a lot of beatings, that's his business, I'll get out of it"
"But you yourself said that Army of One can't adapt to more than one ability at a time!" Charlie reminded him. "If we combine our efforts, we can defeat him easily..."
"Princess, forgive my words, but you barely listened to half of what I said" Valentino told her in an annoyed voice. "I said that yes, Army of One can adapt to one skill at a time, but also that the combined efforts of me and Vox barely did any damage to him, and as soon as he fought seriously he knocked us out with a single attack. It's not a force that should be underestimated, and I really fear that all of you are underestimating him. I won't partecipate to a battle that I already know that you can't win. Vel and I stay on the bench"
"Don't speak for me!" Velvette protested, but the moth demon completely ignored her. "Val, you can't be serious! We can still find him! We have...!"
"My decision is final!" Valentino interrupted her before she could speak more, but despite this Alastor had he already assumed an interested and very suspicious expression.
Charlie tried to reason with him again: "If you help us, you could save Vox..."
"Vox knew the risks, and he knew we couldn't win. As I said, he approved my decision to escape" Valentino replied to her. "Stop wasting my time. I want to go lie down and take a nap. Let's go, Babydoll"
"Don't talk about it!" Velvette screamed. "I don't mean to stay here while... hey!"
Valentino didn't even listen to her: he took her with his two right arms and put her under his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes, and he took her away ignoring her protests.
"Put me down!"
"No, I won't"
"You can't do this!"
“That's exactly what I am doing”
“You fucking son of a bitch…!!!”
"Language"
Valentino dragged Velvette up the stairs, while everyone watched the scene with expressions halfway between confused and disappointed. "Mm. Really a great family" Vaggie commented.
"Hey, Angel-Cakes! Come help me, I don't know where our rooms are!" Valentino's voice came from upstairs.
The spider demon let out a sigh. "I'm going to find him a free room"
"Angel, I can do it..." Charlie tried to tell him.
"Charlie, I already told you it's no problem. Val isn't stupid enough to give up your protection, he won't touch me" Angel told her. "You think about finding Cherri and telling her we have two new guests so she won't freak out when she'll see them"
Charlie wasn't at all sure, but Angel ran up the stairs before she could reply. When he arrived, Valentino was still holding Velvette, ignoring her protests, and the doll demon was struggling to free herself, but she was still too weak to actually escape the moth demon's grasp. The scene would have almost been comical if it weren't for those who were involved. Angel chose an empty room at random, and Valentino threw Velvette onto the bed in a rather undignified manner. "Now you stay here, Babydoll"
"You can't tell me to stay here! You're not my father!" Velvette growled.
“Oh, yes, I can" Valentino said, and then he released some toxic vapor from his mouth that surrounded the windows and door. "Try to go out if you want, you'll be sedated before you even reach the knob"
"YOU ASSHOLE!!! I HATE YOU!!!" Velvette roared in fury, but the moth demon totally ignored her and closed the door.
As soon as he could no longer hear the screams of his partner in crime, Valentino finally abandoned his calm expression and let out a growl, before starting to hit the air with his claws to vent, even materializing figures with smoke and destroying them a moment later. Clearly the only reason he wasn't taking it out on the furniture or even Angel was because of the deal he'd made. Even though Valentino might seem impulsive sometimes, he was actually very smart and could hold back when he really wanted to, and he knew it was better to not lose the protection Charlie provided.
Angel waited for the moth demon to return to some semblance of calm, and then he asked: "Do you want me to show you a room, Val?"
"I am able to choose a room on my own, I don't need a whore to show me around" Valentino grumbled, and then he looked at him with fiery eyes. "You and I need to talk"
Angel stiffened. As he had imagined, Valentino hadn't called him just to show him a free room. He mentally prepared himself for what he already expected to be a very tedious discussion.
Notes:
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
Angel made a sound of pain. He didn't know why Valentino wanted to talk to him, but he knew it wasn't anything good. "What do you need?"
Valentino approached him, in a rather disturbing way, sending a shiver down the spider demon's spine. "Angel-Cakes, I want to be clear with you" he told him, lightly caressing his cheek. "I don't mean to hurt a hair of yours or anyone else in this hotel. You just have to do what I tell you without asking questions, and when this is over we'll all walk out of here with smiles on our faces, and I'll buy you a nice cold beer and maybe even a whole package of the best drugs on the market"
Angel narrowed his eyes and swallowed. "Cut it short. What do you want me to do?"
"Do? I don't want you to do anything, Angel-Cakes. Who do you take me for, a monster? I would never throw you into a battle that I already know you can't win" Valentino told him, and his lips curved in a smile. "What I want is simply... discretion. Keep an eye on the situation for me, and above all be sure that Velvette never leaves that room. All I ask of you is to pay a visit to my room from time to time and tell me what are you doing"
“Do you want me to spy for you?” Angel asked him with a hiss.
Valentino shook his head. “I wouldn't call it spying, just… letting me know if something happens. Nothing too serious”
"If I know you well, it's not just 'nothing too serious'. What do you have in mind?" Angel urged. “I won't help you if you don't tell me what you're planning"
Valentino's smile faded from his lips. "You won't help me!? How dare you...!". He was already about to scream, but he stopped himself and instead when he spoke his voice was much thinner and trembling: "Angel... aren't you thinking about me? Do you have any idea how I feel right now? I almost died just now, and Voxxy... my Voxxy... has been kidnapped! I don't know where he is, or if I'll see him alive again... and Velvette is so furious with me now, and I have to use force to keep her safe... don't you realize how desperate I am right now? And you want to deny me your help? Isn't helping others part of this whole 'being good' thing...?"
But Angel didn't take the bait. He knew the moth demon's modus operandi too well and therefore he knew that he was just playing the victim. And he wouldn't have fallen for it. "Tell me what you want to do" he repeated. "I won't let you get the hotel in trouble. Tell me what's on your mind or you can forget about my help"
Valentino became livid. “Listen to me carefully, you little whore!” he growled, grabbing his chin and bringing it closer to his face. He wasn't hurting him, even in that angry situation he was still able to understand that he shouldn't break the promise he made to his host, but in any case his was a firm and strong grip. “You think that just because I now want to protect my ass from a super-powered asshole and I agreed not to touch you, that you're automatically safe? Sooner or later that bastard will be defeated, and then what do you think will happen? You still belong to me, you have forgotten?"
Angel gritted his teeth. Just the moth demon's touch was enough to make him shiver. But even so, he forced himself to remain fearless. “What if you were the one who disappeared from the scene instead?” he asked him defiantly. "You're not safe and you know it"
Valentino blew pink smoke from his mouth. "You are not either" he warned him. "If I die, you too will end badly. You and I have a contract. You can't live without me! You NEED me!"
"Need...?" Angel hissed. "I don't need you. I'd be better off if you just walked out of my life!"
He had said it without thinking; if he had thought about his words, he probably would have thought twice before saying such things. He regretted what he had dared to do after less than half a second.
Valentino didn't react immediately: initially he didn't even seem to understand what he had said, and actually looked at him as if he expected him to repeat his words to confirm that he hadn't heard wrong. And then, his face tightened into a terrifying grimace. "AH, SO THAT'S IT!?"
His hand moved, and he seemed about to grab Angel by the neck, but with the last shred of rationality he had left he grabbed his arm instead, in a place that he knew was constantly covered by his dress and therefore not visible, so that even if he had left bruises no one would have noticed. "Do you have any idea of everything I do for you every single day!? Your whole life, you have it because of me! I'm the one who made you a star! What were you before? Nothing more than a working whore on the street, kicked out of his house by his adorable family! I'm the one who turned you into a respectable man! If I hadn't stopped with the car and picked you up that day, or even just if you If you had let go after finishing the service, you would still be nothing today!"
Whole clouds of colored smoke emerged from his mouth, so much so that he looked like a chimney. "Everything you have is because of me! Your life, your success, your fans, your movies... fuck, even this hotel technically! If I hadn't let you go out to work that day, you would never have met that princess! I'm the one who gave you everything! You should bow and kiss the ground I walk on!"
Angel trembled. Fear gripped his heart much more violently than usual. Suddenly, it was as if Valentino's smoke had taken on a consistency, and showed images; images of a lonely, poor, hopeless spider demon who had ended up meeting a moth demon almost by chance, and said moth demon had kindly taken him in and elevated him...
"I'm the reason you got everything!" Valentino hissed again. "Do you have any idea how much I've invested in you? How much I've done for you in the last... how much? Forty, fifty years? Before me you were a fucking shit, with me you became everything!"
Angel's heart felt like it was about to explode out of his chest, but he still found the strength to respond. “I-I have become… your prostitute” he stammered in a small voice. “This… is what you… made me”
“Ah, so you would rather I let you be a penniless whore who worked the streets, and was constantly exploited and abused by every horny guy he passed!?” Valentino growled.
"What you did to me is incomparable to what was done to me before!" Angel replied. "You are a monster!"
Valentino let out a small laugh. "Oh, Angel... you still have no idea what this monster can do" he told him. "Do you think I ever hurt you? I gave you preferential treatment! Why should I harm my top star?"
"Preferential treatment!?" Angel saw red for an instant, and he couldn't stop anymore. "You deceived me! You convinced me that you loved me, you acted like you loved me! You played with my feelings and my insecurities to make me yours, and then you exploited me as much as you could!"
“Oh, sure! Sorry if you mistook my flirty innuendos and charismatic behavior for any sort of love interest in you! Sorry if your poor little heart wasn't able to accept reality in time and lead you to sign that contract! Sorry if after all the effort I did for you I demanded at least a small payment in kind!" Valentino teased him, and then his grip tightened and Angel could feel his claws trying to penetrate his flesh, only to stop a second before hurting him. "Now get it over with, sissy. You'll do what I tell you! You owe me! You owe me everything if I ask you!"
Angel let out a sharp breath. The smoke emitted by the moth demon entered his nostrils continuously, clouding his senses. He felt weak and infirm and his fear was amplified. But he still maintained control and stammered: "N-No. If you want my help, you have to tell me what's on your mind. I won't let you put my friends in danger"
"Your friends, hm? And tell me, Angel, who are these friends of yours?" Valentino asked him with a grin. "The princess? You know she feels nothing but pity for you. You were just an experiment to her at first, and now a poor orphan she takes care of. The one-eyed angel? She only cares about you because she doesn't want to do wrong to her crush. The dark Bambi? I'd say there's no point in mentioning him. The crazy cyclops? I bet she doesn't even know if you're a real spider or not. Your other cyclops friend? I don't remember that she ever came to your aid when you really needed it, she only consoled you at the end. She's a coward who can't do anything but blow things up, and she doesn't care enough about you to put her life at risk. The kitten? He's only here because he's forced to, he doesn't give a shit about you. And the snake... oh, wait, sorry, I forgot to offer you my condolences"
Angel's breathing intensified. Every word from Valentino was like a dagger in his heart. "Stop..."
"To do what? Tell you the truth?". Valentino's grin widened, and he brought his face in front of his. "You can fool yourself all you want, but deep down you know I'm right. Whether you like it or not, Angel, you need me... because I'm the only one who really cares about you!"
"GO AWAY!" Angel shouted at him in one breath.
Valentino was silent for a moment, and then he let out a deep snort from his nostrils. With a yank he let him go and Angel fell to the floor; the moth demon seemed to barely restrain himself from hitting him, and probably only the deal he had made prevented him from doing so. "Fine. As you wish, I'm going away!" he said extremely annoyed. "We'll talk about it again soon, Angel-Cakes"
And after that last threat he turned and walked away with rapid strides. Evidently he was no longer sure of being able to remain calm and had preferred to give up the discussion before losing control and putting his stay in the hotel at risk.
Angel slumped against the wall, breathing deeply. He knew it wasn't over and that the moth demon would have taken his revenge sooner or later, and he was trembling at that knowledge. He heard footsteps approaching, and he looked up to see a hairy hand offering him a handkerchief. "Here" Husk told him.
Angel could have accepted the handkerchief and wiped at least a little of the sweat, but on the contrary he rejected it disdainfully. “I know you were behind the wall” he whispered. "Why didn't you intervene?"
Husk lowered his eyes. "I am sorry"
"That's not the answer to my question" Angel said with a half growl. “What the fuck were you waiting for?”
Husk was silent for a long moment, and then he murmured: "Alastor... ordered me not to disturb our... guest. You know how it works with masters..."
"I know exactly how this works, I just faced my own master for my friends!" Angel exclaimed. "I've done it… more than once. Why not you?"
Husk said nothing.
Angel snorted through his nostrils. "That night, at that pub... I was the one who confronted Valentino. Niffty, your friend, was in danger... and you didn't lift a finger"
Husk nodded. "Yes, that's true" he admitted.
"And now the situation is the same" Angel grumbled with a lot of anger in his voice. "You were afraid... and you just stood by and watched"
Husk couldn't deny it. "Yes" he admitted again with a lot of shame in his voice.
Angel's eyes narrowed. "You're a coward" he hissed sourly.
Husk nodded for the third time. "Yes, the definition is correct"
Silence fell between the two. Husk held out his hand slightly to help him up, but Angel disdainfully swatted it away and stood up on his own. "If Charlie asks you, tell her I'm in the bathroom" he said, rubbing his arms where Valentino had grabbed him. "Seeing how you intend to act... don't bother checking to make sure my boss doesn't treat me badly. You'd be useless anyway"
And with those words he left making a furious and disappointed sound.
Husk looked down and clenched his fists. He knew that Angel was right and it hurt him inside... but he also knew that such words shouldn't have had any effect on him, after all it wasn't the first time he had heard them, yet this time they were really bothering him. Why? He already knew what kind of person he was and he didn't care. Why did hearing Angel say that make him feel so bad?
He didn't have a chance to think about it much: just then the shadows moved and a familiar creepy figure appeared next to him. "Come on, Husker" Alastor told him. "We have things to do"
Husk nodded, as he always did when Alastor told him something, and he walked near his shadow, where there already was Niffty. Without waiting for a further response, the radio demon shrouded them both in shadows and they vanished.
Meanwhile Velvette was circling furiously in the room where Valentino had locked her. She couldn't get out anywhere and worse, the moth demon hadn't even left her a cell phone, so she couldn't escape inside it. She would have had no difficulty breaking down doors, windows or even walls, after all she was still an overlord and her strength matched her status, but the smoke Valentino had generated prevented her from even touching the walls. And since Valentino was stronger than her, she had no hope of dispelling the aforementioned smoke.
She sat on the bed crossing her legs and arms so tightly that she probably wouldn't untangle them for a few years. Even though a part of her knew that Valentino was giving her preferential treatment, since she could have simply drugged her and that was it, she was still furious. How could the moth demon not want to do anything to save Vox!? He was her boyfriend, dammit!
Velvette was the youngest member of the Vees, but she had had enough time to grow fond of her two partners. Overlords knew they always had to watch their backs, but that didn't mean they couldn't form strong bonds of friendship. She wasn't sure if what tied her to Vox and Valentino was friendship, but it was certainly a strong feeling. She had always assumed that each of them felt the same about the others. Instead Valentino had given up on Vox immediately.
Coward.
Velvette almost felt betrayed. Vox had always been an obsessive, compulsive and Macchiavellian workhaolic, but he also had that modicum of rationality necessary to make him enjoyable. Even though she hated to admit it, the thought of losing him hurt her.
And Valentino was abandoning him voluntarily.
All for a slightly stronger guy who had scared him.
What a fucking idiot.
"Hey, am I disturbing?"
Velvette turned her head slightly, and she jumped when she found the smiling face of the radio demon before her eyes. "What the fuck!? What kind of creep enters a woman's room without even announcing himself!?"
"Me" Alastor said as he stepped completely out of the shadows along with Husk and Niffty, who stayed behind him. “The cage your daddy made is truly… well, despite I hate using such vulgar words, a shit. Sneaking in was easy”
"He's not my daddy!" Velvette protested. "He's not even my father!"
"Tell that to him. He's the one who locked you here like a grounded child" Alastor replied mockingly. Velvette was already fuming with anger, but the radio demon brought his face close to hers: "Listen, I'll make you a deal"
Velvette immediately became alert. “What kind of deal?”
"I want to kill this Army of One" was Alastor's response. "Charlie is too indecisive, and I'm not willing to let this guy who just showed up steal my position. Here's the deal: I'll get you out of here, and in exchange you'll help me kill him"
"And Vox?" Velvette asked him.
“Why must you all be so obsessed with your friends?” Alastor muttered. "If Army of One doesn't die immediately from the final blow, you can just ask him. If not, you can look for that television without any fear of running into that overlord kidnapper again. Assuming he doesn't come back on his own, of course: Vox is still an overlord, without his jailer he will be able to escape in complete safety"
Velvette raised an eyebrow. Alastor's reasoning made sense. “What makes you think you can defeat him?”
"Your not-daddy" Alastor replied with a grin. "Valentino said that he can't copy two combined abilities. So I just need to have someone who continuously inserts their powers into mine to have a fair fight"
"Valentino also said that he has extraordinary individual strength" Velvette reminded him. "And if I remember correctly, your last fight didn't end well"
Alastor narrowed his eyes slightly at the memory of his defeat at the hands of Adam. "That was just a case. This time it will end differently. There aren't many who can beat me... ask Vox"
Velvette let out a grunt. “I'm pretty sure Vox would just say you're a cowardly idiot” she replied, causing his eyelid to twitch slightly. "And anyway, you don't even know where to start looking for Army of One..."
"I don't" Alastor said. "But you do"
Velvette's eyes widened slightly. "What are you raving about?"
"Oh, come on, don't play dumb. Your not-daddy tried to stop you from saying that, but I noticed how you reacted when you found out that Army of One had taken Zeezi. You expected that to happen" Alastor told her getting even closer, and in a rather disturbing way. "And it seems rather strange to me that Vox had barricaded himself in his television tower right today... almost as if he was expecting an attack. Should I continue, or would you rather spit it out?"
Velvette bit her lip, unsure whether or not to speak; but in the end, she chose that being honest was the best option. "Oh, okay. Yes, in recent days Vox and I have developed a research program to anticipate the victims of Army of One and therefore understand when it would come to us. We noticed that it moves in a strangely schematic way on the city map"
Alastor rubbed his mind. "Mmm. Well, congratulations, not even Zestial could do it"
"Zestial is too old fashioned. To do what we did you need a digitized map" Velvette replied. "You and your fossil friend should catch up with the times"
If Alastor found such words offensive, he didn't show it. "My offer still stands" he told her. "Look, you know where Army of One will attack, and I can deal with him. All you have to do is take me there and then infuse me with your powers to stop him from copying my abilities. You can even stay hidden somewhere if you want, I'll take care of the rest"
Velvette was silent for a moment. Alastor took the opportunity to add: "Or... you can refuse and stay in here and leave Vox at the mercy of that guy. I can always find someone else to give me a hand"
Velvette let out a loud sigh. “Ah, screw it” she grumbled. "Okay, I'll give you a hand"
"Perfect" Alastor said satisfied, and immediately his shadow stretched towards her.
Velvette felt quite disgusted, but she still let the shadows envelop her. “Shouldn't we shake hands?” she asked him.
"Nah, why on earth?" Alastor answered her with a small laugh. "Whether you like it or not, you're in it now. If I lose to Army of One, you lose too. You can't turn to anyone else because no one is foolish enough to fight him, and even your daddy doesn't want to fight. Everyone in this hotel would refuse a direct confrontation. If you go looking for him alone, you will die for sure. I am literally the only one who can give you a chance to stop him and see the broken television you call friend again"
Velvette was somewhat irritated, but she didn't answer him. Because, as Husk was just thinking, Alastor, as usual, was right. "So, who is the next victim?" the radio demon asked while they started to disappear in the shadows.
Velvette snorted. "You already know her"
Notes:
Next chapter: Alastor vs Army of One!
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Chapter Text
"Let me get this straight" Rosie murmured in a somewhat annoyed voice. "A madman is kidnapping the overlords, you feel threatened in your position, you literally broke out one of the members of that group of overlords that you hate so much, and on top of that you came to bring trouble to my house?"
Alastor nodded, sipping the tea she offered him. "Yes, that's exactly what I did" he confirmed.
Rosie sighed. When Alastor had shown up at her door in the company of Velvette, Husk and Niffty asking for tea, and she had made them sit in the armchairs and actually made him tea, she hadn't imagined that he would have given her such a headache. "It's not very polite to go behind the princess's back"
"She would try to stop me. You know she's a bit... resistant to getting things out of the way right away" Alastor replied. "It's better that she doesn't know what I plan to do. As soon as I kill Army of One, I will tell her the truth and face her wrath"
"Of course" Rosie said, shaking her head in disappointment. "Why did you come to me?"
Alastor looked at Velvette, who spoke up: "Before he was kidnapped, Vox and I were looking for a pattern in Army of One's actions... and it actually exists. He doesn't attack at random. He evenly selects every corner of the pentagram and attacks the overlords present based on a numerical pattern. And you, old lady... you're next on the list"
"I'll ignore the fact that you called me an old lady" Rosie replied. “So, you think he will attack us soon?”
"Oh, I hope so!" Niffty screamed. “I want to stab more bad boys!”
Velvette made a disgusted noise. "May I know what's wrong with that gremlin?"
“She's just a little feisty” Rosie told her as she handed Niffty a cookie. "You might like her if you tried to understand her"
"I highly doubt it... hey!" Velvette replied, screaming as Niffty climbed onto her leg. “Get away from me now!”
"You are a very bad girl!" she said as her single pupil spun in her eye like it was a top. “Can I stab her?”
"Don't you dare, you freak!" Velvette screamed, grabbing her and throwing her to the floor.
Niffty bounced on it as if it were made of rubber, and in fact seemed to find it just amusing. "Again, again! Throw me again!" she exclaimed trying to run towards her, but she was blocked by Husk who grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.
Velvette climbed into the chair she was sitting in to get as far away from her as possible, looking at her as if she were a disgusting cockroach. "Brrr... that's creepy! Keep her FAR away from me!"
Alastor let out an annoyed huff. Being among that rabble of primitive brains was really unnerving him. "The plan is simple" he said, taking control of the conversation. "Velvette and Rosie will infuse their powers into me, so Army of One will not be able to imitate my abilities. You will position yourself in different corners of Cannibal Town, so if one of you is hit and eliminated the other can continue to support me"
“You've thought about everything, I see" Rosie said as she continued to sip her tea. “What about Husk and Niffty?”
"They will protect you from direct attacks" Alastor replied. "We don't know if this guy has any allies. In case someone tries to kidnap you while I'm busy, they will shield you. This way you won't have to be distracted and will continue to support me"
"I'll take Husk" Velvette immediately said, much preferring the cat demon over the crazy cyclops.
Rosie nodded. “It's okay, I'm happy with Niffty" she said, caressing the little waitress as if she were a loving grandmother.
"What if our weapons are not enough?" Husk asked with a grunt. Even though both he and Niffty had angelic weapons, given their opponent he had a serious doubt that they won't have trouble even with those.
"In that case, you will have to do everything in your power to lure away any attacker and get yourself killed in the longest possible time" Alastor replied simply without the slightest empathy in his voice.
"Yes sir!" Niffty immediately said with a smile.
Husk sighed. "Yes sir" he said too.
"Good. That's all settled then" Alastor said, drumming his fingers on his cup of tea. "Now that the plan is outlined, we just have to wait until..."
Suddenly the wall exploded with such violence that it was reduced to crumbs. And from the screams that came from outside, it was clear that whoever had destroyed it had sent all of Cannibal Town into a panic. A guy covered in solid armor calmly entered the store, walking calmly as if taking a normal stroll.
Velvette immediately became tense as soon as she saw him. “It's him” she hissed, gripping the edges of her chair.
"Did you really have to break my wall?" Rosie asked in an angry voice. "The door was open, you know?"
"I preferred this route" Army of One replied.
Alastor widened his grin and stood up from his chair. “You've finally arrived” he said. “I was starting to think you were going to make me wait all day”
Army of One remained silent. And then he murmured: "Do we know each other?"
Alastor's eyes twinkled slightly. “Are you kidding me!?”
Army of One let out a light laugh. "Yes, I admit it. I couldn't resist" he said wagging his long tail. "I know very well who you are, Alastor, the radio demon. You were the first overlord I searched information about when I first arrived here"
"Good, now you will be able to receive that information directly from me" Alastor told him.
"Good. I am very curious to find out if that information is true" Army of One told him. "Everyone talks about you as something excellent. I wonder if you will live up to my expectations"
Alastor's smile widened. “Something excellent, you say?”
Army of One chuckled again, but this time in a much more sinister manner. "Oh, yes... an excellent prey"
Alastor tightened his grip on his staff. He was used to finding arrogant opponents, but for some reason this guy irritated him quite a bit. "I will live up to your expectations"
"We'll see about that. But it's not you I'm interested in now" Army of One told him, and looked at Rosie. "I'm here for that woman. Stand aside, radio demon; we're not going to fight today... if you're smart enough not to force my hand"
Rosie did not lose her composure, but with a careful eye it was possible to notice that her muscles tensed. She was certainly not stupid and knew how to recognize danger when she faced it. Even though she tried to show indifference, so as not to let her opponent know her true emotions, a few drops of sweat ran down her neck.
But Alastor stepped in front of her and swung his staff in a rather elegant manner. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. We will fight today, here and now"
Army of One was silent for a moment, and his gaze fell in order on him, Rosie, Velvette, Husk and Niffty. "Mh. I see, you came here knowing I would come. You've already decided that you will fight me. You brought these people here to fight me. Very clever, Alastor... but it won't be your allies who will guarantee your victory, if that's what you believe"
"And I don't believe that at all, in fact. I will be the one to defeat you, they are only here for support" Alastor replied. "I am ready when you want. I have received your challenge, and I gladly accept"
"Challenge?" Army of One murmured. "I didn't send you any challenges"
Alastor's left eyelid quivered a little. "Oh, yeah? And that broken radio you left behind from one of your victims?"
"Oh, that. I'm afraid you misunderstood" Army of One replied to him. "That was a message for another person. It was never in my interest to get your attention. If I wanted to challenge you, I would have come to pick you up directly at the place where you are staying, which, in case you don't know, is public knowledge. I wouldn't have left you a letter of defiance, much less something as unpragmatic as a broken radio"
Alastor was seriously starting to lose his patience and his usual composure. He hated not being recognized for his abilities, and the fact that this pathetic wannabe was claiming to have never had any interest in him infuriated him. "Well, in any case, the moment you broke that radio, you challenged me. And also the moment you started wiping out overlord. I can't tolerate you stealing my lead"
"Mh. If these actions of mine have offended you... I don't ask for forgiveness" Army of One replied. "Now run away like the coward you are. You won't have a chance to do so later"
Alastor's eyes began to turn into slits and a broken radio sizzle emerged from him. “You dare call me a coward?”
"Your friend Vox gave me a... good description of you" Army of One replied. "You only show off against someone you know you can fight... or someone you think you can fight against. But against a real opponent, you're worth nothing"
A dark aura exploded from Alastor's body. "I'll make you take back every word you said!"
Army of One didn't seem the least bit intimidated. "So be it" he said, cracking his neck. "Go ahead. The first move is yours"
Alastor didn't wait any longer: black tentacles emerged from his shoulders and lashed out at full speed towards the Army of One. His opponent, however, grabbed them and held them firmly with his hands, and with a yank he dragged Alastor towards him, clearly intending to break his ribcage with a punch. The radio demon, however, summoned several ghosts who placed themselves among them; even though they exploded one by one upon contact with that fist, they diminished its strength to the point that when it hit Alastor's chest it did not cause great damage, but on the contrary it provided the radio demon with additional momentum that allowed him to drag Army of One with his tentacles and throw him against the wall that was still intact, throwing him out. Alastor almost ran after him, eager to continue the battle.
"Mh. One of those two will have to rebuild the store for me... and the town too, apparently" Rosie commented sourly, and then she handed a piece of paper to the cat demon. "Velvette, Husker, here's an address for a pretty solid house a short distance from here. Go there, so we can split up as Alastor wants. It has a phone, by the way"
"Good" Velvette said, and she turned her and Husk into a mass of pixels, penetrating her cell phone and vanishing inside, using the telephone lines to reach their destination.
Outside, Alastor grew larger, assuming his true demon form, and he brought his hand down as if it were a huge hammer, hitting his opponent with such violence that the ground beneath their feet cracked, but Army of One remained firm in his position and actually parried that attack one-handed; with his free arm he threw a punch of his own, hitting Alastor's knuckles with such force that his giant hand was thrown back and the radio demon staggered slightly. Army of One lunged at him with the clear intent of hitting him on the head, but Alastor moved his tentacles creating a strong shock wave that repelled his opponent, and he took the opportunity to hit him with the back of his hand, throwing him against a house that shattered like paper when touched.
Army of One emerged from the rubble and let out a grunt. From his movements it was clear that he hadn't suffered a scratch, but his armor was dented in several places. "What impressive power" he murmured. “Despite being a fucking trash, you really are… an interesting opponent"
Alastor made a hissing sound and fully displayed his sharp teeth. The places where Army of One had hit him hurt a lot: fortunately he had taken precautions, because if he had been hit directly with that power, he would surely have lost some pieces of his body.
Army of One slammed his tail on the ground. "But it won't be enough" he warned him, and then he reached down and planted his hands in the ground. Suddenly, asphalt and marble cracked as if they were made of sugar. Army of One raised an entire chunk of terrain at least a hundred meters in diameter and completely overturned it.
Alastor couldn't help but make a sound of surprise when the ground beneath him began to change shape, but he had to quickly recover because Army of One threw him into the air with a strong blow, as if he had just overturned a table. The radio demon moved his tentacles and shattered that enormous mass of earth, but Army of One appeared among the rubble and landed a powerful punch on his jaw.
For Alastor it was like he had just been hit by a cannon; his jaw exploded into pieces and he fell backwards, crashing into the newly created hole. "You have to do better if you want to have a chance to survive" Army of One said to him, and suddenly an immense mass of electricity exploded from his body and traveled towards Alastor, who dodged it by jumping backwards.
Army of One transformed into an electric mass and moved towards him at the speed of light, and Alastor barely had time to notice it reappear in front of his face before he tried to throw another punch; again he placed his ghosts in the middle, and this time he completely surrounded his opponent, creating a cage of bodies piled on top of each other. It was only a matter of moments before an electrical explosion hurled them away as if they were twigs, freeing their prisoner. "The powers of Vox" Alastor murmured as his jaw reformed.
Army of One nodded. “And not just his" he said, and his visor lit up for an instant; Alastor transformed into shadows and moved away as quickly as possible, just before his opponent used the powers of Carmilla in their fullest. A beam of boiling plasma exploded from Army of One's eyes and hit the spot where the radio demon had been standing an instant before. The second the beam hit the ground, a fireball hotter than the sun appeared with unparalleled violence, creating a shockwave that shattered everything in its path to smithereens. The old-fashioned houses of Cannibal Town were razed to the ground in an instant. A large mushroom cloud rose above the crater, darkening the sky and raining radioactive ash on the survivors.
In what had been Rosie's store, the rubble broke away revealing a shield created by the powers of the cannibal overlord, who had protected her and Niffty. On the opposite side of Cannibal Town, a second shield created by Velvette had saved her and Husk. They were demons and as such they certainly didn't risk dying from things like that, given that they would have regenerated in a short time, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't have gotten hurt a lot. "Damn... that's a real bastard" Husk muttered.
Velvette had completely lost her arrogant nature. "I can't blame you. I'm afraid your boss bit off more than he can chew this time" she said, swallowing while she was looking at the mushroom cloud. "Maybe Val was right after all..."
"We have to help the boss!" Niffty screamed as she tried to run to Alastor, but the cannibal overlord grabbed her by the collar and held her down.
The only one who hadn't raised an eyebrow was Rosie. "Stay calm" she told her, while moving her fingers in a rather disturbing way. "The battle isn't over yet, and Al hasn't given his all yet"
Alastor reappeared from the shadows, coughing profusely: even if he hadn't been hurt, running away like that had taken a lot of energy from him. Army of One descended from the sky, hovering in mid-air above him. "You're no match for me, radio demon" he warned him. “There's only one in this shithole who can defeat me, and that's not you”
Alastor stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "That remains to be seen"
"I'll just give you one chance" Army of One told him. "Kneel... or die"
"I already died when I was human, and I was reborn as a god" Alastor said as his body began to sizzle again. "Nothing and no one will ever make me kneel!"
Army of One nodded. “As you wish” he said, and immediately moved his wings, lunging at him so fast that he broke the sound barrier.
But a split second later, that same sound stopped him.
It all happened in an instant: the noise of the breaking sound barrier condensed as if it were made of real matter and completely enveloped him, blocking his every single movement. Army of One realized that a large pentagram had appeared beneath Alastor's feet, emitting greenish light. That was clearly one of his skills.
He tried to move...
Just one finger...
Why couldn't he?
Any thoughts he had were cut short when Alastor's fist came at him, throwing him away as if he were a projectile. It rolled on the ground so much that it created a streak at least ten meters long. His armor cracked in several places, including his head: the left piece of his helmet fell off, revealing a curved gray horn beneath it.
Army of One scrambled to his feet with a grunt. For the first time since the battle began, he actually felt pain. "Mh. How did you...?"
"You cannot imitate my abilities, and therefore you cannot just escape from them" Alastor told him, and once again a pentagram appeared under his feet, and his opponent was once again blocked by the condensed sound. "I took precautions"
Army of One hissed. "So that moth demon talked… I imagined it"
"If you can't imitate my skills, you can't surpass me" Alastor told him, while out of the corner of his eye he observed the spot where Velvette and Rosie were. Both overlords were infusing their powers into his, preventing his opponent from imitating them.
But Army of One didn't seem at all intimidated. Although he was definitely angry. "You're an arrogant idiot. Instead of hitting me with such a pathetic attack to have the chance to brag later, you should have immediately annihilated me!" he roared in a thunderous voice. "Or at least TRY!"
His energy exploded like a volcano; the condensed sound that held him captive crumbled into crumbs and the pentagram beneath Alastor's feet vanished. The radio demon narrowed his eyes slightly: his opponent had just destroyed his spell with the sole imposition of his power. "You've lost from the start if you think it takes so little to beat me!" Army of One said advancing towards him. "You cannot defeat me, regardless of whether or not I can imitate your abilities! Don't have any fucking pathetic illusions, you're like a gnat in front of a Bengal tiger!"
Alastor took a step back, but still he remained calm and firm in his stance. "You're right. I should have killed you" he told him. "But I can always do it now!"
Even though he couldn't see it because of the helmet, he was sure Army of One was smirking. "Good" he said satisfied. "This is gonna be fun!"
Notes:
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter Text
The two fighters looked each other straight in the eyes, each ready for battle. Alastor narrowed his pupils, trying to spot even the slightest opening in his opponent's defense, but he couldn't find even half of it. His enemy was like an enigma and showed not the slightest fear towards him.
And then, Army of One moved first.
Again, the sound barrier broke violently. Alastor immediately created a shield of shadows around himself, but his opponent shattered it with a single punch. The radio demon, however, had expected this and moved his tentacles like whips to hit him, using his ghosts as distractions to keep him busy. He finally managed to hit him under the shoulder, but Army of One grabbed his tentacle and used it to drag him towards him.
But just then, a loud sound emerged from Alastor's horns. The sound of a radio being turned on and synced, amplified thousands of times. Army of One let out a groan and put his hands over his ears.
"Mh. As much as I hate to admit it, Valentino gave me the right information" Alastor reflected with satisfaction. Army of One could not imitate his abilities and consequently could not even defend himself from any sonic attack he produced.
Alastor placed his radio stick in front of his mouth and a very powerful sonic wave emerged from his lips, which however contained a large amount of black magic: the surrounding debris was swept away as if it were twigs. Army of One didn't move from the impact, but still the sound was destabilizing him quite a bit. Taking advantage of this distraction, Alastor jumped on him and tried to strike him again, turning his claws into scythes to cut his opponent in two, but Army of One moved his hands and struck his palms, emitting a powerful shockwave which swept away his sound wave and the radio demon himself.
Alastor flew back a couple of meters, but his giant body helped him withstand the blow well and thanks to his weight he stopped quickly; he looked up just in time to see Army of One lunge at him, and ducked out of the way just in time to avoid his punch. The blast caused by the aforementioned punch was even more violent than that unleashed by his previous sound wave, sweeping away debris and walls that miraculously remained standing. Army of One barely seemed to notice the destruction he just caused and quickly turned around, once again generating a strong beam of energy from his eyes; this time, however, Alastor didn't dodge it and on the contrary responded by creating a real cage with his shadows, blocking the force of the ray until it ran out; having done so, the shadows expanded and enveloped his opponent completely.
Army of One looked smugly at the shadows around him turning into blades, and he shattered them by hitting them one by one. "That's all you can do, you dirty bastard?" he asked aloud as he destroyed them. "I expected better. Maybe all the stories going around about you are really just stories. You're just one disappointment after another"
Alastor appeared behind him with his hands raised, whose fingers were surrounded by shadows that made them look like claws, on which demonic symbols had also formed. "Those were just a distraction, silly!"
But before he could hit him Army of One turned and raised his hand, and raised his thumb, index and little finger, closing his middle and ring fingers instead. "Yes... I know. Fucking prick"
Alastor opened his eyes wide and immediately all the shadows stood before him like a shield; an instant later, a beam infinitely more powerful than those created with Carmilla's powers exploded from Army of One's fingers. It was a golden ray, but at the same time it seemed dirty, as if it were a blasphemous light. Alastor's dark shield held up miraculously, but the radio demon was thrown away and burned the backs of his hands, his arms and a good part of his torso, and the entire upper part of his dress was reduced to ash.
Husk's eyes widened when he saw this. "No way..."
Velvette raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"
“That pose… that beam…” Husk murmured. "It can't be..."
The radio demon's words were cut off by a series of roars: maintaining the same pose, Army of One fired a series of light beams at Alastor, who continuously transformed into shadows to be able to dodge them. The earth trembled slightly every time one of those rays hit the ground. "Sgrunt! Can't you stay still!?" Army of One growled. "Seriously, that ability of yours to escape between shadows is just..."
Alastor suddenly appeared beneath him, claws out again. Army of One stared and started to strike him, and the radio demon created a shield. "That won't be enough to stop it!" Army of One warned him.
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to stop it"
The beam of blasphemous light hit the shadow shield, but instead of trying to resist it, the shield merely deflected it slightly; more shadow shields appeared around them and the beam was completely deflected towards the sender. Army of One attempted to avoid him, but Alastor took advantage of his distraction to appear behind him and hold him back. With a loud bang, the beam slammed into its creator's belly, exploding a piece of the armor and hurling him to the ground with extreme force.
Alastor panted deeply, but he couldn't help but feel extreme satisfaction as he watched Army of One struggle to his feet and rub his stomach where his armor had broken. “As expected” he thought. "There is no doubt that he surpasses me in strength, but if I can calculate his attacks well, I can use speed and accuracy to hit him with a counter"
Army of One let out a loud growl. Now there was no doubt that he was enraged. "You're really starting to get on my nerves" he said, chewing every word like it was metal.
Alastor struggled to speak due to the effort, but still he found the energy to tease him. "Where has all your confidence gone now?" he asked him. "Didn't you say that only one in Hell could...?"
Suddenly he stopped.
His instinct kicked in in an instant, making every hair on his body stand on end; his skin crawled and for the first time in decades his smile faltered. He knew that feeling well... the awareness of being in danger, the same instinctive terror that animals felt every time they were near a predator even if they hadn't spotted it yet. The feeling that they were about to be attacked by an invincible monster against which they could only flee.
The survival instinct in its purest form.
Alastor was paralyzed for an instant, and so were every other demon still nearby. Everyone immediately felt their heart rates skyrocket. Both Velvette and Husk seemed to become statues, and for an instant even Niffty completely lost her crazy nature and took on an expression of pure fear; even Rosie completely lost her composure and took several steps back.
Army of One rose to his full height and stared the radio demon straight in the face; even through his visor, Alastor thought he saw his eyes glow. And when he spoke, his voice sounded like that of the grim reaper himself: "You are... already dead"
"What...?" Alastor barely had time to murmur, a split second before an energy of continental proportions hit him.
Army of One raised his head to the sky and let out a roar so powerful that it resonated throughout everything that was left of Cannibal Town; his body seemed to explode and an immense light emanated from it. The energy emitted was such that Alastor, despite his enormous demonic form, was thrown away for almost fifty meters before managing to stop. The ground turned red and merged into an ocean of lava. The flames engulfed all of Cannibal Town, burning everything that was still intact; Rosie and Velvette barely had time to create another shield to defend themselves, Husk and Niffty, and they had to struggle to hold on.
The light shone for just three seconds, and then it seemed to take on a consistency and wrapped around Army of One's body. Alastor felt his opponent's strength rise enormously, and his heart skipped a beat. "N-No way... was he an overlord too!?"
A sinner, once reached Hell, had to obtain numerous souls to become an overlord. It was the rule that applied to everyone, which is precisely why Alastor had taken it for granted that Army of One couldn't be such. How did that guy get enough souls to become an overlord in just two weeks!?
A few drops of sweat formed on Alastor's forehead. Maybe he really had played with fire this time.
The light faded completely, and Army of One reappeared. He had remained apparently unchanged: even the armor was still intact, even if in some places it too had not resisted and had partially melted; it was evidently built specifically to support that immense power. The radio demon could see that it seemed to have swollen, as if the body inside had grown too large for it, but other than that, there were no other obvious signs. But even though Army of One hadn't undergone any apparent change, Alastor could feel his overwhelming presence crushing him. "This is my full power" Army of One told him. "And now tremble with terror, peasant"
Alastor saw him reappear before him without any warning. He couldn't even see him move. His brain was still able to understand what had just happened: his opponent had just moved so fast that his eyes couldn't even perceive him. And as evidence of this, the air around them burned and exploded, as if a meteorite had just passed by.
An instant later, Army of One hit him in the stomach, exactly in the same place where Alastor had hit him.
Every barrier and protection the radio demon had previously placed shattered in a split second: it was as if a bullet had just hit glass. Alastor felt just a light touch, and then the entire lower half of his body exploded into a shapeless mass of blood and viscera.
Their spectators saw nothing of what had just happened: just like Alastor, the movement had been too fast for them to notice. It was only when they saw the radio demon's torso without legs or abdomen fall to the ground that they realized what had just happened. "I-Impossible..." Husk whispered seeing that scene. Never in his life had he thought he would have seen Alastor reduced to that state.
Velvette was sweating so much it was a miracle she hadn't passed out from dehydration yet. "O-Okay, fine, I admit it! Val was right, he was right all along!" she exclaimed in a faint voice. "Now can we go back to the hotel? I feel safer there!"
"You two!" Rosie exclaimed as she ran towards them through the rubble, holding Niffty under her arm. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"Oh, thanks! I'm with you, old lady!" Velvette said, desperately looking for any cell phone, or even just an old phone, to escape through the phone lines.
"No! We have to help the boss!" Niffty exclaimed as she continued to fidget.
But Rosie didn't let her go; and Husk noticed, with extreme concern, that he had never seen the cannibal overlord so pale. And suddenly Rosie's eyes opened even wider, and she immediately created a shield around them... and especially under their feet. "STAY DOWN!"
Alastor was on the ground, unable to move. Army of One's blow had pulverized the lower half of his body, but the upper half had also taken the hit and he could feel many of his organs being torn to pieces. His demon regenerative factor had already kicked in, but it would still have taken a long time to heal him. But while he was still thinking about this he saw Army of One raise his fist above him, and immediately he knew what he was about to do. "FUCK!"
By sheer luck he managed to turn into a shadow before it hit him, and the fist consequently hit the ground beneath him.
The entire Cannibal Town shook like a bell; the immense power of Army of One's blow transformed into seismic waves of unimaginable violence. An earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale, more powerful than any earthquake humanity had ever experienced, shook everything. It was so insanely strong that the ground split and entire chunks of rock flew through the air for a few meters before falling violently to the ground.
Alastor reappeared a short distance away, unable to move any further. He involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief: if that fist had hit him, he would surely have been reduced to atoms. Husk, Niffty, Velvette and Rosie managed to resist almost by miracle: the cannibal overlord almost fainted as soon as the earthquake ended.
But Army of One wasn't done yet. He rose into the air just a few meters, and then again he raised his right arm and positioned his fingers to fire another beam. Alastor's eyes widened. "Does he want to...!?"
A beam much more powerful than the others exploded from Army of One's fingers, and it penetrated the ground through the crack that had been created; a split second later, the entire Cannibal Town exploded. It was as if an underground volcano had just erupted: the rock turned into lava and everything else was reduced to ash and thrown kilometers into the air. The shock wave that was generated was such that even in the rest of Pentagram City the windows shattered as if they were made of paper, and fiery rocks and lapilli rained down everywhere, while the enormous pyroclastic cloud darkened the sky, casting a shadow over the entire immense megalopoli.
In comparison, a Tsar Bomba was like a firecracker.
Rosie had managed to resist, but as soon as the bulk of the explosion ended she fainted and almost fell into the lava; Velvette also fainted since as soon as she realized what was happening she in turn helped the cannibal overlord with her powers. Husk fortunately managed to catch both of them and used his wings to fly away, with Niffty on his back to boot, until he reached the edge of what had literally become the caldera of a volcano. “Fuck… what the fuck is that monster…!?” he muttered through gritted teeth.
He was scared to say the least. Not only had he just seen someone break Alastor's defenses as if they were made of paper, but the aforementioned someone had also done it in a manner that to call pyrotechnics was an understatement.
Husk narrowed his eyes so tightly that his pupils became slits. In his heart, he realized something truly terrifying: if Army of One fought at his full power against every overlord, Pentagram City would have been a distant memory long ago.
For all that time, Army of One had only been toying with them.
Alastor reappeared nearby, also on the edge of the caldera. He gasped loudly and spat out some blood from his mouth. Yes, definitely, although he hated to admit it even to himself, this time he had stepped on the wrong opponent's toes. The time had come for a strategic retreat...
"Where do you think you're going?"
Army of One appeared amidst the boiling ash emerging from the caldera and landed in front of him with a loud thud, and he grabbed him by the neck, bringing him in front of his face so he could look him in the eyes. "Do you understand now?" he asked him threateningly. "You don't stand a chance against me. No mortal soul can defeat me!"
Alastor shuddered through his body; he tried to turn into a shadow to escape, but he realized he was blocked. Army of One had also turned his arm into a shadow. Alastor realized too late that he had been using such powers while Rosie and Velvette weren't imbuing him with theirs, and thus his enemy had been able to copy them. "You won't go anywhere!" he said to him, and then he started punching him.
Army of One was holding back again; if he had hit him with the same violence with which he had tried to hit him moments before, he would undoubtedly have pulverized him. But still his punches were strong enough that the force of the impact passed through Alastor's body and shattered on the ground below, creating ever deeper cracks.
The radio demon defended himself as best he could, continuously creating shadow protections around his face, but Army of One broke them all with extreme ease, striking him repeatedly. In less than a minute, he had already knocked out nearly all of his teeth, cracked half of his bones, and blown out his left eye inside the eye socket. A small crater full of blood had been created under Alastor's head due to all the violent blows he had received.
When Army of One finally stopped, the radio demon was reduced to a half-broken torso with a face basically completely torn to pieces.
In that moment of respite, Alastor was so devastated that he couldn't even react. All he was able to do was spit out a glob of blood from what was left of his mouth.
“Did you think that just because you can hold a pathetic position of power in the middle of this shithole and because you defeated a couple of these scums, you could also beat me, or even just fight on my same level!?” Army of One asked him in a merciless voice, and he placed a foot on his sternum, with such force that it broke the bones underneath and created new cracks in the ground. "I have thousands of years of experience more than you, you fucking smiling deer! You are nothing to me!"
Alastor spat out blood again, and it was a miracle he didn't also spit out his windpipe and lungs in the process. Army of One's foot was pressing on his chest so much that it was becoming difficult for him to breathe. "I made my first clothes from the skin of monsters so terrible that you can't even imagine, which I had skinned with my bare hands! I have survived for centuries in a world so hostile that this seems like a playground in comparison! I created my first weapon from the broken bones of a primal beast that I had killed by suffocation with just my fingers! And you, a miserable presenter of a now dead media outlet, thought you had a chance against me!?”
Army of One punched Alastor in the face again, this time harder than the previous ones, and literally shattered half his face and even twisted his neck, and the only reason Alastor didn't die instantly was because he was a demon. “You need a lesson in humility, you disgusting sinner” he hissed in a voice so deep it sounded like it was coming out of a cave.
Suddenly, Army of One grabbed him by the neck and he lifted him slightly to bring his face in front of his, and then he touched his helmet with his free hand, and his visor opened. Inside there were two completely yellow eyes, devoid of any features. They were cold and merciless eyes, and Alastor could only think of one thing as he looked into them.
Apex predator.
Suddenly Army of One's eyes changed: the right one became with a golden pupil but broken in half, while the left one was instead red and seemed to resemble the smooth surface of a ripe fruit. "Now tell me, radio demon... what is your greatest sin?"
Alastor felt as if he were being sucked into those eyes, and suddenly the world seemed to fade away around him. Before completely falling in that abyss, he was only able to heard his opponent's last words: "Enjoy the fear while you can still feel it!"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/148746838
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 10: Public humiliation
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alastor was suddenly no longer in Hell. He was in a house made of what was undoubtedly wood made from the green trees of Earth, not the black and twisted ones from the bad part of the afterlife. On the walls, sickles, hammers and shears were hung on display.
He was sitting on a chair, or rather, he was tied to it. Firm ropes kept him locked at the wrists. They were positioned so that no matter what he did, he couldn't free himself.
He could feel his heart pounding.
The labored breathing.
He was so scared...!
Suddenly the door opened and a person entered. A tall, lanky guy with a wide smile on his face.
Was it him... as a human?
What was happening?
And why was he so agitated?
That body where he was now… he was so fragile and scared… he couldn't maintain mental clarity well.
His other self took a knife and began his work. He delicately cut off the first pieces of the fingers of the hand. He screamed and felt excruciating pain. His other self was very careful not to immediately penetrate the internal layers, but on the contrary he delicately removed the skin and only then began to remove the flesh, the part that had the most nerves and therefore hurt the most.
Alastor felt so much pain...!
And that damned body he was in... he was so scared, and crying, and screaming... he couldn't concentrate like that...!
Pathetic creature... how did he hope to survive like that?
His other self was right to kill him...!
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"
Alastor was suddenly thrown to the ground by Army of One, and Hell reappeared before his eyes. He panted deeply, still feeling the pain he had felt and the fear he had felt on his body. He had to admit that it hadn't been a pleasant experience at all.
"Impossible!" Army of One exclaimed. "How could you resist my gaze!? No one ever did! How can you not feel hatred and disgust towards yourself now that you have suffered what you did from the point of view of your victim!?"
"Cuff... why should I...?" Alastor asked him spitting blood. Despite his injuries, he had no intention of giving up. "Maybe this trick of yours works for weak minds... but I'm not like them. I don't regret anything I've done. Why should I feel bad if I watch the scene from someone else's point of view? It wasn't a beautiful experience... but it certainly doesn't make me feel any different than usual"
Army of One grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up before his eyes. "Are you really so wicked that you don't feel guilty even putting yourself in the shoes of those you made suffer!?" he roared in a furious voice, throwing a punch straight at the right side of his face, breaking his bones again. "You... are truly a monster that shouldn't exist...!"
His fingers tightened tightly around Alastor's right shoulder and with one yank he tore his entire arm off. Alastor barely stopped himself from screaming, feeling all his muscles and even bones being torn. “Your soul… it's so disgusting” Army of One hissed. "How could humanity have created such a great mistake!? You don't deserve to LIVE!"
He grabbed his other arm and he seemed about to rip it off too, but then he stopped. His eyes glowed slightly, an instant before the visor returned to cover them. “No… if I can’t punish you with your evil heart… then I will punish you in another way!”
And with that said he took flight, dragging Alastor with him... or rather, what was now only the torso and head of the radio demon, with only one arm that was being held firmly by his opponent's hands.
Husk in the meantime had flown again, distancing himself as much as possible from the caldera; he wanted to find a safe place to hide, and so he headed to another area of the city. Having arrived in a square he found a huge crowd of demons observing the immense cloud of ash emerging from the volcano that now stood in the place of Cannibal Town; he had taken advantage of this to get confused among them. Sure, some might have wondered why he was wandering around holding two unconscious women in his hands and another woman who looked like a child on his head, but in Hell such a sight wasn't so uncommon.
However, perhaps he should have looked for a better place to disappear: a powerful roar in the sky announced that something had just broken the sound barrier, and suddenly above them appeared the same person who had just pulverized all of Cannibal Town. Husk's eyes widened as he saw Army of One holding Alastor by his one remaining arm like he was a sack of potatoes. "LOOK!"
Army of One's words resonated throughout the square, and perhaps even that entire corner of the city. All the demons looked up and could see him as he showed everyone the massacred body of the radio demon. "LOOK, ALL OF YOU! YOUR CHAMPION, THE ONE WHO PROCLAIMS HIMSELF AS THE STRONGEST DEMON IN THE WHOLE PRIDE RING! LOOK HOW REAL HIS REMARK OF INVINCIBLE IS!"
The demons made frightened noises; many trembled and some even tried to run away, but most were paralyzed with terror. Alastor reduced to that state was something no one had ever thought of seeing. Everyone had always assumed that no one, or at least no demon, could beat him. They certainly hadn't expected anyone to slaughter him to such an extent.
Army of One landed in the middle of the square, in front of everyone, crushing the demons beneath him. Someone screamed, but his voice drowned out all the others: "A CARCASS, THAT'S WHAT HE IS! NOTHING BUT A FUCKING DEAD BODY STRAPPING TO STAY ALIVE! A MISERABLE PARASITE WHICH IS ACTUALLY NOTHING! A SPIT, THE LOWEST FORM OF LIFE THAT EXISTS IN THIS WORLD, NOTHING BUT A MASS OF AMPHIBIOUS ORGANIC MATTER COMMONLY CALLED SHIT!"
Army of One knocked Alastor to the ground, and then slammed his foot violently into his chest, causing him to spit out streams of blood. “THIS IS THE BEST YOU WASTES CAN OFFER!?” he said again. "PATHETIC! A DEER WITH A MICROPHONE STUCK IN HIS THROAT WHO ENJOYS MAKING A BIG VOICE ONLY WITH THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD IT, IS THIS YOUR CHAMPION!? THE MOST POWERFUL OVERLORD IN THIS DISGUSTING WORLD!? HE'S JUST A USELESS JOKE!"
Army of One stomped his foot again, this time so hard that the ground beneath Alastor cracked. The radio demon gasped for air. His heart was gripped, burning with anger and humiliation as his enemy exposed him to such a pathetic sight.
"COME ON, BEG!" Army of One ordered him. "BEG ME, LIKE ALL YOUR VICTIMS HAVE DONE WITH YOU BEFORE! BEG ME, AND MAYBE I'LL SPARE YOUR LIFE!"
Alastor gritted his teeth. He barely opened his eyes and looked at the crowd around him. He could see their looks of surprise and shock as he was being beaten like that.
His soul burned with humiliation. He wanted to escape through the shadows, but the Army of One was using his own powers to block him. But despite this, he did not give in and kept his mouth shut; he wouldn't have given him the satisfaction of hearing him beg...
But just at that moment a small figure started running through the crowd. Husk realized too late that he no longer had that familiar weight on his head. "Niffty, no!"
But the cyclops maid caught up with Army of One and jumped on him brandishing her knife. "Let the boss go...!"
With just one hand, Army of One grabbed her and almost crushed her; Niffty felt her bones crack and maybe some of them broke. Alastor's eyes widened slightly when he saw her, and even more so when Army of One took the angelic knife from her hands and pointed it at her. In a faint whisper he murmured: "N-No..."
Army of One stopped. "Mh? What did you just say?"
Alastor gritted his teeth, feeling the last bit of his pride burning. "D-Don't do it... please"
Army of One made a satisfied noise, and then he looked back at the crowd: "YOU ALL HEARD HIM? HE DID IT! HE BEGGED!" he shouted, and he threw the angelic knife to the ground and instead grabbed Alastor by the neck, lifting him and Niffty above his head. "YOUR CHAMPION, THE MOST POWERFUL DEMON OF ALL, HAS BEGGED! HE SUBMITTED, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! HE TOO... IS NOT INVINCIBLE! HE IS JUST A MISERABLE MISTAKE!"
The crowd stood transfixed as they listened to Alastor's feeble plea; no one was making fun of him or laughing at him, but to the radio demon it was as if they were. Army of One increased his grip on his neck: "NOW, ALL OF YOU, JUST LIKE HIM... SUBMIT! ON YOUR KNEES!"
The crowd hesitated for a moment, but they gasped as Army of One slammed his tail onto the ground, cracking the asphalt. "GET ON YOUR KNEES!" he roared with even more power than before. "NOW!"
There was a brief second of total silence, and then one by one all the demons knelt. In the entire square and even in the nearby streets and buildings none of them remained standing. Husk complied too, laying Rosie and Velvette on the ground.
Army of One looked at them, and then he let out a laugh. "Look at yourselves... doesn't it seem... simple?" he asked the demons. "Isn't this your natural state? I am here, and in my right hand I have your champion, who fought to stop me... and in my left hand I have a young woman to whom I could do anything at this very moment. Yet, you are still here, obedient and on your knees in front of me, totally abandoning these two people to their fate, those who had instead tried to fight me. Tell me, since this is so natural to you... how many other times have you done it?"
No one dared to open their mouth. Husk remained silent in his kneeling position, trying not to be noticed. His gaze was focused on Niffty, who continued to struggle in an attempt to free herself, and who seemed on the verge of suffocating.
"No reply?" Army of One asked. "I have to assume that you've done this so many times that it's become normality for you scums. Turning your back on others and abandoning them to their fate is what you do best, right? How many times have you ignored the fearful pleas of your victims, how many times have you turned your back on their suffering, and on your morality that begged you to stop? How many times have you ignored the desperate cries of the woman you were raping, the screams of pain of the child whose parents you were taking away, the shocked face of a man as you tortured and then killed him? And now, the situation is still the same. You are... miserable"
Husk felt the hairs on his body stand on end as Army of One's fingers tightened around Niffty. But his body remained still. He knew what he had to do: stay on the ground and pretend nothing had happened, and wait for it all to be over. He had done it so many times...
"I will kill these people now!" Army of One announced again. “I will kill your self-proclaimed strongest demon, right in front of you! And I will also kill this woman who has come to his rescue! Who among you will stand up to stop me? Who among you will have enough heart not to ignore their suffering? Who among you... will prove that you don't deserve this crappy place you ended up in?"
Nobody moved. No one was crazy enough to go and face the man who had reduced the radio demon to a barely alive carcass. Husk gritted his teeth: he didn't care if Alastor died... but Niffty...
No. He had to stay calm. Stay there, still. Waiting for it all to be over. Someone else would have taken care of the situation...
"Why didn't you intervene?"
Husk's eyes widened slightly. Why had he suddenly heard Angel's contemptuous voice in his ears...?
"Not even one... as I expected" Army of One commented in disgust. "Can't you see the reality of things? This position where you now find yourself is the perfect representation of what you are. A person with an ounce of heart, even the smallest, would have stood up. Throughout human history, so many people dared to challenge tyrannical regimes, dictators so terrible that in comparison I am a weak bogeyman... they, those very virtuous souls, fought for what was right. They lived without ever turning their backs on the suffering of others. They never... knelt before the evil. You... you instead do. And this clearly shows that you all deserve this shithole"
Husk took a deep breath, feeling his heart tighten with every word. And all the while, Angel's voice continued to ring in his ears.
"Niffty, your friend, was in danger... and you didn't lift a finger"
Why were those words making him tremble so much?
"You fool yourselves into thinking you're fighting for something" Army of One said again. "The bright call of freedom reduces your existence to a stupid fight for power. But the truth is, you don't really fight. You only do what you are sure you can do. You only abuse others when you are sure you will suffer no consequences. You are so weak in spirit that even your evil deeds can be classified as the pure expression of the word pathetic. Perhaps you walk around with smug smiles on your lips... but inside, you are exactly as you are now: kneeling in the face of evil, ready to obey its every order and abandon anyone"
Husk's claws emerged slightly from his fingers and dug into the ground.
"You are a coward"
He had to stay calm. He had to...
Army of One made a disgusted noise. "In the end... you will always kneel"
...
...
...
And suddenly, someone moved. Husk completely abandoned his position and stood up. The crowd looked at him sideways as if he were mad; Alastor's eyelids widened a lot, at least within the limits of how much he could open them due to all the beatings he received, as he looked at him. The cat demon was trembling slightly, but he still stared at Army of One without wavering. "Maybe. Maybe you're right. Maybe we'll always kneel. In fact, that's probably the case" he said in a firm voice. "But not in front of men like you"
Army of One let out a chuckle. "There are no men like me, kitten"
But Husk shook his head. "I wish it were like this. But there are always men like you"
As he spoke, the cat demon looked at Alastor. Their eyes met for an instant, and the rapid movement of their pupils made it clear what they were thinking. Army of One already had two hands full, so to hit Husk he would have had to let go of Niffty: even if he wanted to shoot beams from his eyes using Carmilla's powers, he would still have had to touch his visor. The cat demon's message to the radio demon was clear and concise: "As soon as he let her go to hit me, throw her away with all the power you have left"
Army of One grinned in amusement. "Just one... standing out in the crowd. You have a lot of courage, kitten" he said. "I might almost think that you are not as hopeless as the rest of this rabble... but I only have to look at you to see what a disgusting being you are. Tell me, why do you suddenly have this impulse to be a hero, when for good two thousand three hundred and eighty-two times you stayed down and just watch?"
Husk felt a lump in his throat. "What are you...?"
"Husker Josef Lebrosow" Army of One said interrupting him, and Husk jumped as he heard him say his full name. "Died at the age of sixty-three. A life spent in total criminality. The number of murders amounts to seventeen, but that was not your main profession. You worked to attract people into that world. Sitting behind a counter serving alcohol, you ensnare your victims with the right lies and sent them to your bosses who turned them into their weapons. Twenty-eight times you even put drugs in the aforementioned alcohol to provide some of your bosses with the opportunity to... have fun with the bodies of some girls. You continued to do this for thirty-two years, eight months and eleven days, and then your bosses promoted you and put you to run a casino. For another fifteen years, six months and twenty days you cheated, stole and tricked at that table of the game, ruining so many lives. After death you ended up here in Hell, and you tried to start your own business, cheating and deceiving to become an overlord, turning your back on everyone you were ruining again... but then you lost your chance. And you found yourself again under a master, and again, you served him faithfully. You watched him destroy other people's lives without ever doing anything. And not just him... you also watched other masters ruin other people. And you didn't do anything. Not even once"
Husk stood transfixed as Army of One spoke. How did that guy know such things? "You... how...?"
"You cannot hide your hideous nature from me, you fucking filthy demon" Army of One answered him. "So, enlighten me: why are you standing up now? Why this sudden change in personality?"
Husk inspired thoroughly. What that guy said had disturbed him quite a bit, but he still kept his cool. “I know I'm a horrible person” he told him. "But... I just discovered... that I don't want to be just that"
For a moment, it seemed as if the air around Army of One trembled. "What a pathetic illusion" he hissed in a furious tone, and with one swift movement he threw Niffty away; Alastor immediately took the opportunity to wrap her in shadows and make her disappear, taking her to the other side of the city. Army of One didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care; he grabbed the angelic knife from the ground and pointed it at the cat demon. "Let him be an example!"
And with that he threw the knife at him, and it spun through the air and traveled towards Husk at almost the speed of sound; as soon as it hit him, it would surely have killed him...
But suddenly a silver figure stepped in front of the cat demon and struck the knife with a spear, deflecting it and throwing it towards a wall where it remained stuck. Husk made a choking sound when he realized he was still alive, and his eyes widened when he noticed who was in front of him. "Vaggie...!"
"You know, you're not the first to say things like that" the angel said pointing her weapon at Army of One. "But the last one who thought like this didn't end well. When a man came here to say that change was just a mere illusion, we chose to disagree"
"Oh... there you are. The angel bitch" Army of One just murmured as he saw her. “Tell me, where is your princess?”
He didn't need to ask again: the voice of the princess of Hell rang through the crowd as she stood among them, followed by Angel and Cherri with their angelic guns already pointed on him. "Enough! Let go of Alastor and surrender!"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/148746838
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 11: The accuser
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel entered Cherri's room. He expected to find Niffty doing something ridiculous, but instead the only unauthorized occupant was Frank, busy as usual cleaning the room; since Sir Pentious was gone, he seemed to have made it his mission to help the 'girlfriend of the old boss'. Cherri had initially been irritated by his presence, probably because he reminded her of the snake demon, but then she let him be. Evidently, even if she tried not to remember him, she liked having something of him close to her.
As usual, Angel found Cherri lying on the bed snoring with a now empty bottle next to her. He shook her a little, and she let out a moan and opened her one eye: "Ugh... hi, Angel..."
“Hey, Sugar Tits” Angel greeted her with a smile. “So, how much of a headache do you have from one to ten?”
Cherri sat up next to him. "Barely three" she replied. "It's more the stomachache that makes itself felt"
"Well, at least you're not in too bad shape. We could do something together, like you have old times, what do you think?" Angel asked her. “We could comb each other's hair or dress fashionably or…”
"Angel, what do you have to tell me?" Cherri interrupped him. "I may be half-drunk, but I can still notice when you're nervous"
Angel sighed. Cherri knew him far too well. He dropped the bomb: "Valentino and Velvette are staying here now"
"WHAT!?" Cherri exclaimed, and almost fell to the floor in shock.
Angel had expected that reaction. "Long story short, Army of One kidnapped Vox today, and they came to seek asylum here..."
“And Charlie let them in!?” Cherri growled. "Did she let Valentino stay here!?"
"It wasn't her. It was me" Angel told her.
Cherri was silent for a second, completely shocked. "Angel... are you out of your mind!?"
"Valentino knew something about Army of One. Smiles had to know, I couldn't risk him getting hurt. Now he has one more chance of staying alive" Angel explained to her. "Valentino promised not to touch anyone while he is here, and so far he has kept his word..."
“That's no excuse to have him around!” Cherri exclaimed, but for some reason her lip trembled slightly. "That devil...!"
"Cherri, I can handle this" Angel told her. "I know you worry about me, but please, trust me. I'm..."
He stopped when he realized that Cherri's breathing was becoming more labored and a lot of fluid was forming in her one eye. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry..."
"N-No... it's not you... I have to...!" Cherri jumped up, trying to wipe away her tears as quickly as she could, and she went to her nightstand. She opened the drawer, sobbing louder and louder, and searched frantically inside until she pulled out a bottle of cheap booze that had clearly been stolen from the bar. With trembling fingers she opened the cap and brought it to her mouth and quickly drained it. As quickly as they had come, her sobs diminished and finally stopped.
Angel sighed. He hated seeing her reduced to that state. "That's not what I was saying, is it?"
Cherri nodded slightly, without looking at him in the face. "The alcohol was wearing off" she said in a mellifluous voice.
Angel stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Cherri... maybe we should talk about it..."
“No” Cherri replied quickly. "Please. I don't want to talk... about him. Not now"
Angel wasn't sure it was a good idea to let it go. "Cherri, alcohol won't shelter you forever. And you know Pentious wouldn't want…"
“I said I don't fucking want to talk about it!” Cherri snapped in a louder voice, and then she immediately ran out of the room without giving him time to reply. "Come! Let's go and talk to the princess about harboring a monster!"
Angel tried to stop her, but she obviously didn't listen to him at all. He shook his head sadly. "You should have done it when she accepted Alastor..." he commented with a hint of bitterness.
Cherri and Angel returned to the lobby, where Charlie and Vaggie were busy talking in front of a whiteboard full of papers. Angel had some deja-vu from the time Vaggie had to convince Charlie to call her father. "What is your fucking problem!?" Cherri almost screamed.
"Oh, hi! Are you awake..." Charlie greeted her.
"Don't change the subject! Why did you let that moth bitch staying in here!?" Cherri exclaimed.
Charlie sighed. She was sure she wouldn't have liked it. "Angel said he was fine with it..."
"And you listened to him?" Cherri commented sarcastically.
"Excuse me? I'm here!" Angel reminded them. "What are you two doing, by the way?"
"We were looking at clues" Vaggie replied as she taped some papers onto the board. "We were hoping to find something about Army of One, but... nothing. And of course Alastor disappeared exactly when his intelligence was useful"
"Well, Smiles probably wants to investigate on his own" Angel told her. "You know how he's like..."
Cherri let out a deep snort. "Stop talking about anything else!" she blurted out. "I'm not going to tolerate that slimy bug in our house! Not under the same roof as Angel!"
"Cherri, I understand that you care about me, and believe me, I'm grateful for this" Angel told her, trying to calm her down. "But as I already said, it's fine with me. And in any case the deal is now done"
"Then you come away with me!" Cherri replied. "Let's go to my house, you'll stay there until that asshole leaves!"
"No, I won't" Angel replied to her. "I don't abandon my friends"
Despite the situation, Charlie couldn't help but smile at his words. Cherri, on the other hand, didn't take it well at all. "Angel, listen to me, please...!"
Suddenly the hotel shook slightly. All the guests froze on the spot. “Um… was it you again?” Angel asked looking at Charlie, remembering how she had made the whole building shake during a nervous breakdown.
The princess shook her head. "No... it seemed to come from outside..."
"Um... guys?" Cherri asked as she looked out the window. "Is it the hangover that's making me see things... or is that a mushroom cloud over there?"
Everyone went to the window, and their eyes widened when they saw a large mushroom-shaped cloud of dust rising in the distance. "A mushroom cloud... in Hell?" Vaggie murmured.
“Hey, what the fuck is going on!?” Valentino shouted furiously, coming down the stairs and positioning himself (absolutely unwanted) between them. As soon as he reached the window, however, his eyes widened: "Wait a minute... could that... be Carmilla's powers...?"
"Really? Could Carmilla create an atomic explosion?" Vaggie asked in surprise.
"Yes... although I have never seen her do something so powerful" Valentino replied. "I only saw her do it once, in an old film montage that showed the only battle between her and Zestial... you know, before they became friends. A really awful montage by the way, everything was still in black and white..."
"Get to the point! Could it really be her?" Vaggie snapped.
Valentino let out a snort. "Of course not! I just said I've never seen her make such a powerful explosion, you stupid bitch!" he replied angrily. "In the footage I saw she fainted after barely spawning a kilometer-high mushroom cloud. The one over there is at least the size of the one in Hiroshima"
“Since when are you a history expert?” Cherri muttered.
The moth demon's eyelid trembled. "For your information, you cunt, I have an excellent education! I can..."
"If Carmilla wasn't powerful enough, it has to be Army of One!" Angel said suddenly. "Remember? He not only copies powers, but creates improved versions of them! And considering he had a whole day to study Carmilla's powers..."
Everyone's eyes widened, realizing that Angel was right. Charlie looked at the mushroom cloud in the distance again and gulped: "In that direction... there's Cannibal Town, right...?"
The sound of Valentino's teeth gnashing could be heard throughout the room. "Princess..." he hissed. “May I ask where the smiling idiot is?”
"Alastor? He's..." Charlie stopped, realizing she had no idea how to respond. "Um... I don't know..."
Valentino immediately ran up the stairs and checked Velvette's room. His roar of rage, accompanied by a decidedly large blanket of pink smoke, made it clear what he found. "She isn't here!" he exclaimed furiously. "That idiot must have brought her to face Army of One behind my back!"
"Well, maybe if you avoided acting like an asshole your friend wouldn't go behind your back" Vaggie pointed out.
Valentino barely stopped himself from throwing a punch on her face. "You don't understand! That bastard will tear them to shreds! I don't give a shit if he kills your smiling deer, but Velvette...!"
“Oh, so you care about your partners now?” Vaggie asked him sarcastically. "Seeing as how you gave up on looking for Vox, I thought you wouldn't care"
Valentino's eyes shone. "Listen to me, you little slut! I'm really starting to…!"
"Husk and Niffty are gone too!" Angel exclaimed as he came back to them after running practically all over the hotel to check. "Alastor must have brought them with him. We need to go get them before they get into trouble!"
"Yes, I already said that, thanks!" Valentino grumbled annoyed.
"Angel, stay calm" Charlie tried to reassure him. "I'm sure Al didn't take them to..."
"You don't understand, Charlie! Alastor has no idea what he's walked into!" Angel interrupted her. "For once, I have to agree with Val! You didn't see that bastard fight! Army of One will tear them to pieces!"
Charlie's eyes widened slightly. She had rarely seen Angel so apprehensive. She was about to say something else, but just then the entire hotel shook much more violently than before; all the furniture fell to the floor and even the people couldn't stand up. Just a minute later, the windows exploded and a strong shock wave reverberated throughout the entire building. “OH, NOW WHAT THE FUCK IS…!?” Valentino was already screaming, but his voice died in his throat as soon as he looked out the window.
Everyone froze as they saw the enormous pyroclastic cloud rising towards the horizon. “What the fuck… is that a volcano!?” Cherri exclaimed in a strangled voice.
"Okay, it's definitely time to intervene!" Vaggie exclaimed as she jumped onto the window and spread her wings. "I'll get ahead of you!"
"Vaggie, wait!" Charlie tried to stop her, but her girlfriend didn't listen and flew in the direction of the explosion... although calling it an eruption was more correct by now.
"Mm, it's about time! Finally!" Valentino grumbled, spreading his wings as well. "Hold on to me, I'll carry you"
Charlie, Cherri and Angel looked at him in surprise. "Really...?"
"Of course, I need you. I will leave you to distract Army of One, while I will secretly look for Velvette and take her away" Valentino replied. "What are those faces? I promised not to hurt you, not to help you"
“You really are a son of a bitch” Cherri commented sourly.
"Maybe, but I'm a living son of a bitch. Which I'm not sure can be said about your fawn friend if you wait too long" Valentino replied to her.
Charlie, Cherri, and Angel were more than a little disgusted, but knowing they didn't have much choice, they clung to the moth demon's fur. While they were doing it, Valentino unnoticed pushed Angel close to his mouth and whispered to him: "As soon as we get back, you and I will have a nice chat"
Angel swallowed. He knew that the moth demon was definitely furious with him for not keeping an eye on Velvette as he had ordered. But he would have had time to worry about that later: now he had to save his friends.
Valentino took off and headed in the same direction as Vaggie; he was slower than the angel, but still managed to fly quite quickly. Arriving near what was Cannibal Town, and which had now become a smoking caldera, he looked for the place where the greatest confusion was coming from, and in fact he quickly found the square where Army of One was located. Charlie, Cherri and Angel saw Vaggie standing in front of Husk to protect him and Alastor held in her hands. Just as he said, Valentino left them in a random spot and then blended into the crowd to get closer to Velvette, even using his smoke to hide better.
Charlie swallowed hard when she saw Alastor reduced to that state: in comparison, the injuries sustained in the fight against Adam were nothing. Army of One was holding him by the neck, but at least, probably by a miracle, he was still breathing. Gathering courage and knowing that Vaggie might be next, she stepped forward and shouted: "Enough! Let go of Alastor and surrender!"
Army of One turned to her, and she felt a shiver as she felt his gaze on her; even though she couldn't look him in the eye because of the helmet, she was still sure he was staring at her like a predator looking at its prey. "Here you are at last, Charlie Morningstar" he greeted her in an almost regal manner. “The righteous and good daughter of the king of Hell and the first slut, with many beautiful words on her lips and good intentions in her heart… who pretends that she can live without war”. He made a guttural noise: "Unfortunately I don't want to dirty my helmet and therefore I can't physically vomit, but..."
"Hey, asshole, stop talking!" Angel warned him waving his gun so he could see it clearly. "You are not among friends here! Raise your hands and throw your weapons to the ground!"
"My hands are my weapons" Army of One replied.
Angel was stunned. "Um... then... well... ah, screw it! Just surrender!"
Army of One chuckled. “No… no, I don't think I will” he replied, and he stared at Charlie again: “Tell me, princess of all the mistakes, you who believe so much that everyone deserves a second chance… why should I spare these demons you see here? Look at them. They are here, bow to me, and none of them try to stand up. They don't have the courage to fight for what is right... just as in their hearts they don't agree to do anything right. In your opinion, if I ordered them now to rise up and turn their weapons against you, who would they listen to? Would they follow the sweet princess who promises them salvation... or would they follow me, who promise them extermination?"
Charlie bit her lip, knowing full well what the answer was. If there was one thing that was true of all demons, without exception, it was their selfishness. When faced with the threat of someone stronger, they immediately submitted and did not hesitate to do whatever he ordered them to do. But she nevertheless remained firm in her position: "I don't care who they will follow. I will help them anyway"
“Just like you are now helping this trash?” Army of One asked her, lifting Alastor up slightly, almost as if he wanted to show him to her. "Will you help this monster, this disgusting creature? He, who has so much blood on his hands, and who has such a twisted soul that he doesn't even know the meaning of the word remorse? Will you save him from me, and let him live another day? Will you take responsibility for everything he will do? For every other life he will destroy, torture or deceive? Will you be ready to take responsibility, Charlie Morningstar!?"
Charlie felt a shiver go down her spine. The last sentence of Army of One had been spoken with much more force than before, and for some reason it had made her heart skip a beat. "Yes. I will take responsibility for it"
Army of One burst into uproarious laughter. "No... I don't think so" he replied. "You don't know what it means to take responsibility for this person's actions. You use the word, but you don't know the meaning, you don't have the slightest idea. If you had any awareness of this, right now you would be urging me to take away his spine and water the ground with his blood. I fear that your surrounding yourself with a rabble of failures has clouded your judgment"
“Hey, man, can I tell you that you are really an asshole?” Angel told him annoyed. “Don't try to call me or my friends failures!”
"Shouldn't I?" Army of One asked him, and his gaze fell on the spider demon, causing him to step back slightly. "Look who we have here. Anthony Corleons, who likes calling himself Angel Dust. A mobster, a being who has done nothing but take away innocent lives, who has torn so many families apart, and who then drowned himself in drugs and sex, ignoring all the suffering of those people, not listening to their cries of pain. Three hundred and eleven victims in total, including two hundred and seventy-one in shootings, thirteen in robberies, and finally twenty-eight killed in cold blood in an abandoned warehouse while begging for mercy. A repulsive person whose disgust is equal to that which you would feel in front of a spider... and in fact look at what kind of a demon you have become"
Angel was silent for a moment. His past as a mafioso was certainly not unknown, but he was surprised that Army of One had been able to give such a colorful and above all detailed description. But even more so when he turned to Cherri and said: "And then... we have a criminal. A woman who spent her life blowing up bank vaults from which she stole thousands of people's money. Cherri Bomb... or rather, Celine Evans. The number of robberies on her account is seventy-two, and the total amount of money stolen amounts to over two million. Three times during the escape she shot and killed one of the guards. One of them was the father of a seven-month-old baby girl"
Cherri's one eye widened and trembled slightly. Angel couldn't understand anything anymore: how did that guy know!? Cherri had never hidden that she was a criminal... but only to him had she revealed that detail about the baby girl...!
"As for these two..." Army of One said as he picked Alastor up and pointed at Husk. "... I've already given a colorful description of the kitten, so I won't repeat myself... and this fawn... well, I don't think there's any need to describe him. Oh, and there is also the traitorous angel, who... well, is a traitor. Someone that turned her back on her duty, her comrades and her own people" he added looking slightly at Vaggie, who tightened her grip on her spear and gritted her teeth. "Tell me, Charlie Morningstar, how can you defend these scums!? They are nothing but parasites, a disease that continually disfigures the universe! And you try to offer them peace? The only peace that I am willing to offer them, and that they will ever accept, will be quiet graves! None of them will ever follow you if they can decide. You surround yourself with these failures who follow you out of fear, desire, aspiration for freedom... but they don't really care about what you offer them. No one... will ever follow you. Do you want to deny it?”
Charlie seemed to have lost the strength to speak. She didn't even dare lift her head. It almost felt like something was crushing her.
Army of One let out another laugh. "Good. I see we understand each other..."
But suddenly Alastor let out a whisper. "I..."
Army of One looked down at the radio demon. "Mh? Did you say something?"
The radio demon stared at him defiantly: “I… will follow… the princess”
Army of One tightened his grip on his neck. "You?" he asked in a disgusted voice. "You, who are basically imbued with evil? Why will you follow her, other than to protect your ass from me?"
"It does not matter!" Charlie exclaimed loudly, getting his attention again. "I don't care why he wants to follow me. As long as there is a person willing to do so, I will give them all my help... regardless of their motives. And I will give it to everyone else too!"
Army of One was silent for a long moment. And then he let out a deep grunt. "You really are dumber than I thought. But that was clear by now" he said, and then he looked at Alastor and talked to him again: "I thought about killing you... but now I really don't think I will. You are too interesting a pawn, and I really think that bringing you into the game will be... very fun. So... for once, I will return to my lair without my prey. Enjoy humiliation for the rest of your life! But don't worry... it won't be too long!"
And having said this he threw him towards them; Husk flew up and caught him before he could crash to the ground. Army of One in turn spread his wings and hovered in mid-air above the crowd. "For today, I say we can end it here" he said, looking at Charlie. "But don't worry, princess... we'll talk again soon. And next time without all these useless spectators... or sudden radio interference"
"You're not going anywhere!" Vaggie screamed as she lunged towards him, even moving her wings to give herself more momentum.
But Army of One didn't even try to dodge; instead, he lazily raised his hand and blocked her spear with just two fingers. Vaggie's eyes widened, amazed that the power of her attack had been blocked so easily. "Seriously? I made you smarter" Army of One muttered boredly. "Princess, a little advice: find a girlfriend who is able to read the situation"
And with those words he hit Vaggie on the forehead with the back of his hand; he barely gave her a push, but it was enough to throw her across the square and make her crash into the wall of a building. "VAGGIE!" Charlie exclaimed in shock.
"If I were you I wouldn't try to stop me" Army of One just said. "As I told you, that's enough for today. We'll talk next time, and I hope you won't need some idiot with a microphone stuck in your throat to back you up to make your arguments... assuming you have enough truthful arguments to be able to call them such. Know that you are a losing business, Charlie Morningstar. Never forget..." and suddenly his voice became more mellifluous: "... Hell is forever"
Charlie's eyes widened so much they looked like they were about to roll out of their sockets. "What...?"
But Army of One gave her no further explanation: with a single sweep of his wings, he broke the sound barrier again and flew away so quickly that he was no longer visible within a couple of seconds.
Charlie stood still, staring at the spot where he had disappeared for a couple of seconds, even forgetting to breathe; then her brain started working again and she remembered the situation they were in. "Vaggie!" she shouted running to her girlfriend.
Luckily the angel wasn't hurt too much... even though she could barely stand. "Urgh... I'm fine..."
"Instead he is not at all!" Angel commented pointing to Alastor in Husk's arms. The radio demon was now unconscious and seemed about to break into a thousand pieces.
"And neither do they!" Cherri added, pointing to Rosie and Velvette, the latter barely able to reopen her eyes despite Valentino was slapping her.
Charlie turned pale when she saw them reduced to that state. "Let's get them to the hotel, now!"
Notes:
Angel: "Raise your hands and throw your weapons to the ground!"
Army of One: "My hands are my weapons"
Angel: explodes due to logical short circuit
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/148746838
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 12: Recovering
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Rosie, Velvette and Alastor had been rushed to the hotel and placed on beds. Luckily the building had an infirmary for emergencies, so at least they were equipped to treat injured demons... although surely no one had expected when they built it that they would have to treat such a devastated person as Alastor was at that moment. From the perspective of all of them, it was a miracle that the radio demon was still alive.
While Velvette and Rosie were just drained of their energy and a little bruised, Alastor was reduced to such a state that it was imperative to offer him medical attention. Even his regeneration process seemed to have slowed down a bit. Charlie had literally turned into a nurse, and was trying to patch him up as best she could; he had given him blood transfusions, stitched up the most superficial wounds and injected various drugs aimed at accelerating the regeneration process. Vaggie had helped her a little, even if she wasn't exactly a doctor, while the others went to look for Niffty, except for Husk who was also put to rest and Valentino who sat next to Velvette gritting his teeth because he was forbidden to smoke there.
Charlie had cleaned up Husk too; even if the cat demon was not as badly damaged as Alastor, he too had quite a few wounds given that he had survived an atomic bomb, a mega-earthquake and an erupting volcano. Husk himself considered himself lucky not to have been pulverized. Charlie hadn't said a word the entire time, but the cat demon could see in her eyes how upset she was... and he knew why. He wanted to say something to her, but even he had no idea where to start. Vaggie had also noticed how much the princess's soul had darkened, but she too couldn't find a way to open a conversation.
Definitely, that was a very thorny situation.
Angel and Cherri returned about an hour later with Niffty in her arms, and she immediately ran to her boss and climbed onto the bed to be close to him. "Where did she end up?" Husk asked them.
"Smiles had sent her to a sewer on the other side of Pentagram City to prevent her from coming back to help him. We found her chopping up the bodies of two alligator demons" Angel replied, then he pointed to Alastor with his head: "How is him?"
Husk let out a snort. "He's recovering... step by step" he replied. The radio demon had by now almost completely regenerated his body, although he was still missing his right hand and both legs. "By this evening he will be back on his feet... even if I really think he will have a big wound in his pride, but Charlie can't do anything against that"
"Yeah..." Angel commented looking at Alastor. Army of One had really messed him up. He had rarely seen such violence against anyone... and he had worked in Valentino's service for years, so he knew what he was talking about. "Maybe it's lucky that he's too analog to have a cell phone"
Husk raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"That someone filmed everything" Angel replied. "The whole event... is on the Internet now"
Husk's eyes widened. "In the midst of that terrified crowd, was there really someone who was filming instead of thinking about saving their own life!?"
"It's the 21st century, Husk. Everywhere there's a douchebag ready to risk their life for a viral video" Angel replied. He was silent for a long moment, and then he said: "I saw some of those videos. You were... brave to talk to that guy like that. He could have torn you to pieces"
Husk snorted. "I know"
“If you knew… why did you do it?” Angel asked him.
Husk didn't respond right away. In fact, he didn't dare to meet the spider demon's gaze. "I don't know" he said finally. "Niffty was in danger... and for the first time in my life, I didn't want to just stand by and watch"
Angel inspired deeply. He didn't know whether to be proud of the cat demon or angry that he had decided to be selfless only now and not before. "Well... you were good. You saved her life"
Husk felt a little warmth creep into his chest. "Thanks" he just murmured.
Angel was about to say something else, but a groan stopped him from speaking. Everyone turned to Alastor, who was struggling to open his eyes again. "Al!" Charlie exclaimed rushing to him, and got so close to him that he pushed Niffty away without wanting to. "Al, can you hear me?"
The radio demon finally opened his eyes. "Yes" he whispered. "Thank you... for coming to save me"
Charlie barely stopped herself from hugging him, knowing it wasn't a good idea given his condition... or giving him a mighty slap for the same reason. "You're an idiot" she told him. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”
Alastor made a muffled noise. "I'm sorry" he told her. "I shouldn't have gone behind your back..."
"Ah, so you know how to apologize too!" Charlie exclaimed angrily. "Do you have any idea how close you were to death!? If that guy had decided to squeeze your neck a little more, at any moment, you would be in a grave right now! Fuck, he turned you into a carcass!"
Alastor gritted his teeth, partly from the humiliation he had suffered and partly from the words of the princess of Hell. "I know. I thought I could handle him... but that guy was too strong. He's an abomination of power"
"When I said it I wasn't right, mh?" Valentino muttered quite pissed off in the background.
Charlie took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "The important thing… is that you're alive" he said. "But know that if you do something like this again behind my back, you will pay dearly for it"
Alastor didn't dare answer her and remained silent.
As Charlie moved away Niffty finally came into his field of vision, and the radio demon breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh... you're fine" he said, smiling. "Rosie...?"
"She's lying over there" Vaggie said pointing to the bed where the cannibal overlord was. "She's just a little tired, she wasn't hurt. Thank Husk for that, if he hadn't dragged her away she would have been pulverized like the rest of Cannibal Town. And Niffty and Velvette too"
Alastor let out a sigh. He knew that when she woke up he would have to face the wrath of Rosie, who, he was sure, wouldn't have taken kindly to the fact that he and Army of One had literally detonated her entire territory. He should have moved the battle elsewhere, not fought there… well, actually, given how it had turned out, he shouldn't have even fought.
The memory of the defeat and above all of the way in which Army of One had shown it in front of everyone burned inside him. Never had he felt so angry towards someone. His chest felt like it was filled with hot lava. And ironically, the fact that Army of One had spared him made everything even worse. "I have never felt so humiliated! He defeated me, beat me, disfigured me... and in the end, I wasn't even important enough to be eliminated!"
"Well, at least you're still alive" Angel told him trying to make him see the positive in the situation.
"Of course, nice consolation!" Alastor exclaimed, clenching the only hand he still had into a fist, even though this movement caused pain in his muscles. "He never even really wanted to challenge me, that radio was just another message... he never considered me an opponent worthy for his attention! My reputation, my honor... they are destroyed! That bastard ridiculed me! He gave me..."
"WHO FUCKING CARES!" Charlie screamed, and for an instant her hair flailed and her horns emerged from beneath it.
Her exclamation of pure fury froze everyone in place, and even Valentino raised an eyebrow slightly. “Um… honey…?” Vaggie just stuttered.
Charlie slammed her hands down on Alastor's bed and moved within inches of his face. "Who cares about your reputation! You're still alive, what else do you want!? Do you have any idea how we would feel if you were dead!? We seriously thought Army of One would have killed you! You scared all of us, you put a lot of people in danger, you're almost dead... and you're worried about your reputation!?”
The radio demon was struck dumb. He clearly hadn't expected that reaction from her. "But..."
Charlie gave him a mighty slap across the face, completely oblivious to the fact that he was still a recovering patient, so powerful that Alastor was almost thrown out of bed. It was something so unexpected that her friends jumped in surprise, even Vaggie who never expected that behavior from her. Even Husk, although he wanted to laugh at seeing his master treated like that, couldn't help himself from murmuring: "Hey, calm down..."
"Be thankful that you're still among us, instead of regretting your reputation!" Charlie screamed in Alastor's face, and the radio demon felt the urge to retreat before her eyes that seemed to burn with anger. "Your reputation can be rebuilt, your life can't! Stop worrying about such frivolities and focus on what's important, you dumb fucking asshole!"
Alastor remained silent for a long moment, looking at his own reflection in the glowing red eyes of the princess of Hell. He could clearly see how much fear and worry she had felt. "You're right" he finally admitted. "I was a fool... I should have... acted differently... and not worried about such trifles"
Charlie let out a mighty snort through her nostrils, but still she stopped staring and turned away, and judging by the way she passed her hand over her eyes, she was probably crying. Vaggie immediately went to hug her, and she seemed a little more relaxed. Alastor felt the urge to say something, but he remained silent: he knew he was the one in the wrong.
Seeing that her girlfriend seemed to have calmed down a little, Vaggie turned to Alastor: "You fought against Army of One, so... is there anything you found out about him? It might be useful for us to know since he apparently wants to 'play' with us"
"Yeah! Like... how did he know us so well?" Angel asked, and he looked at Cherri. "Have you ever met him before?"
The cyclops demoness shook her head. "Never seen that guy in my life. I would remember someone like that..."
"It's probably part of his powers" Alastor said. "Like that magical gaze..."
Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Magical gaze?"
"After knocking me out, he opened his visor for a moment and stared into my eyes. With that contact, he made me relive one of my assassinations, but... from my victim's point of view" Alastor explained to them. "I believe that he can see all the sins of a person simply by looking at them, and with that magical gaze he can force them to relive them from the worst possible point of view. He probably also used it on the other overlords... according to him, I was the first capable of resisting it"
Everyone was left frozen. “So… this guy is not only strong enough to imitate an erupting volcano and can copy any power thrown at him and enhance it, but he can also know a person's entire past and force his opponents to relive their worse actions from the point of view of their victims?" Angel murmured, trying to think clearly. "Damn, how many abilities does he have? He can't be a simple demon"
"He's an overlord" Alastor told them. "What I and everyone else fought against was only his reduced form. As soon as he unleashed his true power, he overwhelmed me in an instant"
"An overlord?" Vaggie repeated in a surprised voice. "Impossible! How did he find enough souls willing to serve him in such a short time?"
"Maybe he forced the overlords he captured to give him their souls" Angel proposed. "I mean... if he truly possesses a gaze capable of forcing a person to relive their worst sins, he has the worst possible torture on his side. If he continually subjected them to such an experience, all of them probably succumbed in the end..."
"I don't think so" Alastor told him. "A soul contract is valid only if made voluntarily. You can deceive a person, bet with them, mislead them... but you cannot force them through torture or threats. If it were that simple, any overlord could have as many souls as they wanted just walking down the street and forcing people to give them their souls"
Angel raised an eyebrow. He didn't know about that detail, but he actually had to admit that it made sense. If it were possible to force people to sell their souls against their will, the Pride Ring would have been full of overlords. "So he must have a group of people who gave their souls to him willingly?"
"Exactly. And it gets worse" Alastor told him. "The transformation from a common demon to an overlord simply unlocks a soul's latent potential, so an overlord typically mirrors the thing he's best at using: radios, media, cell phones, weapons, etc. But still, learning to use that power well takes time and dedication. Instead, that guy exploited his powers without any effort... as if he was already used to them". He let out a little grunt. "I believe that the transformation into overlord didn't give him his immense strength. That was a strength that he already knew how to use before ending up in Hell. This is why he fought so naturally, and indeed seemed to have more difficulty when he was in reduced form. So... he may even have other powers, powers that he unlocked with his overlord transformation, that we still didn't see"
Everyone, except Husk and Charlie, wore confused expressions. "But… no human can be that strong before death" Vaggie protested. "He couldn't have had such powers before..."
“As I watched him fight, he did something" Husk suddenly said, and then he raised his hand and imitated Army of One's pose: “He put his fingers like this and shot a beam of light from them"
Charlie remained expressionless, but her fingers tightened around her dress. Vaggie, on the other hand, turned white like milk and nearly fainted. "What... what are you saying...?"
“And when he forced everyone to kneel to him…” Husk continued. “… he challenged all the demons to stand up to defend Alastor and Niffty. He wanted to see which of us would have proved themselves… worthy of not belonging here”
Angel finally understood where Husk and Alastor were going with those words, and he also widened his eyes in amazement. Cherri too, even though she wasn't completely sober yet, connected the pieces in her head. "Are you kidding me!? You mean that Army of One is actually...!?"
"NO!" Vaggie exclaimed, so loudly that everyone jumped. "Stop talking nonsense!"
"Vaggie..." Charlie tried to tell her.
But Vaggie didn't listen to reason and put her hands over her ears. "Stop it! He's dead! It can't be like this!" she shouted, running out of the infirmary.
Charlie sighed. "I'll talk to her" she told the others, and she followed her girlfriend.
Angel sighed. "What a wonderful shitty day" he commented.
"And it's just begun" Valentino said softly in a threatening tone, sending a shiver down the spider demon's back.
Angel swallowed. He knew he would soon have had to face the wrath of the moth demon... which he was sure would have been terrible. He tried to ignore it anyway and continued to focus on Alastor: "Anyway, without considering potential suspects... how did you find Army of One? If you found him once, we can do it again..."
Alastor was about to respond, but Valentino anticipated him to it: "Velvette clearly told him where to find him. She and Vox were working on a scheme to predict his next attack. Why do you think he had sealed himself in his tower these days? He knew he would have been the next"
Everyone looked at him with wide eyes. “Wait a minute… so you knew!?” Husk exclaimed. "You knew Velvette knew how to track him and you didn't say anything!?"
"Should I have? I traded only one piece of information for my stay in here, not all the others" Valentino replied in an annoyed voice.
"It's not an excuse!" Cherri screamed in fury. "Why didn't you tell us!?"
"It seems obvious to me: because that fucking idiotic deer who is now lying on that bed half dead would have gone looking for Army of One" Valentino answered her.
“Oh, so you were trying to avoid this situation?” Husk asked sarcastically, clearly not believing half a word.
"And I would have avoided it, if only someone had done as I told him" Valentino replied, looking very badly at Angel.
Angel swallowed hard, but still he had the courage to say: "You're not a philanthropist, Val. Why didn't you want Alastor to fight with Army of One? We all know you don't care if he dies"
"You're right. In reality, given his attitude, I wouldn't have minded at all if he had died" Valentino replied, chewing his words. "I didn't want him to face Army of One because now that he managed to find him, that bastard will change his scheme to hunt the overlords since he knows that the old one has been discovered. The method that Vox and Velvette had discovered is now useless. That's why I didn't say anything. Before facing Army of One head on, we had to think carefully about our options, and screaming to him that we know how to track him down was not a good idea. Now because of the smiling Bambi we have lost an important advantage over him. If only Velvette had stayed in her room, all of this would never have happened"
Angel had to admit that the moth demon was right. Valentino was not an idiot: even if he was slightly impulsive at times, he was very smart when the situation required it. If he had revealed early on that Velvette had a way to track Army of One, Alastor would no doubt have used her to find him… which he had done anyway. And regardless of who Army of One really was, it was unlikely that he would have now maintained the same hunting pattern after being discovered, and so they now had no way to track him. It was like telling the military services of an enemy nation that they had discovered their secret code. "W-Well... if you had told us the truth, maybe Velvette would have been more willing to listen to you and stay quiet in her room!"
"Velvette is too impulsive. She would have wanted to look for Vox anyway" Valentino replied. "She had no idea what she was getting into! If you had helped me keep her quiet, none of this would have happened!"
"Ah, so you think I should have just done as you wanted without you giving me a shred of explanation!?" Angel blurted out, unable to contain himself.
Valentino's eyes twinkled slightly. "Yes, because I know what I'm doing, damn it!"
Angel couldn't control himself: "Instead it seems to me that you don't have the faintest idea of what you're doing!"
Valentino remained silent for a long moment, and he seemed on the verge to choke on his own saliva. "Ah, you know what? Everyone of you, fuck off!" he exclaimed, walking with long strides towards the door. "I'm going to smoke a little, I need to let go of some fucking steam!". And with those words he left, slamming the door.
Angel let out a sigh. Cherri on the contrary was furious: "How dare he!? That asshole...!"
"Forget it. It's not worth it" Angel stopped her immediately, and then he in turn headed for the door. "I'm going to the bathroom, I urgently need to rinse my face and get this sweat off of me. I'll be back in two minutes"
"Mph! It's fine. There's not much to do here anyway" Cherri grumbled as she sat down next to Husk. The cat demon, unlike her, had a suspicious expression, but he said nothing.
Angel left the room, but he didn't go towards the bathroom; instead, he went to the nearest balcony, where just as he expected he found Valentino smoking so much that he had created a cloud of pink smoke around him. "Angel-Cakes" he told him, without any smile and in a voice that was not at all sweet. "Come here next to me. Let's have a good talk"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 9): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149238847
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 13: Discussions
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie found Vaggie sitting on a couch in the lobby, staring at the wall. The ex-Exorcist had her hands clasped above her knees and her fingers were trembling slightly. Charlie sighed, knowing how difficult the situation was for her, and she sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"
Vaggie nodded slightly. “Yes… yes, sorry if I reacted that way before… I shouldn't have"
"It's okay. Nobody was offended" Charlie reassured her. “But Vaggie… we need to talk about this"
Her girlfriend trembled slightly. Her teeth clenched so hard they could be heard three meters away. "It can't be him, Charlie" she whispered. "He's dead. You saw it too. His corpse was eaten by cannibals"
"I know. But maybe... there was a loophole we didn't know about" Charlie told her.
"Why should such a loophole even exist!?" Vaggie exclaimed as she stood up and began to wander around the room. "Everyone who gets hit by angelic weapons dies! It's the rule for all demons, no one ever came back!"
"Well, maybe it's different for angels" Charlie opined. "Maybe… they can come back"
Vaggie didn't say anything: she just leaned against the wall and breathed deeply. Charlie stood up and put her hands on her back, and she could clearly feel how tense her muscles were. “Vaggie… I know this is hard for you after what he did to you… but we can't ignore that all the clues lead to him"
"There is no clue leading to him!" Vaggie protested. "He just imitated his pose and his powers! We know he can copy them, so what's strange? Probably two weeks ago he was just lurking around the hotel watching the battle and he copied his powers, that's it!"
"Vaggie... he said that phrase to me" Charlie reminded her. "Hell is forever. Unless Army of One was also lurking in the celestial embassy or had stopped by Heaven, he couldn't have known it"
Vaggie bit her lips and even her chin. She was desperately trying to find a logical explanation that would have allowed her to think that Army of One wasn't really him, but it was as if her brain was becoming more and more empty with each passing second.
Seeing that she remained silent, Charlie continued: "All the signs he left every time he kidnapped an overlord... we misinterpreted them. We thought they were a map or a code... but I think he was just having fun telling us who he really was without making us understand. He wanted us to rack our brains to understand, and then tremble with fear as soon as we discovered the truth... as we are doing now, after all"
"We have no idea what those signs mean" Vaggie tried to argue, though that argument sounded weak even to her ears.
"Alastor said that the broken radio was not a challenge, but just another message. It didn't represent something that would have happened in the future, but that had happened in the past. And we know who in the past managed to bring Alastor to his knees in a one-on-one combat" Charlie told her. "And the other signs... if we take into account that Army of One is really him... they make much more sense. The pile of ash, left right after the broken radio... we know who he was... burned to ash... right after he finished fighting Alastor. The upside down triangle, symbolizing a fall towards damnation. And his signature... ADS... Zestial said such letters are probably initials. Well, we know a list that has exactly those initials. Remember? Act selflessly, Don't steal, Stick it to the man..."
Vaggie clenched her fists. "And the numbers?"
Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had... much time to think about it"
The ex-Exorcist took a deep breath and shook her head. "This doesn't make sense. He wasn't smart enough to do such puzzles..."
"Just because he didn't show intelligence doesn't mean he didn't have it" Charlie replied. "He didn't need to be smart or cunning, he was literally the strongest of all and could solve things with just his fists. But here in Hell there's... well, there's my father... and now he knows he can't beat dad in a physical fight. Maybe he's brought out the intelligence he didn't use before"
"This is ridiculous" Vaggie hissed. "What about his power to copy those of the overlords or see the sins of demons? He didn't have them before!"
"Alastor said that becoming an overlord unlocks a person's latent potential. For him perhaps it isn't just about physical strength but also about more complex powers. We know how much he liked... punishing demons" Charlie said. "Or... there's another reason. I don't know"
"That's right, an overlord!" Vaggie exclaimed, as if she had just had an epiphany. "He could never become one, he hated demons! He would rather die than associate with them, let alone possess their souls! Besides, what crazy people would sell themselves to him, or even come close to him? Everyone knows what kind of monster he is!"
"This is Hell, Vaggie. There are far worse monsters that still get appreciation from many demons" Charlie reminded her. "And anyway... yes, he hated demons, that's true. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Maybe he decided it was worth stooping to that level. Or maybe... he has found some demons that aren't disgusting enough, so he's okay with them"
"No kind of demon would ever suit him" Vaggie replied. "Charlie... it can't be him. We have no real clue about it, just a pose a little similar to his and a phrase that is the same by pure chance. We mustn't... be influenced by such things"
Charlie was about to reply that it was rather her who seemed to be influenced by her own fear, but she stopped herself. "Vaggie... you heard what Husk said. Army of One called out who was worthy of not belonging here. And as soon as Husk proved he wasn't totally horrible, he flew into a rage and nearly killed him. It's something he would have said and done to prove he was right, don't you think?"
"It's something any fanatic would have done" Vaggie replied. "It's not a real clue"
Charlie was starting to get annoyed. She knew why Vaggie was so stubborn, it was normal to be afraid of such a possibility, but it was still no excuse to ignore reality. "Vaggie, stop trying to find ways to deny it! I know you're scared and wish he were left to rot in some cannibal's belly, but we can't..."
"I'm just a realist, Charlie!" Vaggie screamed, shaking slightly. "It can't be him! What you're saying doesn't make sense!"
"Why!?" Charlie retorted. “Give me one good reason why we shouldn't think it's him!”
"Because... because..." Vaggie made a strangled noise. "Because he belonged to Heaven! A soul cannot change realms!"
Charlie's eyes widened. There was a moment of long silence, and then she murmured: "But Vaggie... passing souls from one realm to another... is exactly what we're trying to do here"
Vaggie looked horrified; she put her hands in front of her mouth as if she hoped she could take back what she had just said. "Charlie... I didn't mean... I'm sorry..."
But the princess of Hell didn't let her finish: she turned the other way and walked quickly towards the front door. "I'm going to my father" she said in a strangled voice. "He will understand this thing more than us. Don't get into further trouble while I'm away"
And with that said she went out and left the hotel almost running.
Vaggie slapped herself, so hard that a large red mark appeared on her cheek. She felt the urge to cut off her damn long tongue. Damn it, why had she said those exact words!? Of all the possible arguments, that was exactly what she had to use...!
Stupid, she was so stupid!
She knew how much she had just hurt the princess of Hell. Charlie had been told over and over again by others that her hotel was a waste of time, that once a soul died it just stayed where it ended... but to hear it from her, the one who had remained by her side all time and had supported her from the beginning, it had had a completely different effect on her.
Vaggie seriously wanted to bury herself.
She returned to the others with steps so heavy they felt like lead. As soon as they saw her, they raised an eyebrow. "Hey, did you guys argue?" Cherri asked, pointing to the slap mark on her face.
Vaggie shook her head. "No... I did this on my own"
"Did something serious happen?" Husk asked her.
"I just spoke without thinking... and I hurt Charlie without meaning to" Vaggie answered them, and then she noticed the absence of someone: "Uh... where's Angel?"
“He went to the bathroom…” Cherri replied, and then her tone became dubious: “About… fifteen minutes ago…?”
Vaggie immediately snapped back to attention. Her instincts told her there was trouble ahead. "Guys... WHERE THE FUCK DID VALENTINO GO!?"
Angel knew that when Valentino wore that expression, it meant he was very, very angry. The moth demon could be scary even when he smiled, but the moment that smile faded, he became truly terrifying. It was rare for it to reach such heights as he loved to maintain his seductive and compliant persona, but when he did, it meant trouble was on the way. And also a lot of beatings. And maybe rape. Maybe all of those things. Not necessarily in that order.
Valentino inhaled a large amount of smoke from his cigarette and spat it directly into his face. "Why that expression? I just asked you to come here next to me. Why are you acting like you have a guilty conscience?"
Every single syllable the moth demon uttered sent a sensation of pure terror through Angel's body; the spider demon didn't even have the courage to reply. Valentino took another drag of his cigarette and spat the smoke upwards, creating a colored cloud that vaguely resembled a clawed hand. "There's nothing more useless than a whore who doesn't know that he should follow his master's orders, don't you think, Angel-Cakes?" he asked in a threatening voice.
Angel felt his heart pound. Who cares about who was right or wrong, to hell that stuff; he absolutely had to calm him down at that moment. So he did what he knew to do better: he showed himself submissive. "Val... you're right. I'm responsible of this. I should have kept an eye on Velvette..."
Valentino grabbed him by the neck. "Of course you are responsible for this!" he roared angrily, spitting out his toxic saliva. "You just had to do as I told you, and Velvette wouldn't have gotten into trouble! Keep an eye on her for a few days, or even just a few hours, that's what I asked of you! Was it that hard? But no, you had to be a fucking little rebellious slut for who knows what reason! If now she and your deer friend are lying on a bed half dead it's your fault! Can you understand me? Your friend's blood is your fault! And all the risks taken by your cat friend and your dwarf friend are also your fault! So this is how you treat your so called 'friends'? Pathetic"
Angel gritted his teeth. The moth demon's fingers were so strong that he felt like they were crushing his throat and breaking his spine. "V-Val..."
"Is this how you protect each other? Is this how it works between you and your... friends?" Valentino continued. "Today you totally confirmed to me that I was right. Look around you: they did that bullshit behind your back. Your deer friend, your cat friend, your dwarf friend. And you, stupid bitch, you backed out when simply by listening to me you could have avoid them any pain! Is this really the aforementioned friendship that exists between you? You truly disgust me"
Despite the situation, Angel still felt a flame burning in his chest. Those words were hurting him: he himself felt a little guilty for not having prevented Alastor from taking Velvette away and therefore finding the Army of One, and Valentino was giving voice to his thoughts in the worst way. But he still found the strength to speak: "It wasn't my fault... you didn't tell me why you wanted me to do it..."
"I didn't tell you because someone might have been listening!" the moth demon answered him. "The smiling deer knows how to move between shadows, remember? I couldn't tell you anything, otherwise I would have done it! But you should have trusted me! How can you think that if I ask you to do something there isn't a good reason behind, especially at a time like this? Do you think I would ask you for frivolities? No... you disgusting little whore, you didn't trust me, despite everything I've ever done for you! This is all your fault!"
Angel felt his heart tighten. In fact, Valentino wasn't entirely wrong. If only he had trusted him, he could have saved everyone a good beating. He should have just been obedient like he always had, why hadn't he…?
No! He shouldn't have thought like that! He shouldn't feel guilty, he shouldn't let the moth demon get into his head! He had already done that trick before, he can't fell for it again! "It wasn't... my fault..."
Valentino didn't even let him finish: he moved suddenly and slammed his face right into the balcony railing. Angel felt a couple of teeth pop out. "Regenerate quickly" Valentino hissed. "I don't want to have trouble with the princess"
Angel rubbed his chin. Valentino hadn't done him too much damage, he would have been fine in a few minutes, but it still hurt a lot. He knew that the moth demon had probably held back to avoid leaving wounds that would have lasted too long and therefore been obvious to everyone. "V-Val..."
Valentino grabbed him again and brought his face a few centimeters from his. The fetid smell of his toxic saliva was almost paralyzing. "Ah, Angel-Cakes... you really have no idea what I want to do to you right here, right now..."
Angel's heart pounded so hard it seemed ready to leap out of his chest. "Val... remember the deal...!" he muttered, hoping the moth demon would have held back his anger to stay safe in the hotel.
But Valentino thought differently. "Oh, Angel-Cakes... don't you remember? I promised not to lay a finger on any of you inside the hotel... but now we're not inside the hotel, right?" he asked rhetorically pointing to the balcony where they were standing. “But still, your beloved princess may have some grievances about it, so I will give you one more chance at… what's the word you suckers use here? Oh, right… redemption. Let's see if you've learned your place. If I tell you to keep an eye on someone, whoever they are, you say...?"
Angel swallowed hard. "Yes, Valentino"
The moth demon brought him even closer to his mouth, spitting pink smoke at him. "If I tell you to trust me and give your body and soul to me like the little slutty whore that you are, you say...?"
"Yes, Valentino" Angel repeated in a choked voice.
Valentino brought his mouth next to his ears and nibbled them a little with his sharp teeth. “And if I tell you to trust me completely and I give you a specific order, you say…?”
Angel trembled all over. "Yes... Valentino" he repeated for the third time.
The moth demon stayed silent for a brief second, and then he finally looked satisfied. "Yes..." he said, smiling again. "This is the expression that I like to see. You're finally showing it again. Good, good... maybe you're not as hopeless as I started to believe"
Angel swallowed hard. A small part of him was still resisting: he couldn't let the moth demon do as he wanted. He had to try to regain at least a little control. "Val… you're right, I have to trust you. But I can't if I feel like you're doing something behind my back. I know it's all my fault, but I can't help it. Please… tell me what's on your mind. I can help you more if you tell me"
Valentino's expression became ferocious again; even though Angel had spoken with all possible submission, the moth demon still didn't like those words. He let out a loud snort from his nostrils and showed his sharp teeth, fully expressing his anger. Angel closed his eyes, expecting to be hit at any moment...
But then, without any warning, Valentino's killing intent vanished. The moth demon relaxed, and although he didn't lose his frown, he no longer seemed ready to tear Angel apart. “Yes… you might be right, actually” he said, much to the spider demon's surprise. "Okay. Come with me, Angel-Cakes; let's go for a walk. I'll take you somewhere... that I'm sure you'll find very interesting"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 9): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149238847
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 14: Unusual partnership
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"This is all your fault!"
"That's because you didn't follow my instructions!"
"Scum!"
“If only you trusted me I wouldn't have to do this!"
"Be thankful that I'm in good mind now!"
"You're a miserable little whore!"
"Fuck you!"
"What I'm doing is because of you!"
"I hope you feel ashamed!"
"Look what you forced me to do!"
Angel sighed deeply. He had gotten to the point where even he couldn't take it anymore. "Val… you just pulled the fur over your head and changed your glasses"
He and Valentino had left the hotel for almost an hour now, and the moth demon still hadn't told him where they were headed; on the other hand, he had spent every second doing nothing but complaining about the fact that, to hide his identity, he had slightly modified his clothing, putting fur over his head and wearing a pair of huge glasses to hide his face. Angel wasn't completely blaming Valentino, he too would have felt ridiculous walking around like that, but after fifty-three minutes of constant complaining he had truly reached his breaking point.
"And it doesn't seem like much to you!?" Valentino blurted out angrily. "This is an attack on my style! I'm wonderful, I always am! I can't be seen wearing this unsightly stuff!"
"Yeah, but the alternative is risking the guy who reduced Alastor to shit and turned Cannibal Town into a volcano finding you and coming for you, so I say it's worth it!" Angel said, and as he said those words, for good measure he adjusted the large gray hat he had placed on his head. He too had in fact disguised himself, and instead of his usual clothes he was wearing the jacket and gray hat that Charlie had made him wear when he and Sir Pentious had done that ridiculous act and he had had to impersonate a crack seller... and apparently such disguise was very truthful, given that fifteen people had already stopped him and asked him if he could sell them some strong stuff.
Walking around dressed like that was unnerving, but it was almost a must since Army of One could track them down and attack them. Valentino was the one who had exposed one of his weaknesses, so it was likely that he wanted revenge; and even if not, the moth demon was still an overlord, and Army of One hunted overlords. And Angel was one of Charlie's closest people, and Army of One apparently had every intention of 'playing' with her, so he was a potential target too. Therefore, both outside the hotel had to hide their identities: if someone recognized them and took a photo, in the age of social media everyone in the whole city would have knew where they were, including their potential attacker.
Anyone in that context would have kept quiet. But Valentino, on the contrary, was furious at that humiliation. Apparently, the moth demon was having a hard time deciding whether his sense of aesthetics was worth more to him than his life.
Not wanting to continue hearing him complain, Angel tried to change the subject: "We've been away from the hotel for a long time now. The others probably are looking for us"
"So what? We're not doing anything wrong, are we?" Valentino replied with a grunt. "We're just two good people taking a walk together. Isn't that what you'll tell the princess when you meet her again and she asks you about it?"
Angel snorted. All the bruises and wounds that Valentino had inflicted on him on the balcony had now healed, so there was no evidence that he had ever touched him. "Yes... I'll tell her this"
"So what's the problem?" Valentino asked rhetorically, grinning under his lips. "Come on, stop talking. We're almost there"
Angel wanted to reply that he didn't even know where they were going yet, but instead he remained silent and didn't comment. He hated being so condescending to Valentino, but as long as the moth demon was willing to tell him what was on his mind, he could tolerate it. He couldn't risk his personal grudge putting his friends in danger again...
Fuck… he was seriously starting to feel guilty. Perhaps, if he hadn't let himself be controlled by his hatred towards Valentino and had been smarter, and had pretended to be condescending to him, no one would have gotten hurt...
No! He couldn't let the moth demon get into his head. He knew full well that making him feel guilty was what he was aiming for, and he couldn't let him do it. If he had done so, Valentino would have won.
He was so lost in thought that he almost bumped into Valentino when he suddenly stopped. "Why did you stop?"
They had ended up on the far outskirts of Pentagram City; there was nothing there but poorly maintained streets and dilapidated buildings. It was the place where practically no one ever went... except those who had something very shady to do. "We have arrived" Valentino told him looking from the other side of an alley, hiding behind the wall.
Angel walked over and stared in the direction where the moth demon was looking. What he saw surprised him quite a bit: it was a church. Not a satanic church or anything like that, a real church, built with the least infernal materials possible. Indeed, a real cathedral: the building was enormous and full of spiers and decorations. "What is it?"
"You should study some history, Angel-Cakes" Valentino replied. "A few centuries ago, when Christianity was still so rooted in people's souls, those who ended up here still hoped for God's forgiveness. They took refuge away from other demons, in areas like this, and built churches to ask for salvation. Needless to say, they all either died in an Extermination or surrendered. The churches they built are still intact, as you can see; they certainly didn't skimp on materials. What you are seeing in front of you is one of the largest"
Angel tightened his grip on the wall he was leaning against. He had heard a few stories like that during all those decades he was in Hell, a couple of times he had taken to bed some guys who, in the grip of alcohol or drugs, mumbled that they would never receive divine salvation. He had never paid much attention to them, considering them urban legends, but apparently they were true. "I didn't think you were such an expert in history"
"You too!? I can understand the cyclops bitch, but you know me! You know I am a man of great culture!" Valentino shouted irritably. "When you are an overlord, you must inform yourself of what is happening or has happened in your own city. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, as they say"
Angel didn't answer him. He was more concerned with looking at the large church in front of him... and he didn't miss the faint light coming from inside. "Is there anyone...?"
"Shut up!" Valentino whispered, and he pulled him back without worrying about hurting his neck, even placing a hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking and almost suffocating him in the process. Angel was already about to protest, or at least try, but stopped when something very similar to a small disc passed overhead.
Valentino spat out some of his smoke and enveloped them with it, giving the impression that they were a cloud of dust generated by the wind. The tiny droid clearly identified them as such and continued on, without stopping to inspect them. Clearly it wasn't very smart... or whoever programmed it hadn't been too careful.
As soon as it was far enough away, Valentino sucked the smoke back into his mouth and finally let go of Angel, who after a couple of coughs asked: "What was that?"
"One of Voxxy's spy robots. As I imagined, now that Army of One has his powers, he can control them" Valentino answered him. "This area is filled with the defense systems of every overlord he has faced. Luckily, I know all of them, and Army of One is still a beginner at using them"
"Army of One...?" Angel stuttered, and then his eyes widened. His gaze returned to the church. "Val... why did you bring me here?"
Valentino's voice became more sibilant. "Because Voxxy is in there"
Angel's eyes widened. "What!? You're telling me this is...!?"
"Army of One's hideout, yes. Or at least, one of his hideouts. I don't know if it's his headquarters or just a temporary base. More likely the second option" Valentino finished the sentence for him.
Angel looked at him in amazement. “How… how did you track him down?”
"Pheromones" was Valentino's response, and he showed his antennae as he spoke. "Voxxy and I have been together for years, I know his scent signature perfectly. It was difficult to track him down given the amount of smells in this city, but in the end I identified him"
Angel began to put the pieces together. "That's why you were so calm... you already knew how to find Vox, you didn't need any of us's help"
"Exactly. And Vox knew it too. That's why he wasn't afraid to let himself be taken and actually bought some time for me and Velvette" Valentino confirmed. "It was our contingency plan, so to speak. Since we knew thanks to Velvette's algorithm that Army of One was looking for him, in case all other defenses failed and he managed to kidnap him I would have known where to find him anyway"
"And staying at the hotel was your way of staying safe while you searched for him in secret" Angel said. "That's why you immediately locked yourself in your room. You spent hours looking for him, you weren't sleeping"
Valentino grinned and tapped his head. "Good, do you see that you too have some brain cells? I've spent the last few hours sitting at the window looking for the right scent trail. There would have been no interference at the hotel since it is under the protection of the princess and therefore of King Morningstar. I could stay calm and just focus on finding Voxxy, since Velvette and I were safe... or at least, she would have been if someone made sure she stayed where she was"
Angel tried to ignore the blatant accusation. "Why didn't you tell her? Velvette would have listened to you if you hadn't been such an asshole..."
"I already told you, Velvette is impulsive. I'm not saying she's stupid, but... she often runs too fast. She doesn't think straight" Valentino replied. "If I had told her, as soon as I found Vox she would have rushed here to save him. And besides, as I already explained, I couldn't say it without risking the smiling Bambi hearing me. If he had known where to find Army of One's hideout, he would have come immediately here, and the situation would have ended exactly like what already happened, with the difference that, again, we would have lost another important advantage since that monster would have taken further precautions. What if he had decided to eliminate me so as not to be found again? I couldn't risk it"
Angel couldn't help but feel the anger rising inside him. Even though prudence was telling him otherwise, he couldn't stop himself: "All this time you always had a plan and you didn't tell us anything! You deceived everyone, even your friend! How much of an asshole can you be...?"
Valentino's slap landed right in his face, knocking him to the ground. "We're not in the hotel anymore, Angel-Cakes" the moth demon reminded him. "Don't make me want to punish you a few meters from the enemy's hideout"
Angel rubbed the affected area. “How much longer were you planning on keeping this from everyone?” he asked anyway.
"Actually, I planned not to keep it a secret for long" Valentino replied. "If you had kept an eye on Velvette and nothing of what happened today had happened, once I identified Voxxy I would have pretended to have had changed my mind and I would have revealed to Alastor the trick to identifying Army of One's next prey, obviously without allow Velvette to follow him in his stupid battle. While Army of One and Alastor were busy fighting each other like stupid troglodytes, I would have come here taking advantage of the fact that that monster was busy elsewhere, I would have freed Vox and we would have escaped. Then we would have gone get Velvette at the hotel and run away and hide somewhere else before you guys came back... assuming that you would have come back"
Angel clenched his fists. "So you wanted to use Smiles as a sacrificial victim"
"He would have gone after Army of One anyway. I might as well have taken advantage of it" Valentino replied without the slightest remorse. "But it matters little. That plan has now failed since you refused to keep an eye on Velvette and stop Alastor from freeing her"
Angel gritted his teeth. Valentino was truly a bastard. He should have expected it, but still he couldn't believe that he had planned to use the entire hotel crew as a distraction to go inside the church and free Vox. “You talk a lot about trust, but you're the first to break it” he hissed. "You even went behind your friend's back! Velvette will be furious when she will find out, you know?"
Valentino let out a loud snort and grabbed him by the back of the neck, forcing him to stand up. "I didn't ask for your opinion on my moral conduct, bitch" he told him in a threatening tone. "Velvette and her childish reactions are my problem. If you are here now is because, despite your inefficiency so far, you can still be useful to me"
Angel let out a snort. "If you think I'll help you lure my friends into a trap...!"
"I know you won't. I have many ways to break you, but I don't have the time to use them. Voxxy could be being tortured right now, for all I know" Valentino replied. "And my hypnotic smoke isn't an option either, it doesn't last that long. So no, I won't ask you to betray your friends. But you will still help me save Voxxy"
Angel was a little reassured by the fact that Valentino wasn't planning on him betraying his friends, but he still broke out in a cold sweat. "What do you want me to do?"
"Very simple" Valentino said. "I know exactly where Voxxy is right now, and I can find the blueprints for that cathedral and any dungeons in any database in Hell. What I need, since now I can no longer predict when Army of One will leave and how long will he be gone, is a bunch of idiots making a mess out here and getting his attention while I go to save my partner"
Angel's eyes shone. "My friends don't...!"
"I already told you I don't want to put your friends in danger, are you deaf by any chance!?" Valentino shouted, and suddenly a grin appeared on his face. "I have plenty of idiots ready to do what I tell them, but now Army of One is probably looking for me, and if I were him I'd keep an eye on people affiliated with me... especially since now he has Vox and therefore has probably copied all his powers, including the ability to connect to any camera in Hell at any time. Therefore, I can't use my henchmen without risking being discovered. So... I need someone else that has a lot of big and stupid henchmen like mine, and in the same time has no connection with me. And that's where you come in"
Angel was silent for a moment, and then he understood. "No"
"I'm afraid you can't negotiate, Angel-Cakes" Valentino told him. "Take me to your dear family. If you don't want to interact with them, I'll talk to them; you just tell me where to find them"
Angel inspired deeply. Having to deal with his mafia family again was the last thing he wanted. He would have much rather cut his balls off with a chicken shredder than see his asshole father or his brother Arackniss again. But he knew that Valentino would have forced him to do it, one way or another. And then, better that than to put the hotel in even more danger. "Okay" he said finally. "I'll take you to my family, but on one condition: since you like talking about trust so much, from now on you will have to demonstrate it by leaving the reins to me"
Valentino assumed a furious expression. "Listen to me carefully, Angel-Cakes...!"
"No, YOU listen to me carefully!" Angel exclaimed, holding his ground firmly. "I'm not going to risk you putting me or anyone of the people I care about in danger to satisfy your selfish desires. If you want my help, I'll make the decisions from now on"
“HOW DARE YOU!?” Valentino roared, grabbing him by the neck. “You think you have any decision-making power in this!?”
Angel was afraid of him, but this time he wasn't intimidated. "Oh, now you're the one who doesn't want to trust, mh? And why should I trust you, then?"
"Because I know what I'm doing, bitch!" Valentino ranted.
Angel held his gaze. "No, Val. What you do is breed discord and sow suspicion, and all to satisfy your selfishness"
Valentino looked like he was about to punch him, but then he stopped and smiled evilly. He didn't need to use physical violence, because he knew how to hurt him much more with words. "What you do, instead, is try to imitate someone else's attitudes and behavior in the hope that you can become something you are not. You have never thought for yourself, and when you have, the results have been disastrous and in any case you never actually took responsibility for it. I'm selfish, okay, I admit it; but you're pathetic"
Angel felt his heart tighten at those words. Every syllable Valentino uttered was like a hot needle in his chest. “Maybe you're right” he hissed. "But even if I'm pathetic, I won't help you unless you agree to be totally honest with me and let me handle this. We're not in the studio right now, you can't force me to do anything, and even though you could torture me or something here, I can be very resistant and as you yourself said, Vox may not have much time left. The choice is yours, take it or leave it"
Valentino snorted like an angry bull. He seemed to seriously contemplate tearing his head off his neck, but with what seemed an inhuman effort he refrained. "Oh, fine, as long as we hurry. But remember this: sooner or later, you'll regret ever daring to talk to me like that"
Angel was sure it was true, but still he didn't waver. "Maybe. But I'll think about it another day"
Valentino let out a disdainful grunt. "This has always been your main problem, Angel-Cakes: you focus on how bad it could go for you in the present, without considering that it could go much worse for you in the future" he said. "But that's okay, I'll play your game. So, where do we have to go to meet your family... partner?"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 9): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149238847
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 15: Visiting the family
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It was now the end of the afternoon. Angel and Valentino were standing in front of a big skyscraper, which appeared to be at least eighty stories high. They entered and on the ground floor they found a huge nightclub called The Night Howler. They walked to a random table and sat there, watching the prostitutes dancing on the stage. "Mh. I own almost all the nightclubs in Pentagram City, but I have to admit that this one isn't bad either" Valentino commented.
Angel didn't answer him. The moth demon wasn't wrong: the nightclub was quite large and very well kept. It had two entire floors, few windows, lots of lights illuminating it and a large shop sign on the front façade. In truth, it was a cover for the local mafia, whose main offices were on the upper floors of the skyscraper.
Seeing that place brought back memories that Angel had to force himself to repress; he must stay focused. He couldn't let the memories consume him right now.
It didn't take long for what they expected to happen: two massive guards came to them, or rather, to Angel. Valentino was still hidden in his disguise, Angel on the other hand had taken off his. It was inevitable that someone would have recognized him. “Gentlemen, follow us, please” they said.
"Of course" Angel said getting up, and so did Valentino.
The two guards took them to an elevator that took them up several floors: they soon found themselves at the top of the skyscraper. When the elevator doors opened, they found themselves in a long corridor; and in front of them, surrounded by at least ten other men, there was a dark-furred spider demon, with a slightly hunched posture and an elegant black dress. Angel was deeply inspired when he saw it. That was his older brother, Arackniss. Their father's prodigal son, the complete opposite of him.
And the two of them hated each other.
Arackniss walked until she was just a meter away from Angel. He blinked twice, as if he wanted to be sure he wasn't hallucinating. When he was sure that it was really Angel in front of him, a smirk appeared on his face. "Ah. So the cameras weren't wrong. I see that the baby brother came home"
Angel frowned, sincerely unamused. It seemed like his brother hadn't changed a bit. They had been close once, but their relationship deteriorated after their induction test. Yes, the one in the abandoned warehouse. Angel failed, but Arackniss passed and was welcomed into their father inner circle. He then began to treat Angel like everyone else, even mocked him for his failure. At the time, Angel had regretted not being as brave and efficient as his brother, but after all those years, he simply saw him as a jerk without empathy. "Don't call me like that" he retorted sharply.
"Or what?" Arackniss scoffed as if he was challenging Angel to make him take back those words. "You know I only need one word to get you riddled with gunshots, right? You're not welcome here"
"Angel-Cakes, you didn't tell me there was so much animosity in your family" Valentino suddenly and loudly intervened, removing his fur from his head to show his face. "I hope this won't be a problem... right?"
Arackniss only then realized who that moth demon was. His gaze immediately became more cautious. "I know who you are. Valentino, the pimp overlord"
"My fame precedes me, I see" Valentino commented with a grin. "Angel-Cakes was kind enough to accompany me here today. I hope his presence is not a problem for you"
Arackniss let out a loud snort through her nostrils, which turned into a growl as he noticed Angel's satisfied expression. Despite the hatred he felt towards his younger brother, he wouldn't have risked attacking him while he was under the protection of an overlord. "Why are you here?" he asked in a much firmer and more serious tone than before.
"Business" was Angel's response. "Take me to our father. I wish to speak with him"
“We both want it” Valentino said, blowing a little pink smoke from his mouth.
Arackniss narrowed her eyes. Normally he would have already kicked his brother out the window, but he stopped himself: he wasn't foolish enough to openly challenge an overlord. "Okay" he said. "But first, let yourself be searched"
“Hey, hey, this is abuse of power!” Angel exclaimed pretending to be offended. "You can't force me to..."
Two of Arackniss' henchmen grabbed him and tore off his clothes, carefully checking every stitch to make sure he had no hidden weapons. Obviously they found some, which were immediately seized. Only after he had finished did they allow him to get dressed. They then looked at Valentino, unsure if they should do the same to him, but the moth demon winked at them and opened his wings on his own, and took off his clothes in a rather seductive manner. "Gentlemen, before forcing me to undress, it should be appropriate to offer me a drink" he said in a sexy voice.
Arackniss gave a grunt in response, and he gestured to his henchmen to tell them to leave him alone. As soon as they were both dressed, he told them to follow him and led them up the stairs to a double door of fine wood. Arackniss pushed it open, letting them inside.
Angel could hear his own heartbeat accelerate as the doors closed behind him. Was it him or were they always this slow? Suddenly, he felt trapped, stuck inside a wolf's den. Or better, a spider's web.
His father's office was exactly as he remembered it: vast and luxuriously furnished in a 1920s Italian style, with the addition of a few modern pieces of furniture here and there that went well with the decor. To the right of the entrance was a red couch and a sleek oval-shaped coffee table in front of a 110-inch 16k plasma television on a dresser where drinks, snacks and glasses were kept. To his left were two red armchairs and another table, this time circular, in front of a lit fireplace. On the nearby wall hung a giant portrait of his father with his name written underneath in gold letters: Viniel Corleons. Behind it, hidden inside the wall, was a secret elevator that led directly to the secret basement beneath the nightclub, a basement that served both for the organization's illegal activities and as an escape route in case the building had been searched or attacked by rivals.
As soon as he entered, Angel saw his father in front of him, sitting at the desk full of documents, office equipment and a laptop. Behind his father, six tall, reinforced and darkened windows gave a nice view of the outside, showing the city from above, but creating an atmosphere of greater uneasiness, since they seemed to be placed there on purpose to throw someone down.
Angel turned his eyes to the demon sitting at the desk. He too remained the same. His father was the same enormous spider with long, thick hair, dressed in luxurious clothes typical of New York in the first half of the twentieth century. Every pore of his seemed to express an aura of power and terror at the same time. His paws seemed capable of crushing skulls and pulping brains without the slightest effort.
When the mafia leader heard the door to his office close, he looked up and, seeing his youngest son, simply returned to the papers he was working on. Not a single trace of emotion could be seen on his face or in his actions. As it had always been. When Angel was younger it was something he found upsetting, never being able to tell what his father was thinking or feeling. One of the few times he'd lost his composure was when he'd gotten angry and yelled at Angel for refusing to kill the masked stranger in that abandoned warehouse. A frightening moment that had certainly marked his life, given that the next time he had followed the order... not because he thought it was right, but because he was much more afraid of his father than of staining his hands with blood. After that, all the rest had became easier.
Once his father finished whatever he was doing, he placed the documents back in an electronically self-sealing filing cabinet; he placed it at the right end of the desk, where a door sucked it in. Only then did he turn his attention to his guests. "It's not often that I'm surprised, but today I'm willing to admit that I am" he said in a rough voice.
"Hello, father" Angel said as he walked over and stopped in front of the desk. Once again, memories threatened to overwhelm him; so far, he was able to maintain his cool facade thsnks to the years of experience he spent in Valentino's service, where he always had to pretend, but he was starting to falter. He tried to steel himself; he couldn't afford to collapse now.
His father opened a drawer and took out a large cigar, which he began to smoke with gusto. "It's not every day I get an overlord in my office" he said, looking at Valentino. "Especially one so famous... and who lately is known for having managed to escape the one who decided to exterminate the overlords"
Valentino smiled without showing any hostility. "I see you already know who I am"
"The name of the pimp overlord is on the lips of many, Mr. Valentino. I'm sure you have a good reason to come and talk to a simple mafia boss like me" Viniel said chewing on his cigar. "But for once, I'm more surprised by the person you brought with you"
"Oh, yes, your lost boy" Valentino said, placing a hand on Angel's shoulder and pushing him forward slightly. "I don't want to disturb a family conversation too much. Take it easy"
Viniel let out a loud huff, spitting out cigar smoke. “What are you doing here, Anthony?”
Angel inspired deeply. It had been a long time since anyone had called him that, it seemed... strange. His father was speaking as he always did: direct, authoritative, with a tone that made it clear he expected answers quickly. "My name is Angel Dust now" he felt the need to clarify. “And like I told Arackniss, I'm here on business”
Viniel's eyebrow rose suspiciously. "Let me get this straight" he said in a calm voice that contained a strong hint of irritation. “You left for decades, without even bothering to contact anyone here, and now you come asking to do business with me, after I specifically warned you what I would have done if I ever saw you again? Give me one good reason not to execute you right now"
Angel broke into a cold sweat, remembering how his father had reacted when he ran away: he had sent Arackniss and three of his other lackeys to beat him bloody, leaving him dying on the street, after taking back the money he had stolen to start a new life elsewhere. His father then arrived in his limousine, and after having let Arackniss and his men get in, he got out and looked at him with his eyes as cold as ice. Without any emotion in his voice, he had told him that after having dishonored the family like that he was no longer accepted among them, and that if he ever returned he would have killed him personally. Then he left, without even looking back.
That memory made something tighten in Angel's chest, so much so that he wouldn't have been surprised if he started bleeding; but he kept his cool and said: "Because you are not foolish enough to risk the wrath of an overlord"
Silence fell between them. Viniel just looked up and looked at Valentino. The moth demon had remained aloof and the whole scene seemed to amuse him, but as soon as he realized that they were expecting a word from him, he simply said: "As I said, I don't intend to interfere in your family matters... but Angel-Cakes belongs to me, and I am someone who gets angry at those who break my property. If I were you, I would avoid taking guns"
Valentino's threat had the desired effect: Viniel didn't abandon his grim expression, but neither did he order his men to shoot as he would have done in any other circumstance. He knew that if Valentino let loose there, they would all have had a hard time. "Okay, let's hear it then. What business do you want to talk to me about?"
"We need men" Angel told him. "Valentino and I need a few of your guys. The stupidest and most useless ones you have, the ones you hope to get rid of soon. Someone you would throw into the grave and leave them there to die"
“So people like you?” Arackniss asked from behind him.
Angel clenched his fists, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yes... people like me"
Viniel exhaled another puff of smoke from his cigar. “You know how it works. If you want men, I can provide you with as many as you want. But you have to pay”
"I'll take care of that" Valentino said, taking out a checkbook. He quickly wrote something on it, and then tore off the paper and handed it to Viniel. "This is thirty percent of what I am willing to pay, you can already have it. You will have the remaining seventy percent once the job is finished"
Viniel took the check and his eyelids twitched slightly as he read the number written on it. "Interesting amount" he commented. "May I ask what you need my men for if you are willing to spend so much?"
"Cannon fodder" was Valentino's simple response.
Viniel let out a grunt and lay back further in his chair. "I can provide you with the men you need... but if the plan is to put them in a potentially life-threatening situation, then I'm afraid we should discuss it..."
"Oh, fuck off, father" Angel ranted in anger. "Don't try to get more than what you're usually offered. We both know you don't care about those guys. Take the money and give us the men we need"
Viniel let out a deep grunt. "You have really become undisciplined, Anthony"
Angel's eyes shone for a moment. "My name is...!"
"Please, Anthony, don't embarrass yourself any more than you already do" Arackniss commented harshly. "We don't need the delusional opinion of a drug-addicted homosexual"
That was the last straw. With a furious snarl, Angel lunged at Arackniss with his fist raised to strike. However, his brother was not caught unprepared and easily grabbed his wrist, and in doing so pushed him back with his feet and quickly stood up before he could regain his balance. Angel attacked again, this time trying to hit his brother with his claws, and Arackniss again simply dodged by moving to the left. Angel attempted another punch, and again, and again, but Arackniss continued to effortlessly block him. Finally, having had enough, in one swift motion he moved behind Angel and grabbed him in a painful armlock. "This brings back memories" he commented with satisfaction as his younger brother groaned in pain.
Angel let out an enraged growl and tried to hit his brother with his elbow, but once again Arackniss easily blocked the attack. "That was really pathetic" he murmured in Angel's ear before throwing him to the floor next to the couch, causing him to let out another groan of pain. "You could never beat me when we were kids. Seriously, what did you expect?"
"Luck, I guess" Angel replied as he used the couch to get up.
Arackniss made a sound of disgust. “You wretch. You should have stayed in your playground. In a fight without your angelic weapons and your friends covering your ass, you have no hope. You are not up to this level”
Angel stared intently at his brother. “I don't have my friends and I don't have any weapons here” he said menacingly. "But after all these years, I have something you don't have... stamina and flexibility!"
And with those words he launched himself again at Arackniss, who was genuinely surprised since he hadn't expected his brother to get up so quickly: he was grabbed before he could react and Angel lifted him above his head, and then slammed him violently to the ground. "And the height too" he added pompously.
Arackniss glared murderously at him. "I'll make you regret what you just did. All of it"
"Right, as if someone with my background would be afraid of a little spider like you" Angel scoffed, crossing his arms. "Come on, try to scare me. An army of angels couldn't do it, and this is far from the worst risk situation I've found myself in this seventy years"
Arackniss seemed to roar like a caged tiger. "Do you find this funny? How the…"
“Enough” Viniel said in a stern voice that froze her two sons.
"Oh, come on, why? I was having fun, let them fight" Valentino protested while grinning.
Viniel ignored him. "Anthony, you are truly a disgrace. At least have the decency to step aside while I discuss the price with your boss"
"Maybe I wasn't clear, father" Angel replied. "We're in a hurry, and we want your men at that price"
"Well, I don't think so" Viniel replied. "Everyone knows that Mr. Valentino here escaped from Army of One, and as such it is likely that he will be pursued soon. I have to assume that the men you want are serving some sort of trap, which means that if Army of One survived it he could come to seek revenge on us. And if you have come here, it means you are desperate. So I can raise the price as much as I want. Why should I just accept the amount you propose?"
Angel didn't answer; on the contrary, he looked at Valentino, who smiled even more and opened his mouth, revealing his prehensile tongue... which was wrapped around a silver object. "Because what you are seeing now is an angelic grenade"
Immediately all the people in the room except for Viniel, Angel and Valentino took out their guns and pointed them at the moth demon. "Put it down right now!" Arackniss threatened him.
"If I do it, it will explode" Valentino replied. "My beloved Angel-Cakes warned me that you were a little... difficult to convince, so I came prepared. I can survive this thanks to my overlord powers, wrapping myself in a very solid blanket of smoke before it explode... but can you do the same?"
There was a long silence, in which the tension seemed to be able to be physically touched; no one said a word and the drops of sweat falling to the floor could be heard so loudly that they emitted an echo. And then, Viniel's laughter shook everyone. "Ah ah ah! Good, good! Yes, this guy is the kind of scum I like!" he exclaimed, expressing hilarity for the first time. "Ah, I haven't felt like this since I closed the deal with that son of a bitch Crimson... okay, you guys showed me a good time. We can... discuss it"
Angel smiled slightly. He knew that when his father laughed it was because he was giving up. Laughing was his way of pretending not to be upset by the situation, but in reality he had become extremely compliant. "Good. Val, it's all yours: the negotiations are yours" he said simply, stepping aside to make way for the moth demon.
From that moment on everything went well.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149753011
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 16: Inside the enemy's hideout
Notes:
Hello guys! Today is a day of celebration because I officially published my first totally original webnovel (with two contracts and multi-platform)! You can't understand how much joy this gives me since (I hope) it could be a first step towards a greater career as a real writer. If any of you are interested and would like to help me in my growth, I leave you the link to the main page of my webnovel:
https://m.webnovel.com/book/i'm-a-spinosaurus-with-a-system-to-raise-a-dinosaur-army_30564743800834805
It is obviously a paid work, but the platform that distributes it guarantees prices that are not too expensive. Every small contribution from you helps me continue my career. I warn you that the webnovel has a slightly different writing style from what you are used to, for the simple fact that I wrote it a few years ago, and consequently it is a bit "dated" (if you go and read my old Owl House fanfictions and comparing them with the more recent ones you will understand what I'm talking about), but I still tried to modernize it before publishing it. Thank you for your support and happy reading everyone!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Valentino and Angel left the skyscraper exactly as they had come, in fact, the guards even greeted them cordially when they left. As soon as they were outside, the spider demon made a muffled noise and had to lean on a pole to stay upright. Finally that oppressive situation was over, but he still felt as if his chest was being crushed by a hydraulic press.
Valentino did nothing but grin amusedly. "Angel-Cakes, your family is truly full of lovely people" he said in a satisfied voice. "Why didn't you ever introduce me to them? I'm offended, you know; we could have done so many things together..."
“Fuck you, Val” Angel barked, completely ignoring the caution.
Valentino was only even more amused by that reaction. "I'm serious, I think we'll visit them again in the future. Maybe I could lend you to them for a few hours... I'm sure your brother would be very pleased. Arackniss, right? An excellent person indeed... how can the two of you be brothers?"
"You're asking the wrong person, I've been wondering that for years too" Angel replied. He didn't want to fall for the moth demon's provocations: he knew that Valentino only aimed to make him suffer with those words to take revenge for the fact that he had dared to resist him shortly before. "Stop babbling. Do we want to go get Vox or not?"
The mention of the media overlord was enough to wipe the smile off Valentino's face. “Mh. Okay, let's hurry. We will discuss future relationships with your lovely family later"
Angel let out a grunt, knowing that Valentino would have definitely used that topic to torment him a lot in the future. "You have no idea how much I hate you"
"Oh, Angel-Cakes, now don't overdo it. We were quite a team in there, weren't we?" Valentino asked him in a softer voice. "Don't you see the chemistry between us? You were so cool while you were talking to that mafia boss. When we work together..."
"Don't talk to me about a chemistry that doesn't exist" Angel stopped him immediately. “And anyway, I tried for years to prove to you that I was more valuable than just a whore”
"Oh, yes, I remember that" Valentino told him. "But usually your results were disastrous. Now you did well. Maybe it's because I was there with you?"
Angel bit his lip. The worst part was that Valentino was right: if he hadn't been there, he would almost certainly have walked out of his father's office in a barrel of acid. He had needed him...
He shook his head, trying to banish the thought. "Focus on Vox. Let's go" he said to silence the moth demon, who however didn't lose his smug smile.
They met shortly afterwards with the men promised by Viniel: they were about a dozen rather large and muscular guys who didn't look very smart. As they used to say, every crime boss had a bunch of ignorant idiots ready to do whatever they were told. Exactly the kind of people they needed at that time.
Angel felt a little guilty, knowing that some of those guys were probably going to die; in reality, it was unlikely that someone would have survived if Army of One decided to go on a rampage like he did against Alastor. Probably he wouldn't have came at those levels, after all no one liked destroying his own lair, but even if he held back he would have had an easy victory against all of them. For a being that possessed such power, taking their heads off would have been like a walk in the park.
Not even a year ago, Angel wouldn't have cared about this at all; he would simply have said that that was what stupid people were for. But now, after all his time at the Hazbin Hotel, he felt like he was doing something wrong. And so, almost without thinking, he told them: "Army of One will probably just blow you up with his fists, but in case he has an angelic weapon with him, kill yourself before he can hit you. This way you can be reborn and you won't really die"
With some luck, Army of One would have just disintegrated them with his fists like he did with Alastor, but if not, at least they had an escape route. The process of restoring a sinner demon wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was certainly better than staying dead. Angel tried to soothe his conscience with that thought... even though he knew that those people would hardly have been quicker to kill themselves than a guy who was literally capable of breaking the sound barrier.
Valentino, on the contrary, obviously didn't even think about such trifles. "Of course, Angel-Cakes, very good. Now forget the fairy tales and listen to me" he said, showing a map of the cathedral that he had found on the Internet. Apparently the church also continued underground: the external part had been built to be a place of prayer and aspiration for forgiveness, while the basement almost looked like catacombs. Evidently, those who had created this work didn't want to mix and live with the other demons and therefore slept there. "Voxxy is here" Valentino said pointing to a spot in the basement.
Angel raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked him.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Valentino growled angrily, but seeing that Angel didn't seem to be affected by his criticism, he let it go. "Anyway, yes, I'm sure. I've analyzed the pheromones around the cathedral over and over again. He's there"
“What if it was a decoy?” Angel rightly pointed out. "Maybe Army of One just put Vox's clothes there"
"No, certain pheromones are released by the body in real time. They cannot be masked in any way" Valentino replied, emitting an offended snort. "I'm not an idiot, Angel-Cakes"
This was enough for Angel. He looked back at the map and pointed to the ventilation shaft. "This goes through pretty much all the dungeons. We'll go through here"
"If I were Army of One, I would have placed defenses at the entrance of the vent" Valentino pointed out.
"I know, I would do it too. That's why we won't enter from the external conduit, but from the main entrance" Angel replied, pointing to a room exactly under the cathedral. "From here you have direct access to the basement. Our men will make a bit of a mess here, while you and I will be among them. We will climb into the ventilation shaft while no one is looking. To avoid cameras and other problems, we will use your I smoke to disguise ourselves"
Valentino nodded. “Sounds like a good plan” he said, but he crossed his arms anyway. "Anyway, we have to be very careful. Army of One has Voxxy's powers now: as you saw, just like him he is controlling drones or robots to defend his lair. Once we will enter into the dungeon, they will swarm on us like fucking bees. And he could also have some henchmen"
"That guy hates demons, I doubt he has any henchmen. Sure he has defenses... but that's what you're here for, right?" Angel asked him rhetorically. After all, robots and drones, however efficient, could do little against an overlord. "Our men will attract attention as we enter, so we will encounter few obstacles along the way. If we're lucky, Army of One will be busy elsewhere as we enter. If not... let's hope he will let himself to be distracted for enough time"
Valentino grunted, but still he didn't comment. Clearly he too understood that this was the best plan they could formulate. Seeing that they had come to an understanding, Angel took his cell phone out of his pocket and began dialing a number. "What are you doing?" the moth demon asked him.
"I'll call my friends. They must definitely be looking for me right now, I don't want them to track me down here and end up in the middle of the battle. I'll make up an excuse" Angel told him, and then he stopped: "Wait... Velvette can't track me through my cell phone, right?"
"Oh, don't worry about her. I drugged her while you guys weren't looking" Valentino replied. "Seeing how it ended last time, I preferred to take better precautions"
Angel snorted. "You're such a... ah, never mind" he said, and he placed the call.
Husk's worried voice came immediately from the other side. "Angel! Where the fuck are you!? We're looking for you everywhere!"
"Yes, Husky... sorry, I wanted to go somewhere with Val" Angel answered him. "I'll explain everything to you as soon as I get back to the hotel, let's say I've found a way to make him stay calm now and in the future"
Through his cell phone he could hear the confusing voices of Cherri and Vaggie; evidently both were trying to snatch the phone from Husk. "Where are you now?" the cat demon asked him.
"I can't tell you, and it's not important anyway. Val and I aren't doing anything too extreme" Angel lied. "Look, Husk, trust me, okay? I know what I'm doing. You wait for me there at the hotel, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Oh, and since you're there, please go into the bathroom and hide the syringes of adrenaline that you will find on the sink; I forgot them there and I'm afraid that Niffty will find them and become hyperactive like this morning"
Husk was silent for a second. Niffty hadn't taken any doses of adrenaline that day. He would have remembered it very well if it had happened. "What are you...?"
"Oh, come on, don't you remember? This morning, when Niffty went into overdrive, rolled herself in chocolate until she was brown and then even tied my hair in two ponytails? Well, I'd rather not repeat such experience" Angel told him. "Do me this favor, come on. Well, I'll see you later. Bye"
Husk remained silent again, and then he said to him: "Yes... bye". And then he put the phone down.
Valentino clicked his tongue. “So, no potential interference from your friends?”
"Not this time" Angel replied putting his cell phone in his pants. "Come on, let's go. Let's get this thing over with as soon as possible"
"Why did you put the call down!?"
“Are you completely stupid!?”
“It's obvious that Val kidnapped him!”
“He could be in danger now!”
Husk tried to ignore Cherri and Vaggie yelling at him, but he still couldn't stop himself from screaming: "Shut up a fucking minute!"
Both girls fell silent, and Husk took the opportunity to run into the room where Alastor, Rosie and Velvette were hospitalized. When he entered he found the radio demon sitting on his bed, now completely regenerated but still a little weak, in the company of Niffty who had dressed like a nurse; Rosie was also awake, but unlike Alastor she remained lying down and wasn't speaking to him, fully demonstrating how angry she was at him for having helped vaporize Cannibal Town. The only one still asleep was Velvette. "Did you find him?" Alastor asked him.
Husk didn't answer him right away: instead he ran to Velvette and examined her body, until he found a mark that had undoubtedly been left by one of Valentino's poisonous teeth. "He drugged her..." he murmured. "Bring me all the adrenaline syringes we have, now!"
Niffty appeared next to him not two seconds later with at least twelve syringes in her hands; Husk took them and careless that it could cause her to overdose, he injected them all into Velvette's neck. The social overlord remained asleep for another three minutes, and then she began to moan and fuss, and finally she opened her eyes again. "Uh... what...?"
"Good, it worked!" Husk exclaimed. “Get back on your feet, you have work to do!”
Velvette was quite confused, partly because she had no idea what was happening and partly because with all the adrenaline she had in her body it felt like she had ingested an abnormal amount of caffeine, but she still didn't like those words. "Hey, you can't give me orders...!"
Husk almost threw himself on top of her. "Listen to me, you little bitch!" he exclaimed. "Today I've really reached the limit of exasperation, okay!? Your dear daddy has taken my friend and I don't know what he's doing to him, but I'm sure it's something dangerous, so now you trace the call and tell me where they are found!"
"You can't talk to me like that!" Velvette protested. "I am..."
"I saved your life!" Husk yelled at her, grabbing her by the collar. "If I hadn't taken you away from that mess, you'd be ashes right now, or Army of One would have even torn you apart with angelic weapons! The least you can do now is help me find my friend!"
Velvette remained silent, clearly surprised: it had never happened that anyone spoke to her like that, usually she was the one to yell at others. It was an almost alien sensation to her. She was about to reply, but suddenly a pair of fingers wrapped around her ear and twisted it, making her moan in pain: she looked up and noticed that Rosie had gotten up from the bed and was tugging on her ear. "Girl, we're all on edge right now, and I'm really tired right now too" the cannibal overlord warned her. "Do what you're told or I'll teach you politeness and gratitude like they did in my day. And believe me, you won't like it at all"
Velvette cringed under the menacing gaze of the cannibal overlord. Even though Rosie had always seemed like a cheerful, smiling and kind woman, in that moment she reminded her a lot of a fire-breathing dragon. “Um… okay" she finally gave in in a small voice. "What did you say I should do...?"
Husk handed her his cell phone, showing Angel's call. "You have to track him down, and fast too!"
Angel stared at the cathedral before him. The lights inside were still on, and judging by how they were shaking, they must have been candles. “Are we really going to do this?”
"Yes, of course" Valentino replied. "So, shall we get started?"
Angel gritted his teeth, knowing that this could have been the biggest mistake of his life. He hoped that Husk had managed to understand the coded message he had given him. "I know I'll regret it, but... let's go!"
And so the two of them, followed by all their henchmen, walked towards the cathedral. Valentino knew how to behave to avoid the various defenses that Army of One had placed around the building using the powers of the ither overlords, and in fact they didn't meet any obstacle. Angel had to admit that he was a little surprised at how well the moth demon remembered every single potential defense that the other overlords could use... but after all, you didn't become an overlord if you were an ignorant fool.
Once they entered the cathedral. Valentino spat out a large cloud of smoke around them, so that it was not possible to understand how many of them there were, and above all in this way he made himself and Angel not visible since they were at the center of that rabble of imbeciles. As they had imagined, the church was empty and silent, with only the candles in the braziers lit. It seemed like a very normal place of prayer, similar to the many that were on Earth and frequented by Christians.
The entrance to the dungeon was also unguarded... or so it seemed. Because the moment they entered the catacomb, a loud buzz was immediately heard, and four flying drones equipped with metal blades appeared in front of them. "See? I told you" Valentino said. "Voxxy could easily control these things"
"Well, we're forewarned" Angel commented, as their henchmen began to battle. Due to the smoke generated by Valentino, the drones did not notice the two of them and above all the fact that they had both climbed into the ventilation duct.
They continued quickly through the tube, finding no obstacle; every time they passed over one of the many slits overlooking the chambers below, they could see numerous other drones and even some robots swarming towards the entrance. “How did your boyfriend build all these things?” Angel asked Valentino.
"Voxyy could manipulate metal using electromagnetism. It was easy for him to build them" Valentino replied. "Army of One probably forced him to give him the blueprints and imitated his job"
Angel narrowed his eyes at the mention of their enemy. For the moment there was no sign of Army of One: perhaps he really wasn't there. This was flattering for everyone: the henchmen they had brought with them were managing to defend themselves from the robots quite well, at least judging by the noises coming from the entrance. If Army of One hadn't come, they could have taken Vox and left with everyone still alive.
Eventually they arrived exactly where they wanted to go: through a grate, they could see a large, completely bare circular room. And on the wall, bound with heavy chains, was the familiar figure of the media overlord. "Voxxy..." Valentino hissed, and he kicked the grate open. "I'm here, darling!"
"Val, wait!" Angel exclaimed through gritted teeth. Fuck, and the moth demon dared to scold others for being impulsive...
Valentino flew to Vox and touched his face. The media overlord didn't appear to have any physical injuries, but he was clearly distressed. "Voxxy, can you hear me?"
Vox opened his eyes slightly. “Ugh…Val…?”
"I've come, Voxxy" the moth demon said, snapping open the chains and picking him up. "Now I'm getting you out of here..."
"CAREFUL!" Angel exclaimed, firing a gunshot.
Valentino just had time to turn to see the shot hit a masked individual who was about to impale him from behind with a spear. With a growl he spread his wings and pushed them back. "Fuck you!" he roared furiously. "Don't fucking try that fucking again!"
The person got back into an attack position. They were a guy of average height, with a thin and slender build but evident strong muscles; they were covered in black and gray armor, but unlike that of Army of One, it seemed to be fused with their skin. Judging by their shape they seemed to be a woman... actually, it was almost sure that she was so. A pair of bat-like wings emerged from her shoulders, and at the base of her back she had a tail ending in a sharp silver spear-like tip. Her face was covered by a black mask, but it was still possible to see the mass of silver hair on her head and two long curved horns similar to those of a chamois. She was wielding an angelic spear and did so with extreme mastery. “The general still needs him” she said, pointing at Vox with her weapon. "I can't let you take him away!"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149753011
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 17: Fight in the hideout
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel jumped down from the vent holding his angelic gun aloft, and immediately he fired three shots at the masked woman, who jumped backwards to dodge them. Despite her words, she didn't seem very intent on fighting them directly. It was clear that she had no special skills. Maybe she was one of those who had sold their soul to Army of One? Well... possible.
The woman raised her spear and threw it straight at Valentine; the moth demon dodged it, but it bounced off the wall behind her and immediately returned to her hands. The woman moved with extraordinary fluidity and kicked the moth demon's glasses off, taking advantage of his distraction. “Urgh… fuck!!” Valentino exclaimed, and tried to grab it, but he moved blindly.
Angel gritted his teeth, knowing how bad the moth demon's eyesight was. Despite his powers, there wasn't much he could do if he couldn't hit the target. But fortunately Vox came to his aid, and although he was clearly distressed by the situation, he exclaimed: "To your right!"
Valentino listened to him and spat his smoke in that direction, hitting the woman squarely and throwing her against the wall. She turned in mid-air and almost like a monkey landed on the wall with her feet, and she pushed herself to attack again. "Left! Right! Above you!" Vox continued to yell at Valentino, acting as if he were his eyes. The woman clearly doesn't like this and tries to attack the media overlord on the screen, but Angel intervenes and shoots her, forcing her to retreat.
Valentino let out an angry snort. "There wouldn't have been any goons, hm?" he asked Angel reproachfully.
The spider demon let out a snort. “I didn't expect there to be anyone willing to fight for Army of One!” he defended himself. "And don't make a big deal out of it anyway. It's just one person, we can handle it easily..."
Just then the sound of several flapping wings came through the entrance and at least five more people appeared before them, all of them nearly identical to the woman they were facing except for their build and the shape of their horns. Valentino and Vox looked at Angel with disdain. "Oh, what a fuck!" the spider demon exclaimed in frustration.
Valentino made a noise of anger. "Now I really have enough of all of this! Everybody go fuck yourself!" he screamed, and an abnormal amount of thick toxic pink smoke erupted from his mouth. Angel barely had time to hold his nose before breathing it in, as the moth demon clearly made no distinction as to who he would have poisoned and who he wouldn't. At least, if he had hit their opponents, they would have immediately defeated them and could have escaped...
But a second cloud of smoke came from behind their opponents and protected them, and enveloped the first, taking control of it and annihilating it, making it vanish. Angel, Valentino and Vox froze, knowing full well who was the person who could perfectly copy the moth demon's power. And as expected, heavy footsteps came from the entrance and the huge figure of Army of One, once again fully covered by his now repaired armor, appeared before them. "Mm, look, look. How many annoying insects there are in this shithole" he commented. “Fortunately, pest control has always been a hobby I loved”
Angel broke into a cold sweat: that was exactly the worst-case scenario of all. He knew well that none of them stood a chance against Army of One.
"Your men are fighting with other of my girls right now. You have to find people with more resistance to be able to hold me or them for long. I didn't even have to fight, they did everything" Army of One said raising his arms and pointing to the women around him. "Your plan wasn't bad. Maybe you could have distracted me, and your men are good against some stupid drones... but my girls are built for war. They took them down in less than two minutes"
The masked women around grinned with satisfaction at the compliments received. "Your henchmen were really painful. Just touch them and they break" one of them said mockingly.
Army of One beckoned to them: "Go now. I'm on my own here. You take care of setting up my stage well. My performance tonight will have to be flawless"
The masked women nodded and immediately flew away. Angel swallowed: he didn't know what the guy was talking about, but he was sure it wasn't anything good. But he couldn't waste time thinking about that at the moment since he was literally locked in a room with one of the most dangerous beings in Hell.
Army of One advanced towards them, slamming his heavy tail on the ground. "I'm afraid you have something that belongs to me" he said in a menacing voice, pointing to the media overlord. "And since you dared to hit one of my girls, I think I'll have some fun with you"
Angel, Valentino and Vox gritted their teeth. “Val… be careful” the media overlord stammered. "His gaze... he can..."
"Yes, I know, they warned me. I must not look him in the eyes" Valentino told him quickly. “Fuck… this is really a shitty situation”
"So, what do we do?" Angel asked tightening his grip on his gun.
Valentino remained silent for a moment, and then he let out a satisfied grin. "You stay!" he exclaimed, and he kicked Angel straight into Army of One's arms.
The spider demon made a sound of surprise, which then turned into a roar of anger: "You bastard! I was expecting this so much!" he shouted as he saw the moth demon spit smoke to distract his pursuer and jump back into the vent, dragging Vox with him.
Angel wanted to say that he hadn't expected it... but the truth was he was one hundred percent sure that in the event of a critical situation Valentino would have done something like this. But he had much bigger problems to think about at the moment, as Army of One had grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. “Hey, hey, man… can we talk about it…?”
"Being abandoned by your thieving partner? Really sad... and predictable. What else could I expect from people like you?" Army of One commented squeezing his fingers so hard that the spider demon feared he was going to break his neck.
Angel swallowed hard. "Dude, listen to me... you want to play with Charlie, right? You spared Alastor because you said he was an interesting pawn... I can be one too..."
Army of One slammed him into the ground, so hard that the ground cracked beneath him. "Do you think you can buy my goodwill? You disgusting being, are you even willing to sell yourself to survive?" he hissed angrily, and then he touched his helmet, taking off his visor and showing his eyes. "You deserve to be punished"
Angel gritted his teeth and tried not to meet his gaze, but he knew Army of One would have forced him to. He took a deep breath and, knowing who the person above him probably was, he tried to calm him down: "Ugh... man, wait! I know you probably see me as disgusting, but I can assure you that's not the case! I've changed. Maybe you don't believe it and only see the evil around you, but if you tried to listen to Charlie maybe..."
But Army of One didn't let him finish: he blocked his face and stared him straight in the eyes. "You think you know what I see when I look at you? Let me show you, little spider!"
Angel saw only darkness around him. He had a hood over his head, and was struggling to breathe. He felt a rope binding him tightly and preventing any movement.
Where was he...?
He was so scared...!
Had someone captured him? Who were they? What did they want?
He couldn't even speak... they had gagged him...!
Suddenly someone tore his hood off, and finally he could see five men standing in front of him. They were inside a cellar, and the person in front of him was a pale boy in his twenties with a winking smile on his face. "Dude, you know how it works" he told him. "The Corleons don't like people who delay payments too long. We've given you the chance to redeem yourself twice... but you still haven't paid the bill"
He tried to answer him, to say something to him, to beg him. But the collar over his mouth prevented him from doing so.
He squirmed in his seat, trying to free himself. He knew it was useless, but he tried anyway.
He was desperate.
"Well, it was nice meeting you" the pale boy told him, pointing the gun at his head.
He became even more agitated.
He knew that as soon as he pulled the trigger, he would have died.
He felt his life slipping away from him...
He was afraid...
Help...!!!
"Goodbye"
The gunshot rang in his ears, and he just had time to see the faint light of the shot emerge from the barrel before everything fell into darkness and oblivion...
"GASP!"
Angel took a deep breath as the world returned to what he knew and he was back in his real body. He was drenched in a pool of sweat and trembling from head to toe. He curled up and almost cried.
Alastor had told him about that magical look... but he didn't think it was anything like that.
It had been horrible.
All that fear... that desperation... that pain...
Had he... had he caused them...?
Suddenly he felt like his hands were covered in blood. He felt as if he were there again, in that cellar, looking at the man he had killed.
He had shot him in cold blood... while he was so desperate...
"What a useless douchebag" Army of One commented, and then without another word he threw himself at the ceiling and smashed it. A couple of noises were heard, and then Vox and Valentino were thrown out again. "I'm not done with you two!"
He advanced towards Valentino, but Vox got up and got in the way, and tried to hit him with an electric shock... but it was blocked without any effort and Army of One grabbed his arm. "And you should have learned by now what happens when you piss me off!" he said looking him straight in the eyes.
Vox found himself in an office, at an incredibly dilapidated desk, intent on working with a rudimentary typewriter. And he could clearly feel that he was tired.
He hadn't slept in... how long?
Two days?
Maybe more.
Suddenly someone slammed his hand in front of him. "What are you doing!? Why aren't you working!?"
He looked up and saw a person with black hair and gaunt skin glaring at him. "But sir... I'm working..."
"You call this work? I want at least another hundred pages finished within the hour!" the other man told him.
"But sir... my shift ended four hours ago..."
"And with that!? You expect a prize!?"
"But..."
"All the same, you young people today! Always demanding to work less than you should! Do you have any idea how many people I find like you? It will take me two days to replace you!"
"No! No, sir, please, I have a family...!"
"All America has families! Get to work or get fired!"
“Yes… yes, sir”
"Good. And know that I will deduct every unfinished page from your paycheck. Fuck it, they're so efficient in Japan, why can't you be too? Ever since they made all these fucking civil rights law, this country is going to hell!"
He remained silent, letting the other man vent and rant that it was ridiculous to allow people to work less than twelve hours a day and allow them to send their children to school.
He had to bear it.
For his wife.
For his daughter.
He had to keep working.
Day after day.
Hour after hour...
"AAAAAGH!!!"
Vox slid to his knees, placing his hands in front of his face. He was shaking like a leaf and looked devastated.
Valentino just raised his head and let out a groan at seeing Vox reduced like that, but he also trembled as soon as he realized he was next. "Angel, protect me...!" he exclaimed, but the spider demon didn't move from his crouched position, too shaken to act.
Army of One grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Don't worry. You're next!" he said, locking eyes with him.
Valentino was violently thrown to the ground, and felt a strong pain in his head, where someone had undoubtedly thrown a punch. He was also losing blood.
He tried to get up, or at least get on all fours. He could see that his hands and arms were smaller, feminine... his arm was also smaller and thinner, and showed the typical softness not suitable for a male body...
Was he… a woman…?
“How dare you refuse to let that guy fuck you!?”
He whirled around and terror filled him. A counterpart of his, identical to him in every way, but with a human face instead of a moth's, was approaching him threateningly. "Have you forgotten that you belong to me!? I give you so much, and you repay me like this!?
Terror filled him.
Pure terror.
The knowledge that that man could hurt him as much as he wanted.
The voice that came out of his mouth was very thin and scared. "Val... please... it was just a moment..."
"And that should be an excuse!?" his other self responded by grabbing him by the neck, spitting tons of smoke from his mouth. "Now you and I will have some real fun, little whore ..."
He trembled again. "Val, I promise, it won't happen again...!"
But his other self took him and pulled down his trousers, and penetrated him violently. Again and again. He could feel all the pain, it felt like his own body was being shattered, and at the same time his mind was also being torn apart...
But at the same time he still felt a feeling of disgust. It was pathetic… was screaming all he knew how to do?
Wait...
That... wasn't...?
"WHAT!?"
Army of One let Valentino go and throw him to the floor. "Impossible! You too!?" he roared. "Not just one, but two demons are wicked enough to resist my gaze!? How can you not be horrified by yourselves!?"
Valentino coughed loudly. His body still felt sore even though it was just an illusion. "Urgh... why should I be? I only took what was mine! That whore belonged to me! I regret nothing of what I've done...!"
Army of One punched him so hard that he crashed into a wall. "This place is truly populated by the most hideous beings in the universe!" he shouted angrily. "I'll…!"
Suddenly he heard the sound of a shot behind him and ducked out of the way just in time before an angelic bullet passed two centimeters from his head. If it had hit him a little further to the side, it could have hit him on the back of the head, and if the helmet hadn't held up it would have killed him. "Okay! Who's got balls!?"
He turned and saw Angel with his gun raised. The spider demon, although still trembling, had managed to regain enough willpower to take back his gun and try to shoot him while he was busy hitting Valentino. Army of One rushed at him, determined to smear him on the wall too, but suddenly something unexpected happened.
Angel's cell phone shook and then his screen seemed to explode, and several pixelated figures composited together and appeared in the room. Army of One moved again in time to avoid Vaggie's spear, which had not hesitated to try to hit him. All the other current hotel guests minus Charlie made their appearance. "Angel!" Husk and Cherri exclaimed in unison, helping him up.
"Guys!" Velvette screamed as well seeing Vox and Valentino in that state. She immediately tried to use her powers to escape with all of them inside one of their cell phones, but Army of One was faster and with a single movement of his hand he generated an electrical discharge that fried any electronic circuit, clearly derived from Vox's powers.
"Damn, I didn't expect to have to face him again so soon and with so little preparation available" Alastor grumbled, but nevertheless his shadows began to sharpen. "Come next to me. We will escape in..."
"No, you will not run away into the shadows. I have already cordoned off the entire area using your powers" Army of One told him, showing him his right hand which had become shrouded in dark shadows. "You're not leaving here"
The radio demon narrowed his eyes. "Ok... then, let's have a duel in..."
"Another duel? No thanks. We already had one and you were pretty pathetic" Army of One replied, then he took off and headed towards the exit. "I'm not going to fight you now. But don't worry... I have a little surprise for you"
And suddenly two humanoid robots at least three meters tall arrived, completely covered in steel. Alastor moved his shadows to strike them, but his powers dissolved as soon as they touched them. "Damn... that's angelic steel...!"
"Exactly. The ones you see are the result of what Mr. Vox, Mrs. Carmine and many others have taught me. Feel free to play with them, I have other things to do. There is still one person I have to welcome" Army of One he told them, and then he gestured to the two robots: "Do what I created you to do"
The eyes of the two robots lit up red, and then they advanced menacingly towards the demons. Everyone got into an attack position, pushing Angel and Vox back, who clearly couldn't fight given their condition. It looked like a tough battle awaited them.
Army of One meanwhile flew back to the church. There he stopped and folded his wings around his body. "She will be here soon. And this time... no interferences" he said. "Now... I just have to wait"
And with those words he leaned against the altar, watching the candles dance. But it didn't take long for him to start getting bored, so to pass the time, he picked up a book and started reading it. And of course the only book there was there was the Bible, but even though he already knew the story, he decided to take a look anyway. He had nothing else to do anyway.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/149753011
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 18: Unmasked
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie arrived at her father's palace as soon as she could, trying not to think about the conversation she had just had with Vaggie. In fact, she was trying to think of anything but that.
She knew that Vaggie's intent had never been to deny her dream of giving the demons redemption. She didn't mean it like that. However, unfortunately the underlying gist was exactly that. Charlie tried to convince herself that Vaggie had said she didn't believe a soul could change realms just because she was too scared at the prospect that Army of One might actually be him... but a part of her, a very, very evil voice in her head, kept telling her that the tension and fear had only brought out what her girlfriend really thought.
Charlie was used to being told her dream was ridiculous, pretty much everyone had told her that... except Vaggie. Vaggie had never denied the possibility that redemption was real. Not until then at least. But now, Charlie found herself with the doubt that Vaggie had only wanted to please her up until that moment and that she didn't really believe in that plan, a doubt that was biting her brain like a poisonous snake.
She tried not to think about it anymore and entered her father's palace, which as usual was deserted. The huge palace that could have accommodated hundreds of people was completely empty, without even a single servant inside. Just huge shelves full of rubber ducks. And in the middle of those shelves she found her father intent on putting the aforementioned ducks away. "Charlie, darling! Sorry, I'm a little busy... I'm cleaning up all this mess, that earthquake today knocked everything down! The sinners should really get a grip on all these turf wars, eh eh!"
Charlie held back the urge to slap herself across the face. “Dad, let me guess: you didn't even look out the window today"
"Huh? Of course not. Why, should I?" Lucifer asked confused. "That earthquake knocked over all my ducks, I had to work all day to put them back..."
"Why didn't you just use your powers?" Charlie rightly asked him.
Lucifer shook his head. "Don't talk about it! My ducks have a specific order on the shelves. I have to put them there, personally, calculating every centimeter! If with my powers I were to put them in the wrong place without realizing it would have been a disaster!" he answered her. “Anyway, why should I look out the window?”
"Because you would have noticed that now instead of Cannibal Town there is a volcano's caldera" Charlie told him.
Lucifer's eyes widened. He suddenly seemed more interested. "Uh... really?" he murmured. Even he knew that it couldn't have been a mere demon that had caused this.
Charlie was glad that her father was finally understanding the urgency of the situation. "Dad… I need to ask you… some questions"
Lucifer was silent for a moment, and then he made two chairs and a small table appear. "Sit down" he told her. As soon as they sat down, he patiently asked her: "What do you want to know?"
Charlie bit her lip: "Dad... as you well know, demons, once hit with angelic weapons, die. Is it the same... for angels?"
Lucifer didn't respond immediately. He wrung his hands a couple of times, and then he replied: "No. Well... not really"
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat on her forehead. "Explain, please"
Lucifer was clearly concerned by the apprehension shown by his daughter, but nevertheless answered truthfully: "Angels... cannot really die... not by simple means such as angelic weapons at least. Demons, whether sinners or hellborns, they are made entirely of matter, since they have no hint of spirituality... but angels are instead composed almost completely of spirit"
"Spirit?" Charlie repeated in confusion.
"It is a sort of mystical energy that finds its foundation within the soul. Angels, being pure beings, are full of it; demons, being impure, are not. Demons are made of matter, and therefore when they die, they die and that's it. But the angels... being made of spirit, theirs is only a temporary death, even that with angelic blades" Lucifer explained to her, trying to be as clear as possible. "When an angel dies for other reasons, they just respawned like the sinners here in Hell; if they die from an angelic blade, or angelic energy, or anything else that normally kills demons... their spirit simply returns to the judgment hall, is subjected to such judgment again, and is then given a new body and sent back to Heaven. Or, in my case, Hell"
Charlie blinked a couple of times. It took her a while to process all that information. "Well… that explains why you were only exiled"
Lucifer nodded. "There are methods to permanently kill an angel, but they are not the angelic blades and they are not so easy to use. Angelic weapons, as I told you, only send angels back to judgment. And since the judgment can be long... the souls in question can disappear for long time instead of reappearing after just a few minutes. That's the reason why you and your friends still won the battle"
"How come Vaggie didn't know about this possibility?" Charlie asked him. She was sure that if Vaggie had known that angels struck by angelic weapons ended up in judgment she would have told her right away.
"Well, only the seraphim actually know. Or at least, that's how it was when I was up there, I don't know if things have changed" Lucifer replied to her. "They thought that if the soldiers hadn't known they could be reborn they would have fought much harder. You know... fight like their lives depended on it. That's why your girlfriend didn't know"
Charlie rubbed her chin. "So... hypothetically speaking... if a demon managed to become... less impure... and gained some spirit from their soul... once killed with angelic weapons, they wouldn't actually die but would receive a new judgment, and they could even go to Heaven?”
Lucifer thought about it for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Well... it's never happened, but it's possible. But I advise against trying that method, you know how it is... if it goes wrong, you'll have one of your friends on your conscience"
"I didn't mean to do it" Charlie reassured him, and then she clenched her fists tightly. "What I wanted to know is... if on the contrary an angel were to make themselves too impure... and die because of angelic weapons... could the judgment be... negative?"
“Are you asking me if an angel might fall into Hell?” Lucifer asked her. "Well, it's possible. That's more or less what happened to me... even though I never died. But I don't understand these questions... why do you care to know such things?"
Charlie didn't even know how to tell him. In fact, he wasn't sure how his father would have reacted. "Dad... so you're telling me that Adam... is still alive now?"
Lucifer opened his eyes slightly, realizing that his daughter hadn't known that detail until a few minutes ago. Maybe he should have told her sooner. "Um... well, yes. Adam and his Exorcists are angels, so right now they're probably already back in Heaven. Normally it would be a long wait, but... well, Adam is one of those big guys, it wouldn't surprise me if they let him skip the line. He and his soldiers must have undergone judgment and received new bodies. I know it's not exactly nice to hear, but..."
"What if it hadn't happened like this?" Charlie asked in a small voice. "What if the judgment... had been negative?"
Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why it should have been. Adam has always been one of Heaven's wards, always obedient to their rules"
"But their rules aren't just absolute" Charlie told him. "Not even they know how souls go to Heaven"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. By now even he, who did not particularly shine with observation skills, had become suspicious. "Charlie, what are you trying to tell me?"
Charlie trembled a little. "Dad... two weeks ago, right after our battle, a new sinner appeared. He has strength beyond any demon, can shoot energy beams from his hands, and particularly hates sinners. Does this tell you anything?"
Lucifer was silent for a moment, and then his eyes widened: "Wait... are you saying that...!?"
"I don't know for sure" Charlie told him. "He calls himself Army of One and I've never seen his face. But he told me things that only... only he knew"
Lucifer looked down. His fists clenched and he suddenly looked very conflicted. “He… could he be here…?” he murmured in a trembling voice.
Charlie didn't expect that reaction. It seemed her father wasn't sure whether to rejoice or not, or even whether to rejoice at his rival's potential ruin or at… something else. She couldn't read his emotions. “Dad… if it was really him… what will you do?”
Lucifer barely looked at his daughter. He seemed scared to even look up. "I... I don't know" he admitted. "Last time I had no problem fighting him even to death, because I knew that he would have been reborn anyway... but if, as you think, the judgment had been negative... and I had to kill him... it could really be... the last time. I... I don't know if..."
"You don't want to risk killing him?" Charlie summed up everything his father was saying in one question.
Lucifer nodded. "I don't want to see him dead" he admitted. "Charlie... I know he has wronged you a lot... but Lilith and I really wanted that he..."
Just then Charlie's cell phone rang. The princess took it and looked at it, recognizing Vaggie's number. "Hi...?"
"Charlie, we have a problem!" Vaggie exclaimed. "Angel and Valentino went to get into trouble! We're going to help them, Velvette tracked them down! I'm sending you the location, meet us there!"
"Wait! What are you...?" Charlie was about to ask her, but Vaggie abruptly ended the call. She was evidently really in a hurry, because she didn't answer when the princess tried to call her back.
Charlie bit her lip. And now what was happening? It wasn't enough that Alastor decided to be a bounty hunter, Angel started acting crazy too!?
Lucifer stood up and motioned for her to do the same. “I can take you there right now” he said, preparing to open a portal. "Where should I send you...?"
But just at that moment a new roar came from outside. Charlie and Lucifer froze in place; they hurried out of the building, and what they saw were a couple of skyscrapers collapsing amidst a screaming crowd. An armored figure flew overhead, reveling in the destruction it had caused.
Charlie's heart sank. "Dad... it's him"
Lucifer nodded slightly. "Well, the armor certainly has its charm" he commented. "I'll try to talk to him. I'll try to make him give up in a good way... and if he doesn't, I'll go easy on him"
Charlie nodded, but then she remembered the call she had just received from Vaggie. "Dad..."
"Yes, I understand" Lucifer told her, and after taking a quick look at the coordinates sent by his daughter's girlfriend he opened a portal. "Go to your friends. I'll take care of him"
Charlie nodded and jumped into the portal. She found herself in a part of Hell she almost didn't know, in front of what looked like a large cathedral. Wasting no time, she ran towards it.
Lucifer meanwhile opened his six wings and flew towards the disaster area. Army of One was still there, still knocking down buildings like they were cardboard. Lucifer thought it was a little strange: he couldn't see any opponent... who was he fighting? It almost seemed like he started destroying random stuff... well, it didn't matter. He stood in front of him in plain sight and signaled him to stop: "A..."
Army of One didn't even let him say a word: he grabbed a piece of wall at least three meters wide and threw it at him. Needless to say, it shattered on the king of Hell's body as if it were made of cardboard, but Army of One appeared behind it and threw a punch so violent that it sent Lucifer to the ground with a roar.
Of course, that didn't even cause the fallen angel a scratch, but he still wasn't enjoying being thrown around like a ping pong ball; so when Army of One came down from the sky to strike him again he shape-shifted and turned into a serpent, coiling around his armor. "I don't want to fight you!" he tried to tell him. "You know you'd end up badly...!"
Army of One didn't listen to him at all and managed to grab him; he tried to crush him, but Lucifer changed shape again and became an octopus, wrapping himself around him and holding his arms apart to prevent him from moving. "Enough!" he shouted at him. "Please, let's talk about this! I know you're definitely angry right now, but that's not how…!"
The king of Hell's words were cut off halfway by a supersonic scream. Army of One screamed with enough force to cause multiple shockwaves that pushed Lucifer away, and he flew back several feet and put his hands over his ears. It wasn't causing him any harm, at least not on a physical level, but that loud sound was still destabilizing him quite a bit. Army of One tried to take advantage of this to launch himself at him again, but Lucifer punched him in the chest, so hard that the armor shattered. "STAY DOWN!" he shouted at him, fed up with that situation. “If I wanted to kill you, you would already be… uh?”
Army of One rose again, but it wasn't the same as before. With his armor broken in multiple places, it was possible to see that beneath it was not bone and flesh, but rather a long series of circuitry and metal. It almost looked like... "A robot?"
The robot charged at Lucifer, but this time he didn't hold back in the slightest and with a single movement of his hand he blew it into little pieces. The metal circuits fell to the ground, emitting bluish sparks. "Was it a fake...?" the king of Hell murmured looking at it. "But... why...?"
Lucifer's eyes widened slightly.
Army of One had sent a robot with his appearance to attack an area of the city very close to his palace, knowing that he would notice it immediately and intervene. He wasn't really attacking anyone because his only goal was to fight him as much as possible.
And if Army of One had sent that robot to distract him right then...
... it meant that Lucifer absolutely must not be somewhere else.
Or be with someone.
"CHARLIE!"
Charlie found herself in front of a big church and without even trying to understand what was happening she entered with trepidation in hope to find her friends; but as soon as she did so, all the apprehension she had was immediately put to rest. Her entire body froze as she saw that there was someone in front of the altar, with his back turned to her. And she knew very well who he was.
The temperature in the church suddenly seemed to drop several degrees. Charlie felt her heart speed up so much that she could hear it with her own ears.
Army of One barely turned to watch her enter. He was standing in front of the altar and had an open book in his hands. "There you are" he said as soon as he saw her. “Have you come to confess your sins?”
Those words seemed to reactivate Charlie's brain, if only a little. Even though she still felt as if she were inside a refrigerator, she moved her legs again and, albeit with very small steps, approached the altar, until she stopped right at the foot of it.
Army of One closed the book and placed it on the altar. "You know... I've never had the chance to read the Bible... or maybe I've never felt like it" he said, stroking it, almost as if it were a kitten. "It's strange... I already know the stories it tells... I was there in some, I observed others, others were told to me... but it's still interesting to see it from an outside perspective. Maybe I should give it a chance and read it more carefully... as soon as I'll have time"
Charlie made a strangled noise. "I know who you are" she murmured softly.
Army of One chuckled a little. "Oh, I'm sure of it. I left too many clues... even a fool like you would have figured it out by now"
And with those words he raised his hands and finally took the helmet off his face. What Charlie saw was a human head, but with gray to black skin, yellow eyes completely devoid of pupils, pointed ears and two long gray horns that curved backwards. But such details aside, that face was undoubtedly his. Same features, same hint of beard, same hair. It was the same face she had seen two weeks ago, when his helmet had broken during battle. “Won't you say hello to me… princess?” he asked with a smile.
Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat. Her breathing rate became such that her lungs felt like they were about to explode. "I knew it was you, Adam"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 11): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150106330
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 19: The return of the first man
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie gritted her teeth. Sure, she had long understood who was hiding under that helmet, but still seeing him in person sent a shiver down her spine. That face she had thought she would have never seen again in her life was there in front of her, staring at her with those pupilless yellow eyes.
Adam, the first man, the general of the angelic army, the one who had exterminated more demons than anyone else... reduced to a sinner demon.
If the situation hadn't been critical, she might even have laughed.
"Oh, come on, what's with that face?" Adam asked her, smiling evilly. "Aren't you coming to hug me? I might be offended. You're always so cold every time we meet... what should I do to make you melt a little?". He chuckled. "Are you worried about your fucking daddy? Don't worry, the robot I sent against him is just to distract him. It won't kill him... also because it can't do it. Don't think that I would use such tricks to eliminate my eternal rival; only I can take off Lucifer's head"
Charlie had remained silent while he continued his rant. In the end, with a great effort of will she inspired deeply and murmured: "So it's true... you were reborn here, in Hell. The judgment was negative"
Adam's smile faltered a little. "Your shitty dad informed you about a few things, mh?" he said as he came down from the altar. "Well, yes. It's still not exactly clear to me how it happened... but regardless, that's how it went. When I woke up, I was no longer at the divine gates of Heaven, but in this disgusting parody of a world. You can imagine my discomfort in that moment. The anger, the hatred, the fury... and the desperation"
"You brought this on yourself" Charlie answered him with a bit of sourness in her voice. "Don't try to play the victim"
"Oh, but I'm not trying to play the victim, little princess" Adam told her, his smile widening a little. "It's true, for me, waking up here in Hell was... destabilizing. Disconcerting, I dare to say. And I knew what that implied, I knew... that I still had a duty to do. I knew that my job was to solve the problem that I posed before I became a risk to Heaven. I had a duty to take an angelic blade and stick it back into my chest, so that I couldn't pose a risk to the realm I had defended so strenuously. I knew exactly what I had to do... but I didn't do it"
Charlie bit her lip. She had never liked Adam, but she still didn't like hearing that he had been on the verge of taking his own life. If he were, it would have been better if he had been reborn as a demon near someone who could stop him... fortunately he had stopped on his own.
Adam let out a loud snort. "I couldn't... I wasn't able to do what needed to be done. I felt forced to stay... forced to disobey... forced to make a different choice. I... had to do it... even if it meant taking a... different path". He raised his arms as if to indicate himself. "And so, here I am. Now I am completely disconnected from Heaven. Because of you and your stupid idealism, little princess, I have totally disobeyed those I have always obeyed. And now I am here, in this form alien to me and to the same time so natural to me. A new man, so to speak, just like you... apparently free"
Charlie narrowed her eyes slightly. Adam's words were disturbing to say the least. "Well... congratulations" she muttered sarcastically.
"Thank you" Adam replied in the same sarcastic tone, but then his smile completely disappeared from his face. "But... as you well know, this is just a pathetic illusion. We are not here because we are free... we are here because we are not free. We are prisoners in this eternal dark cage, and if there is no one to tell us what to do we find ourselves without a purpose. It is purpose that shapes us and makes us who we are. Without purpose, we do not exist. And since you took mine away, little princess... I had to look for a new purpose"
"Freeing people from this eternal cage is what I'm trying to do" Charlie said.
But Adam only laughed. "Free them? I never wanted to free anyone. I didn't want demons in Heaven before, do you think something has changed now because I'm one of them?"
"Let's just say I hoped so" Charlie admitted. "I thought that after the universe itself screamed in your face that you were wrong, you too would have understood your mistakes"
"Oh... but this has nothing to do with the universe, little princess" Adam told her as he advanced towards her. "In this world without rules, the only thing that matters is not the will of the universe or even God... it's only ours. Here we forge our own destinies... by disobeying. Just as I disobeyed, by refusing to end my life... why should I care what God's judgment was on my person?"
"It's not a matter of what they order us" Charlie replied. "It's about of right and wrong..."
“And you surely know what is right and what is wrong, don't you?” Adam retorted. "After all, it is surely not you the one who is surrounding herself with a flood of miserable errors that deserve nothing but damnation, hoping that by some miracle they will change their corrupt natures, and allowing them to access a bliss they don't deserve, forcing their their victims to reunite with them"
Charlie was speechless. She hadn't missed the disgust, anger, and hatred in the first man's voice. "Well... I certainly understand more than you. I'm not the fallen angel here"
Adam's eyes twinkled slightly and his smile completely disappeared from his face. Charlie felt her skin crawl and thought that maybe this time she had bitten off more than she could chew. She expected Adam to punch her out of the church at any moment... but contrary to her expectations, he held back. "You don't know anything at all" he told her instead. "You have not the faintest idea of what these creatures that you want to redeem have done, you do not know what their treacherous presence in Heaven would generate. You have only been lucky so far, but no great force is proving you right. Of the many sins that I think they could have led me to this form... exterminating demons is certainly not one of them. I don't expect you to understand... you have already proven yourself to be too stupid, naive and manipulable". He took a step back and looked back at the altar. "But that's okay... it's not in my interest to make you better after all. It's not in my interest to make anyone better. Not you... not me... not the traitor who's fucking you now... not all the rabble of mistakes that surround you. I just want to finish the job for good this time"
Charlie shivered again. She almost would have preferred Adam to lose his temper and hit her rather than put on that stoic and cold expression. "What do you want to do?"
"It seems obvious to me" Adam replied, staring at her with his merciless eyes. "What I do best. Cleaning. I must clean up this world... and all the other worlds"
"Do you want to continue exterminating demons?" Charlie stammered in a small voice. "Then why don't you do it? With your powers, you could have destroyed all of Pentagram City in an instant..."
"Yes, I could have... but it wouldn't have been a real victory. I would have only gotten a miserable momentary gratification" Adam answered her, narrowing his eyes. "If I really want to cleanse this world... first I must eliminate the only one who can stop me"
Charlie swallowed. "My father doesn't want to kill you"
Adam seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if these words had shaken him; but then his gaze became ferocious. "Well, too bad for him" he told her in a hissing voice. "Because instead I want to see him very dead"
Charlie clenched her fists. Her entire body seemed to be screaming at her to run as Adam approached her. "Is this why you kidnap overlords? What do you plan to do?"
"Ah, little princess... do you really think I'll tell you my plan?" Adam told her, stopping in front of her and twirling his tail slightly. "I don't intend to reveal anything to you in advance. Just know that the game between us has just begun"
Charlie took a step back away from the first man. “What game are you talking about?”
"Oh, come on, you still don't get it? You don't think I sent a fake me to distract your father right now by pure chance, do you?" Adam asked her rhetorically. "I willingly let that moth demon and that spoiled little girl go, knowing what they would have done. All this time, I've been using the powers I took from that doll to keep tabs on all of you via your cell phones, and those on that broken television to use all the cameras in the city. That moth and your spider friend were good at hiding... but unfortunately, you can't hide from technology nowadays. I knew the moth demon could track his beloved television... and I knew he was coming. A little manipulation here and there, and your group of misfits split up. And so you finally arrived here, exactly where I wanted you... alone. I promised you we would have talked without further interference, right?”
Charlie tried to back away again, but Adam grabbed her arm and held her tight, preventing her from moving. For a moment it seemed to her that she had returned to more than six months before, when he had grabbed her in the same way in the celestial embassy. “What… what do you want to do…!?”
"To you? Nothing. Not physically, at least" Adam replied. "I would love to torture you a little like I do with your precious demons, but unfortunately my power has... limitations. But I will soon be able to break those too. No... what I aim to do with you... is to destroy everything you believe in, to rob you of your purpose, just as you have robbed me of mine"
Charlie trembled under his merciless gaze. "L-Let me go...!"
"Why do you think I have these powers, little princess?" Adam suddenly asked her. "Why can I see all the sins of these souls and manipulate their minds to force them to experience them from the worst perspective? Why can I imitate their powers?"
Charlie was confused by that question. "Because... you are an overlord...?"
"Oh, no. My overlord powers are different, and I haven't used them yet... although I think I'll show them off soon" Adam replied to her. "Everything else... has a different root. The ability to manipulate souls... doesn't it remind you of anything? There was someone else who was able to do it, someone who was present in your life"
Charlie blanched. Indeed, she knew someone who could manipulate souls, albeit in a different way. “What… what are you…?”
"No, don't ask me for explanations" Adam told her with an ever-widening grin. "Ask your dear sweet mother. She will have many things to confess to you. If I know her well, she will be here soon... assuming she hasn't already arrived"
"Do you... do you know where my mother is...?" Charlie muttered, her eyes bulging. How was this possible? Nobody knew...!
Adam finally let go of her and pushed her away, causing her to stagger backwards. "I know many things, much more than you think" he replied. "But now... enough with the questions. It's time to start the real dancing. The treasure hunt was fun... but now it's time to start the real concert. It's time for you to lose your purpose, and therefore your reason for living... because purpose is life"
And suddenly Charlie heard a thud next to her. She whirled around and saw that another demon had landed to her right. They had bat wings, horns, and a long, hooked tail, and their skin appeared to be fused with armor. They had a mask on their face, but they immediately took it off, revealing a female face with silver hair, very similar to Vaggie's. “It is purpose that shapes us” she told her.
Another thud to her right, and a demon with the same features appeared. She also had the same mask and taking it off revealed a very similar feminine face, with the same silver hair, although she had it slightly longer and her horns were more pointed. “It's purpose that defines us" she said back.
Charlie watched in amazement and fear as numerous other women, all with the same features, landed around her.
"It is purpose that created us"
"It is purpose that connects us"
"It is purpose that pulls us"
"It is purpose that guides us"
"It is purpose that drives us"
"It is purpose that binds us"
Charlie turned chalk white. “Adam… these are…!?”
"What's the matter? Did you think I was the only one who came back?" Adam asked as he advanced towards her. "The Exorcists that you and your friends killed were reborn here with me. I searched for them all, one by one. My girls awaited the return of their general, and their prayers were answered. And all of them, just like me, are very pissed at you. We're here because of you, little princess, and now you have to face the consequences of your actions"
Charlie swallowed hard and nearly slipped to the floor under the first man's piercing gaze. "A-Adam..."
"I made a mistake with you" Adam suddenly told her. “I shouldn't have acted that way towards you”
Charlie's eyes widened in confusion. "What...?"
"You heard me well. I admit that I behaved badly towards you" Adam continued to say. “I thought you were just a ridiculous dreamer who I could silence by simply razing his pathetic hotel. I mistakenly believed I could get you out of the way using violence. I made a grave mistake and now I realize it. You don't you're just a dreamer who gives up as soon as things go wrong, you fight. You remind me a lot of myself, but in a more childish and ignorant version. And this is exactly the mistake I made: I didn't teach you anything. Instead of just trying to erase you as if you were a stain on my dress, I should have shown you the truth... you are not a bad person, you are just stupid; I should have immediately taken you in and taught you how the world works, instead of ignoring you. It was my mistake, I solemnly admit it. And now I will fix it"
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat. Those words were sending a shiver down her spine. “What… what do you want to do…!?”
"What I should have done from the start: I'm going to teach you an important life lesson" Adam replied. "I will show you how twisted and broken the world you seek to protect truly is. Since Lucifer was unable to do a good job, I will take his place as your educator and guide you in understanding the reality that, unfortunately, it's not made of rainbows and sunshine like kids like you like to think. It's a reality we all have to face sooner or later if we want to grow up... and you, little princess, now have to grow up. I will make you grow up. And I'll start by taking away from you the same thing that you tried to take away from all of us". His eyes shone with evil light. "Purpose!"
And with that last words he punched Charlie in the stomach, knocking her breath away and throwing her against a wall. The Exorcists attacked her, and she instinctively raised her finger to defend herself and blew them all up as she had done during the battle of the hotel. She realized too late what she had done and was already about to despair, but she stopped when she saw the Exorcists reappear in front of her as if they had never been destroyed. “What… how…?” she murmured, but then she realized that Adam had his fist raised and a golden light was coming from it, the same one that had reassembled the Exorcists. "You... owns their souls...!?"
"Exactly" Adam replied.
Charlie gritted her teeth. "How could you!? They were your soldiers...!"
“Hey, don't talk to me like I forced them or tricked them” Adam replied. "I didn't want it. They gave their souls to me selflessly, so that I could become an overlord in all respects and... unlock some very useful special skills"
Charlie's eyes widened, but looking at the smug faces of the Exorcists she realized that it was all true. "Why!? Don't you realize that if now he wants to do something that you don't want, he can force you...!"
"But we want to do what he wants" was the response of one of the girls.
"Oh, yes" another said with a grin.
"And even if we don't want to, our job is to serve the general" yet another said in a serious voice. "We will always follow him, no matter what battle"
Well, at least Charlie could understand that. Loyalty was a very strong and noble feeling, but still entrusting their own soul to someone else was not a decision that could be taken lightly. "How did you manage to reconstruct them...?"
"It's one of the skills I got as an overlord" Adam replied. "Other demons have powers based on weapons, radio, social media, and other such crap... but I don't have something material. My power... answers to one word. General"
Charlie felt her breath taken away. "General...?"
"Exactly. And one of my powers is to separate the bodies of my soldiers from their actual souls" Adam answered her. "Right now, my girls' souls are in a safe place. What you see in front of you are just bodies. You can hit them as much as you want, but until you kill me, you can never kill them"
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat. If that was the case, then those Exorcists were literally invincible... even if they would have died immediately if Adam had been defeated.
Adam clapped his hands. “Well, I guess I've said everything I need to tell you” he said, and then he nodded to the Exorcists: “Girls, have fun with her. I'm going to set up the stage for the grand finale. Oh, and don't aim to the head: I don't want to ruin that pretty face too soon... slow things are always best, after all"
"Yes, sir!" the Exorcists all responded in unison, and once again lunged at Charlie.
The princess of Hell stepped back and tried to dodge her opponents' blows, and she materialized her shield in her hands to be able to defend herself. "Adam, wait, please! It doesn't have to be this way! We can still…!"
"Instead this is exactly how it has to go, little princess. And this is how it will go. Some things cannot be changed" Adam replied, heading towards the underground again. "Don't worry, darling. Listen to my advice... there is no point in being afraid of the inevitable"
And having said this he went down the stairs that took him to the basement. Charlie wanted to chase him, but all she could do was continue to face the Exorcists who were coming at her from all sides.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 11): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150106330
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 20: Past and pain
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Fuck!" Vaggie growled as she jumped back for the umpteenth time. “How do these things break!?”
The two robots that Army of One had unleashed against them were quite difficult to beat. Normally Alastor or any other overlord wouldn't have had the slightest effort to destroy them, but the angelic steel they were covered in made them literally indestructible. They couldn't touch them without having their powers nullified, and any magical attacks were also useless.
Alastor was getting quite annoyed. They had been facing them for over fifteen minutes, but they still hadn't managed to get a scratch on them. The only good thing was that the robots were rather slow and couldn't hit them... but Alastor knew that if Army of One had given two such bad machines the task of dealing with them, then his plan was probably not to kill them but just keep them busy.
And that wasn't good at all.
They had to leave before the situation got worse, because, and Alastor was sure of this, it would have gotten worse very soon. But with the two robots protecting the entrance and his shadow escape powers blocked, escaping was impossible.
Vox's faint voice was suddenly heard. "The neural connections... on the right side... of the neck" he stammered while still trembling. "They are... the weak point"
Alastor raised an eyebrow. “What is a neural connection…?”
Vaggie completely ignored him and jumped on the head of one of the robots, and hit it in the place Vox had indicated: the wires there, unlike all the others, were slightly exposed and she was able to cut them with her spear. Apparently, the media overlord had managed to alter at least a little the blueprints he had given Army of One, giving his creations at least one weak point.
The severed wires sizzled, and then exploded, bending the robot's neck to the side, exposing the insides. No longer blocked by the angelic steel, Alastor sent his shadows inside and tore the robot apart, breaking all its circuits, until it fell to the ground without moving anymore.
"Well, we figured out how to destroy them!" Husk exclaimed as he continued to distract the other robot. “Vaggie, do the same to…!"
"I'll take care of it!" Niffty exclaimed as she jumped onto the robot like a spider and ripped apart the exposed wires, opening a breach once again. The radio demon didn't hesitate to exploit it and just as he had done with the other robot, he penetrated his dark tentacles into his circuits, tearing him to pieces.
Alastor lifted his tentacles from the robot's destroyed body. "We're done with that" he growled. "Let's leave, before Army of One or his henchmen return!"
The others obeyed him and ran away through the catacombs; Husk and Cherri helped Angel walk and Velvette and Valentino took Vox away. When they were near the exit they opened the ventilation duct and went inside to exit. Army of One had set traps for the outside, but not for those coming from within.
But as they were leaving, a dark shadow wrapped around them... or rather, it created a literal wall behind them and grabbed Alastor, dragging him to the other side. The others tried to take him, but the radio demon was completely sealed inside the catacomb, without even being able to hear a sound coming from outside.
Alastor gritted his teeth, and he did so even more as soon as he heard a voice behind him. "Do you mind if we talk a little?"
The radio demon turned suddenly, and he emitted a shudder when he saw a face well known to him, even if a little different from before. "You...!"
"Yes, me" Adam replied, and then he grabbed him by the collar. "Me, me, me"
Alastor let out a growl, and a loud sound erupted from his antennae that pushed his opponent back, freeing him. But Adam only seemed amused by this. "No, please, continue" he told him in a satisfied voice. "I couldn't copy many of your skills last time. Teach me more"
Alastor tightened his grip on his staff. "So it was really you" he commented sourly. "I had hoped never to see your ugly face again"
"Oh, yes, I'm sure. And I notice with great pleasure that you haven't learned anything from our little confrontation two weeks ago" Adam told him. "You still have the bad habit of facing opponents whose actual reach you don't know. You let your pride govern you too much"
"I could say the same about you" Alastor replied. “How stupid can you be to fight a seraphim face to face?”
Adam let out a hiss from his mouth. "I admit that my actions were foolish. But I do not intend to repeat them" he said. "Now... let's hurry. I would gladly continue to play with you, but we don't have much time"
Alastor's smile wavered for a moment. "What do you want from me?"
Adam narrowed his eyes and grinned. "I want you to do what you do best" he replied. "I want you to betray. Betray Charlie. Abandon her and side with me"
Alastor was silent for a moment, and then he started laughing. "You expect me to join you because you asked me to? Ridiculous. Besides, why do you want it? You said you found me disgusting"
"And so it is" Adam replied. "But I also said that I want to use you as a pawn for a while longer. I didn't set up this whole game to end in nothing. Since you were the only one who spoke up for Charlie in the midst of that crowd... now I want you to make her taste the pain of betrayal"
Alastor's eyes glowed red for a moment. It was clear he was tense. "Why? Can't you just kill her?"
"To make her a martyr? I don't even think about it" Adam replied. "Her death will not happen today and not by my hands. It is not my intent to take her life. What I want is to teach her a lesson by taking her purpose away from her like she took mine from me and my girls. And besides, if I killed her now, I will not be able to do many of the things I will do in the future because Lucifer will kill me on sight. I know the pain of losing your own children, and I know how much he would hate me if I took his daughter away from him. It is imperative to eliminate our common enemy before doing anything else"
Alastor didn't understand. "What are you talking about? What common enemy?"
"The enemy of everyone, of course. The enemy of all existence, since the beginning of time" Adam told him as he advanced towards him. "Lucifer Morningstar. The archtraitor, the fallen angel, the tempter, the corrupter. He is the enemy. He is my enemy, and yours too. That makes us allies. As they say... the enemy of my enemy is my friend"
"I am not Lucifer's enemy" Alastor retorted.
But Adam laughed. "Falseness. You can't see it, or maybe you can but you don't want to admit it... but you hate him for what he did to you"
"He did nothing to me" Alastor said.
"Another falsehood. He has done a lot to you. He did a lot to every single human being who ever lived" Adam replied. "Let me show you!"
And with those words, a mass of golden smoke emerged from his mouth, quickly wrapping around the radio demon. Alastor tried to escape it, but it almost seemed to strangle him. "Cough... Valentino's hypnotic smoke...!"
"Not only that. I'm learning how to use well the powers you overlords teach me well" Adam told him with a sneer. “I went so far that now I can mix them up!”
And suddenly, in the midst of the smoke, thousands of digital eyes appeared, their pupils flashing continuously. Alastor gritted his teeth as he was exposed to both the hypnotic power of Valentino's breath and that of Vox's eyes, and perhaps even other powers from other overlords. He tried to close his eyes and plug his nose with his shadows to resist, but the cloud itself took on a shadowy consistency, clearly thanks to the powers that Adam had copied from him. "You bastard... you learn quickly...!"
"I've always been good at learning. You have to when you live in a primordial Earth and have to fight wild beasts every single day" Adam answered him. Alastor could no longer see him through the smoke, and his voice was coming from every direction. He was probably using some other power stolen from an overlord to confuse his ears. “Now… shall we talk… about what happened to you?”
Alastor held his face in his hands, trying to maintain concentration. He felt his mind wavering in the face of that immense hypnotic attack. He did his best to keep it closed, knowing that if he opened it Adam would have took complete control of him. "Ugh... you don't know anything about me..."
"Oh, I'm sure. We'll get to know each other much better soon. But the little I know is enough" Adam replied. "You know, Alastor... when I looked at your soul, I saw a life full of sin. It's as if you had devoted yourself to evil. But... all that evil had a very specific beginning. Your thirteenth birthday, the day you committed your first murder. But before... nothing. Not even a hint of evil before. Why? What made you the golden boy before... and what is gone that day, allowing the devil you were to come out?”
Alastor gritted his teeth; several shadow tendrils emerged from his back and moved like whirlwinds, attempting to dispel the cloud around him, but something with a swift movement grabbed his shoulders and tore them clean away. Alastor fell to the ground with a groan of pain. "I touched a sore point, hm?" Adam asked him in an amused voice. "Yes... maybe you are too wicked to feel remorse for your actions even after having experienced them from the point of view of your victims... but even you have something that makes your heart ache when you think about it, am I right?"
Alastor struggled to his feet. Thinking was becoming increasingly difficult for him. He used all his powers and all his concentration to resist that damned hypnosis. But what Adam said to him immediately afterward unsettled him: "Tell me... what was her name?"
Alastor almost slipped back to the ground in shock, and his head became fuzzier as he inhaled a lot of smoke. “You… how do you know…?”
"You never told anyone about your past... except one person: your precious television ex-best friend" Adam told him. "You should have held on to him instead of letting him slip away. Vox tried to keep his mouth shut, you know? When I questioned him, he tried to protect you for a while at least... but all it took to get him to talk was a little persuasion from me... and from my eyes. He told me many interesting things about you, things that no one else knows"
Alastor snorted like a bull. Even though he knew he would have gotten nothing, he unsheathed his claws and tried to strike where Adam's voice was coming from, but it was difficult since it was coming from all around him. "Vox knows nothing about me! He simply made it up to please you!"
"Really? Then I have to assume that all those stories about a mulatto child living in southern Louisiana with his dear sweet mother were just lies" Adam replied with a loud laugh. "All those stories of that child so hated just because of his skin color, who was taken by other children and forced to wash in the river to... clean himself. They were all just stories, right?"
Alastor took a deep breath, and slid to his knees. His mind was coming under violent attack, and in the midst of the smoke he seemed to see figures sometimes grinning and cruel. And words and laughs seemed to ring in his ears.
"Come here, chocolate boy!"
"You need a bath!"
"Don't give him mud, it'll make him darker!"
"He is the same color of a trunk... maybe he is lighter underwater?"
"Make him rub it off!"
Adam's laughter seemed to mix with that of those ghosts. "Just stories that Vox made up, right, Alastor? Not confessions that you yourself told him, in a moment of weakness when you felt the urge to release that burden on your heart?"
“Urgh… fuck…!” Alastor exclaimed, not caring that he was cursing, desperately trying to calm his stormy mind.
"Ah, is that how you answer? I didn't even get to the best story" Adam told him. "What can you tell me about the story of a black woman, who emigrated to Louisiana in desperate search of a better future, extremely poor, who out of desperation agreed to be the maid of a white, old and rich master... with all the... burdens... that this work entailed? A woman with a heart bigger and more golden than the entire palace of Versailles, willing to endure everything for that illegitimate child that her master had placed in her womb against her consent? A woman who couldn't be described as anything other than... extraordinary?”
Alastor curled in on himself. It was the first time anyone was making him feel like this. It seemed to him that he had returned to...
No!
It wasn't like that! He shouldn't have given it away!
That moment... was in the past...!
"Alastor"
That voice.
Alastor's heart skipped a beat.
He looked up, and this time he didn't just see blurry shapes in the smoke: a small room had appeared in front of him, no bigger than a closet, where two people were. One was a black woman of medium height, so beautiful that a goddess would have seemed a beggar by comparison; her old, rumpled maid's clothes didn't hide her curves at all, and her brown hair was styled delicately in a braid. Her beautiful face, however, was covered in bruises; one, in particular, was very noticeable on her right eye. In front of her there was a bed and in that bed there was a boy of just six years old, with skin less dark than hers and hair the same color.
"Now mom has to go to work. You stay here and sleep, okay?"
"It's okay, mom"
"And please, don't worry about the noises. Never come out. Remember, monsters can't enter this room"
"I remember. But why do you keep staying out?"
"Because I'm a mom. Moms fight monsters. Now sleep, honey"
"Can you sing me a lullaby?"
"... of course"
Alastor made a sound of pain; not physical suffering, it was something... different. A feeling he hadn't felt for decades. He instinctively raised his hand towards his mother, half expecting her to turn and look at him. He wanted to have that look back on him so bad...
But he could only watch as she sang the lullaby. While she was tucking that six-year-old in. And as she left the room and loud sounds came from beyond it.
“I told you to come here ten minutes ago, bitch!”
"Sir, I...!"
"If I tell you to come, you come right away, do you understand!? If you don't want to end up on the street together with your little monster, you better learn some manners! You exist to serve me!"
“Ouch… urgh… yes, sir… ouch…!”
"Today you will have to satisfy me properly. I'm very pissed at you...!"
Alastor acted almost without thinking: his shadow tentacles came out from his back again and hit the illusion in front of him, and in particular, the closed door from which came the moans of a suffering woman and the cruel words of a man probably drunk. His tentacles swept the smoke so much that the illusion truly vanished. But even though it was no longer in front of him, Alastor continued to see those images before his eyes, and hear them in his ears.
Adam's voice rang around him again. “She was truly a wonderful woman” he said, and this time his tone contained a strong note of sorry. "Every night, she left that room and went to face the monster, and every night she came back with more bruises and more wounds, but always with a smile on her face. She worked tirelessly all day to pay for her child's schooling, often not sleeping as much as she should or even skipping meals. When she walked down the street, she had to hide her face to prevent people from attacking her, the black girl from the village. Yet... she always smiled. The hunger, the tiredness, the hatred, the pain... for her they were nothing. While so much evil was raging against her, she continued to focus her attention on that greengrocer who had offered her a free apple, on the boy who had helped her carry her bag, on the old fisherman who greeted her when she passed and sometimes even gave her fish. She... continued to only look at the good of humanity, even if she was surrounded by so much evil. And she tried to teach only good to her child, she showed him how to live not by letting himself be dominated by hate but by love". He stopped for a moment, and Alastor was sure he heard a sigh coming from him. "If there is someone who deserved Heaven without a shadow of a doubt... it was her"
Alastor nodded. "Yes... that's right"
"I never had the privilege of knowing her, but I would have really liked it. I would be surprised if God had not chosen to keep a soul as beautiful as hers next to His throne, in His inner circle" Adam commented. He wasn't mocking him: his words sounded extremely sincere. “I think she would have been able to see the good… even in what you became”
Alastor gritted his teeth. "She... would be disgusted... by this..."
"No, I don't think so. She is a too pure soul for that. You would still be her child, her marvelous miracle... even if you broke every teaching she ever gave you" Adam told him. "No... you're the one who would be horrified if she were in front of you. You would be because you know you don't deserve her forgiveness, and for you her compassion would be like poison. You know that if she told you that she still loves you, despite everything you've done... you wouldn't bear the weight of your guilt, you wouldn't survive the awareness of having ignored her beautiful teachings... and above all her last wishes. Because you know very well that you are a monster... and you know that she would never consider you like that, and this horrifies you". He let out a deep grunt of contempt. "Maybe, deep down... you're even grateful that she died before she could see the demon that you really are"
Alastor wanted to reply, but he couldn't. His mind was too foggy, and it was as if a filter was erasing all his willpower to resist. He couldn't lie about that anymore.
Because what Adam had said was absolutely true. He was grateful that his mother had died before the demon that he was emerged in his true form. She didn't have to watch in horror the actions he had done, all the harm he had done, all the teachings he had ignored, spitting on all the efforts she had made to raise him well.
The smoke around him thickened again. This time it showed the same child as before, but older: thirteen years old, his face already more mature, his body more developed. And in his arms there was that same beautiful woman, lying on the ground unable to move even a muscle, her head half broken by an empty bottle now shattered on the ground. The woman was dying, but still she looked at her son with a smile on her lips.
"Alastor... I have to leave now"
"No, mom..."
"Ssssh, it's okay. You're a good boy... you'll be fine..."
"I'll kill him... I'll kill that bastard...!"
"No... no, Alastor, no. Don't do it. No more killing. No more... suffering. You... are not... like that. Smile at life, Alastor. Always smile. You are never fully dressed without a smile. This world is... so beautiful... if only... you look at it... with the right eyes. Never stop smiling... Alastor"
And with those last words, the woman died completely in her son's arms. And the boy, now alone in the room with her corpse in his arms, despite having tears dripping from his face, curved his lips into a smile.
"But you didn't do that, did you?" Adam told Alastor in a harsh voice. "You didn't respect her last will. You went to that man, your father, and you killed him. And you killed everyone who had hurt you and her. And after that... you went on and killed innocents. You discovered that you liked killing, that it gave you that magnificent sense of power that you previously lacked, and you never stopped. And even after ended up in Hell, you tracked down your father and all those who had offended you, and you killed them again. And then again, you killed and killed. You never stopped. You denied every bit of your humanity. Even now... you took part in that beautiful hotel, but the truth is that you just want to take advantage of the princess. You have become... exactly everything she begged you not to be"
Alastor was shaking. Adam's every word was like a dagger to his heart. He had long forgotten what it felt like to want to cry... but now, he was feeling that salty liquid in his eyes again.
The hypnotic cloud suddenly retreated, and disappeared into Adam's mouth again, and the first man reappeared in front of him again. His gaze betrayed the disgust he was feeling. "To think that so many sacrifices have led to nothing more than this... you are truly miserable. Maybe your mother would have a heart big enough to forgive you, but I don't"
Alastor finally felt his mind clear again as the effect of the hypnotic cloud wore off, but nevertheless his spirit was still broken. “What... what do you want from me?”
Adam didn't change his expression in the slightest. "You deserve to die" he said flatly. "And you will die. You are a horrible man and no other fate can be chosen for you. But despite you don't deserve it, before killing you I will still give you one last chance to do something good, to be part of something bigger. So at least your mother can take comfort in knowing that in your last days you remembered what it means to be human, and you put your abilities in the service of a just cause, and you have not used them only to satisfy your insatiable cruelty"
Alastor didn't answer. His breathing had become heavy and jerky, and he looked like he was about to pass out. Adam completely closed the distance between them and gently cupped his face with one hand, forcing him to look up and stare into his eyes. "You took revenge on everyone who had hurt her... except one. The biggest culprit in this whole affair, the only one you never punished, the only one who was never truly punished". His eyes narrowed a lot. "Tell me, Alastor... who is the one who brought so much evil into the universe? Who is the one who is truly responsible for all the pain your mother endured? Who is the one... who created a world where such a good woman has had to suffer so much evil?"
Alastor didn't respond again, but his body tensed and his fingers curled into fists. He knew that Adam was probably trying to manipulate him, but still he felt the anger fill him like a fire.
He couldn't remember ever having felt such sensations... since that fateful day.
Adam held out his hand. "So?" he asked him. "What's your answer? Do you want to come with me... to punish Lucifer?"
Alastor snorted through his nostrils. "But... Charlie... what are you going to do to her...?"
“Oh, do you care about her now?” Adam asked him rhetorically. "I don't intend to kill her. I wanted it... but I realized that it's not her I want to see dead. Those who needs to die are only the archtraitor and all this disgusting mass of errors that populate this world. She... doesn't deserve death. She's not evil, she's just a fool. And fools shouldn't be punished. I'll teach her a lesson, so that she understands how the world really works. And you're part of this lesson. I'll spare her in the end, when she understands that the reality is not her world of dreams and rainbows... and after I have killed the truly wicked people that infest this land"
"But by doing so, the last wicked person left will be you" Alastor told him.
"Is wicked someone who kills other wicked people?" Adam asked sarcastically. "And in any case... it doesn't matter. If it is my destiny to be the last sinner, so be it. If this has to be the case, then when the time comes, I will end my life with my own hands. But if that has to happen, then it will only happen when I'll have eliminated all the evil of this universe. As long as there is a chance that even just one bad deed can be done, I will not stop. I will never stop"
"All the evil of the universe..." Alastor murmured. “Do you really think you can do that?”
Adam nodded. "Yes. I can guarantee you that. I will create a world where no other child will have to see their mother suffer and die in that horrendous way". He waved his hand again: "So? What do you say me?"
Alastor had a last moment of hesitation, but those words had lit a fire in his chest; he let out a loud hiss, and then he nodded. "I say you... yes" he replied, shaking his hand.
Adam's lips curved into a satisfied smile. "Good" he told him. "In that case, let's prepare the grand entrance. Could you kindly show me some of your acoustic powers?"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 11): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150106330
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 21: Hell's coming with me
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After seeing Alastor disappear behind them, the rest of the hazbin crew had stopped. They had tried to open the barrier, but the shadows blocking their path had solidified into an impenetrable wall. "Fuck!" Vaggie exclaimed as for the umpteenth time her angelic spear didn't even leave a scratch on the smooth wall.
"It's all useless, that barrier was created with overlord powers. It's impossible to break" Rosie commented looking at it, and in particular observing Niffty who was trying to break the barrier in every way. "We'll have to go back inside the church and walk around..."
"Do we really have to?" Husk asked. He was continuing to hold Angel along with Cherri. "This one needs to lie down somewhere... and Alastor is now in the clutches of Army of One, we have no hope of saving him"
Vaggie bit her lip. What Husk had just said was mostly dictated by his hatred towards the radio demon... but she couldn't deny that it also made sense. Hoping to save Alastor was ridiculous, they didn't have the slightest chance. But she couldn't leave him there; as much as she would have liked the radio demon out of the way, she wouldn't have been able to look Charlie in the face again if she just left.
Unlike her, the Vees weren't even a little in conflict. "I saw a phone booth not even two streets away" Valentino told Velvette.
"It will be enough for my powers" the social overlord told him, and then she glared at him: "And then, you and I will have a long talk"
"Oh, I gave you Vox back, what else do you want? Ah, screw it, we'll talk about it later" Valentino replied, and then he put Vox on his shoulder and started to run away.
"Hey, you three! Where do you think you're going?" Cherri exclaimed as she watched them walk away. "The battle is not over!"
"Of course it's over! I have my man, so I'm leaving!" Valentino replied to her.
Cherri was about to explode. “COWARDS!!!!” she shouted after him, even though her voice went completely ignored.
But suddenly, a sound drowned out all their voices.
Everyone froze on the spot and looked up. The sound was that of a hearing aid being turned on, one of those used in musical concerts. It was coming from some speakers placed on the walls, or from the screens, or even from the telephone booths. Wherever there was a means of communication, that sound emerged.
And soon, that sound was replaced by notes. Notes of a guitar, which resonated around the entire cathedral. “Is this… music?” Husk murmured in confusion.
But he wasn't just there. Because unbeknownst to them, all over Pentagram City suddenly that music began to play.
The screens, the advertising signs, the televisions, the cell phones, the megaphones in the nightclubs, even the street signs: the image of the cathedral appeared on every digital surface, and every acoustic device began to play that music. Demons throughout Pentagram City stopped their activities and looked up to see; it was basically impossible for even one of them not to notice it since it was literally everywhere.
In the studio at 666 News, Katie Killjoy was ranting about the control room because suddenly every connection to the main network was down, and every screen in headquarters was playing this strange music. Tom Trench was calmer, but still felt that this could not be a simple fault.
In his manor, Zestial clearly saw all his electronic devices, even the old typewriters, sizzling and starting to play that music. Knowing it couldn't be a coincidence and clearly sensing the power of an overlord within all of his technology, he went to the largest screen he had and carefully observed every detail.
In their refuge, Odette and Clara also saw their cell phones turn on and their television too, and that music filled their house too. They both swallowed and looked at each other confused, and not knowing what else to do they sat down in front of the TV to see what would happen.
In his study, Viniel saw his large television turn on and start playing that music and those scenes. His son Arackniss arrived shortly after to inform him that the same was happening throughout Pentagram City. They both looked at the screen, waiting to see what was about to happen.
Lucifer was about to rush to Charlie, and was already opening a portal, but just at that moment that music began to sound around him. Even the broken parts of the robot began to reproduce it. The king of Hell bit his lip and looked up at one of the few giant screens still intact after the battle against the robot.
And after those first notes, there come the words.
They all laughed as he turned around slow
They said: "You ain't welcome 'round here anymore
You just might as well go"
He wiped the blood from his face as he slowly came to his knees
He said: "I'll be back when you least expect it
And Hell's coming with me"
Hell's coming with me...
Everyone looked up at the roof of the cathedral, and there they saw Army of One, once again covered in his usual armor, walking calmly above it. In his hand he had a large electric guitar which, although not connected to any acoustic system, emitted a sound that was clearly audible to everyone. All over Pentagram City the screens panned to him, showing him very clearly to every demon and making his voice heard.
None of his viewers knew what was happening, but for some reason they couldn't take their eyes off him. Even Valentino, Vox and Velvette seemed to have forgotten that they wanted to run away until two seconds ago. Niffty, incredible to say, had stopped and stopped hitting the hard surface separating her from Alastor. Husk, Angel, Cherri and Rosie were enchanted by that music, which seemed to have the power to bewitch them. Vaggie was paralyzed, and seeing that person play like that, she felt a shiver down her spine. She knew well who moved like that while playing...
Suddenly the music picked up, and Army of One started singing louder. And judging by the tone of his voice, he was really enjoying the moment.
There is a white world up there above the dark valley
Where all the poor souls go when they die
And if you listen real close
You can hear 'em like a ghost
They promise you that they will never leave you scum alive
Army of One almost did a pirouette on himself, wrapping himself with his long tail, and really looked like a skilled musician. On the Pentagram City screens, the focus shifted to his finger, which was raised toward Heaven as if to indicate that was what he was talking about; and immediately after, the aforementioned finger lowered again, pointing to Hell instead.
There is a town at the bottom of that pit
They got a secret that they keep like a slave
They got a cruel obscure ruler
With a daughter, and he was unable to teach her
That she'll be heading up that town to the grave
Army of One took a powerful solo, and his voice seemed to resonate more powerfully than ever. Everyone, even the demons living on the other side of Pentagram City, seemed to feel his murderous gaze upon them.
And it is well with my soul
You line your pockets full of money
That you steal from the poor
And on your way down Hell
You hear me ring the bell
I will pay twice the price to destroy your soul!
While he was singing he jumped onto the bell tower of the cathedral and started dancing around the bell, and even rang it, but incredibly as he sounded he couldn't drown out his music: it was as if even the bell was afraid of him and obeyed the rules he imposed. The sound itself seemed to have taken on a consistency, and all the demons felt as if it were binding around their necks like a rope, threatening to hang them.
And then, the music of Army of One quieted down again. After his powerful solo, he returned to speaking more calmly, playing softer notes. But still, the power of his voice remained unchanged.
There was a drifter passing through that dark valley
He had promised he was coming back to town
They didn't know him by his face or by the guitar around his waist
But he'll come back to burn that town to the ground
Army of One snapped his fingers for a moment, and fire emerged from them and engulfed the entire bell tower of the cathedral; the aforementioned fire hovered in the air and seemed to dance with him, in fact, it even seemed to follow his dance steps. Looking at that fire, the demons had the impression of hearing millions of souls screaming for revenge. It was a raging fire and eager to burn everything, yet it obeyed the Army of One's orders as if it were a faithful servant.
First there was fire
Then there was smoke
Then every remaining hope was hanging by a rope
And then they all fell to their knees
And begged that drifter, begged him please
As he raised his fist before he spoke
Army of One raised his fist, and for an instant all the hearts of every demon in existence, and even Lucifer's, seemed to skip a beat.
I AM THE RIGHTEOUS HAND OF GOD!
And with a violent movement of his hand, he tore the helmet from his head and threw it away, revealing to everyone his undoubtedly familiar face, his small beard and his brown hair, his yellow eyes and his curved horns.
AND I AM THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT!
Despite the hypnotic power that music had, no demon was able to hold back a scream. There were those who did it out of surprise, those out of fear, and even those out of excitement; but no one was unmoved on seeing the face of the previously thought dead Adam again.
Angel made a sound of dejection.
Husk nearly choked on his saliva.
Niffty trembled like she was a time bomb.
Cherri growled, clearly wanting to go and confront him, but luckily common sense held her back.
Rosie lost her composure and let out a small moan, which didn't happen often.
Velvette opened her eyes so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets.
Valentino was so surprised that he almost dropped his boyfriend he was holding in his arms.
Vox, although still struggling to keep his eyes open, was still able to show some surprise and fear.
Vaggie was the one who reacted worst of all: her legs gave out and she slipped to the ground, in despair. It wasn't possible... Adam was dead... how could he have come back to haunt them...!?
Even in the rest of Pentagram City there were no very different reactions. The demons all witnessed the return of the man they feared most, even more than their own king Morningstar. Adam, the person who had exterminated more demons than any other.
Zestial clenched his fists when he saw him. He'd spent days searching for Army of One, and now that he knew who he was, he almost wished he'd never found out.
Odette and Clara put their hands over their mouths. Now they knew who had kidnapped their mother... and since Adam's background and hatred of demonkind weren't exactly unknown, they didn't dare imagine what he might do to her.
At the 666 News headquarters, Katie Killjoy had gone silent for once, and Tom Trench had literally fainted.
In their palace, Viniel and Arackniss had watched everything from their screen, and both of their hackles had stood on end as soon as they saw that smiling, menacing face appear in the foreground.
Lucifer gritted his teeth as soon as he saw Adam. He would have liked to be happy to see that he was alive, and that Charlie had been right in her guess... but he was smart enough to understand that the first man was up to no good.
All this while Adam calmly continued with his performance.
And I told you one day you will see
That I'll be back, I guarantee
And that Hell's coming,
Hell's coming
Hell,
Hell's coming with me!
The first man seemed to be having the time of his life, and danced masterfully as the fire around him continued to follow his movements, and seemed to form two large angelic wings made of flame emerging from his shoulders.
And it is well, with my soul
You line your pockets full of money
That you steal from the poor
And on your way down the Hell
You hear me ringing that bell
And I say
Hell's coming with meeeee!
And with that last mighty sharp the fire around him exploded, and burned the roofs of every surrounding building. Adam jumped from the roof of the cathedral and landed with a thud in front of the same demons he had faced two weeks earlier, and looked at them with a smug expression.
"I'm back, bitches!"
Notes:
Yes, this song is the reason I changed the title of this story. It's always been one of my favorites and one day while wandering around the Internet I happened to hear it again, and I immediately decided that it would have been a crime not to have Adam sing it at the moment of his final revelation. It is literally the embodiment of the character, it was perfect for him. Obviously I had to adapt it a little to the context, but I still kept the same rhymes and the same sonic length, so it's like hearing the original. Tell me if Sinner Adam showing up to all Hell singing this song isn't the most badass thing he could do
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150639445
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 22: Confronting the first man again
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam cracked his neck and slung his guitar over his shoulder. "I don't expect kisses and hugs... but I hoped at least in a nicer welcome from you" he said with a grin. “None of you want to say hello?”
Everyone was paralyzed at the sight of him. All except one person. Cherri, ignoring all rules of prudence, took several steps forward, bringing herself into plain sight before him. “You” she hissed.
Adam chuckled. "Why do you all always start out the same way?"
Cherri's single eye seemed to burn with anger. "You took him away from me"
"Huh? Sorry, who the fuck are you talking about?" Adam replied mockingly. "I'm afraid I don't even remember the name of that guy"
Cherri spoke no further: with a scream of pure fury she pulled out some of her bombs and hurled them at Adam. The first man let himself be hit by them and waited, and as he had imagined the cyclops demon appeared through the smoke that had been created and tried to hit him with an angelic knife. Adam barely had to raise his hand to punch her in the teeth and stop her momentum; he snatched her weapon from her hands and held her by the neck. "No plan of attack, too much noise, too much excitement, not enough intelligence, no strategy" he commented with a lot of derision in his voice.
But Cherri smiled back at him. "Maybe. But I have a Niffty"
"Huh?" Adam exclaimed, and his eyes widened as he felt something very small jump onto his back and start climbing up it. “What the…!?”
"The bad boy...!" Niffty said in full excitement, and her one eye seemed to almost lose the ability to stay straight.
Cherri took advantage of that distraction to land a strong knee on the first man's face and free herself. Adam groaned and backed away slightly, and tried to grab Niffty and take her off his back, but Cherri didn't let him do so and started punching him in the chin.
Niffty was armed with an angelic knife, and Adam no longer had his helmet. If Cherri could distract the first man for a few more seconds, the little cyclops maid could have stabbed him on the exposed neck...
But Adam was absolutely not a pushover. With a soft growl a volley of blue lightning exploded from his body, knocking Niffty away and sending her across the street. Cherri gritted her teeth, but didn't have time to do anything before the first man threw a powerful punch in her face, throwing her away and crushing her skull. He hadn't hit either of them with an angelic blade, so they would have regenerated soon, but they were both officially knocked out.
This quick battle was enough to reactivate the minds of everyone else. "Um... ok, you can deal with him!" Valentino exclaimed, and he started to flee with Velvette and Vox.
But Adam lifted his foot and slammed it to the ground. Suddenly, the whole ground began to shake and the buildings around them deformed: the bricks lifted and repositioned themselves in a different place, forming a huge wall around the entire cathedral and its surroundings. "These... are Zeezi's powers?" Valentino murmured in recognition of the dinosaur overlord's powers.
"None of you will leave until I want it" Adam told them, and a beam of energy erupted from his eyes, hitting the moth demon's back, burning his wings completely. Valentino let out a cry of pain and rolled on the ground trying to put out the flames.
Just then Adam sensed movement to his right and moved his hand, blocking Vaggie's spear before it hit him. "Here you are, traitor"
"Fuck you!" the ex-Exorcist hissed. Her trembling eyes fully betrayed how despondent she was.
Adam laughed at that sight. "I see a lot of fear in your pupils. Where has your militaristic courage gone?"
Vaggie let out a growl. "You should have killed me when you exiled me"
"It would have been a waste. Leaving you to suffer in Hell was a much better example to the others" Adam replied with a sneer.
Vaggie's expression became so furious that she felt like she was facing the person who had killed her family; she let go of the spear and punched him, only getting herself headbutted and thrown away. "I would teach you a lesson... but I have other plans for you. And even if I wanted to kill you, I promised you to your sisters, so... no" Adam told her. "Get ready, I really think the family reunion will be..."
Another punch landed on his face, this time much more violent than the last; although it did him no serious harm, he clearly felt the pain. He staggered back a little, and saw Rosie walking towards him. The cannibal overlord's pupils were as red as blood. "Say another word..." she warned him. "... and I'm really gonna lose it"
Adam smiled slightly. "Rosie. I can finally face you"
"Were you waiting for this?" Rosie asked, surprised by those words.
"Of course. You and I still have a score to settle for what your cannibals did to my soldiers" Adam replied to her.
Rosie's pupils seemed to turn even redder. "You three!" she shouted at the Vees. "You can't escape now, so if you want to live, introduce your powers into me so he can't copy me!"
And after such words her dress began to fall apart as her body grew bigger; her elegant clothes fell to pieces and her appearance as a pretty and gentle woman totally disappeared. Her hair grew and seemed to encircle her entire neck and part of her back as if it were a thick lion's mane; her arms and legs became longer and their bones changed position, becoming similar to the paws of a feline. Bone plates emerged from her spine and her face elongated, showing teeth that became as sharp as those of a shark or a crocodile. Behind her appeared a large tail ending in a poisonous stinger.
Adam made a sound of disgust. "Here's the real you... a man-eating beast"
Rosie didn't even answer him: a noise emerged from her mouth that sounded like a cross between a wolf, a bear and a panther, and she started running on all fours towards him. Adam in turn charged at her and as soon as he was close enough he grabbed her hips and lifted her up, ignoring the beast's attempts to hit him with her claws. "You think you scare me? I faced beasts ten times your size on primordial Earth!" Adam screamed, and he slammed her to the ground hard, opening a crater beneath her.
But Rosie didn't stop: taking advantage of the fact that Adam was holding her by the upper body, she moved her tail and hit him from behind. The first man roared, but still the poison barely caused a strong sting; Rosie, however, had expected it and taking advantage of the fact that her stinger was curved like that of a scorpion, she pulled back with all the strength she had. The stinger, stuck in the flesh, was like a hook and Adam was dragged back slightly, and Rosie took the opportunity to bite him in the arm.
Her fangs momentarily glowed red and became hard as titanium; as soon as they hit the steel of the armor, they shattered it as if it were made of butter and penetrated the flesh beneath. Adam let out a roar, and Rosie eagerly sucked his blood. The first man grabbed her by the hair and tore her away from him, but as soon as she was away again Rosie licked the blood that remained on her lips, and her body was enveloped in a red aura and her muscles thickened.
Adam's eyes widened slightly. “This is… extraordinary” he murmured. “You become stronger the more you devour parts of the enemy… truly the essence of a cannibal”
Rosie made a satisfied noise. "The more I drain your blood, the weaker you will become, while I will become stronger, until I defeat you" she told him with a big grin.
Adam looked at his wound with a strange look. "I... I definitely have to have that ability...!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth. "Why can't I copy it...?"
His gaze immediately turned to the other overlords present. Vox was now unconscious, but Valentino, despite still being seriously injured and in pain due to his wings being torn to pieces, had managed to get up slightly and was putting his powers into the body of the cannibal overlord. Evidently, finding no other way out, he had chosen to collaborate in order to survive. Adam's eyes lit up again and another beam exploded from them, but Velvette, already in her overlord form, stepped in and deflected the attack. "Don't count on it, big man" she told him, and then she looked at Rosie: "Old lady, I take back everything I said about you. I'm on your side!"
"Cough... Velvette, that's a shitty idea" Valentino warned her.
"Better than sitting around doing nothing" Velvette replied. "You think about continuing to mix our powers, so he can't copy us..."
Adam lunged at her at almost the speed of sound, but Rosie was faster and jumped at him, hitting him and sending him to the ground. She started to bite him again, but the first man was ready this time and grabbed both her jaws, turning her ninety degrees, and then he opened them wide with the clear intent of breaking them.
But Velvette didn't sit still and do nothing, and so she transformed into pixels, appearing directly in front of him and punching him in the face, forcing him to let go. Rosie took the opportunity to flip over again and wrapped her tail around Adam, picking him up and slamming him into a wall over and over again.
The first man grunted and freed himself with a powerful yank, ripping off Rosie's tail, and she let out a cry of pain. He raised his arm and posed to shoot one of his beams of light at her, but Velvette stepped between them again and created a shield of pixels. The beam hit the shield and the social overlord spat blood from her mouth from the effort, but with more and more pixels she created new shields to be able to resist even after the first one broke.
Rosie took the opportunity to take a powerful leap and landed on top of Adam, biting his shoulder. Again her muscles began to swell as she absorbed the first man's strength, but Adam grabbed her clawed fingers and broke them with a clean blow. Rosie let out a roar of pain, and Adam punched her hard in the sternum, throwing her away. "I'd really like to continue this" he said. "But unfortunately I don't have much time at my disposal, so... with your permission, I will now end my starring role as an anime enemy and take on the one of a realistic enemy who has no qualms about using his power all at once"
And suddenly his true strength of overlord emerged in all its enormity, shaking the earth and paralyzing all his opponents. Moving faster than sound he reached Rosie and with a single punch he hit her making her explode, and unlike what he had done with Alastor, he didn't bother directing all his strength into a single point, thus reducing her entire body to crumbs. He hadn't struck her with an angelic weapon or divine powers, so she would have regenerated sooner or later, but for now she had become nothing but mush.
Velvette broke out in a cold sweat, but Adam landed in front of her before she could escape and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. His eyes went from yellow and pupilless to red and gold, but unlike the other times they also had the red circle pattern of Vox's eyes when he tried to hypnotize. "You know... I'm trying to learn how to use my powers more efficiently, and even if I'm in a hurry, I can still use you as my test subject" he told her. "And since I now possess many hypnotizing powers, what happens if I merge these abilities and hypnotize you so that for you there is always me looking into your eyes in front of you?"
Velvette was instantly sucked into those eyes, and the world around her began to spin...
Where was she?
It was a dark room...
How was she dressed? And her body... wasn't hers... was it the body of someone else...?
A... human girl...?
Why was she crying? Why did she feel so desperate?
Her heart was gripped in what felt like a lethal grip... it hurt...!
It was all so... horrible...!
“Oh, yeah, and then she made a complete fool of herself!” a mean voice coming from below her was saying. “And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of how Sharon Richards lost all dignity at prom!”
She looked down. She had a cell phone in her hands that showed a live streaming of some social network. And there a girl with thick brown hair and dark skin was speaking with an evil smile on her lips. "I bet she's still locked in the house now! Just think, she thought I was her friend, ah ah ah!"
How could she be so cruel...?
Why didn't she leave her alone!?
That story had been going on for two years now...!
That damned laugh rang like a bell in her ears...
That fucking devil...!
Her hand reached towards a nightstand and grabbed a razor blade. She lowered it onto her arm and began cutting herself, leaving deep gouges in her skin.
She felt so much pain...
But still... that fucking laugh... didn't stop...!
The world before Velvette's eyes changed again, as if she were inside a vortex.
She was in what looked like the back of a school, and immediately a wave of pain hit her. Her face was covered in bruises and cuts.
"How sad! Don't you even have a snack to offer us, little slut?" the same voice as before said, and looking up she could see the same girl from the video, along with two other girls glaring at her evilly. "Too bad, I'll have to go to class on an empty stomach. Do you know how angry I get when I'm hungry?"
"P-Please..." she stuttered with a trembling voice. "I swear... I don't have the money...!"
Why didn't they leave her alone!?
She hadn't done anything to them!
Why were those girls so cruel to her!?
The dark-skinned girl stepped forward and kicked her in the shin, causing her to fall to the ground with a groan. Immediately afterwards, however, her evil smile became even wider. "Well, if you don't have the money... then I'll accept payment-in-kind. Undress, I'll put your picture on OnlyFans, so some old pervert will pay to jerk off to you"
Horror filled her heart.
Fear.
Terror.
She couldn't...!
"Hey, Vel... isn't that a little too extreme...?" one of the other girls muttered, and her friend looked somewhat dubious as well.
A small beacon of hope.
A light in that tunnel...
... which was promptly extinguished by the words of the girl in front of her. "Oh, come on, don't be cowardly. This sucker needs to learn that when you have to pay, you pay or there are consequences. Come on, little slut, get naked"
"N-No" she begged. "Please... I beg you...!"
But the girl didn't listen to her and tore off her clothes by force. She couldn't help but cry while she laughed almost madly and took several photos of her, stripping her of every kind of shame and dignity...
Velvette saw the world change again. She desperately tried to resist, but the vortex captured her again...
She was on the ledge of a school roof, looking down. Judging by how far away the road below was, it must have been at least twenty meters up.
In her heart, not even a positive feeling.
Just anger.
Shame.
Hatred.
Despair.
The desire to end it all.
"Oh, look, Fatso is about to jump!"
She turned slightly to see her. That damn bitch, that devil in human form. She had just arrived on the roof with some of her slaves, and they looked scared and one of them started to run towards her, probably to stop her... but she, the cruel demon, stopped them immediately. "No, no! Instead, take your cell phones! Film me while I try to save, this video will get me a lot of likes and views!"
"What...?" one of her friends stammered. "But... Vel...!"
"Oh, shut up!" the devil said in a threatening voice, silencing them all. “Get your fucking cell phones!”
She clenched her fists. How dare she...!?
That monster... she really didn't have even a shred of compassion!
She wasn't a human being!
Fuck her...!
Her heart was enveloped in darkness, and she jumped down. As she fell to her death she looked up and saw the demon pretending to be trying to grab her and shedding crocodile tears. Surely she would only have gained from that event.
Snake.
Monster.
Horror in human form.
With her last thought, she wished her to go straight to Hell.
"AAAAAAAAAH!!! STOP!!!" Velvette holding her head. She was visibly crying and rolling on the ground in despair. "MAKE IT STOP...!!!"
Adam just laughed. "Oh, so by doing this I can force you to observe multiple sins instead of just one? This is really helpful!" he told her. "I hope you have a lot of time available... you have a lot of sins on your conscience"
"HELP!!!" Velvette begged. Tears fell profusely from her eyes. She seemed to be in total pain. "MAKE IT STOP!!! PLEASE...!!!"
Valentino suddenly appeared behind her and took her head in his hands, and with a single blow shattered it into pieces. The moth demon let out a grunt as he did so, but still he grabbed his friend's headless body and quickly backed away.
"You destroyed her brain to free her from my control?" Adam muttered when he saw that scene. "Very clever. However, I'm afraid that when she regenerates she will no longer be the same as before... no, wait, I'm not afraid at all actually"
Valentino gritted his teeth and got into an attack position, sure he was next, but on the contrary Adam simply punched him and threw him against a wall. "I'd keep playing with you, but I don't have time for this bullshit anymore" he said, and with that he flew at full speed in the direction of Angel and Husk. The two of them were trying to find their friends, and they couldn't even see him coming; with a single wave of his hand, Adam grabbed the spider demon by the neck and then he hurled himself through one of the cathedral's windows.
Inside the church, Charlie had continued to confront the Exorcists. She hadn't even attempted to counterattack yet, limiting herself to defending herself; they hadn't managed to hurt her through her shield, but she was still having a lot of trouble dealing with them. She hadn't transformed into her demonic form yet: she didn't want to risk seriously hurting anyone...
But just then Adam came crashing through the window and flew over the altar, showing her Angel in his hands. "You haven't let loose yet, mh? As expected" the first man told her. "Last time, killing the snake was enough to make you angry. This time I'll settle for a spider"
"ANGEL!" Charlie screamed.
Adam pulled an angelic knife from his waist and pointed it at his neck. "Watch as I kill your precious model patient..."
Suddenly Husk came through another window and flew into his face. Adam made a sound of surprise and dropped Angel, but he quickly recovered and grabbed Husk by the scruff of the neck. "Okay... go for the cat then!"
And with those words he moved his angelic knife and with one swift movement he cut cleanly off the cat demon's wings. Husk made a sound of pure pain and blood poured from his back.
Charlie was petrified when she saw that scene. "NO!"
Adam gave her a challenging smile. "Otherwise?" he asked, holding the knife to the cat demon's throat.
Charlie's eyes lit up red. “I SAID…” she shouted as her hair started to stir. "... NOOOO!!!"
Her appearance changed completely; she was surrounded by what looked like a column of blood and the energy released threw the Exorcists away, pulverizing them on the walls; they did not die, since their souls were linked to Adam, but their bodies vanished completely, with no possibility of being recomposed. When she emerged she was fully in her demonic form and hurled her trident at the first man, who dodged it; the weapon stuck in the ceiling of the church, opening several cracks...
But then something unexpected happened: Adam grinned and his eyes turned blue, a sign that he was using Vox's powers. From behind the curtains of the church, several drones appeared, wrapping themselves around the trident and merging into a perfect package. One of them took the form of an engine, while others took the form of a pair of wings, and they flew away with the trident. "What...?" Charlie murmured.
"Yeah... your trident was the reason I put on all this drama today" Adam told her. "I need it for a little project of mine. I hope you weren't fond of it"
Charlie gritted her teeth. "Give it back to me right now! What do you want to do with it!?"
“Do you really want me to ruin the surprise for you?” Adam asked her with a wide grin. "Well, today's match is over, and I won. We'll see how you fare in the next phase of the game..."
But suddenly the entire wall behind him exploded and a white figure lunged at him, punching him so hard that it sent him across the aisle and broke the floor. Six large red and white wings had appeared right above the altar. “Just lie there. That's not advice”
Adam raised his head with a satisfied smile, but his gaze betrayed his fury. "Lucifer..."
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150639445
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 23: The two fallen (part 1)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam immediately stood up from the hole in the floor where he had been standing. His wings spread wide and he flew straight in front of the fallen angel. “It took you a long time” he told him. "I thought you would never have arrived here"
"Adam, let's stop now" Lucifer told him in a stern voice. "You know you can't beat me, fighting doesn't make any sense"
"It depends on what you mean by 'sense'. Fighting isn't always about defeating your opponent" Adam replied, cracking his knuckles and letting some sparks emerge from them.
Lucifer clenched his fists. "Adam, I don't want to hurt you"
There was a moment of silence; Adam's expression changed completely, and his smile faded and was replaced by a fierce face. "Too bad. You already did it!"
And with that last sentence he threw a powerful punch in the fallen angel's face. Lucifer was thrown through the hole in the wall that he had created, sending him into the wall that Adam had erected with Zeezi's powers. The first man flew towards him at full speed and kicked right at that spot, generating such power that the wall collapsed and the blast blew away half the neighborhood on the other side.
Lucifer didn't even feel the blows... or rather, he felt something, even if he couldn't call it real damage. Compared to two weeks ago, when Adam hadn't even tickled him, he now felt a little pain in the affected spot. A pain barely comparable to when you accidentally bumped into a piece of furniture, but pain nonetheless. "You've gotten stronger"
"I'm just getting started" Adam replied, advancing towards him.
Lucifer raised his hand and a piece of the wall rose up, and flew at Adam. The first man made a sound of surprise, but he didn't let it scare him and smashed it with his fist. Lucifer raised many more rocks with the clear intent of crushing the first man and pinning him beneath them, but Adam vaporized them with his beams of light. “You have to do better if you want to stop me” he warned him.
"If I did more, I could seriously hurt you!" Lucifer answered him.
"Don't worry about that" Adam said, narrowing his eyes. "The pain you cause is an old friend of mine"
And after those words he grabbed his guitar again and pressed a button on the neck; suddenly, the musical instrument opened and sharp blades appeared on its sides, turning it into an axe. And given the silver color of those blades, it was clear that it was angelic steel. Adam leaped with his ax drawn and threw himself at Lucifer, who moved away in time to avoid the blow; the axe hit the ground, creating a crack that opened for at least one hundred meters and reached a depth of twenty.
Lucifer used his superior speed to appear behind Adam and transform into an octopus, wrapping himself around him and blocking his arms, but the first man used Vox's powers again and emitted an electric discharge. This caused no harm to the fallen angel, but still out of surprise he let go of the first man; Adam took the opportunity to throw another punch and then concentrated the electricity in a single point, generating a gigantic bolt of lightning as if he were a thunder god. Lucifer raised his hand to block the blow, but still the force of the electricity pushed him back; Adam slammed his foot on the ground and using Zeezi's powers lifted another wall causing him to slam into it.
Lucifer hadn't changed his expression in the slightest, but his eyes had become more threatening. His palm burned slightly. "Now I'm getting angry"
Adam smiled at him, and suddenly electricity surged from his body again and wrapped around his axe. "Come on, Lucifer, you should be grateful. I'm risking the copyright from Marvel for you!"
"The what?" Lucifer murmured not understanding the joke, but Adam did not answer him and in a pose identical to that of Thor in the movie Avengers: Infinity War he threw his axe at him, which traveled towards the fallen angel at the speed of sound, generating sparks in the process that caused explosions every time they grazed something.
Lucifer raised his hands and grabbed the ax by the handle, which stopped generating a very powerful electric discharge. The king of Hell gritted his teeth in fury, and clearly felt both the impact of the weapon and its energy, which ruined his clothes a little and caused a slight abrasion on his hands. Adam appeared behind him from a mass of pixels and punched him squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Lucifer touched the affected area. He had no injuries, but now he undoubtedly had a bruise. For the first time in thousands of years, he was feeling pain again. "Okay... now this really is enough" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Adam didn't seem the least bit scared. "Good" he replied. "Bring it on!"
Meanwhile, Charlie had run to Angel and Husk. Both were in bad shape: the spider demon had a large bruise on his neck where Adam had grabbed him. But still, the cat demon was much worse: his clipped wings burned terribly and he was still bleeding. Angel immediately tore off his shirt and wrapped it around his stumps to stem the blood loss. "Fuck, man, you're in a really bad way this time"
“Urgh… fuck, don’t remind me…!” Husk murmured in a strangled voice. It was clear that he was in great pain.
"Come on, you'll be fine. He didn't hit any vital points, that's something" Angel told him trying to look at the positive side of the situation.
Charlie was shaking slightly seeing Husk reduced to that state. She knew full well that the cat demon could never get his wings back. "Oh, dear... I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!"
"Hey, I'm still alive. Don't start acting melodramatic... argh!" Husk growled, clenching his fists as Angel treated him as best he could.
The spider demon nodded to Charlie. "Go get your trident"
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat. "But..."
"Charlie, Adam for some reason wants your trident, and if there's one thing for sure in this fucking world, it's that we absolutely can't let him take it under any circumstances" Angel told her. "I'll take care of Husk. You stop that madman's plans before it's too late"
Charlie hesitated for a moment longer, but she knew she had no other choice. "Keep him alive!" she yelled at Angel before running off.
"I already said I'm not dying!" Husk protested.
Charlie ran towards the stairs. She had clearly seen the drone that had taken her trident flying towards the cathedral tower. "I could use a pair of wings... where's Vaggie?"
"You can forget her, she passed out" Angel told her. "The team is all out of action. You have no reinforcements here"
Charlie swallowed. "Ok... I'll do it on my own then!"
Meanwhile, outside the cathedral, Adam and Lucifer were continuing to fight. The king of Hell was holding back a lot, not wanting to risk irreparably hurting his opponent, but still he found himself having to respond to his blows much more intensely than he expected. “How did you get so many new abilities?”
"Oh, come on. You know exactly how" Adam told him in a teasing voice. “Our wife has always been good at jumping from one man to another!”
At those words Lucifer froze. "What...?"
"Oh, don't worry, I haven't laid a finger on her. I don't need a lover" Adam told him mockingly. "But she was kind enough to give me back what was rightfully mine and what I had lost because of you, serpent!"
And after those words he turned into pure electricity and lunged at Lucifer, throwing several punches at him, so quickly that over a thousand seemed to form before the king of Hell; he reciprocated in kind, parrying each blow and returning as many as possible. Every time their fists collided, the air exploded in a shock wave more powerful than even that released by an atomic bomb; the energy emitted was so immense that their fists heated the air particles so much that they exploded into small and very rapid flashes of light. The sky of Hell seemed to be filled with stars that appeared and disappeared in an instant.
Under them, Valentino was rapidly walking away. Taking advantage of the battle between Lucifer and Adam and the fact that no one else was still standing, he had carried Vox and Velvette on his shoulders and ran through the hole that the first man had created when he had thrown the king of Hell against the wall which he had erected to trap them. But even though he was going away as fast as he could, Adam and Lucifer were moving across the sky so quickly it was as if they were everywhere. The shock waves released by that last series of attacks hit him, causing him to lose his balance for a moment. "Fuck...!"
That deadly dance in the sky continued for several minutes, and then Adam changed tactics: he grabbed his axe again and moved it towards Lucifer, all while scorching the blades with his powers. In a fraction of a second, the axe contained enough energy that it could shatter the nuclei of atoms. As soon as it touched Lucifer, in a fraction of a millisecond a gigantic fireball lit up the sky, as if an atomic bomb had just exploded.
Valentino squinted his eyes to avoid being blinded by the light. He couldn't help but tremble as he helplessly watched that display of power. "Dammit..." he muttered through gritted teeth. "If they keep increasing their power like this, they'll vaporize the whole city just by touching each other!"
Valentino knew he had to leave quickly, before Adam and Lucifer decided that fighting each other with greater power, or even just fighting at a lower altitude, was a good idea. He would have loved to fly away, but his damaged wings wouldn't have let him: he could only escape on foot, but fortunately in the midst of all that chaos no one was paying attention to him. If he'd went far enough, he could still get himself and his two partners away from that mess...
The fireball in the sky vanished with a violent roar, and Lucifer reappeared. His horns and tail were visible again, a sign that he was ready to move on to the next level of power. "Enough!" he roared, and he punched Adam so hard that he flung him away as if he were a twig. When the first man managed to stop, he was over a hundred meters away.
But Adam didn't seem worried at all; on the contrary, from the expression on his face he seemed more satisfied than ever. "Good" he said with a smile. "Since you have chosen to fight seriously, allow me to show you one of my trump cards!"
And having said this he cupped his hands in front of his chest, and inside them a bright dot appeared. The entire neighborhood, or perhaps even the entire city, shook to its foundations; Valentino had to cling to the asphalt to avoid being thrown away. Walls and buildings shattered and began to fly towards the first man, who seemed to have acquired a gravity of his own.
Lucifer let out a growl. He could feel several forces combining in the first man's hands. Gravity, electromagnetism, nuclear force: each of the most powerful energies in the universe were coming together in an increasingly violent and overwhelming form. "It will be useless and you know it!"
"Really?" Adam asked him with a mocking smile. "Then I have to assume that you won't try to dodge this attack, right?"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. His heart burned with extreme violence. "Do your worst" he replied through clenched teeth.
Adam grinned with satisfaction. Pride had always been Lucifer's greatest weakness. "Ultimate move..." he said in a voice like thunder. "GAMMA RAY BURST!"
For an instant nothing happened; time seemed to slow down, so much so that it was even possible to notice the movements of molecules in objects. And then, the tiny orb in Adam's palms exploded.
The violence that was unleashed was something unheard of, incomparable, irreplicable: an atomic bomb, the explosion of a volcano, and even a solar flare would have seemed ridiculous in comparison. Adam had fused the powers of several overlords: Zeezi's ability to control gravity, Vox's electromagnetism, Carmilla's nuclear force. And last but not least, the immense power that he, the first man, possessed in his body. All these powers combined to create one of the most spectacular and devastating forces in the universe.
The power of a collapsing star, combined into a single beam of extremely destructive power, condensed into nothing more than gamma rays and ionizing radiation, lit up Pride's sky so much that the sun would have looked like a tiny flame in comparison.
Lucifer was hit full on by that devastating energy; he raised his hands to defend himself, but as soon as he was hit he felt himself being pushed backwards and his palms began to burn; even though he couldn't really injured him due to his nearly indestructible body, he could still feel the pain. With a growl, he channeled his angelic energy into his hands and generated a beam of white energy that countered the gamma ray burst. The two immense forces exploded in the sky, so much so that they were visible not only to the entire Pentagram City, but also at least half of the Pride Ring. The gamma ray burst trembled for an instant, and then it split into two beams that passed Lucifer's sides and disappeared into the sky at the speed of light.
Adam and Lucifer looked at each other again. "As I imagined. You're too tough even for that" the first man commented. “But at least I managed to get you to use one of your powers”
"You can consider it a victory" Lucifer replied with a show of confidence, even if he was seething inside himself. He had to admit that he was truly amazed by his opponent's skills. "At least this time you didn't put on a pathetic show like..."
Suddenly his body was blocked: magical circles formed by dark energy appeared around his wrists and ankles, preventing his movements. They were magical circles that seemed to be made of pure sound, red like blood, the same ones Alastor had used to freeze Adam for a moment during their battle. "I'm not done yet!" the first man announced.
Before Lucifer could react, two portals opened on either side of him, and from them the gamma ray burst emerged again; Adam had in fact opened these portals at the point where the two beams generated by their clash had headed. This time Lucifer couldn't defend himself and was hit full on, and finally, to Adam's great joy, he let out a scream of pain; not too strong, obviously, but enough to show that he had finally taken real damage.
When the lights went out, Lucifer was still in exactly the same spot, but now his clothes were completely ruined and his skin undoubtedly showed signs of burns. His expression had completely lost any trace of pacifism. “That…” he hissed. "... hurt"
"That was the purpose" Adam replied with a smirk. "You didn't expect that, did you? You never considered the possibility that a simple pile of dust could hurt you, right?"
Lucifer growled. His body was shaking, as if he was barely holding himself back from unleashing his full fury. "Stop this now, for your own good. I confess that I never thought you could reach such heights, and I admire your abilities; but even if you gathered the powers of every demon in Hell, that wouldn't be enough to kill me"
"Then I'll just have to look for more power elsewhere" Adam replied with a sneer.
Lucifer clenched his fists. "What do you mean?"
“I'm glad you asked, I'll take this opportunity to explain my evil plan!” Adam responded with a mocking laugh, and then he shot one of his beams straight into his face.
On the ground, Valentino was literally paralyzed. His entire body, every single cell, had trembled when he saw Adam literally hurl the power of a supernova at Lucifer. "Fuck..." he stammered in a small voice. "We're lucky he always held back with us..."
Valentino knew very well that if Adam had fought showing that power against any demon in Hell, he would have pulverized everything. Luckily when he fired that gamma ray burst he had aimed upwards, because if he had grazed the ground with it, Pentagram City and a good part of the Pride Ring and perhaps even the Rings below would surely have disappeared forever.
However, his fear of that entire situation didn't stop him from thinking clearly and noticing something strange. "Why isn't he imitating his ability...?"
Adam had managed to force Lucifer to use an ability, and that ability was undoubtedly very strong; why wasn't he using it against him, instead of just using that axe that was clearly ineffective?
Did he perhaps want to hide his tricks up his sleeve? But it was strange... if Adam had attacked Lucifer with that ability, the king of Hell would surely have been forced to react with another ability to defend himself, and then the first man would have continued to increase his power until it surpassed him... so why didn't he?
Maybe... he couldn't?
His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a familiar mass of shadows appeared next to him. Valentino immediately recognized the smiling face that emerged from them. "Alastor!" he exclaimed as soon as he saw him. "For once I'm happy to see you! We can still solve this situation together!"
Alastor just raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes! Adam is too busy fighting King Morningstar at the moment, he can no longer make sure we don't escape! You should have figured that out since you can move between the shadows again!" Valentino replied to him. "Give me a hand! We can... take everyone and escape through your shadows! Let the two great warriors settle their dispute!"
"In that case I would solve the situation alone, not together" Alastor pointed out.
Valentino declined this with a wave of his hand. "It's the same! So, let's..."
Alastor didn't let him finish: his shadow tendrils appeared from his back and hit the moth demon on the sternum, throwing him into a wall and sending him tumbling to the ground. "Sorry" the radio demon said as his shadows grabbed and lifted Vox. "I've already found a better partner"
And with that his tentacles bent as if they were spider legs and carried him towards the cathedral tower.
Meanwhile, the drone had managed to reach the top of the aforementioned tower, but Charlie too had not let herself be left behind. "Taken!" she exclaimed, grabbing it before it could get away from her. "And now give me back my trident!"
Of course, the drone completely ignored her request and her trident remained sealed inside. Charlie let out an annoyed huff. "All right... Adam can't complain if I break his toys!" she growled, preparing to tear the drone apart with her powers.
But suddenly a voice stopped her. "I'll take care of it. Give it to me"
Charlie turned and saw that Alastor had climbed up next to her and was climbing in through one of the windows. Although it was somewhat disturbing, she was happy to see him. "Al! Good thing, you're okay!" she told him, almost running to hug him.
Alastor nodded. "Adam and I had a... close encounter, but nothing too serious" he replied. "Come on, give me that strange box. I know how to open it"
"Really? Thanks!" Charlie exclaimed, and she handed him the drone containing her trident without a second thought. “So, how do you mean… uh?”
Only then did the princess of Hell realize that some of Alastor's tentacles had remained outside the window, and as soon as she had handed him the drone, they had finally entered showing that they were wrapped around Vox's fainted body. "Um... Al, why did you...?"
"Adam still needs him" Alastor told her. "You will not take him away"
Charlie froze. "Al...?"
The radio demon gave her a cold look. "I'm sorry, Charlie"
And after such words his shadows grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her out the window. Charlie screamed as she fell down the cathedral tower; she wasn't afraid of getting hurt or dying, after all her resistance allowed her to withstand much worse impacts, but she screamed anyway. Lucifer stopped as soon as he heard his daughter's scream and hurried to go and catch her before she fell to the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Yes..." Charlie stammered, and she looked up at the top of the tower. "Al... why...?"
"Isn't it obvious? He's betraying you, you idiot" Adam said flying next to the radio demon and placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're best friends now"
Charlie turned chalk white. "Impossible... Al, he's blackmailing you... right?"
Alastor shook his head. "Sorry, Charlie. But he promised me something you can't give me"
"What are you talking about!?" Charlie almost screamed.
"What we all want in our hearts" Adam said with a wide smile. "Peace for our time!"
And having said this he snapped his fingers, and suddenly the whole cathedral shook; and then the tower collapsed, revealing a huge silver metal tube inside it. Alastor used his tentacles to grab onto it and reached a small cockpit at the top where he entered, dragging Vox with him.
Lucifer gritted his teeth: "Are you kidding me!? Where did you get a missile?"
"A little gift from Mrs. Carmine. I called it the Dick One" Adam replied, and he snapped his fingers again. "And now, little princess, say goodbye to both the trident and your radio friend!"
The missile's thruster gave a roar and hurled it skyward.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/150639445
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 24: The two fallen (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The missile launched with such violence that the sound generated a shock wave so powerful that it razed what remained of the cathedral to the ground; Husk and Angel managed to get out just in time before the ceiling collapsed on them. In a fraction of a second, the missile was already over a kilometer in the air, and there it curved slightly towards the direction it was supposed to go.
"Al!" Charlie screamed, already unable to see the missile and fearing that at any moment the radio demon would explode.
"Be calm, little princess. That's just a vehicle" Adam told her. "Your friend with the radio voice... although I don't know whether to call him that anymore... is not taking any risks"
Charlie felt a little relief. At least it didn't look like Alastor was about to die. “Why did you put him on a missile?”
"What questions! Because it's the quickest way to fly him away from the clutches of your darling daddy" Adam answered her. "Even with his ability to move between shadows, Lucifer could have stopped him. I can do it, why can't he? I could have opened a portal, but I assumed that your father possessed enough neurons to block the space-time flow of this area. Shooting the radio deer into the outer layers of the atmosphere was the easiest way to get him out of here before he could intervene. And then..."
An amused smile appeared on his face. Charlie clenched her fists. "And then?"
"And then... it's so fucking cool!" Adam concluded with an epic laugh. "What's the matter? I want to have fun too, you know?"
Lucifer didn't let him continue speaking: he opened his wings and started to chase the missile... but Adam stepped in front of him and hit him before he could. "Don't try" he told him. “I stayed behind just to keep you from stopping it!"
And having said this he raised his axe again and infused it with Alastor's acoustic powers, and as soon as he moved it he unleashed a sound wave that made the whole area tremble; the sound took consistency and merged into a gigantic blade that traveled towards Lucifer, and which he vaporized with the sole imposition of his strength. Adam, however, was not long in coming and appeared in front of him, punching him in the gums.
Lucifer slid back slightly and rubbed his mouth; he still had the burns caused by the gamma ray burst and Adam was aiming right at the most exposed points to cause him as much pain as possible. The king of Hell opened his mouth wide and spewed a torrent of flame at the first man, who quickly swung his axe to generate wind to ward it off; even so, however, he was forced to leave. Lucifer tried to take advantage of this to fly away and chase the missile, but Adam already had a counterattack ready: Vox's powers emerged from his hands and his axe was charged with electricity, and through it he hurled an immense bolt of lightning into the sky, a bolt that then split and enclosed the entire area in a huge electromagnetic field. "None of you are leaving here!"
Lucifer let out a roar of rage, and his power exploded from his body; the lightning was immediately nullified and dissolved into the air. "Do you think anything will change!?” he growled. "Even if you were able to keep me here, I'll just have to follow the trail...!"
"Fuck, you really have some serious observation problems! Haven't you noticed that there's no trail?" Adam asked him with satisfaction. "I modified the engine to be magnetic levitation. The powers of an overlord of technology and electromagnetism are very useful... and the powers of many others too. My missile has a cover that makes it invisible to all types of radar, a shield that reflects all kinds of tracking spells, and reflective panels that hide it from view. It travels at 24 times the speed of sound and has a range of over 6000 kilometers. You're already having a hard time finding it, aren't you?"
Lucifer gritted his teeth in anger, especially since Adam was absolutely right: even with his extraordinary sight, superior to that of anyone else in Hell, he struggled to notice the missile in the distance. He had to hurry and stop it or he would no longer be able to catch it. His wings moved again and he broke the sound barrier, but again Adam got ahead of him and hit him in the sternum, stopping his acceleration. "Stop it!" the king of Hell roared.
"And why? Our battle isn't over!" Adam pointed this out to him. "And I still really want to smash your face in!"
His immense overlord aura exploded from his body again, stirring the surrounding air; he raised his hand and with Vox's electromagnetic powers summoned his axe, which flew between his fingers and was immediately thrown again at Lucifer. The king of Hell parried it again, but Adam raised his hands and shot his rays of light at him. This time, however, Lucifer no longer intended to play and dodged the beams without any effort, moving in front of him and grabbing him by the neck. "I told you to end this! Attack me one more time and it ends badly!"
And with that warning he threw him away and then flew after the missile. By now it was so far away that he struggled to see it even with his powers, but he could still reach it. His wings could carry him much faster than Mach 24, so he could still turn the tables...
But Adam was not willing to give up. "I knew if you were serious I would have no chance of stopping you" he said using Alastor's powers to amplify his voice so he could hear him. "So I prepared something special for myself! It's time to show you another of my Trump cards!"
And with that he folded his hands in front of his chest again, and pure power exploded from them; the entire area shook as gravity itself seemed to reverse. The ground cracked and buildings shattered and collapsed, flying towards him and crumbling; more and more matter condensed into a single point, becoming increasingly denser and hotter. Adam was predominantly using Zeezi's gravity powers, but those of several other overlords, including Alastor and Vox, were also being added to increase the pressure.
Lucifer was caught by that sudden change in gravity, and found himself falling backwards; it was so unexpected that for a moment he didn't even notice it. He turned and could see Adam staring at him, and the orb in his hands which had now turned completely black. "No, he won't...!"
Adam threw the black orb towards him. "Ultimate move..." he said through clenched teeth, and then he closed his hand into a fist. "BLACK HOLE!"
The black orb exploded with such a roar that the entire Pride Ring seemed to shake, but a fraction of a millisecond later the sound itself was swallowed up by what was created in its place; a small black vortex about three meters in diameter appeared in the sky, even bending the light, so much so that the pemtagram seemed to deform. The matter around it flew towards it and was reduced to crumbs in a few moments, until it turned into subatomic particles; these particles began to move at almost the speed of light around the black sphere, creating a disk of debris; the friction and collisions between them heated them so much that they glowed several times brighter than a single one. Rocks, houses, bricks, even air, everything was sucked into what seemed like a huge vortex in the middle of the sea, except that it was in the sky and was extremely stronger and more violent.
Charlie and her friends were fortunately far from the point where that dark vortex was generated, given that Adam and Lucifer had moved so quickly as to move away from them in a few moments without even realizing it, but they still felt its immense gravity: the hair of Charlie's flew in front of her face, threatening to break away, and so did Angel's; even the sides of Husk's bartender suit flapped as if trying to fly in the direction of that enormous gravity anchor. Some stones even rose from the ground before their astonished eyes. "N-No way..." Angel stuttered as a few drops of sweat beaded on his forehead and immediately left his skin to fly in the direction of the vortex.
"This is absolutely crazy" Husk muttered through gritted teeth. “He manipulated gravity and density to create a black hole…!?”
Contrary to what was normally believed, a black hole was extremely easy to generate, at least on paper. Anything could become a black hole, even a speck of dust; all that was necessary to do was compress the matter enough to make it collapse, or increase its density until spacetime itself was broken, generating a gravitational anchor capable of trapping even light, meaning a black hole. What was complicated was precisely exerting enough force to be able to compress the matter so much until it reached the point of no return. It was an immense force, incomparable to anything human hands had ever created; across the entire universe, only the most violent and cataclysmic events could produce the conditions necessary to create a black hole, such as collisions between neutron stars or when the cores of extremely massive stars collapsed into a supernova.
And now, Adam, alone, had repeated those same conditions between the palms of his hands, unleashing the power of the most powerful objects in the cosmos. Just as he had done with the gamma ray burst, he had fused the powers of several overlords together, and finally exerted all of his immense strength into them. The result was to literally break the fabric of reality and generate something that literally broke the laws of physics.
Before he could react, Lucifer had already ended up inside the ergosphere, or the area within which the disk of boiling debris orbited; they hit him like a river of lava, burning his skin and throwing him away. As if it were an immense current, the black hole forced him to orbit around it whether he liked it or not. Lucifer knew that all he had to do was move faster than light to escape that gravitational force, but he needed time to accelerate to that point and the propulsive force of the black hole was preventing him from doing so. Eventually, he fell into the black hole and disappeared.
Charlie's eyes widened and her breath caught: "DAD!"
There was a long moment of silence; and then, the black hole trembled and split from the inside, exploding with unprecedented violence. Its gravitational force disappeared and everything fell to the ground with a bang. Lucifer reappeared where the black sphere had been an instant before; his body was completely enveloped by his immense aura, which seemed like a crimson flame that tore and burned everything. Even though he had managed to break the black hole from the inside, his body was shaking slightly, indicating that he had still been tested by the experience. But he didn't have time to even take a breath before Adam appeared next to him and threw a powerful punch on his forehead, throwing him to the ground.
Lucifer stood up with a grunt, and his eyes flared as he saw the first man land in front of him. "You surprised me, Adam. When did you take off your diaper?"
"When you stopped having your period" was the first man's response.
Lucifer gritted his teeth. He had truly reached the limit of his patience. "Listen, I really don't want to sound like a racist... but you better get out of my way and go back to your zoo to eat bananas, monkey"
"You know, this way you really sound like a racist" Adam replied with a smirk. "But you don't have to worry, I'm not offended by this, chicken"
Lucifer let out a deep snort. "Dammit, you've gotten better at keeping your cool... just as you've gotten better at being a stick in my ass"
"I am flattered by such compliments" Adam replied with a wry smile. "And I can assure you that you haven't seen anything yet"
The voice of the Exorcists that Charlie had previously destroyed suddenly rang in the first man's mind: "Sir, your energy...!"
"Yes, I know, I'm bluffing. I'm almost at my limit" Adam answered them in his head. Since the souls of the Exorcists were always with him, they could communicate that way within his brain. "To think that this bastard still hasn't taken any real damage despite everything I've thrown at him... fuck, it's really annoying. Infuriating..."
“Sir, perhaps you should leave now” the Exorcists in his mind told him. "You are putting your life in danger if you continue like this...!"
"No... no, Lucifer won't kill me. Not as long as his daughter is here, at least" Adam answered them, and out of the corner of his eye he looked at the missile in the sky, now almost invisible to his eyes. A grin formed on his face: "I just need to distract this idiot for a few more minutes, and he won't be able to track it anymore... and I know exactly how..."
Adam grabbed his axe again and infused it with energy, and with it he threw himself at Lucifer, but he parried the blow with one hand. Despite all the first man's strength, the axe failed to move while he held it with his fingers. "Now enough with the games" the fallen angel said in a firm and low voice, and with a single movement of his fingers he split the axe as if it were made of butter.
But Adam was not the least bit intimidated. "Why? We were having fun!" he answered him, and as he threw away the broken pieces of the axe his eyes glowed as he activated Carmilla's powers. Normally such powers consisted of releasing an atomic ray from his eyes, but on the contrary this time he did not release it in the form of energy but of pure light, right in front of Lucifer's face.
The glare that was unleashed was so extreme and bright that it made the sun appear dark. Even with his angelic and extremely resistant eyes, Lucifer was dazzled and was no longer able to see; Adam obviously took the opportunity to punch him in the face. The king of Hell managed to parry his blows thanks to his superior intuition, but still he could no longer see anything except a white spot.
Adam grinned. He barely looked in the direction of the missile, and no longer saw it; but he knew that Lucifer would definitely still be able to see him when his eyes recovered. He still had to buy time. Just one last minute...
Lucifer's eyes regenerated completely, and he let out a roar. "ENOUGH NOW!" he screamed, and with a single wave of his hand he threw him away, sending him crashing into the rubble and smashing into it over and over again before he stopped. Lucifer would have chased him, but his last shred of rationality still got the better of him and he looked at the missile in the air. He could still see it, but if he waited a few more seconds, he wouldn't have been able to find it anymore and he would have therefore lost it. He had to stop it immediately. He immediately took off and accelerated rapidly...
But Adam stabilized himself in the air and laughed heartily. He knew he couldn't reach him anymore and he didn't even try. But again using Alastor's acoustic powers he shouted, making himself heard several kilometers away: "As you wish! I won't attack you again!"
Lucifer froze in mid-air "What...?"
Adam turned to Charlie and raised his hand, and with the last drop of energy he had left he generated one of his beam of light. It traveled towards her, and before it even touched her she could feel the scorching temperature hit her face. Lucifer immediately forgot about the missile and intervened at the last moment and took her away from the beam, which disintegrated the buildings behind her as if they were made of butter. The king of Hell let out a furious roar. “How dare you attack my daughter!?”
Lucifer threw himself at Adam and this time he caught him by the scruff of the neck and slammed him to the ground; a crater at least six meters deep opened beneath him. The king of Hell threw himself on top of him and began punching him in the face, turning his face into a mask of blood, knocking out his teeth and breaking his facial bones. He would have continued until his skull was crushed if Charlie hadn't grabbed his arm: "Dad, no!"
Lucifer finally calmed down, and only then seemed to realize what he was doing. He shook the blood off his hands and checked if the first man was still breathing... yes, he was still breathing. And indeed, he was still conscious. “Heh heh… I knew... that you wouldn't do it... in front of her” Adam laughed. "I'm afraid... that your radio friend... is too far away now"
Lucifer opened his eyes wide and immediately looked up at the sky, but he could no longer see the missile. He realized too late that Adam had attacked Charlie only to purposely enrage him and focus his attention on him. With a snarl of anger, he placed a foot on the first man's chest. "And you stay here instead"
But Adam replied with a mocking smile. "Of course not... I'm already there"
And as he said this he raised his left arm slightly, and to the amazement of both Lucifer and Charlie, his skin seemed to fade and peel off as if it were that of a snake, revealing beneath it a smaller, more feminine arm, typical of Exorcists. "What...?" Charlie murmured.
"Another of my overlord abilities. In addition to giving me the ability to separate my girls' bodies and souls, thus keeping their souls safe... I can also transfer myself into one of their bodies" Adam explained them. "And I don't mean through possession... I completely swap my body with that of the aforementioned Exorcist, keeping all of my abilities intact. Just like in chess, I can swap my pawns into any pieces I want, including myself. And given that my girls cannot die while I am alive… I am in no danger of losing any of my soldiers. The true essence of a general, am I right?”
His body completely began to fray and break down, continuing to reveal the shape of an Exorcist within. "I'm sorry to tell you, but you lost... no, actually I'm not sorry at all. I took what I wanted to take, and you have no way of getting it back. I'm afraid you'll have to look for me again now"
"Wait!" Charlie exclaimed trying to stop him. "Please stop! We can talk about it! You don't have to do this!"
"Are you really not listening to me, princess?" Adam scolded her. "I already told you: there is no point in being afraid of the inevitable. And this is inevitable. I am inevitable"
The last words were spoken in a very deep tone, sending a shiver down Charlie's spine once again. "Well... I'm going. I'll see you again soon. Oh, and Lucifer?" Adam's face became a mask of ferocity: "I'm gonna feed you your own wedding ring"
And with that final threat his body vanished completely, leaving behind only a straight-horned, bob-haired Exorcist, who gave them a mocking smile. "Goodbye, assholes!" she told them, and in one swift motion she broke her own neck, falling to the ground and vanishing in a mass of golden dust.
Lucifer and Charlie let out a deep breath, and then the princess of Hell sat down on the ground and put her face in her hands. "Hey... are you fine...?" her father murmured.
"Do I look like I'm fine?" Charlie asked back, showing her tear-stained face.
Lucifer bit his lip. He wasn't sure how to deal with that situation... he had never been good with such things. "Don't think about it" he said finally. "Don't think about Adam... or Alastor. Think about your friends, they still need you"
Charlie didn't seem very heartened by these words, but at least she nodded and stood up. "Yes... you're right. Let's go help them"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 13): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151054492
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 25: Aftermath
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Far away from Pentagram City, in front of a lake full of dark, thick water, there was a small hut made from the wood of some of the twisted and diseased trees that grew there. In that house there were three Exorcists, who were playing cards sitting around a table. Suddenly there was a pop, and one of them disappeared, replaced by Adam, who immediately fell to the ground. "SIR!" the other two exclaimed as they ran to help him.
Adam let out a couple of grunts, and then he sat up. His whole body ached, and even though he didn't want to admit it, it stung that he had to be used as a punching bag by that damned six-winged asshole again... but the plan had succeeded, and that was all that mattered to him. "We won" he announced with a grin.
The two Exorcists, despite their concern, did not hold back their satisfied smiles. "You were brilliant, sir. You fooled them really well!"
Adam chuckled smugly, and then he raised his hand slightly: a small golden sphere appeared in it. "Miriam?"
"I'm here, sir" the voice of the same Exorcist with whom he had just exchanged came from the sphere. "I destroyed the body, as we planned"
Adam nodded. "Good. As soon as I'm totally regenerated and back to full strength, I'll build you a new one"
"Don't hurry, sir. You are more important than me, think about recovering" the golden sphere replied.
Adam made the sphere vanish with a snap of his fingers. "Your loyalty is as usual extraordinary. Rest now, you've earned it" he said, and then he got up and walked to the window. "Now, if I haven't miscalculated..."
The missile he had fired at Pentagram City landed in the lake with a loud bang, sending up a wave that crashed over the house, causing the walls to shake slightly. "Here it is" Adam said. "Let's go and say hello to our new ally"
And having said this he left the house and headed towards a small pier, followed by the two Exorcists. It didn't take long before a mass of shadows emerged from the water and Alastor appeared before them, holding Vox by his tentacles and the drone containing Charlie's trident in his hands. The Exorcists glared at him, clearly disgusted by his presence, but they calmed down when the radio demon bowed and handed the box to their leader: "To you"
Adam took it satisfied. "On this stone I will build my church" he commented, and then with his powers he connected to the drone and ordered it to open. The box clicked and split into several small robots again, leaving only the trident in his hands. Adam brought it up to his eyes and smirked. "One down. Two to go!"
Lucifer, thanks to his rapid wings and his powers, had managed to find all of Charlie's friends (and not) in a few moments, and he had reunited all their pieces in one place so that they could regenerate more quickly. After that he had speeded up the process and done his best to make it painless. And so in the end Vaggie, Cherri, Niffty, Rosie, Velvette, Valentino, Angel and Husk were back to some semblance of normality... even if the cat demon still had his wings clipped. "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about these"
"Ugh... it's okay" Husk replied, rubbing the affected spot. "I barely even used them before. I can live without a pair of wings"
"Poor kitty!" Niffty said hugging him lightly, clearly displeased.
Angel let out an annoyed snort. "I'm sorry" he told him. "It's my fault... if you hadn't tried to save me..."
“Hey, hey, let's not start with the guilt escalation” Husk told him. "I don't regret jumping in to save you. It's Adam's fault, not yours"
Angel still had a grim expression on his face, but he patted his friend on the shoulder anyway. "Sorry if I called you a coward" he told him.
Husk smiled slightly at him. "Nah, I still am so. But apparently I'm getting stupid enough to think I can get a friend out of the hands of a guy who crashes buildings down with his fingers"
Angel chuckled slightly at the joke; at least it seemed like Husk was taking the situation well. Which was good since they were literally in deep shit. He turned to Cherri and tried to ask: "Is everything okay?"
"Fuck you, Angel" was the response he received from the cyclops demoness, who had her head resting on her knees.
Angel didn't resent those words: he knew well how difficult the situation was for her. Being faced again with the man who had killed Sir Pentious was horrible, but being beaten by him without being able to do anything about it was even worse. Without saying another word he put his arm around his friend, hugging her; Cherri let out a grunt, but she didn't tell him to go away or move away.
Meanwhile Charlie was helping Rosie up. The cannibal overlord had been completely reassembled by Lucifer, but judging by her jerky movements she still had some parts of her brain that were regenerating. “Ugh… thanks, honey”
"Thank you for trying to defend my friends" Charlie replied.
Rosie shrugged slightly. "That's not much. But as soon as I see Alastor again, I will give him my personal thanks for involving me in this matter"
Charlie bit her lip hard. How could she tell others what had happened? She didn't even know how to introduce the topic. Not knowing what else to do, she went to Vaggie, who had literally covered herself with her own wings, as if she didn't want to show her face. Charlie gently touched her feathers and moved them. "Vaggie..."
Her girlfriend raised her head slightly, showing her tear-stained face. "You were right" she whispered. "He was still alive"
Charlie sighed deeply and hugged her girlfriend, who gladly accepted that gesture. The princess of Hell could clearly feel her trembling under her skin. Clearly, seeing one of those responsible for her exile and impairment could not have been easy for her.
Valentino and Velvette had also been put back together... more or less. The social overlord was staring at the ground and hugging her knees, and she seemed to have lost all traces of boldness and arrogance. Valentino, for his part, was furious and did nothing but collect pebbles from the rubble and throw them around. “All this effort for nothing” he growled. "We finally have saved Voxxy..."
"I think he had this all planned out from the beginning" Lucifer told them. "Adam moved his pawns smartly. Vox was a decoy, he knew that moth guy over there could track him, that's why he kept him in this fake hideout. The whole time he was keeping an eye on you and me via cameras and cell phones. He wanted you to come here separated, so as to isolate Charlie... and Alastor"
Charlie nodded sadly, remembering what Adam had said to her in the church. He had really thought of everything. He had exploited their own weaknesses against them. She wouldn't have been surprised to find that what Vaggie had said to her in the midst of her fear and her own reaction had also been something he had anticipated.
He had fooled them all.
"What do you mean?" Rosie asked. "Where's Alastor?"
Charlie sighed deeply. "With Adam"
"Did he kidnap him too?" Husk asked surprised, and he seemed quite happy about it, unlike Niffty who immediately became worried.
Charlie shook her head. "No... he betrayed us" she replied, generating a murmur of astonishment. "He sided with Adam"
Of course, that was the thing no one expected. "But... why?" Angel asked confused.
Charlie shrugged. “I don't know. But he didn't seem to be faking it”
"Don't ask too many questions. Betrayal is inherent in a selfish asshole like him" Lucifer commented acidly. "I knew he couldn't be trusted"
Valentino threw another stone on the ground. "Fuck it... Voxxy would be safe now if it wasn't for that slimy bastard!" he growled angrily. "That damned scoundrel...!"
"Speaking of scoundrels..." Velvette murmured as she spoke for the first time, and she gave him an icy glare. “… why didn’t you tell me you knew where Vox was?”
"Yeah, we're all waiting to hear your justifications" Vaggie added, narrowing her eyes a lot.
Valentino let out a grunt. "I don't owe you any explanations. I didn't have to tell you anything, and we're not friends" he replied, and then he turned to Velvette: "Babydoll, I know you're angry, but until a few hours ago I too didn't know where he was. Vox, and I couldn't tell you about it without Alastor hearing us and screwing everything up. I needed to make a plan..."
"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Velvette exclaimed as she stood up. “You really think you can keep things from me, lock me up, drug me, and whatever else you fucking did, and then get away with just saying you were trying to protect me or some shit like that!?”
"We could have helped you, if only you had told us the truth" Charlie scolded him back. "Adam screwed us over because he predicted you'd be an asshole! If you'd been honest for once, maybe we could have saved Vox!"
"Oh, please. If you had known the truth, you would have ended up even worse than now" Valentino replied. "Alastor would have come here by breaking down doors to fight Adam, his two henchmen would have followed him, the cyclops over there is crazy enough to join the group, and the rest of you would have come just to help out your friends. Oh, and of course Velvette, impulsive as she is, would have come too. We wouldn't have even been able to even get close to Vox. Instead, if it hadn't been for the smiling deer's betrayal, I would have managed to escape with him. And since I would have run away with him, you would never have lost... whatever you lost, that missile would never have gone off, and maybe King Morningstar wouldn't have captured Adam, but at least that asshole would have gone home empty-handed"
Charlie felt a bitter taste in her mouth. In fact, if Alastor had not intervened, she would have easily recovered the trident and Vox would never have been recaptured. Adam wouldn't have been defeated, but at least he wouldn't have won either.
Lucifer turned to her with a raised eyebrow: "Sorry, what? What's did you lose?"
Charlie bit her lip. "My... trident"
Her father's reaction surprised her quite a bit: "WHAT!?"
Charlie almost jumped at that exclamation. "Um... dad, are you okay...?"
But Lucifer was no longer listening to her: he had started flying in circles at least three meters off the ground, muttering to himself with a worried expression. "Something tells me that trident is going to be trouble" Husk commented harshly.
Velvette showed no sign of even having heard that part of the conversation: her eyes were still on Valentino and they were burning. "You're a son of a bitch" she growled at him. "You knew how much I cared about Vox, you knew how worry I was for him! I was worried, scared! I thought I would have seen him again in a coffin! And you didn't care! You preferred to lock me in a room or even put drugs in my body while you were going to play detective on your own! You even preferred the hideously dressed white-furred spider to me!"
"Considering he threw me into Adam's hands, you were lucky, girl" Angel told her.
He had said that sentence almost without thinking, but Charlie's face immediately turned red. "What did he do!?"
Clearly noticing the danger, Valentino swallowed. "Hey, hey, let's not make unfounded accusations! I would have come back to get you...!"
Charlie walked towards him and punched him in the gums. It was so powerful that it knocked out half of his teeth and knocked him to the ground. "Leave now" the princess of Hell ordered him. "I'm not in the mood. Get out of my sight!"
Valentino massaged the affected part. "But... we had an agreement..."
"Our agreement was that I would offer you refuge if you kept quiet and didn't hurt anyone. And if Angel was here to help you, you surely forced him in some way" Charlie replied. "I don't know if you used physical or psychological violence, but in any case I consider it a violation of the agreement. Get the fuck away or Adam won't be the next one to break your bone"
Valentino understood that it was better not to opine. "Uff... okay, whatever! We're leaving! Come, Vel"
"No" was Velvette's response.
Valentino looked at her surprised. "What...? What are you saying, Babydoll...?"
"Don't call me that" Velvette told him sourly. "You definitely went too far this time. I can't trust you anymore if you're even willing to hide from me that you know how to find my best friend and make me feel bad for him. I'm staying here. Can I?"
Charlie hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded slightly. "Yes"
"Great. Then I'll stay with them" Velvette said. "At least they, in their stupid idea of friendship, don't hide things from each other"
“This is ridiculous!” Valentino exclaimed. "Come on, Babydoll! We can still..."
"I told you not to call me that!" Velvette yelled at him. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm very pissed at you! Get out of my way, no one wants you here, including me!"
Valentino was stunned for a moment, but then his expression became furious. "Oh, that's fine! Fuck all of you! I'll take care of this myself!" he growled angrily, and he spread his wings and flew away, disappearing into the sky.
No one was displeased by this. "Finally. It's about time we got that asshole out of the way too" Vaggie commented.
"Yeah" Charlie agreed with her. "He's a real bastard, he'll never change"
But suddenly she heard something trilling. She followed the sound and approached some rubble, and moving it she discovered that underneath it was her cell phone, which she had lost when she started fighting the Exorcists in the church. It was impossible that it could have saved itself by chance with all the explosions that had occurred, and in fact on the surface it showed clear signs of overlord powers. Charlie picked it up and turned it on in front of the others, and everyone saw that she had received a message from an unknown number.
"You finally admitted it too, little princess"
And as soon as she read it, both the message and the number were deleted. Charlie was taken aback for a moment, but then her eyes widened and her breath caught.
"Adam..." Vaggie muttered, looking at her phone. "He must have used Velvette's powers to... Char?"
Charlie had turned white as a sheet; she slipped on her legs and dropped her cell phone to the floor, and put her hands over her mouth as she breathed heavily. "Charlie! What's wrong with you!?" Vaggie exclaimed grabbing her.
Charlie visibly trembled. “I… I said it” she whispered.
Her friends didn't understand. “What are you…?”
"I said Valentino will never change!" Charlie exclaimed as a couple of tears fell from her eyes. “I… I just denied myself exactly what the Hazbin Hotel is based on!”
Her friends froze, realizing that she was right.
The Hazbin Hotel was built on the premise that everyone could be redeemed, even the worst demons. And now, Charlie herself had said that someone would have never changed, and therefore would have never been redeemed either.
That realization crushed her like a rock. "Adam doesn't want to kill me..." she whispered in a small voice. "He wants to destroy my dream"
In the rest of Pentagram City, the demons were still in panic: many had taken refuge in the cellars and under the stairs to escape... whatever Adam was planning. Even though the first man had interrupted the broadcast after the end of his song, still no one had the courage to come out of their hiding place.
Or rather... almost none.
“I told you he was down here”
Two women were on the street, in front of a gigantic giant screen that was now turned off. One was tall, curvy, with long blonde hair and two prominent horns on her head, while the other was shorter, with short gray hair, a black halo on top of her head and two large wings on her back. "Looks like you were right" the second one commented. “And I have to say that he used his time wisely”
"We have different definitions of 'wise,' but without a doubt he worked hard" the horned woman said in a serious voice. "Let's go. Show me the way to my daughter's hotel"
"Shouldn't we go where he was singing?" the winged woman asked.
The horned woman shook her head. "If I know Adam well, by now he's already finished whatever he had planned. We won't find him there. My daughter and her friends are now the best lead we have, so... let's go to her"
"Of course" the winged woman muttered. "Tell the truth, you just want to hug your travesty of family again"
"Think of me whatever you want, Lute" the horned woman replied. "But you know I want to find Adam as much as you do. So bite the bullet and agree to ask my daughter for help"
The winged woman clenched her teeth and fists, clearly preferring to set herself on fire; but at last she let out a sigh. "Okay. The hotel is that way. Do you want to lead the way... Lilith?"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 13): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151054492
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 26: Return of the queen
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie and her friends had been brought back to the hotel by Lucifer via a portal. As soon as they arrived, the king of Hell, moved by some sort of parental paranoia, had begun to seal all the doors, windows and even the walls with his powers to prevent them from being broken from the outside. He absolutely didn't want to risk Adam coming in and hurting anyone else…especially his daughter.
"It's no use" Vaggie said to him. "Adam won't attack the hotel... not as long as you are here to protect it at least. He would have already done it otherwise"
Lucifer let out a grunt. “I still prefer to play it safe” he said. “Adam is dangerous and unpredictable… and now he has that damn trident. I can't take any risks this time”
Vaggie bit her lip. She looked over to the couch, where Charlie sat hugging her knees. Angel had put a blanket over her, but she still seemed completely cold. And of course, the number of handkerchiefs that were crowding the floor beneath her feet was ever growing. Rosie was next to her and was trying to cheer her up, but even she couldn't perform miracles. The princess was literally heartbroken.
Vaggie hated seeing her like that. She was sure she felt really shit: not only had Adam returned more powerful and violent than ever and had deprived her of her trident, but Alastor had betrayed them. Even though Vaggie had never trusted the radio demon, considering him at best a nuisance and at worst a danger, she knew that Charlie had instead held him in high regard. Alastor's betrayal to her must have been truly horrible.
But admitting that not everyone could be redeemed... that was what had truly broken the jovial princess from the inside.
Adam had truly been a bastard.
Just thinking about the former leader of the Exorcists made Vaggie shiver. She too was extremely distressed by the situation. She had wished Adam and Lute dead for so long because of what they had done to her and for two weeks she had believed that at least half of her wish had come true... and instead Adam had returned as an even worse nightmare than before. Vaggie felt her missing eye burn as she thought about it, and some of the base of her wings burned even though they were back in place.
Not that other hotel guests were much better off. Cherri was sitting in a corner, silent; she had tried drinking a few bottles, but the alcohol didn't seem to have any effect on her anymore. She did nothing but stare into space and think back to the fact that she had had Pentious's killer in her hands and hadn't even managed to get a scratch on him. It seemed to her that the boulder on her heart had become a hundred times heavier.
Niffty had also fallen silent, and she seemed to have become incapable of thinking: it was as if her brain had turned off. She no longer understood what she should do: go find Alastor and join him? But she didn't know where to find him, and the radio demon's order to stay at the hotel and keep it clean was technically still valid... she was definitely confused.
Husk on the contrary didn't give a damn about Alastor's opinion; instead, he was having the bandages on his back changed by Angel. Definitely, he had other problems at the moment. "Ugh… be careful"
"I assure you, I'm doing my best" Angel told him as he looked at his wounds. The wings had been cut clean off at the base and the stumps barely protruded from the back; apart from a couple of feathers and a few lumps of flesh, there was nothing left of them. At the very least, they were already starting to heal. "Luckily the short king fixed you up, or it would have taken them much longer to become like you are now. Although it's still best for you to keep the bandages on for another couple of days"
"I know" Husk muttered. "Damn, what a shitty day..."
Angel sighed. Then he stood up and cleared his throat: "Guys... I think I owe you all an apology"
Everyone looked at him in surprise. Angel ignored their stares, in fact he didn't even look at them. "I shouldn't have done my own thing and followed Valentino. Yes, he forced me, but... I should have called you first, or not supported him, or resisted him, or... ah, I don't know. The point is that... I'm sorry about everything"
"Angel, it wasn't your fault" Vaggie told him. “Adam screwed us all, and you were just trying to help”
"But some people got more screwed than others" Angel murmured, looking at both Husk and Charlie. "I am still responsible for this, and I do not intend to shirk that responsibility. I apologize to all of you"
And having said that he sat down again before anyone could answer him. Everyone had at least one objection to it, but seeing how tired he looked (and how tired they all actually were) they just let it go.
Husk placed a hand on Angel's shoulder. “You were… strangely mature” he said softly. "Did something happen?"
Angel sighed. "I don't know. I... it's hard to explain" he murmured, putting his hand in front of his face.
Husk bit his lip. He was sure that Adam's power to make a person relive their sins had something to do with Angel's sudden behavior. The spider demon seemed… he didn't know, it was as if he had become more rigid and mechanical, as if something was weighing on him. And to prove this it was enough to Husk to cast a quick glance at the other victim of Adam's power: Velvette was in fact sitting on a chair in a corner of the bar, almost completely in shadow, and she wasn't saying a word. She hadn't made a snide comment or even a single tease since she'd regenerated and said Valentino to fuck off. Her clothes and hair were still completely dirty and ruined from the battle, but although she could have fixed herself with a snap of her fingers and indeed normally she would have shouted for that attack on her image, at that moment she wasn't even thinking about it. From her expression she looked like she hadn't slept in a week. She kept touching her fingers to a bowl of olives placed on the bar counter, but she wasn't putting a single one in her mouth even though she hadn't eaten anything in the last twelve hours.
Husk wasn't sure if it was a good idea to ask, but he said anyway: "It was Adam's power, wasn't it?"
Angel inspired deeply. A slight tremor went through all his limbs. “Has anyone ever gotten into your brain to play with it?” he just murmured. "It empties it out of you... it fills it up with something else. You become another person, you feel everything... all the fear, all the pain, every single thought that person was feeling at that moment. It's..."
"... horrible?" Husk anticipated him.
Angel nodded. "Yes" he replied. "And it leaves a residue on you. It's like... living those horrible things really. You feel it... you feel how those people would have felt if they had survived. That constant fear of being in that situation again... the trauma, the terror... the need to check every corner of the room... the fear of wandering around in the dark of a street... and everything else, it all sticks with you even after that asshole stops using his powers. Even now... I don't feel at ease simply because I can't see up the stairs and I'm afraid that behind a door there is someone ready to catch me and tie me up"
Husk let out a loud breath from his nostrils. Adam's power was truly far more devastating than one might have expected simply from hearing it described. It left scars on his victims' soul that were really hard to erase.
Vaggie asked Lucifer if he still needed assistance, but when the king of Hell refused, she went to sit next to Charlie. "Hey, honey..."
"Don't say it, Vaggie" the princess whispered. "Don't say everything's fine"
"I wasn't actually going to say that. We're in deep shit" Vaggie said sincerely. To deny this would have been to deny the evidence. "But Charlie... you didn't deny your dream, you were just angry. Adam moved the pawns on purpose to make you angry and make you say that. It's not what you really think..."
"And you?" Charlie asked her with a grim expression. “What do you really think?”
Vaggie bit her lip. "I..."
"You should tell her the truth" Rosie suddenly told her. The cannibal overlord was looking at her with serious eyes. "You've told each other enough lies as far as I know, that's not how you build a stable relationship. Be honest with each other"
Vaggie was silent for a long moment, and then she took a deep breath and said everything that was on her mind: "Charlie... it's true, initially I didn't really believe in your project. I followed you because I loved you, but it seemed absurd to me to be able to do something that had literally never been done in the entire history of the universe... but then I had to change my mind. I saw Angel transform from a self-centered asshole who didn't even apologize into someone who would fight for his friends. I saw Husk go from being a bored bartender who was tired of life and completely uninterested in anything to someone who would put himself out there to help the others. And I also saw... a crazy and selfish inventor... sacrifice himself for those he loved". She felt a horrible bitter taste at those words, but still she didn't stop: "Charlie, you have a gift that I have never seen in anyone else and that I didn't even believe could exist: you bring out the best in people. Your every smile seems to have the power to melt a frozen heart. Seeing all this, I started to believe... no, sorry, I expressed myself badly. I understood that yours wasn't just a dream, that there was hope. That you... could have done it. And that's what I know even now, and no one can convince me otherwise"
Charlie regained some color in her face. Vaggie clearly felt her muscles relax under her touch, and her heart beat faster. “You lied to me anyway" Charlie told her.
Vaggie nodded. "Yes... but it starts with sorry, right?"
Charlie couldn't help but smile a little, and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm still mad at you. Just know that we won't have sex for a long time" she warned. "But thanks for believing it at least now"
Vaggie replied by kissing her forehead. "I told you, I don't believe it. I know it for sure"
Charlie's smile widened a little, and she finally seemed more relaxed. Rosie let out an annoyed grunt, although from her expression she still seemed happy. "Did it take you that long? You girls should seriously learn to tell each other everything from the start. Sincerity is the best virtue" she told them, then she looked at Charlie specifically: "As for you, stop moping around. You're just playing the game of Adam. Do you really think that a single sentence uttered in a moment of anger after you have been betrayed, robbed, deceived, you have seen your friend being maimed and your old enemy come back to haunt you is enough to destroy a dream? A dream is lost only when you stop pursuing it. So instead of giving it to Adam, get back up and work to prove that asshole that he is wrong about you and that you are not as weak and malleable as he thinks"
Charlie finally regained her color completely. "Yes... yes, you're right" she said. "We have to get moving and stop Adam... even if I haven't the faintest idea how to do it"
"We'll find a way" Lucifer said as he approached her and gave her a small knowing nudge. "We won't let him play with us a second time. Next time, we'll punch him a little so he understands not to be an asshole, and then... well, I've got some nice prisons in my palace's dungeons, we can keep him there until we decide what to do with him or at least until he accepts to calm down"
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Angel exclaimed as he stood up. Even though he wasn't exactly right in the head, he couldn't help himself from offering at least a few words of comfort. "What does it matter if we got beaten once? As long as there's life there's hope! Next time we'll win. We don't give a damn that we don't know where he is, or what the next move will be, or that help won't suddenly arrive at our door, or..."
KNOCK KNOCK!
Angel froze as he heard someone knock on the door. "... we are dreamers of dreams!" he shouted almost without thinking.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “Stay here” he said. "It could be Adam. I'll open the door"
He cautiously walked to the door, already ready to use his powers, and then he opened it. But as soon as he opened it, he froze in place.
On the other side was a rather tall demoness with an hourglass figure and very pale lilac skin. She had light purple irises, very pale yellow sclera, slit pupils, and long, thick eyelashes; her calf-length hair is blonde with thick honey-colored streaks and perpetually floats in the air, even when she doesn't move. On er head she had a pair of large, curled magenta horns. She wore makeup with shimmery plum eyeshadow and dark magenta lipstick.
There was a long moment of silence. Lucifer seemed to have frozen in place, and the horned woman was rubbing her hands nervously. She seemed to have no idea what to say, in fact she was almost sweating from her forehead as she looked at the king of Hell.
That silence certainly did not go unnoticed. "Um... dad, who's at the door...?" Charlie asked as she approached, but in turn stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw who had arrived. "Mom...?"
Lilith raised her arms slightly, hesitating a little. But despite the tension she was clearly feeling, she still couldn't help but smile: "Hey, Charlie. I'm back"
Charlie didn't say a word; instead, she walked towards her mother with the most indecipherable expression anyone had ever seen her wear. She stopped in front of Lilith and stared at her with what seemed like icy eyes, and the queen of Hell faltered a little at the sight.
But then, Charlie threw herself on top of her and pulled her into a tight hug. "You... you're back...!"
Lilith's expression softened and all the tension finally vanished; her smile widened and she fully reciprocated the hug. "I'm sorry it took me so long" she said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I missed you"
Charlie held her even tighter, and two tears of joy fell from both of her eyes. "I missed you too" she whispered.
Lilith continued to hug her daughter tightly, but still she looked up at her husband. Lucifer remained exactly where he was, still looking at her as if she were a ghost. "Well... say something" she muttered with a lot of hesitation.
But Lucifer remained silent. Silence that had become so heavy that even Charlie felt its weight despite her joy.
Lilith bit her lip. "I know what you're going to say, Lucifer. How could I have done this? Stayed away all these years... and why didn't I come back to you? To our daughter? Why am I just... disappeared like that?"
Lucifer continued to say nothing.
Lilith took a deep breath, very nervously. "I know that I had at least given you an explanation, but it was a sudden decision and... and I was wrong, I see that, but...". She couldn't hold the tension any longer: "Oh, come on! Stop being so stoic, Lucifer! Go on... SHOUT, SCREAM, SAY SOMETHING!"
Lucifer suddenly moved and raised a hand; perhaps Lilith expected him to give her a slap, or at least to point to the door with that hand and order her to go away, but instead it wasn't like that. That hand rested delicately on her cheek, as light as a butterfly's wings. Lilith looked at her husband in confusion, and he smiled back. "You're as beautiful as the day I lost you" he told her.
Lilith opened her eyes slightly, and then her lips curled into a smile as well; and then she approached her husband's face and planted a kiss on his lips. A kiss that certainly had nothing chaste about it.
The other hotel guests couldn't hold back a light chuckle. "Hmm. Considering it's been seven years, I'm surprised they still have their clothes on" Angel commented.
But suddenly someone else entered. Someone everyone knew well. "Okay, let's get this over with. You can do the happy little family travesty later" Lute said, walking with long strides. "We're here for another reason, did you forget?"
Vaggie immediately pulled out her spear. "What are you doing here!?" she exclaimed.
"Stay calm!" Lilith screamed at everyone. "She's not dangerous... I brought her with me. She won't hurt anyone"
"For now" Lute commented sourly.
Charlie gave her an angry look, and then she asked: "Why is she here with you? How did you two meet...?"
Suddenly Adam's words came back to her. "Ask your dear sweet mother. She will have many things to confess to you. If I know her well, she will be here soon... assuming she hasn't already arrived"
Her eyes narrowed. "By any chance... does your return have anything to do with Adam?"
Lilith nodded. "Yes" she confirmed in a grave voice. "Everyone, sit down. We need to talk"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 13): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151054492
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 27: Origin of the monster (part 1)
Notes:
Ok, I make this premise since many here didn't understand it and came to complain in the comments: no, Lilith in this story is NOT the one from IHIFTHMBAL. I know a lot of you like the bad bitchy Lilith, but, if you'll excuse me, I don't give a fuck. And this for a very simple reason: I HATE recycling characters. I have literally written 14 fanfictions on this site, not to mention the fact that I have an ongoing webnovel with a contract, and all of them have characters that, despite having the same name, are completely different. And this for the simple fact that it's nice to explore various facets of a character, as opposed to fossilizing on just one version; damn, that's literally why fanfictions were invented in first place! In my two stories on TOH, Belos in one is a fucking Lovecraftian sea monster who traumatizes all the characters, while in the other he is basically Ebenezer Scrooge and ends up becoming a good person (if you want to know more go read the stories, they are right there, you don't even have to make the effort to look for them and you would show me that you at least try to support me!). It's the same thing here: in all my HH stories, the characters are NEVER the same, for the simple reason that the stories themselves are also not the same. There are some key features that do not change, but otherwise they are totally different. Take Valentino: in IHIFTHMBAL he is an idiot who almost gets killed by Angel, here instead he is a smart guy who moves the pawns intelligently for his own interests; he's still an asshole, but otherwise he's a different person in every way, because again, always using the idiotic Valentino concept gets tired in the long run and it's nice to write about him even in different versions. So no, Lilith isn't a bitch here, and if you don't like that you can just go find another story to read. Not to mention that, small parenthesis, perhaps you should wait to at least get to know the character before complaining, and so wait at least two or three chapters to find out who she is and what she has done, not explode over two sentences exchanged with husband and daughter. Oh, and while we're at it, let's also make one thing clear: just because a person is good, meant no harm, had motives, etc., that does NOT mean justify their actions. It just means understanding that that is a person like you and that they had their reasons, but it doesn't justify them. As the old saying goes, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. You just need to go and read IHIFTHMBAL to understand it, there Charlie and Emily only have good intentions and despite this they literally destroy themselves. So the fact that here Lilith is not a perpetually menstruating crazy woman does not automatically make her clean of all guilt, in fact, this is precisely the reason why I wrote her this way in this story as you will soon see. So, to conclude this very long preface, don't bother, read the story and before saying that something is bad, wait to see how it develops. Not criticizing a movie before seeing it is simple common sense
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Everyone had sat down on the armchairs in the living room, leaving Lilith a seat that was literally in front of everyone. The only ones who weren't sitting around her were Niffty, as usual lying upside down on the table, Lute, who was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, Velvette, who hadn't moved from the bar counter, and Rosie, who for some reason had started preparing herbal teas for everyone, almost as if he expected that a tranquilizer would have been needed.
As the cannibal overlord handed out the cups to everyone, Charlie finally broke the silence: "Adam... he said that it's because of you that he can now steal the overlords' powers and peer into their souls. Is that true?"
Lilith nodded. "Yes"
"I knew it" Lucifer muttered. "I suspected it from the beginning, it couldn't be a coincidence that he had regained his primordial powers"
"Primordial powers?" Charlie murmured hearing this.
"Adam and I were created equal, Char" Lilith told her. "All the powers I have... he had them too... a long time ago"
“Wait, so you too can relive the worst sins and read our souls?” Angel couldn't stop himself from asking.
"I normally didn't use my powers like that. I preferred to blend them into my voice to inspire people" Lilith answered him. "But yes... if I wanted, I could see all the sins of a human soul and force them to relive them"
"Why do you speak in the past tense?" Charlie rightly asked. "How did you… give Adam his powers back?"
"I didn't" Lilith said. "I gave him mine. Now I don't have them anymore"
Everyone's eyes widened. "What!?" Charlie exclaimed. "Why did you do that!?"
"I'm afraid I know the answer" Lucifer murmured. His expression had hardened a little, but his eyes betrayed a strange awareness. "In these seven years... you've been staying with him, right?"
Lilith nodded. "Yes" she confirmed. "Seven years ago, we made a deal. He would have taken me to Heaven and spend at least an hour a day in my company. And in exchange, I would have given him my powers, so that the primordials powers would once again have been his. We negotiated a bit and in the end to prevent him from using those powers to cause damage to Hell I managed to convince him to accept the clause that these powers would only have been his after he was... back on our side. He was convinced he could find a loophole... and unfortunately he found it, even if unintentionally. The deal considered the simple fact that he is now a demon from Hell to be valid. When I felt my powers fading, I knew he was here. Lute and I waited a couple of weeks in the hope that someone in Heaven would have understood something about this situation... but then we realized that we had to come back here urgently and so we did, and we came here immediately"
There was silence again, and this time it was at least ten times heavier. Finally it was Lucifer who spoke. "I should have known. You really don't want to give up on him, mh?" he commented acidly. "Now everything makes sense"
"Well, for me it has no sense at all!" Charlie protested. "Why did you want to spend time with Adam enough to gamble your own powers on him? What did you hope to gain from it?"
"Peace" was Lilith's response. "What I wanted... was to be able to talk to Adam and for him to listen to me. I used an unorthodox method to force him to do it... but I have literally exhausted all the other options over these thousands of years. Adam was not willing to listen to me normally... but with the deal, he had to do it willy nilly, and he couldn't just walk away"
"You don't answer my question! Why!?" Charlie repeated. "Why did you want Adam to listen to you? I thought you hated him..."
"It's not that simple, Charlie" Lilith replied. "It's... complicated"
Charlie suddenly seemed drained of all energy. “Dad… he was going to tell me something about it before all this shit happened” she said. "He told me that you and him wanted Adam to be... I don't know, I didn't hear the rest"
"We wanted him to be in good terms with us" Lucifer told her in a grave voice.
Lilith sighed. "Charlie... do you remember the story your father and I told you about how Hell came to be?"
"Of course" Charlie confirmed. "You've been telling me this all the time..."
"But we only told you a part of it" Lilith told her. "We never lied to you... but we left out some of the details that were... particularly complicated for me and your father"
Charlie had almost no reaction. Indeed, she seemed to have almost expected such words. "Tell me" she said simply. "And this time, I want the whole truth"
Lilith didn't need to be told again. "The first part of the story is what you already know: God, creator of all things, gave rise to the angels, who under his commands forged the universe and finally the Earth. There God created Eden, and from the dust of the Earth created me and Adam, perfectly equal, and gave us authority over Earth and many other blessings, including the power of manipulating souls that you had seen me use so much. And then, Adam began to demand that he decide for both of us, convinced that he knew better". She bit her lip: "What I never told you... is that I wasn't different from him. I too... expected him to listen to me and obey"
Charlie felt a strong bitter taste in her mouth. "Knowing your personality... I've suspected it from a while" she admitted. In fact, it had always seemed strange to her that her mother, who had never let anyone push her around, had been a young girl scared of Adam and had just run away. “Is there anything else I should know?”
Lilith nodded. "Your father... knew me and Adam long before I ran away" she explained. "He and all the other angels visited Eden regularly, and he was regarded by us as a great friend. Adam regarded him as a great friend, someone he could trust. And after I escaped from Eden, he asked him to find me and bring me back to him, because he knew that Lucifer would not have stopped until he had found me"
Charlie felt as if she had just been hit with a stick. "And instead, you got together"
"Your father found me, but he didn't force me to go with him. He didn't want to impose himself on my will" Lilith answered her. "He decided to simply stay with me to convince me. And in that period... well, that seed of love that had already partially grown in our hearts blossomed completely. We fell in love and decided to get married in secret. We didn't worry about what could have been were the consequences of such gesture, for us... or for Adam, who was still awaiting our return to Eden"
Charlie wanted to say something, but her words never left her mouth. She remained silent and let her mother continue with her story. "When Heaven found out what happened, they got angry... but God didn't react too badly. Not as we had thought at least" Lilith continued to tell. "He said that, having rejected my role as the mother of humanity, I no longer had any authority on Earth; however, since my and Lucifer's feelings were genuine, He did not punish us further. However, He warned us to be less impulsive the next time... and we should have listened to Him"
“Are you talking about the forbidden fruit?” Charlie asked.
Lilith nodded. "Yes. After Adam learned what had happened, he became very angry. He had been betrayed by his wife and his best friend. But God, to mitigate his anger, created a new wife for him, Eve, and told him to be a better husband for her. Adam listened to Him. He... tried to change, to be better. And this time, their relationship worked. Eve was sweet and in love, and Adam would have done anything for her". A small smile formed on her face. "It was a... very beautiful time, for everyone. Lucifer and I traveled the Earth together, exploring it as we immersed ourselves in our love, and Adam and Eve did the same in Eden. And in the end, Lucifer and I returned to the garden, and we saw them. We saw how much Adam had changed and how much he loved Eve. Seeing that made us want to... start over"
Charlie widened her eyes. "You... wanted to start over... with Adam?"
"With Adam and Eve" Lilith corrected her. "We had all... matured a little after that, let's say. Adam had grown as a person, and so had I. So I went to him and talked to him. I apologized for many things... and he did the same. He didn't forgive us and we didn't become friends again immediately, but... let's say we had an understanding. He didn't chase me or Lucifer out of the garden, and in fact he introduced us to Eve. She was happy to have someone she could finally have a friendship with. For a while, despite the obvious hostility for what had happened in the past... it really seemed like things could get better, that we could be a... family". Her gaze hardened a little: "Of course, everything would have been easier if someone had apologized like I did"
"Do you really have to always throw it in my face?" Lucifer muttered.
Lilith took a deep breath, but then she changed the subject: "Anyway... it was in that period that your father and I began to ask ourselves questions about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And over time, we developed the idea that without that fruit humanity could never taste true free will. And unfortunately... we were foolish and selfish, and with too short memories" she said. "Since our happiness and freedom had begun with a transgression, we thought that with that fruit we could receive an even greater happiness and freedom. We talked about it with Adam and Eve, but he refused disdainfully, absolutely not wanting to transgress that unique order that God had given him. But Eve... she agreed instead. She proposed to eat it herself to see what would have happened, because she didn't want to endanger her two new friends. In the end she convinced us to let her try first... and that was the fatal mistake"
"The big bullshit" Angel commented, almost as if trying to ease the tension.
His attempt did not achieve the desired effect. “That was how Hell was created, right?” Charlie asked.
"Yes. When Eve ate the evil fruit, the power it contained was... exorbitant" Lilith confirmed. "Eve was unable to control it and it exploded with devastating violence. Eden was totally obliterated and the rest of the Earth would have met the same fate. We were all scared and confused, we didn't know what to do... except Adam. While everyone in the universe was immobilized and worried, he acted. He threw himself on his wife and using both his ability to manipulate souls and his authority on Earth, he absorbed that destructive energy from Eve and ripped it from her, and then he hurled it away from the planet. That energy traveled to the afterlife and condensed there, forming Hell"
Charlie had listened very carefully. In the story she knew, this actually happened: by eating the fruit, Eve freed a world of darkness, namely Hell. However, she did not remember her parents ever specifying how this happened. “So… Adam saved Earth?”
"He saved much more than just Earth" Lilith replied. "If that destructive force had continued to be unleashed with the same intensity, the entire galaxy would have been pulverized and the rest of the universe would also have suffered repercussions"
"So, put it simply, if we exist today it is thanks to him" Husk commented.
"We knew this even before, genius" Cherri corrected him. In fact Adam, being the father of humanity, was literally the reason they existed.
Lilith didn't even seem to hear those comments. "In order to save Eve and the Earth, however... Adam lost the power to manipulate souls. That dark energy had completely invested him and... I don't know how to explain it, it was as if it had a mind, and in attempt to stop him it took away his powers... I know it's absurd, but... that's how it happened"
"So Adam no longer had his power to manipulate souls" Charlie muttered. “You and him were no longer… the same”
Lilith nodded. "Yes. After what happened, the anger of Heaven was great. Your father and I were exiled from it for eternity and thrown into Hell, and Eve was condemned to live on her own in the primordial Earth. Adam, on the contrary, since he didn't eat the fruit, could still ascend to Heaven. He no longer had Eden, but he could still have a life of bliss as it was promised to him. He chose to stay on Earth with Eve and carry humanity forward. The angels warned him of what this would have entailed: without the benign energy of Eden, he would have grown old, he might get sick, he would have had to know hunger and fatigue... he would have died. Adam still chose to stay with his wife, even though his anger towards her was great... as well as that towards us. But just as he didn't turn away from Eve, he didn't turn away from us either: he didn't use his authority to banish us from Earth, and although he made it very clear that he didn't want us in his house, he didn't stop us from meeting him and Eve outside of it"
There was a long moment of silence. "Wow... I... I didn't know that even after that you were on good terms... well, sort of" Charlie murmured. "I thought he never wanted to see you again..."
"Oh, he sure was pretty pissed off" Lilith told her. "But... perhaps, in a small part of his soul... he also hoped that things would have changed"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Husk exclaimed as he jumped up, resulting in him letting out a grunt due to the pain in his back from the sudden movement. "There's one piece that doesn't fit! If the angels banished you and Lucifer from Heaven forever, how did you manage to stay up there for seven years?"
"Precisely because of Adam" Lilith answered him. “I'll explain how it happened later in the story, since at the moment you still know too little to understand, but... just know that Adam was granted the ability to open the gates of Heaven to all humans. And since I am also technically human and Adam opened the door for me... I could go up there too"
“Wait, so Adam can decide who goes to Heaven and who doesn’t!?” Vaggie exclaimed.
"Not really. He is only a means. Mortal souls who arrive there are always subjected to divine judgment before being given a new body" Lilith replied. "In my case... I already had a body, so I wasn't subjected to judgment"
"And Vaggie and I aren't human" Charlie said. "This is why the angels were able to welcome us even without Adam's approval..."
"I see you get it" Lilith confirmed. "If you'll continue to listen the story, you'll know why Adam had such privilege"
Charlie twiddled her thumbs. She was starting to understand many things, but at the same time new questions were forming in her mind. "And then? What happened... after Hell was created?"
"After Eden was destroyed, Adam and Eve continued to live on Earth" Lilith continued. "Your father and I continued to visit them, even though they didn't like our presence very much at first. Eve... she was willing to make up, and she wanted Adam to make up too. He was very angry, but still he didn't prevented her from seeing and speaking to us freely and did not banish us from Earth". Her fingers tightened dangerously on her cup, so much so that they almost broke it. "And maybe... maybe things could have been worked out... if only..."
The queen of Hell didn't continue any further: the words seemed to die in her throat. Everyone thought that the sudden interruption wasn't normal at all... and they didn't miss the fact that Lucifer had moved back slightly. “If only… what?” Charlie asked.
Lilith's eyes narrowed. "If only your father hadn't slept with Eve"
There was a moment of silence, and then Charlie suddenly turned to Lucifer: "Wait... so you actually did that!?" she exclaimed. “I thought you were just teasing Adam that time…!”
"She consented!" Lucifer said immediately, almost as if he expected someone to ask him if he forced himself on her. "In fact, she was the one who threw herself on me! I didn't even try to seduce her!"
“You should have refused anyway” Lilith told him with a half-snarl.
“Oh, come on, you agreed!” Lucifer protested. "You said I could do it..."
"Yes, if both she and Adam had agreed!" Lilith answered him with a lot of anger in her voice. "It's one thing to have an open relationship, and I have nothing against that; it's another thing to sleep with someone else's wife without his specific permission! That's cheating! Adultery!"
"Well, Eve wanted it!" Lucifer replied. "She was the one who betrayed her husband..."
"And you betrayed a friend. For the third time. And with no margin for error this time!" Lilith answered him.
"Ugh! Always the same story!" Lucifer snapped. "She threw herself at me and didn't give me time to ask, okay? I assumed Adam was fine with it! I don't regret what I did!"
Lilith's eyes seemed to burn for a moment. "Yeah... that's the problem. That's always been your fucking problem!"
Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest with a grunt. "Do you know? I'm starting to remember why we always ended up fighting"
"Yes, I'm remembering it too" Lilith commented sourly.
"Yeah... me too" Charlie sighed, rubbing her temples to ease her headache. "Anyway, going back to what we were talking about before... dad slept with Eve..."
"Why?" Angel suddenly intervened. “I mean… don't get me wrong, I totally understand passion and physical interest and all that bullshit, but… why did Eve do that? She didn't seem interested in anyone other than her husband throughout this entire story..."
"And so she was" Lilith confirmed. "Eve has never had any interest in any man other than Adam. Her heart has always belonged to him. Even though she has sometimes made some... unchaste comments about me..."
"Wait, you?" Vaggie interrupted. "Not to your husband?"
"No, it was me she was interested in on a physical level. Lucifer… she didn't call him ugly, but it was clear she wouldn't have liked to sleep with him" Lilith answered her, and Lucifer let out a snort in response. "In any case, she would never have done something that she knew would hurt Adam, like cheating on him. We don't know why she threw herself at Lucifer that day. She only did it that one time, and then she didn't want him anymore"
"Which is exactly why I didn't say no" Lucifer said through gritted teeth. "Knowing her, I assumed that Adam had given his consent"
Lilith looked like she was about to explode, but she was interrupted by Husk: "Is it just me, or does this whole story seem like there's a piece of the puzzle missing?"
"No, you're absolutely right" Lilith confirmed him. "I've tried for ages to understand why Eve wanted to sleep with my husband that day. She never spoke to anyone about her motives... but she didn't hide the adultery"
Charlie bit her lip. "I can imagine how Adam reacted"
Lilith nodded sadly. "He never forgave her" she told her. "He stayed with Eve just out of some sort of sense of duty to their children. He continued to be her husband, but he never forgave her. Their relationship broke down that day... and so did ours". She let out a deep sigh. "Adam hadn't forgiven us for what happened with the fruit, but at least he had given us a chance to try to rebuild a relationship. But he wasn't willing to even try to forgive us for that. He banished both me and Lucifer from Earth forever, and he never wanted to have nothing to do with us anymore"
"It doesn't surprise me" Angel muttered. "So, in order, you took away his dignity, his house and then also his wife. No wonder he hates you"
But to his surprise Lilith shook her head. "No... the real reason he hates us... is what happened when the effects of the evil fruit really manifested themselves" she muttered in a strangled voice. "The day he swore vengeance against the Morningstars... was the day his eldest son Cain killed his younger brother Abel"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151640116
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 28: Origin of the monster (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze. And then it was Charlie who broke the silence: "WHAT!?"
"Um... you didn't know that story?" Angel asked her surprised.
"Yeah! It's super popular" Husk commented. "It is basically written in every self-respecting Bible or even sacred text..."
"No, I didn't know it!" Charlie exclaimed as she stood up. “What do you mean Adam's sons killed each other!?”
"Oh, I remember it!" Niffty said raising her hand wildly. "So, Cain was so jealous of his brother, so he took a big stone and smashed it in his face! Bam, boom, barabum! He was really a bad boy... I've always wanted to meet him!"
Charlie was staring at her in shock. The color of her face had become cadaverous. Vaggie tried to reassure her: "I'm sure it wasn't... such a macabre thing..."
Lilith bit her lip at those words. It didn't take Charlie any more to understand: "It was worse, right?"
"A lot" Lilith admitted. “It was… pretty brutal”
Charlie slumped in her chair. "Why...?"
"The effects of the evil fruit" Lilith explained to her. "Adam and Eve had tried to suppress them in their children, but... it was like trying to contain a storm. When they exploded in Cain, that was the result. That was the moment Adam really started to hate us... because it was our fault that all this had happened"
"Cain had free will" Lucifer corrected her. "He could control his instincts. It wasn't our fault"
Lilith looked like she was about to punch him. "Yes, it is! Maybe not completely, but if that fruit had never taken root in humanity, none of this would have happened!" she told him. "Like everything else, after all..."
“What happened next?” Charlie asked her bluntly.
Lilith sighed. "Cain ran away, and was forever branded as the first murderer. Adam and Eve stayed together for a while, but then... Eve left to find Cain. Adam was still grieving over Abel's death and couldn't forgive his eldest son... but she couldn't let him go. And so... eventually she was gone forever. Adam was left with their other children. And Abel... he wasn't able to go to Heaven"
"Why?" Charlie asked. “Was he a bad person?”
"No, he wasn't. But he was still tainted by sin, since he was the son of Eve. Therefore, the gates of Heaven were closed to him" Lilith answered her. "In the eyes of God, it was as if he were covered in filthy rags. There was no place for him in the blessed realm"
Charlie wasn't sure how right that was. "But... that means all of humanity should be in Hell, I mean... they're all Eve's children, right?"
"They are" Lilith confirmed. "But precisely because God does not usually abandon His children, He found a way to redeem humanity and erase the signs of the fruit, so that they were no longer dirty before His eyes and could aspire to Heaven"
Charlie wasn't understanding, and she was sure she was missing a lot of pieces. And in fact she decided to let her mother tell everything without interrupting her further. "Just continue"
Lilith nodded. "As I told you, Abel was sent here to Hell. A few centuries later Cain and Eve also followed him to the grave. And then, Adam also died... but unlike all the rest of humanity, he, never having eaten the evil fruit, had the right to go to Heaven. Not only that, but all the blessings that had been promised to humanity were still valid for him, thus giving him immense powers. Knowing that the rest of humanity would never have access to Heaven, he begged God to create a place where his descendants could rest in peace. The Almighty responded affirmatively and created the moon of Hell, Sheol"
“Wait… our moon was created at Adam’s request?” Angel couldn't stop himself from exclaiming.
"Yes" Lilith answered him. "For thousands of years, that was the place where good humans went after death. A place that wasn't Heaven, but it wasn't a place of perdition either. A sort of limbo where all humans who hadn't committed horrible deeds could live peacefully but not be blessed by the divine light. Even if they were tainted by sin and in the eyes of God were still covered in filthy rags, they were not destined for the same punishment as everyone else"
“Did all Adam's other children go to Sheol after their death?” Charlie asked.
"Yes" Lilith confirmed. "They were good guys"
“What about Abel, Cain and Eve?” Charlie rightly asked.
Lilith let out a long sigh. "After the creation of Sheol, God allowed Adam to recover his family, so he went down to Hell to get them back... but Eve refused to go with him. Cain too, because he didn't want to leave her alone. And Abel... he cannot exactly leave his brother for... reasons. So they rejected that possibility of salvation. Adam returned to Sheol alone. Although all his other children went there, his family was forever broken"
Charlie clenched her fists. Adam had literally lost two children and his wife to the effects of the evil fruit. It was no surprise that he hated Morningstar for depriving him of that. "Why didn't Eve want to go with him? And why didn't Adam stay with her and their children anyways?"
"Because Eve didn't want him around" Lilith answered her. "Don't ask me the details because I don't know them, but... Eve told him to leave forever, that she didn't want him to stay here with her, and that he should have never showed himself in front of her again. She said and did so much that Adam finally denied her completely and granted her wish to be abandoned"
Despite her sadness, Charlie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Eve's behavior seemed increasingly strange. "Where is she now?"
"I have no idea. After chasing Adam away, she disappeared" Lilith replied. "She and her children built themselves a home somewhere in Hell that I could never find"
Ok, something was definitely strange. And Charlie wasn't the only one who thought so. "Either that woman had a split personality, or here there's something weird" Husk commented.
"I know. But I was never able to find out what really happened" Lilith said. "In any case, from that day Adam was the only human in Heaven, while all the others went either to Sheol or to Hell. Over the generations a very peaceful civilization arose on Sheol, completely in contrast to the warlike one of Hell, which instead was filled more and more by the dregs of humanity, which unfortunately was becoming more and more. As humanity spread across Earth, evil was also released in increasingly horrifying forms. Horrendous crimes such as rape, cannibalism, theft, corruption, everything, were born. In Heaven Adam observed all this, and began to develop a strong hatred for the sinners perhaps even equal to that for the Morningstars. He hated that humanity rejected all the teachings he had passed on to them, and that even though he had prayed for them before God to at least have a peaceful eternity, they continued to sin and dig their own graves to Hell. His anger, combined with his loneliness, made him increasingly furious... and that fury grew beyond measure when the sinners, now turned into demons, dared to raise their weapons against Sheol"
“So we waged war on Adam's promised land?” Angel commented. "How? How did we get to the moon, with space rockets?"
"Magic, maybe?" Cherri pointed out with a roll of her eye.
"Is there any magic that can make us get to the moon?" Angel exclaimed.
Cherri slapped her face. "You live in a world where there are guys that snap their fingers and castles start to fly! Or where people teleport, open portals, have wings... do you think it's that hard to get to the moon!?"
"Calm down, please" Lilith implored them, although she immediately after added: "Anyway, yes, it's quite easy to get up there. Where do you live, sorry?"
"Stop it" Charlie interrupted. "Rather... you and dad didn't do anything?"
"I tried" Lilith replied, all while glaring at Lucifer again. "I used my voice to calmed the souls of the damned, but that wasn't enough. Over thousands of years their fury became uncontainable and they attacked everything they could: Sheol, the Earth, they even threatened Heaven itself"
"And Adam didn't just stand by and watch, I presume" Charlie said.
"No, indeed. As soon as Sheol was attacked, he came down from Heaven and using his powers he defended it ferociously, fighting alone against the hordes of Hell. The demons hurled nine legions against him; they lost six of them, and Adam would have won if his strength had not abandoned him due to the fact that the weapons of his enemies had been bathed in poison" Lilith continued to tell. "But even if Adam had not requested it, Heaven did not remain silent while the first man fought; and to his aid came a host of angels, the strongest and bravest warriors of the blessed realm, who repelled the demons and dragged him away from the battle. They were called Grigori and leading them was the archangel Michael, who descended on Sheol like a comet and with a single punch pulverized over half of the demonic army. Adam was healed, and as soon as he recovered he returned to battle, leading the Grigori to victory. After the demons finally retreated to Hell, Michael entrusted the Grigori to Adam out of respect for the skills he had shown in battle, and they swore allegiance to him. Under his command the Grigori formed a defense around Sheol, ready to defend it from every demon; and as it was now their duty to eliminate the unholy, they abandoned their old name and became known in all of the universe as Exorcists"
"What!?" Vaggie exclaimed. "But... so... those angels were..."
"Your ancestors. That's right" Lilith confirmed, also looking at Lute as she spoke. "With that new army, Adam defended Sheol from two more demon attacks, but he didn't fight back. As much as he hated sinners, he still didn't want to kill more than necessary those who were effectively his descendants. This... was a big mistake"
Charlie didn't miss his mother's tense tone. "Why? What did the demons do?"
Lilith sighed. "I told you, they had moved their weapons against all that was conquerable... and with Sheol under Adam's protection, Earth was the easiest target" she replied. "The demons managed to break the barriers of Hell and arrived on that blue planet, and as a consequence the angels unleashed the Great Flood to stop their invasion. It was at that point that all the hatred that Adam had accumulated exploded like a volcano. Everything burst forth into an unprecedent outrage. He led the Exorcists to Hell and smashed all the demons into pieces in what was the first Extermination. When his anger finally subsided and he came to his senses, he discovered that he had exterminated half the population of Hell". Lilith swallowed slightly. "That time... it was truly scary. His fury and hatred were so terrifying that even the Exorcists who followed him were scared to death"
Charlie swallowed hard. So this was how Adam had broken that one limitation he had placed on himself. He had controlled his anger for thousands of years, but when the time came when both Sheol and Earth were in danger, he let it go. And the demons had known that day how terrifying the first man's wrath could truly be.
"When Adam realized he was standing on a pile of corpses, he was overwhelmed by the weight of his actions" Lilith continued to tell. "He returned to Heaven without cleansing himself of the blood of his victims and showed himself in front of God in that state. He shouted that now he too, the most virtuous exponent of humanity, was covered in filthy rags like everyone else, and he prayed to the Almighty to find a solution. He begged him to redeem mankind, deliver them from all that evil, and cleanse their sins. God let him pray, and then, when he stopped, He ordered his bloodstained clothes to be taken away, and a new clean robe to be given to him, and so it happened. Adam didn't understand, and asked for explanations for that gesture; whereupon God, to his immense surprise, replied that He would have erased all the sins of humanity in a single day"
Charlie's eyes widened. "To erase all the sins of humanity in a single day...? Is it possible?"
“Maybe I see where this is going” Husk murmured, scratching his chin. "A certain hippie born in Bethlehem has something to do with it, right?"
"Call him that again and I'll rip your tongue off" Lilith warned, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "Have respect for the one who literally died for your sins"
Husk immediately fell silent, preferring not to risk the wrath of the queen of Hell. Lilith glared at him for a couple more moments, and then she continued to say: "Adam waited for thousands of years for God's promise to be fulfilled. He had no doubts in it, but despite this, his hatred and anger only grew as he saw more and more human souls reach Hell. All that time he continued to protect Sheol by annually exterminating sinners so that they could not even lift a finger towards those who he now increasingly considered his only descendants, as opposed to the demons who instead had only been a mistake"
"Did the Exorcists continue to help him?" Vaggie asked doubtfully. “You said they were terrified of him”
"It is so. Adam knew it, and in fact he freed them from their duty. He knew that they no longer saw him the same way, and he could not ask them to stay with him" Lilith answered her. "However, the Exorcists did not break their oath, and even if they accepted the discharge, they still gave him help: they plucked their feathers and gave them to the seraphim, and they used them to create a new generation of Exorcists, those who you know"
“Wait, so I was born from a feather!?” Vaggie exclaimed.
"Why, haven't you ever wondered where you came from?" Cherri asked her in surprise.
"Yes, but I thought the seraphim created us! I didn't imagine we were feathers!" Vaggie answered her. "And then, why did we come out in different generations? Lute is older than me!"
"Transforming a feather into a living being takes time and energy. The seraphim preferred to create a group of them at a time" Lilith explained to her.
Vaggie was silent for a second. It was quite a surprising revelation for her. “Um… what happened to the original Exorcists?”
"They have returned to serve under Michael as Heaven's elite, ready to intervene if the situation requires it. Since then they have kept watch over Earth: if a great demon dares to go there and sow terror, they notice it and intervene" Lilith le he replied, and then she continued to tell: "As I told you, Adam waited a very long time. And finally, God's promise came true: the Almighty Himself came down to Earth and became man. From limitless, He made Himself limited. Walking among humans with the name of Jesus, He brought the message of salvation among them, and prepared the foundation for what would have been the sacrifice to end all sacrifices"
"The sacrifice to end all sacrifices...?" Charlie murmured.
"Yes. The crucifixion of Jesus was the moment humanity was saved from all sin. On that one day, all the filthy rags humans covered themselves with were replaced by clean robes" Lilith said. “Jesus did what no other man had done before: he achieved perfection despite his mortality, never knowing any sin. The perfect lamb who was covered with all the sins of humanity and was then sacrificed on the cross as an altar. He died carrying all the sins of humanity with him, and with his resurrection he erased them before the whole universe. He proved that humanity was worthy of redemption and opened the doors of Heaven to all of them, where they could finally enter because they were no more covered in filthy rags. In the eyes of God, they were now as pure as they had been at their creation. With the gates of Heaven finally opened, Jesus came down to Sheol and took all the souls of that realm with him, as they were now worthy of ascending. Adam, who had been watching all along, received from God the permission to open the gates of Eden to any human that he wanted to welcome, and so he can let his descendants in with open arms, and rejoiced that humanity was finally worthy of being there with him, and they too could receive the blessings promised at the beginning of time, and live an eternity of bliss away from all that was evil. After a wait lasting millennia, humanity had finally been redeemed for their original sin"
Charlie wanted to rejoice, she really wanted to. She wished with all her heart that the story would have ended there, with a happy ending. A humanity finally free from sin and who could live happily in Heaven, and Adam who could rejoice with them. But she knew this wasn't the end. "What happened next?"
Lilith's face darkened more than ever. “Jesus had offered salvation to all mankind, and Adam expected that this would have been the moment when evil would have vanished... but that didn't happened. Mankind failed him one last time. Even though Jesus had offered salvation to all, however there were some who rejected it. Adam could not believe that those people, those sinners, had dared to spit in the face of their Creator, who had come down to Earth and shown them the way, and who had suffered the most horrible tortures and had died and resurrected to save them. Many feelings piled up in him as he watched Hell continue to receive new souls; and finally, one emotion prevailed over all the others. An emotion that completely erased the last hint of pity he felt towards those beings. With a scream that rang throughout the entire universe, Adam embodied rage in its purest form"
Charlie felt a shiver run down her spine at her mother's words. "And that was..."
"... the day he became the man you know" Lilith confirmed her. "The day he swore he would have personally wiped out evil from the universe, at the cost of having to eradicate it one sinner at a time, and implemented a policy of zero tolerance towards anyone who even just showed sympathy towards demons"
Silence fell in the room. Silence that lasted for almost two minutes. "Wow... now that explains a lot of shit" Angel said. "I don't mean to justify that asshole, but... I know what humans have done and still do. If Adam deems you guys responsible and them unworthy, it's a miracle he hasn't tried to destroy all of Hell yet"
"Anything can be said of Adam, but not that he didn't have faith in Heaven" Lilith told him. "He was convinced that their plans coincided with his, and that the Extermination would have leaded to the eradication of evil. I fear that receiving a negative judgment has not changed his perspective, and he is convinced that he must continue his mission in an even more radical way. Now he is without chains, and if before he was a threat, now he is like an atomic bomb ready to explode"
Charlie was chewing her tongue hard. "So... that's why you went to Heaven" she commented remembering what her mother had told her shortly before. "With your deal, you forced him to spend time with you... and so he was forced to listen to you. You didn't want to convince him of anything... you wanted to try to soften him up so that he would give you another chance"
Lilith nodded sadly. "I just want this to end" she said in a whisper. "I thought if I could... make him see that there was a possibility for all of us to change... make him understand that we never had any malicious intent... make him accept that maybe we had lost the past, but we could still build the future... he would have gone back to being that person I knew in Eden. All this... the Hazbin Hotel... could be an actual reality if only the father of humanity decided to side with us. We could finally... make amends for all the mistakes... especially the ones we committed against him"
"He's a lost case" Lucifer told her. "You're chasing a utopia... as usual, after all"
Lilith jumped up from her chair. “Excuse me, what did you say!?”
"Only the truth" Lucifer replied. "Adam is a lost case, you have to get over it. He will never change. I don't want to see him die or anything like that either, and I feel sorry for him; but you can't erase thousands of years of hate. Adam will never stop"
"It doesn't matter!" Lilith answered him through clenched teeth. "We have the duty to do something!"
"Why? I don't remember ever being hired to handle genocidal maniacs!" Lucifer groaned.
"Because it's our responsibility!" Lilith screamed at him. "Everyone, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, every single soul who came here to Hell and all those poor souls who went to Heaven, are our responsibility! And unlike you, I don't intend to stay locked in a palace to... to do nothing! Because that's what you've always done, nothing!"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “The actions of every single sinner are their responsibility. They could decide their own fate. That fruit was our fault, but everything that happened afterward had nothing to do with us”
Lilith shook her head. She suddenly looked very tired. "I love you, Luci. Much more than you think. But sometimes you really are an idiot"
The king of Hell grunted in response, but he didn't argue with his wife any further.
Lute finally made her presence known by clapping her hands. She had been leaning against the wall the whole time, and now she seemed to be bored. "Okay, that's all very nice, but now let's get to the serious stuff. Tell me how to find Adam so I can take him back to Heaven where he belongs"
"I don't think you can do that" Vaggie told her.
"I didn't ask for your opinion" Lute replied. "The seraphims will find a way to restore him to his former righteous glory"
Nobody was very convinced of these words, but they didn't argue. "We don't know how to track him down" Charlie admitted. "We didn't find him, he let us find him. He let us so he could split us up and take the trident from me..."
Lilith's eyes widened. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Yeah... we have to confess something to you" Lucifer murmured rather nervously. "Adam... took the trident"
"WHAT!?" Lilith screamed so loudly that she made everything jump on the spot.
Charlie swallowed. "May I know what's wrong with you both!?" she exclaimed in exasperation. "What's so special about that trident? It's just a gift you gave me for my twenty-first birthday..."
Her parents' expressions spoke for themselves. “It wasn't just a gift, was it?” Charlie just murmured.
Lucifer scratched his head. "Actually... we entrusted it to you because you were unlikely to use it, and therefore it would have been well hidden with you..."
"Why?" Charlie asked. “Mom, dad… what the fuck is that trident really!?”
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151640116
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 29: The secret of the trident
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alastor and Vox were locked inside a truck, which was heading to a destination unknown to them. They had no windows at their disposal and therefore could not see which route they were taking. They were completely isolated.
They were sitting facing each other, staring into each other's eyes. Alastor had his arms crossed and drummed his fingers on his staff, while Vox instead had his wrists bound by heavy angelic chains that nullified his powers. It wasn't difficult to figure out who was the prisoner and who was the guard.
The silence between the two of them continued for a long time. And finally Alastor sighed: "Go ahead, say it. Ask me why I did it"
But Vox didn't even react. "I don't care" he replied simply.
Alastor sizzled slightly. "Really?"
"Yes. I stopped asking myself why you do certain things a long time ago, Alastor" Vox replied. "Betraying those who consider you a friend is evidently what you do best"
Alastor let out a grunt. Even though he didn't care much about other people's opinions, he didn't like being addressed like that. "Adam is right. Or at least, we agree on a lot of things" he told him even though the media overlord didn't ask for explanations. "And the people I just abandoned weren't my friends, they were just means to an end”
"Always the same excuse to avoid feeling a fucking emotion" Vox replied, gritting his digital teeth. "But you were right to side with Adam. Your place is with that asshole"
Alastor was sure it wasn't a compliment. "Oh, do you think so?"
"Of course. Adam is wild, chaotic, doesn't follow any rules. He does exactly what he wants without caring about the consequences. He only follows his goals and doesn't care how many things he destroys on his way, or how much is lost" Vox answered him. "Yes... I really think you two will get along great"
Alastor tightened his grip on his radio stick. "Thank you. It's nice to know that you think so little of me"
Vox was silent for a moment. Perhaps under normal circumstances he would never have said those words, in fact it was probable that he would have shot himself in a leg rather than open his mouth, but at the moment he was too tired and worn out by the situation. "Think so little of you? Alastor, I had the greatest respect for you. You were the person I saw almost as a brother. I would have died for you... because I was sure that you would have done the same for me. But in the end, you showed me how much I was wrong. Maybe there was at least some truth in the friendship I thought we had built, but let's be honest, you never cared about anything but yourself, and you're constantly looking for something that I bet even you don't know what it is. This is what you are, and I've long since gotten tired of pretending that you're different. So yeah... now I think so little of you"
Alastor didn't change his expression in the slightest, but his eyes flashed slightly. "Good, I'm glad to see that you at least understand who I am. It really took you a long time"
"Yeah" Vox confirmed, and then he narrowed his digital eyes: "But answer at least this honestly: was it really worth it?"
Not a word came out of Alastor's mouth.
Just then the truck stopped and the doors opened. “Gentlemen, please come down” Adam told them. "We have arrived at our destination"
Alastor nodded and stood up, and Vox meekly obeyed as well. A pair of Exorcists grabbed the media overlord's chains as soon as he was outside for added safety. They discovered that they were in a large garage, without any windows; in fact, it was likely that they were even underground. "What is this place?" Alastor asked.
"My real lair" Adam replied. "I built it with my own hands. It's easy when you can copy the powers of an overlord who manipulates rocks or one who solidifies materials at will"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. He had suspected that Adam was taking him to the place where he really hid all his prey and also who knows what else he was doing, since he had made him travel completely in the dark and had made him unable to understand where they were going. Clearly the first man did not trust him enough to allow him to discover the location of the secret hideout; he was certainly no fool.
Adam led him through a long corridor that led to another room, at least as large as the garage, if not larger: it was structured on several floors, open in the center in a circular pattern showing the lower floors, and everywhere there were electronic equipment, cables and furnaces. It was like a super-advanced laboratory for producing... something. The overlords Adam had captured were all there, their wrists wrapped in angelic cuffs to inhibit their powers, working tirelessly; the Exorcists were there too, with weapons in hand as if they were setting up overseers... which indeed they were. "So this is what you do with overlords? Make them work?" Alastor asked Adam.
"Did you doubt it? Why limit myself to imprisoning them, when I can turn them into the best work team the universe has ever seen?" the first man answered him, and then he slapped Vox hard on the shoulder, who groaned. "I've only captured this bastard a day and already I've got the knowledge to make drones and robots. Imagine what I could achieve by having him work with everyone else. Someone is an expert in technology, someone in weapons, someone in chemistry, someone in physics. Put all this together and you have the best research team I could create in the world"
"Cunning, I admit it" Alastor was forced to confess. “Do you use a hypnosis to make them work?”
"No. Not that I haven't thought about it, after all many in here have means to hypnotize others, but... such hypnosis interferes with their mental and intellectual abilities every time. Believe me, I've tried" Adam answered him. "After all, hypnotizing someone is equivalent to emptying the mind and filling it with an imperative command. What can I do with an empty mind? I want inventiveness, cunning, approximation. I need pure efficiency"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "I see. So I assume you used a... different method"
Adam smiled, and his eyes changed shape for an instant, becoming just like when he used them to make demons relive their worst deeds. “I just asked them to help me” he said rhetorically. "As you well know, I can be very... persuasive even without touching them with a single finger"
"Weak minds" Alastor commented with a bit of disgust.
"Not everyone is a pure monster like you and that moth demon. All the people you see here have at least an ounce of heart" Adam replied. “And once that little bit of heart is exposed to their own horrible nature… it becomes very, very heavy”
"I have no doubt" Alastor said, and then he stared at Adam with a strange look in his eyes. "You know, I wonder what you would see if I stood in front of a mirror and used those eyes of yours on yourself"
The first man continued to smile, but the light left his eyes and his fingers tightened slightly. "Oh, I already tried" he replied. "It was a very... interesting experience"
Alastor hadn't missed the tone in which Adam had spoken; he seemed troubled by something, but at the same time... he seemed resigned, as if he had come to terms with that something for some time now. What had he seen when he used his powers on himself? Alastor was sure that Adam, just like him, felt no remorse for his past sins, at least as far as the Extermination was concerned. So, what had he seen that troubled his heart?
A thought shot through his mind like an arrow. Indeed, even though Vox had told him everything he knew, Adam had managed to read inside Alastor with all too extraordinary accuracy. It was almost as if he already knew those sensations the radio demon had felt.
Was it possible that, just like Alastor, Adam had also had something in his past that had prevented him from allowing himself to be completely dominated by his cruelty, and that had then vanished, completely freeing the monster that he had become?
It wasn't such a far-fetched hypothesis.
Adam spread his wings and flew to the center of the room, where everyone could see him. The Exorcists immediately took on happy expressions, while the overlords instead trembled quite a bit at the sight of him. "Girls... we have won!" Adam announced showing the trident in his hands.
The Exorcists immediately began to applaud and cheer him; the overlords, on the other hand, seemed more frightened than ever. "A round of applause to the heroes who allowed us to achieve this victory over the fucking Morningstars! Of course I'm talking about your sisters, who fought so valiantly, and who I will give a new body to as soon as I have regained enough strength!" Adam announced, and golden orbs appeared in his hands again, which almost seemed to bow to their general and join in a sort of broad smile, while their companions greeted them proudly. And then Adam pointed the trident at Alastor: "And of course a round of applause also to our new ally, who turned his back on his princess, his friends and his own kind, making the devil's daughter experience what it means to truly be betrayed by those she trusted!"
The Exorcists seemed somewhat annoyed by the radio demon's presence, clearly not liking that he wasn't there in chains, but they nevertheless cheered him on in a manner that also seemed mocking. Alastor let them do it, and ignored the ferocious expressions the overlords were giving him.
"What are you doing there, Al? I can call you Al, right?" Adam asked him with a grin. "Come on, come here with me! Let's enjoy this victory together. After all, we're best friends now, right?"
Alastor didn't really like the first man's behavior, but nevertheless he disappeared into the shadows and went down to the lowest floor of the room, where he reappeared. Adam landed next to him a couple of seconds later, and some Exorcists did the same, dragging Vox with them and leaving him there. Alastor looked around: the deepest floor was a circular area with what looked like a tub in the center. Various technological tools were located around them, and they seemed even more advanced than on the upper floors. There were fewer overlords, a sign that only those assigned to particular functions had been sent there. And of course Alastor recognized one of them right away: "Carmilla"
The weapon overlord barely looked up at him. She had almost nothing left of her former appearance: her hair was loose and clearly she hadn't looked after it at all, her dress was covered in stains surely caused by some mechanical device she had tinkered with, and her ballerina shoes were totally gone, leaving her barefoot. Her expression was something that seemed almost alien on her face: the authoritative and serious weapon overlord had totally disappeared, and now her face was pale and emaciated, she had dark circles under her eyes, and she didn't dare look up in the presence of the first man. It was as if Carmilla had been broken from the inside: she didn't even have a bruise on her body, but she was clearly terrified as if she expected someone would have done something unspeakable to her at any moment.
"Mrs. Carmine" Adam greeted her with false courtesy. "I am happy to inform you that your missile worked perfectly. Unfortunately I had to give up my guitar... but I hope that what I asked for is ready"
Carmilla immediately nodded. "Yes, sir" she stammered in the weakest voice Alastor had ever heard her speak. The weapon overlord went towards a table where there was a box, which she opened revealing a new axe, completely made of undoubtedly angelic steel, but so extraordinarily elaborate and sharp that the one Adam had used against Lucifer seemed like a very bad copy.
Adam touched it as if it were a treasure. "Wonderful" he murmured satisfied. "An unprecedented masterpiece. Even if it is nothing compared to what you will complete once I have all the pieces, you can already consider yourself the one who created the best axe humanity has ever seen"
Carmilla trembled, and she seemed almost pleased that Adam had been satisfied. "Thank you, sir"
Alastor's smile widened a little. “Damn, Adam… I thought I was good at breaking people, but you definitely beat me… and know that it's hard for me to admit it”
“Don't worry: you're still number one at this” Adam replied. “It wasn't me who broke these people, it was them. I just showed them the truth. They surrounded themselves with lies to avoid facing their sins, and once I removed those lies, this was the result". He put a hand on Carmilla's head and caressed it lightly: "If they had so many sins on their conscience that they were reduced to this when forced to face them... well, they can only blame themselves"
Carmilla let out a sob at Adam's touch, but she didn't move away. Alastor was struggling to understand her emotions: on one hand it seemed that she was more terrified than ever, but on the other hand she thought she totally deserved that terror. Was this what the weight of her sins had done to her? Alastor didn't know since he couldn't remember ever feeling remorse for his actions. "You said that when you have all the pieces, you will make her build for you an even better masterpiece than that axe. Do you want to make yourself a weapon?"
"Of course" Adam replied, slamming the trident into the ground with enough force to embed it in the floor. "A weapon capable of killing anything... even a false god"
"And what is that trident for?" Alastor asked him. “I have to assume it's something important”
"The trident is worth nothing. It's the material it's made of that's important" Adam answered him, and he nodded to Carmilla: "Mrs. Carmine... can you do a little analysis for our guest?"
Carmilla nodded, and her eyes changed slightly, as if they were a spectroscope. Alastor knew that it was one of the weapon overlord's abilities: the ability to immediately identify every characteristic of any weapon. But suddenly Carmilla opened her mouth wide and made a sound of surprise, and for the first time her expression changed to stupefaction. "Impossible! What is that thing!?" she exclaimed. "The material it is made of... is hyperdense, even more than that present inside a neutron star! Its molecular composition is absolutely out of the ordinary... it is as if it were not even composed of atoms, but of extremely compact neutrons! Maybe even its quarks are different from normal matter… how the hell…?”
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "I understand that that is not a normal trident"
Adam grinned. "No, not at all. You have in front of you what remains of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil"
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze. Alastor himself couldn't hold back a sound of amazement. "What? You mean... the tree that the forbidden fruit grew from?"
“You don't expect that tree to be like all the others, do you?” Adam asked taking a couple of steps towards him, leaving the trident behind. "It was created from the hardest and most resistant materials in the entire universe. After my wife ate the famous fruit, its leaves fell to the Earth and became diamonds, and sank underground due to the force of the impact. But the trunk... the trunk was too heavy even for the space-dimensional structure. It literally broke reality and fell to Hell. Lucifer and Lilith found it, and through a... special process... they shaped and compressed it even more, creating the trident you see"
Alastor sizzled slightly. Never in his life had he thought of such a possibility. "This is… unexpected"
"Yes. The most powerful and hardest substance in the entire universe, and the Morningstars in their wisdom used it to make a fucking fork" Adam commented with a hint of disgust. "But I'm not as narrow-minded as them"
Carmilla meanwhile was staring intently at the trident planted on the ground. Adam had his back to her at the time. That last little flame of rebellion seemed to ignite slightly in her chest. Trying not to be noticed, she took a couple of steps towards the trident.
Alastor rubbed his chin. "What do you want to do with the trident... or the material it is made of?"
“Do you really expect me to tell you?” Adam asked him sarcastically. "Be content to know that it is an ingredient. The first of three ingredients, which will allow me to forge the most powerful weapon this universe has ever seen"
"Sounds like an ambitious plan" Alastor commented. “Can I at least know where we will find the other two pieces?”
Adam's smile widened. "I won't tell you anything about the last one... but I can tell you where we're going for the second one. Rejoice, my new friend... we're both going home"
Alastor's eyes widened. "You mean..."
"Exactly. We'll go to Earth" Adam told him with a wink. "My ability to open portals is unfortunately limited to the realm I am in now, but don't worry, I know how to get us to that blue planet"
Alastor didn't hide his surprise. "We're going to Earth... exactly where?"
"You'll see" Adam answered him, and then he turned, just in time to see Carmilla already with her hand raised towards the trident. His gaze immediately became grim: "You! Get away from there immediately!"
But Carmilla stared at him with fiery eyes: "I am not your slave!"
And she closed her fingers on the handle of the trident.
It all happened in an instant: the air shook violently and Carmilla's body began to shake as if an abnormal amount of electricity was passing through it. Her veins and eyes became glowing, and beams of energy exploded from her eyes, mouth, and ears. Her skin began to burn and writhe as if it were on fire from the inside. "Ah, what the fuck" Adam grumbled in annoyance, and with a single push he threw Carmilla away from the trident, sending her falling to the ground.
Alastor made a noise of disgust as he smelled burnt flesh in his nose. Carmilla had fainted, and it was a miracle she hadn't caught fire: her skin was so burned it seemed to have turned black. "How silly. Did you think it was that easy?" Adam said. "No mortal soul can wield this trident without the energy it contains exploding through their body. I am built to withstand this power, but what about you? You're just a last-generation human"
Alastor snorted. "I suspected it wasn't that easy" he commented. "And now?"
"For starters, take her away. Let her rest in a bed, I still need her" Adam said to a pair of Exorcists, who flew towards Carmilla's unconscious body and then took her away. Then the first man stared at the trident with a strange look. "Now... let's dismantle this inefficient weapon"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/151640116
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 30: In the dark of the night
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam nodded to some Exorcists, who dragged a large, high-tech barrel towards him. "What is it?" Alastor asked him.
"A special container" Adam replied. "Once this metal solidifies, it is indestructible. Therefore it must be kept liquid. This container is like an extremely powerful washing machine that will spin it continuously, preventing it from cooling down. I had it built specifically by my... kind collaborators"
The overlords around him trembled slightly, but Alastor ignored them completely. He didn't give a damn about their suffering, after all. “If it's indestructible, how are you going to melt it?” he asked him. “Indeed… how did Lilith and Lucifer fuse him in the first place?”
Adam smiled knowingly at him. "Because like every law in this universe, there is a loophole" he replied. "And this is where you come in... and your TV friend too"
Vox, feeling called, stiffened a little, but still he took a couple of steps forward. “Do you need my assistance?”
"How kind. I almost like you when you are so servile" Adam teased. “There is only one way to fuse this metal… unite the five fundamental forces of this universe”
"The five fundamental forces?" Alastor murmured.
"They are electromagnetism, gravity, weak and strong nuclear force, you ignorant" Vox scolded him.
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "At least I know how to count. You said four of them, not five"
"The fifth is the mystical energy, which flows in the astral planes mixing their properties" Adam told him. "This is the only way to melt the metal of which this trident is composed. Combining the four fundamental forces of the earthly plane with the fifth fundamental force of the astral plane. Combining them all at the same time causes this matter to go from solid to the liquid one doesn't destroy it... but allows you to shape it"
Alastor looked intently at the trident. "An almost impossible combination of forces" he commented. “I understand why this trident has remained intact all this time”
"I see you understand" Adam told him. "Now, as you can imagine... these five forces must all be released at the same time. I could do it on my own, but unfortunately I don't have five hands at my disposal... and to release them all at once I would have to decrease their efficiency, and this may affects the process. It's more convenient if you give me a hand"
Alastor shook his fingers slightly on his staff. "You want us to insert our powers into the trident"
"I command electromagnetism, and you have powers based heavily on mysticism" Vox muttered. "It makes sense"
"Exactly. I can add strong and weak nuclear force to it. I was hoping that Carmilla would be kind enough to join us, but unfortunately that won't be the case... but I have at least two hands, so I can handle both" Adam said. In fact Carmilla was partially capable of reproducing the effects of nuclear bombs, so it was logical that she could replicate the weak nuclear force. But even without her, Adam could do it on his own.
"What about gravity?" Alastor asked.
Adam clapped his hands. "Zeezi! Where's Zeezi? Come on, bring her here!"
A pair of Exorcists descended from the upper floors, dragging the dinosaur overlord in their hands. "Here she is, sir"
"Thank you. She has gravity-based powers, as you well know. That will suffice" he said, and then he grabbed both Vox and Zeezi's handcuffs and opened them, freeing them. “I trust that neither of you will do something foolish like try to run away”
Vox and Zeezi nodded. Neither of them were stupid enough to try to play smart in that situation.
Adam raised his hands towards the trident, and Alastor followed suit; Zeezi and Vox also did the same. The Exorcists pushed the container of the molten metal under them, so that it fell directly there. "Good" Adam said. "Let's do it!"
Their powers emerged from their bodies and struck the trident simultaneously. The weapon shook violently, and for almost a minute it remained almost unchanged, fully demonstrating its resistance; and then, it started to get red hot. Over the course of ten minutes it grew hotter and hotter until it melted in on itself, falling into the container. "Wow! That's what I meant. It was really tough" Adam commented, and then he nodded to the Exorcists who quickly put the angelic cuffs back on Vox and Zeezi's wrists and dragged them away.
Then the first man bent down and before closing the special container he poured some of the molten metal into another box, which he immediately closed to avoid exposing it to the air. Alastor was surprised by that gesture. “Why are you taking some?”
"I need it for a little something" Adam said, then he closed the special container, which was immediately taken away by the Exorcists. “That will remain safe in my secret vault, waiting for me to bring the other two pieces here to complete my project. But this small amount… I will use it right now”
Alastor noticed that Adam was heading towards the axe Carmilla had just forged for him. “Do you want to pour it on it?”
"I just want to make sure that next time the fight with Lucifer will be more balanced" Adam said touching the axe, and in particular the blades. "This is a real gem. I don't want that asshole to break it for me like he did with the other one"
Alastor let out a soft sizzle, and his eyes glowed red. "I understand. Then it is appropriate to make it indestructible" he commented.
"I knew you'd get it right away" Adam said, holding the box full of molten metal up to his eyes. The light inside his pupils betrayed his excitement. "Now my glorious purpose may be fullfilled, and the cause of all my torment will finally get what it deserves!" he exclaimed loudly, sparks emitting from his fingers. And then, his voice became more sinister and he began to sing.
"In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning!"
The Exorcists flew around him as if to choreograph him.
"And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be!"
His gaze fell on the overlords, who trembled slightly at the merciless sight. Then Adam took a dramatic fall backwards, as if he were fainting.
"It scared me out of my wits
A corpse falling to bits!
Then I opened my eyes
And the nightmare was... me!"
Adam stood up with a quick sprint. He punched the box containing the metal hard, and then opened it, looking at the liquid inside with extreme fury in his eyes. Very gently, he dropped it onto his axe. Some Exorcists sat around him and began to accompany him in the musical number.
"I was once the most respected man in all Heaven!"
"Uuuh-aaaah-uuuh!"
"When the Morningstars betrayed me they made a mistake!"
"Uuuh-aaaah-uuuh!"
Adam stared intently at the molten metal dripping onto the axe, and his eyes shone: for a split second, he almost thought he glimpsed the face of a certain princess between the folds the liquid created as it moved across the edges of the blade.
"My work made each of them pay
But one little girl got in the way!
Little Charlie, beware,
Adam is awakeee!!!"
The Exorcists began to dance around him in perfect choreography. Some flew, others remained on the ground, but all moved with extreme elegance around their general; they danced with their weapons in their hands, in a manner that was extremely vividly reminiscent of their movements when killing demons. It was a wild and at the same time extremely hypnotic dance. Their voices merged into one.
"In the dark of the night our justice will find her!
In the dark of the night, just before dawn!"
The overlords had fallen back, clearly frightened by the Exorcists' movements which truly made it seem as if they would have pounced on them at any moment. But even more so when Adam raised his axe, the sides of its angelic blades now completely covered in molten metal.
"Revenge will be sweet
When the plan is complete!"
The Exorcists nodded vigorously, without stopping dancing.
"In the dark of the night..."
Adam tightened his grip on the handle of his axe, and his expression hardened.
"She'll be GONE!"
Alastor had tried to stay out of that song, but two Exorcists grabbed him by the arms and dragged him among the others. The radio demon tried to move away politely: "Hi, ladies... listen..."
But the two Exorcists clearly didn't care about his opinion, and in fact were clearly enjoying annoying him about his lack of appreciation for the invasion of his personal space. Evidently, even though Adam had accepted him into his circle and they were tolerating him because he wanted it, they still weren't willing to let him rest easy.
Adam looked at the axe covered in hot metal, and then he walked towards a tub filled with water.
"I can feel that my powers are already increasing!"
The two Exorcists almost threw Alastor on top of him, and Adam slapped him hard on the shoulder.
"Give him a good dress and a dash of cologne for that smell!"
The Exorcists giggled and sprayed some perfume on the radio demon, but he retaliated by throwing him away with his shadows. He didn't hurt them, since he didn't want to antagonize his new host, but he still wasn't willing to let himself be treated like a toy. This scene at least made Adam chuckle, who then stared at the tub of freezing water where he had gone.
"As the pieces fall into place
I'll see her crawl into place!
Goodbye, Charlotte the Dreamer, Your Grace,
Farewell!"
Adam dropped his axe into the water, which immediately began to evaporate: the intense temperature of the molten metal caused the cold liquid to boil, but at the same time the low temperatures began to solidify the metal, which began to appear less yellow and more reddish. Adam danced around the pool, singing along with the Exorcists.
"In the dark of the night terror will strike her!"
"Terror's the least I can do!"
"In the dark of the night evil will brew!"
"Uuuuh-uuuuh-uuuuuuuh!"
Adam took Alastor's hands and moved as if he were a sweet girl in his hands, ignoring the radio demon's cry of protest.
"Soon she will feel that her nightmares are real!"
Alastor tried to free himself from the first man's grip, but he was definitely stronger than him. And on top of that, the Exorcists positioned themselves around his ears to annoy him even more.
"In the dark of the night..."
Adam grabbed Alastor by the waist and threw him into the air.
"... she'll be THROUGH!"
Alastor turned into a shadow again and walked away from the choir, not intending to undergo that experience again. But the Exorcists on the contrary did not stop, but rather flew around Adam as if they were birds in a vortex, and their voices became even louder.
"IN THE DARK OF THE NIGHT OUR JUSTICE WILL FIND HER!"
"FIND HER!"
"IN THE DARK OF THE NIGHT TERROR COMES TRUE!"
"DOOM HER!"
Adam looked into the tub of water again, and saw that his axe had finally cooled: the previously molten metal had hardened perfectly, making the edges of the blades basically indestructible. He dipped his hand into the water and grabbed the handle.
"My dear, here's a sign,
It's the end of the line!"
The Exorcists' eyes shone excitedly.
"In the dark of the night...
In the dark of the night...!"
Adam pulled the axe out of the water, and it immediately seemed to sizzle with pure energy. Alastor could clearly perceive it even though he was several meters away: his body was trembling as if he was aware of being in front of a weapon whose power had now become unmistakable. Adam raised it above his head and it emitted some sparks.
"Come, power of the Tree, rise for your new master,
Let your evil shine!"
The axe emitted even more sparks, so many that they looked like colored lightning emerging from a storm cloud. This seemed to excite the Exorcists even more.
"In the dark of the night,
In the dark of the night...!"
A smile spread across Adam's face so wide it reached his ears.
"Come to me now, yes, grow ever faster!"
The sparks emitted by the axe stopped, and then time seemed to pass in reverse: they returned inside the weapon, whose blades shone with their own light for an instant. A reddish, blood-like light. A light of death.
"In the dark of the night,
In the dark of the night,
In the dark of the night...!"
Adam slammed the axe handle on the ground, creating a loud bang.
"SHE'LL BE MINE!!!"
A loud laugh escaped his lips as he stared at his new weapon with eyes glittering. Alastor shuddered as he took refuge in the shadows and observed the scene.
Notes:
The song shown here is "In the dark of the night" sung by Rasputin in the film Anastasia. However, it is not the original version, but the metal cover that you can find here: https://youtu.be/SmEGOiAfsws?si=PW2LXI1vgLqYy3Vv
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 15): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152183119
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 31: New lead
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"So, that trident is made from the trunk of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil!? Literally the most powerful substance in the entire universe!?" Charlie exclaimed. She seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Why the fuck did you give me that!?"
Lilith bit her lip. "It was the simplest way to keep you safe" she explained to her. "That trident is very powerful, with it you could have defended yourself from any threat"
Charlie had to take a deep breath to slow down her heartbeat. “This whole time I literally had a devastating weapon with me and you never told me!?”
"Charlie, we gave it to you when you were still in college. Back then you weren't... exactly good at keeping secrets" Lucifer reminded her. "Not that you're much better now, anyway..."
Charlie turned red. “Of course I can keep secrets!”
"Charlie, I remind you that when I asked you not to tell anyone that I was changing my hair, you resisted not even an hour" Angel told her. "You're not exactly the best person to keep secrets. If you were even worse when you were younger, you can't blame your parents for not telling you that detail"
Lilith cleared her throat to bring the attention back to her. "Charlie... we wanted you to have a means to defend yourself, not something that would invite trouble upon you. If everyone knew what your trident really was, within a day you would have found half of Hell at the door with the intent of steal it from you. Your father and I preferred to pass off the trident only as a birthday present to save you trouble"
Charlie tried to calm down. "Okay... it seems like you've kept a lot of things hidden from me, one more doesn't make any difference" she commented in a sour voice, making both her parents blush. "Is there anything else I need to know? I don't know, the trident is actually a key to another universe, we live in a simulation and Adam is actually my father?"
"Oh my God, please tell me that last one is true, because I would laugh too much" Angel said, brightening a little.
Lilith looked down. "Char..."
“Just answer me” Charlie interrupted her immediately.
Lilith sighed. "No... I don't think I left anything out"
Charlie didn't even react. It wasn't hard to see that she had been hurt a lot by her parents' secrets. She had always thought that in their family they had always told each other everything, but now she realized that there had always been pieces that they had kept hidden from her.
However, this was not the time to make a scene and she knew it. She wanted to scream and stomp her feet, maybe break something, but she couldn't afford to lose her wits. “Can that trident kill you?” she asked her father.
Lucifer shook his head. "It can debilitate me for a long time and leave marks on me even after I have passed from judgment and given a new body. But it cannot kill me permanently" he replied. “Besides, Adam would never be able to hit me with that. I'm too fast for him”
Charlie couldn't deny that her father was right. During the battle at the hotel he had dodged Adam's light beams, so in fact he had moved faster than light: it was impossible for Adam to be able to hit him with the trident. However, this did not reassure Charlie. "If Adam took that trident from me it's because it's useful for something, I doubt he stole it from me just out of contempt"
"Yeah. Anything can be said about Adam, but not that he acts randomly" Vaggie added. "There must be a reason if he took the trident"
"Well, certainly having the most powerful material in the universe on his side shouldn't displease him" Husk muttered.
Charlie looked at his mother. "Did Adam say anything to you about it while you were with him?"
Lilith shook her head. "Adam never mentioned the trident, and I never told him that you had it. He didn't know where it was..."
“… until two weeks ago” Charlie anticipated. "When I flaunted it before his eyes"
She remembered the way Adam had reacted when she'd hit him. He was confused that she had managed to inflict damage on him, something he had dismissed as impossible. And indeed, Charlie had to admit that she had used many of the trident's powers to give herself a boost; certainly, without it she would have lasted much less against the first man.
The satisfied look Adam had given her after that moment of confusion flashed in her mind. She remembered well how his eyes seemed to have shone at that moment. Maybe he wasn't looking at her at all... he was looking at the weapon in her hands. And he wasn't giggling because he was looking forward to the challenge, but because he had finally found what he was searching for so long.
Yes... in fact, many things now fit together.
But what was the purpose of all this? If the trident couldn't kill his father, Charlie had no idea what Adam could use it for. Sure, having the most powerful material in the universe at his disposal was probably useful, but Adam didn't need it given his already enormous power. The only real obstacle Adam had in Hell was Lucifer, and if the trident couldn't kill him, then it was useless to the first man.
Or at least, that's what she thought...
Charlie rubbed her head. She felt like she was trying to fit together pieces of a puzzle that didn't want to stick together. "All this really doesn't make sense"
Angel let out a snort. "Come on, there must be something that can help us solve this puzzle!" he blurted out, and he looked at Lilith: "Your Majesty, do your powers have any special uses? Perhaps combining them with those of the trident Adam can do something..."
Lilith shook her head. "My powers are based on manipulating human souls, or at most the demons of Hell. I cannot manipulate souls that have a different nature from mine... like an angel"
"This explains why Adam couldn't fight on par with the king" Husk said scratching his chin. "He can't imitate him"
"And technically Charlie and Vaggie aren't either, since they're angels too... or half-angels" Lilith added. "But I doubt this changes the situation much..."
"Yeah, he can beat us up anyway" Vaggie commented harshly.
“Anyone can do so” Lute teased her.
Vaggie glared at her: "Sorry, who asked you!?"
"I don't need your permission, traitor" Lute replied without changing his expression in the slightest. "I'm here to bring the first man home, not to argue with you"
Vaggie clenched her fists. “May I remind you that Adam is not here now and you are technically in an enemy hideout?” she told her with a hiss. "If I were you, I'd be careful when speaking! He's not here to cover your ass!"
"And when would he ever cover my ass?" Lute asked her. "I have always fought my battles alone. Unlike you who are now hiding behind your companions"
Vaggie's eyes sparkled. “I'm not hiding behind anyone!”
A smile appeared on Lute's face. "Really? So if I were to attack you now, you would face me alone without anyone's help?" she asked her in such a tone that it was clear she was hoping for an affirmative answer.
Vaggie gritted her teeth, and she was really tempted to say yes even though she knew it would have meant starting to fight her in the middle of the living room, but just then there was a sizzle. Everyone turned and saw the television turn on by itself, and two familiar figures appeared on the screen. Adam and Alastor were there, talking, and the person filming them seemed to have the camera installed directly in his eyes.
Velvette, who had shown no signs of life until then, jumped up from where she was sitting. "Vox!" she exclaimed, looking at the television.
The others understood that she was right. Of course, everything was clear: only Vox could have filmed Adam and Alastor with a camera installed in his head, since he was literally a living screen. "Are we sure it's him?" Vaggie asked anyway just to be sure.
"I magically sealed this place" Lucifer replied to her. "Adam cannot enter, either physically or with his powers. So that recording must have been sent to us by another overlord"
Everyone fell silent and watched the television carefully, trying to spot some detail that would have allowed them to identify the location of Adam and Alastor. They recognized several other overlords around them, and Vaggie made a soft noise of surprise when she noticed Carmilla. Adam and Alastor were deep in conversation, and they were saying some very interesting things to each other.
"What do you want to do with the trident... or the material it is made of?"
"Do you really expect me to tell you that? Be content to know that it is an ingredient. The first of three ingredients, which will allow me to forge the most powerful weapon the universe has ever seen"
"That sounds like an ambitious plan. Can I at least know where we'll find the other two pieces?"
"I won't tell you anything about the last one... but I can tell you where we're going for the second one. Rejoice, my new friend... we're both going home"
"You mean..."
"Exactly. We're going to Earth"
The video continued with Carmilla trying to grab the trident, almost getting electrocuted by it, and Adam calling Vox to help him melt the metal. The instant the angelic handcuffs were removed from the media overlord, the video stopped; clearly Vox had taken advantage of that moment to send that recording to the hotel.
There was a long moment of silence, in which everyone tried to digest what they had just seen. "Vox must have used the moment they took the angelic handcuffs off him to send that recording to the satellite and send it here" Velvette murmured, staring at the black screen. "Very clever..."
Charlie put a hand on Vaggie's shoulder. "I'm sure Carmilla is fine" she said to reassure her.
The ex-Exorcist didn't say a word. Seeing the woman being fried alive by the power of the trident didn't help her to be optimistic. At least, they had proof that she was still alive.
"So... Earth, mh?" Husk muttered. “What's so interesting on Earth?”
"Whatever it is, it's certainly a problem if he wants it" Lucifer said. "But at least this time we know how to stop him"
Charlie looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
"Of course. I have long since banned objects capable of traveling between worlds in the Pride Ring, precisely because I didn't want sinners to escape to Earth" Lucifer told her. "Things like the Asmodeus crystals are banned. The only items allowed are those in the possession of the nobility such as grimoires, that as you well know are very well guarded and protected. All we need to do is go to any Ars Goetia currently residing in the Pride Ring and order them to leave for the lower Rings, and the problem will be solved. Or if they don't want to leave, we'll just have to take their magical items"
"As simplistic as it is, it's a plan that can work" Lilith admitted. "Sinners cannot leave the Pride Ring, and Adam is still a human soul and therefore he is limited by the rules of his own damnation. If we wipe out all the objects capable of traveling between worlds, he will have no way to find one. And if he can't find one, he can't go to Earth, and as a result his plan is at a standstill"
"I like it. At least we'll keep him from triggering more serious problems" Angel said completely agreeing. "So, how do we do it?"
"We need to hurry. Adam could be already acting right now. We need to get ahead of him" Lucifer said, and a list appeared in his hands. "Charlie, Lilith, let's split up. Each of us three takes a third of this list and using their royal authority goes to requisition all objects that can allow travel between worlds"
Charlie nodded. She didn't like using her name and her family to make herself heard, but given the situation they had to act quickly, and therefore there was no time for arguments. "Okay" she said as she took a third of the list, while her mother took the other and her father kept the last. "We're going to do this thing. Vaggie, I'm entrusting you with the hotel. If Adam comes here, evacuate everyone"
Vaggie bit her lip. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"
"I'd rather have someone here who I can trust who will keep everyone safe while I'm gone" Charlie replied to her.
"Hey! You can trust us!" Angel protested.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Angel fell silent, and then he shook his head. "No, you would find a crater instead of the hotel... and without Adam passing by here, to boot" he admitted sincerely.
Vaggie sighed. "Okay, I'll watch over the shack in your absence" she promised her, then she pointed at Lute with her gaze: "What do we do with her?"
"I go with your queen" she said as she approached Lilith. "If Adam wants to go to Earth, then he will definitely attack one of the nobles. By staying with you three I'll have a better chance of finding him, and she's definitely the one I hate the least"
Charlie was about to protest, but her mother shook her head. "It's fine with me, it's no problem to bring her with me" Lilith told her.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Better than leaving her here, don't you think?" Lilith rightly pointed out, and Charlie couldn't blame her since keeping Lute and Vaggie in the same room for more than five minutes without supervision was more or less the equivalent of detonating an atomic bomb.
The three Morningstars quickly left the hotel, heading towards their destinations. With any luck, they would have made it in time and recover every single artifact that could bring Adam to Earth, effectively ruining his plan.
Charlie looked at the first name on her list. It belonged to a Prince Goetia who had originally stayed in Imp City, a city not far from Pentagram City, but had recently moved to the capital for personal reasons.
Stolas Goetia.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 15): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152183119
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 32: Find the imps
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
As the three Morningstars left the hotel, Vaggie couldn't help but sigh. Seeing that she seemed restless, Angel tried to reassure her: "Don't be afraid. You'll see, we will find a way to solve this mess"
Vaggie nodded slightly. "I know. It's just… fuck, it's all so damn hard" she admitted. "I thought we were rid of that asshole forever, but now... not only he's back, but he's literally eating us up from the inside out"
Angel couldn't blame her. He too would have much preferred that Adam break through the hotel wall and brutally beat them up one by one, instead than continuing that disturbing game of hide and seek where they didn't know what he was doing, what he wanted and what his next move would have been. It was terrifying to say the least.
Vaggie pointed to Cherri with her gaze: "Did you talk to her?"
Angel knew what she was referring to. Cherri had closed herself in a silence that was quite unusual for her. He hoped she wouldn't have started doing anything crazy; if he had been worried about her before, he was even more worried now. “I've been busy taking care of Husk... I haven't had a chance to talk to her”
"Do it as soon as you can. I don't want her to go looking for Adam alone" Vaggie told him.
Angel couldn't deny that this concern wasn't entirely unfounded. Actually, it was quite plausible. "I'll talk to him right away. Husk is fine now" he said. He was silent for a moment, and then he muttered: "Vaggie... what do we do if Alastor comes back and orders Husk and Niffty to go with him? You know they can't disobey him"
Vaggie bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know" she admitted. "Adam was smart to take him into his ranks. Now he can literally break our group from the inside whenever he wants"
Angel scratched his head apprehensively. "In your opinion... did Smiles really do it? Betray us, I mean. Do you think he really sided with Adam, or is he just pretending?"
Angel knew Alastor was a first-rate bastard, and he knew he was a disgusting opportunist. However, a part of him wanted to believe that he really wasn't that much of an asshole... even if rationality told him otherwise. Maybe Alastor was faking it, maybe he had a plan, or maybe Adam had hypnotized him... or maybe he really had betrayed them. Too many maybes and no certainties.
Vaggie didn't even try to give herself answers. "I stopped wondering what was going through Alastor's head a long time ago" she said simply. "Regardless of the reasons for his actions, if we see him again we will have to treat him as an enemy. So forget about the time we spent together, it will only get in your way. Trust me... he won't hesitate to use your weaknesses against you, so don't let him do it"
"Yeah..." Angel said. He knew she was right. "Well... I'm going to talk to Cherri"
"Okay. Good luck with her" Vaggie told him with a small nod as she went back to checking the windows. Angel went to sit next to his cyclops friend, who leaned on his shoulder, almost as if she herself knew she needed comfort. Seeing that there didn't seem to be a need for him at the moment Husk lay down on the sofa to get some sleep (he definitely needed it), while Niffty went back to stabbing the cockroaches she found lying around.
Rosie for her part continued to walk around the middle of the living room picking up the now empty cups and then went to put them politely behind the bar counter. Once that was done she made two more herbal teas and sat down next to Velvette, and she handed one to her. “Drink it” she told her as she sipped hers. "It will do you good"
“I'm not sick” Velvette muttered, but her voice no longer contained the arrogant note it had before. "And I don't like herbal teas"
But Rosie wasn't willing to take no for an answer. "Drink it, or I'll force it down your throat" she warned her.
Velvette looked at her in surprise. “Um… what?”
"You heard me right" Rosie said, nodding towards her tea. "Right now you need something to relax you. You'll drink it whether you like it or not"
Velvette felt a shiver run down her spine. For some reason, Rosie suddenly became scary, even though she continued to look at her with a smile on her face and soft eyes. She felt like she was a child in front of an elementary school teacher who scolded her for a prank. "Where did the sweet old lady go...?"
"She's tired. Even if I smile to cheer everyone up, that doesn't mean I'm not affected by all of this too" Rosie replied. "And this sweet old lady, as you call her, lived in a time when little girls were taught discipline by slapping their fingers. Trust me, it's not a good experience. But even though I don't appreciate this practice, I still think that for some people it wouldn't hurt at all"
Those words weren't a threat, but they sounded a lot like one in Velvette's ears. Swallowing heavily, the social overlord quickly obeyed and drank the entire cup of herbal tea in one gulp. And even though her pride was a little hurt, she had to admit in her heart that feeling something warm in her stomach didn't bother her at all. "Here. I drank it..."
"What should you say?" Rosie asked her.
"Are you kidding me? You literally forced me...!" Velvette protested, but any rebellious instincts died in her throat when she noticed Rosie's eyes narrowing, and for some reason that sight made her heart skip a beat. "Thank you! I meant... thank you!"
"Mph. That's better" Rosie commented. She was silent for a second, and then she asked her: "Guilty?"
Velvette looked at her in surprise. "What?"
"Don't play dumb with me" Rosie told her. “I noticed how much you changed after Adam forced you to look into his eyes. I know that whatever you saw, it shook you to your core"
Velvette stiffened. "It's not about that" she replied immediately. "I'm just mad at Val. He's the one who made me upset, not that asshole first man"
"Oh, your friend sure has a lot to make up for" Rosie commented. "But I know for a fact that's not why you've become so taciturn"
Velvette's eyelid twitched a little. "I don't think you can read minds. If I tell you it's Val's fault, it's because it is!"
Rosie sighed. "You're lucky that they have an infirmary in this hotel. At least you can get the rhinoplasty surgery you need right away"
Velvette's eyes widened. "What?"
"Because lies have a long nose" Rosie explained to her.
Such words confused Velvette even more. "What are you saying?"
"Oh, come on! The story of Pinocchio, how do you not know it?" Rosie muttered. "You are also a doll, you should remember it by heart"
Velvette huffed in annoyance. "I'm not a book person, much less a fantasy one!"
"It's not exactly fantasy... and somehow, I guessed you weren't the book type" Rosie told her. "And the fact that for more than an hour you haven't had your cell phone glued to your hand as usual is further proof of how bad you are inside"
Velvette blushed heavily. Instinctively she put her hands on her chest, almost as if she hoped that by doing so the cannibal overlord would have stopped reading inside her so well.
Rosie sighed. "Look, I don't know what shit you've done in the past and I don't care. What I know is that if you're upset, then there's a much better chance that you'll get hurt in battle. And since it's pretty much certain that we're going to have to face some more battles, and now it seems you're one of us, it's not a good idea to leave your head at the mercy of emotions you can't control"
"Do you worry about me?" Velvette asked her sarcastically. "We barely know each other"
"Considering how Adam reduced you in just one battle, I say I have good reason not to want you to end up in his clutches even if I don't even know your birthday" Rosie replied. "There's such a thing as altruism, you know"
"Mph" was the only response Velvette gave her.
Rosie summoned all her patience. "Girl, be reasonable. Trust me when I tell you that whatever Adam did to you won't go away by itself. If we face him again, and you will face him again because you want to save your TV friend, you better do it with your heart light and clear minded"
"Wow, what a wise speech, Master Oogway" Velvette commented sourly. "Shall we paint our nails together now?"
Rosie shook her head. "Seriously, you really need a lesson in education"
"In life you have to show your claws. I don't need education" Velvette replied. “And I certainly don't need an old lady”
"As you wish" Rosie told her, and suddenly her gaze became hard. "But if you really want to endanger yourself, at least don't endanger others"
Velvette's aggression was immediately stopped again; she felt as if she were being crushed by that stern look. "What... what do you mean...?"
"If you want to continue sitting at this bar picking olives from that bowl, go ahead. But I noticed the way you reacted when King Morningstar proposed recovering all the artifacts capable of bringing someone to Earth in the Pride Ring" Rosie told her. "For a moment, you raised an eyebrow. You were doubtful about something"
Velvette swallowed. She hadn't expected Rosie to keep an eye on her so much. "Um... it was just a random thought... stupid..."
“A more stupid thought than the first man returning as a demon and hunting the overlords?” Rosie asked her rhetorically.
Velvette blushed again. She considered whether she should talk, but then she decided it was time to spill the beans: "It's just that... it seems strange to me that the solution is so simple. I mean, if we recover all the artifacts, Adam can't go to Earth and the problem is solved. But... if I were Adam, I wouldn't have talked about something like that in front of Alastor. Adam may be arrogant, but I doubt he trusts him that much... so it could mean that he has already taken into account that Alastor could be a spy"
Rosie narrowed her eyes. Alastor hadn't shown any signs of wanting to help them yet, and if it hadn't been for Vox they wouldn't have known that Adam was headed to Earth... but just as Vox had warned them when he had the chance, Alastor might have done it too. It wasn't like Adam to make such a gross mistake. “Are you saying he might already have what he needs to go to Earth?”
"Or he knows where to find it, and it's something the nobles don't have" Velvette told her. "I mean... it's absurd, but... if you think about it, he knew exactly where to find the trident... so..."
"... it's not such a far-fetched hypothesis" Rosie finished the sentence for her, and then she handed her her cell phone: "Well, then what are you waiting for? Check it out"
Velvette took the cannibal overlord's cell phone in her hands. She could connect with her powers to every existing social network, and therefore if there was even the slightest clue she would have found it. “Wait, you have a cell phone?”
Rosie shrugged. "Even though I appreciate antiques, I'm in step with the times. Alastor is the one left behind. Come on, get busy"
"Uh... ok" Velvette said, surprised by such words: she had assumed that Rosie didn't have the slightest idea of what technology was since from the way she dressed she seemed to have remained stuck in prohibitionism. However, this was not the time to waste time, so she immediately brushed her fingers across the screen and her eyes lit up.
In an instant, the Internet was in front of her: every single file that had ever existed appeared before her eyes, or rather, entered directly into her brain. In just a second, Velvette found herself with billions of pieces of information in her mind. And just like a computer she selected a few keywords, narrowing her search further and further... until she found something that made her scream: "FUCK!"
All the hotel guests turned to look at her abruptly. "What's wrong with you?" Angel asked her.
Velvette jumped out of her chair and held up her cell phone, which had a company logo on the screen. "We have a problem! There are imps in the Pride Ring that have a way to travel to Earth!"
“Wait, what!?” Vaggie exclaimed.
"Yes. According to their website, they are a company of assassins. They call themselves Immediate Murder Professional, or IMP, and they go to Earth to kill humans for hire" Velvette explained to her. "If they go to Earth, they must have a way to travel between realms!"
"How do they do it?" Husk asked. "King Morningstar said he forbade non-nobles from having such artifacts here in Pride..."
"Well, apparently they have one! Maybe they stole it, or maybe they're here illegally, or maybe someone is covering for them... what the fuck do I know!" Velvette answered him. "What matters is that they have a way to get to Earth, and now that Adam has the same powers as me, if he connected to the Internet like I just did..."
“… he definitely knows about this agency!” Vaggie muttered through gritted teeth. "Where are they?"
Velvette read the agency information. "It says here that they live in Imp City... it's not far away, it's in..."
"I know where it is!" Vaggie exclaimed immediately spreading her wings. "You warn Charlie, I'll get ahead of you!"
"Hey, hey, wait!" Angel exclaimed almost throwing himself on top of her. "What do you want to do?"
“Adam might already be there!” Vaggie told him. "By flying I can reach Imp City in less than five minutes! I can buy time until Charlie and her parents arrive!"
“That's a really shitty idea” Husk opined.
“Do you have a better one?” Vaggie replied. Nobody knew how to answer her, and so she took advantage of that silence to throw open the door and fly away.
"... so, you just need my grimoire?"
Charlie thought that Prince Stolas was a really kind person. Unlike many other nobles, he was not haughty or hypocritical, but had only behaved towards her like a good host. "Yes, we are recovering all such artifacts"
"Forgive me if I'm indiscreet, but... does it have anything to do with Adam?" Stolas asked her.
Charlie sighed. She expected the owl demon to know about him... well, all of Hell knew about him by now given the show he had put on. "Yes. Apparently he wants to go to Earth, and will probably attack anyone with an artifact capable of taking him there"
Stolas suddenly widened his eyes. “Um… excuse me for a second, princess” he said, and very quickly he walked away and grabbed his phone.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. Stolas's behavior was decidedly unusual: he seemed very scared about something, and as he waited for the person who had called to answer he was almost biting his nails. Just then her cell phone rang too, and she held it to her ear: "Hey, Angel, what's going on...?"
"Charlie, we have a problem!" the spider demon told her in a breathless voice. "We just discovered that there are imps in the Pride Ring that have a means to travel to Earth!"
Charlie's eyes widened. How was this possible? Such a thing was illegal...!
Stolas returned to her, and judging by the look on his face, he was positively terrified. "Princess... I have a confession to make"
It didn't take Charlie long to put the pieces together in her head. "Fuck" she barely whispered.
Vaggie had flown as fast as she could, and she had reached Imp City in even less time than she had expected. She had quickly looked up the IMP's address... and unfortunately she had had no trouble finding it. Not because of her ability to orient herself, but because of the cloud of smoke that signaled a fire.
When she arrived, she found herself in front of a building half on fire. One of the windows on the top floor had been violently broken; Vaggie wasted no time and went in very quickly. What she found was what must have been an office, but that was now completely trashed. On the ground there was an unconscious hellhound; she immediately checked her pulse, and luckily she was still alive.
Vaggie looked around and saw that the walls leading to the hallway had also been broken down; and in the middle of the aforementioned corridor, there was a hole that probably led to the ground floor. Judging by the marks on the walls, someone must have fought hard.
"Uuurgh..."
Vaggie stiffened at that moan, and with her guard up she looked behind one of the collapsed walls. There were two imps there; one of them was a woman and she was completely unconscious on top of the other, a sign that she must have thrown herself on top of him to shield him with her body; the other was a man who appeared barely conscious. "Hey" Vaggie whispered as she stepped in front of him so he could see her. "Don't worry, I'll help you now..."
"Help... the boss..." the imp just murmured.
Vaggie didn't understand those words. "What?"
The imp pointed to the hole in the floor with his eyes. "The boss... lured... that guy... away... you have... to help him... before it's... too late..."
Vaggie was silent for a moment, then she nodded. "Okay... okay, think about recovering" she said to the imp, who gave her a look of gratitude. Vaggie took one last quick look at him, and then she jumped into the hole.
She silently went down to the ground floor. Like the previous office, this one too was a disaster. But this time, there weren't just people lying on the ground.
Vaggie just had time to notice a large horned shadow moving a short distance away from her; wasting no time, she hid behind the first collapsed wall she found. From there she could see another imp, taller and with bigger horns than the others, lying on the ground spitting blood. And above him, placing his foot on his sternum, was Adam. “Last chance, Blitz” the first man said in a grim voice. "Where is the crystal?"
Notes:
This story is chronologically placed after the current Helluva Boss, so Full Moon has already happened and Stolas has already given Blitz the Asmodeus crystal. I imagined that after Verosika's party Stolas decided to change scenery at least for a while and temporarily moved to Pentagram City to avoid Blitz.
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 15): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152183119
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 33: Why you?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie narrowed her eyes and felt her heart burn with anger at the mere sight of the first man. However, not a single muscle of hers moved: she knew she had to stay calm and handle the situation cleverly. If she had just attacked Adam, he would have knocked her out without any effort.
The imp that was on the ground was in really bad shape: his right arm was broken, there were several bruises on his face, and judging by the position of his body he had a few cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. He let out a gasp of pain as he tried to speak: "I told you... I don't have it anymore" he barely muttered. "I sold it..."
"Not even the most stupid idiot would give up something so precious" Adam told him. "How did you plan to run your agency without an Asmodeus crystal?"
Vaggie stiffened. An Asmodeus crystal? It was one of the simplest means of traveling to any corner of the Earth in an instant. With it, Adam could go anywhere he wanted without any kind of restrictions.
“I wanted to... close up shop” Blitz stammered. "I was selling... the company... I decided to give up... this business"
"Do you think you can lie to me?" Adam asked him with a grunt.
Blitz placed a hand on his chest, as if trying to prove his sincerity: “Why on earth… should I lie?”
"I assume for someone like you it's like breathing" Adam replied.
"I say more... like suicide" Blitz replied.
Adam chuckled. “So you understand the situation you are in”
"You were... quite... explanatory" Blitz told him with a half smile.
Adam seemed just more amused. "I've been keeping an eye on your agency lately. It's useful when you have the powers of an overlord who knows everything that happens on the Internet" he told him menacingly. “Therefore, I know for a fact that you have not posted any sales announcements lately”
"Ever heard of... black market?" Blitz asked him sarcastically.
Adam seemed amused by that display of mockering. "I like your attitude" he commented kneeling slightly next to him. “And that's the only reason you're still alive”
Vaggie's eyes widened. Adam had just gotten down on one knee... exposing his back to her! If she had jumped and used her wings as a propeller, she would have hit him in the base of the neck before he could react!
But if Adam had moved at the last moment, she would have missed him. At that point she would have found herself facing the first man alone.
It was a huge gamble.
Fifty percent chance of success. Fifty percent chance of failure.
"Well... you're out of luck..." Blitz commented with a sneer. "People who like me... don't end well"
"Oh, I'm sure of it" Adam replied. "Everyone in this corner of the city knows you'd even sell your family for profit"
"Oh, believe me... I've done worse... to my family" Blitz said.
"Oh, I know. I can see it clearly in your disgusting soul" Adam said with a hiss, and then he gripped his neck tightly, raising the imp before his eyes. "I see many things. Unfortunately I cannot see your whole life and know what you did with that crystal... but I can see enough to know what a hideous creature you are. So much envy, so much cruelty... loves destroyed with your own hands, friends torn apart, trust broken with no regrets... and so many dead bodies... both in this world and in my own"
"Cough... work is work" Blitz replied. "We're in Hell. People are killing each other all the time..."
"Oh, I know that well. But you didn't just kill in Hell. You killed on MY planet!" Adam roared, and his grip on Blitz's neck tightened: luckily he had him lower than the jugular, because the force was such that the top of the imp's sternum cracked. "By killing human beings, you defied me, the father of all humanity! If you had limited yourself to eliminating bad people, those demons in mortal guise, I would have nothing against you... in fact, I would have thanked you for helping me in my job... but you also killed innocents! I can see how you never had any qualms about killing even random people, just as collateral damage in your idiots' missions!"
Adam dragged Blitz before his eyes; the imp let out a muffled whine at seeing him so close. "Cough... if you want to make out with me... just ask..."
"Still arrogant, mh?" Adam hissed. "Let's see how much you're laughing now!"
His eyes changed color and pupils appeared inside them, and Blitz was sucked into them as if they were a vortex...
The first thing he felt was desperation.
He felt it before he even opened his eyes, he could feel the strong heartbeat and rapid breathing. It was all so fast that he could barely feel the air entering his lungs.
When his eyes reopened, his vision was blurry. There were so many tears that he couldn't see well.
His brain felt like it had completely exploded. Worry, desperation, panic, horror, fear: it was all concentrated like a volcano of negative emotions that burned him from the inside.
There were some people in front of him, including a video camera guy. He held up what looked like a drawing and in a trembling and strangely feminine voice shouted: "Please! If anyone has seen my little Eddie, please contact us at..."
His words were cut off by a heavy sack being thrown into his hands. It was obvious from the touch alone that it contained a human body, and the blood on it was very clear.
His heart skipped a beat. What was that...?
He looked up. Something had appeared above him... a portal? And there were some guys who looked like little devils...
Wait… that was Moxxie and Millie…?
And... himself...?
"You welcome!" the other he screamed, then disappeared along with the portal.
His gaze fell on the sack again.
No. It couldn't be. It couldn't be true...!
With trembling fingers he opened it. And the first thing he saw was a familiar severed head.
No.
No! It couldn't be!
His baby...!!!
Died...!!!
Those... monsters...!!!
"EDDIE!!!!!" was the desperate cry that emerged from his mouth as he fell to his knees, and the people around him grabbed him before he could bang his head repeatedly against the asphalt.
“AAAAAAGGH!!!” Blitz shouted as he came back to reality. The world took shape again around him, but still he continued to tremble as if he were still there.
Adam let out a grunt. "What's the matter? It was only the first one!" he roared, and with extreme violence he slammed him back onto the floor. Blitz made a choking sound and spat blood out of his mouth, rolling onto his stomach.
Adam put his foot on his back, and he grabbed his horns with his hands, pulling him backwards. "You know... among the many sins of envy that I have seen in you... there is one that particularly interested me" he told him while the imp groaned in pain. “You felt so much envy towards that clown friend of yours… you wanted to have what he had, to have his success… to be like him. You should have felt nothing but sorrow and guilt, but instead you envied him. Well, I'll satisfy you! Let me make you just like him!"
And with that the imp's horns split cleanly, tearing away from the scalp. The keratin they were covered in shattered and the bones broke, revealing the marrow and blood vessels. Blitz screamed in pain and fell flat on his face, blood pouring down his forehead.
Vaggie had to put a hand over her mouth at the sight. Living in Hell she had seen far worse torture, but what she just saw still made her feel a deep panic. Her heart trembled as the memory of herself being positioned in the same position as Blitz and having part of her body ripped away came back to her. The base of her wings seemed to burn again.
Adam kicked the imp, rolling him over and putting him on his back again. "You know? In a way I have to thank you" he told him through clenched teeth. "As I researched your agency, I became aware of many details that were unknown to me. Now I know how often demons dare to enter my world. Sure, they don't cause much trouble, but they still dare to sully it with their disgusting debauchery. And looking at you, I only get confirmation of those worries of mine. I can see a parking lot challenge with a succubus... and an assassination caused by you looking for an imp selling drugs... or an owl demon setting a skyscraper on fire... fuck it, the corruption in this world is much larger than I thought. I'll have a lot to clean up to do when I complete my plan". He let out a loud growl. "So... thanks for opening my eyes. Now I know that the problem is much bigger than I thought. I had already taken into account that I would have to kill some hellborns, but apparently I will have to kill a lot more than expected. Who do you think I should start with? The succubus, the drug addict or the owl?"
Blitz spat blood from his mouth. "You... you won't touch them..."
“Oh, and you can stop me, am I right!?” Adam asked walking closer to him. "Tell me, why do you persist so much in prolonging your suffering? Why do you refuse to confess to me where the crystal is? You will talk sooner or later anyway!"
"No... not at all" Blitz replied. "If I talk... you kill me... and then kill everyone else"
"And since when do you care about others!?" Adam asked him. "What is this sudden coscience? Who are you protecting so much?"
Blitz didn't answer him. "Cough... you'll never get that crystal" he told him. "You'll never go to Earth... you'll never get what you want, you bastard...!"
Adam grabbed his jaw and nearly broke it. "Your clown friend wasn't just missing horns. He was also missing arms and legs" he warned him. "You better talk now"
Despite the pain he was feeling, Blitz challenged him with his gaze. "I'd rather die"
Adam ducked again and put a finger on his head, and he put pressure on his forehead; Blitz groaned in pain and cracks opened in the floor beneath his skull. "I'll ask you again. Where is the crystal...?"
Vaggie didn't wait another moment: Adam was in the perfect position and was too focused on what he was doing to move. She couldn't have had a better opportunity. With a movement that lasted just a fraction of a second, she launched herself into the air and brought her spear down violently.
Adam moved at the last moment, probably warned by his intuition, but it wasn't enough to dodge Vaggie's weapon: the spear embedded itself deep in the base of his neck, not far from his spine, and passed through his body by piercing his right lung. Adam roared in pain as he felt the cold metal pierce him through and through.
Vaggie wanted to push even deeper, but Adam turned and grabbed her by the wing, and then he threw her to the ground, holding her pinned by the neck. She was surprised for the umpteenth time at how high the stamina and resistance of the first man was, who despite having the right half of his body paralyzed was still moving with surprising strength and agility. "You...!" Adam growled furiously.
Vaggie made a muffled noise, trying to free herself from Adam's iron grip, but her opponent's strength was too overwhelming; however, while she was still stuck on the ground, Blitz, using the little energy he had left, lifted a stone and with it hit the spear that was still protruding from the first man's chest; it began to vibrate, tearing even more flesh and tissue. Adam let out a cry of pure pain and slipped backwards, falling into a sitting position; Vaggie took the opportunity to grab the spear by the tip and tear it away from his body.
There was a split second of pure stalemate; both he and she looked into each other's eyes so much that they seemed to sink into each other's pupils. And then, Adam jerked and staggered to his feet, but Vaggie took advantage of that moment to drive the spear into his heart.
Adam's eyes widened and he spat blood out of his mouth. He stood still for a moment, and then he fell to his knees in front of Vaggie, looking at the wound in his chest.
Vaggie let out a bull-like snort. “I told you” she said, bringing her face closer to his so he could get a good look at her fierce expression. "You should have killed me when you could!"
And with those words she planted the spear even deeper into his chest, until it came out the other side of his body. Adam opened his mouth as if he wanted to scream, but no sound came out, just a muffled moan. The first man tried to raise his arms to touch the handle of the spear, but his strength soon abandoned him completely.
Adam gasped a few more times. And then a whisper emerged from his mouth: "Why...?"
Vaggie hissed like a snake. “Do you even have the nerve to ask me!?” she shouted furiously.
But Adam didn't seem to hear her. "Why..." he barely repeated. "Why, of all people... did it have to be... you...?"
Vaggie felt her heart tremble. “You created your own demise” she told him. "You took everything from me. You allowed Lute to tear out my wings and my eye. You threw me away from my home. You left me alone, in Hell, with nothing with me to survive on, and then you came to destroy the second house I built for myself. What's happening now is your fault"
But Adam clearly understood her words this time, and he took on a fierce expression. "Don't... accuse me. I... had to..."
Vaggie's eyes seemed to sparkle. "No... you didn't have to!" she screamed. "You didn't have to! You didn't have to do anything! You didn't have to punish me, you didn't have to persecute me!"
"It's the punishment... for traitors..." Adam slurred.
Vaggie brought her face so close to his that their foreheads almost touched. "My only betrayal was behaving like a true angel, and not like a killing machine" she told him. "If for you choosing charity and forgiveness instead of blood is betrayal, then you are truly lost"
But Adam fully held her gaze. "Always... the same..." he murmured. "Still... the same arrogance... of knowing... everything..."
Vaggie didn't miss the note of disgust in the first man's voice. "Maybe I'm arrogant. But I'm certainly better than you"
“Better… than me?” Adam murmured, and his teeth clenched. “I… exiled you. I have never... killed… one of us”
Those words certainly didn't make Vaggie feel pity. "What's the matter? You were the one who wanted the sinners exterminated. It's not so good to be on the other side, is it?"
"I am not talking... about me" Adam replied. "How many... of your companions... have you sent into this wreck... with this same spear...?"
Vaggie's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that accusation. "You were attacking us...!"
"If left unchecked... demons too... would attack us" Adam slurred. "So... is this how it works... for you? Killing demons... is wrong... but angels are okay...?"
"N-No!" Vaggie retorted, feeling her heart clench. "I... you forced me to do it...!"
“You too” Adam told her. "You... forced me... to exile you. Do you think... it was... good for me... to lose you...?"
Vaggie's hands shook slightly. What was happening? Why did she suddenly… feel like she wasn't the one who was winning anymore? "You ignored me... you went away in that cold way..."
"That's what... someone's supposed to do... when they set... an example" Adam answered her. By now he was having trouble even staying on his knees, and he was bending over more and more. "You... were... the best... among us. I invested... so much energy... in you. You were... strong... determined... courageous. But you've always been... missing something"
Vaggie pursed her lips. She instinctively took a step back, not wanting the first man to lean on her to stay upright. "And that is...?"
Adam barely managed to lift his head to look at her. "You have no... awareness" he replied. "For you... it's all... a game. You change sides... as you like. You don't... understand... the reasons... for such actions. You obey... but you don't... understand. You really… never… understood it. Not teaching it... to you was… my biggest... mistake”
Vaggie felt out of breath. Why? Why was she suddenly having such a hard time breathing? Why was her heart beating so fast? "I thought you said angels never make mistakes"
"And I thought... you understood... by now... that I say a lot... of bullshit" Adam muttered, sliding down on all fours. His blood dripped onto the floor from the wound on his chest. "Treating you... with more admiration than the others... was a mistake. I didn't realize... what I was forgetting... to teach you. You... don't know... loyalty. The sense of belonging... to a cause. Or even just... brotherhood. And you... sent your sisters here... with me. All of them... poor souls... who always... stayed faithful... they are here now. And now... I die... by your hand. And they... without me... will be alone... and defenseless... in this cruel world"
Vaggie trembled. What was happening? She should have rejoiced. Why was she feeling… so bad?
"Miriam... Sarah... Monika... Elisabeth... Komi... each of them... is here... because of you" Adam barely whispered, and from his look, he seemed on the verge of death. "After all... what you... went through together... you killed them... and condemned them... to this..."
A series of flashes appeared before Vaggie's eyes.
The continuous training with the other Exorcists.
All the times they had laughed together.
All the times they had supported each other.
One of them who stood in front of her in battle to act as a shield.
Adam complimenting her.
Adam teaching her how to use the spear.
Adam leading the charge...
Oh, what was wrong with her!? Why was she thinking about that!?
Last time she managed not to think about it...!
Adam fell completely to the ground. He slid to the side of his body, barely managing to keep his eyes open. "Why..." he whispered in an extremely faint voice, but it sounded like thunder in Vaggie's ears. "Why... of all those... who could have wanted me dead... did it have... to be... you...?"
And with those last words, he put his head on the ground and never moved again. Life left his eyes forever.
Vaggie let out a loud guttural sound from her throat. She didn't know why, she suddenly felt like she had no air left. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.
For some reason, she couldn't stop staring at Adam's inanimate body. And she could no longer feel that beautiful euphoria she had felt when she first saw him die.
She was trying to remember the time he remained cold and expressionless as Lute ripped off her wings and eye. She was really trying. But those memories seemed almost blurred to her, unlike those of all the good times she had spent with the other Exorcists. Those moments that she had tried so hard to forget, supplanting them with anger, hatred and resentment, and which had suddenly exploded again, instigated by Adam's words as if they were a fuse.
And suddenly, she felt something warm and salty run down her face. She touched her cheek and found drops of water on her hand.
Was she... crying...?
Why...?
She shouldn't... cry...!
"Ah ah! Cough! Well done!" Blitz exclaimed as he got up from the ground, or at least tried to sit back, only to fall on the floor again. "Good job! Good job! You fucked that asshole! Cough... sorry, I'm still in bad shape...!"
Vaggie barely listened to him. Her knees were shaking and she could barely hold her up. She put her hands in front of her face and lightly pulled her hair at the base of her forehead.
"Oh... are you crying? Goodness, I hope it's not one of those stories where your relative or friend turned bad and now you have regrets" Blitz commented as he crawled towards her. "Look, I have to go get my employees. You... you're with the princess, right? I saw you on television..."
Vaggie didn't answer him. She simply nodded her head a little, almost mechanically.
"Good! Listen, that asshole apparently wanted this" Blitz told her, and he touched his arm; suddenly, what had seemed like a simple yellow decoration was revealed to be an Asmodeus crystal. “Look, I know I shouldn't have it and there was a bit of wrongdoing behind it, so… when the princess gets here, can you put in a good word for me? Tell her I did everything I could to protect it, I put my life at risk after all...!"
Vaggie wasn't even listening to the imp's slurs anymore. She wasn't really listening to anything anymore. Her gaze was fixed only on the corpse in front of her...
"Are tears of sadness what I'm seeing?"
Vaggie froze in place, and Blitz stopped talking too. Suddenly, Adam's body twisted and dismembered into numerous shadows that seemed to be made of wisps of smoke. The shadows all converged in a corner of the room, and there reality distorted, revealing itself to be a veil created by colored smoke. Both the smoke and the shadows shrank until they fit into a mouth... the mouth of Adam, alive and well, who was right in front of them, leaning against a column with the disturbing figure of Alastor next to him.
Vaggie made a noise of anger and dejection. "You... you made fun of me...!"
"Yeah" Adam confirmed as he advanced towards her. “I knew that, deep down, you cared. I was sure that I just needed to dig a little into your frozen heart to bring out those tears. You didn't disappoint me”
Blitz frantically tried to back away, but Alastor barely moved his staff and a shadow grabbed the Asmodeus crystal, delivering it into Adam's hands, and then grabbed the imp and gave him a strong blow to the face, causing him to pass out. The first man looked at the crystal with satisfaction, and then his eyes fell on Vaggie. "There is something we need to discuss, you and I"
Notes:
Before anyone says that Blitz behaved too heroically in this chapter, I remind you of three things: first, Blitz never showed cowardice, indeed he wasn't the slightest afraid to challenge powerful demons like Asmodeus and Mammon, especially when there were people he cared about involved. Second, Blitz has shown multiple times, for example when they faced DHORKS, that he is willing to put himself in front of his friends/family to defend them. Third, Blitz is not an idiot and knows how to read the situation: he knows very well that the only thing that at that moment is keeping Adam from bringing down the whole building with him, Moxxie, Millie and Loona inside is the Asmodeus crystal, and that if he gives it to him they're done for. Therefore, from Blitz's point of view, the best choice at that moment is to resist and not give Adam what he wants, hoping that someone will come to his rescue (since the building is on fire and the first man is wanted by the royal family, it is logical to expect that someone will arrive, as indeed happens). So Blitz isn't being a hero, he's simply acting as he always has; he's an asshole and selfish, but not to everyone.
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152699497
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 34: Discussion with the old boss
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie watched as Adam approached her almost without breathing. She didn't even bother to wipe the tears from her eyes: there was no reason to do so now since the first man had already seen her cry. And she hated herself for showing him such a pathetic sight.
Adam remained almost the same as in the illusion... with some differences that he didn't have last time: he still had his armor, but over it he wore a robe identical to the one he had always had in Heaven... with the the exception was that this robe was more damaged, blood red in color and full of golden spikes at the collar. He was effectively a demonic version of his angelic attire, which combined with the pieces of armor protruding from his body made him even more menacing. He no longer wore his helmet: he had evidently deemed it useless now that everyone knew his identity. Slung across his back was a double-headed axe that was undoubtedly covered in the same material that Charlie's trident was made of.
Adam bent down on Blitz and touched his horns, and collected his blood with which he wrote his symbol on the wall, under which he traced the number 2. "I was sure that you would arrive before all the others" he commented as he he did. "Do you really think I wouldn't notice a signal coming from a broken television? I let Vox warn you. I was sure that, stupid as you are, you would immediately choose the easy way out. And I was sure that you would be the first to notice that something was wrong. You have always been perceptive... though often blind"
Vaggie let out a loud snort through her nostrils, barely holding back her anger. "You're a son of a bitch" she hissed.
"Forgive me for the unorthodox methods" Adam replied. "I needed to dig deep into that heart of stone of yours to get the truth out. Your sisters were convinced that I was wasting my time with you, seeing that smile you gave me the last time I died. But I knew that deep down you didn't really want to see me two meters underground"
"Yeah. I preferred the belly of the cannibals who devoured you" Vaggie replied almost spitting in his face.
Adam just laughed at that reaction. "You really have remained the same... every time we touch on a topic that you might not like, your tongue immediately becomes sour and sharp" he told her. "Why don't you just admit that you would be sad to see me or all your companions dead?"
"I have no reason not to want to see a monster dead" Vaggie hissed.
Adam didn't change his expression in the slightest. "But what about a master?" he asked her. "Would you still like to see a teacher dead? Or a general, or a comrade?"
Vaggie felt her heart ache at those words. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again, but this time she held them back; even though her mind was still reeling from what she had just experienced, she was still able to remain fairly clear. "You are not my master"
"I taught you everything you know" Adam replied. "If you now know how to fight so well with a spear, it's only thanks to me. I trained you day after day, even sacrificing training with your other teammates to make sure you learned as best you could. Even back then I saw your extraordinary talent in you"
"Talent you wanted to exploit" Vaggie growled. "You didn't really care about me"
"Talent that I wanted to make blossom" Adam corrected her. "And if you think I cared little about you... you're wrong. What I did just now was an act... but I didn't lie about a single word"
Vaggie let out a snort. "Are you expecting me to believe you? After you just fooled me?"
“I expect you to at least understand that your perception of the situation does not always match reality” was Adam's simple answer.
Vaggie's breathing quickened. She felt anger infect her mind again, probably due to the long series of conflicting emotions that were currently battling it out in her heart. "You are not my master" she repeated. "Everything you taught me only gave me hatred for myself"
"Really? Even when you used those same teachings of mine to protect your so-called friends?" Adam asked her. "You don't hate what I gave you, or what I taught you. You hate me, because when it was time to choose between duty and personal love, between collectivity and selfishness, I chose the first option. Unlike you, who have let pity cloud your judgment to the point that your very perception of good and evil has become confusing"
"Says the one who kills people for fun" Vaggie replied.
"I kill people who deserve it. I've never killed someone who didn't" Adam said. "My hands are clean. I have made many mistakes, I don't deny it; but among them is not killing these disgusting creatures you surround yourself with. And if my work has given me pleasure... well, perhaps you want to deny that did it give it to you too, before you developed those... rebellious thoughts of yours?"
Vaggie bit her lip. "I only spared a child"
"A child that ended up in Hell" Adam told her. "If he's here, there's definitely a reason. For one thing, you have no way of knowing if that was actually a child. Who can guarantee you that he wasn't a pedophile in life, or even just someone with a major superiority complex, that after his death he was punished with that small and weak form? And even if he had been a real child, he could have killed his parents, or perhaps a peer who had annoyed him, or perhaps he humiliated his friends online by destroying their life. Or do you think children are without sin? They are the most beautiful thing in the universe, but they can also be assholes"
Vaggie clenched her fists, and looked down. Honestly, she had never thought about that possibility. In fact, she had never known who the child she had spared was. Niffty too looked like a child, but she was an adult with several decades of experience in the world of killing. A bad feeling made its way into her heart, biting it like it was a hungry worm.
Adam lowered himself to his height. "I bet you didn't think of that, mh?" he asked, his voice a little more vibrant than before, making his state of mind clear. "Yes... none of you ever think. You only think with emotions. Well, let me tell you something, my dear: it is not with emotions that humanity has defeated so many obstacles. Sometimes you have to use your brain"
Vaggie let out a grunt. "I'm sorry I disappointed you"
"Oh, yes. You've disappointed me a lot. You've disappointed all of us" Adam told her. "But... it seems the Almighty has not abandoned you, despite everything. Because now you are here in front of me... and I can still offer you a chance of... redemption, as you like so much to call it"
Normally Vaggie would have laughed when she heard Adam say those very words, but at that moment she couldn't. The first man's gaze seemed to have nailed her to the spot. She couldn't even speak.
Adam reached out to her. His fingers opened upwards, showing her his palm. "Come back to us, Vaggie" he told her. "This is not your world. You can still follow the light and participate in something greater. Your sisters are convinced that you are a lost case, and after all the wrongs you have done to them, they want your head. But I know that you are not so irrecoverable as they think. You can still prove to them that you are still one of us"
Vaggie bit her lip. "You only want me back because it would make Charlie suffer. You want me to betray her like he did" she said nodding at Alastor.
"If I simply wanted you to betray the sweet princess, I would have hypnotized you using the many abilities I possess" Adam replied to her. "It's true, I'm partly offering you this opportunity because I want to teach your beloved girlfriend a lesson. But I still want you back on the team. And your sisters want you back too, even if they don't say it openly. Even if they speak with hatred and resentment, I know they miss you"
"I won't let you use me to hurt Charlie" Vaggie growled, even though her legs were seriously starting to shake.
"And I don't mean to hurt her" Adam replied. "What I want is for her to understand. I want her to understand my actions, just as I want you to understand them too. I made the mistake of not teaching you awareness, and that worthless carcass of Lucifer made the same error with Charlie; it's time to make amends and show you the truth"
Vaggie felt her heart jump into her throat. "What... truth...?" she barely whispered.
Adam narrowed his eyes. His voice lowered until it was almost a hiss. "That if you want to free the world from evil, you don't do it with nice words and good intentions. Almost always, to create... you must destroy first, and eliminate everything that doesn't deserve to exist"
Vaggie shivered slightly. "They sound like the words of a madman"
"They are the words of someone who has seen the reality of this world and wants to do something to clean it up. Reality is often disappointing... unless you change it to suit your desires" Adam replied. “And if that makes me a villain in your eyes… well, you know what they say: you can die a hero or live long enough to become a villain”
Vaggie remained silent. She couldn't find the strength to say even just another syllable. Adam's words were blocking her voice.
Adam moved even closer to her. "Do the right thing, Vaggie. Go back to the army where you belong. You're not just a demon's love interest"
Those words lit a flame in Vaggie's heart. Just enough to let the anger rise in her chest again. "I'm not just Charlie's girlfriend!" she exclaimed, pushing the first man's hand away. "And I'm not one of your soldiers!"
Adam's eyes narrowed. The first man let out a growl and lost whatever composure he had maintained until then. He grabbed her face and forcibly dragged her a few centimeters from his. "You killed thousands of sinners when you were in my service! You participated in hundreds and hundreds of Exterminations! How can a pathetic istant, a fucking mere moment in your life, have ruined you to this extent!?"
"Ugh... it didn't... ruin me...!" Vaggie tried to say, even though the first man's fingers were holding her jaw tightly, so much so that it seemed like a miracle it wasn't cracking.
Adam let out a deep snort through his nostrils. “This world is really toxic" he hissed. "Do you think your idealism will be of any use? You are only allowing a handful of disgusting creatures to survive, creatures who will sooner or later be exterminated anyway! You are giving them a beacon of hope, hope that they can continue to live unpunished for their actions! There's no bullshit like redemption! The only way to eliminate evil is to tear it apart down to the tiniest bit, like it's a cancer! We have to do this!"
"You... can't know... it..." Vaggie slurred slightly.
"I'm the only one who knows it" Adam retorted. "I know that this universe... needs correction"
Vaggie didn't miss the way the first man said the last word, which sent a shiver down her spine; it seemed to hear a voice emerging from the cold wind of a very deep and dark cave.
Suddenly a voice interrupted them: "Excuse me... if you want to go to Earth... you will need a guide"
They turned slightly and saw that Blitz had recovered. He was clearly battered, but he watched them with a knowing look. “I expected you to pretend to be fainted” Adam told him, raising an eyebrow.
"You mean waiting for you to tear down the whole building with me in it? No, I don't think I can afford that" Blitz said struggling to his feet. He seemed barely able to remain conscious, but despite this he did not lower his head. "Earth has changed a lot in recent times, even someone with your experience would end up lost. I can guide you. I have experience on that planet"
"Yes, especially experience in bloodshed" Adam said with disgust.
"Him too, right?" Blitz said pointing to Alastor. "And yet you took him under your wing. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?"
"He has a purpose" Adam answered him. "I have no interest in someone whose goal is only to save his miserable life"
"I can have a purpose too" Blitz said walking closer to him. His broken arm continued to hang from his body, but with his arm still intact he was holding onto his jacket, probably to prevent it from tearing further. "Give me a chance. I can help you"
Adam let out a chuckle. "What do you think, Al? Can this subspecies of rat help us?" he asked the radio demon.
Alastor shrugged. "Personally, I consider him more useless than an insect" was his answer.
"It's not like that! I have power, even some Goetia look at me with respect! I can provide you with everything you need, now and in the future! You know I can!" Blitz said, moving even closer to Adam.
The first man smiled slightly, and finally he let go of Vaggie. She made a strangled noise, and instinctively reached for her spear... but she realized it was no longer there. She looked around frantically, but didn't see it anywhere.
Adam crouched down to Blitz's level. "So... do you really think you can be of any use to me?"
"Yes" Blitz replied, and despite the pain he raised his broken arm, as if he wanted to demonstrate his endurance; with it he grazed the first man's cheek. "I, Blitz Buckzo, am here to offer you my undying... fidelity...!"
Suddenly his grip on the first man's face became extremely strong; his fingers closed around his cheek holding him close. The hand he was holding his jacket with moved, revealing Vaggie's angelic spear hidden beneath it. He grabbed it suddenly and moved it towards Adam's neck; a single movement, so rapid that it was barely possible to see it. One more moment, and the first man's throat would have been cut...
But the spear never reached its target; it collided with a wall of shadows that was created directly next to the first man's neck. The spear was blocked by it, and then the shadows enveloped it and also wrapped around Blitz's hand, pinning him there. The imp made a sound of fear and dejection, and barely moving his eyes he noticed Alastor with a finger slightly raised.
Adam let out a laugh. "How considerate of you, Al. There was no need, I would have stopped him on my own" he told him with a smile, then he looked at Blitz: "And about you... 'undying'? You should choose your words more carefully"
And after those words his hand moved and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off the ground. The imp struggled, but there was no way he could free himself from that iron grip. "Have mercy..." he begged.
"Sorry" was Adam's response, though his voice didn't contain the slightest bit of displeasure. "All out of mercy"
And having said this he lifted him above his head and also grabbed him by the feet; Blitz made a noise of pain, feeling his muscles stretch and his bones break. Adam pulled him in opposite directions very slowly, making him clearly feel every second of pain. "No... no, please...! Don't do it...!"
"I appreciated your offer" Adam told him as he continued to grind him. "But I'm afraid I have no interest in someone with so little guts. Look at you, you've been so proud and arrogant up until now, and now you're screaming like the mollusk you are"
"Adam, no...!" Vaggie tried to scream, but an instant later a gush of blood rained on her face.
Blitz's body literally broke in half: his waist was ripped open and his pelvis, tail and legs were ripped off. Blood and viscera poured out like water in a fountain, spilling onto the floor. The imp tried to scream, but the pain was such that it even paralyzed his vocal cords; furthermore, part of the diaphragm had also been destroyed.
"Oh, look... so you had guts, very hidden inside you" Adam told him, throwing his lower half to the ground and taking what was left of him by the head. His fingers dug into his skull so hard that they broke the bone underneath. "Any last words?"
Blitz spat blood from his mouth. His eyes were trembling with terror, but the last bit of courage in him gave him the strength to say: "Tch... ckk... F-Fuck you"
Adam's smile widened. "Right. That's the spirit!"
Vaggie threw herself on his arm. She knew she had no hope of stopping the first man, but she had to at least try. She couldn't just let him do it. "No, Adam!" she begged. "You... you don't kill hellborns...!"
"Really? And why shouldn't I?" Adam asked her.
Vaggie gritted her teeth. "Because... because that's how you've always done it! Only sinners, not hellborns...!"
"Yes, because there were rules" Adam replied with a grin. "The great thing about being a demon is that there are no rules!"
And with those words he began to squeeze Blitz's skull; the imp screamed in pain as the bones protecting his fragile brain were slowly being broken. Adam clearly planned to crush his head slowly and painfully.
Vaggie panicked. He tried to hit the first man, but it was like punching a wall. "If... if you agreed to those rules, you had to have a reason! You can't...!"
"I simply agreed to a compromise. The hellborns were less inclined to do damage, but they seem to have forgotten that. It's time to put them in their place too" Adam told her, and then his eyes seemed to glow with an ominous light. "You thought that treaty existed to protect the Exorcists from the dangerous hellborns? Silly Vaggie... that treaty existed to protect these suckers from me!"
But just then the reality before them seemed to distort and a portal swung open, revealing an owl demon on the other side. Charlie emerged from it and her eyes immediately widened. "Vaggie...!"
Adam let out a chuckle, and then hurled Blitz at them; Stolas caught him, and Charlie made a sound of horror at what the first man had done to him. Taking advantage of their distraction, Adam grabbed Vaggie by the arm and dragged her next to him, ignoring her cry of protest.
Charlie's eyes widened when she saw that scene. "No... don't hurt her...!"
But Adam held the ex-Exorcist close. "Too late, little princess" he told her, and he activated Asmodeus' crystal; the portal opened directly behind him and he and Alastor jumped into it, taking Vaggie with them.
Charlie tried to follow them but the portal quickly closed, leaving her stranded there. Her heart raced and her breathing became labored, and then she couldn't hold back any longer: "FUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!"
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152699497
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 35: Towards Earth
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Great! So he fucked all of us!"
"Your Royal Majesty, I..."
"Shut the fuck up! You have no right to speak after you brought an illegal artifact to Pride and entrusted it to a goddamn imp!"
"I assure you that Lord Asmodeus..."
"What!? Asmodeus was involved!?"
Lucifer had been ranting for at least twenty minutes against the poor Stolas, who was trying to justify himself as best he could. After Charlie had failed to save Vaggie and stop Adam, she immediately called her parents, who right away rushed everyone to the hotel... putting the imps in the infirmary immediately, since they badly needed them.
The imps had been taken to the infirmary, and Rosie had immediately put on two latex gloves and had taken the instruments for a surgical operation; the others had offered to help her, but she had thrown everyone out of the room, stating that "She didn't need someone with such poor medical skills", and she had kept with her (incredible to say) only Niffty as an assistant. The others had quickly given up and let her do it; after all, if there was anyone who knew anatomy better than anyone else, it was undoubtedly the cannibal overlord.
Stolas had not dared to interfere: he had wondered if perhaps it would have been better to take everyone, especially Blitz, to the hospital, but in fact the hotel infirmary was much better equipped even than the hospital where he, a Goetia, had been treated, so that was the best place to leave them. So he remained there, intent on suffering the fury of King Morningstar, who did not take kindly to the fact that he had violated the law and defied his authority. Perhaps under normal circumstances Stolas would have been able to counter and justify himself better, but at that moment his attention was too focused on Blitz to be able to do so; he was barely able to hear what Lucifer was telling him.
Lilith clearly noticed this, because she put a hand on her husband's shoulder to calm him down. "That's enough" she told him in a firm voice, even though she then looked at Stolas with icy eyes: "Know that you will pay dearly for these actions of yours. You ignored the law and because of this, a person who to define as a public danger would be an understatement is managed to reach Earth. You will be lucky if you retain at least one noble title"
Stolas nodded slightly, knowing he couldn't get away with it this time. He knew that after defying the Morningstars' authority, he had no other option but to be severely punished. He could only hope that they would have been kind to him.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps was heard. Everyone looked up and saw Rosie coming down the stairs as she took off her plastic gloves which had literally turned brown from how much blood they had absorbed. Niffty was next to her, and she was also covered in red liquid to the point where she looked like she had bathed in paint. “I patched them up as best I could” she said. "Two of the imps and the hellhound didn't have too serious injuries, Adam just brushed them out of his way. They have several broken bones, but nothing that can't be fixed with a little rest"
The hotel guests tried to feel relief, but they couldn't. They knew very well that they were not the most critical patients. “Blitz?” Stolas muttered, ignoring King Morningstar's order to not speak.
Rosie didn't answer; on the contrary, she put on a rather apologetic face. The owl demon's heart sank. "Is he...?"
"Still alive" Rosie told him suddenly. "But... he's in a coma now. Even with all my experience, it's still a miracle he's still breathing... and he's only doing so because he is attached to a respirator"
Stolas made a sound of dejection. "But... he'll get better, right...?"
Rosie shook her head. "Now it all depends on him... but if you want my objective medical opinion, it's very unlikely. And even if he wakes up, it's certain that he will never be self-sufficient again. His body is in too bad shape. Much of his brain is damaged; not enough to cause memory loss or alterations in consciousness, but enough to prevent him from moving the parts of his body that he still has. Even just moving a finger will be an almost impossible feat for him. And he will always have to be attached to a machine to be able to breathe and receive nourishment and hydration for his entire life"
Stolas listened to her without moving a single muscle as long as she spoke, and as soon as she fell silent he slid to his knees and put his hands in front of his face. He looked like he was about to pluck his own feathers. Taking pity on him, Angel put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
Rosie sighed deeply. "If that person was as dear to you as I think, go ahead and stay with him. And if you know if he had loved ones, please call them. It's better for them to know before his daughter makes a decision"
Those words made Stolas look up again. “You mean… Loona…?”
"Yes. She is his daughter, as such the decision is up to her" Rosie told him.
Stolas's fists balled. “What… decision…?”
Rosie knew there was no nice way to say it. "Whether to unplug the machine that keeps him alive or not" she answered. "Given the situation, letting him die in his sleep, without pain, would be an act of mercy"
Stolas stiffened like a statue at those words, but he didn't have the strength to contradict her. He wanted to scream but he couldn't even speak. His entire body seemed to have frozen, making him unable to perform even the simplest movement.
Fuck… why had he given Blitz that crystal…!?
It was his fault that now he was...!
He turned his head slightly towards Lucifer and Lilith. “Your Royal Majesties… by any chance… can... can you do something…?”
Lucifer made an annoyed noise. “After you ignore my authority, you dare to… mph!!!”
Lilith had silenced him by placing a hand over his mouth. “We'll try to look for something” she told Stolas. "Go to that imp now. We will discuss your actions at a quieter time"
Stolas nodded slightly, grateful for the understanding shown to him, and without saying another word he quickly ran up the stairs. Nobody tried to stop him, not even wanting to imagine what he was feeling at that moment.
Lucifer let out a grunt. "Why did you shut me up!? That idiot has…!"
"Lucifer, we will punish that man when he is not in the vicinity of a bereavement. There is no point in doing so now. Taking it out on him will not bring Adam back from Earth" Lilith told him in a slightly reproachful voice. "Think about how to solve the problem instead of just getting angry"
"Can't you do something?" Angel asked them. "I mean... you're the most powerful demons of all, aren't you? Don't you have some special healing system or something?"
Lilith shook her head. “We royals can speed healing by infusing demons with our energy, but we cannot alter natural processes. And imps do not have the ability to regrow damaged body parts, so infusing them with our energy will not give that person a functioning body again. Like I said I'll try to look for something, over the past few decades Ozzie has made great strides with medical biotechnology, so maybe he has something, but I doubt..."
"Sorry, are you really wasting your time talking about these things!?" Lucifer ranted. "Stop empathizing with those guys, they're the ones who made this mess!"
"They made this mess, but they are still our subjects. We will punish them, but that doesn't stop us from worrying about their psychological and physical state. As royalty we have the responsibility for these people" Lilith scolded him harshly. "And if you can please stop quacking like a duck in heat, maybe we can find a way to solve this situation"
"Of course, because we will definitely solve this situation with calm and tranquility!" Lucifer barked sarcastically. “I remind you that Adam could be anywhere right now!”
"Well, maybe if you stop screaming we can try to track him down, Your Royal Majesty" Rosie muttered rolling her pupils, clearly not appreciating the behavior of the king of Hell.
"How!? Do you perhaps want to sift through the entire Earth piece by piece!? Please, go ahead, it's only 149 million square kilometers... counting only the emerged lands! Imagine if we also added all the oceans, with their relative volume and so on!" Lucifer answered her. "Not to mention that Adam may not remain on Earth at all! Using his powers he could have gone to the Moon, or perhaps hurled himself at close to the speed of light towards the edge of the Solar System! Tracking him down there will be like looking for a needle in a haystack... and not just a normal needle, but a golden needle identical to an ear of wheat!"
No one could contradict him. Finding Adam on Earth seemed like an impossible task to say the least. They hadn't been able to track down his hideout in Pentagram City, which despite being a large megalopolis was still just a city; what hope did they have of finding it on an entire planet?
"Good, I see you understand" Lucifer blurted out when he saw that no one was answering him, and kicked the wall to vent his frustration. "And I'll tell you more: you know, Adam and his new fawn friend have already reduced Vaggie to shit!"
"Hey, don't say that!" Angel protested. "Vaggie will be able to defend herself well!"
"Of course, she wasn't taken away by Adam while he was holding her by the neck!" Lucifer told him.
"Well, Vaggie is tough! She'll find a way to get through this!" Angel replied.
"You're such a poor prick!" Lucifer replied acidly.
"ENOUGH!"
Charlie's scream immediately brought silence to the entire hotel. The princess hadn't said a single word since they returned, leaving the burden of explaining the situation to her parents and Stolas. She had locked herself in a strange silence, and suddenly this silence was broken with the force of a hurricane. "Shut your fucking mouths!" she roared, looking at everyone with fiery eyes. "If you have to talk, do it because you have something useful in mind! Otherwise, shut up!"
Everyone swallowed. It wasn't like Charlie to talk like that. She had truly been driven to the edge of exasperation... and this time there was no Vaggie to calm her down. "Char..." Lilith tried to say. "Listen... we'll find a way..."
"Shut up!" Charlie repeated in the most acidic voice she had ever uttered. "I don't want any words from you all that aren't helpful in resolving the situation we're in! If not, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"
There was a very long moment of silence, in which no one dared to open their mouth. But then, very slowly, Velvette raised her hand: "Um... sorry... maybe there is a way to find Adam on Earth..."
Everyone's eyes were immediately focused on her, and although Charlie did not lose her furious expression, a beacon of hope lit up in her eyes. "Which is?"
"The same one I used before: the Internet" Velvette replied. "All you have to do is go to Earth, take a phone, and look for the strangest and most absurd news. The classic news about the supernatural. If you find something strange, it will definitely be Adam and you can narrow the search circle"
Everyone's eyes widened. In fact, that solution didn't seem so far-fetched. "Yes... actually we could do it" Angel said.
"Maybe you could even look for places that have already had supernatural experiences. If Adam is looking for something on Earth, it's certainly not something ordinary" Rosie added. "Read a Bible, you could narrow things down a lot"
"Are we sure Adam can be found just like this?" Husk asked. "He hid well in Hell..."
"He never actually tried to hide in Hell" Charlie corrected him. "Everyone was talking about him, they just didn't know who the mysterious overlord kidnapper was. If someone had told me earlier about how death works for angels, we might have known it was him from the first moments". And in saying this she cast a stern look at Lucifer, who slightly lowered his hat as if to hide his face.
"Yeah... and even if he hides well, Vaggie is with him! I'm sure she'll do something to get noticed" Angel exclaimed, pumping his fists. "Yes, guys, we have a plan! We luckly have an overlord capable of reading the Internet in ten seconds right here, we can keep an eye on the situation perfectly!"
“Hey, wait, what!?” Velvette exclaimed, turning a little pale. "I was just making a suggestion! I never agreed to go to Earth and help you!"
"Oh, come on, girl! You can check the Internet constantly and immediately notice if something is happening in the world!" Angel pointed out. "We need you!"
"There's absolutely no mention of it!" Velvette replied. "I refuse to participate in this! I've already had a close encounter with that madman and I absolutely don't want to repeat the experience! I don't want him playing with my brain again!"
Angel let out a deep snort. "Look, I remind you that you get free room and board in here! The least you can do is come with us to Earth and help us out!"
“I don't remember that you pay rent either!” Velvette rightly pointed out. "I won't risk that asshole looking me in the eye again! I had him in my head once and that was enough! You don't know what it's like!"
"I don't know what it's like? He looked me in the eyes too!" Angel reminded her. "Do you think I don't have fear to death at the thought of meeting him again and a burden on my heart right now?"
Velvette blushed visibly. "I don't have a burden on my heart!"
"Yes, of course. Try repeating it imitating a person who tells the truth" Angel replied.
Velvette was turning red, but Rosie stopped her by grabbing her ear and lifting her head slightly. "You're coming with us" she told her in a firm tone. “Remember that speech I gave you about not putting people in here at risk?”
“I'm not putting anyone at risk!” Velvette protested.
"I'm afraid refusing to help falls under the definition in this case" Rosie replied.
Velvette gulped a little under that stern look, but still she refused to let go of her position: "Look, let's say that by some divine miracle I feel inspired with goodness and come with you: what do you plan to do once you find Adam? That bastard will send us on a hospital bed again! We'll just give him a chance to have fun by beating us up!"
"We'll leave the fight to him" Angel proposed pointing to Lucifer.
"The asshole in the white hat is banished from Earth" Cherri commented. "Don't you remember the story? Adam sealed him and his dear wife off the planet"
Lucifer didn't like that comment at all, but still he was forced to admit: "It's true. Lilith and I are banished from Earth, we have no way of going there"
“And without you, Adam will kick our ass…” Cherri grumbled, and then she jumped up from her chair. "Who cares. We'll find a way"
"Cherri, stay calm" Angel tried to calm her down. "We can't just go in there without a plan..."
"Who cares about the plan! Every moment we waste gives Adam an advantage!" Cherri answered him. “Do you know what is flowing through my veins at this very moment?”
“Alcohol definitely aged badly?” Husk muttered from the sidelines.
"No! Pure fury!" Cherri ranted. "That's the asshole who killed Pentious! I'll be damned if I'm going to let him do whatever he wants!"
"You're already damned" Velvette reminded her.
"You understand exactly what I mean!" Cherri yelled at her.
Charlie had been silent the entire time, thinking to herself. And then suddenly she asked: "What if we brought him here?"
Everyone looked at her. "What?" was the question they asked her almost in unison.
"To go to Earth we will need a portal. We can use any portable artifact" Charlie told them. "We just need to open a portal behind Adam and push him to the other side, and make him fall right here where my parents will be waiting for him"
Lucifer rubbed his chin. "Even if you manage to do that, he might just switch with one of his Exorcists like he did before to escape. Unless... you put a pair of angelic handcuffs on him"
"Why? What do the angelic handcuffs do?" Angel asked.
"They seal powers. Well, the really well enchanted ones at least" Lilith answered him. "If you were able to put them on Adam, he would no longer be able to use his powers to escape"
"Including super strength?" Cherri asked hoping for an affirmative answer.
But Lilith shook her head. "His strength isn't based on angelic or demonic powers, it's just due to how he was created. So he can still beat you up if you're not careful" she told them. "But if you drop him into a portal like Charlie suggested, you win"
"It'll be like trying to push a hurricane through a small door" Husk commented. "But... actually, we at least have a chance if we play it well. Charlie, are you capable of opening portals to other dimensions?"
Charlie shook her head. "I can't do it. We can use an artifact..."
"I'll take care of it" Stolas's voice suddenly returned to the room.
Everyone looked up and saw him at the top of the stairs again, in a clearly black mood. "Everything is fine?" Angel asked him a little apprehensively. "Why aren't you with...?"
"Loona told me to go away. She wants to be alone with her father, and she doesn't want to see me anymore after I put that madman on his trail" Stolas replied hastily, and then he looked at Charlie: "I'll give you the means to go to the Earth"
“Do you expect us to let you follow her?” Lucifer grumbled. “You are still a criminal and a person we clearly cannot place trust in, I remind you”
"I know. I'm not asking to go with them, but please use this" Stolas said, and his grimoire appeared in his hands, which then flew into Charlie's fingers. "It'll take you anywhere you want. Give that asshole what he deserves"
Charlie looked at the precious book cover in her hands. She could feel its magical power pulsating through the pages. "Thank you" she murmured.
"My duty" was all Stolas reply to her, before disappearing back into the corridor.
There was a moment of silence, and then Lucifer grunted: "Well, at least he was a little helpful. I can give you the special handcuffs". And having said so he quickly opened a portal to his palace; after less than half a minute he returned with two small silver cuffs. "Remember, you must make him wear both. They won't work otherwise"
"Well, at least they're not connected" Charlie said picking them up. The two cuffs were in fact detached from each other, without chains or other connections in between; which was a good thing, since it would have been very difficult to keep Adam's arms still to get them both in at the same time. It was easier with one arm at a time.
Cherri clapped her hands. "Finally! We have a plan, then!" she said happily. "Come on, let's go save our friend and stop that asshole's plans!"
"Wait" Angel stopped her, and then he looked at Velvette: "We still need the means to track him down"
"I said no!" Velvette protested. "I'm not coming! Find someone who is more suicidal!"
Rosie twisted her ear, making her moan. “Could you please not be a total selfish person for five minutes?”
"Urgh... why? I like being selfish!" Velvette answered her.
Rosie was already about to scold her, but Charlie beat her to it and grabbed the social overlord by the collar. "Listen to me, you little shit!" she roared, and her horns emerged slightly from her hair. "Today is a really fucking day, okay!? Adam's out there with my girlfriend and also one of my friends who I still haven't figured out whose side he's really on, and he could be up to anything right now! And I've reached the limit, so I don't give a damn about what you want! You will now bring your fucking ass to Earth with us, and you will make yourself useful! You can do it voluntarily or by being dragged by the hair, the choice is yours!"
Velvette paled so much that she seemed to turn the color of milk; and the others didn't have a very different reaction either. It was the first time they had seen Charlie so aggressive. She had definitely had enough for one day. "Hey, okay, that's enough now" Rosie said putting her hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure she understood. Right?"
Velvette wasn't sure at all, but she finally nodded. "Oh, fine... but just know, if that asshole attacks us, I'll run away"
"We don't need to know you're a coward" Cherri commented. "Okay, we have everything. Can we go now?"
"Wait. Hold these" Lucifer told her, tossing her a few bracelets. "They are human disguises. They will allow you to hide"
"Thanks" Charlie said, taking them, and then a doubt struck her: "Adam had one...?"
Everyone shrugged. "Maybe. But knowing him, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't care how he gets around on Earth" Lilith answered her.
"Well, that's flattering. It'll be easier for us to find him" Husk commented. "So, shall we leave?"
Charlie nodded, and then she raised the grimoire; she quickly recited the spell inscribed on it, and a portal opened before them. With a sigh, she, Husk, Angel, Niffty, Cherri, Rosie, and Velvette walked through it. As soon as they were on the other side, the portal closed behind them, causing them to vanish.
Lilith sighed. "I really hope that everything goes well... and that Adam doesn't do anything crazy"
Lucifer let out a snort through his nostrils. "I'm afraid Charlie might do something crazy much more than him" he commented. “By the way, where is your angel friend?”
"She's back home" Lilith replied. “As soon as I told her that Adam had already left Hell, she went back to Heaven”
"And you didn't try to stop her?" Lucifer asked her.
"Even if I had locked her in a cell, she wouldn't have stopped" Lilith answered him. "And besides, I think this is a good thing. In Heaven she will ask for permission to go to Earth, and then they too will know what happened to Adam"
Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest. "Look... assuming Charlie and her friends manage to capture him... what do you plan to do next? We can lock him up in one of our prisons, they're powerful enough to contain him, but... after that? We'll just leave him there for eternity?"
Lilith inspired deeply. "I can't give up on him, Luci" she replied. "I don't want to give up"
Lucifer just nodded. "I know. He was our friend after all" he said. "But as I've told you plenty of times... sometimes a person is just lost. I'm not saying I like it, but... denying it is denying the evidence"
Lilith didn't answer him.
Meanwhile, Charlie and her friends found themselves inside the portal. The princess realized that something was wrong: when Adam had opened the portal it had brought him immediately to Earth, while instead they were now in a slow vortex. It wasn't difficult for her to understand why: in her rush she had forgotten to figure out a destination in her head, which was essential for the journey.
Yes... but where could they go?
She had no idea what Earth was like.
She tried to think 'the place where Adam went', but the portal didn't consider it valid. And without it, she was slightly out of options.
In the end she chose to remain generic: "Well... take me to a place that resembles Hell, at least we'll start somewhere familiar" she ordered in her head.
Finally, the portal opened before them, letting them finally arrive on Earth.
Notes:
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/152699497
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 36: Welcome to Earth
Notes:
WARNING: On Thursday 31 October, on the occasion of Halloween, a horror one-shot starring Roo and Charlie will be published, set immediately after the events of the canon. The story will be released at 15:00 New York City, and the link to find it will also be released just an hour later with the new chapter of Hell's Coming With Me, so even if you can't find it right away don't despair because it will be there. As usual, I'm expecting many of you in the comments, so show up!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie and her friends emerged in an alley between two tall buildings, which was a good thing since at least they weren't in danger of being seen by humans. Luckily the grimoire was specifically programmed to only open a portal where no one could see them, and thus it had brought them to an area safe from prying eyes. "Well, we're here" Charlie said, then she tossed the human disguises to the others: "Come on, put them on!"
"Um... sorry, but why didn't we activate them while we were still on the other side of the portal?" Husk rightly asked. "It would have been safer"
Charlie was speechless. "Um... I was in a hurry, okay? I didn't think about the details! Just activate them!"
Her friends nodded and did as they were told. In an instant, the seven demons in that alley disappeared, replaced by seven normal people. Despite the apprehension and haste she felt, Charlie still took the time to carefully observe what the others had become... she had never technically dressed a real human, and even though she knew that she and her parents had a very similar shape, she was nevertheless curious.
Angel had lost his extra arms, which had been replaced by the sleeves of a pink T-shirt tied around his waist. His white fur was gone, except for the top of his head which remained identical; otherwise, her complexion had turned pale pink, and she was wearing a pink and white striped shirt, and tight black trousers ending in two large heels. His face had lost all demonic features: the sharp teeth had been replaced by an absolutely normal set of teeth, the extra eyes had vanished, he had acquired a small nose and his eyes had changed color, both becoming white, although he had maintained his heterochromia, having one red and one black pupil.
Husk had changed completely: not even a hint of the way he looked before remained on him. All his feline characteristics were gone: now in his place was a middle-aged man with a similar build, and indeed whose shoulders seemed even broader; he was wearing elegant gray trousers, a white shirt and a red tie. His skin was paler than Angel's and his face had become completely human, with gray hair and a goatee on his chin. The only thing he hadn't lost was his usual grim look.
Niffty... she was always small in stature, but now she looked less like a child and showed more mature features. She had acquired an almost white complexion and now had two green eyes, an upturned nose and a mouth with wide lips that prevented her from seeing her teeth, colored with lipstick. Her hair still had the same hairstyle, but it was lighter in color, tending towards orange. Her clothes had remained almost identical, although they had become 'softer', removing colors that were too dark or edges that were too sharp. With that appearance, she seemed like a normal housekeeper, the kind anyone could hire to keep their house clean.
Cherri too now had two eyes, and obviously also a nose and a much smaller mouth than before; her hair remained the same, but it had gotten a little shorter and was styled in a much more normal and elegant ponytail. She was otherwise more or less the same, except that her clothes had become less torn and messy, giving her a slightly more dignified appearance.
Rosie also remained almost identical, not even changing her dress. All that was different was his complexion, which had now become a very beautiful pale pink, her teeth which were no longer sharp, and above all her eyes which instead of being two black pits had become normal leaving only the pupils black. All in all, she was indeed a beautiful woman; not that she hadn't been before, but now she was decidedly attractive despite still being a middle-aged lady.
Finally, Velvette hadn't changed much either; she had even kept her skin the same color, which had simply become softer and more natural compared to the rigid doll-like appearance she had before. Her hair was now less colored and more uniform, with a shade tending towards light brown. Her irises went from red to a normal latex white, while her pupils remained black. Her teeth had shrunk a bit, becoming more normal, and her nose had also lengthened a bit. As for her clothes, they were identical to the ones she already wore, even if they had taken on less flashy shades.
Charlie couldn't deny that she was fascinated to see them transformed like that. "Wow... you're not bad"
"Yeah. Wow, Sugar Tits, it's amazing to see you with two eyes! You too, Niff!" Angel exclaimed as he looked at Cherri and Niffty, then he looked at Husk: "As for you... damn, you didn't tell me that such a hottie was hiding under that furry puss..."
"Don't get any stupid ideas" Husk grumbled, though he didn't seem to mind his new appearance anyway. "Mh... it's been a long time since I felt like this. It's a strange sensation..."
“Yeah” Cherri also confirmed as she touched her face. "I didn't think so but... it's really weird to be human again"
"You never forget your first life" Rosie giggled, then she took Niffty and lifted her up: "Look... you're cute like this too!"
"Thank you, kind old lady!" Niffty replied in her usual feverish manner. From the looks of it, she hadn't lost that at all.
Charlie couldn't help but smile. "You are all so beautiful!" she exclaimed. "What am I like?"
Her friends looked at her and shrugged. "Well... you're pretty much the same" Angel told her.
"Yeah, you just changed your eyes and teeth" Cherri confirmed.
Rosie pulled a hand mirror out of her dress and handed it to her, and Charlie could finally look at herself. Apparently it was true: she hadn't changed a bit, except for her eyes, whose irises had lost the yellow sclera to white and the pupils from red to a beautiful sky blue, and her teeth, which had lost the little sharpness they had becoming very normal. For the rest, she was identical: she hadn't even changed her clothes. However, Charlie was sure that at least one thing about her had changed completely, and she immediately reached down and removed one shoe; and as she had imagined, instead of her usual hooves she found a very normal foot, just like the ones Vaggie had. She couldn't resist the urge to move her fingers. "Wow... that's weird"
"If only you knew how it is for us" Angel commented as he continued to look at himself. "Damn, I no longer remembered what it was like to live with only two arms"
"Yeah... shit, I wasn't used to walking without my tail as a counterweight anymore" Husk muttered trying to keep his balance. He had always taken certain parts of his body for granted, but now he was seriously missing them. “It's like the appendix, you don't realize how useful it is until you lose it”
Charlie coughed to draw attention to himself. "Ok, no more talking. Now we must get busy and find Adam" she said, and in her hands both the grimoire and the angelic handcuffs magically shrank in size until they were the size of a pin; tying them together, she placed them like a chain around her neck and hid them under her clothes. "So, now as per plan we just have to look for some clues..."
"I'm already doing it" Velvette said as she looked at her phone. “I am connecting my core operating system to the terrestrial global network using a backdoor to…”
"Speak less difficult" Angel stopped her immediately.
Velvette trembled with irritation and barely stopped herself from throwing a punch on him. "I'm starting to connect to the Internet" she said through gritted teeth, and then she seemed to get even more furious with his own cell phone a second later: “Fuck it, why is there no WiFi in here!?”
"Use your regular internet connection" Cherri told her.
"Do you think the Internet we have in Hell also works on Earth? We are at least one dimension away!" Velvette grumbled. "Either I get a subscription to a terrestrial Internet network, or I need WiFi. But here there isn't even half a bar! What disgusting place doesn't have WiFi these days? Where did you take us?"
Charlie bit her lip. "Um... dunno?"
Everyone looked at her with wide eyes. "What are you saying!? Don't tell me you put a random destination!" Cherri exclaimed.
"I've never been to Earth!" Charlie justified herself. "I didn't know where to go..."
“And you couldn't just tell us?” Husk grumbled. "We would have given you a destination"
"We were already in the portal when I remembered! I had to think fast" Charlie answered him. "I asked for a place that was similar to Hell, so that at least we could start from something familiar..."
These words did not have the desired effect. "Did you ask for a place... similar to Hell? Here on Earth?" Angel murmured. "Shit"
"Please tell me we didn't end up in Vietnam" Husk said quickly. "Because in that case, I go back to Hell"
“The Vietnam War is… wait, you were in Vietnam?” Cherri asked him in surprise.
"No, but I saw some of the guys who came back from there. Believe me, Hell is better than that shitty place" Husk replied to her.
Cherri was speechless for a moment, and then she said: "Anyway, the Vietnam War was already over when I died. Unless the Viet Cong decided to have a reunion to honor the old days, I doubt we're there"
“Um… Vietnam was a war zone, right?” Charlie asked doubtfully. "Sorry, I'm not very expert..."
"We'll explain it to you later" Angel said heading towards the exit of the alley. As soon as he was close to it, a burning smell entered his nostrils; and in fact when he leaned out to welcome him there was a completely deserted street with clear signs of a shooting, and not far away he could see smoke rising. "Well, at least the grimoire brought us to an almost deserted area"
“That's good” Cherri commented, looking around. "Any ideas where we might be?"
"Well, the climate is temperate, the architecture of the buildings seems familiar to me, the technological level is clearly not too far from the most modern, so I assume it is somewhere in Europe" Husk said carefully observing the street around them.
"Europe, huh? Well, at least it shouldn't be too bad of a place" Angel said through gritted teeth. "Okay, so far the situation is peaceful, so we can go..."
A sudden explosion blew up a building not twenty meters away, so loud that Angel felt the shockwave hit his face. A split second later, the violent sound of gunshots rang out across the street. "Why don't I ever shut up!? Why do I talk!?" Angel exclaimed furious with himself.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked apprehensively.
"Well, from the sounds of it, I'd say we ended up in a shitty place" Angel replied to her. "Okay, folks, the situation requires some calm and concentration..."
"Human weapons can't kill us, can they?" Velvette was quick to ask. "I mean, we're demons... they're not angelic weapons, so..."
"Sorry, why are you asking us? Do we seem like experts on the subject?" Cherri answered her.
Before an argument could start, Husk intervened: "No, human weapons can't kill us. But they can still hurt us, so I wouldn't blow myself up with a grenade"
"Yeah, and let's hope it's the worst thing they have here... although I doubt it" Angel commented. It was definitely a good thing they hadn't ended up in Vietnam during the war as Husk had assumed: he didn't want to end up burned by napalm. Even if it wouldn't have killed him, he was sure it would have traumatized him a lot. "Okay, we just need to..."
"I want to fight the bad guys!" Niffty screamed jumping on the spot.
"No, no! Niff, we're not here to fight!" Angel stopped her immediately.
"But I want it so bad..." Niffty protested.
Rosie sighed deeply, mustering her patience. "I'll take care of this" she said, walking away from them. "If we wait for you, we'll stay here until night"
With quick steps she headed towards the point where the shots were coming from, and it didn't take her long to find several soldiers shooting continuously. One of them noticed her and immediately ran towards her, and he grabbed her by the arm, dragging her behind a wall to protect her. "Mem, shcho vy tut robyte? Tse zona boyovykh diy!" he shouted at her.
Rosie remained silent for a moment, and then feigning terror (to the point that she even started crying fake tears) she took the soldier's hands and squeezed them tightly. "Soldat, budʹ laska, Dopomozhy meni! My z ditʹmy zalyshylysya tut i ne znayemo, shcho robyty! Skazhy meni, kudy meni yty!"
The soldier didn't even seem surprised by that reaction: clearly, it wasn't the first time he had found himself in a similar situation. “Idy tym shlyakhom, ty znaydesh odyn iz taboriv dlya bizhentsiv! Shcho b ne stalosya, ne pryamuyte do tsentru! valʹnykiv!"
Rosie nodded vigorously. "Dyakuyu, dyakuyu! berezhy vas Boh!"
"Dyakuyu. Teper nehayno yditʹ!" the soldier told her, indicating the free path, and then he immediately returned among his companions to open fire again.
Rosie didn't have to be told again and she immediately walked away. Even if the bullets couldn't kill her, if they had hit her they would still have hurt her a lot. She could have stopped them using her powers... but she doubted that would have gone unnoticed. "Okay, I know where to go" she told the others as soon as she returned to them.
"Do you speak this language?" Angel asked surprised.
"It's Ukrainian" Rosie replied. "And yes, I speak it. I have a good command of Eastern European languages. I like Polish best, but I also speak Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish and Slovenian. And after death I also tried to learn something else, it's essential when you have to manage a community made up of cannibals from all parts of the world"
"Wow. We were right to bring her with us" Cherri commented.
Charlie ignored them. "So? What did they tell you?"
"They told me where to go to find a base camp for civilians. There will definitely be an Internet connection there, or at least a telephone line, so you can do what you need to do" Rosie said pointing to Velvette. "Come, I'll lead the way. And pay attention to the sky, apparently there might be some bombers. They told me that Russian soldiers might be not far away"
“Wait, so the Ukrainians are fighting the Russians?” Husk asked confused. “But... weren't they both part of the Soviet bloc?”
"Damn it, guys, the Soviet bloc is gone since at least thirty years!" Velvette snapped.
"Well, sorry we don't know, girl! For your information, I died in 1947! We're not exactly up to date with the latest happenings!" Angel told her irritably.
"You just need to talk to the new arrivals down there to find out how things are going up here" Velvette grunted. "May I know where you live?"
Before a new argument could begin, Charlie muttered: "Shouldn't we stop them before they get hurt?"
Her friends looked at her in surprise. "What?"
"Someone could get hurt" Charlie repeated. "We should..."
"No! No, no, no!" Angel exclaimed almost throwing himself on top of her. "Charlie, please, no. Not this time. I know how much you want to help others, and believe me, I love it, but this time, stay out of whatever is going on here!"
"Why? Bullets can't do anything to me" Charlie reminded him. "I can prevent..."
"Charlie, this isn't Hell! People here aren't used to seeing a twenty-year-old woman go onto a battlefield and get shot without a scratch!" Husk told her. "And if there's one thing that all humans have in common, it's the fear of what they don't understand! No matter how much you try to help, if they see that you aren't hurt by bullets they will try much heavier weapons on you! Even if none of them can kill you, they can kill the people around you! Trust me, the humans from both sides will be willing to raze the whole city to the ground in order to stop a person who seems unkillable!"
"Yeah! I don't know how things work in this century, but since when I was alive they razed cities just because they were suspected of hiding enemies, I can assure you that if you intervene it will end badly!" Angel added. "And since the atomic bomb already existed before I died, I prefer not to risk it!"
"Okay, now don't exaggerate" Husk told him, although he didn't totally rule out the possibility of a nuclear attack. "But anyway yes, we shouldn't intervene here!"
Charlie bit her lip. "But... these people..."
Suddenly the roofs above them exploded; entire buildings shattered and fireballs several meters high expanded violently before vanishing, leaving only smoldering ash. Rosie with her overlord strength grabbed a sheet of metal and placed it in front of them, protecting them from the falling rubble; they would certainly have crushed them and this would have forced them to waste time regenerating. Loud explosions were heard in the sky and when they looked up they could see several bomber planes flying at very low altitude. "Wow. I feel like I'm back in Warsaw in 1939" Rosie commented upon seeing them. "Even though these are definitely more efficient"
Angel swallowed. He was no weapons expert, but it wasn't difficult for him to see how far humans had come since his time. After all, if there was one thing that humans knew how to build well and in which they had no limits of creativity, it was weapons. "Charlie... please, I beg you, whatever happens, stay with us and don't do your own thing"
The princess seemed quite shocked by what had just happened, and at first she didn't even seem to understand what she had said, but then she nodded weakly. "Um... okay..."
"Great. Then let's stop wasting time and get going" Velvette snapped, clearly not liking all that wasting of time. But she still didn't stop herself from glaring at Charlie and saying: "Welcome to Earth, princess"
Notes:
To give a clear time point: since we don't know exactly what year it is in the Hazbin Hotel universe, I decided to consider the day of the last episode canonical, meaning February 2, 2024. Consequently, when this story begins, having passed two weeks after the hotel battle, it was February 16, 2024. During this period, the Russian offensive in Ukraine was still particularly pressing and destructive, especially in areas close to the border. Remember that the city of Zaporižžja was attacked 263 times in a single day on February 25. And before anyone asks, no, I do not intend to side with either parts in this conflict, my opinion will never be stated; the only thing you will know from me is that war is shit, and this is a fact that anyone with any brain knows very well. I chose Ukraine for the simple fact that Charlie asked for a place as similar to Hell as possible, and during this phase of the war Ukraine was very similar to Pentagram City (which, let's remember, is a devastated metropolis full of people who massacre each other and fight for power), both for armaments used and for architecture and technological level. I know there are much worse conflicts in the world, and that's the point: Charlie asked for a place similar to Hell, not WORSE than it.
By the way, this is the translation of what the soldier and Rosie said to each other:
"Ma'am, what are you doing here? It's a war zone!"
"Soldier, please help me! My children and I are left here and we don't know what to do! Tell me where I have to go!"
"Go that way, you'll find one of the refugee camps! Whatever happens, don't go towards the center! The Russians might find you if you go there! Stay away from the fighting, and watch the sky in case the bombers come!"
"Thank you, thank you! God bless you!"
"Thank you. Now leave immediately!"
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 37: Concern and tension
Notes:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: As announced in the previous chapter, the horror one-shot for the Halloween holiday starring Roo and Charlie was released an hour ago. If you love thrills and blood, go read it immediately because it's absolutely worth it. Don't miss it for any reason, I know it's long but the ending is wonderful, especially for you who want to see Lucifer die very badly. I'm waiting for you in the comments for some healthy debate and opinions (do it because I worked hard for four days to make that story, so kudos and comments from you are a must!). Happy and creepy Halloween to all of you! You find the story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Following the soldiers' directions, Charlie and her friends reached a large number of humans who had been positioned by the army in an area that had many passages that went underground; perhaps they were normally used as a subway, but at that moment they had become a place to shelter from air attacks, since it was decidedly safer underground than on the surface. However there wasn't enough room and in fact many people were sitting outside, sheltering under the roofs as best they could hoping that the planes would hit anything but them. Fortunately the area seemed quite calm, given that the bombers were clearly concentrated elsewhere, but still it was easy to see the tension even on the faces of the few soldiers present, a sign that they were not at all calm.
From what they had discovered thanks to Rosie (and partly also to Husk, who despite not knowing Ukrainian was still able to master the language quite well and spoke Russian fluently, which wasn't very different) they were in the city of Zaporižžja, in the nation known as Ukraine. Apparently they were being invaded by Russia for reasons the demons hadn't bothered to find out. After all, they didn't plan to stay there for long, they would have left as soon as possible, so it was useless to inquire about it; all they needed to know was that they had to pay close attention to the sky to avoid being hit by bombers.
Luckily, not all of the city was a war zone, which at least allowed the demons to breathe a sigh of relief. And it wasn't even a very modern city, and in fact there was an Internet connection. In the refugee camp it was possible to connect to the global network from any device, so Velvette had no problem finally finding a line to use. "Okay... I have to concentrate now" she said. "Let's look for a quiet place where we don't risk someone interrupting me"
The others nodded, and they looked for a place that was far enough away from other people. Eventually they found one (a sort of staircase that probably once led to an adjacent street, now collapsed) and there Velvette sat down on the steps and closed her eyes. "Won't it be noticeable if she uses her powers?" Husk asked a little tensely.
Velvette shrugged. "I don't know. I'll try now, you guys stand in a circle around me so I won't be noticed"
The others did as she requested, and Velvette connected to the Internet. Her eyes became white and her head tilted back, so much that she appeared to be in complete shock, but there were no other significant changes. "Well… it seems like the human disguise hides your powers too" Cherri said.
"Yeah, you're still human anyway. Even if you look possessed" Angel commented. "All you need to do is walk backwards and you can be cast in a horror film"
Velvette's eyelid trembled and she already seemed ready to punch him (or maybe take him bodily, break his spine and throw the remains into a river), but fortunately Husk intervened in time: "We'll sit there, so we'll leave you work in peace. If anyone notices you, we will say that you have suffered a trauma and that you need to be alone"
Those words were enough to calm the fire in Velvette's soul. "Yes... it makes sense to me" she admitted, then she sat back and closed her eyes. "Good, then I'll get started. The sooner we find Adam, the sooner we get out of here"
The others nodded and went to sit a short distance from her, so as to be ready to intervene in case of problems... with the exception of Angel who remained there instead. "Um... sorry if I ask, but are you really going to constantly scan the entire Internet? I mean... it's big..."
"Of course not, I'm not a masochist. If I started looking at the Internet constantly I would become stupid by watching videos of kittens or soldiers returning home to hug their little dogs in tears" Velvette replied with a lot of disgust in her voice. "I'm extracting all the basic information about this planet from the Internet and converting it into an algorithm that will subsequently establish a global definition of normality; if anything violates this definition, I will notice immediately. I will certainly still have to inspect thousands of files, but it's still better than quadrillions"
"Oh... good, you're really clever" Angel told her, even though he didn't understand anything. All that technological information confused him quite a bit. "Fuck, now I know how Alastor feels..."
"I'm trying to concentrate, for God's sake!" Velvette grumbled, her eyelids fluttering in irritation. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have the entire Internet connected in your mind? No? Then shut up, you asshole!"
"Okay, okay!" Angel exclaimed. “Just tell me roughly how long it will take you…"
"What the fuck do I know? In case you don't know, we need Adam to make a misstep and someone posts him online to find him! Talk to him if you want to speed up the search!" Velvette answered him sourly.
Angel agreed that his question had been rather stupid. “Okay… do you at least have some clues?”
Velvette looked like she was about to strangle him. "You just can't close that sewer that you have the audacity to call mouth, can you? What is it, has it remained wide open due to all the time you past sucking cocks?"
"Okay, I get it, I'm bothering you. I'm leaving" Angel told her, realizing he was just getting in her way.
"Good. And remember to tell everyone not to talk to me!" Velvette reminded him, absolutely not wanting any more interference. Every time she had to answer to someone her control over the network diminished, which meant she risked losing billions of pieces of information with every second he wasted. And since the more information she lost, the less likely she was to go back to Hell in a hurry, she'd rather all those pesky flies (or in this case sex-confused perverted spiders) would have stopped buzzing around her.
Angel complied with her request and walked away from her, returning to the others. “She wants to be left alone" he told them. "She's obviously trying hard, but even she can't perform miracles. If Adam shows up in any way, she'll know right away. We can only wait now"
"Seriously? There's no way we can help her?" Charlie asked heartbrokenly. She didn't like the idea of just sitting and wait; she preferred to face the situation rather than put it off indefinitely. The wait was literally wearing her out.
Angel shook his head. "The only way is to avoid disturbing her while she works. Believe me, it's better this way... she's increasingly irritable"
"Pff! That's surely new" Cherri commented sarcastically.
But Angel wasn't of the same opinion. "I'm serious, she's getting more and more irritated, and it's not her usual sourness. I can't believe what I'm about to say, but... I wish Valentino were here and had a chat with her. Maybe she'd open up to him instead of continuing to repress her emotions"
“I want the bad moth boy too!” Niffty said with a very wide smile that even though she was in human form it reached up to her ears, making her even creepier than usual.
“That moth asshole would only make the situation worse" Cherri commented scathingly.
"Well, at least that spoiled girl would open up to someone!" Angel answered her. "Apparently all that therapy and altruism exercises have really changed me, because I can't leave her like that! Not after I've experienced first-hand what it's like to be looked in the eyes by Adam!"
Even though the situation was thorny, Charlie couldn't help but feel proud of Angel. She remembered that when he arrived at the hotel he cared so little about others that he ignored or even laughed at their misfortunes. The fact that he now cared so much about a person who had done nothing but treat them all down showed how much he had improved.
At the same time, however, Charlie felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she took into account the other side of the coin, which was that Angel was so worried precisely because he knew what Velvette was going through because he was going through it too. Even the spider demon seemed very affected by that event, even if he tried to show it as little as possible. She wanted to help him, but she wasn't even sure how to introduce the topic; she was afraid that with one wrong word she could have awakened very bad memories in him.
Rosie let out a long sigh. "When we have a moment of peace, I'll try to talk to her again" she promised Angel.
"Something tells me you're going to waste your breath. But okay, give it a try" Husk said as he stood up. "Angel, come with me. Let's go for a walk, so we can make sure no one comes and makes trouble for us"
"Sounds like a great idea to me" Angel confirmed, getting up.
"I'm coming with you" Charlie said back.
But both Husk and Angel shook their heads. "No, thanks, but we would like... some alone time" the spider demon told her, using the first excuse that came to mind. “We want to talk privately. You know… men things”
"Since when do you want privacy to talk about man things?" Charlie rightly opined, since the spider demon had never before bothered about talking about such things openly.
Angel shrugged hastily. "Well, sometimes, despite myself, I'm forced to be more reserved. You know, I still have some... organs that need a just men talk" he said trying to sound as natural as possible, then he pushed Husk away and walked away quickly: "Well, we're going!"
And with those words they both quickly walked away. They positioned themselves a short distance from the others to be able to intercept anyone who tried to approach their friends. It was very unlikely that the enemy soldiers would have came to disturb them since the battle was apparently taking place elsewhere, but they still weren't too sure. “We don't have any weapons except for angelic ones, and we can't hit someone with them without risking erase them from the existence, and incredible to say, I don't like that, so… do you know karate or some other martial art?” Angel asked Husk.
The cat demon shrugged. "We still have a much stronger constitution than that of humans and unlike them we don't die if hit in a vital point by bullets. As long as what comes against us is just a platoon, I'd say we can get away with it even if we're unarmed"
"Understood. Well, actually I wouldn't mind a good fight" Angel said, although he did it more for distraction than actual courage. “What if they shoot us with stuff stronger than bullets?”
"In that case, throw on the ground and play dead" Husk replied. "We're already dead, I doubt we have a heartbeat even with human disguises on. Let's wait for them to go away and then we can get up again"
"Ok, so we also have the option for the worst-case scenario" Angel said satisfied, then he patted him on the shoulder. "Although we probably won't get that far. You also speak Russian, right? If the soldiers come, show off your diplomatic skills"
Husk sighed. "Look, instead of continuing to talk bullshit, can you tell me what's wrong with you? You've been as tense as a violin string for two hours"
Angel's smile faded immediately. He put his hands in his pockets and didn't dare meet the cat demon's gaze. "Husk, I'm worried" he admitted. "What if Adam did something to Vaggie? What if he hurt her? She's been with him for hours now, who knows what he might have done to her"
Husk bit his lip. "It's okay to be worried, it's understandable. But I doubt he did anything to her. I mean, it's true, he beat Alastor to death when they first met, but you can't say he wasn't asking for it. Afterwards he played with him psychologically. I think he plans to do the same to Vaggie, so I doubt he'll get his hands on her anytime soon..."
"That doesn't make it any better" Angel told him. His breathing rate had increased significantly. “What if when we find her he has brainwashed her?”
"Vaggie is strong" Husk told him.
"And Adam broke Alastor. Alastor, do you understand?" Angel reminded him. "And if he were to look her in the eyes..."
"His gaze doesn't work on angels, remember?" Husk interrupted him.
"We can't know for sure!" Angel exclaimed taking a deep breath. He looked like he was about to cry. "Maybe... maybe Lilith didn't know that feature of that power, or maybe he'll use some other trick up his sleeve, or...!"
"Angel!" Husk said in a firm voice. "Breathe"
The spider demon trembled slightly, but still did as he was told. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal. Husk let out a sigh: “It's not just your concern, is it?”
Angel nodded slightly. "I told you... having Adam look at you... leaves a residue on you" he replied. "I know now... I know what that person felt while he was dying... and I know how terrified he was at the thought that I could also go and take the people he cared about, and maybe make them end up worse. I've lived through all the horrible scenarios that he imagined. And now, that I find myself in such a similar situation... it seems to me that I am reliving a trauma I have already experienced. It is as if that person was really me, and that horror was mine, and therefore all my life I have feared repeating that situation, and now that a friend of mine is in the hands of someone who I know could hurt her... I feel even worse than before"
Husk was silent for a long time. For once, he had no idea what to say either. "I wish I could help you, but I don't know how" he admitted.
"I know. In fact I wasn't looking for help or comfort, I just wanted... a friend to vent to" Angel replied. "I... I have a weight inside, Husk. I always knew I was a horrible person, but... this time... it's not so easy to ignore it"
Husk nodded slightly. "Well, if it's any consolation, you're being very selfless. I mean... coming here with us even though you're in such bad shape. Anyone else in your place would have preferred to stay at home or in a psychologist's office"
"It's not out of question that I'll go pay a visit to a good one as soon as all this is over. Assuming I find a good one in Hell" Angel replied, and then he looked slightly towards his friends. "But now I can't back down. Not when Vaggie is in danger. She's been by my side many times and now it's my duty to reciprocate. And then...". His gaze fell on Charlie, and his eyes trembled slightly: "... I want to be next to Miss Rainbows until she leaves this planet. I don't want it to ruin her"
Husk nodded slightly. It was amazing how much he got along with Angel. The two of them hadn't always had a high affinity, but this time he was in complete agreement. "Yeah..." he murmured. "Absurd, right? We're from Hell and we worry that Earth will ruin Charlie"
"Yes, there's something ironic about it" Angel admitted, looking at the planes in the distance. "The positive side is that at least we ended up in a place not too different from where we usually live. It could have been worse. Much worse"
"Well, Charlie asked for a place like the Hell that she knows, meaning Pentagram City, not a worse one" Husk reminded him. "Even though it's not a nice place here either. We should have told Charlie to take us somewhere else as soon as we found out where we were"
Angel raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, why are you only suggesting this now? Couldn't you have said this before the digital bitch got to work and threatened us with death if we disturbed her royal person?"
"I just thought about it now!" Husk protested. "It didn't even occur to you!"
“Yes, because I have you who should do it!”
"Sorry, and why would I have this role?"
"Oh, come on, we're a team! Everyone here has their role! I'm the funny one, you're the smart one!"
"And why should you be the funny one?"
"Why, do you consider yourself such?"
"..."
“Why are you hesitating?”
"You're an asshole"
"I know"
Angel and Husk looked at each other intently for a moment, and then finally the cat demon smiled slightly. "Well, I'm glad to see that even Adam's gaze couldn't take that fucking idiotic look away from you"
"I'm afraid nothing can erase it. It's genetic" Angel responded by patting him on the shoulder, and as he did so he felt the scars on his back again. "Uh... sorry"
"No, don't worry. They don't hurt that much anymore" Husk assured him.
Angel was happy about it, but still he couldn't get the bitter taste out of his mouth. "Look, Husk... if when we find Adam again, Alastor is with him... and he orders you and Niffty to take their side... what will you do?"
Husk crossed his arms tensely. He'd been thinking about it ever since Alastor betrayed them, and honestly, he didn't have a very good answer. The radio demon possessed his soul, so if he ordered him to attack his friends, he would have had to do so. "I won't let him talk" he replied. "I'm devising a strategy to constantly keep his mouth shut. If he can't order me to do something, he can't force me"
“Do you really think you can do this?” Angel exclaimed in surprise. "How?"
"I'm not sure yet, I'm in the planning stage. But I have some ideas" Husk replied. "And if by chance he manages to speak and order me to do something... I won't be able to stop myself, but I will be able to resist enough for you to stop me. If he orders me to try to kill one of you... it's not specified that I can't being immobilized due to an oversight on my part in the process"
"Immobilized... or killed?" Angel asked, not having missed the cat demon's macabre tone.
Husk let out a snort. "Let's keep both options open... just for emergencies"
Angel didn't like the direction this conversation was taking. "I know what you're about to ask me"
Husk nodded. "Angel... if there will be no other choice... don't hesitate. Take me out before I can take out one of you guys"
Angel inspired deeply. He was silent for a long moment, and then he said: "I will use a non-angelic weapon and crush your skull. You will take a long time to regenerate and you will not hurt anyone"
Husk agreed. "It seems like a good compromise. Thank you"
Angel smiled at him. "Of course. That's what friends are for, right? To smash your face in with a baseball bat before you do things you might regret"
Husk let out a light laugh. "I didn't remember that the old saying was exactly like this, but I also like this vers..."
The world became light, and then black.
Husk and Angel barely felt something brush against them, and then their bones cracked like snacks. Their bodies rolled away and even though their nervous systems were completely compromised they clearly felt the fire burning their flesh. All their senses went out in an instant, leaving them completely in darkness and with a soft ringing in their ears, if those parts of their bodies were still intact.
It took them a while to breathe again; fortunately they were demons and their bodies regenerated quickly, but even so they were so damaged that they needed to wait for their sense organs to reconnect to be able to see again. At first a white spot was all their eyes were able to register, and then finally shapes and colors began to appear again. They could see dancing orange blobs that were undoubtedly fire, and what were definitely screams reached their ears.
"Guys! GUYS!"
The sound returned to Angel and Husk's ears, and both of them were finally able to understand what was happening around them; extremely dazed they looked up and saw Charlie's terrified face above them, clearly shaking them. They realized that Rosie and Cherri had grabbed them and were dragging them away from a crater; flames were raging around that hole, and several people were screaming as they tried in vain to escape from the fire on their bodies. Many were already dead on the ground.
Husk gritted his teeth, or at least what was left of them. "Let me guess... a fucking bomb just hit us" he barely muttered in a faint voice.
Notes:
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 38: Bomb and anger
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
While Husk and Angel were busy talking to each other, Charlie, Cherri, Rosie and Niffty remained sitting on the sidelines... or at least, the first three remained seated, while the little cyclops waitress kept pacing around trying to catch some flies with a needle that she had gotten from who knows where and that no one had had the courage to take away from her hands. "What do you think they're discussing?" Charlie murmured, looking at her two friends nearby. "Angel seems really tense lately"
“Aren't we all?” Cherri asked with a grunt. "There's a genocidal maniac on the loose who has a friend of ours and a radio guy who we still haven't figured out what the fuck he wants and whose side he's on. If this isn't the time to be tense, I don't know what is"
Charlie couldn't blame her, but she was sure that wasn't the problem. Just like she was sure Cherri wasn't as stiff as a violin string just out of concern for Vaggie.
Charlie wasn't stupid; perhaps she was naive and at times childish, and she herself would never have denied it, but this did not make her blind and deaf. She knew full well how much Cherri wanted nothing more than to find Adam and tear him apart to avenge Pentious. Even though she refused to talk about it, Charlie knew that was the problem. And honestly that worried her.
Adam was a formidable opponent in every possible way: normally he was a tank, but now he also had a lot of new powers. Facing him was a battle whose outcome was extremely uncertain and tilted heavily in his favor. And on top of that, they literally played in his house since that was his world. Even if they had a plan, when the time came to face it it was best for everyone to be calm and above all clear-headed: letting emotions overcome you was equivalent to being brutally beaten at best, torn to pieces at worst. Adam seemed to have employed a sort of kidnapping rather than killing policy, particularly towards those close to Charlie to make her suffer, but there was no guarantee that if Cherri irritated him enough he wouldn't have simply grabbed her by the neck and tore her off. head; after all, he had almost done it with Alastor the first time they met. Even though Adam had great self-control, once he let his anger control him he was capable of doing anything.
Maybe she should try talking to her... but the problem was, she had no idea what to say to her. Dealing with mourning was a very delicate process. It would have been a long and complicated process while they were still calm in their normal daily routine at the hotel, let alone now that they were in a race against time.
Charlie cursed herself in her head. She shouldn't have let Cherri not deal with the problem during those two weeks; she should have taken care of her right away. Maybe in that way she would have been less inclined to face a super-powered being who could disintegrate her with a pinky.
It was a really bad situation.
"What do you think Adam wants from this world?" she asked them not knowing what else to say. "I mean... Earth is a world of science, not magic. I doubt there are any great powers here. Certainly not something that can help him defeat my father. What would he care about?"
Cherri finally dropped her frown a little and started scratching her chin. "Well... I don't know. It's true, Earth doesn't have magic... but maybe there's something else..."
“The Old Testament is full of episodes where angels or demons come to Earth and interact with humans” Rosie pointed out. "And from what we learned from your mother's story, it used to be quite normal in the past. Maybe one of them left something here that could be useful to him"
"You mean like a weapon, like my trident?" Charlie asked. "But if it were true, why have humans never found it? A weapon that can intimidate even the king of Hell couldn't go unnoticed"
That was absolutely true. Even though humans tended to be a little slow on the uptake at times, there was no way they wouldn't have known they had a divine artifact on their hands if they found one, especially one this powerful. And considering that until less than a century earlier people were very superstitious, it was impossible that anyone who found it would not have called for help from all the possible authorities, perhaps even the Vatican. Such an artifact would have been well known to humanity for thousands of years.
"Well... maybe they never found it" Cherri said trying to come up with an explanation. "I mean... archaeological discoveries are made every day. Maybe that weapon ended up in some jungle or under the sand of a desert, or perhaps in the depths of the ocean"
“Or maybe there needs to be some requirement to activate it” Rosie proposed. “Perhaps it may not respond to the touch of a non-magical being, and therefore in the eyes of humans it is nothing more than a sword or an axe or whatever it is… assuming it is a weapon and not an object”
Charlie let out a long sigh. “There must be a way to connect the dots” she muttered. "Well... we know that he needs three pieces to create something with which he can kill my father. He already has in his hands the trident made from the most powerful material in the universe, but we know that this is not enough since even if hit my father with it, he would simply be reborn in the Judgement Hall... and that's assuming he can hit it, which is not at all certain given that my father can literally move faster than light. So, what could use to make the trident one hundred percent lethal instead? There has to be a connection to something"
Rosie and Cherri remained silent, looking at each other in confusion. Neither of them had any idea what to do. "I don't know what to tell you, Charlie" Rosie finally admitted. "Everyone here is understanding the situation as much as you are. We have no idea what Adam has in mind, and I'm sure he will be careful not to reveal it. We can only hope that he makes a misstep"
Charlie hugged her knees. She hated feeling so damn helpless. “What do you think… he is doing to Vaggie now?” she just murmured.
Both Rosie and Cherri had expected that she would have posed that question sooner or later. "Don't worry, she's too precious for him to kill" the cyclops demon told her immediately, having already thought of the right answer to give. "And his gaze doesn't work on angels, so he can't torture her psychologically"
Rosie bit her lip. She knew that was a lie: even without using the powers he had taken from Lilith, Adam could still torture Vaggie in many ways. Many of the overlords he had kidnapped possessed hypnotic and mind-controlling powers, and he had surely already learned how to harness them. But she knew that saying it out loud would only worsen Charlie's mental state, so she stayed quiet. "Personally, I think he's aiming to use her as a shield" she said instead. "Adam knows he can't win against Lucifer, and he knows that Lucifer would never kill Vaggie since it would make his daughter suffer. And since Lucifer now knows of his presence, it wouldn't surprise me if Adam aims to use Vaggie as collateral to avoid that he should hit him mortally"
Charlie took a deep breath. She knew it was unlikely that Adam would physically harm Vaggie, after all her girlfriend was a great way to blackmail her and her parents; if she had been in him, she would have kept her alive and unharmed. And if Adam had wanted to harm her, he certainly would have had no problem tearing her apart directly in front of her, without taking her away through a portal. And she also knew that Vaggie had strong mental resistance and would not have let herself being brainwashed easily. But despite all this, she was still very afraid.
In an attempt to distract herself she looked around. The sounds of the bombing could be heard even if they were very far away. The people who had taken refuge there with them continued to hold each other and seemed to do anything to give themselves courage: there were those who spoke, those who stared at the wall, even those who prayed. Charlie could see the fear on their faces, and it was clear that each of them, no matter what they were doing, were listening intently to the sounds of their surroundings fearing to hear the roar of the planes.
Well, after all, on Earth those who died really died...
"So... this is Earth" Charlie commented as she looked around. "Well... it's not that bad..."
“It's not always like this” Cherri was quick to tell her. "We just ended up in a bit of a bad place. Where I lived, in Australia, it's definitely more peaceful... well, at least I think so, I don't know what happened after the eighties"
“Australia… it's in the southern hemisphere, right?” Charlie murmured, trying to remember what little knowledge she had about Earth. "We're in Europe now, so... there should be all of Asia in between...?"
"Yes, and also a part of the ocean, Indonesia, Malaysia and a few other islands" Cherri explained to her. "Earth is very large, there is plenty of space. It's a shame we didn't end up there, you would have loved kangaroos"
“Aren't they extremely aggressive?” Charlie asked her raising an eyebrow.
"Koalas too, but that doesn't stop them from being cute. And then, still better than cassowaries or crocodiles" Cherri replied with a wink. Even she felt strange doing so, as she normally couldn't wink with only one eye.
Charlie smiled slightly at that. Her mood was lifted a little, even if very little. “So… this is how you humans wage wars?” she asked, looking at the planes in the distance. "Mh. It reminds me of...". She was about to say 'Pentious' way', but she shut up since Cherri was there.
"Nah, we don't always make them like that" Rosie replied. "It depends on what weapons we have available. Ask the Japanese"
“Yes…” Cherri bit her lip. "Like I told you, it's not always like this. Don't get a bad impression of Earth just because we ended up on this stupid spot on the map"
"No, no, it's not that bad" Charlie told her. "I mean... it's similar to Pentagram City, but at least here people help each other. I mean, in Hell no one would have bothered to bring civilians to safety, right? So now those who make war will go far away from here, and all these people will be safe. Right?”
“Um…” Both Cherri and Rosie looked at each other very doubtfully. It wasn't really like that. "There is still a risk of a bomb falling here"
Charlie didn't understand. "Why? There are only normal people here, not soldiers. There is no point in striking here"
"Because the more you prove yourself ruthless, the easier it is to intimidate your enemy and force them to surrender" Rosie replied with a lot of bitterness in her voice. "And the more civilians you massacre, the more you prove yourself ruthless. It is common military strategy"
Charlie turned pale. "But..."
"Or there could be industries, power plants, ports or other manufacturing infrastructure nearby" Rosie explained further. "If you destroy them, you can bring your enemy to their knees more easily. It matters little how many people you exterminate in the process. To large nations, they are nothing more than numbers on a sheet of paper"
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat. In Hell it was common for overlords to destroy their enemies' production centers, but these were more acts of sabotage or street brawls than actual battles, and besides, almost no one died since the sinners were immortal except for weapons angelic. They were more games of economy and power than real massacres. From her point of view, it was inconceivable that anyone would have thought of razing a city to the ground and exterminating its population in order to eliminate a single tactical objective. "Come on, I'm sure you're exaggerating..."
"I've seen two world wars, I'm not exaggerating at all" Rosie replied crossing her arms over her chest.
"Your age remains a real mystery" Cherri commented.
"But… but that's… cruel" Charlie stammered. The color of her skin was rapidly fading.
Rosie nodded quite sadly. "It's the nature of war. Things like worrying about civilian casualties are ephemeral and are only worth as long as a nation can afford it... or at least gets some payoff from it, like international notoriety or other things like that. But the reality of things is that the more ruthless you are, the more likely you are to win. Any war is always won by those who are ready to sacrifice everything to achieve victory... after all, it is always the poor people who pay the consequences"
Charlie felt her limbs tremble. She was certainly not ignorant of the fact that humans waged wars and that massacres could occur in them, but she had always taken for granted that it was a rare occurrence. In her view, even if there were political, economic or other interests in sending soldiers to their deaths, whoever started that war should have made sure that civilians were not involved. After all, civilians were harmless, it was the military who needed to be destroyed. It was bad, but at least there was an ethic. Charlie had always thought that this was the way humans fought, and that only by mistake or episodes of pure madness could the civilian population become involved. Instead it seemed that innocents were involved much more often than she had ever thought.
She felt a strong lump form in her throat as she looked at the other refugees, suddenly aware of how much their lives were hanging by a thread, and therefore how justified their fear was. War has been widespread on Earth since time immemorial, every day there were conflicts somewhere in the world. She couldn't help but wonder how many innocent people were killed every day for no reason. Hundreds? Thousands? Why was no one doing anything to protect them?
The memory of the Extermination came back to her. For her, this had always been a one-sided massacre that brought only despair and death. Did the same thing really happen periodically on Earth...?
She didn't have time to think further. Her ears, much more refined than those of humans, barely caught the roar of the aircraft engines, and a fraction of a second later there was an explosion.
She didn't even have time to see the bomb: in barely a split istant, the square in front of her exploded. Several walls collapsed and all the windows within a hundred yards cracked as if they were made of paper. A crater opened on the ground so deep that it split the sewer system, causing jets of water to explode from underground; the asphalt itself broke and lit up as if it were a torch of death. Pylons, cables, poles, monuments: everything was torn down in an instant. The shock wave hit everything, roaring with a violence that shook the internal organs. Charlie acted instinctively and created a magical protection in front of her, therefore also shielding Rosie and Cherri; there had been no time to think and she had failed to include people beyond those directly in her field of vision.
It took Charlie a few seconds to realize what had just happened. Her brain went offline for a moment and she was unable to hear what was happening around her. "What... what...?"
"What the fuck did you do!?" Velvette screamed. She was lying on the ground and judging by the position of her body she must have broken quite a few bones, including her spine. "I disconnect from the real world for a moment and you almost make me explode!?"
"Calm down, it wasn't us" Rosie said as she approached her, and she turned her body so that she could regenerate faster. "Where's Niffty...?"
"I am here!" a little voice said, and following it Cherri found Niffty headfirst into a wall. Evidently the shock wave had thrown her small body there and she had remained stuck there. "It was beautiful! Let's do it again, let's do it again! Come on, come on, come on!"
Charlie almost didn't even hear Niffty's mental ravings, and didn't pay any attention to them anyway. Her attention was completely focused on the crater that had opened where the bomb had exploded. Her brain seemed to have shut down: she could no longer think, and her body was paralyzed.
It wasn't the first time she'd seen an explosion... but it was the first time she'd actually heard the screams of people who had been irreparably hurt by it.
People who now had broken bones, burned skin, damaged organs. She could hear the labored breathing of the dying on the ground trying to get as much air as possible into their damaged lungs, she could hear the body of a disabled person crawling on the asphalt in an attempt to move and get away from there, she could hear the screams of pain of someone who had lost an arm or a leg. And above all she could hear the cries of those who had been least affected by the bomb and who wandered among the wounded in an attempt to help them... or who found dead bodies and threw themselves on them in tears.
It was like the Extermination... except this one was worse. It had all happened in an instant, there had been no warning to escape... and above all, during the Extermination people did not remain alive and dying slowly. And there were no desperate family or friends trying in vain to save them.
It was at that point that she noticed that near the explosion there were two very familiar mangled torsos; she hadn't recognized them immediately due to their human disguise (which somehow remained intact, they were probably resistant even to such violent forces), but they were undoubtedly Husk and Angel. They had found themselves directly in front of the bomb and had both been reduced to two massacred and inanimate bodies. Charlie's heart leapt into her throat and she immediately ran to them, ignoring all caution, and grabbed them bodily, checking if they were regenerating; fortunately, this appeared to be happening. The bomb that had hit them was not angelic and their immortality had saved them; if it hadn't been for that, they would have died for sure.
Charlie immediately dragged them away from there and Cherri, Niffty and Rosie helped her; they stood in a circle around them so the humans couldn't see them as they regenerated, and slowly Husk and Angel returned to some semblance of normality and were able to reopen their eyes.
"Guys! GUYS!" Charlie yelled at them in an attempt to get a reaction from them.
Husk let out a loud, strangled grunt. "Let me guess... a fucking bomb just hit us"
"You guessed it right" Cherri confirmed as she slapped Angel. “Are you there, buddy?”
"Urgh... yeah, sort of" Angel told her. "Fuck... I haven't been torn to shreds this much in years..."
"Come on, don't be such a child. It could have been worse. Much worse" Husk told them trying to cheer them up.
Too bad that these words didn't arouse a good reaction in Charlie: "W... Worse!? You almost exploded!"
"Um..." Husk realized that perhaps he would have been better off keeping quiet. "Yes, but we're still intact, right? It could have been worse"
Rosie realized that Charlie was hyperventilating: the princess had literally turned the color of the milk, so much so that it looked like she had been painted white, and she was shaking all over. Even though she hadn't lost her friends, it had been quite a shock to her. Her gaze continued to dart from one side of the square to the other, looking at all the destruction and death caused by that single bomb. "Why... why did they do this!? There was nothing here to hit... it's not an area with military... why did they kill all these people...!"
"Charlie" Rosie said with extreme authority. "Calm down. This is no time to panic"
That authoritative voice had some effect on Charlie, who forced herself to breathe at a normal rate. "Let's... let's go away from here, quickly" she murmured as soon as she could think normally again.
So they dragged Angel and Husk into an alley, where absolutely no one could see them. Very slowly, their limbs began to grow back and their bones to heal. Within half an hour they were able to get back on their feet again, although they were still very tired. "Hey... are you okay...?" Angel asked Charlie, who even though she had stopped panicking still looked like she hadn't slept in a month.
"Yes" Charlie answered him immediately, although she did so in such a weak and false tone that it seemed as if the phrase 'she's lying' was written in large letters on her face. "I want to go and help those people..."
"Charlie, no. We already talked about it, you can't show off your powers here" Husk told her immediately. "And also, I doubt you have healing powers or anything like that. Am I wrong?"
Charlie bit her lip. As a demon, healing wasn't exactly among her powers. "I can at least offer medical assistance..."
"If you have any medicine, go ahead" Cherri pointed out.
Angel put a hand on her shoulder. "Charlie... forget it. I know it's bad, but... we can't risk someone realizing that you're not human. Not when we're surrounded by people who literally have bombers at their disposal. If you don't want this city to disappear from the map together with all the people, stay out of it. Please"
Charlie held his gaze for just a second, and then she closed her eyes and lowered her head. And Angel, much to his chagrin, clearly noticed several tears rolling down her cheeks. Not knowing what else to do, he gave her a hug, which she gladly accepted. "I can't" she said. "I can't... just... stay here... and... do nothing...!"
"Charlie, I know it seems cruel, but it's for the best" Angel repeated to her. "Please, just let's go..."
"There are more of them!" Niffty suddenly exclaimed while pointing to the sky with a wide smile. "Yes! Again! Again!"
Charlie looked up and saw another bomber approaching rapidly. Her blood immediately began to boil, and evidently her expression revealed this very well, because Angel seemed to panic: "Charlie, please! Use the relaxation techniques we learned at the hotel! Breathe! You're a leaf! A leaf in a calm stream...!"
"FUCK THE STREAM!" Charlie screamed, and power exploded through her body; a crimson red column formed around her, hurling Angel away who was luckily caught by Cherri. The princess reappeared in her demonic form, and immediately ran back into the square ignoring her friends who called her back.
She acted completely on instinct: she grabbed a concrete block that had fallen from one of the buildings ruined by the bomb and lifted it. Her arms, just as had happened in the clash with Adam, filled with black plates and her strength increased dramatically, so much so that without even trying she threw that boulder weighing over half a quintal into the air, with such speed that it hit the right wing of the bomber squarely. The plane skidded and crashed towards another part of the city, and fortunately the pilot had just the time to parachute away.
Charlie inspired deeply; luckly she had been able to maintain enough composure to reason even in her anger, and at the last second she had changed the trajectory of her attack; if she had hit the nacelle of the plane, she would certainly have killed the pilot. When she lowered her gaze again, however, she realized that the entire square had become silent: the people around her had frozen in place, even those mortally wounded, and were staring at her with wide eyes. She realized too late that she had just exposed herself. "Um... listen, I can explain..."
"V-Vohonʹ!" the captain of the soldiers shouted, pointing at her. Charlie didn't know what he had just said, but it wasn't difficult for her to understand when everyone raised their weapons and started shooting at her.
Humans were creatures terrified of anything unknown to them. It was a natural instinct they had developed after they had to leave Eden: after all, an unknown spider could be poisonous, an unknown animal could be lethal, and an unknown man could be evil. This instinct had saved them from certain death for generations as they learned to survive on primordial Earth. Modern humans no longer needed this instinct, no longer having to fear the dangers of nature, but they still had it: anything outside their understanding of the world was enough to make them panic. It was no coincidence that horror writers such as Lovecraft, Poe or King had played a lot precisely on the fear of the unknown. For humans, therefore, finding themselves in front of a demonic-looking being capable of throwing concrete blocks into the sky as if they were twigs was enough to cause great fear, which triggered only two well-defined reactions: flee or fight, just as if they were facing a ferocious animal. And clearly, soldiers trained to protect civilians could only choose the second option.
The bullets shattered into Charlie's skin as if they were made of sugar, but that didn't erase the force with which they were fired; and if they couldn't stick into something, they could only bounce back while maintaining their same initial kinetic energy. Some of the soldiers were hit by the same bullets they fired, fortunately not receiving serious damage thanks to the protection they were wearing. Charlie weakly raised her hands trying to show her good faith: "Stop it! You'll only hurt yourself like this...!"
It was a big mistake: the bullets hit the black plates on her palms and ricocheted at different angles, resulting in them hitting some of the people there and not just the soldiers; Charlie put her hands over her mouth in surprise and fright, but this movement again changed the angle of other bullets that hit even more people. Terrified, the people started screaming as this happened, clearly believing that she had done it on purpose. "I am sorry!" she screamed. "Stop it! I... don't shoot me, please...!"
The soldiers were not listening to her: seeing that she was not receiving even a scratch, the panic in their hearts was only increasing. They were used to remaining calm in extremely difficult situations, but there were still cornerstones in their minds that gave them security; among them, the fact that if something alive was hit by a bullet, it was certainly injured. The fact that Charlie wasn't even being scratched by a volley of high caliber bullets at close range, despite even an elephant in her place would have been reduced to a sieve, was testing their mental resistance, preventing them from realizing of what was happening around.
Charlie gritted her teeth. "I want to be listened when I speak!" she screamed, and instinctively she moved her arms violently to hit the projectiles and throw them to the ground, but such movement was so strong that it generated a small shock wave. Earth's atmospheric pressure wasn't like that of Hell, and Charlie wasn't used to dealing with it in her demon form. The force of the blast it generated threw at least three soldiers to the ground.
The captain was sweating cold like few times in his life. "Tsentralʹne komanduvannya!" he exclaimed grabbing his radio. "Meni potribna nehayna dopomoha! Nas atakuye... demon!"
Notes:
Translation of what the captain said: "Central command! I require immediate assistance! We are under attack by a... a demon!"
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 39: Erasing danger
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the center of the city of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was the Government Palace, the heart of the nation. It was where all the ministers worked, the highest military officers, and, of course, the President... who that day received unbelievable news. "What the fuck do you mean there's a demon walking around Zaporižžja!?"
The officer who had reported the news to him seemed as confused as he was. "Sir, I know it's crazy... but the captain currently in the area reported what I'm telling you. The central command thought he was crazy and contacted the other soldiers in the platoon, and they all say the same. They too call the creature a demon. Some of our helicopters approached the area and in turn confirmed the presence of that creature"
The President broke out in a cold sweat. He would never have expected such news. "What the fuck... what is this? A biological weapon from the Russians?"
"We don't know, sir" the officer replied. "But it is unlikely that it is on the side of the Russians, it broke through one of their bombers by throwing a piece of concrete at it"
The President's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me!? This creature is so strong that it was able to throw a concrete block so high, and strong enough to destroy a plane to boot!?"
"It's like this, sir. The local soldiers are trying to hit it with the weapons at their disposal, but every bullet bounces off it. It's as if its skin is made of a metallic-organic alloy stronger than steel and titanium, and harder than diamond" the officer replied. "It has already knocked several soldiers to the ground simply by moving. It is so strong that the blast it creates has the power of a small shock wave"
The President had to lean on his desk to stay calm. What kind of creature could be so strong? Nothing on planet Earth was capable of bouncing bullets off of itself, or hurling boulders into the sky! Such things only existed in superhero movies, they were fantasy!
Suddenly the Prime Minister banged his fist on the desk. "Mr. President, we have three M777 howitzers in the city of Zaporižžja, and one of them is just within striking range of the creature. Give the order to fire, now!"
The President stiffened. "What are you saying? That's a civilian base camp! We can't shoot at our own population!"
"Mr. President, if we don't fire on that creature now, a bunch of civilians will be the least of our problems!" the Prime Minister exclaimed. "The Russians have not yet noticed its presence, but if they do, this nation will cease to exist, and human civilization with it!"
The president did his best to remain calm. A trickle of sweat rolled down his back... because he knew that it was true. "Let's try to contact them. Let's try to explain the situation to them. If we tell them that the creature was not created by us..."
"Mr. President!" the Prime Minister shouted, immediately silencing everyone in the room. "Perhaps you aren't clear on the gravity of the situation! The fate of not only the nation is at stake here, but the fate of the entire world! Do you have any idea what would happen if someone else noticed the presence of the creature? No one will care about who created it or how it got here! For the Russians it will be the Americans, for the Americans the Russians, maybe even the Chinese will get involved! You know what would happen if just one of these superpowers suspected that the others possessed such biotechnological weapons and sent one to the battlefield? It would be the start of World War III!"
The President bit his lip. He knew that the Prime Minister was unfortunately right. The creation of human-based biotechnological weapons, whether they were physical augmentations or other abilities, was highly controlled by the international community. After all, a modified human posed a risk to all of humanity: their altered genome coming into contact with common bacteria and viruses could easily create a pandemic so devastating that it would have made the Black Death seem like a simple flu. Not to mention all the extremely dangerous variables that would have arisen if such a human being had gotten out of control or even reproduced, generating a new extremely destructive species. This is why international organizations such as the UN seriously checked that no one performed such experiments on human beings: genetic engineering was still extremely controlled.
If a nation had demonstrated that it had carried out similar experiments and had created a superhuman, and had even deployed them on the battlefield thus demonstrating that it had so many available to the point of being able to waste one, the only possible consequence would have been an immediate declaration of war. It would have been no different than revealing that they had nuclear weapons in orbit: the risk to all humanity was so great that the entire planet would have wanted to raze that nation to the ground immediately. But what was happening in Ukraine was much worse: since there was a superhuman that no one knew who they belonged to, everyone would have immediately suspected their eternal enemies even without foundation.
With tensions so high between the various superpowers, the outbreak of a global war would have been inevitable. And one of the worst things about something like World War III was that it would have last only a few minutes, a few dozen at most: uncertainty and fear with such a limited margin of time would have prevented any negotiation and clarification. The leaders of the superpowers would have only pressed the red button, fearing that if they had not done so immediately they would have been destroyed, and so the nuclear missiles would have been launched, putting the entire planet on fire.
Unless... that superhuman was erased from existence before any superpower noticed.
The Prime Minister stared straight into the president's eyes. His was not a crazy or murderous look, on the contrary, it was almost pleading. "Mr. President... if you don't give the order now, you may not have time to regret it. Unless you want our children to walk across a desert of ash tomorrow, give that order. Please"
The president took a deep breath. The decision was terrible, but there was no alternative. "Fire"
Almost twenty kilometers away from the center of Zaporižžja there was a huge structure similar to a cannon. It was an M777 howitzer, the most powerful ranged weapon in the Ukrainian nation. The projectiles from that cannon could be thrown tens of kilometers away, making it a perfect artillery piece suitable for providing support to armies on land.
Normally the soldiers assigned to that weapon received orders to fire on areas controlled by the Russians or to counter the effect of bombers, but this time they received an unusual order. "Sir... we need to fire towards the city center, at these coordinates"
The officer in charge widened his eyes. "What are you talking about? That's a civilian base camp...!"
"The central command has declared it an imperative order" the soldier replied. "The President himself confirmed it. We have to shoot"
The officer bit his lip. He was a soldier and as such was ready to carry out criminal acts, to say the least, but shooting against civilians of his own nation was difficult even for him. However, he knew he couldn't refuse. "Orders are orders" he murmured. "Fire!"
None of the soldiers present wanted to do it, but as their commander had said, there was no question of orders. That was how an army worked, after all. Some of them felt the urge to resist, but the fear of being dragged to court martial stopped them. In the end, as almost always happened in those cases, selfishness prevailed over compassion.
The enormous cannon aimed at the indicated coordinates and began the launch sequence.
Three...
Two...
One.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The projectile was fired from the nozzle with such force that the shock wave was felt even ten meters away. It traveled skyward and then tilted, aiming back toward the ground.
Charlie in the meantime was still busy trying to restore calm. Whatever she did only seemed to scare the humans more. She even tried to kneel down, but this only served to make her shoot even more as the soldiers feared she was getting into position to jump. “Damn it… what the fuck should I do to…?”
Her ears caught a ringing sound; her senses much more developed than normal human ears perceived that distant sound as if something was approaching at high speed. It was like when the bomb that hurt Husk and Angel had fallen, but whatever was coming was much bigger and faster. Too fast for her to react in time.
The light that entered her eyes dazzled her for an instant; it was so intense that even her demonic body, which did not release a drop of sweat even when exposed to the high temperatures of the Wrath Ring, felt the heat. The shock wave hit her, throwing her into one of the buildings, which shattered under the immense pressure. Even though it didn't cause her any physical harm, she still felt all her muscle shaking violently.
As quickly as it had come, the explosion vanished; Charlie slipped down the now shattered wall and hit her face on the asphalt, and so she realized that it had become hot. She raised her head weakly and saw that there was nothing left around her: the entire square had been reduced to crumbs. The epicenter of the explosion, the same place where she had been an instant before, presented a huge crater, surrounded by rubble and fires that blazed violently. A sea of corpses was strewn across the ground.
Her eyes trembled and her heart threatened to break; she put her hands over her mouth and tried not to vomit as the smell of death entered her nostrils. Almost all the people had been burned alive by the light of the explosion; the remaining ones had been finished off by the very powerful shock wave. The stench of blood and burns should have been something she was used to, but she realized it was very different from Hell's.
Her face reached an almost cadaverous paleness. How had she not noticed? Why hadn't she reacted in time and stopped that bomb...?
That bomb... was it aimed at her...?
She began to tremble. She didn't know the dynamics of human wars, but it wasn't that difficult for her to understand that if such a bomb had exploded exactly where she had been standing three seconds earlier it couldn't be a coincidence. Whoever it was had shot her.
All those people had died... because of her.
No...!
Suddenly Angel's hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to her feet: "Are you okay?"
"I... y-yes..." Charlie answered truthfully, as she didn't even have a scratch on her.
"Then let's leave immediately!" Husk screamed, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the nearest alley. "We have to disappear before they realize you're still alive!"
"But... but..." Charlie stammered without taking her eyes off the corpses on the ground.
"Charlie, for God's sake!" Angel yelled at her, and gave her a small slap. He didn't want to be mean to her, but he had to get her to recover from the shock she had suffered as soon as possible. "If you don't want to see this city pulverized by a nuke, immediately abandon your demonic form and come with us!"
That slap and those strong words were enough to reconnect the princess's brain a little, and she finally seemed to regain her ability to think. "Yes... yes" she just murmured, and her demonic body vanished replaced by her usual appearance. Husk and Angel were quick to take her away from there.
At Government Palace, the President awaited the response to the attack. It took a few minutes before the Prime Minister, who had been on the phone with local officials all that time, told him: "Our reconnaissance officers confirm the absence of life forms in the affected area. The creature has disappeared"
The President leaned against the desk. "Survivors?" he just asked.
"On the surface, only about twenty, all injured and who will probably die in the next few hours" the Prime Minister replied. "However, most of the civilians were in the subway underground, so they were saved"
The President nodded. It was not unusual to receive such news as he ruled a nation at war, but he couldn't help but feel the weight of the lives he himself had taken. He placed a hand on his forehead in an attempt to calm the tension he felt in his mind.
The Prime Minister sighed. "I know it's difficult, sir. Take comfort: we just avoided the global nuclear war"
The President grunted. "It doesn't matter now" he said, trying to compose himself. "Send a team to look for the remains of that creature. And investigate it. I want to know what it was and where it came from. And also contact the American and Russian ambassadors"
The Prime Minister bit his lip. "Sir, it is not wise to tell them what happened. They might..."
"We will tell them that the creature was created by an unknown terrorist organization. Now that it is no longer on the battlefield, they will listen to us" the President replied. "We have to do it. We don't know if more of those beings will appear in the future. Just one would have been enough to make international tensions explode. It is necessary that the Americans, the Russians and the Chinese are aware of the existence of these creatures, so that the next time one of them appears they won't be ready to shoot each other with nukes"
The danger of the outbreak of international tensions would have occurred only in a situation of total inability to understand what was happening, such as a battlefield; if the Russians or the Americans had noticed the presence of the creature in that context, they would not have bothered to ask the other if it was one of theirs before setting off the missiles. The uncertainty of global war and the short time available would have made the superpowers, even those with good intentions, act hastily. But if the Ukrainian President had gathered the ambassadors of both nations in one room and calmly explained the situation to them, then the nuclear war would not have broken out.
Considering that an incomprehensible creature had already appeared once, it was not impossible that the same thing would have happened in the future. There was no guarantee of being able to cover up the accident a second time. If another creature had appeared, the situation could easily have escalated. All nations of the world therefore had to be informed of the existence of such beings.
In the past, humanity would not have taken such great risks, given that a declaration of war was followed by days or even weeks of troop mobilization. The nations would have had time to talk to each other and understand that this mysterious creature was not a genetic experiment of any of them. But in the modern world, a declaration of war between great nations was followed by almost instantaneous total annihilation. Even a small nuclear war between nations like India and Pakistan would have altered Earth's climate so much that it would have caused hundreds of millions of deaths across the globe.
It was too big a risk to ignore. Therefore, the Ukrainian President had no choice but to immediately inform all nations, obviously starting with the superpowers. It was his duty as leader of the nation, indeed, as a human being. To pretend that nothing had happened was to risk the annihilation of civilization.
"We must be ready to face these beings if others appear. We cannot let our own divisions make us so vulnerable that we will destroy ourselves due of their mere presence" the President murmured in a heavy voice. "Whether it's demons, aliens, mutations, bioweapons, or any other bullshit, it's imperative that the entire world knows about the existence of these creatures!"
Angel and Husk dragged Charlie at least three blocks away from where the bomb had exploded, and hid inside a ruined building; Rosie, Niffty, Cherri and Velvette were already there waiting for them. As soon as they were inside Charlie sat down on the floor and put her face between her knees, shaking badly. "I didn't want this...!"
"Hey... hey, hey, girl, it's okay" Angel told her, trying in vain to calm her down. "You just wanted to help..."
"I didn't do it on purpose... I didn't do it on purpose...!" Charlie barely stammered. She wasn't even crying: her eyes were wide open and her eyelids weren't blinking.
Angel looked at Husk and Cherri, but neither of them had any idea what to do. This was definitely a situation they were not prepared for. But luckily Rosie stepped in and sat next to Charlie, letting Charlie lean on her (in fact, she literally lay on top of her), and then she held her tightly. "Breathe" she told her.
Charlie trembled even harder: “What…?”
"Breathe in time with my whistling" Rosie told her in a firm voice. "Consider it an order. Do it"
And having said this she began to whistle; Charlie, perhaps because of the authority with which Rosie had spoken or perhaps because she didn't know what else to do, did as she was told and forced herself to breathe in that rhythm. Each whistle was at least ten seconds long, and by breathing at that rate the princess's heartbeat slowly returned to normal. "Better?" Rosie asked her.
Charlie nodded. Even though she had avoided the panic attack, however, she still remained pale as a corpse. "I should have listened to you" she whispered. "I... I just wanted no one to get hurt...!"
"Charlie, it wasn't your fault" Angel told her in a firm voice.
"Yes, it was! I just had to mind my own business!" Charlie stammered. "Why did they shoot? Those were innocent people! Why didn't they at least wait for me to walk away before trying to kill me...?"
Her friends looked at each other, not sure what to do. It wasn't easy to explain those things to a person who had never been to Earth before. "Humans... tend to react quickly when they're scared" Rosie told her. "There are very fragile balances in this world... breaking them can cause violent reactions. And sometimes innocent people get involved"
Charlie didn't reply to her. She just stared into space and hugged her knees even tighter.
Husk let out a grunt. "Fuck, we should never have stayed here. We're leaving right now" he said, and then he looked at Velvette: "Did you find something? Otherwise we go in... New York, I'm pretty sure it is a calm zone"
The social overlord nodded slightly. “I may have found a lead” she said. "I was investigating it before that bomb hit me..."
"Get to the point" Husk told her, not wanting to hear her complaints.
Velvette rolled her eyes. "Ugh, okay. So, I isolated the entire Internet by taking only what had been posted in the last three hours, which as you well know is the time limit that separates us from Adam. I regardless excluded all the news that didn't concern anything anomalous and I only kept those that recorded absurd events and then ran a scan for..."
"Vel… the point" Husk told her again.
Velvette's eyelid twitched in irritation. "I found an event that apparently makes no sense: an earthquake that occurred just an hour ago, that, unlike all the others, had the epicenter on the surface..."
"And what is the strange thing?" Angel asked her.
"What the...!? I just told you! Do you think normal earthquakes have their epicenter on the surface!? How ignorant are you!?" Velvette ranted. "The only thing that can cause seismic waves from the surface is a colossal explosion, and given the intensity of the shock when it was detected, we are talking about the force of a nuclear bomb! But there was no nuclear bomb, and there wasn't even a crater so it couldn't have been an asteroid, and furthermore no one saw anything from the distance, which is impossible for such a cataclysmic event! Is the concept clear for you now!?"
"You actually lost me at the 'seismic waves' part" Angel admitted, and he wasn't joking at all.
Velvette turned red in the face, but fortunately Rosie restored her calm: "So, is this event related to Adam in your opinion?"
Velvette nodded. "It's certainly something abnormal. Apparently the epicenter was in a point where an old villa stood, which was literally reduced to crumbs... but not by an explosion, it was actually dismantled. And some of the people who they were a couple of kilometers away and claim to have seen a large shadow rise right there an instant before the earthquake occurred"
Everyone looked at each other. There were far too many coincidences: something had undoubtedly happened in that area. "Let's go there and see if we find any clues" Angel said, and then he put a hand on Charlie's shoulder: "Do you feel like going?"
In reality the place where the princess would have liked to go was the office of a very good therapist, but despite this Charlie got up on her trembling legs. "Yes. We can't waste time" she said, breathing deeply, trying to stay strong. "Let's go"
If it had been up to Angel, he would have told her to go back to Hell right away before she saw any worse horrors, but he knew she wouldn't have listened to him, so he just nodded and asked: "Where should we go?"
Velvette let out a grunt: "In a place that makes me even more suspicious that this event is connected to the people we are chasing"
Everyone looked at her in confusion, and Charlie finally muttered a few words: "Why? Where is it?"
Velvette narrowed her eyes slightly. "Outskirts of the city of Houma, a short distance from New Orleans... in Louisiana"
Notes:
If anyone were wondering, yes, the creation of genetically modified humans sent to the battlefield is considered by most world states to be an act of war. Therefore, if nations such as Russia, China or the United States were to suspect that others possess such superhumans, especially in a time of high international tension, they would declare war on each other. And I don't think I need to explain that such a war would be so rapid that any kind of clarification would be impossible, given that nuclear missiles would reduce nations to fire just fifteen minutes after war was declared.
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 40: The magnificent State of Louisiana
Notes:
TOMORROW, the wait is over! The first chapter of the long-desired talk-show Special of "If Hell is Forever than Heaven must be a lie"! Don't miss the first broadcast! Stay tuned...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In Vaggie's eyes, it seemed as if the world had changed completely in an instant, almost as if someone had taken it and turned everything upside down, putting it back together completely wrong. In an instant, the ruined building, Charlie, the flames, and all the rubble vanished and were replaced by a vast expanse of blue. It took her a moment to realize that she was staring at the sky, but not the red, dark sky of Hell... nor the pure white sky of Heaven. It was a sky... completely alien to her.
"What's the problem? First time on Earth?"
Adam's voice reached her ears and she finally regained some sort of understanding of space: the first man had dragged her back through the portal and the force of the push had made her head rise, and so now she was staring upward. She lowered her head and what she saw was a country road in the middle of a cultivated field. It was a very ordinary street, but it was at the same time so different from anything she was used to; Vaggie couldn't remember ever seeing so much green, or feeling such a breeze on her skin. It wasn't like the hot wind of Hell or the gentle wind of Heaven, it was... so different.
Everything was new to her. The shapes, the colors, the smells, the sounds. It all seemed like a perfect combination of Hell and Heaven, but at the same time even something more, something... special. With so many new sensations so unknown to her, she couldn't help but feel disoriented. "This... is Earth...?"
"I dragged you here using an Asmodeus' crystal. Where do you think you are, on Saturn?" Adam asked her rhetorically.
Those words made Vaggie regain her senses, and she immediately turned to the first man and tried to take the crystal between his fingers: "Give it to me...!"
"Forget it" Adam replied, moving it out of her reach. "I brought you here to spend some time together"
"You kidnapped me!" Vaggie protested angrily.
"What a fuss. Given our past, this time I was even lenient" Adam replied with a grin.
Vaggie's eyelid twitched visibly. She knew Adam was finding that whole situation funny, and it made her mad. She was about to yell at him again, but Alastor's voice immediately drowned her out: "Where are we?"
Vaggie looked at the radio demon, and to her surprise she noticed something different about him: although his pose and smile remained identical, his grip on his scepter had become stronger, to the point that she wouldn't have been surprised if he had broken.
Had he become... tense?
Was Alastor tense?
Adam let out a laugh. "What are you saying, Alastor? Do you no longer recognize the land where you were born and raised?"
Vaggie made a sound of pure amazement, and Alastor stared Adam straight in the eyes: "Are we in Louisiana?"
"Of course. The magnificent State of Louisiana, known for its swampy expanses and historic plantations, a jewel of the glorious and above all tolerant United States of America" Adam said, pointing around them, almost as if he were a host welcoming a guest. "More precisely, we are now on the outskirts of the city of Houma, a short distance from New Orleans"
Vaggie hadn't missed the tone in which Adam had described that place: he seemed to be teasing Alastor about something... and at the same time he seemed to be getting furious too as he said the words 'plantations' and 'tolerant'.
Alastor let out a sizzle. "Why are we here?" he asked chewing on his words.
Adam smiled at him and put a fake friendly hand on his shoulder. "I promised you that we would return to our home. I decided to give you a gift and start with yours"
"Wait..." Despite the confusion in her head, Vaggie finally managed to connect all the pieces. "Of course! If this is Louisiana... Alastor, were you born here?"
Alastor let out a soft snort. "Yes, that's right" he said, then he looked out at the city in the distance. "Mh. And when I was here... it was a little different. We didn't have all those skyscrapers"
Vaggie was amazed. Everyone knew that Alastor had lived in Louisiana, but she had never imagined that one day she would have actually visited the homeland of the infamous radio demon. She had never thought of visiting Earth, let alone dropping by Alastor's house! It was true that life sometimes had surprises in store.
"Don't make fun of me" Alastor said. "Tell me why you brought me here"
Adam's expression changed. "I know this is a sore point for you, but... honestly, I don't care" he told him, then he nudged Vaggie. “I have to teach this girl a few things, and I thought that the three of us taking a nice stroll down memory lane would have been perfect for the occasion”
"That wasn't the plan" Alastor protested.
Adam chuckled. “I'm afraid you have no idea what my plan is” he reminded him.
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "I know for a fact that there can't be something you're interested in here in Louisiana"
"Oh, instead there is a lot that interests me. In every grain of sand on this planet there is something that unfortunately interests me" Adam replied to him in a strange voice. “Don't complain about things you don't understand, kid”
Alastor let out an annoyed sizzle, but still he didn't comment further.
Vaggie was quite surprised by that behavior. "Seriously? You let him treat you like that now?" she asked. If anyone had told him that she would have seen the terrible radio demon being silenced like that, she would never have believed it.
"What can I tell you. I have some experience handling kids" Adam told her with a laugh. "You don't become leader of an army if you don't know how to train even the most undisciplined elements, after all"
"I simply have nothing more to say" Alastor grumbled, clearly hurt in his pride by those words and wanting to regain some standing.
"Sure. Oh, by the way, you can keep this" Adam told him giving him the Asmodeus' crystal.
Alastor took it and put it in his pocket. "Are you sure you want to entrust it to me?"
"When they'll try to stop us, and they sure will, they will certainly think I have it. It's safer with you" Adam told him. "And then... I don't need it now"
And having said this he raised his hand and a small portal opened in front of it; he stuck his arm in and when he pulled it back he had a soda in his fingers. "My powers allow me to open portals within a realm. I cannot do it between different realms, which is why I needed that crystal; and I cannot violate the rules of the realm I'm in, such as the obligation of sinners not to leave the Pride Ring, that's why I wanted to take it immediately. But apart of this, moving to any corner of this planet at will is not a problem. So keep that crystal, it might be more useful to you than to me"
Alastor nodded. "I will guard it" he assured him.
"Good. Well, I don't want to keep you here any longer than I have to, so let's get busy" Adam told him, and then he nodded to Vaggie: "Come on. Let's walk the path together"
Vaggie narrowed her eyes. "Aren't you afraid I will fly away?" she asked, as Adam was no longer holding her and was instead acting as if she was his guest, not a prisoner.
Adam just laughed at those words. "Fly away? And where? Do you even know which direction to go, or where to find the nearest ocean?" he asked her with a lot of mockery. "Anyway, please, go ahead. Let's see how far you can go. I'm sure you can outrun someone who can move several times faster than sound, right?"
Vaggie had to admit that he was right. Her chances of escaping were zero. With Alastor being able to block her with his magic or Adam being able to catch her with just one leap, any attempt to escape would have been over before it even began. Very reluctantly, she started walking next to Adam and Alastor.
The country path was not very well maintained, but this was certainly not a problem for them who were used to moving on decidedly rougher terrain. The green fields that surrounded them rustled continuously at the touch of the wind, which also touched their faces. Despite the situation, Vaggie took a moment to savor the touch of that strange wind, which one moment seemed gentle and the next became strong and vice versa.
Earth was... beautiful. Even though her emotions were clouded by the people she was hanging out with, Vaggie had to admit in her heart that she really appreciated this place. It was so exotic and wild and yet so simple and loving. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Adam asked her.
Vaggie let out a grunt in response. "You're wasting your time. You won't make me betray Charlie. I'm not him" she said, pointing to Alastor.
"No, no. I'm not trying to make you betray anyone now" Adam replied to her. "I'm just showing you my world. Come on, answer me: isn't it... nice?"
Vaggie bit her lip. "Yes" she finally admitted.
Adam let out a nostalgic sigh. "Yeah... it always has been, ever since I walked here in my human body" he told her. "Even though at the time the air wasn't that... polluted"
Vaggie wasn't sure she understood what he meant. From her perspective, the air was clean... but probably for a person who had lived on the virgin, primordial Earth, it was easy to notice the difference in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although, in any case, breathing that air was definitely a thousand times better than breathing the stale air of Hell.
"I visited Louisiana when I was alive. Obviously we didn't call it that back then, but... I've been around here anyway" Adam continued talking. “To get here, I had crossed the Bering Strait while it was still frozen. This place was different back then… so swampy and wild. You could still find mammoths cooling off in the mud pools or giant beavers swimming in the dark waters But I knew that humans would have found a way to make even this place their home, a little corner of paradise all to themselves, where they could raise their children in harmony, far from the violent and merciless natural environment it once was"
Well, all that nostalgia was understandable, Vaggie thought. For a man who had lived in an age where even the concept of 'home' was barely equivalent to four logs stacked on top of each other, returning to find land reclaimed and perfectly capable of welcoming people must have been quite strange. "You can be satisfied, you were right"
But suddenly Adam's face changed: any trace of a smile vanished and his face darkened. "No... not at all. I was wrong" he replied in a tone so terrifying that it gave Vaggie goosebumps. "Humans didn't make this place a paradise. They created a false paradise for a tiny elite among them, and then made everything else a hell a thousand times worse than the one you and your fucking princess live in. All this beauty you see, everything that has been erected by the hands of mankind, has been paid for with the blood and tears of millions of victims"
Vaggie almost stopped in fear. The first man was truly terrifying when he showed real anger. When he was just a little annoyed he was ridiculous, but when he was really angry he seemed capable of freezing people just with his gaze. "I... I don't think I understand..."
“Do you know what Louisiana is really famous for, Vaggie?” Adam asked her. "For its beautiful swamps, its historic plantations, and above all... for having been one of the largest ports for the trafficking of blacks from Africa. Human beings who arrived here in chains, torn from their lands to become slaves, condemned for a lifetime to an existence of pure suffering without a moment of peace"
Vaggie swallowed. The description Adam gave was quite colorful, and his tone almost seemed to add further horror to his every word. He seemed to be chewing his own tongue as if he wanted to chew the people who had carried out the acts he was describing.
Adam turned towards the plantation and took a couple of steps towards it. His burning gaze seemed to ignite even more violently. "This land, once so pure, has been tainted with the desperation of so many human beings that it would be impossible to count them. A horror born of cruelty and perversion, for which only the innocent have paid! On this same plantation, not even one hundred and fifty years ago the blacks suffered unspeakable pain, without anyone offering them a hand to alleviate their suffering!"
As he spoke, masses of colored smoke emerged from his mouth, smoke that seemed to combine with shadows and glittering lights. Apparently, it was a combination of the powers of Valentino, Alastor and Vox. And Adam didn't even seem to realize that he had spat them out, but that he had only done so out of pure anger.
Alastor maintained an indifferent expression, and indeed did not change his pose even a millimeter, but a small light lit up in his eyes as he listened to the first man's fury. Vaggie, however, did not hide that she was influenced by it. "I know what slavery is..."
"Oh, you know!?" Adam bellowed, spitting a blast of smoke in her face, making her cough. "You think you know what it's like to live as a slave!? You think you know what it's like to be forcibly dragged away from your homeland, watching some fucking bastard drag you by the hair even as you beg for mercy!? You think you know what it's like to be herded onto a ship naked, subjected to cold, heat and mosquitoes, for months and months of sea voyages, while women are raped and men are treated like beasts, helpless as you watch your companions die of starvation around you!? You think you know what it's like to be sold like you're an object, having to work on a plantation from morning to night, under the sun or the rain, with a piece of shit whipping you every time you try to slow down, adding salt on the wounds to hurt even more!? You think you know what it means to go to sleep with minimal rations of food and water in your stomach, your muscles destroyed by all your work, and knowing that at that same moment women, including maybe your wife, your mother, your sister or your daughter are also there, and they are being raped by the rich masters in their beautiful villa? You think you know what it means to be burned, mutilated, branded, locked up in the dark for days, and maybe sometimes hanged, even for no real reason but just so you remember your place!?"
Vaggie managed to stay upright on her legs by pure miracle; not only were Adam's words the most terrifying thing she had ever heard, not only did his face seem to be deforming to become more and more frightening, not only did his tone of voice seem ready to tear apart the first person he came across, but something was actually happening around him. Almost as if his thoughts were desperate to emerge, the smoke that continued to emanate from his mouth condensed and took shape, and the shadows and lights merged with it to create perfectly realistic images. Images that just staring at them were enough to make even a lion's heart tremble.
A cruel ship full of people begging for mercy.
A land scorched by the sun, where people were forced to work worse than animals.
The cries of a mother as she tried to protect her son from the cruel hands of the master who wanted to whip him.
The desperation of a woman barely trying to free herself from the man who was forcing himself on her.
Fire.
Branding.
Cries.
Screams.
Vaggie tried to put her hands over her ears so she wouldn't have heard all of that anymore, but Adam stopped her. He pinned her to the spot with his merciless gaze. "Answer me! Do you think you know!? Do you know what it means to be stripped of everything, to be deprived of your home, your family, your dignity, your life!? Are you able to understand a miserable fraction of this infinite suffering and take the responsibility for it along with your stupid princess!?”
Vaggie instinctively took several steps back: she felt as if Adam was ready to move his hand and take her head off in one fell swoop. Alastor hadn't remained indifferent either, and even though he tried not to show it, his smile had diminished a little and his grip on his staff had increased again. "It's... It's over now" Vaggie tried to say, hoping that Adam would have calmed down at least a little. "All this happened in the past. Now slavery no longer exist, people are free..."
"Oh, yes? Do you believe that a pathetic law written on a sheet of paper miraculously changed the dark hearts of those monsters who destroyed human lives?" Adam asked her rhetorically. "Why don't we ask an eyewitness? Alastor, you died in the thirties, right?"
The radio demon stiffened a little at hearing himself called into question. "1933" he replied.
"And how old were you? Forty?" Adam asked him again.
"Forty-five" was Alastor's answer.
"So you were born in 1888, thirty-three years after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Yet, what was the world that welcomed you like?" Adam growled. "Were there black people roaming the streets freely? Whites inviting them to play cards with them? Were they paid the same as whites for the same work? Did they receive the same protection of the law? Or were they perhaps exploited, mistreated, denigrated, considered nothing more than useless uneducated individuals, due to a society ruled by bigoted individuals who enjoyed feeling superior by making those who were unable to defend themselves suffer?"
Alastor drummed his fingers on his staff. This gesture seemed to be due more to a personal outburst, as if the movement of those fingers helped him dissipate tension and therefore maintain his calm. "The second option"
"Interesting" Adam commented, as more smoke emerged from his mouth as if it were a chimney. "And you think this was right?"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "No" he answered truthfully. Even if he had never had any problem committing the worst atrocities, he had never stooped so low as to select his victims based on the color of their skin. Everything could be said about him, but not that he had ever discriminated against anyone.
Adam looked down at Vaggie. "Did you hear? Even he, so full of evil, so corrupt at heart, admitted that this wickedness was unjustified! He, a hideous man, a repugnant figure to anyone with the slightest heart, a parasite who devours others, considers all this wrong! Tell me, how wrong can something be that even someone like him rejects? Do you want to contradict him, who has experienced all this firsthand, living as an outcast just because of the color of his skin, and who has looked at the the only thing dear to him was to die for..."
"Can you please stop?" Alastor interrupted with a sizzle.
Adam gave him a half smile. "Why? Don't you like my description of you, little deer?"
"I don't like that you keep tormenting me" Alastor replied.
For a split second, the air seemed to freeze; the radio demon felt his survival instinct kick in again, just as it had during their first battle. Vaggie also felt every hair on her body stand on end so much that she wouldn't have been surprised if they jumped off and ran. And then, Adam grabbed Alastor by the collar. “TORMENTING YOU!?” he roared, so loudly that the leaves on the trees around them shook. "DO YOU THINK I'M TORMENTING YOU RIGHT NOW!?"
Alastor's smile faltered as he watched Adam's eyes shine with a baleful light. He had often seen fury and hatred in people's eyes, but he couldn't remember ever seeing anything like it. “Do you know what the difference is between you and me, you fucking pathetic smiling deer?” Adam hissed. “Right now, we are both walking on a land full of ghosts that continually scream in our ears, but while you are trying to escape them, I have long since accepted them all! I have made them my strength and my motivation! Do you believe that you are the only one right now hearing the echoes of a horrendous past in your ears? Do you have any idea what I see, hear and perceive, every single damn time I step foot on this fucking planet, no matter what corner of the world, and I walk on this cursed earth that continually echoes with the screams of a billion victims!?"
His power exploded from his body, cracking the ground beneath his feet and kicking up clods of earth around them; a new waft of smoke emerged from his mouth, and almost as if it had a life of its own it spread throughout the surrounding environment. "Look then!" Adam exclaimed. "Both of you, since you think I'm tormenting you with these words of mine right now, look! Look what I see and feel at this very moment!"
Notes:
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 41: Deliver us!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The smoke that exploded from Adam's mouth enveloped every corner of the surrounding earth like a giant octopus, even occupying the sky and every inch of ground. Vaggie stepped back slightly, although she wasn't sure which direction to go as all points of reference seemed to have disappeared. Alastor slipped to the ground as soon as Adam let go of him, and he barely looked up to see the first man disappear into the mist.
From the looks of it, Adam was getting really good at controlling the powers of various overlords. He had to admit that he was impressed by his learning abilities: despite having had so little time available, he had learned to manipulate and combine them really well. If normally Valentino's smoke allowed the moth demon to create figures always of the same color, almost costantly incorporeal and clearly not real, Adam combining this power with his shadows, the lights generated by Vox's electricity, the pixels created by Velvette, and multiple other powers, was able to make such illusions extremely concrete and impossible to distinguish from reality. Just like he did with Vaggie a little time before.
Alastor was rarely impressed by anyone's abilities, but Adam had managed to surprise him. It was no mystery that he was the first man who ever lived: his experience, adaptability and inventiveness were definitely on a higher level than ordinary people.
Vaggie expected she would have coughed a little, but the smoke didn't even get close to her nostrils. "He doesn't want to... hypnotize us?"
"I think this time he just wants to show us something, not play with our minds" Alastor replied as he stood up and dusted himself off.
Vaggie gritted her teeth. Suddenly, she thought she heard something: some sort of distant sound, like an echo, as if someone was whispering next to her. She turned around several times, but she saw no one. And to make matters worse, such echoes sounded like distant screams, which only made it more disturbing. “What… what is…?”
"I would say... my sonic powers" Alastor said narrowing his eyes. "I assume he wants to add sound accompaniment to the whole scene he wants to show us. I don't think he likes silent films". He drummed his fingers on his scepter: "You should know, since it's the same trick he used on you earlier"
Vaggie remembered how the illusion Adam had used to deceive her had not only been absolutely realistic, not only had he been able to touch it, but it had also spoken to her and she had heard the voice coming from it, not from somewhere else. Adam had really thought of everything. Speaking of him... "Where did he go?"
"I think it's not even two steps away from us, hidden behind this illusory smoke" Alastor answered her. "I bet he will enjoy the spectacle of the two of us observing what he wants to show us with a lot of fun. If I were you I would prepare myself, I don't think it will be..."
Suddenly the smoke seemed to shake and explode around them; the curtain dissolved in an instant, and the sky and earth became visible around them again. But they were no longer the same. The path they had been walking on had disappeared; the trees had disappeared, while others had appeared in their place; the large cultivated fields had been replaced by uncultivated land with some ponds scattered here and there, green and lush. And in the midst of that nature there were people, undoubtedly with Native American features, who walked peacefully in that place.
Vaggie's eyes widened in amazement. The world seemed to have gone back centuries; had Adam become so good at manipulating their senses? She could even feel the different smells, or even the touch of the sun on her skin, which incredible to say, was still different than in the twenty-first century. She felt like she could really interact with those people, touch them, talk to them. She knew it was all fake, but it was really hard to distinguish reality from illusion.
Alastor was a little less surprised than her, but still he couldn't help but appreciate the first man's extraordinary artistic ability. He had seen many illusions in Hell, some created by him, some by others, but it was the first time he had seen someone modify such a large area so perfectly that it was no different from reality. "Mh. Really a..."
It was as if thunder had suddenly shaken all of reality: Vaggie almost jumped on the spot and even Alastor couldn't help but tighten his grip on his staff. It was as if a wave of terror had just hit him, as if fear and horror had spread, affecting and infecting everything it touched. And then, the first man's voice rang out around them.
"Do you want to know what I see, hear and perceive every time I walk on this fucking world? Here you are satisfied! See what I see, hear what I hear, perceive what I perceive! Do it, and then tell me if I am tormenting you in this moment!"
Suddenly people emerged from the vegetation; people other than Native Americans, clearly European in character, shouting words in French. They wore large helmets and held large rifles, and they hurled themselves at the defenseless population. The peaceful stretches of virgin and lush land ran red with the blood of the fallen; the fish fled the waters in fear, while crocodiles and alligators rushed to feast on the bodies of the men who were thrown into the water. The Europeans killed, plundered and enslaved the native population, placing women and children in chains and turning men into crippled bodies. The cries of desperation of the innocents rang out across the swamp, perhaps even across Louisiana, those pleas for mercy, the prayers to every god they knew and not, but nothing came to their rescue. The only law that dominated was that of the strongest, and the strongest took everything they wanted, ignoring the pleas of their victims.
Vaggie felt her heart almost explode at the sight. She knew it was just an illusion, but it was still all so realistic that she struggled to remember it. Her body shook with tremors as the acrid smell of spilled blood entered her nostrils, and the desperate screams of people threatened to shatter her ears. Her eyes watered as she watched women being thrown to the ground and raped, or children being torn from their mothers, and sometimes thrown into the swamp where ravenous crocodiles waited to tear them to pieces. Her good heart took over and without even thinking she started running in that direction to stop the carnage.
But she never reached the Native Americans, because with every step she took, the world around her changed again. Reality seemed to accelerate, as if she were not moving in space at all, but in time. Each step took her further by who knows how many years, and when she stopped again in amazement, she found herself faced with perhaps an even greater horror.
The world had become more familiar to her: the swamps had disappeared, reclaimed into large cultivated fields. Underneath her feet was the path they had walked on before again, although it was much more well maintained. All around her was just an immense plantation of what looked like cotton, where dozens or perhaps even hundreds of black people were working tirelessly. The smell of sweat replaced that of death, but it didn't last long as the overseers soon began whipping those people, fouling the ground with their blood and tears. The desperate echoes of those people so broken inside, who were continually forced to work under the burning sun, without ever stopping, without food or water, many of whom slipped to the ground without the strength to keep up and were immediately punished with the whip, branding, beatings or chains, clung to her ears as if they had a life of their own and had become sharp claws that lashed her eardrums.
Vaggie slid to her knees, unable to remain standing any longer. Her eyes were swollen and she put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. The echoes of all that desperation continued to wash over her without stopping, paralyzing every inch of her body. She almost felt as if she wasn't hearing their real voices, but rather those of their souls, which let all their desperation flow out as if they were a gigantic choir singing in unison.
"Mud!"
The slaves screamed as they moved large quantities of mud, digging and plowing the soil for new plants. Other slaves instead dragged large barrels full of a smelly substance, which they took and threw into the newly created holes.
"Manure!"
More slaves arrived, carrying huge bowls of water on their backs, which they poured onto the freshly prepared earth.
"Water!"
Finally, a final group arrived with bags full of seeds, which they carefully placed in the earth with almost maniacal accuracy.
"Seed!"
The overseer's whip moved violently.
"Faster!"
The slaves groaned under the cruel force of the whip, but none of them dared to scream; they bit their tongues in an attempt not to make a sound, knowing it would mean further beatings. Those who were digging the mud accelerated their work, taking pieces as big as their chests and as heavy as they could, just to do it as quickly as possible.
"Mud... and lift!"
Those who spread the manure did the same: not only did their hands become much faster at spreading it, but they actually put the heavy barrels on their backs to avoid wasting time bending down to pick it up.
"Manure... and pull!"
Those who spread the water placed the enormous basins on their heads, and all the time they tilted only slightly to let the right amount fall; too much or too little water always equated to another whipping. Their faces contorted as they desperately tried to maintain their balance despite the weight they were carrying.
"Water... and raise up!"
Those placing seeds in the earth sped up, almost dropping their bags in the process.
"Seed..."
The overseer's whip came down again.
"FASTER!"
The slaves continued their incessant work, without ever stopping. Despite the hot sun that burned their skin, despite the pain of the whip on their shoulders, despite all their exhaustion that threatened to make them faint, they didn't stop. They could only continue to work while their souls screamed the pain that they could not express with their mouths.
"With the sting of the whip on our shoulders,
with the salt of our sweat on our brows!
And you, Father on High,
can't you hear your children cry?
Help us now
in this dark hour!"
Vaggie heard that chorus getting louder and louder, to the point that it filled her ears; she placed her hands over them in an attempt to quiet those echoes of suffering, but it was no use. She cried profusely as the desperate voices of all those broken souls entered her heart, threatening to crush it with their own pain.
"Deliver us!
Hear our call, deliver us!
Father of all, remember us
here in this cursed land!
Deliver us!
There is a world you promised us!
Deliver us to a peaceful land!"
Alastor had tried to remain impassive, although even he had felt a slight tension at hearing all those echoes of horror. He knew human suffering and this allowed him to listen to them while remaining almost unchanged, even if he still felt a little irritated towards those overseers with their whips. "Vaggie, stop it!" he scolded the ex-Exorcist. "There's no point in crying. They're just echoes"
"I... I know..." Vaggie stuttered slightly as she covered her eyes, completely wetting the palms of her hands in just two seconds. "I... I can't...!"
Alastor let out a snort and took a couple of steps towards her; around them the world changed again, speeding up and moving forward in time, but the echoes still continued to be extremely clear to their ears. The cotton plantations continued to torture their victims until the slaves were freed, but the poor people still continued to cry and suffer in that way that treated them like animals even though they were now recognized as people. Alastor ignored all of this and came to Vaggie's side, and gave her a little whack with his staff. "Get up" he told her in a stern voice. "All this is in the past. It makes no sense..."
Suddenly, the suffering chorus gave way to something else.
Alastor seemed to turn into a statue when he heard a soft voice reach his ears. Vaggie also stopped crying: it was as if that voice had the power to sweep away the suffering from anyone's hearts. It was a mother's beautiful lullaby.
They both turned in the direction the sound was coming from, Vaggie immediately, Alastor much more slowly. Sitting on a bench not far from them was a beautiful black woman, dressed like a waitress, holding in her hands a small bundle in which was a newborn baby who was holding her little finger while he listened to her enraptured by the beautiful sound of her voice.
"My good and tender child,
don't be frightened and don't be scared.
My son, I have nothing I can give,
but this chance that you may live
I pray it'll be enough
if he will deliver us!"
"Mother...?" Alastor just murmured.
Vaggie looked at him in amazement. "What...? Mother...?"
She had no time to listen to any reply or say anything else; the chorus of desperation rang out in her ears, the screams of all the people suffering in that land, echoing like an eternal echo.
"Deliver us!
Hear our prayer, deliver us from despair!
These millennia of suffering
grow too cruel to stand!
Deliver us!
There is a world you promised us!
Deliver us out of bondage, and
deliver us to a peaceful land!"
Vaggie felt the urge to cover her ears again, even though she knew it would have been useless, but this time she resisted. Something inside her prevented her from doing so. She felt that refusing to listen would only have made the weight on her heart worse.
Alastor remained motionless, and Vaggie couldn't remember ever seeing his smile falter so much; he had never thought she would have seen such an expression on the radio demon's face. His eyes were focused on that woman who was sitting on the bench, who continued to sing her lullaby.
Alastor knew that this was just a fake. He knew very well that this was not his mother.
But that didn't stop his heart, which he was convinced had stopped beating for decades, from trembling.
Instinctively, he took a step forward, as if hoping to reach her. And as he did so the world moved forward again, and changed completely. Instead of the daytime sky came the starry night sky, with a large full moon illuminating the landscape. And in the center of that landscape there was a boy who was filling a hole, a hole in which it was still possible to see the woman's serene face.
Vaggie's eyes widened. That boy... he had such a familiar face. He was smiling... even if a few tears were leaking from his eyes.
Suddenly the pieces fell into place in her head. "Alastor...?" she muttered slightly as she looked at the radio demon next to her, who seemed to have become unable to move.
And without any warning, another person arrived on the scene. The same woman who was being buried in that anonymous grave appeared behind the boy, ethereal and made up of what looked like golden threads; she walked towards him, although he clearly could not see her, and opened her lips again, from which her melodious voice came again.
"Hush now, my baby,
be still, love, don't cry,
sleep as you're rocked by this wind!
Sleep and remember
my last lullaby
so I'll be with you when you dream!"
The woman suddenly looked up at the sky, and her hands clasped on her chest, as if she were praying; and when she spoke again, she seemed to address everything around her, without any distinction.
"Earth, oh mighty Earth,
be gentle for me,
such precious cargo you bear!
Do you know somewhere he can live free?
Earth, please, deliver him there..."
The woman remained there patiently, continuing to sing as if wishing to console her son. The boy finished burying her, and then he remained for a few minutes in front of that tomb that didn't even have a headstone; and then, he turned and headed towards the city. The woman watched him go, and her smile widened, and her voice became even softer than before.
"Son, you are safe now
and safe may you stay
for I have a prayer just for you:
grow, my baby,
come back to me some day,
come and deliver us too"
Alastor had to lean on his staff to keep from falling; he seemed to be shaking. Vaggie bit her lip, not knowing what to do. The radio demon for the first time ever seemed so… fragile to her.
Or maybe... human.
Under their gaze, the woman dissolved into her golden threads and headed towards the sky, which even though it was night seemed to light up to welcome her. The echoes of that desperate chorus once again echoed in the air, as if they wanted to accompany her towards her final journey.
"Deliver us!
Send a shepherd to shepherd us,
and deliver us to a peaceful land!
Deliver us to a peaceful land!"
And for the last time, the woman's melodious voice rang through the air, spreading like a furious wave, making even the earth tremble.
"DELIVER US!"
And as quickly as it all began, it all ended.
The world returned to normal around them. The sun returned to the sky, the path became old and unmaintained, the city in the distance became full of skyscrapers again. It seemed like nothing had ever happened... but now Vaggie had several tears in her eyes, and she didn't take her eyes off the radio demon, who didn't seem to have the strength to get up completely. "Alastor..."
Heavy footsteps next to them made them both turn. Adam had reappeared, and indeed, from his position, perhaps he had never moved. The last remnants of smoke were returning to his mouth, disappearing completely. A dark expression was painted on his face. "Now you know" he said. "This is what I see, hear and perceive now. This is what I see, hear and perceive in all parts of the world"
His gaze made Alastor and Vaggie's hearts tremble slightly. "Tell me, now... do you still believe that, by walking with you on this land, I am tormenting you?"
Vaggie swallowed. “Do you… always hear them…?”
"Every time I come to this planet so dirty with the suffering of the innocent" Adam replied to her. "This world remembers everything, Vaggie. All echoes of past evil are preserved here. The righteous were freed from that evil, which therefore remained behind on Earth. And I, being the one who has been given dominion over this world, feel everything this planet feels, including what has been left here. Nothing is spared, everywhere evil has been done at least once. This is how it works, in every corner of this suffering world"
Vaggie wanted to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth. Her vocal cords were paralyzed. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say, actually.
Adam approached Alastor and forced him to raise his head towards him. “This echoes, this suffering, has been in my ears every single moment since we got here, yet I continue to walk calmly with you on this path, and do you know why?” he asked him. "Because I don't run away from my responsibilities. This is my world, and those who suffer are my children. I don't reject their pain, I don't try to ignore it, but on the contrary I make it mine so that it guides me in my actions. Because now... it's no longer the time to cry"
Adam's gaze went somewhere behind Alastor, and the radio demon turned to see; to his surprise, what he saw was an old villa at the end of the path, an old villa that he knew very well. When had they gotten so close...?
“Now…” Adam said, chewing on his words. "... it's just time... to clean"
Notes:
For the beasts who have no culture, this song is taken from the opening moments of the 1998 film "The Prince of Egypt", it is called "Deliver us" and is sung by desperate Jews during the persecution by the Egyptians. I suggest you all read it with the opera in the background, because the musical accompaniment is truly wonderful. If you are such animals that you have never seen that absolute cinematic masterpiece, go see it NOW.
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154001890
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/153247354
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 42: Just clean
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam flung open the mansion gate with a single flick of his fingers; the proud steel did not resist even an instant under the strength of the first man and the chain and the lock broke as if they were twigs. He entered the garden as if he owned the house, and Alastor and Vaggie followed him. But they hadn't even taken three steps when Adam stopped and pointed to a direction: "There she is"
Vaggie looked in that direction, and what she saw was a dry tree, clearly not cared for at all, growing in the corner of the garden. “What is it…?”
Alastor let out a sizzle and tightened his grip on his staff. "It's... her grave" he murmured.
Vaggie turned around to face him. The radio demon's face was veiled in shadow. She felt almost uncomfortable: she had spent a lot of time trying to understand what Alastor was thinking... and now that it was clear what emotions he was feeling, it was an alien sensation to her. She didn't know what to do when she saw the radio demon so vulnerable... so human.
Adam reached down and skimmed the ground at the foot of the tree. "She doesn't even have a gravestone" he said. "But from her grave, this plant gained nourishment and grew. Even in death, she gave so much life... but there was no one here to care for this tree. And in the end... even that is dead"
Alastor remained motionless. He seemed unable to decide whether to approach the grave or stay where he was. Vaggie touched his shoulder: "Alastor..."
“Don't you want to come here and say hello?” Adam asked him. "Won't you come and honor her? I don't remember that you have ever done so, either with your actions or with your soul. So why start now, right?"
Alastor's grip on his staff tightened. Adam walked towards him in a somewhat threatening manner. "Yeah... just as expected. Do you see it? You're not capable of facing those ghosts. You act like this, in this arrogant and pompous way, but when faced with something bigger than yourself, you back down. You prefer to ignore the past instead of making it yours, because you know that, if you face it, you will have to accept in your heart... that you have given her the greatest insult"
Adam grabbed Alastor's jaw and forced him to look him in the eyes. His face became hard and all smiles faded from his face. "Tell me, Alastor, which is the greater insult? The fact that you broke your mother's last wishes, spitting on all the love she felt for you... or the fact that you keep acting in this proud and arrogant manner of yours, as if the monster you are now was the fruit of her love?"
Alastor didn't dare to answer; indeed, he seemed to have become incapable of speaking. Vaggie in turn couldn't say a word as she saw the infamous radio demon reduced to such a fragile state.
"Do you want to know why Vox considers you a coward? Well, here's the answer: because you are so" Adam hissed. "You don't have the courage to go to that grave. You will never ask her for forgiveness, even if you know you will receive it. Because you know you will ruin everything again. You know that of all the misfortunes that have befallen your mother, you who broke her wish to have a good and just son is the most horrible thing that has happened to her. You know that even if your mother were here and hugged you, in the end you will make her cry. Because this is what you are. But you don't have the courage to admit it even to yourself. You keep holding back, rejecting that part of you... and that's what's holding you back!"
Alastor's eyes glowed red. Clearly what the first man was telling him was disturbing him to his core. "Yes... I know that look well" Adam growled, clenching his jaw tighter. "You're a coward, Alastor. And that's what keeps the chain around your neck tight!"
The radio demon's eyes widened. "What...?"
"Yes... I know" Adam told him with a grin. "Do you think I haven't noticed your chain? It's as obvious to me as if it were something concrete. You have a deal with someone who owns you. I don't know who it is... but I know you're desperately trying to free yourself. This is why you wanted to ingratiate yourself with the little offspring of Lucifer, right? So that she would have broken that agreement for you and free you"
"What!?" Vaggie exclaimed in amazement. Alastor, the infamous radio demon... had no control over his soul!? "Who...?"
“I have no idea, but it matters little” Adam interrupted. "The point is, Alastor... you could throw off that chain at any time, but you don't have the willpower to use the biggest loophole in your deal... am I right?"
Alastor tried to take a step back, but Adam held him firmly. “You… how do you know…?”
"I can read it in your very soul. I'm getting better and better at this" Adam answered him. "And I know that your contract does not bind the true radio demon, but only this... lesser version of you"
Alastor's eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean...?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. Soul contracts bind the person who signed them... but if their soul were to change, that bond would no longer exist. If that person were able to break the same barriers of their fine self upon becoming someone else, then the contract would no longer have any value" Adam explained. “Your contract does not bind the real you, but only this pathetic version of yourself, because this is the version that signed it. The true radio demon is that entity that embraces your entire self, but you refuse to accept that single part of you, you don't want to face that one ghost that truly scares you. Rather than exploit the only real loophole that you have, you prefer to stay in chains and hope that the sweet princess can free you. Your deal binds what you are now, so if only you would destroy this identity of yours, if you embraced your whole self and became the real you, that contract would no longer have any power over you... but you don't do it". The disgust in his voice became palpable: "Coward."
Alastor trembled. “I… am not a coward”
Adam touched his forehead to his, fixing him with a gaze that seemed deeper than the sea. “And why the fuck do you keep acting like you are, then?”
Alastor remained still for a long moment, and then finally his gaze moved again, resting on his mother's grave. Adam finally let him go and he, with an effort that seemed inhuman, walked until he reached the bare tree. There he lowered himself and touched the earth, that same earth that hid a body now reduced to bones and dust.
Vaggie walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. Every time he had touched the radio demon in her life she had thought that his body was as hard as steel, but at that moment his skin seemed much softer and more fragile, like that of a normal person. She didn't know what he was thinking at that moment... or if he was talking with the person beneath them at that moment with his mind. "I... I didn't know you had a mother" she finally told him, not knowing what else to say. "Not one you cared that much about, at least..."
Alastor sighed. “Yes… there are many things you don't know about me” he said. And even though it only lasted a split second, Vaggie could have sworn she saw a small tear emerge from his eye and fall to the ground.
Adam wagged his tail, calling attention to himself. "Finally, honor her memory at least a little. It's a start" he said, and then he looked at the villa. "Come now. It's time to end our visit"
And having said this he kicked the door, literally knocking it down. The noise rang throughout the house, but Adam's voice immediately drowned it: "Make way! The lost son has returned home!"
Vaggie looked carefully at the house. It was huge and they were only at the entrance at the moment, but it was already the size of an apartment. Although it was clearly very old, it was well kept: the red carpet on the floor was not moth-eaten, the books were kept in excellent condition, and the paintings on the walls did not show a single trace of dust. One of them caught her attention in particular: a painting depicting a tall man, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, who clearly resembled someone she knew very well. "Alastor... he's..."
"My mother's master" Alastor replied as he stared at the painting sizzling continuously. "I don't consider him my father"
Vaggie swallowed; the radio demon's fury was palpable. She looked at the other paintings, which showed people very similar to Alastor's father; clearly, after his death the villa had passed to his brother and then to his nephew. And the latter had a particular necklace around his neck: a necklace that bore a pendant on which stood out a sort of circular flag, red with a black outline, in the center of which there was a perfect cross with a spot in the center that resembled a drop of blood. "That's..."
"Are you surprised? It was obvious that such a family would have ended up to join the Ku Klux Klan" Adam said as he opened one of the bookcases. "Look at all the interesting stuff they have here... hey, look, they even have a copy of the Main Kampf! And they keep it next to...". His fingers reached for a finely bound book bearing the title Holy Bible. “It's amazing how a book that's supposed to be about salvation is used to perpetuate suffering, isn't it?”
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
Adam, Vaggie, and Alastor looked up to see a middle-aged man appear in front of them with the rifle. "How did you get in!? What are those costumes!?"
“Are you the owner?” Adam asked him calmly.
The man let out a snort. "I'm the guardian. Now leave, you and your carnival costumes, or I'll call the police...!"
Adam barely moved his hand, and the rifle in the man's hands crumpled in on itself. The guardian let out a scream of fear and fell to the ground.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid you can't give me orders. This place is mine. Everything that exists in this world is mine" Adam answered him, and then he lightly shook the Bible in his hands: "By the way, I think I'll take this. I didn't have time to read it carefully last time. I want to take a look at it... I'm interested on it"
Vaggie tried to reassure the guardian: "Sir, please stay calm. I assure you that nothing bad will happen to you..."
“Don't make promises you can't keep” Adam told her.
Vaggie swallowed. "You don't kill innocent people, you said so...!"
Adam smiled at her. "Who tells you he's innocent?"
Vaggie fell silent. "What...?"
"Learn to look around you carefully. You don't have to have my abilities to notice this!" Adam said, and he grabbed the man's right arm, pulling up the sleeve, revealing a swastika tattooed on his forearm. "A neo-Nazi, right? Well, obviously they couldn't hire just anyone for this job"
The guardian tried to free himself. "Let me go...!"
Adam grabbed him by the neck and forced him to look him in the eyes. "No..." he said as his pupils changed shape. “Let me show you something fun!”
It wasn't difficult for Vaggie to understand that Adam was subjecting that person to his sin-reviving power from the victim's point of view; so could he do it on humans too? Well, they were still human souls, even if they weren't dead yet. It wasn't surprising that he could do this with them too.
The guardian let out a deep sob and fell to the ground. He was crying and had his hands in front of his face. "Ha ha! What's the problem?" Adam asked him with a big laugh. "Aren't you being bold anymore now? Come on, tell us to go away, let me have fun again...!"
The guardian barely took his hands off his face to look at him; he looked like he was about to have a heart attack from fear. "L-Lucifer...?"
Adam's smile faded immediately. The air around him seemed to grow twenty degrees colder. "What?"
"I-It's you, right?" the guardian stammered. "Are you... are you the devil? Are you here to take my soul...?"
"WHAT!? NO!" Adam roared, and he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "Not at all! Do I look like that fucking worthless idiot to you, or one of his futile men!? Look at me, do I look like a Morningstar to you!? LUCIFER IS OUT OF THE PICTURE!"
With a single movement he slammed him to the ground, with such violence that the floor cracked; the man felt a good part of his bones breaking, and by a miracle he didn't die instantly.
"He's a thorn in my side! Lucifer is a disease, a cancer that needs to be eradicated!" Adam continued, whipping his tail every which way and smashing the furniture to crumbs. "Nothing but a worm devouring what had been a perfect apple! He's a stain on a white dress! DON'T COMPARE ME TO LUCIFER!"
Adam punched the wall, breaking it into a thousand pieces; the entire villa shook as if it were made of paper. The sound of breaking glass and falling paintings resonated in every corner of that enormous house.
Vaggie had gone pale. Adam was truly terrifying when he truly released his anger. It was like watching an erupting volcano or an earthquake ready to strike. She didn't know if it was a consequence of his new demonic appearance or if it had been like this before, since technically she had never seen Adam truly angry when he was an angel... but she was pretty sure that the fury that seemed to shine through his body like boiling steam wasn't new at all.
The first man let out a loud snort, and he closed his eyes to calm himself down; and when he turned again, his gaze had become colder than ever. "I say we've been here long enough" he hissed, and he took the painting of the radio demon's father, tore it open, and then threw it at his feet. “Alastor… it is time to wipe this treacherous stain from the face of the Earth”
The radio demon's eyes glowed red. "Yes..." he murmured in a voice that resembled a growl, as he stared at the torn painting of his father.
Adam approached him and stomped on the painting in disgust. "Stop holding back" he told him in an icy voice. "Break that chain. There is no point in hiding from yourself what you really are. Accept it... accept that you are the monster who caused the most pain to his mother. Accept this reality and break out of your shell. Be who you really are, be the true radio demon!"
Alastor sizzled even more. The shadow around him crumpled and warped, and almost seemed to take on an even greater consistency than usual. Adam grabbed his chin and forced him to look him in the eyes. "No more crying" he told him. "Now... just clean"
Alastor sizzled, even more violently than Vaggie remembered ever hearing him sizzle; and suddenly, power exploded from his body like a hurricane. His shadow tentacles merged into a single, immense wave of darkness that struck everything in its path, expanding like an immense black tumorous mass. The roar that was emitted sounded like that of a rabid beast.
It was true... he had to stop believing otherwise.
He was a monster, he knew it very well. He had always been a monster to everyone. There was no point in ignoring the fact that he was the same for his mother.
He, the breaker of that one promise.
He, the son she had raised teaching good, who had then made only evil his own.
Him, who had given her the worst insult with that single choice to embrace his monstrous side.
He was a demon in name and in fact. There was no point in denying this reality to himself. So... he might as well embrace it!
As soon as he thought this, his heart began to beat with extreme violence, a mixture of excitement and euphoria like he had never felt, and at the same time hatred and fear, which however, instead of making him retreat, pushed him forward. Alastor took that strength, that immense energy, and made it his own, feeling the power flow through every corner of his veins. The chain around his neck cracked and then broke with a sharp crack.
Finally, his true strength, his true power, filled his body like a toxic poison, burning him and at the same time making him feel like he could split the world in two. A power that poured out of him like a wave and began to devour everything.
Vaggie feared she would have been hit by it, but Adam grabbed her and flew out of the mansion, and remained there suspended in mid-air to enjoy the show. Under their gaze, the villa cracked as if it were made of paper; walls, floors, ceiling, roof, even the foundation, everything was swept away. The enormous mass of shadow expanded more than ever, and then rose upward, as if it were the hideous replica of a growing tree. The tentacles at the base became roots, the ones in the center formed layers and layers of bark for the trunk, and finally the ones at the top spread out to create branches. In the end, a perfect replica of the bare tree that had stood on Alastor's mother's grave, infinitely larger and darker but identical in every detail, had taken the place of the mansion, towering over its rubble like an invincible monster.
Adam had let go of Vaggie as soon as they were within a safe distance, and she had spread her wings to avoid falling; she could have flown away, or at least turned away, but instead she watched as that giant dark tree devoured everything that was left of the villa. Her heart was beating like crazy, and she had no idea why.
"Can you see it?" Adam told her as he moved closer to her right ear. "The beauty of the thing? The inevitability? Action... and reaction. Fact... and consequence. Evil... and cleanliness"
Vaggie shuddered at the words, and it almost felt like Adam was burrowing his way into her eardrum like a worm into an apple. But all her thoughts were cut short when the dark tree moved; its branches waved as if they were tentacles and curved towards the center. The trunk of the tree opened as if it were a mouth and the tentacles entered inside to grab something. Something that turned out to be Alastor, who was gently carried by the tentacles to the ground... but it wasn't the same Alastor as ever.
His body had grown bigger; he had become even bigger and more powerful than when he faced the loan sharks. His torso had become a ribcage open in the center, which showed inside a heart split into several parts, which nevertheless beat as if it were still intact. His legs had elongated into powerful hooves, and a tail made of bones and dotted with screaming skulls emerged behind him. The arms had in turn lengthened and transformed into actual knives, which were planted in the ground giving him a quadrupedal posture. His face had become more monstrous than ever: his smile took up at least half of his face, and his mouth was constantly open, as if he wanted to bite and tear something constantly; seams that seemed to be made of rusty wire dotted the lips. The irises of his eyes had become totally black, but not like in his usual demonic form: it was a black that did not remain in his eyes, but threatened to escape, as if it were an evil liquid eager to poison the world and make the sun disappear. His red pupils had retained their radio appearance, but now a reddish liquid that was undoubtedly blood dripped from them, which then soaked his cheeks and finally fell to the ground, causing the grass to wither every time he touched it. His hair had become a majestic mane that also fell down his back, and his antlers had become immense, more than those of a moose, and undoubtedly reminiscent of the twisted branches of the old tree that watched over his mother's grave.
A smile appeared on Adam's face. "Finally. Here it is" he said coming down towards him and touching his face. "Here it is, the true radio demon, with no more chains holding him back"
Alastor made a sound that sounded like a deer, a chain scraping on metal, and a broken radio. The huge dark tree behind him condensed and slid behind him, and attached itself to his back, forming six gigantic tentacles that continuously moved in the air, looking for something to grab.
Adam showed not the slightest fear in the face of that monstrosity. Instead, his smile widened and he grabbed the radio demon's chin, forcing it with just the strength of his fingers to stare into his eyes. "Now… you are truly transmuting your entire self into pure strength" he said. "You are finally truly ready to follow me on my mission. From now on you'll follow my guide, and just like all my soldiers, you'll call me sir. And before you'll realize it, you will call me master"
Alastor remained silent for a moment, and then, to Vaggie's immense surprise, he lowered his head until it almost touched the ground. “Yes, sir” he said. "Please guide me"
Adam cupped his forehead and lifted his head. Their eyes met again, but now, for the first time, it was absolutely clear who commanded and who served. "Yes, I will guide you. I will guide all of you. I will show you a new path to erase all this evil and make humanity worthy again. This world... will finally know justice"
Alastor nodded, and then his body shrank again; the shadows condensed into a humanoid figure, and he reappeared in his usual form... but now, his staff had a different shape: the microphone had become larger and vaguely resembled a heart twisted on itself from which two small deer antlers, and the shaft had become long and woody and ending in a root warning. “I'm ready” he said, tapping his staff on the ground.
Adam grinned with satisfaction, and then he headed towards the rubble of the villa, now reduced to nothing but crumbs. Nothing had survived... except one thing: at the center of that devastation was what looked like a cocoon of gas. It wasn't hard to tell that Adam had created it, because as soon as he snapped his fingers the gas vanished, revealing the guardian, who was still alive, but clearly traumatized. "Please... Please..."
Adam grabbed his right arm, exposing the swastika tattooed on it, and he grazed it with his thumb, causing it to burn. "Go to your friends" he told him as the man groaned in pain. "Go to your enemies too. Go to whoever you'll find on your way. Tell them that the father of all who exist in this world has returned to reclaim what is rightfully his... and that he is ready to clean his garden from the parasites that infested it"
The guardian looked like he was about to faint, but still found the strength to nod. "Good" Adam commented. "Oh, and by the way..."
With his thumb he made a deep cut on the swastika tattoo, causing a little blood to flow; with that same blood he drew his triangular symbol on one of the rubble and wrote a 5 underneath. Having done this he let go of the guardian, causing him to slip back into the debris; he curled into a ball, crying in terror. Adam ignored him and went back to Vaggie and Alastor. "We're done here" he said, rasing his hand in front of himself. "It's time to go somewhere else..."
Suddenly he felt a rush of adrenaline.
He stopped for a moment. What had just happened?
Strange... ok, he was satisfied with the situation, but it didn't seem like enough to justify that feeling.
And then...
For some reason, it almost felt like someone had thrown that feeling onto him, not that he'd felt it himself.
"Where are we going?" Alastor asked him.
Adam shook himself and smiled at him, and he waved his hand, opening a portal. "I showed you your home. Now... let me show you mine"
And having said this he signaled them to follow him and passed through the portal. Vaggie and Alastor went with him, leaving that violent devastation behind.
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154001890
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 18): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154229452
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 43: New destination
Notes:
Since someone asked me this in the previous chapter, I'll take this opportunity to make a little explanation: when Adam tells Alastor that he will soon address him as "master", he's actually playing with words. In that dialogue he means "master" as "teacher", thus indicating a master-apprentice relationship between him and Alastor; Adam is therefore identifying himself as the one who shows the way. At the same time, however, by saying "master" rather than simply "teacher" he is emphasizing the radio demon's submission to him. It's a way to tease Alastor and make it clear that he's in control even though he's setting himself up as a teacher and not a despot. Adam is literally doing the opposite of Charlie: while Charlie lets the sinners decide to come to the Hazbin Hotel and accepts everyone (just like Jesus Christ), Adam carefully selects those he wants to take as his henchmen and imposes his control over them (similar to a pagan god, who in fact had a contractual relationship with their faithful). Adam is telling Alastor that he will teach him the way, but it will be the way HE chooses, not the one Alastor wants to take. He is effectively telling Alastor that he is now in total control, and the radio demon cannot escape even if he wants to. In a nutshell, Adam is effectively behaving as if he is actually the devil, despite the fact that he hates being compared to Lucifer, as he provides Alastor with false freedom but in reality completely conditions him to his will.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When they were on the other side of the portal, the sky immediately changed color: instead of the sun there were only many stars, and the pure blue gave way to pitch black. Charlie's eyes widened at that sight. "Hey, does Earth also have several Rings like Hell...?"
"No, we just changed time zones" Husk replied. "Earth is not like Hell, the day/night cycle is marked by the movement of the planet. Now we are on the opposite side to the sun"
Charlie scratched her head. She was quite disorientated; even though she knew roughly how things worked on Earth, it was still quite destabilizing for her to move on that very alien world. Earth was indeed very different compared to Hell.
As had happened before, the portal had caused them to appear in an area where humans could not see them: incidentally, in some brush along the path. Even so, however, they were very close to the place where they wanted to go, and in fact they had no difficulty in noticing an area in front of them covered in rubble and surrounded by fire trucks and some police cars that were marking the place. "Damn, Adam really let himself go" Angel commented.
“Why did he destroy this house?” Charlie asked confused. "It doesn't make sense. I doubt there was anything he cared about in Louisiana...". A doubt suddenly crossed her mind. "Wait a minute... in Louisiana there was nothing... he cared about..."
"What are you saying?" Cherri asked her.
"Alastor was from Louisiana" Charlie replied. "What if Adam wasn't the one responsible for this, but Alastor?"
There was a long moment of silence. "Wait... you mean Smiles destroyed this house? Why would he?" Angel murmured.
"I don't know, but it's actually not too silly of a hypothesis" Husk said, rubbing his chin. "Alastor never liked to talk much about his past in Louisiana, but I'm sure he had a lot of skeletons in his closet. Maybe he took advantage of the situation to come here and... settle a score, so to speak"
"Settle a score after almost a century?" Angel opined. "I don't deny that Smiles knows how to hold a grudge, but I doubt that there is still anyone on this planet that he knew when he was alive"
Charlie motioned for them to follow her. “We'll discover it right away” she said. "Come, let's go check it out"
They headed towards that large pile of rubble, hoping to find something that would have helped them understand what had happened. Needless to say, as soon as they arrived one of the policemen stopped them: "Guys, please, you can't stay here. It's not safe"
"What happened?" Husk asked trying to sound as much as possible like a person who just happened to be there.
"An earthquake" the policeman replied. "It's unlikely that the situation is still dangerous, but until we get the all clear, we can't let you anywhere near it"
"Really? An earthquake?" Angel commented clearly sarcastic. "With all due respect, sir, I don't remember earthquakes being able to crush anything into such small crumbs"
The policeman shrugged. "We know as much as you do. We are still trying to reconstruct the events well. The seismographs sensed a strong tremor in this area, but we don't know exactly how the villa shrank like this..."
“Wait, villa?” Charlie stopped him. "Whose villa?"
The policeman looked at her surprised. "Don't you know? Here was the historic villa of the family..."
“IT WAS NOT A FUCKING EARTHQUAKE!”
That scream immediately attracted everyone's attention. It wasn't difficult for them to notice a man who was being held back by three policemen and who kept waving his arms. "IT WAS A DEMON! I TELL YOU, IT WAS A DEMON! HE IS HERE! HE IS HERE TO TAKE BACK WHAT IS HIS!"
"Who is that guy?" Angel asked confused.
"The guardian of the villa" the policeman replied. "We don't know how he saved himself, but what happened certainly caused him a great shock. He keeps screaming that it was a demon in the shape of a deer that destroyed the mansion, and that another demon watched him in his eyes showing him all his sins"
Charlie, Angel, Husk, Cherri, Velvette, Rosie, and even Niffty exchanged quick glances. It wasn't difficult to understand who that description was referring to. It was at that point that Charlie noticed a detail: "Did he get hurt in the disaster?" she asked, as the guardian was clearly bleeding from his right arm, which was flayed.
The policeman shook his head. "No, he did it all by himself. When we arrived we found him trying to tear off as much skin as possible from that spot. We suspect he wrote those things with his blood"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "What things?"
The policeman raised his finger and pointed to one of the rubble, on which a familiar upside-down triangle stood out, surmounting the number 5. Charlie's eyes widened as she recognized it. "We don't know what it means, but forensics has confirmed that the blood is his" the policeman explained. "We assume it's some symbol of purge or something. From what we've managed to find out, that guy was a neo-Nazi, but now that he's gone mad, he seems to want to wash away that shame with his own blood"
Charlie bit her lip. "Look... I know you shouldn't let a civilian pass, but... can I try to calm him down? I'm a psychologist, I might at least be able to get him to stop fussing like that"
“Miss, that guy is dangerous” the policeman told her. "We can't let you get close..."
"I'm much stronger than I look" Charlie replied. "Just let me give it a try, if it doesn't work you can kick me out"
The policeman looked somewhat doubtful. "Miss, with all due respect, but we can't..."
Velvette suddenly moved and raised her cell phone to eye level with the cop, forcing him to look at the screen. He made a sound of surprise, but a moment later his eyes blurred and he staggered slightly. "Uh... sorry, I'm feeling a little unwell. What was I saying...?"
"You were about to allow us to pass" Velvette replied.
"Yes... yes, right" the policeman replied, stepping aside. "Please, go ahead"
Angel looked at Velvette in surprise. "How did you do it?"
"I learned all the hypnotism techniques, I fused them together through an algorithm, and finally I amplified the effect to the maximum by exploiting my powers" the social overlord explained to him. “It's said that cell phones can melt your mind, so let's make them do it”
"Well, thanks" Charlie told her with a smile. "You were kind..."
"Yeah, you finally made yourself useful without anyone forcing you" Cherri commented harshly.
Velvette rolled her eyes. "I just want to get back to Hell as soon as possible. Now, do you want to interrogate that lunatic or would you rather waste time until Adam destroys something else?"
"Sure, sorry" Charlie told her, remembering the situation they were in and starting to run towards the crazy guardian, although halfway she turned again to say: "Anyway, thanks!"
Velvette let out an annoyed growl. "Seriously, how do you manage to be around her all day? My blood sugar is rising to dramatic levels because of all that sweetness of hers"
"Well, we appreciate sweetness" Angel replied. "Not always, but we still like having her around. Trust me, after a while, you realize that she's right and that behaving well isn't so bad"
"You guys are really idiots" Velvette said shaking her head. "You should make her understand that no demon will ever redeem themselves, don't indulge her fantasy. You know it's impossible"
"Says the one who just did a good deed" Angel replied.
Velvette nearly choked on her own saliva. “In what universe would hypnotizing a police officer to allow a demon princess to interrogate a crazy human be considered a good deed!?”
"Okay, it's actually horrible when you say it like that" Angel admitted. "But you gave us a hand. This can be classified as a good deed... I think"
“Do you think it or are you sure of it?” Velvette asked him unconvinced. “This to me just seems like a crime”
"Yes, but the point is that you helped even if no one asked you to!" Angel answered her. "I started like this too, in a not exactly orthodox way... when the hotel was still being opened I ran to help Cherri in a street fight while she was fighting..."
Husk elbowed him in the sternum, nearly spitting out his lungs in the process. The spider demon remembered then that it wasn't a good idea to talk about Pentious with Cherri there. This at least ended the conversation, to the delight of Velvette who finally no longer had that idiot's voice in her ears.
In the meantime Charlie had reached the guardian, who was now being held down by four policemen. It was as if he had more adrenaline pumping through his body than an African elephant in heat. "Leave me! You must believe me! It was a demon! It was a demon, I tell you...!"
"Calm down!" Charlie told him intervening. "Listen to me, please, you need to calm down. Look me in the eyes and..."
"You don't believe me!" the guardian shouted. "None of you believe me! We must repent! He will destroy us! We will..."
"I believe you" Charlie told him in a determined voice.
The guardian stopped for a moment. "No. It's not true. Nobody believes me..."
Charlie took his face firmly in her hands; even though he tried to free himself, her demonic strength was too superior. "I believe you" she repeated firmly. "Look me in the eyes, and tell me if you think I'm lying"
The guardian remained silent for a long time as he stared at her intently, searching for any sign of deceit in her gaze, but finding none. "Do you... believe me...?"
"Yes, I believe you. And I want to help you. But I need you to calm down" Charlie replied. “Please calm down… and tell me what you saw”
The guardian breathed deeply for several minutes, and Charlie never let go of his head, continuing to stare intensely into his eyes. Finally, he seemed to return to some sort of calm and slid to the ground, sitting down in the grass and clutching his knees. He hadn't stopped shaking, but at least he no longer seemed completely crazy. The policemen who had previously been holding him were surprised, but seeing that it was working, they let Charlie do what she wanted, and she knelt before him. "So?"
The guardian let out a sob. "It happened... suddenly. I heard a violent bang, as if the doors of the mansion had been thrown open, and a voice screaming that the lost son had returned. I grabbed my rifle and ran to the entrance, and I found them. There were three of them... an angel, a deer demon, and another very large demon with two large horns..."
“Was the angel okay?” Charlie couldn't stop herself from asking.
To her delight, the guardian nodded. "Yes... she tried to help me, but the horned demon came at me and showed my swastika, the symbol of my cruel soul... and then... then he looked at me... those eyes... oh, those eyes... it was terrible... monstrous...!"
"Sssssh. It's okay. It's over now" Charlie tried to tell him hoping to calm him down.
But the guardian shook his head. "No, it's not over! Now I know who I am... I know what a horrible person I am...! And I know that he will kill me! He will kill all the pests infesting his garden! All of them...!"
Charlie bit her tongue. Adam's magical gaze seemed to have much more destructive effects on the psyche of humans... or maybe it was her friends who knew how to hide well how much it had ruined them inside? “Tell me… about what happened next, please”
The guardian swallowed. "The horned demon... he took the painting of one of the old masters, tore it open and threw it at the feet of the deer deer. He told him... to accept who he was, that he had caused pain to his mother, not to stay any longer..."
Charlie's eyes widened. "His mother...?"
The guardian didn't even seem to hear her: "And then... then the deer demon... oh, God... he became a shadow... he destroyed everything... he became that tree, but made of shadows... which then hatched, and released him in all his power... and the horned demon greeted the real radio demon, and said that he was ready to follow him on his mission... and then... and then...!". He put his hands on his head, shaking like a leaf. "He told me to tell everyone that the father of us all has come back to claim what is his, and he will clean up his garden! He will clean up his garden of all us parasites! He is angry... he is so angry... and he will clean everything up... clean up... he wants to clean up...!"
Charlie couldn't hold his gaze any longer; that man's face seemed to have transformed into a mask of madness. However, she tried to stay focused: "Did he say anything else as he left...?"
The guardian let out a deep gasp. "He told the deer demon... that now that he had shown him his home, he would show him his... and he opened a portal... and they disappeared..."
"His home...?" Charlie repeated in confusion. Did Adam mean Eden? But Eden no longer existed... "You said that the deer demon became 'that tree'. Which tree are you referring to?"
The guardian raised a hand weakly. "That..." he replied, pointing to a dry tree not far from them.
Charlie nodded. "Thank you" she told him. "Now rest. You need it..."
"I cannot!" the guardian exclaimed. "We must repent now! We must make amends! He will find us! He is coming! He will take the world that belongs to him and exterminate all the unworthy! He will punish the wicked and throw them into a chasm of fire...!"
His voice suddenly died; his head fell down and his eyes closed. He had fainted from shock. Charlie caught him before he hit his head and motioned for the cops to take him. “Take him to an ambulance” she told them. "And give him some anti-stress drugs. He needs them"
The policemen nodded and grabbed him bodily, taking him away. Charlie hoped the man would have recovered; unfortunately she wasn't really a doctor and she had no idea how the human mind could react to such things. She hoped that true human doctors could do better than her.
She nodded to her friends and together they headed towards the dead tree. Apparently it was a tree like any other. “So Smiles turned into this thing?” Angel commented. "I don't understand... it just looks like an old log"
"Yeah... judging by how big and dry it is, it's definitely over eighty" Husk said crossing his arms over his chest. "Something tells me it's not just a tree"
Charlie rubbed her chin. "Whatever it is, it has something to do with Alastor" she said. "Let's try digging, maybe..."
"I'll take care of it!" Niffty exclaimed, and suddenly she seemed to turn into a mole and dug into the ground. After just a minute, she came back up carrying what was undoubtedly a bone in her mouth like she was a dog. "Hey, there's a skeleton down here!"
"Yes... we understood that" Charlie said, taking the bones with a bit of guilt: it wasn't difficult to understand that they were exhuming a grave. "Who is...?"
"I'll take care of it" Rosie said taking the bone in her hand, and to everyone's surprise she started licking it, being very careful not to be seen by the humans.
"Ehw... what are you doing?" Angel muttered disgustedly.
“Yeah, it really sucks” Cherri said, trying not to look.
Rosie snorted. "Do you think I like it? This stuff is dirty, it's disgusting!" she replied, ignoring that licking a human bone should never have been a good thing. "Shut up, I have to concentrate! This bone is very old, but I can still...!"
Her eyes glowed red for a split second and she held her breath. When they returned to normal, she let out a grunt and looked like she had just run a marathon. "I know who she was"
“How did you…?” Angel asked her.
"One of my powers. I lick bones and I can sense that person's past. The newer the bones, the easier it is" Rosie explained to him.
Charlie tried to ignore that macabre method of investigation: "So, who was it?"
Rosie sighed. "She was... Alastor's mother"
Everyone's eyes widened. "Wait, this is Alastor's mother's grave!?" Angel exclaimed.
“The one who made jambalaya!” Niffty exclaimed with a wide smile.
Charlie was surprised like few times in her life. She didn't know much about Alastor's past, but the radio demon had occasionally cracked jokes about the dishes his mother made for him. "Why is she buried here?"
Rosia sighed. "She worked here as a maid for the owner of this villa, who continually abused her, and then he killed her in a moment of anger"
Charlie was petrified, and she wasn't the only one; beyond the surprise, many other sensations made their way into their hearts. “By abused… you mean…?” Angel muttered in disgust.
Rosie nodded slightly. "Yes, you understood correctly"
Angel clenched his fists. If there was one thing he had always hated, it was rape; having suffered it several times from Valentino, he knew very well what it felt like. He felt quite a bit of anger towards that man, even though he had never met him.
Charlie was pale. "But... why didn't anyone help her?" she asked. "This is not Hell, there are authorities...!"
"Yes, but they're not always efficient" Rosie told her. "Alastor's mother was a black woman who didn't have even a penny in her pocket. She endured that life for her son..."
"You didn't answer my question! Why didn't anyone help her?" Charlie repeated.
"Isn't it clear to you? Because she had a different skin color than them" Velvette said rolling her eyes boredly.
Charlie was speechless. "What...?"
"What, don't you know? Here people hate those with different skin colors" Velvette told her with a shrug, although still a small light of contempt passed in her eyes. "Racism was a problem in America even when I was still alive, let alone a hundred years ago"
Charlie's voice died in her throat. She wasn't ignorant, she knew what racism was... but knowing that a poor woman hadn't had even a little bit of protection just because of her skin color made her heart ache. A quick look at her friends made her realize that for once they were all agreeing with Velvette.
Charlie knew almost nothing about the relationship between Alastor and her mother, but she was sure it was a very good one given how she talked about it. And if she had indeed been abused and killed in that place, it was no surprise that Alastor had razed everything to the ground. “Put it in its place” she said, handing the bone to Niffty. "Let her rest in peace"
The little maid immediately nodded and put the bone back exactly where she had found it, and then she closed the grave with earth, taking great care to put every speck of dust back in its place. Charlie remained silent for a moment, apologizing to that woman for desecrating her grave even for just a few minutes, and then she returned to focusing on the situation: "Adam said he would have taken Vaggie and Alastor 'to his home'. But Eden no longer exists, so… any idea what he meant?”
Her friends thought about it, and then Husk said: "He might be referring to... the place where he built his home on Earth. I mean... where he raised his kids and stuff, and maybe spent his last years as a human being"
Charlie figured that option wasn't all that far-fetched. "I'll try asking my parents" she said, taking the grimoire and opening a small portal.
In Hell, Lilith and Lucifer were still in the Hazbin Hotel, chatting to relieve some of the tension. They would probably both have liked to 'make up' for lost time, but given the situation they had held back and remained there waiting for news from their daughter. They both immediately jumped to attention as they saw the portal open, but they calmed down when they saw Charlie's face appear on the other side. "What's going on, honey?" Lilith asked her.
“Maybe we know where Adam went” Charlie told them. "We know he went... to his home"
Lucifer and Lilith's eyes widened. "At... his home?"
"Yes. We think he headed to the place where he built his home with Eve after the destruction of Eden" Charlie told them. "You know where it is, right? Can you tell us?"
Lilith and Lucifer nodded, though at the same time they scratched the back of their heads. "Well..."
Vaggie, Alastor, and Adam reappeared in an arid area, being greeted by a blast of dry heat. The first man, however, was not at all bothered by this and instead made a satisfied sound. "Aaaaaah... it really feels like home"
Vaggie coughed a little due to some dust getting into her nose. “This was your home…?”
"Oh, no. I opened the portal a little away" Adam replied, then pointed to a point in the distance. "My home was right over there"
Vaggie and Alastor looked at the indicated spot, and saw a city. A city with many walls and with many very old buildings, many of them belonging to different religions. “Wait… is that…?”
"The holy city of Jerusalem. Well... when I was alive it wasn't there yet, but they built it right where my house stood... and where my tomb is" Adam answered her. "Welcome to what should have been the center of the world"
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154001890
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 18): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154229452
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 44: Conversation in the desert
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie had expected Adam to put some great plan into motion once they got to Jerusalem, or at least take them on a tour of 'his home' to show them something else, but he had done none of that. Adam had simply found a cave in the wild and sat in it, and he had told her and Alastor they could rest. Having said that, it was as if he had disappeared: not a word, not a comment, not even a grunt.
Vaggie and Alastor had gone to sit in another corner of the cave, a little deeper. They too remained silent and did not speak to each other. Vaggie, however, continued to stare at Alastor, with a bit of fear in her eyes: she didn't know why, but it was as if she could feel that the radio demon had changed. If he usually seemed to be constantly plotting something, now his expression had become totally indecipherable; his eyes and face seemed hazy, and not even a little thought shone through them. Alastor seemed to have become the quintessence of calm, and if before this calm was disturbing and it was still possible to notice his changes in mood, now he was extremely relaxed and unperturbed.
If it hadn't been for the scene she had witnessed earlier, Vaggie might have almost thought that he had found inner peace.
Just thinking back to what had happened in Louisiana sent a shiver down her spine. That chorus of desperate voices still rang in her ears, and she desperately tried to focus on any other sound, even just the dripping of water from a stalactite, so as not to hear it. She was afraid to close her eyes because she knew she would have saw all those crying and suffering faces again as soon as she did so.
It had been... traumatic. She had no other way to put it.
Did Adam really hear those echoes of suffering every time he came down to Earth, or even just look at it from afar? Vaggie had no idea how he hadn't gone crazy. If she had heard that chorus of desperation over and over, she would have opened her skull with her own spear to make it stop.
Vaggie was not ignorant of the History of humanity; even though she had never physically been to Earth, she had studied it a lot. She knew well what atrocities had been committed over the long millennia that humanity had existed.
But between knowing that certain atrocities had been committed... and seeing firsthand everything that the innocent had suffered, hearing their screams, observing them in their suffering, listening to their calls for help... there was definitely a gulf in the middle of.
It almost felt like some of those desperate echoes were wrapping around her neck as if they were a chain, as if they wanted to make her feel a fraction of the suffering they felt.
In the end, in order to distract herself, she decided that attempting a conversation with Alastor was decidedly less unpleasant than continuing to remain silent and letting those echoes torment her. And since nothing else came to mind at that moment, she asked: "What was she like?"
Alastor just raised an eyebrow. "Mh?"
"Your mother" Vaggie explained. "What was she like?"
She expected Alastor to show some signs of tension as he had in Louisiana, but this was not the case: the radio demon did not lose his calm in the slightest, remaining as impassive as before. “She was… good” he replied with a genuine smile on his face. "Strong, determined, courageous. No matter how terrible the obstacle in front of her was, she never stopped smiling. She saw only the good even in a world that gave her only the bad"
It was the first time Vaggie had heard such admiration in Alastor's voice. And affection. Before that day, she wasn't even sure he could have such feelings. “She seems… truly an extraordinary woman”
"She was" Alastor confirmed to her. "A flower that no one could make wither. They tried, you know... many tried to tear off her leaves, break her stem, remove her petals. They never succeeded. They always failed. In the end... she won. She remained a perfect flower until the moment she passed away. Not a word of anger, hatred or revenge ever left her lips"
Vaggie bit her lip. "I'm sure she's in Heaven, and she's happy"
"She certainly is. She deserved it" Alastor commented with a bit of nostalgia in his voice.
Vaggie hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should ask that question, but then curiosity got the better of her: "I already had an idea, but... how did she die?"
"When the parasites realize that they cannot make a flower wither, they do not accept it. So they uproot it and throw it away" Alastor answered her. "My dear father, after taking her dignity, beating her all her life, putting a child in her belly without her consent, and giving her nothing but verbal and physical abuse for decades, smashed a bottle into her head"
"I figured so" Vaggie admitted. “I assume he regretted it later”
"Oh, he certainly regretted it. In this life and in the next" Alastor replied a little threateningly. "I wasn't fast at all with him. It's thanks to him that I honed many of my torture arts"
Vaggie let out a snort. She couldn't feel the slightest empathy towards that man, and indeed, a part of her wanted to compliment the radio demon for his revenge. Which made her feel very guilty because it clashed with the idea that bad people could be redeemed... in fact, it was literally the philosophy of the Extermination.
Finally she decided to ask the fateful question: "Why does Adam say that you gave her the greatest insult?"
And incredibly, Alastor still didn't lose his composure. Not an inch of his body tensed. "My mother begged me not to become what I am now" he explained to her. "In her final moments, she asked me not to pursue hatred and revenge, and not to kill. Even at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to preserve my soul. I promised her, and I broke that promise made on her deathbed less than half an hour later"
Vaggie's eyes widened. "Really?" she murmured in amazement. Even at that moment, had that woman thought of nothing but trying to protect Alastor from himself? The admiration she felt for her rose even more.
Alastor nodded. “Yes, that's right” he confirmed, and then he continued: “After I buried her, I never went back to her grave. I went to New Orleans, and other parts of the United States. I killed a lot of people, just for the pleasure of it. I never regretted anything. I ignored her last wishes, I ignored my promise, I ignored her one pray. She had given everything for me, and I have betrayed her. So yes... Adam is right when he says that I have given her the greatest insult. Imagine living a horrible life, all to raise your child, and wishing for him a life of love and serenity... and then, that same child becomes a monster. Wouldn't you feel insulted?"
Vaggie didn't know what to answer. She just felt a great weight in her heart. "Why did you do that?" she asked him.
Alastor shook his head. "Because that's what I am. I'm selfish, self-centered, someone who doesn't care about others. I found that killing was cool, so I kept doing it" he replied simply. "All these years I've tried not to remember my mother's last words, to escape this reality. But Adam is right. This is my true identity. I have to stop ignoring it. This is me. The man who gave the greatest insult to his mother"
"Is that why you follow him?" Vaggie asked him.
"Adam promised me a world where such things won't happen again. He's giving me the chance to give my mother at least this little comfort, the knowledge that at least in my last battle I really tried to do something good" Alastor replied to her. "After all the insults I have given her, I cannot give up this last opportunity. Adam is right, I must not reject my past, but transform it into my strength. Now I am truly aware of who I am... and precisely for this reason I know what I have to do"
Vaggie finally understood why he was so calm. Alastor had been tense ever since their arrival in Louisiana because the memories that place evoked brought to him a truth that he had tried to avoid. Now that Adam had made him accept that truth, Alastor was at peace with himself. "You know he will kill you too, right?"
"Yes" Alastor said. "I'm okay with it. It's what I deserve, after all"
Vaggie snorted. "Seriously, I think Adam just beat everyone when it comes to manipulation. Anyone who can bend the radio demon can only be the clear winner of this competition"
"Adam is a father. The first of all fathers. He knows his children well... and knows how to make them do what he wants" Alastor answered her. "After all, the best way to break a person is to show them the truth they were trying to escape from"
"His truth. Not mine, not yours" Vaggie hissed. "Adam does not have the absolute truth"
Alastor let out a soft grunt. "Why do you keep opposing him? Would it really be so wrong if he won? It's a beautiful world what he's talking about. No more evil, no more chaos. Isn't that what you and Charlie always wanted?"
"And how many people must die for this world to come true? Thousands? Millions? Billions?" Vaggie asked him defiantly. "What is the price of the perfect world?"
Alastor shrugged. "I don't know. And honestly, I don't care" he answered truthfully. "I told you, I'm selfish and self-centered. I don't care how many people die along the way"
Vaggie rolled her eyes. "Well, new guru of self-pity, maybe you deserve it but I certainly don't, and I'm not about to let anyone else get hurt!" she told him, getting up and taking quick steps away from him. Alastor simply ignored her words and was left alone with his thoughts.
Vaggie headed towards the cave exit. Adam was still there, sitting in his spot. "So, what are you doing?" Vaggie asked him.
Adam shifted slightly, showing the book in his hands. "I'm reading the Bible" he answered.
"Shouldn't you be doing something useful? I don't know, carrying out your plan, looking for a relic, trying to trick me like you did with the smiling deer?" Vaggie asked him.
"Ah, Vagasaurus... you're always the same. You stop at the appearances" Adam replied to her. "Who says I'm lazing around? I'm working hard at this very moment. Simply such work doesn't require my hands"
Vaggie didn't understand what Adam was referring to, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't have explained it to her, so she let it go. "Why do you read the Bible? You know all those stories by heart, I bet"
Adam nodded. "Yes, but... I admit that this book has something... I don't know, something" he replied. “Maybe I should have paid more attention to it much earlier”
“Are you looking for the message of salvation?” Vaggie asked rhetorically.
Adam grinned. "And even if I was? What would you say?"
"I would tell you that someone like you wastes his time looking for it" Vaggie replied.
"Really? Because this book agrees with me on many things" Adam pointed out the Bible. "Punish the wicked, save the good. Isn't this my philosophy of life? Read, in the final pages there is even a great battle between the forces of good and evil, in which the evil ones are... exterminated"
Vaggie scratched her head; she wanted to reply, but she knew that many parts of the Bible actually called for punishment. The fact that salvation was offered to all did not mean that those who rejected it should have been left unpunished.
She sat down next to him. She was silent for a long moment, and then she said: "Tell me what you did to Carmilla"
“The weapons manufacturer?” Adam muttered. "Do you care about her?"
"I owe her a favor" Vaggie replied. "It's thanks to her that I got my wings back"
"Really? I didn't know that" Adam admitted. “I'm surprised. I understand why you're worried”
"I don't want you to turn her into your new favorite follower like him" Vaggie said nodding her head at Alastor. "So?"
Adam smiled at her. "You can rest assured. I didn't even touch her with the tip of my finger. After our little battle, I refrained from even scratching her"
Vaggie didn't deny she was a little relieved, but very little. "That's not what I asked. What state is her mind in?"
Adam shrugged. "I'm not in her head... but I assume she's very... upset? Fatigued? Bent over? I don't know how to explain it"
Vaggie clenched her fists. “Did you use your gaze?”
“Of course” Adam confirmed. “But don't treat me like I'm the cause of her pain”
"Said the one who is psychologically torturing a person" Vaggie hissed.
But Adam only chuckled. "I'm afraid you're off track. I stopped using my gaze on Carmilla not even fifteen minutes after I brought her to my lair. I haven't done so since"
Vaggie was a little surprised. "Really? You haven't forced her to do anything anymore?" she asked him, remembering very well the state of the woman in the video sent by Vox.
"Absolutely not" Adam confirmed to her. "Do you think my gaze is a horrible power? Fool. My gaze is worth nothing. If I looked into the eyes of a person who has no weight on their conscience, like our deer friend, nothing would change for them. If they become so bent and broken after looking at me, they can only blame themselves. I only removed their lies"
Vaggie didn't understand. "What are you saying?"
Adam licked his lips. "People like that surround themselves with lies, Vaggie. 'I had no choice'... 'I don't care'... 'I'm pleased with what I did'... all bullshit. That's just a veil of lies that those people place on their hearts to avoid feeling their conscience screaming in pain at their every action. Remove it... and the weight of their own faults will break them as if they were twigs. I don't need to torture them... because they torture themselves on their own"
Vaggie narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like something that can apply to you, too” she said. "You should try looking in the mirror"
"Your smiling friend also told me, and I'll answer you the same way I answered him: I already have" Adam told her.
Vaggie was surprised by this. "And what did you see?"
"Only things I already knew" Adam replied. "Mistakes that I had already accepted as such. I told you, I don't run away from reality. All my mistakes, I accept them and turn them into strength, just like I forced your friend to do"
Vaggie wanted to insist, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't have gotten any further explanations from him. Just like Alastor, Adam had remained completely calm as he spoke, although it was clear from his tone of voice that he wasn't remembering good things. "So you're a monster like him?"
"Monster?" Adam repeated. "No... I call myself just a man. A man who has had a long time to contemplate his mistakes... and who has understood what he must do to fix them"
Vaggie bit her lip. Adam, after becoming a demon, had become more cautious and cunning; definitely, this experience had awakened sides of him that he had never shown before. But what absolutely hadn't changed was exactly that: that eternal belief that he was right, and that what he was doing was extremely correct. It was behavior almost on par with a fanatical extremist. But this time, Vaggie could understand where such confidence came from... and what were the mistakes Adam was referring to that he had had far too much time to contemplate. Perhaps it would have been better if he had contemplated them less. "Do you really hear those echoes?"
Adam's smile faded from his lips. He did not lose his composure, but it was clear that this was not an easy subject for him. "Every moment" he replied. "This world has a life of its own too, Vaggie. Not a life as we normally understand it, but a life nonetheless. And remember every evil that has happened on it since the beginning of time. Nothing but shadows and echoes of a recent or distant past, but all extremely loud. They are all different... and at the same time, they are all identical. If there is one thing that has never changed over all these thousands of years... it is the sound of desperation"
Vaggie bit her lip. "Do you feel responsible for them?"
"I am responsible for them" Adam replied to her. "I am responsible for every single human being that exists on this planet and ever will exist. And unlike your princess, I understand what the word responsibility means... and unlike a certain foolish king, I do not run from it"
Vaggie ignored the barbs. “Do you feel responsible for them because of… well… the fruit?”
Adam nodded slightly. "My wife ate it, but I didn't stop her. And even afterwards... I let my guard down too much"
"They told me what happened" Vaggie told him.
"Then you know that I am still responsible. I ignored the signs, I closed my eyes. Mine was a sin of negligence, and now I must fix it" Adam said in a voice similar to a hiss. “I must cleanse the rot that I have allowed to enter into the world. It is my responsibility, and it is my duty to wipe out every instance of evil”
"What if yours isn't the right method?" Vaggie asked him. "What if there was another way? What if we could...?"
"What? Redeem them?" Adam's face twisted into a mask of anger. "And what is the price of redemption? Should I let billions of victims meet again with the same monsters that destroyed their lives? Should I leave the slave in the company of the slaver, the murdered in the company of the murderer, the raped in the company of the rapist? Should I open the gates of the blessed realm to all of them, and tell those people who have wanted nothing but revenge all their lives that there is no justice? Should I lead those who were once monsters to Heaven, risking them falling back into their old habits? And even if they don't, you know that their victims will forever live in fear of having such people around! Should I turn Heaven into a place where those who have truly earned eternal bliss through a life of sacrifice they have to live with their tormentors who didn't deserve it at all? Should I... make them suffer again?"
Vaggie swallowed. "I... I don't know. I don't want to make anyone suffer..."
"You missed that chance. We all missed it the moment my wife ate that fruit" Adam replied. "In this deviant universe, if you don't want to suffer it's always at someone else's expense. There are no valid alternatives, there is no way to break this cycle. The only solution now is to clean up the rot before it spreads. This universe needs correction"
"You can't know that!" Vaggie protested.
"I'm the only one who knows that!" Adam growled. “Or at least, I'm the only one who's willing to do something about it! Because humanity is my responsibility! Despite all their imperfections, I am the FATHER of these people! And I'm not going to ignore their cries while I they demand revenge! I will settle things once and for all!"
Vaggie was silent for a split second. And then a whisper fell from her lips: "Revenge? In all those echoes, I heard no word of revenge. I only heard voices calling for peace"
Adam froze for a moment. "Peace... must be built and maintained. And will is needed for this" he said, closing the Bible in his hands. "The greatest sacrifices require the strongest will"
Vaggie bit her lip. "But..."
“Do you know what the only lie I've found in this book so far?” Adam asked her suddenly shaking the Bible in his hands.
Vaggie was taken aback by that question. "No... which one?"
Adam snorted. "That forgiveness is the best way" he replied. "Often, to create... you must destroy first. And that's what I will do"
And having said this he rose up in all his height; Vaggie felt the urge to step back. The authority and fear that the first man was able to exude was extraordinary. Adam raised his hand slightly, and some small orbs of light formed on his fingers. "I've regained enough strength" he said. "Walk with me again, my soldiers!"
The orbs of light jumped from his hand and expanded, creating bones, organs, muscles, veins, arteries, nerves. In an instant, several Exorcists reappeared in front of him, letting out a cry of victory. "Yay! It's really nice to have a body again!" one of them exclaimed.
"Yeah! Man, it's incredible how much you can miss sensory perception!" another one said, touching her face in satisfaction.
“Forgive me for taking so long” Adam told them. “Rebuilding my power after the battle with Lucifer took longer than expected”
"We are at your service, sir!" the Exorcists said with a broad smile, saluting him in the military way.
"Good. Let's get busy" Adam told him, and then he nodded at Vaggie: "Aren't you saying hello to your sister?"
The Exorcists looked at Vaggie very badly, and she felt goosebumps rise under that fiery gaze. "We don't usually greet traitors" they replied.
"Come on, now don't exaggerate" Adam told them, and he stared at Vaggie in a rather disturbing way. "I made the mistake of not taking care of her properly. The responsibility is mine, and therefore I will solve the problem. I can assure you that she will finally become a true Exorcist!"
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329205
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 18): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154229452
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 45: "What the fuck is your problem!?"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The portal opened again in an alley, located between two brick houses in a fairly isolated area of Jerusalem. Charlie and her friends were greeted by the warm air of the Middle East; definitely, the temperature and humidity there were quite different than Ukraine or Louisiana. Charlie had to admit that she was becoming more and more surprised by Earth: it was truly incredible how so many different biomes could be concentrated on a single planet. Sure, Hell was also divided into seven Rings, but those were multiple separate worlds and were always the same; Earth, on the other hand, was a single world and was completely different.
"Ugh, all this heat is going to ruin my styling" Velvette muttered. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"Mom and dad say this is where Adam and Eve built their first house" Charlie replied. "And thousands of years later, humans built this city"
"So, Jerusalem stands on what was effectively humanity's first home?" Angel muttered scratching his head. “Wow. It almost seems ironic”
“So this is the place where Jesus Christ came to preach…” Charlie muttered as she looked around. She had to admit that she felt a little in awe walking on that same land where the Messiah had walked many centuries before.
"Not exactly" Husk told her. "Jesus preached almost everywhere, this is where he was crucified"
Charlie bit her lip. “Uh… right”
"But it's also the place where he was resurrected after three days!" Angel reminded her, hoping to cheer her up.
Charlie scratched her head embarassed. "Sorry... I didn't remember the story well" she commented. “What did Jesus tell you that made you so angry that you crucified him?”
Everyone looked at each other with a bit of embarrassment and even a bit of shame in their eyes. "Basically... be kind to each other" Husk replied.
Charlie was confused. "But... it doesn't seem like such a terrible thing..."
"Well, evidently it was for the people around here" Velvette grumbled as she stepped forward and checked out of the alley. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, princess, humans are champions of bastardy. And that's why we should be careful now, because trust me when I tell you that the Middle East has only gotten worse in the last millennia. In fact, we are technically lucky to be happen in this historical period"
"Why?" Charlie asked her.
"Because until recently they would have sentenced to prison a woman who walked around without a veil" Velvette replied. "But just because they won't point guns at us if we keep our hair down doesn't mean we're safe. Keep your eyes open, here they do one attack a day... when it's a nice day"
The group emerged from their hiding place and walked through the streets of the city. Jerusalem was very different from Zaporižžja: most of the buildings were built of brick and stone, with almost no hint of modernity, although there was still electricity and all the technology that could be found anywhere in the world. In the distance, however, some more modern buildings such as skyscrapers could also be seen, although in decidedly small numbers. It was as if the city had tried to preserve its past as much as possible, and even if cars were now racing along the streets once crossed by carriages, you could still breathe an air of antiquity that gave it a rather breathtaking charm.
But what attracted the most attention were the prayer buildings: the golden domes glittering in the sunlight were visible from several blocks away. Mosques, basilicas and synagogues seemed to dominate the landscape and compete in trying to attract more people's gaze. They were all built in a very careful and elaborate way, even the oldest ones which seemed to be hundreds if not thousands of years old. "Wow... this place is really amazing" Charlie commented.
"I always wanted to visit Jerusalem when I was alive" Rosie said as she looked around with a wide smile. "I finally have the chance"
"Really? You wanted to visit it when you were alive?" Charlie repeated. "Why?"
"It's a very important piece of human history. A lot of cultures have passed through these places" Rosie replied. "You can understand that this city is fascinating to me"
"Oh... well, you're right!" Charlie said with a laugh. "Why didn't you ever come?"
"Because, like the arrogant girl just said, women didn't end up well around here until not even a century ago" Cherri explained to her with a grunt. Velvette just muttered at being addressed like that.
"Unfortunately, that's true" Husk admitted. "The State of Israel was born only after World War II and although it immediately envisaged gender equality, it took decades to actually achieve it... and in many parts it is still difficult to see it"
Charlie bit her lip. "Well, at least things are better now... Vel?"
The social overlord had put on a shocked expression as she looked at her phone screen, which was quite rare considering her personality. “I'm looking for some clues on the local Internet” she said in a thin voice.
Nobody liked that tone. "And...?" Angel murmured.
“And it turns out we were lucky to end up in this part of the State of Israel. I better not tell you what's happening in Gaza" Velvette commented while she continued to look at her phone. "I looked at the latest news and... fuck, even Val would feel uncomfortable around here. And I'm not kidding"
"Why? What's happening in Gaza?" Angel asked her curiously.
"Long story short, there is a war, nearly a million women and children have been displaced from their homes, and there is no law condemning violence against women, including sexual violence" Velvette replied as she read the newspaper articles on her cell phone. "Oh, and from what I see, gender segregation has also been introduced in the education system, 'modest' dress has been enforced in public places, the media defames and promotes harmful content that incites against women, and some even claim that they are the cause of swine flu"
Everyone turned pale when they heard it; even Niffty lost her crazy nature for a moment. "Are you joking!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"I wish so" Velvette muttered. "After connecting to the Internet around here I saw videos so gruesome that I'm seriously considering a lobotomy"
The others looked at each other with a trembling light in their eyes. They already knew that humanity could do horrible things, but it was downright sad to find out how much rot there was still around. "Well, I've seen worse things in Poland in 1944" Rosie commented.
"May we know how old you are?" Angel muttered.
Rosie shook her head. "You shouldn't ask a woman!" she replied by patting him on the forehead.
"Who is Gaza at war with? Wait, Gaza is a country now?" Husk muttered scratching his head.
"No, it's simply under the control of an armed Palestinian organization known as Hamas. Hey, this was already around when I was alive... I thought it would have collapsed by now" Velvette commented a little surprised. "Apparently they control Gaza and much of the surrounding territory, and have declared war on Israel. And it seems that both sides have been responsible for a fair amount of war crimes, and there are even some people accused of crimes against humanity. Indiscriminate military attacks, collective punishment, deliberate killing of civilians, taking innocents hostage, using hunger as a weapon... ok, I'd better stop here"
There was a long moment of silence. "Wow... that's shit" Cherri commented. "And I was so idiotic to hope that the world had improved lately..."
"CAN I KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!?"
Everyone, even Rosie, jumped when they heard Charlie scream like that; they had never expected such a sound to come out of the sweet princess's mouth. Charlie's face was even whiter than usual, so much so that even her red cheeks had faded; it definitely resembled fresh plaster. "All of you, what the fuck is your problem!? This isn't Hell! This is Earth! You're supposed to be... I don't know! Not like this! Why is it worse here than down there!?"
"O-Okay, Charlie, I understand this is way too much..." Angel murmured. "But now try to calm down..."
"No, I won't calm down!" Charlie exclaimed putting her hands in her hair; a few tears began to drip down her face. "I can't take it anymore! I didn't expect Earth to be like this! Fuck, what have you done!? Explain to me what fucking logic there is in discriminating against someone based on gender, skin color, nationality or religion, and inflicting worst tortures!? What problem do you have in your head!? Between one massacre and another, it never occurred to you that maybe you were going astray!? It's no surprise if...!"
She was about to say 'if Adam wants to exterminate you', but she stopped herself at the last second by biting her tongue. She slid to the ground and sat on the sidewalk, burying her face between her knees.
Angel sighed deeply, looking at Husk and Cherri, who were clearly thinking the same thing as him. That was exactly why he had been so worried when Charlie had told them he had taken them to a place similar to Hell: and in a way it was fortunate that she had limited herself to that request, since as far as it seemed like there were literally places worse than Hell on Earth. Angel was sure that it would have been a tremendous shock for Charlie to see the worst of humanity, and he wasn't wrong at all.
Hell was full of people who killed, raped, cannibalized and who knows what else, but it was all more... tenuous. For starters, there were no great wars as there were no nations, and the overlords preferred to challenge each other politically, socially, and economically rather than battle each other physically. Territorial wars appeared more like street fights than actual battles, something that sometimes even bordered on the ridiculous. Furthermore, sinful demons were immortal: they were continually reborn, so dying or being horribly injured was certainly no problem for them. Of course, it could happen that an angelic weapon actually ended their life, but such events were not too common. The only real moment of terror was the Extermination, which however lasted very little and had random victims.
And finally... discrimination didn't exist in Hell, at least not in open society. Everyone did what they wanted and didn't care about other people's opinions. What was the point of discriminating based on skin color, when they were literally all demons different from each other? Why discriminate against women if any woman in Hell could simply tell you to fuck off and have as much fun as she wanted? Literally, there was no discrimination whatsoever in Hell. Obviously everyone had their own opinions about it, but since everyone wouldn't care, they had no value.
In the end, Hell resembled nothing more than a completely ruined megalopolis where everyone did what they wanted and fucked each other's asses from morning till night rather than a true place of perdition.
Earth, instead, was something else entirely. There, death was a concrete fact. There if you died, you stayed dead. If you were injured, you suffered excruciating pain. If you lost a limb, it didn't grow back. Nations were huge and could send thousands or even millions of men to their deaths at any time. And discrimination certainly existed, and precisely because it existed, people felt like doing what they wanted to those who discriminated for the simple fact that they did not see them as human beings like them. Although many areas of the Earth were relatively peaceful and the number of good people far outnumbered the bad, in the areas where evil was rampant there was a level of atrocity incomparable even to that of Hell itself.
Yep... in some cases, Earth was worse than Hell.
Rosie sat down next to Charlie and put her hands on her shoulders; the princess shuddered and almost seemed to want to move away, but the cannibal overlord pinned her to the spot with her penetrating gaze. "Breathe" she told her.
"But..." Charlie tried to protest.
"Just breathe" Rosie ordered. "You'll talk later"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Really!?" Velvette suddenly barked. "Do we even have to waste time with the princess going through culture shock!? I remind you that Adam is around here and he's ahead of us!"
Rosie glared at her. "Yes, we know. But now is not the time..."
"Of course it's time! First, because I want to go back to Hell as soon as possible and I don't want to keep up with your fucking whining! Second, because from what I understand Adam already has the most powerful material in the universe on his side, and he himself is a war machine, so if we allow him to take whatever else he wants he will use us like toilet paper to wipe his ass! So there's no time for self-pity or feeling sorry for people we don't even know!" Velvette replied sourly, then she turned to Charlie: "Do you want to know why Earth is a mess? Because humans are assholes! We all want to feel superior to others, we all believe we are better, and in fact all the sinners just happen to be at Pride, precisely because that is the sin we commit! We want to consider ourselves better, we are sure we are better, and in doing so we use every fucking excuse to consider other categories of people inferior! It's nice to act like an asshole towards people who can't defend themselves, I tell you from experience! Everyone here can confirm this for you, how do you think we ended up in Hell? We were all bastards! I've ruined a lot of people's lives and even caused a few to commit suicide, the sex-obsessed spider was a fucking mobster from what Val told me, the one-eyed idiot goes around blowing things up, the alcoholic cat was in the criminal world, the very creepy woman who is hugging you eats people, the dwarf...!". She paused for a moment as she looked at Niffty. "Okay, I don't know what she did and I'd rather not know, but it sure wasn't nice things! We're all assholes! That's how it works in all parts of the world: people want more than everyone else, and those who are more assholes than ever manage to get it, maybe by convincing other people that what they are doing is right and making them persecute others just for looks or some other shit! This is how the world has been going on ever since your parents fucked it up with that damn fruit, so stop being such a child, get off your ass, get your balls out, and think about finding Adam before he finds us and tear us to shreds!"
Silence fell almost as if it were a veil. No one moved for a full minute, they didn't even blink; and then Charlie, even though Rosie tried to hold her back, stood up and ran away. "Charlie, wait...!" Angel tried to call her back, but she was already too far away. "Fuck!"
Rosie glared at Velvette very badly. “Couldn't you have been a little nicer?”
“Oh, fuck all of you” the social overlord said. "Someone had to tell her, okay? You're not going to help her by keeping her under a glass bell jar"
“No one here was trying to keep her under a glass bell jar!” Cherri growled angrily. "There's ways and ways to say things! What you just did was just cruel!"
"Yes, so what?" Velvette retorted in a teasing voice. "Do you remember who I am? I do cruel things! Get this into your heads, everyone: I'm here because I have to, not because I want to! I'm not your friend, I'm not one of you problematic subjects, I'm not a demon looking for redemption! And all I want is to go back to Hell as soon as possible, and if I have to give a moral slap to the princess all rainbows and smiles to get us moving, I'll do it! So get busy instead of wasting time while a genocidal maniac goes around and builds his perfect weapon to kill us all!"
Angel looked like he was about to slap her, but he stopped himself because he knew he would have just gotten hurt more than her. "Fuck..." he hissed angrily. "Let's go find Charlie, and find her before she gets into trouble"
"Sounds like a good idea to me" Rosie said, then she pulled Velvette's ear: "You and I will have a talk later"
But this time the social overlord did not appear at all intimidated: "Oh, yes, please, kindergarten teacher, scold me! Dry your tongue if you want! Nothing will change! I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of what Adam will do to me if we don't find him in time!"
Rosie narrowed her eyes dangerously, but Husk intervened between the two. "Charlie" he said simply. "She is the priority"
Those words were enough to make everyone regain clarity. With just a nod, they quickly went to find the princess of Hell.
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329205
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 19): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154742269
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 46: "This is humanity"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the end, to speed up the search at least a little, they split up. Angel had taken Cherri and Niffty and gone one direction, while Husk had taken Rosie and Velvette and gone another. It hadn't been a random choice: literally, less patient people had been pushed away by the social overlord, and not without reason since Niffty seemed on the verge of losing the only shred of self-control he possessed and stabbing her. Not that Cherri and Angel were any less willing to do something like that, but at least they were aware that fighting each other wasn't a good idea. They were therefore happy to entrust Velvette to Husk, who at least was able to maintain self-control, and to Rosie, who almost rivaled Gandhi in patience.
“That spoiled girl is such a bitch” Cherri grumbled sourly. "Why did we bring her with us?"
"Because unfortunately she is our best way of obtaining information" Angel reminded her with a sigh. “Without her, we would never have known that Adam had been in Louisiana and is now here"
"Maybe, but I'd really like to leave her somewhere" Cherri said shaking her head. "It doesn't surprise me that she stays with Vox and Valentino, she's almost as bad as them!"
“Sniff sniff… the smiling boss… sniff sniff… said that bad guys should be stabbed!” Niffty said as she sniffed the ground like she was a bloodhound.
Cherri leaned close to Angel's ear: "Um... are we sure she understood that Alastor is no longer on our side?"
Angel shook his head. “I don't think she understood it at all”
"Mm. Great" Cherri commented. "Do you think she's really following Charlie's trail?"
"I don't know. She always tracked the cockroaches in the hotel, so I assume she can do it" Angel replied although quite doubtful.
However, these doubts turned out to be unfounded, because Niffty actually managed to find Charlie: she was sitting on a slightly high wall with her head resting on her knees, and from there she observed the street full of people below her with a blank look. "Hey, there you are!" Angel exclaimed as he jumped onto the wall next to her.
Charlie didn't answer him. Which was definitely unusual for her.
Angel was quite worried about that reaction. “Hey… hey, Charlie, are you okay…?” he asked, reaching down and placing a hand on her shoulder, and was surprised at how cold she was.
Charlie finally turned her head to show her face, and Angel shuddered as he saw the deep lines undoubtedly left by tears in her cheeks. And judging by how much her pupils were shaking, she wasn't crying anymore just because she had no more tears to shed.
Angel swallowed deeply. He could see a mixture of suffering, pain, sorrow, tiredness and exhaustion in the eyes of the princess of Hell. She was definitely devastated. "Hey, hey, it's okay" he tried to tell her, and in the absence of a handkerchief he used the handle of his dress to wipe her face.
That small gesture of kindness warmed Charlie's heart at least a little, even if it continued to feel like a block of ice. "Thank you" she whispered.
Angel was gratified to hear her speak again. Niffty and Cherri were also happy about it, and indeed, the little cyclops waitress did something totally unexpected and almost comical: she positioned herself in Charlie's arms and started hugging her as if she were a teddy bear. And judging by how the princess held her, she must have liked that contact very much. "Better?" Angel asked her.
Charlie nodded. "A little" she answered.
Well, at least it was a step forward. "Listen, don't think about what that little bitch told you" Cherri tried to tell her. "It's not true that you're slowing us down, it's not true that it's wrong to have culture shock, and above all it's not true that we humans are all assholes. I don't deny that those like us, who in fact ended up in Hell, are so, but there are also a lot of kind-hearted people..."
She hoped that these words would have made Charlie smile at least a little, but on the contrary her expression didn't change in the slightest. "That's not what I saw"
"We just ended up in the wrong places. Earth is very big, we barely visited a couple of cities" Cherri pointed out. "You just have to look at this planet with different eyes and not focus on the bad things. Think of all those people in the world who sacrifice themselves for others every day. Think of all the doctors who save lives, the firefighters who put theirs at risk, to the policemen who maintain order, or even just those small gestures of kindness and love that humans exchange every day. It is easy to focus on evil, because it is so evident; the most beautiful things about humans... are often invisible even in their eyes because they take them too much for granted"
Despite the encouraging words that would normally have at least made Charlie smile, this time she didn't show the slightest sign of being cheered up. She continued to stare blankly at her feet and hold Niffty tightly as if she were a stress relief stuffed animal.
Angel and Cherri looked at each other worried about the lack of reaction. It looked like Charlie had really reached her breaking point this time.
Fuck… where the fuck were Husk and Rosie when they were needed!?
In the end Angel sat down next to her, in the same position as her. Charlie was a little surprised by that action, and turned towards him slightly. The spider demon was silent for a long moment, and then he said: "Charlie... I want to tell you what I saw... and felt... when Adam looked at me"
Charlie's eyes widened slightly. "Why...?"
"You... just listen" Angel told her in a strangled voice. "When Adam looked me in the eyes... and did that trick on me... I... I saw again one of the actions I performed in my past in the mafia. I saw myself... while in cold blood I took the life of a desperate man, begging for salvation in his head trying in vain to free himself. I felt it all... his fear, his thoughts, his terror for his family... everything. And I was there. .. gun raised, finger on a trigger... a smile on my face, not a single ounce of empathy. And finally... I shot"
Angel let out a shudder as he spoke. The memory of what he had seen was still so well imprinted in his mind that his body reacted automatically to the mere thought. It was as if trauma was coursing under his skin. "That was just one of the things I did while I was alive. I wish I could say I was forced... forced by circumstances... but that's not true. Maybe that's how it started, but then... I remember very clearly the sense of superiority I felt while I was on that ride. I had always been the inferior, the homosexual drug addict, the incompetent one who only brought dishonor to the family, the eternal second to my brother... but there, in that shed... there was someone more inferior than me. This gave me absolute pleasure. Finally I could manage the game, I could be in charge. Rather than trying to improve myself, I preferred to attack those who were in a worse state than me. I could have left, made a new life for myself away from the mafia, concentrated on myself and dedicated my existence to the good of others... instead, like a good coward, I stayed where I was and concentrated only on the sense of superiority I got every time that I could bully a weak person"
He clenched a fist and stared at it intently, as if he were imagining crushing something. He seemed to be filled with a desire to break something. "All my life and even after I deluded myself... I surrounded myself with lies. I told myself that I was better than those people, that I was strong and they were weak. I told myself that it didn't matter, that what it was only me that mattered. When Adam looked at me… that lie broke. When I saw myself through another person's eyes and felt their pain and fear... I realized that they were no different than what I felt towards my father, my brother, or any person I considered superior. I wasn't superior... I was exactly like them, even worse, because at least they had tried to rebel, I hadn't. When I saw myself pulling that trigger, I saw myself for what I really was: a coward, a pathetic being"
Charlie had respected his wish: she had been silent the whole time, but it was clear from the light in her eyes that she was listening carefully. She seemed to want to tell him a lot of things, but she couldn't find the words to express herself. Or maybe she was waiting for him to say something else.
Angel ignored this: in fact he didn't even notice, because he wasn't daring to look at her face. “Even in Hell I haven't changed” he said. "I thought I could be a brave person. That day I abandoned my family, I truly believed I could be different. Those twenty-seven minutes I drove my car into the sunset were the most intense of my life Even after my brother and father caught up with me, leaving me beaten on the side of the road, I still believed that at least I had won, that I was now a free man. I continued to yearn for that sense of superiority, or continued to surround myself with people in a worse situation than me because it was easier to show off to them than it was to look in the mirror and admit that what I saw disgusted me. I kept fooling myself into thinking I was better instead of doing something to be better and actually feeling good about myself. And it was precisely this arrogance and cowardice of mine that made me fall into Valentino's hands"
Angel gritted his teeth so loudly he could be heard two meters away. "He found me by pure chance while I was working as a street whore. Normally my clients were pathetic people who came in a quarter of a second and I could fuck them properly, so that I felt better than them even if I was their toy. Valentino... it was different. I had to work hard with him. And when we had finished, he, even though he had shown himself superior to me, did not take advantage of it, but rather complimented me. For the first time in my life, a person who was better than me saw the potential in me, didn't just see me as a reject. That's what got me. Valentino leveraged my desire to be better than everyone without committing myself to being different. He took me with him and made me a star. I was finally famous, admired. I could look down on everyone". He let out a deep sigh. "Initially... Valentino seemed to understand and share my desire. He helped me, he encouraged me, he told me that I was perfect the way I was. I thought there was something more between us than just a working relationship. I knew he had relationships with other people, he had never hidden it, but after all we were in Hell, I certainly couldn't expect chastity. I told myself that in any case I was special, more important. And precisely because I considered myself special, I fell into his trap and signed that contract, because I was convinced that he would treat me differently than he treated others. I... I was wrong, as you well know"
Charlie bit her lip. “Why are you telling me this?”
Angel let out a sort of mixture between a sob and a cough. "Because I want you to know the kind of person I was" he replied. "I was exactly what Velvette described. A self-obsessed asshole who wanted to feel like he was better than everyone else. And that's exactly why I ended up in Hell... but just because a lot of others aren't like me, they didn't end up there". He shook his head vehemently, as if trying to chase away an insect. "Charlie... I don't know if all humans have this desire to be assholes inside. Surely everyone wants to be better than everyone else at least once in their life. Everyone would like to be on top of the world and look down on others... and sometimes that desire wins out and that spells doom for them. But everyone else... even if they have that desire, they still manage to control and bring out things so beautiful that their very existence seems like a miracle. Humans know how to unleash a lot of pain, but they also know loyalty, forgiveness, love, brotherhood, mutual respect, aspiration, empathy, and a lot of other beautiful emotions that are infinitely more numerous than the bad ones. All you need to do is take a walk around any country in the world and look for these things, and you will find plenty of them. You will find a single mother who has to work two jobs but still sacrifices her free time to go to watch her son's football match. You will find a boy who says no to drugs and yes to education. You will find men ready to put their lives at risk to save someone from a fire, someone who may never thank them or even remember their names, yet they do it anyway. You would find small gestures of kindness and love, so common that everyone takes them for granted, but which contribute every day to keeping the darkness at bay. For every cruelty, no matter how terrible it is, you will find a thousand acts of kindness. After every war, peace always comes, and it is always longer and more lasting. We humans are slow learners, and we often make mistakes and end up believing the words of the wicked, but that does not make us incapable of shining a light so strong that no darkness could hold back. This... is humanity"
Charlie's expression finally changed; her eyes began to shine, a clear sign that she was about to cry... but it was not a sad cry anymore. "Angel..."
"Don't look at people like me, Charlie" Angel told her seriously. "In this world... there is so much good, and it is right to fight for it. While you are here, don't focus on all the evil that men like me do to other people... focus on the good that all those who are not like me do to others. Or if you really want to look at those who are like me, look at those who had the strength to say enough and change, not the cowards and the pathetic like myself..."
The princess's arms wrapped around him before he could finish his sentence; the familiar gentle touch combined with the crushing sensation were unmistakable. "You are not a coward, Angel, nor pathetic" Charlie told him. "You too had the strength to try to change"
Angel snorted. He had already savored that embrace many times, but in that moment it gave him a strange sensation. On the one hand he wanted to immerse himself in it as if it were a warm sun, on the other he wanted to draw back because he was undeserving of letting himself be illuminated by that same kind light. "Yes... after almost a hundred years..."
"So what? There's no time limit" Charlie told him. "And I believe in you"
Angel bit his lip. "I know. And that's exactly why... I tried" he told her. "You... believed in me right away, without expecting anything in return. You didn't believe in what I was, like Val, you believed in what I could be. I thought... that if someone could change me... it could make me not me... that was you. That was the person who could see something good even where there was absolutely nothing good. I didn't believe I could be different... but for some reason... I still found myself in..."
The princess's embrace increased, taking his breath away and preventing him from finishing his sentence. "It doesn't matter" she told him. "You tried. That's all that matters"
Angel realized that Charlie was shaking. He hugged her back almost as if he hoped to warm her, even though he knew she wasn't actually cold. "Thanks, Charlie" he told her. "And... keep it that way. Focus on the good things just like you did in Hell. I believe in you... we all believe in you. You fight for what's right"
Charlie frowned a little. "I'm not... so sure anymore. I'm discovering too many things that I didn't know before. Adam..."
"Adam has seen the evil that humanity has unleashed for too long, and he has become convinced that the only way to free the world from that evil is to become evil too. He doesn't realize it, but he is turning into exactly what he swore to destroy" Angel told her. "Charlie... don't waver. None of us here have any doubt that what you're doing is right. It's true, we don't know a lot of things, but that's no reason to give up and judge others just for what they are and not for what they could be like Adam does... then find a way to show him how wrong he is"
Charlie didn't answer him, but her lips curved into a small smile. Finally, even though she was still crying, she was showing serenity again.
A sob caught their attention; they looked up and saw that Cherri also had a few tears in her eyes. "Sorry. I got emotional" she whispered.
"You have a heart too, mh?" Angel teased her.
Cherri ignored him. “All of us… believe you're doing something right” she told Charlie. "Even Pen... believed it... and he didn't stop believing it... until the end... urgh... sorry"
Angel and Charlie were a little saddened to see her burst into tears. "Hey... do you want me to go and... buy you a beer...?" the spider demon asked her.
But Cherri shook her head. "No" she replied between sobs. "I don't want to... run away anymore. You said it, Angel... stop being cowards. Let's face... our problems"
Charlie's smile widened; she stood up and went to hug Cherri. Niffty, who had remained clinging to her, climbed onto her head and spread himself on both, as if wanting to embrace them from above... which was perfectly in keeping with her character.
Angel smiled slightly seeing that scene. He was happy that both of his friends were finally feeling better. "I have to call the grumpy cat" he said, picking up his cell phone and dialing Husk. "Hoping he's still alive after leaving him with those two..."
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329205
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 19): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154742269
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 47: Fake love
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Found anything?"
Husk stood up from the ground shaking his head. His nose had turned red from rubbing it on the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm a cat, not a dog. I can't follow smells"
"Well, it was worth a try" Rosie told him, patting him on the shoulder. “Thanks for your help, anyway”
Husk didn't hold back a small smile. Even though one of the rules he had made for himself in life was never to trust an overlord, since he had been one himself and knew full well how deceptive they were, he had to admit that Rosie was one of the few whose company he enjoyed. At least she, unlike everyone else, was genuine when she spoke: if she wanted something she said it directly, she didn't hide behind deception. She was certainly better than Alastor: Husk didn't know how it was possible, but seeing her covered in blood and intent on eating the leg of a human being, perhaps with the corpse still at her feet, was a thousand times less disturbing vision than the radio demon who was sitting in an armchair reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of tea.
Well, it had to be said that Alastor would have managed to be disturbing even while he was sleeping. Assuming that he slept, which wasn't a given given that Husk didn't remember ever seeing him even doze. In fact, he'd never actually even seen him blink unless it was his facial expressions. Disturbing to the core, indeed.
"Charlie certainly didn't climb somewhere or run away too quickly. She may be upset, but she remembers that she shouldn't show off her powers" he murmured, trying to get his head together. "She's probably hiding somewhere crying, so look for a dark alley or a hole or a manhole, and don't expect her to call you..."
"We're looking for a person, not a feral cat" Velvette muttered rolling her eyes.
Husk's eyelid quivered. "Sorry, this concept is probably alien to you, but how about you stop being a drag and make yourself useful? I don't know, connect to the orbital satellite and check from there"
"Hey, who do you take me for!? I'm not Vox! I can connect to the Internet, not to a geostationary satellite orbiting the Earth!" Velvette pointed out to him.
"Well, then shut up! You'd be more useful that way" Husk replied sourly.
"Don't tell me to shut up! I talk as much as I want. I don't take orders from you, you fleabag!" Velvette told him.
Husk summoned all his patience. Fortunately, months spent in Angel's company had made him basically immune to outbursts of anger, because otherwise he would have already punched the social overlord on the teeth... which wouldn't have been a good idea at all given that she would probably have reacted by tearing off his arm as he was much more powerful than him.
Luckily Rosie came to his aid: "We're not asking you to be useful, just to stop hindering the search for the person you scared away"
Velvette made a frustrated noise. "Still with this story? It's not my fault that idiot had no idea how messed up this planet was! Seriously, can anyone of you idiots know where you live? All she needed to do was take a tour of the slums of Pentagram City and ask the residents to told her some very shitty stories, and she would be prepared! If she preferred to imagine that humans were cute and cuddly like puppies, that's certainly not my problem! It was right that she woke up!"
"Well, not when this 'waking up' can cause a psychological trauma!" Rosie scolded. "There are things that need to be said in a calm and gradual manner! Boundaries cannot be broken all at once! And you certainly cannot shout such things in the face of a person who is already having an emotional collapse! Even someone who has no idea of what is psychology would understand this, so don't try to pretend that you didn't know the consequences of your actions!"
Velvette clenched her fists and her eyes flashed slightly. "Yeah, so what? I knew she'd freak out, yeah! But I don't give a fuck! We're not here to help the sugar girl to go out of her rainbow world, we're here to keep a genocidal maniac from finding new ways to use our heads as dodgeballs! In case it's not clear to you, we don't have time to waste!"
"Technically we're wasting a lot more time looking for Charlie now" Husk couldn't stop himself from pointing this out.
Velvette shook her head. "You know that even if I had kept quiet and let you console her, she would have gone back to having crisis as soon as we found other people killing themselves in front of us. Now, instead, she knows what she had to expect. This world sucks, and now she knows it too"
Rosie grabbed her cheek and pulled; even though Velvette was a doll, and therefore her skin was as stiff as wood, it still bent to the cannibal overlord's touch as she was real meat. Velvette was surprised once again at how strong Rosie's fingers were, which she would never have guessed given how delicate and soft they seemed. "Are you really willing to turn the omelette around so much so as not to admit you made a mistake?" she asked her with a lot of acidity in her voice.
Velvette felt a shiver down her spine again. She didn't understand how Rosie could arouse such feelings in her. Even though in her head she kept telling herself that she shouldn't be afraid of her, her body refused to remember it. Every time Rosie showed even a hint of irritation, she felt extremely small compared to her... and she wasn't referring to the height difference.
Maybe that's why even Alastor seemed to be trying to keep her happy...?
Velvette swallowed, but her pride refused to let go even though common sense told her otherwise. She had never bowed down to anyone as long as she could remember and she wasn't going to do it now just because that woman had the ability to imitate a kindergarten teacher. "I'm not stirring things up, I'm stating facts! Our princess is an imbecile, and denying it is like denying the evidence!"
Rosie's eyelids narrowed dangerously, and Velvette felt herself literally freeze under that gaze; but it wasn't her who spoke, but Husk: "Charlie is not an imbecile, on the contrary, she is much more intelligent than you think"
At those words Velvette couldn't help but roll her eyes: "Please! All she does is smile in her stupid optimism or cry if something bad happens! She should do something concrete instead!"
“She does a lot” Husk told her with an odd grunt. "If you are not able to see it, then you are the stupid one, not her. As well as being poor in spirit and devoid of any morals, of course"
Velvette's pupils seemed to light up. “Did you just call me stupid!?”
"And poor in spirit, and devoid of any morals, and... I don't remember the rest of what I said in the previous sentences" Husk replied in a bored voice.
“Shut the fuck up!” Velvette growled at him. "A drunken cat who lived on crime can't possibly afford to judge me! You lost your soul at a board game, and you have the nerve to call me stupid?"
"At least I don't run away from my conscience, you spoiled sow" Husk replied to her.
Velvette's eyelids flew open. “What… what are you talking about…!?”
"You know that very well" Husk told her. "I spoke to Angel, and although I won't tell you what we said to each other, he explained to me very clearly what Adam's gaze does. At least he is sincere in saying that he feels like shit right now, unlike you. All you do is say you don't care when it's absolutely not true"
"And what the fuck do you know?" Velvette replied sourly. "Are you in my head by any chance? I don't give a damn about what I saw and it's the truth!"
"Why? Because you're a selfish bitch?" Husk asked her, narrowing his eyes.
"Exact!" Velvette answered him. "Whether you like it or not, this is what I am! Bitch, bastard, manipulative, arrogant, selfish, and many other bad adjectives! I don't give a fuck about others and I do what I want! How many times do I have to keep repeating it before you idiots are convinced?"
Husk was silent for a long moment; he didn't say a word, in fact, he didn't even breathe. And then, almost sinisterly, he began to chuckle. He didn't even try to hide his laughter: he just laughed, and the more time passed the louder he laughed, so much so that he had to lean against a wall to stay upright.
Velvette rolled her eyes. "Good, laugh. For a moment I had a good feeling, but then those big yellow teeth of yours totally ruined it"
Maybe she was hoping that Husk would have gotten angry, or at least say something, but the cat demon instead continued to laugh like an idiot. He didn't even make a rude gesture at her, and he didn't turn towards her and look at her in a teasing way.
Velvette began to get seriously annoyed. "Enough! Why are you laughing at me?"
Husk's laughter finally quieted a little; leveraging the wall he was leaning against, the cat demon forced himself to stand up straight again. "You can fool yourself" he told her. "You can fool anyone if you want. But you'll never fool me. You can't. Nobody fools the bartender. The bartender always knows everything. I know who you are"
Velvette's eyelid trembled visibly, but she still didn't lose heart and replied in kind: "You don't know anything about me, loser"
Husk finally turned towards her, and when his expression silenced her for a moment: his face was indeed still in the midst of irality, but his eyes were cold as ice. "Oh, instead I know everything about you, little girl. I know every detail" he replied. "You keep acting like you're the bitch, the one who doesn't care about anything or anyone, the one who would sell her mother for two potatoes, but it's all a farce. Your every action is as fake as the photos you put on your stupid social media, every word that comes out of your mouth, even the articles you put in front of the nouns, are all lies!"
Velvette gritted her teeth angrily. "Ok, so, first of all I don't post fake photos, at most I add some effects, but I don't retouch them! I'm always one hundred percent natural! And yes, sometimes I lie, actually, a lot of times, I don't deny it! But that doesn't mean I always lie, much less that I am lying now! Whether you like it or not, I'm a bitch!"
"Sure, and I'm Santa Claus on vacation!" Husk replied. "You act like you're the coolest and toughest, the mythical social overlord, the backbone of the Vees, but the truth is that you're the most scared of all!"
Velvette froze for a moment and bit her lip. "This... is ridiculous...!"
Husk almost looked like he wanted to spit in her face. “Please! Look at the way you act! You complain every time someone asks you for the smallest favor but you end up doing it anyway, as if you're looking for approval and at the same time want to keep your distance! And you also try to push away anyone who shows you a smile that isn't fake, because even just a little bit of sincere love reminds you very well of how dark, empty and deep the hole inside you is!"
"It is not true!" Velvette replied, although the voice that came out of her mouth sounded strangely shrill, to the point that she herself put a hand on her throat in surprise.
"Yes that's true!" Husk growled, this time with no hint of mirth left. "That's why you wanted Valentino to go away! You're not angry with him because he acted behind your back, you're terrified by the fact that he preferred to risk his physical safety, even his own life, by going alone to save Vox, rather than take you with him and put you in danger! You know that this means that there's at least one person in this world who really cares about you, and that scares you because you don't know what to do!"
“I already knew he cared about me!” Velvette responded, trying to sound confident, even though her voice had gone up at least four octaves. "We've been friends for years...!"
"But you didn't think he would be willing to go that far! And you didn't even think Vox would! You thought no one would ever choose to save you rather than themselves!" Husk told her. "When Vox, instead of trying to escape, chose to buy time for you and your other daddy to escape, you found yourself in a situation you didn't know about! You went crazy, you just wanted to rush to save him, in the hope of bring things back to how they were before! You tried to delude yourself that what you were doing was just repaying a debt, a mutual bargain between you, rather than accepting that someone really cared about you! And Valentino knew this well, for this reason he immediately excluded you from the searches, knowing that you would make some mess in the rush to bring things back to when you had a miserable illusion of control! I bet that both Vox and Valentino are aware of how afraid you are of accepting that someone might love you, which is precisely why they have always avoided treating you like a daughter, even if all of Hell knows very well that they see you as such and that you behave exactly as if they were your parents!"
"Shut up!" Velvette yelled at him, having no other arguments.
"You surround yourself with falsehood so as not to face that emptiness of yours and you know it very well!" Husk continued completely ignoring her request. "All your followers absolutely don't give a shit about you! They follow you because it suits them, and when they'll find someone better, they will throw you away! And you know it very well, and in fact you constantly try to please them all, no matter how much you costs, because you can delude yourself that you are on top of the world, that you have the love of every idiot in existence, when in reality you are more alone than ever and you are terrified of opening up to the only two people who really care about you!"
"I said shut up!" Velvette repeated, her voice more strangled than ever. She was visibly shaking.
"That's what horrified you so much when Adam looked at you!" Husk told her as he approached her. "When he forced you to relive all your bad deeds from the point of view of your victims, you saw the truth! Of course, the guilt is now surely crushing you alive, because after talking to Angel I don't believe in the slightest that you don't care, but that's not the worst thing anyway! The worst thing is that you finally saw without any veil exactly what your actions brought you: hate! Nothing but hate! For your entire existence you have done nothing but get pure hatred in exchange for fake love, whether it was on your stupid social media or in real life! There has never been a single person who really cared about you, but on the contrary there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, who hate you to the core! Every new like on your social page has paid for your one-way road to your personal Hell, Hell from which you try to escape by continuing to pretend, in the hope that you will finally manage to convince yourself that you have something instead of nothing! Because that's all you've ever really managed to have: nothing!"
"ENOUGH NOW!" Velvette yelled at him. She wasn't even trying to keep up a facade anymore.
Husk wrinkled his nose. "Why? Because you don't like hearing it? Get over it: all those who hang around you, on social media or in real life, do it because they have a gain! No one has ever loved you! As soon as you are no longer of use to them, they will leave! And you know it! You know very well that if you found a way to make yourself invisible and went into your models' dressing room you would only hear them talking badly about you, even five seconds before they had praised you! You know very well that on the other end of your cell phone there are people who like you just because of how you look in photos and because you make yourself interesting! Nobody really wants you! If you stop being this bitchy false version of yourself, you'll end up with not even the dust in your hand! Vox and Valentino are the only ones idiotic enough to actually like you, and that scares you! You'd rather continue to pretend that you don't care and are superior to everything rather than try to open up to someone, because you fear that if you show your only two true friends sides of you that they won't like, they too will abandon you, leaving you with the absolutely nothing!"
"STOP IT!" Velvette yelled at him, and from her tone she looked like she was about to hyperventilate.
"Husk, that's enough!" Rosie told him trying to stop the cat demon.
"No way! She says you have to tell things like they are, so I'll tell her! It's not so nice when it happens to you, is it?" Husk mockingly mocked her. "Accept the reality: you are nothing more than a false liar who doesn't have even a crumb in her hands, and your entire character is based on a lie! And when we'll return to Hell you better hope that you'll able reunite with Vox and Valentino, because if you won't, then you can be sure that when finally will come the day when someone plants an angelic blade in your body, there will be absolutely no one to cry at your grave, on the contrary, there will be millions of people who that will celebrate!"
SLAP!
The slap that Velvette threw at Husk was of such force that the cat demon ended up on the ground; Rosie immediately knelt down to help him, fearing that she had broken his jaw, but fortunately he was very resistant, and survived with only a few broken teeth. But despite the pain he didn't stop looking at Velvette mockingly: "Thank you for just confirming that, as usual, I was right"
Velvette seemed about to disintegrate him, and Rosie was already ready to intervene in case she used her overlord powers, but just then Husk's cell phone rang. "Mh. It's Angel" the cat demon said, and he walked away to answer without even looking back.
Velvette was clenching her fists so hard her knuckles were turning white; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her limbs from shaking. "You... why don't you say anything to him?" she asked Rosie through gritted teeth.
The cannibal overlord looked at her with a mixture of pity and reproach. "You said that there's no point in blaming others if they tell the truth, right?"
Velvette gritted her teeth. "That...isn't the truth...!" she murmured, but the voice that came out of her lips was so feeble that she wasn't even able to convince herself.
Rosie shook her head in disappointment. "I tried to be nice to you... but whether you like it or not, I think like him too" she told her. "Sorry, Velvette. But you asked for it"
Velvette didn't even have the strength to answer. She tried to open her mouth, but it was as if someone had stolen her voice. All she could do was look down and stare at her feet as she tried to calm her racing heart.
Husk returned to them shortly thereafter. "Angel told me they found Charlie" he said, speaking as if the conversation just happened didn't interest him in the slightest. "Come, I'll lead the way"
"Okay" Rosie replied, and she turned slightly towards the social overlord: "So, are you coming?"
Velvette didn't answer her, but at least she started walking, and she followed them.
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329544
Now scream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60127252
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 19): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/154742269
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 48: Suggestion from a comrade
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam had enveloped everyone in his dark shadows making them basically invisible. Even though there were numerous Exorcists flying above the sky of Jerusalem, no one was noticing. Adam was really using his powers well, and it was amazing how quickly he was learning to combine and harness them. He seemed to have no limits to his creativity, and although he already had numerous moves at his disposal, he always wanted more.
Vaggie was flying peacefully along with the other Exorcists. By now the sun had set and darkness had fallen over the city like a veil, and the city light had replaced that of the sky. The stars had reclaimed their dominion over the landscape and the moon dominated everything with its faint light.
Vaggie was a little fascinated by that sky. It was the first time she was seeing Earth's moon and stars, and she had to admit that they were truly beautiful. They were something completely different than the deviant and dirty ones of Hell or the pure and candid ones of Heaven; they were something exotic and partly shocking. Vaggie couldn't remember ever seeing a moon that had such a pockmarked and disunited surface, which gave it such a fascinating appearance.
"Beatiful, isn't it?" Adam asked her in a strange voice.
"Yes" Vaggie admitted. "I didn't think such a sky existed..."
"If it weren't for all this pollution, you'd see it much better" Adam commented sourly. "Once upon a time you only had to look up and you could admire a box of jewels. Now you can only see a pale copy of what it was"
Vaggie bit her lip. Whenever the first man talked about their surroundings, he seemed to only see negative sides. Well, considering what he had seen and felt every time he went down to that planet, it was understandable. For a person who lived in the beautiful Eden, that world must indeed have seemed horrendous.
While she was thinking, one of the other Exorcists flew past her, pushing her. Vaggie gritted her teeth; it was already the sixth time this had happened, and it wasn't hard to see that it was intentional. Her old companions continued to stare at her out of the corner of their eyes with a lot of hatred and did not speak to her. Surely they were only refraining from attacking her because she was currently under Adam's protection and they respected their general's wishes.
She wasn't sure how she should react. On the one hand she knew they had every reason to be angry with her, but still she didn't like that treatment at all. She felt humiliated every time someone hit her and left without apologizing; she would have already reacted if it weren't for the fact that she suspected that they were aiming to infuriate her so they could finally teach her a lesson.
Suddenly another Exorcist approached her; Vaggie expected yet another push, but instead she flew to her side and gave her a smile. "They are really mad at you, hm?"
Vaggie looked at her in surprise. Because of her different appearance it took her a moment to recognize her. "Mary?"
"Again!? It's Mari! And then you wonder why we distorted your name" the Exorcist replied.
Vaggie raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here? I don't remember seeing you in battle..."
"I died in the previous Extermination" Mari replied. "A woman with silver hair cut off my head"
It didn't take Vaggie long to connect the pieces. "Wait... you're the angel Carmilla killed!?"
"Is that her name? Oh, never mind" Mari said. "Anyway, yes, you have before you the first angel of our team killed by a demon"
Vaggie bit her lip. "All this time... have you been in Hell?" she asked in a strangled voice. "For six whole months? Alone?"
"Yeah" Mari confirmed.
Vaggie was more and more amazed. “How… was that?”
"Hey, who do you take me for? I'm a warrior, I did well. Adam trained us to survive in the worst circumstances, you know that" Mari told her. "I had my problems... but I survived until the general found me"
"Really?" Vaggie asked doubtfully. She knew well what Hell was like, especially with new arrivals. "They didn't... touch you?"
Mari's smile faded a little. "They tried. It didn't end well for them"
Vaggie gritted her teeth. "I am sorry..."
"Hey, I told you I won. It's a thing of the past" Mari told her, and then she immediately changed the subject: "So, the others told me it's your fault they're all here"
Vaggie rolled her eyes. "It wasn't my fault! They're the ones who attacked the hotel...!"
"You mean that hotel full of sinners that we have the duty to exterminate?" Mari asked her rhetorically.
Vaggie let out a snort. "You've been in Hell for six months. Have you really not found a single sinner worth defending?"
"Honestly? No" Mari answered her. "And how many did you find in all the years you spent down there? Not including the time spent at the hotel, that is"
Vaggie bit her lip, but still she didn't give up: "Why should I exclude the hotel? It's the most important part! At first glance I thought that none of the guests were worthy of attention, but knowing them well I changed my mind!"
Mari sighed deeply. She suddenly looked tired. "Look, Vaggie... do you realize that turning sinners into good people won't erase their past actions, right? Whether you like it or not, they will always remain what they are: monsters"
Vaggie shook her head. "No... I don't believe it" she replied. "Even a monster... can change"
Mari sighed. "Listen, I don't know what you went through in that hotel and honestly I don't care much about knowing. But let me give you some advice as an old teammate anyway" she told her. "First, try to be less arrogant. It was a flaw of yours that we all hated even when you were up there. Start by accepting that it's your fault that your sisters are here, regardless of how good your intentions were or who was right and who was wrong. The sooner you accept it, the better"
Vaggie couldn't find the strength to answer. She couldn't deny in her heart that the other Exorcist was right on several points.
Seeing that she seemed to understand, Mari continued: "And second... if you really believe that some of that scum is worthy of salvation, use better arguments. Don't keep saying 'I don't believe that's the case', explain why you don't believe that it is so. Adam will never listen to you if you continue to reply only with your optimism and stubbornness. If you want him to at least have some doubts, tell him what makes you believe that at least one sinner could be saved, and when he will present his arguments, you search for a way to reply intelligently"
Vaggie looked at her in surprise. “Reply intelligently?”
Mari nodded. "Of course. You have logical arguments in favor of your thesis, right? Because otherwise you would really be the arrogant fool who thought she was on top of the world just because the general complimented her"
Vaggie's eyelid twitched. “Could you stop calling me that!?”
"Why? That's what we all thought of you" Mari replied without the slightest empathy. "And I am even lenient with you, you have no idea what some of us were saying behind your back... especially Lute"
"I had no doubt about it" Vaggie grumbled. She was sure that Lute was the leader of that hate club. "Anyway... why are you telling me this? I mean... why are you helping me?"
Mari shrugged. "I'm not helping you, I'm giving you advice. If you really have some logical argument in your favor, then Adam better consider it. I'm just doing my duty as a soldier by helping my general"
"Well... thanks" Vaggie told her anyway.
"No, don't thank me. Don't forget that you're pissing me off anyway" Mari replied. "And apologize to the others, before Adam decides that you really are a lost case like everyone thinks and allows them to take their revenge. Believe me, it's better for you"
And having said this she moved away from her, returning to fly among the other Exorcists. Vaggie watched as she went back to talking to the others and laughed as they asked what she went to say to the 'traitorous bitch'. Left alone again, Vaggie returned to focus on herself, and on her teammate's words that continued to echo in her head.
They flew for a few more minutes, and then Adam landed on the roof of a house. They were on an elevated position, from which it was possible to overlook much of Jerusalem. The Exorcists stopped around him, sitting on the roofs in turn, and Alastor, who until then had followed them, shaping the shadows as if they were two wings, also leaned on a gutter like a monstrous bat.
Vaggie decided to try talking to him again. "Why did we stop?" she asked him.
"I just wanted to look around a bit" Adam replied. "I have always preferred the night. It is less eventful. There is more serenity... even if evil still stains it with its dirt, but less so than during the day". He let out a light sigh: "Seen at night, this world appears a little less unpleasant. It reminds me of when I saw it for the first time... when it was still a paradise even in its wild and untameable nature"
Vaggie realized that Adam wasn't looking in a random direction: his gaze was trained on a hill just outside the walls surrounding the city. "What is it?" she asked.
"Golgotha" Adam answered her. "There lies my grave. Far below"
Vaggie looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
Adam nodded. "Yes. My mortal corpse is now bones and dust down there. Bones and dust stained by the blood of the Savior" he said in a harsh voice. "It was on the top of that hill that Jesus Christ was crucified"
Vaggie's eyes widened. She knew the story of the Messiah and his ordeal well, like every angel after all, but she had never expected that one day she would have seen that place in person. "Is that really... the place where he is dead?"
Adam took the Bible from under his robe and read aloud: "They then took Jesus and he, carrying the cross, went towards the place of the Skull, called in Hebrew Golgotha. From the Gospel of John". He let out a grunt. "I was in the front row, up there in Heaven, to watch the event. I watched while the actions of the Messiah erased the sins of man. But what I saw was also a humanity that took its only hope of salvation and gave him more pain than ever"
Vaggie noticed the way Adam moved his fingers over the pages of the Bible. His movements were nostalgic, as if he were remembering a distant past, and at the same time his hands trembled slightly, as if struggling to contain his fury. “Did you actually see that event?”
"Why shouldn't I?" Adam asked her. “If they hadn't held me back, I would have personally come down here to help him"
Vaggie looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
Adam nodded. "Of course. He was the hope for humanity, the humanity that I myself had created, and that same humanity was destroying him. They attacked him from every angle, humiliating and torturing him, stripping him from all comfort, almost as if they desired that he couldn't remain sinless and perfect"
"The Passion of Christ" Vaggie murmured. "I know the story. Jesus took upon himself all the sins of mankind and washed them away with his resurrection"
Adam nodded. "Yeah... but can you imagine what it was really like for him?" he asked her in a cold voice. "He was subjected to a level of suffering never before experienced by man. Unfathomable agony on every physical, emotional and spiritual level. I remember everything that happened in those fifteen hours as if it happened yesterday. He was arrested and taken to an illegal trial, his disciples scattered out of fear and his best friend denied him three times. After a corrupt ordeal involving false witnesses and many deceptions he was convicted and sentenced to crucifixion. He was flogged and whipped, mocked and scorned; they dressed him in purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns forcing it into his head. They took turns punching him, spitting on him and tearing out his beard. He was tossed into the open where his own people formed a crowd in circling him; the leaders of the people chose to worship their enemy's king; they hated Rome... but they hated God more". His teeth clenched as if they were made of metal. "And finally they forced him to drag his own cross onto that calvary, planting it in the same spot where I, the father of that humanity that was rejecting and killing him, had been buried thousands of years before. The blood of the Messiah desecrated my tomb, all while I was there, held down by two seraphim in Heaven, unable to intervene. I had to watch that massacre while the hope of humanity was tortured by their own hands. While the Earth trembled because its very Creator was being torn away from life, Jesus remained faithful to his role and resisted all that suffering"
Adam's fingers closed tightly on the Bible, almost tearing it. Vaggie could almost feel his anger emanating from her body like it was hot steam, so much so that she felt the urge to step back, but she remained where she was nonetheless. "It must have been awful for Christ" she muttered faintly. "I have heard his story many times, and each time I have wondered why he had to suffer so much"
“Because of the humans” Adam said. "He did it for all of them. He chose them over himself, even those who were more unworthy than ever. He offered his salvation even to those who didn't deserve it in the slightest. That's something I never understood: good people deserved salvation, that was a fact... but why bad ones too? Why? Why didn't he destroy those bastards? He had the power to to do it, a single word would have been enough for him, or rather, a single thought. He could have destroyed them and condemned their disgusting souls to the fate they deserved, but instead... he chose to suffer, to let them torment him and kill him. Why? What could have made him believe that the lives of those evil people were worth something? How could he offer salvation to them too? Why did he offer it to a pathetic thief crucified next to him? Why did he ask for forgiveness for those same cruel people who were driving nails into his cross?". He clenched his fist tightly before his eyes. "If it had been up to me... I would have annihilate them. Why did he choose differently? Why was he willing to welcome even his own tormentors into the blessed kingdom?”
Vaggie was silent for a long moment. And then, very delicately, she took the Bible from his hands. Adam was a little surprised by that gesture, but he still didn't stop her. Vaggie quickly flipped through the pages, and then she said aloud: “But to you who hear, I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To those who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; to those who takes away your cloak, do not refuse your tunic; and to those who takes what you have, do not ask for it do it to them. From the Gospel of Luke"
Adam narrowed his eyes and let out a grunt. "Yeah... that silly pacifism. It's ridiculous. Your tormentor won't stop tormenting you if you show him love, they will only see it as a weakness and will use it to destroy you"
"It's true. In some cases it certainly is" Vaggie admitted. "But in others, that gesture of forgiveness and understanding can be what it takes to break through to your tormentor's heart and melt the ice that covers them. Sometimes, love and compassion are not necessarily a weakness"
"Just because it works one time doesn't mean it will work another time, or another time. Out of a hundred times you try this method, only one time will you have a chance of success. And what will happen in the meantime?" Adam opined. "Love and compassion... are emotions that are permitted when you are not in a world corrupted by evil. They are nothing more than a privilege, the privilege of living in a place where evil has not yet arrived. But elsewhere, you must react If you don't react, the evil spreads. And if it spreads, it can infect other places too, until it devours everything. Just like a cancer... it must be exterminated"
"What if it wasn't so?" Vaggie asked him. "What if there was the possibility of curing that cancer? It's true, it's likely that by turning the other cheek, my tormentor will only throw me another punch. But if I got up and accepted to suffer another and another, maybe even a hundred, and if I never gave up on them, couldn't I perhaps sooner or later be able to break through to their soul, change them, make them better, show them the cruelty of their actions and encourage them to choose a higher path?"
"And how much cruelty will have to be unleashed against the innocent before you succeed?" Adam asked her. "You chose to suffer and try to make that person better, but everyone else didn't. Will you take responsibility for every single evil that person perpetuates against others, for all the pain?"
Vaggie felt her heart ache at those words. She wasn't sure she knew how to answer. In fact, a person who committed evil acts rarely made life hell for a single person. Even if one of them had chosen the path of forgiveness, all the others would still have been victims of a fate they had not chosen...
"Wouldn't it be better to solve the problem at the root?" Adam asked her again. "Is one soul worth a thousand that will be irreparably ruined, soiled and traumatized perhaps for the whole of eternity? Will you be able to live with the awareness that you could have avoided all this, but you didn't do it because you hoped for that person's redemption that perhaps will never come? Is that right?"
Vaggie bit her tongue. She instinctively clutched her chest, feeling like she had a weight on it.
Adam stared at her intently: "Answer me! Is that right!?"
"I do not know!" Vaggie exclaimed suddenly.
Adam let out a grunt. "I thought so" he said, taking the Bible back and putting it back under his tunic. "Let me reveal the truth to you: in this cursed universe, the only true remedy for evil is annihilation. If left unchecked, evil will only thrive and drive many more people into the abyss of suffering. It is something that must be eradicated... to survive, to protect, and to do justice"
His wings spread wide behind it, appearing like a dark, black cloak. "Come with me" he said to Vaggie. "I'll show you how much pain it brings to turn the other cheek"
Vaggie was surprised by his actions, but still nodded and opened her wings as well. "Stay here" Adam told the other Exorcists and Alastor. "Or if you want to follow us, watch from a distance. Let none of you interfere"
And with that he took flight and went just a couple of houses away, followed by Vaggie; out of the corner of her eye she could see the others following them from the distance, clearly curious to see what would have happened. "It's really a shame" Adam commented as he stopped in front of a house. "This city should have been the center of the world, a place of love, salvation and faith, the capital of a thriving and wonderful civilization... and instead look what it has become. What a terrible sight to behold... what should have been the pinnacle of excellence, reduced to a mere fortress in a desert". His fists clenched tightly. "I can only curse those foolish people for plunging this world into mediocrity, achieving satisfaction with nothing but their money and sinful gold, having no ambition to develop mankind into bringing out its full potential... it's so infuriating!". He was silent for a moment, and then hissed: "Just literally turn the corner, listen carefully, look in the right places, and you'll find only a pure receptacle of evil"
He motioned Vaggie to one of the windows; she didn't miss his angry and angry look, and this made her hesitate for a moment. However, she finally gathered courage and went next to him. What she saw made her put her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming.
It was a dark, very small room, containing a small bed and some furniture; and sitting at the foot of that bed, curled up so much that she seemed almost microscopic, was a little girl who couldn't have been more than seven years old. A little girl who was clearly malnourished and who had several visible bruises on her face and arms, and judging by the way her hair was, someone must have pulled it violently. Her dress was torn a little in the back, showing that her skin had several wounds left by a whip... or a leather belt used as a whip. “What… what am I…?”
"What's the matter? I thought you liked children who needed help" Adam told her. His arms were crossed and his expression seemingly neutral, but his eyes seemed to be engulfed in flames. "Let me show you what the fucking silly turn-the-other-cheek philosophy does to the innocents!"
Notes:
For those who don't know, yes, Adam's tomb according to Christian tradition is located exactly under Golgotha. This is first mentioned by Origen (3rd century), who believed that the place of Christ's death was also the place of Adam's burial: this fact symbolically reiterated the role of Jesus as the "new Adam", founder of the new redeemed humanity. For this reason, in representations of the crucifixion, Adam's skull is often depicted at the foot of the Cross.
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329544
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 20): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155192626
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 49: Mercy or justice
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie immediately flew to the window and placed her palms on the glass, and only the knowledge that if she broke it the glass would have fallen on the little girl and injure her stopped her from breaking it and entering. Every bruise and wound she saw on her was heartbreaking.
Vaggie had always had a soft spot for children. From her point of view they were the pure representation of innocence. Every time she saw one, she felt the urge to protect them. She was an angel after all, and angels protected the innocent. That's why she felt her heart bleed seeing that little girl reduced to that condition. "Who is she?" she barely whispered.
Adam flew next to her. Vaggie could see that he had become much more skittish than before. "Adele Dahan. No sin on her conscience, as you can imagine"
Vaggie didn't need to ask him how he knew; she knew that with his gaze Adam could know a person's identity simply by looking at them, and the same was true for their sins. "What happened to her?"
Adam shook his head. "My eyes currently only allow me to see the evil done by a soul, not what it has suffered. But it is still not difficult for me to know; I only need to follow the stench of evil to find the one who is causing it all". And having said this he just moved his wings and flew in front of a nearby window, and he just raised his finger: "Here he is"
Vaggie didn't want to stop staring at that distressed little girl, she gave her the impression that just by looking away she was abandoning her, but in the end with an effort that seemed inhuman to her she followed the first man and went to the other window. What she saw was a person sitting comfortably on a sofa watching television. He was a man who at first glance might have seemed handsome, with long bob hair and a well-groomed beard, of medium height and build, dressed in casual clothes. However, what Vaggie didn't miss at all was the leather belt placed on a nearby bedside table. "Is that her father?"
"He's her mother's sperm donor. He has no right to call himself a father" Adam replied to her with a grunt. "And this time I can see many things. Yosef Dahan, an apparently respectable and modest man, a family guy, who loves to educate his beloved seven-year-old daughter with the old method of the beatings and the belt used as a whip... and also his wife, who if you went behind that door over there you would find lying on their wedding bed unable to move from the pain"
Vaggie gritted her teeth. She was not ignorant of the problems caused by abusive parents; in Hell there were plenty of them, and in Heaven she had occasionally met the souls of children with whom such parents had gone too far. But despite this knowledge she couldn't stop herself from asking: "Why?"
"Power. Or rather, illusion of power" Adam answered her. "That man exercises his power over his wife and daughter to gain pleasure from that illusion of superiority. That illusion is what gives him strength and allows him to maintain his pompous behavior, and therefore he never misses an opportunity to perpetuate his abuse. To give you an example, the little Adele is now in her room crying with a black eye because she dared to disturb him while he was watching television. Now he will finish watching the program he likes so much and drinking his beer, and then he will go to his daughter's room to give her a real punishment. And to make matters worse, he has already decided that he will make her choose what kind of pain she'll have to receive"
Vaggie gritted her teeth. "What do we do?"
"Huh? Do something?" Adam murmured in a confused voice. "Why should we do anything? Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Go to that man and sing him a song about rainbows and unicorns, and he'll magically change"
Vaggie bit her lip. "You know that's not what I meant..."
“But the end result is the same” Adam interrupted. "Everyone deserves a second chance, so that man deserves one too. Well, then let's go there and try to convince him to change. Maybe it will happen, right? Maybe, after months and months, or maybe years, he will become a good person. And in the meantime? How many bruises will have to be added to the face of his daughter or the body of his wife, who have done nothing wrong, but are trapped in a nightmare from which they cannot escape? Will you take responsibility for this, Vaggie? Will you be the one to dry Adele's tears every time he makes her cry?"
"We can get him away from them" Vaggie tried to argue. “We can stop him from hurting him”
"So you will watch over him for the rest of his life? Maybe even in the afterlife?" Adam asked her. "Will you stay by his side day after day, ensuring he never does any more bad deeds? Will you repeat this process for all the billions of human beings in the world?"
"There is no need to watch him forever" Vaggie replied. "Only until he changes"
"Really? And how will you be sure that he will have changed? How will you be sure that he will not sink back into his old habits? Will you sleep easy knowing that you have released a monster into the wild? And these people, will they sleep easy knowing that he is around?" Adam asked her. "Who tells you that as soon as you stop watching over him he won't come into this house again, take some ornament and smash it in the faces of his wife and daughter? Once a monster, always a monster, Vaggie"
Vaggie narrowed her eyes. She felt her heart tighten at those words, as if a vice were tearing her apart. "It's not certain" she just murmured. "Even monsters can change"
She expected a snide comment, but instead Adam simply shrugged. "As you wish. The choice is yours, after all"
Vaggie's eyes widened. “Um… what?”
Adam opened her robe slightly and revealed that underneath it he still had the angelic spear he had taken from her; without even giving her an explanation he threw it into her hands. "The choice is yours now, Vaggie. I won't interfere"
Vaggie tightened her fingers around the spear. The cold angelic steel sent a shiver down her spine. "Why?"
“Because I trust you” was Adam's simple answer.
"Don't make fun of me!" Vaggie exclaimed angrily.
"I'm not doing that. I trust you" Adam repeated to her. "I already told you, what happened between us was my fault. I didn't educate you as well as I was supposed to, and I never let you see the reason behind our actions. The mistake was mine, not yours. You don't lack the resolve to do what needs to be done, you just lack the awareness of why it needs to be done. I have no reason to believe that you won't do the right thing after you experience the consequences of turning the other cheek"
Vaggie looked at the spear in her hands, and then at the person on the other side of the window. "You... want me to choose whether he lives or dies"
“I want you to choose” Adam corrected her. "What will be the words behind this sentence, that is up to you to decide"
Vaggie felt terribly uncomfortable. This was a situation she hadn't expected and was absolutely not prepared for.
She had always been better at obeying than choosing. Even though she was always ready to defend and protect, she had always let others make decisions for her. She wasn't sure she was capable of being a good judge of such an extreme situation.
But she couldn't just walk away from there pretending nothing had happened either.
She knew if she did that she would have won. If she had turned her back on the window and flown away, she would have chosen to give that man, Yosef, a second chance. In fact, she would have for all intents and purposes rejected Adam's ideals.
But just the thought of leaving sounded like a deadly sin in her mind. She couldn't leave, not if it meant abandoning an innocent child. She couldn't do it, her conscience would have tormented her for eternity.
With a quick movement of her wings he flew back to the window of Adele's room. She was still there, curled up in the same position as before. Even though her back was to the window, Vaggie could see a few tears streaming down her face. Her fingers instinctively rested on the glass, and it almost felt like it was colder than a piece of ice.
"Do you want to come in?" Adam asked flying past her.
Vaggie answered without thinking: "Yes, please"
Adam nodded, and he enveloped them both in his shadows; in an instant, they passed through the cracks in the window and were inside the room. Vaggie was finally able to look Adele in the face, and she saw very clearly that the bruises she had observed earlier were only a tiny part of the total. Her heart tightened so much it felt like it was about to break. "Anyone can see those bruises... why isn't anyone intervening...?"
"Like you?" Adam asked her rhetorically.
Vaggie felt her heart leap into her throat. "That's not what I meant! Why don't any humans do anything?"
"I don't know. Maybe the man who wields power over this little girl keeps her hidden. Or maybe everyone is just too selfish to care" Adam replied. "No one likes to act and choose, after all"
Vaggie knew Adam's jokes were just aimed at her. She wanted to be angry with him, but she only felt a deep dark crater in her heart. "And you? Why don't you do anything?" she asked him.
"But I'm doing something. I brought you here, didn't I?" Adam replied. "Like I told you, I trust you"
"This is not enough!" Vaggie exclaimed. "You are the father of these people! Why don't you do anything!?"
Perhaps she hoped to infuriate him with those words, but Adam showed not the slightest change in his calm. “Coming from the one who has tried to stop me from doing something up to this point, it sounds very bad”
Vaggie almost choked on her own saliva. She almost would have preferred Adam to punch her, maybe break her nose, rather than continue to stare at her with his judging eyes. “Why are you showing me this?” she barely whispered.
"I told you. You have to learn" Adam replied. "You're not evil, Vaggie. You just don't understand the problem. You're like an infant who doesn't even understand which direction to walk in, and that's because I've kept you under a bell jar for too long. This is my way to remedy that mistake. No more bell jar; now, whether you like it or not, you have to face the hard truth"
"Why now?" Vaggie barely whispered. "Why did you first let Lute tear off my wings and eye, and now you want to teach me instead?"
"Because I previously mistakenly believed that your betrayal was due to a sympathy for the evil" Adam replied to her. "I now realize that this betrayal was only due to ignorance. I had begun to understand it from the moment you accompanied your beloved princess to Heaven. Therefore, it is now my duty to solve the problem, and show you that yours was just a wrong judgment"
“Just wrong judgment?” Vaggie murmured. "And everything else I've done? The Exorcists I killed? Isn't that also sympathy for evil for you?"
Adam was not moved in the slightest by these words. "These are the actions of an infant. I consider them as such"
Vaggie felt her heart pounding, so much so that she wouldn't have been surprised if it had exploded in her chest. Her legs trembled as if in the midst of an earthquake and her forehead was so full of sweat that it shone like the surface of a pearl. Her every instinct was to act, to do something, to protect that person on the ground... but at the same time she knew that if she did so she would have given Adam the upper hand, and invalidated any argument in Charlie's favor...
Suddenly the little girl moved. Vaggie made a strangled noise as soon as she looked at that small and fragile being who with difficulty rose from her crouched position, moving slowly to prevent her wounds from hurting her even more. She felt her heart bleed and beg her to fall on her and help her, but at the same time her legs felt like they had turned to stone.
Adele crawled with difficulty towards the bed and used it as a counterweight to pull herself up... or rather, to get on her knees even though her legs ached and that position was terribly tiring for her. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, lowering her head as a sign of respect.
Vaggie's eyes widened at the sight. “Is she… praying?”
"It seems obvious to me" Adam replied. "Even in the midst of all this suffering, she continues to hope that someone in Heaven will hear her small, faint voice, and not forget her"
"Why doesn't anyone answer her!?" Vaggie protested. "There should be an angel here at...!"
The words died in her throat.
She was an angel, and she was right there.
Adam evidently understood her thoughts, and in fact said to her: "I already see an angel here. This angel simply refuses to protect her". And having said this he took the Bible from under his robe and opened it, and he showed her a passage: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test"
Vaggie bit her lip. “What does it have to do with it now?”
"It absolutely has something to do with it. Why are you now asking why no one is intervening, when you yourself aren't doing it?" Adam asked her, closing the Bible with a snap. “God put you in this little girl's way. God has probably put a lot of other people like you in her way. You, as well as all of humanity, have every means to save this person. If you refuse to do so, you have nothing to blame on God"
Vaggie trembled under Adam's accusation, which seemed to hit her with the force of a mountain. But what finally broke her heart was the faint voice that emerged from Adele's lips: "My God, my God... please forgive me. I don't know what I've done... but if you punish me like this, I must surely have done something... please..."
At that point Vaggie couldn't hold back any longer: she threw herself on her knees next to her and took her in her arms, also opening her wings wide and wrapping them around her like a blanket. In doing this she came out of Adam's shadows, making herself visible again to the eyes of mortals, unlike the first man who remained hidden. Adele made a sound of surprise as she suddenly felt herself being grabbed by unknown arms and surrounded by a warm and soft mass of feathers, but it didn't take her long to turn her head and see what was happening. "An angel...?"
Vaggie didn't answer her: she hugged her as much as she could, being very careful not to hurt her. She couldn't help herself and let the tears slip from her eyes and fall on her. Adele was clearly confused, but still she didn't refuse the hug; perhaps because no one had made such a gesture to her for a long time, she let Vaggie hold her tightly, and indeed, she herself got even closer to her, almost as if she wanted to merge with her chest.
Vaggie didn't know exactly how long she stayed in that position; Adam didn't intervene or say a single word. She continued to remain there on her knees, with that poor little girl in her arms, crying her eyes out for her...
Wait...
Vaggie suddenly realized that something strange was happening: the more her tears fell on Adele, the more her body seemed to improve. The wounds healed and the bruises faded, and she appeared to become healthier and well-nourished. With each of her tears, she seemed to wash away the pain.
Was she doing it...?
Really...?
"The tears of angels, any angel, contain their essence. Just like their blood or semen" Adam whispered in her ear, not lifting the curtain of shadows from him. "And that essence has power over humans. Your pity and desire to help has taken shape in them"
Vaggie's eyes widened in surprise. She remembered hearing about it, when she was still a very young angel, more like a distant story than an actual possibility. After all, she had never seen a very human in her life, only souls who had already become angels.
Adele raised her head towards her. "You healed me... you are truly an angel!" she exclaimed with a broad smile.
"I… yes, I am" Vaggie admitted, not knowing what else to do.
"You have come to take me to the kingdom of Heaven!" Adele said leaning into her and holding her again. "You're so beautiful! I've been praying so hard for you to come!"
Vaggie felt her throat go dry as if she hadn't drank in days. "Hey... you know that only those who die go to the kingdom of Heaven, right...?"
"Of course!" Adele answered her without losing her smile. "Okay. I'm sure I'll like the other side if you take me there!"
Vaggie's eyes trembled even more. "But... it means that you would die..."
"I told you, it's okay" Adele told her. "I don't like it here. I want to go to the kingdom of Heaven, where everyone is good!"
Vaggie felt her heart shatter into tiny pieces. Every word that entered her ears was like a dagger to her. But any thoughts she had were immediately cut short when a male voice came from the other side of the door: "I'm coming! I hope you've thought about your actions in the meantime!"
Adele immediately tensed up and held onto Vaggie tightly: "Angel, please take me to the kingdom of Heaven now! I'm scared!"
Vaggie was completely immobilized; she found herself in a situation where she absolutely didn't know what to do. Adam's voice reached her ear: "The choice is yours now, Vaggie: mercy... or justice?"
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154329544
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 20): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155192626
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 50: Choice
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie tightened her grip on her spear and instinctively stepped in front of Adele, spreading her wings to defend her better. The sound of Yosef's footsteps was getting closer and closer, and it was like thunder in her ears. Adam clearly noticed her mood, because he whispered in her ears: "It's all yours"
Vaggie's forehead became wet with sweat. She certainly wasn't afraid: she knew very well that she was stronger than any human being, and that even if by a miracle Yosef managed to defeat her, Adam wouldn't have let him hurt Adele. Vaggie could have break a human's weak flesh body with a simple punch; after all, she could effortlessly stick a spear through and pull it out of a demon's flesh, which was much tougher in comparison. In terms of safety, neither she nor Adele were in the slightest risk.
However, the situation she found herself in was quite difficult for her. Under normal circumstances she would not have hesitated to kill Yosef; she had tried to do this with many others, even Pentious, when they had threatened the people under her protection. Killing a monster that perpetuated such horrors on his own offspring certainly didn't scare her.
But if she had given in and killed Yosef, Adam would have won.
If Vaggie had stabbed Yosef with her spear, she would have confirmed the first man's words. She would have tacitly admitted that the life of a sinner was not worth as much as that of an innocent. She would have literally agreed with everything he had said, and would have reiterated the need to eliminate evil, and consequently also justified the Extermination. Killing Yosef would have meant saying that Adam had always been right and that Charlie, who Vaggie had supported with all her might, was wrong.
If Vaggie had given in at that precise moment, any hope of changing the first man's mind would have been dashed. He would have simply said: "Ah, killing sinners is wrong? But you did it". And she herself would not have been able to deny that reality, and would have found herself having to question her beliefs... with the result that she would have probably ended up opposing Charlie.
And that was exactly what Adam wanted.
Vaggie looked at the first man: only she could see him through the curtain of shadows and smoke in which he was nestled. He was leaning against a wall and had his arms crossed. Even if his position could seem to show indifference, Vaggie knew very well that he was attentive: his tense muscles betrayed that he was ready to spring at the first sign of danger. If Vaggie proved incapable of protecting Adele, he would have stepped in and cut off the head of any attacker. But up until that point he had no intention of interfering: he really wanted to give total decision to Vaggie.
That was a test. A sort of test in which Vaggie simply had to make a decision: kill the monster who had done so much harm to an innocent little girl, or spare him. No solutions in between. The decision was Vaggie's, and Vaggie's alone.
Vaggie would have proven that it was possible to show mercy to a sinner... or Adam would have proven that mercy only brought more harm and that she couldn't give it to anyone.
Yosef opened the door. Vaggie gritted her teeth as she saw the man who would have literally been her test appear. He looked at her dazed: "Who are you? What is that costume?"
Vaggie deduced that Yosef must have been a little blurry-eyed from the beer, because no sane person would have had such a reaction to finding a stranger in the house looking like an angel. A logical reaction was that of the guardian of Alastor's old house, who got scared and pointed his rifle at him, certainly not a calm calm and a disdainful grunt. "My name is Vaggie" she said in the most solemn voice she could manage, then she pointed to Adele: "And she is now under my protection"
The little girl hugged her legs tightly and buried her face in her wings. She was clearly terrified, but it was as if she found some courage and comfort in her presence.
Yosef made a disgusted noise. “Hey, get out of my house right now or…!”
Vaggie hit him right in the face with the handle of her spear, knocking him to the ground. After all, she had only imposed the rule not to kill him, not to not hurt him. Actually, even at the hotel she had occasionally found herself forced to give the guests a beating lesson... especially Angel. "I said she's under my protection" she repeated in a very confident voice. "Do you want to challenge an angel of the Lord?"
For lack of better ideas, Vaggie had opted to terrorize Yosef. She was sure that if she could convince him that she was truly an angel, he would have refrained from touching Adele even with a finger again. After all, humans were afraid of celestial beings even when they did not show themselves to them; faced with a real angel, any human would have bowed and obeyed. Regardless of religion, being faced with what for them was a direct envoy from God would have convinced anyone.
Yosef stood up, rubbing his nose. "You... filthy bastard... I'm calling the police...!"
Vaggie was having a hard time staying calm; the fact that she was trying to hold back so as not to give Adam the upper hand wasn't stopping her from feeling the desire to strangle that man. And evidently her thoughts were being expressed by her expression, because Yosef stopped, frozen by her killing intent. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear" Vaggie said, her voice shaking with anger. "I am an angel of the Lord, and I have placed this child under my protection. If you dare to touch her with even a finger again, I can assure you that you will regret it. Your horrible deeds will never be repeated again; go away and reflect on them, and try to be a better man, and hope that God still has mercy on your soul"
That would have been enough, she was sure of it. If Yosef had been convinced that he had truly received a divine message, he would never have harmed anyone again. He would have changed.
But...
She couldn't help but feel a bittersweet taste in her mouth. What if, once she was gone, he would have started hurting Adele again? After all, he could have simply said yes and then gone back to his old habits after she was not around anymore. Or he could try to follow her order for a while, but lose control one day and hurt her again... and seeing that he suffered no consequences, he would have convinced himself that he could do it again. Vaggie couldn't be there twenty-four hours a day to protect Adele...
And besides, even if Yosef had never hurt the little girl again in his life, and maybe had changed and become the best man in the city... that wouldn't have erased the past. How could Adele live peacefully with a man who had hurt her so much? All her life she would have feared him returning to his old ways, and every time they interacted she would have been filled with terror. It was really unfair...
No! She had to stay calm. If she gave in to those thoughts, she would only have been playing into Adam's hands...
But was it really worth it?
Was she really willing to live forever in fear of that little girl being mistreated again, just to not let Adam win?
Was she willing to put her at risk...?
Yosef finally looked seriously scared of her. He dropped to his knees and immediately lowered his head. "I... I bend to the will of the Lord" he barely stammered.
Vaggie breathed a sigh of relief in her mind. Ok, as she had predicted, humans just had to come into contact with the divine to be scared. Now she just had to...
Yosef looked up and asked her: "Why did the Almighty send you here to me?"
Vaggie felt like exploding. Seriously? "I just told you! And anyway, don't you see it for yourself? Don't you see the cruelty you perpetuated towards your daughter?"
“But… I was just educating her” Yosef murmured. "She must learn to obey..."
Vaggie felt the fire burning inside her like a volcano. "You call this educating her? You've ruined her life to this day!"
"I did it for her. It's important that she knows her place" Yosef justified himself. "Maybe... sometimes I exaggerated... but it was her who made me angry..."
Vaggie's eyes flashed with flames. “Even now that you are faced with a divine being, you cannot see the gravity of your actions!?”
Maybe it was pride, maybe it was arrogance, maybe it was cruelty, maybe it was something else; the fact is that Yosef seemed to regain some of his confidence and replied: "I didn't do anything wrong! I was just educating that child, I have no reason to regret...!"
Vaggie's spear moved so quickly it seemed like silver lightning; for a split second, she saw completely red and thrust her weapon into the man's chest. Yosef made a choking sound and spat blood from his mouth, and then he looked fearfully at the spear handle protruding from him.
Vaggie let out a deep snort. "I gave you one last chance" she told him through clenched teeth. “If you are not willing to see the monstrosities you perpetuate and even dare to justify yourself, I will not let you breathe again!”
That man would never have touched anyone again. He would have never again harmed even a single hair on that poor little girl who continued to hide behind her. In fact, Vaggie could feel Adele gripping her feathers tighter as she looked at the spear lodged in her father's body... but it wasn't out of fear... it almost felt like... joy...
Vaggie suddenly widened her eyes and suddenly let go of the spear, as if it had become red-hot. Now that her emotions had calmed down a little, she was realizing what she had just done.
That was an angelic spear, so it would have destroyed Yosef's very soul. And since he would surely have become a sinner... he could already consider himself dead for eternity. She had killed him for good... just like she had promised herself she wouldn't have done. She had just accepted in her heart that killing that person was the right thing, and she could no longer find arguments against that fact.
Adam's voice shook her. "Good work" he said, and finally the blanket of shadows moved away, revealing him to human eyes. “I knew you wouldn't have let me down a second time”
Adele made a frightened noise and hid behind Vaggie's legs; clearly, seeing a guy over two and a half meters tall with the features of a demon appear in the middle of the room couldn't have been a pleasant experience. Vaggie felt her hug her legs even tighter, perhaps because she was convinced that the good angel would have protected her.
Adam noticed her behavior, and he smiled, trying to show his sharp teeth as little as possible. “You have nothing to fear from me, little one” he told her. "I am not a soulless monster like this man. I do not take the lives of those who are innocent"
Yosef made a muffled noise as he saw it approaching him. He was so scared that he almost seemed to forget about the spear in his chest. "You... demon...!"
"Demon? You dare call me a demon, you revolting creature?" Adam asked him in disgust. He reached down and ripped the spear from his chest with one sharp blow, and he grabbed him by the neck to keep him from falling to the ground. "You have been struck with an angelic blade, and your soul is so corrupted that there is not even a fragment of spirit within it. You have only minutes left before the divine power erases you for eternity. There will be no judgment for you, nor any life after death. Dust you are and dust you will return"
Yosef was shaking like a spring; the blood pouring from his chest stained the floor, but Adam placed a hand on his wound to stem the blood loss. "Vaggie has already made her judgment by stabbing you. Regardless of what happens, in three minutes at most your soul will have disappeared from the universe" he told him with a sneer. “So, since she already killed you, I have no reason to hold back any longer. I can have some fun with you”
And with those words he grabbed his chin with his free hand and forced him to look him in the face. "You say you have done nothing wrong. Seriously, even though I have already met millions of people like you, I wonder how you can be so cowardly as to hide the truth even from yourselves" he commented with a smile that fully showed his his teeth, and his eyes changed shape. "Well, since you don't understand it yourself, I'll show you how wrong you are. Let me show you what I see when I look into your filthy soul!"
Yosef tried to close his eyes, but Adam blocked his eyelids with his fingers. Immediately his gaze grabbed him, and he was sucked inside...
He was in that same room, but everything was... bigger? Yes, that was the right definition. It was as if all the furniture had increased in height, width and thickness. And the room was bigger too...
No... was he the one who was smaller...?
And... why was he shaking...?
He felt fear like he had never felt in his life. His whole body was so cold and shaking, and he had tears in his eyes. He constantly felt the awareness that danger was coming...
Suddenly the door opened, and he himself entered... but it was different. It was bigger, like everything else, so much so that it looked like a giant from her perspective... and maybe it was just a play of light, but in her eyes it also appeared dark and threatening...
The slap that landed in his face was like a fireball: he couldn't even see it, he only felt the survival instinct warning him to dodge it, but he didn't have time. His little body was too weak and slow. The impact was so violent that it sent him to the ground, and the affected part seemed to have just been marked with liquid fire...
"How dare you disobey me for the umpteenth time!" the other one screamed, and his voice seemed to shatter his eardrums. "You must do as I tell you, is that clear to you!? I am your father, and you must obey me!"
His every word sent a shiver down her spine. Just hearing that voice caused pure terror in his heart.
The other man took out his belt and hit him with it, without worrying about hitting his face too, which fortunately he managed to block in time with his hands. It was like being hit by fire that continuously burned and lashed, generating deep furrows in his skin...
Adam held Yosef in that position for almost a minute. Vaggie remembered that with the guardian of Alastor's house it had taken much less time... but she also remembered that Adam was now able to revive many sins instead of just one. And the first man seemed to take great pleasure in torturing Yosef continuously.
Finally, Adam stopped, and Yosef finally seemed to come back to reality; his body was covered in spasms and was drenched in sweat. "I would continue for a long time, but unfortunately life is about to abandon you" Adam commented. "Too bad, I could have gone on until tomorrow morning... but hey, you can't always have everything in life"
The first man had a satisfied voice, but it had a slight harsh tone that fully betrayed his wrath, so much so that Vaggie almost felt like she could touch it. As he stared at the trembling Yosef, Adam's eyes shone with a light that seemed to come from a dying star. "Yes... now you know it too. You know what you did. You know what you unleashed. You know all the pain, the surprises, the tears that you, with your cruelty, have unleashed on your innocent daughter. Someone like you doesn't deserves to be human. A mistake like you... doesn't deserve to exist"
Yosef raised his head weakly, and their eyes met again. For an instant that seemed eternal, both reflected themselves in each other's pupils. And Yosef, to his utter terror that almost stopped his heart, was convinced he saw the flames of Hell dancing in Adam's eyes.
And then, the last light completely disappeared from the first man's eyes, replaced by two pits of pure fury. “Bastard” he hissed. "Now I'll explode you"
And having said this he pulled back the hand with which he was holding his chest.
It all happened in a second: Vaggie barely had time to see it. An instant before, Adam had been kneeling before Yosef, who was still a full human being; an instant later, Adam was standing again, his right arm raised to the side, and only a skull-topped spine was present in his hands. Adam had literally ripped Yosef's skeleton away from his body with a single movement, and flesh, muscles and blood had instantly been reduced to a shapeless pulp due to the immense energy released by that gesture, and had fallen to the ground, staining the floor as if they were a rather disgusting slime; the bones remained intact, but for obvious reasons they could not remain together without the support of cartilage and joints. The legs and arms were the first to fall off, followed by the pelvis and shoulder blades, and then the vertebrae which fell off one by one. Only the skull ultimately remained in Adam's hand; he brought it in front of his face, looked at it for a miserable moment, and then with a sound of disgust he closed his hand into a fist, shattering it.
Adam's smile had become even wider than before. His eyes shone with excitement as he experienced that wonderful feeling that followed eliminating a sinner. But while he was still enjoying it, for an instant he again felt a wave of adrenaline and bloodlust overwhelm him, as if someone had thrown emotions that were not his own, as had happened at Alastor's father's villa. He turned his gaze slightly, but what he saw was only his double axe which he had hanging from his back as usual. Had he imagined it again?
Vaggie was left paralyzed; instinctively she tightened her hand on Adele's shoulder and pushed her further behind her. But at the same time, the fear in her heart was sort of… blurred. A strange excitement had filled her the moment she saw Yosef being torn to pieces. And it wasn't just her; even though she wasn't looking at her, she could feel that Adele, despite continuing to hide behind her, was still leaning out so she could see the scene. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that the little girl's eyes were focused on the shapeless mass of slime and the few bones that were left of her father, and although her pupils were trembling with fear, there was also a sort of joyful light and victorious, as if all her life she had wanted nothing else and had finally obtained it.
No... it was as if all her life she had lived with very heavy chains on her, and now those chains had broken.
Adam reached down and picked up the angelic spear; he brought it before his eyes and almost seemed to scrutinize the blood present on it. "You killed that man" he said in a voice that almost sounded like thunder. "You killed him... and you feel no remorse, am I right?"
Vaggie felt the air leave her lungs. She knew he should be sorry for what he had done... but she couldn't. Every single cell in her body seemed to rejoice at the sight of that dead man, indeed, she almost wished he could resurrect so she could kill him again.
She knew it was wrong... but she just couldn't feel the slightest remorse.
Adam turned to her and looked into her eyes, and she froze under that gaze. "It's normal. You don't have to be sorry about it" he told her. "You only did what was right. If you had spared him, that little girl who now hides behind you would have been tortured again; even if you had made him promise not to hurt her again, he would have broken his word, or maybe he would have deflected his cruelty onto someone else. You protected her, and that's right. And besides... you brought justice to everything this man did in his miserable existence"
Adam walked towards her until he was less than a meter away from her. Vaggie looked up and could see his face betraying his satisfaction. "You survived, you protected, and you brought justice. You fulfilled your duty. Now you are truly an exterminator of evil". And having said this he took her hands and placed the angelic spear in her palms. "Now... you are an Exorcist"
Notes:
The images you see were created by the artist Kat_in_the_shell on Tumblr, which I invite you to follow (https://www.tumblr.com/kat-in-the-shell?source=share). As usual I leave my thanks for this excellent work.
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/155338936
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 20): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155192626
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 51: Mistakes from the past
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam still didn't speak to Vaggie after those last words; on the contrary, he raised his hand and touched her face, where some of the tears she had shed moments before were still located, and he let them slide across his palm; then he bent down and handed them to Adele: "Here, consider them a gift from this angel. Go to your mother and pour them on her, she will heal from all the wounds that man inflicted on her. Then run away, or rather, leave this city. The money is in the drawer by the door, this asshole kept it hidden there"
Adele let Adam place Vaggie's tears in her hands; even though she was clearly scared of him, she still didn't try to run away. “You… are a demon, sir?”
Adam smiled at her. "I am neither an angel nor a demon. I consider myself just a man"
"Were you sent here to punish my father?" Adele asked him in a whisper.
"Don't call him that. As a father, I can assure you that he didn't have the qualifications to expect you to call him that" Adam replied to her. "About the rest... it could be said that God put me in your path. I have only fulfilled my eternal duty of giving the wicked what they deserve"
Adele didn't seem convinced she could trust him, but she didn't seem as terrified as before either. Even though she should have been scared of Adam since she had just seen him tear a man apart before her eyes, on the contrary she felt much less afraid of him than before. And also a little gratitude. “God works in mysterious ways” she whispered. "Praise the Almighty"
Adam put his hand in her hair and stroked her gently. Adele tensed for the first few moments, clearly remembering Yosef's slaps and associating the raised hand with that behavior, but then she relaxed under that gentle touch. "You have a strong and pure heart. Never change" Adam told her. "Go now. Oh, and would you mind doing a little favor to me?"
Adele nodded. "What's this about?"
"As you and your mother are leaving, you will meet someone. A girl in her twenties, blonde, with a beautiful smile" Adam told her. "When you see her, bring her these words of mine: "I'll wait for you in Golgotha, where we will talk again now that you know many more things. Don't delay". Just tell her this... and tell her that the man who exterminates the perverse sends you"
Adele was very uncertain. "Who is this girl?"
"Just a poor lost sheep who hasn't yet understood the reality of this world. I don't want to hurt her, just teach her" Adam replied to her. "Go now. Your mother needs help"
Adele immediately followed his advice. "I will. Thank you, sir" she told him, and then she looked at Vaggie with a wide smile. “And many thanks to you, angel”. And having said this she ran out of the room.
Vaggie bit her lip as she looked at her; her heart was pounding. She felt within herself the joy of finally seeing that little girl smile so genuinely... she could finally see the hope in her eyes, that little light that hadn't been present in the slightest all that time. Finally, that small and fragile soul was shining again.
But at the same time, she had lost.
She didn't feel the slightest remorse for his actions; Yosef was a horrible person and deserved that fate. But in killing him, she had proved Adam right. She had tacitly admitted that his method of exterminating the wicked without giving them a second chance was the right one. She had missed her chance to oppose him.
But after all... did she really want to oppose...?
As she watched, Adam dipped his hand into the mush that was once Yosef's body and with it drew his symbol on the wall, writing the number 10 beneath it. "We're done here" he said. "Let's go, Vaggie"
And after such words he wrapped her in the shadows and dragged her out the window, making them reappear on the roof again. Alastor and the other Exorcists were still scattered across the other rooftops, a clear sign that they must have been observing the scene closely, but they did not approach without their commander's order. Adam had told them not to interfere and they wouldn't have done so.
Adam and Vaggie looked down at the street below them, and they could see Adele and a woman who looked a lot like her leaving the building hand in hand. Vaggie realized that they were talking, but she could no longer understand what they were saying. Probably, she thought, Adam had used some spell to allow her to understand their language without her realizing it.
The first man put a hand on the angel's shoulder: "Aren't you happy? You saved the life and innocence of a person. Shouldn't you rejoice?"
Vaggie didn't answer him. She simply remained silent; she wasn't sure what she wanted to say and therefore she wasn't going to say anything. She knew she would have only looked silly if she did so.
She expected Adam to make some stupid joke as usual, perhaps to brag, but instead he remained silent; for some reason he seemed to want to give her space. He had a strange expression on his face; not the ferocious one he showed when he was furious, not the teasing one he showed off when he wanted to be right at any cost. It was a calmer and more understanding expression, which felt unusual, as if he were peering into her. And then he suddenly said: "Don't be ashamed, you are not weak if you have conflicting emotions now. The first time was difficult for Lute too"
Vaggie stood still as a statue for a moment; and then she turned to him abruptly. “What… what did you say?”
Adam let out a sigh. Not even a trace of his usual jovial expression remained, replaced by that serious mask. "You didn't believe that she was so loyal to our cause for no reason, did you? She too, just like you now, saw first-hand the reasons for our actions and had her baptism of blood. It's one of my regrets"
Vaggie was left with a lump in her throat. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Tell me" she finally murmured.
Adam didn't have to be asked it again. "Lute was exactly like you" he told her. "Strong, determined, smart, confident, courageous. She had all the credentials to be my right hand. But she compensated for these characteristics with... a singular innocence. I remember the first time I saw her... she didn't know evil, or rather, she did not understand it. She was a shield and a spear that protected the weak, and at the same time she knew how to perform the greatest acts of kindness towards others"
Vaggie was amazed. The words 'kindness' and 'Lute' didn't cross paths in her mind even by mistake, let alone combined with 'innocence'. "It seems absurd to me" she confessed.
"I know. And it was my fault" Adam told her. "Lute, like you, also felt pity. She felt pain. And she came close to... disobeying orders. So I did something that I regret forever: I brought her here, to Earth, and showed her the truth. Just like you, I confronted her with the cruel reality and showed her who the people she felt pity for really were. In her case, it was a group of men who trafficked children, not just an abusive father". He let out a light grunt: "If it pleases you to know, you were much quicker than her. It was more difficult for her... but she was at the beginning of her career at the time, you already have a lot of experience behind you"
Vaggie didn't care about that last detail in the slightest. "And why did you regret it?" she asked him.
"Because that day, her innocence was broken. I broke it" Adam replied to her. "That beautiful kindness, that love she showed, all those characteristics that made her so special... just vanished. They were completely annihilated. The awareness of what true evil was changed her forever... even too much unfortunately. She put the mission above all else and eliminated from her personality every feeling that she believed made her weak, until she transformed into the person you know. Now she is exactly who I wanted her to become, someone who can lead the celestial armies even in my absence and who knows how to do what needs to be done... but she has become cold as a piece of ice. I made her like this. I traded a pearl for a war machine"
Vaggie noticed the way Adam's fingers were tightening on his arms. He wasn't lying, he wasn't making anything up. "Wasn't that what you wanted? A war machine?"
"Not if that was the price to pay. I never wanted to destroy a person's innocence" Adam answered her. "After that, I swore to myself that I would have never done anything like that again. I trained all the other Exorcists so that they understood the urgency of our mission, but only through my words and actions; I never made any of them do this again. But I haven't been a good teacher to you in that area. I was proud of you, and it was my pride that blinded me. I didn't realize that I was leaving out the most important part of your training, the part where I was supposed to teach you the reasons for our work. I focused only on physical training, proud to see that talent I knew you had emerge, leaving you in arrogance and ignorance. And to remedy this mistake of mine, I have now broken the oath I made to myself... in the hope that this time I won't have to regret it"
Vaggie was silent for a long moment. And then a memory made its way into her mind: "When you were dying... you smiled. You smiled at Lute. Did you... had you seen anything of the old her in that moment?"
Adam nodded. "Yes. In that last instant, I finally saw the Lute that I had destroyed re-emerge. That love for someone else, those eyes so full of life and compassion even in a moment of desperation... it was the real her, no longer just the war machine that I had created. I could only be happy about it even in that critical situation"
Vaggie rubbed her shoulders a little. “It's strange… it's hard for me to imagine Lute… well, other than the bloody zealot bitch I've always known”
"I told you, no one's born like that" Adam told her, and then he added: "Also, sorry to tell you, I know Lute's a bit of a bitch sometimes, but she still gets along with the other girls, while you're the one who's pissing everyone off. If I were you I'd ask myself some questions"
"Yes, I know they think I'm an arrogant snob" Vaggie blurted out, although with much less acidity than usual. "And maybe they're not entirely wrong..."
Adam snorted slightly. He was silent for a moment, and then he said: "I told you I looked in the mirror and used my gaze on myself. Now you know one of the things I saw"
Vaggie whirled around to face him. “Did you see… that moment…?”
"The moment I broke Lute's innocence, seen from her perspective" Adam confirmed. “I could feel everything she felt in that moment. I already knew I had hurt her, but in that moment I felt it on my skin. I could feel what was going on in her head as she saw the real evil”
Vaggie bit her lip. It was the first time she had seen Adam in such a vulnerable light. He wasn't fragile... but he wasn't the unscratchable rock he was before either. "You shouldn't have done that"
"I know. It was my fault, because just like with you, I didn't teach her well in words how important the mission was" Adam replied to her. “When I realized it was too late for that method, I knew I would have to use drastic measures. I did what it had to be done, even if I regretted it forever. Just like I did what had to be done with you, right now"
"Why?" Vaggie couldn't stop herself from asking him. "If you swore to yourself not to do it again with anyone... why did you decide to break that oath for me?"
Adam looked at her complacently. "You're a smart girl. Get there on your own"
“What are you…” Vaggie was already saying, but suddenly she stopped. “You… you said that what you did to Lute… was just one of the things you saw when you used your gaze on yourself”
"Exactly" Adam confirmed.
Vaggie inspired deeply. “You… also relived… the moment you exiled me?”
“Yes” Adam nodded. "I saw it from your perspective, and felt your emotions. I could feel all your desperation, your fear, your horror. That was how I understood that your actions were not out of sympathy for demons, but simple ignorance, and that I was the only one to blame in that affair. As I have said many times, the mistake was mine... and this is my way of remedying it"
"And the same goes for Charlie?" Vaggie asked him.
“Why do you think I'm waiting so long to make my move?” Adam replied. "She has come to Earth, as you can imagine. Like you, she too is learning how the world works"
“Are you checking on her?” Vaggie murmured.
"Let's say I left some shadows in that mansion in Louisiana... or what remains of it. Your deer friend's powers are very useful" Adam told her.
Vaggie wanted to get angry, but she couldn't. It was as if her emotions were tempered. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Adam wagged his tail slightly. "Because I want you to understand, Vaggie. I want you to understand that my actions are not the deeds of a madman or an evil person. Ours is a righteous mission. Sparing sinners is ridiculous, it only brings more suffering. Once you and Charlie will have understood, there will be no more enmity between us. Well, she will probably still be hostile to me since I plan to kill her father... but that is something I am not willing to negotiate about"
Vaggie shrugged and hugged her shoulders as if she were cold. For almost her entire life she had looked to Adam as a superior, someone with whom she could have no real connection, who she had only to obey without question; and for the rest of her life she had looked at him as a monster who had no mercy. She had never questioned why he had no mercy.
But now… she understood. She could see the reason for that lack of mercy. For someone who had always seen evil for what it truly was, and felt a sense of responsibility towards it, his behavior could almost be called noble. Vaggie wasn't sure if she would have been able to handle this situation if she were in his shoes; she was quite certain that otherwise she would have simply gone mad.
"You should have told me before" she couldn't stop herself from scolding him.
Adam nodded. "I know. And I'm sorry"
Vaggie shivered slightly. Charlie's words echoed in her ears: "It starts with sorry"
She clenched her fists tightly and felt a tingling in her heart. Adam had opened up to her... was it perhaps her turn to reciprocate...?
"If you really believe that some of that scum is worthy of salvation, use better arguments. Don't keep saying 'I don't believe that's the case', explain why you don't believe that it is so. Adam will never listen to you if you continue to reply only with your optimism and stubbornness. If you want him to at least have some doubts, tell him what makes you believe that at least one sinner could be saved, and when he will present his arguments, you search for a way to reply intelligently"
Mari's words to her rang like a gong in her head. She took a deep breath, and then she murmured: "Adam... you're right. I misjudged you"
The first man turned slightly towards her. He hadn't missed her tone. "And...?"
"And just as you showed me your motives, it's only fair that I show you mine too" Vaggie told him. "Adam... I was hasty with you, with the others, with many things. I acted without thinking, and I'm sorry. But... just as you opened up to me... please, allow me to open up to you. Can you promise me you'll listen to me while I explain why I believe sinners deserve a second chance?"
Adam remained silent, with an indecipherable expression on his face; he simply stared at her with piercing, cold eyes. And then finally his lips moved again: "Speak. I'm listening"
Notes:
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/155338936
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 21): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155684842
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 52: Where is the justice?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vaggie clenched her fists tightly. Adam wasn't joking, he wasn't making fun of her, he wasn't saying this just to please her: he was being serious. She could see it in his eyes: for the first time, he would have really listened to her, even if she was talking about something he didn't believe in at all.
As far as she could remember, Vaggie had never had a real conversation with him. Well, she also had to admit at least to herself that she too had never really tried. When she was in the army she had always seen Adam only as a role model, someone to imitate and look up to, not to argue with; and after that... let's forget about it. Every time they had interacted he had behaved with his usual idiotic behavior and she had been very closed and defensive, not wanting to appear ridiculous in front of her general or weak in front of what had become her worst enemy.
That was the very first time he wasn't laughing or joking, but showed a serious and calm face, and seemed ready to listen to her.
She took a deep breath to calm the tension, and then she said: "Adam... I know that sinners have done horrible things, and... actually some of them may be beyond redemption, I don't deny that. I can understand why you hate them so much, I don't blame you for that; I mean, I used to... but not anymore. Now I know how wrong I was about you and I know what you went through. I have no doubt in your eyes those people are all horrible and deserve nothing but death. After all, for someone who can see all the sins of a person, every sinner must surely seem like a disgusting being..."
Adam narrowed his eyes slightly. “If you think so, why do you defend them?”
Vaggie shook her head. "Because even if in your eyes they are such... sinners are not all the same"
Adam didn't move: not even a muscle twitched on his face, making it impossible to understand what he was thinking. The light in his eyes remained unchanged and inanimate. He had become so stiff and calm that he almost looked like a statue.
However, while he didn't give any positive response, he also didn't seem to reject what Vaggie had said regardless. She took this as a good sign. "There are many kinds of sinners, Adam. Some are horrible people, I don't doubt it; and perhaps the universe would really be better if they disappeared. But many others... are not like that. Many are just... I don't know how to explain it, they're... like you and me. They don't understand, or are afraid to understand. When you exiled me, you thought I was bad and that you were doing good... and all this time I thought of you as bad and that I was on the right side. I didn't realize the consequences of my actions, just like you didn't realize what you were doing to Lute when you destroyed her innocence. We both... did harm... without realizing it"
Adam finally gave a small sign of response: his face tilted slightly towards her and his eyelids closed a little. Vaggie took this as a sign that he was thinking. "This applies to a lot of people there in Hell. A lot of people are convinced that they have done good even if they have actually done bad. You said it yourself, they are surrounded by lies..."
"No. They surround themselves with lies. It's different" Adam corrected her. "As soon as I learned that I had made a mistake with you, I immediately accepted it. They didn't. Even though the universe itself had thrown their mistakes in their faces, they continued to ignore them"
"It's true" Vaggie admitted. "But not everyone has the willpower that you have, Adam. In fact, it is... very rare. Accepting that you are wrong, removing the veil of lies, changing... it's scary. When I found out that you were back, and you started showing me things I didn't know, I still tried to stay anchored to my old principles, to convince myself that you were the one in the wrong and that you were just a crazy self-centered maniac with a heart of stone and with delusions of protagonism..."
"Thank you for the colorful description of me" Adam told her a little annoyed. "But it seems to me that you have changed your mind now, am I wrong?"
"Yes, because you were patient with me and helped me understand that I was wrong about you!" Vaggie answered him. "Of course, I would have preferred a less... brutal treatment, let's say... I'm not really in favor of shock therapy... but in any case, thanks to you I understood! And this... is the same thing Charlie is trying to do! It's true, she doesn't know many things, and often she makes a lot of mistakes, and at certain moments she has the mentality of a six-year-old child... but she's right about that. If only those people were shown the truth, and at the same time they were helped to understand it and accept their actions and the weight of their faults, and convinced that they can improve themselves... they will do it. Like Pentious did. Do you remember him?"
"The suicidal snake?" Adam muttered. For an instant a little light passed in his eyes. "I don't usually remember the dead"
"But you remember him. Because he impressed you, right?" Vaggie told him. "He did what no one in Hell had ever done before. He put the lives of others before his own. That's why you remember him even though he's no longer your problem and you've barely seen him for a couple of moments"
Adam was silent for a long moment. "I admit he surprised me" he finally confessed.
“And he would surprise you much more if you had seen what kind of person he was before he came to the hotel!” Vaggie told him. "Pentious was... an asshole, there's no other way to put it. He went around in his stupid airship wreaking havoc, blowing up neighborhoods, starting street fights and not caring about all the damage he did. He considered himself some sort of great general and surrounded himself with eggs too stupid to contradict him. When he came to the hotel he tried to sell us to our enemies in an extremely vile way and he even tried to harm Angel. And when his allies betrayed him, instead of asking for forgiveness, he immediately surrendered to the weight of his sins and asked us to kill him. We were all ready to do it, we all just saw him as a despicable being. But Charlie... did something impossible. She made him stand up, she made him apologize, she gave him... a reason to change. And he changed. From vile, cowardly, cruel and sadistic, he has become altruistic, courageous, kind and sweet. Sorry, it's hard to explain..."
Adam wasn't changing his expression, but this time his eyes had become much more attentive. “Take your time” he told her.
Vaggie felt her heart beat faster. He was actually listening to her and was interested. "I didn't believe it, but... it really happened. Charlie made it happen. She... didn't look at what Pentious was... she looked at what he could be. And she made it real. She didn't just see the horrible person he was, she saw the sweet, caring person buried inside of him. And finally, she managed to get that person out. In her own way, constantly making mistakes, sometimes using an unorthodox method, but she succeeded. And look what Pentious did... he threw his life away for someone else. He, the immense egomaniac who posed as the great general, died for someone else"
Adam let out a soft snort. “What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
Vaggie gritted her teeth. “Adam… some sinners can really change, I have seen it happen with my own eyes. It's not fantasy, it's reality. They can be different people if you just give them a chance to be". She took a deep breath. "I... I don't know if everyone is worthy, as Charlie believes. Maybe there are some bad apples... in fact, I'm quite inclined to believe that some don't deserve a second chance, like the person whose skeleton you ripped off just now. But others... they're not bad apples, they're just very sick apples. If only we could heal them..."
“… they could redeem themselves?” Adam anticipated her. "Is that what you think?"
Vaggie nodded. "Yes"
Adam was silent for a long moment. And unlike usual, he seemed to reflect carefully on her words. Vaggie was sure she saw his eyes move as if he were in the midst of intense reasoning.
Only after what seemed like an eternity to her eyes (who knows if it was like that in reality too, or if it was her anxiety that made her perceive time slowing down) did he finally look at her again. His expression fully showed that he had at least considered the possibility. "I admit that I have never seen the situation from this perspective" he told her. “But have you considered the other side of the coin?”
Vaggie didn't understand. "Um... which one?"
"Let's suppose you're right. Let's imagine that someone succeeds in the titanic feat of redeeming themselves, and becomes a beautiful person like your deceased friend. And after that, they will go to Heaven as your girlfriend wants. Well, how are you going to explain this... to those they harmed?" Adam told her with a piercing look. "To end up in Hell, that sinner definitely wasn't a good person on Earth. What should we do when they, upon entering Heaven, come face to face with the victims of their actions? Do you think they will care that they are now a different person? Or is it more likely that terror will seize their hearts, and after terror will come hatred and then anger? What will you tell them when they ask you why that monster who ruined their lives is there? What will you do to resolve the situation? Will you have them live in separate areas? And will this be enough, or will those people still live in fear that the guy who hurt them so much will come back to haunt them now that they're no longer locked up in the prison where they deserve to be? And all of this assuming that that redeemed sinner is just a minor monster. What will you do when the gates of Heaven will open to multiple murderers, serial killers, genocides, rapists, torturers, slavers, pedophiles? Will you welcome Hitler and Stalin among the blessed souls?"
The confidence Vaggie had built up to that point faltered. In fact that was another point she had never taken into account. "Well... I said that not all sinners need to be redeemed..."
“And what is the dividing line between who is worthy and who is not?” Adam asked her. "I'll tell you: it already exists, and it's what separates Heaven from Hell. Anyone who ends up in Hell has at least one victim on their conscience, no matter what is their crime. Bringing that person to Heaven means forcing tormentor and victim to coexist. It means taking away the victim's justice"
"It doesn't mean taking away justice from them!" Vaggie protested, but actually even she wasn't sure of that. "Maybe there's a way..."
"Maybe. But trying means redeeming at least one soul and making them interact with their victim, forcing them to relive a horrendous past that they were convinced they had left behind. How can I let this happen?" Adam asked her. “How can I tell that victim that the justice they believed in no longer exists, and now they must accept that the one who earned damnation can be in Heaven anyway?”
Vaggie remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Adam too didn't say another word, but instead turned and took a couple of steps until he reached the top of the roof, so he could get a good look at the city from above. And then his lips began to move.
"Where is the justice
When the guilty all go free?
Why are you against to lock them up
And throw away the key?"
Vaggie reached him and tried to put a hand on his shoulder.
"I see so much anger burning in your eyes..."
Adam yanked away, pushing her back slightly. His tail wagged like an angry snake and his eyes seemed to send flames.
"What you see is my impatience
With your noble compromise!"
Adam's wings opened violently, generating a strong wind; Vaggie was forced to take a step back to avoid being slammed to the ground. The first man wasn't trying to hurt her: it had been a movement dictated exclusively by the fury inside him, and he hadn't even noticed it. His gaze was fixed on the city in front of him, and his fists were shaking slightly. The stars and moon seemed to recoil from the force of his anger.
"Show me what's right about
The wrongs that we allow;
Real people need to feel
Protected here and now!
This whole damn system’s broken way beyond repair,
It's just law, not law and order,
Not much good and seldom fair!"
Vaggie swallowed. Adam's back was turned, but she could almost see his burning gaze on her. Even though her spirit trembled due to the survival instinct, her courage still prevailed and she tried to counter the first man's claims.
"Laws are made for everyone,
We're treated all the same..."
Adam didn't let her finish: he turned slightly towards her, and his icy gaze nailed her to the spot. Vaggie felt her throat become paralyzed and whatever words she was about to utter vanish without ever reaching her lips. The first man's eyes held such hatred that looking at him made her legs tremble as if she were in the throes of an earthquake. And when Adam spoke, his voice was full of venom.
"... Till a princess' tricks can fix the blame!"
Adam opened his arms wide with his palms facing up; he almost seemed to want to grab anything in the world and squeeze it in his hands... and perhaps crush it.
"What about the victims
Waiting for some justice?
How can we turn away
And say that's just the way things are?
What about the families
Hiding in their houses?
All of them afraid to walk the street at night
With all their doors locked tight!
Tell me where is the justice?
If there's any justice!?"
The other Exorcists had continued to listen from the distance, but now they almost seemed to have forgotten the order of their general: almost as if they were animated by Adam's words that burned in their souls like fires, they took flight and began to fly around him and Vaggie, and their voices mixed with that of the first man, creating a sort of chorus. They sang a sort of "Oh-oh" in accompaniment to his every sentence.
Vaggie felt a little sweat forming on her face. She felt almost crushed by Adam's voice, and indeed, hearing those words was hurting her. Her arguments seemed to be growing weaker and weaker even in her own head. With the last bit of willpower she still tried to react.
"Your arguments have all been made before,
The world's not black and white,
The choice not either, or..."
Adam's fists clenched even tighter than before, so much so that they sent a tiny shockwave through the opening of his fingers.
"Perhaps it's time we drain the color from within
Till we're back to seeing black and white
And wrong and right again!"
Vaggie swallowed hard. Her willpower faltered more and more under the terrifying gaze of the first man.
"Overwrought pronouncements won't improve the paradigm..."
Adam's face appeared inches from her face, so suddenly that she almost lost her balance in surprise.
"... Till demons cutting deals becomes a crime!"
Adam grabbed her arm, as if to drag her with him, and he raised his free hand as if to point to the whole world before them.
"Let the big arrogant nations
Make stupid regulations
And hold no one accountable
When everything goes wrong!
Let the rich and famous
Get away with murder;
Every time a high-priced
Mouth-piece starts to talk
Their client gets to walk!
Tell me where is the justice?
If there’s any justice!?"
Adam flew up with her, almost dancing in an extremely convoluted manner; Vaggie had a hard time keeping up with the first man's pace due to her small body. They both spun in a sort of flying pirouette, while the Exorcists chanted even more around them.
"Where's the justice?
Tell us where!"
Adam's voice mixed with that of the Exorcists, resuming leading the choir in an extremely fluid manner. Even though he spoke only a few sentences, his was the only dominant voice.
"Where is the justice?"
"Tell us where!"
"For all the victims?"
"Tell us where!"
"Where is the justice?
What good is law that can't
Punish those who break it!?”
Adam put an end to that flying pirouette and hurled himself upward, so high that he seemed to touch the moon; he took Vaggie by the waist (since continuing to hold her arm would surely have broken it with such acceleration) and stared into her eyes, as if daring her to try to argue back. Vaggie felt completely powerless in front of him, and even more so when the other Exorcists joined them and started flying in circles around them. Mari flew above everyone and took control of the choir.
"Politicians make their speeches all day long,
While judges pushing pencils mostly get it wrong!"
"Mostly get it wrong!"
And then, to Vaggie's surprise, the shadows moved beneath her and Alastor appeared as well, supported by two dark wings and the damned souls. His eyes glowed red and with one hand he held his radio stick as if he was aiming to use it like a saber, while with the other he moved his fingers as if he imagined having something in his hands and crushing it.
"Instead of loopholes
For the laws to fall between
Let some good old-fashioned payback
Grease the wheels of the machine!"
"Grease the wheels of the machine!"
Adam finally let go of Vaggie, who immediately opened her wings to stabilize herself in flight. The first man stood still in front of her, and she felt extremely small compared to that giant who was looking down at her from his height with those burning eyes.
"Isn't everybody sick to death of all this stuff?
Can't we all stand up and say ENOUGH?"
The Exorcists flew behind him, standing still like the strong soldiers they were. They all stared at Vaggie with the same gaze as their commander, though none of them could match the fury contained in her eyes. Their lips continued to move even while they were in that statuesque position.
"Justice,
Justice,
Justice,
Now's the time for...!"
Adam raised his head to the sky and his voice once again drowned out everyone else's.
"Listen to the families
Hiding in their houses
All of them afraid to walk the streets at night
With all their doors locked tight!"
Adam raised his fist to the sky, and all the Exorcists behind him did the same with the same immense ardor.
"We must give them their justice!"
"Where is the justice!?"
"We owe them some justice!"
"Where is the justice!?"
Adam's head dropped again, and his gaze was on Vaggie again. She felt as if that last question that he asked her and which was repeated in chorus by everyone was not a simple verse, but a real question addressed directly to her.
"WHERE IS THE JUSTICE!?"
Silence suddenly returned. Vaggie froze in flight, staring into Adam's inquisitive eyes. And finally he admitted with a whimper: "I... I don't know"
Adam closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "Yeah" he commented, and his aggressive nature vanished as quickly as it had come. “I will think about your words, I promise you. But even if they were true, there is still too much risk and too much injustice to just ignore it. Remember when I told you that in this twisted universe if you want to avoid suffering it is always at someone else's expense? Now you can understand what this means. I do not intend to penalize those who deserved the blessied realm for an unfounded hypothesis"
Vaggie couldn't blame him. "I understand" she told him. “But please, you said you'll think about my words, so… do it. Let's all stop for a moment. You talked seriously to me, so try talking seriously to Charlie too”
Adam let out a grunt. "I'll talk to her" he said, and then he looked off into the distance. "But stopping is not an option. I've put this off for too long, I can't wait any longer"
Vaggie turned back to where Adam was looking. The small hill of Golgotha was right in the center of his field of vision.
Notes:
The song, for those who don't have a culture worthy of the name, is "Where is the justice" from the musical adaptation of Death Note. I recommend everyone to listen to it because it is really beautiful, honestly, one of my absolute favorites, which fully reflects the thoughts of a person who believes they are working for the "greatest good", and above all embodies the true essence of Kira (and Adam), meaning a person who is tired of all the hypocrisy and evil that humanity lets loose and chooses to cleanse the world with their perfect ideal of justice. Spectacular, there's nothing else to say.
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/155338936
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 21): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155684842
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 53: Invitation
Notes:
ANNOUNCEMENT: From next week the publication date will be moved from Monday to Tuesday, given that the first chapter of arc III of IHIFTHMBAL will be released on Monday at this same hour (21:30 Rome, 15:30 New York), which you MUST go and read and give me kudos since I work hard to write it just for do you a favor, without getting paid for it. Since arc II received less attention than arc I, I expect you all to catch up in arc III. So see you on Monday for the first chapter, while for the next chapter of HCWM you will have to wait one more day. As for the other days, they will remain unchanged, consequently the chapters on Thursday and Saturday will continue to be published regularly.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie and her friends had continued to look for any sign of Adam until late in the evening, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't find a single trace of him. It was as if the violence that had awakened in Alastor here in Jerusalem had faded, replaced by pure calm. There had been no destruction, devastation or any kind of massacre; it was as if the first man had decided to take a break.
Velvette, who had remained silent since the two groups had reunited, rather strangely for her, had continued to keep an eye on the Internet in the hope of finding something, but there was nothing to signal her passage, nor in that nation nor in any other. Adam seemed to literally vanish into thin air. Charlie had even begun to suspect that he had returned to Hell, but when he asked his parents they confirmed that the first man had not even shown himself down there.
In the end, not knowing which way to turn, they simply decided to stop in a small park and wait. Angel had bought some sandwiches and a couple of drinks and together they sat on the benches to eat. Even though they didn't need to feed themselves since they were already dead, human food was definitely better than that of Hell, so they wanted to eat it at least once while they were on Earth. If they were going to stay there anyway, they might as well enjoy their stay at least a little.
Charlie would normally have been excited to taste human food, but her stomach was currently stuffy. Even though her heart was definitely lighter thanks to Angel's words, it was still clouded by a dark veil. In order to distract herself, she tried to focus on the thing that was worrying her most at the moment, namely Vaggie: "If Adam made Alastor destroy his old house to get him even more on his side, he probably has a plan for Vaggie too. In your opinion what could it be?"
No one said a word for a long moment. Evidently, this situation was confusing for all of them, even for Rosie who usually knew exactly what to say. "I don't know" the cannibal overlord finally admitted. “He… is proving to be a lot more cunning and dangerous than I imagined. The longer this goes on, the more I fear we're only seeing a fraction of what he's capable of. Honestly, it scares me”
Charlie's eyes widened. It was the first time Rosie had admitted that someone scared her... and she was sure it wasn't due to Adam's power. "Does it scare you?"
"Yes. This whole thing is too strange... it can't all be a huge coincidence" Rosie told her. "Why bring Alastor on his side? Why does he want Vaggie?"
"To hurt Charlie, right?" Angel said, sure it was obvious.
But Rosie shook her head. "If that were the case, he wouldn't have kidnapped Vaggie right away. He would have gone down the ladder of affection: first Alastor, then all of you, and only at the end Vaggie. But no... he immediately focused on the two of them, and now he's making an effort to make them loyal to him. Why?"
"Adam almost killed Alastor the first time" Husk reminded her. "He only let him go because she wanted to play with him. He probably just wanted to get Vaggie on his side all along, and he was just an extra pawn..."
But Rosie wasn't of the same opinion at all. "Initially I thought so too, but the longer this story goes on, the weirder it seems to me. Call me paranoid if you want... but I'm starting to believe that Adam had planned to leave Alastor alive after their duel from the beginning, and that he wanting to play with him was just an excuse to deceive us. I fear he wants to delude us that he is acting haphazardly"
"But we know he's not acting haphazardly" Charlie opined. "He's planning to build a weapon..."
"Yes, but up until now we've taken it for granted that he only had the basic outline of a plan, and that the rest was a bit random. In short, leaving Alastor alive and then turning him into a pawn just out of contempt for you is an apparently random move... but now I wonder if in reality everything actually followed his will, even when he apparently made a mistake" Rosie clenched her fists; for the first time, a few drops of sweat ran down her face. "It's like looking at the pieces of a puzzle seemingly incapable of fitting together, but which once combined together reveal a much more sinister and complex plan..."
Charlie tightened her fingers nervously. In fact, it wouldn't have been the first time Adam seemingly made a mistake when he actually had it all planned out. He had done it with Angel and Valentino and then also when he left Vox he sent that recording to the Hazbin Hotel. The idea that everything was following his precise plan was not foolish at all. “Do you really think he could control everything that well?”
"He's the first man" Rosie replied. "All the characteristics that humanity possesses, he possesses them in their purest form. Intelligence is one of them and he has already fully demonstrated it. Maybe he is a little immature at times, but I really think that now that the situation requests it he is ready to really show us what he is capable of... and above all how much ruthless he can be"
Charlie bit her lip, feeling her heart ache at those words. Honestly, now that she had seen with her own eyes what humanity was capable of doing, she was terrified to find out what the father of all humanity was capable of unleashing when enraged. By now she was having a hard time not justifying at least some of his hatred and anger.
She was about to say something when Velvette suddenly looked up from her phone: "I found something!"
Everyone looked at her immediately. "Finally! What's this about?" Cherri asked anxiously.
Velvette showed them the phone screen: "Let's say Adam left his mark"
The others looked at what he was showing, and what they saw was what looked like a police file showing a corpse reduced to just bones, and a wall with Adam's symbol painted in blood. "It was definitely him" Angel said looking at him. "How did you find it?"
"Well, I thought that if we hadn't seen anything incredibly strange yet, then perhaps Adam was aiming to deceive your angel friend in a more subtle way" Velvette replied. "She's not Alastor, she's not pyrotechnics, she doesn't like to show herself to the public. If Adam had tried to manipulate her in a similar way, she certainly wouldn't have destroyed a mansion. So instead of continuing to watch the big news I hacked the banks data from this city's police stations and I found out that just an hour ago they discovered this murder"
"Wow. Very clever" Angel was forced to admit.
Husk just looked at Velvette with stern eyes, "Mh. It's nice to see you finally trying to be useful"
"Fuck you, that's what I've been doing all along" Velvette grumbled, though she didn't meet the cat demon's gaze and went back to staring at her phone, “According to this report, the police are obviously in the dark. The victim was a guy respected by the community and considered a virtuous man, but if Adam reduced him like that he certainly wasn't. And apparently he had a wife and daughter who disappeared"
"If Adam had killed them, they would have found their remains too" Angel said as he thought. "As a result... they probably ran away. Even if this murder is so recent, they could already have left Jerusalem..."
"If I were them, I would try to get out of this country quickly, especially if there is a risk of being a murder suspect" Husk said. "The sea is just fifty kilometers from here. By car you can get there in less than an hour"
"In any case, they are our only eyewitnesses" Charlie said. “Velvette, can you track them down?”
The social overlord would normally have complained, but at that moment she simply replied: "I can try. If they are near someone with a cell phone or a technological device, I should be able to see them. Give me a moment"
Velvette closed her eyes, and her mind immediately expanded to touch every technological device in the State of Israel; wherever there was an Internet connection, she was there too. Trillions of information instantly entered her mind, and like an extremely advanced supercomputer she began to discard the useless ones and prioritize the apparently useful ones. And in doing so, he found many images, obtained randomly during the last few hours by various people who took photos on their own, of two people, a woman and a little girl, who looked very similar to those in the police sketch.
"Find it" she said finally. “Or at least, the last image I have of them showed them in a port in Tel-Aviv, taking a ship bound for Spain”
“How did they get through customs?” Cherri asked confused. "Maybe they have documents, ok, but with the checks that the border guards carry out they should have immediately noticed two people suspected of murder..."
"Not necessarily" Husk opined. "Adam has Alastor's powers, he probably put some spell on him that makes the people around them dizzy. Kind of like what Velvette did with that cop"
"Yes, that's a valid option" Charlie said, picking up the grimoire. "Let's go talk to them"
The portal made them appear behind one of the containers in the port. It didn't take them long to find the place where those two people had last been seen by a technological device, and from there it was easy to find the ship they had boarded on, which had already set sail and was starting to disappear on the horizon. A second use of the grimoire brought them aboard, and there, after some searching, they managed to locate them on the deck as they watched the land disappear behind them. "Um... hello!" Charlie greeted them, calling for their attention. "Nice to meet you..."
"Mi ata?" the adult woman asked her.
The little girl, unlike her mother, lit up: "Zu hivchura hablondinit im hachiuch hipa!"
Charlie's joy died immediately. "Uh... sorry, I don't speak your language... Velvette, can you please find me a translator for... um..."
“It's Hebrew” Rosie told her. "And you don't need a translator, I can speak it"
"Really? Can you even speak Hebrew?" Charlie asked her, surprised at how many languages the cannibal overlord knew.
"Yes, I know it quite well, even if it's not one of my favorite languages" Rosie confirmed. “I learned it while I was still alive and…”
"I'm seriously starting to get suspicious about you" Angel interrupted her with a rather inquisitive face.
Rosie raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, what are you implying?”
"Nothing, it's just that... you know, you were in Warsaw in 1939, you said you saw bad things in Poland in 1944, you speak a lot of Eastern European languages very well, and on top of that you know Hebrew... oh, and let's not forget that you ended up in Hell, so... it's suspicious" Angel replied.
Rosie rolled her eyes. "Do you know where the sternocleidomastoid is?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, it's here..." Angel responded, touching the sides of his neck.
"But you're not a specialized doctor" Rosie told him.
Angel didn't understand where she was going with this. "Well, no..."
"Good. Based on your reasoning, taking into account what I know about you and this statement of yours, I now have reason to suspect that you were a mafia surgeon" Rosie told him in a reproachful voice.
Angel sighed. "Okay, fine, maybe I was hasty. You're right, pretend I didn't say anything"
"Mph! That'll be better" Rosie said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"I don't understand" Niffty exclaimed in her usual innocent voice.
Velvette put a hand in front of her face. "My headache is definitely getting worse" she muttered, and then she turned to Angel: "But satisfy just this curiosity of mine: how do you know the sternocleidomastoid?"
Angel bit his lip. "Well... just for a couple of weeks, I was actually a mafia surg..."
"Angel, stop, you're only making this worse" Husk stopped him immediately, not wanting to hear anything else.
Charlie was grateful to the cat demon, because she really preferred not to hear any further. Her attention, however, was attracted by the little girl who insistently began to cling to her leg as if to underline her impatience: "Az? Ham et hivchura im hachiuch hipa shalav diver hashed hanokem?"
"She's asking you if you're the girl with the beautiful smile the avenging demon was talking about" Rosie translated for Charlie. "I don't think there's any doubt about who she's referring to"
Charlie nodded. "Tell her it's really me"
Rosie translated for her, and the little girl seemed happier than ever: "Ata yefa kmu hamlach hatov! Ata lele spek tov meud!"
"She says you're as beautiful as the good angel, and that you're really good" Rosie translated for her. "She evidently saw Vaggie"
Charlie was about to ask the little girl how Vaggie was, but she beat her to it by saying: "Saliha, yesh lei hodaa hashuva mimch: "Ani achka lech begulguta, shem nidber shuv achsav kshe'ata yuda od harva dvarim. El titakev". Kech tziva ali lomer lech hashed hanokem, vehu kra le'atzmu hameshmid et hasota. Hu amer shehayat mevin"
Rosie's eyes widened in amazement. Charlie bit her lip: “What did she say?”
The cannibal overlord looked at her with a lot of tension: "She said that Adam left her a message for you. He wants to meet you in Golgotha"
Charlie tensed as well, knowing full well that it definitely wasn't a good thing that Adam had sent her the location of their next meeting. "Okay. Tell her I thank her and that I wish her all the luck in the world, and that I hope she and her mother are happy"
Rosie translated as she had been asked, and the little girl seemed quite happy with those words, so much so that she began to hug Charlie's legs as if she considered her an important treasure. The princess of Hell gave her a couple of loving caresses, and then finally her mother intervened and took her daughter back, still giving them a smile before walking away on the deck of the ship.
Charlie watched them go, and then she turned to her friends: "What are the chances that Adam knew we were going to track down that little girl?"
"Less than zero" Angel muttered. "He's keeping an eye on us, that's the only explanation. He knew very well we were in Jerusalem"
“As I feared, we're just playing his game” Rosie sighed. "He's still several steps ahead of us. He's pulling the strings to his advantage without us even realizing it"
"So, what do we do?" Husk asked. "If we go to Golgotha, we would only do what he wants"
"But unfortunately it's the only way we can find him" Charlie told him. "And we all know that he will force us to go there. He might start killing other people to force us to meet him. He knows that I would not tolerate their deaths even if they are bad people"
Angel sighed. "Yeah... unfortunately we know he would do so" he admitted. Since Adam was merciless towards any sinner, it would certainly not have been a problem for him to kill bad people to force Charlie to come out; from his point of view, he would actually only have done good, protecting the innocent from those evil people. "So you're going to meet him?"
Charlie leaned over the edge of the ship and stared at the land before her. "I have to" she said finally. "Postponing is useless, this confrontation will happen anyway. Better to do it now than in the future. And I hope that Adam doesn't have something in mind that will be too burdensome for us"
Notes:
The translation of what Adele and her mother said (go look for the dialogues to understand the context):
"Who are you?"
“It's the blonde girl with the pretty smile!”
"So? Are you the girl with the beautiful smile that the avenging demon was talking about?"
"You are as beautiful as the good angel! You are undoubtedly very good!"
"Sorry, I have an important message from you: "I'll wait for you in Golgotha, where we will talk again now that you know many more things. Don't delay". This is what the vengeful demon ordered me to say to you, and he called himself the one who exterminates the perverse. He said that you would have understand"
Special: interview with the characters of IHIFTHMBAL, just for you! (Episode 5): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60342184/chapters/154419325
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 21): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/155684842
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 54: Look at the whole picture
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It used to be said that the President of the United States of America was the most powerful and important man in the world. While this wasn't technically true, as absolute power on Earth didn't exist, it still had some truth to it. The United States was the world's leading economic power, and on a planet where money decided everything, they had enormous power. It was therefore logical to think that the President at the head of that nation was the most powerful man in the world and could decide how the balance of the entire planet changed.
In reality this was absolutely false, as there were people above the President; not politically or even openly, but they existed. The United States, especially in more recent times, was increasingly abandoning democracy for plutocracy, where a very small group of very rich people decided everything. Even though the government was still elected by the people, the funds for the elections were always provided in exchange for favors, consequently only a man they deemed suitable could become President. Those people didn't care which party won, because both were paid by them and therefore under their control.
However, this did not mean that the President was worthless. After all, the plutocrats were only interested in ensuring that their economic interests were not affected; they left the rest of the politics to those who were experts. And the President still had enormous power as he was in control of the government and military of the most powerful nation in the world. And furthermore, he was privy to details that only very few individuals had the right to know, since calling them secret was an understatement.
“We just received a phone call from the President of Ukraine” the Secretary of Defense was tolding him. "He has officially confirmed that there are no significant remains of the creature, so it must have escaped. No blood was found, so it is likely that the bomb did not even dent it"
“Nothing was found?” the President asked him.
"Only the few hair-like filaments that are already in our laboratories" the Secretary of Defense replied.
The President nodded, clasping his hands in front of his face. "Have the analyzes made any progress?"
"Very few, sir" the Secretary of Defense answered. "The biological structure of that creature is... alien. The cells have an apparently chaotic structure, only vaguely resembling those of a human being. They possess extraordinary regeneration and resistance. It was possible to cause damage to them only with a high-power laser"
"If that being's entire body is composed of such cells, then that bomb didn't stand a chance" the President commented harshly. He was certainly not a scientist, but he knew the difference in destructive power between a laser and such a small bomb... well, 'small' so to speak. "What can you tell me about the other event?"
"We're continuing to do research, but it's complicated" the Secretary of Defense replied. "Our satellites confirmed that a shadow destroyed the Louisiana mansion, and identified three beings with unclear characteristics. The detected energy emitted by whatever created the shadow was comparable to a fifteen kiloton nuclear bomb, but it was contained in a single point. Our scientists are debating what physical law could..."
“Are they still wasting their time with the laws of physics?” the President grumbled. "Have you informed them of what we know?"
The Secretary of Defense bit his lip. "Yes, sir. Our... occult intelligence services are already at work. But with such limited information, it is difficult..."
"I understand" the President silenced him immediately, and then he looked up. Behind the Secretary of Defense, positioned so that they were directly facing the desk, there were two enormous digital screens, surrounded by smaller screens. "Have you heard everything?"
The faces of other world leaders were present on the screens. Those of the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China were on the two largest screens, as they represented the world's other two most powerful superpowers; the faces of the President of India, the Prime Minister of Japan and the President of the European Parliament were on the medium-sized screens, while on the smaller screens there were the faces of all the other world heads of state. "We heard clearly" the Russian President replied. "So, are we sure that these are demons?”
Since its origins, humanity has known, or at least suspected, the existence of something supernatural. This was how religions were born, which almost always venerated benign and very similar deities, to the point that many of them shared a common root. Some theologians had begun to actively formulate the hypotheses that actually in a distant time humanity had been created by a divinity, from which all the monotheistic religions then followed, while the polytheistic ones were instead born from the exchange of emissaries of this divinity, such as angels, for gods. After all, the Bible provided very specific details about human history that seemed too accurate to be figments of the imagination; which suggested that something had actually inspired that collection of stories.
And wherever there was the possibility that something might exist, humans did not hesitate to study it. Thousands of scientists, philosophers, and theologians of the past had actively sought supernatural powers. Isaac Newton himself, the discoverer of the law of gravity, had conducted very important studies on the philosopher's stone and attempted to calculate the date of the second coming of Christ to Earth. Humans' desire to discover had led them to accumulate some knowledge of the world beyond their material universe, even if that knowledge was shared only among a select few. With the advent of the modern era, nations had completely privatized any study of the supernatural, since it posed a danger due to the chaos it could bring. Therefore, even if ordinary people knew nothing about it, the powerful people of Earth were well aware of the existence of other worlds, even if this knowledge was very fragmented.
Each nation had at least one special secret body aimed at occult research. However, for obvious reasons, it was rarely considered important: after all, even if there was evidence of forces other than those predicted by science, most occult knowledge was very theoretical and lacked practical evidence, since there was no way of test them. It was much more convenient for nations to focus their efforts on other problems, especially since Earth was by no means a peaceful planet, especially in the modern era. Valuing politics, the army and the economy was absolutely more imperative than worrying about forces whose existence was only vaguely known.
Recently, however, things had changed. The United States had in fact achieved two important victories: first, some of their agents had captured demons, finally proving their existence; second, they had managed to enlist the support of winged beings resembling cherubs, who had reeled off much useful information about the other realms. The United States, thanks to this new knowledge, had invested a lot of funds in occultism, to the point that by merging the knowledge obtained they had even managed to create a portal using modern technology and arcane magic, even if it was still very flawed.
Obviously, the United States had revealed nothing to other nations. The demons they had captured were not very dangerous, and although the cherubim had well described the hierarchical scale of Hell, the more powerful demons did not seem to have the intention of coming to Earth and therefore representing a danger. Therefore, America had kept the information to itself, as occultism was also an advantage over other nations. Humans never gave away knowledge for free.
But now, everything had changed. Because now creatures had come to Earth whose power far exceeded that of the demons to which US secret agents were accustomed. As a result, the situation was worrying. Therefore, the President had immediately decided to reveal at least something to other nations, so that humanity could prepare properly. He hadn't revealed everything, of course, just part of it. The other nations had also done the same, revealing research carried out in the past, which had highlighted how demons often came to Earth to cause problems.
"The situation is worrying" the Chinese Prime Minister commented. "If such powerful demons are coming to Earth, then they could endanger the world's balance. So far they have only caused some damage, but what if they were unleashed on our cities or on a military base?"
"As far as we know, they can open portals to any corner of the globe" the President of the European Parliament noted. "They could easily enter a nuclear base and launch missiles. They can exterminate us at any moment"
"Let's calm down, please" the Prime Minister of Japan tried to restore calm. "So far they have not shown themselves hostile to our entire civilization. I don't think they aim to destroy us..."
“They are demons, do you think they aim to help us?” the US President blurted out irritably. "And in any case, they represent a danger to humanity. If it had not been for the readiness of the Ukrainian government we would have risked a nuclear war. Those creatures can manipulate international relations even without directly wanting to"
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right" the Russian President growled. "We can't pretend that these beings don't exist if they are so powerful and can roam freely on our planet! We must act!"
Perhaps the conversation would have continued for a long time, but the Secretary of Defense suddenly put his hand on his earpiece and put on a tense expression. "Mr. President!" he exclaimed. "Our satellites are detecting an intense emanation of energy within Israeli territory!"
"You came down hard on her" Alastor said suddenly.
Adam glared at him. Since the discussion between him and Vaggie had ended she had remained silent, clearly reflecting on his words. The other Exorcists had left her alone, and Adam himself had stopped interfering. He knew she was going through a bad time and he didn't mean to disturb her. “Sometimes you have to strike the iron harder to shape it” he said simply.
Alastor let out a soft sizzle. "I'm certainly not blaming you. Honestly, I've been thinking for a while that maybe that girl needed a wake-up call" he told him. "But... I wonder if, when she has concluded her phase of self-contemplation, she will have woken up in the way you want, and not in some other way"
"Are you asking me if I have doubts about my methods?" Adam replied with a hiss. "I have been training warriors for so long it seems like an eternity. I know when a baptism of blood is necessary"
"I never said she won't become a true warrior" Alastor said. "But do you really think she will remain faithful to you?"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "She will be faithful to what is right. That is enough for me. Nothing else matters"
"Really? Because honestly... I'm starting to wonder about your true goal" Alastor told him, his smile widening.
Adam snorted. “You're really creepy, you know that?”
"It's just one of my many talents" Alastor replied with a chuckle.
Adam shook his head in disappointment. "My goal is to kill Lucifer and rid the world of evil. I have never lied about that"
"Oh, there's no doubt about that. Your hatred is not something that can be disguised" Alastor told him. "But other emotions too cannot be disguised"
Adam turned fully towards him. His glare indicated his irritation. “What are you trying to tell me?” he asked him.
Alastor drummed his fingers on his chin. "It's just… I've noticed that you're taking precautions for everything… except you" he said in a sinister voice. "You want Charlie to learn what sinners really are and what they've done. You want Vaggie to understand the importance of your cause. You want your soldiers to be safe and that's why you took their souls. But what about you? Where are you in all of this?". Alastor's eyes glowed red: "What I'm saying... is that I'm starting to wonder if you expect God to let you back into Heaven after you're done... or if you even care"
Adam didn't answer for a moment. "Tsk! The demon who didn't believe in redemption in the slightest is now asking if I've thought about mine?" he asked finally.
"I just want to understand" Alastor replied. "I want to understand how much you are really ready to sacrifice to get what you want"
Adam brought his face a few centimeters from the radio demon's. His eyes seemed to burn from within, as if they were surrounded by two torches. "Nothing" he replied, but immediately after he added: "And everything"
Alastor looked him straight in the eyes. That contact lasted almost a minute, and in every moment the radio demon's smile widened more and his pupils narrowed. "You're really crazy" he finally told him. "Believe me, I've met some crazy bastards in my life... but you beat them all"
“Should I take that as a compliment?” Adam asked him with a grunt.
"Oh, yes" was Alastor's answer. "Only madmen are those who made history. Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon... they were all madmen who saw a world different from others and wanted to make it real, and they shaped the destiny of humanity. So yes... for me calling someone crazy is the greatest compliment"
Adam avoided comment. Actually, he wasn't too against what Alastor had just said. "Yeah... in the end, you have to be a madman to be a great man. Only those who daydream like madmen have the ability to take destiny by the bridle and tame it to their will" he said, clenching his fist, as if he was actually grabbing something. "Did you understand my intentions?"
"No, but I have a vague idea" Alastor replied. "And yet, no matter how hard I try, I can't understand the full picture. It's as if it's escaping my sight"
Adam chuckled. “Look beyond your simple self-centeredness” he told him. "You're looking at all the pawns one by one, but you're not seeing the whole picture. Tell me, Alastor, what is really necessary to stop evil from coming to the world?"
"Eliminate it as soon as it manifests itself" Alastor replied immediately.
“Exactly” Adam said smugly. "But I can't be everywhere on Earth, right?"
“No, so how do you plan to…” Alastor trailed off for a moment, and then his smile widened and his eyes shone with a crowd light. "No... do you want...?"
"I assume you understand" Adam told him with a grin.
The radio demon's normally disturbing expression became even more monstrous as he put the pieces together. "Yes, now I understand... so that's why you care so much about Vaggie... and Charlie..." he murmured with extreme excitement. "What do you want me to do?"
Adam smiled until even his gums were showing, and then he put a hand on Alastor's shoulder in an almost paternal manner; he pulled him towards him and whispered something in his ear. The radio demon listened carefully, and then his eyes shone as if he had received confirmation of what he was thinking. "I will" he told him immediately as soon as Adam finished whispering. "But how can you be sure that... she... will do what you'll order?"
"That's my problem" Adam replied simply. "You think about doing your part. You're capable of it, aren't you?"
Alastor nodded. “Yes, sir” he said, lowering his head slightly.
"Good. I knew I could count on you" Adam told him, tapping his hand a couple of times on the shoulder, and then he suddenly stopped for a moment, as if he had noticed something. And then he announced: "They'll be here soon. Let's get what we need right away"
The Exorcists immediately stood at attention upon hearing this, and Vaggie also abandoned her silent state and stood up. At that moment they were on the top of the hill of Golgotha, and had been sitting for over an hour waiting for something. Vaggie knew that Adam had most likely placed one of his shadows on Adele and her mother to hide them and allow them to flee the country, and therefore he knew that Charlie had found the little girl.
Adam walked right to the center of the hill and grabbed his axe. "What do you want to cut? There's nothing here" Alastor asked him, who had already inspected the entire area with his shadows.
But Adam sneered. "Allow me to give you a good catechism lesson" he said, looking at the Exorcists. "You all know that this is the place where the cross was planted on which the Messiah died to save humanity... so far so good, but tell me, who among you knows where the cross is now?"
Nobody knew how to answer. "Um... they moved it, I assume" Vaggie tried to answer.
"From what I know, its fragments should be in various parts of the world" Alastor said.
But Adam shook his head. "All fake" he told them, then he stared at the empty space in front of him. "Because the truth... is that the cross never left this place. It's right here, in front of me"
A surprised and confused murmur spread among the Exorcists. "But there's nothing there" one of them said, trying to get closer to see if she was touching something invisible, but she felt nothing.
But Adam was not the least bit disturbed by this. "I saw what happened that day" he told them. "After they took the body of Jesus Christ from the cross to carry it to the tomb, the instrument on which he died remained here, bathed in his blood. And when they returned to take it away... the cross was no longer there. Or rather, it was there... but it had ended up in a place that no one could see, touch, or even interact with it in any way"
Under everyone's confused gaze he raised his axe, which shone under the moonlight. “The cross was soaked in the blood of Christ, which contained the very essence of the Almighty. The power to bend reality to His will was now infused into the cross. And that power manifested itself as soon as the one who could control it died. Reality changed around it, wrapping the cross in a cocoon made of space itself, which therefore nothing and no one could break" he explained, and then his smile widened: "But... if what hit it was the most powerful material in the universe, the one capable of cutting anything... then the situation changes!"
And having said this he lowered his axe, which did not fall to the ground, but on the contrary froze in mid-air and let out a screech as if it had just hit something extremely hard; it was such a violent impact that a flash of light was generated, dazzling the Exorcists, and tiny shock waves continuously emanated from the heat the axe was generating. Adam used all his strength in that blow, and yet his arms ached terribly from the immense effort.
And then, with a sound like a log cracking, reality broke; it was as if a gash had just opened in the air, and then numerous cracks formed from it, widening more and more. Like a nut hit by a hammer, the space cracked open, revealing that the top of the hill was not at all as empty as it seemed, but rather there was something there: a cross at least four meters high, towering over the entire Golgotha like a monolith.
Adam lowered the axe with a weary sigh, but his expression was triumphant. He slung his weapon back over his shoulder and walked towards the cross. “Father, you created me in Your image and likeness” he said aloud. "Therefore, I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to control this power!"
And having said this he grasped the base of the cross with his hand, lifting it; such an action normally wouldn't have been difficult given his strength, but in that moment he felt the same sensation that an ordinary person would feel when trying to lift a block of marble. He could feel the power of the cross thundering like a storm, as if it had a life of its own and wanted to keep it away. But then, that storm ended: Adam's will prevailed, and the cross stopped weighing as much as a mountain. The first man smiled triumphantly, and in his hand, the cross glowed and decreased in size, until it was as large as a normal crucifix.
Nobody dared to say a word. For some reason they seemed to see two different versions of reality: the cross on one side was still as big as before, but on the other it was so small it could fit in Adam's palm. "Your eyes do not deceive you" the first man told them. "As I told you, this cross has the power to alter reality, especially space. It hasn't changed itself, it's just shrunk into pocket size. And now it's mine. From now on, reality could be anything I want!"
He pointed the cross towards the ground, and as if the hill had come to life it opened up, digging into the ground until bones appeared; bones that were carried upwards and deposited at Adam's feet, and soon after the hill returned to normal. "Hello, old me" the first man said, staring at the skull, and then ordered the Exorcists: "Each of you take a bone and guard it with the utmost care"
The soldiers immediately followed the order and collected the bones one by one. Adam felt somewhat conflicting emotions in seeing his old body treated like this, but ultimately he had no reason to be sorry about it: what mattered was that it was useful, otherwise it was just a pile of bones that he hadn't used for thousands of years. "Two taken" he said looking at the cross in his hands. "One left"
"So that's the second piece of your weapon" Alastor commented. “Where will we find the third?”
“You'll find out soon” Adam said, taking a small rope from his pocket and tying it around the cross. As soon as he finished he put it around his neck. "Now that we have this, all we have to do is..."
While he was still speaking a small mass of fire appeared a short distance from them, which expanded and shaped to form a portal, from which Charlie emerged followed by Husk, Angel, Cherri, Niffty, Rosie and Velvette. "Oh, good, you're already here" Adam greeted them upon seeing them. "I was afraid you would be late. Welcome!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 1): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154564618
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 55: Proposal
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Several beads of sweat appeared on Charlie's forehead while she stared at Adam. The first man had a pleased smile on his face, and he almost seemed to be enjoying a delicious dish. With one finger he tapped the cross around his neck, making it jingle slightly, and then he gently took Vaggie by the arm and took a couple of steps forward towards Charlie.
The princess remained as still as a statue seeing him behave like this, while her friends instead took up a defensive position, ready for a possible attack. "He doesn't have the trident" Angel whispered. “At least that's a good thing”
"Don't kid yourself. He may be here without his most powerful weapon, but don't forget that he fights like a fucking tank" Husk told him in response. "This will not be an easy battle at all... and we are also outnumbered"
Unfortunately it was true: with Alastor and the Exorcists on Adam's side, the numbers were not in their favor at all. However, Angel was unfazed. "We have a Niffty" he whispered to Husk, and the cat demon couldn't help but nod a little.
Adam clapped his hands lightly. “You came” he said to Charlie. "Just in time, I dare say"
“So you were really watching us” Charlie said, just to confirm her suspicions.
"I just placed some shadows at the mansion in Louisiana, to find out if you were following me" Adam replied. "I was sure it wouldn't take you long to find the marks I left along the way"
Charlie narrowed her eyes so much they seemed to become slits. "Let go of Vaggie" she said in a firm voice.
Adam nodded. "Okay" he said, immediately taking his hand off Vaggie's arm.
Everyone remained speechless. “Um… really?” Charlie murmured, not expecting it to be this easy.
"Of course. I have no reason to keep her my prisoner any longer. Well, prisoner... I never considered her one actually, she was just someone I wanted to have a conversation with" Adam replied, and then he looked at Vaggie: "What are you waiting for? Go ahead and exchange some saliva with your girlfriend, I really think she needs it"
Vaggie stood still for a moment, suspecting a trick; it seemed strange to her that Adam was letting her go so easily... but then again, he had never really treated her like a prisoner. She walked towards Charlie in small steps, being extremely careful, and then faster and faster, until she was in the princess' arms. Both girls held each other tightly and did not hold back a passionate kiss, and from that they both understood that the person in front of her was really her girlfriend and not an illusion created on purpose.
"Mm. How cute" Adam commented with a chuckle. "I can create a room for you if you want, it'll just take a moment"
Charlie and Vaggie separated. "Did he hurt you?" the princess asked anxiously.
Vaggie shook her head. "No, he didn't do anything to me. He just…"
"... gave her a little reality check" Adam teased her before she finished. "She needed to realize some things... a bit like you, little princess"
Charlie let out a deep sigh. “Did you keep an eye on me even as I collapsed?”
"No, absolutely. As I said, my shadows were only placed at the villa... well, also on that child to protect her, if I have to be sincere. But I was sure that you would have been horrified once the harsh reality of this world was put before your eyes" Adam replied to her. "I was even kind to you, you know? I could have made you walk in much worse places. Maybe I should have, I heard that Afghanistan is really beautiful during this season, you know?”
Charlie didn't answer him. In fact, they could tell she was avoiding direct eye contact with him.
Adam just seemed satisfied with that reaction. "So, did you like Earth?" he asked her.
Charlie took a deep breath. She remained silent for a long time, and then she answered: "It's very beautiful, even if it needs improvement"
And incredibly, Adam found himself agreeing with her. "Yes... it's really beautiful. You should see it from space... it looks like a blue, white and green pearl. From up there you can't notice everything that happens down here. It appears beautiful and pure as it was originally"
Charlie didn't miss his nostalgic and at times sad tone. It wasn't difficult for her to understand why. "I assume that when you were here, it was a pearl even when viewed from down here"
The smile faded from Adam's face. "It was" he said, taking a couple of steps towards her, but without any aggressive intent. “And damn… you have no idea how marvelous it was”
From his mouth emerged a large mass of smoke that spread all around them; every corner that surrounded them was covered in it, incorporating Adam, Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor and all the others. The smoke shaped itself and the light changed, until they were no longer on a deserted hill in the middle of the night, but on that same hill but in the daytime, and surrounded not by a harsh steppe and near a city, but rather from a large lush plain full of lakes and green grass.
Neither Charlie nor all her friends managed to hold back a cry of surprise: it was the first time they had experienced that illusory power first-hand. They could clearly feel the wind in their hair and the touch of the sun, and even the temperature. "Wow... this is... amazing..." Angel murmured.
"I'm getting better and better" Adam told him as he walked lightly towards that beautiful plain, staring at it with a nostalgic look. "This was the world after the disappearance of Eden. Even if that benign place no longer existed, Earth was still a Paradise"
“I had heard that the Middle East was once green, but I didn't imagine it that way” Cherri commented.
"The Great Flood changed the position of the Earth's axis. Many ecosystems were changed forever" Adam told her. “Also, we had a lot more fertilizer for the plants at the time, as you can see”
And in fact enormous animals grazed on that great prairie: creatures so large that an elephant would have been small in comparison. There were antelope, deer, wildebeest and what were undoubtedly mastodons, but even they were tiny compared to gigantic animals with extremely long necks, moving on legs the size of pillars. And there were also other animals that were smaller, but still dwarfed any modern creature: beings as big as trucks with tall triangular plates on their backs and long spines on their tails, what looked like bipedal nine-meter-long lizards with hints of feathers that drank in the lakes, and immersed in the water there were also enormous crocodile-like reptiles with a large sail on their backs and gigantic sharp claws.
Charlie couldn't help but admire them with extreme awe: compared to those animals, even the dragons of Hell appeared tiny. Even the gigantic forms of the Deadly Sins were no match for those mighty beasts. Every time those animals took a step, the earth shook; every time they made a noise, the air rang with the sound of their voices.
They were all silent for a while before Angel opened his mouth: "So... you were living with dinosaurs back then?"
"The theory of evolution is bullshit" Adam replied. "Here, in the primordial Earth, every form of life coexisted. Before they lived in peace, fueled by the benign energy of Eden, which was like a wave that continuously bathed the Earth, making the animals always satiated and allowing them to live in total tranquility and fearlessness. After Eden disappeared, that balance was broken, and the animals were forced to fight each other to survive. But even so, the Earth had maintained a kind of peace... unwritten rules, like for example not attack each other to the waterholes, which everyone respected. Even though the world had become very dangerous and cruel, the animals managed to remain quite... innocent. It wasn't like that for humans"
“I know your sons' story” Charlie told him. "Mom told me"
"Mph. I was sure of it" Adam commented, and then he raised a finger and pointed to a point in the distance: "It happened right over there, in those fields. It was there that Cain killed Abel"
Charlie bit her lip. "I'm sorry" she told him, though she wasn't sure how much that consoled the first man.
Adam ignored her. "For thousands of years, I have watched my descendants turn this wonderful pearl into a repository of malice and suffering. Even after the Great Flood, even after Moses received the Tablets of the Law, even after...". His gaze darkened. “I resisted all that time because I knew that one day the sins of humanity would be erased, and they were. But even after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, humanity still continued to choose evil. Even that... wasn't enough. It was at that moment that I understood that the extremely drastic solution that I took after the Great Flood was what was actually needed, to safeguard all good people at least in death. If humans couldn't avoid choose evil, than such people couldn't have the chance to continue to exist and risking to infect something else with their cruelty. They had the free will, but that wasn't an excuse to be so evil! So... I continued with my solution"
Charlie felt a very bitter taste in her mouth. “Genocide” she muttered.
"But rightful" Adam said. “Kill only those who did evil. Grant humanity free will, but punish them if they dared embrace the cause of cruelty. The Extermination was a way to punish the wicked, and at the same time protect the good. I couldn't risk another disaster like the Great Flood occurring, demons had to be kept at bay, evil had to be kept at bay. But this... was never enough. Punishing in death was not enough to erase evil from the universe. Over the centuries, as I watched the humans progress, I saw how much potential it had… how far they could go if only they stopped using their intellect to create weapons, plan war strategies, study how to impoverish the enemy or rob the poor. I saw what humanity could have been if only it had not been contaminated by the evil of that fruit"
The world around them warped as the smoke that composed it changed position and created new shapes and colors; the green plains disappeared and with them all the animals. In their place the city of Jerusalem reappeared, but it was completely different from what it was in reality: it had become beautiful, full of buildings with an extremely artistic shape and enormous constructions that soared towards the sky; lawns, gardens and fountains filled every corner of the city, and colorful birds and animals of all kinds grazed peacefully there. The sky was crossed by flying cars, kept in the air by magnetic levitation; monuments representing great philosophers, thinkers and legislators filled the few empty spaces; here and there there were suspended rails where trains traveled so fast that they were almost mistaken for airplanes. And here and there were great cannon-like constructions launching what looked like spaceships up into the upper atmosphere, where there were huge orbital stations receiving them and shooting them out into space; and looking at the sky, one could even see artificial constructions on the moon.
Charlie couldn't help but be amazed. That world was so fascinating, progressive and futuristic, compared to what she had seen of Earth. “This… is how you imagined humanity…?”
"It's how humanity should have been" Adam said with a grunt. "A pure species, uncorrupted by evil, aimed only at the discovery of science, arts and technology. Protectors of this world and all the creatures that inhabited it, and explorers of the dark vastness of the cosmos, who brought the seeds of life into every planet in this universe. From creation... they could become creators. Image and likeness of God, not only in nature but also in behavior. A people who could only be defined as glorious and noble. This is what humanity was destined to be... but the evil brought by that fruit ruined this magnificent vision of mine"
Adam crossed his arms over his chest and gritted his teeth with a lot of anger. "But... I know that humanity still has the possibility of being this. If only the evil among them were eliminated, everything would return to its right place. And I learned from the past, from every action that led to the eradication of humanity's sins by Jesus. God showed me a path, one so extreme and at the same time so perfect that he could finally erase all those who they chose evil before they could irreparably ruin the innocent. Eliminate every single evil person right in the moment they showed their true nature, and keep only the good people alive, so that they could prosper and lead humanity to a new era of peace and prosperity. I knew that otherwise my descendants would only have grown more evil and ruin themselves piece by piece, destroying billions of innocent lives and corrupting this beautiful planet. This drastic solution was necessary, it was the fulfillment of all that had come before, from the Great Flood to the sacrifice of the Messiah. I tried to tell the seraphim about my vision, but none of them could understand it. They didn't understand how what I said could be made possible and told me that I was exaggerating, that humanity couldn't become worse than it already was, that I just had to be patient and let them change on their own. They called me paranoid, neurotic... sometimes even mad.. and in the end, what I had predicted came true"
The illusion dissolved; that world of peace and progress disappeared as quickly as it had come, revealing once again the city of Jerusalem as it truly was. The smoke drifted back into Adam's mouth and disappeared into it. The first man didn't move a muscle in the process, remaining as still as a statue, but his gaze seemed to shine with a strange light.
Charlie looked at Adam. It seemed to her that the first man was immersed in deep contemplation, as if he were looking at something he had seen too many times. “So what do you want to do?”
"Make it right" Adam replied. “Your girlfriend has told me things I might consider… but I can't wait any longer. I must act, and now. The twentieth century has been fraught with ever worse atrocities; the twenty-first will certainly be no different. If I let humanity continue on this path, it will continue to get worse until it completely deprives this planet of every available resource, or burns in a nuclear holocaust. I have put off my mission for too long, and the fact that I am now here in demon form can only be confirmation of all my negligence. I don't intend to make this mistake again. Soon, every evil in this world and all other worlds will be erased forever"
Charlie swallowed. To call those words disturbing was an understatement. "And what is the price?"
"A price I am willing to pay" Adam answered, turning towards her. The two of them looked at each other straight in the eyes for a long time, and then he smiled again: "You want to know my plan, right?"
"But you won't tell me" Charlie muttered.
Adam grinned. “No, I don't think I will... not now” he said. "But... let's do this. How about a rematch?"
Charlie's eyes widened. "What?"
"A rematch. You and I" Adam repeated. "We haven't really had one yet. If you beat me, you have my word that I'll let you have a real conversation with me, and I will listen to whatever you have to say. I'll concede you try to convince me of your principles or bully me with all your sugariness and make me confess, your choice. In any case, I'll listen to you... if you'll defeat me"
Charlie swallowed immediately. "I don't want to fight with you"
"Oh, yes, you will. After all, I doubt you came here without a way to deal with me. I'm curious to see what cards you have in your sleeves, so show me" Adam replied with a grin. "And to make the fight more even, let's do this: I will fight without using my new powers. I will only use the abilities I had when I was reborn as a demon. You will face the average first man, the one that you already fought at your hotel, without any additional power ups from the overlords. That should be enough, right?"
Charlie didn't like that at all. "I won't play your game"
"Yeah, none of us will play it" Angel said holding up his guns.
But Adam only laughed. "I'm afraid you have no choice. Alastor?"
The radio demon slammed his staff on the ground, and several shadows spawned from his body. "Yes, sir?"
"They're all yours. Do what you want with the cannibal and the spoiled girl, but remember not to kill the others" Adam told him. "Only not to kill, of course. You can dismember them as much as you like as long as they remain alive"
"It will be a pleasure, sir" Alastor replied, stepping forward with a rather disturbing walk.
Charlie turned pale. "Wait, please! You don't have to...!"
"What are you going to do, Vaggie?" Adam suddenly asked.
Everyone, even Alastor, turned towards the ex-Exorcist, who turned pale. "I... um..."
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to choose between me and your friends. You have a deep affection for them, after all. Feel free to face the bad radio demon if you wish" Adam told her. “But will you fight your sisters again?”
Vaggie remained speechless, not knowing how to answer. The other Exorcists looked at her with strange looks, and she sweated quite a bit. Charlie realized her discomfort: "Vaggie..."
"Looks like you need time to decide" Adam said spreading his wings wide. "Let's do this: girls, don't intervene. Let Alastor handle this. You are allowed to intervene only if he will need help. That way Vaggie will have time to decide if she wants to kill you again"
"I don't want to kill anyone!" Vaggie exclaimed in a strangled voice.
"We'll see about that. Consider it a test" Adam replied. "So, shall we get started?"
And having said this he lunged at Charlie and punched her; the princess of Hell barely had time to see it and raised her hands to cover her face, and even so she felt the force of the blow remembering her as if she had just been hit full on by a boulder. She was thrown away like a twig and flew for at least thirty meters before managing to touch the ground again, and even once she did this she didn't stop for at least another twenty meters.
Adam landed in front of her. A menacing smile was painted on his face. "Last time you didn't fight with a clear mind, since I had just killed your friend. This time it will be different" he told her. "Show me what the heir to the throne of Hell can really do!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154575892
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 56: On the mountain
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie quickly got up, knowing she couldn't afford to stay lying on the ground. She didn't know if Adam was telling the truth when he promised not to fight with the skills he had acquired from the overlords, but even if he was, he was still a formidable opponent. The first man was designed to be the epitome of raw strength and power, and unlike any other human, he was not weakened by the fall because he had never eaten the forbidden fruit. Every muscle, fiber and nerve of his body was like a nuclear power plant bursting with pulsating energy. Even in the antediluvian age when the most powerful and ferocious creatures ever existed walked on Earth freely, he was the apex predator.
Charlie had already faced Adam, but he had never given his all against her. He had treated her more like a toy than a real opponent, or at most like an annoying fly towards the end of their fight. He hadn't used strategy or intelligence against her because he hadn't needed to. The gap between them was deep enough that he could win based on his sheer strength alone.
Charlie broke into a cold sweat. This time she didn't even have her trident with her, which limited her even more. Even if Adam kept his word, the balance was tipped totally in his favor. If she wasn't careful, he would have definitely crushed her like a pulp.
Adam stood in front of her, calmly waiting for her to get back to her feet. "So, what are you waiting for? Transform!" he told her with a knowing smile.
Charlie gritted her teeth. She couldn't understand why Adam had that expression and that strange light in his eyes. He already knew she wasn't strong enough for him, he had no reason to physically confront her: he had already taken what he came for, he could easily open a portal to some remote corner of the world and just leave. Why did he seem so interested in that duel?
Charlie was sure Adam had a reason. He had not acted without reason until that moment. If he knew she was coming and had willingly waited and left clues for her to find him, then he must have had very good reasons… for his point of view, at least.
"I don't want to fight you" she told him again.
"I know" Adam replied. "But as you may have understood by now, here on Earth you can't always do what you want"
Charlie took a step back, raising her hands slightly to be ready to defend herself in case of an attack. "Why do you want to fight? What do you hope to achieve?"
Adam's smile widened. "Because people like me rarely like to express themselves in words. I don't use my voice, I use facts" he replied. "Men like me express themselves better with their body than with their mouth. And trust me when I tell you that after this little meeting of ours I will bring out by you things that you didn't think you had"
Charlie's eyes widened. She didn't know if Adam had deliberately said that sentence with a double meaning, but she felt more than a little in awe. "I need an adult…?”
"I am an adult" Adam replied, and before she could react he closed the distance between them and punched her in the stomach again, sending her flying a second time.
Charlie tried to steady herself and grab the ground to stop, but suddenly the world disappeared beneath her feet and a great cold hit her; she crashed into a rock wall generating a loud bang, which however was barely audible due to the air being extremely thinner. She looked up and realized that there was a precipice in front of her, and that right above that precipice a portal had opened from which Adam emerged. “Urgh… what do you…?”
"I don't intend to fight you near an inhabited place. Someone could end up in the middle of our battle" Adam told her. "I decided to change places"
Charlie pushed herself up onto her legs again, trying to stay balanced. She realized she was on a very high ledge, so high that she couldn't see the bottom; around her ice crystals were falling from the rock wall and in every slightly flat spot there was frozen snow. Looking up she saw that there were much fewer clouds in the sky, which in fact appeared much more starry and clear, while on the contrary, looking down she saw large foaming masses from which gigantic rocky peaks soaring upwards protruded. "Where are we?"
"On the east side of Mount Everest. Not at the top, but still high enough. Eight thousand meters more or less" Adam answered her. "Staying here brings back certain memories... I climbed this mountain barehanded once"
Charlie hugged herself tightly. She wasn't worried about the lack of oxygen, but she felt very cold. And she was also having a hard time holding on to the rock. Even if she had fallen she wouldn't have died, but she still would have been seriously hurt.
Adam flew in front of her. "Here we will be able to fight without risking involving anyone" he told her. “So, are you still going to hold back or are we going to get serious?”
Charlie narrowed her eyes. She knew that if she refused again, Adam would have hitten her a third time. Those punches weren't delivered at her full power: he was voluntarily diminishing their strength so as not to inflict any damage on her demonic body, and he was giving her time to fully regenerate from any internal or external injuries.
He wanted to fight... and whether she agreed or not, he would.
Charlie didn't want to face Adam. She knew it was a desperate battle, and above all, it wasn't what she wanted. She wasn't someone who liked to fight. In fact, she hated it.
But... in such cases, why hold back?
Adam wanted it, and there was no way for her to get out of there. She was far from her friends and therefore could not help them in any way, nor receive their help. She found herself in a world alien and unknown to her and at the same time so familiar, at the mercy of an enemy of superior power.
Yes, in those cases, there was no point in taking a step back.
The power exploded through her and surged out; a blood-red column enveloped her, dominating that mountain landscape for an instant. The skies of the Himalayas were shaken by the shock wave that was generated, and small avalanches descended on the east side of Mount Everest. There, on the highest mountain in the world, the true form of the heir to the throne of Hell emerged again.
The smile on Adam's face widened enormously; his eyes shone with ancestral excitement as he finally saw the horns emerge from Charlie's head and her tail wrap around her legs. The muscles smoothed and her body took on a more toned and gymnastic appearance. No more restrictions, no more chains. The power contained within her now flowed more than ever through her body as if it were blood, sharpening her senses and warming the air around her so much that the ice began to melt.
Adam let out a slight grin. "Finally" he said with extreme satisfaction. "I hate it when someone hides their true self. I'd much rather look at you as who you really are"
Charlie didn't answer him. In her demonic form she had much greater balance and was able to stabilize herself very well on the mountain, not to mention that her claws gave her greater grip; Even so, however, Adam had the advantage since he could fly. And this was obviously just one of the many advantages he had.
Wait...
A thought entered Charlie's mind. Maybe she could...?
Yes... it was actually a valid hypothesis.
She tilted her legs slightly to take a leap. Adam immediately noticed her movement and his eyes narrowed. His smile immediately disappeared from his face. "What's on her mind?"
If Charlie had jumped at him from that distance, he would have had plenty of time to dodge her, and she would have defeated herself on her own as she would have fallen into the void below them. Yet it seemed that the princess had every intention of attacking him directly, instead of trying to lure him into terrain more favorable to her as would have been logical to do.
Was she about to fake it? Did she want to deceive him, delude him that she was about to attack him, and actually escape at the last moment taking advantage of his distraction?
Yet she hadn't even looked at the rest of the mountain to know which direction to go...
Was she really going to do that?
Yes. She did.
Charlie took a leap, using her feet to propel herself and creating a large crack in the rock wall; even though she flew through the air at great speed, Adam could still have dodged her with great ease. Charlie didn't have wings, and without them she would have fallen down and crashed to the ground after thousands of meters of constant acceleration...
But Adam didn't dodge.
Their fists met in mid-air, unleashing a shockwave; Charlie used the recoil to push herself upwards, so she could attack him again, and then again. Each time Adam could have simply moved, but instead he stayed where he was and responded to her attacks blow for blow; finally he grabbed her by the tail and threw her back into the mountainside, burying her at least two meters into the rock from the force of the impact.
Charlie spat out a little blood, but still she rejoiced inside. She had just proven what she had suspected. "He won't let me fall" she thought as she watched Adam flutter in front of her. "He doesn't just want to defeat me... he wants me to give my all. He won't let the fight end before that moment"
It had been a risky move, almost suicidal in fact, but Charlie had been right. That battleground, which apparently benefited Adam, actually benefited her: if the first man simply didn't want to make her fall, then she could force him to focus on multiple fronts at once. This would have allowed her to take control of the situation and potentially defeat him.
"He wants me to fight to my fullest potential. This is my advantage" she thought, and as she did so she touched her dress, beneath which were the angelic handcuffs and Stolas's grimoire. "At least for now he won't use any new abilities, only the powers he already had when I fought him at the hotel. Even if he still surpass me in strength, if I use the advantage this terrain gives me well, I can manage to imprison him"
Adam in turn was observing her with extreme attention... and also satisfaction. He had already understood what Charlie had in mind, and it had made his lips curve into a smile again. "I thought it would take her a while to understand, but instead she immediately understood my greatest weakness" he thought. "Really promising..."
The first man clenched his fists tightly and raised his hands slightly. The expression on his face betrayed his excitement. “Tell me, have you ever actually fought before meeting me?”
"I don't like fighting" Charlie replied. "But mom taught me to do it"
"I understand. Over the last seven years she has told me quite a bit about you. Given the affection with which she described you, I was sure that she had made sure that you had the means to defend yourself" Adam told her. "However, you will soon discover that there is a lot of difference between training and real battle"
"I know. We've fought before" Charlie reminded him.
But Adam shook his head. "No, not at all. That game cannot be compared to real combat" he replied. "You'll understand soon. But don't worry, I'll be gentle with you since it's your first time"
Charlie's cheeks turned red. “Can you please stop making such innuendos? You sound like a budding sex maniac”
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Why, what did I say that was strange?"
"WHAT THE...! Just fight!" Charlie screamed, trying to contain herself, and she lunged towards him again.
Adam seemed to be waiting for her with trepidation. Charlie hit him again a couple of times, obviously always getting knocked back; but the third time she introduced more energy into her fist, covering it with some leathery plates to boot, and aimed at his belly. She hit him squarely and threw him downwards, while she took advantage of the recoil and jumped back onto the mountain; but she didn't stay there, instead she used her legs to push herself onto the rock and threw herself at Adam as he fell.
The first man was now disoriented and falling: if she could attack him from his blind spot, she could wrap herself around his back and pull him back by the neck, and then...
She didn't have time to finish this thought: Adam in fact immediately recovered and opened his wings, generating a shock wave so powerful that it literally stopped her fall and threw her back onto the mountain. The first man steadied himself in flight, and this time he didn't stand still and wait: he attacked fully, keeping his fist raised. Charlie noticed him in time and using her agility she avoided him; the fist hit the mountain wall, which generated a quake that split a good part of it. Charlie completely lost her balance due to the vibration and slipped back towards the void, but Adam reappeared behind her and kneed her in the back, sending her back to a stable part of the mountain.
"You have to do better if you want to stop me" Adam warned as she stood up. "Don't focus on just one of your advantages, and don't waste your energy needlessly. Attack when you're sure you can break my defense"
"Urgh... I didn't ask you to give me a fighting lesson" Charlie replied taking a deep breath. She had no serious injuries, her demonic regeneration was protecting her, but still her back was begging for mercy after being smashed into the side of a mountain with that force.
"I'm just correcting some of your shortcomings" Adam replied, getting into an attacking position again. "Anyway, know that now I won't play anymore. From now on I will fight seriously. So you better do the same"
Charlie gritted her teeth. She had already taken several beatings and Adam had only been playing until then. Definitely, he was a really tough opponent. But she couldn't afford to give up, also because she knew he wouldn't have let her. She had to do better.
As she developed these thoughts, Adam took on a strange expression, a sort of cross between excited and satisfied. Without giving any explanation, he moved at supersonic speed and placed himself in front of her, already ready to fight: "Show me what you can really do, little princess!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154671691
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 57: Fighting for a meal
Notes:
Ok, I know I am a little cheating here since during this period we authors should write some stories about Christmas, while I'm re-proposing one that I wrote last year, but I really want this story to receive a little more appreciation since in my opinion it is the most beautiful story about Christmas I've ever written. For all those who loved The Owl House, this is my Christmas present: a retelling of the famous story The Christmas Carol, but with the characters from the franchise as protagonists! I can assure you that you will not be disappointed, because I really put my soul into this story. And even those who don't know The Owl House, don't worry, I still won't let you down. Even though I technically published this story last year, I invite you to go read it and leave your kudos and maybe some comments, just to know if you had liked it (I'm sure it will be so). Give me this little Christmas gift and let me read your comments and opinions on each chapter, or even just the ones you liked the most. Merry Christmas to you all guys!
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
No one had had time to react quickly when Adam had thrown Charlie away; they had all gotten into attack positions as soon as he started talking about fighting, ready to spring at the slightest sign of danger, but despite this his movement had been so rapid, precise and instantaneous that none of them had been able to react. Before they knew it Charlie had already been thrown away and Adam was flying after her.
"Fuck!" Vaggie exclaimed, and immediately took off to chase her, but she couldn't: a shadow tentacle emerged from the ground and hit her in the stomach, sending her back to the ground with a crash.
The ex-Exorcist looked up and saw Alastor watching her with a strange light in his eyes. "Honestly, I've been wanting to do this for a while" the radio demon confessed to her.
"You... bastard...!" Vaggie hissed as she stood up, but as soon as she did she realized that trying to fly away again was useless: Adam had in fact opened a portal and disappeared on the other side. He and Charlie could have been on the other side of the planet at that very moment.
Alastor slammed his staff on the ground. His shadows condensed in a rather sinister manner. "If I were you, I would focus on the opponent in front of you" he warned them. "I won't go easy on you just because we spent a brief time together"
"Fuck..." Angel couldn't stop himself from saying. “Look, Smiles, are we really about to fight?”
Alastor just raised an eyebrow. “Do you really need me to answer you?”
Husk suddenly took a step forward and stood in front of both the spider demon and Vaggie. "No, there's no need" he told the radio demon in a menacing voice. "We know exactly what to do. Charlie will be on her own against your new boss, at least for a while. We'll take care of teaching you a lesson"
"Wow. Such big words, Husker" Alastor told him. “Tell me, how are those wounds on your back?”
"Oh, they're wonderful. What about the lower half of your body?" Husk replied.
Alastor's eyelid twitched in irritation. "I'll give you a five-minute head start" he told him threateningly.
"Thanks, I'll have to make good use of them. You're pretty dangerous" Husk couldn't help but admit, and then he looked at the others behind him: "Okay, everyone, keep your cool. We expected to have to face him and Adam, but instead we're just against one of them. We can..."
"Oh, by the way" Vaggie interjected. "Alastor is stronger than before"
Husk froze. "What?"
"Adam helped him… accept himself. Man, that's really a weird thing to say" Vaggie muttered. "Now he has no restrictions on his powers. In other words, he is extremely powerful"
Husk was stunned. And then he didn't stop himself from exclaiming: "Are you fucking kidding me...!?"
"We are doomed" Velvette just commented without hiding her pessimism in the slightest.
Suddenly Rosie let out a deep sigh, so loud that it caught everyone's attention. "Okay, that's enough, everyone. Get your act together" she said, and then without any fear started walking towards Alastor.
"What are you doing!?" Vaggie yelled at her, being completely ignored. "Come back now, we have to stick together...!"
Alastor widened his smile as he saw her approach. "Oh, Rosie, my friend... do you want to change sides?" he asked her in a somewhat amused voice. "Well, if you insist, I could..."
SLAP!
Alastor was so little expecting that reaction that he didn't notice Rosie's slap until it landed right in his face. It was so strong that it tilted his head slightly to the side and the affected cheek burned quite a bit. “You're being really bad, Al. I'm really disappointed in you” Rosie said to him.
If anyone could define amazement, the feeling that everyone present was feeling at that moment was certainly the perfect representation. Husk literally had saliva on his lips, and Angel, Cherri and Vaggie had wide eyes and open mouths. Even Velvette looked like she had received a beating on the head. The only one who didn't seem impressed was Niffty: "Ha ha! The cookie lady is tough!" she giggled when she saw that scene.
Nobody could believe it. Had the radio demon just been slapped?
Rosie took a handkerchief out of her pocket and used it to clean the palm of her hand: even if it wasn't exactly dirty, she preferred to take precautions given Alastor's lack of attention to personal hygiene. She didn't even bat an eyebrow even when the radio demon's eyes flashed red. “You really are an undisciplined boy” she told him. "Know that you are one of the few who pushed me this far"
Alastor gritted his teeth dangerously. "Are you serious?"
"Of course. Betraying the people who put so much trust in you? I thought you learned your lesson after losing Vox" Rosie replied putting her handkerchief back in her pocket. "How disappointing. Looks like I'll have to talk some sense into you"
Alastor tried to maintain his composure, even as his face betrayed his irritation. "I don't think I..."
"Alastor" Rosie said in a firm voice. "Silence"
Not a fly seemed to fly around her; it was as if the sound itself had been paralyzed. Everyone was staring at her, and they didn't dare utter a single word: it was as if they were literally frozen. "What the fuck is she?" Velvette couldn't help but think.
Rosie looked at Alastor with a lot of disappointment in her eyes. "Let's give a good summary of what you did: in order, you took the trust of the princess, a girl who you know very well has self-esteem problems, and you used her to your advantage. Then, not happy, you betrayed by the man who is, in no uncertain terms, his worst enemy. And now you're here threatening to deal with us too" she told him in a harsh voice. "And on top of that, she hosted you in her home, which makes the betrayal even more serious. I thought you knew how to respect your host. You really need a lesson"
If someone had told any of the people there that one day they would have seen someone acting like an irritated teacher towards the radio demon, they would probably have thought that the person who told them was on drugs. Husk looked like he was about to cry, or try to pull out his hair even though he had it all over his body.
Alastor let out a loud hissing growl. "Ok, now you are really getting on my nerves. If you want to fight, let's fight"
Rosie shook her head. "I imagined this would have been your reaction. You really are an undisciplined element" she said, cracking her neck slightly, and then she looked at the others without bothering to turn her back on him: "Guys, don't worry. I'll take care of him now"
"Are you out of your mind!?" Vaggie yelled at her. "You can't face him alone!"
"Calm down, girl. So much tension is not good for your health" Rosie told her. "I'm not as easy prey as people like to think. Even the most docile beast hides a dark side... let me show to Al that is better not to tease it"
Husk swallowed. "Are you really sure about that?" he murmured, as facing the radio demon alone sounded like madness in his ears.
"I am. And don't worry, I'm not going to lose" Rosie told him with a slight wink of her eyes. "But just to be safe in the unlikely case that he manages to defeat me, take advantage of the time I will give you to study a strategy"
"Unlikely case!?" Cherri exclaimed repeating her words.
Rosie smirked. "Of course. I told you, I'm not going to lose"
One of Alastor's black tentacles suddenly moved towards her, but she didn't flinch. A clot of blood emerged from her palm and expanded into a shield, which blocked that attack even though it took a lot of damage from it. "From behind?" she murmured without any emotion in her voice. "Pretty infamous move, from someone who prides himself on being the best"
"There are no rules in a fight" Alastor told her, as the shadows around him continued to expand. "Does the lion warn the gazelle when the hunt begins?"
Rosie smirked. "Yeah. Things like loyalty only apply to a battle between humans" she said, and her limbs began to lengthen. "Shall we start getting serious right away?"
Alastor's smile widened, and his horns began to grow. "I don't ask for anything better!"
They both abandoned their common forms and fully assumed their demon forms; their power exploded with unprecedented violence, almost as if they were trying to make the opponent retreat simply with the pressure of their auras. The ground shook slightly beneath their fee while they took on a bestial and twisted appearance, eternal proof of their damnation.
Their spectators were astonished. Their survival instincts were activated, and their vision seemed to alter: they seemed to see a terrifying predator instead of Alastor, like a lion or a tiger, or even a tyrannosaurus. It was like staring at a dark mass taking shape in a monstrous mouth. “Since... since when is Alastor so intimidating?” Angel murmured.
Husk couldn't blame him: not even against the Loan Sharks had the radio demon shown such power. Vaggie was right, he had gotten much stronger. His new appearance, that shape so similar to a twisted deer, was something that even he had never seen before.
The two overlords looked at each other, moving in a circle like two predators ready to pounce on each other. Alastor was much bigger and more terrifying than Rosie, but she didn't seem the least bit intimidated. If he was a massive and imposing lion, she was like a lioness waiting for the right moment to strike.
And then, they both moved.
Their fight barely lasted an instant; afterwards, they were separated again, with their backs to each other. Blood dripped from both of their bodies. Rosie had her right arm completely flayed, while Alastor barely had a wound on his left shoulder. A wound that had undoubtedly been left by a bite. "Mh. Even with the hardness my skin has acquired, you still managed to take a piece off me" he murmured, turning to her. "You really have strong jaws"
Rosie turned away too, showing that she still had the piece of meat she had torn from him in her mouth; under Alastor's gaze, she swallowed it with a satisfied noise. Her body immediately became more toned and her muscles seemed to tremble slightly, and her grip on the ground became firmer. "Your meat is good" she told him, licking her lips. "Even if a little too salty"
Alastor widened his smile in response, and the tentacles on his back seemed to fuse into a single harpoon, and moved towards her like a fireball; Rosie dodged his attack and instead jumped onto the harpoon and used it as a springboard to leap onto the radio demon. The two overlords clashed again, and this time their close encounter lasted much longer: the claws of both of them moved lightning-fast, cutting the air like blades, generating shock waves so strong that the earth beneath them cracked. And then, as quickly as it had begun, that confrontation again ended and they separated.
Alastor let out a grunt: Rosie had bitten one of his finger and part of the back of his right hand, and this was causing him quite a bit of discomfort since the affected places burned quite a lot. He turned to Rosie, who was chewing the meat she had just bitten; as soon as she devoured it, every part of her body seemed to grow stronger again. Every part except her left arm, which now seemed to barely remain attached to her body. "If your tactic is to keep tearing off pieces of me and increasing your strength by eating them, you've already lost" he warned her. "You're getting stronger, yes, but you're sustaining serious injuries in the process. Your arm is already a sieve"
But Rosie only smiled at him; and then, to his surprise, she bit her own arm and tore it off. Alastor's eyes widened slightly at that sight, and even more so as Rosie started eating her own arm. "Have you forgotten what I am, Alastor?" she asked him with a smirk. "I am a man-eating beast. And do you know what the third most man-killing creature in the world is?"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "The snake"
"Exactly. And like many other reptiles, the snake has a particular ability" Rosie told him as she continued to eat. "Its cells are equipped with a self-replication mechanism that activates only if the original shape of the body is compromised. In other words, if the snake's tail is cut off, its cells immediately activate to restore it. All they have what is needed is new biomass and a little energy"
Rosie took the last remaining piece of her arm and swallowed it, and judging by her expression she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. "My demonic body respects the characteristics of the most powerful beasts in the world and concentrates their most powerful weapons in one thing. My cells are equipped with that same capacity for self-replication. Giving them an amount of biomass equal to that lost and combining that with my demonic regeneration, even an amputated arm..." and as she said this a new left arm reappeared in place of the old one. "... can be as good as new!"
Alastor sizzled slightly. "I understand. By devouring your damaged body parts, you can regenerate yourself with minimal expenditure of energy since you only need to slightly speed up a natural process. I, on the contrary, after being injured need to waste a lot of power to rapidly rebuild my body"
"I see you understand" Rosie said licking her lips again. "And I am really enjoying this meal"
Their spectators were left frozen. The exchange of blows they had just witnessed was something brutal and ancestral, as if they were watching nothing more than two beasts fighting in an arena. A sort of animalistic dance where both were just trying to snatch pieces from the other.
“What… what are we looking at?” Cherri just hummed. “That woman… is she really looking at the radio demon as nothing more than a meal!?”
"No... that's absurd..." Angel stammered, even though he himself wasn't so sure. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to turn to the only other overlord present: "What do you think?"
Velvette was completely wide-eyed. "I think... I've been dodging a bullet this whole time" she replied, her mind flashing back to all the times she'd dared to speak back badly at Rosie.
Alastor laughed out loud. "You know, I always loved the meals we shared. Tell me, how do I taste?"
Rosie began to salivate, so much so that a small puddle formed under her mouth. "Simply the best" she replied with an evil grin. "Now... I really want more of you"
"Oh, believe me..." Alastor told her as shadows began to wrap around his teeth, making them even more monstrous. "... I too intend to enjoy you thoroughly..."
The two overlords looked at each other like two hungry predators. They could both see the intense desire in the other's eyes. Their desire to feed on flesh was like intoxication, and they seemed to breathe it as if it were air. Their blood was literally boiling...
Suddenly Niffty's voice was heard: "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Both Alastor and Rosie froze. "WHAT!? NO!" the radio demon exclaimed. "What are you thinking!? Can't you see we're killing each other!?"
“Yeah, Niff, this is crazy for you too” Angel said. "I mean, what they were saying was... wait... oh shit, actually now that I think about it, I've said similar stuff in my porn..."
Vaggie barely stopped herself from hitting him on the head. “What the heck are you talking about!?”
“Hey, Niffty started it!” Angel replied. "And now that she's put it in my head I can't help but wonder if the fact that they're both in animalistic form hasn't awakened certain instincts in them. I mean, you can't deny that, by the way they're talking, or they are thinking about eating each other... I'm questioning if they are thinking about eating each other but in another and more pleasant way... if you know what I mean"
Vaggie slammed a hand over her face. Angel, even though he was the one who said those things, still seemed to be trying to forget them. “Sure is Val in here” Velvette couldn't stop herself from thinking.
“Can you please refrain from talking sexually for five seconds!?” Alastor ranted. "This is serious!"
"I'm taking it seriously" Niffty replied with an innocent smile, that turned into a greed grin shortly after: "It's just that seeing the big boss and the cookie lady in such animal form is really exciting. The beastly fury to consume each other, combined with a kind of ancestral desire..."
"Oh my God, now I'm imagining them too" Cherri said, putting her hands over her mouth. "I'm going to puke...!"
"This is ridiculous!" Alastor exclaimed more and more annoyed. "We're just fighting! There's no sexual interest! It's so... right...?"
"Of course we're just fighting! Do I look interested in something else!?" Rosie replied indignantly.
"Ah, thanks, thank goodness... hey, wait, what are you implying!? Am I not good enough for you!?" Alastor ranted.
Rosie rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Okay, Alastor, I want to be completely honest with you, so let me tell you how I feel about it: this actually sounds a lot sexual"
Alastor's eyes widened. "What...?"
"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong in it" Rosie assured him. "Being asexual doesn't mean you don't have sexual urges, that's just a myth"
Alastor was completely speechless. "You... I... let's just keep fighting!"
And without saying another word he launched himself upon her again; Rosie didn't wait any longer and did the same. Their violent battle resumed, even more ferocious than before.
Notes:
For those who don't remember, Rosie already showed her overlord form in the chapter 22
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154609075
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 58: Not a battle between humans
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Husk was watching the battle between Alastor and Rosie without moving a single muscle or saying a single word. His cat senses helped him follow the fight better, even though he too was struggling to notice the movements of the two overlords, so fast that they almost seemed to teleport. His face was completely locked in a serious expression that didn't reveal the slightest emotion, but his eyes trembled continuously as he watched the fight.
Never in his life had he thought he would see something like this. Despite living in Hell for decades, he had never seen or even imagined seeing a clash between such powerful creatures. Even normal overlord battles couldn't compare to that. Both Alastor and Rosie were truly out of the ordinary.
But despite this, even with his limitations, Husk could clearly see certain details that let him know who really had the advantage.
"Ok... sexual comments aside, I'd say our cannibal friend is holding up well" Angel commented as he watched the battle between the two overlords.
"Yeah..." Vaggie murmured. Even though it was clear that Alastor was much stronger than her, Rosie was managing to close the gap thanks to her skills. Even though the outcome of the battle still looked very uncertain, it still looked promising. "I never thought anyone could stand up to Alastor like this..."
"She's not standing up to him" Husk suddenly said through gritted teeth. "Rosie has already lost"
Everyone looked at him in amazement. "What are you saying?" Angel asked him.
Husk let out a deep grunt. "Alastor isn't fighting" he replied. "He's playing"
The spider demon's eyes widened at those words. "Playing!?" he exclaimed, turning sharply towards the two overlords, who were violently biting each other.
“Kitty is right” Velvette said, clenching her eyes and fists. "Alastor is only using his body to fight, but his true powers are based on dark magic. As soon as he decides to use them, things will get very difficult for your friend"
A shiver ran down Vaggie, Cherri and Angel's spines. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go help her!" the spider demon told her. “You are an overlord too, if you take advantage of his arrogance and confront him now that he isn't giving his all, and we give you support, maybe we have a chance!”
He expected yet another outright refusal, but instead Velvette remained silent for almost ten seconds. She seemed to be thinking carefully. "It would be a desperate move" she said, but it wasn't clear whether she was talking to them or to herself. "Alastor was already at a much higher level than me when he faced Adam. Now he's clearly much more powerful. And Rosie doesn't seem to have any ranged attacks. Even with two of us, I don't think..."
"There's no need to beat around the bush. You don't have to intervene now" Husk said with a grunt. "All of you, don't move. I have a plan"
Everyone fell silent and looked at him. “Um… really?” Cherri asked, not understanding what the cat demon had in mind.
"You said you were planning how to stop him from ordering you to join him" Angel murmured. “This… is part of your plan…?”
“Something like that” Husk told him, releasing his arms from their crossed position and relaxing them along his body. "Sorry, guys, but if I tell you it Alastor might hear me using one of his powers. It's unlikely, but not impossible. You'll have to trust me". He glared at Velvette: “Everyone”
There was a long moment of silence; and then the social overlord let out a grunt: "Ah, screw it, I'm already on a sticky wicket now. Alright, tell me what to do and I'll do it, in the worst case scenario I will throw you into Alastor's hands and I'll run away while he will be busy slaughtering you"
Husk let out a grunt. "That's enough for me. Get ready, and as soon as I give you the go-ahead, unleash all your power to block Alastor"
Velvette raised an eyebrow. "I can try, but I really doubt I can hold him for long..."
"I just need a few seconds" Husk replied. "I'm fast"
"Whatever you have in mind, it seems like a dangerous plan indeed" Angel told him. “Will you manage on your own?”
Husk let out a soft grunt. "Actually, I could use another suicidal idiot ready to jump into the fray with his head down"
"Say no more" Angel grinned giving him a small shove. "We'll kick his ass"
"What should we do?" Vaggie and Cherri asked him.
"You get ready to launch me and Angel. Use your wings to provide us with propulsive force" Husk replied, and then he looked at Cherri: "You prepare a couple of bombs and use them to cover our escape. And you...". He looked down and found Niffty's single eye staring at him innocently. "Well... when I tell you, hug Alastor"
"Can I hug the boss!?" Niffty exclaimed happily with a smile bigger than half of her face.
"Yes, exactly" Husk confirmed her. “And you have to hug him really hard, but only when I tell you to, understand?”
"Understood!" Niffty said, and she jumped with trepidation. "Hurry up and tell me that! Hurry up and tell me that!"
Husk let out a sigh in seeing her do that. "We're all going to die" he muttered, and no one was able to contradict him.
Meanwhile the fight between Alastor and Rosie had continued. The two overlords had been trading violent blows the entire time, but even though both were showing some fatigue, it was clear which one of them had the advantage. Rosie was still completely intact thanks to her rapid regeneration ability, but her muscles were shaking and she was breathing hard; sweat was dripping profusely from her and she seemed to have trouble staying perfectly upright on her legs, and in fact she had completely adopted the quadrupedal posture since it guaranteed her more stability. Even though she was continuing to increase her strength, using her powers still required a certain amount of energy, and the continuous swelling of her muscles caused a strain on her body that her bones and tendons struggled to compensate for, forcing her to waste more energy to repair the damaged tissues.
Alastor, on the other hand, didn't even seem affected by the battle. His body had some bite marks and was bleeding a little, but he didn't even have a drop of sweat on him. He continued to move as nimbly as before, without any debuffs of any kind. "Mh. You're really good" he admitted anyway. “How could I not notice an opponent like you until now?”
"You were more interested in my tea parties, you forgot to ask me if I wanted to fight" Rosie replied teasingly.
Alastor let out an evil laugh. "I'm serious, I have rarely found demons who could fight me for this long. I think only Vox lasted longer than you, but he didn't face me at full power like you"
"And I'm also out of shape, by the way" Rosie teased him. "I've let myself go lately. When I return home I'll get my gym membership again"
Alastor laughed at that provocation. "You're always the same. That's why I like you so much" he said, moving in a disturbing way towards her. "But enough of this foreplay. Now I'm really going to give it my all and..."
"You keep sounding sexual" Angel yelled at him in a slightly disgusted voice.
"YOU HOLY...!!! I'll...!" Alastor roared in fury as he turned towards him, and Rosie immediately took advantage of his distraction to leap at him again; however, the radio demon was not caught unprepared and easily repelled her with his claws. In fact, he not only pushed her away, but tore a large piece of flesh from her arm. "Ah! Do you really think you can distract me that easily?"
"I wasn't trying to distract you" Angel told him truthfully. "Mine was an objective consideration"
Alastor looked like he was about to explode. His right eyelid quivered visibly. "I'll tear you apart" he warned him. “I will remove every single piece of skin on your body one cell at a time”
The spider demon bit his lip, but despite this he didn't regret his words in the slightest. He was sure Alastor wasn't joking at all, but it was definitely worth it.
Rosie got back to her feet, rubbing the affected spot. In that last attack Alastor had pushed her away too easily, proving that he was no longer holding back. Now she had to be more careful. "No more chatter. Can we start to have really fun?"
Alastor turned to her, his eyes shining menacingly. "You know you can't beat me. Even if you were able to keep biting me and running away, your strategy has a big weakness" he told her. "You can't hit me from a distance, I can. I just need to use my shadows to keep you away"
“Would you use such a petty trick?” Rosie asked him.
“Petty?” Alastor repeated as if he considered the word ridiculous, and he put the piece of meat he had torn away from her into his mouth, enjoying it willingly. "This is not a battle between humans. Such words don't exist outside of that species"
Rosie was silent, and then she giggled. "Yes... yes, you're absolutely right" she told him. "So? Tell me, I'm curious: I'm tasty too?"
Alastor licked his lips. "Yes" he answered her, swallowing the meat. "Really delicious"
Rosie got back into attack position. "I'm flattered that you think I'm so good" she told him. "So, shall we continue?"
Alastor's grin widened. "As you wish" he told her, and then power exploded through his body.
It was as if his shadow had become liquid and expanded all around him: the ground became black as pitch and dark tentacles emerged from it, crushing everything in their path. Rosie was enveloped in them and they immediately blocked her limbs, preventing her from moving. The cannibal overlord made a muffled noise as her neck too was gripped.
Alastor laughed heartily. "See? This is your limit" he told her as the tentacles squeezed so hard that Rosie's bones began to crack. "I only need one spell to beat you, and I'm not even serious. You don't..."
Suddenly his words were cut off halfway: a gush of blood exploded from his mouth.
Everyone froze at the sight: the radio demon slipped to his knees, spitting blood profusely. His body was shaking with tremors. "What... what... my organs...!" he just murmured. "What's going on...?"
Rosie's laughter shook him. Suddenly everything was clear to him. "Feeling weak already?" she asked him with a mocking smile.
Alastor raised his head towards her, showing that he was also bleeding from his eyes and ears. "Y-You...!" he growled. "What is this...?"
"You shouldn't eat uncooked meat, my dear" Rosie told him. "You know... it could be infected"
Alastor opened his mouth again and spat out even more blood, so much that for a moment he looked like he was about to rip his own throat out. The shadows he controlled trembled and lost strength, and Rosie yanked them apart, freeing herself again. Even though her body was a little sore from the intense pressure that had been placed on her, her motor functions were still fully functional, and that was enough for her.
Alastor stared at the pool of blood beneath him, and clearly noticed small worms moving in it that he had clearly spat out along with everything else. In that moment everything was clear to him. "Cough... infected? These are... parasites?" he exclaimed. “You put parasites in your flesh…!?”
"No, not at all. My flesh itself is a parasite" Rosie answered him. "The instant you swallowed it, its cellular structure changed, transforming it into hundreds of parasites that immediately attacked your organs. You didn't expect to be able to eat a creature that incorporates all the deadliest beasts on Earth without consequences, right? You shouldn't eat everything you find on the street, my dear"
Alastor visibly trembled. “Impossible… how did I fall for such a pathetic trick…?” he said through gritted teeth, and then his eyes widened: "Unless... you did something to me...?"
Rosie winked at him and raised her tail, showing her stinger. "I stung you during our first exchange of blows. You didn't notice because I also inserted some substances that made the sting not painful" she told him. "I selected for you a particular category of apitoxin that increases aggression, hunger and other basic instincts. It wasn't much and in fact you retained your mental faculties, but it was enough for you to lower your guard and decide to taste a piece from me. A little invitation on my part did the rest"
Alastor tried to get back to his feet, but he slipped back onto his knees, unable to hold himself up. "You... coward...!"
"Coward?" Rosie repeated with a mocking laugh. "Such words only apply to a battle between humans, have you forgotten?"
And having said that she threw herself at him again, and this time the fight was much longer than before: Alastor was unable to get up, but still quickly repelled her blows. But in the end, he was still the one who, hit by Rosie's tail, was knocked to the ground and rolled for a few meters. "Mh. It seems that now our levels are more equalized" she told him. "You should really work on your arrogance, my dear. If you had used your powers right away instead of playing games with me, I wouldn't have stood a chance"
Alastor stood up, still spitting blood from his mouth. "Eh eh eh..." he laughed. "You were really clever, I admit it... I bow to such intelligence". His eyes glowed red. "But I'm afraid our levels are not at all equal. It's time to show you what happens to those who think they can defeat the true radio demon!"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 5): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154577614
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 59: Meteors
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam wasn't joking: this time his attack was absolutely serious. Charlie dodged it by pure miracle, because if that punch had hit her, it would surely have broken through her ribcage and come out through her back. She jumped backwards and tried to walk away up the mountain, but Adam didn't stop and continued to throw punch after punch at her, forcing her to be on the defensive.
For Charlie, it was like constantly facing an avalanche. Adam's power was so devastating that every time he hit the rock, an entire wall collapsed instantly. Something that normally not even an earthquake would have been able to do was so simple for him that he wasn't even scraping his knuckles.
Charlie knew she was in a really risky position. Even though Adam didn't want to make her fall and wasn't using any new abilities, he was still surpassing her in every way. Each of his blows was quick, precise, perfect in every angle: in his hands every muscle and tendon was positioned in the right angle to inflict the greatest possible damage. In his arms the powerful biceps combined perfectly with the triceps, and linked with the quadriceps of the back and shoulder to provide greater propulsive force. The rest of his body in turn flexed and moved, adding even more thrust.
Literally every single cell in Adam's body was adapting to provide him with as much power as possible. The first man was a concentration of everything needed in a fight.
Strength.
Technique.
Experience.
The relationship between them was not that of two warriors. Charlie was literally a student in the martial arts club, while Adam was a fifty-year-old trained Marine. They were as different as a drop of water compared to a lake.
Charlie could only rely on her speed, but she knew that Adam would soon have used the thrust of his wings to speed up himself; even though he had a little less dexterity compared to her due to his larger body, he could still use all of his other features to compensate. She had to find a way to corner him, and fast.
Her brain quickly began to work. She had never fought seriously, not with a clear mind at least, and this time she forced herself to do so. She knew she had no hope of beating Adam in a face-to-face fight and therefore she immediately gave up on looking for a weak point in his defense. Rather, a memory came to her: the moment she had struck the first man the first time with her trident, attacking him in his blind spot. Even though Adam was a living fortress, he did not have three hundred and sixty degree vision.
The problem was how to exploit his blind spot, given that it was facing the opposite side of the mountain. If Charlie had just jumped, she would have fallen. Fuck, it was during times like this that she wished she had wings...
But...
Her brain finally came to her aid, providing her with a solution. She wasn't sure it would have worked, but it was worth a try. She couldn't stay on the defensive forever. So she bent her legs tightly and took a leap again, launching herself into the void.
Adam's eyes widened as he watched her pass over him and disappear behind him. "What? What is she doing?" he thought confused. "She can't fly... and at that angle she can't hit me, she's just falling into space... did she jump in the wrong way? No... her look was too determined... it was all premeditated... but why...?"
Behind him, Charlie rotated her body in mid-air, and then unleashed her power; normally when she was irritated or angry she would have let it flow out freely, uncontrollably, resulting in buildings shaking or something like that. This time, however, she controlled it: she moved it as if it were a part of her body, and with that power, she moved every molecule of air in her immediate vicinity directly behind her. The atoms of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen compacted behind her, forming an invisible barrier, on which she landed with her feet; and having done this she pushed herself, and threw herself against Adam again. To give herself additional momentum, she also released the air molecules, which exploded in a shock wave that provided her further thrust.
Adam didn't have time to turn around and she hit him in the back; the first man was thrown against the mountain and buried himself in the rock. Charlie landed on him with her feet, resulting in pushing him even deeper: she wanted to make sure that he was completely blocked by the rock and could no longer react, so that she could put the angelic handcuffs on him without him being able to stop her.
But Adam still had one advantage: his wings. They opened violently and generated a strong wind, forcing Charlie to stop her attacks for an instant, and that was enough: Adam's muscles flexed and the rock broke cleanly under their power, opening a crater all over the east side of the mountain. Charlie was thrown back and to avoid falling into the void she used her powers again to create a support surface with air molecules.
Adam stood up. He was a little dirty, but not even a scratch was present on his body. "Mh. Nice try" he told her. “But you can do better!”
He lunged at her, forcing Charlie to leap from one side of the sky to the other, but she still wasn't fast enough to avoid his punch, which hurled her at least a kilometer into the air. Charlie tried to stop, but Adam kept coming at her and throwing her higher and higher. Soon they even were over the top of the highest mountains, finding themselves deep in the stratosphere.
Charlie gritted her teeth. At that speed she had no hope of stopping by creating a barrier behind her: she would just have crashed into it. She needed another method, and her brain soon suggested one: instead of placing the air molecules behind her, she wrapped them around her body until she was completely enveloped. As soon as Adam got to her, what he hit was just a wall of air that exploded in his face, hurling him backwards about eight meters until he stabilized in flight.
Charlie took a deep breath, but she realized that it was becoming increasingly difficult: the air here was extremely thin. It wasn't hard to understand why: they were so high up that she could barely notice the lights of the planes passing below. They must have reached at least halfway into the mesosphere, and the temperature there was literally freezing, so much so that the beads of sweat on her face immediately froze. Charlie certainly wasn't afraid of the cold and wasn't at risk of suffocating to death, but in any case being in such an environment was destabilizing her body quite a bit.
Adam flew in front of her. He had a smug smile on his face. “I knew you'd find some innovative technique to fuck me up” he told her, and his voice was extremely weaker than usual as the sound struggled to move with so little air available. "How does it feel being able to fly? It's nice, right?"
Charlie felt a strange sensation in her chest. She had always had psychokinetic abilities, and had sometimes used them to lift boulders or even buildings; when she lost control she could even make the earth tremble. But it was the first time she used such skills to control the air to keep herself stable. This caused her a lot of mental fatigue: on the one hand she had to think about Adam, on the other she had to make sure not to lose control of the molecules that were supporting her, which otherwise would have immediately flown away from her and made her fall again.
"You don't want to talk, mh? I assume you're trying to conserve your energy. Wise decision" Adam commented. "So, shall we continue?"
He attacked again. And again, and again. Charlie used all her concentration to move the air around her in order to dodge the first man's blows: she even generated small shock waves with them to give herself more boost and avoid his attacks. Unfortunately, however, these shock waves were very weak due to the absence of air...
Wait...
Charlie had an idea. She raised her hands and, drawing on all of her demonic side, erupted a mass of crimson flames. Adam easily dodged them, but the flames exploded with extreme violence and hit him full on.
Charlie smiled with satisfaction: she had been right. Normally the atmosphere fought against flames or anything else that generated a large heat: the more rapidly the fire expanded, the more the atmosphere compressed it. But as high as they were, the atmosphere was too thin to provide any fight back: the fire could spread freely. To give it more strength, Charlie had moved the oxygen molecules there to fuel the flames. In doing so, she had generated more power than a thermobaric missile!
Adam reappeared as soon as the flames died; his tunic was slightly burned, showing the skin underneath. "Mh. That was clever" he admitted. “But you definitely need more power!”
Charlie was not intimidated and attacked him again, this time with even larger and more violent flames: the force of her own attacks was such that she was pushed upwards by their momentum. Adam in turn continued to come at her, continuously unleashing his punches and sometimes hitting her, throwing her higher and higher. With that rapid dance of bangs and flashes they rose continuously, covering several kilometers every single second, moving further and further away from the Earth's surface.
Eventually Adam decided to change tactics: out of the corner of his eye he noticed a fireball falling a short distance from them. In that part of the atmosphere so high up, every day the meteors that fell to Earth burned and disintegrated. Many of them were only as big as a suitcase, others as big as a car; in any case none of them managed to reach the surface, burning completely before touching the ground. Every day hundreds of those small fragments of the solar system illuminated that high part of the atmosphere, generating what humans called shooting stars.
Adam flew towards the meteor, which was about the size of a human; he caught it with one hand, and even he could feel the immense energy it was exerting as it fell. With a yank, he changed its trajectory and hurled it upward again, straight towards Charlie. The princess of Hell didn't have time to see them and was hit head-on; the meteor disintegrated upon contact with her body and transferred all its energy to her, hurling her upward at over two hundred thousand kilometers per hour.
It took Charlie almost a minute to recover: the impact had been the most violent thing she had ever experienced, and all her ribs had cracked like snacks. Her demonic regeneration was overworking, snapping her bones back into place as quickly as it could. Her brain was a complete mess, preventing her from understanding what was happening.
She felt so light...
Wait… her hair… was floating…?
Was she floating?
But... she wasn't using her powers anymore...
And why did she feel heat hitting her face...?
She opened her eyes and saw a light in front of her. A large luminous disk loomed in the depths of what seemed like a completely black sea, warming her with its heat. “Is that… the sun…?”
Charlie suddenly regained her mental faculties, and her eyes opened wider than ever. How was it possible that she was seeing the sun!? It was night...!
When she managed to focus on the environment around her, she was amazed. The sun was peeking out behind an enormous curvature, a curvature which was undoubtedly the profile of planet Earth. Adam's shot had been diagonal, and she had ended up so high that the Earth was no longer between her and the sun, allowing her to see the star again even though it was technically night in the Himalayas where she had been until a few seconds before. She couldn't hold back a moan of amazement, but not even a sound emerged from her mouth: she had ended up far beyond the Earth's atmosphere and there was no longer any molecule of air that could allow the sound to exist.
She realized she was still moving, hurtling toward outer space; Earth's gravity had slowed her down a bit, but she was still traveling tens of kilometers every single second. She tried to stop, but how could she? There was no air there, she couldn't use the same trick as before...
She finally concentrated the power of her hands and feet and made it emerge behind her, on the opposite side of her trajectory: this generated thrust like that of a rocket, and she finally managed to stop.
She looked towards Earth. From her position, most of the planet still appeared dark, but she could still see an illuminated segment that showed a blue landscape dotted with whitish clouds. She couldn't help but feel almost hypnotized by it. That vision had something magical and special, almost exotic, and seemed to contain an extraordinary beauty. A peace that could not be found while anchored to the ground.
Adam reached her shortly after: his body floated effortlessly in cosmic space, moved by his large wings that provided him with all the thrust he needed. They both looked at each other for a moment, and then the battle resumed: a silent battle in that airless place, in which Charlie used her energy as a push and Adam did the same with his wings, and they exchanged blows generating small flashes of light in that dark void.
Charlie clenched her fists, though of course she made no sound. There she was at an extreme disadvantage: she literally had nothing left to use as a weapon, she couldn't use either air as a shock wave or fire since there was no oxygen, and there wasn't anything else made of matter either and therefore her psychokinesis was also totally useless. She certainly couldn't compete with Adam with her brute strength alone...
Unless... she did something beyond crazy. And it was the sight of the sun that gave her the idea. She knew it was a huge gamble, but she had to try.
She attacked Adam again, and quickly moved out of the way, making him chase her, and then stood directly in front of the sun; the first man was blinded by the light of the star, and she used that split second of disorientation to fly behind him and hit him in his blind spot again. Adam was thrown away and directly hit a satellite that was orbiting a short distance away from them. The satellite shattered in an instant, unable to withstand the impact, but Adam suffered no damage. "Does she want to try again what she did to the mountain?" he thought. "Repetitive, but effective. But if you want to hit me with something, the moon is on the other... uh?"
Adam realized that Charlie was not using this opportunity to attack him again: on the contrary, she had exerted all her energy to move away, and she was already at least ten kilometers away. She raised her hands and used her psychokinesis to full power, and the remains of the satellite began to violently compress at an astonishing speed.
Adam's eyes widened. "She won't... FUCK!"
The compression reached such a level that the atoms broke apart; and as soon as this happened, their immense energy was released in an instant. A small fireball exploded into space, illuminating it as if a new star had just been born. Charlie was fortunately out of the fireball, but the light generated still burned her clothes: she used her powers to put out the flames, but her dress still ended up ruined in various places, even if at least it was still intact enough to guarantee her a minimum of cover. She tore off some of the still intact edges and tied them in front of her exposed neck to continue hiding the angelic handcuffs.
"I did it..." she thought as she tried to regain her strength. Instinctively she wanted to take a deep breath, even though there was no air there. "I wasn't sure I could compress an atom enough to generate a nuclear explosion... that must have hurt him at least a little..."
As the ball of hot plasma vanished, Adam was visible again. He too must have used his powers to deflect the immense heat, but still his tunic was completely charred and the only clothes he had left on him were just the top of his trousers and part of his undershirt. Only the cross that hung around his neck and the axe that was slung over his back remained pristine. His body was covered in several burns.
Even though those injuries weren't too serious and surely they would have regenerated in a very short time, Charlie couldn't hold back an euphoric smile: she had finally managed to cause physical harm to Adam. And the first man did not miss this, and he smiled slightly in turn. “Yes… you deserve to feel so proud of yourself. You pushed your limit and finally hurt someone who was literally unhurtable. Even without your trident, you still managed to hurt me. You proved to yourself that you can face me even with your own strength"
Adam's smile suddenly turned into a grin, and Charlie's one vanished as soon as she saw it. "However..." the first man thought, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. “… never let your guard down just because you were able to hit your opponent once!”
And after thinking this he raised his hand and held up two fingers; Charlie barely had time to open her eyes before a beam of light emerged from the first man's palm and hit her.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 6): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154633387
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/156197668
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 60: A father's reason
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The ray exploded from Adam's hands not with the violence with which it had disintegrated half the hotel, but still to a possible (who knows how they could be there) external spectator it would have seemed as if the cosmos had just been cut in two and that a window of light had been open in the middle. For Charlie it was like being hit by a solar flare, and fortunately she was able to recognize Adam's movement in time and create a protection with her powers, but despite this she felt as if she had just collided with a star. The immense propulsive force hurled her backwards, causing her to accelerate so much that the universe seemed to slow down around her.
That contact lasted just a second, and then Adam turned off his beam, but that was enough for Charlie to find herself falling into deep space so quickly that in just a minute she had already covered half the distance between the Earth and the moon. Adam had literally accelerated her to more than one percent of the speed of light.
She absolutely had to stop before she hit something, but behind her the reality opened: Adam had opened a portal directly in front of her.
There was no time to dodge it, to stop, to do anything: the acceleration she was subjected to was too much, her brain couldn't think that fast. As soon as she passed through the portal the atmosphere hit her again, but she didn't have time to start burning from the friction as she hit the surface below.
It was as if an asteroid had just fallen: an area of at least ten kilometers literally detonated, erupting like a volcano. An immense pyroclastic cloud of dust shot towards the upper atmosphere, some even ended up in space. The mushroom cloud was at least three times the size of a Tsar bomb, so large that it literally made the starry sky disappear.
Adam emerged from the portal a moment later, looking at his handiwork. He gave just a grunt, and then he flew up and circled the pyroclastic cloud; the strong wind generated by his wings created a sort of cyclone, and then he pushed downward and all the disturbed air followed him, causing the entire mushroom cloud to collapse and disappear as quickly as it had come. "There, so it won't risk spreading and creating problems for the climate. Although maybe it wouldn't be a problem considering all the global warming they have here nowadays" he commented looking at the dust settling again.
Around him there was only a desert landscape. Adam had purposely opened a portal in the center of the Sahara to avoid involving any potential humans. Around them there was no trace of civilization for dozens and dozens of kilometers, only sand softly illuminated by the light of the moon and stars.
Adam flew to the ground, in front of the still smoking crater. The sand had turned to glass and the glass had melted due to all the energy it had been subjected to. At the center of it all was Charlie, lying with her belly up; she had her eyes completely wide open and an expression of pure pain on her face. A muffled breath barely emerged from her lips.
Adam took her arm and pulled her up; the boiling glass cracked a little as part of it had stuck to her body. He dragged her out of the crater and laid her on the sand. "Mh. You really have a strong constitution. It's clear that you are the daughter of Lilith... and that bastard" he told her, even though he knew that she was too battered to hear it in that moment. "Let's see... all the bones broken, serious damage to all the internal organs, and I say even a good concussion... but you're still in one piece. Despite the immense kinetic force I subjected you to, you didn't lose a single finger. Anyone else, even immortal beings like sinners, would at least be reduced to pulp before regenerating"
Charlie didn't answer him: her nervous system was literally torn to pieces, she was unable to speak, move, feel or even think. From her point of view, she was immersed in a dark and silent space without any stimulation, as if she were sleeping.
Adam raised his hand towards her. "Your regeneration will fix you eventually, but as bad as you are, it will take a while" he said. "I am not a guy who likes to wait too long, at least when I can avoid it. Here, I'll give you a hand"
His palm lit up with golden light, and his energy began to flow from it. Once it entered Charlie's body it would have reinvigorated her regenerative factor, allowing her to recover quickly. But before he could do so Adam noticed something that stopped him. "Huh?"
Charlie's fingers were moving. No, it wasn't just the fingers... the eyes and mouth were moving slightly too. "What?" Adam murmured. "How can she move if her brain is completely gone? Unless..."
Charlie's lips pressed together tightly, and a moan emerged from them. And then, slowly, the head moved. And then the arms, and then the legs. Charlie rolled onto her side, and she spat out a lot of blood from her mouth. Looking at her back, it was possible to notice the vertebrae that were moving back into place. With an effort that seemed beyond inhuman, Charlie sat up, staring defiantly at the first man.
Adam was left speechless and wide-eyed. And then, an admiring smile appeared on his face. “You diverted your energy to protect certain parts of your brain, the ones that would regulate your regeneration” he said in a surprised voice. "Before you fainted, you gave them the command to first restore the area of your brain dedicated to thinking. Instead of randomly regenerating your entire body, your energy was concentrated entirely on restoring your consciousness. And once you regained your thinking skills, you have moved your energy in your body to regenerate the most important parts before the others and therefore accelerate the process"
“Cough… not bad… for a little princess… right?” Charlie said as she continued to spit blood out of her mouth. Instinct advised her to remain sitting on the ground, or rather to lie down until she had fully recovered, but she didn't listen to it: with great difficulty she raised herself on trembling legs and got back on her feet, and she raised her hands in a defensive position.
Adam did not lose his admiring gaze. "What a determination" he murmured, speaking almost more to himself than to her. "You remind me of me when I was your age"
Charlie wanted to answer him, but she only managed to spit out more blood: her lungs were still too damaged. She had to restore her internal organs, and then think about everything else. Her energy had dropped a lot due to all the battle she had already faced, and this slowed her down: she couldn't use it all to regenerate instantly, or she would have been left empty to resume the fight. She therefore had to think about restoring the most important organs first, leaving the peripheral muscles and nerves for later.
Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "I have to apologize. I almost offended you by giving you some of my energy" he told her. "You didn't need it. I would have insulted you needlessly"
Charlie took a deep breath. It was nice to be able to breathe again: even if she didn't absolutely need it, the oxygen at least gave her new energy. She decided to take more time: "You say that, but you've been insulting me since the beginning of this battle. You're not fighting at your full power. You could have disintegrated me just now!"
Adam smiled at her. "I'm not doing this to insult you. I'm just giving you time to bring out your true potential. Then I'll fight at my best"
"Why?" Charlie asked him. "What do you gain from helping your enemy? You already won the battle, you could have just left me here and returned to Alastor, and escaped to Hell!"
"Yes, I could have" Adam confirmed to her. "But that is not what I want from this fight. Don't believe like your foolish father that people only fight to win, little princess. Sometimes, a man like me fights only to prove something"
"That's stupid" Charlie replied.
"You're wrong. A duel is a way to measure your abilities, to overcome your limits... and to discover yourself" Adam told her. "Am I wrong or did you use your powers in this battle in ways you had never used them before?"
Charlie couldn't contradict him on that. In that battle she found herself making use of her abilities in ways she had never thought of before, it would have been a lie to deny it. "There are other ways I could have learned it"
"Still wrong. You can train as much as you want, but you will never achieve similar results in a training" Adam corrected her again. "Only in a battle where everything is at stake a person can push themselves beyond their limits. In a training you know very well that everything will end well regardless of whether you win or lose. But here... no. Even if I decided to leave you alive after defeating you, it still would mean that your friends and every other person in Hell will be in even more danger than before, and therefore you are trying to defeat me in every way"
Charlie bit her lip. She had to keep him busy a little longer. Her internal organs were totally restored: she just had to continue to mend her muscles and nerves to at least return to good potential. "You didn't answer my question" she told him. "Why?"
Adam's face became serious. “I will answer you with another question: why are you fighting?”
Charlie was confused. "Are you kidding me? You're forcing me!"
"I'm not talking about our duel" Adam told her. "Why do you continue to fight for your cause? Why do you stand up even though everyone is against you?"
Charlie's eyes widened at that question. She didn't understand why Adam was asking her this. "I already told you, no one deserves to be erased from existence!"
"Are you really sure about that?" the first man asked her. "Answer me in all honesty. After this little trip of yours to Earth, are you still certain that sinners deserve salvation?"
Charlie remained silent. Her heart pounded at that question. She could have simply answered with a lie, but it was as if Adam's penetrating gaze made it difficult for her to say something that wasn't true. She finally admitted: "I... I don't know"
Adam nodded. "Just as I thought. And you didn't even know it before" he told her. "When you fought me, you thought of me as an invader, a murderer, a monster. Even then you thought there was at least one person who deserved to die. Yet you still stopped when it was time of killing me, even though you knew I wouldn't have never took that chance, because my pride was too great to admit defeat... not to your father at least. Even though you considered me an enemy, you still chose to spare my life. Why?"
"Because I refuse to think that someone deserves to die" Charlie replied.
"Yet you didn't cry when your little friend killed me, a sign that you didn't mind my death at all" Adam replied. "No... there was something else"
Charlie narrowed her eyes. "I don't understand what you're talking about"
"I know. This is why we're fighting" Adam told her. "Trust me... a real fight always brings out the truth. We just need to push a little more"
Charlie didn't know what Adam was talking about; honestly, she was comprehend him less and less. "I still don't understand what's in it for you"
Adam's grin widened. He didn't answer her, but instead he said: "Let's change places again, shall we?"
And with those words he closed the distance between them and punched her, sending her flying backwards again, where another portal opened; Charlie found herself in the air again, and immediately she used her powers again to stabilize herself. She hadn't fully regenerated yet, and having to use her powers to fly limited her speed of recovery. She looked down for a place to land, but what she saw shocked her.
Below her was a city... well, perhaps calling it a city was an exaggeration: it was more of a neighborhood of a larger city, located on its outskirts. Flames were enveloping it, flames that certainly couldn't have been caused by a natural fire, but were being started by what were undoubtedly explosions. Even from that height, she could see several soldiers shooting at the frightened people.
“Look at them” Adam said emerging from the portal next to her. "Look at those sinners, those unholy beings that you dare to protect. They do nothing but bully the weak. These people have done nothing to them, but they are slaughtering them"
Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat. "Why...? Where...?"
"Where are we? On the outskirts of the city of Khartoum, in Sudan. As for why... there are, as always, interests of power, revenge and money. But this is of little importance to me" Adam replied to her, and his eyes seemed to turn into flames: "No demon will touch one of my descendants as long as I am here!"
He flew over the flames and clapped his hands, and they were extinguished in an instant by the violent movement of air. The loud blow was heard by all humans, who stopped fighting and looked up at him; even though it was night, they saw him clearly.
Adam opened his mouth, and his voice rang out like thunder: "No monster will shed innocent blood before my eyes!"
And with that he raised his hand and used one of the abilities he had stolen from a telekinetic overlord: all the soldiers were dragged off the ground and flew straight in front of him. They shouted something in their native language, but Adam didn't even bother to translate it: he barely moved his fingers and they crashed into each other, exploding in a mass of blood. Or at least, almost all of them, as Charlie acted on instinct and she jumped into the fray, grabbing three of them, and perhaps she would have saved more if she had had the time; she took them to the ground and laid them on the road, and told them to go away even though they were clearly too shocked to hear her. However, their survival instinct prevailed and they started running, but were disintegrated an instant later by Adam with a bolt of lightning. “I said no one” he growled in a raw voice.
Charlie clenched her fists. "Why did you do that!? You could have just scared them, they could still change...!"
"And even if they had? What would have become of these people?" Adam told her, pointing to the other people, who, although scared, were still crowding around to watch the scene. "Those men were depriving them of everything. Many of them undoubtedly killed many people. Now these people, without exception, will have to cry someone, because of them. This is the nature of these disgusting creatures, and I will not allow them to show it any further in front of the my eyes"
Charlie felt extremely in awe of him. "You said that no demon would have touched your descendants, you have broken your own oath...!"
"No, not at all. Those were not my descendants, they had lost the right to consider themselves as such. A human being, a real human being, is incapable of hurting another, because they feel their pain and this stops them. If those bastards had stopped to feel the pain of these people, then they can no longer consider themselves human. They are not my descendants" Adam replied to her. "They are strangers to my table as if they had never come into the world. In my eyes they are nothing more than demons hurting human beings. And you know what I do to demons, right?"
Charlie clenched her fists. The carnage she had just witnessed had disturbed her to the core: she knew that these were bad people, but seeing them die so suddenly had been truly intense. "Why are you acting like this...?"
Adam let out a soft grunt. "This is a really silly question. I could talk to you about responsibility, duty, future... but that would be all bullshit. They are part of my reasons, but not as much as you might think. What moves me is something else, something much more simple and understandable. Tell me, little princess..." and as he said this he opened his hands wide, pointing to all the people around them: "... does a father need a reason to protect his children?"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 7): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154634551
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 61: Fight like a human!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam hadn't screamed. He hadn't spoken loudly, or even solemnly. In reality, those words of his had been pronounced with extreme calm and naturalness, as if they were simply the answer to a silly question. No big voice, no desire to be heard by anyone other than the speaker.
Yet, everyone heard him.
It was as if everyone's ears had suddenly become sharper, so much so that they could hear sounds inaudible even to bats. Every person in that crowd of humans so weak and mistreated by the strong felt it, in every corner of that neighborhood.
From the moment he saved them, those people had felt something. Even though his appearance was frightening, and humans instinctively feared everything they didn't understand, Adam's actions had created another feeling in their hearts. Those innocent men, women and children had found themselves looking at the father of the fathers differently from how everyone he had met since he arrived on Earth had looked at him. The guardian of Alastor's father's villa had not seen it, the cruel father of Adele had not seen it, no evil person had seen it; but all those people not corrupted by evil saw it indeed. Adam was enveloped in a strange feeling of protection that spread over all of them, making them feel safe. They were like children faced with a strong and authoritarian father: someone they instinctively feared for his power and the way he dominated them, a giant compared to them, but at the same time someone they knew would always have been on their side, and that when danger came he would have stood before them and fought to defend them.
And after those simple words that came out of his mouth, words spoken as if they were the most natural thing in the world, everyone sank to their knees. Their hands joined, no matter what religion those people believed in. Everyone lowered their heads and closed their eyes, no longer afraid of not seeing what was happening around them, because they knew that nothing bad could ever affect them again. They were safe now, protected by that man who stood above them, but who was on their side.
Faced with the choice of which side to take, the father of humanity had not chosen the strong and the bullies. He had chosen the weak, and had placed himself in front of them like a shield. Let the evil men come now: they would not have been able to move him from his position. No cruelty would have fallen on those he protected as long as he stood there.
Charlie had no connection to the first man, except perhaps that he and her mother were created equal; but she too could feel something, a strange sensation, like pure force that could hit her at any moment if she misbehaved, but that could defend her with the same ease. Suddenly Adam seemed even taller than before, as if he exuded an aura of pure might.
The first man looked at her with a strange look, and then turned slightly and walked towards the crowd. None of them moved as he approached, even though he could have disintegrated them with a pinky. He approached a woman covered by a long veil and touched her chin; she opened her eyes and found his palm open in front of her face. Instinctively she understood what he wanted: she took off her veil and handed it to him. Adam took it gently and went back to Charlie, and he offered it to her: "Here. For the sake of decency, cover your body... and those angelic handcuffs around your neck"
Charlie blushed, only then remembering that being hurled into the Sahara like a meteor had literally disintegrated her clothes. The only things that were left intact were the angelic handcuffs since they weren't made of such weak materials. She immediately took that veil and put it on herself, trying to cover herself as much as possible. "So you knew?"
"No. I noticed it after I smashed you to the ground" Adam replied to her. "A clever plan, block my powers and then open a portal and let your father punching me well. Some narrow-minded people might call it cowardice, but that word is just a ridiculous excuse for those who don't understand that a battle doesn't know rules and the only thing that matters is to win by any means"
"And you didn't tear them away from me?" Charlie asked him.
"Oh, I was going to, believe me" Adam replied to her. “But I was too impressed with your skills, as you well know”
Charlie narrowed her eyes. Adam wasn't mocking her: he truly believed the words he was saying. “What do you plan to do now?”
"Well, clearly I can't let you imprison me" Adam replied. "But it doesn't matter. I always assumed that you were hiding some trick up your sleeve. Knowing that you actually have it doesn't scare me"
Adam took a few steps towards her. Charlie instinctively backed away, knowing full well how fast he could hit her. Now that he knew about the angelic handcuffs, she had to fight even more carefully: if he would have been able to knock her out or even grab her neck, he would have easily tore them off her.
"I repeat my question, little princess" Adam said. “Why are you fighting?”
Charlie clenched her teeth and fists. “You already had my answer” she told him. "This is not the right way to solve the problem! Killing these men won't change things!"
"You're wrong, it changed things. These people are safe now. More men will come, surely... but even if I'm no longer here, these people will have time to prepare and will be able to defend themselves" Adam told her. "Now you know how horrible demons are. Sinners don't deserve to exist. Why continue to defend them?"
Charlie remained silent. She knew that the first man would not have accepted an unclear answer. He wanted to know the truth... the problem was that she herself struggled to understand what it was. Her feelings were extremely conflicted at the time.
Finally, a whisper emerged from her lips: "You fight for your people. Is it so strange that I fight for mine?"
Silence fell between them.
Not a single sound was heard for nearly a minute. And then, Adam's eyes narrowed. "Let's check it out"
And with those words he opened another portal behind her and pushed her into it. Charlie was hit by sunlight again and found herself in a grassy meadow similar to a steppe. Adam followed her a few moments later and flew upwards. "We are in Patagonia, in an area so deserted that you wouldn't find a single person for several kilometers. Here I will be able to do this" he said raising his hands and positioning his fingers in the same way as when he had disintegrated half the hotel. "You said I treated you with kid gloves before. Well, I won't do that anymore. Now I'll hit you with my strongest attack... or at least, the strongest if you only consider the level I had when we first fought... well, you get it"
Charlie felt Adam's immense power hit her even before he threw the blow: it was like a boiling wind that burned everything in its path. Terror took possession of her heart. "Hey, wait..."
"You better find a way to survive, because this time if you get hit you will be erased from existence" Adam warned her. "And as soon as I kill you, I will go and take care of all your pathetic friends. It will be a pleasure to tear them to pieces one by one. And lastly I will kill your father too!"
Charlie trembled, feeling crushed by the mere presence of the first man. She felt like an ant facing a ferocious lion. She was nothing compared to him.
"This is your end! Yours and that of all your so-called people of fucking mistakes!" Adam roared. "DISAPPEAR!"
The beam of light erupted from his palms, so strong that it lit up the sky more than the sun. The air trembled as if it were made of jelly as that extraordinary power was released.
The world seemed to slow down in Charlie's eyes. Even though that beam was traveling at the speed of light, she was observing it in slow motion.
She couldn't dodge it.
She couldn't block it.
She literally felt the life begin to slip away from her. So… was this how it was going to end? Was she going to… die?
She didn't want to...!
What would it have been like? Would it have hurt a lot?
If she had had the time she would have cried. She didn't want it to end this way. Live... she wanted to live...!
But as soon as that immense energy hit her, she would have been reduced to ashes.
Why did it end like this...?
"You fight for your people. Is it so strange that I fight for mine?"
Right... it ended this way because she chose to fight for them. Why, then? What had made her do it...?
The faces of her friends appeared before her eyes, clear as if they were real. Vaggie, Husk, Cherri, Niffty. She saw them smile in front of her. Rosie too. Her parents were there too. Even Alastor, despite everything.
It was as if they were telling her that everything was fine. She had done her best, she had nothing to blame herself for. They would have been fine...
No... that wasn't true. That was just her mind trying to reassure her.
They wouldn't have been well. They would have cried for her. Her friends would have suffered for her. Vaggie would have tore her hair out when she learned of her death. Her parents would no longer have been able to live without her. Their suffering would have been unimaginable.
And Adam... he was going to kill them all.
She didn't want it. She didn't want them to suffer. She didn't want them to die.
She couldn't die... not for herself, but only for them. They were her people, and she had to protect them. It didn't matter if she died in the end, but she couldn't do that if it would have caused them suffering.
She couldn't. She couldn't. She couldn't.
She didn't... want...!
A second flash illuminated that desolate Patagonian land. Adam's eyes widened as he saw a second beam of light hit his, generating an explosion of light and obliterating them both. The first man was forced to close his eyes for a moment due to the strong glare.
Adam's breath caught. His heart immediately began to beat with unprecedented force.
Yes...!
He looked down. Charlie was standing in the exact spot where she had been three seconds earlier, panting deeply. Her eyes were glowing with a strange light and for a moment her pupils seemed to have disappeared. Her right hand was raised towards him, perfectly parallel to the direction and position that the beam of light had assumed.
And her fingers were positioned the exact same way as Adam when he fired the aforementioned beams.
A wide smile appeared on the first man's face. "I knew it... I was sure you had it too!"
Charlie seemed to only then realize what she had done. She looked at her hand in amazement, not understanding how it was possible. “I had just... copied…?”
Her eyes widened more than ever.
She had just… copied Adam's ability.
Just like he did with his opponents.
"I was sure you had it. I noticed it when you started singing in Heaven" Adam told her. "Lilith passed on her ability to manipulate souls to you. Even though you have always barely expressed it through your singing, it is still within you. Do you know why you finally manifested it?"
Charlie looked at her hands in total confusion. Yes... her mother had that power, even though she later gave it to Adam because of their agreement. Consequently, it was certainly not impossible that she had inherited it. But why had she never managed to do it before then...?
Adam landed in front of her. “You're wondering why only now, am I right?” he said walking towards her. "The reason is simple. That is a power meant for humans, not demons. Tell me, what did you feel when you were about to be defeated?"
Charlie didn't understand. She was so shocked that she could only stare at the first man waiting for him to give her an answer.
Adam stopped right in front of her, less than half a meter away. "You wanted to save them" he said, staring straight into her eyes. "You didn't act because you wanted to survive. You didn't act out of revenge. You didn't act because you wanted to set yourself up as a champion of justice. You didn't even act because you wanted to be the one to protect them. No... you acted because you understood that if you hadn't stopped me, no one would have done it. All of them... your father, your mother, your girlfriend, your friends... they were on your shoulders, and you took charge of their lives and their hopes. You didn't face the monster for yourself, but only and exclusively for them. Just like when you spoke in Heaven, you destroyed your ego, your existence no longer mattered to you, only what would have happened to others mattered. No more selfishness, not even the smallest and most miserable fragment of it: you devoted yourself totally to the hopes of other people"
Charlie was starting to understand. And that revelation made her heart leap into her throat. "You mean..."
Adam's smile widened. "As I have already told you, those people who infest this land with their wickedness are not humans. They are nothing more than demons in disguise, and they fight only because they are fueled by anger, revenge, selfishness and vainglory. Even when they say they fight for someone else, they are actually fighting for themselves". His eyes shone. "But... those who truly fight only for others against the forces of evil unleashed by those cruel individuals... those who do not fight for themselves, but only out of the desire to spare others from suffering... they are humans. Not demons"
Charlie's eyelids and pupils were trembling. Her body seemed paralyzed in a vice. She didn't know if she was shocked, happy or confused. The tornado of emotions in her heart didn't allow her to recognize even one clearly.
Adam raised his hand, but this time he didn't use it to hit her: from being closed into a fist, the hand opened showing his palm which, although crossed by smooth muscles, turned out to be extremely soft when he caressed her head. "For the first time ever, you're not fighting even a little for yourself. There isn't even a sign of a demon in you right now" he told her in a voice that sounded like a satisfied father. "Now... you're fighting like a human"
Charlie jumped at that caress and those words. She didn't understand how it was possible, but that approval, that satisfaction, that pride in Adam's words generated a strange euphoria in her, even if he was her opponent. It was as if the father of the fathers had believed in her ever since they had exchanged their first punches, and had just received confirmation that he had been right.
Adam removed his hand from her head. He didn't lose his smile, but his body became extremely tense again. "I say we can continue"
And having said this he moved his fist; Charlie blocked it perfectly, generating a strong shock wave. She gritted her teeth and was pushed backwards a long way, creating furrows in the ground. "It's not enough to copy your opponent's moves" Adam told her. "It's useful, but it doesn't guarantee you victory. Even if you copy my attacks, you gain nothing if I surpass you in physical strength. My punch will always be more powerful than yours. If you want to beat me, it's not enough for you to be on my level... you have to get over it"
Charlie let out a loud sigh, trying to catch some air. Her hand was trembling from the blow she received: she felt the impact echoing in her skin as if it were a bell. Her muscles burned and she was pretty sure she had torn a tendon. That simple pain made her realize how big the ga between her and the first man still was.
"Exceed your limits, little princess. Fully feel the responsibility that rests on your shoulders. Take on all the hopes of those you believe in, and turn them into your strength! Like millions of other men and women before you, feel that fire and that power that is given by those who protect what is dearest to them! Don't fight like a demon!" Adam shouted at her, then he charged towards her. "Fight like a human!"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154686517
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 62: More than just a chance
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Husk had to admit that he hadn't expected that outcome. It was rare for anyone to surprise him, and yet it had happened.
Rosie had been nothing short of a genius. Instead of trying to surpass Alastor in strength, she had used his own weaknesses against him. Arrogance had always been the radio demon's greatest flaw, and she had only needed to obliterate his little common sense with her venom to cause Alastor to make a fatal mistake. She had planned everything carefully, and her attacks apparently aimed only at strengthening herself had actually led to the radio demon eating a piece of her flesh, basically hurting himself more than her.
Husk must also confess that he felt a certain pleasure in seeing Alastor spitting blood. Adam had reduced him much worse, but that time Husk was busy doing something else (namely saving his own ass and those of his companions) and he hadn't exactly been able to enjoy the moment. This time at least he could have a little fun in watching the show.
However, he knew he absolutely couldn't let his guard down.
Alastor had many arrows in his bow. To believe that he had been defeated so easily was ridiculous: Rosie herself probably didn't believe it at all, or she wouldn't have given them that her intent was to buy time, not win. And Husk knew for a fact that Alastor had yet to show his true power.
Rosie's attack had hurt and weakened him at least a little... but not enough to actually defeat him.
His friends seemed to understand this too. Even if they didn't know Alastor as well as he did, it was enough to see how calm he was to understand his danger. "It's not over, is it?" Vaggie asked.
"Of course not" Velvette replied. She also had a careful look on her face. "If the old lady really had a chance, I would have already gone to help her"
"Oh, really?" Angel asked her skeptically.
Velvette rolled her eyes. "I'm a bitch, not an idiot. Alastor doesn't care if I stay alive. If Rosie gets defeated, I'm the next. So if she actually got the upper hand, do you think I'd be standing here? I'd be trying to dunk Alastor with all my might"
No one could contradict her. Velvette was a bitch on every level, but she had self-preservation instinct. She had heard that Adam had ordered Alastor to only leave Charlie's friends alive, which meant he could carve her up however he wanted. She wouldn't have stood by and wait for him to finish having fun with Rosie if they had any chance of defeating him.
Alastor indeed raised his lips. His smile widened so much that it was possible to see his blood-red gums. And then, he made a noise like a broken radio.
Red magical circles appeared all over Alastor's body, which after an instant separated in two... and with them the parts of the body where they were located also separated. The hands detached from the arms and the arms from the shoulders, the head from the neck and the neck from the sternum, the feet from the legs and the legs from the pelvis, and so on. The internal tissues were completely exposed, including all the organs, which however continued to function normally as if nothing had happened. And then, Alastor generated a mass of shadow from his mouth that wrapped around the organs and ripped away Rosie's parasites, throwing them away and leaving them to die on the ground; once this was done, the magic circles came closer together and recomposed him, and then vanished.
Everyone's jaws dropped at the sight. “Did… did he just dismember himself… and build himself back together!?” Cherri exclaimed, her eyelids opening so wide that her one eye seemed about to roll out.
"Your attack was clever" Alastor told Rosie while waving his arms as if to scratch away some itch. “But I fear I just nullified it”
Rosie had clearly expected Alastor to have some tricks up his sleeve, but still her eyes widened in surprise. "Interesting. How did you do it?"
"Do you know what sound is? Nothing but vibration of the air. The same vibration that occurs in a solid when it is hit" Alastor answered her. "My antennas emit radio waves continuously, which I can manipulate and use at will. By altering these radio waves, I can make individual cells in my body vibrate and transfer their effect even over great distances. Simply put, I can transport red blood cells from my arm to my hand even if it is severed. Thanks to the perfect control of my abilities that I have gained from achieving my true power, I can make even open and torn organs continue to function as if they were still intact"
Rosie gave a knowing smile, even though she still had a few beads of sweat on her forehead. "I see. Very clever. I'm surprised you've never used this skill before"
"My powers were limited by the contract that sealed my soul, but now that I have freed myself from them, those limitations no longer exist. This, combined with my mind now free from any weakness, allows me to concentrate so much that I can exploit sound vibrations at the molecular level" Alastor replied, and then his eyes flashed red: "But enough about me. Let's kill you!"
And having said this his body was enveloped in shadows and disappeared; he reappeared behind Rosie, and raised his right hand. The claws on his hands were covered in shadows and grew longer, becoming stronger and sharper. Alastor violently lowered his hand, clearly intending to hit Rosie on the side, taking advantage of his taller stature.
The cannibal overlord tried to dodge, but her body froze: she realized that the air around her had become dense as if it were marble. Alastor was using the sound waves to hold her down, just like he had done with Adam during their duel. She barely had time to realize this before she was struck and flung away as if she were a feather.
As soon as Alastor's claws touched her, Rosie felt a pain comparable to few others: when they penetrated her flesh, in fact, the shadows that covered them changed and penetrated her body like needles, targeting in particular the internal layers of the skin, rich in nerves and therefore very painful. Added to this was the force of the blow, so strong that it cracked her strong bones. Her body was sent flying at least two meters from the ground and landed five meters away with a powerful thud. Several streams of blood emerged from her mouth.
Alastor, however, wasn't finished yet: a blood-red magic circle appeared on the ground below her, and before she could react she was hit by a sound that literally exploded her eardrums. She didn't know how many decibels it was, but it certainly wasn't low. All her muscles began to vibrate due to the intense sound wave, draining themselves of blood and rapidly weakening. Rosie realized that if she didn't act quickly she would have ended up immobilized, as her muscles would have completely frozen; she acted instinctively and jumped out of the crimson circle.
Unfortunately her limbs were already very weakened, and in fact she landed disastrously. Shadow tendrils emerged from the ground and wrapped around her, taking advantage of her weakness to crush her. "You are one of the most worthy opponent I've ever faced" Alastor told her with a hint of admiration in his voice. "But now it's over"
And with those words he closed his fingers as if squeezing the air, and his shadow tendrils wrapped even more tightly around Rosie; for a moment he seemed about to tear her to pieces...
But then the unexpected happened again: Rosie moved and curled into a ball with disconcerting speed, and the shadow tendrils broke as if they had been cut. Alastor widened his eyes slightly as he noticed that the cannibal overlord's spine had thickened and stings were emerging from it. "Uh... can you still hold on? Impressive"
Rosie got back on her legs. She was panting hard and was clearly at the end of her tether, but still she didn't lose her composure. "I'm sorry, Alastor" she told him. “But if there's one thing I've always excelled at, it's physical endurance”
"Oh, good. In that case, all I have to do is break this endurance of yours, so as to completely submit you to my will" Alastor told her with a laugh.
“It continue to sound as something sexual” Angel couldn't stop himself from commenting.
Alastor's eyelid quivered. "Can we bury him alive first, and then think about fighting? Because he's really starting to get on my nerves" he asked, barely holding himself back from blasting the spider demon.
"Oh, why? I like him" Rosie told him with a giggle.
Velvette's eyes trembled slightly. "This is going to get bad" she whispered to Husk. "The old lady won't hold out much longer at this rate. Shall we intervene now?"
The cat demon was sweating so much that no one would be surprised if he dehydrated himself, but still he remained adamant: "No... no, Alastor's guard is still too high. We wouldn't stand a chance..."
"But if we keep procrastinating, Rosie will be killed!" Cherri pointed out. "We must at least..."
The sound of the cannibal overlord's tail slamming on the ground brought everyone's attention back. Rosie was extremely calm, and in fact, her smile even seemed to have widened. "Anyway, Alastor... you better be on your guard. I'm not done yet"
The radio demon raised an eyebrow, but then he laughed. "Do you really want to continue? It should be clear to you by now that you have no chance of winning. I am the superior being, and there is nothing you can do to... uh?"
The energy that Rosie was emanating had suddenly calmed down and returned to her body, and seemed to have merged with her limbs. A decidedly unusual action that could only mean that she was determined to use every ounce of it to the maximum. Velvette also felt that energy fluctuation and couldn't help but open her mouth wide. Husk couldn't sense it like the two overlords, but he still understood that something was wrong. "What trick are you preparing?" Alastor asked Rosie.
The cannibal overlord ignored him. She cracked her neck, showing that her muscles were changing position. "I want to tell you a secret, Alastor" she said with a smirk. "So far, I didn't fight at my maximum potential
Alastor raises an eyebrow: "Really? You're more and more interesting"
"What!? She didn't fight with all her strength until now!?" Cherri exclaimed.
"Yes... that's what she said" Vaggie confirmed.
Rosie got down on all fours again. "Don't get me wrong, Alastor: this is my true overlord form. However, years and years of hard work and dedication have allowed me to perfect it. I lied to you before: I'm not out of shape at all... in fact, never a day went by without me training in secret!” she told him, smiling again. “It's very useful when you have a body whose cellular structure you can alter”
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You should have understood by now. I can alter the position of my cells, their structure, or accelerate their multiplication. It costs me a lot of energy, but thanks to this process I can cause my flesh to turn into parasites... or my bones, muscles and tendons change even more than they already do normally" Rosie's eyes seemed to flash with a strange madness: "However, as I said, I need energy to maintain my perfected form, and a lot of it, so I always prefer to keep it as an ace up my sleeve. In a prolonged fight it is best to avoid using too much strength all at once. But now I have eaten enough of your flesh and absorbed enough strength to use it long enough, so I will not hold back any longer!"
Alastor let out a slight shudder. He could clearly feel how Rosie's body felt like it was about to explode. It was as if all the energy she had taken from him with her bites had spread over her like a veil. "Rosie, if you have anything left, than show it to me" he invited her.
The cannibal overlord's smile widened, and then a strange crunch of bones was heard. "Good. Against Adam I didn't have enough time, but against you I managed to gain enough time to already place my cells in the right place. I'm just asking for a few seconds" she told him in a rather sinister voice. “You will have the honor of being the first ever to admire my true power that I have been working on all these years!”
Rosie twisted and turned, and the bones in her body changed position so suddenly that it was possible to notice the movement from the outside. They moved beneath the skin as if they were disgusting worms, which combined with the sound they made made it all the more disturbing. But despite this, no one looked away, wanting to know what the cannibal overlord was hiding.
The bone plates on her back became wider and became covered in thorns: they no longer looked like the weak armor of a crocodile, but rather something extremely harder, more resistant than the shell of a turtle. The tail became extremely more massive and tapered, as if it were a whip, and the stinger at its end grew bigger: the central part similar to a bulb became as big and heavy as a club, while the upper one, thin and sharp, broke into four parts which they widened and positioned themselves on the sides, becoming long and massive. Her hind legs became wider and more stable, while maintaining agility and dexterity, and her front legs became more muscular and her claws became so long that she had to rest on her knuckles to remain stable.
Velvette opened her mouth in surprise. That new body was something she had already seen... anyone who had a television had seen at least once in their life that tail, those plates, those claws... "N-No way..." she stammered. “Is… is she really turning into…?”
Rosie's head seemed to undergo an even more radical transformation: the woman's hair moved and instead of remaining loose along her body they fused together, compacting so much that they became very hard, and formed a collar on the back of her head that protected the neck; the hair on her forehead instead formed two sharp spikes very similar to horns. Her nose also became longer and covered in plates, becoming sharp as if it were a third horn. Her mouth enlarged and became filled with much larger and more massive teeth, which seemed capable of shredding steel.
Alastor was struck speechless at the sight, and so were every other spectator of their fight. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was something they hadn't expected at all. "It's not possible..." Vaggie muttered. "That... that is..."
"... a dinosaur!?" Angel finished the sentence for her.
Rosie opened her jaws and let out a roar, so loud it made Alastor's limbs tremble. The radio demon couldn't stop a few drops of sweat from rolling down his forehead. "What's the matter?" Rosie asked him. "I said that I am the concentration of all the most powerful beasts on Earth. I never said that I was limited to non-extinct species!"
Alastor was speechless for a moment, and then he laughed a little more nervously than before. Just a little. "Look look..." he murmured. “You might actually have a chance”
Rosie slammed her huge new tail on the ground, causing the ground to rumble. "The strength I have absorbed from you will allow me to maintain this muscular might long enough" she said. "Get ready, Alastor. This time, you will truly face the might of all the beasts on Earth!"
And having said this she attacked; the mere movement of one of her paws made the ground tremble. In a split second, Rosie's powerful muscles brought her in front of the radio demon's face. Alastor gasped in surprise and created a wall of shadow with his powers, but she rotated her body one hundred and eighty degrees and brought her tail down on it. The barrier, so hard and resistant that it would not have succumbed even to machine gun bullets, shattered as if it were made of glass, giving Alastor barely enough time to move away enough to dodge that attack.
Rosie had made her tail the perfect combination of those of the most powerful dinosaurs that ever existed. The muscles that held it to her body were the solid and robust ones of a T.rex, while her bone structure was that of a sauropod. To accomplish this Rosie had inflated the muscles of her pelvis and elongated and ossified her bones. The result was a perfect whip, capable of achieving unparalleled power. And to add further damage, her stinger had been transformed into the combination of the most lethal weapons of herbivorous dinosaurs: the central bulb had been ossified and enlarged in volume, making it identical to the tail of an ankylosaurus, and the upper part had been divided into four parts and ossified in turn, thus transforming it into the thagomizer of a stegosaurus.
Basically, Rosie had created the most powerful whip in the world and the most devastating spiked club of all!
Alastor made a sound like a broken radio and tried to counterattack: his claws were surrounded by shadows and as before he tried to hit Rosie, but they shattered on his back as if they were made of butter. The bone plates that covered it, inspired by those of the ankylosaurus, were basically indestructible. Instead, with that attack Alastor did nothing but expose himself, and Rosie took the opportunity to move her tail again and push him away, sending him tumbling to the ground.
The radio demon stood up gasping, and looking down he saw that he had two holes in his belly where the thagomizer had hit him, and also several broken ribs from the club; but as soon as he tried to heal himself he realized he wasn't succeeding. "What...!? It doesn't work...!"
Rosie twirled her tail in the air. "Even if modified to mimic the power of the ancient dinosaurs, mine is still a venomous stinger" she pointed out. "And this time I chose a very special one for you: pure tetrodotoxin, the same poisonous substance found in puffer fish. Twenty-five milligrams is enough to kill a human being. In your case it won't be enough... but I completely paralyzed the cells near your wound. In other words, they cannot multiply and therefore activate the regeneration mechanism"
"D-Damn you...!" Alastor couldn't help himself from saying, and with a violent movement he grabbed the flesh of his belly and tore it away, and then used his energy to quickly regenerate. Even though it cost him a little, it was better than having lethal poison in his body.
Rosie took advantage of his weakness to charge at him, and lowered her head, exposing her horns; Alastor acted instinctively and grabbed them, but he was unable to stop that charge in the slightest. He was dragged back several meters, no matter how much strength he put into his defense. He finally crashed into a rock and one of the horns lodged in his sternum, making him scream in pain.
Rosie had transformed her hair into the horns and the collar of a triceratops, but it still remained hair; and as soon as the horn penetrated Alastor's body, some of those hairs detached from it and took on a life of their own and swam in the radio demon's blood system. Just as happened with the meat, they turned into parasites and began to attack the internal organs.
Alastor spat blood from his mouth, and for the first time ever, his eyes trembled and showed a hint of fear. But Rosie didn't stop and stood up on her hind legs and raised her hands: her fingers had changed a lot, and the little finger and thumb were curved backwards, hiding their function... but the three central fingers were pointed towards the radio demon, and the claws on them had grown to be as large as those of a therizinosaurus.
Rosie jabbed them into Alastor's chest, causing him to let out a small cry of pain. Her arms had been adapted and modified to be identical to those of a spinosaurus, and as such they possessed great maneuverability and muscular strength, which allowed her to raise her hands and burrow into the radio demon's flesh, until she lifted him off his feet and threw him away, causing him to hit the ground with his back. Then she spun around again and hit him again with her tail, opening more wounds.
To escape her grasp Alastor wrapped himself in shadows and reappeared a few meters away. He was panting deeply, and now had several bloody holes on his body left by his opponent's claws, horns, and tail. His eyes were no longer arrogant, but were clearly calculating his next move; and his smile had finally dropped to its absolute minimum, a sign that he was thinking hard.
Rosie laughed out loud at the sight. "What's the matter? I've barely used half my current arsenal!" she pointed out, showing her sharp teeth. "I'm afraid I have much more than just a chance!"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 9): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154735615
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 63: Ancestral fight
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alastor stood up, this time with much more caution. It had already happened in the past that someone managed to knock him down... but since he had reached his full potential, the same one he was using at that moment, only two people he had fought with had managed to overcome him. The second in chronological order was Adam, who was clearly superior to him, so much so that he had managed to subdue him with a single gesture, indeed he himself had wanted him to awaken his true power again since he knew very well that he could not stand up to him anyway. The first... had been the one who had sealed his powers many years ago.
In both cases, it had happened very few times that he was humiliated like that. He knew that people like Lucifer, Lilith or even Charlie were superior to him, but having never really fought them, he couldn't say that he had been defeated by them or even just surpassed for a few moments. He couldn't say the same about Rosie.
For the first time in a long time, an overlord was forcing him to be cautious.
"This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed tightly. "It doesn't make sense! When did you get so strong!?"
"I told you, constant training" Rosie replied. "You don't expect that my perfect physical shape despite constantly gorging myself on calories is due to a fast metabolism, right? Every day since I came to Hell I have toughened my body. I have never been one that believe in bloodline predestination or other bullshit, I make what I want with my own hands!"
"Don't make fun of me!" Alastor growled. "It's not possible that all this is the result of a pathetic training! If it was possible to increase powers through training, any bodybuilder in Hell would be an overlord!"
"I never said I increased my powers" Rosie answered him. "I told you, what you fought thus far was my true form of overlord, the peak of my strength. However, unlike you and other overly arrogant fools, I didn't stop just at gaining power, I evolved beyond that level. I learned to use my powers and make the most of them even within their limits, and I used a little knowledge to know exactly how to use them"
Alastor's eyes widened. That was something he understood: knowledge was power. However, he had never imagined that there might be a way to optimize an overlord's powers without increasing or decreasing their power. He, like everyone else, had simply limited himself to learning how they worked and studying strategies on how to use them; the question had never arisen of whether there was a way to improve them.
Rosie let out a slight tremble, making her bony plates jingle. "By combining my rapid cellular multiplication with my demonic energy, I can cause my body to partially modify itself. Starting from my overlord form I can alter my body thanks to a strong energy expenditure and transform it into something much more efficient" she told him. “I have spent decades studying the most powerful creatures to ever walk the Earth. I have learned their every characteristic and fused them into something far more efficient. By replicating those strong beasts, I can push my body to levels far more extreme than my simple form of overlord may grant me!"
Alastor opened his mouth in amazement. Yes... yes, how had he not thought of that before!? He just had to look at Rosie's tail to realize it: it was exactly the same as that of her overlord form, simply modified at a muscular and bone level to make it more lethal! How could he have been so blind!?
A few drops of sweat rolled down Alastor's forehead. Even though he was a man born at the beginning of the twentieth century, when paleontology was still at a very low level, he still knew what dinosaurs were. When he was alive, they were described as nothing more than clumsy stupid lizards, but he had never been able to help but admire their might. Even in those very flawed reconstructions, they appeared powerful and intimidating, forces of nature in their purest form. Furthermore, in those ninety years in Hell he had had the opportunity to become aware of many new details, and new reconstructions more faithful to reality had been revealed to him. He had often wondered how strong that terrible tyrannosaurus really was or how violent the horns of its eternal rival triceratops were.
And now, all those mighty animals of the past were right there in front of him, fused into one being that perfectly mimicked their abilities!
And what was his reaction to that revelation?
Actually, he didn't even know it. His heart trembled with excitement at the idea of being able to better explore his powers and use them more efficiently, but at the same time he trembled at the thought of having to compete with those mighty beasts of the past. As much as he loved facing strong opponents, he felt intimidated by those creatures.
And it wasn't just him... all of their viewers were feeling the same. Only Vaggie and the other Exorcists did not feel that sensation, but all those who were human souls did. That ancient and ancestral survival instinct, developed when humanity was expelled from Eden and had to face those giant creatures in the primordial Earth, was activated in all of them as soon as they saw Rosie, making their skin crawl and their hair stand on end. Their human heritage was reminiscent of those monsters of unparalleled power with which they had had to confront before the Great Flood, and this generated a strong fear in their hearts. "Now I understand..." Velvette murmured. "That's why she intimidated me so much every time she acted authoritative..."
Imagine seeing a crocodile. The most docile and good-natured crocodile in the world, who behaves like an adorable puppy and wants nothing more than scratches on the head. The absence of hostility would gradually diminish the feeling of danger, and people would approach it without fear... but a single irritated breath, a single threatening look, a single abrupt movement would be enough for their blood to immediately freeze in their veins. The survival instinct, honed by thousands of years of avoiding and fearing crocodiles, would be activated in an instant making even the bravest man terrified of that animal.
It was the same with Rosie. She was sweet, nice, accommodating; anyone couldn't help but love her. She was the classic aunt who came home at Christmas bringing a truck full of presents and rolled on the carpet with her grandchildren. But as soon as she showed the slightest bit of irritation, Velvette felt herself freeze. Her body instinctively remembered the danger she represented, because it sensed in her the same beasts that mankind had had to watch over for thousands of years. A fear greater than that generated by any crocodile, lion, bear or tiger, because nothing was comparable to the danger of the ancient dinosaurs.
Rosie was like a piece of cake... but all she had to do was raise her voice so that the survival instinct paralyzed her interlocutor in an instant.
Even Alastor wasn't immune to this. His heart was beating much faster than normal as he watched that ancestral beast move towards him. His blood boiled with excitement, but that excitement was tempered by an instinctive fear. A fear as old as humanity itself, forged by millennia spent fearing the ancient monsters of the Earth.
And it was terrifying.
Rosie attacked again: her hind legs allowed her to make almost instantaneous sprints. The bone structure of a dromaeosaurus, the musculature of a hadrosaurus, the attachment to the pelvis of a mighty sauropod, and the legs of an allosaurus: all these characteristics propelled her forward as if she were a catapult. Alastor tried to stop her with his shadow tendrils, but they instantly dissolved before they even touched her. "What...?"
He didn't have time to ask himself too many questions: Rosie's horns were on him, forcing him to grab them again to avoid ending up skewered. "My hind legs are equipped with the claw of a velociraptor, and the thumb on my front paws performs a similar function. By drumming them on the ground at very rapid speed, I create microvibrations that alter the structure of the earth, moving particles at a molecular level. With this continuous shifting of matter, even the shadow it produces continually alters! You can't grab me from below with it!"
"Shit!!!" Alastor growled furiously, and immediately he went on the counterattack: since he already knew he couldn't stop Rosie's charge, he pushed down and lowered her horns, and then wrapping himself in the shadows he jumped on her and pulled her upwards, and with his free hand he created a magical circle. The sound itself condensed into a spinning blade and came down hard on Rosie's neck. However, what it encountered was nothing but resistance that broke the radio demon's attack.
Rosie had left no weak point in her defense: her neck was exposed as the bony plates would have reduced strength, but inside the bones had become as massive and wide as those of an adult triceratops, also combined with rows and rows of tyrannosaurus muscles, and finally on the skin there were osteoderms like those of sauropods. The end result was a hardness that, while more flexible and elastic than the armor on the back, still protected that vital point from external attacks.
Alastor realized this too late; Rosie took advantage of his distraction to reach down violently and slide him, and then she hit him full on with her tail. The radio demon fell to the ground and Rosie pinned him to the soil with her front claws. A monstrous grin formed on her face. "Tonight I'll have roast deer for dinner!"
Her jaws opened wide, revealing her razor-sharp teeth; she went to bite him in the neck, but Alastor turned into a shadow and crawled away before she could hurt him. "You're really tough" the radio demon said as he reappeared in front of her. "But let's see what you do now!"
Two red magic circles appeared next to Rosie's ears and emitted a sound vibration of extreme intensity; the cannibal overlord's brain went completely into overdrive, so much so that she staggered and started vomiting; her vision became blurry and her thinking became too confusing. Alastor took the opportunity to attack again: he had no chance of breaking the solid armor, but if he managed to stick Rosie in the mouth, then he would have undoubtedly cut through soft tissue until he reached the brain...
But he never reached his target: Rosie suddenly spun around and hit him with her tail, throwing him away. Alastor gasped in pain and surprise: "What...!? Impossible! I had turned your brain to mush! You should have had...!"
His words were cut off when a detail occurred to him, and he understood everything.
A second brain.
Some paleontologists had hypothesized the existence of a second brain for some species of giant dinosaurs, located in the pelvis to control the movements of the rear part of the body which would have been too slow if the coordination impulses had come only from the main brain. Even though it was an idea now considered wrong, Rosie had still drawn inspiration from it. By thickening the nervous system near her pelvis, she had created a second brain into which she transferred basic commands, such as how to wag her tail. Even though the main brain had been sent into a daze by Alastor's sonic attack, the second brain was still fully active and ready to defend the body from the radio demon's attacks!
Alastor let out a furious huff, but didn't let his anger control him. Even though Rosie was recovering, he still had a few moments left on his hands. No more procrastinating: it was time to unleash all his dark magic!
If Rosie couldn't be hit with her shadows... then her entire surroundings would have become shadows!
His body seemed to explode and turn into liquid darkness: as if it were oil, the shadow expanded around him, incorporating everything. The matter turned black and molded, and structures like the branches of a bare tree grew around them, forming a cage. The shadows merged and grew until they became a giant, twisted black tree.
Their spectators were speechless. “Wow… what is that stuff…?” Angel murmured.
"It's the way he destroyed the mansion!" Vaggie answered him. "His full power!"
Angel and Cherri gulped. They remembered what Velvette had said about the mansion in Louisiana: the force that had brought it down had possessed at least as much energy as an atomic explosion concentrated in a single point. If Alastor was now unleashing all his power again, then it meant he was about to replicate his strongest attack.
Husk turned pale and instinctively took a step back, and grabbed Niffty to prevent her from being blown away by the immense force that was being generated in front of them. Velvette became so beaded with sweat that she could reflect the moonlight. "Val, Vox... we've been outclassed" she murmured in a small voice.
Rosie recovered from her confusion inside the dark tree, and she realized she was trapped. Alastor raised his arms in front of her. "Now you will taste all my power!"
The twisted branches of the dark tree shook, and then closed into a single column, forming what looked like an inverted spear; and then, that spear suddenly lowered. The entire tree collapsed in on itself with the speed of a bullet. Rosie immediately understood the danger and curled up in a ball, exposing her hard armor, which she also tried to make even more resistant with all the energy she had left.
The shadow tree collapsed on her with unmatched power. The immense energy of an atomic bomb, all concentrated in a single point, fell on Rosie with extraordinary force, crushing her alive. The ground shook and even though the tree acted as a shield it still generated a very powerful shock wave that made both the demons and the Exorcists fall to the ground and roll away; of all of them, only Velvette due to her overlord's power was able to remain standing, and even despite that she was pushed back at least three meters. "Fuck!" she murmured. "T-This is not normal!"
With the collapse of the tree of shadows, Alastor reappeared in all his monstrosity. Rosie was in front of him, and it was clear that she had taken a heavy blow: her bony armor had completely crumbled, and the flesh underneath was also burned, revealing her spine. "You're defenseless!" Alastor shouted jumping on her, showing his claws which were covered by his other shadows and made long and very sharp, clearly intending to break her neck cleanly.
But incredibly, Rosie didn't stay still: despite the pain of her wounds, she jumped back. Alastor had expected it and charged with all his strength against her, knowing that she would never have been able to outrun him... but then Rosie bent her hind legs and jumped stronger than the others, and she never landed again.
Alastor's eyes widened. "What!? What the...!?"
Out of the corner of his eye he just noticed Rosie appear above him, clearly intent on hitting him from behind just like he wanted to do. He didn't understand: how had she made such a leap!? Unless...!
To his amazement, he realized that Rosie's arms were open, and that her little finger was almost as long as the entire limb; and a membrane was connected to it which then attached to the base of the pelvis. The cannibal overlord's upper limbs had become the wings of a pterosaurus!
Alastor remembered that until then Rosie had never shown her little finger: she had always kept it curled back, fighting with her other fingers. Now it was clear why: that little finger was her ace in the hole, because it provided her with the ability to fly! And by destroying her bony plates, Alastor had lightened the cannibal overlord's body enough to lift herself into the air!
A drop of sweat barely had time to fall on the radio demon's forehead, who had realized that he still hadn't won. He had dealt his most violent and destructive blow on Rosie, broken all her defenses... but she had foreseen it, and instead of focusing on preventing him from doing it, she had devised a way to counterattack even in the absence of good protection!
She had actually trained for decades... this was the only way he could explain such a brilliant move.
"Clever girl" was all Alastor was able to mutter; a split second later, Rosie sank her jaws into his neck.
The radio demon couldn't hold back a scream of pain: the immense bite force that hit him was something devastating. Rosie broke all the bones at the right base of his neck and part of his shoulder blade; the muscles stretched and scythed against her fangs as if they were made of butter. With a single yank, Alastor's entire right arm was severed from his body, torn away with immense violence.
Rosie's jaws were specifically designed to inflict the greatest damage possible: it was the perfect combination of the most powerful beasts who had made their mouth their lethal weapon. The jaw musculature was that of a deinosuchus, a prehistoric crocodile with an estimated jaw force of 120,000 newtons, more than double that of a t-rex; on the other hand, it had the skeletal structure exactly of the tyrannosaurus, perfectly balanced to withstand large impacts. The neck was strengthened by her triceratops bones, incredibly suited to perform powerful movements while maintaining balance.
Finally, the teeth were a deadly weapon. They were those of a tyrannosaurus, but they were arranged in three rows like those of the terrible megalodon. However, Rosie was aware that too many teeth would have reduced the strength of her bite. Bite force depended entirely on the amount of surface area that made contact with what was being bitten plus the power of the muscles biting down. The more points of contact there were, the less pressure was exerted, because it was distributed more evenly. Therefore, too many teeth would have ended up reducing the bite power, not increasing it. However, at the same time too few teeth would have prevented efficient biting and tearing.
And it was here that nature came to Rosie's aid, showing the solution before everyone's eyes: in fact, all predators had at least two teeth longer than the others. In the case of mammals it was the canines, but even ancient animals such as the dinosaurs had some longer teeth. This was because this allowed the power of the bite to be maintained without sacrificing good dentition for butchering. By striking first, the canines absorbed all the bite force and released it in a very small surface area, making it extremely powerful, and then the subsequent teeth were used for tearing and chewing. Such a simple and at the same time ingenious mechanism.
Rosie had optimized this process by creating not just two, but eight teeth that were longer and sharper than others, positioned in various points of the mouth, so that they hit in more places, inflicting greater damage. Four were in the upper jaw and four on the mandible. As they hit the base of Alastor's neck, they tore it to shreds as if it were made of paper. And after those eight initial teeth came all the others: an abnormal quantity of teeth arranged in multiple rows, which worked like a chainsaw. Pulling back, Rosie tore through Alastor's body without any difficulty.
The radio demon gritted his teeth as he felt his arm being torn away, and he tried to fight back: his shadows grabbed Rosie's head by the shoulders and dragged her back, forcing her to let go. But the cannibal overlord did not give up and stuck her claws into his wounds: the strength of her therizinosaurus' fingers was extraordinary, and she pulled at opposite sides. With a yank, the radio demon's body split in two.
Alastor fell to the ground on his face. His torso was now composed of only his head and left arm, and was cut cleanly from his right shoulder to the left base of his rib cage. Rosie let out a sigh from the effort, but she didn't hold back a sadistic smile of satisfaction.
All their spectators were left speechless. "Did... Did it really happen!?" Angel exclaimed. "Alastor... has been defeated!?"
But the radio demon's smile didn't disappear. On the contrary, it became even larger and creepier, and it seemed to be permeated by a strange satisfaction and excitement.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154843681
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 64: Counterattack
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The next punch was thrown with such force that it would have pulverized a hill as if it were made of paper. Charlie's senses went into overdrive, and she caught a glimpse of his movement... and almost as if the gesture was being imprinted in her head, she responded in kind. The two fists collided, and the compressed air from them exploded, generating hurricane-force wind.
But Adam didn't stop there: he attacked again and again, with punches and kicks and even headbutts. Charlie's nervous system struggled to keep up with his incredible speed, and although she managed to keep up with him in the first few seconds, after that very short period of time she was completely unable to do so. She was hit again in several places, in the abdomen, shoulders, knees, even the cheek; and these blows were so strong that they broke the underlying bones, forcing her to waste more energy to regenerate.
Eventually she could no longer maintain her position and was pushed back: she leapt to get away, but Adam chased her. Unlike the other times he didn't let her go and didn't give her time to recover. He appeared above her and elbowed her right in the stomach, sending her crashing to the ground... and in doing so he opened a portal under her, with the result that she ended up falling from an even higher altitude, and she hit the ground with a bang. She barely had time to lift her head and realize that this time they had ended up on a small island in the middle of the sea, barely an atoll surrounded by other little strips of land, before Adam stepped through the portal and grabbed her bodily by the tail and slammed her to the earth, opening numerous cracks.
Charlie spat out blood again. Compared to that violence, any other attack she had suffered up to that point, except for when he had crashed her in the Sahara desert, was nothing. And Adam didn't stop: he kept slamming her more and more violently, and then he spun her in the air and punched her square in the chest, so hard that she almost spat out her lungs and went flying at least fifty meters away. A portal opened behind her, sending her flying to another corner of the world.
She couldn't even realized how many times that scene was repeated. She could barely defend herself and was attacked from every angle. Every time she thought she was at least becoming a little used to it, Adam opened a new portal and the scenery changed, disorientating her again. She found herself in the sky, under water, in the middle of the desert and the jungle. Finally, Adam punched her square in the jaw which sent her crashing into their final destination, which turned out to be an island in the middle of some ocean.
As she rolled on the ground, Charlie was able to regain enough thinking skills to understand only one thing: Adam had stopped playing with her. Now he was really fighting seriously. No more time to recover, no more quiet moments to understand the situation. Now he and she were in the midst of a real fight, and as such, there was no room for those who weren't quick enough to think of the counter move.
So… she couldn't wait for him to stop, because he wouldn't have.
She had to react.
That realization rekindled a spark in her. Adam had already closed the distance between them again, but before he could strike her again, she moved. With an extraordinary jump she leapt upward, and the first man's fist hit nothing but the ground. Charlie took the opportunity to imitate his attack and hit him on the cheek, but it was like hitting a marble wall.
It wasn't just Adam's fists that had become more powerful: every single one of his muscles had contracted and hardened, making his skin extremely thick and resistant. His immense strength was no longer concentrated in a single punch or kick, but was distributed throughout every inch of his body. Charlie was barely able to move his head slightly, but she didn't make him fly away like he had done to her.
Her eyes widened in surprise at that discovery. That second of distraction cost her dearly.
Adam grabbed her leg and swung her over him, then brought her down violently and raised his knee. The crash was extremely painful and Charlie was unable to suppress a cry of pain. Adam pulled on her legs and arms, all while bending her back with his knee.
Charlie gritted her teeth. Yes, definitely, the first man wasn't playing anymore. Now he didn't worry any more if he hurt her badly.
She had to get rid of that hold, and quickly.
She only had seconds to decide what to do before he ripped her muscles apart.
And those few seconds felt like an eternity in her mind, making her feel every moment of pain.
So… that was a real battle. One in which her opponent recognized her strength and fought to his fullest, without wasting time on games.
And strangely, this generated a strange euphoria in Charlie. Adam was fighting giving his all because now he was sure that she could face him even in this state. How could she disappoint him?
She didn't have the slightest intention of doing so.
She opened her mouth wide, concentrating her energy in her lips, and she spat out a lump of saliva; a lump of saliva which, thanks to all that energy, had acquired the temperature of lava. It hit Adam square in the eye and that made the first man groan, and his grip lessen a little; it was enough for her to free one of her legs and hit him in the face. Even though it was like kicking a block of marble, he still received the blow and was disoriented by it, allowing her to break free completely and quickly walk away.
Charlie inspired deeply. She knew she barely had a couple of seconds before the first man recovered. She had to be ready to counter.
Every part of her body ached, and unfortunately, she had to admit that Adam was right: she would never have been able to defeat him simply by imitating his moves. Not only was she still unclear on how to use that ability, which seemed to come and go randomly, but it would only have been effective in a fight where both opponents were of equal or little difference in strength level. But Adam far surpassed her in that department, and so no matter how much she imitated his moves, his would still have been more powerful. In the end she would always have been the one who received the most damage.
She had to find a way to increase the efficiency of her strikes... but how? She certainly couldn't hope for her strength to magically increase. She felt like she had reached a dead end...
No... no, Adam wasn't foolish. If he was fighting with everything he had, it was because he knew she could fight him. He wouldn't have done it otherwise, she was now sure of it.
There had to be something... something she had learned in that battle...
And suddenly she had an idea.
Adam attacked her again, but she didn't resist: on the contrary, she imitated his punch perfectly. The first man was surprised by her choice. "Why?" he wondered. "She knows very well that she will be the one to receive the greatest damage..."
But then the unexpected happened.
Charlie once again used her psychokinesis to control the air molecules and placed them in front of her hand: she literally gathered so much air that she created a vacuum around her arm. At the same time she channeled a large amount of energy into her muscles, and used the air behind her to provide additional momentum. Enough momentum that her punch broke the sound barrier.
And as soon as it did so, all that super-compressed air she had placed in front of her hand exploded forward, hitting the first man's fist, followed soon after by her actual punch still traveling at over Mach 1.
Adam wasn't hit by a single punch, but by multiple combined forces; enough to push his arm back and lose his balance. Charlie took the opportunity to spin in the air and repeated the same process with her leg, and she kicked him in the face. Adam was thrown away and rolled for about ten meters. Charlie flew at him and before he could recover she grabbed one of the angelic cuffs and stuck it on his right arm. She was about to do the same to the other, but Adam was already reacting, so she was forced to leave immediately.
Charlie couldn't help but smile as she watched the first man go down, even though she felt pain everywhere. Due to the immense pressure she had subjected them to, both her hand and leg were broken, and she had to focus her regeneration to restore them.
Adam stood up. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth, and he wiped it away with his finger. "Mh. You can be proud of yourself" he told her. "You really managed to make me bleed"
"I'm not" she replied. "I don't like to shed blood"
Adam smiled at her. "Yes, I know. But you were good. You faced an enemy stronger than you and made him bleed. There is no shame in that" he told her, and then he looked at her arm wrapped in the angelic handcuff. It was sealed around it, and when he tried to touch it, it shocked him. It wouldn't have come off without Charlie's approval. "Mh. You managed to put one of them on me. Now you just have to do the same with the other. However, I believe you have already realized the flaws in your attack, right?"
Charlie gritted her teeth, feeling a flame in her throat. "I don't know what you're talking about"
"There's no use trying to hide such details from me" Adam told her. "By moving air molecules to two different positions and at the same time strengthening your arm or leg to provide more power, you waste a lot of energy. And what's more, you have to sacrifice even more energy immediately afterwards in order to regenerate quickly, since your blows are so powerful that they break your bones. That's why you didn't attack me immediately again. You have to conserve every ounce of your strength and find the right opportunity to hit me"
Charlie swallowed. Unfortunately it was true: once her strength was completely exhausted, any attempt she made would have been useless. And she was already at her limit by now.
Adam's smile widened. "Remember what I told you. You have to push your limit" he told her. “Humans have the ability to do this. They don't have a mathematical limitation. Even though a body can only give up to one hundred percent, a human can push it to one hundred and ten percent. Don't fight like a demon, fight like a human! Turn into strength all those hopes, those experiences and those faces you are taking on your shoulders!"
And with that he lunged at her again, and she began to dodge his attacks again. The entire island shook from the violence of the fighting.
In the modern world, there was no place on Earth where one could be invisible. A dense satellite network constantly monitored every corner of the planet, mapping its surface and photographing billions of people every second. These satellites censored people's faces, but obviously this was only valid as long as the powerful people on Earth allowed it.
As soon as the fight between Charlie and Adam had begun, the world leaders had immediately joined forces and made available the various satellite networks they had at their disposal, forming a gigantic network made up of all the satellites of all the nations of the Earth. Thanks to this very dense network controlled by thousands of operators all over the world, it was possible for them to follow Charlie and Adam's movements at any time. "Sir, they are currently on Clipperton Island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean" the Secretary of Defense announced to the US President.
The President immediately understood what the Secretary of Defense wanted to tell him. “It's a desert island, right?”
The Secretary of Defense nodded. "Yes, sir. This is the perfect opportunity to attack before they move again"
The US President looked at the screens in front of him, through which he was still connected with other world leaders. "I agree" the Russian President declared. "They are in a rowed place in the middle of the ocean. There is nothing that can be damaged there, or lives that can be lost. We can hit them freely"
"We must be decisive. I too vote to attack" the Chinese Prime Minister confirmed.
"You can fire. You have my authorization" the French President announced. Clipperton Island was technically French territory, so without his permission bombing it could cause conflict between nations, but he hadn't thought twice about giving his consent before they even asked him.
"Wait!" the Prime Minister of Japan tried to say. "If we attack them, we could unleash the fury of these creatures against us, or even provoke a war against this species!"
"But we can't let them go undisturbed either" the US President said in a firm voice. "These creatures can open portals and have already moved to numerous locations around the world, and now they are fighting with even more power than before. What if they moved over a large city and started fighting there? They would raze it to the ground"
"And we would have no way to protect our citizens" the Chinese Prime Minister said through gritted teeth. "It is clear that conventional weapons would be of no use against such creatures. If we wait until they get close to an inhabited place, we will have to kill both them and thousands or perhaps even millions of people. By attacking them now, we can hit just them"
"But one of those creatures survived an impact comparable to that of a small asteroid" the British Prime Minister noted. “Can our weapons exert even more power?”
"We don't need more power, but to attack sequentially" the Russian president said. "My scientists have viewed the satellite photos and videos several times. What allowed that creature to survive is only its regenerative factor, far above that of any known living species. But if it had been hit immediately after having been reduced to that state, and then again and again until it was reduced to ashes, it would have died"
His words were immediately understood by everyone. "So... if immediately after bombing them once we bomb them again, and then again and again, we will continue to add damage to their bodies until they can no longer regenerate" the US President commented, scratching his chin.
"I have an ICBM with a fifteen megaton warhead ready" the Russian President announced. "It can hit the target in fifteen minutes"
"My country can also provide a high-yield warhead" the Chinese Prime Minister said. "We can hit the target in eight minutes"
The US President looked at the Secretary of Defense, who told him: "Sir... we have a submarine off the west coast of Mexico that can hit the target in just a minute"
The US President nodded. "Nuke 'em" he announced. "Let's nuke the bastards!"
Off the western coast of Mexico, a giant metal behemoth moved slowly a quarter of a mile down. One hundred and seventy meters long and weighing almost twenty thousand tons, the USS Nebraska was a nuclear submarine capable of firing up to twenty-four ballistic missiles simultaneously. A true jewel of the United States Navy.
Obviously, it almost never happened that such a submarine received the order to fire: since it carried nuclear warheads, the only time such a command would have come would have been if World War III had broken out. Yet, that day the radio went off with a signal of extreme emergency. "Captain!" the sailor who was on the radio shouted. "The President just gave the order! We must fire the most powerful warhead we have in coordinates 10°18' Nord, 109°13' Ovest! We have to pulverize Clipperton Island!"
The captain looked at him shocked: "What are you saying? That's French territory! Have we gone to war with Europe, by any chance...?"
"No, the French President has authorized it" the sailor replied while frantically reading the report. "They are apparently trying to kill something... the President orders to shoot immediately, without waiting!"
The captain was confused and dazed, but he kept his cool. He was still a soldier, and soldiers obeyed orders without question. "Bring the submarine close to the surface and prepare the launch nozzles"
The submarine quickly rose from the water and as soon as it was at the right depth one of the vents opened. The captain and the second officer exchanged a quick glance, and then they walked over to the missile launch pads and pulled out the ignition keys. They took a deep breath, and then they inserted them into the appropriate locks and turned them.
BOOOOOM!!!
A missile exploded from the nozzle and flew into the sky, disappearing from sight in less than a fraction of a second. The speed was such that a supersonic aircraft would have been left behind.
"Missile launched. Expected impact: 46 seconds"
Traveling at over Mach 20, the missile took just a few dozen seconds to cross the 322 kilometers that separated the submarine from Clipperton Island, and traveled towards the upper atmosphere without encountering any resistance. It was moving essentially seven kilometers every single second, so fast that a plane would have seemed slow in comparison.
Despite all his strength, not even Adam had such developed senses as to see an object traveling at such speed approaching; after all, he almost didn't notice an airship moving with the speed of a turtle, let alone a ballistic missile fired into the atmosphere and hurtling towards him almost as fast as a meteorite. However, this time Adam had an advantage: the powers he had stolen from the overlords. Combining for example Alastor's ability to use shadows in a certain radius, or to sense Vox's electric fields, or to intercept Velvette's communications, or to sense the presence of Carmilla's weapons, and greatly amplifying the effect thanks to his immense power, he had created a bubble around himself that allowed him to feel if something was coming. After all, from the first moment he began that battle he had expected that the humans would not have just stayed behind and watch... he knew his children too well. "Time out"
The shadows around Charlie moved and enveloped her, forming a cocoon around her made up of numerous layers. "What the... you said you wouldn't have used new powers...!" she screamed.
"I told you, time out. We're not fighting anymore now" Adam told her. "It will only take a few minutes. Be patient for a moment. Oh, and I advise you to close your eyes... I don't know if that cocoon will be enough"
Charlie wanted to ask him another question, but there was no time: just at that moment the atomic warhead descended on them. And as soon as it was above their heads, it detonated.
For the first few milliseconds, basically nothing happened outside the weapon; meanwhile inside high explosives sent a shockwave to a radioactive metal core, compressing it so much that it reached criticality and started a nuclear fission chain reaction. This created a one hundred million degrees plasma that caused to all the atomic nuclei to fuse like they usually did in the core of the stars. For that briefly istant, that single weapon contained one of the hottest place in the universe. And then the bomb dissolved and the flaming star of nuclear death was born.
An instant before, there was Clipperton Island. A beautiful atoll with a heavenly appearance, full of palm trees and quite fascinating beaches. A small piece of land in the middle of the largest ocean in the world, which despite the erosive force of the waves had still been there for centuries.
An instant later, there was nothing.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 11): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/156377587
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 65: Nukes
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In a split second, a fireball at least five kilometers wide engulfed the entire island. The immense power contained in the atoms was released, turning everything into pure white plasma. The energy of nuclear fusion, harnessed by humanity within a single metal projectile, emerged with all the violence that occurred every single second deep within the cores of the stars.
Everything inside the fireball vanished in an instant. Trees, rocks, grass, flowers, insects, dirt: everything evaporated. At over thirty million degrees Celsius, the fireball was twice as hot as the boiling core of the sun, so much so that the molecules literally sublimated: any bonds they had between each other vanished and the atoms floated away, causing the objects to go from state to solid to gaseous state in just an instant.
All this happened in such a short period that it could not be perceived even by the most advanced eye; in comparison, a drop of water falling was something extremely slow. A mere millisecond was enough to vaporize the entire island.
And then, the light came.
The plasma ball emitted an immense glow, so strong and powerful that it outshine the sun, which even seemed to vanish as the sky turned white. If a person had been there to admire the spectacle, their eyes would have instantly exploded inside their eye sockets, and the visual receptors inside them would have been charred immediately afterwards. The immense light generated a thermal pulse, so energetic and hot that the temperature within a thirty-kilometer radius rised to levels comparable to those on the surfaces of stars for a brief moment. The ocean surface boiled and evaporated, killing countless fish swimming in the shallow water; every seagull or cormorant within that area instantly caught fire.
It was as if the sun had fallen to the earth.
A second later, enough for a bystander's limited senses to see what was happening, the atmosphere around the fireball was blasted away. The super-pressurized and super-heated air around the explosion exploded, traveling faster than any wind ever generated; in comparison, a hurricane would have seemed small and a tornado a joke. The violence generated was such that the part of the atmosphere above the fireball was literally thrown into space, while the rest traveled in all directions devastating the surrounding islands and causing giant waves that crashed onto the atolls, reducing them to crumbs.
An enormous mushroom cloud almost forty kilometers high rose above what had been an island, now reduced to just a crater made of boiling glass, blocking the light of the sun and casting a dark shadow over the entire surrounding environment, like a monster admiring their perverse work. The sky turned black and radioactive rain descended, covering everything in a black oily substance of ash and liquefied debris, poisoning the waters and turning the air toxic to whatever creatures were left to breathe it, assuming that there were any left.
The submarine that had hurled the warhead was very far from the point of impact, but even from that distance the sailors were able to see the mushroom cloud with the periscope. “Impact confirmed” one of them said aloud.
The captain nodded. "Level of destruction?"
“Absolute, sir” was the reply. "The island has just disappeared"
The captain nodded. He remembered the stories told to him by his grandfather, also a US Navy officer, who had admired one of the first tests of thermonuclear weapons in the 1950s; in particular, his favorite was when a single bomb pulverized Bikini Atoll in 1954. As international tensions increased, the captain had long since begun to fear that the world would have soon seen a new nuclear arms race, and that entire islands would once again disappear from the map. What he found himself in now was not the political scenario he had imagined, but the level of devastation was the same.
The voice of sailor that was checking the radar shook him out of his thoughts: "Captain, there's something falling from the upper atmosphere! It's traveling at over Mach 20! Mach 22... maybe 24...!"
"It's a Chinese ICBM" the sailor on the radio warned them. "The report confirms it, the Chinese should have struck immediately after us"
The captain broke into a cold sweat: "What!? So they want to detonate not one, but two thermonuclear bombs in the same place!?" he exclaimed in amazement. "For what purpose!? Whatever was there is already blown to atoms by now...!"
“The impact is happening now!” the sailor that was checking the radar shouted.
At that same moment (well, actually much earlier, given that before the sailor even uttered a single word the missile had already traveled a very long way) a Chinese ICBM passed through the mushroom cloud, cutting it in half like a sword, until it reached the base. It was there that, just as had happened with the previous missile, the atoms inside it broke, releasing the power of a star once again.
The second fireball was even larger than the previous one: with the atmosphere near the explosion blown away by the mushroom cloud, there was almost nothing to resist the expansion of the hot plasma, which vaporized everything on its passage. The island, previously reduced to sea level, was literally sunk, melting the bedrock. A small crater formed in its place, and the nearby seabed turned to glass as more and more water evaporated, creating a thick fog. A second mushroom cloud rose, adding to the immense black cloud that already covered the sky.
"Impact confirmed" the sailor at the periscope said again.
The captain let out a soft growl. "Is it over...?"
But the sailor in charge of the radio shook his head. "Sir... not yet"
"What!?" the captain exclaimed. "What else is coming!?"
"Sir, something is entering the atmosphere again!" the sailor manning the radar shouted. "And it travels again with the same speed as the previous missile! It's coming from the northwest!"
"Northwest... so Russian territory!?" the captain said in a strangled voice. “Was this also mentioned in the report?”
"Yes, sir. Apparently it is a combined military action carried out by the United States, China and Russia" the sailor confirmed.
A vein pulsed on the captain's forehead: "Why didn't you say so right away!?"
"There wasn't time. The order was to fire immediately, without wasting even a second" the sailor replied.
The captain was now sweating as if he were in a sauna. The three world superpowers had agreed to destroy a single island in the Pacific, with three super-destructive bombs to boot...!? “What the fuck there is on that atoll!?”
A third ICBM passed through the curtain of smoke and debris created by the two mushroom clouds and exploded, once again releasing the power of the atom. The small crater that had already been created expanded even more while the ground splashed like water and the glass covering the seabed melted. The ocean water evaporated so much that a very dense fog enveloped the entire area for kilometers. The surrounding islands were devastated for the third time by the shock wave, and more radioactive rain covered everything. Now even getting close to that devastation would have been life-threatening due to the extreme level of radioactivity that permeated that place like poison. Fortunately it was an area far from the coast, but it was not impossible that the currents carried the fallout to other parts of the ocean, although this was unlikely to cause too much damage.
And then, as quickly as it had started, everything stopped.
The cocoon of shadows that had contained Charlie opened, revealing the almost unharmed princess of Hell, who however had several bruises after being slammed from side to side by the extremely violent shock waves. As soon as she managed to get out, she immediately started coughing and felt her skin sizzling; even though the radiation couldn't kill her or hurt her too much, still that area was now so full of it that just breathing made her feel like she was inhaling fire.
She swallowed hard as she looked down at the bottom of the crater where she now stood. Even though she had been trapped in that cocoon, she had still been able to understand how powerful those explosions had been. In comparison, the small atomic explosion she had managed to generate in space was barely a puff of smoke. She was grateful that Adam had created the cocoon that had protected her, because she doubted that if someone less strong than him had done the same that protection would have held... and if it hadn't held, she would have been as damaged as when Adam had crashed her in the desert, perhaps even worse given that this time it was three consecutive explosions.
By the way... where was Adam?
She looked around and finally saw him, and she put her hand over her mouth. Adam's body was completely burned... in fact, his skin had literally been peeled off, exposing the flesh underneath. He was bleeding from several places and probably had some broken bones. "Adam!" Charlie exclaimed running towards him. "Fuck... why didn't you defend yourself? Regenerate, quickly...!"
Adam could have regenerated immediately using his powers, or even just accelerating his natural demonic regeneration, as he had done before... but at that moment he didn't do it, on the contrary, he seemed to be slowing it down. He spread his wings and took off: "Sorry, I have to take care of something. I'll be back soon"
"Wait! Where do you want to go while you are so hurt!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"Oh, I just want to do my duty as a father and discipline my kids" Adam replied with a grin, and then he winked at her: "It'll just take a few minutes. You can enjoy the water"
And after such words he opened a portal and disappeared before she could stop him. “What do you mean… BLLUUUURGGH!!!” Charlie screamed as a huge wave crashed into her as ocean water began pouring into the crater.
Thirty kilometers away, the USS Nebraska was still observing the scene with its periscope. "Impact confirmed" was what was repeated for the third time.
The captain leaned against a wall of the submarine. “Aren't there more on the way?”
"No, sir. At least, the report doesn't mention it" the sailor in charge of the radio replied.
The captain nodded, but no sooner had he breathed a sigh of relief than the person in charge of the radar shouted: "Sir! Something just... appeared in front of us!"
The captain almost choked on his saliva: "What!? What the fuck are you talking about!?"
The sailor was as confused as he was: "I... I don't know how to explain it! It appeared on the radar suddenly! It's as if it teleported here in front...!"
Suddenly the entire submarine shook, shaking so hard that everyone inside fell to the floor. "Captain... we've stopped! It's as if something is... exerting enough force to counteract the engines!" the driver exclaimed while sweating. "And it's dragging us towards the surface! We've already gone from one hundred and thirty meters to just sixty...!"
"Are you kidding me!? Are you telling me that something is dragging the entire submarine!?" the captain exclaimed.
The driver almost didn't listen to him, busy looking at the numbers on the screen: "Forty... twenty... ten meters... we're out... WHAT!?" he screamed. "We are still... going up!? Out of the water!? We are... flying!?"
"Impossible! This submarine weighs almost twenty thousand tons!" another sailor exclaimed. “There is nothing that can lift it into the air…!”
The driver was so pale that no one would have been surprised if he fainted: "Captain... we're moving southeast at... fuck, we're almost at Mach 1...!"
Suddenly it was as if the submarine had hit something, or rather, as if until then it had been on the edge of a step and had suddenly slipped down. "We've landed..." the captain muttered as he tried to stay calm. "Men... be ready to..."
Suddenly the top part of the submarine was ripped off as if it were made of papier-mâché. "Aaaah... it's lucky that there are so many islands in these parts" Adam said as he dropped the top of the metal titan he had just took out of the sea.
The people there took several steps back as they saw a completely burned and flayed demon enter. "Fire!" the captain ordered, but all the bullets bounced off Adam as if they had hit a sheet of metal.
"Hey, hey, what are this manners? You've already burned me, do you even want to fill me with lead?" Adam told them, and then part of his body began to regenerate. "Fuck... you guys really hurt me. It's going to take me a while to get myself together"
It was a lie: Adam could have regenerated very quickly if only he had channeled his energy into his demonic regenerating factor, but obviously the humans had no way of verifying this. On the contrary, only one piece of information registered in the minds of those present: even though three thermonuclear bombs had been needed, they had managed to wound the demon.
The captain gritted his teeth, and then he stepped forward: "I gave the order. Take revenge on me and leave the others alone" he told Adam. He knew they had no way to fight that demon, so his duty was to protect his crew with his life.
Adam smiled. "Mh, amazing, captain... you are a military man and yet I see no serious sins on your conscience. I assume you have spent your life on this submarine"
The captain narrowed his eyes slightly. It was like this: he had only driven three submarines in his life, and since they had always been nuclear submarines he had never had to fire at anything. His task was only to navigate along the indicated route and be ready to launch the warheads in the event of an atomic conflict. "Yes, that's right. Therefore, what this submarine does is my responsibility alone. Take me and let others live"
"What nobility of soul, what a spirit of sacrifice" Adam told him. "But you see, captain... I don't like killing people without guilt, so... I'll take him"
And having said that he moved like lightning towards one of the sailors, pinning him to the wall of the submarine before anyone could react. "Afghanistan, mh?" he told him. "I can see it very well. You had orders to wait for a group of refugees along the river and take them away, but instead you preferred to escape without waiting for them and you said it was too late. Two hundred and three people, including eighty-four children, and you abandoned them. You then threatened your men not to say anything, and you drowned the one guy who refused to keep his mouth shut"
The man looked at him with wide eyes: “You… what…?”
"You will be a great pastime for me" Adam told him. "Look me into my eyes!"
The rest of the crew could do nothing but watch helplessly as Adam applied his powers on their comrade. It was a matter of just half a minute, and then he let him go; the man fell to the ground writhing in convulsions, as if he had just risked drowning. Adam looked at him with disgust, and then crushed his head with his foot, instantly crushing it.
The first man headed out. "I'd say I'm done here" he told the captain. "Do me the courtesy of warning your bosses not to disturb me again, okay? I have a duel to complete, I don't have time to deal with you guys". And after those words he opened his wings and took flight.
The captain had remained as still as a statue the entire time, and as soon as Adam was gone he took a deep breath. But even though he was sweating so much that he was in danger of dehydration, he ran towards the radio, still intact and functioning, and immediately he shouted: "Central Command, the creature has been seriously injured! The bombs worked... we just need more power! These beings... they can be hurt!" he screamed. "If they can be hurt, they can be killed! I repeat, these beings can be killed!"
While he flew away, a big grin formed on Adam's smug face.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/156377596
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/157207750
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 66: The same
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It took a while for Charlie to emerge from the ocean: the water pouring into the crater had caused a swirling current that had trapped her at the bottom while several tons of the heavy liquid continued to fall on top of her. Only when the situation had calmed down a bit did she manage to resurface and began to float above sea level, amidst the thick mist that had been created.
It didn't take long before Adam returned and reappeared in front of her. "I hope you enjoyed the break" he told her.
“Urgh… what did you do?” Charlie murmured as he caught his breath.
“Oh, I just disciplined my kids a little” Adam replied to her with a smirk. "Now they know what awaits them and how they should behave"
Charlie clenched her fists. "You don't have killed them...!"
"You know I don't kill innocents" Adam told her. "Should I punish them because they tried to kill a demon? It's certainly not a sin. I just broke their vehicle a little and left them stranded, someone will come and collect them"
Charlie wasn't sure that Adam hadn't killed anyone, since he had only said that he didn't kill innocents, and that didn't mean there wasn't someone who wasn't innocent among the people who blew up that island... but she knew that she had no way to verify it, so she avoided insisting. Rather, she immediately got into an attacking position, suspecting that Adam would strike her at any moment.
The first man let out a snort. “Good, I see you're already ready to continue. Alright, I can't wait too"
Charlie narrowed her eyes. "Before we continue, do you want to tell me why you're doing all this?" she asked him. "Give me a clear answer this time!"
Adam remained silent for a long moment, as if he were reflecting; he raised his arm slightly and looked at the angelic cuff placed on it. And then he crossed his arms over his chest and said: "Yeah, I'd say you earned it. You can consider it your reward for pushing me this far"
Charlie's heart trembled slightly. She didn't abandon her defensive pose: the first man had relaxed, but she knew he could still attack her at any moment. Her attention level rose so much that she could almost count the movements of Adam's lips.
The first man's face became serious. "There are several reasons why I'm doing this. The first is that it's right for you to rediscover your true nature" he told her. "You are Lilith's daughter, my equal, and although there is bad blood between us, this makes you human. You are not a demon, you were just born in Hell, but the same blood that is in my veins flows in you too. And despite the place where you found yourself living, you didn't allow the sins to accumulate on you. I can't say that you are a saint... but neither you are a monster like those scum you surround yourself with"
"My friends aren't scum" Charlie hissed.
"I know you don't like to hear it, but that's the way it is. Maybe they're better now, but when you met them the first time, you definitely chose to keep them around just because you didn't have anything better available" Adam replied. "Am I wrong?"
Charlie looked down slightly. "No" she admitted.
“Yeah” Adam sighed. "Hell is not the world you belong to, little princess. You were only born there through an unfortunate chain of events. You did nothing to deserve that. You may call that place home, but you know you hate it deep down. Why aspire to Heaven otherwise?"
Charlie didn't have the strength to answer him.
Adam paused, and then he flew toward her, stopping right in front of her. He stared at her intently for a long moment, and then said: "I made a mistake with you"
Charlie looked at him in surprise. She had never expected to hear those words from him. "What?"
"You heard me right. I was wrong with you, and I admit it" Adam told her. His face had changed, abandoning every type of playful and teasing expression, leaving room only for an incredibly serious one that Charlie had never thought she would have seen on him. "When I looked at you I didn't see you, I only saw your father. I thought you were like him. But now I see the truth. You are just as human as I am and the billions of souls I have protected since immemorial time, and you have a big heart. You just wanted to do what was right for others. In a way, you and I are the same"
Charlie looked up in surprise. "The same...?"
"Yes. With a few thousand years of experience of difference, but otherwise, you are just like me. And you proved it in this fight" Adam told her. "Even if your life is at stake, it is not to it that your attention is directed, but to your friends. Your heart is all for them. You want to save them from their suffering. You are just like me in every way. You just defended the wrong people... I understand it, you didn't have the means to comprehend how the world really worked and I behaved badly towards you. It was my fault, I should have intervened right away instead of just trying to crush you. But now I know that what I have to do is not to punish you, but to teach you how this reality unfortunately works". His eyes narrowed: "When you finally understand what is right to fight for, you will be ready to take my place as Head Exorcist"
Charlie's eyes widened. “What… what did you say!?”
"You heard me right" Adam told her. "I want you to take my place"
"What... how... WHY!?" Charlie shouted. "What are you saying!? Why should you want me to take your position!?"
Adam let out a deep sigh. "Because when I finish my work, the Exorcists will no longer need a general... they will need someone to remind them of the values of kindness and purity" he told her. "My soldiers have fallen as I have, because of me. And I am not the right man to repair what has been broken. I can only teach them to fight and lead them into battle, but such qualities will soon be useless. When the evil will have been eradicated from the universe, they will need a leader who will allow the light in their hearts, the same light that I have dimmed, to shine again"
Charlie was paralyzed. Her brain was having an extremely hard time processing what she was hearing. “So you expect… me to… redeem them?”
"I wouldn't call it redemption, more a return to their original condition" Adam replied to her.
“You…” Charlie was struggling to even speak. "Why me!?"
Adam let out a deep breath. "You're shocked, I understand. But I'm not taking this decision lightly" he told her. "I have led the angelic army so long that I know every component in detail. I know what characteristic a leader needs, and after thousands of years I have never found anyone I was sure could actually take my place if I were indisposed. Lute is tenacious, strong and determined, but... she is still just a soldier. And a leader cannot be just a soldier... well, not a leader that aim to serve the Almighty, at least. Vaggie is good, but too passive. But you... you are different. Like I told you, you're just like me. You don't just fight, you look for new ways to help people. You are not blinded by pride or prejudice, and you put the lives of others above your own. Your only wish is to protect, and you can do it both in your words and in your hands. These are qualities that the next commander of the celestial army must have, because what my soldiers will have in front of them will not be just a battlefield. And when you have understood who are the people who really need to be protected, when you have denied your demonic side and fully embraced your human side, I have no doubt that you will be the right person to guide them. The only one who has within her the strength of ancient humanity and the heart capable of conceiving completely new thoughts, the only one who will be able to guide the Exorcists... and all of humanity... towards a new destiny. Through you, the name of the Morningstars, so stained by your father, will be cleansed"
Charlie's breathing was quickening. "No... no, that doesn't make sense" she stammered, trying to stay calm. "You are the Head Exorcist! You lead your soldiers! What do I have to do with it? Why...?" Charlie suddenly fell silent. "Adam... you want to go back to Heaven... don't you?"
Adam let out a deep snort through his nostrils. "Only the Almighty can judge me and decide this" he replied. "If when I have completed my plan He wants me back, I will be happy to oblige Him. But if that is not enough, then so be it. I am confident that I will be able to do it myself, but in the event that cowardice and greed can infect me too... someone else will have to end my life"
Charlie gave a start and flew back a couple of meters. She didn't even know why she was doing it, but she felt like she was touching something that was burning her. "You... this is all wrong! Don't you realize what you're saying!?" she exclaimed. "How can you just passively accept death!? You should be sad, or angry at yourself, or pissed off, or at least aspire to go home... why are you so calm instead!?"
Adam took on a strange look. He didn't seem angry or tired, just... comprehensive. “Do you have any idea how old I am, little princess?” he asked her.
Charlie was taken aback by that question. “You… are… ten thousand years old, right…?”
Adam shook his head. "Ten thousand years is just how long Hell existed, and even after it began to exist... time didn't always flow the same way" he explained to her. "Before the Great Flood, each year passed on a divine basis. A single year of that era was equivalent to seventy-seven years of this era"
Charlie blanched. "Seventy-seven years...?"
"Why do you think humans calculated from fossils that our species has existed for almost two hundred thousand years? Because that's the case. The Great Flood occurred 2,500 years after the Fall... but based on the current time system, it actually happened 192,500 years after that moment. If we calculate everything with the current time stream, I and Eve lost Eden exactly 200,000 years ago" Adam said. "But that's nothing, because I've been around long before the Fall. When I was born, time literally didn't exist yet. Tell me, do you really think I could name every single living species on this planet in just a few years? Only the animals had over four billion different species, not counting all the plants, fungi, and trillions of microorganisms. Even assuming that I did nothing but name life forms from morning to night and immediately had inspiration, how long do you think it will take for give a name to them all?"
Charlie couldn't answer; her mind felt like it had just exploded. Numbers she had never even considered appeared before her eyes with such violence that it was almost overwhelming. Suddenly, those ten thousand years that she had always thought were the entire history of the universe seemed completely futile.
Adam noticed her discomfort, and sighed. "I haven't lived for ten thousand years. Life on this planet hasn't existed for just ten thousand years, and paleontologists know this well; sure, they make a lot of mistakes, but they don't make mistakes about dating fossils" he told her. "Based on the current time system, I have existed for hundreds of millions of years. Can you vaguely imagine what that means?"
Charlie lowered her head and stared at the water beneath her. Her body trembled as she tried to imagine what it was like to live this long. She couldn't give herself a single answer, all those numbers just seemed too much, no matter how she looked at them.
Adam came closer to her again, though he did so slowly, as if he didn't want to scare her. "For someone like me, after such a long existence... and after spending thousands of years observing nothing but the results of his greatest failure... his life means little" he told her. "By now to me there is no difference between staying in Heaven, Hell or Earth. Everywhere I look I only see reminders of how terrible things are here on this corrupted and twisted planet, of how much my children are suffering and begging for help. At this point, life is no longer a priority for me. The mission is the priority. If my life is the price to pay so that my children can finally live in peace, so be it"
Charlie tried desperately to say something, but even she didn't know what words to use. "You... you can't be serious...!" she barely murmured. “Fuck, you… how can you be like this…!”
"Would you get yourself killed if it could save your friends?" Adam interrupted her.
Charlie was speechless. "What...?"
"Answer the question" Adam told her.
Charlie bit her lip. "Well... yes" she said sincerely.
"Then you know I'm serious" Adam murmured. "I told you... we're the same"
Charlie lowered her head, finding no reason to argue. She felt overwhelmed by what the first man was saying.
Adam put a hand on her shoulder. It was a strange, almost paternal contact. "Hell is not your world" he repeated to her. "This is your world. Humanity is your true people, and they, those sinful demons, both in life and in death, threaten their existence. But we can change all this. We can put an end to this history of blood and suffering. We can stop wars, give food to the hungry, eradicate disease, fix global warming. We can give this planet a new era of rebirth and development that will erase all the evil that that damned fruit has brought upon our kind"
Charlie slowly raised her head and looked him in the eyes. "And what is the price?" she whispered. “Who will have to pay for it?”
Adam's gaze hardened. "Only those who deserve it. Those who have done evil deeds. The sinners. Your father..."
At those last words a flame seemed to light up in Charlie's eyes; she pushed the first man's hand away and jumped back, immediately moving away from him. "That's not a price I want to pay!" she told him through clenched teeth.
Adam didn't seem surprised at all. "I imagined this would have been your reaction. Even though Lucifer is a shitty father, he is still your father" he commented. "But unfortunately this is not a point on which I intend to negotiate"
Charlie raised her fists. "I will stop you!"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "You can try!" he answered her, and he moved extremely fast. Charlie had just enough time to see him approaching to block his blow, but she was still violently pushed back; Adam opened a portal behind her, causing her to fall onto a cold and hard surface and then immerse herself in a freezing liquid.
She resurfaced and realized she had landed on an ice floe. She was probably at the North Pole, since the sun was fixed in the sky and it was always night in the South Pole at that time of year. Adam landed next to her without moving his arms from their crossed position. "You are letting your emotions control you. You are again allowing a selfish desire to control you. You know that Lucifer must pay. It's not for revenge, it's simple justice"
"Shut the fuck up!" Charlie yelled at him as she stood up. "I won't be your fucking pawn! You won't turn me against my family! You don't know shit about me!"
A strange smile appeared on Adam's face. "Maybe, although I seriously doubt it. But it matters little. Soon you and I will have a lot of time to get to know each other well. You will be my new adopted daughter... as soon as I will kill your father!"
After those last words he lunged towards him again, clearly intending to continue the fight, but suddenly he stopped. Charlie heard a strange sound, as if thunder had exploded right above them; she looked up, but what she saw was only a clear sky. And she didn't miss Adam's tense face. "What is it? What's going on?"
The first man grumbled a little. "I'm afraid we made too much noise" he said through gritted teeth.
Suddenly the Northern Lights appeared in the sky, even though it was broad daylight; the sun seemed to turn blue and the sky turned white, making the dancing colors more evident than ever. And from that aurora emerged a multicolored light that came down extremely fast and hit Adam squarely, who just like Charlie fell straight into the ice and disappeared under it.
Charlie had narrowed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again she clearly saw six large wings in front of her. And looming over her was a face she knew very well. "Dad...?"
No... no, that angel was not her father. He was different. Taller, with more mature features. A shining armor of light covered him, and after a second it dissolved emitting a powerful aura of royalty. The pressure was so intense that Charlie slipped to her knees, unable to stand in his presence.
Could it be that he was…?
Adam emerged from the hole in the ice sputtering water. “Ugh… yeah, I guess I deserved it, best buddy” he told the angel. "I missed you too, Michael"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 13): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154844662
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 24): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158299189
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 67: The Taxiarch
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The descent of the archangel Michael was like a bolt from the blue across the entire Earth. Every kind of life form, even the smallest bacteria, sensed his arrival, and everyone stopped, moved by the ancestral instinct that led them to show absolute respect.
In the African savannah, the ferocious lions stopped chasing gazelles. The zebras and wildebeests stopped their run. The crocodiles emerged from the river and the hippos followed close behind. The mighty rhinos crouched on the ground, and even the enormous elephants seemed to bow and trumpeted in admiration and respect.
In the Amazon jungle, the jaguars ceased their hunt. The capybaras, normally not frightened by anything, trembled and dropped to their feet. The large anacondas came out of their hiding places and raised their heads despite the awkward position for their serpentine bodies, moving as if they were dancing. The numerous colorful birds flew into the sky and began to sing at the top of their lungs, regardless of whether they were prey or predators, in an enormous multi-ethnic flock that seemed to be singing hymns to the sky.
In the vast American prairies, the wolves all woke up together and began to howl. The mighty bison froze and lowered their heads and closed their eyes. Even the fast wild horses stopped their run and neighed, and then bowed on their front legs. The crafty raccoons or the ferocious opossums did not remain indifferent and crouched on the ground. Even the grizzlies were struck by a feeling of fear they had never felt, and they bowed respectfully.
In the Asian forests, the enormous tigers, the largest and most powerful cats on the planet, stopped feasting on their prey and roared at the sky. The Asian elephants trumpeted and moved their trunks like a tribal dance. The monkeys fell silent and began to clap their hands and walk around in circles, like men around a bonfire. Foxes, snakes and bats lowered themselves and bowed respectfully to the sky.
In the hot, parched Australian wilderness, the kangaroos stopped fighting each other, the cassowaries stopped patrolling their territories, the saltwater crocodiles froze, and all the spiders, snakes and birds raised themselves on their little bodies, exposing themselves to any predator, in a sort of absolute demonstration of respect. Even the sea snails emerged from the water and engaged in a slow but continuous dance.
In the sea, all creatures stopped swimming. They felt it even more, because an even deeper memory was imprinted in their blood, the memory of a world that was destroyed by an immense flood that submerged everything. Surrounded by water all their lives, they remembered well how it had once suffocated the whole Earth by order of divine power. The sharks stopped chasing the herring, the killer whales stopped hunting the seals, the sperm whales stopped attacking the giant squids; even the immense blue whales threw themselves out of the water and raised their voices in a chorus the likes of which had never been heard. All the fish, the cetaceans, and even the seals and penguins gathered in great vortices of creatures that danced continuously, in perfect rhythm with the chorus of the whales and other large mammals; at the North Pole, even polar bears, the largest terrestrial carnivores, jumped into the water to join in that demonstration of respect.
Human beings did not understand the reason for that absurd phenomenon which had no biological, naturalistic or even scientific explanation. They, corrupted at the beginning of time by the evil fruit, and with their instincts erased by thousands of years removed from the natural state, did not feel that sensation. Yet, they too sensed something. Everyone in the world who was doing an evil deed, no matter what it was, suddenly felt a strong terror in their hearts; those who were doing nothing, be it good or bad, felt a feeling of respect mixed with fear; and those who were instead doing a good deed felt more inspired than ever, and their hearts warmed and filled with good intentions.
As Heaven's most powerful angel, the great Taxiarch, the mightest of mightest, descended to Earth, the world itself seemed to sense his coming.
Even Charlie, despite her demonic heritage, could not remain indifferent to having Michael so close, and she observed him carefully. The archangel wasn't very tall, he was just a little bigger than a normal person, and he wasn't too muscular nor too thin: he looked like an average person, yet every inch of him seemed to exude an aura of pure strength. Every action of his, even his simple walking, could not be defined in any other way other than beautiful. He wore a dark blue robe that recalled the starry sky, with yellow edges shining like the light of the sun; At his waist he wore a sword, which seemed to be composed of pure light and shone with a thousand colors like the dawn. From his shoulders descended six snow-white wings that fell to the ground like a cloak.
But what caught Charlie's attention the most was undoubtedly the face. It was identical to her father's, but smoother, more pronounced; he showed a maturity she had never seen in Lucifer. His blonde hair was longer and was kept in a ponytail that fell to his shoulders. On the top of his head was a halo, which seemed to orbit around him like the rings of a gaseous planet. His eyes were blue and free of any imperfection, and the mere movement of his pupils seemed to be able to shatter mountains.
The final result could not be defined in any other way than perfect warrior.
Michael took a few steps toward Adam, and the ice itself seemed to flatten and become less slippery, as if to ease his path. The first man was rubbing the spot where the archangel had just hit him. "You haven't lost your touch" he commented. "Don't apologize, I expected such a reaction..."
“I warn you, I'm not in a good mood” Michael said, and as soon as he spoke it seemed as if thunder had embodyed itself in his voice.
Adam chuckled. "I guess that's understandable" he said, trying to get up. "I should have..."
Michael grabbed him with both arms and lifted him until his face was in front of his head. The archangel seemed to boil from the inside, and the entire glacier trembled. Charlie expected that at any moment he would have hurled Adam back into the water, or perhaps across the seabed to the Earth's core...
Instead, the unexpected happened: after that very brief exchange of glances, Michael pulled Adam towards him and held him in a strong hug. "You fucking idiot" he growled. "We've been looking for you for days"
Adam looked apologetic and, to Charlie's surprise, hugged him back. "Yes... I'm sorry, best buddy" he murmured. "I should have tried to warn you. Were you very worried...?"
"We all were" Michael said, breaking the hug. "You disappeared after you died. We searched the judgment hall, we searched everywhere in all of Heaven. They were all scared. Sera, the elders, your soldiers... and her too"
Charlie heard a flutter of wings coming down from the sky, and turning around she saw a familiar figure appear in the midst of that aurora: Lute landed in the same place where Michael had landed. Adam smiled when he saw her: "Hey, Danger Tits... it's good to see you again..."
Lute punched him in the teeth, knocking him to the ground; but having done this she did not stop and even kicked him two times powerfully. Adam didn't react, even though he could have easily blocked her, or even thrown her away as if she were made of paper. She threw herself on top of him and started punching him. "You..." she growled, accompanying each word with a new blow. "... are... a... true... moron!"
Lute stood up and looked down at him. “Get up” she hissed at him. "Don't stand there and take blows just to please me. Get up and fight"
Adam didn't move. "I won't do it"
“Oh, you will instead, you piece of shit!” Lute yelled at him, kicking him in the gut again. "You made me think you were dead! I saw you die in front of me! You left me alone for two weeks! I needed Lilith to know what you were up to! And as soon as I see you again you even lost your angelic body, you're not even you anymore!"
Charlie swallowed. Lute apparently had quite a bit of pent-up anger towards Adam. Well, given the situation it was understandable... but still she was a little worried. "Damn... where does she get that from?"
Adam didn't change his displeased expression. "I'm sorry" he told her. "I know you're angry and disappointed..."
"Fuck you!" Lute yelled at him, and a few tears formed on her face. "I thought you were dead, you dickhead...!"
Adam lowered his head. “Were you in mourning?”
"In your opinion!?" was Lute's acid reply. "I had to hear from Lilith that you were still alive! Lilith! Can you realize it!?"
Adam sighed. "I wanted to tell you. I tried while he was dying... but my trachea was punctured" he told her. “I'm sorry I haven't shown up all this time. I... I didn't know how to contact you without exposing myself"
Lute stared at him intently for a long moment, and then her furious face seemed to melt. She closed her eyes and began to sob, and as if she had suddenly lost all her strength she collapsed on top of him crying. Adam simply raised his hand and gently stroked her hair.
Seeing that the situation had calmed down at least a little, Michael, who had been waiting on the sidelines until then, stepped forward: "What happened, Adam? Was it Lucifer...?"
"No, he had nothing to do with it. If that idiot had managed to do something like this, do you think he would have stopped himself from bragging about it?" Adam answered him. "I don't know exactly what happened, as you well know, no one can understand God's will. I could only accept my new condition and resume my work"
"Lute informed us of everything" Michael told him. "What are you doing, Adam? For what fucking reason did you let Lilith into Heaven for in the first place? And why didn't I know anything about it?"
Adam let out a grunt. "Sorry, best buddy, but I knew you would have objected"
"Of course I would have objected!" Michael replied. "Why on earth would I want my degenerate brother's slut in our house!?"
“Because sometimes a small compromise is necessary to bring about the fulfillment of a greater plan” Adam told him. “And as you can see, it was a compromise that paid off”
Michael was clearly irritated, but still calmed his anger. "Why didn't you try to contact me from the heavenly embassy? I would have helped you"
"Oh, I thought about it. But as I said, I would have exposed myself too much" Adam replied. "Believe me, I didn't like hiding. But I couldn't let Lucifer notice my presence before I had taken all the necessary precautions to prevent him from capturing me"
Michael let out an annoyed grunt, and the grip of his fists seemed to tighten. Adam looked him in the eyes with regret: "Listen, I'm really sorry, best buddy. I know I made you and all the others up there feel worry, and believe me, it's not something I wanted. But circumstances prevented me from avoiding it. I hope you can forgive me"
Michael crossed his arms over his chest. He seemed very irritated, but the anger he had shown a second ago had vanished. "Why didn't you try to contact me as soon as you arrived on Earth? It would have been enough for you to make a little mess like now, instead of wasting time playing with my brother's offspring"
Charlie felt a little bad at being called that. Technically Michael hadn't insulted her, but he still used a somewhat rude tone. "Um... hi, by the way" she murmured, taking a few steps towards them. "My name is Charlie... uncle...?"
“Step aside” Lute growled at her. "This is a matter between angels"
Charlie immediately fell silent at those strong words. But Adam, incredibly, came to her aid: “Don't treat her like that. And yes, Michael, I know you wanted me to avoid wasting time with her, but I couldn't. She needed to learn. I wasn't playing, I was teaching her. You know I can't turn my back on a girl who needs a lesson... in every sense"
Michael looked at him for a moment, and then let out a light chuckle. "You're still the same idiot" he told him with a slight smile, and then he returned serious: "What are you doing here with her? Why are you kidnapping demons, and what do you plan to do with the trident? And why do you have the cross of Christ on your neck?"
Adam's gaze hardened. "I'm doing exactly what I've always done. I'm fighting evil... but this time I want to do it more efficiently"
“And you steal a sacred relic for this?” Michael asked him skeptically, looking at the cross. “You know that, like everything on Earth, that thing is under my protection”
"And everything on Earth rightfully belongs to me. This cross was made on Earth, and as such it is mine" Adam answered him. "As for the protection part... you're doing a great job, I have to say. All of us doing a great job! Humans do nothing but kill each other while we in Heaven flail about idly, and only worry when a demon escapes and creates problems on a large scale, but what about the rest?”
"You know that angels are not allowed to interfere with the free will of humans" Michael reminded him.
"Well, I'm not an angel, not anymore!" Adam answered him. "And I can finally do what I've been planning for years! Michael, my friend, look around you: do you think this madness will ever end if we keep things as they are? Killing the demons is not enough, we are fighting the problem starting from the consequences! There will always be new sinners in Hell if we don't eliminate evil at the root! And I can do it! I can finally put an end to this history of continuous evil, I can give my descendants a new era of peace and prosperity! This new condition of mine is not a curse, best buddy... this is destiny! This is what I was supposed to be!"
"What? A demon?" Michael muttered skeptically.
Adam smiled at him. "You know what they say... to kill a monster, you have to become a monster yourself! So be it! I can be the last monster of humanity! I can be the darkness that will devour the wicked and that will finally allow the light to shine and illuminate the minds and hearts of the righteous!"
Michael had a doubtful and very uncertain look on his face. It was clear that he was wondering if Adam was still completely right in the head. "Listen... I'm sure you have your reasons, so how about we all talk about this together?" he said, holding out his hand. "Come, let's go back to Heaven"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "You know I can't come back"
"We want you, no one will kick you out" Michael told him. "And you used your authority to open the gates to allow even a demon like Lilith to enter, you can do the same with..."
Suddenly Michael's instincts kicked in and he raised his hand, blocking a beam of light with his palm alone. He, Adam, and Lute turned to see Charlie with her hand raised and her fingers positioned to fire the ray. "You...!" the archangel growled. “How dare you challenge me…!?”
But Adam stopped him immediately. "No" he told him. "I am her opponent"
Michael looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You interfered in our fight. That is already a justification of her irritation" Adam told him. "But also she can't let you take me away. She needs me to find the people I kidnapped. And so she can't let me go to Heaven before I confess". His lips broke into a smile while he looked at Charlie: “And just as I imagined… she was ready to face even the strongest warrior of the heavenly hosts to ensure that what she fought for was safe”
"What she fought for? Are you talking about some demon?" Michael asked, then he made an annoyed noise. "Tsk! Who would fight for disgusting beings like that?"
Adam didn't answer him: his gaze was focused on Charlie. Their eyes were fixed on each other, not even blinking. "Michael, my friend... don't interfere"
The archangel raised an eyebrow. "But..."
Adam turned to him and stared at him with determination: "If I win, you have my word that I will follow you to Heaven. But if she wins, let her claim her victory and take me back to Hell. She earned it"
"Sir? What are you doing?" Lute murmured.
Michael stared at Adam for a long moment. And then he smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're still the usual reckless idiot" he commented in a strangely satisfied voice. "I will not dishonor you by further interfering in this fight. Finish what you have started. I will abide by the terms you have set with this girl whether in your victory or your defeat"
Adam chuckled smugly. "I knew you would have understood. After all, you are my best friend" he said starting to advance towards Charlie.
"Sir, this is ridiculous!" Lute protested. "Don't waste your time with that sassy idiotic girl! And you can't put your own freedom on the line like that! A demon isn't worth that much respect!"
Adam turned towards her slightly, and looked at her with a strange look. Lute fell silent and her eyes widened in surprise. And then Adam laughed. "Demon? What are you saying, Lute? I don't see any demons on this glacier" he told her, then he stared at Charlie intently. "This... is just a battle between humans"
Lute didn't understand the meaning of those words, but her general's tone of voice made her fully understand that he had no intention of backing down. The challenge had already been issued, and he would not have retired from the fight. And it would have been dishonorable if she had dared to intervene to help him. So, even though she was against it, she respected his wishes and remained still where she was, just like Michael.
Adam moved forward until he was in front of Charlie. “I hope you used wisely this pause to prepare a new strategy" he told her, then he raised his arm where the angelic cuff was. "My powers are now reduced by half, but not my strength. You still have to put one on me, and then be able to send me through a portal to win"
"I know" Charlie replied, clenching her fists. "Let's end this"
Adam smiled. Even in the very fatigued state she was in, Charlie wasn't showing the slightest hesitation. Even though she feared him, she was ready to face him. "What a determination" he couldn't refrain from commenting. “Get ready, because just like before, I will fight with all my might. I will not go easy on you”
"I had no doubts about it" Charlie said letting her power flow through her body. "Bring it on!"
Adam's smirk widened at those words. The first man remained motionless for an istant, and then he moved quickly. A split second later, the ice floe seemed to split in two.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154844701
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 24): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158299189
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 68: New against old
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Husk was left speechless: his mind seemed to have literally exploded. He barely remembered who he was or where he was. His gaze and attention were all directed at Alastor's lifeless body lying on the ground.
Had... had this really happened?
Had someone defeated the radio demon at his maximum power!?
It was impossible! Rosie wasn't Adam, or Lucifer... she wasn't even one of the most powerful overlords...!
How had that woman managed to hide such power until that moment!? And why had she done it!? If she had revealed her abilities to everyone, she would surely have been recognized as the most powerful overlord ever! Carmilla or the Vees were not even remotely comparable with such a force!
But... maybe that's exactly what Rosie wanted to avoid. In fact, overlords tended to want to challenge those in power to get to the top... and in doing so they created more enemies than allies. People like Zestial had to constantly watch their backs to survive. And if everyone knew that you could improve your powers through training, then it would only have been a matter of time before others followed suit and surpassed you.
Yes... in fact, it was much more convenient for Rosie to stay in the shadows and keep her strength as an ace up her sleeve. After all, if Alastor had known right away how dangerous she was, he certainly wouldn't have given her enough time to reach her perfect stage.
Rosie was visibly shaking; her body was struggling to maintain its shape, as she was now completely drained of all energy. To create her perfect body she had to not only stretch and lengthen all her muscles, bones and tendons, but also keep them in that position. The energy expenditure she had incurred was nothing short of immense, much higher than that of her normal overlord form.
She raised her claws again. Alastor was now defenseless on the ground: she just had to chop him into small pieces so that he no longer represented a threat. In a single motion, she brought her hand down, with the clear intent of slicing his head in half.
But Alastor moved suddenly: he turned on his side and with the hand he still had he blocked her claws. “I… haven't…” he hissed. "... finished!"
And with those words he pushed her back, and then using his hand as a counterweight he backed away a few meters. Even though he had been cut in half and was clearly in pain, he didn't show the slightest strain on his face.
Their spectators were speechless. "It... it's not possible... he can still move!?" Cherri exclaimed trembling.
"D-Don't panic! He's done anyway by now!" Angel tried to reassure both the others and himself. "His body is a sieve! Even with his demonic regeneration, he can't…!"
The shadows suddenly enveloped Alastor; as if they were prosthetics, they replaced the missing parts of his body. Some of them became an arm, some the legs, some the pelvis; within moments, Alastor was back on his feet, his body completely rebuilt in shadow form. "Shall we start again?" he asked Rosie, his smile widening.
The cannibal overlord narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't expecting this" she admitted.
"I guess so. I bet you thought I would use my demonic regeneration, wasting energy to accelerate it exponentially?" Alastor told her satisfied. "Unfortunately, unlike you, I can't regrow my body parts by eating... but I can still avoid wasting a lot of power to ensure my physical integrity. My shadows will replace my organs until my natural regeneration has completely rebuilt me in the conventional way"
Rosie let out a little snort, but she didn't lose her confidence. "You're hard to put down. You're really strong, I admit it"
"You too" Alastor confessed. "To be honest, you are the most powerful overlord I have ever fought. Just overlord, of course, I don't mean other kinds of beings like angels or royal demons. Which does you credit. If we had fought even just a couple of days ago, when I hadn't broken my chain yet, I wouldn't have had a chance. And even now that I'm at my full power it was a very difficult fight"
“Should I take that as a compliment?” Rosie asked him raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed. There are few who can boast of having heard me speak with such admiration" Alastor answered her, and then his eyes flashed red: "However, your greatest weakness is starting to make itself felt. If you could keep fighting like you did before, you would most likely end up actually defeating me. But you can't do that, right? Now your energy is running out"
Rosie gritted her teeth. Unfortunately it was true: she had no chance of fighting like she had before. However, she was not about to give up. "I still have one card to play!"
And having said that, her body became smaller and more stunted: the bony plates on her back, already damaged by Alastor's previous attack, completely disappeared, as did the spines and spines. Her claws also shrank in size and her wings disappeared, replaced by legs clearly suited to a ferocious charge. Only her head, tail and hind legs remained unchanged.
Alastor made a radio sound. "Brilliant... to conserve the little energy you have left, you have reduced your body by completely eliminating defense, focusing exclusively on attack. Less muscle tension and less bone strain, and therefore less wasted energy"
"I devoured a big piece of you" Rosie told him. "So I've absorbed a great deal of strength. I don't have much energy left, so I might as well use it all now, and see who wins"
Alastor's grin became more monstrous than ever. “I agree” he said. "And since you've been totally honest with me, I'll do the same with you. I'll show you my ace in the hole! And know that you're only the second person to have had the privilege of seeing this!"
Their spectators opened their eyes wide. "What!? So... that tree attack wasn't his finishing move!?" Angel exclaimed.
"That's not possible, he's bluffing!" Vaggie murmured trembling. "He can't have something even more powerful...!"
Suddenly, it was as if a veil had been removed from the world. The darkness of the night moved and took on a consistency, as if it were a cloak: it slithered as if it were a serpent towards Alastor and entered his body. Every form of energy, whether wind, light, heat, or even the simple movement of molecules, was captured and dragged with the shadows, converging on the radio demon's limbs. Everything that was on the hill and had a minimum of energy was absorbed, even life forms; even the Exorcists would have met the same fate if they hadn't all taken off. The demons were almost grabbed themselves, but Velvette acted quickly and generated a barrier with her pixels, preventing them from being absorbed.
Suddenly, it was as if looking at Alastor they saw something else: instead of the radio demon there was an endless forest, dark and silent, perfect hunting territory. Alastor was both hunter and animal, predator and prey; he was the night, the bestiality, the forest and all its inhabitants. It was as if an entire corner of the world had literally concentrated in him, and all their strength was his. His shadow seemed to change and rise behind him, creating the image of a monstrous deer, a perfect representation of all living things in the forest.
All the energy that the radio demon had absorbed converged in his horns, which grew even more, becoming a stage of absolute grandeur, which just looking at it seemed capable of breaking any obstacle with one blow. In those antlers now lay the strength of an entire forest, pulsating like a living being.
"This is my most powerful attack" Alastor told Rosie. "My true essence. I am the predator that consumes everything. I am the forest that steals everything and devours with its roots. I am the hunter who comes silently and fires his relentless rifle. Get ready, because now you are the my goal, and the next thing you'll feel is oblivion!"
Rosie took a step back, but then she stopped. Her body tensed and her expression became extremely serious. Her shape changed again: her tail abandoned its powerful shape, reducing itself to the minimum necessary to ensure stability. Instead, the horns on her head grew, becoming more massive and sharper, and the muscles in her legs thickened to provide her with more power. She got into position clearly intending to charge.
Alastor looked at her with almost crazy eyes. The horns on his head looked like they were about to explode from the immense amount of energy within them. "Do you want to end it with a head-to-head?" he asked her. "So be it. We'll see who will prevail: the power of an entire forest or the strength of the ancient dinosaurs! New against old!"
“Is it too much to ask you to shut up and fight?” Rosie asked him in a tired voice. She wouldn't have had another chance after that attack, her energy was at its limit. She had to use everything immediately, and not waste time.
Alastor made a noise that sounded like a mix between a deer's bleat and the sound of a gunshot. "I will crush you, even if it means reducing the whole of Golgotha to crumbs!"
They both moved at the same time; the short distance between them disappeared in an instant, and where they passed the ground was disturbed, creating a stripe. Their horns collided with such force that they generated a shock wave; they both planted their paws in the ground and pushed harder and harder. The power of their attack was so immense that sparks were generated every time they moved slightly while they were locked in that head-to-head battle.
The ground shook, and then broke beneath their feet: they both began to sink as clods of earth were shifted behind them. In the center, just below where their horns were colliding, the ground literally split in two. The entire hill began to move as if it were tearing apart.
"Shit! They're not holding back at all!" Angel murmured. "Husk, your plan?"
"Wait a little more!" Husk answered him through clenched teeth. "Alastor is still too guarded... even though he is focused on Rosie, his attention is still on protecting his entire body for fear that she will take advantage of the situation to attack him in some other way elsewhere. No... it's not the right moment. I have to wait for him to win..."
"We don't have too much time left!" Cherri exclaimed as she tried to balance herself on the shaking ground. "If they continue like this, they'll split the hill in half!"
Alastor and Rosie looked at each other's eyes. Thanks to the position of their horns, they could see each other's faces well. Rosie was gritting her teeth and sweating, while Alastor, although clearly straining himself, was still much calmer, and his pupils betrayed his excitement. With each passing second Rosie used every ounce of strength she had left to maintain her position, but the power the radio demon was exerting on her was so overwhelming it felt like she was trying to stop an avalanche with her bare hands.
Ultimately, her body began to be pushed backwards. Her paws slipped, leaving deep furrows in the ground. Alastor noticed this and pushed even harder, really putting all his strength into that attack. The sparks generated by their horns looked like a fire.
And then, Rosie completely lost her grip on the ground. Totally at the mercy of the radio demon, she was thrown away as if she were a twig, completely hit by that immense destructive force. She rolled for at least ten meters, maybe even fifteen, and then she passed out. Her body lost its overlord form, returning to its normal appearance.
Alastor raised his head. His horns returned to normal size. “Crazy” he murmured. “Even with my most powerful attack, you forced me to put a little effort"
His still intact hand rose towards Rosie, and a small orb of shadow formed at the tips of his fingers. “Thank you” he said, even though she was passed out and couldn't hear him. "I don't think I'll ever find an opponent like you very soon. Someone stronger and more powerful, sure... but no one capable of fighting like you did. I will take your teachings to heart. But now, unfortunately, it's time to..."
"NOW!"
Husk didn't wait a second longer: years and years spent with Alastor had allowed him to understand his body language perfectly, and he therefore knew perfectly well that in that moment his attention was totally focused on the woman passed out in front of him. As he had predicted, once he had overcome his arrogance it had gotten the better of him, causing him to lower his guard. They wouldn't have had another chance! “Niffty, go hug him!” Husk exclaimed as he grabbed the cyclops maid, and he threw her with all his strength towards the radio demon.
Niffty wasn't the least bit angry at that gesture; on the contrary, she laughed in her usual maniacal way. "Hug! Hug!"
"Hug?" Alastor repeated in confusion, an instant before Niffty landed on his face, completely blocking his view. "What the...!? What are you...!?"
Suddenly he was no longer able to move: an enormous mass of pixels surrounded him, blocking him on all sides and preventing him from even opening his fingers. "Whatever you want to do, do it now!" Velvette screamed. "I won't be able to hold it for long!"
"Cherri, take Rosie away and get ready to cover our escape!" Husk said. "Vaggie, throw me and Angel into Alastor's ribcage!"
Vaggie had many doubts about it, but she didn't ask questions: she knew they didn't have time for that, and besides the cat demon had asked her to trust him and she had promised him, so she had to do it. She grabbed both Husk and Angel in her hands and took flight, rising as if she were a plane leaving the landing strip, generating so much force that as soon as she released her grip both demons flew straight into the radio demon's ribcage.
Alastor was still in his giant form, and as soon as Niffty landed in his face he moved backwards slightly before Velvette blocked him, thus exposing his chest; Husk and Angel landed on it and grabbed onto his exposed ribs. But the cat demon wasted no time in trying to destroy his heart (or rather, the many pieces of the heart that for some reason were separated in his chest and still beating like a real heart), but instead he entered his ribcage and reached out to take what he wanted: the Asmodeus crystal, positioned just under his sternum, in the safest place on his body. "Angel, get me out and let's run!"
Angel didn't need to be told again and grabbed the cat demon's tail, dragging him out, and then using his spider-like agility and Alastor's ribs as leverage he leaped to a safe distance; the radio demon already seemed to be on the verge of recovering and was crumbling Velvette's pixels, but Cherri threw her bombs at him to distract him and cover their escape. Alastor let out a roar and with his shadows finally broke the cage that Velvette had created, and removed Niffty from his face (who was still convinced that she was hugging him), but his eyes widened as soon as he saw that Husk had the Asmodeus crystal aimed towards him. "Husker! I order you to…!"
Too late: his mouth was literally sliced in half. Indeed, his entire head was severed in half when a portal opened right in the middle of it, breaking every bond of matter, and then closed again immediately afterwards. The top of Alastor's head fell away from his body as if it had just been cut off by a chainsaw; the radio demon quickly began using shadows to create a body for himself again, but as soon as he locked eyes with Husk, he realized he wouldn't have time. “Fuck you, asshole” was what the cat demon told him before activating the crystal again.
This time the portal opened in the middle of his skull, slicing his brain in half. The two halves of Alastor's head fell lifelessly to the ground, followed by the now decapitated body with a thunderous boom.
Angel let out a sigh of relief. "Good idea" he said, punching Husk's shoulder.
"We did well. If Rosie hadn't tired him so much and caught his interest, we would have failed" Husk murmured. "Quick, Vaggie, use your angelic spear and kill him now that he is defenseless!"
Alastor wasn't dead, of course; sooner or later his head would have regenerated and from there the rest of his body. The only way to kill him was to use an angelic weapon, and the portal created by Asmodeus crystal didn't fit the definition: the only thing that could do that job was Vaggie's angelic spear. She knew it, and in fact she didn't hesitate to swoop down towards the severed head, intending to skewer both parts and end the radio demon's life.
But someone got in the way: a second angelic spear parried hers, pushing her back. Vaggie made a sound of surprise and dismay as another Exorcist stepped in front of her. "Shit... don't interfere...!"
“The boss still needs him,” the Exorcist told her. “It was a good show, but now get over it…!”
A wave of pixels hit her head-on, reducing her to ash in a fraction of a second. "Hey, you dumbasses, maybe it's not clear to you, but I'm an overlord too! And for you I'm more than enough!" Velvette screamed. "And what are you waiting for!? Move!"
Vaggie trembled. She didn't know why, but her mind was in a total state of confusion at that moment. "Did you kill her...?"
"Have you become more stupid than before!? They are immortal, you idiot! I only disintegrated her body, her soul is still with her master!" Velvette told him. "And besides, they're our enemies! So if you're done standing around like a moron, get busy and fight by all means!"
The Exorcists fell on Velvette all at once, clearly trying to beat her with the numerical majority, but she wasn't bothered in the slightest: the only people in that rabble she feared were the first man and the radio demon, everyone else was just cannon fodder in her eyes. While she wasn't the strongest overlord of all, she was still far more powerful than the average sinner, and in fact she only needed to unleash her power to burn three more of them to ash.
Vaggie recovered and raised her spear again to pierce the radio demon's head, but another Exorcist jumped in and kicked the remains away before she could hit them. It was Mari. Vaggie changed the trajectory of the spear an instant before it hit her, and only stuck it into the ground. “Hey, thanks for not hitting me!” she told her.
Another Exorcist appeared behind Vaggie, and she reacted an instant before she could strike her with her sword. "What's the matter, traitor? Now you have qualms about killing us?" she asked her with a mocking smile.
"You fucking...!!!" Velvette exclaimed furiously, and with a barrage of pixels she disintegrated. "You crippled and useless angel, can you please wake up!?"
"Too late!" another Exorcist exclaimed appearing behind Husk; the cat demon reacted and dodged just in time, but she snatched the Asmodeus crystal from his hands and opened a portal: "Mari! Go!"
Mari nodded and grabbed the remains of Alastor's head, and immediately she flew towards the portal; Velvette tried to disintegrate her but several other Exorcists jumped in to shield her. Vaggie took flight and managed to anticipate her ex-companion, preventing her from entering the portal. "Stop!"
But Mari didn't look intimidated. "Otherwise, Vaggie? Are you going to skewer me?" she asked her. "You know we wouldn't die anyway. Why are you hesitant to hurt us now?"
"I..." Vaggie tried to act strong, but the tremor in her hands was obvious. She wanted to kill Alastor once and for all, but for some reason, now just the thought of hurting the other Exorcists made her stomach turn.
Mari smiled, but it wasn't mocking: it seemed more like understanding. "You know I can't let you kill the radio demon, not without Adam's permission. If you want to stop me, you have to kill me" she told her. "But you won't do that, will you?"
Vaggie stood with her spear raised for a moment longer, and then she gave up: she lowered her head and her weapon. "No" she admitted.
Mari flew to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. "I was sure of it. See? You're not that hopeless... and now we all know it". And after those words she passed through the portal, returning the remains of Alastor's head to Hell.
"Fuck! We have to stop her!" Angel exclaimed, and he tried to jump on the Exorcist who had stolen the crystal, but she laughed mockingly and with a single movement of her hand closed the portal.
"NO!" Husk screamed seeing this. Damn, they missed their chance...!
"Ah! In your face, you stupid demons!" the Exorcist holding the crystal laughed. "Hey, Vaggie, I wasn't expecting this from you! Maybe we were a little too harsh with...!"
She was unable to utter another word: Velvette let out a scream of rage and disintegrated her in an instant. The social overlord moved suddenly and blew off the heads of every Exorcist, who had stopped reacting having already fulfilled their function. "DAMN YOU!!!" she shouted with pure fury in her voice. "YOU USELESS ANGEL! YOU LET THAT SUCKER ESCAPE!"
Vaggie didn't listen to her: she landed, and as soon as her feet hit the ground her legs proved too weak to hold her, causing her to slide to her knees. She had an emotional storm inside, and she was having a really hard time making sense of it.
"HOLY MISE YOU BITCH!!!" Velvette continued to scream, emitting pixels as she spoke. "Seriously, you're all a bunch of idiots! Is it possible that you always have to feel guilty at the worst moments!? You ugly sons of a gigantic whore, why the fuck is all this shit happening to me!? What a shitty life, always surrounded by big assholes and crazy heads, as if everyone enjoyed seeing me bent over getting fucked in the ass! As far as I'm concerned, you damn fags can go have a fucking sadomasochistic session with a goddamn pig!!!"
She stopped to catch her breath, and judging by how much she was panting, she must have set fire to all the air in her lungs. The others barely raised an eyebrow. "Are you done?" Cherri asked her.
Velvette glared at her. “Oh, everyone go fuck yourself!” she exclaimed in exasperation, then she walked over to Rosie and used her powers to make a dress appear on her, since leaving her naked wasn't an appealing option.
Vaggie bit her lip. "Sorry, guys" she just mumbled. "I... I couldn't"
Cherri, Husk, and Angel looked at each other for a moment, and then they nodded their heads at each other. "Okay. Now get up"
Vaggie's eyes widened in surprise. "What...?"
"We'll be pissed at you after we get home and you explain to us everything that's happened to you since Adam dragged you into that portal" Angel told her. "The battle isn't over. Charlie didn't come back here, so either she's dead or she's still facing Adam. Either way, we need to find her"
Vaggie's eyes widened, remembering her girlfriend. “Fuck… where could they be by now?”
Husk picked up the Asmodeus crystal from the ground. "Luckily Velvette's shot couldn't damage the objects" he commented. He tried to think of Charlie, but no portal opened before him. “Damn… how does this thing work…?”
"Charlie said that when she used the grimoire she asked for a place like Hell" Angel reminded him. “Tell it to take us somewhere where a supernatural battle is going on, there can't be many going on here on Earth”
Husk agreed that it was a good idea, and concentrated as best he could; this time the crystal worked and opened a portal. They crossed it and found themselves in a frozen wasteland, in which sounds similar to those of an explosion rang out. "Uh... there's definitely something going on here" Cherri commented, then she exclaimed: "Hey, look, there's Lute!"
Everyone looked up towards the indicated point and realized that on a small hill (or perhaps it was an iceberg frozen on the ice floe) not far from them there was the lieutenant of the angelic army. And she wasn't alone; as soon as Vaggie saw the angel next to her she blanched. "L... Lord Michael!?"
"What!? You mean... that Michael!?" Husk exclaimed as soon as he heard her, and everyone else's mouths dropped open.
Michael barely turned his gaze towards them. "Oh, you must be that young girl's companions" he commented. "Did you come to see the show?"
"What show? What is he talking...?" Angel murmured as they climbed the iceberg, but as soon as they reached the top all doubts vanished and everyone fell silent. In front of them the ice floe was almost completely shattered, and the ice was reduced to many pieces floating on the water below divided by small fractures; the signs of a battle were evident. And in the midst of that scenario, two very fast shadows continued to hit each other, creating new destruction every time they touched.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 15): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154844995
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 24): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158299189
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 69: Final attack
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam and Charlie exchanged a quick glance, and then their fight resumed with the same violence as before. The ice continually cracked beneath them and the sea water seemed to boil from the force of their blows. But this time, there was something different.
Charlie was fending off Adam's attacks much more efficiently. If before she could only copy a few, now her skill seemed to be accelerated: her nervous system was as if in the midst of an overdose, and the first man appeared slower in her eyes. He was still as fast as a sliver, but that sliver was a little slower in her perspective now.
She didn't know why this was happening. Maybe it was because she now wanted to defeat him at all costs?
Ever since Adam had told her that he would have killed her father, only the desire to stop him had been forming in her heart, and it was as if fire now flowed through her veins instead of blood. Maybe that was what Adam had been talking about? Taking charge of others and turning this into strength?
Well, it certainly was very similar.
Charlie knew she couldn't win based on that alone though. And she knew exactly what to do. Those few minutes of break that Michael and Lute had provided were enough time for her to think of a good strategy. And now she was ready to put it into action.
She just had to find an opening...
Adam knew that she definitely had a plan, and in fact he continued to target her without giving her a moment's respite. With every blow she received, Charlie felt like she was being hit by a missile. Even though he had an angelic handcuff, Adam's strength had not diminished at all, demonstrating that it was actually something of his, with which he had been created, not obtained after death.
In the end she decided there was no point in waiting for him to let his guard down. She had to create an opening. It was risky... but she had to focus on two fronts at once.
While defending herself from his attacks, she used her psychokinesis. Behind Adam's back, a piece of ice rose up, and moving like a fireball hit him straight in the back. That simple maneuver cost Charlie a great mental effort, given that her brain was focused on defending and attacking at the same time, but it was worth it: Adam was distracted for half a second, and that was enough for Charlie to jump back and concentrate fully on the attack.
The sheet of ice Adam was on broke in two due to her psychokinesis and closed like a clam; sea water also wrapped around it to provide further resistance. It was a huge effort for Charlie to move all those water molecules, but she still didn't falter.
Adam broke through that ice cage by flexing his muscles, but when he freed himself he realized that Charlie was no longer in front of him: she had in fact used the time it had taken him to free himself to position herself again in his blind spot. Before he could turn she raised her hands and shot a beam of light.
Adam was hit square in the back and crashed into an iceberg, reducing it to crumbs; Charlie immediately jumped on him and grabbed his left arm, and finally she put the second cuff on him. Adam roared in pain as the two cuffs sizzled, sealing away his powers.
Charlie grabbed the grimoire. It was time for the last phase of her plan: to open a portal under Adam and send him to the Hazbin Hotel, where her parents were waiting for him. She quickly recited the incantation and reality began to crack, and the first man seemed about to fall through the gap...
But Adam recovered at the last second and broke his fall by opening his wings with such power that he unleashed a very violent shock wave; he moved away from the portal she had just opened and jumped on her. It was too fast for Charlie to dodge: it hit her in the face and threw her back into the ice, and then he snatched the grimoire from her hands and with a single swing of his arms smashed it to pieces.
Charlie stood up, rubbing her head. That last blow had dazed her a lot, much more than all the others. She looked at the destroyed pages of the grimoire: "Fuck... so now the only portal available to us..."
She looked up at the portal she had just opened: it was suspended in mid-air on the ice floe, like a window into another world. On the other side her parents were already flocking to it. "Charlie!" Lilith yelled at her. "Are you okay?"
"Shit!" Lucifer growled. "Adam! If you hurt a single hair on her hair...!"
"Oh, get it over with" Adam told him disdainfully. “You really are like a fucking annoying mother hen”
Lucifer was already about to explode, but then he noticed a detail: "Why is my brother there with you!? Michael, what do you have in mind!?"
Charlie was less apprehensive than her father. The archangel hadn't shown any sign of wanting to intervene until that moment... in fact, looking at the spot where he was, she could see that he hadn't moved an inch. He was still there, standing with his arms crossed... and he wasn't alone. "Charlie!" Vaggie yelled at him.
"Uh... guys?" Charlie murmured. "What are you doing here?"
"Long story, we'll tell you later" Angel told her hastily. "Anyway... fuck, girl, where did you get that from? Since when do you fight like that?"
"It's... a long story" Charlie answered him the same way he did.
"Don't worry, I'm coming to help you now!" Vaggie exclaimed, spreading her wings. She didn't care if this was a battle clearly beyond her level, she wanted to help her beloved.
But Lute got in the way. "Don't you dare" she told her. "It's their fight, and you have nothing to do with it"
Vaggie's eyes flashed. "Get out of the way"
"Yeah, now we'll go give her a hand" Angel said, rubbing his knuckles, and everyone else agreed with him. "We're not leaving her..."
Michael's voice suddenly drowned out every other sound like the roar of a hurricane, silencing everyone present and freezing them in their positions. “All of you” he said in a firm voice. "Shut up and look"
Those words seemed to have the power to freeze everyone in place. And then Charlie said: "Do as he says"
Vaggie's eyes widened: "Charlie...!?"
"Guys, be reasonable" she told them. "If you tried to intervene, what do you think would happen?"
All her friends bit their lips. Unfortunately Charlie was absolutely right: she and Adam were fighting on a completely different level than theirs. Even overlords like Rosie and Velvette would have been pulverized in seconds if they had jumped into the fray. Aside from being cannon fodder, they were totally useless... and they all knew Charlie would never have used them that way.
She turned to Adam. The grimoire was destroyed, but the portal had already been opened. She still had a chance to win. "His powers are already blocked" she thought. "He just has his strength on his side now. All I have to do is push him into the portal to... uh?"
Adam lowered himself to all fours; he moved his body as if he were a runner about to start a marathon. Every muscle stretched and tensed, so much so that numerous cracks appeared in the ice. Charlie immediately felt her survival instinct kick in at the sight: "FUCK!"
Adam snapped; his body moved so quickly that it generated enough momentum to split the ice as if it were cotton candy. His speed, which was already immense before, increased even more. Charlie saw him reappear in front of her, and then his fists came straight to her belly. It all happened so quickly that her nervous system barely perceived it: one moment before she was standing on the ice floe, the next moment she was sunk to the seabed. It was only then that the pain hit her, causing her to let out a scream that was silent underwater.
On the surface, Adam was back on his feet. The demons were gaping at him, and Vaggie and even Lute were a little shocked as well. "Did you... did you see him?" Angel murmured.
"Fuck no!" Cherri exclaimed. “That was too fast!”
"Charlie... where did Charlie go...?" Vaggie muttered in terror.
The sea water boiled and the princess of Hell jumped out of it. Charlie took a deep breath and spat out a lot of blood. "Fuck..." she thought. “Even without his powers, Adam knows how to use the environment to his advantage. I can't beat him in a physical confrontation”
Adam turned to her. His eyes seemed to glow with a menacing light. There was no way he was going to let her defeat him.
Charlie gritted her teeth. "My energy is now almost exhausted. Soon I won't even be able to keep my demonic form stable" she thought intensely, and a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. "I must end this immediately... with one final attack!"
And to everyone's surprise, she ducked and just like Adam got into position to perform a running sprint. She was imitating the first man perfectly, but she was also positioning her tail in such a way as to receive even more thrust.
Her friends were confused. "What is she doing? Does she want to do like him?" Angel asked.
"No, impossible" Husk said through gritted teeth. "She has no chance of matching that power. It would be foolish to expose herself like that..."
Adam narrowed his eyes. "What is she planning?"
Charlie took a deep breath, and then power exploded through her body. Every single drop of energy she had left was diverted to her muscles, which pulsed with the new force being forced into them. She didn't even keep a part of it.
Adam got into a defensive position. "Does she want to use everything she has left... in one attack?" he thought understanding his intentions. "Are you really that sure you can do it, little princess?"
"Yes" Charlie seemed to answer him with her eyes.
Adam smiled again. "So be it then!" he screamed in his head. "Come!"
Charlie didn't have to be told again and took off. Just as it had for Adam, the ice pulverized beneath her feet and she moved so quickly that the sound barrier shattered again and again. She took a split second to appear in front of Adam, and with her left fist she attacked him. Just as she had done in Patagonia, she used air and psychokinesis to increase the power of her punch. Adam, however, saw it and moved to block it: he raised both hands and stopped her attack before she could hit a vital point...
No, wait...
Adam's eyes widened. Charlie hadn't aimed at a vital point... she had attacked at a random point... that... was just a feint...!
Taking advantage of the fact that he was leaning slightly to the left, Charlie turned her body and raised her right fist. But this fist was not like the previous one: she had in fact positioned the tips of her fingers in the exact same way in which she shot the beams of light.
Charlie bent her hand back slightly, without changing the position of her fingers.
And then, she shot the ray.
It all happened in a fraction of a millisecond: the beam of light appeared behind Charlie and created momentum that accelerated her punch exponentially. Adam felt an extremely violent shift of air approaching his right cheek. No one had time to see it, except Michael.
A split second later, the entire glacier exploded.
It was as if a gigantic nuclear bomb had just detonated, but what formed wasn't a fireball: it was just pure energy created by friction as Charlie's fist hit a solid surface. The shock wave that was generated split the entire ice pack, throwing pieces of ice into the air; the sea itself split in two. A large cloud generated by the sublimation due to the intense heat enveloped everything.
Angel, Husk, Vaggie, and even Velvette and Niffty were left transfixed and speechless; if Rosie was awaken, she probably would have been shocked too. What had happened was nothing short of incredible. Lute, even though she was trying to keep an expressionless face, was trembling slightly. Through the portal, Lilith and Lucifer were completely frozen, and their breaths were cut off; they weren't making a sound as they waited for the cloud to clear so they could see what had become of their daughter.
The only one on the entire glacier who didn't move a single muscle was Michael. "Interesting" was all the archangel felt he had to say.
Everyone look at him. "Do you… understand what happened, Lord Michael?" Lute asked him in a small voice.
Michael let out a snort. "Charlie used Adam's attack to generate beams of light, but instead she directed it to the opposite side of her direction, and she did not put up the slightest resistance. As a result, all the acceleration generated was transferred to her fist. And as you well know if you know a little about physics, mass times acceleration equals force"
That explanation shocked those present. “Charlie… just threw a punch at the speed of light!?” Angel just murmured.
"No, it didn't have time to accelerate that much. At most it could have reached ten percent" Michael told him. "Even so, she generated far more energy than an entire solar storm. She put everything into a single final attack to defeat her opponent. A bold move, but extremely risky"
"Why do you say that?" Vaggie asked him. “How come you talk about it like she can't fight anymore now?”
Michael shook his head. "It seems obvious to me. Her body isn't strong enough to sustain that amount of energy. If you hit something with a fist traveling at a tenth of the speed of light without a proper resistence... well, that's what happens"
The cloud of condensation cleared a little, and Charlie's shadow finally began to emerge from it. Her parents, her friends and her girlfriend held their breath. She emerged completely from the steam, revealing that she was still standing on her own feet, although quite hunched over. A pool of blood was spreading beneath her. And when she turned slightly, everyone put their hands over their mouth: the right side of her body had literally disappeared.
Her entire right arm no longer existed: it had literally been pulverized, perhaps even the atoms that formed it had broken into subatomic particles. The whole shoulder was also no longer there: only a few fragments of bones from the clavicle and scapula remained. The right half of her chest was completely torn open, revealing the organs and bones underneath. Blood was pouring out profusely, and she seemed barely able to stand upright.
"CHARLIE!" Lilith screamed, and literally threw herself into the portal, slamming into it as if it were glass. Lucifer reacted with less fervor, but in any case he too did not hold back a groan of suffering at seeing his daughter reduced to that state. She was a demon, so she was in no danger of dying and would have regenerated sooner or later, but it was still terrifying to see her so crippled.
Vaggie was completely paralyzed. Never in her life had she thought she would have seen Charlie like this. Angel had literally almost fainted on top of Husk, who had had to hold him to keep from falling, and who looked like he had acquired an eye disease from how wide he opened his eyes, as it was possibel to even see the veins underneath his eyeballs. Velvette had slipped to the ground and was now sitting on the ice shocked, and Niffty was lying face down on the snow.
Michael let out a sigh. "Yes, she really put all of herself into that one attack. All the energy she had left. A huge gamble: defeat the enemy, or be defeated"
Lute's eyelids fluttered. "Where's Adam...?" she whispered.
The cloud of condensation cleared completely, and the first man reappeared in front of Charlie. Adam was still in exactly the same spot, and he was panting heavily; in his hands he was holding his axe. Evidently, when Charlie was about to hit him he had acted on instinct and had taken his weapon from his shoulder strap and placed it in front of the spot she was about to hit. The result was that Charlie's fist had crashed into the blade of the axe, and in fact some of her blood was still present on it. The axe didn't show a scratch: the material that covered it, the hardest in the entire universe, had made it indestructible, and consequently not even that immense power had made a scratch on it.
The demons almost choked on their saliva. "N-No way! Is he still standing after a blow like that!?" Angel screamed.
"If that didn't stop him, nothing will!" Husk exclaimed, gritting his teeth. "And now Charlie it's over...!"
Vaggie spread her wings. "I'm going to help her!" he said. “I won't let…!”
"It's no use" Michael's voice stopped her. "She had already won"
Vaggie froze. "What...?"
"Look at her face" Michael told her.
Everyone's eyes were instantly focused on Charlie's face, and to their immense surprise they realized a detail: even though she was barely standing and looked like she was about to faint, in fact it was a miracle that she wasn't yet, she was smiling. An expression of triumph was painted on her face, and her eyes shone with satisfaction.
Adam was panting heavily. Even though the axe had protected him, he still felt the blow: his arms were bleeding as muscles had torn in multiple places. His expression was a mixture of pure surprise and great admiration. And then, his lips curved into a smile, but it wasn't his usual mocking grin. “Tell me” he said, looking at Charlie. “Next time, will you try to move faster than light?”
She didn't answer him. Instead, she grinned with satisfaction. "You used the axe" she told him in a small voice.
Adam nodded. "Yes" he confirmed, putting the axe back on his shoulder. "I used an axe reinforced with an indestructible material. I used something I didn't have when I died. I violated the terms of our fight"
Everyone held their breath at those words. Everyone except Charlie, who seemed to have expected that outcome. "I lost" Adam announced without losing his smile. "Congratulations, girl. You won"
A veil of amazement rose from everyone who was watching them. "I... I can't believe it" Vaggie murmured. "Did he really say that?"
"Yes... he admitted defeat" Angel confirmed.
Adam walked towards Charlie. She was having more and more difficulty staying upright, in fact her head was starting to loll dangerously. Yet, it was as if she refused to faint. Even though her legs trembled as if they were made of mozzarella, she remained standing, not even allowing herself to kneel or sit.
Adam stopped in front of her. The first man gave her a smug look. "You can claim your prize. I'm your prisoner now. We'll have that conversation, like I promised" he told her. "Rest now. You've earned it... Charlotte"
Charlie's smile widened in response, and her heart seemed to explode with happiness; and then, her eyes closed and she finally lost consciousness. Adam caught her before she could hit her head on the ice; he took her gently in his arms, and then he walked towards the portal to Hell.
That scene completely confused the demons. "What... what is he doing?" Angel murmured. “Is he really turning himself in?”
"No, that's absurd..." Husk stammered. "He'll probably... throw Charlie in there and run..."
Behind them Michael chuckled. “You are fools” he told them. "Your friend won fair and square. Adam will respect the terms of the challenge he himself issued. He will not tarnish his honor by running away after losing. It wouldn't be like him"
"He's run away before" Vaggie opined. "He..."
She stopped. No, in fact... Adam had never run away... after losing...
"Lute told me what he did in Hell, when he met him in that church" Michael said to her. "At that case, Adam didn't run away from Lucifer. He didn't even lose, actually. It was he who dictated the terms of the battle and controlled the game until the end. A premeditated retreat is not an indication of dishonor, because it is part of the game. In this case, instead, Adam dictated very simple terms, and he lost. And as you can see, he has no intention of running away"
Vaggie realized it was true. When Adam had been defeated during the battle at the hotel, he hadn't run away. When Lucifer had beaten him after he had stolen the trident, that had been something that he had premeditated: right from the start he had decided that he would have retreated after getting beaten up. He hadn't lost, on the contrary, he had won. On each occasion, the first man had never fled after losing.
Adam passed through the portal, facing Lucifer and Lilith. Both were as tense as stockfish and their gaze was fixed on their daughter. Adam handed her to Lilith: "Take her. She will regenerate in some time, but she needs a comfortable bed"
Lilith gently took her daughter. As soon as this happened, Adam felt an immense killing intent: Lucifer had clearly waited until he no longer had Charlie in his hands, and now he had every intention of taking his head off. "Son of a bitch, this time I'll...!"
His fist was blocked by a firm hand. Lucifer's eyes widened as he found Michael in front of him. "And what the fuck are you doing here!?"
"I will not dishonor my friend by taking him away after he has promised to stay here until he has spoken to your daughter" his brother replied. “However, I never said I wouldn't follow him. I won't let you hurt him”
"Get out of my way!" Lucifer roared. “That asshole dared to touch my daughter!”
"It was a battle in which they both got seriously injured, and she got herself into that state by her own will" Michael pointed out. "Do you mean to put shame on her by eliminating the reason she fought? Haven't you already put shame on your family enough? Well, I'm not surprised"
Lucifer gritted his teeth in fury. “Fuck you” he hissed. "At least allow me to throw him in the most disgusting prison I can find!"
"Free to do so" Adam answered him without batting an eyelid. “I will wait there for her to recover. We have a lot to talk about”
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154847611
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 25): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158913649
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 70: Recovery
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie woke up with a soft moan. The right half of her body was tingling so much it felt like needles were stuck in her skin. It took her a second to remember what had happened, and above all, the crazy way in which she had decided to end the fight.
Her eyes widened as soon as this came back to her. Her body stretched and she tried to stand up, but she immediately fell back onto the mattress. Evidently her muscles were still quite atrophied, and her brain didn't seem to be in any better shape either as she saw the room spinning. She felt drained, devoid of any energy, and her stomach ached as if she hadn't eaten in days.
"Charlie!" a familiar voice said to her, and soft hands grabbed her head. She looked up and saw a known mop of silver hair above her. "Are you okay?"
"Vaggie..." Charlie murmured without losing her smile. "Did we win...?"
"Yes" another voice told her. She turned slightly and noticed that her mother was sitting next to her. "You won"
Charlie couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. She tried to sit up again, and Vaggie and Lilith helped her up. She looked at the right side of her body, and could see that it had already completely regenerated, although she was still missing nails on two fingers.
"Here" her mother said, handing her a tray containing a couple of sandwiches. "Your father and I helped you with your regeneration, but you still lost a lot of energy. You need to get your strength back"
Charlie didn't even think about refusing that food: it felt like her stomach was literally tearing itself apart. She couldn't remember ever feeling so hungry in her life. Her insides were literally screaming for some nourishment. As soon as she bit into the sandwich and felt it go down her throat until it reached her stomach, it felt like the best sensation in the world.
When she finished she felt significantly better. "How long did I sleep?"
"Only three hours" Lilith replied. "Normally you wouldn't have moved for at least three days, but as I told you, your father and I gave you a hand. Although I still advise you to go back to sleep and not get up until tomorrow"
Charlie took the advice willingly and lay down again. "Are all you guys okay?" she asked Vaggie.
Her girlfriend nodded. "We are still alive and whole. The only one currently in a bed is Rosie, and only because she needed to rest"
"Alastor?" Charlie asked her again.
Vaggie bit her lip. "He ran away" she confessed to her. “I… I let him go. I couldn't stop it”
Charlie was silent for a long moment. She could clearly see the internal conflict in her girlfriend. "Vaggie..."
"Sleep now" Vaggie told her. "We will tell you everything when you recover. We won, focus on this and have a pleasant sleep"
Charlie was sure she needed a good summary of what happened, but she did as she was told anyway, especially because she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. Fatigue quickly got the better of her and she returned to snoring.
Predictably, she slept until the next day, or rather, until the next evening. When she woke up, night was already falling, but finally her eyelids no longer felt like they were made of lead.
When she reopened her eyes Vaggie was no longer on her side, but on the contrary her mother was still there. She was sitting next to her bed and was reading a book, which she immediately put away as soon as she noticed that she was awake again. "Better?" she asked her with a smile.
Charlie nodded and sat up, this time without anyone's help. Now her body no longer tingled, and it seemed as if she had never been impaired. "Where's Vaggie...?"
"She stayed here for a couple of hours, and then I told her to go to sleep and that I would have stayed with you. She didn't want to go away from you, but I was very insistent. She needed some rest too" Lilith answered her. “Half an hour ago I heard her screaming downstairs. Judging by her voice, she just woke up and now is trying to keep your friends from causing trouble”
Charlie stretched. Her sore muscles creaked a little from not having been moved for over a full day. "Dad didn't stay with you?"
Lilith frowned a little. "Until he was sure that you would recover he stayed here, and then he went to deal with... several things. Let's say he's dealing with a bad family reunion combined with the imprisonment of a dangerous loose cannon and with Heaven that suddenly wants to talk a lot"
Those words reminded Charlie of the situation they were in. Her body immediately became tense again. “Adam… he…?”
"He is our prisoner" Lilith told her. "He handed himself in after you passed out. He carried you through the portal"
Charlie was surprised by those last words, but not by the previous ones. "I was sure he would" she admitted.
"I guess you got to know him better while you were on Earth" Lilith told her. Apparently, she too wasn't surprised that Adam had kept his word. After all, she knew the first man well. "How was it, by the way? Did you like Earth?"
Charlie wasn't sure how to respond. "Well... it's pretty messed up. But it's really beautiful... seen from space it looked wonderful..."
"From space?" Lilith murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes... Adam and I ended up there while we were fighting" Charlie revealed, and before her mother could ask any questions she pulled back the covers and stood up. "Let's go to the others, so we will have to tell everything to each other only once"
Her mother nodded; in fact, it was better to talk about it in front of everyone than to repeat it ten more times. So she helped her daughter get up and get dressed, and then she accompanied her downstairs, where her friends were already all gathered there. Rosie was there too, although judging by the way she was sitting in the chair she hadn't been out of bed for long. In reality, all of them seemed to have slept for a long time, but as soon as they saw her they immediately became alert again. "Charlie!" Vaggie exclaimed immediately running to hug her. "You should be in bed...!"
"Don't worry, honey. I can walk now. A good night's sleep was all I needed" Charlie told her. "How are you guys?"
"We should ask you this! You're the one who fought Adam!" Angel told her. "And shit, I didn't think you were that badass! I thought Rosie vs Alastor was an epic fight, but you and the first dick far surpassed them!"
"Really? Why, what happened between you and Alastor?" Charlie asked Rosie.
The cannibal overlord shrugged. "Nothing much. We simply discussed our culinary tastes and I explained to him how I thought about his current behavior" she replied, calmly returning to sip her herbal tea.
"Translation: she and Alastor tore pieces of each other's bodies off and ate them, she turn into a dinosaur, she cut him in half, he almost killed her, then we stepped in, sent the asshole back through the portal and that's it" Husk muttered. "What about you? What have you and Adam been up to?"
Charlie tried to summarize as best she could: "Long story short, he crashed me into Everest, I learned to use air molecules to keep me stable, we fought in the mesosphere, he dropped a meteor on me, we ended up in space, I detonated him with a small nuclear explosion, he made me fall into the Sahara, I recovered with a trick, then we ended up in..."
"Wait, what!? Are you kidding us!?" Cherri exclaimed.
Charlie realized that her friends were all wide-eyed. "Um... I swear it's the truth"
“So you ended up in fucking space!?” Angel said in a strangled voice. “And Adam threw you into the Sahara from up there!?”
"No, he actually shot one of his beams of light at me, made me accelerate exponentially, and then opened a portal and sent me crashing into the desert" Charlie answered him. "I'm not sure because when I regained consciousness it was already over, but I'm pretty certain I caused a mega explosion"
There was a long moment of silence, and then Angel burst out laughing hysterically: "Ah ah ah! Can you believe that? And I was convinced that Alastor and Valentino were dangerous guys! Fuck, you survived an impact like that and you talk about it like what if it was an everyday thing?"
"Technically it wasn't the hardest hit I've received during the battle" Charlie confessed.
Beside her, Lilith seemed unsure whether to be extremely proud of her daughter or hug her tightly out of concern. Both of her motherly instincts were raging in her. "Fuck, Adam really didn't go easy on you. I didn't expect this from him..."
But to everyone's surprise Charlie shook her head, "No... no, he didn't do me wrong. Adam fought fair" she told them. "He didn't use his full potential until he was sure I could handle it. If he had done so from the start, he would have defeated me very easily"
"You're not defending him, I hope!" Vaggie exclaimed. "Charlie, he turned you into a sieve!"
"I'm just telling the truth. Adam never wanted to kill me… he was just… teaching me" Charlie told them much to everyone's surprise. "In a decidedly unpleasant way perhaps, but... I think I needed this experience. Honestly, even if I was reduced to that state, I don't regret having faced him"
Her friends looked at each other in confusion. Clearly, none of them were really understanding what she was saying. Well, it was understandable. "Could you explain yourself better?" Vaggie asked her. “What did Adam want to teach you?”
Charlie was silent for a moment, and then she turned to Lilith: “Mom, can you attack me, please?”
Her mother's eyes widened. "What are you...?"
"You just do it" Charlie told her. "Use an attack I don't know, even a weak one if you want"
Lilith seemed undecided for a long moment, but then she decided to trust her daughter: with a quick movement and with an angle that she had never performed in any of the training sessions with Charlie, she moved her hand towards her like a whip. But to her immense surprise she never reached the target: Charlie in fact imitated her movement perfectly, blocking her.
Everyone's eyes widened in amazement; Lilith opened her mouth in shock. "Do you... do you have it too...?"
"Apparently so. I inherited it from you" Charlie replied. "During the battle, Adam made sure that I awakened this power... even though I still barely know how to use it"
"Wait... that's where that beam of light came from!" Angel exclaimed. "I thought you just learned how to use that technique...!"
“Now I understand why you seemed to return some of his blows” Husk muttered. "Even though you were moving so fast, it seemed to me that sometimes your bodies were placed in identical positions"
"Like I told you, I only found out I had it by fighting Adam. He managed to get it out of me... in his own way" Charlie said remembering the moment he had almost disintegrated her. "That's what he wanted, to teach me to fight as if I were... well, human, even if in a metaphorical meaning. To continually push my limits and not give in to an opponent who put the people I loved at risk..."
"Why?" Vaggie stopped her. "It doesn't make sense! I mean... why did he do all this?"
Charlie's face darkened. Everyone in the room immediately sensed her change in mood. They knew that when something made her so sad and silent, it meant something serious. "Sweetheart...?" Lilith murmured placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Adam wants me to take his place as Head Exorcist" Charlie said all in one breath.
Everyone froze. "What!?" was what she was asked by practically everyone, in unison at that.
Charlie nodded slightly. "Guys, I... I don't know if he was telling the truth, but I'm sure of one thing: he's not making his survival a priority" she said in a grave voice. "I think he expects that he may not be alive after he completes what he has in mind, and he is preparing for the world to be safe even after his death. I don't know why he chose me... he said that he sees himself in me, or something like that... maybe he has other reasons... I don't know, but whatever he has in mind, I don't think he expects to survive at all"
Nobody spoke. Everyone was too shocked to even say a word. And then, a faint sound came out of Vaggie's mouth: "He... he told me that he looked in the mirror and used his own powers on him. That's how he knew I was hurt by him. Maybe... he saw you too... and this convinced him that you are special..."
Lilith had remained silent, too intent on thinking about what her daughter had just said to her, but as soon as she heard those words she seemed to snap: "Wait, what did you say!? He used his gaze on himself!?"
"Huh? Yes. Why, is that a bad thing?" Vaggie murmured.
“Of course it is!” Lilith exclaimed. "Guys, when he attacks you and looks you in the eyes, you resist. Your souls resist. This at least gives you a little security. But if he used his power on himself... it means he willingly took it in. His soul was totally exposed to the weight of his every bad deed, he was totally defenseless!"
Charlie swallowed. “I understand that this is not good for his mind”
"No, it's not at all" Lilith murmured, putting a hand over her mouth. "You have seen how the people he looks at are reduced... I can't imagine what effect it could have if used to its maximum potential on himself... and considering that we are talking of Adam's soul, which isn't exactly flawless..."
Charlie felt a shiver run down her spine. Even though Adam seemed perfectly sane, she was sure she had detected a slight hint of imbalance in their conversations. Something told her that whatever he had done to himself, it hadn't been good. "In any case, we absolutely have to stop him. He wants to kill a lot of people... and he especially wants to kill dad. I don't know if he has other goals, but he will certainly cause a carnage. Where is he now?"
"Your father locked him in a cell in the basement of the celestial embassy" Lilith answered her.
Charlie's eyes widened. "The celestial embassy...? Is there a prison there?"
"Yes, the angels used it to judge the worst demon generals during the war. As you can imagine, they didn't want to take them to Heaven" Lilith explained to her. "Adam is now locked in a maximum security cell. Not even an archangel could get out, it can contain him"
"Why didn't you just put him in one of the cells of the royal palace?" Charlie asked her.
Lilith sighed. "Michael followed you" she revealed to her. "He wanted us to treat him with respect, and in the end as a compromise it was decided to put him there. Michael and your father are there now, apparently Heaven is sending more envoys down here to talk about the situation. Lute is with them too, officially to watch over Adam, although as you can imagine that's not her main intent"
Charlie bit her lip. The situation was definitely getting complicated. It seemed that Heaven did not want to abandon the first man at all. "Let's go to the embassy" she said finally. "We have to deal with this"
"Charlie, you just recovered" Vaggie reminded her. "Maybe it would be better to wait..."
"Waiting will only make things worse" Charlie told her. "I'll go over there and see what I can do. If you're not too tired, do you want to come with me?"
None of them were too eager to jump right back into the fray, but they agreed with her that waiting would have been of no use, so in the end they all went to the celestial embassy. The pure white building was still identical to the usual one, but this time as soon as they arrived the door opened without any resistance, as it used to do when the angels accepted to have guests. This was the first time in two weeks that Heaven seemed inclined to speak.
As soon as they entered, Charlie found herself faced with the same furniture as last time, very similar to a reception... with the difference that now there wasn't a golden scroll welcoming her and her friends, but rather a familiar figure behind the desk: "Charlie!"
"Emily?" the princess repeated in surprise, and then a smile appeared on her face: "Emily!"
The young seraphim jumped on top of her and hugged her tightly. “It's so good to see you again!” she exclaimed. "Man, it's been a crazy couple of weeks! It's been a mess up there... well, it's definitely been a worse mess for you..."
"Well, we've had better times" Charlie told her. "I'm surprised you're here..."
"Sera didn't want to, but I insisted. I wanted to be here when you heard about the happy news!" Emily answered her.
Charlie didn't understand. "Happy news? What are you...?"
Suddenly one of the doors opened and a voice that literally made everyone's hearts jump into their throats was heard: "Hey, miss, why do you have coffee machines here if you never come anyway...?". The guy who had just appeared froze, and then he dropped the glass in his hand: "GUYS!"
Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, Cherri and even Niffty seemed to have choked on their own saliva: "PENTIOUS!?"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154848325
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 25): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158913649
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 71: Reuniting with the snake
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, and Cherri's minds had just exploded; even Niffty seemed to have forgotten for a moment that she was crazy and was looking at the person in front of them with her mouth wide open. And then Cherri broke free and started running towards him: "PENTIOUS!"
"CHERRI!" the no longer snake demon exclaimed, crawling towards her.
"Pentious!"
"Cherri!"
"Pentious!"
"Cherri!"
"Pentious..."
"Cherri?"
"Pentious"
"OH, SHIT...!!!"
Cherri's fist landed on Pentious' teeth so hard that he was sent sprawling to the ground. But she didn't stop and jumped on him, and she grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him. "How dare you!?!?!? Kiss me like that and then go die like an idiot!?!?!? You fucking prick!!!"
Pentious managed to free himself from her grip and quickly backed away, trying to get away from her. "Miss Cherri Bomb! I assure you...!"
"Come here!!! Until proven otherwise, the dead don't escape!!!"
"But I'm not dead...!"
"We'll fix it immediately, don't worry!"
"Miss Emily, take me back to Heaven right now! I'm serious! Open a portal...!"
Luckily Husk and Angel recovered just enough to grab Cherri and try to stop her, even though they both had to summon all their energy to hold her back. "How can she be so strong...!?"
"Are you even pulling!?"
“Are you on my team?”
"Just represent! Pull!"
Cherri finally seemed to calm down a little, although from the look on her face she looked like she was ready to make herself some snake stew. Pentious was as intimidated as he had ever been in his life, and no one could blame him when he backed away as far as he could.
Even though she had lessened the amount of fury she exuded, Cherri continued to glare murderously at him. "I watched you die!" she screamed. "I cried for you! I gave you a funeral! And all this time you were having a good time elsewhere like the cheating boyfriend you are!"
"But you weren't engaged..." Angel reminded her, receiving an elbow in the teeth in response.
"I wasn't having a good time!" Pentious justified himself. "I couldn't contact you even if I wanted to, they prevented me...!"
Cherri's eyes flamed. “Oh, you come back weeks later and expect me to consider this an excuse!?”
She tried to jump on him again, but luckily Husk tripped her, making her fall to the ground and then together with Angel threw themselves on top of her to immobilize her. And even though there were two of them, they had to force themselves to hold her still: it was as if Cherri had lava in her body.
Pentious cleared his throat. His face became extremely serious, and even though his eyes showed fear, he still approached her. "I'm sorry you had to suffer" he told her. "I... I never wanted this for you. But I don't regret doing my best to save your life... or everyone else's. Hate me if you want, but... I can't regret this"
Cherri froze at those words. Her eye twitched, but the strength with which she was opposing Angel and Husk diminished considerably. "You come back after weeks... weeks in which I've done nothing but mourn you, despair and take care of your fucking egg... and you dare say these things to me...?"
"Actually it was more Frank who took care of you, not the other way around" Angel didn't hold back from telling her, being promptly silenced by Husk.
Pentious let out a sigh. "Listen, I... I wish I had something more to say, but right now... I can't find the words. So I guess I could just..."
Cherri freed herself from Husk and Angel's grip again and sprinted towards him; Pentious gritted his teeth expecting another punch, maybe one that would have knocked some of his teeth out this time, but instead she closed him in a hug and taking advantage of his smaller height buried her face in his chest. "You fucking... idiotic... prick...!"
Pentious was taken aback by that behavior, and not knowing what else to do, he hugged her back and caressed her head a little. He looked to his friends for help, and Angel simply told him: "Just enjoy it"
Charlie had remained speechless the entire time. She didn't seem to be able to form half a word. "Is that really you...?"
Pentious smiled slightly at her, probably expecting her to freak out too. "Yeah" he said. "I don't know how it happened, I... I woke up in Heaven and that's it"
Charlie almost stopped breathing. "The judgment..." she whispered. “It's like Adam… you got a second judgement, and it was good”
Pentious shook his head a little. "Yes... they told me something like that, but I didn't really understand it..."
“It's like my father said!” Charlie exclaimed with wide eyes. “You… gained spirit in your soul… made yourself less impure… and therefore you did not simply disappear, but your soul survived and you were judged again!”
"Yes, that's what happened" Emily confirmed, flying next to her. "Sera and I couldn't believe it when we saw him appear in front of us. It was an incredible moment"
Charlie was having trouble breathing, and she wasn't the only one: now that the danger posed by Cherri's fury was gone, her friends were also speechless and bulging-eyed. “This is… incredible…” Vaggie stuttered. "So... so demons can actually redeem themselves! We did it...!"
"Incredible? This is crazy, not just incredible!" Angel exclaimed. "Fuck, Pen, you're alive! You're alive and you're an angel! I'm not hallucinating, am I? I don't remember doing a kilo of heroin lately...!"
"And I don't remember going into an alcohol coma" Husk commented, clearly also struggling to believe what he was seeing.
"The big snake is back!" Niffty said with an innocent smile. “Do you still have two dicks?”
Even those who didn't know Pentious were shocked: even though they had never met him, or had barely seen him, they could understand what was happening. "Wow... I didn't expect this" Lilith murmured in shock.
Rosie had kept a fairly calm expression, but it was clear that she too was surprised by what she was seeing. And about Velvette, it seemed like she was literally questioning her own existence.
It didn't take long for Charlie to start sobbing. "Fuck... you don't know how happy I am" she whispered with tears in her eyes. "We thought we would never see you again... we gave you a funeral... a painting...!"
“Oh, I have a painting!?” Pentious couldn't stop himself from exclaiming. "And what's that like? Am I portrayed as cool?"
Despite the tears streaming down her face, Charlie giggled: Pentious hadn't changed a bit. "Why didn't you warn us right away?" she asked Emily. "We've been trying to contact Heaven for days...!"
"I wanted to, but chaos broke out up there" Emily explained to her. "After we found out that Adam was dead, Michael got pissed off, and not just him. He already wanted to drag his entire army down here, but after hearing about a redeemed demon he stopped. And then Adam didn't come back even though he had moved on from his judgment... they were all confused and scared and worried, no one was understanding anything anymore. And then Lute suddenly showed up telling us that Adam had become a demon and was on Earth, and so we kept an eye on it until you started going wild, and as soon as we sensed you Michael rushed to you with Lute in tow... and you know the rest"
Charlie wiped the tears from her face. "I understand. You had your problems too"
"Yes, it's a big mess" Emily confirmed. "But I'd say you guys have more down here. Adam hasn't been nice to you at all from what I've been told"
"If being a madman who goes around kidnapping people and tearing up those who end up in the fray is unkind to you, you need help, girl" Angel commented. "Who are you, by the way?"
"Oh, right!" Charlie exclaimed. "You guys remember what Vaggie and I told you about the trial in Heaven? Well, this is Emily, the one who helped us out!"
"Oh, is that you? Well, thanks for the help" Angel said. "I am..."
"Angel Dust. I know all your names. Well... except those two of them" Emily told him pointing to Rosie and Velvette. The first greeted her politely, while the second barely seemed to realize she was there, too busy staring at the redeemed demon in front of her.
Speaking of Pentious, he was still hugging Cherri and stroking her head. The cyclops demoness hadn't moved an inch, so much so that he wondered if she had fainted on him, but as soon as he tried to lift her face and their eyes met again, she grabbed him by the cheeks and planted a kiss on him not at all chaste on the mouth. "You bastard" she whispered. "Now come with me to a motel and fuck me"
“Ugh… at your command, Miss Cherri Bomb…!” Pentious murmured, who seemed in shock just from that kiss.
"Um... technically he shouldn't leave the embassy..." Emily told him hesitantly.
"Then he'll fuck me on one of the couches in the lobby! You guys leave so we'll have the room to ourselves!" Cherri replied as she bit down on Pentious's neck. "And you better enjoy this moment, because from today you sleep in the garden!"
"But... he can't leave the embassy...!" Emily protested again.
"Then he will sleep in the embassy garden! And if you don't have one, build one!" Cherri replied annoyed. Emily went red in the face because of that attitude, and Charlie put a hand on her shoulder to let her know that this behavior was normal for the cyclops demoness.
What Pentious and Cherri were about to do, however, was interrupted when one of the doors opened and what looked like a flock of chicks scampered into the room. "Boss, a crazy mess is happening over there! What do we do?"
“What the fuck… the Egg Boys!?” Angel exclaimed as soon as he saw them.
It was really them: the Egg Boys were identical to how they had been in Hell, but now they had a golden shell, as if they were golden boys. "Hey, hi guys!" they greeted the new arrivals as soon as they noticed them.
"Frank will be happy as soon as he knows" Husk commented upon seeing them.
“Oooooh… did they go to Heaven too?” Charlie exclaimed.
"Well... apparently yes" Pentious told her. "It's a bit complicated and in reality no one has really understood anything yet... but it seems that since they were connected to me and I went to Heaven, they, dying at the same moment as me, followed me. A bit like my hat"
“So you brought them with you because they're like your clothes?” Vaggie asked confused.
Emily shrugged. "It's the most logical explanation we've been able to give" she answered.
Lilith cleared her throat. “Sorry, but what did you say was going on in the other room?”
"Oh, a mess!" one of the Egg Boys answered her. "The short angel is super pissed off, the tall angel is like 'no, I'm superior, honor, dignity' and other things, and the angel with the long hair tries to calm them down..."
"Translation: Lucifer and Michael are fighting again and Sera is trying to stop them" Pentious specified.
"Sera? Is she here too?" Charlie asked.
Emily bit her lip. "She's the only one capable of preventing those two from starting to fight each other" she replied. "Trust me, they haven't been able to have a normal discussion for hours"
"It doesn't surprise me" Lilith said, putting her hand in front of her face.
The others looked at each other a little tensely. "I assume there's bad blood between those two" Angel commented.
"Do you know what happens when you put an angel who firmly believes in order, honor and justice and an angel who causes mess after mess in the same room, and they're brothers on top of that?" Lilith sighed in a tired voice. "Prepare for a lot of headaches"
So they headed into the meeting room, the same one where Charlie and Adam had met the first time, and already outside the door she could hear her father's voice; and in fact as soon as they entered they found him standing with his hands slammed into fists on the table, which seemed about to explode. "Perhaps it is not clear to you that this is my kingdom, and it is my kingdom and my family that Adam is putting at risk! I demand to be able to interrogate him properly!"
Michael just gave him a contemptuous look; his statuesque body was still on the chair on the opposite side of the table with his arms crossed. "You know very well that he will never speak to you. And if you allow me, I don't care about your kingdom. What matters to me is understanding how to help my friend"
"And you think he'll talk if you meekly ask him!?" Lucifer ranted.
Sera was sitting between them, and from her expression she seemed to be contemplating suicide. As soon as Lilith entered, the two women exchanged a look of understanding, a clear sign that it was not the first time they had found themselves in a similar situation. “Are you still arguing?”
Michael barely looked at her, but instead his gaze fell on Charlie. The archangel gave her a half smile. "You've recovered, I see" he told her. "You fought well. I respect that"
"Um... thanks..." Charlie muttered, not knowing how to approach him. "Uncle...?"
"Let's not exaggerate" Michael warned her, though he then softened a little: "Although I'd like to get to know you better"
"Michael respects honor and courage" Emily whispered to Charlie. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but he really likes you. Trust me, it's his way of approaching people"
"Uh... I see" Charlie murmured. "He's not very sociable, hm?"
"He is the supreme general of the celestial army. Did you expect a cute little dog?" Emily told her. "Give him time, he'll open up to you"
Charlie was about to reply again, but Michael stood up and walked towards her, stopping right in front of her. She felt crushed by that calm and serious look; it almost seemed to her that the archangel was even taller than he already was. "I admit that perhaps I misjudged you, Charlotte Morningstar" he told her. "When I learned of your actions, I thought you were another being destined to create problems and suffering like your father, but since I met you I have not seen any instance of evil in you. On the contrary, I have seen you fight animated by a heart that was strong and burned with the desire to protect others. I wonder who you really are"
"Um... well, maybe we could... talk to each other for a bit...?" Charlie asked him, not knowing what else to say.
"Hey, man, you're intimidating her" Angel interjected. "Maybe wipe that snout off your face before..."
The spider demon's words were cut off instantly: Michael barely moved his head towards him, but that single movement was enough to paralyze Angel with fear. For a second, it seemed to him that the entire world was splitting in two just because the archangel's head had changed position. "Do not test my patience, demon" Michael warned. "I'm here in a peaceful guise, but don't delude yourself that this makes me sympathize with a monster like you. Don't forget that I can erase you with a single gesture"
Angel swallowed and stepped back, keeping his head down; he didn't want to risk the archangel's fury at all. He stood behind Emily as if hoping her wings would have hidden him. "Michael hates everything that is unjust and unworthy, and therefore he hates demons" she warned him. "Not as much as Adam, but you still don't want to give him an excuse to kill you"
All the demons in the room immediately took a step back, except for Charlie and Lilith; none of them were inclined to run the risk of irritating the archangel. Vaggie was also trying a lot to hide behind them, and from the blush on her face, it seemed like she was very ashamed to show herself in front of him.
Lilith cleared her throat: "Enough chatter. Let's think about the serious problems: is Adam still in the cell?"
Sera nodded. "He didn't try to escape"
"He promised a conversation with this woman" Michael said looking at Charlie. “He won't try to escape until they'll talk”
Charlie bit her lip. “Did none of you talk to him?”
"Oh, I would have gladly done it, if this idiot didn't keep interfering!" Lucifer exclaimed.
Michael glared at him. "You would only make things worse. You know he hates you, he'll rather die than confess anything to you"
“What is Heaven's position in all this?” Lilith asked Sera, clearly considering her the only one with enough brains in there.
The Head Seraphim sighed deeply. "Bringing Adam back to Heaven is a priority, but we can't even give him access so easily now that he's a demon. We first need to figure out how to... fix him" she explained to them. "And also, we need to understand what he has in his mind. Whatever Adam is doing is clearly dangerous. He has taken two of the most powerful relics in all of Creation. Using just one of them has the potential to cause serious problems for everyone in the three realms"
"He's a danger to himself and others" Emily also said. "I tried a little to talk to him when I got here, but he avoided all my questions. I confess that he scares me"
"If you knew how much he scares us..." Angel murmured.
Charlie scratched her head. “Well… since there are some trust issues here, and I honestly doubt that having a private conversation with him is good for anyone… let's all go talk to him together, and then think about it”
"Yes, that makes sense to me" Sera told her immediately, glaring at Lucifer and Michael. "Also because I've been trying to say it for two hours too"
Emily bit her lip. "Uh... do you think it's better not to have a private conversation with him?" she murmured. “Because… I left Lute alone with him”
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 18): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154890760
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 25): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/158913649
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 72: Revelation
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam was sitting on the floor, reading the Bible. The one he had taken from the mansion had been disintegrated when Charlie had tried to detonate him with an atomic explosion, but luckily Emily had granted his request for a copy of that book to pass the time. As much as he couldn't stand that concentration of excessive sweetness, he couldn't deny that she really did her best to make others happy.
The cell where they locked him up wasn't that bad. It was a platform suspended above a tunnel at the bottom of which there were angelic blades sharpened even better than weapons: if he had tried to exit, the chain holding the suspended cell would have broken cleanly, causing him to fall and kill him instantly. The walls of that cell were made up of an energy field which it seemed to be, but which you only had to touch to feel its hardness; Adam knew that even using all his strength he wouldn't have been able to break through it. And that was just one of the many defenses surrounding the cell. The inside was completely empty, as if it were just a box and nothing else; only he occupied the space. There was nothing that he could use to get out. Not to mention that his powers were still blocked by the angelic handcuffs, sealed on his wrists.
It wasn't too bad inside there. Adam loved comforts, but that didn't mean he couldn't handle their absence. He had survived on much less in primordial Earth. He too, although he didn't appreciate the absence of a comfortable bed and junk food, could tolerate this spartan accommodation.
About a meter away from the cell was the edge of the tunnel, on which there was a platform from which someone could speak to him for a possible interrogation... or on which someone could remain willing to monitor him, as in this case. “Are you still going to not talk to me?” he asked.
Lute didn't speak to him. She hadn't uttered half a syllable since the glacier fight was over, in fact. Her lips were pressed together so tight they looked like they were cemented together. All she did was looking at him over carefully, just like an overseer. Or like a particularly meticulous hawk.
Adam lowered the Bible he was reading and lightly touched the pages. "I know you're mad at me" he told her. "But please, talk to me. I can't stand silence, not from you"
Lute let out a snort. "What should I tell you?" she asked him scornfully. "You didn't tell me that even if you would have died you would have still come back. When you woke up in Hell, the first thing you did was organize your crusade or whatever it is, and you didn't bother to tell me that you were still alive. And when I finally found you, instead of coming home with me, you handed yourself over to the enemy. You didn't care what I felt"
"I did care" Adam told her sincerily. "Believe me, I never wanted to cause you pain. I know I have no justification for keeping the judgment after death thing from you... but I didn't mean to hurt you"
"You didn't mean...?" Lute hissed, but her voice took on a shakier note. Her pupils wavered and for a moment a tear threatened to slide down her cheek, but she quickly blinked it back. "You made me suffer. You preferred to put yourself before me. You put your duty to not tell me anything before me, you put your crusade against evil before me, you put even your honor before me. After all these years I thought... I thought..." whatever she was about to say died in her throat.
Adam let out a long sigh. He knew Lute had every reason to be angry with him. Not only had she suffered terribly when she thought she had lost him forever, but he had agreed to be taken prisoner by the enemy rather than return home with her. Even though Lute was a seemingly cold and rational person, Adam knew that she still had emotions beneath that impassive facade.
He stood up and approached the energy barrier so he could get a better look at her. Lute didn't move from where she was, but she raised her head slightly to finally look him in the face. "I'm sorry" he said to her. "I had my reasons, but I was unfair to you. I made you suffer and you didn't deserve it. I can only apologize and hope for your forgiveness"
Lute's fists shook slightly and clenched a little tighter. "Why did you turn yourself in?" she asked him.
"I gave my word" Adam replied. "You know I don't fall short of it. Ever"
Lute let out a grunt. "Yeah. Fuck it, I know" she grumbled. "So you're going to spend eternity in here?"
"You know I'm not that passive" he replied with a slight smile. "I'll find a way out"
"There's no way out" she replied.
Adam chuckled slightly. "Then I'll create one" he said with his usual confidence.
Lute's eyebrow quivered, a sign that those words had triggered something in her. "Ah, you're truly incorrigible" she exclaimed, looking away.
"What can I say? It's part of my awesome personality" Adam replied mockingly, then turned serious: "I mean it, I don't intend to stay locked in here forever. I'll get out sooner or later"
"Sure, and then you'll go back to doing crazy things until they capture you again, and maybe this time they'll kill you" Lute growled.
"Kill me? They won't succeed in that" Adam answered her without the slightest hesitation.
Lute made a noise of exasperation. "Fuck, you're such an asshole!" she exclaimed, turning her back on him.
The smile faded from Adam's face. He was silent for a few moments, and then he said to her: "I know why you ran away the last time, and I'm not mad at you. You did the right thing"
Lute's body seemed to become the same consistency as an ice statue. Again, not a word came out of her mouth: no snide remarks, no insults, not even a grumble. But Adam, even without looking at her face, knew he had hit the nail on the head. "There was nothing you could do to save my life" he continued to say. "You should have thought about saving your teammates, not avenging a dead person. Retreating was the right choice"
Lute remained silent for an entire minute, and then she finally turned back to him. Her eyes were shaking. "Then why didn't you retire too?"
"You know I couldn't. Not in front of Lucifer" Adam answered her. "I couldn't accept his charity. I couldn't give up on him"
"Was your pride worth more than your life? Than your soul?" Lute asked him.
Adam shook his head. "You know it wasn't my pride" he replied. "Accepting Lucifer's charity for me means letting him win. It means that I would be in debt to him, and therefore I could no longer make him pay for everything he has done. I can't. For me, giving in to him... means losing everything"
Lute looked him straight in the eyes. Adam could easily see the storm brewing in her pupils. "And now? You gave in to him anyway"
"No, I didn't give in on him. I was defeated. It's different" Adam replied to her. "And I wasn't even defeated by him, but by Charlie"
“Do you call her by name now?” Lute exclaimed through gritted teeth. She knew that Adam only called those he truly respected by name. It was a privilege he had granted to very few people, and she was one of them; although he sometimes used joking nicknames, most of the time he addressed her only by her first name. “Was one fight enough to make you respect that slut?”
"She's not a slut, Lute. She's just a lost child who put her trust in the wrong people" Adam replied to her. “I know it for sure. I saw it”
"She's a demon" Lute reminded him.
"No. She's half human. That's enough for me" Adam told her. "She didn't choose to be born in this sewer. And despite living in this place, she always fought sinful instincts and always did her best to resist them. She made mistakes, but I did the same with her. The responsibility for what happened between us is mine, not hers"
Lute narrowed her eyes. "You've changed" she murmured. "No... you are still the same, but your perception of things has changed. You see people differently"
"No, it's still the same. I still know that sinners are useless disgusting bastards who deserve to be destroyed. I still know that the angels in Heaven are righteous. I still have the same goals, the same beliefs, the same interests" Adam replied to her. "Simply, I became aware that I didn't behave in the right way towards some people. What happened with Charlie was my fault, because I didn't take the problem she represented with the right seriousness that would have been expected from my role. And the same goes for Vaggie"
Lute's eyelid quivered. "Since when do you usually give second chances to traitors?"
"Since their betrayal was due to oversights on my part" Adam replied to her. "In that case, it is my duty to fix what was broken"
"And you really think you can do that with someone like Vaggie?" Lute grumbled. "She's just an arrogant sucker"
"Not anymore. Try talking to her... I'm sure she has a lot to tell you" Adam told her, and then he confessed: "I made her take the test. She passed"
Lute became as stiff as a stockfish. Her face lost what little color it had, to the point that it looked like her blood vessels had just been drained, making her chalk white. “Are you talking… about that test?” she whispered in an extremely thin voice, and also, for the first time ever, with a trembling note.
Adam nodded. "I know I swore I would have never done it again. But Vaggie needed it" he told her. "It was necessary for her to understand the weight of the actions of sinners, the reason of our duty. I gave her a lot to think about, and I'm sure she took this lesson to heart"
Lute stared at him intently. She didn't seem to know whether to yell at him, tell him he was an idiot, take his side, or throw away her dignity and start crying. In the end she simply turned away, as she always did when she didn't know how to react. "Tsk" was all she replied dismissively.
Adam sighed. “Lute, I know you don't agree with many of my actions. But please, trust me”
"Should I?" Lute asked him. "I thought I knew everything about you. It turns out I was wrong. You have secrets from me even now. Why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"
Adam's gaze became extremely intense. "I've already made my intentions clear" he replied. "I want to eradicate evil from the root. I will kill Lucifer and wipe out every predator past, present or future. A new world is about to be born"
"Yes, I already know that" Lute blurted out. "But how do you plan to do that? Tell me the truth. For starters, how are you going to kill Lucifer, when angels literally cannot die?"
Adam shook his head. "I can't tell you that. They might be listening to us"
Lute narrowed her eyes. "Always the same excuse" she commented with a bit of anger and disappointment in her voice. “When are you going to be really honest with me?”
Adam looked down. "Lute, I..."
The doors opened just at that moment. Virtually all the people currently present in the heavenly embassy entered the room. "Oh, hi. Were you two talking?" Charlie greeted them.
"That seems obvious to me, genius" Lute told her sourly.
"Nice as always" Charlie couldn't help but comment under her breath.
"What did you say to each other?" Vaggie asked raising an eyebrow.
Lute let out a grunt. "This is our business"
"I didn't try to convince her to get me out of here, if that's what you're afraid of" Adam told them, immediately returning to his usual arrogant nature. "Look at this lovely welcoming committee... honestly, I'm surprised it took you so long. I've been waiting for you for a few hours now"
"Sorry for the wait. I had a problem with my arm" Charlie replied sarcastically.
Adam grinned amusedly. "Don't look at me like that. Admit it, you had fun too. It was a good fight"
"I don't like fighting" Charlie repeated to him for the umpteenth time.
Adam shrugged. "It's liberating, don't deny it. You've been wanting to punch me in the face for a while" he told her. "You put up a good fight, but I bet Michael told you that too. Oh, by the way, best buddy, thanks for staying here for me. I know how much you hate this place... and the people who live here"
"I want to be sure that you remain in one piece" Michael told him. "But know that that doesn't make us allies. Whatever you're doing, I want to know about it"
"Believe me, I'm sure you would find it a brilliant plan. But I certainly don't want to talk about it in front of them" Adam said, nodding his head towards the demons. "After all, I plan to destroy them. It would be crazy for them to listen to me and then just pretend I didn't tell them anything, don't you think?"
"Hey, asshole, get it over with" Lucifer growled. "Look, after you blew my daughter's arm off, you can't hope in any preferential treatment from me. Talk now while I'm in a good enough mood not to come in there and make you cry like a fucking baby"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "Please, go ahead" he replied in a challenging voice. "You know where the door is. Come in here. I'll welcome you with open arms"
Lucifer approached the energy field. "Tell me, do you know what fear is?" he asked him with a hiss.
Adam brought his face closer to it in turn. “Oh, yes… I know it so much that I will teach it to you very soon”
"Enough!" Lilith intervened, pulling her husband back. "Both of you, stop it! You won't solve anything this way!"
Adam just let out a grunt. “And why would we ever solve anything?” he said with venom in his voice. "Ah, Lilith, the little nurse. Always ready to solve problems even if no one had ever asked her to. But put it in your head: you can't always fix what's broken, especially if the pieces don't want to be put back together"
Lilith blushed slightly at those words, but she did not lose her composure. Instead she changed the subject: "Adam... your Exorcists are still out there somewhere, here in Hell. We want to help you and therefore all of them. By continuing to be difficult you will not make their stay in Hell any less long"
Adam finally lost all teasing attitude. "They'll be fine" he said. "Don't get them in the way"
Lilith sighed. She knew Adam would have never talked as long as it was just about him… and she knew he cared a lot about his girls in his own way. "Adam, here are the archangel Michael and two other seraphim who can help us with the problem. If you want to stay in Hell and continue your plans, fine, it's your choice; but let your soldiers have their choice too. Don't continue to lead them down a dark path that will drag them away from any possibility of..."
"I'm not leading them down any dark path! They're doing what they've done for millennia!" Adam ranted. "They're just supporting me!"
"Supporting in something wrong!" Emily exclaimed flying in front of the cage. “It was what you did for millennia that brought you down here!”
Adam glared at her. "Of all people, right you were supposed to come and visit me, mh? Share your idealism with someone who cares"
Emily trembled with irritation. "What you were doing was wrong and you know it! Why else would you be here now otherwise?"
Charlie bit her lip and tried to pull her back, sensing where this discussion would have ended: "Emily, this isn't the best move..."
Adam let out a deep snort. "Of all the sins I can think of that I have reason to repent of, cleaning up the scum is not one of them" he answered her.
"Well, you're wrong!" Emily protested. "What you did is... inhuman!"
"Why? I don't see any humans in this shitty world. So how can my actions be inhuman?" Adam replied. "Those are nothing but demons. They are monsters and they cannot change"
Emily's eyes narrowed. "Oh, yes? So how do you explain this!?"
"Emily, no!" Charlie tried to stop her.
Too late: the young seraph flew after that group of people and dragged out Sir Pentious, who had remained behind everyone with Cherri and consequently Adam had not noticed. As soon as the first man saw him, his face seemed to turn to stone. "What...? What kind of dirty trick is this!?"
"No tricks! He's a redeemed demon!" Emily answered him. "There! You have proof that you were wrong! They can change!"
Adam was pale. He slid to his knees on the cell floor. "How...?" he whispered. "How... could this happen...?"
"Um... just to be sure, I would like to point out that even I don't know" Pentious hastened to say, clearly uncomfortable being so close to someone who had disintegrated him without even touching him, even if there was a barrier between them.
"See? A demon has redeemed himself!" Emily took it further. "Which proves you were wrong! But you can still..."
"Go away" Adam growled putting his hands over his face.
Emily opened her eyes to thaat. "What...?"
"Go away!" Adam nearly screamed as he began to shake. His tone of voice was so terrifying that Emily took a step back even though the barrier was separating them.
Charlie understood very well that there was no point in staying, and from the looks of her friends, they too agreed. "Come on. Let's leave him alone for a while" she said, quickly dragging everyone through the door, which closed behind them. As she walked out, she could clearly hear Adam making a noise that sounded very much like the roar of a wounded beast.
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 19): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/154892086
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 73: Waiting a little
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
No one had any doubt that it was best to leave Adam alone; after the shock he had received, having someone around would only have increased his stress. It was not impossible that he would have started throwing headbutts at the magical barrier in an attempt to attack them in a frenzy. Even Lute preferred not to stay with him, even though she was clearly worried. "Let's give him some time to digest everything" Lilith murmured as soon as they returned to the meeting room. "We will talk to him when he has recovered at least a little"
"Whatever, but I'm not going back in there again!" Pentious immediately screamed, shaking like a leaf. The look Adam had given him was enough to convince him that it was best for him to never meet the first man EVER again. He was sure that Adam would have ripped him apart if he could.
Lilith ignored him: "Now he wouldn't listen to us at all. Once he calms down... we'll see how he reacts"
"For once I agree with you" Michael said with a grunt, then he glared at Emily: "You shouldn't have done that"
Emily blushed. "I just showed him the truth! He's shocked now, but as soon as he calms down, he'll definitely change his mind! He saw with his own eyes that he was wrong!"
"Emily, it's not that simple" Sera told her. From her gaze she seemed on the one hand to understand the young seraphim's good intentions, but on the other hand she too showed a slight irritation. "Shoving the truth in someone's face like that, suddenly, and what's more if that someone is so convinced of his ideas... it's dangerous"
Emily turned even redder. Receiving the reproaches of the most powerful archangel of all was already a source of shame for her, but receiving them from the one she basically saw as a maternal figure rather than a mentor hurt her even more. "But... I just wanted him to understand... you understand, don't you, Charlie...?"
The princess of Hell bit her lip. "Sorry, Emily... but I have to agree with them here" she replied in a sorry voice. “As someone who has seen their worldview broken in front of her eyes… I know how destabilizing it is”
Charlie remembered well the culture shock she had experienced on Earth. Velvette had done basically the same thing with her, throwing the truth in her face without any veil. Charlie had managed to recover fast only thanks to her friends, and she wasn't even completely sure if she had actually recovered. She didn't dare imagine what was now going through Adam's mind, who had just seen thousands of years of solid beliefs shatter in an instant.
Emily lowered her head dejectedly. Sera put a hand on her shoulder: “I know you just wanted to do the right thing, but it was better to reach that point carefully”
Emily nodded. "Sorry. I thought if he saw the truth, he would change his mind". She looked up and stared at Sera: "Do you think... this will change him...?"
Sera shook her head slightly. "I don't know the answer. Personally, I'm afraid of what could happen now. Any future interactions will have to be carried out with the utmost care. I fear that now the slightest thing would be enough to trigger something that will no longer be the Adam we know..."
"Adam is not a danger to Heaven" Lute interjected sourly. "We have no reason to worry about this..."
"Don't underestimate him" Sera replied. "I don't question his loyalty, but that loyalty was forged by the belief that Heaven and his ideal of justice were aligned. Now that he knows that at least for once it wasn't the case, I don't know what might happen. He might decide to reevaluate his beliefs... or choose to take matters into his own hands and act without caring about everything and everyone, including Heaven"
Lute fell silent. "Adam didn't..."
"Lute, you saw it too. The way he talks, the way he acts. There's seriously something wrong with him" Sera pointed out. "He wasn't in a good mental state before, and now he's completely collapsed. We can't predict what will come out of this"
Lute lowered her head, having no way to reply.
Lilith cleared her throat: "If Adam really used his gaze on him, his mind is definitely not in the best state right now. Let's be careful when we interact with him again"
Silence fell on the room. Nobody seemed to know quite what to say. "So... now what do we do?" Angel asked. "We leave him there... for how long?"
"A few hours at least. He needs time to calm down" Sera replied. "I'll keep an eye on him. As soon as he seems to be able to think again, we'll try to talk to him again"
“I don't know if we can afford to waste time” Husk pointed out. "Alastor is still out there, and so are the Exorcists. They are surely already planning how to free their commander"
"There is no doubt about that" Sera replied, knowing well the loyalty of Adam's soldiers. "But they can't get into the tower without an angel wanting it, and they know it"
"They're still very dangerous" Rosie murmured, rubbing her chin. "We need to find them as soon as possible, before they do something reckless. Especially Alastor. He's very smart, and that makes him unpredictable"
"No demon will enter here as long as I am here to defend this tower" Michael said in a firm voice. "As for what happens out there, it's none of my business. It's your world, not mine"
"Of course. No responsability in this, asshole" Lucifer hissed.
Michael barely gave him a look of contempt. "If you hadn't always avoid your responsabilities, you wouldn't have a dangerous demon roaming around your kingdom right now. You wouldn't have a lot of problems actually"
Lucifer's eyelid quivered. "Of course, Alastor betrays my daughter and in your opinion it is my fault!" he blurted out irritably.
"Guys, please" Lilith begged them in exasperation, and Sera seemed to completely agree with her. Both women seemed drained of all energy.
Michael let out a growl. "Shut up, first bitch. I still have to properly interrogate you about how you convinced my best friend to take you to Heaven illegally and what you did there"
Lilith blushed. “I didn't seduce him or anything like that, if that's what you think”
"Oh, I have no doubt about that, Adam wouldn't have been fooled that easily. He may be a little promiscuous, but he would never want you again" Michael replied. "But I know how emotional he gets when we are talking about his oldest acquaintances. And it wouldn't surprise me to find out that you took advantage of that"
Charlie thought she now understood three things about her uncle: first, there was bad blood between him and her father; second, he didn't think highly of her mother; third, he definitely didn't like Hell. Even though he was certainly better than Adam's murderous and almost mad fury, she felt uncomfortable with him... even if she couldn't completely blame him anymore. "Listen, let's try to think clearly. We know what the problem is, so let's divide the tasks"
Everyone looked at her, interested in what she was saying. Charlie felt a little pressured, but she still continued to speak: "Since Michael wants to question my mother, so be it. You two can stay here, and Dad can stay with you so he can make sure nothing happens. Sera will stay here too to keep Adam under control. My friends and I will instead try to figure out how to find Alastor and the other Exorcists"
The proposal was reasonable. "I'm coming with you..." Emily was already saying.
But Sera grabbed her ear. "You're not going anywhere, young lady" she told her sternly. "You can't wander around Hell freely, it's dangerous"
Emily didn't like that restriction at all. "But...!"
“It's non-negotiable” Sera stopped her immediately. "Angels don't wander around in Hell. You stay here"
Charlie wanted to contradict her and defend her friend, but she couldn't deny that having an angel roaming free in Hell could be a problem. Vaggie could disguise herself well, but if Emily started walking down the streets any demon would have recognized her... and either it would have been the start of a mass panic or everyone would have been swooping down on her to capture her (or worse). It was far better for the young seraphim to stay out of trouble, and since trouble included all of Hell, she must not set foot outside the embassy. And this also raised another question: "What about Pentious?"
"Angels don't wander around in Hell" Sera repeated making it clear she had no intention of negotiating.
"But he's our friend! Come on, he lived here for decades!" Angel protested.
"I don't care" Sera replied.
Pentious cleared his throat: "Guys, don't think about me. Focus on what's important. You've gotten by so far without me..."
"Then I'll keep you company" Cherri said immediately, clinging to him like an octopus. “This is allowed, right?”
Sera closed her eyes as if trying to give herself strength. "Yes" she finally sighed.
"Perfect! Good luck, guys!" Cherri said hastily, and a moment later she disappeared, dragging Pentious away with her.
"That was quick" Angel commented with a smirk. "If I were you, before entering any room in this place I would listen carefully for any suspicious sounds"
Sera looked like she was about to explode. "I have some medicine for the headache" Charlie whispered to her, and she gladly accepted.
Having solved at least part of the problems, Charlie and her friends hurriedly left the embassy. They definitely preferred to be on their own rather than in that delirium. As soon as they were outside, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Seriously, I feel sorry for that Sera" Angel didn't hold back from saying.
"Yeah" Charlie murmured. "So, what do we do?"
"Without Adam, Alastor is vulnerable" Vaggie said. "He's dangerous, but we can handle him. What we have to do is be able to predict his moves"
"He could be hiding anywhere right now" Rosie pointed out. "Let's try to think like him. If your best ally was captured, what would you do?"
Everyone looked at Husk; of all of them, he was the one who knew the radio demon best. "Anyone in his place would step aside and wait for a more favorable opportunity... but that's not Alastor's style" he said. "If I were him, the best choice would be to find a way to divide us, and then use one of us as a hostage... or better yet, I would brainwash them and then send them to the celestial embassy, and once inside kidnap Emily or someone else to use them as a bargaining chip"
“Can he really brainwash someone?” Angel asked him.
"Even if his powers didn't include hypnotism, he has all the overlords Adam captured at his disposal" Vaggie reminded them. “He could force Vox to hypnotize one of us to do his bidding”
"That is just like something that he would do" Husk confirmed. "It's unlikely that he will attack us while Charlie is with us, it would be crazy, he knows he can't beat her. But he might try to divide us and take one of us secretly, before the others notice"
"With his shadow-based powers, he could easily do that" Vaggie pointed out. "Let's not distance ourselves from each other"
"You better look for some more allies" Velvette said suddenly.
Everyone looked at her. "Why? We have Charlie, Rosie and technically you too in our team" Angel asked her.
"Yes, and Alastor is the most powerful overlord of all, and surely after he faced the old lady once he will have taken precautions" Velvette pointed out. "And who says your precious princess will be able to get there in time to save you? Let's say Alastor attacks two separate parts of the city at the same time to divide us. What will protect the part of us that didn't go with her?"
Those opinions were reasonable. "In fact, it would be better if we had more powerful beings at our side" Vaggie admitted. "But who will have the courage to go against the radio demon? Even if Adam is now a prisoner, challenging Alastor is still a huge risk"
"So take people who have nothing to lose! Do I have to tell you everything!?" Velvette snapped. "That old fossil, Zestial. He cares about Carmilla, doesn't he? And he's also the owner of the largest information network in Hell and an excellent investigator. He can be useful to you, right?"
Although no one could stand the social overlord's attitude, they still found themselves nodding. "Yes... that's true. Let's go talk to Zestial" Charlie said.
"Val too" Velvette told them.
Everyone took on a contrary expression. "Forget it" was what they told her in unison.
Velvette let out a grunt. "Look, I too don't want to talk to him right now, but you can't deny that he can be useful to us. He's still one of the strongest overlords around and he has a very good reason to join us since Vox is still a prisoner, and now that Adam is no longer around this is a golden opportunity for him"
"Of course, so he'll drug us, threaten us or try to run away again as soon as things get bad" Vaggie commented sourly.
"Against Adam, escape was the only possible option. Against Alastor, Valentino won't hesitate to fight. He may not seem like it, but he doesn't like to be put on his head. Even if he prefers to avoid a fight, he's not stupid nor even a coward" Velvette told them. "He won't throw one of you into Alastor's hands knowing that he would use you to enter the celestial embassy and free Adam again"
"She's not entirely wrong" Rosie admitted.
Vaggie glared at her. "Sorry, but whose side are you on!?"
"On the side of reason, obviously" Rosie replied. "And reason requires us to use every means in our possession to avoid further mess. We all like Adam to remain behind bars, so stopping Alastor is imperative. I don't trust Valentino either... but technically, I don't trust of a lot of people"
Vaggie was already about to reply, but Angel stopped them all: "Guys, it's okay"
Charlie bit her lip. "Angel, you don't have to...!"
"Val was able to track down Adam's hideout once. He can do it again" Angel stopped her immediately. "We need all the help we can get this time... and I'm sure that as soon as Val knows that Adam has been captured he will take action anyway. If we keep him around at least we can keep an eye on him"
Charlie shook her head. "Angel, he already hurt you..."
"Then we'll make sure he won't be an asshole again" Angel told her. "Val wants to save Vox as much as we want to save everyone else. He will cooperate"
Charlie hesitated for a moment longer, but finally she gave up. "Okay... if you say so..."
"Oh, finally!" Velvette exclaimed, grateful that they were done wasting time. “So, where does the old fossil live?”
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 20): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155161942
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 74: Unusual allies
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Finding Zestial wasn't difficult, as his manor wasn't exactly hidden... in fact, it was right in plain sight, and impossible to miss. “Does that guy live here?” Angel murmured a little worried. "I'm not going in there, at least I'll find a vampire... and I doubt he'd be a nice horny anime vampire"
"You better not ask any questions about that" Husk grumbled, rubbing his head, and then he looked at Velvette: “Did you manage to contact your daddy?”
She gave him a dirty look, but still she remained calm: "I tried to call him, but his cell phone doesn't exist. Evidently he deleted all his traces so as not to be found by Adam. Smart move"
"It may be a smart move, but he's making it hard for us to track him too" Vaggie said. "Well, we'll take care of him later. Now let's go talk to Zestial"
"Okay. But let's be clear, if we knock and no one is home, we leave. I don't stay in a place that looks like the set of The Walking Dead" Angel said through gritted teeth, looking around to make sure there were zombies ready to jump on him from behind.
Charlie sighed, ignoring the spider demon's childishness. The situation was already extremely tiring, and perhaps she was becoming paranoid since while they had come here she had kept looking around expecting Alastor or someone else affiliated with Adam to suddenly pop up. Strangely, while checking around she noticed that the Pride Ring seemed significantly emptier than usual, and she had seen very few hellborns on the streets, even in areas where they normally were numerous.
She tried to knock on the door, but she didn't need to: a greenish fog emerged from the handle and enveloped them in an instant. Everyone tensed, but the fog just swirled around them, as if it were studying them, and then it disappeared and the door opened of its own accord. Obviously no one had the courage to enter, at least until the disturbing figure of Zestial appeared beyond it: "Don't be afraid, it was just the security system"
"What the...!? Is that green smoke a security system!?" Angel snapped.
"It is a powerful poison that affects all those who I have not classified as welcome" Zestial explained to him, welcoming them into the house. "Don't worry, I've already set it up for you all to pass. It kept its distance so you hadn't inhaled it..."
"I threw myself into the fog!" Niffty screamed, who was lying on the ground with her face half paralyzed. "It smelled so good...!"
Zestial looked at her confused, not knowing what to say. Charlie motioned for him to let it go: "Don't worry, that's how she normally is..."
"Since when do you have powers capable of creating smoke?" Husk asked suddenly raising an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you are poisonous, but you didn't have such abilities..."
"In fact I don't have them" Zestial confirmed with a grunt. "But recently to find Carmilla I agreed to work with someone unorthodox..."
"Someone who has powers related to smoking?” Angel murmured, and then his eyes widened, "Wait... don't tell me that...!"
Just then Zestial led them into a room in the manor that was furnished in a completely different way from the rest: it looked like the laboratory of some scientist from an old film, like Frankenstein. Everywhere there were instruments and vials full of some poison, and blackboards full of photos and various writings. There were also some very technologically advanced instruments. And in the midst of all that stuff, intent on looking at a blackboard, there was Valentino, who immediately smiled showing his sharp teeth as soon as he saw them: "Who knows why, I was sure that we would have met again"
“So this was where you were hiding!” Velvette snapped. "I've been trying to call you for hours!"
"Sorry, Babydoll. After you left me in the lurch, I had to change my cell phone. I was too contactable" Valentino told her.
Charlie looked at Zestial: “So you two work together now?”
The spider overlord shrugged: "He came to me a few days ago offering his help in finding Adam's lair and saving the overlords"
"You didn't want to have me on the team, I had to look for a new partner" Valentino told them, crossing his arms with superiority.
“I didn't know you two got along" Vaggie commented.
"We don't get along" Zestial clarified. "But he needed an ally and a place to hide, and I needed help to improve my research. Valentino wants to save Vox, I want to save Carmilla: this brings us together just enough to work together"
"Be careful, he might stab you in the back" Angel warned him.
Zestial didn't bat an eye. "I know. It's the first thing I thought about" he replied as if it were a normal thing to say. "Despite his unpleasant personality for me, Valentino has so far proved useful. As long as he remains so, it's fine with me"
Charlie found herself thinking that in fact turning to Zestial had been the smartest move on Valentino's part: after he had lost her favor, it had been wise to turn to one of the most powerful overlords around. And since Zestial aimed to track down Carmilla, who was presumably in the same place where Vox was held captive, they had a common goal. After all, Valentino had already proven himself to be clever, even if he was a bastard, so perhaps she should have almost expected to find him there.
"Well, don't just stand there. Tell us where you've been the last few days, with all the shit going on" Valentino told them. "Come on, don't make those faces. Don't tell me you're still mad at me...?"
"You and I need to talk, but we will when we're alone" Velvette told him in an annoyed voice.
Valentino put on a confused expression. He was used to Velvette reacting significantly more aggressively than this. "Babydoll, are you okay...?"
"I said we'll talk privately" Velvette replied hastily. "Anyway, we were on Earth and we captured Adam, but Alastor got away and now who knows what he's doing, and as soon as we got back we slept for almost two days"
Valentino and Zestial took on stunned expressions: "Seriously!? Did you get Adam!?"
"Yes, now he's in a nice cell having an existential crisis" Velvette told them. "Oh, and do you want to be even more shocked? Redemption is possible, the snake-shaped idiot who detonated himself is now an angel"
Valentino almost choked on his saliva: "Are you kidding me...!?"
"Okay, that's enough" Charlie intervened to calm things down. "I understand this is shocking news for you, but let's take it step by step, shall we? One explanation at a time"
Valentino didn't listen to her at all: he didn't freak out just because he was too shocked to speak. Judging by his expression he looked like he was having a stroke... could he has strokes even if he was dead? Zestial was fortunately more calm, although he too seemed to have just seen a ghost: "Well, this is... unexpected"
"Yes, I know! But can we focus on what we need to do now!?" Charlie snapped, raising her voice a little in hopes of being listened. "We'll talk about the 'redemption issue' when we don't have a sword over our heads!"
The two overlords regained some composure. "Yes, you're right" Zestial murmured, rubbing his temples. "So... you have Adam, and you were on Earth..."
"This explains why we haven't seen you around lately" Valentino commented.
"Right, now that I think about it... why did you say earlier that there's a mess around?" Husk asked suspiciously.
"If you were on Earth you couldn't know that" Zestial murmured. "After your fight at the church, the Exorcists started... well, let's say blowing up some buildings"
Everyone's eyes widened. "Wait a minute... the Exorcists were on Earth with Adam...!" Angel protested.
"No, there were only those who died in the battle at the church" Vaggie pointed out. "He definitely has a lot more, since a lot of them died at the hotel. And obviously he must have left someone behind to watch over the overlords"
“It makes sense” Zestial said. "These... acts of terrorism, if you want to call them that, have been happening continuously over the last few days. There have been three of them in Pentagram City"
"Wait, what?" Husk exclaimed. "Didn't they just attack Pentagram City?"
"If they had, we would have captured some of them by now" Valentino said with a grunt. "They carried out hundreds of attacks, but all scattered in every corner of the Pride Ring"
"No, no, no, stop for a fucking moment! Something's wrong here!" Husk said raising his arms. "How did the Exorcists move so quickly throughout the Pride Ring? Adam can open portals, Alastor can move between shadows, but both of them were with us on Earth! The Exorcists can just fly a little fast, it's impossible that they were able to move throughout the entire Pride Ring so quickly without being seen!”
"That is true. Our guess is that another overlord is helping them" Zestial said. "Maybe they force them, or they are another traitor"
That theory was pretty good, Charlie found herself thinking. Fuck, she'd thought Hell would have been safe while they were on Earth, but apparently there were problems there too. What a situation. “Why are they doing these attacks?”
"We don't know. They attack, blow something up, and then run away, all within seconds" Zestial answered her. "They don't even do too much damage. It's as if they wanted to divert attention rather than pursue a real objective... or as if they wanted to sow terror"
"Ah, they're doing a great job on the last part" Valentino commented. "Sinners are now afraid to go to public places. Many have hidden. And the hellborns? They are all running away"
Charlie's eyes widened, remembering that she had seen very few hellborns outside. "What do you mean they run away?"
"They seek refuge in the other Rings" Zestial replied. "The Pride Ring is rapidly emptying, leaving only the sinners behind"
“So basically everyone is migrating to the lower Rings?” Husk asked.
"Well, you can't be surprised. What gazelle would stay in a lion's territory?" Zestial answered him. "Before the hellborns lived without fear in the Pride Ring because they didn't have to fear the angels, and indeed, with so many sinners it was an opportunity for profit for them. But now Adam has shown that he has no qualms about killing anyone, no matter what whether they are sinners or hellborns. And he has basically announced to all of Hell that he is planning a massacre. In light of this, what madman would stay here in Pride if they had an alternative available? It is much safer for the hellborns to take refuge in the lower Rings until things calm down. At least Adam can't reach them there"
"Those who had families, friends or other bullshit like this have already left this place" Valentino commented acidly. "And now everyone else is following them. With each new act of terrorism carried out by the Exorcists, more and more of them flee in fear. Only those who have nothing to lose and everything to gain, such as hitmen, thieves and murderers, are staying behind"
"It's a blow to the whole economy" Zestial said, drumming his fingers on the table. "Most of the services of the Pride Ring functioned thanks to the hellborns. Firemen, construction workers, street cleaners, plumbers, they are mostly hellborns. Without them, the Pride Ring will suffer a lot. Now a lot of companies are already collapsing because of the absence of qualified personnel. Within a week, considering the common behavior of demons, even the infrastructure will begin to fail due to lack of maintenance"
Charlie bit her lip. She knew that even though hellborns were mostly considered second-class citizens in the Pride Ring, they were very important to keeping it running. Sinners certainly didn't worry about repairing what they destroyed, cleaning the streets or putting out fires. Without the hellborns, primary infrastructure would have rapidly deteriorated, causing more and more chaos. "Absurd... Adam is a prisoner and in any case he is inflicting heavy blows on all of Hell" she murmured.
"If Voxxy were here, he'd have a stroke" Valentino muttered.
Zestial cleared his throat: "Yeah, that's a big problem too. The absence of the overlords is creating great power vacuums, which, added to the economic crisis that is happening, is making things somewhat worse"
“Are there no other overlords who can take their place?” Angel asked.
Zestial shook his head. "In the past, upon the passing of an overlord their properties would immediately be taken by others. But now, the remaining overlords are trying to hide as much as possible. They are afraid of what Adam will do to them. Very few still dare to expose themselves. They would rather lose profit than their life"
So, no overlords managing things from above and no hellborns fixing things from below. Everything was left to a bunch of lawless sinners. No wonder the entire Pride Ring was collapsing.
“Should we tell everyone that Adam is a prisoner?” Angel proposed. "This way, at least they'll calm down a little"
"I'm not sure" Charlie said. "Maybe it's best to let the hellborns go to the lower Rings. Adam is a prisoner, but Alastor is still out there. And we all know that chaos is exactly what he wants, he's more likely to free his ally that way. If everyone knew that Adam was behind bars, Alastor would probably start panicking and killing a lot of people to scare everyone even more"
"I agree. And if the overlords come out, Alastor will start a second cleansing like the one he did decades ago" Vaggie added. "He won't let Hell get back to order. This whole mess is exactly what he and Adam want"
"I find myself forced to agree" Zestial confirmed.
"We can't let them do as they want!" Husk protested. "We need to bring some order back!"
"Order in Hell? I hope you're joking" Valentino muttered sarcastically. "Even if Alastor decides to stay out of all this, don't think the demons won't make a big mess. As soon as they know they're safe they'll fight to seize power now that there are so few overlords around"
"You're just worried that without Vox you wouldn't be able to keep control of your agency" Rosie told him.
Valentino's eyelids trembled. "First, it's not our agency! I have my agency, he has his! Second, I'm perfectly capable of managing both, and so is Vel!"
"Of course" Rosie murmured, rolling her eyes.
Velvette cleared her throat. "Guys, let's be serious, please. Val is right unfortunately. You know well that I don't care about people or something like that, but I care about my own safety. That's what I understand: we have to find Alastor, and fast. So, any ideas?"
There was a brief moment of silence, and then Zestial shook his head: “Unfortunately, all the acts of terrorism carried out left no traces. I tried to look for a pattern, predict the next attack, understand how the Exorcists think. But unfortunately it is everything is increasingly difficult, given that my spy network is also losing men and therefore I struggle to keep it under control"
"Yeah. It's like when we tried to track down Adam for the first time. A lot of effort, a lot of speculation, but very few clues available" Valentino commented harshly.
"If it's like last time, then maybe you can create an algorithm to track Exorcists" Angel said, pointing to Velvette. "You did it the first time, didn't you?"
The social overlord shrugged: "I can try, but I had created that algorithm after days of work, and Vox had given me a big hand. Besides, that time Adam wanted to be found" she reminded them. "This time the Exorcists and especially Alastor don't want us to find them, and Vox isn't here, actually, even worse, he's right in the enemy hideout at this precise moment. They're probably forcing him to create an algorithm that anticipates mine"
“It makes sense, unfortunately” Husk grumbled, crossing his arms. “Adam uses the overlords as a workforce for his project, and he specifically said that Vox is important. It's likely that they are also exploiting it in some way to prevent their scheme from being discovered. It's like fighting a hacker with a stronger hacker... or something like that"
"Your analogy doesn't make any fucking sense, but yeah, it's like that. I'll give you this credit" Velvette told him.
"So we can't track them..." Vaggie grumbled as she looked at the pictures, and she realized a detail: "Why are some of them circled with red?"
"They are the ones where a... symbol known to us was found" Zestial explained. "Near them, a pentagram was drawn"
“A pentagram?” Angel repeated in surprise. “Why would they draw a satanic symbol?”
"The pentagram is not just a satanic symbol. The five-pointed star is actually an angelic symbol" Zestial explained. "Five is a powerful and divine number, after all, as opposed to six which is instead the true infernal number. Through the pentagram it is possible to create powerful magic, and the more skilled the person who performs it, the more they can have greater reach"
"Magic..." Charlie murmured worriedly. "Mysticism is Alastor's strong point"
"Yes. It is likely that Adam allied himself with him precisely because he trusts in his magical knowledge. No one is expert in spells like him" Zestial confirmed. "We've already destroyed those pentagrams, but that's probably not enough. The Exorcists would have hidden them better otherwise"
"How many have you found so far?" Husk asked.
“Exactly two hundred and six, scattered throughout the Pride Ring” Zestial responded promptly.
Vaggie froze like a piece of ice. “You said… two hundred and six!?”
"Can you think of anything?" Charlie asked her, worried about her reaction.
"Guys, the skeleton!" Vaggie exclaimed. "Adam exhumed his skeleton on Earth and the Exorcists brought it here to Hell! And a human skeleton is made up of exactly two hundred and six bones!"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. “Wait… are you saying Adam plans to do something using his bones?” Angel murmured in confusion. “That sucker is also a necromancer now?”
"Well, we're talking about the bones of the first man, created in the image and likeness of God" Vaggie reminded them. "Who knows what powers they have. Combine them with a guy with a lot of magical knowledge like Alastor and a strategist who has had millennia to decide how to use them, and you can imagine what comes of it"
“A time bomb, basically" Husk muttered. "You said those pentagrams are scattered all over the Pride Ring, right? It just seems like one of those situations where the bad guy places the bombs in the right places, and ends up blowing up the whole city. Or the Ring, in our case"
"It would be in line with his character" Angel commented. “Solving everything in a super pyrotechnic way would be really cool”
"So, to recap..." Velvette said as she clasped her hands in front of her face. "... even though we have Adam as a prisoner, right now we have a giant spell that will probably destroy the entire Pride Ring and which is in the hands of the psychopath with the most disturbing smile in all of Hell. Can someone explain to me what we should do now beside trying not to lose it...?"
"Guys, we are so screwed! I don't know what we're gonna do! I mean this is completely crazy! We're all going to die! We're gonna die a second time! Once was already enough...!" Niffty started screaming completely randomly, making everyone jump in fright. When everyone stared at her, she simply smiled and said innocently: "What? Now that we've already lost it, we can focus on the rest, right?"
Velvette wasn't even surprised anymore, since apparently she was too used to that crazy dwarf by now. As for the others, they hardly noticed. "You know, if she hadn't done it... I would have" Angel admitted with a bit of shame.
Zestial and Valentino obviously had no idea what they were talking about, but they were smart enough to put the pieces together just enough to give him an idea. "You have to explain everything to us better" the spider overlord told them. "Anyway, aside from the pentagrams, the only clue we have continues to be his symbol and numbers..."
"His symbol?" Charlie repeated, then she remembered that Adam had marked all his kills with ADS written in the triangle. "Do your Exorcists use it too?"
"Yes, but they didn't mark all the places. Only some" Zestial explained to them, and then he handed them a list: "These are the new numbers we got"
Charlie took the list and read the numbers: "4-0-6-6-6-1-0-6-6-6"
"Combined them with the ones we already had and the ones he left on Earth, the final list is 1-0-6-6-6-1-2-1-0-3-3-3-6-6-6-0-1-1-4-2-5-10-4-0-6-6-6-1-0-6-6-6" Vaggie said. "This code is becoming increasingly difficult to understand..."
"Whatever the hidden message is, it sure is important," Charlie said. "We just need to figure out what that means..."
It was really a complicated situation. She already wasn't very good at magazine puzzles, let alone such complex things. The more she looked at the sequence of numbers trying to make sense of it, the more her head hurt.
Valentino grunted: "You said you have Adam. Why don't you question him?"
"We're trying. It's not that easy... to talk to him" Charlie just murmured, and then his gaze became attentive: "You, rather... you said that you came here because you wanted to find a way to make him confess. Can you explain better?"
Valentino spat out some smoke: "Since that bastard finally took off his helmet, I thought I'd make him treacherously inhale some of my smoke"
"It won't be enough" Angel told him immediately. "He would copy it and become immune to it"
"No, he can't. He can't adapt to two abilities at the same time" Valentino reminded him, and then he pointed to Zestial: "My new partner and I planned to load my smoke with one of his toxins, and thus generate something that would confuse and confuse him. force him to reveal to us where he is holding the overlords captive"
"The plan was basically to find him, spray him with smoke, and then escape before he recovered" Zestial specified. "The difficult thing, which as you can see is what I'm trying to solve, is to create a toxin powerful enough to work on Adam. Because of all its enormous potency, not even a poison that would kill several elephants at once would be enough to knock him out and tame him". He made his usual hissing noise: "And considering that what we're trying to produce is not a toxin that simply kills, but one that messes with the mind enough to make people confess secrets considered important... it's not easy"
"So you too are at a standstill" Angel commented in an extremely tired voice. "What a fucking situation..."
Charlie too was a little disappointed, but she hid it better. "In any case, we would like to have your help. And yes, I am referring to you too, unfortunately" she said, glaring at Valentino, who however did not react. "You know I don't like putting others in danger, but now you are the last pieces left on the chessboard with the power to counter Alastor, and since he will surely do something to free Adam, we must deploy everything we have at our disposal"
"Mh. It depends. Given how we said goodbye, I don't know if I want to work with you again" Valentino commented. "What can I gain from this?"
"Listen to me, you fucking profiteer!" Vaggie snapped. "You didn't work with us last time, okay? You did whatever the fuck you wanted and dragged us into the frail! Well, I've had enough of overlords acting crazy, so don't try to do your own thing! This time, you're in or you're out! We have Adam, so regardless of what plan you have you need to work with us, and if you work with us you follow our rules! Don't try to dictate conditions, you're in no position to do that! Now either you help us or I'll return to the celestial embassy and tell to King Morningstar and his wife about that time you gave Charlie a 'very colorful hand kiss', and then you can deal with them!"
Valentino was struck dumb for a moment; he had probably hoped to take some advantage of the situation, as he had done when he came to the Hazbin Hotel but Vaggie's outburst had been something he hadn't expected. Anyway he recovered quickly and seemed about to reply, but Velvette stopped him: "Val, stop. For once, don't be an asshole and make yourself useful"
Valentino looked at her strangely, clearly not expecting such words from her; and in the end he simply nodded. "Ah, okay. As you wish"
"Count me in too" Zestial said with a hiss. "Any help in looking for Carmilla is welcome"
"At least someone here remembers how to be altruistic" Charlie commented, also with a lot of tiredness in her voice. "Okay... let's get busy"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 21): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155161966
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 75: Humanity's reaction
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After the battle between Charlie and Adam, Earth was left breathless. Even though the nations had tried to hide what had happened, there were too many witnesses who had seen the two demons fighting. The news had leaked, and there were videos showing what had happened. Those two beings who defied the laws of physics were on everyone's lips, and even if the news didn't talk about them, people still wondered what was happening. Which had repercussions on the entire planet, to the point that less than two days after the battle, events of global importance were being recorded.
"The soldiers on the Ukrainian, Russian, Colombian, Sudanese, and many other fronts that were at war until yesterday refused to fight anymore" the American President was saying. “We are also seeing a drastic decrease in crime in every country around the world. Not to mention that the number of donations and good deeds is increasing rapidly. Several radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-fascist parties in Europe have lost a lot of support”
The Russian President grunted. "We know it very well, we see the statistics for ourselves. It's impossible not to notice, it's happening all over the world"
Even though there had been no official declaration, the mere possibility that such things as demons existed had changed the mindset of hundreds of millions of people. If demons existed, it meant that Hell also existed; and if Hell existed, then God existed too, and everyone's actions were truly judged by a higher power. Clearly, most people, except for some Satanist groups, wanted to go to Heaven; therefore, finding out that someone was actually constantly watching them scared them. As long as religion was just something abstract written in a book, then faith had power, but only up to a certain point; modern people's lives were not affected by it. But if what was written in that book became something concrete and not abstract, then the tables changed. Most people were now refraining from doing bad deeds mostly out of fear, but there were also many who rejoiced and firmly believed that this was a good thing. Given enough time, it was likely that fanaticism would have exploded again.
The politicians of Earth clearly couldn't stand by and watch, not after being humiliated like that. Three atomic bombs had been dropped on a demon and he had survived them, and then he had lifted a twenty-thousand-ton submarine as if it were a twig. The effects of the battle of those creatures around the world had been so devastating that, if it wasn't for at least one of those demons having repaired the damage before it spread, Earth's entire climate might have changed forever. The mere existence of such beings was a danger to all humanity.
The powerful people of Earth had therefore taken the only possible solution: they had reunited, putting aside all enmity that they previously had, and had revealed everything that their nations secretly already knew. They had even forced the Pope to open the secret archives of the Vatican for them. It thus turned out that incursions by supernatural beings on Earth were not at all rare, but rather, several had been recorded in various countries over time; the United States had even revealed that they had captured two demons in the past and opened small gates to Hell, and that they also had the support of three small, winged cherub-like creatures who claimed to be from Heaven.
All these nations had kept this secret until then because the supernatural creatures they had dealt with were not too dangerous: even if they possessed greater resistance than the average human, they could still be killed with the same weapons. The only exception had been an owl demon who had shown unexplained powers and whose nature was not yet known, but other than that, they were nothing a common army couldn't handle. Therefore, the nations had kept their mouths shut: the existence of another world, and consequently of resources unavailable on Earth on which each of them could have exclusivity, was too tempting an opportunity.
But now the situation had changed. Now humans knew that demons could reach levels that had previously only existed in the pages of superhero comics. Creatures that could mimic the power of an asteroid, fly through space, or shoot beams of light were something far beyond what humans could afford to face. Therefore, all nations had instantly forgotten any secrecy and united to face the common threat.
As long as they thought they could handle the problem on their own, humans always tried to have secret tricks up their sleeves; but at the moment when all of them were threatened, they did not hesitate to come together to stand together as a species. Just as two humans, even if they hated each other to death, would still have worked together as long as they had a lion in front of them, in the same way the nations, even those that until a day before were at war, were ready to support each other to face a threat that until that moment they didn't even think existed.
"What happened showed us how much danger we are in" the Chinese Prime Minister stated. "Not only we've learned that are we not alone in the universe, but we are also ridiculously inadequate. Our most powerful weapons can't kill those creatures"
"We'll see" the Russian President said, chewing on his words. "If those two return and set foot on Russian territory, I will let them taste the power of the good Big Ivan!"
The Big Ivan, or Tsar Bomba, was the most destructive weapon possessed by humanity, capable of generating 50 megatons of power in a single shot... or even 100 if not depowered. It was so powerful that it could wipe entire archipelagos off the map in a fraction of a second. When it was tested in 1961, the shock wave unleashed had had repercussions up to 900 kilometers away, and all of humanity had felt the explosion as the seismic wave had circled the planet three times. And that was just a half-powered version.
However, while such data would have sounded impressive just the day before, it wasn't much now. "Even if we manage to hit them with our atomic bombs, there is no guarantee that we could actually kill them" the French President noted. "One of those beings survived a crash by traveling at one percent of the speed of light. The other withstood a punch thrown at a tenth of this immense speed without moving. These are numbers so absurd that trying to calculate how much energy is needed to perform similar actions has no more meaning. Atomic bombs are fireworks in comparison"
"It's true. And even if we managed to hurt them, how can we accept such a condition?" the German President protested. "Should we go on firing atomic bombs forever? We would kill both them and us! Have you ever heard of nuclear winter!?"
The Norwegian President cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, please, let's not panic. After all, they didn't attack us, not directly at least..."
“Ah, so we should pretend everything is fine!?” the Russian President shouted, jumping up from his chair. "Those two mistook our planet for a wrestling ring! What would happen if they were to return, and next time they fought on top of a megalopolis? Or maybe they unleashed their power in Antarctica, melting all the ice and raising the level of sea? They can move in space, so if they wanted they could throw asteroids at us! What if they hit the ground with all their force, even just by mistake, and there was a volcano nearby? Or what if they jump in the water and cause a tsunami? With all that power they can unleash all kinds of calamities! We cannot stand still and hope that such eventualities never occur!"
"That's right! We have our dignity!" the Finnish President growled. "Earth is humanity's birthright! Demons can't come here and do whatever they want!"
"I agree! They must understand that this planet is off-limits! If they want to come here they must behave civilly, otherwise they can remain in Hell!" the English Prime Minister took matters further, and many others followed him.
"Right!"
"Exactly!"
"We can't keep our heads down!"
"If we don't react, they'll think they can do whatever they want!"
Humans were creatures who, while living in the present, often thought about the future, always taking into account the worst case scenario. If a nation had known that another had more powerful weapons, even if it was a friendly nation, it would have immediately tried to get to its level in anticipation of a possible future deterioration of their relations. Therefore, even though neither Charlie nor Adam had shown any real hostility, the powerful of the world still felt threatened. Faced with powers so vast as to represent a risk for the entire world, how could those men sleep peacefully?
"But how can we do it?" the Japanese Prime Minister opined. "Whatever weapons we build to face those beings will harm both us and them! We cannot detonate atomic bombs all over the planet, let alone something even more powerful! It would be the end of human civilization!"
Unlike other peoples of the world, the Japanese still had the horror of the atomic bomb very present in their minds. Even the new generations, although far from World War II, looked at Hiroshima and Nagasaki with terror and respect. The older generations had done everything to teach them about the monstrosity of the atom, so that it would never have been forgotten. This, combined with how easily an atomic war would have brought human civilization to its knees, made the Japanese Prime Minister very wary of carrying out a direct confrontation with the demons. Regardless of who would have been victorious, humanity would have suffered greatly.
But the American President, who until then had remained almost in religious silence, slammed his fist on the table, drawing attention to himself. "If we can't detonate too powerful weapons on this planet... then let's attack them at their home!" he said in an almost hissing voice.
All the other heads of state looked at him in surprise. "Are you proposing... to attack Hell?" the Russian President asked him, immediately assuming a curious expression.
"No. I am proposing to destroy Hell" the American President stated with a deep grunt.
"How?" the Chinese Prime Minister asked. "We're talking about invading another world, with beings this powerful to boot! We can't start a war with demons if we're so..."
The American President slammed his fist again. “It is our bounden duty as human beings to stand against the forces of evil!” he screamed. "Demons are foul creatures, they have even dared to rebel against the Almighty! The angels themselves, as far as we know, aim to destroy them! How can we remain aloof? They have already declared war on us as soon as they trespassed on this planet! Now we must give them our welcome!"
The American President was not the only one who thought that way: many Western countries, faithful to their Christian heritage, were on the same wavelength. For them, demons represented absolute evil and eradicating them was their task. Give up was equivalent to spitting in the face of God. How dare they be afraid to fight for the cause of the Almighty?
"The three angels in our custody have already revealed much information about Hell" the American President explained. "Most demons are not that powerful, the ones that we saw are an extreme rarity among rarities. The other demons are pathetic compared to us!"
The attention of the entire table was immediately raised several points. "Please explain yourselves carefully" the Chinese Prime Minister said, crossing his arms. “Based on your information, how powerful are demons really?”
The American President let out a deep grunt. "Ninety-five percent of the inhabitants of Hell are beings of strength not much greater than a normal marine, and just as fragile. They are divided into hellborns, or real demons, and sinners, who are human souls who have lost their way and have therefore been rightly condemned to the realm of perdition. They can be wiped out as easily as humans are wiped out. A shot of a gun is enough to kill them"
The other heads of state immediately became more interested. “And what about the remaining five percent?” the Russian President asked him.
"These are an extremely small number of demons endowed with powers that we can call... magical" the American President explained. "They are divided into overlords, meaning human souls who have acquired power, and infernal nobility, meaning hellborns with great powers by birth. They are dangerous, but they can also die using weapons made of a special alloy called angelic steel; if you had a gun made of such material, they too would just die. Based on the information given to us by the three angels, the overlords can generally reach the combat level of a heavy destroyer, while the infernal nobles can reach at most a level equal to a thermobaric missile"
Such news was… promising. "If so... then we just need to find this angelic steel, and then any sniper could take care of these creatures" the Chinese Prime Minister said. "And even if we didn't have it, most of them wouldn't be able to beat an armed and trained squad, while for the strongest, it would be enough to send consecutive waves of soldiers to exhaust them, and we could imprison them. Even without killing them, they would be helpless"
"Exactly" the American President said. "Finally, there are six demons called Deadly Sins, whose power, at least theoretically, should be at least at the level of a thermonuclear bomb; maybe their leader, Satan, is even stronger. Then there is the royal family and finally the king of Hell, Lucifer himself"
The other heads of state nodded their heads. "Based on this ranking, if it turns out to be true, we have a great chance of win if we attack with the surprise effect" the Russian President commented. "The only unknowns are the royal family and of course humanity's terrible adversary. However, if we had this angelic steel in our hands, we could easily eliminate all the rest of the infernal population"
"Exactly" the American President confirmed. "As you already know if you have read the information I have sent you, my country has a dimensional portal that we created using ancient writings and modern science, and it is being perfected at this very moment. Once we have a functioning portal, we could just hurl a large quantity of mass-destruction weapons into Hell and then close the portal, wait for things to calm down, and then reopen it and clean up the survivors"
The other heads of state welcomed that prospect. Suddenly attacking Hell by simply throwing bombs into a portal would have caused billions of demons to be destroyed without Earth being affected in any way. A subsequent assault with even a few troops would have completely wiped out the survivors before they could react. Even if they managed to kill only the common demons, destroying ninety-five percent of Hell's population would have already caused serious damage to Hell's armies.
"We need to get angelic steel" the Russian President said. "With it, the war will basically be won before it even begins. All we need to do is open a portal and hurl Earth's entire nuclear arsenal against Hell, and then send our troops to kill the infernal nobles, overlords and all the rest with angelic steel, all while those demons will be already hurt and confused by the devastation and will not be able to react efficiently. We can literally exterminate them in one attack"
But the American President had other plans. "I don't intend to use the nuclear arsenal" he corrected them. "It is better to use those weapons as defense, since they are not too destructive on a planetary scale. Rather, against Hell we must unleash our true power. We must take all those projects that have so far been discarded because they would have harmed all of humanity, and make them reality and then launch them upon that world of perdition. Therefore, to begin with, I announce to you all that I intend to approve the creation of numerous Sundial Bombs!"
That news made everyone present widen their eyes. The Sundial Bomb was a United States project conceived during the Cold War by Edward Teller, the same scientist who created the hydrogen bomb. It had a power of 10 billion tons of TNT, or 10,000 megatons. By comparison, the Tsar Bomba, with its 100 megatons, was barely a match. Even the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883, one of the deadliest in recorded history, was barely equivalent to 200 megatons. Such a device had never been tested or even built, given that even the military had opposed it: such a bomb would have had in one fell swoop unleashed such power as to cause the collapse of human civilization across the entire planet. The only thing that could be compared to it was the fall of an asteroid. No nation on Earth would have been spared.
But such weapons were a danger to everyone only if used on Earth. If detonated in another world, humanity would not have suffered the effects of the disaster in the slightest.
"You're right!" the Russian President said. "We can use much more powerful weapons than those that currently exist! We can approve the construction of cobalt bombs, neutron bombs, even antimatter bombs! All those projects that are currently gathering dust in our warehouses because they are too lethal, can now come to life!"
“The more damage we do, the better” the Chinese Prime Minister confirmed. "We are talking about exterminating an entire world, we need all the power we can have! Every possible weapon, be it nuclear, bacteriological, chemical or so on, must be taken into consideration and exploited to the maximum! If we want to win this war without lose anything, we have to do it in one fell swoop!"
In every war, everyone always wanted to win as soon as possible. The more time passed, the more chance the enemy had to regroup. And if we were talking about invading another world, the situation became even more difficult: frontline tactics and strategies were useless with such a vast territory to conquer. Sending an invading army was futile: even assuming their forces were far more powerful than Hell's, subduing such a vast territory would have taken decades or even centuries, giving the demons enough time to recover, regroup, and fight back. A war on this scale could not be fought in the traditional way.
There was only one way to win such a war: to attack so suddenly and so devastatingly that the demons were brought to their knees in an instant. Literally, all life in all of Hell had to be completely destroyed in an instant, so that even if anything survived it would have been too weak to pose a future risk. In an interdimensional war it was necessary to win with one blow.
The American President stood up. "Gentlemen" he said, addressing the entire room. “This time our adversaries don't put us, our families or our nations at risk, they put all of humanity in danger. And as humanity, it is our duty to respond. Whatever enmity we had before, there is no point in pursuing it now. Our divisions are futile compared to this. Demons have already demonstrated that they have no interest or regard for human life. If there truly is a world full of these creatures, it is imperative that humanity unite like never before. We must present a united front"
The Russian President stood up too. "I agree. We can win this war, so backing out is not an acceptable option! As humans, it is our duty to defend the Earth from these disgusting beings!"
The Chinese Prime Minister agreed too. "We can't wait for these creatures to attack us. A war on Earth would bring us to our knees even if we won. We must attack them first, in their world!"
Since the three global superpowers had already expressed their agreement, all other nations followed suit. Some did it because of their Christian roots, others out of penance since their nations had venerated different gods at that time, still others simply because to oppose it would have meant appearing to be enemies of humanity itself. For the first time ever, all the nations of the world had no doubts about the need to unite for a common cause. After all, even if someone had backed out, not only would they have had to face all the hatred in the world, but since the others would have gone to war anyway it would have all been for nothing; if the demons had somehow fought back, they certainly would not have made a distinction between which humans to kill and which not. In such circumstances, the best choice was to make all resources available to win the war immediately and avoid any danger.
"Then it is settled" the American President announced. “We will marshal all our resources to create the most powerful weapons that current science can grant us, and in the meantime we will seek a way to find or create angelic steel. Once we have both of these things, we will wipe out Hell once and for all!"
"The problem of Lucifer still remains" someone suddenly opined. "How will we defeat him?"
Good question. Of all the demons, Lucifer was the only one who was potentially stronger than human science. "We will study a way. We will deploy the best scientists on the planet to eliminate him" the Russian President announced. "And even if we don't find one, without his huge army of demons Lucifer will be defenseless. We will leave the judgement to the Almighty!"
Those words were received with great pleasure: even if in the past such a statement would have sounded ridiculous, now that they all knew about the existence of demons and angels it was enough to convince everyone. Thanks to the angels in their possession, they already knew that Heaven had armed troops ready for battle: once humanity had paved the way for them by wiping out the demons, Lucifer would have found himself alone in front of the angelic army. Regardless of what they decided to do with him, humanity would no longer have had to worry about him.
Unbeknownst to anyone, someone had heard everything: in one of the shadows of the room, for an instant, the silhouette of a deer-like demon appeared, sliding away through the darkness. It had stood there the entire time and not a single word had escaped its earing.
In Hell, in a hidden place, Alastor let out a sizzle and his grin widened. "Good..." he said. "Everything is going according to plan"
Vox sat in front of him, tied to the chair by heavy angelic chains. "You are bastards" he hissed. Despite his tired appearance, he had not yet abandoned his pride.
"Oh, don't be moralistic" Alastor replied. "You would have done it too"
Vox let out a grunt. "I can't deny it" he admitted. "But you're still bastards. Especially you"
The sound of wings sounded next to them, and Mari landed on the table with a thud. "So?" she asked looking at the radio demon.
Alastor grinned. By now he had completely regenerated and was back to full strength, and for this reason the Exorcists looked at him with a certain suspicion. However, their fear was unfounded. "Humans are doing their part. We can do ours" he replied, and with his left hand he lifted Adam's skull by drumming his fingers on its surface. “Now… we just have to wait for him to decide to act”
Notes:
For those who don't know, the Sundial Bomb is a (realizable) project proposed by Edward Teller to literally create a world destroyer. I won't go into details, just know that this bomb was so destructive that even at the peak of the Cold War (and therefore in the logic of mutual assured destruction) even the US military considered building it a crime against humanity. And even so, Teller still got the funding for the project initially and really tried to make it a reality, and probably would have if they hadn't blocked it. The closest thing to the Sundial Bomb is the impact of a medium-sized asteroid; not as large as that of the dinosaurs, but still enough to wipe out the entire human civilization. The best thing? This is absolutely NOT the worst weapon that we were able to project. Just to let you know that we are a much more dangerous species than what is normally believed, and that we can sterilize planets if we really want to. And now you know why aliens don't piss us off.
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 22): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155161972
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 76: Returning to the embassy
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the end, Charlie and her friends hadn't returned to the angelic embassy for most of the day. After all, they doubted that Adam would have recovered from the shock so quickly, and he was well guarded anyway, so they had given the hunt for Alastor priority. After all, with Adam a prisoner, the radio demon represented a much more substantial and immediate threat.
Unfortunately, they had no luck. They had tried in every way to find a lead, but they hadn't succeeded. Wherever Adam had hidden his lair, he had certainly made sure to make it unfindable. Velvette, with the help of Zestial, had tried to identify a new pattern in the Exorcists' actions to be able to predict their next objective or understand where they were most likely to find their refuge, but without success.
In the end they had chosen to give up and wait, in the hope that the Exorcists would have showed up again, but this had not been the case. Evidently after Adam's capture they had preferred to keep a lower profile. And Alastor certainly wasn't going to make a false move anytime soon: anything could be said about the radio demon, but not that he didn't calculate his every action with care. He wouldn't have risked getting caught or revealing his location.
In short, when evening began to arrive, they still hadn't accomplished anything.
After that incessant search they had returned to the Hazbin Hotel. The first thing Charlie had done when she got there was go check on the imps that had been injured in Adam's previous attack. That's how she discovered they were no longer there. "While we were gone, that owl demon took them to a real hospital" Rosie explained. "I checked while you were sleeping... it's a good place in Sloth, they'll be fine"
Charlie sighed deeply. "How are they?"
"The two imps and the hellhound are back in good shape. You know how quickly demons recover" Rosie answered her. "As for their boss... well, you know how he is. If he recovers, it certainly won't happen in a few days"
Charlie nodded, trying not to feel the lump in her throat. She didn't even know those people, but still she felt very responsible for what had happened to them. Even though it was technically their fault for working in an illegal agency, she couldn't shake the thought that if she had been able to contain Adam first they would have been fine. Especially their boss, who now didn't even know if he would have ever recovered, and who thus risked leaving a barely legal daughter alone. She hoped that that owl demon, Stolas, would have taken care of her, even though that hellhound would have probably hated him for the rest of her life.
It was in those moments that she remembered how dangerous Adam truly was. It was easy for her to forget this, as he had behaved reasonably well with her and Vaggie, acting more like a bizarre mentor than a real enemy. But she only had to watch what he did to other people to remember that he was much more ruthless and cruel than she let on. If she were of no use to him, she had no doubt that he would have tore her to pieces in a way not different from what he had done that imp.
Charlie really couldn't understand him. How could Adam go from being a teacher who cared about his students (in his own way), to a general who protected his soldiers, to a monster who looked no one in the face and could carry out the cruelest deeds without beating eyelash? From her point of view, it was impossible that such conflicting natures could coexist in a single man, and yet Adam seemed to encompass them all, and in extremely evolved forms it must be said. Being the first man certainly gave him a good advantage, having millennia of experience behind him, but still Charlie struggled to conceive how he could go from one extreme to the other without being the least bit upset.
Adam was like a mountain. Powerful and immobile, he protected from wind and storms, but could trigger avalanches and landslides in an instant. There was no other way to call him other than a force of nature.
Vaggie put a hand on her shoulder. Almost as if she had read her mind she said: "Char, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything to stop Adam, he was too many steps ahead of us"
Charlie nodded slightly. "Yes... yes, you're right" she murmured. "Come, let's go back to the others"
Both Vaggie and Rosie knew that she wasn't at peace with herself at all, but they still didn't push her further. Charlie didn't need to add more tension to her already tired heart at that moment. So they remained silent and followed her into the hall.
The rest of the hotel guests were there, carrying out a variety of tasks. Angel was changing Husk's bandages on his back; even though the wounds were almost healed by now, the battle against Alastor had reopened them a little. Niffty as usual was trying to grab some bugs, while Velvette didn't take her eyes off her cell phone and Zestial did the same with the television, looking for the slightest clue. Valentino, for his part, had not even entered completely, but had remained sitting at the entrance without saying a word; since they had taken him back into the group the moth demon had kept his word and hadn't come closer than three meters from Angel, he hadn't even spoken to him in truth. He remained to himself, although it was clear from his frowning expression that he was thinking.
Charlie cleared her throat to draw their attention to her: "Found anything yet?"
Zestial shook his head. "No leads" he admitted.
Charlie had expected it. “So… Adam is really the only lead we have so far”
"Apparently" Angel confirmed. "Do you think he will talk after the shock he received?"
Charlie shrugged. "Hard to say. I can't say what's going on in his head right now"
"Adam has very strong mental resistance" Vaggie couldn't help but say. “Finding out that redemption is possible definitely shocked him, but it wouldn't surprise me if he also interpreted this as a sign or something”
Husk let out a loud grunt as Angel tightened the last of his bandages. "There are only two possibilities now: either Adam will be more malleable, or he will go completely into berserker mode. Clearly I hope for the first hypothesis. In the second case, making him talk will be incredibly more difficult"
"Well, there's always torture" Valentino reminded them. When everyone looked at him he shrugged, "What's the matter? It's just as good as any other method. Tie him securely somewhere and then leave him to me and the bad version of Jack-o'-lantern, we'll make him sing"
“Don't call me that” Zestial told him with a bit of irritation in her voice. "But yes... it's a method we can't rule out"
Charlie let out a soft growl: “Adam is a prisoner, but he's still a person!”
"He is a prisoner who still has half of Hell under his control" Valentino told her. "Think of me what you want, princess, but you cannot deny that if he doesn't speak we will continue to live in terror. We must find his lair as soon as possible if we want to free the other overlords, who are essential to maintaining some sort of stability here to Pride. And we need to catch Alastor, or at least find out what he's up to, before it's too late. In circumstances like these, morality is the least of the worries"
"I hate to admit it, but he's not entirely wrong" Rosie said.
Charlie glared at them all. "I don't want to torture a person!" she shouted in a firm voice, implying that she did not allow any replies.
There was a moment of silence, and then Velvette raised her hand: "Can we at least try to hypnotize him?"
“What the… oh, the fuck!” Charlie exclaimed putting a hand on her face. "It won't work, okay? Get it through your head, we can't force him to talk. I saw my father beat Adam to death and yet he couldn't bend him. You can't break his mind with these methods, he won't succumb to hypnosis or to pain"
"Many people say that, until the real pain begins" Valentino commented, but he immediately fell silent as soon as the princess gave him a dirty look.
Charlie tried to calm down. “Okay, let's do this” she said, and she pointed to Rosie, Velvette, Zestial and Valentino: “Now we will return to the celestial embassy, and you will stand guard outside. You are the strongest, so if Alastor attacks you will be perfect as the first line of defense... and besides, I doubt the angels will be happy to have you around. As for the rest of us, we'll go in and try to figure out how to get Adam to talk"
Even if it wasn't really a solution, at least it was an excuse to do something and keep busy. Hours had passed by now, Adam had definitely calmed down at least a little, so trying to talk to him again wasn't a bad idea. And since, as Valentino had pointed out, they were in a race against time, trying was almost a must.
The return to the celestial embassy was at least calmer than the first time: now they knew what to expect, and in fact they were not surprised to find Emily at the reception busy conversing with Cherri. "Hey, you're back!" the young seraphim exclaimed with a smile as soon as she saw them.
"Yes" Charlie said placing Frank, who they had brought with them, on the floor so he could go find the other Egg Boys. "Where's Pentious?"
"Right there" Cherri replied pointing to a sofa, on which lay Sir Pentious, who from his expression seemed to have just climbed all the Alps with his bare hands and immediately after having immersed himself in the Mariana Trench.
Charlie, Vaggie, Angel and Husk looked at him very fearfully, while Niffty did nothing but burst out laughing. "What did you do to him?" the spider demon asked apprehensively.
"What didn't I do to him" Cherri corrected him.
Angel preferred not to know anything else. “I suggest you to disinfect every surface the two lovebirds have rested on” he told Emily.
Charlie went to check on Pentious, just to make sure he was still alive. “Hey… can you get up…?”
"I've seen things that ordinary humans couldn't even imagine" was all that came out of Pentious's mouth in a whisper.
"Oh, don't be such a weak dick! Come on, get back on your feet!" Cherri told him, and without waiting for his consent she took his arm and lifted him, although rather than standing he spread himself on top of her using her as support.
"Well, at least he can still move. That's something" Angel commented, looking at his best friend with a lot of fear.
Vaggie coughed: "Um! If you're done worrying about the half-dead snake, can we get back to the main problem?"
"Yes, actually it's better" Charlie agreed. "Emily, how is Adam?"
Emily scratched her head. It was clear that she felt a little guilty about the shock she had caused him. "Well... he's a little better now. Come, I'll show you"
She quickly led them towards the meeting room, where Lilith, Sera, Michael and Lucifer were standing and conversing... luckily in a much more civilized manner than last time, and Charlie was pretty sure that the only reason why the two brothers were not teasing each other was due to the heavy threats of the two women, given that their expressions were quite explanatory. "Darling, you're back" Lilith greeted her immediately. "Found anything?"
"No, nothing relevant" Charlie admitted, and then she looked at the back of the room, where there was Lute, intent to careful watching a sort of portal mixed with a mirror, the same one that Adam had used in the court room to show Angel without him seeing them. A sort of magic screen, in short, which this time was showing the inside of Adam's cell, and in particular the first man who was sitting on the floor. Charlie saw with relief that he seemed noticeably calmer than before, since he wasn't doing anything except reading the Bible. “Well, he seems to have recovered… at least a little”
"Yes. He went around in circles in the cell for a couple of hours, he screamed a couple of times, but then he just sat down and calmed down" Lute told her with an acidic voice, and then she fell silent again and continued to look at the first man as if she were a hawk.
Charlie nodded slightly, and then she turned back to the others: "Have you tried talking to him yet?"
"No, we wanted to give him some more time" Sera replied. “And we wanted to understand what he planned to do with these”
Only in that moment Charlie realized that on the table in the meeting room, which was normally empty, there were two familiar objects: Adam's axe and the cross of Christ, and consequently, the two relics that he had stolen before be captured. Her friends too noticed it. "Right, with everything that happened we hadn't even thought about it!" Angel exclaimed. "Have you understood what he wants to do? I mean, you have two pieces out of three, it will be easy for you to understand his plan, right?"
The angels looked at each other for a moment, and then they nodded slightly. "It's just a guess" Lucifer said. "But, well... the cross has the power to alter reality, or at least space, and the hyper-dense material of which the trident was made is the most powerful in the universe. So, if an angel were struck by these two forces together... they would be killed"
Every person in the room seemed to freeze. “So… those two objects combined can kill you?” Charlie asked in a small voice.
Lucifer nodded. "As I have already explained to you, we angels are made of spirit. Well, the power of the trident, or in any case its metal, is sufficient to break the spirit itself. In normal circumstances this spirit would recompose in the Hall of Judgment and receive a new body... but the cross of Jesus can order those pieces to no longer unite, but rather to scatter into the most remote corners of the universe. In short, if I were hit by the trident or this axe and at the same time I was subjected to the power of tails... I would die"
Charlie felt her heart clench. Adam had always said he would have killed her father, but until now it hadn't been a real possibility. But now she knew that a way to kill Lucifer really existed.
Her father probably noticed her discomfort, because he hastened to specify: "The good news is that this plan is still unworkable"
"Why? Didn't you just say that those two objects together can kill you?" Vaggie protested.
"Exactly: together. But they cannot be used together" Lucifer explained. "Once the trident strikes me, the fragments of my spirit will immediately leave this plane. Using the cross even just an actosecond later would be useless. These two objects must be used at precisely the same instant, and this is impossible due to their different nature that requires a different type of concentration for both of us, even Michael would be able to do it"
"As much as I hate to agree with him, it's true" Michael confirmed. "For now, these two items are useless"
Those words weren't much comfort, since no one had missed the 'for now'. “So… going by logic, the last piece of the weapon must be something that combines these two” Husk muttered.
"Probably" Lilith said. "If Adam could do this, he would create a weapon powerful beyond all limits"
"This weapon has the potential to not only kill Lucifer, but annihilate all the heavenly hosts" Sera said with a lot of concern in her voice. "It's something I never thought possible. If Adam could complete it, he would become unstoppable. He would be impossible to contain, he could unleash everything he wants against the entire universe"
"A very unappealing prospect" Angel commented. "Why the hell did you leave such precious relics scattered across the cosmos!? You should have put them somewhere guarded, I don't know, a maximum security safe in Heaven...!"
"If they had, Adam would definitely have gotten them much sooner" Vaggie pointed out.
Angel looked at her confused. "What?"
"Adam had prestige and respect in Heaven, and he would surely have found a way to evade surveillance and steal these relics. Not only would he know exactly where to find them, but they would also all be in the same spot, ready to be used" Vaggie explained. "If I were in the angels' place, I would have preferred to leave these relics scattered across the realms, so it would be more difficult to find and recover them. I remind you that the only reason Adam didn't implement his plan sooner was that he didn't know where Charlie's trident was"
"Well done, soldier. You got it right" Michael confirmed, making Vaggie blush at the compliment. "For fear that someone could use the relics without permission, we preferred to keep them separate rather than all in the same place". And then he glared at Lucifer: "By the way, brother: great idea to entrust the most powerful material in the universe to a young girl"
Lucifer let out a growl, but before he could reply Charlie intervened: "If this is the situation, then can we take these two relics to safety? I don't want Adam to get them back"
“It's not that simple” Lilith sighed, pointing to the axe. "For starters, there's only an infinitesimal amount of the trident there. The rest of the material is elsewhere, and we don't know where it is"
"And we can't just bring the cross back to Earth" Sera pointed out. "Now that the barrier it created is broken, we have no way to hide it. We can't risk mortals finding it, it's too powerful an object"
“And even taking it to Heaven is not an option” Michael said. "We don't know if there are any supporters of Adam or what rank they are in. We know that his soldiers would do anything for him, but we don't know if there is anyone else who would do the same. We risk handing the cross over to someone who would return it to Adam as soon as he asks them"
Silence fell on the room. "Wow. Nice shitty situation" Cherri didn't refrain from commenting.
"So, what do we do now?" Angel asked.
Charlie walked towards the magic screen, looking at Adam sitting on the floor of his cell. "We have to talk to him" she said in a firm voice. "We need to get him to tell us what his plan is and above all dissuade him from carrying it out. He's not completely unreasonable, maybe there is a way to convince him"
"He's still recovering" Lute protested, speaking for the first time.
"It doesn't matter. We've waited long enough" Charlie said. “I'm not a person who takes advantage of someone when they're not mentally stable, but this time we have no choice. Apparently Adam has enough control to read calmly his Bible, so he can also talk and have a civil discussion... I hope”
Lute wasn't sure at all, but she didn't say anything else seeing that even the angels agreed with her. "I'll try to talk to him" Michael said. "I'm his best friend, he will feel comfortable with me"
"With your communications skills, we'll be lucky to get an answer in a year" Lucifer grumbled.
Michael glared at him, but Sera stopped him before he could reply: "He's not entirely wrong. I'll try, I'm not as close to him as you are but I can..."
"I remind you that your relations have been a bit tense lately" Michael pointed out to her, and she couldn't contradict him: after what happened at the courthouse, she and Adam had barely spoken. And considering that even before they weren't exactly in good shape, maybe it was better to avoid them.
"Well, I can try!" Emily proposed. "Bringing good emotions is my job, maybe I can cheer him up a little so then you can try to discuss it..."
"Girl, do you remember that you unintentionally caused him a trauma just a few hours ago?" Angel pointed out.
"Yeah, and anyway I doubt he'd be happy to see you considering you made him look like an idiot in court" Vaggie reminded her. Emily blushed in shame.
Lucifer cleared his throat: "Well, let's cut it off. I'll go"
"You know full well he'll never talk to you" Michael told him. “And you only want to be there so you can get revenge for how he treated your daughter”
“Oh, come on, this is ridiculous!” Lucifer blurted out. "Tell him too, Charlie... Charlie?"
Everyone realized that the cheerful princess, who was normally impossible to ignore, had completely disappeared from the room. And then her voice came through the magic screen: "Hey, Adam. Have you recovered a bit?"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155097436
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 77: Let my soul show you the truth
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the meeting room it seemed like a bomb had exploded for a moment. "What the fuck...!? When did she get in there!?" Lucifer screamed. "Why didn't anyone notice!?"
"You were too busy arguing" Emily pointed out.
Lucifer let out a growl that immediately silenced the young seraphim. "I'll go get her!" he said, preparing to leave the room.
"Wait!" Michael stopped him by grabbing his arm. "She's already in now. Let her try"
"Are you kidding me!? I'm not leaving her alone with a guy who would be happy to crush my spine!" Lucifer snapped.
"Um... I agree with letting her try, if I can have my say" Pentious hissed.
"I agree too. If anyone can enter the hearts of others, it's Charlie" Angel said, although he immediately after added: "But let's keep an eye on her from the magic screen, she might do something stupid"
Vaggie nodded too. "Adam promised a conversation with Charlie. He will talk to her"
Lucifer's eyelid quivered, but he forced himself to calm down. He would have had a chat with his daughter about the importance of safety measures later, now he had to focus on making sure nothing bad happened to her. So he looked back at the magic screen with great tension.
Meanwhile, in the cell Charlie still stood motionless in front of Adam. The first man had barely looked up from his Bible. “Are you going to answer me or are you starting to have phonics problems?” she asked him sarcastically.
Adam let out a snort. "Did they send you to interrogate me?"
"I came here on my own. And if anyone else comes here, I will tell them to go away" Charlie answered him. "Stop being so apathetic. You owe me a conversation, remember?"
Adam's eyes narrowed. “Mph. Smart of you to ask for it now when I'm so confused. Well, I can't blame you, honestly. It's the perfect time to get information”
"I don't want to get information" Charlie told him. "I want to help you. It's what I've wanted to do ever since you took off your helmet in that church"
Adam rolled his eyes angrily. "Of course. If you told me these things face to face, I would..."
Charlie suddenly moved, doing something that silenced even the first man: she walked to the cell door and pressed the button to open it, and then, to his enormous surprise, she went in and closed it behind her, effectively sealing herself inside with him. "Now we're face to face" she told him almost defiantly.
Everyone in the meeting room was wide-eyed. "Okay... that's one of the stupid things I was referring to" Angel said with a lot of concern in his voice.
Lucifer looked like he was about to catch fire from how hot he was getting. "Fuck...! I'm going to get her out of there right now!"
But Emily stopped him: "Wait!" she screamed. "Everyone, please! Give her a little more time!"
“Are you out of your mind, girl!?” Lucifer exclaimed. "She's inside the cell with Adam! Even if his powers are sealed, he can still tear her to shreds!"
But Emily didn't change her expression in the slightest. "I know it's dangerous" she said. "But I believe in her. Just give her one chance"
Lucifer was about to tell her that one chance was already too risky, but Lilith put her hands on his shoulders: "Luci... trust in our daughter. I know she's impulsive, but I think this time she knows what she's doing"
Lucifer sweatdropped slightly. He wanted to believe his wife's judgement, but he knew that leaving Charlie in the cage with Adam was no different than leaving a child with a tiger. "But..."
"Be quiet!" Vaggie suddenly screamed without taking her eyes off the magical screen. "Shut up and watch"
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Vaggie often played the authoritative voice, but in that moment she spoke with a determination she had rarely shown. Reluctantly, they forced themselves not to run into the cage and let Charlie try to do... whatever she had in mind.
In the cell, for his part, Adam was also shocked. He had probably expected many things, but certainly not such a move. In the end, all he did was chuckle. "I can't decide if you're fucking badass or crazy as hell" he told her.
“I could say the same about you" Charlie replied back.
The smile faded from Adam's face. "Yeah..." he admitted. "The more we get to know each other, the more when I look at you I feel like I'm seeing a young feminine version of myself"
Charlie didn't know whether to feel flattered or intimidated by that compliment. In the end she simply chose not to think about it. "Can I sit?" she asked him.
Adam shrugged. "Go ahead, but I warn you, this floor is cold"
"It doesn't matter" Charlie replied, and without waiting any longer she sat down next to him, so close that she almost touched him. Adam continued to look at her as if wondering if she had forgotten that he could crack her skull with one hand, but she ignored him. Instead, she asked him: “Seriously, how are you?”
Adam looked away and let out a grunt. "I've seen better days"
"Yeah, stupid question" Charlie said. She was silent for a moment, and then she murmured: "I know what it's like to believe in a truth for a long time and then discover that... there was something else"
Adam groaned. “I doubt you can figure it out”
"I don't have thousands or even millions of years of solid beliefs behind me, but I don't think that changes the situation much" Charlie told him. "It's always shocking"
Adam didn't answer her. Not immediately at least. He looked at her strangely, and then he chuckled. "You are just like your mother" he told her.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Is that a compliment or…?”
"It's a consideration, nothing more" Adam replied. "In the last millennia your mother has always tried to do like you. Understanding others, helping them, supporting them in dark moments. She is incapable of letting go of a lost cause"
"And is that wrong?" Charlie asked him with some reproach in her voice.
Adam shook his head. "No, it's not. After all, I'm incapable of doing it too" he replied. “She and I were created equal at heart. We both understand the concept of responsibility”
Charlie nodded. "My mother just wants all this to end. She wants you to be okay"
"I know" Adam told her. "I know how she feels. I listened when she was up there in Heaven with me. And I listened to her the many other times she and I have spoken over all these millennia. I know how she feels". He let out a deep sigh. "She knows she screwed up and now she tries to take responsibility, even if she can't. For her, these... demons... are still human beings, something that should be protected, helped. She still hopes that the universe can return to harmony as it originally was"
"It's a nice dream, isn't it?" Charlie murmured.
"But it's still just a dream. We've had proof after proof of it" Adam muttered. "In real life you can't save everyone"
"Maybe" Charlie replied. “But that's no excuse to not try”
Adam let out a deep rumble from his throat. It was the first time Charlie had seen him so tense. In every context in which she had met the first man he had always seemed like an indestructible rock, for better or for worse; something that was perhaps possible to break, but never to bend. She felt the urge to put a hand on his shoulder, but stopped herself since she knew he wouldn't have appreciated receiving confirmation that she saw him in such a dim light.
Adam remained in that state for a long time, and then he said to her: "You know, your mother is really proud of you"
Charlie blushed a little. "Well... thanks"
"I'm serious. She talked about you often up there, and the strong emotions in her voice are unmistakable" Adam told her. "You haven't experienced what we have experienced, yet you still feel a responsibility towards others. You have no reason to feel it, yet every person you know is precious to you". He let out a chuckle: “She showed me some pictures of you when you were little, you know?”
Charlie turned the same color as a tomato. “Why do parents always have to do this…!?” she growled under her breath.
"Oh, don't complain. She at least has some photos to share. I wish I had them for my kids too" Adam replied. "When you will be a parent you will understand"
"Forget it. We'll continue this conversation never" Charlie said quickly.
Adam only laughed at her embarrassment. Charlie was pleased to see that he at least seemed to have relaxed a little. It was positive… or at least she hoped it was.
And then, Adam became serious again. His eyes narrowed again until they were narrowed. "What I saw... it's not a trick, right? Was it really that idiotic snake?"
Charlie knew Adam was asking more for confirmation than because he had doubts about it. "It wasn't a trick" she replied. "Do you want to... talk about it?"
Adam looked at the Bible in his hands. His fingers were extremely tense as he squeezed it. "I reread it all while you were away" he said. "I've been desperately searching for an answer, I've tried to understand what I've left out, I've tried to comprehend... but I can't figure it out. What have I left out...?"
Charlie shrugged. "Maybe... he was just... forgiven...?"
"It can't be that simple!" Adam growled. "I... for thousands of years, I tried to understand His plan, and finally after centuries of contemplation I had seen the path He had shown me... but this... is something I can't understand! Why has it happened, why now? What did I not see? What detail did I forget?”
Charlie sighed at seeing him so unsure. She decided to try to push a little more: "You know... maybe I could help you see it... if you told me what this path is"
Adam didn't answer. He turned to her and looked at her intently. She could clearly see the deep storm that was taking place in his soul at that moment.
Charlie sighed. "Listen, I want to help you. Really. I'm not playing tricks, I'm not deceiving you, I'm not planning anything. I just want to give you a hand" she told him in a voice that didn't contain even a hint of malice. "But I can't help you if you don't tell me what's on your mind. You said you have a plan for me, that I'm essential. Why don't you just tell me the truth?"
Adam continued to look at her intently, and for a moment Charlie felt like he was trying to peer into her soul. It was as if he was looking for signs of deception, and after not finding them, he was carefully considering what to do. She could clearly see the indecision and conflict in his gaze.
And then Adam stood up and held out his hand to Charlie to help her do the same. "Use your powers on me" he told her.
Charlie didn't understand. "What?"
"Your powers to control souls, the ones you inherited from your mother. Apply them on me" Adam answered her. "Let my soul show you the truth"
Charlie still had no idea what he was talking about. "Explain better, please"
"Inside this cage, I'm unable to use my powers, so you have to do it" Adam told her. "This time, instead of using them to imitate my moves, you will have to access the deepest part of my soul and project my memory outward. I will select for you the most important memories I have, so you can see them... and understand"
Charlie felt her heart skip a beat. “Do you want to show me… your past?” she murmured. "Why? How does this help me understand what's going on in your head? Can't you just tell me?"
"No" Adam told her. "I could tell you, but things like that can't really be explained in words. You have to experience them first-hand to really understand them. Just hearing them told like a story doesn't give them the right impact"
Charlie bit her lip. She didn't feel comfortable with the idea of looking into a man's past, it felt like she was invading his privacy even though he had given her consent. And besides, she was sure that she wouldn't have seen good things, and knowing her emotionality, she was sure that she would have reacted very badly.
But at the same time, part of her wanted to go through with it. She had already taken a risk by entering the cage, she could take another. And if Adam was sure he couldn't express himself in words, then he must have his reasons. "Okay" she said in the end.
Adam nodded. "Trust me" he told her. "When you have seen everything, you will understand everything"
Charlie took a deep breath, trying to calm her beating heart. She felt like she was about to jump off a cliff. "How will this work? Will I get inside your head, or...?"
"No. You will be like a lighthouse that will project my memories around us" Adam answered her. "It will be like being inside a holographic room showing a movie. You will see everything with your real eyes. And as a result, your friends, who are surely keeping an eye on us at this very moment, will see it"
Charlie blushed, almost able to hear the embarrassed noises of her friends behind her. “Are you okay with them watching too?”
"You would tell them anyway" Adam replied, not without reason. "Therefore, you might as well show them like this. At least it will be easier for them to understand too. Especially for your girlfriend, who among all your friends is the only one in Hell besides you whose opinion I care about"
In the meeting room, the others basically had their eyes glued to the magic screen. “Fuck, so we're about to go on a memory lane adventure?” Angel exclaimed, not knowing whether to be more tense or excited.
"It seemed strange to me that that fanatic hadn't used the flashback card yet" Husk commented to himself.
Vaggie felt a strong lump in her throat. She looked at Lute, and realized that she had a strange light in her eyes and seemed somewhat unsure whether to look. It wasn't hard to understand why: she already knew what Adam was about to show them. "Will it be that bad?" she asked.
Lute let out a grunt. "See if you want to find out, idiot" was the only answer, but Vaggie didn't miss the very slight, almost hidden, trembling note in her voice. She didn't need any more confirmation to know that she already knew what they were about to see.
Vaggie looked at the other angels in the room. Both Sera and Michael had grim expressions, as if they themselves weren't remembering good things. Lilith too had a much more tense pose than usual. Even Lucifer, who had shown indifference until then, was peeking slightly from under his hat.
She swallowed hard. It didn't look good at all. But she continued to look at the magic screen anyway, barely even blinking.
In the cell, Adam and Charlie were still looking deeply at each other. "How can I do it?" she asked him. "I learned how to use these powers just yesterday, I haven't even gotten used to them"
"You can do it" Adam answered. "Remember the feeling you had when you imitated my attacks. When you do that, you are entering my soul and copying my moves from it. This time, you have to do the same, but instead of copying something, you have to extract it and release it. Imagine it's like dipping your hand into a pool of water and taking some of the liquid, and then throwing it into the air"
Charlie listened carefully, and then tried to concentrate. It wasn't easy to repeat what she had done in battle, but she had to do it. She tried to call her powers back to her, even though they seemed terribly distant and difficult to grasp...
"You're too tense" Adam told her, crossing his arms. "You need to calm down"
"Well, it's not easy! I've never done this before!" Charlie protested, wiping sweat from her brow.
"It wasn't a criticism" Adam told her. "Remember how these powers work. They are not meant to attack, but to help. You have no reason to be tense when you are helping a person. Free your heart as you do when you see joy forming in the eyes of the people you have helped"
Charlie remained silent, but she tried to follow her instructions. Keeping her body as relaxed as possible, she recalled all the times she had felt joy in seeing another person happy, and tried to imprint that feeling into her own soul. Suddenly that power that seemed so distant once again became reachable, and she found herself expanding her consciousness towards Adam. It was like moving her arms, except now she was moving her mind, and instead of touching the first man's forehead she reached inside it and pulled something out.
Suddenly, the entire room began to warp around them. Charlie jumped slightly when she saw the gray and white walls give way to green and blue. Reality seemed to swirl around her and Adam, and then it came together again, forming a forested landscape under a white sky and a bright sun.
Charlie's heart leapt into her throat: "This is…?"
Adam nodded. "Welcome to Eden"
Notes:
A Christmas Carol: an Owl House version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52299034/chapters/132299947
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 24): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155099014
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/159374308
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 78: Welcome to Eden
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was something so... extraordinary that she hadn't even imagined before.
Eden was immense, so much so that its borders could not be seen; an gigantic garden full of green plants and colorful flowers, studded with lakes and rivers and crossed by small mountains. But what caught her attention most were the buildings in fine white marble that stood out among it, in perfect harmony with nature. They were buildings of the most disparate shapes, but it was still possible for Charlie to recognize the function of some: she could see a large astronomical observatory with enormous futuristic telescopes pointing towards the sky, surrounded by holographic images of stars and planets, and close to them what seemed to be a platform that descended downwards, exploring the underground world, also equipped with technologies so cutting-edge that they seemed impossible. Each of those buildings was also surrounded by what seemed to be divine symbols, and thanks to them they had extraordinary properties: Charlie could see some that defied gravity, others that moved waterfalls against the very laws of physics, creating beautiful shapes in the sky.
It was as if divine power, nature and human technology had merged into one place. “This is… amazing” Charlie whispered.
Adam let out an amused smirk. "Why? Didn't you expect Eden to be like this?"
"No" Charlie confessed. "I never imagined that Eden was... so advanced, so... I don't know"
Adam chuckled. "What? Did you think that the progenitors of a species capable of building rockets to the moon and splitting the atom lived like mindless beasts?" he asked her rhetorically. “We had all the time we wanted, and all existing creatures were at our service. Sure, initially we spent our days sleeping and eating, but it didn't take long for that existence to become boring. We humans were created with a great imagination... and with the power to make that imagination a reality"
Charlie was completely speechless. "Mom told me that in Eden you already had something technological, but I didn't imagine... this"
"Who do you think taught the angels how to build all their cool stuff in Heaven? Or how do you think Hell's technology developed? We were the ones who taught it to the other creatures" Adam explained to her. "God had given us imagination, and we imagined. In a world where we had everything, were immortal and didn't have to worry about anything, exploring, discovering and studying was our best pastime. One hundred years after we looked up at the sky, we already understood the motions of the stars; two hundred years later, we built the first telescope; three hundred years later, we learned how to use the intrinsic energy of this same world to look even further. And this applied to every other possible science in existence. If there was something to discover, Lilith and I would have discovered it". He motioned for her to follow him: "Come. Let me show you my house"
The two of them walked along the paths of Eden. Charlie knew that their bodies were actually still, but she felt like she was actually walking. The world passed before her as if it were a moving picture. And as they went on, she could see lush trees and lots of animals, and among them, little probes watering the plants or helping the beasts get the fruit. "You were really far ahead"
"Even if we devoted ourselves completely to them, it had taken us a couple of thousand years to make those" Adam told her. "Our inventions were used primarily to make the quality of life of our animal friends even better. God had entrusted us with the Earth and all its creatures, and therefore it was our specific task to make their lives as simple and happy as possible. And furthermore, we wanted our children to be born in the best Paradise possible"
Charlie nodded. "Did you really teach the angels things?"
"The angels were created without imagination. They were very powerful, but not able to progress. They couldn't imagine the world differently from how they found it" Adam answered her. "We taught them to... dream. To imagine something that didn't yet exist and make it a reality"
"My father too?" Charlie asked. "I know he was a dreamer once"
Adam gave a disdainful grunt. "Lucifer was the angel who was closest to us, so he was the one who learned to dream the most. Having taught him this is one of my biggest regrets... but even if I hadn't done anything, Lilith still would have done it my place". He raised a finger: "There she is, over there"
Charlie looked at the indicated spot; it was a clearing between some trees that opened up, revealing a wonderful lake. Around it there were columns of very precious white material on which solid gold statues were positioned which had certainly required years if not decades of work to be created, but these numbers were tiny in the eyes of the immortals. In that era when time didn't even exist, a decade or even a century was nothing more than a miserable moment in existence. The depths of the lake were studded with gems polished over who knows how many years, reflecting the sunlight creating a kaleidoscope of beautiful colors. A large crowd of animals of all species were present on the shore, admiring the spectacle.
Lilith was in the center of the lake, perfectly standing; On her feet were painted with iridescent blue paint divine symbols, which somehow allowed her to walk on water as if it were a solid surface. She was naked, with just her long hair wrapping around her; on her heads she had a crown of colorful flowers. She was more beautiful than anything around there and she attracted attention like a magnet attracts iron. She was dancing and singing; the sound of her voice made the souls of every creature present vibrate, and her dance was something exotic and hypnotic. Below her the lake became colourful, because dozens of squids and cuttlefish began to dance with her and change colour, creating shapes and designs on the water; and the fish in turn began to jump out in elaborate performances, following the song of the first woman.
Even Charlie couldn't help but be mesmerized. She had heard her mother sing many times, and it was a wonderful sight; but that was nothing compared to what she was seeing now. It was as if the Lilith who lived in Eden had had an extra freedom, something that dissolved all her restrictions and erased every imperfection, allowing her to express music that no artist could ever emulate.
Lilith continued to sing and dance for several minutes; some whale heads appeared around her and sprayed water upwards, and by slightly moving her hands on which other divine symbols were painted she made those sprays move to form patterns in the air. Then some large sauropods entered the lake and arranged themselves in a perfect circle, and with their tails they lifted Lilith upwards, carrying her another five meters from the ground; there an enormous bird, probably an argentavis, flew up to her and gently grabbed her, and threw her into the air. Lilith didn't care at all, but rather continued to dance and sing as if this were normal; and as she did so innumerable pterosaurs flew around her in perfect performance, and she leapt upon them, barely touching them with her toes, thus remaining suspended in mid-air and never ceasing to dance. And finally, a giant quetzalcoatlus flew up behind her, positioning itself so that it looked like she had a pair of wings herself, and carried her back to the lake; Lilith landed there with extreme grace, and as soon as her feet touched the water it shaped itself, forming a sort of meander around her, concluding her performance.
All the animals began to praise her in their own way, some with roars, some with trumpets, some simply by hopping or moving their tails. Lilith bowed with great satisfaction, and as soon as she returned to the shore, many of them ran around her and some jumped on her, making her burst out laughing.
Charlie felt a lot of tenderness. She rarely remembered seeing her mother so happy. She looked like a teenager who had just finished prom and been crowned homecoming queen. Despite this, however, she did not refrain from asking: "If you had such advanced technology, magical knowledge and who knows what else, why didn't you make your own clothes?"
"At the time we had no shame or such impediments" Adam replied to her. "Our costumes were much freer. After all, all the animals were naked, why shouldn't we be naked too? Maybe if we had been cold we would have made clothes for ourselves, but at the time we didn't have these problems since every day the weather was pleasant"
"Angels have clothes" Charlie opined.
"Actually, no" Adam corrected her. "Or at least, not the primordial angels, who were the only ones in existence at the time. The clothes you see are created with their own powers, they are an extension of their body. Why do you believe that your father has eyes on his robe when he enters in his demonic form?”
Charlie turned red. “Wait… so my father technically walks around naked!?” she exclaimed.
"Yes, more or less" Adam confirmed her. "As I told you, his robe is an extension of his self. Angels in human form are like that because, unlike actual humans, God created them that way because they were based on His divine robe"
Charlie put her hand over her mouth. "I'll never be able to look at Dad the same way again" she said, trying not to vomit.
"Why? You're like that too" Adam pointed out. "When you transform, you grow new clothes on yourself, don't you?"
Charlie now remembered a ripe pepper. “So every time I fight…!?”
"Technically you're naked, yes" Adam told her. “But don't worry, you can still get married even if I saw you without real clothes, I'm not a bigot”
"Don't make fun of me!" Charlie protested, trying to clear the blush from her face, which was getting so hot it was a miracle the air wasn't catching fire.
Adam chuckled. "Sorry, but you handed it to me on a silver platter"
Charlie was about to reply, but she stopped when her attention was drawn to something else: the crowd of animals was in fact dispersing, letting two well-known figures pass by. One was a short angel dressed in white, with a large top hat and extremely conspicuous wings; the other, however, was a tall, handsome and muscular man, with brown hair and golden eyes. Even though they were so different back then, it wasn't at all difficult to recognize them. "Lilith, you were amazing!" Lucifer exclaimed with his eyes shining. "I've never seen anything like this!"
“Perfect as always” Adam told her, raising both thumbs. "You surpass yourself this time!"
Lilith giggled. "You guys make me blush like that," she said, although it was clear that she was flattered by all those compliments.
"I'm serious!" Lucifer assured her. "These... concerts, as you called them, are beautiful! In Heaven we are trying to replicate them, but it's very difficult... also because Sera is as out of tune as a bell!" he said with a laugh, though he immediately lowered his voice: "Don't tell her I told you!"
"Too late, it'll be the first thing I do" Adam told him mockingly.
"DAMMIT!" was Lucifer's comical reaction.
"Come on, Adam, don't make fun of him so much" Lilith giggled in amusement. "And you, Luci, don't always fall for it"
“It's not my fault, he's the one who is an asshole!” Lucifer protested.
"Or maybe you're too naive" Adam told him with a grin. Lucifer was about to retort, but seeing that the two humans were just laughing, he finally started laughing too.
Charlie had mixed emotions when she saw this. "You seemed very happy"
"We were" Adam confirmed to her. "When we got along, at least"
"Wasn't it always like this?" Charlie asked him.
Adam snorted. "Not at all"
Charlie was about to ask him for explanations, but suddenly the young Adam caught his attention: "For your next concert, why don't you try adding some stronger notes? A melody... harder, let's say!"
Lilith raised an eyebrow: "Why? I find this sweet music harmonious"
"Yes, but I like more intense things! A harder, more impactful style!" Adam told her.
Lilith didn't look happy at all. "Just because you like it doesn't mean I have to like it. I like sweet music, so I sing sweetly, not that stuff you sing"
Adam immediately became irritated: "Hey, what I sing is beautiful!"
"Yes, for deaf ears!" Lilith replied.
Adam crossed his arms and huffed. "Tsk! You're only acting like this because you know I have better taste than you! Admit it, the music I choose is the best!"
"What!?" Lilith exclaimed furiously. "There's nothing good about the music you sing! I'm the one who understands something about melodies, you barely make verses!"
"Well, for that matter, you put people to sleep after a while with your sweet music!" Adam replied. "I didn't know you had a lullaby in mind, my bad"
The two primordial humans looked at each other with furious sparks in their eyes. Lucifer tried to mediate: "Come on, guys, I don't think it's necessary to..."
"It's always like this for you!" Lilith exclaimed. "I make something beautiful, and you immediately want to add something of your own to it! You don't like my music? So why come and listen to it, huh?"
"Ah, I always want to add something of my own? And what about you, then?" Adam replied. "When we started naming the animals we divided them in half, but then you wanted to correct my names because you didn't like them, and when I did the same with yours you even complained! When we invented painting I didn't have time to try the shades of red and yellow that I had discovered that you immediately wanted to add purple to it! And I could go on for hours! You like to stick your nose in my business too!"
"Yes, because I know how to do things well, unlike you!" Lilith told him. "If it weren't for me, this place would be a stable!"
"Of course. Admit it, you know very well that if you always listened to me everything would be better!" Adam answered her.
Lilith's eyes flashed. “Oh, fuck you!” she exclaimed, turning and stomping away as if she were a child. "Think as you like, it's clear to everyone that you're just a boaster!"
"In your head for sure! Learn to distinguish reality from fantasy!" Adam answered her, then he left in the same way as she did. Lucifer was left alone, completely lost, and he seemed undecided about how to act, and in the end he simply chose to follow Lilith.
Charlie looked at Adam reproachfully. "Wow. Let me tell you, you really sucked at relationships"
"I know, I don't need you to tell me" Adam told her dismissively. "And anyway, I say that a certain woman was no different"
Charlie couldn't deny it. "Yeah, Mom was an idiot too" she admitted. Really, was it necessary to make such a scene just for musical tastes? It was ridiculous. "I didn't imagine she was so immature"
"Welcome to the primordial world of relationships" Adam told her. "We had no one to tell us how to behave. So we simply did what came into our heads. Neither of us was clear that a marriage is based on give and take"
Charlie nodded slightly. Recalling the story her mother had told her, she said: "I guess things just got worse and worse"
"Exactly" Adam confirmed. "Lilith and I continued to argue often, and she began to prefer Lucifer's company to mine. He didn't judge her, he didn't force things on her, she said. And I only felt more irritated by the fact that she clearly preferred him to me. And in the end the situation became unbearable for your mother"
“Was that when she escaped?” Charlie asked.
"Yes. She ran away at night, while I was sleeping" Adam replied. "When I found out, my first thought was to find her. I was afraid that something bad had happened to her. Your father promised me that he would have found her. I trusted him"
Charlie bit her lip. "It must not have been nice... to discover that in reality he and she then... well... got together"
Adam let out a grunt. "No, it wasn't at all" he replied.
The world changed again before their eyes, showing a new memory. This time the young Adam was alone, sitting on a log staring into the water of a lake. There was no sign of joviality in him, or even anger: he just had a dejected look. He almost didn't notice the flapping of wings that announced the arrival of an angel. "Hey" Michael said sitting next to him.
"Oh, it's you" Adam muttered. “Tell me, is your brother having fun with my wife?”
Michael sighed. "I know Lucifer was an asshole. If it's any consolation, he and I had a bad fight"
Adam didn't seem at all consoled. “I should have understood” he said. "I could see clearly how they looked at each other. But I didn't expect that they would have... just run away. They really thought I was incapable of accepting their choice, they preferred to escape secretly like two thieves". He lowered his head: “Tell me the truth, do you think I was really such a bad husband?”
Michael twiddled his thumbs, clearly not knowing what to say to him. "Honestly... I think all you guys are to blame" he finally answered. "I want to be honest with you, Adam... you weren't the best of husbands. Lilith was really immature, but you weren't any less either. I'm not excusing her or Lucifer, far from it, what they did was petty and unacceptable... but you could still have done better"
Adam nodded slightly. “Maybe I should have just not expected too much” he murmured. "With Lilith it was always a competition. She wanted to be right, I wanted to be right. Maybe, if I had been the first to let her win a few times, put myself in her place, tried to understand her... she would have done the same too. Or maybe I should have been less self-centered and understood what was happening between her and Lucifer, and stepped aside on my own. I don't know... maybe things would have been different"
Michael sighed. It was clear that Adam had been really hurt by losing Lilith and Lucifer and was blaming himself for it. "Listen... it was your first relationship, it's normal that you both didn't know how to move. These things are... complex. A relationship requires commitment, dedication, trust, not just love. These are things you learn over time, I too have thrown a lot of relationships down the toilet. You'll see that next time it will be better now that you have the advantage of experience"
Adam didn't answer him. Even though Michael's words comforted him a little, he still didn't feel uplifted at all. The fact that the most important person in his life had rejected him in such a disdainful way was a strong blow to his self-esteem. All the certainties he had about himself until the day before had now vanished, leaving room only for an infinite number of doubts.
Michael was silent for a long moment, and then a smirk appeared on his face and he stood up: "Stand up, my friend. I want to show you something"
Adam looked at him confused: "What?"
"It is always you who teaches us angels something new. Today let an angel teach something to you" Michael told him, and then he struck a strange pose: "On guard!"
"Huh? What the fuck are you...!?" Adam exclaimed, but he didn't have time to say anything else before suddenly the world began to spin before his eyes, and he found himself upside down with Michael holding him by the legs. “You… how…!?”
"I told you to be on your guard" Michael told him with a grin, letting him go.
Adam immediately got back to his feet. Part of him was angry, but a larger part was extremely interested. "How did you do it? Did you use your powers...?"
"No, not at all. Just skill" Michael replied waving his fingers as if they had a life of their own. "A body is made up of an infinite number of joints, muscles and tendons, which are like a machine ready to be used. If you oil it well and learn to use it, moving faster than your opponent's senses becomes simple"
Adam was shocked. As the first man, his senses were the best among all creatures on Earth: catching him off guard took a lot of effort even from an angel. So far no one had succeeded, unless his guard was down or the other person was using his powers to hide. “Show me again” he said.
Michael smiled satisfied, and then he moved; every muscle of his seemed to tense and snap like a perfect spring. In an instant he was behind Adam and grabbed him as he had done before; this time the first man was ready and tried to throw a punch, but to his surprise Michael let the aforementioned punch pass by him and then grabbed it, and using his own strength he reversed it completely, causing him to end up on the ground again. “You have to clear your mind” he told him. "Don't try to think. Let your body tell you what to do"
Adam stood up. He couldn't understand how it was possible that Michael had not only not received the slightest impact from his attack, but had actually used it against him. “Why are you showing me this?” he asked him.
"Because you need to clear your mind" Michael replied. “Negativity is not good for your thoughts. You need to stop dwelling on what was and move towards what can be. And men like you and me express themselves much better with their bodies than with their voices”
"Do you want to make me fight so that I forget the betrayal?" Adam asked with a grunt.
But Michael shook his head. "No. I want you to fight to empty your heart, and make it ready to welcome new emotions. I want you to converge all your negativity on me and cancel it. Fighting frees the mind and allows you to regain clarity; allow me to teach you"
And having said this he launched himself upon him again, repeating the attack for the third time; but this time Adam seemed calmer than before. As if it were perfectly natural for him he turned around, already knowing that Michael would have tried to grab him from behind, and instead of throwing a punch he simply raised his arms. When the archangel tried to grab him, he blocked both of his hands with his own, and then pushed down and used them as a springboard to leap into the air and land on Michael's back, pulling his body back and holding his arms so that he couldn't react.
But the archangel was not at all irritated by this; on the contrary, his smile became more mocking, undoubtedly showing defiance. And Adam smiled at that challenge too, feeling something new. It was a different sensation from those he had felt before: he wasn't even thinking about it, he just acted. His heart pounded as he anticipated the fight, and when Michael broke free with a move so fluid that not even a snake could have imitated, Adam didn't feel angry that he hadn't been able to hold him, but only excited at the new moves that Michael had made. archangel would have showed him.
They continued to fight each other for hours, thinking of nothing but the opponent before their eyes. Adam had almost forgotten everything that had happened in the previous days; in his head there was no longer room for Lilith or Lucifer, only for battle. Or rather, he still remembered them, but every negative emotion was as if extinguished, focused exclusively against Michael, while his mind and heart were free, aimed exclusively at thinking about the next move.
It was the first time that Adam was fighting. And damn, it felt so fucking great. How had he lived without that until now?
He had never understood why Michael liked to fight so much, but now he comprehended it very clearly.
They continued until Michael judged that Adam had reached too high a level of fatigue to continue. At that point he stopped their deadly dance. “Do you feel better now, my friend?”
Adam took a deep breath, trying to catch his breath. His body was full of sweat and the places where Michael had hit him were sore, but he felt happy. That physical effort had lightened his spirit. "Yes" he admitted. "Can we do this again?"
"All the times you want" Michael replied without hesitation.
Adam was grateful to the archangel. He decided that he would keep that teaching for a long time. His mind was able to think clearly again, and he didn't even understand why he had let himself be overwhelmed by negativity a few hours earlier. Maybe moving your body really was the best medicine sometimes.
Charlie let out a small snort when she saw that. “So Michael taught you to speak with your actions rather than your voice?”
"He taught me that sometimes it's better to let the body figure out what to do, and free the mind" Adam replied. "The same thing I taught you"
Charlie couldn't blame him. When the two of them had fought she had reached a sort of new mental stage, similar to a profound stillness. As much as she preferred other methods of conversation, she couldn't deny that what Michael had taught Adam was also efficient.
Suddenly something changed.
Charlie didn't know how it was possible... but she felt something was changing. Even if she wasn't really part of that world, she felt it. It was as if a presence had descended upon it, a presence so immense that it transcended all barriers of space and time. And suddenly, a being appeared in the sky.
Charlie was completely paralyzed. Never did she remember having seen an entity so splendid, so imposing, so immense. She instinctively felt the urge to kneel down and raise songs and hymns to that being, and in her heart it was as if she already knew who He was. She comprehended Him, she understood Him. The Creator of all things was showing Himself in all His might. "G-God...?"
"It's Him" Adam confirmed to her.
Charlie couldn't take her eyes off Him. She couldn't even imprint His image in her mind: it was as if her memory was too limited to be able to remember the appearance of the Almighty. She felt as if her eyes were giving her only a pathetic part of the image of God, and that to understand Him in His entirety she would have needed senses far more developed than hers.
God emanated a concentration of positive emotions: just by looking at Him anyone felt inspired by goodness, sweetness, kindness, mercy, love, in such high and immense forms that no being would ever have been able to imitate. "Adam, my son" He said, and His voice seemed louder than any thunder, and gentler than any sea breeze.
Adam and Michael bowed their heads slightly in greeting in His presence, and then they raised them again with smiles on their faces. "Father, why do you come here?" Adam asked Him.
"I am here to show you a new creation" God answered him. "The wife I created for you, Lilith, has chosen another man. Hers was a choice dictated by love, and as such I cannot punish her even if an offense has been done to you; but she has renounced her role as mother of humanity, and consequently her dominion over the Earth and all its creatures. Therefore, to ease the pain in your heart, I intend to give you a new wife"
Adam didn't know how to react to those words. He didn't want to be alone, obviously, but he wasn't sure he really wanted anyone to keep him company anymore. If Lilith had chosen someone else, why couldn't this new woman have done the same? Even if there had been no true love between him and Lilith, it still hurt him that she had left. What if this woman would have had also abandoned him?
He looked at Michael, who gave him an encouraging look, as if to encourage him to have faith. Finally, even though he wasn't completely sure, he nodded, but still he said: "Well, if You really have to, at least this time give me someone I can truly be compatible with! Create someone that I can trust as if she were a part of me!"
God just seemed to find that request amusing. "A part of you?" He repeated almost chuckling. "If you insist..."
Adam suddenly felt different, as if a piece of his body had just disappeared. He touched his chest, clearly missing something, and then looked up and saw a bone in God's hand. "Did You just... tore off my rib...?"
God smiled at him in complicity. "You asked for it" He reminded him, and then the rib in His hands seemed to be enveloped in pure light, a light that no star would ever have been able to imitate. As if that bone were a seed, other bones grew from it, and then muscles, tendons, nerves, flesh and skin; a beautiful woman appeared in the hand of the Almighty. She had skin as white as snow and pure as starlight, and hair that seemed to be made of gold threads; not simply blonde like Lilith's, it was a different color, denser yet softer, as if it was truly pure gold. "Her name is Eve" He announced.
The woman opened her eyes slightly, which turned out to have irises green like tree buds ready to turn into leaves and pupils as black as enamelled onyx. She stood up on the hand of God, and she looked at the Almighty with reverence. “Father” she said with utmost respect. "Thank you for giving me life"
God laid her gently on the grass. "Eve, this is your husband, Adam" He told her. "With him you now share dominion over the Earth and over every living thing. To you I entrust authority over everything that exists in this world. May you use it as you wish, and may you always remember the great responsibility that I'm giving to you"
Eve nodded immediately. Although she clearly did not yet have the skills to understand exactly what those words meant, she instinctively did not oppose the Almighty. "As You wish, Father" she said simply.
God smiled at both her and Adam. "All that is in this world is now in the power of both of you. Share it wisely, and be fruitful and multiply" He said, then He vanished as quickly as He had arrived.
Eve turned to Adam. Now that God was no longer there she had a more insecure expression. “Um… hi" she told him. "So... you're my husband. Could you please explain to me... what does that mean?"
Adam didn't know what to answer. How was he supposed to behave? Should he talk to her normally? Trying to make a good impression? After what happened with Lilith, he was no longer sure that his normal attitude was the right way to approach a woman.
Michael gave him a small pat on the shoulder. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Go to her" he said winking at him.
Adam gathered his courage and walked towards Eve, and trying to be as polite as possible he introduced himself: "Yes, I'm Adam, your husband. It's a... pleasure to meet you. I hope we can get along..."
"Are you okay? You are stiff" Eve asked walking around him as if she was observing something very interesting.
Adam let out a grunt: "Sorry, I was trying to sound nice! It's not easy, you know?"
He immediately regretted having spoken nonsense as usual, and he started to apologise, but contrary to his expectations Eve only seemed moved: "Really? Are you so stiff and tense for me?"
Adam blushed. “Well… yeah” he admitted. "It's not easy to have a conversation..."
“Are you making an effort just for me?” Eve said, and sparks seemed to appear in her eyes. "You're so thoughtful! And sweet!"
"Hey, I'm not sweet...!" Adam protested sheepishly.
Eve looked at him confused. "Why? You seem sweet to me. And I like sweet"
Adam was silent for a moment, and then he shrugged: “Well… I can try to be sweet for you, if you want”
"Just for me? Ooooh!" Eve exclaimed, and she clung to him almost as if she were an octopus. Adam made a sound of surprise, and she looked at him in confusion: "Oh, sorry, is this wrong?"
"No... no, it's okay. It's called a hug" Adam explained to her.
"It's good!" Eve said. "Can I have a... hug too?"
Adam nodded and hugged her back. Man, it was a strange, almost new sensation: Eve had a feminine body like Lilith, but hers was... different, softer in some places, stiffer in others. And now that he noticed, her height was different too, as she was at least a head shorter than him. And strangely he found it sweet, as if smaller equaled cuter... and Eve didn't seem to mind either given the way she was resting her head on his chest. "The hug is nice! Can you teach me something else?" she asked him.
"Uh..." Adam normally would have said that yes, he would have taught her something else, and would have immediately proceeded to teach her what a kiss was... but at that moment he stopped himself. He and Lilith had tried it almost immediately and although they had found it pleasant they hadn't appreciated it much. Maybe it was better to proceed gradually, to wait, to make things more... interesting? "Yes, I can teach you something new. Come, I'll show you around the garden" he finally told her. She in response wrapped her arms around his right arm and stared at him as if she wanted him to lead her as soon as possible.
Adam was still a little unsure about how to proceed, so he looked at Michael out of the corner of his eye. The archangel smiled at him and raised his thumbs in a clear sign of encouragement. Adam thus began to accompany Eden throughout Eden, explaining and illustrating everything they saw to her.
Charlie put on an amused expression: "Then you can also not talk sexually for five minutes"
Adam let out a grunt. "Coming from someone who has a porn star as friend, it sounds bad"
"Oh, I was just pointing out how even the original dick was insecure in his first relationships" Charlie teased him.
Adam glared at her. "I'm starting to regret agreeing to do this thing"
"Oh, come on, can't we even joke anymore?" Charlie said to him with a smile, then she returned serious: "Anyway, it's good to see that you were making an effort"
"I wanted to start off on the right foot" Adam told her. "I thought maybe this time it was better to proceed differently... somehow"
"It's a good thing" Charlie told him. "Realizing your mistakes is essential to moving forward"
“Shut your mouth before I shut it for you” Adam growled at her, clearly annoyed.
Charlie went quiet, but she didn't lose her smirk. She was happy to see that Adam had actually tried to be a different husband than he had been to her mother. In his own way, he had tried to be better. But she didn't have time to say anything else as the world distorted around them again, marking the start of a new memory.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 25): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/160391503
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 79: The mother of humanity
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The world came together again, and the young Adam reappeared in Charlie's field of vision, intent on picking fruit in some corner of Eden. He was carefully choosing the best ones, but it was clear from his look that they weren't his favorites. “Were you getting Eve's favorite fruits?”
Adam nodded. "She liked apples" he said with a rather disdainful grunt. "I've always found them unripe"
Charlie bit her lip. She decided not to investigate that detail further. Rather she asked: "Why didn't you take both the fruits that you liked and those that she liked? You could have shared"
"I wanted to give her the impression that we had a lot in common" Adam replied. "After Eve was created, I... decided that I would have been different. I didn't want her to become unhappy like Lilith... and run away from me like she had. I wanted to be a good husband, even if I didn't know how to do it. So... I complied with her every request, I always agreed with her, and I tried to blend in with her tastes"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. This wasn't a proper relationship, from her point of view, but she could understand why the young Adam was behaving the way he was. After all, the first man had no reference system other than himself, and in his last relationship he had done everything on his own and it had all gone wrong. "Was Eve happy about it?"
Adam shook his head. “Initially yes… but soon she started acting strangely. It was like she was doing everything she could to impress me, or at least get a reaction out of me. Like she knew I wasn't being totally honest with her, and she wanted me to open up, that I showed her the real me. And so she tried her hand at increasingly strange... and often stupid things"
Charlie looked at him confused. "What do you mean stupid?"
Adam shrugged: "For example that"
Charlie looked in the direction indicated, and she realized that Eve was right there, peeking out from between the trees... even though they were over five meters high. She was working with several cables and precision instruments, and also with some objects that had angelic and therefore magical symbols engraved on them, doing who knows what; Charlie wasn't surprised, as she was now used to how technologically and magically advanced Eden was, but what she saw when she went beyond the trees stunned her. And she wasn't the only one since the young Adam almost dropped the fruits he had picked: "Eve?"
"Oh, Adam! Hi!" she greeted him, interrupting her work for a moment with a broad smile.
Charlie couldn't blame the young Adam for his confusion: she, too, had been completely shocked. Eve was in fact sitting on the back of an enormous carnivorous dinosaur which also seemed to be wondering why it was there, and she had built and attached two mechanical arms to its sides. “Um… why is she making hands for that T.rex?” she couldn't stop herself from asking Adam.
The first man shrugged: “She wanted to help him handle objects with something other than his mouth. And that's a carcharodontosaurus, by the way”
Charlie wasn't sure what the difference was between the two dinosaur species, nor how Adam recognized them, but before she could ask any questions she was completely taken aback when the carcharodontosaurus turned to the young Adam and exclaimed: "Hey, hello! Have you come to give me a hand too?"
"Fagdul, my friend, listen to me: you have to get better at your jokes" the young Adam replied, and then he looked at his wife: "Eve, what are you doing?"
"Can't you see? I'm building some arms so he and all our other friends can catch things easier!" Eve answered him with a broad smile. “Brilliant idea, right?”
Adam didn't seem too sure about that. And not even the carcharodontosaurus, who in fact opined: "Er... technically I'm fine with the way I am..."
Charlie turned back to Adam: "You could talk to animals!?"
"Huh? Yeah, Lilith never told you?" Adam asked her.
"Why, she too could talk to animals!?" Charlie exclaimed in ecstasy.
"Of course she could talk to animals" Adam replied. "God had entrusted humanity with authority over the Earth and all the creatures that inhabited it, and our task was to protect and guide them in the way we thought was right; why should we have a language barrier between us? The animals were our friends, we conversed with them every day"
Charlie's lips immediately twisted into a huge smile. “Please tell me I can do it too!” she said with her eyes shining.
"Huh? Well, technically it was something related to our authority over Earth" Adam explained to her. "After Lilith rejected the role of mother of humanity she lost that authority, so... no, I don't think you can talk to animals"
"Nooooo...!" Charlie exclaimed almost sliding dramatically onto her knees. "I wanted to know what koalas say...!"
"Um... I don't think you'd like that. Trust me, they look cute and cuddly but they're real assholes on the inside" Adam told her. "Anyway, keep watching"
Charlie was still extremely sad, but nevertheless she tried to hold back her usual childishness and went back to watching what was happening. Eve was making final adjustments to the robotic arms, and after finishing tightening some screws she said: "Okay, try moving them!"
Fagdul moved his large body slightly, and the robotic arms moved as well just as if they were real hands; he wiggled them a little, waving the artificial fingers. "I don't know..." he murmured unsurely. "I'm not used to these..."
“You just have to practice!” Eve told him with a smile. “Come on, try and get that fruit over there!”
It was clear that the carcharodontosaurus was not at ease at all, but still he played nice and tried to please her; but the moment he took the fruit indicated to him, it exploded in the robotic hand. Normally Fagdul would have had no problem measuring his strength and taking the fruit with his mouth, but those arms were something completely alien to him. The juice from the fruit spread onto the exposed circuitry and short-circuited the arms, startling him a little which involuntarily caused Eve to fall, who was promptly caught by Adam on the fly. "Are you okay?"
Eve got back to her feet. "Um... of course! I made a mistake calibrating the neural system a bit, now I'll fix everything..."
“Eve, wait” Adam stopped her. “Don't get me wrong, but… I don't think this is a good idea at all”
Eve bit her lip. She looked at the carcharodontosaurus next to her, who clearly had a look of discomfort on his face. It was not difficult to understand that he thought exactly like the first man. "But... I believed it would have been useful..."
"I know. No one blames you for your good intentions" Adam replied to her. “But really, you should let this go”
Eve lowered her head. She really looked very dejected. “Okay… sorry, Fagdul” she said to the dinosaur as she took the robotic arms off of him.
The carcharodontosaurus shook his head. "It's okay, I appreciate you wanting to help me. But please, don't experiment on me anymore" he told her. "If the good Lord had wanted me to have hands, He would have created me with them!"
Fagdul greeted them politely, although he then left in a hurry; he was probably afraid that Eve would have changed her mind and ask him to participate in some other experiment. Although this eventuality would hardly have come true given that the mother of humanity only seemed very disconsolate. Now that they were alone, Adam put a hand on her shoulder: "Eve, is there something that bothers you? Lately you've been..."
Eve made an angry noise: "Why didn't you tell me right away that I was wrong!?"
Adam was taken aback. “Um… what?”
Despite her harsh tone of voice, Eve sounded more sad than irritated. "I know you thought it all along, I saw it in your eyes. Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him again. "Why don't you ever tell me when you think I'm doing something stupid? Why are you so condescending to me? Why don't you tell me what you really think?"
Adam was confused and demoralized at the same time. "Eve... I don't..."
"I don't understand why you're acting like this!" Eve exclaimed, and a soft sob came out of her mouth: "What am I doing wrong? Why does there continue to be a veil between us? Why won't you let me know the real you?"
Adam opened his mouth, and then he closed it again; even he didn't seem sure what to say. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was creating a burden for you" he murmured after a short wait. "I just wanted to be kind..."
"I appreciate your kindness. Believe me, you have no idea how much I love it" Eve replied. "But this isn't just kindness. You refuse to tell me what you really think. I feel it, I feel like you're never completely sincere. It's like you want to do everything to please me, but I don't want that! You're my husband, not my flatterer! We should work together and trust each other, and tell each other to our faces when we think one of us is wrong! Why don't you do so?". A tear fell from her right eye: "Perhaps... am I the problem...?"
"NO!" Adam immediately exclaimed, and as he said this he grabbed her by the shoulders as if he wanted to shake her, but then he immediately pulled away: "You... you're not the problem... it's just me"
Eve was shocked by that gesture. It seemed like the exact representation of how Adam had always acted towards her: every time he wanted to say something that truly came from his heart, he suddenly backed away. And every time it was like a needle stuck in her heart.
Eve walked over to Adam and rested her face on his chest. The first man stood still for a second, and then almost instinctively stroked her head. Eve could feel the tension in her husband's body, the same tension she had felt in him every time he believed he had wronged her or even just annoyed her.
They remained in that position for a while, and then she looked into his eyes and said: "Adam... tell me what you think. Please"
Adam let out a deep breath. He remained silent for a moment longer, and then he finally spoke. "Okay. I'll tell you everything" he told her. "Before you... I had another wife"
Eve's eyes widened slightly, clearly shocked by that news. "So... you had another woman... before me...?"
Adam nodded. "Her name was Lilith. And I wasn't a good husband to her. I was so insufferable that she preferred to flee Eden rather than stay with me. She ran away at night, as if she were afraid of how I might react, and then she preferred a friend of mine, an angel named Lucifer, to me"
Eve looked down. Any other woman at that moment would have asked if Adam was acting differently because she wasn't Lilith, but she didn't. Instead, Eve said: "Is that why you're being so condescending? Are you afraid that if you show me the real you, I'll run away too?"
"I just want to be a good husband this time" Adam replied to her. "Eve, you... you are special. You are something that not even Lilith has ever been to me. I don't want to make you suffer like I made her suffer, I don't want you to feel... limited by me"
“You're afraid of making me unhappy” Eve summed it up in one sentence.
Adam nodded. "Well... yes" he admitted.
Eve placed a hand on his cheek. Her hand felt light and soft like a pillow. "Adam, I appreciate you trying so hard. I really do. You're a wonderful man" she told him. "But it's not a perfect man that I want. I want you. You don't have to be afraid to show me who you really are, to tell me what you really think. I want to know what's really in your heart, always... even when I might not like the answer"
Adam looked down. "I'm not sure that I can do it… no… that I want to do it" he replied. "I don't want to risk making you suffer too. You... you are..."
"... I'm your wife" Eve anticipated him. "And precisely for this reason I must know you, for better or for worse. Loving someone means accepting their strengths and weaknesses, and improving each other. I don't want you to submit like this and fulfill my every request, this is not you. And I want just you"
Adam sighed. "I might make a mistake with you"
"So what? I make mistakes all the time" Eve said, pointing to the robotic arms she had tried to attach to the carcharodontosaurus. "Making mistakes is not a problem, and it doesn't mean ruining a relationship. Mistakes serve to improve oneself, if only you have the right maturity to face your responsibilities"
"I could make you suffer" Adam opined again.
But Eve shook her head vehemently. "No. I'm sure of at least this" she told him without the slightest hesitation in her voice. "You won't make me suffer. It's not in your nature"
Adam looked at her in surprise. He couldn't remember ever hearing so much confidence in a person's voice. "How can you be so sure? You don't know what I can become"
"I know you're not a bad man" Eve said, touching his chest at heart level. “When I touch you here, I feel your gentle soul. I feel how afraid you are of hurting me. A person who has such feelings cannot harm others”
Adam looked at himself in her crystalline eyes. Eve seemed to exude great strength, as if her soul was able to wrap itself around his and strengthen it. "Why do you believe in me so much?"
Eve gave a simple smile, which seemed brighter than the sun. "What a stupid question" she told him. “Does a wife need a reason to love her husband with all her heart?”
Adam was speechless after hearing that last sentence, but then he closed his eyes and let out a chuckle. "Yes you are right. It was a stupid question" he told her. "A husband too doesn't need a reason to love his wife"
Eve seemed beyond pleased to hear him say that. "So... will you try to loosen up a little with me? I will never abandon you, that's a promise. You don't have to be afraid of that"
Adam took her into his arms and hugged her. "Now I'm sure of it too" he told her, and then he assumed a mocking expression: "Well, since we can now tell each other everything, just know that those mechanical arms were truly one of the stupidest things that ever occurred to you"
"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad" Eve protested, but still she kept her smile.
"Tell that to the poor Fagdul" Adam replied, looking at the spot where the carcharodontosaurus had hurriedly left. “It was an idea about the same level as when you tried to put lights on the stegosaurs”
"I wanted to make the atmosphere more festive! I didn't think the plates would have broken the wires" Eve justified herself by blushing a lot again, but in doing so she started laughing.
Adam chuckled back. “What's the next step, shoes for an arthropleura?”
Eve only laughed harder, and then she took his face in her hands and kissed him. It was a kiss that had nothing chaste about it, yet contained a streak of purity, as if concepts such as lust and desire were completely alien to it... which in fact they were given that lust didn't even exist yet. It was a kiss that seemed to shine only with love, devoid of any malice or ulterior motives.
A slight sob could be heard. Adam looked down at Charlie and let out a grunt: "Seriously? Are you crying?"
"N-No" Charlie denied, even though her cheeks were streaked with tears. "It's just... it's all so sweet..."
“My life isn't a soap opera” Adam grumbled. "Stop it now"
Charlie didn't stop crying anyway. She almost looked like a teenager in front of the television intent on watching her favorite drama. "She's so good... look how she smiles... and that gaze...!"
"Stop it, I told you!" Adam blurted out annoyed.
Charlie sniffed and tried to regain some composure. She would have cried in another moment, she told herself in her mind. "You worked really well together" she told Adam. "This is how a relationship should be"
The first man nodded slightly. "In the end we just needed a little... mutual understanding, let's say"
"Yeah" Charlie said as he continued to watch the young Adam and Eve kiss. Man, it was a really beautiful scene. "You still made a great effort. It's not easy to leave your fears aside like that, especially if there's a loved one around"
"I couldn't live in fear of losing Eve forever. And she wanted to know me for who I was" Adam told her. "After this moment, I stopped being so rigid. I didn't stop trying to be a good husband and show understanding, but I still showed the other sides of my character. She accepted them all, just like I accepted all hers"
Charlie was happy with that. A relationship was supposed to work just that way: not one submissive to the other, not with both trying to prevail over the other, but working together, making each other better, being each other's safety anchor. This was how true love expressed itself in its true beauty.
Eve continued kissing the young Adam for another minute, and then she asked him a strange question: "Look... can I ask you what your first wife was like?"
Adam was a little surprised by that question. "Just like me" he answered. "Immature and with poor judgment. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I think if she now saw the man you've become, maybe she'd be sorry that she ran away from you like that" Eve replied. "I'm sorry that it ended so badly between you. If she knew how much you tried to change, I'm sure she would apologize to you. Maybe you could have her and your dear friend back, and we could all be together again"
Adam sighed. "Maybe, but I don't know where she and that short angel are now, they could be anywhere in Pangea. I don't know if they'll ever return. I'd love to have them back, but… it's their choice, not mine". And then he put on a mocking smile: "Aren't you afraid that my first wife might take me back?"
In response, Eve's grip on him tightened like a snake's coils, and she took on a somewhat combative look, but without losing her smile. "I'm not afraid of that happening" she replied. "You are mine now. All mine"
Adam smiled with satisfaction, and then he fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground. "And you are mine" he told her intensely. “Do you mind if I make you truly mine right now?”
"Uuuuh... so you do this when you propose? Manly" Eve replied, and this time her expression gave a good indication of what she was thinking. "Show me what you can do when you really want something"
Adam moved closer to her face and blew on her lips. "You'll see how..."
"NO!" Charlie screamed, and the memory stopped dead in its tracks. Evidently the shock had been such that her powers had faltered, stopping everything as if she had just pressed the stop button on a remote control.
Adam chuckled. "Why? The best part starts now"
"I don't want to see this!" Charlie said, redder than a pepper. "Let's move on!"
"As you wish, you're the only one who loses out. Trust me, you could learn a lot of interesting tricks" Adam told her mockingly. "And I'm sure your spider friend would love to see it too. And your girlfriend. And that crazy cyclops. And..."
"I don't care! I don't want to see... spicy stuff!" Charlie stammered. “Can we move on, please!?”
Adam just burst out laughing at seeing her so embarrassed. Just to change the subject, Charlie asked: "What is Pangea? I don't remember a continent with that name"
"Oh, the world was different back then" Adam replied to her. "All the continents were combined into one, so that there were no barriers between animals and everyone could go where they wanted and meet everyone. Lilith and I had named that supercontinent Pangea, and the enormous global ocean that surrounded it Panthalassa"
"Oh... the world was really different" Charlie murmured, trying to sort out her brain. It was really complicated to take into account all the differences. Early Earth was an almost alien place to her. "Have you never explored Pangea? It seems like a waste"
"We had all the time we wanted, and we never felt the need. When you're immortal and can build instruments that map and explore the planet on your own, you always end up putting off leaving" Adam explained to her. "I preferred to stay in Eden. Lilith was the one who on the contrary wanted to explore Pangea. We already knew what it was like thanks to the angels and the numerous magical and technological tools we had built... but she wanted to see it with her real eyes. In the end she fulfilled her wish"
"Right" Charlie said. "I imagine that when she came back she had a lot to tell you..."
Adam nodded slightly. "She'd had her share of adventures, yes" he confirmed.
Charlie realized that Adam didn't want to talk about it... or rather, it was as if he wanted her to know, but to find out by looking at his memories. So, albeit with some reluctance, she reactivated her powers and in front of her the world changed again, much to her relief since she absolutely did not want to witness the intimacy between the parents of humanity. She hoped she wouldn't have encountered any more 'hot stuff' in later memories.
But what she saw this time surprised her even more than before. A tree appeared in front of her field of vision, but not just any tree: it was gigantic, with a trunk so wide that thirty people would not have been able to hug even half of it. It was at least three hundred meters tall, and its canopy was as wide as an entire football field. Its trunk was composed of an extremely dark and shiny material, while its leaves were crystalline and reflected the sunlight creating a kaleidoscope of colors. It had only one fruit, located on the highest branch: something that resembled an apple, but at the same time was completely different. "This is..."
"The famous tree with the even more famous forbidden fruit. That's right" Adam confirmed to her.
Charlie couldn't stop herself from raising her hand and trying to touch that huge plant, even though her fingers obviously couldn't interact with it. “It's enormous” she murmured. “How could this trunk have only created something as small as my trident?”
"Technically, your trident is only made of the shell" Adam replied to her.
Charlie looked at him confused. "The shell?"
"If you could touch that tree, you would realize that inside it is... empty. Completely empty" Adam told her. "What you're seeing is just the outer shell. Which actually is so dense and thin that an atom would appear immense in comparison. The rest of the tree trunk is made up of superdense nothingness"
Charlie felt her brain explode. "What is a... superdense nothingness? Can nothingness be dense?"
"Of course it can. What people commonly call nothingness is actually the vacuum, a fluid that permeates the entire existence and in which the most microscopic particles react. And like any fluid, the vacuum has an intrinsic energy" Adam explained to her. "The vacuum contained inside this tree is hyperpressurized. It's as if the universe had taken a pump and dumped it all inside. Inside here there is an ocean of vacuum trillions of times more energetic and dense than what it is normally present in the rest of the Creation, trapped by a shell which is itself within the absolute limits of what the laws of the universe allow. Inside this trunk there is the most violent, ancient and primordial force of the cosmos, concentrated in one tremendously small space, continuously seething and eager to break free"
Charlie felt her brain ache. Maybe she should have paid more attention to her high school physics classes. "Ugh... well, it doesn't matter now. Why are we here?"
Adam just raised his hand and pointed: "Over there"
Charlie looked in the direction indicated and saw the young Adam and Eve standing facing each other; the first man was holding his fists tightly closed, as if he had something inside them. “So, Adam, why did you want to come here?” Eve asked him.
The young Adam seemed unsure how to start. In fact, he looked quite embarrassed. "Well... I wanted to give you a gift"
"Oh, I'm grateful! But... why was it necessary to come here, in front of the tree?" Eve asked him curiously.
"Well... it's not a gift like all the others" Adam answered her, and then he raised his hands and opened his fists, revealing two rings made of gold that had clearly been worked meticulously and with extreme care.
Eve was dazzled. "They're beautiful" she told him, her eyes sparkling. "Did you make them?"
"I even dug out the materials to make them all on my own" Adam told her with some satisfaction in his voice.
"Ah, so that's why you were constantly disappearing these days? The animals told me you were always going to a cave, I wondered what you were doing in there" Eve said with a smile.
"Well, they're not finished yet actually" Adam told her, and to Eve's surprise he reached out and plucked a crystalline leaf from the tree. The first man held the leaf firmly in his hands, feeling the hard material that made it up: "Do you remember why this tree is important?"
"Because we must not eat from it. If we did, we would break the only command God gave us" Eve answered him promptly.
Adam nodded. "Exactly. When Lilith and I were created, God showed us this tree and told us to never eat its fruit. That day, I solemnly promised Him that I would have never done so" he explained to her. "This tree, for me, is not just a prohibition, it is a promise. A promise of mutual trust. And today, I want to make another promise in the name of this tree"
And having said this he tore the leaf in two, not without a lot of effort despite his immense strength, and then he compressed the two halves he had created; two small diamonds formed in his hands. Adam placed them on the rings, in a small hole he had created specifically to insert them. "I created these rings as a pledge of a promise. A promise of love, sealed by the same leaves of the tree where I made my first promise ever" he told Eve. "One of these rings is mine, and the other is yours. They will represent what binds us. So, if we are ever separated, we will still have something that makes us feel like we are still close"
Eve had a hand over her mouth and numerous tears of emotion were falling from her eyes. She didn't have the strength to speak as she looked at those two small rings, the first wedding rings in history, crafted with so much love and which contained the promise of never being separated. Adam gently took her right hand and placed the ring on her ring finger. "With this, I promise to never love anyone but you. I promise you that you will always be my priority, for better or for worse. I promise you my heart, and I give it to you more than you already have it now"
Eve took a deep breath, trying to contain her joy, and then she took Adam's ring (which was bigger than hers since the first man's hands were bigger) and put it on his finger: "And with this, I promise to always be faithful to you and never cause you harm, and to love you with all of myself until the end of time"
And having said this they both raised their hands and touched each other with the backs of their hands, letting the two diamonds on the rings touch each other; having done this, they turned their hands slightly until their palms joined, and then they approached and joined in a kiss.
Charlie was already on the verge of crying again, and she was trying really hard not to let the emotion overcome her again. But it wasn't her who broke the new silence, but a familiar voice: "Oh, it's so beautiful! I've never thought of something so romantic!"
Adam broke the kiss abruptly and looked up immediately, his eyes widening as he realized that a familiar face with six wings was sitting on one of the huge branches of the tree. "Lucifer!?"
"Lucifer?" Eve repeated in surprise. "Wait... isn't he...?"
Another person emerged from behind the tree; Lilith stepped forward, and judging by the look on her face, she too was impressed by what she had seen. She had remained the same, after all no one could grow old in that idyllic world, but at the same time she was... different. It was as if the immaturity and childishness she had always shown had vanished, and now her expression was more marked and serious. And even more insecure, since for the first time she didn't seem to know what to say either: "Um... hi, Adam"
Adam was confused and probably even unable to think; his face was almost comical. But Eve on the contrary did nothing but smile: "Oh, you must be Lilith!"
"Uh... did he tell you about me?" Lilith murmured, not sure how to approach her.
Eve walked towards her and nodded, as if she was meeting a new friend. "Of course. My husband often spoke to me about you and him" she said looking at Lucifer, who in the meantime had flown down from the tree. “It's nice to have some new faces here!”
"Hey, she's nice" Lucifer said smiling at her. "What is your name?"
"Eve" she answered, then she walked around him and looked at him strangely.
Lucifer was confused by this. “Um… what are you doing?”
“Sorry, it's just that you're even shorter than Adam described you!” she replied with a laugh. "Are you really Michael's brother? He is very tall, while you..."
Lucifer turned red: "What the... why are you all holding my height against me!?"
"I don't hold anything against you, I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. I was just expressing objectivity" Eve replied to him. "It's just that it seems strange to me. All the angels I've met so far are tall... do you wear that hat to reach the five feet?"
Lucifer was starting to get really annoyed: "Girl, you're cute, but please, stop insulting me!"
"I'm not insulting you. I'm making objective considerations" Eve repeated without losing her smile.
"It's the same thing! No, I mean... urgh!" Lucifer snapped. “Do you at least know what an insult is?”
Eve put her hand on her chin as if she was thinking: "Well, I can't think of a definition, but I believe that a good example is... you that run away with your friend's wife and then come back here without even warning him in advance and ruining a romantic moment I was having with my man"
Lucifer was speechless. "Um... ok, good example" he said quite embarrassed.
Lilith let out a deep breath. She and Adam still hadn't said a word to each other, just looked at each other. “Adam… can I talk to you in private?”
In the past Adam would have probably already made a scene just by seeing Lilith and Lucifer again, but this time he remained silent. You couldn't say he was calm, but he was controlling himself pretty well. "You should talk to her" Eve told him.
Adam looked at her, as if looking for instructions. "Are you sure...?"
Eve nodded. "I will entertain our other guest" she said, placing a hand on Lucifer's shoulder. "I'm sure you have a lot to say to each other. And you, blond girl, be patient and kind to my husband"
Adam smiled a little, knowing that Eve was encouraging him to talk to Lilith because she knew how hurt he had been when she left. And furthermore, her constant remarking that he was now her man was almost funny. He shifted his gaze to Lilith again, and then he nodded to her and they both headed into the forest. They walked for a few minutes, and then they stopped and looked at each other again.
Notes:
For those unfamiliar with Hebrew, Fagdul means "big mouth". Consequently, it is a perfect name for a carcharodontosaurus, as dinosaurs of this family had very long jaws. Unlike the tyrannosaur family, which had a shorter and more massive skull suitable for crushing bones, these dinosaurs were more suited to tearing and biting repeatedly. And before anyone asks, no, carcharodontosaurus was not bigger than tyrannosaurus; although both were of similar length (12-13 meters, although some tyrannosaurs are estimated to have reached 14 or even 15), the carcharodontosaurus had a weight currently estimated at around 7-7.5 tons, while the tyrannosaur had an estimated weight between 8 and 10 tons. Who would have won in a fight? It's a stupid question given that they lived 30 million years apart and on different continents... but it's the T.rex.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 26): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155124220
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 80: The great mistake
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie felt a little uncomfortable watching her mother and the young Adam look into each other's eyes. She didn't know how it was possible, but even she felt the tension between them even though she wasn't actually physically there. She had many questions, but she remained silent so she could watch what would have happened.
The silence continued for a time that seemed infinite, and then finally it was Lilith who spoke: "I think an apology is in order"
Adam seemed surprised: "Lilith..."
"No, no, let me finish" Lilith quickly told him. It was clear that she was feeling a lot of anxiety. "Regardless of what our feelings were then, I shouldn't have left like that. Abandoning you here, running away like that, making you scared... it was wrong. I was a bitch to treat you like that. I'm sorry"
Adam listened as she spoke; his expression was very cold, but it was easy to see the light struggling in his gaze. Unlike his future counterpart, he wasn't as good at holding back his emotions. "Yeah... you were a bitch" he finally told her. "Just like I was"
Lilith's eyes widened slightly: "What do you mean?"
Adam crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't blame you for leaving me” he told her. "I... thought about what happened, during all these years. I know you weren't happy here with me. You weren't meant to stay here in this garden, you... you needed something else, and I I was holding back. Now I know that I couldn't dominate your heart. We weren't meant for each other"
Lilith was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting that reaction; but then she couldn't hold back a smile. "You've changed" she told him.
"You too, right?" Adam grumbled. "The old you would never have wondered if what she did was right or wrong. You would have just pretended to be right. Just like I did"
Lilith shrugged. “Well…everyone has to stop being stubborn children and grow up, sooner or later” she said. "And you're right... we weren't meant for each other"
"Nah. We would have destroyed each other" Adam confirmed her. He was silent for a long moment, and then he asked: "How was it? Exploring the world, I mean"
Lilith smiled even more. From her look, she seemed to be remembering something beautiful. "It was wonderful" she told him in a dreamy voice. "I have traveled to every corner of Pangea and swum throughout the Panthalassa. Of course, there is no place more beautiful than Eden, but... it is full of extremely exotic and strange places. I have seen waterfalls that formed rainbows and cliffs from the most disparate forms. I climbed the mountains and admired the glaciers. It was really everything... I'm not sure it can be described"
Even Charlie couldn't help but smile. She knew when her mother actually remembered something that made her happy, and that young version of her was even easier to read. It was clear that she had truly loved every moment of that trip around the world that she had taken.
Lilith went on listing the wonders she had seen for another ten minutes before stopping. "I'm sure you'd like it too. You should take a tour" she finally said to Adam.
The first man nodded his head slightly. "No, you know I'm a sedentary type. Maybe one day I'll feel like it, but... at the moment I don't feel like being an explorer"
From her look, Lilith had expected that answer. And in fact she immediately said: "Well, from what I've seen you now have a... ehm... very good reason to stay here"
Adam rolled his eyes. "Don't judge me. I had to find someone too"
"I'm not judging you. I would really be a hypocrite to do that. We're not married anymore, you can be with whoever you want" Lilith replied. "I'm just happy to see that now you have a woman who you really get along with... and with whom there is really something strong this time. I saw the way you look at her. And the way you talked to her... it was really romantic"
Adam let out a satisfied snort. "Well, she's the best thing that ever happened to me" he said proudly.
"Wow. I don't know whether to feel offended or feel tenderness" Lilith replied jokingly. "I'm serious, I'm happy for you. It's nice that you found someone who makes you happy"
Adam smiled slightly, though not for long. "And you? How's it going with Lucifer? Are you at least happy with him?"
"Of course. He's a wonderful husband... in his own way" Lilith replied without any hesitation.
Adam didn't immediately react to those words. He seemed to think carefully about what to say, whether he should maintain a stoic demeanor or speak his mind, and ultimately he chose the latter. "I'm happy for you" he finally said simply.
Lilith was clearly happy to hear him say those words, but soon the smile faded from her face too and she became serious again: "Listen, Adam... do you think we could... well... at least go back to having a friendship?"
Adam looked at her blankly, not letting his thoughts show. Lilith took advantage of his silence to continue: "Listen, I know that I behaved badly towards you... and that Lucifer behaved badly too. I don't regret leaving you and marrying my husband, but... I should have to act differently, maybe... I mean... I don't know. But anyways, now I want to fix it. It's true, there was no love between the two of us, not a romantic one at least... but still I cared about you, Adam, and I know that you too cared about me and that slightly crazy angel who always wanted to play counting the ducks in the lake. I'm not saying we need to forget all the shit we did, but... could we at least... start over?”
Adam remained silent for a long moment, silence that was broken only by the whistle of the wind. And then he closed his eyes: "I'm... open to the possibility"
Lilith seemed to light up with happiness: "Really?"
Adam shrugged. "We'll try" he told her simply. "I won't promise you anything, but... there's no harm in trying, right?"
That was enough for Lilith. “You really have become a better man” she told him. "Eve is lucky to have you"
Adam nodded slightly. "Come on, let's go back to her and... Lucifer. So you can meet her"
Lilith and Adam quickly returned to the clearing where they had left their respective partners. They found Eve holding a white feather clearly from one of the angel's wings, and Lucifer holding the aforementioned wing in clear pain. Seeing this, Adam couldn't help but laugh: "What happened?"
“She tore a feather from me!” Lucifer exclaimed in pain.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Eve immediately told him mortified. "I didn't think they were so delicate... they seemed so resistant...!"
Adam only laughed harder at those words, which made Eve smile too despite her embarrassment. Lucifer, on the other hand, was not at all happy about it: "Stop it! It really hurts! It will take at least... ten thousand kisses to heal it...!"
"Don't worry, big child, I'll give them all to you" Lilith told him with a smile, hugging him from behind, and finally Lucifer seemed to magically recover, even if he continued to play the victim as if to entice his wife to kiss him immediately.
Eve was happy to see that no one held a grudge against her, and she looked at Adam: “So… did you talk?”
Adam nodded. "They will stay here with us" he simply answered, sitting next to her. Eve immediately leaned into him, clearly happy to have new company.
Charlie smiled at that scene. It was much better than the tension shown just before. She could see that the young Adam was still tense (as was the young Lilith, for that matter), but at least he seemed inclined to start from scratch. "You were good at letting them back into your life" she said to the present Adam. “It takes courage to admit that you were partly responsible for… everything”
He shrugged in response. "It would have been stupid of me not to admit the truth. Only those who are afraid of appearing foolish cling to a lie" he told her. "I knew I hadn't been a good husband to Lilith. We weren't compatible"
Charlie nodded. Yes, definitely, both of them were not meant to be together. "It was still kind of you to let them back into your life"
"I wanted to start from scratch" Adam replied. "She... your mother... was still a member of my family, even if more figuratively than by blood. And your father... I still considered him a friend, even if not as much as before. Now that they were finally back, part of me wondered if it really was possible to just be... happy with their happiness. I would really like to put the past behind me and move forward". He let out a deep snort through his nostrils: “Maybe if things had worked out, you would have been born in this beautiful garden, and I would have been your nice uncle who lived next door, and you would have had lots of cousins to play with and grow up and become adult"
Charlie's smile faded from her lips. "When did things start to... go bad?"
Adam sighed. "Soon. It was nice to have your parents back, but... it didn't take them long to start messing around again. God had been good during their first transgression, and maybe that was why they hadn't learned the lesson..."
"Mom told me what they thought" Charlie told him. "She told me that they were convinced that since their happiness began with a transgression, then they should make you do one too... or something like that"
“Yeah. And that tree was unfortunately the object of their attention” Adam said, and then his eyes narrowed, “I resisted. I tried to convince them to let it go. But Eve… she didn't think so". His fists clenched tighter, cracking his knuckles: "She started following them and listening to them... and then she went even further. She started to be almost obsessed with that fruit. She was convinced that it would give her... something. Honestly, I still haven't understood what was really going through her head"
The world distorted and changed around them again, showing another memory. The young Adam and Eve were alone again, but this time the first man showed no sweetness: on the contrary, he was clearly angry. “He told me you went back to the tree!” he said, pointing to a small rhamphorhynchus sitting on the branch of a nearby tree.
Eve glared at the animal: "Couldn't you mind your own business?"
"Sorry, ma'am, but your behavior worried me. I thought it was appropriate to warn your husband" the rhamphorhynchus replied and then quickly flew away.
Adam turned the attention back to him: "Don't change the subject. I told you to leave it alone. I don't know what Lucifer or Lilith told you this time, but you need to leave that fruit alone!"
Eve shook her head: "Adam, I wasn't doing anything wrong, okay? I just wanted to reflect about it for a bit. I have many questions about that tree, can't I seek for answers? Especially because such answers can give us so much... well, something!"
Adam looked at his wife with a lot of confusion. He really couldn't understand her. "Eve, why do you want to discover the secrets of that tree so badly? We already have everything here. Why would you want anything more?"
Eve seemed for a moment to have a more sinister light than usual in her eyes. "Well... everything isn't enough sometimes" she replied.
Adam was a little afraid. He didn't like Eve's behavior at all, and it wasn't at all something he was used to. There was something wrong. “Eve… did you do something while you were there?”
Eve blushed, as if she'd just been caught in the act. "Well..."
Adam frowned. "What did you do!? You didn't eat the fruit, did you!?"
"No, not at all!" Eve assured him. "But I licked it"
Adam turned pale. "What!?"
"Just licked, I told you! And look, it's already opened my mind enormously!" Eve told him with a smile. "Now I see better a lot of things that I didn't understand before! Have you ever wondered why some animals have sharp teeth and others don't? Because if there wasn't Eden to give them energy they would actually have to eat other animals! They are... meat-eaters, here! Have you seen? I've already found the answers to thousands of unanswered questions! Isn't it wonderful?"
Adam broke into a cold sweat. No, he didn't think it was wonderful at all. "Eve... this is not good"
His wife abandoned all joviality and took on a disappointed expression. "Why not? That fruit is the key to extraordinary power! Look how broad my mind has become just by licking it! If we ate it, we could become like God!"
"What!?" Adam exclaimed palely. "Do you realize what you're saying!?"
Eve paused for a moment and seemed to think hard. "Uh... I just said some... blasphemy. Yes, that's what it is. Man, that fruit is really useful for understanding things quickly"
“The things that fruit is teaching you are not good!” Adam told her. He was trying to stay calm, but it wasn't easy at all in that situation. "Eating animals, being like God... can't you see that it's only showing you... evil things? It's like it's inviting you to learn how to ruin others!"
Eve rolled her eyes in disappointment: "Oh, come on! What's wrong with knowing this stuff? I can handle it!" she told him, although soon after she stopped again and went back to thinking: "Wait... this is a hint of... pride, right...?"
Adam didn't know what his wife was talking about and honestly didn't care. "Eve... this can't end well. Listen to me and leave that tree alone, and tell Lilith and Lucifer to do the same"
Eve was quite irritated by those words. “Ah, you really are… urgh!” she exclaimed. "Why won't you listen to me? You know I'm right! You're acting like a... a... coward! Yes, that's the right word! See, the fruit is even suggesting the words to me!"
"I'd rather not know what coward means" Adam told her, knowing it was most likely something very insulting. "And if the fruit is really suggesting these things to you, then that's proof that it's not a good thing!"
Eve let out a deep snort, clearly furious at her husband's lack of support. She had evidently hoped for his understanding and instead being told not to continue made her very angry. "Ah, whatever you want! Stay here in your... sloth! I'm going to talk to our friends, at least they understand!". And with such words she turned and headed towards the trees.
"Eve!" Adam called back, this time with a firmer voice. "Don't go near that tree!"
Eve stopped and looked at him. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, and then he shrugged. "Okay" she told him. “If it pleases you so much, I won't go near the tree”
Adam relaxed a little. He knew that the discussion was definitely not ended there, and that Eve would have tried to convince him again perhaps with the support of Lilith and Lucifer, but at least it seemed that for the moment he could be calm. "Good"
Eve smirked. “Do you see how limited you are? You didn't even realize that this was a lie!”
"A what?" Adam asked, but Eve whirled around and quickly disappeared into the vegetation.
Adam raised an eyebrow. He hadn't the faintest idea what a lie was, but he was sure it was again something Eve had learned from the forbidden fruit... and from the way she said it, he was sure it wasn't a good thing... like everything else, by the way. The more Eve talked, the more certain he became that the last thing he, she, or anyone else should have done was eat the fruit of that tree.
Maybe he should have chased her? No... maybe it was better to wait until she calmed down a bit before talking to her again. After all, she had promised him that she wouldn't have gone near the tree, so he could give her time to stop being angry at him; that way, they could have then approached the discussion like two matured adults. And maybe she could have even explained to him what a lie was.
He put his hands in front of his face in frustration. Damn, why hadn't God put that tree on the moon? He knew that the Almighty's plans were ineffable, but he would have really liked not to have to worry about convincing his wife that eating that fruit was not a good idea.
Maybe he should have built a fence...?
He had never needed it before, but now he was really considering whether he should cage the tree. Or maybe he could have asked one of his animal friends to stand guard and warn him whenever someone approached it. Velociraptors were fast, they could have run immediately to warn him. Or perhaps he could have asked some of the larger dinosaurs to defend the tree while pterodactyls flew quickly to warn him. In short, something that would have allowed him to be more sure that Eve wouldn't have done something extremely stupid...
No. No, he didn't want to do that. He wanted to trust his wife...
... but it was getting really hard to resist the urge to control her at least a little.
Fuck, he was really going crazy.
He decided that the best solution was to sleep a little: perhaps once he had enough rest he could think about the problem more clearly and find a solution. So he lay down on a comfortable rock and fell asleep peacefully under the sun, lulled by the light breeze in the air.
He was awakened when the earth began to shake.
Adam literally rolled off the rock where he was sleeping and hit his head on the ground, bouncing off it several times due to the shaking. He barely managed to get up and a tree almost fell on him as he did so. “What the…!?”
Since when did the earth shake?
No... wait a minute...
Adam could feel it, his authority over the world could perceive it. It wasn't just that place... it wasn't just Eden... it was everything. The whole Earth was shaking!
The animals were in total panic and were desperately running away, trying to dodge the trees that were falling from all directions. Their frightened cries created a continuous cacophony. Adam tried to call to them, but they were so terrified they probably didn't even hear him. In the end, although it wasn't very nice, the first man grabbed a utahraptor by the head, blocking any movement. "Calm down!" he shouted at him. "What's going on?"
Adam's firm and authoritative voice brought the poor dinosaur to his senses at least a little. “The tree… she… ate…!”
Adam's eyes widened. "What!? What are you...!?"
The ground split; an immense crack opened, and the two pieces began to move apart. The crack crossed all of Eden, causing numerous buildings to sink into the depths of the earth, and then continued even further, cutting across the entire world. With a loud crash, the supercontinent Pangea split in two.
Adam realized he had no time to think. “Gather everyone and take them out of Eden!” he shouted at the utahraptor, and then he raised his voice. "LISTEN TO ME! ALL OF YOU! YOU MUST GET OUT OF EDEN, NOW!"
His power to control souls flowed into his voice, just as Lilith had done many times; and immediately the panic in the animals' hearts diminished, replaced by that imperative command. Moved by the first man's authority, the creatures stopped running wildly and instead headed towards the gates of Eden. Adam let go of the utahraptor: "Come on, go! Use your quick legs to make sure everyone can escape!"
The dinosaur, although scared, nodded. "But... and you...?"
"Don't think about me! Go!" Adam ordered, then he started running in the direction of the forbidden tree. He understood enough to know that that was the problem.
The planet continued to shake as if it were a continuously struck bell. Pangea broke apart again and again, and the new continents quickly drifted apart, as if they had a will of their own and were trying to escape. Two large land masses moved far west, while another moved south, and a mass of islands moved east; the larger piece moved north and split slightly, forming another continent which, while remaining attached to it, formed an internal sea. Eden became completely isolated and the ocean surrounded it; entire pieces of land sank under the waters. Eden grew smaller and smaller, cracking and sinking further and further. The buildings that filled it collapsed and disappeared under the waves; hundreds of thousands of years of scientific, engineering, and magical research were reduced to dust that settled to the bottom of the sea.
Adam reached the forbidden tree, and saw it break in on itself and fall sideways; as soon as it hit the ground, reality seemed to crack under its weight and disappeared, while its crystalline leaves were thrown in every direction like projectiles. But even though the tree was no longer there, the earth did not stop shaking and cracking. By now a small islet was all that was left of Eden; and in the center of that islet was Eve, who seemed to be desperately trying to get something out of her throat. It was as if her entire body was exploding with energy, energy so powerful and hot that a star would have seemed cold in comparison. Lilith and Lucifer were on the ground completely immobilized, staring at the mother of humanity with terror in their eyes.
Adam himself felt his heart tremble with fear as he saw this, as if a wave of terror were continually breaking over him; but it generated a different reaction in him. His brain was unable to think, but it registered some basic information: whatever was generating this horror was inside Eve, and Eve was suffering from it more than anyone. Adam moved like a lightning and grabbed his wife bodily, and fully unleashed his power to control the souls within her. He clearly perceived a dark and malignant mass in the depths of her soul, and he began to forcefully detach it.
The dark mass moved like an octopus and tried to anchor itself more and more to Eve's soul. He was refusing to let her go. Adam pulled even harder, refusing to give up. His breathing became labored, but he didn't stop.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The dark mass moved and curled around him, as if trying to fight back. Adam felt it penetrate his soul, slashing and tearing it. It was as if this energy had a mind of its own and was desperate to stop him. Adam felt it sucking his energy away, but still he fought even harder.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
It soon became clear to him that it was a battle he could not win. That evil energy was too strong and was draining him. Adam was having more and more difficulty controlling Eve's soul. He knew that it wouldn't have been long before he completely lost his power and was therefore no longer able to save his wife.
But... if he couldn't eradicate that energy... he could deflect it. If he had thrown it away somewhere, that dark mass would also have lost its power, just as it was happening to him.
If it wanted to express itself so badly, then he would have let it!
With a roar, he released every trace of strength that was left in his body and with his power to control souls he formed a sort of cocoon around them, a cocoon that then opened like a cannon, letting that evil energy flow away. Like a pillar of fire and blood, it exploded into the sky and shattered every barrier of space, being hurled into the afterlife. The dark mass seemed to understand what Adam was doing and tried to fight back, but its strength quickly drained, and the first man refused to give up.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And finally, all the energy ran out. The dark mass seemed to melt and spread over Eve's soul as if it were a dirty liquid, incapable of doing any kind of harm. Adam would have extracted all of it completely, but by then all of his soul-based power was gone, and his strength was drained. But at least, his wife was safe. Unable to stand, Adam fell to the ground with a thud, and never moved again.
As soon as that dark force vanished, their three spectators seemed to recover at least a little. Eve suddenly turned towards him and as soon as she saw him on the ground her face became white as that of a corpse: "ADAM!"
The mother of humanity threw herself on him trying to revive him, and Lilith and Lucifer also rushed to reach her. Several tears formed in Eve's eyes. "No... no, no, no! This wasn't how it was supposed to go! Please no! Don't leave me... don't... don't die...!"
Lilith, who was slapping Adam's cheeks a few times, looked at her with wide eyes: "What? What do you mean... die...?"
Eve let out a choked sob. "It's when... something ceases to exist... that fruit taught me...!"
Lilith turned pale. Never before had she imagined that something could cease to exist, that it could no longer be... there. The mere thought was enough to terrify her, and she began slapping Adam even harder.
"Let me pass!" Lucifer exclaimed as he moved closer to Adam's face. "I'll try to wake him up by blowing air into his lungs! I can..."
Adam's fist landed squarely on his gums, knocking him away. "Don't you dare try to kiss me!" he shouted at him in disgust.
Lucifer clearly didn't like the punch much, but he just breathed a sigh of relief at the time, and so did Lilith. Eve clung to Adam, holding him tightly. "You're okay! Oh, thank you, thank you, you're alive...!"
Adam struggled to sit up. His whole body ached, and he felt that something in him had changed. Even without trying, he knew he no longer had his power to control or speak directly to souls. His spiritual abilities were... gone. He couldn't feel them anymore.
He looked at Eve. He understood almost nothing, but he knew that she was the cause of what had just happened. "What did you do?" he asked her.
Eve seemed to cringe under his gaze. "I... I ate the fruit" she stammered.
Adam's eyes widened: "What have you...!?"
But there was no time to argue, talk, argue, or say anything else; because just at that moment the heavens opened as if someone had cut them and threw them open wide. An immense light filled the sky, warm and comforting at the same time, but at that moment it also seemed to contain a threatening note. Lucifer immediately paled: "F-Father...?"
Notes:
God: "Ehi, Luci, my beloved son! Guess what? My Old Testament is rising!"
Lucifer: "... what's Old Testament?"
God (taking the holy belt): "You are about to find out"
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155161987
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 81: The Fall
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
There were no earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, or hurricanes. No lightning, no thunder, no fire. In reality, matter did not move an inch. Yet, it was as if the entire universe had just exploded.
The appearance of God was like a new Big Bang, a billion times more powerful than the one with which He had created the universe. Matter did not move, yet it was as if everything, even the smallest subatomic particle, was in the grip of an unspeakable tremor. Every life form would normally have welcomed their Creator with love and respect, but in that moment, all of them were struck by total panic. A new feeling was coming from the Almighty as He descended to Earth, something which none of them had ever felt before, and which made them tremble with fear; whether they were animals, plants, fungi or even bacteria, none of them remained unaffected.
For the first time ever, God was unleashing His Wrath.
Eve started shaking like a leaf. She was feeling like an insect facing a fire-breathing dragon, in fact, that comparison was nowhere near the terror she was feeling. She threw herself on the ground and curled into a ball. Even Lilith could not remain standing as her legs were shaking, and she knelt down, hoping intensely that the Almighty would have showed His Mercy again. Lucifer had turned white as a rag, having never imagined seeing the Eternal Father in such a way; whatever he wanted to tell Him, whatever justification he had come up with, immediately died in his throat. Even Adam, even though he had just faced that evil energy, felt helpless in the face of God's fiery gaze.
At that moment, they all understood one thing: His Benevolence, His Mercy and His Love were unlimited... but His Wrath was equally unlimited.
God had appeared on His throne, ethereal and immobile; it was not even possible to see His real height, since He seemed as immense as the entire universe and even beyond. The entire angelic court had appeared with Him, but while normally they would have sung with joy at the appearance of the Almighty, at that moment no one dared make a sound. Everyone was fixed in their position, not moving, and had rather terrified expressions on their faces; some of them were even shaking. Wrath exuded from God like a hurricane, and they all felt their hearts beating with terror even though it was not directed at them. Even the brave archangel Michael, who had never felt fear since he began to exist, was clutching his faithful weapons much more than usual.
God stared at the humans and the angel in front of Him with eyes that seemed to contain thousands of supernova suns. And then He moved His hand, a single movement that seemed to shake the very foundations of Creation, and pointed His finger at Eve: "YOU DEGENERATE DAUGHTER!" He roared in a voice more intense than ever, causing even the most distant galaxies to tremble. "How dare you break the one command I laid upon you, and stain this universe with sin? Wasn't what I gave you enough? What could you want that I couldn't provide? This is how you repay the My Goodness? By destroying the world I created for you?"
Eve barely had the courage to look up. Her face was a mask of fear and shame. "I... I'm sorry! This wasn't what I wanted...!"
"And what did you want?" God asked her, not at all moved by her words.
Eve trembled harder and harder. "I... I thought it would have been useful! I was convinced that it would have given me new powers with which I could better protect humanity...!"
"And why would you want such powers? Did you perhaps feel that My Protection was not enough, and that what I had given you was not enough?" God asked her. "Or again, did you think that I had given you the wrong command? Did you think you could judge Me? Did you perhaps decide that I... wasn't that trustworthy?"
"N-N...!" Eve tried to deny it, but the words died in her throat. She did not have the courage to tell a lie in front of the Almighty.
God leaned His head slightly towards her, and as soon as He did so the universe seemed to tremble from that single movement. "You believed that My actions could be dictated by malice, this is the truth. You desired more than all the gifts that I had already given you, and this has ruined you and everything else! Now because of you this world, so pure and wonderful, destined to be the cradle of humanity, is corrupted by sin to its very foundations! You, who should have protected it, have ruined it! You have denied your own role, and in doing so you have also denied Me!"
Eve froze under that stern, menacing gaze. "But... but Lucifer told me it was okay! He was the one who convinced me it was right! It's his fault...!"
"Hey, don't accuse me!" Lucifer immediately exclaimed. "I had nothing to do with it...!"
God turned to face him, a movement that for a moment seemed to shatter reality itself. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Lucifer. Or about you, Lilith" He told them, making them both tremble. "I was willing to turn a blind eye to your previous transgression, because it was dictated by a pure feeling. But this... is something I cannot tolerate. Lucifer, you who had My Love more than anyone else, how could you repay me like this? And you, Lilith, after I gave you life and forgave you for your actions, this is the gratitude you show me? Destroying what I held dearest? And this for what? Because of your arrogance in believing you know things better than others?"
Lilith lowered her head until her forehead touched the ground. It was clear that she was regretting every decision she had ever made in her life. "I... I'm sorry! We thought... we thought that... since we had become happy last time... then maybe this transgression too...!"
“I warned you of what your reckless actions could lead to” God reminded her. "But you didn't want to listen. You considered your judgment superior to Mine"
Anyone at that moment would have remained silent, regardless of how they interpreted the words of the Almighty. Unfortunately, that 'anyone' didn't include Lucifer. "Father, please, listen to me now! It's true, we screwed up, but we were in good faith! We just wanted to make things better! Maybe this is doubting Your Judgment... but after all, You were already wrong once entrusting Lilith to Adam, therefore..."
God leaned slightly towards him from His throne, bending reality and shaking it continuously. "Even now that your actions have caused such devastation, you dare speak back to me?"
"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Lucifer hastened to say, but then he added anyway: "But... it was You who planted that tree in the garden... it was easy for me to make a mistake and think that there was a hidden meaning... I was just trying to interpret Your desires, I mean... You always act in a mysterious way...!"
Lilith began to tug at Lucifer's robe with a trembling hand; she didn't have the strength to speak, but from her expression it was clear that she was trying to silence her husband. That wasn't the time to justify themselves, it was the time to apologize and to ask for forgiveness...!
God made a strange sound, perhaps a grunt, but it resonated throughout the cosmos with the power of the most violent supermassive black hole. "If you thought you were interpreting My desires, why didn't you come first to ask me if you had guessed correctly? You, more than anyone, should know that I take nothing away from My children. If I give a ban, it is because it is necessary. So why don't you, who pushed Eve to break it, ask for forgiveness?”
Lucifer clenched his fists. The other angels looked at him anxiously, fearing what would have happened next, and God Himself seemed to be expecting something rather negative, but despite this He remained silent and waiting for him to make a move. Lucifer knew he only had two choices: apologize and admit his mistake, effectively denying that perfection he had always boasted of... or follow his pride and seek justification again, as he had always done in his life. He could only choose one of the two.
And in the end, pride won.
"If I am guilty of pushing Eve to break Your command... then You are equally guilty!" he shouted in the face of the Almighty. "You planted that tree in the garden, convinced that humans would have never eaten from it; but it was a mistake! A mistake just like mine!"
The entire universe seemed about to explode, and even the angels put their hands in their hair and put on terrified expressions as if they feared they would have been disintegrated at any moment. God had not changed His expression in the slightest, but His eyes betrayed the intense Wrath that was taking hold within Him. "If you are so proud as to believe that your judgment can compare with Mine, and you go so far as to believe that you can judge Me for errors that you consider such, then I see no reason to keep you any longer in My house" the Almighty said to Lucifer. "Since you are so wise and do not need My Judgment, then go. Go wherever you like, build yourself a house with your own hands, establish a kingdom that will be just like you desire it, since you can think about such things better than Me. But remember: there will never be room for you again in the kingdom of Heaven. You are exiled and stripped of all your titles; your fall will be an example to all others. Go now; and when you'll realize that no good choice can be made without it having its deepest origin in Me, remember that I do not usually keep snakes in My house"
Lucifer felt his breath catch; even though God had spoken with extreme calm, as if He were almost wishing him good luck, he still felt terribly uncomfortable. It was as if the door to his house had just been slammed in his face, no... it was as if Heaven itself had slipped away from him, and deep down he knew that no matter how fast he could fly, he would never have been able to to reach it again. But despite this, although he was trembling, he remained firm in his position: "If this is Your decision, Father... so be it. I will obey You once again"
The other angels looked at him very badly, even those who were clearly feeling pain for him. In fact, it wasn't difficult to understand that those last words were ironic, a sort of mockery towards the Almighty. Michael seemed about to jump on him to punish him with his fists, but God barely looked at him, and that was enough to stop the archangel. The Limitless didn't react to the provocation in the slightest, simply looking at the new fallen angel as if He were a trash.
Lilith's faint voice was suddenly heard: the first woman had managed to find enough courage to kneel down in prayer. "Father... please, he doesn't know what he's saying! We made a mistake and we recognize it! Please...!"
“Do not speak for your husband” God stopped her immediately. “He made his choice. And you, don't say things you don't really believe in. I know your heart still goes out to him”
Lilith remained silent for a moment, biting her lips; and then she said: "It's true, I cannot deny it. Deep down inside my being, I myself doubt Your Judgment; and I find myself thinking that my husband's arguments have merit. I don't know if this is due to the love that clouds my eyes, to my arrogance, to my pride, or to anything else, but I will not pretend to think otherwise. But my repentance for persuading Eve to transgress Your Command is entirely sincere, as You surely know; that was undoubtedly a mistake, and we alone are to blame"
God's expression did not change, but the light in His eyes went from violent and destructive to slightly stormy. "I do not exile you from My House, neither now nor in the future; but My Justice must still be fulfilled, since humanity will now have to suffer because of you. Therefore, know that you will be able to return to the kingdom of Heaven, but only when a human being will open the door for you; until then, you will not be allowed to enter it again"
Lilith gritted her teeth, suddenly feeling very cold, as if she had just become a homeless woman forced to wander the streets; but still she didn't complain and got up with her head down. Lucifer held out his hand, and Lilith took it as if to give herself strength. God waited no longer: "Go now, you two"
And as soon as He said those words, they disappeared. Where they had ended up, no one yet knew at that moment; but there was no time to worry about finding out, as God turned towards Eve again, shaking the foundations of reality with His every move. The mother of humanity, who was already pale, became even paler as those stern eyes rested on her. "I-I'm sorry...!" she whispered. "Please... have mercy...!"
"Do you ask for My Mercy?" God replied in a deep voice. "My Mercy, daughter, is the only reason why you still exist. If I only listened to My Justice, then I would have to erase you, since you have stained yourself with sin and through you it has spread throughout this entire universe. Do you want even more Mercy than what I'm already giving you? Do you want Me to forgive you completely, without you having done anything to deserve it? Are you even aware of how much pain your reckless action will bring?"
Eve cringed, shaking all over. She didn't even have the strength to remain kneeling. "N-No..." she admitted.
"You are the mother of humanity, and this alone will stain all your descendants with the same sin you have stained yourself with. You have condemned countless generations to suffering with your greed" God told her. "But such generations will not even see the light, because this world is already destined to die. Humans have been entrusted with power over the Earth and all its creatures; what humans stain themselves with, also stains everything that belongs to them. And now that this entire world is tainted with sin because of you, life will destroy itself"
Suddenly before the eyes of everyone present, and in particular those of Eve, a terrifying (to say the least) vision loomed: all the living creatures on Earth, no longer sweet and loving, throwing themselves against each other in a bloody war, in an attempt to satisfy an insatiable longing. Predators and prey destroyed each other in violence and hunger; carnivores killed more than necessary to satisfy their gluttony, and herbivores consumed entire forests to satisfy the same desire. Every creature became greedy for its own resources, everyone allowed themselves to be dominated by the desire to command, by pride and anger; the wolves tore each other apart just to have the territory, the deer butted each other and imposed themselves on the females to satisfy their lust, among the ants the queens became lazy and fat and neglected the colony in their sloth, leading it to ruin. And it wasn't just animals... every living being, even the smallest, became violent and bloodthirsty, even microorganisms. Each virus invaded and destroyed a cell to satisfy its lust, each bacterium multiplied infinitely in order to conquer more and more territory, each protozoan killed countless other small creatures to satisfy its gluttony and greed; countless diseases thus afflicted plants and animals. And even in their own bodies the individual cells stopped cooperating, allowing themselves to be dominated by their selfish desires, multiplying without control, killing themselves and the entire body with horrible cancers and tumors. A spiral of violence and cruelty, which in the space of just a month would have transformed Earth into a lifeless desert, dominated only by the broken skeletons of the beasts, still stuck in the fighting position with which they had killed each other.
That vision lasted just an instant, and that was enough: Eve opened her mouth wide and vomited on the ground, so much so that a puddle formed under her. The angels had turned pale and had put their hands in front of their mouths, shocked by such cruelty. Adam himself had slipped to his knees, trembling with fright.
God had taken on a strange expression: it seemed some sort of cross between reproachful and compassionate. But in any case His voice remained severe: "Go now. Walk on the Earth, suffering the same misfortunes that you have unleashed on it, and observe it as it withers more and more until it dies. And remember these words of Mine: the creatures that you have condemned will hate many things in their last days, but no one will ever be hated by them as much as you, who brought so much suffering upon them"
Eve shook like a leaf. "No... no, no, no..." she barely whispered, putting her hands in her hair in desperation. "Please... please, no... punish me... punish me, not... not everything else...!"
"If I could only punish you, I would. But you were entrusted with the Earth, and as such, you had responsibility for it. Your actions were destined to have repercussions on everything else, and you knew this perfectly well" God replied to her. "If you weren't up to the task, blame yourself. You of all people should have understood by now that actions have consequences"
Eve no longer even had the strength to speak; she slipped completely to the ground and curled up in a ball crying. The angels felt strong compassion for her, even though none of them said a word in her favor. After she had condemned the entire world to that terrible fate, it was impossible to speak for her. Yet, even though no one dared to say it out loud, it seemed that God still had something to say, even as He remained silent.
And suddenly, someone among everyone stepped forward, standing in front of Eve as if to attract the gaze of the Almighty on him: Adam was on his feet again, and his gaze, although tense, had the same determination as what he had rejected evil away from the Earth. He and God looked at each other for a moment, and then he said: “Father, You have given me authority over this world too; in fact, You gave it to me before You gave it to Eve. I am not stained by sin, and I do not wish Earth to die. Shouldn't my will be respected? After all, even if a rib is ruined, the body can still survive; as long as the body itself does not ruin, it does not die even if it's a little damaged"
God seemed quite pleased with those words. "You have spoken wisely, son, and what you say is absolutely true. However, even if the body survives, it is still affected by the suffering due to that damaged rib. But even in suffering it can find comfort and happiness"
Suddenly, again a vision appeared before all of them; it was a longer vision, showing not a world that died in just a few weeks, but one that lasted for many millennia. The living creatures still killed each other, but it was as if the competition had calmed down; and a kind of cooperation arose between them, which helped them achieve a balance. They were still filled with the desire to kill, consume and conquer as much as possible, but now they could control it, and through that control they freed themselves from suffering. The cells of living creatures stopped multiplying at random, but rather cooperated together so that they all had the right nourishment; and those who lost control and became tumors were destroyed by other cells specialized in defense, as were viruses and other diseases. Sometimes the tumor or pathogens won, but often the living body was victorious. And outside of individual bodies, all creatures achieved a greater level of moderation. They no longer devoured all resources indiscriminately, but on the contrary they took what they needed and left what remained to others; the plants had time to recover, and the herbivorous animals specialized in different diets so that everyone had their share without having to chase the others away. Carnivores still needed to kill, but they did not do so indiscriminately, they did not annihilate entire herds in a single day, but on the contrary with their hunting they contributed to keeping the number of individuals stable, so that the natural balance persisted. And then, the animals began to work together: the buffaloes joined in herds, the wolves in packs, the fish in schools, the birds in flocks; the bees built their hives and the ants their anthills, and the termites created tall earthen buildings in which everyone worked and put their skills together for the good of the many. Friendship, family, cooperation were not lost; they won over selfishness, and forms of love and unions continued to persist even in that violent world. Of course, cooperation did not always win: often, someone wanted to take more than the others. Wolves competed for the role of alpha, deer fought for the right to mate, predators tried to steal from others; but despite this, the herd and the pack were not broken, and the bonds remained strong, and even different species learned to help each other; the remora followed the sharks and the oxpecker helped the large mammals free themselves from the parasites. And even the humans, who this time had the chance to be born in this new world, remained together and worked for the good of the community; they created villages in which everyone made use of their skills, villages which then became cities and the cities became nations. Every time a crime was committed, new laws and new systems to prevent it were born; sometimes it took centuries or even millennia, but a way was always found. Although evil was unleashed in unspeakable horrible ways, each time it managed to dominate only for a very brief moment in history, and then it was instantly crushed, and society began again, ever more renewed and better, step by step. Even if suffering was not extinguished, they could still follow happiness; just as a body could continue to live even with a damaged rib. Even if with the sacrifices of many victims, in the end the light clearly shone through the dark, and the darkness did not overcome it.
When that vision ended, Adam realized that he was unable to remember it perfectly; in fact, it almost seemed like a dream in his mind, something he couldn't hope to grasp, but still gave him new hope. It was the same for the angels too, and even Eve stopped sobbing for a moment, feeling a little hope forming in her tortured heart. And then God moved: He leaned down toward Adam, a gesture that seemed to shake the universe, and in a thundering voice He said: "The choice is yours now, son"
Adam's eyes widened. "Choice?"
"You have two paths in front of you" God told him. "You have not eaten the fruit, and you are not tainted by sin; you have remained pure, and as such, if you do not remain here you will not suffer the pain that Earth will have to face. You can come with Me to Heaven, and as soon as Earth is dead, I will create for you a new world and a new wife, hoping that this time she will have more judgment". God's eyes narrowed slightly. "Or... you can stay here with her, and exercise your authority over this world, so that it does not have to perish. But if you agree to stay here, then you too will have to suffer. A body with a damaged rib cannot help but suffer at least a little pain. By remaining on Earth, you will also accept its new conditions; and as such you will suffer from hunger and thirst, you will get sick, you will grow old, and one day you will die, and you will return to dust"
Adam remained silent. Inside him the emotions seemed to turn into a tornado: little did he know what those words meant, never in his life had he seen something fade and grow old, much less die. Would it have hurt? The Eternal Father had spoken of suffering, so certainly it wouldn't have been pleasant.
He could simply let it go and choose to go to Heaven. Maybe the next world that would have been given to him would have been even more beautiful than Earth. He probably would have just earned from it. And even if he hadn't, it would still have been better than staying there, where he would have had to earn his food by sweat and fear the wild beasts, and still he would have died in the end...
But for some reason, his heart ached at the prospect of making that choice. In that brief moment, it was not the responsibility towards Earth, or the fear of the unknown, or the desire to let those animals that had long been his friends live, that prevailed in his mind; all that appeared before his eyes was the crying face of Eve.
And in that moment, he made his decision.
To the dismay of all the angels, he did what no creature in the cosmos had ever even imagined doing: he turned his back on the Almighty, completely and with no regret, and walked away in the opposite direction. Now there was only Eve in front of him, who was looking at him in confusion. He reached down and took her by the shoulders, and set her on her feet. "Eve" he told her. "Let's go build a new house"
Eve's eyes widened and her breath caught; she seemed to want to scream at him not to do it, to go to Heaven, to be happy, but every word died in her throat as soon as she met Adam's determined gaze. In the end, all she did was rest her head on his chest and start crying again, holding him tightly as if she were afraid to let him go. Adam returned the gesture by hugging her and rubbing her hair. “Father” the first man said. "Never in my life have I failed to comply with Your wishes; call me arrogant, but I doubt that it is Your will that this world that You love so much dies, and therefore I intend to defend it. My wife was born from my rib, therefore her responsibility is mine too; and I do not fail in my responsibilities. If suffering is the fate that awaits me, I accept it; because no suffering would ever be as great as having to separate from the one who is part of me both in spirit and in flesh. I have responsibilities towards this world, towards my wife, and I have been entrusted with the task of creating humanity; as a protector, a husband and a father, I cannot help but make this choice. I apologize if I cause You the pain of having to see Your son suffer, but this is my decision"
But God didn't seem sorry at all; on the contrary, He appeared very pleased with the altruistic choice Adam had just made. Finally a small smile reappeared on His face, underlining that He approved of that decision. "Since this is your choice, go and make your home in this world" were His last words, and then He disappeared.
It finished as quickly as it had started: one moment before He was there, the next moment the sky seemed to have closed again, making the Almighty disappear. The angels followed Him closely, but not before turning a final glance towards the two humans; some looked at them encouragingly, others whispered advice on how to get by in that new merciless world. Michael and Sera were the last to leave; the archangel looked at his friend with a strange expression, and then he nodded to the High Seraphim; she understood, and she snapped her fingers making two rudimentary robes appear over them, so that they could at least protect themselves from the cold. And then, they left too.
The universe went silent again. Eve looked up at Adam. "You should have gone" she whispered. "Why stay with someone like me?"
Yep, good question. Adam wasn't sure there was a logical answer. "Because that's what I want" he said finally.
Eve jerked away from him, as if she had been burned. She didn't dare look at him out of shame. "You can't" she murmured. “You can't still love me… not after… no… NO!”
Walking away from Adam, Eve ended up next to a tiny spider's web, just at the moment a butterfly flew into it and became trapped; she immediately lowered herself in a vain attempt to free it, but the spider was quicker and killed it instantly. The insect's silent scream died in an instant.
Eve put her hands over her mouth when she saw that scene. "No..." she stammered, sobbing. "It wasn't... it wasn't what I... I didn't want... I... I... oh, what have I done...!?"
Adam didn't answer her. He simply sat next to her and held her in his powerful arms. The mother of humanity literally lay on top of him, desperately seeking comfort in his warmth, crying profusely with guilt.
Charlie had watched the whole scene without saying a word. Even though that was just a memory, God's presence had been so overwhelming that even she hadn't been able to make a sound while He was there. Only then, when calm returned, did her brain finally seem to reconnect and she began to think again.
Her heart tightened so much it threatened to break. She felt the urge to go and hug Eve too, but she knew she wouldn't have touched anything since those were just images. "Poor thing" she couldn't help but whisper.
Adam let out a grunt. "She brought that suffering upon herself. As the old saying goes, there's no use crying over spilled milk"
Charlie looked at him. Adam had an indecipherable expression on his face. "At least she's sorry" she tried to say, even though she was sure that excuse wasn't very solid. "Was it really necessary to condemn the whole Earth too?"
"Earth existed to serve us, and we were responsible for it" Adam replied to her. "Imagine you're carrying a bowl of water with you, but you're too distracted by the flowers in your path, and so you trip and the bowl falls onto the grass, drowning countless ants, butterflies, worms and who knows what else. Is it perhaps unfair that they die? Of course, but the responsibility certainly isn't God's or destiny's, it's just yours for not paying due attention. You were more powerful than those beings and had an object in your hands that could cause pain, and therefore it was your responsibility to prevent a disaster from happening. If you don't, you have only yourself to blame. And it's the same here"
Charlie bit her lip. “But you stayed with her” she said, looking at the way the young Adam held Eve. “Even though she was wrong, you still chose to forgive her”
Those words only made Adam frown. "A mistake I later regretted" he replied with a lot of acidity in his voice. “I had deluded myself that even though she had betrayed every life form in the universe, she would have not betrayed me. A pathetic illusion. Once a traitor, always a traitor”
Charlie felt a bad taste in her mouth, and she tried to reply, but the world around them began to warp and shake again; knowing they were moving on to a new memory, she remained silent to see what would have been shown to her this time.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162527
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 82: First kill
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
This time Charlie didn't see land appear before her, but the ocean: even the small island, all that was left of Eden, had disappeared. In the midst of the placid waves there was a raft built with makeshift means, on which Adam and Eve were rowing towards an unknown direction. "Where are we?"
"More or less in the center of the Arabian Sea" Adam replied, pointing to some directions with his fingers: "Over there is Africa, and on that side is Asia"
“Were you trying to get back to the continents?” Charlie asked him.
Adam nodded. "That little island completely disappeared in a few days due to the erosive force of the water, and we had no way of finding many resources there anyway. The power of the evil fruit had split Pangea and moved the continents, but fortunately some of them were still close enough to us to be reachable even with makeshift means"
Charlie looked at the modest raft Adam and Eve were using. "It's pretty rudimentary" she commented. "With all the knowledge you had, couldn't you do better...?"
"Maybe you're not aware of it since your darling daddy can make buildings appear out of thin air, but normal people need materials to build something. You can't make a plane or a yacht using a little wood" Adam replied angrily. "And furthermore, the world around us had completely changed. We knew how to use the winds to move, we knew the position of the stars to orient ourselves... but the landmasses were now in a completely different position than we were used to. We could just rely on intuition, inventiveness and luck to survive"
Charlie realized that she had shown little tact. In fact he could not have expected otherwise: even the best scientist in the world, if placed on a desert island, would not have been able to build even a motorboat from scratch. Adam and Lilith had had a very long time in Eden to find the right materials or forge the elements for their inventions, but now he and Eve didn't have that much time. “Why is this memory important to you?”
Adam let out a deep snort. "It's the day I killed for the first time"
Charlie didn't understand, seeing nothing that could be killed around them, but before she could ask any questions Adam approached the raft, and she followed. This close he was able to see that young Adam and Eve were eating some fruits that looked like peaches. "They were the last ones left" she said when they were done.
Adam looked at the mass of water around them. There was no land to be seen for kilometers. "Let's not despair" he told her. "We have been at sea for days, sooner or later we will reach the continent, or at least an island"
"But what if it wasn't like this?" Eve asked him. “I think we should think about what to do in the worst case scenario"
Adam let out a soft grunt. It was a completely new experience for him: never in his life had he had to worry about eating properly or searching for food, or being stuck in a situation with no way out. He felt completely lost, not knowing what to do. Eve, on the other hand, seemed more comfortable in that environment: perhaps it was the effects of the evil fruit, but she was adapting rather quickly, seeing problems and dangers even where Adam did not see them since he had never had reason to to think about it.
And she was also the one who was able to propose the most... extreme solutions, so to speak: "Maybe... we should try to... catch a fish"
Adam gritted his teeth. “Let's not jump to conclusions” he said. "We may find an island soon..."
"But it will take hours to catch a single fish" Eve pointed out. “If we wait until we are desperate, we risk starving to death”
Adam looked down. He knew his wife was right, her reasoning was perfectly logical; but at the same time, the thought of having to catch a fish, take it out of the water, and then kill it by suffocation... was something that made him want to vomit. He absolutely didn't want to do it.
Killing was a foreign concept to him. Death was a foreign concept to him. He had never had to face them before, and now he had to, whether he liked it or not.
But... even if he knew... it was still difficult.
Eve clearly understood his distress, and put a hand on his arm. "I'll do it" she told him. "Just help me catch the fish. I'll give it... the final blow"
Adam looked at her sadly. "You don't have to do that" he told her.
Eve inspired deeply. "It's my fault" she whispered. "It's my fault that we have to do this now. So... let me take responsibility for it. You don't have to have this burden on your shoulders"
Adam was silent for a second, and then he nodded. "Okay" he said finally. "Let's do this thing"
It was a horrible action from his point of view, but it had to be done. As much as he hated it, it was a matter of survival now.
He leaned over the edge of the raft and buried his face in the water, and Eve did the same. Immediately thousands of little voices reached Adam's ears.
"Be careful..."
"We have to find something to eat..."
"Let's descend into the abyss..."
"It's cold here..."
"Stay in group..."
In water, sounds traveled more quickly, and so Adam was able to hear animal voices even at great distances. He pulled his head out of the water taking a deep breath, and after about ten seconds Eve also resurfaced. "Ugh... I think I found a school of herring nearby" Adam told her. “You… did you hear anything?”
Eve shook her head. "No" she said in a dejected voice. "I didn't hear anything"
Adam sighed and put his arm around his wife's back, who accepted the contact willingly. Since Eden had been destroyed, Eve had found that she could no longer speak to animals. She had tried with some insects and birds, but nothing. Animal voices were now something alien to her. She didn't know if it too was a consequence of the evil fruit, which detached her from other creatures and prevented her from feeling empathy, or a further punishment from God, which now only allowed her to imagine how much hatred the animals had for her, but in any case she had no longer been able to understand any of them. She had hoped for a brief moment that perhaps it would have been different with the fish, but she was quickly disillusioned.
Adam felt sorry for her, but underneath he was actually relieved. If Eve had actually heard what the animals were saying it would have been much worse for her. Those few creatures they had interacted with since Eden was destroyed had continued to speak respectfully of Adam, but when they spoke of her they called her 'traitor', 'thief', 'bitch', 'doomer', or even 'monster'. Adam was sure that if Eve had actually heard those words she would have fallen into depression; she was already continually crying with shame and regret every time she tried to touch a seagull and it moved away shouting angrily, or even flew at her to claw at her hand to make her understand that it didn't want her to touch it. Even though she could no longer comprehend them, Eve still understood that the animals hated her. At least, with Adam acting as translator, he could soften their words a little and prevent Eve from actually knowing how much venom they spat at her every time they saw her.
Eve shook her head and tried not to think about it. “You said there's a school of herring nearby” she said instead, focusing on their main problem. "Can you figure out which direction they're in?"
Adam submerged his head again, listening again to the sounds coming from the water. But this time the voices had become more restless.
"It's here! It's here!"
"Go! Go!"
“It's going over there!”
Adam resurfaced to catch his breath. Eve immediately noticed his tense expression: "What's going on?"
"I don't know" Adam answered truthfully, and dipped his head back into the water. And this time he heard only one voice.
"My, my, my, my, MY!"
Adam quickly emerged. "Move the raft!" he shouted at Eve, who immediately grabbed the rudimentary rudder and moved it immediately.
Just in time! An instant later, the water exploded and a huge gray mass emerged where they had been standing. If they didn't move, the raft would have been bitten by a huge mouth with several rows of razor-sharp teeth. The creature moved quickly forward, probably taken aback by the sudden movement of the raft, displaying a huge dorsal fin.
Adam narrowed his eyes and a little sweat formed on his forehead. "Shit..." he muttered. "It's a fucking megalodon!"
The enormous shark was at least fifteen meters long, and weighed roughly fifty tons. It was like a huge boulder with super-developed speed, teeth and senses. It was the apex predator of the ocean, surpassed only by creatures of similar size such as the mosasaurus, the sperm whale or the basilosaurus, or by social animals such as orcas.
Adam gritted his teeth, not liking the sight at all. If he had to face something so large as his first hunt, he would have preferred a more harmless animal, such as a humpback whale or a leedsichthys; or, if he really had to face a predator, he would have preferred something more moderate, like a dunkleosteus. Yes, indeed, a dunkleosteus, with its four meters and its relatively low-power jaws, would have been perfect. Instead he faced not just a predator, but a predator that was the size of a whale.
Eve thought exactly like him. "Adam, try to talk to it!" she said to her husband. "It's not worth fighting. Tell it that if it leaves us alone we won't attack it"
“It's already attacking us” Adam said, sweat beading on his face.
"It probably mistook the raft for prey. Sharks do not distinguish objects well against the light, it didn't really realize what we are" Eve told him. "I'm sure it will give up attacking us if it knows who we are"
Adam suddenly thought that maybe Eve was right. After all, until now the animals had always refrained from attacking them: even if they were angry with Eve they still respected him, and that was worth something. Maybe it really was possible to reason with the megalodon.
Seeing that the huge shark had changed direction and headed back towards them, Adam dived into the water and went down a little, so that he was level with the fish's face. The megalodon saw him and opened its eyes wider than normal, and finally it slowed its swimming; it didn't stop, after all it was still a shark and needed to move to breathe, but instead of aiming for the raft it started swimming in circles. Seeing that the megalodon had stopped, Adam surfaced for air; soon after the giant fish followed him, exposing its back out of the water. "First man" a female voice greeted him.
"Oh, you're a girl" Adam said, and he tried to remember her. It took him a moment to recognize her: "You're... Kharish, right?"
"Do you remember my name? I'm flattered" the megalodon told him. "Why are you here?"
"My wife and I are going to the continent" Adam answered. "We have no enmity with you, and we mean you no harm. Please show us the route to the nearest landmass; or if you really don't want to help us, go your way, and we will go ours"
Kharish was silent for a long moment; there was a strange light in her eyes. "I'm hungry" she said finally.
Adam let out a grunt. "I'm sorry, I really am. But we don't have any food to give you"
“Weren't humans supposed to protect and guide us?” Kharish asked him. “Shouldn't you protect me and guide me now, when I need it more than ever?”
"If I could help you, I would. But we too are lost at sea without food" Adam replied to her.
"I don't know how to get food" Kharish told him again, perhaps hoping to convince him to lend her a hand. "I'm trying to hunt, but it's not easy"
Adam bit his lip. For the animals, this was a completely new situation, too: the prey were still learning to avoid predators, and the predators were still learning to catch prey. Those who didn't adapt quickly enough died. "I pity you. But I also have no idea how to do it. We still have to learn it too. I have no lessons to pass on to you"
Kharish didn't like that answer. "I'm hungry" she repeated, in a lower tone this time. "I need food"
Adam narrowed his eyes. Even if he had never been in that situation, he was still able to understand the signs. "I told you, I'm sorry. But there's no food here for you"
Kharish let out a snort through her nostrils, causing the water to boil. "I'm bigger than you"
"Correct"
"I'm faster than you"
"Perhaps"
"I'm stronger than you"
"It's not sure at all"
"I could kill you"
"It's possible, but it will cost you dearly. If you face me, I assure you that you will lose at least one of your fins" Adam told her in a firm voice. "Would you sacrifice a part of your body to get a meal? In that case, why don't you tear off a fin yourself and eat that?"
Kharish narrowed her eyes like slits. "I'm hungry" she repeated for the third time.
"I'm sorry. Honest. But I have no food to give you, in any form" Adam told her without showing the slightest fear. "And it's clear by now that you don't want to help me or my wife. So either you leave... or do what you gotta do"
Kharish stood still for a moment, even forgetting that she needed to swim to breathe; and then, after one last look at the first man, she turned and sank back into the water, sliding beneath it like an enormous shadow.
Adam internally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt sorry for that shark, but his main thought at the moment was that she had given up. What mattered was that he had managed to avoid a fight with the megalodon. “It's okay, Eve” he said as he swam back to the raft. "She understood that it was better..."
"WATCH OUT!" Eve shouted at him, pointing behind him; Adam turned just in time to see Kharish's head emerge from the water with her mouth wide open, ready to bite him.
She had only pretended to give up... and Adam, who still didn't know well the concept of deception, hadn't understood that she planned to attack him from behind.
He barely had time to grasp her jaws before they closed on him. The immense force of the megalodon's bite, combined with being run over by a fifty-ton fish, nearly broke his defense, and only by a miracle did he manage to block the shark's mouth and prevent it from closing on him. Fortunately, once he withstood the first attack, he was already managing to counterattack: Kharish had clearly put all her strength into that assault with the aim of killing him immediately, and was unable to maintain a long standoff. Being a shark, she needed water to flow through her gills to breathe, and with Adam blocking her mouth and generating force in the opposite direction, she couldn't swim properly.
And there was another detail that Kharish hadn't taken into account... Adam wasn't alone.
Suddenly the megalodon was pulled backwards, to the surprise of both her and Adam; the first man looked over the shark's body, and saw that Eve had grabbed the fish by the tail and was dragging her backwards. She wasn't as strong as him, but she still managed to provide him with the necessary support; taking advantage of this, Adam freed himself from the jaws' grip and punched straight into the megalodon's nose.
It was so strong that Kharish was thrown slightly into the air, causing her belly to emerge from the water for a moment, before crashing violently into the sea waves. Eve also took the opportunity and swam in a perfect turn without letting go of the megalodon's tail, and since the shark was not resisting due to her confusion, she turned her completely belly up. In this way she immobilized her, since the sharks were incapable of moving in that position.
Adam acted instinctively: he had no thoughts, no evaluation of the situation, no hesitations. His body leaped out of the water and landed on Kharish's chest, and as it struck it completely shattered her weak cartilaginous skeleton. The first man's hand penetrated to the megalodon's heart and tore it open.
Kharish opened her eyes wide with a sob; in an instant, the light in her pupils went out. Her body abandoned all resistance and slipped into the water. "S-Sorry..." she whispered just before her life shut down completely.
Adam removed his hand from the megalodon's busted chest, inhaling deeply. The adrenaline was still pumping through his body and making him feel like a spring ready to spring. It was as if all his limbs were supercharged.
But the adrenaline quickly wore off, and he was able to think clearly again. It was only then that he truly realized what he had done. His heart seemed to stop for a moment.
He had killed...
For the first time ever, he had killed another creature.
His breathing quickened. By what right had he taken her life...?
Eve swam towards him. She was upset too, but much less than him. "It's okay" she whispered, hugging him from behind. "It's okay... it's okay..."
“I didn't want to hit her that hard” Adam whispered. "She... she... said that she was stronger... she was supposed to be stronger... I... I thought...". He put a hand in front of his face: "I thought she was stronger..."
Eve hugged him gently. "You're not to blame" she told him. "You had to do it... don't despair..."
Adam's body had become hard as steel, and his expression was blank. But that lasted but a moment, and then his face went cold. “Help me tie the body to the raft before it sinks” he said without any emotion.
Eve was a little surprised by that sudden change of mood: "Adam..."
“We needed food, now we have it” Adam told her. "It was what she would have wanted... at least her death will have served a purpose"
Eve looked like she wanted to say something else, but in the end she just nodded. The two humans grabbed the giant shark and tied her by the tail to the raft. With that huge mass of meat at their disposal, they wouldn't have to worry about food for a while. Eve and Adam looked at each other, and then leaned into each other, seeking comfort in their mutual warmth as they continued to sail into the unknown.
Charlie had watched the whole scene with extreme sadness in her eyes. A small tear fell on her cheek. She looked at Adam, who still hadn't changed his position and expression, observing everything without any emotion. "She attacked you first" she told him, feeling the need to comfort him. "You were forced to do it"
"She just was hungry. Like us" Adam replied. "That was the moment I realized how much the world had changed. I could no longer protect everyone. Something... had to be sacrificed". He let out a deep snort from his nostrils: "As I told your beloved girlfriend, in this deviant universe if you want to survive it is always at someone else's expense"
Charlie found no words to reply. Even if Adam could have spared that megalodon, he and Eve would have had no food available and would have had to go kill something else. “How did you stay so cold?” she asked Adam pointing to his counterpart from the past.
The first man shrugged. “Even while I was so upset, I was still able to think straight. If I waited too long, that shark's body would have sunk and Eve and I would have had to catch something else. Plus, all that meat would have sustained us for a long time, avoiding that we had to kill other creatures. I had to recover quickly and take advantage of the opportunity to spare further death and suffering"
Charlie remained silent, not knowing what else to say. The world around them began to distort and contract again, opening the door to a new memory.
Notes:
The name Kharish in Hebrew basically just means "shark" (yes... really very imaginative with the names). For those who don't know, the megalodon is currently considered the largest species of shark to ever exist, with the most recent estimates suggesting a maximum length of 17.3 meters (for clear: "maximum" refers to the largest, oldest and most genetically advantaged specimens, so the "average" should have been around 15), with an average weight of 50 tonnes, effectively making it 50 times larger than a modern great white shark. Its bite is considered one of the most powerful in the animal world. However, like all sharks, the megalodon was also conditioned by its own biology and therefore if it was overturned it entered "tonic immobility", and therefore could no longer move, which is precisely the trick that Eve uses here to defeat it. And also, it has to be said that... yes, even a war machine like megalodon would likely lose against a pod of modern orcas, as Adam thought. Keep in mind that orcas even kill sperm whales and blue whales. Orcas are absolutely motherfuckers
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159585097
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 83: First hunt
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When the world came together before Charlie's eyes, she saw that they were back on dry land. "So you have finally reached the continent"
"Of course. Right now we are in what will in the future be called the Arabian Peninsula" Adam confirmed her. "Back then... it was greener than now"
Indeed, the landscape around them was covered in lush forest, with numerous large animals grazing among the trees, some so exotic that they almost seemed to belong to the world of fantasy. Charlie saw the young Adam sitting in the top of a tree as he looked around carefully. "What were you looking for?"
"Food" was Adam's response. “You don't expect that we could wait for another giant shark to attack us, do you?”
Charlie didn't understand. "That megalodon was so huge, why didn't you save all that meat...?"
"With which refrigerators?" Adam asked her rhetorically, making her blush in embarrassment. "We had no way to preserve the meat at sea. When we arrived on shore, most of it was already rotten. We took the few parts that were still good with us and left the rest to the scavengers"
At the top of the tree, the young Adam was observing all the animals in the area, clearly trying to figure out which one was best to deal with. Unfortunately, due to the trees he had difficulty seeing the smaller animals, and as a result he could only see huge sauropods or other giant beasts that were best kept away from. He jumped from branch to branch in the hope of spotting something, but was unsuccessful.
In the end he gave up and climbed down from the tree, and headed back towards the rudimentary camp he and Eve had set up. While he was returning, however, he heard his wife's voice: "... I'm thinking about it, okay? It's a new situation for me too, it's difficult..."
Adam raised an eyebrow. Was Eve... talking to someone?
With who? There was no one there except the two of them, and she could no longer talk to the animals.
"I'm sure we'll find a way... there has to be" Eve kept saying. "We just have to be patient and believe that we can..."
Adam emerged from the foliage and realized with surprise that Eve was sitting on a tree trunk, cooking the last remains of megalodon meat, and that there was no one next to her; yet she continued to speak and move her head as if there were a person sitting next to her. "Who are you talking to?"
Eve immediately fell silent and blanched a little. "Uh... I... I wasn't talking..."
"I clearly heard you speaking" Adam told her.
Eve bit her lip, and then she murmured: "Listen... don't think I'm crazy, okay? I was... talking to this log"
Adam was very confused. "What?"
Eve sighed. "The log wasn't really talking to me, I just... I imagined it was. I often do this when you're not around... sometimes I talk to my pocketknife, sometimes to a rope... anything I find" she explained to him. "It's just that... I feel lonely, okay? I don't have anyone to talk to me anymore except you. At least you can talk to the animals, but I can't... not only do I not understand them, but they also avoid me. So... I started talking to myself. I know very well that the log or the knife or the rope or anything else can't answer me, but... it's nice to imagine it"
Adam cocked his head to the side. That behavior didn't make sense to him... but in fact, Eve had no longer been able to hear anyone's voice except him. Adam at least had animals he could converse with, she didn't even have that. She couldn't even pretend to understand them because the animals avoided her as if she carried a lethal germ within her. It was natural that she suffered from loneliness. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it had become such a burden on you"
"It doesn't matter, it's not your fault" Eve replied. "I understand that I seem weird, so... if it bothers you, I'll stop..."
Adam nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for you, but... I don't think talking to yourself is healthy. I'll try to stay with you more, I won't go on patrol for so long anymore, you can talk with me as much as you want"
Eve smiled at him and rested her head on his chest. "You're really too kind" she told him in a soft voice. “Okay… I'll try not to do it again”
Adam kissed her forehead. "What were you talking about, by the way? What do you think we'll find a way to?"
"Uh... well, to this" Eve answered pointing all around them. "I mean... eventually we'll find a place to call home, we'll find a way to make it safe, we can be happy again"
Adam gave her a pat. "Don't doubt it, we will do it" he promised her.
Eve nodded. "I'm sure of it" she told him, and then she looked at the bonfire: "Oh, the meat is ready. Come, let's eat"
Eve and Adam sat next to each other and ate the meat. At first it had been difficult for both of them to swallow the remains of another thinking creature, but after all this time they had gotten used to it. The megalodon had supported them for a long time, which had allowed them to travel without much worry, but Adam knew that they could no longer rely on that. “This was the last meat left?”
Eve nodded. "We have to hunt something else" she answered in a sad voice.
Adam sighed. The time to take another life had come. "I saw a lake, a little further on. Where there is water, there are certainly animals... and therefore food"
Eve nodded, and finished eating she began to dismantle that little camp. She and Adam loaded everything into some pouches made from megalodon skin, which weren't very solid but was all they had at the moment, and headed towards the lake.
It didn't take them long to arrive: the lake wasn't very large, but the clear water still created a beautiful view in the middle of the forest. "We could try fishing" Eve suggested putting her feet in the water until the bases of her thighs were submerged. "If we create a shadow with our bodies like fishing animals do, the fish will come closer. We just have to be patient to..."
Adam couldn't see the large dark shadow approaching the shore, but he immediately noticed the familiar sail begin to emerge from the water. "Eve, get out of there!"
Eve jumped backwards just in time before the water exploded in front of her and two enormous jaws tried to bite her. A gigantic spinosaurus at least fifteen meters long emerged from the lake showing its powerful claws, with the clear intent of reducing the woman to pieces. Eve, however, did not let herself be eaten and gave it a slap on the tip of the snout, which due to her strength was enough to move the entire head of the dinosaur to the side, as if it had just been hit by a whip.
Adam helped Eve quickly get out of the water. "Stop!" the first man shouted at the spinosaurus. "We don't want to fight! We get it, it's your territory! We're leaving!"
The spinosaurus looked at him, and it only seemed to realize his presence at that moment; its eyes continually darted from him to Eve, as if it were thinking carefully about something, and for a moment Adam feared that it would have resumed its attack... but in the end, fortunately, the dinosaur decided that it wasn't worth it. "Adam, tell your mate that if she dares to come near my lake again I will tear her apart!" it warned the first man in a baritone voice, undoubtedly male.
“This voice… Dayeg?” Adam hummed, recognizing the animal. "Calm down please. We were friends, remember?"
The spinosaurus remained silent, not changing his expression. “I remember” he said simply. "But it doesn't change anything. Tell her to get away from my lake"
Adam narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "The lake isn't yours! We have as much right to fish in it as you have!"
"If you want to come fishing here, do it, but she mustn't show up!" Dayeg growled furiously as he looked at Eve. "I don't want the great traitor near my territory! She can go find food elsewhere! She likes apples, let her eat apples!"
Adam clenched his fists. "Don't you dare...!"
The spinosaurus let out a deep snort from his nostrils: "Be careful, first man. I am no longer in your service now. I only respect you by virtue of our past friendship, but you cannot force me to do the same to that disgusting woman you continue to protect!"
Adam considered punching Dayeg in the face, but he refrained. Even though he was confident in his strength, he still didn't want to challenge an eight-ton predator. The spinosaurus was too dangerous an animal to hunt as prey; even though he and Eve had killed a megalodon, he still preferred to avoid repeating the experience. Too many risks.
Dayeg turned, diving back into the lake, showing that the end of his dorsal sail was broken, as if something had bitten it particularly hard. “I can't understand how you can defend her” he growled at Adam. "You should abandon her like she deserves!"
"Mind your own business instead of judging others" Adam replied testily.
“I only speak the truth” Dayeg hissed. "One day she'll betray you too, you'll see! You should have let God create you a partner who was truly trustworthy, not that bad rib!"
"Ah, really!? If you are so experienced, where is your trustworthy partner!?" Adam yelled back at him.
The spinosaurus stopped for a moment... no, he froze, as if someone had just hit him with a bucket of freezing water. "Get the fuck out of my lake, now"
Adam's eyes widened: "Dayeg..."
"NOW!" the spinosaurus roared with unusual ferocity, an instant before diving; but before he did so, Adam had time to notice a few tears emerging from his eyes.
Of course, Eve noticed it too. "Why is he crying?"
Adam sighed. "He's probably lost his trustworthy partner" he murmured, regretting the lack of tact he had shown to Dayeg. "He's just a poor widower"
Eve bit her lip, trying not to show how sorry she was for the spinosaurus. "Let's go" she said to her husband. "We can look for another place. Let's leave that animal alone"
Adam agreed with her wholeheartedly.
Charlie watched them as they walked away, continuing to move along the lake shore. "I felt bad for that animal" she admitted with a sigh.
"The world had become a merciless place" Adam muttered slightly. "I never knew what happened, but Dayeg's mate had probably been killed by a sarcosuchus or some other large crocodile, and he hadn't arrived in time to save her"
“How do you know it was a crocodile and not another predator?” Charlie asked.
"The marks on his dorsal sail. They were left by the teeth of a crocodile" Adam replied simply. "Evidently when he arrived the battle was almost over, and he fought to the point of exhaustion to save something, and failed. His wounds were all he got from that desperate attempt"
Charlie looked down. She felt bad for that poor spinosaurus; he had been an asshole, yes, but he was just a desperate man who had lost the love of his life. She couldn't completely blame him for being so furious with Eve that he wouldn't have even let her fish in his lake. It was a petty move, but understandable.
He looked back at Eve and young Adam. They had now moved quite a distance from where they had encountered the spinosaurus, and had reached a nearby area with few trees and a lot of grass. There several animals were eating or relaxing; in particular, the landscape was dominated by a large male triceratops that wandered alone in the middle of that small plains, casually eating some ferns. Adam and Eve immediately deemed it too dangerous to face: they hadn't taken the risk with the spinosaurus, they certainly wouldn't have taken it with a dinosaur larger than an elephant that had pure bone spears on its head and could charge at over forty kilometers an hour. Facing a fully-formed adult male triceratops, even for people as strong as the primordial humans, was still quite a gamble.
Without considering the triceratops, there were many other animals that were definitely much safer to hunt. A large herd of scutosaurs (which despite their name were not dinosaurs, it was just that Adam hadn't felt like inventing something better at the time) was peacefully eating, while not far away a dimetrodon was sunbathing, lying on a rock; in the middle of the plains some dicynodonts were playing, while three large edaphosauruses were lying in the mud; among the branches, a titanoboa was digesting its last meal. Adam hoped to locate prey that didn't pose too much risk, and ultimately settled on one of the scutosaurs: even though they weighed over four tons, they were still much more defenseless when compared to a tank like the triceratops.
However, it was still best to move cautiously; scutosaurs were large and seemingly clumsy, but they could run quite quickly. Adam and Eve had to approach slowly and without being noticed, so they could hit the animal before it escaped.
The chosen one was an old male who stood a little apart. Adam and Eve felt a lot of guilt as they secretly approached: last time they had killed more in self-defense than out of true will, but this time they were preparing to really take a life away. It was something that made both of them feel disgusted with themselves. But they couldn't do anything else: they needed food, and the fruit from the trees wasn't enough to sustain them. They tried to console themselves by thinking that that scutosaurus was already old, so it wouldn't have lived long anyway.
They split up. Eve positioned herself behind a tree, while Adam crouched under a bush: by attacking from two sides they had a better chance of cutting off any escape route. They exchanged a quick glance, and then attacked.
But they weren't the only ones to do so: as soon as they jumped out of their hiding places and were about to hit the scutosaurus, the bushes behind them moved and two shadows appeared, trying to jump on them. Adam and Eve realized that while they had been targeting prey, another predator had been targeting them and had taken advantage of the fact that they had focused their attention on the scutosaurus to attack them from behind.
But obviously Adam and Eve would not fall for such a short time, and both managed to turn in time and parry the jaws of their attackers; Eve managed to grab its mouth and stop it from biting her, while Adam used his right arm to block the bite, letting its teeth penetrate a little into his flesh; however, the powerful skeleton of the first man was not damaged. They were finally able to see their attackers.
Gorgonopsids. To be specific, a couple of inostrancevias.
Four and a half meters long and weighing over three hundred kilos, with enormous saber-toothed heads, they were basically smilodons on steroids.
The old male scutosaurus probably had three heart attacks in the space of less than ten seconds, as in an instant the environment around him went from completely calm to completely chaotic; with a frightened cry he hurriedly ran away, and the other members of the pack did the same. Many of the animals present there were frightened by the appearance of the two gorgonopsids and escaped.
However, it was clear that the two predators had bitten off more than they could chew: Adam and Eve didn't have much trouble lifting them up completely and throwing them away, sending them tumbling to the ground. After all, they had been able to take on a megalodon, which was over one hundred and sixty times heavier than them. Gorgonopsids were nowhere near as lethal as the real apex predators of primordial Earth.
However, they soon realized that the two gorgonipsids who had attacked them were not alone: there were at least three others lurking behind the bushes. As soon as they saw that the couple sent ahead had failed, the rest of the pack approached with clear aggressive intent. Adam and Eve stood next to each other, so as to have a better chance of not being separated.
But suddenly a baritone sound was heard and one of the gorgonopsids was almost crushed by huge paws. The triceratops which until then had remained placid in the middle of the plain had become enraged at the sight of the predators and had decided to attack. "Hey, thanks!" Adam yelled at the armored beast.
"Duty, first man" the triceratops replied with extreme respect. "Do you remember me?"
Adam had to think for a moment to remember this. "Yes... you are Hanit" he told him. "It's good to see you again"
The triceratops let out a deep snort from his nostrils: "Let's deal with these little bullies now" he said, and having uttered those words he charged at the gorgonopsids. They ran away frightened by his fury, but they were still not willing to give up: two of them separated from the pack and went around, and bit the triceratops on the legs. Hanit made a sound of pain and kicked them away, but the other gorgonopsids came to bite him as well. Eventually one of his paws began to bleed, preventing him from running.
But Adam and Eve were still there, and they didn't stand by and watch: with a punch each, they both pushed the gorgonopsids away from the triceratops. Realizing that they stood no chance against all three together, the predators quickly chose to retreat and fled. Hanit wanted to chase them, but was forced to lean on the ground due to the wound on his paw.
Even if they had managed to chase away the gorgonopsids, however, neither Adam nor Eve could afford to rejoice. They had won, but they had not obtained even a gram of food, on the contrary they had only wasted energy uselessly. Now who knows how long they would have had to search before finding another prey...
But then, a quick light passed into Eve's eyes. The mother of humanity turned slightly towards Hanit, and stared at the wound in the leg that prevented the triceratops from running and therefore from charging.
Adam noticed his wife's behavior and blanched a little. But then, he realized that it actually made sense. Perhaps it was the malice contained in the evil fruit that had allowed Eve to notice it immediately... but even a still pure human like Adam was able to see it.
They still had a prey, and now there was one that couldn't escape or fight back properly.
In an instant, the atmosphere immediately became tense: Hanit immediately understood their intentions and got into an attack position, but Adam jumped in front of his face and grabbed his powerful horns, blocking his head. Under normal circumstances Hanit would have charged and Adam would have been hit by a twelve-ton body traveling at forty kilometers an hour, and this would have at least injured him; but now, the triceratops could not run due to the injury on his paw. He and the first man engaged in a battle of resistance, in which Adam eventually managed to lift the animal's body slightly; taking advantage of this, Eve threw herself under Hanit and with her bare hands grabbed his neck and tore off his skin and flesh, ripping out his throat.
The triceratops made a strangled noise, and then his body lost all resistance: Adam held him until Eve was out from under his belly, and then he let him go, with the result that the dinosaur slipped to the ground with barely a spasm. His eyes focused on the two humans, and almost seemed to ask him how they could kill him after he had helped them. "I'm sorry" was all Adam could say to him. "But we have to eat too"
Hanit stared at them intently, and then he murmured: "I... understand. I don't... blame you". He spat out a little blood from his mouth, and then he found the strength to say: "At least... for one last time... I have... served you... my... friend"
And with those words his eyes lost all light and his breathing stopped.
Adam and Eve looked at each other with a lot of guilt in their eyes, but then they took the carcass, which despite the weight they still managed to lift, and put it on their shoulders. “Let's find a place to store this” Eve suggested. "We need a cold place... a deep cave. If we add a little ice, the meat will keep for a long time and we won't have to worry about food for a while"
Adam nodded. “There are some hills over there” he said, pointing to a point in the distance. "There might be some caves. Let's go"
Charlie watched as they walked away carrying the triceratops' body on their shoulders. “It was easier than last time” she said, since this time she hadn't seen the young Adam panic or clearly feel guilt.
"By now I had accepted that ruthless world, in which those who didn't care about friendship and seized opportunities won" Adam replied to her. “I have no remorse for my actions, they were driven by need. We had to have food somehow”
Charlie remained silent. Although she had already seen Adam kill the megalodon, this time the situation had been different: when they had clashed with the giant shark he and Eve had killed it more in self-defense than out of true will. This time, instead, they had voluntarily turned their backs on the triceratops who had helped them and attacked him at a vulnerable moment.
But even so, Charlie couldn't blame Adam for anything. There had been no malice in his actions, nor in those of Eve: they had killed the triceratops out of hunger, not out of malice. Even though Charlie didn't appreciate those actions, she couldn't help but understand them.
There hadn't yet been a... real assassination, let's say. Every time Adam and Eve killed something, it was for a reason that concerned their survival, never for anything else.
But she understood why that memory was important to Adam. It was the very moment he had chosen to kill something. Unlike the megalodon who had forced him to fight, attacking the triceratops had been his choice. From passive, he had become active. "What happened next?" Charlie asked him.
"We have reached Golgotha" Adam replied to her. "There we found an excellent cave for storing meat, so we decided to build our new house there. We were able to enjoy newfound stability. We settled in that cave, but we already had plans about building a house... but before we could start to build a safe haven here in the primordial Earth... my wife discovered she was pregnant"
Charlie's eyes widened slightly. Well, she had expected that sooner or later they would have gotten to talking about that too. “I assume that was good news for you”
"Of course it was" Adam confirmed. “I was ecstatic at the idea of becoming a father. I was born to be the father of humanity, but still... it was a completely new experience for me. I didn't know what should I do, actually. For fear that something might happen to the baby, for the next few months I left Eve in our cave, safe, while I went out to get food and resources to start to build a good house. And also to fix… other problems”
And as he said this the world distorted again; Charlie looked at the shapeless mass of colors before her, wondering what memory would have been shown to her this time.
Notes:
In Hebrew Dayeg means "fisherman", therefore referring to the fact that the spinosaurus was a (predominantly) piscivorous animal, while Hanit means "spear", referring to the giant horns of the triceratops which were practically weapons of mass destruction. And for those wondering why Adam and Eve prefer to avoid such animals despite defeating a megalodon, keep a few factors in mind: first, the main reason they beat the giant shark was because they were in the water. Facing an enemy in water is very different from facing one on land, this is because water provides additional thrust to every action, making it extremely easy to tip over an animal regardless of how large it is (which, as we've seen, is what Eve did to immobilize the megalodon). Furthermore, the water also helps to create friction, which not only slows down the predator (in this case, the shark), but also provides the prey with an extra push due to the shock wave generated which makes it easier to deliver a counterattack (and in fact Adam managed to block the charge). Against a land animal such as a spinosaurus or a triceratops, overturning them would be extremely difficult due to their extremely stable position and low center of gravity, and even if overturned they would still get up quickly given that, despite their size, dinosaurs possessed great agility. Furthermore, while the megalodon had only its teeth as a weapon, spinosaurus and triceratops were tanks equipped with several weapons in addition to their bite, and their hard skin and bony skeleton provided much more protection than the soft skin and cartilaginous skeleton of a shark. Finally, we must also take into account that Adam and Eve faced the megalodon immediately after the destruction of Eden, and she herself admitted that she did not know how to hunt; on the contrary, Dayeg and Hanit survived at least a few weeks (if not months) after such an event and therefore have much more experience under their belt. Facing such animals, for Adam and Eve, is consequently a challenge that is not worth it, and it is much better to aim for easier prey. And yes, before anyone argues, the spinosaurus WAS a dangerous animal. It was a piscivore, but it was still a large beast (the currently recognized estimate is 7 tons, but this estimate is not only based on fragments but on specimens that were not properly grown, so it is totally possible that it could reach 8 tons or even 9) and it was totally capable of bullying other carnivores such as the carcharodontosaurus from their kills. Even though the spinosaurus wasn't as deadly as the T.rex, it was still one of the largest and most dangerous predatory dinosaurs to ever exist.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 30): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159586777
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 84: First assassination
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
As the world stopped changing, Charlie saw a large, magnificent plain appear before her. It wasn't as beautiful as Eden, but it was still a nice view, consisting of a large pool of water surrounded by grassy meadows and then a hint of forest around them. Countless animals of all species were crowded there, some drinking, some grazing, some just sitting and resting. "What is this?"
"A place near where we were building our house" Adam explained to her, and then pointed to a point in the distance, where a hill could be seen. "We lived over there. The previous memory instead took place somewhere north of this"
Charlie looked at that spot, and even though it was extremely different in that era, she recognized the hill of Golgotha. "Why is this moment among your most important memories?"
Adam snorted. "Because this was the day I made an important decision"
Charlie wanted to ask him for explanations, but the first man's gaze seemed to invite her to shut up and watch. So she turned her attention back to the pool of water, and there she saw it: the young Adam was approaching, carrying a large amphora with him. He had clearly come there to collect water. Even though he passed by all those animals, none of them attacked him; and when he knelt to fill the amphora, no large fish or crocodile came to disturb him. "Why doesn't anyone try to eat you? Or rather... why doesn't anyone try to eat anyone?" Charlie asked.
"It was the rule" Adam explained to her. "The waterhole is neutral ground. No one kills each other here. Everyone who comes can rest and drink peacefully, whether they are herbivores or carnivores"
Charlie nodded, fully understanding that simple yet efficient rule. The pool of water was surrounded by creatures so powerful that she herself would have been afraid to face them. Massive stegosaurs, mighty triceratops, and even gigantic sauropods were there; and similarly, numerous predators were also around, lying down or busy playing. Those same creatures that elsewhere tried to kill each other coexisted in harmony there. It was a place of peace that was reminiscent of Eden, even if just distantly.
As Adam collected water, the larger argentinosaurus approached him. It was a true giant: thirty-five meters from head to tail, legs the size of tree trunks, and probably weighing at least eighty tons, if not a hundred or more. It was twelve meters tall, just like a two-story house, and it would probably have been even taller if it had lifted his neck vertically. It was undoubtedly a male, and when it walked it inflated the air sacs on its throat to show dominance: there was no doubt who was in charge there.
The huge animal came to Adam's side and lowered his long neck, and he began to drink next to him. "How are you, my friend?"
The argentinosaurus's voice was deep and baritone, and seemed to belong to an elderly animal, but still in his prime. Adam smiled at him cordially: "I'm doing well, as always. And you, Old Anak? How are you doing?"
The argentinosaurus let out a soft snort, causing small waves in the water. "The usual" he replied. "I wander, I eat, I make sure everyone respects the rules of the waterhole... and when a female is pleasant, I have fun with her"
Adam laughed heartily. "Look at you, still have sex? Aren't you a little too old now?"
"Come on, I'm still in my prime" Old Anak replied with a little laugh, then he changed his tone: "I'm always happy to see you here. I confess I miss you when you go away"
Adam's smile faltered a little. "Well, if you miss me, then let me and Eve settle here..."
"No" was Old Anak's immediate firm reply. "We don't want your mate near the pool"
"My friend, please be reasonable..." Adam tried to convince him.
But Old Anak remained adamant. "I made this clear from the beginning. You can stay, but she can't. We don't want the great traitor anywhere near us. Nobody wants her around"
Adam would have liked to argue, but looking at the other animals he realized that everyone actually agreed with the large argentinosaurus. The sauropods, the triceratops, the stegosaurs, the ankylosaurs, even the predators, they all had contrary looks. "You're a bunch of idiots" he finally muttered. "I understand your resentment and suffering, but you cannot hold a grudge against Eve for eternity! You have been driving her out of your territories for too much time by now! How much longer are you going to punish her?"
"She brought this misfortune upon herself" Old Anak said with a grunt. "Don't ask us to forgive her after she has condemned us all. You can do what you want, but she must not dare to come close to our territories"
As she watched that scene, Charlie clasped her hand over her heart. She had already seen the spinosaurus Dayeg show clear resentment towards Eve, but apparently the rest of the animals didn't really love her anymore either. “Did they really treat her that badly?” she asked in a small voice.
"Are you surprised? She was the reason they had to live a life of suffering and toil" Adam replied. "Because of her, all living creatures had to eat other beings to survive. They had to fear the cold, look for food, fight to protect themselves, even fear their shadow. The animals' hatred was very high and also very justified, don't you think?"
Charlie bit her lip. Not only because of the scene she was watching, but also because of how different the Adam standing next to her was from the Adam who was collecting the water. The first was observing everything extremely calmly and didn't seem to have any words of justification for Eve, while the second, even if with little argument, was at least trying to defend her. Indeed, the present Adam was even looking at the past Adam with a mixture of pity and disapproval, clearly not agreeing with his behavior.
Charlie was about to ask a question, but suddenly a roar rent the air. It was a roar so loud that the demonic princess's limbs were paralyzed for an instant. The birds flew away from the trees and the water in the pool trembled slightly. “What… what is that?” she whispered.
"The most powerful land predator that ever existed" Adam replied to her. "It's coming, ready to fight"
Charlie turned pale. "But... you said the waterhole was neutral territory..."
Adam's eyelids narrowed. "It was"
The trees opened and a huge creature emerged from them. Thirteen meters long from head to tail, weighing at least ten tons, as tall as a house; a mouth so large it could crush a car with one bite, razor-sharp teeth, massive hind legs and a long, muscular tail. The largest and most ferocious predator to ever exist on land made its entrance like a storm.
Tyrannosaurus rex.
The huge beast, an exceptionally large male, walked quickly towards the waterhole; the ground shaked under his angry footsteps. The other animals took several steps back and huddled together to better defend themselves. They could clearly see the ferocious gaze of the T.rex, who seemed to have fire in his pupils. The tranquility of the pool of water was shattered: everyone suddenly felt in danger, and their survival instinct warned them that that predator would not have cared about the rule of not attacking each other there.
The tyrannosaurus opened his jaws and roared with all his might. "WHERE IS SHE!?" were the words that emerged from his mouth. "WHERE IS SHE!?"
The other animals retreated even further, placing themselves in front of the cubs; the most powerful male triceratops began to wave their collars, and the ankylosaurs and stegosaurs did the same with their tails.
"ANSWER ME!" the T.rex shouted again. "I KNOW THE GREAT TRAITOR IS HERE! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS, OTHERWISE I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"
A madman, a barbarian. This was the common thought of all the animals in the pool as they looked at the tyrannosaurus. He looked completely crazy, as if he were a rabid beast with no sense.
And then, Adam stepped forward. “Why are you looking for Eve?”
The T.rex finally seemed to calm down: he looked down at him, and although his eyes were still full of anger and hatred, his voice became calmer. "Father of humanity" he greeted him. “So this was really where you and your mate were”
“That's it” Adam told him. "You're... Shenhada, right? We talked a couple of times... in Eden"
Adam was probably trying to appease the animal by reminding him of the good times spent together, but those words only seemed to rekindle the fire in the T.rex's heart: "No more talking! Where is your mate? I only want her, you can go away!"
"Why do you want to know?" Adam asked him narrowing his eyes. "What do you want to do to Eve?"
"Let her know justice!" Shenhada roared. "I want to kill her!"
The other animals made confused sounds when they heard him. It was the first time anyone had openly expressed their desire to kill Eve, or at least in front of the first man. Everyone knew that she was under Adam's protection, and no one wanted to face Adam. But Shenhada didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Adam clenched his fists. "You don't have to do this. Leave now. Let's avoid bullshit"
“Of course I have to!” Shenhada roared, and shook his head as if trying to swat a particularly annoying fly. "She... it's all her fault...!"
"What's her fault?" Adam asked him.
"Everything! This whole damn world is her fault!" Shenhada screamed in anger. "The humans... the humans were supposed to defend us! We serve you, and you protect us and help and guide us! This was the divine command! And yet look at us! She has condemned us all! We are forced to kill each other! I must go around feeding on those who were my friends, who now look at me with fear and horror! We must fight for everything! This land, created peaceful and wonderful, has been transformed into continuous bloodshed! There is nothing but violence, and it's all her fault! No one is safe from this... no one... not even... not even the cubs...!"
The tyrannosaurus lowered his head, and his entire body seemed to tremble. A few tears fell from his closed eyelids. Adam's eyes widened at the sight: "Shenhada... what happened?"
The T.rex let out a growl of pure pain. "It... It happened while we were crossing the sea. We swam from an island to the coast. Me, my mate, and our five cubs. We all swam together... but only I reached the shore!" Shenhada said between the sobs. "Two mosasaurs came, and they dragged my mate underwater! They suffocated her alive! Our cubs were crushed by their tails or swept away by the waves, and they drowned! I... I reached the shore... but when I turned around... there was no one behind me!"
Charlie put her hands over her mouth when she heard those words. The tyrannosaurus was just an animal, but the pain that came from his voice was terribly human. Her legs trembled and the little color in her face faded. She was about to slide to her knees, but Adam caught her and held her shoulder. "Don't faint" he warned her with a firm voice and a piercing gaze.
Charlie shivered under those eyes. Even though Adam didn't say it out loud, she still heard the words in her head: "This is the result of your father's actions". Her heart seemed to explode in her chest as she looked back at the scene before her.
Even the Adam of the past looked sorry. Indeed, he was sharing much of the animal's pain. "Shenhada..."
The T.rex slammed his massive tail on the ground. "The humans were supposed to protect us!" he roared again. "And yet it's all her fault! She condemned us! She was the one who killed my family! I will kill her! And then I will also look for the treacherous archtraitor and his bitch and I kill them too!"
"Shenhada, please stop!" Adam pleaded. "You know you can't do that...!"
The tyrannosaurus roared in response. "Tell me where she is" he said with a look that sent flames.
Adam clenched his fists in determination. "No"
"Tell me!" Shenhada roared even louder, so much so that the first man's hair ruffled from the force of the sound wave.
But Adam still didn't move from his position. "I told you no. I won't let you hurt her"
Shenhada closed his eyes for a moment and took two deep breaths. And when he opened them again, they were bloodshot: "If you protect her... then you too are my enemy"
Adam's eyes widened and his teeth gritted. "Don't do this, Shenhada"
"Why shouldn't I!? For my life!? Does it seem to you that I still have something to live for!?" the T.rex screamed, rising in all his might. "Either I will avenge my family, or I will die trying!"
And after he had said this, he uttered no other word: he did nothing but roar and charge headlong at Adam. The first man raised his arms and grabbed the T.rex's jaws before they closed on him; holding him by the teeth, he kept the huge mouth open. Shenhada narrowed his eyes and forced himself even more, and lowered his head to boot, forcing Adam to struggle both to keep his mouth open and to remain upright on his legs.
It was a Mexican standoff between two of the most powerful creatures that ever existed on Earth: Adam had his superhuman strength on his side, but his opponent was over one hundred and thirty times heavier. Soon the first man began to sink into the earth, which cracked under the enormous force that the tyrannosaurus was exerting on him. However, Adam was not willing to give up: with a battle cry, he bent down slightly and pushed himself, resulting in a counterforce. Shenhada finally lost his balance and staggered back, and Adam took the opportunity to free himself from his jaws and punch him in the mouth.
The T.rex seemed to suffer a lot from the blow, as he took a step back and closed his eyes, but his body still did not seem too damaged: accustomed to receiving blows from the powerful tails of the ankylosaurs or the sharpy horns of the triceratops, his bones were extremely resistant. A punch that would have knocked down a redwood tree barely removed one of his teeth out of his mouth; as soon as it fell to the ground and blood soaked the ground, the clouds in the sky completely obscured the sun in the sky, causing darkness to descend.
After a moment of disorientation, Shenhada's gaze returned to Adam. "You always preferred half measures! You should have destroyed me!" he told him. "Or at least TRY!"
"I don't want to hurt you!" Adam yelled at him. "Leave now!"
"Never!" Shenhada answered him, and he charged again. This time halfway he changed position and swung his mighty tail, and with it he hit Adam squarely. For the first man it was like being overwhelmed by a landslide: the T.rex's tail hit him straight in the side as if it were a whip, generating such a force that it threw him away as if he were a twig, sending him crashing between some stones. Adam coughed up blood, but despite this he stood up again, using his agility to rapidly bringing himself out of the dinosaur' reach.
The other animals had started to bellow and roar like they were trying to stop them, and had flattened themselves on the ground in fear: even the large sauropods seemed terrified. Old Anak seemed to want to intervene, and actually he prepared himself to charge, but the murderous gaze of the T.rex fell on him for an istant and that stopped him. It was the first time that even a large and old animal like him found himself faced with a creature that seemed ready to tear apart anyone who got in his way, not caring about the consequences.
Charlie understood the animals' behavior could not be normal. "What... what's going on?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Adam told her. "It's the first time they are seeing an assassination"
Charlie's eyes widened. "What...?"
"For the first time ever, blood is being shed needlessly" Adam explained to her. "Shenhada is not fighting for food, or for defense, or for territory. He is fighting for vengeance. There is nothing but the desire to hurt in him. He only wants to inflict pain. The land is being soiled by needlessly shed blood. Animals are not used to this manifestation of cruelty, and therefore they are afraid. For them it is something unnatural"
Charlie bit her lip in tension. In fact, she herself doubted whether such a bloody battle had ever existed before. If Adam and Shenhada had met earlier and fought, one of them would almost certainly have given up the fight by now and the other would have let him go. Instead, this time no matter how many wounds were inflicted on Shenhada, he continued to attack out of homicidal fury; and Adam knew well that the tyrannosaurus would not let him go even if he gave up.
The battle continued for a long time, and the clouds in the sky in the meantime became increasingly darker, heralding the arrival of rain; the heavens filled with lightning and thunder and the wind became increasingly violent, sweeping the leaves away from the trees. The only ones who didn't seem to have noticed that a storm was coming were the protagonists of that fight, who continued to exchange blows regardless of what was happening around them. The other animals observed that deadly dance at the center of all those destructive phenomena without daring to intervene.
After a long series of attacks, Adam managed to inflict serious damage: perhaps that was not his target, perhaps Shenhada had moved at the last moment, the fact is that he hit the tyrannosaur's left eye. The great predator roared in pain and almost fell to the ground, blood pouring profusely from the wound. Now he was completely blind in one eye, actually, the eye was literally obliterated.
Just then lightning struck next to them, setting the grass on fire: it was as if nature itself was trying to create a wall between them so they would have stopped fighting. But Shenhada, who normally would have fled in terror at the sight of the flames, didn't move. His ancestral fear of fire had been completely overtaken by his desire to kill. He didn't care anymore that he could have burned. Instead of retreating, he rose to his full height and stared at the first man. Adam couldn't help but sweat when he saw himself reflected in Shenhada's one eye: it was as if there was a fire in it that was much more devastating than the one that was burning around them.
The two of them stared at each other intensely for an instant that seemed eternal. And then, the battle resumed.
Adam and Shenhada went back to hitting each other. The tyrannosaurus tried to bite the first man, and he responded with his fists. Every moment they touched the ground trembled for the shock waves, and blood spattered in every direction. Mostly it was Shenhada's, but Adam was also showing some injuries on his body. While the earth seemed to be about to crack around them, their attention was focused only on their battle.
And finally, the turning point: Adam grabbed Shenhada by the muscular neck and slammed him violently to the ground. The tyrannosaurus struggled, but the first man squeezed tighter and tighter, so much so that a gush of blood exploded from the animal's mouth. Shenhada's eyes began to close as all the air left his lungs...
"STOP!"
That voice even drowned out the roar of thunder and the roar of the wind. Adam turned and saw Eve a few steps away from him..Charlie saw that she had a very large belly, making it clear that she was in the last month of pregnancy. Evidently when the first man hadn't returned home for too long she had come looking for him. "Eve, I..."
"Don't do it" she begged him. "Please, don't do this"
Adam looked very indecisive, but then he lessened his grip on the tyrannosaur's neck, although he didn't let him go. "You won't hunt us anymore" he ordered through clenched teeth. "And you won't touch her"
Shenhada let out a grunt. “Spare me your pity” he said, glaring at Eve with his one eye. "I don't need the compassion of the one who condemned us...!"
Adam tightened his grip on the T.rex's neck again, taking his breath away. "I said you won't touch her!" he said aloud. "Tell me you'll go away. Tell me you'll leave us alone, that you'll leave her alone. Tell me you'll stop"
But Shenhada still didn't give up. His one eye seemed filled with homicidal madness. "I will never stop" was his answer.
Eve took a couple of steps towards them. "Please" she murmured. "I... I don't..."
Shenhada lunged just then: his jaws opened and moved towards her, with the clear intent of cutting her in two with one bite. Eve's eyes widened in surprise and fear, realizing that she wouldn't have time to grab the beast's mouth or dodge his attack. The T.rex was so close...
CRACK!
A sound of breaking bones was heard, followed by a thunder louder than all the others; and then nothing more. Shenhada was stuck in that position for a split second, and then his head and his entire body fell to the ground. Eve opened her eyes wide and put her hands over her mouth, and looked at Adam, who had his eyes closed and a grim expression on his face, and his hands were still tight on the T.rex's neck. It wasn't hard to understand what had happened: the first man had just broken his spine.
Shenhada spasmed a few times, desperately trying to breathe, but he knew his fate was now sealed. A small tear emerged from his one eye, but it wasn't clear whether it was out of desperation or relief. "Why... why..." he whispered. "The humans... were supposed to protect us... why... did you become... our downfall...?"
And having said those last words he never moved again. Life left his gaze forever. As soon as he died, the rain began to pour, as if the sky itself was crying.
Charlie was speechless. It had been a scene that contained a mixture of sadness and primal brutality. As scary as the tyrannosaurus was, her heart still bled looking at his corpse. She looked at Adam, who still stood impassively beside her, his expression not changing in the slightest. "It wasn't your fault" she told him, not knowing what else to say. "He forced you to do it..."
"I could have pushed him back" Adam told her.
Charlie didn't understand. "What...?"
"His neck was pulled forward, he wasn't providing any resistance to my grip. I could have just pushed him back. I knew I could, but I didn't" Adam explained to her. "He didn't force me to do it. It was my choice"
Charlie was speechless. She hadn't expected that admission of guilt, much less in such a calm and flat tone. "Why?" she asked him.
"Because he would have never given up" Adam replied. "I could see it in his eyes. Even if I had let him go, he would have persevered. He would have waited for the right moment, perhaps gathered others around him, and would have struck when we least expected it. I couldn't let him do it"
Charlie felt a lump in her throat. "You couldn't know"
Adam nodded. "No, I couldn't. But I considered my options and chose the safest one" he replied. "I could have let him go. Maybe that act of kindness would have changed his heart. Maybe he would have abandoned his revenge... he was a good creature after all. But it wasn't just about me. My wife was pregnant, we would have had children soon... I couldn't put them at risk and make them live in fear that he could return. And even if it wasn't for them... he might have taken his fury out on other animals who hadn't done anything to him. He was too dangerous to let him live. I chose to eliminate one monster so that many more innocents could live"
Charlie bit her lip. "It's the same philosophy as the Extermination..." she barely murmured.
Adam let out a snort. "Indeed"
The plain had become silent; only the sound of the pouring rain could be heard, and every now and then a thunder that rent the air. For the rest, it was as if time had stopped. The entire area around the dead tyrannosaurus had become still, and even the grass was not shaking in the wind, as if it too had been paralyzed.
Eve hadn't made a sound: her face had gone white as milk. It was certainly not the first time she had seen her husband kill something, she too had already killed, but it was the first time that something died for no reason. "N-No..." she barely whispered as tears began to stream down her face. "No... no... it... it wasn't supposed to be like this...!"
Adam placed the T.rex's head on the ground and closed his one eye. Now it was as if he were asleep. "Eve..." he murmured. "He chose it"
His wife barely listened to him. "I didn't want it to end like this...!" she stammered. "I... it wasn't supposed to happen... it wasn't supposed to...!"
She tried to touch the dead tyrannosaur's head, but a velociraptor jumped on the corpse and growled at her. "Stay away from him, traitor!" the animal shouted at her. “Your hands are not worthy to touch his body!”
Eve jerked away. Unlike Adam she could no longer understand what the animals were telling her, but that behavior was not difficult to understand. "I just... want to... say goodbye to him..."
The other animals had begun to approach the corpse; having recovered from the initial shock they were now coming to say goodbye to their dead comrade. The carnivores began to tear some pieces of flesh from his body; it was not a way to desecrate the T.rex, but on the contrary, they wanted to honor him. Leaving the carcass there to rot would have meant that Shenhada had really died for nothing; by eating him, instead, the other predators were giving meaning to his death. And the more they crowded around the tyrannosaurus, the more they pushed Eve away, and hissed at her if she dared to come closer again. “Adam, tell your mate to stop shedding tears” an allosaurus said acidly to the first man. "She has no right to mourn him"
Adam clenched his fists. "Stop being such idiots, she suffers as much as you. At least leave her...!"
Old Anak's heavy footsteps blocked whatever he wanted to say. The large argentinosaurus approached him, and then said: "Adam, remind your mate that she is not welcome here"
Adam let out an angry growl. "At least let her say goodbye to...!"
"I only let her come here because you were fighting for your life, and it is right for one's mate to join in the fight" Old Anak interrupted him. "But now that it's over, she has to go. Nobody wants her here"
Adam was about to reply angrily, but Eve's faint voice anticipated him: "What are they saying?" she asked him in such a trembling tone that it was clear she already knew the answer.
Adam sighed. "They want you to leave" he told her sincerely.
Eve seemed to freeze on the spot. She remained still for a long moment, and then she began to tremble. Adam went close to her and tried to take her hand: "Eve..."
"I'M SORRY!" Eve screamed with tears streaming down her face, causing all the animals to turn towards her. "I'm sorry, okay!? I know you all hate me! I hate myself too! I didn't want this, okay!? I never wanted this! I didn't... I didn't...!"
Her voice caught in her throat, and then she closed her eyes and ran away into the rain. "Eve!" Adam yelled running after her. The animals stared at the spot where they had left, and then returned to mourn their deceased brother.
Notes:
In Hebrew, Anak means "giant" (I don't think there is any need to explain why an argentinosaur is called that), while Shenhada means "sharp tooth" (and yes, this is a reference to The Land Before Time, where the villain tyrannosaurus is called Sharptooth. By the way, who remembers that masterpiece?). To make you understand how enormous and threatening these animals were, an argentinosaur could reach 100 tons, and perhaps even exceed them (and it is not technically the largest dinosaur we know, we simply only have a few fragments of those that could compete for the title and therefore we rely on speculation), and despite this immense size it could still run at a rather high speed: studies on other sauropods of similar size such as the giraffatitan have in fact shown that these animals could run at least 25 km/h, the same speed as an average man. Try to imagine an animal larger than sixteen male elephants running at you at this speed, and you can understand why sauropods had almost no natural enemies. As for the tyrannosaurus, the largest specimen we know is Goliath, a titan that could potentially weigh 12 tons, but of this dinosaur we only have the femur (not even complete), so for the moment the record is still held by Sue, who from the most recent estimates weighed 10 tons and could potentially reach 11. And to make you understand how terrifying this animal was, a tyrannosaur could run at 35 km/h, had extraordinary agility and reflexes (it was proven that it could rotate its body 180 degrees while balancing on one leg), had highly developed senses and perhaps even hunted in packs, since we have more evidence of social behavior of tyrannosaurs than we have of raptors. In fact, we know that hunting in pairs or even in groups of three or four was not unusual for tyrannosaurs (of course, a tyrannosaur could also hunt alone, but in any case in a group it is safer), and we have evidence of extraordinary parental care very similar to that of today's birds. And given that tyrannosaurus was also a highly intelligent animal, it is likely that it also possessed strong empathic abilities towards other members of its species, thus creating lasting emotional relationships. As a result, it was not at all impossible that a tyrannosaurus could turn into a serial killer if some other predator killed its family (many animals today, especially highly empathetic ones, do this, or go into depression, or otherwise show signs of desperation).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159579976
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 85: Reunion
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie was seriously feeling bad. She had expected to see some bad events, but the more the scenes followed the more her chest ached, especially around her heart. It was as if the more time passed, the more the situation only got worse.
She barely looked at Adam, who continued to remain impassive. He wasn't showing the slightest bit of feeling, just as he hadn't shown remorse for killing the tyrannosaurus, that same tyrannosaurus that had been his friend, and which he had chosen to finish off even though he could have spared it. The coldness that Adam, both the young and the old, had shown towards that poor beast consumed by pain had made her understand something important.
That was NO longer the Adam of Eden.
That wasn't the Adam who cared about hurting a person emotionally. That wasn't the Adam trying to be nice to someone else. That wasn't the Adam who felt guilt to kill a megalodon in self-defense.
That Adam had already died some time before. The Adam who was now looking for Eve in the rain was a different man. And the Adam who was now next to her at that precise moment, and who was observing her reactions as if he wanted to understand what she thought of him, was yet another person, a sign that something would still have changed in the future. Something that would have made him even colder, more cruel, more ruthless.
Charlie felt a strong bitter taste in her mouth. She had always believed that no one was naturally evil, but she had always thought that people's bad actions were just the result of mistakes. Even after she visited Earth and realized that Adam had reasons to hate sinners, she still didn't fully understand HOW he got to that point. But now that she was looking at his life, piece by piece, she found increasingly difficult not to equate Adam's actions with reason; a twisted and wrong reason perhaps, but still a reason that made perfect sense even to her gentle ears.
After all, if a lizard, after years of fearing predators, became a dragon and killed all of the aforementioned predators, could that have been considered a mistake, an act of cruelty? Or would those just have been the actions of a dragon who had learned to be ruthless and wanted to spare the other lizards from that same fate?
For Charlie, killing the poor Shenhada had been a mistake. That tyrannosaurus, so violent and monstrous, had become that not out of malice, but out of pain for the loss he had suffered. But if he had succeeded in killing Adam and Eve, and had thus become a murderer, would she still have been able to excuse him, or would she have condemned him? And if that had happened, would Shenhada have been remorseful for his actions, or would he have continued to kill to satisfy his bloodlust? Would there have been an end to that cycle of violence, which wasn't even his fault? Could she blame him for not being able to let go of his anger and just walk away?
And in the same way, could she blame Adam for not sparing him? The first man could have done it, he could have gave that poor beast a second chance; but what would have been the risk? Could Adam run it when he had a wife and soon-to-be child under his responsability? Or could his decision to kill the tyrannosaurus to prevent him from coming in the night to devour his family be considered right in the cold logic of survival?
Who was the true monster?
Was there even a monster...?
Charlie put her hands in her hair. She felt like crying and adding her tears to the rain that continued to pour around them.
Meanwhile, young Adam had now left the pool of water and Shenhada's dead body behind, reaching a hill covered almost to the top with trees; on the aforementioned peak there was a small cave, not very deep. Adam approached the entrance, and could hear sobs mixed with words coming from inside. "Eve..."
"I told you to leave!" Eve yelled at him. "Leave me alone at least now!"
Adam was confused. When had Eve told him to leave? Well, maybe it was when he chased her in the rain, and the roar of the falling water drowned out the sound. “Are you… sure you want me to leave?”
Eve trembled a little when she heard this, and slowly she turned her face. She seemed surprised to see him, as if she expected someone else to be in his place. "No... no, come" she barely whispered. "Sorry... I, I... I don't..."
Adam entered the cave and sat down next to her. But unlike usual, Eve didn't lean on him, on the contrary she tried to move away. She didn't seem sure what she was doing either. It was as if she wanted someone to comfort her, but at the same time she didn't feel it was right for her to be comforted.
Adam tried to reach out and touch her face anyway. She let him do it, but from her expression it looked like she was being touched by a pillow and sharp points at the same time. And then finally she spoke: "Why didn't you abandon me!?"
Adam almost made a noise in shock: "What? What are you saying...?"
"Why did you choose me!?" she screamed, and she pushed his hand away. "You could have gone to Heaven, left me here, let God make you a decent wife, and no one in the entire universe would have blamed you! You could have abandoned me on this planet that I myself had cursed and you would have lost nothing! Why!? Why did you choose to stay here!? This wasn't what you were supposed to be! This was what NOTHING was supposed to be! The world you deserved wasn't supposed to be like this! Why!? Why did you choose me!?"
Adam was taken aback by those questions. "Eve, take some deep breaths. You're just having a bad time..."
"A bad time!? A bad time!? Have you looked around lately!? THE WHOLE WORLD IS HAVING A BAD TIME, AND IT'S ONLY MY FAULT!" Eve screamed as she put her hands in her hair, and before Adam could stop her she pulled some of it out. "What happened today wasn't supposed to happen! Nothing that's happening now was supposed to happen! So why!? Why did you choose me!? Why didn't you throw me away just like I threw away your trust!? Why did you kill that poor beast instead of letting him kill me!? Why do you continue to side with me!?”
"Eve, please" Adam tried to calm her down. "You know I would always side with you. I love you..."
"STOP IT!" Eve screamed, and she tried to get up, but her legs didn't support her and she immediately fell back to the cave floor, so she crawled backwards until she was leaning against the wall. "Stop saying you love me! You can't love me! No one could love... this! What love can you give to someone who condemns a world to suffering!? Everyone hates me and is right to hate me! You would only be right to hate me! Come on, say it! Say that you actually hate me! I would hate myself too... I actually ha-"
Adam grabbed her and dragged her towards him, holding her tightly in a hug. Eve squirmed a little, but she seemed to have lost all energy: punches that would normally have flung a lion away were soft and weak as if they were caresses. And finally she abandoned all resistance and leaned on him. “Please, stop” she whispered between sobs. "If you stay with me out of a sense of duty, go away. Go away and take this child with you. Take them as far away as possible, raise them away from me... they will live better, a hundred times better, without a mother of whom they will always be ashamed...!"
Adam took her chin lightly and lifted her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Eve, you have always been able to read my heart. Look at me now, and tell me if I stay with you only out of a sense of duty, or if I think this child should be ashamed of you"
Eve was silent for a few moments, and then she let out a sob. "Why do you love me?" she stammered. "I ruined your life"
Adam did not answer her, but instead he raised his right hand, showing the ring on his finger. "Eve, do you think that I was a person of poor judgment that day, under that tree?"
Eve looked at the ring intently, and then she shook her head: "No, not at all"
"Then don't ask me questions like I made that decision lightly" Adam told her. "The day I chose to put these rings on our fingers was the day I chose that I would always accept everything about my wife, whether it was good or bad. It was the day I chose that I could not live without you in the my heart, and that the life I had before was empty compared to the one you gave me when you came to me. You didn't ruin my life, you just changed it; and I had chosen to accept this change since the day which I made that promise to you below that tree. Even if you changed my life a hundred more times, I would still love you, because that's what I chose"
Eve opened her eyes wider, and then she too raised her hand slightly; the two rings touched each other, touching right in the two diamonds that were set there. And then their fingers joined together too, squeezing tightly. "You're an idiot" Eve told him.
"I know" Adam confirmed.
A small smile formed on Eve's face again, and she grabbed Adam by the chin and pulled him towards her, giving him a passionate kiss. She was still crying, but finally they weren't just tears of sadness anymore.
Charlie was summoning all her self-control not to throw herself on Eve and hug her too. That woman's desperation had been a stab in her heart, so much so that she was surprised it hadn't broken yet. Adam, on the other hand, continued to remain cold. “How can you not even show an emotion!?” she couldn't stop herself from asking him.
Adam barely looked at her. "I've shed tears for these moments before" he told her. "I have no reason to shed any more"
Charlie wanted to scold him for being so insensitive, but she couldn't. Looking at the young Adam, and seeing how he acted so amiably towards Eve, she realized how different he was from the old Adam. And she knew in her heart that Adam had become this way because something had happened, something that wasn't being shown to her yet, that had completely annihilated any shred of empathy he possessed.
She put her hand over her heart and squeezed it. How could a man who could say such beautiful words to the woman he loved become so detached? “Why are you so ruthless?” she couldn't help but ask him.
Adam gave her a look that made her shiver. "Because I learned the greatest lesson life has given me" he answered. "Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves"
Those words made Charlie's heart skip a beat; now she was really scared. She didn't dare ask him anything else, and instead looked back at the scene before them. Eve had finally stopped crying and was sitting next to Adam, who was rubbing her belly. "Do you really think I'll be able to be a good mother?" she asked him.
He nodded. "You'll be a great mom" he said resolutely. "Whether it's a boy or a girl..."
"It's a boy" Eve told him with a smile. "I've already told you a thousand times"
"You can't know" Adam replied.
Eve gave him a cheeky look. "You're not the mother" she told him. "It's a boy. I know it's a boy"
Even though he didn't seem at all convinced, Adam no longer contradicted her. "I was saying, whether it's a boy or a girl, you'll know what to do with them. I'll be the one who needs the instruction manual, not you. You know how to understand what others need, even before they understand it"
Eve rested her head on his chest. "Thank you" she murmured. "I think... I needed to hear you say that..."
"HEY, YOU ARE HERE!"
Adam and Eve were petrified as soon as they heard that voice so familiar to them. They looked up at the entrance of the cave, and saw six wings well known to them. "Hey, Lilith, I finally found them!" Lucifer exclaimed with a smile. "Finally! You don't know how much we have you...!"
The punch that Adam threw at Lucifer's face was so powerful that it threw him back out of the cave, sending him rolling through the rain and mud. The first man had jumped up as soon as he saw the fallen angel, and from his expression he seemed ready to do to him what he had done to Shenhada earlier. Eve also tried to get up, but halfway she let out a groan and was forced to cling to a rock; this stopped Adam at least for a moment, who instead of running after Lucifer to use him as a bowling ball stopped to help her.
However, Lucifer wasn't the only familiar face that showed up: looking out of the cave, Adam and Eve immediately noticed that Lilith had come to help him, even though there was no need as she was already up. “Ugh… okay, you needed to vent" Lucifer muttered, rubbing his nose. "Now can we..."
“You two…” Adam hissed. "You really have some cheek to show your faces back here...!"
But he didn't have time to say anything else, because it was Eve who almost threw herself at them: "YOU!" she roared, and her eyes seemed to turn blood red for a moment. "You bastards! You convinced me to eat that shitty apple!"
"Please listen!" Lilith pleaded with them. "We didn't want...!"
"You didn't want!? YOU DIDN'T WANT!?" Eve screamed, and she grabbed Lilith by the hair and pushed her against one of the cave walls. The other woman emitted a grunt: since when she was so strong? "I don't care a fuck of what you wanted! Look around us! The world has become horrible! And it's all because of that apple! A transgression leads to happiness, right!? Where is my happiness then, assholes!?"
"Hey, hey, there's no need for violence!" Lucifer intervened trying to pull her away from his wife. "We can talk about it..."
Eve suddenly turned to him: "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you!" she screamed at him, and she raised her fist with the clear intent of throwing it at him, but she stopped in mid-air and bent over slightly with a groan.
"Ah, no! He is mine!" Adam said stepping between them, cracking his knuckles with the clear intent of crushing Lucifer into crumbs.
Lilith took advantage of that moment to free herself from Eve's grip: "Please, we're sorry!"
"Ah, you're sorry!" Eve exclaimed. "You come back almost a year after you convinced me to ruin the lives of every creature in this world, and you expect that an 'I'm sorry' will solve everything!?"
"We would have returned sooner if we had known where you were!" Lilith told them. "Not a day has gone by without us thinking about you and crying your fate...!"
"Well, we instead didn't cry your fate at all. Honestly, we hoped we'd never see you again" Adam replied sourly.
Lilith bit her lip: "I know you're angry..."
"Angry!?" Adam exclaimed. "I could kill you two where you stand!"
"Come on, let's not exaggerate now" Lucifer tried to calm him down. "You're not that kind of..."
"I've already killed. Many times" Adam warned him. "Don't test me"
Lucifer fell silent, realizing that it was best not to speak; even though he was confident that he could beat the first man, it was not his intention to fight to the death. He therefore let Lilith, who was definitely the more diplomatic of the two of them, speak first. She was extremely nervous, but still she gathered courage and spoke: "Listen... I know there are no words to apologize now. Not after what happened. But... we're sorry, we really are. We didn't want this, we didn't think so. that this would happen. We just want to give you a hand..."
Eve advanced towards her, even though she was wobbly on her legs: "You've already tried to help us, and I didn't like the result at all. Go and help someone else" she said sourly. "The only consolation in all this is that you too received a beating on the head as you deserved. Now enjoy eternity alone!"
"Yeah! Get the fuck off and... shit, I'm even out of insults for anger!" Adam growled.
Lilith was speechless for a moment. "We don't want to lose you" she barely said in a broken voice.
Eve was silent for a moment. "And that should be enough...?" she murmured, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. "After everything that's happened... you expect us to leave it all behind... because you don't want to lose us?"
“At least give us a chance to try to… I don't know, do something!” Lilith begged. "We don't expect us to leave everything behind... but we want to at least try"
Eve didn't say a word for a long time, and then she opened her eyes again. The anger she had shown earlier was replaced by a tired expression. "Why are you acting like this?" she asked. “Why can't you just be assholes so I don't have to feel guilty hating you?”
Lilith lowered her eyes, unable to bear that gaze. "I'm sorry" she only murmured.
Eve shook her head. She kept putting her hand over her eyes as if she didn't want anyone to see them. "We lost everything" she said. "Our home is destroyed, our world is a battlefield, our friends are now our enemies. And all because you convinced me that eating that apple was a good idea. Why didn't you mind your own business? Why did you have to...?”
Lilith inspired deeply. It felt like something was choking her. "It was our fault" she admitted. “We should have… we should have just left you alone, or… I don't know. We were a disgrace to you"
Eve finally moved her hand from her face. Her expression had become much calmer, and her eyes shone as if they were about to tear. With a grunt she leaned back against the rock wall, holding her belly with one hand. “Yes" she said, but it seemed like she was trying hard to keep the anger in her voice. "You were a disgrace to everyone. You wanted to do your own thing without listening to anyone, not even those who loved you. You chose...!". She froze for a moment, and she seemed to bite her tongue: "Just like… I chose..."
Lilith opened her mouth, but she quickly closed it again. She was indecisive for a moment, and then she murmured: "We have made... bad choices that have only done harm. Please, give us the chance to at least try to do a little good. We can't... lose you too, not after so much has already been lost"
Eve stared at her intently. Now not even a hint of anger was present on her face, just a couple of tears streaming down her cheeks, which didn't seem to contain any negative emotions at all. "Bitch" she said to Lilith, punching her on the shoulder, but it was so weak that it almost seemed a friendly gesture. Immediately afterwards she bent over even more, and this time she held her belly with both hands.
But if Eve had calmed down, the same couldn't be said of Adam. “I don't give a shit what was lost" he said sourly. "And I don't give a shit if you want to try to do good. Forget it, trust me, you're not good at that"
"Adam, please...!" Lilith tried to talk to him.
But Adam let out a loud growl: "Don't try to…!"
"AAAAAGH!!!"
Adam froze and whirled around, and saw Eve barely leaning against a wall of the cave while holding her belly. "My water broke...!" she stammered. "It's... it's being born...!"
Any other thoughts immediately abandoned Adam: he ran to her and grabbed her with his arms, helping her to lie down... but the hard floor of the cave was not suitable. Under normal circumstances he would have already thought of a solution, but at that moment he was in total panic. What was he supposed to do...?
A pile of branches suddenly flew into the cave and combined to form a perfect bed, softer than Adam and Eve had ever managed to create. “Lay her down there!” Lucifer told him as he made everything needed for childbirth appear... or at least, what he thought was needed for childbirth, since he didn't have the slightest experience in that field.
Adam hesitated for a moment: the hostility he felt towards the fallen angel prevailed in his heart for an instant, and he was tempted not to refuse, sure that it was another trick... but then the pained moans of Eve woke him up and without thinking about it anymore he laid her down on the bed. This was no time for hard feelings, he needed to be able to put her at ease while the baby was born. "Everything will be fine" he told her.
Eve's face was beaded with sweat. "I'm scared... can I hold your hand...?" she stammered.
Adam gritted his teeth. He didn't want to refuse, but he knew he had to go and position himself behind his wife's legs to take the baby. "I..."
“Give her your hand” Lilith told him, kneeling in front of Eve and spreading her legs. "I'll take care of this here. You focus on helping her"
Adam listened to her immediately this time and grabbed Eve's hand, who squeezed it so hard she almost broke his bones. For the next three hours the cave was shaken by the woman's shouting, who seemed to be being disemboweled alive by how much she screamed. It was truly a time of pure agony for her.
And finally, a cry. Adam immediately looked up as soon as he heard this, and saw Lilith showing a newborn, a little skinny, who could barely move the legs and arms that he had never used before. "It's a boy" she murmured, lifting the baby towards him.
Adam took him trembling in his hands. The baby was still covered in fluid and had the umbilical cord attached to his belly, and he wasn't sure what he should do; he was almost paralyzed. That small being in his hands gave him sensations he had never felt before, and he was terrified of moving a single muscle for fear of hurting him. Luckily, Lucifer, seeing him so stuck, intervened and with a snap of his fingers the baby was completely clean, and then the fallen angel gently ripped the umbilical cord from his body. “He's perfect” he said with a smile. "Healthy and beautiful. Well, maybe a little frail, but nothing negative. You couldn't have had anything better"
Adam managed to recover in that moment, if only slightly: very slowly, he brought the newborn closer to his face. The baby was not scared and was no longer crying: he was just looking at him intensely, with extremely curious eyes.
That was his son.
His son.
He was a father...
A soft moan from Eve brought him back to reality, and he hurriedly placed the newborn into her arms; she was so tired that she seemed about to fall asleep, but as soon as she had the baby in her arms she seemed to regain energy and hugged him to her chest, and a wide smile formed on her face. "He's so beautiful..." she just murmured.
Adam caressed her face with a broad smile. "It is" he told her. "Great job, new mom"
Eve giggled a little, and then instinctively she tried to bring the baby closer to her tits to feed him; she was still very weak and could barely move, but Lilith helped her free her breast and place the newborn on it, who immediately began to suck greedily. "Wow, he's just like his father. He likes big tits" she joked.
Eve couldn't laugh, but her smile widened nonetheless. "And he's just as energetic as he is" she said as she patted the newborn's head.
Lilith was fascinated by the newborn. "He's really cute. I wonder if I'll have one too one day..."
“Well, we sure are trying!” Lucifer told her jokingly, making his wife laugh a little.
The smile disappeared from Adam's face. He wanted to feel absolute joy because his son was born, and he was feeling it, but the presence of those two clouded his heart with negative feelings. Now there was no reason to let them stay there anymore, the birth was over. He was about to tell them to leave again when Eve's delicate hand brushed his arm: "Go to talk with Lucifer"
Adam looked at her in surprise. "I can't. You..."
"I'm fine now. And I have Lilith to keep me company. She is enough" Eve told him. "I don't want you to have that snout on the day your son is born. Get out of this cave and don't you dare come back before you have a smile on your face again"
Adam was dubious, but Eve's determined look told him she was serious. And so, even though he wanted to be nowhere else in the world than next to his wife and son, he stood up and motioned for Lucifer to follow him. The fallen angel sweated a little out of nervousness, and Lilith didn't seem sure either: "Maybe it's better if I do the talking..."
Eve grabbed her arm, and even though she was so tired, her grip was extremely strong. "Not this time" she said, winking at her. "Stop trying to solve all the problems. Let the boys talk for once"
Judging by the look on her face, Lilith was probably thinking that letting Adam and Lucifer talk alone was like blowing up a mountain, but since Eve was determined not to let her go, she forced herself to stay there with her. Their husbands hesitated a moment longer, and then headed towards the exit of the cave. They discovered that it had stopped raining outside, although the sky was still covered with dark clouds.
There was a long silence, and then Lucifer tried to break the ice: "Well... I think I should offer you my congratulations. How does it feel to be a father?"
Adam just glared at him, which made the angel sweat a little. Lucifer tried to keep his forced smile: "Come on, don't make that face! The baby is perfect! You should be happy..."
"I would be happier if you weren't still here" Adam told him coldly. "How long does it take you to grab your wife and get the fuck out?"
Lucifer's smile faded. "Adam, please..."
“She hates herself because of you” Adam hissed at him.
Lucifer froze. "Uh... what?"
"Before you arrived Eve had a nervous breakdown. She hates herself for what she did" Adam told him, looking at him with disdain. "Go away. I don't want you near her, or my son. If it's friends you want, find others. I've had enough"
And after such words he turned and headed back towards the entrance of the cave, eager to return to his wife. But Lucifer's voice suddenly came from behind him: "You're right"
Adam froze. He turned his head slowly, sure he had heard wrong. "What did you say?" he asked, as he had never expected to hear the fallen angel utter such words.
Lucifer had completely changed his expression; his face no longer contained a sign of jubilation, and only a deep sadness was imprinted on it. "I didn't mean to do this to you... but it doesn't change anything" he told him. "You're right not to want me near your wife or your child. She didn't deserve to hate herself, and you didn't deserve to lose your home. None of you deserved this"
Adam was stunned. That wasn't exactly an 'I'm sorry', but it was the closest thing to an apology he'd ever heard from Lucifer... though it was more of an admission that the other party was right, but still, it was something that the fallen angel had never said.
Lucifer clearly realized his shock, and it only seemed to add to his sadness. He tried to say something more, but it was as if the words were dying in his throat and he himself wasn't sure what to say. In the end he sighed: "Adam, listen... I'm an idiot, I know. I was born an idiot and I'm definitely going to live like an idiot for the rest of eternity. If you want to hate me, fine, I don't like it but I understand. But please... don't punish Lilith. She cares about you, she really cares about you. Maybe you didn't cry for her fate, but she cried for yours and Eve's. Do you want to banish me from your house? Okay, do it, I'm here in front of you, I won't stop you. But at least let Lilith meet you again. She's already lost too much... I don't want her to lose you two too"
Adam looked at him intensely, and even though Lucifer was trying to meet his gaze out of pure pride, he still struggled to maintain that contact. "This is the first time... I've actually seen you do something for someone else" he finally murmured.
"Even before I wanted...! I mean... well... I meant... aaaaaah, forget it" Lucifer said putting his hands on his face for a moment, and then he looked him in the eyes again: "Adam... I don't want Lilith to suffer, and I don't want you or Eve to suffer. That's probably the greatest truth you'll hear out of my mouth. We're both tired, lost in a foreign land, hurt for losses... what do we have left but us four? Why can't we just build a nice house and live together again, like we did before?"
Adam let out a snort. "It wouldn't be safe" he told him. "I have people to protect. And I can't trust you"
"At least let us talk to you sometime! Let... let us live here, or... I don't know" Lucifer begged. "Please... I don't want to hear Lilith cry at night anymore. I don't know how to make things right again"
Adam glared at him. "Yeah... you never know" he told him sourly. "You break things, but you don't know how to put them back. You let others put the pieces back"
Lucifer looked down. Due to his short stature, it was almost impossible to see his face under his bulky hat. "I know" he admitted. "I can't hide that I'm that kind of person"
Adam was silent for a moment, and then he looked up slightly and looked towards the treetops. "You there!" he screamed. "Come down for a moment"
There was a flapping of wings, and then a duck flew in front of them. It was a beautiful duck, with feathers as yellow as gold, and with a face that could only be described as adorable. “Yes, first man?” it asked.
Adam took some berries out of his pocket: "Do you want to have them?"
"I would be happy" the duck replied.
"Then go and get them, and when you reach them, fly three times over the place where they will fall. After that, they will be yours" Adam told her, and threw the berries away with all his strength. The duck flew after them, reached the spot where they had fallen, and then circled three times over it as instructed.
Lucifer didn't understand any of this, also because he couldn't understand the language of animals, but Adam explained to him: "That is the limit of my territory. Imagine a circle, with this hill in the center and whose border is over there. You and your wife must not trespass. Go wherever you want, and if you meet one of us out there, feel free to approach... but don't you dare set foot beyond that border. I have my family here, and I don't want you anywhere near it"
Lucifer's eyes widened. “So… we can stay?”
"Far from my house" Adam specified. "Try to interact with my son even once, and I will kill you"
"Sure" Lucifer said scratching his head. He seemed unsure whether it was a good idea to show happiness or remain serious. "Anyway... nice idea, using that duck like this. I've always liked ducks, you know? When Father created them I even proposed making them breathe fire, but apparently that's not something that works with their biology... I mean, a beaver with a duck's bill, hydrophobic fur, the venom of a snake, which hunts with electricity and glows in the dark works, but a duck that breathes fire doesn't? Funny, right?"
"Who cares" Adam simply grumbled, not caring in the slightest about it.
Lucifer scratched his head: "Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood a little... but I was saying the truth, that yellow duck is really cute, it almost makes me want to build a toy replica..."
"Sure, and maybe you'll make it float and use it while bathing" Adam said sarcastically.
Lucifer's eyes shone: "But... but... this is brilliant!"
Adam almost choked on his saliva: "No, you don't understand, I was being sarcastic...!"
The two of them were interrupted by the sound of footsteps; Eve emerged from the cave, supported lightly by Lilith. Even though she had just given birth, she had already recovered enough to walk with the newborn in her arms. "Hey, it stopped raining" she murmured, looking up at the sky. “Did you two… talk?”
"Too much for my tastes too" Adam grumbled.
Lucifer however smiled: "Lilith, we can stay! I convinced him!"
Lilith's eyes widened. "Really...?" she whispered, implying that she herself hadn't believed it until that moment.
Adam grunted: "He didn't convince me of anything. And you still have to stay past that duck over there"
Lilith however threw herself on him and hugged him, but immediately she broke away as soon as she noticed the icy look he gave her. "Right... not yet" she murmured, taking a couple of steps back, although immediately afterwards she didn't hold back her happiness and started circling with Lucifer like two children.
Adam looked away in disdain, but then he felt a familiar gentle tap on his shoulder. He quickly put his arm around Eve's waist to support her, even though she didn't seem to need it. "I don't need all this attention" she told him with a smile, and then she gave him a kiss: "You did the right thing. Forgiving is the best way"
"I haven't forgiven them. It's just… you wanted someone to talk to besides me, now you have them" Adam told her. "I rather hope I don't regret this..."
Eve rested her head on his chest: "I'm sure you won't"
"Liar" was what the old Adam commented harshly, making Charlie shiver a little.
"She seems sincere to me" the princess tried to defend her. "I mean, she couldn't have foreseen that there would be other messes... ok, I'll shut up" she hastened to say, noticing Adam's look.
Suddenly the light returned: the clouds in the sky began to open, letting a ray of sunlight pass through which hit the very entrance of the cave, warming the inhabitants. The newborn in Eve's arms let out a couple of cries and raised his little hands towards that warm light he felt on his skin for the first time. "It seems that Father wants you to know that He is happy that you have become parents" Lucifer commented with a smile.
"What will you call him?" Lilith asked curiously.
Eve looked at Adam and winked: "We've already thought of a name, right?"
Adam smiled at her, and then he took the baby in his arms and raised him upwards, as if he wanted to show him to the sky: "Father, I present to you our son Cain!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 32): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159580012
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 86: "Am I doing things right?"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Again the world distorted into a kaleidoscope of colors, and when it reformed again the landscape had completely changed: they were still in the same place, but now the surrounding forest was gone... or rather, it was still there, but it was as if it formed a circle around the hills that were covered only by green grass, without even a tree above. And in the center of those hills there was now a house; a huge house, with several floors, built with wood and with very good technique. "Wow... not bad" Charlie didn't refrain from commenting.
"Even though we didn't have good materials, we still had a very good understanding of architecture" Adam told her. “After we settled here, Eve and I cut down all the surrounding trees to give us a greater view of potential dangers, and with that wood we built our house, expanding it as new children came out”
The door of the house opened and out came young Adam, now much better dressed, in a much more finely tailored fur coat; and behind him came several kids of different ages. One of them, a boy with black hair and a slightly frail body, but still quite well-built, and whose features were graceful and very reminiscent of Eve, was already a teenager; another, a blond boy who, unlike the first, was very physically fit, very reminiscent of Adam's physique, must have been just a year younger than him. The other kids were younger, so much so that some of them looked no older than five. Some of them were clearly twins. There were at least fourteen of them. "So, kids" Eve announced as she came out last, also much better dressed, and with rather elegant if rudimentary clothes too: "Are you all ready to get to work?"
"YES!" the kids immediately exclaimed.
Adam clapped his hands. "Excellent. The new wing of the house will be beautiful!" announcement. "Cain, Abel, you will come with me to get a few more logs, and then I will teach you how to cut them well"
"Yes, Dad!" Cain, the black-haired boy, said immediately, clearly happy.
"We will do our best!" Abel, the blond boy, confirmed.
Adam patted both of their heads. "Well done, that's the spirit!" he said, then he looked at Cain: "Boy, do you remember what I taught you?"
"Before venturing into a territory, always check from a high point" Cain immediately replied.
"Very good. So, what are you waiting for?" Adam told him.
Cain's eyes widened. "Can... I do it, Dad?" he asked surprised and with a wide smile.
Adam nodded. "I trust you. Climb up that hill over there and then come back and tell me what you saw"
Cain seemed to swell his chest with pride, clearly pleased that his father had entrusted him with such an important task; Abel winked at him as if to encourage him. He ran up the hill like a hare, but as soon as he reached the top he seemed to freeze. "FATHER!" he screamed. "THERE'S A PREDATOR!"
Both Adam and Eve sprang like two springs and immediately ran up the hill, ready to fight; their children, not knowing how to react, followed them, even if they remained well away. As soon as they arrived they pushed Cain back, who stood in front of his siblings together with Abel and pulled two small knives from his belt, throwing one at his brother, expecting to have to fight. Adam and Eve looked in the direction indicated, and as they did they both relaxed and tensed at the same time.
The dead body of a megaraptor was lying on the lawn. It was still warm, a sign that it must have been dead no more than an hour before. It was an extraordinary specimen: eleven meters long from head to tail, it literally had scythes instead of claws, which gave off a feeling of terror and awe even though it could no longer use them.
The children of Adam quickly backed away in fear when they saw it, even Cain and Abel even if they continued to stay before everyone. "Calm down" Eve told them. "It's already dead"
"What could have killed it?" Cain asked with a little sweat dripping off his forehead. "Is there another predator here? Another megaraptor... or maybe something worse...?"
Adam approached the body. The megaraptor's body was intact, therefore it could not have died at the hands of another predator; and it showed no signs of a struggle, so it wasn't even a territorial issue... or mating issue, since it was obvious that it was a male. There was only one point of that enormous body that was not normal: the right femur was literally shattered. And judging by the wound, it must have happened many hours ago, maybe even days. "No one killed him" he said aloud. "He fell and broke his leg. It was hunger and fatigue that murdered him"
His children relaxed a little more. "Really?" Cain asked, still with a bit of fear in his voice, but it also betrayed his relief.
Adam nodded. "Judging by the fracture, he must have fallen while chasing prey and broke his femur" he explained to them. “The reason he died here… is because he probably dragged himself here in the desperate hope of finding something to eat”
No predator ever came near Adam's house: everyone knew he lived there and avoided it. The first man would have killed anything who dared try to eat one of his children. However, that didn't mean that the aforementioned children weren't eager prey: young humans were fragile, defenseless, and easy to catch. The megaraptor had probably been so desperate as to come there, challenging his own fate, to catch one of those children who were so weak and couldn't resist him and get at least one meal... but death had taken him first.
Adam let out a sigh as he brushed the dinosaur's head. His eyes, even though they were now dull, still showed the determination he had had in dragging himself this far. He had continued to fight until the end to survive. It had been a slow and certainly very painful death, which had drained him piece by piece over a long time. Yet, Adam couldn't feel anything by looking at his dead body. He wasn't happy... but he wasn't sad either. He felt cold, just as he by now felt every time he saw a dead animal. Although he made a short prayer in his heart for the soul of that megaraptor, he could only think of how they could preserve his body to use as food or how to tear off his claws to make tools.
Eve came closer to him and touched his back with her light fingers. “What troubles your heart?” she whispered to him, trying not to be heard by their children.
Adam just looked at her, and took on a sad expression... no, it wasn't sad, it was just tired and partially disconcerted. "I don't remember his name anymore" he said, nodding his head at the megaraptor.
Eve pressed closer to him, trying to give him some comfort. She could feel his muscles trembling slightly under his dress. "Adam..."
"I remember his face. We were friends... sometimes I slept against his belly. Once we played in a lake" Adam murmured, continuing to stare at the megaraptor's snout. "But... I don't remember his name anymore. I don't remember the names of any of them anymore. Or their nicknames, or their personalities, or their favorite jokes... nothing that makes them... people. Even If I still hear them talking... it's increasingly difficult for me to think of these creatures as something I can interact with, or have beautiful experiences... and not just as something I have to kill to eat and protect"
Eve caressed his cheek lightly. "Adam... I have a hard time remembering them too" she told him. "It's been years... years where we had to do... a lot of things to survive. It's hard to think about them that way anymore..."
“And yet you still cry when they die” Adam interrupted. “Even now you are shedding tears for this poor soul”
In fact, Eve had tears in her eyes. Her cheeks weren't streaked with tears like when she cried out loud, but still she was at least showing a little sadness, unlike him who was completely cold. "Everyone reacts to pain in their own way" she replied. "You don't have to feel bad about it because you don't show it..."
"But that's exactly the point: I'm not feeling pain. I'm trying, but... I can't. I only feel displeasure, but not pain" Adam told her, and he raised his hand slightly, looking at his palm: "If for me it's become so easy to not only kill, but to look at the result of someone else's suffering without batting an eyelid... in your opinion, is there still something left in me of what I was in Eden...?"
Eve put on a strange expression, and she seemed ready to answer him, but Cain's voice was heard before she could: "Well, it worked out well, we didn't have to deal with it and we'll get free food! A real luck!"
Eve whirled around to face her son: "Cain!" she exclaimed angrily. "Never call another creature's suffering luck!"
Cain was a little surprised by that reaction. "But Mom, it is such. We were lucky, can you imagine if the megaraptor had come here in full force?" he told her. "I saw one from afar once, when Abel and I were picking herbs with Dad. These theropods are real monsters!"
"Did you actually see a live one?" Seth asked him curiously.
“Oh, yes” Abel told him, then he puffed out his chest a little: “It was incredible! When these creatures stand, they can reach over four meters in height. Their claws can tear through even the thick skin of a sauropod. They are truly majestic… "
"Majestic? I would call them terrifying" Cain said, looking sideways at his brother, and then he smiled mockingly and said to his younger siblings: "Do you know how they hunt? They come at night, approach their prey without being heard, and then jump on them! They move their powerful claws and fill the ground with blood, and then they retreat and wait for the prey to collapse from the effort. At that point they come close to it, breathe in its ears, and after given the final blow, they start to devour it!"
Predictably, his siblings gulped in fear. Cain couldn't help but grin, happy to have terrified them like that, even if he himself thought that behavior was a bit childish. "Well... it's their hunting strategy" Abel interjected. "We can't blame them for that, it's their nature..."
"If their nature is so cruel, then Cain is right" Calmana murmured. "We're lucky he's dead!"
"Yeah. He really was a monster" Awan murmured. "Do you think he suffered a lot?"
"I hope so" Luluwa said. "If he really was such an evil creature, then I hope he received payback for all his evil deeds!"
"Kids!" Eve scolded them. "You don't dare speak like that, do you understand? You must never, ever say such words!"
“But Mom, Cain says that dinosaur was a monster!” Seth protested.
"Well, your brother should learn to hold his tongue and think before he speaks!" Eve replied, looking at her son with a lot of reproach: "And you, stop putting such wrong thoughts in your siblings' heads right now!"
Cain lowered his gaze, unable to hold his mother's gaze, but still he defended himself: "Mom, you can't deny that the way that animal kills is horrible! Facing his kind is very dangerous! We can be happy that he's dead..."
"Happy...?" Adam murmured, speaking for the first time. "Do you think this is something to be happy about?"
Cain immediately fell silent, and actually stiffened. His father stopped looking at the dead body of the megaraptor and stared directly at him with cold eyes, making him shiver. “Boy, do you know how I got you the fabrics your clothes are made of?” Adam asked him.
Cain remained silent. He had the courage to talk back to his mother, but not to his father. Adam had always possessed an authority that Eve lacked, an authority that Cain had always respected and alienated. His father was his role model, the person he had to impress, so the fact that he was now angry with him made him feel ashamed. "Answer! Do you know?" Adam asked him again, this time in a louder voice.
Cain shook his head. "No, father" he admitted.
Adam walked towards him, stopping just a foot away, and when Cain didn't lift his head he grabbed his chin to force him to look him in the eyes. "That fabric is made from the wings of a quetzalcoatlus" Adam told him in a cold voice. "To get it, I tricked that creature. I killed a sheep, I eviscerated her with my own hands, and I scattered her entrails on the ground to attract the flier. And when the mighty quetzalcoatlus came down, a superb male specimen, I jumped on him and grabbed him by the neck. With one hand I kept myself anchored to the ground, and with the other I held him back to prevent him from taking flight, and at the same time I was squeezing his jugular. I slowly suffocated him, while he struggled desperately to free himself. I felt his body squirming under me, I heard his suffocated breathing as he tried to beg for mercy. And when he was no longer able to move, I dragged him towards me and slammed his head against the rock I was holding on to, crushing his brains. He died in my hands in that cruel way, and as soon as he stopped moving, I didn't shed any tears for him, but on the contrary I tore his wings to pieces so that you and your siblings would have something to cover yourselves with and warm up"
Cain had turned pale in the face of that colorful explanation. His father had never yet taken him hunting, and the few times they had encountered a predator he had limited himself to defending him and Abel and sending the animal away. It was the first time he had a true description of how he killed his prey.
Adam moved his face even closer to hers. “You call this creature a monster because it does what it has to do to eat?” he asked him rhetorically. "What am I then? That quetzacoatlus I tore into pieces to clothe you and your siblings probably had children. Many of the creatures I killed to feed and protect you had children, or a mate to return to. Humans are horrible predators as much as the megaraptor that now lies at our feet"
"I-It's not the same!" Cain tried to argue. "You..."
"The only difference between me and this megaraptor is that I am your father and I love you" Adam told him, and then his gaze became even colder: "If it weren't so... if I weren't part of this family, and there were no bond of affection between us... then perhaps I would be the monster you would have to watch your back from at night"
All of Adam's sons had fallen silent and many had turned pale. It was the first time they had heard their father speak so harshly, almost threateningly. Cain couldn't hold his gaze anymore and closed his eyes, even though he was ashamed of showing himself so weak in front of his father.
Adam pulled away from him and let go of his chin. “You are still too young to understand this, but every creature in this world is our responsibility” he told them all. "So if seeing this dead animal gives you any kind of pleasure, do me a favor… keep those thoughts to yourself"
His children did not answer him; they just nodded with a little fear. The younger girls were even holding each other's hands. It was at that point that Eve intervened: "That's enough" she said, standing in front of her husband. "Kids, go home. Your father and I will take care of arranging the body"
It didn't take long for their children to do as they were told and quickly walked away. Cain remained behind, still not raising his head, and Abel also waited longer, and then, perhaps hoping to help his brother, said: "Dad, I'm sure Cain didn't mean what he said. He just expressed himself badly..."
"No, Abel, forget it" Cain told him, turning around and walking away, without looking at his father again. Abel was a little upset about this, but in the end he followed his brother anyway.
Adam finally dropped his frown. “I was too hard on them, wasn't I?” he murmured.
"A little" Eve admitted. "But I understand why you reacted like that. If you hadn't done it, I would have"
Adam sighed. “I just wish those kids… understood” he said. "Animals have never spoken to them. They don't know how important they are. They only see them as food or enemies. And surely their children will see them that way too, and their children's children. At that point, what will stop them from treating them as such?"
“They will learn” Eve assured him. "You just have to be patient. You're teaching them well, you're a good father"
“But I'm afraid I'm not teaching him the right things” Adam said with a deep snort. "They're learning how to survive, good. But everything else? How can I make them understand that every creature is important? How can I make them understand that they are not monsters but just animals that want to live, just like us? How...?". He put his hand in front of his face, "Cain yesterday asked me why instead of living in fear we don't just kill all the predators in the region, can you understand? He doesn't understand the consequences of doing so. And if he doesn't understand them, how will our grandchildren, or our great-grandchildren, understand them? When we are no longer on this earth, what will happen? How can humanity care for this world and love all its creatures, if I myself am becoming so cold that seeing this dead megaraptor, who was a friend of mine, doesn't cause me any pain?”
Eve's hand rested on his shoulder, silencing him instantly. Adam let that single touch bring him comfort. He turned back to her, and saw that she had a smile on her face. "You asked me earlier what remains of the man you were in Eden" she told him. "It's exactly this. Despite everything that has happened, despite the coldness you have acquired, you are still a good man who only thinks of the good of his family. You have changed, yes... but this part of you is still unchanged"
Adam felt touched by those sweet words. "Thank you" he whispered, touching her hand.
"I'm only telling the truth" Eve replied. "And Adam... I know that our children are not like us. They haven't had the same experience, they don't have our abilities. But that doesn't mean they don't have the same big heart that I feel beating in you. When yesterday Aclima ran to you bringing you those flowers, what did you see on her face?"
Adam didn't hold back an excited sigh. "Your smile" he answered. "She had the same expression of joy as you"
"And yours too" Eve told him. "Aclima knew she would have made you happy with those flowers and she wanted to do it. And the same goes for everyone else. Abel a little while ago knew that his brother wanted support and he didn't hesitate to defend him. Cain... well, he's a teenager, so he often tries to show off... but he holds you in high regard, and listens to whatever you tell him". Eve's smile widened: "Our children are capable of empathy, Adam, they just need to learn to use it. But when they understand it, they are capable of demonstrating kindness, love, gentleness, altruism and many other beautiful emotions, and they make them shine so brightly that it seems impossible that they were born outside of Eden. You don't have to be afraid for them... they are just as good as you"
"And you" Adam said pulling her closer to him.
Eve's smile faltered a little. "Well, their mother's sins are still there" he murmured.
"But also their mother's heart of gold" Adam corrected, bringing his face closer to hers.
However, Eve pushed him back. "Adam... we're standing next to a body" she reminded him. "You can have fun later"
"I'll take that as a promise" Adam said satisfied.
Eve rolled her eyes, though she didn't seem exasperated at all. "Go for a walk" she told him. "I'll take care of getting this body into the warehouse. You relax a little, clear your mind, and then go home and give your children a kiss"
Adam nodded, agreeing with her. Yes, it was definitely the best course of action. So, after a final exchange of glances, he walked away into the hills, leaving Eve alone, who in any case had no problem lifting the megaraptor's body as if it were just a big bag.
Charlie tried to sound optimistic: "Well, maybe you weren't the same person you were in Eden... but you were still a good person. Even if you could have reacted differently"
Adam let out a deep snort. "It was difficult to maintain an... ethic, let's say. My children, just like Eve, could not understand the language of the animals, distancing themselves more and more from them and seeing them not as friends, but as something different... and I myself struggled to see them the same way as before. When survival is all that matters, you no longer care about such things. It had become almost impossible for me to care about anyone who wasn't part of the family. If other humans had existed at the time, I could have killed them just as easily as I killed animals"
"Cold" Charlie murmured.
"I know. And I feared that part of myself" Adam told her. "I often found myself looking at my hands, and wondering how it was possible that I no longer felt anything for my actions. But it was useful to feed my family, and that was enough for me"
"You still reacted" Charlie pointed out. “When Cain downplayed the problem, you reacted"
"But not out of grief for the dead creature" Adam told her. "I scolded him because his thoughts were wrong. Mine was concern for his future. I didn't feel the slightest empathy towards that megaraptor"
Charlie bit her lip. Looking at those memories was becoming more and more disturbing for her. Seeing the man who was desperate even at the thought of having hurt someone emotionally turn into a cold-blooded killer was giving her strange emotions. The more time passed, the more she too struggled to associate the new Adam with the Adam who had lived in Eden, but at the same time he still seemed so similar to that, as if it had been a natural evolution.
Meanwhile, the young Adam had reached the edge of the forest. That was a sort of limit between his territory and that of the other creatures: no one crossed that border without his permission, at least not if they had a death wish. Looking at the ground, he could recognize the flattened grass and shrubs torn up by the megaraptor when he had gotten there. He really must have crawled there in a desperate search for something to eat. He could almost see him struggling with his last strength.
And yet... he still couldn't feel pity. Or pain. Or sorrow. Nothing.
A light shadow darkened his face again, but Eve's encouraging words still rang in his ears. He took a deep breath, holding on to them and hoping that she really was right.
As he mulled this over, a familiar voice came from the trees: "Why are you so tense?"
Adam just looked over and saw Lilith coming towards him. "Oh, hi" he greeted her without changing his expression. "A megaraptor trespassed tonight"
Lilith stiffened. "Are the kids okay?" she asked him apprehensively.
"Yes. He was injured, he died before reaching our house" Adam replied to her. "But if it happened once, it will happen again. I think I should build a wall"
Lilith nodded. "Lucifer can do it if you want. It would take him a few minutes..."
Adam didn't answer her, he just stared at her. Lilith immediately shut up. "Yes... I understand. You don't need our help" she murmured. She was silent for a moment, and then she asked him: "Maybe I'm not the person you want to confide in, but... is everything okay?"
Adam didn't respond right away, clearly feeling uncomfortable in her presence. But then he let out a deep sigh and decided that telling her wasn't a problem: "Cain said we should be happy that the megaraptor was dead, and all the other kids agreed with him, except Abel" he told her. "Okay, from a logical point of view he was right, but... the way he said it... made me understand that not only did he not care, but he didn't see that dinosaur as anything... well, something with feelings, emotions... life. My children can't understand how important the creatures of this world are"
Lilith looked down. “It's hard to remember when you don't hear them talk” she admitted. "I suppose that for them, who have never heard them say even a word, it is even more complicated to see them as something other than food or an enemy"
"Exactly" Adam said leaning against a tree. "And I don't know how I can make them understand. I have to find a way, but I don't know what. If I just teach them to fight these creatures... what will happen in the future? The more I see how my kids are growing up, the more I wonder how little importance their children's children will give to the rest of the living beings. And since they have the power to destroy them, what will stop them from doing so whenever they feel threatened or even just annoyed by them? What if humanity, born to be the protector of this world, would one day become its greatest enemy?"
"Adam, I understand your concern. I imagine it's terrible for a father not to know the future of his kids" Lilith told him sympathetically. "But I'm sure you don't have to fear this. Cain just made a few comments, nothing serious..."
"But a single small act can have terrible repercussions in the far future. When does a ripple become a tidal wave?" Adam murmured, and then he raised his hand and looked at it intently: "When does a man become a monster...?"
Lilith was silent for a long moment, but then she seemed to brighten: "Maybe I have an idea. Come with me"
Adam didn't understand, but he followed her anyway. Lilith took him to the house that she and Lucifer had built themselves (or rather, that the angel had built with his powers), and ran to the back where there was a small kennel, from which she took out a wolf cub. “Here” she said, handing it to Adam. "Bring this to your children. Let them raise this wolf as a family member"
Adam looked at the little wolf in Lilith's hands. It couldn't have been more than a month old. “You should give it back to the mother”
"The mother is dead" Lilith answered him a little sadly. "Since the Earth has... changed, it's easy for cubs to become orphans. When I find one, I take care of it until it can fend for itself. I've looked after everything in recent years... dinosaurs, birds, lizards, crocodiles, wild boars, deer, lions... it would be long to list all those cubs. This is the latest arrival". She lightly stroked the puppy's head: "It's a girl, by the way. I called her Haver. But wolves are social animals, she needs a home... and a family"
"Lilith, I can't keep a wild animal in my house" Adam told her. "That wolf will grow faster than my children. She will eat them"
But Lilith shook her head. "Never underestimate what love can do, Adam" she told him confidently. "Even the most ferocious predatory instinct vanishes in the face of the warmth of a home and a loving family. Bring this little girl to your children, and even without speaking to each other verbally, they will still create a contact that will allow them to understand each other. They will comprehend how precious these creatures are. Trust me"
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Should I?" he asked rhetorically.
Lilith's smile faded, but she didn't give up. "Just this time" she told him. "Please"
Adam thought about it for a moment. In his point of view, bringing a wolf into a house full of children was a foolish act. But after all he could keep an eye on that animal, and he might as well try. "Okay" he said finally, taking Haver in his hands.
Lilith was happy about it. "You'll see, you won't regret it" she assured him. "Oh, she likes belly rubs, by the way. And sleeping on the soft stuff"
"Noted" Adam replied. An almost heavy silence fell between the two of them, and finally he said: "Look... about that invitation to lunch... is tomorrow okay with you?"
Lilith's eyes widened. It was the first time since they had met again that Adam had accepted one of her and Lucifer's invitations. "Really?"
Adam nodded. "The kids are mature enough to handle themselves for a few hours" he replied, even though such words were clearly costing him a lot. "Me and Eve can come"
Lilith smiled. "Your kids can come too, if you want. The house is big..."
Adam again didn't answer her and stared at her intently. Lilith immediately pulled back: "Yes... yes, I understand, too soon. Well... thank you. We will do our best to be good hosts"
Adam nodded, and caressed the wolf cub in his hands, which had already fallen asleep finding very comforting. “Well… I better take her home” he said. "I hope Eve will agree..."
"I think she'll be happy about it" Lilith told him. Adam didn't seem so sure, but after saying goodbye to her he headed towards his house.
In any case, Lilith's words turned out to be correct: as soon as Adam returned to his house, Eve, after having him explain what the small ball of fur in his hands was, welcomed Haver very willingly. Their children had been much more surprised, but after a moment's hesitation Abel had had the courage to take the wolf cub in his arms, which had created a chain reaction that had made everyone, even just out of curiosity, wanted to touch her. And as soon as Haver woke up, they immediately realized that she didn't feel comfortable with so many people around, and so they immediately decided to keep her in turns and in separate rooms, so as to keep her calm. Even without exchanging a single word, they understood how many deep emotions there were in that little animal, and they behaved accordingly. Which only made Eve smile tenderly, and she looked at Adam as if to say: "I told you, they just needed to learn empathy".
Charlie put a hand over her mouth to repress a cry of tenderness as she looked at that scene, the first attempt of domestication in human history, the day in which the wolf, whose descendants would have become dogs, had entered in the house and in the heart of the people. It was something truly beautiful to look at, and knowing that her mother had come up with the idea filled her heart with joy. "It's beautiful" she couldn't help but say.
Adam was continuing to keep his expression neutral, but again Charlie realized that something in him had moved. She was feeling something strong as she watched her children pick up the wolf cub and rub her fur. "Yeah" he admitted. "Your mother had a good idea. The kids' attitude towards animals... changed from that day"
“They just needed to find a common language” Charlie said as she watched the little wolf lick Abel's face. "You know, knowing my mother, I think she would have really liked to be an aunt. Didn't you let her meet your kids?"
Adam shook his head. "I didn't trust her, nor your father" he replied. "I was fine with them staying here on Earth, and with Eve and I meeting them... but I didn't want the kids interacting with them"
Charlie was a little displeased with this, but in all honesty she couldn't blame him. After everything that had happened, rebuilding trust was certainly not an easy process. Maybe Adam was willing to take the risk himself, maybe even let Eve run it, but certainly not his kids. "At least she was trying" she told him. "My mother tried to make things right"
"Yeah" Adam chewed on his words, and then his fingers tightened on his robe, almost tearing it: "But you can't always make things right"
Charlie didn't understand, but around her the world distorted again, pushing towards another memory. And she didn't miss how Adam's face was becoming more tense and ferocious as this happened.
Notes:
In Hebrew, Haver means "friend", as she is the first "dog" domesticated by humanity, as well as technically the first friend the children of Adam ever had (since there were only them around). Basically, she is the first to break the language barrier that formed between animals and humans, given that Adam's children cannot understand animal language and this therefore causes almost all of them to see them as something unimportant if not used as food, or dangerous if they are predators. As for megaraptors, they are a family of theropod dinosaurs that lived in South America in the Cretaceous; to give you an idea of how monstrous these animals were, imagine Primal's Night Feeders, but bigger, stronger, and deadlier, and with no phobia of light. These animals were so dangerous that they could also hunt other carnivorous dinosaurs such as the carnotaur, and even kill large sauropods by jumping on their backs and causing lacerations and gashes, and then retreat and wait for the prey to bleed to death. Despite being called megaraptors, these dinosaurs were not actually relatives of velociraptors or utahraptors, but rather appear to be an evolutionary branch of the tyrannosauridae family, and therefore are close relatives of tyrannosaurus. Basically, while true tyrannosaurids decreased the size of their forelimbs and increased mandibular power, megaraptors went in the opposite direction and obtained a weaker bite but claws with disproportionate power.
Furthermore, according to the sacred scriptures, Abel was more "powerful" than Cain, which is why Cain needed a stone and a surprise attack to kill him. Consequently I imagined that Cain was the frailest and weakest but intelligent and shrewd one, while Abel was the more muscular and strong one but less clever and eloquent. Their characters are also diametrically opposed, given that while Cain tends to focus on the danger he has escaped (and therefore calculate the situation based on logic), Abel, on the other hand, is more open and empathetic, managing to understand better than his brother that similar situations are still sad even if they and their family have benefited from it. Cain and Abel are practically the representation of the internal conflict that Adam is undergoing, who is gradually giving up his empathy in favor of pure survival, but still tries to refuse to become completely heartless (and in fact gets angry at Cain for his words, although not contradicting his son since, pure logically speaking, he is right); that's also why they are so close in age, while the other kids are much younger then them. Because, and I explain this because some don't seem to understand it, these flashback chapters serve to show how Adam is slowly changing, becoming more and more similar to the Adam we know. The Adam of this chapter would no longer have the internal conflict that the Adam of Eden had every time he was faced with a morally questionable choice (hurting Lilith, preventing Eve from approaching the tree, etc.) and this was due to all the experiences he underwent in the primordial Earth, among which the three shown so far are the most important (the megalodon taught him that he must kill for defense, the triceratops that he must kill to eat even if this amounts to betrayal a friend, and the tyrannosaurus that he must kill to protect himself in anticipation of a future event. Basically all of these enemies are shadows of what Adam will become in the future, since their teachings are the same that he tried to teach to Vaggie and Charlie).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 33): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159584071
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 27): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/160317403
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 87: Just a man
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When the world reformed, the house had grown even bigger, so much so that it now looked like a mansion; now not only wood, but actual bricks and other hard materials made it up, and there were some magical seals on the walls that protected them from wear and tear. Everything seemed more modern, although obviously it was nowhere near the level of what had been in Eden... but after all, humans had had millennia of time for that, for that house only a few years.
Eve was in the middle of the lawn, sitting on a sort of deckchair, watching the children playing tag; now there were many more, certainly more than a hundred, proving that a lot of time must have passed. Charlie wasn't sure how old she could give them, since, as Adam had told her, time in the past passed more slowly than in the present, and humans lived much longer too; since, as far as she knew, Adam's children had lived on average between seven hundred and nine hundred years of age, it was not unlikely that at one hundred years of age they would still have looked like children and have had the same immature mentality. This explained why there were so many of them and why very few of them, including Seth, showed the first signs of adolescence. And as further testimony to this, among them was Haver, now looking like a wolf of at least thirty years of age, who was watching over them all as if her very life depended on their safety.
Adam, unlike his wife, was a little distant from the other children; with him there were Cain and Abel, who now looked like two eighteen year olds. Cain had maintained his somewhat skinny appearance, but now had a more pronounced beard and cheekbones; Abel, on the other hand, had become even more muscular and tall than before and had longer hair, tied in braids. They were looking at a corner of the lawn where there was no grass, but instead there were finely worked clods of earth from which what appeared to be primordial salads sprouted. "Did you see, Dad?" Cain said with a wide smile. "I was right! If we plant vegetables in the ground and then water them and chase away pests, they will grow!"
Adam put a hand on his shoulder with satisfaction. In Eden he had never needed to plant and cultivate seeds, since they grew on their own without effort; he had therefore never thought, once out of the garden, of trying to grow plants, concentrating more on protecting his home and obtaining food by finding it around as he once did or by killing animals. Cain had had an idea that, although simple, was truly innovative and extraordinary. "You did well, boy. You had a good idea"
"A brilliant idea!" Abel said to his brother giving him a vigorous pat on the back. "How did it come to you? I would never have thought of it!"
Cain staggered a little from that blow, and didn't seem to like it at all, but still maintained a pompous expression: "I know you would never have thought of it, Mom and Dad gave me the brains, they gave you the muscles. As you well know I have a better sense of observation and inventiveness than yours"
Abel was not offended by this. "Yes, I can't deny it" he admitted. "It's lucky you're here!"
Cain was disappointed: he had probably hoped that his brother would have reacted at least a little to the provocation. But before he could say anything else something large and massive pushed him away, causing him to fall to the ground, and a large mouth began to tear up the salads and eat them. "What the...!?" Cain exclaimed. "Teka, you stupid stegosaurus!"
The creature that had pushed him away was an animal nine meters high and as long as a truck, which weighed at least four tons, if not more, and which had enormous pointed plates on its back and on its tail four gigantic spines that would have crossed the body of any opponent from side to side. But despite its intimidating appearance and powerful size, the stegosaurus, who reveals itself to be a female, demonstrated a rather tame personality: "Oh, sorry, young master. I didn't realize you were there"
Cain obviously couldn't understand what Teka was saying, so Adam translated her words: "She says she's sorry, she didn't notice you"
"Mph! Of course" Cain grumbled.
"Come on, big brother, don't be angry" Abel told him, helping him get up. "You know that stegosaurs don't have good eyesight"
"And not a good brain either" Cain replied. "And you, stop eating my crops!"
"Huh? I can't?" Teka asked, raising her head, continuing to chew what was in her mouth. "But they're so good...!"
Adam gently stroked her head: "Sorry, my friend, but these are Cain's. We told you, everything that grows in this corner of the grassland is not for you"
Teka was about to protest, but heavy footsteps were heard and another large animal approached them: it was shorter and less tall, but unlike the stegosaurus it was covered in real armor, and the tail ended in a club which was certainly capable of splitting the trunk of a tree. It was an ankylosaur, one of the most armored animals that ever existed, and judging by the intense color of its osteoderms, it must have been a male. Despite being smaller than Teka, he was definitely more intimidating. "You heard the master's orders" he said to the stegosaurus in a stern voice. "Those plants belong to the young master. It is our duty to respect that will"
"Ugh, fine, Shayarion" the stegosaurus replied submissively, and she walked away towards a nearby hill, where a whole herd of her kind were grazing.
The ankylosaurus bowed his head to Adam: "I beg your forgiveness for her behavior, master. I will make sure it does not happen again"
"It's okay, my friend. There's no need to be so formal" Adam replied.
Shayarion nodded. "In that case, I take my leave. Please, apologize to the young master on my behalf" he said without losing his seriousness, and he too headed towards the herd of stegosaurs.
Charlie was a little surprised by that scene: "Didn't you keep animals away for fear that they would have harmed your children?" she asked Adam.
The first man nodded: "Yes, but after Haver had shown me that it was still possible to live together, I had changed my mind. Or rather, Abel had convinced me to change it. Your mother had provided me with several orphaned stegosaurus' eggs, and my son took care of the cubs as if they were part of the family. Soon we had an entire herd of stegosaurs grazing in our territory; we took care of them, and they gave us their eggs in return when they were not fertilized, they helped us with their scent to find good berries and herbs, and gave us extra protection from predators"
"And him?" Charlie asked pointing to the ankylosaurus.
"We found Shayarion near our territory when he wasn't yet a full grown adult, wounded under the belly. Eve took pity on him and treated him. He hasn't left since then" Adam explained to her. “He joined the stegosaurs' herd and somehow became their leader. He was always diligent and attentive, and whenever there was something to do he was always the first to step forward"
A smile broke out on Charlie's face. "So my mother was right" she couldn't stop herself from telling him.
Adam shrugged: “Well… humans still raise and love animals today, right?”
Charlie's smile widened. Even though she already knew that humans raised animals, she was glad that Adam also recognized that her mother had been right. Love and trust were truly capable of overcoming any violent instinct. “They had no problem staying with you even though they lived so close to Eve?” she asked, remembering well how the other animals had reacted up to that point at the mere sight of her.
"They weren't born in Eden, they didn't remember anything from that time" Adam replied to her. "When we got Haver, she was just a baby. All those stegosaurs were still eggs when they became part of the family. Shayarion was young, he was born after the fall of Eden. They knew what had happened in the past, we didn't hide it from them... but for them it was just like hearing a story. They couldn't really imagine what it was like to live in Eden. They weren't like the animals of the older generation, now almost completely disappeared, who instead were born and lived without suffering and they were suddenly found in a horrendous world, it was easier for them to tolerate this new reality... and as a result, their resentment towards Eve was almost non-existent"
"God said the animals would have hated her forever" Charlie reminded him.
"No, He said that animals that lived on an Earth dominated by sin would have hated her forever, since that 'forever' would have been quite short" Adam pointed out. "But since I remained with her, Earth was not totally dominated by sin, and was subject to change. The new generations of animals, even if they instinctively remembered the past, were gradually changing. The hatred of those born outside Eden was not like that of those who had instead lived in bliss"
Charlie found herself agreeing with him after thinking about it for a moment. After all, why should anyone hold an absolute grudge for something their great-grandfather suffered? Even if the animals had passed down the memory of what had happened in the past from generation to generation, in the long run that memory would have become just a strange story, and no one would have felt angry upon hearing it. It would have been different if Adam had abandoned Earth and as a result all life would have slaughtered each other extremely rapidly, turning the planet into a desert in a short time; but on an Earth where generations had the opportunity to be born, grow and give life to other generations, it was inevitable that such feelings would have faded over the decades.
A grunt from Cain attracted her attention again; he was removing dirt from his dress with a lot of annoyance. “Abel, you should educate your animals better!” he scolded his brother. "They always go where they shouldn't!"
"Cain, they're living creatures too. Do you expect them to sit still like rocks?" Abel asked him. "Be patient with them"
"Tsk!" Cain grumbled. “If I were the shepherd of this house, I would build a fence and lock them up. It would be simpler"
“But also sad” Abel replied. "Would you like to be locked up all your life? They too have the right to go wherever they want"
“What if one of them gets lost?” Cain pointed out.
"Then I will go and look for it" Abel replied.
"Good. And what if in the meantime a tyrannosaurus finds it and eats it? What if it falls into a hole and gets hurt?" Cain replied. “Isn't it safer to keep them locked up?”
“Based on that logic, Dad and Mom should keep us locked up too" Abel retorted. “We're also safer at home than outside, don't you think?”
Cain's eyelid quivered slightly, and he looked like he was about to get angry, but Adam stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder: "Boy, calm down. There's no reason to get angry for so little"
Cain tried to hold back; he didn't want to show himself that way in front of his father. "Sorry. I just think there are easier ways to lead the herd..."
"Your brother is better with animals, you know. Trust him" Adam told him. "Give him a few days and he will teach the animals not to disturb your... er..."
“Oh, I called it farming" Cain told him.
“Okay, farming" Adam repeated. “As I said, give Abel a few days to teach them and the animals will leave you alone”
“I can teach them myself!” Cain protested.
"Brother, you are not very good at making yourself understood" Abel told him. "You're too demanding, you always want everything to be done right away. You have to be patient with them, give them time, guide them calmly..."
"I'm not demanding, I'm fair!" Cain protested. "You're the one who's too malleable!"
The firm voice of their father stopped that discussion: "Boy, may I know what's wrong with you?"
Cain looked down and clenched his fists, but then he said: "I simply don't need Abel to protect my crops, or to do anything else. I can provide for the family myself!"
Adam looked tired. "So is this your reason, boy? Don't you want your brother to share the head of the family position with you?"
Cain narrowed his eyes. “Well… yes” he admitted. "Why do you want him to lead the family with me too? I can do it myself! I'm the firstborn, it's my birthright!"
"What is he talking about?" Charlie asked Adam.
Adam sighed: "Eve and I were now mortal, and we knew that one day we would have to die. There would be a need for someone to protect and guide the family even without us. Cain was suitable for that role, but I still wanted Abel to support him"
"Why?" Charlie asked him.
"Because they were brothers, and I hoped they could work together" Adam explained to her. "They complemented each other. Cain was pragmatic, Abel was empathetic; Cain understood the processes of plants and how to grow them, Abel managed to make animals love him; Cain noticed dangers before they arrived, Abel proposed solutions that were not too extreme. They were a duo perfect, and since they had only been separated for a few months since Abel was literally born not even ten months after Cain, I thought it was a good idea to designate both of them as the ones who would lead the family after me"
"Sounds like a good thing to me" Charlie told him sincerely.
"It was. Cain and Abel worked really well together when they put their minds to it" Adam told her. "But as you can see, Cain didn't like my choice. He had always felt at a disadvantage compared to his brother because he was weaker than him, even if Abel had never made him feel it. Knowing that he would have had to share with him what he believed was his right made him irritable"
And in fact Cain was continuing to shout: "Why do I have to be on the same level as him? What does he have more that I don't have? Muscles? They can be useful even if he isn't in a position of command! I have the brain, I have cunning, I have audacity! I'm much better than him!"
"Hey, now you're exaggerating!" Abel replied a little offended. "I know you're smarter than me, and I've always been proud that my brother was so clever, but I have my qualities too, don't you think?"
Cain seemed to be about to retort in a somewhat offensive manner, but then he stopped himself and said: "Okay, I won't deny it. But to lead the family, brains are the most important thing. You can help me, but why do we have to decide together. ..?"
"Cain" Adam stopped him. “Do you think I took this decision lightly?”
Cain fell silent. "No, father" he answered.
Adam nodded. "Because I didn't. I didn't decide that you both will lead the family because one of you has something more than the other, but because you both make each other better together" he told him. "Cain, your brother sees you as a role model. Every day he looks at you and tries to be more like you, and improves himself as a result. Why don't you try to do the same? Look at your brother and don't be envious just because he is stronger than you, but try to understand what he can give you. Just as he learns from you, you can learn something from him, if only you are willing to learn"
Cain didn't seem convinced, but he didn't protest; instead he turned to Abel and asked him: "Okay. What do you think you can teach me, brother?"
He was probably hoping to confuse him, but Abel just looked a little tense: "Brother, I..."
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Adam, Cain, and Abel froze as soon as they heard that scream, and then they immediately sprang up and ran towards Eve and the others. More screams rang through the air, and as they crested the hill they saw Eve frantically trying to distract seven enormous predatory dinosaurs that were attempting to devour the children who were screaming in terror.
Mapusaurs.
At least eleven meters long from head to tail and weighing five tons, they were like living war machines. They weren't as dangerous as tyrannosaurs, but they were still large, and their every claw, paw, tooth, muscle, and nerve was designed to hunt and kill. And now, those walking arsenals were trying to bite and devour the children Eve was trying to protect; she continued to punch the dinosaurs in the face, pushing them back, but she was still alone against seven and while one distracted her the others ran to try to eat the kids. Haver was also trying to defend the children, but there was literally nothing a fifty-kilos wolf could do against dinosaurs a hundred times heavier than her, other than bite their legs to slow them down or get in front of the children to be eaten in their place.
Fortunately they were not alone for long: with a mighty bellow, Shayarion arrived followed by the entire herd of stegosaurs, who made the earth tremble slightly with their charge. The mapusaurs were momentarily disoriented, clearly not expecting to have to face such large animals, and Eve took the opportunity to push the children away as much as possible. Shayarion stepped between her and the predators: "Leave!" he shouted, flapping his tail like a club.
The largest mapusaurus roared in fury: "Step aside! We don't want you!"
"Those you are hunting are the children of my master and my mistress" the ankylosaurus replied without moving an inch. "If you want to eat them, you'll have to step over my corpse!"
The mapusaurus blew ferociously from its nostrils, and then it shouted to its companions: "Go around him! Go after the little ones, they can't defend themselves! Keep away from the tails of these bastards, they can't protect them all!"
The mapusaurs roared in agreement and scattered; Shayarion tried to block them, but they avoided his tail with their superior speed and surpassed him. The children quickly sought refuge under the paws of the stegosaurs, who in turn began to bellow and wag their tails, but the mapusaurs were not afraid of them: it was easy for them to understand that these were not animals accustomed to fighting, having lived under the protection of humans for life. They could distract them and scare them enough to expose the children to danger again, and at that point they immediately returned charging back to bite them.
But if the stegosaurs weren't very good at fighting, the same couldn't be said of Adam: with a roar of pure fury he leapt at the nearest mapusaurus and grabbed it by the snout, pulling it back. The dinosaur made a sound of pain, feeling several of its teeth and muscles break. Eve took advantage of this to rush to help her husband and threw an elbow on the mapusaurus' legs, breaking them cleanly, with the result that the dinosaur fell to the ground and broke its neck.
The other mapusaurs stopped and hesitated for a moment; this time their instincts warned them not to mess with their opponent. Adam under normal circumstances would have told them to leave, and they probably would have had, since this was a battle not worth fighting. But at that moment Adam radiated pure anger, and the mapusaurs felt it; so, instead of fleeing, they chose to fight.
Adam and Eve exchanged a knowing look, and then split up, jumping on a different mapusaurus each to face them separately. The other four predators tried to intervene to help their companions, but Shayarion was certainly not willing to stay aside, and instead charged and took advantage of their distraction to hit one of them straight in the chest, breaking its sternum; the predator fell backwards and the ankylosaurus finished it off with a second blow, this time to the head, before moving on to face his next opponent.
There were now five mapusaurs left: two of them were held back by Adam and Eve, one by Shayarion, but two more were still free to do what they wanted. The stegosaurs tried to slow them down, but the predators were very fast and intelligent and avoided their tails expertly. They ran towards Adam, having identified him as the most dangerous one there, intending to attack him from behind and tear him to pieces with their bites; but before they could reach him a spear was thrown at them and hit one in the nose, making it roar in pain. It was Abel who threw that, who also pulled out a couple of knives, while Cain was swinging a slingshot; both brothers were ready to face the threat.
The two mapusaurs roared and charged, making the earth tremble, but Abel and Cain already knew what to do and ran under the stegosaurs: neither of them wanted to face the predators face to face, both knew it would have been suicide. They had never yet fought even against a lion, since the wild beasts stayed away from their territory, and therefore they didn't have the slightest experience. They knew that the wisest choice was to avoid direct confrontation and simply distract the two animals until their parents came to help them. Using the stegosaurs as living shields they continued to avoid the mapusaurs, but unfortunately both were too inexperienced, and they ended up wasting too much energy right away and not keeping a good attention on their surroundings, with the result that Abel tripped on a stone and fell, allowing one of the dinosaurs to scratch him with its claws; only scratch him, fortunately, because Cain pulled him back at the last second, but still deep wounds opened on his back. Cain tried to throw another spear to ward off the beast, but his physical strength was not like his brother's, and so he only caused the dinosaur a little nuisance.
Eve noticed what was happening, and saw red: the mapusaurus she was facing was still very strong, but the punch she threw at it at that moment was so strong that it split its skull in two. The woman ran as fast as she could towards her children and threw herself in the middle, grabbing the mapusaurus in its jaws and making it lose its balance; as soon as it fell to the ground, she jumped on its chest and smashed its entire ribcage with her fists. The other mapusaurus was taken aback and backed away, but taking advantage of its distraction Abel gave a whistle to the stegosaurs, who, obeying their shepherd, moved their tails together and hit the predator, piercing it and killing it with their thagomizers.
The two remaining mapusaurs realized that their companions had all fallen, and obviously did not stay to fight: they turned around to escape, but Adam was not willing to let them go. He grabbed the one he was facing by the tail and pulled it back, causing it to fall, and Shayarion took advantage of this to raise his club-like tail and smash it into the dinosaur's chest. Adam then jumped onto the ankylosaurus and used his tail to hurl himself into the air, and he landed directly on the remaining predator, using gravity to increase the kinetic force of his punch, which passed directly through its skull. The last mapusaurus fell therefore to the ground with a violent thud, and then finally there was silence.
Eve and Adam ran to Abel, who was barely supported by Cain; the wounds on his back were not deep, but they were bleeding. "I'm okay" he assured them. "I just need some bandages. I'll be fine"
"I'm sure of it" Adam told him. "Well done, boys. You were brave"
"Thank you, Dad" Cain replied with a smile, and gave his brother a light pat: "Know that this is the last time I'll hold you up, you mass of muscles". Abel let out a chuckle in response.
Adam and Eve were happy to see that he was okay, but they didn't waste too much time with the two of them: instead they called their other children to make sure they were okay. As soon as they heard their parents' voices, the kids finally had the courage to come out of their hiding places: "MOM!"
Everyone crowded around Eve, wanting to feel their mother's presence, since they were used to having to gather around her in case of danger while Adam stood in front and faced the threat; this is because until that moment there had never been an enemy that had forced both parents to fight. Eve knelt down and hugged them as tightly as she could, feeling them tremble under her hands; the children were clearly scared to death, and they kept looking around fearing that they would have seen the mapusaurs reappear; just looking at the carcasses of dead predators made them curl into a ball in terror. "Sssssh... it's okay" Eve whispered to them as she comforted them. "It's okay... it's over... they can't hurt you anymore..."
Adam sighed, sure that for a few nights none of his children would have wanted to sleep alone again, and he didn't blame them. He turned back to Cain and Abel, but saw that the former had already made his brother lie down and was dressing his wounds at least a little by tearing pieces of his clothing and using them as bandages, and Haver was licking the scars to reduce the risk of infections. As he watched this, Shayarion approached him: "Master, with your permission, I will take the herd and walk around the entire perimeter. We will make sure there are no more threats"
"Yes, good idea. Thanks, my friend" Adam told him. "If you meet other predators, don't put yourself in danger"
"I cannot make such promises. I will always defend the herd and your home with my life" Shayarion answered him, dutifully and protectively as usual, and then he called the stegosaurs with a bellow and walked away with them.
Adam watched him go, and then he stared at the mapusaurs' carcasses. It wasn't the first time predators had approached his home, but never so large and numerous. Now the more time passed the more the new generations did not remember the times of Eden, and therefore, not being aware of his strength, for them he and his family were just easy prey. Although they continued to avoid his territory due to the warnings of their parents and grandparents, it was only a matter of time before the predators forgot about that prohibition completely. "I really have to build a wall" he commented very tensely, and then he returned to his children: "Hey, are you feeling a little better?"
A little girl who looked no older than four years old ran to hug his leg, and he immediately picked her up. “I want to go home” she whispered, crying.
Adam nodded. "Yes, Aclima. Now we go home" he told her, but then his senses alerted him to a movement in the grass: "WATCH OUT!"
His children screamed in fear, but he very quickly put Aclima back into Eve's arms and threw himself into the grass, grabbing something small and covered in feathers. To his surprise what he held in his hands was a small mapusaurus still covered by his juvenile plumage, certainly no older than a couple of weeks. "A cub...?"
But despite being so young and small, the mapusaurus was biting him furiously. "Monster!" he growled. "You killed my mom! I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"
Adam held the little dinosaur in his hands, and clearly saw the pain, hatred and anger in his eyes. “Your pack attacked us first” he told him.
But obviously the cub didn't listen to him. "I'll kill you" he told him again. "I will not rest until I have devoured all of you! Even if it takes me a thousand years, I will tear you to pieces!"
He wasn't talking nonsense: he meant it. Adam could tell just by looking at him. That cub would have continued to pursue his revenge even if it cost him his whole life. His expression, his eyes, his fury, were the same as Shenhada, the tyrannosaurus he had killed many years before.
The rest of his family didn't know what the cub was saying, but nevertheless Cain immediately stood up and said: "Dad, we must kill it now!"
"Brother!" Abel exclaimed. "It's just a cub..."
"If we let it live, it will grow up and become a predator. Who do you think it will prey on?" Cain pointed out. "Look at it, how ferocious it is, it's not like Haver. You can't train it like you did with the other animals"
"I can at least try" Abel tried to say.
But none of his siblings supported him. "I don't want that animal around!" Calmana exclaimed.
"Yes! Kill it, Dad!" Awan said.
"It's just as dangerous as the others!" Seth protested shakily. "We have to get rid of it now or it will come to eat us in the future!"
Eve bit her lip: “Kids, please, calm down…”
“Just let me give it a try” Abel begged them. "I can still..."
“No, you can't” Adam said suddenly. "We just killed his family. He won't rest until he kills ours"
Everyone fell silent. They knew that when their father spoke so seriously, they had to listen to him. "Cain is right" he said again. "We need to get rid of him now"
Eve inhaled deeply: "Adam..."
"Take the children home. Cain, help your brother reach the herb store, and apply a decoction to his wounds" Adam told them. "I'll take care of this here"
“Dad, you don't have to do it if you don't want to” Abel protested. "Please..."
"Sometimes you can't do what you want, boy" Adam told him. "Go. Now"
His family remained silent, and then very slowly they all got up and headed towards the house. Adam didn't turn to look at them, continuing to stare at the young mapusaurus who continued to furiously bite his fingers and claw at his arms. He knew that if he would have let him go, he would have immediately run towards his children and jump on one of them and cut their throat.
He was a creature driven only by revenge now. There was nothing he could do to free him from his pain, just as he could have done nothing for Shenhada. He could only end the cycle of violence right there in that moment.
He lightly patted the young mapusaurus' head, but he fussed as if he had hurt him, not wanting to accept even the slightest kindness from him. Adam for the first time in years found himself feeling sad for something he was about to kill. With a whisper, he began to speak to him.
"I look into your eyes,
And I think back to the children of mine;
You're as big as they were
When I took them the first time..."
The young mapusaurus showed no sign of compassion, and instead tried even harder to bite him. Adam stood up and went to some trees, and he took some ivy from them, with which he tied his legs and mouth to immobilize him, taking great care not to hurt him, and then he placed him on a large flat stone.
"Will these actions haunt my days?
Every creature I've slain?
All the lives I've taken, all this pain?"
He reached out and placed his palm on the small mapusaurus's snout, completely obscuring his vision; the cub continued to thrash furiously, but there was no way he could escape his grasp. Adam then placed his other hand on his neck, just straddling his spine, and squeezed it lightly.
"Close your eyes, and spare yourself the view..."
It would have taken so little: he would just have had to tighten his grip a little more, and the young mapusaurus' neck would have broken cleanly. A brief moment, and then it would have all been over. Maybe the small dinosaur wouldn't even have felt much pain.
Close his fingers more, that's what he had to do. A very simple action, without any difficulty.
Yet, he couldn't.
His body was paralyzed. He could feel the young mapusaurus' muscles continue to tense under his hands. That small life, which had just begun to exist, absolutely did not want to give up.
And now... he was about to take that life...
He knew he had to do it...
But he just couldn't.
In the end he let him go again, clutching his slightly trembling shoulders.
"Oh, how could I hurt you?"
The little mapusaurus raised his head slightly and stared at him again. Despite the fear, fury still dominated his gaze. Anger radiated his pupils as if it were fire. If he hadn't been tied up, he would have tried to bite him again.
Adam knew he couldn't let him go. He knew he would have returned. He knew he would never have given up. One day, he would have come to take his revenge. He would have attacked when they least expected it, and he would have killed someone.
Adam knew this because if someone had taken a member of his family away from him he himself would not have had peace until he had found and killed the culprit.
The little mapusaurus could not live. Adam had this choice early on in the past. He had killed Shenhada for this. What was the difference? That the one in front of him was just a cub this time?
The cubs grew. And that cub would have become one of the most dangerous predators on Earth. A predator who would have waited for the right moment to strike, even at the cost of growing old in the meantime, never stopping until he had killed his entire family.
Adam knew it, yet he didn't have the strength to kill him. His hands, which had torn apart creatures a hundred times larger, lost energy when they had to touch the little mapusaurus. He didn't want to end such a young life.
That wasn't a line he wanted to cross.
But he had to.
"I'm just a man
Who's trying to defend his home,
And during all these years
This is the only way I've known!
I'm just a man
Who's fighting for his life;
Deep down, I know I would destroy the world
To protect my children and wife!
I'm just a man..."
The little mapusaurus narrowed his eyes, not at all affected by those words. Adam, on the other hand, closed his eyes, as if he were unable to bear that gaze.
There was a brief moment of silence.
And then, Adam's eyes widened again. And this time his pupils were cold.
"But when does a comet become a meteor?
When does a candle become a blaze?
When does a man become a monster?"
His hand reached out and grabbed a stone lying nearby, lifting it effortlessly. It was a large stone, weighing at least ten kilos, and the edges were hard and sharp. Adam's fingers tightened around it, opening a few cracks on its surface.
"When does a ripple become a tidal wave?
When does the reason become the blame?
When does a man become a monster?"
He stood up to his full height and lifted the stone, placing it directly above the head of the young mapusaurus. Now he just had to let her go, and let gravity finish the job. Just one movement, and then that little dinosaur would no longer have been a danger to anyone. And this time, he couldn't have paralyzed himself before delivering the final blow, because it would have been the rock that delivered it.
The young mapusaurus and Adam looked at each other again. The first man looked at himself in the dinosaur's resentful eyes, and he instead saw the determined but at the same time sad ones of his. An eye contact that lasted perhaps an instant, perhaps a thousand years; time had stopped making sense in their heads.
Adam gritted his teeth. He seemed to see the other mapusaurs he had killed surround him and stand in front of the cub, as if they wanted to defend him. They ran in circles around them, disembodied but still there, and they were roaring those same words in his ears.
"When does a comet become a meteor?
When does a candle become a blaze?
When does a man become a monster?"
Adam gritted his teeth; his grip on the rock trembled slightly.
"Forgive me..."
The shadows of the other mapusaurs seemed to gather before him, staring directly into his eyes. Their gaze seemed to contain pure flames, and Adam wouldn't have been surprised to see the grass start to burn. He could almost feel their hot breath on his face as they roared at him.
"When does a man become a monster?"
A small tear rolled down Adam's right cheek.
"Forgive me...!"
The shadows of the other mapusaurs vanished, leaving only the cub in front of him. And that cub had the same fiery look in his eyes as the ghosts of his family.
The same hatred, the same anger. Even in the face of death, that was the only expression he could show.
He almost seemed to invite him to do so.
Adam took a deep breath, and a final strangled sentence emerged from his mouth.
"I'm just a man..."
And finally his fingers moved, letting go of the rock.
There was a thud.
Adam felt something warm wet his clothes.
Some thunder sounded in the distance and the wind rose strong, while Earth suffered from such a cruel act.
And then, nothing else.
Adam finally looked down, looking at the blood on his dress and the body of the little mapusaur on the ground, whose skull had been completely crushed by the rock. He removed it delicately, revealing the cub's now crushed head. He had certainly died instantly, without suffering.
Adam bit his lip.
Finally... he had done it.
He had killed such a small and young life...
No… he had eliminated a future threat.
Yes. He had to focus on that. He shouldn't have thought otherwise...
He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he turned. Cain and Abel were standing next to him, and the latter was looking at him with compassionate eyes. He almost seemed worried about him. "Father?" he asked him. "Are you okay?"
Notes:
Although I expect all of you already know it (if not you are heretics) the song here is "I'm just a man" by Epic the Musical, perfect for the role given that the situation is very similar (and yes, it seems absurd but there have been cases of cubs who, once they lost their parents, if they survived until adulthood developed a visceral hatred towards the animals that had killed them, to the point of chasing them all their lives. Revenge is not just a human thing). As for the names, Teka means "thorn" in Hebrew (in reference to the stegosaur thagomizer) and Shayarion means "armor" (since the ankylosaurus was the closest thing to a tank that nature ever produced). As for mapusaurs, they are one of the dinosaurs for which we have the greatest evidence of pack hunting (along with giganotosaurus and tyrannosaurus), given that we found the remains of seven individuals all together; this allowed them to take down even megasauropods such as the Argentinosaurus (with which they shared the habitat). It is unknown what their hunting strategy was; unlike the tyrannosaurus which is now thought to have had complex strategies like wolves and lions, in the case of the mapusaur (as well as the giganotosaurus) paleontologists are still uncertain whether it used such complex strategies or simply were opportunistic gregarious like crocodiles and monitor lizards. However, the new technologies that have allowed the partial reconstruction of the brain of the giganotosaurus show that, although it was not at the level of the tyrannosaurus, it still possessed a good intelligence that would have allowed a certain complexity in hunting, and given its close relation with the mapusaurus it is not unlikely that it had the same characteristics. In any case, a herd of these dinosaurs was an absolute nightmare: imagine a group of lions, but as big as elephants if not bigger, and each member of the herd is a walking arsenal.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 34): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162014
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 88: Open arms
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam turned his head slightly and saw Cain and Abel approaching him. "What are you doing here? Didn't you go home?"
"Mom asked us to come see what you were doing" Abel replied with a sad look. His wound had been dressed, and there was now an actual bandage on it.
Cain was more lively: "I was sure everything was fine, Father" he told Adam with a broad smile. "Now the threat is no longer there, and it's all thanks to you. We can sleep peacefully..."
"Cain" Abel interrupted him.
His brother glared at him, clearly not liking that he had stopped him: "What?"
"Stop talking" Abel told him simply.
Cain was a little offended by these words, but then Abel signaled him to look carefully at their father's face. It was then that the eldest son realized that Adam had a rather tense expression, demonstrating his inner turmoil. He realized that she had used little tact with him: "Yes... Dad, sorry, I understand that it was difficult. But it was the right thing to do"
Adam didn't answer him, continuing to look at the body of the dead young mapusaurus. Abel, unlike his brother, took a stick and dug a small hole with it; such work would normally have taken at least an hour, especially if done with such a crude tool, but thanks to his powerful muscles he finished it in a few minutes. Once this was done he took the body of the young mapusaurus and placed it in the hole.
"What are you doing?" Cain protested. “Do you want to throw it away like this?”
"His flesh is still too stringy to eat," Abel pointed out. "Let his body nourish the worms of the earth instead of rotting"
“We can still use it!” Cain replied. “We should gut it, take the skin to make fabric, or the guts to make bungee cords…!”
"No" Adam said simply.
Cain turned red. "But Dad...!"
"Let at least him rest in peace" Adam told him as he stood up. His face was cold again, but there was a note of pity in his eyes. "We have seven more from which you can take all the materials you want. They're enough"
Cain clearly would have much preferred to take everything he could from even that little animal, but he didn't dare contradict his father's wishes, and so he got away with it. Abel put the young mapusaurus in the hole and Adam started to cover it again with earth, but his son stopped him and told him to wait, and then went back towards the house. Adam and Cain waited for him, and after a few minutes he returned with a bag on his shoulders, and poured its contents into the hole: in it there were the keratin plaques present on the snouts of the seven adult mapusaurs. "What are you doing?" Cain asked him.
“At least they will be together in death” Abel answered him, and then motioned to his father to cover the hole, and he poured the loose earth over it, and then flattened it with his hands. Cain made a disapproving noise, but again did not complain.
Having buried the young mapusaurus, the three of them returned to the house. The enormous carcasses of the slain mapusaurs, now missing their horns, made the landscape decidedly eerie, and some vultures and other scavengers were already flying overhead. Cain pointed out that they should move them immediately, so that not even a piece of their meat ended up in the belly of some other animal, but Adam did not listen to him and so they returned to the house.
As soon as they returned they found Eve continuing to calm the other children; she had them sit on the floor of a room and stood between them so they could lean on her and feel comforted. Haver was there with them and walked from side to side to let the children dive into his fur and therefore feel safe, and he wagged his tail and nuzzled each of them. As soon as Adam, Abel and Cain entered, the wolf barked and immediately went to greet them, and Eve and all the children immediately turned to look at them. "It's okay" Adam told them. "It's over now"
Eve gave him a sad look, and she led him to a chair where he sat. As soon as he sat down, at least three of the little girls in the room moved to his lap, and several others moved to his legs. "You can rest assured" he announced. "Such a big herd of predators requires a large territory, so it is likely that they will have chased away all other competitors in the vicinity. Now that they are dead we will not see other predators for a long time. From tomorrow I will start building a wall, so they will no longer come near our house"
His children seemed a little less scared at those words. Seeing their father so calm even in that situation gave them a feeling of security. Adam had always been a rock in their eyes, impossible to scratch, and even after what had happened he showed no fear: this was enough to make them feel protected. Only Eve, who knew her husband like the back of her hand, knew how deeply troubled he actually was. "Dad, I don't want to leave the house anymore" one of the little girls on his lap murmured.
Adam rubbed her hair, and she almost seemed to curl into his hand. "Azura, I know you're scared" he said to her. "But you have no reason to be so. The worst is over. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again"
Azura sniffed: "Really...?"
"Yes. As soon as I rest I will go into the forest and explore it inch by inch" Adam replied to her. "If there is anything that could pose a danger to you, I will eliminate it, and we won't have to worry about it for a while"
Abel suddenly slammed his hand on the wall, startling everyone except Cain and their parents. "Really!? That's what you're going to do!? You're going to go kill more innocent creatures!?" he exclaimed angrily. “How can you act like that!?”
"Abel, don't you dare talk to your father like that!" Eve scolded him with a stern look.
But Abel didn't listen to him. "You just killed a cub who didn't do anything to us! He could have survived! You killed him, and now, not even half an hour after his death, you're sitting here contemplating what else you're going to kill in the next few hours!? You too, Mom, why the fuck are you this calm...!?"
“Hold your tongue, boy!” Adam screamed.
Abel immediately shut up, realizing he had crossed one line too many. Adam may have been about to get up, but Eve leaned on him to hold him back, and he remained seated. "This world is dangerous and surviving in it is difficult. In these situations some of us must remain clear-headed" he told his son. "Don't mistake my coldness or your mother's calmness for indifference. Deal with your pain as you like, but leave me to mine"
Abel lowered his head: "Yes, father. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that"
Adam let out a deep snort, and sat back in his chair, sure that the conversation was over... too bad it had only just begun, because Cain missed no opportunity to say: "You're right to be sorry, brother. Stop bothering Dad like he's done something wrong"
Abel glared at him: "Dad just wanted to protect us, I know, but that little mapusaurus could live! It wasn't necessary to kill him, I could take care of him and raise him like all our other animals!"
"Sure, and maybe one day we would have had a five-ton predator in the backyard ready to wag his tail whenever he would have seen us" Cain replied rhetorically. "Dream less, brother"
Seeing that the situation was heating up, their siblings tried to mediate. "Come on, guys, I don't see any point in arguing..." Seth told them.
But of course his two older brothers didn't listen to him. "You're an idealistic fool, brother" Cain continued to say. "Do you think the world is all sunshine and rainbows? That one day we can all go into the forest together to pick strawberries with the tyrannosaurs?"
"I know very well that the world is dangerous" Abel replied. "I'm not a fool, Cain. I'm not as smart and cunning as you, but I'm not an idiot either. I know that sooner or later both you and I will have to kill, and I'm not afraid to do it"
"Then why are you complaining?" Cain snapped. "If you know that killing these creatures is something inevitable, why feel pity for them?"
"Because there's no point in causing unnecessary suffering!" Abel answered him. "It's one thing to kill in defense or to eat. Killing what you can't defend, or killing something just because it might be a problem in the future... it's not necessity, it's cowardice. It's refusing to face the problem, to try every possible means before you get to that point"
Cain let out a nervous laugh. "Interesting. So you're saying our father acted like a coward? Is that what you think of him?"
Abel narrowed his eyes. "I never thought anything like that. What I said was that killing that little dinosaur was wrong!"
"Enough!" Eve screamed, silencing them both. The woman had taken on a furious expression. "You degenerate sons, do these seem like conversations to have to you!? Don't you realize that your father suffered in killing that poor cub who had never hurt anyone, and now he just wants a bit of human understanding!? Stop this now! If you really want to argue, then go to do it outside this house, but in that case don't expect to be able to come back before tomorrow morning!"
Abel and Cain bit their lips: "Mother..."
"Don't argue!" Eve immediately stopped them with a cold look. "Either you stop act like children, or you get out of this house! The choice is yours!"
Silence fell in the room for a few minutes, so much so that even the air seemed to have solidified. No one dared contradict their mother's authority. But then Adam stood up: "There's no need. I'll go out"
Eve turned to him: "Adam, don't…!"
"We need to get the bodies into storage before they start to rot or the vultures will eat them" Adam told her. "Might as well get to work straight away"
Eve gave a rather disturbing glare at her eldest sons, and seemed to shout at them 'we'll have a long talk later' with her gaze, but still she kept her cool: "Okay, I'm coming with you. Kids, don't go out. And don't fight!"
And with those words Adam and Eve left the house, closing the door behind them. They headed towards the dead mapusaurs and began dragging them towards the warehouse, so as to put them in the fridge to preserve them as much as possible. "We can use the bones to make some tools, and the soft tissue to make bungee cords and other useful things" Adam commented as they finished. "As for meat, we now have plenty of it. We can be sure that we will feed the family for a few years"
Eve took his arm: "Adam, we need to talk"
Adam sighed. "I know" he murmured. "After what happened the children will be scared for a long time. Tonight they will probably insist on sleeping with us..."
"You know that's not what I want to talk about" Eve told him, looking him straight in the eyes. "It's just you and me now. You don't have to be a rock anymore"
Adam inspired deeply. His wife clung to him even tighter. "I had to do it" he told her. "That cub told me, he would have come back one day. I saw the hate in his eyes. It's not the first time I've killed an animal thirsty for revenge, you know"
"Yes, and I don't blame you for that" Eve told him. "I'm not asking you to talk with me because I want to reproach you, but because I want to help you. Let me take the suffering from you"
Adam looked down, and he wrapped his arms around her. “He was still… so young” he murmured. "He never did anything to deserve his death... he had a few months at most. And I had to kill him. His life was all he had, and I took it from him. And it was hard... it felt like I was back to the first time I killed something... and that scares me. How long will it take me this time to stop feeling these emotions? How long will it take me... before it becomes easy for me to kill such young and innocent creatures too?". His hands' grip on Eve's body became firmer: "What will be the next step? What other aberrant actions will become easy for me to do...?"
Eve stopped his words by placing her lips on his; Adam was a little taken aback by this, but it didn't take him long to return the kiss. His wife let him taste her well, and then, when they had to part for air, she looked at him with extremely sweet eyes. "Don't think about it" she told him. "Enter your home and leave these worries outside. The battle is over, a new day can begin. Whatever we will be forced to do tomorrow, or how easy such actions will be for us, is a tomorrow's problem. Now go to hug and play with your children, and enjoy the warmth that those kids give you every time you watch them smile. Let them sit on your lap, involve you in their entertainment, ask you to pick them up. And when the evening comes, sit at the table and have dinner with your family, and then come to the bedroom with me. Fall asleep in my arms and dream only beautiful things. I can take the suffering from you"
Adam felt his heart warm at those words. He took his wife by the chin and brought her even closer to him, until their foreheads touched. "I don't know what I would do without you" he whispered to her.
Eve's smile widened: "Then forget the weight in your soul and kiss me..."
Just at that moment the door reopened and Abel left the house, with Cain in tow trying to hold him back. He immediately blushed as he saw his parents' position: "Um... sorry, were you...?"
"Don't ask any questions" Adam told him immediately, moving away from Eve. "Indeed, didn't your mother tell you not to leave the house?"
"I tried to hold him back, but he doesn't listen!" Cain grumbled as he too went out. Their other siblings crowded around the door so they could see what was happening.
Abel went in front of his parents and bowed his head respectfully: "Father, I ask your forgiveness for my words earlier. I shouldn't have behaved that way. I was angry and my anger made me act shamefully. You are right to be angry with me and I will accept the punishment if you want to give me one. But please, listen to what I have to say to you"
Adam was a little surprised, and looked at Eve; she seemed irritated that her son had disobeyed her, but she nodded to him anyway. So he replied: "Okay. I'm listening"
Abel raised his head. "Father, you did what you thought was right for the family, and for that I cannot blame you. Your actions were for us, and you shouldered a great responsibility. I recognize that you are willing to do everything for us, and I am grateful" he told him. "But please, the next time you find a cub, whatever species it is, bring it to me. Let me raise it"
Adam sighed. "Abel, you know I can understand animals. That cub..."
"He hated us, I know" Abel interrupted him. “Even without understanding his words, I still understood his emotions. But I was still ready to take responsibility for all his future actions, and I still am ready"
"You don't know what you're talking about" Adam told him. "Think about your..."
"I know that little cub was a danger to the family" Abel interrupted him again. "But this is no reason for me to back down. If necessary, I would have taken him away from here, and I would have raised him away from my brothers and sisters. I would have raised him to the best of my ability, making sure to calm the hatred in his heart, and if I failed I would have kept him away from here, even if it meant never sleeping and watching over him every single moment of the day"
Both Adam and Eve were a little surprised by those strong words. Abel wasn't talking nonsense: the tone of his voice showed that he was sure of what he was saying. He was really ready to do all this. "Why are you acting like this?" they asked him.
Abel inspired deeply. "Because I can't bear that the father and mother who raised me with so much love accumulate more guilt in their hearts. And in the same way I don't want any of my siblings to have the same weight" he replied to them. "This is how I want to help the family. Give me this and give me the young animals that you think might be a problem in the future. Next time, allow them to live another day. I firmly believe that a small act of kindness can sometimes move even the heart filled with the purest hatred"
Adam shook his head, “You could be wrong"
“Yes" Abel confirmed. "But I still want to try. If this means give another chance to such a young life, I will try as many times as necessary"
Adam and Eve had to admit they were impressed by their son's determination. For a moment they hesitated, not knowing how to answer him. Seeing this, Cain became angry: "Dad, Mom, won't you say yes to him, right? This fool will raise a predator in our house!"
Even their other siblings, more out of fear than solidarity, agreed with him. "It's true! Why do you want this, Abel?" Seth asked him.
But Abel turned towards them. "Come out of the house" he invited them. "I know you are afraid. I am afraid too. But we cannot make fear our brake. If we let ourselves be dominated only by fear, we will carry out bad actions... and we will miss the opportunity to experience many beautiful things. Imagine one of those mapusaurs, but instead of hunting us, it stays at our side and is as affectionate as Haver. She was ready to die for you today, why do you think that another animal cannot do the same?"
"But Haver isn't dangerous" his siblings protested.
"Really?" Abel retorted, and he called the wolf to him, who went wagging her tail towards him, and delicately raised her lips, showing her fangs. "Look. These are the weapons of a meat-eater. If Haver had grown up in the wild, we would have to beware of her just as we beware of all other predators. But instead she loves us and even if she were dying of hunger she wouldn't hurt a hair of our hair. By taking her among us we have gained a friend. Why couldn't we find a friend in all the other creatures in this world, when it's enough to show them kindness to win their heart?"
His siblings looked at each other unsurely, and then slowly followed his advice and walked out of the house, even though they still had a lot of fear in their eyes. Cain let out an angry snort: "You act like you think we can make friends with all the animals in this world and live without fearing them"
"Because we can, brother" Abel answered him.
Cain shook his head: "No, we can't. There are rules that run this world, the strong prey on the weak. It's bad, but that's the way things are. And we can't change the world"
"You're wrong, brother. We have the power to change the world, and it's right here" Abel told him, touching his forehead. "Our intelligence, our inventiveness, our superior thinking, gives us the power to change the destiny of life on this world. Imagine what we can create. All of you, try!" he said looking at his entire family. "Imagine a world where we humans grow all kinds of plants, taking care of them and making sure they never lack nourishment, and once harvested we give them to herbivorous animals, and they in exchange give us their wool, their scales, their unfertilized eggs, their strength when it comes to work, their love. And then, when one of them dies of old age or illness, we keep the meat, which we gradually distribute to predators, who in turn they will guarantee us protection, help and love. A world where suffering is not the only way"
Cain was speechless for a moment. For a few seconds he seemed to contemplate his brother's words... but then he let out a grunt: "What you say is a utopia. It can't work"
"But it can. We've already made it, right here" Abel responded by reaching down and petting Haver. "Look: she is a wolf, predator par excellence, yet she would never dream of killing one of us. She is sweet and affectionate, and will do anything to protect us; if mother had no milk for our sibling newborn, she would not hesitate to offer her breasts. She would allow me to take her fur if I was cold, and she would not hesitate to fight against the most powerful dinosaur to save our lives. By bringing this wolf among us and agreeing to share our food with her, Dad gave us not a terrible threat, but a friend. And the same goes for all our other animals. All of them have never given us anything but love"
"Yes, but that's just a wolf" Cain pointed out. "You propose to feed every animal in this world. How do you plan to do it? Do you have any idea how much a tyrannosaurus eats? And all of them...?"
"I'm not saying it will be easy, brother. In fact, it will be extremely difficult" Abel told him. "But step by step, we can make it happen. It will take generations, we will probably never see this realized, but if we and our children continue to pursue this dream consistently we can make it a reality. With every act of compassion we can earn a friendship. And slowly, using your agriculture our descendants will cultivate entire forests and make them more lush than ever, and no herbivorous animal will have to fight for food anymore, and since there will be so many of them, many will die of old age and will be able feed all the carnivores. We can be their guardians, not just their enemies; we can guide them towards a new path, teach them to live in harmony again... and repair what has been broken with effort and dedication"
Cain remained silent. He was a person with great practical sense and saw immediate benefits; he had no chance of winning such an abstract, future-oriented argument. But despite this, he himself couldn't help but wonder if what his brother was saying was true or even possible. From his point of view, pursuing such a dream was ridiculous, it meant wasting a lot of time and resources when they could live well simply not caring about everything else, but still he had to admit in his heart that there was logic in Abel's words. Even if it took an excessively long time, that project really had the possibility of working if pursued with care.
Seeing him uncertain, Abel put a hand on his shoulder. The two brothers looked straight into each other's eyes. “We don't have to be just like this, brother” Abel told him. "We don't have to be ruthless. We can be better"
Cain let out a sigh. “The way we live now is safer”
"No. It's easier" Abel corrected him. "It's faster, less treacherous. But if a road is long and difficult, that doesn't mean it's the wrong one". He also put his other hand on his shoulder: "Why don't you even want to try, my brother?"
Cain did not respond, remaining in profound silence. Seeing them like this, their other siblings started pulling at their clothes. “Is it really possible to not be afraid anymore, big brother?” Seth asked Abel.
"If only we believe in it, we can do it" Abel replied. "We can't wipe out all the evil in the world, but we can make sure that no one has any reason to do harm anymore. We can make everyone happy again, if only we'll greet the world with open arms"
Adam and Eve looked at each other, and both could see the doubt in the other's gaze. Neither of them wanted to have foolish illusions, but... what Abel said could perhaps really be true. They couldn't help but wonder in their hearts if there was truly a chance of recreating the ancient harmony that had permeated the world before the Fall.
They could almost imagine it: a world where humans used their knowledge to cultivate all possible plants, preventing them from accumulating too much, obscuring others and preventing their growth, giving them water in periods of drought, and planting several each year to prevent them from absorbing too many nutrients from the soil. They could see increasingly larger herds made up of different species that ate freely from the plants, following the directives of humans who told them which ones were appropriate to eat and which ones they should leave alone because they were still too young and immature. And with all those animals, humans could take those that died and cook them, preserve the meat by using their intelligence and knowledge to create coolers, and then distribute it equally to them and the carnivores. Perhaps, with the gradual rediscovery of technology, they could learn to use molecular physics to create meat without needing another animal to die. With the advancement of medicine they could cure diseases of both plants and animals. They could completely transform the Earth into a new garden, which although it could never be as beautiful as Eden had been, still had the opportunity to be magnificent.
A little hope found its way into their hearts. Was it possible that this was exactly what God expected of them when He had abandoned them on Earth? Did He want humans themselves, those who had unleashed suffering into the world, to remember their role as guides and protectors, and to work to truly repair what had been broken?
Could it be that God expected humanity even in that situation to prove that they were His best creation, and one day He would have returned to Earth, and when humans asked him to free them from suffering He would have replied that they had already done it by themselves, and were therefore worthy of His forgiveness, and could once again enjoy all the blessings promised to them at the beginning of time?
Could it be... that that was really His intent all along...?
Abel smiled at them all. "I know that sometimes we must do harm" he said, looking specifically at Cain. "But we don't always have to do it. We have the power to change and protect this world, and therefore we have the responsibility of it. If we really want it, there is no goal we can't achieve. Humanity is capable of doing everything. Why limit ourselves to destroy when we can create? Why stain ourselves with sadness and guilt when we can open our hearts and do our best to give happiness?"
Adam looked at his hands, barely moving his fingers. He could still feel the heat of the body of the young mapusaurus on them. His blood pooled with that of countless other creatures he had killed in the past. And after years, he was starting to feel something new deep in his heart. Eve placed a hand on his chest, looking at him intently, as if she too were wondering if it was really possible to free herself from that weight.
Abel smiled and walked towards them, and took his father's right hand in his, and his mother's left. Both could feel the grip of his fingers, which although not as strong as theirs, were still robust, but did not seem made for crushing, but on the contrary the warm palms seemed suitable for caressing. They were the perfect combination of Adam's strong hands and Eve's soft hands.
"You can relax, Mom, Dad"
They both looked at Abel, confused by what he had just said.
"Huh?"
Abel pulled them towards him, forcing them to stand. As soon as they were standing he placed his hands on their shoulders and squeezed them lovingly.
"I can tell you're getting nervous,
So do yourself a service
And try to relax, Mom, Dad"
Adam pulled away, and he turned on the other side. Eve was a little uncertain, but when she saw him do this she let go of her son and put her hands on her husband's shoulders, clearly feeling his tense muscles. It wasn't hard to tell that he was upset, but Adam still shook his head.
"I'm fine, boy"
But it was clear that it wasn't. His children clearly noticed this, and in fact the younger girls came to cling around his legs, as if they wanted to comfort him. Adam looked down and saw Aclima's blue eyes staring intently at him as she huddled around his right knee along with her sisters Azura and Deborah, and he could see the concern for him in them. Even in their youthful innocence, the children were able to tell when their father was tense.
Cain had assumed an uncertain expression; he seemed to want to say something to console his father, but at the same time he wasn't sure what he should do. But Abel patted him on the shoulder and looked at him encouragingly, as if he wanted to give strength and courage to his brother, and then turned back to his parents.
"Think of all that we have been through,
We'll survive what we get into"
Abel reached down and picked up some of his siblings, lifting them onto his shoulders, and started shaking them, trying to make them smile. And as he did so he began to pirouette around himself, and almost began to dance, taking Seth and Calmana with his free hands to spin around with them.
"I know that you're tired of fight and bloodshed;
Tell me, is this how we're supposed to live?
Look at how you grip your fists enough said,
Why should we take when we could give?
You could show to someone that you trust them
When you stop and lower your guard!
Here we have a chance for some adjustment,
Give it a try, it's not that hard;
I'm telling you..."
And with those words he stared intently at his parents, and a wonderful smile formed on his face, more beautiful than any they could remember seeing in years.
"This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms!"
Abel took his mother's hand and pulled her towards him, starting to dance with her in the meadow. Seeing this, his siblings, who were already following him in the song, also started dancing around them. Eve was taken aback for a moment, but then she couldn't help herself and started laughing, unable to resist the rhythm.
"Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart!"
Eve burst out laughing even more, and her children, seeing their mother so happy, couldn't help but smile and rejoice too. Abel let her go and she started dancing with the other children, while he looked back at Adam and Cain.
"No matter the place, we can light up the world,
Here's how to start:
Greet the world with open arms,
Greet the world with open arms!"
But Adam pulled away and almost pushed him away with a grunt, as if he was afraid that his touch could burn him.
"We can't. Stay back!"
Abel stopped, but did not stop smiling; on the contrary, he gave him a sympathetic look and raised his arms as if inviting him to hug him.
"Father, please, greet the world with open arms!"
Adam shook his head and clenched his fists tightly.
"We need to do this for food"
But Abel didn't give up and raised his arms even more.
"We don't have to give harm for food"
Adam clenched his fists even tighter. Again, the image of a world in harmony where all creatures worked together to feed everyone rose into his mind. But he still resisted.
"One hundred and forty children needs protection against this cruel fates"
But Abel still didn't give up.
"We can protect ourselves together"
Adam took a step back, an action he wouldn't normally have taken even in the face of the most ferocious predator.
"Stay back, I'm warning you!
In this way we are safe, otherwise the animals will turn this place into blazes...!"
Abel grabbed his hands and pulled him towards him, and looked at him with bright, encouraging eyes.
"Or they can help us. Am I wrong?"
Adam's voice died in his throat. Again, looking at his son's eyes so full of hope, he felt his heart warm. A feeling of peace he hadn't felt over him in years seemed to envelop him, pushing away the weight of all the lives he had destroyed.
And then, albeit slowly, he nodded slightly.
Abel's face seemed to grow even brighter.
"See?"
Abel dragged his father among the rest of their family, and after a couple of turns threw him into his mother's arms; Adam and Eve found themselves on top of each other, and she smiled at him and rested her head in his chest, just as she had done when they were in Eden. This warmed Adam's heart even more, and he finally kissed her and began to dance with her among their children, while Abel continued to run among them, pirouetting like an expert juggler.
"This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms!
Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart!
No matter the place, we can light up the world,
Here's how to start:
Greet the world with open arms,
Greet the world with open arms!
Even though all his siblings and parents were having fun dancing together, Cain still remained on the sidelines. From his look he seemed to want to follow them, but still remained behind. Seeing this, Abel approached him and invited him to join them, but Cain shook his head with a sigh.
"My brother, I wish that I could say that I agree,
But how can we stop the animals to eat our crops and stomp on our seeds?
Sooner or later we'll run out of what we need to eat,
And those beasts will show no gentleness and never let us free!
That's what we'd get with open arms"
And having said this Cain turned away and walked away; Abel tried to call him back, but his brother ignored him and went to sit on a rock far from the house, staring at the surrounding panorama as if he didn't even want to look at that joy. But Abel didn't give up: he knew that Cain was only afraid of believing in something beautiful and being disillusioned afterwards. That had always been his brother's big problem, too much logic and not enough heart; but he was also a great strength, and Abel knew that all he had to do was actually prove to him that he was right. So he turned back to Adam and Eve.
"My dear parents, I'd like to prove my brother that kindness is brave;
You know that I'm not very good with ideas, so please can you help me show him the way?"
Eve stopped dancing for a moment and put on a thoughtful expression to help her son, and then she looked at her husband with an encouraging smile, beckoning him with her eyes. Adam hesitated for a moment, realizing what she was suggesting, and had a doubt; his body stiffened a little. But then he thought back to Abel's words and looked at his children so happy, and he too couldn't help but feel encouraged by all that joy. Eve placed her hand on his chest, at the level of his heart, and she could feel his strong beating; he buried his face in her voluminous hair and kissed her forehead, and then, albeit with great effort, he chose to follow the path that his son was suggesting and his wife was inviting him to take.
"This way"
Their children were surprised by his sudden order, but they obeyed him and followed their parents. Adam and Eve led them to the edge of the forest; the children were hesitant for a moment, knowing how dangerous the world outside that border was, but then, when Eve encouraged them to follow, they obeyed her. Adam knew the right path to avoid the dangerous animals, and in fact they encountered no problems until the little house in the clearing. Lucifer was perched on the roof and as soon as he saw them he immediately came down, and called Lilith who as soon as she heard him left the house. Both were surprised to see them arrive. "Guys...?"
Adam said nothing, but it was not his usual cold silence. It was Eve who spoke up: "You wanted to meet the children, didn't you?" she said to them, then she turned to her sons and daughters: "My sweethearts, these are your uncles. Aunt Lilith and Uncle Lucifer"
Lilith and Lucifer remained silent for a moment longer, and then they both opened their eyes wide and took on an expression of joy; they looked at Adam, who simply went and sat on one of the garden benches and signaled to them that they could finally meet his children. At which Lilith immediately opened her arms: "Hello... children. I'm your aunt"
The children were very unsure of how to behave, given that they had never before met other human beings or even those capable of speaking. Cain and Abel, being the eldest, were the only ones who knew the story of their parents, and so they were somewhat confused to find before them the two people who appeared as the villains in the stories, but Eve explained to them: "They have lived here next to us since you were born, Cain. Your father and I had decided to give them a little another chance. And after all these years of doing well... I think it's time you got to know them too"
Cain took on a grim expression: it was clear that he was tense and suspicious as usual, and he stood in front of his siblings. Lilith and Lucifer were a little put off by this behavior, but then Abel stepped forward, again with a smile on his face.
"Such good words! So you say that's finally time to leave behind the old beef?
Aunt and uncle, can you let us in your garden so we could feast?"
Cain looked at him as if he thought he was crazy, but then Lucifer took flight and snapped his fingers; in an instant, the entire garden was decorated as if a party was ready. The fallen angel moved his hands and generated powerful beams of light that danced in the air creating beautiful plays of color. Lucifer then looked at the children and made colorful streamers appear on them, smiling in his usual goofy way.
"Come, have fun!"
Of course, any confusion the children had instantly vanished when faced with the exotic entertainment they had never seen. Even Cain couldn't help but be struck by those plays of light, with the result that he lowered his guard, letting his brothers and sisters swarm into the garden to play. Without being noticed by his brother Abel he looked at him with a satisfied smile, and then he lowered his head with gratitude.
"Thank you!"
A wide smile formed on Lilith's face, and she looked like she was about to cry with joy.
"Welcome!"
And after Lilith had said that last word, Eve grabbed her arm and dragged her among the children. Within seconds the two women found themselves swamped by them, and they both found themselves laughing like they hadn't in years. Two of the girls even brought Lilith a crown of flowers, which she gladly accepted, feeling her heart warm as she hugged them.
Abel put his arm around his brother's neck and pulled him towards him with a broad smile, giving him a few pats on the chest, and looked at his family having fun with extreme satisfaction. "Tell me, brother, have you ever seen such beautiful plays of light and magic? Have you ever seen our siblings having such fun? Would you have ever seen them if Mom and Dad hadn't finally decided to no longer fear their old enemies?"
Cain remained silent, but for once he didn't try to free himself from his grip. Abel took this as a good sign and started singing again, this time addressed only to him.
"This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms,
Listen to me, brother, don't let just guilt inside your heart;
Why not replace it and light up the world,
Here's how to start:
Greet the world with open arms,
Greet the world with open arms!"
Adam looked at his children, finally so happy despite what had happened a few hours earlier, intent on swarming around Lilith who was trying in vain to remain standing even though they continued to run between her legs with the result of making her lose her balance and fall to the ground laughing, with Eve smiling and telling her that she would have gotten used to it sooner or later. Lucifer sat down next to him and gave him a broad smile, and in his eyes the first man could see deep gratitude, and then, like an old friend, he took another rubber duck out of his pocket and handed it to him as a gift to be proud of.
In that instant, it seemed to him that nothing had ever happened. They were still in Eden, happy as before, and no evil fruit had ever caused problems. They were still there, immersed in eternal bliss, and their only worry was finding a new game to play.
And perhaps it was precisely for this reason that without hesitation he took the rubber duck from Lucifer's hands; the fallen angel looked happier than ever and patted him on the shoulder. Adam looked at the toy: it was a yellow duck, the same color of the duck he had used to mark his territory so many years before, and strangely it had a tuft of hair very similar to his. A very silly design that, honestly, he absolutely would have expected from Lucifer.
He let out a sigh. Maybe Abel really was right. Perhaps, if they all worked together, and believe in that dream, they could truly build a harmonious world again. Maybe they could once again have at least a little slice of the happiness they once had.
"Greet the world with open arms..."
Abel was still busy holding Cain, who was finally smiling a little, in a warm embrace, but still he heard his father say those words, and it made him turn his gaze towards him. Father and son stared into each other's eyes, and the latter gave him an encouraging smile.
"You can relax, Dad"
Adam smiled back. Maybe, he thought as he looked at his happy family, it was really time to dream of a bright future again. Perhaps he could actually relax his heart at least a little.
Notes:
Faber: makes Abel sing Open Arms
People who don't know: 😁
People who know: 😭However, to underline what I have already explained in the other chapters, but let's specify it again for those who are too lazy to read the notes or to interpret these chapters as something other than "Adam fighting dinosaurs": Cain and Abel, just like all the adversaries that Adam has faced so far, are the representation of a part of him. Incidentally, their conflict is the same one that Adam is experiencing in his heart, namely the one between realist and idealist.
Cain is a realist, he relies solely on logic. What he is looking for is the simplest and safest immediate solution, not caring about how it will impact others, because the important thing is that he and his family are well. Which means exterminating all predators and enslaving animals for food is right for him. He's basically an extreme bloodsucking capitalist. This doesn't automatically make him bad, but it prevents him from trying to think laterally and seeing solutions that are more difficult and risky, but which bring benefits to everyone and not just a few. He cannot understand that kill a cub for Adam is traumatic since he can hear it talking and, worse still, he is a father and therefore empathizes with it. He sees only an averted threat; he's not wrong, but he's not right either. And because of his confidence in this logic, he is unable to simply accept his brother's more idealistic thoughts, which he in fact tries to crush rather than try to understand.
Abel is an idealist, he relies a lot on feelings. He doesn't have much intelligence, but he has extraordinary empathy. He manages to understand that all living creatures have feelings and for this reason he creates a "higher" thought, inviting humans to build a new Eden with their hands, and not to exploit nature to the point of exhaustion, but rather to protect it and become its protectors as it should have been originally. He knows very well that it is an extremely difficult path, but he is ready to undertake it if it means that one day everyone will be able to live in harmony. He's basically a prehistoric Karl Marx. However, his lack of logic makes him unable to understand the necessity of certain actions, and in fact he cannot understand how his father could kill a puppy. But despite this, his empathy and humility allow him to understand this flaw, and for this very reason he does not try to overwhelm Cain, but on the contrary he tries to learn from him and wants his help.
This is essentially the conflict between the two brothers: Abel has a more idealistic vision and wants to learn from Cain, but Cain has a logical vision and does not want to learn from Abel, thanks to his resentment at having been "usurped" of the sole position of head of the family and the fact that he feels "inferior" to his brother (since he greatly admires his father, but does not have the physical strength, unlike Abel who is very good, which makes him feel at a disadvantage). If Cain had been humble enough to accept his brother's vision and try to work, the history of humanity would have been very different. This conflict of theirs is substantially the same that Adam faces in his heart: on the one hand he still wants to hope that things will go back to the way they were before, on the other he doesn't want to have dangerous illusions and prefers to live protecting only his family; only when Abel encourages him does he have the courage to go against the logic of survival and trust again those who have harmed him in the past (Lilith and Lucifer) enough to let him meet his children. But despite this, just as Cain and Abel did not find their balance, even Adam, despite his very long life, was not able to find his, given that even in the present he shows signs of not having a stable soul.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 35): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159585049
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 89: The betrayal
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie had almost wanted to go and have fun with those people too, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to interact with them. After all those bad memories, that display of family joy had finally warmed her heart a little. A lot, actually. “Your son… is truly extraordinary” she said, looking at Abel, who was continuing to pat Cain on the shoulder.
"Abel has always been the more empathetic one of the two of them" Adam told her. For the first time, his tone was no longer totally cold, but contained a very slight note of nostalgia and sorrow. "He wasn't the most intelligent, but that wasn't essential. He compensated for his reckless nature and his not always brilliant ideas with his good heart. He saw the world with positive eyes, he was convinced that it was possible to change it... and maybe he was right. Maybe it would have been possible, if things had gone well..."
Charlie's smile disappeared immediately. Suddenly she remembered how it had ended between Cain and Abel, and she felt a bitter taste in her mouth. With a lot of hesitation she murmured: "You mean... if the two of them had gotten along?"
Adam nodded. "If only Cain had been able to put aside his sense of superiority and his jealousy... everything would have been different... perhaps. It was a beautiful world that Abel spoke of, and as long as he was alive he tried to realize it. Don't get me wrong, when there was a fight he knew how to assert himself... but when he didn't have to do it he always looked for another way. A bit like you, let's say"
Charlie blushed slightly. She felt a little flattered to be compared to one of the things Adam had loved most, his own son. At the same time, however, in her heart she knew that if Adam had tried from the beginning to change her perception of the world, this could only mean that Abel's philosophy had not worked... and in fact Charlie knew well how his life had ended.
"Eve and I decided to give it a try" Adam continued. "We tried to listen to him... to believe that it was possible to make things right. We tried to help him, but we didn't realize that the more we supported Abel, the more intractable Cain became. You saw how he was before... he was convinced that drastic solutions were always the solution, and seeing the family support a philosophy that from his point of view was destined to fail infuriated him. He refused to see the advantages and to collaborate with Abel. He was willing to create a new world in harmony, but only one in which control would be absolute. And since no one listened to him, he began to isolate himself. This, combined with his anger at having to share his future position as head of the family and his jealousy of his brother's physical strength, only fueled his resentment towards Abel"
Charlie bit her lip: “Just to be prepared… did my parents do anything to fuel his hatred?” she murmured a little tensely.
Adam gave her a steely look, but then he shook his head. "No" he answered. "It's always their fault because of that fucking fruit, but... other than that, I have to give them credit that at least they didn't do something to encourage Cain's actions. With my kids they've always just tried to play the part of good uncles"
Charlie couldn't hold back a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't in danger of seeing her opinion of her parents lowered any further. "After you and Eve introduced them to the family... um... you returned to be... closer, that's it...?"
"We've started to get closer" Adam replied. "I still didn't give them permission to get close to my children while I wasn't there with them. And I didn't often invite them to our house, and I preferred to continue doing things on our own. But every now and then I made some concessions. Eve was much more permissive than me... she seemed really willing to put the past behind her. I was more guarded and cautious, but I still wanted to set a good example, I wanted to listen to Abel and commit to building something good. And my children really liked those two eccentrics uncles who brought them new games every time and taught them something new. With their help, my family prospered. For a while... everything really seemed to be going well"
Charlie sweated a lot. She really wanted to be happy, but there was a lump in her throat. "But...?"
Adam let out a growl, showing his yellow teeth, as if he were a beast ready to tear someone apart. "But even if they didn't do anything to my children, they still found a way to screw everything up. Or rather... your father found it"
The world distorted, and this time it was different: instead of a watery mix of colors and shapes, it was like watching molten metal churning furiously. Charlie felt a shiver down her spine, and her survival instinct kicked in; even though Adam beside her hadn't moved from his position, she could feel the hatred exuding from him, so strong that it seemed capable of taking shape and attacking her. It took all her willpower not to take a step back and away from him.
As the world came together again, they were back in front of Adam's house, which had still grown. Now the hills surrounding it were no longer uniform: on the left side there were enormous cultivated fields, full of the progenitors of what in the future would have become wheat, corn, barley, and even cotton; in the distance there was also an orchard. The right side, however, was left to pasture, and numerous animals were present there, intent on grazing the grass; there were stegosaurs, edmontosaurs, ankylosaurs, some rhinos and elephants, and even the ancestors of what would have become cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. Around them, intent on guarding the border, there were some ceratosaurs and even a couple of carnotaurs, which, despite being so close to herbivores, did not show any predatory instinct and indeed seemed more to protect them than to threaten them. What seemed to be a wall, painstakingly constructed to be tall and strong, could be glimpsed encircling the edge of the land, though it was only a quarter complete, thus leaving most of the area open.
Adam was in front of the house, dressed in rather shabby clothes; it was evident that he had just returned from a hunting trip, since he had a pair of dead protoceratops on his shoulders, and judging from how some of his clothing was torn he must also have clashed with some predator. Cain and Abel left the house to help him; they didn't seem to have aged much, and even their siblings who came out shortly after were very similar to the last memory. But then again, Charlie reminded herself, the years and actual life cycle of humans were different in that era, so it was possible that even a decade had passed when viewed with the perspective of a modern human. “Another great hunt, Dad” Cain told him. "When will you take us with you?"
"Yes, we could be of use to you" Abel said, picking up one of the protoceratops to carry into the warehouse.
"It's not time yet” Adam told them. "Don't rush, boys. When you're ready, I'll teach you everything I know". And having said this he also turned to their other siblings: "Look what else I brought you!"
He opened the bag, and to the surprise of his children (and Charlie, who didn't hold back a cry of tenderness) inside there were three kittens just two months old, sleeping together trying to warm each other. "Ooooh... they are so cute!" Azura exclaimed as soon as she saw them.
"When I arrived, the mother was being eaten by an achillobator" Adam explained to them as he held them up. "They need a home now"
"Let's hope they get along with the wolves!" Calmana said, and she whistled; immediately a dozen wolves appeared almost out of nowhere and surrounded her barking joyfully. Haver had already died some time ago, but her descendants continued to follow the family without ever questioning their loyalty.
Adam's children showed them the kittens, fearing that the wolves would have tried to eat them, but on the contrary they, after an initial moment of confusion, seemed happy and accepted them kindly. And so it was that the cat, man's other great friend, became part of the house. "They're really cute" Seth murmured as he looked at them, and then he stared at his father, "Um... by any chance, did you also manage to find...?"
"No, I didn't find any pterosaur eggs" Adam told him tiredly. "Why do you want them so much?"
“I want to try to raise one!” Seth answered him. "Maybe this is the time I can train it enough to ride it..."
"Again with that bizarre idea, Seth? Wasn't it enough for you to risk being eaten by a hatzegopteryx?" Cain told him with a chuckle.
Seth blushed. "I still want to try again! Abel says you always have to try again when something doesn't work right away!"
Cain's face became dark. "Right. Abel says so..." he grumbled.
"Come on, brother. Let Seth dream" Abel told him, jovial as always. "Maybe he'll actually be able to ride a pterosaur, so don't judge him"
Cain rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything Adam asked: "Where is your mother? Has she not returned yet?"
"No, he's still taking care of Mikor" Abel replied. "He had stomach pain again, so she went to treat him"
Adam nodded. "Okay, I'll go look for her then" he said. "You prepare dinner, I'll be back soon"
His children nodded, and went back into the house; Adam instead headed towards the pastures. Once he got there he started asking the animals where Eve was. "She was kind to treat me" the edmontosaurus named Mikor replied. “When she finished she sat down on that rock over there, sunbathed for a while, and then she got up and went into the forest”
"She didn't tell you where she was going?" Adam asked the dinosaurs. Even though she could no longer understand their language, she still sometimes told the animals to bring her a message when she couldn't do it herself.
They shook their heads. "I tried to follow her, but she told me to go away" one of the ceratosaurs replied. "I think she wanted to be alone"
Adam let out a snort. He was starting to get a little tense. "Okay, I understand. Thanks" he told them, and he headed into the forest to the spot they indicated.
He had to search a bit, and it worried him; even though Eve was totally capable of taking care of herself, it wasn't like her to disappear like that. It wasn't until an hour later that he finally saw a familiar mop of hair leaning against a tree; he called her, but she didn't answer. He called her again, but she still didn't say a word. That silence worried him quite a bit, and he hurried to reach her: "Eve...?"
She still didn't say a word; she didn't even seem to notice that he was next to her. Eve was sitting on the ground, and she was hugging her knees in an almost unnatural way, as if she were trying to curl herself into a ball as much as possible; her face had turned white and she continued to stare at nothing in front of her without even blinking.
With some reluctance Adam tried to touch her shoulder, and clearly felt how tense she was; as soon as he touched her, she almost seemed to jump in the air, and recoiled as if a ferocious beast had touched her. "Eve, what's going on?" he asked her worriedly.
In response, she immediately put her hands on her face. She didn't seem to have the courage to show herself. A few tears ran down her cheeks.
Adam tried to approach her again: "Eve, what's wrong with you? Did something attack you...?" he tried to tell her.
“I… I…” Eve stammered, but her voice caught in her throat.
Adam couldn't understand. Eve's behavior was too unnatural. That paleness on her face, that covering her eyes in shame... it wasn't something he was normally used to associating with her. The only other time he had seen her like this was when they had just lost Eden, but clearly, it wasn't something that could happen again. "Eve, what...?"
She finally looked up at him, an action that seemed to cost her dearly. Their eyes met for just an instant before she snapped them back down again, but enough for Adam to see the guilt that seemed to be almost etched into her pupils. And then she, in a faint voice, stammered: "I... I had sex... with Lucifer"
That confession instantly made Adam's eyes widen. The first man froze, and time seemed to slow before his eyes; every thought of his vanished, replaced by a single question that completely occupied his mind: why?
And then, an answer was given. And his heart seemed to explode with pure fury.
Even though humanity had been stained by sin, it was still in its infancy, and many of the future atrocities had not yet appeared. So young, humans were still foreign to concepts such as murder, theft, torture... or rape. However, Adam, despite not knowing this word at all, had been able to see it in other species while he was hunting them: often the male tried to attract the female, but there were cases in which, if it failed, it then imposed itself on the other animal. The male, favored by its better physical performance, could easily take what it wanted without the female giving its consent. The opposite was also true: Adam had been able to observe insects, spiders and other creatures, in which the female, larger and stronger than the male, could force it to inseminate, and even devoured it afterwards.
It didn't take Adam long to understand that in that world corrupted by sin there was only one law: the one who won took all, regardless of the will of the loser. The strong imposed themselves on the weak. It could eat it, subdue it, or even simply use it as a toy. And in a world dominated by competition and natural selection, creatures that wasted no time and forced females to indulge even if they didn't want it clearly had an advantage in reproduction.
Adam understood this. Even if he was foreign to that concept, it was very simple: what mattered in that world was to reproduce as much as possible and pass the best characteristics to the next generation. Avoiding wasting time courting a female was an advantage. As much as he disliked the practice, he couldn't completely condemn the creatures who chose to practice it. But he had always taken it for granted that the sentient creatures, meaning humans and angels, would always have been free from such instincts, restrained by the power of their reason.
At that precise moment, his belief was completely erased.
He didn't think for a moment that Eve had wanted to have sex with Lucifer. She couldn't have done it, not his Eve. Which left him with only one possible explanation: that same act practiced by animals had also been practiced by two sentient beings.
Lucifer had forced himself on Eve.
This was what the first man's mind registered, and it unleashed something he had never felt. A hatred previously unknown to him, something incomparable with any other emotion. A bloodlust that desperately wanted to be satisfied, equal to the ferocity of a rabid beast.
He didn't waste time asking questions of any kind: his body moved almost automatically, and he started running faster than he had ever moved before. Eve almost couldn't see him move: for her, one moment before he was there, the next moment he was no longer there. Any creature in his path, even the smallest insects, scurried out of the way, knowing that if they didn't he would have passed right through them as if they were nothing.
Before he knew it he had already arrived at Lucifer and Lilith's house. It was there that he saw him: in the garden, intent on feeding the ducks in the pond as if nothing had happened. That vision unleashed even darker fury, and he moved with only one purpose: kill.
He wasn't wavering. For the first time in his life, he just wanted to shed blood. There was no remorse in his heart, no fear, no sorrow: only a cold desire to kill.
Lucifer didn't even see him coming: Adam's fist landed on his left cheek, and it was so violent that the angel was thrown towards the house and broke through all the walls, coming out the other side. The house shook and several parts of it collapsed due to the intense structural damage. Lilith, who at that moment was inside doing who knows what, immediately came out: "What's going on!? What...!?"
The first woman froze as she saw Adam's expression. Never had she thought she would have seen a face like that, certainly not on a human. Adam wasn't even looking at her: he was intent on staring at the spot where Lucifer had been thrown with his pupils filled with anger and hatred. He seemed to have flames engulfing his body.
Lilith had rarely felt truly afraid in her life; the only ones who had given her such a feeling had been God when He had become angry, and the power of the evil fruit when it had been released. On Earth she had never really had to feel afraid, as no one could really hurt her since she was protected by an angel. But at that moment, her body remembered very well what the word fear meant.
Adam advanced towards the other side of the house. Lucifer emerged from the rubble without even a scratch on him, which only irritated the first man more. "Urgh! What the fuck is wrong with you...!?"
“You…” Adam hissed with uncontainable fury. “You dared to touch her!”
Lucifer abandoned his angry expression in favor of a confused one: "What? You didn't know…?"
Adam grabbed his face, pulling him up. His hand would normally have crushed the skull of any other creature, but against Lucifer he couldn't even give him a scratch. But at that moment he didn't care; even if normally faced with an invulnerable opponent he would have rightly studied a way to beat him, now his inability to hurt the angel only served to fuel his fury. "You dared to force her to give you your body! I'll be damned, one way or another I'll tear you to pieces!"
"Force? But she was the one who...!" Lucifer tried to tell him, but Adam slammed him back to the ground and crushed his head under his foot. A roar of pure fury emerged from his mouth as he realized that even with all his strength he was unable to break the angel's bones.
Lilith was completely paralyzed. Never had she thought she would have seen Adam behave so brutally. This wasn't a simple argument, they weren't arguing, he wasn't sulking at them; for the first time ever, only anger and hatred were dominating the first man. His fury was so palpable that every animal for kilometers around rushed to flee, terrified by his screams of rage. Her trembling knees buckled as she saw Adam lift Lucifer and crash him into his knee, clearly trying to break his back with unspeakable brutality, and she collapsed against one of the half-collapsed walls of the house holding her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.
Lucifer let out a grunt, and then he freed himself from the first man's grip. "Listen! I know you're pissed, but…!"
Adam stopped whatever he was saying with a punch to the face. "Shut the fuck up!" he roared, grabbing him by the leg and smashing him ferociously into the ground. Enormous cracks even opened in the rock under the power of the first man.
Lucifer no longer held back and punched him in turn, straight in the stomach; Adam was doubled over in pain. “I want to be heard when I speak!” he shouted at him. "I didn't force her to do anything! She wanted it!"
“Nnnngh… you expect me to believe you, serpent!?” Adam hissed in fury, lunging at him again. The adrenaline in his body pumped like never before, making him almost immune to the pain that was inflicted on him. In his brain there was only one goal: to destroy the person in front of him...
"He tells the truth!"
That voice had the power to stop him; Adam held back his attack and turned. Eve had appeared next to them, sweaty after an obvious run, and she was shaking. Why was she trembling as she looked at him…?
He… was… scaring her?
Why would she be scared of him? He was the one who protected her. He was the one who wanted to defend her. He wanted to avenge her...
Eve took a deep breath, desperately trying to steel herself. She didn't seem to have the strength to get any closer to the first man. "He... he didn't force me... I wanted it" she barely confessed.
Adam finally stopped completely; his expression of fury was replaced by a stunned one. All the hatred and anger vanished in an instant, replaced by a strange feeling of emptiness. “What are you saying…?”
Eve seemed to regain some courage; perhaps now that he no longer seemed angry he scared her less. "I wanted it"
There was a long moment of silence. Adam couldn't believe it. No... he didn't want to believe it. He refused to accept it. Eve would have never betrayed him. "Why...?"
Eve didn't answer him; she never told him why. She simply looked at him with eyes so guilty it was impossible not to recognize them. Even in his disbelief, Adam knew that those were not the eyes of an innocent. Eventually, he was forced to accept reality.
There had been no violence. Eve… had cheated on him.
Why...?
Why her...?
No... Adam, in his heart, knew why.
In the end, Eve too had chosen someone else.
Adam had seen it happen in nature. Females preferred the strongest and most powerful male, the one who gave them greater security. It didn't matter how kind or good the other males were, or how much they tried to make themselves interesting: in the end, the females always went to the best male.
That was exactly what had happened to him. All his work had counted for nothing in the end in Eve's eyes. It hadn't mattered to her that he had saved her. It hadn't mattered that he had chosen to follow her in her exile. It hadn't mattered that he had chosen to grow old, get sick, suffer for her. It hadn't mattered that he had agreed to kill those who had been his friends just to feed her and protect her. It hadn't mattered that he had given her children.
In the end, Eve's feminine instincts had chosen the best male anyway.
And as a man, Adam could only feel this as the greatest humiliation.
At that moment, he knew he had lost. The greatest gift God had given him, the only one he had never been able to give up, had chosen someone else. Which gave him a sensation unknown to him until then, even more intense than the anger he had felt a few moments before. A sensation that gave him a strong pain in his heart, and which seemed to have broken. A broken heart.
He didn't know how long he stood there staring at her. He could see Lilith approaching and, despite being confused, dismayed and partly afraid, she put her hands on Eve's shoulders as if to give her a little courage to face that situation. He was sure he had a strange expression painted on his face, a sort of mixture between disgust and pain.
It was only when he heard Lucifer's voice that he woke up: "See? She was consenting! I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding! Why don't we all try to calm down, so as to explain the situation well...?"
Adam didn't even listen to him. "Go away"
Lucifer froze. “Um… what…?”
“Get the fuck out of here!” Adam yelled at him. His voice no longer contained the previous anger, but instead a sort of bitter feeling. The humiliation he felt burned inside him, giving him a feeling extremely similar to hatred; and even though it sounded petty, kicking out the person who had humiliated him was the only thing that gave him satisfaction. "Get out of my house! This is my world, and you are no longer welcome! Find yourself another planet to ruin!"
Lucifer began to be pulled back; the authority of the first man on Earth was absolute, and not even he could oppose it. Lilith tried to intervene: "Adam, please..."
“What do you want to do?” Adam hissed.
Lilith blanched: "I... I don't..."
Adam doesn't let her finish: "Understood. You choose him"
Lilith's eyes widened: "Wait...!"
Adam didn't care that Lilith wasn't guilty in that matter; he only knew that the very sight of him reminded him that someone had chosen someone else over him. He no longer wanted to have anything around him to remind him that he hadn't been able to make anyone choose him. "Get out of here!"
Lucifer and Lilith couldn't say anything else: they were both thrown away by the intense force that came from his authority. Earth was no longer willing to tolerate their presence. Where they went, Adam didn't know, and he didn't care anymore. He was no longer willing to tolerate their presence.
They were left alone, he and Eve. Eve, the one he had loved and adored more than anything, and who represented a betrayal a thousand times greater than that of Lucifer and Lilith. Eve, a sight that he had always found wonderful, but which at that moment he couldn't bear. Almost without thinking, he turned his back on her, looking at anything but her.
Eve remained silent, perhaps out of lack of courage, perhaps out of shame. Very slowly, she raised her hand and touched his, but Adam swatted it away as if he were fending off a mosquito.
Eve's touch had always been something beneficial to him. Those hands so soft, warm and gentle were a panacea for him. They were the hands that healed his wounds, that relaxed his muscles, that warmed him in bed. Never had he felt the urge to shy away from that touch.
But now, he couldn't stand it. That small touch, even if it didn't hurt him physically, seemed to inflict excruciating pain on him. It was a sensation of pain that he had never felt, not even when he had been bitten by the megatheropods, not even when he had been skewered by the ceratopsians, not even when he had been crushed by the sauropods. It was a pain unknown to him, a pain of the soul, even more intense than that inflicted on him by the powerful beasts of Earth.
For the first time, in his mind, Eve was something that could hurt him. And his body reacted accordingly to her touch, even though she had no fangs, claws, or spines.
Eve was no longer something to be loved. It was just something that caused him pain.
Even though he had his back to her, he knew that Eve had reacted with dismay to his simple gesture. However, he didn't bother to turn around to see her expression. "Go home" he told her. "Feed the children and put them to bed. Tell them Dad went hunting, and he's not coming home tonight"
It was the first time he had actually given her an order. He hadn't asked her anything, he hadn't cared what she thought. He had simply ordered, and without waiting for her reply he walked towards the forest, without ever looking at her even out of the corner of his eye.
He didn't know how long he walked; when he looked up, the night had already arrived, and the sky had become starry. The pale moonlight was all that illuminated his way. Without wanting to, he accidentally ended up crossing the path of a giganotosaurus; normally he would have avoided a large animal, but at that moment he wasn't even paying attention.
The T.rex's greatest rival roared at him, clearly aiming to chase him away. That simple action triggered something in Adam.
A battle cry emerged from his mouth, and he launched himself at the giganotosaurus. An action dictated exclusively by the desire to hit, quarter, annihilate.
Their fight was brief, and when it was over, Adam was holding the giganotosaurus by the back, its spine already broken.
He threw the dinosaur to the ground with a deep breath. The adrenaline in his body was helping him. His mind was calmer, his muscles more relaxed, his spirit more satisfied. But still, as he tore into the giganotosaurus's flesh and ate it, he couldn't help but find it bitter.
That victory meant nothing. The giganotosaurus was a beast he already knew he could defeat. Killing it had curbed his bloodlust a little, but ultimately, it hadn't given him satisfaction. He hadn't proven that he was stronger, smarter... a better man.
It wasn't enough.
He needed to prove that he was better than his rival. He needed to prove, at least to himself, that he was better than Lucifer.
That corpse at his feet...
... was not his.
Notes:
In Hebrew, Mikor means "beak", a reference to the fact that edmontosaurs are a species of the hadrosaur family, namely "duck-billed dinosaurs". For those who don't know, this family of dinosaurs were the largest herbivores to ever exist with the exception of sauropods, even larger than the largest elephant to ever exist, the palaeoloxodon. Oh, and a little note about the giganotosaurus: the idea that it was T.rex's biggest rival is actually something born out of Internet culture, since these two dinosaurs never met, having lived on different continents and at least 30 million years apart (here in the story we are in a biblical context so who cares); but even if they had met, there would actually have been no fight, because the giganotosaurus would have run away with its tail between its legs basically immediately. The maximum estimate for the giganotosaurus puts it at a weight of just eight tons, while the T.rex was well over ten (and perhaps Goliath reached 12-13), not to mention the difference in bite force and muscle power. So, fuck you Jurassic World Dominion, a giganotosaurus against a tyrannosaurus can only take a beating.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 36): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162041
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 90: The first murder
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie bit her lip. Seeing that scene was sad and terrifying at the same time. Now she understood why her mother feared the wrath of the first man so much: it had been something monstrous. Adam hadn't even looked human anymore as he struck Lucifer. In comparison, even her Uncle Satan, even though he was literally the Embodiment of Wrath, was less scary.
There was a tornado of emotions inside her. It had been terrible to see how Adam had dismissed any possibility of infidelity beforehand and had thrown himself without hesitation against an enemy he knew was stronger than him, only to be disillusioned immediately afterwards and feel defeated in every way. It had been really sad. “I'm sorry” she said to Adam.
The first man just grunted. "It's my fault for trusting the wrong people"
Charlie looked down. She couldn't blame him, all the people Adam had trusted had ended up betraying him. Her father... Charlie wanted to give him the excuse that he didn't know it was adultery, but at the same time, she couldn't pretend that he hadn't even tried to apologize. Maybe he would have? Maybe if the conversation hadn't been so short... maybe.
As for Eve... Charlie didn't understand. She was more confused than ever. Why? Had it really been a moment of temptation, a fall into the sin of lust that she had immediately regretted? It wasn't impossible, Charlie had heard many similar stories in her life... but it still seemed very strange to her.
The world changed before her again. Now they were in a forest, and the young Adam had changed: he sported a longer beard and hair, and although he hadn't aged much his cheekbones still showed a slightly greater hardness. He wasn't alone: Cain and Abel were in front of him, both in attacking positions. They now looked like young men: Abel had became even taller and more muscular, and he even had a hint of a beard, blond like his hair, and was wearing very light clothing clearly with the aim of being able to move more freely; Cain instead remained little shorter and of slimmer build, but he had a much thicker and more masculine beard, and on the contrary wore heavier clothes designed to better protect himself from impacts. The first had two knives in his hands, while the second had a sort of slingshot created with animal guts. And in front of them all, snorting and frenzied, there was a colossal brachiosaurus of at least thirty tons that was clearly preparing to charge them. Despite the menacing animal, however, Adam wasn't batting an eyelid. "Boys, it's yours" he said to his children.
"Yes, Father!" they both said in unison, and lunged at the beast. Cain began to rotate his slingshot: "Abel, I'll distract him! Aim at the base of his neck, it's the weak point!"
"Understood, Cain!" the other replied.
The brachiosaurus bellowed angrily and charged. Despite its immense size, it still moved with a fair amount of speed. The ground shook under the weight of its footsteps. Cain and Abel split up to confuse it: the first grabbed a stone and loaded the sling, and threw it at the beast's head with unerring precision. That stone clearly couldn't penetrate the skin of such a large animal, but since it hit it in the eye, it broke, causing the brachiosaurus to bellow in pain. Cain tried to take another stone, but the furious sauropod charged directly at him with even more force than before.
But Abel did not stand by and watch: showing his exceptional strength, he jumped onto the brachiosaurus' neck and plunged his daggers into its flesh, and then moved them to open a wound. Such an action would have been impossible for a normal man, but he, even with a lot of effort, managed to cut the thick skin of the sauropod.
The brachiosaurus trumpeted in pain and swung its neck, forcing him to let go, and turned, swinging its long tail like a whip, with such force that everything it touched was shattered into crumbs, flattening the ground. Cain saw the tail coming at him, and was paralyzed with fear knowing that if he had been hit it would have cut him in half, but Abel, unlike him, did not lose his clarity and stood in front of him to protect him. The tail hit him, but Abel managed to resist with an immense effort, even though he immediately fell to the ground spitting blood.
The brachiosaurus turned again and rose up on its hind legs, with the clear intent of crushing them. Cain tried to grab Abel and carry him away, but he couldn't lift his brother's heavy body much. He watched in fear as the beast's enormous paws were about to descend upon them.
But just then, Adam jumped at the brachiosaurus and punched it in the sternum. The sauropod lost its balance and overturned, falling to the ground and breaking its spine under its own weight. Adam reached the wound that Abel had opened on its neck and sank his hands into it, and with one yank he tore off the neck of the brachiosaurus, which died instantly. "Are you okay?" he asked his children as he stood up.
"Ugh... yeah" Abel gasped trying to catch his breath. "It's just a bruise..."
"You're an idiot!" Cain rebuked him. "If you had dipped your daggers in poison this morning, we would have won!"
Abel blushed a little. "I know. I forgot... you know I don't like to think of the worst..."
"Well, you should! Just because you're strong doesn't make you invincible, especially against such animals!" Cain rebuked him. "Fuck, why don't you ever use your brain? If dad and mom had made me strong like you, I would have had no problem taking that beast down on my own!"
Abel lowered his head dejectedly. Adam intervened by placing a hand on Cain's shoulder: "Calm down, boy. Your brother made a mistake, there is no reason to get angry like this. Now let's finish the job"
Cain clearly would have preferred to continue rebuking Abel, but he obeyed his father. He and Abel set about cutting the skin and flesh of the brachiosaurus, while Adam went back to cutting down the trees around them. When they were finished, they loaded everything onto carts pulled by large plateosaurs, and took them away. They reached a plain where there was a wooden palisade, meticulously built to be resistant and hard; it was still incomplete, and it was there that the cut logs were dumped. Adam, Abel and Cain made a few rounds to carry everything, and then carried the flesh of the dead brachiosaurus back to their home, where they placed it in their warehouses. Having done this, they took the carts to a small cabin behind the house, beyond which there was also a large wheat field, and let the plateosaurs go freely to eat their grass; and then they finally entered their home.
They were greeted by the aroma of dinner, and the happy welcome of the rest of the family. They all sat around a huge table, where Eve with the help of some of her daughters served an excellent roast before sitting down and eating too... on the opposite side from where Adam sat.
While the family ate, the children talked and often burst into laughter. "... so you risked being crushed by a brachiosaurus!?" Seth, who by now appeared like a boy who was in his late teen years, murmured in awe.
“Yes, Seth! But Dad saved us at the last moment” Abel said with a laugh.
Eve raised an eyebrow. “You made them fight a brachiosaurus?” she asked reproachfully.
Adam didn't even look at her. "I was there. As soon as the situation became risky, I intervened" he replied simply. "They have to learn"
"They are too young to fight such beasts!" Eve protested. “What's the next step, having them face a T.rex?”
"They're old enough" Adam corrected her. "And sooner or later they will have to lead this family. They must be ready"
"Dad's right, Mom. We're not kids anymore" Abel told her. "We must learn to defend the family. When we have to lead it..."
Cain had remained silent with a frown on his face the entire time, but then he made an annoyed noise: "Tsk! With you by my side, the family will surely go to ruin!"
"Cain!" Eve scolded him.
"I only tell the truth!" Cain growled. "Only I should be the future head of the family, there's no point in sharing the place with him just because he's stronger than me! I'm older and smarter!"
"You're only a year older than him. Ten months, actually" Eve told him. "Give respect to your brother!"
“Why are you all always on his side!?” Cain protested. "He's just strong, I have all the other qualities!"
"Cain, I already told you I'm sorry for not putting poison on the daggers" Abel tried to mollify him. "I got punched in the stomach for my arrogance, isn't that enough for you...?"
"No!" Cain answered him. "The thought that I will have to share my birthright with you bothers me! If you are truly sorry, step aside! We all know you don't have what it takes to be a breadwinner!"
Adam slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump. "Enough!" he ordered, and all of them immediately fell silent. "I have chosen that both of you will lead the family and so it will be. Cain, you are intelligent and cunning, and your brother Abel is strong. You, Cain, are often too rational and rarely show tact, while Abel, despite being more impulsive, has a lot more empathy. When the time comes you will complement each other. The family needs both of you. You are brothers, behave as such". And having said this he went back to eating casually: "And in any case you have no reason to cause such ruckus now. I'm not dead yet, remember that"
No one dared to contradict the head of the family's authority, so everyone returned to focusing on dinner. By the time they were done, night was falling, but still, Adam got up and took his fur coat. "I'm going to work on the wall. See you tomorrow, guys"
"Aren't you staying home tonight either?" Eve asked him, her voice shaking a little.
Adam didn't even spare her a glance as he put on his warm clothes. “The wall isn't finished yet” he said simply. “Until we have it all built, someone must stand guard and keep the wild beasts away"
Always the same excuse for so many years. Eve didn't ask him anything else; she simply nodded.
Adam didn't wait any longer and after saying goodbye to his children he headed towards the entrance of the house. As he was about to leave, however, some familiar little hands grabbed him by the leg; he looked down and saw that a seven-year-old girl was trying to get his attention. "What is it, Aclima?"
“Dad, do you really have to leave tonight too?” his daughter asked him apprehensively.
Adam rubbed her head. “You know I have work to do. Don't worry, you'll see me tomorrow”
“Can't you just put it off for one night?” Aclima asked him again.
"Unfortunately, no. If I'm not there to make sure nothing comes near the house, some large animal could come here and do damage" Adam answered her by placing his hand on the doorknob.
He was about to leave, when Aclima's small hand grabbed him by the pants again. He immediately stopped and looked at her, and he noticed that she had a strange expression. "Honey, what is it? Tell me the truth"
Aclima bit her lip. "Dad, when are you going to sleep with Mom again?"
Adam's eyes widened slightly. He knew that his children had definitely noticed that the relationship between him and Eve had changed, it was impossible not to see it, but none of them had said anything about it over the course of those three years. It was the first time one of them had asked him the fateful question. “Well… when I finish building the wall, I can go home”
"But even when you don't sleep outside you don't sleep with her" Aclima protested. "The few times you stay home at night you never go to your room. You always stay somewhere else"
"It's just that I stay up late and get up early. Adults do that. That's why you never see me in our room, you're already asleep" Adam lied to her. "Why are you so worried?"
Aclima had a very weird expression. She seemed scared of something. “It's just… I want you back in the room with Mom”
Adam knew something was wrong. "Honey, why don't you tell me honestly what's going on?" he asked, kneeling in front of her to bring himself in front of her face.
Aclima tightened the hems of her dress. "I'm still afraid of the dark, and so I often go to sleep in your room" she confessed. "But I don't want to sleep alone with Mom anymore. She... talks in her sleep"
Adam raised an eyebrow. Eve had never spoken in her sleep for as long as he could remember. "Well, it can happen. I bet I do it sometimes too..."
"It's not like that! She... she's weird!" Aclima exclaimed trembling slightly. "The way she talks is... wrong! I don't know how to explain it! Her voice is sometimes the same, sometimes it changes! It becomes... more raucous! She... she scares me!"
Adam was surprised by this. Well, it wasn't such a strange thing, thinking about it. Eve often had a hoarse voice when she woke up and was still half asleep, so it wasn't unlikely that it would come while she slept too. If she really had started talking in her sleep, it wasn't so crazy that she spoke strangely. "You don't have to be afraid" he tried to reassure his daughter. "Mom talks strangely because when someone sleeps their body functions slow down, including the lungs. You don't need to be afraid..."
"But I AM afraid!" Aclima exclaimed, and a tear fell from her eye. Now it was clear that she was terrified. "Last night... she fell asleep while she was cradling me in her arms... and it was so comfortable... but then she started holding me tighter... and she started talking in a very disturbing way... s-she was talking directly to me... she asked me if I liked apples and... and then she said that she loved them... a-and that I looked so much like an apple... I... I'm sure she wanted to eat me!"
Adam shook his head. Damn, children's imaginations sometimes flew a little too far. "If she wanted to eat you, why are you still here? Did you defeat her when she attacked you?"
Aclima felt silent. "No... she didn't do anything to me"
"Because she actually didn't want to do anything to you" Adam told her. "Aclima, your mother was just dreaming. Because yes, she loves apples, so much so that once she even ate one she shouldn't have. She was talking to the fruit in her dream, not to you"
Aclima finally seemed to calm down. "Really...?"
"Sure" Adam replied. "Come on, do you expect that if your mother was hungry, she would eat you? You know she would never do that, she loves you"
Aclima was silent for a moment. She was thinking hard, probably wondering whether to trust her father or try to protest again. In the end she chose the first option. "Okay... but I still don't want to sleep alone with her anymore"
Adam nodded. "Well... then go sleep with your big sister Calmana. Tell her I authorized you"
"Thank you!" Aclima exclaimed smiling again. "But... Dad, really, can you spend more time with Mom? I think she's really too lonely and stressed lately. Sometimes she even starts talking to herself"
Oh, dear, she was back to that damn habit. Adam wasn't even too surprised. "Yes, when she feels alone she does it" he said to his daughter. “I'll tell her to stop if it bothers you”
"It just doesn't seem... healthy, that's it" Aclima told him. "Cain told me that yesterday he saw her talking to herself in the mirror, as if she were having a bitter argument with someone. It's creepy, isn't it?"
"Your brother sure made fun of you" Adam quickly declined the question. “You have to stop believing everything he tells you. It's okay though, I'll talk to her and tell her to stop”
“Can't you just stay home longer?” Aclima asked him.
“Honey, I have work to do and you know it" Adam told her.
Aclima lowered her head. She suddenly looked very sad. “You want to stay away from her, right?”
Adam opened his eyes wide, surprised by such intuition. "It's not like that..."
"Then why do you make every excuse possible to stay away from her, and when you're in the same room together you almost never talk to her?" Aclima asked him. "You weren't like this before"
Adam didn't know what to answer. And in the end, he chose to tell a half-truth. "Okay" he told her. "It's just that... your mother did me a terrible wrong. That's why I don't want to see her. She was... mean to me"
Aclima didn't even seem too confused. Evidently she had already thought of it herself. “Can't you just forgive her?”
"It's not that simple" Adam replied. "For us adults... it is complicated to forgive... especially if the wrong is so serious"
"But she's always so sad" Aclima told him. "Whenever she is alone she becomes sullen, and when you leave she watches you go from the window. Whatever wrong she has done you, I am sure she regrets it"
Adam was silent for a long moment. Maybe that situation was really becoming too stressful even for the children. "Not now" he finally replied. "I... need some time. One day... I will find the strength to forgive her"
Aclima's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"I'll try. I can't tell you when, but... I'll try" Adam replied to her. "Now stop worrying about adult problems. You're a child, you need to enjoy your life as a child"
"Okay, Dad!" Aclima told him with a broad smile, and after giving him a kiss on the nose she ran away to return to her siblings.
Adam let her go away satisfied. It seemed that at least for the moment the problem had been solved. But as he was preparing to leave the house a familiar voice called him back: "Were you serious?"
Adam turned and saw that Eve had appeared before him. She had evidently just come in. “Were you eavesdropping from behind the door?”
"I followed Aclima because she seemed upset, but since you were taking care of it, I let you do it" Eve answered him.
Adam nodded with a grunt. "Then you already know that you are scaring Aclima. Stop talking to yourself. You have one hundred and forty children, talk to them"
Eve lowered her head. "Yes... yes, I will" she replied. She was silent for a long moment, and then she murmured: "Were you serious before? Will you... find the strength to forgive me...?"
Adam didn't know what to answer. He had said it mainly to calm Aclima... could he really do that? He didn't know. But it sure would be nice to be able to forget everything, even if he didn't know how. “I said I'll try” he said simply. "Later, Eve"
Even though those words meant almost nothing, a hopeful light still seemed to rekindle in Eve's eyes. "Okay... later, Adam"
Adam said nothing more. He simply nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him, leaving her alone.
Charlie looked at Adam: “Did you really mean it? Did you really want to find the strength to forgive her?”
Adam still hadn't changed his expression, and hadn't moved from his position, but still his body had become more rigid. "I would have liked to" he admitted. "But some things cannot be forgiven"
"Did you at least try?" Charlie asked him.
Adam didn't answer her. Instead, he turned his head as if he didn't want to meet her gaze.
The world around them changed again, mixing countless colors, and then it reformed, becoming a grassy plain, on which stood a high and solid palisade interspersed with some small towers. Adam's eyes widened slightly when he saw him, and his teeth clenched. “It's that day” he whispered.
Charlie wanted to ask what he meant, but she didn't have time: just at that moment, in fact, a scream pierced the air. It was a scream unlike any Adam had ever heard before, a distant wail that echoed endlessly, piercing the bones and freezing the blood. A scream that seemed to be contained in the air, the water, and the earth, in every mineral beneath his feet and every rock in the ground, even the wood that made up the wall.
It was as if it wasn't a person making that sound. The entire Earth was screaming in pain.
For a brief istant the ground shook, and numerous cracks opened in the ground; the air grew cold and the wind rose, and the sunlight was covered by clouds. Quick flashes of lightning crossed the heavens as if they had a life of their own, and in the distance Adam could even see a volcano begin to erupt. The elements were rebelling, as if something absolutely horrendous had taken shape and were now trying to obliterate it.
The young Adam, who was sitting on one of the towers at the time tying something together, immediately sprung like a spring and jumped down without even bothering to use the stairs, and ran towards the source of the sound like a madman. Very quickly he reached a large field of ripe wheat, where he immediately saw Cain, standing staring at something on the ground. Seth was there too, and for some reason he was staring at his brother with fear, and judging by the position of his body it was as if he wanted to protect something. "What's going on!?" Adam exclaimed running towards them. "Cain! Seth! Where is...?"
He froze completely as soon as he was close enough to see what was happening.
Cain had blood on his body. He had it on his right arm and most of the right side of his face. And in his right hand he held a heavy stone to which pieces of brain tissue were still attached. His expression was blank, cold, without any emotion. He was breathing deeply as he stared at the people in front of him.
Abel was on the ground, his head completely open. His skull had been crushed and his brain torn to pieces. Eve had taken him in her arms and was crying, holding him close to her body, while Seth had stood in front of his mother despite his fear, clearly wanting to protect her if Cain tried to attack her too. Not such a far-fetched hypothesis given the brother's still homicidal expression.
Adam was paralyzed for a brief moment, and perhaps he would have been even more so, but then he noticed Cain's fingers tightening on the stone. His body acted on instinct, the same instinct that had always protected him when fighting wild beasts. Cain didn't even have time to see him move, he only felt his survival instinct kick in a fraction of a second before Adam grabbed his face and slammed him violently to the ground. The boy tried to use the stone to hit him again, but due to his position he couldn't raise his arm enough.
Adam was seeing red. Abel's blood on Cain's body seemed to have a life of its own, and it seemed to scream at him to avenge him. It was as if his son's soul was still there, demanding that the one who had craved his blood be punished. "Why!?" he shouted at him, fire in his voice. "He was your brother! Why!? Tell me you didn't really do it! Tell me you didn't really do it!"
Cain's eyes narrowed. Even under the weight of his father's hand he found the strength to growl. "Am I my brother's keeper!?" he hissed. "I was supposed to lead the family, not him!"
Adam felt fury in its purest form. For a split second, he was tempted to grab his spine and rip it out, as he had done thousands of times with the beasts that had dared to threaten his family. At that moment, he saw Cain as nothing more than one of those monstrous creatures who wanted to harm his children, and he felt the same urge to eliminate him.
Like when he had defeated the megalodon.
Like when he had faced the spinosaurus.
Like when he had put the gorgonopsids to flight.
Like when he had destroyed the triceratops.
Like when he had annihilated the tyrannosaurus.
Like when he had killed the quetzalcoatlus.
Like when he had eliminated the mapusaurs.
Like when he had massacred the giganotosaurus.
Like when he had torn apart the brachiosaurus.
But then, another part of him held him back; that feeling of love he felt for his son prevented him from going further. With a yank he tossed Cain away, sending him tumbling into the cornfield. "Go away!" he roared at him. “Don't you dare come back!”
Cain quickly got up and, knowing he couldn't get the better of his father, ran away. Adam didn't bother looking where he was headed; he almost didn't notice the fire that seemed to rain from the sky in the distance, in the same direction he was headed. His eyes were only fixed on Abel's martoriated body, which Eve continued to hold in her hands. "What... what happened...?"
Seth let out a sob. "Cain... asked Abel to come and help him in the field... my mother and I followed them to give him a hand... but then Cain started arguing with Abel... he told him that he had stolen his destiny... that it was right that he alone should be the future head of the family, not sharing the place with Abel... they started fighting... Mom and I tried to stop them... Abel finally blocked Cain to the ground and told him to calm down, and he had seemed to return to think straight... but then... then...". Seth trembled and put his hands in front of his face: "Cain apologized to Abel, and he trusted him and let him go... but just at that moment... Cain grabbed that stone... and with it... he hit him... Abel fell to the ground... Cain jumped on him... and continued to hit him... until Mom took the body away from his hands... he had... he had ki..."
He didn't have the strength to continue. He just cried.
Adam knelt before Abel's body. Eve barely had the strength to look up at him, showing her face streaked with a thousand tears. "He's dead" she barely whispered. "We lost him... we lost our baby...!"
Adam touched Abel's face, who still had his eyes open and his mouth wide open. The blood still dripping from his skull stained his hand. He stared at that vision, and then a scream emerged from his mouth, resonating with the force of a hurricane for who knows how many kilometers. The entire planet went dark and it rained, as if it wanted to share his deep pain.
Charlie looked at Adam next to her. The first man wasn't screaming like his past counterpart, and he wasn't crying, but he had closed his eyes as if he didn't have the strength to look. Instinctively she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning into him in hopes of giving him some comfort.
Notes:
According to some versions of the Bible, Cain did not want to resort to murder right away, but planned to lure Abel far away into the fields and face him in a fight on equal terms (obviously with bare hands since technically there were no real weapons yet, or at least not weapons designed to kill humans). However, Abel managed to defeat him since, as already specified, he was more powerful than his brother. Cain then pretended to repent and asked for forgiveness, and Abel chose to give his brother a second chance, but while he was helping him up, Cain took the famous stone and hit him treacherously, killing him. After that he first met his father Adam, who asked him where Abel was, and he responded with the iconic phrase: "Am I my brother's keeper?"; immediately after, God came down from heaven in the form of fire asking him the same question, and he repeated the same answer; since he showed no repentance, God condemned him to flee forever to Earth and marked him on the forehead so that everyone could recognize him. Cain wandered until he was about 700 years old, and then died (because let's remember, at that time humans lived much longer than modern ones). In this story obviously the weapons already exist, but Cain prefers to fight with his brother with his hands more for a matter of principle than necessity, since he wants to show that he is stronger than him, and in fact he also brings an audience with him (his mother and Seth), and what makes him "snap" definitively is the umpteenth defeat on a physical level and above all the pity of his brother, who does not hesitate to help him get up as soon as he asks him, in fact making him involuntarily feel inferior also on a moral level. Adam here also reacts in a much more violent way, urged on by the blood of Abel who asks for revenge, and it is he himself who chases Cain away, while the scene with God is not shown since Cain meets the Almighty when he is far away from his family, even if the fire that comes down from the sky with which He will manifest Himself can already be seen.
And in case anyone is confused by the brachiosaurus scene, as I already explained, sauropods were not at all slow as the movies made you believe, but were in fact fully capable of charging their opponents, thanks to their gait (which was more reminiscent of a rhinoceros than an elephant), their complex air sacs and their powerful muscles. Sauropods like giraffatitan (40-60 tons) could reach speeds of 25 km/h, so a brachiosaurus (30-50 tons) could probably reach or even exceed 30 km/h, despite weighing more than six African bull elephants. Obviously they couldn't maintain this speed for very long, but still, seeing such a massive animal charging at such a speed even for a short distance would have undoubtedly scared off any predator foolish enough to attack it.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 37): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162053
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 91: Later never comes
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie remained silent, not having the strength to make a sound. Both of her hands were placed on her chest at the level of her heart, clutching her dress. She felt like she was bleeding inside her soul as well as she stared at the battered body that Eve was holding in her arms.
Cain and Abel. Two brothers so similar and at the same time so different, divided by nothing but the stupid feeling of jealousy. A feeling that in Cain had grown to the point of wanting to get rid of the one he thought was his only rival. The only one who prevented him from leading the family as he wanted, from doing things as he wanted, instead of having to compromise with a brother who loved animals and was considered better and more righteous than he had ever been considered.
If only Cain had not refused to see the deep love and admiration that Abel felt for him instead of focusing only on his jealousy, perhaps things would have gone different...
She turned slightly towards Adam, and approached hesitantly. She wasn't sure what reaction she would have gotten from him. Very slowly she wrapped her arms around his arm at least, trying to hug him, but he pulled her away. "Don't give me your pity" he told her.
Charlie looked up at his face. Adam still remained expressionless, but it was clear he was trying hard for it. And he wasn't meeting her gaze, another sign he was trying to contain his emotions. "It's not pity" she told him. "I just want to... help you"
Adam grunted. “I don’t need to” he told her. “I’ve relived this exact moment countless times, in my memories, in my dreams, in my mind. When you have thousands of years to live with nothing but memories, you can only relive them, and unfortunately this one has stuck with me. This is just the umpteenth time I’ve seen this scene… it’s not as unsettling as the first time anymore”
But Charlie knew that wasn’t true, and that Adam was just being tough. She could see it in the way his shoulder muscles were tense. Every part of him seemed ready to snap like a violin string. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, the memory still hurt as much as it had when he’d experienced it.
She didn’t want to leave him like that, so she ignored his words and placed her hand on the back of his. Adam made a surprised noise at the gesture, but she tightened her grip and didn’t let go. He looked like he was considering pushing her away, but finally gritted his teeth and let her.
They stood there for a while in silence, and then Adam finally whispered: “That was the last time I saw my older children”
Charlie felt her breath catch. “You never… met them again? Not once?”
Had that really been the last interaction they’d had?
Adam had never seen Cain and Abel again, not even in the afterlife?
That... was the last memory he had of them? One son becoming the first murderer and another becoming the first victim?
It was horrible.
Adam still didn't change his expression, but he lowered his head slightly. "No" he simply replied.
The world changed again, and Charlie couldn't hide the fact that she was happy not to have to see Abel's dead body on the floor anymore, since she was really struggling not to cry. When reality reformed, they were back inside the house, more precisely in the entrance, and the young Adam was leaning on the windowsill of one of the windows, staring at something in the distance. His gaze was empty and his face dark, devoid of any form of happiness.
He remained there for an indefinite time, until the sound of a door opening caught his attention. He turned his head slightly to see Eve enter the room and close the door behind her. "Oh... it's you"
"Adam" Eve told him. She too was much darker and gloomy than before, and seemed to be drained of all energy. She walked to the window and also looked at what Adam was seeing. "Are you still looking at it?"
Adam sighed. Through the window he could see a hill in the distance, where there was clearly a small pyramid of stones, signaling the presence of a grave. "I should have buried him further west, in the plain where his animals graze" he murmured. "He would have wanted to be near them, let his body turn into fertilizer for new grass... he would have wanted to take care of them even in death"
Eve took a deep breath, and she raised her hand slightly as if to caress him... but then she pulled back and clenched her fist. And finally she muttered: "We need to talk about Cain"
Adam immediately tensed, and the sill beneath his hands cracked as he tightened his fingers on it. Despite that reaction, Eve remained adamant and continued: "I know you don't want to talk about this, but... it's been three weeks now. We can't put this off forever"
"There's nothing to talk about" Adam said, his voice thick with anger.
"Yes, there is" Eve told him. "Adam... we need to go find Cain"
"Why?" Adam hissed, barely able to keep from screaming.
"Because he's our son, and he's out there alone" Eve answered.
"He's a murderer" Adam replied, his voice sour.
"But he's still our son" Eve repeated. "There's no excuse for what he did, he should be punished, but... I can't lose another son. One is bad enough"
Adam made what sounded like a beast's growl; the windowsill beneath his fingers cracked completely from his grip. "I don't want a murderer in my house" he said, and he seemed to use every last shred of rationality he had to stay calm.
"At least let him live nearby here, so we can know if anything happens to him or he needs help" Eve tried to suggest. "Please... no one can track a prey better than you. Bring him back here tied up and beaten if you want, but at least...!"
"WHAT!?" Adam suddenly screamed. “What the fuck do you still want from me, Eve!?”
This outburst was so unexpected that even Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat with fright, and she couldn't blame Eve, who took a step back. It was the very first time Adam was yelling at her. He hadn't screamed when he lost Eden, he hadn't screamed when she cheated on him. But now, there was not a single peaceful trait in his eyes: his entire face was twisted into a grimace of disgust.
Eve barely opened her mouth: "Adam..."
"You want me to go looking for a fucking murderer? You want me to cross sea and mountain, searching day and night, and then bring him back here pretending like nothing happened?" Adam hissed disdainfully. "What will be the next request, mh? That I go to the afterlife and bring Abel back here, and convince him to forgive the brother who has defiled the earth with his own blood?"
"I just want our son back!" Eve told him in a small voice. "We've already lost one child... we can't lose a second...!"
"That's not my son" Adam replied with a grimace. "I have no assassins at my table. He gave up being part of this family the moment he killed his brother. If he dares to come back...!"
"What will you do?" Eve asked him. She asked the question in a firm tone, but it wasn't hard to see the fear in her eyes. "Will you kill him?"
Adam was silent for a moment; and in that instant, Eve's heart trembled. Her husband's face had such an expression that it really looked like he was about to say 'yes'. Even Charlie for a second expected him to say he would have said so.
But then Adam seemed to have a change of heart at the last moment, because he composed himself and replied: "No. I will not stoop to do such an act as he did. But I will make sure to strike him so hard that he will never again dare to come near unless a hundred kilometers from my home!"
"You are possessed by anger!" Eve told him. "Adam, please! Abel was my son too, I understand your pain! But Cain is also...!"
"He is not my son!" Adam repeated, this time with much more emphasis. "I don't want him and I don't recognize him as such! I didn't father monsters! As far as I'm concerned, you can go around saying he's your fucking lover's son! That snake is definitely a much better father for him!"
Eve was speechless for a moment. "Please, I beg you...!"
"Fuck, shut the fuck up!" Adam screamed, putting his hands over his face, barely containing himself. "How many more demands are you going to make of me!? How much more do you want to take from me!? At least let me mourn my son in peace instead of pestering me with such nonsense!"
Eve lowered her face. "Adam... I never wanted to...!"
“What didn't you ever want!?” Adam screamed in her face. "Eat a forbidden apple!? Destroy my home!? Force me to kill the creatures that were once my friends!? Take away my dignity!? These are not mistakes, Eve, they are choices! Choices that you have made and that I have had to pay for you! I fought for you, I built this house for you, I hunted for you, I killed for you, I raised more than a hundred children for you! I turned my back on the Eternal Father and the life that I deserved for you! And what did you ever give me in return!?"
Silence fell between them; not even their breathing could be heard anymore. Eve was holding her hands in front of her mouth, as if she wanted to keep herself from saying something, while Adam was staring at her with a strange mixture of disgust, seriousness and indifference. Once upon a time he would not have hesitated to abandon any aggressive intent to stop scaring his wife, but now there was not even a sign of that past goodness on his face.
And then it was Adam who broke the silence. "I gave you everything" he told her. "My home, my trust, my immortality, my powers, my heart, my treasures, my knowledge, my skills, my muscles, my brain, my dignity, the peace of my own soul. I kept giving you all I can, and all you did was TAKE!". His teeth gritted. "And now... what do I have left? Not even my son!"
Charlie wasn't sure what she should have thought. She had always believed in second chances, and Eve's desperate and sad eyes were like a dagger in her heart; she felt the urge to hug her and whisper a few words of comfort even though she knew that it was just a memory. But on the other hand, she couldn't blame Adam for his anger and pain. Eve had truly taken so much from him, and in return she had only given him new suffering. Charlie seriously doubted whether she herself would have been able to forgive again after having suffered so much.
But it was in that instant, out of the corner of her eye, that she noticed that the Adam next to her had had a reaction for an instant; his crossed arms had moved for a split second, as if he wanted to untangle them and use them to stop his past self. This surprised her a little, as it was literally the first time he seemed truly affected by something they were looking at.
Eve hadn't said a single word when Adam had accused her like that, and she didn't even seem to have any way to defend herself. Finally she found the strength to speak: "I know" she said. "I know I took everything from you. I have no excuse for this and any words of comfort would be a lie. But please... don't deprive me of our son...!"
"He's not my son!" Adam screamed for the third time. "And he chose his destiny! He killed his brother, moved by the sin that you passed on to him with that fruit you ate! Don't talk as if I had any responsibility in all of this!"
"Refusing to look for a person is responsibility" Eve told him.
"You are wrong. I am doing exactly what God did with you: I am showing mercy to Cain by refusing to seek him to make him know justice!" Adam answered her. "Because believe me that if there were no mercy in my heart now, I would make him meet the same end that I have destined for all the creatures I have faced since I lost Eden!"
Eve shuddered. "Please... you're not so ruthless...!"
"Well, then maybe I should become so!" Adam answered her. "Because if I had been ruthless with you from the beginning and had punished you as you deserved every time you approached that tree, now this world would still be at peace! If there is one lesson that you have taught me very well, Eve, is that ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!"
Charlie noticed the present Adam stirring again; this time it wasn't a simple movement, she clearly noticed his expression change. Even though he was trying to keep a stoic face, his discomfort was evident. It was as if those words had triggered something in him. Charlie lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder, and his eyes widened in confusion; she merely gave him a look that showed her intent was only to comfort him. Instead of moving away, Adam for once didn't push her away, though he still let out a grunt.
Eve remained silent. Her tear-stained face clearly showed what she was feeling. "You're not like that" she whispered more to herself than to him.
"I am what you made me to be" was Adam's curt reply. "And wipe those tears off your face, they don't make anyone feel sorry for you. That trick doesn't work anymore"
Eve only sobbed harder. It was obvious that she wasn't fake crying, and Adam himself seemed to be aware of it, but he still didn't spare her that dig. "What happened to the man who was ready to face even evil itself for what he loved...?"
"It's still here, right in front of you" Adam replied. “He just can't see something he loves right now”
Eve's heart seemed to stop for a moment. "No...!"
"Don't pretend to be surprised. I stopped loving you the day you chose someone else" Adam told her. He had never said it to her face, but now he was tired of keeping it inside. "From that day on, every time I looked at you, I saw nothing but betrayal. I stayed with you all this time only because I had responsibilities towards my children. But now my children are all adults and no longer need a mother, so why should I still pretend to give a damn about a fucking apple-eating slut!?”
Charlie felt Adam's muscles tense under her hand, so much so that they seemed to become made of iron. Instinctively she turned towards him fully so she could hug him, or at least say something to him, but she stopped when she noticed his expression. Adam had a strange look on his face... he looked like he was broken, like he was looking at something he had lost. As if he was trying to continue to feign indifference, but inside he couldn't hide his disturbance.
It was at that moment that Charlie understood something she had not been able to comprehend until then. Adam had managed to deceive her thus far with his scornful words and his glare, but in that moment, the moment he was watching when it was truy all over, he was no longer able to contain himself.
Charlie understood that the Adam of the past was not telling the truth to Eve, but only spoke out of anger. Because despite all the suffering she had given him, a part of him still hadn't stopped loving her.
Eve seemed to have completely lost her voice. It wasn't a figure of speech: he literally couldn't speak anymore. His body was paralyzed as he stared into Adam's cold face. "If you care so much about a murderer, then go find him. I certainly won't be the one to hold you back"
Eve opened her mouth with a breathy sigh. "But...!"
"I'm tired, Eve" Adam told her in a firm voice. "Tired of pretending that there is still something between us, tired of seeing you every day, tired of remembering the pain you inflicted on me every moment my eyes rest on you. I am the first man, created in the image and likeness of God, but I'm still just a man. There's a limit to how much I can bear. So don't ask me anything anymore. You know where the door is; and if you are so afraid of facing the journey alone, then call your lover or your best friend, maybe they can help you. I'm tired of killing wild beasts, crossing seas and breaking mountains for you. And much less will I do it for a monster who craved my son's blood"
Eve trembled slightly. Not finding the strength to speak, she tried to do what had always calmed the situation: she raised her hand and tried to touch her husband's body. A small whisper escaped her lips: "Please..."
Adam pushed her away. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, but this time he didn't bother at all about measuring his strength. Eve, taken by surprise, staggered backwards and fell to the floor with a groan of pain. Adam's eyes widened for a split second, perhaps out of surprise, or perhaps out of something else, but then he resumed his indifferent expression. He remained in his position, the hand with which he had pushed his wife away still raised.
But if the Adam of the past didn't move a muscle, the Adam of the present jerked: Charlie almost didn't notice how quickly he moved. It was like a spring, as if his energies had been contained until that moment and were suddenly used. Adam took a couple of steps forward with a heavy expression, and only then stopped, remembering that he couldn't interfere with what he was seeing. His eyes were on Eve, as if he was having an urge to help her up and check if she was hurt.
Charlie walked next to him and squeezed his arm, almost as if she hoped that contact would have brought Adam back to reality; and in fact the first man, although remaining rigid, relaxed slightly. Adam gritted his teeth and let out a few choking breaths; with a grunt he turned his gaze, as if just seeing what was happening in front of him hurt him. Charlie only hugged him tighter in response, trying to comfort him.
Eve remained sitting on the ground, her eyes and mouth wide open. Her back hurt a lot, but she hardly noticed. It hadn't been a very strong blow, she'd survived much worse, but it wasn't the physical pain that was paralyzing her. It was the first time ever that Adam was out of control with her. It was the first time... that he had hurt her.
And then, Adam's gaze fell on his hand again. The same hand on whose index finger his wedding ring was still present, the first in all of human history. Adam stared at it for a moment, and then he took it off disdainfully.
Eve seemed to lose all hope as soon as she saw him make that gesture. "You promised that later you would have found the strength to forgive me" she barely whispered.
"And you promised to remain faithful to me and never cause me harm" Adam reminded her, and without another word he threw the ring at her feet.
A single action whose meaning was extremely clear.
Adam gave Eve one last scornful look, and then turned to leave. But he hadn't taken three steps when a hand grabbed his arm, pulling at his dress. He turned again and saw Eve, who had clearly gotten to her feet in a hurry, and was clutching his ring in her free hand. Both the hand around her arm and the one around the jewel had such a tight grip that she seemed afraid to let go of them. Adam looked like he was going to chase her away again, but Eve stared him straight in the eyes, and that stopped him at least for a moment.
The mother of humanity looked at him with a look so sad that it would have broken anyone else's heart. And then, just as she had done many times when they were still in Eden, or during the many nights under the stars, or before the dancing fires, or on countless other occasions, her lips opened and the most beautiful voice that Adam could remember had ever heard, compared to which the heavenly hosts were out of tune, emerged from her mouth, filling the room as if no other sound was permitted.
"When we first met, your heart was free;
Your hopeful eyes saw only me.
I was looking for something,
Something I can never be,
When you are really all I need"
Adam made a sound that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a growl, and he freed himself from Eve's grip by taking a step back, as if he'd just been shocked. But despite this she did not stop looking at them with those pitiful eyes, and continued to sing, filling his ears with her sweet song.
"You told me you'd forgive me later,
But "later" never comes around;
Please stop telling me later,
As you search for what just can't be found!"
Eve raised her free hand towards him, exposing her palm, while she brought the one holding the ring up to her heart, as if desperately trying to feel it next to her. Her eyes seemed to shine, and Adam momentarily lost his tense expression.
"Take my hand,
Come with me now and we'll fly free!
No more later, we both know that's a lie!
Don't let this be the day I say...
GOODBYE!"
That last word was uttered with a sound so sharp and yet profound that it seemed to shake the foundations of Creation; Adam felt his heart tremble as that voice entered his ears. A sound of incomparable beauty, yet expressed with so much sadness and just a touch of hope, that seemed to wrap around him and touch his face as if it were gifted with body and hands. That beautiful voice that no one could ever imitate, and that for so long had given him nothing but warmth and strength, and that continued to resonate in the room as if with a life of its own, emerging from Eve's lips like a stream.
"GOODBYEEEEEEEE!!!"
Charlie was struck by that voice to the point that for a moment she even forgot to breathe; she had heard many songs in her life, but none had ever been comparable to the one Eve had just expressed. It was something so extraordinary that her powers faltered, and the memory she was watching froze, making her characters static; and yet, that last high note still rang in her ears, as if it were capable of transcending space and time.
It was simultaneously the most beautiful and saddest thing she had ever heard.
Suddenly, Adam moved, slipping out of her grasp so quickly that Charlie nearly lost her balance. The first man walked towards the image of Eve, frozen in place as she held out her hand to her past self. He raised his hand slightly and tried to touch her face with his fingers, but obviously he couldn't touch anything. With a sigh, he too began to sing.
"When you met her, you were set free;
Her love for you was plain to see.
You kept looking for something,
A measure of security...
But she was really all you need"
Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat as she looked at Adam's expression. The first man's eyes contained a broken and trembling light, the typical light of people who looked back and could do nothing but regret that important choice they had made. They were the eyes of a man who wanted nothing more than to actually touch the woman in front of him and take her hand before she disappeared forever.
"You kept on telling her "later",
But later never comes around...
Please stop telling her "later",
Stop searching for what can't be found!"
Adam turned to his past self, looking at him with an almost pitying expression, as if he hoped he could hear him even though he knew full well that wasn't possible.
"Take her hand,
Go with her now and you'll fly free!
No more later, we both know that's a lie!
This will be the day she says...
GOODBYE!"
And as if that sound had an intrinsic power, the memory seemed to unlock again. The voices of Eve and Adam of the present merged into one, a single note that seemed to be created to be composed of their two voices combined.
"GOODBYEEEEEEEE!!!"
That note seemed to resonate with such power as to pierce reality and the universe itself. And then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone.
Silence returned to the room, and Eve fell silent again, looking at the past Adam without lowering the hand she was holding out to him. Adam stared at her for a long moment, and his hand rose slightly towards his wife's; for an instant, a brief instant, hope seemed to rekindle in Eve's eyes, which shone like jewels... but then Adam stiffened again and lowered his hand again. Maybe it was his anger, maybe it was pride, maybe it was something else, but in the end he refused the touch of that soft palm. Eve's hope died with a muffled sigh, and she lowered her hand and head, letting a few tears fall from her eyes again.
There was no sound in the room for an indefinite time. And then someone knocked on the door. "Dad?" Seth's voice said. “Can you come and help me with dinner?”
"Sure, son, I'm coming" Adam replied, then he gave one last look at his wife: "Later, Eve"
The Adam of the present completely lost his composure: "No, you fool!" he yelled at his past self as he walked out of the room, and he almost tried to run after him before sliding to his knees right in front of the door which he closed behind his back. "There will be no later!"
But of course his voice went unheard, as nothing could change what was just a memory of the past.
Adam closed his eyes and clenched his fists, trying to keep himself strong. A strange touch woke him up, and he realized that Charlie had just hugged him from behind. Normally Adam would have chased her away immediately, but at that moment he didn't have the strength to push her away.
His head turned back to Eve, who remained motionless in the middle of the room. The mother of humanity looked at Adam's ring, letting her tears fall on it, and then she put it on her hand, where she already had hers. The two rings fit perfectly on top of each other, as if they were always meant to be one. "Goodbye, Adam" she whispered in a resigned voice. "I will never stop regretting being so stupid to lose you. I hope you'll find your happiness"
And having said this she headed towards the exit door and opened it; she turned her gaze one last time, observing what had been her home, and then she went out and walked towards the wilderness, and she never returned.
Adam watched her go without getting up from the ground, and then he lowered his head and put his hands on his face. Charlie didn't say a single syllable, but on the contrary she held his trembling body tighter, and that contact seemed much more beneficial than any words of comfort.
Notes:
The song sung here by Adam and Eve is "Later never comes" from the animated film Scrooge, and if you have never heard this masterpiece go immediately on Netflix or at least on Youtube to listen to it, because in my opinion it is one of the most beautiful farewell songs ever conceived in the world of animation (and Luke Evans did a MASTERFUL job with the voice of Scrooge). Go and see it NOW, such masterpieces cannot be ignored.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 38): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162062
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 92: Not sorry for loving you
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie didn't know how long she stayed next to Adam. The first man didn't utter a word, and didn't look at her, staring into space in front of him. The memories around them were blocked again because she was too busy taking care of him.
Finally, not knowing what else to say to him, she tried to whisper: "Maybe... crying a little would do you some good..."
"It's no use" Adam replied. "For too many centuries I have forgotten how to cry. I couldn't do it even if I wanted to"
Charlie bit her lip. It was the first time she had ever seen Adam so vulnerable. No, not vulnerable... human. Despite his youthful appearance, he actually reminded Charlie very much of an old man who was very tired indeed. Instinctively she leaned on him as if to provide him with support.
Adam seemed to appreciate that gesture, because without meaning to he clenched his fists and moved slightly closer. "Why are you doing this?" he asked her. "Why are you trying to console me? Shouldn't you tell me that I should have forgiven her?"
Charlie shook her head. “I'm not a fanatic, Adam. I know the situation. Whatever my opinion is, it doesn't matter now. I just want you to be okay”
She felt really strange in that position. It seemed to her that she had ended up in one of those movies where the young granddaughter supported her elderly grandfather while he told her about all the horrors of war. And despite this, it seemed almost natural to her to behave that way.
Adam was silent for a moment, then let out a soft snort. "So you can be more than just sugary"
"I know I have many flaws and that among them is the inability to read the room well in time, but at least I try" Charlie replied with a smirk. She shut up for a moment, and then she said: "I'm sorry. For everything. Your love for her was truly beautiful"
"Yeah... one would think a man would be capable of learning, but apparently is unable of letting go of a woman" Adam muttered sourly. "I assume that for you the right path would have been forgiveness"
Charlie didn't lie: "I don't know if I would have been able to say the words 'I forgive you' at that moment. I know Eve really took a lot from you. But that doesn't make it any less right" she replied. “What did not forgiving her give you, other than new pain?”
Adam shook his head. "I had already forgiven her once, and look what had happened. Forgiveness is nonsense. She would have turned her back on me again"
“How can you say that so confidently?” Charlie asked him. "Didn't you see her eyes? Her expression? All the pain in them? She hurt you, but she definitely regretted it. If you had shown her mercy and forgiveness, maybe she would still be with you today"
That dig didn't go unnoticed by Adam, but to Charlie's surprise, he didn't reply. "Maybe" he admitted instead. "But I still haven't been able to forgive her... and then she hasn't been able to forgive me"
Charlie looked at him in surprise: "What do you mean...?"
Adam sighed. "After Eve left, I realized that I still wanted her. But I had a family to protect, Seth was still too young to lead them... I couldn't go looking for her... or Cain. Time passed... day after day, until, nine hundred and thirty years after we left Eden, I died". His gaze narrowed. "When I went to Heaven, I hoped to embrace again the family I had lost. I realized too late that I had deluded myself. That was not a reunion... it was the beginning of an even greater loneliness"
Charlie bit her lip. "Mom told me that humans couldn't go to Heaven"
"Yeah" Adam confirmed. "I was alone up there. The only human unstained by sin, while all the others were condemned to damnation"
Charlie felt bad for him. Who knows what it must have been like, remaining alone up there for millennia, unable to do anything but watch his descendants, already knowing where they would have ended up. "God at least gave peace to your children"
Adam nodded. "When I stood before the Eternal Father, He told me that He could not welcome beings covered in sin into His kingdom. Even if His Mercy desired it, His Justice could not be ignored. He was already showing His Love by not destroying humanity, even if it was a plague on Creation, He couldn't also forgive humans like that. Something more was needed". He clenched his fists. "I begged Him at least not to punish those who didn't deserve it. I asked Him to find a way to save my children, not to make them suffer. A prayer from the only pure human was all He needed to restore new hope to mankind, and so He created Sheol for my pure-hearted descendants"
Charlie raised an eyebrow: "Why did He need your prayer? Couldn't He just do it if that's what He wanted in the first place?"
“Do you think that just because God is omnipotent, then He can do whatever He wants?” Adam asked her in a tired voice. "To do something, He must satisfy all His characteristics. He cannot only give His Mercy, he must also have His Justice satisfied. And God at that time was already showing much more love than He already should have owed, protecting and watching over a humanity that had rejected Him and had soiled Creation with sin; by what logic should He have also listened to the prayer of one of those humans, after He already showed them so much undeserved mercy? But if a pure being intercedes for humanity, then God has no problem answering their prayer, because He does not have to satisfy His Justice. My prayer was that God would listen again to the prayers of humans asking for peace, and He so granted their wish. He was no longer deaf to any of them, and He created Sheol for them to rest after death"
Charlie had a hard time following that logic. She wasn't used to such reasoning, after all her mother and father had never talked to her much about God and how He worked, so this was somewhat uncharted territory for her. "I know you went to Hell afterward to take your wife and children..."
"Yes" Adam confirmed. "That was the plan"
The first man nodded slightly to Charlie, and she understood that he wanted to continue. Thus, although not sure, she reactivated the flow of memories. The world changed again around them, and a more familiar landscape appeared before them: a desolate plain under the red sky of Hell. The moon, Sheol, was already present in the sky, but it did not have the usual pentagram on its surface. On the plain there were two people: one was undoubtedly Adam, already in his angelic form, although without his helmet; the other was Eve, although she was barely recognizable. She was covered almost completely by a veil that almost did not show her body: the only visible part was her face, whose skin had become grayer and the veins darker and more visible. Her eyes had turned red and she showed a hint of fangs. And judging by the shape of the veil on her head, she probably had some horns hidden underneath.
Charlie felt a little uneasy looking at Eve. She had changed, and not just in appearance: her face was much colder. She showed no sign of the range of emotions she had had while alive, no sadness, no compassion, no happiness. It was like watching an animated statue. She was staring at the first man without saying a word. Adam, on the other hand, seemed to have so many words that he didn't know where to start: "Eve... I finally found you...!"
“I know you were looking for me” Eve told him. "And I know you wouldn't stop. It's the only reason I let you find me"
Adam froze hearing her speak so coldly, but he didn't give up: "Eve... I've come to take you away from here. You don't have to stay in Hell, and neither do Cain and Abel... I can take you all up there, on that moon! Michael is already there, he is building the first houses, for you and for all our children who will arrive in the future! You will be able to live there happily...!"
“I'm not going with you” Eve told him bluntly. "Go away. We have nothing else to say to each other"
Adam's eyes widened, "But... what are you saying? I'm...!"
"I don't want to go to that moon. I've already made a home here, and I'm fine with it" Eve told him. "As for our children... what did you say? They are grown up now and no longer need a mother... no, a fucking apple-eating slut? Those were your words, am I wrong?"
Adam turned pale. "Eve... listen to me, please" he told her. "I... I was wrong to say those things to you. I shouldn't have. It was anger that possessed me, as you said. I regretted letting you go..."
"And our son?" Eve told him sourly. "Did you also regret abandoning him?"
"Would I be here if it weren't like this?" Adam pointed out to her. "We can make things right again. We can again be...!"
“There's no we” Eve interrupted. "Not anymore. It's over, Adam. I don't want to see you anymore, nor Abel and Cain. Go away"
"What? What are you saying?" Adam exclaimed. "Let's think about it, please... let me talk to them...!"
"Cain doesn't want to see you, not after you abandoned him. And Abel chose to side with his brother. Their choice" Eve answered him. "They want to stay here. They prefer me to you. Not that it takes much effort"
Adam couldn't comprehend her. "But..."
"Adam, can't you understand that I hate you?" Eve hissed. "Do me the courtesy of getting the fuck out of here"
"You asked me to forgive you that time!" Adam reminded her. "At least give me the chance to make it up to you...!"
"But you haven't forgiven me, right? So why do I have to try?" Eve answered him without any mercy. "Get out of my way. Get it through your head, it's over. I don't give a fuck about you. In my memory you are just a mistake. I'm just ashamed of having given you my body, I should have run away like Lilith did"
"What did you say!?" Adam exclaimed outraged.
"You heard me right. Maybe now I too would have a powerful angel to be my husband" Eve answered him, and then with a lot of malice she added: "By the way, I really enjoyed that one time with Lucifer. Truly the best"
"Don't you dare...!" Adam hissed through gritted teeth.
"Why? You told me what you thought years ago. I'm just returning the favor" Eve replied mockingly. "And just like you don't give a damn about this fucking apple-eating slut, I don't give a damn about a loser incapable of protecting his own family"
"May I know what the fuck is wrong with you!?" Adam yelled at her. "What, are you trying to play the victim now!? I was wrong to push you away like that, I am the first to say that, but do we want to talk about all the mistakes you've made that I've forgiven you for!?"
"Why are you so angry, am I not saying right things?" Eve asked, ignoring his words, and her lips curved into a less than reassuring smile. "You were the one who always wanted to stay to the wall just to not have me around. You put your selfish desire before your family. That's why you weren't there at that moment, that's why you couldn't help Abel. If you had been there, you would have stopped him and Cain in time, and he wouldn't have died". Her eyes glowed red. "He died because of you, Adam"
Those words were like a blow to Adam's heart. "I... I don't...!"
"You weren't there when Abel needed you. It's all your fault!" Eve repeated.
Adam trembled. "You... fucking bitch...!"
He immediately regretted those words. "See? You don't really want me either" Eve told him disdainfully. "If you don't mind, the fucking bitch is going home now. You can go too. Find yourself another woman, you and I are done"
"No! Wait!" Adam exclaimed, and grabbed her left arm, pulling it out of her cloak. Her arm was gray and cold like the rest of her skin, and her nails were sharper than before. "You can't just go like this...!"
“Adam, you have five seconds to let me go” Eve hissed.
"No, listen to me!" Adam shouted, shaking her hand very forcefully. Fuck, he'd dreamed of holding that hand again for so long, but Eve's fingers didn't close around his, as if even in that context she was rejecting him. "Fuck, I... I'm sorry, for everything! If you want to blame me, okay, we can discuss this later! But let me make things right! At least for my children! You can't... you can't just leave me like this! I made a mistake, but how many have you made? I'm ready to make amends, but you can't just leave without even allowing me to see Cain and Abel!"
"Instead I can, and I will" Eve replied, narrowing her eyes.
"I gave up everything for you!" Adam begged her. "And I can do it again! Don't you want to come with me? Then I'll stay here! I'll give up Heaven again if you ask me...!"
"Giving up everything was your choice, not mine. Don't talk as if I forced you" Eve replied without empathy.
"Eve, I can't live without you!" Adam shouted at her in one breath.
Finally Eve didn't reply immediately. Her expression suddenly softened, and although she didn't smile or drop her stern gaze, something inside her seemed to move. Finally she stopped trying to move away, and no longer tried to remove her hand from Adam's, who took the opportunity to hold her tighter, as if wanting to make her feel his warmth. The first man took a deep breath, and then his lips moved, causing his voice to emerge again.
"When I arrived up there today
And they said I can take you away,
That you were again mine to save,
And soon I could get to see your face,
I just wanted to come to you to say
You're still for me unlike anyone I have ever known...
But maybe you're something I've never really known"
By now he was no longer sure he had met the real Eve. Maybe what he always thought he knew was just a small part of her. But still, he refused to believe that the love she felt for him wasn't real. It had been there, Adam had felt it, it couldn't have been pretend. Eve was just furious with him for his mistakes, she wasn't being serious.
"And if I pushed you
Or if I came on too strong
Or if I offended you
For that, I'm ready to say I was wrong!
And if you hate me
Then I am sorry my love's too much for you...
But I'm not sorry for loving you!"
Those last words were spoken with such emphasis that they echoed around them, as if the echo itself wanted to take part in that supplication. Adam found himself repeating them, as if hoping that his feeling would stick with them even longer.
"I'm not sorry for loving you!"
Eve's pupils finally regained some warmth. The chill that permeated her seemed to melt, and a small note of compassion appeared on her face. She looked at the first man's hand, still closed around hers.
"Adam..."
But this time Adam didn't let her speak; on the contrary, his voice rose as if he wanted to scream.
"No! Now let me speak!"
He wasn't willing to be ignored any longer. This time he wanted her to listen to him, to hear his every word clearly. He wanted Eve to truly understand what he felt, he wanted her to feel it.
"For you I spent my whole life there,
Was cast away when my mind was young,
Working tirelessly for nine hundred years,
I had no more friends but the sky and sun!
But whenever I looked at you
I thought for sure that you were my dream come true,
I thought I knew!"
The memory of Eve's wonderful face, of that beautiful smile she had always given him, overlapped for an instant with the real image of the demoness whose hand he was now holding. It was something so different from the cold and neutral expression Eve now wore, to the point that they didn't even look like the same person. Adam couldn't help but feel his heart clench terribly at this.
"So if I pushed you
Or if I came on too strong
Or if I offended you
For that, I'll say I was wrong!
And if you hate me
Then I am sorry my love's too much for you...
But I'm not sorry for loving you!"
Adam squeezed Eve's hand even tighter, and for a moment he felt her fingers move as if she wanted to reciprocate, but then again that hand remained still. Cold, lifeless, as if he were holding nothing more than a corpse. Adam found himself repeating his words with even more emphasis, hoping for any reaction from his wife.
"I'M NOT SORRY FOR LOVING YOU!"
Eve still said nothing, and that lit a flame in Adam's chest. That silence irritated him even more than a direct refusal. He hated how Eve was even trying to avoid his gaze. His spirit ignited more and more as if there was a fire in his heart, causing him to spit out everything he had been keeping inside all this time.
"I'm not sorry!
I'm angry and tired and restless and sad,
I'm stuck in the moments I swore that we had,
I wish you'd still chase me,
Or try to embrace me,
For once like you did, I wish you would lie and say..."
Eve suddenly opened her lips and interrupted him with a single sentence.
"I can't love you"
Adam froze. Any color he still had in his face disappeared in an instant, as if he had just been completely drained. His voice dropped to a whisper.
"... no?"
Eve shook her head and let go of his hand. Adam's palm grew cold as it lost that warmth, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest. Without meeting his gaze in the slightest, she turned and walked away. One last sentence escaped her lips before they closed forever.
"So stop asking me something I can't give to you"
Adam's heart seemed to break as he heard her say those words so coldly. He hoped deep down that she would have turned around, that she would have looked at him again, that she would have changed her mind. He stood still as he watched her walk away, step by step, increasing the distance between them further and further.
It couldn't end like this. This couldn't be the result of everything they had been through together. All their love couldn't just have been a lie, he knew that wasn't the case. She loved him, so why didn't she…?
Adam slipped to his knees, unable to stand. His chest hurt terribly, much more than it had centuries ago when he found out that Eve was really gone. He felt like he was about to die again, even though he knew it wasn't possible, and maybe he would have preferred it than to living with his beloved family shattered like that. Than to lose her.
But Eve didn't turn around. She didn't look at him again, she didn't say anything else to him. She continued to walk away, as if everything they had been through together really meant nothing to her. And every new step she took only seemed to drive new hot needles into Adam's heart.
And in the end, all that pain turned into a mixture of anger and suffering.
"... I HATE THAT I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU!!!"
How could it end like this?
How could that woman be so cruel?
How could she have let him know the most beautiful thing in the universe, and then taken it away from him like that?
"WHY DID I FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!?"
Eve didn't look at him anyway.
She ignored his screams.
She ignored his words.
She ignored his desperation.
She continued to walk away without looking back, showing that absolute coldness of hers, never turning around even once.
"WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS LOVE FOR YOU!?"
Adam raised his hand, desperately hoping Eve would grab it one last time. Even though she was now so far away, he still believed he could reach her. He wanted to feel the touch of her skin on his.
But he knew it was a forlorn hope.
Eve had given her answer.
Eve had chosen not to love him anymore.
Eve had abandoned him, she had rejected any possibility of being readmitted to Heaven, she had turned her back on him and the Creator.
It was already over.
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET OVER YOU!?"
The anger was now completely gone from his voice, he was no longer able to utter words of hatred even if he wanted to. Only desperation remained, permeating his heart like a veil.
He couldn't do it. He wanted very much to turn that pain into anger, hatred, revenge, grief, but he couldn't. He only felt a sharp pain in his chest.
And the desire to cry.
He hadn't felt it in ages.
Since Abel had died.
No... since Eve had left.
And now she was leaving again, permanently this time.
A final faint murmur emerged from his lips, so low that it was almost impossible to hear, yet it seemed to ring with the force of a bell.
"... why in the world don't you love me too?"
Even though there was no way she could have heard him, Eve stopped for a moment. For a second, a single second, she seemed to want to turn and look at him again, maybe shout something at him.
And finally, again her voice came from her lips. "I can't" she said simply, in a voice not different to that last murmur of Adam's, which however was audible to the first man's ear like a gong. And having said so she lowered her head again and continued walking without looking back, until she was gone again. Forever.
Adam was left alone, as he had been for too long. Instinctively he raised his right hand and touched his ring finger, where his ring should have been, the same ring that he had made to feel Eve always close to him. That same ring that he himself had given up on, and that he now desperately wanted to feel again on his hand.
And then he stood up again. His body felt cold, but he still had full mobility. He opened his wings and flew towards the sky, and finally he abandoned the realm of perdition reaching the bizarre moon that had recently been created.
Michael was still there waiting for him. As usual. His friend had clearly already finished setting up everything as he had promised, but instead of returning to Heaven he had remained there awaiting his return. "Adam, the houses are ready! So, where...?"
But he stopped when he realized that the first man was alone. “Adam…where is your family?”
Adam didn't answer. "Let's go home" he replied simply pointing towards Heaven with his head.
Michael looked apologetic. "But... your children... your wife..."
Adam shook his head. “I have no wife” was all he said.
Michael's eyes widened slightly, and then, not knowing what to do, he put a hand on his shoulder. Adam let out a sigh and then opened his wings, flying back towards Heaven, and his friend followed close behind in complete silence.
Notes:
The song featured here is another one from Epic the Musical, "Not sorry for loving you". I personally didn't really appreciate how they basically justified Calypso's actions by making a criminal look like a poor girl who didn't know what love was (and I'm pretty sure that if Calypso had been a man and Odysseus a woman it would have been perceived very differently, but obviously we live in a world where it doesn't matter if you're a rapist, if you're a woman it's still partially justified), but the song is really beautiful, so I decided to use it anyway.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 39): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162092
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 93: First attack on Sheol
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie had been silent as Adam watched his final show of love for Eve, followed by her coldness. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she just muttered: “Haven’t you seen her since this?”
Adam shook his head. “I never looked for her again” he replied. “She made her choice”
Charlie had a lot of questions, but she was pretty sure Adam didn’t know the answers too. The only one who could really answer them was Eve, but who knows where she was. “What about your children? Cain, Abel…?”
“I kept looking for them every chance I could" Adam replied. “But in the end I had to give up. I don’t know where they are, but if they refused to let me find them, then they don’t really want to see me"
Charlie wanted to say that maybe there was another reason, but she wasn’t sure that trying to give hope to someone who had held that belief for thousands of years would have done much good. So she decided to put off the conversation and tried to look only on the bright side: “At least you had the rest of your family. They all ended up here in Sheol, right?”
“Yes” Adam confirmed, and around them the world seemed to start speeding up, showing new houses and buildings appearing in the barren land. “They all came here”
Charlie watched carefully as a city took shape before her. It wasn't hideous and partially made of flesh and organs like the ones in Hell, which practically had eyes even on the skyscrapers, but it wasn't even pure and white like the one he had seen in Heaven: it was... well, basically it was like a normal city on Earth, built with common materials and without too much pomp. And in the middle of the buildings Charlie could see the inhabitants, who were all dressed the same: in a long toga as white as milk, which however was covered in stains of what looked like mud, but which was something else, something dirtier. "Those stains... are they their sins?" she asked, understanding the mechanism.
Adam nodded. "All those who came here did so with that white robe. Only those who had it completely cleaned could enter Heaven" he explained. "As you can imagine, there was not a single one. None of them were worthy of salvation. The fruit of sin stained all mankind"
In fact, Charlie couldn't see anyone who had a clean robe. Some, who had evidently been the most virtuous in life, had few blemishes, but they had them nonetheless; others, who probably had not led a good life but had nevertheless eventually reformed, were almost completely covered by them. But if there were people who practically had black clothes based on how many spots they had, on the contrary there wasn't even one who had white ones.
Charlie felt a strange sensation as she looked at them. She seemed to feel a sort of disgust, not towards those people but towards those stains that covered them. It was as if she instinctively knew that they were something that shouldn't be there, something that stained souls and Creation itself. And looking at them intensely, it almost seemed to her that the spots were moving, extremely slowly, forming figures of men and women intent on committing sin. "It's awful" she admitted. "Can't they be deleted?"
"Only the will of God can do that" Adam replied to her. "Forget those stories that say a person can redeem themselves on their own, they are not real. Read the Bible if you don't believe it. Only through Him can one be saved"
"Well, maybe it was like that in this era" she opined. "But today things are different, aren't they? Even atheists go to Heaven after all"
Adam shook his head. "You young people always stop at the most superficial interpretations" he reproached her. "Do you really believe that Jesus expected people to venerate him when he came to Earth? He doesn't give a damn about churches, masses and candles. What he wants is for people to accept his word into their hearts. A person who realizes his imperfection and chooses to take a higher and righteous path is already following God, even if they have never even heard of Christianity. Jesus invited humanity to do this, to accept him so that he could lead them towards redemption, a path that only he can allow. A person who does not accept God in their heart is a person destined to always make mistakes, and therefore always remain in sin, basically like the demons of Hell"
Charlie had a little trouble following that reasoning. “But how can someone accept Jesus and follow him if they don't even know him?”
“Your soul knows” Adam answered her simply. "And that's apparently enough. For the rest, ask Sera or your friend Emily, I'm not a priest"
Charlie realized that Adam seemed annoyed by these constant questions, as if talking about it didn't make him very happy. If she remembered correctly, her mother had told her that he was completely pissed off when humans continued to go to Hell even after Jesus, so that too must have been a sore point for him. So she focused back on what she was seeing: "So, since Jesus is still not around now, no human has a way to follow that can save them from sin?"
"Good, I see you've got it" Adam confirmed.
“So… this was the afterlife at that time?” Charlie asked a little sad. "If you behaved badly you ended up in Hell, if you behaved well you ended up here, where basically... what did you do? Did you just live in this barren land?"
"Basically yes. No punishment, but no reward either" Adam replied. "The people who ended up here basically lived in peace just like on Earth, but without the bad people. They worked, they played, they made friends, they welcomed newcomers, in short, all positive things, but never anything... more, that's it. And in their free time they sang choirs and prayers in the hope that God would have brought them to His home one day... but He always remained silent"
Charlie hugged her arms, feeling a little cold, though obviously only figuratively and not in reality. Who knows what it was like... waiting who knows how long to be freed from such a sad fate while the entity that was supposed to judge them didn't say a word. Such a long wait, in an era in which the years still passed much more slowly than today, trapped in that anonymous land, only being able to look at Heaven in the sky without ever being able to access it. All because their souls were still dirty with the sin that a woman who knows how many generations before had allowed to enter the world, and that none of them knew how to wash away.
Yes... it wasn't a punishment, but it was still really sad.
"You weren't here" she said suddenly. "You were in Heaven. The only human who had the right to stay there"
"Exactly" Adam confirmed.
“Have you ever thought of stopping here in Sheol?” Charlie asked him.
"Sometimes I even stayed for days. My children were here at the end" Adam replied to her. "But then I had to go back up there, even if only for a short time. That was my place, and I couldn't simply refuse it"
"Why not?" Charlie asked him curiously.
Adam tightened his fingers slightly. "I was the only one of the two parents of mankind not corrupted by sin, the only one who had the right to Heaven. It was through me that there still existed the hope of a change, of a liberation of humanity. If I... the only pure human... had renounced Heaven, humanity would have lost its last chance. As long as I lived up there and continued to accept it, limiting my time in Sheol with visits, the hope remained concrete"
"Oh... that must have been hard" Charlie murmured. "Being alone up there..."
"I wasn't alone. I had friends, the angels had been happy to look after me" Adam corrected her. "And I was fine with it if it meant that one day the gates of Heaven would finally be open to all humanity"
But Charlie didn't fall for it. She had never been a parent, but she was sure she would have gone crazy if she spent too much time away from a child, let alone living isolated away from her family with only the company of a few friends who had no blood connection to her. Adam had found himself in a sort of opposite exile... the only human to have returned home, and for this very reason the only human far from everyone else. “What were you doing… when you were up there?”
"I found ways to pass the time" Adam replied. "And when I didn't have any... I looked at Earth"
Bad thing, was what Charlie immediately thought. "Vaggie told me that you can feel the pain every time you look at the Earth or are on it"
"Oh, I don't need my powers to take away disgust when I look at that planet" Adam told her showing his teeth as if she were a beast. "The Earth is full of evil... and in the past it was even more so. I saw the lineage of Cain grow in number and begin to plunder every resource, and then fight among themselves to take what was of others. The bloodlines of my other children soon followed them, except for that of Seth. I stood up there and watched as they invented every instrument of death and torture. Not all of them were bad apples... there were still many people who ended up in Sheol... sometimes even there were of heroes, of righteous rulers, of liberators... but somehow, the wicked always managed to prevail in the end"
“And they kept piling up in Hell” Charlie anticipated, already knowing where the conversation was going to go. "And when Hell was no longer enough... they chose to go further"
Adam narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what the advantage of evil people is, Charlie?” he asked her. "Who have no limits. They have no morals and therefore no restraints. And because of this they discover what can be to their advantage. The sinners in Hell discovered how to use souls as weapons. They discovered that through them they could become more and more powerful. And those among them who were ruthless enough to enslave as many as possible reached heights that modern overlords are grotesque caricatures compared to"
“Was that when they attacked Sheol?” Charlie asked him.
"Millions of defenseless souls who had no way to resist an eventual invasion. How do you think the demons saw this? To them, it was just weakness" Adam answered her. "Fortunately, the magical paths between the realms are not endless. They could not open a portal directly into the cities of Sheol, and that gave me time to intervene before they attacked"
Charlie was a little surprised by the news, but in fact, she reflected, apart from when they were within the same realm, portals did not open randomly: she and Vaggie for example had had to walk part of the way when they went to Heaven, even if the portal had been opened by divine angels. And even Adam, although he could have opened the portal directly in the Hazbin Hotel and razed everything to the ground, had opened it at least a hundred meters away, forcing the angels to fly for a while. And even the portals to Earth did not open randomly, but only in specific points, often never the same ones due to the continuous rotation of the planet. "I assume the first invasion was a surprise to you"
"Seeing a group of sinners invading innocents? Nah. Honestly, it was something I'd already seen too many times" Adam replied with a certain acidity in his rhetoric.
The world finally stopped before them, showing numerous blood-red portals located between two hills distant from the city, from which an army was emerging. The demons that came out were nothing like the ones Charlie was used to: even the simplest soldiers were in greater demonic form, signaling that their power level must be at least that of an overlord. They were armed with finely crafted swords and spears, constructed of the pitch-black demonic steel, of which their armor was also composed. It was clear that none of them were expecting a big battle, because their gazes as they stared at the enemy city were more like lions staring at baby deer. For them, what they had in front of them was just an easy place to take, and they were already anticipating the looting.
Through the portals also arrived some chariots pulled by some dragons, above which those who were undoubtedly the commanders stood out. In particular, behind them came an obsidian throne placed on a scarlet pyramid at least nine meters high, dragged by twelve sinners as big as trolls, on which sat a dark figure. He was a demon partially similar to Satan, the Embodiment of Wrath, but had a slimmer build and darker, metal-like skin, as if someone had fused armor onto him. His face, however, was completely human, except for an imposing antler of sharp horns, and he had a hooked nose, a long, partially curled goatee, and cold eyes like black pits. Standing next to him was another demon, but he was completely wrapped in a black cloak, making it impossible to see what was under it; it was that cloaked demon, at a nod from his boss, who spoke first. "Go!" he ordered, and his voice sounded as if it were produced by ten thousand men. "Take everything you find! Don't you dare stop until you have conquered every inch of this land! Destroy!"
The demons roared, and rushed like violent beasts against the city; it was like seeing a herd of rhinos charging away. The ground shook under the violence of their footsteps, some even started running on all fours, others remembered spiders for how they moved crazily. But their charge was checked when what looked like a golden comet passed overhead, and from it a beam of golden light shot out, cutting across the ground in front of them, threatening to vaporize them if they continued. The demons looked up and saw a pair of large golden wings flapping overhead.
Adam was there, frozen in mid-air. He was looking at the demonic army with a strange mixture of anger, disbelief and, to some extent, even a little fear. He looked at the leader of the demons, who looked back at him from his throne; after which, the first man turned and flew towards the city. "Shall we chase him?" a demon resembling a giant scolopendra with the torso of a cadaverous man asked the leader, climbing up the pyramid on which his throne was located.
But the leader of the demons shook his head. "Don't be stupid. None of you would never be able to fly at that speed" he pointed out. "Rather, prepare your troops. He will be back soon"
"He may decide to face us inside the city" the scolopendra demon pointed out. "It would be advantageous for him, using the buildings as cover he would fight more easily"
"No, he won't. Didn't you recognize that angel?" the demon leader said with a sneer. "He will return"
Adam in the meantime had already reached the city, where the inhabitants in turn had realized what was happening and were hurrying to prepare a desperate resistance. As soon as they saw it, everyone was happy. "Father!" Seth, who was among the crowd trying to give advice, immediately stepped forward, followed by his many other siblings.
Adam landed in front of them. "We don't have much time" he said. "What is your situation?"
Seth bit his lip. "Father, we cannot withstand such an onslaught. All of us are ready to fight, but we have no weapons or walls. We have never thought we needed to prepare for war!"
Adam couldn't blame his son's words. He had lived for nine hundred and thirty years always expecting the worst and had taught his children to do the same, but he himself had never found it necessary to create defenses in Sheol. From their point of view, evil people were in Hell, so what was the point of making weapons? Except for blacksmiths who did it for passion or to create works of art, they were just a source of temptation.
Adam cursed the situation. Maybe he should go back to Heaven and call for reinforcements... he doubted that the angels had noticed what was happening, he himself had only noticed it by pure luck since at that moment he found himself observing the other realms as usual. But unfortunately he couldn't afford to waste time, not with the demons so close. "Find everything that can serve as a shield, and demolish the peripheral buildings to create walls. Do this several times, better to create more rows of walls" Adam ordered his sons. "Lead the defense from above them, use any object long and sharp enough to keep the attackers away. You may not be able to hurt them seriously, but you can repel them and prevent them from entering"
Adam already started to turn around, but Seth stopped him: "Father! What do you want to do?"
"I'll buy time" Adam replied. "You do as I tell you and organize a defense. I will keep the demons at bay for as long as necessary"
“Father, you can’t handle all of them by yourself!” Azura intervened, pushing her brother away and grabbing her father's arm. "At least take us with you! We're not as strong as you, but we too have fought all sorts of beasts during our time on Earth! I once single-handedly took down a six-meters tall therizinosaurus! We can help!"
"Dad, she's right!" Calmana supported her sister. "We can buy more time together...!"
But Adam freed himself from their grasp. "No way" he told them. "You stay here. Your presence is necessary in tgis city. Focus on gather strong people to prepare for the attack"
"Dad!" his children protested.
"This is not a request!" Adam told them in an authoritative voice. "I can't fight at my best if I also have to worry about protecting you. I'll take care of things from here on out. You guys think about making this place a fortress!"
And having said this he took off, heading again towards the army of demons, which in the meantime seemed to have reorganized. He knew his children were right, by getting help he would have a better chance, but he didn't want to risk it. Those demons had come there to kill, fighting meant risking death. Adam knew that his sons were strong and brave, but if they were on the battlefield his attention would constantly be on them, not on his enemies. No father would want to involve his children in bloodshed.
Yes, his children...
He stood above the demonic army, looking at the disgusting beings. Each of them had ended up in Hell, in that new hideous form, for some horrible deed they had done. Adam had seen all the evil that had taken shape on Earth, even if not in real time, however he had seen it using his powers; even if he could not recognize those souls due to their no longer human appearance, still for him those horrible actions he had seen had been carried out by all of them.
To think that such hideous beings had emerged from the species he himself had created...
That demonic form suited them better, he found himself thinking.
The demons looked at him hungrily, but none of them moved. And then, their leader rose from his throne and spread his black membranous wings, and flew towards him, stopping when he was right in front of him. “Are you here to negotiate?” he asked him.
Adam lowered his hands and fired the golden beam again, cutting the earth in a perfect line. "Here is my negotiation: beyond that line lies your end" he replied. "Get over it and I will have no mercy. Don't challenge me. Go back to Hell, and I won't pursue you"
The demon leader didn't move. In fact, he seemed to have barely listened to him. His eyes ran over every part of his body, as if he were studying it. "I've always wondered what the father of humanity was like" he finally told him. "You really have an amazing body. You exude power. It's like I instinctively know that those muscles can break my bones"
"Are you hitting on me by any chance? Because I don't like men" Adam warned him annoyed. "Who are you, by the way?"
The demon leader made a hissing noise. "I am the eighth descendant of the bloodline of Cain. You are my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. When I was born, my parents gave me a name inspired by my illustrious ancestor. Ahriman Tubal-Cain, that was my name. But as soon as I became a man I chose another"
Adam narrowed his eyes: "And what is this name?"
A grin spread across the demon's face. “Mephistopheles" he replied. "But just because it's you, you can call me just Mephisto"
Adam's fists clenched tightly. "I remember you" he said through gritted teeth. "I have been watching you. A man of extraordinary knowledge of metallurgy... who did nothing but use it to create weapons and instruments of torture. You devastated entire regions and made thousands of people suffer. You enjoyed torturing them"
"Wow, I'm flattered. I didn't think you knew me" Mephisto said. "I thought I should introduce myself, but it seems like there's no need. You may not believe me, but it's an honor for me that you know me so well. Really"
"Of course" Adam replied, obviously not believing him. “Now that you've introduced yourself, are you leaving or not?”
Mephisto still didn't move. Instead he asked: "If it doesn't bother you... could you hit me?"
Adam was sure he had misunderstood. "Do you want to die?"
"I want to see your strength" Mephisto answered him. "Please, show it to me. It's no problem for you, is it? If you kill me, my army will be left without a leader"
"You have some problems with your head" Adam told him.
"Oh, quite a few" Mephisto replied shamelessly. "So, will you do me this favor? Hit me with all your strength"
Adam just raised an eyebrow, and then decided to please him: he raised a fist and aimed it at Mephisto. The demon in turn threw a fist, which collided with his. Upon impact, Adam also felt something else: the force of thousands of other entities, which he understood to be the souls possessed by that demon. Regardless, that contact ended with Mephisto being knocked back and his fingers breaking. "AAAAH... AH AH! Fuck, that's strong!" he laughed out loud, holding his broken hand. "Even with all my souls, I couldn't stand up to you... and you really didn't use all your strength like I asked, am I right? Fuck, if you hadn't, you would have made me explode from the shockwave of that punch! Such amazing power! You are so strong... absolute perfection...!"
Adam was quite annoyed by that attitude, but even more so by what the demon had said: "So it's true? Have you started putting other souls in chains to empower yourselves?"
"I can teach you how to do it if you wish" Mephisto answered him. "Why don't you come with us?"
Adam was speechless for a moment. “You mean in Hell?”
"Do you call it that up there? We named it Gehenna. Well, let's not worry about the name" Mephisto said. "Come with us, father. We can solve all this very quickly. You can lead us. If you want we can even leave this rabble of weaklings here on this crap moon, we don't care; we just want them to give us their souls, so that we can gain power, and then we will leave them here and go our way. They will continue to live as they always have and we will have what we came for. You just have to convince them to do it. A man like you will surely have no problems. And once you have them convinced, we can all gather in Hell and celebrate the victory with a nice banquet, and then think about the next move with you. So, are you up for it?"
“Why should I side with you?” Adam rightly opined. "I don't like monsters, just so you know"
"Oh, father, please, don't talk like that. Am I not your descendant too?" Mephisto asked him. "Aren't all of us human souls? Shouldn't you lead us too? Why do you only side with those who suit you? Is this the father of humanity? Well, I assume it's normal. They always say that a father loves all his children equally, but that's false, right? The father is tribal, the father takes sides. He has some children he appreciates and others he appreciates less, and he sides with those he prefers more"
"If you're trying to pass as a philosopher, it's going badly for you. And if you're trying to pass as a moralist, than you're even more a shit" Adam replied with a grimace. "I have seen everything you have done while you were alive, Mephisto. You are not a human being, you are just a monster who was unfortunately born wearing human skin. I could never recognize such a disgusting being as my descendant, and now you expect me to side with you and lead you? You disgust me"
"So would you rather stay in Heaven rather than deny God and come and stay here with your descendants?" Mephisto asked, and for a moment he looked a little disappointed.
"You are not my descendants" Adam repeated to him. "Now leave or die"
"Strong and decisive words. Well done" Mephisto said with a strange satisfaction. "You are doing it right. Close your heart... after all, the world is dark"
Adam had had enough of that guy's ravings. "You're not going to go away easy, are you?"
"Of course I won't go away easy. And since you don't want to come with me... I have no choice but to take you prisoner and change your mentality with some tricks" Mephisto replied, then turned and flew back towards his troops: "Prepare for battle!"
The first line of demons advanced, and they all opened their wings: some had bat wings, some bird wings, some insect wings, and when they flapped together they made a deafening noise. However, none of them initially attacked Adam: even if they did not know his actual power, they had still seen him shoot beams of light capable of cutting the earth, and this frightened them quite a lot. Finally one of them decided to take the initiative and lunged at him.
Adam raised his hand slightly and pierced his chest in one blow. The demon gasped, and Adam wanted to stop there: if he had done so, he would almost certainly have survived since it had not yet hit him with angelic energy. But he knew he couldn't let him live. “Now… the really hard part”
His golden axe appeared in his free hand and he swung it. Time seemed to slow in his eyes as he brought the blade closer to the demon's neck. "Don't hesitate! Do it!"
The demon's head was cut off and fell to the ground, followed by the body as he shook it off. Adam felt an empty feeling in his heart as he realized that he had killed a human soul for the first time. But despite this his expression did not change. "Don't waver" he told to himself. "They must not understand that you do not want to do this. Remember what they did while alive and what they plan to do now. They are not human!"
He had to kill them, even if they had once been human.
He had to do it to protect the innocent.
Like when he killed all his animal friends to save his family.
He couldn't let them live.
He must not look at them as if they were human souls. He must remember that they were only monsters. He had seen them when he looked at Earth, he knew what they had done, and he knew they would have done the same here in Sheol. He had to stop them.
Be impassive.
Be ruthless.
No mercy.
Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.
He himself had said it after all.
When the second demon arrived, it was easier. Even with the third, and with the fourth, and with the fifth. Keeping his body moving and focusing on his survival prevented him from thinking about anything else. Soon, he found himself fighting as he always had with other living creatures. The shattered demons fell around him like rain.
Mephisto observed the scene with a strange look. "What power..." he said through clenched teeth. "But still... I can't see it..."
"Boss, the front line will be exterminated soon" the scolopendra demon warned him.
"I can see it for myself" Mephisto said. "Send our nine best legions to face him. Let's not let him get bored!"
Like an immense swarm the demons rushed at Adam; the first man took a deep breath, and then he raised his fingers and fired his rays of light again, vaporizing many before they even reached him, and then he began swinging his axe again, slashing the remaining ones. It wasn't the first time he found himself against countless enemies. Their strikes were nothing compared to the sharp claws and deadly teeth of the dinosaurs, and their tough skin was nothing compared to their armor and spines.
They weren't even managing to move him: all they had been able to do was bring him back down to earth, since he didn't want to waste too much energy staying in the air. But even though they continued to pour into him like a river, he still didn't retreat an inch. Even when they managed to hit him. and even if you bent him over, he immediately got up again. He could go on all day...
Suddenly something inside him seemed to freeze; it was as if his muscles had become paralyzed. "What!?" he exclaimed as he slipped on one foot, shaking slightly as if he were cold.
The demons smiled when they saw him give in, and jumped on him even more; he continued to fight even in that disadvantageous position, but the more he killed, the more his body paralyzed. “This is… poison…?” he just muttered, spitting blood.
Mephisto smiled evilly from atop his throne. "Extraordinary. We imbued every weapon of our soldiers with basilisk poison, yet he killed six of our best legions before being brought to his knees. If we hadn't poisoned him he would have certainly won" he commented with a strange admiration in his voice, and then looked at the scolopendra demon and the cloaked demon: "Proceed"
The two demons immediately jumped to the front and ran towards Adam. He was forcing himself with the axe to stay upright, and even though they were paralyzed, he managed to raise his hands to fire more rays of light, although much weaker than before. An instant later, however, the scolopendra demon opened the plates on his skin, from which dozens of scorpion-like locusts emerged, which jumped on Adam and stung him, causing painful sores. "Give up, you can't escape my swarm!" the scolopendra demon said, clicking his claws. "I am Abaddon, ruler of the locusts, and I am the one who will have the glory of having taken you prisoner!"
Adam gritted his teeth, realizing as he grabbed them that those locusts had a human face, and were therefore the souls who had sold themselves to that demon; despite the poison in his body, he threw himself to the ground and rolled over to crush them. Abaddon was on him and tried to bite him, but he punched him away. He tried to take advantage of it to block his opponent, but his senses were clouded by the poison and he realized the presence of the cloaked demon too late.
The aforementioned demon had moved behind him, and had opened their cloak, revealing a female body in all respects similar to that of a human woman, except for the head which was empty and devoid of an eyes, nose and ears, with only a large mouth open in a grin. It was precisely the skin of the head that was shaped as if it were molten ceramic and created in a few moments another identical demon, and then another and yet another; the four copies grabbed Adam from the shoulders and threw him to the ground, dragging him away. The first man made a sound of surprise, but still reacted vehemently, despite the poison circulating in his body, and freed himself; however, each of the four copies in turn began to multiply, until there were twelve identical demons that completely enveloped him, preventing any movement. “You… what the fuck are you…!?” Adam hissed.
"We are Legion" the twelve copies of the same demon answered in unison. "Because we are many"
Meanwhile, in the city, his children had used the time he had bought to prepare themselves as he had told them: they had managed to create fairly solid walls and to procure at least some weapons. No one was standing still and everyone was preparing; the blacksmiths and metalworkers were working until exhaustion without ever stopping to produce swords and spears. Adam's children had observed the battle from the top of the newborn walls, and despite the anxiety for a while they had thought that perhaps everything would have been okay, since the legions of demons were not managing to overcome that human barrier that was their father. However, when he had fallen because of the poison, the hope in their hearts had immediately died. They knew that Adam would not have died from the poison, their father had survived the poisons of the most dangerous animals on Earth, but now he could not defend himself from the demons like before. "I climb over the wall!" Azura exclaimed, already ready to fight.
Seth knew his father would have preferred them to stay behind the walls, but he couldn't just stand back and watch, amd he knew that he would have never been able to stop the others. "Everyone, get spears" he ordered his siblings. "The demons are focused on Dad, they won't notice our charge, and while we're not as strong as him, we're still some of the most powerful humans to ever live. Let's charge and drive those monsters away, grab our father, and head back right away"
They did so, and ran towards the battlefield, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible; as soon as they were close enough, Seth raised his spear and threw it at the head of one of Legion's clones. The demon was hit full and all of her copies let out a scream, which sounded like ten thousand men. "FUCK! Bastard! How dare you! I swear I'll kill you, you filthy...!"
Adam raised his hand and grabbed her by the neck. "Wait! I was there first!" he roared, before slamming the demon to the ground with disproportionate force, literally opening a small crevasse.
His children gathered around him; Azura and Calmana threw their spears in unison and hit Abaddon's antennae, making him scream in pain, and then for extra safety Seth raised a stone and hit him in the chest with it, breaking part of his carapace. "We need to retreat!" he said to his father. "We'll take you to the city, you can recover there!"
"Yes, good idea" Adam said. Even though his body had begun to process the poison, it was still best to retreat for now and recover his strength. He would have returned to the charge as soon as he was fully recovered.
But the demons had already recovered, and they were not about to let him go. Abaddon spat a sticky, acidic substance from his mouth, which wrapped around his legs and became harder than marble, pinning him where he was; enough for Legion to multiply a hundredfold, maybe more, and manage to surround them. "Look, the whole family is reunited!" Mephisto laughed. "All of you, whoever can capture one of them alive can keep them as a slave! Those daughters are really beautiful, I think you won't mind!"
Adam seemed to see even more red than before. "Don't you dare!" he growled. "Stop now!"
"Oh... is that fear I hear in your voice?" Mephisto mocked him. "Well, I fear you will not move me to pity"
Adam was about to explode, so much so that he was salivating. "You..." he hissed. "... monster!"
Mephisto's grin widened even further. "Monster? I'm afraid that..."
Suddenly the sky seemed to tear apart: a white pillar appeared from Heaven and fell in front of them, pushing the demons back as if the air had a force of its own. A figure appeared inside it and seemed to raise their hand, and then moved it into what was undoubtedly a fist; as this happened, a shockwave of continental proportions exploded, sweeping away thousands of demons as if they were nothing. Abaddon and Legion trembled and retreated quickly, preferring to avoid direct confrontation. The white pillar died away, revealing a mighty angel with blond hair and silver wings. As he saw it, a smile appeared on Adam's face: "Ah ah! I want to see what you guys we'll manage to do now!" he laughed heartily, mocking the demons.
Michael grabbed him by the arm and helped him up. "Come on, buddy!" he said. "Get up and fight! We can win this battle!"
"Now that you're here, for sure" Adam replied. "How did you know?"
"Father told me" Michael replied. "And we came"
A portal opened in the sky, not red and evil like the one the demons had passed through, but white and pure. Through it emerged an angel covered in armor who blew a trumpet, followed by an army of other angels already fully armed. All the human souls present in Sheol saw the celestial army arriving, and had opposite reactions. On the one hand, the demons trembled with fear, since they had worked so hard to defeat a single angel, let alone an entire army. On the other hand, the good souls burst into shouts of joy. "Heaven has not abandoned us! God has not forgotten us!" Seth shouted, raising his spear in triumph, followed by his siblings.
Abaddon and Legion made furious noises at the sight. Mephisto, for his part, remained almost impassive, and only looked bored, as if he thought the fun was already over.
The angel who had blown the trumpet landed next to Michael and removed her helmet, revealing herself to be a woman with silver hair, the top half of which was worn in a bob, while the back of her head was left loose and long. Her eyes were gold like gems, but there was a hint of pink in the irises. And her skin was pale, and its color seemed to be somewhere between white and light gray. In her right hand she held a spear, and in her left a sharp sword. "My lord, we are ready!"
"Good, Ezekiel" Michael said. "What is the situation?"
"We can create a barrier to keep the demons here, and allow Adam and his sons to retreat into the city" the angel proposed. "Then we can..."
"No!" Adam stopped her quickly. "Their weapons are poisoned, if you play defensively you will only weaken yourselves. Instead, charge up to those portals. Michael, can you close them?"
"I can, yes" his friend confirmed.
"Then it is imperative to do so, so that they cannot call for further reinforcements" Adam said. "Form small contingents to create a shield around Michael, so that he can reach the portal without being hit and therefore poisoned even once, and as soon as he closes it, retreat, switch with others so that the poisoned soldiers can recover, and repeat the operation until you have closed all the portals. The others instead must cause chaos by attacking from above and retreating immediately, with hit-and-run tactics. Eliminate the demons that can fly first, then the others"
Ezekiel seemed to be struggling to keep up with all those words, but she was still a soldier and knew how to memorize orders. Michael clapped his hands: "Did you hear? Do as he says! He is the most experienced in battle, listen to him!"
The angels immediately nodded, and began to arrange themselves as they had been ordered. Adam grunted and made the axe reappear in his hands, and turned to his sons: "I know you won't leave even if I order you, but at least do me the courtesy of fighting in the rear, where you are safe"
"Father, stay in the rear too!" Seth begged him. "You are still..."
"I've had enough rest" Adam told him. "My place is on the front lines, along with my best buddy. I don't let someone else fight my battles"
"That's why I love you, buddy" Michael said jokingly, before shouting to his entire army: "Come on! Keep your guard up and don't waver! Don't stop until the hordes of Hell are pushed back!". And then he pointed his finger at Adam: "And get this man a helmet!"
Notes:
Just to give a better idea of worldbuilding: yes, before the coming of Jesus Christ, humans could not go to Heaven, because they were all stained by original sin, and therefore they all ended up in Hell; in the Old Testament, the realm of the dead is in fact described as "in the heart of the earth" (and therefore aligned with the famous phrase "you are dust and to dust you shall return"). Hell in the Old Testament is technically divided into numerous "rooms", some reserved for fallen angels, others for the Watchers, and so on; those reserved for human souls are essentially two, namely Gehenna, where the wicked are punished, and Sheol (or land of Abraham), where the good souls go and there is no punishment other than being far from the light of God; these two "rooms" are also not divided, but it is possible for the spirits of both to talk to each other, even if they cannot physically interact. Only after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the original sin was erased and thus all the good souls of Sheol were welcomed into Heaven.
As for demons, all those mentioned here are "primordial" demons, since they are described as being among the most ancient, to the point that in some cases they are even considered synonyms of the devil (especially Mephistopheles). Legion appears in the New Testament, but since it is described as a mass of demons, it is often used to indicate demons as an army, and therefore an entity as ancient as the demons themselves. Abaddon, finally, is technically an angel and appears in the Apocalypse, but is described as a millenary entity in command of an army of carnivorous and monstrous locusts that remained imprisoned in the temple, and therefore is often identified as a fallen angel and consequently a demon (his name literally means "exterminator"). Obviously in the original all these demons are not human souls but fallen angels (because ALL demons are fallen angels), but since in Hazbin Hotel the demons are human souls, here too they are. Tubal-Cain too is a biblical character, described as the first blacksmith in human history and the inventor of metallurgy (and depending on the version he may have committed incest with his sister); obviously he did not become Mephisto, since human souls do not become demons, but in any case, being of the lineage of Cain, he was not a good person and therefore he certainly did not end up in the good part of the afterlife.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 40): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162110
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 94: Decision
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Mephisto stood there impassively watching the enemy army recover, easily driving the demons out of Sheol. Even though they were losing, he didn't show the slightest bit of regret for the fallen soldiers; on the contrary, he just looked disappointed as he watched Adam, now with a horned helmet on his face, lead the charge. "Let's go" he ordered.
Abaddon made loud snaps with his claws: "We can still win! If I release all my locusts and Legion multiplies, we can rebuild our lost numbers and...!"
"It's not worth it" Mephisto told him simply. "There's no point in fighting now that the Taxiarch is here. We don't have a champion who can stand up to him for our cause. And without a champion, our fight against the heavenly army will never be even. We would lose more than what we would earn. Let's retreat"
Abaddon made a noise of disappointment, but obeyed. Legion, on the other hand, immediately agreed, as she herself was eager to leave now that she had seen Michael take the field. Unlike Abaddon, she was evil, but she was not a fanatic of war; she knew when it was time to lay down the weapons.
Adam, who was on the front lines cutting off the heads of the demons, saw this and let out a furious cry: "MEPHISTO! Where are you going!? Come back here! Come and avenge your soldiers!"
Mephisto heard his scream, and perhaps out of contempt, perhaps out of pride, he turned to him, challenging him with a look: "I have no need to avenge anyone. If those soldiers died, then they deserved to die for their weakness. I have other souls that I can use!"
Adam gritted his teeth, and threw his axe, which passed between the bodies of three demons and hit the base of their leader's throne. "If there is still a semblance of a human in you, come here and face me like a man!" he challenged him.
Mephisto sneered at him. "I am a human, and as such I retire! Humans don't play fair, old man!"
"You think you can teach me how to be a human!?" Adam shouted at him. "I created humanity!"
"Your eyes are clouded by idealism" Mephisto replied mockingly. "I don't see you as a true human, free from all of its constraints"
"You speak of monsters, not humans! Face me!" Adam challenged him again. "Come here and let's fight, just you and me! If you think you know more about humans than I do, prove it!"
Mephisto hissed, and for a moment looked like he was going to follow his pride and face the challenge, but then he stepped through the portal instead. "You're not taking my life today!" he told him.
Adam roared in rage, and he tried to chase after him again, but the army of demons was still too large and there were too many in his path. So he finally stopped and shouted: "Run away, you coward! But know this, all of you: you will never conquer even an inch of this land while I am here to defend it! Know that this place is under my protection, and also under that of the Almighty! I am your darkest moment, the monster that always draws near! If you fucking filthy creatures who lie calling yourselves my offspring ever dare return, you'll find us here waiting for you! The next time you want to leave Hell, remember these angels! Remember the archangel Michael! Remember me! Remember Adam, the first man!"
The demons swarmed away towards the portals, quickly disappearing beyond them; Adam screamed and did not stop, chasing them, knowing that the battle was not over as long as the portals were open and therefore the demons could return, perhaps with reinforcements. Only after Michael had sealed the last portal and the warrior angels had exterminated the last demons left behind did he stop. "It's over" he muttered, leaning on his axe.
Ezekiel, who was in front of him, pulled her sword from the body of the demon she had just killed; her face was soaked in sweat because of all the effort she had just made. But despite this, she still found the strength to bow her head: "Thank you for leading us to victory, sir"
"Don't say that, I am the one who should thank you for your help. You have been a protector of mankind today, girl" he said to her, clapping her on the shoulder.
Ezekiel blushed a little at the compliment. "I do not deserve such solemn words, sir" she said, and then asked, "Do you want me to rally the troops to pursue them?"
Adam paused. It wouldn't have been that difficult: they too could simply open a portal and attack Hell. They could pursue Mephisto and his soldiers and eliminate them once and for all. However, their army was already tired from the battle; moreover, that could be part of the demons' plan, who after luring them to Hell would treacherously invade Sheol again. No, the losses could outweigh the gains; it wasn't worth it. And besides... Adam didn't want to go that far. "No" he finally decided. "Let them go. We won today and that's enough for me. Go to your comrades and help the wounded"
"Yes, sir" Ezekiel answered promptly, and then flew off to carry out the order.
Adam watched her go away, and then he started looking for someone else: "My children... where are my children...?"
Luckily his children turned out to be still unharmed: their weapons were covered in the blood of their enemies, and sometimes a few cuts, but nothing else. "We won, Dad!" Seth told him with a big smile.
Adam didn't hold back and gave him a hug. It felt good to finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Yes, kids. It's done" he told them.
"Wow, Dad, you were incredible!" Azura exclaimed proudly. "You were in front of everyone, inciting the charge, you inspired terror in the hearts of the enemies! You were like a great general!"
"Come on, kids. You already knew I was awesome" Adam boasted without any modesty.
A large familiar hand landed on his shoulder. "But this time you were more awesome than usual" Michael told him with a wink.
"Always praising me, best buddy" Adam replied with a grin, punching him in the chest.
"Hey, wait, is this tall, handsome, noble-looking angel your friend, Dad?" Calmana suddenly asked, and a mischievous look appeared on her face: "Do you mind if I invite him to...?"
"Calmana, we've already talked about this! No boys until you are at least thirty!" Adam exclaimed immediately.
His daughter gave him a look of disappointment: "Dad, when I died I was over nine hundred, if we include those in the afterlife I'm already over a thousand years old!"
"Until you are ten thousand, then!" Adam snapped, and then he grabbed Michael's arm and dragged him away: "And you don't look at her, she's still a child!"
"I'm an adult! We're all adults now, Dad!" Calmana protested.
"Not for me!" was the only answer her father gave her, making her siblings grunt in annoyance and giggle.
Michael let Adam lead him to what he thought was a safe distance, and then asked: "You do remember that all your daughters have already started families, had kids, and all that?"
"Don't remind me!" Adam grumbled.
Michael chuckled in amusement, but even though he would normally have teased him again at that moment, he didn't lash out, and instead he said: "You should be proud of yourself for what you did today. If it weren't for you, a lot of souls in Sheol would have been kidnapped and enslaved, if not killed. And even after that, you led the attack even better than I did"
"Thanks for the compliment" Adam replied, not hiding his pride.
Michael sighed. "I'm sorry, I should have come sooner. I didn't count on the forces of Hell attacking Sheol. Because of my negligence, you had to protect your children alone"
"Come on, don't get sentimental now. I care that no one died" Adam said, then he looked at the bodies of the angels scattered among the much more numerous demons: "You, on the other hand, have lost many soldiers..."
"Oh, don't worry about them. They will return soon" Michael reassured him.
Adam looked at him strangely: "What?"
"Souls bound to Heaven once they die are transported back to it and are reborn in the Hall of Judgment" Michael explained. "None of these angels have ever actually risked death"
"Wait, so I wouldn't have died either!?" Adam exclaimed.
"You're also an angel of Heaven now, so no" Michael admitted.
"Fuck, you could have told me before! My children wouldn't have rushed to save me if they had known!" Adam blurted out angrily. He had really thought he was going to die, and instead now he discovered that it had been an unfounded fear.
"I'm sorry, I never thought you would need to know that" Michael replied. "Come on, how could I have imagined that you would find yourself on a battlefield? Your afterlife was supposed to be a peaceful and calm place"
Adam wanted to stay mad at him, but he couldn't blame his best buddy, so he just grunted like a warthog. His gaze focused on his children in the distance: "Weren't they in danger of dying too?"
Michael frowned: "I can't know for sure, but... they're not souls from Heaven, so no, I think they would die if someone killed them"
Adam clenched his fists slightly, and then he shrugged: "Well, it doesn't change a damn thing. I wouldn't leave them in the hands of those bastards anyway. If those disgusting demons come back, I'll be here ready to welcome them"
"So you want to spend your afterlife time on a battlefield waiting to fight?" Michael jokingly told him. "Somehow, it suits you, my friend"
Adam chuckled a little at his friend's joke, and then patted him on the shoulder: "Regardless of whether I would have died or not, my children would have fallen anyway. Therefore I owe their lives to you, best buddy. You have my gratitude"
Michael smiled at him, and then with a little shame replied: "It was not the Taxiarch of Heaven who led his soldiers to victory, or who arrived first on the battlefield"
"You were providential anyway" Adam told him. "Don't be hard on yourself"
"I am not hard, I am fair" Michael replied. "My attention since the dawn of time has been focused on defending Earth, which was placed under my protection. Never did I think that human souls would turn their claws on other human souls like themselves"
Adam frowned. "Be glad you don't fully understand evil" he told him. "Because I expected it. I've seen enough bullshit to know that it was only a matter of time before this happened"
Michael nodded, and put a hand on his shoulder: "My friend, you saw further than I did and intervened before me. I have no doubt that in the future you will also see danger before me. So at least allow me to help you protect your people with a gift"
"Huh? What are you...?" Adam was asking him, but he realized that his friend was looking at something behind him. He turned around and to his great surprise saw several of the angel soldiers standing in front of him, kneeling with one hand on their heart, their heads bowed in an extremely regal position. "What does this mean?"
Ezekiel, who was in front of everyone else, raised her head solemnly. A determined expression was painted on her face. "First man" she said. "Please, take us under your command!"
Adam was confused and shocked, and looked at Michael hoping for an explanation, but the angel only gave him a small encouraging punch on the back. "Why?" he finally asked.
Ezekiel took a deep breath, and behind her all the other angels raised their heads, showing that they all had the same determined expression as hers. "First man, we were born to protect humanity against the dark forces. We have watched over Earth for centuries, following the directives of the noble Taxiarch, but the demons attacked not in the mortal world but directly in the afterlife, catching us unprepared. Had you not intervened, countless innocents could have died. We have failed in our mission. Please, allow us to atone for our guilt by serving under a commander as wise and valiant as you!"
"Me? A commander as wise and valiant?" Adam repeated, pointing to himself, sure they were referring to someone else. "You can continue to follow Michael. I am just a man..."
"A man who was able to lead an army to victory even though he was wounded, bent and poisoned" Michael whispered behind him.
Ezekiel narrowed her eyes in determination: "The noble Taxiarch must focus on protecting the Earth, but from today it is clear that Sheol must be protected as well. Please, lead us!"
"Why me!?" Adam snapped. "I have never fought a war, my best was facing packs of twenty dinosaurs! You can lead your companions, you are clearly more experienced than me!"
But Ezekiel shook her head. "You have found a strategy, taken command, and led the assault far more quickly than I ever could. Even though we were created to fight, it is clear to us that we are still far too inexperienced. If you are unwilling to lead us, at least educate us! Please, allow us to protect humanity as the Almighty commanded us to do in the beginning of time, and as is our deepest desire!"
Adam was taken aback by such determination and confidence, so he looked at Michael again: "Are you okay with this?"
His friend smiled, and then whispered to him so as not to be heard: "I have more than enough soldiers, and they really want you to lead them. The ones you see in front of you have voluntarily come to me to ask to be placed under your command. I'll keep the others, you take these too. That's what they want after all"
Adam bit his lip. He had never led an army; he had been a head of a family, not a general. How did you start managing an army? Did he have to worry about rations, logistics, weapons? Did he have to train the soldiers? And then what? "This is idiotic" he whispered to Michael. "I'm not ready for this, you should lead them!"
"I can't be in two places at once, I can't defend both Earth and Sheol" Michael replied. "If you wish, I can ask one of the other angels to take my place here, but I would much prefer to entrust the command to you. You are the person I trust most, my friend, and I know that you will never leave your children in the hands of demons. And isn't it better for the troops to have confidence in their commander from the start?"
Adam was about to argue, but he couldn’t find any arguments against his friend’s words. And then, after all, he certainly wouldn’t have stood by and watch if the demons attacked again. Having soldiers on his side, real soldiers, might have been useful. At least he could have put some of them to defend the city while he went to fight, so that even if she wasn’t able to stop the enemy charge, there would have been someone capable of defending her children. Or he could have sent some of them to call for help, as he hadn’t been able to do during the battle.
Finally he gave in. “Oh, fine!” he exclaimed. “But don’t come complaining when you'll realize I’m so fucking inadequate”
The angels didn’t even seem to hear his last words; on the contrary, they banged their weapons on the ground and lowered their heads again. “All hail Commander Adam!” Ezekiel announced.
"Don't call me that" Adam protested, already tired of all the formalities.
"All hail Lord Exorcist Adam!" Ezekiel corrected himself.
"That wasn't what I...! Wait, what title is that!?" Adam exclaimed.
"When soldiers change commanders, it's customary for them to change names" Ezekiel explained. "Since we are now tasked with protecting innocent souls from evil demons, we have chosen to call ourselves Exorcists"
"So I am now the Lord Exorcist?" Adam grumbled.
"That's right, sir" Ezekiel replied.
Adam shook his head. "Seriously, of all the names you could have chosen, this is the most idiotic. You could have just called me Dickmaster, at least it wasn't so anonymous..."
"As you wish, Dickmaster" Ezekiel replied promptly.
"What? No! I didn't mean...!" Adam protested, ignoring Michael who was laughing behind his back. "Oh, fuck, okay, call me whatever you want, I don’t care"
“Yes, Dickmaster” Ezekiel responded promptly, only making Adam grit his teeth and Michael laugh even harder.
Charlie couldn't help but giggle, either. "That angel... looks familiar" she said, looking closely at Ezekiel.
"I'm not surprised you think so" Adam said. "Don't you notice a resemblance?"
Charlie looked at her more closely, and remained speechless. Now that Adam had pointed it out, she was recognizing some of the details... those eyes, that hair, that look... "Vaggie!?" she murmured.
"More like her mother, if you can call her that" Adam said. "Your girlfriend, along with many others, was born from one of Ezekiel's left wing feathers. Lute was born from one from her right wing"
Charlie remembered what her mother had told her, that the current Exorcists were born from the feathers of previous Exorcists after they had abandoned Adam. "Damn... now I know why that angel sounds so familiar... in fact that pose looks just like Lute's... and that look is the same one Vaggie has when she's serious..."
"If you had known other Exorcists better, you would recognize many of their traits in Ezekiel, or the other soldiers here" Adam told her.
Charlie scratched her head. "So... angels born from the feathers of another angel retain traits of that angel? Kind of like children with their parents? Or have the seraphim simply... transcribed the minds of the original angels into the new ones, like in science fiction movies...?"
"How the fuck do I know?" Adam interrupted her, tired of that train of absurd thoughts. "Ask Sera, the seraphim are the experts in this field, not me"
"Did you ever wonder how it worked?" Charlie asked him.
Adam shook his head: "I wanted warriors, they gave them to me. I didn't care about the rest"
Charlie scratched the back of her head. She was sure that the Adam of Eden would have been extremely curious to know how angels reproduced in such a strange way. Further proof that the careless Adam she now had before her was no longer the man who had been in the garden. But she was also sure that even the Adam she was seeing talking to his soldiers with some difficulty would at least have wondered how that process worked, and would not have passively accepted the soldiers given to him, so his total militaristic mentality based on the useful and ignoring everything else must have been born even later.
Anyway, her attention was currently focused on the angel who was talking to Adam. She was so much like Vaggie, and also like Lute, and who knows how many other Exorcists. The more she looked at her, the more she recognized signs of her girlfriend, both in her behavior and personality. "I'm feeling very mixed emotions right now" she couldn't help but comment. "She... um... what was she like?"
"Ezekiel?" Adam murmured. "She was the greatest warrior in the heavenly army. Brave, determined, strong, willing to do her duty by any means necessary. She was always the first one at the training camp, the first one to throw herself headlong into the enemies, and the first one to come up with ideas and solutions"
"You seem to have a lot of respect for her" Charlie said.
"Of course. She was the person I relied on the most for the next... well, lots of years" Adam replied. "With Michael away protecting the Earth, I relied on her for advice. Ezekiel was... odd; sometimes too immature to understand, other times wise in her narrow vision. Always ready to kick the asses of her enemies, but also always ready to smile and help a lost child if she found one on the street. Everyone admired her, but she never took advantage of it, remaining humble and kind. She was truly good company for me"
Charlie hesitated for a moment, and then she asked: "Just to avoid gaffes... you and her...?"
"No, we didn't fuck" Adam cut her off before she could finish her question. "Not that I would have minded, but... she liked girls. But I often I played her wingman"
Charlie put a hand over her mouth to hold back a giggle: "You? A wingman?"
"Why are you surprised? I'm good at that role!" Adam grumbled annoyed.
"I'm just surprised you'd accept a secondary role to pick up girls" Charlie told him, still smiling mischievously. "Don't you play on the front lines?"
"I can also stay in the back if it means helping a friend!" Adam snapped. "And anyway, even a wingman can do well, the targeted prey almost always has a friend or sister who doesn't want to be alone"
"And what about when the ones who didn't want to be alone were the brothers?" Charlie asked wickedly.
Adam's eyelid fluttered. "I just said no!" he growled. "And I don't want to talk about it anyway!"
Charlie let out one last laugh, and then she tried to get serious again: "Back to the main topic... what was it like being commander of an army for the first time?"
"I just acted randomly" Adam admitted without shame. "I didn't know how to run an army. Luckily they were angels and I didn't have to worry about bullshit like rations or anything, but otherwise I didn't know what to do. Ezekiel helped me learn how to run an entire army"
"Well, at least you've gotten better over time... well, sort of" Charlie told him.
"What are you implying!? I've gotten really good!" Adam protested, noticing her tone. "I defended Sheol very well, for your information!"
Charlie frowned a little: "Yes... Mom told me the demons attacked twice more"
"It was more than twice, but apart from those two major ones the others were just small raids that couldn't even be called a battle" Adam answered her. "Twice the demonic army came in full force. As soon as the demons acquired enough souls to be confident enough to attack us, they opened portals and invaded Sheol, and we pushed them back, but not before covering the ground with corpses and then killing so many souls that they were powerless"
"Macabre" Charlie muttered, not liking the thought of a battlefield covered in blood and mangled bodies. It made her want to throw up. "My parents...?"
"Your mother tried to do something" Adam told her before she could finish her sentence. "She tried to stop the demons from taking souls, but that's hard when you're a queen without an army or a spy network and living in a world full of beings bent on deception. She managed to thwart them a bit, but the demons were smart enough to steal souls, and they had all the time they wanted. Eventually they always ended up accumulating enough power to launch another attack. Especially since the number of evil people continued to increase exponentially"
Charlie bit her tongue. "Was it... that bad?"
"If Earth looks so bad to you today, you've never seen the antediluvian era" Adam replied acidly. "In the modern era, there are few evil people and many good people, and the planet is still a mess. Imagine a world where evil people are the majority"
Charlie shrugged slightly. "Tell me what it was like" she said, even though she was sure she would have regretted asking that.
Adam took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself. "Even while I was protecting Sheol, I kept watching Earth become a repository of evil and perdition" he told her. "Imagine a civilization that was highly advanced in magic and technology thanks to the knowledge Eve and I had managed to pass on to our descendants, but without any limits in morality. Everyone sought only to conquer, subjugate and slaughter the others. Children were torn from their mothers as newborns and trained and indoctrinated to be soldiers, or slaves, or sex objects, or even guinea pigs for experiments. Murder, rape, cannibalism and torture were the order of the day. The more Cain's bloodline continued to spread, the stronger and more widespread the evil became"
Charlie felt her heart tighten, and she couldn't help but put a hand on it, pulling at her clothes a little. "This is terrible" she muttered.
"Yes. Humans destroyed the paradise that was given to them" Adam told her. "They consumed every available resource until Earth was a parched desert. They took without caring that they had to give something back, and they did not understand that what they inflicted on the planet they inflicted on themselves. They were too careless to realize this. First they destroyed all the forests and polluted the oceans, altering the production of oxygen and causing the extinction of millions of animal species; and then they burned enormous quantities of methane and coal, altering the climate and drenching the planet with deadly acid rain. When famine struck them too, since there was less and less to eat, they began to wage increasingly sophisticated wars. They created bacteriological weapons and new deadly diseases that not only exterminated the population, but also spread to other animals, destroying all livestocks and many other wild animals. And in the end they launched missiles into the air, turning their cities into flames and raising clouds of ash that blotted out the sun. While they massacred each other, more than ninety-nine percent of living species faced their doom"
"The extinction of the dinosaurs" Charlie muttered.
"And a lot of other species with them" Adam replied. "And scientists still think it was an asteroid..."
"How did anything survive?" Charlie asked. "I mean, I understand small animals like mice, but... elephants? Rhinos? Tigers?"
"They were protected by the few good humans left" Adam replied. "The bloodlines of my other children stood up to the madness of Cain's bloodline. At the end of the antediluvian era, only Seth's bloodline was still alive, and they saved all the living species they could. It was only a fraction of all the fauna and flora on the planet, but it was something. They defended them staunchly against those who wanted to kill them. The last patriarch of that family, Noah, was particularly fierce"
"A sanctuary for animals, then?" Charlie commented. "How did Cain's bloodline not destroy itself?"
"Do not underestimate the resilience of humanity. Cain's bloodline had devastated the planet and killed billions of people, but they were still thriving and widespread, stealing and taking everything they could and killing each other" Adam replied. "Trust me... Earth was truly horrendous at the end of the antediluvian era"
Charlie took a deep breath to steady herself. "I assume you weren't happy about that"
Adam's fingers clenched into fists, cracking his knuckles, a sound that seemed to contain so much anger that it sent a shiver down Charlie's spine. "Of course not" he hissed. "How could I be happy when those monsters were ravaging my planet!? How could I sleep peacefully knowing that while I was peacefully in the afterlife, on Earth at that very moment a child was being abused, a woman was being raped, a man was being tortured!? How could I stand by and watch!?"
His tone grew louder and louder, to the point that Charlie expected to see him smash something at any moment. And she didn't miss the fact that his expression had become more and more menacing. "A-Adam...?"
The first man seemed to tremble from within, as if he was struggling to contain himself. "And yet... I endured" he said through his teeth. "I waited, century after century, hoping to see a change in the souls of humans, hoping to glimpse a spark of what they were meant to be! I tried to focus on Seth's lineage, on the humans who were still good, those who tried so hard to protect what was right... but there were fewer of them! The evil people continued to increase and the good ones continued to decrease, filling Hell more and more with cruel souls who empowered the demons, who then directed their thirst for conquest towards the afterlife inhabited by innocents! Disgusting bastards, not even in death would they leave in peace those people they had ruined in life!"
Charlie swallowed hard. Something inside her was warning her that there was something deeply wrong with Adam. She felt as if her insides were churning.
Adam put a hand to his face, and it looked like he was about to scratch himself. "I was blind, and I let him live by not intervening. I focused only on defense, and in doing so I was only allowing more ruin!" he hissed. "And when I finally realized it... my heart gave out, and I couldn't stop"
Charlie was about to ask him what he meant, but around her the world twisted and reshaped again. They were still in the same spot on Sheol, but now the city was surrounded by real walls, and around it were built towers and mighty bastions, on which the Exorcists stood, ready for battle. Adam was in the middle of the plain, his axe already in hand, with Ezekiel at his side. "Where are they?" he muttered with a lot of tension.
Ezekiel was as tense as he was, if not more. "Maybe the lookouts were wrong" she suggested uncertainly.
Adam grunted. When the lookouts spotted movement in Hell, within an hour at most a new massive attack took place. But this time the sentries had warned that the infernal troops were preparing for the assault, but after a good four hours the demons still had not set foot on Sheol. Could it really have been a false alarm?
But Adam was not sure. He felt that something was wrong, the same instinct that on the primordial Earth had promptly warned him of threats hidden among the trees. Something was wrong, yet he could not understand what.
And then everything became sadly clear, because a soldier with badly dented armor and red blood all over her body appeared before him. And Adam immediately noticed her shocked expression, as well as her shaking hands, and she even needed to hold on to Ezekiel to stay standing. "Sir... you don't have to fear an attack. It has already happened"
Adam froze. "What are you saying, soldier? No one has attacked yet..."
"The attack did not happen here in Sheol" the warrior angel told him.
Adam was speechless, and then he finally noticed a detail: after all these years he had ended up memorizing the faces of all those who fought with him... and yet he did not remember that soldier. Which meant that she was not one of the Exorcists, but one of the soldiers who served under Michael. "The attack happened...?"
The soldier nodded sadly. "It happened on Earth, sir" she confessed.
Adam saw black for a moment. Earth!? Those bastards had attacked Earth!? Of all places...!
How dare they...?
His world...!
"Soldier, speak up!" Ezekiel urged her. "What happened?"
The poor soldier let out a sob: "We weren't expecting an attack... they caught us off guard. They sent contingents of demons to numerous points on the planet and destroyed everything in their path. The battle was devastating... Lord Michael went down first to stop them, but he couldn't be in every place at the same time. We helped him, but the fighting still destroyed countless cities! The seraphim themselves had to join the battle and unleash great rains to hold them back! And then... and then..."
Her voice seemed to die in her throat. Ezekiel sweated a little, but Adam, not caring about her well-being anymore, grabbed her arm and pulled her: "What else happened? Tell me!" he shouted at her.
The soldier swallowed, and then she confessed: "While we were busy stopping the demons elsewhere, a final portal opened near the lands of the bloodline of Seth. The demons emerged from it and killed the population with ferocity. And when Michael arrived...". She couldn't hold back a few tears: "... the demons, in order to win, entered the bodies of the humans. We tried to pull them out, but they spitefully killed the bodies of those they possessed. M-Most of them were just c-children! In the end, only Noah and his family survived! All the others died!"
Adam's eyes blazed like embers.
Bastards... they had not only attacked his world, but had even dared to kill the last remaining good people!? Suddenly it became clear to him why the red blood on the angel's body did not only seem demonic: it was also human blood, the blood of humans who had been possessed by demons and forced to tear themselves apart in front of the angels!
Filthy worms...
Snakes...!
Without giving a single explanation he took flight and opened a portal, beyond which he could see the Earth. As soon as his eyes rested on it, his authority over the world caused a flood of cursed memories to immediately penetrate his pupils. He saw the demons invading cities and villages, while the inhabitants screamed for help. He saw the battles that had devastated entire lands. And he saw those disgusting creatures attack Noah's house and kill thousands of people, all the good people still left on Earth. The demons did nothing but laugh as they entered the bodies of humans and forced them to commit suicide to cause trauma to the angels who were trying to protect them; in particular, Adam saw an infinite number of children, boys and girls no older than twelve, who with a sadistic smile cut their throats or broke their necks by themselves, all while their eyes cried rivers of tears testifying how much they were really suffering inside. Adam could hear them screaming for help in their minds, hoping their parents would free them and make the excruciating pain stop.
His teeth and fists clenched so tightly that they made a screeching sound. Not only had those monsters helped devastate Earth in life, not only had they attempted to destroy the afterlife of the innocents after death, but they had even dared to return to the world of the living and exterminate the good people!
How corrupted did someone have to be in the heart to reach such levels of wickedness...?
All those children...!
"Let them go. We won today and that's enough for me"
How could he have been so stupid!?
If only he had killed Mephisto that day, none of this would have happened!
He should have chased him, killed every single demon in his army! He had done it with the beasts of the Earth, the first rule was always to leave no survivors, he had killed cubs for this... why had he made such a mistake? He could have avoided that horror if only he had acted in time!
Why did he took such foolish decision?
If only he had been ruthless and merciless that day...
Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.
He had said it and yet he had ignored his own words. For three times those bastards had attacked Sheol, for three times he had had the chance to end everything, and for three times he had just limited himself to chase them back in Hell instead of destroy them. He had been an idiot.
Well, now he would have made up for it.
He closed the portal and landed back in front of his soldiers. He didn't know what expression he had now, but it was quite obvious that it was extremely ferocious, because the poor soldier that brought him the message and even Ezekiel herself looked at him in fear. However, the soldier still had the courage to say: "Sir, Lord Michael sent me to warn you. He managed to drive the demons back, but you have to be ready, they could attack here too using Earth as a diversion..."
Adam was barely listening to her. And then he said in an extremely low, yet deep voice: "No"
Ezekiel seemed to sweat a little on her forehead: "No, sir?"
Adam nodded. He had had enough. He was tired of giving his enemies second chances. He was no longer willing to give them the chance to hurt anyone.
This time... no more restrictions.
It was time to clean up.
"Assemble the troops immediately" he ordered Ezekiel. "We go to Hell"
Notes:
As Adam explained, in this version of the story the extinction of all prehistoric creatures (so dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, mammal-like reptiles, primordial mammals, and so on) was due to humanity itself that practically devastated Earth. Basically, humans did the same thing they do today, with the difference that they were much worse and had much more time available. Remember in fact that antediluvian humans lived much longer than today's humans and the years themselves were much longer (one pre-flood year corresponded to 77 post-flood years). In this timeline, the Great Flood occurred about 7500 years ago, leaving 2500 years to antediluvian humans, which however, due to the fact that they were longer, corresponded to 192,500 today's years; furthermore, the antediluvian humans also had a head start in technology since Adam and Eve had great knowledge which they then passed on to their children, although not as advanced as those of Eden. So pre-flood humans essentially spent a period of time over twenty-five times longer than the entire history of post-flood humans doing nothing but polluting, exterminating and waging world wars, thus causing the extinction of over 99% of life on Earth. Only thanks to the few good humans that remained were some animals saved, which are essentially those that still exist today, while all the others became extinct. Noah was essentially the last defender of these creatures, who then as we all know he will take on the Ark to save them from the Great Flood, allowing them to repopulate Earth once everything else was dead. So for those wondering why dinosaurs didn’t survive into modern times, here’s the answer: because humans did what they do best, meaning destroy ecosystems and wipe out other species.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 41): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162149
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 95: Different beast
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The portal opened above Hell, as if the sky had just opened; Adam was the first to cross it, and for the first time in thousands of years he saw that depraved world up close. Even just standing in the air fluttering he felt dirty, just from the touch of Hell's air. Every moment that passed gave him even more certainty that that land abandoned by God must be destroyed.
No, not destroyed. Cancelled. It had to be completely erased from existence. That was nothing more than a stain that disfigured the universe, and as such it had to be washed away.
The demons had looked up curiously at the portal, and as soon as they saw it they smiled evilly. Probably in their heads he was a fool who was willingly throwing himself into the lion's jaws. After all, what idiot would have been foolish enough to attack demons in their own home, where they clearly had the advantage?
Fools.
Adam stared back at them, making everyone his eyes fell on tremble. He was not locked in that cursed realm with demons. The demons were locked in Hell with him!
"Let's cut this charade, you are no children of mine!
You've been tryin' to take my life this whole time!
You keep attacking, and then you return here to hide;
Well not this time, you were enough snide!
Did you expect me to be afraid of Hell fire?
Never you made a judgement so dire!
I have enough of you trying on turning us into snacks;
Now it's YOUR time to got snatched!"
Adam pointed his fingers towards the ground and shot his rays of divine light; the demons didn't even have time to see them before being disintegrated by them. After all, no eye could see anything moving at the same speed as light. For them there was only Adam pointing his finger at them, and then nothing more.
However, the same did not apply to all those who were not affected. The demons outside the destructive range of his light beams could clearly see their comrades being vaporized, and could sense the divine power in that attack. It was immediately clear to them that those who had just died were truly dead, and would never be reborn again as happened when they were hit by anything other than an angelic weapon.
Their smiles vanished immediately. Now that they knew Adam wasn't playing, they weren't about to stand by and watch. Those with wings took to the air, while the others climbed buildings to reach him. They were like a colony of monstrous ants swarming over a spider to devour it.
But even though everyone seemed to have forgotten, Adam wasn't alone. The Exorcists also appeared through the portal and flew in circles around him, swinging their weapons and chopping off the heads of any demon that dared get too close. Their voices were heard in unison, forming a chorus of angelic yet frightening voices, which sent a shiver down the demons' spines.
"We are a different beast now, we are the ones who feast now,
No more of us deceased, 'cause we won't take more suffering from you!
We are the man-made monsters, we are the ones who conquer,
You are a threat no longer, we won't take more suffering from you!"
The demons gritted their teeth; it was evident that they were not ready for an attack in their territory, since they had never imagined that someone would come to attack them in their home. They were the violent ones who invaded others, not the other way around; this was what they had always been used to. They had no plan to defend themselves efficiently.
However, they attempted to offer good resistance: from their point of view Adam was the most dangerous, but he would still remain in the center, surrounded by the Exorcists; which meant that if they prevented the angels from dispersing, Adam would have been trapped in the center of the formation with no way to attack without hurting or killing his own soldiers. Therefore, instead of attacking the demons directly, they concentrated on surrounding the celestial army, forcing them to remain near the portal so that further reinforcements could not arrive because they were blocked by their own companions; if everything had gone as planned, they could have pushed the angels back into the portal, giving them at least some time to regroup and think about what to do.
But Adam did not play their game: on the contrary, instead of remaining in formation he threw himself against the demons. They were confused: why on earth was the enemy commander exposing himself so much? But the answer was soon clear: Adam in fact passed through the demons as if they were made of pastry, cutting them to shreds with his axe. Everywhere he passed demons were decimated, and what remained was quickly eliminated by the Exorcists, who followed him like a swarm. The sinners tried to resist, forming flocks of hundreds of flying demons, but Adam only had to raise his fingers again to disintegrate them; no shield could resist that power.
The blood fell like rain, and soon every demon formation was overthrown; the sinners were completely driven back, leaving the portal free and thus allowing the entire heavenly army to pass through. The Exorcists flew across the entire sky of Hell, filling every side of it and killing all the demons that dared take flight, thus gaining an extraordinary tactical advantage. Adam stared at the sight without changing his expression, raising his axe so everyone could see the red blood dripping from it.
"We've been in this for thousands of years or so,
First, we slayed in that world above, and now, we're here with you foes;
You though I would have never dared to enter this ballroom,
But now here I am, ready to remind you of your doom!
I always let you go, you mistook my benevolence with the fact that I wasn't headstrong,
Well no more such mistakes now, I'm tired of just played along,
You will now learn firsthand
What happens when you force the first man's hand!"
And at his command, the Exorcists descended from the sky, in every direction; they were like silver meteors that destroyed everything in their path. The demons were slaughtered as if nothing had happened; that sudden and sudden attack had left them without any defense. Whenever some of them tried to regroup, Adam raised his hands and fired his golden beams... well, actually he fired them at every group of demons he saw, regardless of whether they tried to resist or not. Very soon, the fearful screams of demons being killed were the only sound left; every trace of courage had disappeared, leaving room only for the terror of dying. The screams of demons being exterminated filled the air. Adam remained unmoved, and continued until he was sure there were no more groups of demons large enough to resist, at which point he tightened his grip on the handle of his ax and flew earthward, landing like a comet, while his army continued that warrior chorus above the screams of the sinners.
"We are a different beast now, we are the ones who feast now,
No more of us deceased, 'cause we won't take more suffering from you
We are the man-made monsters, we are the ones who conquer,
You are a threat no longer, we won't take more suffering from you!"
Adam finally landed on the sandy, filthy ground of Hell, feeling it beneath his feet for the first time in who knows how many years. The last time she had touched him was when he had come to take Eve back. Yet, he felt no nostalgia. Whatever emotions he had were completely overshadowed by his fury.
He was seeing red, and not because of the pentagram in the sky or the soft light of that cursed realm. It was as if his brain had been flooded with blood to such an extent that his very vision had taken on that color. He could only feel an endless thirst for blood, as if his body demanded it to be spilled.
It was something he had very rarely experienced. This had never happened while he was facing the beasts of Earth, not even the largest and most ferocious dinosaurs. The true form of hatred now flowed through him, a hatred he was unable to restrain. I hate that he only wanted to be satisfied through blood.
Just then, however, a new scream entered his ears. A scream different from the others, not simple screams, but something similar to a desperate prayer.
"SPARE US!"
The demons crowded around kneeling at Adam's feet. They knew that they would have never been able to distance themselves from him, so praying was now their last option left.
"Oh, spare us, please!"
Adam gritted his teeth in disgust, and all the sinners trembled in terror at the sight. How dare they pray to him at that moment!? How dare they imitate the people they themselves had persecuted!? How dare they play innocent now!?
"Why?
So you can regroup and prepare a new offensive?
Nah, you wouldn't have spared me;
I made a mistake like this, I did it too many times,
I can't take more risks of not protecting my children's life!
Cut off their heads! We're ending this now!
Throw their bodies in a pit;
Let them in their blood drown!"
The demons froze hearing him say those words.
"NO...!"
It was all in vain: the Exorcists flew over them and started tearing them to pieces. Their angelic blades moved swiftly like claws, slicing through the lives of sinners as if they were harvest wheat. By now it didn't even seem like a battle anymore: it was just the demons trying in vain to hide and escape and the angels who nevertheless reached them and massacred them.
Adam moved like a bolt of lightning, taking the lives of everyone in his path. The Exorcists were killing many sinners, but he was on a completely different level: everywhere he passed the ground turned red and the imposing buildings gave way to ruins. Even the bravest demons, those who were still trying to fight, as soon as they saw him coming threw their weapons on the ground and ran away in terror, and he promptly caught up with them and ripped out their insides with his bare hands, then finished them off with his axe.
There was no longer any sign of pity in him, no remorse, not even a hint of mercy: a deep fury seemed to exude from him like a hurricane. The murderous intent of the one who had faced and killed the most powerful creatures on Earth with his bare hands was like a wave of fear for the survival instinct of sinners. Even his own soldiers, while continuing to follow him, were maintaining a certain distance from him, as if they too were uncomfortable around him.
"He is a different beast now, he is the one who feasts now,
No more of us deceased, 'cause he won't take more suffering from you!
He is the man-made monster, he is the one who conquers,
You are a threat no longer, he won't take more suffering from you!"
Adam raised his hands, and rays of light exploded from his fingers; the entire city was cut in half by them, and the buildings collapsed as if they were made of cardboard. The sinners were submerged by the rubble, blocked under the weight of the rocks, preventing them from any escape route. They were still demons and therefore that was certainly not enough to kill them, but they nevertheless remained immobile, hoping that in this way the angelic army would pass over them and they would therefore be spared. But such hope proved in vain when Adam grabbed the rubble and lifted it, and planted his axe on them.
"KILL THEM ALL!"
And having said this he began to lift every single boulder just to reach and grab the sinners and quarter them properly. He certainly hadn't caused the city to collapse so they could survive. He had done it to trap the rats and be able to kill them calmly without anyone being able to escape.
The Exorcists faltered this time: they were no longer sure what they were doing, or whether it was a good idea to follow their leader. Not only was Adam exuding unmatched killing intent, but what he was doing was inhumane. This wasn't a battle anymore, it was something no different than picking up random people and killing them. Adam was no longer trying to win a war: he was trying to exterminate the enemy.
But a glare from the first man was enough for all of them to fall back into line. Adam had such an icy gaze that the Exorcists felt their hearts speed up so fast they threatened to jump out of their chests. The message those eyes carried was evident even to the eyes of a blind man.
No survivors.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
The Exorcists trembled slightly under that gaze, and then immediately followed their leader again: they in turn began to lift the rubble and kill all the stranded sinners. The ground was covered with corpses, and those Adam left behind were literally dismembered.
"For thousands of years, you've never suffered punishment and pain;
But now the monster is here, and is enjoying your screams while you're slain!
You dared to attack my land, you dared to desecrate my world,
You expected you could touch my daughters and sons, are you really this bold?
I have had enough"
Hell was filled with the desperate screams of demons being slaughtered. The sky itself seemed to have grown redder, so much so that even the white light of Heaven was being dimmed by that color. The smell of blood and death was so present that it threatened to suffocate just by breathing.
Adam rose into the air and began shooting rays of light in every direction; wherever there was still something intact, he razed it to the ground, imprisoning the demons who were then slaughtered by the Exorcists. He no longer even made a distinction between what might represent a threat and what might not. He just wanted to destroy everything.
The sinners who had managed to escape from the rubble were now trying to hide. From their perspective, Adam was darting from one point of the sky to another, disappearing for a few moments, and then reappearing, disintegrating everything with a ray of light. It was like a very fast bubble of death that was impossible to follow with the naked eye, and this terrified the demons even more.
"Where is he? Where is he!?"
Adam disintegrated another handful of demons, and immediately moved on to his next objective. One of the surviving sinners, however, managed to notice a detail in his attack.
"Keep your head down, he's aimin' for what moves!"
The few demons who had heard him crouched on the ground trembling with fear. They were now defenseless as they had even thrown away their weapons in order to escape more quickly, but now they were completely blocked and did not know how to act.
"What do we do? Our weapons are missing,
And he is no more handling us with kid gloves!"
The demons huddled together in terror, but even in that situation someone managed to find courage again: one of them in fact tried to keep his cool and formulate a plan to counterattack.
"We're empty-handed up against someone who attacks from above;
But not be such cowards, he's nothing but a big dove!
Our only chance is to strike him in his blind spot;
We know these lands well, we can have the final shot...!"
There was a strong wind, and a shadow appeared behind him. The demon whirled around and found Adam's face in front of him, his robe now covered in crimson blood, staring at him as if he were looking at nothing more than an insect.
"You think you can teach me how to hunt? I invented it!"
And having said this he tore off the demon's head cleanly, without even using his axe; he simply grabbed him by the neck and squeezed him so hard that his entire spine, muscles and skin shattered. The sinner tried to beg for mercy, but before he could Adam released his angelic energy from his fingers, slowly so as to make him suffer as much as possible. The demon screamed in pain as he literally cooked himself alive.
The other demons tried to escape, but found their way blocked by the Exorcists, who in turn turned pale when they saw how Adam was killing that demon. It wasn't difficult to understand that she could disintegrate him in an instant, and that she was burning him alive just for the pleasure of making him suffer. The angels trembled at this display of cruelty, but then Adam stared at them, pinning them to the spot with his fiery gaze. The Exorcists felt as if he was ready to do to them what he was doing to demons. Perhaps partly out of fear and perhaps partly to spare the sinners that fate, they quickly moved their weapons and cut off the heads of those who remained.
"He is a different beast now, he is the one who feasts now,
No more of us deceased, 'cause he won't take more suffering from you!
He is the man-made monster, he is the one who conquers,
You are a threat no longer, he won't take more suffering from you!"
The blood flowed profusely. Adam didn't seem willing to actually leave even one demon alive. His gaze was so terrifying that even the most powerful monster would run away with his tail between his legs at the sight of him. Watching him advance was like watching Earth's fiercest predator come to feast.
The sinners still attempted some feeble resistance, but obviously none of their efforts were of any use. Any attack by them was immediately blocked by Adam, and the attacker was reduced to crumbs. None of them had a chance to even remotely match the man who for hundreds of years had survived on the primordial Earth facing the most powerful beasts that ever existed every day. Eventually, the sinners were so terrified that they literally became incapable of even fleeing, frozen by the icy expression of their all-father, who continually raised his axe and chopped them down.
Suddenly one of them, a demon woman with rather young features, threw herself in front of him and before he could react she hugged his knees. It was a gesture probably dictated by desperation, and in fact the sinner's face was white as chalk and streaked with tears. But despite this, she still had the courage to look him in the face and try to talk to him.
"Father, please, stop!"
Adam barely looked down at her; he grabbed her hair to shake her off, but she held him even tighter in response. Evidently she was so afraid that she was now even willing to have all her hair and a piece of her skull ripped out just to make herself heard.
"Father, our leader is who you really want dead,
You can just destroy the serpent′s head,
Trust me, the rest of us are not a threat!"
A pathetic attempt to deflect blame, that was all Adam's mind registered. Trying to clear herrself of the accusations and save her life by placing all the responsibility on someone else. So was that the demons' excuse? We were just following orders? Was this what they told themselves to satisfy their conscience?
Disgusting...
The Exorcists, unlike him, seemed somewhat undecided. They probably hoped that this plea would have calmed his anger and they could finally put an end to the carnage. Seeing that at least the soldiers seemed to be on her side, the demoness barely cracked a smile and opened her arms wide as if inviting peace.
"Father, please, forgive us instead,
So that no more blood is shed,
Let's have open arms instead...!"
Adam's axe came down on her instantly, cutting her arm and part of her face. The demoness fell sprawling to the ground with a scream, clutching her severed arm as she cried in pain. She was now unable to see: the blow had torn apart her eyes. Adam had barely moved from his position, and his expression hadn't changed one bit.
"No"
He said that single word in a voice that seemed to come from an abyss. Not a single emotion was present in it, only the terrifying desire to pulverize everything in his path.
The demoness tried to crawl away, and Adam walked leisurely towards her, raising his axe again to kill her. She cried, screamed, despaired, begged for mercy, swore that she would have never hurt even flies again, but it was of no use. Adam's heart remained totally lifeless, refusing to show the slightest mercy...
But suddenly something stopped him: two large silver wings appeared in his field of vision and positioned themselves in front of the demoness, as if wanting to act as a shield. Ezekiel had just stepped between him and his prey, her face white as a rag and covered in sweat.
"STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Even though she was blinded, the demoness seemed to understand that someone was defending her, because she began to cry even louder and with her little strength she bowed as if she wanted to show respect to her protector. Adam, on the other hand, seemed to become even more furious, so much so that Ezekiel gulped when he addressed her.
"What are you doing!?
They're still a threat until they're all dead!
Kill her now!"
But Ezekiel, though trembling a little, held his gaze.
"NO!"
Adam's eyes narrowed. It was the first time one of his soldiers dared to disobey him, and this only fueled the fire in his soul. His helmet sizzled as if he was struggling to properly display his ferocious expressions.
"No...?"
Ezekiel seemed to lose any color she had left, and her legs shook so badly they seemed to turn to jelly; her own survival instinct was begging her to step aside immediately. But despite this she gathered her courage and shook her head vigorously as if to remark her words.
"What good would more killing do
When mercy is a skill
More of this world could learn to use?
Our opponents are dead!
This woman is now blind!
The blood we shed,
It will never dry!
Is this what it means to be a protector of mankind...!?"
Adam grabbed her chin and pulled her towards him; Ezekiel immediately fell silent, and technically she couldn't speak anymore even if she wanted to since the first man's fingers were holding her mouth still. Adam let out a deep growl, making her skin crawl.
"Mercy?"
Ezekiel trembled, and she seemed about to faint. Adam's eyes were so frightening that even she, who was used to facing the legions of Hell, felt all her courage being swept away. At that moment, she was seriously afraid that he would have taken her head off.
"MERCY!?"
He grabbed Ezekiel by the arm with which she held the sword and held it tight; without the angel being able to resist, he forced her to thrust her weapon into the heart of the demon at their feet. Ezekiel let out a cry of horror, but Adam didn't stop, and forced her to swing her sword further, piercing the necks of more demons who dropped around them like flies.
"My mercy has long since drowned"
Adam continued to hold Ezekiel by the arm, while with his other hand he reappeared his ax and used it to slash more demons while forcing the angel to do the same. The other Exorcists watched in fear, not daring to move a muscle to help their companion.
"I killed it to protect my home"
Ezekiel struggled to free herself, but it was all in vain: Adam's hand was tightened around her arm like a vice, and he was maneuvering her as if she were a toy. He was forcing her to literally tear apart everything in front of them. Ezekiel was terrified: not only was Adam forcing her to do something against her will, but her absolute helplessness towards that man scared her. She knew he could kill her just as easily as he was now maneuvering her. Never before had Adam highlighted the gap in strength between them, and now that it had become apparent, Ezekiel felt like she was standing next to a giant bloodthirsty bear.
"And as long as this scum are around
My family's fate is left unknown!"
More blood filled the ground.
"You plotted to kill my children!"
More martoriated corpses fell.
"You wanted to take their life!"
The muffled screams and cries of people dying became the only sound in the air.
"ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!"
He finally let go of Ezekiel, who immediately retreated, heading towards his companions as if seeking protection. As soon as he had both hands free again, Adam began to tear the demons to pieces with his bare hands, hitting them over and over again, even attacking their corpses. His helmet flashed again, struggling to show his ferocious expression, making his face even darker.
"You′ve filled my heart with hate...
All of you, who have done me wrong,
THIS will be your fate!"
Adam unleashed his beams of light again, vaporizing everything in front of him. He no longer just wanted to destroy, he absolutely wanted to pulverize every instance of evil left in Hell. He wanted it all to disappear.
"I am a different beast now"
His voice rang deeper and louder than that of the entire choir of Exorcists, and even the most distant demons could hear him.
"I am the one who feasts now"
His helmet seemed to crack from how much it was glowing, and some cracks even opened on it. It was as if Adam's true expression was trying to emerge through the limitations that mask imposed. A fury and ruthlessness greater than even an object forged in Heaven could contain.
"No more of us deceased, 'cause I won't take more suffering from you!
I am the man-made monster, I am the one who conquers,
You are a threat no longer, I won't take more suffering from you!"
He looked at his army again. His soldiers had fallen back even further, and probably would have continued if he hadn't pinned them down with his gaze. The Exorcists almost heard him say that if they dared to try to defect again he would have dragged them to kill the demons as he had just done with Ezekiel. Adam let out a loud grumble as he saw them acting that way.
"What? Didn't you expect this turnaround?"
He picked up the severed head of a demon and held it up, showing it to his soldiers, and then detonated it simply with the force of his fingers. Blood splashed across their faces, making them groan, not out of disgust but out of horror that that simple action had unleashed even in them who were used to much worse, because the one who had just done it was so scary that he intimidated even the most ferocious lion.
"Did you think we would have let them roam free and strong?"
He turned again, looking at the place where he had arrived. In front of him there was a building, now blackened and partially destroyed due to the effects of the massacre, which Adam knew well to be the home of Mephisto. The adrenaline in her body seemed to explode, as if she wanted nothing more than to be released on that demon who had brought so much evil to the universe.
"They think they are the worst monsters around..."
His eyes seemed to engulf in golden flames as he stared into the abode of his enemy.
"PROVE THEM WRONG!"
Notes:
Random demon 1: "Father, please forgive us!"
Adam: "Oh, fine, I'm feeling good today and I already sent the message. Let's end this now"
Random demon 2: "Yay! It's always nice to solve it with open arms!"
Adam: "..."
Random demon 1: "..."
Random demon 2: "..."
Adam: "Sorry, I misjudged the situation, I mistakenly thought that you wanted to live. I'll fix it right away"
Random demon 1: "You just can't keep quiet, can you?"
Random demon 2: "Oh come on, how could I know that he had PTSD!?"
I had to do this sketch. Jokes aside, in this chapter I cheated a little because instead of using just one song I took three and put them together: all of them are from Epic the Musical, and they are "Different Beast", "Odysseus" and a little piece from "Remember Them". The final part is completely my creation to give a strong conclusion.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 42): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159584122
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 28): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/161992618
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 96: Last trigger
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam broke through the door of Mephisto's palace like it was butter, and as soon as he did he found himself faced with the numerous overlords he had often seen on the battlefield, already battle-hardened and ready to fight. "Where is your boss?" Adam asked them.
Abaddon crawled towards him like the hideous insect he was. "You had fun throwing it all down, hm!?" he growled, snapping his claws. “But now you're on your own, and this time I have permission to kill you, little…!”
Adam didn't let him finish: he moved suddenly, and an instant later his hand had pierced Abaddon's chest as if it were made of butter. The demon had opened his eyes wide with a muffled cry, looking with terror at the hole in his chest. “Maybe I didn't make myself clear” Adam hissed. "I want your boss!"
And having said this he moved his axe and cut him in two; Abaddon barely had a few moments to realize what had happened, in which moment he felt all the terror of the knowledge that he was about to die, and then his remains fell to the floor, soaking it in blood. The other demons had backed away, or at least stiffened.
"What...!?"
“Abaddon… how…!?”
"Impossible! With all his souls...!?"
Adam turned towards them, freezing them on the spot. “I'm not playing anymore now!” he roared, and then leapt upon another overlord and cut off his head in an instant.
The other demons fell on him all at once, but he showed not the slightest fear; with blind fury he struck them one after the other, breaking down all their defenses and filling the floor with their corpses. Legion had fallen slightly behind, and she realized that it was best to cut and run; she rapidly multiplied and used her clones to keep him busy while she ran away. "Where do you think you're going!?" Adam growled.
Legion's clones held him back. “You won't catch us” they all told him, speaking in unison. "We are Legion. We are many. You can kill us all you want, as long as one of us is alive, we will survive"
And having said this they multiplied more and more, making up for those who were killed and soon outnumbering them; like an immense organic mass they threw themselves on Adam, enclosing him in a living ball with the intent of crushing him. They knew that even if the first man broke free, the original body would have had time to escape.
Adam's eyes blazed with anger, and he raised his hands and pointed them at the ground: divine energy formed in it, and exploded, vaporizing the foundations of the entire building, which began to collapse. "Do you think yourselves that smart!?" he screamed. "Die!"
His golden rays blasted out in all directions, and wherever they touched matter turned into nothing but atoms. Legion saw that immense amount of divine energy coming, and she tried to multiply as much as possible in the hope that at least one clone would make it, but there was no way she could run faster than light, and she was vaporized as well. "N-No...!" was the last thing she managed to whisper before she was completely disintegrated.
Adam didn't stop until he was sure he had vaporized everything. He remained there, flying over what had now become a crater. And suddenly he heard a flutter of wings behind him: "Are you having fun?"
Adam turned his gaze, meeting Mephisto's eyes. "You..." he said in a voice full of hatred.
The demon smiled evilly. He looked scared, but excited at the same time. "You finally decided to let loose, mh? Did you really care that much about that ball of mud?"
Adam was on top of him and punched him so hard he nearly broke his jaw, which didn't fall off only because all of Mephisto's souls were working overtime to keep it intact. He and the demon faced each other in the air, and Mephisto was soon forced to retreat faster and faster; but despite this his smile only widened. "Yes... this is the man I was looking for!"
Mephisto breathed deeply, almost manically. His eyes seemed to be becoming more and more bloodshot. "That's right..." he hissed with a strange exhilaration in his voice. "That's right! I finally see it! I finally see it here in front of me!"
He rotated his body and grabbed Adam's arm, standing behind him to avoid getting hit right away, "Do you understand, my ancestor... father!? This was all I ever sought!" he screamed. "Everything I've ever done has been to get to this, to finally see a glimpse of true greatness! And now I'm finally seeing it in its entirety! I'm seeing what I've been craving all this time! Oh, my heart won't stop beating!"
Adam growled, and grabbed it with his free hand; as if Mephisto were made of feathers, he picked it up and hurled it repeatedly at the ground, creating huge pits and cracks with each blow, and then threw it away, sending it tumbling at least a hundred meters, smashing everything in its path and causing a shockwave that shattered things in its wake. But despite this, the demon immediately got up, albeit staggering, and did not lose his crazy expression. "I never gave a shit about anything else" he said, spitting blood. "Now do you understand what kind of a man I am!? Have you understood what really interests me!?"
Adam landed in front of him with a crash. His face was tightened in a grimace of fury, and he continued to gnash his teeth like a mad dog. Yet, Mephisto wasn't showing any fear, on the contrary he seemed to have the most beautiful thing in the world in front of him. "Good food, good wine, drugs, beautiful women, money, honors, glory, fame, conquest... they mean nothing to me!" the demon screamed. "They are nothing more than pathetic illusions, deceptions even worse than those of us demons! They only serve to give us a momentary and miserable feeling of contentment, which does not last more than a few hours at most! We feel that pleasure, but then that pleasure vanishes, and we immediately rush to look for a new goal! That is why my only intent has always been to look for a real goal, something that is not an illusion, and I have pursued it with all my might himself! The only thing I want, the only thing that every human being wants in their heart but suppresses with pathetic desires... is to be a true APEX PREDATOR!"
He jumped at Adam like a wild beast, and he blocked him with one hand, grabbing him by the neck; but Mephisto, instead of despairing, continued to talk to him, and actually stuck his claws into his arm, leaving deep marks. "This is what all humans want, because it's what we were born to do! We were designed to be the top of all creatures on Earth! It's natural that we feel the need to always be above everyone else, but since they can't aspire to that much people almost always end up giving up and surrounding themselves with false desires!" he said as his muscles quivered. "But I never gave up. I spent my entire existence looking for ways to become stronger. My every daily action serves to strengthen me. I trained even when my body collapsed, I took so many drugs that I risked death several times, I learned every art of combat, war and hunting. I faced the mightiest beasts and the strongest warriors. I wanted a massive body, something that could come close to what I really was. And after arriving in this pit, I took every soul I could to increase my power, and I wanted more and more, not only from Hell, but also from Earth, from Sheol, from Heaven! All to achieve the goal that is imprinted in the cellular memory of all human beings. This is who I am: I am a MAN!"
And suddenly all of Mephisto's souls seemed to strengthen him even more; the fire enveloped him like an aura, and then he bit Adam's hand. The first man let go with a cry of pain, and the demon spat out a piece of his skin. "Tell me, father..." he said as he got back to his feet, but he did it in a strange way, hunched over, as if a position on all fours was more suitable for him. “… how do you not feel ashamed… as you watch how weak your descendants have become?”
Adam looked at his hand: the glove had been torn and his golden blood was dripping from it. This only seemed to increase the hatred in his heart, and his expression became of such ferocity that even the most ferocious T. rex would have run away with its tail between its legs. But instead Mephisto's eyes widened even more excitedly at that sight: "Yes... yes, I finally see it! Ever since I met you I have tried to see in you the apex predator that I always wanted to meet, the creature capable of hunting everything else! Here it is, finally! I finally see the true essence of the human being! I see the man who even without any weapons, even without any experience, was still capable of hunting and killing dinosaurs! I see the ultimate apex predator! I see the real first man! Oh, that's so WONDERFUL!"
Mephisto moved his hand to hit him again, but Adam blocked it without even trying and punched him right in the stomach, sending him against a wall that split like paper. "Aaaaaah... my body is shaking!" the demon screamed in his madness. "I am honored to be in the presence of such magnificent perfection! Forgive me if I offer you such an indecent spectacle, you must feel disgusted at seeing such weak prey in front of you!"
"Shut up!" Adam growled at him, and his axe reappeared in his hands and crashed into the place where Mephisto was, with the clear intent of cutting him in two, but the demon managed to dodge the blow at the last second. It was incredible: even though he was so battered, Mephisto could still move so quickly, as if his body was charged with a strange energy.
"Father, forgive me! Forgive me for my weakness!" the demon was still screaming. "I'm nothing more than a pathetic eighth generation human, I can't compete with you without using souls to toughen me up, and even with those I can't face you! I feel ashamed for being so miserable! I'm not an apex predator like you!"
"You never stop talking!?" Adam roared, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up.
But Mephisto didn't stop. His face was completely filled with an almost transcendental madness. “Tell me, how did you live without all this!?” he asked him. "How did you submit, to allow the angels to collar you!? How did you resist this desire!? How did you hold back your true nature!?"
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Adam shouted, and threw him into the air; like a golden comet it came upon him and struck him repeatedly from every angle, shedding his blood like rain. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"
His axe moved, creating countless cuts on Mephisto's body; even protecting himself with his souls, the demon continued to scream in pain as his limbs were being tortured. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I HAD TO SEE BECAUSE OF YOU MONSTERS!"
Mephisto found the strength to react at least a little and tried to grab his shoulder, but it was Adam who pulled him towards him. Their faces were barely half a centimeter apart. "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I HAD TO HOLD BACK!"
And having said this he turned Mephisto's body completely, putting his face forward, and flew towards the still standing buildings; one after another, he broke through them using the demon's body as if it were a battering ram. They passed through every wall, causing everything to collapse behind them; and they also broke through the bodies of every demon in their path. Adam almost didn't notice, his eyes were focused on Mephisto; they didn't care who was in their way, friend or ally, if he hit them they were torn to shreds. And finally they reached the last building, a skyscraper still standing who knows how, and Adam flew towards the other one and then smashed the whole thing down starting from the top. The skyscraper collapsed around them, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Adam finally stopped and let go of the demon. Mephisto was reduced to a sieve, but he was still alive: he had not yet given him the final blow with an angelic weapon. And he was still conscious, as Adam could clearly see his eyes moving ever so slightly. Well, at least he wasn't talking anymore.
The first man let out a deep growl, and then turned to look around. The city had been completely razed to the ground, and the dust was still settling. Yet, as he looked at her he felt nothing but a strange coldness, as if he didn't care at all that he had destroyed everything. In fact, he found himself admitting as his grip on his axe tightened, he would gladly have continued.
Silence reigned for a few minutes. And then, Mephisto burst out laughing. A laugh that was initially weak and then, despite the pain in his ribs, became increasingly louder. "You idiot" he said to Adam. "Can't you see?"
The first man did not answer him; he continued to stare at the devastated Hell around them, without showing Mephisto his expression or even a hint of his face. This only made the demon laugh more. "You proved my point, just to beat me" he told him. "You released the storm inside your heart, you let the darkness dominate you! Even you, the only pure human left, have finally succumbed to your true nature! You have swept away everything in your path, just as I have done in my entire life or after! You have proven that you and I are no different! Now there is no going back!"
Adam still did not look at him, and remained silent. Not a word came out of his mouth. He remained as still as a statue, while the wind of Hell lightly agitated his blood-stained robe.
"I was right! I've always been right!" Mephisto screamed in hysteria. "Good and evil are just bullshit! What I am is what all humanity is! We were created this way, that fruit only released our true urges! Yet you are in Heaven while I am in Hell, and why? Not because you are good and I am not, but because you are a servant and I refused to submit to Him! God has you on a leash like a dog, just as He keeps on a leash all those idiots on that fucking moon, waiting for Him to show mercy and free them! The only reason why you live better than me is because you bow your heads and lick His feet! You are no different from me in your heart, we are both the same kind of beasts! We corrupt, corrode, kill, devastate! This is the true nature of humanity! Even our father himself has admitted it now!"
More silence. Adam didn't answer. His body didn't tense, his grip on his axe didn't tighten, his breathing remained even. A deep calm permeated him, as if he had fallen asleep standing up.
"What's wrong? Too shocked to answer me?" Mephisto urged. "I won! Admit it! I lost the war, I lost the battle, I lost the duel, but I won! I made you completely reject the man and embrace the monster within you! You annihilated your sense of guilt and acted for what you wanted, you swept away everything without any hesitation, you ignored every law of mercy and compassion that He proclaimed! You chose violence, you chose blood!"
Mephisto's laughter died in his throat, but his smile became wider, and although with some difficulty he raised his hand with the palm facing upwards: "Father... now help me get up. Now that you know what you really are, now that you too have accepted it, come with me. Come with us"
Adam finally moved: he cocked his head slightly to the side, as if confused by his words. Mephisto still couldn't see his expression, but took this as a sign that he was thinking about it. "Stop serving Him! Come with us, come with your children! You are not an angel, you are a human! You don't have to serve angels, you don't have to serve Him! But you can come with us. You can lead us once again. Together, we can reunite Sheol and Gehenna, we can take back Earth, we can be one again! With you by our side there is no land we cannot conquer! We can build a new universe, our universe!"
Adam still didn't give an answer. At which Mephisto let out a loud grunt: "Why do you hesitate!? You think you can wipe the blood off your hands!? You think you can still deny to yourself that you and I are equally ruthless!?" he roared. "Who are you doing this for!? God!? Well, let me tell you something: God doesn't give a shit about us! We're just a passing entertainment to Him! But He doesn't care what happens to us! No God came to help me when I was the victim, no God showed up to help my many victims, even though I heard every single one of them begging for it! One massacre after the other happens on Earth every day, and all He does is watch in silence, promising us salvation if we obey Him! A really good salvation, spending the eternity on a sterile moon just a few thousand kilometers above this pit! Did He ever intervene when we attacked Sheol!? Tell me, when you were giving in under my blows, He came to save you!? When you were building the foundation for our civilization on primordial Earth, did He ever come down the heavens to defend you from the beasts, did He ever rain food from the sky on you, did He ever warm you on the cold winter nights!? When your wife was about to eat that damn fruit, did He intervene to stop her before she did!? No! Accept the reality, He never lifted a finger for you or for all of us!”
Mephisto slammed his fist into the rubble he was lying on, and spat some blood out of his mouth. His face had tightened in an expression of anger. "God likes to watch. He’s a prankster. Think about it. Who planted that tree in the garden? Him! If He didn't want sin into the world, why put it there? I'm telling you, He just wanted to have fun! He put you and your wife in front of something delicious and forbade you from eating it. He wanted to see which of you would give in first to that temptation! If sin entered the world it is only His fault, not humanity's! He gives mankind instincts, and when mankind finally lost to them, what did He do? He gave us this extraordinary gift and then what did He do? I swear, for His own amusement, His own private cosmic gag reel, He set the rules in opposition! It’s the goof of all time. Look, but don’t touch. Touch, but don’t taste. Taste, but don’t swallow. And while you’re jumping from one foot to the next, what is He doing? He’s laughing His sick, fucking His ass off. He’s a tight-ass. He’s an absentee landlord. Worship Him? Never! HE IS A SADIST!". He pulled himself up even more, until he was almost able to stand up again: "And if you come with us, if you truly embrace your true nature, it's over for Him! Because if the father of humanity, the one who has within himself all the qualities of every single human being, turns against Him, then an invincible army presents itself at His door! We can unleash so much darkness, burn every pathetic pocket of resistance, subjugate every other creation of His whether it is angel or beast, until the stench of all our actions reaches so high that even He suffocates! God has had His time. He has concluded His mandate, and has been dethroned by a motion of no confidence by His children; it is time for a new king to sit on the throne of Creation, a king who I am certain will bear the name of MANKIND!"
Finally he stood up completely. He was clearly struggling to even stand upright, but he refused to remain lying on the ground. "It's time to take what's ours! We have no reason to fear Him! Can You hear me, You cosmic asshole!? I don't fear You!" he roared, raising his fist towards the sky. "Come on, do Your worst! Crack the earth, take away the sun, let lightning burn the soil, flood the crops and houses with water, unleash great waves and giant storms! You have already lost now! Because the only true man who has truly been faithful to You from the beginning is now one of us! He has embraced his true nature! Isn't it true, father of humanity? Come on, stop remaining silent! Whether you admit this truth now or in a thousand years, whether you kill me or join me, it changes nothing! From now you know the true you, and it is only a matter of time before you will truly make it yours! You yourself will one day be so consumed by evil that you will turn against Him, and that day humanity will take dominion over the universe and hurl Him and His angels into this very pit where He tried to contain us! I see you with your axe on a mountain of corpses, before the blood-stained gates of Heaven, while hosts of your descendants march over the ashes of the blessed realm and go to prepare your new throne!"
Mephisto trembled on his legs, and then slipped again on the rubble, no longer having the strength to stand. “You can deny it all you want, but one day you will accept it” he told Adam. "Go ahead, reject it. Tell yourself that I'm talking nonsense, and kill me to silence me. It doesn't matter. I already won. My only interest was to prove that the father of humanity was a monster like all of us, and that therefore all of us are innocent, we are just following our true nature, we are blameless. I am blameless. And one day you too will say that I was right". His evil smile reappeared on his face, wider than ever: "I'm not afraid of dying, so go ahead. But when you turn against the Almighty, you will regret not having me by your side, and you will remember me as the one who opened your eyes"
And finally, Adam turned slightly towards him. And for a moment, Mephisto's breath caught in his throat when he met his gaze. "I know" the first man told him. "You don't fear death"
And after such words that he opened his hand and let his axe fall to the ground, and it vanished in a puff of gold. He turned completely towards Mephisto and slowly walked towards him. The demon felt a feeling of danger in his heart, but still tried not to show it: "So? How do you plan to kill me?"
“Kill you?” Adam asked as he took off his helmet, exposing his face again. “Who ever talked about killing you?”
Mephisto's body became stiff like a piece of metal. Although his helmet had a frightening appearance, what it hid was something even worse: the gaze of the first man, no longer hidden behind the visor, was so cold that the demon felt frozen just by staring at it. "What... what are you doing...?"
"I've always seen everything" Adam told him, taking off his gloves and throwing them too on the ground next to his helmet, showing his large hands. "Every time I looked at the Earth, I felt the echo of all the pain that you demons who pretended to be my offspring caused my real children. I saw everything, I looked at everything. Every abuse, every horror, every evil... every torture"
Mephisto went white in the face. Suddenly all his bravado disappeared, completely destroyed by the sheer terror that the mere sight of the first man's face unleashed in his soul. "W-Wait..."
"I know everything you have done, Mephisto. I learned it through the screams of pain of my children" Adam told him as he bent down in front of him, bringing their faces to the same height. "I got to know every time you put poison in their veins, every time you drowned them, every time you put their face in a jar full of wasps, every time you tore off their limbs, every time you cut into their muscles and dug into their tendons". His eyes completely lost all light, becoming empty and cold as not even the frozen cosmos could have been. "Really bold of you... to think that you can do something that I, the father of all humanity, can't do much better than you"
Mephisto trembled in terror. He tried to get up to escape, but Adam pinned him to the ground with his foot. The demon sweated so much that a puddle formed beneath him. "But... but you're an angel... you can't do these things...!"
"I'm not an angel" Adam answered him in a firm voice. "I'm just a man. And do you know what a man does when someone dares to touch his children?"
Adam grabbed Mephisto's left arm, squeezing it so hard that the pressure tore out muscles and cracked bones. The demon broke out in a cold sweat: "Wait... WAIT!"
Adam's eyes glowed with an eerie light for an instant, and then he snapped: in a single motion, Mephisto's arm was torn off, breaking bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, and skin. The demon let out a scream so loud that it echoed throughout the Pride Ring, perhaps even the rest of Hell
Adam didn't stop and he continued to tear his body to pieces. Blood gushed out profusely, staining the ground and the first man's face, as the first man calmly continued his macabre work. Mephisto tried in vain to react, and such action only rekindled the fire in Adam's eyes, who in response inflicted even more pain, accompanying his every action with a scream that fully expressed all his anger and hatred for that horrendous creature that was now beneath him.
"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE HELPLESS!?"
"AAARGH!!!"
"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW PAIN!?"
"UUUGH!!!"
"I WATCHED MY CHILDREN DIE IN HORROR!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"CRYING AS THEY WERE ALL SLAIN!"
"GGGH!!!"
"I HEARD THEIR FINAL MOMENTS!"
"AAAAAAAARGH!!!"
"CALLING THEIR PARENTS IN VAIN!"
"UUUUUUUGH!!!"
"LOOK WHAT YOU TURNED ME INTO!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED ME TO BECOME!?"
"Enough…!"
"ALL OF THE PAIN THAT THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH!"
"Stop!"
"HAVEN'T THEY SUFFERED ENOUGH?!"
"STOP!!!"
"YOU EVEN PERSECUTED THEM AS DEAD!"
"STOOOOOP!!!"
"YOU DIDN'T STOP WHEN THEY BEGGED YOU!!!"
"AAAAAAAGH!!!"
"TOLD ME TO CLOSE MY HEART!!!"
"YOU..."
"YOU SAID THE WORLD WAS DARK!!!"
"... MONSTEEEEEEEER!!!"
“WELL, LET ME SHOW YOU HOW DARK IT IS!”
"HELP...!!!"
"YOU WILL SUFFER A THOUSAND TIMES WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THEM!"
"NOOOO!!!"
"REGENERATE QUICKLY!"
"AAAARGGHH!!!"
"WE BARELY STARTED!"
"K-KILL ME...!"
"WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!"
"KILL ME!"
"YOU WILL NOT DIE HERE AND NOW!"
"SOMEONE KILL MEEEEE!!!"
"YOU WILL SUFFER FOR ETERNITY!"
"PLEASEEEEE...!!!"
"DO YOU THINK I CAN'T BE RUTHLESS!?"
"MERCYYYYY...!!!"
"DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OUR-"
SLASH!
Mephisto's neck was suddenly cut in half by an angelic blade. The demon's head, now totally unrecognizable, slipped down and rolled to the ground, but in that last moment it was possible to see a light of relief in his eyes, and a tear of joy fell from them.
Adam remained for a moment with Mephisto's body in his hands, without even realizing that he had just died; it was only when he heard a familiar voice that he stopped: "ADAM!"
The first man seemed to awaken from a trance. He looked at Mephisto's severed neck, realizing that he had just been killed, and finally let go of the body... if that shapeless mass of flesh he had in his hands could still be called as such. He felt a strong anger as he stared at the angelic blade that had just killed his prey, and he looked up to see who had thrown it, but that anger subsided when he saw Lilith before him, still holding the arm with which she had thrown the weapon raised. “Adam… stop, please” she begged. "It's... It's already over"
Over...?
Adam didn't understand. Why was Lilith looking at him that way? Her eyes were wide open and pale, and she was visibly shaking. Even though she was trying to hold his gaze, it was clear that she didn't have the courage to come closer. It was as if she were trying to appease a wild beast.
Was she afraid...?
Was Lilith afraid... of him...?
"Adam... Adam, please look at me" Lilith told him in a broken voice. "It's over... it's already over. You have to stop. Please"
Why was she talking to him like that...?
What was she afraid of...?
The world seemed to take shape around him again. He hadn't noticed it until then, but everything had seemed faded to his eyes. Now, however, the landscape regained its shape, and Adam could clearly see the buildings completely razed to the ground behind Lilith, and the corpses hanging from them as if they were macabre decorations.
He looked away from his ex-wife for a moment and moved his head a little, and realized that they were not alone. The Exorcists were there too, and they were surrounding him, although they were much further away than Lilith. They too were staring at him with wide eyes and trembling; some of them had their hands over their mouths as if trying to keep from screaming, others were huddling together looking for safety; some had even vomited. Adam stood up, and as soon as he did they all immediately took several steps back, and Ezekiel even raised her spear towards him and stood in front of her companions, as if she wanted to protect them.
Why were they looking at him like that...?
Almost instinctively he lowered his gaze and raised his hands. They were red. He wasn't wearing gloves: his own hands had literally turned completely red from all the blood that was on them. Pieces of muscle and tissue were still attached to them. His right hand was still gripping a piece of Mephisto's sternum.
It wasn't just his hands. There was blood everywhere. On the dress, on the wings... even on the face.
It suddenly became clear to him why the Exorcists and Lilith were so scared.
He dropped the piece of bone he was holding, moving so quickly it looked like he had just been burned. The more the adrenaline dissipated, the more the awareness of the actions he had just performed fell upon him. His breathing quickened rapidly.
"A-Adam?" Lilith murmured, and finally she seemed to find the courage to take a step towards him.
Adam instinctively jerked away from her, although even he didn't know why. He didn't want anyone near him at that moment. No... they couldn't come near him... he... he could... do to them what he did to Mephisto...!
"Adam, look at me" Lilith told him in a firmer voice. Maybe seeing him scared, or at least more human than before, was giving her some confidence. "It's over. The battle is over. You can rest. You... you just need to calm down. Take deep breaths"
Breaths...?
Why...? What...?
Why had he done those things?
Mephisto was evil, but how could that justify such cruelty?
What... what had he become?
A... monster?
Lilith's soft hand touched his. "Adam..." she told him. "... no more fighting. You can rest. You can go home..."
Those last words triggered something in Adam; with a sprint he moved away from Lilith again, and then spread his wings wide and took off at full speed. He totally ignored whoever was calling out to him, just headed away as fast as he could. He flew beyond the sky of Hell, following instinct alone; perhaps it was that instinct that made him raise his hand and open a portal to Earth.
Notes:
Just to clarify: aside from the torture part, what scared the crap out of the angels was that Adam basically used Mephisto as a breaching axe regardless of the fact that he had people in front of him... so he most likely inadvertently killed a few Exorcists in the process too. Sure, for angels this isn't a big deal since they can be reborn in Heaven, but it's still traumatic. Add to that what he did right after, and you can understand why Ezekiel pointed her weapon at him.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 43): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157409230
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 97: Ruthlessness
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam crashed into the surface of the Earth with such a violent impact that it was as if an asteroid had just fallen: it was so strong that crater several kilometers wide opened and the ash generated flew into the sky, adding to the mass of storm clouds that already surrounded the planet. The whole Earth shook as the first man hit the crust, making everything vibrate like a bell.
The ocean retreated, and then poured back into the crater. Adam let the waters wash over him; he could have flown, but he did not move from where he was. The wave that hit him would have smashed any other human being to crumbs, but obviously did nothing to him except toss him from side to side. Adam let himself be dragged by the centrifugal force until finally, who knows according to what physical phenomenon, he was spat back out of the sea.
Yet, the blood from his hands still hadn't been washed away.
It was still there, and all over the rest of his body too. Adam could see it on his robe and feel it on his face. That blood, the last remnant of the countless victims he had torn to pieces, still covered him. Not even the great ocean had been able to wash it away.
Adam put his hands in front of his face, trying to hold back a muffled scream. It was at that point that he felt a few drops of water fall on his head.
Was it... raining?
He didn't notice; he spread his wings and flew off in a random direction. Around him thunder shook the air and lightning continuously lit up the sky; it was as if a storm was brewing all over the world. Adam flew as fast as he could, crossing the entire ocean from one side to the other, yet not a ray of sunlight hit him. It was raining everywhere.
At some point he finally reached dry land; as soon as he arrived he collapsed on it, lying on the ground. He wasn't tired, not physically, yet he didn't have the strength to fly. His body trembled as he continued to look at the blood covering him. “I killed them” he whispered. "They weren't attacking anyone anymore... they were... they were just there... I... how could I... what right could I...?"
He put his hands in front of his face with such enthusiasm that he scratched his forehead. "No... no, it had to be done... I was just... I was just protecting my children... they... they forced me to do it... I didn't..."
No... he knew that wasn't true. He hadn't been forced to do anything, it had been his choice. He had chosen to kill demons this way. He was the one who had ripped the guts out of their bodies in that brutal way. He had killed them in such a monstrous manner that even the Exorcists, angels born to be soldiers, had been terrified of him. The memory of the fear on their faces almost made Adam want to bang his head on the ground.
He could still see Mephisto's body in his hands...
So much blood...
He stood up and ran to a nearby river, which was overflowing from all the rain that was pouring down. He dipped his hands in and tried to wash the blood away, but it remained on his skin, as if it had been absorbed. There was so much of it that it had dried, and even scratching himself could only get a little bit off. Not even the sleeves of his robe were ripped off.
He might have stayed there and washed himself forever, until he could get the blood off himself, but the river overflowed even more, throwing him toward the bank. Adam was momentarily blinded by the water, but then thunder exploded and lightning lit up the landscape, and he was sure he had seen something. There were shapes all around him, or rather... they were in the river, in the mouth, in the sea where the water poured, in the clouds or even in the rain caves. Blurred shapes that slipped through the water.
Adam stood up, defensively; there was someone around him, he was sure of it, and his instincts warned him that it was something dangerous. He felt as if the whole world was being crossed by crawling, incorporeal creatures.
The more it rained, the more the water rose, the more the river and the sea overflowed, the more he saw them. So many quick, blurry images, as if they were reflections in the water. But even if he couldn't see them well, Adam was sure he could feel their anger and hatred, which seemed to give even more force to the waves and the falling rain.
And then he heard a breath behind him. And finally a voice. "Here you are... coward"
Adam froze. "This voice... it can't be...!"
He whirled around, and what he saw behind him was the unmistakable face of a tyrannosaurus. It was ethereal and seemed to follow the rain, as if it were a reflection in it, but it was so clear that it was unmistakable. The beast was there, in all its twenty meters of length, bent slightly so that it could look at him with its eyes... or rather, with its eye, since the right one was missing. "I've waited far too long for you" it said.
"It's not possible... Shenhada!?" Adam exclaimed. "I killed you...!"
The tyrannosaurus let out a snort from his nostrils, and the raindrops hit Adam more forcefully for a moment. "Yes, that's right" he said. "You killed me"
Adam tried to wipe the water from his face. "You... are a hallucination...?"
"You are not imagining me" Shenhada replied. "I am here before you"
"So you are a ghost?" Adam asked, even though he knew such things did not exist.
"A memory" Shenhada answered him, standing up to his full height. "A memory trapped in this world for thousands of years. I am not your old enemy, I am Earth's last memory of the being that I was"
Adam was confused for a moment, but then the memory of all the times he had looked at Earth from afar came back to him. His authority over that world, which remained unchanged even after his death, had always allowed him to see the pain caused by the evil of humans, even after such an act had been committed. The planet remembered everything, and he could see those memories as if they were an open book. "But... why are you here now? You are only a memory, you should not be able to see and speak to me...!"
Shenhada nodded, and then he raised his nose to the sky, as if to indicate it: "It is His will. He has given us memories of the evil suffered the opportunity to vent our resentment"
"What are you talking about? Wait... us?" Adam exclaimed. "You are not alone...?"
"We are all here" Shenhada told him. "Look into the water. All of us, memories of those who have unjustly suffered in this world, are here. He is giving us the chance to vent our resentment and hatred now that everything is coming to an end!"
"Fine? What are you talking about...?" Adam tried to ask, but suddenly a deafening sound reached his ears, making him fall to his knees and put his hands on his head. It was a chorus of billions of voices coming from the waves of the river, the sea, the rain, even the clouds. Billions of voices that merged into one.
"When does a man become a monster?"
Adam looked out over the waters, and in them millions of ethereal shapes formed. Animals of every species, many of them already extinct due to the indiscriminate cruelty of Caine's lineage, peered out from it, just as if they were reflected images. Adam took a step back as he saw them advancing toward him, almost as if they were struggling through a muddy swamp.
"Five thousand fifty eight of us who died by your hand!
Four billion species who disappeared by your children's command!"
The animals raised their paws as if to grab him, but what Adam felt coming at him was only a wave of cold water that blinded him for a moment. He could barely look at that enormous mass of creatures that should never have known pain, and that instead had been forced to suffer. And among them Adam also recognized millions of silhouettes that were undoubtedly human, memories of all those who had been tortured by the evil ones in life.
"Father! Father!
FATHER! FATHER!
Why did you let your murderer son live
When you yourself said that ruthlessness is mercy!?"
Adam backed away, and even tried to push them away, though his hand only went through the violent rain water. Their sharp accusations seemed to have the power to hit him and bend him. The guilt, which was already on his shoulders like a boulder, threatened to tear him apart.
Because deep down he knew that all those furious memories were true.
Why had he let Cain live that day? Why had he simply let him go? Why had he let his feelings hold him back?
If he had killed him that day when his son had shown his true nature, none of this would have happened. Cain's bloodline would never have spread and would never have carried on that cruel ideology of taking everything possible without giving. Earth would not have been devastated, all those innocent lives would not have been taken, Hell would have been much less full, perhaps they would never have attacked Sheol...!
He... would never have... done those horrible things...
If only he had not let his heart hold him back that day.
He said he didn't want to stoop to the same level as Cain... but how many would have been spared if he had?
And now all those memories, still preserved on Earth and still bearing all the scars of the suffering they had endured, were there in front of him, accusing him of having condemned them himself, because when it was time to take a single life to save billions, he had backed away.
A deep breath came from behind him, where Shenhada's muzzle was, as if the T. rex wanted to whisper something in his ear.
"Now, father of humanity... do you know what is coming?"
And with that he gave him a violent blow using the tip of his snout, which to Adam felt like an extremely powerful blast of rain, which made him fall to the ground, or rather into the mud since the ground was now so soaked that not even a centimeter of it was completely solid. The tyrannosaurus walked around him like a hungry predator, making a sound like pouring water every time he took a step. His single eye was constantly trained on him, and it seemed to burn with a hatred even greater than the real Shenhada.
"In all His years of living
It isn't very often that He get pissed off!
He tried to chill in the heavens,
But damn, you crossed the line!"
Adam looked up at him. Why was Shenhada suddenly talking about God? What did he mean by being pissed off?
Was he referring to... him? What he had done in Hell?
Well... it had certainly been something horrible... but what did that have to do with...?
"He had been so gracious
And yet, you failed the most important task of yours!"
Shenhada brought his muzzle close to Adam's face, staring straight into his eyes and sending a shiver down his spine.
"That's right, the last unstained soul you should have preserved...
Was yours!"
Adam's heart skipped a beat when he finally understood the meaning of those words.
"No..."
Humanity, all of humanity, had been stained by the original sin. In the eyes of God, all of them were unworthy of existence. A thing imbued with evil had no reason to exist in His universe. If He had followed only His Justice, God would have had to erase all of humanity... but by using His Mercy, He had allowed humanity to continue to live.
However, two of the fundamental principles of the Almighty and the universe He had created could not conflict. God could not simply use only His Mercy and ignore His Justice. He had to reconcile both to allow humanity to continue to exist... and this reconciliation had only been allowed because of Adam.
He was the only pure human soul, the only one not stained by the original sin. As such, he deserved salvation, satisfying both God's Justice and Mercy. And because he deserved salvation, all of his descendants deserved it as well, even if they followed a different, longer and more tortuous path. Only in this way had God seen both principles satisfied, and therefore humanity had been deemed worthy of existence also for His Justice, and not only for His Mercy.
But now, Adam was no longer pure.
He had stained himself with sin, voluntarily, just as Eve had done thousands of years before. He had done things not for self-defense or to protect someone else, but only to deliberately do harm. The bloodstains on him were no different from the countless sins that stained the garments of his descendants who resided in Sheol.
And if Adam was no longer pure... God's Justice was no longer satisfied. Now there were no more humans worthy of salvation, because the only one who was not stained by sin had nevertheless been responsible for horrible actions.
Therefore... humanity, as well as the world that had been given to them, must now disappear.
No...
No!
Adam tried to get up, not even he knew why or what he wanted to do, but Shenhada pinned him to the ground... or rather, moved his paw on him, and the river flooded even more, submerging him in water. But even so he could still hear the venom-laced words of the tyrannosaurus.
"You left Him without a choice, and without a doubt!
Guess the proud hunters will swim with the sharks now!
We've gotta make you bleed, we need to see you drown,
But before you go, we need to make you really learn how
RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES!"
The waves around Adam came to life, and he saw what looked like the mirror image of a spinosaurus open its jaws, which were actually two waves crashing into him from opposite sides with enough force to knock the breath out of him. The other creatures swam around him like a whirlpool, staring at him as the spinosaurus continued to hold him in its ethereal jaws.
"RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES!"
Shenhada lunged at him and snatched him from the spinosaurus's jaws, throwing him away. Adam felt as if he were caught in a violent whirlpool, and he barely managed to fight against the violent current. The rushing water made so much noise that a gong would have seemed silent in comparison, yet the voice of the T. rex continued to drown out his ears.
"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves...
Ourselves!"
Adam finally managed to free himself from the violent current: instead of fighting it, he let himself be dragged by it, until he reached the mouth of the river and the waves of the sea. The point where the two waters met was still calm enough (so to speak) to allow him to spread his wings and manage to take flight again. But still the memories of the billions of suffering creatures continued to swarm around him, making the sea more and more stormy. Shenhada advanced towards him slowly, and it seemed almost as if he were walking on the water as his image moved using the raindrops as a medium.
"You are the worst kind of good 'cause
YOU'RE NOT EVEN GREAT!"
The incorporeal wraiths continued to swirl around him, but Adam noticed that only a few of them remained there to torment him; instead, many more were moving deeper into the sea. Why were they doing this? What did they have in mind?
"A man who reeks of false righteousness,
That's what I HATE!"
Adam watched as the wraiths crowded onto the seabed and began to pound him violently; huge waves formed on the surface and crashed onto the shore, sweeping away everything in their path. The breakers seemed to grow more violent with each commotion, and the disembodied memories of living creatures merged with them, making them even larger and more menacing.
"Because you fight to save lives,
But than kill and ruin everyone's life!"
Adam gritted his teeth, realizing what they had in mind: they were splitting the Earth's crust beneath the ocean, and as soon as they did, the continents would have sank beneath it. And because of his authority on Earth, he could feel that this was happening all over the planet: the depths of all the oceans were cracking, creating immense faults thousands of kilometers deep. Very soon, all the landmasses would have disappeared under the water.
So... was this how it was going to go? That's how God had decided to eliminate everything? Let the water submerge everything and wash away every sign of humanity? Had he given momentary consciousness to all those hate-filled memories, so that they could vent their long-repressed anger by contributing to the destruction of the world themselves?
Humanity... would have died suffocating under the water?
"I mean, you totally could have avoided all this if you had just managed to control your wife...
But no!"
A new wave crashed into Adam, and he saw the specter of a huge megalodon swimming towards him with its mouth wide open. He raised his arms to defend himself, but of course they didn't hit anything, while on the contrary he was immediately hit by the force of the water.
"You were far too nice,
Mercy has a price!
It's the final crack, we're bound to break the crust now!
You protected your wife, then you let your son live!
Unlike you, we've got no mercy left to give 'cause
RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES!"
New waves formed, each one with a different creature reflected in it; like a herd of rampaging animals they charged towards Adam, and leading them was a triceratops that hit him squarely with one of its horns, which turned out to be a powerful jet of water that hurled him back into the sea, where he was immediately engulfed by the waves in which the snout of a giganotosaurus appeared and bit him in the side.
"RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES!"
More waves grabbed Adam, tearing him from the giganotosaurus's jaws, while seven large mapusaurs took turns biting him as if they were fighting over him, tossing him from side to side. And finally, the one who gave him the hardest blow was a much smaller mapusaur, who hit him on the head with a stone from its jaws, a stone that had been washed out to sea by the waves as they retreated after hitting the shore.
"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves...
Ourselves!"
Adam finally managed to surface again and take flight, away from that stormy water. He found himself in front of Shenhada, still motionless above the sea, who unlike the others was not trying to hit him in the slightest. On the contrary, he continued to speak as if he were explaining the obvious to an idiot.
"And now it is finally time
To say goodbye,
Today this world die!
Too late to apologize
For our pain and all our cries!"
Adam finally found the strength to react; he could not continue to passively suffer, he could feel the earth's crust cracking more and more. He had little time left, he had to do something. And since he could think of nothing else, he tried to calm at least a little the tormented hearts of those ghosts.
"My friends, please, we meant no harm,
Eve ate that fruit only because she was sure to help!
We took no pleasure in your pain,
Please, stop shake the seascape...!"
He immediately realized that his plea had been useless: on the contrary, Shenhada had assumed an expression that seemed to ask him if he was serious. It was as if the tyrannosaurus was wondering how it was possible that he was still defending Eve and trying to calm their fury even after everything that had happened. And in fact immediately after his shocked expression gave way to one of deep contempt.
"The line between naivety and hopefulness is almost invisible"
Adam wasn't sure if he understood the meaning of that comment, whether Shenhada was referring to the fact that he had dared to say a kind word for Eve or whether he had hoped to be able to calm them down, but he didn't have time to wonder: all the spirits except the tyrannosaur moved as one and seemed to merge, forming what looked like a giant pivot.
"So close your heart, the world is dark, and..."
The giant column formed by the spirits lowered with extreme speed, hitting the bottom of the sea.
"Ruthlessness is mercy..."
Shenhada let out one last roar.
"DIE"
The entire seabed, already battered by the previous blows, cracked completely; across the planet the crust shattered, forming giant plates that sank under their own weight. The ocean seemed to bounce back on itself and a megatsunami several kilometers high, so tall that it dwarfed most mountains, slammed into the coast. Adam barely had time to see it coming before it crashed into him and swept him away. The giant wave tore across the continent, reducing everything in its path to smithereens. Adam could see entire cities and villages being washed away in an instant, and he could still hear the screams of terror as the terrified population desperately tried to escape. He could hear their cries as they tried not to die, only to be suffocated by the water an instant later. And most of all he could hear their prayers as they, having no more options, tried to appeal to someone in the heavens, while on the contrary the ghosts in the waters continued to chant in chorus the same words that he himself had pronounced years before.
"Ruthlessness is mercy...!"
"Father, help!"
"Ruthlessness is mercy...!"
"Father, please!"
"Ruthlessness is mercy...!
"Father, FATHER!"
"Ruthlessness is..."
Adam finally crashed into a mountain that was high enough to have its peak above the gigantic tsunami. With great difficulty he managed to climb up it until he reached dry land. It was only then that he was able to really look around, and his heart seemed to stop.
Everywhere there was nothing left, only an immense mass of water. Everything that existed had been submerged by the sea. Nothing had been spared, crushed by the immense force of the waters. Now the only landscape was ocean up to the horizon, still stormy and on which drops of rain continued to fall from the sky.
Adam slipped to his knees. All energy seemed to abandon him, but he still had the strength to slightly raise his head towards the sky.
"What have You done?"
It was the first time ever that he had asked God for an explanation. He had never done it before, and he had never thought that he would do it in that tone. But now, he could not help but ask Him the reason for such ruthlessness, while the ocean continued to resonate with that chorus of voices.
"When does a ripple become a tidal wave?"
Shenhada appeared behind him, and again put her muzzle close to his ear, whispering to him in a voice that sounded like thunder.
"The Almighty God has given His command"
Adam put his head in his hands, squeezing it so hard that he almost crushed it himself. And yet he still couldn't stop all those voices from penetrating his ears.
"When does man become a monster?"
Shenhada made a sound like a gust of wind, and then he repeated to him the same words he himself had said to Mephisto long ago.
"I am your darkest moment,
The monster that always draws near..."
Adam turned slightly toward him, looking at him again. The tyrannosaurus was staring at him with a mixture of disgust, contempt and disapproval. "It's over" he said in a harsh voice. "This memory of me has waited so long, and it has finally been satisfied. This world has met its end... and it's all your fault. If you had done what you had to do from the beginning, none of this would have happened". He growled, showing his powerful teeth: "Being too good is as much a sin as being too evil. Remember that the next time you have the unhealty idea of having mercy on a bad person. You said it yourself... ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves, and now you know it for sure too"
And having said those last words he seemed to turn into liquid and vanished into the ocean along with the drop of rain that fell from the sky. Silence returned, broken only by the violent rumbles of thunder and the crashing of the waves. Adam remained there alone, kneeling on the tip of that mountain that was slowly being submerged by the rising water.
Notes:
To understand this chapter and the Bible well, let's specify some things about it:
In the sacred texts, God has four fundamental characteristics: Truth, Justice, Mercy and Peace (in some versions they are personified in women, precisely called Daughters of the Thought of God). The union of these four virtues generates the perfect being, that is God, consequently only an action that reflects all four can be defined as righteous (and therefore in compliance with the will of God). God Himself therefore cannot just let one of them prevail over the others, because in that case He would make Himself imperfect, which is not possible. In the entire Old Testament, therefore, God must constantly balance between these four characteristics when managing humanity, especially Justice and Mercy. This is because, according to the Justice of God, humanity should be destroyed since it is stained by sin, but He allows it to continue to exist by virtue of His Mercy, while His Justice is satisfied thanks to the promise of the arrival of the Messiah who will precisely cleanse humanity from sin. However, if humans cross the threshold where God's Mercy is no longer sufficient, then He must apply His Justice and make them pay. This is why in the Old Testament God sometimes seems to go crazy and destroy cities or even nations altogether. In the case of the Great Flood, God continued to show His Mercy until the Cain's bloodline had completely turned to evil, making themselves incapable of being saved, and so, in His Justice, He destroyed them; however, in His Mercy, He spared Seth's bloodline (Noah) instead, as their actions were not enough to make them a lost cause, and so He could still apply His Mercy to them.
In this version the situation is the same, with one difference: since humanity is the child of both Adam and Eve, and he did not eat the fruit and is therefore a pure human, God's Justice requires that his will be listened to; and since Adam clearly does not want the destruction of humanity, God respects this will even if Cain's bloodline is already irrecoverable. However, when Adam, the only pure human, stains himself with sin by committing useless violent acts, God can no longer listen to him and His Justice imposes the destruction of humanity, and therefore the Great Flood. However, God, thanks to the future coming of the Messiah (whom Adam does not yet know), is able to use enough of His Mercy to at least allow Noah to live, since he is a good man who has always fought to protect others and has followed God's will, thus respecting both His Peace and His Truth, and therefore satisfying His Justice enough to allow him to continue living. Therefore, where Shenhada says that Adam left God without choice, is actually right since if Adam had been able to contain his anger he would not stain himself with sin, and therefore God's Justice would have still allowed Cain's bloodline to exist despite all their cruelty.
The use of the angry spirits is also part of God's Justice. They, as specified, are only memories of all the negative things that happened on Earth, and that Adam is able to see thanks to his authority over it; as Vaggie experienced firsthand when he showed it to her, however, these memories effectively retain the emotions felt in the moments in which they suffered, so much so that she almost fainted when she heard them. Therefore, according to His Justice, God allowed the memories of everything that was antediluvian to take their revenge by unleashing the Great Flood, allowing them to obtain justice on humanity and then finally vanish. This is the reason why even the spirits of the animals that separated "in peace" from Adam (such as the megalodon and the triceratops) are present, because they are not really them but only the memory of the evil they have unjustly suffered. And for the same reason these memories know what Adam did and repeat the same words he said even if the "real them" never heard them, because being connected to Earth they also remember everything Adam has ever suffered, done and said (since he has authority over it). And they repeat them because... well, if Adam had really been faithful to them, their suffering would never have existed (if Adam had been ruthless with Eve he would have prevented her from eating the fruit, and if he had been so with Cain he would have prevented him from having a bloodline that would have then devastated Earth). As for them splitting the sea floor, that goes back to the creationist theory that ocean trenches (in reality caused by tectonic plates) are evidence that the earth sank during the Great Flood.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 44): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157409266
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 98: The promise
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam stood still on the mountaintop, watching the vast ocean around him continue to grow, crashing into what was left of the mountain. The rain continued to beat down on his face, but he could barely hear it, just as he could barely hear the thunder. His mind, his heart, everything in him was empty.
It was over...
It was truly over.
Humanity was gone.
They had lost... he had lost.
His axe reappeared in his hands, the same axe that had drunk the blood of so many victims. Adam stared at it for a moment, and then he brought the blade closer to his neck. Even though it was a weapon made of pure energy, he could still feel the metal on his skin.
He wanted to go this way. It was the most honorable way...
"Adam?"
That voice.
Adam barely looked away and saw Michael appear behind him. The archangel looked as shocked as he was, and he was also wet, a sign that he must have stayed on Earth until it was destroyed by the waters, perhaps hoping for a change of heart from the Almighty. "Adam, my friend..."
"Leave me alone" Adam whispered. "Go home"
"Adam, put that axe down" Michael ordered. For the first time in so many years, Adam could hear fear in his voice.
"It's not worth it anymore" Adam muttered, bringing the axe even closer to his neck. "It's over... it's already over..."
"It's not over yet! We can... we can still...!" Michael tried to say, even though he didn't know how to continue. His voice was shaking, and he seemed to be looking around as little as possible so as not to look at the ocean that had suffocated the world. "Adam... you know it won't do any good... I told you, angels don't die...!"
"Maybe it will be different for me" Adam said barely, and ran the blade of the axe across his neck. A small cut opened on his skin, letting out golden blood. "I'm not pure anymore... no human is pure anymore... if I die now, Heaven might reject me... it's the best way..."
Michael, who had slowly approached in the meantime, leaped forward and with one blow slammed him to the ground, ripping the axe from his hands and throwing it away from him. "My friend... my friend, please, look at me. You can't just give up like this!"
"Why not!?" Adam shouted. "Look around you! It's over! My world is dead! My children are gone! My lineage is gone! If I don't have this anymore, what's left of me...?"
"We'll find a way!" Michael told him. He seemed to be in a frantic state. "Adam, please... we'll get through this...!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Adam shouted, trying to push him away. "You don't understand! You don't understand what I've really been through! Everything I've done... everything I've sacrificed...!"
Michael grabbed him by the shoulders, pinning him down. No matter how much Adam struggled, the archangel's powerful arms felt like they were made of marble from how tightly they held him. "I know your life was hard...!"
"I gave up all my friends!" Adam continued. "All my friends in Eden, every creature I was supposed to lead, love and protect, I saw them die, all of them! I killed them with my own hands... I looked at the anger in their eyes... I heard the hatred in their last words! My children... I saw my son die with his skull smashed in... I watched my grandchildren and great-grandchildren slaughter each other! All my descendants, I saw them die, I saw them suffer... I heard them cry for thousands of years, asking for someone to save them from the suffering that men inflicted on other men... I watched them as they reduced this planet to a wasteland and slaughtered each other, using on their fellow men the worst tortures that could be conceived! I resisted all this time because I had hope, because I hoped that somehow they would have been saved... but now... now it's all over... they're all dead, and all I hear are screams...!"
Michael pulled him closer and hugged him tightly. He could feel his friend trembling under his arms. "It will be fine, my friend... please, calm your heart..."
"All I hear are screams!" Adam screamed again, moving as if he were having a seizure, an option that could not be ruled out since his eyes seemed to be losing their minds.
"Please... let me take you home" Michael continued to say. "We can discuss this away from here... let's go back to Heaven..."
"Just let me close my eyes...!!!" Adam begged him.
Michael held him tighter. It looked as if he was afraid that if he gave him the slightest freedom of movement he would have done something irreparable. "Please, my friend, hold on this one more time..."
Hold on?
Why...?
He couldn't take it anymore.
He was too tired.
If there was no hope left, what was the point of continuing?
He had fought too long, and now he couldn't do it anymore.
He was a hunter that was unable to continue to chase his prey.
He had done it for too much time...
He just wanted to sleep...!
Why? Why did it end like that? Why did all hope just vanish that way?
Why...?
Why!?
WHY!?
He screamed loudly, his voice mixing with the roar of the wind and the pouring of the rain. All the frustration he had accumulated over those thousands of years exploded out in an instant. In the midst of desperation, he called out to the only one he had trusted since the beginning of time.
"FATHEEEEEER!!!!!"
And just at that moment, a flash much larger than the others cut through the sky, illuminating the ocean as if it were day.
Adam froze instantly, and so did Michael. Because both of them had just seen that strong light finally sweep away the darkness of the storm clouds, a shadow in the distance. A shadow that bore the unmistakable shape of a boat.
There was a moment of silence, and then they both looked at each other. "Michael...?" Adam whispered.
"Yes, I saw it too!" his friend said, and finally let him go; they both spread their wings and took flight, heading towards that boat.
They reached it in less than a minute, but that was a long time considering their very fast wings; the boat had seemed close, but in reality it was very far from where they had been before. The reason they could see it so well was not because it was close, but because it was huge: it was at least one hundred and fifty meters long, maybe even more, and it seemed to be built more like a fortress than a real boat, as if it had actually been a fortress that had a hull built around it at the last moment. And Michael seemed to recognize it: "But this is...!"
Adam didn’t listen to what his friend was about to say. He didn’t care where the boat had come from, or who was in it, or how it hadn’t been smashed to pieces by the giant wave that had engulfed the world. All he cared about was that if there was a boat, then there was someone alive. And he could see that the boat was struggling to stay steady against the waves and winds, and was in danger of listing dangerously to one side.
He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let the last humans alive be swallowed up by the water. Whatever their reason for being here, they had to live.
He flew like lightning to the hull, where he grabbed him and pushed, righting the boat until it began to list to the other side. Adam started to pull him to right it again, but suddenly the ship itself righted itself. Adam realized that Michael was no longer with him, and that he must have gone to the other side of the hull to support it as he was doing. He mentally thanked his friend, and then he continued to push the hull to prevent the boat from getting into any position other than perfectly upright.
They continued like this for the next forty days.
For nearly six weeks straight, rain continued to fall from the sky, raising the sea level even higher and completely submerging the last remaining mountains. Any remaining land disappeared beneath the water, until even the tops of the highest mountain ranges were hundreds of meters below the surface. Earth was now nothing but one vast global ocean.
And then, finally, at the end of the fortieth day, the rain stopped.
It happened almost suddenly: one moment the clouds were thundering and releasing gallons of water, and the next they had stopped. Gradually they thinned out, allowing the sunlight to illuminate Earth again. And as this happened, something new appeared, something that had never existed before: an immense arch formed by seven colors cut the sky in half, giving the world a beautiful sight that almost no one could admire anymore.
Adam felt a pang in his heart when he saw that spectacle, the first rainbow in history. He knew that light coming into contact with water could generate colors, he had experienced it several times in Eden, but it was the first time that a similar phenomenon appeared in the sky. He had never thought of seeing the heavens cut by seven brilliant colors in that way. Perhaps that was why he took it as a good omen, as if someone was assuring him that the flood was truly over and that from now on it would never have been unleashed again.
Finally Adam and Michael let go of the hull and flew over the deck of the boat. Both were tired and soaked, yet Adam still had his robe covered in demonic blood. Not even forty days in the rain had been enough to wash it off.
And then people came out onto the deck, led by a seemingly elderly but still quite physically fit man, with a gray beard and lively eyes. Some of them showed a little fear seeing Adam still covered in blood, but their patriarch only had a smile for the two angels: "Thank you for your help, envoys of the Almighty"
"Noah" Michael greeted him. "How did you manage to save yourself? When I last saw you, at the end of that bloody invasion of demons, this boat was just a fortress on dry land..."
"That's true" Noah confirmed. "But just as you left to go and take care of the rest of the planet and prepare for a new attack, the Almighty spoke to me. He warned me that a flood was coming such as had never been seen before, and that I must build a hull around my fortress to turn it into an ark, and I set to work right away and finished just in time. When the water came, God made sure that the ark was lifted gently and not swept away violently like everything else"
Adam's eyes widened. So... God had allowed at least a small portion of humanity to live? Had He saved Noah, the last descendant of Seth, and his family, the last good humans left after the demons had attacked Earth and wiped out everyone else? Had He warned Noah ahead of time, so that he could act quickly and build a hull around the fortress in which he had protected the remnants of good humanity and the other animal species from Cain's lineage, so that it would rise up and carry them to safety when the waters began to flood the entire Earth?
God... hadn't abandoned humanity completely?
There was still hope...?
Almost as if reading his mind, Michael asked to reinforce the point: "Is it true? Did God command you to do this?"
"Yes" Noah confirmed. "We have brought all the animals we were protecting to our sanctuary to safety. As per the Almighty's order, now we just have to wait for the waters to recede, and then we can rebuild the world"
Michael smiled, looking at Adam out of the corner of his eye: "This is... amazing news. I hope the new world will be better"
"I'm sure of it" Noah replied. "Did you see the rainbow? God created it as a promise that He will never bring such a cataclysm to Earth again. If there will be no need for such a catastrophe, then the new world will surely be better, right?"
Adam continued to remain silent, trying to process everything he was hearing. So... would have the world really risen again? And would havr the waters never again devastated the land? Would have there been trees, flowers, animals and... people again?
Life would have continued, even after such a disaster?
Humanity... would have continued?
"Hey"
Adam looked down, and he saw that Noah was now addressing him. "I've never seen you before, so I don't know who you are, but we owe our lives to you too. Without your help in holding the hull, we wouldn't have been able to keep the ark stable" he said with a smile, and then opened his arms as if to invite him to follow him: "The Almighty has clearly put you in our path. Would you be so kind as to stay and help us? When the sea has retreated and we have to rebuild the Earth's ecosystems, we could use a hand..."
Help...?
Him?
Of all people... God had put him there... to help humanity again?
That was what he was supposed to think?
No...
No.
He had had enough.
Now he wanted to know.
Without saying a word, he flapped his wings and flew up, ignoring Noah's request. He didn't know what he had thought when he saw him fly away and honestly, he didn't care anymore. He flew until he had passed the clouds and was above the Earth's atmosphere, and only there did he stop for a moment.
He looked below him. The entire planet was now blue, dotted only by a few white spots that were the clouds. It was like looking at a completely uniform ball. It almost gave a feeling of peace, as if that world was now perfectly homogeneous and imperturbable.
Michael appeared at his side again. "Adam, what do you want to do?" he asked, using the few air molecules present at that altitude to make the sound travel.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "I need to talk to Father" he simply answered, and he raised his right hand, opening a portal to Heaven.
He hadn’t seen the golden gate in over forty days, but he didn’t waste a single moment contemplating it. He flew across Heaven almost as if he were a missile, heedless of the angels who were watching him and trying to call out to him. They probably wanted to know where he had been and what he wanted, but he wasn’t going to waste time giving them answers. There was only one person he wanted to meet, and it wasn’t just any angel.
And finally, before him appeared an immense building of ethereal colors: the Palace, the place where the throne of God was located, the very center of the entire universe. Just by approaching it one could feel an immense power, as if the fundamental forces of the cosmos were all concentrated there and expressed their maximum potential. Even a black hole would have seemed something weak in comparison. Adam reached the main door and placed his hands on both doors, throwing it wide open.
The Great Hall was already full when he entered. The most important angels were there, surrounding the central throne. The most important seraphim, cherubim and thrones stood in front of it, while on the balconies along the walls were the dominations, each of them holding a globe in which was present the slice of the universe in which they had to maintain order, and the powers, on whose foreheads were placed the stars over which they watched and on whose wings was present the multicolored dust of the nebulae that had yet to give birth to new worlds. Above the central throne were the seven virtues, vigilant and attentive as always; at the foot of the throne was Metatron, the scribe of God, while on the arms sat four women who were the Daughters of the Mind of God; in the rest of the hall were the best of the principalities, the archangels and the common angels. And finally, on the central throne, the Almighty sat in all His Magnificence, and His gaze was fixed on the door, a sign that He already knew that Adam was about to enter.
When the first man entered, all the angels couldn't hold back a slight cry of dismay; no one had ever dared to enter God's throne room without permission, much less covered in blood like that. They were so shocked that they couldn't even think that maybe they should have told him to go away. Adam didn't pay attention to any of them and continued until he was at the foot of the throne, pushing Metatron away roughly to have all the attention on himself. "FATHER!"
God didn’t move, just stared at him. It wasn’t a stern or angry look, it was as if He wanted to let him speak without interference. And Adam couldn’t have asked for anything better. “Father, you know why I’m here!” he shouted, and then he waved his robe to show the blood staines. “Look at me! Look at the blood that covers me now! Now I too, like all my kind, am covered in filthy clothes! You know what I’ve done, You know what I’ve been responsible for! I know You saw me tear apart the demons of Hell, ignoring them as they begged for mercy! I know You saw me raze their cities and slaughter those who tried to escape! I know You saw me… take Mephisto… and take out all my rage on him… staining myself with his blood as I made him feel a fraction of the pain he’d unleashed on thousands of innocents!”
The angels were horrified, having never seen anyone speak like that in front of God, much less in His throne room. Even Michael, who had joined his friend in the meantime, remained in the doorway looking shocked. The only one who wasn't even raising an eyebrow was the Almighty Himself, who remained impassive as usual.
And that impassivity was only lighting up Adam's heart even more. "Now I too am tainted, like all my children!" he shouted at Him. "Your precious first man, the only one who didn't let himself be corrupted, finally gave in, surrendered to sin! I have done horrible things, and I could have avoided it if only I had acted promptly thousands of years ago! Is this what You are trying to tell me!? That I should have controlled my wife, killed my murderous son, done a little evil for the greater good!? So is it true that ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!?"
Adam's wings spread violently, so hard that it was a miracle that the bones didn't break on their own, generating a wind that ruffled the angels' hair. The first man didn't even know why he had done it, he just wanted to see a reaction from the Almighty. His face was contracting more and more in an expression of fury. "I have done terrible things, and then I saw my world die! And then, I discovered that You once again had chosen to save humanity, and You didn't completely destroy it! A fucking ark that carries the last good humans to safety so that they can repopulate Earth, very beautiful indeed, but this is not enough for me! It is not enough for me anymore! I am tired of seeing everything I care about crumble before my eyes! Now I want to know what You have in mind! You owe me! YOU OWE ME AN EXPLANATION!"
The angels put their hands over their mouths, shocked that someone would have dared look at God and demand that He explain His actions. It was the Almighty who should judge His children, not they who should judge the Almighty. To them, this was blasphemy. The only one who continued to show any emotion was God, who looked at the first man without even moving His head.
Adam couldn't help but grit his teeth. "I've waited too long, Father!" he roared. "I have endured for so long, hoping that one day You would have showed me the way to save my world and my kind! I have remained on Earth to prevent it from being destroyed by the evil my wife had unleashed! I have faced the most ferocious beasts that have ever existed, I have taken the blows of every one of their claws, horns, teeth, tails, paws! I have had to bathe my hands in their blood, they who were my friends! And yet I continued, I endured! I tried to follow the path of forgiveness again, and yet again I was wounded! I lost the last two friends I had left, I lost my wife, I lost my firstborn and my secondborn, and I cannot help but think that if only I had been truly more ruthless than I was then I could have prevented this! And yet I continued, I endured! For thousands of years I have watched the Earth be violated and humanity fall into depravity, all the while even in the afterlife those monsters who call themselves my offspring dared to stretch out their filthy hands on my children! Every time I looked at that planet, all I saw was a devastated world, and I saw children begging for salvation, women trying to escape from their tormentors, men suffering as every horrible instrument of torture was tested on them! I wanted to do something, I wanted to help them, but still I resisted, still I endured! I endured because I believed in You, because I was sure that there was a plan, a solution! But if there really is, now I want to know it! I want to know if there is even a faint hope! You have spared humanity once again, so You must at least have some idea! TELL ME!"
God remained silent. Adam clenched his fists, and then he threw a punch on the floor, generating a roar. The angels recoiled in fear; even though many of them could generate much more strength, they couldn't understand how someone could behave like that in front of the Almighty. "Why don't You talk to me!?" Adam shouted at him. "What do You want!? What motivates You to still protect humanity, to allow them to exist!? What is this hope!? Tell me! Tell me what You want! Do You need someone to do something for You!? Are You waiting for a human to prove something to You!? Fine, I WILL DO IT! Tell me what to do, show me the way, and I will give You whatever You want! Even if it costs me my life, my body, my soul, or even my existence, I will do what You want! Even if I have to fight against evil itself and destroy it one instance at a time, I will do Your will!"
God still didn't speak. Adam trembled with anger, but then he felt the energy leaving him; it was as if his soul had just been drained. He slipped on his knees and had to put his hands on the floor to support himself, and lowered his head. "Or... if there really is no hope... at least tell me" he murmured. "Don't make me live believing in nothing. Just tell me if there is a possibility or not. And if there isn't... do it now. Erase me right now. I don't have the energy to endure anymore, while wondering if I'm just chasing a ghost. Please"
After those words he no longer had the strength to say anything else. He remained still in that position, waiting for any response, and managed to gather enough energy only to raise his head and look in front of him. God was still watching him, silent, with the same neutral expression on His face.
And then, the entire universe seemed to tremble.
Before the eyes of all the angels, the Father finally rose from His throne, but He was different: it was as if His Nature had just changed, yet remained the same. A new force was permeating the cosmos, something that had never existed before, and yet it was as if it had always been there. A force different from that of the Father, but still part of Him.
Adam found himself squinting in front of that immense power, barely managing to not fall to the floor in front of that overwhelming power, but at the same time he felt supported, as if the Being in front of him did not want to make him fall. Yes... not God, it was a different Being... no longer a Father, but perhaps... a Son? It was God, but at the same time it was not; and Adam could feel a strange familiarity in it, as if it too were a man as much as he was.
The Being looked him straight in the eyes. And then, in a voice that was not God's, but sounded more like God was speaking through a filter that made Him more mortal, the Being said: "Take off his filthy clothes"
Adam did not understand, and instinctively looked down at his hands, finding them clean. His entire robe no longer had a single stain, and in fact, it had become even more beautiful than before, golden and white in color, as if it reflected an even greater grandeur than before. "What... what does this mean?" he asked in disbilief.
The Being looked at him even more intensely, and answered: "I have taken away your sin, and I put fine garments on you"
"But it can't be so!" Adam protested. "I've done nothing to deserve to be cleansed! Why me? Why not destroying me instead?"
But the Being ignored his accusations, and instead His voice became even more intense, causing him to tremble in the depths of his heart; and all the angels and heavenly creatures heard His words, which seemed to have the power to penetrate the fabric of reality itself. "You are man, symbol of what is about to come"
Adam still didn't understand. "What does it mean? What is about to come?" he asked again.
"What was promised to man at the beginning of time" the Being answered, and its voice was heard even outside the borders of Heaven, and all the stars and planets trembled at its sound.
Adam gritted his teeth. The Being was so overwhelming that he felt as if he were looking at a sun. "I don't think I understand" he admitted.
And suddenly, he could see something in the light: the Being had taken on a more definite shape, a shape he was familiar with. The shape of a two-legged creature, with a face and hands. The shape of a man, but something much more than a man. “This is my promise” the Being said, and this time the entire universe heard that voice, even in the barren land of Sheol, even in the dark depths of Hell, everyone felt their souls resonate with those words. "I will remove all the sins of mankind in one day"
And having said this, the Being disappeared. Neither the Father nor the Son were on the throne anymore, and no one knew where they had gone. The room returned as before, filled only with angels, speechless and shocked by what they had heard.
Adam was speechless, staring at the now empty throne with wide eyes. What did it mean? What had He wanted to tell him? Who was that Being?
To erase all the sins of humanity in one day... was it really possible?
How...?
Two familiar hands grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up. Adam realized that Michael had come to him, the only angel in the entire room who seemed to have recovered enough to help him. The others continued to stare at him in shock, not understanding what had just happened. "Friend... now you have hope" Michael said encouragingly. "You know that Father will keep His promise"
Adam nodded. "I know" he said softly. "Take me home. Please"
Michael nodded; he didn't need to ask why he didn't just fly, he was smart enough to know that he didn't even have the strength to walk after the intense parade of emotions he had been exposed to. He hoisted him onto his shoulder and carried him away, ignoring the other angels in the room, who didn't even try to say anything to him anyway.
Almost as if she wanted to leave that silence undisturbed, Charlie remained silent too. In fact, she hadn't said a word since she had seen Adam hurl himself against Hell. She hadn't even uttered a sound. The pallor of her face had become so white that she looked like a sheet, and even her red and lively cheeks had faded. It was as if her blood was no longer able to reach her face.
Finally it was Adam who broke the silence, and from his look it was clear that he knew she wouldn't do it anyway: "I scare you, don't I?"
Charlie almost jumped at that question. Her heart was beating wildly. "Yes" she finally admitted in a thin voice.
What she had seen had disturbed her deeply. Adam had scared her before, when he was perpetuating the Extermination, but she had never truly been afraid for herself, not even when he was strangling her; in her heart she knew that he couldn't kill her without violating the treaty, so it was more for her friends that she had been afraid. Even after he had ended up in Hell, she hadn't been afraid of him so much as what his next move would have been.
But now, she was seriously afraid of him. Now that she had seen with her own eyes how far Adam could really go, she felt like a little bunny sitting next to a wolf. No matter how calm the wolf was, she felt in danger.
She had seen Adam in many ways: nice, understanding, angry, annoyed, sometimes even childish, but she had never imagined she would have seen such ferocity in him. Now she understood perfectly why even her mother had trembled at the memory of what he had done when he first came to Hell. That had not been a military action, it had been something... inhuman. Abominable. A rancor too long repressed that had taken shape in an unheard of violence.
It was like when Adam had gone berserk at Lucifer after he found out he had slept with Eve: the same uncontrollable fury, the same bloodshot eyes, the same expression that would have terrified anyone... except this time it had been a thousand times worse, and Adam's opponent had not been an indestructible seraphim but demons that broke at the contact of his fists, and so there had been nothing capable of stopping the first man from reducing everything to a bloodbath.
And what he had done to Mephisto... Charlie didn't even have the courage to think about it again.
Adam just grunted. "You don't have to be afraid of offending me" he said. "I know I scare you. I know I scare everyone who really knows me"
Charlie bit her lip. She was scared, really scared, and her survival instinct told her to get away from the first man right away. After all, who would have blamed her if she ran away? She could end this journey down memory lane right there and walk away right now. She could just seal that man's cell once and for all, throw away the key, and never see him again.
But while her mind told her to do so, her heart had other plans. Charlie had heard the expression 'this hurts my heart' a few times, but she had always interpreted it as something psychological, not a real physical symptom; but now, after watching an entire world being washed away by the fury of the waters while Adam watched helplessly, she felt as if something had actually broken inside her, and was bleeding. She felt really conflicted in feeling so much fear and yet so much compassion for the same man, but that was exactly how she felt.
In the end, with an extreme effort of will, she said: "Let's continue"
Adam looked at her a little surprised. "You sure you don't need a break?"
Charlie shook her head. She couldn't hide the tremor of her lips, but her eyes were shining with determination. "I want to get to the end of this" she told him. "I'll take a break when we're done. And any judgments... I'll make them after I've actually seen the whole thing"
Adam looked at her intently, and then, though he didn't smile, he still made a proud sound. "You really have a strong heart" he told her.
Charlie clenched her fists tighter. "Let's continue" she repeated, even more determined than before.
Adam nodded. "Okay" he said, and the world around them twisted and reshaped again.
Notes:
The scene of Adam seeing Jesus in his "divine form" is actually present in the Bible, even if he is not the protagonist and things are a bit different. It is a vision of the prophet Zechariah, in which he essentially sees a celestial court presided over by God and with Satan as the accuser (because remember, in the Old Testament Satan still has the title of Accuser, which he will then lose after the resurrection of Christ since he will no longer have evidences that humans don't deserve God's love). Here a man named Jeoshua, a high priest considered the holiest among men, was brought before God, and presented himself to Him covered in filthy rags (which remember are the representation of sin). Satan took advantage of this to accuse him, since even the holiest human was stained by sin, and invited God to make a decision and definitively erase humanity as His Justice imposed (and therefore, indirectly, admit that Satan was right and give him, not humans, all the blessings promised to them at the beginning of time). At which point Jesus (still unnamed since he has not yet been born) appears in the form of a mystical being connected to the Father, and orders that Jeoshua's filthy rags be replaced by clean clothes, thus demonstrating his power and announcing that he will remove all the sins of humanity in a single day, to the horror of Satan (who will in fact then do everything to defeat Jesus, without understanding that his continuous acting against him will only result in the fullfilling of God's plan).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 45): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162218
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 99: Annunciation
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Thousands of years had passed since that promise that God had made to him. Adam had waited patiently for it to be realized; he had no doubts in the word of the Almighty and was willing to wait even millions and millions of years to see it become concrete. He had spent all that time leading the heavenly host, continuing his work as protector of Sheol, Earth, and Heaven.
After what had happened that day millennia before, Adam had completely lost any trace of empathy towards demons. He could no longer see them as something human, as something of his. They weren't his descendants, they were just monsters. And he had treated them as such. No more defense: he had moved on to containment. If the demons couldn't keep their fiery spirits at bay, then he would get them out of the way before they could do any harm. Just as he had done on Earth, when he killed large predatory dinosaurs to prevent them from approaching his children, or chased away enormous herbivores so that they would not have come to eat on his fields. He had now understood that prevention was better than cure. Killing had now become extremely easy for him: he no longer felt anything when he did it.
When he thought about his past self, he almost didn't recognize himself anymore. By now he had become much more insensitive and cold, although he had tried to at least maintain his pleasant character. His soldiers had abandoned him: the Exorcists had been terrified of him, and they didn't want to fight with him anymore. Even Ezekiel had asked him to never speak to her again. She didn't hate him, but she didn't want to see him anymore. Adam had passively accepted her will, knowing he couldn't expect her or the other soldiers to feel comfortable in his presence again after what had happened.
But strangely, it didn't matter much to him. He had expected that losing his soldiers or even the one who had now become a dear friend would have made him sad, and yet... he felt sadness, yes, but it was as if it were muffled. Actually, he found out that he cared less and less about people the more time passed: he only managed to maintain lasting relationships with some of them, those with whom he had the highest affection, like Michael or Sera. But otherwise, what mattered in his eyes was his ability to continue to protect what he cared about. He needed soldiers, and the angels had provided him with new ones thanks to the feathers of the old Exorcists; therefore he had no reason to complain. With some of his new warriors he had developed a little affection, but with all the others their relationship remained that of a mentor and a student.
The angels had been worried about him for a long time, but in the end many of them had simply accepted the situation. Many had severed relationships with him: even if they accepted his way of doing things, they still felt uncomfortable in his presence knowing what he was capable of doing and what he did every year. Even if they didn't admit it, they were scared of him after seeing the state he had reduced Hell to and watching him enter God's throne room covered in blood. Even Sera had become more stern in their conversations, almost as if she hoped to be able to keep him at bay and prevent him from unleashing something worse than the Extermination. Only Michael had not changed his attitude towards him, and continued to treat him as he always had.
All this mattered almost nothing to Adam. It was as if his heart had closed; apart from his best friend, almost no one could warm him up a little. All he cared about was that his strategy worked, since the demons had not dared attack either Sheol or Earth for millennia. Those worlds were protected, waiting like him for God's promise to be fulfilled.
And finally the day came.
Adam had been informed immediately, and right away he had run to the golden gates. He knew what was coming, as over all those thousands of years the Almighty had gradually revealed it and prepared the ground for His coming. God apparently planned to incarnate in mortal form and walk among humans as a man, to take all sins with Him and destroy them with the ultimate sacrifice, Himself. And that was the day that incarnation would have taken place.
At the gate were Michael and Gabriel. The messenger angel was over the moon for the happiness: "Can you realize? I will have to bring the news! Oh, I am so excited! This is the most important task since the beginning of Creation and it is entrusted to me! Oh, what a joy...!"
Adam ignored him completely. "So... it's about to happen" he murmured.
Michael nodded. "Yes, my friend. It's about to happen" he confirmed.
Adam stared at the Earth, and looked at the woman who was destined to carry God made man in her womb. He had been watching her for a long time since her fate had been decided so long ago; he knew her so well that someone might have mistaken him for a member of her family... well, technically he was, but... nevermind. Adam liked that woman, he found her sweet and strong at the same time: he wasn't surprised that she was the chosen one. She was a beautiful young girl, barely in the age of marriage, the only human since the Fall to be born without sin, and as such hers was the perfect womb to house the Almighty in human form.
Mary, that was her name.
“Did they really choose you to carry the message?” Adam asked Gabriel.
"Exactly! It will be called Annunciation" Gabriel replied with a broad smile. “I am so proud to have been given such an important mission!”
"Sure, sure. Try to at least be a little tactful with her" Adam warned him.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying? I just have to announce the privilege that is about to be conferred on her..."
“It's not a privilege, it's an important task” Adam told him. "She'll be scared. At least try to comfort her a little"
Gabriel realized that Adam wasn't entirely wrong. Maybe he had let himself get carried away a little too much by emotion and hadn't taken that detail into account. "Uh... comforting isn't really my thing" he admitted. "But I'm sure that, after a moment of confusion, she will be happy about it...!"
Adam let out a grunt. "Okay, fuck it all. Can I go first?"
Gabriel looked at him confused: "What?"
"I'll go first. I'll explain the situation to her, and then you come and do your Annunciation" Adam told him. "I won't even tell her that I'm an angel. The most important mission will still be yours, just give me time to prepare her"
Gabriel scratched his head. "Um... I don't know... I'm not against it, but... it wasn't decided like that..."
"Go" Michael said simply.
Gabriel turned to him: "Are you sure?"
Michael nodded. "Father only ordered you to bring the Annunciation. He didn't say anything about sending someone first to give that woman a heads up" he told him, and then he looked at Adam: "Go now. You have until midnight"
Adam nodded slightly and opened his wings, thanking Michael with his gaze. Unlike everyone else, his friend knew that although the first man continued to display indifference, this did not mean that he no longer cared about the others. He had closed and hardened his heart, but he too could still feel strong compassion, especially towards the weak. And Michael knew that Adam had been watching Mary ever since he knew she was the one destined; even though they had never spoken to each other, the first man had been like a guardian angel to her. And because of that, Adam understood her much better than Gabriel could.
Adam descended to Earth until he reached Nazareth. Night was already falling in that part of the world, and the first stars were starting to appear in the sky. He landed in front of a modest house, and entered without any difficulty as the windows were quite large. He hid his wings under a cloak and started looking for the lady of the house, and found her lying on a pallet while dozing. "Mary"
The woman woke up with a start and immediately sat up, clearly frightened by the intruder. "Don't worry" Adam told her. "I'm not a thief, and I don't want to hurt you. Forgive me if I entered your house without permission, but I wanted to talk to you"
Any other person would certainly not have been satisfied with such a simple explanation and would have remained on guard, but Mary immediately relaxed. "You... you're not like the others" she murmured. "Who are you?"
Adam smiled at her. Being born without sin, Mary could perceive divinity much better than ordinary humans. "I'm just a man" he answered her. "Even if I now work for the higher ups"
Mary touched his robe. She was clearly intimidated by his presence, but her eyes seemed to be looking at something beyond him. "You... have the heart of a warrior" she whispered, placing a hand on his chest, as if she was feeling something. "A warrior who has seen and fought unspeakable things, now tired and who sees nothing but the sword and blood in his destiny... but who still has a faint hope in the depth of his soul"
Adam nodded. “You really read people well” he told her. "Yes, I still have hope inside me, and that hope is you. You carry within you the hope of all humanity"
Mary stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Adam sat down next to her. "Mary... soon an angel will come here to tell you that God has chosen to give you a gift. A child"
Mary's eyes widened. "A child? So... Joseph...?"
"No, it won't be Joseph's" Adam explained to her. "This child... will be placed in your womb without the need of any father. God will place it inside you. It will be... the child of God, so to speak"
Mary's breath caught. "What...? I... will carry... God's child...?"
"Yes" Adam confirmed to her. "This child... will walk the Earth as a man, and will cleanse it of all the sins that plague it. Through this person, humanity will be saved and will finally receive the bliss and blessings that were promised at the beginning of the Creation"
Mary trembled slightly. The color in her face was mostly gone. "Why me...?"
Adam put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Let me tell you a story” he told her.
Four hundred years after the Great Flood, in the land the Greeks and Romans called Idumea, lived a man named Job. There was no man more pure and upright than him; he refused any kind of evil and, even if still stained by sin, he didn't let it take control over him, remaining blameless. God had rewarded this profound purity with great gifts: Job was in fact rich beyond measure, and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had many servants who loved him. But his true wealth was his seven children and, above all, his three beloved daughters, who he never let go of anything and who he taught to reject evil and to love God from the bottom of their hearts. His seven sons organized banquets on each of their birthdays, also inviting their three sisters; but while the boys often tended to let themselves go during such events, the three girls remained faithful to their father's teachings even in the midst of entertainment, trying to sin as little as possible. And even so, after each feast, Job brought numerous offerings to the Lord and prayed for them, fearing that in some way they might have offended God in their soul.
But one day, God in Heaven announced that He wanted to test Job. No one understood why, since that man had shown only goodness, far more than humanity had ever shown since the Fall; but still, they did not raise any objections, confident that the Almighty had as usual a plan in His mind... and so indeed it was, even if none of them were yet able to comprehend it. Because unbeknownst to him, Job was destined to lay the foundation for something that would have forever changed the destiny of humanity, finally freeing it from original sin.
So God removed His protecting hand from Job, allowing evil to befall him; and so Job lost all his sheep, and all his camels, and all his oxen, and all his donkeys, and his servants, and his wealth; and even worse, his seven sons and his three precious daughters were killed by a violent tornado. But despite his despair, Job did not curse the name of God; an action that very few other men in his same condition had been able not to do over the centuries. Job, on the other hand, did not hesitate even for an instant, and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised"
And so Job achieved his first victory against sin.
Then the evil attacked with greater force and affected Job's health; not enough to take his life, as God had ordained that this should not happen, but it covered him with painful sores from the base of his feet to the top of his head. His wife, who unlike him had let sin dominate his heart after losing everything, scoffed him: "Are you still mantaining your integrity? Curse God and die!"
But on the contrary Job, like very very few men in his position, replied: "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"
And so Job achieved his second victory against sin.
It then happened that three great friends of Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Suchite and Zophar the Naamathite, came to him to comfort him in his suffering; and so they did, but at the same time they tried to understand why so much pain had befallen him. The conclusion they reached was very simple: Job was being punished because he had sinned. And although they had no way of verifying it, in their arrogance they staunchly defended such position: "Remember: what innocent man ever perished? Where were righteous men ever destroyed? Could God pervert judgment? Could the Almighty pervert justice? Do you know that in every age, since man was placed on earth, the triumph of the wicked is short and the joy of the wicked lasts but an instant?”
But Job did not let himself be dominated by arrogance, and did not make the mistake of thinking he could understand the divine plan; on the contrary, he remained firm in his innocence, and said: "Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him; I will surely defend my ways to His face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no Godless person would dare come before Him. I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end and that in the end He will stand on the Earth; and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes"
Job had then stated that even in death he would not have losen faith in the doings of God, and that he knew that he would have been saved and would have been with Him in death; he almost seemed to challenge Him to do it, even though he didn't really do so in his heart. And then the Almighty appeared directly to him, and in a loud voice He spoke to Job: "Who is this that obscures My plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation? Tell Me if you understand: who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set? Or who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion's Belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the cosmos ? Can you set up My dominion over the Earth? Can you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out and wonder about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the embryo bears its form? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended, their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they live and do not return. Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night? Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it do this till the valley is behind you? Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it? Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor? Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting? It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray; it laughs at fear afraid of nothing, it does not shy away from the sword; the quiver rattles against its side along with a flashing spear and lance. In frienzed excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings towards the South? Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold. From there it looks for food, its eyes detect from afar; its young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there it is. Look at the elephant, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox; what strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a whip; its thighs are close-knit; its bones are tubes of bronze; its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among My works, yet its Maker can approach it with His sword. The hills bring it their produce and all the wild animals play nearby; a raging river does not alarm it, it is secure. Can you put the whale with a fish hook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on it, you would remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering, no one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against Me? Who has a claim against Me that I must pay? Doesn't everything in existence belongs to Me?"
God continued, questioning Job about the mysteries of Creation and the natural world; and Job, hearing those words, did not feel his heart kindle with anger towards the Almighty, nor did he feel jealous of His wisdom. His good heart won once again, and it was its greatest victory; because in a manifestation of exceptional humility that no other man after the Fall has ever showed, there, even after all the evil he had suffered, before the Almighty he bowed his head with respect and admiration and did not dare to utter a word against God, but on the contrary said: "I am unworthy, how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth; I spoke once, but I have no answer twice. But I will say no more. Now my eyes have seen You; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes"
And so for the third time Job prevailed over sin.
And in fact at those words, God smiled, and all of Heaven exploded in shouts of joy; because Job had just done what no other human before him had managed to do. Job, who like all men and women was stained by sin, had nevertheless remained faithful and pure; despite the evil that had been unleashed upon him, he had not wavered in the end. Even when he had every reason to be angry with God, he had not spoken out against Him.
With that single action, Job rekindled hope for humanity. Job had demonstrated that, even if stained by sin, humans were worthy of God's Love, since they could love Him as much as they would have loved Him without their sin; if previously only God's Mercy had protected humanity, now His Justice had also been satisfied. The universe rejoiced, because Job, that little man, had just defeated sin itself; even though he was still tainted by it, he had still achieved humanity's first real victory since the Fall, demonstrating to all of Creation that God was right to still love human beings despite all the evil for which they were responsible.
God ordained that Job should receive double what he had lost; He cast out the evil from him and gave him back double his livestock, and his children came to life again. Job was able to hug all seven of his sons again, and especially his precious three daughters. He lived many more years and died surrounded by his beloved family.
And it was his beloved daughters, whom he made co-heirs of his estate together with their seven brothers, who brought with them the purity of his action. Their names were Jemimah, Cassia, and Keren-Happuk; Job passed on the same nobility of spirit to them, and they passed it on to their children. Of these three families, that of Jemimah and Keren-Happuk forgot this arduous burden, and let sin to take over on them again; but that of Cassia, whose name was the same as the laurel plant with which emperors and leaders encircled their heads with prestige, did not do so, and they continued to commit themselves to maintaining the same purity in their hearts without ever allowing themselves to be corrupted by sin that dwelt in them, even if they had now forgotten the name of their ancestor who had first conquered it. Generation after generation, their hearts became purer and purer; until the last descendant of that lineage, Anna, had so much purity in her heart that she generated a daughter who was born without original sin in her, something that had never happened since the dawn of Creation.
Mary hadn't said a word throughout Adam's story; she had been staring at him the whole time with her eyes wide open, and had opened them even more as soon as she heard the last words. A soft murmur finally emerged from her mouth: "Anna... is my mother's name"
Adam nodded. "Yes, Mary. You are the last descendant of Job, the man who defeated sin. You are the first human since the Fall born without sin in her"
Mary clutched her robe. "How do I know you didn't make it all up? What proof do you have for what you're saying?"
"I don't have any" Adam answered. "But what does your heart tell you? Am I lying?"
Mary was silent for a long moment, and then she shook her head: "No... I don't know why, but I know you are sincere"
Adam smiled at her. "Now you know why it is in you that the Almighty will incarnate and be born as a man" he told her in an encouraging voice. "You are without sin, and as such you can carry this child in your womb. An angel will soon be here, to announce you this"
Mary did not return his smile. Instead, she turned her gaze and stared at the floor. "So... my very existence... my whole life... was a plan that began who knows how many centuries ago with Job?" she said in a strangled voice. “Was I born... just to be a means to an end?”
The smile disappeared from Adam's face. "Well... I wouldn't put it that way" he tried to say. "You were born to receive the greatest of honors. Through you the one who will finally erase the original sin from humanity will be born. Thanks to you the gates of Heaven will no longer be closed for mankind"
Mary was not cheered up at all. She crouched further against the wall and hugged her legs, resting her head on her knees. Even though it was summer, she seemed to be very cold.
Adam was silent, and then he sighed. "Sorry" he told her, and she looked at him in surprise. "I know, it's... really a lot to take in. I wanted to lighten up a bit, but... apparently I really suck at talking to people, or consoling them. Maybe I really wasn't the right person to talk to you about this"
Mary said nothing, but she moved slightly closer to him. She seemed to be desperately seeking contact with someone. When she rested her head on his side, Adam realized that she was truly small compared to him: antediluvian humans were indeed built differently than modern ones. More than a grown woman, it felt like he was having one of his daughters when they were barely teenagers by his side.
His fatherly instinct told him what to do, and he stroked her head and pulled her close to warm her. Mary clearly appreciated the gesture, finally feeling a little comforted. "I'm scared" she whispered with a sob. “Is this a sin?”
Adam shook his head. “Being afraid isn't a sin, it's just human nature” he told her. "I know what it means to have a great responsibility on your shoulders and not be sure you are up to it. But it is precisely in the courage to face that fear that humans show the most beautiful parts of themselves"
Mary inspired deeply. "How will I do it?" she asked. "I... I have never been a mother. I don't know how to be a mother. How can I raise the child of God? What education should I give them? What teachings could I ever pass on to them?"
"Trust me, what you feel is what every parent feels" Adam reassured her. “You will learn with time, just like I did”
"What if I'll make a mistake?" Mary asked him with a lot of fear in her voice.
"If you'll make a mistake, you will learn to fix your mistake" Adam answered her in a confident voice. "No one expects a mother or father to be perfect. You don't have to be perfect, Mary, you just have to be... yourself. Because trust me, I can't imagine a more suitable person than you to be the mother of the child of God, and I have really met a lot of people in my life. You just have to have faith in yourself and your abilities, and continue to show purity of heart as you have done until today"
Mary inspired deeply. "Joseph...?"
"Joseph loves you deeply, Mary, much more than you know. Don't underestimate what love can make a man do. Even if this is not his child, he will not abandon you and will be a wonderful father. He will be with you" Adam told her encouragingly. "God will also be with you every step of the way. You are not alone, Mary, never forget that"
Mary didn't say a word for a long moment, and then she raised her head slightly and looked into his eyes: "Will you... be with me?"
Adam was taken aback by that question. He didn't know what to answer, but in the end, almost without realizing it, he said: "Yes. I'll be with you, you have my word"
Mary seemed extremely relieved by those words. She leaned on his chest and grabbed his robe tightly. “Can you… hug me?” she barely whispered, clearly afraid of sounding strange.
Adam wrapped his arms around her body, feeling how much she was shaking. "Of course" he told her. "Take your time. I'm here with you"
Mary and Adam remained in that position for a long time, while the sky grew darker and darker and the moon and stars claimed their dominion over the world. Gradually, the woman calmed down and regained some confidence; Adam would have stayed with her longer, but he knew that the Annunciation had to happen, so after a few last words of encouragement he said goodbye and left. As soon as he went out the house he could see the light emerging from the windows, a sign that Gabriele must have already entered.
He hurried back to Heaven, not sparing fleeting glances at the house below him. In front of the golden gate he found Michael, still standing in the position in which he had left him. “Have you been waiting here for me the whole time?”
"I wanted to know how it went" his friend replied.
Adam turned, looking at Earth and especially Mary's house from above Heaven. "She'll be fine" he barely said. "She has a strong soul"
"I'm sure of it" Michael told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "She was chosen precisely because of her purity..."
"Purity has nothing to do with this, my friend" Adam murmured. “She's pure, but she's still just a woman. A scared young woman who suddenly has such a huge responsibility on her shoulders that no one prepared her for. She needs someone to show her support”
Michael sighed, and then he put a hand on his friend's shoulder: "Well... that's what fathers are for, right? To support their children"
Adam smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so" he said with a little emotion in his voice. Damn, he had really forgotten what it felt like to take care of someone in need. "No more chit chat. What's the next move?"
Michael shrugged, "If I remember correctly, one of the dominations is going to make a star in the sky shine brighter than usual to guide three guys to the place where the baby is going to be born"
Adam raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean they're going to make a star shine brighter than usual?"
"According of what Jophiel told me... they're going to use a supernova" Michael answered.
Adam grunted. "Was there any point in doing things that big? Couldn't they just, I don't know, take an asteroid and have it fly across the sky indicating the direction? After all modern humans still haven't figured out that all the lights in the sky aren't the same, they call planets 'dancing stars' and meteors 'shooting stars'!"
"I also think a comet would have been enough" Michael told him. "But as soon as the dominations got the job, they wanted to do things in a big way. Be understandable, they got a little excited"
Adam rolled his eyes. "Well, the important thing is the result. Who are these three guys?"
"Wise astrologers" Michael answered. "Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, these are their names. They will be the first to recognize the birth of the Messiah and will bring him three gifts. If I remember correctly, they will be gold, incense, and myrrh"
"Beer? For a child?" Adam muttered in confusion.
"Myrrh" Michael corrected him. "From what I understand, it is precious to humans"
Adam inspired deeply. "It still seems like a shitty gift for a child... and I think Joseph would have preferred beer" he said. "Well, at least with the gold they won't have to worry about money for a while. He may be the son of God, but raising a child is still expensive. Mary will be happy for the help"
Michael didn't hide his smirk. "You're really fatherly to her, you know?"
"Shut up! I'm just making sure everything's okay" Adam grumbled angrily, earning only a laugh from his friend.
Charlie had mixed emotions as she watched. Part of her wanted to smile, but another part of her wondered how a man capable of doing the unspeakable things she had seen him do could still care so much about a young woman. It was as if Adam had changed after that event, becoming colder and more ruthless and refusing to show mercy to demons anymore, but he still had a last piece of humanity in his soul, which he was now letting out. "You were kind to Mary" she said. "With her... I thought I saw... well..."
Adam sighed. "The man I was before I razed Hell?"
Charlie bit her lip. "No... not that" she said. "I meant... that I thought I saw you again like when I saw you talking to your children. You acted towards her just like you acted towards Aclima, or Seth, or... everyone else. You really seemed... like a father"
Adam crossed his arms. "Well, I guess that to me being a father comes naturally then" he told her, and then he became more serious: "When I found out that Mary was the one who would have given birth to the Messiah, I kept an eye on her since she was a child. I watched over her, ready to intervene as soon as something bad was about to happen to her. Of course, I did it because I wanted to make sure that the Messiah was born without complications... but I suppose that as I watched her grow I couldn't help but grow a little fond of her. I didn't want to leave her to face the shock of such a revelation alone"
This time there was nothing able to stop Charlie's smile. "That was... a nice gesture"
"I guess so" Adam replied simply.
Fuck, it was really hard to get him to actually express his emotions, Charlie found herself thinking. "So... after this day the Messiah was conceived"
"That's right" Adam said. "Conceived, born, and lived to bring God's word to the Earth"
"I guess you observed what happened to him too" Charlie said, even though she already knew the answer.
Adam nodded. "Always" he replied, and the world around them twisted and reshaped again.
Notes:
Let's get one thing straight: I took a little liberty here, because in the Bible there is no actual relationship between Job and Mary, and no real explanation is given as to why Mary was born without sin (it simply says that God wanted it). However, Job's story is central to the coming of the Messiah, since it represents humanity's first real victory over Satan (who is basically the personification of evil itself in the Bible, and therefore of sin). Therefore, I took this liberty to connect the two without having to explain a million metaphysical concepts, simply by saying that Mary is the last descendant of Job. And yes, Mary's mother's name is Anna.
And before anyone in the comments complains, no, Mary did not get pregnant at 12. The marriageable age for a woman, throughout the entire Roman world (and therefore also Galilee), was 14; still low, but already more "normal". Furthermore, even if a marriage began at that age, the two spouses still had to go through a period of engagement (in fact, when Mary got pregnant she was not married, but engaged to Joseph), which could even take up a whole year. Theological sources therefore agree in saying that Mary received the Annunciation when she was at least halfway through her 14, and that therefore she gave birth at 15. Of course, the age is still a bit low, but keep in mind that those were different times, and at that time it was unthinkable for a woman at that age to be unmarried and without a child. For boys, instead, the minimum age to marry was 18, but unlike women, the engagement period could begin even earlier, so they got married as soon as they reached that age; therefore, the age gap between the two spouses was not that big, especially because a boy, according to Jewish law, could not get married after the age of 20 unless he was widowed, so the maximum gap that could exist was little more than five years in the worst cases (usually, no more than three). Things were different when someone got married after mourning, repudiation or divorce (yes, there were divorces!), but at least for the first marriage, this was the way it tended to be done.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 46): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162263
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 100: Sacrifice
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The entire universe watched anxiously as the baby grew in Mary’s womb. It wasn’t just Adam; the entirety of Heaven, Sheol, and even Hell watched expectantly. For the angels in Heaven, if humanity was truly freed from original sin, they could finally care for them as brothers and friends as had been intended from the beginning of time, and not just as distant protectors. For the human souls in Sheol, this was the long-awaited opportunity, the hope of finally being forgiven for their sins and welcomed back into the arms of the Almighty. Even the demons in Hell were interested, wondering if what had been promised was true or even possible. Even Lilith and Lucifer, side by side in their palace, were watching anxiously, waiting for humanity to finally be freed from their mistake.
Adam was of course at the forefront of the proceedings. He knew this was the last chance. That was the last piece on the chessboard, the King of Kings. God Himself had made Himself a mortal, the Limitless had placed limits upon Himself, to live life as an ordinary man. The man who would have forever changed the fate of all mankind.
At his very conception, the child had already had to face the first obstacle: it was as if sin itself had sensed his arrival and had been shaken by it, and it had panicked. Almost as if sin itself had understood that its dominion over the world was being challenged and that it was a battle it seriously risked losing. Immediately, King Herod ordered the death of the child, and to be sure, that of all the other newborns as well; but in doing so, all he achieved was to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy, confirming the identity of the child as the Messiah. Even in that act of terrible cruelty, the king had played into God's hand. Simply by coming into the world, the child had already defeated sin's first attempt to stop him.
In what would later have been known as the year 0, the baby was finally born, in a humble and modest stable in Bethlehem. His very birth seemed to shake the very foundations of the universe, and there were many shepherds who came to see the miracle. Mary placed him in a manger as his cradle, and Joseph named him Jesus, as the archangel Gabriel had announced.
When the child was born, the angels themselves could not contain their joy, and for a short time they came down from Heaven and gathered around the stable to greet the newborn Messiah. They all looked with joy at the Son who had come down to Earth and become man. The shepherds were amazed at the presence of the angels, and they understood that this was indeed the King of Kings; and when fifteen days later the three wise astrologers Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar arrived with their gifts, it was those same shepherds who accompanied them to Mary and Joseph so that they could offer their gifts, thus fulfilling another prophecy and further confirming the identity of the Messiah.
Adam had looked upon the Son in the manger; for him as for all the other angels, that was an encounter with the Almighty Father, and they could feel His Essence coming through the child. There was nothing about him that made him stand out, no particular beauty or grandiose majesty; and yet, this ordinary baby sleeping in his makeshift crib was God's ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind. The perfect union of Job's heritage on his mother's side and the glorious and godly King David on his father's side. Upon that single child now lay the fate of all humanity.
Finally he forced himself to look away from the baby, knowing he couldn't interfere much. But before he left he glanced briefly at Mary: "Good job"
The woman, even though she was still tired from the birth, still smiled at him: "Thanks for all the support"
Adam nodded at her, and then patted Joseph on the shoulder: "Take good care of both of them, strong man" he said jokingly, and then he flew off to return to Heaven.
It was all in Jesus' hands now.
Time passed slowly and at the same time too quickly: the entire universe kept their eyes on the Messiah, and before they knew it, he had already grown enough to be considered an adult. Jesus, a humble carpenter from Galilee, was ready to begin his mission to save humanity and redeem them in the eyes of God, but for this to happen he had to first be definitively reunited with the Father. This reunion occurred when he was baptized in the wilderness by a prophet named John: in front of a crowd of incredulous people, as he emerged from the waters of the river, the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven, and God Himself declared in front of all who were listening that this was in fact His Son. With God having publicly declared His arrival on Earth as a man, the Messiah officially began his pilgrimage.
Jesus walked high and forth, undoing all the effects caused by original sin: all the evils that had long seemed impossible to fight bent and then broke before him. He was able to give food to all the hungry and turn water into wine for the thirsty, without excluding anyone, challenging and defeating famine. He was able to curb the anger even of men who believed they were right, saving the lives of poor women accused of adultery and guaranteeing his forgiveness, demonstrating with just a few words the uselessness of such executions, challenging and defeating violence and false justice. He could heal the sick and lepers, challenging and defeating disease and wounds. He could even bring the dead back to life, thus winning over the most terrible consequence of original sin, death itself.
It was as if Jesus had declared war on sin itself, and no matter what evil he faced, he was always the one to win.
The goal was simple and at the same time the most difficult challenge of all, a challenge that every mortal man had failed: achieve true perfection. After living the perfect life, a life performed exclusively following the word of God and never sinning even once, the Messiah would have been bound to the altar, a cross, as the perfect lamb. A sinless sacrifice that would have taken with him all the sins of mankind, only to finally erase them with his resurrection. The sacrifice that would have ended all sacrifices.
If Jesus had truly been able to face all the sins of the world, take them upon himself, and never be corrupted by them, then humanity would have been saved. God, who until that moment had allowed humanity to continue to exist only based on His Mercy, would finally have had His Justice satisfied as well. If Jesus had truly been able to do this, mankind would have been permanently redeemed and freed from all negative accusations, since there would no longer have been any evidence that humans were unworthy of salvation and of receiving the blessings that God had promised them at the beginning of time.
However, for this to happen, Jesus had to truly win every single battle against sin. If he gave in even once, and followed a path other than God's, the Father and the Son would have been separated, invalidating the sacrifice forever; and if this happened, humanity's last hope would have been gone, as it would have been proven that not even God in human form could resist the temptation, and therefore no human was worthy, and the only solution was to destroy them forever. In that case, God's Mercy would no longer have been enough to protect humanity, and the Almighty would have formally declared its obliteration.
It was a battle that would have decided the fate of all mankind. One false step, and it would have been all over. Sin had a lot of pieces on its side; God had only one. The future of humanity rested solely on Jesus' shoulders.
But Jesus was ready for this, and he went into the wilderness to face sin face to face. Led by the Holy Spirit, he spent forty days in pure prayer and contemplation, but he knew that soon it would have become a battle to the death. Now that he was at his most vulnerable, sin itself was ready to use its most powerful weapon: temptation. And it was a battle he knew he would have had to face alone, against one of the most dangerous opponents of all time.
It wasn’t just the angels watching Jesus; it was demons watching him too, those sinners who were locked up in Hell and who every year risked being erased forever by the hand of Adam. They knew that if Jesus had won, it wouldn’t have been they who would have been freed; it would have been the good souls in Sheol who would have seen their exile ended. Instead of repenting of their actions, the sinner demons felt envy and anger, and they did not want to let it happen: if they could not have eternal bliss, no one else would have had it, not even those who had earned it by leading upright and righteous lives. So, even though they knew that Jesus was protected by angels, they decided to oppose him and contribute to his fall. They could no longer go to Earth, because due to the Extermination the number of souls they could procure was too small to be able to break the barrier between the realms; but the hellborns still had their methods, and if there was one thing the sinners were masters of, it was deception, and through deception the sinners managed to obtain artifacts from the hellborns that allowed them to go to Earth.
Their presence had not gone unnoticed, but even before the angels could intervene, Jesus had always repelled them alone: the sinners had quickly realized that they could do nothing against him. Every encounter between a demon and the Messiah was a painful reunion between a lost human soul and their very Creator. In the presence of Jesus the demons had no choice but to surrender and obey his order to return to Hell. The sinners had then tried to send the hellborns against Jesus, but they too had always been repelled with ease; therefore, the sinners decided to use their strongest pawn, the demon that was considered the most powerful in all of Hell.
Satan, the terrible Embodiment of Wrath, had always been indifferent to the affairs of humans, just like the other Deadly Sins; they were natives of Hell, who appeared when the dark realm was formed, and had no interest in the rest of the universe, in fact they considered it hideous. Satan had once been the absolute ruler of Hell, but that authority had vanished when Lucifer and Lilith had been permanently banished from Earth by Adam, leaving them with only that place to go; and since Hell was ruled by the law of the strongest, Lucifer had taken the place of king, even though Satan still did most of the work and Lilith mostly tried to mediate between them. Satan obviously had never digested that humiliation, and it was precisely this that the sinners exploited to get his attention. Using their contacts with the rest of Hell, they made sure that he knew about the lowly human who dared to call himself King of Kings, and who one day would have had control over all the kingdoms, and therefore would have been superior even to Satan himself. The Embodiment of Wrath could not tolerate this, since bowing down before Lucifer had already been humiliating enough, and decided to intervene personally: and when Jesus went into the desert, Satan followed him, so that he could challenge him to a fight between just the two of them and prove that the so-called King of Kings was just a boaster.
Adam, who had been watching over Jesus the whole time, immediately saw Satan following him, and immediately understood his intent; he immediately drew his axe, ready to go into battle and fight against the Embodiment of Wrath, but Michael immediately stopped him: "No"
"Why? He will hurt him!" Adam protested. But
Michael shook his head: "I don't like it either, but that's how it has to be. It's God's will" he told him. "Satan's presence is necessary. The Messiah must face him alone"
And it was just like that: and in fact, as soon as Jesus entered the desert, the Holy Spirit ordered all the angels not to intervene, and then appeared directly before Satan: "Why are you here?"
"To measure myself with the so-called King of Kings" Satan replied. "Do you want to stop me?"
The Holy Spirit remained impassive: "Go ahead, then, but do not hurt him physically. That time has not yet come"
Satan let out a furious snort, since violence had always been his strong point; but he was not willing to give up just because of this. "It doesn't matter" he said to himself as he followed Jesus. "He is only a human, I don't need to hit him to defeat him. I just need to prove that what he says is nonsense"
Adam didn't like that at all. He would have much rather just chased the demon away. "What if he could invalidate the sacrifice?"
"We can't help it" Michael replied, trying to confront him. "The Messiah has to deal with temptation, and Satan is here to do that. Jesus has to deal with him alone"
Adam grunted, but he could tell by his friend's look that he was tense too. He was worried too, but there really was no choice. After all, they both knew that Jesus would have to face something much worse than Satan in the future, so they had to let him handle his battles on his own. Therefore they remained silent and continued to watch from Heaven.
Satan had waited those forty days to strike his enemy at his most vulnerable moment, and finally he stepped forward and revealed himself to him: "So are you the one who proclaims himself King of Kings?"
"I am. I was waiting for you" Jesus replied.
Satan was taken aback, not expecting his adversary to know about him and be ready to face him. However, he continued to show confidence: "May I know what a king is doing in this remote place? There is only dust and dry bushes as far as the eye can see! So this is your palace? A bit poor, I must say"
"The righteous man is not the one who pursues wealth and power, but the one who follows the will of God" Jesus replied impassively.
Satan fell silent; being accustomed to interacting with demons, he had never met a person who did not aim to accumulate wealth. Mammon had made his fortune precisely thanks to that. And even though Satan didn't know humans well, he knew that greed had always been a weakness for them too. He realized that he wouldn't have gotten far this way, so he abandoned the path of Mammon and changed tactics: "You've spent a long time here without eating or drinking. It must be tiring for a human"
"It is" Jesus confirmed.
"Well, then, what are you waiting for?" Satan said to him, and he picked up a large stone from the ground, offering it to him: "If you are the Son of God, ask this stone to become bread, and let's have a feast together!"
A simple but powerful test: Jesus was still a man, and as such he was subject to the limitations and weaknesses of human beings, such as hunger and exhaustion. Having spent forty days in the desert without eating or drinking he was very tired, so that was the perfect time to attack the lust of his flesh. The perfect combination between the ways of Beelzebub, who invited to the sin of gluttony, and Asmodeus, who among the many lusts he proclaimed there was also that of the flesh.
But despite his hunger, Jesus remained adamant, knowing that his powers should never be used for selfish ends, and replied: "It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"
Satan was astonished, wondering how an ordinary human could be so resolute. He realized that he was not facing just any adversary: in a single conversation, Jesus had already conquered four deadly sins. He had not yielded to Satan's provocations, resisting to wrath; he had not shown interest in wealth, rejecting the greed of Mammon; and by refusing the bread, he had shown that he was following neither the way of Beelzebub nor that of Asmodeus. In resisting that first temptation, that small and feeble human had done what millions of powerful demons had failed miserably to do.
Not willing to be humiliated, Satan decided to strike deeper, and even though he was a little angry since he was the one who had stolen his throne, he chose to take a page from Lucifer's book. He took Jesus to an abandoned temple in the middle of the desert and they climbed to the top; after that he made him stand on the edge of the ledge and said to him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, since it is written: He will command His angels concerning you, and in their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone"
An ancient trick, the same one that Lucifer had used with Eve, instilling in her the doubt that God was not so trustworthy after all. Jesus was at a crossroads with no return: if he had refused to jump, he would have basically declared that he was afraid to trust God, making himself guilty of sloth; if instead he had jumped, he would have tacitly stated that he wanted to be treated as equal to all the other prophets who had been protected by angels, effectively making himself guilty of envy. Two sins in one temptation, no way out; Satan had taken the best of both Belphegor and Leviathan and put them together to bring down his rival.
But once again, Jesus refused that temptation. He did not test God or back down; instead, he rebuked Satan, saying: "It is also written: do not put the Lord your God to the test"
Satan was shocked. He had already tried two temptations and failed both times; six of the seven deadly sins had proved futile. He began to wonder if it was really the Son of God who was standing before him and if the sinners had sent him to fight against an impossible opponent. But he still had one more sin to exploit, and retreating would have been too dishonorable; so, as much as he detested Lucifer, for his last temptation he decided not to limit himself to just imitating one of his actions, but to embrace his entire essence in the most powerful sin of all: pride.
He took Jesus to a very high mountain, and on the way he began to flatter him, complimenting him on the resistance he had shown him. He used all the compliments that were normally given to himself and even some he made up on the spot. And once they reached the top of the mountain he said: "Look!"
Jesus looked, and Satan increased the perception of his senses to make him see as far as possible. The Messiah saw all the kingdoms of the world, kingdoms that had been held in sin for thousands of years; a world that was literally the dominion of sin. "Is this all you will rule, King of Kings?" Satan said flatteringly, in order to sting his adversary's pride as much as possible. "You deserve it for sure. It is indeed a lot, but I bet it will be a lot of work to conquer it. I can make it easier for you, I can put myself at your service and bring my legions here. In return, I want only one thing from you: bow down before me and worship me!"
For the first time, Jesus paused.
He knew that someday all the kingdoms of the world would have been his, that he would have been made king over them all; he had no doubt in God's promise of that, but he also knew what it would have taken to get there. He knew that the future that awaited him was a fate of agony greater than any man had ever suffered, an unspeakable horror greater than all others. He knew he was destined to die in excruciating pain on the cross.
But if he had listened to Satan and conceded, he could inherit the world without undergoing the torturous future to come.
If he had simply bowed down to the demon... all of his suffering would have been finished.
But at the same rate, that would have been his defeat. For Satan, making him kneel was just his way of winning, so that he could say that the King of Kings had acknowledged his superiority; but if God in human form had actually knelt before anyone other than the Almighty Father, it would have been like admitting that no human was deserving, that the blessings promised all those millennia ago were misplaced, and ultimately that God was wrong. The last hope for humanity would have vanished forever with that one action.
But for the third time, Jesus rebuked the demon, exclaiming: "Go away, Satan! It is written: you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve!"
And with those powerful words, Jesus drove out Satan, who for the first time in many years found himself feeling ashamed; he realized that what he had before him was truly an enemy beyond his power, and that he had unwittingly been his instrument. Despite his terrible condition, Jesus had remained faithful throughout the three temptations, and did not sin; on the contrary, thanks to the same Satan who had used them against him, Jesus had faced all the seven deadly sins and defeated them one after the other.
Satan realized that he had been part of the plan, and that everything had happened exactly as God had planned. Realizing that he could not win, the demon ran away and returned to Hell, and indignantly cast out the sinners who had deceived him by sending him to fight a battle against the Son of God, and declared that he would never again have stood against Him. In the wilderness, having completed his task and having defeated the seven deadly sins, Jesus gave in to exhaustion and slipped to the ground; but the angels, who were finally able to intervene, approached him and lifted him up. Adam and Michael cleaned the Messiah's robe and gave him new strength, and led him out of the desert. And as they did so, it seemed to them that they heard a scream in the distance, as if sin itself was screaming with rage and agony, because after all the machinations it had carried out to bring Satan before Jesus, the Messiah had not given in and on the contrary the demon had become part of the divine plan; it was the echo of Job's victory all over again, but this time the stakes were much, much higher.
Jesus had won his battle against temptation, but his mission was not over yet. The greatest obstacle, the greatest torture, was yet to come.
And after another three years of preaching, the wager was on again.
Now, the fate of all humanity was more in balance then ever. The time of truth had arrived. God would have showed before all the universe that humans deserved His Mercy, or humanity itself would have proven that this was a misplaced honor and spelled its own doom. It was all up to Jesus to do the impossible.
While Jesus was sharing his final meal with his beloved disciples, sin took the best of one of them, Judas, in order to turn him over to the chief priests; but before it even happened, Jesus announced this betrayal at the dinner table. He was prepared, but he knew that what was awaiting him was something that would have broken any man. Very soon, he would have been attacked by every angle, and if he would have spoken just one time against God, the sacrifice would have been invalidated. That betrayal was just the beginning.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was overwhelmed with emotion; his human nature trembled knowing that he was just handed over to the power of sin. He begged God to find another way to redeem humanity, but deep down he knew: he was the final piece, the King of Kings. The future of mankind would have been determined in a single day and it rested solely on his shoulders. He knew this, and accepted it; and with a simple kiss, Judas triggered the final temptation of Jesus.
This was the start of the events that would have been later known as the Passion of Christ. In the next fifteen hours he would have been subject to a level of suffering never before experience by man; unfathomable agony on every level, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. A pain that could only be called monstrous, and all the time he would have had to resist in order to carry the sins of humanity to the grave with him.
Jesus was arrested and taken to an illegal trial; his disciples, the people he had taught everything to and who had promised to die for him, fled in panic, and Peter, his best friend, denied him three times. He was brought in dishonor before the chief priests, while the people he was trying to save laughed and accused him. The chief priests conducted a corrupt trial with false witnesses and many deceptions, and Caiaphas, their leader, took him to Pontius Pilate, inviting him to crucify him. The prefect ordered him to be punished by flogging, and he was scourged more than any man had been before; his tormentors took turns to punch him, spit in his face, and insult him; they put a purple robe on him in mockery, and on his head they placed a crown made of thorns, mocking his title of King of Kings. He was finally condemned to crucifixion, and tossed into the open, where his own people formed a mob around him; their leaders chose to worship their enemies' emperor; they hated Rome, but they hated God more. Humanity was showing itself in all its depravity in the face of the only one who could save them.
The entire universe trembled in pain as its very Creator was being tortured. The angels burst into tears, the human souls of Sheol were shocked, and even the demons for the first time ever found themselves thinking that maybe that was a little too much. Jesus' suffering was like a dagger stuck in everyone's hearts. "I go!" Adam exclaimed at some point.
Michael grabbed him, holding him tightly. "You can't" he said. "You know he has to face it through to the end"
"Isn't that enough!?" Adam growled, trying to wriggle free. "How much longer does this have to go on!?"
"The Messiah has to take all of humanity's suffering upon himself" Michael reminded him. "All of it"
Adam gritted his teeth. He almost wanted to punch him. "I can't just stand by and watch...!"
"Do you think I don't want to intervene!?" Michael screamed at him in a strangled voice. "Look around! Do you think there's anyone here who doesn't want to go save him!?"
Adam had a fierce expression, but he still looked at the other angels. Many of them didn't have the courage to look anymore and even more were crying, unable to remain impassive while God in human form suffered excruciating pain. Some of them were digging their nails into their skin to the point of bleeding just to keep from running to help him.
Michael let out a sad sigh: "My friend... you have to resist, like everyone else. Think of your children. This is for them"
Adam closed his eyes and slid to the ground on his knees, almost as if he hoped to stop himself, or as if he wanted to make it easier for his friend to hit him and stop him if he lost control. "Fuck..." he growled at humanity, the same humanity that was torturing the Messiah. "That's your only hope, you suckers! What the fuck are you thinking...!?"
Jesus was forced to carry his own cross to the place of his death, atop the hill of Golgotha; it was a long and grueling journey, made worse by all his horrible wounds, but he did it anyway. As soon as he reached the top of the hill, the cross was placed on the ground and he was laid on it, and the soldiers hammered nails into his hands and feet. Yet Jesus, despite the terrible pain, did not curse his tormentors, but instead said: "Father, forgive them... for they do not know what they are doing...!"
As the cross was raised, the universe screamed in despair. The stars begged their Creator to let them explode in powerful supernovas, the Sun asked to be able to send its rays to burn Earth; the planets, the asteroids, the comets, all asked to let them crash into that corrupt world to obliterate it. The Earth itself screamed in despair as its own Creator was being massacred; the ground shook and the sky turned black. The volcanoes asked to let them erupt, the lightning to crash into the earth, the oceans to be free again to submerge everything as they had been allowed millennia before. But Jesus remained silent, forbidding the desperate elements to come to his aid.
He was so close to death... and yet Jesus hadn't opened his mouth against God once.
Again, sin itself seemed to panic, as if it realized that it was one step away from the end of its dominion over the world. Humanity began to grossly insult the Son of God, trying to bring him down. Their cruelty continued to fall upon Jesus with every word they spoke.
"He saved others, let him save himself if he's God's Messiah, the chosen one!"
"If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!"
"Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself, and us!"
"Leave him, let's see if God comes to save him!"
"If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"
"You who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, SAVE YOURSELF!"
Jesus looked at the people, the very people he was there to redeem, with sadness as they spat, mocked and ridiculed their only redemptive hope; and finally he opened his mouth. By carrying all the sins of humanity on his flesh he raised his head and looked at the sky, seeing only darkness; and a final sentence left his lips. "My God, my God... why did you forsaken me?"
And with those final words, the Messiah died on the cross.
The entire universe seemed to stop when that happened. It was as if something had just broken in everything that existed. Whether demons, human souls, angels, or who knows what else, everyone felt a wound open in their soul. No one dared to make a sound. They stood silent, unable to say anything, as the battered body of Jesus was taken down from the cross and taken to his tomb. Even the most emotional angels were so shocked that they stopped crying, too shocked to even shed more tears.
Adam was petrified.
So... it was done? It had worked?
The ultimate sacrifice had been made... right?
Jesus had not once spoken against God, he had withstood everything...
... but that last sentence he had said... could it be considered a shadow of doubt?
And if so, what did it mean?
Had the sacrifice worked... or had that last moment invalidated it?
Adam's heart trembled. Had it really gone that way? Had mankind's last hope died without completing its mission? Had the pain, the torture, the horrors been so terrible that not even God in human form was able to resist until the end?
Had humanity just... lost?
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 47): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162302
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 101: Resurrection
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The next three days seemed to have become the emblem of sadness. Everything in the universe seemed to have become colder, more static, unemotional. Heaven itself had become less bright than usual, so much so that it now seemed to be wrapped in a perpetual twilight. The entire Creation had been deeply wounded, and everyone felt that wound in the depths of their souls.
The angels had closed themselves in a profound silence, not having the strength to utter even a word. They more than anyone else felt what had happened. It was as if the universe had been deprived of God, as if the connection between Creation and its Almighty Creator had been broken. They remained silent, waiting for any sign, waiting for God, with His Voice or His Actions, to officially decree the definitive destiny of humanity.
Like all the other angels, Adam had also remained all that time on the edge of the golden gate, looking at the Earth, waiting to see what would have happened. After Jesus had died he had felt drained of all energy; the thought that humanity's last hope had truly failed terrified him. God had not yet said anything, but he really couldn't get the feeling out of his head that it had all been in vain.
He sensed a movement next to him and out of the corner of his eye he saw Michael sit down next to him. Unlike the other angels, the archangel had repeatedly gone to God's throne room in the hope of receiving some explanation, but the Almighty had always remained deaf to his questions. He too could do nothing but wait. "Are you okay?" he asked Adam, even if he already knew the answer.
Adam didn't answer him. He continued to stare at the Earth without even changing his expression. "She's in a worse state than me" he finally said.
Michael looked at the spot Adma was staring at, and saw Mary locked in her house, crying deeply over the death of her son. Her pain was so great that it seemed to emerge from her and infect everyone who looked at her. "Yes... it must be terrible" Michael murmured. "We warned her of what was coming... but I doubt that was enough to prepare her"
"Nothing can prepare a mother for this" Adam said softly, without looking up.
Michael sighed, and patted his friend on the shoulder. "There's still time" he told him. "Don't lose hope"
But Adam was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain hope. All the signs seemed to point to the sacrifice being in vain: scattered disciples, widespread chaos, and a wounded universe. Every second that passed gave Adam less confidence that Jesus had truly succeeded in his mission. And he knew that all the others, whether angels, human souls or demons, felt exactly like him in their hearts.
But suddenly, Adam trembled.
They all felt it; their souls seemed to be shaken to the core. The wound that had torn the universe was as if sewn up. No, not sewn up... it was actually erased, as if it had never existed. Just as... if the Messiah had ever been tortured to death.
Adam opened his eyes wide and stared at the Earth more intensely than ever, and all the angelic hosts followed suit, gripped by an anxiety that none of them had ever felt. And when they finally looked towards the sepulcher of Jesus, all their hearts seemed to explode in their chests. The stone that sealed the tomb was gone, the shroud was open, and the body of the Messiah was anywhere to be seen.
The angels opened their eyes wide, and began to search the whole Earth frantically; they all felt the urge to rejoice, but they did not dare for fear that it was just a delusion, that someone had simply desecrated the tomb and taken away the body. Adam was more feverish than ever: so... had it really happened? Had the Messiah really risen from the dead?
Humanity... had been saved?
The heavenly hosts were not the only ones to discover what had happened: at that very moment Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, and found it open and without the body of Jesus inside. In horror she ran to seek help, and she found it in Peter, the man who had been closest to the Messiah, who in his time of need had denied him three times and who only at the foot of the cross had had the strength to ask for forgiveness, and who now spent his days wandering in the vicinity of the tomb waiting for his master's promise to be fulfilled. When he saw the woman in despair he asked her: "What is happening? Why so much crying?"
"Oh, Peter!" Mary Magdalene exclaimed through tears. "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have brought him!"
Peter was shaken to the core, and immediately ran to the tomb followed by the woman. He saw the stone taken away, he saw the cloths that wrapped the body scattered on the ground, and above all he saw that there was no body. He looked around, looking for any kind of clue; he had not yet understood with his mind, but in his heart he already knew what had happened. Jesus Christ was no longer there because he was not supposed to be there: his place was no longer with the dead but with the living. The Messiah had resurrected.
While Peter was busy inspecting the inside of the tomb, Mary Magdalene sat outside, hugging her knees and crying loudly, still thinking that someone had desecrated the tomb in a horrific way and taken away the body of Jesus. While she was despairing, however, she heard footsteps next to her, and then a voice: "Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"
She did not raise her face from her knees, visibly trembling. Thinking that it was the gardener speaking to her, she said to him: "They have taken away my Lord. Sir, I beg you, if you have taken him away, or if you know who has taken him, tell me where you have brought him and I will go and get him! I beg you!"
At that point the man touched her forehead, and she jumped when she clearly felt deep holes in those hands, as if they had been penetrated by a spear... or by the nails of a cross. "Why do you beg me like this, as if we were strangers? Look at me, Mary"
Mary Magdalene looked up suddenly, and finally she saw the man before her. A man she would have recognized among a thousand, still naked after having removed the shroud from himself, with his hands and feet pierced by the nails of the cross. "Master!" she cried in a strangled voice, and in the grip of joy she embraced Jesus' legs.
He let her do it, and very gently lifted her face again, completely drying her tears of sadness that she had shed before, leaving room only for those of joy. "Do not hold me" Jesus told her. "For I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. They will understand"
And with that he turned away from her and walked down the street, away from the tomb. Mary Magdalene wanted to follow him, but she held back and instead called out to Peter. He came out of the tomb, confused to see her so happy, and she said to him: "I have seen him! I have seen the Lord! He has come back!"
At that point Peter finally understood, and he slipped onto her knees. His heart trembled and almost stopped, so great was the joy at the return of his master he had thought he had lost. The trembling of his heart seemed to spread like the shock wave of a violin string, striking the hearts of all the others. The whole universe was rejoicing now that the proof had been presented: the Messiah had indeed returned from the tomb as had been foretold.
The angels erupted in shouts of joy. What had been promised had truly happened. The whole of Heaven seemed to light up again, becoming as bright and magnificent as it had been before; even from Sheol and Hell, and so they too knew what had happened. The Messiah had made it, he had even conquered death itself.
Adam was left breathless; his gaze continued to be fixed on Jesus who continued his journey on Earth. His mind was focused on a single thought: it was done. Humanity had been saved. Despite everything that had happened, despite all the torture, the Messiah had been trustworthy until the end. God had kept the promise made thousands of years before.
Michael took him by the shoulders and helped him up. He too had a smile plastered on his face. "He really did it, best buddy" Adam barely murmured. "The Messiah has made it to the end... we have... we have finally...!"
"Yes, my friend" Michael confirmed. "Humanity is finally free now"
Jesus had burned himself with the sins of every human, taking all of them onto his own sinless body and removing them through his death and resurrection. By allowing sin to persecute him, God had only allowed the fulfillment of this great miracle that would have changed the fate of all humanity forever. Instead of fighting sin directly, it had indirectly become the very instrument with which Jesus had been able to erase its power over mankind.
Sin had raged so much against the Messiah... but in doing so it had allowed him to defeat it. It'd been deployed by the Father to carry the Son through all those tortures, each of them a milestone to redeem humanity, ensuring that every prophecy was fullfilled and all the conditions were met. And now, finally, Jesus had granted again humanity its glory, a glory that until that moment they never deserved since the Fall, all of this thanks to the same sin that was trying to stop him.
In the end, sin itself, that had deceived the entire humanity since the beginning, was the one that had been deceived in the end.
As the entire universe rejoiced, a scream seemed to be heard in the distance, just as it had when Jesus had defeated Satan in the wilderness, but this time much more intense than before; it was a scream of agony and pain, mixed with a rage that nothing in Creation could match. Sin itself was screaming in defeat, having finally lost. In just one day, all the work that evil had done on Earth for thousands of years had been undone. One day was all the Messiah had needed.
And therefore sin, just like it had acquired a mind, could only scream in its defeat.
For the next forty days, Jesus still walked the Earth, allowing humans to see him again and truly understand the divine message. He reappeared to his apostles, only eleven more since Judas Iscariot was no longer among them; this caused deep sadness in him, who had hoped that his disciple would have found the strength to ask for forgiveness as Peter had done, and as all his other followers did, asking to be able to redeem themselves for having run away and abandoned him. But unfortunately Judas, too consumed by his sense of guilt, had instead chosen to hang himself, indirectly refusing a higher path. It had been his choice, and Jesus could not impose himself on his choices; following him or not was still something that only the humans themselves could decide.
And finally, after those forty days, Jesus finally left Earth; not dying again as a mortal, but ascending with his own body. As soon as he had finished blessing his apostles, he separated from them and disappeared into the sky. His body did not return to dust like that of ordinary men, but transcended the barriers between realms, going where humans could only go with their souls.
And it was exactly with that perfect sinless body that Jesus presented himself to Sheol.
The souls who had been left on that barren earth, far from the light of God, had waited for him for thousands of years, and finally he was before them. Even though they did not possess the perception of the angels, they knew immediately who he was, because he was the only one who did not have even a stain on his clothes, as proof of his perfection. The waiting of all those souls had finally come to an end; finally, a way to Heaven, until then closed to them, had been opened.
Jesus had made himself the way, the medium through which mankind was guaranteed the erasure of their sins. Now, through him, mankind could aspire to Heaven, and could receive all the blessings that had been promised at the beginning of time. By welcoming the Messiah and trusting in him, humans could finally be elevated from their mortal condition and freed from all sin.
And even more importantly, mankind was now perpetually free from any kind of accusation. Jesus had satisfied God's Justice, proving that His Mercy was not misplaced, and that humans deserved His Favor despite their imperfection. The entire universe had seen it and the Almighty had had finally accomplished all of His own judgement ways. From God's point of view, there was no longer any evidence that a human soul was undeserving of His Love. He had done the right thing in allowing them to exist despite the sin that contaminated them, just like He had done the right thing in creating them and bestowing upon them all the blessings that He proclaimed they deserved.
God had been right all along.
Jesus walked among the souls of Sheol, touching them one after another; they trusted him, and he removed their sins. Their dirty and filthy garments became clean and white as if they had never been soiled. The souls leaped with joy as they finally felt the weight of their guilt being torn away from them. "Come with me, brothers" Jesus told them. "Follow me, and enter the Father's house through me, as it was written and promised to you"
And so new bodies were given to them: not weak and mortal bodies, but pure bodies free from any imperfection. They were like the bodies that sinners received when they fell into Hell and became demons, but unlike theirs these were beautiful, perfect and radiated a feeling of positivity. And all of them were given wings, just as Adam had been given when he ascended to Heaven millennia before; and with those wings they could follow the Son on his ascent, headed towards the blissful realm that finally no longer rejected them.
As the souls left Sheol and headed for Heaven, all the demons of Hell could see them, like a dancing streak of light filling the sky. The sinners trembled as they watched that new sinless mankind, pure and white, welcomed in Heaven by their loving Creator. Thanks to Christ's atoning work on the cross, that flawed creation was now made perfect, imaging God without blemish. They were beings that could only be described as glorious, as screaming of rage and pain in their eternal pit the sinners couldn't be further away from that glory.
Adam couldn't believe it. For the first time in thousands of years, he was completely speechless. And he was happy, as he had never been since his family was torn apart so long ago. Because finally his children had been freed.
After thousands and thousands of years of waiting, humanity had finally been welcomed back into Heaven.
Finally he could rest.
Finally he would have no longer had to worry about wars.
Finally when he would have looked at the Earth he would have no longer seen only suffering.
As the message of the Messiah spread, everyone would have known the truth and would follow the path indicated by Christ. People would have finally leaded just and upright lives, and after death they would have found the open doors of the blessed kingdom waiting for them, and the angels ready to take care of them. Sin had been defeated, suffering and pain were over; evil had lost. And Adam, after so many years spent defending the universe, could finally step aside and focus only on living well with his family.
He already knew what he was going to do. First, he was going to hang up his helmet. He already had the perfect place, right above the fireplace in his house. He was going to leave it there just as a reminder of a past he could finally leave behind. Then he was going to expand the house. He was going to build new rooms, so that all his children would live with him again, like when they were on Earth. He wasn't going to use his powers or ask the angels for help: he wanted to do it himself, he wanted to do some manual labor and use his axe to chop wood and not to kill. Oh, and then of course he was going to celebrate all his children's birthdays that he had missed. With that excuse he was also going to gorge himself on cakes. He could turn the Exorcists into bakers... that wasn't a bad idea, after all he had to find something for them to do now that they didn't have to fight anymore since the number of sinful demons would have soon decreased on its own, since humans following the path of the Messiah would no longer have ended up in Hell.
By the way, maybe he should have gone to visit his old soldiers? Since that day thousands of years ago they had not spoken to him again, but now he no longer needed to keep his cold mask. He could at least try to say hello to them. Maybe now that humanity had been saved they would have agreed to give him a second chance and start over in harmony. Maybe a reconciliation would have been possible, if only he had put his mind to it. Maybe...
His train of thought was interrupted by a familiar and imposing presence that enveloped him in a warm and paternalistic light. Adam looked up and saw God looking at him. During the entire wandering of the Messiah on Earth, the Almighty had barely shown Himself, giving only a few orders to a few specific angels in order to ensure the fulfillment of each prophecy and the just completion of the sacrifice. This was the first time that He had truly shown Himself to him in a long time. "Adam, My son" God said to him. "Are you happy?"
Adam nodded. "Yes, Father. Even if you already know, you have my deepest gratitude"
"My son Jesus will be here soon, and with him all your descendants, that I can finally welcomed here too" God said to him. "What are you doing here? Go to the gate and throw it open for them. Now that they have a way to come to My kingdom, there is no reason to let them find the doors closed and force them to open them themselves"
Adam nodded immediately. "I will do it immediately" he assured Him.
"Go, then. Don't waste time, and hug your children one more time" God told him, and then He disappeared as quickly as He had come.
Adam flew immediately to the golden gate, which seemed to shine even more brightly than usual; many angels were already there, but they all stepped aside as soon as they saw him, as if they wanted to leave the honor to him. They knew that this was a very important moment for him, the most important of his life, indeed of his existence, and as such it was only right that he should be the one to open the doors of the blessed realm. After all, it was only right that humanity should be welcomed into Heaven by their universal father.
Adam approached the gate, and at a single touch of his fingers the immense golden doors opened, even if only slightly, just enough to let a person pass through. He was about to push them further and open the door completely, but just at that moment he saw the procession of souls led by Jesus arriving along the golden road, and he could not contain himself and ran to meet them. Jesus too walked towards him, and he seemed very happy to see him; the human souls remained a little behind, as if wanting to give them space. "Brother Adam, I finally meet you" Jesus said to him.
Adam lowered his head almost reverently. He had never bowed to anyone other than the Almighty Father, but at that moment he felt too much respect and esteem for the Son not to do the same for him too. "Er... my lord... your messiahship...?" he murmured, not knowing how to address him.
Jesus put his hands on his shoulders in an extremely brotherly manner, as if they had known each other all their lives: "Call me only by my name, brother. When I became man I agreed to put myself on the same level as everyone else. There are no divisions between me and you, you must not give me any honors that you normally do not give to others"
Adam nodded, touched by the profound humility of that man, who was the Son of the Almighty, God Himself in human form, and yet wanted to be treated like everyone else. "I still think that thanks are in order" he said. "You succeeded in what anyone else would have failed. It is thanks to you that..."
"It is thanks to all of them" Jesus said, pointing with his eyes to the crowd of souls coming behind him. "I am the Way, but following me is the will of my brothers. Today as in the future, it will always be up to them to choose whether to walk with me on the path or not. You can thank them more than me, since it is with the strength of their hearts that they have come here"
Adam smiled. "Seriously, friend, you are too modest" he could not help but say.
Jesus was not at all offended or resentful by that joking statement, in fact he chuckled a little himself. "Now stop thanking me" he said, raising his hand and pointing to the souls behind him. "Brother Adam, go to them now and embrace your sons and daughters"
Adam took a deep breath, and then finally took a couple of steps toward the procession of human souls. For the first time he hesitated: what could he say to them now? There were so many things on his mind, but none of them seemed appropriate.
Welcome home?
Is it good to have you here?
Are we finally together?
What could he say to people who had waited millennia to finally be freed?
What were the right words?
Were there any right words?
Finally he stopped in front of them, feeling his voice fail in his throat. He instinctively raised his arms, as if to invite them to come to him: "Children..."
All the paranoia he had just created in his mind was for nothing, because he didn't need to say anything: before he could speak, Aclima emerged from the front row and jumped on him, holding him in a hug. Adam shuddered as he felt his daughter's touch, which was finally so pure, as if until that moment she had had chains on her and they had finally been removed. "Dad..." Aclima murmured slightly, and then simply said: "... flying is so beautiful"
Adam was shocked, not expecting such a simple reaction from his daughter, but honestly, he was fine with it. "Yes..." he said, touching the new wings that she had just acquired, soft and white just like those of angels. "It's really beautiful"
Almost as if what Aclima had just done had ignited their spirits, all his other children crowded around him, jumping on him just like when they were children. Adam couldn't remember seeing them so happy since Abel had died. It was as if they had regained their childhood, as if all the negativity of life had finally abandoned them, leaving room only for joy and happiness.
Adam let them continue to jump on him and play with his hair and his wings. Even if normally that childish behavior would have annoyed him, in that moment he honestly felt like acting childish too. Who cared about personal space at that moment: in that wonderful occasion, hugging and smiling was a must.
"It's done, Dad" Seth told him, almost stuttering. "We're... we're really here now... we're together...!"
Adam put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes... we're here together" he told him. "We're all here together"
Even his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and who knows how many other grandchildren preceded by who knows how many other 'great' swarmed around him, and then all the other human souls. Even those who were now too distant from him to have known him in life and to treat him as true family still felt connected to him, remembering how he had protected them for all those thousands of years of waiting. And now that the wait was over, they could only thank the father of humanity who had done so much for them.
Adam almost didn't listen to all the shouts of joy and the happy words of the human souls; his mind seemed to shut down for a moment. For the first time in so long, he felt enveloped in a deep quiet. He felt like a soldier who had remained at war for decades and was finally freed from his task. Humanity had been saved, and now he could finally rest. Surrounded by his children who hugged him, that was the way he wanted to spend the rest of eternity.
Finally he straightened up a bit, ignoring the weight of Azura and Calmana who had climbed onto his back, standing up to his full height. His descendants shifted a bit, as if to give him a chance to speak. Instead he said: “I should probably say something solemn and maybe biblical right now, but fuck it, I honestly don’t care. We’re all here and that’s enough for me. Now finally, my children… you can come home!”
And after such words he ran to the golden gate and grabbed the half-opened doors, and this time he swung it open with all his strength. Finally the gate was completely open and the light of Heaven poured out, illuminating the human souls, who were finally able to see the blissful realm in all its magnificence. As he did so, the angels poured out, taking the humans by the hand and leading them in, happy to finally be reunited. They all entered Heaven, dancing in the air with their new wings, welcomed by the music of the angelic choirs.
Adam stood at the threshold, wanting to make sure that no one was left behind. When it became clear that there was no one left in line, he looked beyond the gate, smiling as he finally saw only peace and joy for his children. Jesus, who also stood at the threshold, approached him: "Why don't you come in, Brother Adam?"
The first man shrugged. "I must welcome all humanity" he replied, and then he motioned for him to come in. "And you have not yet come in"
Jesus smiled back, and then he imitated his gesture. "Let's come in together, Brother Adam" he invited him.
Adam nodded, and then both of them, the father of humanity and the founder of the new redeemed humanity, passed through the golden gate.
Mankind was finally in Heaven.
Now they can just rejoice.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 48): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162323
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 29): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/163265878
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 102: The final blow
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie had remained in religious silence as she watched all the events that had marked the life of the Messiah. It seemed almost heretical to open her mouth while Jesus walked on Earth, even though she knew that it was only a memory and not reality. That man seemed to be concentrating all his attention on him, like a magnet attracting iron.
When she had seen all the suffering he had endured, she had felt sick; this time she had actually been on the verge of fainting. She had miraculously been able to not vomit. She could not conceive of how so much cruelty could be unleashed on a single man; it had seemed as if sin itself had a mind and had done literally everything to break him. She too had wanted to run to his aid as that poor man dragged the cross up the hill of Golgotha.
And when he died, she too had felt her soul break. It had been like losing a part of her. As if the world had split open and something inside her had been torn to pieces.
But then, the wound healed. Jesus was resurrected, humanity was freed from sin. Peace had returned, and she couldn't be happier. Her heart pounded as she watched the happy expressions of human souls finally seeing the golden gates of Heaven open to them, welcoming them into the blissful realm where they could finally enjoy eternal happiness.
But there was still a sour taste in her mouth, especially as she watched Adam make a lot of plans for what he thought would be a peaceful eternity. Because she already knew that even if humanity had been freed from sin, that wouldn't be enough to stop evil. "It doesn't end so well, does it?" she asked in a low voice, already knowing the answer.
Adam didn't reply, he just continued to stare ahead. The world twisted and bent and then reformed, and before them appeared the meeting room of the heavenly embassy, almost identical to the one Charlie knew, except for the table, which was carved differently and had two worlds drawn on it, clearly representing Heaven and Hell. And two people were sitting there facing each other.
Adam and Lucifer were face to face, staring at each other without saying a word or showing any expression. Adam was standing straight in his seat, his hands on the table, his horned helmet covering his face; Lucifer was also holding a similar position, as if he were trying to imitate him, but he exuded much more insecurity. Charlie thought they were in the same position she had been in when she first met Adam, except that it was her father who was sitting in her place and the first man was showing no signs of joviality.
The silence lingered for a long time. Lucifer opened his mouth a couple of times, but closed it again. Adam, on the other hand, didn't even try to make conversation. He wasn't even really looking at Lucifer: he was staring into space in front of him, as if his only intention was to sit there until he needed to and then walk away without a care in the world. Not a word, not an insult. Nothing.
Lucifer finally broke the ice: "You look... um, fine"
Adam remained silent. He did, however, give a sign that he had heard the fallen angel's words, as he looked down at him. He finally deigned to look at the king of Hell, but still showed no meaningful expression.
Anyways, Lucifer took this as a good sign and tried to continue the conversation. "Maybe you should... you know... take off that helmet. Aren't you feel hot?" he tried to say. "I honestly thought you'd throw it away by now..."
"I kept it instead" Adam said, interrupting him. "And I don't intend to take it off"
Lucifer swallowed. Adam's voice sounded hard, as if he were chewing on wrought iron. "Um... okay, if you like it so much you can keep it... but we're not in battle right now..."
"It doesn't matter" Adam replied. "I want to wear it all the time from now on. Especially when I come to this pit. Sinners are more afraid if someone with a scary face kills them"
Lucifer paused for a moment, stiffening considerably. He tried to sound calm and confident, however: "Yes... that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. It's about... you know, your annual visits down here. I was wondering..."
"You want to know if the Extermination will end?" Adam interrupted him. "The answer is no"
Lucifer was silent again, and then his calm expression melted and he took on a slightly more frowny one: "Okay, listen, we're not going anywhere this way. Can you be a little cooperative?"
Adam only grunted in response. "Why are you here?" he asked indignantly. "Since when do you care what I do in this shitty kingdom of yours?"
"Since when should there be no reason for you to come here anymore!" Lucifer answered him. "The Messiah did what he had to do, humanity is free from sin. Before, I tolerated what you did because it was necessary. Lilith tolerated it too because she couldn't deny that it was the only solution to the problem of infernal overpopulation. But now it's over, right...?"
Adam didn't give him an answer. Instead he asked: "Why isn't Lilith here? Knowing her attitude as a Red Cross nurse, shouldn't she be in the front row protesting against the evil exterminator?"
"You know that Lilith doesn't consider you that" Lucifer replied, and then he bit his lip a little: "She would have come. Believe me, she would have wanted to be here next to me. But... she didn't have the courage". His voice became a little lower: "We heard you scream yesterday"
Adam didn't seem surprised at all. He just raised an eyebrow: "Hmm. Did you hear me all the way here?"
"I think the whole universe heard you" Lucifer replied. "I've never heard you like that. You seemed... really pissed off"
"I was" Adam simply confirmed. "I needed to vent"
Lucifer clenched his fists a little. "Well, Lilith, after hearing you embody the rage so much, asked me to come alone. Don't take this the wrong way, but she... well... how can I say this..."
"... is scared" Adam anticipated him. "She remembered how it ended the last time and preferred to send you, who are strong enough to hold me back if I went crazy again"
Lucifer looked down, and then he shook his head. "Well... yes" he admitted. "Sorry, you know she cares about you... but that time you really terrified her. So don't hold it against her if she doesn't have the courage to come here now after hearing you scream in that sinister way"
Adam shrugged. He didn't seem too bothered by it. "Understandable" he said. "You can tell her I understand why she wants to stay away from me, and I'll agree with her. Maybe you should have stayed away too"
"Now, let's not overdo it" Lucifer said.
"No, I'm serious" Adam said, and for the first time his expression changed and his eyes narrowed. "You have no idea how much I want to bash your skull in. If only I had the power, you'd be fucking dead right now"
Lucifer's eyes widened a little at that. Even though he was a bit slow on the uptake, he wasn't completely stupid, and he knew what the first man thought of him, but this was the first time he had threatened him directly. He had never done it before. "Listen, can you tell me what's wrong with you?" he finally asked, tired of the tense situation. "I don't understand shit, okay? Humanity won, your kids are in Heaven, you should just be happy! Why are you so pissed off?"
He immediately fell silent when he saw Adam bow his head and stare at the table. The muscles in his back tensed dangerously, so much so that his wings lifted slightly. "Humanity..." he hissed. "Humanity has failed me for the last time!"
Lucifer was taken aback by this reaction: "Adam...?"
"They rejected him!" Adam growled, and his fingers literally dug into the table and opened a furrow like claws. "He died for them... and they dared to reject him!"
Lucifer was more and more confused, and also a little scared. "I... I don't think I understand" he admitted.
Adam looked up again, fixing him with piercing eyes. "Have you checked how many sinners have arrived in Hell these days?"
"Huh? No" Lucifer answered. "I assumed there were almost none left..."
"Well, I do" Adam said. "And they haven't decreased at all"
Lucifer's eyes widened: "But... but what does this mean? I don't understand! The Messiah did his duty! We all saw it, he was resurrected, he opened a way to Heaven for all mankind! Humans are free from sin, right? They just have to follow the path he opened..."
"Yes, but they're not!" Adam exclaimed, banging his fists on the table. "The most virtuous are embracing that path... but all the rest, those filthy sinners, prefer to remain in sin! The Messiah offered them salvation and they refuse it! Rather than abandon their vices, they choose to spit in the face of the one who literally died for them! He suffered the worst pains for them, and they DON'T CARE!"
Lucifer was confused for a moment longer, but then he understood. It was all so damn simple: anyone who would have followed the path of Jesus, even those who didn't know him but still acted in accordance with his teachings, would have been forgiven for all their sins and allowed into Heaven; however, anyone who would have rejected him would have still remained in sin and therefore condemned to Hell. Lucifer, as well as practically everyone else, had assumed that once the Messiah was resurrected, everyone, or at least almost everyone, would have followed him; consequently, the number of new sinners in Hell would have dropped to almost zero every year, there wouldn't have been enough souls to create demons as powerful as Mephisto, and consequently any new invasion of the other realms would also be impossible, making the Extermination useless as well. He had thought that finally there could have been at least a little peace.
Apparently, he was very wrong. Because if many humans refused to follow the path opened by Jesus, preferring to indulge in vice and sin, then the number of sinners in Hell would have continued to grow exponentially. And since these sinners could gain power by acquiring more and more souls, new and very powerful demons would be created. Sheol was now empty, it was no longer a risk... but Earth was still in danger if the demons decided to invade it.
"But... why?" Lucifer muttered in a broken voice. "Who would ever want to end up in this dark pit? Humans should be lining up to learn how to get into Heaven, not to...!"
"Well, apparently they don't think so! They're still going around killing, raping, stealing, destroying! I bet they'll find a way to commit atrocities even after Christianity will be widespread!" Adam replied, and then his eyes sparkled for a moment: "It seems the fruit of sin is just too sweet not to taste it"
Lucifer blushed: "Hey, don't blame me! I'm not the one who goes to Earth and tells them to be assholes...!"
Adam growled: "It's still your fault"
"Look, I know I screwed up that day, I told you!" Lucifer protested. "But you can't blame me for the choices of your descendants! They have free will, if they decide to do evil it's their...!"
Adam didn't let him continue: he jumped on the table and moved his hand against the fallen angel. Lucifer was grabbed by the neck and dragged backwards until he hit the wall. Adam squeezed his fingers as hard as he could, but it still felt like he was trying to crush an indestructible object. His hands, so strong that they could break the thick bone armor and rows of powerful muscles of dinosaurs, couldn't even squeeze the fallen angel's neck a little. It was as if Lucifer's body was made of diamond.
Adam gritted his teeth. Damn, how he wanted to rip his head off. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge that neck. Even all his strength was useless against this opponent.
Lucifer was taken aback by the sudden reaction, but it didn't take him long to recover: "Adam... let me go"
"You'd like that" Adam replied.
"Adam, you're going crazy" Lucifer told him. "Now try to calm down and get your mind back. You know you can't defeat me"
Adam knew it very well, even at that moment he was able to understand it despite all his anger. He knew he couldn't win against Lucifer. But he still didn't want to give up: "That doesn't stop me from trying!"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes, and then grabbed his arms. Adam felt an unstoppable force pulling him away, a force that no matter how much he cared, he couldn’t fight. His hands lost their grip and he was forced to pull away, and then he was pushed back slightly, forcing him to retreat.
Adam clutched his arms where Lucifer had grabbed him and pushed him away, feeling them burn; not with pain, it was a different kind of burn. Once again, all his efforts had proven futile, Lucifer was still superior to him. Just like he always had been. In the end, he was always the one who won, no matter what field they were competing on. And the fact that he wasn’t rubbing it in only made the defeat more bitter.
Lucifer remained silent, not knowing what to say; finally he no longer had anyone pinning him to the wall, but he still wasn’t moving. Even though he wasn't feeling any pain, he still rubbed his neck, still feeling the first man's fingers on him. "Lilith was right not to come" he commented in a low voice, trying not to be heard, and then he muttered: "You would really kill me if you could, wouldn't you?"
"Do you need further confirmation?" Adam replied testily. "You're more stupid than I think"
"No, I'm not. I've been sure that you wanted it for ages" Lucifer replied. "But this is the first time you've actually... tried"
"Don't worry, it won't be the last time" Adam said.
Lucifer bit his lip. "Adam, listen to me, let's talk about it..."
"The time to talk about it is over. I'm tired of pretty words. They don't do any good" Adam replied, then he pointed to his helmet: "Do you want to know why I wear this stuff? Do you want to know why I keep it on all the time now? Because it hides my expressions really well, and at least I don't scare people when I talk to them. Look, you little shit"
He grabbed his face and with a snap deactivated his helmet, which made his face disappear for a moment. Very slowly he took off his mask, revealing paler skin than usual, a sign that he really almost never took it off, and as further evidence, his face didn't look well-groomed at all. But even though it made him look weaker and sicker than usual, his eyes were filled with such fury and hatred that even the fallen angel felt a shiver run down his spine as he looked into them. "Look at me" Adam repeated, his voice full of venom. "Do I look like someone who's still willing to talk?"
Lucifer took a deep breath. His fists clenched slightly. "No" he admitted.
"That's right" Adam said. "So you already know what's in store for you and this shitty realm. I'm tired of seeing those insults to Creation exist. I'll keep coming here every year to take them out, whether you and your wife like it or not. I won't let them live... and I won't let you either. I'll find a way to destroy you, serpent"
"It doesn't have to end like this" Lucifer tried to calm him down again.
"But this is how I want it to end!" Adam growled. "I will not let those wretches multiply to the point where they pose a danger again! I have made this mistake too many times and I will not do it again. If even after God Himself came down to Earth and was crucified for them they still choose evil, then they must perish. All of them. No exceptions"
"What if someone tries to stop you?" Lucifer asked.
"If someone tries to stop me, then that someone will also die" Adam answered without any empathy. "I have seen enough of what tolerance for evil does. I will not accept any more of it. If someone, anyone, tries to sympathize with those vile and evil creatures, they will suffer the same fate. I will tear off their wings myself"
"Adam, stop!" Lucifer begged him. "You can't be serious..."
"Being too good is as much a sin as being too evil. Mercy towards evil is not tolerable. Refusing to act only brings more destruction. That's what life has taught me" Adam replied. "So yes, Lucifer... I am serious. I am very serious. I am more serious than I have been in years"
Lucifer was speechless. Adam wasn't talking nonsense, he was sure of it: he meant everything he said. If someone, anyone, had at that moment shown the slightest sympathy toward demons or any instance of evil, he would not have hesitated to tear them to pieces the same way he did with the sinners.
Adam raised his hand and grabbed Lucifer by the chin. The fallen angel didn't seem to want to look him in the eyes at all, but even though he could have resisted, he let their gazes meet. They both looked at each other's eyes. "Open up your eyes, Lucifer" Adam said in a mellifluous voice. "Open up your eyes, and look in mine. Tell me, do you see something that gives you hope that you can calm my heart?"
Lucifer inspired deeply. His hands shook slightly as they balled into fists, and then he looked away. His already pale face had lost all color. “I see no light in your eyes” he said finally.
Adam finally pulled back. "Then you know it's too late to hope that nice words can solve the problem" he told him extremely coldly. "Tell your bitch that is always ready to test my fucking patience that the Extermination will continue. It will continue even for eternity if necessary. I will not let evil live. I will never allow it again"
"What if Father objects?" Lucifer asked him.
"Why should He do that? He hasn't objected all this time" Adam replied. “If these wretched demons disguised as humans have the courage to refuse His clemency after He has come among them and delivered them from sin, then I see no reason why He should be sorry if I continue to clean up the scum”
Lucifer bit his lip. His normally statuesque pose seemed to be struggling not to bend. "Do you really no longer remember what mercy is?"
Adam's eyes narrowed until they were slits, and then he turned towards the table, and he looked at the drawings of Heaven and Hell on it. He moved his hand towards the dark realm and he touched it with his fingers. "Of course I remember what mercy is" he answered. "You taught me that. All you treacherous snakes taught me that when I was too blind to see it"
His fingers they planted themselves on the table, completely enveloping the drawing of Hell, starting to crack it. “Ruthlessness is…” Adam hissed. "... mercy upon..." and for a moment a flame seemed to light up in his pupils: "... ourselves!"
The table shattered in two, and the drawing of Hell was reduced into crumble in his hand, breaking into a thousand pieces that fell to the floor. Adam's face seemed to have been shrouded in shadows, and when he turned to face Lucifer he no longer even looked human: "Keep these words of mine in your fucking mind: when we truly face each other in the future, you will have to not hesitate. Fight with all your might, because I will fight to kill. I will never stop. I don't know how long it will take me, but I will find a way to wipe out the evil from the universe once and for all... and you will die with it. I will defeat you once and for all and make you feel some semblance of what my children have had to endure, than I have had to endure! So you better face me at full strength and don't waste time in speeches, because I will not let you escape. One day, I will have your head hanging on my fireplace!"
The first man raised his right hand and ran a finger across Lucifer's cheek, in an extremely sinister manner. It was like a caress, but it seemed that at any moment it would have turned into a claw. "You taught me something, serpent. To repay you, I will teach you something else. Tell me, do you think you know pain?". His eyes became two bottomless dark pits: "I will teach you that that pain is actually NOTHING!"
Lucifer was left speechless. He was staring at the finger that had just swiped his cheek with a mixture of fear and displeasure. “There's really no hope then” he said finally. "You're a lost cause". He looked him in the eyes again: "We are"
He knew it. He, too, had learned to recognize when something couldn't be saved. Just as Adam had learned to read it in his opponents' eyes.
Just like when Adam had read it in Shenhada's eyes.
Just like when he had read it in the young mapusaur's eyes.
Just like when he read it in Mephisto's eyes.
Those eyes so cold and at the same time so burning, which testified to all the fury and hatred contained in that soul. A hatred that was impossible to extinguish and that would have burnt everything in its path. A hatred that not even the entire ocean would have been able to quench.
Those eyes that had always been his enemies were now Adam's. And Lucifer had understood that there was nothing left to do. Trying to solve the matter with words was useless. Now they were bound by nothing more than a thread of anger and cruelty, which would only have been broken when one of them died.
Adam let out a deep growl, then he turned and leaned against the table. "Go" he ordered. "You have my answer, you have no reason to stay here anymore. I will kill you... but not today"
It was not a concession made out of friendship, pity, kindness, a final farewell. It was only due to the fact that Adam knew he was no match for Lucifer in that moment. If that hadn't been the case, they would have already started fighting. And Lucifer had understood this well too.
Time seemed to slow down around them. Neither of them moved a muscle for what seemed like an eternity. Adam didn't turn around anymore, and Lucifer remained looking at his back.
Maybe Lucifer was hoping that Adam would have turned and looked at him one last time. Maybe he hoped to see those eyes again and the hatred contained in them. Maybe, in his heart, he wanted to really immerse himself in them, and let that fury overwhelm him.
Maybe Adam was hoping that Lucifer would have attacked him from behind, just like he would have done if someone had told him that one day they would have killed him. Perhaps he hoped to feel his fist on his back, a pre-emptive attack dictated by self-preservation for the future. Perhaps he wanted that Lucifer too would have embraced that philosophy of ruthlessness, of striking before the ripple became a tidal wave, of immediately eradicating any potential instance of evil before it became a real danger.
In reality, none of them really knew what they was hoping.
Finally, it was Lucifer who broke the silence again: "Lilith won't give up, you know that, right? As soon as she finds the courage to talk to you again, she will try to talk you out of it. No matter how many times I tell her that there is no hope, she won't stop"
"I know" Adam replied.
"Then please, at least don't hurt her. I know it probably doesn't make a difference to you anymore... but she doesn't deserve it" Lucifer told him. "And neither do her servants, or her guards, or anyone else who comes with her. They are not sinners, they are just hellborns. They were born in Hell... they didn't end up there for their sins. You have no reason to want to kill them"
Adam grunted. "Are you offering me a deal?"
"If you want to try to kill me, fine. I'm not afraid to face you" Lucifer replied. "But I don't want you to hurt my wife. And you don't kill innocents, right? You have no reason to kill them. Promise me you'll leave them alone and I won't stop you, no matter how you handle the sinners"
Adam made a noise that sounded like a cross between a chuckle and disgust. "You really are a wretch" he told him. "The sinners are here because of you, and instead of telling me that if I try to come back you'll stop me, you'd rather make a deal?"
"Yes" Lucifer answered with a lump in his throat. "I know you'll never stop. You can't stop, I understand that. And that's why I prefer to save the little I hold dear by setting some rules. If I would kick you out of Hell, even if you won't be able convince more powerful angels to help you, you'll still find a way to come back, right? You could sneak in here and kill my wife just out of spite. So I prefer to make a deal here and now. I won't stop you as long as you want to punish those who do evil, but let everyone else live"
Adam shook his head with a disapproving expression. "You know, you have many more qualities than me, I'm not afraid to admit it. But there is at least one thing I can always boast of being better than you: no matter the opponent, I have always fought to protect everyone who was under my responsibility, without excluding anything. Never just a part of it"
"Yes" Lucifer confirmed. "Yes, what you say is correct"
There was another long silence, and then Adam blurted out: "Oh, fine. I didn't mean to hurt them anyway. I don't kill innocents... and I don't need to use your wife to make you suffer" he told him. "The hellborns will be officially exempt from the Extermination, and so will your wife. But you make sure they don't cause me any trouble, or I might forget about it"
Technically, up until that point the hellborns had already been unaffected by the Extermination: every year they were smart enough to take a Lifter and leave the Pride Ring, so none of them died, and they returned when it was all over. However, this was the first time it had been decided that they really wouldn't have been persecuted, and that they could also avoid running away once a year and didn't risk having their homes destroyed by the battle.
Adam snorted. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
Lucifer shook his head. “I just wish I could see the future sometimes, or at least imagine it" he answered. “Maybe years ago I would have known I should have stayed away from that tree as much as you did. Then you wouldn’t be this now”
Adam wasn’t moved at all by those words. “Too late, Lucifer. Too late” he said. “You can live in regret as long as you want, nothing will change now”
Lucifer nodded. “I know” he simply replied.
Adam looked at him for a moment longer, and then he turned and opened a portal. “At least you can say you’re the first at something” he said in an extremely acid voice. “No one can ruin other people’s lives like you do”
"Yeah" Lucifer confirmed. “I know that too”
Adam clenched his fists. Perhaps he was hoping for a more heated reaction from the fallen angel. But honestly, deep down, he didn't really care. Without deigning to look at him again, he walked through the portal and back to Heaven, leaving Lucifer alone in the celestial embassy.
As soon as that happened, the world twisted before Charlie's eyes again. In an instant she was still in the celestial embassy, but this time in a cell in the basement. It didn't take her long to realize: "Are we... back to the present?"
Adam nodded. "I have nothing more to show you. You already know the rest of the story" he answered her flatly. "Now you know... and you can understand"
Notes:
Well yes, this is the end of the flashback, the longest flashback I've ever written and honestly I'm happy to have finished it, because believe me it was exhausting. Why was it so long? Apart because it was good, you'll know in the next chapter. Anyway, before someone comes to bother you in the comments, no, this last chapter is not a justification towards Lucifer, it is simply transposing him as a "human being" and not just as a religious symbol. And it serves to definitively highlight the complete transformation of Adam from a man to a ruthless monster, since the way in which Lucifer recognizes that there is no hope for him is the same way in which Adam had recognized in all his enemies that there was no way to save them and one of them had to die. As I had already said before, every enemy that Adam faced was a shadow of the person he would become in the future, and precisely for this reason the scene now repeats itself but with him in the role of the monster, which he does not reject but embraces, inviting Lucifer to look at him carefully and recognize that there is no hope for the story to end without one of them dying.
So, ultimately, is Lucifer right in saying that Adam is a lost cause? Technically yes, because the only reason Adam started to doubt was Pentious, which is something he thought was impossible, whereas if he had never been there he would never have hesitated (he NEVER did it before in fact), which means that Lucifer was right in saying that nothing known could change him anymore. Is Lucifer right in just giving up? Obviously not, because as Lilith points out, Adam is still his responsibility, and so giving up is wrong regardless. As many times, Lucifer is right in theory, but not in practice; in a way he is the exact opposite of Adam, who is often right in practice but not in theory (and that is precisely what makes him wrong).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 49): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162347
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 30): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/164773804
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 103: Adam's plan
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie took a deep breath. After going from the memory to the other, she felt almost alien returning exactly where they started. It felt like she had come home after a long journey. She was almost unsure whether to believe that this was reality or just another memory.
She turned to Adam, not knowing what to say to him. It was rare for her to be truly speechless, usually she always got something out of her mouth even if it wasn't the right thing, but in that moment she was truly completely speechless. She felt like her throat and vocal cords were in a desert.
In the end, she did what she did best: even though the memory of Adam being pissed off was still fresh in her mind and he still scared her a lot, she closed the distance between them and hugged him, resting her face on his chest since she couldn't reach higher. The first man let her do it without saying a word, just patting her on the shoulder a couple of times. "I know it was intense" he told her.
Charlie nodded. "I'm sorry" she said. "You... you didn't have to go through that. No one did. I... I understand you now"
Now she understood why he was so angry.
Now she understood why he was so hateful.
Now she understood why he was so determined.
Adam shook his head, then he pushed her away a little. "I know. But I didn't show you all this because I wanted you to understand me. I don't want your pity, or your kindness, or creating a bridge between us, or any other bullshit you can think of that involves using empathy" he told her. "I showed you this because I wanted you to understand my intentions"
Charlie bit her lip. With all she had seen, she had practically forgotten: Adam had started showing her the past because she had asked him to explain his plan. The first man had told her that everything would be clear to her once they were done. "But... I still don't understand..."
"But now you have the tools to understand" Adam said, staring straight into her eyes with a strange look. "Now that you know all this... now that you've lived it the way I lived it... you can truly understand what I'm going to reveal to you now"
Charlie stiffened. She had seen a lot of bad things in the last... she wasn't even sure how much time had actually passed, it could have been just an hour or a whole week, all that traveling through time had messed up her mind a bit. Either way, she had seen a lot of bad things, but ironically what was about to happen was causing her even more anxiety.
Adam... was really about to tell her his plan?
Everything he had in mind?
Even if they were technically still enemies?
"Are you sure of it?" she couldn't stop herself asking.
"Yes" Adam replied. "You have the right to know... after all, as you said yourself, you're in this too. And I'm certainly not afraid to play with my cards on the table"
A small drop of sweat formed on Charlie's forehead. "I'm listening" she said simply, trying to control her heartbeat.
Adam sighed and folded his arms behind his back. "After the humans continued to do evil even with the death and resurrection of the Messiah, I was angry. I unleashed that anger every year, in each Extermination, punishing them one after the other. But... time sooner or later mitigates anger" he told her. "It doesn't go away... but it loses that explosive and energetic force that it had at the beginning. It becomes more subtle, more controllable. A hundred years, two hundred, three hundred... no matter how angry you are, eventually that anger crystallizes, in a form that cannot be vented through violence. You could say that after a few centuries I found myself again in a state of profound calm, but this time... it was different". His eyes shone slightly: "This time... I didn't want to wait any longer and leave the task to someone else. I wanted the end of this story once and for all... and I wanted to do it in person"
Charlie felt a chill run down her spine at that. Adam could be really scary when he was serious, and after she saw what he could do when he really let loose, she was even more afraid. "So you looked for a way to... eradicate evil?"
"That's right" Adam answered. "I was sure that God had some ultimate plan in mind, that couldn't be all there was to it. There had to be more. I started looking into my past and searching for answers, wondering what the path He was really trying to show me was. I searched for clues in my own experiences and those of many others, trying to find a pattern, an explanation for His actions, to understand where that path was leading, what His ultimate goal was. And finally, after centuries of searching... I came to a deep understanding"
Adam picked up the Bible and handed it to Charlie, inviting her to take it. "You should read it carefully" he said. "Because you know... in the final pages, it talks about the new coming of Christ to Earth"
Charlie's eyes widened, and she took the Bible with a bit of hesitation. "So... Jesus will return?"
"According to the prophecy, yes. He will return to Earth and become the king of the new humanity, a humanity that will be completely good and without suffering, and that he will elevate to the divine" Adam answered her.
"But if that's the case... then one day humanity will truly be free from any suffering!" Charlie exclaimed, even though she felt a bitter taste in her mouth. "One day..."
"Yes. That's exactly the point: one day. Not now, not tomorrow... one day will come, and we don't know when. And in the meantime, millions of innocent people suffer every single day on that depraved planet" Adam told her. "But that's our problem... the problem of all of us limited creations. We don't see the whole picture, we look for simple answers. Tell me, Charlie, why do you think Jesus doesn't come back directly now? Why not during any of the many centuries since his death? What is he waiting for?"
Charlie swallowed. She didn’t know why, but she felt like there was something wrong in the air. “I… I don’t know. I don’t think it’s possible to interpret God’s thoughts…”
“That’s right!” Adam blurted out suddenly, making her jump. “That’s always been our mistake: none of us have ever really tried to understand what God wanted! We’ve just waited and obeyed, leaving all the work to Him! But that’s not what God wants. The more time I spent observing people’s lives, the more I realized that God always shows the way. He doesn’t do it directly… He leaves clues along the path, which need to be listened to and interpreted, but they’re there! And if only they were listened to, a lot of problems wouldn’t exist. But we’re too busy saying that the Lord works in a hyper-scrutable way to really understand what He puts before us! When in fact the entire way is already clear! Charlie… after centuries of searching… I finally understand!”
Charlie clutched the Bible in her hands. If anyone had ever spoke to her like that, she would have thought they were crazy... and she wasn’t completely ruling that hypothesis out. But there was something about Adam, some strange intelligence, that no matter how twisted, made her believe that these were not the ravings of a madman. “Enlighten me” she said simply.
Adam seemed pleased that she was listening. “The Bible talks about the second coming of Christ… but he won’t rule over a filthy world full of evil people. The world that welcomes him will be made up of only good people, worthy of being lifted up” he explained. “And that’s the point. Humanity is still too sinful to welcome Jesus. Why would he come back to a world that won’t listen to him? But if humanity were different… then that would change”
“Are you saying that humanity has to become good?” Charlie asked, starting to see some connections.
"If humanity were to become good, the conditions would be as prophesied: a world ready to welcome Jesus and be led by him" Adam confirmed. "Just as his first coming had specific conditions, so too does his second coming. If we make all these conditions come true... then he will come back, without having to wait who knows how many centuries for events to randomly arrange themselves"
"Are you saying that God left this final prophecy in the Bible so that we could read it and figure out how to make it real?" Charlie asked.
"The prophecy in question is called Revelation, and yes, that is why God left it to us" Adam replied. "To me, to you, to all of humanity. If all people read it and understood that they are the ones who must prepare the world for the second coming of Christ, everything would be easier. But unfortunately, that is not how humanity thinks. So... what we must do is make humanity change. We must make all those who follow evil vanish and leave only good people, so that Jesus can finally come to Earth and uplift humanity, and so no evil person can ever be born again, forever freeing mankind from suffering"
Charlie found herself reluctantly admitting that there was a logic to those words. No matter how many evil people Adam killed, sooner or later new ones would have been born even if their parents were good; one way or another he always found a way to resurface. And as long as there were evil people there would have been suffering for the innocent. But if Adam could create a completely good humanity, even for a short time, Jesus would return as prophesied and elevate him to the divine, thus preventing any future instance of evil and therefore any suffering. It did seem that there was a precise plan. "But how can you make humanity good, or ready to welcome Christ, or whatever the prophecy foresaw? I mean... okay, you can kill the people who make wars or dictatorships, but how can you do anything about the small sins? You are not omniscient, you can't know in advance who is evil and who is good"
"No, I don't. That's why it took me so long to act" Adam replied. "After I realized that I had to fulfill the prophecy to finally erase evil from the universe, I began to study a solution. I knew that I could not find and kill every single evil person, angels far more powerful than me would fail in that task. But I was sure that He had shown me the way somehow, that I just had to figure it out. And finally... putting all the pieces together... I found the way. And that way is precisely the plan I am about to reveal to you"
Charlie narrowed her eyes. Here it was, the moment of truth. "So...?"
"As I told you, the first thing I want to do is kill your father" Adam told her. "I won't tell you how I intend to do it, although I think you and your friends already have a good guess... by putting the various pieces together, I will create a weapon capable of killing even a seraphim. Once your father is dead, he will finally be unable to harm anyone, not now or in the future"
"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" Charlie said almost without thinking, for the first time immediately understanding Adam's logic: Lucifer had caused problems in the past, so it was better to eliminate him to prevent him from causing more in the future.
"I see you're getting the idea" Adam told her, pleased that their trip down memory lane had put them so on the same page. "However, seeing justice done to your father and eliminating the danger he represents is only part of the reason I want him dead. The real reason... is that I want to absorb his authority over Hell"
Charlie's eyes widened: "Authority...?"
"Whoever is the king of this shithole has authority over it. It's some sort of grotesque parody of the real authority on Earth that humanity was supposed to have" Adam explained. "Why do you think Lucifer can decide to put all the sinners in Pride, to the point that the rules of the entire dark realm bend to his will? Because he, being the king, has authority over Hell. An authority that originally belonged to Satan and then he took it for himself when he overthrew him"
"So if he wanted, my father could control all the inhabitants of Hell like puppets?" Charlie asked worriedly.
Fortunately, Adam shook his head: "No, not at all. The authority is over Hell, not the inhabitants. Just as I cannot impose upon the free will of the creatures of Earth even though I have authority over it, so Lucifer cannot simply control the minds of demons. If it were that simple, he would have had no problem capturing me right away, don't you think?"
"Oh... okay" Charlie muttered. "So... what do you need it for? Do you want to use it to kill everyone?"
"If I wanted to do something that simple, I wouldn't need the authority" Adam replied. "Cleaning Hell is something I can do at any time. In fact, I think I'll be done cleaning it by when it's time to kill your father"
Charlie thought there was something strange in that sentence, and she realized that Adam had started explaining his plan to her from the point where he killed Lucifer, leaving out the whole previous part. Even though he had said he wanted to play it with his cards on the table, it seemed like he wanted to keep some secrets... or maybe he expected her to figure it out on her own? Oh well, she was at a loss for words anymore. "So, if you don't want to use it against demons, what do you need this authority for?"
"Very simple" Adam replied. "The authority over a realm can change the rules of such realm... and among those rules, there is also the automatic mechanism by which sinners obtain demon bodies when they come here. Essentially, when a soul stained with evil deeds enters Hell, it automatically acquires a new body based on its sins in life. Well... I intend to take that authority over Hell, and merge it with my authority on Earth"
Charlie's heart skipped a beat. "What? But... is it even possible?"
"It's complicated" Adam answered. "But not impossible"
"But if you do it... then the rules of Hell will apply to Earth!" Charlie exclaimed as he sweatdropped. "Which means that if someone does a bad deed..."
"... they will become a demon right away. That's right" Adam confirmed. "There will be no more veils. Every sinner will show himself for who he is right away"
"It will be a catastrophe!" Charlie protested. "Do you have any idea what would happen? Thousands, maybe millions of people, would turn into demons and be unleashed on Earth! Even if you were to come in right away and kill everyone, they would still cause massive destruction...!"
But Adam didn't seem to be worried at all; instead, he grinned rather sinisterly. "Not if they die right after they transform"
Charlie fell silent. "What... what do you mean?"
Adam's grin only widened. "Let's imagine I killed your father, took his authority, combined it with my own, and then ordered all evil people on Earth to reveal themselves for who they really are. Like you said, that would cause a disaster. But what if all of humanity, without exception, had just moments before injected their blood with a nice mixture containing dust-like fragments of angelic steel, the same material of the angelic weapons?"
It took Charlie a few moments to put the pieces together. When she did, the sweat on her forehead increased exponentially. "Angelic steel has no effect on mortal bodies, and angels, even if killed, are reborn in Heaven... but if a demon had angelic steel circulating in their body, they would die immediately"
"Good, you're right" Adam told her. "And that's exactly what I plan to make happen. I'm going to have all of humanity inject angelic steel into their bodies, and it will stay in their blood like an antibody... and when the time will come I'll use both the authority of Earth and Hell, and all the bad people will become demons, and what's in their blood will kill them directly, without giving them time to hurt anyone. They won't even go to Hell, they'll just disappear like they deserve. And because all of humanity will be affected by this... no evil person will escape this time"
"A perfect genocide" Charlie muttered in a strangled voice, before realizing something: "Wait... it's the same basis as the Great Flood! Kill all the evil people and leave only the good ones alive to start over again..."
Adam nodded smugly. "See? You understand" he said with satisfaction. "Of course, I don't want to start eliminating all the bad people right away, that would cause more problems than benefits. I'll go step by step, piece by piece. First, I'll kill all those who commit the most aberrant crimes, such as murder, rape, or torture: they will never harm anyone again. Then, when humanity has gotten used to it, I'll lower the bar, and I'll kill all those who cheat, trick, deceive, abuse their power, or trade on the lives of others. And then, I'll lower the bar even further and kill all those who annoy others. One after another, I will completely cleanse all humanity of evil"
"Survival of the fittest, but with good deeds instead of organisms" Charlie muttered, feeling increasingly anxious.
Adam's grin widened, revealing his sharp teeth. "Exactly. Natural selection, but in a different way" he said. "What I described, Charlie, that mixture containing angelic steel... that's the new baptism. All of humanity will take it, and then inject it into everyone born in the future. Whenever someone dares to do an evil deed, they will become a demon and die immediately. Eventually, only the humans with the least aptitude for doing evil deeds will reproduce and multiply, while everyone else will disappear at an ever-faster rate, until only good people will remain in the world"
"That's crazy!" Charlie protested again. "Humanity will never accept that stuff being injected into their blood...!"
"Oh, they will. Not only will they accept it, but they will be happy, even those who are evil. And when some of them perish for their sins, they will only rejoice" Adam answered her without a care in the world. "Believe me... humanity will be ready when the time comes. Everyone will be ready"
Charlie closed her mouth and swallowed. Adam was speaking with too much confidence... he really did have a way of convincing humanity to follow his plan. Damn, it was really messed up. And on top of that she realized that that twisted survival of the fittest that Adam planned was nothing but an echo of Job's lineage, who by always passing on the most sacred values of their father who had conquered sin had in the end allowed the birth of Mary, a sinless person, and therefore the Messiah.
Adam grinned for a moment longer, but then he returned serious: "However, for this natural selection to create a truly good humanity that can welcome Christ, just killing the wicked is not enough. There is one last ingredient needed"
"What is it?" Charlie asked him.
"Someone to guide them and make the good shine in their hearts" Adam answered her. "Because you see, Charlie, at the end of this natural selection of mine... the last step will be to eliminate all those who lie. And among them will also be those who behave well not out of their genuine goodness, but out of fear of death. In the end, only those who are truly good will have to remain"
"So you basically want a... biblical patriarch, or a prophet?" Charlie asked rhetorically. "Someone who teaches as many humans as possible to be genuinely good, so as to create the perfect world in which Jesus can descend?"
"Yes. Someone needs to use the carrot, while I'll use the stick. I'll keep people from hurting each other... but someone needs to teach them not to truly want to hurt others in their hearts" Adam confirmed her. "I thought I could fulfill both roles, but I was wrong. When I fell into Hell and used my power on myself, I realized that I'm not the right person for this job. I never have been. I'm not a shepherd, I'm a hunter... I always had been. I kill predators, I don't lead the sweet sheep. Someone else needs to lead humanity to a world that can welcome Christ"
Charlie narrowed her eyes. “And you expect that someone… to be me?”
“You’re the one who wants to help others redeem themselves, right? You’ll just have to change locations” Adam told her. “I’ll leave you on Earth as my herald, and I’ll put you in charge of the Exorcists; I’ll go somewhere else, away from everyone… maybe the Moon, or some isolated island, and I'll gradually lower the bar for what sins are tolerable. The more people you'll convince, the more people you’ll save”
“What makes you think I can do that?” Charlie rightfully asked. “I’m not a genius or something like that, in fact, I don’t even get offended anymore when people call me stupid”
“Yeah…” Adam commented almost sympathetically. “Just like Abel”
Charlie stiffened, "What?"
Adam sighed. "Remember Abel? He was just like you, a little silly but still pure of heart and willing to change the world. And I have no doubt he would have succeeded if only he had the chance. Well, in your case there will be no murderous brother to stand in your way. There will be only you, your good will, and an entire planet willing to listen since my threat will be a good initial incentive anyway"
"Do you want me to teach humans to greet the world with open arms?" Charlie asked rhetorically, but not too much. The trouble was that the more she listened to Adam, the more the plan seemed strangely sensible, and that scared her a lot.
Adam didn't fall for the provocation, and instead gave her an almost encouraging look: "I know it seems absurd to you now and maybe you're even afraid, but I know you're the right person for this. I saw it when I used my power on myself, I felt your emotions as you tried to protect those you believed you had a responsibility for. I have no doubt that you are the right person to lead humanity into the right future that awaits it" he told her. "Think about what you could do. Instead of wasting your time redeeming people who have made innocent people suffer and do not deserve any salvation, you could spend your time educating ordinary people to become truly good. Tomorrow Earth could be populated by people who focus on bringing food to the hungry, repairing the damage caused by wars, repairing the climate. With the technological and magical knowledge that I possess and that you could pass on to humans, we could erase disease, tumors, cancer... we could increase the lifespan, bring back to life the extinct animals and plants, create a new Eden as Abel dreamed. All this while the evil people who might oppose all this will simply be erased. Isn't that a project worth fulfilling?"
Charlie didn't know what to say to him. She didn't even know what she was thinking anymore, actually. "Is that why you want me to become the Head Exorcist? Because you want your soldiers to come with me to Earth and... do good deeds?"
"I want you to take the Exorcists with you so you can teach them to be protectors again, not just exterminators" Adam replied. "Through you, they will rediscover their true nature. Using your powers on them, you can show them their mistakes and allow them to return to their original state. You can do this with them and with the humans too. I'm sure that when Jesus comes to Earth, he will recognize this and give them back the angelic appearance that they lost because of me"
Charlie dug her nails into her arms, trying in vain to calm the frantic beating of her heart. That plan was as simple as it was complex, and as cruel as it was logical: eliminate all the wicked and make the good shine to the fullest, so that Jesus would return to Earth and definitively elevate humanity to a higher level, freeing it from any possible future suffering. A plan that brought together all the elements that had most marked Adam's life, so much so that it was really difficult not to see some sort of divine project in it.
Seeing her so uncertain, Adam continued speaking: "I know it seems like a ruthless plan to you now, but this is the only way. Remember what I told you? Earth is your world, and it is suffering, but we can eliminate that suffering. If you and I work together and put the pieces together well, we will complete every prophecy and prepare the planet for the second coming of Jesus. Once he arrives I can even stop using the death threat, because it will be the final end of evil. Humanity will be free from pain, you will redeem the Morningstar name, the Exorcists will regain their true form and their home, and only good people will remain"
Charlie looked up, staring into his eyes. "Yes..." she muttered through gritted teeth. "... except you"
Adam didn't deny it for the first time. He was silent for a moment, and then he said to her: "I'm sorry, Charlie. But if there's one thing life has taught me, it's that either you're the good guy, or you're the guy who saves the world. You can't be both, not in this corrupt universe"
Charlie clenched her fists. "The... physical training you're making me do..." she muttered, referring to their battle on Earth. "... it's not just to awaken my powers to help the Exorcists and the humans, right? You want an insurance. You want to be sure that there will be someone capable of killing you if you... will go too far"
Adam nodded sadly. "I don't trust anyone. Especially myself" he answered her. "I'm well aware of how easy it is to cross dangerous lines, and after I used my powers on myself I realized how many mistakes I've made over the years. You and your girlfriend are examples of that. But I can't afford to let anything go wrong this time, it's too important. So if I were to go crazy halfway through the course, I'd need someone who could not only defeat me, but also mimic my authority on Earth so that they could continue where I left off"
"And I can do that with my powers" Charlie commented. "What if you make it to the end?"
"Then it will be up to God to decide what to do with me. Whatever He decides, I'll be fine with it" Adam answered her. "If He decrees that I'm still unworthy, then that will be my end. If I have to be the last monster, so be it. The first man and the last sinner, very fitting, don't you think?"
Charlie bit her lip. “And even then, if you can’t do it yourself, you’re going to need someone to kill you” she said, remembering their conversation back on Earth.
Adam nodded. “A weapon is never meant to be used only once, Charlie. I never said I was building that just for your father” he told her. “As I told dear Carmilla when I went to get her, it’s going to be something that can kill even a fake god"
Charlie narrowed her eyes. She wanted to tell him that there was serious trouble with this plan... but honestly, she couldn't blame Adam for preparing this sort of insurance for the future. After everything she had seen happen and do, she found it really hard to blame him. It felt like her mind had stopped working properly.
Adam approached her, looking her straight in the eyes: "I've been preparing for this for centuries, I thought I had considered everything, I prepared the perfect plan... but then, what did I miss? Why was a demon able to go to Heaven? What is the purpose? What is He trying to tell me?"
Charlie shook her head: "I... don't know" she admitted in a low voice.
Adam sighed. "Yes... I thought so" he murmured. "I assume it's a lot to digest, so go ahead. Take your time to think and discuss with your friends. If you want to talk to me again, you know where to find me"
Charlie didn’t give a second opinion. Honestly, she really needed to stop and think for a moment. After a final exchange of glances, she walked over to the cell door and opened it, and walked away, leaving Adam alone.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 50): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155162401
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 30): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/164773804
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 104: Discussion
Notes:
I feel compelled to clarify this: when Adam said in the last chapter that he intended to kill anyone who annoys others, he didn't mean that he intended to kill anyone who talks too much or calls you too often. Unfortunately, this was a translation error, since in Italian it is "infastidire il prossimo", which in English is translated as "annoy others"; however, the meaning is very different. The real meaning would be "those who verbally persecute others to the point of hurting them", basically the equivalent of verbally bullying or imposing social pressure on a person, all actions that, as we unfortunately know, can cause serious damage to people's psyches. So no, Adam doesn't plan to kill annoying people, but those who actually contribute to ruining others even in non-violent ways. It's still a low bar, but not that low. Also, and this is also something you have to keep in mind, Adam's plan doesn't happen all in one day. As Adam himself has specified, he intends to give humanity time to adapt, since he wants to carry out a real natural selection using Charlie to push as many people as possible on the right track. The "time to adapt" could be a century or it could be a millennium, so humanity when he lowers the bar could be very different from what it is today precisely because of Charlie's constant presence. Therefore, when the time comes to "kill everyone who lies", liars could already be an absolute minority of the population. Keep this in mind because it helps to understand why the characters don't react to Adam's plan with "oh my God, this guy wants to kill people just because they're annoying, he's crazy". Up until this point, Adam has only talked about killing people who actually hurt, even if only indirectly. There, that was it: sorry for this preface, but it had to be specified.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie had walked backwards literally without thinking; if someone had put a pole in front of her she would surely have crashed into it. Her mind should have been occupied by a thousand thoughts, but in truth it had now become blank; nothing formed inside it, leaving her only with an infinite sensation of emptiness. It was as if almost all of her brain had shut down, leaving her with only a very thin layer of neurons, just enough to perform motor functions and put one foot in front of the other.
When she returned upstairs, of course, her friends were waiting for her, still with the magic screen on, through which Adam could be seen once again sitting placidly in a corner of his cell, silent and static as before. As soon as she entered, Lilith and Vaggie came towards her: "Are you okay?" they asked.
Charlie breathed deeply. That brief interaction was able to awaken her ability to think a little, at least to allow her to understand what was happening around her. "I think... I need to sit down for a second" she replied simply.
Lucifer made a chair appear for her, and she did not hesitate to lean on it. She felt that her legs would not have been able to support her much longer if she had tried to stand. Her father tried to say something, but Charlie immediately stopped him: "Not a word"
Lucifer bit his tongue: "Uh..."
"Not. A. Word" Charlie repeated, enunciating the words very well to make her state of mind clear. "From you and from Mom. I need to reflect"
Lucifer and Lilith looked at each other, and then they both nooded and left her space. There was a long moment of silence, and then it was Angel who broke it: "Well... that was intense"
"Absolutely" Husk agreed with him for once. Even his usual impassive face had vanished, a sign that he too had been shaken. "Well, I understand a lot of things now... but damn, I'm glad he's been treating us with kid gloves so far. If he'd started doing to us what he did to that Mephisto, he'd have made us regret being born"
"I liked that part" Niffty said.
Husk put a hand to his face. "Keep it to yourself, please" he replied to her, who stared at him innocently as if she didn't understand the reason for such grumpiness.
Charlie almost ignored her friends, just staring at the magic screen. Adam had gone back to reading the Bible, probably looking for an answer to his questions. And she wasn't the only one: Emily was also sitting in the corner, staring blankly at the first man. "Did you know?" she couldn't help but ask.
Emily looked down in response. "No... I mean... I knew about the Messiah and the Great Flood... but I didn't know Adam's role in all of this..."
"Why? You thought the man who literally created humanity lived a life of luxury on a primordial Earth and once in Heaven ignored all of his descendants?" Lute commented sourly with her arms crossed. "Good morning, welcome back to real life"
Both Emily and Charlie looked away. Michael, on the other hand, stared at Lute, who was the only one who wasn't shocked, even after Adam's final revelation: "So you already knew everything"
"Of course I knew everything" Lute replied. "Adam told me a long time ago. He needed someone to confide in, and he certainly couldn't go to a therapist"
"Did you also know about his plan to bring the Messiah back to Earth?" Sera asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lute didn't even try to hide: "Yes, he told me"
"And it didn't occur to you that maybe you should have warned us!?" Sera snapped. "What Adam is doing is dangerous...!"
"Yeah, so what? At least he's doing something. The same can't be said for you" Lute replied angrily. "My loyalty is to him, not to you. And it's to him because he's not afraid to act. And honestly, I like his plan"
Sera was clearly annoyed by this attitude, but before she could speak Vaggie asked: "He told you that after he gave you the test, right?"
Lute's eyes narrowed even more than usual. "So he actually gave you the test" she said harshly. "So, who was yours? Mafia boss? Serial rapist? Murderous human organ dealer?"
"Um... abusive father" Vaggie answered a little reluctantly.
"Just that? You were lucky" Lute said, rolling her eyes. "Mine was a gang of bastards who kidnapped children from their homes to sell them as slaves, sex objects, or even mangled bodies sold as pork. It was in China in 1136, I remember that date perfectly"
"Yeah, Adam told me something like that" Vaggie admitted, remembering the words the first man had said to her on Earth.
Lute snorted in annoyance. "So he's really going to bring you back into the fold, mh?" she commented. "But yeah, to answer your question, he told me about his plan after that. That's why I totally agree"
"Um... excuse me?" Emily interrupted with a thin voice. "What are you girls talking about?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too" Sera said with her arms crossed.
Vaggie sighed, then revealed: "Basically, on Earth Adam... showed me how horrible life is for some people because of those who torture them... and then he made me kill the culprit. And he did the same to Lute a while back"
"What!?" Sera exclaimed. "He can't do that! How did he sneak to Earth!?"
"Oh, come on, do you really think that in all these centuries there hasn't been some trick prepared to screw you?" Lute grumbled. "Your surveillance is a real piece of shit, let me tell you. Adam has his secret ways to get to Earth"
"Angels can't interfere on Earth without divine order, you know that!" Sera protested.
"But he's not an angel, he's a human soul. He has wings, but he's still the father of humanity" Lute replied. "The Earth is his domain, he has the right to do what he wants on it and bring whoever he wants there. If he tells me to go there, I obey"
That logic was... strangely accurate, in a way, and Sera found herself closing her mouth, albeit with a great deal of irritation. Since she didn't respond, Michael spoke up: "So, if he told you everything..."
"He would have told you too, but he knows you are loyal to the Eternal Father and would never do anything without His permission... like forcing the prophecies to come true. He doesn't blame you for it, but he chose to exclude you knowing you would have tried to stop him" Lute told him.
Michael didn't show any signs of being comforted or not; only sternness was present on his face. "If you know everything, then do you also know how he intends to do all this? He explained the general idea of the plan, but he didn't give any information on how he intends to fulfill the various prophecies"
"Or how he intends to kill me" Lucifer pointed out.
But Lute shook her head, "I couldn't tell you even if I could, because I don't know that part either. I have no idea how he wants to make the prophecies come true or what weapon he wants to build. Adam himself never gave me any sign that he was completely clear on that part of the plan. I think he wanted to have a perfect blueprint before telling me about it. And then he ended up here in Hell, and suddenly it seems like he knows exactly what to do, knows where to go to find what he needs, and doesn't hesitate to even use demons..."
"Yeah... it could have been my fault" Charlie muttered, remembering that it was because she had shown Adam the trident that he had finally discovered where to find what he was looking for. "As for him using demons... well, it could have been because he used his powers on himself. You saw it too, it's like he had no barriers left. If it hadn't been for Pentious he wouldn't have even had a doubt"
Lute snorted. "Well... it's possible" she said, and deep down she seemed a little happy to believe that she hadn't been excluded voluntarily. "Although I don't know what he sees in you, little princess, or why he thinks you're the right person for this job... but if he's decided that way, he must have his reasons"
Charlie put a hand to her face. "It's really unnerving" she admitted. "This is all... I don't know, I can't even figure out how...!"
"Can it work?" Vaggie suddenly asked.
Everyone whipped around to look at her. "What?" Sera muttered, looking a little confused.
Vaggie blushed a little from all the attention, but still she asked: "Adam's plan to bring Jesus back to Earth... can it work? Can he actually... how should I put it... force the prophecy to come true?"
Michael and Sera looked at each other for a moment, not sure how to answer. Finally she said: "Well... no one's ever tried that before, but... technically, a prophecy must always come true if the conditions are met. It's always happened before"
"So if Adam... um... takes all the prophecies and makes them come true... will Jesus come back to Earth?" Vaggie asked, her voice shaking.
"It's been prophesied that Jesus will return, and when he does, he will uplift all humanity and free them from mortal suffering forever" Michael confirmed. "So if Adam were indeed able to make every prophecy come true... yes, Earth will be made pure again and humanity wjll return to its original splendor and glory, just as at the beginning of time"
Vaggie bit her lip and looked down, clearly thinking hard about something. Charlie walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder: "Honey, what's wrong?"
Vaggie sighed deeply. "Maybe we shouldn't stand in his way" she said.
Charlie's eyes widened: "What are you talking about!? He's going to kill a lot of people...!"
"... and your father, too, I know!" Vaggie stopped her quickly. "But maybe we can... come to a compromise with him"
While the angels were maintaining a certain neutrality, the demons weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were looking at her like she was crazy. "I can't follow you" Angel finally admitted.
"Okay, try to focus!" Vaggie exclaimed, and she tried to explain as best she could: "We know that Adam wants to free humanity, and no matter what we say or do to him, he won't stop until he does it. He can't just sit back... and I honestly can't blame him, after what I've seen on... well..."
Charlie looked down. She knew what Vaggie was trying to say: after she'd been to Earth and seen what was there, she couldn't blame Adam for wanting to do something about it. And honestly, Charlie was having a hard time remembering what she'd seen and been through there. Every time she thought about it, her heart started to bleed, and some sneaky part of her kept telling her that Adam was right. "I know. Keep going" she said to her girlfriend.
Vaggie was a little surprised, but then she realized that Charlie had really understood her. After a brief look of gratitude, she explained: "As I said, Adam will never stop as long as there are people suffering on Earth... but maybe we can convince him not to destroy everything else along the way"
"That's all very good, but... his plan is based on literally eradicating all evil" Husk rightfully pointed out.
"Yeah, but that's not what Adam cares about! Adam cares about humans not suffering anymore!" Vaggie exclaimed. "We can convince him to do this: Lucifer gives him his authority over Hell, either voluntarily or through some agreement, but instead of making everyone drink angel dust, Adam can simply decree that anyone who is a demon is banished from Earth, so as soon as they transform they will all end up here. And we can modify Hell, turning it into some sort of giant Hazbin Hotel..."
"You want to make this the Hazbin Hotel?" Angel asked skeptically. "How do we do that, excuse me?"
"I'm winging it, okay!? We'll get to the details later!" Vaggie snapped. "What I'm saying is, now that Pentious is here and Adam knows about redemption, we can use it to convince him to give sinners another chance. Let him turn Earth into his perfect paradise, and in the meantime, we handle everyone who ends up here and help them redeem themselves. After all, except for the initial wave, they'll all have one sin on their conscience! It won't be that hard to change them enough to get them to Heaven, I mean... we did it with Pentious, who before was running around in a blimp blowing up entire chunks of the city, we can do it with a sinner who only has one sin on them, right?"
This time the others were more perplexed. "Well... you can't say he's wrong" Pentious admitted, since he hadn't exactly been a paragon of righteousness.
"But what about the danger of demons buying souls?" Angel asked. "Adam won't risk them getting too strong and having another... well, you know, what happened before the Great Flood"
"We can keep them separated" Vaggie offered. "We can... yeah, we can basically build sealed houses all over the Pride Ring and give one to a sinner every time they come. We'll only have them physically interact during group activities, the rest of the time they can't, and therefore they can't sell or buy souls. And if they get lonely... well, it's the twenty-first century, give them an internet connection and they'll talk online"
"So, to recap..." Husk commented. "Your idea is to let Adam do whatever he wants on Earth, but convince him to send the sinners here, where we'll build some sort of mega-rehab center mixed with a prison and redeem them?"
"Said in this way, it almost sounds brilliant" Pentious admitted.
"Because it could work! Sure, there are holes in this idea, but if we think about it carefully, we can fill them!" Vaggie told them. "Everyone can come out as winners: humans will no longer have to suffer unjustly, Earth will be beautiful again, the sinners will live and we will fix them! No one dies... except maybe the worst of the worst... Adam is satisfied and no longer a threat, we don't have a madman running wild in our house, and everyone lives happily ever after! What do you think?" she asked, looking at the angels.
They were a little embarrassed to be called out. "Well... I don't know. Meddling with the cosmic order is not our style" Michael replied. "But... if it actually worked, you're right in saying that everyone would come out as winners. But we should ask the Almighty..."
"Excuse me, does anyone here remember the part where Adam kills me?" Lucifer pointed out. "What do we do about that?"
"That's the only part I would leave unchanged" Michael grumbled.
Lucifer's eyelid fluttered. "Listen to me, you little shit...!"
"You can make a deal with him!" Vaggie exclaimed, using the first idea that came to mind to nip any argument in the bud. "Yeah... yeah, right! You can offer him your authority over Hell and everything he needs in exchange for giving up his vengeance!"
"I'm pretty sure that's justice for Adam" Charlie pointed out.
"Well... give up on kill your father regardless of the reasons then!" Vaggie replied. "And we can convince him by telling him that we need Lucifer to build houses to keep sinners since he can make buildings appear out of thin air. Well, we can make him our manager..."
"But I don't know how to be a manager!" Lucifer protested.
Charlie stopped her by putting her hands on her shoulders: "Honey, are you okay?"
Vaggie realized her breathing had become louder. "I... I'm just trying to get everyone to agree!" she replied. "Why are you all so reluctant!?"
"Well, that's not exactly a decision you can take lightly!" Angel pointed out. "We're talking about the fate of an entire world... well, two... whatever!"
"I'm not asking you to take this lightly, I'm asking you to think about how you're going to act instead of making pointless speeches for hours!" Vaggie replied testily.
Charlie noticed Vaggie's breathing was getting faster again: "Honey..."
"Don't call me that!" Vaggie snapped angrily. "Tell me why you still don't give any clear answers? You're the one who believes in peace and harmony! You should be happy to have someone who has thought of how to get them forever!"
Charlie bit her lip: "Vaggie, anyway, I'm not sure Adam's plan is the right way..."
"Well, I don't care!" Vaggie yelled in her face. "At least he has an idea to fix all the mess on Earth! What's your idea!?"
Charlie's eyes widened. Vaggie probably only realized what she had said then, and she seemed tempted to put her hand over her mouth, but despite that she maintained eye contact and didn't lose her determined look. "Vaggie, what's wrong with you?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie gritted her teeth and partly her fists. "I can't just leave Adam in a cage and leave everything just the way it is now! Fuck... on Earth I saw a little girl who literally could barely move from how much pain she was in, and she begged me to take her to Heaven because life was too horrible for her! And who knows how many others are in the same situation right now! I don't want all the sinners to die... but I can't just leave Earth the way it is now! I'm still an angel, I can't just sit back and pretend I didn't see anything!"
Charlie closed her mouth. Damn, she was having a really hard time finding the words. "I know it sucks" she admitted. "But... I'm not sure forcing a prophecy is the right way..."
"Why not? What is a prophecy if not a prediction of an event that will happen? Who cares how it happens!" Vaggie replied. "And even if it doesn't work, even if Jesus doesn't come back to Earth, at least humanity won't be in danger of evil spreading like a germ anymore, because all the bad guys will be discovered and stopped right away since their expulsion from the planet would be a natural event! That's a lot better than letting millions of innocent people suffer every day, don't you think!?"
Charlie remained silent, not saying anything else, feeling her heart grow heavier. Vaggie waited for her reply, but when she realized that she wasn't going to answer, she let out a huff: "I don't care if humanity is elevated to divine or not, I just want to be able to go to sleep without knowing that this is happening on Earth right now! Just like you don't want to go to sleep knowing that your people are being killed! We both just want to do something, so why do you act like leaving everything the way it is is the best option, when you were literally the first one to want to change everything!?"
There was silence again. Vaggie and Charlie looked at each other intently. Neither of them knew what else to say.
And then Lute's laughter shook them. "Sorry" she said, putting a hand over her mouth, though she didn't hide the fact that she was still grinning. "It's just... I take back everything I said when I first saw you two together. There's nothing vile or blasphemous about your relationship. You two are definitely made for each other!"
Vaggie's eyelid fluttered at the teasing. "Oh, fuck you" she said to her former co-worker, and then she turned and stalked off with clenched fists, closing the door behind her.
Charlie put her hands over her face, and Angel patted her shoulder. "Damn, this is a shitty situation" was all the spider demon could say.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 51): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159574732
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 30): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/164773804
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 105: The snake and the man (part 1)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie remained silent as Angel tried to reassure her: "Vaggie is just very upset... we all are. Give her some time..."
"Yeah, she's just going through the phase of being angry and resentful" Lute commented in a bored voice. "It won't last more than a week. Then she'll learn to toughen her heart and keep a clear mind despite her deep contempt for evil beings. Killing some scumbags should accelerate the process"
Angel looked at her shocked: "That sounds even worse!"
Lute shrugged: "What can I say? That's how it went with me"
"Now I understand a lot of things" Angel muttered sourly.
Charlie barely listened to the brief conversation. Her heart ached. She couldn't blame Vaggie for snapping like that: the longer it went on, the more she felt like someone was putting a burden on her back. It was a miracle that it was only Vaggie who had given in to the tension. Charlie felt like she was drained of energy, like a parasite was eating her from the inside...
... but any thoughts she had were cut short as Pentious crawled past her so fast it felt like he was running even though he had no legs: "I have to go to Adam!"
"Wait, what?" Sera responded. "You can't...!"
"It's important!" Pentious yelled back, and he closed the door behind him before anyone could react.
Everyone was shocked. "What's gotten into him?" Angel asked, looking at Cherri.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. He was serious the whole time we were arguing, and then suddenly he puffed out his chest as if he was giving himself courage, put on a determined expression, and ran away”
That answer caused even more confusion, since it meant that Pentious had thought before running headlong to the man who had once killed him. And judging by the way they saw him rushing into the dungeon through the magical screen, it was clear that he had been running the whole time in order to maintain the determination he had acquired.
Adam of course wasn't expecting anyone else to show up, and in fact he almost jumped as the door swung open... especially since Pentious didn't exactly open it silently. "My lord Adam the First!" he exclaimed, striking a military stance like he always did when talking to important people. "Forgive my intrusion! We need to talk!"
Adam was so shocked that the Bible fell into his hands. "Um... hello?"
"We're technically late to introduce ourselves, but still, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Pentious continued in a shrill, almost shouting voice. "Please be understanding despite our less than stellar history!"
Adam continued to look at him, somewhat bewildered. "Um... are you like this normally, or are you having a stroke?" he asked, and he wasn't being ironic.
Pentious regained his composure... well, at least he tried, although his movements remained stiff as if he were a years-old automaton, and his language remained that of a soldier from the nineteenth century: "My lord Adam the First, forgive my completely unsolicited intrusion, but there are things I thought it was important to share with you...!"
"Can you talk like a normal person?" Adam murmured, and from his look he still seemed to be wondering if the person in front of him didn't have a serious mental problem. "So maybe I can understand what you're saying..."
"Sir, yes, sir!" was Pentious's quick response. "I mean we need to talk! Man to man! And I finally had sex with the woman I love, so now I can surely call myself a man!"
It was clear that he had added that last sentence for personal pride, but Adam, despite the confusion that the snake caused him, chuckled. "Look at you... you're not a virgin anymore and that makes you feel so fearless?"
"I've seen things a man can only imagine" Pentious said resolutely. "I've been on the brink of death a second time and I came out alive and well. I could knock out an elephant right now!"
"Etchoo!" Cherri sneezed in the room as she heard those words.
Angel looked at her best friend with a little fear in the eyes. "No, seriously, what did you do to him?" he asked her.
Cherri shrugged. "I was in the mood, okay? Go through weeks of mourning without sex and then suddenly have your man come back from the dead, and then you can judge me"
Angel took a step back. "Really, you scare me sometimes... and I'm a porn actor, so I know what I'm talking about"
"If you're done with the dirty secrets, I want to listen" Husk told them, rubbing his temples, not wanting to hear any more nonsense.
In the dungeon, Adam had finally stood up and walked to the edge of his cell, looking at Pentious with some interest. "Okay, little shit, you're really weird, but you're still one of the things that's on my mind right now. I'm listening..."
"That's what I want to talk about!" Pentious cut him off abruptly, much to the first man's annoyance. "You're crazy, Charlie's sad, everyone's worried and fighting is starting, so let's solve this right here and now! Or at least try!"
Adam was silent for a long moment. "No, seriously, are you sure you didn't snort something really strong before you came in here?" he asked. "You talk way too fast not to be drugged out of shit"
"I talk like that when I'm nervous!" Pentious protested. "Don't judge me, you're still the man who killed me! I have a right to be nervous! I had the balls to come here and talk to you, give me at least that much!"
Adam was about to retort with one of his witty barbs, but thought better of it. "Yes" he admitted. "I have to give you that. It takes guts to stay here alone with me"
"Oh! Thank you!" Pentious exclaimed, puffing out his chest.
Adam rolled his eyes. "Do you want to come in too?" he invited him with a mocking smile.
And as he had expected, Pentious immediately replied: "Oh, I'm not crazy! I'm not Charlie, I want to at least have a wall between us! My spine is fine where it is!"
Adam burst out laughing. Seriously, it was too easy. He felt like he was talking to a child of no more than five years old.
Despite his embarrassment, Pentious quickly recovered: "Anyway, Mr. Adam, we need to talk now! We need to discuss my... condition, and come to a conclusion! As a man of science, it is my duty to help you find answers to your many questions!". And with that he turned to a corner of the wall: "And you guys, listen up! Let's all stop arguing and try to figure out what happened to me! It's the best move!"
In the upper room, an awkward silence had formed. Silence that was broken after a few seconds by Angel: "Um... you think I should go tell him that he's looking at the wrong wall and that he's currently turning his back on us?"
"Oh, come on, it's not his fault! His intentions are good, he can't see the divine screen" Emily told him, even though honestly she felt terribly uncomfortable too.
Luckily Sera saved the day with a snap of her fingers, shifting the screen's view one hundred and eighty degrees, allowing them to see Pentious' face. "Ah, much better!" Angel commented with satisfaction. "Damn, these things are so useful!"
Charlie was alert again. She still hadn't recovered from the intense experience she'd been through, in fact she hadn't recovered at all, especially not from the argument with her girlfriend (even if it had technically been more of a difference of opinion), but she still forced herself to kick her poor tired mind and force it to stay focused. In fact, the fact that Pentious had ended up in Heaven was the only thing that had finally made Adam question his actions; if it had never happened, the first man probably would never have even hesitated a little. So investigating the matter was imperative.
Adam seemed to think the same way, because even though he was leaning on the wall of the cell nonchalantly as if he were detached, his gaze was still very sharp. "How do you intend to help me get to the bottom of this mystery? From what I understand, you don't even know how you ended up up there"
"No, I don't know" Pentious admitted. "But up until now we haven't even tried to investigate this in depth, since we were busy with a thousand other things"
"Like fucking your woman?" Adam asked him rhetorically.
"It was a really important thing, I don't regret anything!" was Pentious' response.
Adam shrugged. "Yes, I understand you. I would have done the same" he admitted without any shame. "So you want to question yourself about this thing... with me?"
"Well, you're the crazy maniac who wants to commit a genocide like Light Yagami, it's you that I have to convince" Pentious replied.
Adam's eyes widened: "Genocide like what?"
"Oh, it's an anime series that Niffty forced us to watch a few months ago. It's about a psychopath who receives a notebook from a guy who looks like a dystopian version of The Crow of Brandon Lee and uses it to kill all the criminals" Pentious explained to him. "Niffty wanted to watch all the episodes, it cracked her up with laughter"
"Why? Is it a comedy?" Adam asked.
"No, it's a psychological thriller with a lot of violence, cruelty and manipulation" Pentious answered.
Adam looked at him confused: "But didn't you just say that...?"
"Yes. Niffty laughed. A lot" Pentious confirmed him, while a shiver of terror ran down his spine. "And I better not tell you what she did when we watched The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas..."
For once even Adam was speechless, looking at his interlocutor wondering if he was serious or teasing him. "Are you sure you didn't snort three kilos of powder before you came in here? Seriously, you're too weird"
"Yeah, a lot of people tell me that" Pentious confirmed. "So, shall we get started?"
Adam shook his head. "Look, let's say that for the sake of curiosity I decide to further damage my sanity and listen to you; how do you expect to start? I don't even know who you are, and with my powers blocked I can't see what dirty secrets you have in your past"
Pentious seemed to brighten: "You're right... so let's start by getting to know each other better!"
Adam looked at him, dazed: "What?"
"I know a lot about you now" Pentious explained. "So, it's my turn to do a good flashback!"
Adam put a hand to his face: "I have to ask: how long will it be?"
"Um... I don't know, I've always been told I tend to be quite long-winded" Pentious replied. "It might take a while"
"Try to keep it short" Adam grumbled.
"I watched you kill dinosaurs for two hours, I think you can handle me talking for a few dozen minutes" Pentious rightfully opined.
"Yeah, but that was at least cool" Adam replied. "I doubt there's anything in your past that interesting to..."
"It doesn't matter! Just fucking listen to me!" Pentious exclaimed in a voice that sounded quite exasperated. The tension in his body had probably reached extreme levels even for him. "Listen... I'm not a thinker, nor a philosopher, nor a theologian. I'm just a man of science. But I really want to help you solve the mystery that I represent. I'm sure you've already figured it out, but my friends up there are already starting to fight, and I don't want that, okay? So now I'm going to do everything in my power to figure this out and make sure you don't cause more trouble than you already have. If you don't want to listen to me, fine, just sit in that cell and ignore me, but I'll stay here, talking even after my tongue is dry if necessary, and I can be very, very persistent! So shut your mouth, open your ears, and listen to my fucking flashback!"
Silence fell between them. Pentious was shaking slightly, but still refused to look down. Adam had a look of surprise and a bit of admiration on his face. "Since when did you get balls?" he asked after a few moments.
"If I said it wasn't because I finally got a beautiful woman and survived a whole night with her, I'd be lying" Pentious replied.
Adam let out a deep grunt. "Okay" he said. "You've piqued my interest, I admit. So, tell me how you ended up down here"
Pentious took a deep breath. "Because I've killed a lot of people" he revealed in a gravely voice.
Adam's eyes widened: "What? Are you a mass murderer?"
"No! No, not in that sense" Pentious specified. "I've never killed anyone directly. But... still a lot of people have died because of me"
Adam was much more attentive now. His gaze was completely serious. "Tell me" he ordered.
Pentious closed his eyes and clenched his fists slightly. He seemed to be summoning all his strength not to hesitate at that moment when he had to lay himself bare. "I was born in England, in the year 1831" he began. "I was the young scion of a noble family. Nothing too serious: a middle-class family, not too low to worry about money but not too high to have political weight either; a fairly decent income; a nice house in the city, another house in the country... in short, the classic English noble family. I grew up in our house on the moors, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, studying everything I wanted, especially mechanics. I was good... very good. I was talented. By the time I was a teenager, I was already acclaimed by many scientists of the time as a great inventor, I even collaborated partially with some of them to help them with their inventions. The one I remember with the most pride was Innocenzo Manzetti"
Adam was surprised: "Really? The precursor of the telephone?"
"That's right. He visited my house in 1847 and I helped him perfect some wires. It was a small job, but... I can be proud of it" Pentious confirmed, though he then frowned. "I could have used my inventiveness and skills to help people. I could have built inventions that would make farm work easier, that would increase food production, that would help paraplegics... but I didn't. Because I didn't want that. I didn't want just the admiration and gratitude of people. I wanted more. I wanted power"
Adam crossed his arms. “I’ve seen enough shit to know that these are the words of someone who’s going to screw up in the next scene”
“Because they are” Pentious confirmed, his fists clenching even more. "My first regret came when I was eighteen, in 1849. Like every scion of a noble family, I had an arranged marriage. I had been lucky: the woman I was to marry was a friend of mine, we had known each other since we were children. There was no deep love between us... but we got along well enough to stay married without hating each other. However, on my eighteenth birthday, someone came to my house. He was another squire, the son of people of higher rank, and he told me he wanted to marry the woman who had been promised to me. I knew him: he was a little older than me, a notorious frequenter of brothels, and it was said that he had also been responsible for some violence. He had seen my fiancée on the street and had decided that he wanted to have her all to himself. He told me that he was even ready to challenge me to a duel if necessary. I had often imagined a similar scene, in my dreams, and each time I played the hero... but at that moment, I backed away. I did not I didn't even try to fight. Instead of protecting the woman who, even if I didn't love her, was still a dear friend, I gave her up without thinking twice. Not out of fear, no... I was afraid, but not so much that it stopped me from fighting; I had backed away because I had made a mental calculation, and I knew that my rival, even if he had lost, would have made life difficult for my family and especially for me, cutting off any career I might have attempted. I didn't want to risk losing my climb to power before it even started. I told myself that my friend was already destined for a loveless marriage, and that it was better for her to marry the son of a rich family rather than someone who would surely have had a difficult life if he had opposed him. So I gave her to him. And I will never forget the betrayed look she gave me when I backed away"
Adam let out a deep grunt of disgust. "What man doesn't fight for what he cares about?" he asked scornfully.
"Yes, that's what my father too told me that day" Pentious said. "But I didn't care, and instead, now that I no longer had a bride, I decided to start my own social climb. I went to Liverpool and joined the army. My mechanical skills and strategic mind, as well as my good family background, made it easy for me to rise through the ranks. Once I reached the rank of major, I knew I needed an opportunity to continue, a chance to prove myself. And that opportunity came in 1853"
"1853... the Crimean War" Adam commented.
"That's right. I knew that if I could prove my skills in the field, my future rise would be rapid. Once I reached the rank of field marshal, I could easily marry a woman of high family and enter Parliament, and with my mechanical skills now properly funded, I could become the richest and most influential man in all of Europe. With this plan, I welcomed the coming of war very gladly" Pentious said, and then his tone became grave again: "The day before we embarked on the ships, or rather, the night before... when I returned to my house, I found someone waiting for me. It was the woman I was supposed to marry, the friend I had abandoned. She was four months pregnant and her face clearly showed the signs of the torture her violent husband inflicted on her daily. She begged me to take her with me, away from Great Britain. She was prepared to face any horror that came her way, even the war, to take her unborn child away from that bastard. She begged me in every way, she started crying, she even knelt down and hugged my legs. She was desperate, she absolutely wanted to escape"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "And what did you do?" he asked.
Pentious took a deep breath and looked furious with himself. "Nothing" he replied with a lot of acidity in his voice. "I could have saved her that day. I could have smuggled her onto a ship, or said she was my secret lover. I could have stopped for just ten minutes somewhere in any point of the Mediterranean, left her in Algeria or Morocco or Spain or Italy or Greece or Egypt, and given her enough money to live on. I could have hired her as a nurse and found her a decent husband among the various French, Italian and Ottoman soldiers we English would have been fighting alongside. I could even have simply gone to the port and bribed a merchant ship's captain to send her to the Americas or any of the colonies. But I didn't. I did nothing. I didn't want my less than proper actions to ruin my climb. Even if there was a slim chance of being discovered, it existed and that was enough for me. I was too selfish. I kicked her out, and she went away cursing me. Only many years later that I learned that three years after our last meeting she had given up and thrown herself off the roof of her home, unable to remain in that horrible life any longer"
"Hmm. I've heard that story too many times" Adam said. "But you were still a piece of shit"
"I know. And she definitely thought so too. From the look on her face as she walked away, it looked like she was wishing my ship would sink into the sea" Pentious said. "And maybe a shooting star was falling somewhere in the world at that moment, because her wish came true. As we were landing at Gallipoli, some Russian ships attacked us by surprise and inflicted serious damage on our fleet. The ship I was on was sunk, but I managed to save myself by pure luck. On the mainland we regrouped with the rest of the army, and the general, furious, ordered us not to accept any surrender from the Russians and to slaughter them all. Many of the lower-ranking officers objected, not wanting to be responsible for a massacre. I didn't. Sure that this would make me more appreciated by the higher ranks, I obeyed and ordered all Russian prisoners to be killed. In the subsequent battles, I only designed strategies that saw the total annihilation of the opponent, and modified our weapons to make them as lethal as possible. Both my men and the enemies began to call me the Butcher, even though I still hadn't killed a single human being with my own hands, since I always stayed safely in the rear giving orders. And in the end... I went too far. The army leaders, who had initially appreciated my actions, now considered them bad propaganda, which was attracting the anger of other nations against them. And so, I was quickly demoted and sent home, and the dreams of glory I had had vanished"
"Karma is a bitch" Adam told him.
"Yeah" Pentious confirmed. "But even though my career in the army was over, that was not the end of my involvement in war. I still hadn't given up, I still wanted power, and I would have had it at any cost. I had learned a lot in the Crimea, and now I knew exactly how important armaments and munitions were, how much they cost to produce, how much to transport them... everything. And it was with that knowledge, combined with my inventiveness, that I built a business empire. Using the friends I had made in the army I found good investors, and so I began mass-producing weapons and selling them throughout the British colonies. The army was pleased: with my brains I made my weapons cheaper to produce and easier to transport, and so they were snapped up like hot cakes. Not only that, but I also started working as a consultant, using the experience I had gained in the Crimea to draw up plans and strategies, and to suggest improvements to fortifications. For the next twenty years, wherever Britain was at war, I was involved. While thousands of people were dying all over the world, I was getting richer and richer. It hadn't gone as I had planned in my youth, but the result was the same: by the age of forty I was the richest man in all of Britain and among the richest in Europe, and I was starting to make many friends in Parliament, so it was only a matter of time before I was officially inducted. Once I had done that, it would have been easy for me to find a woman from one of the great noble families to marry, so that I could also take the highest peerage after that of the king. At that point my position would have been consolidated, and once I would have had a son I could have pushed for him to marry off to a niece of the king, so that I would have officially joined the royal family"
"You were truly a social climber of the worst kind" Adam told him. "And then? What happened? What ruined your perfect plan?"
"I made a fatal mistake: I didn't prepare an emergency plan" Pentious answered. "A smart businessman would have set aside funds in case something went wrong. But I wasn't smart enough to do that, and my rivals took advantage of it. After the unification of Italy, new banks had been founded there, and this had created a loss for the English banks; in addition, the constant wars and rebellions in the colonies had left the finances very poor. Because of all these factors combined, the army was starting to run out of money, and so my rivals suggested to the higher-ups that they should take over my entire industry since it was so rich. The army liked the idea, and with a trick they managed to take away my main source of income. From then on, things went from bad to worse, and my rivals took advantage of this to take away everything I had built. In the end, I had no choice but to sell everything I had to pay off the debts, and I had just enough left to buy a moderately priced house in London. The man who had been one of the richest entrepreneurs in Europe now spent his days selling cuckoo clocks to earn at least some money. As you said, karma is a bitch"
Adam grunted. "So this is how the story ends? With you, sad and old, dying alone in your modest home surrounded by broken dreams?"
"Almost. There's one last piece to tell" Pentious replied. "I died in the year 1888, when I was fifty-seven. It had become a habit for me to go for walks at night, because during the day... I don't know why, but it bothered me. I hated walking among ordinary people, I who had been one step away from achieving absolute greatness. I preferred to walk when there was no one around. I didn't go unarmed, of course: I always had a pistol with me to defend myself from bad guys. And it was during one of these walks that I heard a muffled scream; I approached an alley and there I saw a man who was gagging on a young woman. I knew who he was: during that year in fact a terrible serial killer had appeared in London whose name frightened everyone. Jack the Ripper, that's what they called him. I immediately took out my pistol and pointed it at him. I could hit him at that distance, I had been trained for that. Or I could just scream, attract his attention, and that would have been enough to make the woman run away. But I didn't. After a moment's hesitation, I lowered the gun and ran. Even though I had the element of surprise, I didn't want to face the terrible Jack the Ripper"
"Yet another escape" Adam commented.
"Yes. And what I found out the next day in the paper only seemed to make fate more cruel" Pentious said. "When I read the news, I found out that the woman had been found dead... but her last name seemed familiar. I did some research, and to my shock and horror, I discovered that she was the granddaughter of the woman I was supposed to marry, the friend I had left to suffer and die all those years ago. Fate had given me one last chance to redeem myself, to step up, to fight for something right, to do what I had refused to do years before, to prove that I had learned from my mistakes, that I was different... and I didn't take it. I had done nothing again. I had abandoned that woman just as I had abandoned her grandmother. I had failed at the last moment when I could give her soul peace. Less than a week later, I was sick with bronchitis, and I was dead within a month. That was truly my last chance"
Silence fell between them again. Only their breathing was audible. Adam finally murmured, "You were truly a miserable being"
"Pathetic and treacherous to the core. That was my identity in life" Pentious said openly, while a small tear was rolling down his face. "Why do you think I took on the appearance of a serpent?"
Adam closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked quite annoyed. "I know some assholes, and even if you're not among the worst, you still earn a good place"
"I know. You didn't think you were the only monster in this room, did you?" Pentious asked rhetorically. "When I fell into Hell, I didn't even get angry. I already knew I'd end up there"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 52): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/159574747
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 106: The snake and the man (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam obviously wasn't the only one struck dumb by Pentious' confession. The upstairs room was silent again as everyone listened. "Wow... I didn't know Pen had so many skeletons in the closet" Angel commented.
"Really? He told me" Cherri said. "Well, not the part where he abandoned his childhood friend that he was supposed to marry, but I knew the whole part about the war"
"I knew he met Jack the Ripper!" Niffty exclaimed with a smile. "What a bad boy..."
"I knew the whole story" Husk said.
"Me too" Charlie admitted.
"Us too" Sera added. "We questioned him up in Heaven, we had to know who he was"
"Yeah, that time was intense too" Emily confirmed.
Angel was shocked: "What the fuck... he confided in everyone but me!?"
"He said you can't be trusted with such private matters" Husk told him.
"Oh, so he was even slandering me behind my back!?" Angel exclaimed. "What a shitty friend..."
"He's just... very sensitive about his past" Charlie tried to justify him. "It's not that he wanted to keep you in the dark, it's that... such things are very personal... and he was sure you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret"
"And he was right" Husk commented.
"You're going against me too now!?" Angel snapped. "Oh, fuck that. As soon as that asshole gets back here I'll tell him off. And here I thought he was just a weirdo..."
"You're in Hell, what did you expect? That Pentious ended up here because he stole lollipops from children?" Cherri pointed out. "We've all done bad things, we wouldn't be here otherwise. Don't judge him, at least he managed to change... in some way. I think"
"Of course he changed" Emily told her, and despite everything she showed a small smile: "Don't you see those tears? They are proof that there is repentance, and wherever there is repentance there is hope for salvation"
There was a moment of silence. "Well... that makes strange sense, even if I don't know how" Angel finally commented. "Okay, I'll give him that at least. But anyway, as soon as he gets back here I'll give him a good telling off"
Inside the underground prison, Pentious and Adam were still silent. The first man had an unreadable expression, as if he was trying to understand something, while the snake continued to maintain eye contact, even if his fists were shaking a little and some tears were still falling from his eyes. Despite being in such a vulnerable moment, in which he was exposing himself completely not only in front of his friends, but also in front of what was, at least theoretically, still his worst enemy, he refused to give up his determination.
Finally Adam let out a grunt: "So... you ended up in Hell in 1888. I'm surprised you lasted this long without becoming an overlord"
"I had my ways of hiding, the Exorcists never managed to find me" Pentious replied. "As for becoming an overlord... I've tried, several times. But as you may have realized by now, I'm not very well-made to be in charge"
"Ah, there's no doubt about that" Adam commented harshly. "Come on, tell me. I'm really curious to know what you've been up to down here"
"Well... obviously I was desperate at first. And confused" Pentious admitted. "Not surprised, I already knew I would end up here, but... well, no one is happy to end up in Hell. I spent my first day curled up on myself, in the middle of a sandy land full of dark peaks. I thought that surely the devils were already looking for me and that therefore the best choice was to stay hidden. Then, seeing no one coming, I thought that perhaps I was starting from a wrong assumption: after all, if Hell was like the priests said, why wasn't I still in a boiling pot, or frozen in the eternal icebox like all the traitors in Dante Alighieri's masterpiece? My scientific mind took over again, and I decided to investigate, even if I would still move with caution. It took me a whole week to fully become familiar with my new reptilian body; it was... strange, I had to get used to senses that I had never had when I was human. I could see heat like snakes, and this often altered my perception, which was no longer optimal and now it also had fewer colors. Without an auricle, my hearing had changed; now I didn't hear the sound, I actually heard the... vibration of the air, which I then had to convert into real sounds in my brain. My sense of smell was different, and I could smell things more with my tongue than with my nose. And then of course there was that fucking locomotion... crawling around on a tail and still being able to stand upright, with no hip bones to hold me up... damn, that was hard. It was a really tough time"
"Was it really that hard?" Adam opined. "I've been quickening a lot of overlords since I've been here and making sure to get them to reveal everything about them, and they've all said it took them less than a day to get used to their bodies once they got here..."
Pentious blushed: "Well... they're overlords! They are probably built different..."
"And it only took me an hour" Adam continued. "Even though I've never had a tail before. And even when I went to Heaven, I got used to the wings right away..."
"Excuse me? This is MY flashback!" Pentious blurted out. "Can I continue or not!?"
"Fine, fine! How touchy" Adam muttered. "Go ahead"
Pentious snorted. Well, at least that idiotic exchange had eased the tension a little, and he felt calmer now. "Anyway, I got used to it eventually, and I started looking for any sign of life other than deformed plants and mosquitoes the size of badminton balls. Eventually I came to Pentagram City, and that's when I learned that Hell wasn't what I'd expected at all, and that I didn't have to worry about anyone coming after me. Well, of course, there were some people out there who tried to rob me or beat me up or whatever, but I still remembered my military training and it was easy to get rid of the thugs. And after I'd knocked them out, the crowd was cheering me on... for the first time since I'd lost everything, I felt like I was on top again, even if it was just among idiots like me. I felt... powerful again. And I decided I wanted it again. I'd ended up in a world where bad deeds were not only tolerated, but appreciated... I could go around and openly use my abilities to subjugate others and gain the power I had always wanted. So I immediately got busy: I started to accumulate materials, which was extremely easy for me in a world where I could simply steal them, and I built my own airship and a whole army of minions ready to obey my every command"
"And how much did you conquer?" Adam asked him.
"Um... not much, actually. I was good at theory, but... not the same at practice" Pentious admitted. "I was a good strategist, but here in Hell a lot of people are bastards and vile and good at that kind of thing... especially in my day, when problems were still solved with weapons and not with capitalism or social wars. Sometimes I gained some territory, sometimes I lost it... I never gained enough to call myself an overlord. That ate me up inside, and it ate me even more when Alastor came to Hell"
"Alastor?" Adam said in surprise. "I didn' know this. Did you have a rivalry with him?"
"I think I was the only one who considered him my enemy... I doubt he considered me important, I don't think he was joking when he didn't even remember who I was every time" Pentious replied. "However, I was deeply envious of Alastor, who had already risen through the ranks and gained great reputation by the time he arrived in Hell. He became my obsession: I wanted to defeat him, so that I could be recognized as the one who had killed the radio demon. That was how I spent the next decades: preparing to fight Alastor and being properly rejected every time, all the while the world moved on and other demons took control of the various territories. Eventually I was practically homeless again... living in my airship and thinking only of taking my revenge, alone and surrounded by nothing but my Egg Boys"
"So you're basically back to being lonely, pathetic and desperate?" Adam grumbled rolling his eyes. "Like, you were a loser in life and in the afterlife"
"The description is... unfortunately quite accurate" Pentious confessed, albeit with a certain embarrassment. "That's probably why Vox hired me to spy on Charlie..."
"Yeah, I already know that scene, I saw it when I watched the sins of that broken TV" Adam anticipated him. "And I also saw the one where he abandoned you like a dog on the highway"
"Oh, good, then I won't have to explain the whole situation from the beginning" Pentious said a little happily, since he didn't feel like telling what had been a humiliation for him anyway. "Anyway, when I entered the Hazbin Hotel, everyone was suspicious... except Charlie. She welcomed me right away without asking questions, she didn't hesitate to take me with her. You can imagine my reaction. Inside I was thinking: Come on, this is too easy, this girl is a poor idiot, I could fool her even with my eyes closed. And what we did that day as an activity only seemed to confirm this thought of mine, since I think she got a little too excited because she had a new guest and wanted to do something new... even if that lollipop was really good..."
"Huh?" Adam muttered, not understanding the last sentence.
"Oh, that's a... story for another time, it's not important" Pentious told him.
"No, seriously" Adam didn't give up. "Why did you talk about a lollipop...?"
"It doesn't matter, okay!? It's a part of my life I'm trying to forget!" Pentious exclaimed awkwardly. "Let's just say Charlie's good, but sometimes she got a little carried away... although she was still better than..."
He fell silent for a second, which confused Adam quite a lot: "What?"
Pentious was silent for a long moment, and then he asked: "Just for academic reasons... how exactly did you train your Exorcists?"
"Huh? Well, usually with mock battles" Adam replied. "I basically threw them all into an arena with fake weapons, split them into two teams, and then I watched them beat each other up until one of them won..."
"THAT'S WHERE SHE LEARNED THAT FROM!" Pentious yelled so loudly that even Adam jumped, and then he pointed an accusing finger at him: "It's your fault that one-eyed basically threw us into a modern-day reconstruction of the Vietnam War to teach us trust!"
Adam was speechless. "I'm not sure I follow" he admitted.
Pentious was fuming: "I'm talking about Vaggie! The one fucking time Charlie made the mistake of giving her the reins of the hotel, she made us commit war crimes just to teach us trust! Even three months after that, Angel and I were still waking up at night screaming!"
Adam looked somewhere between completely shocked and holding back laughter. “I have to talk to Vaggie” he finally said, before asking: “Just to know, did she take a video…?”
"No! Let's move on" Pentious blurted out, and then he became serious again: "Anyway, as I was telling you... I thought Charlie was just an idiot. I wasn't surprised that everyone tried to take advantage of her. And yet... when the moment came when I was betrayed, abandoned, thrown away... something happened. For me, that was the lowest point I could reach: completely alone, at the mercy of enemies who were ready to kill me, and... and honestly I didn't have the strength to die with my head held high. In my heart I looked back and wondered what it had been for. In the end, after all those vicissitudes, I left nothing behind. Even in the afterlife I would die alone, sad and without friends. I didn't have the strength to fight, I gave up immediately and waited for death, like an animal waiting for the butcher to give it the final blow. But... it wasn't the cold angelic steel that hit me. What hit me was... something extremely warm. Yes, it was a real blow, like someone had punched me, but not a bad punch... one of those punches friends give each other when someone is acting like an idiot and they want to bring them to their senses. It hurt, but... at the same time it felt good. Every word Charlie said was a punch in my dark soul, but it brought with it a pleasant warmth that made me want to immerse myself more in her warmth. She... had something, something so beautiful that I don't think I can express it. And I found myself for the first time... wanting to do it. Not for myself... but for her"
Adam had completely abandoned the little air of amusement he had put on earlier. "You wanted to redeem yourself... for her?" he asked with extreme seriousness.
"Yes. Because for the first time ever I wanted to do something that would make someone else happy. Because I knew Charlie would be sad as long as I was here in Hell, and I didn't want to hurt the only person who still believed in me. I didn't care about Heaven, or myself... I just wanted her to keep smiling, even just one more day." Pentious hesitated for a moment, and then said with great determination: "I stayed at the Hazbin Hotel because every time Charlie said a nice word to me... it hurt, because I knew I didn't deserve it... but it couldn't hurt me nearly as much as the thought of leaving and going back to my old life, spitting on all the work she was doing for me. I wanted to commit myself fully to the path of redemption because I wanted everyone to see that she was right, that they could trust her, that even behind that innocent and seemingly stupid face there was a heart that could change any monster. I thought if anyone could really change me... make me not me... it was her, the daughter of the devil who wasn't afraid to humiliate herself or keep a serial killer in her house just to give someone a chance. I promised myself that this time... just ONE fucking time... I wouldn't have been selfish, and I wouldn't have run away. And I didn't"
Pentious took a deep breath. His body was shaking and tears were streaming from his eyes again, but he didn't even try to wipe them away. "I refused to run away" he repeated. "No matter what happened, I wasn't leaving that hotel. When Charlie told us you were going to attack us and told us to leave if we wanted to, I didn't even think about doing so. Even before Husk let out one of his usual grunts and said: Hey, are you guys using a sword or a gun?, I already knew I was staying there. I didn't run away. For the first time, I was putting my intelligence to work for something worth protecting, not protecting myself. I could have died, I didn't care! During the entire battle, I just stood there, using everything I knew to make it easier for my teammates, and I would have stayed there even if I was the last man standing! I went to help Angel, I went to help Husk, even Niffty, and damn, I stuck my tongue in the mouth of the woman I loved at that moment!"
Pentious's voice was getting shriller with every word; he was breathing so deeply that he sounded like he was about to have a respiratory attack. But despite that, he was refusing to stop, even though his fingers were shaking so badly that he could barely close his hands. "And then... we get to the part where you killed me" he choked out. "When you turned to me, time slowed down in my head. I knew it. I knew I was going to die. I knew that this would be my end and that I couldn't avoid it, and I was afraid. The time it took you to raise that hand and hit me with your beam was centuries in my head; I saw you in slow motion, seeing you move just one inch was the equivalent of at least a decade. I could feel my heart beating in fear, I could feel terror coursing through my blood. I didn't want to die. I tried to brace myself, I told myself to try to look on the bright side, BUT WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE BRIGHT SIDE!? I was going to die, damn it, and this time straight to oblivion, no fucking way back! There were a thousand things I still wanted to do and I would never do them! I still wanted to hear the beautiful sound of Charlie's voice, tell Vaggie to fuck off because she was scolding me for something Angel had surely done, get pissed at Angel because he had gotten me into trouble, go and complain to Husk at the bar, watch Niffty wandering around the bottles trying to hit a bug, damn, I even wanted to hear Alastor's disgusting radio laugh as he made fun of me! And instead I was going to die! Would it... would it hurt? I had already died once and it had been horrible, with my lungs burned by the disease until I was suffocated; would a divine laser have been better? Or would have it hurt even more than last time, and I would have felt my molecules breaking and my atoms being erased? I was scared, and the more scared I was, the slower time slowed in my head, and I was stuck there in that eternal moment, watching you prepare to kill me!"
Pentious had to pause, his breath coming out of him. He looked as if he were about to have a stroke. Yet, even as he bent over to hold his chest as he breathed deeply, he refused to look down. And Adam still said nothing, continuing to stare at him, and in fact leaned down a little to make it easier for him. "Very few people really know when they'll die" Pentious murmured. "Some die peacefully in their sleep, some in an accident, some from illness, some because a brick fell on their head. Now you're here, and now... poof, you're gone. I knew exactly when I was going to die, and I knew roughly how much time I had left: by watching the golden ray emerging from your fingers and advancing toward me, I could calculate how long it would have taken for it to reach me... based on the time I was experiencing in my brain, of course, not the time in reality, we both know that in reality it all lasted less than a second. I actually started doing calculations to know how much time I had left, I told myself that it could be useful for... I don't know. Prepare? Reflect? I started thinking about my life, both on Earth and in Hell. At first I tried to think of the things I still wanted to do, but I quickly stopped, knowing that would only have made me more depressed, so instead I thought about the things I had already done. I thought about my family. I thought about the afternoons spent on the moors. I thought about the friends I used to run across fields with, jumping the ditches and chasing the crows. I thought about my first loves. I thought about my travels. I thought about all the times I had had fun. I wanted to focus on all the good things I had done in my life, knowing that I couldn’t do anything else. But the more I thought about my life, the more the bad things came to mind. All my regrets, my bullshit, my idiocies, my lies, my reckless actions, even my embarrassing moments. And I asked myself… why? Why had I been that kind of man? Why did I have more good memories in the last six months in that hotel than in all the other nearly two hundred years of my life? Why did one afternoon of drinking with Husk or talking nonsense with Angel seem so much more emotional than anything I'd experienced when I was rich and powerful? So what was it all for? Why had I gone down that path? Had I really been chasing a ghost my whole fucking life? Why hadn't I spent more time the way I'd spent time at the hotel? Why hadn't I always been that person who cared about someone else before himself, and was willing to give his life for it, even though he was so afraid!? If I had been... she wouldn't have suffered. That woman who was such a good friend to me wouldn't have suffered, and her granddaughter wouldn't have suffered. A lot of people wouldn't have suffered. I had thrown them all away, and for what!? What happiness had chasing wealth and power ever brought me!? What had I gained by being so selfish!? I had had so many chances and I had never taken any of them. I had been given the second, the third, the fourth, the hundredth chance, and every time I had turned around and ran away, basking only in what I thought was best for me. As I watched that golden ray coming at me, I became furious with myself. Six months in a hotel offered to me out of pure charity and goodness had given me more happiness than almost two hundred years of fucking selfishness and loneliness. Why, I asked myself angrily, why hadn't I lived like this before!? Why was I only now realizing how stupid I had been!? Why, why, why!?"
Pentious looked like he was about to slap himself, and he was struggling to speak; his face was streaked with tears and he wasn't even trying to hide it. "And yet..." he continued to say to Adam. "... when your light beam was halfway through, all that repentance began to seem like... nothing. What was the point of repenting now? It wouldn't erase my bad deeds. I had been a horrible man and I couldn't go back and make things right. I realized that instead of going back to fix my mistakes, I wanted to... move forward. I wanted to see the friend I had abandoned again, to kneel before her and ask for her forgiveness. I wanted to see her granddaughter again, to hold her and apologize for leaving her in the clutches of Jack the Ripper. I wanted to see my father again, to look into his disappointed eyes again and tell him that he had always been right, that a man should fight for the people he cares about, not for his own interest and profit. I wanted to see every person I had hurt, directly or indirectly, and show them that I was no longer that man. I didn't want to wait for fate to give me another chance, I wanted to roll up my sleeves and make one myself, even if I knew I couldn't. I felt like if I could just dodge that beam of light that had now begun to break through the glass of my airship, and somehow survive... I would have lived life to the fullest. I would have done anything to see someone smile again... damn, smiles were so beautiful. I had had three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, with an extra day every four years, for a good one hundred and ninety-three years of my life, for a whopping total of seventy thousand, four hundred and ninety-three days... and I had barely used one hundred and eighty of them trying to see a smile on someone else's face. I had essentially wasted seventy-two thousand two hundred and eighty-five of those days, more than ninety-nine percent of my life, chasing something frivolous that had brought me only loneliness and sadness. I had been given so much time and I had never used it to... look at smiles properly, to look at them as they really needed to be looked at... and now I would have never seen them again. And I had no one to blame but myself. It didn't matter if I was pissed off at my enemies, or even at you who were killing me... I was the only one truly responsible for all my misfortune. I realized that I had nothing to blame on you. I discovered that even feeling hatred towards someone was now difficult for me, and that if I could somehow survive, I would have run to hug every single angel who was trying to kill us and I would have even kissed them, including you. In that moment I realized, somehow, that every moment of life spent immersed in any feeling that wasn't positive was just a moment wasted... every moment spent hating was a moment wasted. I told myself I didn't want to waste any more time hating, and then I laughed to myself: what the fuck was I doing, planning a life that I already knew I wouldn't have had? And yet... I wanted it. I wanted that life. As that beam finally hit me and turned my body into atoms, what was left of my brain realized that it didn't want to just give up, that I wanted to live a little longer, that I wanted to do everything in my power to create a world without hate. And in that moment... I don't know, it was like my eyes that were being charred closed for a moment, and I saw... something. Even though my pupils were completely disintegrated by then, it was like my very soul was sensing something in front of me. It seemed to me that a hand was reaching out to me, but it was not a stranger hand... it was as if I knew it, as if it had been there all my life, and all my life I had refused to take it and be led by it... except in my last few months, because I could feel on my fingers that I no longer had its touch, as if I remembered having grasped it. I felt as if that hand had been there at every opportunity I had missed and even the few I had taken. And even now, as I was dying, it was still there. Why? Why was it still there? Couldn’t it see that I was dying? What was the point of it still holding out its hand? And yet, the hand was still there, reaching out to me. As if it were asking me if I really wanted to just die or if I wanted to stop running and chase after all the good things I had thrown away until that moment. And finally… I grabbed it. With the last shred of consciousness I had left as my brain was completely disintegrating, I reached up with the arms I no longer had, and I grabbed that hand, and it tightened around my entire soul. And then I opened my eyes, and I wasn’t in Hell anymore. I was in Heaven, with two shocked angels in front of me. I wasn’t dead. I was alive… somehow, I was alive. I had been given another chance, and this time I was going to take it"
Pentious finally fell silent; he was still crying, he was still shaking, but there was something about him... it was as if a strange force was permeating him from within. His posture, though hunched, seemed straight. A strange determination shone in his eyes, as if he were giving off hot steam.
Adam took a deep breath. He had been so silent the entire time that he seemed to have forgotten he had a mouth. "You've reached an enlightenment, then" he commented sarcastically, though there was no humor in his voice.
Pentious nodded. "I've been given another chance, and I intend to use it. I want to use it to help others, not to help myself. That's why I'm here before you. It's true, I'm afraid of you, but I don't want to hate you. I refuse to hate you, hate is useless. And I want to move on. I want to be a better man, to roll up my sleeves like I should have done too many years ago, and try to fix everything I've broken or that others have broken. And I never want to see a look of sadness or anger on my friends' faces again"
This time Adam didn't reply. He didn't say a sarcastic word or a rhetorical phrase. Honestly, he didn't even know what he was thinking at that moment.
Pentious let out a deep snort through his nostrils, and then, as if to emphasize his words, he crawled even closer to the wall of the cage, until he reached the maximum edge. It was clear that being this close to the man who had killed him once was uncomfortable for him, and yet he didn't retreat. "Adam..." he told him in a serious voice. "... this whole thing you are doing... has to stop"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 53): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/155899198
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 107: The snake and the man (part 3)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam sighed deeply. Pentious didn't know how it was possible, since they were both immortal and unaging beings, but for some reason it seemed to him that the first man was... older. As if the weight of all his thousands of years had suddenly poured onto his shoulders and was also manifesting itself on his face, which appeared almost hollow. "All this has to end, huh?" he said barely. "It would be nice if these words were enough to put an end to everything"
"Maybe they are enough" Pentious told him. He wasn't sure what he was doing either, honestly he was going a bit by intuition. "Listen, Adam... I know that my past can't be compared to yours. You lived a certain type of life and I lived another. You fought for someone else your whole life, I fought for myself. But now... the more I look at you, the more I wonder if somehow our roles have not reversed"
"You mean I'm fighting for myself now and you're fighting for others?" Adam commented sarcastically. "Interesting words. And what exactly would I fight for if not to rid humanity of evil?"
"Anger, hatred, revenge, and your deepest sympathy" Pentious answered. "I don't think you simply want to rid humanity of evil"
"That's what I do" Adam replied.
"Coming from someone who aims to kill billions of people, that doesn't sound very good" Pentious pointed out.
"I'm just forcing them to reveal their true form and punishing them accordingly" Adam said without hesitation. "My hands are clean. I've never killed someone who didn't...!"
He paused, as if realizing a detail. Pentious nodded as if answering his thoughts: "You've never killed someone who didn't deserve it? Well, apparently I didn't. I may never have redeemed myself if you hadn't killed me that day... but the simple fact that I did it means I still had a chance. Just half of it, maybe, but there was"
"Hmm" Adam said, narrowing his eyes. "And yet, when I used my own power on myself, your death was not shown to me. I wonder what that could mean. Is it possible that it wasn't a sin to kill you before but it is now? I just don't understand..."
"Well, technically it was self-defense at the time" Pentious admitted. "I don't think you should have killed me, but... I certainly didn't forget that I was about to shoot you with my death ray. Maybe that's why you didn't see me with your power"
"Good point" Adam said, rubbing his chin. "But what about all the other demons? Rarely has anyone even tried to hit me in the last few millennia, you were too scared to shit yourselves. That certainly wasn't self-defense"
"Technically, yes. You've always had clear reasons for killing demons, and they were rarely motivated by pure malice" Pentious replied. "And the people you killed were all unrepentant, cruel, and bastards... kind of like me before I went to the hotel, basically. Maybe it's not a sin to kill evil demons... but it is a sin to absolutely deny them any chance of redemption. I don't know, I told you, I'm not a philosopher, much less a theologian. I didn't even go to church much when I was alive"
Adam snorted. "What are you asking me to do?"
"I'm asking you what you're willing to do" Pentious answered. "Forget about what is sin and what is not and just answer this simple question: if there's even a slim chance a human soul can change, are you really willing to take that away and damn who knows how many billions of people?"
Adam stared into his eyes. Even though there was a hint of tiredness in his gaze, those pupils were still able to freeze Pentious where he stood. "I want to protect humanity" he answered. "And I will do everything in my power to accomplish this task"
"And that is a noble thought, I do not deny it, but that is not the way!" Pentious retorted. "We can find another solution, if only we are open to the possibility"
"There is no other solution" Adam replied to him.
"There is always a solution!" Pentious exclaimed. "It's just harder then the others! 'There is no other solution'... these are the words that I said to myself for decades, and they were all lies! I bet that at least ninety-five percent of all the demons in Hell say the same! You know it, right? You can see their sins, you know that they had told themselves during their lives that they were right! How many people who truly accepted to be monsters you had found here? Two? What about all the others in this giant pit!?"
Adam paused. For the first time, he really had no way to argue back with that snake. Because those were, in fact, the same words he had said to Vaggie when they were on Earth and she had asked him what he had done to Carmilla.
Almost as if he had read his mind, Pentious hissed: "You know I'm right, you know it's really hard to find someone truly unrepeatable down here. If they didn't have a huge sense of guilt in their hearts, would you be able to torture your prisoners with your gaze? Most of the people down here ended up here because they convinced themselves they were right, and Hell certainly doesn't make you better! Do you think a crusader, a jihadist, or any fanatic, once they ended up here thought they were damned for all the atrocities they committed on the so-called infidels? No! They probably thought they ended up here because they lacked true faith or some shit like that, and continued to screw up until they were killed by an Exorcist or another demon! And those who were honest enough to admit they were terrible people, like me? Did they perhaps look in the mirror and say 'shit, so many mistakes, I could be different'? No! They told themselves they had no choice, that it was better this way, that they wanted to do it, that they liked it... a lot of lies just to ignore any sense of guilt! But removing that veil is enough to show them the truth, isn't it? Tell me, how long did you have to look those evil and cruel overlords in the eyes to reduce them to obedient caricatures of themselves?"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "None of them made it past fifteen minutes" he admitted.
"Exactly. Fifteen minutes exposed to their sins was enough to break them. And that proves that even they, who are supposed to be the cruelest of the cruel, have hope! As long as there's even the slightest bit of guilt in their heart, there's a chance to save a person!" Pentious said. "What you do to people is traumatic... but you don't have to use your powers that way. Think about what positive use you could make of them. You could help people not believe their lies and empathize with others even if they're weaker or different than them. Just imagine how much things would change if a person could feel the fear and desperation of the poor guy in front of them, even before they started doing something to them..."
"It's not enough" Adam said him bluntly.
Pentious shrugged. “Well, I’m winging it! I haven’t had thousands of years to think about every variable. We can have a proper discussion about this, if you’re willing to...”
"You don't understand" Adam said dryly. "This isn't enough. There needs to be a drastic solution in these cases"
Pentious sighed deeply, and for the first time he looked truly annoyed: "If you don't even think about it, then definitely! Why don't you at least try to think about an alternative way? Did you listen to what I said before? Your path, the path of hatred... that is a path not worth pursuing! It only leads to further destruction!"
"Refusing to act is what leads to further destruction!" Adam replied. "No matter what path you follow, if it can eliminate a problem and save innocent lives, then it is worth pursuing! What matters is what is saved!"
"And what about all that is lost?" Pentious replied. "What about all the people, who remember, are still your children, that you would kill? What about all the missed opportunities you might have with them, all the good they could do if only they had someone to help them change, how much better they could make this universe? If you refuse to do something for them, to help them change as I have, you are just abandoning them! There is no justice in that!"
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary" Adam said.
"Of course. Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves, right!?" Pentious snapped. "But tell me, was that what Abel wanted!?"
Adam's body seemed to turn to steel. Pentious's survival instinct kicked in immediately, as if the most ferocious tiger ever existed was just a few steps away from him. "You will leave this room now" Adam ordered in an extremely cold voice. "You will turn around, walk through that door, close it behind you, and then crawl away. Crawl as long as you have the energy in your body, and don't look back for a second"
Pentious thought for a moment that it would be better to do as he was told, and avoid upsetting a man who could tear him to pieces with just a touch of a finger, but that moment lasted only a moment. "No" he said resolutely. "I'm done running. You scare me, yes, but I won't just walk away doing nothing like the pathetic man I was before. I refuse to leave you here in your hatred, I won't make the same mistake you made!"
"Don't you dare...!" Adam hissed.
"You know I'm right!" Pentious exclaimed. "Perhaps you could not prevent Abel's death, but you could have made him live by his philosophy! You could have greeted the world with open arms just like he had asked you! Perhaps, if instead of listening to your anger and hatred, you had tried to seek out Cain, that gesture of love would have made him realize his mistake and he would have changed, and his bloodline would not have destroyed Earth! Perhaps if you had found the strength to forgive your wife after she had shown you so many tears of repentance, she would have stayed with you! But you never tried! How many times has the path of ruthlessness brought you anything other than further suffering?"
"And how many times has the path of forgiveness led to nothing but devastation!?" Adam retorted. "Forgiving someone who does evil, or even showing mercy to your enemy, is nothing but a senseless and insane act! If someone has already committed horrible acts, letting them breathe even a second longer is tantamount to putting yourself and everyone else in danger!"
"According to that philosophy, I should now do everything I can to convince my friends to kill you right away" Pentious pointed out.
But Adam smirked in response, though he was clearly not amused. "Well... it would certainly be better for you if you did so" he said. "If I die now, all of Hell is saved. No genocide, right? One life is worth billions!?"
"I was that one life in a billion, and apparently I was worth investing time in!" Pentious replied. "It's true, I could just kill you now that you're helpless, but what would I change? Nothing! Once you're dead, there will be someone else! Alastor? Let's kill him too! The Exorcists? Let's kill them too! And then? Will this cycle ever end? How many people must die to save others? What is the line beyond which the number of people killed becomes too many compared to the number of those saved? Has life now become a mathematical equation then!?"
"At least you'd have one less enemy to worry about" Adam replied.
"No. I'd have one less opportunity" Pentious retorted. "As long as you're alive, I can do everything I can to change you, and if you change, then you might help change this world that you think is so disgusting even more. As long as there's life, there's hope. If I could change, then anyone can change, and if anyone can change, then all lives are precious, including yours! Even the life of a man that is planning to kill billions is precious from my point of view! You hate that the world is so violent, but you're relying on violence to cleanse it! You're becoming the very thing you want to destroy, if you aren't already!"
Adam shook his head. "You think you're making me feel guilty?" he asked rhetorically. "I told your princess, either you're the good guy or you're the guy who saves the world. As they say, to fight a monster you have to become a monster yourself"
"I don't know that Jesus thought so" Pentious told him. "And neither did Abel"
Adam made a noise of disapproval, but did not argue further. After all, he had no argument against that simple statement. Denying it was impossible, which automatically made any accusation about it impossible.
Pentious clicked his tongue. If he were still human, he would probably already be dead from dehydration from sweating, ruptured lungs, and a self-induced cardiac explosion. But despite that, his resolve remained unchanged. “You are not just a symbol of fear, Adam” he said to the first man.
Adam shook his head. “Being a symbol of fear is the only way I know how to protect what is dear to me” he told him. “It was when I terrorized animals to keep them from my home, it was when I exterminated demons to prevent them from ever rebelling again, and it is still today. You think a few kind words would make a difference in this depraved universe? Earth is a war zone. Even in the most seemingly peaceful and morally upright areas there are individuals who constantly break the peace and who will never be punished by human authorities. People need someone that can fight for justice. Maybe this is not what my son or the Son of God wanted... but it's the only way"
"Maybe not" Pentious replied. "Maybe the justice you are seeking off cannot be achieved with violence. Maybe the path that Abel had tried to teach to you and that Jesus had tried to teach to humanity is the right way"
"Greeting the world with open arms is a luxury on a planet like Earth" Adam said. "People need someone to protect them, to strike fear into the hearts of evil guys. They need a predator that they cannot defeat that constantly hunt only those who are unworthy. Only in this way people can feel safe. Why do you think humans invented policemen and prisons?"
"We invented prisons, yes, but we invented also rehabilitation" Pentious replied. "And last time I checked, the countries that invested the most in rehabilitation were the ones with the lowest crime rates. I even heard of a prison that once partnered with a kitten adoption center to give each inmate a cat to care for, and it completely changed the lives of those people. Some men are beyond redemption, maybe that’s true; but many others just need something in their lives to hold on to, to feel accepted by someone, to be able to find the strength to face themselves their sins and change. Just like I did. Fear is able to deter... not heal"
"Heal..." Adam muttered in a strange voice, a mix of resignation and weariness. "I've stopped believing that humanity can heal. It needs to be completely reformed. There's no room for bad apples in this"
"There is, if only the gardener refuses to just throw them away and put all his knowledge to help them to return good apples" Pentious said. "You say that I should kill you now, that ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves. But try to imagine what I could lose. Imagine a man who inspires hope, not just fear, who offers redemption as well as retribution, and who puts his strength, his intellect, and his resources to build a better world in more ways than just slaughtering and covering his hands with blood"
Adam made a sort of growl in his throat. He sounded almost like a wounded animal. "I’m not that man" he simply replied, without saying anything else.
Pentious remained silent. He didn’t know why, but even though he still felt afraid, the more he looked at Adam, the less he felt. To him, it was like looking at a man tired of life, and technically that wasn’t a bad comparison. Maybe Adam had lived too long and believed in a certain philosophy too much to be able to have any hope for himself anymore.
Well, it had been so long… Pentious wasn’t sure he could fathom what it meant to live that long.
But despite that thought, he still forced himself and said: "Adam... I've told you everything I know and everything I think. I don't know exactly what made me redeem myself, but honestly, I don't really care; what I care about is what I'm going to do now, and right now I just want to end this whole cycle of death. I mean... it's not worth continuing". He shrugged: "And if you're wondering why God has made you discover redemption now... I don't know the answer. I told you, I'm not a philosopher, much less a theologian. But maybe... He's just trying to tell you that it's best to end this here and just go home"
Home?
Adam honestly wasn't sure he could call Heaven, or any other place in the universe, home anymore.
He had spent the last two thousand years doing nothing but preparing for what he believed would have been the most important and difficult event of his existence. He had sacrificed time that he would otherwise have spent with other people, with his friends, with his family, just to find a solution. Endless research, eternal calculations, sleepless nights, all to finally build a world where he would never have had to hear a cry again.
And now... after all that work... how could he just let it go?
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "I can't" he muttered.
Pentious sighed, and then he placed a hand on the surface of the cell: "Maybe, if I let you let someone help you... you may learn to forgive again..."
Adam's eyes snapped open: "No"
Pentious immediately recoiled, as if the surface of the cell had suddenly become hot; an instant later, Adam slammed his hand against it. His nails dug into it and dragged across it, snapping cleanly and sending blood splotching to the ground. "I won't stop" Adam hissed, as he continued to tear at his skin as he came into contact with the force field surrounding the cell. "I will never stop. I can't stop. I can't back away anymore. It's too late now. I can't stop until I finally stop hearing the Earth ring with the screams of my children"
Pentious swallowed. His survival instincts immediately kicked in, causing him to back away. He suddenly remembered that even though Adam was acting like a tame beast, he was still one of the strongest and most dangerous beings in all of Creation. "W-Wait!" he tried to calm him down. "I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone's despair, every time I think about the people I left behind I feel terrible. I know what you're going through..."
"You don't know!" Adam roared, making him jump. "You don't know. You will never know. You don't know what it's like to spend thousands of years feeling nothing but despair because some of your descendants, those parasites, those demons, unleash evil wherever they go causing death and destruction! Hearing the cries and prayers of millions of people who every single moment frantically search for something to hold on to so as not to fall into oblivion! And I should allow such mistakes to exist!?"
Adam slammed his right hand into the force field, so hard that the blow sounded like thunder; the bones in his hand bent and snapped, so much so that two of his fingers even broke off completely, generating a fountain of blood. Adam grabbed it with his still-good hand, rubbing it in pain, but he still didn't even let out a scream; his gaze held nothing but a sort of homicidal madness.
Even though he was almost salivating, he spoke again. “I will not stop hunting those sinners” he growled, his voice almost metallic from how deep it was. “I will not rest until I have tracked down every single bastard infesting the universe and torn them away like a weed, slowly and painfully dismembering them, until they feel some semblance of what all their victims have felt, what I have felt for all these thousands of years! I WANT TO SEE THEM DROWN IN THEIR OWN BLOOD!”
Pentious seemed unable to hold his gaze any longer, and he whirled around. His body was shaking and he was clutching his shoulders. “What is it? Too much to bear, new fucking mister pacifist?” Adam asked rhetorically.
Pentious took deep breaths. “You really are becoming a monster,” he stammered.
Adam grinned in amusement. "Oh, no..." he said in a thin voice. "... you guys... brought the monster!"
The tension seemed to be so strong that it could almost crush iron. Pentious remained silent, lowering his head a little further. Adam smiled even more, enjoying the sight of him so broken...
But then Pentious turned around abruptly, and his face was calm again: "So that's it" he said. "That's why you didn't ask Lute to free you. You're exactly where you want to be. That's your plan, right?"
The smile immediately disappeared from Adam's face, replaced by a look of shock: "What?"
Pentious gave him a satisfied smile: "I'm afraid you just betrayed yourself" he said. "You know, ever since I got back here in Hell... well, actually since I managed to recover from Cherri being done with me... I couldn't help but notice that the only dickhead who actually seemed to want to be in this fucking angelic tower was you. That's what you wanted from the start, right? That's why you put limits on yourself when you fought Charlie and made that bet. You weren't just testing her... you already knew she would have defeated you. And you knew they would have taken you exactly where you wanted to go"
"What nonsense are you talking about!?" Adam exclaimed. "I could have gotten in here without getting caught!"
"Yes, you could have gotten in here, but you never wanted something that there is inside this embassy. You wanted to attract the attention of the people that can come in this embassy. You wamted an angel" Pentious told him, narrowing his eyes. "And not any angel, a high-rank angel. And there just so happen to be some of them here now. That was your plan... you want to trick one of them into letting you go out of here and opening a portal for you, am I wrong?"
Adam snarled, all traces of sarcasm and amusement were gone from his face, replaced by a ferocious expression. "You're saying nonsense" he hissed.
"Oh, I don't think so" Pentious replied. "The third piece of your weapon... is in Heaven, right?
Adam was almost salivating with rage. "Stop saying such bullshit!"
"Oh, I don't think it's bullshit at all" Pentious replied. "You complained that Emily was here, but you were actually happy, right? You thought she was naive enough to let you fool her. And if you couldn't do it with her, you'd do it with someone else, after all, surely many angels would have come here in the days to come...". Pentious froze for a long moment, and then his eyes widened: "Of course, here is the last piece of the puzzle! You didn't give the cross of Jesus to Alastor, even though it would have been safe, because it too must be here in the embassy with you! You want to wait for many high-ranking angels to come down here to see what happened to their precious first man, and then trick one of them into opening a portal for you, and as soon as you get through you will use the cross of Jesus to alter space and change the magical paths, so most of the most powerful angels will be stuck here in Hell for hours, while you in Heaven will have no obstacles to steal the last piece you need to complete your weapon! By the time the angels are able to return to Heaven, you will already be gone!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Adam exclaimed, banging his fist on the surface of the cell. "I could have simply used the cross to get to Heaven!"
"Why? Up until now, I haven't seen that that cross has the ability to open holes in space. It can alter it, not pierce it. Piercing something means breaking it, right? And Jesus wasn't someone who liked to break things" Pentious replied with a small, mocking smile. "But if a portal is already open, you can simply use the cross to sew it back up, and you can sew it up however you want, so that it's difficult for those who opened it to open it again. Am I wrong?"
This time Adam didn't answer, but there was no need: his gaze showed very well what he was thinking. He seemed ready to grab Pentious and strangle him, and in fact the snake moved away a few more steps to be safe. But he still couldn't hold back a cry of triumph: "I was right!" he shouted, and immediately after he looked at the spot on the wall where he thought the magic screen was: "Did you all hear? Don't let anyone down here again! Keep Emily out of this room! And Sera, Michael, Lucifer, or any other asshole who knows how to open a portal, stay far away from here!"
Pentious crawled quickly toward the door, but then he stopped in front of it; he seemed to think deeply, and then he turned around. "Don't get me wrong" he said to Adam. "When I came in here, I really wanted to help you, and I was hoping you'd stop. But since you don't want to, I felt compelled to confirm my suspicions, so you don't mess up and put everyone else in danger"
Adam gritted his teeth so hard that Pentious could hear them screeching from that distance. "I underestimated you" he said. "But don't think that'll stop me"
"Maybe, but for now forget about having visitors from the higher ups" Pentious said. "Well, I'm going. Thanks for your cooperation"
Adam grunted. "If I were you, I'd watch my back from now on" he warned. "And that's not just an advice"
Perhaps it was the success he'd just had, but despite the threat, Pentious replied: "Learn to talk less. That's my advice"
Adam's growl grew even louder. "As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to make you swallow your own newly grown balls"
Pentious's boldness slowed a bit. "Um... just to be safe, I remind you that your own moral code dictates that you must not kill angels" he murmured.
"It dictates that I must not kill angels" Adam replied. "Nothing stops me from sending them to the orthopedic surgeon every day of the week"
That was definitely a real threat, and Pentious preferred not to push the rope any further: he quickly left the prison and closed the door behind him. He hoped that Charlie or someone else could bring Adam to his senses before he found a way out of that cell, because he was sure that Adam would have kept his word and come looking for him if that prison were no longer there to contain him. Maybe he wouldn't have killed him, but that actually didn't stop him from beating the crap out of him.
When he returned to his friends, he received a more than unusual welcome for his standards: "Damn, Pen!" Angel exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. "You managed to get him to confess! You're a legend!"
"That wasn't my intention" Pentious repeated again. "I really want to help him. But in the meantime, at least we know something"
"That's already a step forward" Cherri told him with a rather mischievous smile. "I didn't think you were so enterprising, by the way"
Pentious blushed a little: "Well... thanks"
"Enjoy the compliments, you earned them" Angel said, patting him on the shoulder, but then he became serious: "But now you better go ask for political asylum from the aliens"
Pentious looked at him confused: "What?"
"For once, I completely agree with him" Husk said. "You better be at least a light year away from here when Adam will get out of that cell, whether it will be for escape or good behavior"
"I hate to admit it because I want to keep you here, but given the track record... they're right" even Cherri was forced to admit. "Maybe you should go back to Heaven..."
But Pentious shook his head vehemently, "No. I'm not leaving. I said I wanted to help and I will"
"Pen, it's not your responsibility" Husk told him.
"It's not about responsibility. I want to do this" Pentious replied confidently. "Charlie reached out to me when I was the one who seemed like a lost cause, and now I intend to live by what she taught me. I don't care if Adam is dangerous and scares the shit out of me, I'm staying here. I'm going to give him time to cool down, and then I'm going back down there"
His friends were quite surprised by his words. "Wow... you've really changed... and fuck, you're so much cooler this way" Angel said with a chuckle. "Since when are you a pacifist who loves others?"
“Dying helps you reconsider your life” Pentious replied simply, and then he looked at the other angels in the room: “Rather, how do we want to act now?”
The parties involved had indeed gone rather quiet. "The situation is quite problematic" Sera admitted. "If Adam is aiming to use any of us, and unfortunately he very well could succeed... it would be best to avoid interacting with him..."
"I doubt that would be good for his already fragile psyche" Emily rightly pointed out.
"And as I said, I do not intend to give up" Pentious said resolutely. "Monitor me every time I go in there if you want, but I intend to go back"
"And I support my friend" Angel said with a smirk, followed by Cherri and partly by Husk.
"We can go in in groups" Michael suggested. "Or at least forbid anyone from going in there without someone here to monitor them"
"You might also want to warn the higher-ups not to come in here, and tell them to be on high alert" Lilith reminded them. "You never know..."
While they were arguing, Lucifer had remained a bit apart, knowing that he wasn't exactly a champion when it came to planning security, and so he preferred to let his wife do the talking. It was thanks to this that he noticed that someone was missing there: Charlie, who had been watching the scene like the others the whole time, had left as soon as Pentious had returned. Lucifer slightly tightened his grip on his cane, and then, knowing that he couldn't put off this conversation forever, he took advantage of the confusion to go and look for her.
Notes:
Ok, let's clear things up since as usual there's someone who complains when there's a chapter in which Adam doesn't kick ass every two seconds. First of all, yes, I like the character of Pentious, I admit it; I liked him since the pilot, even if I didn't quite understand how he went from a proud Victorian leader to a simp who drools over Cherri, but it doesn't matter, in every version he is still cool. And one of the reasons why he is one of my favorite characters is that he is literally the only one in the entire Hazbin Hotel who, ever since Charlie showed him sincere affection, has ALWAYS been committed to the redemption project. Even if Charlie for some strange reason does nothing but praise Angel, Pentious is the one who in every episode he appears in shows that he has made progress, even just by how he behaves or speaks. Pentious believed in Charlie's project even more than Vaggie, who basically believed in it only to do a favor to her girlfriend. Personally, as I watched the entire first season, I consistently felt that if anyone was going to be redeemed at the end, it had to be him, and I wasn't disillusioned.
The fact that I like Sir Pentious was one of the ways I allowed him to be the MVP in at least three chapters, making his qualities that are unfortunately often overshadowed in canon shine, such as intelligence and intuition, and above all, courage. But the real reason why he and not Charlie was the one who went to the cell to actually ask Adam to stop (if you notice, Charlie never actually asks him) is because he represents exactly what Adam has denied for centuries. Simply by existing and behaving in his own way, without any ulterior motive (at least at first), Pentious proves Adam wrong. Try to think about it:
Is Adam convinced that demons cannot be redeemed? Pentious proves him wrong.
Is Adam convinced that it would be unfair and dangerous? Pentious proves him wrong, because even though he is already an angel he still doesn't want to sit around doing nothing, but wants to help as best he can.
Is Adam convinced that the souls in Heaven wouldn't accept that? Pentious proves him wrong, because he, who let's remember is now an angel, still has the courage to go alone face to face with the person who literally killed him and for whom he consequently has a trauma, and tells him that he forgives him and that he has no intention of abandoning him.
In these last three chapters, Pentious has done exactly what you would expect from a person who has made himself worthy of redemption, even in real life: he doesn't just rest on his laurels, but rather, he embraces the philosophy of Charlie, the person who believed in him (just like Jesus believes in humans, let's remember) and makes it his reason for living, and he wants to help and forgive others just like Charlie had helped and forgiven him when he was the one that everyone, even Angel and Vaggie, considered unworthy of the slightest chance. This doesn't mean that he has magically changed personality, as he has shown many times during the dialogue, he is still the same clown he was before, a bit scatterbrained and not very good with women; simply, having obtained a second chance thanks to a person and having himself understood that that person was right, he chose to continue following that path. Which, again, is pretty much the same thing that Christianity expects from those who choose to follow Jesus: you don't stop to love him and let him lead you, but you yourself internalize the path he shows you and make it your reason for living. So, in fact, Pentious in this story plays exactly the part that he is entitled to, that of the repentant sinner who wants to be better, even if that means risking both his physical safety (because Adam is really dangerous) and his mental safety (since he is still terrified of Adam, but even so he refuses to abandon him even if it would be easier).
So for you complainers, this entire exchange is crucial to this story, as it totally encapsulates the essence of what the Hazbin Hotel is supposed to be. You can't have Adam slaying demons or dinosaurs in every chapter, go read A Father's Wrath if you want that. In this story, Adam is meant to be an ideological obstacle, not just a physical one, and so discussions like this are INEVITABLE. So put your mind at rest and accept it.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 54): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029901
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 108: Confrontation
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The angelic embassy had many windows and even a few balconies on the upper floors of the tower, and it was precisely one of them that Charlie headed for, leaning on the railing and observing the chaotic city around her. Even though the air of Hell was not exactly pleasant, she urgently needed to be outside. She felt like she was suffocating inside the embassy.
Her head was bursting. She had gone through too much in too little time and she needed some alone time. It wasn't often, she always wanted to have someone to keep her company, but at that moment she really wanted no one around.
But fate obviously had other plans for her, because a familiar voice came from behind her: "Too tense?"
Charlie barely turned to her father: "Are you the only one who saw me leave?"
"The others were busy discussing what to do" Lucifer replied. "You know... it's not really my thing. That's why I noticed you"
Charlie tightened her grip on the railing she was leaning against. She knew she would have to have this conversation sooner or later, but she was really struggling to find the strength. So she didn't say a word, not even when her father came up to her and leaned on the railing himself.
Lucifer sighed. His daughter's silence ironically hurt him more than if she had yelled at him. "You don't have to tell me what you are thinking. I know that now to your eyes I'm even more worthless than I was before..."
"Interesting, you already assume I thought you were worth shit before" Charlie said sourly.
Lucifer sighed: "Char, I know you are disappointed..."
"What do you expect me to say, Dad?" Charlie interrupted him with a sharp look. "That you're an idiot? That you've hurt countless people? That you could have done something about it at least once? That it's your fault that Adam lost everything that allowed him to maintain a modicum of sanity, and yet you had the nerve to mock him about stealing his wife?". She made a noise of disgust: "Find someone else to scold you, I don't want to. Go to Michael, he will surely be pleased to do so. I know it wouldn't do any good anyway. I won't waste my voice on you"
And with such words she went into a deep silence again. She was tired of getting angry, she just wanted to be left alone for five minutes. If her father wanted someone to tell him to fuck off, it wouldn't have been her. She was his daughter, not his mother. It wasn't her job to act like an adult and scold him properly. At that moment, she just wanted not to see him or hear his voice.
Lucifer looked down. He was silent for a long moment, and then he murmured: "You know... when I first met your mother and Adam... well, it was nice. Really. Even when they were just created from the dust of the Earth, they were so full of... inventiveness, curiosity, cunning, a lot of emotions that I barely knew. We angels were used to... well, passively waiting for orders from the Father Almighty. If He told us to do something, we did it, if not... we basically didn't even know what to do. We spent our time contemplating Creation, but eventually the entire universe gets boring too. I especially got bored and every now and then I tried to come up with some idea to make things more interesting, but the other angels didn't appreciate it when I suggested changing what our Father was doing, and so they ended up isolating me... but you already know that part. The point is... Adam and Lilith were... different. They didn't passively wait for orders, they always found something to do, to to build, to experiment, and they managed to do it safely and intelligently, never causing harm. Their existence was like... a shock to all of us angels. It was something more wonderful and fantastic than anything else in Creation. Suddenly we discovered that there were so many things, that even mere creations like us could do so many things even without any order from our Father. There was... music. Art. Cooking. Games. All the things we weren't created to do but could do. And suddenly our whole world changed. A seraph could lose at cards to a cherub, an archangel could suck at dancing, a domination who was very good at controlling entire galaxies could be out of tune. The coldness we had always had, the perfection we had been created with, the roles we were supposed to have, were no longer our only reason for living, we could look for something else. And so we understood... that humans were truly God's perfect creation, and that He had created them exactly to let us know a world of happiness that until that moment we hadn't even been able to see. And so we found ourselves loving humans... I ended up loving humans"
Charlie still didn't say a word to him, but at least her pupils moved slightly in her eyes toward him. Lucifer took it as a sign that she was listening. "Adam and Lilith... were what I had always wanted to meet. There was no boredom with them, there was no one telling you that you were wrong, on the contrary they encouraged you to dream, to try to... create something new. For the other angels this was a wonderful novelty... for me it was a blessing. I started to spend more and more time in that garden, not wanting to go back to Heaven. I liked it there more than up there. And so I promised myself that I would always help humanity... but I was not able to". He let out a deep grunt: "I... I didn't know how to fix things when Adam and Lilith argued. I tried, but I never succeeded. I always ended up supporting one of them... you can guess who. Soon, what I felt for your mother became more than just affection. Making her laugh, that was something I was good at; and her laughter... it was something that warmed you from the inside. Eventually, I fell madly in love with her. When I realized that, I thought it was best to leave the garden, at least for a while, but I didn't. I couldn't... I couldn't. And in the end, when Lilith asked me to take her away from Eden, even though I knew it was wrong, I couldn't... no, I didn't want to say no"
Charlie still gave no sign of wanting to say anything, although it was clear from the look on his face that his attention span had become quite high; she was no longer ignoring him, she was giving him space to continue. "I expected to be punished" Lucifer continued. "I knew I had done something that shouldn't have been done, and I told myself I was ready to face the consequences. But when Dad showed up before me and Lilith, He didn't scold us. Or rather, He scolded us harshly for how we had behaved... but He didn't scold us for the love we had for each other and He didn't tell us to go back. He forgave us and told us to be happy, and He even gave us a lot of warnings... but I didn't listen to them. I... in that moment I felt a feeling that I had already started to develop before, but that only in that exact istant did I feel in its true entirety. Pride. That same pride that I had developed since Adam and Lilith were created, this time I felt it completely. I, the angel that everyone considered a troublemaker, had just done something that no one else had ever dreamed of doing and God had proven me right. My perfect brother would never have done it, Gabriel would never have done it, Sera would never have done it... I had done it and I had done it well. By transgressing the Divine Command, somehow, I had made Lilith and myself happier and God approved. I felt prouder than ever... perhaps it was that very pride that made me deaf to Father's warnings or even to common sense. Fortunately, I was not the only brains of the couple"
Lucifer clenched his fingers slightly nervously. "Your mother and I were happy as we traveled to every corner of ancient Pangea... but soon she began to wonder if we should go back. She felt guilty for Adam. I didn't understand: what was the point of feeling guilty if God had proved us right? I couldn't realize that maybe our actions had still... hurt someone. I didn't even think that hurting someone was actually possible. But Lilith explained to me that it's really bad for humans to be abandoned without explanations. It was hard for me to understand, until then it was normal for us angels for someone to disappear as soon as they were called by Father, I myself was used to spending even centuries completely alone. And then Lilith patiently asked me how I would have reacted if she had just left. The thought alone made me feel bad... and then I understood the situation better. So Lilith and I went back and I, not knowing how to move in that situation, let her speak knowing that she would have handled it better than me. And when Adam and Eve welcomed us into the garden without much fuss... well, I promised myself I would have made it up to them. I wouldn't have let that trust and forgiveness be just one-sided. I swore to myself that I would have made their lives better"
"And that's why you ruined them?" Charlie asked rhetorically.
Lucifer wasn't at all surprised that that not-so-subtle sarcastic statement was the first thing his daughter said to him. "I was... too proud" he muttered. "I was convinced that I could really make Adam and Eve's lives better... I had made Lilith's better, why couldn't I do the same for them? I began to think that this was exactly what Father wanted, that I had invented something that no other angel would even dare to think of. I was too proud to remember Father's warnings, to stop and think about my actions. I decided to break a Divine Command again... the Divine Command. The absolute rule: never eat a fruit from the tree. My fear of that tree was quickly replaced by the belief that this was exactly what Father had in mind when he planted it in the garden. Lilith agreed with me, and Eve said she learned new things every time she tried to lick that fruit... I imagined that once they had eaten it, the minds of humans would have opened so wide that they would have reached a stage that even I could not even imagine, something far more wonderful... and I could be the one, the isolated and disreputable angel, to lead them to that path! I could repay their friendship in full, I could give them more glory and honor than they already had! That pride erased every doubt I had in my mind, and I ignored the warnings of others, I even ended up finding the fear Adam showed when I spoke of my project irritating. And in the end... you know how it went"
Lucifer closed his eyes as if he were concentrating intently on something... or trying to swat a particularly annoying fly from his head. "When everything went to hell... I didn't understand. I couldn't have been wrong, everything had been fine up until that moment. My pride didn't allow me to admit to Father that I was wrong, and He exiled us. We fell into the newborn Hell, which was still empty, and I immediately opened a portal to Earth and we returned there... but Eden was no longer there, and neither were Adam and Eve. We still didn't know what had happened to them, so we started looking for them... and we saw what the world had become. All the harmony that had been there before... destroyed. Now there was hunger, violence, suffering, cruelty, death. It was... traumatic. Lilith couldn't stand that sight and locked herself in a dark cave so as not to continue hearing the sounds of the beasts devouring each other. Seeing her so sad, I felt a new feeling... hatred. Hatred towards myself. Before I had made her happier... but now, I had made her sadder. and more desperate than ever. I had made everyone sad. I couldn't help but admit at least to myself that if I had just minded my own business, nothing would have happened. Everything that had happened wasn't God's will... it was my will. I had realized that I was not fit to make decisions, and so I chose to leave the reins completely to Lilith. However, I still didn’t want to sit around doing nothing: maybe I needed someone to decide for me, but I could still do my best to help others in their decisions. I started by doing my best to console Lilith, and then, when she had recovered enough and decided to go look for Adam and Eve, I followed her, and when we found them I also obeyed their decisions. In that form of passivity I didn’t risk hurting anyone anymore. I told myself that being a good husband, a good friend and eventually a good uncle to Adam and Eve’s children was the best place for me to be. I was too proud to admit it, but in my heart I was sure that, if I left the decisions to others and just did my best to make them happy and facilitate their decisions, everything would be fine. So I never insisted with Adam and Eve to let us back into their territory, I let Lilith choose where to build our house, when there was something important to discuss I let her talk and I intervened only if asked. And when Adam and Eve finally trusted us enough to meet their children... well, I became even more certain that my best role was to just help... especially Abel. I really liked the boy, he was... a wonderful person. Every now and then he would tell me about his plans, and I thought that, once he grew up, I could help him. He would have designed a new world and I would have followed his directions and made things easier with my powers. But still, I didn't intervene when he argued with Cain, or any of his other siblings, or his parents, or Lilith. I didn't want to interfere in those decisions. The others were the brains, I was just the hand: I was content with that, and I liked it"
"So you've become a mere tool in someone's hands?" Charlie asked, but this time with much less rhetoric in her voice.
"Eve hated herself for what she'd done. Adam had lost his home. Lilith was desperate. All the creatures on Earth were suffering. I'd done enough harm for one lifetime" Lucifer replied. "I couldn't trust myself anymore. If I let others decide, I was less likely to hurt anyone. Or at least... that's what I thought"
Charlie breathed deeply. "Not trusting yourself is not a reason to refuse to have a will of your own" she told him. "I understand why you did it... I understand how you felt. You'd done harm and you feared that by taking action you would do more harm. But you can't just stand back and let others decide for you. Look at Pentious, does he seem to be unafraid of himself after all the harm he's done? And yet he seems to want to remain passive?"
Lucifer nodded. "I know" he admitted. "Your friend has a much stronger will than I"
Charlie groaned slightly. “I understand that you didn’t know how to act, but… it’s still not right" she told him, and then she narrowed her eyes. “And even as a bottom, you can hurt others"
“Unfortunately, I know that well” Lucifer replied. “When Eve threw herself at me with the intent of… well, you know… I didn’t ask questions, like I always did in those cases. Did she want to have sex? Okay, Lilith said she was fine with an open relationship, Eve was consensual, and Adam was definitely okay with her wanting to do that, so no one would be sad. I figured everything would be fine if I just indulged myself. As you know, that wasn’t the case”. He shrugged slightly: "After Adam banished us from Earth, we returned to Hell. It was no longer deserted, now it was full of demonic creatures that had evolved in that bizarre ecosystem, who respected only strength and therefore saw us as rulers. But I was tired of creating problems, so I did the only thing that seemed useful to me: I dethroned Satan, the strongest of the demons, so that no one would have tried to harm Lilith out of fear of me, and then I finally stepped aside and left all the work to her. I didn't want to do anything anymore. If I was destined to do evil regardless of whether I chose for myself or let someone else choose, then it was better for everyone if I simply disappeared"
"So you locked yourself in your palace" Charlie said in a voice that was somewhere between sympathetic and reproachful. "And you never came out"
"It was the only way I could think of to not cause any more trouble" Lucifer muttered. "I didn't completely isolate myself, I continued to meet with the Sins and other people... well, at least for a while... but I didn't want to get involved in anything anymore. The less I interfered, the better"
"You let someone else take care of the mess you made" Charlie said, tightening her grip on the railing.
"I guess you could call it that" Lucifer admitted. "I was convinced that I wasn't needed. Lilith ruled much better than I could. Demons sometimes messed up... but Adam was there for that. I told myself that he could handle it. He had survived on primordial Earth, he was a warrior, he didn't need help. I couldn't see what he was becoming. Even after he destroyed half of Hell I still didn't intervene, I still didn't want to interfere with his life any longer. I never intervened... until that day after the Messiah had completed his work on Earth"
"When you finally went to the angelic embassy" Charlie said. "When you finally met again the man whose life you had ruined"
Lucifer nodded. "After the Messiah saved humanity... I too began to see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel, even in the midst of my depression" he said. "I began to imagine that humanity would finally be good, that no one would have to fight anymore, that we could finally aspire to a... peace. But the man I found in that embassy was no longer the man I knew. When he looked into my eyes, I knew that nothing would stop him anymore. There was no hope of any reconciliation. It was then that I realized that even when he had decided to do absolutely nothing, I had still done the damage. I could not do anything anymore"
"No" Charlie said through gritted teeth. "You could have done something. Maybe you didn't believe it, but you could have tried. But you didn't. You just gave up. Don't say you realized you'd done the damage because you didn't. You didn't learn from your mistake, you didn't really try to fix things. You destroyed the lives of who knows how many billions of people because of your stupid pride, and then you never took responsibility for it and you just moped around in a room full of rubber ducks. And even now you haven't shown any signs of wanting to go down to that cell and tell Adam you're sorry, you just want to make sure he doesn't hurt me again. You've completely given up on him and you're just treating him like a danger"
Lucifer didn't reply; he just kept quiet and didn't meet his daughter's eyes. He already knew he wouldn't have liked the way she was looking at him.
Charlie sighed deeply: "What are you going to do now?"
Lucifer bit his lip: "I... I don't know. I don't know how to solve this problem" he admitted sadly.
"I thought so" Charlie said. "Go away"
Lucifer clenched his fists slightly. "But..."
"Leave me alone" Charlie told him imperatively. "I don't want to talk to you anymore, I don't want to hear you trying to justify yourself. If you can't solve the problem anyway, you're no help to me"
Lucifer was silent. For a moment Charlie almost hoped that he would have refused, that he would have insisted on staying with her and talking, that he would have fought like he should have fought even after Adam had told him to fuck off, that he would have showed her that he had actually learned. But of course, in the end her father just nodded and turned away, and he left her alone on the balcony.
Charlie put her hands in her hair and squeezed it to ease the frustration she felt. She felt like screaming, but she held back with all her strength. She knew it would have done no good anyway.
A familiar voice reached her ears: "Are you okay?"
Charlie looked down and saw that Emily's face had appeared over the edge of the balcony; the angel was flying under it and now she was looking at her like a cat when it leaned over a table. "Were you listening?"
"I wasn't eavesdropping!" Emily said immediately, blushing quite a lot. "I was just... flipping around down here... and it happened that I hear your conversation"
Charlie chuckled. "You need to get better at lying" she said, motioning for her to come to the balcony. "Come on, stop standing there"
Emily blushed even more, but she flew up to the balcony anyway. "Sorry, it's just... I didn't think it was appropriate to just leave you alone" she said. "I know it was a private conversation, but... well, I was sure it would havre been tense, and it's bad to stay alone, and Vaggie's gone, and the others are downstairs talking, so..."
"Just say you were worried about a friend and that's fine" Charlie said with a smirk.
Emily felt a little comforted by this, though her smile quickly faded. "Listen... I understand this is a tough time. If I can help..."
"Can you make me not want to smash everything in Hell before Adam does?" Charlie asked rhetorically.
Emily was shocked for a moment. "Well... if it's venting that you want, maybe I could take you to some desert planet and let you destroy everything there... but I don't think that would be the right thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I know it's probably different for demons, but... for us angels, smashing things is not considered a good method of conflict resolution" she replied. "But... I could encourage you. Like reminding you that Pentious was at least able to get Adam to confess a little bit, so now we know that we angels are not supposed to go near it. And you also know that the last piece of the weapon is in Heaven"
"But we don't know what it actually is yet. And Adam will find another way to free himself sooner or later. And if he won't, Alastor will" Charlie muttered, literally smearing herself on the railing. "We're just putting off the problem... and I'm just continuing to feel worse and worse"
"Maybe I can help you" Emily said with a lot of uncertainty. "Maybe you just need..."
"Can you get me to talk to God?" Charlie asked suddenly.
Emily's eyes snapped open: "Excuse me?"
"You heard me right. Can you get me to talk to God, or even just take me to His throne room or something like that?" Charlie asked. "I really need guidance right now"
"But... no! That can't be done!" Emily said. "We don't decide when to talk to God, He lets us talk to Him...!"
"I don't care! I need a clear answer!" Charlie exclaimed. "I need to know what to do, I need to know which way to go! God is the only piece left on the board that can answer these questions of mine! I... I need...". Her voice died in her throat and she remained silent.
Emily noticed very clearly that Charlie was shrugging his shoulders as if he were cold, an action that was a sign of serious internal imbalance. "Char...?"
A couple of tears fell from Charlie's eyes. "I need someone... who can really convince me that I'm right to stand up to Adam" she whispered. "I know it's wrong... but part of me... wonders if he's right. Maybe Vaggie is right, maybe I should just compromise with him and allow him to take away suffering from Earth. If he just accepts to let my people live... maybe... fuck, what am I thinking...?"
Charlie hated herself for thinking those thoughts, but she couldn't get them out of her heart. The memory of the people suffering on Earth threatened to crush her. Maybe she should just listen to Vaggie? She knew full well that what Adam would have created would have been a world that was an understatement to call totalitarian, where he would have been the only true law... but was that really so bad, if he would have prevented all the other evils?
There was an old saying that 'better the devil you know than the angel you don't know'. Adam was dangerous and planned to kill billions of people, but he was at least a known evil, and he would have been the only evil in the world if he had won. Which was better? A dictator who guaranteed healthcare and workers' rights, or a democracy that barely offered those things?
Charlie was starting to have serious trouble in distinguish right from wrong.
Emily looked down. “Well… I guess that’s normal” she muttered. She was silent for a moment, and then she said: "Listen… I know this is a really hard time for you, especially considering how involved you and your family are in this. But try to stay strong. Think of something positive. Think of all your friends and how much they’re supporting you. They’ve never abandoned you, have they? They’ve always been there for you, even if their enemy was a being that could snap their spine with a finger. They believe in you and they’re right, even if their hearts are so heavy. That alone is enough to make you realize that killing everyone who misbehaves isn’t the way to go, even if it’s the easiest way". She gave a small smile: "You know... I once read one of those games in a magazine that asks you who you would save if you had to choose between your girlfriend, your mother, or your sister. But my answer has always been all three of them. Because I refuse to believe that there is a situation where you have to sacrifice someone. There's always a way to save all... maybe a very difficult one, but there is. You just have to not lose hope... and even if I don't know you as well as your friends, I know for a fact that one thing you absolutely don't lack is hope"
Charlie couldn't help but smile at that. "Well... maybe you're right" she said. "You're good at cheering up"
"Well, it's my job. It would be a problem if I wasn't good at it" Emily replied with satisfaction, but then she quickly became serious again: "And Charlie... about your father... listen, I know you're angry with him and you're right, and he was definitely wrong, I don't want to justify him. But... maybe it's because I'm an angel like him and therefore it's easier for me to empathize, but... keep in mind that he, just like Adam, had to learn from scratch. In fact, he even learned from a lower level. We angels are not created with the same ability to adapt as humans, we need to learn from someone to improve ourselves. Your father just took the experiences that life gave him and tried to avoid causing more damage. He made mistakes, and he never took responsibility for his actions... but I can understand him at least in a small part..."
"You're an angel too" Charlie interrupted her abruptly. "Tell me, now that you know what Adam wants to do and that he was probably trying to use you, do you want to go back to Heaven right away and leave us take care of things here?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, that would be the logical choice... but it wouldn't be fair" Emily answered. "I mean, I haven't had much to do with Adam in my life, but as a Joybringer I should have realized his discomfort... or at least investigated his past a little instead of ignoring it. Even if indirectly, I still have a little responsibility in all of this. I can't just leave him here..."
"That's right. You're in a situation you're not familiar with, yet you know the meaning of responsibility and you don't want to just give up. So even an angel can make the right choice in these situations" Charlie told her dryly. "Don't defend my father. No matter what he wanted, what he did was totally wrong and he still doesn't learn from his mistakes. There's nothing more to say"
Emily bit her tongue hard, and she preferred not to continue talking about that. It was clearly a very painful point for her and it was better not to press everything at once. "Okay... now do you want to go back to the others? They've probably noticed that we're gone by now"
Charlie nodded slightly, but still she didn't move from the railing: "Do you mind if I stay here a little longer? I just want some fresh air"
"Whatever" Emily said, sitting on the railing as well. "Also, don't take this as an insult, but the air in this realm really sucks"
Charlie couldn't hold back a giggle. "Wait until you smell it when it rains" she said. "You don't have to stay here with me if you don't want to"
"Nah. You can't leave a friend alone, it's the rule" Emily replied with a wink.
Charlie felt her heart warm at least a little at those words. "You know Sera will be worried when she realizes you're gone and will scold you when we get back down, right?" she asked playfully.
"Oh, let her scold me. It wouldn't be the first time and I assure you it won't be the last" Emily said while she smirked. "I'm used to it, I've had my moments of transgression too"
"You? Transgression? Seriously?" Charlie chuckled.
Emily's smirk widened. "I'm an angel, but I never said I was a saint" she replied in a knowing voice.
Charlie looked at Emily, she looked at her; and then they both burst out laughing.
Notes:
This chapter was basically meant to show a real confrontation between Charlie and Lucifer, which up until now had practically never happened, and the dear king of Hell confirms himself to be exactly what we have known so far: he is an idiot. Even PENTIOUS was more useful than Lucifer, and that says it all... actually, if we really want to be honest, EVERYONE in this story was more useful than Lucifer, even Niffty... fuck, technically Valentino was too, and honestly it's something I hate even if I wrote it. Lucifer is basically playing the victim for the umpteenth time because yes, he acknowledged his mistakes, but in the meantime he still tries to justify himself instead of simply yelling at his daughter: "yes, Charlie, I was an idiot who ruined everything and I admit it", as he should have done since the first five seconds of the conversation. At least this time Charlie is mature enough to tell him in a very kind way to go fuck himself. Oh, and this chapter was also meant to give a little more depth to Emily's character, so that she wasn't just Charlie's anonymous angelic copy. Don't worry, from the next chapter we'll return to the action.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 55): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165110659
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 109: Strange portal
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After the conversation between Adam and Pentious, much greater precautions had been taken. Now virtually no seraphim or high-ranking angel could approach the first man alone: there always had to be at least two of them, and always with someone to monitor him remotely. Also, even though there were quite a few angels who wanted to come and take a look, even just to make sure he was okay, for the time being it had been decided that no one else would come to Hell; perhaps in the future they would change their minds, but for now, given what they had learned thanks to Pentious, it was better to avoid bringing too many people into the dark realm. If Adam really aimed to lock them there while he escaped to Heaven to have an easy way to access his mysterious weapon, then it was better not to give him that opportunity.
Well, at least the security measures seemed to be working well, because there had been no escape attempt yet. Adam seemed to have abandoned whatever plan he had before, and now spent his days sitting in his cell in almost perfect silence. Most of the time he was staring at the wall with a glare, and seemed to be contemplating tearing someone to pieces... and given how his conversation with Pentious had ended, it wasn't hard to figure out who the target of that wrath was, which had led Angel, Husk, and even Cherri to suggest the snake get the hell out of Hell quickly, because the first man surely had every intention of making him pay for it.
Despite this, and despite being so afraid that he now needed to drink over five liters of water each day since he was losing at least three with dehydration, Pentious still refused to leave. In fact, he had become Adam's most assiduous visitor: he went down to the prison at least once a day and didn't leave for at least an hour. Even though the first man had made it very clear that he didn't appreciate his visits (to the point that he once started casually listing all the exquisite ways in which snake could be cooked, a dish he said was highly sought after by gourmets, and he even started talking about how good titanoboa or gigantophis meat was in the primordial Earth), Pentious still continued to return to him, risking a heart attack each time, but still without giving the impression that he wanted to give up. Every day he sat down in front of Adam's cell and told him some story from his life that he thought they had in common, and tried to convince him that pursuing a violent, murderous path was the wrong path. Despite everything, Adam himself had admitted that he admired Pentious' tenacity, although he joked that at least half of it was probably because Cherri became hornier every time she saw him act like that (and technically Pentious hadn't denied anything).
The others had also continued to visit the first man, or at least try to help with the situation. Michael and Sera were obviously often at his place, never alone as per security protocol; Emily had also wanted to try to talk to him, but she had been forbidden since she had already inadvertently caused harm once and Adam seemed intent on using her or at least an easily influenced angel, so she had been excluded regardless of any visit. Husk and Angel had also tried to meet him a couple of times, although in the case of the spider demon he hadn't lasted more than five minutes before leaving muttering insults; the cat demon had held out a little longer, but he certainly hadn't forgotten about the fact that Adam had cut off his wings, so despite his good intentions it still wasn't easy for him to stay there in his presence. Niffty as usual seemed not to have understood anything, and in fact she was the one who was feeling better about the whole thing. Cherri, on the other hand, hadn't even tried to go and talk to him, but instead had started to rewatch the recordings of the first conversations and at the same time to read the Bible, hoping to find any other clues about his plan; Rosie had helped her with that.
Charlie… honestly hadn’t been sure how to react. She hadn’t come near Adam’s cell anymore, and he hadn’t asked to talk to her anymore, as if he wanted to give her space. Maybe even in his unhealthy mind he could tell how upset she was and didn’t want to overdo it… or maybe he just didn’t have anything else to say. Charlie often kept to himself now, thinking and reading his Bible in hopes of finding some clue, often with little success. Vaggie had come to talk to her at the end of the day and apologized for her behavior, admitting that she’d reacted too strongly to the situation, but even so they still talked less than before, and they could both feel how tense the other was… and it hadn’t escaped Charlie that even though Vaggie had apologized, she hadn’t said Adam was wrong. She didn’t blame her for that, since Charlie herself couldn’t say it out loud with complete confidence. Both had simply avoided talking about it further and given the other space to deal with the situation as she saw fit. After all, it was a difficult time for everyone, it was complicated even just to talk about it.
And so more than a week had passed, with nothing having changed. The Pride Ring was still in total terror: almost all the hellborns had preferred to go to the lower Rings, and the sinners remained tense as if they were waiting for something that never came. Alastor had not shown up again, and the same was true for the Exorcists. And Charlie and her friends could do nothing but rummage through every sacred text in the hope to find even the slightest clue. Just like that moment, when she, Cherri, Husk, Angel and Rosie were sitting in the hotel hall reading.
"... I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth. He was given the key to the bottomless pit, and he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose from the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened. Out of the smoke came locusts that spread over the earth, and they were given power like scorpions on the earth..." Cherri made a tired noise and threw the book away. "Damn, that St. John really had a lot of time on his hands. Seriously, what kind of mentally ill person uses so many metaphors, figures of speech, and so on!?"
"Biblical prophecies are often very metaphysical" Rosie told her. "They're hard to interpret, much less understand..."
"Well, God could have been more specific!" Cherri exclaimed, slumping back in her chair and putting her hands over her face. "Why the fuck didn't He give His prophets specific instructions instead of all this gibberish? I'm looking for clues here, not lessons on how to talk nonsense!"
"I have to agree with her here. I know this won't help me in the slightest in my redemption process, but I'm starting to think that God likes to troll us" Angel commented while he was patting Fat Nuggets in an attempt to reduce his tiredness.
"Well, I thought it was strange that you hadn't said something completely stupid yet" Husk commented, as harsh as ever. The cat demon was literally surrounded by sheets of paper filled with mathematical equations, diagrams and notes, so much so that some were even stuck to his fur.
Charlie completely ignored her friends, continuing to read the Bible in front of her. This was her routine now: she spent all day in the hotel lobby reading and rereading the various passages of the Book of Revelation over and over, looking for any clue, and her friends (often Rosie and Husk, but the others sometimes joined in) came and went, trying to help her as best they could. She had reread those pages so many times that she could almost recite them by heart, but she still kept coming back to where she started and starting over again.
Charlie kept thinking about the last words Adam had said to her, how he had said that humanity would somehow have been ready to embrace the change he would have brought. She wondered if those words were a code, something that others were not supposed to understand but she could. But then why didn't she understand...?
Honestly, she couldn't understand many things anymore. As soon as she stopped focusing on the Bible and looking for clues, she felt completely lost. As long as her mind was occupied with something, she could not think about it, but as soon as it was free again, she couldn't help but wonder if Adam was right. She hated herself for thinking like that, but every time she thought about that conversation, it felt like a very sneaky part of her started whispering in her ear, and she couldn't help but listen.
The plan wasn't even that bad after all; it was about killing billions of people, and that was horrible, but none of them would have been someone who didn't deserve it... maybe. At least it was a plan built on solid foundations: Adam had been planning it for who knows how many centuries, and in fact, if it hadn't been for the appearance of Pentious, a redeemed demon who until then had been thought impossible, the first man would have had literally zero arguments against his beliefs. Creating a world without evil often seemed like a utopian dream, but Adam actually had the ability to make it happen. And as much as Charlie told herself that killing a lot of people wasn't the way, she couldn't get out of her head the thought that at least this way all the innocents on Earth would have finally been free from every horror that humans do to other humans every day. It would have been peace, true peace, perpetual and unshakeable.
Even though she and Vaggie hadn't spoken about it again, Charlie still wondered if her girlfriend was right. Was the best way to handle that situation a compromise with Adam? After all, if the first man had agreed to just send the wicked to Hell, no one would have really lost out. There would have been peace on Earth, and sinners could find redemption in Hell. After all, sinners with hundreds of cruelties behind them were one thing, but if someone was sent straight to Hell after doing just one bad thing, it would surely take them a short time to change and therefore redeem themselves. Except maybe a few bad apples, everyone else would have just emerged victorious in the end. And as Vaggie had said, even if Adam had been wrong and his actions hadn't brought Jesus back to Earth, at least the planet would finally have been free of evil, and no man, woman or child would ever have had to suffer unspeakable things again...
Honestly, Charlie sometimes wondered if she would have opposed the plan so vehemently if it hadn't involved her father's death.
Yet, even when she tried to imagine an alternate version of the plan where Lucifer didn't die, maybe one where he made a deal with Adam like Vaggie proposed... Charlie still felt that something was wrong. She didn't know why, it was like a strange instinct that told her that this plan wasn't the right way. Even as she tried to imagine how beautiful Earth could be, she couldn't help but feel a shiver down her spine when she thought about it. No matter how utopian she imagined the future, she felt that something was terribly wrong.
While she was thinking this, her friends were still arguing. "Bla bla bla, Mr. Big Critic!" Angel grumbled, glaring at Husk. "I only said that God could be a troll, not that He actually is! Try to laugh sometimes!"
"Your thought processes are still a complete mystery to me" Husk grunted.
"Tsk! You have no sense of humor" Angel replied, and then he chuckled: "Honestly, ever since YouTube was invented, I've been picturing God as a troll, or rather a prankster! I think there's some sort of mega YouTube channel in Heaven where Jesus makes motivational videos, Buddha makes meditation videos, Michael makes gym videos, and then there's God who makes pranks!"
Cherri put a hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter, and Rosie smiled a little too. Husk, on the other hand, had the expression of someone who had just been hit in the head with a stick. "Seriously, I think there must be a limit to how low even you can fall" the cat demon commented. "From what dark recess of your brain, if those two neurons you possess can even be called that, did this bullshit emerge?"
"What bullshit? This is brilliant!" Angel retorted, still cackling. "Imagine the video: Epic prank, I flood the entire Earth! E-P-I-C!"
"With a hashtag Endedverybad!" Niffty added, appearing from who knows where as usual.
Angel's eyes widened: "This... is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen! You're great, Niff!"
"One neuron" Husk corrected himself with a grunt.
"A video like that would have gotten a billion views today!" Angel laughed. "And He's God, so it's copyrighted too!"
Husk put a hand in front of his face: "Why do I keep overestimating his intelligence? Why can't I just accept that his head is completely empty?"
"Come on, laugh!" Angel said to him, a little annoyed by his attitude. "What are you doing, anyway? Do you owe someone money and are looking for a loophole in your finances, or are you trying to solve the theory of Yin-Mells?"
"Yang-Mills" Husk corrected him. "At least if you want to sound intelligent by using random words from some video you watched try to say them correctly"
"Okay, I admit I have no idea what this is, I just happened to see these words while scrolling through YouTube" Angel confessed. "So what are you doing?"
Husk snorted, but still he pointed to a piece of paper he had pinned to the wall where he was leaning, on which was a sequence of numbers: "These are the numbers that Adam and his Exorcists left on each of their raids. I'm sure it's a map, and I was trying to decipher them by comparing them to the Bible passages. Trying to find a pattern, basically"
Everyone became more attentive at that. Charlie looked up from her book slightly for the first time. "This is... a good lead, actually" Angel admitted, becoming serious again. "Did you find anything?"
"Maybe" Husk replied, taking some of his notes. "These are the numbers we have, in this exact sequence: 1-0-6-6-6-1-2-1-0-3-3-3-6-6-6-0-1-1-4-2-5-10-4-0-6-6-6-1-0-6-6-6. Now, taking them individually, maybe they make sense. 666 is the number of the devil, of evil, or in any case of Hell, and the 1 is undoubtedly Adam, so the first group of numbers could be translated as: the one (Adam) has been zeroed out (killed) by evil (Hell). Basically, we can read it as the first event that unites us all: the defeat and death of Adam at the Hazbin Hotel. Initially that's what I thought"
The others began to look at the pattern with interest. "Damn, that's right! It actually makes sense..." Cherri commented.
"Yeah, but the rest of the sequence made me realize I was wrong" Husk said. "The numbers immediately after, 1 and 2, could mean that Adam was going to get a second chance... but it's the sequence immediately after that that draws me in. We have 333, which is exactly half of 666, which we remember represents the devil, and so it could refer to Charlie, who was half-sired by Lucifer who is... well, the devil. Or it could refer to the fact that she is a demon, and therefore part of Hell, but she is still half human, and therefore only half a 666. Either way, I think it identifies Charlie..."
"I'm already starting to fall off track. Please, talk less difficult" Angel begged. "What made you think these assumptions of yours are wrong?"
Husk snorted a little in annoyance, but then drew a couple of lines, dividing the sequences 1-0-3-3-3 and 6-6-6-0-1. "This" he explained. "We can read this as describing two very similar events: the one where Adam attacked the Hazbin Hotel, and the one where he lured us to the cathedral. In both cases, he defeated Charlie first, and then Lucifer defeated him. But regardless of which of those two fights they refer to, the numbers are not randomly placed. The character who wins always comes first. Which means..." he pointed to the first sequence of numbers, 1-0-6-6-6. "... that this doesn't mean that Adam was defeated by Hell or Lucifer at all, but rather that he defeated Hell"
"Wait, wait, wait" Angel stopped him. "That doesn't make any fucking sense. Adam never defeated Lucifer, and he never actually eliminated Hell..."
"That's right. And that's what made me think that this sequence of numbers isn't actually meant to be read in the past tense, but in the future" Husk said. "And as a testament to that, all of these numbers I've told you so far were written BEFORE our fight at the cathedral, so they were speaking of a future event regardless"
Angel's eyes narrowed. "So... this is actually supposed to read as Adam will erase evil, and first will defeat Charlie, and then will let Lucifer defeat him?"
"That would make sense. That was a perfect description of how he got the trident" Rosie said. "The opening part isn't a tale of the past... it's a declaration of war. He's promising that he will destroy Lucifer and all of Hell in the way he describes"
"But if that's the case, then what about the 1 and the 2?" Cherri asked, pointing to the sequence 1-2 that came after 1-0-6-6-6 and before 1-0-3-3-3. "If it's future tense, it's not describing a second chance, because Adam was already reborn as a demon when he left those numbers"
"No, it's not. I don't think it's describing a second chance, but rather... that the one will become the two" Husk said, narrowing his eyes.
Silence fell. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "But... Adam can't become the... second man" Angel said. "I mean... he is and will always be the first man, no matter what he does or how many times he dies"
"But it could refer to the second coming of Christ" Rosie commented, rubbing her chin. "Maybe it should be read as Adam bringing Jesus back to Earth a second time"
"I've thought about that too, and it does seem to fit with what we know" Husk confirmed, but then he picked up the Bible: "But... the number 2 also has another connotation. It's an imperfect number, not perfect enough to be one, the number of God, but not perfect enough to be three, the number of the Holy Trinity. It's not just a feature of the Bible, Dante and other medieval authors also use it to describe some infernal entities commonly known to try to imitate the Trinity. And in the Book of Revelation there is a specific being that reflects well the attempt to imitate what is divine". His gaze became tense: "Antichrist"
Everyone looked at him in surprise. "The Antichrist?" Charlie asked in a small voice, speaking for the first time.
"That doesn't make sense! Charlie is the Antichrist" Angel protested. "I mean... well, she's the devil's daughter..."
“The Antichrist is not the child of the devil in the Book of Revelation, that’s a later interpretation” Husk explained. “According to the Bible, he’s a multiple-headed beast who will take over the world, put his mark on all people, and those who refuse to follow him will be killed. Well, we know that Adam does intend to take over the Earth, spread his new baptism to all humans, and kill all who don’t conform to his law. He would, in a sense, take on the role of the Antichrist”
“But isn't the Antichrist… well, destined to lose?” Cherri asked.
“Technically, yes, but he won’t be defeated until Christ’s second coming to Earth” Husk replied. "And we all know that Adam doesn't care what happens to him after that. He cares that all the prophecies are fulfilled, and so he has to make sure that the Antichrist appears on the scene as well. Taking on that role and playing it in his own way would be a brilliant move"
Rosie bit her lip. “It would make sense, unfortunately” she muttered. “So, in order… Adam formally declared his intention to destroy evil, took on the role of the Antichrist, and then described how he would steal the trident?”
"That's just a guess, especially the Antichrist part... but yeah, I think so" Husk said, and then continued, "Right after that, which is the furthest I've gotten in deciphering this stuff, is the description of our journey to Earth. 1-4-2: well, 4 is the number associated with the Earth itself according to numerology, or at least the humans who inhabit it; it identifies them as God's favorite creatures, superior to 5, which is the number of angels, but still inferior to 3, which again, is the number of the Trinity. And 2, as I said, could be the Antichrist. Well, according to the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist will take over the inheritance of Jesus Christ; that's usually interpreted as wanting to imitate him, but it's possible that stealing the cross where Jesus died represents taking over his inheritance. After all, if you think about it, not even the angels ever dared to touch it in the last two thousand years. So these three numbers could mean that Adam went to Earth and actually took up the cross, fulfilling his role once again"
The atmosphere had become quite tense. "Well... that guy is crazy, but at least we have a good lead now, right?" Angel asked. "Now that you've interpreted the sequence so far, can you interpret the rest of it? Please, just say yes"
"I'm trying" Husk replied. "But I'm having trouble. For one thing, I don't understand what this damn 10 is. 5 is probably Heaven, but I don't understand what comes after that. And also, the last numbers are confusing me. 4-0-6-6-6 clearly means humanity will defeat evil, and 1-0-6-6-6 means Adam will kill Lucifer... but from the way he described his plan, those two sequences should be reversed..."
"Did you check the timeline?" Charlie asked.
Everyone looked at her. "What?" Husk asked in confusion.
"The Exorcists left their marks in Hell while Adam was on Earth and left others. Some of these numbers may have been left earlier than we know, we just learned about them later, and so their place in the sequence should be different" Charlie explained.
Husk was shocked for a moment, and then he looked like he wanted to kick himself in the balls. "Of course, why didn't I think of that before!?" he exclaimed, quickly searching through the many notes until he found the dates each number had been left. "So this one actually goes first, this one goes here, this one..."
Husk stopped suddenly; he checked the dates several times, sure he was wrong, but they were correct. "What's going on?" Charlie asked.
Husk shook his head. "That doesn't make sense" he muttered. "The final sequence is not 5-10-4-0-6-6-6-1-0-6-6-6... it's 4-0-6-6-6-5-10-1-0-6-6-6"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "But... what does that mean?" Angel exclaimed. "It doesn't have the slightest sense! Humanity is supposed to defeat evil before Adam goes to Heaven or kills Lucifer?"
Charlie took the sequence of numbers in her hands and looked at it. She didn't know why, but there was a strange knot in her stomach. "And how could it do so...?"
Velvette was leaning on the hotel railing, looking out over the city. She had to admit that that building had a really nice view, since the hill it was on was on the outskirts of the city, allowing her to see almost the entirety of Pentagram City. Even though she had never been someone who liked to admire beautiful landscapes unless she had to take a picture for her social media, at least counting the houses could work as a distraction.
A familiar sound of footsteps was heard behind her, as well as the unmistakable smell of incense mixed with nicotine, and sure enough, after a couple of seconds Valentino appeared next to her with his usual long cigarette in his mouth. "You know you shouldn't be alone, right?" he said. "Alastor might take advantage of this"
"Tsk! I'm almost hoping for it now" Velvette grumbled, sitting on the railing and dangling her legs. "I'd prefer that to this unnerving immobility"
Valentino inhaled deeply from his cigarette. "Yeah, me too" he admitted, then he handed it to her: "Do you want some? It helps you relax"
"I'm not that desperate yet" Velvette replied. She had many vices, but smoking or drugs had never been one of them even though she lived with the person who was literally the living embodiment of those things. "Shouldn't you be with your new creepy friend, working out a new plan?"
During that entire week, Zestial and Valentino had continued to work together to find Alastor and capture him. They had made plans after plans on how to get him out, but the radio demon was clearly smarter and still hadn't shown up. It was almost as if he had vanished. "I can take a break to talk to you for a bit" Valentino answered. "We haven't had a proper conversation since... well, since you left me in the lurch"
"Since you acted like an asshole" Velvette corrected him. "Look... I know what you're going to say, okay? You did everything to protect me, you think I'm too impulsive, blah blah blah. I know, I get it, you don't have to justify yourself"
Valentino let out a puff of pink smoke. "I don't regret keeping you out of trouble" he told her. "But I admit I hurt you. For that, I say you I'm sorry"
Velvette was a little surprised. It wasn't the first time Valentino apologized, he had done it to her before and a few times to Vox too, but it was such a rare occurrence that it was a bit of a shock each time. "Mh. Of course" she just muttered in response.
Valentino was silent for a moment, and then he sighed: "Listen... Angel is an idiot as usual and we've barely spoken to each other in the last week, but he still came to tell me that you need a hand"
Velvette froze: "What the fuck did he do!?"
"He told me what state you're in right now... well, with your head" Valentino explained. "He told me that you started acting kind of... tense after Adam looked you in the eyes..."
"Tell your little slut to mind her own business!" Velvette snapped irritably. "I don't need a psychologist, he's the one who should see someone..."
"His cat friend is taking care of that" Valentino retorted. "And Velvette... I know something's wrong. I know you too well... and I know that you, unlike me, have a conscience that can be tortured with"
Velvette bit her lip. Valentino almost always called her 'Babydoll', because he knew that she hated her teenage doll appearance and loved to throw it in her face. Only when he wanted to be really serious did he use her name. "I spent years helping you and Vox do the worst heinous things, on what basis would I have a conscience?"
"Oh, believe me, you have it. Very small perhaps, but unlike me, who completely threw away my conscience in 1963, you still have a limit" Valentino told her.
Velvette shook her head in disappointment. "I'm fine" she hissed. "I don't need a nanny. Adam's gaze is strong, but it's not that terrible. It's Angel who's too weak to support him and needs to confide in his kitten, and yet he has the audacity to act as a therapist to others!"
"There's no doubt that Angel is weak" Valentino replied. "But... I still don't think you should pretend that everything is fine..."
"Ssssh!" Velvette suddenly shouted at him.
Valentino was a little annoyed: "I understand everything, but at least you could not...!"
"Val, shut up!" Velvette interrupted him again. "What is that?"
Valentino didn't understand, but then he looked in the direction Velvette was pointing and froze. Even with his terrible eyesight he was able to see that in the middle of the red sky above the city a black dot had appeared. And if such a dot was visible at that distance, then it must be really big when seen up close. Really, really big. "What the fuck is that?"
"I have no idea" Velvette muttered. To her eyes the thing was nothing more than a speck in the background, although she couldn't help but notice that it was perfectly circular and seemed to be flickering slightly. "Maybe it's... a portal...?"
Well, if it was a portal, it certainly hadn't been created by an angel, since those were always blue, white, or gold, or at least pure colors. Could it have been created by some demon? But what demon would have wanted to open a portal that high up? It was even higher than the top of the peaks surrounding Pentagram City, so it must be at least three thousand meters high...
"Maybe some noble Goetia wanted to come to Pride and got the coordinates wrong?" she tried to suggest, though the words sounded weak even to her ears. Just then she noticed something coming out of the portal and falling, as if someone had thrown a large boulder out. "But..."
Valentino suddenly grabbed her and pulled her back with such force that he almost tore off her wooden arms; she didn't even have time to protest before he wrapped his moth wings around her and ran off into the hotel. "Hey, what's wrong with you...!?" she protested.
"The glow!" Valentino hissed through gritted teeth.
Velvette's eyes widened slightly. Being part moth, Valentino had very poor eyesight, but he could notice light sources long before the human eye could. And she had rarely heard so much fear in his voice.
Valentino reached the stairs and literally threw himself down, attracting the attention of everyone present who turned to him, looking at him as if they thought he was crazy, but he didn't care and jumped on Charlie, grabbing her by the collar. "Ehy, what are you...?"
"Protection, NOW!" Valentino screamed.
Just in that istant, the entire wall behind them exploded, and they were hit by what felt like a wave of roaring fire.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 56): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029913
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 110: Nuclear fire
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"We are ready, Mr. President"
The President of the United States was staring out of the window of the White House. His gaze was hard and serious like few other times in his life. Even the Secretary of Defense, the one who had just brought him the news, had never seen him so determined. "Have you thought of everything?"
The Secretary of Defense nodded. "Our military is spread across the country, ready to execute one of the seven-three contingency plans designed. Each of them has orders to lead the population to the shelters designed in the event of a loss of communications. Should a demon try to set foot on our territory, our tanks will give them a worthy welcome. And if one of those Sins, or whatever they are called, dares to appear in our sky, the defense missile systems will teach them the meaning of nuclear deterrent"
The President nodded slightly. "Good. All precautions have been taken then"
"Yes, sir" the Secretary of Defense replied. "The dimensional portals are already ready to open on all designated targets. As soon as this happens, we will drop the annihilator devices inside them. You can order the attack to begin whenever you want"
The President took a deep breath. He had no doubt that the attack would end in total victory, it was impossible for it not to end like that; but still, as head of state, he had to make sure that the United States was able to react if something went wrong and some demon managed to reach Earth thirsty for revenge. In the previous days, the entire US Army had prepared emergency shelters scattered in strategic areas of all cities, recycling all the bunkers that had been built during the Cold War and in general any underground structure; if some demon had appeared, the military that were scattered on site had precise protocols to evacuate the population and face the enemy. Tanks and warplanes were ready to do their job. And if conventional weapons were not enough, all the missiles of the nation were already ready to launch and vaporize anything that dared to breathe.
Everything was ready for the largest and potentially most important war that not only the United States, but all of humanity would have faced.
The President couldn't hide the fact that he was tense. Anyone would be tense in that situation, he was human after all. But even so, his resolve remained unshaken. "How old is your son?" he asked suddenly.
The Secretary of Defense was a little confused. "Jason? He's ten now" he answered, not hiding the paternal affection in his voice. "He's a truly golden boy..."
"Eight years and he'll be ready to go to war" the President interrupted with a grunt. "Tell me, how many of our boys have we sent to the four corners of the world and brought back in coffins, even just in the last twenty years? Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, who knows how many other countries we've sent troops to, how many dead? Fifty, fifty-five thousand? And how many casualties does our enemy have? And how many of the survivors have come home maimed, traumatized, or with the blood of another human being on their hands?"
The Secretary of Defense bit his lip. "Too many, sir" he said simply.
"That's right" the President said, turning to him and looking him over with piercing eyes. "Never, in the long history of mankind, has there been a cause that has truly united us as a species. Today, for the first time ever, not even one country is thinking of attacking another. All of us are united and aligned for a greater cause. Ironic, isn't it? In the end, it wasn't pacifism that brought peace to the Earth, but the prospect of a much greater enemy"
The Secretary of Defense nodded; he too agreed with those words. "Humans are a warlike species" he said simply. "Nothing unites us like waging war against an enemy too large to face alone. In World War II, we put aside our hatred of the Russians and fought side by side to finally defeat the Nazis. It's similar now"
"No, you are wrong. This is different" the President said. "This time we know there is life after death, in a world that we are about to destroy. We know there are angels, and we know there is a God. The mere fear of this will stop us from any future evil. Imagine, all humans are at peace now, and soon they will have a whole new world full of resources with which we can solve the energy crisis, fix the climate, produce food much more efficiently, maybe even speed up the space race. All the problems we face today will soon be solved, and there will be no fighting over these resources for fear of what God might think of us, and instead we will use the unity we have just achieved to exercise the power of diplomacy. In a year from now, all of humanity may even be united in a great confederation dedicated to improving the quality of life for every person, not just a handful of privileged individuals. This is not World War II, no... this is the beginning of a new era, a new era of peace in which humanity could experience prosperity like we have never seen before"
The Secretary of Defense couldn't help but smile. "It seems like a utopian dream, sir" he said.
"Yes. It would have been until yesterday. But today, it is reality. Our victory over Hell will forever change the entire future history of humanity" the President said. "Let's not waste any more time. Take me to the Pentagon immediately"
The Secretary of Defense nodded, and immediately called security to escort the head of state to the headquarters of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Pentagon was a huge monolith with five sides of concrete and steel, dating back to the Second World War and since then the place from which the major activities of the US military were commanded. With over 28 kilometers of corridors and an area of approximately 600,000 square meters spread over its five floors, it was the largest office complex in the world, which hosted more than 40,000 people every day including national security, military and diplomatic personnel.
When the President arrived there and entered the central room, from which military operations were coordinated, everyone immediately stood up and gave him the military salute. The President's gaze ran throughout the room, in which there were numerous screens displaying images, data and calculations; in particular, he concentrated on the central screen, so large that it took up an entire wall and that more than ten people were needed to operate it, on which the faces of the other world leaders were already present in video calls, also already in their country's military headquarters. "Gentlemen" the President greeted them. "America is ready"
"We all are" the Chinese Prime Minister announced.
The American President nodded. Not even a month ago, it would have been impossible to imagine so many world leaders united for a common cause. The world was truly changing. "There is no need to hesitate then. Once this begins, there is no going back," he said out loud, so that the other people in the Pentagon could also hear him. "Today, our armies will unite into one, one world army, which will not be American, Russian, Chinese, Arab, Palestinian, Israelite, English, French, German, Japanese, Indian, or any other ethnic or nationality you can think of; this, for the first time, will be a human army! For the first time, all of us will be united as humans, and together we will wage the greatest battle ever waged by humanity! Yes, humanity... today that word should take on a new meaning for all of us. We can no longer be consumed by our petty differences, by such idiotic things as a border line on the other side of the world or a different skin color. We will all be united in our common interest. Today we fight for our freedom; not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from all of these things combined. Today we will fight against a species that doesn't even consider us important, and that would annihilate us laughing if they could. We are fighting for our right to live, to exist. And if we win, this day will not be remembered just as an American, or Russian, or Chinese national holiday, but as the day the world with one voice declared that we would not stand by and watch in silence while the angels of Heaven fought our battle. We will not surrender to being treated like lowly cattle without a fight. We will live. We will survive, and they will die. We will annihilate them. And if any of you have any doubts in your heart, erase them. We are not talking about annihilating an innocent people, but a species that has made sin their reason for existing! They are a spit in God's eye! It is our duty as human beings to eliminate them! And if you still hesitate, remember these words of mine: there are times when it is necessary to sacrifice a little of our humanity to save humanity!"
As soon as the President finished his speech, everyone in the Pentagon immediately saluted him. These words had been broadcast to the entire US military, and soldiers across the country saluted, feeling inspired by it. Some of the other world leaders also applauded a little. "Great speech" the Russian President told him, for once without the usual irony with which he addressed Americans.
The US President folded his arms behind his back. "Since we are all ready, let's start Operation Armageddon" he said out loud.
Immediately on the central screen, the faces of the other world leaders were moved to the side, while in the center appeared the image of a huge metal shell, which must have weighed at least two thousand tons, under which there was a ring full of strange symbols. Within a few moments, this ring began to rotate and in the center of it appeared what looked like a dark and shapeless mass, which however was not made of matter. The gateway to Hell, literally. "Do you authorize the start of phase one, Mr.President?" the Secretary of Defense asked.
The President nodded. "I authorize!" he said so loudly he almost screamed. Immediately, the supports holding up the giant metal casing broke free, and it fell into the portal. The same scene was repeated at various other American bases and in every other nation in the world.
Let's get one thing straight: Pentagram City was big. Really, really big. It was no coincidence that there were even cities inside the same city, so much so that each overlord's territory could be considered a city in itself, like Cannibal Town. Even a modern megalopolis like New York seemed small in comparison. The largest city on Earth was the Chinese city of Chongqing, with an area of over 82,000 square kilometers; Pentagram City wasn't still that large, but it could easily surpass the 60,000 square kilometers. With that size, it was no surprise that even the intense battle between Adam and Alastor, which ended with what was literally the eruption of a volcano, was barely noticed by the rest of the giant megalopoli.
But despite that, all the demons throughout that enormous territory were affected by what came through the portal.
The Sundial Bomb was a Cold War project conceived by Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb, with the express purpose of creating what could only be called a world destroyer: a bomb so powerful that the entire world would have been plunged into an apocalyptic nuclear winter when it was detonated. It was so powerful that it wasn't even designed to be carried into enemy territory: after all, if a bomb could destroy the world, what was the point of carrying it into the enemy nation? You might as well detonate it in your own backyard. It was such a destructive project that even the United States military, in the midst of the violent climate of tension of the Cold War, had considered building the Sundial Bomb a crime against humanity.
But unfortunately... demons weren't human.
The demons directly beneath the portal didn't even notice what had happened; some of them just happened to look up at that moment and see something appear high above them, and then nothing. The moment the bomb detonated, it was as if the beating heart of a supergiant star had just manifested. A ball of pure, boiling plasma appeared and expanded for over fifty kilometers; it would have gone even farther, but it was so large that the horizon literally curved beneath it, forcing it to stop. Everything it engulfed inside vanished in an instant, vaporizing as if it had never existed; not even the foundations of the buildings remained. People turned into a mass of disconnected atoms; not a single molecule was left intact.
As soon as it appeared, the fireball emitted an immense tsunami of light, so powerful that even the peaks surrounding the city were illuminated; all demons who were unfortunate enough to be looking in the direction of the light instantly lost their sight. No pupil was designed to withstand such a quantity of light, and their eyes literally exploded inside their eye sockets. Most demons no longer had the ability to see what was coming... but they could feel it very well.
In a fraction of a second, the temperature of the air in a radius of 250 kilometers skyrocketed; it was a heat wave so strong that in the farthest outskirts of Pentagram City the heat was still so intense that it instantly evaporated the water contained in the bodies of living beings, causing them to boil from the inside. Demons within a hundred kilometers of the fireball were literally charred alive: their skin became harder than coal and cracked until it crumbled. Those closer than ten kilometers were instead melted: their bodies went from solid to liquid in a fraction of a second and were reduced to a shapeless mass of what had previously been organs and tissue. The heat wave was so powerful that even the surface of the peaks surrounding Pentagram City saw temperatures soar to over four hundred degrees Celsius, and every form of plant or animal life was essentially burned alive.
In an instant, the entire city was burning. Only a few lucky people who had been behind the walls during the flash of light had been spared, and even then, the intense temperature of the air was burning their lungs and balls. But that would soon have been the least of the demons' problems: the flash was quickly followed by the shock wave.
As the fireball hit the atmosphere, all the molecules of air and vaporized matter were blown away with incredible force, and as soon as the fireball stopped, all the energy it had stored was transferred to the air in an explosive manner. The shock wave traveled in all directions many times faster than the speed of sound, wiping out everything in its path. Skyscrapers weighing over fifty thousand tons broke off their bases and flew away like twigs, and then, as the shock wave diminished in intensity, they fell back to the ground, crushing everything that had still miraculously survived. Even on the outskirts of Pentagram City, houses collapsed as if they were made of paper.
In just five minutes, Pentagram City, so large it could be compared to a small nation, had ceased to exist.
The demons that were still alive were reduced to burned, shattered, and blind versions of themselves. They barely crawled out of the rubble, hoping that their natural regeneration would soon repair them. The pain they were feeling was unlike anything they had ever felt: even though they were used to dying, they had never before been hit by so many calamities all at once. They were in pain, confused, traumatized, and had no idea what had happened or what was going to happen to them. And that fear proved to be well founded, because the waves of destruction were not over yet.
Barely a minute after the shockwave had passed, when some were foolishly starting to believe they could breathe a sigh of relief, the earth shook like a bell struck by a hammer: an earthquake greater than magnitude 9 shook everything that was left. The ground cracked like butter and the rubble was thrown into the air repeatedly by the shaking of the earth, falling continuously and crushing whatever it hit. The already burned and torn apart demons were crushed over and over again, feeling all their organs being squeezed until they broke, and still they did not die due to their strong constitution and regeneration factor. For the first time, however, they would have gladly welcomed the possibility of dying.
The next wave came from behind. The fireball was now starting to rise upwards, pushed by the immense mushroom cloud, and this violently sucked air towards it. A second shockwave came from behind, not as strong as the first but enough to lift the rubble and move it a few meters, crushing and tearing the demons apart even more. This also caused a second effect, a huge abundance of oxygen: and with all the fire that was already raging, this unleashed a veritable firestorm that devoured everything, even the foundations of what had been buildings. The fire quickly consumed the oxygen, with the result that the demons, after having already been burned, crushed and torn apart over and over again, began to suffocate. Even those who managed to crawl into areas that the fire couldn't reach still struggled to breathe even a tiny amount of air, with the result that their lungs, already burned by the super-hot air, also filled with smoke and ash, which made everything even more painful.
Soon the fire was the only source of light left: the dust and ash generated by the mushroom cloud expanded into the sky until it covered it, plunging the entire territory into a night darker than anything the demons had ever experienced. Nowhere was it possible to see the pentagram, the moon, Heaven or even the stars: the red sky of Hell had disappeared, replaced by an immense dome of ash that trapped even more of the heat emitted by the flames, raising the temperature even more. And this generated another destructive phenomenon: the fire tornadoes.
A tornado was formed when hot, moist air met cold, dry air; well, with the firestorm devouring the ground and the ash dome trapping moisture from escaping, huge columns of spinning air began to form, grabbing the flames and engulfing them. Like pillars of fire, tornadoes spawned in every corner of what was once Pentagram City, burning and blowing away everything and fighting furiously for all the remaining oxygen. All the while an increasingly warm atmosphere from the heat trapped by the ash dome allowed them to grow in size and strength, causing them to merge with each other until some of them turned into veritable hurricanes of fire.
No one knew exactly how long this situation went on: the demons were continually burned, blown away, crushed, torn to pieces and suffocated. They could not die until their bodies were completely destroyed, and even when that happened it did not mean the end of the pain: no matter how many times they died, sooner or later they would have revived, and the suffering would have restarted worse than before. And finally, came what truly made them wish they could never respawn again: a thick, pitch-black rain began to fall from the sky, covering the rubble as if it were tar.
The invisible, malicious, silent horror of radiation was taking its turn.
Every time a demon was hit by the black rain, they could feel their charred, sore skin begin to burn even more intensely. Every breath brought the terrible poison to the lungs of the unfortunate survivors. The level of radiation would have been deadly to a human, but to the demons, who could not die, it was only unspeakable pain. Each of them could feel their bodies filling with tumors, their skin flaking off, their organs boiling over and over again. And sadly, what little was left of their brains was enough to allow them to understand that this time there was no way it would end: even if the fire would have eventually died out, the tornadoes would have vanished, and the rain would have stopped, the radiation would have remained, torturing them until it would have decayed who knows how many hundreds of years later.
For the first time ever, the demons found themselves praying to God to let them die. And when God didn't answer, they began praying to everyone else, hoping that there was someone who could put them out of their misery. Death was better than that.
The angelic embassy was protected by numerous spells and built with solid materials, yet it too had broken in half: the upper part of the tower had flown away and landed at least a hundred meters ahead, crushing a large number of houses and people with its weight. The rest of the tower, consisting of the base and its foundations, as well as all the underground passages, had remained where it was, protected by the earth that had acted as a shield, but still many points had collapsed and some underground corridors had been exposed due to the fracture caused by the megaquake. Not even that masterpiece of angelic engineering had resisted against that devastating power.
Pentious, Lilith, Lucifer, Michael, Sera and Emily had been on the upper floors of the tower when it had flown away, and so they too had been thrown far away; Luckily the walls of the tower were designed specifically to absorb impacts, and in fact the sudden blow hadn't hurt much, giving Michael time to wrap everyone in a bubble of energy that had protected them from the strong shocks. Only when he was sure that no more blows were coming did the archangel cancel the protection. "What the fuck!?" Pentious couldn't help himself. "What was that!?"
"I-I don't know" Emily stammered. She had gotten a real scare, and it wasn't helping that she was now walking on what had been a wall, not a floor. "Was it an explosion?"
"Whatever it was, it was really powerful" Michael said through gritted teeth. "Stay behind me, I..."
"Charlie!" Lucifer and Lilith yelled in unison, rushing toward the exit.
"... am talking to myself as usual" Michael muttered with a grunt, and then followed, keeping his wings spread wide to protect Sera and Emily in case of the slightest danger.
When they finally made it outside (and they did so through what had been the second floor moments before) they could finally see the devastation outside. It was a terrifying sight, and they weren't surprised to see that Lilith and even Lucifer were frozen in the doorway. "What... what...?" the Queen of Hell stammered slightly.
"Okay, Alastor definitely overdid it this time" Pentious muttered, looking at the blackened sky.
"It couldn't have been him" Lucifer said through gritted teeth. "No overlord has that much power... no demon in fact! Not even Satan could generate that much energy in one shot!"
Lilith was turning white, and she needed her husband to hold her up. "Charlie... we have to go get Charlie" she muttered in a strangled voice.
"I totally agree" Lucifer said picking her up. "We look for her from above, we'll have a better chance..."
"COUGH!" Pentious suddenly coughed, so hard he doubled over, and he couldn't stop, instead he started spitting up blood: "Cough! Cough!"
"Pen, what's wrong with you!?" Emily exclaimed, grabbing him so he wouldn't have fallen to the ground.
"Cough... there's something in the air!" Pentious muttered as he could barely breathe. "I... I can't...!"
"Cough!" Lilith started coughing too. "Cough! He's right... cough! I...!"
Seeing that even a primordial human was having trouble breathing, Sera immediately used a spell to scan the area, and for once she lost her usual composure: "What the...!? The air is filled with radiation at lethal levels! It's as if the heart of a supergiant star was here just a couple of seconds ago!"
"Cough... I can feel it!" Lilith muttered as she continued to cough up blood. Lucifer quickly wrapped her in an angelic shield to shield her from the radiation, and she finally stopped feeling sick. "Thank you"
"No need to thanks" Lucifer told her, while Michael did the same with Pentious to allow him to breathe. "We need to find Charlie, right now! I wonder what happened to her in the midst of this destruction!"
"Go" Michael told to his brother. "I'm going to the point of impact, I'll try to figure out what happened"
Lucifer nodded, and then he didn't wait any longer: he took flight and disappeared into the sky, heading towards the Hazbin Hotel... hoping it still existed, at least. Michael in turn spread his wings and flew towards the center of the explosion. "I'm following those two!" Pentious exclaimed; his snake collar lit up with a white light, and expanded to form two large golden wings.
"I'm coming too!" Emily said immediately.
"No!" Sera exclaimed. "Go back to Heaven, now!"
Emily glared at her: "I don't even think about it! Should I leave while an entire city is razed to the ground!?"
Sera summoned all her patience not to yell at them: "Emily, please, just this once, do as I say...!"
"Forget it! I'm not a little girl anymore!" Emily replied, and before she could protest she flew away as fast as she could.
Sera gritted her teeth and broke out in a cold sweat. "Kids these days, mh?" Pentious said to her, an instant before taking flight himself.
In the depths of his cell, Adam was staring at the cracks and fractures that had opened up all over the walls, all without rising from his sitting position. A grin formed on his face. "That's where the fun begins" he said with a chuckle.
Notes:
For those who don't know, the Sundial bomb is a project that was almost built during the Cold War (and then luckily they realized it was a little too much); it's not even that complicated on a technical level, since it works with the same system as the hydrogen bomb: a sort of nuclear Russian doll, but on a much larger scale. Even though bombs this powerful are not that difficult to build anymore, and we could potentially build something much worse by now, most of the project is still classified; however, we do know that the calculated yield of this bomb was supposed to be around 10,000 megatons, so much so that the closest thing to it is an asteroid impact. Sundial was a monster that would have brought about an apocalypse so great that it would have destroyed all of human civilization, killing billions of people in one fell swoop and sending humanity back thousands of years. Even in the height of Cold War tension, building Sundial was considered a crime against humanity.
For those who are bomb experts and wonder why I chose to use "only" Sundial when we have much worse at our disposal, well, the reason is simple: for tactical reasons and for temporal reasons. The tactical reasons are that the main goal of the humans at the moment is to annihilate in one go all the resistance that the demons could provide, and therefore they used the bomb that did the most damage in the immediate; other types of weapons, such as the cobalt bomb, are more damaging, but such damage is based on radiation and takes hours to manifest the effects, hours that the surviving demons could easily use to reorganize. Sundial guarantees absolute destruction even in a city as large as Pentagram City, so it is logical to use it immediately (and also the level of radioactive material near the explosion would be very high anyway), so the best choice for the humans if they wanted to make Pride uninhabitable would be to use Sundial as a battering ram and only after having exterminated the demons unleash a wave of radiation throughout the territory. The second reason, the temporal one, is that this story takes place in the present, and therefore I have not considered weapons that at the moment, although present in our military projects, are still in the realm of science fiction, such as neutron or antimatter bombs. For those wondering, the worst bomb ever designed (and fortunately impossible to build with our current technology) is the neutronium bomb, based essentially on the same processes that occur on neutron stars, capable of generating so much energy that it would destroy the entire surface of the Earth 16 times over in just the first second of detonation. Such a bomb would cause an extinction event so devastating that it would make the Permian extinction event 248 million years ago, the most terrible ever to have occurred on Earth, so much so that it would cause the evaporation of over ten percent of the oceans and would reduce life to a few survivors in the deepest oceans. Life essentially would have to start over.
The good news is that such gods of destruction are still impossible to build, and that monsters like Sundial or the cobalt bomb have never been built; the bad news is that even though we have never built a single world destroyer, humanity has still built thousands of smaller nuclear devices that currently sit in every corner of the world ready to fire. And that seems a lot more reasonable, right? But it also makes it less of a threat, which might make it easier for a political leader to push the button and set them off; and the chain reaction that a nuclear war would unleash is still powerful enough to cause billions of deaths worldwide, and potentially end the current civilization. As a result, the difference between Sundial and what we have today is not even that big, especially considering that the world has changed in recent years and the superpowers have once again started investing in a new arms race. Simply accepting that the existence of nuclear bombs is inevitable and that the promise of mutual destruction is the only way to maintain peace could mean that nuclear war is inevitable. So far we have avoided disaster, but most likely if an alien were to visit Earth they would ask us if we are okay and need a hug. We should ask ourselves as a species if this is the future we want for ourselves.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 57): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029925
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 31): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/165267130
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 111: A Ring gone
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The Hazbin Hotel was located on a small hill on the outskirts of Pentagram City... or at least it had been, because the shockwave had swept it away in an instant even though it was so far away. Everything about it, even the foundations, had been reduced to smithereens and catapulted hundreds of meters away, and then the fire and boiling tornadoes had done the rest. Now the hill where the Hazbin Hotel had once stood was nothing but a shapeless mass of smoking rubble.
When the flames finally began to subside at least a little and the sequence of catastrophes seemed to have calmed down, a deep silence descended on the devastated landscape. And then, a pile of rubble shook slightly, and it collapsed, revealing a magical yellow-orange shield, no more than three meters wide, with eight people crammed inside. As they were free, the shield went out like a bubble, and everyone rolled to the ground. "Ah ah, that was so much fun! Can we do it again!?" Niffty exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"NO!" was the immediate answer that everyone shouted at her.
Charlie lay down and took a deep breath. When Valentino had lunged at them, yelling something about a glow, she had instinctively wrapped everyone in magical protection, and just in time: a split second later, the entire hotel had shattered. The entire time after, it took all her concentration to hold on as they were literally tossed in every direction like twigs. If she stopped for even a moment, the bubble would have venished and they would have been at the mercy of the fury of the elements.
"Hey... hey, are you okay?" Husk asked, barely being able of come closer to her. Even though the magical protection had saved him, he was still bruised and his fur was all matted from being shaken so violently.
Charlie nodded slightly. "You guys...?"
"I'm still breathing" Cherri said.
"Still alive" Rosie said, though she still looked like she had at least one broken arm.
"I'm fine... and so is Nuggets" Angel said as he petted his little pig. It was a good thing his beloved pet had been there when Charlie had locked them in the bubble; Angel couldn't stop holding the poor animal tightly as it continued to root in terror. The spider demon's heart couldn't stop beating, knowing that if Charlie had intervened even just a second later, he wouldn't have found even just Nuggets' body anymore.
Valentino barely stood up, opening his wings and dropping Velvette to the ground; the whole time he had been holding her close to his chest and covering her with his moth wings, so as to cushion the blow as much as possible. Even so, her eyes were wide and she was shaking like everyone else. Well, at least she was physically okay. The same couldn't be said for Valentino, who knew full well that some of his bones were broken and had to lean on some of the rubble to keep from falling while he waited for his regeneration to fix him.
Charlie struggled to stand up and looked at what was left of the city. Everywhere she looked there was only rubble and smoking ash, interspersed only by the fires that were still burning. Nothing was left standing. It was like being in an alien landscape, the sky was dark, it was terribly hot, and nowhere was there a single sign of civilization.
The sight alone brought a few tears to her eyes. She had seen parts of Pentagram City destroyed many times, but never the entire city... and certainly not like this. She couldn't remember ever experiencing such a cataclysm before. She didn't even think such destruction was possible all at once.
Her friends were as shocked as she was. "What the fuck...?" Angel muttered. "What happened? Did a meteor hit us?"
"It wasn't a meteor" Valentino muttered, breathing slowly so as not to feel the pain in his ribs.
Everyone turned to him. They were about to ask him for an explanation, when suddenly they heard thunder above them and a few drops of rain started to fall. Very quickly this turned into a torrential rain that was getting stronger and stronger. "Oh... good, at least it'll bring some coolness" Cherri commented, happy to receive some water. "We won't have to... huh?"
Everyone froze as they saw that what was covering them wasn't water at all: it was rain that was like oil, in fact, it was like tar. "Black rain...?" Velvette muttered. "But... mmmmpphh!!!"
Valentino had jumped like a spring and put his hand over her mouth, and no matter how much she struggled, he didn't let her go. "Don't breathe, damn it!" he yelled at her, then he looked at Charlie: "Princess, put that bubble back on immediately! NOW!"
It was such an imperative order that Charlie immediately followed it, and she wrapped everyone in the bubble again even though they were cramped. That magical protection was soon partially covered in that tar-like rain. "Coff!" Velvette coughed as soon as Valentino let her breathe again. "What the fuck, Val! What's wrong with you!?"
Valentino raised his finger: "See for yourself"
Velvette stared at the point he indicated, and everyone else did the same; what they saw was a tiny blade of grass that had somehow miraculously survived all the devastation, but as the black rain fell, it quickly turned a sickly yellow and finally broke, falling to the ground dead. "If we had stayed outside, we would have ended up the same way" Valentino told them, and then looked at Charlie: "Princess, don't remove this bubble anymore, even when the rain stops. There is enough radiation around us to kill us a thousand times over, and this is the only thing that protects us"
Charlie swallowed, watching the poison rain covering everything around them. "Radiation? How is that possible...?"
Velvette's eyes narrowed: "The object that passed through the portal... was a bomb"
"Portal?" Husk repeated confused.
"A moment before this cataclysm happened, a portal opened above Pentagram City" Velvette explained. "Val and I saw it from the balcony. Something was thrown out of it... we didn't know what it was, but given the results..."
"It was a bomb that did this!?" Angel exclaimed. "That's not possible! There's no such insane bomb... right?"
Velvette shrugged: "Well... not that I know of... I mean, I don't think that..."
"It was a bomb" Valentino said through gritted teeth. "It gave off that glow before it went off. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about"
It occurred to everyone that the only reason Charlie had reacted so quickly was because Valentino had warned them. "Since when are you a bomb expert?" Angel asked.
Valentino let out a snarl of disdain. "I saved your ass, a thank you would be the least you could say!" he snapped. "And anyway, I'm a man deceased in the seventies, the shitty peak of the Cold War, don't you think I've had my own fucking experiences with nukes that I'd like to forget? Why do you think I'm almost blind?"
Angel was quite surprised, and he wasn't the only one. "Wow... now that you mention it I guess I should have expected that, but I honestly never thought about it" Cherri commented. "How did that happen?"
Valentino grunted: "A fucking shitty situation that happened in 1964. The United States Army had evacuated a lot of the Marshall Islands atolls for nuclear testing, so me and a bunch of my henchmen took advantage of that and made a bridge there to transport drugs from Hawaii to Australia. We had a mole in the army who told us the schedules, and no other ships were going through those routes, so we could transport a lot of tons of drugs, leave them in one of the atolls, and then when we had accumulated enough we would take everything and go to Australia, where we would pretend to be a military ship since that was the only one that did that kind of route, so they would let us in without checking and we would make a lot of money. Well, in the summer of 1964 the Americans decided to blow up Bikini Atoll, where we had hidden a lot of good stuff, so we went there in a hurry to get it away before they pulverized it for us. That idiot in the army though thought it was a good idea to betray us and didn't warn us that they had brought forward the time of detonation, hoping to kill us right there. Unfortunately for him we were quicker than expected and were already leaving, but we were still within range of the bomb, which blinded me as it exploded, and then capsized our entire ship with the shock wave. I was saved by pure luck, and swam to a nearby island where I survived by eating moths until a military ship saw my smoke signals and took me aboard believing you were a poor castaway. After I got back to the mainland I tracked down the bastard who almost had me nuked and killed him, but my eyes never recovered, not even after I died and went to Hell. And believe me when I say that once you see a nuclear bomb explode, you never forget it"
"Wow... I'd say that's cool if it weren't so creepy" Angel commented. "So that's why you're a giant half-blind moth?"
"The drugged-out spider with self-esteem issues spoke" Valentino replied sourly.
"At least I still have my hair" Angel said. "Did you lose that in the explosion, or was it because of the malnutrition on the island?"
Valentino's eyes flashed: "I'm going to fuck your...!"
"Excuse me!? We're in an emergency situation right now!" Husk exclaimed, barely holding himself back from punching them both, and only because he didn't want to start a fight in such a small space. "Do you think this is the time to talk about these things?"
"You're the ones who started this interrogation!" Valentino protested.
Husk sighed deeply. "I'm going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the universe" he commented sourly.
"Okay, that's enough" Rosie stopped everything by stepping forward slightly. "Let's figure out how to get out of here. Val, since you seem to be the one who knows best how to navigate this situation, do you think that with our regeneration we'll be able to withstand the radiation, or at least stay intact enough to walk?"
Valentino shook his head with a grunt: "Didn't you see that blade of grass? If you want to get covered in tumors the moment you walk out of here, go ahead. We'd die in a matter of moments, be reborn, and then die again. It'll take us a century just to crawl to the bottom of this hill"
"Wonderful" Rosie commented, and then her entire body began to deform. Her overlord appearance returned, but this time instead of growing fangs and horns, she instead became covered in a strange gelatinous substance.
Such thing was obviously not a pretty sight to behold. "Ew... what is that?" Cherri said in disgust.
"CAHS protein" Rosie answered.
No one understood. "What?"
"It's a protein based on... never mind" Rosie replied, realizing that any explanation would have been too long. "Long story short, it's the same substance that makes tardigrades immortal"
"What's a tardigrade?" Angel asked, scratching his head.
Rosie sighed deeply. Normally she was much more patient, but in this situation she was already tense enough. She avoided answering him and simply generated even more of the strange gel-like substance: "Cover yourself with this, it will shield you from the radiation"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Niffty literally screamed, diving into it, and starting to smear it on herself as if it were thermal mud.
The others were less enthusiastic. "We really have to do it?" Cherri murmured.
"It sounds disgusting" Angel too said.
"I'm not gonna touch that filthy thing" Velvette said immediately.
Rosie narrowed her eyes: "Would you rather be cooked alive by the radiation as soon as Charlie gets tired or will she get distracted and this bubble burst?"
Velvette paled. "Um... I was just joking! Give it to me"
Finally convinced, everyone swallowed their disgust and tried to cover themselves with that gelatinous substance; fortunately, just like a gel, once it stuck to the skin it absorbed a lot of it, so at least they didn't feel that disgusting constantly on them. Charlie also smeared it on herself just to be safe: even if she had survived in the vacuum of space, at that moment she was still close to Earth's atmosphere and inside its magnetic field, which protected her from most of the cosmic radiation; she was pretty sure that the radiation just generated by that sort of super nuclear weapon was definitely on another level.
When they were done, she took a deep breath, and then canceled the magical protection. The bubble around them exploded, and the tension skyrocketed: Angel, Velvette, Cherri and partly even Husk gritted their teeth, fearing that their skin would have been covered in tumors at any moment. But fortunately, they didn't feel anything, not even a small burn. "Uh... hey, it works!" Angel exclaimed with a sigh of relief.
"Of course it works" Rosie said, a little annoyed by the lack of confidence. "Let's not waste any more time. Velvette, you're so good with cell phones, can you contact anyone?"
Velvette's eyes widened: "And how am I supposed to do that? This entire area was fried by electromagnetic pulses from the nuclear explosion! There's not a single piece of technology that works for hundreds of kilometers, if anything is still intact after all that destruction! And who am I supposed to contact? The dead bodies on the ground?"
"Well, the satellites are still working, I assume!" Rosie snapped. "At least contact the nearby cities, tell them not to come any closer and to evacuate immediately! We don't know where the fallout is going, but it sure as hell won't just sit here! We need to at least warn them!"
Velvette opened her mouth to reply, but then she quickly closed it again. "Um... good point" she admitted, and immediately activated her powers; her eyes seemed to glow like a computer screen, and data appeared on them...
... but after only ten seconds, they returned to normal and she staggered as if she was just shocked: "Guys... I might have some bad news"
"Worse than this?" Valentino asked rhetorically, pointing to the devastation all around them.
Velvette ignored him. "I'm not getting any signals" she said. "Not just from this area... I can't sense anything anywhere. Not even from Imp City, which is the closest to us"
Everyone went silent, and then they broke out in a cold sweat. "Are you... sure the signal isn't just blocked somehow?" Husk asked her. "Maybe you're just..."
"No, I'm connecting to the satellite network without any problems. But... I'm not getting anything from any other city. The Pride Ring has gone completely silent" Velvette said. "It's like... they're gone"
Charlie had already started hyperventilating. In fact, she was on the verge of passing out. "T-This can't have really happened...!"
"Can you connect to some spy satellites or something like that?" Cherri asked the social overlord. "Try looking from space... maybe we can figure something out"
Which, translated, meant 'I hope we're all wrong and that what we think didn't happen, give us a view from above and hope for a miracle'. Velvette understood this well, and although a little hesitant, she tried to connect to the satellites that were mapping the surface of the Pride Ring. Her eyes lit up again, and then, as if they were two headlights, they projected a sort of holographic screen in front of her, in which appeared what the satellites were seeing.
Charlie put her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming, and Angel and Husk had to hold her up, and they also bit their tongues to stay calm. Cherri also couldn't hold back a cry of despair, and Rosie lost her calm for a moment. Even Valentino's eyes widened when he saw what had happened. Niffty, as usual, showed no sign of understanding, but for once she didn't make comments.
The entire Pride Ring was enveloped in black clouds.
All of them were smart enough to understand that that huge cloud couldn't have been generated only by the explosion that had destroyed Pentagram City: even if the material thrown into the atmosphere had been enough, it would have taken hours to spread so much. And it wasn't difficult for them to notice that those clouds didn't cover everything: the most desert areas of the Pride Ring were still exposed to the sky, and even in them you could see the signs of the shock waves that had devastated everything else. The dark clouds were slowly covering these areas as well, spreading out from several precise centers... and each center was the spot where a city had once stood. And even through the thick cloud cover it was possible to see the light emanating from the fires that still raged. It wasn't hard to understand the situation: each city of the Pride Ring had suffered the same fate of Pentagram City.
Charlie felt all the air go out of her lungs. "The Pride Ring..." she whispered, putting her hands in her hair. "The Pride Ring is gone...!"
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Angel exclaimed, shaking her; he was shocked too, but he couldn't afford to despair while his friend was in that state. "Charlie, stay calm! Try to concentrate! Don't think about it...!"
"It's all gone...!" Charlie whispered, lowering her head even further, so much so that she almost broke her neck.
"It's not like that!" Husk shouted at her. "Charlie, do you remember what Zestial told us? The hellborns have been emigrating en masse to the lower Rings in the past few days! Only the sinners, who are immortal, are left here. It's true, we're in a bad situation right now, but no one is dying. We just have to get back on our feet. Cities can be rebuilt"
Well, he was lying a little: the fact that the hellborns had emigrated en masse didn't mean that some hadn't stayed. The most profiteering and sadistic ones had certainly remained in Pride, and had certainly died after such a cataclysm. But that was certainly not the time to tell Charlie.
Rosie approached the princess and took her face in her hands: "Charlie... I know it's difficult... but you have to stay clear. Don't think about the dead... think about the living. Think about your friends. They need you"
Charlie took a few deep breaths, and then stood up straight, albeit a little unsteadily. "Yes... yes" she whispered, talking more to herself than to the others, and then she looked at Velvette: "The other Rings...?"
"I can't connect that far" the social overlord told her immediately. "Well, I could if the Elevators' relays were still working, but... I doubt it, since the Elevators themselves are gone"
"I'm sure the lower Rings are fine" Husk said quickly. "If Adam was behind this attack... he wouldn't risk killing innocents, like hellborn children or anything. I don't think he caused this down there either. Alastor could do it... but we all know sinners aren't allowed in the lower Rings"
Charlie nodded. Yes... she believed that too... or at least she hoped so. "Do you think it was them...?"
"Well, in that case those two suckers certainly did things in a big way" Valentino commented looking at the spot where the bomb had exploded. "But how did they get such powerful devices?"
"And how did they open that portal?" Velvette added. "It wasn't a portal like the ones we demons open, or even the ones the angels open, it was... different. As if it were artificial"
"Artificial?" Charlie repeated.
"Yes, it had a strange appearance, like a shapeless mass. As if someone had tried to replicate the magic of a portal and the result hadn't come out perfect" Velvette replied.
There was a long moment of silence. "I don't understand a fuck anymore" Angel admitted.
"You're not the only one" Cherri muttered. "What kind of shit situation have we ended up in?"
"A really shitty one" Valentino said out loud. "And unfortunately it's not over yet"
Everyone looked at him. "What... what do you mean?" Charlie asked.
Valentino stepped forward and bent down, pulling the battered body of a sinner out of the rubble. "I've been watching this guy ever since we got out from that bubble" he said, showing the corpse to the others. "Normally, it takes five minutes for a sinner's body to start regenerating. But it's been fifteen minutes and this sucker still hasn't shown any improvement"
That information froze everyone. "Maybe... he's just slow..." Angel muttered uncertainly.
"Stop talking nonsense" Valentino scolded him. "Look around. Do you see anyone trying to move, do you hear screams? No. The bodies are lying on the ground lifeless, and none of them are regenerating. It's just like right after the Extermination"
Charlie rushed forward and grabbed the sinner's body. Her heart seemed to stop when she realized that it was cold and empty, just like the corpses of demons after they were hit by an angelic weapon. Instinctively she activated her powers and searched for his soul, and she was shocked to say the least: "He's... he's..."
"Dead" Valentino said, gritting his teeth. "All the sinners... just died"
But Charlie shook her head: "No" she said to everyone's surprise. "He's not dead, he's... gone"
These words made everyone's eyes widen, even Valentino's. "What?" the moth demon muttered.
"I sense it" Charlie whispered. "He's not dead. But his soul... is just... gone"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 58): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/163838629
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 32): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166372849
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 112: Power up
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The shock the demons were feeling was so great that you could almost see it in the air. "What... what are you saying!?" Angel exclaimed as soon as he recovered. "So someone... took away that guy's soul?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true" Charlie confirmed. "He's not dead, but he doesn't have a soul anymore. It's... gone somewhere else"
There was a long moment of silence. "Okay, that's really weird" Angel admitted. "Does that mean...?"
"... that we're almost certainly the only real survivors of the entire Pride Ring" Rosie muttered through gritted teeth.
"Let's not exaggerate. Someone else must have been saved," Husk said to ease the tension. "Although that doesn't make it any better..."
Charlie had remained silent; very slowly, she placed the sinner's body back on the ground. Well, it was a relief that the guy wasn't dead, and therefore probably no one else was, but... where had all their souls gone? And why had they disappeared so suddenly? Was it that explosion, or something else? Had it happened somewhere else too? Had the entire Pride Ring really been drained of souls? Maybe all of Hell? What the fuck was going on!?
Her head was just fucking exploding by now.
A loud and familiar flutter of wings shook her from the thousand questions that crowded her mind; an instant later, what seemed like a white comet landed next to her, so hard that it raised a cloud of dust. "CHARLIE!" her parents shouted in unison, grabbing her and hugging her.
"Urgh... I'm fine!" she quickly assured them to reassure them.
That didn't stop her parents from feeling her to make sure nothing was broken. "Are you sure you're okay?" Lilith asked her in a breathless voice. "And don't breathe...!"
"Yes, I know, the radiation" Charlie told her. "Don't worry, Rosie gave me... something that protects me"
Her parents finally seemed a little more reassured; they had obviously expected not to find her, but her pieces scattered in various points of the Pride Ring. Knowing that she was basically unharmed was a complete relief to them, and Charlie couldn't blame them when they needed to take a deep breath to calm their racing heartbeats.
A second white comet landed next to them shortly after, this time with considerably less grace. "Groan... how the fuck do you land!?" Pentious hissed as he stood up.
"You have to push up at the last second to break the impact" Emily said as she landed next to him.
"Pen! So you can fly now!?" Angel exclaimed. "When were you going to tell us this cool shit!?"
"Who cares now! Are you okay!?" Pentious replied.
"Yeah, we're all okay... more or less" Cherri answered. "Charlie saved our asses"
"Technically I saved your asses by warning you, and I still haven't heard a thank you, which should be appropriate now" Valentino grumbled.
Pentious sighed in relief and went to kiss his woman. "Good thing, I was afraid I had lost you" he said. "This time it was really scary..."
"You can say it out loud" Husk commented. "Do you guys understand what happened?"
"No, not at all" Lilith replied. "It all happened too fast..."
"Um... sorry, but shouldn't we think about helping these people, and then asking questions?" Emily asked pointing to the bodies on the ground. She was already so pale that she looked like she was about to faint, not being used to such a scene of devastation, but she was trying to stay strong. "We need to wrap them in protection, so they can finally regenerate..."
"It's no use" Charlie told her immediately. "Their souls... have been ripped out. Those are just empty shells now"
Her parents, Emily and Pentious looked at her shocked: "What!?"
"Check for yourself" Charlie told them. "Something ripped out the souls of all the demons. I think we're the only ones left in all of Pentagram City"
"And probably in all of Pride Ring too" Angel reminded her. "Oh, yeah, for those of you who don't know... we checked from satellites, all the cities are in the same condition as us"
Sure enough, silence fell... but it didn't last long, because a buzzing noise reached their ears, first softly, then louder. They looked down and saw something moving in the rubble: a flying metal object that was picking up something. "Is that... a drone?" Husk muttered.
It was indeed a drone, vaguely resembling a bird of prey, with a central metal body full of circuitry, two long wings with fans for flying, and two mechanical appendages at the base that were pulling a silver tube out of the rubble. "Hey, that's my angelic gun... well, what's left of it!" Angel protested, trying to catch the drone, but it flew away before he could catch it.
Charlie looked around. That drone wasn't alone: others were arriving at the place where the Hazbin Hotel used to be and were extracting from the rubble what remained of the weapons they had used to face the Exorcists long ago. And they weren't alone there: in the distance, in the most populated areas of the city and therefore those where it was easier to find angelic weapons, many other drones were digging through the rubble. In fact, where Carmilla Industries had been, there was a whole flock of them. "Are they... collecting angelic steel?"
Adam stood up and leaned against the wall of the cell, not showing the slightest concern even though the entire embassy had just been shaken to its foundations. He continued to stare at his shadow, waiting patiently. And suddenly, said shadow stirred and a dark figure emerged from it, which quickly thickened and then colored, forming the body of the radio demon. "Hmm. It took you a long time" Adam greeted him with a chuckle.
Alastor did not take offense, recognizing the ironic tone well, and replied in the same way: "Forgive me, I was just busy making sure an entire species did its job well"
Adam's grin widened. "I have to assume then that the plan was successful"
"The Pride Ring has been razed to the ground" Alastor confirmed. "Phase two has already begun, the humans are harvesting the angelic steel, as planned. They will be ready for phase three soon"
"Good" Adam commented with satisfaction. "And what about our... little harvest?"
Alastor's eyes flashed red. "We got all the ears of corn" he said as his smile widened and became more disturbing than ever. "Now... it's up to you to make those souls yours"
The shadow moved again, and a crate emerged from it. Adam and Alastor stared inside, where the original bones of the first man were. But the bones now glowed with an eerie red, and they could both feel the souls trapped inside.
Adam grabbed his skull, holding it up to his eyes. "There are tens of millions of them in here alone" he said, his eyes flashing with evil light. "A very good harvest indeed. Maybe I have a future as a farmer!"
"So... you want to scare the humans into attacking Hell first?" Alastor commented as Adam explained your plan. "Mh. Very devious"
"Don't speak out loud" Adam warned, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Exorcists who were gathering the bones from his tomb in Golgotha, and especially at Vaggie who was standing next to them watching.
"Don't worry, I can be discreet. I understand that she's not... ready for this yet" Alastor said, looking back at Vaggie. "Causing a conflict between humans and demons is easy, but do your descendants have the power to oppose Hell?"
"Tsk! You're really behind the times. If my descendants went into a conflict with Hell and really unleashed their full war potential, they would destroy it without me having to do a thing" Adam replied. "However, that is not my intention. I could let them raze all of Hell, but that would mean killing the hellborns as well. While many of them deserve death as much as the sinners, there are some who are worth saving... therefore, the first real attack will only take place in the Pride Ring. I have other plans for the other Rings"
"I understand. You don't kill innocents" Alastor said with a chuckle. "You know... Charlie doesn't realize it, but she's lucky that you at least have this limit. If you didn't, it would be much worse for her. I, for example, would never have had qualms about exterminating all the inhabitants of Hell"
"I know. That's why I'm the boss" Adam replied testily.
Alastor shrugged slightly. "How are you going to convince the humans to only attack Pride, though?"
"I didn't say they'll only attack Pride, I said I have other plans for the rest of Hell. The humans will have a big part in this... but that's not important now" Adam told him. "You'll know what to do when the time comes. Now... have you wondered why I'm collecting those bones?"
"I think I figured it out. I figured it out when I realized you wanted to use your descendants to attack Hell, actually" Alastor answered. "You need more power now that stronger angels are coming into play. You can handle me, Lilith, Charlie, probably every other demon in Hell, and to a small extent Lucifer, with your current abilities. But if more angels come, you won't stand a chance in your current state. You need power... and there's only one way for a human soul to gain power"
Adam nodded. "Souls" he confirmed. "I'm not a fan of this slavery practice... but we're talking about sinners after all, at least their existence will have served a purpose"
"And if your descendants destroy the entire Pride Ring, the demons will die en masse. Sure, that can't kill them since they're weapons without angelic steel... but it would leave them completely defenseless" Alastor continued to say, and then his smile widened further: "And fortunately... I'm well enough versed in voodoo magic to know what the next step is"
Adam's grin widened. "You really have it all figured out, I see. It's a good thing there was at least one smart guy in that bunch of idiots at the hotel" he said with satisfaction. "So, tell me, how does voodoo magic work?"
"Easy. It can vary depending on what magic you want to use... but basically it's based on a system similar to demonic summons: using a magic seal and a large enough source of power, you attract a damned soul and imprison it in an object, which in turn must be large enough... spiritually speaking of course... to contain it. An example are voodoo dolls. At that point you can force the soul to do your bidding, even if you are not bound by a real contract. It's a useful but limited power, the seal cannot imprison the soul forever, and since it is forced to serve you, the power boost it provides is also ephemeral" Alastor explained, and then his eyes narrowed: "However... if during the summoning or the time spent together, the summoner is smart enough... they can convince said soul to really sell themselvs to them. For example, you can pretend to have imprisoned them forever... as I have done many times. And once that the soul sells themselves to you... well, it's a real demonic contract, with all the benefits that come with it"
"That's right. You're really an expert" Adam commented with satisfaction. "Well... after all, you've done it many times, right?"
"Why do you ask questions you already know the answers to? My sins are evident to you" Alastor answered without any shame.
Adam nodded. That was exactly right, and in fact, unlike everyone else, he knew very well how Alastor had become so powerful in such a short time: it was his knowledge of voodoo that had allowed him to do so. He had started when he was still human on Earth, imprisoning the souls of the people he killed or even summoning them directly from Hell; that was how he had learned to manipulate them until they truly became his property. This had granted him a boost in his abilities, to the point that when he died, killed by that hunter who had mistaken him for prey, he had already partially started to transform into a full demon. And once he had arrived in Hell, it had been easy for him to use that knowledge accumulated over years of experience, as well as the advantage of already having several souls on his side, to quickly climb the ranks and become the most powerful overlord of all... even if, for some reason that Adam still didn't know, at a certain point he had signed that contract that had blocked his powers, a contract that fortunately was now broken.
Alastor looked at the bones the Exorcists were digging out of the ground. "Experience has taught me that the older an artifact is, the higher its... spirituality... and therefore its capacity to contain souls... is. I must therefore deduce that those bones can contain thousands of them"
"Millions" Adam corrected him. "Literally... millions"
"So all you have to do is create magic circles all over the Pride Ring to trap all the demons... but I assume you don't want to use that ridiculous method, do you? You want to make all those souls give themselves to you willingly, thus making you more powerful than ever" Alastor said, rubbing his chin, his eyes shining. "And this is where the part where your descendants reduce Pride to a wasteland comes in, right?"
Adam smirked. "Well, Alastor... what does a person do when they are subjected to so much pain and violence that they want to die?"
"They call the Mom" Alastor answered without thinking twice. "The most basic instinct of the human being, to call the most important figure of protection"
"Exactly. And when the Mom doesn't answer, they call the Dad" Adam answered him. "Oh, yes... they call him loudly"
That was exactly what they had done.
The Exorcists had created all the magical seals for the entire Pride Ring. Sure, some rather clever overlords had destroyed them... but once the seal was created and activated, it remained active even if the design was erased. In fact, the Exorcists had left it visible precisely to prevent anyone from investigating further and realizing that the entire Pride Ring was being wrapped in an extremely dense mystical net. You give them something to destroy, and they forget about the rest: that was an absolute truth, and it always worked. Alastor had only had to connect the seals to Adam's bones, and there you have it, a perfect trap designed to absorb all the souls of the Pride Ring.
But that absorption would not have been random: the seals were perfectly programmed to activate only in specific circumstances, namely when a soul begged their father to save them. And so, as soon as the humans had attacked with the most absolute violence they possessed, the sinners had been so distressed that they ended up calling out in their minds for their parents, including their father. At that point the seals had activated and absorbed the souls, pouring them into Adam's bones; and in doing so they had sealed an unwritten contract with him, in which he would have saved them from suffering and in exchange they would have given themselves to him totally.
So now all the countless souls of the Pride Ring were Adam's absolute property. He just had to absorb them and make them completely his.
"I don't think any demon in the history of Hell has ever possessed the souls of an entire Ring" Alastor commented. "And if we add to that the fact that you are a primordial human, and you are already among the most powerful here in Hell... with that, I don't dare to imagine what an abomination of power you could become"
"I just need to become powerful enough to face the angels on equal terms" Adam said. "I don't expect to be able to face Michael... but with this, the axe and the cross, I should be strong enough for what lies ahead"
"Yeah... after all, you have to go to Heaven to get the last piece of the weapon that can kill even an angel, right?" Alastor told him rhetorically.
Adam rolled his eyes: "Shut up. I don't want to remember that conversation with the snake-like idiot"
How did Alastor know about the conversation with Pentious? Very simple: because he had been there with Adam all along. Or rather, his shadow had been. Because unbeknownst to anyone, before the battle between him and Charlie, Adam had ordered Alastor to insert one of his shadows into that of his axe. Adam knew that Sera and Michael would surely have checked that he had no spells on him before locking him up... but they would hardly have thought of doing the same with his axe. Angels were not used to subterfuge after all, since they had almost never had to worry about it. Once the axe had been placed in the angelic embassy and Adam imprisoned in the cell, Alastor had only had to slide his shadow from that of the axe to that of Adam, passing through all the shadows of the embassy like a parasitic worm, until he reached his destination. So, from that moment on, Adam and Alastor had been connected, and thus Alastor already knew everything about Pentious or what Adam had revealed to Charlie.
Oh, and of course Adam also knew everything Alastor had done. The two of them had secretly talked to each other for a long time, exchanging information about what was going on, and of course Adam had also used that connection to give precise orders to Alastor so that everything would go exactly as planned. And that connection had also had another advantage: Adam had been technically connected to Alastor since he had inserted a shadow of himself into his axe, even if that connection had been broken for a few hours when they had been separated, so Alastor's memories during that entire period of time were also his; and consequently he had also been able to relive the fight with Rosie as if he had been there. That was enough for his eyes to copy one of her abilities in particular. "Normally absorbing these souls would be a long process..." he said opening his mouth and showing his teeth. "... but this way it's quicker!"
And after such words he bit into his own skull, reducing it to pieces and devouring it; at that moment he activated Rosie's ability to absorb the opponent's strength by devouring their flesh and combined it with his ability to control souls. These two abilities fused together instantly created a perfect connection with all the souls contained in the skull after he simply swallowed it. One by one, he devoured all of its bones, and all the souls within them became his.
When he finished he couldn't hold back a shudder. Hundreds of millions of souls were now inside him and were literally irradiating him with energy; all his primordial human powers were as if multiplied a hundredfold, no, maybe they had reached an even higher level. It was as if a volcano had appeared inside him, constantly erupting. And he certainly couldn't hold back such an eruption, and in fact he unleashed his strength all at once; a strength so immense that the passive pressure alone almost made Alastor fall to his knees.
The angelic handcuffs that imprisoned Adam's wrists began to shake violently as they tried to contain his powers, but then they broke with a sharp crack. They weren't the only ones: the entire cell broke, followed by all the defenses of the dungeon. The same prison that in the past had been able to hold back the most powerful and destructive demons was no longer able to stop the power that the first man was unleashing.
Finally Adam forced himself to stop, withdrawing his new powerful aura inside himself. "Aaaaaaah... wonderful" he commented, looking at his hands, which were still seething with power. "I can see why you sinners like it so much... it's really intoxicating"
Alastor was sweating. The pressure emitted by Adam was so strong that he was even struggling to maintain his smile. "It's... really extraordinary" he couldn't help but admit.
"Yeah" Adam said, chuckling, and then he returned serious: "But enough wasting time, we have work to do. Come with me..."
"Not so fast!"
Adam's words were cut off by a bright white light: Sera appeared before the two demons, her wings spread and a spear made of pure divine energy in her right hand. "Adam, release those souls now and surrender! I won't tell you a second time!" she ordered.
Adam's eyes narrowed. "Yes... I expected you to come" he admitted. "Michael is a warrior, he must have rushed to the crash site to deal with whatever came. The short idiot and his lovely little wife must have run to their cute little daughter, and you can bet your little sister followed them. You were the only one with enough brains to come here and check on me right away"
Sera raised her spear at him, clearly with the purpose of intimidate him. "Adam, I don't want to hurt you"
"Me neither" Adam said, advancing towards her. "So, why don't we all get out of here without hitting each other once?"
"You know I can't let you go" Sera told him.
Adam was silent for a moment, and then he closed his eyes; he seemed to take a deep breath, and then he opened them, revealing a sharp look. "I know" he replied, and immediately lunged at the angel.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 59): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/163838656
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 32): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166372849
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 113: Seraphim and man
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sera's eyes widened and she immediately closed her wings around herself; the feathers became crystalline and became harder than even diamond. However, as soon as the first man's fist hit her defense, she was still thrown backwards until she hit the wall. "It's clear that you never had fought before" Adam told her. "You can't just defend yourself from the initial attack, you have to think about the recoil. You should have kept your feet firmly on the ground when you closed your wings"
"Urgh... this power...!" Sera hissed as she stood upright. Adam's blow had done little to no damage, but she knew that no demon would normally have been able to even just move her. The fact that the first man had managed to throw her back several meters was a testament to his new unnatural strength.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "Stay down" he ordered her. "Don't force me to really hurt you. You know I don't want to get to that point"
In response, Sera exploded in a flash of white light: her halo became extremely bright and several eyes appeared on her hair and clothes, as well as on her wings. Many of her feathers broke off and flew into the air, and they transformed into as many sharp spears that surrounded Adam on all sides. "Now you will kneel and let go of those souls, or I will stab you!" Sera ordered him.
Adam remained impassive. "You do not even possess the necessary killer instinct" he told her in an almost bored voice. "You shouldn't give your enemy a second to think!"
And with those words his body transformed into pure electricity using Vox's powers and slipped away from the cage of spears; Sera barely had time to see him before he appeared behind her, and she dodged his punch before it hit her back. Several drops of sweat ran down her forehead: "So fast...!"
Adam moved lightning fast, aiming for her weak spots; Sera still had the advantage, as she could see him move quite clearly despite his enormous speed, but that didn't make things any easier. While normally her keen senses would have perceived him so clearly that she could see him move in slow motion, allowing her to dodge or parry any attack, now she was seeing him move as fast as a champion fencer. And not only was it much harder for her to keep up with him, but Adam was far more experienced than she was, easily managing to trick her and hit her in the chest, knocking her back again.
Sera touched the spot that had been hit. Again, she was still barely hurt: after all she was still a seraphim and she could withstand much more powerful impacts. However, it wasn't hard for her to notice that this time the blow had been much stronger than before, a sign that Adam was gradually increasing his strength. "Stay down!" Adam warned her again. "If I really wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already!"
Sera gritted her teeth. She could feel Adam's power continuing to increase. "The more time passes, the more he adapts to the enormous amount of souls he has absorbed!" she thought as a drop of sweat ran down her forehead. "I have to stop him before he reaches his peak!"
She spread her wings, and immediately pure power seemed to radiate from her; light enveloped her and transformed her into what looked like a star in the making, shining in all its magnificence. Not a pale or flawed light like that which existed in the mortal plane, the true light, the one that was only with God and that He had used to shape the first angels. The very meaning of the word energy seemed to lose its validity for a moment.
Her body became covered in feathers; her hair became wings and the wings became as big as a train. Many more eyes appeared on her body, giving her a perfect view of the environment. Her face lost all human connotations and seemed to become that of a bird, and her halo became even larger than it already was, emanating divine light.
Adam remained still, looking at her almost with condescension. He seemed to consider her only a ridiculous obstacle. "Hmm. The look of a mother hen comes naturally to you, you know?"
Sera did not listen to him and did not give him the satisfaction of receiving an answer; on the contrary, all of her eyes lost their pupils and lit up with a warm white light. Every shadow was instantly erased from the room, and it was not a figure of speech: they were literally disintegrated, swept away from existence as if they had never existed. Alastor felt his skin burning so intensely that fire would have seemed like water at comparison, and he immediately stepped behind Adam to shield himself with his shadow. Even the first man couldn't hold back a slight cry of pain as his skin began to smoke.
Angels were beings created to erase any darkness. Their light was capable of annihilating any creature whose essence was not pure. This included demons, who were essentially the representation of impurity.
Adam gritted his teeth, and then power exploded through him; perfectly mimicking Alastor's powers, he expanded his shadow trying to counter Sera's light. It was like seeing a hideous accelerated growth of an octopus, except this octopus was incorporeal, dark and made of shadows. As expected, however, Sera's power was still stronger and her light quickly overwhelmed Adam's darkness.
The seraphim was satisfied to see this and increased the light he was emitting even more, forcing Adam's darkness to retreat even further. She knew that in terms of pure physical power she was still on a higher level than the first man, and therefore she could beat him with this attack. She just had to stay out of his range so he couldn't strike her by surprise and make her lose her concentration. Once Adam's defenses failed and he was burned with divine light, he would have quickly become incapable of fighting any further and she could have finally stopped.
She didn't like the idea of having to burn someone alive... but as they said, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Soon Adam was forced to focus solely on defense, completely enveloping himself and Alastor in shadows in a single point in the center of the room. Sera's divine light had become so powerful and hot that the temperature was skyrocketing, so much so that the metals were liquefying so quickly that they looked like water from how little they had become dense. Finally, even that last defense began to break, revealing Adam's face, which immediately began to burn. "Stop resisting" Sera told him. "You know you can't win!"
But Adam didn't bat an eyelid; instead, he raised his right hand and pointed at her. "You've always had the bad habit of selling the boar's skin before you kill it. Let me show you something" he said. "Ultimate move: GRAVITATIONAL SQUEEZING!"
Just like it had happened when he fought Lucifer, the gravity in front of him immediately became more pressing; however, this time he did not need to create a black hole, because with all the souls he had at his disposal, he could manipulate that power enough to be able to greatly increase the gravity without changing the mass at all. Immediately in the center of the room a gravitational force formed so strong that the walls began to crack, and all the light that Sera was emitting suddenly changed direction, being bent by the enormous gravitational squeezing. That light that previously occupied every corner of the room concentrated in the center of it, forming a column, as if it were water sliding into a whirlpool.
Sera gritted her teeth, and she clenched them even more when that column of light began to travel towards her like a tornado; she immediately tried to reabsorb it inside herself, but the gravitational force held that light as if it had enchanted her. She let out a cry of anger and abandoned her defense, instead using her powers to overwhelm Adam's attack and destroy that gravitational force, dissolving the column instantly. Too bad that at that moment she realized that Adam was no longer behind the column of light, but instead she heard a whisper behind her: "Too predictable"
Adam swung his fist at Sera's back; as soon as she was hit, the seraphim not only felt the immense power of all the souls of Hell combined, but also several powers all at once: Zeezi's gravitational force, Vox's electricity, Carmilla's weak nuclear force, and many other abilities stolen from the overlords that increased the strength disproportionately. The energy with which Sera was hit was such that when she hit the wall this time the hard material instantly lost all resistance and flowed away like a liquid, making her go into the rock for at least ten meters before stopping.
But Adam wasn't done yet: he raised his hand again and this time emitted one of his beams of light. But this time its power was not only enough to reduce an airship to atoms: fortunately Sera recovered in time and put her wings in front of her face, because an instant later the ray that hit her had so much energy that it pushed her back for kilometers, so much so that in less than a minute she emerged from the ground, not because the ray had pushed her upwards, but for the simple fact that she had come so far that the curvature of Hell itself had allowed her to come out. She was so far from Pentagram City that the city was barely visible on the horizon now.
As soon as she was out, Sera was finally able to throw herself down and let the beam pass over her. It wasn't hard for her to understand that with that power, that beam would have been capable of melting even the dense core of a star. Her arms were burning terribly, and in fact, looking at them, she saw that they were full of abrasions, not unlike those a human would have received if they had put their hands inside a burning brazier.
Except that humans were creatures that couldn't survive above ninety degrees for more than a few seconds... she instead was an angel who had witnessed the birth of stars and had walked on them without even feeling the heat. She had even flown among boiling quasars without ever receiving more than a tan.
And now... she had burns and abrasions all over her arms.
Shit!
The situation was getting too dangerous! At this rate, Adam might become too strong to contain! She had to act quickly or she was really in big trouble!
And then... damn, it hurt like hell!
Sera had never felt pain in her life. She had experienced emotional pain, yes, but never physical pain. And now she was finding herself thinking that whoever had ever said that words hurt worse than swords was definitely a complete idiot.
She had to find a solution, and fast. She had tried to subdue Adam with the sole imposition of her godly power precisely because she knew that in a close fight it would not be easy to win. Even if Adam was still below her in power level at the moment, his battle knowledge and adaptability tipped the scales in his favor. Sera was too inexperienced to be able to beat his tricks.
She was not a warrior. She was not created to be a soldier, and she had never thought it was appropriate to be one. She had never even set foot in a training camp.
Michael was a warrior, created as such.
Lucifer was not created as a warrior, but he had learned to fight, even if he had never had to fight seriously.
Sera just wasn't.
She was literally a fish out of water. And unfortunately her opponent was the oldest human of all, a man who had spent thousands of years honing his skills. Adam had fought against enemies who were often stronger than him or who had managed to subdue him, and he had had to find a way to defeat them. In terms of experience there was no comparison. And now that the gap between their strengths was no longer as abysmal as before, she had little chance of winning a direct fight.
Maybe the best thing to do was to seize the moment and go get Michael right away...
While she was still thinking this, Adam emerged from the hole in the ground and punched her in the abdomen, making her roll away. And this time the punch was so strong that it made her spit out blood. She herself almost didn't believe it when a mass of thick golden liquid emerged from her mouth while her breath was cut off.
Her mind started to panic. This was bad... this was very bad! Adam was getting used to using all the power granted to him by the absorbed souls too quickly! She had to stop him immediately... or who knows how far he would have gone!
A primordial human, the perfect creation of God, who could already change the shape of the mountains by himself, invested with the power of every single soul in Hell... she didn't dare to think what heights of power he could reach. Maybe he would have been able to stand up to the strongest angels? No... no, that was still too much, but she herself certainly wouldn't have had a chance.
Adam just stared at her with a sharp look. "Hmm. Interesting. An angel's skin is an extremely resistant material, yet she has also taken damage. Just as I imagined, even if I can't kill angels yet, I can at least fight them" he thought carefully. "However, being able to hurt someone doesn't mean you can defend yourself in the same way. Sera is a simpleton, it's easy for me to just avoid her attacks. But I need to better understand how high my resistance is now if I want to aim for bigger fish..."
Sera leaped into the air and hovered a little higher than him. She didn’t want to use such great powers, but she had no choice. Adam certainly wouldn’t let her go and call for help, or he might run away in that short amount of time, so her only choice was to fight. Or rather, to hit him so hard that he couldn’t react.
Her white spear reappeared in her hands, but this time she raised it upward and planted it straight into the center of her halo; there was a clanking sound, and then the two objects merged into one, forming a spear at least ten meters long, its tip filled with divine energy and several magic circles orbiting around it. As it appeared, Adam felt glued to the ground, unable to move; apparently, whatever the spear was aiming at he couldn’t dodge in any way. “Forgive me, Adam, but I have to stop you!” Sera screamed, and at a flick of her fingers the spear was hurled at lightning speed.
The first man realized that this would not have been a simple attack like the others; he could not move and he could not dodge. His only solution was to parry the blow... and he already knew that it would not have been a light blow. As the spear touched him, an energy comparable to the power of all the stars combined was released all at once. Adam was hit by one of the most destructive forces in the universe, so much so that even though all that energy was concentrated in just a millimeter, the impact was enough to split the ground so much that it sent him a hundred meters underground.
Sera gritted her teeth, momentarily fearing that she had overdone it; but that fear proved unfounded, because Adam was still in the same spot, in the center of the crater, almost completely unharmed. His body, or at least the inside, was covered in a white material that looked like metal, but at the same time looked very different. He was sweating profusely and slipped for a moment on one knee, but he still had no physical injuries.
Sera was so shocked that she flew back slightly, as if instinctively wanting to get away. Damn, that had been a serious attack! How had he resisted!?
Adam took a deep breath. "Yes... just as I thought" he thought, looking at his arms covered in the strange material. "By combining Carmilla's weak nuclear force with insane pressure and gravity, I can break atoms down to a material similar to that of neutron stars. With the strength granted by all these souls I can push myself to these limits that were previously difficult for me. Even so, that mighty spear has still penetrated the outer layers... I will have to take that into account when I'll face a more experienced angel. And then..."
Some of the divine energy from the spear was still present on his shield, still digging through the hard material to try to hurt him. Adam narrowed his eyes, and then he expanded his shadows, using the same powers as Alastor, but this time with the aim of annihilating that divine residue. Normally no demonic power would have been enough, but thanks to all the souls he had absorbed he managed to devour and make that energy disappear. "Interesting..." he commented, and then he began to remove the hard material from his arms.
Sera's eyes widened as she glimpsed an opening: "I see it! Your defenses are off!" she almost screamed, and immediately she made another white spear appear in her hand and threw it at his shoulder. It was certainly not as powerful an attack as the one before, she hadn't had time to generate so much energy, but still a seraphim's spear was a powerful weapon.
Adam was hit squarely in the right shoulder, so hard that the spear went through and a good part of his shoulder blade literally exploded. The first man fell to the ground with a groan of pain, his right arm now completely useless as the muscles and tendons had been vaporized. "It's over" Sera told him. "You can't fight with just one... huh?"
Under Sera's shocked eyes, Adam's shoulder quickly mended itself and the muscles and skin reappeared on it, completely regenerating it. "What!?" the seraphim exclaimed. "Impossible! Demons cannot regenerate when hit by an angelic weapon...!"
Adam looked at his arm. "As I imagined" he thought. "By removing the residual angelic energy, I can return my body to its original state and then regenerate as I would from a normal wound. It would normally be impossible, but with all these souls providing me with power, I can easily resist and expel it. The angelic weapons can no longer permanently harm me. Well noted"
Sera was still shocked, and as soon as she saw Adam get up, she sweated coldly, expecting another unexpected attack. But instead, the first man calmly stood up without even emitting the slightest murderous instinct. "That's enough" he simply said.
Sera's eyes widened: "What...?"
"This concludes my experiments for now" Adam told her, and then he turned to Pentagram City and took a few steps towards it, as if he was leaving. "In return for your contribution, I will spare you further physical pain. See you later"
Sera was speechless, but it didn't take long for her self-love to cause her no small amount of irritation: "You... are you really going to leave like this!?"
"I told you from the beginning, I don't want to hurt you" Adam replied. "So don't give me a reason. Do whatever you want, just don't bother me anymore while I go finish this part of my plan"
Sera clenched her fists. Not only was she furious at Adam's patronizing treatment of her, but she also knew that if she had let him go now, he would have gone to hurt someone. Or even if he had just ran away, that would still have been a disaster since they would have had to search for him all over again while he would have been busy weaving some other insidious and complicated plot. She couldn't let him do that. "You're not going anywhere!"
Adam stopped, and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "In that case, you should have attacked me while my back was turned" he said. "Be careful, Sera. The days of you ordering me around are over"
Sera didn't answer him anymore: she took flight again, and as soon as she was ten meters from the ground, two of her six wings stopped moving and positioned themselves in front of her face, covering her eyes. The wings that were still flapping grew and flapped harder and harder, generating a wind even stronger than the one the bombs had unleashed moments before. Her central body began to rotate as if it were no longer solid, but not liquid or gaseous either; it had become another stage of matter, a complete stage, which included all three others and none at the same time. Her true power as a Head Seraphim was released from her, and Adam felt it crush his skin a little under the pressure. "I didn't want to go this far, but you force me!" Sera said to him, and her voice seemed to come from all around them instead of just her mouth. "Behold the true power of the servants of...!"
Adam just snapped his fingers.
Sera couldn't finish her sentence, as golden blood exploded from her mouth, nose, ears, and even her eyes. The power the seraphim had been building up instantly went out, and she fell with a thud. Black tendrils emerged from her ears and wrapped around her, then turned into diamonds denser than any diamond on Earth, pinning her down. "What... what do you... to me?"
"I'm tired of playing with you" Adam told her. "I could have killed you twenty-six times in the last five minutes. I don't need any more experimentation. And you're not the angel I want to face at full power. So I decided to just put you down"
"Y-You..." Sera stammered, still spitting blood. "W-What did you do to me...?"
"A simple trick" Adam replied. "When I first hit you in the back, I hid one of my shadows under your hair. It was a microscopic shadow, just enough for you not to notice, and while you were focused on me it crawled into your ear and into your nervous system. All it took was a command from me for it to violently attack your sense of balance, preventing you from even standing up"
Sera spat out the last of her blood, but even though the discomfort was over, she was finding it very difficult to free herself from the constriction she was in. The tentacles that had wrapped around her were not as hard as the protection Adam had used to defend himself from her spear, but they were still extremely resistant. "This is a battle, Sera; and in a real battle, either you choose the rules first, or anything is valid. The only honor you can give your opponent is a quick death" Adam told her. "Remember this next time: you are not made for this territory. Be smarter and stay behind your desk, that's your place"
Adam calmly approached Sera, and raised his hand; a material that looked like diamond and steel fused together istantly covered it. "Now I'm going to have to put you to sleep for real" he told her. "I'll try to make it as painless as possible"
Sera broke out in a cold sweat as she saw Adam's fist come down on her; she knew it wouldn't kill her, but it would certainly have hurted terribly. It was the first time in her life that she had felt so hopeless against someone else, and the knowledge of the impending pain certainly didn't help. She instinctively closed her eyes, preparing for the blow...
CLANG!
A swift silver shadow suddenly came between her and Adam; the first man's fist hit a very hard surface, and the recoil was so strong that it threw him backwards. Sera opened her eyes and realized that Vaggie had appeared above her, already fully clad in her battle armor, and in her hand was the indestructible axe that Adam had forged. And to prove it, Vaggie immediately turned and struck the hard material that was imprisoning Sera, which was immediately cut through by the axe without any effort. "Are you okay?" she asked, holding out her hand.
"Not really, but thank you" Sera answered, standing up.
Adam's eyes seemed to glow. "That's MY axe!" he hissed angrily.
"I know, I took it from the safe when the embassy blew up" Vaggie said.
Sera raised an eyebrow: "How did you know the combination...?"
"I watched you put this in the safe. Years in Hell teaches you to be sneaky" Vaggie replied. "And before you tell me, yes, I know, I shouldn't have, blah blah blah and all that"
Adam slammed his tail on the ground in annoyance. "You have three seconds to give me back what's mine" he warned. "Don't be so stupid. You know I can knock you out with one swing"
Vaggie nodded: "I know. That's why I took this too!"
And having said so she raised her left hand, in which she was instead holding the cross of Jesus Christ. Adam's eyes widened and he lunged at her, but Vaggie barely touched the cross with a finger, and the space between them became huge as if they were several kilometers away. "Sera, do you mind!? Open a portal and take us back to Pentagram City!" the ex-Exorcist shouted at the seraphim.
Sera bit her lip: "We can't! Adam will escape...!"
"We can't defeat him alone, and even if I keep him away with this cross, he might just leave by opening a portal of his own" Vaggie pointed out. "Let's get back to Pentagram City before he does and organize a defense, instead of wasting time in a pointless battle!"
Sera had to admit that she wasn't entirely wrong. "Okay. Let's go!" she said, opening a portal behind them, and they both threw themselves in and closed it behind them.
Adam just grunted as he watched them disappear. His shadow twisted and Alastor emerged from it. "You were there the whole time? You could have helped me" the first man muttered.
"Ever since we first met, we've always fought one on one. I was respecting the tradition" Alastor replied, a little mockingly. "So, are you done playing experiments? We have a war to win, in case you don't remember"
"Tsk! I haven't forgotten" Adam said, looking towards what had been Pentagram City. "Come on, let's go back. The real battle begins now"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 60): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/163838668
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 32): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166372849
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 114: New plan
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Okay, let me make a good summary" Lucifer said, rubbing his hair almost frantically. "The entire Pride Ring was destroyed, maybe the rest of Hell for all we know, all the demons mysteriously lost their souls so we might as well consider them dead, and now there's an army of drones collecting angelic steel!?"
"You summed it up really well" Angel commented. "And honestly, even now that you said it so simplified, I don't really understand a fuck anymore"
"No one does, don't feel left out" Husk confirmed.
Charlie was staring at the swarms of drones that were re-entering in those strange portals. Velvette hadn't lied: those portals were really strange, unlike anything she'd ever seen. They weren't angelic or demonic, they were something else. And they actually looked artificial. "Drones... technology..." she muttered, thinking deeply. "Could this be Vox's doing?"
"It would make sense, actually. Alastor now has control of the overlords Adam captured, and with Carmilla and Vox at his disposal, he could have created all of this" Rosie rightfully answered.
"If it was Alastor who started this mess, when we meet him again I'll at least have to admit that I underestimated him" Angel muttered, and then he grabbed a rock (actually a piece of a wall that had now crumbled) and threw it at one of the nearest drones: "And you stop stealing my guns, dammit!"
The drone had barely taken a piece of what had been his angel rifle, maybe the trigger, but Angel still needed to vent and throwing a rock at it was the first thing that came to mind. The drone was knocked off balance by the blow and fell to the ground, and Cherri and Niffty took advantage of this to jump on it and smash it. When it stopped moving, Pentious went to pick it up and started checking it out. "Well... it surely is very technologically advanced" he admitted. "But it doesn't look like Vox's style..."
A loud flapping of wings was heard, and Michael descended from the sky so quickly that it seemed as if he had teleported. "I was sure I would have found you all here" he said in a rather annoyed voice, clearly preferring them to stay at the angelic embassy. "Did you find out anything?"
"You could at least ask us if we're all okay" Lucifer said with a grunt. "Besides, we should ask you that. Didn't you go check?"
"I did, but I got no results" Michael replied. "These portals are only opened for a few moments and then immediately closed, and for some reason they don't have any energy signatures that I know of. If they were demonic or angelic I could memorize them and figure out where they came from, but they're different. I'm trying to analyze them, but until I understand better..."
"Great, so you don't know anything. You were no good either" Lucifer said dryly.
Michael's eyes narrowed: "Listen here, you little...!"
"Guys, not now!" Lilith shouted at them both, already quite exasperated.
Both brothers showed no signs of listening, but Pentious got their attention and that of everyone else: "Guys... something is wrong. This drone... it's not made of materials from Hell"
Everyone looked at him confused. "That material... is not from Hell?" Charlie repeated. "Are you sure...?"
"Of course. Look" Pentious said, turning the drone around and revealing some rust spots on the underside. "There's a little exposed iron, but it's already started to oxidize. Hell's atmosphere is richer in oxygen than Earth's, as it partially copies that of early Earth. However, the chemical composition of our ores is also different. Hellish iron doesn't rust as fast"
Lilith picked up the drone and ran her finger over the rust, feeling it crack. "You're right" she said. "Corroded and oxidized. Hellish metal would take days to rust like days. This is... Earth metal"
There was a long moment of silence. No one seemed to have the courage to speak. And finally, Charlie spoke up, saying what everyone was thinking: "Are you saying... that the ones attacking us are... humans?"
Lilith was sweating coldly. "It would seem so" she admitted.
"Are you kidding me!?" Lucifer exclaimed. "The humans ignored us for thousands of years, and suddenly they decided to blow us up!?"
"Well... with all due respect, Your Majesty... your daughter and the first of the assholes put on quite a show on Earth" Velvette reminded him. She was speaking with her usual bluntness, but it was obvious she was nervous. "It's not impossible that the humans decided to... settle accounts with us"
"I'm afraid I have to agree with you" Rosie admitted. "That would explain why the portals look artificial. I didn't think humans had such technology..."
"Some politician must have covered it up" Angel commented sourly. "Shit... this is a mess. What do we do?"
Charlie hugged her shoulders tightly, trying to breathe, even though she felt like she was running out of breath; it was like the oxygen was refusing to enter her lungs. Her mother caught her to keep her from falling to the ground, realizing that she was running out of strength. Emily also tried to support her, feeling her shaking under her hands. "Hey... it's okay, let's find a solution now" she said, then looked at Michael: "What should we do in these cases?"
For once even the archangel seemed completely lost. "I have no idea" he admitted. "Hell has attacked other realms in the past, but this is the first time Earth has declared war on Hell..."
"War? This is not a war, idiots" Valentino growled. For the first time in a long time, he seemed genuinely scared. "When you bring out the nuclear arsenals it's no longer a war, it's an extermination. Why do you think they attacked so forcefully from the beginning? It would be a disaster for them if we demons fought back and attacked the Earth. They want to bring us to our knees right away. They're hitting us so hard, so violently, that none of us will be left, and therefore will be able to seek revenge in the future. They've already completely destroyed Pride and probably did the same to the other Rings, and as soon as they've finished collecting that angelic steel they'll wipe out all the survivors"
"Unfortunately, I have to agree with him. It's exactly what I would do if I were in charge of humanity" Husk said through gritted teeth, so much so that their grit could be heard in the distance. "This is not a war, it's a mass genocide"
Husk was not an expert in war, but he knew at least one thing: the intent of every nation in war was to end the conflict as soon as possible, obviously with their victory. A war was extremely expensive, and the longer it was, the more the nation risked collapsing on itself. Furthermore, the longer the war, the greater the possibility that the opponent would reorganize and return to the charge, bringing the conflict to their territory and therefore endangering their population. No one wanted a war like that, for this reason in History people had always tried to end wars as soon as possible by aiming at strategic objectives, usually enemy capitals, to bend the opponents. With time, wars had become more sophisticated, but the goal was always only one: to win as soon as possible.
Therefore, if humans had wanted to declare war on Hell, their only option was total extermination from the very first moments. Send a surprise attack so devastating, so destructive, that no demon could survive, open a portal, and go wreak havoc on Earth in revenge. The humans were weak, but their weapons were strong; if they had the technology to open portals between dimensions, it was obvious that their strategy would be to destroy everyone, retrieve the angelic steel, and then use it to kill all the demons while they were still weak.
It was a terrifying prospect… but unfortunately, also a devastatingly realistic one.
"The best thing is to stop this in its tracks" Michael commented as he thought. "If I go to Earth and tell them to stop, maybe I can convince them..."
"What if they mistake you for Lucifer?" Angel exclaimed. "If those crazy people are attacking us, then they must have a plan in case a fallen angel tries to stop them! What if they think you are him and take you out?"
"It's not that easy to kill an angel" Michael reminded him.
"Maybe, but the same can't be said about knocking them out or imprisoning them" Husk rightfully opined. "Don't underestimate humans, ever. Never forget: when it comes to wars and exterminations, we are way ahead of you"
The most dangerous thing about humans was their ability to literally defy the impossible: somehow, they always managed to find solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems, even if it took them thousands of years. And unlike beings like angels, who at least had limits like morality and empathy, humans were capable of destroying all their good feelings when they wanted to achieve progress, especially when that progress was needed to defeat an enemy. This was their huge advantage. If he had to choose between going to war with humans, angels, or demons, Husk would have discarded the former regardless. Angels and demons were stronger, but there was a reason why all the wild animals on Earth were terrified of coming into contact with humans. The title of the most potentially dangerous species in the universe undoubtedly belonged to them.
Michael was about to reply, but just then a portal opened next to them and two people rushed out, immediately closing it behind them. "VAGGIE!" Charlie exclaimed as she recognized her girlfriend, running to hug her.
"SERA!" Emily too screamed, recognizing the seraphim, and getting quite scared at seeing her in such bad shape.
"Urgh... hi, guys, are you all okay?" Vaggie muttered as she stood up.
"Everyone's okay here... why do you have Adam's axe!?" Angel exclaimed as he looked at her better.
"I took it when everything went to hell, along with this" Vaggie replied showing the cross of Jesus. "I wouldn't be here if I hadn't done that"
"You guys are in really bad shape" Michael commented. "What happened to you?"
"She saved me" Sera said as she stood up with Emily's help. "Adam... absorbed all the souls of the demons that died in this bombing"
Everyone seemed to turn into plaster statues. "Adam did WHAT!?" Lilith almost screamed.
Sera nodded as if to confirm what she herself had just said. "He absorbed them all. He became so strong that he destroyed the cell... and then he defeated me, and I must point out, without even trying very hard"
Those words seemed to blow everyone's minds. Sera was no warrior, but she was still the Head Seraphim, and the seraphim were the highest category of angels. Only a few others, like Michael and Lucifer and the other Elders, were superior to them. The fact that Adam was able to hurt and even defeat Sera showed how high he had come, a level no man had ever reached before. "Now we know why the demon souls disappeared" Cherri commented as she regained her voice.
"A primordial human with all the souls in Hell at his disposal...?" Lilith muttered, paler than a corpse.
Sera shook her head: "No, I think he only took Pride's. The other Rings should still be safe... I think"
That gave Charlie a little hope. Not because Adam was weaker than he would have been if he had absorbed all the souls into the seven Rings, but because it meant that the other six were probably still intact. "If Adam planned this... then the rest of Hell probably wasn't attacked" she said. "Adam doesn't kill people who don't deserve it... at least not in his opinion. He wouldn't have attacked the hellborns directly, since there are some among them who don't deserve to die"
"It's likely" Michael confirmed. "But if he really involved all of humanity in this attack, then he surely has a plan for the rest of Hell as well"
Charlie's hope was immediately extinguished: "What do you mean?"
"It seems obvious to me: Adam had foreseen this attack, that's why he was able to absorb all the souls. If he did foresee it, then he probably directed the humans only towards Pride in some way, so as not to involve the hellborns. However, he will not leave the hellborns unscathed" Michael told her. "It would be an acceptable risk if we were only talking about imps, hellhounds, baphomets or other demons without any particular abilities, but leaving entities like the Goetia or the Sins alive would be too dangerous. If they decided to react to the attack of the humans, it would be a disaster for the Earth. Adam would never tolerate that. He must have a precise plan to annihilate any danger to humanity"
Charlie had to admit that this was true: there were innocent people among the hellborns, and so Adam didn't want to kill them indiscriminately like he had done with the sinners, after all the Exorcists with their acts of terrorism had scared and driven away almost all the hellborns from the Pride Ring... but that didn't mean that Adam was willing to give the demons the chance to react and attack the Earth. After all, destroying Pride was an act of war against all of Hell, not just that Ring: the Sins and the Goetia wouldn't stand by and watch. Adam would never risk them attacking and destroying the civilization of Earth, so he had to have a plan to stop them. "But... how could he do it? I don't think he intends to go to every single hellborn, control them with his gaze and then kill or spare them..."
"No matter what his intent is, we have to stop whatever is about to happen!" Husk exclaimed. "You said he only has Pride's souls with him and not the rest of Hell. Does that mean we can still fight him?"
"Yes" Michael confirmed. "But I'm afraid the only ones in all of Hell who can still hold their own against him in a one-on-one fight are Lucifer and me. Maybe all the Sins along with Lilith could have a chance too..."
"So we basically traded a tank for a surface-to-air nuclear missile" Angel growled in frustration, furious that there was such a gap between them and their opponent. "Seriously, I'm seriously on the verge of...!"
Suddenly the ground beneath Lucifer's feet seemed to turn into liquid darkness; the fallen angel was grabbed by shadow tentacles and dragged to the ground. "What the fuck...!?"
Lucifer was speechless to say the least: it wasn't the first time someone in Hell had tried to attack him by surprise, but it was definitely the very first time such an attack had been successful. The shadow tentacles, which normally would have torn off as soon as he tried to free himself, put up a strenuous resistance, forcing him to remain on his knees and then lie down.
All this in just a few fractions of a second, and only Michael seemed to notice it. And then Lucifer could see a very familiar face appear in the shadows: "It's time to face me, coward"
And with that Lucifer was dragged into the dark mass, which disappeared into the ground as if it were a whirlpool sliding into a hole. Michael lunged forward, trying to grab it, but his hand only hit the sandy ground of Hell. "DAD!" Charlie shouted.
"Don't worry, I had time to memorize the demonic signature. I know where they're going" Michael told her, spreading his wings. "Don't follow me, it's too dangerous!"
And after such words he took flight, disappearing over the horizon so quickly that he seemed to have vanished. Charlie felt her throat dry from the tension, but Vaggie put a hand on her shoulder: "Stay calm. Remember, Adam can't kill your father until he's completed his angel-killing weapon. Even if he gets the better of him, he won't be able to give him the final blow"
Charlie mustered up all her energy to calm her worry. "Yeah... yeah, you're right" she muttered. "Can we follow them...?"
"If you can see where the angel dude went, you can try" Angel pointed out. "With that speed, they must be on the other side of Pride by now"
Charlie clenched her fists, but Vaggie clapped her hands together: "Guys, focus! This isn't the time to be standing around, we need to think about how to react!"
"I don't think we should intervene in a battle between two super-powerful angels and a demon on steroids" Husk rightfully pointed out. "I bet even getting close to them would be equivalent of getting torn to shreds"
"It depends on how much they go wild" Sera said. She was sweating profusely, and it certainly wasn't due to the hot air. "I wouldn't be surprised if we could feel the effects of the battle from here..."
"Let's let them handle it" Velvette rightfully suggested. "Adam may be full of tricks, but he's alone against two of the most powerful angels in existence. As they say, let them fight"
"I'm not too opposed to that" Angel admitted. "It's the only way I can see us keeping our heads on our shoulders"
Everyone agreed on that; even Charlie couldn't deny that she wasn't sure she could even watch a fight to the death without getting seriously injured at the very least. Everyone else would just have been wiped out as soon as Adam and Lucifer started punching each other, let alone when Michael intervened. And besides, she didn't even know which direction to go to look for them.
Vaggie banged the axe on the ground, making a clanging sound to get attention: "Guys! Enough arguing. Adam may be busy with Lucifer and Michael right now, but Alastor, the Exorcists, and even humans are still a danger! We need to find a way to fight back now!"
"Yes... you're right" Sera confirmed. "Even though Adam is busy now, we should expect an attack at any moment. We could..."
"We need to repair the angelic embassy" Vaggie said suddenly.
Everyone went silent and looked at her. "What?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie waved the cross she wore around her neck: "This can alter space, we can use it to our advantage. The angelic embassy among its many functions can amplify a cleansing spell... or at least, it could when it was still intact. If we repair it, we can use it to amplify the radius of action of this cross and therefore alter the space around all of Hell, sealing the portals at least for a while. This will prevent new waves of attacks from coming and will allow us to focus on what has already come at us"
Everyone looked at each other. In fact, that was a good idea: with the cross of Jesus they could seal all the portals, and without the portals the humans could not attack them again. "That might be a good idea" Sera admitted, rubbing her chin.
"Can you do that?" Charlie asked. "Repair the entire angelic embassy?"
"It won't be easy. It's not just any building, it's a divine structure. All of its spells need to be reactivated to make it work properly again" Sera replied.
"All we need is put the tower back in place and reactivate the magic amplifier" Emily pointed out. "It won't be a perfect job, but the result is what matters, right?"
Sera nodded slightly. "Even so, it won't be easy. Putting the tower back in its place is no big deal, but recreating all the spells just to make that one specific function work... will take a while"
"Then we mustn't waste any time. Sera, Emily, you two fix that tower. Everyone else... well, they'll be playing for time" Vaggie said authoritatively, then she looked at Valentino: "I never thought I'd say this, but since you're the one who lived through the Cold War, you know the best about this, so... what do you do to react to a nuclear attack?"
"What?" Valentino muttered. "What kind of world do you think you live in, girl? You don't react to a nuclear attack, you survive at it, and that's only if you're lucky"
"Oh, holy shit!" Vaggie blurted out, more annoyed than ever. "Don't be so hard to come by and answer me! In the Cold War, there were always bulletins and stuff like that telling you what to do if a bomb fell on your head, right? Tell us right now!"
"Hey, did someone make you boss!?" Valentino growled, quite annoyed by such bravado towards him. "I have no reason to...!"
Charlie didn't say anything to him: she simply raised her right arm and pointed her index finger at Valentino's chest. The moth demon immediately felt a strong heat coming from it and understood that he was in danger of being burned alive at any moment. And judging by her look, Charlie had really reached the limit of her endurance, and at the first wrong word she would have really incinerated him.
Valentino swallowed hard and even sweated a little. Taking advantage of the situation, Velvette, who was also getting a bit impatient, shouted at him: "Val, we're in an emergency situation, in case you hadn't noticed! You can get pissed off and complain later, now just answer!"
Since his historic ally was also rowing against him, Valentino didn't take long to give up: "Oh, okay! Let me think... well, I'm not an expert on these things, but from what I understand, the national security protocol required that, in the event of a nuclear attack, the first thing to do was to gather in a place easily traceable by the army"
"It makes sense. That way you could be found" Pentious confirmed.
Lilith narrowed her eyes. "The royal palace" she said. "As soon as the Sins and other demons from the lower Rings start coming up here to figure out what happened, that'll be their first stop. If they haven't already"
"And so they'll all be gathered in one place. The perfect time to strike" Vaggie said through gritted teeth. "But at the same time, we need to know if anything else happened down there that we don't know about... okay, Lilith, you go up there, and as soon as the Sins get there, get the information and then send them right back down. Rosie, go with her, it'll take diplomacy"
"I think so too" Rosie admitted.
"You guys go find shelter instead" Vaggie said looking at her friends. "Excuse my words, but each of you is too weak to be useful in this context. If Adam arrives, or if the humans attack again, you will be instantly wiped out. Go to the sewers or the subway, the underground is the safest area at the moment"
"Did they survive that explosion?" Angel rightly opined.
"The earth is a strong protector" Pentious told him. "What was close to the explosion was definitely disintegrated, but the areas further away could have resisted even if leveled by the megaquake. The more solid the structures, the more likely they are to have remained intact. In fact, it is possible that someone other than us survived down there"
"Really!?" Charlie exclaimed immediately. "Could there be other survivors!?"
"Well... it is possible" Pentious replied. "Even though they're probably trapped by the rubble. If Adam came back now they wouldn't even have a chance to escape"
"All the more reason to go get them then" Vaggie said rubbing her face to try to concentrate. "Okay, we've established a minimum of roles: Sera and Emily, you fix the angelic tower, while Charlie and I will act as lookout and try to hold Adam back in case he comes to take back the relics. Pentious, you come with us too, you'll help us fix what can be fixed..."
"Me?" Pentious repeated in surprise.
Vaggie slapped her hand to her face: "Of course you! Who else would do that? I don't know if you've noticed, but the average IQ of the people here is 14!" she exclaimed. "Use that brain of yours to try to fix the fixable as soon as possible!"
"Okay, okay, don't get too worked up!" Pentious said a little fearfully.
Vaggie tried to regain some composure: "I was saying, Charlie, Sera, Emily, and Pentious are going to the tower... Velvette too, since she can help us with the communications. Lilith and Rosie are going to the royal palace to try to intercept the other demons. Everyone else, find a way to go underground and stay there, so you'll be safe, and in the meantime try to find someone else and free them. And if things get bad, leave Pentagram City as soon as possible"
"I'm fine with such plan" Valentino said immediately, clearly happy to be able to go hide underground and stay away from the battlefield.
"Yeah, me too" Husk grumbled.
"As much as it pains me to admit it, it's actually better this way" Angel muttered. He hated sitting on the sidelines, but he knew there was nothing he could do. If Adam, Alastor, or another human weapon came, he would havr been pulverized in half a second. If even a seraphim like Sera had taken a beating, a demon like him was better off staying away.
"Be careful, guys. Survive!" Charlie told them, and then took off with Vaggie, Pentious, Velvette, Sera, and Emily, heading for the destroyed angelic tower.
"We better get moving too" Lilith told Rosie, and they both vanished in an instant, heading for the royal palace.
Those who were left behind let out a soft grunt. "Come on, let's find a way to the underground before something else blows up in our heads" Angel commented, and then he started to whisper: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
Husk raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing? Have you suddenly become a believer?"
"No, I'm trying to lure here the divine asshole up there before I start cursing Him!" Angel snapped.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 61): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/163838689
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 33): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166990213
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 115: Deception
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Mr. President" the Secretary of Defense announced. "Phase Two has been completed"
The President of the United States narrowed his eyes. He had not moved from his position the entire time, just staring at the huge screen in front of him with his arms folded behind his back. The faces of the other world leaders were on that screen, and they all had the same expressions as him. "Did you hear that?" the President asked them.
"Yes. And with this, all the nations have completed Phase Two" the Russian President replied with satisfaction. "Now that all the angelic steel has been collected and put into what you know, we can begin Phase Three. Are there any objections?"
"Is there any point in raising them now?" the Chinese Prime Minister commented sarcastically. "We are at war now, and we must follow the plan. I approve of starting Phase Three"
"Me too"
"I agree"
"I approve"
All the world leaders agreed in the end. The President nodded to the Secretary of State, who announced loudly: "Phase Three confirmed! Begin procedure!"
Everyone in the Pentagon immediately went to work, sending orders to all the military bases in the nation, while the military leaders of other nations around the world did the same. "This war is already won" the President commented under his breath, although he could not shake the fear from his mind that the demons might have some trick up their sleeves that would have allowed them to resist the plan formulated by all the nations of the world. "May God help humanity once again!"
"Fuck it!" Lucifer hissed, flailing furiously; the shadows around him continued to envelop him, no matter how many times he hit them. It was like being inside a giant dark vortex that kept taking shape and trying to grab him from behind.
The fallen angel spread his wings and moved them violently, trying to generate a strong shockwave, but no wind was generated: evidently the person who had trapped him there had also eliminated all the air molecules. He then tried to hit the wall of shadows, but it moved as soon as he tried; and for the first time in a long time, something was managing to match his immense speed.
Lucifer gritted his teeth. He felt like he was in the center of a tornado that moved as soon as he tried to reach the edge. He raised his hand and tried to generate a burst of fire, but it immediately went out... that's right, no air, no oxygen. Shit.
It was the first time in his life that someone was making him nervous in a battle.
He had been outclassed in the past by other angels, like his brother Michael, but he had never fought with them to kill. This time, instead, he could clearly feel the killer instinct that seemed to surround him. This time it was a fight to kill, and his opponent was strong enough to at least escape him and trap him.
"I hate to admit it, but this time I can't afford to play!" he exclaimed, and with a roar he completely abandoned his reduced form: his wings spread out to their full size, showing blood-red feathers, and two long horns emerged from his forehead, as well as a snake-shaped halo topped by an apple with a yellow flame in the center. His dress opened up and revealed yellow eyes, and his boots merged with his legs, becoming black, furry hooves, all while his tail re-emerged and writhed as if it had a life of its own. His teeth became sharp, and his eyes took on completely red irises and his pupils became yellow and vertical like those of a reptile. "ENOUGH!"
His power exploded from his body; this time it wasn't a physical, matter-based shockwave, but something deeper, shaking the very essence of the universe. The dark vortex was swept away around him, vanishing as if it were a shadow hit by light... well, the comparison was technically apt. Lucifer let out a growl, happy to no longer be trapped.
Even if he didn't show it, he was still sweating. It had been millennia since he had switched to his higher state because he was forced to do so; usually he did it only out of spite, respect for his opponent, or pure anger. This time instead he had had no choice but to abandon his reduced form, because for the first time since he had been expelled from Heaven he had found himself facing an opponent against whom it had been clear from the first moment that it would not have been enough.
He looked around. All around him were hellish trees, and even from above he couldn't get any reference points since in the distance there were only flames generated by the bombs that generated smoke that obscured the view. "Fuck, he must have transported me to one of the few places not hit by the explosion" Lucifer commented; evidently the forest where he was was far from all the nearby cities and the fires had yet to devour it all, even if the trees were a little bent, a sign that the shock waves had partially reached even there.
"It's better if I go back immediately" Lucifer said, raising his hand and opening a portal: there was no point in staying away from the others if that was his opponent's intent. But as he was about to cross it, the ground split and as if it were a huge shell it closed on the portal, blocking his way. Normally Lucifer would have had no problem shattering the rock and passing through the hole, in fact it would have broken without him even trying, but this time he simply landed a resounding headbutt on the hard material.
A fraction of a second later, the air around him altered, forming concentric vortices that wrapped around his arms, pulling him back as if they were handcuffs; Lucifer found himself fighting against a considerable force, but even though it was clear that he was the one with the upper hand, he still had to force himself a little to get free. "Where are you!?" he shouted furiously. "Show yourself!"
In response, the ground changed again, and this time it seemed to contract from underground, compacting and creating a very hard patina; atoms broke and subatomic particles were forced to come as close as possible. A material so hard that it was only possible in the densest neutron stars formed and attempted to wrap itself around Lucifer's legs, who immediately took flight to escape it; he did so at an extraordinary speed, faster than a surface-to-air missile, but in doing so he failed to notice a dark vortex that opened up above him; as he entered, his center of gravity changed completely, reversing his direction and causing him to crash to the ground, where the hard, hyperdense material enveloped him rapidly.
Lucifer found himself pinned down by the nearly indestructible substance that was clearly trying to crush him. Shit, the powers of all the overlords combined were really hard to handle, especially considering that the person using them had now reached a level of power incomparable to any other demon. Even an angel as powerful as him couldn't easily break the hyperdense material of a neutron star.
However... that didn't mean he couldn't do it.
Lucifer's body was enveloped in light; a light different from the pure white light of the angels, a broken light, but still light. The photons obeyed him like faithful soldiers and struck the neutrons of the hyperdense material, breaking them and throwing them away. In a matter of a few dozen seconds, the shell that had formed around him dissolved, releasing a burst of light so powerful that even the hard rock within several kilometers was transformed into vapor.
Lucifer withdrew his light inside himself, breathing deeply from the effort. "Are you trying to wear me out?" he asked aloud. "You'll tire yourself out before me!"
Again, no one showed up before him, but his provocation did not go unanswered: all the enormous shadow generated by the gigantic cloud of dust that covered the sky moved as if it were alive, tearing itself away from the ground and wrapping itself in a figure. In a few moments, a humanoid shape took shape in front of him, at least twenty meters tall, with an extremely threatening appearance. It seemed like seeing the apparition of a dark lord from a fantasy film.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes: he knew that that was not the real thing, his opponent was only using it as a puppet. The fallen angel enveloped himself in pure light again and hurled himself at the shadow, cutting it through, but it reformed behind him in moments, and instead grabbed him by the tail and threw him against a nearby hill, pulverizing it.
Lucifer stood up without a scratch, just in time to dodge a punch from the giant shadow that opened a crater in the ground. "This pathetic puppet is not enough to hurt me!" he growled. "You have to try harder...!"
One of the shadow's hands turned into a tentacle and moved like a whip, hitting him in the side; Lucifer didn't feel much pain, but he felt something cut his skin. As he stopped in mid-air he realized that there was a large scratch where it hit. "This is... an angelic weapon?" he exclaimed.
Angelic weapons couldn't actually kill angels, but they could still hurt them and destroy their bodies until they were forced to be reborn from scratch. Sure, they didn't have to fear dying, but that didn't mean it was pleasant to be torn to pieces and feel the pain of every blow. Who would have wanted that, after all?
Lucifer let out a mighty roar: "Fine! If what you want is a clash between light and dark, I'll oblige!" he shouted, flying much higher and spreading his wings to their fullest extent. "Let me show you why they called me Lightbringer!"
The eyes on his robe widened, and this time they were no longer red: their yellow pupils expanded enormously, filling the entire iris, and lit up from within. After a quick flash, a tsunami of light exploded in all directions; Lucifer's body shone with the force of a supernova star, outshining even the largest galaxy. Even though his light was no longer the same after the Fall, he was still the brightest star in the sky, the being to whom God had given the patronage over the cosmic light; compared to him, the Sun was nothing but a miserable weak flame.
The enormous mass of shadow lasted only a fraction of a second, and then vanished instantly, overpowered by that immense light; no form of darkness could remain intact in that situation. Lucifer stopped emitting that light after just a minute, and that was enough to completely erase every trace of his opponent, even the smallest fragments.
The fallen angel looked at the spot where the giant shadow had been standing, expecting to find some liquefied angelic weapon on the ground; in his mind, the angelic weapon that had hit him must be hidden in the dark mass, so it should have been released to the ground now. However, he saw nothing. "What?" he muttered. "Impossible! He can't have already recovered it and taken it away... but then...!"
Another dark vortex appeared behind him, and from it emerged a very thin blade made of shadows; Lucifer dodged it at the last moment, but it still managed to hit him in the arm, passing through him from side to side. The fallen angel couldn't hold back a cry of pain as he looked at his bleeding wound, and immediately shot a beam of light at the dark blade, disintegrating it. "Fuck!" he exclaimed, sweating a little. "That wasn't an angelic weapon... it's...!"
Pure power.
That was what it was. The power concentrated in that single blade was enough to make him bleed. This meant that his opponent's power had reached a level that was able to partially mimic the effects of angelic weapons!
Shit.
"It's no surprise that Sera lost so badly" Lucifer commented, wrapping his arm in light to repair the damaged tissue. "Even so... to be able to hurt me like this...!"
He tried to keep his wits about him. He still had the advantage: his opponent definitely couldn't use too much power lightly, or every blow the giant shadow would deal would have seriously injured him. Which meant that his enemy had to concentrate his power in a very small area to be able to hit him efficiently. That was already something, since he couldn't, for example, create a giant fist and hit him all over his body.
However, it was still dangerous. A single well-placed blow to the heart or brain would be enough to knock him out for quite some time, leaving Hell unprotected. Or even a blow to the muscles or spine could greatly diminish his motor ability. Aware of this dangerous reality, the light he emanated immediately moved to create a protection around all of his vital points.
He decided he had had enough and pointed his hand at the ground. "Well, to use all that power, you can't be too far away" Lucifer commented as his fingers began to heat up. "As they say in these cases... if you can't fight them, detonate them!"
A beam of pure starlight emerged from his hands with the force of a small nova; in a fraction of a millisecond, the entire forest exploded with such force that debris was hurled into space. A crater at least a hundred kilometers wide and twenty-five kilometers deep opened up beneath Lucifer, spewing out scorching steam. Nothing was left untouched.
Lucifer landed in the middle of the crater, looking around, but finding no body. "Where is he?" he thought, narrowing his eyes. "I may have hurt him, but I don't think I disintegrat...!"
His instincts kicked in just in time and made him move to the left an instant before a dark figure landed where he had been with claws unsheathed, clearly intending to slice him into pieces. He was shrouded in shadows that opened behind him forming dark wings, with which he had probably flown away to avoid the fallen angel from exploding him, but his build was unmistakable. Lucifer's eyes widened a little: "You... I knew it!"
"It took you a long time to figure that out, idiot!" his opponent replied, lunging at him and swinging his fingers like sickles; each of them had enough energy to cause him injury, and in fact several scratches opened up on Lucifer's face. The fallen angel let out a deep growl, and in turn raised a hand to counterattack...
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
A winged figure appeared between them, and both Lucifer and his opponent were punched in the face and sent flying like twigs, raising a cloud of dust where they landed. "This has gone on for too long!" Michael shouted loudly, his fists still raised.
"What the fuck... why did you hit me too!?" Lucifer growled, getting up in pain.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're causing more damage than the humans with their bombs!?" Michael replied angrily. "You want to completely destroy the entire Pride Ring!?"
"I was just defending myself!" Lucifer replied. "And I wasn't even using all my power!"
"And by defending yourself, you're causing more destruction than anything else! It's a good thing he took you to a deserted area, because if you had fought in Pentagram City, you would have killed everyone there, including your wife and daughter!" Michael scolded him.
"I would never have done that in that case, I'm not that stupid!" Lucifer protested.
"That still needs to be verified" Michael told him, and before his brother could reply further, he turned on the other side: "Adam, let's get this over with! Don't make me...!"
"He's not Adam" Lucifer hissed angrily.
Michael's eyes widened: "What?"
The dust cleared, revealing a familiar smiling face. "It should have been obvious, shorty" Alastor told Lucifer. "Adam would never have attacked you from behind and stayed in the shadows. It's safe to say he would never have wanted to imitate you!"
"So now it's my turn" Alastor said smugly, drumming his fingers on his radio stick. "Considering how the last time I fought an angel went, I admit I'm a little nervous"
"There's no reason to be. You're not risking your life" Adam told him. "You're unlikely to win... but I won't let you die"
"I know" Alastor replied. He confessed that it had been decades since he'd felt this excited about a battle. "Honestly, I can't wait to kick that angel's ass"
"It's a common feeling" Adam said with a grin, and then held out his hand. "So, shall we begin?"
Alastor shook it. "Try not to steal my soul, I've been through this once before" he warned him.
"Don't worry, I already have enough of them. I don't need yours" Adam told him, and a golden chain emerged from his hand and wrapped around both of their arms, piercing their skin like hot iron. "With this contract, I give you half of my power, on the condition that you fight against Lucifer as much as possible"
The chain completely fused with their arms, and both felt bound by the demonic contract. "That's it" Adam commented, releasing Alastor's hand. "Now you can go. Remember, you only have half the strength I gained with the souls we collected. You will have to be resourceful to be able to hurt Lucifer"
"It doesn't matter" Alastor replied, closing and opening his hand, feeling the immense new energy that permeated him. "I've been watching your fight against Sera closely. I've already learned a few tricks"
"Maybe, but Lucifer is not Sera" Adam warned. "Not only is he stronger, but he is more familiar with his powers than she is. Unfortunately, he knows how to fight. You have much more experience with life-or-death situations than he does... but don't underestimate him"
"Understood" Alastor said. "Are you sure the short king can't kill me?"
"As long as we are bound by the contract, you are protected by my powers like all the other Exorcists. You can't die even if Lucifer hits you with all his immense strength" Adam told him. "With your abilities it will take a lot to destroy your body, so you don't risk dying... and if by chance he succeeds, your soul will not disappear and will reform your body. And when you reach the limit and you can't continue, you will simply have to think of a random Exorcist and thanks to my power you will switch with her. They all know that they have to kill themselves as soon as that happens, so you will not do her any harm whoever she is"
Alastor grinned satisfied. "This is gonna be fun"
"I'm sure of it" Adam told him. "Try not to ruin the dear fallen angel too much. When I finish what I have in mind, I intend to face him personally."
"You could just hide and wait until the plan is finished and we can access Heaven" Alastor pointed out. "You can die, unlike me. What's the point of putting yourself in danger now that you don't have your weapon yet?"
"What a silly question" Adam laughed, clenching his fist. "My weapon is for killing an angel. Beating him up is something I can do myself, and it's a whim I really fucking want to indulge in"
Lucifer gritted his teeth as he finally found himself in front of the one who had betrayed his daughter so unpunished. "You..." he hissed. "I knew you were a bastard, but I never imagined you would be such a bastard"
"Coming from you, that's a great compliment" Alastor replied, getting back to his feet in his usual elegant pose. "Now that we're on opposite sides, I can tell you: from the first moment I saw you, I hated you deeply. You really are a being that I can only consider disgusting"
"Coming from a traitorous asshole, it sounds bad" Lucifer replied.
"At least I'm consistent and I don't hide my nature" Alastor said without shame. "You, on the other hand... seriously, Charlie deserves better"
Lucifer growled and lunged at him, with such speed that any human body would have been reduced to pulp, but Alastor vanished into the shadows and reappeared behind him without even looking tired. "Is it that easy to make you lose your temper, king of Hell?" the radio demon asked him. "What would Charlie call it, guilty conscience or irritated denial?"
Lucifer was about to explode: "Son of a...!"
"I beg your pardon, I'm still not an expert on these psychiatric terms" Alastor said, continuing to tease him. "Try to understand me, I was in that hotel for six months but I still lived in the thirties. I'm still learning this modern vocabulary, in my day we used lobotomies for patients"
Lucifer lunged again, this time even faster, but Alastor once again carried himself away using the shadows... although this time his hair got a little ruffled. "Hmm. At least you didn't lie about your power from what I see" he said with some irritation. "To think that all that strength was given to a being like you... pathetic"
Lucifer grunted, and looked ready to lunge at him again, but Michael stopped him by raising a wing in front of him: "Enough!" he exclaimed. "Demon, you know you can't do anything against just one of us, let alone two. Tell us where your master is and we'll give you a quick death in exchange"
"What a negotiator" Alastor chuckled. "I'm sure your dear little brother has already figured it out. After all, Adam has already used this trick on him. Distract the short king, so that he is absolutely not where he should be"
Lucifer's eyes widened: "No...!"
Alastor laughed heartily: "That's right, dwarf! You're always away when your family needs you!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 62): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029937
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 33): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166990213
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 116: Call to arms
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The Sloth Ring was where all the best hospitals in Hell were located; not that there weren't any in the others, but it was rare to find one whose doctors were truly competent elsewhere. Most doctors in Hell were crazy to say the least, and the good ones had often been eliminated by the noble class so that their subjects had to rely only on them and their magic in case of illness or injury, making them even weaker and more submissive. Only in Sloth had the hospitals and doctors been allowed to progress almost without interference, mainly due to the fact that Belphegor ruled there, who was too lazy to bother eliminating the competition in the medical field, and in fact had looked favorably on their presence since it meant one less duty to fulfill; and so she had ended up collaborating with these budding doctors, even providing her own knowledge, and thanks to that Sloth had become practically the receptacle for all the medicine in Hell.
Of course, the richer a person was, the better hospitals they could afford, and luckily Blitz, even if he wasn't rich, still had a lot of rich friends. After they took him away from the Hazbin Hotel, he was taken to the best clinic in Sloth, in a wing that was normally reserved for VIPs only: Stolas, and not only him since Asmodeus had also put in his share, had paid for everything. Thanks to that, he was now receiving the best possible care, and even though he had to be constantly attached to a life support machine to breathe and had at least ten different IVs attached to his body at the same time pumping blood, antibiotics, nutrients and water into him, he was still starting to show some signs of improvement. Considering the state his body was in, the doctors themselves had called it almost a miracle that he was slowly recovering.
As his daughter, Loona had been allowed to stay with him almost constantly, except when more invasive procedures were necessary. The doctors had initially expressed some complaints, as not only was the presence of a hellhound considered a potential carrier of germs, almost as if they were rabid dogs, but the hospital, having access to Blitz's files and therefore Loona's, was aware of her violent behavior; fortunately, when Stolas had mediated for her, they had agreed to let her stay. And anyway, such doubts were unfounded: after what had happened to Blitz, Loona had withdrawn into a profound silence and seemed almost lethargic. She just spent her days next to him, waiting for him to give off a single sign of life.
Moxxie and Millie, as well as Stolas, came to visit during visiting hours. The owl demon mostly stayed outside, watching the scene from the door, not wanting to get close to Loona, knowing that she absolutely did not want him near Blitz, and he couldn’t blame her. Moxxie and Millie had been a little more understanding, but they had still asked him to keep his distance from the hellhound. Not that they needed to tell him: Stolas knew that what had happened was all his fault, and he didn’t have the strength to forgive himself.
As usual, they had come to visit them that day. "How is he?" Millie asked Loona as soon as she entered.
The hellhound remained silent. It was the medical baphomet who was changing Blitz's IVs who answered: "He continues to show signs of improvement. We're positive that he could wake up at any moment now"
That news rekindled a little hope in their hearts. "So he'll get better?" Moxxie asked a little apprehensively.
"Better is a strong word, but he'll probably wake up. His fingers sometimes move and his brain activity is intensifying more and more. He's probably already conscious, he just needs to regain the ability to move his eyelids. With his damaged brain, that's a complicated thing to do too" the baphomet replied. "Honestly, when he arrived here we all assumed he would have remained lethargic forever. It's amazing that he's managing to recover. Excuse my lack of professionalism, but this is a really stubborn bastard"
Moxxie couldn't help but smile. "Yes, he certainly is" he said in a somewhat affectionate voice, placing a hand on her boss's shoulder. As he did so, Blitz trembled slightly, and Moxxie immediately withdrew it: "What is...?"
"They are muscle contractions that react to external stimuli. I told you... he's trying to wake up" the baphomet told him. "His senses are already active, even if only partially. It's not impossible that he's listening to us right now"
Moxxie bit his lip, and then, even though he felt a little ridiculous, he leaned closer to Blitz's ear: "Boss... if you can really hear us, then hurry up. Your daughter is here and she needs to hear your voice. I know you're stubborn enough not to give up, so open your fucking eyelids"
Of course nothing happened, but Moxxie could swear she heard Blitz's breathing change for a second, and the EEG also beeped once more than usual. "Good. Keep it up, the more stimulation you give him, the better" the baphomet said. "Well, I'm going, I have other patients to see. If you need me, ask the nurse"
And with those words he left the room, leaving them alone. On the way out, he passed Stolas, who was leaning against the doorframe, and bowed his head respectfully, before walking away. The owl demon barely noticed, continuing to watch Blitz lying on the hospital bed, with Loona sitting next to him, Millie putting her hands on her shoulders to comfort her, and Moxxie still whispering something in his ear.
He was so focused that he didn't flinch when a familiar large feathered hand landed on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Stolas turned slightly, seeing Asmodeus standing next to him, Fizzarolli in tow. "Hi, Your Majesty" he said respectfully.
Asmodeus sighed, and then he nodded to Fizzarolli, who quickly left them alone and rushed to his friend. He also came to visit regularly, and of course Asmodeus was always there to accompany him. "Is he getting better?" the Embodiment of Lust asked Stolas.
The owl demon nodded. "Yes... so say the doctors" he replied.
"I'm working on prosthetics that might allow him to walk again" Asmodeus told him. "It's... complicated, it's not like with Fizzarolli, since he also needs a breathing machine and constant IV changes... but maybe I can figure something out. Just give me some time, I'll try to be done before he's well enough to leave the hospital"
Stolas didn't look cheered up at all. "Thank you. You're really too kind" he said only.
Asmodeus looked rather sorry. "Listen... I know this is a really difficult situation, and I shouldn't be involved, but... don't feel guilty. It wasn't your fault"
"It was" Stolas said adamant. "I should have stopped him. I should have stopped him from continuing an illegal business. I should have directed him towards a more legitimate activity. Instead, out of pure selfishness, I ignored my duty and his good, and I let him do it. And this is the result. The responsibility is mine"
Technically that was true. "In that case, I am an accomplice" Asmodeus told him. "I should have stopped you too, but instead I let myself get involved. I am no less guilty than you"
Stolas normally would have already denied those words with fear and respect, but in that moment he remained silent. Honestly, he didn't care much about appearing polite anymore. He felt too tired for that.
Asmodeus clasped his hands behind his back. “Yes… I know you think so, and you’re right. Fizzarolli blames himself for telling me to give you that stone… and I blame myself for not stopping you” he said in a broken voice. "This situation has shown how undutiful we’ve become. It only took one crazy psychopath to send us all into a panic. All of Hell is now living in fear, and we’re struggling to control the overpopulation out there due to the excessive number of hellborns fleeing Pride. We’re completely inadequate"
"Yes, the definition is correct" Stolas did not hold back from commenting.
Asmodeus gave him a little pat on the shoulder: "We can still fix it. You'll see, he'll recover. Don't lose hope"
Stolas opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly the hospital lights turned red and a siren started to sound loudly; immediately the doctors seemed to panic, and they immediately started to clear the corridors and rooms as if they expected to have to receive an incalculable number of patients. Hearing this, Moxxie and Fizzarolli immediately ran out of Blitz's room: "What's going on?"
Stolas didn't know how to answer him, but Asmodeus was pale. "It's the emergency siren!" he said through gritted teeth. "It's a device connected to all the hospitals in Sloth, Belphegor activates it when it is very likely that thousands if not millions of people will soon have to be treated!"
"What? So..." Stolas was about to say, but in front of him appeared a magical scroll with Satan's sigil on it, and the same happened to Asmodeus. Both of them were ordered to immediately report to his palace, and already with all the best magical artifacts at their disposal. "What the fuck is going on!?"
"I don't know, but we have to go!" Asmodeus said, then he looked at Fizzarolli: "Froggie, you stay here, you'll be safe. I'll be back soon"
"Ozzie, this looks serious!" Fizzarolli said to him in a cold sweat.
"It probably is" Asmodeus couldn't help but admit. "I'll be careful. I'll come back for you, okay?"
Fizzarolli wasn't convinced at all, but he forced himself to nod, knowing he couldn't hold his lover. Asmodeus nodded to Stolas, who did the same in return, and they both vanished in his bluish fire. "I don't know what you think about this, but I want to barricade this door, just to be safe" Moxxie said to Fizzarolli, who found himself in complete agreement.
Asmodeus and Stolas reappeared in the Wrath Ring, just outside Satan's palace; hundreds of Ars Goetia were already there, and the other Sins were there too. The Embodiment of Wrath was in the center of that mass of people and was shouting orders at everyone like a madman. But it wasn't him that caught Asmodeus and Stolas' attention, but the fact that Satan's palace was covered in a light layer of dust and some rocks that had clearly fallen from above... and most importantly that large cracks had formed the ceiling of the Wrath Ring.
Neither of them liked that; Asmodeus headed towards the other Sins and Stolas followed him, staying a little behind hoping to understand something. "Oh, finally, Ozzie. Late as usual" Mammon said testily, even if he seemed more tense than usual.
Asmodeus ignored him: "What's going on?"
"If I knew, I'd tell you" Satan said with a deep grunt.
Beelzebub was more diplomatic: "Just now, the entire ceiling of Wrath shook and cracked, and all the Elevators went out of order. It's like something hit the ground up there with a bang. And all communication with Pride has stopped, we can't even magically contact the Ars Goetia that should be there. It's like all of Pride has emptied out"
Stolas stiffened at that, since he technically lived in Pride, so it looked like he’d had a narrow escape; for a moment he feared the worst, but then he remembered that Octavia was with her mother in the Andrealphus palace, deep down in Envy, and therefore hadn’t been involved in whatever had happened up there. At least she was okay.
Asmodeus clenched his fists with some tension. "Have you tried sending someone yet?"
"Yes, but just by opening a portal we start coughing" Beelzebub said, biting her tongue. "The air on the other side... has become toxic, or something. We're putting magical protections on ourselves before we try again. You should too"
Asmodeus would have liked to ask more, but Satan roared louder than ever: "Enough talking! Everyone, move and prepare your most powerful spells! We don't know what we'll find up there, we must be ready for anything!"
The demons quickly obeyed him and all the Ars Goetia began to line up, extracting their magical artifacts. Stolas also made his grimoire appear in his hands and opened it to the right pages to have all the most powerful spells at his disposal. As he did so he quickly looked around, continuing to hear the other Goetia arguing.
"Have you ever seen such a thing?"
"Toxic air anywhere you open the portal? Never!"
"And what could have been so powerful as to crack the ceiling?"
"The shock wave should have traveled through Pride soil to here…"
"Can you generate such a powerful explosion?"
"Not with spells that I know of, no"
It was clear that everyone was tense, and it was no surprise: Stolas couldn’t recall a situation like this before, where an entire Ring had essentially become off limits, and had literally disappeared. He wondered if he should say something, but a voice far more authoritative than his own boomed through the air: “What are you idiots doing!?”
Stolas had no trouble spotting the source of those words: the tall, statuesque figure of King Paimon was unmistakable. “What, are you afraid?” he was scolding them. "You are Ars Goetia, the most powerful demons in Hell, and you get scared as soon as something unexpected happens? You bunch of trembling wimps, when I was young you would have already been executed for your cowardice! You are born to fight, this is your duty as superior demons! Mark my words: whatever we find in Pride, you will not give ground! If I see any of you try to escape, I will kill you with my own hands! Well? Why don't you get in line?"
Stolas was a little surprised to see his father so serious, accustomed in the few times he had seen him to his amused and satisfied self; but then again, Paimon was not a king only by title. He also arrived in front of him and glared at him: "And what are you waiting for?"
Stolas immediately lowered his head respectfully: "I'll get ready right away, your majesty"
"Mph. It will be better!" Paimon grumbled, then moved on, continuing to give orders and scold those who were hesitating too much.
Stolas sighed a little. He certainly hadn't expected an encouraging word from his father, and he wasn't disappointed. Honestly, he was a little envious: he wished he had that confidence of his, or at least the ability to show it. Paimon appeared to be a perfect leader in every way: proud, haughty, inflexible even towards his own children, who only looked to the end goal. He seemed the prototype of everything an Ars Goetia should be, a demon capable of guiding and inspiring those under him.
Stolas for the first time in his life found himself thinking that, if he had been even half as good as his father, many of the bad things that had happened could have been avoided. But unfortunately, he was not at all a perfect Goetia like him.
He went to stand at the front, and sparks of magic emerged from his grimoire, making his legions appear behind him, ready for battle. He placed himself among the other Goetia, and next to him was a familiar white and blue peacock. "You're here too, huh?" Andrealphus asked him scornfully.
"Hello to you too" Stolas replied. "My daughter?"
"At home with her mother, they'll be fine. I told them to hide in the basement until I get back" Andrealphus replied. "I hope you've trained since last time. If we have to fight, I don't want to have an unnecessary burden next to me"
Stolas knew what Andrealphus was referring to: ever since they met, he had been telling them that he didn't train properly with his powers, for example, that he almost never remembered spells by heart. "Well, I would ratger not have someone who could stab me in the back. Nobody is perfect"
"Hmm. Good answer" Andrealphus replied. "Try to make yourself useful. I still need you alive, but if we find ourselves in an emergency situation and you don't assert yourself, I'll throw you against the opponent"
"Try that and I'll strangle you" Stolas said back. Andrealphus made a noise of disapproval, but he didn’t reply any further. Despite his obvious hostility, he too knew when to put aside his arguments and focus on the problem. And besides, it was clear that he was just as nervous as everyone else.
Meanwhile, the Sins, having equipped themselves with protective magic, thought they could try to open a portal to Pride again. To be safe, they opened a small one, no bigger than a mirror, so that if there was something dangerous up there, it wouldn't be able to get through. All six of them couldn't hold back a cry of surprise when they saw that in Pride's place there was a desert of ash covered by dark clouds. "What the fuck... what could have caused such destruction!?" Beelzebub couldn't help but say.
"Whatever it was, it's surely on a level we've never seen before" Mammon said through gritted teeth. "Not even Satan can do something like this with one shot..."
"Hey, now let's not exaggerate!" Satan growled, his pride hurt. "Whatever did this, it must have struck many times before..."
"Tell that to that huge crater" Asmodeus pointed out, before opening more portals to see other cities. "And there are others... it's as if a bombing had taken place"
"Bombing?" Leviathan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it's a term that sinners use... on the news they call it that when one or more demons start dropping lots of bombs from above to blow up more houses" Asmodeus explained. "Now the same thing has always happened, but... on a much larger scale"
"Are you saying that someone would build bombs so powerful that they could wipe out cities and raise so much dust, as well as poison the air?" Mammon asked skeptically.
"Well, I've never heard of it..." Asmodeus admitted.
"Then don't talk" Satan grumbled irritably. "Okay, guys, whatever it is, it's clear that we can't take it lightly. We need to intervene before whoever caused all this decides to attack the lower Rings as well, or at least make sure he can't. Let's go up with the whole army, and ready for anything"
"And Lucifer?" Asmodeus rightly asked. "What does he say?"
"I tried to contact him, but he is not answering. Something must be keeping him busy" Satan replied. "Okay, everyone in position! We will go directly to Pentagram City, in the royal palace! From there we will try to understand what happened and what happened to that short idiot. Eyes on everything, isolated patterns and actions! Do not stray and do not break formation!"
All the demons lined up behind him, ready to obey. Stolas took a deep breath to give himself strength, and was sure that he was not the only one. The Sins made sure that they all had magical protections on to avoid succumbing to the poisonous air, after which Beelzebub distributed canteens with his special honey to the troops to give them more strength, while Satan called the war beasts to his service. When they were all ready, Asmodeus unleashed his magical fire and enveloped everyone, teleporting them to the upper Ring.
As soon as they reached Pride, they were foumd themselves in a barren and desolate landscape. For a moment the demons didn't even realize they were walking on the remains of the royal palace: everything around them was homogeneous, ash and debris covering the ground, the sky was dark, and it was hot, and no light passed through, except for the remaining raging fires that illuminated the scenery. The smell of burnt plastic, charred wood, and burning tissue, combined with countless corpses, entered their nostrils forcefully, making the most sensitive ones almost vomit.
Stolas couldn't help but tense up, and Andrealphus next to him couldn't help but tense up as ice formed at his feet. They weren't the only ones: many had similar reactions, and even Paimon, who was just ahead of them, opened his eyes a little wider than usual for a moment at such a sight. Even if demons were used to seeing cities in ruins, destruction, or dead bodies, this was definitely on another level. Never, not even on the most violent battlefields, had they witnessed such devastation.
Even the Sins weren't immune to it. Asmodeus couldn't help but vomit, and Belphegor almost fainted; Mammon was completely speechless for once, Leviathan was looking around frantically with his two heads fearing that something would suddenly jump on him, and Beelzebub had stiffened so much that she seemed to have become a statue. Even Satan had been deeply inspired, and he commented in a low voice: "What the fuck... I have not seen stuff like this even in war"
Satan had been around since the birth of Hell, and had seen all the conflicts that had happened, many of them started by him just for fun. But never, ever had he dreamed that something could reduce a city to such a state. He had seen cities destroyed in many ways, but never completely pulverized and its inhabitants reduced to such a state as to be unrecognizable. It seemed like every possible natural disaster had occurred all at once, but even worse.
None of them were prepared for such a scenario.
Satan knew he couldn't appear scared or even nervous at that moment, however, so he addressed the other demons with all the calm he could muster: "Everyone, stay focused! Establish a perimeter and keep an eye on all directions! If anything approaches, prepare your spells immediately, and if it's not something we know about, incinerate it!"
Somewhat encouraged by their leader's fearless behavior, the demons formed into a trench formation, creating a sort of circle to best defend themselves from all sides. As they did so, a familiar voice caught their attention: "Satan, you have to send everyone away!"
The Sins were surprised to see a familiar figure approaching, followed by another demon. "Lilith?" Satan muttered in confusion. "When did you come back? You disappeared for...!"
"Yeah, I know, but it's not important right now!" Lilith told him hastily. "You have to leave immediately! The Pride Ring is under attack and we don't know what the next target will be! If you all stay huddled here, you'll only make yourselves an easier target!"
"Hey, hey, let's calm down for a second, chick!" Mammon exclaimed. "Don't you think we deserve at least some explanation?"
"Yeah! We'd like to at least know who's attacking us!" Leviathan said, then she narrowed her eyes: "Does this have anything to do with your stupid ex who's been causing problems for a while now?"
Lilith bit her lip. "Adam has something to do with it, but... we're under attack from Earth"
The Sins were puzzled, and the other demons who had heard also turned their heads in confusion. "From Earth? You mean... that the humans are attacking us?" Beelzebub muttered.
"Impossible!" Satan protested. "Humans are weak, frail, puny! They can't compete in strength with even the smallest demon! How could they...?"
"I wouldn't underestimate humanity if I were you" the other demon who was with Lilith said. "What we don't have in muscles, we make up for in minds. We may have bodies not too different from chimpanzees, but we can create technology that can only be described as godlike"
Satan let out an angry grunt: "How dare you talk to me like that? And who the fuck are you?"
"Her name is Rosie, she's a friend of my daughter's" Lilith explained rapidly. "And you're right! Satan, humans aren't as harmless as you think, especially in this particular century! And if Adam hadn't convinced his descendants to only attack Pride, and who knows how he did it, all of Hell would be like this by now!"
Satan gritted his teeth, but inside he was tense. He had known Lilith for millennia and knew with absolute certainty that, even if she was a little dazed at times, she certainly wasn't telling lies. Could humans really be that dangerous? Well, sinners had been in the past, but they were already demons... Satan couldn't conceive how a weak and magic-less species could do so much damage. "I still find it hard to believe..."
"Oh, you really are a blockhead!" Rosie exclaimed in exasperation. "Get one thing into your head: you're not fighting hellbeasts or whatever you can think of here, you're fighting a species that has had thousands of years to study and learn every possible method of killing! Modern humans have the power to reduce worlds to ruins if they want to, and that's exactly what they just did to all of Pride! Or do you think the sky is covered in clouds of ash by pure chance? I know it sucks to hear this, but if humans decided to start a war with Hell then they sure know how to fight it, and you're the losing side in this case! You may be demons, but when it comes to wars, extermination and massacres, humanity is WAY ahead of you!"
Satan felt quite irritated by that tone, but that speech was of some use, because he began to be seriously worried. Suddenly he felt like he was facing an enemy he had no idea how to face... and as he knew well, being a lover of war, the best way to win was information about the opponent.
Taking advantage of his insecurity, Lilith urged him: "Satan... take everyone to the lower Rings immediately, order them to hide the population as much as possible, be ready for any possible attack. At this moment it is better to play defensively, or we will only play their game"
At that point Satan gave in. "Okay" he finally said. "I trust you... for now. Everyone, prepare to..."
He never finished the sentence: a few meters away from him a golden yellow fireball landed, raising a cloud of dust. The Sins immediately took a defensive stance, followed by all the other demons, and let out a groan as they saw a familiar figure come out. "Adam" Lilith muttered nervously.
"I suppose you thought I was going to punch your husband. I left the pleasure to someone else, I'll go beat the crap out of him later" Adam told her with a grin. "Now I have more ants to squash right here"
Satan let out a deep snort through his nostrils. "Adam" he hissed. "When I heard you were dead, I was honestly sorry I could never measure up to you. Now that you're back, I just want to beat the shit out of you"
"My death was... greatly exaggerated" Adam replied. "I assume you're not happy with what I did with the place, huh?"
"You've caused us quite a bit of trouble, you and your antics. And now I'd say you've gone too far" Satan said, banging his fists. "I can finally teach you a lesson..."
"Satan, no!" Lilith tried to stop him. "Adam has absorbed all of Pride's souls, he's more powerful than ever...!"
"It doesn't matter" Satan growled. "You may be the strongest man who ever existed, but you're still just a man! You can't take on all of Hell's highest hierarchy alone!"
The smile on Adam's face grew wider than ever. "I'm not alone" he said, his eyes flashing.
Just then, several portals opened above them, and from them a deafening sound that seemed to be emitted by thousands of locusts emerged forcefully.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 63): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029946
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 33): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/166990213
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 117: Locusts
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
From the many portals emerged a swarm of what looked like locusts, but they were the strangest thing I had ever seen: each of them was as big as a man's forearm, and they were made of metal, so much so that they looked like they were wearing armor. They had long metal tubes on the back like scorpion stingers, while the front had a head with a mouth with a trap that simulated sharp teeth like those of lions. Their wings were made of tiny propellers, which moved together making a deafening noise.
The demons put their hands over their ears to block out the din. "Fuck... what is this!?" Satan roared.
"Make them stop!" Mammon growled.
"This is unbearable!" even Beelzebub couldn't help but scream through clenched teeth.
Lilith was sweating coldly. "Shit... more drones...?"
The metallic locusts buzzed above them for a fraction of a second; a few demons tried to attack them, but there were so many of them that even destroying a hundred of them wouldn't make much difference. Everyone expected them to attack at any moment, but the locusts dispersed after only a few moments of hesitation, flying towards the corpses of the sinners on the ground, and then inserting their stingers into their skulls.
Having finally landed, they no longer made that much noise, and the demons were able to remove their hands from their ears. Asmodeus swallowed: "What are they...?"
Suddenly, so quickly that they made the demons jump, the sinners stood up; but they did not do it normally, but rather suddenly, as if their limbs had become rigid as iron poles. The metallic locusts had stung the most intact corpses, ignoring those that were too damaged to stand up. The sinners seemed literally possessed: they did not utter the slightest word and their heads were in often absurd positions, as were their hands and feet and other body parts, but despite this they started running towards the demons.
That scene was nothing short of chilling. "What the fuck is that!?" Satan blurted out.
Adam looked at him with an evil smile: "As that man said... when there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth"
Satan glared at him angrily: "You! What have you...!?"
He didn't finish his sentence: taking advantage of his confusion, Adam threw himself against his chest. The huge body of the Embodiment of Wrath was thrown backwards and hit the other Sins and even Lilith, with the result that they were all thrown backwards, straight into the portal that Adam opened behind them to take them away and that he closed as soon as he had passed through.
Rosie narrowed her eyes. "Okay... the situation is getting problematic" she commented, and immediately she modified her hands into large wings and took flight: "I better go away from here quickly and call for help!"
And having said so she flew away, also modifying her skin so as to imitate a cuttlefish, and consequently be able to camouflage herself, and even altered her metabolism to that of a cold-blooded animal in case those metallic locusts had thermal sensors. Meanwhile, the Ars Goetia were confused and frightened to say the least. "Everyone, hold the line!" Paimon shouted, knowing that now that all the Sins were gone, someone had to take the lead immediately.
The Goetias obeyed him and held their formation. The closest revived sinners finally reached the demons, and lunged at them as if to grab them. "Stay back!" the Goetias shouted at them. "Don't you dare come any closer!"
The sinners didn't even give a sign of having heard them, continuing to run at them; the Goetias in the front line made disgusted noises, and then with a spell they tore them to pieces; blood sprayed on them, covering them from head to toe. "Shit..." one of them muttered. "How disgusting...!"
But disgust soon became the last thing on their minds: the more the metallic locusts advanced, in fact, the more sinners they revived with their stingers, and therefore more sinners ran towards them, until there were so many that they seemed like a horde. "I don't like this" Paimon muttered under his breath, sweating coldly.
The Sins landed hard on the ground as soon as they passed through the portal... or rather, Satan landed on the other poor Sins. "Urgh... get off me!" Mammon protested.
He wasn't the only one. "Holy shit, Satan, why are you so big!?" Leviathan snapped.
Lilith shook her head in annoyance, but unlike the others she quickly got back on her feet: "Stop bickering! Let's go now!" she exclaimed, opening a portal. "We can't play his game...!"
Adam immediately disintegrated the portal with one of his golden beams. "No one is going anywhere" he said. "We have to fight now, don't waste time"
Lilith gritted her teeth. It was a terribly delicate situation since Adam had been able to defeat Sera a few minutes earlier. However, according to Michael, she and the Sins together could still fight. After all, many people together had a better chance than one-on-one. But she also knew that Adam rarely got into battles he couldn't win, at least not when he had time to calculate them carefully.
Satan got to his feet with a deep grunt, followed by the other Sins. "That... hurt" he growled with his usual fury.
"That was the goal" Adam replied mockingly.
Satan already looked ready to throw a punch, but fortunately Lilith had more brains than him: "How did you reanimate the corpses? What's your plan?"
Her intent was to buy time by making Adam talk; she expected to have to insist a bit, but he instead confessed immediately: "Oh, that? It's an experimental technology that my descendants have had in their military warehouses for a few years now. Microdrones guided by an extremely simple artificial intelligence, with only one purpose: to enter the brain and insert certain hormones, so as to drive a person crazy". A smirk appeared on her face: "With the difference that this time instead of hormones they use microscopic fragments of angelic steel, not enough to be lethal but enough to activate the most primitive and bestial instincts"
"Microdrones...?" Satan muttered in confusion. "What are they...?"
"You would know if you had considered my descendants as something to be looked after, and not as pathetic monkeys for your minions to play with when they went to Earth" Adam replied, and his face became fierce: "Honestly... I really want to smash your face in right now. I've always considered you inept, nothing more than slightly more powerful demons than the others who pretended to be gods, to the point that the hellborns when they pray, praise or even curse use your names instead of that of the Almighty. When in fact all they should do is curse you for your incompetence"
Satan let out a snort so loud that it raised smoke and ash. "How dare you!?"
"What? Do you deny it?" Adam asked him scornfully. "A society of slavers where sin is essentially seen as a fundamental trait of a person, that's what you've created. You could have done so much, led the civilization of Hell on a better path, worked to give your subjects as little reason as possible to kill each other... and you didn't. You sat on your thrones, making laws like it was a game, and let Hell go to waste"
"I won't let you judge me!" Satan roared. "What would you have done to make things better, huh? Pulverize your own descendants?"
"Sometimes in order to create you must first destroy" Adam replied. "Come on, don't make those faces. I was even lenient with you. I made sure that only Pride was burned to the ground. If I had let my descendants have their way, all of Hell would be in ashes by now, and you guys would probably no longer be among us"
"And what will you do to the other Rings, then?" Lilith asked him inquisitively. "What do you mean?"
"Do you really want me to ruin you the surprise?" was Adam's only answer, and then the first man slammed his fists together: "So, shall we begin?"
Satan looked like he was about to explode: "Watch out, Adam! There are seven of us and you're alone!"
Adam didn't show the slightest concern. "You may be seven against one, but I'm not afraid of you. I wouldn't have been afraid to fight you before, let alone now" he replied. "In fact, since when does the legendary Satan hesitate so much before fighting? Something tells me you're the ones who are scared shitless"
Satan's eyes seemed to burn like coals. No matter what the situation was, he wasn't going to be insulted like that. "So be it" he hissed, and his clenched fists began to glow as if they were being passed through by boiling lava.
The other Sins also stopped waiting and completely abandoned their reduced forms: Mammon became a giant spider demon again, Beelzebub a huge wasp, Leviathan a huge sea monster, Asmodeus a fire colossus, and Belphegor a sort of mix between a sheep and a polar bear. Each of them would have had doubts about facing Adam alone, since he was theoretically Lilith's equal and the only one who could beat Lilith in combat was Satan, but together it was another situation. Even if Adam had become much stronger, they were still confident that they could all fight together.
Satan was the first to attack: he opened his mouth wide and belched a river of flame. Adam in response and in an almost bored manner used a beam of light to block the blow, but it was clear that he wasn't being serious at all. "Is that all?" the Embodiment of Wrath teased.
But Satan did not fall for the provocation: "We have just begun!"
The other Sins surrounded the first man and attacked him from all sides. "You may be stronger than us, but you can't protect yourself from a multiple attack!" Asmodeus shouted at him.
All their attacks hit Adam at the same time, generating enough power to melt silver; but after only a second, a gigantic shockwave broke out from the first man, knocking the Sins away, but they still managed to stay on their feet. "Maybe," Adam told them, reappearing in the dust. "But you have to be more creative...!"
Lilith appeared behind him through a portal, punching him in the cheek. This time it was Adam's turn to be knocked away until he crashed to the ground. He didn't suffer any serious damage, but his eyes narrowed anyway: "Hmm. So she's finally entered the field too..."
He didn't have time to think about anything else: taking advantage of the moment, Satan jumped on him, hitting him with his powerful fists. The muscular strength of the Embodiment of Wrath was such that it cracked the ground and generated small seismic waves. And as this happened, an unmistakable melodious song was heard, and as soon as this happened, Satan's body seemed to become stronger than ever and each of his blows became ten times more violent, generating a crater in the point where he was hitting.
But Adam didn't take long to react: with one hand he grabbed the Embodiment of Wrath's fist, blocking it. Satan, however, was not discouraged and puffed out his chest again to spit fire at him, but the first man was not caught unprepared: his eyes flashed and he shot two beams of pure energy, hitting the demon in the face and making him lose his balance and fall backwards. Adam started to get up, but Mammon's voice stopped him: "Not so fast!"
A green and extremely viscous web appeared under Adam, blocking him in place; the first man found himself unable to get up, and what's more, the web folded on itself and closed on him, enveloping him like a cocoon. Mammon created many more, enclosing him more and more. "Ozzie, are you there!? I don't know how long I can hold him off!"
"I'm ready!" Asmodeus shouted at him, showing a ball of blue fire that he was holding in his hands. Mammon nodded and stopped trying to contain Adam, who broke free in a few moments, literally making the cocoon explode; but as soon as he managed to get out, Asmodeus threw the ball of flames at him. As soon as they hit the first man, the flames moved as if they had a life of their own and hit him precisely in the eyes and face, clearly aiming to blind him. "Bee! Now!"
Beelzebub flew up behind Adam and exposed her stinger, swinging it like a saber, and struck him in the right shoulder; the first man pushed her away immediately, but that was enough for her to inject some of her honey into his veins. Beelzebub's honey could be extremely good or extremely poisonous, depending on what she wanted; and what she injected into Adam would have taken down the greatest beasts in Hell in an instant. The first man grunted and used his powers to isolate the affected part and extract the poison, but that was enough for Leviathan to swing his tail and strike him, throwing him away like a twig.
The Sins breathed deeply from the effort. "Thanks for the boost" Beelzebub said to Lilith.
The Queen of Hell stopped singing for a moment to boost the demons: "Idiots, don't stop! Don't give them time to...!"
What seemed like a lightning-fast comet exploded from where Adam had fallen and passed by Mammon; a fraction of a second later, a torrent of blood exploded, and the Embodiment of Greed screamed in pain like he hadn't in centuries. The Sins tensed as he watched him bend over to grab the spot where one of his four arms had been a moment before. "Argh! Fuck! My...!"
"Oh, sorry, did you need that?" Adam asked, dropping his torn arm to his feet. "Forgive me, but since you clearly weren't taking me seriously, I decided to give you a show of strength"
"You little cunt...!" Mammon growled in fury, and then with a roar he accelerated his regeneration and made the severed arm reappear with a slimy sound. "Now I really want to kill you!"
"Good. It was about time" Adam commented, then became serious: "When I say fight to kill, I'm not kidding. I will kill you, so if you intend to survive, you better use all your tricks"
"Don't do that!" Lilith warned them. "He'll imitate your skills if he sees them just once!"
Satan gritted his teeth, but then let out a snort: "In that case... we just have to block him from seeing"
"That's the spirit. I hope you're serious now, because I mean it, and I won't have any mercy" Adam told him with a grin. "You see, my dear Deadly Sins... you're not dealing with the average first man anymore!"
Paimon tore out the spines of at least fifteen sinners who had come at him at the same time, without even getting any blood on his body. His hands were moving with such speed and precision that it was almost impossible to see them with the naked eye, eliminating the enemies with ease. Even without using his spells, he had no problem defending himself.
However, he was sweating coldly. It was not difficult for him to understand that what was happening was just a distraction. If the humans had attacked Hell, they surely knew what the Ars Goetis were capable of, so why didn't they attack them with one of their terrible weapons? They had razed entire cities, why hold back now? Perhaps they were afraid it wasn't enough? But they hadn't even tried...
Whatever the answer was, the situation was still terribly precarious. The reanimated sinners were millions and they kept coming, preventing the Ars Goetia from moving from where they were, and as long as they didn't move they were an easy target. That was the worst position in a battle...
... but if they had tried to open a portal, even those locust-like drones could have passed through and reached the rest of Hell. It was almost as if they were waiting for nothing else.
Paimon let out a furious growl, and then spoke a spell; the sinners within a hundred meters vaporized in an instant. Taking advantage of the few moments of calm he had acquired, he called out: "Vassago!"
"I'm here, Your Majesty!" a Goetia that looked like a red parrot shouted, running past him.
"You're the one among us who likes to be around sinners the most, and sinners are humans" Paimon said. "Can you tell me what to expect?"
Vassago sweated coldly: "Your Majesty... I didn't know humans had such efficient weapons... but I know they have much more efficient methods of taking us out. They could use surface-to-air missiles, or thermobaric weapons, or even tactical nuclear bombs. As long as we're here, we're a target"
"I can see that on my own" Paimon snapped. "I'm asking you why, if they have all this technology and are in an advantageous position over us, they're using sinners to attack us"
"I... have no idea" Vassago admitted, but at Paimon's glare he forced himself to rack his brains: "Well... it's possible they're trying to tire us out... or they want to...". The parrot demon's eyes widened suddenly: "Of course! They want to bring as many sinners as possible here and then break our formation with...!"
Far above them, more portals opened and a flock of military jets emerged from them. Paimon let out a cry of surprise: "Iron birds...?"
The planes opened fire, dropping lightning-fast missiles on the weaker parts of the army; the Ars Goetia couldn't react in time and many of them were hit and reduced to a sieve. As soon as the formation was broken, the sinners, who had now become a crowd around them, took advantage of this to open a path for themselves, penetrating inside the army like a swarm of ants.
"Fuck!" Paimon couldn't help but exclaim, and he hurled spells at the planes, followed by several more Ars Goetia; they were destroyed in a matter of moments, but not a single body fell from them. Those were also remote-controlled drones. "Bastards... what the fuck are they...?"
"They attacked exactly the weak points!" Vassago pointed out. "That's what they're doing... they're studying us! They're using sinners to figure out how our powers work and which of us are the weakest! They're gathering information so they'll have as few obstacles as possible when they invade the rest of Hell!"
Paimon narrowed his eyes. That made sense... but why? The humans had weapons capable of pulverizing cities, they wouldn't care if they knew their enemy so well... or maybe they weren't aiming to use such powerful weapons in the rest of Hell? After all, what was the point of conquering a wasteland? Paimon knew that anyone who started a war always hoped to gain from it, so it was possible that the humans weren't aiming to completely destroy every resource in Hell at all and wanted to use less destructive methods to conquer the other Rings.
In any case, that situation couldn't continue. If they stayed there, they would have just kept feeding the humans information, until they had decided they had enough and would have disintegrated them all with one of their terrible nuclear weapons. They had to go away from there, and now. "Stolas, Andrealphus! Where the fuck are you!?"
The owl demon and the peacock demon were a short distance away, intent on destroying as many sinners as possible. Stolas had his hands covered in stardust and his grimoire open before his eyes, and with it he generated spells that melted the skin of his opponents as if they were in a blast furnace; Andrealphus, on the other hand, did nothing but generate ice, creating weapons that he threw at the sinners, or creating blizzards with which he froze them. Despite their rivalry, for once they were fighting side by side without taunting each other: they were already too tired to talk. As soon as they heard that they were called, they immediately ran to Paimon: "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"We need to get everyone out of here" Paimon said imperatively. "We can't open a portal too big, if we did those drones would follow us and give away our position right away. That's why I need you two"
Stolas and Andrealphus nodded. They knew Paimon was right: their big disadvantage was that the humans knew their position, and could attack them in wave after wave; on the other hand, they didn't know the location of the human weapons on Earth, so even if they tried to fight back they wouldn't know where to start. And if they opened a portal and moved the entire army at once to another Ring, the drones would follow them and report their new position, and the humans would attack them there too. Only with the Deadly Sins' instant teleportation could they escape safely... and perhaps that was why Adam had sent them away. "What should we do?"
"Containment" Paimon replied. "Andrealphus, create an ice fortress, so it's impossible to see what's going on inside, and Stolas, you summon protections and defend it if any more of those iron birds..."
"They're military jets" Vassago informed him.
"I don't care!" Paimon snapped. "I was saying, Stolas, you protect this ice fortress from attacks from above. Vassago, you order our soldiers to retreat in an orderly fashion into that ice fortress, and there Andrealphus will open a portal to the lower Rings. The ice will act as a screen, so those drones won't be able to see beyond the portal and figure out where we're sending our soldiers. And for extra safety, open a different portal for each person, so that even if one drone manages to get in, it won't find all the others"
"That sounds like a good plan," Andrealphus said. "Where should I send the soldiers?"
Paimon thought for a moment, and then he looked at Vassago: "Take our soldiers to the portal in this order: first the wounded, then those too tired to continue, and only last those still able to fight, who must hold the line as much as possible to allow everyone else to escape" he said, and then he looked at Andrealphus again: "Those who are wounded, send them immediately to the hospitals. It doesn't matter which one, as long as it's a different one each time. Those who are healthy but too tired, you must send them to our military bases, or at least to the power centers of the lower Rings, so that they can immediately begin recruiting new troops and order the population to take refuge in the sewers or the countryside in anticipation of another attack that will surely come as soon as we are finished here. Those who are still able to fight will be the last, so send them wherever you want, just as long as, again, they are never in the same place. We will regroup when we are sure that we can no longer be identified, otherwise it will all have been for nothing. Understood?"
"Understood!" the three Goetias answered instantly, and immediately got to work: Stolas and Andrealphus ran into the perfect center of the army, while Vassago through word of mouth brought Paimon's orders to all the soldiers. Andrealphus immediately erected a sort of igloo made of layers and layers of ice to make it as resistant as possible, and Stolas placed himself on top of it and used any spell he had to create shields around it. Almost as if the humans had understood their intent, other planes appeared in the sky right at that moment and attacked that exact point, trying to destroy it, but Stolas's protections held efficiently, and the planes were shot down by the other Goetias.
The soldiers quickly started to enter the ice fortress and be transported away. Due to the constant bombardments of the military jets and the attacks of the revived sinners there were many injured, as the Ars Goetia were very powerful in terms of magic, but in terms of pure strength and especially physical resistance they were not on such a high level. Even those who were healthy were an unsightly sight, sweaty and covered in the blood of the sinners, which took them far from the perfect image they used to have. But for once no one really cared, they just wanted to get their asses out of there quickly. Andrealphus did as he was told and each time sent them to a different corner of Hell, making sure not even a drone could reach them and pass through the portal.
The situation was going well...
... almost too well.
From the top of the ice fortress, Stolas had a good view of everything that was happening, and could see the Ars Goetia lines getting smaller and smaller as they fled into the lower Rings. However, while he had initially been happy about this, and had only hoped that it would end quickly so he could leave as soon as possible, he was starting to feel uneasy. He had expected to have to protect the ice fortress from far worse than bomber planes... instead, the humans had continued to send only those at him. Some might have thought this was a good thing, but Stolas didn't like it at all.
The humans had proven to be smart and cunning, so why didn't they attack them seriously, even now that they were fleeing? No matter how much information they wanted to get about them, if they had let them, the entire Goetia army would have gone away and still been a threat. If he had been on the side of the humans, Stolas would have already ordered to kill them all with a weapon of mass destruction.
And yet... they weren't.
Stolas broke out in a cold sweat. He began to fear that the humans had some trick up their sleeve. He started to frantically look around for a clue, even a semblance of a solution, but he found none. All he saw were the Goetia covered in the blood of the sinners, who continued to retreat...
Wait a moment.
Stolas' heart stopped.
Blood.
So much blood.
The blood of the sinners.
Of the reanimated sinners.
All over the soldiers who were fleeing into the lower Rings...
No.
NO!!!
Stolas literally threw himself off the ice fortress, screaming at the top of his lungs: "STOP EVERYONE! DON'T GO!"
The Goetias looked at him as if he had gone mad, and he probably looked like one. "What are you doing!?" Andrealphus shouted at them as he came out of the ice fortress. "Everything is going fine...!"
"That's right!" Stolas exclaimed. "That's why they're not trying to stop us! We're doing exactly what they want!"
Andrealphus was speechless, not understanding. "What are you talking about? We're taking the soldiers to the Lower Rings safely..."
Stolas's face looked almost white: "And that's exactly what we SHOULDN'T have done!"
Notes:
For the kids reading, brain-penetrating microdrones are not a science fiction technology at all: on the contrary, we have already created them, even if only for medical purposes. This is still a highly experimental technology, and is the subject of debate for the ethical implications and risks associated with inserting robots into human bodies. They are not yet usable for military purposes (at least, that's what they officially tell us), but it is not at all difficult to create a drone that penetrates the victim's brain and releases hormones capable of increasing aggression to the critical point, effectively creating zombies. However, those experienced in warfare have probably already noticed the serious flaw of this strategy: with the technology we have now, it is still impossible to make the "infected" person attack only enemy soldiers and not yours, and on the contrary they would end up just attacking anyone without fear and driven by a state of pure adrenaline until the body would be literally unable to continue functioning. This would inevitably lead to large-scale damage to both your army and the local villages and therefore civilians, inevitably leading to crimes against humanity. And that's without even considering how expensive this technology is, when you could achieve the same result in a much more controlled manner simply by recruiting more soldiers or using bombs or other more efficient weapons. However, in a situation where humanity were to face a more powerful alien species, the use of microdrones would certainly be a primary resource: keep in mind that for humans in this story the Ars Goetia are still very powerful entities. Sure, we omniscient readers know that they are almost all pushovers and that a trained squad could easily beat someone like Andrealphus, but still in terms of destructive power they are quite high; the humans in this story have no way of knowing who is a trained soldier and who is not, and so using microdrones to reanimate the bodies of the sinners and use them against the demons is an extremely efficient strategy, since you can tire them out, gain information about their powers, and much more without losing a single man. Sure, they could simply make another nuke explode on them, but... as Stolas understood, the goal is not just to kill the demons that are in that precise spot. There is much more boiling in the pot...
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 64): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/157029973
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 34): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/167332411
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 118: Humans are insane!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Baal was a Goetia king, the highest category of their order, second only to the Deadly Sins and the royal family; he had rarely experienced being injured in his long life, and it had always been in clashes with demons of his own. However, this time he was bleeding profusely from one shoulder. It had been a fucking distraction: one of the planes had hit him with one of its missiles, while he had not erected the right defenses. And so now he had a part of his body half exploded.
In reality that wound was not even that serious: with the natural regeneration of demons, which a Goetia like him could accelerate exponentially, he could have healed in a few seconds. However, he had taken the opportunity to have an excuse to leave without it looking like he was running away: he absolutely did not want to stay there risking his life, especially after having felt so much pain. After all, it was certainly no secret that demons were selfish and self-centered, and Baal was certainly no exception. He certainly wasn't the only one: a lot of other Goetia were doing the same thing.
So, covered in his blood and that of hundreds of reanimated sinners, he had run to the ice fortress; his status had allowed him to skip the queue and even though Andrealphus had suggested a hospital, he had instead requested a military base, certain that he would be much safer there. The peacock demon probably understood his intent, but wasted no time in scolding him for cowardice and opened the portal for him.
Baal immediately crossed it, finding himself in a fortress in front of dozens of demon soldiers, mostly hellhounds and imps, who, despite being powerless, were still useful in battle... usually as cannon fodder. Unlike the Goetias who had been able to go to Pride right away, these demons, being powerless, had needed time to prepare, but now they were covered in armor and armed to the teeth. "King Baal!" they greeted him immediately, bowing.
Perhaps they were expecting him to give them orders, perhaps say something solemn, but what happened next was unexpected: Baal opened his mouth to speak, but just then he let out a momentous sneeze: "ETCHOOO!"
The troops directly in front of him were hit by his snot, but they didn't complain: "Are you... okay, sir?"
"Urgh... yes, fuck" Baal hissed, wiping his nose in embarrassment. "Prepare for the worst, we are under attack by no small forces!"
The troops immediately became nervous: it was rare for a Goetia, especially a Goetia king, to be worried about the upcoming battle. Normally for nobles, battles were fun games where they watched their soldiers slaughter each other. This was definitely different than usual. "What are your orders?"
"You are to... etcho!" Baal sneezed again, spreading snot and spit all over other soldiers. "Lead the... etcho! Etcho!"
Baal wrinkled his nose. Damn, what was going on? He had never sneezed so much. It couldn't just be dust that had gotten into his nostrils...
It was then that he noticed a detail: everyone he had sneezed at had started sneezing too. And those who were hit by their sneezes also started sneezing. And again...
Baal's eyes widened in extreme terror. He looked at his body still covered in the blood of the reanimated sinners, blood that had surely also ended up in at least a little bit in his mouth and eyes, and thus entered his circulatory system...
SHIT!
"Move away immediately!" he shouted. "Move away from those who are sneezing! Quickly...!"
As soon as he said those words, something changed: all the infected soldiers began to wriggle as if they were having a nervous breakdown. Baal himself lost control of his muscles and shook as if he were having a stroke. He felt an unspeakable pain in his head, and he clearly felt that something was stinging him from the inside, directly in his brain. He tried desperately to use a magic formula to extract it, but it was all in vain: his brain burst like a balloon, unable to hold any more, and his body fell face down on the ground.
The soldiers were shocked as they looked at the dead body of the Goetia, and they expected to see their infected comrades reduced to the same state, but it was not so: suddenly, they stopped struggling and their eyes lost all color. They began to growl and salivate like wild animals. "Guys...?" someone tried to ask.
The infected soldiers literally threw themselves on the others, biting them one after the other; when they failed to bite, they spat in their faces or licked them or did anything to transmit some of their body fluids. And this time there was no need to wait several minutes for the infection to take effect. Whatever it was spread like wildfire, infecting every person in the fortress. And it wasn't just the infected: the soldiers had ways to defend themselves from them by locking them in rooms and barricading the doors, but while they were still doing this, numerous small portals opened throughout the fortress and from them emerged robotic locusts that stung those they found, immediately infecting them. Within a few minutes, all the soldiers were completely reduced to mindless zombies.
At that point one of the locusts reached what was the communications room, and inserted its stinger into one of the computers. A voice very similar to Baal's began to emerge from the speakers: "This is an order of absolute priority. The entire population of the city must gather in the central square, and those who have artifacts to go to Earth must bring them and deposit them there. We are under attack of an enemy force, therefore you have to obey immediately. Whoever will not follow these orders will be punished as a traitor. I repeat: the entire population of the city must..."
In the city where the fortress was located, all the emergency loudspeakers simultaneously turned on, repeating the message over and over. The hellborns, who had already been frightened and locked in their homes after the all-out alarm that had been broadcast less than an hour earlier, became even more fearful upon hearing this.
"What's going on?"
"An enemy force capable of frightening the Goetias?"
"What could it be?"
"Why do we have to go to the square?"
"And why do we have to carry our artifacts to Earth?"
Despite their perplexity, the hellborns still did as they were told; some of the smart ones chose to do their own thing and take refuge in the sewers or cellars, but most of the others were too used to obeying the Goetias to even think of opposing their order. They poured into the plazas and began throwing away all the Asmodeus crystals and other magical artifacts they possessed, creating a pile in the center.
"What will they need them for?"
"I don't know. They're obviously important"
"I'm looking at social media... they're doing it elsewhere too"
"Yeah! I have a friend down in Envy who tells me they're doing it there too!"
"And I have one in Greed!"
"Then it's definitely important"
The demons continued piling up their magical artifacts for a while, creating a pile taller than a man. However, some began to notice that strangely there wasn't a single guard nearby. Where were the soldiers? Where were the Goetias? Why wasn't there anyone...?
As the demons seemed to have thrown all their artifacts into the pile, and no one brought any more, a portal unlike any they had ever seen opened beneath it, sending all the objects capable of opening rifts between worlds falling into it. The hellborns were shocked, but a loud buzzing sounded from the portal and then a swarm of metallic locusts appeared, quickly stinging any demons they found. Within minutes, the entire crowd was transformed into mindless zombies, and along with the locusts, they swarmed into the rest of the city, infecting everyone in their path.
This happened in every other city in Hell.
"Sir, the deployment of Unit 127 has been succesfull" one of the Pentagon technicians announced. "With this, combined with the results obtained by other nations, the cities affected are 1326. We can estimate an already infected population of over 400 million"
The President barely nodded. "I admit to being impressed" he confessed. "To think that such a technology existed, capable of reducing people to zombies..."
"Microdroids" the Secretary of State explained. "They are a technology that has been tested in the medical field for a long time. These are extremely small droids that are inserted into the bloodstream and wander around looking for tumors or viruses. However, this technology still has limitations in the medical field, as it is difficult to get the droids to understand what to attack and what not to, risking killing the body. But in this case, everything is simpler"
"Can you explain better?" the President asked.
"Taking over a brain this way is simple. You just have to turn off the prefrontal cortex that deals with thinking, and then overstimulate the occipital trunk, the area that deals with pure instincts, like attacking and biting" the Secretary of Defense explained. "Fortunately, demons have brains that are very similar to ours, and their area for aggression and violence is even more developed. All the microdroids have to do once they're in circulation is destroy the prefrontal cortex and insert stimulating hormones into the occipital trunk, and immediately the demon begins to behave like a zombie: zero instinct to survive, just the desire to bite and therefore spread other microdroids through their saliva, blood and any other kind of body fluid. This, combined with the support provided by the robotic units, allows the infection to spread extremely rapidly"
"I see" the President said, grateful that the Secretary of State had made it simple enough. "It's still impressive. I'm surprised that such technology has never been used in warfare..."
"We've never had a need for it" the Secretary of State replied. "Furthermore, this technology is still very imperfect. It took a titanic effort by Chinese, Russian, Japanese, European and our scientists to get the microdroids to recognize the difference between nerve cells in the cortex that needed to be destroyed and those in the occipital lobe that needed to be overstimulated, even with the... help that we received. Not to mention the ethical implications... using such technology against an enemy nation could be considered a violation of human rights, or even a crime against humanity. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about that now"
"That's the advantage of going to war against something not human" the President commented. "Those droids are really efficient..."
"They are all connected to a huge artificial intelligence that transmits data to us in real time" the Secretary of State explained. "Such artificial intelligence is programmed to spread the microdroids and take control of as many demons as possible. Based on the data it sends us, we send more or less other robotic units in the various locations, which carry other microdroids. Also, being connected to us, the artificial intelligence provides us with the instantaneous location of any enemy bases. Without this data, we would not have been able to strike them so quickly"
"So now the demons themselves have shown us where their tactical points are and allowed us to destroy them" the President said, rubbing his chin. "It's fortunate that theirs is a slave society. The demons obeyed immediately when we ordered them to hand over their magical artifacts. And now they have no way out"
"Precisely. As you know, national security is our priority" the Secretary of State told him. "If we had attacked their cities right away, many demons would have escaped to Earth and it would have been difficult to find them, not to mention the risk to our citizens. This way, instead, they cannot leave Hell. In addition, our robotic units not only are sending the false message, but they are also penetrating their computer network. Soon we will be able to attack military outposts without needing one of those Goetia to show us the way"
"Excellent" the President said satisfied. "How long will it take for the infection to kill those worms?"
"Based on the data we are receiving now, at least 70% of the population of Hell will be completely infected in the next twelve hours. In twenty-four, we should reach 95%" the Secretary of State told him. "The infected will die completely in three days, when the microdroids have overstimulated their brains enough to make them explode. In the case of the Goetias, however, we thought it was best to kill them immediately after they have completed their role, also inserting microdroids equipped with dust capsules that we obtained by crushing the angelic steel that we took from the ruins of Pride"
"You did well. We can't leave such powerful demons around, even if controlled" the President nodded. "So... three days?"
"Exactly. In seventy-two hours, all the infected will die. And fortunately, these hellborns do not need angelic steel to be killed, otherwise we would have had to send more drones and it would have taken more time and resources" the Secretary of State confirmed. "During these three days, the infected will still spread the plague, and we will send the robotic units into the countryside and the remote areas to hunt down the demons there as well. If our calculations are correct... only the worthy will survive in the end"
The President didn't even ask what 'worthy' meant, and instead looked extremely satisfied: "Perfect. Anyway, institute additional security measures for when we begin Phase Four"
"Already done, Mr. President. Our soldiers will be equipped to analyze the survivors when we bring them to the colony" the Secretary of State replied.
The President nodded. "Good. Continue to proceed then"
Just then one of the technicians exclaimed: "Mr. President! It seems that the demons have understood our strategy. One of the high-ranking demons is making an attempt to communicate. How do we respond?"
The President thought about it for a moment, and then he said: "Answer them. Make them understand that we stop at nothing and no one"
"They used blood to spread a... sort of plague!?" Paimon gasped.
Stolas nodded: "If they had attacked us directly with those strange locusts, we would have easily repelled them, without being touched by them. But none of us cared about not getting wet with the sinners' blood. Whatever it is, a plague, a biological weapon, or whatever else, it was inserted into the sinners' bloodstream, knowing that we would then destroy their bodies! Every time one of us got wet with the blood, we got infected!"
"Fuck!" Vassago muttered, white as a sheet. "We just sent a lot of us to hospitals, our military bases, the centers of power, even our military industries... we gave them free access to all of our most strategic points!"
"That means... if we don't do something soon, they'll destroy us! If they hit these targets and destroy them, we'll be completely defenseless!" Andrealphus also exclaimed, scared like few times in his life.
Paimon had gone as stiff as an ice statue. For the first time in his life, Stolas was seeing the expression his father had when he was terrified. It was a sight he had never thought he would see. Paimon frantically created communication spells, trying to contact the other Goetia: "Baal? Purson? Beleth? Does anyone hear me, damn it!?"
Total silence: not a single one of the Ars Goetia who had been sent to the lower Rings was responding. Nor their legions, their soldiers, their armies. Everything was silent.
Paimon gritted his teeth so hard that he almost broke his own beak: "Everyone! Prepare to...!"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence: all the demons that were covered in the blood of the sinners suddenly died. Their heads exploded like balloons, spraying more blood in all directions. The lucky few who had remained far enough back immediately summoned magical shields to avoid being hit, but the unluckiest ones were still hit by the blood splashes. Among them was Vassago, who was hit directly in the face. "Vassago!" Stolas shouted at him. "Clean yourself quickly, before...!"
Too late: Vassago tried to remove the blood from his face with a spell, but whatever was in it had already entered his bloodstream. After just a minute, the parrot demon began to struggle furiously, and his eyes lost color; he was salivating, clearly showing that something was poisoning him from the inside. All the other Goetia who had just been affected by the blood were also suffering the same fate.
Stolas was sweating coldly, thankful that he had found himself fighting in the innermost lines and therefore had not been stained by blood, and Andrealphus was probably thinking the same thing, too. Paimon was clenching his fists furiously: "Of course..." he hissed in a low voice. "That's what they wanted... somehow, this kind of disease is connected to the same neural network as those mechanical locusts anyway... and therefore can signal a position. The humans didn't know where we had our bases from which we could organize a counteroffensive... but we told them as soon as we sent our soldiers back. And now... now that we've discovered the trick... they have no reason to keep us alive anymore. From now on... they just want to annihilate us. Which means that all our bases, hospitals, command centers, industries, are being destroyed right now. Of all the defenses of Hell, only we are left... a small group of demons who miraculously didn't get infected, and who no longer have a chance to fight back"
Those words certainly didn't help to lift the spirits, but they did give vent to what everyone was thinking: if that was the humans' plan, then Hell was already over. There was no way to react to such a massive attack anymore.
Suddenly Paimon moved: his magical protection dissolved and he walked towards Vassago, who was still gasping. He grabbed him by the collar and forced him to look him in the eyes: "I know you can hear me. I know you are looking at me right now. My name is King Paimon, I represent the people of Hell. I intend to negotiate"
Vassago stopped; although he continued to twitch and salivate, his head went perfectly still. And then, one of the metal locusts approached and landed on his head, and stuck its stinger into the back of his neck. "What is it doing?" Andrealphus asked nervously as he watched this.
Stolas sweated a little: "If our father is right, and whatever is inside Vassago's brain is connected to the same neural network as the locusts, then it is likely that they are other drones"
"Other drones?" Andrealphus repeated through gritted teeth. "Are there drones so small that they remain in the blood?"
"Maybe" Stolas said. "They probably put angel dust in our brains to make them go crazy, but what is inside Vassago now is not enough to make him talk. And so now that locust is putting more in his brain to be able to move the right neurons"
“Or it's putting them directly into his mouth” Andrealphus pointed out, as Vassago's beak and lips were moving as if small spiders were crawling underneath them.
That scene remained the same for a few seconds, and then Vassago's mouth moved, as if someone had taken his beak and was closing and opening it like a toy: "Speak... we... are... listening"
Paimon grunted. "We surrender" he said. "You have won, we cannot continue to fight. Tell us the terms of surrender, and we will comply. We can have peace"
"No" was the only answer that came from Vassago. "No... surrender. No... peace"
Paimon knew that his interlocutor was not in front of him, but he shook Vassago violently anyway: "You humans are insane! You have already won! What's the point of continuing!?"
"We will be... those who will choose... who to spare" the person who was speaking through Vassago replied. "Most... of your people... are unworthy... of living. We... will fix... your... mistakes... and give... your... children... a chance... to start over. But for that... we must... first... clean up... the scum"
Paimon was speechless. He knew it wasn't possible, but he was almost certain that Vassago's lips were twisting into a sadistic smile. "What do you want us to do?" he asked in an almost desperate voice.
The last word emerged from Vassago's mouth like a gasp: "Die"
And with that, Vassago's head exploded, clearly intending to hit Paimon, but he quickly protected himself with his magic. The parrot demon's body fell to the ground, spilling what was left of his brain out of his skull, showing bluish stains that were undoubtedly due to angelic steel poisoning. Just like all the other corpses now on the ground.
Paimon stood still, clenching his fists and staring at the horde of reanimated sinners and robotic locusts that had started advancing towards them again. Stolas called out to him: "Father, what should we do?"
Paimon raised his hand and between his fingers opened small portals to all the places where they had sent the other Goetia up until that point. What he saw were buildings infested with demons that moved like zombies and robotic locusts, which were also expanding into the cities, striking and infecting everyone they found.
Paimon knew they had no way to react.
It was already over.
They had lost.
And so he gave the only order possible: "Go"
Stolas stiffened: "Father...?"
"Return to your families and save them, before it's too late" Paimon told him imperatively. "Your only hope now is to hide and pray that King Morningstar finds a solution, because we demons have already lost. It's a matter of hours now before that infection of theirs spreads throughout Hell and exterminates us. So don't waste time and try to save at least something"
Many of the surviving Goetia had already lost hope, and some had already left; as soon as Paimon gave them permission, they all opened portals and ran away. Some of the locusts passed through them, but no one cared anymore. Stolas hesitated for a moment: "Father, and you...?"
Paimon was staring at the sky, where a portal larger than the others was opening. "Go, now!" he ordered loudly.
A nuclear missile emerged from the portal, heading straight for them. Paimon knew that now the humans had no reason to keep them alive: now that they knew everything, they were just demons with great power who therefore had to be eliminated immediately. The bomb detonated only a few milliseconds later, but Paimon called upon all his magical reserves to block the pulsating heart of depleted uranium at the center of the device. It was like trying to contain a sun using tin foil, but it was enough to buy a few seconds.
Stolas understood very well that his father was buying that little bit of time to allow them to escape, and that they had to exploit it at all costs. Not wanting to make his sacrifice in vain, he turned, and fortunately Andrealphus had already opened a portal, so he only had to throw himself into it. Paimon gave a slight smile as he saw the portal close: "Good luck, boys" he only murmured, an instant before his magic gave out.
As soon as it could no longer contain it, the core of the bomb exploded in full force. This time it wasn't a bomb of immense power like the ones the humans had used during the first attack, as the target was much smaller: it was only a tactical nuclear bomb, but it was enough to vaporize everything in a two kilometer radius. Paimon's body was reduced to ashes, but he quickly reassembled himself since what had hit him was not an angelic weapon. Not that this did him much good: as he was regenerating, he could feel another small portal open next to him and one of the robotic locusts land on his head, and inject the terrible deadly poison directly into his brain.
Stolas and Andrealphus reappeared on top of Andrealphus's ice palace in Envy. From there they could see the rest of the nearby city, which was rapidly being infected by the strange disease. "What a disaster..." Andrealphus commented through gritted teeth. "They're literally exterminating us"
Stolas took a deep breath. He knew his father had almost certainly just died, but this wasn't the time to think about that. "Thank you for keeping the portal open"
"I was tempted to leave you there, but given the situation, I'd rather have you with me. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say" Andrealphus replied. "I care about Stella, Stella cares about Octavia, and you care about Octavia, so you would have come looking for us and we should have continued on together anyways. That makes you my ally"
Stolas nodded. He and Andrealphus couldn't stand each other, but in this situation they would have gotten along with their worst enemy. They both knew that the best way to survive this invasion was to stick together, so they could have someone to cover their backs. Even if they didn't trust each other, they both needed an ally and that was enough.
Andrealphus stared at the infected demons and robotic locusts. "We're lucky, they're attacking the more military targets like factories or power stations first, and only then the houses. We have a few minutes before they get here"
"Where's my daughter?" Stolas asked hastily, wanting to get Octavia away as quickly as possible.
Andrealphus rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm taking you to her right now, aren't I? Move that ass, you idiot!" he exclaimed, dragging him away.
Notes:
Paimon: "Humans are insane!"
Humanity: "And we missed the part where this should be our problem"
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 65): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111001
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 34): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/167332411
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 119: Escape
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Octavia was terrified. She had never felt so scared, not even when she was little and the slightest noise in a dark room made her jump. Then again, she had never been in a real life-or-death situation, much less facing a real invasion by something she didn't even know what it was. She had curled up in a corner, holding her head between her knees, shaking and hoping that somehow everything would have been resolved.
As soon as the emergency alarm went off, Andrealphus had told her and her mother to go to the basement, or at least to be ready to take refuge there; Stella would have obeyed them immediately, but Octavia had insisted on waiting a bit, hoping to understand something more and above all to find out about the fate of her father and her uncle. It was then that from the windows she had been able to see the entire city begin to be destroyed by what looked like metal locusts, and at that point she had not thought twice about following her mother into the basement.
And so, now they were here. Stella stood before the door, a spell already in her hands ready to be cast, and around her the servants were arrayed in a phalanx with makeshift weapons; it was all they could do to defend themselves from whatever was coming. What seemed like an eternity had passed like this, in a silence so suffocating that even the drops of sweat falling to the floor sounded like gongs. Octavia almost wished something had broken down the door, rather than stand there in this oppressive wait that seemed to be devouring them.
Suddenly, a frantic sound of footsteps came from the other side of the door. Everyone froze like statues and their blood seemed to run cold. They braced themselves for something terrible, but luckily the two people who opened the door turned out to be very familiar. "DAD!" Octavia exclaimed, running to hug Stolas.
The owl demon hugged her back, feeling his daughter tremble under his hands. "I'm here, owlette" he whispered, holding her tightly.
"Andre!" Stella said with extreme relief at seeing her brother again. "Thank Satan you're here!"
Andrealphus gave her a couple of quick pats on the shoulder to comfort her. "We have to leave now. Follow me!" he ordered.
Andrealphus led them quickly through the dungeon until he stopped in front of a wall in the corridor; there he recited some words, and the tiles moved. The wall was at least three meters thick, and it took almost a minute before it was opened. "A secret passage?" Stolas commented.
"I created it specifically for emergency situations" Andrealphus explained. "Once I close it, those robotic locusts will no longer be able to find us. And the thickness of the wall will prevent anyone from noticing that there is a hole here by listening to the sound. We will be safe"
Once they were all inside, Andrealphus closed the passage. Behind the wall was a staircase that led down to what seemed to be an underground house, full of rooms and corridors. "They won't find us here" Andrealphus said. "There's enough food to survive for years, and when it's gone, we can just open a portal to get out and get more. The humans have no information about this place, so they can't open a portal in here and kill us... I hope. We'll be safe"
Stolas for once was thankful that his ex-brother-in-law was so paranoid that he built an emergency bunker under the house, because otherwise he wouldn't have known where to take his daughter in all that chaos. Speaking of Octavia, she squeezed his hand tighter: "Humans? Dad, are we being attacked by humans?"
Stolas sighed: "Unfortunately, yes, owlette"
"Those pathetic creatures of Earth?" Stella commented in surprise. "They have such power?"
"Apparently so" Andrealphus murmured. "And we lost"
Stella gritted her teeth tightly, and Octavia trembled a little more: "What... does he mean, Dad?"
Stolas sighed loudly, trying to steel himself. "We lost the battle" he confessed. "Your uncle and I are among the few survivors, the last order we received was to come here and save our families. All our command centers, our military bases, the cities... are being destroyed right now. The Sins are scattered, probably already dead too, and we don't know where the royal family is". His breathing became more uneven for a moment: "Your grandfather Paimon... is dead"
That news shook Octavia and everyone else present quite a bit. Knowing that Hell, which until a few hours before had been calm and safe, had been invaded and conquered by a species they had always thought too weak to threaten them was shocking to say the least, not to mention terrifying. "So... now we just stay hidden here?" Octavia asked. "And all the other people out there?"
It was at that point that Stolas remembered a detail... there was another person he wanted to save. He had been so focused on finding and bringing his daughter to safety that he had forgotten, but now that Octavia was safe, the thought of Blitz on the hospital bed, a hospital where almost certainly some injured Goetia had headed and therefore started the infection, returned forcefully in his brain. "I have to go!" he exclaimed.
Octavia immediately paled: "What!?"
"I have to go get Blitz" Stolas specified. "I'll be quick, I'll be back in a second"
"No! You can't!" Octavia yelled at him, hugging him to block his path. "You'll die too...!"
"I'll be careful" Stolas told her. "Via... I'll bring your friend here too. Loona. You want to save her, right?"
Those words made Octavia hesitate, who lowered her gaze and bit her lip. Taking advantage of the silence, Andrealphus said, "I approve of this. Bring as many survivors here as possible"
Stolas was a little surprised, "Really? Aren't you afraid that this means more mouths to feed?" he asked skeptically, knowing that his former brother-in-law was certainly not a philanthropist.
"Like I said, food is not an issue right now" Andrealphus replied. "More people now means more cannon fodder for attack, or idiots to send on suicide missions out there. People are a resource now. Just make sure you don't bring any of those things in here, get yourself killed instead"
Stolas rolled his eyes. "Now I recognize you" he muttered in annoyance, then he looked at Octavia: "I'll be back soon, owlette. You have my word"
"But you never keep your word" Octavia choked out, shedding a couple of tears.
Stolas bit his lip. "I'll keep this" he promised, and then opened a portal and jumped in, quickly closing it behind him.
Moxxie was anxiously watching through the peephole of the room door. After he and Fizzarolli had decided to barricade themselves in the room, they had gone to look for something to block the door, just to be safe, but while they were still busy doing that the entire hospital had fallen into chaos. The demons seemed to have turned into zombies and every now and then robotic locusts that seemed to have come out of a science fiction movie entered the windows. From the windows they could see the entire city falling into the same chaos. They had gone back as fast as they could, but halfway they had to separate and Fizzarolli had disappeared: only Moxxie had managed to go back and close the door just in time before the corridor turned into one single chaos. Luckily those infected demons didn't seem to have enough intelligence to open the doors to check, so as long as they were silent they wouldn't try to break it down.
"It's happening everywhere" Loona muttered looking at her phone. She was sweating coldly. "Throughout the Rings... and it's spreading..."
For once, Moxxie was happy with Loona's attitude of joining every social network in existence, because it was only thanks to that that they were managing to find out what was happening in the rest of Hell. The normal television broadcasts had stopped working, probably because the television studios had been destroyed or invaded by the infected, but fortunately even in the midst of that disaster there were some idiots who wasted time taking pictures or filming the events and posting them on a social network instead of thinking about escaping. At least that way they were able to stay up to date on what was going on outside.
"We need to think of a plan to get out" Millie said. "Maybe we can do containment. If we move quickly from room to room and close the door behind us, we can avoid most of these zombie-like guys"
"I'm not sure. I've seen them, all they have to do is spit on us or get their blood in our eyes or mouths and it's over" Moxxie muttered. "But... maybe if we put on masks, or some protection..."
Suddenly a portal opened in front of them and Stolas emerged breathlessly. "Oh, for the name of Satan, you're alive!" he exclaimed.
"Sssssh!" Moxxie signaled him to lower his voice. "Tell us you have a solution for this, please"
Stolas bit his lip: "Hell is being invaded, we have to..."
"We can see for ourselves that we are being invaded!" Loona exclaimed with a lot of acidity. "What is truly happening!? Who is doing all this!? It's the angels!? Have they decided that they have enough of us!?"
Stolas shook his head. "No" he said in a grave voice. "It's the humans. The ones from Earth. They decided they need to destroy us"
Moxxie, Millie, and Loona fell silent. "What... the humans are doing this?" Millie muttered. "How is that possible? We've met those big guys all the time and they didn't seem that destructive..."
"Yeah, everyone knows they're like ants" Loona muttered.
"Even an anthill becomes dangerous if pissed off" Stolas said hastily. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true! Humans are way more dangerous than we ever imagined, underestimating them was a huge mistake! Now we have to go..."
"Does that guy who almost killed the boss have anything to do with this?" Moxxie asked, putting the pieces together. "Adam, right? He fled to Earth... did he cause this?"
Stolas sighed. "Adam was definitely involved since he showed up on a battlefield, but I don't think he gave the humans much of a boost. They're too good at using this technology, they've obviously had it for a while. They probably were already..."
"What now?!" Loona interrupted him angrily. "What are you Goetias doing!? Aren't you supposed to protect us!?"
"The Goetias are dead!" Stolas blurted out, no longer having the strength to remain calm.
Moxxie, Millie, and Loona froze in place. "Dead...?" they whispered.
Stolas closed his eyes and clenched his fists: "We've already lost the battle, all our defenses have been destroyed. I'm among the few survivors. The only thing I can do now is get you to safety"
"You can't just do this!" Millie exclaimed, barely keeping herself from screaming. "What about our families? Our friends? All the people out there? We obey you and you Goetias protect us, weren't those the rules!? That's what we third classes have been doing since Hell began, and now you tell us that when it was finally time to honor your end of the social pact, you noble idiots just... lost!?"
She was probably hoping to sting Stolas in his pride, so that he would have revealed in anger that there was actually a secret plan, a hidden resistance, anything, as long as there was something that gave them hope. But the owl demon remained silent, and instead he said with resignation: "Yes... I'm afraid so"
The air in the room immediately became very heavy. Finally the short silence was broken by Millie: "I have to go look for my parents and siblings"
"No!" Stolas stopped her immediately. "Listen... they live in the countryside, right? They are still safe, this invasion is taking place almost exclusively in the major population centers. We have time to go and save them. Now you have to let me get you out of here"
Neither Loona nor Millie seemed very inclined to trust him, clearly disappointed, but fortunately Moxxie managed to mediate: "He's right. Now we have to get out of here, and he is the easiest way out". He put his hands on his wife's shoulders: "We'll go get your parents too, okay? I promise you, we won't abandon them"
Millie took a deep breath, but she trusted her husband: "Okay... how can we move Blitz?"
Stolas clenched his fists. Yeah... that was a problem. The bed Blitz was on had wheels, but he had to be constantly attached to the machine that allowed him to breathe. Maybe he could unplug it just for a few moments, long enough to carry him to the bunker... was there electricity in the bunker, by the way? It had seemed powered by magic... could he replace it somehow? Damn. "Well... we can put the machine on the bed... and then carry him through the portal... I think they at least have an outlet where we're going..."
"You think or are you sure!?" Loona snapped. "I'm not betting on my father's life!"
Stolas was about to reply, but Moxxie shook his head: "That's not enough. He'll definitely die without those" he said pointing to the numerous IVs hanging on the wall and connected to Blitz's arms by an infinite number of tubes. "He needs constant fresh blood, uncontaminated water, nutrients in their basic form, medicine, antibiotics... he would die in less than half an hour without these things"
Stolas was getting more and more nervous: "Okay, okay, okay... then... maybe we can..."
"... go..."
The faint whisper froze everything in place. Blitz had barely moved his lips, and his eyes were slightly open. His eyelids continued to move upwards, and judging by how slowly he was opening them, he was having a hell of a time moving his muscles. "DAD!" Loona yelled, running to his side. "You're... you're awake!"
"I've been... awake... for hours" Blitz muttered, each movement of his lips disarmingly slow. "But... I had to... remember... how to open... my eyes"
For the first time in a long time, Loona started to cry. She hadn't done so since she'd been taken from the shelter by the same man who could barely talk to her now. "Dad..."
Blitz moved his fingers, clearly trying to lift him; Loona grabbed his arm to help him and lifted him up. He managed to rotate his palm and touch his cheek. "I know... you were... here" he told her. "I... heard... what you... were telling me. Thank you... for your... concern"
"Don't... don't thank me" Loona told him. Although she would normally have immediately avoided a caress, she was now holding her father's hand to her face as if she wanted to glue it to him.
The others were also recovering from the shock. "Blitz!" Millie exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "Fuck, you did it! I knew it, I knew you wouldn't give up!"
"Boss, it's about time!" Moxxie told him, not hiding her emotion. "We've been waiting for you for days!"
Stolas didn't know what to say. He wanted to react with happiness like the others, but he also had a lump in his throat. He wanted to rejoice, but at the same time apologize for that situation he had indirectly dragged him into with that damned crystal he had given him. But while he was still hesitating, Blitz said: "Stolas... come here... now. And the rest of you... cover your... ears"
Loona obeyed almost immediately, probably too happy that her father was awake to disobey him. Moxxie and Millie were unsure for a moment, but then did as they were told. Stolas was confused: "B-Blitz...?"
Blitz's head rose slightly, as if to get close to his ear; Stolas lowered his voice, and even through the respirator he could hear Blitz's voice drop dramatically: "Stolas... it's all... our fault"
Stolas's eyes widened. "What...?"
"We started... all this" Blitz revealed to him. He was managing to speak a little better as his atrophied muscles woke up, but he still had to think perfectly with every single movement of his lips and tongue, since his brain was no longer able to do so on its own. He felt like he was speaking another language. "The night you gave me the crystal... Mox, Millie, and Loony discovered... that humans had... a portal. I also verified it... the next day... on Halloween... but I didn't... pay attention to it. And the people who were studying... that portal... were the same people... who had captured me and Mox once. It was us, Stolas... who told the humans... about our existence. It was because of us... that they started working... on technology... to travel between worlds. It was... our fault"
Stolas had become more and more rigid with every word Blitz said. His heart seemed to have stopped. In fact, it was a miracle he hadn't fainted on the spot.
Of course... how could he not have thought of that? Those guys who had kidnapped Blitz and his employees once, those idiots he had assumed were harmless... and whom he had let live. He had let people with government connections live... people who knew demons were real. No one should have believed them, that was what he had thought... but it seemed that hadn't happened that way.
And then those same people had rediscovered the technology to travel between worlds. They had been studying and perfecting it for who knows how long. Maybe plans to deal with the demons had already been put in place long before that invasion.
If Stolas had killed those guys that day, nothing would have happened.
In fact... if he had never given the grimoire to Blitz, nothing would have happened.
Maybe someone, like Adam, had taken advantage of it... but the technology to open portals had already been in the hands of humans for who knows how long, and it was all their fault. Even if Adam had done nothing, it would still have been only a matter of time before humans arbitrarily decided to invade and destroy Hell. The existence of a world full of powerful individuals would never have been tolerated by a species that waged war over the smallest trifle.
All of this could have been avoided if only Stolas had done his duty when he had the chance, instead of doing what he wanted out of pure selfishness. If he hadn't given the grimoire to Blitz, if he hadn't agreed to let him have it, if he hadn't underestimated the danger those people represented. If he had done that, humanity might have taken years to discover how to open a portal to Hell. That time might have given them time to discover the impending invasion and prepare properly...
Instead, it had all happened too quickly. All because the humans already had all the technology they needed. And they had that technology because he, Stolas, hadn't done his duty when he had the chance.
Idiot...!
Blitz raised his hand and tightened his fingers around his arm... or at least he tried. "Stolas... I'm sorry. I... dragged you... into this. Please... don't tell Moxxie and Millie... and especially Loona. I don't want them to feel... guilty because of me"
"No... no, it's my fault" Stolas muttered in a strangled voice. "I should have been different. I should have forbidden you from using that grimoire and helped you create a different company. I should have been more understanding, more open-minded. I should have...". He pressed his lips together tightly. "... I should have done a lot of things"
Blitz took a deep breath, so much so that his breathing could be heard through the respirator. "Don't blame yourself. I'm mostly to blame... as usual" he told him. "Now... you have to go"
Stolas's eyes widened: "No... I can't leave you here...!"
"It's the only solution" Blitz told him. He could speak quite well now, even if he mispronounced every now and then. "And you know it. Only in a hospital I have everything I need to stay alive. I'd just be dead weight to you guys. If you get attacked, you can't worry about protecting someone who can't even breathe on his own"
A tear formed on Stolas's face. "Blitz..."
"I'm asking you this as a man" Blitz said, and then his eyes pointed to Loona: "And as a father"
Stolas was speechless. He didn't want to do it. He knew he had no way of taking Blitz away from here, but he couldn't just abandon him. But as a father, he knew that feeling. "O-Okay" he finally muttered with an inhuman effort.
Blitz nodded. "Thank you" he said gratefully. "Let me say goodbye to them... and then, if they try to refuse to escape as I imagine they will... you'll have to force them to follow you into the portal"
Stolas nodded slightly. "I will" he muttered.
"Thanks" Blitz said, and then his eyes indicated the other people in the room.
Stolas understood, and gave them a nod to let him know they could take their hands off their ears. "What did you talk about?" Moxxie asked slightly, and from the look on his face, he seemed to have half an idea.
"I told Stolas about some of my feelings" Blitz replied. "And now... I intend to do the same to you"
"You can tell us later" Millie said. "Now let's get you out of here..."
"Millie, you can't" Blitz pointed out. "I need to stay in a hospital to get everything I need, and you know it. And there's no point in taking me out of here. Every move I make is costing me mental effort you can't imagine. If you pull even one of these tubes, I'm done. I don't have a chance"
Loona and Millie's faces quickly lost color, while Moxxie looked resigned. "You're not coming with us, are you, boss?" he asked.
"Do you think I can do this? Leaving this hospital is not an option for me" Blitz told him. "Moxxie, you're the man of the house now. I know handing over that responsibility to a half-wit like you sounds like a terrible idea, but I know you can handle it. I've always known that. Take care of our girls. Find your family and friends, and then get a human disguise and run away to Earth. It's the best thing"
"Dad, no!" Loona yelled. "We're not leaving without you!"
"Yeah! Stop talking nonsense!" Millie protested. "You're coming with us... right, Mox? Mox...?"
Moxxie had remained silent even as his wife called. He wasn't moving his gaze from his boss, both of them with unreadable expressions on their faces. And then, Moxxie opened his jacket and pulled out a gun; Blitz's golden gun, which he placed next to him on the bed. "I've been saving it and polishing it every day" he told him. "It's loaded. Use it to defend yourself... in any way you see fit"
Blitz moved his hand and gripped the handle of the gun in his hands. He knew that what Moxxie had said meant that he could use the gun on himself rather than be turned into one of the mindless zombies out there in the hallway. "Thanks. You're a friend"
Millie was purple in the face: "Mox, what are you doing!? You should...!"
"Don't be angry with him" Blitz stopped her immediately. "There's no other choice. If there was, do you think a selfish person like me would tell you to leave me here?"
Millie opened her mouth to reply, but not a sound came out of her lips. She looked desperate like she had rarely felt in her life. In the end, she fell silent and leaned on her husband to keep from falling. "It's okay" Blitz said to comfort her. "You're a tiger, Millie. You'll be fine in the middle of the apocalypse. Go save your family. And protect these little shits' asses like you always have... especially Moxxie's, the others can more or less take care of themselves"
Millie nodded slightly. Blitz turned to Loona, but before he could say anything she made an angry noise: "I'm not moving"
"Loony..." Blitz muttered.
"Shut up!" Loona growled, her eyes filling with tears. "You can't do this, do you understand!? You can't walk into someone's life and then just walk away! I don't care what horror is here, I'm not abandoning the person who literally gave me a life! You said you didn't want to die alone, right!?"
Blitz's eyes widened slightly. It was the first time his daughter had spoken to him like that. "You can't stay here" he simply said.
"And you can't play the hero now" Loona replied. "No matter what you say, I'm not leaving. I promised you I'd be there at the end, and I will be"
Blitz took a deep breath, remembering that little conversation they had when he was half drunk. "I know" he muttered. "Stolas... you promised"
The owl demon nodded, and immediately he moved his hands, enveloping Loona in a mass of stardust that lifted her off the ground. "What... what are you doing!?" the hellhound screamed.
"I know you're not going to leave on your own" Blitz told her. "You've become a conscientious girl, Loony. I'm sorry I wasn't in your life more. I should have come to that kennel sooner. I'm sorry we don't have more moments to remember together. I want you to know that they were the happiest moments of my fucking life"
"No! No! Let me go!" Loona screamed, struggling, obviously unable to break Stolas's spell. "You can't! You don't...!"
"Loona!" Blitz said a little louder than before. "I am your father, and even if you've never done it before, you will obey me now: live. Live long enough to grow old, and live as happy as you can"
Loona let out a strangled whine: "Dad..."
Something started banging on the door. "Mh. With all this noise, I'm surprised they just heard us now" Blitz said, gripping his gun. "Go, now! I'll take care of this. I have half a brain left, but as long as I can move my fingers to pull the trigger, that's enough"
Stolas nodded, not having the strength to look him in the eye, and he opened a portal. Moxxie and Millie gave Blitz one last look, and then closed their eyes and jumped into the portal. Stolas hesitated for a moment longer, and then he dragged Loona through with his magic. “Good luck, Loony-Toony” was the last thing Blitz said to her, and even through the respirator, Loona was sure she saw him smile. The portal then closed, leaving the imp alone in the hospital room as the banging on the door intensified.
The four of them reappeared in Andrealphus' bunker; the peacock demon seemed ready to cast a spell, but seeing that none of them showed signs of infection he gave up. "Dad!" Octavia exclaimed in relief, but her expression quickly changed when she saw her father's devastated face... and especially the fact that he was holding Loona with a spell. "What are you...?"
As soon as Stolas dissolved the spell, Loona literally grabbed his neck: "You!" she roared with tears in her eyes. "Why did you do that!? Why!?!?"
Stolas remained still, letting her shake him. "He asked me as a father" he only answered.
Loona seemed to want to punch him, but she didn't find the energy: she slipped to her knees, fortunately being grabbed by Millie and Moxxie, and then curled up on herself and started to cry silently. Stolas didn't say another word and went to lean against a wall, trying with all his strength not to pass out.
Notes:
For those wondering how Blitz knows everything even though he was in a coma, I remind you that he himself said that he was actually awake for hours but unable to open his eyes or move. He heard everything the others were saying, so he knows about the invasion, he knows everything Stolas revealed, and this allowed him to make the connection in his head. Because yes, Blitz may be an idiot in the emotional field, but he is capable of making such complex reasoning, given that, as we have seen in the canon, he has excellent investigative skills, even better than Moxxie. And again, no, Blitz here is not behaving more heroically than in the canon, because in the canon he often puts the lives of his friends (and especially Loona) before his own, so in a situation with no way out he would not hesitate for a moment to stay behind and die in order to give the others a chance to escape. Blitz is an asshole full of complexes, no one has any doubts about that, but he too is capable of selfless acts.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 66): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111022
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 34): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/167332411
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 120: Survive
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Blitz was left alone in the hospital room. The knocking coming from the door was slow and rhythmic, a sign that there was only one infected demon on the other side who had heard a noise; however, if his experience with zombie movies was true, it was only a matter of time before others tried to imitate them. Even if the door was solid, they would have been able to break it down. "Hmm. So this is how I'm going to die. Right after I played the fucking hero" Blitz commented. "I don't know why, but this sounds strangely familiar"
He laid his head back on the pillow. The respirator was itching; honestly, every machine attached to him was itching. But taking it off would have meant certain death. His lungs, his heart, his blood, his entire body, could no longer keep him alive on their own.
He looked at the IVs hanging on the wall. The machine that was allowing him to breathe would have continued to work for a long time, since even if all the power grids went down, the hospital undoubtedly had an auxiliary generator, so at least for the moment he was not at risk of dying of suffocation. As for the IVs that were preventing his body from drying out, perhaps they would have lasted at least a few more hours, but no more. After that time, assuming the infected demons didn't break down the door first, he would have been dead.
"What a shitty end" he couldn't help but comment.
Well, at least Loona and everyone else were safe. For once in his worthless life he had done something good... even if he doubted it would have erased any of his past sins. Hell, he had never imagined he would have been at least partially responsible for the ruin of all of Hell. He really must have been born to destroy everything in his path. It would have been cool if that would have been a movie, but unfortunately, that was real life. And in real life, ruining your whole world is absolutely not a good feeling.
The knocking on the door had stopped, and instead there were grunts and thumps nearby. The infected must have heard something else and been drawn to it. It didn't matter: sooner or later they would have returned. And in any case, he wouldn't have lived long anyway.
Move the hand...
Just one finger...
Fuck, that was really hard with a damaged brain.
It took him a while to get his hand to close around his gun. Every movement took a lot of his mental effort. Those simple actions that used to be the easiest thing in the world, like moving a finger, now required total concentration. But luckily, he was a stubborn bastard.
He was finally able to put his gun in front of his eyes and look at it well. Moxxie had kept it perfectly, it was cleaner than it had ever been in Blitz's hands. He had always been like this, Moxxie: dutiful and responsible to the point of paranoia. But Blitz liked this quality of him. He was happy to have had him as a friend.
He had had so many people as friends and had never realized how much they were truly worth. He had felt them coming to visit him, even if he hadn't been able to open his eyes and say a word yet. There had been so many, not just Moxxie, Millie and Loona... not just Stolas... not just Fizzarolli. There had been many people who had come at least once, many of whom he could barely remember the names of.
Where was Fizzarolli, by the way? Blitz knew he had been in the hospital that day, he had heard his voicr. Was he okay? He had surely escaped... Blitz wanted to believe that was the case. He preferred that belief to thinking about the alternative.
Now... what was he supposed to do?
He knew that Moxxie hadn't given him that gun to shoot the infected, he was too smart not to understand that it would have all been useless, there were too many, Blitz would have run out of bullets long before he could eliminate even a tenth of them. The intent of that gun was different... and Blitz knew well how he could use it.
It would have been a moment. A slight effort to pull the trigger, and then nothing more. It was much better than dying suffocated, dehydrated, drained, or getting infected himself and joining the gurgling zombies.
It wasn't too difficult. He had already come close to it many times in his life. He had never been in such a shitty situation, but he had already been lying on a bed with a gun in his hands. And this time he had the weight of an entire world on his shoulders, so he was spoiled for choice for the sense of guilt necessary to take the extreme action.
But... honestly, he didn't want to.
He was going to die anyway. What was the point of doing it alone? He still had some time left. He could at least use it to try to eliminate as many infected as possible. It would have been useless, Hell was full of them now... but even one less could make a difference. And if Moxxie, Millie, Loona, Stolas or whoever else came back looking for him, at least they would have found less trouble along the way before finding his corpse43.
He wanted to convince himself that was the case. In his final moments, he wanted to at least do something that he could convince himself would have been useful. He preferred that to this sad death on that hospital bed.
Blitz narrowed his eyes. Fuck, if he was going to die, he might as well fight!
He rested his hand with the gun on the arm of the bed; this way he would only have had to move his wrist to direct the shot and press his finger on the trigger. Good, that way he wouldn't have had to try too hard. His brain was damaged, but as long as he had his eyes and a modicum of motor skills, he could still kick a lot of assholes' asses.
Now... all the rest.
His eyes darted again to the many IVs hanging on the wall, connected to his body by tubes. He knew that these were the only things that kept him from dying of dehydration: without them, he would have dried up in less than half an hour. And without the life support machine that allowed him to breathe and keep his heart beating, he wouldn't have lasted more then one minute.
One minute... that would have been enough.
He could hold his breath and survive with a dead heart for sixty seconds, and he could use that time to reach the nearest electrical outlet and plug it in, take a breath, and then move on. If he could get to a warehouse of the hospital in half an hour, he could get new IVs and possibly a stand to carry them. Then he would have had a chance... half, maybe, but it was worth a try.
He would have almost certainly died first, and it was almost certain that he would have found the warehouse full of infected, and he would have ended up trapped like the mouse. Even if by some miracle he had gotten there, it would have made no difference. He would still have been trapped in the hospital, and he knew he couldn't leave it: that was all he needed to keep him alive. Once the electricity went out or he ran out of supplies, he would die anyway. And Blitz was smart enough to know that probably soon, once those zombies had cleared most of Hell, a new wave of invasion would have come, and when they had found him, they would have killed him. Even if everything went well, he would have been surprised if he could even hold out for a day.
But he wanted to at least hope a little. After all, now the only one who could get hurt was him, a man already on the verge of death, so he could be as reckless and idiotic as he wanted.
In his mind he began to calculate everything he had to do. Moxxie had said that those zombies didn't infect just by biting, they just had to hit you with their saliva. Well, at least he had something going for him: with the respirator on, Blitz had his entire face protected. To increase his chances, he struggled to tear off his sheets and wrapped them around himself, so that not even a drop of blood could touch him. With the remaining ones he tied himself to the cot, so he could never fall. Sure, the zombies could still bite him now, and these robotic locusts could sting him, but he could shoot them, or at least run away.
With an inhuman effort he placed the life support components on the bed with him, and then disconnected all the IVs; the countdown began. Knowing that it might be the last thing he did, he took courage and disconnected the life support machine, and then without wasting any time he gave himself a mighty push, using the wall as a counterweight. The bed moved on its wheels and crashed through the door, ending up in the hallway.
Blitz had held his breath many times in his life, but this was decidedly different. His lungs stopped working instantly, and so did his heart shortly thereafter. It was as if someone was literally ripping the life out of him and he was going into respiratory and cardiac arrest at the same time. For a moment, his vision went black.
He shook himself. No. He shouldn't have passed out.
Stay awake. Stay awake, for fuck's sake!
The bed passed through the infected, and Blitz immediately opened fire; every movement of the trigger took an immense mental effort, but he was ready to do it. Even in his reduced state, he managed to quickly kill three of the bastards before the gurney stopped in the middle of the corridor; at that point, he grabbed the wheels of the gurney and pushed himself into a room a little away from his own, and closed the door behind him. He barely managed to reach the electrical outlet and hook up the life support machine before passing out.
Damn... that was truly a close call.
Well, he had made his first five meters. That was an achievement.
The infected were pushing on his door; fortunately they weren't smart enough to understand that all it took was to push down the handle to open it, but they would surely have broken it down soon. Too bad for them that it would have been their end: as soon as the door gave way, the infected fell to the ground due to their own pressure, and Blitz had an easy time shooting each of them.
He looked at the clock on the wall. He had already lost three minutes. He had twenty-seven to go.
He grabbed two of the corpses and dragged them with difficulty onto the bed with him, and put them in the front to use their horns as a battering ram; then he pulled the push again and threw himself out. Again he had to do his best not to pass out from suffocation, all the while his gun continued to shoot at the infected that were coming at him. It was a good thing they weren't zombies and it was enough to hit them in any part of the body to make them fall, otherwise he would have already been dead: in his state, he would never have been fast enough to aim well at the head and shoot. Even so, he still came close to death more than once while he was openly challenging a bunch of demons who could not feel pain and were in a constant state of adrenaline overload.
He continued like this for a while, going from one room to another in the shortest time possible and using all the power outlets he could find. Finally he reached a sort of reception and there he found the plan of the building, discovering that he was on the second floor. He had to reach the basement to access the warehouse.
Of course, taking the stairs was out of the question... so the only option was to rush into the elevator and hope it had an electrical outlet in it, since it would have definitely never gotten him at the lower floors in time before he passed out.
There wasn't.
Blitz was already cursing in his mind, but fortunately years and years of total illicit activity came to his aid: after starting the elevator, he smashed the control panel exposing the electrical wires, and with some difficulty connected them to his life support machine. Thankfully it worked and he was able to breathe normally even though the elevator took well over a minute to descend.
Too bad that when he reached the basement the elevator didn't just stop: it hit something, and from the noise it was clear that it was a pile of bodies of people piled up, probably infected who had thrown themselves there to chase someone. The elevator couldn't open until it reached the end of the path, but Blitz was soon grateful for that: in fact the doors started to be slammed violently and then were slightly opened by dozens of furiously waving hands. Their faces, which looked like those of a bunch of madmen, could be seen through that thin opening, as they snapped their jaws together and spat saliva and even blood; anyone would have been infected by the moment they were hit by those liquids, but fortunately the microdroids inside them were not strong enough to penetrate the respirator and access Blitz's mouth. Some metal locusts also arrived, but he managed to punch them hard enough to send them against the wall of the elevator and destroy them.
A drop of sweat ran down Blitz's forehead: if the elevator had just opened and that was it, he would have had no escape. Even so, he was in a shitty situation: sooner or later the infected would have opened the door, and even if they hadn't succeeded, he was already starting to feel the effects of dehydration. In ten minutes, regardless of whether the infected entered or not, he would have been back in a coma and then died. And there was no way he could get out.
Fuck...
He quickly checked the magazine of his gun. Only four shots left. Even if he could hit the infected from that position and kill them instantly, there were still too many. Four shots wouldn't have been enough.
Shit.
That was definitely the end of the line.
Blitz inhaled deeply. Well, he had come a lot further than he had expected. He could at least say he had tried... although that didn't make the pill any less bitter. Blitz had never been one to settle for 'I did my best, I can be satisfied'. Those words were miserable and ridiculous... probably not even the people who said them believed them.
He put the barrel of the gun to his temple. At least he could do those bastards one last spite. "Loona, I'm sorry..."
"Hey, asshole!"
The elevator grate suddenly came off, almost falling on him, and a familiar clown jumped inside and grabbed the doors to keep them as closed as possible. Blitz's eyes widened: "Fizz!? What the fuck are you still doing here!?"
"You can send your daughter and your lover away... not a friend!" Fizzarolli replied with a smirk.
"Idiot! Get out of here right now!" Blitz yelled at him. "If any more of those microdroids get in...!"
"Then you better think fast!" Fizzarolli told him. "What was your plan? Is this what you thought you were going to do when you got here?"
Blitz gritted his teeth, and he felt the urge to yell at him again, but knowing they were in an emergency situation, he held back. He had to think fast before more microdroids came in. "I've been running from one power outlet to another to keep this thing running" he said to his friend, and then looked at the air vent, "Can you get me to a safe place where there's an outlet in the next sixty seconds?"
"Luckily for you, these metal arms hold a lot of weight and are elastic!" Fizzarolli replied, and immediately his robotic limbs wrapped around Blitz and dragged him into the air vent, and then stretched elastically to travel the length as quickly as possible. Blitz started to feel seriously ill after the first half minute, but fortunately Fizzarolli managed to reach an empty room just in time, whose grate had already been broken, and plugged him into an outlet. "Does it work?"
"Ugh... yeah" Blitz muttered. Damn, that was truly a torture. "Where are we?"
"In a maintenance office" Fizzarolli said, nodding toward the rest of the small room. "I've been here before, I've been moving around the air vents marking safe spots ever since this whole mess started... it's the only way to escape those bastards"
"You were in the ventilation shaft all this time?" Blitz asked in surprise.
"When this all started it was a mess. Moxxie and I split up to escape, and I ended up in a common room. You can imagine how shitty it was in there" Fizzarolli explained. "Those bastards were biting into everything like obese kids in a fast food restaurant, but luckily they ignored me... probably because they were too busy with all the other people. I was terrified, but then I noticed the ventilation shaft and hid in it. Luckily they didn't follow me... from that moment I tried to get back to your room, but that shaft is a maze and I ended up down here"
Blitz snorted. "You're an idiot. Why did you try to return to my romm instead of leave?"
"I'm not leaving without you" Fizzarolli told him simply.
"Fizz, this isn't a game!" Blitz shouted at him, and then he handed him the gun: "Here, take it and get out of here right now. You can go through the ventilation shaft, then use it to get out. Leave me here"
"Forget it" Fizzarolli replied without even looking at him, starting to rummage through the cabinets looking for something to use as a weapon.
"FIZZ!" Blitz shouted at him.
"I'm not leaving you here" Fizzarolli told him imperatively. "I wouldn't have the courage to look at myself in the mirror if I left without you"
"Oh my gosh, are you completely dumb!?" Blitz exclaimed. "You'll die here...!"
"Yeah, yeah, ruin, disaster, you have to save yourself, blah blah blah" Fizzarolli said in response. "Listen, we both know how these things go in zombie movies, right? You get pissed, a little screaming, a witty retort from me, and it ends with you giving up and me, the cool and fearless friend, staying by your side"
"You know that the fearless friend is the first one to die in those movies?" Blitz replied.
"Nah, that's the stupid blonde. Followed by the black guy, the athlete, the intellectual, the ugly girl, and only then there is the fearless friend" Fizzarolli replied, then he raised a broom and waved it: "What do you think, is it good as a weapon?"
"Ah, fuck, you just can't... urgh!" Blitz hissed as his breath caught in his throat.
Fizzarolli immediately stiffened: "What's going on? Is the life support shutting down?"
"No... no, it's still working, but I'm getting dehydrated" Blitz said with a harsh voice. "I don't think I can go without IVs and antibiotics much longer..."
"Then let's hurry up!" Fizzarolli exclaimed, and then he seemed to have an idea and gave him the broom: "Here! Use it to push the infected away while I push the bed..."
"Fizz, this isn't a movie! A body doesn't fall to the ground or fly away when you touch it!" Blitz told him. "It's impossible to keep a horde of those bastards away with a stick, they'd be on us in an instant!"
"Oh... fuck, I feel like I've been lied to all my life" Fizzarolli muttered, looking disappointedly at the broomstick.
Blitz inhaled deeply. Fuck, they didn't have much time, he had to think fast. And luckily, it seemed like the movies at least hadn't lied about last minute ideas: "Wait... I know what to do!"
After just a minute, they swung open the door to the room they were in; outside were the underground corridors, and as expected, they were full of infected, but as soon as they were outside Fizzarolli jumped up onto the ceiling using his robotic arms to grab onto anything; his legs were wrapped around Blitz, who was holding a long stick made of brooms tied together that he used to lean on the ground, giving Fizzarolli support to resist gravity. Even though the imp clown had very strong robotic arms, Blitz knew that the same could not be said for his body; it was one thing to drag him along a horizontal surface like an air duct, but it was another to support his weight plus that of the life support machine. If Fizzarolli had no support, his limbs would have held up, but his spine would surely break. With the counterweight provided by the stick, instead, he was not in such danger.
They moved like this through all the underground corridors, trying to get there as quickly as possible; the infected couldn't reach them, but the same couldn't be said for the droids. Luckily they managed to get there quickly enough and reached the warehouse door, and they threw themselves in, closing it, putting sticks between the doors so that it couldn't be opened again... at least not until their chasers would have broken it down. "Let's hurry up" Blitz whispered to Fizzarolli.
Fizzarolli laid Blitz down on one of the many beds and hooked up the life support to an electrical outlet, and then he began rummaging through every corner of the warehouse. "Here, I found at least some IVs" he said after a few moments, returning to his friend with his hands full of bags full of liquid. "And some blood bags and powdered nutrients. And there are also some antibiotics"
Blitz pointed out some nearby tools, including a long stick with grips. "The IVs need to be up high to make the liquid flow properly... take that, tie it to this bed, and then attach the IVs! Hurry up, I don't know how much time I have left!"
For once he wasn't being a drama queen and Fizzarolli knew it: Blitz was barely managing to keep his eyes open. Knowing that his friend was running out of time, the clown imp quickly did as he was told, and he succeeded: after placing the IVs on the hooked stick, he connected them to Blitz's body, who was finally able to receive a good dose of water, blood and nutrients. "Ugh... thanks" he muttered, barely conscious.
"Don't thank me, just focus on staying alive" Fizzarolli told him while also injecting some antibiotics into the IVs, in the hope that they would have allowed Blitz's body to return to functioning at one hundred and ten percent as its usual. "Okay, now we just need to get... what? A portable generator for the machine that keeps you alive?"
"It wouldn't be enough" Blitz whispered as he slowly recovered. "Even if we were lucky enough to find a jewel like this down here, I still wouldn't make it far from the hospital. These IVs, this blood... they're kept down here, in these crates, because they need to be kept cool. We need a refrigerator... and it would be really hard to transport"
Fizzarolli bit his lip. "So...? What were you planning on doing at this point?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. I only came here to try to survive more than thirty more minutes. Actually, I was just hoping to die in a lesser loser way than just stay in a bed in a hospital room" Blitz answered truthfully. "I think the safest solution for me... is to barricade myself here in the warehouse and wait for any rescue. You instead can still..."
He hadn't even finished saying that when the block they had put on the door broke and the doors suddenly flew open, letting in a veritable horde of infected. "We'll talk about this later! Now let's get out of here right now!" Fizzarolli shouted, and immediately started pushing the bed away, using his robotic limbs to accelerate as much as possible and distance their pursuers.
He hoped to find another exit, but unfortunately there was none: the only passage was the one they had entered through. And to make matters even worse, without the electricity to power his life support, Blitz was already on the verge of passing out again. Fizzarolli was sweating from nerves and fear as he desperately searched for a solution.
Fuck, fuck, fuck...!
But then he noticed the freight elevator, and he had an idea. Taking advantage of the fact that his friend was now on the verge of losing consciousness, and therefore unable to make complicated reasoning, he ordered him: "Blitz, as soon as you're inside, tear off the control panel and connect to the cables like you did before in the elevator!"
"Y-Yes..." Blitz barely muttered, and when Fizzarolli literally threw him into the freight elevator he did as he was told, finally receiving oxygen again. It was only at that moment that his brain started working again and he realized that there wasn't room for two people inside it: "Fizz...!"
But Fizzarolli had already closed the freight elevator: a single movement of his robotic arms, a resistant glass panel separated the two friends. The imp clown turned, ready to jump on a shelf and look for another shelter, but he realized too late that he had wasted too much time: one of the infected was already coming at him with their jaws wide open.
And he had no time to escape.
Shit...!
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth waiting for the bite. He barely heard Blitz's voice calling him as the infected came at him...
... but then the aforementioned infected pushed him away and passed him, hitting the elevator lid face-first.
Fizzarolli's eyes widened, and he turned sharply towards Blitz, as if he wanted confirmation that he hadn't dreamed it all. Inside the freight elevator, Blitz was also shocked and open-mouthed, his gaze going from the infected who kept banging on the glass to his clown friend who was looking at him more confused than ever.
More infected people arrived, but none of them touched Fizzarolli except pushing him out of the way to get through: they all crashed into the freight elevator. Even the microdroids emerging from their mouths stuck to the glass trying to get in. Fizzarolli was there, but they weren't even looking at him.
The two imps were more confused than ever, but a new sound reached their ears at that moment: a buzz. After a few moments a drone much larger than the others arrived in front of them. It had the shape of a large metal locust, with a scorpion tail and a robotic head vaguely similar to a human face. It landed on Fizzarolli's chest and he immediately froze, fearing that it would have done something to him. He could feel the drone's metal legs drumming on his chest...
But then the robotic locust simply flew away, doing nothing to him, and a metallic voice came from it: "Healthy subject detected. No need for infection". And after those words it too followed all the other infected, landing on the glass that separated them from Blitz. It and all the other infected stood there, continuing to bang on the glass, completely ignoring the clown imp that was directly next to them as if he were invisible.
Blitz and Fizzarolli were more shocked than ever. And than the first finally shouted: "What the actual fuck!?"
As Hell rapidly descended into anarchy and the infection spread, something happened. In a remote corner of Gluttony, a portal unlike any other, more like a tear in reality than a passage, opened, and a demon emerged and flew over the devastated city. He paused in midair to look down at the hordes of infected below him, rhythmically flapping his wings, which strangely resembled those of a pterosaur rather than those of a demon. "What a mess" he commented in a harsh voice. "We're going to have a lot to do. Are you ready?"
An irritated voice came from behind him, even though nothing but his shadow was there: "I'm always ready. Move, idiot!"
"Tsk! Shut up, asshole, I'm assessing the situation" the demon muttered, and he immediately flew towards the buildings below him, aiming for Beelzebub's palace.
Notes:
For those wondering how strong Fizzarolli's robotic arms are, we can draw some conclusions from what we've seen in canon. We saw Fizzarolli use his arms to not only carry himself but also Blitz, so they're strong enough to hold their combined weight without much effort. Now, both Blitz and Fizzarolli are shorter than the average human, so even with the weight of his horns and tail, Blitz definitely wouldn't be more than 60kg, while Fizzarolli, being limbless and hornless, shouldn't be more than 40kg, meaning his arms can easily lift at least 100kg. Assuming Hell has Earth's gravity, that would be equivalent of a force of 981 newtons. That's... way, way more than the average human, and again, all this without effort, meaning that he can potentially go far beyond. Which brings us to the big question: if Fizzarolli's arms are so strong, why didn't he just use them to take out Crimson's henchmen instead of leaving all the work to Blitz? If he hadn't been paralyzed by fear, would he have won? The answer is... NO. Like, hell no. Let's introduce you to a new very bad word: REALITY. Of course, the characters of the Hazbinverse aren't real and couldn't function in reality, but they still seem to be bound by the same laws of physics as us, at least as far as imps are concerned; and by applying real-life biology, we can understand why Fizzarolli didn't even try to fight back when Crimson's henchmen attacked. Even though we normally don't notice it, the entire body is involved in motion; and unfortunately for Fizzarolli, even if Ozzie had given him the strongest robotic arms possible, the rest of his body is still composed of squishy meat. And unfortunately, the presence of robotic limbs makes it very difficult to train the rest of his body, especially key parts like his shoulders. Consequently, if Fizzarolli had tried to throw a punch with all that force, he would have literally torn all the muscles in his shoulder and damaged part of the internal organs even if he missed. It is no coincidence that champions like bodybuilders perform workouts that build a large mass of muscles on the shoulders and back: deprived of those, and if you try to lift 100 kg of weight you find yourself literally paralyzed since all your muscles would give out. This is the main reason why Fizzarolli in his appearances in the show almost always keeps his central body completely still and lets his robotic arms do all the work, often rotating them and positioning them in unnatural ways, since if he tried to move his central body even just to change direction this would cause him significant internal damage. If you want a comparison, on the contrary RoboFizz uses his entire body when moving, because he is a complete robot and is built specifically to withstand such force, and in fact he can fight quite well even against a trained assassin like Blitz. This biological con puts serious limits on what Fizzarolli can actually do. Let's say for example that Fizzarolli needs to move Blitz from one point to another; the best choice for him is exactly what we saw in the show, that is, to wrap his arms around his body and let them do all the work, limiting the movements of the central body to a minimum. But if Fizzarolli were to pick up Blitz and throw him away with the same force, unless his shoulders were made of vibranium, this would result in him smashing his own bones. The same goes for his legs: one of the things we often see Fizzarolli do in the show is to extend his legs and arms to move instead of using them to jump, leaving them off the ground only when the acceleration is already complete; this is because in this way the central body is subjected to much less force and does not get damaged. But if Fizzarolli were to try to jump with all that force right away, it would almost certainly result in his own pelvis shattering. And for the same reason, in this story, in carrying Blitz while he was moving on the ceiling like a monkey he needed a support; to give you an idea, it would be like for you to move through the trees using only your arms and holding a boulder with your feet; you can have the strongest limbs in existence, but still your body would break in two unless you have something, like a stick, resting on the ground that allows you not to feel the effect of gravity, as Blitz and Fizzarolli have done here. In conclusion, we can say that Fizzarolli is functional, but definitely not optimal; in an extremely fast context like a fight, he would never be able to truly use the full strength of his robotic limbs, at least not without tearing his own body to pieces.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 67): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111085
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 35, ended): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/168207418
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 121: New help
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When the full alarm went off, Vortex was at work, busy as usual acting as a bodyguard while Verosika rehearsed her latest song in an almost anonymous studio in a corner of Gluttony, which she said was 'perfect because it helped her concentrate positive energy', whatever that meant. In any case, as soon as the emergency signal went off, he immediately called Beelzebub to find out what was going on, but she also didn't know how to answer him and only told him to stay safe and not worry, and that she would sort everything out. Vortex trusted her, but he still wanted to be careful, so he loaded Verosika and her crew into the crew's vans and took them to Beelzebub's palace, since it was the easiest place to defend.
His concerns had been well-founded as soon as that army of robotic locusts had started infecting every single person in their path, turning them into the closest thing to zombies that Vortex had ever seen in real life. He hadn't sat idly by: he had quickly taken command of all the security of Beelzebub's palace and with them he had tried to fight back against the attack. He had given the order to take the population of the city, or at least the few that they were managing to save, to the most fortified areas of the palace, giving priority to the children... who were strangely numerous, unlike their parents. Vortex hadn't paid much attention to it, too busy fighting, but it almost seemed that while the adult demons were being targeted by both robots and zombies, the children were practically ignored.
In any case, the situation had become unbearable. The little resistance that Vortex had managed to organize had been defeated in a short time: a sting from those locusts, or even just a spit in the eye from the infected, was enough to get infected. Vortex was now almost alone in defending Beelzebub's palace, and was trying with all his strength to prevent them from breaking down the main door.
He gritted his teeth as another blow shattered on the doors and reverberated through his entire body. The few hellhounds that were helping him, the last ones left, lost their grip for a moment; some of them even fell to the ground. It was clear that on the other side there was an army of infected demons, while they were very few. However, Vortex refused to let the door swing open. "Hold on!" he roared. "Are you fucking wolves, or are you puppies!? Use every ounce of your strength to hold this door! And if it falls, no matter what passes through this threshold, you will not give ground! Is that clear!?"
The hellhounds threw themselves on the door again, pushing with all their strength even though their muscles were sore. They knew that this was the only thing that would save their lives and the lives of everyone in Beelzebub's palace, and so they could not afford to take a break. They were the only resistance that remained.
Suddenly Verosika ran towards him. She was in a state no one had ever seen her in before: sweaty, her makeup completely melted, her hair in a mess, and her body shaking and barely able to stand. "Vortex, they're breaking through the windows on the roof!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "They won't last long!"
Vortex gritted his teeth. The windows of Beelzebub's palace were made of reinforced glass and they had even barricaded them, but he knew they couldn't hold forever. "Did you manage to get the survivors into the underground?" he asked.
Verosika nodded: "Yes, but we'll never escape, those... things will follow us!"
"I know" Vortex said. "Let's make everything collapse"
Verosika froze: "What...?"
"Bee's honey is good to drink, but just like alcohol it's highly flammable" Vortex told her. "You and everyone who can help you, take as many barrels as you can to the load-bearing walls, and then detonate them. The explosion will collapse the entire building and the rubble will seal the entrance to the underground. Then continue towards east, the tunnels will take you deep into the forest"
Verosika turned even paler than before: "And you...?"
A new thud came from behind the door, shaking it. Vortex held on with all his strength to keep it from opening. "Someone has to keep the door closed" he said.
Verosika trembled: "Tex...!"
"Guys, from now on I can do this on my own" Vortex said looking at the other hellhounds. "You're free to go with the pop star"
No one moved; the other hellhounds looked at each other for a moment, but then they started pushing against the door even harder than before. "With all due respect, Tex, you've always been a pain in the ass" one of them, who resembled a husky, said to him through sweat. "You're too much of a chad, you always make us look bad in comparison, and on top of that you're too fucking humble even if you're fucking a Deadly Sin. I've always wanted to tell you to go to hell, so I'm going to do it now. Forget about us making you act like a hero on your own, we want our share of the credit"
Vortex was silent for a second, and then even though his face was covered in sweat, he smiled. "You are a bunch of fucking idiots" he said, and then he looked back at Verosika: "Go now! We will hold these bastards for as long as it takes!"
Verosika bit her lip. She didn't want to abandon her friend, but she knew she had no choice. "Thank you" she whispered. "Goodbye"
Vortex nodded. "Good luck..."
"KILL"
That one word was spoken by someone outside the door, but it was so loud that everyone heard it. The gasps of the infected continued for a few moments, punctuated by what sounded like pieces of metal being broken. And then, silence... followed by a few moments of voices.
"What...?"
"How...?"
"What are we doing here?"
"What happened?"
Vortex, Verosika and all the other hellhounds opened their eyes wide, recognizing voices that were definitely not those of zombies, but normal demons. And then, someone grabbed the door handle and pulled it down, and with such force that even Vortex couldn't stop it, the door swung open. For a moment everyone feared the worst, but then a soft but masculine voice reassured them: "Don't worry, we've solved it out here... for now. Let these poor people in, they need a safe haven"
Vortex was open-mouthed. The demon who had just entered was tall and muscular, even more than him; he was bare-chested and so his huge pectorals were quite evident. Just his arm was as thick as three human heads side by side. His skin was light gray, and on his left shoulder he had three spikes pointing upwards, while his right shoulder was devoid of them; his right arm was also completely uncovered, while on his left he wore a sort of golden shield decorated with what looked like bull horns. He was wearing a pair of long pants and shoes suitable for a rugged environment, with some spikes also pointing upwards. He also had a long tail that ended with four sharp spikes, as well as two wings that did not resemble those typical of demons, but rather those of a pterosaur. Around his neck he had an elegant blue band that held a sort of golden medallion on which the letter A was engraved.
But the most interesting thing was undoubtedly the face: it was very beautiful, surrounded by shoulder-length blond hair, and with two large horns ending in golden tips pointing upwards... but the thing was that he only had a right eye. Instead of the left eye, instead, there was a stone, stuck in the skull so much that only half of it protruded; the skin around it was a little damaged. But despite this, he didn't seem to feel any discomfort at all, in fact he didn't even seem to notice that the stone was there. "Is everyone okay?" he asked them again.
"Yes, how did you...?" Vortex was answering, but then he stopped. Many people were coming in through the door who until a few seconds before had been the infected banging on the doors. They were completely fine, apart from their completely traumatized look and all the wounds they had suffered while they were zombies. Among them were the remains of the robotic locusts: they weren't destroyed, just turned off, as if someone had pulled the plug.
Vortex was shocked: "How... how is it possible...?"
"We've fixed the problem" the new demon said. "At least for now..."
Vortex raised an eyebrow: "We have...?"
The sound of heavy footsteps was heard, and after a few seconds more zombies hurled themselves down from the roof of Beelzebub's building; evidently they were the same ones who had tried to break through the windows. The crowd of people screamed, and Vortex prepared to fight again even though he was exhausted... but the new demon did not bat an eyelid. "Don't worry, we'll take care of them too" he said, and grabbed the stone that was stuck in his eye: "Take care of them, asshole"
"Don't give me orders, you muscle-head shit!"
The demon tore the stone from his eye, and in an instant the unthinkable happened: his own shadow shot out as if it were alive and enveloped him completely, and a completely different person appeared in his place. A dark armor now covered him, leaving exposed only his arms and part of his legs, which had lost their muscle mass and become much more rickety, and the lower part of his torso, so skeletal that you could see the bones. Now his face was half covered by a helmet, which had a deep crack above one eye, as if a stone had been there just moments before... but the strange thing was that it was not the left eye, but the right, as if the position had been reversed. The skin had become dark gray and the hair had grown, becoming a color halfway between midnight blue and dull gray. The wings had also reversed: they were still identical to those of a pterosaur, but instead of facing upwards they were facing downwards, and the fingers rested on the ground as if they were an extra pair of limbs. The spikes on the left shoulder had moved to the right shoulder, and were now facing downwards; the golden shield that had been on the left arm had moved to the right, and had transformed into a sort of metal plate that even surrounded the clawed fingers. On the left shoulder instead there was a raised armor plate on which a strange brand was engraved in red letters. The golden medallion had changed into a copper one held by chains, and the letter C was now engraved on it. His tail had also become thinner and darker, and now the four spikes at the end were facing the opposite direction than before. Even his horns were now inverted, facing downward instead of upward... damn, even his eye color had reversed perfectly.
Vortex sweated a little. He was almost feeling more in danger than before. The killing intent that was suddenly emanating from that demon was terrifying. What was that guy...?
The new demon had the stone he had just pulled out in his left hand. He did nothing; he simply raised it and said the word: "Kill"
The stone seemed to come to life and flew towards the infected, but it did not split their heads: on the contrary, it pierced them without even touching them. Yet, every time it passed, the infected demon fell to the ground and then got up again in pain, but conscious again. The stone flew at a crazy speed, piercing the heads of all the zombies present, until there were none left and it returned to the hands of its owner. At that point he smashed it in his face again, and instantly his body became black again and then like molasses that darkness slipped away, revealing the muscular demon from before again, and thickened, reforming his shadow... which in fact had been missing until that moment.
Vortex's mouth was hanging open. "You... healed them...?"
"No, he just killed the microdroids in their brains. He can kill everything if he has enough power" the demon told him, and then he became serious: "However... he didn't need to kill anything in that one"
And after such words he went to pick up a demon from the crowd; unlike the others, who were confused and shocked, he looked more scared, and seemed to have been hiding until that moment. Verosika and Vortex recognized him: "Hey... you're Dennis, right?"
"Um... yes" Dennis answered in a small voice. "Can I...?"
"After" the muscular demon said to him, looking him over intently: "You weren't infected... and the infected didn't attack you. We saw it, even those robots ignored you. Why?"
Those words surprised everyone who was listening to him. "What?" Verosika muttered. "Dennis... you're immune?"
"You can't be immune to robots" the voice of the other demon emerged from the shadow of the muscular demon. "The program of those robotic locusts and microdroids in the brains of the infected identified something in this demon that led them to ignore it. At first I thought it was a disease, a genetic deformation, but from an initial analysis there does not seem to be anything abnormal in this imp. So... what protected you?"
Dennis swallowed nervously: "I... I don't know, okay!? I just ran away from them trying to survive, and I hid! Then I realized that they were ignoring me, but if you allow me, I didn't bother to ask them why they didn't attack me!"
"Yes, I understand. It's okay, we don't want to grill you" the muscular demon said, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder: "Go inside, we'll find the solution another way"
Dennis was clearly happy about this, and quickly ran away. Vortex would have liked to ask him a few more questions, but he agreed with that strange demon: if Dennis didn't know how he had saved himself, there was no point in pressuring him. He had little time to think about it anyway, because the muscular demon turned to him again: "You're Beelzebub's partner, right? We came here exactly because we were looking for. Can you tell us what happened to her and all the others who are supposed to defend Hell?"
Vortex gritted his teeth: "They went to Pride... that's all I know"
His interlocutor rubbed his chin thoughtfully: "Hmm. So that's where we have to go" he commented, and then he turned back to the hellhound: "Get as many people underground as possible and barricade the entrance. This is not a battle you can win"
"Can't you solve everything with that stone of yours?" Vortex asked him.
"We'd run out of energy before we could even clear even just half of this Ring, and those behind this invasion might just send more of those locusts" the demon said, then he looked up: "Like now"
More dark portals were opening in the sky, with new swarms beginning to appear. "We'll take those out too, and then head to Pride" the mysterious demon told Vortex. "You take advantage of this to get your people to safety"
"And hope that this isn't the end of Hell" the voice of the other demon said.
And after those words that strange demon took flight and went in front of the swarms of robotic locusts, wiping the stone from his face again and regaining his other stunted form. Vortex watched in disbilief as he used his absurd power to literally annihilate the swarms. "Who was that?" he couldn't help but wonder.
Mammon let out a roar so loud it could have blasted a deaf man's eardrums. He and the other Sins had tried to hit Adam several times, but to no avail. Even though they were able to defend themselves well, they still hadn't been able to hurt him. Which was more frustrating than ever for the Embodiment of Greed, who wanted to make him pay for that torn arm at all costs. "Can't you power us up more!?" he shouted at Lilith.
The Queen of Hell hadn't stopped singing for a single moment. Her throat was dry by now, but she knew that if she stopped, they would all be defeated in half a second. "This is the best I can do," she replied tiredly. She couldn't go any further with her powers: before she lost her power to control souls, she was able to merge it with her singing and increase its performance, granting a much greater boost in power to demons, but now she no longer had that option.
Mammon growled in frustration, and then he slammed his spider legs into the ground; a giant green web emerged beneath him, spreading so wide that it engulfed the entire surrounding territory. The other Sins ducked just in time. "Hey, watch out, idiot!" Asmodeus shouted at him.
Mammon wasn't even listening; his attention was completely focused on Adam. The web began to engulf everything, rocks, plants, and even insects. Everything it touched was reduced to its basic components, shattered into its smallest atoms, and only the most valuable ones were kept and used to assemble money and gold. "I am Greed!" he roared in fury, as his web closed on Adam. "I am the one who takes everything of value! I will reduce you to fine dust and sell you as luxury goods! You will be my best loot!"
"You stupid fatso, you don't have enough strength to hold him!" Satan shouted at him.
And indeed, Adam broke through the web and flew at top speed towards Mammon. However, at the last second the Embodiment of Greed dodged the blow, using his spider legs to flip himself over. "Ah! Do you take me for a blockhead?" he said with a mocking laugh, swinging his paws with the clear intent of slicing him in half while he still had his fist pointed in the wrong direction.
Too bad Adam used his tail to wrap around one of Mammon's legs and throw him into the air. "It's not that I think you're a blockhead..." he said as he slammed him to the ground. "... it's that you really are so!"
Mammon was slammed to the ground with such force that half of his body was crushed. The other Sins immediately tried to intervene, but Adam had stopped playing: "Ultimate move: BUBBLE WAVE!"
The air around him thickened so much that it became solid; combining Zeezi's gravitational abilities with Carmilla's weak nuclear force, as well as other powers stolen from the overlords such as psychokinesis and electrokinesis, Adam could compact all the oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms around him. A moment, and then the bubble of air exploded in a shock wave of exceptional proportions. It was so powerful that even if the Sins tried to resist it, they were still thrown hundreds of meters away like twigs, and even Lilith couldn't resist it and rolled away.
Adam grinned, and then he grabbed Mammon by his stupid jester's hat, forcing him to look up. "You're such a failure" he commented. "You're nothing but a miserable fat man that no one likes, who exploits others for his own pleasure. You do nothing but treat others as if they were instruments to make money. Well, I am now weighing the value of your life, and I am not afraid that I have to informe you that it is worth... nothing"
"Ugh... fuck you, cunt" Mammon hissed.
"Still arrogant, hm?" Adam said to him, and then his eyes changed color: "Let's see how arrogant you can be now!"
Mammon felt himself being sucked into those eyes; he tried to resist, but it was no use. He found himself falling into them, his consciousness rapidly in a vortex...
He was standing in front of a crowd, his breathing was labored. He felt scared, or rather... it was a different feeling, a sort of absolute anxiety. His body was smaller and more petite... it looked like that of... an imp...?
"Hey, hey... woah, woah, you good?" someone asked him, and he had a hard time registering it: his ears could barely pick up the sounds. He almost didn't even notice that that other person was grabbing him to help him standing. He looked up, and there was another imp in front of him, with white scars on his face, a bodyguard suit and a large rifle in his hands, looking at him worriedly.
For a moment he felt a tiny bit of relief. Knowing that someone cared about him was comforting...
But suddenly there was a sound of a money drawer and the other imp was pushed away by a large green demon. Wait, was that... him...?
"Yeah, mate!" his other self shouted, taking his face in his hands. "You alright, Fizzie?"
He looked at his other self. His hands were light, but somehow they felt so much like claws to the touch. And as their eyes met, he could see the disappointment in the other's eyes.
No... no!
He couldn't disappoint him.
He had to do better.
He was fine.
He had to be fine.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" he screamed in a shrill voice that didn't even convince himself. "I'm-I'm fine, yeah, heh..."
He couldn't allow himself to not be okay, not in front of him. He had given him everything. He had to be perfect, for him.
It didn't matter how much pain he was in. It didn't matter how fast his heart was beating. It didn't matter how crushed he felt. It didn't matter.
He had to be okay.
The other him stared at him again in disappointment, and for a moment he thought he should say something else, that he should point out that he could continue to go on stage and entertain people; but finally the other him's expression changed completely and he smiled: "Tell you what? I'll let the hotties go on before ya, give ya some time to get your shit together"
A small smile formed on his face. Now, those were the moments when he saw how much he cared about him: that gesture of affection was all he needed.
Postponing the show? Ridiculous. A short break would have been enough. The other him knew it, and as always, he was right.
After all, he always said that to him, he was like a son...
But then the other him grabbed him by the face again, and this time his hands were definitely claws. His expression became more menacing than ever: "Get your shit together, Fizzie"
His heart raced again. Why was she looking at him like that... scary...?
The other man's face distorted even more, and his voice became monstrous in his ears: "You're a bloody LEGEND!" he said, the last word like thunder.
Yes... yes, he was a bloody legend...
And then, as if nothing had happened, the other him hugged him, crushing him, and threw him towards the merchandising, clearly ordering him to move on. He didn't hear the last words he said to him, too focused on his thoughts.
Fuck... fuck, fuck, he felt so bad...!
No... he couldn't.
He couldn't feel bad.
It wasn't allowed.
That suffering was nothing.
He had to give money to his boss.
Many money.
Because his boss had made him famous.
Because he owed him everything.
And so he had to give him everything...!
Mammon continued to be thrown from one body to another, entering each of his employees, in each of the countless times he had been cruel to them, all the times he had forced them into a grueling lifestyle, all the times he had driven them to depression or suicide, every abuse, every torture. All those people who only wanted the chance to entertain people like their idol and who ended up entangled in his web, becoming nothing more than anonymous objects to be sold. A life spent only in total exploitation. "Stop...!" he begged. "STOP!"
Adam grabbed his face and slammed it to the ground. "Oh, so you can beg, hm!?" he said. "Tell me, how many times have you listened when others were begging you!?"
"Urgh... n-no...!" Mammon muttered in fear, trying to crawl away.
Adam grabbed his legs and violently tore them off. The Embodiment of Greed screamed in pain. "You could have been so much. You had boundless wealth in your hands and you could have used it to make the lives of the people who lived in your Ring better. They counted on you, they relied on you, but you were never on their side!" Adam growled as he pulled him back by his clown hat. "How many lives have you destroyed? All it would have taken was so little, just a little human understanding, and you could have been anything! Instead, look at you! Tell me, how many will miss you after I take your life away?"
Mammon trembled. Their eyes met one last time. "M-Mercy...!" the Embodiment of Greed stammered.
Adam's grip tightened. "Fool" he whispered. "Ruthlessness is mercy!"
And having said that he threw him into the air. Mammon flew up, screaming like a madman. Adam raised his right hand, which was enveloped in bright energy, the same as his disintegration beams.
The other Sins had meanwhile stood up again, and immediately understood what was about to happen. They all felt their hearts sink for a moment. Satan, the quickest to react, immediately launched an attack: "No...!"
Too late: Adam leaped and hit Mammon's body squarely. The Embodiment of Greed made a strangled sound, attempting to scream, but then his lungs were crushed too much to make any sound. In fact, all of his organs were crushed too much. He barely felt a slight pain before Adam pierced him completely and his consciousness vanished.
Mammon's body literally split open, tearing apart as if it were made of paper.
The other Sins and Lilith froze. In their eyes, the pieces of flesh and bone falling to the ground, combined with a shower of green blood, seemed extremely slow. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. The sound had completely left their ears, making the world empty.
Empty just like their minds. None of them could think of anything anymore. Their heads were filled only with Mammon's shattered body, a body that they already knew would never regenerate.
Dead.
Mammon was dead.
For the first time in the history of the entire universe, a Deadly Sins was dead.
The other Sins were so immobilized that they looked like statues. Lilith herself could barely breathe. She had never liked Mammon, having always been one of the most vulgar, pompous, and arrogant demons she had ever known, but he had always been there, present at every meeting or conversation of any importance, or with his mark stamped on every penny in Hell and his grotesque face painted on every product she made. And now... he was gone.
Adam landed again, and behind him the mangled remains of Mammon's body crashed to the ground. He was covered in green blood, but not only that: his right hand, still clenched in a fist, was engulfed in what looked like a will-o'-the-wisp, but green and incorporeal. It was the authority over Greed, power over everything in the Fourth Ring of Hell, sovereignty over each thing that was based on the innate desire to take and possess. The soul itself of Mammon was contained in it.
Adam looked at it, and then he opened his mouth and literally devoured it. He had defeated Mammon, and as such, authority over Greed now belonged to him, including the soul of its old master. Green energy passed through his body, and even with the immense resistance he had acquired for a moment he felt as if he were about to explode: suddenly he felt an immense desire to take everything that existed, to make everything his own, to fill his pockets with all the resources possible while not caring about others. It was only for a moment, and then he was able to think clearly again.
Four Rings down, the Greed Ring felt like a strange current ran through it. Even amidst all the chaos that was ravaging Hell, the few demons still not turned into mindless zombies by the robotic locusts felt it clearly. They all knew in a single instant that the Greed Ring had a new master.
Adam took a deep breath, and then he turned back to the other shocked Sins. "One less" he said, his eyes still glowing green. "Five left"
The two new demons that appeared in this chapter (who knows who they are...), both in single format and next to each other:
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 68): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/166368649
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 35, ended): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/168207418
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 122: Man vs demon
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The world seemed to stop before the eyes of the Sins as they looked at Mammon's battered corpse. None of them had the strength to think, and only a feeling of emptiness and fear now remained in their hearts. Mammon was dead, and they were struggling to accept it. But that was it, Adam had killed him, that was the reality.
And then it was Satan who moved. "YOU BASTARD!" he roared with all his might, making the earth shake, and he lunged at Adam.
He didn't care about bullshit like strategy anymore. He didn't want to waste any more time. He just wanted to take that bastard, tear him apart, break his bones and tear him completely to pieces until he was eradicated from the world.
But Satan was suddenly stopped when a familiar hand grabbed him by the tail. "Stop!" Lilith screamed at him. "You'll just get yourself killed like this!"
"You... let me go if you care about your life!" Satan hissed.
But Lilith's grip didn't loosen at all. "We can still save Mammon!" she screamed at him. "His soul was devoured by Adam, not destroyed! If we get it back, we can still resurrect him! But if you lose control now, you'll just die!"
Satan's eyes finally lost some of their furious light, and then finally his body stopped resisting. He was still breathing so hard that steam was coming out of his nostrils, but at least he wasn't charging like a raging bull anymore. The other Sins also seemed to regain some of their sanity, and stopped standing frozen in place.
Lilith gritted her teeth, knowing she didn't have much time before Adam would attack again. What had happened had shaken her more than a little... but she had long ago learned to keep her cool even in the most dire of situations. After all, even if Mammon's body had been destroyed, as long as his soul was intact he could always be reborn, just like all the other demons. And even if he hadn't, he would have time to despair after the battle was over.
When fighting, there was no time to be shocked or cry. This was just a quick way to die. In a battle, the only thing to focus on was protecting your physical safety and that of your comrades. Everything else was postponable.
Now she had to think of a plan. And luckily she had already developed one. "Guys..." she said. "... let Satan fight alone"
The Sins looked at her confused: "What?"
"There is no point in each of you fighting, your powers individually are not enough to really hurt Adam. Not to mention that he could copy your abilities and become even more dangerous" Lilith explained to them. "So, Ozzie, Bee and Bel, you give Satan your powers, and Leviathan, you stay on the sidelines and provide him with backup only when he is really in trouble. For the rest, let Satan fight"
Lilith was not someone that went around fighting anyone in front of her, but that did not mean she was an expert in the matter. She too was quick to plan strategies to face an enemy far more powerful than her. She too had lived in the primordial Earth, and she had not always had Lucifer to protect her.
If all the Deadly Sins had fought Adam at the same time, it would have given them the advantage in combined strategy possibilities, as well as the ability to be saved by their comrades if they were backed into a corner; however, as Mammon's death had just shown, this was not an efficient strategy. The Sins had multiple combined moves, but none of them had enough power to actually hurt Adam. They might have extended their lives, but not ensured victory; in the long run, they would all have ended up like Mammon.
Instead, it was better to send the one with more combat experience ahead and give him a boost enough to deal with Adam. This would also block his ability to mimic other people's powers, since Adam couldn't copy more than one ability at a time. It was the same trick Alastor had used during their battle... except this time Satan, if powered up properly, might actually stand a chance. And if things went badly, Leviathan, who was the second strongest, would intervene: Adam would have been too focused on Satan at that moment, and she could have easily stroke him from behind and retreat, giving Satan the chance to get to a safe distance and prepare a new attack. It was a simple strategy, but definitely the best one against an enemy like Adam.
The Sins were silent for a moment, and then they nodded. "Fine" Satan muttered. "What will you do instead?"
"I'll stay back and provide you with additional boost, and at the same time gather information" Lilith replied. "When I find a weakness, I will join the battle. All of you, be ready: as soon as I order you, join me to defeat him!"
The best way to defeat an opponent was knowledge. Even a war machine like Adam would eventually make a mistake and lower his defenses. That was all Lilith needed to land a decisive blow. But to do that she couldn't fight directly: she had to stay on the sidelines and concentrate as best she could.
Adam advanced towards them. It was still possible to see some of Mammon's aura emerging from him. "You know, if I had a watch, I'd be looking at my wrist reaaaaally condescendingly right now" he said. "Do you want to continue or do you prefer to kill yourself and save me the trouble? Both options are valid for me"
Satan clenched his fists and bulged his muscles. His proverbial wrath was rising from his body like fire. "You will pay for everything you've done" he growled.
Adam could only smile at that. "Oh, so go with the first option. I honestly hoped so, it's more fun this way"
"We'll see about that" Satan replied. "Now!"
Asmodeus, Beelzebub and Belphegor immediately raised their arms and poured their strength into him, and Leviathan also lent a hand; at the same time, Lilith resumed her song, this time focusing only on him, greatly increasing her physical capabilities. Satan felt himself explode with power like never before, and couldn't help but smile. "Let's go!" he roared.
"Uh!?" Adam couldn't help but yelp in shock as the demon came at him so quickly, and before he could react, Satan punched him in the cheek. He was thrown at least twenty meters, raising a great cloud of dust.
Satan didn't waste any time bragging as usual: instead, he took a leap, using his wings to give himself extra strength, and landed right where Adam was, clearly intending to crush him. When his fists hit the ground, his force was so strong that a magnitude 12 earthquake shook the entire area. But Adam still managed to slip away in time, moving to a safe distance. "Ha ha ha..." he laughed with satisfaction. "So this is the true power of all the Sins combined... well, minus one"
"Oh? Are you getting scared?" Satan teased him. He knew that if Adam had dodged his attack, it meant that he had feared that he could actually hurt him. Therefore, that meant that he could actually take him down!
Adam's smile disappeared, replaced by a defiant expression. "You fool!" he said. "I'll rip your limbs from your body!"
This time, Adam took the initiative and lunged at Satan; however, the Embodiment of Wrath managed to block his attack. Both of their hands locked together and they found themselves in a full-blown wrestling match, each trying to push the other away. Their grip was so strong that both of them could feel a little pain where their fingers crossed... and given the resistance they had both gained, that said a lot about how tight they were squeezing.
"Crap... this guy is surely strong...!" Satan couldn't help but exclaim, at least in his head. If it weren't for all the boosts he was receiving from Lilith and the other Sins, he would never have been able to resist.
The ground beneath their feet split; at first it was just a crack, but it quickly widened into a chasm. The pressure their feet put on as they tried to push the other away was enough to change the shape of the landscape. If they continued like this, they would have most likely ended up creating a canyon.
Satan knew he couldn't continue like that forever, so he did the most obvious thing: with all his strength, he violently lowered his head and slammed his forehead into Adam's. The first man was pushed back slightly, and Satan planned to use this to gain the upper hand...
But suddenly he realized that he couldn't tear his forehead away from Adam's: something, a strange sticky molasses, was gluing him. It took him a moment to realize that it was his own shadow, which had been made solid and was now blocking him like a tentacle. "Fuck... even when I was dealing a direct hit, he managed to use his powers...!?"
"Now it's my turn" Adam said, and kicked him hard in the stomach. Satan let out a roar of pain and was thrown into the air like a twig. Adam took advantage of this to launch one of his beams of light at him, but Satan stabilized himself in mid-air with his wings and spat a torrent of fire, nullifying his attack.
Both of them stared at each other with a lot of seriousness and hostility on their faces. Satan was more frowning than ever, and Adam also had a rather annoyed expression. The exchange of glances lasted only a couple of seconds, and then the first man took flight towards Satan; the demon immediately welcomed the attack and threw himself at him. The two opponents began to fight in the air, and every time their fists clashed they generated shockwaves powerful enough to move the clouds in the sky.
The other Sins continued to stare at the battle. They could barely see Satan and Adam, who were just two colorful blobs moving very quickly above them. "Terrifying..." Asmodeus muttered. "I never imagined that a human could actually reach this level of power..."
"They seem to be evenly matched" Beelzebub said. "I can't tell who will win"
"Don't get your hopes up so quickly" Leviathan replied. His expression was even more tense than the others. "I recognize that look on Satan's face, it's the same one he had when Lucifer defeated him millennia ago. He knows his opponent hasn't given his all yet!"
Satan and Adam's fists clashed again, producing a huge crash. "Oh... excellent combat skills" the first man commented. "But as much as I'd like to, I can't waste too much time playing this time"
Satan let out a snort, and his arms became engulfed in fire. It was literally white fire, which meant that it had a temperature of at least twelve hundred degrees. But Satan didn't stop there: he continued to increase the temperature of his flames, reaching a dazzling white color, above fifteen hundred degrees, and then a bluish-white hue, with a temperature of over two thousand degrees. "This is playing for you!?" he roared, throwing another punch in Adam's face.
The right side of Adam's face was literally melted and the intense pressure of the superheated air pushed him away several meters. A normal human would have already been completely burned to death, but he quickly regenerated. This did not mean that he was untouched, in fact he let out a cry of pain. "That... hurt" he hissed, glaring at his opponent.
Satan smiled in response. "That was the goal!" he replied, repeating his own words to further mock him, and then the fire completely engulfed his entire body. At first it was only bluish-white like his arms, but it quickly became a bright blue and then increasingly intense shades, exceeding the temperature of the surface of the Sun.
That was normally the maximum that Satan would have reached, and he would not have remained in that state for more than a few minutes: even if fire was his element, that did not mean that he could easily heat himself up to such levels without consequences. But now that the other Sins were offering him their energy and Lilith was granting him an additional boost, he felt he could push himself further. He didn't stop until the fire that surrounded him was blinding white, at the titanic temperature of ten thousand degrees. With all that heat, its flames were even starting to emit powerful ultraviolet radiation.
Adam growled, but was not intimidated by the challenge. His body quickly became coated in a hard coating, the same one he had used to resist Sera's attacks: super-compressed elemental particles that formed an indestructible shield around him. It was with that protection that he threw himself at Satan, and their deadly dance resumed.
It was a fight to death between two extremely destructive cosmic forces. Every time Satan struck Adam, his heat broke every atomic bond and forced the particles that made up his coating to break. Every time Adam struck Satan, however, the pressure and gravity he controlled expanded over the demon's body, pushing his atoms in the same way.
Seen from the ground, it was like watching a sun battle a neutron star. "This is absolutely crazy" Asmodeus commented with wide eyes.
Leviathan suddenly opened her eyes: "Oh no... this is not good...!"
Adam's body exploded with a strong blinding light; Vox's powers emerged from him and emitted electricity so strong that it made an entire city pale. Satan was hit directly, and even though his heat was able to slightly distort the charged particles that those lightning bolts were made of, he still took the blow: the fire certainly did not protect him from the inside, and the electricity had no difficulty penetrating inside him. Adam took advantage of that moment to hit him and throw him to the ground, and his eyes shone with Carmilla's powers, generating two powerful beams of light that hit the demon, exploding with the power of an atomic bomb.
Even though Satan was emitting a temperature of ten thousand degrees, the force generated by the splitting of the atoms was still millions of degrees. The Embodiment of Wrath had to summon all of his stamina to keep his body from being damaged, and even then he still took some damage. Luckily, his rapid demonic regeneration was there to help.
Adam knew it wouldn't have been enough; that attack had only served to block any retaliation from Satan. He prepared to lunge at him and rip out his heart now that he was down, but suddenly a huge tail hit him from behind. It was barely enough to move him a bit, but he still let out an angry sound: "You?" he hissed as he saw Leviathan next to him. The Embodiment of Envy immediately tried to escape, but he was already ready to strike her and tear her body in two...
"Wait a minute! I was there first!" Satan, who had recovered in the meantime, roared and lunged at Adam, immediately pushing him away from Leviathan. Damn, Lilith's plan had worked: if the Embodiment of Envy hadn't helped him, he would have definitely lost. "Get away now, Lev! I can continue from now on!"
Leviathan obeyed him immediately, returning immediately to safety: after all, her job was only to provide support in cases of extreme difficulty, like the one that had just happened. As soon as she was at a safe distance, Satan wrapped himself in flames again, but this time he wasn't satisfied with ten thousand degrees. He had now understood that he needed more power to be able to break Adam's defense, so, even if it would have drained his strength faster, he decided to go further.
The flames around his body turned bluish white, not only from the heat but from the actual ionization of the atoms, which were emitting enormous amounts of ultraviolet radiation. With a temperature of over twenty-five thousand degrees, Satan could now compare himself to the boiling surface of a supergiant star... but just like a star, the hotter he was, the faster he burned fuel. Stars needed a core of hydrogen to fuse in order to ignite, and the more massive and bright they were, the faster that core burned out; in the same way, Satan had to use all his magical power to maintain that enormous temperature, and the hotter he got, the faster his strength diminished.
Satan knew this... and therefore knew that he had to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
Just getting close to Adam caused a violent shockwave from the immense heat, and when it hit his face it hurt much more than before. The two of them were once again in the midst of a very violent exchange of punches and kicks, but this time Satan was managing to cause some serious damage to Adam's armor. The first man was regenerating practically instantly, but he could still feel the pain. And since those punches were coming from the most physically strong demon of all, and one with an upgrade to boot, it was no small amount of pain.
But Adam wasn't done yet. The electricity sprayed his body again, but this time it was different: it was as if the fire Satan was emitting was attracted to it. Huge concentric arcs formed all around them, and the flames began to gather around them; or rather, the ionizing particles that in turn were dragging the flames along did so. The combination of Vox's powers with Zeezi's gravitational pull, Carmilla's weak nuclear force, and the magnetism of other overlords created a magnetic field so powerful it would have rivaled a star's. "Ultimate move" Adam said. "COLLAPSING MAGNETOSPHERE!"
The entire magnetic field collapsed, and all the charged particles of energy stripped from Satan rained back down on him; the Embodiment of Wrath was hit by what was practically the equivalent of a stellar flare. The level of radiation emitted by that thing alone was enough to sterilize all life within hundreds of kilometers. Satan quickly felt his body begin to corrode, the flames that enveloped him turned against him, and for a moment he seriously thought he was done for...
But Leviathan intervened again, wrapping her tail around Adam's body and biting him with all her strength; her teeth broke upon contact with the very hard armor that covered him, but that brief moment of distraction was enough for Satan to escape that magnetic field. Adam let out a snarl and grabbed Leviathan by one of her heads, but Satan intervened just in time and pushed him away with a punch. Leviathan fell to the ground as the two of them went back to hitting each other. "Oh, fuck! Lev, are you okay!?" Asmodeus yelled at her.
"Cough... yeah" Leviathan replied, though she was barely able to speak. She quickly patched up her broken mouth, figuring she would have to fight again soon.
"This is getting too crazy!" Beelzebub exclaimed in a cold sweat. "Lilith! How long are you going to stand there instead of going to help Satan!?"
The Queen of Hell didn't answer her; in fact, she wasn't even listening to her. Lilith's attention was completely focused on Adam, looking for any weak spot. She knew they wouldn't have lasted long at this rate, she had to find a way... even just a small opening...
Satan gritted his teeth. Fuck, he had to admit that even with all his power, Adam far outmatched him. Even if all the Deadly Sins combined plus Lilith could more or less hold their own against Adam, the first man's inventiveness and adaptability were too much better. He had to deal a real blow…
So he decided to go all in.
The flames left his body and focused exclusively on his right arm; Satan focused all his magical power there, so as to be sure he could inflict the most damage possible. The temperature of his fire shot up to thirty thousand degrees, then forty thousand, thus exceeding that of the hottest main sequence stars, and then fifty thousand. The flames became extremely bright, with colors ranging from white to deep blue, and emitted enormous amounts of ultraviolet rays and even X-rays.
Satan had never pushed himself this far before; even with all the power he was receiving from the other demons, maintaining that power cost him a great deal of magical power. It was as if he were holding the equivalent of ten suns combined in his hands. Yet he didn't stop there: in the few milliseconds it took him to swing his fist against Adam's left side, the temperature of his fist rose even higher. Each additional degree cost him more energy, but he didn't stop. Eighty thousand, ninety thousand, one hundred thousand degrees...
By the time he hit his target, the fire had reached one hundred and fifty thousand degrees, the same temperature as a white dwarf star.
When it hit, Satan's fist was no longer visible: the fire, in fact, had reached such a temperature that the light emitted was outside the normal color spectrum. Adam had survived atomic explosions, which had temperatures of millions of degrees, but such immense energy was released in the fireball, not directly absorbed by his body; this time, however, all the energy of Satan's fist was concentrated in his left side, and without him having time to create magical protections. A huge roar was heard and a good part of his body exploded, leaving his legs attached to his torso by only a few strips of flesh. The shock wave that spread through his body was so powerful that his eyes popped out of their sockets, followed by torrents of blood.
Lilith narrowed her eyes. "NOW!" she exclaimed, and took flight towards Adam; as soon as she was on top of him, taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't react, she slipped a hand into his torn body and grabbed his heart. In a few fraction of second, a demonic seal was engraved on it and completely enveloped the first man, who seemed to freeze in time, remaining stuck in mid-air always in the same position.
Lilith flew backwards, landing next to Satan. "This won't hold him for long!" she shouted for everyone to hear. "It's time! Hit him with everything you've got!"
The seal she had placed on Adam's heart was an extremely powerful spell, capable of literally freezing the soul; however, the more powerful a soul was, the sooner it would have broken the seal. A being as powerful as Adam wouldn't have been held back for very long. But if they could use that time to completely destroy his body, they could permanently imprison his soul before he could build another.
Lilith's horns glowed with crimson light and a large pentagram appeared behind her; the world around her seemed to turn bloody, and her entire figure seemed to become as black as the darkest night. Her long hair tossed around angrily and her eyes turned completely blood red. She spread her arms wide as if she were the figurehead of a ship, and her song emerged from her mouth, condensing as if it were something solid; in front of her chest, it coalesced into what looked like a swirling crimson sphere. "Let's end this!" she exclaimed, and the red sphere transformed into an immense beam of energy.
The other Sins were no exception: all together they unleashed the best they could generate. Satan belched an immense mass of boiling flames from his mouth, Leviathan emitted a jet of pressurized water that would have pulverized a hill, Beelzebub rubbed her wings until extreme friction was generated that condensed into a powerful sonic attack, Asmodeus fused his bluish flames into a single blast that took the shape of three gaping mouths as it traveled, and even Belphegor unleashed all her power. All five of these powerful attacks combined with Lilith's and hit Adam squarely.
The first man found himself hit by such an immense amount of energy that his body disintegrated piece by piece, first the skin, then the flesh, and finally the bones. "OH, SHIT...!"
The explosion that was generated was so blinding that even they had to close their eyes to avoid being blinded. Adam's body was completely disintegrated, and with him everything behind him. The Sins had to squint to avoid being blinded by that.
When they were finally able to see again, Adam had disappeared. Before them was only an expanse of molten rock that glowed and smoked to the horizon. If they could have seen the scene from space, they would have realized that they could now see a line of boiling lava that stretched for at least a thousand kilometers. "We... we did it!" Beelzebub exclaimed with a broad smile.
Lilith wasn't so thrilled. "Don't get distracted! It's not over yet!" she shouted. "We have to find his soul! As long as we don't imprison it, he can still...!"
A huge torrent of energy erupted from behind them; everyone trembled as they felt that familiar aura. Leviathan in particular froze, feeling it directly behind her: "N-No way...!"
A split second later, both of her necks were sliced in two: Adam moved his hand and cut off her heads, and then he sank his fingers into her chest and ripped out her soul. The first man's body was still in bad shape, but as soon as he put Leviathan's soul in his mouth, his regeneration increased exponentially. At the same time, he could clearly feel Envy's power inside him, swirling like a violent whirlpool of the sea, imbued with hatred towards anyone who had something more than him. Five Rings below, the Envy Ring shuddered as its new master took authority over it.
Lilith was so shocked that she could barely open her mouth in surprise. Impossible... how had Adam managed to rebuild himself so quickly? Unless...!
Fuck...!
"YOU BITCH!" Beelzebub screamed, and without thinking she created huge honey bubbles that she threw at the first man. She was furious like never before: Leviathan had been her first real friend, and seeing her die like that had made her completely lose her mind. She just wanted to make that asshole pay...!
But Adam wasn't playing anymore. There were no jokes or teasing: instead, he lunged straight at Beelzebub. The Embodiment of Gluttony barely had time to see him before he pierced her body from side to side. When he emerged on the other side, still covered in blood and honey, he was holding Beelzebub's bright yellow soul in his hands, which he devoured instantly. The power of Gluttony surged through him, the insatiable desire to devour and consume every kind of resource, and at the same time the Gluttony Ring quivered, welcoming its new master.
"BEE!" Asmodeus shouted. "What... how...!?"
"The Sins' instant respawn ability" Lilith muttered through gritted teeth. "He must have absorbed it when he devoured Mammon's soul!"
Satan, Belphegor, and Asmodeus' eyes widened as they understood. All demons who were bound to a Ring, the Sins, had a great advantage: as long as their soul remained intact, they could instantly rebuild their bodies. Unlike common demons who took hours to regenerate if they were completely destroyed, they could respawn instantly, since they were personifications of their Rings, so as long as the Rings existed, they had to exist too. This was also the reason why their regeneration cost them almost no energy, unlike other demons who had to waste a lot of it.
However, being able to respawn instantly and knowing how to do it were two different things. It still took a good deal of concentration to be able to activate this process. The Sins had to train for years to be able to do this. How could Adam have learned it in such a short time...?
"His ability to copy powers..." Lilith said through gritted teeth. "He must have evolved the technique... he no longer needs to see our abilities, he just needs to devour our souls to gain complete knowledge of them!"
Adam had taken Alastor and Rosie's abilities and added them to his own; thanks to this, devouring something for him was now equivalent to acquiring its abilities. Devouring part of a demon would have allowed him to increase his strength and copy certain powers, but devouring the soul itself meant obtaining total mastery of all the abilities of that soul. It was thanks to this that he had managed to immediately rebuild his body as soon as his opponents had destroyed it... he had done well to kill Mammon immediately, otherwise it could have ended very badly for him.
Adam himself knew it: even if he had just killed two Sins, he was breathing heavily. He knew that this time he had gone very close to defeat. If it wasn't for the ability that he had just acquired, or if he hadn't been able to kill Mammon, or if the Sins had played smart since the first moment, he would have probably been dead by now. For the first time, he had actually came close to having his plans ruined.
He had underestimated his enemies... a mistake he would not have repeated again. "Enough" he commented harshly, while green, blue and yellow lights danced in his eyes. "Let's finish this quickly!"
Notes:
For those wondering how Adam can take more damage from Satan's punches than he did from three consecutive atomic bombs on Earth, the answer is the one already explained in the chapter: an atomic bomb distributes its energy in a large area, while Satan's punches are all concentrated in one point and therefore cause much more damage despite having a lower temperature. Keep in mind that for Satan to emit a temperature of 150,000 degrees, means that an amount of energy greater than the heart of the hottest stars in the universe is being emitted inside his body. To make things easier to understand, it's like having a solar system-sized behemoth concentrate itself in a body only about ten meters tall, which in turn concentrates all that energy into a single punch. By comparison, even a dinosaur-killer asteroid would look weak. And no, before anyone in the comments asks, Satan cannot reach this level normally. In this battle he was super buffed by the other Sins and, most importantly, by Lilith. As Lucifer said, the Sundial bombs used by humans are capable of causing more damage than Satan on his own could do.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 69): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111121
It's a wasteland, but it's our wasteland (chapter 35, ended): https://archiveofourown.org/works/57194443/chapters/168207418
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 123: Lucifer vs Alastor
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It didn't take long for Lucifer and Michael to put the pieces together: if Adam had ordered Alastor to lure them there, it meant he definitely didn't want them anywhere else. It wasn't hard to see why: even though Adam had become powerful enough to defeat Sera, the two of them were still on a very dangerous level for the first man. It would be quite complicated for Adam to deal with Lucifer and Michael while also taking care of whatever he needed to advance his plan. That's why Alastor had lured them elsewhere and used illusions to distract them.
Lucifer could imagine what Adam's plan was: while he was away, he could take care of eliminating the demons that were still dangerous, the ones that could pose a risk to Earth if they decided to fight back. Which meant all the Hell nobles and, most importantly... the Deadly Sins. It made sense, since once they were killed, Hell would have been completely helpless against Earth: a simple military strategy that would have guaranteed almost complete victory.
Lucifer felt extremely tense. He knew Adam didn't want to kill Charlie, so at least she was safe, and he doubted he would have gone so far as to kill Lilith... but the Deadly Sins... they were definitely a target. Even though Lucifer had mostly spent his time in Hell locked in his palace alone, he had still developed a good relationship with the other six demons, even though he still couldn't stand Mammon and Satan would probably have enjoyed using him as fertilizer for the plants. They were so close that Charlie considered them like uncles, even though they weren't actually related. Lucifer absolutely didn't want anything bad to happen to them.
Michael wasn't as tense as him; after all, he was quite indifferent if demons died. From his point of view, the Deadly Sins or the Ars Goetia were beings unworthy of ruling, since they had only further distanced demons from the right values. The hellborns were not in Hell because of their sins, but because of the horrendous society they were born into, at least ninety percent of them were still unholy and blasphemous. While Michael didn't despise hellborns outright like he did sinners, he still considered almost all of them to be a stain on Creation.
After all, there was little difference between a human sinner and a hellborn sinner: both were beings who had chosen to follow the wrong path. The only divergence was where they were born. Michael believed that the Deadly Sins and all the other nobles were to blame for only encouraging the hellborns to be worse, reducing the 'pure' population to a few isolated individuals. For this reason, he did not think highly of Satan, Mammon, Leviathan and all the others.
However, this did not mean that Michael would have simply sat back and let Adam do whatever he wanted. The first man's actions were still too dangerous, and the archangel did not know what consequences they would have brought. Even if he did not care about demons, he could not let Adam upset millennia-old balances and encourage humans to invade other worlds. Such actions could have repercussions on the entire universe, and Michael could not allow that.
His duty was to stop anything that could pose a threat to Creation, regardless of his personal sympathies or beliefs. And Michael was a dutiful angel, and would even fight against his best friend if necessary. So he reluctantly said: "Demon, step aside. Lucifer, let's go back immediately"
Alastor chuckled softly: "Why? We've only just started. You've barely had twenty minutes, can we still..."
Michael didn't let him finish: he barely moved his fist, and the shock wave that was generated was so powerful that Alastor's body was shaken and many of his bones broke, even though he was at least ten meters away. The radio demon's eyes widened in surprise, but while he was still trying to understand what was happening, the archangel appeared behind him with his right hand raised. "Disappear" he simply said.
Alastor was enveloped in white light, and then he exploded. A fraction of a second later, not even ashes were left of him. He had literally been erased from existence.
Michael was sure that was the end of it, and was about to tell Lucifer to go away, but Alastor's voice stopped him: "Wow, you're the one who doesn't play nice, huh? Fine, I'll treat you like one"
Several shadows swirled around the two angels and rose up, turning into actual copies of Alastor, complete with robe, monocle and radio staff, and even the same shadow tentacles behind their backs. Lucifer gritted his teeth, while Michael barely showed any surprise. "Interesting" he commented. "It's an ability like Legion's...?"
In reality, it was more complex than that. Alastor hadn't simply copied himself; he could have technically done so, but it wasn't a good idea to break his mind while facing multiple opponents. Facing multiple enemies at once meant having to adapt to different attack strategies, and if Alastor split his mind into all his copies, they would have had to make different decisions depending on the situation, so keeping them connected to himself was equivalent to developing schizophrenia. Therefore, Alastor had used a trick: by thickening the shadows he had produced several copies of himself, and then he had partially copied his mind into their brains. This way each copy would have made decisions on its own, without interfering with the main body and messing up his brain.
He didn't usually use that trick because in the long run it was likely that the clones would have developed a personality of their own: they were created with only the knowledge needed to fight in their brains, but every brain could adapt. If left around too long they would inevitably have formed their own consciousness, until it would have been quite difficult to tell who was the clone and who was the original. An example was his own sentient shadow, which Alastor had created the first time he had used that spell; at the time he did not know the risks and in fact his shadow had matured a little personality before he had reabsorbed it. Not enough to develop free will of its own, but enough to grant it mood swings and emotions even different from those of its master.
Another problem was energy consumption. Creating a fully functional demon from scratch and copying your mind into their brain was no easy feat. It cost a lot of power. As a result, it was almost completely impractical in a battle.
But now, both of these problems were gone. Thanks to the huge number of souls Alastor had received from Adam, creating a clone now cost him little. And he didn't have to worry about them gaining personalities of their own, since he just wanted to use them as cannon fodder.
Michael didn't say another word: he just fought. His first instinct was to try to open a portal, but as soon as he tried, Alastor's shadows obviously blocked him, and all his clones rushed at him.
Michael knew that Alastor didn't stand a chance against him, much less against him and Lucifer together, but the radio demon's goal wasn't to defeat him, but to keep him there. Therefore, Michael's priority now was to get rid of Alastor's tricks and get out of there. In a real battle, Michael could have just stood still and held off the radio demon's attacks until he was out of energy. But since they were in a race against time, they couldn't afford to waste any more hours of inactivity. They had to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
Michael was still the most powerful archangel, and Lucifer, even if he wasn't at his level, was still a high-level fighter: Alastor's clones were destroyed one after another every time they hit them. However, this was of no value since the radio demon continued to create more... and since he continued to hide, they didn't know where the main body was.
That was clearly Alastor's strategy, but neither Michael nor Lucifer wanted to waste too much time. It was the fallen angel who raised his right hand, in which a magic circle appeared: "These beings are made of shadows... let's erase them!"
Michael's eyes widened: "No, you fool...!"
Too late: a huge white glow emitted from Lucifer's hand. The idea wasn't even that bad: since Alastor's power was based on shadows, using the light he immediately erased both the clones and any surface from which they could be born... sure, Alastor could have created more clones outside the light, but they would have been too far away to prevent Lucifer and Michael from leaving with a portal, and thus stopping Adam's plan...
But the immense light generated in the center of the crater caused huge shadows to form on the walls; if in the center not even a trace of darkness remained, on the outside it seemed to cover the ground like a liquid. And those shadows actually moved like a liquid, closing like a dome over the two angels, immediately extinguishing the light and enveloping them. The enormous shadow warped upwards, forming a giant dry and dead tree.
Normally the dark tree Alastor could create was no more than two or three times the height of a normal giant sequoia, but now, with all the souls he had accumulated, it reached much higher levels. The giant tree reached up to the dark clouds in the sky and pierced them, and its branches even spread into space. An outside observer might easily have thought they were watching a Lovecraftian horror being born.
And then, the tree twisted and collapsed. The immense dome fell on the two angels. It was as if a mountain had just been thrown from deep space.
However, this was still not enough to intimidate a person like Michael.
The archangel did not retreat or duck, but instead swung his fist upwards. The immense force of his hand met the violence of the entire collapsing tree. For a fraction of a millisecond, an unstoppable force met an immovable object. And as that moment passed, so quickly that the blink of an eye would have been slow in comparison, it was Michael's fist that won, and the entire tree of shadows was shattered and the fragments hurled away at an incredible speed.
Lucifer whistled at this. "Wow. You haven't lost your touch..."
"Less talk and more action, idiot!" Michael hissed. "We have to go back now...!"
"NO!" Alastor's voice roared, and the nearest shadow fragments seemed to come to life and moved like tentacles to grab them. Apparently the radio demon hadn't expected his attack to be nullified so quickly, and had thought he had more time to prepare another, so his attack this time was more instinctive: the shadows turned into a dark molasses that tried to grab the two angels. Needless to say, both Michael and Lucifer were not affected too much, but in fact, since the shadow was more focused on imprisoning Lucifer, Michael easily broke free of it, and before Alastor could stop him, he opened a portal.
By now Alastor was too tired to fight against two angels of their caliber at the same time, so he was unable to stop him from crossing the portal. Michael did not wait any longer: his only goal was to return to Pentagram City to find Adam before it was too late. He could not care about killing Alastor, who in his eyes was just an annoying mosquito; and he did not care about taking Lucifer with him either. After all he knew very well that his brother would not have died against the radio demon, in fact it was likely that the opposite would have happened; he had chased him the first time because he had thought that Adam had captured him, but now that he knew that the first man was not there, it made no sense for him to stay.
"Fuck!" Alastor couldn't help but say as he watched him go.
Lucifer was still surrounded by that mass of dark shadows, which were constantly trying to grab him, but he could still hear him. "I'm afraid you failed" he said.
"Nonsense. I've anyways held you guys up for over half an hour. Adam must have finished by now!" Alastor growled. "Well, since you're still here, I'll take this opportunity to focus on you!"
Lucifer tried to move out of the dark mass of shadows, but they followed him and wrapped around him continuously, preventing him from understanding which direction he had to go to find a real exit. "You know, I've always despised you, but I didn't know you were such a bastard," he said to Alastor. "To betray my daughter and help Adam destroy Hell, knowing that he will kill you in the end... why have you sunk so low?"
He thought he would make him angry, but it wasn't anger that emerged from Alastor's voice: no, it was something else, something much deeper, that for a moment made even Lucifer feel a shiver. "Why?" Alastor repeated, chewing each word as if it were iron. "Because my mother, who was pure, was raped by the pathetic excuse of a man that was my father. Because all of my life I was discriminated just because of the color of my skin. Because I became a cannibalistic serial killer. Becuase of a tons of other reasons. Because all these 'because'... were only possible for your fault!"
Alastor's shadows thickened like huge tentacles, and in the center of them appeared a blood-red rune. The whole sight made him look like the mouth of an evil Lovecraftian god. Lucifer was used to seeing monstrosities, but this was definitely on another level. It was something so disgusting and horrendous, that if a common human being had been there in front of it, surely their mind would have been destroyed, or even they would have died on the spot.
Lucifer felt hatred. Yes, it was as if hatred itself had taken shape. And even if physically Alastor only managed to scratch him a few times (and only when he was really lucky), he was still sweating on a psychological level. He felt hatred entering his mind, he perceived it as if it were something solid that he could not grasp, but only suffer. A hatred that was material and immaterial at the same time, a contradiction that should not have existed, but that was there, right in front of him, concrete and abstract at the same time.
"I don't care what happened to me" Alastor continued to tell him. "I don't care about the harm I suffered, I took care of eliminating all those who dared to wrong me. I don't feel anger towards those insects who thought they could hurt me without consequences". His voice suddenly became hissing: "But she... she didn't deserve it!"
The red rune exploded with light, but it expanded as if it were blood. Lucifer was fully invested, and immediately raised his hand to block that attack. The fountain of crimson light collided with his protection and was deflected, but still several drops passed... yes, that strange light was like liquid, and it was emitting drops of blood. Drops that screamed with pain, anger, revenge and above all hatred.
Lucifer faltered for a moment. Alastor was managing to test him, but not that much: the fallen angel was not even too tired yet. But the more those drops of blood emitted hatred, the more that hatred seemed to chain him and bend him. Lucifer could understand that all that hatred was directed towards him, and this was literally breaking his psyche. "These drops... are they actually souls?"
"Exactly" Alastor confirmed. "You know, the great thing about owning a soul without a body... is that you can force it to feel whatever emotions you want. You can make them feel anger, fear, envy... even happiness if you want. Adam just keeps the souls he stole in a state of suspended animation... I'm not so merciful!"
The blood light formed by hundreds or maybe even thousands of souls completely enveloped Lucifer, trying to force his protection. The fallen angel was not struggling to resist, but each of those souls was emitting such hatred and killing intent that it made his heart race, his breathing quicken, and he sweat profusely. Lucifer could almost see images of those souls screaming at him all the reasons why he deserved to die. "Bastard... you know you can't beat me physically so you use these psychological tricks!" he hissed.
"If you were truly not to blame, as I have heard you say too many times, these so-called psychological tricks would do nothing to you!" Alastor replied with a laugh, but it was completely devoid of any kind of humor. "The emotion I am forcing these souls to emit is all the hatred they have towards you. That grudge buried deep in their hearts towards the one who made them what they are now... and who made so many innocents suffer. All that suffering... and the fault is only YOURS!"
Lucifer decided that he had had enough; he had to get out of that huge illusion created by Alastor and he was not willing to wait any longer. Suddenly his protection became smaller, as if it were contracting, so quickly that the vortex of souls surrounding him shook as if it were a bag just emptied of air. And then, with a roar from the fallen angel, it exploded.
Power erupted from Lucifer's body like a volcano, and the shield that had contracted over him was thrown outward; souls were hit by it and were swept away. It was like watching a simulation of a shock wave sweeping away objects in its path. Except that the souls were not erased, but rather their fragments all converged in one place, returning to their master. Lucifer did not hesitate, and having discovered where his opponent was, he shot a beam of white light right in that direction.
He had to wait just a few seconds, and then there was a crack and the illusion was shattered. It was as if reality itself had shattered: the enormous mass of tentacles and shadows vanished in an instant. All that hatred and resentment that Lucifer was feeling also disappeared, finally freeing him from the weight on his heart. He found himself back in the same place as before, in the middle of that forest now reduced to a crater, and in front of him was Alastor, with the right half of his entire body missing.
Lucifer couldn't help but smile. Alastor was emitting a muffled cry of pain as he touched the spot that had vaporized him. He had obviously managed to move at the last fraction of a second to avoid being incinerated... or maybe he had aimed in the wrong place. "That sounds painful" he said with a chuckle.
Alastor seemed beside himself with rage. "You... you think this is funny...!?"
Lucifer only sneered more at the sight of him so angry. "What? Are you not so cocky now?"
Alastor was clutching the damaged part of his body with his only remaining hand, and he had even closed his eyes from the pain. "You think this is funny!?"
Lucifer didn't stop sneering. "A lot" he answered.
Alastor was literally salivating. "It's not... funny..." he hissed, but suddenly his face calmed down, and he even turned mocking: "... as your face"
Lucifer's eyes widened: "... huh?"
Alastor's body regenerated in an instant: the bones reappeared and the flesh immediately covered them, and even the clothes were restored by his shadows. "Hmm. It may sounds strange, but honestly I preferred the old arm" the radio demon said, massaging his shoulder. "Oh, well... it's just a matter of habit"
"What... impossible!" Lucifer couldn't help but exclaim. "I hit you with my divine energy! I'm an angel, that's angelic energy! You can't..."
"... regenerate myself?" Alastor finished the sentence for him. "A simple trick, Adam tested it before on your friend from the upper floors. Even if I only have half of his souls, I can still fix myself..."
Lucifer moved so quickly that Alastor couldn't see him: his fist hit him squarely on his cheek and literally tore his head from his body, which fell to the ground with a thud and rolled away. "Now you've really tired me out" Lucifer hissed, raising his foot to crush it.
But Alastor didn't stay still: his head was enveloped by her shadows and they instantly brought it back to his body, to which it reattached without any problems. "So much wrath" he said to him. "What is it? Are you afraid that I will unleash the hatred of these souls again?"
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but the honest answer was yes: he didn't want to feel all that rancor anymore. "Before you can do any more tricks, I will stop you"
Alastor (obviously) didn't lose his ever-present smile, but his expression darkened considerably anyway. Lucifer couldn't remember ever seeing him so sullen... well, it had to be said that he had seen him a few times. "You really are pathetic" he told him with contempt. "You know, 'King of Hell', excuse me for saying this title sarcastically... all my life I've wondered why so much suffering was happening all around me. I've tried to find a philosophical meaning to it all, and I've convinced myself that... how can I say this... the devil had a morbid interest in me. That he saw the monster I was and decided to make me his plaything... and that he had become terribly furious with my mother when she didn't bend and continued to speak kindly and generously despite all the suffering he was unleashing on her, and for this he had arranged for my father to kill her. I had imagined a classic devil, cunning and manipulative, who enjoyed watching me do all the other cruel things I did. You can therefore imagine my enormous disappointment when I arrived in Hell and discovered that the devil was actually nothing more than a miserable, depressed man who didn't even know how to handle his own daughter"
Lucifer snorted. "If I were the devil you thought I was, I would have taken you out the moment we met..."
"Well, I would have preferred that!" Alastor growled. "If you were evil, I could still respect you. But you're not. You're just pathetic. You accuse me of being a serial killer, but what about you!? Every single person who dies and suffers on Earth is because of you! I killed one hundred and ninety-three people during my mortal life and four hundred and twelve in my afterlife, but I remember their faces, their names, their voices, their last words, even the color of their eyes with absolute perfection. But you? You caused the death of every creature that ever existed on Earth, condemning them to all the suffering that you now accuse us sinners of, suffering that you don't even understand!"
Lucifer clenched his fists. "Of course I understand. I know what such actions are..."
"No, you don't!" Alastor replied. His voice was growing furious, and all composure was leaving him. "Have you ever cowered in a sewer to escape the soldiers who were coming to destroy your home for a war you didn't even know the cause of? Have you ever found your daughter lying on your doorstep, her clothes torn, her innocence taken away forever, and her mind scarred beyond recognition? Have you ever had to hold your wife in comfort, feel her body tremble in real terror under your hands, because a thug attacked her in the street, beating her and disfiguring her face, to steal her wallet? Have you ever had to cut off your finger to feed it to your daughter while she lay on a bed starving from the famine and barely able to breathe, all the while trying not to let her know she was eating human flesh? Have you ever had to pick up a rifle and go fight in a trench, and come home without your legs? Have you ever had to kill a young boy who begged you for mercy because someone else would have killed you otherwise? Have you ever had people yell at you and spit on you in the street, just because you had a different religious symbol than theirs hanging around your neck, or because of the color of your skin, or even just the shape of your eyes? Have you ever been torn from your homeland, dragged to a country foreign to you, and forced to serve a cruel master every day? Have you ever had to work twenty hours a day just to bring home enough money to feed your family, to keep your wife and daughter from selling themselves on the streets as prostitutes? Have you ever had to fight for your life for years, surviving in harsh foreign lands, and when you finally managed to return home, you discovered that your wife, in order to feed your daughter, had sold her body until she contracted syphilis and died? Have you ever had to see your daughter completely mutilated, her will to live completely lost, looking at you with tearful eyes and begging you to kill her just to put an end to her misery, and when you refused she asked you why you had been so cruel to let her be born into such a horrible world? You use the words, you claim to understand them, but are you really able to comprehend what they mean!?"
Lucifer didn't answer him: he tried to attack him again, with the precise intent of destroying him once and for all, but Alastor used his sound attack again to block him. He barely managed to slow him down a bit, but it was enough to allow him to disappear into the shadows again and reappear on the opposite side. So, once again, Lucifer only hit the ground, raising another cloud of dust.
Alastor let out a furious hiss as he watched the King of Hell emerge from the crater he himself had just created with his fist. "You know nothing" he said threateningly. "You have never had to experience anything you unleashed on the world. You cannot hide from me. I know who you are"
"You know nothing about me" Lucifer growled.
"Oh, on the contrary, I know everything about you!" Alastor replied with even more emphasis. "I know very well why you locked yourself in a building. You did it because you didn't really want to see. Because even if you knew the problem, it was better to just hear about it from someone else, never see it. Because deep down you knew that if you went out for a walk in the street, you would collapse! Because it was easier to pretend that the problem wasn't there than to even look at it, or even experience it yourself! Just like all the powerful men who lock themselves in big buildings just to stay away from the suffering with which they oppress their people! Because you knew very well that if you had really seen, if you had immersed yourself in that suffering, you would have had no choice but to admit that you had condemned an entire planet! You despise me because I killed six hundred and five people? Then what should I think of you, who with your actions killed a world!?"
Lucifer clenched his fists. He had heard those accusations many times, but each time it was hard to deal with them. "You had free will..."
"So had you" Alastor told him. "But unlike you, we took responsibility for our actions. Eve, Lilith, Adam, even Charlie, they all truly knew suffering and tried to prevent others from having to suffer. But you... you always did nothing. You, coward, always ran away from your responsibilities. You always looked at us sinners as awful, without ever asking why we were awful! What is happening now is YOUR fault!"
The souls wrapped around Alastor's horns, and power exploded through them: energy so great it shook the earth exploded from his body, which grew even larger and more monstrous. Lucifer let out a sound of disgust at the sight of it, feeling all the evil that was emanating and hitting him like a slap.
"This is all your fault" Alastor repeated, her voice more threatening than ever. "It's not someone else's fault, is yours. If it weren't for you and your stupid apple, wars, rapes, tortures, racism and so on would have never existed. If it weren't for your stupid pride, Hell wouldn't be a wasteland now. If you weren't so idiotic and stubborn... your best friend might still love you"
Lucifer looked as if he had just been struck by lightning: "Don't you dare...!"
"What? Tell the truth?" Alastor replied. "Adam had forgiven you. Everyone had forgiven you. They were ready to start over. But you ruined everything again, and once again you didn't take responsibility. These are not mistakes, Lucifer... these are choices!"
He slammed his foot on the ground, as if he were a deer ready to charge, and with that gas he shook the entire landscape for miles. He had become as monstrous as when he had launched his final attack on Rosie, except that now he was much more menacing and the power he was emanating was unmatched. His body now resembled immensely that of a wendigo, skeletal and monstrous like a being emerged from a horror story. Lucifer quickly took a defensive stance, knowing that he couldn’t just let an attack like that get him; while he wouldn’t normally have scratched him, with all the enhancements the radio demon had received, he couldn’t let his guard down.
Alastor let out a furious snort, and lowered his head as if he were actually about to charge. “Your choices have led to your downfall, even if you refuse to see it” he told him. “And I’ve already destroyed everyone whose choices my mother suffered because of… so, I guess now I must destroy you too!”
Alastor charged, all his power concentrated in that one attack; Lucifer was hit full-on, and as soon as their bodies touched, the entire world seemed to break apart. With all those souls, the power Alastor had achieved was comparable to a dinosaur-killer asteroid, or at least close to it: just by moving, the energy released generated fireballs several kilometers wide. Millions of tons of debris were hurled into the upper atmosphere. At the center of that immense power, Lucifer and Alastor were immobile, frozen in a single instant: Lucifer was holding the radio demon by the horns, and Alastor was trying to break through his defense. The energy released was immense, but even if he was struggling a bit, Lucifer was managing to block Alastor...
But suddenly, the radio demon did the unexpected: with a single movement of his hand, he cut off his horns clean off. Lucifer suddenly found himself completely out of balance, and slipped forward a little, and that brief second was enough for Alastor to open his mouth wide and close his jaws on the fallen angel's neck. All the souls he possessed concentrated in his teeth, penetrating deep inside, and then Alastor pulled his head back, tearing out a large piece of flesh.
Lucifer let out a strangled cry and kicked the radio demon away from him; he instinctively touched his neck, which was now bleeding. He looked at his hand, seeing it wet with red... the red of his own blood.
Alastor sneered. "First time you actually feel pain?" he asked mockingly. "It cost me a lot to be able to hurt you even just that much... but it was worth it"
For the first time in his life, Lucifer felt fear for a moment. The pain in his neck created a chain reaction in his brain, activating his basic survival instinct. That brief moment was enough for him to lunge at Alastor and start pummeling him with his fists.
The radio demon had no way to defend himself: he had used all his energy in that last attack. Now he could only take the blows of the fallen angel, he didn't even have the chance to escape. "I was ordered... to hold you back... as long as possible. I did it" Alastor said, spitting out a little blood. "Now... you can go and face... your real opponent. You better... hurry... before he kills... all your friends"
Lucifer's eyes widened: "You... what are you...!?"
Alastor raised his arms and grabbed him by the shoulders: "With your permission... I retreat. Now go and... learn how to suffer... you fool!"
And after such words he unleashed all the energy he had left and exploded; literally, his body disintegrated, creating a massive explosion that hurled the fallen angel away. By the time Lucifer managed to stop in mid-air by flapping his wings, Alastor had completely disappeared.
Fuck...!
Lucifer knew he couldn't waste any more time; whatever Adam was doing while Alastor had been keeping him busy, it wasn't good. He quickly opened a portal back to Pentagram City.
Meanwhile, Alastor had also reappeared in the outskirts of what had been a thriving city not even an hour before: just as planned, in the last fraction of a second he had switched with one of the Exorcists, avoiding blowing himself up. Even though Adam had assured him that he would not have died thanks to their deal, he still preferred not to be a martyr. He quickly regenerated, and then he stood up again, intact and pristine as ever.
A few moments later he felt his power waning: the enormous number of souls in his possession abandoned him, returning to their true master. Now that he had completed his task, their pact was also over. And Adam would have needed all his souls to truly face Lucifer. With half his souls Alastor had only been able to cause him one wound... but Adam would have done more. Especially since he would not only have had all the souls of Pride, but also six new immense powers...
Alastor couldn't help but smile. He had no intention of going near the battle, he knew he would have been annihilated if he did, but perhaps he should have found a good place to watch it. After all, even if it was only a prequel to the real final battle, he was sure that what was about to happen would have been something memorable.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 70): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111154
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 124: The plan revealed
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie remained at the celestial embassy, using her powers to try to repair it as quickly as possible. Getting the building back up and running was the easy part; getting it operational again was the hard part. Sera continued to chant angelic incantations, which melted into the materials of the structure and generated new magical connections, all the while Emily tried to stabilize them and Pentious and Velvette tried to reactivate the circuits. Vaggie, meanwhile, continued to fly in circles around the building, with the indestructible axe in one hand and the cross of Christ in the other. "Are you finished?" she asked with some apprehension.
"No, not yet" was Sera's calm reply, who didn't even open her eyes to answer, remaining focused on what she was doing.
Vaggie was quite nervous. "Well, hurry up! I don't like this calm!"
"Well, try you to fix a device that is completely alien to us that was split in half by an atomic bomb!" Velvette replied angrily. Her entire body was engulfed in digital connections that were constantly cutting and reconnecting. Even with her lightning-fast learning ability, fixing something while having to learn the process literally from scratch was no easy feat.
"Hey, don't be so pessimistic! But anyways, yes, you need patience, Miss Vaggie" Pentious told her, also completely covered in high-tech harnesses and with what looked like a blowtorch in his hand. "We're doing our best"
Vaggie made a huffy noise. Charlie couldn't blame her: she was nervous as hell, too, and she'd rather get this job done quickly, so they could seal Hell and at least get the humans off their list. There hadn't been any further attacks on the embassy so far, but they'd still seen a faint flash of light in the distance, a sign that a small atomic bomb had been detonated down there. And besides, there was always the risk that Adam would have come back and blow the whole embassy apart again. "Let's try to stay calm" she told her anyway. "Be afraid won't..."
"We have a problem!" a familiar voice called from above.
Everyone looked up and saw Rosie land with a thud. She looked more out of breath than ever. "What happened?" Charlie asked her.
"Adam" Rosie explained. "He came back and attacked the forces of Hell when they first got here to Pride"
Charlie froze: "What? But Adam had gone away with my father..."
"Evidently it was a trick" Rosie told her. "Because he came there and took the Sins and your mother away. And he wasn't alone, the humans attacked again with some... robotic locusts"
"Robotic locusts?" Pentious repeated in surprise.
"Drones, or something. They infected the dead bodies with something, awakening them as zombies" Rosie explained. "I don't know what happened next, because I ran away. But since a bomb went off shortly after, I think the forces of Hell lost"
"Okay, okay, wait, too much" Emily stopped her, looking a bit overwhelmed. "So, the humans attacked with robots and... zombies? How did they know where the hellish army would be? And how did Adam split?"
"And more importantly, where are my mother and uncles now!?" Charlie exclaimed.
Rosie shook her head. For the first time, she looked genuinely nervous. "I don't know" she admitted. "I haven't..."
Suddenly, a flash much brighter than the others appeared on the horizon, and it crossed the entire landscape like a giant laser. As it faded, the glow in the distance indicated that a good portion of Pride's surface had been melted. "What the... what else is there now!?" Velvette exclaimed.
"The energy level was... well, pretty high" Pentious said in a strangled voice.
"Let's say enormous" Sera said quite worried.
"It came from over there, I saw it" Emily said, pointing in the distance. "What's there?"
Charlie bit her lip: "Well... nothing. It should just be a plain..."
A portal opened without warning near them, and Michael emerged like a fury, his appearance so great that the very air shook with his arrival. "You're still alive!?" he exclaimed.
"Um... yes" Charlie answered, already starting to sweat. "Why shouldn't we be...?"
"It was a trick" Michael told her. "It wasn't Adam who took me and Lucifer, it was that other demon"
"Alastor?" Pentious hissed. "And he stood up to you...?"
"No, he just kept us busy for a while. Adam gave him half of Pride's souls" Michael replied. "The purpose was to keep us away while he..."
"... took care of killing the Sins!" Sera exclaimed, connecting the pieces. "That's what that explosion was...!"
Charlie immediately went pale: "What... killing the Sins...?"
"Where did that explosion happen?" Michael asked, ignoring her.
Sera pointed to the horizon: "Over there. You can't be wrong, they literally melted an entire..."
Michael didn't waste time listening to an explanation: he immediately threw open a portal and jumped inside, intending to stop whatever was happening right away. He hoped he was still in time to prevent Adam from running away again, or worse, from having a new power up that made him too uncontrollable. He didn't even notice Charlie who chased him, yelling: "Wait!"
"Charlie, no!" Vaggie tried to stop her, but the demon princess dove into the portal just before it closed.
Vaggie sweated bullets in concern. Pentious sighed: "Well... typical of her" he couldn't help but admit.
Lilith was sweating coldly. Shit, with three Deadly Sins dead, they didn't stand a chance. They had to run, now. The question was how. "Stay behind me!" she tried to say. "I can cover your retreat if...!"
Adam moved too quickly for anyone to see; Satan barely registered his movement before the first man's hand shot up and a beam of hot light exploded from his fingers. Belphegor didn't even have time to realize what was happening to her before she was struck and disintegrated from the waist down. She barely managed a strangled cry before Adam was on top of her and thrust his hand into her body, violently ripping out her soul. And just like he had done with all the others, he devoured her right away.
The power of the sin of Sloth exploded through his body; a concentration of laziness and indolence that almost made him feel sleepy. It took only a couple of seconds for him to completely dominate it, regaining his mental faculties and his resolve despite those feelings. In the depths of Hell, the Sloth Ring vibrated, welcoming its new master.
Satan let out a furious growl as he watched the remains of Belphegor's body fall to the ground. "You... insect...!"
"You fought well. I respect you for that" Adam told him. "You were a worthy opponent. But now it's over"
Satan's eyes blazed with anger, and fire engulfed him again. Lilith paled: "Satan, no...!"
"You think you own this world!?" Satan roared, throwing himself against the first man. "What gives you the right...!?"
Adam moved suddenly: his arm hit the chest of the Embodiment of Wrath. Satan gasped, feeling his own heart shatter. Adam brought his lips close to his ear and whispered: "We are demons. No one gives us the right... we take it"
And with those words he pulled his hand back, tearing out entire organs... and a fiery red soul, large and pulsating, which he immediately devoured. As Satan's lifeless body fell before him, the first man was invaded by the power of Wrath: an immeasurable and uncontrollable rage, the absolute desire to destroy all those who had wronged him or even dared to oppose him. But unlike the other Sins, this time it was easier for him to handle that power... after all, that fury was something he had been used to for millennia. Under Pride, the Wrath Ring stirred more than ever, its authority now in someone else's hands for the first time in thousands of years.
Asmodeus backed away, trembling. He was the only Sin left now, and he knew he was next. The mere sight of his comrades' corpses on the ground was enough to make his heart beat furiously... he had never thought he would see his friends so massacred. He was furious, desperate, terrified and shocked at the same time.
Adam turned towards him. Asmodeus sweated and almost slipped to the ground in fear. "W-Wait...!"
Lilith suddenly appeared next to him and grabbed his arm. "We have to leave now!" she shouted at him, and immediately she prepared to use a teleportation spell. "We can't stay here...!"
But her powers suddenly jumped back, stopping her teleportation. Lilith let out a cry of despair, realizing that Adam had just used his powers to block hers, effectively preventing her from escaping. "Fuck...!"
Adam lunged at them and pushed her away, grabbing Asmodeus by the neck. The Embodiment of Lust was lifted like a twig. "Cough... stop!" he begged. "We can talk about this...!"
"You are even a bigger coward than the others" Adam told him. "At least they died with their heads held high, without begging"
"Listen to me!" Asmodeus shouted at him. "I can give you authority over Lust if you really want it! You don't have to kill me! Please, I've never done anything to you...!"
Adam tightened his grip on his neck, choking him. "You've done a lot to my world" he said. "You've allowed your sex demons to come to my planet and lead humans into sin. And you've also sold your crystals to other demons, who have brought drugs, deception, nightmares... and even death to Earth. You're guilty of a lot, don't you think?"
"I-I never had any bad intentions!" Asmodeus replied. "I just wanted to give my subjects a chance to have some fun... I didn't think that would be a problem...!"
"And yet, even after you found out it was, you continued to let them come to Earth. You didn't care what they did to my children!" Adam hissed at him. "And you've been guilty of atrocities of your own. Shall we remember Tobias' wife?"
Asmodeus fell silent, remembering what had been the biggest mistake of his life. Sarah, a beautiful girl he had met by chance while visiting Earth in the seventh century BC, and with whom he had fallen madly in love... and whose rejection he had not taken well. Sarah had not wanted him... not because he was a demon, since when he had proposed he had done so in human form, but simply because she did not like him. She had been very kind, telling him that surely he would have found someone who would have loved him for who he was. But Asmodeus had not accepted this; it had been the first time he had fallen madly in love with someone and he had not been willing to back down. So he set about killing all the girl's suitors, sure that once the competition was thinned out, she would have reconsidered... at least until God heard her prayers and put Tobias, one of the protégés of the archangel Raphael, in her path, who chased away Asmodeus and married Sarah, giving her the happy and peaceful life she had desired.
Asmodeus had been furious at the time, and spent decades complaining about how he had loved the girl. Only a century later had he discovered with horror that because of his actions Sarah had been on the verge of hanging herself. The discovery had destroyed him, and he had finally seen the truth that he had refused to accept for too long: Sarah had always been sad because of him, because he had tried to force her to love him. He was not the tragic hero of the story, he had been the villain, and Tobias was not a brute who had stolen his love, but a good guy who had given Sarah back the will to live and made her happy. It was then that Asmodeus, previously completely indifferent to how lust was perpetuated, had begun to impose the absence of any kind of violence and the need for consent; and he had also refused any kind of love, believing himself to be a person not fit to love anyone.
Seeing that Asmodeus didn't speak, Adam grunted: "No reply, huh? I guess I hit a nerve"
Asmodeus took a deep breath. "I know I did a grave wrong back then, and I have no excuses" he said in a voice full of regret and anger towards himself. "But I've changed since then... I tried to make everyone change...!"
"I know" Adam told him. "And that's the only reason I won't make you relive your bad deeds. I'll just finish you off"
Asmodeus paled even more: "You've already won! Why do you want to...!?"
"Honestly, Asmodeus, I'm a little sorry for this" Adam interrupted him, placing his hands on either side of his head. "Of all this rabble, you were the one I hated the least!"
And with that he closed his hands violently; Asmodeus' skull instantly shattered beneath them. Adam found himself holding the long, multicolored feathers of the demon's head in his hands, as well as a blue soul that pulsed as if it were made of liquid fire. He devoured it immediately, subjugating the last remaining Ring (excluding Pride) to him, and feeling within himself the incessant desire to reproduce and fuck and indulge in every pleasure of the flesh, making the power of Lust his own.
Lilith uttered a cry of despair as she saw Asmodeus' corpse. All the Deadly Sins, the strongest demons in Hell, had fallen. Now only Lucifer remained capable of opposing Adam. Surely, she no longer had a chance now that the first man had the souls of the Deadly Sins plus all the ones he had already absorbed.
What could she do...?
But just then a portal opened next to her and a quick flash of light crossed the plain, and an instant later Adam was smashed to the ground as if he were made of cork. Lilith saw Michael stop in front of her still with his fist raised, and immediately after she heard a familiar voice: "Mom!"
Lilith turned and saw Charlie emerge from the portal an instant before it closed. "Hey... I'm fine" she reassured her.
Charlie however hugged her and helped her up. As soon as he saw the dead bodies on the ground he began to hyperventilate: "U-Uncles...?"
"We can still save them!" Lilith immediately said to reassure her. "Adam only stole their souls, he didn't kill them permanently"
Charlie still had her blood running cold, but those words gave her a little hope. Even though the sight of the battered bodies on the ground made her want to faint, she tried to hold on to what her mother had told her to stay sane. If they still had a chance, they couldn't lose it.
Adam rubbed his chin. Damn, even with all the stamina he had gained, Michael's fists still hurt. "Congrats, you're first" he commented. "I guess Lucifer's not far behind"
Michael slammed a foot into Adam's sternum, making him groan. "Give up" he warned. "Give me those souls. Now"
In response, Adam's eyes narrowed, and power exploded through his body; it was as if a multicolored aura had enveloped him, a fire of blue, green, yellow, purple, light blue, and red. He grabbed Michael's foot and with some effort pushed him back, just enough for him to break free and jump back. He quickly got back to his feet, already in a defensive stance. "Stop it" he said. "You can't stop me now. It's already started"
"You think I'm going to let you cause a lot of havoc!?" Michael growled.
"Havoc?" Adam said, and then he calmly raised his hand. "There's one last little detail I'd like to share with all of you"
His eyes glowed with static, and he activated Velvette's powers; a sort of holographic screen appeared in his hand. "What is it?" Michael asked. "Another ultimate move?"
"You can call it that" Adam replied, and at his command the screen lit up.
The face of the US President appeared before them. The man was sitting on his elegant desk in the White House, surrounded by microphones and video cameras, as he always did when he had to address the nation. "My fellow American citizens" he was saying. "What I am about to reveal to you is now being revealed by the heads of state of all the nations of the world. Only a limited number of people have known the truth up to this point, but now there is no longer any reason to keep it hidden. Many of you in the last days have asked for answers regarding the mysterious appearance of extraordinary beings in various parts of the world; many theories have been expressed, such as biological weapons, aliens, super soldiers, but one word in particular has been on everyone's lips... demons. Well, today I can reveal to you that this word is correct. Demons exist, Hell exists, Heaven exists... God exists. But you must not be afraid, because I can announce to you that demons are no longer a problem. Today is the day humanity has destroyed Hell!"
Michael looked confused, and so did Charlie and Lilith. None of the three of them were speaking as they listened to the man speak. "A detailed explanation is in order" the US President continued to say. "Well, you should know that over the years our government and the governments of many other nations have been gathering information about these interdimensional entities. I know this will be shocking news to all of you, but demons used to visit this world. And you can see from these images that they never had peaceful intentions"
Several images were shown in sequence: images taken by hidden cameras or satellites, showing demons coming to Earth and taking on human form, or even walking around without bothering to hide. In most cases they were succubi and incubi, but there were also infestor demons stalking people, or even monsters modified by Beelzebub's honey attacking a beach. The most apocalyptic scene was an entire skyscraper in LA being destroyed by two demons posing as actors. "What you see is only the material that has been collected on American soil. There are many more in all parts of the world" the US President said. "Over the past few years, our intelligence services, as well as those of other nations, have sought information from our past to understand these beings. We have built working portals to Hell and established contact with other interdimensional entities that have provided us with much knowledge to fight back. The opinions of the various nations of the UN on how to deal with demons were mixed, since, as you can imagine, we were too divided by our petty rivalries to really worry about beings that did not really seem to pose a risk to national defense. But all our differences vanished when the two demons that you all know demonstrated to the entire world how dangerous they were"
The image of Adam and Charlie fighting was shown, if only for a moment. "The demons never considered humanity any different from cattle, thinking that we were worthless beings, no different from animals to be exploited for their own interests. We hoped, however, that at least such a mentality would be limited to the weaker demons, and that the stronger ones would be more wary of us. A little over a week ago we were proven wrong. At that moment, the opinion of all the nations of the world ceased to be divergent" the US President continued to explain. "Not even two days after that event, all the states of this planet officially united in a great alliance. The awareness of a common risk for our species made us understand how senseless our differences were. If you have wondered why in the last few days the armies of the warring nations have not fought, limiting themselves to maintaining a defensive position, here is the answer: these wars are already officially over. Through what we could call the greatest diplomatic experiment in human history, all the states of the world have signed peace treaties. The Presidents of the Russian Federation and of Ukraine reached an agreement already six days ago. In Palestine, the factions that until yesterday were ready to slaughter each other signed a ceasefire three days ago. Just yesterday, in Myanmar, the government has already granted the leaders of the various rebel militias their demands, effectively ending the civil war, and has begun a demilitarization of the ruling class. And these are some of the examples. I could go on for hours listing all the progress that has been made since humanity became aware of the existence of another world besides ours. Not only have the fifty-six conflicts that plagued our world officially ended, but projects are currently underway to improve international relations, to dismantle dictatorships, and above all, to guarantee human rights. Even those cruel tyrants who until yesterday lorded over their people have been forced to step down or agree to grant rights to the people, whether it was out of fear for their souls or simply because they knew that they would be going against what is now a world united in a common cause. All this progress has not been revealed to the people until now for fear that some disguised demons might notice this colossal change and realize that we are about to attack; but now there is no need for secrecy, because the demons have been defeated! They dared to come to our territory without permission and commit illegal acts, and this is an act of war for all the nations of the world! That is why we responded in the most appropriate way, and reminded them that the Earth rightfully belongs to mankind!"
Charlie clutched her heart. It was terrifying how great news for one people could be the downfall of another. The US President was listing how much the war against Hell had brought to humanity, while she was standing next to the dismembered bodies of her uncles, scattered across what had become a radioactive wasteland. "To face the threat and give the demons what they deserve, humanity has united in the greatest military operation in History!" the US President said, increasingly galvanized. "The planet's most brilliant minds and all the warfare technologies were shared between the world's states, creating the perfect plan to annihilate the forces of Hell without them having the slightest chance to fight back! Well, that's exactly what happened! Their entire demonic class is now destroyed, those who could pose a threat to Earth are dead, and the artifacts that allowed them to come to this planet have been taken away by us! At this very moment, their cities are all in ruins; we have released a symptomobiological weapon that will lead to the total death of the entire infernal population within seven days. However, even though this disgusting species is notoriously evil, we still decided to show ourselves benevolent, and so we made sure that this weapon spared those demons who still had enough grace in their hearts to deserve to be spared. Even if they are not human, we do not want to be responsible for the death of children"
"Huh?" Charlie muttered in confusion. A weapon that only hit those who deserved it? Wait...
"Many of you may be confused by this decision of ours, but know that we have reason to believe that there is a small fraction of demons who deserve to live. We have received guidance from heaven to come to this conclusion. Now, the fate of those demons, as well as all of us, rests in the hands of the Almighty God, who has made us His instruments in the annihilation of the dark realm!" the US President continued to say. "An angel has come to us, showing us the way! He has announced that the Earth will soon undergo an unprecedented change, one that will lead to a world that will never again see abuse and wickedness! Therefore, we must prepare this world for this change. In a week, when the population of Hell will be completely annihilated, our soldiers will personally go to Hell and establish a colony. We will have a whole new world, which we can study and make our own, full of resources that we can use. Hunger, climate change, cancer, all these evils will soon disappear thanks to our victory; and we will bring the surviving demons to live in this colony, teaching them how to live civilized, so that they will have a chance to be welcomed into the arms of the good God, and help us explore and colonize their world. Humanity will be the ruler of two worlds, ready to welcome the glorious future that has been foretold to us, a future where sin will not be welcomed anymore! Unprecedented progress is upon us! Today we mark a milestone in the..."
Adam seemed to consider this enough, because he stopped listening to the US President's speech, and instead moved his hand to create more holographic screens showing the other world leaders. Even though they were talking over each other and in different languages, it was not difficult to tell that they were all making a very similar speech. "Do you understand now what I have created?" Adam asked.
Lilith bit her lip. "That's why you said humanity would be ready..." she said through gritted teeth. "You made us the enemy"
"I call it deterrent" Adam replied.
Michael remained silent. His gaze betrayed the train of thought in his mind. "Why?" he finally asked, though his tone betrayed that he had already figured it all out.
Adam sighed. "I needed to cleanse Hell, give humans angelic steel, and reveal to them the existence of the afterlife without risking their falling into fanaticism and massacres" he replied. "The best way to unite humans is with war. I gave them a common enemy, someone against whom any differences between nations were futile. To face Hell, humanity united like never before. Once the stage was set, it was easy to send an angel to point them in the right direction"
Michael narrowed his eyes. "Lute is not here" he commented in a harsh voice. "And you would never put one of your own at risk"
"You finally noticed it" Adam told him. "I communicated with Alastor the whole time I was in the cell, and through him I communicated with Lute too. None of you thought to watch her when she left the celestial embassy. It was easy for him to meet her and put me in touch with her. And Alastor had also left one of his shadows on Earth, thanks to which he could see, communicate, and even transport something to the planet. With her acting as spokesperson and him handling everything else to smooth her way, everything went according to plan"
"And so you pushed humanity to attack Hell through her" Lilith said.
"They would have attacked you anyway, they had the technology for years. They just needed an incentive, and after our little show on Earth their minds were made up" Adam told her. "No, I made sure they spared those who didn't deserve to die. If I had let them have their way, they would have simply nuked all of Hell. That's not what I want, because some hellborns don't deserve to die. I don't kill innocents"
Charlie clenched her fists. "Vox" she muttered in a small voice.
Adam looked at her with satisfaction. "You get it, I see"
"Rosie said about robotic locusts, and the President said they used a weapon that only hit those who deserved it" Charlie said. "That's why Alastor said you had other plans for Vox, right? You had him create a program that mimicked your ability to see the sins of souls, and then Lute gave it to the humans who used it to cleanse Hell while sparing the innocents"
"You guessed it right" Adam confirmed. "Vox created a digital system for me to recognize demons that have sinned on their hearts... it only works on hellborns, but it's effective. When Lute went to Earth, she gave this program to the humans, who integrated it with an artificial intelligence that they then inserted into the robotic locusts. And on top of that, she gave them a... good scolding". His smile widened a bit: "I told you, I don't want a world of fanatics. Lute explained in detail to world leaders that everyone in the world deserves respect. Sure, humans to the Bible, but... honestly, seeing how they've interpreted it throughout history, I don't trust myself to use only that. Say what you want about Lute, but he knows how to properly scold sinners"
"That's why that guy said a lot of dictators have changed their ways" Michael commented. "Lute scared them good enough"
"If I had just sent Lute to tell the humans to fight against Hell, they would have done so, but once the threat was over they would have turned on each other in fanaticism. If I hadn't united humanity against a common enemy, the humans still wouldn't have fully listened to Lute even though she is literally an angel of God. And I could give you many other scenarios where everything goes to shit. So I chose the safest one" Adam said. "I first made humanity feel threatened by an unknown enemy, and at the same time rekindled their fear of the afterlife; then I sent Lute to them, making them feel that God is on their side, and so they all listened to her when she listed all the horrors that the Almighty cannot tolerate. The result is what you see: not only has humanity won the war, but it is already on the path to progress, and is even willing to accept the demons that will be selected as worthy of life. Even if I do nothing more, the future will still be filled with changes and reforms that will forever modify the political structure of the Earth, guaranteeing rights, peace and well-being to all humans"
"And so when Lute returns to them and orders them to drink the angelic steel, everyone will obey her" Charlie murmured as she put the last pieces together. "Humans are now convinced that in the future someone will rid the world of evil, and they will be happy to do whatever an angel tells them. And you will have your utopia"
"Our utopia" Adam corrected her. "Everyone will benefit"
"Except for the billions of people you just killed" Charlie replied.
"Don't jump to conclusions" Adam told her, and in his hand, a few souls appeared and began to dance. "That's right, I originally planned to just kill everyone. I wanted to get these souls to give myself a power boost, but I would have destroyed them as soon as I finished my plan. But now I'm having second thoughts. You've shown me that a soul can change... so I need to think about it. Maybe I'll gradually release them and give them to you, one at a time, so you can redeem them. Or maybe I'll find another solution. I need to think about it, but I can promise you that I won't just forget that your solution works"
"And what about the hellborns?" Charlie asked again.
"Now that I have authority over the Rings formerly ruled by the Sins, I have already decided that when those hellborns die in a week, their souls will remain imprisoned in the interdimensional fabric of the Rings" Adam replied. "I had originally planned to simply let them die, just like the Sins, but if the sinners can redeem themselves, I see no reason why I should deny that possibility to the hellborns as well. I will carefully evaluate their situation as soon as I can think about it calmly. As for the survivors, those people who remained good even in Hell... well, they will soon be integrated into a new world built by humans, where they too can live far from sin"
"I doubt the Goetias were saved" Lilith pointed out. "They were killed, not infected by that sort of chemical weapon. And you might not have gained authority over the Rings in time. And some died here in Pride"
Adam shrugged. "Yes, that's true. I can still try to save some... but chances are a lot of them were killed. But at the same time, a lot of them were absolute slave-driving assholes, so it's not that big of a loss after all. I sacrificed a few hundred noble Goetias to save billions of people. Do you want to cry for those exploiters, Lilith?"
Suddenly a crimson red column broke through the clouds and descended on Adam: the other half of the souls he had given to Alastor returned to his body, empowering him more than ever. Adam could feel their energy returning to him. "Hmm. So the deer is done" he commented with a strange tension in his voice.
Lilith's eyes narrowed. Her body was shaking. "It's a brilliant plan" she had to admit. "Crazy, cruel, genocidal... but brilliant"
"Thank you" Adam said as if it were a compliment. Lilith looked like she was about to punch him. "How did Lute do all this?" she asked in a low voice. "She was supposed to be on Earth for days, but she came to visit you in the cell regularly"
"Oh, let's just say we used a trick" Adam replied, and then he ignored the question completely and turned to Michael: "You have nothing to say?"
The archangel was still showing no emotion. His face was unreadable. "So, you fooled everyone" he muttered. "You fooled humanity into moving towards a more righteous path and eliminating the greatest threat to their survival"
"Yeah" Adam replied. "Don't look at me like that. It was foretold that a deceiver would take over mankind. It was foretold that fire would purify the unworthy. It was foretold that swarms of locusts would sting and inflict pain on the wicked. It was foretold that the forces of righteous men would annihilate the forces of hell. It was all foretold. I just followed the path"
Michael gave him a strange look. It was almost as if he somehow understood, that he understood Adam's actions and his reasons. Perhaps, deep down, he even approved of them. But he was still an angel dedicated to his duty, and in fact he said to him: "You know that I can't allow you to continue this little show of yours, right?"
Adam grunted. He could have told him that he was being silly, that things were better left as they were, that the world was at peace now and that he was moving toward a better future, but he didn’t. He knew that Michael had already thought of all this, and there was no point in telling him again. "I know" he said simply. "But you are not my opponent now"
Just then, a white flash appeared, and then something landed next to them, raising a cloud of dust. Lucifer had finally arrived, and he froze instantly as he saw the scene. His mind seemed to shut down as he looked at the six corpses scattered on the ground. For the first time in centuries, his eyes became completely dull.
Lilith immediately recognized that look, and she tried to explain to him: "Lucifer, I'm not... mmmph!". She couldn't finish the sentence: at Adam's command, his shadow crawled over her and covered her mouth.
The first man raised the multicolored feathers he had torn from Asmodeus' head. "Here" he said, throwing them to the fallen angel.
Lucifer caught them in mid-air and brought them to his face, feeling the softness he had always felt every time he had playfully ruffled the Embodiment of Lust's hair. Under his hands he could feel the touch of each of the Sins, those demons that after so many centuries together he had been accustomed to treating almost like family. And now they were on the ground torn to pieces.
"I could tell you that it's not your fault" Adam told him. "I could tell you that I'm the evil one who should be blamed. I could tell you anything. But it wouldn't change a damn thing, would it? It wouldn't change a damn thing for you just like it didn't change a damn thing for me when I watched my world sink beneath the waters of the Flood. In your heart... you always know that it's actually your fault. Maybe not entirely... but it is. They trusted you... and you were unable to protect them"
Lucifer looked up at the first man. His eyes were scary: they weren't furious or desperate, they were something more. Devoid of any emotion, filled only with a primal hunting instinct... to kill. Charlie was scared at that sight: "Dad...?"
"What are you waiting for?" Adam urged him. "I'm here, come get me. Show me your true emotions. Make me understand that you finally feel what I feel"
Lucifer moved so fast that neither Charlie nor Lilith were able to see him: it was such a rapid speed that literally the light couldn't keep up with him. His fist was raised, aimed at Adam's face, determined to disintegrate him. The first man moved in turn, also raising his fist and pointing it at Lucifer...
"CRAZY!" Michael, the only one who was able to see them, screamed in his mind. "This energy... Pride's crust will be shattered!"
If those two fists had collided, they would have generated so much power that they would have completely split the ninety kilometers of crust that separated Pride from Wrath. Not only would Charlie and Lilith have been pulverized, but part of Pride's crust would have fallen on Wrath, with devastating consequences for all of the Seven Rings!
Michael immediately activated his powers, grabbing Adam and Lucifer, trying to block them, but he couldn't. They had reached a level of power that even for him was difficult to stop. "I can't block so much kinetic energy... I have to divert it!" he thought quickly, sweating from the effort. "I have to direct it upwards... like this!"
Where Adam and Lucifer were about to hit each other, an explosion occurred: as if a cannon had just fired, a deafening roar was heard throughout the plain and a column of light shot upwards, penetrating the black clouds that instantly moved due to the shock wave. Adam and Lucifer disappeared, blasted away by that immense energy, leaving Michael alone, panting hard from the effort. That was all Charlie and Lilith could see, as that was all that happened in a time they could perceive. "Where... where did they go?" Charlie whispered in a thin voice.
At the same time, Adam and Lucifer crashed into a rock wall and rolled away far from each other. The first man spat out some dust, but he realized that the ground was different... it wasn't red anymore. "What the fuck...?" he murmured. "This... isn't Pride's soil...?"
He looked up and was shocked: instead of black clouds, the sky was now occupied by a large red planet surrounded by gas and smoke, with the firestorms of the bombs still visible under the polluted atmosphere; next to it, a red pentacle illuminated with a sun. "Is that Hell...?"
Lucifer emerged from the rubble and took flight, appearing as a white spot in the alien sky. Unlike the first man, he didn't even seem to notice what had happened. "Oh... now I get it. We're on Sheol" Adam commented with a bit of excitement. "The force that Michael diverted... threw us to the moon"
Notes:
For those who don't know, what Adam accuses Asmodeus of is a passage in the Bible in which he kills all the suitors of a girl in order to force her to love him, almost pushing her to suicide. It may seem like a simple love story that has nothing to do with metaphysical messages, but in reality this story contains one of the most important messages of the Bible, that is, that evil can take you only if you give in to it. Asmodeus could not hurt Sarah directly, it was she who had to give in to him; It is a story that is repeated many times even in the following centuries, such as the stories of dragons that kidnap princesses (the dragon, representation of evil, devours all the impure princesses, but when he finds himself in front of one who is pure he must first make her give in to eat her, and then as long as she resists she can still be saved by the knight, who in turn is at the service of God and for this reason can defeat the dragon, while all those who had come using only their strength had failed), or even in very recent times given that there are messages of this kind also in Disney films (why, for example, does Ariel meet Ursula in her lair and not outside? Because, again, the message is that you are the one who must go to evil, evil can only attract you using henchmen or creating a situation in which you are vulnerable, but in any case giving in is only your choice). This is a very strong message that has in fact had repercussions in many fields of our morals and ethics. Here I wanted to add it to make it clear both why Adam does not appreciate the Sins (they are NOT saints, even if this should be obvious just by watching Helluva Boss, but let's specify, both Beelzebub and Asmodeus are NOT good people, even if they still have redeeming traits) and because it was a good way to explain why Asmodeus is angry with love and is so careful about consent. In a way, Asmodeus here represents what Charlie is trying to do with the sinners, that is, a demon who realizes his grave mistake and tries to improve, even if he makes a lot of mistakes in the process. It was therefore natural that Adam would indignantly reject this, even if he himself finds himself having to admit that Asmodeus has changed. In short, it is another representation of the moral conflict between Adam and Charlie, which Adam, as demonstrated other times, tries to crush using violence.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 71): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111193
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 125: Man and angel (part 1)
Notes:
Given how events are going, I think it's time to do a little excursus on Adam's psychology, just to clarify his interactions with the other characters and why some (like Lute) find themselves siding with him.
First of all, let's specify a fundamental detail: this is NOT a genocide, or rather, not yet. Adam didn't kill the demons, he absorbed them. As long as the souls are intact, the demons are still alive. So we can't talk about genocide, at most forced slavery. Of course, Adam himself specified that in the original plan he would then kill all those souls (he never hid it, after all), but in this case he told Charlie that he will think twice now that he knows he can save not only good people but also bad ones. Of course, I wouldn't trust him to have total control of billions of souls either, since he could always change his mind at any time, but in any case this shows that he is not completely fanatical in his actions. And that's the crux of the matter: Adam is not a fanatic at all, even if (for obvious reasons) he bases his plan on religious dogma. On the contrary, he is completely open to dialogue, as he has demonstrated several times with Vaggie, Charlie and even Pentious. He did not reject their words directly, on the contrary, he listened to them (when they had decent arguments, at least); those words were simply not enough because they do not solve the main problem. And this is what really moves Adam: not fanaticism, but the weight of the responsibility he feels towards humanity.
Of course, Adam is also motivated by his emotional instability, as he shows many times, but his greatest driving force is the awareness that humanity suffers. Try to put yourself in his shoes for a moment: you have spent over TWO THOUSAND years planning a way to finally cleanse the universe of evil, and suddenly a redeemed demon appears before your eyes. That alone would be enough to destabilize anyone. But Adam, even if he has accepted the existence of Pentious, still cannot stop. Because for every second of time he wastes, millions of people on Earth suffer, and he feels responsible for it. This is precisely why Adam, upon discovering that demons can be redeemed, did not simply sit down to reflect, but on the contrary continued: the reason is that, from his point of view, it is much better to continue with his plan, so as to finally protect Earth, simply by avoiding killing the souls of the demons so as to reflect on them at a later time. Adam is totally open to the possibility of not just killing the demons, but he MUST, precisely because of what has become a psychological need for him, carry out his plan; any discussion of redemption can be postponed until after the Earth is finally safe. In a way, Adam, like Lute, the Exorcists and all those who are following him, is simply saying: "Redemption is possible? Okay. First let's make sure that no innocent person ever has to suffer again, and then let's think about how this thing that has never happened before works".
Is Adam wrong? Again, yes, but only in THEORY, not in PRACTICE. In practice his actions are totally understandable, and in fact even Lilith and Michael find themselves not being angry with him, but rather telling him that his plan makes sense. The reason why the two of them opposed him is more a question of DUTY (Lilith must protect Hell as queen, Michael must maintain the balance) than of actual mentality. If the two of them were not limited by their sense of duty, they probably would have been much more conflicted about whether he was right or wrong. This, of course, does not hide the fact that Adam is wrong: the scene in which he tears Asmodeus' soul is described as a terrible trauma for the demon, even if from a purely practical point of view it is much better to capture his soul, put it aside until everything is over, and then evaluate whether to give him a second chance. And Adam is also motivated by his own hatred, which leads him to make questionable choices: when he prevents Lilith from telling Lucifer that the Sins are still alive, just imprisoned, he is not doing it for strategic reasons, he just wants to make Lucifer feel the pain of losing his friends, just like Adam felt because of Lucifer. It is a cruel action with the sole purpose of hurting. And again, Adam's hatred towards Lucifer does indeed have a just motivation in practice, but in theory, and therefore in actual reality, it is not.
That's the terrifying thing about this Adam: he's human. He's not a human-made monster, he's totally HUMAN. His actions aren't irrational, but rather, they have such a deep logical matrix that even his opponents can't help but wonder if he's right. And he changes his plan to adapt it to what he discovers, even if it challenges his belief: he doesn't reject it, but simply postpones it. These are actions that basically any human being would end up executing if put in his position. THIS is what make him both great and horrible.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When the city exploded, Zestial had the misfortune of being on the upper floors of his castle, and as a result, he had been thrown off as if he were made of cork. His body had been torn apart and burned countless times, so much so that he himself had at some point stopped keeping track. It had been the most painful experience of his life, and the massive amount of radiation that had followed hadn't made things any better.
Now his body, if it could still be called a body, lay in the rubble unable to move, continually regenerating only to be destroyed again. He could feel malignant tumors and cancers appearing every few seconds on his internal organs, annihilating them and killing him again, then forcing him to regenerate and start all over again. Spiders were resistant to radiation, but not that much. It was a constant torture.
He had barely managed to move his right hand and use it to crawl a few meters, but it was useless since the rubble was scattered everywhere and he found only pieces of concrete and metal in every direction. If he moved the wrong ones, he risked something falling on him and trapping him even more. And he couldn't even see where he was going since his eyes were two tumorous masses...
"There you are"
Zestial could just feel someone grabbing him and pulling him out of the rubble, and then his body finally started to feel a little better. He used his powers to regenerate as quickly as possible, and finally he could see again. As his eyes returned to normal, he saw a large, gray-skinned, blond demon in front of him, very muscular and with two wings that resembled those of a pterosaur, who was creating a barrier around him to keep the radiation away. "Cough... finally, I was wondering where you guys went" he said slightly.
"Sorry it took us so long" the muscular demon said, helping him up. "The whole of Hell is in chaos, we didn't know where to go first. We were busy saving some people in the lower Rings"
Zestial cracked his body, happy to feel his motor functions returning to normal. "Well, you're here now" he commented. "What's the plan?"
"Stop the old man before he makes any more trouble, of course" an annoyed voice came from the shadow of that other demon.
"Yes, it is imperative. None of us expected a disaster on this scale, we can't wait any longer" the muscular demon said. "So... he blew up all of Pride and absorbed the souls?"
"Apparently so" Zestial replied. Even while he was half dead, he had been able to feel something trying to tear his soul out. "I think it happens when someone is begging for help"
"And you didn't beg?" the shadow asked him.
"Oh, I did" Zestial replied. "But the... bond you and I have kept my soul from being dragged away"
"Well, it's a good thing it resisted. The magic that was performed here was definitely very powerful" the muscular demon commented. "Fuck... we should have come much sooner, while the old man was still restricted. This is the last time I'll listen to your whims, idiot"
"Don't blame me, asshole" the shadow replied angrily. "Think about finding him instead"
Suddenly, what looked like a meteorite cut through the clouds and fell a short distance from them with a roar. They looked up and even through the dark clouds they saw that the moon was losing pieces that were being thrown towards Hell. Rapid flashes of light continually appeared on the surface of the satellite. "I'd say they're up there" the shadow commented.
"It seems Adam and Lucifer have chosen to be serious" Zestial said.
"Yeah" the muscular demon muttered. "This is no good. Their power is too great. If we try to get close, we will be blown away"
"I can hit them even from this distance" the shadow said. "But at their current level, it would be risky. I would have to use all my power to even just get their attention, but if they let their guard down at that moment, I would end up killing them"
"I agree" the muscled demon said. "Let's not make any rash moves. We'll wait until one of us gets the upper hand, and only then we'll intervene to stop the hostilities. Hoping that they don't split the moon in half in the meantime"
"Well, in the worst case scenario, you can always ask her to fix it" Zestial said with a smirk.
The muscled demon grunted. "She doesn't know anything yet, and let's leave things as they are. I don't know how she would react if she knew what was happening. We're here to prevent a disaster, not to cause a worse one"
"You complain because I didn't want to meet him, but you're so secretive with her?" the shadow mocked him.
"That's different! He's still controllable" the muscled demon growled at him. "If the words don't work, we can still play our cards right, strip him of his souls and stop him. We won't have such chance with her"
"Tsk! Coward" was the shadow's only response.
The muscled demon was about to reply, but Zestial intervened: "Well, if we have to wait for those two hotheads to finish slapping each other, I suggest we go get another loose cannon in the meantime"
The muscled demon was silent for a moment. "You finally found the traitor?"
"I have my tricks. Without them noticing, I put some... spells on my allies, so I know where they are and who they are interacting with. And I know that he's with them now" Zestial replied.
"It's about time you found him!" the shadow said angrily. "If you had done it sooner, we could have avoided this mess! What good is an infiltrator who takes so long to find a fugitive? You better be right this time!"
"Shut up" the muscled demon told him. "Anyway, Zestial, are you sure you finally found that traitor?"
"I am" Zestial replied. "I can give you Alastor"
Adam was lost for a moment in staring at the spectacle in front of him. Hell was so big and at the same time it now appeared as what it was: a broken and uninhabitable world. He had already admired that planet from Sheol, but now finally instead of the red land that made it similar to Mars there were only dark clouds and bright firestorms. A destroyed world, that even from space appeared dead.
And in front of the destroyed Hell, an angel of white light staring at him. Lucifer, the king of that world, broken in the same way, who finally no longer had even a sign of laughter on his face, only a cold murderous fury. The first man had wanted for so long to see the fallen angel like this, and finally that wish had come true.
"Your brother was good. Actually, our move was reckless" Adam said. "But in any case, we should try to go back..."
"Shut up" Lucifer interrupted him immediately. His expression didn't change a bit.
Adam narrowed his eyes. There it was... there, that ancestral rage, that feeling of absolute desire to annihilate the opponent. Everything else immediately lost importance, everything that happened around them had the same value as a microbe. Lucifer's mind was now focused on a single objective: kill him.
"So be it" Adam said, banging his tail on the ground. "Let's do it. Forget pride. This time... show me your fury"
Lucifer still didn't change his expression. Even though he exuded calm, he looked like he was about to explode. "It ends today" he warned him.
"Oh, that won't be the case. I don't have a way to kill you for good yet" Adam told him, and his face scrunched up. "But don't worry, that won't stop me from hitting you really hard. I intend to be the one to beat you"
The air froze around them; time itself seemed to freeze. Their minds were moving so fast that they could feel their own hearts beating and their lungs moving. Their hands balled into fists, and the energy in their bodies boiled.
And then, they both moved at the same time.
Adam and Lucifer were separated by hundreds of minds in one moment, and the next, they were facing each other; their eyes met, and then their fists connected. A deafening roar emitted and the earth beneath them lost all strength and slid away like a liquid, creating a huge crater; bedrock on the scale of entire mountains was pulverized in an instant. The shock wave that was generated blew away the atmosphere for thousands of kilometers, so much so that it was visible from space.
Both Adam and Lucifer were thrown back about ten meters by the recoil, though both remained standing. The first man looked at his hand with some interest, finding it shaking from the force it had withstood. "Extraordinary" he murmured. "To think that even with all the souls of Pride and the Sins I couldn't penetrate your defense... you really are build different"
"Can't you just not talk?" Lucifer asked him, and closed his hand into a fist again, and with that movement alone he generated another small shock wave. "Come here and fight!"
Adam's eyes flashed with a sadistic light. "Yes... good idea!" he roared, and he launched himself at him again.
Lucifer did the same; in a fraction of a second, they were once again a few centimeters from each other, and they threw another punch. This time both were ready and withstood the impact better, and they didn't stop at just one: like two professional fighters in a ring, they transformed into a veritable vortex of punches and kicks. Their hands met dozens of times per second, generating so much energy that they even broke the subatomic particles between them, until they were literally immersed in an empty bubble, devoid of even the smallest electron.
There were no words, and no more sounds in that empty space: just the two of them, two very fast blobs against the landscape, with a crater beneath them that was growing bigger and deeper. Both of them were staring into the other's pupilless eyes, Adam into Lucifer's red ones, Lucifer into Adam's golden ones. They were like two beasts trying to find any sign of weakness in the opponent's spirit.
And at one point they both managed to hit each other on the cheek; at which point they were thrown in opposite directions. Lucifer flew for a few dozen meters, but then managed to bend in mid-air and land on his feet. Adam, on the other hand, crashed to the ground with extreme violence, generating a great cloud of dust.
The sound came back suddenly: without the two of them generating immense force, the atmosphere bounced back, like a wave that enters a crater, generating a roar more powerful than any thunder. But neither Lucifer nor Adam paid the slightest attention. "What are you doing standing there? This is what you wanted, right?" the fallen angel said walking towards the first man. "Get up and fight!"
Adam emerged from the dust, completely unharmed. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be concentrating intensely on something. And then he opened them again and stared at Lucifer: "Ultimate move"
The fallen angel had a momentary sense of danger, and then he was blinded: Adam was engulfed in flames, flames so bright that they would have instantly charred the eyes of anyone who dared to look at them. Satan's powers emerged from him, but he was not like Satan: he could push far beyond the one hundred and fifty thousand degrees that the Embodiment of Wrath had reached. He now had the souls of all the Sins, plus every single sinner in the Pride Ring. The temperature he emitted as soon as he lit his flames was already half a million degrees, but he certainly didn't stop there, increasing at an exponential rate.
Lucifer let out a cry of anger and stepped back, but he crashed into something extremely hard: a sort of shield had formed all around them. Adam had deformed the ground to enclose them and compressed every single atom to form a very hard patina, the same one he had used to protect himself when he had faced Sera: a very hard material that could only be obtained with extreme pressure and gravity, which in its natural state was generated only by the most violent events in the universe such as the formation of neutron stars. Lucifer and Adam were prisoners inside that shield, with it becoming increasingly hot and bright.
Lucifer gritted his teeth, and threw a punch at that shield, and even if he managed to break it, he only created a hole big enough for his hand to pass through; and what's more, immediately after the material thrown away turned around and put itself back in position, as if it were a magnet. Adam had created a very complex magnetic field around them that kept all that very hard material in place. And meanwhile, the first man continued to get hotter and hotter. Ten million, twenty million, thirty million degrees...
As soon as he reached fifty million degrees, about half the temperature of a red giant star, he decided it was time. "CONTAINED SUPERNOVA!"
The immense temperature he had accumulated was no longer held back: Adam released it in all its power, the same power of a collapsing star. Lucifer was hit by it and was crashed against the very hard wall that surrounded them, crushed by the immense pressure of a stellar explosion. It was like a tsunami of pure primordial energy, a literally unstoppable destructive force.
Under normal circumstances, a supernova would have already pulverized the entire Sheol and also the nearby Hell, and if it had not done so the light generated would have at least burned them; but the shield that surrounded them protected the rest of the realm from the powerful explosion. The immense violence of a collapsing star collided with the extremely hard material of a neutron star, starting a war of resistance; sometimes the shield broke, opening gaps from which the light emerged, and anything that light touched was vaporized in a few seconds. But eventually, the hard casing won out, and the supernova bounced back over and over again.
Adam, at the center of that explosion, barely felt what was happening; each time the supernova compressed around him, the density it reached would hurl it back before it reached him. The same could not be said for Lucifer, who was continually hurled against the wall, dragged back, and then hurled against the wall again. It was as if he had been glued to a double hydraulic press, except that powering the press was one of the most destructive forces in the universe.
Eventually the supernova began to lose energy; no matter how strong it was, nothing in the universe lasted forever. Every time it hit the shield or bounced back, some of its original energy was lost. Adam waited, and then, when he decided it was no longer worth continuing, he undid the power holding the shield in place; it broke, and immediately the force still contained within it exploded out, scorching the ground for thousands of kilometers and throwing Lucifer off, rolling across the half-melted land.
Adam cracked his neck. "I haven't reached the level of the most powerful supernovas... but it's a start" he commented to himself. "I still have to adjust to these powers..."
Lucifer had landed facedown on the ground for the first time in thousands of years. Adam landed next to him, enjoying the sight of him lying beneath his feet. "Can you feel it, Lucifer?" he asked. "That horrible feeling of helplessness? That knowledge that you can no longer rewind the tape and go back? That pain you try to suppress with blind fury? Oh, I can. I feel it so close to you"
Lucifer didn't answer him, but he clenched his fists again, digging furrows in the ground. Adam grinned at the sight. "You know, I have to thank you for teaching me what despair was. Now I'm going to return the favor by teaching you" he said, grabbing his hair. "It takes courage to face it. But you're scared. Oh, I know you're scared". His grip became much stronger and more determined: "You're not brave"
Suddenly he pulled Lucifer's head back, lifting it by his hair. The fallen angel let out a soft groan at the gesture. Adam brought his lips close to his ear: "Men are brave"
And with those words he slammed his head violently into the ground, with enough force to cause an earthquake. "So now stay down, boy" he said.
There was a long moment of silence. And then, suddenly, Lucifer's head turned despite Adam still holding him by the hair. He turned slightly toward the first man and opened his eyes, still revealing a calm expression. "I have something like that too" he said in a menacing voice.
Adam's survival instinct kicked in, and he immediately took flight and flew several meters away. He felt something big coming. He instantly activated all his defenses, making his skin harder and more resistant than ever, preparing himself for the impact of what was to come.
Lucifer turned around as if he were turning over in a bed; he didn't even get up, he remained lying on his back, with his wings spread wide around him. And then a magic circle, white and bright, exploded from him, traveling towards the first man. Adam immediately raised his hands and generated his rays of light, but they were immediately nullified by the immense force and he was hit full on. He couldn't hold back a roar as he was hit by a devastating energy, that even with all his defenses seemed to boil him from the inside. Finally he managed to emerge from that column of light and fell to the ground, while that energy continued upwards and then exploded in a flash of light.
Adam grunted, feeling his body still burning. His demonic regeneration was already fixing him, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. "Amazing" he muttered as he watched the explosion of light in the sky. "It's even stronger than mine. What terrifying power..."
A quick white blur flew over him and hit him squarely on the back of the head, sending him face-first into the ground again. "You may mimic the power of a star, but I was there when the stars were created" Lucifer told him as he put a foot on his back. "We are not the same"
And with that he kicked him, sending him crashing into a nearby rock. "Now stay down, boy" Lucifer told him, repeating his own words.
The rock where Adam had just been buried exploded, and he emerged with a scowl on his face. "You're in no position to fucking call me that" he said through gritted teeth. "Enough with the warm-up. Now let's get serious"
And with that he placed his right hand on the ground. There was a brief split second of stillness, and then a beam of static energy emerged from beneath his palm. The entire area seemed to explode as white and blue lightning emerged from underground, opening up deep craters. Lucifer was thrown away by the immense electricity. "What the... is changing the moon's magnetic field!?"
A celestial body's magnetic field was only due to the core and the underlying mantle rotating at different speeds, rubbing together and emanating energy; all Adan had to do to enhance it was make the molecules rub together a lot more. All he needed was a little more pressure and gravity, both of which he, thanks to the powers stolen from the overlords, had in abundance.
Sheol's magnetosphere quickly became as powerful as Jupiter's, then as strong as the Sun's, then as strong as a neutron star; and just like the latter, it began to generate immense energy beams filled with ionizing radiation, enough to sterilize entire planets in less than a second. Adam then used Vox's powers to bend this immense magnetic field, converging everything towards Lucifer. The fallen angel barely had time to see the sky be dazzled by a flash of blue light before being hit by one of the deadliest forces in the universe.
Lucifer could survive extreme levels of radiation, after all, angels had no problem with cosmic rays or the ultraviolet rays of a star, but there were still limits to how much they could tolerate. Even angels couldn't casually approach the most lethal environments in the universe. And the immense amount of radiation emitted by a neutron star was definitely one of them.
Lucifer was hit with a quadrillion times more static than the Earth's magnetic field; even with his immense resistance, he could feel his skin being fried. He had just received a few burns and bruises from the supernova, but this was literally cooking him alive. And to make matters worse, the magnetic field continued to deform, providing continuous energy to that death ray.
Adam had said the truth... the warm-up was over.
Lucifer felt his cells begin to break down and crack, and his nervous system go into overdrive; but he wasn't going to just stand there and do nothing. With one hand he continued to sustain the impact with that immense energy, but he raised the other upwards: "Do you know why they called me Lightbringer?"
Inside his palm, the unthinkable seemed to happen: all the hydrogen that surrounded them flew towards his fingers, forming a large cloud. The molecules of everything, from the ground to the rocks and even the air, instantly broke apart, forming clouds of now-free atoms, while the hydrogen thickened more and more. "What do you think you're doing!?" Adam hissed, increasing the force of his attack even more.
Lucifer sweated a little to resist, but he didn't stop. His hand closed into a fist, and the cloud of hydrogen above it collapsed in on itself. The atoms violently packed together, reaching extreme pressures. And then, a new light lit up the sky.
Adam let out a cry of surprise as he saw a ball of plasma rapidly expanding above Lucifer. "Is that... a star...!?"
Lucifer had done something similar to Adam: he had taken material and put it together to create something extraordinary. But unlike Adam, who relied on the laws of physics to do it, Lucifer had simply inserted his power to force the atoms to ignite. In doing so, even that mass of hydrogen of just a few tons, which would never have been capable of creating anything greater than an asteroid, had actually ignited into a small star.
Lucifer made it grow: ten, thirty, fifty, a hundred meters in diameter. The star became large and hot, showing all the nuclear reactions that were happening inside it, generating enormous spicules and protuberances of fire from its surface. With that done, he moved his hand and threw it at Adam.
The small star and Adam's violent electromagnetic attack collided, generating an immeasurable glow. The star was drawing energy from the atoms that were breaking apart in its core, while the beam of ionizing radiation instead extracted power from Sheol's magnetic field. It was a battle to the death between two of the fundamental forces of the universe: on one side the weak nuclear force, on the other the electromagnetism.
Adam and Lucifer looked even more ferocious than before, and increased the strength of their powers, each in an attempt to overpower the other. Adam enveloped the star in his magnetosphere, while Lucifer engulfed the magnetic changes in the heart of the star. That tug of war continued back and forth for a few times, until both forces reached the critical point. The atoms of the star could no longer hold so much electrical charge that it was literally destroying them, and the enormous magnetic field could no longer support the continuous nuclear force it was colliding with. Both exploded with unprecedented power.
Adam and Lucifer were thrown in opposite directions, while beneath them the ground turned into a pure ocean of lava. Trillions of tons of dust and debris were hurled into space, and a basin at least three thousand kilometers in diameter opened up beneath them, so large that from space it looked as if Sheol had just opened an eye. Yes, that's what it looked like: the entire moon now appeared like an eyeball with a boiling pupil in the center.
Adam and Lucifer were separated so much that the horizon bent around them and they could no longer see each other, but that didn't stop them: as soon as Lucifer managed to stop himself with his wings, he went on the attack again. He flew, accelerating more and more, reaching Adam in a few moments. The first man braced himself for impact, but the fallen angel in reverse began to make wide circles around him, flying faster and faster, until suddenly he disappeared from sight. Adam was shocked for a moment, but then his instincts kicked in and he turned just in time to block Lucifer's punch, which seemed to appear from nowhere behind him. "Shit... I forgot you can exceed the speed of light...!"
Lucifer didn't respond; he just acted. As Adam was still being pushed back by the recoil, he jumped back and opened a portal, and reappeared behind him, hitting Adam directly in the back with a knee. Adam was bent over in the back and spit from his mouth, and Lucifer took advantage of this to throw a powerful punch to his face, sending him into the sea of lava below them. The impact was so powerful that the lava pressurized so much that it solidified around the first man despite the immense temperature.
Adam spat blood from his mouth and tried to get up, but Lucifer was on top of him and pinned his head to the ground with one hand. "What's the matter?" he asked in a cold voice. "Is that all you got?"
Adam turned his head toward him with a snort of disdain. Lucifer's expression was a mask of cold fury. Adam recognized it, he had had that face for so many years. This was the face of someone who didn't just want to defeat his enemy, he wanted to humiliate him. He wanted to make his opponent give his all, that power he boasted about, and then show him how futile it was.
Yeah... it was just like him...
"You said you would have been the one to beat me, right?" Lucifer asked him with merciless eyes. "Go ahead and try. That's the whole point of this, right?"
Adam narrowed his eyes, then his fist. In that one movement, the solid lava surface they were standing on cracked. All the forces Adam had accumulated, from nuclear force to magnetism to electricity to gravity and who knows what else, coalesced in his hand, releasing into immense energy. Lucifer was pushed back, and Adam took advantage of the moment to whirl around with his fist raised. "Ultimate move" he said. "ALL LIFE ERADICATION FIST!"
It hit Lucifer square in the cheek, just as he had done moments before. That single punch was so charged with radiation, with electricity, with nuclear waste, that if it had hit the surface of a small planet it would have completely wiped the crust out, leaving only the core and the mantle behind. Lucifer was completely hit by that enormous force and thrown away, with such force that the ocean of lava split in two for kilometers as he passed.
Adam stood up, and immediately healed all his wounds; having done so, he began to prepare to continue the fight. Using Beelzebub's powers, he generated some enhancement honey and inserted it directly into his bloodstream, making his muscles swell even more than they were; after which he covered his entire body with hyper-pressurized materials, forming a real armor. One of his arms was enveloped in Satan's flames, while another was engulfed in Leviathan's icy water; Asmodeus' blue fire formed around his chest, Mammon's spiderweb covered a good part of his body, and even some sparks of Belphegor's purple energy emerged from him. He took flight and waited for his rival.
Lucifer didn't wait: after a few seconds he was already in front of him again. His face now had a large bruise and was bleeding in several places. He ran his hand over it to get rid of the blood. "I hope that it hurts" Adam mocked him.
Lucifer gritted his teeth in fury. "I will show you a little spark of what I can do" he said to him. "That's how I'll make you pay for everything you've done so far"
Adam's lips curled into a smirk. "Now you talk just like me" he murmured with great satisfaction.
Lucifer's eyelids moved slightly, as if he were about to open them wide, but then they didn't change position. "Enough chatting. Fight!"
"Yes, I agree. But I want to see the real you" Adam told him.
Lucifer was taken aback for a moment. "Do you want to see the real me?" he asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Yes. It's been millions of years since you and all the other angels first introduced yourselves to us, and began using these... limited versions of you to interact with us" Adam told him, his eyes shining. "But I want to see you again. I want to see how hideous the true form of the fallen angel has become. Break that miserable shell, and show it to me"
Lucifer was silent for a moment, and then he clenched his fists harder. "There won't be any need" he told him. "I can beat you up even as I am now"
Adam's eyes narrowed. "Then I'll have to break this illusion of yours!" he shouted, and he lunged at him. Lucifer did the same, and immediately they were back in the thick of their devastating fight.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 72): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111271
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 126: Man and angel (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam and Lucifer continued to hit each other, harder and harder, moving across the sky of Sheol so quickly that it seemed as if they were teleporting. The shock waves generated by their blows shook the entire moon, knocking away the atmosphere and cracking the ground even hundreds of meters below them. It was as if two meteorites had come to life and continued to destroy the world around them in an attempt to prevail over the other.
Lucifer gritted his teeth. He was increasing his speed and strength continuously, accelerating even to speeds far greater than the speed of light, but even if the first man was at a lower level and by all rights shouldn't have been able to even see him, he still managed to react in time and block the blow, or move away before being hit. "Grrr! How do you do it!?" Lucifer couldn't help but ask.
"Experience" Adam replied as he parried her blows. "You're definitely better than Sera, and your power makes you a beast in a fight; but I've spent my entire life fighting. I can easily read your movements"
"How?" Lucifer growled. "There's no way you can see my attacks!"
"I don't need to see them" Adam replied. "Stance, point of view, movement patterns, center of gravity, muscle tension, breathing; the combination of all this tells me what your next move will be. I can't avoid attacks like yours basing only on my reflexes, but thanks to this, I'm already dodging before you even attack. Look!"
And with that he moved his hand up; Lucifer had just started to throw a punch towards his face, and Adam hit him hard on the arm. The trajectory of the fist suddenly changed, with the result that it bent and hit squarely on the right cheek of its thrower. "Enjoy your own fist!"
Lucifer was thrown to the ground by the force of his own punch. Adam threw himself on him and landed on his spine, so hard that the ground beneath them pulverized. "Is everything clear to you now, wimp?" he asked mockingly.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes: "You've spent your whole life fighting, but haven't you learned that it's better not to reveal your tricks to your opponent?"
And after such words he was briefly enveloped in a white light, and as it vanished, in its place was an octopus that grabbed Adam by the legs with its tentacles and threw him away. The first man let out a cry of confusion, and as he looked up he saw a horse running towards him with its head down; he made to attack it, but it changed into a snake at the last second and hit him in the chest, with the same force as a punch from Lucifer. Adam tried to grab it, but it changed into a fly and escaped his grasp, then changed into a bird and grabbed him with its claws. "If you can read my movements so well, all I have to do is change shape continuously so that you can't predict my moves. You can't know in advance what I'll turn into and when!"
"Raaaargh!" Adam couldn't hold back a cry of anger. "I expected a trick like that from you. Don't think that'll be enough to...!"
Lucifer, transformed into a wasp, lunged at his nose, hitting him so hard that he fell backwards. "You're getting too hot"
Adam growled. "You think you have an upper hand just because you can change shape!? Adapt to this!"
And with that, the ground around them cracked, and rocks as big as buildings rose up; Adam altered their chemical composition, making them as hard as hyper-dense stars, and hurled them at Lucifer. The fallen angel was enveloped by the rocks from every direction, with nowhere to escape no matter what shape he took; and then they crashed down on him like projectiles. Lucifer let out a blast of magical power to pulverize them, but as he did so Adam appeared in front of him and punched him square in the face.
The fallen angel was knocked backwards, but still moved quickly enough to grab the first man and pull him with him, throwing him behind him. Both were stunned for a moment, and then they spun around and threw a mighty fist at each other, which collided with impressive force. Both remained in that position for a moment, and Lucifer could clearly see that Adam's arm was shaking slightly. "You're starting to take damage"
Adam gritted his teeth: "Don't count on it, I'm not at my limit yet"
Lucifer stared at him with merciless eyes. "I think you are" he said. "Soon you won't be able to keep up with me anymore. I will show you hell"
"You're delusional" Adam said. "You can't defeat me in your current state!"
"Then let me prove you wrong!" Lucifer said, and headbutted him with a mighty blow. Adam was thrown off, and he barely raised his head to see Lucifer enveloping himself in what looked like stardust. "You will pay for what you did!"
Lucifer took flight, and it was like watching a phoenix unfurl, each wing seeming to contain millions of stars that shone with all their power. Adam almost thought he was watching a galaxy come to life and spread its wings, ready to devour him. "This is...!"
"Prepare to be struck by the power of the Bringer of Light. This will be your end!" Lucifer announced to him. "You will die in a manner even more miserable than all those you have killed!"
Adam narrowed his eyes. His body was quickly covered in hard material, which then caught fire. "We'll see!" he shouted, taking flight as well. "Bring it on!"
They both started flying in circles, squaring off like two sharks. Lucifer was glowing brighter and brighter, infused with magical power, and he looked like a giant swan that melted mountains with every flap of his wings. Adam, on the other hand, was drawing all the magnetism he could and transferring it onto his back, accelerating his own atoms almost to the speed of light, just as if he were inside a giant particle accelerator, moving faster than even the fastest cosmic rays.
The distance between the two of them decreased more and more, and it was like watching two white and gold spirals that were getting closer and closer, until they were right in front of each other. "YOU'RE DONE!" Lucifer shouted in the fraction of a second before the impact.
"Ultimate move" Adam said. "ULTRA-RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON BEAM!"
As soon as their bodies touched, the impact was something unimaginable: the vast majority of that immense energy was absorbed by their bodies, but the energy released outside was still so powerful that an entire chunk of Sheol was blown away. The moon suddenly found itself with a piece missing, altering the perfect spherical shape. It was as if it were a scoop of ice cream and someone had scooped out a piece with a spoon. There was no shock wave, no boom: every single particle was instantly erased from existence.
Both Lucifer and Adam fell into that enormous hole they had created, both dazed and almost unconscious from the blow they had received. They crashed to the ground a short distance from each other, without even making a sound as the atmosphere was still bounced back. They remained lying there, both barely able to keep their minds clear.
Adam stood up first. His body was still regenerating, but that didn't stop him from walking up to Lucifer and slamming his foot into his chest. The fallen angel spat some blood from his mouth at the blow, but Adam didn't stop and hit him again. "You thought you were motivated enough!?" the first man shouted at him. "You thought that just because I killed six of your friends, you'd be pissed off enough to defeat me!? I have way more experience in this field than you, you dickhead! You have six bodies you actually care about on your conscience, I have BILLIONS!"
And with that he grabbed Lucifer and lifted him up, before slamming him into his knee. He did it so hard that the fallen angel's back bent in an unnatural position, and he couldn't even scream because it crushed his lungs. "You're furious, aren't you!? Do you feel it!? Do you feel that rage desperately trying to drown out the pain!?" Adam roared at him. "Try to imagine it multiplied not by six, but by every single human being who has lived on that corrupt planet since you allowed evil to infect it! Try to imagine it, and maybe you'll understand a billionth of what I feel towards you! And then you'll understand that the hatred you're now pouring upon me is actually NOTHING!"
He picked Lucifer up again, and this time slammed him headfirst into the ground, over and over again; with each blow, they sank deeper and deeper, giant craters opening up around them. And then Adam lifted Lucifer's head and brought his face right up to his, forcing him to stare at him. "But hatred for me isn't the predominant emotion right now, is it!?" he hissed. "Yes... I know. I've been there before. You keep trying to kill me because you know you'd have to deal with that guilt otherwise. Because deep down, you know it's your fault. All of this could have been avoided if only you had acted when you had the chance!"
And with that he slammed his head on the ground again. "If only you had stopped to think before convincing my wife to eat that fruit!"
He slammed it again. "If only you had actually helped me rebuild my garden instead of fucking my wife!"
He slammed it again. "If only you had been a king, and had taken care of the sinners, instead of forcing me to do it!"
Once again, this time much more intense than the others. "If only you... had killed me when you had me in your hands!"
Adam kicked Lucifer's body with a mighty kick, throwing him like he was a twig. "You had me in a cage, you knew how dangerous I was!" he shouted at him. "If you had any backbone, you would have distracted Michael with some trick and then rushed to kill me! But you didn't do it, you preferred to make your wife and daughter happy! You didn't have the courage to get your hands dirty even with your worst enemy, not because you weren't aware of my danger, but because you knew very well that everyone would hate you for this choice, and you preferred to keep their love rather than protect them! You chose to keep the little affection they still had for you, not caring that you were putting an entire realm at risk! Well, here's the lesson I want to teach you today, Lucifer, the most important that my disgusting life has taught me: it's better to earn the hatred of everyone you love but protect them, rather than not protect them at all!"
Finally away from him, Lucifer stood up, albeit a bit unsteadily. His body regenerated almost instantly, returning to its original state. Adam ran at him, but this time he was ready and parried his punch, and even took advantage of it to grab him and throw him behind him. "You're mad!" he shouted.
Adam gave him a challenging look. "And tell me..." he hissed. "... is it perhaps madness to say that if you had had the courage to do what had to be done, your friends would still be alive!?"
Lucifer roared, and lunged at him, dragging him into the sky by his tail, and then knocked him back to the ground with more force than any meteor; however, Adam was ready this time and spread his wings, generating trust and avoiding hitting the ground. Instead, he lunged at Lucifer again and the two of them resumed hitting each other furiously as they flew.
Each of their blows had the force of an asteroid, and tore the skin off their faces, but neither of them seemed to care. Each time, they simply regenerated and came back more violently than before. No strategy, no plan of attack: just the pure ancestral desire to strike, scratch, tear, dig their nails into the opponent's flesh. The pure will to cause pain.
Finally, they both landed a punch at the same time, throwing each other far away from each other. They both stopped in mid-air, wiping blood from their faces, and staring intently at each other with eyes that seemed to be made of fire. "Now you understand, right!?" Adam shouted at him. "You understand what it means to feel responsible for something!? Can you even understand a fraction of what I feel!?"
"You killed the Sins!" Lucifer shouted at him, but his tone seemed to be trying to convince himself more. "You can't blame me!"
"Oh, I can't!?" Adam roared, and raised his hand; a piece of rock the size of an entire mountain behind him split and rose up from the ground, and flew towards the fallen angel. Lucifer split it in two with one punch, but Adam appeared behind it and headbutted him before he could react. "You can deny it all you want, I tried it the first time too, but you know the truth! You know that if you had acted like a king and pushed the Sins to be good rulers, I wouldn't have killed them! You know that if you had really taken care of this rabble, I wouldn't have had reason to exterminate them! You know that if you hadn't turned me into this monster, they would be alive!"
His hand grabbed Lucifer's face; the flames engulfed him again at extreme temperatures, but even then they did nothing but burn his hair. The fallen angel grabbed Adam's arm and pulled him towards him, kneeing him in the side. "Stop... fucking... talking!" he shouted, punching him in the chin.
Adam flew back, and Lucifer was probably aiming to shower him with attacks, but he picked up two other mountain-sized rocks and threw them at him from opposite sides, crushing him. This obviously didn't scratch Lucifer, but it was enough to stop his charge for a few moments, long enough for Adam to get back into attack position. "Do you know the difference between you and me?" he said. "I am fully aware of all my mistakes. I know all the things I have done, I know how they can be perceived by an outside observer. And I know that I could have avoided a lot of things if only I had acted when I had the chance and kicked you out of my house. I know it, and I accept it, and I let this be my strength. Unlike you! And that is why you are destined to LOSE!"
The two rocks crushed against each other split, and Lucifer emerged with an even more ruthless expression than before; his hands joined and a flash was emitted, generating rays of light. But these rays of light did not simply melt what they found, but rather collected the atoms and dragged them into the air. In a few moments, five small stars, identical to the one he had generated before, which began to rotate around him, and then hurled themselves at Adam like projectiles. The first man opened his eyes wide, and tried to avoid them, but Lucifer completely surrounded him with them, and then crushed him from every direction.
Adam was hit by the boiling plasma, rapidly starting to melt despite his resistance as the stars got closer and closer and he fell into their cores. Lucifer waited for them all to merge into one, single, boiling mass of energy, and then closed his hand. The stars exploded, generating the power of a supernova. They were small, so the energy released was not as great as that of a full-blown supernova, but the explosion that followed was devastating: in a fraction of a second, the crust of Sheol seemed to vaporize for thousands of kilometers.
Adam really took the hit this time: at least half of his entire body was completely vaporized. He lost both legs, his tail, his wings and part of his arms and horns. He fell down, and it took him much longer than before to hit the ground since the surface of Sheol was now much lower.
Lucifer landed next to him and grabbed him by the neck. "I told you" he growled, while a ball of angelic energy formed in his hands. "You would have paid for what you did!"
And with those words he planted that ball in his chest; Adam screamed as he felt the angelic energy penetrate his body. His dark demon essence was burning at the contact with it. The angelic energy penetrated every corner of his being, nullifying his regeneration and damaging every single cell.
Lucifer continued to hold him by the neck, still looking at him with extreme anger waiting for him to die. For a moment, Adam truly seemed finished. But then he raised his head and whispered to him, "You should have taken my soul out and destroyed it, you idiot"
Lucifer's eyes widened, and he let go of Adam and jumped back just in time before his own angelic energy was expelled from the first man's body like dozens of small bullets; even so, he was grazed by a few of them, making him bleed. "What!? Oh, yeah... you learned to counter angelic energy" he exclaimed in amazement, remembering that Adam had used the same trick on Sera earlier and that Alastor too had used it.
Adam instantly regenerated, reappearing his missing body parts and rebuilding the skin and flesh that had been burned away. Even though he had just been thrown into a supernova, his gaze was as determined as ever. "Ultimate move"
Gravity changed completely around him: suddenly a black sphere formed above the palm of his hands, attracting all the surrounding matter, forming a small, hot disk. He threw it at Lucifer, who gritted his teeth: "Another black hole? You already tried that during our fight at the church, it won't work!"
Adam smiled evilly at him. And an instant later, the black hole moved to the right, revealing that there was another one behind it. "DOUBLE BLACK HOLE!"
Lucifer's eyes widened, but it was too late: the two black holes were on opposite sides of him, and since they had the same mass, they pulled him with the same force; the result was that the fallen angel was literally torn in half. Before he knew it, one part of him was falling into one black hole, the other into the other. And because these black holes were so small, they spaghettified him as they devoured him, compressing every inch of his body, squashing him more than any other force in the universe could.
Lucifer could have escaped the gravitational field of the black hole if he had exceeded the speed of light, but he didn't have time to accelerate that much. So he did the only possible choice: inside the black hole, he used his magical power to directly split the singularity, breaking the death trap just like he had done during the battle with Adam at the church. But this time, as soon as he was out again, the other black hole, the one that had eaten the lower half of his body, was on top of him and devoured him starting from the head, spaghettifying him again and forcing him to repeat the entire operation. When he finally managed to destroy the second black hole, he fell to the ground, panting from the effort.
Adam approached him, looking at him with contempt. Lucifer had lost his entire lower half to the gravitational pull of the two black holes, but he had kept his six wings. He put a foot on his back and then grabbed those feathery masses. "I bet that while you were ruining my life you told yourself that you were important" he said through gritted teeth. "That you had the important mission to improve us humans, to teach us something. Well, you did. That, Lucifer, is what you taught me!". His tone became extremely low: "You taught me that this fucking world only makes sense if you force it"
And with that he pulled back violently, tearing off a pair of his wings. Blood gushed out much more than from the other wounds, and this time Lucifer screamed beyond belief. "You were never a king!" Adam roared.
He grabbed the second pair, and tore them off as well. Lucifer's scream was even louder than before, and the first man enjoyed the sight of him in agony. "You were never a hero!"
And with that he grabbed the last pair, and this time he tore them off more slowly, to make him suffer even more. "You were never even a man!" he roared as he pulled the last two wings off his back, and then he kicked him, sending him rolling away.
Lucifer gasped. His body regenerated quickly, but his wings took longer than the rest. An angel's wings were their most precious part, they were containers of their power, and they couldn't be rebuilt as quickly as an arm or a leg. "I'm tired of playing around, Lucifer" Adam warned him. "Show me the real you, give me the satisfaction of defeating you while you're at your most powerful state!"
"Cough... I won't play your game" Lucifer replied. He knew that if Adam wanted him to unleash his true power, he had to have a reason, and he wasn't about to let him.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "Then die" he said, and took flight, positioning himself right in front of Hell.
Lucifer felt a lump in his throat. He could feel the power the first man was emanating, and with his wings so damaged he couldn't fly away or make use of some of his powers, like the dimensional portals. He was stuck there, right under Adam who seemed to have decided to really use all his strength.
"This time I will hit you with all my power" Adam told him, and in his hands a multicolored sphere began to form. "In your current state, you have no chance. If you don't want to break that shell, then I will disintegrate you. Even if I can't kill you yet, at least I will enjoy the satisfaction of seeing you reduced to dust"
Lucifer clenched his fists. "I see... he wants to go all out this time" he muttered under his breath, then he shouted at him: "You won't be able to defeat me even with all your strength. You're still the same arrogant as always!"
"You, on the other hand, always have the extraordinary ability to get on my nerves" Adam replied, as the energy in his hands continued to increase. All the powers of the demons he had absorbed were pouring out at the same time, each playing a key role in what was taking shape between his palms.
Even though he spoke all high and might, Lucifer was actually speaking more out of pride than true confidence. He wasn't at all sure he could win this clash, not while he was so injured and his wings were still repairing themselves. Even for someone like him, it would have been a leap of faith.
But that certainly didn't mean he would have backed down. After all, the alternative was to just stand there and get hit. He couldn't run away or retreat. The only solution was to just attack!
The magical power flowed out of his body; his arms lit up and angelic symbols were etched into them. The flame above his halo expanded and seemed to replicate a miniature solar system. The power flowing through him was so great that his limbs were shaking.
"Good. It's nice to see that you'll at least try to get incinerated with some dignity" Adam told him, the multicolored sphere in his hands flashing brightly, as if it were a highly compressed explosion trying to break free. "But there's no way you're going to stop what I will throw at you!"
"Instead I'll stop it, and you'll be the one to get blasted!" Lucifer yelled at him.
"Keep dreaming, maybe you'll convince yourself it's true!" Adam growled. The multicolored light from the sphere in his hands was giving his face an even more sinister expression. "I'm going to crush you even if it means blowing up this fucking moon!"
The whole of Sheol shook as they both poured out all their energy. Lucifer raised his hands, pressing his palms together, creating a magic circle even larger than himself, extremely complex and brilliant with starlight. In Adam's hands, the multicolored sphere expanded, and surrounded him, forming a ring around him that shone with the intensity of a galaxy, just like a supermassive black hole feeding on infinite amounts of matter.
All this lasted only a second, and then they were both ready. "Ultimate move" Adam shouted. "QUASAR!"
The luminous circle around him exploded, brighter than thousands of galaxies combined, and its energy concentrated into an immense jet of energy that if there had been nothing in the middle, could have expanded for millions of light years. The power of the most powerful object in the universe, a quasar, so immense that it could have killed an entire galaxy, hurtled straight at Lucifer. In turn, the magic circle created by the fallen angel lit up with a brightness rivaling Adam's quasar, and released the full power of Lucifer, which took shape as a second pearly white jet.
The two jets closed the gap between them in a matter of nanoseconds, and then collided, generating a light that would have outshined all the stars of an entire supercluster of galaxies combined. The entirety of Sheol shook to its foundations as that mad collision took shape on its surface. The energy at the center of that standoff tried to break free, but the combined force of the two jets kept it locked in, forcing it to accumulate more and more into an ever-larger sphere of light.
Lucifer gritted his teeth, feeling his jet being pushed back slightly. Second by second, he was being pushed back. With his wings still regenerating, his current strength wasn’t enough to repel Adam’s attack. If he had continued like this, that quasar would have eventually hit him.
Even over the roar of the two forces colliding, Adam’s laughter could be heard. “You are disappointing me, Lucifer!” he shouted. “Try harder! At this rate, you’ll end up being pulverized!”
Lucifer gritted his teeth. His entire body ached from the strain, he felt his magic power in danger of breaking, and sweat was increasingly beading his face. "Dammit...!"
Adam's face broke into a grin: "Then DIE!!!"
The bright disk around him exploded even more intensely, and the quasar became even stronger than before; Lucifer found himself sliding to one knee from the immense pressure. He was having such a hard time holding on that he barely had the energy to keep his eyes open. "Fuck...!" he thought. "I can't hold on much longer... how... how can this end like this...!?"
How had he gotten to this point?
Not even an hour ago, he could have crushed Adam with one finger. Now, Adam was crushing him. It wouldn't have killed him for good, but who knows what the first man would have done while he was out of the game...
Would have he done something to Lilith...?
Maybe Charlie...?
Would have he killed them like he had killed all the demons? Like he had killed all the Goetias? Like he had killed... the Sins?
Fuck... Adam was right. If only he, Lucifer, had done what he should have done from the beginning... if only he had killed him when he had the chance...!
How could he have been so stupid...!?
Adam's quasar closed even more distance; he was now barely a meter away from Lucifer. "You really can't do better than that?" Adam mocked him. "I knew you were pathetic, but that's too much! Well, that's your problem. Reunite with your friends in the afterlife... oh no, wait, we're already there!"
Lucifer's heart beat even faster. He didn't think it was possible to feel so much anger towards someone. He had never felt such an emotion before, in all the long millennia of his life. It was a completely new feeling, one that he would rather never discover.
So much anger towards someone else... and towards himself.
Adam had been right once again. Lucifer should have just acted like a king, a father, a husband. Protecting what he cared about, that should have been his job. Why hadn't he done it? Why had he never done it in the long millennia he had lived in Hell? If only he had done something sooner...!
So was that what Adam had always felt...?
What was the point of it all?
Oh, right. Adam had told him. The world only makes sense if you force it. Never were words more accurate.
A flame burned in Lucifer's chest, burning his throat. He didn't want Adam to crush him. He didn't want him to defeat him. He didn't want to leave him free to go kill someone else he cared about!
If the world only made sense if you forced it... why did he hold back?
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck!
SO BE IT!
Suddenly, Sheol trembled even more: a new wave of power emerged from where Lucifer was, and his magic beam increased in intensity by a hundred times, violently repelling Adam's quasar. "What the...!?" the first man. "What is happening...!?"
The jet generated by Lucifer reached Adam, completely annihilating the beam of the first man in the way, as if it were nothing really relevant. The force of a quasar, the most powerful energy in the entire universe, was completely nullified. Adam let out a cry of terror, and then he was completely hit by Lucifer's blow, which disintegrated his body in a fraction of a second, and then it continued to travel towards deep space and implode in a blaze of white light.
Adam reappeared after a few seconds, thanks to the instant respawn ability he had obtained from the Sins; when Lucifer's beam had hit him he had used every particle of his energy to protect his soul, to ensure he would not have died. Even so, it had been a close call, and he couldn't help but pant from the exertion and fear. But his breathing stopped completely as he could clearly see what had appeared before him.
Where Lucifer had been, a being at least ten meters tall had now appeared; rather short for an angel, but he still gave off an intimidating aura. He looked like a swan, with a long, colorful tail like a peacock and a head full of colorful feathers like a bird of paradise, further adorned with a halo that illuminated them. He had six arms, all arranged in positions that recalled a prayer or mantra. His six wings, completely grown, were positioned in different ways: the central pair was moving to fly, the lower one was closed around the body as if to create a shield, and the upper one was closed over the eyes as if he did not want to see something. On these wings were numerous eyes, all of them pointed at Adam and all of them seemed to emanate a strange, unnatural strength. But as beautiful as he was, he was somehow broken: the feathers were peeled, as if something had burned them, and they showed scales underneath, not white like feathers, but black and similar to malignant tumors; especially those of the tails were almost totally removed and turned into scales, created something more similar to a dragon's tail than a bird's one. The majestic long feathers of the head were fused together, forming something that resembled six horns that adorned it as a blasphemous crown. The arms were also skinned, with claws reminiscent of those of birds of prey, and their positions, while holy, were somehow wrong, as if they couldn't get themselves into the right position. The wings were still candid, but they were broken at the roots, separated from the body and held to it only by flows of energy, as if they could not reattach to it; and the head... the head, which should have been beautiful, was deformed and seemed to have tripled, with two other faces emerging from the sides and emanating a strange suffering, as if they were three twins horribly fused to each other; the central head was scarlet red like blood, the right one yellowish-white like a malaria patient, and the left one black as the darkest night. And the halo, instead of being perfect and beautiful, was twisted and broken, and the light it gave off was evil, as if it were a pale imitation of what it once was.
It was like looking at a creature that had once been undoubtedly beautiful, but had literally broken from the inside, corrupting that beauty with something hideous.
Adam was almost spellbound as he watched. "So this is it..." he whispered almost voicelessly. "This is the real you, Lucifer... oh, I remember clearly how beautiful you were when I first saw you... how hideous you have become now!"
Lucifer didn't answer him; he didn't make a sound. The look in his many eyes was as cold as ice. He seemed to emanate some sort of mystical aura just by existing, even if it was a broken mystical aura, not intact.
Adam grunted. "You don't want me to hear your voice, huh? You don't want me to hear how hoarse and unbearable that melodious voice you showed off when I taught you to sing has become?" he asked, and then lunged at him, raising his fist: "Fine, then I'll make you scre...!"
It all happened in an instant: Lucifer's wings moved downward, and then he took flight. It was such a strong movement that the entire Sheol was pushed back, moving away from its orbit by a few thousand kilometers. Lucifer moved several times the speed of light, without any need to accelerate, and hit Adam in the face with his fist. The first man had raised all his defenses, but he was still hit by such a force that he became unconscious for a few moments. And in those brief moments Lucifer, with Adam still attached to his fist, crossed the space that separated them from Hell again and landed on it, hitting the ground with the first man's face.
There was a roar, and the crust of Pride opened as if it were liquid, creating a crater over forty kilometers deep and throwing an immense quantity of dust and debris into the atmosphere. Lucifer remained in the position where he had landed for a few seconds, and then he stood up completely, finally removing his fist from Adam's mashed face, which was dripping blood like a waterfall. He remained like that, the fallen angel, staring at the first man lying on the ground in front of him.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 73): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111316
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 127: Cat, spider and deer
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alastor stood on the ash desert, watching the sky. Even through the thickening clouds he could see the moon, where bright explosions were constantly occurring. The sky was constantly crisscrossed by meteorites that were falling on Pride, hurled from the surface of Sheol by the fury of the battle.
To Alastor, this was a beautiful sight. He couldn't stop watching this glorious destruction, a battle between two entities as powerful as forces of nature. "How truly magnificent" he commented to himself. "To think that it was possible to reach such heights of power... how limited my world was..."
Suddenly he sensed movement behind him; he moved slightly to the side and dodged a long, insect-like clawed hand that had just tried to rip his head off. A black, monstrous creature passed by him, and Alastor immediately used his shadowy tentacles to push himself back to a safe distance. "Oh... I didn't expect you to attack me, Valentino"
The moth overlord had completely abandoned any humanoid appearance, if he could ever be called that; now in his place was a creature that resembled a huge moth, whose legs were at least three meters long and the wings were the size of a plane. Alastor had never actually saw Valentino's full demon form before, since Vox had been too afraid of him and he had always kept his colleagues far away from him, and he had to admit that it has something... quite interesting. Only Valentino's head remained the same, with the difference that now all six of his eyes were fully open and his mouth was surrounded by pincer-like pedipalps; under his chest were two arm-like legs, which ended in structures that vaguely resembled hands, although they looked more like hideous masses of arthropod legs. His abdomen, finally, was large and covered with hairs as sharp as blades, from which emerged a pink liquid that evaporated as soon as it came into contact with the air, surrounding the demon in pink smoke. His wings, finally, were colored with strange patterns that seemed to emit an hypnotic light.
Alastor smiled, noticing that some of Valentino's legs were badly bruised, and there was even a long wound on his back with pinkish blood oozing out of it. "You're hurt" he commented.
"That's what happens when you drop an atomic bomb on someone" Valentino replied with a grunt. He still hadn't recover completely from the fractures that he got by the explosion.
"I'm still genuinely surprised. I didn't expect you to have the courage to attack me" Alastor told him. "When did you become so enterprising?"
"What can I say, in this moment I'm so piss off that I consider myself unstoppable" Valentino answered him.
"What a bravado. You should be proud of yourself" Alastor told him mockingly. "Because of that I'll give you a chance to escape. I'll give you a five-minute head start. It's been a while since I've chased prey. If you can escape me, you might survive"
"How kind" Valentino said, but even though there was a hint of spite in his voice, he was maintaining his calm. "You always had this playful attitude. I hated you for that"
"You too had it, and Vox too. What, it's funny only when it's you who used it on the weaklings?" Alastor asked rhetorically.
"Call me weakling again and I swear that I'll stick a pole up your ass, and not in a sexual way" Valentino grumbled. "Honestly, the fact that you'd contribute to mass genocide doesn't surprise me at all... and I have to admit that I admire you for that. If it weren't for the fact that I'd die eventually, I might almost consider joining you. Tell me, what's the point of participating in something you know will kill you in the end?"
Alastor shrugged: "Honestly, I've always killed just for the fun of it. I don't see why I should deprive myself of it now, when such killing at least serves something greater"
"Wow, you've really got into the character" Valentino said, and then the smoke on his body became larger and denser. "You know, I've often killed for fun in my life too. However, I wanted to find at least some semblance of purpose in life. And I suppose in this case, my purpose is to kill you. By eliminating you, I can take away an important ally from my enemy. So I too can contribute to something greater, don't you think?"
"Ha ha! Very funny. You always had a talent for humor. Valentino the Joke Teller, that's what you should have called yourself. I suppose you use this to seduce your stupid television boyfriend" Alastor mocked him. "By the way, you are wasting your time. You have three minutes and forty-two seconds left"
"Are you really so sure that I can't win this fight?" Valentino muttered, his pride stung a little, cracking his long legs.
"Absolutely" Alastor confirmed with his usual cocky smile.
Valentino's eyes flashed, "Well, we'll see about that!" he exclaimed, spitting pink smoke from his mouth like a chimney.
Alastor was completely engulfed in it in a matter of seconds, taking up his entire vision. Valentino clearly aimed to use his hypnotic gas to weaken him, similar to how Adam had done when they had teamed up. However, Adam was Adam, and he had numerous other hypnotic powers on his side; to counter Valentino, all Alastor had to do was wrap his shadows around his face to prevent himself from breathing. "That's it?" he asked without even moving.
"Not even close!" Valentino roared, and the pink smoke suddenly seemed to take on a consistency: like thousands of needles, they pointed towards Alastor, with the precise intent of piercing his skin and penetrating beneath his flesh, so as to insert the hypnotic gas directly into his blood.
But again, Alastor didn't move a muscle: all he did was turn into a shadow and let the smoke pass through him without touching him. "You still have two minutes and fifty-three seconds" he only said as he regained consistency.
Valentino's furious voice came through the pink smoke: "Is this all a joke to you!?"
"Only the funny things" Alastor replied simply.
"Let's see how much fun this will be!" Valentino growled, and he spat out several lumps of toxic saliva; however, this saliva did not hit Alastor, but thickened into strange lumps similar to balls of vomit, which began to emit a luminescent glow. Alastor was surrounded by these lumps, whose light was then reflected by the colored smoke, creating a rather psychedelic effect. If a normal person had been there, they would probably have started to feel sick due to the visual effect.
Of course, however, Alastor was not a normal person. "Hmm. Suggestive show, I have to admit it. You have a future in circus shows" he only commented. "You can't make me lose my mind like this"
But Valentino was not finished yet: "I know. This was only for that!"
And with that, the smoke around Alastor thickened again and became like needles, and it threw itself against the radio demon. Alastor started to turn back into shadow, but then realized that as soon as he tried, his body began to fade away. Valentino had trapped him in a cage of light, the natural enemy of shadow, the same way he, Alastor, normally trapped his enemies in darkness.
A bold move, he had to admit it...
However, Alastor was not scared by such a small thing: the moment the smoke hit him and penetrated his skin, he created shadows inside his own body and instantly nullified the poison's effect. Valentino let out a cry of anger as he realized what had just happened. He tried again a couple of times, but each time the radio demon easily prevailed.
In all this, Alastor still hadn't moved. "Well, my dear, so far it's been more like a bowling match between AAs than a fight" he said mockingly. "You still have about a minute to escape, by the way"
Valentino gritted his teeth. He knew that Alastor was standing still only to mock him. If he were serious about fighting, he would use his powers to dispel the multicolored smoke and then attack him. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, just so you know!"
"Wow, a pearl of wisdom, I didn't expect that from you! Did you read it in a fortune cookie or hear it from a fortune-teller?" Alastor mocked him.
Valentino let out a growl of anger, and then his smoke thickened again; however, it did not turn into needles or blades, but the entire vaporous mass took shape and fell on Alastor. It was as if a huge blanket weighing several tons had fallen on the radio demon, and began to crush every inch of him. Valentino spat more and more smoke, generating an increasingly larger cloud. "Oh... well, I can feel that" Alastor commented.
"Soon all you'll feel is oblivion!" Valentino shouted at him, pressing him down even harder. The weight of the smoke was so great that Alastor's already thin limbs became even thinner, and in some places they even tore, drawing a little blood. The radio demon was finally forced to fight back a little, and spread his shadows across his body, generating a reverse pressure to counter the effect of Valentino's attack. However, the moth demon did not give up, and crushed him more and more...
... and then, suddenly, a faint glow appeared to Alastor's right, and a angelic knife plunged straight into his neck.
The radio demon's eyes widened and he let out a cry of surprise; he turned his gaze slightly and saw Husk behind him, holding the angelic knife that Niffty always carried with her. "It's over" he announced.
Valentino's smoke cleared a bit, revealing Angel and Cherri behind him, the latter holding Niffty to prevent her from running away. Both had shocked expressions. "Husk, no!" the spider demon exclaimed. "You can't kill him, you and Niffty are still tied to him...!"
"I know, I didn't cut the carotid artery. I just cut the muscles and part of the windpipe" Husk said, then leaned in close to Alastor's ear. "Years and years of serving you have taught me something, too. You know what that means, right? It won't kill you, but you'll pass out. All I have to do is put you in a cage in the meantime"
"Oh, I'll take care of that!" Valentino growled, pushing the cat demon away and grabbing Alastor by the head, slamming him to the ground. "You're not playing the big guy anymore, you... huh?"
Valentino, like everyone else, had taken it for granted that he had won: after a wound like that, the opponent would not have been able to react, no matter how strong he was. Too bad that this wound, instead of remaining permanent as always happened with angelic weapons, was regenerating as if it were any other wound. In a few seconds the radio demon's neck was identical to before. "Ah, sorry, guys, I zoned out there for a second" Alastor said looking at them amused. "I got lost in thinking about whether I should send Charlie something as consolation for your deaths. Maybe some wine, or a gift basket... wait, I have the perfect idea: a gift basket with some wine!"
Everyone was shocked. "What... what the fuck...!?" Valentino exclaimed. "It was an angelic weapon...!"
"Maybe I've become immune to it like Adam" Alastor said mockingly. "So... that knife is almost useless to you"
Husk was sweating coldly, but that didn't stop him from thinking: "Bullshit! Adam needed millions of souls to do that! You can't have that many, we saw that mass of souls abandoning you!"
"Uh, Husker, you're still perceptive. All right, I lied" Alastor said, his smile widening. "It's true, I no longer have all the souls that Adam gave me. Simply, my good Husker, you never hit my body. The moment you appeared through the smoke, I understood where you wanted to aim, and I cut off that piece of my body of my own accord using the shadows inside me and replaced it with an illusion, and I used some shadows to make it dense and fool you into thinking you had hit the target. That's why it regenerated, I was never hit by angelic steel. Sorry, I couldn't resist playing a little prank on you"
Valentino was purple from the anger for that trick: "You... bastard...!"
“Did you really think you could beat me with such a foolish plan? You insult my intelligence” Alastor said. “I’ll take a guess: you saw the souls leaving my body to return to Adam, you realized I was out in the open and vulnerable, you tracked me down thanks to Valentine’s ability to track pheromones, and then you planned to use my arrogance against me, sending Valentine forward as a battering ram to distract me while the rest of you closed in behind me to stab me. Maybe this plan might have worked against someone else, but it’s child’s play to me. I just wanted to have some fun watching your shocked faces. Oh, and by the way… the five minutes are up"
And after such words his overlord body appeared, surpassing Valentino in size, and grabbed him with his hands, slamming him violently to the ground; at the same time he moved his tentacles against the other demons. Angel and Husk ducked in time to dodge them, but Cherri and consequently Niffty were hit by them, being thrown against a piece of the nearby building and losing consciousness on impact. "Oops! Sorry, Niff. I'll make it up to you as soon as I get rid of these fools and we can be together again" Alastor said, with a bit of regret in his voice. At least he was honest about that: he hadn't meant to hit the little cyclops maid directly. After all, he was fond of her and he knew that if Cherri had let her go Niffty would have run to his side again. "Well, I promised not to come looking for you guys, but I doubt anyone will blame me for defending myself from you after you attacked me first, so... goodbye"
And having said that he bit down on one of Valentine's wings and violently tore it off, chewing it up and swallowing it whole. The moth demon let out a cry of pain, and began spitting toxic saliva into the radio demon's face, but while it was doing damage, it couldn't hurt him faster than he could regenerate. Valentine then kicked him in the chin, freeing himself from his grip, and spat smoke to hide and escape, but Alastor moved his tentacles like fans and dissipated it. "Oh, come on, was that ever truly useful?" he said rhetorically, and then returned the blow by kicking him in the chin, so hard that the moth demon fell backwards in a faint.
"Uh... Val? This is no time to sleep! At least hold on until we escape..." Angel tried to say, but he was quickly silenced when Alastor hit both him and Husk with one of his tentacles, breaking a good portion of their bones.
Alastor made a satisfied noise, and then abandoned his overlord body and returned to his normal appearance. "Oh, good, at least you two are still awake" he said, looking at Angel and Husk who, despite being badly bruised, had managed to stay unconscious. "You know I don't like killing prey that doesn't struggle. I think I'll start with you while I wait for the others to wake up"
Husk groaned as he struggled to stand up, holding onto the angel knife in his hand, their only real weapon. “Fuck… I knew this was a bad idea” he said through gritted teeth.
“Well, we had at least to try” Angel told him.
Suddenly the ground shook. Alastor looked up and saw a great light appear on the face of the moon, from where several millions of tons of debris were being thrown away, falling to the surface of Hell creating small earthquakes. "Hmm. It looks like the fight is coming to an end" he commented. "I have to hurry, I don't want to miss the grand finale. Let's wrap this up quickly. Husker, my dear, can you take him out for me?"
Husk froze. "What?"
Alastor's smile widened. "Kill that pathetic spider" he said more specifically. "But that's not an order. I won't force you to do it using our deal. I want to see your face when you voluntarily choose to kill him"
"Cough... Smiles, you urgently need a therapist" Angel muttered trying to get up, even though it was clear he wouldn't have been able to.
Husk was hissing as if he were a real cat in full nervous breakdown. "Why are you doing this!?"
"Well, I usually don't have any qualms about killing my victims, but I admit I'm a little fond of you" Alastor told him, laughing under his breath. "Here's what's going to happen now: you'll kill him and join me again, and I'll spare your life, or... you'll refuse, and then I'll put you in my precious collection of tortured souls, and your dying voice will be the last broadcast Hell will hear before its end. We both know how this ends, right?"
Husk gritted his teeth and fists, desperately wanting to grab Alastor’s head and use it to play the most violent game of rugby ever in History, but he knew that desire would only have remained in his head. His body shook at the thought of what would have happened if he didn’t obey. And he also shook with anger. And the feeling of helplessness. Knowing that Alastor had him in his grip like that hurt even more than usual. In fact, he could say it was wearing him down inside.
Just as he had always done in his miserable life, Husk quickly considered his options in his head; he always did this whenever he found himself in a situation where his precious life was at risk. There was no one left standing now; the only overlord they could use was fainted, Cherri and Niffty were out of action, Angel was on the ground injured, and he only had a measly knife made of angelic steel in his hand. It didn't take a strategist to figure out that he had no chance of turning the shitty situation they were in around.
If he had refused to kill Angel, Alastor would have just slaughter him. Or he would have forced him to do it anyway using their pact. Husk's soul belonged to him, he couldn't resist a direct order. Refusing would have simply meant that both him and Angel would have died.
If instead he had did it, at least he would have had a chance. Alastor, elated by his success and full of his usual arrogance, would have gloated that he had subdued him again and would have taken him with him. Husk could take advantage of this to act from within and perhaps find a way to stop both him and Adam. He could potentially sabotage their plans at the cost of just one person.
It made sense. It was logical.
But Husk knew in his heart that he was just looking for excuses to do what he would have soon inevitably done. After all, that was what he always ended up doing: putting his life before others. Sacrificing someone in order to move on. Throwing people away, even those who cared about him, just to save his useless skin.
Angel felt a slight shiver down his spine. "Hey, Husky... why haven't you told that asshole to go fuck himself yet...?"
"You're putting your trust in the wrong person, my good Angel" Alastor sneered at him. "Come on, Husker... don't take all day. You've done this plenty of times already. What a measly arachnid more or less?"
Husk inhaled deeply. Yes, it was true. He had done it plenty of times... hundreds. He had lived like a criminal, died like a criminal, and lived like a criminal in his afterlife. A clever cat who threw other people into the mouths of lions so he could keep said lions happy: that was what he was.
With an effort, he turned to Angel. The spider demon looked at him in surprise for a moment, and then looked down with a grunt: "Oh, for fuck's sake, seriously?"
Husk tightened his grip on the sharp knife. "I'm sorry" he muttered.
"Don't say bullshit" Angel grumbled, shaking his head. "You're not sorry. And I even apologized for calling you a coward"
Husk felt a lump in his throat. "Yeah..." he said. "You shouldn't have. That's just who I am"
"No" Angel said, looking into his eyes with a look of disappointment. "It's what you chose to be. You have the courage to stand up, you did it for Niffty. But you choose not to"
Husk bit his lip. "Niffty... wasn't in Alastor's hands, but Adam's. I knew my death would be quick. And Niffty... is Niffty. I've known her for a long time"
"So she's more valuable than me, is that what you mean?" Angel said with a growl. "I have known idiots who like to follow a temporary moral, acting like heroes only when it suits them. I am a complete moron, ignoble, inexperienced, abject, servile, devoid by my own nature of knowledge, justice and honor, nourished only by carnal affections, filled with lust, avarice, and above all, and this is the sore point, arrogance and pride... but at least I value all my friends the same, and I would throw myself into the fire for you as I would throw myself into the fire for Cherri. So you will forgive me if I cannot help but despise you at this moment"
Husk didn’t respond. He knew he shouldn’t have respond. He had to close his heart and finish the job. He had killed before. He had already turned his back on someone he cared about. He had only known Angel for six months. He had no reason to be sorry if he died.
Yeah… six months. Six months of showing him time and time again how careless he was… and yet Angel had given him second chances each time. The truth was, he had already abandoned him many times. That was who he was deep down…
“I thought I could be a brave person” Husk admitted, looking Angel in the eyes. “When I stood up to protect Niffty, someone I cared about for the first time… that was the most intense moment of my life. I thought I could keep our promises, our plans… but in the end, this is who I am”
No… Angel was right. He wasn’t that, he chose to be that. Because he was a coward. Because he would rather stain his conscience once more than face the man who commanded him.
The faces of all the people he had used, betrayed, and ruined in his life suddenly came back to him. He hadn't thought about it in years, and yet he was thinking about it now. Those faces overlapped with Angel's, who had the same expression as them. That same expression of the pain of betrayal disguised as defiance.
Angel let out a deep growl of anger: "What are you waiting for then? Do it!"
Husk tightened his grip on the knife. He knew he had to do it, Alastor was too strong, he had no hope to win against him. He could only do what he said, and hope he could convince him that he was back on his side, so he could follow him and thwart his plans. What was one person's life compared to everything else?
Everything else...?
...
Fuck it. What was the point of pretending even to himself? He was only doing it for himself. Because he was a coward. Because his whole life he had refused to look at people as such, he had dehumanized them so much so as not to feel when he lost them. And now here he was, proving once again how much he sucked.
No...
No.
"DO IT!" Angel challenged him again.
Husk inspired stronger than ever. "Angel... do you remember what you told me in Ukraine, before the bomb hit us? That I could kill you to save my life, and that you would accept it. Do you want to back out now?"
Angel froze for a moment. That wasn't what they'd been talking about at all. Husk had asked him to...
"Goodbye, Angel" the cat demon said, and then he slammed the knife down. His gaze and the spider demon's met for a fleeting moment...
... and then Angel moved: he grabbed his hand and changed direction. The angelic steel slammed down toward Husk's chest and hit him square in the heart. The cat demon let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground, gasping, curling up in a ball. Angel gritted his teeth, holding the knife in his chest.
"Uh, I admit that this is an interesting ending... but I would have liked the original better" Alastor commented, approaching, stopping directly behind Husk, and crouching down to look at both of them well: "Seriously, Husker, you could have done better..."
Husk's tail moved suddenly, wrapping itself around the radio demon's legs and making him lose his balance; Angel immediately pulled out the knife, which in reality had only grazed the cat demon's clothes, and he immediately aimed at Alastor's neck. A lightning-fast action, without margin for error...
... but Alastor made himself intangible with his shadows, making the spider demon's arm pass through his neck. "Actually, I was referring to your plan" he said in a mocking voice. "You could have done better"
And with those words he threw Angel away, hitting him right in the face. Husk gritted his teeth: he knew they had almost zero chance of success, but he didn't care that he had failed. Because he knew that at least now Alastor would have been distracted by him. "Angel, run...!"
"Focus on yourself" Alastor said, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. "What an unruly kitten. Did you really think you could defeat me with such a foolish plan?"
"Urgh... at least I tried" Husk hissed.
The green chain reappeared around his neck, blocking his breath. "Oh, Husker... I really hoped you'd end up following your true nature. I admit, you've changed. I've noticed it ever since you dared to stand up in the crowd in front of Adam... but now I know for sure" Alastor said, as if he were a scientist studying a strange phenomenon. "Well, I won't let you. Go and kill that spider!"
Husk felt his chain burn; his body moved on its own, no matter how much he fought. But he wasn't going to let himself be manipulated anymore. "When I say no..." he growled, raising his claws and placing them on his shoulders. "... it's NO!"
And as soon as he screamed that, his own muscles tore, opening a deep gash in both of his shoulders; his arms fell to his sides, now completely disconnected from the rest of him. "You can't force me anymore" he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to obey you anymore, Alastor. Come on, do your worst, I'm here for you!"
Alastor looked truly annoyed for the first time. "So be it" he said, and he pulled the chain towards him; Alastor's entire body crumbled to dust, and only his soul remained, still chained to him. Alastor grabbed it very ungentlemanly, squeezing it as if he planned to squeeze it. "It seems you've forgotten what I can do. I'll be sure to remind you before I discipline you again"
"No... I haven't forgotten" Husk's voice told him, emerging from his soul. "I remember everything... all the horrors you can unleash on me. But I don't care anymore. I'm tired of leaving people behind. It's true, I'm afraid of you, but I will never obey you again. I will never abandon anyone again"
Husk was definitely fed up. Fed up of abandoning everyone along the way. Fed up of pretending he didn't care.
He couldn't do anything about everyone he'd already ruined, he knew he couldn't fix it... but he could still refuse to hurt anyone else for no real reason. And he didn't regret throwing himself into the jaws of Alastor, the most horrible being in the universe, if it meant buying even one more minute for his friends. One more minute could make a difference, and Husk wanted to hope that it would have been enough.
Hope...?
Yes... for the first time in his life, Husk wanted to hope. He didn't know for what, maybe for a miracle. But still, he wanted to do his best to buy time while waiting for that hope to come true.
He had lived badly for too long. If this was going to be his exit, he wanted to do it decently.
Alastor's claws penetrated deep into his soul, unleashing a pain that would have been impossible for a physical body to feel. Husk screamed in pain, but he didn't give up: "Come on, you can do better! Where has the best torturer in Hell gone!?"
"You dare challenge me?" Alastor said with irritation, using his powers to multiply his suffering a hundredfold.
Angel in the meantime had raised his head; he felt dazed after the blow he had received, but he was still able to understand what was happening. And above all he was able to understand that Husk was continuing to challenge Alastor for the sole purpose of buying time, hoping that he would have taken advantage of it to take Cherri and escape. "No...!"
If he had still had a physical body, Husk would probably have already been unrecognizable: the tortures Alastor was subjecting him to were devastating, and his soul was revolting in pain. Yet, he still refused to stop: "That's all... what you... can do...?"
"Now you're starting to get boring" Alastor replied, and he raised his right hand; a swirling red ball appeared on it, formed by all the souls of the radio demon. "I admire your tenacity, but I have other things to do right now. We'll talk about this when we have time. And believe me... I'll break you more than I've ever broken you before!"
"I'm not scared of you" Husk replied, hoping to sting his pride and make him continue. He knew Alastor was telling the truth, but he didn't care: he had to continue stalling. The radio demon can break him, but only after his friends had escaped.
But Alastor didn't fall for it. "Believe me, you'll be" he said, and placed his soul among the others, leaving it at the mercy of that dark vortex. Husk, like all the others, found herself screaming, having just entered a hell far worse than the real Hell. Alastor let out a small snort, and then he made the soul ball disappear as quickly as he had manifested it.
"HUSK!" Angel shouted. "You... sadistic asshole...!"
"Don't worry, your end will be more painless than his" Alastor said menacingly. "Your pathetic plan was ridiculous to say the least. Now don't... huh?"
Alastor suddenly stopped, and it seemed like he had just seen something unusual. He raised his hand, bringing it in front of his eyes, and his souls reappeared in it, but they were different: chaotic, almost boiling, as if they were desperately trying to escape from something. "What is this...?"
One of the souls suddenly shot out, like a drop of water shot out of a pressure cooker; but it wasn't a red and evil soul like the others, but white and streaked with gold. Alastor made a surprised noise and tried to grab it, but he immediately pulled his hand away as burns formed on his fingers. The soul was attached to him by a chain, but this chain soon began to glow as if heated by red-hot iron, until it snapped clean off, and the soul shot away completely free; it flew for a few moments, and then it landed a short distance away, and a body quickly reformed around it.
Angel's mouth dropped open in shock. Husk had reappeared... but it wasn't the Husk he knew anymore: his dark fur had become light brown and his claws had become much shorter, as well as his fingers which now resembled the harmless paws of a cat rather than the feline claws he had before. His wings, from red, had become beige, in a sort of continuation with the brown color of his fur, and the heart patterns and lines on them had become golden. His bushy tail had taken on a very similar shade, and a heart-shaped pattern. His long eyebrows had retained the red color, but were surrounded by golden patterns that made them almost a work of art. He now wore an elegant white suit and trousers, similar to that of a respectable businessman; he still had his top hat on his head, but it was now kept in absolutely perfect condition and topped with a golden halo.
He was... an angel...!?
Alastor was shocked too, although as usual he hadn't lost his smile: "Uh... well, I didn't see that coming" he admitted with a slightly strangled voice.
"Urgh... what the fuck?" Husk muttered, getting up. "How did I get free...?"
"Husk!" Angel exclaimed. "You... you...!"
Husk seemed to remember only then what situation they were in; he immediately got back into attack position. "Angel, run! I'll hold him... huh?"
Only when he put his fists in front of his field of vision did he realize that his fur had taken on a different color. Immediately forgetting about the radio demon a few steps away from him, he began to frantically look at his entire body. "Wait... what the fuck...!?"
"Husk, it's... it's like Pentious!" Angel told him, not knowing what expression to show anymore. "Well... you're not dead, but... fuck, I don't know what to say... you've become a fucking...!"
"... angel" Husk finished the sentence for him. "I... am an angel now...?"
He didn't have time to say anything else: Alastor's shadows fell on him and pinned him down. "Don't worry, you won't be such for long" Alastor hissed, raising his hand with the clear intent of tearing his head to pieces. "If you think I'm going to let you get away like that, forget it. I will make you mine again, and then, even if it takes a thousand centuries, I'm going to make sure you prove you belong in Hell again! You won't...!"
His claws never reached their target: something large and metallic suddenly stepped in the way, and Alastor lost his balance and was thrown back by the recoil. A fraction of a second later, a powerful fist landed on his jaw, so hard that it blew it off and sent him flying five meters away.
Both Angel and Husk's eyes widened in surprise. A new demon, tall, large and muscular, with strange wings similar to those of a pterosaur and a large tail, had appeared in front of Husk to protect him and had thrown Alastor away with disarming ease. "Forgive me, I'm afraid I'm late" the new demon told them with a smile.
Angel looked at him in confusion, and then widened his eyes: "Wait a minute... that face...!"
"Huh? Do we know each other?" the new demon asked him.
"No... but we saw you in Adam's memories!" Angel exclaimed. "You... you are...!"
"Uuuuungh" Alastor muttered, standing up, massaging his regenerating jaw, and as soon as he saw the newcomer he became stiff as a piece of iron: "YOU!?"
The new demon gave him a not very reassuring look. "Alastor. It's been a long time since that deal" he said, advancing while cracking his knuckles. "So now you have chosen to side with our father? Bold move after you escaped us"
Notes:
If you're wondering why in every fic the first person I redeem is Husk, the answer is simple: Husk is the one who, after Pentious, has the greatest chance of being redeemed. Husk's basic sin is sloth, which in turn is derived from his cowardice: it's not that he doesn't care about others, he simply doesn't want to put himself in a position of risk. If we take canon, Husk shows that he would like to be someone capable of supporting others (he tries with Angel), but the moment that "supporting" collides with something bigger than himself, like facing an overlord to help a friend, he immediately backs down. This is, in fact, the core of his sin; in this fic Husk as a human has been responsible for horrible things, yes, but most of the time he did it to keep powerful people on his side, not for personal pleasure. Likewise, in Hell he tried to be the person in charge for a while, but the moment he lost his soul with Alastor, he immediately went back to being submissive even when he doesn't agree with his master's actions. Husk is in a way very similar to Pentious, as they both share the sin of sloth, with the difference that Pentious tried to copy for it with false illusions, while Husk chose the path of apathy and depression.
But wait, you may say: didn't Husk already try to put others before himself? In canon he stays in the hotel to face the Exorcists and in this fic he has the courage to put his life after Niffty, right? Well, yes, but the problem is that for Husk losing his life is not the worst thing that could ever happen to him, and surely it's not the thing that he fears most. Husk is afraid of dying, yes, and in fact his previous actions are commendable and show how much he has changed; but what really scares Husk, what has always really scared him, is what a powerful person could do to him if he did not obey, and for obvious reasons that powerful person is Alastor. And this is where his change actually happens: while all his previous actions were the interlude of his journey, here there is the actual conclusion. Husk has the courage not only to sacrifice himself, but to let Alastor torture him, the thing he fears the most, just to buy time for his friends to escape (let's be clear: his friends, not just Angel. Husk is trying to protect EVERYONE here, Angel is simply the only one still awake who can hear him). Husk gives up all his selfishness and does something completely selfless, something he never had the courage to do before. This is where his real change happens: if before it was only hinted at, and he partly acted and partly backed away, here Husk completely chooses not to be the person he was, even if this means spending eternity being tortured by Alastor. Husk, just like Pentious, has faced a very deep moral journey, first simply coming out of his apathy, then offering his help in a war, then putting his life after Niffty's, and finally risking literally everything to save his friends; he has become a completely different person than the one he was in life and he has fully demonstrated this with his actions.
Of course, it's more complicated: Husk's redemption didn't happen just because he did the opposite of what he did in life, or because he committed a selfless act. If it were that simple, there would be no need for Jesus to redeem all of humanity from sin. Both Husk and Pentious were redeemed for deeper reasons, but to find out what those are you'll have to wait for the next narrative arc of this story, which will start in about another three chapters and in which we'll finally get an explanation of how redemption actually works. For now, just know that Husk actually deserved his redemption. Unlike Angel and Cherri, who haven't really faced their sins yet, Husk has done so and won.
Oh, and if you're wondering why he didn't spawn in Heaven, it's because he didn't die like Pentious. As Lucifer explained to Charlie, the souls of angels when killed return to Judgement Hall, and therefore to Heaven. Pentious had already been redeemed, his body had simply already been destroyed. In Husk's case, this doesn't happen, so he simply transforms in front of everyone. And since he's now an angel, and therefore has completely changed himself, he's freed from the contract (similar to how Alastor freed himself).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 74): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111343
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 128: Crack
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alastor was almost salivating as he looked at the demon that had appeared before him. "You..." he hissed. "I should have expected you two to come out of your lair"
Angel was still shocked, but he still didn't miss what the radio demon had said: "You two? But there's only one..."
"No, there are two of them" Zestial said, appearing next to him. "Simply one of them is not always visible. Oh, kitten, are you different, or am I wrong?"
Husk hissed: "You... wait, where were you? How did you survive? Do you know this guy?"
"Guys. There are two of them, I told you" Zestial replied. "Let's say we have a long-term partnership"
"Zestial... you're with them!?" Alastor exclaimed in an angry voice. "All this time...!?"
"Yeah. Sorry, Alastor, nothing personal" Zestial said. "You know how it goes with them, a deal is a deal. Although I have to admit that after all this mess, I'll enjoy watching you succumb at least a little"
Alastor looked ready to tear Zestial to pieces, but his attention was completely captured by the muscular demon in front of him, who was calmly advancing towards him. "I knew you were a bastard, but I didn't expect you to contribute to the destruction of all of Hell"
Alastor was clearly nervous, in fact, you could tell he was more irritated than ever; but despite that he didn't hold back his usual sarcasm. "Forgive me, did you get upset because someone can clean up the scum better than you two?"
"We had a deal, Alastor" the new demon told him. "You didn't respect it, so now you know what to expect"
And suddenly he pulled the stone away from his face, and as he did so his shadow moved, enveloping him completely, and in his place another demon appeared. A demon who was much thinner and more stunted, but much more menacing, and whose very look was enough to instill fear. The stone was now in his hand, and he held it as if it were an extremely dangerous weapon.
Angel was sweating coldly. "Is he there too...?" he muttered, recognizing that face.
"It looks like he is" Husk said through gritted teeth. "Either Alastor hit me so hard that I am seeing double, or the first murderer is now before us"
Angel swallowed. "And is that a good thing or a bad thing...?"
“I don’t know” Husk admitted, not without a fair amount of fear in his voice. “But at least it surely isn’t a good thing for Alastor”
The dark demon had a much more stern and evil expression than his previous counterpart. "You only have one chance, Alastor" he said in a very cold voice. "Tell us what the old man has in mind, and I will make your death painless"
"Tsk! What an unprodigal son" Alastor said with contempt. "I bet the reason you haven't shown up yet is because of you, right? Your brother probably would have run here to find your father if you hadn't stopped him"
"Our family dynamics don't interest you" the dark demon told him, and a bit of grayish smoke emerged from his mouth as he spoke. "We don't know when our father will disappear again, so we want to know what he wants. That's all you need to know"
"What a hurry" Alastor told him. "Tell me, have you told your sweet Mom that you left the house yet?"
"Wait a fucking minute" Angel muttered as he watched the scene. "So... Alastor knows those two... and also...?"
"Now that explains a lot of things" Husk said. "Well, it doesn't really explain anything... but at least now we know who he made that deal with"
Angel's eyes widened: "He had... a deal with them...?" he said confused. "Fuck... how long has he been hanging out with that crazy family...?"
"Don't ask me" was Husk's only reply. Honestly, he didn't understand a damn thing anymore either.
"It's complicated, don't bother try to understand it" Zestial just told them with a smile.
The dark demon let out a bored grunt. "Feeling pity for you was my brother's biggest mistake" he said to Alastor. "I won't do the same. KILL"
As soon as he said that word, the stone in his hands came to life and shot towards Alastor. The radio demon's eyes widened, and for the first time he seemed genuinely scared of something: despite all his power, he completely wrapped himself around his shadows in a sort of cocoon, sacrificing any kind of attack in favor of defense only. But as soon as those shadows were hit by the stone, they disappeared instantly: they didn't disintegrate, it was just as if they had been erased from existence. Alastor let out a cry of pain, as if a part of his body had just been swept away.
Angel almost choked on his saliva: "Did I... did I see correctly!? Am I not dreaming!?"
“He blew away Alastor's shadows like they were nothing!” Husk exclaimed, completely shocked.
Both were more nervous than ever. That was the kind of strength they needed on their side, but that wasn't reassuring at all. They didn't know the motivations of the person in front of them, and if he really was who they thought he was, then his reputation certainly didn't help. There was no guarantee that once he was done with Alastor he wouldn't have killed them with the same ease.
And even if they were on the same side for now, there was no guarantee for the future...
The stone returned to the dark demon's hand. "Is it possible that you haven't learned yet?" he asked Alastor, who was struggling hard. "You'll only cause yourself more pain like this. Well, dying this way is your choice... huh?"
Suddenly the sky went white: it was as if a sun had just appeared out of nowhere. Everyone, including the dark demon, closed their eyes so as not to be dazzled; they could feel their skin burning a little as the glow touched them. The absurd phenomenon was so intense that even Cherri, Niffty and Valentino, despite their state, ended up waking up. "What the fuck...?"
As soon as the glow died down, Alastor had disappeared. Apparently the radio demon had taken advantage of the moment to escape. However, the dark demon did not care in the least, continuing to look at the sky, in which there was the moon that was not only extremely damaged, but was actually shrinking, as if something was pushing it backwards. "Lucifer..." he growled. "That idiot... he pushed the moon out of its usual orbit...!"
"WHAT!?" Angel almost screamed. Lucifer had done that!? So angels could also move planets if they wanted to!? "Um... that's a problem, right...?"
What looked like a very fast comet through the sky, crashing in the distance. "He's back to his true form..." the dark demon muttered. "Things are getting complicated, if we don't do something he'll kill the old man. Idiot, I'm leaving you in charge again. We're going to need diplomacy here"
And with that his body changed again, in fact, it seemed to melt and return to the shadow form, while the other demon, the muscular one, reappeared in his place. "You!" he shouted at Husk. "Come with us. An emissary from Heaven could be useful"
"Huh? Me?" Husk muttered, then he understood: evidently those two, seeing an angel there, had mistaken him for someone from Heaven. Not knowing what to do, he said: "Okay, but bring the others too"
"Whatever" the big demon replied.
"What!?" Angel exclaimed. "No, wait, that's a terrib-!"
All of them were literally engulfed in a very fast flash of grayish light similar to a vortex, which immediately flew to the spot where the comet had crashed.
"There... and that's it" Sera muttered, reconnecting the last pieces of the celestial embassy.
She and Vaggie were no longer outside, but inside the building, in some sort of... control room from which they could connect the cross of Christ and send the signal that would seal all of Hell. They were trying to finish as quickly as possible since they certainly hadn't missed the fact that the moon was literally splitting apart. Emily had stayed outside to block any meteors that might fall on them, Rosie was keeping watch, while Pentious and Velvette, in order to do it faster, had divided the tasks and had connected to different points of the celestial embassy, so as to make it work even if it wasn't in perfect condition yet.
"So, now we just need to connect the cross of Christ to... everything, and we can stop the invasion?" Vaggie asked her.
"Yes" Sera told her, breathing heavily. She had literally held all the spells together by herself for almost half an hour. Although she tried not to show it, she was still very weak from the fight with Adam, and all the effort she was putting in certainly wasn't helping. "Once we connect it, we will change the mystical fluctuation of the space itself around Hell. It will no longer be possible to open portals in the same way. Both us and the humans will have to adapt to the new fluctuation first"
"And how long will it take to... adapt?" Vaggie asked her.
Sera shrugged. "Us angels will take a few hours at most. The humans... I don't know"
"Well, a few hours is still helpful" Vaggie said, trying to find a silver lining. "Come on, let's do this quickly"
Sera nodded, and she whispered something in an unintelligible language; from what looked like a control panel emerged wires that seemed to be made of pure mystical energy, which coiled and twisted on themselves. Vaggie held out the cross of Christ, and they attached themselves to it as if they were octopuses. "Okay, now you just have to think about changing the space around... well, whatever you want to change, in this case Hell" Sera told her. "You don't have to concentrate too much, just do what you did against Adam..."
"Good to know" a familiar voice said from behind her.
Sera whirled around and she found Lute in front of her, leaning against the wall and holding her sword. "You...! How did you get in!?"
"I've always been here" Lute answered. "I hid in the larger pieces of the building, so you didn't notice me while you were putting them back together"
The angelic energy immediately began swirling in Sera's palm: "Now, don't do anything stupid! Put that sword down or..."
"Sera, watch out!" Vaggie suddenly yelled at her.
Suddenly, something hit Sera on the back of the head; something so heavy and hard that her vision blurred and she fell to the ground. How was that possible? Okay, she wasn't in top form, but she shouldn't have taken this much damage...!
But then, just before she blacked out, she managed to turn her head and see the indestructible axe in Vaggie's hand still vibrating from the blow, and there was a bit of golden blood on the handle. "There's someone behind you" Vaggie said in a rhetorical voice, her expression cold.
Sera let out a soft sob. "Fuck..." she whispered for a moment before closing her eyes completely.
Lute walked towards Vaggie with her usual frown. "Hmm. Honestly, I didn't expect that just one blow would have been enough" she commented.
"That's easy, when you have an axe made of the most powerful material in the universe" Vaggie pointed out. "And I also used the cross to warp space, so that it accelerated much faster than I could move it"
"Very interesting" Lute said sarcastically. "Come on, let's get this done. Adam doesn't have much time left"
"I know" Vaggie said, and she tightened her grip on the cross of Christ; immediately the whole room and then the entire angelic embassy lit up, and as if it were a huge antenna, it began to emit bright flashes that expanded into the sky like waves.
Emily and Rosie, who were outside, could see the meteorites falling from the moon slow down and then change direction. "It's working" Emily said with a smile. "Space is altering!"
"Good thing" Rosie commented satisfied in seeing that finally no rock would have fallen on them anymore. "Okay, I can acquire dinosaur characteristics, but I didn't want to end up like them"
Emily was happy, but then her gaze darkened a bit: "Wait... something's wrong"
"What do you mean?" Rosie asked her.
"Only the space around Pride is being altered" answered replied. "The rest of Hell is still...!"
With one last high-energy blast, the entire celestial embassy fell silent; the space around the entire Pride Ring had just been altered, momentarily sealing it off from the rest of the universe. As if a massive bubble had formed around it, no one could enter or exit. Unless someone could literally shatter reality, it was now impossible to move through it, whether you were angel, demon, or human. "Well... that's technically fine..." Emily muttered. "But why only here, and not the rest of Hell...?"
Vaggie and Lute stepped out onto the roof. "We're done here" the last one commented. "I saw where Adam and the short idiot fell. That way!"
Vaggie nodded, and held up the cross of Christ; the space around the two of them altered, and just as if they were in a warp bubble, in a split second they were launched away much faster than they could fly. In an instant they reached the edge of the crater that had formed when Adam and Lucifer had fallen into Hell. "Now what?"
Lute's eyes narrowed. "Now let's remain ready"
Lucifer looked down at Adam's prostrate body with considerable disdain. The first man was still alive, of course; he still hadn't destroyed his soul. But with that single punch, Lucifer had almost knocked him out.
'Almost' because Adam was still conscious. His head was regenerating, and his eyes, though barely open, were focused on him. "I... lost?"
Lucifer had an unreadable expression due to his angelic nature, but the darkness on his face was very evident. All his eyes were shaking with anger and hatred. When he spoke, his voice, once beautiful and angelic, sounded guttural, as someonr had burned his throat: "It seems obvious to me"
Adam emitted a grunt. "Defeated so easily... again" he said with anger in his voice. "So? What are you waiting for?"
Lucifer clenched his fists. "Is this what you wanted?" he asked in a contemptuous voice.
Adam grunted. "What I wanted was for you to understand the truth" he said. "To understand what it feels like to lose everything, or at least a part of it"
"So that's it?" Lucifer asked. "You killed all of Hell just to get even?"
"Don't say bullshit" Adam replied. "We'll never be even, Lucifer. Never"
Lucifer moved his hand slightly, placing it on Adam's neck. He wasn't squeezing, but Adam still felt like he was suffocating. "You know, a man like you should know that you should try to convince me not to kill you right now" Lucifer told him.
"Cough... you're hoping I'll beg you, right? You want to hear me beg for mercy so you can crush it" Adam told him without any fear. "I know the feeling. If you think I'm going to give you that satisfaction, you can forget about it"
Lucifer growled. "STOP!" he roared, and this time he actually squeezed Adam's neck. "Stop saying you know how I feel!"
"Why?" Adam asked, holding his gaze. "Do you think I'm lying to you... or are you trying not to remember?"
Lucifer gritted his teeth harder. He wished he could still have the same anger and fury he had before, but now that the battle was over, his heart was calming. Those destructive feelings were giving way to a different pain, deeper and definitely worse to deal with.
Adam spat out some blood. "You know... I know you didn't mean anything bad that day, I've heard your pathetic excuses for too long not to know that. But it doesn't mean shit, and now you know it too" he told him. "Now you know the truth. It was not your will that Cain killed his brother, it was not your will that Earth was flooded, it was not your will that so many atrocities were committed, and yet, all of this can be traced back to you and your damned pride. You have always hidden yourself behind your justifications, but now I can finally see you feel pain. Because now, whether you like it or not, you too are forced to take responsibility. It is your responsibility that the Sins died today... and it will be your responsibility what you are about to do to me"
Lucifer inhaled deeply. "Did you really do all this just to make me suffer?"
"I did it to protect my world. But also... yes" Adam replied. "Come on. Kill me. Let out your anger, and then live forever with that weight on your heart. May this pain be forever with you"
Lucifer tightened his grip. It didn't matter what past connection he had with Adam anymore, he had to die for what he had done. He couldn't let him live after he had killed every person in Hell... after he had killed the Sins. He had to end this right there and then.
Adam gasped a little. "I knew I couldn't kill you" he muttered, though it seemed more to himself than to the fallen angel. "But being beaten by just one punch... I thought I could hold out for at least a little more... fuck. Apparently it's still you... the better male"
Thousands of years had passed, but Lucifer remembered hearing that tone of voice only one other day: when Adam had banished him and Lilith from Earth, after he had slept with Eve. The voice, and with it the feeling contained within, were the same. It wasn’t anger, it was something more. A contempt that couldn’t be truly defined, not even with an entire library at his disposal.
He tightened his grip. The moment had come. One snap, and he would have torn Adam’s soul away, destroying it forever. The first man didn’t falter, continuing to stare at him with those same merciless eyes…
"NO!"
A portal opened up next to them and Charlie literally jumped out of it, grabbing her father by the hand he was holding Adam with: "Dad, stop! Don't do it!"
Lucifer hesitated for a moment: "What? Are you still defending him...?"
It was the first time Charlie had seen him in his true form, and normally he would have felt a little ashamed to show her the horror that was hidden inside him, but at that moment his mind was focused on something else. And Charlie didn't care at all about that, but instead shouted at him: "He didn't kill the Sins! He didn't kill anyone! He absorbed their souls like he did with the sinners, and he's doing the same to the hellborns! If you kill him, you'll kill them all!"
Lucifer was so taken aback that he instinctively let go of Adam, who could finally breathe again. He looked up and saw that Michael and Lilith had also come out of the portal; his brother seemed unsure whether he should have done, and from all the dust that he had on him it seemed that he had spent the last minutes doing nothing but stopping the meteors that were thrown away by Sheol before they hit the ground, and that looked unsure whether it was the case to return to his true form too, while his wife was pale, but she said to him anyway: "It's true. I tried to tell you before, but he silenced me"
Lucifer gritted his teeth, finally realizing the deception. His heart fluttered for a moment at the thought that he had actually been on the verge of killing everyone. "Why?" he couldn't help but ask.
Adam looked more annoyed than happy. "Tsk! I told you, I wanted you to know what it feels like" he said, and then did the unexpected: the souls in his possession were literally cut off from him, and he converged them in his hand, holding them as if they were a ball. He had detached them from himself, so now if he died, they would not have followed him into the grave. "The choice is yours now, Lucifer... do you want to protect your family or have them love you?" he said defiantly. "Better king in Hell... or servant in Heaven?"
Lucifer instantly understood the meaning of those words. Adam was literally putting himself in his hands: now it was up to him to decide what to do. And the first man had advised him what to do from the beginning.
Lucifer could simply decide to throw Adam back in the cell and call it a day. He could have took all the souls back, given them new bodies, and everything would have returned to normal... well, more or less. That would have been the choice everyone, especially Lilith and Charlie, would have approved of. No one would have blamed him for that.
But if Adam survived, he would have tried to destroy Hell again. He had done it once before and he could do it again, and this time there would have been no guarantee that he would have limited himself to take the souls instead of killing. Lucifer now knew that Adam would have never stopped; he himself would not have stopped if Charlie did not tell him the truth. Adam would not have stopped. He couldn't stop.
If Lucifer killed him right there and now... all their problems would have been over.
Lilith and Charlie would probably have hated his decision, but at least they would have been safe. Everyone would have been safe, without having to fear that the first man would have unleashed the apocalypse on Hell.
In both cases, Lucifer would have been directly responsible. And that was exactly what Adam wanted: to force him to take responsibility for those actions. Lucifer knew that this time he would not have been able to hide behind lies. If he killed Adam, it would have been his fault; and if he spared him, everything the first man would have done in the future would have been his fault anyway. The only difference was how many people would have paid for his decision.
Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.
For the first time, Lucifer was truly understanding the meaning of those words.
It didn’t matter that the problem could be resolved nonviolently. It didn’t matter that Adam might have changed in the future, redeemed himself, or whatever else. Lucifer just knew that neither he nor anyone else who had seen what the first man was capable of could sleep soundly while he was alive. Adam was dangerous, and that was enough.
Lucifer bit his lip. Was that how Adam had always felt about him...?
For the first time, Lucifer thought he was actually understanding it.
Fuck... he had really screwed up...
And now he had to make a decision. And he knew what decision Adam would have approved. And now he knew why he would have approved it.
Michael's eyes widened as he felt his brother's energy increase: "NO!" he shouted, preparing to intervene.
Too late: Lucifer had already unleashed his power. His three mouths opened and generated a flash of light that condensed into one. As soon as it hit the target, Adam's soul would have been literally erased from existence; just an instant, and then nothing. Maybe it would even have been painless...
But as he was doing this, Lucifer noticed something approaching at a speed greater than the speed of light; it was as if someone had thrown something towards them from the edge of the crater. It was Adam's axe, and he grabbed it and swung it in front of him. Lucifer's blast hit the axe's indestructible material squarely.
It was as if the whole reality had shaken, and probably it did: upon impact, practically everyone was thrown away, even Lucifer despite being in his true form. Reality seemed to shake violently on the surface of the axe, and then it cracked like glass. A crack grew larger and larger in two different directions. It was as if the sky was splitting apart.
"SHIT!" Michael screamed, and immediately flew to the side of the crack and grabbed it; his fingers managed to imprint themselves on reality itself, and he tried to force the crack to close, feeling an enormous pressure coming from within it. "Lucifer, grab the other end right now! We have to stop it before it expands too much!"
For once Lucifer immediately agreed with his brother and immediately grabbed the other side of the crack. Both angels made an effort, and finally the crack stopped expanding, but they still felt the immense pressure; if they had let go for just a moment, it would have started to widen again. And inside that crack Charlie could see white, gold and blue figures, which, although blurry, reminded her of something very well: "Is that... Heaven...?"
"I'm afraid so" Lilith said, shaking a lot. "Adam's axe and Lucifer's power... have broken reality and opened a gap between worlds!"
"So they basically broke through dimensions...?" Charlie instinctively took a step back: "This... is not good, right...?"
Adam stood up with a groan, using the axe as a counterweight. He was still in quite bad shape, and looked like he could barely stand, but he was smiling nonetheless. "Don't worry, I'll close it as soon as I get to the other side"
The rift shook, and widened even further. "Shit... hold on!" Michael yelled at Lucifer, and they both did their best to hold it back.
Charlie swallowed. "Sure... now you have the path to Heaven open..."
"The material from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the most powerful in the universe. This axe can cut through anything... even dimensions" Adam told her. "I just needed a way to open the gateway to Heaven. The raw power of an angel in its true form was exactly what was needed. By combining these two elements, I opened reality itself to Heaven"
"At least you know how to close it!?" Lilith screamed. "You opened that rift using the most powerful material in the universe, its energy is inside it now! If we don't close it, it will continue to expand!"
"Don't worry, I've got my ass covered" Adam replied. "I just need to make sure the space it expands into is upside down, so it closes instead of expanding. And I have exactly what I need for that"
And just then the cross of Jesus fell into his hands. Charlie looked up and saw two familiar angels flying above him. Lute of course went to Adam's side immediately, the other... hesitated for a moment, but then did the same. Charlie paled: "No..."
"Sorry, Charlie" Vaggie said without looking her in the eyes. "It was the only way I could make sure he really killed as little as possible"
"What... wait, you made a deal?" Charlie exclaimed, starting to put the final pieces together.
Vaggie nodded. "This would have happened anyway, Charlie. The humans were on the warpath and Adam had a plan to win. Even if I hadn't helped him, the story would have gone the same way. I preferred to make sure he kept all the souls alive" she told her. "And then... maybe it really is for the best"
Charlie couldn't blame Vaggie: even in that moment when she was in the midst of total tension, she was able to reason enough to understand that her girlfriend had made a deal to protect the demons. After all, as long as a demon's soul was not destroyed, the demon would have survived. Vaggie had probably thought that making a deal was the best way to ensure that Adam wouldn't have killed everyone in the end. But she still felt a little angry: "How can you say it's for the best!?"
“Don’t you see?” Vaggie replied. “I told you that time, didn’t I? It’s better to let Adam work things out on Earth and take care of everything else later. What he promises is a world without atrocities, and once we get that, we can think about how to reform and redeem each and every soul he now has with him. Sorry, but for me, this is definitely better". Her eyes narrowed. “And don’t pretend you didn't think that too. I know a part of you would be on our side right away if it weren’t for your father”
Charlie bit her lip. Technically, that was true: after finally putting all the pieces together, she couldn’t deny that the plan, as cruel as it was, was logical. In the end, almost no one had actually died. Charlie had seen worse on the streets of Pentagram City. So she herself had been conflicted about which path to take… she hadn’t asked Emily to make her talk to God for no reason.
Adam spread his wings and took flight, followed by Lute and Vaggie. "You'll talk another time" he told them, heading towards the dimensional rift. "Now let's go...!"
"This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms..."
Adam froze in place, his triumphant expression instantly gone, and his face drained of color. He wasn't the only one; practically everyone in the room froze at the sound of that voice. Even Lucifer and Michael, despite their effort, had widened their eyes and diverted their attention from the crack. Everyone turned around, seeing a small flash of light approaching from which those words came.
"What... what...?" Adam stammered as he watched this. "A trick of yours...?"
"I'm not... doing anything" Lucifer muttered in total shock.
Adam was breathing hard, almost hyperventilating. No, that was impossible. He hadn't heard that voice in millennia. It had to be a trick.
And yet...
"Sir...?" Lute asked, touching his hand. Instinctively he squeezed it, much to her surprise, as if he was trying to give himself strength.
"Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart..."
The flash of light landed in front of them, revealing Angel, Cherri, Niffty, Valentino, Zestial, and even Husk, which had an unusually different appearance, who fell to the ground with a thud. In front of them was another demon, tall and powerful, looking directly at Adam as he chanted the words no one had heard in thousands of years.
Adam almost dropped his axe at the sight of him. It couldn’t be. And yet it was all so real.
Those eyes.
That face.
That hair.
That expression.
That person who had changed so much, with a body so different from the one he remembered… but who was still the same as when he held him and called his child.
"No matter the place, we can light up the world,
Here's how to start..."
The demon himself seemed undecided about what to do. He took a couple of steps forward, but it was as if he was just afraid of a possible reaction from the first man. Not because he could kill him... more because he could push him away.
Almost as if he wanted to make the task easier for him, Adam flew to the ground. He did it without thinking, it was an instinct. The same instinct that millennia before had led him to kneel and bend down every time his children wanted to be with him, because he knew in his heart that they preferred to have him at their eye level.
And the demon actually seemed more at ease. His eyes showed more serenity, and the genuine smile on his face widened. Very slowly, he raised his arms as if to invite him into a hug.
"Greet the world with open arms,
Greet the world with open arms...!"
Adam didn't move, just staring at the demon that had appeared before him. His entire body seemed to have shut down, so much so that he was barely breathing. His gaze was completely focused on the eyes of that demon, who was staring back at him with the same intensity. And then, a single word escaped his lips.
"Abel...?"
Notes:
Before anyone starts complaining about Vaggie's about-face, let's get a few things straight: first, for the umpteenth time, this is NOT a genocide, because all the souls of both sinners and hellborns are still alive (except for some Goetia), so from Vaggie's point of view it's not such a serious thing. It's basically like someone telling you "we don't kill these prisoners, we just put them in a pharmacological coma, and then when the time comes we'll gradually wake them up to introduce them to a rehabilitation process"; it's obvious that from a moral point of view it's still wrong, but much less impactful than the alternative, and above all, it's LOGICAL. Second, there were all the necessary premises for this about-face, since Vaggie, while still loving Charlie and their friends, suddenly found herself crashing into the harsh reality of what happens on Earth, which created quite a few doubts that culminated in that famous argument right after Adam revealed his plan, in which she herself said that at least Adam's plan made sense and it was enough to change it a bit, which she actually tried to do by making a deal with him (if you also remember Alastor, in the previous chapter, says he promised not to attack their friends, without specifying that he made this promise to Adam). Third, Vaggie has a very black and white mentality in canon (I miss the Vaggie from the pilot...), as she literally tried to kill every person in the hotel the moment they seemed to annoy Charlie, including poor Pentious when all he was doing was lying on the floor and giving himself over to the wildest pessimism, so, even if she has changed (or at least, in this fic, in canon she is the same in all eight episodes), in her mind it is not a problem to do something seemingly terrible to protect someone (in canon, killing everyone who could hurt Charlie; here, letting Adam cleanse the universe of evil to protect innocent people, especially children who she has a soft spot for). Fourth, there will be flashbacks showing what happened to Vaggie between then and now, since we've barely seen her in the meantime. Finally, the situation here is pretty much the same as Adam: Vaggie thinks it's much better to put all the demons "in stasis", fix the Earth, and then think about redeeming the demons one by one when the innocents are finally no longer suffering. So, call her mean all you want, but I'm willing to bet that everyone here would have at least given it a thought, since, again, it all makes perfect sense. How big the difference is between logical and right... this is unfortunately a dilemma that has been going on since humanity appeared, and still has no real answer. Just like Adam and Charlie, Vaggie has a very complex psychology and is dealing with an extremely complicated situation, so her decision is not out of character at all, in fact, we can say that she held out longer than we mere mortals would have.
And for those wondering why Michael doesn't take on his true form when reality is literally breaking apart, well, the answer is... I still have no idea how I want to draw him. In fact, if any of you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments. So for the sake of argument let's just assume he hasn't had time to transform and call it a day. Although, it must be said, the fact that Michael in base form can do what Lucifer does in his true form really shows just how strong this guy really is.
And for those who were hoping that Abel would beat the shit out of Alastor, there will be a confrontation between these two, only later, because we need Alastor for the story, so we can't let him die just like this. Because, let's face it, Alastor is cool and all, but alone against Cain and Abel he can only get beaten.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 75): https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/169520629?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_921825796
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 129: Entering Heaven
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Time seemed to have frozen. No one was able to speak, everyone was still. The shock was too great.
Charlie's eyes were so wide that they seemed ready to roll out of their sockets. That face, that voice... there was no doubt who they belonged to. She had never met him, but she had seen him in Adam's memories, and that was enough to remember him forever.
Adam's word gave voice to her thoughts: "Abel?"
The muscular demon smiled a little wider. "Hi, Dad" he said in an excited voice. "It's been a while"
Adam raised his shaking hand, and lightly touched his cheek, clearly wondering if he was real. "Is that... really you...?"
Abel in turn raised his hands and placed them on his shoulders. "It's me" he said. "Sorry it took me so long"
Adam didn't reply further. He still couldn't seem to decide if he was dreaming or not, but he grabbed his son's body and hugged him tightly. Abel hugged him back with equal intensity, and from the look on his face it looked like he had been waiting for this for who knows how long. "I missed you" he murmured.
Adam only held him tighter. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this" he murmured. "You're finally here, Abel..."
"Hey, I'm here too!" a familiar annoyed voice came from Abel's shadow. "Of course it's the prodigal son who has the tearful reunion..."
"What?" Adam exclaimed, looking at the shadow. "This voice... Cain?"
Abel's shadow moved of its own accord, revealing a pair of angry eyes. "Oh, now you notice me!" he grumbled. "If I could come out at will, you would surely have seen me, old man...!"
"Shut up, you complexed" Abel told him. "Sorry, Dad, his current situation isn't exactly... easy..."
"Cain is your shadow?" Charlie couldn't help but blurt out.
"I am NOT his shadow!" Cain barked angrily.
"It's more complex than that" Abel said trying to mediate. "There are a few things you should be up to speed on..."
Adam and Charlie weren't the only ones shocked, of course; everyone else there was. Michael and Lucifer in particular had their expressions blank even as they held back the dimensional rift, while Lilith had gone so pale she looked like a corpse. It was so quiet that the sudden rustling of wings almost sounded like thunder. "Hey, what the hell is going on!?" Emily exclaimed as she descended from the sky, followed by Rosie, Pentious, and even Velvette. "Why did the reality... huh?"
Their eyes also widened enormously when they saw Abel. "That is...!" Pentious stammered in a strangled voice. "What's going on!?"
Charlie didn't have an explanation. "I honestly... don't know how to answer that" she told them.
Lilith took a step forward almost unconsciously. She seemed to have forgotten to breathe. "You two...?" she murmured.
"Hello to you too, Aunt Lilith" Abel said with a smirk.
"Where were you guys!?" she exclaimed with a strangled voice. "I... I've been looking everywhere for you... by now I thought you were...!"
Abel's smile quickly faded. "Yeah... sorry about that part. Sorry to all of you" he said. "There's a few things we should update you on..."
Adam suddenly released the hug, pushing Abel away. "Yeah... where were you?" he asked in a rough voice.
The initial emotion had made him act without reasoning; after all, no father would remain impassive upon seeing his children again. However, now that he was starting to regain his rationality, he remembered the fact that neither Abel nor Cain had even deigned to meet him millennia ago. The fact that they had come out into the open right now could mean that they would have been hostile to him.
After all, weren't they demons too?
Abel bit his lip: "Dad, please... I know that..."
"Your mother told me that you didn't want to meet me" Adam growled. "I've come here every year for millennia, and you two never deigned to show yourselves! The last memory I have of you is your mother telling me that Cain doesn't want to see me and Abel choosing to side with him!"
"Oh, about the part of not wanting to see you, that was true" Cain said with a hint of malice.
"Excuse me, you're not helping!" Abel scolded him. "Dad, I know Mom was a bitch that time, and we already got pissed at her... okay, it doesn't matter now. We didn't hide from you because we wanted to..."
"I did" Cain grumbled.
"Can't you use any feelings at all!?" Abel exclaimed. "I know that you missed our family too!"
"I deny everything" was Cain's only reply.
That exchange wasn't helping their interlocutors to comprehend. "Okay, stop it, both of you! I don't understand a fucking shit anymore!" Adam exclaimed. "I want an explanation, NOW!"
Abel was silent for a moment, and then he sighed deeply: "Dad, it's... long to explain. After you two broke up, Mom is..."
His words were cut off by a loud noise that sounded like breaking glass: the crack in the sky widened, pushing both Michael and Lucifer away, who had to grit their teeth to resist. New cracks opened up in reality, as if it were breaking. "It's collapsing!" Michael shouted. "We won't last long! You have to close it, right now!"
"I hate to agree with him, but I have to this time!" Lucifer said through gritted teeth. "If you don't seal it now, it will grow too big for the two of us to contain it!"
Adam gritted his teeth, and he grabbed the cross of Jesus again. "We have to go" he said with a loud grunt.
"Dad, wait!" Abel tried to stop him. "Please come back later...!"
"I have things to do in Heaven" he replied. "If you are truly still my son, come with me. I will listen to you on the other side, while we carry out our plan"
Abel sweated a little. "I can't. Cain and I are not capable of..."
"Understood. You made your choice" Adam said, spreading his wings, pushing him away with the blast of air. "Lute, Vaggie, let's go!"
"Dad!" Abel called back.
Adam gritted his teeth. It was clear that those words were costing him, but he shook his head anyway, "I didn't come all this way to stop just because you asked me to!"
"Let me out" Cain whispered to his brother. "I can stop him before he goes through that rift, we can resume the family reunion later!"
"No" Abel snapped. "Dad, please..."
Another loud crash of glass was heard, but this time it was at least a hundred times louder; Michael and Lucifer were literally thrown in opposite directions, as the crack grew enormously larger. "FUCK!" Michael screamed before being catapulted away. "Run! We can't hold it anymore...!"
Adam gritted his teeth tightly. "I have to fix it now" he hissed. "Let's go!"
And having said that he grabbed Lute and Vaggie and flew at full speed towards the crack in the sky, which was literally coming at him because it was growing larger. "No!" Charlie screamed, and with a leap he grabbed his tail.
Adam's eyes widened: "No, stop...!"
Too late: the crack between reality hit them, sucking all four of them inside. "CHARLIE!" Lilith screamed, and before anyone could stop her, she ran into the gap and jumped in.
"Wait! You can't go inside it like that!" Emily screamed, trying to catch her.
"You reckless idiot!" Rosie exclaimed, seeing her fall into the rift, and she jumped in too. "Don't go alone, who knows where you'll be thrown!"
The three of them disappeared in an istant. All the others backed away in fear. "This isn't good!" Husk exclaimed. "What are we going to do!?"
"How am I supposed to know!?" Cherri said in a cold sweat as she watched reality crack further and further apart. "We should run!"
"No! We have to follow Charlie!" Angel screamed in worry.
"Stay behind me!" Abel shouted, standing in front of them with his wings spread wide. "Asshole, can you block it?"
"If something exists, it can be killed" Cain replied. "Let me out and I'll take care of it!"
Abel grabbed the stone in his face and tore it off, and immediately his shadow came to life and enveloped him, transforming him back into the dark demon. Cain immediately threw the stone at the crack: "KILL!"
Unlike people, the stone hit the crack directly, not through it, and it emitted a greenish glow. Finally, the gap in reality seemed to start to slow down, allowing Michael and Lucifer to once again grab the edges and hold it at least a little. "Wow... are you really holding it?" Angel muttered.
"It's not enough" Cain said through gritted teeth. "I don't have enough power to completely erase it... but I can...!"
The stone returned to his hand, and he threw it again, repeating the usual "KILL" he said every time he threw it; this time, however, it didn't hit the crack, but the space directly above it. This should have been impossible, since there was only sky there, but the stone seemed to stick into something. The crack suddenly stopped growing... and all the space around it went black. No, not black... it was as if the light itself had stopped passing through it.
"Wow..." Cherri murmured. "What... what did he do...?"
Husk was sweating coldly. "Absurd..." he almost whispered. "He... deleted space itself...!"
"Space is something that exists. If something exists, it can be killed... and if something can be killed, I can kill it" Cain repeated again. "If I keep killing the space around this crack, I can stop it from growing. You can't break space if there's no space"
"Wait, you really erased space!? No... killed space!?" Angel almost screamed in shock.
Cain was sweating profusely, still holding his arm up to block the stone. "I can't move in this state. At this rate...!" he said to himself, and then he turned quickly to the other demons: "Zestial!"
"Yes, sir?" Zestial asked him, bowing his head slightly.
"By the time we're done here, my father will have already closed the rift on the other side, and we won't be able to follow him! I can't move now, so you have to go!" Cain told him. "Go through this gap and find my father, you know the plan! You have to stop him from taking the third piece at all costs! Go, we leave everything to you!"
Zestial nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best" he said, and then turned to the others: "Guys, follow me!"
"What!?" Pentious exclaimed.
"Wait a minute, what do you mean?" Husk asked quite scared.
"Don't be scary, we're just going on a little trip to Heaven. I need all the allies I can get, so come with me" Zestial replied, then grabbed Valentino by the arm: "Especially you, I need another powerful overlord"
"Hey, wait! I don't have a say in this!?" Valentino exclaimed.
"No" Zestial replied, and he dragged him forcefully into the rift.
"Val!" Velvette exclaimed, and without thinking, she chased after him, throwing herself into the rift behind them.
Angel, Pentious, Husk, Cherri, and Niffty all gulped a little. "We're... going to follow them, right?" Cherri asked, holding Niffty back so she wouldn't have gone straight into the rift driven by her usual madness.
Angel was sweating, but despite it he nodded. "Yeah. We're not abandoning Charlie" he said resolutely.
"Right" Pentious said. "Let's go get her!"
"I'm in" Husk said simply.
"I want... I want to go inside that thing!" Niffty screamed in hysterics.
The five of them exchanged a quick glance of understanding, and then without further ado, they ran toward the dimensional rift and dove in. Even though they were definitely tired, upset, and scared of what was coming, they were still ready to face it if it meant helping a friend.
Cain, Michael, and Lucifer were left alone to keep an eye on the rift in reality. They were all in full exertion and not saying a word, but thankfully after just a minute the rift stopped looking like an expanding balloon, and instead quickly shrank until it closed again. "It's over" Michael said with some relief.
"Adam must have sealed it on the other side. Which means..." Lucifer muttered, and then tried to open any portal to somewhere other than Pride, but was promptly blocked. "As I thought... we're prisoners here"
"Just until we get used to Pride's new spatial structure" Michael told him. "We should be able to do that in a few hours"
"But who knows what Adam will have done in a few hours!" Lucifer protested. "And he has my daughter with him! And my wife is up there too!"
"Getting angry won't do you any good" Cain told him, and he violently stuck the stone back over his eye; at that precise moment, he returned to being a shadow, making way for Abel. "My brother is right. We need to keep calm if we want to fix things"
"Well, then, to help us keep calm, you can start by explaining where you two appeared from!" Lucifer replied.
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too" Michael muttered.
Abel looked like he was about to answer, but suddenly he stopped, as if he had heard something; he was silent for a moment, and it really seemed like he was listening to someone talking to him, and then he said: "There's no time now, we have more pressing matters to attend to. You two, find a way to reopen a portal. My brother and I have other things to do"
"Hey, you can't just run away like this...!" Lucifer protested, but Abel and Cain didn't listen to him at all and in a few moments they had vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
The two angels were left alone. Neither of them liked that story, you could tell by looking at their faces. "Can we trust them?" Lucifer asked.
Michael shook his head. "Honestly, I don't think we can trust anyone anymore"
Charlie barely managed to keep her grip on Adam's tail as she was tossed from side to side; inside the rift it was like being in a giant vortex that threatened to throw her in any direction. For a moment she actually lost her grip, but Vaggie grabbed her hand before she could fly away. Finally they reached the other side, and were spat out with the speed of a meteorite, crashing to the ground.
Adam immediately stood up, clutching the cross of Jesus. He could glimpse other very fast comet-like lights, which were in fact people, emerging from the rift and being thrown who knows where, but he paid them no attention. The cross of Jesus trembled slightly in his hands, and in a few moments it closed the rift in reality, sealing the dimensional fabric again.
Finally the sky returned to normal. Adam breathed a small sigh of relief. "Now it won't cause any more problems" he said.
Charlie stood up, brushing the dust off her body; Vaggie started to help her, but then pulled back, not knowing exactly what to do or say to her. Charlie was more interested in the white surroundings, however: "Hey... are we in Heaven?"
"It seems obvious, genius" Lute answered. "Judging by the surroundings... I'd say we're in one of the northern prairies. A favorite place for people who like to lie in the grass"
"Or for those who just like to sunbathe" Vaggie said a little hesitantly.
Charlie gave her an unfriendly look, but then she said anyway: "Thanks for grabbing me. I don't know where I'd be right now"
Vaggie brightened a little, but a grunt from Adam stopped her from speaking. "You'd still be here in Heaven, just far away from us. Like everyone else who followed us" he commented. "Come. We need to move on"
Charlie looked at him a little worried. Adam was turning his back to them, clearly not wanting to look at them, and was clenching his fists much harder than usual. His tone of voice was also decidedly lower and more menacing. "Adam... are you upset by any chance...?"
"No" was the curt reply. "Move those legs and walk now"
"I think we should at least talk about this" Charlie tried to insist. "I understand that seeing your sons was..."
"I SAID NO!" Adam roared, whirling around so quickly that he looked like a ferocious lion. Charlie almost fell to the ground in fright, and shivered when she saw the first man's expression: he looked like a rabid beast ready to devour the first thing in front of him.
Adam remained in that position for a few moments, leaning toward her, his eyes locked on hers, his breathing labored; and then, he felt a pair of gentle hands rest on his right arm. He turned his gaze slightly and saw Lute leaning on his arm, as if to comfort him. Which worked, as his heavy breathing finally began to slow. With a deep breath, Adam closed his eyes again and stood upright again, and he rested a hand on his face as if trying to gather his thoughts.
Lute didn’t say anything; she just tightened her grip on his arm. Adam didn’t say anything, but his fingers tightened slightly around hers, and she could feel them trembling. Even though he wasn’t saying anything, he was clearly in deep distress. Lute squeezed his hand tightly and leaned her head against his shoulder, trying to make him feel close to her.
This went on for what seemed like forever, but could easily have been just a few seconds, and then Adam shook his head hard and his frown returned. “Let’s go” he simply said, spreading his wings and taking flight.
Lute followed him immediately. Vaggie and Charlie looked at each other for a moment, and then they took flight too. “Wow… I didn’t know this sensitive side of Lute” Charlie couldn’t help but whisper to her girlfriend.
Vaggie shrugged. "Well... Adam told me she can be nice" she admitted.
"Hey, you two, get over here!" Adam growled at them. "Especially you, blondie! Fly ahead of me where I can keep an eye on you!"
Charlie and Vaggie sped up a bit to catch up. "Um... so I'm on the team now? When did I say yes?" Charlie protested.
"The moment you came with us. I can't let you go now, you'll raise the alarm" Adam pointed out. "Your snake friend has already ruined part of my plan, guessing that I wanted to lure all the most powerful angels down there and block them like I did with your father and uncle. If it weren't for him, I'd have a clear path now, but I don't, so I'm not going to let you call anyone"
"Wow... it's nice to see you grumpy again" Charlie muttered sarcastically, then she looked at Vaggie with a scowl: "By the way, since I'm coming with you guys, do you want to explain to me how you ended up on his side?"
Vaggie sighed: "Charlie, really, I'm so-"
"No, don't apologize" Charlie cut her off. "I know you had your reasons. Please tell me"
Vaggie was more than a little surprised. Considering how the last time she hid something from Charlie had ended, she had expected a much different reaction. "Really? You're not mad?"
"If I just listened to my emotions, now I would yell at you, Adam, Lute, my father, Abel, Cain, and pretty much everyone else in existence... and also the existence itself" Charlie answered. "But I've learned not to judge someone before you know their side of the story. I made that mistake once and I don't intend to make it again. And I know I can trust you, and that you would never do something to harm me or our friends, so let me listen to your reasons before I judge you"
Vaggie couldn't help but smile a little: "Oh... Charlie, that's... very mature of you..."
"Yeah, let's save that part for later. I may be mature, but I still want an explanation as soon as possible" Charlie told her. "And you owe me one, don't you think?"
Vaggie nodded, biting her lip a little. "Yeah" she said. "I think so"
"Ugh... are you all okay?" Emily asked as she stood up from the ground. She, Lilith and Rosie had landed together, far away from where Adam, Vaggie, Lute and Charlie had landed, so much so that there wasn't a steppe around them but a few trees.
"I am, nothing too broken" Rosie said as she stood up. "You two are out of your minds. You can't throw yourselves into a dimensional rift head first and drag me along in the process!"
"Sorry, I was trying to save my daughter!" Lilith growled as she looked intently at her hands.
Rosie was a little confused by this behavior: "What are you doing? Is something wrong?"
"No... and that's the point. I should be rejected from Heaven, I'm exiled unless someone opens the door for me" Lilith said. "I assume the deal with Adam still stands, even though he's a demon now..."
"Well, that's good. At least you won't be suddenly thrown away" Emily said, then took flight: "Come on, I know Heaven well. I know where to go for help"
"Find help?" Rosie said unconvinced. "Girl, do you realize that neither I nor Lilith are exactly the kind of people who should be here, and that winged people like you comes once a year to kill us? I don't think they'll help us... unless that help is to dig our graves"
"Uh... yeah, good point" Emily admitted. "Well... I can put you guys under my protection. I don't know how much it's worth, but it should be enough to convince someone to help us track down Charlie and the others... right?"
Rosie and Lilith looked at each other. "Well, we don't have much of a choice" the Queen of Hell finally said. "Lead the way"
"Great! Come with me" Emily told them, flying through the trees.
Rosie let out a tired sigh, and then she noticed that Lilith's hands were shaking badly. "Hey... are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Lilith let out a loud grunt. "What do you think?" she said in an irritated voice. "But now isn't the right place and time. Let's go"
Rosie rolled her black eyes. "After this, I think I'll have a lot of new clients for my therapy sessions" she muttered under her breath.
Without any of them noticing, a dark creepy shadow crept away in the opposite direction.
Angel found his head stuck in the ground. He stood up with a half-grunt. "Great, wonderful landing" he muttered. "Husk, Cherri, Pen? Niffty, are you there?"
"Ah ha, yes!" the cyclops waitress laughed.
Angel stood up. Husk and Cherri were beside him, both of them getting up in pain. Pentious was a few feet away, lying upside down with only his thumb raised. Next to them was Zestial, standing straight and calm as ever, and Valentino and Velvette were getting back to their feet, muttering insults. "Hmm. The dimensional rift has closed" the spider overlord said, looking up at the sky. "You shouldn't have thrown yourselves inside it out of nowhere, you could have ended up kilometers away from here. Good thing you held on well"
"Yes, to my hair!" Velvette cried, touching her mane. Hers was still doll hair, so it wasn't torn out, but it was in a horrible hairstyle. "Look what you've done... how am I supposed to be seen around with this...!?"
"We have bigger problems" Zestial said only. "Let's hurry up. We'd better intercept Adam before he finds the third piece for his weapon"
"Hey, hey, hey, who the fuck made you leader!?" Cherri exclaimed, pointing her finger at him. "Why should we follow you!?"
"Yeah! Especially after you kept it a secret from us that YOU APPARENTLY KNOW THE FIRST ASSHOLE'S CHILDREN!" Velvette shouted at him angrily.
Zestial didn't bat an eyelid. "Yeah, I knew them. So?"
"So? So!?" Angel barked. "You could have told us sooner! Maybe they could have helped us, or at least talked to their father while he was in jail!"
"They could have helped us in a million ways!" Pentious protested. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Zestial's expression remained unchanged. "I had my reasons" he said simply. "And I don't have to share them with you"
"Are you serious!?" Cherri shouted. "You are a...!"
"I am the strongest among us, so you cannot force information out of me that I do not intend to tell you" Zestial said. "So, do you want to keep complaining and asking questions that you already know I will not answer, or do you want to get to work before I have to force you to?"
The others bit their lip in anger, but they knew that he was unfortunately right. "What are you going to do?" they asked him.
"It seems obvious to me: find Adam, save your friend, steal the third piece of the weapon and possibly some of the other two, and extort the location of his lair. Oh, and of course, also return to Hell before he crushes us all" Zestial answered them. "So, are you with me?"
That speech was not encouraging at all. "I hate my life" was all Angel could say after almost a minute of silence.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 76): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111385
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 130: Resist
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Blitz thought he had seen a lot in his life, and that nothing could surprise him anymore. Sure, the humans he had previously hunted almost for sport had decided it was time to destroy the entire civilization of Hell; sure, he had found himself split open in two in a hospital infested with zombies; sure, said zombies were not actually zombies but demons with mush in their brains due to microscopic drones... sure! But he was still shocked when he saw not only a herd of those freaks, but also one of those robots pass by Fizzarolli and purposely ignore him. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" he exclaimed.
Fizzarolli had the expression of someone who had taken drugs, gotten drunk and then had a club hit him in the head. Anyone who had seen him would have thought that zombies were more intelligent. "Um... am I already dead and dreaming, or...?"
The sound of glass breaking shocked them both; one of the zombies had headbutted the glass panel of the freight elevator so hard it cracked. Even though they were ignoring Fizzarolli, they were very intent on getting Blitz. "O-Okay, we'll talk about this later!" Fizzarolli exclaimed. "I have to get you out of there...!"
"No!" Blitz stopped him. Despite the shock, he was quickly regaining his composure. "Fizz, take advantage of this! Go close the warehouse door again and then find an emergency exit!"
"But you...!" Fizzarolli protested.
"The panel will hold for a while at least!" Blitz answered him. "We need to map the area to make sure we can escape! Do it now that they are ignoring you!"
That reasoning made sense, so Fizzarolli obeyed his friend and ran to close the door, but found that many more infected demons were drawn in by the noise, and even if they ignored him it was still difficult for him to push them out. However, he noticed a small door in the corner that had an emergency exit sign on it. "Okay, I found it" he said as he returned to Blitz. "But I can't close the main door"
Blitz grunted, but then he brightened: "Is there a staircase leading down behind the emergency door?"
"Yes, there are at least two more floors of underground" Fizzarolli confirmed.
"Okay..." Blitz said thoughtfully. "Fizz, we'll have to be quick and precise, because as you well know I can't last long without an electrical outlet"
"Understood. Tell me everything and I'll do it" Fizzarolli replied.
"You have to move that cabinet over there" Blitz told him, pointing to a nearby cabinet filled with medicine. "As soon as I tell you to go away, you throw it at the assholes who are about to get in the elevator to eat me, then you pull me out, run to the emergency exit and stand above the stairwell"
"You want the zombies to jump off?" Fizzarolli asked in surprise. "What if some of them can fly?"
"I'll use the IV pole to knock them out, and if that doesn't work I still have four rounds in my gun" Blitz replied. "Once they're all down, run to the main entrance, get out of there and try to get to a quiet area quickly, and then plug me into the first power outlet you find"
"Fine... and if I don't find it?" Fizzarolli asked apprehensively.
Even through the respirator, Blitz's frown could still be seen: "Fizz, in a minute at most these bastards will break through the panel and eat me. Do you really want to worry about the details? Improvise!"
"Okay, okay!" Fizzarolli said, and reached out with his robotic arms to grab the cabinet and move it in front of the freight elevator. Even though it was very heavy, his arms were capable of holding even more, so it was no problem. On the contrary, once it fell on the zombies, it was a big problem for them, who were crushed by it.
As soon as the infected were out of the way, Fizzarolli opened the elevator and, as before, wrapped his legs around Blitz, while with his arms he grabbed the ceiling and moved like a monkey towards the emergency exit. As soon as they opened it, they found themselves in front of a stairwell that went up, but also down; Fizzarolli positioned himself over the central hole, with Blitz resting his IV pole on one of the stairs to act as a counterweight. The zombies didn't wait, and as expected, they all threw themselves into the stairwell without caring about their safety in an attempt to grab Blitz. In a few seconds, the noise of grunts and growls that the infected were making died down. A couple of robotic locusts also entered, but Blitz crushed them with the IV pole.
Fizzarolli would have preferred to stay in that position until they were absolutely sure that all the zombies had jumped down, but he knew that Blitz didn't have that much time, so as soon as that small horde was gone he hurried to find a safe place. He rejected going up to the upper floors anyway, since he knew they were full of infected, and even the lower ones weren't very inviting, so he just went back, exited the warehouse since the place could be considered burned by now, and ran through the corridor that was now empty. Finally he chose another door at random, which turned out to be another warehouse, this time full of sealed crates, and after barricading himself inside he plugged Blitz into the first power outlet he found: "Are you still breathing? Please tell me yes"
"Breathing is a big word, but I'm alive" Blitz grumbled as he finally felt his lungs fill with air again.
Fizzarolli breathed a sigh of relief. "Luckily it worked" he said. "Bit it's quite odd, even the demons with wings haven't tried to fly..."
Blitz hadn't noticed before, but now that he was calmer, his mind registered the information immediately. "Maybe they can't do it" he said.
"Why do you think so?" Fizzarolli asked.
"Well, these zombies are created by humans, so I assume they've tested their weapon on brains that are familiar to them" Blitz pointed out. "Now, I'm no biologist, but I'm pretty sure there's a difference between a brain that controls four limbs and one that controls six. These zombies probably aren't programmed to fly, even though they could"
Fizzarolli was silent, then he shrugged: "Maybe. Speaking of biology, why do you think...?"
"No, I don't know why they didn't attack you" Blitz stopped him immediately. "I'm not an expert on these things. Maybe it's like in that movie, you're immune or something"
"I doubt you can be immune to robots" Fizzarolli pointed out. "That locust said I was a healthy subject. What was she referring to?"
Blitz shook his head. "Well, I don't know... do you have some kind of special lifestyle? Do you follow a special diet, or any of that other weird stuff that goes around on the Internet?" he asked. "Or maybe your sugar daddy put something else in your body in addition to the robotic limbs?"
Fizzarolli thought about it, but couldn't think of anything. "I don't think so... I think I'm pretty much like everyone else..."
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Fizzarolli by the tail, and as expected, he couldn't help but scream in fear; even though the zombies were ignoring him, that didn't mean he felt safe. Both he and Blitz spun around, the latter ready to shoot, but they stopped as the person who had grabbed his tail let go and went to hide behind a crate.
Blitz and Fizzarolli looked at each other. The zombies definitely weren't running away. "It was... kind of short" Fizzarolli muttered.
"So it's either a dwarf or a child" Blitz said. "Hey, you! Come out here with your hands up!"
"What the fuck are you doing!? You can't talk to a child like that! Put that gun down, you idiot!" Fizzarolli scolded him, then he tried to smile: "Hey, kid, we don't want to hurt you. I know you're scared, but we can help you. Why don't you come out and talk about it?"
The demon child wasn't hiding well: their head was peeking out from behind the crate, and their eyes continued to stare at them, or rather, at their lips. At first they didn't even seem to understand what Fizzarolli was saying, but then, seeing that he continued to show an encouraging expression and was forcing Blitz to put away the gun, they stepped forward.
As soon as they came out into the open, Fizzarolli's eyes widened. It was finally clear to him why that child, instead of hiding well, had been looking at their lips. "Oliver...?"
"Who?" Blitz asked.
"Remember that kid who asked me for my autograph at the clown contest?" Fizzarolli explained him.
Blitz had to think for a moment to remember: "Uh? Oh, you mean the deaf-mute? I had removed him from my memory"
Fizzarolli ignored him for the sake of decency; instead he knelt down in front of Oliver and motioned for him to come forward. "Sorry if we scared you" he said in sign language. "Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you"
Oliver smiled at him. He was much calmer now that Blitz wasn't looking so threatening. "I know. I trust you, Fizzarolli. I know you're good" he said in the same way.
Fizzarolli smiled at him. "How did you end up here?"
"I was at the hospital for my pediatrician visit" Oliver answered.
"Oh, I see" Fizzarolli said. Well, the hospital they were at was pretty expensive, but Oliver had been able to afford to pay for Mammon's clown contest despite the inflated prices he was charging, so he wasn't exactly a pauper. "But how did you... well, escape...?"
"When this all started, Miss Cecilia brought me and the others down here" Oliver explained.
"Miss Cecilia is your pediatrician?" Fizzarolli asked.
"Yes. She took me and the other kids and took us to the freezer" Oliver replied. "But I noticed that the zombies weren't attacking me, so I went back to get help"
Fizzarolli's eyes widened. "They... don't attack you?"
"No, they don't" Oliver confirmed. "Miss Cecilia didn't believe me, so I sneaked away. I'm telling the truth, I walk right through them without them even looking at me"
Fizzarolli deduced that his expression must have betrayed his shock, because Blitz asked: "What's so weird about that?"
Fizzarolli took a deep breath: "He's like me. The zombies don't attack him"
Blitz's eyes widened: "What? So it's not just you who has immunity, but him too?"
"Apparently" Fizzarolli told him.
Blitz tried to wrap his head around it: "Just the two of you... wait, maybe it's truly like in that movie, and the zombies don't care about you because you're... well, crippled?"
"Blitz, you can't even breathe on your own. I don't remember the zombies had any problem attacking you because of that" Fizzarolli pointed out.
Blitz was silent for a moment. "Oh... shit, I forgot" he finally said.
Fizzarolli was tempted to slap his face. He sometimes wondered if Blitz's IQ was better than that of a fly. But he had little time to scold him as a knock on the door signaled that more infected were approaching. "We'll talk about this later! We have to get out of here!"
"Yeah, good idea" Blitz said, gritting his teeth and raising his gun again. "Does the brat know of any safe places?"
Fizzarolli looked at Oliver again: "You said there were other people here?"
"Yeah, Miss Cecilia and the others are in the freezer" Oliver replied.
"Then take us there, now!" Fizzarolli begged. Oliver nodded and motioned for them to follow. They slammed the door open, pushing away the zombie that had slammed into it, and he ran down the hall.
Luckily, they didn't have to go much further: in less than a minute, they were in front of a metal door with a small window made of reinforced glass at the top. Fizzarolli started knocking loudly: "Hey! Hey, please, open up! Let us in!"
Another sharp crash and the gurgling growls of zombies echoed in the hallway. "Shit, they broke down the door!" Blitz exclaimed, and he immediately opened fire, hitting an infected imp in the head who was running towards them much faster than the others.
Fizzarolli gritted his teeth, but then he saw a pair of pink eyes appear through the small window of the refrigerator. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "We're not infected! Let us in!"
But the person on the other side hesitated. It was clear from the look on their face that they wanted to open up, but they hadn't missed the fact that there were zombies coming. They were scared, and that was holding them back from unlocking the door.
Fizzarolli banged harder: "Please! My friend won't last long! He needs an electrical outlet! Let us in!"
Still nothing. "Ugh... Fizz, I can't hold my breath much longer" Blitz muttered, firing a second shot and miraculously managing to hit the skull of another zombie.
"I know!" Fizzarolli replied in a cold sweat. "But they won't open the door for me...!"
"Show them the brat!" Blitz told him, while his eyes began to close.
"Right!" Fizzarolli exclaimed, and he grabbed Oliver, bringing him up to the window. The person on the other side's eyes widened as they saw him. "At least let him in...!"
There was no need to say anything else: finally the door clicked open. A succubus in a doctor's outfit appeared in the doorway. "Come in, now!" she screamed in terror as she looked at the zombies now a few meters away.
Fizzarolli grabbed Blitz and dragged him inside, and closed the door behind him with a thud; the zombies piled on it and started banging violently, but at least they didn't knock it down. At that point the clown imp let go of Oliver and, not caring about anything else that was going on around them, frantically searched for any switch; there had to be one, since the lights were on. And luckily he managed to find it right away, right next to the door, and immediately connected Blitz's life support to it. His friend let out a gasp, but then finally started breathing again. "Ugh... I hate this thing" Blitz muttered.
"Yeah, I'm starting to hate it too" Fizzarolli said with a sigh of relief. He checked that the IVs were still in place, and after making sure that nothing was broken, they finally allowed themselves to look around.
The cold room was quite large: they were in a hospital, after all, and so they needed a lot of space to store the most fragile and easily deteriorated things, like organs. It was only a cold room, however, and therefore no more than twenty square meters wide, further reduced by the large amount of shelves and containers present. Inside there were numerous people, mostly children of Oliver's age, some of them with bandages or masks that testified that they were sick; the latter had some sheets over them that they used as blankets, probably the only thing that the person who had brought them there had found to protect them from the cold. In addition to them, there were also a couple of teenage hellhounds and a baphomet who judging by the amount of redness on his neck must have had some serious pathology. And finally, the succubus who had opened the door for them, who was hugging Oliver as if she were his mother. "Thank goodness you're okay" she murmured, and then she asked him in sign language: "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No. I told you, Miss Cecilia, they don't attack me" Oliver replied.
The succubus still examined him to make sure he didn't have a drop of infected blood on him. "Don't ever go out there again. Promise me" she begged him.
"But I can help someone else" Oliver protested. "Like them"
Fizzarolli tried to intervene on his behalf: "Oliver was very good, he saved our asses..."
The succubus named Cecilia seemed to remember only then that he and Blitz were there, and her expression instantly became ferocious: the first thing she did was jump up and land a punch on Fizzarolli's chin, so strong that she knocked him to the ground, making everyone jump for the surprise. "ASSHOLE!" she screamed at him at the top of her lungs.
"Hey, you freak! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Blitz growled.
Cecilia lunged at him like a tiger. "Don't worry, there's some for you too!" she said, raising her fist. "Fuck you, son of a bitch, I'll kill you...!"
"Miss!" the baphomet intervened, grabbing her hand. "Please, get your act together! You can't hit him, you might damage his life support...!"
"I don't care!" Cecilia roared. "We're all dead because of these two idiots!"
"O-Okay, everyone, calm down!" Fizzarolli muttered, rubbing his chin.
"Yeah, normally a woman before attacking me like this makes the mistake of going out with me at least once, and I'm pretty sure that's never happened" Blitz said. "Can you tell us how we have condemned you?"
Cecilia's eyes flashed with anger. "You want to know!? Well, here you go: we came here to survive! The secret to survive? Hiding! And the secret to hiding is NOT getting noticed! YOU DON'T SHOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CORRIDOR WHERE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU!" she yelled in his face, pointing to the door. "Every fucking zombie in this wing of the hospital heard you shoot, you morons! You basically announced to them that there's an all-you-can-eat free buffet here!"
Blitz and Fizzarolli gulped as they saw the door: it was still sealed, but it was still shaking from all the beatings that were being thrown at it. Through the glass you could see numerous of those infected demons crowding on it trying to break it down. "Shit... how solid is it?" Blitz asked.
"Oh, now you worry about that!?" Cecilia growled. "You lure them all in here and then worry about the door holding!?"
"I'm trying to think of a plan!" Blitz snapped. "Sorry I wanted to bring your brat back to you, when those freaks come at me I don't worry about how much noise I make!"
"Well, I hope you're proud of yourself! When they come in you can make all the noise you want, nothing will change now!" Cecilia yelled at him in hysteria. "I just met you and I can already tell that you are truly the most asshole, bastard, selfish, idiotic...!"
She probably would have continued for a long time, but she stopped as soon as one of the children, an imp girl of just four years old covered with a sheet, started to pull on her pants: "Are we going to die, Miss Cecilia?" she asked her, scared.
The succubus immediately abandoned her aggressive intent: "No... no, of course not" she said kneeling down and trying with all her strength to give her a smile. "I'm just angry with this guy, there's nothing to be afraid of..."
"But you're afraid" the little girl said as she began to sob.
Cecilia bit her lip: "No, I'm not afraid, I'm just... tense. That's something adults do a lot. You'll see, we'll fix everything now. Remember what I told you?"
"Monsters can't get you under the covers" the little girl replied.
"That's right" Cecilia said, and as she spoke she pulled up the sheet she was wearing to cover her head as well. "So stay well covered, okay? You have nothing to be scared of as long as you have this on"
The little girl didn't seem at all reassured, but hid even more under the sheet. She wasn't the only one: the other children were clearly scared too. Fizzarolli bit his lip, and then he jumped forward: "Hey, little ones! Do you know who I am?"
The children recognized him immediately; they probably hadn't done so before because the other adults had been in front of him and hadn't seen him well. "That's Fizzarolli!" one of them exclaimed with a small smile.
"That's right, it's me! Your best clown friend!" Fizzarolli said, starting to make movements as if he were on a stage. "And I'm here to brighten your day, and first of all I'll tell you that you absolutely will not die! I brought him here!" and with that he patted Blitz on the shoulder: "This rock, kids, was on the third floor just a few minutes ago! You can all see how in a bad state he is, and yet he went down three whole floors all by himself, kicking the shit out of all those zombies! You'll see that he'll fix things here too!"
"Fizz, what are you doing?" Blitz whispered to him.
"I'm keeping things calm in here" Fizzarolli replied in a low voice. "You said you were thinking of a plan, so do it. Come up with a solution, I'll keep everyone from panicking"
Blitz rolled his eyes in annoyance, but he couldn't disagree with Fizzarolli: a situation where calm reigned was definitely better than one where everyone was screaming in terror. "Are you a zombie hunter, sir?" one of the kids asked him.
"Let's just say I have experience in the field" Blitz replied simply, looking closely at the door. The hinges were solid, they might hold... but the noise of the zombies was attracting more and more of them. Sooner or later there would have been too many.
"Did you get hurt because of that?" the child asked again.
"Well, when you live a life like mine, sooner or later you attract the attention of the wrong opponent. So don't do my job" Blitz told him, and then his eyes narrowed: "Are there any sharpened sticks here, or something I can use as a ranged weapon?"
The few adult demons present looked at him, but then the baphomet said: "I noticed some IV sticks. If we break them a bit they'll be like spears"
"And we can throw the boxes" one of the teenage hellhounds proposed.
Blitz emitted a grunt. A plan quickly formed in his mind. "You two, teens!" he said to the two hellhounds. "Find something elastic, then use it to make slingshots. Then smash the bottles and use the glass as projectiles. You, instead, go get those sticks" he said to the baphomet, then he looked back at the door: "Fizz, take a look and tell me how many there are"
Fizzarolli looked out the window. "I'd say no less than fifty" he answered.
"That's enough" Blitz said through gritted teeth.
"Enough for what?" Fizzarolli asked him.
"To have them kill themselves using their own weight" Blitz replied. "Fizz, wrap your arms creating a sort of net about two meters from the door, and when I tell you, open it"
"Okay! Wait, what!?" Fizzarolli exclaimed, fearing for a moment that his friend's brain was far too damaged.
"You heard me right" Blitz said determinedly. "You have to open the door"
"Are you out of your mind!?" Cecilia exclaimed. "You want to kill ourselves!?"
"No, on the contrary, I want them to kill themselves!" Blitz replied. "The zombies are currently crowding the door. Each one of them is trying to get a little closer. As soon as the door opens, they'll all fall on top of each other and be crushed by their own weight. Then we'll just have to clean up"
That explanation caught everyone's attention. Suddenly his intent was much clearer. "But... won't they get up again?" one of the hellhounds asked.
"These aren't the zombies from the movies that can die with just a blow to the head. They need hearts, lungs, and blood to survive. They're just a bunch of demons on an adrenaline trip" Blitz explained. "When they fall with all that pressure on them, their organs will get mangled and they'll die. Right now they're like a hydraulic press pushing on the door, but once the door is gone they'll be like a big boulder blocking the way. The other zombies won't be able to get through in large numbers, they'll have to come one at a time. And since Fizzarolli will block them with his robotic arms, we can skewer them and kill them. Once we've cleaned up completely, we'll push the bodies out and close the door again"
The others looked at each other a little uncertainly. "It still means exposing us all to danger" Cecilia pointed out.
"I know" Blitz confirmed. "But the alternative is to wait for them to break down the door, with the difference that at that point we won't be able to close it again and so we'll have to look for another place to hide. So, are you with me?"
There was no need to insist much: given how the situation was and since no one had any idea, even if the plan was very dangerous they had no other choice. So Fizzarolli stretched out his arms and wrapped them one over the other, forming a real net with holes just big enough to pass a spear through. His arms were very strong, so as long as too many zombies didn't crowd on them, they would have resisted the pressure.
"Okay, assholes, here's the formation" Blitz announced. "I'll take a spear and stand at the front. All of you, use your slingshots to strike from a distance. Don't waste time aiming for the head, focus on the chest or alternatively the legs"
"I'll stand at the front with you" the baphomet said, stepping forward.
"It's risky" Blitz pointed out.
"I'd be useless in the rear. I have a blood disease that makes me almost blind" the baphomet told him, and as he did so he lowered his eyelids a little, showing the red marks under his eyes, identical to the ones on his neck. "Let me stand at the front. I know how to shatter a skull, I've got your back"
Blitz nodded. "Okay. Are you...?"
"John" the baphomet said, then he pointed to the two hellhounds: "And these are Jess and Igor, by the way"
"Well, anonymous names that I will surely never remember unless I have to scold you or curse you: prepare yourselves because now we dance" Blitz said, then he handed his gun to Cecilia: "Can you shoot?"
"Yes" the succubus confirmed.
"Then take it. Stay at the back of the freezer with the children, and if one of those robotic locusts comes in, shoot it down" Blitz told her. "You only have two bullets. Don't waste them"
"I won't" the succubus promised, taking the gun.
"I hope so" Blitz said. "Okay, everyone, put on something to protect your faces. Remember, you mustn't get any orifices on your bodies. And if you get bitten, I'll kill you right away"
John took a glass box and put it over his head to prevent the blood and saliva of the infected from getting on him, and then he took one of the makeshift spears they had made and gave another to Blitz, who moved the bed almost to the center of the room, trying to make the most of the life support machine's wire. Jess and Igor stood a few feet away with their slingshots in hand, and Cecilia led the children to the back of the freezer: "Okay, kids, come here. Now let's play a nice game. You have to sing the little song I taught you, and don't look toward the entrance..."
"Fizz, now!" Blitz ordered.
The clown imp nodded, and clicked the lock on the door. As soon as he did so, it swung open and all the zombies poured in on top of each other like a huge mass. Their bodies were literally crushed by their own weight, and they remained still, blocking the passage almost completely, while a huge pool of blood spread beneath them. "You were right" John said to Blitz.
"Don't get distracted" the imp replied. "The hard part comes now"
The infected demons who had been at the back of the line had not suffered the same fate as their companions, and began to climb over their bodies to get in; however, the narrow space made it very difficult for them. Jess and Igor took good aim and used their slingshots to hurl sharp pieces of glass at everyone who looked out the door. Many of them fell to the ground already half dead and unable to move.
However, they couldn't stop them all that way. A slingshot did a lot of damage, but not enough to kill anyone outright. The zombies stood up and, although they were struggling from the damage, they reached Fizzarolli's arms, but before they could pile in, Blitz drove his spear through them and stabbed them right in the face. John did the same, killing many of them as well. "How much longer do we have to go?" the baphomet asked.
"Fizz said there were at least fifty of them. Half of them died when we opened the door, so that leaves us twenty-five" Blitz answered, stabbing another. "However, more have probably arrived since then, so the answer is... let's just keep going until there are none left and fuck off"
"That sounds like a good answer" John said, killing another zombie.
Blitz's plan worked: even with a lot of physical effort, they managed to contain the infected demons quite easily. Every time they killed one, they created more obstacles for the ones behind, making them easier to kill. Although things didn't always go well, like when a large infected hellhound with arms as big as shields roared in. "Shit!" John exclaimed as he stabbed him in the heart, but that wasn't enough. "Hey, this one doesn't stop!"
"The bigger they are, the more stamina they have!" Blitz said, and literally threw his spear into the zombie's neck, severing their head in half. The huge body fell backwards with a thud, crushing two more zombies. "Quick, I need another spear!"
"Here!" Igor shouted, grabbing one and throwing it into his hand.
Blitz caught it and immediately used it to stab another zombie. "Just a little more, come on!" he said. "They're the last ones...!"
A loud buzz cut off his words: a pair of robotic locusts entered the cold room, their stingers ready. "Shit...!" Blitz hissed. "Fizzarolli, get their attention!"
"Roger!" Fizzarolli replied, and used his robotic arms to stand in front of them. He knew they wouldn't attack him, so he wasn't afraid to do so. The two locusts stopped to analyze him, and Blitz took advantage of this to throw his spear again and hit one of the drones, sending it to the ground. John wasted no time and ran at it, hitting it until it was destroyed.
The other locust, however, flew in the opposite direction, despite Fizzarolli trying to grab it by the tail, and aimed at Blitz. The imp gritted his teeth and took the stick that his IVs were attached to, ready to use it as a blunt weapon if necessary...
BANG!
The locust turned into a shapeless mass of metal pieces that fell on Blitz. He turned slightly and saw Cecilia with the gun raised. "Good" he muttered, then he looked at the door: "Are they finished?"
"It seems so" Fizzarolli said leaning out of it. "There are no more"
"Then push the bodies out and close the door immediately!" Blitz ordered.
Everyone did as they were told, and after a few minutes of effort, finally the door was closed again, and this time from the outside it was also half hidden by the mountain of dead bodies, making it even more difficult to see. "Ugh! It's done" Fizzarolli said as soon as they were finished. "Now you can celebrate!"
"First clean up that mess" Blitz told them pointing to the pool of blood. "Don't forget that it could be infected too"
"I'll take care of it" John said taking a wet rag.
Cecilia approached Blitz and handed him the gun back. "A thank you would be the least you could say" she pointed out.
"I consider your rescue the compensation for punching my friend" Blitz replied sourly.
Cecilia made an annoyed noise: "You really are an asshole, you know that?"
"Yeah, you're not the first to tell me that. And not even the first succubus, actually" Blitz told her, although the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wondered where Verosika was. He hoped she had somehow managed to get away with it too.
Cecilia rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Why didn't those robots attack him, anyway?" she asked, pointing to Fizzarolli.
"Yeah..." the imp clown muttered. "I actually don't know either... but we found out I'm immune or something... although we don't know why"
"Wait, what!?" Jess exclaimed, running over to them. She wasn't the only one: all the other adults were surprised. "There's such a thing as immunity?"
"You didn't know? That little brat over there is immune too" Blitz said, pointing to Oliver.
Everyone looked at the deaf-mute boy in shock. "What?" Cecilia muttered.
"He said he told you" Fizzarolli pointed out.
"Yeah, but I thought it was a child's fantasy, you know, to cope with all of this!" Cecilia exclaimed. "I didn't think it was true!"
"Well, it is" Blitz said. "Can you tell me if the other children were ignored too?"
"I don't know, while I was trying to save them I didn't check if they were trying to bite them!" Cecilia replied.
Blitz rolled his eyes. "So the only doctor we have doesn't know anything and is a terrible observer" he commented, and the succubus held off on punching him just out of decency. "Until we know what generates this... immunity, we'll act as if it doesn't exist. Keep acting like you're all in danger"
"Why? We can use it to our advantage!" Fizzarolli protested. "I can go ahead and..."
"Fizz, we don't know how this thing works. They could stop ignoring you at any moment and then you'd be lost. Unless it's an emergency, we're not exposing you or Oliver" Blitz told him. "This isn't a movie virus, it's a weapon designed for the sole purpose of exterminating us. I don't know why it's ignoring you or that brat, but there's no guarantee it will in the future. So until we figure this out better, you stay back"
Under normal circumstances there would probably have been some demon who would have suggested that no, it was better to use Fizzarolli to the fullest extent of his abilities and in case something went wrong he would still be good as cannon fodder, and in fact one of the hellhounds seemed ready to say so, but instead they remained silent. Demons were opportunists after all, and no one was stupid enough to antagonize the only one there who seemed to know how to survive, and the only one with a weapon in his hand, so at least for the moment they preferred to let it go. Although it was not at all unlikely that in the future someone would use Fizzarolli or Oliver as human shields.
Fizzarolli was quite annoyed by that decision, and in fact he didn't give up: "I can still make myself useful. With my extendable limbs I can move effortlessly in the ventilation shaft, that's how I found you, remember? Zombies can't get in there, so I'm safe. I can at least do some reconnaissance!"
"You can't say he's wrong" John commented. "It would be good to at least make sure this wing is clean"
Blitz would have much preferred not to send him anywhere, but he couldn't deny that his friend had a point. "Oh, okay" he said. "But don't go out of the ventilation shaft. Just take a tour of this floor and then come back right away"
"Oh, good! I was afraid he would have objected again" Igor said with a chuckle.
"I'll be fine" Fizzarolli assured him. "Trust me"
"I trust you" Blitz replied, and as the other demons went to open the door, he grabbed Fizzarolli by the shoulder and brought him close to his ear: "That's why I'm giving you this mission: through the ventilation shaft, make your way to the roof and then come back here immediately and tell me what you saw"
Fizzarolli's eyes widened slightly, but then he returned determined. "Do I have to tell only you?"
"If the things are as critical as I think they are, the less the others panic, the better" Blitz whispered to him. "I need to know what the situation is out there. Go to the roof, take a look, and then come back immediately. Don't expose yourself to danger, okay?"
Fizzarolli nodded; as soon as the door was opened, he ran out and ran to the nearest ventilation shaft, and jumped in. There were a few thumps from inside, indicating that he was moving away, and then nothing. At that point, they could only wait.
It took twenty minutes for him to return, twenty minutes that were not peaceful for Blitz; but finally Fizzarolli came out of the ventilation shaft again and knocked on their door again. "This wing of the hospital is completely clear" he said as they ushered him back in. "As long as we don't make too much noise, no more should come"
"Great" John commented satisfied. "There are plenty of storage spaces in this wing, we won't have to worry about medicine and supplies"
"Yeah, we're back in track!" Fizzarolli said with a slightly forced smile, and then when they were no longer paying attention to him he quickly approached Blitz: "We might have a problem"
Blitz gritted his teeth: "Pretend we're talking about some trifles, the others don't have to understand that you're scared. What is it?"
Fizzarolli sighed: "The city, at least around the hospital, is full of zombies. I think everyone in this corner of Hell is transformed by now. In the distance I could see swarms of those locusts... I think they're heading towards the countryside" he muttered. "And... around the Elevator... something's happening. I saw some portals open and something, maybe helicopters, emerging from them. I think they're inspecting it. I don't know what they want to do with it, but... it worries me"
Blitz narrowed his eyes, though he tried not to show it. "Really fucked up" he said through gritted teeth. "I'm afraid we're only facing a wave now'"
"A wave?" Fizzarolli muttered.
"Yeah. Stolas said Pride was destroyed, that was the first wave. And now they've destroyed our defenses and are turning the population into zombies, this is the second" Blitz said. "Once the zombies have served their purpose, the humans can just kill them with those microdroids that control them. I don't know why some of us are being ignored, but either way, it's likely that the third wave will be thousands of soldiers coming to eliminate or capture the last survivors. I don't know what they want with the Elevator, but it probably has something to do with it. They're destroying us"
Fizzarolli sweatdropped. "If that's the case... then even staying here, in this cold room, isn't safe. We can fool zombies, but we won't fool soldiers armed with thermal or motion sensors. What do we do?"
Blitz took a deep breath. "We probably still have some time, so... for starters, I'm going to take a nap. I think my battered body has reached its limit" he answered. "I suggest you do the same. Let's get some rest, and then we'll think about the next move. Just remember to change my IVs when they run out"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 77): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111367
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 131: The chest of power
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After her big fight with Charlie, Vaggie hadn't gotten very far; in fact, she hadn't even left. She was angry, confused, and a little upset, but she wasn't stupid enough to wander off alone while Alastor was still on the loose. So she'd simply flown to the top of the sky embassy and perched there.
From there, she'd watched Charlie confront her father, and then his subsequent outburst at Emily. She'd felt like going over to comfort her, but she'd stayed behind. She was too tired to have a serious discussion with her. And she knew Charlie was tired, too, so she'd done the obvious thing and left her alone.
She didn't know how long she'd been lying on the roof of the embassy, but it had to be a long time, since the sky had darkened while she'd been there. In the end she lay down completely and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep, but she couldn't: it wasn't her body that was tired, it was her mind. Try as she might, she couldn't force her still energetic brain to fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, only the events of the last few days came back to her mind, and her heart tightened like a vice.
As much as she tried to make sense of all this mess, she couldn’t make sense of it. She couldn’t blame Adam for being so confused. For goodness sake, she was glad that Pentious was now an angel in Heaven, enjoying eternal bliss, but she still wished it had all happened with a little more explanation. She knew that as an angel she shouldn’t be thinking like that, but God could at least give them the instruction manual, dammit.
So what was she supposed to think? Redemption was possible, okay, so what? How did it fit in with everything else? What did it mean for them? How did this help solve Earth’s problems? How could everything be fixed?
The more Vaggie thought about it, the more she became convinced that compromising with Adam wasn’t such a bad idea. The first man’s plan made sense after all, it just needed to be tweaked a little. Convince Adam not to kill all the sinners, but to just force those who did evil to be immediately thrown into Hell, where they would have been locked up in an actual prison and enrolled in… redemption programs? She could call them that. Sure, it was a little problematic, and there were a thousand things that could go wrong, but it was definitely better than leaving everything as it was.
Sometimes she just couldn’t understand Charlie. The truth was that the idea of such a big change scared her girlfriend. As much as she loved her, Vaggie couldn't deny that Charlie didn't understand a lot of things. She had lived in a bubble, and even though she had the best intentions, she often acted haphazardly and did more harm than good. Although sometimes it was that very emotionality and resourcefulness that made her succeed. But more often than not, it was Vaggie who found herself the voice of reason.
And now what was she supposed to do...?
"Here you are"
Vaggie opened her eyes to find Lute looking down at her with her usual scowl. "Are you trying to ambush me?"
"The thought crossed my mind" Lute replied.
Vaggie sat back down: "How did you find me?"
"Oh, it was easy. You ran away from your girlfriend, so you don't want to see any of your friends for a while" Lute answered. "So you definitely couldn't have gone back to the hotel. And since I'm sure you haven't changed much since you were in Heaven, and therefore don't have a social life outside of your girlfriend and her social circle, you didn't have a lot of places to go. Add to that the sense of belonging, the fear of leaving comfort, the insecurity, and so on, and it was obvious that you were here on the roof"
Vaggie was shocked. "Really?" she asked, astonished.
Lute shook her head: " Of course not, I just flew up and saw you. If you want to disappear you can't stay in plain sight on a rooftop, especially a white and gold rooftop while you're gray and black, so you can't even blend in"
Vaggie groaned. Of course, she was teasing her. "You know, sometimes I wish I didn't spare you"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. The feeling is completely mutual" Lute said.
Vaggie shook her head. "Is it that hard for you to be even a little sorry?" she asked. "Even Adam apologized for what you did to me"
"Yes, he told me" Lute said. "He says he wants to bring you back into the fold. I'm not so sure"
Vaggie rolled her eyes. "You know, the more I talk to you, the more I think Adam had lied to me. There's no way you used to be... nice. It's easier for me to believe that donkeys can fly"
"I had to toughen up my spirit" Lute said coldly. "The Lute Adam told you about was weak and pathetic. I had to destroy her so I could be strong"
"Sacrificing any empathy in the meantime?" Vaggie asked rhetorically. "Adam admitted that he regrets turning you into this"
"Adam thinks about what's best for me. I think about what's best for him" Lute said. "And he doesn't need Miss Sweetie, he needs a soldier. I know he'd rather have me like before, but I want to help him. And to help him I need strength, not restraints. I had to grow up"
"Good girl. You've grown up and become a danger" Vaggie told her sourly.
"At least I'm consistent" Lute replied. "I don't jump from one side to another just to fuck a demon. Even if I change my heart, I'll dedicate myself body and soul, not just be a bodyguard in a hotel"
Vaggie glared at her: "I'm not protecting the hotel just for Charlie!"
"Oh yeah, there are the other freaks too" Lute commented.
Vaggie narrowed her eyes: "Don't call my friends that!"
"Unless what are you going to do? Attack me?" Lute asked with a wicked smirk. "You'd be doing me a favor and you know it"
Vaggie had a strong urge to punch her, but unfortunately she knew that she would only have been playing into her hands. Lute was just waiting for an excuse to attack her, so she could get her revenge after the hotel battle. She didn't want to give her that satisfaction. "Bitch" she simply said.
Lute did not give up: "Face it, you protected that shitty hotel only because your girlfriend wanted you to. Let's assume for a moment that you really had a change of heart, and that in your mind we Exorcists and all of Heaven are the cruel bad guys and the demons are poor innocents. Well, what have you done in these three years that you've been down here? Did you lead the revolution? Did you start impersonating the Freedom that leads the people? Did you at least try to build a safe haven? We all know the answer is no. And you're not one to stand by and watch when you think something is wrong, so the only possible conclusion is that you didn't really care. You never tried to defend any of the demons that were dying under our swords, except when your girlfriend asked you to. You don't really believe in her ideals. You just changed sides and then you stayed the same. You blindly obeyed orders before and you blindly obey orders now. I bet today was the first time you actually yelled at the demon princess, right?"
Vaggie bit her lip. She didn’t want to agree with her, but she knew she wasn’t completely wrong. In her heart, she had to admit that she hadn’t acted like someone who truly believed in a cause instead of just acting for personal gain.
Lute groaned. “You have nothing to say, hm?” she said almost in a disappointed voice. “I guess I convinced you.”
“No” Vaggie corrected her. “You’re only partly right. It’s true, in the beginning it was like you said, I didn’t give a damn about demons and I was only on their side because Charlie wanted me to. But not anymore. Now I care about them… well, maybe not all of them, but I still firmly believe that they’re worth trying to save. I’m not sure how yet… but I’m not going to sit around doing nothing"
Lute raised an eyebrow, but then she just shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t care anyway"
“If you don’t care, why are you still here?” Vaggie asked her questioningly.
Lute grunted: "No reason. I'm leaving now" she said, standing up.
"Hey, don't try to run away so fast" Vaggie stopped her. "Now that I think about it, why did you come here in first place? I doubt you ever cared when you saw me flying around"
"I like seeing you depressed" Lute simply replied. "It makes me feel good"
Vaggie rolled her eyes tiredly, but then she became more serious. "Did you... want to check on me because... Adam told you he made me do that test?"
Lute stiffened a little. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't care about you and you know it"
"Then why did you feel the urge to check on me?" Vaggie asked.
"I wasn't checking on you" Lute snapped. "And I don't care how you are. I am..."
Suddenly the world went black: the roof of the celestial embassy under their feet became dark as a shadow, which came to life and enveloped them. It was as if an octopus had just grabbed them and devoured them. They couldn't even move while this happened. After a few moments the shadows dissolved, but the landscape around them had completely changed: now they were inside a corridor, a rather dark one at that. "What the fuck...!?"
"Vaggie, my dear, please. You know I don't like this foul language" a familiar radio voice said.
Vaggie gritted her teeth. "You...!" she hissed, turning around to find Alastor in front of her, and feeling the intense urge to lunge at him and punch him. "You traitorous asshole...!"
"Coming from someone who deserted the army, that sounds bad" Alastor replied, his usual mocking tone. "It's nice to see you too, Vaggie"
Vaggie was almost salivating with rage. "I should have killed you the moment you stepped foot in the hotel"
"You could have tried" Alastor told her, his smile widening. "It wouldn't have ended well for you"
Vaggie was about to retort again, and the conversation would probably have gone on for a long time, but Lute, who unlike her had not lost her stoic expression, asked: "Where did you take us?"
"To our lair, of course" Alastor replied.
At which even Vaggie stopped being furious for a moment: "Your lair? You mean...?"
"The place where I'm hiding now, where Adam used to hide, where we keep the overlords, where we plan our moves... you know, what a lair is normally" Alastor told her in a slightly mocking voice. "I was just going to take the lieutenant, but you were right next to me, so I thought, why not?"
"Stop teasing them" a familiar voice reached their ears. "Sorry for the sudden kidnapping, girls, but it was the only way to make you disappear before anyone noticed. I couldn't send Alastor to talk to you in the middle of the street"
"This voice... Adam?" Vaggie muttered in confusion. "Where are you...?"
"Still in his cell"Alastor answered her, and then in his hands he shaped some shadows until they created a figure that resembled the first man. "But with a little trick, we can communicate secretly"
The shadow came to life, starting to speak just like the first man: "Exactly. You see..." Adam started to say, but then he stopped abruptly: "Hey! I told you to make me life-sized! Why am I as tall as a mouse!?"
Alastor chuckled. “I liked it better this way” he simply replied, then snapped his fingers; the shadows grew, bringing Adam to his usual size.
The first man didn’t seem to want to let it go, but Lute forestalled any further discussion: “Sir, did you order us brought here?”
Adam nodded. Even through the shadows, a little of his facial expression could be seen. "Yes" he confirmed. “You asked me to be honest with you, Lute, and now I will, out here where we’re out of earshot”
“Um” Vaggie coughed loudly. “Don’t I count?”
Adam shook his head. “I didn’t plan on talking to you this soon, but maybe it’s better this way. Alastor, show them around"
Alastor nodded, and motioned for Lute and Vaggie to follow him, while Adam, or rather, the shadow that impersonated him, was dragged along with them. Soon the corridor ended and they found themselves in a huge, circular room, open in the center from which they could see several lower floors. Vaggie leaned out and could see several captive overlords working on the various layers of the structure; she tried to look for Carmilla with her eyes, but she couldn't find her, a sign that she must be deeper or somewhere else. She didn't have time to think about it too much, however, because some familiar demons flew towards them: "Hey, welcome!" the Exorcists exclaimed with a smile. "Lute, finally you're here! How are the other girls?"
"Everyone's fine" was Lute's simple response, stoic as ever. Although she still muttered in a very low voice: "It's good to see you're okay too"
"Hmm, stiff as ever, huh?" the Exorcists said chuckling, then they noticed Vaggie: "Oh. Are you here too? What, have you finally decided to change sides?"
"I haven't decided anything, this asshole kidnapped me!" Vaggie said pointing at Alastor, who shrugged innocently.
The Exorcists didn't seem surprised; evidently they too had gotten used to Alastor's... peculiar behavior. "That's just the way he is" they said. "Thanks for not getting in our way last time, by the way"
Vaggie blushed, quickly looking away. "I didn't feel like... killing you again" she said simply.
Most of the Exorcists didn't change their expressions, but they didn't look at her with the same hostility as before. And Mari, the same Exorcist who had encouraged her when they were on Earth, came over and put her arm around her neck, giving her a friendly pat on the head: "Well, I appreciated it anyway" she said with a smile.
"Enough of the pleasantries" Adam said, calling for attention. "Lute, I brought you here to tell you what I intend to do. And Vaggie, since you are here too, I can share my intentions with you right away"
Lute as usual did not move a single facial muscle, but it was clear that she was interested. Vaggie on the other hand widened her eyes. "This guy... is he really going to tell us his plan...?" she murmured under her breath.
She was not the only one who had doubts: "Can we trust her?" one of the Exorcists asked, pointing at Vaggie.
"I trust her, and she has a part in my plan" Adam replied simply. "Here is my intent: we will make sure that humanity takes its revenge on Hell"
Vaggie's eyes widened: "Huh?"
Adam ignored her and continued talking, detailing how he intended to trick humanity into attacking Hell, let them do all the cleanup work, and steal the souls of demons to become powerful enough to fight the higher-ranking angels, then seal the entire Pride Ring and escape to Heaven. "My original plan was to use my imprisonment to lure as many powerful angels as possible here to Hell, so I could block them and have no obstacles in Heaven" Adam finally concluded. "But that nosy snake ruined everything, so we might run into trouble. But it doesn't matter. As soon as I get to Heaven, I'll get the last piece of my weapon, and then I'll come right back and forge it"
"That's an ambitious plan" Lute said, and then smiled a little. "I like that"
"Seriously!? That sounds crazy to me" Vaggie said instead. "We're making an entire species guilty of genocide...!"
"An entire species? Not at all" Adam corrected her. "I'm only making their leaders and military high-ups guilty of this... and by the way, those people are almost certainly already destined for Hell. Believe me, you don't become the leader of a nation without a few skeletons in the closet. What would all the other humans be guilty of? Of finding out about it after it was already over?"
Vaggie bit her lip. "But..."
"And anyway... it's already inevitable now. It was before too, actually" Adam told her. "Humans already knew about the demons, they already have the technology they need to start the total destruction. If we had left things as they were, in a few decades, assuming that human civilization hadn't collapsed in the meantime, the various nations would probably have started a colonization operation, probably coming into conflict with each other. Me, with the show I gave them with Charlie, I only gave them a reason to unite on a single front and speed up the times. I'm not causing anything... I'm just taking advantage of something that is inevitable"
Vaggie looked down. It all made damn sense, actually: Adam hadn't given the humans anything, so that meant they already had ways to travel between worlds. Therefore, as soon as they thought invading Hell was a good idea, they wouldn't have hesitated... and in a world as energy-hungry and resource-dwindling as Earth, a whole new planet to colonize was more valuable than a diamond. As soon as the climate and humanitarian crisis had pushed the nations to their limits, each of them would have turned to Hell for new resources. And considering that demons weren't exactly hospitable, an armed conflict would have been inevitable... and it would have been very bloody, as the humans would not only have slaughtered the demons, but then would have started competing fiercely for all the available territory, starting new wars.
Instead, Adam was planning to create a much more controlled invasion. Thanks to the battle between him and Charlie, the nations of Earth had already put aside their differences and united to form a common front. The wars were literally over. If in such a climate of fear, the world leaders had received an emissary from Heaven, an angel, telling them what to do, they would absolutely listen. They would have immediately obeyed, changing their government systems and eliminating any dictatorship or tyranny, starting a process that would have restored freedom to all humans. A new better world would have been built.
But the price was still unacceptable. "Even so, destroying Hell is horrible" she said. "Okay, you only plan to have it kill bad people, and that's definitely better than the alternative since if humans did it on their own they would probably nuke everything, but... you see, not all demons deserve this. Pentious is redeemed, you can't ignore that"
Adam sighed. "No, I can't" he admitted. "But I also can't ignore all the innocents who suffer at the hands of the wicked. While I can't deny that redemption is possible... I can't put demons before people"
“I’m not asking you to do that” Vaggie told him. “It’s true that we can’t put the innocent after the guilty, but there’s no point in killing everyone…”
“If I don’t do anything, humanity will attack Hell indiscriminately and kill everyone. You know they have the power to do that” Adam pointed out. “If I tell them not to do anything, maybe they’ll listen for a while, but not for long. Humans want to be sure they can maintain their status as the dominant species. And since there are demons that periodically visit Earth, eventually they’ll get tired of taking it and fight back”
Vaggie clenched her fists slightly. Unfortunately, she knew it was true; human history proved it, no one liked not being in total control. Humans had exterminated entire species because they were dangerous to them, and they had committed genocide for much more trivial reasons. Even if an emissary from Heaven had told them to be merciful to demons, in the long run they wouldn’t have done it. From their point of view, absolute extermination was a way to secure too many advantages.
Seeing that she understood, Adam sighed: "We can't keep this situation at a standstill forever, and there's no point in trying to stop the inevitable. All we can do is make sure that what happens doesn't harm innocent people, and that it actually helps change the universe". And after such words he put a hand on Lute's shoulder: "My most trusted companion, you will be our emissary. Go to Earth and show the world leaders how to change their nations. Once you've made sure that you've laid the foundation for a united, democratic, and free world, give them the directions on how to carry out their invasion"
Lute nodded vigorously: "I won't fail, sir "
"I know. You never fail" Adam told her. "For all to work out well for our purpose, we must ensure that all the prophecies come true. It was foretold that the sky would turn black, which is what will happen as soon as Pride is bombarded by bombs. And it was predicted that the dead would be resurrected, that swarms of locusts would persecute the wicked, and that the forces of Hell would be annihilated..."
Adam went on for a while, listing all the prophecies he wanted to fulfill, and explaining how they would have fit into his plan. After all, his goal was to completely fulfill the prophecy of the Apocalypse, so that Jesus would have returned to Earth to elevate humanity to a higher plane, freeing them from sin forever. Vaggie couldn't deny that it all made sense... but she still didn't like the fact that Hell was completely razed to the ground. Then she said: "What if I didn't kill them?"
Adam looked at her in surprise: "What do you mean?"
"You said you wanted to capture the souls of sinners, and the Sins too... well, do it" Vaggie told him. "Do the same with the hellborns. Take all their souls, but instead of just killing them at the end, keep them with you. After all, what matters is that no one on Earth will suffer anymore, right? Then you can just free those souls one at a time and give Charlie the opportunity to redeem them"
Adam nodded slightly. "I've thought about that" he admitted. "I confess that finding out that redemption is possible has made me rethink a lot of things... and this is indeed a possibility to consider, even if there are a lot of variables I have to consider..."
"Don't consider them" Vaggie said dryly. "Keep them alive. Promise me, and I'll help you"
"Why would he need your help?" Lute asked sourly.
"Because you can't do it alone" Vaggie replied. "The others will notice you're gone. You need someone to cover for you, and you have to come back here and show up every now and then. We can take turns to carry out the plan without raising suspicion"
"And should I get you to help me?" Lute muttered.
"It's not my dream vacation either, but Adam needs an angel to convince the humans, and I'm the only one here besides you who looks like an angel. Plus, you'll need a hand when you have to isolate Pride; they'll suspect you right away, but not me" Vaggie pointed out. "Let's make this deal. You save the souls, and I'll help you"
Adam scratched his chin in interest. "Funny... you could have tried to trick me, but if we make a deal, you won't be able to warn your friends in time. Have you thought about that?"
Vaggie hesitated for a moment. “Well… maybe I don’t want to ” she admitted. “If Hell knows the humans are coming, they’ll attack first, and a lot of people will die. I’d rather do it your way”
Even through the shadows, Adam could still see a smile. "I like you like this" he said contentedly. "I was sure you wouldn't disappoint me. You've seen which side is best to take"
Vaggie didn't want to agree with him, but she couldn't deny it. Deep down, she had already wanted to support Adam before. It seemed like a better alternative to doing nothing and letting innocent people suffer for no reason. "So, are you in or not?"
"I'm in" Adam told her. "But I might not be able to save everyone. It would be easier if I could put magic circles in each Ring... but as you know, we sinners can't abandon Pride. Once I have control of the Rings, it won't be a problem to save those souls, but until then... I can try, but I can't guarantee anything"
Vaggie sighed. "Then kill as little as possible" she said. "And since we're going to make a deal, you're bound by it, so I'll know you really didn't have a choice"
Adam's smile widened. "So be it" he said, holding out his hand, and the shadow that formed it became much more solid and compact, until it formed a real hand.
Vaggie started to shake her, but she suddenly stopped. "Um... about Lucifer..."
"Don't negotiate for him" Adam said quickly. "I know this is a sore point for you since he's your girlfriend's father, but I'm not going to give in on that"
Vaggie bit her lip. Well, maybe they should postpone that conversation. "Okay" she said simply, and squeezed Adam's hand.
"...and you pretty much know the rest" Vaggie finished. "Sorry about... well, everything"
Charlie was feeling mixed emotions at that moment. On one hand, she wanted to be mad at her, on the other, she couldn't completely blame her. "Well... you wanted to save lives" she replied. "And... I understand that from your point of view, it's for the best. I can't say I approve, but... I understand it"
If Vaggie and Charlie had had that conversation even a week ago, she probably would have been shocked and outraged; but after everything that had happened, she was having a really hard time figuring out what she was really feeling. All she knew was that she didn't have the energy to be pissed off at her girlfriend. "Oh... thanks" Vaggie said with a small smile. "Look... I really tried to save as many as I could. I just don't want as many people to get hurt as possible"
"I get it. That's what I want, too" Charlie muttered. "Look... have you ever talked about... well, my father's future murder... since that time?"
Vaggie shook her head. "I've managed to convince him to spare a lot of people, but... he don't listen to reason about that" she answered. "I was honestly hoping that... you could change his mind"
Charlie almost choked on her spit. "Me!? How am I supposed to do that?"
"I don't know, but I know that if anyone can do it, it's you!" Vaggie replied. "You've done miracles before... try to do more. Maybe now that he's a little more vulnerable he'll listen to you"
“I can hear you” Adam muttered in annoyance. “Now that you’re done with the latest events, shut up. In case you haven’t figured out, we’re trying to go unnoticed”
They had now reached a palace of unparalleled magnificence. Charlie remembered it, having seen it in Adam’s memories, albeit very little. At the time, she had thought it was made of crystal and gold, but now that she was standing there, she realized it was something entirely different: the materials were pure, ethereal, pristine. It was as if Charlie was looking at the idea of gold and the idea of crystal, or rather, something even deeper. “Is this God’s palace?”
“No, it’s just the place where angels gather to talk about serious matters and He appears most often” Adam replied. "It's usually full of angels, but luckily most of them will have been drawn into the dimensional rift and will be trying to figure out what's going on. If we hurry, we can leave before they come back"
Charlie noticed that Adam seemed even more tense than before, and she knew it wasn't because he was afraid of some angel coming to stop them: after all, he had stood up to Lucifer, he had no reason to fear anyone in Heaven. No, the reason was much deeper. Maybe Vaggie was right... maybe Charlie had a chance to talk to him now that he was so upset. So she took courage and as they walked through the long hallways she said to him: "Hey... listen, I know you don't like it, but I think we should talk about what happened"
"I told you there's nothing to talk about" Adam blurted out.
"We both know that's not the case" Charlie told him. "Adam, I'm not judging you for..."
"What do you want to talk about, hm?" Adam exclaimed. "That my children, after thousands of years, have finally decided to come and meet me, and clearly because they wanted me to stop? That they haven't been around for millennia and the only time I see them we're on opposite sides?"
Charlie bit her lip. "I know it's not easy..."
"No, it's not. And I don't want to talk about it" Adam said through gritted teeth. "If they showed up now... then they could have always come to see me, and yet they never showed up. They didn't come when I was fighting to protect the universe, they didn't come when I was carrying out the Extermination, they didn't even come when... I died. They only came now, and clearly to protect you demons, not to meet me. That's all I need to know whose side they're on"
Charlie sighed. "I thought I didn't need much to know whose side you were on, and then I found out I was so wrong about you" she told him. "Maybe... you should give them a chance to explain themselves, before you judge them"
Adam hesitated for a moment, but then he quickly returned to frowning: "It doesn't matter now. Shut your mouth, we're here"
Charlie would have much preferred to continue talking, but her curiosity silenced her, as they had come to a huge door: it was a beautiful arch made of a material that looked like gold, but it was clear that it was something completely different. Statues so perfect that no sculptor could have replicated them were present on the sides of it, depicting gigantic angels completely covered in armor and with a massive sword in their hands. "Uh... those things won't come alive to attack us, right?" Charlie couldn't help but ask.
"No. Not alone, at least" Adam answered.
Charlie didn't understand: "What do you mean not alone?"
"Normally there should be some Powers guarding the door here" Adam explained to her. "If someone tries to enter without authorization, these angels dematerialize and enter the statues, obtaining an upgrade to fight even against very powerful angels"
"Oh... well, as a security system is efficient" Charlie commented. "So... where are they now?"
"They're absent, isn't it obvious?" Adam grunted in annoyance. "I don't understand... why are they gone? What distract them?"
"Isn't that good for you?" Charlie asked. "You can come in undisturbed"
"I'd be more positive if I wasn't sure it is a trap" Adam replied. "But I don't understand... how did they know we were coming? Or maybe they changed the security system?"
Adam thought about it for a while, then when nothing happened he decided he might as well try, so he came out into the open and walked towards the door. He was wary the whole time, expecting to be attacked from behind at any moment, or for a trap to open under his feet, but nothing happened. Finally he reached the door and pressed his hands on the doors, which opened with a thud.
As soon as this happened, a bright, warm light emerged from inside the room, but it wasn't blinding: on the contrary, it seemed to invite you to look at it and immerse yourself in its warmth. It was a light unlike any other, and it was as if the light of the sun or the stars or the fire were nothing but a copy, an imitation of the real light that was there before them. It was such a bright sight that Charlie and Vaggie and Lute forgot for a moment that they were supposed to be hidden and came out into the open, too, as if they were moths drawn to a light bulb.
It was really... something beyond extraordinary.
Adam looked around suspiciously, but again there was no sign of a trap. "Come" he said finally. "But remain on your guard"
"Uh… yes, sir" Lute muttered, barely able to concentrate. Charlie and Vaggie followed suit, too stunned to say anything.
As soon as they entered, it was like entering a warm mother's womb: the light filled the entire room and seemed to have a consistency all its own, which embraced and cradled them tenderly. Charlie remembered feeling this way only when she fell asleep in her mother's arms. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world, something indescribable in words, that could only be summed up as wonderful.
The room was completely empty, except for an altar in the center of it, on which was placed a chest, and not any chest: it was extremely beautiful, a little over a meter long, made of wood, probably acacia, but covered entirely in pure gold; on the lid were carved two cherubs, and on the sides were fixed with four rings two gilded wooden poles that were clearly used to transport it. Judging by the style, the person who carved it must have been human, but at the same time it was as if something otherworldly had invaded them, allowing them to push far beyond the limits of mortal art. It was open, and from it the light that permeated the room emerged in all its splendor, almost as if it wanted to be released and seen by all.
Adam approached the box, touching it with his hands. As he did so, small lightning bolts emerged from inside, touching his palm, and despite all his defenses, they caused a few burns on his skin. "Here it is..." he murmured. "The Ark of the Covenant"
Despite the soothing and almost hypnotic light, Charlie managed to pull herself together as soon as she heard those words: "What!? You mean... that's the chest that contains the power of God!?"
"It contains a fraction of it" Adam said, placing his hands on the lid of the box and starting to close it. "This Ark was built by the craftsman Bezaleel according to Moses' instructions, and God has infused His essence into it. It is the bridge between two irreconcilable things, the mortal and the immortal. The promise that one day humanity and the divine would have been one"
Adam continued to push the lid, which was small but difficult to move even for someone as strong as him. His hands continued to be burned by what seemed like fire, but was something else entirely, emerging from the Ark. And yet it was strange: it was as if the fire had the full power to incinerate him if it truly wanted, but it was limiting itself to merely give him a warning. As Adam closed the Ark completely, both the fire and the light vanished.
Charlie, Vaggie, and Lute felt their brains return to normal... although they also felt very cold and very uncomfortable, as if their bodies instinctively wanted to dive back into the light. "The number ten" Charlie commented, remembering the final sequence of numbers that Adam had left. "The one Husk couldn't decipher... was that the Ark's number?"
"It is in numerology" Adam confirmed. "This divine object is capable of connecting the unconnected. It is the bridge that unites everything. The last piece needed to create the ultimate weapon"
Charlie took a deep breath. She didn't need to ask for explanations to understand what the Ark was for: it was the way to connect the indestructible material of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the cross of Jesus Christ. The first was the most powerful thing in the universe, capable of destroying the body of an angel, and the second could distance the fragments of their soul so far that it would have prevented their resurrection. These two objects could not be used at the same time... but with the power of the Ark, two could become one. The end result... was a weapon capable of absolutely killing an angel.
Adam picked up the Ark and lifted it, and it looked like he had to make at least some effort to do so. "We have to leave quickly" he said. "Let's get to the golden gate and then jump off, before someone..."
"Why so much rush, Brother Adam?"
Everyone froze instantly. They knew that voice. Adam had heard it himself, Charlie, Vaggie, and Lute only through their memories, but still, to all of them it was unmistakable. And they were sure that even if they had never heard it before they would still have recognized it.
A man had appeared on the threshold of the door; not an angel, but a real man, with no hint of wings or other signs of Heaven. He was dressed only in a very ordinary robe and two simple shoes on his feet. He had straight hair that reached his shoulders and a very well-groomed beard, thin cheekbones, and two very beautiful eyes that seemed to contain a calm and understanding beyond human limits. He held his hands together in front of his chest, and it was easy to see the holes that were present in both palms. And yet despite the fact that he was such an ordinary man, a strange power permeated him, as if the light of a million suns was emanating from behind him.
Vaggie and Lute knelt... no, they literally dropped to their knees, touching their foreheads to the floor and dropping their weapons. "My lord!" they both exclaimed with trembling voices, and neither of them knew if it was from excitement, happiness, or fear.
Charlie felt the urge to do the same, but something inside her held her back. She wasn't sure how to act. She felt afraid like few times in her life, and yet at the same time her heart seemed to be wrapped in an embrace that told her not to be afraid. Without realizing it, she found herself thinking back to all the sins, big and small, she had committed in her two hundred years of life, and she sweated a little as she wondered how the Savior would evaluate her.
Jesus came forward and knelt down in front of Vaggie and Lute, and gently took their faces, bringing them to look at him again. "Sisters" he said to them in a soft voice. "Do not bow. You were not born to be servants"
Both girls couldn’t hold back a sound of emotion at the touch. They had never met the Messiah before, and they hadn’t expected their first meeting to be so encouraging given their… past actions. Yet, even though their hearts were pounding, they felt calm, as if the person in front of them couldn’t really judge them in any way.
“It pains me to see that you’re still so hurt” Jesus told them, touching Vaggie’s missing eye and Lute’s missing arm. “And your hearts are still bleeding"
“Um… what?” Vaggie asked, not sure she understood.
“You have a lot of work to do on yourselves" Jesus told her. “But you’re on the right path to healing… even if you’re still a long way off"
“Uh…” Vaggie was getting less and less of a sense of what was going on. Lute, on the other hand, wasn’t even trying to speak.
Without losing his smile, Jesus turned to Charlie: "It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Sister Charlotte"
Charlie went stiff as a statue: "Um... me too... mister... sir... master...!"
Jesus chuckled, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "There's no need for such formality" he said. "I'm happy to finally see you in person. I want you to know that your contribution has not gone unnoticed"
"Uh... well, thank you!" Charlie said quite nervously. "Um... I have like... a thousand questions..."
"I know. But it's not me you should ask them to" Jesus said, then he looked at Vaggie and Lute: "Sisters, can you please accompany her to the Great Hall?"
Vaggie and Lute's eyes widened. "The... the Great Hall!?" they exclaimed in unison. "The throne room of the Almighty!?"
"Wait, WHAT!?" Charlie exclaimed, almost jumping.
Jesus nodded. "Go" he told them, before turning directly to Charlie. "Don't be afraid, Sister Charlotte. Focus on finding the answers to your questions"
Charlie felt a little reassured by the gentle voice of the Messiah, but that didn’t stop her from sweating worse than a sauna. Vaggie and Lute weren’t at peace either, but they stood up like soldiers and picked up their weapons, and motioned for her to follow. Charlie swallowed so hard she could be heard through the walls, but she went after them anyway.
Adam had been silent the whole time, so much so that he seemed to have forgotten he was alive. It was only when he and Jesus were finally alone that his lips moved, barely escaping a whisper: “Why?”
Jesus didn’t answer right away; instead, he calmly sat down at the foot of the altar, as if he were resting after a long walk. “Brother Adam” he said, motioning for him to sit down next to him. “Can I have a word with you?”
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 78): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111415
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 132: Towards the Great Hall
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Heaven was big, in the sense of really big; and thanks to that, many areas of it were almost uninhabited, being rural or wooded areas where people went at most to relax. Here you could only find passers-by on picnics, people meditating in nature, or rarely some hermit who preferred solitude. Which was a good thing, because then no one was there to see a shadow moving quickly on the ground as if it were a liquid snake.
As soon as it was sure that no one was there, the shadow spread on a tree and then took shape, growing almost as if it were a mushroom growing; colors appeared on it, and finally, Alastor's body reconstructed itself in its entire shape. "Yes..." the radio demon muttered, cracking his neck. "I was sure no one would have noticed that I had passed through the rift! Hiding in the queen's shadow by taking advantage of her shock may not have been the best move, but what matters is the result. I'm here, and no one knows, not even Adam... not even those two"
Alastor crawled through the bushes, looking at the spot in the sky where the rift had been; several angels were crowding there, probably trying to figure something out. It didn't matter: he was far enough away already, they wouldn't have found him. As long as he kept a low profile, he was a free man.
And now what was he supposed to do?
Alastor sat down and thought. In the original plan he and Adam had devised, he was supposed to stay in Hell; after all, the first man had not trusted him to enter Heaven at all, and rightly so. However, when Alastor had found out that Cain and Abel had found him, his only thought had been to leave Hell by any means possible. He could have used the shadow he had left on Earth to instantly move there, but he had opted for something safer.
"Zestial..." he couldn't help but say with a grunt. "I should have known he was working for them, someone like him couldn't have been spared. Now I understand why he's so obsessed with information. Maybe that's why he tried to buy time at the overlord meeting when he found out someone had killed an angel... yes, now a lot of things make sense to me. How could I not understand it before...?"
But if that was the case, why hadn't Zestial handed him over right away? He knew where he was, and even if Alastor hadn't exactly hidden himself that time, he'd still been easy prey. The radio demon hadn't expected Cain and Abel to have an informant even at that stupid meeting, with all the overlords being relatively young... if Zestial had warned them then, they could have appeared and captured him without a struggle since he would have been alone and without any strong demon to cover his back.
Maybe Zestial had kept his mouth shut?
It was possible. Zestial had always been a demon who acted largely on his own. Overlords were opportunistic creatures, so it wasn’t so strange that Zestial had preferred not to tell Cain and Abel that he had found him, but to wait to see what he had in mind. Maybe he even had a plan of his own, and wanted to blackmail him or deceive him to free himself too, or to obtain something.
Or had they let him go free on purpose…?
Cain’s words came back to him: he had said that Abel had taken pity on him. Alastor was obviously not foolish enough to believe that was the case: the two of them simply teased each other all the time, so Cain was probably just teasing his brother at the time. However, it could mean that Abel had decided not to capture him right away. It would have made sense, since Abel had a policy of not making big things, and showing up at an overlord meeting certainly didn’t fall into the category of secrecy.
In fact, now that Alastor thought about it, that was exactly what he expected from Abel. Throwing away millennia of shadowy action for a pathetic radio host had probably seemed like a useless and inadequate transaction. Abel had been warned immediately by Zestial, but had chosen not to intervene during the meeting, and instead had simply asked Zestial to keep an eye on Alastor so he could attack him when he would be alone, or at least away from the eyes of influential people. And then, after finding out that he was in cahoots with the princess, and above all that he almost never left the hotel, Abel had decided to wait. After all, fighting with Alastor meant fighting with Charlie, and consequently attracting Lucifer's attention; in addition to being dangerous, they could have said goodbye to their proverbial secrecy. So Cain and Abel had finally chosen to simply wait for Alastor to make a misstep and lose Charlie's protection. This is probably the 'pity' that Cain mentioned, since he would not have stayed still waiting, but on the contrary, he would have prepared a plan to isolate Alastor, even at the cost of killing any other person in the hotel.
Yes, it all made sense now. Alastor was lucky that those two were always at odds, and that Cain couldn't act on his own. After all, that was what had allowed him to escape from them in the past...
His plan back then had been simple: find the princess of Hell, use her as protection, and find a way to use her to break that stupid deal. He had gotten most of the way there, having gained Charlie's protection and then that pact between them, which Alastor planned to use to get her to break her contract. And then Adam had come along and... well, Alastor was used to jumping on the bandwagon.
However, he had to admit that he hadn't expected this low blow from Zestial. He had assumed that once they were truly out in the open, Cain and Abel would have focused on their father; after all, they shouldn't have known that the two of them were working together yet. Instead, he had taken a big risk, as the two of them had immediately come for him, and if it hadn't been for his excellent timing, it could have ended very badly for him.
"But now I'm here and they're in Hell" Alastor mused aloud. "They don't know... and Adam doesn't know either. They can search for me all they want, they'll never figure out where I am. And my deal is already broken. So... I can go wherever I want"
Cain and Abel didn't know he was in Heaven, Lucifer didn't know he was in Heaven, Adam didn't know he was in Heaven, not even Charlie knew he was in Heaven: he was the perfect fugitive. All he had to do was disguise himself so he wouldn't have looked like a demon, and then no one would have come looking for him. For the first time in years, he was finally without anyone to command him.
Technically, there was no need for him anymore: Adam had already won. Once he had recovered the last piece of his weapon, he would have been literally unstoppable. Alastor was no longer of any use to him: even though he was still the most powerful overlord, it was clear that the power gap was now too wide. Therefore, the radio demon could now leave the scene and nothing would have changed.
After all, Alastor had never planned to stay by Adam's side until the end: sure, he fully agreed with his plan and was proud of having taken part in the eradication of all evil from the universe, and he agreed with him when he told him that he deserved to die, but still a part of him was still selfish enough to let the instinct of self-preservation prevail. Even if he knew that it would have been better for everyone, since he was a monster and would have never changed, Alastor still wanted to survive to see what would have been created. He wanted to at least make sure that everything really went the right way, that's all. He wasn't crazy enough to let himself be killed yet, even though he knew he deserved it.
His only purpose in helping Adam had been to clean up the universe and make sure that Charlie, the only one for whom, despite himself, he had developed an actual affection, was okay; now he knew that Adam had already won and that Charlie would have been treated well since she was part of the plan, so she no longer had any reason to go back to the first man. Actually, it was much more convenient for him to disappear: after all, Adam's plan considered the possibility that he would have crossed too many dangerous lines and that Charlie would have had to kill him, so it would have been convenient for her to have a secret ally ready to come out in the open in case she was not able to give the final blow.
Yes... in a way, he could still help in that way: by acting as a silent guide for the demon girl and making sure she was ready.
After... he didn't know. He would have found something to do. He didn't mind the idea of walking around an empty Hell for eternity. Or he would finally have found the courage to complete the work of justice by using an angelic weapon on himself.
He would have thought about it when the time had come: now his only intention was to hide well in Heaven, where no one would have thought to look for him, and disappear.
The easiest solution would have been to just hide... but he still had work to do. Alastor knew he hadn't gotten there alone, and that Lilith wasn't the only one who had passed through the dimensional rift. There were many people, including Zestial.
For Alastor, finding and capturing Zestial was imperative. He had to know what Abel and Cain had planned in his absence, and he was the best source of information. Alastor didn't feel safe while those two were around: he knew full well that, if there was anything that could really hinder Adam's plan, it was those two, or rather... the person who was behind those two. Predictably, those cowards had preferred not to involve her, but if she found out everything...
A shiver ran through Alastor's body. It was rare for him to feel true fear; not simple fright, not the fear of something that would happen. Real, concrete, cruel fear, that penetrated the bones and froze the muscles. Yet, that was the feeling he got when he remembered what she could do.
He remembered it very, very well.
He had to find Zestial. He was the only one who could provide him with useful information about his true enemies. He had to capture him and make him confess, even if it meant torturing him so much that his screams would be heard throughout Heaven. One way or another, he would have forced him to talk.
But Alastor was not a fool. He knew he had to tread carefully. Zestial had been an enigma to him before, but now that he knew he was working for Cain and Abel, he was even more wary. He had no idea what tricks the damned spider had up his sleeve. And besides, Zestial probably had a plan, and he had already surrounded himself with allies.
Yep... he had surely a plan, and that plan involved stopping Adam. If he had dared to follow him to Heaven, he surely knew what he was doing. Which made capturing him even more imperative in Alastor's eyes.
But if Zestial was a good strategist, Alastor was a good hunter. And even in a situation like that, the thought of hunting excites him. His shadows quickly expanded and turned into what looked like small, fast-moving insects, swarming in every direction to look for clues.
"Make your move, Zestial. I'm here, and you don't know it. You won't even see me coming" Alastor said. "I'll find you and wring the truth out of you. Those two bastards won't have me again. And in the worst case scenario... I could always use that unrisolved deal with Charlie"
The deal he had with the princess of Hell was still valid, and Alastor knew how precious it was. Even though he had put it aside until that moment because he didn't need it, he was ready to use it if necessary. "I won't go back to that place" he promised himself. "I'll never go back there again"
And at that precise moment, he began the hunt. The goal: find and eliminate all the demons that had entered Heaven, except for Adam and Charlie. The prey: anyone who was succulent enough.
Charlie was more nervous than ever. Her stomach felt like it was going to twist and her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Each step was smaller than the last, and her legs were so weak that it was a miracle she was still standing.
Vaggie and Lute had tried to match her pace, but when her steps became so small that she was practically standing still, they had to push her a little: "Hey, do you want to walk?" Lute grumbled with his usual tartness.
"Sorry" Charlie said. "It's just... I'm really going to... meet God?"
Vaggie bit her lip: "Well... you're going into His throne room. What or who you'll find in there... I don't know"
That didn't make Charlie any less calm: "I can't meet God, I can't!"
"But isn't that what you wanted?" Vaggie rightly reminded her, remembering the conversation she had overheard with Emily.
"Yes, but... not like this! Not all of a sudden! I need to... prepare myself mentally!" Charlie exclaimed, putting her hands in her hair. "Look at the state I'm in! My clothes are all dirty and torn from the battle in Hell, my hair is disgusting, and I still have my horns exposed! How can I show up before the Creator of everything like this!?"
"Charlie, you know that in this case the external appearance doesn't matter" Vaggie tried to tell her.
"And the internal one is better!?" Charlie said nervously. "I knew I had to go to church, I knew it...!"
"Oh, come on, you're overreacting now" Vaggie said, putting her hands on her shoulders to comfort her. "Don't you remember what the Messiah said earlier? Your contribution hasn't gone unnoticed. That means God is happy to have you here, right?"
Charlie finally calmed down a little. "Well... it seems that way" she murmured. "But..."
"If you're done with your pre-game coaching speech, we're here" Lute interrupted them.
Charlie and Vaggie looked around and saw that before they knew it, they had arrived in front of a huge door. It was something... well, literally impossible to define: one moment it seemed as big as a normal door, the next as tall as a building, the next as tall as a mountain. It was as if the more you looked at it, the more you could see new fragments of immensity. "Is this... the throne room?" Charlie murmured.
"Yes" Lute confirmed. "From here on out, you go alone"
"Okay... wait, what!?" Charlie exclaimed. "You two aren't coming!?"
"The Messiah said someone wants to talk to you. He didn't say us" Lute reminded her. "So, you go alone. We can't come unless we're summoned"
"Can't you bend the rules?" Charlie begged. "Please... I think I'm really going to need moral support in there!"
"And you're asking us for help?" Lute asked with a raised eyebrow. From her point of view, she and Vaggie were the last people who could provide moral support.
Vaggie was a little more understanding: even though she was pretty sure it wouldn't have worked, she went to the door and pushed on it. But no matter how hard she tried, it didn't move a single inch. "It looks like we can't get in" she said to Charlie. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the door will open only for you"
"Can't you, uh, wait for it to open for me, and run in before it closes...?" Charlie tried to suggest.
"I don't think that would work at all" Vaggie said. "Charlie, come on. Cheer up and be strong. I'm sure you can handle this conversation. Go in there and... well, be yourself"
Charlie clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking, but she failed miserably. She reluctantly walked toward the door until she was standing right in front of it. She reached up to touch the doors and push them open...
... but then she yanked them back and even took a couple steps back. "I CAN'T!" she screamed.
"Oh, come on!" Lute exclaimed. "How long are you going to take?"
"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who's going to meet God! I mean, the actual GOD! The one with the capital G!" Charlie replied. "I can't do that, okay? I can't! How am I going to show up in front of Him and look Him in the eyes? I'm not exactly a saint!"
"Okay, Charlie, you're not a saint, but you're still one of the kindest and most generous people I know" Vaggie told her. "You have nothing to be ashamed of..."
"I have nothing to be ashamed of!?" Charlie exclaimed as she nearly tore her hair out. "Right now I'm remembering so many sins that I feel like I've been a horrible person my entire life!"
"Oh, come on, now you're exaggerating" Vaggie said trying to calm her down. "What did you do that was so terrible...?"
"Coff coff" Lute coughed loudly.
Vaggie glared at her: "Yeah, I remember the part about the cannibals and the Exorcists, I'm just trying to cheer her up, and you are not helping!"
"I never wanted to" Lute replied expressionless.
"See!? There's one! I literally raised an army of cannibals, started a small war, killed a bunch of Exorcists, and fed their bodies to them!" Charlie exclaimed. "What do I do if He scolds me for that!?"
"Well... your intentions were good" Vaggie told her.
"Last time I checked, the road to Heaven isn't paved with good intentions" Charlie pointed out. "Oh my, He's going to burn me with holy fire or throw a meteorite on my head...!"
"Charlie, please, try to be rational!" Vaggie tried to calm her down. "God isn't like that, He's not going to burn you or call a space rock to hit you..."
"The Old Testament has something to say about that" Lute said, not exactly softly.
Vaggie glared at her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're mean?" she asked, making her giggle.
Charlie was still in a complete panic: "And that's not all! I have a lot of other sins on my conscience! I always knew my Uncle Mammon exploited his employees but I never did anything about it! I once found out that the guy I was dating actually had a boyfriend, but I still had sex with him because I thought the bad girl part was pretty hot! When I was in high school I played a nasty prank on a bully by dropping a bucket of sardines on her in front of the whole class! Two years ago I found out that soy milk was bad for the environment, but I kept drinking it because I liked it! Not to mention all the sex outside of marriage that you and I did, the fornication...!"
"Charlie, you and I have never fornicated, lust is the sin, not love. It has nothing to do with being married, as long as people really love each other" Vaggie reassured her.
"Really? Because it seems to me like you and I were very lustful!" Charlie said frantically. "Like that time I tied you to the...!"
"Okay, let's stop right here" Lute stopped her immediately. "I'd love to see you continue to panic, but I'd like to be able to sleep tonight, and listening to your sexual practices will surely prevent me from doing that, so let's end this quickly: get off your ass, stop babbling, and walk through that door, or I'll kick you in. Your choice"
Vaggie put a hand in front of her face. "I said it again, you're mean" she said tiredly. "Charlie, you can worry all you want, it won't change anything. Be brave, walk through that door, and then... well, just be yourself. It'll be the way it's supposed to be"
Charlie let out a whimper: "What do I do if He asks me questions?"
"What do you do? It seems obvious to me, you answer!" Lute blurted out, tired of all the questions. "What do you expect to do, dance?"
"Yeah, but what do I answer?" Charlie asked, biting her nails.
"Oh, well, it's a difficult question, let's see.. you could answer with... I don't know, the answer!?" Lute said annoyed.
"Charlie, just say what you think" Vaggie suggested her. "And I doubt it's possible to lie to a literally omniscient being, so... even if you're embarrassed, always tell the truth"
Charlie swallowed: "Yes, but..."
"WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR!" Lute yelled at her, having definitely reached the end of her already normally limited patience.
Charlie flinched a little at the yell, but finally she stopped talking; she looked one last time at Vaggie, who gave her an encouraging look, and then she turned to the door. With a huge effort of will, she finally touched the doors and pushed lightly. The door opened effortlessly, almost as if it was waiting for her to push it. Charlie took just a small step forward, and the doors promptly closed behind her.
Lute and Vaggie were left alone outside. "What now?" Vaggie asked with a lot of fear.
Lute shrugged: "I guess we... wait"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 79): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/165111433
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 133: The Daughters of the Mind of God
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie expected that when she entered the Great Hall, she would have seen God Himself, or at least a throne surrounded by stands; she remembered how the Great Hall had looked in Adam’s memories, with God sitting on His throne in the center and all the angels around Him. Everything in that memory had inspired grandeur and magnificence, the emblem of divine power.
Instead, Charlie found none of that. The room was completely empty… or rather, it seemed completely empty, since no matter how hard Charlie tried, she couldn’t see the beginning or the end. It was like being immersed in an infinite void. The floor was covered in tiles with beautiful patterns and the ceiling was decorated with designs beyond imagination, but other than that, there was nothing.
Charlie scratched her head. Maybe the place changed depending on who entered? Maybe God simply decided how to make it appear? Maybe it was something more? Honestly, she wasn’t sure she could figure it out.
“He… hello?” she said with a great deal of hesitation, and the voice that came out of her mouth was so faint it resembled a squeak. "Pleased to meet you, er... I'm Charlie Morningstar... well, you already know that... here... glom..."
It was no use: the more she tried to say something with a sense, the more her brain seemed to have taken a vacation. The anxiety in her heart was too great. No one answered her, which only made her feel more uncomfortable. Even though her legs were shaking, with an effort she started walking and moved away from the door, which seemed to vanish behind her even though she had only taken three steps.
She hadn't gone five meters when she realized she had been wrong: the room wasn't empty, there was something. She was sure it hadn't been there before... or had she? Maybe she hadn't noticed? Not far from her there was what resembled a globe, but it was suspended in nothingness, and it didn't seem artificial at all, but a real planet.
Charlie got closer, and the closer she got, the more vibrant and alive that world seemed, with clouds moving in the sky, oceans stirring, forests rustling in the wind, mountains covering themselves with snow, deserts with dunes that changed constantly. It was a perfect replica of planet Earth, without a single error. Charlie didn't know how it was possible, but as soon as she looked at that globe and tried to sharpen her gaze a little, it seemed as if she could zoom in as if it were a camera, allowing her to see the details perfectly.
As she looked at all of this, Charlie forgot her anxiety for a moment and got lost in that beauty. However, a sound brought her back to reality. It seemed like someone was clapping their hands happily. The sound came from the other side of that strange globe, and as Charlie turned around, what she found shocked her: "A child...?"
In front of that representation of planet Earth there was not some supreme and authoritarian entity, but a little girl; she didn't look more than ten years old and was only half Charlie's height. She had black hair, but it was more like a dark blue, and it was styled in perfect buds on the sides of her head; to these buds were tied white and silver ribbons, on which were drawn golden symbols that resembled perfectly embroidered eyes, complete with very long eyelashes. She wore a blue dress that went down to her knees, with blue and white shades, that made her look almost like a wave of the sea; on her feet she had two silver shoes that seemed to be made of owl feathers. Her dress itself, in a way, resembled an owl, since the sleeves were extremely wide and so when she spread her arms it appeared like the face of a large bird, similar to a beautiful owl. On her chest she had embroidered what resembled a cross, but instead of the upper point she had a symbol similar to a pendant; on her sleeves she had what seemed to be Chinese or Japanese letters, and on her wrists bracelets from which hung strange pyramid-shaped decorations. As for her face... well, it was perfect: it contained a sort of eternal childishness, and those eyes with their white sclera, blue iris and black pupil did not contain even a hint of malice.
She looked like a sculpture artfully created to represent innocence.
Charlie was shocked to look at her, not knowing what she should do. Finally she reached out and touched her shoulder: "Hello...?"
The little girl finally took her eyes off the globe that represented Earth and immediately turned her head, showing her a smile: "Oh, Charlie! Sorry, I was distracted for a moment while watching a beautiful scene"
"Oh... well, no problem" Charlie replied. "I guess it was beautiful..."
"Of course it was! See for yourself!" the little girl said pointing to the globe with her eyes shining.
Charlie was a little shocked, but she looked at the spot indicated. As her eyes landed on the globe, her vision seemed to be amplified a billion times: she was sucked towards it, and suddenly she was able to see perfectly two people who were impossible to notice from above. They were two girls, apparently no older than sixteen, sitting on a bench in front of a river. One of them had her head down and looked extremely ashamed, while the other, while keeping her distance and showing a frown, looked terribly worried.
"You want to tell me what you were doing?"
"Please, I swear I didn't mean to..."
"Girl, excuse my bluntness, but there's not much doubt when I catch my friend about to buy heroin from a dealer. Why did you do that?"
"..."
"That doesn't seem... beautiful" Charlie couldn't help but say.
But the little girl just smiled wider: "Don't be so impatient. Just watch"
Charlie did as she was told, and she saw the worried-looking girl walk over to her friend, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Kyoko, we've been friends for years. Please, just tell me the truth"
"... okay. The thing is, I'm... not feeling well lately. Since Dad passed away, everything's been so... difficult. I just wanted to get away from reality a little"
"Why didn't you tell me about this before? Me, or all the others. We would have helped you"
"No! Don't tell the others. I... I know we promised each other not to have secrets, but I want to remain my same old self when I'm with my friends. I don't want to be pitied, to be the problematic one in the group"
"Kyoko..."
"When I'm with you, I leave my problems behind. I don't want you to feel like you have to help me. I don't want to see pitying faces when you look at me"
"... Kyoko, it's okay if you don't want to tell us everything. You don't have to, you can decide what to talk to us about and what not to. But that's what friends are for... to support you when the world around you sucks"
"But..."
"I'm not pitying you, Kyoko. I honestly think you're one of the strongest girls I know. You work your ass off every day to help out around the house, work, study, and I don't know how, but you sacrifice the little rest you have to go out with me and our friends. You'll never be able to pity you"
"Elyna..."
"But I know you're still human. It's normal to feel overwhelmed by life. So... when things suck, I want you to tell me they suck"
"Huh?"
"I know it sucks to admit that things suck. It sucks to think about what the other person will say, it sucks to imagine that other people know that everything sucks for you. But even so, I want you to tell me if you feel like shit"
"... how long do you want to say that word?"
"Pff! Sorry. What I'm saying is... it's not a bad thing to tell someone that life sucks"
"... I'm not sure I can say this. I'm having a hard time, yes, but there are people who are having a worse time than me..."
"Who cares!"
"Huh?"
"What matters now is you, not the rest of the world! I want to know what's in your heart! You have every right to feel like crap and it's okay to shout it out!"
"But..."
"You told me your truth, so now I'm telling you mine: I think that if you stopped hiding that you're sick, and tried to get help, things would get better. You don't have to think that you're the problem one in the group... you're just someone who needs the support of her friends. And me and the others are here for you. Just one word and you'll see us appear at your side, just like you would appear at ours if we needed it. We both know that you'd run to me right away if I was feeling bad, so why don't you let me do the same for you?"
Charlie was starting to get teary-eyed as she listened to those two girls. Her usual emotionality was coming back forcefully, threatening to make her burst into tears in front of that touching scene. "I told you so" the little girl commented with a satisfied smile. "You should never doubt the truth!"
Charlie barely understood what she had said: "Huh? What do you mean...?"
"Ssssh!" the little girl said to her. "Now comes the best part! Watch!"
The two girls were staring at each other intensely, and then the one with the problems (whose name was apparently Kyoko) finally closed the distance and leaned into the other, who pulled her into a hug. She shook a little and then started to cry.
"T-Thank you. I... I don't..."
"It's okay. You're not alone. We'll help you"
"... please... I don't want to be a burden..."
"You're not and you never will be. No one will ever think of you like that. And if they do, I'll punch them in the nose"
"... you're still the same old you"
"I just want you to be okay. I want things to change for you. And if you promise me that you'll tell me the truth from now on, I'll do everything in my power to help you. We'll solve this one hundred percent!"
"What if that's not enough?"
"Well, then we'll settle for seventy and think about thirty later. The important thing is that we try... that you try. Do you promise?"
"... yes. Yes, I promise. I will always tell you the truth from now on"
"Good. Now have a good cry. You really need it"
The scene ended with the two girls hugging each other tightly. Charlie wiped her eyes and sniffled. "It was beautiful" she admitted.
"Heh heh! Yeah" the little girl said. "I love when people tell each other the truth and use it to deal with their problems. It's one of the reasons I love watching this little planet. It happens so often that people try to run away from the truth, often hurting themselves... but when they have the courage to open up, to be honest with themselves and especially with others, what they create is something beautiful. Their hearts shine with the intensity of a thousand stars. And their smiles when they finally free themselves from the weight on their hearts are in my opinion the most beautiful thing in the universe"
Charlie couldn't disagree with her; she thought so too. "That girl... will she be able to solve her problems now that she's opened up to someone?"
"It depends on her tenacity. As long as she continues to open up to her friends and doesn't give in to the lies of her complexes, she'll be on the right path" the little girl answered. "But all of that is up to her to decide. You can send anyone to help her, but the strength to face the problem is hers alone. I can go down there to support her, I've been doing it since she was born actually... but as much as I support her, it's up to her to decide whether to listen to my voice or not"
"Oh..." Charlie murmured, and then her eyes widened: "Wait... your voice? Go down there? Don't tell me that... you're... God...?"
The little girl burst into laughter and slapped her side hard: "Pff! Ha ha! Me? God? Girl, you totally screwed up!"
"Ouch!" Charlie exclaimed, pulling back, as she felt her skin sting where the little girl had touched her. It wasn't a physical pain, it was more... well, it was more like the embarrassment of having said something wrong condensed into something real. "You hurt me!"
"Oh, sorry" the little girl said in a compassionate voice. "I know, the truth unfortunately often hurts. But the way I see it, if you can stand it, that truth even if it hurts can only help you. It's definitely better than hiding it or suppressing it"
"The truth...?" Charlie muttered in confusion.
The little girl smiled and gave her a slight bow: "I think at this point it's best to make proper introductions. Nice to meet you; I am Truth"
Charlie was shocked for a moment, and then her eyes widened: "Truth? Wait, you mean... the actual Truth!?"
"Yes. I am the personification of all the truth in the universe" the little girl confirmed. "Everything that is real is real through me; everything that is not real through me is definitely false. I am the one that people often try to ignore, hiding me with lies and false attitudes, but somehow I am always revealed in the end. I am the one that some men try to reveal and others try to bury in their hearts. I am the voice that is always right"
Charlie was shocked. To say the least. "Uh... I... oh, my... hello! Um... do I have to bow...?"
"You don't bow to the truth, you listen to it and proclaim it" Truth replied. "You can rest assured, there's no need for formalities with me or my sisters"
"Sisters?" Charlie repeated breathlessly.
"Yes! I have three sisters, all born before me" Truth said, and then she grabbed her arm: "There, there's one! Come, I'll take you to meet her!"
And having said that, she dragged Charlie with her, but without really forcing her: she just pulled a little as if to encourage her to follow, but in the end it was she who took the steps. They moved away just ten steps from the globe that represented Earth, and in front of them a person appeared. Charlie wasn't sure if she had been there before, but Truth seemed to have seen her all along: "Hey, sis! Look who's here!"
The other person turned around, revealing a blindfold covering her eyes completely, yet she seemed perfectly capable of seeing as she stared straight into Charlie's face. "Hmm. There you are" she commented in a slightly harsh voice.
Charlie felt a lot of hostility coming from this person. Unlike Truth, she looked like a teenager; a sixteen year old girl with golden hair that was held loose behind her. She was wearing a dress very similar to Truth's, except that hers was blue and red with shades of gray; and on her feet she had shoes that were made of what looked like ostrich feathers. One disturbing feature, and one that made Charlie sweat a bit, was the enormous sword that was hanging from her back; this sword was strange, however, because it had a scale hanging from its handle. A scale that, as soon as the girl 'saw' her (so to speak, since she was blindfolded), immediately leaned to one side... which seemed to bother her a lot, as she made a noise of disapproval.
"She's my big sister!" Truth exclaimed with a smile. "She is Justice!"
"Oh, right... Justice" Charlie muttered, then she added in a low voice: "So it's true that Justice is blind...?"
"I'm blind, but I still see everything" Justice said in an extremely harsh voice, as if she were chewing a lemon. "And you're in a very bad situation right now. You haven't followed me faithfully in your life. You should be punished for that!"
Charlie paled: "Um... I'm sorry! Can we talk about this...?"
As soon as she said those words, Justice's scales tipped a little more, and that made her furious: "You dare try to negotiate with justice itself!? You dare try to alter me like so many before you!? You think you can escape me!? No one escapes justice!"
Her voice seemed to become the roar of a hurricane for a moment, and Charlie sweated coldly: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I won't do it again...!"
"You think I'm so easy to appease!?" Justice growled, and was about to take her sword, but a hand suddenly stopped her. "Uh? What are you doing? She must be punished!"
It was a woman who suddenly appeared to grab her. She wasn't a child like Truth nor a teenager like Justice, but an adult. She had short brown hair, a much more mature and serene face, and eyes with yellow sclera, red iris and blue pupil, the same colors as her dress; on her chest she had three concentric ovals embroidered, and on her sleeves were the letters F and M in Gothic format. Around her neck she had a rosary crown, and on her back she had a red Latin cross embroidered on a yellow background. On her head she had a strange headdress, similar to a black clown, which partially hid her face. On her feet she wore shoes made of pelican feathers. When she spoke, her voice was very calming and protective, almost maternal: "Sister, stop"
Justice growled loudly: "Why!? Didn't you hear what she dared to say!?"
"Of course she did. She said she is sorry" the adult woman replied. "She apologized to you. She regretted insulting you. So now it's time to calm your anger. Are we creatures devoted to hatred or to compassion?"
Justice made a noise of disapproval, but finally she stopped trying to reach for the sword. "You are always too lenient, you always forgive them all!" she grumbled angrily, but she didn't protest further.
The adult woman gave a small smile, and then she turned to Charlie: "Sorry, she's always a little hot-headed. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Mercy"
"Okay..." Charlie murmured, still a little shy. "Um... just in case, I apologize in advance for any wrongs I've made towards you..."
"Why? You've always listened to me. Well, mostly, but you've put my teachings to good use anyway" Mercy told her with a smile. "It's you who should be thanking for your contribution"
"Oh... well, thanks for the compliment" Charlie said. "So, Truth, Justice, Mercy... who's the fourth?"
"Me" an even lower and gentler voice, almost inspiring the calm of an elderly person, said from behind her.
Charlie turned and saw another woman, this one at least in her sixties; she was still extremely beautiful, but she clearly showed the signs of her advanced age. Her hair was white like a dove's, and it was tied in a ponytail; the ribbon that held it together was made of an olive branch. Her dress was the colors of the rainbow and in the center of her chest she had a circle, inside of which there was a vertical line and two other small lines that converged in the center forming a triangle at the bottom of the circle. On her feet she wore shoes made of dove feathers and around her neck she had a blue ribbon. Her eyes were white and glassy and conveyed an almost otherworldly calm.
Charlie had to admit that she was stunned for a moment. All four of these people conveyed an aura of mystique, but that last woman had something stronger. Something that captured her heart and made her feel like there was nothing to ever worry about. "Uh... hi" she murmured. "Are you...?"
"I am the first in the universe to have opened her eyes. I am the one who dominated until the day of the Fall. I am the one that all the greedy men reduce in shirt and then demand that I march on the enemy nation carrying their colors, without realizing that I cannot be tamed by force. I am the one all people want, but often forget how much they desire my caress" the old woman told her. "I am Peace"
Charlie's eyes widened: "So... you four are Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Peace? Are you... well, really those things?"
"Of course we are" Truth replied with a wink. "You expect the truth to lie to you?"
"We are the Daughters of the Mind of God" Peace explained. "We were the first to be created when the Almighty formed the universe. We were not born from the work of His hands, like you, but from the thoughts of His mind. We are the embodiment of His fundamental characteristics. Only by fulfilling each of us an action can be called righteous"
"Uh..." Charlie muttered. "So you four are... the Mercy of God, the Justice of God...?"
"We are embodiments of those parts of Him, yes" Peace confirmed. "I was created in the beginning of time, when nothing existed. There was nothing to disturb the peace, and it was there that He formed me. And then, He chose to create the universe, to allow you, His children, to exist; and in this act of compassion He shaped Mercy. As the universe took shape, so did its laws and rules, and therefore a justice was born to govern them, and as He created it He created Justice. And finally, when He prepared to create His children, He knew that they would have needed to be given the knowledge of what He had built, and so He generated Truth"
That explanation at least makes things a little clearer for Charlie. "So you are literally older than any other creature that has ever existed?" she exclaimed in surprise. "But then... why is one of you a child, one is a teenager, one is an adult, and one is an elder?"
"We were created this way, to best represent the characteristics we embody" Peace explained patiently. "Truth is a child, and as such, she sees things only in black and white: either there is truth, or there isn't. Justice is a teenager, and so she is impetuous and wants to see those who wrong others being punished immediately, without any exception. Mercy is an adult, and therefore has the maturity to understand that bad actions are not always done with evil intent, and as such, she shows compassion towards those who do evil without understanding it. And I, Peace, am an elder, and as such, I want nothing more than serenity, and only that the new generations can live without fearing for their future"
"Wow, God really thinks of everything when He creates something" Charlie couldn't help but think. "Well... it's nice to meet all of you. Are you the ones who... summoned me?"
All four of them nodded immediately. "Yes" Peace confirmed. "We have a lot to talk about, Charlotte Morningstar"
Notes:
For those who don't remember, the Daughters of the Mind of God have already appeared in chapter 98, sitting next to Him on the throne. For those who don't know, they are actually characters present in angelology, who represent characteristics of God himself; even if their number sometimes varies, they are normally four, namely Truth, Justice, Mercy and Peace. In the Bible they are almost never mentioned as real entities, but their presence is felt anyway, since they are often referred to (especially Justice and Mercy). It is technically debated whether they can be considered entities separate from God or as emanations of His thoughts, and for this reason they are considered as incarnations of part of His mind (by the way, similar debates can also be had for many angels, even if in their case it is quite certain that they instead have free will). The common idea is that talking to one of them is like talking directly to a part of God, although not to the complete God, who is instead a much larger entity that perfectly combines these four concepts.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 80): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160436
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 134: Just a shadow
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
ANNOUNCEMENT: Tomorrow at 9:30 PM (Rome time) the first chapter of a new story will be published, titled "Among the lions". Basically, the theme is: the characters of Hazbin Hotel stuck in the Roman Empire. In short, something full of gladiators, wars, political intrigues and so on, just the stuff we like. How long the story will last or how often it will be published will depend on the interest you have shown, so I invite you all to go read it, leave kudos and comment (hoping it will get more attention than the Fallout saga). Below you can find the poster for this new story, hoping it will pique your interest more than words. I hope to see you all.
While Charlie was inside the Great Hall, Vaggie and Lute were standing outside, not knowing what else to do but wait. Vaggie obviously didn't want to leave without Charlie, while Lute was wondering whether to stay there or go back to Adam. Honestly, they both felt pretty lost.
Who knows what was going on behind those doors? Both Lute and Vaggie tried not to show it, but they kept glaring at them out of the corner of their eyes and kept their ears open. Eventually Vaggie even took a few steps back and put her head closer to the door, trying to hear what was going on on the other side.
"I doubt this is going to work" Lute told her. "You know, if Father doesn't want anyone to hear what He says, no one can"
Vaggie sighed and walked away from the door again. "Aren't you curious?"
"Of course I am" Lute replied. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to eavesdrop when I already know it won't work"
Vaggie scratched the back of her head. She knew she was sounding ridiculous, but it was really hard to resist trying to feel something. "What do you think He's doing to her?"
"Weren't you the one who said He just wanted to talk?" Lute shot back.
"You know I was just saying that to calm Charlie down! I'm worried sick too, you know!?" Vaggie snapped. "What if He's actually burning her with divine fire!?"
"As funny as it might be, for the sake of rationality I have to tell you that no, I don't think that's the case" Lute answered. "From what I understand God isn't subtle when He wants to punish someone, and He certainly doesn't expect them to come to His door, so since we haven't seen fiery hail or a plague of locusts in Hell in all this time, I really think He just wants to have a conversation"
Vaggie’s eyes widened. “That… makes sense, actually” she muttered. “Why didn’t you say that right away?”
“First, because I don’t remember either of you asking for my opinion” Lute replied. “Second, it was so funny watching your crush freak out and you trying to calm her down like you were her therapist”
Vaggie’s frown quickly returned. “I mean, you let Charlie freak out because it made you laugh?” she exclaimed.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I did” Lute confirmed without any empathy.
Vaggie started to get angry, but then she just let out a tired grunt. "You know what? I don’t even want to get mad at you anymore. I don’t know what Adam sees in you or who you’ve been in the past, but I think you had become physiologically incapable of feeling positive emotions or even expressing them anymore"
Lute dropped her mocking expression and returned to her usual scowl. "Physiologically incapable...?"
"Yeah! You must have allergies or something!" Vaggie told her. "Charlie literally walked into God's throne room! I feel for that girl, okay!? Charlie's always tried to do the right thing, and now she's more lost than ever, and everything that's happening is just piling up on her shoulders! She's strong, but she needs a break every now and then! She's not perfect, she's made a lot of mistakes, and yes, she killed a few of our comrades and condemned them to Hell, but she's very sorry for that and she's trying to find a way to make up for it before the world falls apart around her! The least I can do right now, especially after I chose to side against her, is try to calm her down! What do you do? Do you find it funny? Do you find it funny that someone panics and almost passes out from stress? Do you have a heart?"
Lute didn't change her expression. "I already answered that question"
"Yeah, yeah, the whole rant about empathy being weak and you shouldn't be weak and blah blah blah" Vaggie grumbled. "Maybe a little empathy would stop you from being such a bitch as shit! Or at least let you apologize!"
Lute rolled her eyes. "Look, don't start that again..."
"Why not? Don't you want me to tell you that I still think you're a fucking psycho?" Vaggie snapped. "I'm on Adam's side, not yours! You're crazy and I honestly still hate you! Is it that hard for you to stand in front of someone whose eye you tore out and feel bad about yourself? Or do you think all your actions are worthless?"
"Shut up" Lute growled.
Vaggie shook her head in disappointment. "Aaaaah, you're incredible. That's why I never liked you" she hissed. "At least Adam admits his mistakes, at least he has doubts, but you..."
She couldn't finish her sentence; Lute grabbed her by the collar and pulled her toward him, bringing her face within an inch of his. Vaggie's breath caught in her throat, and she instinctively raised her gun, aiming it at Lute's heart in a clear warning, but she didn't flinch. "I know very well he has doubts, you dickhead" she snarled. "And that's exactly why I can't afford to feel the same!"
Vaggie was speechless. "Lute, what...?"
"You think we're playing games here!? I don't know if you've noticed, but we're literally trying to change the system of half the universe!" Lute growled, her eyes blazing. "Both now and tomorrow we will likely find ourselves facing dangerous opponents, and in that moment, a single second of hesitation can be fatal! If Adam has doubts at the wrong time and doesn't finish the job, his enemy can take advantage of it to skewer him and kill him! That's why he needs someone whose heart is hard enough to do what needs to be done if he hesitates! I can't allow myself to feel emotions like guilt, not in this very moment when literally EVERYTHING could be trying to kill us, to kill him! I have to stay prepared to face attacks from everyone! And that includes you and your dear princess! I don't know what he sees in you, but for me, you caused his death once, so I have to be prepared for the possibility of you causing it again! I have to do this because if you attack us from behind, we need someone ready to fight back! If you want me to show guilt towards you, wait until this shitty situation is over, and then MAYBE I'll think about it!"
And then he let her go with a shove. Vaggie took a couple of steps back, lightly rubbing the spot where he’d grabbed her. Part of her wanted to punch her, but another part of her was confused. “Oh… I didn’t think you saw it that way…”
“When the fates of so many people hang in the balance, it takes a heartless bastard who always stays sane" Lute snorted. “Don’t mistake my actions for indifference. Adam can apologize, but as his right-hand man and the person who has to defend him in the worst case scenario, I can’t. So leave me alone. Deal with the pain however you want, but leave me with mine"
Vaggie bit her lip. Suddenly, the anger she felt toward Lute subsided a little. It didn’t go away, of course, but… she felt a little more like her now. After all, she had seen herself in a similar way for Charlie plenty of times: in her view, she was supposed to be the one who was always there to protect the sweet princess if she didn’t see danger. “I think I understand you” she said. “But that mentality almost led me to kill Pentious, and that would have been a mistake I would never forgive myself for. I'm not saying it's wrong to want to protect someone, but... we shouldn't destroy our emotions, our very humanity, for this. Adam doesn't want this for you, you know"
Lute involuntarily clenched her fists slightly. "I know very well that this is what he doesn't want for me, but I don't care" she said through gritted teeth. "It's my choice"
Lute was running. She’d lost count of the laps around the field, of the sweat dripping down her spine. Her muscles screamed, but she didn’t stop. The sun was dipping below the tree line, painting the sky a smoky red. Every step, every breath, was a trial. Every second spent training was a hope — the hope of survival.
In the silence, broken only by the dull thud of boots on packed earth, a familiar, rough voice called her out. “Lute! Are you planning to run until you drop? Or do you want to break some secret record? Because I'm pretty sure you already broke all the known ones”
She slowed, barely turning her head. Adam stood by the fence, his arms crossed, his expression serious but not harsh. His eyes, always funny and amused, seemed to be searching for something deeper that day... a sign, a crack, a moment of hesitation. She didn't understand it.
Lute didn't know what he wanted, but he knew that he couldn't talk to her while she was runnig and she didn't want to force him to fly in front of her, so she stopped and caught her breath. “I can’t stop. Not yet”
Adam walked toward her, his pace slow and steady. “This is the fourth night in a row I’ve found you out here after hours. The drills, the fieldwork, the extra reps... I see how seriously you’re taking this. I admire you, really. But this isn’t survival. This is burning out”
"I'm just getting ready properly. For the mission" Lute said while she wiped out the sweat from her brow.
From what she remembered, Adam was mostly funny and would laugh at the most ridiculous things, but there were times when he showed a strange seriousness. At first, Lute hadn't understood this behavior of his that made him seem almost bipolar, but after he had subjected her to the test, after he had brought her to Earth and shown her the naked truth, she thought she understood the man a little better. He was a much more complex person than he had let on, and after what he had subjected her to, Lute had found herself admiring him: what she had seen had shocked her to the core, and it had been just one of the countless episodes of evil that had occurred on Earth. She couldn't understand how Adam managed to remain sane after millennia of observing that cursed planet.
However, even if she understood him better now, there were still many enigmas surrounding the man: for example, now she couldn't decipher his expression. He almost seemed... worried? "Lute, I know you're nervous after what happened, but you don't have to work so hard to..."
"Working hard is my duty, sir. I've been negligent for too long" she said l ooking away from him. “I have to become stronger. If I slow down... someone gets left behind. And I don't want to left behind no one”
Adam watched her for a long moment, then he sighed. “I get it. I really do. But the weight you’re trying to carry doesn’t belong to you alone. You can’t fight the war before it starts... and definitely not on your own”
A silence settled between them, broken only by the hum of evening insects.
“When I was your age” Adam said, softer now: “I... well, I was a different man. I still lived on a planet full of all kinds of megafauna, and I fought against the most dangerous creatures that ever walked Earth. And if I could, I didn't want my wife and my children with them. I wanted to be so strong that only I could have taken care of stopping the giant predators. I thought if I just trained harder, if I endured, if I hardened my heart, I could keep my family safe. I believed that being the strongest meant having control. But it wasn't true. I turned all my pain, all my anger, all my fury, into strength, but I forgot to free my heart enough to mantain my humanity. It worked for a while, on Earth, on Sheol... but then, my heart was so full of dark thoughts that it didn't stop me when it was time. By using just my strength, by annihilating my emotions living place only to my anger, I did... things. Horrible things. Things that had consequences. Things that I could have avoided if only I hadn't hardened my heart so much. From that day on, for a long time... I couldn't consider myself a human anymore. Even now, so many years later, I hardly identify myself in that species. And the things that I did hardened my heart even more, to the point that now I can hardly feel something". His gaze lowered: "And if I can hardly feel something... I have no guarantee that when I'll have to take an important decision, I'll be able to choose the right one"
Lute lowered her gaze. The knot in her throat didn’t come from exhaustion. It was something else. Fear, maybe, or something more: the kind no one dared speak aloud. The kind that crept in at night and whispered that every moment of rest might be the last for someone. And no training in the universe could armor you against that.
For the first time, it seemed to her that Adam was actually completely... opening with her?
"I... just want to be ready to help you" she whispered. “I cannot sleep knowing that on Earth horrible things are happening right now, while I am here in my safe place...”
Adam stepped closer, laying a hand on her shoulder. “I know, I feel something very similar. But a soldier has to understand when, how and why they're fighting. There are moments when focusing on becoming stronger just cause damage. It’s not about stopping. It’s about remembering what you’re fighting for. Who you’re fighting for. If you lose yourself before you even get out there... no one wins”
Lute hesitated. She looked up at the sky, now violet and speckled with stars. The field behind her was still, silent. For the first time in days, she realized just how tired she was. Not just in her body. "Are you telling me... to take a break?"
"I'm telling you to go out there and spend some time with your comrades, who right now are probably in some pub drinking a beer" Adam answered her. "You were one of the most sociable and friendly before, and I loved you for that. Don't stop being that person"
Lute looked down. "How do you do it, sir?" she asked. "How do you... know what's going on down there... and still be yourself?"
Adam was silent for a long moment. "I'm not who I used to be. I lost that battle" he finally answered. "And because I lost it... I don't want you to lose it too"
Lute bit her lip. She wanted to argue, but her heart was strangely cold. "Okay" she said finally. "I'll stop for tonight. But I'll start again tomorrow"
Adam finally smiled again. "Good. If you hurry, you can still catch up with your comrades. I recommend the pub they opened on the beach up north, it's wonderful"
She nodded slowly. Adam walked her out of the training camp and then said goodbye with a joking comment, and left, wishing her a good evening. However, Lute didn’t miss the fact that he wasn’t flying towards the city at all, but instead, he was heading back into the training camp.
Lute raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Adam not to go out and have some fun in the evening. Maybe he was tired and wanted to sleep in, or did he have some work to finish? Or maybe… he was doing something related to his project, the one he had told her about?
Curiosity immediately filled her, wondering what it was all about. After Adam had brought her to Earth and had her kill those demons (she refused to call them humans, no human would have ever done that), Lute was eager to learn all the steps of his plan. She knew he had one, and that it was aimed at cleansing Earth and the rest of the universe of evil, and she absolutely wanted to be a part of it. She would not have been at peace with her conscience if this had not been the case.
In the end, curiosity got the better of her: trying not to be noticed, she took flight and reached the window of Adam's office. She had been there a few times, but she remembered it very well: halfway between spartan and elegant, it had only a large desk with some documents, a minibar for when he got hungry, a record player to enjoy music, and some furniture like a mirror and a globe; on the walls there were large paintings, one of which, a perfect representation of the painting of God creating Adam from the Sistine Chapel, stood out above all the others.
Adam was sitting on his chair, his head bowed. Lute felt the urge to move closer, but instead she remained where she was. It was the first time she had seen Adam in a more vulnerable light, different from the usual proud and powerful demeanor he usually had. He no longer seemed like the perfect model she had always looked up to, he was something more... human.
Adam was holding a crucifix in his hands. Lute doubted it was his, since she had never seen him with a crucifix, but in Heaven they were found so easily that they did not grow out of the ground like grass, so perhaps he had simply found it and in a moment of weakness had taken it. Or maybe, Lute found herself thinking, he had always had that crucifix, he just did not show it often.
Maybe he normally tried to hide it...?
Maybe... he didn't think it was right for him to carry it...?
Curiosity drove Lute closer to the door to get a better look. That was when she realized he was muttering under his breath as he looked at the crucifix. “I ruined her, Father” he was muttering. “It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have brought her to Earth. I shouldn’t have… made her do that”
Lute froze. Was he talking about her? Was he referring to when he brought her to Earth and showed her the truth? Why did he say it was a mistake?
She had just come out stronger...!
Maybe... he thought she was too weak to handle all that?
No... that wasn't the case...!
But... he had scolded her several times lately... especially that day... did he really think she wasn't good enough for that...!?
"This wasn't what I wanted" Adam continued to mutter. "I thought... that I would make her better. That I would make her stronger. I did, but... I also destroyed her. I can't see a trace of the goodness she once had"
Lute was taken aback by those words. Wait... so Adam didn't think she was bad enough, but... was he angry with himself? Did he think he had hurt her?
No way! Lute knew she had needed that wake up call. Before she was naive and stupid, now she was aware and iron. What Adam had done had helped her improve!
So... why did he talk about it as if it were a negative thing...?
The answer came to her immediately: "I... I think I made her... like me" Adam muttered.
Lute's eyes widened. Like him...?
What did that mean? She wasn't like Adam! She still had a long way to go before she could get to his level. She would have paid gold to be like him, actually...!
Maybe... he was referring to something more introspective...?
And then... if she was like Adam... it was a good thing, right?
So why did he speak so negatively about it...?
About... himself...?
Adam sighed. "I think I've forgotten how to... make things right" he said. "I've been on the battlefield too long... all I know now is how to swing my axe. And I know she'll feel the same way. I can see how much responsibility she feels for her job even just now... it's not just a sense of duty, it's something deeper. Just like me..."
Lute clutched her chest. Well, she had certainly felt different after their 'trip' to Earth. She had felt the need to become stronger, colder, more fit to fight. Because in her mind, being stronger meant being more ready to face every horror that lurked in Hell, and therefore avenging all those who suffered at the hands of demons.
But there were days when the weight on her heart threatened to suffocate her. Lute often woke up feeling like she had to give one hundred and ten percent in every workout, and when she came back to bed with her muscles so sore they literally begged for mercy, she still felt like she hadn't done enough. And that feeling grew darker and more oppressive as time went on.
Lute bit her lip. Maybe that was what Adam meant? Was that why he was so worried about her?
It didn't make sense...
But...
...
Did she really... have a problem...?
Adam slammed his hand on her desk so hard that Lute jumped. "I want her to be ready, but not like this!" he roared, almost yanking the crucifix. "Why won't You talk to me!? What should I do!? Tell me! She can't... she can't become like me... I don't want her to lose her fight too...!"
Lute was tempted to move closer, but she held back. It wasn't fear, it was... something else. It was a feeling of insecurity she'd never felt before. The thing was... she had no idea what she was supposed to do.
"I just wanted her to understand!" Adam exclaimed. "I wanted her to understand what we were fighting for, not to destroy her innocence! Maybe... maybe I should have just not involved her? Maybe I shouldn't involve anyone? I... I don't know what to do anymore. Why don't you tell me if I'm on the right path...?"
Adam took a deep breath, trying to calm himself; he even rested his head on the table for a moment. Lute found herself sighing, feeling a lump in her throat that was even worse than before. It was a good thing there was a windowsill for her to sit on, because he doubted she would have remembered to flap her wings much longer.
Finally, Adam slowly rose from his chair. He looked at the crucifix again, and then placed it back on the desk, as if he was struggling to hold it. He looked at the mirror and was silent for a long moment, and then his voice emerged from his mouth again.
"I look into my eyes
And I remember when the world was all mine,
Radiant as it were
Before it was suffocated in blood..."
Lute was paralyzed. It was not the first time she had heard Adam sing, but never had she heard him with such a melancholic voice. It was as if the proud and authoritarian general she was used to had broken, and in his place was a man tired, but still unable to stop. She could hear all the tiredness and sadness in his voice, but at the same time those notes were permeated with a deep anger.
"Even after all these years,
My children still shed tears
Because those DEMONS,
While I'm standing here!
I close my eyes,
And I can picture the view...
How I could serve You..."
Adam gritted his teeth hard, so hard that they screeched, but then he stopped. His body relaxed, almost as if he had surrendered to something. His gaze had become much duller than before.
"I'm just a shadow,
Of the man that I once was,
He was taken away by all the years
Of hardships that I've known.
I'm just a shadow,
Who's selfish, cruel and vain;
Deep down I know, only You could
Ever ease my pain.
I'm just a shadow..."
Lute instinctively put a hand on her heart and squeezed it. She had tried for so long to bury the emotion that had previously distinguished her, considering it a weakness, and yet now she felt like crying. But it wasn't for emotions she already knew, it was something new: for the first time in her life, she felt like she fully understood another person's heart. For the first time... she felt like she understood the pain he was feeling.
There was a moment of silence. And then, Adam's voice seemed to catch fire. The slight sadness that had permeated her before was completely replaced by anger, an almost uncontrolled anger, that seemed to take possession of him like a spirit.
"But You could have had me...
All these years I've stayed...
YOU could have had me!
YOU STILL COULD EARN ME!
But when will I be
Good enough for You?
Must I become a MONSTER!?"
Adam's powers seemed to go into overdrive: his energy surged from his body and shook violently across the room, incinerating some of the furniture. Not only that, but some of that energy seemed to condense and an echo-like voice emerged from it. A voice similar to Adam's, singing notes from a long-ago past, while he continued to scream louder and louder.
"When does a comet become a meteor?"
When does a candle become a flame?"
"Father..."
"When does a man become a monster?"
"Father...!"
"When does a man become a monster?"
"FATHER!!!"
Without even realizing it, Adam slammed his fist into the wall, generating a roar. His voice and the one contained in his powers merged into one for an instant.
"Forgive me!"
Adam finally stopped again. Breathing hard, he looked up at the spot he had hit. His hand was still against the wall, and deep cracks were opening beneath it. And the spot where he had hit was the replica of the Sistine Chapel fresco; incidentally, he had hit the exact spot where Adam and God’s fingers were almost touching. Now a deep crack was splitting the painting in half, cutting it right there.
Adam slowly pulled his hand back, inhaling deeply. Very slowly, he let himself slide against the wall, until he was sitting on the ground. He did it without any grace, and without any attempt to appear dignified. He closed his eyes, and a final whisper escaped his lips.
"I'm just a shadow..."
And with that, she fell completely silent.
Lute knew she could just go away. There was no reason for her to stay there. In fact, she might even consider it dangerous. She didn't know how Adam would have reacted to her presence. Logic told her to fly away.
But instead, she came in through the window. "Sir?"
Adam looked up at her, only now noticing her presence: "Lute? What are you...?"
She didn't let him finish: she came closer to him and sat down next to him, and then, even with difficulty given the difference in size, she hugged him. Adam was completely taken aback, and it took him a moment to understand: "Did you listen...?"
"Yes" Lute confirmed. "You're not ruining me, sir. You don't have to be afraid of this"
Adam bit his lip: "Lute, I..."
"You were right. We don't have to destroy our humanity. You... you don't have to destroy your humanity" Lute said, looking him straight in the eyes. "You are not a monster, sir, and you have not ruined me. You have a higher purpose, and I am happy to follow you. I can no longer be the person I was before, not after... what I have been through... but I can still work to keep a part of that person. Please, when we are alone, let me be as caring as I was before... by letting me take care of you. Don't hold back any longer. When we are alone, feel free to let everything out of you. Let me take at least a part of your pain"
"Lute, you don't have to do this" Adam told her.
"No, I don't have to. But I want to" Lute replied. "You are the most extraordinary man I have ever known, sir. Out there, I will be your perfect warrior, and I will follow you even into the darkest depths of Hell if I have to. I can't help it, I can't just ignore what I saw on Earth. But when we are in here... just you and me... let me go back to being at least a shadow of the Lute I once was. Emotions are not a weakness here. I can help you free yourself from your burden and remind you that you are still human"
Adam was surprised and confused. "Do you want to stay by my side... even after what you heard?"
"What I heard was a man who is suffering and tired of fighting, but who still believes he can make a difference. I heard a lot of anger and hatred, and because of that I believe you need someone by your side to help you free yourself at least a little, so that your mind will be free of doubts when it's time to complete your mission" Lute answered. "Please... allow me to be that person"
Adam was silent for a moment, and then a small smile formed on his face. "Alright. Thank you" he murmured.
Lute bowed her head respectfully. "You'll always have my undying loyalty, sir"
"Lute? Lute!" Vaggie called, shaking her a little. "Are you still there?"
Lute shook her head, quickly recovering. "Don't touch me again! I'm okay, I was just... lost in thought"
"Are you sure? You looked really... well, pretty lost" Vaggie said with a hint of concern in her voice. "You've been staring at the wall for six minutes..."
"I told you I'm okay!" Lute said, rubbing her temples.
Vaggie groaned a little. Even though she wasn't an expert, she could still recognize these signs, "Wow... that's the first time I've seen you have an emotional reaction to something..."
"Can you please shut the fuck up!?" Lute snapped sourly.
"And there you are again. Don't you think it would be better if you... okay, okay, I'll shut up" Vaggie said quickly, feeling a shiver down her spine at Lute's icy gaze. Maybe it really was better to stay silent.
Notes:
The song here is based on the reprise of Just a Man - Antinous version, a song that in my opinion should have been in the musical since it perfectly describes the character of Antinous. And it is also perfect for Adam's character here, highlighting his transition from a man trying to avoid being a monster to a man embracing his own monstrosity. And for those wondering why this memory was not included in Adam's memories, well, it is because Adam showed Charlie the memories that marked his evolution, while at this point in his life he was already past the point of no return.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 81): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160466
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 135: The first man and the first redeemer
Notes:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: the first chapter of the new Hazbin fanfiction, set in ancient Rome and titled "Among the lions", has been published. I invite you all to go and take a look and leave kudos and comments, because trust me, I think it's worth it since it's one of the fanfictions that I think is really beautiful. Spending even just a minute to give your opinion in the comments can mean a lot to an author. I hope to see many of you!
Here is the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/171755461
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam looked at Jesus with almost vacant eyes. It was as if the light had disappeared from his gaze as he stared at the spot the Messiah was pointing to. "Brother Adam, can I have a word with you?" Jesus asked him again, repeating the same words as before.
Adam wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He was completely dazed, and couldn't think of anything. "Why?" he could only ask.
Jesus' reassuring smile didn't change. "Because I want to talk to you. And because I believe you need to talk to me, too"
"Why now?" Adam asked again. "I've been looking for you for a long time..."
"Whoever looks for me finds me right away" Jesus replied. "If you've never been able to find me before, I'm afraid I wasn't the person you were looking for"
"Of course I was looking for you!" Adam exclaimed. "Who else could I...!?"
"You thought you were looking for me, but I was not the one you wanted to meet. You were not looking for a guide, nor a redeemer, nor a brother; you were looking for someone who would erase everything you think is wrong" Jesus told him. He had not stopped smiling, but his face was still filled with a certain seriousness. "You were looking for a force that you could subjugate and chain, and use it to destroy what has tormented you for millennia. I fear I am not that person"
Adam bit his lip. The words somehow made him feel a little bad. "But then... why are you here now?"
"Because you are looking for me now. With your heart, unconsciously, but you are looking for me" Jesus answered him. "For thousands of years, you have always had a clear idea in your head of what you wanted me to do when we meet. You wanted a companion to lead with you on your crusade. But now, you are different. Things have happened, and you are no longer as determined and ruthless as before. You feel lost, you long for guidance. You have been looking for someone you want to ask for help, not someone to follow you; that is why you have finally found me". And with that he pointed again to the space next to him: "Now that you have finally found me, are you sure you do not want to sit down? A conversation is easier when both of us are comfortable"
Adam hesitated for a long moment, and then reluctantly came over and sat down. He instinctively tightened his grip on the Ark, as it felt as if it might slip away from him at any moment and return to its Creator. "Why did Father summon Charlie?"
"Because that girl needs guidance too" Jesus answered simply. "And Father has decided to give her some help"
"What kind of help?" Adam asked.
"You should ask it to her" was Jesus' reply.
Adam grunted. Now that the initial shock had passed, he was quickly becoming more sullen. "Look, let's get straight to the point. I know what you want to say"
"It's arrogant to think you can understand your Lord's will" Jesus told him.
"Well, there's not much room for error here! Why else would Charlie have been summoned?" Adam snapped. "You mean to tell me that I'm wrong, that I should let it go, and all that"
But Jesus shook his head. "You're misunderstanding. I'm not here to pass any judgment on your recent conduct"
"Then why?" Adam asked.
"I told you, because you need to talk to me a little" Jesus answered. "I have come to you because you asked me to give you peace again. Your heart is trembling, Brother Adam, and your soul is more tarnished than ever. You were so sure of yourself until a while ago, but now, you are trying to find a way to balance your crusade against evil with everything that you've learned in the last days"
"Peace...?" Adam murmured. "I don't search peace, I search safety. My determination to eradicate evil from the universe is as strong as it had always been"
"And yet, you have doubts" Jesus said. "You're questioning if you are walking on the right path... or better, if you are leading people towards the right path". His gaze became more serious: "It's not just about yourself, right?"
Adam sighed. He usually hated it when someone could read him like an open book, but now he barely noticed. “I don’t care about myself, I said that thousands of years ago” he said in a harsh voice. “But after finding out that redemption is possible… I wonder if I’m leading Lute, Vaggie, Charlie, my girls, all of humanity, toward a dire fate. I’ve been planning for centuries for them to all return to Heaven happily. They don’t want them to be lost because of me”
“Your love for those people is your greatest strength, and the doubts you feel are your soul asking you to do the right thing for them” Jesus told him. "You fight for them and give them a purpose, but now that you’re no longer sure which path to take, you fear that the purpose you’re giving them won’t lead to salvation"
"Yeah..." Adam murmured. "I... don't want that my girls remain in Hell. They don't deserve it. I don't want to ruin Lute more than I'd already done. I don't want to ruin anyone else. I was convinced that by following the path that the Bible showed me, they would have surely been in the right. But now, I cannot help but wonder if I misinterpretated something"
Jesus placed his hand on his. It was a quiet, brotherly gesture, without any double interest. A gesture that had as its sole purpose comfort. "Your concern for their future is admirable" he said. "But please, just for now, try to focus only on yourself. I think you need to dig a little deeper into yourself to face yourself"
"For what purpose?" Adam replied annoyed. "I don't care about me, I told you"
"I know you don't, and that's the point" Jesus said, and his face saddened a little. "You once had a lot of hope in your heart. Now, you don't have any anymore, at least not for yourself"
"Hope?" Adam repeated with a humorless chuckle. "My life has taught me that hope is a deceptive feeling. It only leads you to believe that tomorrow things will be better, and you are promptly disillusioned. It is a trick. It is a lie"
"It is not so. Hope is what truly gives strength to people's hearts, that makes them fight even when there seems to be no way out, that makes them resist even when evil is unleashed in its cruelest forms" Jesus told him. "When a man or a woman truly loses hope, that is the moment they lose themselves. Losing hope also means losing the will to seek me, and only through me can one obtain true peace, love and purpose"
"Do you think that some kind words can make the difference?" Adam growled. He didn’t understand why, but even though the one in front of him was the Messiah, he didn’t feel crushed by his presence at all: on the contrary, it was as if something was inviting him to let his thoughts out, even those that might seem disrespectful. "There can't be peace on Earth as long as things remain as they are now. That planet is a war zone. Even if I managed to unite humanity, to eradicate all bad governments, to solve the environmental crisis and to guarantee welfare for everyone, still evil will continue to go rampant like a dragon. There will never be true peace as long as a jealous husband can kill his wife, a cruel woman can abuse her boyfriend, a stalker can persecute a person. No matter how much society progresses, people will always be afraid to walk the streets at night and will sleep with their doors locked tight. They need a way to truly feel protected. This universe doesn't need peace, it needs someone ready to fight for justice"
Jesus didn't seem at all upset that Adam spoke back to him. "Your dedication to protecting your children is commendable, and it reflects your true nature. You are born to be a protector and a model, someone people felt inspired by. Just like a father" he said. "But true justice cannot be obtained by fear and violence alone"
"Fear and violence had always been the only weapons that never disappointed me" Adam replied. "I learned that the best way to protect people is strike true terror in the hearts of the bad guys, so that even if you won't be able to kill them they won't have the courage to show their faces again"
"Terror and killing may deter, but they cannot heal. And surely they never healed you" Jesus told him. "Your heart is surrounded by the pain of loss, and your judgement is clouded by your desire for revenge. Even now that you have doubts, the seed of hatred inside you don't allow you to stop"
Adam narrowed his eyes. "See? You want me to stop! I knew that..."
"No, Brother Adam" Jesus interrupted him. "That's the point. I have no intention of asking you to stop"
Adam fell silent. "What...? Really?"
"No one is asking you to stop, Adam. Not me, not Charlie, not anyone else" Jesus said, his words sounding more stern than before. "What you are being asked to do is reflect on the path you have chosen. No one blames you for fighting to protect your world. But there are many ways to fight, and you are focusing on only one. What I am asking of you as we sit here is not to remain blind to the other possibilities"
Adam was quite taken aback by these words. "You really don't want me to stop?"
"Stopping anything, Brother Adam, is a mere illusion. Nothing in the universe is ever completely still. Only Father, who is the unmoved mover of all existence, can truly be so" Jesus told him. "Your problem, the illusion that is placed before your eyes, is that you believe that giving up your present path means forever stopping your battle against evil, and leaving the universe in the grip of darkness. Nothing could be more further from truth. Because if nothing in the universe can be stopped, then giving up your present path can only lead you to a new one"
For some reason, Adam felt a bitter taste in his mouth. His grip on the Ark tightened a bit, but unlike before, he felt no additional pressure or heat coming from it, as if the object wanted to give him its space as well. "A new path?" he muttered, his voice almost tired. "I might have believed there once, but I can't see one now. I've spent every moment since the Fall doing nothing but fighting to protect what I hold dear. My life has been one deadly mission after another. I doubt there's anything left of me but a warrior anymore"
"A warrior... or something darker?" Jesus asked. "How do you really see yourself?"
"Does it make a difference?" Adam muttered. "I have stained the earth with so much blood that I cannot even count my victims. A warrior is always someone with darkness in their heart"
"No, not always" Jesus corrected him. "You certainly have a lot of darkness in your heart, brother Adam, but even though you have lost much of the light that once accompanied you, you have not forgotten loyalty or a sense of responsibility. What distinguishes a warrior from a executioner is the reason that drives them to fight. And precisely because that reason is different, a warrior can find a path that does not only include blood, without however departing from his mission and his duty. George fought under the emperor of Rome, but when he heard my voice, he chose to abandon the path of violence and stop hiding his faith, and faced death without fear in his heart. Francis wanted to become a knight because of the sense of compassion that the weak inspired in him, but he chose instead to follow me in peace and serenity, without ever abandoning those people, but protecting them in a different and better way. Joan of Arc was a very devout and charitable girl, she visited and comforted the sick and it was not unusual for her to offer her bed to the homeless to sleep on the ground herself, and even when she chose to go to war for her people, she never did so with malice or cruelty, but always chose the path of mercy. Being a murder is easy, you just need to know how to kill; but being a warrior is difficult, because it means maintaining your humanity even in the face of the cruelest horrors"
Adam looked down. "Then I fear I have lost my battle" he murmured. "I do not believe I can still call myself human"
"Are you sure?" Jesus asked him. "Tell me, brother Adam, what is humanity really?"
Adam was silent for a moment. "I... don't believe I remember" he admitted with a sigh.
"Just because you do not remember it with your memory does not mean that your soul has also forgotten it" Jesus told him. "Being human means caring about other people's lives and their happiness. It means feeling joy when others laugh, sadness when they cry, a sense of protection when they feel lost. It means feeling their emotions as much as your own. It means that even in the face of your deepest beliefs, you still feel doubt when your actions are wrong. You humans were created in the image and likeness of the Father, and you remain so even after the Fall. You can dirty your souls as much as you want, but you cannot change their essence. Even the most evil men who ever lived had glimpses of the ancient light that distinguished them, even if they tried to smother it completely, but they never succeeded. And just as they can dirty it, being human also means being able to cleanse your soul from the weight of your guilt, no matter how dirty it is. This is humanity"
Adam gritted his teeth. "So what?" he asked almost suddenly.
"So I don't think you should consider yourself no longer human at all" Jesus told him. "Your doubts, your actions, your concern for your companions, your loyalty to them, your desire to help them... these are all very human feelings"
Adam didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what he could answer. He felt like he had rarely felt in the last few millennia: tired, empty inside, longing for guidance. “I just want to spare everyone more suffering. That’s all I care about” he said finally. “And I will do everything in my power to make that happen”
“That’s a good reason. However, I fear that in your method you are focusing only on part of the picture, and not the whole” Jesus told him. “Try to imagine a man who doesn’t just use terror as a weapon, but offers everyone a new path, a path that he himself will follow. A man who doesn’t just poorly sew up a wound, but actually heals it"
"I have no idea how I could do such a thing. I had always knew that I was not the right man to heal something. I can only find ways to eradicate the germs" Adam said. "I dedicate almost my whole life to this mission, to bring back peace on Earth. I searched any possible alternative, but none of them are enough. I have to do this. If I don't, centuries of work would have been useless. Without this, who am I?"
"You are much more than just a symbol of fear, Brother Adam. Your determination of taking suffering away from your children gave you strength, but it deepened the darkness inside you so much that you cannot see yourself in any other way" Jesus told him. "But I still see the man that you think you are no longer. I see a man capable of giving hope and not just fear, that offers redemption as much as retribution, that put his intellect, his strength and his resources in more ways than just fighting and slaughtering"
Adam took a deep breath. "Why don't you just condemn my actions?" he asked.
Jesus chuckled a little, half sad, half amused. "Yes, a Messiah who condemns the wicked... that was also what the Jews had been expecting since the prophecy of Zechariah. A man who would free them from the Roman oppressors and who would come down from the heavens with a flaming whip in his hand. But as I said, anyone who prays to that Messiah is not praying to me. I have not come to condemn or punish; I have come to Earth to cleanse all humanity of their sins, without distinction. When I look at a sinner, I do not see a monster; I only see a person who has lost his way, and I feel sad for all the wonderful things that person could do and is depriving himself of. I died for all of them, and I would be ready to do it a second time. So, if you expect condemnation from me, I'm afraid I cannot oblige"
Adam snorted. “But… maybe sometimes a person can’t be saved” he said. “I spent thousands of years doing nothing but fighting and shedding blood. I had no qualms about it, I convinced myself that it was right as long as it wasn’t innocent. After millennia, I had become confident that killing every sinner before they could do any harm again was the best solution. But now, I find that even the redemption of a demon is possible. And if it is possible… it means that everyone I have killed so far had a chance, a chance that I denied them. I have killed billions of them… and when I look around, sometimes I wonder how easy it would be for me to kill everyone around me. I could do it at any time and I wouldn’t feel a thing. I have forbidden myself from the beginning to kill people who don’t deserve it precisely because I know that if I break that prohibition… then I might never be able to go back. I might end up deciding that the best choice is to kill everyone and start over”
"You think this because you see yourself as a danger. The hardships of your life have shaped your mind to think this way" Jesus told him. "But I tell you the truth, if you ever break that rule you've set for yourself, you won't become what you think at all. You think that killing has become easy for you, but you couldn't be more wrong. You have spent all these years dehumanizing your enemies precisely because killing another human being is not easy for you at all. That is why you have made them monsters in your eyes, and now that this certainty of yours is faltering, and you begin to see new shades of them, it is no longer as easy as it used to be. And you know it"
"Even if that were true, the fact remains that I have been killing for thousands of years" Adam replied. "I am dangerous"
"The mere fact that you know that proves that you are not lost. Even a lion is dangerous, but that doesn't make him bad" Jesus said. "Even in your dangerousness, you still focus on protecting what you care about. Isn't that why you are trying to train that girl, so that you will stop for good when the time comes?"
Adam sighed deeply. "Charlie... she is a good girl. She will do what needs to be done"
"Killing you is what needs to be done?" Jesus asked sarcastically. "You know she wouldn't want that"
"I know. But I'm not sure I can do it on my own" Adam said. "I... keep saying that when I'm done, I'll defer to God, but the truth is... after what I've learned, after I've seen with my own eyes that redemption is possible, after I've realized that I dragged my girls to Hell with my own hand, after I've remembered everyone I've killed and could have saved... I think it's best for everyone that I finish my journey there. If Lute and my girls knew, they'd try to stop me... but then again, when the universe is at peace, there won't be any need for someone who only remembers how to fight. One last battle against the only person who's been able to move me in the last millennia... it seems like a pretty good way to finally go"
“It’s normal for you to feel that way” Jesus told him. “But precisely because you feel that way, you can’t call yourself a monster. And precisely because you can’t call yourself a monster, you don’t deserve to die”
“That’s not how I see it” Adam murmured. “I’ve spent my entire life trying to protect the universe. Now I wonder if I wasn’t the thing it needed protecting all along. My actions are… unforgivable. What I did to Lute… what I did to Vaggie… what I did to all my girls… what I did to too many people. Once the universe is restored to harmony, I’ll be just a loose cannon. It’s better for everyone if I disappear forever”
“You feel lost, I understand. But don’t make the mistake of judging yourself again. You tell me your actions are unforgivable, but I’ve forgiven far worse sinners in the past. It’s arrogant to consider yourself your own best judge” Jesus rebuked him. "What you are experiencing is the beginning of your journey. If you were to follow it, your crusade against evil could turn out very differently than you imagine. It doesn't mean stopping, or giving up; it means seeing the bigger picture, and understanding what you can really do. You can create something new, not repeat the past over and over again"
Adam didn't answer for long. He thought about the Messiah's words, but he didn't understand their meaning. "I am trying to create something new..."
“No, you are trying to imitate what has already happened” Jesus corrected him. “You want to recreate the world as it was before the Fall, to force it back to the way it was before. And to do that, you are relying on things that have already happened. You want to cleanse the wicked in the same way as the Great Flood, you want to rebuild the Earth as Abel wanted to do, you even want to force Charlie to teach mankind the right ways as I did when I came down among them. There is nothing new in this scheme of yours, it is only an attempt to repeat what has already happened”
"And is that wrong?" Adam asked.
"It's an illusion, just like your illusion that choosing a new path means stopping you" Jesus answered. "Nothing in the universe repeats itself. Things never happen the same way twice. Anyone who tries to repeat them inevitably ends up in error. And the more you convince yourself that the imitation is identical to the original, the more you fail to see all the flaws that permeate it, and you delude yourself further"
Adam bit his lip. "So... what should I do?"
Jesus smiled at him: "What you can do, Brother Adam, is not to try to repeat what is happened... but to focus on what new you can create"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 82): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/171067738
Among the lions (chapter 1): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/171755461
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 136: Finding family
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the end, everyone had just followed Zestial without saying a word. The spider overlord hadn't given any further details about his intentions, and had simply walked to the front of the line, dragging Valentino by the arm, probably to make sure he didn't try to escape; it seemed he must have considered him really important to whatever he had in mind. For the rest, he had simply ignored everyone else, even Velvette who was right next to him bombarding him with questions.
Angel, Husk, Pentious, Cherri, and Niffty had taken the opportunity to group themselves a little away from Zestial. "Do you think we can trust him?" Pentious muttered.
"What are you asking? Of course we can't" Angel replied annoyed. He was now fairly recovered from the whole battle they had been through, but he still felt like he was half torn to pieces. His mind was in complete turmoil. "Let's summarize what we know: Adam's children are still alive and well, Alastor knows them and had a deal with them, and Zestial is apparently even close to them and has kept it from us until now. Tell me for what fucking reason you think we can trust that dark freak"
Pentious shrugged: "Well... at least he hasn't killed us yet" he replied with a bit of hesitation.
Husk snorted. "That's problematic" he whispered. "I don't know what level of ruthlessness Cain and Abel are at, but if they really did have a deal with someone like Alastor and probably Zestial, whose reputation is well known, then we should expect them to be willing to do anything to achieve their goal, no matter the cost"
"Which means that even if we survive here in Heaven, once we get back to Hell we'll be in deep shit again" Cherri grumbled, then she added: "Or at least... the three of us will be in deep shit, you two are already guaranteed your place above the clouds"
Husk rolled his eyes without saying a word. Pentious on the other hand hissed excitedly: "Yeah, we haven't even congratulated you yet! How was your ascension, buddy...?"
"In your opinion, is this the time to talk about these things?" Husk snapped.
Angel bit his lip. "You should go away" he told them both.
Both Husk and Pentious looked at him with wide eyes. "What are you saying?"
"You heard me right. Spread your wings and go away, no matter what direction" Angel told him. "You're in Heaven now, no one will hunt you down here. You're safe. There's no reason for you to be seen with demons, much less risk your life with them, because I bet every cell in my balls that we will risk our lives. I doubt Zestial will chase you, and if he does, we'll cover you. Go away and enjoy an eternity of blessings"
Husk and Pentious were silent for a moment. Cherri didn't speak for a moment either, and then she sighed: "He's right. You're risking yourself for no fucking reason by staying with us. Technically, you shouldn't even be here, no one can accuse you of anything. Just run away before everything goes to shit"
"I like it when everything goes to shit!" Niffty said in her usual crazy voice.
Husk was about to retort, but it was Pentious who exclaimed with an angry voice: "Hey, what kind of talk are you having? No one here is going anywhere! We came here to save Charlie precisely because we don't abandon anyone! We stick together, always!"
Everyone looked at him a little surprised. "Wow... okay, I'm still getting used to this new more courageous and authoritarian side of you, but... I love it when you show off so much character" Cherri couldn't help but say, winking a little.
Pentious immediately blushed and looked away, losing all his previous boldness. Husk grunted, and then he said: "Pen is right, stop talking like this. Either we all get out of this alive, or no one"
Angel was about to say something, but a small digital spark appeared next to them: "If you're done with the usual useless musings, know that I found the queen, the cannibalistic prude, and also the little angel who looks like a clone of the princess"
"What... Velvette?" Angel exclaimed in surprise.
"Ssssh! Lower your voice, idiot!" the digital spark growled. "Do you think that if I wanted to talk to you freely, I wouldn't have come to do it in person? I'm communicating using my overlord powers, hoping that Zestial didn't notice. Val helped me by covering me a bit while I sent these data sparks away from my body"
Angel, Husk, Cherri, Pentious, and Niffty looked up, and saw that Velvette was indeed still standing next to Zestial in front of them, but was occasionally stealing glances at him. "You said you found Lilith?" Husk whispered.
"Yeah, and the other two too. I'm trying to connect to the internet here, but it's a little tricky since we're in a forest, so I've been sending these digital sparks in every possible direction" Velvette replied. "Unfortunately, I can only control them and use them to talk to you like I'm doing within a five-hundred-meter radius, beyond that they just go straight ahead. I'm connected to them though, so they can sense it if they find something, and I've installed a message on each of them to let them know our situation, even if it's rough"
"How far away are they?" Angel asked.
"Quite a lot. No less than twenty kilometers north" Velvette replied. "So, the first nutcase and the sugary princess too are probably far away from us"
"One good news after another, then" Pentious said discouraged.
"Apparently. So rack your brains and come up with something useful, because I'm fucking sick of risking my life now and just want to hide in a hole" Velvette told them. "And I don't trust the dark guy next to me, not for shit, so if you're thinking of rebelling I'm with you"
"Finally you're being a little cooperative without death threats" Husk muttered sarcastically.
"I'm just being pragmatic. Right now the best side to be on is yours, at least there are some of you people who are disgustingly altruistic enough to stay behind and save my life if things get really bad" Velvette just replied. "Now, how about..."
"Hey, you guys! Come over here next to me for a second" Zestial suddenly called.
"We'll continue later!" Velvette exclaimed, quickly switching off the communication.
The others didn't like that interruption, but they didn't disobey anyway and ran next to Zestial. They were now at the edge of the forest, and in front of them there was an immense city: at first glance it seemed even bigger than Pentagram City... in fact, it seemed much bigger. The buildings were ultramodern and the streets extremely well maintained, and everything seemed to be built with celestial and beautiful materials. Seen from afar the city seemed uniform, except for some very large buildings of the most varied shapes that appeared here and there like mushrooms. Towards one side of it there also seemed to be almost a sort of edge, on which there was a golden gate. "Wow... angels truly treat themselves well" Angel commented quite surprised.
Zestial ignored him. "You" he said turning to Pentious. "You're the only one who has already been up here. Do you know what place this is?"
Pentious nodded. "Of course, we are in the capital of Heaven"
"Heaven has a capital?" Cherri asked confused.
"It's not really a capital, it's just where most of the angels gather. Kind of like Pentagram City for Hell" Pentious replied. "That over there is the gate through which souls enter Heaven, so as you can imagine most of them take up residence here, although anyone can leave to other parts of Heaven whenever they want. And since most of the human souls are here, the other angels, including the seraphim, also live here"
Zestial rubbed his chin. "Good. I like this"
"I don't like this at all" Angel muttered. "Tracking Adam here will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack"
"I don't need to track him" Zestial replied. "I just need to know where he'll be when he tries to escape"
Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Wait... so you don't want to stop him right now?" Cherri muttered.
"How? He's way ahead of us, and even if we could catch up to him in time, none of us are a match for him, even if we combined our skills. We'd just get slaughtered" Zestial replied. "There's no point in chasing prey that's too fast. Instead, we can be smart and intercept it. That would give us time to set up an efficient trap and play by our own rules"
There was a moment of awkward silence. That reasoning actually made sense. In fact, now that Zestial had said it, everyone felt stupid for not having thought of it sooner. "But how do you know where he's going?" Pentious asked him.
"Easy: how can he escape from Heaven, if not through the pearly gates?" Zestial pointed out. "He kidnapped Carmilla precisely because he wants her to build him his weapon, so he has to go back to Hell. And he can't split reality again. Even if he used his axe and managed to piss off another angel, that wouldn't allow him to open a passage to Hell. He needed the essence of an angel to be able to direct the dimensional rift to Heaven, so to be able to open it to Hell he would need that of a demon, and we all know that there are no demons that powerful... not to mention that there shouldn't be any demons in Heaven. So his only escape route can only be the main door, taking advantage of the fact that it probably isn't very well guarded. Well, that's where we'll wait for him"
"That's all very well, but how exactly do you plan to stop him?" Angel asked him. "You said yourself that we are worthless against him!"
"I know. That's why I have a plan" Zestial replied, and while saying it, he tugged Valentino hard: "Thanks to him and his pheromones, which is the reason I wanted him here, we will be able to know when Adam will approach the pearly gates and well in advance. As for facing him... well, I have a good trap in mind... and above all, we will tire him out well first"
Angel raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean? How do you plan to tire him out well?"
"For example by throwing powerful angels at him" Zestial replied with a smirk.
Everyone looked at him in shock. "Are you crazy!? If the angels see us, they'll make meatballs out of us!" Velvette exclaimed. "They already exterminate us once a year just because they're afraid we might attack them, so imagine if they find us here! They'll reduce us to nice piles of smoking ash before they even let us talk!"
"Not if the one who talks to them is another angel" Zestial said calmly.
"Um... if you mean me, I doubt they'll listen to me" Pentious said uncertainly. "They won't disintegrate me on sight, but they don't exactly trust a redeemed demon..."
"Only if they know it's redeemed demon" Husk said suddenly.
Everyone turned to him. "You got it right. That's why I like you" Zestial said with satisfaction.
"Husk, no" Angel stopped him. "You've put yourself in enough danger already"
"But no one knows I was a demon before. I can easily pass for a human who just got to Heaven" Husk said. "If I go find some bigwigs and tell them I saw a demon flying over me, they'll believe me right away"
"That's right" Zestial said. "You just have to send them where we want them. Put them on the path to the pearly gates. They might not be as awesome as Lucifer or Michael, but Adam will have his work cut out for him"
"Well, that would surely tire him out a bit" Velvette said thoughtfully. "Adam can't be in top shape now, he just fought Lucifer in a battle where they nearly destroyed Hell's moon just from the effects of their blows. While he can regenerate, he needs time to recover. If he goes up against other angels, even if they're less powerful, we can drain him enough to... well, whatever that creepy guy from 1500 has in mind"
"This is all pointless!" Angel said. "They couldn't possibly have missed the reality split, they already know there's an intruder...!"
"No, they know something strange has happened. While they might suspect something has gotten through the rift, they have no way of knowing where it is or what it wants. They can't even know the rift opened from Hell" Zestial replied. "But if Husk points them in Adam's direction, they'll find him for sure"
"As long as they give him a beating or at least slow him down, I'm fine with it" Husk muttered. "Where can I find the right angels?"
Zestial shrugged: "I have no idea. But maybe he does" she said, pointing to Pentious.
The snake hissed uncertainly, but then murmured: "Well... I didn't get to visit Heaven much since I was constantly under surveillance, but I was able to inform myself a bit during my stay here. The high-ranking angels live inside those golden palaces". He pointed to some of the towers and castles that were in the city: "From there they carry out their duties and tasks, they gather in the divine palace only when they have something to discuss. Many will have rushed as soon as they sensed the rift, but it is unlikely that they have all left. Some of them, like the Dominations, manage the movement of the celestial bodies, they cannot leave their work whenever they want without risking causing instability among the stars and planets, they need a bit of warning..."
"Okay, I get it, I need to break into one of the tall buildings and find guys doing some metaphysical bullshit I don't give a shit about" Husk said hastily. "I'll be right out. You guys beat me to the pearly gates, I'll meet you there"
"At least bring Pentious with you!" Angel protested.
Husk raised an eyebrow: "The whole point of not sending him is that they'd be suspicious of him and wouldn't listen to him!" he pointed out.
Angel sighed. Finally he stopped making excuses: "Husk, you've already put yourself in enough danger today. Haven't you had enough?"
"You guys jumped into a rift between dimensions and you're asking them these questions?" Velvette asked sarcastically.
Husk sighed. "Angel, I'll be fine" he assured him. "Even if they somehow find out I'm a redeemed demon, they won't hurt me. They didn't do it to Pentious, they have no reason to do it to me. I won't take any risks"
Angel bit his lip. "Oh, fine" he finally said. "But be careful, okay?"
Husk winked. "I'll be back alive" he assured him.
"If you're done with this sappy affair worthy of an 80's low budget sitcom, can you get off your ass and get to work?" Valentino snapped in annoyance.
Husk rolled his eyes irritated, and then he spread his wings and flew toward the city as fast as he could.
Unbeknownst to Husk, someone was following him. Alastor continued to move through the shadows, taking great care not to be noticed by anyone. It was a good thing that, as bright as it was, even in Heaven people darkened the space beneath them a little, so he could go unnoticed; it took much more effort than usual, but he managed it. After all, he had been hiding for seven years, he knew how to go unnoticed.
He had obviously heard everything, and so he knew he had to stop Husk first. After all, even if his main goal now was to capture Zestial and interrogate him, he also couldn't allow those fools to ruin Adam's plan with impunity. No big deal; he didn't mind starting out like this at all. Actually, he loved it.
He wasn't going to let Husk go so easily. Did he want to redeem himself and live happily in Heaven? Poor fool, he wasn't going to let him.
He just had to wait for Husk to fly into a slightly empty area, and then his quick reflexes would have done the rest. The kitten would have disappeared into thin air and no one would have known why and how. Only Alastor and Husk himself would have known the truth.
The radio demon's smile widened. He honestly had no idea what he would have done to Husk once he caught him, and it thrilled him. He wanted to make sure he proved he deserved Hell and turn him back into a demon, ripping away his only hope in the cruelest way possible, but how could he do that? It was an infinite ocean of possibilities, and Alastor loved it.
After all, who wasn't excited about the possibility of experimenting?
Well, Alastor had his own way of experimenting, but... that was the idea.
Soon the city began to grow emptier as they approached one of the golden palaces. Apparently, only a few winners were welcome in their vicinity... or maybe there were some rules. Alastor didn't care, he just knew that there were fewer and fewer people around Husk, and luckily he was making the usual big error: he wasn't making sure he was always surrounded by someone. Why should he, after all? This was Heaven, not Hell. Everyone was good there. No one expected to be attacked from behind.
Big mistake.
Husk was finally far enough away from the other people, since he came very close to one of the palaces and there was almost no one around. That was the moment to strike. Alastor started to emerge from the shadows behind him. It was such a fast movement that Husk didn't notice. One strike and...
"Who's there?"
Alastor immediately retreated into the shadows and disappeared. Husk stopped and looked up, and saw that above the road was an angel flying and looking at him. "Uh... hello. Am I disturbing you?"
The angel came down and landed in front of him. "No... no, sorry. It's nothing. It seemed to me... never mind. Who are you, anyway?"
Alastor had retreated quickly, blending into the shadow of a building, and from there he could finally see the person who had just arrived. Unfortunately, from his position he could barely make out the unmistakably female profile, and the tone of voice confirmed to him that it was a woman. But as soon as he heard that voice, he stiffened more than ever: only his self-control kept him from immediately jumping out to see who that person was.
Husk cleared his throat: "My name is Husk. I just arrived in Heaven"
"Oh, a newbie, huh?" the angel said with a soft laugh. "I hope you're fine. I know it's a little difficult at first, you know, the wings, the ability to fly, living above the clouds and all that"
Alastor should have remained completely still, yet he was shaking slightly even in his shadow form. He was summoning all the control he could to keep his cool. That voice... he didn't want to believe it, he was definitely deluding himself. It wasn't the first time he had mistakenly thought he had heard it...
"Yeah, I admit it's weird" Husk said, playing along. "So... well, let's just say I was hoping to talk to some bigwigs. I mean, the archangels, maybe the Messiah... you know, I was quite religious in life, I have many things to ask them"
"I see. Well, you're in the right place if you want to talk to an archangel" the angel said, pointing to the building behind her. "This is the home of the archangel Sandalphon. You can find her on the third floor"
"Oh, well... I see" Husk replied. He wanted to ask which angel Sandalphon was, but since he had just said that he had been a religious man, he risked making a fool of himself. "Um... are there any rules? I mean, do I have to make an appointment or announce myself? Because I've noticed that there's hardly anyone around here..."
"Oh, no, anyone can come here and talk to the archangels, there's no prohibition" the angel replied. "It's just that only the souls considered the purest work closely with them and live in the neighborhoods surrounding their palaces, and since we're mostly in here during the day, the streets empty out"
"Oh" Husk murmured. "So you... work for the archangel Sandralphon...?"
"Well, I said work, but I really just do it because I like it" she replied. "Archangels don't force anyone to serve them, they just ask. But I like it here, so I don't see why I should say no"
"Well, I suppose working for an archangel is nice" Husk said, trying to sound friendly. "So you're... what did you say? One of the purest souls?"
"The big guys said that, not me. I remain humble" the angel told him with a chuckle. "Archangels surround themselves only with the souls closest to their qualities. For example, the archangel Michael welcomes the most noble-hearted warriors into his palace. The archangel Raphael welcomes the most devoted doctors, those who have been most faithful to the precept of saving lives..."
"Okay, I get it, they only accept the best of the best" Husk said. He was honestly curious about what kind of angel Sandalphon was, so as to understand what the person in front of him was most 'pure' in, but to keep his cover, he let it go. "So... I'll go in. Thanks for your help"
"Go ahead. I told you, there's no prohibition" the angel said to him.
"Thank you" Husk replied, and then he rushed into the building. He couldn’t waste much time, so he hoped that the lady of the house was willing to listen a random stranger, or at least to verify if what he said was true.
As soon as she was alone again, the angel who had greeted Husk turned sharply towards the shadows of the buildings: “I know you’re there. Why are you hiding?”
Alastor tensed up like a violin string. How had she noticed him…?
“I sensed your presence. Working for an archangel gives you some advantages” the angel said, as if she had understood his doubt. “Listen, I don’t know why you were following that man, or why you’re hiding, but we can talk about this. Are you new to Heaven too? I know how hard it is sometimes. Why don’t you come out and we can discuss this face to face?”
Alastor could have just tried to leave. It was clear that that angel thought he was just a common winner with some strange abilities; she had no reason to think otherwise, after all. If he ran away, she was unlikely to chase him, since she would have thought she had made him uncomfortable. Maybe she would even have been sorry for scaring him.
He could have just gone away.
But he didn't.
Very slowly, he emerged from the shadows. He made his body fully visible again, even if it meant exposing himself. But right now, he didn't care. He took a step forward and stepped into the light, finally getting a good look at the angel in front of him.
She was a woman who did not appear to be more than twenty years old, beautiful in every way. Her dark skin was like polished oak wood, and did not show the slightest imperfection. Her entire body was human-shaped, except for her hair, which was pink and looked like a cloud floating placidly; her ears that resembled those of a noble doe; two small horns that resembled tree branches, from which blue flowers grew that sometimes broke off and flew away like butterflies; and of course her wings, so large that they could wrap around her and act as a cloak, and whose colors were as iridescent as those of the rainbow. She wore clothes typical of the early twentieth century: a modest dress of bright yellow, which although simple was very elegant, with a red bow tied around the neck, and a midnight blue ankle-length skirt. Her eyes were pink like two quartzes, her eyelashes were sharp like those of a bird, and her mouth had the sweetest smile that could exist.
Alastor couldn't take another step. For a moment, he even forgot how to breathe. His grip on his trusty radio stick became so tight that he almost broke it.
The angel's comfortable expression immediately vanished, replaced by surprise and even a little fear: "What...? You're not an angel!" she exclaimed. "You're a... a demon! How did you get here? How...?". Suddenly she stopped: "Why do you... seem familiar...?"
Alastor opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't make a sound. His mind, for the first time in years, was completely blank. He couldn't think. He didn't even know if he wanted to think.
The angel seemed to have recovered from the shock, but even though she should have gone to call for help or raise the alarm, she wasn't moving. "You... why do you seem so... similar...?" she murmured. "Do I... know you...?"
Alastor still didn't answer. He wanted to, but he didn't know how to answer. He was too hesitant and too confused.
The angel stared at him questioningly for a moment longer, and then her eyes widened in realization. "Alastor?" she asked in a whisper. "It's... it's you?"
Alastor finally managed to breathe again, and he let out a single word: "Mother?"
Notes:
For those who are not well versed in angelology, Sandalphon is the angel who literally has the task of crowning God every time He sits on His heavenly throne with a crown made of prayers, while a host of angels in her (the gender is not specified, in this case it is a woman) service verbally report these prayers in the form of a chorus. In some versions she is even the sibling twin of Metatron, who is also very close to God. This is to make it clear how much pure Alastor's mother must be for Sandalphon to want her in her circle, since we are talking literally of the angel that has to crown God Himself.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 83): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160496
Among the lions (chapter 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/171783262
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 137: Reunion with mother
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
There were rare moments when Alastor had truly felt lost in his life. He had felt discouragement, abandonment, sometimes despair, but it was really almost impossible to make him feel completely helpless, at the mercy of everything around him. And yet, that was the emotion he was feeling at that precise moment.
The last time he had seen his mother was when he had buried her body in an anonymous garden under a simple tree. He had not even been able to give her a gravestone; all he had managed to provide her was a small piece of badly carved wood that had been blown away by the wind after a few weeks. Elizabeth Hartfelt, that was the name that had been written on that wood and that had quickly disappeared due to the elements and rot. Since then, Alastor had gone from wishing he could see his mother again even just once to wishing he would never see her again so as not to show her what he had become. Yet, the moment he had heard her voice, the desire to see her again had prevailed again, almost erasing his rationality. And now that he was in front of her, and she was there, really, concretely, his mind was completely lost in the void.
His mother was as paralyzed as he was. Whatever defenses she had put up when she realized he was a demon were completely gone. "Alastor..." she whispered in an extremely low voice. "Is... is it really you?"
"Yes" Alastor was only able to answer.
Elizabeth took a step toward him. Then another, and another. Finally, she was practically in front of him. She continued to stare at him with a blank expression, oblivious to the fact that she should have been very careful in the presence of a demon. "I'd know that smile in a thousand" she murmured softly. "You've been showing it... all this time...?"
Alastor nodded. "Yes"
His mother raised her arm and touched his cheek. Her fingers were shaking as they grazed his skin and even his sharp teeth, getting a little dirty due of his poor hygiene. "All these years... without flossing?" she asked in a strangled voice.
"Not even once" Alastor answered.
Elizabeth let out a sob. Even though her eyes were starting to leak tears, her lips were curved in a smile. She seemed to be wondering if she was dreaming. "I didn't raise you to be so careless about hygiene" she told him with a light laugh.
Alastor's smile widened a little. "No... no, you didn't" he admitted, and he too couldn't stop a little whimper of emotion.
Elizabeth replied with another nervous and excited giggle, and then she closed the distance between them completely and pulled him into a hug. Alastor hesitated for a moment, and then slowly raised his arms and hugged him back. He could feel his mother trembling under his fingers... or maybe his own fingers were trembling. He didn't know anymore.
They stayed like that for an indefinite time. Maybe a moment, maybe an eternity. Time had lost all meaning in their minds. In Alastor's eyes, the whole situation was like a lucid dream, and he himself had trouble believing if anything was real or if he was imagining it all.
Eventually they ended the hug, even though they both wanted to continue. They pulled away from each other a little, and stared into each other's eyes again. Alastor opened his mouth, trying to say something...
... and then, without warning, his mother's slap landed on his cheek. "YOU DEGENERATED SON!" she yelled at him. "And know that I just threw away fifty years of my life without screaming once! Where were you all these years!?"
The slap Alastor had received was so hard that it had knocked his head to the side, which was no small feat considering he was the most powerful overlord in Hell. The radio demon couldn't help but admit to himself that he was surprised by the reaction, but also that he had been expecting it deep down. "Uh... Mom..."
"No, no 'Mom' to me!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I know exactly where you were, in Hell! You ended up down there, and I know why! I worked so hard to raise you honestly, and what do you do!? You become a serial killer!? Are you trying to make me die a second time!?"
"Oh..." Alastor was starting to think rationally again, and he was realizing that maybe he had romanticized that moment a little too much. He had completely forgotten about the part that definitely couldn't be ignored. "I'm sorry I hav..."
"I'm sorry? I'm sorry!?" Elizabeth roared. "It's been over a hundred years! You show up here after over a hundred years and this is all you can say to me!? I'm sorry!? This is your excuse!?"
Alastor didn't know what else to say. Normally he was always full of words, almost always cutting and evil, but at that moment he couldn't find any. He felt completely lost.
Elizabeth looked like she was about to slap him again, and in fact she certainly contemplated that option a lot, but then she stopped herself. "Ah, you can't stay here" she said through gritted teeth. "You can move into the shadows, right?"
"Yes..." Alastor replied.
"Then get into mine" his mother ordered. "I'm taking you to a place where it will be harder to see you. Hurry up if you don't want to be burned in holy oil!"
She said it with such authority that it was impossible for Alastor to refuse: without even realizing it he had already plunged into her shadow, disappearing from the sight of anyone who might be passing by at that moment. Elizabeth quickly looked around to make sure no one had actually seen them, and then she ran down the street, not flying since that would have meant leaving her shadow, and she didn't want to risk that. Because of her protective maternal instinct, even though she knew Alastor would have been there anyway, she wanted to be sure she had him glued to her feet.
Very quickly she reached a house not too far from Sandalphon's palace: a house that vaguely resembled a pleasant country cottage, but whose materials, however simple, were of a literally otherworldly beauty. She went inside and closed the door behind her, and then did the same with the curtains. "Okay, you can go out. No one will see you here"
Alastor slipped out of his shadow, reappearing in his corporeal form. The interior of that cottage was extremely beautiful and welcoming: there was no entrance or corridor, but a single hall built with woods that looked like ash or oak, but much more refined. In the center of the room, the base of a large cherry tree was present, surrounded by the wooden floor built specifically so as not to interfere with the roots of the plant; the tree then grew, passing through a hole in the ceiling, but some of its branches were still present on the ground floor, making it seem as if the roof was full of flowers, leaves and scented cherries. The interior was very spartan, and the walls were full of windows, which even with the curtains closed let in a lot of light; it almost seemed as if the environment was as little closed as possible on purpose, as if the person inside wanted to have a constant sensation of freedom. The windows occupied three of the four walls, while the fourth was closed and had only a wooden staircase present, a sign that there was a new room upstairs, probably the bedroom. The only other thing present on the walls were dozens of vases full of flowers of all kinds, thus filling the walls with colors. The furniture was instead carved inside the cherry tree: along the trunk there were some drawers, doors and areas to put objects, while from the branches hung shelves tied with strings on which were placed ornaments, photos and even a radio. The only furniture not carved from the cherry tree were two sofas and an armchair placed in a circle around it.
Alastor snorted softly. That house seemed like the perfect blend of nature and artificiality. He also appreciated that union, in fact his room at the Hazbin Hotel reminded of a forest... with the difference that there nature was harmonious and sweet, while he had preferred the macabre and dark one. "It's nice" he said. "Even if a little small..."
"I like it. I don't need a huge house" Elizabeth answered him. "Here I have everything at my fingertips, and I don't even have to go to the kitchen to get some cherries"
Alastor looked around, and then noticed something that caught his attention: on the shelves there were some photos next to the ornaments. Photos of a boy with a very sweet smile. Instinctively, he took one that depicted him and his mother hugging. "When were they taken?"
"They are memories" Elizabeth explained to him. "We are in Heaven, here you can have everything you want. I just wanted to immortalize those moments and... done"
Alastor slightly tightened his grip on the photo. He also remembered that moment immortalized there as if it had happened yesterday: a simple hug on a summer night, nothing too sensational, but still engraved in his memory. "And you kept them here, in plain sight, even after you knew who I had become?"
Elizabeth let out a deep sigh. "Sit down" she ordered him, and then she opened one of the drawers carved into the tree, the most beautiful one. From it she took out a large album that she handed to Alastor: "Here"
Alastor was confused for a moment, but then he sat down on one of the couches and opened the album. To his utter surprise, it turned out to contain newspaper clippings. They were the front pages of The Times-Picayune, the most famous newspaper in Louisiana in the 1920s. Each of them reported the news of a murder perpetrated by the terrible Smiling Killer, whom no one had yet managed to catch and who continued to claim victims.
Alastor couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Normally, seeing the fruits of his work had always brought him satisfaction, but at that moment he couldn't feel happy at all. "How did you get them?" he couldn't help but ask.
"I told you, here in Heaven you can have whatever you want" his mother replied. "I just wanted to know about you and a copy of those newspapers was created right in my hands"
Alastor gritted his teeth. "And... did you keep them?"
Elizabeth was silent for a moment, and then she sighed: "Every time I read one I had a heart attack, but... they were still a part of you. It was the only way I had to keep up to date with what was happening to you. To... know if you were okay, or if something had happened to you"
Alastor instinctively touched the pages of the album. All the newspapers pasted there contained only cruel and bloody stories, yet none of them were torn, or stained, or torn to pieces, or any sign that denoted a fit of rage on the part of the person who had read them. "It must have been difficult for you"
"Oh, no, I assure you that knowing that you have a serial killer as a son is every mother's dream" Elizabeth replied very sarcastically.
Alastor said nothing else. He continued to leaf through the album until he reached the last page. And there he found a single sheet of newspaper, laminated much more than the others, on which, unlike the others, there were damp stains and a few tears. The headline was: "The End of the Smiling Killer". It was the newspaper that reported his death. "Did you cry?" he asked her.
"Did you expect me to be happy?" Elizabeth answered him sadly. "I had just lost you forever"
"My soul was intact" Alastor replied.
"But I already knew that you would not have ended up here. I had hoped for a moment, I had prayed that at least in your last instant you had returned to your senses and ask for forgiveness, but... I was quickly disillusioned" Elizabeth told him. "And as you can imagine, we do not have much contact with Hell. I was convinced that I would never have seen you again for all eternity"
Alastor closed the album with a grunt. "It seems I've been a burden to you even in death" he commented. "I know you're disappointed"
His mother bit her lip. She looked terribly angry, but at the same time she was struggling to keep that anger at the sight of her son’s passivity. She would much have preffered if Alastor tried to defend himself. “I’d be lying if I said I am not” she said. “Why, Alastor? Why did you do all those things? Do you have any idea how much I prayed for your salvation? I spent literally years kneeling before His throne, begging Him to show you the way. I even asked the Messiah himself for help. And each time the answer was that you refused to listen to the voice of the Almighty, or the Savior, or the Spirit. I shed river of tears begging you to come to your senses, to be good again, to ask for forgiveness… but you didn’t listen even to my voice. All you cared about was what horror to perpetrate on your next victim. How could you? What happened to the son I loved so much? Why did you let the darkness dominate you so much?”
Alastor sighed. He had expected those questions, but he didn't know how to answer. Honestly, he had never asked himself why he did certain things. The only answer was that he liked them.
Elizabeth made a noise of disappointment. "You can't stay silent now" she said. "You owe me an answer. You owe me, after decades of doing nothing but praying for you"
Alastor tightened his grip on the album. His fingers were shaking slightly. "I can't give you an answer because I don't have one" he finally told her in a very low voice. "I wish I could tell you that I had a bigger reason. Maybe you imagined in my mind that I did those things for some crusade of my own for justice, or at least revenge, but... it wasn't like that. Killing... it made me feel alive. The ability to tear a body apart and take its life, the feeling of power it gave me... I loved it, and I still love it. Maybe I'm like this because all my childhood, you and I were the worst, and so now I want to feel powerful, or maybe there's another reason... I don't know. Honestly, I've always just thought that I'm just a bad apple"
Yep, that was the only answer. He was evil, no more. No other hidden motives, no psychological studies. He was just a serial killer who loved to kill people.
But despite that, her mother didn't seem satisfied with those words at all. "Really? That's the answer you've come to in more than a century?"
"Yes" Alastor confirmed.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard" Elizabeth muttered. "When you were telling people about it, did anyone tell you to wake up?"
"I didn't tell people about my past" Alastor replied. "I never told anyone intentionally"
"Really?" her mother asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you always kept it all inside? Have you never told anyone about your past? Not even one person?"
Alastor took a deep breath. He could have simply said that yes, he had never told anyone intentionally, but in front of his mother he felt the need to be honest. "No... I told someone, a long time ago"
Elizabeth's gaze immediately narrowed. "Tell me about this person"
"Why?" Alastor asked her confused.
"I want to know who managed to make you open up a little" Elizabeth answered him. "This person must have meant a lot to you if he or she was able to get you to talk about something that is clearly a sore point for you"
Alastor grunted. "His name... is Vox. He was the only person I ever considered a true friend" he replied. "But it doesn't matter, we've gone our separate ways now. We hate each other"
"And whose fault was it?" Elizabeth asked him.
"Both of us" Alastor answered. "But mostly mine"
Elizabeth was silent for a moment, and then she sat back in her chair, as if she expected to hear a long story. "Tell me"
Alastor would have preferred not to talk about it, but he knew his mother wouldn't have given up. Even though he didn't understand why she cared so much, he told her: "Vox... I don't think you'd like him. He's an asshole, and he's the kind of man who would do anything for money and power. But... somehow we got along". He sighed softly, "It all started with a quick friendship in a bar. I went there for a drink and he was there for the same reason. Somehow we ended up talking and it was... nice. A week later we were back at the bar for the same reason. And the week after that, and the week after that. Eventually, those weeks turned into days and instead of just the bar we met in a myriad of other places. We had different views, we liked different things, we appreciated different styles of music... and yet we liked being together for hours and discussing the most trivial things"
"Friendships often start like this" Elizabeth told him with a small smile.
"Well, ours did. We were friends for thirty years" Alastor told her. "But... there was always... I don't know, a veil between us. Or at least, on my part. Vox confided in me about everything, but I... didn't want to reveal my secrets. Not even to him"
"Because you were afraid someone would have used them against you?" Elizabeth asked him. "Or because... you were afraid to speak out?"
"I don't know. Maybe both" Alastor admitted. "Vox knew it, but he tried to make it okay... but then one day he got tired of it. He came to me and said, in these words, that I needed to stop being a bear and join a team he was creating. He wanted to make our friendship official, to really be a duo, to rule Hell together. I said no, but he told me he was tired of continuing the sort of relationship we had, he wanted me to actually tell him what I wanted, he wanted to be part of the game. He told me I either joined him, or I gave him a valid explanation. I refused to do either. We started arguing, and then he gave me an ultimatum: he would have waited for me at our usual bar in a week, and by then I would either have given him a real answer, or our friendship would have been over"
"And you didn't go?" his mother asked him.
"No... I went. A very stupid moment of weakness" Alastor answered her. "I don't know why I did it... but I went to that bar. Vox and I looked at each other and then I confessed everything to him. I told him my life, my past, what had happened to me... about you. It was a very... liberating moment"
Elizabeth noticed that her son had become very tense. "And this... Vox... how did he react?"
"He listened to me in silence, the whole time" Alastor replied. "His face remained expressionless while I spoke. He showed no emotion. And then, when I was done, he asked me if that was all. I got angry: I had opened up to him and that was how he reacted? But he got even angrier and accused me of not having explained why I was being a terrible friend, and that I was just a weakling. At that point I lost it and we started fighting, and this time seriously. I broke one of his satellite dishes... you know, he's a television demon. I probably would have killed him if his boyfriend, an obnoxious moth demon, hadn't intervened, and he also lost an antenna. Vox and I haven't spoken since, not in friendly terms at least. He is ready to do everything to make me pay for his injuries"
Elizabeth was silent for a moment, and then she put her hand on his shoulder as she always did when he was feeling down. "Alastor, listen... I'm not denying that this friend of yours..."
"He's not my friend" Alastor corrected her immediately.
"Okay, then I'm not denying that this Vox guy reacted very badly. He was an asshole, no doubt about that... although from what you told me, you really pushed him to the limit, so you're also very much to blame" Elizabeth said. "But I think that, if you ended your story with the same sentence you used to answer me, Vox was trying to tell you the same thing I told you: simply saying that you like killing is stupid"
"But that's just the way it is" Alastor told her. "I like killing, that's the only reason..."
"Alastor, please" Elizabeth said tiredly. "Did I ever see you kill animals when you were little? No! You barely swatted flies. If you liked killing just because you were made that way, I would have found the yard full of hanging pigeons"
"Well, I'm obviously one of those serial killers who skipped the animal phase and went straight to the human phase" Alastor said. "Seriously, killing gives me pleasure. I'm not making this up"
"Oh, I'm sure you're not making this up" Elizabeth said, and then her gaze narrowed. "But that doesn't answer the question of why it gives you pleasure"
Alastor fell silent. "But it's the same..."
"No, I don't think so" Elizabeth said. "Be honest with me: what kind of pleasure do you get when you kill?"
Alastor didn't understand. "You're asking me for very macabre details" he pointed out. "What I might say could make you puke. Why do you want to know these things?"
Elizabeth shrugged: "Does a mother need a reason to care about her son?"
"I'm serious" Alastor said.
"Me too" his mother replied without batting an eye. "Yes, I know what you're going to tell me will probably give me hives. I know it won't be something pleasant to hear. But neither were those newspaper clippings. But just like those, this is... part of you. And I really want to understand what makes you tick. I've waited too many years for that answer"
Alastor remained silent. "And when you get that answer, if you do... what will have changed?"
Elizabeth sighed: "I will truly know my son for the man he has become. That's what will have changed"
Alastor couldn’t understand. Maybe his mother wanted to find a deeper meaning in his actions? Maybe a part of her still hoped there was something human in him? He decided it was best to nip this nonsense in the bud; as much as it hurt him, it was better for her not to get her hopes up. So he was very specific: "When I kill... I can feel my prey writhing beneath me. I can feel their bones cracking violently at my touch. I can feel their muscles being stretched and their internal tendons being torn, very minutely so that blood loss is minimal and death takes as long as possible. I can feel the heat from inside their bodies as I sink my hands in and pull out their organs, one by one, being very careful not to cut the heart or lungs... one by one I pull them out, feeling the life throbbing inside them even after I have torn them out. In the whole process I feel their fear, their desperation, their knowledge that they are being torn to pieces. I can feel them begging for help and then slowly realizing that it won't come, and it's wonderful. I have the power to shatter every last vestige of their courage and pride, and it gives me an almost unearthly pleasure. And then... comes the final moment. The magnificent feeling of dominance that comes from taking a life. For an instant, I become the final judge: life or death. I have absolute power over that person. And delivering the final blow, truly solidifying that position of mine, amplifies that feeling a million times over. That's why I enjoy killing so much"
As expected, his mother had gone pale. "Um... okay..."
"Not to mention the next part" Alastor continued without a pause. "When my victim is dead, and their insides are strewn at my feet... that's when I begin to devour them. I consume everything, leaving nothing behind. Blood, organs, meat, skin, bones, marrow. And as I eat, I imprint that taste on my mind, along with the recent memories of their desperate clinging to life. I give them back a part of me. Even in death, I steal their freedom. I am the one in charge, and they cannot escape. I am the one in charge. That is a feeling that nothing else could ever match"
His mother looked like she was about to faint at such a macabre description. Alastor knew that she was surely even more disgusted by him now, but it was better this way: better to accept right away that he was a heartless monster, rather than cling to a vain hope. He mentally prepared himself for the breakdown that would come soon...
... but contrary to his expectations, his mother gave herself a strong shake and even though she was very pale her voice was still calm and firm: "So is this why? The feeling of power?"
Alastor was taken aback, having imagined a very different reaction. "What?"
"Is it that important to you?" his mother asked again. "Having power over another person?"
"Yes" Alastor answered truthfully. "Power is everything. Everyone loves power, and I love taking that power away from others. I love destroying their illusion of invincibility, or at least continuity, and watching them be powerless at my mercy"
Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, I should start by saying that I don’t approve of any of this, but at this point I don’t think I need to elaborate, so I’ll just get right to the point: I think what Vox was trying to tell you, even if he was completely wrong, is that you only like killing because you want to feel powerful. You want to feel superior to other people, in whatever field. That’s why you tend to distance yourself from people when you start to feel like you’re developing some affection for them and try to preserve some advantage to use against them. That’s why you kill, torture, cannibalize, and who knows what else that I honestly prefer not to know: you want to take away other people’s power to choose and take it for yourself"
Alastor snorted in annoyance. For some reason, he felt annoyed by those words. "Okay, I admit it makes sense. So? What's the difference now that you know I don't like killing, but I do like the feeling of power that killing gives me? It's the same thing"
"No, it changes a lot" his mother replied. "It allows me to understand my son a little more"
Alastor rolled his eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore anyway. I've given up on chasing power. I work for a higher purpose now"
Elizabeth didn't bat an eyelid; instead, she made herself more comfortable on the couch. "Something tells me I'll need to be updated on a lot of things, so... please, take your time"
"Yes, it will take a while" Alastor confirmed. "I have to explain a few things to you so you can understand everything..."
"Then, while you tell the story, clean all the ornaments" his mother suddenly said to him.
Alastor's eyes widened: "What!?"
"I have to punish you at least a little, and at the moment that's the only idea I can think of, so get busy since it looks like you're going to have to talk for a while" Elizabeth told him. "The gloves are in the third drawer, the detergent is in the fifth. I want to be able to see myself in those ornaments"
"What the...!? Mom, I'm an overlord! I can clean everything in a second with magic!" Alastor protested.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes threateningly: "I'm gonna count to three. One, two..."
"Oh, okay!" Alastor exclaimed, getting up from the couch very unwillingly and going to get the cleaning tools.
Elizabeth smiled satisfied. "What a good boy" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "So, this story?"
Alastor made an irritated noise, but still answered: "Well... it's a story that as usual begins in a dark corner of a seedy city. More precisely seven years ago, when a person came to pay me a very unwelcome visit"
Notes:
Note: Alastor's mother's name is unknown, but in the Journey to the Light fandom she is known as Mrs. Hartfelt. The name Elizabeth was one of the most used female names in the early 1900s, so I've combined the two. This was so that she could be called something other than just "Alastor's mother".
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 84): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160523
Among the lions (chapter 2): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/171783262
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 138: How redemption works
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie was quite shocked. Honestly, she hadn't expected that turn of events. "Oh... well... okay" she muttered. "Sorry... I thought God wanted to talk to me..."
"What's said to us is said to God" Peace said with a smile.
"She's relieved and disappointed at the same time" Truth chuckled. "It seems she was terrified to talk to Father, but she wanted to meet him anyway"
"Hey! Don't read my mind like that!" Charlie protested embarrassed.
"I don't read your mind. I am the truth" Truth replied. "So I know everything there is, including your emotions"
Charlie made a noise that was half nervous and half embarrassed. "Well... the thing is, I'm going through a really bad situation, and I wanted some guidance or a clue..."
"We know. That's why we're here" Mercy said in a soft voice. "The Almighty wanted you to have someone to talk to without feeling... overwhelmed. Ask us any questions you want, we'll be happy to answer them"
Charlie's eyes widened, "Wait... so God actually told you to talk to me?" she asked. "So... He actually cares about me...?"
"Of course He cares about you. He cares about everything that happens in the universe" Mercy replied.
"Then why doesn't He intervene?" Charlie asked. "We could really use some divine intervention..."
"But He is intervening" Mercy said with a chuckle. "He sent us to talk to you, right?"
"That's not what I mean..." Charlie tried to say.
Justice made an angry noise. "How arrogant. Do you really think you can doubt...?"
"Calm down. This is not the time" Mercy stopped her. Justice looked like she was about to explode, but she held back.
Charlie bit her lip. "I take it you don't like me very much..."
"I'm not a friend of those who pretend to follow me and then at the first obstacle turn to war and murder" Justice replied sourly.
"Yes... I imagine you're not very happy with me" Charlie muttered. "But I was just trying to do the right thing..."
"The right thing!?" Justice snapped, gritting her teeth dangerously. "You preached friendship and love, you constantly said that everyone deserved to be redeemed, and then when it came time to actually put those words into practice, you quickly backed down. You listened to the radio demon and chose violence instead of standing firm on your principles. You could have simply eliminated those angels without angelic steel, so as not to kill them but only to stun them, but instead you chose to kill them as if they were animals to be slaughtered. You acted no differently than your aggressor, yet you also dared to pretend that you were somehow better than him. And this is just one of the many times you dared to deny me"
Charlie sweated profusely. Justice's words seemed to have a consistence and were sharper than a blade. "O-Okay, I admit I could have done things differently... but I didn't know what to do... Adam was the one who put the pressure on me...!"
Justice's scales tipped even further to one side. "Don't you dare!" she growled, her voice sounding like thunder. "Don't you dare do what billions before you have done, blame someone else for your actions! Adam's sins are Adam's sins, and your sins are your sins! You are responsible for your actions, and for every broken body you fed to those cannibals! I'm not going to sit here and listen to the excuses of a princess who pretends to have a false sense of justice but then goes down such bloody paths!"
Charlie wasn't sure if what was happening was real, but she thought she saw Justice become an entity made of pure divine fire, whose mere movement seemed to emit sparks more powerful than any lightning. Suddenly she felt crushed, so much so that she was forced to kneel; but the weight on her shoulders wasn't something physical, but rather seemed to be composed of all her own sins. Charlie felt them penetrate inside her and squeeze her heart like a vice, and in her mind the images of dead and bleeding bodies returned, but this time it was as if they had no veil: she felt not like a princess who had protected her people, but like a child who for the first time saw people die. Her body began to shake and she barely held back a retch. "I-I'm sorry" she stammered. "It's true... it's true, I didn't live up to my own words. I let fear and sadness and... even my pride, my belief that I was always right... cloud my judgment. I didn't realize that I was destroying lives... evil lives perhaps, but lives nonetheless. I should have... I should have done more. I'm sorry...!"
Suddenly, all those sins that were crushing her vanished instantly; even the weight on her back disappeared. Charlie made a noise of surprise, and turning around she saw Mercy above her, looking down at her with a smile. With one hand she was holding up part of her dress above her, as if she wanted to shield her from Justice's wrath, while the other hand was instead resting on her back, and when she pulled it away, Charlie saw that between her fingers there was something: a dirty and oily substance, similar to petrol or tar, but that did not seem to be made of matter, but something even more hideous. Mercy brought that hand in front of her face and blew, and in an instant the dark substance was swept away. "There. That's better, isn't it?" she asked in an encouraging voice.
Charlie put a hand on her heart. For some reason, it felt a lot lighter. "You... just took away my sins...?"
"Only the ones you just asked for forgiveness for" Mercy said with a wink. "The repentance was sincere, right?"
"Of course it was!" Truth said with a laugh. "And if I say so, it's true!"
"Good. See, sister? Now you can calm down" Mercy said to Justice, who still looked ready to take her sword and cut Charlie into little pieces.
Charlie was silent for a moment. And then, though she didn't leave Mercy's protection, she murmured: "No... no, you're right to be angry. You're right, I didn't behave in an exemplary manner. I was trying to do the right thing, but that's no excuse for the mistakes I've made. It would be arrogant of me to pretend that justice itself is on my side now"
Just as she finished saying those words, Justice's scales rose again. She herself seemed surprised, and the divine fire that seemed to emanate from her instantly died out. "Hmm. Maybe you're not as irredeemable as I thought" she commented, but the acidity in her voice had faded a little.
Mercy and Truth looked overjoyed, and both patted Charlie on the shoulder. Peace walked over to her with a smile: "Good job, child. You did well"
Charlie didn't look her in the eyes. "You... aren't mad at me because I chose war over peace that time?"
"You've done that many times in your life. Even a simple argument is equivalent to walking away from me. If I took all these details into account, I would always be mad, which is not in my nature" Peace replied. "I focus on the peace we can build today, not the one we failed to build yesterday. And to build it, I cannot rely on conflict, but on something higher, something I hope you can achieve, Charlie. We know you would prefer God to snap everything out of this, but that's not what's going to happen"
Charlie felt a lump form in her throat. "So... God will let Adam destroy Hell and complete his plan?" she muttered in a strangled voice.
"I didn't say that" Peace answered her. "There's still a lot to come, and you're a part of it. Only through you can a lot of things change. But don't think about that now. Ask us your questions; what do you want to know first?"
Charlie had no idea what those words meant, and in fact she was completely at a loss, but she tried to stay calm and smooth out the tornado of emotions that had formed in her mind. There were too many questions in her head... what did she want to know first? Finally she asked: "God... is He in favor of redemption or... does He want all evil to just disappear like Adam wants?"
"He is in favor, obviously" Truth answered with a laugh. "What questions do you ask after two redeemed demons?"
Charlie's eyes widened: "Right... right! Um... so can you tell me how redemption actually works? I mean, Pentious did it and before we ended up here I noticed that even Husk was different... how did they do it?"
"A fair question" Peace said. "Well, we'll answer that. Redemption, any kind of redemption in life or death, has to do with the sacrifice of Christ. And just like the sacrifice of Christ, it has to do with the four of us"
Charlie's eyes widened: "Um... what?"
"First of all, you have to understand what we are. We are emanations of God's thought. By completing us, God's plan is completed" Peace explained. "But only by completing all of us together can an act be called righteous. Mercy without justice, or peace without truth, are just false concepts that stand on foundations of sand. You can't pursue just one of us... you have to pursue all of us. Otherwise, you'll never be right"
"But even alone, you're important" Charlie protested. "I mean... I can also apply justice without mercy..."
"Thank God that the universe is not ruled by me alone" Justice said in a somewhat gruff voice. "Because if that were the case, all of you should be hanging on a cross"
Charlie swallowed. "Yes, but, I mean... there are times when one of you has to prevail over the others, right...?"
"No. Never. If one of us prevailed over the others, the universe as you know it would cease to exist" Mercy answered. "We are always equal in the mind of God. Added together we make what is right, and God can only be right. If He decided to make one of us prevail over the others even once, why shouldn't He do it all the time? God can't make Himself unjust, but He can't make Himself unmerciful, false, or warmongering either. If He decided to make Himself that way, the universe would become a place you wouldn't like to live in at all"
Charlie scratched her head in confusion. "Sorry to ask, I know it's probably offensive, but... has it really always been this way? I mean, has God really always filled all of you, in all of His actions? Even when He flooded the world?"
Justice gritted her teeth in anger; the scales on her shoulders tipped a little more. "What an arrogant, doubting the actions of the Almighty! We should punish her...!"
"Calm down. She apologized. There's nothing wrong with being curious" Mercy stopped her immediately. "Yes, Charlie, even at that time God was just, merciful, true, and peaceful at the same time. During the Great Flood, the evil humans were drowned as Justice dictated, but God still saved the good ones, even though they were also covered in sin, only because of me, Mercy; and He brought peace to the world by cleansing it, giving value to Peace, and finally revealed the reasons for His decision to spare humanity, the promise of a savior, thus completing Truth. As you can see, we were all satisfied"
"Oh... thank you. And thank you for calming her down" Charlie muttered, still looking at Justice with a lot of fear. She knew it should have been impossible since she was blind, but she still felt her angry eyes on her. "Really, I'm sorry, it's just... everything is so... complicated"
"It's not true, it's very simple. It's just not the simplicity you're used to" Truth said with an amused laugh.
Peace put a hand on her shoulder: "I know it sounds complicated, Charlie, but it's not. You just have to understand that what's right is what makes all of us whole" she said. "That is why God, when the Fall occurred, did not directly remove sin from the hearts of men. To do so would have been an act of absolute Mercy, but it would have completely eclipsed Justice. If He had done so, He would have made Himself unjust; so He instead designed a plan, a plan destined to last thousands of years, but which would have allowed a new chance to be given to humanity without God being guilty of injustice. He did not immediately welcome His children back into His arms, by virtue of His Justice, but He still allowed them to exist because, according to His Mercy, He had a way to save them all, which only had to materialize"
Charlie was desperately trying to stay behind the train of information. "And the way was the Messiah?"
"That's right. The Messiah's arrival was something that was meant to happen, and so by promising it, God had completed Truth; his arrival would bring harmony to the cosmos, making me, Peace, right; and the Messiah would harmonize Justice and Mercy, completing both. Therefore, God, with this plan in mind, could allow humanity to exist despite its corruption" Peace explained. "When Jesus came to Earth, his job was to open a way. To open that way, he, an ordinary man, would always have had to follow the will of the Father, and therefore always follow the four of us; if he denied one of us even just once, the link between the mortal and the immortal would have been severed, the sacrifice invalidated, and God would have had no choice but to obliterate all of humanity"
Charlie was beginning to understand. "I see... if an ordinary man acted as God did, then it would prove that humanity was still... how can I say? In the image of God?" she murmured, connecting the pieces. "And he succeeded..."
"Exactly. No human before him had been able to remain faithful to us all the time, from the moment they were born to the moment they returned to the earth" Peace confirmed. "He always spoke true things and fulfilled all the prophecies, confirming Truth; he acted to ensure the return of harmony, completing me, Peace; and finally, with his sacrifice, he proved that the Mercy that God had granted to humans was right, and therefore that Mercy and Justice had both been fulfilled. In doing so, Jesus completed the perfect life, and we were all satisfied, and God could finally allow His children to return to His home"
Charlie was sure she would have had to think about that exchange several times in the future to fully understand it, but even now she was convinced she had at least understood the gist of it. "Okay..." she murmured. "But what does all this have to do with redemption?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Peace said, and from her smile she seemed to consider that question rather naive. "Jesus opened a way for humans to fullfill all of us. Therefore, all humans who follow Jesus' path to truly fullfill us in turn. And that is the basis of redemption, both in life and in death"
"Wait, so redemption is based on completing the four of you?" Charlie asked in disbilief. "But you said yourselves that no human has ever succeeded in doing that except for Jesus...!"
"And so it is" Peace confirmed. "That's why his sacrifice was necessary. Jesus opened that way for all repentant believers. By completing us and placing himself as a bridge, he made us accessible to human beings even if full of sins"
Charlie was silent for a long moment. "I didn't understand anything" she finally admitted.
The four women in front of her giggled a little, even Justice. And it was she who said: "I think a practical example will make things easier. Let's take your friend Pentious, shall we?"
Suddenly, the scale on her shoulders grew larger and more massive, and an ethereal figure that undoubtedly looked like Sir Pentious appeared on one of the pans. The figure still had the appearance that Pentious had had as a demon, and in fact, he seemed even more evil and malicious than Charlie remembered. Needless to say, the scale bent so much that it almost crashed to the floor. "There he is" Justice commented with a little acidity. "A man who never listened to us. A being who always took refuge in lies, who forgot the values of mercy, who chose to favor war rather than peace, and who made himself extremely unjust. He denied all of us during his life, and he made me particularly angry"
"Is there anything that doesn't make you angry?" Charlie couldn't help but ask, quickly covering his mouth. "Um... sorry! Ignore that, please!"
Justice grunted in disapproval, but still didn't reply. "If we were to judge this man for the actions he has done, he would have no chance of receiving entry to Heaven" he said. "But Jesus changed the system. Jesus combined mercy with justice, and therefore, showing mercy to a repentant sinner is now righteous too. I do not have to judge this man in his entirety, taking into account every sin he has and then condemning him regardless, since no man is pure; I can judge him simply by taking into account the change he has chosen to undergo from the moment he chose to redeem his soul. All his sins have been forgiven, because he followed the path that the Messiah had opened for him"
"It all started with me" Truth said, stepping in between. "Pentious began his journey when he finally accepted the mistakes he had made. After a lifetime of self-deception, thanks to you, Charlie, he had the courage to really look inside himself and admit that he wasn't a good person and that he didn't like what he was seeing at all. And, much more importantly, he realized that he couldn't cleanse himself of all the bad he had done alone, and he began to hope that someone would show him the way. In his heart, he began to cry out for help, because he had finally understood that he couldn't do it on his own"
"And when that help came, he did not hesitate to follow it" Justice said. "He did not ignore the path, but even though it frightened him, he followed it. He denied his own cowardice and instead decided to follow a higher path. Piece by piece, he performed actions he had never done in life, until he made the ultimate sacrifice. Even if his actions only cover a fraction of his sins, that is enough because, as he has fully demonstrated, he has destroyed the person he once was; and for that, he deserved to be reborn in a new form, one that reflects the new him"
"And then he asked for forgiveness" Mercy said with a broad smile. "Not out loud, but deep in his heart, he asked to be forgiven for all his actions. He didn't think he was worthy of such forgiveness, but he had the courage to ask for it anyway. And in the same way, he offered his forgiveness to his enemies as well. He believed in mercy, and therefore he believed in me"
"And finally, he fought for peace" Peace concluded. "Not out of selfish desire, but to protect what he believed was worth defending. He sacrificed himself because he firmly believed that it was possible to live in harmony. He did it because he wanted a world where blood was not needed to solve problems"
"So, in conclusion, he has satisfied us all" Justice said finally. "In ancient times, all this would be meaningless, because I would take into account the sins committed before. But the Messiah has made it possible for a repentant sinner to be reborn. And since Pentious has in effect transformed himself by following all of us, he followed the Messiah's way, and completed his redemption; therefore, I judged only the man he is now, not the man he was before. Therefore, my final judgment is that he may enter Heaven"
And with that the scales moved, lifting the image of Pentious again; it vanished, as if it had been erased by someone, and was instead replaced by a pure and uncontaminated soul, which then changed and transformed into the angelic form of the serpent. "I... I think I understand" Charlie murmured, watching that spectacle. "Jesus made it so that anyone who follows his path will be cleansed of sins and reborn... and Pentious, completing all four of you, followed his path... and since he was reborn, his body is now free of sins, and can therefore enter Heaven"
"You got it," Justice said, and finally a small smile formed on her face. "Maybe you're not so irredeemable after all"
Charlie ignored that comment. “What about Husk?” she asked. “I don’t even know when he redeemed himself…”
“Oh, it was during the battle with your friend with the bright smile” Truth answered. “But he had been following me for a while. He had long since realized what kind of person he was. He just… never had the courage to try to change”
“But he started to have it thanks to you, or rather, the experiences and encouragement he received at your hotel” Justice commented. “He started acting differently, putting others before himself. First with small gestures, then with ever greater sacrifices. Until he got to the point where he really showed me that he had changed, having had the courage to face the thing he feared most in order to save other people. He showed that the man he was, the servile coward who had ruined so many lives, was dead, and a new person was taking his place. That new person was what I judged”
"And he acted to protect his friends, out of pity for them" Mercy said, her smile growing wider. "He would have willingly faced an eternity of suffering if it meant saving just one person. And deep in his heart, he too asked for forgiveness for his past actions, and because of that forgiveness, he refused to back down until the very end"
"And finally, he too fought for peace" Peace said. "Because he too believed in a peaceful world. Because he believed in you, and he wanted to help you at least a little to achieve what you wanted. Because he wanted his friends to live free from fear. That's enough for me"
Charlie bit her lip. “So, to redeem the people in my hotel, I have to make them accept their mistakes, make them change, make them merciful and peaceful, and then, by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice, their souls will be cleansed and then you can welcome them back into Heaven…” she said, rubbing her chin. “It sounds easy to say, but the more I think about it, the more difficult it seems”
“Oh, it is” Truth confirmed. “But you’ve done it twice before, haven’t you?”
Charlie smirked. Yes, indeed, it was difficult but not impossible. In fact, now that she finally had a full picture of how redemption actually worked, maybe it would have been easier than before. Maybe.
However, her expression quickly darkened: “And to fall from Heaven… you have to do the opposite?”
The four women around her took on sad expressions. “Yes” Peace confirmed. "Adam, his soldiers, your father... all of them rejected the four of us to the point where it was impossible for us to keep them here. They chose chaos over peace, vengeance over mercy, lies over truth, and they created their own twisted idea of justice. They strayed from God's way to the point where they rejected it entirely, and in doing so, they rejected Him as well"
Charlie looked down and clutched the hems of her dress. Finally she asked the fateful question: "What should I do with Adam?"
The four women were silent for a moment. "Adam is unique, and he is suffering. Much more than what he lets you see" Mercy murmured sadly. "But that suffering will overwhelm the entire cosmos. We called you here precisely because you are the only one who can show him a better way again"
"How?" Charlie asked hastily. "Tell me how, please! I will do whatever you want, I will redeem Adam and all of Hell if that is what you want, but tell me how! I have no idea how to get him to listen to me, the more I try the more distant he seems to become...!"
"That is precisely why you have a chance" Peace told her. "No one likes to be told they're wrong, so they try to keep those people at arm's length. The fact that he tries to distance himself from you the more you try to help him is proof that a part of him still listens to you, and can be saved. And through him... you can save everything"
Charlie opened her mouth, and then closed it again. "Please, give me specific instructions" she begged.
Truth flew in front of her nose: "Here's one: you need the full picture before you face your most important battle. And to get the full picture, you need to find the only being in the cosmos who suffers more than Adam"
Charlie was shocked. "What? How!? Adam has spent thousands of years despairing for humanity!" she protested. "He is literally the first father, and he felt all the atrocities that have occurred since the Fall like they are his own! What other being can...?"
Charlie was suddenly silent. A thought flashed through her mind. "But... where there's a father, there's also a mother..." she muttered under her breath. "I have to... find Eve?"
"You're making progress" Truth said happily. "Eve is an important piece of the equation"
Charlie bit her lip. "So... I have to find Eve?" she muttered. "How can I do that? She's been missing for... well, thousands of years! I don't even have a clue..."
She stopped. No, she technically had a clue... Abel and Cain were out in the open, and they seemed to know something. From what Abel had told them, they must have interacted with Eve at least a few times. "They... can help me...?"
"They can" Peace confirmed with a smile. "They can lead you to her. Although they might not be so happy to do so"
"Why wouldn't they be happy to lead me to her?" Charlie said. "I mean, I get that after years of living with their mother, it might not be all sunshine and rainbows, but... I'm just asking to talk to her, it shouldn't be a big deal, right...?"
"Everyone thinks it's okay to talk to the lizard" Peace told her with a strange look. "But only the wisest people can see the dragon behind it in time"
Charlie swallowed. "What do you mean? Eve could be... dangerous...?"
"Everything in the universe can be dangerous" Justice said in her usual menacing voice. "Even a single atom can wipe out life. And the rule that applies throughout the cosmos is that what gives life can just as easily take it away. A sun can illuminate and warm a planet, but it can also burn, sterilize, and ultimately devour it. A comet can deliver water and life-sustaining elements to a world, but its impact can wipe out everything. A planet can host all kinds of life, nourish it with its soil and atmosphere, nurture it with its oceans, but at the same time it can release the molten magma in its depths and unleash massive eruptions capable of wiping out millions of creatures. Everything that gives life can take it away, so why would you expect the one who was literally born to give life to be any different?"
Charlie had gone quite pale; her pretty red cheeks had now taken on a faint pink tint. "Okay, I was worried before, and now that you've told me this... I'm genuinely scared" she said. "Can't you tell me what to expect when I find Eve...?"
"Nope" Truth said with a smirk, and then leaning close to her ear, as if she were telling her a secret, she whispered: "But I can tell you this: the second one she shows you is the right one, not the first one"
Charlie was silent for several moments, trying to understand those words. "Um... what does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said" Truth answered innocently.
"Oh, come on! Really? Can't you help me at least a little?" Charlie exclaimed. "You're the truth, right? Shouldn't the truth be revealed?"
"I revealed you the truth" Truth replied. "I just told you the truth straight out"
"Well, I didn't understand a thing!" Charlie said. "You weren't clear at all!"
"Still with this tendency to contradict those who see further than she does" Justice commented, narrowing her eyes. "What an arrogant person. With a stubborn heart like that, she'll never get to the end of the journey"
"Calm down the hotheads" Mercy said, stopping her before she could do anything. "Charlie, Truth just told you the truth in its simplest form. I know you'd like a more detailed explanation, but that's just how she works. Don't waste your time looking for subterfuge or hidden meanings because there aren't any; it's just the truth, and if you remember that when the time comes, you'll understand"
Charlie bit her lip; she suddenly felt very guilty. She looked back at Truth, who continued to stare at her innocently as if she didn't understand why she was angry. "Okay, sorry" she murmured, then she turned to the others: "And you? If she can't, than can't you be more specific...?"
"We are not the truth. It is not up to us to give you revelations" Mercy replied. "We can give you guidance to act according to justice, mercy, and peace. The only one who can give you the truth, has already given it to you"
Charlie sighed. "Sorry to say this, but... it's kind of hard to talk to people who are literally the embodiment of concepts"
"She's telling the truth" Truth said with a chuckle.
Peace put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know you wish we were different, and that we would give you the solution right away. But we can't. We can only point you in the right direction to find your way"
Charlie looked down discouraged. "What if I can't find the way even if you point it to me?"
"Oh, that happens a lot" Peace said, then she smiled. "But the opposite too happens a lot. And if you weren't so hard on yourself and pessimistic about your abilities, you might fall into the second category"
Those words didn’t cheer Charlie up. “I’m not known for being good at figuring out what to do, or listening to others, or… or a lot of other things” she murmured. “I’m afraid that… I won’t be able to do the right thing at the right time”
Peace took her face in her hands. Charlie felt strangely comforted and calm at her gentle touch. “It’s true that you’re not good at these things, but you have a much greater gift” she said. “You can see what other people don’t see. You can look into their hearts and feel when they’re hurting deep down, even if they try to hide it. And no matter what, you put their best interests before your own. Because it’s more important to you that other people are happy than that you are happy. And that, believe me, is something that’s worth far more than any strategy born of simple reason. Let your kind heart guide you, and don’t hesitate when you have to listen to it to make your decisions”
Charlie looked into those calm and confident eyes. Peace seemed to be able to make her feel confident just by looking at her. For a moment she felt reassured... but then, fear took over again: "But I... I often didn't listen to my heart! I did a lot of stupid things and mistakes after mistakes, damn, it's technically my fault if all this mess started!" she exclaimed, putting her hands in her hair. "I... I'm not someone who can follow a divine mission! I'm not a saint, I'm not a chosen one! I'm the princess of Hell, the daughter of the devil himself, an idiot who killed a lot of Exorcists and who caused Adam's final downfall, who played with forces she didn't know, who acted before even thinking! I can't... I can't, okay? Whoever you're looking for, I'm not that one! You chose the wrong person! God chose the wrong person! How can I...?"
Suddenly, it was as if she had been hit by a hurricane: an immense force hit her and threw her at least thirty feet away. It didn't hurt, somehow the force hadn't even bruised her, but Charlie still found herself digging her nails into the ground to keep from being pushed back even further. She looked up and saw that Justice's scales had grown immense, towering over everything like a pillar, and Justice herself had grown to enormous proportions; her face was bursting with light equal to that of a million galaxies, and even though her eyes were covered by the blindfold, she could still see them engulfed in divine flames. "HOW DARE YOU!?" Justice roared, her voice resonating so loudly that it wouldn't have been surprising if it had been heard on the other side of the universe. "Do you think you can judge the decisions of the Almighty? Do you think you can say that He was wrong to summon you? Who is the one who created you? Who is the one who gave you a mouth to speak His word? Who gave you the legs to make your journey? Who has the power to make you mute, deaf, seer or blind? Isn't it Him? NOW GO!"
Charlie ducked instinctively, fearing that she would have been incinerated; it was as if there were thousands of suns in front of her, exploding and boiling with unimaginable violence. She felt as tiny as a mouse and felt the same sense of helplessness that a mouse would have felt in front of a cat. But immediately after, a new strength pervaded her, and once again she found Mercy's dress on her as if acting as a shield. "Be not afraid, Charlie" she said with a smile, touching her cheek. "We will be with you on the journey that lies ahead. Father will be with you as well, even when the situation seems desperate. Do not forget us, and you will know what to do"
Charlie swallowed hard: "But if I fail... it will ruin us all"
"But if you succeed, you will be part of the birth of something new" Mercy told her in a soft voice. "There is so much good in this world, and you can help make it shine again. Isn't that worth trying?"
Charlie remained silent. She was still very afraid, yet her heart felt lighter. "How do I find Cain and Abel?" she finally asked. "Will they be waiting for me in Hell when I return?"
"No, but you have someone who can lead you to them" Truth told her. "Look for Alastor. He is here in Heaven now. He will call them for you"
"Alastor?" Charlie repeated in surprise. "When did he get to Heaven? And why should he know how to contact them...?"
"You should ask him these questions" Truth replied. "It is only right that he should tell you that part of his past. Go to the thirteenth house at the palace of the archangel Sandalphon, you will find him there"
Charlie fell silent again. She seemed to think carefully, and then she nodded: "Okay... okay, I'll do it. I'll find Eve and... well, then I'll try to remember the four of you while... whatever has to happen happens"
The four women smiled smugly. "Good girl" Peace told her. "We knew we could count on you"
Charlie bit her lip. "Just one last question... I don't want to know all the steps, because I know you're not going to tell me, but... what is God's ultimate goal? I don't mean for the entire universe, just for... this thing we're going through? What is He hoping to accomplish?"
At which all four women, even Justice, burst out laughing. "Why do you all ask the same stupid question?" Peace asked, genuinely amused. "What purpose can a Father have if not to protect His children?"
And having said that, there was a strong light, and all four of them vanished in an instant. Charlie found herself alone again, and in front of her the elegant door she had entered through had reappeared, even though it should have been behind her, but she was used to not looking for a sense in the geometry of that place. Truth's voice trilled one last time in her ears: "And please, don't forget about us...!"
Charlie looked around, hoping to see them again, but she soon realized that there was no one with her anymore. And yet, for some reason, it was as if she continued to feel their presence, just as if they were next to her at that precise moment. This gave her a strange feeling of tranquility, as if she felt protected by something. She was still scared and tense, but her heart was much lighter than it normally would have been.
She stood there for a long moment, and then, after a sigh, pushed the doors open again and walked through the door.
Notes:
To summarize and make things clearer, here is an explanation of how redemption works in this universe; to make it clearer, let's specify some parts well:
1) GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHTEOUS: therefore He cannot make one of His characteristics prevail over the others, but all of them must be satisfied equally. Therefore after the fall, humans were not allowed in Heaven because they were all stained by sin, and therefore Justice, in judging them, could only condemn them. Therefore this was the judgment:
Justice: every human is guilty, therefore no human can access Heaven.
Mercy: humans are guilty, but in anticipation of a future forgiveness, we do not send them to Hell but to Sheol.
Truth: in the future there will be forgiveness (sacrifice of Christ).
Peace: humanity is not destroyed.2) SACRIFICE OF CHRIST: with his actions, Jesus in turn completed all four of these virtues in his life as a man, opening a way. Therefore, whoever trusts in Christ receives a new body. Therefore the new judgment is:
Justice: judges the new body, not the old, which is sinless, therefore approves that humans go to Heaven.
Mercy: salvation is offered to all, therefore all can go to Heaven.
Truth: salvation was promised, and that promise is kept.
Peace: humans are forgiven and harmony has returned to the cosmos.3) REDEMPTION: Consequently, to prove themselves true followers of Christ, sinners must follow his way and complete Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Peace. Once they have done this, having proven themselves reborn as new people, they receive a new body and are judged by it. And again, having received a new body, Justice is satisfied and they can then be welcomed into Heaven. Both Pentious and Husk completed this process, completely changing themselves, and thus received the new body and the new judgment, and therefore now have the right to be transformed into angels. Likewise, Adam, having completed the path in reverse, lost grace and became a demon.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 85): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160544
Among the lions (chapter 3): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/172107010
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 139: No longer you
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam was speechless at what Jesus had said. In fact, he seemed shocked. "The new... that I can create?"
"Why do you talk about it as if it were something absurd?" Jesus said with a smile. "Creating something new is the nature of life. Every living thing does it. And humans, in particular, do it all the time"
"That... ah! I don't know what to say!" Adam exclaimed. "I don't understand what kind of advice that would be! To create something new!? What kind of advice is that!?"
"The most normal advice you could ever receive" Jesus replied. "If the path you've chosen always leads to the same result, then maybe it's time to change direction"
"But I don't know which direction to take!" Adam replied.
Jesus' face seemed to grow sadder. "No, you know it. Everyone knows it, all the time. But you can't see it"
Adam fell silent. "What?"
Jesus sighed. "Imagine you are a climber" he told him. "All your life, your dream has been to climb the biggest mountain in the world. You have prepared for everything, you have studied the route to perfection. But then, once you get to the mountain, it turns out to be different from what you had expected. There have been small changes: an avalanche has moved some snow, warmer weather has melted some ice, some rocks have been moved by erosion. And so, the path you had studied so meticulously always brings you back to the same place. You could take another path: you have the skills, you are an expert in that field, you can do it... but you don't. Not because you are afraid, but because you have spent so much time studying that path of yours that now it is inconceivable to you to choose another. It never occurs to you that the path could be the problem. Every time you go back to the beginning, you blame your sense of direction, your less sharp eyesight, your compass, but never the path. And so you continue to go round in circles endlessly, dragging yourself further and further, as you grow old and weak and the mountain continues to seem farther and farther away". He paused for a moment, and then he murmured: "This is how I see you now, Brother Adam"
"Like a mountain climber who continually fails?" Adam asked.
"Not that fails, that doesn't see the way" Jesus corrected him. "Human history is unfortunately full of people like that. People who are convinced that they have studied every possibility and that they are really doing the lesser evil... and because they are so convinced, they fail to see the possibility of choosing the good. The same goes for you. Before you didn't have the possibility... but now, you can make a difference by saving much more than you are trying to save now"
"How!?" Adam replied with a hint of anger in his voice. "With redemption? Is that what you mean?"
Jesus sighed. "Redemption is part of the solution, but you have the power to do something that not even the girl you chose to give the task of taking your life can do"
Adam was about to reply again, but then he stopped. "What... do you mean?"
Jesus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Brother Adam. I'm trying to help you. But I can only guide those who are willing to listen to me. And I'm afraid you're not doing that now, so you don't understand"
"I'm listening! I'm standing right in front of you!" Adam growled.
"You're standing right in front of me, and you're hearing with your ears, but you're not really listening with your heart" Jesus warned. "You're not really thinking about my words. It scares you, and I understand that. But if you want my guidance, you have to try to open your heart and step off the path you've set for yourself. I can help you climb that mountain, Brother Adam, but only if you take my hand first"
Adam shook his head. He was upset enough already, and this conversation wasn't helping at all. "Oh, fine" he grumbled, standing up with the Ark of the Covenant under his arm. "If you don't want to be more specific, I don't see the point in continuing to talk"
"I knew you'd react like this" Jesus sighed. "Is it so hard to leave that path, Brother Adam?"
"Well, at least it's a clear path!" Adam exclaimed. "I'm trying, okay!? I'm trying, but I can't see this other option you're talking about! No matter what I can think of, it won't cleanse the Earth!"
Jesus nodded at that. "That's right. And that's your problem" he said. "You keep focusing on cleaning. I'm talking about healing"
Adam was silenced again. "But it's the same..."
Jesus sighed: "The fact that you can't tell the difference is proof that you're not trying to get off your current path at all"
Adam narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know why, but he felt crushed. Part of him wanted to try to figure out what those words meant, part of him thought it was a waste of time. It was as if his soul was being torn between two extremes.
Jesus stood up in turn, very calmly. “I cannot interfere with your choices, Brother Adam” he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Your life and your future are something only you can command. But the Father sees everything: what has happened, what is happening, and what is yet to happen, and I see everything through Him, too. And I know that the more you pursue this path, the more trouble and pain you will get, and the harder it will be for you to break free from your own chains. That’s why I try to convince you now to look at the creation of something new… but only you can choose whether to actually look at it”
Adam lowered his head. "What if I don't succeed?" he asked. "What if I can't... find the solution you want me to find, and continue on the path I've chosen?"
"Why do you ask that question?" Jesus asked in a tired voice. "You shouldn't focus on the future, or just the outcome. You have to learn to focus on the present. That's the moment that matters, because that's what really shapes your destiny"
"It's still important to pay attention to the future" Adam replied.
"But it's not at the expense of the present" Jesus told him. "If you want a fruit, you can't just ask yourself if you'll get it tomorrow; you have to take the initiative to plant the seed, grow it, nurture it, all now in the present. It is this precise moment that establishes the direction in which the universe moves, and each person with his or her individual choices takes part in this great mosaic. Yesterday is already history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today... is a gift. The gift to make your choice. That's why they call it present"
Adam took a deep breath. For a moment, a brief moment, he contemplated the possibility of staying silent, even for hours, thinking only of those words to find their meaning. But then he murmured, "Tell me anyway"
Jesus sighed. "And then you say you listen to me..." he murmured, and then his eyes shone a little: "But if you really want to know what awaits you..."
Suddenly, something changed: it was as if the air had become colder, no... it was as if the temperature of reality itself had changed, suddenly lowering. Even the light seemed to dim, including that which filtered through the closed lid of the Ark. In contrast, Jesus' eyes seemed to become brighter, like a sun that was rapidly aging and preparing to die.
Adam suddenly felt anxious, as if his very soul was fearing what he was about to hear. Jesus took his hand from his shoulder, and instead placed it in front of him; above his palm appeared what seemed to be streets made of golden light, but which quickly deteriorated, becoming dark and dark. And then Jesus spoke, and his voice seemed to have become more powerful, as if it were an echo that resounded throughout the cosmos.
"If it's your will, I'll give the answers you seek;
Time, I've unlocked it,
I see past and future running free.
There is a world where you succeed to save your home,
But right now, that's not a world I know"
Those words had resonated within Adam's very soul as if they had emerged from a funeral rosary. The first man was shaken to the core, and could not hold back a weak sob.
"What...?"
Did this mean... that he was destined to fail? That no matter what he did, the Earth would still have been filled with sin? That in the end, he would have been defeated?
Or maybe... that would only have happened if he had continued on his current path? If he changed, would there have been a chance to change things? Was this why the Messiah tried to talk to him and talk him out of it?
Was this why he said 'right now', referring only to what Adam was at the moment...?
Jesus gave him no answer. He gave no sign of having heard him. He continued to speak, expressionless, each word spoken in a lower and more threatening tone than the last.
"I see a world full of screams,
I see a queen falling from grace,
I see dark arrows and blood beams
And a king finally ready to face!
I see you all on the brink of death,
I see you draw your final breath,
I see a man who is able to protect his home again...
But it's no longer you"
Adam clenched his fists. His face was sweating and his lip was trembling. He brought a hand to his face, squeezing the base of his hair a little.
"This can't be...
Me, my girls, all of us,
We've suffered and fought through the toughest of hells,
And now you tell me our effort's for nothing...?"
Jesus did not answer again, but this time he looked directly at Adam. His gaze alone was enough to freeze him in place. He did not speak, but the first man could still instinctively feel that it was best for him to remain silent and listen to the end.
"I see a land covered in red,
Screams of someone you had long believed dead!
I see four children born just from a mother,
Waiting to follow a father..."
Adam stiffened even more. The words were even more disturbing to his ears than before. He felt deeply troubled as he mulled them over.
A land covered in red... could that be Hell? Or did he mean a land covered in blood? Did he mean that he would cover the world in blood, or that he would find the world covered in blood already?
Someone he had thought long dead... who could it be? Abel? Cain? Someone else? And why was there talk of screaming? Was it he who would make them scream, or something else?
Four children...
Who could they be...?
"I saw a monster made not more of flesh,
Holding his prey in his cruel mesh!
I see two brothers sitting next to each other,
And yet unable to join forces with each other..."
That was even more confusing. A monster no longer made of flesh... that was the only part Adam thought he could play well. The monster was meant to be him, transformed into something unrecognizable. Which meant he had Lucifer in his hands? He was his prey, right?
Or was it someone else? Maybe he would have changed targets, and the one in his grip wasn't Lucifer at all? But then... who? Who would have been the target of his fury?
But more importantly, was that a sign of victory or defeat? Jesus had never said the monster would have killed its prey, only that it was holding it. Would have the prey broken free? Or would have the monster's next move beem to devour it?
And then... two brothers sitting next to each other? Was he referring to Michael and Lucifer? They were the only two brothers he could think of at the moment.
Well, considering how the two of them didn't get along, that would also have explained why they couldn't work together...
But...
Adam was sure that he was still missing something. There was a detail that he didn't understand, but instinctively knew existed.
"I've seen secrets brought to light,
Hidden truths now being so bright!
I see a man kissing the most poisonous apple,
An apple with a trail of tiars..."
At those words, Adam turned to stone; that last sentence had scared him more than all the others had. He didn't know what the hidden truths were and he didn't care to know: his thoughts were focused only on the poisoned apple.
"WHO!?"
In his mind he had a precise idea of who it could be, but he hoped he was wrong. He had already been upset after seeing his children again, he couldn't also see... her.
He didn't want to see her again.
And above all, he didn't want to fall for it again. That woman had destroyed him once and he didn't want to repeat the experience. He hadn't looked for her in thousands of years, why would he want her back now?
A part of him wanted to at least know what had happened to her... but nothing else. He didn't want another relationship. Much less to kiss her again. As much as he remembered with love the touch of those lips, he didn't want to have them again after everything that woman had put him through.
So he hoped he was wrong. He really hoped that the poisoned apple was someone else, or that the man kissing her wasn't him. Anyone would have been okay, but not her. Not again.
Jesus narrowed his eyes more. He seemed unfazed by Adam's turmoil, but it was as if reality was starting to shake in his presence. The first man felt as if he were standing next to a sun ready to explode, and the last words reverberated so deeply in his soul that they seemed to come from within.
"I see a song of past romance,
I see the sacrifice of men,
I see portrayals of betrayal
And a loyal soldier's final stand!
I see you all on the brink of death,
I see you draw your final breath,
I see a man who is able to protect his home again..."
Jesus paused for a moment, as if taking a break, and looked straight into Adam's eyes. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, as if the entire universe had fallen silent to give him time to speak.
"But it's no longer..."
And he pointed his finger at Adam.
"... YOU"
And with that last word, the world became light: Jesus' body seemed to lose all contact with matter, releasing only pure primordial energy, the same contained within the Ark, but amplified an infinite number of times. The entire cosmos seemed to vibrate in its deepest foundations, as if its Creator himself had taken it and shaken it. Adam felt his eyes hurt and was forced to look away, but that was not enough: his very soul seemed to burn for an instant, a fire unlike any other mortal fire, which made him slide for an instant on his knees.
And when he opened his eyes again, a shadow was in front of him.
It seemed impossible since there was no wall or anything to project it, and yet it was so: incorporeal and enormous, the shadow slipped in the midst of that blessed light, as if trying to contaminate it. It looked like a dragon, but it was completely different: curved, with multiple limbs, the membranous wings deformed in several places, the tail more massive and ending in what looked like an axe. Adam could barely see it through the light, so the details were blurry, and no matter how hard he tried to see it, it only seemed to grow more uncertain and intelligible to his eyes.
And then the shadow turned its head, revealing its muzzle. A flat, massive muzzle, with large jaws and curved horns. It looked like a fusion of a human face and a tyrannosaurus rex, all made far more demonic. Twelve of what appeared to be misshapen feathers adorned its neck, encircling it in an almost symmetrical fashion, as if they were a crown first placed on its head but then slid back. The shadow had no eyes, as Adam could only see their empty sockets, but the blessed light of the room seemed to filter through them, making it a much duller and dirtier gold.
A golden light that was very reminiscent of the one that shone from his eyes when he wore the Head Exorcist helmet... in fact, that whole big head vaguely resembled that helmet, even if the monstrous features were definitely more accentuated.
The shadow stared at him for a moment, and then moved: like a hideous giant snake, it slithered towards Adam with its jaws wide open. The first man felt his survival instinct kick in, but this time his reaction was not to throw a punch, or to use his powers; what kicked in was something much more instinctive and ancestral, the most basic survival strategy. Adam's body froze, making him immobile, in the hope that the predator would not have noticed him. For the first time in his life, Adam was completely frozen in fear.
The shadow leapt at him, but it did not hurt him; on the contrary, it passed through him without causing him the slightest damage. Its jaws bit, its claws struck, its own enormous body tried to shatter bones, yet none of this touched the body of the first man. And yet, as the monster passed through him and vanished behind him, Adam still felt it touch him, not physically, but within his very soul.
And then, as the shadow creature's tail passed him completely, everything vanished. The monster, the light, everything. Adam found himself alone again, kneeling on the floor, with the Ark beside him, the door open as if inviting him to come out, and no sign of the Messiah.
Adam took deep breaths, trying to catch his breath. Instinctively he put his hand over his heart and clutched his dress. "What was that?" he murmured.
But no answer came to his ears.
Notes:
The song here is inspired by "No Longer You" from Epic the Musical. More specifically, in the original it is the song with which the soothsayer Tiresias gives Odysseus information about his future (spoiler: this is not what happened in the Odyssey, but let's skip over that, the song is beautiful anyway). Here I proposed it again since Jesus, being one with God, in turn has a complete vision of past, present and future (as he actually does in the Bible, since Jesus knew his entire life and the destiny of humanity long before being crucified), and consequently already knows what fate awaits Adam and all the others if things continue in this way.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 86): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160607
Among the lions (chapter 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/172569577
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 140: Separating
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam remained silent, staring at the wall for what seemed like an indefinite amount of time in his mind. And then, very slowly, he picked up the Ark of the Covenant and walked out of the room, back into the hallway. Not knowing what else to do, he headed toward the Great Hall, knowing that he would surely find Lute, Vaggie, and Charlie there. He did so by walking, however, without worrying about flying.
He didn't have to go all the way, however: halfway there, he found Charlie who was also walking back, escorted by Lute and Vaggie. She didn't have a good expression, and judging by the way she looked at him, he must not look very happy either. "How did it... go?" he asked her.
Charlie didn't answer. Her gaze remained somewhat lost. The silence worried Adam: "Is everything okay...?"
"She's been like this ever since she left" Lute told him. "Not even her beloved girlfriend could get her to talk"
Charlie let out a deep sigh. And then she finally opened her mouth: "I can't stay with you. I have a job to do, down in Hell"
Adam nodded. He had imagined it. "We are returning to Hell too. We can at least accompany you"
Charlie shook her head. "I think it's best for everyone if we split up. You're not the ones who are supposed to lead me" she said. "I won't tell anyone you're here... but I have to go now"
Vaggie put a hand on her shoulder. "What do you have to do?" she asked apprehensively.
Charlie sighed. She knew this would have been a sore point. "I have to find Eve"
Adam's face went blank for a moment, and then his gaze became fierce. "What!? Why!?"
"I don't know" Charlie answered honestly. "I've just been told that she is the key to understanding everything. I have no idea what that means"
"Understand everything!?" Adam blurted out. "What is there to understand? She disappeared thousands of years ago, how do you hope to find her?"
"I may have a lead" Charlie replied, thinking of Alastor. "But I have to follow it alone"
"You have to know more!" Adam exclaimed in exasperation. "She... what's the point of finding her? She didn't give a fuck about... well, everything for millennia! And now she's supposed to be some phantom key to understanding something? I don't understand! Why do you want to find her?"
"It seems obvious to me" Charlie told him. "Because it's God, the one with a capital G, who ordered me to"
Adam fell silent, his eyes widening slightly. He was silent for a moment, but then he looked down. "Go" he said simply.
Charlie nodded, and then she turned to Vaggie. "Be careful" she said.
"Do you really want to go alone?" Vaggie protested. "You could use a hand..."
"No" Charlie said quickly. She didn't know what awaited her when she met Eve, but the conversation she'd just had had made one thing clear to her: she didn't want any of the people she cared about around her when that happened. "Sorry, Vaggie, but... you can't help me. Not this time"
Vaggie would clearly have preferred to follow her to the most dangerous place in the universe, but she knew when Charlie was adamant, so she closed her eyes in defeat. "Promise me you won't put yourself in danger..."
"I could tell you the same thing" Charlie said back.
Vaggie bit her lip. "Why is it that the more I look at you, the more I feel like you're going to jump into a lion's mouth?"
"I'm strong enough to beat a lion" Charlie replied jokingly, with a half smile. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I'll... show up when the time comes"
Vaggie looked down, not saying another word. Charlie turned back to Adam: “Take care of her while I’m gone. Please”
“Are you really asking me to do that?” Adam muttered.
Charlie nodded. “I know you protect your girls, and that’s enough for me. Protect her, too”
Adam was silent for a second, and then he nodded sadly. “I’ll do my best” he said.
That was enough for Charlie. “Then… I’m going” she said.
She took a couple of steps to walk away, but Adam suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping her. Charlie turned to find the first man’s golden eyes locked on hers. “Be careful” Adam warned. “Someone doesn’t disappear for thousands of years just because they’re tired of society. I don’t want to think badly of anyone, but no matter what, watch your back when you’re around my kids… or her"
Charlie felt her stomach tighten and twist. Those words reminded her a lot of the words of the four Daughters of God, warning her to be careful with Eve. She felt a nasty shiver run up her spine again, but despite her fear, she remained determined in her position. After a final quick exchange of glances with Adam, she turned and walked away at a fast pace.
Vaggie bit her lip as she went away. “I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid” she muttered, her throat tightening.
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “I’m afraid the person she’s looking for might do more than she did” he said sadly. “Just like we might do while she’s gone…”
Vaggie’s eyes widened a little at that last sentence. It wasn’t something she’d expected from Adam. “What…?”
“Nothing” the first man muttered hastily. “Don’t listen to me. It’s just paranoia”
Vaggie obviously wasn’t satisfied with that; she was shocked, not stupid. She knew something was wrong. And Lute felt the same way, and it was she who asked the fateful question: “What did the Messiah tell you, sir?”
Adam was silent for a long moment. Not because he was pondering what to say, but because he had no idea. "I'm not sure" he finally admitted. "I guess I'll have to think about it"
Vaggie and Lute exchanged a quick glance. Adam had become more reclusive and taciturn since they had just arrived in Heaven, or rather, since he had seen Cain and Abel for the first time in thousands of years; and now, after the talk with Jesus, he seemed to have become even more so. He was… different: no longer confident, strong, and somewhat arrogant as he had been when he had literally defeated all the forces of Hell, and not even as emotionally troubled as he had been after seeing his sons again; it was as if he had become devoid of visible emotion, as if his heart had closed.
Neither Vaggie nor Lute knew what had happened between Adam and Jesus, but it was clear that the first man had been deeply affected by it. His golden eyes showed barely a fraction of the confident light they had had before. "Sir..." Lute tried to tell him.
"Later" Adam stopped her quickly. "Any questions... ask me later. Now let's go back to Hell"
When Adam answered like that, it meant he didn't want to talk... or rather, he preferred to think before speaking. "Shall we go back now?" Vaggie asked.
"We have no reason to stay here any longer" Adam replied simply, tying the Ark of the Covenant to his shoulder along with his axe. "We have what we came for, and what the Lord wanted to tell us, He has told us. Now let's return to our hideout. Then... we'll think about it"
Adam had been shocked by what he had been told and shown, but that didn’t mean he had forgotten that he was still in enemy territory. The path had been cleared for now, but there was no guarantee it would stay that way for long. If he had managed to imprison all the most powerful angels in Hell as he had planned, he could have taken all the time he wanted… but because of Pentious, who had figured out his intent, that plan had failed. Therefore, the best option now was to leave Heaven as quickly as possible.
It wasn’t that Adam didn’t want to think about what Jesus had told him; he certainly would have, but that was simply not the time or place. Regardless of what the future held, Adam had no guarantee that he would be able to return to Heaven; therefore, he couldn’t risk staying there too long and thus getting into a battle, which could result in the loss of one of the three relics he now possessed. Wasting time thinking at this juncture would have been pointless, counterproductive, and even potentially harmful.
From his point of view, the best option was to return to Hell as soon as possible, forge the weapon he had longed for, and do whatever he wanted to do after that. After all, once he had his weapon, he would have had nothing to fear; he would have finally been the one at the top of the food chain. Therefore, after that moment he could just sit in a corner and think about whether or not it was worth pursuing his plan, or if it was better to use another way; after that, at that point no one could threaten him anymore. Even if Lucifer, Michael, or any other angel had found his hideout, he would have given them a good beating.
It was a simple solution. It was logical. First worry about protecting himself and getting what he came for, and then think about everything else. After all, Lucifer now knew that the moment he had seen Adam again, he would have had to fight to kill him. The first man had made it clear to him, and the message had been received; there was no going back. If he hadn’t prepare properly, he would have been dead, and so his girls. Not to mention how Lucifer might decide to handle humanity once the space between worlds was stable again.
Regardless of what Adam decided to do from this point on, it was imperative that he was prepared to face the devil himself.
So he flew out of the palace, followed by Lute and Vaggie. Very quickly he left that place behind him and the great capital of Heaven appeared below him. Even from that distance, he could see the pearly gates. Once he had reached them, the way to Hell would have been open. Then he would just have had to go back to his hideout, and it would have been done...
"DON'T MOVE!"
That voice rang out across the sky of Heaven as if it had emerged from a giant trumpet: Adam almost lost his balance from the force of the sound, and Lute and Vaggie even fell a few feet before they managed to stabilize themselves in flight. The first man let out a grunt, and as he looked up his eyes widened.
In the heart of a pearly sky, split by golden rays that filtered through clouds silky like divine cotton, an angel was suspended, whose six outstretched wings were like celestial petals. Two embraced him from the shoulders like a royal cloak, two wrapped him in a protective gesture and the last ones opened towards the sky, light but majestic, trembling in the light like veils of golden silk. His eyes shone with a soft but intense light, the color of liquid honey. His hair, blond like sand illuminated by the morning sun, fell softly on his shoulders; each strand seemed animated by an eternal breeze, as if the air itself danced around him in veneration. The halo above his head was not fixed: it turned slowly, changing shape as if made of liquid light, transmitting a sense of perpetual movement, like the heartbeat of the universe. He wore a long flowing dress, the color of ivory and pearl, with gold embroidery that moved as if sewn with the sun's rays, and on his chest was engraved an ancient sigil, an angelic glyph that pulsed softly, in rhythm with his own heart.
Adam gritted his teeth. "Gabriel" was the only word he spoke.
The archangel was looking at him with a mixture of concern and tension. His eyes darted over the three relics the first man was carrying, recognizing them one by one. "Adam... give me the Ark of the Covenant, and everything else you took too" he said, speaking for the first time.
Adam didn't listen to him: he didn't even answer him. His movement was almost instantaneous. He turned suddenly and opened a portal behind Lute and Vaggie: he didn't think about where they were going, he didn't care what corner of Heaven they would have ended up in, it didn't matter in that moment. He flew toward them and with a blow to their backs pushed them both to the other side, and then he was about to enter himself...
But he didn't make it: before he could go through the portal, someone grabbed him by the foot and pushed him back. It wasn't Gabriel, as Adam was still watching him from the corner of his eye, and knew he hadn't moved. The portal he was trying to pass through shattered in an instant, preventing Lute and Vaggie from rushing to his aid.
Adam freed himself by quickly turning his foot into shadows and slipping out of his attacker's grasp. It revealed itself to be another angel with six wings, whose skin, unlike Gabriel's pale skin, was dark enough to look burnt, and all over his body ran what looked like veins with the light of a sun emerging from them. His hair was red and long, shooting out in various directions just like rays; his eyelashes were red and his lips too, while his eyes were instead the color of gold. He was wearing a white, blue and red robe, edged with gold details. "You better calm down now, Adam" the angel warned him.
"Uriel" Adam said. "Don't try to touch me again"
"And you don't try to run away again" Uriel replied. "If you think you can get through a portal faster than I can catch you, you are free to try"
Adam was surrounded on two sides: on one side Uriel, on the other Gabriel. Two of the most powerful archangels had him cornered. And they did not remain just two for long: not a second later, four more winged figures surrounded him.
One of them was of medium height, with wings that were completely black, but the tips of which had light tinges of light, which were perhaps stars or something else entirely; his hair was also black and was kept in a thick mane, not long beyond the base of his neck, but still very thick. He had very pale and pearly skin and an expressionless face, and his eyes had both black irises and black pupils, making it impossible to distinguish them. He wore a black and white dress surrounded by golden patterns. Azrael, the archangel of death: that was his name.
The second was a woman a little shorter, whose hair was white, her skin was white, her dress was white: everything about her was actually white, except for some golden patterns around her shoulders and her eyes, which were red, but not a threatening blood red, but a pure, almost encouraging red, which seemed to convey vitality. She was Raphael, the archangel of healing.
The third was a girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail with golden ribbons, whose skin was yellow-orange like the sand of a pleasant beach in the summer, and whose eyes were green and seemed ready to grow like plants. Her wings were also green, ending in a sort of pink and blue floral pattern. She wore a white and gold dress, with long black high-heeled boots and very tight pants. She was Jophiel, the archangel of joy.
The last one was a petite woman, but still strong in appearance: she had iridescent skin that changed color depending on the light and wings that seemed to be made of enameled glass. Her hair was blond and long to her waist, while her eyes had pink irises and golden pupils that shone like stars. Unlike the others, she had much less elegant clothes, limiting herself to high-heeled boots, a yellow miniskirt and a white shirt, but they were still sewn with extraordinary skill. She was Chamuel, the archangel of love.
Adam looked around quickly, looking for an opening. This situation was problematic to say the least. "How did you find me?"
"Sandalphon got a tip" Gabriel answered. "She warned us all and we went looking for you. The six of us were patrolling the sky... we knew you would be passing through here"
"Adam... are you okay?" Jophiel suddenly asked with a look of tremendous concern. "I feel... a lot of darkness in your heart"
Being the archangel of joy, Jophiel could sense that Adam was feeling no joy at the moment. And she wasn't the only one; Chamuel could sense how dark his soul was as well. "I think you need help" she told her.
But unexpectedly, Adam didn't react. He was silent for a long moment, and then he just muttered: "This is really not a good time, guys"
The six archangels were more than a little surprised. They had expected a sarcastic comment, something typical of Adam. Or even a death threat. Or an attempt to get them on his side. They certainly hadn't expected that apparent passivity.
Gabriel flew forward slightly. "Adam, you know that we are your friends" he said. "Whatever the problem is, we'll be happy to help you... after you return what you stole"
Adam made a tired noise. "Friends, hm?" he muttered. "I know you're afraid of me. Don't bother saying it. I've lived with this for ages"
"Adam, you're talking nosense" Chamuel said. "I sense a lot of confusion in your mind"
"Really?" Adam chuckled softly, not at all amused or pleased. "Let's not kid ourselves. You tried not to show it, but our relationship changed after the Great Flood. I know you care about me, but I also know I scared you. I don't blame you for fearing me after you saw how far I could go"
The six archangels remained silent, and then Jophiel spoke up: "Adam... we know that we have not been there for you much in the last millennia, but do not think that we no longer consider you our friend and brother"
"You may have changed, but I still see in you a spark of the man you were in Eden" Raphael told him. "That's enough for us to love you"
"And precisely because we love you, we do not want to hurt you" Uriel told him. "You know that you cannot win against us. We can resolve this peacefully, here and now. There is no need to hurt each other"
Adam did not lose his dark expression. "Thank you. I do not want to hurt you either" he murmured. "So please... step aside. Pretend you did not see me"
"You know we cannot do this" Gabriel told him.
"You don't understand!" Adam exclaimed. "I... when I say it's not a good time, that's because it is. I need to go back to my shelter, sit down, and... get some air. So step aside"
Chamuel flew forward. She looked extremely worried. "Adam, I can feel how heavy your heart is right now. You need to..."
"Stop reading inside me!" Adam growled. "I... in less than three hours I've seen my world fall apart way too much. First my two sons show up at my moment of greatest triumph demanding to talk to me. Thousands of years without even showing up and now suddenly they're here again. Then the Messiah himself offers me a chat and tells me things that make my brain go mush. And finally, Lilith's offspring receives a divine mission and must now find the woman who ruined my life and who I had hoped to never see again, indeed, to be able to forget. Now... I'm really in deep shit"
The six archangels were clearly confused by his words, not knowing many of the events he was listing. Gabriel tried to speak again: "Adam, listen..."
"Now I feel lost" Adam confessed. "And I don't know what to do. If I go ahead with my plan, and everything goes to shit, it will be my fault. And if I try to find another way, and everything goes to shit... it will still be my fault. I... I can't figure out which direction I should go. So, the only solution I can think of is to go back to Hell and then to my refuge with what I came here for, and... I don't know, maybe think calmly, maybe wait for Charlie to find the solution, maybe for enlightenment to come to me"
"You can think together with us too" Gabriel tried to calm him down, even though he was starting to get really tense. "We can still..."
"I just know I can't just walk away from here empty-handed, or... it will all have been for nothing. And I might not get another chance to take this one" Adam said, looking at the Ark he was carrying over his shoulder, and then his fists clenched: "So... move over and let me pass. Please. I don't want to do this to you"
But the six archangels did not move. "Neither did we" Uriel told him. "But we cannot let you go"
Adam clenched his fists even more. "So be it" he muttered in a very dark voice. "In that case... let me show you what happens when a man has had a really bad day and now all he wants is to hit something as hard as he can!"
And after such words he moved without warning, his body hurtling toward the six archangels like a projectile. They weren't expecting that reaction, except Uriel, who stepped in front of them all. Adam raised his fist, ready to strike...
But Uriel raised his hand and blocked the blow. A devastating shockwave exploded between them, displacing the other five archangels. Uriel sweated a little and his hand was pushed back a little, but he remained adamant nonetheless. "Wrong choice" he said in a low voice.
And with that he pulled Adam toward him and kneed him hard in the sternum; the first man was launched away, but he immediately stabilized in mid-air. "Just because it's you, I'll make this quick" Uriel said, charging at him at full speed.
Adam would normally have responded with a taunt.
A sarcastic word.
An insult.
This time, he did none of those things.
Not a sound came out of his mouth; all he did was lunge at Uriel again. Angel and demon collided again, sending another powerful shockwave. Neither cared about words; all that mattered was fighting now.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 87): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/172086049
Among the lions (chapter 4): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/172569577
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 141: "I need your help"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie had immediately gone where the four Daughters had told her to go, which turned out to be a cottage-like house, where she would presumably have found Alastor. Charlie wasn't sure how he had managed to get to Heaven, but he had probably hidden in some of their shadows. What was certain, however, was that without Adam he was vulnerable, and she could therefore capture him and convince him (or force him) to take her to Cain and Abel.
However, caution was never too much, so she approached secretly: the curtains of the windows were closed, but inside the house there was a tree that grew from the floor below and emerged from the roof, thus opening a passage. She took advantage of that hole to be able to see and hear what was happening below. She hoped however that Alastor was not too far from the base of the tree, otherwise it would have been impossible to see him from that angle.
What she saw surprised her quite a bit: Alastor was actually there... but he was wearing latex gloves and a sort of apron, and in his hand he had a detergent and a sponge with which he was obviously reluctantly cleaning some ornaments. It was such an absurd sight that she had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. But what surprised her even more was the person who was with Alastor: a beautiful angel woman who was listening to him with a certain amount of attention.
Charlie knew who she was. He had never met her, but Vaggie had given him a description of what she looked like, and even though she was an angel now and not a human, those facial features were unmistakable. And then, seeing how Alastor obeyed her, there wasn't much room for doubt. This was his mother, the same woman who had been buried under that old tree in the mansion that Alastor himself had razed.
Charlie felt a little tender: so some sort of... family reunion was taking place? Well, that wasn't important at the moment. Having made sure there were no threats, she prepared to go in, but then she heard Alastor's mother ask: "So seven years ago you met the first victim and the first killer? And they are... merged together?"
"Something like that, yes" Alastor answered her. "Cain and Abel appeared before me and took me to another... place. There they ordered me to submit if I wanted to live. We fought, but... it didn't end well for me. I was forced to give in"
Charlie trailed off. Okay... that was interesting. She suspected Alastor wouldn't have spoken so easily if she were present, so she decided it was best to stay hidden and listen... at least for a while.
"What was that place they took you to?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's... hard to describe. It was still in Hell, but... not the Hell everyone knows about. Some sort of... world between worlds. After seven years I still don't understand how it works" Alastor answered her. "They call it the Refugium. Cain and Abel can't stay out of there for too long, once they run out of energy they have to go back in there, so... they use other demons to do their business". He let out a loud grunt: "I should have expected Zestial was one of them..."
"What kind of business do they have?" Elizabeth asked. "If they're isolated from the rest of Hell..."
"But that doesn't stop them from interacting with it anyway. I don't know much about them, as you might imagine they weren't very open with their secrets. Abel told me he was willing to tell me more if I proved myself loyal to them, but he wasn't easy to fool. He seems simple-minded, but he's not stupid" Alastor said with a grunt. "Cain and Abel forced me to make a deal where I gave them my soul, and they put a limit on my powers. They said they'd remove it only when I was no longer a loose cannon"
"Why did they want you?" Elizabeth interrupted. "I mean, I get that you're a capable overlord, but from what I understand, you're not the only one in Hell"
"I might take offense at that. There's no one better than me" Alastor said, a little annoyed. "Anyway... it was something to do with my powers. They're based on mysticism, occult magic, voodoo, things like that. It seemed like they had some kind of plan for it, since they tested me several times, as if to see how far I could go. But they never revealed their true intent to me... apparently they were afraid I'd spill the beans if I managed to escape"
"And you managed to escape" Elizabeth said.
"Well, that seems obvious to me. I was their prisoner for a while... but even they couldn't hold me back for long" Alastor replied. "I had been spying on them as they came in and out of the Refugium, and as soon as I was able to replicate the spell, I escaped. I knew I wasn't safe, however, as they would surely send someone after me. So I hid for the next seven years"
Elizabeth sighed. She knew her son had many resources: even if she had never been to Hell, she was smart enough to understand that if someone not only survived but thrived there, then they must be fit for that world. Still, it hurt to think that her son had to hide for seven whole years. "Was it difficult?" she asked him with a hint of apprehension in her voice.
"No, not at all" Alastor answered. "I had shelters ready to welcome me. In Hell you always have to be prepared to escape, especially if you are a powerful person and therefore make many enemies. Only a fool does not expect defeat, so I had already prepared myself long ago. I have spent the last seven years moving from shelter to shelter, never staying in one for more than a month, so as never to leave a trace"
"But your powers were still blocked" Elizabeth said. "Was that a problem?"
"I was the most powerful overlord around anyway. I just avoided overly populated areas and I was fine even if someone tried to cause trouble" Alastor answered. "I stayed away from Pentagram City, and went to more remote areas with less violent demons. If someone caused me trouble, I made them disappear before they could recognize me"
"Couldn't Cain and Abel track you down?" Elizabeth asked. "Isn't there some sort of... bond with a person you sell your soul to?"
"Technically, yes, but it doesn't give you omniscience" Alastor replied. "I can't know exactly where the people I have a contract with are. I can summon them, but only if I have enough energy, and I can't know where I'll end up before I get there"
"And Cain and Abel never tried to... summon you?" his mother asked.
"I told you, they are limited outside the Refugium. The more powerful a spell is, the more energy it uses, and the more energy they use, the less time they have before they have to return to the Refugium" Alastor explained. "I am still an overlord, and as soon as I escaped I placed all sorts of protection spells on myself. Summoning me is no easy thing, especially if I oppose the summoner. Cain and Abel would lose too much energy summoning me, and even if they succeeded, once they summoned me they would have too little energy left to trap me before being sent back to the Refugium"
Elizabeth nodded. "I see. It was more convenient for them to send someone after you"
"Yeah. After all, seven years is nothing to someone that is literally eternal. Cain and Abel knew I was alive thanks to our deal, and they knew how to be patient" Alastor said. "If only I had known my pursuer was none other than Zestial... slimy bastard, that's why he seemed so unsurprised to see me alive even after I'd been gone for so long. He already knew I had to be out there somewhere..."
"And then what did you do?" Elizabeth asked him. "Why did you choose to come out after seven years?"
Alastor's face darkened a little. "I didn't intend to hide forever" he answered. "And... those two had often mentioned the... royal family. A lot"
Charlie's eyes widened, and luckily she managed to keep her cool enough not to let out a surprised exclamation, or they would have heard her even from the roof. That was completely unexpected. Cain and Abel had an interest in the royal family? Why? She doubted it was just nostalgia for Uncle Lucifer and Aunt Lilith.
She wasn't the only one who was surprised. "The royal family?" Elizabeth repeated, shocked. "You mean... Lucifer, Lilith, the Princess Charlie...?"
"You know them?" Alastor asked a little surprised.
"It's hard not to know them when the princess of Hell goes around preaching redemption and destroying an army of angels, and killing the father of humanity to boot" Elizabeth replied. "I listen to the news. And I work closely with one of the most important angels up here. Or did you think I was out of touch?"
"Right... well, anyways, they mentioned them a lot, when they thought I wasn't listening. And it wasn't hard for me to connect the pieces" Alastor answered her, his face darkening and his voice growing harsher. "Seven years ago, Queen Lilith disappeared. That idiot Lucifer wasn't very present as usual, so... that left young Princess Charlie all alone. An inexperienced girl, ready to be exploited for whatever they wanted. They wanted to take advantage of the moment to... I don't know, whatever they had in mind, now that she was unprotected and therefore vulnerable. Or at least, that's what I came to believe. So for the next seven years, I kept a constant eye on the princess, waiting for an opportunity to get close to her without arousing suspicion"
"You wanted to make her your shield" Elizabeth commented, a little reproachfully. "If you could have tied her to you, you would have had a good bargaining chip with your captors"
"I didn't know why, but she was definitely someone they were interested in. Whether she was capable of destroying my deal, or whether I could use her as a bargaining chip, it didn't matter to me. I just knew that if I could make a deal with her, I could turn the tables" Alastor said. "And finally, after seven years of waiting, I found an opportunity. She wanted to open her Hazbin Hotel, and was clearly very disheartened by the lack of support she was receiving. I immediately jumped at the chance and went to her place, offering to be her patron. She initially refused any kind of demonic deal, but I was sure that if I stuck around long enough I could convince her"
Charlie rolled her eyes. She knew Alastor wasn’t a saint, and that he hadn’t come to the hotel without ulterior motives, and a myriad of other things, but it still bothered her a little that he’d come to her only because he suspected Cain and Abel were interested in her. It made her feel like a racehorse someone was betting money on.
She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. “That was very unfair to the poor girl” Elizabeth said sourly, but then she folded her arms and added: “But it didn’t all work out the way you thought it would, did it?”
"Huh?" Alastor muttered.
"Huh?" Charlie muttered too.
"Don't play dumb with me. It's been over a century, but I still recognize your expressions" Elizabeth said. "You've grown fond of her, haven't you?"
Charlie's ears seemed to open wider than before.
"Well, yes. She's a good girl, even if limited a little by her naivety" Alastor replied without much hesitation. "It's hard not to grow fond of her if you live under the same roof for too long"
Elizabeth smiled slightly. "So what did you do?"
"Of course, I chose the most logical path: I ignored those feelings of mine by burying them under extreme cynicism and nihilism" Alastor replied. "After that, I waited for the right moment and I took that deal from her, using psychological terror and emotional manipulation"
The smile quickly faded from Elizabeth's face: "Alastor..."
"Okay, it didn't quite go that way. It was less morbid" Alastor admitted. "I basically chose to make it a win-win situation. When Adam chose to attack the Hazbin Hotel, I offered to help defend it in exchange for an unspecified deal. I figured I'd use that to break my deal, and if it didn't work out, then I'd use that deal as a bargaining chip with Cain and Abel in secret. Basically, I'd tell them that I was willing to release Charlie from any ties to me if they released me, without forcing her to do anything. After all, when you have the upper hand you can ask for whatever you want. She wouldn't even notice"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Well, at least you thought about her a little" she said with a sigh. "But it was still a bad move"
"What can I say? I always think of myself first. Especially when my life is at stake" Alastor replied. "I had everything on that girl and I couldn't back out for a little affection for her. And I tried to find an alternative... I thought about involving her father, but then after seeing what a miserable and useless being he was I didn't want anything to do with it. So I used my only option"
Charlie instinctively looked at the same hand that had shaken Alastor's before, when he had offered her their deal. So that was what he wanted to ask her? Try to free him, or at least be useful to him so that he wouldn't be hunted anymore? In a way, it wasn't even that bad. She had honestly imagined worse.
Elizabeth shook her head and put a hand to her face. "Aaaah, let's stop talk about that" she muttered. "Rather, how did it end?"
"Well, as you well know, Adam attacked the hotel, and as per our agreement I defended it" Alastor replied. "I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some revenge on Cain and Abel, humiliating their father, so I went to confront him..."
"Are you an idiot!?" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I get that you're an overlord, but you don't have to be a mythology expert to know that man can knock down mountains! And you thought it was a good idea to fight him just for some stupid personal revenge? How did you think it would have ended?"
"Yes, I understand that now too!" Alastor said a little annoyed. "Anyway, I was beaten badly, but in the end we won the battle, and I had my deal. Now I just had to collect my share. But... I hesitated. Before I did anything, I wanted to make sure there couldn't be any bad consequences"
"For you or... for her?" Elizabeth asked him very inquisitively.
"For both" Alastor answered briskly. "I waited a couple of weeks... and at the end of them, a new sinner came to town. It was Adam, but we didn't know it yet"
"So Adam was really reborn as a sinner?" Elizabeth muttered. "Honestly, I didn't fully believe it"
"Oh, is that news also public knowledge?" Alastor asked.
"Of course not, but I work with the angel Sandalphon!" Elizabeth reminded him for the second time.
"Oh, right" Alastor said. "Anyway, long story short, Adam wants to cleanse the world of evil, and he offered me to join him. I did, and he helped me break my deal. And now we're almost there. We just need one last piece, and it'll be done"
Elizabeth bit her tongue. "Why do I feel like cleansing the world of evil involves massacres, bloodshed, murder, and so on?"
"There's no omelette if you don't break some eggs" Alastor told her. "Adam isn't killing innocents, only evil people. When he's completed his plan, he'll change Earth and make sure that evil people are eliminated as soon as they show their true colors. There will finally be no more wars, murders, rapes, violence, cruelty. And what happened to you... will never happen again"
Elizabeth was about to say something, but she was suddenly silent. Her eyes and mouth widened, and Alastor could feel her heart beating extremely fast. "You mean..." she whispered in a weak voice. "... that no one will ever do... that... again?"
Alastor let out a deep sigh. "Mother, what happened to you was... abhorrent. It shouldn't have happened, you didn't deserve it, and yet it happened anyway, and it's happening to who knows how many other men and women on Earth right now. This has gone on for far too long. I can finally put an end to this"
His mother let out a soft sob. She seemed to be conflicted about what to say, or even think. "Alastor..."
"I know I'm not a good person, and I apologize for breaking the promise I made to you on my deathbed" Alastor told her. "But this is who I am. I'm not a man, I'm a demon... I'm a killer. This is what I do. I feel no remorse for my actions and only enjoy killing. But... I can at least make sure that those I kill truly deserve it. Through Adam, I can finally rid the world of those like me... and those who destroyed your life". He looked in her eyes for a moment, and then he looked away: "I'd prefer it if you approved, but if you don't, that's fine. I'll continue anyway. I can't just pretend that it's okay to leave things as they are. Before the Judgment Day, I want to be able to say that even in my cruelty, I managed to contribute to something good"
Elizabeth was silent for a long time, clearly not knowing what to say. She looked completely lost. The confidence she had shown before was now gone, replaced by an expression of pure doubt, as if she was struggling to decide. "Alastor, I... well..." she muttered softly, and then she sighed and said: "Look, this is a lot to process and I need a moment to think about it, so... while I think about it, talk to that girl on the roof"
Alastor's eyes widened and his head snapped toward the roof. Charlie was also quite surprised, and leaned out of the opening to look down: "What... did you know I was here?"
"I work for a very high-ranking angel" Elizabeth said for the umpteenth time. "I have my own special tricks. Alastor didn't keep an eye on the surroundings since he was focused on me, but I still kept an eye on the house. I couldn't risk someone suddenly coming in with my son in the house"
"Oh... well, that makes sense" Charlie admitted, climbing down the tree.
Alastor gritted his teeth: "You... why were you spying on us...?"
Charlie bit her lip. And then she couldn't stop herself: "Nice apron"
Alastor was about to explode: "You...!"
"Alastor, don't be so rude" Elizabeth said, addressing Charlie much more cordially. "Welcome to my home. Make yourself comfortable"
"Oh... thank you. You are very kind" Charlie told her. "Al, sorry for eavesdropping, I didn't mean to, but... when I heard you mention Cain and Abel, I wanted to hear everything. The thing is... God gave me a task, and I need your help for that. You have to take me to them"
Alastor's eyes widened. "What?"
"You heard me right" Charlie confirmed.
Alastor's radio antennas screeched. "Did you listen to the part where I explained why I can't let those two see me?"
"Yeah, you made it very clear" Charlie told him. "Thanks for caring a little about me, by the way, even if you're an asshole about everything else"
Alastor chuckled. "So you actually want me to take you to two people who would be happy to take me out?" he asked rhetorically.
"I'll protect you" Charlie assured him.
"You shouldn't make promises you don't know you can keep" Alastor warned her. "Why would you want to go talk to those two? Are you hoping they'll help you against Adam...?"
"I need them to find Eve!" Charlie blurted out the whole thing in one breath.
In a split second, Alastor's face changed. For the first time ever, his smile didn't just falter; it vanished completely, and he made no attempt to hide it. His eyes widened and the color drained from his face, and even when he recovered from the shock, he struggled to force the smile back. "What did you say?" he asked in the lowest voice Charlie had ever heard him use.
The princess had gone pale as well. She couldn't remember a single time she'd seen Alastor genuinely scared of anything. The man had been close to death many times and had never been fazed by it. Which didn't please her at all. "I said I have to... find Eve..."
Alastor didn't let her continue; his shadowy tendrils emerged from his body and wrapped themselves around Charlie, preventing her from moving and pinning her to the wall. She could have broken free, but the surprise made her hesitate for a moment. "Uh... Al...?"
"That's a no" Alastor said through gritted teeth.
"Alastor, put her down" Elizabeth ordered.
But this time Alastor didn't obey her. He didn't even listen. "You're not going anywhere" he said, looking straight into Charlie's eyes. "Now you're going to sit here in Heaven and forget about whatever divine mission you were given"
Charlie gritted her teeth. "Alastor, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "You don't have to come to meet her if you don't want to, I just want to..."
"You don't go near that... thing!" Alastor growled at her. "I'd rather keep you stuck here for all eternity than let you meet her! She's not what you expect her to be! I don't know what she used to be, but now, she's not someone you want to be around!"
Charlie was speechless. "Al... have you already met Eve?"
"Met? No, not at all. I just saw her from afar, and that was enough for me" Alastor answered. "I won't let you near her. It's a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies, let alone you!"
Alastor looked like he was about to salivate, but Elizabeth put her hands on his shoulders in a motherly way. He took a few deep breaths and finally seemed to regain some measure of calm. Charlie bit her lip, feeling more anxious than ever. "Al... what happened... between you and Eve?"
Alastor's shoulders shook slightly, and Elizabeth moved a little closer to hug him from behind. But despite that, he answered: "I've only seen her once, when she came to meet Cain and Abel. It was rare for her to come out of her hole, usually they came to her, but every now and then she would come back. I wanted to try to get close to her to convince her to let me out of the Refugium, so I snuck up on those three while they were talking, waiting for an opportunity"
Charlie took a deep breath: "And...?"
"She seemed like a typical mother: she treated her children lovingly, smiled, scolded them when they argued... a normal mother" Alastor answered her, and then his eyes narrowed: "But then... for a brief moment, she turned to me. Neither Cain nor Abel had noticed my presence, but she knew I was there. She just looked at me... and smiled". A shiver ran through his body: "In my life I have seen and faced every possible horror... but that was the moment I truly learned what terror was"
"What did you see?" Charlie whispered.
"I didn't see anything. I felt it" Alastor replied. "For the first time ever, I felt a sense of utter helplessness over something. And fear. An instinctive fear deeper than any other. I wasn't facing an apex predator, or a deadly disease, or a natural disaster, or the end of the world... it was all of those things, but much worse. I knew that person could at any moment take me and do things to me that would make me regret being born. For that single moment, I thought I was experiencing the real Hell, even more real than the one I was already living in. And she... I don't know, maybe she read my mind, but she put a finger to her mouth as if to signal me to shut up, and then... I heard her voice in my head"
Charlie swallowed. "And what did she say to you?"
"Just this: Hell? Hell is just a mere word, my dear. The reality is much, much worse. And the voice she used to tell me that... wasn't the same voice she used to talk to her sons. It was something... unnatural" Alastor replied. "She didn't say it because she wanted to make me understand something, because she felt the need to explain, because she wanted to warn me. She was just... amused by my reaction, and she wanted to say that sentence out of spite. Then she stopped looking at me and went back to talking to her sons, as if nothing had happened. I just stood there, and then, as soon as I managed to regain mobility, I turned and ran away. I never looked back. I realized that, no matter what the future held for me, even the worst fate of all, it would still be better to interact directly with her"
Charlie sweated profusely. It was the first time she had ever heard Alastor speak with such fear in his voice, he who had faced Lucifer, Michael and Adam with a smile on his face, and she would have greatly appreciated never having heard it. It was scary as fuck to say the least.
But despite that, she did not give in to fear. Instead, she said: "Al... I appreciate your concern for me... but I have to do this"
Alastor's eyes glowed red: "I won't let you...!"
"You know you can't hold me back, Al" Charlie told him, and to further emphasize this, she tore the shadow tendrils off his body. "And you know how stubborn I can be. I don't know why God wants me to find Eve, but I know she is the key to getting to the bottom of... well, I don't know, something. And I intend to find out what it is"
Alastor let out a growl mixed with a hiss. "You might not like the answer"
"Do I seem to be getting answers I like lately?" Charlie asked back. "Al, please... you said you care about me, and I understand that you want to protect me... but if you really know me, you know that there is no worse torture for me than not being able to do anything to help. Even if you keep me here in Heaven, you will not make me happy"
"Sometimes it is better to be unhappy but alive" Alastor said.
Charlie was about to reply, but it was not she, but Elizabeth who spoke: "Really, Alastor? It is better to be eternally unhappy?"
Alastor turned slightly toward her, looking at her from the corner of his eye: "You don't agree too, I hope!"
Elizabeth sighed: "Alastor... God asked her to do this" she reminded him.
Alastor grunted. "I've denied God my whole life, I can do it again" he replied.
"You can deny God all you want, but you can't deny her too" Elizabeth said, looking at Charlie. "You know she won't stop just because you refuse to help her. She'll go find Eve on her own and find her somehow. You can't stop her. No one can"
Charlie was a little surprised by how well the woman could read her. "It's true. You know I'm going back to Hell and somehow I'll find Cain and Abel on my own. It won't be that hard now that you've basically emptied it, and their father is out there"
Alastor tightened his grip on his fists. It was rare to see him truly conflicted about something, but in that moment he was. His mother put a hand on his shoulder: "Alastor, listen... I appreciate that you want to... fix all the bad things that happened to me, I really do, and we'll have to talk about this... but right now I think you should take this girl where she asks you to. Whatever happens... it's obviously important"
Alastor was silent for a moment longer, and then finally gave in. "Oh, all right" he murmured, looking at Charlie with flashing eyes. "On one condition: you don't live my side. As soon as we enter the Refugium, you must be my shadow. And when we meet Eve, assuming we ever meet her, don't do or say anything that might upset her, and if you can't think of anything, let me do the talking. Do we have a deal?"
Charlie nodded. "Okay. Deal"
"You better mean it" Alastor warned her. "And that's not a threat, that's just objectivity"
Notes:
Let's remember: Alastor NEVER showed fear for anyone else. He respected the strength of his opponents and acknowledged their superiority, but he never admitted to being truly afraid of them, not even to Lucifer or Adam. Even against Cain he acted cocky even though he knew he was almost surely doomed. So, if Alastor tells you he's afraid of someone, it's someone you absolutely must NOT piss off.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 88): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/172544974
Among the lions (chapter 5): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/172974976
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 142: Cannot hold back
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Uriel didn’t waste time with nonsense like talking, reasoning, thinking. All of that was useless to him. He just reacted.
If Adam wanted to fight instead of giving up, he would have done it. By the time the other angels were still preparing to face the first man, the person they had once called friend or even brother, he was already on the move. A crimson flash that seemed to slide between reality, looking for a way to stop his opponent.
Uriel’s brain was working at an unthinkable speed, one that would have sent a normal person into an aneurysm. Thousands of thoughts per second. No emotion, just pure strategy. Adam hadn’t even finished stabilizing in the air before he was on top of him, hitting him in the face, in the chest, in the stomach.
Even for someone as tough as Adam, every blow was a jackhammer, every punch an implosion. The first man could barely see Uriel flying around him and hitting him over and over again. But the first man was not about to give up, and the moment his brain returned to function, he parried the next blow, sending a shockwave through the sky of Heaven.
Uriel's eyes widened slightly, wondering how Adam had managed to react: logically he couldn't have, since he was moving faster than the speed of light. But just like he did with Lucifer, Adam could predict Uriel's next attack by his position and movements, enough to parry his attacks even if he couldn't see them. And unlike Uriel, he knew how to take advantage of the opportunity, and in fact while the angel was still looking at him in surprise, he opened his hand and grabbed his wrist firmly.
And then he, too, began to strike.
Adam’s face barely twitched slightly, as if he were being stung by a mosquito. He struck and struck and struck, aiming for every opening, opportunity, or weak point. Everything was right: a subtle shift in posture, an imperfect gesture, a decoy. His mind was focused on one thing: defeating the enemy.
But Uriel wasn’t going to just stand by and watch. He jerked free and pulled back, and began to attack again. Adam avoided his blows, using his experience to know where he would strike, but even so he could feel the force of the shockwaves on his body. Uriel wasn’t Lucifer, but Adam knew he couldn’t play with him anyway: he still had five archangels to face, and Uriel hadn’t transformed into his true form yet.
And so, as Uriel prepared his next attack, Adam moved the lid of the Ark of the Covenant slightly. The light emerged forcefully from it, stopping the angel for a moment who suddenly opened his eyes: "You don't want to...!"
As strong as Adam was, there were still limits to his capabilities. His was, in no uncertain terms, a human body; as perfect as it was, created with every possible quality, it was bound by the physical laws present in the realm in which God had placed it. Adam could not arbitrarily choose to float in the air, because that would contravene the laws of gravity; he could use a spell to support his body and fly even without wings, but he still needed such support. And of course, the higher the gravity in question, the more energy he had to use in his spell.
The same was true for speed. Adam was already so strong that he could move even faster than the fastest cosmic ray, reaching the closest speed to the speed of light possible; but he could neither reach the speed of light nor exceed it. This was because no matter how strong he became, his body, like every other thing born in the mortal realm, was bound by the damned theory of relativity, and so the closer he got to the speed of light, the more his mass increased exponentially. No matter how strong Adam became, he could not lift infinite mass. If he could, he would have been literally omnipotent.
Angels, on the other hand, were created outside of the mortal realm, and this gave them some advantages. They could partially negate the effects of the laws of physics; in fact, you could say that they created small miracles, things that would otherwise have been impossible. And in the case of the most powerful angels, they could make themselves immune to the increase in mass due to the theory of relativity, thus being able to expend all their energy exclusevely on speed. A small personal miracle that allowed them to move much faster than the speed of light.
Adam had been unable to imitate that ability until then. Unfortunately, his power to imitate abilities did not apply to angels, and there was no spell that allowed him to alter his physiognomy so much, thus precluding him from faster than light travel. This clearly posed serious limitations in a fight: even if he used his resistance, strength and experience to compensate for the difference in speed, a person who moved faster than light still represented a significant problem, especially if they already rivaled him in terms of power.
But now... he had the Ark of the Covenant in his hands. And if he had the Ark, in which it was contained the power of God, he too could perform a small miracle!
The Ark's power emerged from it as he opened the lid slightly, rising up his arm and burning his skin like divine fire; but Adam then closed it immediately, and absorbed the power that had emerged, making it his own. It was like trying to tame a fragment of Creation itself, but he still shaped it and fused it with his body. Suddenly, the matter inside him became freer, no longer bound by normal physical laws: Adam wasted no time and converted all his strength into pure speed, with which he threw a punch straight at Uriel's face.
The angel was thrown away in a fraction of a second, so quickly that it was impossible to see even with their acute senses. The other angels' eyes widened as they saw Uriel thrown away like that. Adam himself was in disbelief: it was the first time he had been able to move like that. No limits, no increase in resistance that he felt every time he tried to use all his strength. It was not a simple spatial alteration, like that of the cross of Jesus, but a real movement outside the laws of physics. How fast had he managed to move? Twenty, thirty times the speed of light...?
After the shock; now he had no time to waste. Now that Uriel was down, he had to make sure he stayed down. Just as he had done with Sera, knocking him out for a while was the safest option...
But that initial moment of hesitation prevented him from reaching Uriel; the next moment, Jophiel was upon him. She was clearly furious, unable to tolerate Adam daring to confront them like that. Her hammer rose and aimed at the first man’s face.
The hammer thundered into Adam’s temple, the shockwave shaking the earth for miles, even though they were still hundreds of feet in the air. The impact knocked the first man sideways, knocking out at least a few of his teeth. Anyone else would have at least fainted and fallen like a meteor.
But Adam didn’t fall. He didn’t stagger. He didn’t falter. He turned toward her, blood dripping from his brow bone. His face was a mask of ice. He and Jophiel looked at each other, both full of challenge. "Why?!" she screamed, a tear rolling down her face. "Why are you acting like this!? There's no point in fighting between us!"
But Adam didn't answer. On the contrary, he grabbed her face with his hands and pushed her hard against her own forehead. The impact cracked the extreme hard skin of the archangel, making her scream. Adam's body was rapidly reinforcing itself with hyper-pressurized materials like he had done when he clashed with Lucifer, so a headbutt from him, even for an archangel, was like banging your head against reinforced concrete. Jophiel coughed up blood, but still didn't give up, and she too threw a powerful headbutt on him.
This time it was Adam's turn to be pushed back; his nose was broken, and even though it regenerated immediately after, a gush of blood still emerged from it. Jophiel let out a scream of rage and her hammer rose a second time, hitting Adam squarely in the base of the neck. This time the first man was pushed violently downwards, and Jophiel took advantage of this by appearing in front of him to strike him from below, thus obtaining double damage.
But Adam didn't let her hit her target; he turned at the last moment and elbowed her in the throat, then hit her forearm with a lightning-fast twist. She couldn't help but scream in pure pain as she felt her bones getting dangerously close to breaking. Adam wasted no time in picking her up by the back of her head, and in a precise gesture, slammed her hard into his knee. Jophiel felt the bones of not only her forearm but much of the rest of her body snap clean off. Adam prepared to deliver the finishing blow to knock her out, but before he could, something grabbed him violently and threw him away.
Uriel had recovered in that time, and was back at it. Adam growled and tried to shake him off, and the archangel threw him away in response; the first man didn't understand why, but an instant later another powerful punch hit him in the face, this time breaking his entire jaw. Gabriel had appeared behind him, also ready to fight. Both he and Uriel simultaneously threw a punch straight into Adam's chest.
The first man clearly felt his sternum crack and parts of his ribs snap this time; his regeneration quickly repaired everything, but the pain still didn't go away. Adam flew backwards, only to find himself surrounded on all sides. Raphael, Azrael and Chamuel had also entered the battle, and Jophiel had also recovered and was ready to give him a good beating.
Adam gritted his teeth. He knew he couldn't win against six archangels at once. None of them individually were on the level of Lucifer or Michael, but together they were a force to be reckoned with. Fuck, that was exactly why he would have preferred to imprison them all in Hell while he was in Heaven. Damn Pentious...
Of course, Adam was no pushover. He had an axe made of indestructible metal, a cross that could alter space itself, and a chest containing divine power. Even without those things, he could create black holes or launch quasars, and a bunch of other things. If it were a one-on-one battle, he would have gladly taken the risk. However, in a six-on-one, the outcome was too unpredictable.
So Adam made the most logical choice.
He channeled all his energy into pure speed, and taking advantage of the fact that he now had no increase in mass, he hurled himself upwards. He did not know how fast he reached: probably twenty times the speed of light, perhaps even more. In less than a trillionth of a second he was beyond the edge of the atmosphere of Heaven. The six archangels obviously followed him immediately, but in that fraction of an instant that it took them to reach him, Adam grabbed the cross of Jesus and changed the space around them.
For the six archangels, it was like being hurled away for sidereal distances in a millisecond; immediately after, the space around them curved and closed until it enclosed them in a veritable bubble. Adam knew that they would be able to get out very soon, and that when they did they would all be on top of him again, so he had to take advantage of that moment. So he headed straight for Jophiel: she was the one in the worst position at the moment, so he had the best chance of being able to eliminate her in the few moments he had available.
Jophiel didn't even see it coming: the altered space around her also altered her visual perception. What she did feel very clearly was the blow thrown with the handle of Adam's indestructible axe straight to her back, so powerful that her body seemed to tremble between solid and liquid, while her molecules fought to remain intact. She tried to react, to turn to hit him with her hammer, but it was already too late: Adam grabbed her by the head, squeezing her like in a vice. "Ultimate move: ELECTRIC SHOCK!"
Jophiel felt a shock of pure energy penetrate her very brain. Adam could already imitate characteristics that only stars could generate, and the amount of electricity he planted in her head was equivalent to that of a magnetar. Jophiel barely let out a sob, and then passed out.
No scream. Just a wet rustling. And then silence.
Adam threw her body away, leaving her floating outside of Heaven's atmosphere. He could have simply used his axe to cut off her head, but he didn't want to go that far. Even though angels technically didn't die, and Jophiel would be reborn sooner or later, he didn't like the idea of killing her. She had been good to him, and he had never had anything against her; he could just make her pass out.
Next, Chamuel. Adam had little time, so he couldn’t worry about the big fish right away: they would take too long to defeat. Even though everything seemed to be happening slowly, in reality only a few seconds had passed in real time. And years of fighting animals had taught him that it was much better to thin out the pack as much as possible before attacking the alphas, so that they had no backup.
As soon as he entered her bubble, Chamuel was ready. Unlike Jophiel, she had had a fraction of a second to understand what had happened and prepare to counterattack. As soon as Adam appeared, she darted behind him, with an agility that would have made any feline envious. As if she were a ball, she took advantage of the altered space around them to bounce in every direction, preventing Adam from seeing her. And then, with all the strength, speed and precision she could muster, Chamuel kicked him in the right shoulder.
Adam screamed in pain as his opponent's foot smashed through his bones like a battering ram. His scapula, clavicle, humerus and even some of the rib attachments snapped clean off. His arm slipped to his side and the indestructible axe fell from his hands. Chamuel rushed to grab it and throw it away from him before he could catch it again. For a moment, for the briefest of moments, it seemed to work.
But it only took one movement.
Adam spun around, every muscle charged with explosive power. Too fast. He grabbed Chamuel by the leg and pulled her back, then bit her shoulder. Chamuel let out a surprised sound, not understanding why Adam was suddenly acting like a beast, but it was too late: using Rosie's powers, Adam introduced pieces of his tongue into the angel's bloodstream, which turned into parasites that began eating away at her from the inside out.
Chamuel made a choking sound as she felt herself literally being chewed up from the inside, and with a yank she broke free. Using her powers, she unleashed a torrent of light directly into herself, vaporizing the parasites. The problem was, in order to disintegrate something literally made of Adam's body, the energy needed was enough to hurt her as well. Unwittingly, she boiled her own body from the inside out.
Adam grabbed her head with his still-intact hand and slammed her into his own chest; Chamuel's body bounced like a rag doll. A second blow literally flipped her over. The third made her feel like her ribs were cracking and blood was rising in her throat.
With her body battered from the inside out, she tried to return to her true form.
She didn't have the time.
Adam used his one working arm to crush her against his chest, a bit like a hug but much tighter. Not a death grip, just enough to stop her. And then he did the same thing to her as he had done to Jophiel: "Ultimate move: ELECTRIC SHOCK!"
Chamuel's brain, already damaged by her own attack, was fried by the electricity. Just like Jophiel, she barely let out a sob before passing out. Adam threw her away, and then yanked his shoulder back into place, increasing his healing factor exponentially. Even with his lightning-fast recovery speed, he was still taking a lot of hits. He quickly picked up his axe again, intent on attacking Azrael this time...
"STOP!"
The world seemed to shake for a moment, and Adam lost his balance in flight for a few seconds. An immense divine light was released like a rising star, making the sky whiter than ever. A moment later, a creature taller than a skyscraper had appeared in front of the first man.
Adam gritted his teeth as he saw Uriel return to his true form. "Shit..." he muttered. "Now things get complicated"
Uriel had become immense: taller than the Burj Khalifa, he appeared as an enormous column wrapped in a robe made of stars. His head was composed of a globe of fire that strongly resembled a sun, with a huge spiritual eye in the center and at least six other eyes that rotated around it as if they were orbiting. His six wings had become similar to those of a golden eagle and wrapped around his neck like an enormous cloak, and his arms, now six, were all joined together in a perfect sign of prayer. Behind him, seven flaming swords rotated in a perfect circle.
Uriel’s voice boomed like a fire mimicking sounds and words: “Stop. I command you to stop”
Adam felt his will fail him. A mental push crashed down on him like an invisible avalanche: Uriel literally held him in a mental vice, trying to separate mind and impulse. The first man’s eyes narrowed as he felt that enormous pressure generated solely by the archangel’s voice pounding every inch of his body, atrophying his muscles and crushing his bones. Adam trembled, and then a gush of blood emerged from his mouth.
But even so, he was not going to give in so easily. Like an earthquake destroying a dam, Adam roared and raised his head again, shattering that mental field. “That’s all… what you can do?” he said, breathing deeply.
Uriel's arms dropped from their prayerful gesture, unravelling themselves. "Such arrogance" the archangel snarled. "Must be punished!"
A single hand rose and pointed at Adam; as Uriel did so, one of his swords stopped spinning and swung toward him, its blade pointed at his chest. As it sliced the distance between them at a speed at least four hundred times the speed of light, the sword ignited with holy fire, becoming brighter than any sun. Adam raised his axe and let the extreme hot blade collide with it.
It was as if an unstoppable force had just found an immovable object: the explosion of energy that was generated was incomparable. Reality split into several pieces, although it did not shatter completely. Adam was thrown away, and even though his indestructible axe acted as a shield, he still felt the blow. His muscles were torn in several places, and even his skin opened up, creating deep, bleeding wounds. The first man trembled a lot as he tried to keep his grip on his axe, his best defense at that moment.
Adam spat saliva, blood and even his own teeth. "Fuck..." he thought. "The true form of an archangel is really on another level... I'm already bleeding heavily and I feel like he's just warming up"
While he was mulling this over, Gabriel reappeared among them: he too had managed to emerge from the space prison he had locked him in. With a lot of tension he looked at the small cracks in reality that had formed. "Uriel, stop!" he shouted. "If you continue like this, you will break spacetime! It would be a catastrophe!"
"I am aware of that. I will not make the same mistake as Lucifer" Uriel answered him with his deep voice. "If I limit my strength to this level, reality will not break. Even with that indestructible axe, Adam's body is still vulnerable. If I continue to hit him with this intensity, he will soon fall"
"Fuck... I hate to admit it, but I think he's right!" Adam thought through gritted teeth. He couldn't stay on the defensive for long, or those huge swords would tear him to pieces. Even if he could use the axe endlessly as a shield, sooner or later his arms would have broken.
Uriel threw a second sword at him, but this time Adam didn't wait: he grabbed the cross of Jesus and altered space itself to change the trajectory of the sword. The immense blade narrowly avoided him, and he took advantage of this to disappear: in a single movement he opened a portal and teleported himself directly next to Uriel's face, and there he moved his axe to strike him directly in the neck.
But at the last second, another of the giant swords came between him and his target, generating a shockwave that caused serious damage inside his own organs. “Futile” Uriel said, and swung his sword, striking him again; Adam was thrown away again, and this time the spurt of blood that emerged from his mouth was much greater.
Adam struggled to his feet. "This is really on another level" he thought through gritted teeth as he wiped the blood from his face. "No... I can't give up. If I give up now, it's over. I have to manage to score one hit". His eyes seemed to blaze: "Just one good hit... that'll be enough!"
He opened the Ark of the Covenant and took some divine power again, infusing it into his body to make himself even more resistant than before; then, he threw himself at Uriel. With one hand he held the axe, with the other he held the cross of Christ to activate its power. In an instant he transformed into a very fast dot that continuously teleported from one position to another, in a sort of absurd Russian doll made of space. In response, Uriel raised all six of his arms and grabbed six of his swords, while the seventh positioned itself above his head like a crown; with that done, he began to fight.
Adam spent at least two minutes dodging the opponent's blows. With his extraordinary speed he tried to get closer, and then, as soon as he realized that Uriel was about to hit him, he took himself away using the cross of Christ. It was all happening so quickly that it would have been impossible to keep up with it by any other means: a portal or even a teleportation would have been too slow.
Adam was scratched in multiple places, and every time one of those swords touched him, even the little power he had drawn from the Ark was ripped away from him as if it were something that could be cut. But despite that, he did not give up. He only needed one opening... just one... and finally he found it. Uriel had left a path open just below his neck. Adam lunged at it, ready to use his axe to inflict a deep wound...
But Uriel suddenly moved: instead of attacking with his swords, he raised his knee to strike him. Adam was forced to stop to parry the attack with his axe, but taking advantage of this Uriel threw a deadly punch at him. And it was not just any punch: what seemed to be dimensional portals opened in front of it, and it passed through them one by one; just like a lens, with each portal it became larger, until it was gigantic. Adam saw a fist the size of a mountain coming at him, which hit him with power beyond imagining. The impact was so strong that his body broke in half, folding all over on one side, as if it were tin foil. Adam flew away in that state, spat out more blood, and then did not move again.
Gabriel signaled Uriel to stop. "That's enough" he said. "It's over, Adam. You can see for yourself that you are no match for us. We were created to keep the cosmos in balance, in our true form we have the power to destroy entire galaxies. You have become very strong, but you cannot hope to keep up with us"
Adam did not answer. His body continued to float without any resistance in the void. Uriel reached out and grabbed him, and still there was no reaction. "Is he... dead?" the archangel asked a little worried, fearing he had exaggerated with that punch.
Gabriel bit his lip, and went to check. With relief he saw that his chest was still moving, although at very regular intervals. Fortunately, just at that moment Raphael and Azrael also managed to free themselves from their spatial prisons. "Raphael!" Gabriel called as he picked up Adam's axe. "Come here and make sure he's not in mortal danger. Then fix up Chamuel and Jophiel too"
Raphael immediately flew into Uriel's giant hand. "Hmm. You didn't go easy, did you?" she murmured, touching the first man's face. "At least you didn't..."
It all happened in an instant: Adam opened his eyes suddenly and his hands moved at tens of times the speed of light, and his palms crashed into Raphael's face from both sides. The angel was resistant, but even so her head was crushed almost like a melon. Before anyone could react, Adam had jumped up and thrown himself at one of Uriel's swords, and had driven Raphael straight into the blade.
Gabriel, Azrael and Uriel were petrified: "RAPHAEL!" they shouted in unison.
Adam flew at Gabriel at full speed, to take back his axe while he was distracted. He had purposely lowered his vital signs by using Rosie's powers in order to fool the archangels. However, even though he was sure that Gabriel was in shock, he turned around at the last second and grabbed him violently by the head: "WHY!?"
Even though Raphael wasn't dead anyway, since she would have come back to life in a few hours at most, seeing a comrade fall was not an easy experience anyway. Adam met Gabriel's eyes, recognizing his classic expression of anger and horror at the same time. "I'm sorry. I tried to let you live. But apparently you're too strong. I cannot hold back anymore" he replied, while his hand began to emit sparks of electricity.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 89): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160661
Among the lions (chapter 6): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173201824
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 143: Towards the Refugium
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The effects of the battle had not gone unnoticed. In fact, they were more than obvious. It was hard not to notice the giant angels fighting in the sky, who due to their enormous size were still visible from the ground despite the height they were at. For this reason, everyone, very cunningly, had hidden themselves waiting for the fight to end: even if neither Adam nor the archangels wanted to hurt anyone, if one of them had fallen from so high it would have caused quite a bit of damage.
Charlie, Alastor and Elizabeth had also noticed the fight. "Wow... that guy is really tough if he has the courage to face the archangels" the latter commented.
Charlie bit her lip. "They could kill him..."
"I doubt they want it. It's more likely that he will kill them" Alastor commented. "Which is not a problem, since he has no way to permanent kill an angel yet"
Seeing how tense Charlie was, Elizabeth put a hand on her shoulder, and she showed much more tact than her son: "Girl, don't be afraid. If the Almighty has given you a mission to stop Adam, then he will definitely survive this battle"
That logic was more than correct, and Charlie calmed down a bit. "Okay. Let's go then"
"I'll hide both of us in the shadows and crawl towards the gate" Alastor said, holding out his hand. "Leave it to me and don't fight. If you start to move or be agitated, your strength might be able to break the shadows and get out, and if that happens at the wrong time, it could end badly"
Charlie didn't like the idea, but Elizabeth grabbed her arm with a smile: "Okay. When do we start?"
Alastor nearly choked on his spit: "Mom, what are you doing!?"
"My son is going to have a conversation with literally the only person I've ever seen him be afraid of. As your mother, I want to be there. And besides, we've spent too little time together, we still have a lot to discuss" Elizabeth told him. "And I also want to make sure you actually take this girl where she needs to go, and don't change your mind halfway there"
"No way!" Alastor protested. "You stay right here, where you belong!"
"I'm afraid you don't get to choose where I stay, son" Elizabeth said in a gentle, yet warning tone. "So, these shadows?"
Alastor's eyelid fluttered. He knew he couldn't win an argument with his mother, and while he would have happily stood there all day waiting for her to give up, he knew she would have been willing to wait ten times that long. "Damn Zestial" he commented, as he needed to blame someone and in his mind if it hadn't been for that spy he would never have escaped to Heaven and therefore wouldn't have been in this situation. "He'll pay for this"
And with that he enveloped both Charlie and Elizabeth in shadow and became incorporeal himself; in an instant, he was nothing more than a stain on the floor. It was in that form that he glided away, heading full speed toward the pearly gates. There were no obstacles along the way; the advantage of not being the top dog was that everyone's attention was focused on someone else. He didn't have to fear resistance.
Above him, the sky rippled like a mad ocean, streaked with white and red. He looked up, and saw Adam and the archangels facing off in a duel that shook reality itself. Uriel's colossal figure radiated so much power that it shook his very bones. Even his shadows retreated a little at the sight, as if sensing the immense danger.
Each clash was a hymn to fury: thunder that didn’t belong to clouds, lightning that hissed ancient, forgotten names. The sound of their clashes echoed up to him, a mixture of broken chants and organ wails. Somehow, Alastor could sense the minds of the those challengers: Adam, in his worst shape and facing an opponent far too powerful than he, still radiated determination. The archangels, on the other hand, was like a resigned note, someone who didn’t want to be there, but who was forced to do what he was doing for the good of all.
It was just like the angels and demons of the collective imagination... but at the same time it was something more. This was something that no Hollywood special effects could match. No description could match it. It was a spectacle that could only be described as otherworldly.
Alastor paused for just a moment. Not out of fear, but out of curiosity.
The first man and the great archangel... what a spectacle. What an absurd tragedy. The archangels, the ones everyone in the sacred texts called incorruptible; and Adam, the beginning and the betrayal. The very balance of creation shattered. The representation of a hatred that had remained hidden for too long, the hatred of all humanity that was ready to destroy everything to get what it wanted. There was something ironic in all of it, even if the radio demon himself wasn't sure what it was.
Alastor narrowed his eyes. For a moment he wondered if he should have intervened. After all, he had only agreed to help Charlie track down Eve; he had never said he had changed sides. He still wanted Adam's plan to come to fruition. Leaving him there to face the archangels alone would have been counterproductive.
Perhaps if he had waited for the right moment, and then lent his power to Adam, the tide of the fight could have been turned. After all, a single moment was often all it took to win. Long fights only existed if one opponent enjoyed making the other suffer; otherwise, they always aimed for vital points. A real fight, one with the goal of killing the enemy, was destined to be over in a matter of minutes.
A single moment was all Adam needed to take down his opponent...
But no.
Alastor soon came back to earth. Thinking about it clearly, there was nothing he could have done. If he had managed to get closer, he might have had a chance of catching those beings off guard, but the power the archangels exuded even while standing still would have been enough to tear his skin off if he had dared to come within a kilometer of the two of them. Furthermore, the strength the archangels were displaying was nothing short of insurmountable, and would have made any attempt to intervene futile. The archangels were moving so quickly that Alastor could not even see his movements: Uriel in particular was breaking the speed of light so much that by the time ordinary mortals could see a single movement, he had already made a hundred more. Alastor had no chance of matching them.
Alastor knew when something was out of his league. There was no point in risking his life when any action he took would have had no effect. It was simply not a battlefield suited to him.
Adam would have had to fend for himself alone. Well, not that it was such a desperate battle for him. The corpse of Raphael and the fainted bodies of Jophiel and Chamuel testified that, even if his strength was leagues below that of the archangels, he knew how to defeat them.
That was enough for Alastor, so he completely stopped caring about what was happening in the sky and crawled back towards the pearly gates. He no longer looked up, even though he could sometimes feel the shockwaves reaching the ground; not shockwaves generated by the displacement of air, no, it was something deeper, as if reality itself was being shaken. Alastor did not care: his only intent now was to get past that gate that was now in front of him.
There was no one at the gates who could resist him. No one expected him to run, no one was looking for him... no one even knew he was there, after all. That was the advantage of being a master of deception and being able to move anywhere without anyone ever realizing he was there.
He stared at the gate for just a moment. And then, he literally threw himself through it. He dropped, out of the clouds, out of that realm.
Heaven disappeared behind him like a curtain closing. The shadow he had wrapped himself in dissolved into a whirlwind of darkness, sliding down into the abyss like a pitch-black comet, tailless, lightless. A broken comet, headed for a place that literally called itself the dark realm.
The crossing was no joke. It wasn’t like when they entered Heaven: Adam had split reality that moment, and even then the passage had been intense. Now it was even more so, but… at the same time, it was as if there was some sort of order. Although Alastor physically felt the realm he was in changing, he didn’t feel too uncomfortable: as long as they were in Heaven, everything was calm, and then… something different.
It wasn’t space. It wasn’t time. It was the interval between the two. Some sort of barrier in reality that normally couldn’t be crossed. When Alastor passed between them, he felt as if his very spirit was being torn away. Even the laws of physics, or rather of mathematics itself, seemed to have forgotten how to work there. Suddenly, Alastor was sure that if he tried to do any operation in that brief moment in which he crossed the barrier between the realms, he would get completely illogical answers. In that place, it was not strange that two plus two made five... or seven.
His body passed through the barrier in a time that from an outsider's perspective would probably have seemed like an instant, but to him it was... indefinite. An indefinite moment in which every rule he knew stopped making sense. Light disintegrated. Sound became geometry. Thought turned to dust.
And then, he was on the other side. And it wasn't like falling in an orderly fashion anymore. It was chaotic, rambling, meaningless. The hot atmosphere of Hell enveloped him, flooding his nostrils with sulfurous smells and burning corpses.
And finally... Pride.
He crashed into the ground like a comet, and even though he was incorporeal thanks to his shadows, he still felt the impact. The surface of Hell greeted him with a jolt, like a body gripped by a shiver. Alastor stood still for a moment, nothing but a dark shadow on the ground, and then it stirred and formed his eyes, which looked around intently.
Pools of black rain, molten glass, broken towers that twisted upward like paralyzed fingers. Pentagram City was just as he had left it: a ghostly landscape of ruins, the carcasses of buildings sleeping in silence, ash covering everything. No voices, no movement. The only thing Alastor could hear was the echo of silence... and the itch on his skin if he dared to go more than a minute without radiation protection.
Alastor chuckled at the sight, feeling a little proud. He knew he couldn't waste too much time, though, so he crawled through the rubble of the destroyed city. As he did so, he passed by the giant crater created by the bomb, which was still burning hot at the base. Damn, what a sight...
Eventually, he came to the Hazbin Hotel... well, at least what was left of it, namely the half-destroyed base and the collapsed walls that had been thrown several meters away. That was the only sight that caused him a little bit of sorrow, but he quickly buried it. His body emerged from the shadows, like a predator emerging from its lair after a long period of hibernation.
When his crimson eyes opened again, he decided it was time to be in the company of other people again, so he let Charlie and Elizabeth out of the cocoon of darkness he had transported them to. A bubble of shadow shattered like liquid glass, exposing the two women. Charlie staggered as soon as she was out, putting a hand to her forehead: "Urgh... finally. It was really dark in there..."
"Yeah, it's the best part. It's like a dream that refuses to end" Alastor told her with his usual smile, and then he immediately became more solicitous: "Are you okay, Mom?"
Elizabeth looked at Hell like an old black-and-white photograph. Her gaze was hard, sharp, and it was clear that she didn't like what she saw. But there was no disgust or contempt in those eyes; instead, a hint of melancholy clouded her gaze. "So, this is Hell..." she commented.
"It's not always like this" Charlie told her. "Usually it's... less quiet. And destroyed. And radioactive"
Elizabeth reached down and touched the ash-covered ground. She didn't say a word as she did it: it was almost as if she were trying to connect with that world, as if she wanted to understand what it had felt like when it was blown up. "Is this your doing?" she asked Alastor.
"I've done my part" the radio demon replied simply, and then he stared at the hotel: "Now excuse me, Mom, but you'll do the sightseeing later. We've got bigger fish to fry now"
Charlie turned in the direction Alastor was looking. Her gaze fell on the wreckage of the Hazbin Hotel, which didn't help her mood. In fact, you could tell a sharp pain shot through her sternum like a long, thin needle as soon as she saw him. "Why did you bring us back here?" she asked, confused.
Alastor didn't answer Charlie's question right away. His gaze was fixed on the ruins of the Hazbin Hotel... or rather, on something that had been very close to the Hazbin Hotel. His crimson eyes seemed to be fixed on something that was no longer there, and they shone with a nervous light.
And then, after Charlie started tugging at him a bit, he finally spoke: "Because the keys to the future, my dear, are always buried in the past"
And with that he set off towards a spot next to the Hazbin Hotel, no more than a hundred metres from the main building. Neither Charlie nor Elizabeth were keen on walking through that desolation, but they hurried along behind him. Soon they came upon some sort of large marble platform, cracked from all the stress it had been subjected to. "Here we are" Alastor said.
"Why? What is this place?" Charlie asked, not understanding.
Alastor gave her the smile he usually reserved for when he thought something was obvious. "Don't you recognise it?"
Charlie looked around. From her point of view, that place was all the same. After all, it was hard to find reference points when everything had exploded. "Skip the cryptic part and tell me right away..."
"It's a radio station" Elizabeth said suddenly as she touched some large broken iron columns that were sticking out from the sides of the platform. "We're at the base of what used to be a radio tower"
"It's not a radio station" Alastor corrected her. "It's my radio station"
Charlie finally put the pieces together. "Of course! This is where you had your radio tower!" she exclaimed, and sure enough, looking around she found iron beams and even antennas still partially intact, scattered everywhere due to the shock wave. "So... the passage to the Refugium is here?"
"You can access the Refugium from anywhere, if you have the key" Alastor said. "And I have it, right here"
And with that, his shadowy tentacles reached out to what had been the base of his broadcast station and began to crack the marble, digging into the earth. "The key...?" Charlie muttered as this happened.
"To enter or exit the Refugium, you need the key. It's not really a key, it's more of a... something that stabilizes your body so you don't get torn to pieces as you travel to the other side" Alastor replied. "The Refugium is a world within a world. If you walk straight in this one, you walk backwards in the other. You can imagine what would happen if you suddenly found yourself in reverse gravity. Your body would be reduced to mush. Why do you think no one in thousands of years has ever found that place? The poor people who did were killed before they even entered"
"Oh..." Charlie said a little worriedly. "And this... key keeps you from being torn to pieces?"
"Something like that" Alastor confirmed. "When I escaped the Refugium, I needed a key. And once I got out... well, you know I'm a pragmatic guy. I didn't want to go back to Cain and Abel, but... as insurance for the future, I just hid the key, not destroyed it"
His tentacles snapped the marble in half with a loud crack, opening a chasm beneath it. They continued to dig and pull out dirt, even after they were twenty feet deep. As they did so, Elizabeth asked: "Why did you bury it here, of all places?"
"If you want to hide something, put it in plain sight" Alastor answered. "Any enemy of mine would never expect me to hide something so valuable in my own undefended radio station. It's a trick I've used before, though never on anything this important"
Elizabeth looked at her son with a hard, yet understanding gaze. She didn’t know the station, but she sensed how much it meant to Alastor. The place was a part of him. A much bigger part than he wanted to let on. “You worked here?” she asked in a low voice.
Alastor didn’t turn around. “I broadcast here. For years. Decades. My voice was a distorted prayer for millions of souls. This station was once the only sound in the silence of Pride” he grunted. “But it doesn’t matter now. The station was just a piece of junk. I can rebuild it any time I want”
“It won’t be the same” his mother warned him. She was smart enough to know that if Alastor truly didn’t care about the station, he wouldn’t have defended it for so long in the past. He must have cared for it at least a little.
"For me, yes. I'm not a materialist" Alastor replied anyway, and then his eyes became redder than usual: "There it is..."
In one fluid motion, his tentacles pulled something out of the ground: a large block that looked like it was made of volcanic stone, hard and sharp. They placed it directly in front of Alastor, and as he touched it, crimson magic circles formed on its surface. "Did you hide the key there?" Charlie asked him.
"The radio station was unprotected, not what's underneath. I always put more than one defense" was the radio demon's response. "If anyone had had the wit to dig that deep, they would have found only this large, useless boulder and convinced themselves that there was really nothing down there. And even if there was someone capable of seeing through the ruse... this stone can only be broken by a special combination of spells, which only I know. If they get it wrong even once, it explodes and destroys what's inside"
"Wait, so we could explode if you get something wrong!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"Of course. But don't worry, my dear... you know I never make mistakes" Alastor answered her, and with that he began to whisper something. It wasn't the infernal language, nor any other language currently present on Earth; it was something more ancient, a sort of protolanguage that combined all human languages. The first language that humanity had ever used at all.
There was a vibration, and then, like a vein pulsing under the skin, a luminous line traced itself on the rocky surface of the stone. Other magical symbols lit up, one after the other, forming an intricate and increasingly united network. After a few seconds, Alastor stopped whispering, and only moved his hand, touching the symbols in a precise order.
As he finished, there was a crack. And then the stone split. Piece by piece it crumbled into pieces, revealing what it had held.
Inside there was just one thing: a small box, black as Alastor's shadow tentacles. Simple and smooth, carved with extreme mastery. No lock, just a lid ready to be opened.
Alastor took it between his fingers with an almost sacred delicacy. The box seemed to glow from within at his touch. "Hello" he said in a low, menacing voice. "Your master has come back for you"
Charlie's eyes widened. "So, that's...?"
"The gateway to the most inaccessible place in this realm" Alastor replied, opening the box.
Charlie hadn't expected a key in the conventional sense, but she was still surprised by what Alastor pulled out. It looked like a small bottle made of glass and covered in streaks of ferrous metal. On one side it had a blue symbol that seemed to imply calm, on the other a red one that implied hostility. And inside it was something even stranger: "Is that... a demon horn?"
"Exactly" Alastor replied, and then he became serious: "Good, now we have what we need. Are you still willing to continue?"
Charlie didn't even have to think about it: "Yes, and you already know that. Open that door"
"Okay" Alastor said, then he looked at Elizabeth: "Mom, here we part ways. I'll take Charlie to the Refugium, you go find Lucifer or Michael and explain the situation to them, and then as soon as the space between the realms is stable again go back to Heaven again"
"Sure, of course" Elizabeth said crossing her arms and not moving a step.
"Mom, I know you want to come with us, but be reasonable" Alastor told her. "It's better to have someone who..."
"Don't use psychological tricks on me, it won't work" Elizabeth warned him. "Don't try to manipulate me anymore or I'll ground you in front of all your friends"
Charlie couldn't hold back a chuckle, stopping himself when he noticed Alastor's glare. The radio demon then threw away the facade: "Mom, there are dangerous people on the other side, and they want me dead! I brought you all the way here and you're seeing with your own eyes that I'm walking Charlie in, I'm not running away!"
"I already knew you wouldn't run away" Elizabeth replied. "I'm coming with you because you're my son and I don't want you to get hurt. And I'm not defenseless like all of you seem to think"
"Mom!" Alastor protested. "I'm not opening that door if you come with us!"
"Then your friend here can snatch that key from your hand and open it herself" Elizabeth replied without changing expression. "Skip the melodramatic part and open that door"
Alastor gritted his teeth: "But..."
"Open that door!" his mother said in a decidedly more authoritative voice.
Alastor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay" he hissed. "When I find Zestial again, I'll kill him"
And with that he brought the key up to his eyes and started to turn it, while whispering something. The object remained inanimate, but then it started to rotate as if animated by its own life. A blue and crimson light began to be emitted from it, rotating like a strange yin and yang symbol.
Alastor let out a deep sigh. "As they say in these cases, when I think I'm finally out, they throw me back in" he commented in a harsh voice, and then he seemed to address the key directly: "Okay, assholes, you wanted me, so here I am. I'm coming!"
The key literally fused with his hand; not physically, it wasn't bleeding at all, but he could feel it pulsing under his skin, as if his heart was beating at double the rate. The cold metal became his fingers and the orb containing the horn settled into his palm. Alastor could feel his own body being coursing with an almost alien energy, and as it did so he pulled Charlie and Elizabeth so that they too were connected to him.
As it did so, both women could feel the metal of the key whispering. Not words, but an echo. An echo that seemed to come from both the distant past and the very near present. As if two eras had merged into one.
And then, the key in Alastor's hand emitted a burst of light; a sort of mixture between the blue and the crimson from before, almost purple, that formed a strange ring of energy above them, and then it violently lowered. Alastor, Charlie and Elizabeth were enveloped in it and in an instant it was like being hit by a bucket of water falling from a height of half a kilometer; an instant, and then nothing. The key stopped vibrating and came away from Alastor's hand, returning to normal.
Charlie had only half closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again he found that they were no longer in Pride. The entire world around them seemed to have turned to rock: rock deep down and rock in what should have been the sky. It was as if they were in a huge cave, but where the actual boundary was impossible to tell. Strange, root-like fluorescent plants were hanging from the ceiling, or emerging from the walls, or from the ground; what looked like blocks of crystalline amber were emitting light, illuminating everything as if it were day. And in the center of that rock formation was a large flat rock with strange buildings on it. "Is this...?"
"The Refugium" Alastor confirmed. "Nice, isn't it?"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 90): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/172481467
Among the lions (chapter 6): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173201824
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 144: Fight in the sky
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
While the bloody battle was taking place in the sky of Heaven, on the ground the city was being emptied. The victors were naturally frightened by the shockwaves coming from the sky, some of them so strong that they broke windows even kilometers below them. Under the orders of other seraphims on the ground, they were therefore seeking refuge under their houses.
The seraphims were quite worried. For the moment the battle was taking place beyond the atmosphere of Heaven, so even the shockwaves were no longer perceptible from the ground, but there was no guarantee of what would have happened if it continued. Uriel's giant form was visible even from that distance, and it meant that there was serious trouble ahead. Therefore, it was better to get the people to safety.
They were not the only ones who were keeping an eye on the battle. Near the pearly gates, half hidden in the shadow of the buildings, Zestial was admiring the sky with a rather impressed look. "What an incredible sight" he commented with an amused voice. "That's the spectacle I wanted to see"
The other demons weren't so calm. "Where's Husk?" Angel murmured. "He brought the message, why isn't he here already?"
"Give him time. He's probably trying to stay under the radar" Zestial told him. "Or the angel he warned held him back to ask him questions. Whatever the answer is, it doesn't matter. He did what he had to do"
"Of course it matters!" Angel protested. "He could be in danger...!"
"Angels don't attack other angels" Zestial reminded him. "Your friend is safe. You should think about protecting yourself, you might need it soon"
Angel would have loved to punch him, but he didn't since he knew he would have gotten hurt more than Zestial. "So... this is the plan? Let those crazy guys beat each other up?"
"For now, yes" Zestial simply answered.
"What if they defeat Adam?" Angel asked, narrowing his eyes. "I doubt your bosses will like it"
"Please, the angels have already proven how good they are at holding a prisoner. If they defeat him, I'll just have to intervene at the last minute to take him away. I won't even need you in that case" Zestial replied. "For now, my main goal is to stop Adam and prevent him from taking away the last piece of his weapon. If the angels do the job for me, I can only thank them. But I doubt it will end like this"
Angel grunted. "We're talking about very powerful angels, what makes you think Adam can win?"
"I wouldn't call it winning, but he can certainly get out of this alive" Zestial replied with an amused smile. "It's true, they are stronger, faster, and even more numerous than him. But humans have an advantage that no other creature in the universe has"
Angel felt a lump in his throat: "What advantage?"
"Our cruel cunning" Zestial replied. "No other life form is as skilled as we are at finding ways to make an opponent expose their weaknesses. And the more ruthless a person is, the more cunning they are. Now, imagine taking all the smarts of humanity and concentrating them into a single individual, and giving him thousands of years of experience... what do you get?"
Angel was silent for a moment. And then he muttered: "If the enemy is too powerful, smartness is not enough"
"No, but in this case, the gap isn't that wide. They still have the advantage, yes, but not by much" Zestial replied. "And Adam has been fighting creatures that are superior to him in strength, agility, and dexterity for thousands of years. He didn't just survive on the primordial Earth, he thrived on it. While the most powerful creatures that ever lived walked the planet, he ate the most powerful of all. He wasn't as strong as the tyrannosaurus, he wasn't as massive as the triceratops, and he wasn't as large as the brachiosaurus, yet he learned to win against each of his enemies. He faced hordes of demons, defeated armies, met opponents who surpassed his limits over and over again. And most importantly... he watched Earth for as long as humanity dominated it, learning every trick in the book. That's what makes him terrifying"
Angel was confused for a moment: "Sorry, I don't understand. What makes him terrifying?"
"That he is not a beast, nor a monster" Zestial answered as his smile widened even more. "He is... simply human. The perfect human. And there is nothing more terrifying"
Angel sweated a lot at those words. The worst part was that he thought they were quite true. "So... now we just wait?"
"Oh, no" Zestial replied, staring at the sky. "Now... we enjoy the show"
Adam moved his hand in a flash; a hot sheen of pure weak nuclear energy formed on it. The goal was to cut off Gabriel's head, but Gabriel noticed his movement and moved at the last second. Adam was able to snatch the axe away with his tail, but the angel punched him in the face and threw him away, making him lose his grip.
Gabriel stared at Raphael's corpse with wide eyes. He knew she would have been reborn, no angel truly dies unless under specific circumstances, but still, seeing her die like that made him want to vomit. Uriel was barely touching the corpse, which was still hanging on to its own sword. Seeing her like this was sending the archangel of light into a state of crisis.
The one who instead recovered immediately was Azrael: being the archangel of death, he understood the situation better, and as much as he was shocked, it was easier for him to handle it. His cold mind had already returned to Adam: "Idiots! Don't give him time to recover!"
There was a roar and a flash of light, and Azrael too completely abandoned all restraints, returning to his true form: the colossal body re-emerged in all its magnificence. He was at least two hundred meters shorter than Uriel, but he would still have dwarfed buildings like the Empire State Building. His six wings had opened like a train, and now, as if they were branches of a tree, they branched out into other smaller wings: there were so many of them, four hundred of them, with red, white, yellow and blue feathers, and with only the base of them black as the darkest night. His head had separated into four faces: a crow, an owl, a vulture and a phoenix, the latter burning with divine fire. His body had become entirely composed of arms and eyes, with a robe that seemed to be made of pure red fire.
Azrael raised his hand, and a scythe appeared in his palm: a scythe whose handle alone was at least a kilometer long, and whose crescent-shaped blade was composed of a golden plasma-like material dotted with circles of pure darkness that chased each other, like a sea of stars being continually devoured by black holes. He swung the axe in the air, a movement that seemed to slice away everything the axe touched, every single particle of matter; and then, he hurled it at Adam. The first man saw a gigantic scythe coming at him that seemed to spawn supernovas, magnetars, and black holes as it moved; its light was that of a small universe, its power enough to obliterate an entire corner of a galaxy.
Adam stood there, standing in front of it. He knew he couldn't stop that scythe. Even if he could get his axe back, the impact would have shattered his body. By dint of increasing his strength, Adam had managed to imitate supernovae, black holes, and even quasars, but now the difference in power was too great.
He couldn't fly away.
He couldn't defend himself.
He couldn't retreat.
Yet, his face was calm. No expression on his face, no nod: just silence. His heart beat irregularly: too slow, too controlled. Not the heartbeat you would have expected from someone about to be crushed.
Then, in one lightning-fast motion, he struck. Without warning, without a word, without the slightest hesitation, his arm extended like a living cannon, and grabbed Jophiel who was still floating unconscious in the void. He grabbed her by the foot, not caring if he might hurt her or even break her femur, and threw her body in front of him.
Azrael's eyes widened and he stopped his attack instantly; even though he was the archangel of death, even though he knew he couldn't kill another angel for good, his body still refused to ignore Jophiel's presence and froze his muscles. The giant scythe froze an instant before it touched the archangel of joy. The shock paralyzed Azrael for a fraction of a second, and that was enough for Adam to grab his axe again.
Then chaos ensued.
Fully armored again, Adam grabbed Jophiel and threw her straight at the blade of Azrael's scythe; he reacted instinctively and, to avoid her being impaled, he pulled back his weapon, but in doing so he exposed his body. That was all Adam was waiting for: he opened a portal and in an instant he was next to Azrael's neck. The archangel of death reacted and tried to grab him, but Adam used the cross of Jesus to change the space and alter the direction of his movement; then, he swung his axe with all his strength. A single swing forty or fifty times faster than light, which hit Azrael's neck squarely, tearing half of it off in an instant. The indestructible material of the axe could cut through anything, and the flesh of an archangel was no exception.
Azrael's four faces let out a soft scream; the archangel tried to recover, but while he was still thinking about what to do, Adam had already prepared his next move: using the cross of Christ he expanded the space inside the wound he had opened with his axe, resulting in the archangel's entire neck exploding. Adam then threw himself inside the severed neck and using his axe like a battering ram he passed through it to the other side, crushing the brain in an instant and causing a mass of blood and brain matter to explode from the skull. To achieve an even greater result, Adam preferred to completely obliterate the head: "Ultimate move: TRIPLE BLACK HOLE!"
Three different black holes appeared in three different points of the severed head, starting to devour it. Without any resistance from Azrael, his flesh and blood were torn and torn to pieces, and finally devoured entirely by the three black holes, which then merged into one and collapsed with a small flash of light. Only his colossal, headless body remained of Azrael.
Gabriel and Uriel were paralyzed. This was the second comrade to be killed in a matter of seconds. Looking at the headless body, both felt sensations they had never felt before, a sort of mixture between terror and total shock. And even more so when they looked at Adam, who was staring at them after making sure he had completely eliminated Azrael.
Something had… gone off in him. At the beginning of the battle he had been ferocious, but at least there was something in him, a sort of block that had prevented him from killing Jophiel and Chamuel, simply stunning them. Now, however, no emotion was present on his face. There was a metallic silence in his eyes. A cosmic void. And it was something far more frightening than any other horror monstrosity.
Because Adam knew he wasn't the strongest, or the fastest, or the most powerful there...
... but unlike the angels, he knew very well how to play psychological warfare.
Adam picked up Jophiel again and threw her at Uriel; just like Azrael, he also stepped back to avoid hitting her. However, Uriel was better than the archangel of death: instead of completely losing control of his movements to save his companion, he managed to avoid exposing vulnerable points and managed to catch her in mid-air with one hand. In an almost brotherly manner he closed her between his fingers, so as to protect her from any potential attack and prevent her from getting hurt.
Adam wasn’t the least bit impressed by this. His expression was completely flat. There was no hatred. No amusement. No irony. No sadness. Just the cold face of someone who was simply getting the job done.
And then, he grabbed Chamuel. And this time he didn't throw her at Uriel. Instead, he used her as a battering ram.
Uriel panicked as he watched Adam drag Chamuel straight for his swords, and he moved wildly to avoid impaling her. If he had kept his mind clear, he probably could have thought of a way to stab Adam from behind and free his friend; but the problem was that he wasn't thinking clearly at the moment. The mere thought of watching Chamuel get killed sent Uriel's mind into a tailspin.
That was why mental training was so important before going to war. The enemy didn't play fair. If they could drive you crazy, they totally would.
And Adam, unlike Uriel, had seen enough battlefields to know how to drive even an archangel mad. That was precisely why he had knocked out Jophiel and Chamuel in the first place. He couldn't win by force, but he could make the archangels sabotage themselves.
If he had been in Uriel's place, Adam would have killed both his opponent and Chamuel. After all, Chamuel could be reborn, so he might as well take her out right away and destroy the enemy in the process. But Adam had thousands of years of combat experience behind him that had fortified his mind. Uriel, on the other hand, had at most chased a few minor demons off Earth, nothing too difficult. He had never been in a situation where his opponent threatened to harm his friend with his own weapons.
However, this situation would not have lasted forever. Adam knew that if he wasted too much time, Uriel would have been able to think clearly again. After all, panic, no matter how strong, was always a temporary emotion. He had to take advantage of the opportunity while he had it.
Finally, Uriel left a path open. That was all Adam needed. In one instant, he let go of Chamuel and launched himself at the archangel's head, driving his axe into his giant central eye.
Uriel screamed as he felt the indestructible metal penetrate his skull and blind him; his other eyes widened so much that they began to bleed on their own. The flames that made up his head moved as if they had a life of their own and tried to burn Adam alive, but he had already made his next move: with just a movement, he threw open the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, exposing light so pure it seemed liquid. Uriel's fire collided with the most sacred thing in existence, and of course, the fire lost, pushing the archangel's head backwards.
Adam had stayed out of range, but half of his body was instantly charred; he let out a cry of pain, feeling his very soul burn as if he were being engulfed in red-hot iron. However, he still had half of his body functioning, and that was enough for him: it was that half that took up his axe and hurled a precise blow at Uriel's throat. Being a very powerful archangel was worth nothing if your opponent had an axe capable of cutting through anything, and you were exposing your neck to boot: just as had happened with Azrael, Uriel's head was severed from his body with a sharp blow.
Just before they went out, Adam looked into the archangel's eyes. He could see himself, half his face and body still burned by the Ark's heat, the rest stained with golden angel blood. But there was still no emotion on his face. Not even the slightest change in his face.
Only an absolute nothingness.
For a moment, he himself had a moment of confusion. Not too much, just enough to make him raise an eyebrow. He turned his gaze slightly, staring at the mess that had become the space around him, illuminated by the dim light of Heaven below.
Blood everywhere. Fragments of flesh, broken bodies, faces frozen in expressions of shock and pain. The enormous corpses of Azrael and Uriel continued to float in the void, Raphael was still impaled on one of the swords, Chamuel and Jophiel floated lifeless in the void.
And then there was him, still, alone, in the center. His calm breathing, his regular heart. As if nothing had happened. As if time itself had stopped.
But inside him… something was moving.
Not thoughts. Not regrets. But weight.
He would never have called it guilt. That was not the right name. It was something older. Deeper. An echo.
Those angels had been by his side for so long. They had defended a world that was not theirs. They had believed in him.
And he had just killed them.
One by one.
Not with strength. Not with speed. Not even with intelligence. He had killed them by simply exploiting their emotions. He had taken advantage of the fact that they had not struck him from the beginning with the intent to kill, and he had then taken advantage of the fact that they did not want to be responsible for the deaths of their comrades. He had not won because he was the best, only because he was the most ruthless.
He did it out of duty. Out of order. Because the future required the sacrifice of the past.
And then, it wasn't even right to call it a kill. In less than an hour they would have already woke up again. In two, every wound would have disappeared from their bodies. In three, not even a little pain would have remained. More than a kill, it could be defined as stunning the opponent a little more than usual.
But then… why did his hand shake, even now that it was all over?
Adam looked carefully at what remained of the archangels. He knew that from now on, everything between them would change. Their bond would never be the same again, if there was even one left. Just like after the Great Flood. You couldn’t look at someone the same way after they had done things like that.
Adam knew it. He understood it. He didn’t blame anyone for it. It was just the way things were. He had learned centuries ago to accept that there was no undoing one’s mistakes, and that what was done in even a brief moment of madness was destined to mark a man for life.
And yet, despite that knowledge, for just one, brief moment, while the blood still dripped from his axe, Adam closed his eyes. And he saw their faces.
Chamuel.
Jophiel.
Raphael.
Uriel.
Azrael.
Gabriel...
...
Wait a minute...
He suddenly realized that in his musings he had forgotten that one was missing.
And that second of hesitation was too long.
A flash of light so immense that it would have made a thousand galaxies full of stars pale exploded behind him, and he barely had time to move slightly to the side before a beam of energy that would have vaporized anything passed within millimeters of his face. Clearly, Gabriel had tried to strike him by surprise. Smart move...
He spun around. Gabriel was in front of him, finally free of any mortal constraints. He was at least twice as tall as Uriel, practically making himself a mountain. Everything about him was pure light: his face was almost invisible through it, and he had a confused look; sometimes he looked like a man, other times like a white lily, and his halo surmounted him like a diadem. His wings spread out behind him in every direction and seemed to embrace the cosmos, decorated with what looked like peacock feathers, but the colors were so ethereal and bright that they recalled the divine light. It was almost impossible to see his clothes, but it was clear that they were sumptuous, perhaps blue and gold in color, which seemed to emphasize his connection with the divine even more.
Adam looked at him, and Gabriel looked at him. The archangel’s eyes, barely visible through the light, held within them all the sweetness of understanding and the weight of truth. There was no trace of anger in him, no shadow of pride: it was calm beauty, quiet power, authority that did not shout but was felt in the soul. And yet, even though such feelings were practically nonexistent, Adam could feel something else, a kind of awareness that now was no longer the time to play.
Gabriel raised his hands; maybe there were two, or four, or six... Adam could barely see it. The first man flew backward, expecting the archangel to crush him, but Gabriel ignored him: instead, he grabbed the lifeless bodies of Chamuel and Jophiel. He held them for a fraction of a second in his palms, and then tightened his grip, literally making them explode in an instant.
Adam’s eyes widened, but then he understood. Apparently he had underestimated Gabriel... or had given him too much time to understand and make his decision. He had understood, he had understood that feelings were the greatest weakness in that moment, and so he had preferred to kill his two still living companions himself to prevent Adam from using them as shields or weapons again. He had understood that, if he wanted to stop him, he had to forget the rules of morality.
Adam didn’t know if Gabriel had made the decision the hard way, if he had convinced himself that it was okay since Chamuel and Jophiel would be back to life soon, if he was silently apologizing to them; Gabriel’s face was too dark to read his expressions. Honestly, Adam wasn’t even sure he cared. "Very impressive" was his only comment.
Gabriel didn’t answer him. He cupped his hands in front of his chest, and something appeared in them. It looked like a musician’s horn, or maybe a trumpet, or something else entirely, and it pulsed as if it were made of something alive, not inanimate metal. As he took it in his hands, the horn emitted a soft note, but it shook reality itself.
Adam squeezed his eyes shut, sweating profusely from his forehead. He knew that the next attack Gabriel launched at him would be no joke; in fact, he was pretty sure it would obliterate him in one hit. With a grunt, he folded his wings and lunged at the giant archangel.
Notes:
Just to clarify, before anyone in the comments complains: no, Adam is NOT stronger than the archangels. He can hold his own against them when they are in their reduced form (he did it with Lucifer too), but in terms of pure strength he has no chance if they are in their true form. Adam can generate supernovas and black holes, but these archangels are literally created to keep entire galaxies under control; Adam can move tens of times the speed of light, but Uriel has shown that he can move hundreds of times that speed, and we don't even know if that is his actual limit or if he can push himself further. The reason Adam was able to get away with it in the fight is the same reason Omni-Man manages to kill the Guardians of the Globe in Invincible: there too the Guardians of the Globe, or at least some of them, could kill Omni-Man, as many fans have pointed out, but they can't for one simple reason: the human psyche. Imagine suddenly seeing a person who has been your friend for years killing your friends: unless you are an extremely cold soldier, you would be totally incapable of reacting. Here it works the same way: not only were the archangels forced to fight against someone who has been their friend for millennia, but this friend of theirs also killed one of them in front of their eyes, and then used two more of them as shields to eliminate the others; this practically sent the archangels into a tailspin, allowing Adam to do what they normally wouldn't have left him the chance to do. For the same reason, Gabriel personally kills the last two surviving companions in the finale: he knows very well that otherwise Adam will use them against him, and he knows that he can't afford to lose control of his mind at such a delicate moment. Furthermore, just like Omni-Man, Adam is not coming out of the fight unscathed: not only is he physically exhausted (as shown in the fight with Lucifer, even if he can regenerate and respawn, he still gets tired and takes damage if hit too hard), but also psychologically, since for him too this is a fight that shouldn't have happened and that he didn't want to do. So, in conclusion, no, Adam is not strong enough to defeat an archangel: either he uses tricks, or he is destined to lose. If that were not the case, he would have had no problem continuing to fight Lucifer even after he transformed.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 91): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160691
Among the lions (chapter 7): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173492752
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 145: Old familiar face
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie’s jaw dropped as she looked around. The Refugium was something she hadn’t expected to find at all. It almost seemed absurd to her to think that they were technically still in Hell, because it didn’t feel like Hell at all.
The Refugium was like a world all wrapped up in itself: the entire cave didn’t seem to have a clear end, nor did it have a clear top and bottom. Looking up at the ceiling, Charlie literally felt like she was upside down, as it was full of plants growing normally up there, and she could even see animals moving through the vegetation without any problems: it was as if gravity was reversed for them. No… it was as if the very concept of gravity changed depending on the position someone was in.
In addition to the ceiling and the floor, there were land bridges and rock pillars connecting the two, but it wasn’t clear which direction they were actually facing. Furthermore, plants grew over them all, and the paths that ran along them often made a complete circuit of the bridge, making them upside down and upside down at times. Just like the ceiling and floor, normal gravity seemed like an alien concept here.
Charlie felt dizzy at the sight of this, and then, in her usual impulsive way, she ran to the side of the patch of land where they were standing and jumped off. The result was that she did a simple hop forward, and then found herself with her feet glued to the lower half of that land bridge, and from her new vantage point, Alastor and Elizabeth were the ones upside down. "But... but... that doesn't make sense...!"
Feeling completely lost, she began to walk forward, and then to run; the result was that she never took her feet off the ground and never fell as she was supposed to, but instead made a complete turn around the ground bridge, returning to the starting point. "This is not possible!" she shouted, throwing her hands in her hair. "I... how does gravity work...!?"
"I told you, this place is different from the one we were before" Alastor told her. "The laws of physics here are different from what you know"
Elizabeth was a little confused, too. A lot, actually. "Wow... impressive" she said in a low voice. "So... are we upside down or up now?"
"Good question. If you find the answer, give me a shout" Alastor told her. "Right now we are a world through another world. It's like a dimensional Russian doll. Through here, you can access any of the seven Rings of Hell"
Charlie rubbed her temples. They had barely been in the Refugium for two minutes and she was already feeling nauseous. "Can we access the Rings from here?" she repeated in surprise.
"Sure. Where do you think the light comes from? See for yourself" Alastor replied, walking towards one of the stones that emanated the light that filled the cave.
Charlie approached him and saw that through that strange crystal mixed with amber it was possible to see a barren landscape, with strange volcanoes in the distance, and a reddish sky. "This is... Wrath?" she asked, touching its surface.
"Yes" Alastor confirmed, pointing to all the other glowing stones. "Each of these crystals is a window to a Ring, even though no one out there can see it. That's why the light here is changing, it's made up of the light of seven different heavens, since each heaven in each Ring is different"
Charlie touched the crystal again, half expecting to be able to pass through it and find herself in Wrath. It was too strange a feeling. "We lived next to a whole other world and didn't know it..."
As she looked through the stones, however, she came back down to earth. Through the crystals she could see very well the state that all of Hell was in. Even if no Ring was as ruined as Pride, everyone was still having a hard time. This was no time for sightseeing. "We have to hurry" she said determinedly. "Where do we..."
A thump above her silenced her immediately; suddenly she felt a deep breath above her that ruffled her hair. She slowly looked up and found herself facing a huge yellow beak, at least three times her height and with a colorful crest on top of its head. "Get out of there!" Alastor shouted at her, throwing his shadow tentacles at the creature.
The beast was hit in the face and recoiled, emitting a shrill cry and spreading its immense wings, revealing itself to be a gigantic pterosaur. "That... is a quetzalcoatlus!?" Charlie exclaimed as she looked at it. "But... it's at least three times the size of normal...!"
The overgrown quetzalcoatlus lunged at Alastor with its beak wide open, and the radio demon responded by generating new shadow tentacles; To Charlie's surprise, the pterosaur broke through the magical wards, passing through with some difficulty, which normally should have been impossible. However, when Alastor hit it on the beak, the blow was strong enough to knock its head back and stop its charge. The animal fell to the ground with a thud, and the shadowy tendrils wrapped around it, imprisoning it.
Alastor made a static sound from his antennae, and he also gritted his teeth a little. Even though the quetzalcoatlus hadn't even touched him, Elizabeth quickly ran to check on him. "Damn..." she muttered. "I never thought I'd see you fight a dinosaur..."
"It's not a dinosaur" Charlie said, coming closer. "And I don't think it's an animal either, it's too big and it was able to break Alastor's barriers! What is it?"
Alastor grunted, "You're right, it's not an animal. It's an enhanced version, some sort of abomination that nature wouldn't allow to exist" he told her. "Now do you understand why I tell you that Eve isn't what you think?"
Charlie's eyes widened: "What? Did she do it...?"
"I'll explain later. We have other things to worry about now" Alastor said, clenching his fists. "If the quetzalcoatlus has tracked us, then the entire ecosystem of the Refugium already knows we are here. These creatures are like sentinels, and of all the creatures, these giant flying reptiles are the least dangerous. And then there are..."
The ground beneath their feet literally began to shake, so violently that the three of them almost fell to the ground. Alastor broke out in a cold sweat: "... the carnivores!"
With a roar, a gigantic head appeared from under the rock bridge and tried to bite them, and when Alastor closed all three of them in a barrier of shadows, the creature's teeth still managed to break through it slightly, to the point that it seriously seemed on the verge of breaking. The dinosaur had evidently approached from below, taking advantage of the inverted gravity so that they didn't see it coming. It looked like a giganotosaurus, but it was at least as tall as a three-story building and nearly fifty meters long, and every part of it was covered in muscle, steel-hard scales, and teeth and claws that could crush anything to smithereens. And as a testament to its strength, its second attack bit into a bit of the bridge they were standing on, splitting the rock into tiny fragments without the slightest effort and with a single bite.
Alastor jumped backwards, catching Charlie and Elizabeth in his tentacles. "Looks like the security system is on full alert" he said through gritted teeth. "Go to the city, I'll take care of this...!"
The giganotosaurus lunged at him again, and this time Alastor wasted no time: he immediately abandoned his restrained form and resumed his overlord form. His body swelled to eight meters, but he was still at least four meters shorter than the dinosaur, and a fraction of its weight. The giganotosaurus let out a roar, and its teeth emitted what looked like sparks, and it was possible to see magic circles drawn on them.
Charlie narrowed her eyes and in turn abandoned all restraints: the power flowed through her again and her demonic form emerged in all its power. With a leap, she threw herself at the giganotosaurus' head. Alastor's eyes widened: "No, stop!"
Too late: Charlie hit the giganotosaurus squarely in the jaw, catching it off guard and making it fall to the side. The dinosaur fainted instantly. "Ugh" Charlie muttered. "I hate hitting animals, but in this case..."
"You shouldn't have done that!" Alastor growled. "Why don't you ever follow what you're told!?"
"You should know me by now" Charlie said with a shrugger. "What's the problem?"
"Charlie, this entire ecosystem is interconnected! What you do to one animal alerts all the others!" Alastor replied. "They already know I'm an enemy, it was no problem if I fought! But now you too are a threat to this place, an infection that needs to be destroyed!"
"Oh... okay?" Charlie said with a lot of uncertainty. "I guess that's not a good thing..."
The giganotosaurus suddenly stood up, lunging at Charlie with its jaws wide open; she dodged a couple of times, flying away from its teeth to avoid getting hit. "What? It's still standing after that hit?" she exclaimed. "How much stamina does it have...?"
"And now it seems even more ferocious than before" Elizabeth commented, as the giganotosaurus continued to bite the air in an attempt to catch Charlie.
"These things are smarter than they look, and this big guy has figured out that Charlie is the strongest here" Alastor said. "Charlie, hit it with all your strength!"
"What!? No! I'd smash its skull in!" Charlie protested. "I don't want to kill it, it's just a poor beast...!"
"These creatures learn from their mistakes! If you don't take it down, it will tell the others to attack you by any means!" Alastor warned her.
Charlie bit her lip: "Okay... but only enough to knock it out!" she said, and landed another punch, much more powerful than before, on the giganotosaurus' jaw, which fell backwards with a thud. "Now is that okay...?"
The punch Charlie had just thrown would have wiped out a hundred elephants side by side, but the giganotosaurus stood up again; and on the contrary, this time it seemed to completely lose its mind. Its eyes lit up yellow and completely lost their pupils, and its veins turned black. Its next attack was extremely faster than before, and Charlie, when she grabbed its jaws and blocked them, could feel the pressure despite her strength. "What!? It's even stronger than before...?"
"Ever heard of adrenaline?" Alastor asked rhetorically. "Just imagine what happens when you put modified adrenaline inside a super-powered creature. That's why I told you to kill it, these animals go into full rage mode when they take too much physical damage!"
Charlie swallowed. She wasn't afraid of the giganotosaurus, she knew she could easily survive it: sure, that beast could crush rocks with its bites, but she could knock down small mountains if she wanted to. However, she didn't want to kill it or hurt it: it just seemed useless and cruel...
Wait...
Charlie narrowed her eyes. "So you see me as a threat, hm?" she muttered, remembering Alastor's words, and then she released her grip on the dinosaur's jaws. As soon as she did, the giganotosaurus bit her and slammed her to the ground, but she didn't react. The colossal creature stomped on her with its immense paw, but she still didn't do anything. The gifanotosaurus let out loud snorts, and roared right in her face; she, on the contrary, remained still and stared straight into its eyes. Not with a look of defiance, not with a look of fear, not with a look of defeat: just a simple look.
The giganotosaurus stopped, and even though she wasn't moving, it began to circle her, clearly fearing a trap. The animal's instincts warned it that the danger was over, but it still didn't trust her. Charlie remained still for a few more moments, and then she rose up and got to her knees. The giganotosaurus made a noise that was halfway between a growl and a roar, and retreated, thinking it was an impending trick, but she did nothing, waiting patiently.
Finally, the colossal dinosaur moved its head closer to her, sniffing her carefully. As soon as it did so, Charlie raised her hand as if to touch his snout. The giganotosaurus pulled back a little, but its instincts still did not detect any threat coming from her. In the end, very slowly, it closed the distance between them and let her touch its snout. Charlie felt the hard scales under her palm, but nevertheless moved her hand to caress it. At her touch, the giganotosaurus relaxed and closed its eyes, as if to tell her that it trusted her.
The scene was nothing short of astonishing. "Oh... I didn't expect that" Alastor admitted. "How did you...?"
"The Daughters of God told me to remember them and what they represent" Charlie replied, standing up while continuing to pet the giganotosaurus. "This creature didn't attack us for food or revenge, it was just protecting this place. You told it yourself, these creatures are like sentinels, so if someone comes here uninvited they expect them to attack them. It wouldn't be just to hurt this animal, we are the invaders here. I thought that if I showed it that I didn't want to hurt it, it would... agree to make peace"
"The girl knows her stuff well" Elizabeth said with a smile.
Alastor looked quite inquisitive, but before he could speak another roar, this time deeper and hissing, came from behind them; from under the land bridge another dinosaur emerged, this one similar to a baryonyx. It wasn't as colossal as the giganotosaurus, but it was still at least thirty meters long and had a rather menacing expression. It looked at the giganotosaurus for a moment, and it looked at it; and then, the baryonyx focused its gaze on Alastor again. "Looks like you're the main target again" Charlie exclaimed. "Do as I did, show it that you don't mean it any harm...!"
"Charlie?"
Charlie's eyes widened as she saw a familiar face emerge from above the baryonyx's head: "Odette!?"
It was her, and she wasn't alone as Clara also peeked out from behind the colossal dinosaur. "Charlie, is that you? How did you get in here?" they asked.
"I should be asking you that!" Charlie pointed out. "I thought you were dead and absorbed by Adam like all the other sinners!"
"Oh, no, Zestial brought us down here" Odette explained as she jumped off the baryonyx. "After our mother was kidnapped, he hid us in one of his safe houses, and he seemed fine with that... but after you returned from Earth and recruited him and Valentino, and Adam's plan became more known, he chose to keep us even safer, so he brought us down here... with the promise that he'll erase our memories as soon as we get out"
"Yeah. Which was a good thing, because a few days later Pride was destroyed" Clara said, then smiled and pointed to the baryonyx she was sitting on: "And then... come on, I'm riding a dinosaur! What more do you want from life?"
Alastor just grunted. "Zestial..." was his only comment.
Charlie smiled. She was happy to see the two girls still alive; she didn't know them very well, but they had helped her and Carmilla anyway, so it was a relief to know that they hadn't been killed by the bombs, nor absorbed by Adam. "It's nice to see you again" she told them.
"We are happy too... hey, calm down! Good boy, good boy!" Clara exclaimed, grabbing the baryonyx, who was still hissing at Alastor, by the scales on the sides of its head. Even though the dinosaur could have clearly thrown her away like a twig, it didn't. "Sorry, usually he's much more docile...!"
"Do you ride that animal often?" Elizabeth asked.
"I know it doesn't look it, but he's very peaceful. All the animals we've found so far are peaceful" Odette answered. "But since you guys showed up here, they've gotten super aggressive. It's like the whole ecosystem has gotten riled up"
"It's my fault" Alastor said. "They know I'm an enemy of the people who run this place, and that makes them mad"
As if to confirm his words, the baryonyx growled loudly, and the giganotosaurus also seemed ready to attack him again, although it was stopped by Charlie's touch. "I guess it's not a good idea to stay here and wait for more dinosaurs to arrive" she commented. "Let's go talk to Cain and Abel"
"They'd be right there in front of us if they were here. They're probably outside the Refugium doing something" Alastor commented.
"You mean the hottie guy with those big abs and those arms you can let knead all day?" Clara asked. "Yeah, he's been out a lot lately with that grumpy shadow of his, but he's never gone for too long..."
"I know. Cain and Abel have a time limit outside the Refugium" Alastor said. "Which means we're exposed until then"
"We can take you to Outpost" Odette offered.
"Outpost?" Charlie repeated, confused.
Odette pointed to the small town nearby. "They call it Outpost. Animals don't go there, not without an invitation..."
"Animals aren't the only thing I'm worried about here" Alastor growled. "If animals know we're here, the whole Refugium knows about us. And that includes people..."
A flock of winged creatures appeared around them, surrounding them on all sides; there were dozens and dozens of demons, some winged, some riding a pterosaur, a giant bird or some other flying mount. They were all different demons, but each one had in common the extremely ferocious expression. "Alastor" many of them hissed.
The radio demon narrowed his eyes. "This was exactly the welcoming committee I wanted to avoid"
"There are so many demons in the Refugium!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"Usually there are fewer" Alastor replied. "But I guess with Hell in ruins, everyone who works for those two escaped here as soon as they could"
"Alastor, you traitor!" one of the demons growled. "We knew you were a bastard, but we didn't think you could be such a stinker! Your actions helped destroy all of Hell! You're a traitor even to your own kind! Now we're going to make you pay!"
Alastor responded by already getting into an attack position, ready to fight. "Wait!" Charlie tried to intervene. "I'm Charlotte Morningstar, Princess of Hell! I'm just here to talk to your leaders! Please, listen to me...!"
The demons didn't listen to her and all rushed at Alastor at once. "There's no point in reasoning with these brainless fools, Charlie!" the radio demon told her. "The only language they understand is...!"
Everything stopped suddenly: a blinding light exploded, blinding everyone for an instant. Suddenly, it was as if a celestial choir had appeared in the middle of the Refugium, and the music seemed to have the power to tear away all negativity. In a matter of moments, the demons felt their murderous instincts disappear, their anger fade, their burning hearts die. Their charge stopped, and they stood where they were, enveloped in that celestial light.
And then, as quickly as it had come, everything stopped. The demons came to their senses, though now the only emotions they had left were confusion and doubt. They turned, and saw that Elizabeth had spread her wings, which had become so large and colorful that they looked like a tree in bloom. "Oh, that's better" she said with a smile. "Is it so hard to solve the problem with words?"
Everyone was shocked, especially Charlie and Alastor. "Mom?" the radio demon stammered. "You... how did you do it?"
"I work for Sandalphon" Elizabeth repeated for the umpteenth time. "You should start trusting your mother, son. If I say this job gives you advantages, I'm not kidding"
"Well, it was... a lot" Charlie admitted.
"It was just a little trick, really" Elizabeth replied with a smile, then she turned to the other demons: "Now, how about we resolve this without violence?"
The demons were frozen, not knowing what to do. They clearly hadn't expected to find themselves in a situation like this. But before they could make a decision, an authoritative voice stopped everything: "Enough"
Everyone looked up, and saw that a person had appeared above them. It looked like a man, or at least he had two arms and two legs and no tail or wings just like normal men; he was wearing armor made of what looked like angelic steel that covered him completely. Even though he had no wings, he was still floating in mid-air, and the reason seemed to be the magic circles he had on the soles of his boots. He had a red cloak on his shoulders and a helmet on his head, from which some horns were protruding; the helmet only had a small slit for the eyes and because of this it completely covered his face.
The strange individual landed in front of them with a thud. "Can't you recognize a princess, or an envoy from Heaven?" he scolded the other demons, and then he bowed his head respectfully: "Please, forgive their actions. These boys are not known for their intelligence, and in these times they are much more tense than usual. I hope you can accept our apologies"
"Um... okay!" Charlie said, a little nervous at all the sudden deference. "No problem..."
The strange individual raised his head. Through the helmet, Charlie could see two deep yellow eyes similar to those of a reptile. "Thank you" he said, and then pointed to Alastor: "I think you already know that there is no love lost between this individual and the owners of this place, so I won't waste time warning you. If you want to take him with you, go ahead, but I suggest you put him in chains"
"You can try if you want" Alastor replied, his eyes glowing red.
The mysterious individual let out a snort that created a cloud of steam through his helmet, clearly not appreciating that retort. But before the two demons could argue, Elizabeth flapped her wings violently, creating a gust of wind, drawing attention to herself. "No one chains my son" she warned them in a soft but firm tone.
"Yes, I agree with her... sort of" Charlie said, although after everything Alastor had done she wasn't too opposed to the idea, but she couldn't say it out loud.
The mysterious individual nodded. "So be it" he said. "Alastor would never show his face here after his betrayal. I must assume that the reason for his return is that you forced him. I must assume that you want to speak with Cain and Abel"
"I didn't actually force him, but... yes" Charlie confirmed. "Where are they now?"
"In some other Ring. They are trying to salvage what they can, even if it's very little now" the mysterious individual answered her. "They will be back in twenty minutes at most. Follow me, I will take you to the Outpost, and there you can welcome them when they return"
Charlie immediately agreed. "Okay. The sooner we meet them, the better"
"Thank you for being so cooperative" the mysterious individual replied, and then he unbuckled his helmet and began to take it off. He had obviously kept it on until that moment to be ready to react in case she was aggressive. "Follow me, then"
Charlie was about to nod, but as soon as she saw the person's face she almost felt a pang.
That guy... he wasn't a guy at all, or rather, he was in a very small part. From the base of his neck down, his entire body was made of tubes, cables and joints, being completely robotic. His neck was cut in half and connected to the rest of his metal body with strange devices that allowed blood flow and breathing. And his head, the only truly organic part of his body, which until that moment had been hidden by the helmet, was not an unknown face at all.
Charlie paled. The memory of constant wars, total devastation, and a planet submerged under water reappeared before her eyes. It wasn't possible. That face, those shiny, partially broken horns, those red eyes... that neck, cut right in that exact spot... "NO WAY!" she shouted, so loud that even the dinosaurs jumped. "You... you should be dead! I saw you die in that memory! How can you be here in front of me!?"
Mephistopheles raised a confused eyebrow: "Um... do we know each other?"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 92): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160724
Among the lions (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173494465
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 146: The Messenger of Heaven
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam and Gabriel stared at each other for a moment that in their minds seemed infinite, and that in reality lasted less than a tenth of a second. In his mind, the first man was quickly assessing the situation and looking for any weak point to exploit. He knew that this time it would not have been easy to break Gabriel's defense, in fact, it would have been almost impossible. The archangel was too much more powerful than him, and now he had no more unconscious people to use to cause a psychological mess in his opponent.
In his head, Adam cursed Pentious for the umpteenth time. If it were not for him, who had sensed that he aimed to lure them to Hell and imprison them there along with Lucifer and Michael while he did his own thing in Heaven, he would not be in this situation now. Instead, he was now face to face with one of the most powerful beings in the universe with no tricks in store.
On top of that, he couldn't even use his more useful move, which was his ability to switch places with his Exorcists: they were in Hell, he was in Heaven, and he hadn't brought any of them with him. He could have tried to call them back, but he knew that the Exorcists' souls would have to cross all the space between the realms to get to him; if they did, he would be dead by then. He couldn't run away like he had when Lucifer had knocked him down at the cathedral.
He could have tried to escape through a portal. That was also an option. If he could distract Gabriel enough, he could get through a portal before he stopped him. After all, distracting one archangel was easier than distracting six of them.
But that too would have been a useless and foolish move. Gabriel knew exactly where he was going, the pearly gates: and he could open the portals too and was much faster. They would just move the fight in front of the gates of Heaven. Adam could have tried to escape somewhere else, anywhere: in that case Gabriel would not know where to find him... but then he would never be able to go back to Hell. Gabriel could have waited for him forever in front of the pearly gates, and in the meantime the other archangels would have also come back to life and come to give him a hand. And this time, they would surely be much more prepared to face him.
No, Adam knew that this time he could not retreat. His enemy was a cosmic powerhouse, but like it or not, he had to face it. So, he simply lunged at it, ready to fight.
But Gabriel moved first.
A single gesture, not sharp, not violent: elegant, like the first stroke of creation. That strange trumpet in his hand moved from side to side and seemed to caress the cosmos with its notes. But from that motion, a wave erupted: pure energy coiled around him in angelic spirals that orbited like devouring satellites. Every particle of the space in that battlefield ignited, reacting to the mere presence of that immense power. The wave moved like a galactic filament, pulsing with divine heat.
Adam had imagined that this attack would happen at a speed faster than he was used to, and in fact he had slowed down his brain's sensory perception in advance to be able to see it and dodge. He bent his perception so much that he perceived time in nanoseconds, yet even so he saw that wave of power coming at him in just a few moments.
For comparison, the speed of light was about 300 million meters per second. Therefore, in a nanosecond it traveled only thirty centimeters. Therefore, considering that Adam was still quite far from Gabriel, enough to admire him in his colossal form in his entirety, he should have seen the wave go very slowly if it had been launched at the speed of light. Instead, in his perception, it reached him in just a mere instant!
This meant that the wave was traveling at at least three thousand times the speed of light!
Simply put, at that speed, that wave could have crossed a galaxy the size of the Milky Way in just forty years!
Adam, thanks to the cross of Christ and the Ark of the Covenant, had already experienced speeds tens of times faster than the speed of light, and both Azrael and Uriel had shown him speeds hundreds of times that treshold... but this was on a whole other level!
In that brief moment, Adam acted on instinct and opened a portal behind him, throwing himself into it, but he wasn't fast enough to close it: part of the wave passed through him and hit him full on. Adam used his axe to defend himself, but despite that he felt his body melting. In less than a nanosecond he lost his wings, his legs, his tail, and the entire half below his rib cage; in the next nanosecond, the upper half of his body also turned into atoms. His soul was suspended in nothingness for an instant, but before Gabriel could reach out to grab it, Adam immediately reappeared, instantly rebuilding his body, to the archangel's surprise.
Adam took a deep breath; even though he had completely rebuilt it, his body still burned. If it weren't for the fact that he now had instant respawn for the Sins, and so as long as someone didn't destroy his soul he could rebuild himself right away, the battle would have already ended by now. He had been literally outmatched by Gabriel in every way.
So, that was the true power of an archangel, a power that Adam had barely glimpsed until then with Lucifer, Uriel and Azrael, all clashes that had lasted too short to make him see the true strength of those beings. Angels were truly entities created to rule over the stars, and archangels had a power so great that it could literally be defined as galaxy killer level. With just one attack, Gabriel had brought him to his knees.
That was... terrifying to say the least.
However, Adam was not willing to give up without a fight. After all, even Goliath had seemed invincible before David struck him down. He just had to find Gabriel’s weakness.
Dozens of portals opened around him and around Gabriel. The archangel was completely surrounded on all sides. Adam immediately concentrated all his powers in the same attack he had used against Lucifer: "Ultimate move: QUASAR!"
The cosmic ray exploded through his body and entered one of the portals, emerging from another and then entering another, and another, and another; it seemed like a ball that bounced continuously, changing direction and angle each time. However, Adam knew that it would not have been enough, and immediately used his next move: "Ultimate move: MULTIPLE BLACK HOLES!"
This time he did not create black holes that were too big, he simply compressed the few particles of matter he found in that space above Heaven to the point where they broke the stage of the universe; small black holes, but enough for the purpose. He placed them next to the portals, and then let physics itself do its thing.
Black holes had an interesting feature: as they rotated, they created a region of space around them, called the ergosphere, that retained their own motion. In short, if something entered it, it would be swept away like a whirlpool. And just like in a whirlpool, if you swam in it just right, the current would help you along. Adam had positioned those little black holes so that their rotation always matched the direction of the quasar; therefore, every time the quasar emerged from one of the portals and passed through the ergosphere of a black hole, it retained the energy of it and become exponentially stronger.
That psychedelic game lasted only a few seconds, and then the quasar reached the last portal and hit Gabriel from behind, directly on his right ear. However, when it hit him, the archangel did not move; he just tilted his head to the side and made a slightly annoyed expression. But Adam was not finished yet: taking advantage of that moment, he appeared behind Gabriel with the intent of cutting off his head. No matter how strong the archangel was, once he had hit him with the indestructible material of his axe, he would have been hurt anyway...
The impact never came. A barrier formed: not a wall of matter, or energy, but a true compression of reality so dense that it stopped Adam’s blow an inch from Gabriel’s neck. The force discharged sideways, blooming into a blinding white sphere that devoured the silence. The entire space around them seemed to screamed, agitated by immense waves of energy that shook spacetime itself like a stormy sea.
Adam tried to retreat, but the barrier was not only in front of him, it was also behind him; he was blocked from two sides, and before he could think of any solution, Gabriel whirled around and his fist came down on him. As soon as he was hit, Adam was hit by an unimaginable force: first his skin was torn away, then his flesh, finally his bones were reduced to dust. However, this time he managed to react at least a little, and before the fist completely disintegrated his body he threw his soul and his weapons into one of the portals, preventing Gabriel from taking them and thus being able to respawn again as he had done before.
Adam gritted his teeth. Sure, he could regenerate and respawn as many times as he wanted as long as his soul was intact, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the blows. His body was struggling to move, still sore from that punch that had literally pulverized him effortlessly. If he had kept this up, he wouldn’t have lasted long.
Gabriel didn't wait for him to recover: he moved his trumpet-like weapon again, this time from the bottom to the top. What was generated was a flurry of energy strikes, extremely fast blades that cut the space between the two of them like shards of glass. Each of those strikes traveled with the same speed as the energy wave had had, and they had enough power to shatter planets and stars without even being slowed down.
Adam didn't waste time trying to avoid the slashes: instead, he moved all the portals he had opened in front of him, with the intent of making those strikes reappear behind the archangel. However, the slashes changed direction as if animated by their own life and spread out like a flock of birds avoiding a predator, grouping again behind him. Adam grabbed the cross of Christ and wrapped himself in a bubble of space, which deflected all the slashes, preventing them from hitting him; after which he himself launched himself at Gabriel, with the slashes still chasing him. The goal was simple: let Gabriel get hit by his own attack as bait, then attack him again and use his indestructible axe to cause a real wound.
However, Gabriel raised the trumpet again, and this time he put it to his lips and blew into it. What happened next seemed to shake the very foundations of reality: it was as if the apocalypse itself had been released, all the atoms around them lost all connection and exploded in bright flashes. For a moment, the universe itself seemed to be preparing for the worst, the planets seemed to be on the verge of exploding, the stars seemed to be about to dissolve, and the radiation consuming the black holes seemed to accelerate to a critical point; but then, all that destruction was directed at one point, Adam himself. Spacetime shook like a wave and shattered the bubble Adam had created for himself, exposing him once again. The first man was then hit by all the slashes that were chasing him, who tore his body to shreds.
This time, however, Adam managed to hold on just long enough to continue breathing. His body quickly regenerated, returning to full capacity, and he took advantage of that microscopic moment of respite to launch himself away so he could have more time. However, Gabriel barely moved his wings and appeared behind him, and punched him again.
But this time the blow did not reach its target: Adam used the cross of Christ again and moved sideways, and managed to hit the back of Gabriel's hand with his axe. The archangel let out a slight cry of pain as he felt his skin being cut by the indestructible material of that weapon, and reacted by violently flapping his wings. At that movement, the heavens shook and Adam was thrown away like an insect.
Gabriel looked at the back of his hand. Adam had barely caused a scratch, but it was bleeding profusely. The power of the indestructible axe was truly remarkable. "You really managed to make me bleed, even now that I am seriously fighting with you" he commented. "You have truly become a considerable threat. I will put an end to all this now"
Adam cracked his neck, tightening his grip on his axe. "I have to admit, facing you is one of the toughest challenges I've ever faced" he told him. "But I wasn't afraid of angering Lucifer, and I'm certainly not afraid of angering you!"
"I admire you for your determination. No other human has ever achieved what you have" Gabriel told him. He wasn't mocking him; he meant it. "Let's finish this!"
Gabriel raised his trumpet again, and moved it in a sort of zigzag pattern. What was generated was a sphere of light, but not a normal light: a light different from that generated by stars or any other type of matter. It was energy in its purest form. There was a moment of stasis, in which Gabriel remained still with his eyes fixed on Adam. Then the sphere exploded.
A bubble of pure force was released from it, without light, without heat. But every pulse that touched burned Adam, shook him, flayed him to the level of existence. The first man immediately catapulted himself away using the cross of Christ and at the same time opening every possible portal to get away faster and faster, but it was all in vain: that force seemed not to care how far he ran away, it reached him anyway. Adam sweated coldly, and then gathered his energy: "Ultimate move: BLACK HOLE DEFENSE!"
Adam gathered the remains of every molecule that remained around them, every dissipated spark, and bent them to his will. Matter compressed around him until it formed an event horizon, and he was its singularity. To escape that explosion of energy, he was willing to let himself be locked in the most powerful prison in the entire universe, a black hole.
Yet, that wasn't enough. As Adam watched in astonishment, the event horizon cracked and then shattered as if it were made of glass. Nothing, not the ergosphere, not the broken spacetime inside the black hole, not the powerful singularity, could stop that attack. Adam was hit and disintegrated for the third time... and this time, when he respawned, his body seemed like a furnace of pain. His very soul had clearly suffered damage, so much so that, as quickly as he tried to regenerate, he struggled to keep up.
Gabriel flew toward him. "You can still get back on your feet?" he said, looking at him. "Surprising. But now it's over"
Adam wanted to reply, but all that came out of his mouth was a gasp and a glob of blood. Having died and been reborn three times had taken a toll on him. He was really running low on energy now. "Cough... don't count on it!" he said in a strangled voice. "I haven't given up yet, and I'm not dead yet!"
"I'd rather you gave up. You're smart enough to know that you've already lost" Gabriel told him. "The strength you've achieved is praiseworthy, but you're no match for me. My own name means Power of God. I was created to carry out His will in every corner of this universe. You may be able to create black holes and supernovae, but I can destroy those objects and the entire galaxy around them. You have no hope of winning against me"
"As people usually say, the bigger they are, the louder they fall" Adam replied. "Therefore, I will make sure that the thud you make is heard throughout the galaxy that you can so easily destroy!"
Gabriel raised his trumpet again. "You're at your limit now. With the next blow, you'll be too damaged and tired out to regenerate before I can take your soul and imprison it" he warned him. "This battle is... huh?"
Suddenly there was an explosion: Gabriel's left hand, the one Adam had managed to cut off, burst like a bubble in a fountain of golden blood, followed by his entire arm up to his shoulder. Gabriel let out a cry of pain when he saw his entire left arm turn into a cascade of blood and pieces of flesh. "What!? What trick is this...!?"
Adam took advantage of this to lunge at him; he hoped that the distraction would be enough to allow him to reach the archangel's neck. But he had underestimated Gabriel's mental resistance: even in such a sudden, unexpected and problematic situation, the angel noticed his movement and dodged it, and then pushed him back by hitting him with the handle of his trumpet. Adam felt a good part of his bones break, but he still smiled seeing that his opponent was worse off than him.
Gabriel touched his left shoulder blade, feeling it empty. But even worse, his regeneration at that point seemed to have stopped. "What have you done?" he growled.
"You failed to notice that I only used two of my three weapons on you" Adam said, gesturing to the Ark of the Covenant. "While you were busy tearing me apart, I secretly extracted some fragments of the divine essence contained here and wrapped them in shadows. Sure enough, the light of that essence could not tolerate the constraint and struggled to break free, which in simple terms means it would have let out a big boom. I inserted these shadows containing this time bomb into your bloodstream when I cut the back of your hand. I hoped they would make it to your heart before they exploded... but even so, I can say it was a success"
"You dare to imprison the divine light with dark shadows!?" Gabriel exclaimed furiously. "This is a sacrilege!"
"Maybe" Adam replied. "But this sacrilege is making you bleed. And I don't think you'll regenerate any time soon"
"It doesn't matter" Gabriel said, raising his still-intact arm. "Come. One hand is all I need for you"
"You are too arrogant. It is evidently a common trait of archangels" Adam told him. "That confidence will be your downfall!"
However, despite his confidence, he was sweating coldly inside. He had gambled almost everything with that trick, and he had hoped that this would have been enough to take down Gabriel, but unfortunately the archangel's heart was still intact as well as all his other vital organs. And Adam knew that even with only one arm, Gabriel was completely capable of destroying him. Even if the archangel now had less maneuverability, and this could give the first man an advantage, Adam was already very tired from all the times he had been destroyed and regenerated, and he was now running out of options.
He knew that if he was disintegrated again, he would have been too tired out to stand a chance. He had to finish the fight in this last attack. Otherwise, his defeat would have been certain.
He had to... really play all his cards.
Gabriel raised his trumpet, and it lit up. Dozens of angelic symbols appeared on it, and soon it was covered by those concentric circles of light spinning in opposing directions. Adam tightened his grip on his indestructible axe in response. They both knew that the next blow would determine the final outcome of the battle.
And then, Gabriel blew his trumpet again. He didn’t just puff into it like before, he truly blew it. And as he did so, the cosmos shook. The idea itself of judgment, condensed into a burst of pure intent, was released in the form of a bolt of lightning that emerged from the trumpet and formed a spear of sorts.
It wasn’t light, it wasn’t energy, it wasn’t matter. It was something else, the very image of annihilation. As it approached, Adam could almost see and hear the echoes of lost worlds, frozen eclipses, storms frozen in time, the corpses of dead stars and barren planets. Everything merged into one final attack.
Adam saw that projectile of destruction approaching dangerously close to him at a distance of a few fractions of a nanosecond. And then, with a mad roar, he did the craziest thing of all: instead of trying to avoid it, he swung his axe and hit that attack with all his strength.
There was a roar, and then reality exploded: just as it had happened when the axe and Lucifer's powers had collided, the world seemed to break and open up. Giant cracks opened in the sky above Heaven and then, as if it were made of broken glass, it began to shatter. Gabriel's eyes widened as he saw this: "What have you done!?"
But Adam was no longer there: the immense impact had not left him indifferent: a good part of his body had been destroyed, and the rest had been thrown through the crack in reality, headed who knows where. Yet, with a great effort of will, he managed to keep himself conscious. He opened his eyes with difficulty and could see a black and empty world around him, studded with distant stars. "This... is the mortal realm?" he thought. "As expected, I have managed to cut through reality again... and opened a passage to what is the realm closest to me, that of humans"
Even though Earth was the world where humans were born, the entire mortal realm, which consisted of everything made of matter like stars, planets, and black holes, was considered part of it. In short, the realm where Earth was located was still considered the property of humans, even though they only inhabited that small planet. And Adam, no matter how much he had changed over the years, was still a human soul: not a demon, not an angel, but a human.
His axe was powerful enough to cut through reality, but without something to act as a navigator, the crack was completely random. That's why Adam couldn't directly open a gateway to Hell: without an actual demon to show the way, he couldn't do it. Therefore, when he let Gabriel strike the axe, in the same way he had with Lucifer, he had no destination in mind: he just wanted to cause as much damage in reality as possible. And apparently his axe had used the two people he had at his disposal, an angel and a human, to open a gateway between Heaven and the mortal realm. Where, in the mortal realm? That had been entirely accidental, since all that surrounded Adam was the absolute void of interstellar space.
It had been a foolish move, extremely risky: Adam had had no guarantee that he could withstand Gabriel's attack, much less that he would have been able to control the consequences of what he had just done. The dimensional rift in front of him was rapidly expanding, breaking the space as if it were made of glass: if it was not closed as soon as possible, the barrier between the realms would have been forever compromised.
Gabriel knew this, and immediately panicked: he immediately crossed the dimensional rift and emerged on the other side. "Give me the cross of Christ right now!" he shouted, using his extreme speed to grab Adam. "If I use it, we can still...!"
But Adam slipped out of his grasp in an instant: modifying the space using the cross, he catapulted himself behind Gabriel, straight towards the dimensional rift. The archangel immediately understood: "So this was your plan? You want to leave me here? I will not allow you!"
And with that he threw himself after the first man, his single arm raised towards him; Adam was already on the other side of the rift, and had raised the cross to be able to close it. Gabriel was quick and managed to cross it, but while he was still halfway, the dimensional rift closed suddenly. The entire part of his body below his stomach was instantly cut in half by reality itself that returned whole.
In reality, this would not have been much of an impediment for Gabriel: if he had been more lucid, he could have just retreated quickly and thought about regenerating, and return to the charge immediately after. That wound had not been caused by a divine weapon, so his regeneration was still functional. However, this did not prevent him from feeling pain, and this distracted him for a second, which was fatal: Adam catapulted himself onto his face and drove his axe straight into the archangel's neck. Using all the strength and speed he had left, he struck him six times in a row, opening a huge wound and breaking the bone in his neck.
Gabriel and Adam stared at each other for one last moment. The archangel didn't waste time begging for mercy, or asking why: on the contrary, he used that last second to try to turn the tables. His mouth opened and a strong light formed inside, clearly intended to hit the first man. However, Adam did not grant him that last attack: "Ultimate move: HYPER PHYSIQUE!"
His arms and upper body swelled, and seemed to explode from within: all the powers that Adam had stolen, nuclear fission, electromagnetism, magical energy, converted for a brief second into pure muscle power. And it was with all that force that Adam brought his axe down for the seventh time, hitting Gabriel square in the face, so hard that not only did it shatter his skull, but the archangel's entire head was thrown downward and began to fall. Both Adam and what remained of Gabriel fell again, somewhere on the surface of Heaven.
Adam remained standing over the corpse of his former friend. Again, it wasn't a final death, Gabriel would recover sooner or later... but that didn't change what the first man was feeling. You didn't bash someone's face in without feeling something, deep down.
As soon as he was sure that Gabriel was, at least for the moment, completely dead, Adam let himself fall to the ground. He was exhausted, and his entire body was in pain. Even breathing seemed difficult for him, in fact every time he inflated his lungs it seemed like he was inhaling fire.
It had been a terrible battle... but he had survived.
He had done it again...
He didn't have time to think about anything else: a luminous spear penetrated his stomach, making him cry out in pain. Adam spat blood from his mouth, and looking up he saw that two more angels had appeared above him. "What? Sandalphon? Metatron...?"
"You seem to have forgotten that, even though the six archangels you have already defeated were our greatest champions, Heaven is not protected by them alone. Did you think we were stupid enough to all come at you at the same time?" Sandalphon asked him rhetorically. "We only sent the cavalry ahead to make sure that, even if you managed to win, you would come out exhausted. Now we just have to finish the job"
Notes:
Before anyone asks in the comments, let's answer the question here: can Gabriel actually destroy a galaxy, as Adam repeatedly points out? The answer is... yes, but it wouldn't be the mega-explosive destruction we're used to imagining. In this chapter, Gabriel launches an attack that literally disintegrates Adam, and this attack travels at at least 3,000 times the speed of light. Now, we've seen several times that Adam is capable of withstanding supernovae and even the destructive force of a quasar, which is already considered a galaxy killer in itself. This means that if Gabriel were to launch such an attack uniformly in every direction at a random point in a galaxy, literally nothing could stop him: planets, stars, gas, everything would be reduced to atoms just as Adam was. Take the Milky Way, for example: estimates of the actual size of our galaxy range from 100,000 to 200,000 light-years, so for the sake of argument, let's take the currently accepted estimate of approximately 120,000 light-years. This means that if you were traveling at the speed of light, it would take you 120,000 years to get from one end of the galaxy to the other; but if you were traveling at 3,000 times the speed of light, it would take you just 40. This means that if Gabriel were to stand at the center of the Milky Way and launch an attack uniformly in every direction, the Milky Way would be completely obliterated in 20 years. It wouldn't be instantaneous destruction like, say, the one we see Broly do in DBZ (which, assuming the Southern Galaxy is as large as the Milky Way, would mean Broly's attack would have to travel at several billion times the speed of light). Realistically speaking, destroying a galaxy isn't that difficult; the difference is doing it in a short time; and certainly, a galaxy can't be destroyed with a massive explosion like in some anime, because they're almost entirely composed of empty space. So, can Gabriel destroy a galaxy? Yes, we just have to wait.
But, outside the context of this story, can angels actually destroy galaxies? Funny though, the answer current theology gives us is: probably yes. Of course, no sacred text speaks of angels annihilating galaxies (also because until a little over a century ago we didn't even know they existed!), but there are some that, describing the struggles of angels, speak of how they are capable of "annihilating entire patches of sky." It's likely that these myths, like many similar myths in other religions, arose to explain why the night sky appeared patchy. But in modern times, some branches of theology tend to extend these claims to what we know today about the universe, and therefore to explain why today's universe is composed of more and less dense regions, thus supporting the thesis that angels like Gabriel, Michael, or Lucifer are capable of annihilating entire galaxies or even clusters of galaxies. Furthermore, other passages in both the Bible and apocryphal texts seem to support this theory: angels are described as beings tasked with maintaining the stability of the entire cosmos, even beyond the "heaven of fixed stars" (as it was called at the time): angels like the Dominations can change the motion of all the stars at will, at any time, suggesting they have a sort of absolute control over the galaxies in which these stars exist. Jesus himself seems to allude to this, and even the Book of Revelation speaks of how the stars are burned, leaving the sky empty. So, can angels destroy galaxies? The correct answer is: it's complicated. This is one of the many problems that arise when trying to reconcile what we know today with millennia-old texts. But it's a fun concept to use when writing a story.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 93): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170160748
Among the lions (chapter 8): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173494465
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 147: The children of the man
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The silence was muffled, as if the world were wrapped in thick, damp cotton. Mephisto barely had the strength to keep one eye open (or what was left of it) to shed a small tear. Even though he no longer had a body, the pain was still there, immediate, total, all-consuming. Every nerve in what remained of him screamed, every breath was a blade thrust into his trachea, emerging without finding any lungs.
He knew he was dying, and he welcomed death with joy, to be freed from what he was feeling. But just then, the ground beneath him seemed to turn liquid, and something grabbed him. A hand emerged, closed over his head, and dragged him away. Mephisto felt only those claws dig into his tortured flesh before losing consciousness.
Who knows how long later, he opened his eyes again. His eyelids were like concrete, every muscle seemed atrophied. And yet he was alive...
Alive...?
"Are you awake yet?"
Mephisto focused on the world before him, and that's when he saw him. A demon he'd never seen before, tall, blond, muscular, with a rock planted on his head. "Am I... dead...?"
"Not yet " the demon told him. "But you've come closer than anyone else"
Mephisto gurgled in his throat, trying to move, but he couldn't. He felt nothing beneath his neck: not his ruined limbs, not his broken bones, not his body reduced to a hulk by a man who was supposed to represent hope. His eyes lowered as far as they would go, and saw that there was nothing beneath him. He was attached to tubes, a disembodied head, unable to move, unable even to breathe on its own.
Reality hit him with a crushing weight. Now he understood. He had survived, yes, but he wasn't alive. He was no longer a living being. He was just a severed head kept alive by a machine. "Why did you save me? Who are you?"
"My name is Abel" the demon told him.
"Abel...? The son of Adam?" Mephisto murmured. "Do you want revenge for what I did to your father?"
"The thought crossed my mind" Abel replied. "And it's not out of the question yet, you know. What you did was abominable"
Mephisto chuckled slightly. "It doesn't matter" he said. "You can't do worse than him"
"That remains to be seen" Abel said, leaning closer to his face. "Do you know what you've done? What you've unleashed? The entire world died because of you. God drowned it because you managed to stain the only human being who wasn't yet covered in sin. You've turned my father into a bloodthirsty machine, and I can't imagine what will happen now. The consequences will be dire, and you are responsible!"
Faced with all these accusations, Mephisto didn't flinch. His face was a mask of scrutiny. "If God has grown tired of us, then I have achieved my goal. I have shown the true colors of both the Father of Men and the Father of All Things" he murmured. "In the end, I have won"
Abel looked at him with disgust. "And what does this victory of yours taste like?" he asked in a sour voice.
Mephisto didn't answer.
Suddenly, the shadow behind Abel shifted. "Stop wasting your time. Let me do this"
"All right" Abel said, and then he cast a final glance at Mephisto. "You're a horrible man. I'm not even sure it's fair to call you a man anymore. If we'd let you die the way you deserved, no one would have missed you"
And having said that, he removed the stone from his face, and the shadow behind him enveloped him; a moment later, a completely different demon had appeared in his place. A decidedly more menacing demon. "Good, good. It's just you and me now" he said.
"And who are you?" Mephisto asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it out" Cain replied. "Just as you're smart enough to understand that I don't mean to go easy on you"
Mephisto narrowed his eyes. "You're sharing a body with your brother? Is he okay with it?"
"Oh, my stupid brother would never say it's right for me to give you the boot for everything you've done" Cain answered. "But you know what? Normally, when he leaves his body to me, he's always awake, ready to force me to give it back if he sees me going too far. But today, for the first time, he's turned off his conscience. He doesn't want to risk seeing what I'm about to do to you and having moral qualms". His face twisted into a grimace: "Don't get me wrong, I don't care about you... but the world that just flooded was my world too. And the man you broke, as much as I appreciate his absence, was also my father. Between us, but... now I'm really pissed"
Mephisto narrowed his eyes: "Then why didn't you intervene sooner, if you care that much?"
"Complications, which you will help us resolve" Cain told him, raising a hand and brushing his cheek with his nails. "Don't worry, you won't have to do anything. We only need your head. Everything else is optional. Rejoice, you won't die; you'll just spend the rest of eternity hooked up to a machine, hoping to die"
And with that, he began to tear off his horns. Mephisto gritted his teeth in pain, as the blood poured down his face again, before he even had a chance to wipe it away. His soul sank into despair: he knew they were only just getting started.
He didn't know how long Cain went on, or what exactly he was doing; he only knew he wasn't doing anything to make it less painful. Finally, the demon shook itself, and Abel reappeared in his place. "That should be enough" he said, picking up the horns Cain had shattered. "Now let's try, and hope we were right..."
Mephisto watched him go. Not that much had changed: now he was just a head attached to a machine, he couldn't escape, and he knew they would return sooner or later. "It really tastes like shit" he muttered.
Abel turned to him. "Excuse me?"
"You asked me what victory tastes like" Mephisto said. "Well, I can tell you it tastes like shit. Not just this one, all the other victories, they all taste like shit. But then again, I'm used to it now"
Abel stood still for a moment. His face had become unreadable. "Good. I'm glad you're not wallowing in self-pity" she said, then turned away again and left him alone. Mephisto didn't try to call him back.
The world seemed to have stopped before Charlie's eyes: all she could see was the demon, or rather, the demon's severed head in front of her. The last time she had seen that face was in Adam's memories, and she remembered him without any positive attributes: a conqueror, a madman, a barbarian. Mephisto was the person who had tried three times to destroy Sheol, who had invaded Earth, who had driven Adam crazy and who had caused the Great Flood. "You... how can you still breathe!?" she hissed.
Mephisto was more confused than ever: "I... I don't think I understand why there is so much hatred in yoir voice..."
Charlie whirled around to face Alastor: "You knew!?"
The radio demon looked tense: "Uh... what do you mean...?"
Charlie didn't let him finish: she punched him straight in the jaw, so hard that he was thrown against the ceiling of the cave. Then she turned and hit Mephisto in the center of the robotic body, sending him flying toward the city; the demon flew through the air, smashing through the land bridges, and landed in the center of Outpost, and Charlie fell on top of him like a fury. "YOU!" she roared. "Do you have any idea what you just did!?"
"Urgh... w-wait!" Mephisto tried to stop her. "I didn't...!"
"I saw an entire planet get submerged!" Charlie screamed, grabbing his arms and trying to rip them off, but she found out that they were extremely strong, so she simply pinned him to the ground. "You just had to mind your own business! Instead, you had to act the bad guy, and the result was the Great Flood! All because you wanted to be right and watch Adam turn into a monster! Well, are you happy!? Tell me, are you happy!? You won! Now he's trying to destroy us all! We could have avoided it if it weren't for you!"
Mephisto paled. "Oh... that's why" he muttered. "Listen to me, please... I know that I...!"
"Shut up! I don't want to hear what you have to say!" she snarled. "We're in this fucking situation because of you too!"
Some of the other demons rushed over to stop her, but she swatted them away with a single wave of her hands. "Charlie, calm down" Elizabeth told her, coming down from above with a rather battered Alastor, who she had obviously gone to retrieve, and with Odette and Clara clinging to her.
"Yeah! I don't know what he did to you, but Ahriman isn't a bad guy!" Clara tried to calm her down. "He treated us well while we were here..."
"Ahriman!?" Charlie snarled. "His name is Mephistopheles!"
"I changed it!" Mephisto told her.
Charlie glared at him: "Why!? Because you're afraid someone will recognize you for who you really are!?"
"No!" Mephisto retorted. "Ahriman is the name I had when I was human! I chose to take it back, abandoning the one I chose when I became a demon...!"
Charlie raised her hand with the clear intent of punching him: "Don't play innocent with me! I'll...!"
A powerful hand grabbed her arm, blocking it in place; if it had been anyone else she probably would have been able to move by ripping the hand away, but at that moment it didn't move an inch. Charlie looked up to see a familiar demon full of muscles, with a head covered in blond hair and a stone over his eye. "That's enough" he said.
She narrowed her eyes in response. "Abel" she hissed.
"I'm here too!" Cain's annoyed voice growled.
"Good, you're back just in time! Do you know who this is!?" Charlie barked, grabbing Mephisto by what was left of his neck and shaking him.
"Mephistopheles, who currently prefers to go by his human name Ahriman" was Abel's answer. "We know who he is, we brought him here"
Charlie's eyes blazed: "You... are stupid!? Do you know what he did!? All the lives he destroyed!? He tried to kill your siblings, he destroyed your world, he made your father lose his mind...!"
"And he was punished for it. A lot. But he can't fix his mistakes if he is dead" Abel told her. "Now... please let him go and let's talk about this civilly"
Charlie gritted her teeth: "Mistakes!? He killed hundreds of people...!"
"Just like our father. Should we hate him for that?" Abel asked rhetorically. "And just like that traitorous serial killer you brought with you, and yet you don't seem to have a hard time trusting him"
Charlie fell silent. With a furious look she glared at Mephisto again; after seeing what he had done from Adam's perspective, she felt pure hatred just looking at him. However, in the end, with an almost inhuman effort she let him go. "Oh, okay" she said through gritted teeth, looking at Cain and Abel: "You two owe me an explanation"
"Oh, sure, you show up here with a traitor and almost kill one of our best agents, and then you expect to be able to ask questions?" Cain growled. "Let me out, I'll teach her some manners...!"
"Calm down, you reckless fool" Abel scolded him. "I'll be happy to answer your questions, Charlotte Morningstar. Honestly, I wish I could have had this conversation with you a long time ago"
"Good" Charlie said, keeping her acid tone.
Cain seemed ready to say something else, but Abel stopped him with a glare: there was no point in arguing. He himself gave Alastor a very unreassuring look, but then said nothing, although he implied that they would have a talk later. At his nod, the other demons surrounding them moved away.
Mephisto stood up a little hesitantly. He was silent for a moment, and then he said: "I don't know how you know about... well, what I did, but I assure you, I'm not that person anymore. I know my actions are... unforgivable, but I'm trying really hard to be different"
Charlie raised an eyebrow, clearly not trusting, but Abel told her: "He's telling the truth. Trust me, he paid for his actions, and now he's working to help us keep the peace... even if, in this day and age, his contribution is almost useless"
Charlie grunted: "Even after all he's done, do you trust him if he tells you he's different?"
"I thought you were the one who believed in reforming people" Abel replied. "Am I to assume that your belief is selective?"
Charlie was speechless. "No, it's not" she finally said. "But I'll only trust him when I see with my own eyes that he's changed"
"Understandable. That's enough for me" Abel said, then he motioned for her to follow him: "Come, let us welcome you into our home. I really think we'll have a lot to discuss"
Charlie tried to calm down. Okay, maybe she had reacted a little too emphatically: by dint of being in contact with Adam, feeling his emotions, feeling what he had felt, reliving his memories, she had ended up being a little influenced. It was really hard for her not to look askance at Mephisto all the time, but with an effort she looked away and concentrated on following Abel.
Outpost was a rather small city: it contained only a thousand buildings or so, which had strange shapes, more similar to shacks and barracks than houses: it was obvious that they were designed not to be a permanent home, but just a place to stop for a while. The streets themselves were more reminiscent of mountain paths. Everything, from the buildings to the streets, was surrounded by vegetation, in a sort of harmony between artificial and natural. It all gave a strange feeling of calm, like a sort of primordial peace.
But of course, the thing that most caught Charlie's eye were the numerous demons that populated the place. "Are they all overlords?" she asked, recognizing that these were no ordinary demons.
"Yes. Some of them were already living here, but most were working for us out there. We're trying to rally as many forces as we can" Abel answered. "Unfortunately, the number of people we can save is limited. The keys to the Refugium are few and can only carry an extremely limited number of people. We're sending our agents out there to create shelters for the people who survived, but it's difficult when most of the Rings are closed to sinners"
"We're trying to save what we can, but most of Hell is lost" Cain commented, being dragged to the ground by Abel's feet. "The war our father started was too well-planned. Even if we can save a small portion of the population by slowing down the drones the humans sent, it's only a matter of time before Hell is conquered"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “You seem… well-informed about what’s going on out there”
“We’ve been watching Hell for centuries, just to make sure that nothing like this ever happens” Abel told her.
“Really?” Charlie murmured. “You’re not known for showing up…”
“Why do you think we have so many other demons here? We don’t show up, but we have our own business” Cain told her. “Do you really think that after the Great Flood, demons stopped trying to attack Earth and Sheol en masse just because Father put fear in their hearts? The reason there hasn’t been another massive war is because we’ve helped maintain some sort of balance”
"Can you speak more gently to her?" Abel scolded him. "I understand that in your state you don't usually talk to women much, but show some chivalry"
"Don't put on that stupid patronizing mask" was all the older brother said.
Normally, Charlie might have found the dynamic between the two of them amusing, but right now she was too interested in what they were saying. Before she could ask any more questions, they came to a small house, which was very simple, like a cabin, unlike the others. "Please, come in" Abel invited. "Everyone else, stay outside. Except you, Mephisto, you come in"
The demon nodded and entered. Charlie looked annoyed: "Why him too?"
"You want an explanation, and some of the things we're going to explain to you are about him" Abel told her. "Sometimes it's better to get information from the person concerned, right?"
Charlie snorted. “If he comes in, then Alastor can come in too. It won’t change anything, whatever you tell me I’ll tell him. I’m not leaving him out here knowing everyone will try to kill him"
"And you blame them? This idiot has caused more damage than anyone else" Cain hissed. "If it weren't for him helping our father, Hell might still be intact!"
"What a load of rubbish" Alastor retorted. "I saw the opportunity and took it, who wouldn't?"
"Is this a provocation?!" Cain growled, and a strange energy seemed to emanate from him, which although powerful was as if blocked by something.
"I'm only telling the truth" Alastor replied without losing his swagger. "Don't be so offended, I told you I didn't get along with you. You can't complain if I dumped you for your sperm donor"
"You...!" Cain hissed. "Abel, let me out! We wanted to kill him anyway, let me do it immediately...!"
"No one kills Alastor" Charlie warned. "You already have one psycho killer in there, you can add another. It's all or nothing"
Abel was silent for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. Come, Alastor, but know that the precarious position you were in is still there. Don't try to play any more pranks"
"He won't" Elizabeth said, putting her hands on her son's shoulders. "I'm coming with you. I'll make sure he doesn't move a muscle"
Abel and Cain looked a little confused by the angel, especially since Alastor hadn't reacted to her words, but then they shrugged and let them in. The inside of the cabin was very simple and cozy, and everything looked hand-crafted, as if someone had patiently carved every object, even the door handles. The only part of the house that clearly wasn't hand-crafted was a large, closed door, about eight feet tall, set on a wall that was almost apart from everything else; but the door was... strange. Looking at it, Charlie had the impression that it wasn't vertical, but rather that it was lying on a floor, as if it were supposed to open downwards and not outwards. It was quite a confusing sight, and in fact she quickly looked away, feeling nauseous.
Abel sat them down at a table, and finally turned to her again: "Now, we have a lot to tell, so to save time... how much do you actually know about us?"
"I know that after you died you ended up in Hell, because Sheol didn't exist yet" Charlie answered.
"Yeah" Abel confirmed with a sigh. "After I ended up in Hell, I... well, I managed on my own. I lived in the primordial Earth, I knew how to survive. So, as soon as I found myself in this realm so alien and hostile to me, I chose the most logical path: I chose a refuge and studied the situation calmly, evaluating my opponents well before facing them. The aforementioned refuge was located in a remote area, which I had chosen because it was far from potentially too serious dangers... but also from any possible contact with civilization, so I didn't know that Lucifer and Lilith had also been exiled here. If I had found out earlier, we could have helped each other"
"Instead, you remained hidden until... your brother and mother also arrived here?" Charlie asked him.
"Unfortunately, yes. One morning I woke up and this chatty and annoying shadow was attached to me" Abel confirmed.
"Hey, don't talk about this like it's a vacation for me" Cain muttered, crossing his arms. "It's not nice to be constantly smeared on the floor, and only be able to come out when you want to!"
"At least when you go out you don't have an annoying shadow talking to you all the time, often out of place" Abel retorted.
"Um!" Charlie coughed. "So... you two just woke up and were stuck together?"
"It's the punishment for my dear brother" Abel explained. "He's always felt inferior to me, tried to outclass me... and now, he's condemned to be just my shadow, dependent on my will to do anything"
"You'd think that after thousands of years someone have suffered enough, but here I am" Cain commented harshly. "A mystical experience, I strongly advise against it for everyone"
"Well, you killed your brother, and your bloodline destroyed most of Earth" Charlie couldn't help but point out. "You're probably lucky to just be stuck with your brother"
"Ah! Good, tell him that" Abel chuckled.
"Shut up, asshole!" Cain growled. "And you, young girl, spend a couple thousand years in my place, and then tell me if that's still not a big deal"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. If the two of them were this tense now, who knows how tense it had been when they'd met again in Hell. She could only imagine the fights they'd had. At the very least, neither of them seemed to be getting past petty insults and casual bickering, which was more than she'd expected from a murderer and his victim. "So, after you got together, what did you do?"
"Of course we went to find our mother. However, she is the one who found us" Abel replied. "She offered to take the three of us to a safe place, one separated from the rest of Hell"
"The Refugium" Charlie said. "How did she find it?"
"She didn't find it" Cain told her in a strange voice. "She built it"
Charlie was speechless. Okay, she must have misheard. "Built it?"
"That's right" Abel confirmed what his brother had just said. "Everything you see, this entire world within a world... she created it"
Charlie's jaw dropped, and even Alastor and Elizabeth looked quite surprised. "How... how did she do that!?" she exclaimed. "How can Eve create an entire world within another? What kind of powers does she have?"
"It's a question we've been asking ourselves ever since we were reunited with her" Abel told her.
"Even we don't really know what she can truly do" Cain muttered. "The extent of her powers is as much a mystery to us as it is to you. But she's definitely way above what our father is even now"
Charlie swallowed. Up until that day, she had only seen her fathers conjure buildings or rebuild parts of cities. But the Refugium was literally an entire world built from scratch. She didn't dare imagine how powerful the person who created it must have been. "So... Eve created the Refugium... and then where did she go?"
"Beyond the door" Abel said, pointing to the strange door behind her.
A drop of sweat ran down Charlie's face. "And... what's beyond the door...?"
"Another world. Well... more of a plot of land really, but you could call it another world" Cain replied. "The center of Hell"
"The center of Hell?" Charlie repeated.
"Think of Hell as being made up of layers" Abel said. "On the surface, there are the seven Rings that you know. The Refugium is an intermediate world, which is found in all the veins of earth that make up these Rings. And finally, beneath the Rings, and beneath the Refugium as well, is the center of Hell. It is hollow, and it is within it that our mother's house is located. That door is the passage to access it"
Charlie's eyes narrowed. All this information was giving her a headache, but she still managed to cheer at the thought that she had actually found the place where Eve was. "Can you guys go down there?"
"Sure we can" Abel said. "We don't go into our mother's house without her permission, but we can go down there if we need anything. We have the key"
"But we often avoid going down there" Cain said. "We only risk making Mom angry. We prefer to wait for her to come up here to visit us, when she brings us another one of those artificial creatures"
"Huh? You mean the colossal dinosaurs?" Charlie asked. "I thought you created them..."
"No, she creates them. And for some reason, they absolutely don't want to stay in her house, so she gives them to us" Cain said. Even as a shadow, he looked a little nervous. "Don't ask us what she does down there, because we really don't know. While we can go visit her, there are many areas of her house that we are strictly forbidden to enter. And when I say strictly, I mean strictly"
Charlie hadn't missed the way Cain was talking. "What's really going on down there?" she asked, a little fear in her voice.
Abel was silent for a long moment. "It's hard to explain" he finally said. "Charlie, after our mother ended up in Hell, she's... changed. She's still the same person, but she's become much more reclusive and secretive. She doesn't like being around too many people, and there's a lot she doesn't want to tell us, even to us, her children. We don't know exactly how she creates those dinosaurs, and she refuses to tell us. Every time she shows up at the door with one, she just tells us that she created it while... experimenting, and now it needs a home because it can't stand being down there. And so we take care of all those animals, who for some reason are terrified of going back down there. We've tried a few times... it didn't end well"
Charlie bit her lip. Okay, that was... creepy to put it kindly. "Have you ever figured out why this change happened?"
"No, not at all" Abel answered. "But the more time goes by, the more she seems to withdraw into herself. She's become more and more introverted, quiet, irritable and... overprotective"
"Just say possessive as fuck" Cain commented.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
Cain let out a sort of growl: "Why do you think me and this mountain of muscle live in here and have to find someone to do the work for us out there? She won't let us out"
Charlie's eyes widened: "Huh!? Wait... is it Eve's fault you can't leave the Refugium for too long?"
"If it were up to her, we'd never get out" Abel replied. "Our mother created this place with the express purpose of keeping us safe, and she did a great job... but then, we kept wanting to go out. We don't mind living in the Refugium, but we still wanted some company, some contact with other people. She didn't like that, so... she sealed us in here"
"Huh!? That's not overprotective, that's imprisoning someone against their will!" Charlie exclaimed.
"See? That's what I said too" Cain commented.
Abel sighed. "We know. I told you, the situation is... complex"
Charlie felt a lump in her throat: "So when she went to meet Adam, and told him you didn't want to see him..."
"We couldn't go out to meet him" Abel confirmed. "She literally stopped us from leaving here to see him"
"I didn't care, I didn't want to see him anyway" Cain said, shrugging.
Abel glared at him: "Shut up, you stupid complexed idiot"
Charlie felt her throat hurt. So Eve had lied that day? It wasn’t true that Abel and Cain didn’t want to see their father, she just didn’t let them see him? “Why did she do that?"
Abel shook his head. “We don’t know. She told us it was because she wanted revenge on her husband for disowning her, and that she didn’t want to let us go to Sheol because she was sure it would have been attacked sooner or later… which she did, but that doesn’t change what she did" he muttered. “We got pissed off that time, but she wouldn’t listen to reason. We’ve been talking less and less ever since. When we see each other, we’re still friendly with each other, but… we still know she was a bitch that time, and she still refuses to see it”
Charlie bit her lip. “So… she left you two imprisoned here, while she went off to be a recluse in her… house?”
"Something like that" Abel confirmed. "But as you can imagine, we weren't willing to stay locked up in here forever, so... we started studying a way to get out of here without her consent. Since she spent months or years locked in her house doing who knows what, we had all the time we wanted... and eventually, we learned how to use our powers to be able to summon something from outside. We didn't have enough energy to summon a whole body here, but... a head was plausible"
Charlie's eyes widened, and she whirled around to face Mephisto: "Wait... so you...!?"
"I was the first one summoned down here, right after Lilith cut off my head" Mephisto confirmed. "I wasn't bound to the Refugium like they were. I could technically come and go whenever I wanted. Therefore, through me, they could communicate with the outside world"
"During that final battle, the space between the realms got weaker. As I said, we couldn't take a whole body, but... we could take a head" Abel told her. "We acted quickly and summoned him, dragged him down here, and used the technology you see to keep him alive"
"Well, not exactly the technology you see" Cain told her. "For a long time, he forgot about nice things like arms and legs. We had him on a pedestal attached to respirators"
Mephisto nodded. "They didn't ignore all the bad things I'd done, and they gave me what I deserved. For the first thousand years I was isolated from everyone, reduced to just a head, and for the next two thousand they allowed me visitors, but nothing else. Only after that did they give me this robotic body"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you don't resent them, if they treated you like that"
"I told you, I deserved it. I understood that too" Mephisto muttered. "I was a monster, I don't deny it. But after Cain and Abel punished me properly, they also showed me another way. They allowed me to see the wrong of my actions... a wrong that maybe I had already seen when Adam had torn me apart in his fury. Since then, I tried to fix what I broke. I put my knowledge, my skills, my strength and my intellect to the serve a better purpose. I know I'll never be able to make amends for all the things I did... but at least I'm trying"
Charlie was a little taken aback by his words. Part of her didn’t want to believe him, but Mephisto sounded genuine to her. “We don’t just subjugate demons to our will here, Charlie” Abel told her, as if sensing her confusion. “We reform them. We make them better people, make them understand that even though they’re in Hell, they can aspire to do better, to not just chase destruction. Only after we’re sure we can trust them, and that they’re no longer killing for fun, do we allow them to return to the outside world as our emissaries”
Charlie was increasingly confused. “I… I don’t think I understand”
"When we took Mephisto's head, we didn't care about him. We, too, found him disgusting. Our intent was to take pieces of him, so we could make objects that would allow us to travel freely between our two worlds: keys, like the one you used to come here" Abel explained. "Since they were made from pieces of a demon not bound to the Refugium, other demons could use them to come and go freely. We then sent them out of the Refugium and waited for some demons to find them, and end up here with them. Through them, we tracked down the strongest and most dangerous overlords, and made sure that they obtained these keys, ended up here, and submitted to us. After that, we reformed them so that they wouldn't do whatever they wanted once they were outside, and then through them we built a dense network throughout Pride, made up of all the most powerful overlords. The goal was to maintain stability and peace, preventing some wannabe from obtaining too many souls, or the demons from starting to gather in legions that were too large, or anything else that could cause a war with the other realms. Whenever a demon became too strong, our information network would find out about it and make sure that it obtained one of the keys, entered the Refugium, and then we would we tied to ourselves. In doing so, for thousands of years in the shadows we maintained stability"
"You mean... you created some sort of ghost network?" Charlie asked.
"Yes. A network specifically designed to keep the peace and prevent a second disaster like the one Mephisto caused millennia ago" Abel confirmed.
Charlie scratched the back of her head. "When you say reformed... what do you mean?"
"Not in the sense that you meant with your hotel. We didn't think redemption or anything like that was possible" Abel answered. "We just made a demon abandon its chaotic, cruel nature and believe in our cause. Basically, we made sure that once it was out there, it wouldn't kill, rape, steal, and torture indiscriminately. We lowered its evil enough that it wouldn't do evil unless it had to"
"Hmm. I see" Charlie muttered, then nodded at Mephisto: "Was he also... reformed?"
"We weren't interested at first" Abel replied. "But after three thousand years of giving second chances to a lot of other evil demons, we decided we should try him. It was worth it: Mephisto has been a great asset ever since, one of the best we've worked for"
"I know the Great Flood and the Exterminations were caused by me" Mephisto said sadly. "And I wanted to make amends. I was hoping that if we could create a peaceful enough Hell, then the Exterminations would have stopped"
"But it wasn't enough" Abel said. "Our ghost network unfortunately had too many limitations. Cain and I needed to really get out of here, but we were still stuck. The keys allow other demons to travel freely in and out of the Refugium, not us. We could only control the situation from a distance, not intervene to resolve it more efficiently. We looked for another way... but it wasn't us who found the solution, but what is now our best agent: Zestial"
Charlie's eyes widened: "Zestial?"
"Yes" Abel confirmed. "I don't often say this when it comes to demonic pacts, but... that deal Zestial made with Mephisto that day was providential for us"
Charlie looked at Mephisto in surprise. "You... made a deal with Zestial?"
"He summoned me himself" Mephisto confirmed. "Many years ago, when he was still human and went by the name of Faust"
There was a moment of silence. "Wait... Faust!?" Charlie repeated in amazement. "You mean... that Faust? The Doctor Faust of the legend?"
"It's not a legend" Mephisto replied. "Doctor Johann Georg Faust , the great scholar who had all the knowledge of his time but wanted more, is the one who today goes by the name of Zestial"
Charlie was shocked to say the least. Elizabeth was, too. Alastor... well, he was surprised, but he didn't seem that shocked. "Hmm. Now it explains a lot" he commented. "His age, his aristocratic demeanor, his intelligence, his pragmatism, his constant search for information, his very name... yeah, it all makes sense. How did I not realize that before...?"
"His own name?" his mother asked. "What do you mean?"
"Zestial comes from the Latin vestal" Alastor explained. "The vestals were those who had to protect the sacred fire. Fire is a symbol of knowledge, and is in fact also one of the symbols of the famous Doctor Faust, for whom it represents both the ardor for knowledge and the fall into sin. The surname Morde is instead a variant of the German surname Bord, which in turn refers to a board, which being made of wood is used to burn the fire and therefore feed the power of knowledge"
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow: "How do you know that?"
Alastor shrugged. "He told me. Well, not the whole part about Doctor Faust, I just got to that now, I mean the part about the vestals and the board"
"Why did he tell you that?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"I asked him. I knew that wasn't his real name, I mean, who would name their child Zestial?" Alastor rightly pointed out. "So I asked him why he chose that name and he explained it to me. Now everything fits together"
"Yes, he changed his name to Zestial when he came down here" Mephisto confirmed. "The name of Doctor Faust had become too well known, he would be better off not letting anyone know who he really was"
Charlie bit her lip. Now she was really curious. "How did this happen?"
"In the early 1500s, Faust was the person with the most knowledge in the world" Mephisto explained. "He had reached the limit of every discipline he had studied. He valued logic as a tool for debate, considered medicine a devalued tool if it did not allow the return of the dead and immortality, the law was just and transcendent, theology was useless because all men committed sin and having sins punishable by death only complicated the logic of theology. He spoke every language fluently, knew every philosophy, had every historical account that existed back then imprinted in his mind. Yet it was not enough for him. He wanted more, he wanted to transcend the knowledge that the humans of his time had of the universe. So, he began to search for answers in the most archaic forms of black magic, and found a lost spell, the same spell that thousands of years before my acolytes on Earth used to summon me. He used it in the year 1516 and called me to him, asking me to teach him everything I knew"
"And you made a deal with him?" Charlie asked in a sarcastic, reproachful tone. "I thought you said you had changed"
Mephisto snorted. "Read Marlowe's play. I tried to convince him to give up" he told her. "I warned him of the consequences of his foolish act, and urged him to let me go and forget about demons. But Faust valued the knowledge I could give him more than his soul, and he was unwilling to release me until I had given him what he wanted. In the end, I had to oblige: his soul in exchange for all my services. However, since I am bound to Cain and Abel, that pact with me was only an intermediary: since Faust had given his soul to me, he had given it to them"
"So you were saddled with him for... twenty-four years, right? That's what the legend says" Alastor said, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... if I remember correctly, you weren't exactly a good helper"
"I was trying to stop him from going too far, and to convince him to repent and save himself" Mephisto replied. "Don't sound like I'm a loser. If I wanted to, I could have shown him things that even modern scientists can't dream of. I've done it before, and I could have done it that time, I just didn't want to for his own good!"
Charlie scratched her head. "You know, I'm usually happy when someone shows they've changed, but... after seeing you in Adam's memories, it's pretty weird to hear you talk like that" she had to admit, even to herself. "So... it really was twenty-four years?"
"Yes" Mephisto confirmed. "But not because of the deal, as the legend says, Faust simply died in 1540, twenty-four years after that pact. We hadn't premeditated it, he could have died a year later or fifty"
"Are you sure you didn't have a hand in it?" Alastor asked him mockingly, clearly with the sole purpose of mocking him.
Mephisto glared at him: "That man died of old age when he was sixty years old, at the time it was considered a luxury! If I wanted to get rid of him I would have killed him first, don't you think?"
"Don't argue" Elizabeth said, preferring not to find out how a fight between the two demons would have ended.
"Yeah, we don't want to see you bicker" Charlie backed her up. "So... Faust died, went to Hell, and took on the identity of Zestial?"
"That's right. He's been working for them ever since" Mephisto said, pointing to Cain and Abel. "Like I said, I was just an intermediary, his soul actually belongs to them"
"We made him our best agent. His intelligence, planning, and calculation skills were almost unrivaled. No one could ever escape him... until Alastor came along four centuries later and ended his record" Abel said. "And it was he who finally found a solution for me and my brother, over two hundred years ago"
"You mean you could finally go out freely?" Charlie asked.
"Almost. Unfortunately, the solution was only a partial one" Abel replied. "We could go out again, but... for a very limited time. We were still tied to the Refugium. We needed something more... and that's when Alastor came in"
Notes:
Before you tell me, yes, I know Faust is a German character and Zestial speaks Old English. But anyone who knows anything about history knows that all upper-class people, up until less than a century ago, could speak at least three or four languages fluently. Specifically, in 1500, a high-class German man knew, in addition to his native tongue, English, French, Latin, and, if he were an intellectual, Florentine, Tuscan (the languages of Dante and Petrarch), Greek, and sometimes Spanish. The study of languages was considered essential for philosophers given the multitude of diverse sources they had to draw upon for their profession. Faust in legend is described as a man who literally had absolute knowledge of all human knowledge, and who was therefore fluent in all the languages known at his time. Therefore, if Faust had actually existed, he could have spoken English without difficulty, and it would have been the English of the 1500s, the same English that Zestial speaks. Add to this the fact that we know literally nothing about him and that Zestial Morde is a name that derives from various roots, including Germanic, and it's not so strange that he is Doctor Faustus, who happens to have lived between 1400 and 1500. This would also explain his constant quest for knowledge, his caution, his genius, and his cunning, all traits commonly attributed to the legendary Faust. So, also to remind Viv that the world isn't just made up of Americans (and Spaniards), in this story Zestial is Doctor Faust, the same Faust who made a pact with the demon Mephistopheles to receive eternal knowledge. Furthermore, for those wondering, Ahriman is another name for Mephistopheles, considered older (to be precise, of Persian roots), while the modern one is actually a fake; consequently, since, according to Viv, sinners often change their names in Hell, Ahriman in this story was Mephistopheles's original name, the one he had as a human, and which he then changed after becoming a demon.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 94): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161150
Among the lions (chapter 9): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173587756
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 148: Demons' attack
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Angel had jumped slightly when he saw that spear descend from the sky and strike Adam in the heart: it was so unexpected that for a moment he feared he too would be pierced. "Well done, Husk" he whispered. "He gave those angels good advice"
"Looks like the kitten was helpful" Velvette commented. "Adam's on his knees now. Do you think they'll still be able to win?"
Zestial hissed. Oddly enough, he didn't seem pleased at all. "Well, I'd say there's a fifty-fifty chance" he said. "If they win, good for us. If they lose, it'll be our turn"
"He's in pieces now!" Cherri pointed out. "He can't beat those two angels!"
"He's tired, not defeated. Never underestimate your opponent" Zestial told her. "In any case, we'll act as if his victory over those two is certain, and that we'll have to face him anyway"
There was a moment of silence. "So... we stay hidden like before?" Pentious asked.
But Zestial shook his head. "Not this time. If my plan is to succeed, we have to make sure Adam is right here when the battle is over"
"Here? You mean... in front of the pearly gates?" Angel asked.
"Exactly" Zestial confirmed. "Velvette, use your powers to create images of walls, obstacles, and anything else you can think of. Make sure the fight ends right here, in front of Heaven's door"
"Why?" Angel asked. "What do you have in mind?"
Zestial smiled back. "I already told you" he replied. "Remember? Find Adam, save your friend, steal the third piece of the weapon and possibly some of the other two, and extort the location of his lair. We already have completed the first one and Charlie is nowhere to be seen now, so we just have to finish the last two"
Meanwhile, Adam was staring at the hole in his chest caused by Sandalphon's divine spear. His blood was seeping from it, creating a red pool at his feet, not a golden one like Gabriel's. The two bloods combined, creating a color that strongly resembled dancing flames.
Metatron moved his hand, and what looked like ropes made of starlight wrapped and crushed his arms. Sandalphon, in turn, drove her spear deeper into Adam's chest. "Y-You...!" the first man hissed, spitting out streams of blood.
"You even defeated the Messenger. Impressive" Metatron told him. "But it's over now!"
And with that, he clenched his fist, and as he did so, the ropes entangling him dug into Adam's flesh, making him scream. The first man slowly looked up, watching the two figures loom before him. One, tall and stern, wore quicksilver armor that seemed to reflect every sin in the world: Metatron, God's scribe, language itself made flesh. The other, less imposing but more ferocious in the eyes, wielded a spear forged from holy fire: Sandalphon, the Crowner, she who stood beside the Throne to place the crown on God's brow. Not angels as powerful as the seven archangels, but still superior to Sera, the High Seraphim.
"ENOUGH!" Adam roared; with a snap, he grabbed the spear protruding from his chest and tore it away. "You think you defeated me just because you stabbed me in the heart with an angelic energy weapon!? I learned how to negate its effects a long time ago!"
And with that, he instantly removed every particle of angelic energy from his body, allowing his regeneration to fully function again and rebuild his heart. With that, he raised the spear and hurled it at Sandalphon, but she deftly dodged the blow and caught it in her hands. The first man had merely returned her weapon.
Adam stood up much more slowly than usual; his entire body ached, but his eyes were still red with fury. "Let's finish this" he said through gritted teeth.
"So be it" Metatron told him. His voice sounded almost like a liturgical chant. "We will correct the error once and for all. You were never meant to come this far"
Sandalphon was the first to move: in a flap of her wings, she was upon Adam, her spear carving a fiery path through the air. The first man threw himself aside, and once again, he moved much more slowly than before. The battle with Gabriel had truly exhausted him. He had defeated the archangels, but now his body was too worn out to move as he would have liked.
The blow grazed his face, burning part of his cheek. Sandalphon spun in midair and attempted another thrust, but this time Adam wasted no time trying to avoid it: instead, he blocked the spear with his hand. The mystical, sacred energy tore his palms and seared his flesh, but he growled and, ignoring the pain, swung his axe with his other hand, splitting the spear's handle clean off.
Sandalphon stepped back, and Adam normally wouldn't have given her a moment's respite, but now he was too slow again: Metatron intervened before he could capitalize on the opportunity he'd created. With a single wave of his hand, the angel created in his hand what looked like a fiery whip inscribed with eternal runes, and hurled it at the demon. The whip struck Adam squarely in the chest, hurling him into a pillar that shattered on impact.
The first man spat blood. His bones creaked, but they didn't buckle. "Is that all?" he growled through his teeth, rising again. "I've defeated all your best warriors. I've killed even the Messenger of God himself. You must be really desperate if you're using a Scribe and a Crowner to defeat me!"
Even as he said this, his body was shaking. Adam knew he was about to collapse. The weight of all the battles he had faced thus far was like a guillotine on his neck. Even his senses had stopped functioning properly: his vision sometimes became blurry. His lungs burned with the exertion.
With a roar, he leaped forward; his limbs may have been tired, but they were still strong enough to give him momentum. He overwhelmed Metatron, grabbed him with his free hand, threw him to the ground, and raised his axe to cut him in half. The angel slammed his wings to keep him away, which sent him reeling backward; before he could charge again, Sandalphon kicked him sideways in the ribs, sending him tumbling away.
Adam let out a deep grunt. Almost as if all the tension was awakening his most animalistic instincts, he lunged forward, much faster this time. Sandalphon tried to strike him again with her spear, but he dodged the blow and grabbed her by the hair, throwing her away. He was about to throw her in a random direction, but what little rationality remained in him reminded him that hitting a building might harm some innocent Victor; his vision cleared for a moment, and instead of throwing Sandalphon into the buildings, he threw her in the one direction where there was nothing: the pearly gates.
Metatron attacked again, his incandescent eyes seeming to fill with living hieroglyphics. "I AM HIS VOICE!" he shouted, and the very sound of his words became a weapon. The words materialized into blades of truth, bullets that pierced the air and struck Adam in the chest, face, legs. Each blow was a law, an eternal decree that sought to reduce him to nothingness.
But Adam resisted. His rationality was faltering further and further, and his senses were fading further, but that wasn't enough to break him. "Then listen to mine!" he roared, and let out his most powerful war cry: a cry that, despite his tired vocal cords, resonated with the power of a tiger's roar.
With a leap, Adam dropped to all fours and, using his new center of gravity, threw himself at Metatron, ignoring the pain he was inflicting. The Scribe of God's eyes widened at the sight of him, and he tried to dodge, moving forward to strike him in the chest; but at the last second, Adam spread his wings to slow himself with the resistance of the air. Metatron found himself in front of him at the wrong time, and that was enough for Adam to grab him by the neck.
Metatron let out a cry of despair and attacked again: his voice became sharper than a razor and penetrated Adam's body from all sides. The angelic blows tore through his flesh, the sacred letters writhing, burning him every time they touched, but Adam resisted. With a final cry, he swung his axe and struck the angel in the center of his skull. Like a sheet of paper cut in half, Metatron split open from side to side, and the two halves fell to the ground in a pool of blood.
Sandalphon, meanwhile, had already gotten up, but Adam wasn't stopping: he flew at her with all his speed, or at least what he could muster. She saw him coming just in time, but even though she managed to avoid the axe's blade, she was still grazed by the handle. She was thrown straight at the pearly gates, breaking through in an instant.
Sandalphon, wounded but still alive, struggled to her feet. Her right wing was broken and her face was covered in cuts and blood, but her regeneration fixed everything in moments. She saw Adam approaching and blocked his attack with her spear. "Not so fast!" she shouted.
With a nimble move, she flew behind him and planted her spear in his shoulder, so that he could no longer move the arm holding the axe, while she blocked his other arm with her legs. And then, she grabbed his neck and squeezed. Adam moved frantically, trying to shake her off, but she was far too strong for him. Soon he fell to his knees, feeling the breath knocked out of him. "You lose" the angel whispered to him.
Adam was salivating now, and his vision was blurring, but just when Sandalphon thought he was finally giving up, he let out a primal scream and sank his teeth into the angel's arm. The divine flesh exploded in a shower of golden blood as Sandalphon screamed. Adam clenched his teeth with all his might, and then jerked his head downward, lifting Sandalphon into the air and throwing her forward; he then caught her in one hand and slammed her to the ground. The ground opened up into a crater.
Sandalphon rolled onto her side, spitting blood. Adam, in turn, tried to stand again, but slipped again to his knees and had to hold on to the axe handle. He was decidedly exhausted. Yet his eyes still burned. "What you angels still have to learn well..." he said as, with a seemingly inhuman effort, he got to his feet. "... is what adrenaline is"
Sandalphon raised her spear for one final resistence, but Adam grabbed it, broke it, and drove the fragment into the angel's throat. With that, he raised his axe, then brought it down, again, and again, with all the strength he had left in his body. A gurgling sound of snapping bone and mangled flesh, and then finally silence.
This time, Adam didn't fall to his knees: he literally fell flat on his face. His strength completely deserted him, and he lay there, next to his latest kill, his body barely able to move. Even his mind was a sieve, he could barely keep his eyes open...
"... so tired..."
Adam made a strangled noise. "Is there someone...?" he muttered, so low that practically no one heard him.
With difficulty, he turned his head toward the spot where he'd heard that voice, but there was nothing there. Only his axe, which he held firmly in his hand, even though his fingers were now shaking. Had he imagined it? And yet... it had seemed so real... and when he'd heard those words, for a moment he'd felt a strange sense of strength, like he'd felt at Alastor's house, or when he'd slashed that abusive father, or... or so many other times...
Was he so tired that his mind was playing tricks on him...?
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, the demons were creeping closer. "Great work" Zestial said to Velvette. "By making the images of those houses appear, you've moved the battle here permanently. Good job, you've been helpful"
"Mph. Thanks" Velvette said sarcastically. "What do we do now?"
"I've never seen him so tired" Angel commented, looking at Adam on the ground. "He seems on his last breath"
"Good!" Valentino exclaimed. "Let's kill him now, while he's helpless! That way we can finally get rid of that bastard!"
"No!" Angel stopped him. "If we kill him, we'll exterminate all the souls he has with him!"
"It's not a problem for me" was Valentino's reply.
Angel rolled his eyes, but before he could say something Zestial spoke up: "I know, why do you think I wanted to lure him to the pearly gates? I intend to make him regurgitate everything he stole"
And with that, a sound like a shell cracking was heard, and his body tore in two; from the opening emerged bodily fluids and then black legs, just like an insect shedding its exoskeleton. What emerged was a kind of cross between a spider and a scorpion: he was three meters tall, and the body was massive and the legs were muscular like those of a tarantula, but he had sharp claws and a tail ending in a hook. The legs were joined at the base by a membrane made of greenish spider webs that seemed to provide him with wings. The body was completely black, covered in stinging hairs that emitted a green liquid that burned in flames of the same color as soon as it came into contact with the air. His head remained almost the same, but with eight eyes that left not even a blind spot, much more prominent jaws and pedipalps similar to hands.
The transformation had left the others quite stunned. "Uh... is this your overlord form?" Angel muttered, holding back the vomit.
"It's hideous" Cherri confirmed.
"Terrible" Pentious said.
"It makes me laugh!" Niffty said with a smile.
"It disgusts me too... which is saying something" Valentino muttered.
"This is going to haunt me for months" Velvette commented. "If I wake up screaming at night, don't judge me"
"That is of no relevance at this time" Zestial said, his voice much more hollow than usual. "Listen carefully to my plan"
And after such words, without warning, he planted his stinger in Valentino's back, who let out a shrill scream: "What the fuck... what's wrong with you...!?"
His body shook slightly, and his veins, at least the ones around his mouth, glowed green. "Remember how we tried to enhance your hallucinogenic gases to the max, just to mess with Adam's brain? I injected the best product we had obtained into your veins. You'll be able to spit it out just like you spit your gas normally" Zestial told him. "Valentino, as soon as I give you the go-ahead, go at Adam and spray him with your gas. Make him inhale as much as possible, so that he ends up hallucinating and consequently becoming confused and paralyzed. Velvette, you use your digital powers to help Valentino avoid any attacks from the first man. The rest of you, as soon as Adam is on the ground, jump on him and take his weapons. If you can't reach them all, never mind: as soon as one of you takes even one, run beyond the gate and throw yourselves into Hell"
"So we can get them to Michael or Lucifer. Got it" Angel said, nodding. He doubted there was anyone left in Heaven capable of defending those weapons. "What are you going to do?"
"I told you, I intend to make him regurgitate everything he stole. If we want to defeat him once and for all, we need to strip him of his souls and discover every secret he has, so I'll need to be able to jump on him and connect to his eighth cranial nerve" Zestial answered.
His words were met with dead silence. "I don't understand a thing," Angel admitted.
"I do" Pentious hissed, his expression determined. "Are you sure you can do it?"
"I'm not sure of anything, except that we won't get another chance like this. Adam is exhausted, we need to act now!" Zestial replied. "Valentino, go!"
Valentino grunted, but didn't protest: instead, he transformed back into his overlord form, and flew like a kamikaze towards Adam. The first man barely saw him coming: "You...!?" Valentino immediately spat out his gas; Adam coughed loudly, discovering that it was a much more powerful hallucinogen than the moth demon normally had. With his energy almost completely depleted, he couldn't react in time and inhaled a lot of it, starting to feel dizzy and his muscles cold. And on top of that, he couldn't adapt to this attack like he did with the others, because even if this time it came from a demon, it was still a combined attack of two overlords, and he could only adapt to one ability at a time.
However, he wasn't going to let this get him down like this. "You think just because I'm tired I can't bash your head in? I'm still the first fucking man, you bastard!" he roared, and with all the strength he had left he punched Valentino. "I got more than enough fight left in me for you, moth!"
His fist hit Valentino, with such force that it would surely have pierced him: even in his extremely tired and deteriorated state, Adam was still strong enough to kill a demon. But Valentino's image cracked, revealing itself to be nothing more than a collection of pixels assembled together by Velvette. "What...? An illusion...?"
Valentino took advantage of this to fly at him again from behind and spit even more poisonous gas. Adam spread his wings, but found that the muscles that controlled them were already partially paralyzed. The gas completely confused his mind, preventing him from thinking of an effective strategy; tired as he was, he was unable to use his powers to eliminate its effects. He continued to try to hit Valentino, with the result that he only destroyed Velvette's pixel images. Soon he was sliding on his legs, breathing hard.
Zestial seemed to spring like a jumping spider: as soon as he saw Adam show the first sign of vulnerability, he moved all his legs and jumped into the air. The web attached to his limbs expanded, becoming a huge web that allowed him to glide up to Adam's shoulders. The first man barely turned, managing to see him for an instant, but it was too late: Zestial stuck his stinger in his neck.
From the outside, it only looked like Adam's veins had turned black; but inside, something was happening that would have made everyone in the room vomit if they could have seen it. As soon as it was inside Adam, Zestial's stinger emitted paralyzing venom, and at the same time a sort of sticky filament like a tentacle emerged from them, which moved along the nervous system. Finally, it reached the brain, where it branched out, connecting to the cortex and the thalamus.
"Now! Let's get our weapons!" Angel shouted. He didn't know what was happening inside Adam's body and he didn't care: he, Cherri, Pentious and Niffty ran towards him, holding their breath to avoid being intoxicated... except for Niffty, who of course the first thing she did was inhale the gas, resulting in her falling to the ground unconscious.
Adam seemed to have completely lost touch with the world while Zestial was stinging him, but somehow he still managed to move: with one hand he gripped the handle of his axe, while the other was tightened around the cross of Jesus. Pentious and Cherri tried to pry his fingers open, but it was useless since they were tightened too tightly. Angel, on the other hand, managed to unbuckle the Ark of the Covenant from his shoulder strap, and immediately ran out of the gas cloud: "Cherri! Take this and Niffty, and throw yourself into Hell!"
Cherri opened her one eye in shock: "What!? But...!"
"You know the plan! If something fails, we can't let Adam get back what we're taking from him!" Angel said, throwing the Ark into her hands. "Take it to Lucifer and Michael, or hide it somewhere. We can't let him get it back!"
Cherri bit her lip. "Come with me" she said to him and Pentious.
The serpent angel shook his head. "He still has two weapons" he reminded her. "Even if we fail, I have to try to get them. And besides, I'm an angel, I don't risk dying again. At most he will hurt me a lot and then after a while I'll respawn"
"And I'm not leaving here without making sure Husk is okay" Angel told her determinedly. "I'll get through this, and I'll make sure your man survives too. NOW GO!"
Cherri bit her lip hard, and then with an effort of will she picked up Niffty, closed her eyes, and ran through the pearly gates, literally throwing herself face first. "I hope she doesn't hurt herself falling" Pentious muttered.
"She won't fall on angelic steel, she'll be fine" Angel reminded him. "Now... how do we get the axe and the cross?"
Meanwhile, Valentino and Velvette had also begun to try to open Adam's hands: Valentino continued to spit smoke harder and harder in the hopes of causing a stronger paralysis, and Velvette was using pixels as if they were jacks to move those strong fingers. Unknown to either of them, however, even as Adam was clenching his hands so tightly, his mind was also engaged in a fierce battle inside his head. "What the fuck have you done!?"
"I just connected to your eighth cranial nerve" Zestial answered in a calm voice. "Forgive the intrusion, but... I fear I will have to wrest control from you for a while"
"Don't you dare!" Adam roared in his head. "Go away from my head, you disgusting parasite...!"
"Even in your current state, do you still have enough willpower to resist me?" Zestial commented with a strange satisfaction. He sounded like a scientist admiring something amazing. "Admirable. You truly the pinnacle of the indomitable human spirit. But I fear it will all be for naught. Normally it would be no problem for you to chase me away, but now... I fear you won't last long"
"Don't count on it...!" Adam hissed. "You... won't... control me...!"
Adam began to spasm, his tail, wings, and shoulders shaking as if something was moving them against his will. The first man made a sound of pain, and concentrated all his strength on clenching his hands together to prevent the other demons from taking his weapons. "What's wrong with him?" Angel muttered at the sight of him like this.
"Zestial is doing his part" Pentious hissed. "He's connected to his eighth cranial nerve"
"Still talking like that? I don't know what that means!" Angel protested.
Pentious' eyes narrowed. "It means he can control his body... if he can break down his psyche"
"You won't be able to make me open my hands!" Adam screamed in his mind. "You won't... disarm me...!"
"Mmm. You really are stubborn" Zestial told him. "But you see... you've been concentrating too much on your hands. I have other ways to disarm you"
"What...?" Adam muttered. "What are you talking about...?"
Suddenly, his demonic deals began to break: Adam felt the souls that were bound to him break free. Taking advantage of the fact that the first man had concentrated on maintaining control of his fingers, Zestial had attacked the part of his brain with which he controlled his powers, and consequently also the control he had over the souls he had absorbed. Adam panicked: "No, no, no...!!!"
With all his mental energy he grabbed the souls that were fleeing, but he didn't have time to catch them all: as if he were vomiting, at least a hundred of them exploded from his mouth like small dark flaming globes. They were an infinitesimal part of his souls, but in the meantime Zestial had managed to break at least their pacts and free them. Under the astonished gaze of Angel, Pentious, Valentino and Velvette, the souls flew among them and poured out beyond the pearly gates, falling into Hell.
"Of course!" Velvette exclaimed as she saw this. "If Zestial can control Adam's body, he can force him to break the deals he made with those souls, and then they are free! That's why he wanted the battle to happen right here, because here the souls can fall directly through the pearly gates!"
"And by doing so, they fall into Hell, making it very difficult for Adam to recover them, and also this way we avoid having demons scattered throughout Heaven!" Pentious said, who also understood everything. "And when Adam is stripped of all his souls, in the tired state he is in he will no longer have enough strength to stop us from knocking him out, or keeping him under control until some other angel comes to capture him for good!"
Even Valentino and Angel, while not as smart as the other two, had figured out what had happened. "Fuck... that bastard spider thought of everything!" Angel exclaimed. "Shit... I didn't think I'd say this, but... we could really win!"
Valentino flapped his wings loudly, drawing attention to himself. "I'm usually the type to get excited even before cumming, but in this case, we'll celebrate AFTER this bastard is finally down!" he said, spitting out more gas. "I'll keep him under control, you guys get ready! As soon as Zestial can get his hands to open even a little, take that shitty axe and that fucking cross away from him!"
The other three nodded, knowing that the moth demon was right. Adam wasn't defeated yet. They had already made good progress in taking the Ark of the Covenant and a few souls from him, but there was still a lot to do to truly bring him to his knees.
Adam spat out another hundred souls. He had millions of them, but every time he lost one, like a chain reaction, his control over the others also lost, making it easier for Zestial to sever the demonic deals. "I... won't allow you... to continue...!"
Zestial was also facing a tough battle of his own: Adam's mind was very strong and not easy to break. It was incredible that he was still so hard to bend even after all the beatings he had received from the archangels. Valentino's gas was confusing his psyche, and this gave Zestial the ability to create more and more damage to break his defenses, but it was still an intense fight. Despite this, he still made himself seen strong: "Stop opposing. You've already lost"
"No... no...!" Adam was muttering, and for the first time a strong note of fear was present in his voice. "I... will... stop you...!"
The first man's body slid forward, curling up as if trying to protect his indestructible axe and the cross of Christ. With a spasm, he spat out another hundred souls. "You won't succeed" Zestial told him. "Every second that passes, while you attack me on one side, I attack you from three. While you're focused on protecting your hands, I attack your souls, and vice versa. And also, I'm digging deeper into your hypothalamus. Fortunately, the more recent a memory is, the easier it is to find it"
"What... do you mean...!?" Adam muttered.
"That I already know where you're keeping the overlords prisoner" Zestial replied. "You will no longer be able to use this information as a blackmail weapon. And I will soon know what you intend to do with those three pieces that you stole. I am sorry, but your crusade ends here. But fear not: when we are finished, there are two people who will surely make sure that you do not die"
"No... enough..." Adam murmured trembling, no longer hiding his fear. "You can't... you have no right... let me go... let me go...!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 95): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161753
Among the lions (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173589691
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 149: Beyond the door
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After Abel mentioned Alastor, everyone grew quieter. The radio demon cocked his head, his smile widening mockingly. "Oh, are we finally talking about me?"
"Looks like we have to" Cain replied tartly.
"I think we need to talk about our solution first" Abel said aloud to bring attention back to himself. His face had become quite serious.
Charlie didn't like this. "Why? How did Zestial helped you to get out?"
Abel sighed deeply. "I think the best way to say it is to just say it. Our solution... is you, Charlie"
Charlie was speechless. "Huh?"
"We played a role in your birth" Abel told her. "Two hundred years ago... we made sure your mother could have children again"
"W-What?" Charlie stammered. "I... wait... I mean... WHAT!?"
Abel sighed. He had clearly expected this reaction. "Lilith was created at the beginning of time to be the mother of humanity; by rejecting that role, she completely lost the ability to generate new life. To put it scientifically, her reproductive genes simply shut down. It wasn't a punishment or God's wrath, it was simply a matter of roles. That's why your mother was never able to have children, while ours gave birth to so many"
"Wait, are you saying you... reactivated my mother's reproductive genes!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"Simply put, yes" Abel confirmed. "It was Zestial who had the idea, after three hundred years of painstaking research. We needed to create a bridge, something that was part of both the Refugium and the outside world. A being that was part of multiple worlds. We couldn't simply summon someone, or birth something new... the Refugium's contribution to the creation of this bridge had to be minimal, but significant enough to open the door. In short, we needed to create something whose birth we didn't directly intervene in, but which without our contribution would be impossible to achieve. Furthermore, this something had to be powerful enough to withstand the many challenges Hell posed, and have a minimal connection to our family so that it could truly bond with us. After exploring various options... we decided to give Aunt Lilith the gift she had been waiting for since she married your father"
"Before you get any mental complexes, our contribution to your birth was only to reactivate your mother's reproductive genes. We didn't have a direct involvement, since we weren't present when your parents fucked, but without our contribution, you wouldn't have been born. So we fulfilled the basic requirement" Cain said. "And Lilith is human like us, which is enough for us to bond with you. Not to mention that she and your father would protect you, and you would grow up strong enough to protect yourself. Plus, Lilith and Lucifer finally had the child they so desired. We all came out as winners, in the end"
Charlie had to take a deep breath. "So... you basically created me to be your... means to an end?"
"I'd be lying if I said otherwise" Abel said. "But Charlie, don't think we ever thought of using or controlling you. We knew you were a person and you had your own rights and your own life. If we could have, we never would have interfered"
"Oh, if we'd wanted to use you, you'd have noticed it" Cain said, his voice a little rhetorically. "Stop acting like a scaredy-cat. In the end, we just allowed your mother to get pregnant. We were doctors fixing a problem. Are children born to mothers who had to have uterine surgery that pissed off at doctors?"
"Shut up!" Abel growled, silencing his brother.
Charlie remained silent. It was definitely a tough piece of news to receive, and even though it didn't technically change anything in her life, it still wasn't easy to digest. She turned to Alastor, but seeing his expression, she realized he hadn't known about it either. Well, in fact, he hadn't even mentioned it to her mother. "How did you reactivate my mother's reproductive genes?"
"We asked our mother for help" Abel answered.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Eve?"
"You saw the creatures out there, right? Our mother's been... experimenting, like we told you. She knows the machinery of life better than anyone else; she could turn any gene you wanted on or off" Abel explained. "We told her we wanted to do Aunt Lilith a favor because we were sad she didn't have any children. We finally convinced her, and she gave us a spell that could reactivate the reproductive genes, if only for a limited time"
"And she believed you?" Alastor asked. "Wait, now that I think about it, hasn't she ever questioned the fact that you have an army of demons down there?"
"Of course she knows. She just doesn't care" Abel replied. "Our mother is fine with us bringing other people here, as long as we don't leave. She doesn't care what we do, as long as we stay inside the Refugium. As for believing our words... well, technically we didn't lie to her. We used that spell for exactly the purpose we told her, we just omitted that it would benefit us too"
"Hmm. I see. It makes sense" Alastor said, rubbing his chin. "May I ask how you did it?"
"The spell in question allowed for the creation of an activated agent of greater power than any other. It would have lasted a few hours, but as you can imagine, that's enough time to produce an egg and fertilize it" Abel explained. "Mephisto took care of the rest: he selected some of his excellent agents and prepared a plan to infiltrate the royal palace. As soon as they had the chance, these people slipped the activated agent into Lilith's evening drink. Then we just had to let her and Lucifer copulate. The activated agent wore off by the end of the night, which is why Lilith never had any more children after Charlie, but by then she was already pregnant"
Charlie bit her lip. "So... I was born" she commented. "And then? What next?"
"Nothing. You didn't need to do anything, just exist. Here, try to imagine yourself as a giant thread" Abel explained. "The spell that reactivated your mother's reproductive genes is technically something that originated down here, since we performed it here, and therefore belongs to the Refugium. However, you don't belong to the Refugium. You belongs to the outside world, but an extreme small part of you belongs to the Refugium. You are literally a child of two worlds, not enough to be dragged here like us, but enough to open a door. You are an anchor to the outside world. The spell that allowed you to be born connects you to this place, and in doing so, you open a path to the outside"
Charlie had to strain to understand. "But... what about everything else? I mean, even the pacts you have with the demons in your service are a connection to something in the outside world, right?"
"The pacts are between me and my brother and the other demons, not between the demons and the Refugium" Abel explained. "This place has some sort of intrinsic structure, and it's that structure that holds us captive. The spell cast on your mother, however, is composed of elements from the Refugium, so it breaks that intrinsic structure"
"I see..." Charlie murmured, though it wasn't entirely true. "So... I was truly your escape route"
Abel sighed. "I know it may sound harsh, but believe me: we never intended to exploit you or anything like that. If we had, we could have simply had you kidnapped and used against your will" he told her. "We've always considered you a person, Charlie, not an object for our purposes. It's true, we needed you to get out of this place, but we never intended to deny you your life. I hope you understand"
Charlie decided it was best not to dwell on the ethical and moral implications, or she'd probably go mad. She was smart enough to understand that Abel wasn't lying: if he and Cain had simply wanted to exploit her, they could have had her kidnapped countless times when she was a child. They had a network of overlords and consequently many demons in their service, and it wouldn't have been difficult for one of them to approach her, trick her, and lead her to the Refugium, from which she'd never escape. Considering the situation those two were in, it was fair to say they'd been quite empathetic towards her.
Beside her, Alastor was rubbing his chin with intense interest. "Surprising..." he murmured. "So that's why you were interested in the royal family... I'm starting to regret running away so soon. I should have stayed and investigated further"
"Or you should have just stayed" Cain growled. "We gave you a chance to be more than just a serial killer, and you blew it"
"I'm not a fan of second chances" Alastor replied simply. "But I admit, sometimes I'm too impulsive. If I hadn't left and found out about this sooner... hell, I could have blackmailed you much more easily. So much for running around in my head..."
"I'm going to kill him" Cain hissed.
"You can't" Alastor replied, his smile widening. "Not as long as your little brother lets you, at least"
Cain narrowed his eyes dangerously, but before he could say anything, Elizabeth slapped Alastor lightly on the back of the head: "Stop teasing him! I taught you how to be a good guest, so do it!"
Alastor obviously wasn't hurt by that slap, but he still fell silent. Cain started chuckling: "Look at him, he's a real mama's boy!"
Alastor narrowed his eyes in anger, but didn't react to the provocation, effectively proving Cain's point. But Elizabeth, on the contrary, with her usual sweet but also quite reproachful tone, said instead: "That's what the guy who stayed locked up down here precisely because he trusted his mommy too much said"
Cain's eyes widened slightly, while Alastor couldn't hide a look of satisfaction. But ultimately, the first assassin's only response was: "Hmm. I like her"
"Stop teasing each other" Abel said in a tired voice. It was clear from his tone that he'd glossed over this conversation many times.
Charlie wasn't much of a fan of seeing people argue either, so she spoke up: "So, what went wrong? I assume this... beacon of yours... didn't work as it was supposed to"
"Not exactly. It just had less of an effect than we'd hoped" Abel replied. "There are limitations to the current spell. For starters, we can only appear in places where you've physically been at least once in your life. Sure, we can fly, but as soon as we leave the point where we emerged, we have to compensate for the Refugium's pull with our energy. Once that energy is exhausted, we're brought back here"
Charlie tried to follow that reasoning: "So you can leave the Refugium, but only for a short time... and only to places I've already been?"
"Exactly" Cain replied. "By the way, did it cost you a lot to travel a bit? Seriously, didn't you have anywhere else to go besides the Sins' mansions, your parents' house, your high school, and that guy named Seviathan's summer house?"
Charlie blushed a little: "Well... I've been around most of Pentagram City..."
"What an improvement! We can fly to every corner of Pentagram City; everything else wasn't that important" Cain grumbled. "In two hundred years, haven't you felt the urge to wander around a bit? See new places? Admire cities? You're a waste of immortality!"
"Stop insulting her!" Abel scolded him. "Sorry, Charlie, that's just the way he is. Our current situation is particularly difficult for him"
"I'm already stuck with you, I don't want to be stuck down here too!" Cain growled. "I'm not a sedentary person like you, okay? I'm an explorer! The first explorer! I need to see new places, so I can put the pieces together and get new ideas! If I'd had two hundred years to explore this realm, I would have used them to explore even the most deserted caves! Not like you, who built a house and stayed hidden!"
"Technically, my mother was the first explorer" Charlie pointed out.
Cain snorted. "Your mother was a traveler, admiring the beauty of the world. I'm an explorer. I didn't just look at the landscape, I studied the characteristics of the new environments I found!" he replied. "I was the first to write a map, the first to be the stars to orient me, the first to catalog the resources and dangers of a territory to determine whether it was suitable for settlement! I was the first explorer, and no one can take that title away from me!"
Charlie raised an eyebrow: "You didn't do all that just because you were in exile?"
"So what? I did it anyway! You should be grateful, you dickhead!" Cain said. "Fuck, no one ever remembers me for my countless virtues, just for that one evil act! I was the one who built the first city, and with it the first hospital, the first quarry, the first irrigation tunnels! I invented agriculture, you have food thanks to me! I made enormous advances in stoneworking and hunting tools! Yet everyone only remembers me for a single mistake and the subsequent exile! Shit, one kills one brother in a hundred and thirty-nine and still gets remembered like that!"
There was a moment of silence. Charlie's gaze softened a little. "Oh... sorry. You're right, I have to give you credit. You're the first explorer"
Cain paused for a moment. "Oh... do you really think so?"
"Why shouldn't I? You said so, you are" Charlie replied. "I've never seen it that way. It really can't be nice to always be associated with only one bad thing you've done"
Cain let out a soft grunt. "Finally, someone who understands" he muttered, and he actually seemed pleased. "Every time we meet someone, they always call me the same thing. Father of murder, first murderer, I'm also something else, you know!? It's horrible to know that your name is forever cursed in the languages of Earth, Heaven, and even Hell. They will forever recognize me, every child, every man, every woman, only as a murderer. I will never have any other name than that, even though humanity has used a lot of things I discovered throughout history, not just murder! They should thank me every time they farm or live in a city, but instead my name only comes up when there's fratricide!"
Charlie bit her lip. "It would be really sad if it weren't for the fact that you killed your brother"
Cain was silent for a moment. "Well... it's a detail like any other" he finally said.
Charlie scratched her head. "The crazy thing is that I empathize with you even though I'm your victim" she finally admitted.
"No, the really crazy thing is that after millennia of being attached to this complexed freak, I empathize with him too, and I am the victim" Abel said, putting a hand in front of his face.
"Oh, come on, I apologized, didn't I?" Cain said. "It's been millennia, get over it, crybaby"
"It would all be easier if I didn't have a rock stuck in my head and if you weren't a total prick" Abel replied.
"I spent centuries in exile on Earth, my social skills suffered a bit! And as soon as I died, I found myself talking only to you, don't blame me" Cain said back.
"Um!" Charlie coughed to draw attention to herself. "Well, at least... you guys get along, right?"
"When you're in a forced cohabitation, you have to bury the hatchet" Cain replied.
Abel shook his head in disappointment. "Don't listen to him. He acts big, but he was lonely while he was exiled on Earth. Even if he doesn't admit it, he enjoyed seeing me again. Even though we fight constantly, we get along pretty well"
"Don't speak for me" Cain growled. "And anyway, I deny everything"
Charlie felt the urge to smile. Even though Cain and Abel continued to tease each other, they seemed like just a pair of slightly bickering brothers, not a murderer and his victim. Perhaps, after millennia of coexistence, they had reached a sort of intense harmony, which was a good thing.
Abel cleared his throat: "Anyway, back to the main point... as it stands, we can only leave the Refugium in places you've already been, and the further we get from said places, the faster our energy depletes. Even though we're no longer completely imprisoned, we're still limited in space and time"
"I understand. I'm sorry" Charlie murmured. "Isn't there a way to improve this situation?"
"Zestial has been looking for this for years" Abel replied. "But the real turning point came when Alastor appeared on the scene"
Tension immediately seemed to return to the room. In fact, it seemed even worse than before. "Why? What was so special about Alastor?" Charlie asked him.
"Well, for starters, he quickly made himself known by killing many of our workers," Abel replied. "The multiple murders he committed when he arrived in Hell didn't go unnoticed; we noticed it right away. Normally, we would have brought him here immediately, but we decided to wait. We noticed... something about him that could be useful"
Charlie looked at Alastor. The radio demon remained silent, seemingly unmoved by her words. However, Charlie noticed a slight light in his eyes, a sign that he was listening intently. "What was such thing?" she asked.
"As you well know, every overlord is unique. Their powers reflect the characteristics of their original soul" Abel answered. "Therefore, few overlords possess powers that we might call animalistic. Most possess powers based on weapons, technology, and strategies, but Alastor... he is a predator. His powers are based on radio, yes, but above all on his devouring nature. This would already be a rarity, even if not unique... but Alastor has managed to push himself even further: his knowledge of the occult and his very dark soul have allowed his powers to be enhanced by an extraordinary mystical aptitude. Perhaps you don't know this, Alastor... but when you were dying, for a few moments you managed to transform into a demon even while you were still human"
There was a moment of silence. Both Charlie and Elizabeth turned to Alastor, who had a rather surprised expression. "Uh... don't look at me like that, I didn't know" he said to them.
"That's what happens when you combine a bestial nature with a soul tainted by occult things" Abel told him. "The day my mother ate that fruit, many things were introduced into the world, but they can all be summed up as an insatiable desire to prey, kill, and consume everything. That's exactly what you did in life. You made yourself the quintessential predator that evil created at the beginning of time. But you didn't stop there... you also sought out black magic and other occult things. Not as much as Zestial did, back when he was still called Faust... but enough to defile your soul. Combine those two things, and something that wasn't supposed to exist took shape. When you were shot, in that woods, in the few moments your body still held life, your soul became demonic"
Alastor narrowed his eyes. "How do you know?"
"Some of our agents are monitoring Earth to prevent a powerful demon from reaching it, and that's how they sensed you" Abel answered. "We didn't know it was you at first, but after putting the pieces together, we easily tracked you down. You, Alastor, had made you something that shouldn't have existed. Your powers aren't just capable of making you move through the shadows... you can absorb enormous amounts of energy and release it at will. After all, that's what your most powerful attacks is based on, right?"
Alastor nodded. His most powerful attacks consisted of absorbing and manipulating every ounce of energy to convert it into magical power: with his shadows, he could consume tons of biomass, he could create a giant tree that generated as much power as a small atomic bomb, and his final attack essentially consisted of harnessing the power of an entire forest and charging at his opponent like a monstrous deer. "I see. I think I can understand why you wanted me on your side"
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
"My powers, Charlie. If I can manipulate magical energy like this, then... I can also expand it" Alastor explained. "Which means... that, at least theoretically, I can expand the spell that binds you to the Refugium"
Charlie's eyes widened and she turned sharply to Abel. He nodded. "That's right. Thanks to the unique nature of his powers, Alastor can... devour the spell you're bound to and regurgitate it around himself. This would have allowed us to expand the area where we could exit the Refugium without being called back. In short, it would have been as if you had passed through there, even if you hadn't"
Charlie was speechless. Everything fell into place in her head. "That's why Alastor was so important to you..." she murmured. "Why didn't you contact him right away?"
"We wanted to make sure our hunch was correct first" Abel answered. "Zestial, Mephisto, and all our best men studied its abilities in secret for years. Eventually, they developed a sequence of spells that, if Alastor applied to you, would expand the beacon to the entire Ring surrounding you. Simply put, we would only have to wait for you to take a trip to all seven Rings to give us access to all of Hell. And since it would be as if you had passed through all of Hell, we would no longer have any time limits. We would be free to travel outside the Refugium whenever we wanted and for as long as we wanted"
"And finally, seven years ago, our chance came" Cain said. "Lilith was gone, and you were alone. It would have been easy for Alastor to approach you and cast the spell on you without you even realizing it. So we took action and brought him here"
Charlie bit her lip. "But it didn't go the way you wanted"
"No, it didn't. This bastard was uncooperative" Cain confirmed. "We certainly wouldn't have sent him to you before we could truly trust him, so we kept everything a secret from him at first. Abel wanted to reform him like everyone else. But of course, at the first opportunity, he ran away"
"And he's been hiding for seven years, and we already know the rest of the story" Charlie concluded. "Why didn't you come for him as soon as Zestial saw him again at the overlords' meeting?"
"That's a place you've never been. To get there, we'd have had to appear elsewhere and then fly straight there. A lot of people would have seen us, and our and Zestial's cover would have been blown" Abel answered. "We've been keeping an eye on you since that day"
"Didn't you want to kill him right away?" Elizabeth asked.
Abel shrugged. "We tell everyone we make a deal with that if they try to escape, we'll kill them. We don't always do that, actually... only if the person in question has caused significant damage after their escape, or it's clear they're beyond recovery. Like in this case" he said. "We didn't want to kill Alastor just because he ran away from us once. We intended to punish him, yes, but not kill him"
"Speak for yourself. I was in favor of kill him from the start" Cain said.
"Shut up" Abel said to his brother in a tired voice. "Anyway, after that, we waited to find a way to get Alastor back without attracting attention so we could carry out our plan, but he remained very close to Charlie after that. Before we could come up with a plan, he had the brilliant idea of convincing you to lead a rebellion. We wanted to intervene to stop you... but sadly, this asshole was smarter than us"
"Just say he screwed us" Cain commented.
Charlie turned to Alastor: "What do they mean?"
The radio demon was grinning with satisfaction. "It seems obvious. I didn't know much... but I knew enough to know how to prevent these two from bothering us that day" he said. "Haven't you wondered why, of all the people I could have chosen, I recommended cannibals as your allies?"
"Uh... because Rosie was your friend?" Charlie asked.
"Please, if it were that simple, I could have offered you much more efficient alternatives. I have very important friends, my dear, you should know that" Alastor replied. "The reason is that I know how Rosie treats her cannibals: she doesn't force them to do something, she makes them choose. Therefore, to ingratiate yourself with them, you would have had to speak to a crowd, and then all of Hell would have known. Any other overlord would have simply ordered his underlings to obey you, but with them, you had to openly reveal your intentions. Add to that the fact that Vaggie arrived at the hotel with weapons, and within two days everyone knew what was going on. Now, what's the most important thing about a secret network?"
Charlie clenched her fists slightly. "Let it remain a secret" she answered.
"Exactly. Abel and Cain couldn't stay outside the Refugium for too long yet, so their control over the situation relied solely on their secret network. If it were damaged, it would be a problem" Alastor told her, his voice growing increasingly satisfied. "Could they appear at the hotel and stop us? Yes. But we had the eyes of all Hell on us. Sure, it's not so strange for two demons to create havoc... but there's no doubt that Lucifer, who would have immediately intervened to protect you, would have recognized them. As soon as he said their names aloud, all of Hell would know of their existence. Then everyone would have wondered: why have the children of Adam come out into the open now? Answer: because apparently angelic weapons can actually harm and kill angels. But then how did they know? Well, coincidentally, just a few months earlier, all the overlords had been tipped off that a certain Carmilla knew how to kill an angel, and they'd all seen that a certain Zestial had been following her after that famous meeting. Put it all together, and it's not hard to figure out who the mole was all this time. But if Zestial was in league with a hidden force, then who else is there? Other powerful overlords, sure... and no one ever noticed. Do you understand, Charlie? It wouldn't have taken the demons of all Hell long to put two and two together. I can assure you, if those two had intervened to stop you, their precious secret network would have suffered serious damage within a year at most"
Charlie was starting to understand. "They could have sent someone else in their place"
"Who? No overlord can stand up to you" Alastor pointed out. "Besides, and this is a detail not to be underestimated, I made it well known that we had made a pact. You think I make buildings shake every time I make one? I did it on purpose, so it would be known. Therefore, even if Abel and Cain had tried to be peaceful towards you, I could have forced you to face them, which would have attracted Lucifer, and... well, I already told you the rest before. In short, even in my limited and weak state, I tied his hands"
Charlie couldn't help but notice how Alastor was on the verge of laughing, and how Abel looked tempted to punch him. Cain, for his part, would probably have torn him to pieces if he had been free. "Unfortunately, he's right" Abel admitted. "We had no way to intervene, not without risking you, Charlie, suffering serious harm, and we couldn't allow that. So we chose the most logical course: to wait"
"And wasn't I in danger of dying at Adam's hands? Me and all my friends?" Charlie asked rhetorically. "And wasn't your father in danger of dying too?"
"You're protected by Lucifer, we already knew you wouldn't die. As for your friends, forgive my words, but we had no reason to protect their lives" Abel replied. "As for our father... well, we assumed that, even if he died, he'd be reborn in Heaven like all the angels. He would have been furious, but your victory would have made the angelic leadership more cautious and more willing to negotiate, and he would have had to obey them. We intended to send Zestial to your hotel after Heaven contacted you to talk, and he would have acted as an ambassador in the negotiations and ensured the peace that had been shattered by Alastor's actions was restored, and then he would have approached you too, trying to wrest you from his control. Of course, we didn't imagine that our father would have been reborn as something far worse"
"And when he returned as a demon, we found ourselves in an unexpected situation" Cain grumbled. "The fact that Alastor had escaped had already made us furious, and then he also had the brilliant idea of placing you under his control, breaking a millennia-old peace, making fun of us, challenging our father, and then having that crazy gremlin kill us. Thousands of years of work could have vanished in an instant because of him! Everyone down here was already prepared to kick his ass, but... after he also joined our father's crusade and caused the destruction of all of Hell through the human invasion, finally even my idiotic brother decided it was best to end his existence"
"Oh, come on!" Charlie tried to defend Alastor. "I understand he's an asshole, but... well, you gave Mephistopheles a second chance!"
"Yes, I admit you're right" Abel told her. "But with Mephistopheles, we had a lot of time to reform him. Now we're in a full-blown, unprecedented crisis, and we can't risk being stabbed in the back. When Zestial told us he knew where Alastor was, I just thought it was time to get rid of someone who could make an already dire situation worse". He narrowed her eyes. "Now that he's here, I still think the same thing; there's too much at stake to keep a snake in our lap. If we really don't want to kill him, let's at least lock him up somewhere he can't escape"
"Last time didn't go so well" Alastor replied.
Charlie put her hands in front of her face. "Can you please make yourself pleasant for five minutes!?" she blurted out in exasperation. "Actually, you know what? Lock him up, at least for a while I won't have to listen to his voice that keeps ruining my attempts to convince you not to kill him!"
"Calm down" Elizabeth intervened. "Now that you're all caught up on everything, I think we should talk about why we're here"
Charlie took a deep breath. "Yeah..." she murmured. "Listen, can you let me talk to Eve?"
The temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly. "Excuse me?" Abel murmured.
"I need to talk to Eve" Charlie repeated. "I understand you don't like to disturb her, but... I really need to talk to her. I need her help"
"Her help? Did you miss the part where she locked us in this place for thousands of years?" Cain asked her. "What do you hope to gain by talking to her?"
"I don't know" Charlie answered honestly. "But God told me to do so"
Abel's eyes widened. "You mean God Himself spoke to you?"
"Well, not exactly He Himself, He sent His four Daughters to bring me the message" Charlie replied. "They explicitly told me I need to find Eve to... well, I honestly don't know. They talked about some hidden truth, help, something else"
"Hmph. You're lucky He sent someone else. When He shows Himself to someone, it's usually to spread plagues. I know that from experience" Cain muttered. "Anyway, that seems to me like a load of bullshit. How do we know you're telling the truth? From what I know, God doesn't usually give specific directions"
"Don't talk to her like that" Abel scolded him. "Excuse him, he doesn't have a good memory of the Eternal Father"
"You wouldn't too if He had sentenced you to exile!" Cain retorted.
"You had just killed me" Abel reminded him. "He had every reason to be pissed at you. And then you only got away with a little tattoo on your forehead, He was good to you. He didn't even strike you down"
"Fuck you" was Cain's only reply.
Abel ignored him, returning his focus to Charlie. "Are you sure our mother can help you?"
"That's what I was told" Charlie confirmed. "I just want to talk to her. Can you call her?"
Abel and Cain looked at each other. And then the former said: "I don't think that's a good idea"
"That's what I told her too, but she won't listen" Alastor said. "I'm telling you right now, she won't give up, so you better give her what she wants right now"
Abel didn't answer him. Instead, he said: "Charlie... we haven't even told our mother that our father has become a demon from Hell. She doesn't know anything yet"
"What?" Charlie exclaimed. "Why?"
"Why? We already told you: because she's dangerous!" Cain told her. "We don't know the extent of her powers, and we don't even dare imagine how far she can go. She locked us in here only because she thought we were unsafe out there. I wonder how she'll react when she learns our father is destroying Hell"
"I hate to agree with him, but he's right" Abel said. "Charlie, our mother is... well, she's still our mother, but as we told you, she's become unstable. Normally she's still sweet and loving, but if she's upset, she can become irritable, sclerotic, wrathful, and you can't predict what she'll do. If she knew our father was now a demon and destroying all of Hell, I seriously doubt she'd take it calmly and thoughtfully. We can handle our father... but I seriously doubt we can handle her"
Charlie was stunned. For a moment, she thought Cain and Abel were just stalling, but then, looking at their faces, she realized they weren't lying at all. They truly thought it was best to keep Eve away from this whole thing. This worried her greatly: how terrible was this woman if even her own children feared a violent reaction from her? "So... what do we do?"
"Our mother won't be needed" Abel replied, glad they'd changed the subject. "We have a plan to strip our father of his power and weapons. Zestial is carrying it out right now"
"What kind of plan?" Alastor asked. "What if Zestial fails?"
"I have no reason to reveal this to an ally of what is currently an enemy, even if it is our father" Abel replied. "And even if Zestial doesn't achieve complete victory, she'll still be able to weaken him and prevent him from completing his plan. As soon as he returns to Hell and contacts us again, we'll do our part"
"This is all very well, but I fear it won't be enough" Elizabeth said suddenly.
Abel narrowed his eyes. "We can capture our father alone" he said.
"You're missing the point. This isn't about capturing him" Elizabeth pointed out. "Maybe your plan will succeed and you can lock him in a cage, but then what? There's still so much unresolved. How will you save Hell? How will you prevent humanity from attacking you again? How will you prevent the demons themselves from trying to take revenge? You know you'll have a lot to do and few solutions available. If the Almighty wants Charlie to talk to Eve, it's because she's clearly the key to solving this whole mess for real, not just stopping the first man"
"So we're supposed to rely on some kind of prophecy?" Cain said rhetorically. "How idiotic"
Abel, on the other hand, remained silent. His face had become extremely thoughtful. And then, unexpectedly, he opened a pocket in his pants and pulled out a large, jet-black key that looked like it was made of onyx. Charlie's eyes widened at the sight: "That's...!"
"The key to the door" Abel said, pointing to the door next to them. "Beyond that, you'll find our mother"
"You're not really thinking of giving it to her!" Cain exclaimed.
Abel ignored him. "You should know that in the past, some of the demons who were here managed to steal this key from us. Our mother then gave it back to us... without the demon attached" he warned Charlie. "Are you still sure you want to go down there?"
"You're not coming with me?" Charlie asked.
"Only the person holding the key can pass through the door" Abel explained. "My brother and I are considered one, but you are not. If you want to go through it, none of us can follow you. You'll be alone... and if our mother sees you as a threat, you might seriously never come back"
"Abel, are you crazy!? You can't play with people's lives like that!" Cain protested. For the first time, he sounded more scared than arrogant. "Charlie, don't listen to this idiot and stay here! Our mother has never sent another demon out of her domain! Whoever managed to steal that key from us never came back, and I'm not sure I want to know what happened to them! If you go down there and piss off our mother, who knows what she might do to you! And if your life isn't enough to make you give up, remember that if you die, my brother and I will be prisoners here again, and therefore we won't be able to help against our father! The plan we've devised could fail because of this, and billions of lives would be lost! And all this without considering how our mother might react to the news, and what she might unleash! There's too much at stake!"
"For once, I agree with him" Alastor said. "I told you to always stay by my side, remember!"
Charlie looked at him for a long moment. Then she shrugged: "Well... sorry, Al, but after all the times you've fucked me over, you'll forgive me if I break one promise"
Alastor's eyes glowed red. "You're not going anywhere!" he said, and immediately their demonic pact activated. "Charlie, I order you to...!"
Mephisto grabbed him from behind and silenced him. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to silence you, and finally the dream come true" he said into the demon radio. "Go now, princess"
"This is madness!" Cain protested. "Abel, don't you dare give her that key!"
But Charlie wasted no time: with a single movement of her hand, she grabbed the key before Abel could seriously reconsider and ran to the door, inserting it into the lock. The doors shook and then swung open, revealing a staircase leading down into the depths, without even a flashlight. She swallowed, but then she closed her eyes anyway and ran inside; as soon as she did so, the door slammed shut.
Alastor jerked free, seemingly undecided whether to strangle Mephisto or Abel first. "Do you have any idea what you've done!?"
"I've decided to trust her" Abel replied.
Cain let out a sound of pure rage and frustration; it wasn't hard to imagine that if he could, he would have grabbed his brother by the neck and slammed him against the wall. "You useless idiot!" he snarled. "You know damn well the chances of her coming back alive! You doomed that girl!"
Abel narrowed his eyes. For a moment, he wondered if he'd really made a huge mistake. "If God really spoke to her, Charlie isn't like everyone else" he said through gritted teeth. "I want to believe everything will be okay"
Alastor seemed to see red. "You...!"
"Enough!" Elizabeth exclaimed, spreading her wings and erupting in a flash of divine light that blinded everyone for a moment. "Stop arguing! She's gone now, and I don't think you have a spare key. If we can't do anything, there's no point in getting angry. You have to have faith in Charlie"
Incredibly, this seemed to calm every heated spirit in the room. "Mother...!" Alastor protested.
"I appreciate you being so protective of her, but you have to let her do what she is supposed to do" Elizabeth told him. "She's much more capable and strong than you think. Give her a chance to prove it, to you and to the entire universe"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 96): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/174987981
Among the lions (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173589691
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 150: "I lost"
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam spat out another stream of souls, which slid past the golden gates and straight into Hell. The first man let out a cry of anger and frustration. "Stop that right now, you stupid, disgusting sucker..." he screamed both verbally and in his head.
He wanted to raise his arms to grab Zestial and tear him off, but his body was too out of control for him to do so. Valentino's paralytic gas was almost completely immobilizing his limbs, and he could barely maintain control over his fingers. And if he couldn't move his body, he couldn't get rid of Zestial...
He had to eliminate that fucking moth demon... somehow. But even with him, he had little chance. He couldn't walk anymore; if he took a step, he would simply fall flat on his face. His energy was almost completely exhausted; he couldn't use his powers. And Valentino was smart enough to keep spitting gas straight in his face to make sure he inhaled it.
Adam gritted his teeth. His eyes widened and met those of the moth demon. This was his last resort: he had always used his gaze only to punish, but in this case, he needed it to survive. Valentino barely had a moment of awareness before being dragged into the vortex of his eyes...
Valentino was only eight years old when the Mexican Civil War engulfed Mexico; four years before the conflict that would become known as World War I began, that underdeveloped nation south of the United States was already busy slaughtering one another. But Valentino had welcomed the arrival of the war, because it meant his father, or at least the sperm donor who spent his evenings subduing his mother, had to go off to fight. He was a little sad: even in his violence, his father had been very helpful in teaching him how to dominate others. And Valentino had always put those indirect lessons to good use, to subjugate his peers. Even though he was still so young, he was the one in charge of the neighborhood gang, challenging boys even six years older then him. And he always won.
Valentino had learned from an early age to seize the opportunities life offered him. A war was normally greeted with tears from children for their fathers going to battle, but for him, that was only good news. His father was merely an obstacle to his ascension, because he would prevent him from doing business with shady people, not because he cared but to avoid trouble, so if he left, he could only be happy. His mother? That pathetic woman was too weak to try to control him; he doubted she even noticed when he came home. And even though he was only a boy, Valentino knew very well how to use his age to his advantage.
First, he led his gang to conquer all the other gangs in the area. The boys in Mexico were almost completely left to their own devices, and with their fathers at war and the authorities shattered by the civil conflict, there was no one who could stop him. And he didn't just unify all the gangs into one large gang, he subjugated them all. He made them his slaves. He beat those who dared oppose him, even breaking their bones. Eventually, no one dared oppose him anymore.
And so, Valentino began his rise. The beauty of the absence of authority was that there was almost no one to defend the homes. Valentino began a long series of thefts: while the younger boys distracted the adults, the older ones robbed shops and homes. Money, rare objects, but above all, weapons. Valentino was very interested in weapons, and learned to use many of them on his own, and then taught them to his henchmen.
Over the next four years, he amassed a considerable fortune from all that theft. By the time he was done, he was twelve, and the older boys in his gang were eighteen and expected to enlist. And that was exactly what Valentino wanted. The civil war was raging, so there was no time for quick training: if the army officers saw you were good with weapons, you were good. Therefore, all the members of Valentino's gang joined the army without the typical indoctrination in discipline that occurred in times of peace; on the contrary, Valentino had made sure to impose his iron control over them. Therefore, even in the army, these people still feared him, respected him, obeyed him. From then on, it was all uphill.
His army infiltrators warned him where the next battle, the next looting, the next massacre would take place, and so Valentino sent his men to warn the local population and sell them weapons. This quickly increased his finances exponentially. Furthermore, his army infiltrators always alerted him when something was missing, so he could send one of his men to sell the stolen goods. And when a battle ended, the youngest children were sent into the rubble to recover everything that no longer belonged to anyone: although many desperate people tried, very few of them had the courage to shoot a child if it started crying. Their humanity was the Achilles heel Valentino exploited.
Time passed quickly. Valentino continued to exploit every opportunity by exploiting his deepest fear, just as his father had taught him. Yes, that was what his abusive father and submissive mother had taught him, not with their words but with their actions: that if you could instill enough terror in someone's heart, that person would be your slave forever. And above all, that it was right and proper in the world to take and exploit as much as possible. And Valentino made sure to let him know: his father returned home when he was fourteen, missing an arm and with his face half-slashed. His mother had already died a couple of years earlier from an illness, so it was just the two of them in the living room that day, sitting across from each other. "Don't you have anything to say to me?" his father asked.
At which point Valentino pulled out his gun. "Yes" he simply said. "Your teachings are gold"
And with that, he fired. He'd enjoyed every moment of terror that had appeared on that man's face, and at the same time, he'd felt a strong sense of emptiness and terror throughout his body. Although this created a strange euphoria, he also found himself with shaking hands and labored breathing, unable to rise from his chair for the next half hour. They said the first murder was never easy, and it was true. But once you'd done that, everything became less difficult.
In Mexico in 1916, at fourteen, you were already considered a man; yet, many were still surprised to see a fourteen-year-old leading such a criminal gang, especially considering that many of the members were now much older adults. Valentino had begun to incorporate into his network anyone who needed money, such as war veterans or homeless people. As the civil war escalated, people paid for protection or resources, the army paid for safe shipping routes, and he was there, ready to satisfy everyone. When the war finally ended in 1920, Valentino, now eighteen, was the head of a monstrous, ever-expanding crime syndicate.
However, with the end of the war came new problems. While armies across Mexico were busy slaughtering one another, the various crime syndicates had largely ignored each other: after all, there was plenty for everyone, and there was no point in risking losing men at such a delicate moment. War was the ambitious man's best friend, after all. But once the war was over, and with the return of the authorities, the crime syndicates found themselves competing fiercely to fill every possible power vacuum. And Valentino, of course, found himself caught in that fight, as he not only refused to relinquish his power but also wanted to expand beyond his own part of the city. But he also knew he couldn't win a fight against crime syndicates much older than his own, with more fortified networks and much more extensive funds. So he made the wisest choice: just like a moth, he used mimicry.
Mimicry consisted of pretending to be something you weren't, and Valentino pretended to be something he absolutely wasn't: a compliant person. He had attracted the attention of a famous person: a suave businessman by day, and the leader of a huge criminal network by night. His name was Melquiades Martínez González, the classic name of someone who had a lot of skeletons in the closet. He had taken a liking to Valentino and offered him membership in his inner circle: he promised he would remain the boss of his area, but he had to submit to him. Valentino pretended to do so and thus became a member of González's large syndicate, and perhaps because of his youth, González almost began to treat him like a son.
Valentino knew how to make himself appreciated, and from González he learned everything he needed to know: how to run his brothels, how the arms trade worked, where to get drugs, everything he had previously been unable to learn. Soon he found himself knowing more about González's network than González himself. He began inserting his men into every other sector controlled by his apparent boss, and writing down the names of those who needed to be eliminated quickly. But he knew that all this preparation would be useless as long as González remained on the scene. He had to get rid of him, and luckily he found a way to do it.
González had a daughter, a flower not even two years older than Valentino. She was arrogant, selfish, and intractable, but he made seduction his weapon. He discovered he was extremely skilled not only at instilling terror, but also another equally powerful emotion. It didn't take long for her to fall into his arms; he listened to her, treated her with love, and often called her his Pastel, Cake. She fell in love with him, gave him her heart, her soul, and finally, secretly from her father, her body. And it was there that Valentino began to manipulate her. Using a combination of seduction and violence, partly what he had learned and partly what was innate in him, he subdued her. He made her docile and malleable, until obeying him was like breathing. And finally, under his orders, she led González into her trap, away from his guards, in a room with them alone and no possible outside help. And that was the end of the feared crime lord.
That same night, Valentino called together all the other chiefs from each district. He was found in González's house, sitting in his chair, with his daughter at his feet like a faithful dog. His opening words were simple yet extremely explicit: "Everything that belonged to Melquiades Martínez González is now mine"
His voice roared like an explosion in the dead of night. The men kneeling before him, once González's lieutenants, were now simply survivors. Everyone knew that Valentino had already infiltrated his men into their ranks, and it was not difficult for them to understand that they risked being killed if they dared even utter the wrong word. No one dared breathe a word.
A twisted smile spread across the face of the new crime lord, a sneer of malice and greed. That sentence was the tombstone of an era and the beginning of his own. The time had come to build the world according to his rules: a corrupt world, yes, but where his corruption made him a god. "His money, his territory, his business, his house, even his daughter. Anything. Got it?"
Everyone nodded. And as if to emphasize his words, his Pastel, who until recently had been so arrogant, obediently climbed onto his lap. Valentino let out a cruel laugh, and then, in a frenzy that had nothing in common with rationality, he tore off her clothes right there, right in front of everyone. "Now I'm going to enjoy what's mine" he said, looking with satisfaction at the girl's terrified face. "And since I'm such a generous man, my dear new subordinates, you can enjoy her too, one by one"
Valentino never broke his word. That night, Pastel had to be taken back to her room by two of his men and given medical attention due to her poor condition. Furthermore, Valentino took note of the men who had refused to join the orgy, and accusing them of not following his orders, had them tied up, had their wives and daughters brought in, and raped them right there in front of them, only then did he give them the thrill of death. After that, no one dared to rebel against him: whatever he said, even the most insane and inhumane, they would do without a murmur.
The following months and years were a symphony of fire and domination. Mexico, already rotten to the core and still torn by violence, became a blazing playground. His first moves were surgical: he burned down all the logistical bases of rival crime syndicates, then turned to the drug trade and organ trafficking. He wanted absolute control over all criminal activity: no deals, just dominance. Where others negotiated with briefcases of cash, he negotiated with terror.
He obviously needed a way to hide his illicit activities, and warehouses weren't enough. Instead, he found something far better: brothels. His plan was as convoluted as it was brilliant: he bought every brothel in the entire capital, and if anyone tried to oppose him, he'd kill them. And then, having control of the brothels, he forged solid friendships with all the politicians and military leaders who came there. The men at the top were always depraved, and they needed to vent: and with Valentino in charge of all the brothels, it was inevitable that they would turn to him. Add to that a few bribes passed under the table, and Valentino enjoyed absolute protection. Whenever the police got a tip-off, they immediately said: "But that's the brothel where the head of state goes, better not to get involved!". That was the beauty of living in such a corrupt country, after all.
Valentino had made sex his weapon. Not only that, he had carefully selected prostitutes to give to politicians, so they could pass on to him whatever information they could wrest from those idiots. Those prostitutes had been "trained" by him to be perfect at their jobs. And so Valentino always knew everything about everyone, and could therefore blackmail whomever he wanted. Needless to say, this made him the most feared figure in Mexico of his time.
His arrival was always terrifying, for all who saw him. He appeared in the rooms like a hellish presence, floating with a calm step, dressed in a long red coat whose extremities flapped with every movement. No one forgot the sound of his footsteps: a constant crackling, like embers under the skin.
No one resisted. The system bowed before him like wax before a fire. But it wasn't enough for him. Mexico wasn't enough for him. He wanted to expand beyond... and the doors were opened to him by that magnificent era called Prohibition.
New York, Washington, Los Angeles: all those cities hungry for alcohol needed someone to supply it, and Valentino was there for it. Using his network, he opened countless channels to smuggle alcohol from Mexico to the United States. He himself emigrated, moving to Chicago; there he opened new brothels, disguised as prestigious establishments, where high society could come and do as they pleased without the authorities knowing. Everyone greeted with applause and cheers the Mexican in the red coat and pimp's hat who entered the place carrying cases of spirits and women ready to satisfy everyone's perversions. He could have become a millionaire, had it not been for that idiot Roosevelt who abolished Prohibition in 1933. But it didn't matter: people, especially high society, were always on the lookout for the forbidden. Alcohol trafficking turned into drug trafficking. And once again, Valentino lived at the perfect time to make a fortune.
World War II meant a significant number of men had to flee the United States, and that also meant a large number of widows and orphans ripe for his web: women made excellent prostitutes, children perfect criminals. Ironically, Valentino was even a patron of the arts in the popular imagination, someone who provided jobs to the poor who had lost a loved one in the war. It made him laugh every time he thought about it. And then the war ended, and the atomic age began; people began to fear the communists, and Valentino took advantage of this to offer his "protection" to an ever-increasing number of poor people, assuring them that he would defend them as soon as the red menace reached their territory, provided they worked for him; he sold bunkers, shelters, and even land, becoming a successful businessman. By the late 1950s, he was living in a luxury apartment in the tallest skyscraper in Chicago.
"Are you still not satisfied?"
This was what Pastel, whom he had carried with him all those years, had asked him one day. She was no longer anything like what she had been: her beauty had faded, stripped away by constant abuse and violence. She was a shadow of what she had been. Valentino had broken many people in those years, but she was a case in point: he had used her in every way possible, turned her into a miserable prostitute, and even got her addicted to heroin to make her even more submissive. "Hmm? What do you mean?" he asked.
"How much longer are you going to ruin me?" she asked. "Are you still not satisfied? Haven't you had enough revenge yet?"
"Revenge?" Valentino murmured, and then he burst out laughing: "Ha ha! Pastel, darling, what are you saying? I'm not taking revenge for anything"
Pastel's eyes widened slightly, now reduced to two lightless wells. "Aren't you taking revenge because my father subjected you to him years ago?"
"No, no! Pastel, what do you think of me?" Valentino said to her, and then took her rather rudely: "Look, I'll show you something"
And with that, he led her to the window, from which he could see Chicago's most beautiful district. "Amazing, isn't it? But look closely" he said, and he pointed out the passersby one by one: "That guy over there looks like a distinguished employee, but he's on his way to commit insurance fraud. That guy over there is a banker who profits from the goods produced by exploited children in Third World countries. That guy with the big car is a famous industrialist whose employees have often died from heavy metal poisoning due to poor safety measures. Do you want me to go on and tell you all the filth currently passing along that street, disguised as respectable people?"
He leaned close to her ear: "Do you understand, Pastel? This world sucks. That's what I've learned since I was able to reason" he said in a seductive yet threatening voice. "All those respectable people are depraved, corrupt, walking examples of greed and lust. The world is made up of people rotten to the core. I'm also a respectable person outside these walls, in less than two hours I'm having dinner with the mayor! This is the reality of things. Do you understand now?"
Pastel slowly turned toward him, looking at him with terror. Valentino relished that frightened look. "There's no reason for me to exploit you, darling" he said. "I have no grudge against your father, he did exactly what I would have done. I enjoy your presence and let others enjoy it just because... I can. There is no other meaning, because everything in this world is completely meaningless. We're all just actors here, putting on a worthless show. If you really want a reason why I hold you so dear to my service, well, here it is: that day we first met, a moth landed on your hair. I thought it was beautiful. And that's all"
Pastel looked at him for just a moment, and then she completely broke down and started crying. For all those years, she'd clung to the idea that Valentino was torturing her just to wrong González, and that sooner or later he'd stop. But now she realized that wasn't the case: there was no reason, he was just having fun, and so he'd never stop. Valentino burst out laughing at the sight of her like that, and for a moment he was tempted to fuck her right there to reinforce his words, but then he decided against it because he had other plans. That night, he regretted it, as he found Pastel hanging from the ceiling with her sheets. He was annoyed, but then again, sometimes you lost a few toys in life.
That wasn't the only terrible defeat he suffered: a few years later, while trying to open a new drug pipeline across the Pacific, he was blinded by the hydrogen bomb explosion that pulverized Bikini Atoll. He was shipwrecked and found himself surviving by eating moths on a miserable islet until rescued. Upon returning to civilization, he made sure to thoroughly slaughter the scoundrel who had tried to kill him by failing to warn him of the impending nuclear explosion, but the damage was done: his criminal network had suffered enormous damage in his absence. Those men, previously held together by their fear of him, began competing for power while they believed him dead. And sadly, Valentino was no longer the man he once was: half-blind from the blast of the atomic bomb, and he was also getting on in years. Although he tried to regain his position, it soon became clear to him that Valentino's era was over. He struggled to hold on to the power, and honestly, he wasn't even trying: he wasn't as energetic as he had been when he was young, and now he almost preferred to let the gangs under him break away and fight on their own rather than deal with them. All of this could only have one ending, and he knew it well.
It all happened on January 1 of the year 1970, while he was celebrating New Year's Eve at one of his favorite nightclubs. It was his stronghold, a temple of excess where the walls sweated steam and the ceilings dripped condensation under the constant action of its heat. The music roared, heavy and obsessive, while the floor shook under the footsteps and shouts; the center of the room was a circle of molten and refrozen steel, an arena made of congealed liquid metal, and there, like a sick messiah, Valentino danced. Even at the now venerable age of sixty-eight, even though he was half-blind, even though he needed a cane to support himself, his limbs still moved with a disturbing grace, his muscles flexed in almost ritualistic gestures. His arms traced circles, his fingers left trails in the air, tracing invisible symbols; it wasn't just a dance, it was a display of power, a pagan Eucharist celebrated under strobe lights. Around him, the crowd screamed, danced, and bowed, half in adoration, half in fear. Some wept, others laughed hysterically. Just as they had done for years in his presence. The nightclub seemed on the verge of imploding.
And then, the rhythm stopped. The lights went out, all of them; a sudden, unnatural blackout. The crowd stopped dancing; some began to scream, others ran for the exits, but the doors were sealed. Valentino remained still in the center of the dance floor, and he could clearly hear the click of the safeties popping off the guns. It wasn't hard for him to understand what was happening. But strangely, he felt neither fear nor anger. "Well... we had a really good time, guys" was all he said.
An instant later, the shooting began. Bullets riddled him all over his body. Valentino fell to the ground, in a pool of his own blood, while his men, the same ones who had feared him so much and who had now killed him, leaped upon him to steal whatever he had. That was how he died.
But it wasn't the end. Because he woke up again. But no longer in Chicago. No longer on Earth. Somewhere else.
He was in Hell, and although many would have taken that news as negative, it didn't bother him. He already knew he would end up there, after all. And he found only positives: he was still half-blind, but his body was strong and robust again, his mind sharp again, his spirit as energetic as when he was a boy.
It was time to start a new criminal empire, there, in that hellish city. He just had to do what he'd done in life: find whores, use them, subjugate them, make money, befriend the powerful. Nothing easier...
Adam made a sound as if he'd been hit by a stick; Valentino, in turn, looked quite shaken, but he didn't stop spitting the hypnotic, paralyzing smoke at him. "S-Shit...!" Adam growled. He had used his gaze to full power, reliving not just a single sin but all the sins he had committed in an entire lifetime, yet once again he was the one rejected.
Valentino took a deep breath. In that brief eye contact, he had been made to relive every moment of his life, but from the perspective of those around him. He had relived all his tortures, the murders, the rapes, the cruelties, from the perspective of each of his victims. And yet, even though he was deeply shaken (who wouldn't be?), he didn't show the slightest waver. "Ugh... I already told you, I don't regret anything I've done!" he said to Adam, spitting smoke even louder. "Do your trick all you want, you won't be able to find anything that can break me!"
"Y-You bastard...!" Adam stammered as he tried to fight back, unsuccessfully.
Angel's eyes widened, finally connecting the pieces: "Of course... that's why Zestial wanted Valentino on his side so badly! Because he's the only one besides Alastor who can resist Adam's gaze!"
"You're right... so Val can keep spitting gas in his face without being affected by his eyes!" Velvette exclaimed. "And as long as he's in front of him, Adam can't even look at us!"
"If anyone else had been in front of Adam, he would have broken him with his gaze, and without the paralyzing smoke, he would have recovered and freed himself!" Pentious said through gritted teeth, half satisfied and half a little intimidated. "Fuck... Zestial really thought of everything!"
Angel clenched his fists. A flame of hope seemed to ignite in his chest. With every passing second, every time Adam tried to react and Zestial revealed she'd thought about it, he grew more confident. This fight could truly end in victory for them!
However, Angel forced himself to stay grounded and not get too excited. He was smart enough to understand that if Zestial had ordered them to flee as soon as she took Adam's weapons, it meant he himself wasn't entirely confident he could completely subdue the first man. Until the battle was over, they couldn't afford to claim victory. They had to remain clear-headed and more alert than ever, ready to use any opportunity to strip Adam of his weapons.
Adam gritted his teeth. "You son of a bitch... you knew it!" he snarled at Zestial.
In response, the arachnid overlord dug his stinger deeper into his neck, as if to emphasize his words. "What? You thought you were the only one capable of planning a battle in detail before facing your opponent?" he replied. "I had been human too, Adam. I too had to deal with the most deceptive species that has ever existed in the universe. I know how to play my cards right"
Adam spat out another stream of souls. His reserves were increasingly draining, and each time he did, he lost some of the strength he used to hold onto the others. "You can't win" he hissed. "I defeated the archangels... I defeated Gabriel... I didn't come this far to be defeated by a stupid arthropod...!"
"If you were at your full power, I certainly wouldn't stand a chance against you" Zestial said. "But you used all your energy against the archangels. You're tired, and you have no more tricks on your side. Surrender! Give in to your fate!"
"N-Never!" Adam roared.
Zestial attacked with even more force. Adam was sealing off every part of his mind he deemed important, particularly the memories related to his plans; however, this left other parts exposed, less immediately important but undoubtedly important to him. Zestial attacked those parts, and Adam seemed to relive images of ravenous predators and furious demons before him, weakening his concentration, allowing the overlord to sever more demonic pacts. "You... stop...!"
"No stop" Zestial replied, causing him to spit out streams of souls. "All resistance is futile! Give in to the black abyss! Face everything you've already faced! Remember the pain, the hunger, the fear! Remember the broken bones of your opponent every time you struck him! Remember the jaws and claws of dinosaurs on your body! Remember the blades of demons that struck you! Remember everything! Let what you fear most surface! I see you alone and abandoned, reborn like those demons you so despise, desperate as you wander through Hell after your defeat..."
"Gnnn... but I survived! I resisted, even at my lowest point..." Adam replied as he vomited soul after soul. "... and I will always resist... because I am the FUCKING FIRST MAN!"
His mouth snapped shut, trapping the souls, which were immediately wrapped in new chains and reattached to his; his entire body seemed to flex, his muscles bulging. However, Zestial knew it was only a futile resistance, a last-ditch attempt to block him, relying solely on adrenaline: in reality, Adam's mind was exhausted. "Anger can help you stop me for a moment, but not for too long" he warned him. "You know that's not how it works!"
"Gnnn... don't count on it" Adam said, and his eyes focused on Valentino again: "I still have... one card... to play!"
Zestial stinged harder. He had managed to force Adam to regurgitate at least a third of his souls, but suddenly those testing seemed to have become more resistant than ever. "You know using your gaze won't help" he told him. "You won't be able to break Valentino, his soul is too corrupt to be shaken by what you show him!"
"You're wrong... I have... one thing left" Adam replied. "It's true... both Valentino and Alastor can resist my gaze, the corruption and depravity in their hearts had fortified their minds like no one else I've ever met. But while the iron walls Alastor have built to protect his psyche may hold, I had found a way to break him. And even in this case, I can break my opponent. Valentino may be one of the most corrupted demons I've ever known, but even he has a crack through which I can slip!"
Zestial narrowed his eyes. "What do you expect to do? You've already shown him all his memories, you can't create new ones!"
"No, I can't" Adam confirmed. "But if I combine Vox's hypnotic powers, Velvette's digital powers, plus a mix of other overlords, with my eyes... I can achieve at least a small alteration... enough to do THIS!"
And with that, he opened his eyes again, reactivating his power. His pupils reappeared and locked onto Valentino's. In an instant, the moth demon was sucked back into those eyes...
Valentino found himself once again in an elegant room. A random memory, one of many he barely remembered, so insignificant were they in his eyes. And yet... this time it was different. This time he recognized his body. It wasn't in one of his victims, it was himself, even though he had no control over his movements. And a small part of his consciousness was still active in the depths of his mind. "What are you doing?" he growled in his head, even though no sound came from his mouth. "A new trick? It won't do you any good!"
He realized he wasn't alone: his body, or rather, his memory self, was dragging a female figure. Valentino recognized her as one of his whores from who knows how many decades ago. His memory self was hitting and shoving her constantly, in his usual display of cruelty. "Is that all?" Valentino asked, sneering. "What, you want me to relive my actions from my perspective this time? You think I'll feel disgusted with myself? Ridiculous. I thought you were smarter, Adam..."
Suddenly, the entire memory seemed to shake and blur, as if it were a poorly made video. The entire view almost seemed to alter, as if it were actually a broken television. Valentino didn't miss strange pixelated sparks at the edges of his vision. "Those... are those Vox's powers? Or maybe Velvette's? Or someone else's... is he merging them with his own?" he thought. "What do you have in mind...?"
Suddenly, his vision stopped shaking, and the memory became clear again. Nothing had changed. Except for the person in front of him. Just like a movie animator, it was as if someone had animated something above the slut he was torturing.
And that something was Velvette.
"What!?" Valentino screamed in his mind. "What... what dirty trick is this...!?"
Velvette was lying before him, just like the slut from before, bruised where he'd hit her, her clothes torn where he'd ripped them. And just like that slut, she had a terrified expression on her face. Pure fear, something Valentino couldn't remember ever seeing on his friend before. "Val... please..."
Valentino didn't just see her: he actually felt her terror. Even though he wasn't impersonating his victim this time, he could still sense her emotions. He felt pure fear, the knowledge that he was about to hurt her. "No... no, no, no, calm down!" he thought, trying to maintain his composure. "It's fake... it's all an illusion! This isn't really happening! She's not here! She's...!"
His other self, the body he couldn't control, grabbed Velvette by the neck and slammed her onto a bed. Valentino knew it was all an illusion, but his mind was struggling more and more to distinguish truth from fiction. It was all so real, he could even see Velvette's hair moving too naturally. "No, no... no...!" he screamed in his head. "Stop... this isn't... this isn't happening... I... I have to...!"
Velvette was writhing beneath him, desperately trying to breathe. Her eyes were filled with tears, just as those of all his countless other victims had been. "Val, I promise, it won't happen again...!"
But his other self took her and pulled down his trousers, with clearly the intention of penetrating her violently. Valentino sensed Velvette's terror at the realization of what he was about to do to her. "No, no, no!" he screamed in his mind. "I don't want... don't... STOP!!!"
"AAAARGH!!!" Valentino screamed, sliding to his knees and putting his hands over his eyes. "STOP... STOP...!"
"Fuck!" Velvette exclaimed. "Val, what's going on!? How did he affect you!?"
"Shit, he stopped spitting paralyzing smoke!" Pentious screamed.
"Val, fuck, get a grip! For once, I'd be happy to see you get up!" Angel said. "Come on, we're almost there...!"
Adam moved suddenly: as soon as the paralyzing effect wore off, he used all his remaining willpower to lunge forward and roll over, crushing Zestial under his weight. The arachnid overlord momentarily lost his grip on him, and the first man took advantage of this to grab the stinger and tear it off. He probably would have used it to drag Zestial toward him and smash his skull, but the demon was smarter and cut off his own stinger with one of its claws to escape. "Gnnnn... you really pissed me off this time!"
And with that, he let out a roar, but it wasn't just a roar: his power surged from him and exploded in all directions. Velvette barely had time to create a shield of pixels in front of them before the wave of energy ripped through the entire surrounding area, shattering the pearly gates and reducing them to rubble. "S-Shit...!"
"This is what happens when you corner a wounded animal" Zestial commented. "I'd say we've pushed him to the edge of his sanity"
"So what do we do!?" Velvette exclaimed. Adam was exhausted, but now that he was free, he could still kill them all. He might have trouble catching them, but if he caught one of them just once, it would be dead.
Zestial shrugged. "We do the most obvious thing" he replied. "Run"
"Huh? What...?" Velvette muttered, but before she could say anything else, Zestial had already turned, reached the edge of Heaven, and jumped down. "Bastard! Are you leaving us here!?"
It was then that they all realized that Zestial had never intended to truly defeat Adam, much less bring everyone home alive. Zestial had fought that battle with one goal in mind: to deprive the first man of one of his weapons, so he couldn't complete his plan, and to damage him as much as possible. But even though he had calculated every move for total victory, he had already assumed from the start that Adam might have an ace up his sleeve that he wasn't aware of.
Zestial, after all, knew it was okay to abandon the game right there. If Adam had lost the Ark of the Covenant, then his plan was stalled; And with only two-thirds of his souls remaining, a confrontation with Michael and Lucifer could have ended badly. And that's without taking into account the presence of Cain and Abel, for whom Zestial worked, who were surely waiting for him in Hell to make their next move. Zestial was playing a long game, not a quick one; he had simply fooled everyone into thinking he wanted to finish this quickly.
Zestial had won, in a sense. And since he had won, he saw no point in staying there to face Adam when he had completely lost control. It was far better to retreat and exploit the advantage he had gained later. And of course, that also meant he didn't mind leaving them behind as human shields for himself. "That son of a bitch! I swear I'll kill him the moment I see him again..." Velvette screamed in rage.
She didn't have time to complain much: Adam raised his axe and slammed it into the ground with such force that it split the floor in two, the two halves lifting and almost closing together from the recoil. "More comments later... if we can manage them!" Angel exclaimed through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, Pentious lunged at Adam, wrapping his tail around his neck and part of his arm. "Go! I'll hold him!" he shouted.
"What!?" Angel exclaimed. "Pen, what are you doing!?"
"I don't know, but I don't care! Bye!" Velvette said, turning herself and Valentino into pixels, and taking advantage of that distraction, she reached the edge of Heaven and threw herself down.
Adam let out a roar, and everything around him cracked as if made of paper; Pentious was torn in several places, and he was helpless as the first man grabbed him and tore him off. The serpent angel swallowed as he saw that almost animalistic face fixed on him, but despite that, he showed no wavering in his determination. "Do you want to kill me, Adam?" he asked with all the breath he had left. "Go ahead... after all, what's one angel more or less?"
Adam let out a growl like a lion's. His body seemed to be emitting boiling steam. "You think you can judge me!?" he roared.
"Oh, I think the trail of corpses you've left behind judges you already. How does it feel to break your own vow not to harm those who don't deserve it?" Pentious challenged him. "They're not dead, that's true. But you still tore them to pieces with your bare hands. Tell me, even if you win, after everything you've done... how will you sleep at night?"
Adam tightened his grip on him, but Pentious didn't lose his defiant gaze. And for a moment, the animalistic light in the first man's eyes seemed to fade. Adam let out a deep snort, and then he swung his hand and threw Pentious away with such force that he flew for miles above the city, until he landed rather awkwardly in a fountain.
Adam took a deep breath, and then had to lean on the handle of his axe to keep himself upright. His body was shaking, and he could barely stay upright. He rested his head on the blades of his axe to catch his breath...
"... one more..."
Adam immediately recoiled. That voice again...? "Who spoke?" he asked, looking around, seeing no one. "Who's there?"
Angel, meanwhile, had hidden behind a pile of rubble, and could see him speaking seemingly to nothing. "Is he so tired he's hallucinating...?" he wondered doubtfully.
However, just then, Adam seemed about to turn toward him. Angel froze: had he noticed his presence? Adam had just thrown Pentious away, but he doubted he would have done the same to him...
But just as Adam was about to turn, a feathered wing appeared in front of Angel, blocking his view. At the same moment, another winged figure landed beside Adam: "Sir, are you okay?"
"Ugh... Lute..." Adam muttered, and as she grabbed his arm, he nearly fell on top of her from his exhaustion.
"Forgive me for not being able to reach you sooner" Lute said, summoning all her strength to hold him up. "Come, we need to take you back to Hell right now. You need rest"
Angel, still hidden, looked up at Vaggie, who continued to keep her wings open to hide his presence. Apparently, she was the only one who noticed he was there. Vaggie looked at him quickly, giving him a barely perceptible nod; Angel understood and flattened himself to the ground. Vaggie then swept some dust away with her wings to better conceal him, then walked over to Adam and grabbed his other arm. "Let's go" she said, using her position to prevent him from turning to Angel.
She and Lute dragged Adam to the edge of Paradise, and then they jumped off, finally leaving the place. As soon as that happened, Angel emerged from the rubble and leaned against a piece of wall, taking deep breaths to recover from the shock. It took him a moment to get to his feet, and then he immediately ran in the direction Pentious had been thrown.
Meanwhile, Adam, Vaggie, and Lute reappeared in Hell, in an unspecified, barren, and dry area. Once they do, they lowered the first man to the ground. Adam barely seemed able to see them. "You need treatment" Lute told him.
"Don't worry... I just need to... rest. My body... will heal" Adam replied. "The Ark...?"
"When we got there, it was already gone" Vaggie answered. "They must have already taken it to Hell"
Adam gritted his teeth. He had survived, but he had lost the thing he had gone to Heaven for, as well as a third of his souls. "They fucked me. That arthropod... was good" he muttered under his breath. "This time... I lost"
Notes:
Before anyone in the comments starts bugging me (and I warned you, so don't bother), no, this isn't a glimpse of Valentino's potential redemption. I don't intend to address that here or in any other fic, simply because it wouldn't matter to the plot. Here, Adam simply did what he did with Alastor: he took the only thing Valentino truly cares about (one of the two, actually, since Vox is also involved) and used it against him. Alastor also cares about his mother and partially about Charlie, but that doesn't mean he's a good person, since, as we've seen, Alastor is also immune to Adam's gaze, a sign that even if he loves these people, he's still a first-rate bastard. Adam did the same thing here with Valentino: instead of focusing on Val's faults, since he doesn't care about them, he focused on one of his fears. For example, if Valentino had only loved, say, money, the hallucination would have shown him hurting money. And if anyone's wondering how Valentino fell for it, remember that Adam's gaze can literally erase your consciousness and make you feel emotions you're not your own; in this case, it only partially worked because Adam mixed his powers with those of other overlords, but Val was still affected by it, which is why he eventually gave in. And yes, in this chapter I went all out writing Valentino's story since we hadn't had one yet (we've had the backstory of Carmilla, Odette, Clara, Pentious, Zestial, Alastor, Husk, partially Cherri, Velvette, and Angel... Valentino had to be done). And lastly... yes, I know you want Val to die, everyone does, but keep one thing in mind: if Adam grabs Val by the neck and kills him right now, Angel will die too. Angel is still tied to him, he hasn't freed himself. If Val dies, Angel dies too. So keep in mind how the story's lore works before you pass judgment.
And while we're at it, no, this is NOT a victory for Adam. I know it should be superfluous to explain since he says so, but I'll say it anyway. Adam lost here across the board; the fact that he survived doesn't make him the winner. Based on this logic, does a retreating army win the battle because they survived? Of course not. Here, Adam has just lost a third of his souls, he's lost the Ark of the Covenant, which is now in the hands of his enemies, and Zestial knows his lair and can therefore send Lucifer and Michael or Cain and Abel to get it. The fact that Zestial failed to kill Adam doesn't make him a loser; on the contrary, it shows how far-sighted he is, given that (as is explained!) he had already taken the possibility of losing into account, and had planned everything not to kill Adam (although he obviously would have preferred to end it immediately) but to corner him. And now Adam finds himself weakened in enemy territory, unable to complete his weapon and unable to hide, all while Zestial can rally the Refugium forces, plus Lucifer and Michael, and wage a war against him that Adam has no hope of winning. So yes, as Adam himself admits, Zestial has won.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 96): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/174987981
Among the lions (chapter 10): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173589691
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 151: Playful girls
Notes:
Okay, I think I need to clarify something I've been keeping to myself until now, but I'm a little fed up reading in the comments: Adam doesn't win thanks to "plot armor". I've come across this phrase with many characters, especially Batman, where people joke that he only wins because the plot requires it, because "there is no way a person without powers can defeat all those superhuman guys". Spoiler: this is NOT the case. Except for a few stories, Batman never wins because of plot armor. Sure, the plot dictates that he win, but that doesn't mean Batman doesn't earn his victory. Batman comes up with incredibly complex plans whenever he faces a stronger opponent, and often barely manages to get by, and not through pure luck but through his intelligence. This concept can be applied to a lot of other characters who are often accused of "plot armor", when it couldn't be more false. Plot armor occurs when something unexpected happens, something the protagonist didn't foresee; it's, quite simply, a stroke of luck. But if the protagonist had foreseen what would happen, then it's not plot armor, it's just pure intelligence.
So, given this premise, does Adam win because of plot armor? No, because he's never won just by luck. Adam has HARDLY earned all his victories. When Adam faced Lilith and the Sins, he didn't win because of a random power: on the contrary, he eliminated Mammon right away precisely to gain the instant respawn power, because he knew (it's been said, and not just by him!) that they still had a good chance of defeating him. When he faced the archangels, he didn't win with plot armor at all; in fact, he was on the verge of death countless times: he won first using psychological tricks, then his intelligence and the weapons he had at his disposal, and even then he emerged from the battle half dead. And we could go on and on listing all the times Adam won and NEVER had a stroke of luck. He always got the victory because he deserved it, which is also one of the reasons why he shows respect to both Charlie and Zestial, as they both got the victory because they deserved it, just like him. Zestial didn't defeat Adam by luck, but by outsmarting him: he tired him out to the point of being too weak to react in time, then used all his knowledge to break him, and even took into account that he might lose (given the obvious difference in experience between the two), which is precisely why he sent Cherri away with the Ark right away. And indeed, Adam, in the end, admits defeat, because that is, in effect, a victory for Zestial, having managed to deprive him of a third of his souls and the Ark. Adam admits defeat, something he hadn't done with Lucifer, because while Lucifer won only by his innate power and therefore it was a totally undeserved victory, Zestial defeated him using his intelligence. Zestial was able to face and defeat a being infinitely more powerful than him, just as Adam has done throughout his life, and in fact, Adam finally shows him respect with that "This time I lost". The same goes for Charlie: sure, Adam had planned to get captured from the start, but despite that, he didn't let Charlie win; she defeated him and deserved that victory. Charlie, a girl who's almost never fought in her life, in a single fight was able not only to learn to use her powers better, but also to use them in a way Adam hadn't even considered, allowing her to surpass him even though she's inferior in pure strength. And for this very reason, Adam admits defeat to her too and shows her respect. That was a victory Charlie fully deserved through her own efforts, unlike the canon victory, which, besides being completely anticlimactic, is based on plot armor. Is it plot armor because Adam limits himself in battle and takes his time to let her learn? Conquest also does this with Mark in Invincible, but that doesn't make Mark's victory undeserved.
So, in conclusion, stop talking about plot armor. If you have any criticisms, feel free to do so, but don't just use random words hoping you've nailed it. There's no plot armor in this story, and you'll NEVER see plot armor, just as you've never seen it in any of my other stories. In my stories, characters win because they deserve it, or because of conditions that have been explained and established multiple times. Not because of luck.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Descending that dark staircase was quite disturbing for Charlie. She couldn't see anything, and had to rely solely on her intuition to place her feet in the right order and avoid tumbling down. She'd tried using her powers to light a fire, but discovered that the light wouldn't leave the flames: the fire appeared in her hands, but while it would normally illuminate the entire staircase, it was now literally invisible. It was as if someone had turned off all the light, as if Charlie had entered the cold heart of a black hole.
And then... there was the silence. A silence Charlie didn't remember ever hearing. A silence so profound that at a certain point she began to hear her bones creaking when she moved them and the blood rushing through her blood vessels. Noises that normally should have been inaudible now resonated in her head like explosions.
All of this wasn't helpful to her psyche at all. As she walked in the pitch darkness, she found herself wondering whether she was going up or down, because she couldn't tell anymore. And she often found herself sprinting forward, because she thought she felt something behind her. Even though there was nothing around her, she felt as if thousands of eyes were watching her.
And then, finally, a light at the bottom of the stairs. Charlie was so happy to see it that she broke into a run, resulting in her slipping and rolling down the stairs; it couldn't hurt her, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience. She didn't care, though, and kept moving toward the light until it hit her.
As soon as she was outside, she couldn't help but breathe a deep breath of relief, feeling the clean air fill her lungs again. However, that air was... strange. Breathing it in, Charlie realized it felt different from normal air, as if it were... synthetic. And when she looked around, she realized that wasn't the only strange thing.
She stood on a small hill, on which the door was located... with nothing behind it, but Charlie had grown accustomed to the strangeness. In front of her, in every direction, were other hills, covered in dense forest. But the trees were not normal: their trunks were made of a material similar to cast iron, the leaves were plastic, and the flowers were crystal. Even the grass and bushes were made of synthetic material. Everything was artificial, and nowhere were there any insects, birds, or any kind of animal. The sky was a lattice white, without sun, moon, or stars. Not far away, the outline of a house could be seen.
Charlie cocked her head to the side. "So this is the center of Hell?" she muttered, walking across the synthetic grass. "I expected it to be decidedly different..."
Yet even though there was no fire, no flames, and no screams of pain, the place still had a certain eeriness. For some reason, Charlie felt a chill as she looked around and found not a single sign of life, only artificial replicas. Those plants were like intricately crafted sculptures, yet at the same time terribly cold and lifeless, like monoliths attempting to hide a dead world.
Well, Charlie couldn't stay still there for the eternity, anyway, so she walked toward her only landmark: the house she'd seen. However, as she walked, she realized that the distance between her and that house was much greater than she'd thought: after twenty minutes, she still hadn't reached it, even though she could still see its roof through the trees, growing ever larger. This meant, she realized, that the house must be colossal. If perspective didn't work differently in that world, then it was more of a palace than a house.
And then, as she walked, she found something she absolutely hadn't expected to find.
A balloon.
It was a very ordinary balloon, made of latex and filled with helium, that had gotten stuck between two branches. It was red and shaped like a sword. Charlie raised an eyebrow, and then with her powers she flew to it, picked it up, and brought it back to the ground. She turned it over several times, expecting to find something strange, but it was really just a balloon. What was a balloon doing there...?
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound, as if someone was running through the artificial forest. She turned in the direction of the sound, expecting an attack, but instead, a person leaped out of the synthetic branches of the trees and stopped immediately when he saw her. In fact, you could almost say they froze in shock at the sight of her. And Charlie was not different, as she couldn't help but open her eyes and mouth wide as soon as she saw that person.
She was a girl, or at least she looked like one: a girl of about sixteen, about Charlie's height, and with a slender, athletic body. She clearly had the muscles of an athlete, and was indeed dressed in typical athletic attire: a T-shirt, shorts, sneakers, and ribbons around her wrists. She also had red hair and wore it in a ponytail, another clear sign of someone who worked out often and didn't want it to get in her face.
So far, so good. The problem was everything else.
That girl's skin wasn't... normal. It was pale pink, but it had dark red spots all over, like bruises; in some places, there were even black spots that spread like hideous spiderwebs. It was as if the inside of that person had exploded, and the skin was barely intact. Some parts even looked like they had broken off, as a couple of fingers had stitches, as if they had been torn off and surgically reattached to the body. There were also other stitches scattered here and there, as if the skin had peeled off and someone had patched it up. This didn't make the girl ugly, but it was quite disturbing. Her eyes were blood red and surrounded by black spots, and the skin above them also looked like it had been patched up, as if they had popped out at some point, splitting the eye sockets, and someone had put them back together, fixing all the damage as best they could.
The end result looked like a cross between a zombie and a normal person.
Charlie was left quite shocked as the girl stared at her. And a little scared, too. The girl wasn't showing any hostility, but Charlie was sure she was ready to spring and pounce, like a seemingly calm wild animal that could suddenly transform into a ferocious beast.
However, she couldn't remain silent forever. So, with the kindest smile she could muster, she said: "Hi. It's nice to meet you"
Silence. The girl didn't say a word. Instead, she cocked her head to the side, looking confused.
"I don't mean any harm" Charlie said again. "I'm really pleased to meet you. My name is Charlie, and you?"
More silence.
Charlie bit her lip. "Maybe she doesn't understand my language" she thought. "Um... parles-tu français? Deutsch? Italiano, magari?"
Again silence. "Okay, those are all the languages I know, I don't know what else to use" Charlie thought. "Maybe I should try gestures...?"
"Eua gxk tuz ckriusk" the girl said suddenly.
Charlie was speechless. "Um... what?"
"Eua ynuarj mu" the girl said again. "Znkxk'y tu xuus lux eua nkxk"
"Um... sorry, I don't understand anything" Charlie said, biting her lip. What kind of language was that? She couldn't remember ever hearing it. Sure, she wasn't a language expert, but it still didn't sound like anything she knew. "But I don't need to tell you, you don't understand what I'm saying anyway..."
The girl seemed to agree, because she also had a rather apologetic expression on her face. She almost seemed to apologize with her eyes, as if she was saying: "I'm really sorry, but I can't help you". Charlie rubbed her hair a little, and then, not knowing what else to do, pointed to herself: "Charlie"
The girl's eyes widened slightly, as if surprised. "Charlie?" she asked, pointing to her.
"Charlie. My name" Charlie confirmed, and then pointed at her, as if to indicate he wanted to know her name.
The girl was silent for a long second. And then, albeit a little unsure, she pointed to herself: "Bellum"
"Bellum? So that's your name?" Charlie said with a smile, and then, to emphasize the point, she pointed to herself and then to her interlocutor: "I'm Charlie, you're Bellum. Got it?"
Incredibly, the girl nodded; but she did so in a strange way, as she lowered and raised her head, also moving it side to side six times, as if she were zigzagging. "Well, we're finally breaking down the language barrier!" Charlie said happily. "Um... can you show me around here? How can I make you understand... around here! See!"
Comically enough, she spread her arms as if to point around them and then placed her hands over her eyes as if imitating binoculars. The girl, whose name apparently was Bellum, started giggling at the sight of her doing this: she clearly thought she was funny. Charlie was pleased to see that she looked much less intimidating than before; despite her appearance, she didn't seem too dangerous. "Um... is this yours?" she asked, handing her the balloon.
Bellum's eyes seemed to light up, and she immediately reached over and took the balloon. She seemed to really care about it, because she seemed genuinely happy to have it back. "Zngtqy" she said to Charlie with a smile.
"I don't know what you said, but as long as you're happy, it's fine" Charlie told her. "So... um... I'm going to that house! Yes, that one! I have to get there!"
She said this, pointing to the house emerging from the trees. Bellum's smile immediately faded, and instead she took on an annoyed expression. "O qtkc oz, ynk cgtzy zu huznkx Sus zuu" she grumbled in a sour voice.
Charlie realized he must have annoyed her somehow, though she didn't know how. However, before she could say anything, there was a loud crash, and a large red blur appeared seemingly out of nowhere, leaping between them. Charlie slid back in fright, and realized the red blur was a superb chestnut horse, almost certainly a stallion, magnificent and muscular like no other horse she'd ever seen; it had a long mane and tail, a sign that no one had ever cut it, just like a wild horse. The animal lunged at Bellum and began kicking violently in a clear attempt to hit her, whinnying furiously as if it were enraged.
Charlie feared the girl would be crushed, and immediately began to generate some fire in his fingers to help her, but Bellum instead jumped onto the horse's belly and climbed onto its back. The stallion began circling and leaping in an attempt to unseat her, but Bellum persisted, and finally the animal stopped to catch its breath. And to Charlie's surprise, as soon as it recovered, it let out a playful whinny, while Bellum burst out laughing.
Charlie was confused for a moment, but she was decidedly less so when she saw Bellum lovingly petting the horse and the horse responding with amused and joyful snorts. Apparently, the two of them knew each other very well, and this was just a game for them. The horse's aggressive nature had completely disappeared, giving way to a playful animal that continued to neigh and trot like it was a harmless pony.
Then, the horse seemed to notice her presence as well, and immediately became more wary; it quickly approached her and began to snort, and as it did so, flames emerged from its nostrils. Only then did Charlie realize that the horse had teeth as sharp as those of a carnivorous animal. The stallion snorted a couple of times, but she, knowing better than to startle it, remained still and waited. After a few moments, the animal seemed to calm down, and she raised her right hand, palm up. The horse seemed undecided for a moment, and then it closed the distance, allowing her to pet it. To Charlie's surprise, the stallion's skin was incredibly tough, so much so that it felt like iron, even though the fur made it pleasant to the touch.
Bellum, too, had a shocked expression. "Zngz'y tkc" she commented, and from her look, it seemed as if something like this had never happened before.
Charlie wasn't sure why she was so surprised, but she had to admit the horse was acting a little too friendly considering it didn't know her; an animal should be a little more wary of a stranger. What made the stallion trust her so quickly? Maybe it somehow sensed she didn't mean it and its friend any harm? Who knows.
Bellum was silent for several moments, and then she held out a hand to Charlie, as if inviting her to climb onto the horse. She nodded and took it, and Bellum immediately pulled her onto the horse's back, effortlessly; Charlie was taken aback, not expecting her to have so much physical strength. Bellum then patted the horse's neck gently, and it seemed to understand her instantly and took off at a gallop, heading for the house among the trees.
In a few minutes, they crossed the entire distance to the house, emerging from the forest onto a grassy plain filled with synthetic, plastic-like flowers. There, Charlie finally got a good look at the house, and she was astonished: it was truly enormous. The mansion was over twenty stories tall, and the front facade alone was at least half a kilometer wide; she couldn't imagine how long it was. The building style was very reminiscent of a Victorian house. The grassy plain surrounding it was evidently some sort of courtyard, even though there were no walls or gates. Charlie couldn't fathom what purpose such a large house could serve, considering it was supposed to only have one person living there.
The horse made them dismount, and then ran back into the forest; judging by the way it jumped over the hurdles as it walked away, it must have really loved running, so it was only natural that it didn't want to stay there. Bellum grabbed Charlie's arm, but instead of leading her toward the front door, she dragged her toward a sort of gazebo set in the grass, where there were tables and lounge chairs. And there were three other people there, who as soon as they saw them coming, one of them screamed, another got up and ran towards them, while the third remained in deep silence.
Charlie was a little uneasy seeing these people. Bellum was strange and a little... well, broken, but at least she still looked like a normal girl. These people, on the other hand, were... even more rotten than she was. They all looked like girls of about sixteen or seventeen years old, but their bodies were in terrible shape, to say the least. They were something Charlie wasn't used to at all, even by demon standards.
The first one, the one who'd screamed as soon as she saw Bellum with Charlie, was tall and pale; so pale, it almost looked like she had no blood in her veins. She moved jerkily as if she had arthritis, and her fingers were black as if gangrenous, and they moved strangely, as if she were suffering from an advanced form of Parkinson's. She was wearing what looked like hospital gowns, and she had what looked like a respirator attached to her nose, while over her heart she had something that looked like a bypass, but it constantly showed zero beats. Cables sprouted from her arms and legs that seemed to act like pulleys, as if her limbs could not stay straight otherwise and needed support. Her face was disturbing to say the least: her lips were curled into a plastic smile that showed her teeth, as if she were suffering from tetanus, while her yellow eyes showed signs of anemia and moved in opposite directions from each other, and probably would never have been straight if it weren't for a strange device attached under her eyelids that activated and realigned them whenever her eyes moved too much independently. She was bald, just like a radiation patient, and she had strange receptors stuck to her head; every now and then she seemed to forget what she was doing, assuming a vacant stare as if she were suffering from Alzheimer's, but as soon as that happened, those devices emitted an electric shock, and she immediately seemed to come to her senses.
The second girl, the one who ran toward Bellum, was even worse: she, too, was very pale, but it was a different kind of pallor. It wasn't due to a complete lack of blood, but rather to a sort of total malnutrition, as she was so thin that every bone in her body could be seen, even her lungs moving. She appeared anorexic, but to a degree that would normally kill a human being. Several parts of her body were also in an advanced state of decay, especially her left hand, which, however, was held together and functioned thanks to numerous cables and mechanical supports embedded in her flesh. Her clothes were practically normal, but they also seemed to decay when touched, and in fact she was dressed in several layers, as if she feared she might be left naked at any moment. Her face was horribly sunken, her eyes were so dry that even the corneas were damaged, and in fact there were mechanical devices there too that seemed to repair it. Her hair had almost completely fallen out, with a few strands barely clinging to her head.
The last girl, the only one who hadn't reacted... well, Charlie assumed she was also a girl because she had a synthetic face that resembled that of a girl, but otherwise it was impossible to judge since there was literally nothing to base a judgement on. She was just a pile of bones: a human skeleton that moved on its own. The various bones were connected by mechanical joints that had been implanted at the ends of each. Perhaps that was precisely why she wore a bluish cloak with a hood: to cover herself and hide the fact that she was just bare bones. A meticulously detailed synthetic face was attached to her skull, complete with artificial eyes, even lips and a nose; and a black bob wig was glued to her scalp, making it look like she had hair. Attached to her mouth was a device that seemed to mimic vocal cords, to allowing her to speak. The whole thing was decidedly disturbing.
The girl who had run toward Bellum grabbed her by the shoulders and waved her angrily: "Cngz gxk eua juotm? Cne gxk eua ngtmotm uaz cozn znoy luxkomtkx?"
Bellum simply shrugged. "Ynk mgbk sk hgiq znk hgrruut" she just said. "Ynk'y qotj"
The other girl was silent for a moment, clearly confused. "Tu utk'y kbkx hkkt qotj..." she muttered. "Haz eua qtuc zngz Sus jukyt'z cgtz ay zu zgrq zu luxkomtkxy!"
"O ngbkt'z yvuqkt zu nkx. Ynk znotqy O jut'z atjkxyzgtj nkx rgtmagmk" Bellum replied, and then she looked at the other two girls: "Igt ck rkz nkx yzge cozn ay lux g cnork? Ynk jukyt'z ykks hgj"
The bone girl stood up and walked toward Charlie; it was only then that she realized she was at least a head taller than her. As soon as she was in front of her, the bone girl raised her right hand and was about to touch her forehead. But just then, Bellum intervened and blocked her skeletal arm: "Tu! Kbkt Ujoas giikvzkj nkx. Ynk'y tuz roqk znk uznkxy!"
Charlie had no idea what they were talking about, but the bone girl still seemed surprised by what Bellum had said. She was silent for a long moment, as if thinking, and then nodded, though she didn't stop staring at Charlie with a very strange look, as if she were seeing something unusual. Bellum seemed satisfied, though, because she smiled and pointed to Charlie. "Charlie" she said, as if introducing her, and then pointed to the bone girl: "Mors"
"Mors?" Charlie repeated. "Is that her name?"
Bellum also pointed to the girl who looked malnourished. "Famis" she said, and then she pointed to the one who looked sick: "Pestis"
"Bellum, Famis, Pestis, and Mors... understood" Charlie said. "Um... I'm glad to meet you! Even if you don't understand what I'm saying..."
The girl named Pestis approached her so closely that she was practically on top of her. She moved jerkily as if she had Parkinson's, and that tetanus-like smile was truly disturbing, but she seemed more curious than aggressive. "Ynk'y vxkzze" she said.
"Um... I don't know what you said, but I hope it's a compliment" Charlie said. "Well, I... I should get into that house, so..."
But as she spoke, Bellum grabbed her arm again and led her under the gazebo. There, among the chairs and tables, strange shapes were drawn on the ground, presumably for some game; and sure enough, Bellum stopped in front of one of them, which consisted of numerous squares drawn on the grass, which she began to hop on. "Uh... do you want me to play with you?" Charlie murmured.
Bellum smiled even wider and gestured for her to come. Famis and Pestis, though still looking a little confused, also seemed happy to have a new playmate and jumped on the squares. The only one who didn't was Mors, but she smiled kindly and stood in front of them, clapping her hands and starting to hold up her fingers as if to indicate numbers, and when she finished, she clapped her hands loudly again. Bellum, Pestis, and Famis began hopping on their squares, following a sort of rhythm. When they stopped, Bellum's square lit up green, while Famis and Pestis's lit up red, and Charlie's also lit up since she hadn't moved. "Uh... okay..." she muttered. "How does this game work...?"
Mors clapped her hands again and repeated the gestures; Bellum, Pestis, and Famis started hopping again, but they did so while looking at her, as if hoping she would understand. Charlie watched them carefully, and then her eyes widened: "Of course! It's a memory game!" she thought. "One of them gives random numbers really quickly, and the others have to memorize them, add them, and do an equal number of hoppings, all in a very short time!"
It sounded fun, so she did it, too. However, even though she was sure she'd counted correctly, the others stopped well before her, and she turned out to have gotten it wrong. "Huh? Why?" she thought. "Was I wrong...?"
The scene repeated itself a couple of times, and each time she was completely out of sync with the others. This at least eased the tension even further, as Famis and Pestis seemed to be enjoying themselves, and even Mors was giggling a little at all of Charlie's mistakes. She was pleased, but also a little annoyed. "I don't understand! What am I doing wrong!?" she thought. "I counted correctly, I'm sure of it! Why do they get a different result? Why...?"
Suddenly she realized something: Mors had been giving random numbers every time... but even though she had ten fingers like everyone else, seven, eight, nine, or ten had never come up. The other numbers appeared all the time, but never those... "Of course!" Charlie exclaimed in her mind. "They count differently than me! They don't count in base ten, they count in base six! For them, five plus five doesn't equal ten, it equals fourteen!"
As Mors clapped her hands again, she counted accordingly, and this time she got the number right: the square beneath her lit up green. "Yay!" Charlie exclaimed, delighted at having guessed right.
The girls clapped, cheering her on in their strange language; Bellum especially seemed pleased. Charlie blushed a little. "Well, that was fun" she said. "Now excuse me, but I have to..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Bellum grabbed her again and dragged her to another game. This time it was something more complex, a sort of snakes and ladders game with very strange dice at odd angles. It took Charlie much longer this time to truly understand the rules.
The scene repeated itself several times: they played, Charlie tried to wave to them to enter the house, and the girls, especially Bellum, invited her to play another game. At a certain point, Charlie realized she was losing track of time, and that she no longer knew how long they had been playing. Yet, even though she kept trying to make them understand that she wanted to enter the house, the girls seemed to be doing everything they could to stop her.
Eventually, Pestis and Famis fell asleep, and Mors, like a good older sister, began putting away all the toys and cleaning the ground. Taking advantage of their distraction, Charlie walked away and headed for the door of the house, but Bellum ran after her, trying again to convince her to go back to play. "No" Charlie said firmly this time. "Sorry, it was fun, but I don't feel like playing anymore"
Bellum bit her lip, then lay down on the floor, inviting her to do the same. "No, I don't even want to sleep, or rest, or sunbathe... especially since there's no sun down here" Charlie blurted out. She didn't mean to sound rude, but she was starting to get tired. "I just want to meet Eve, you understand? Eve! It's not that hard!"
Bellum stood up and looked at her strangely. She seemed worried and confused, as if she wasn't sure what to do. Charlie sighed, and then, more gently, she said: "Look... I know you don't understand me, but I'm telling you anyway. If you don't understand my language, listen to the emotions in my voice. I have to do this, okay? My family, my friends, a lot of people, could be in danger right now. I've been told Eve can help me, so I need to meet her". And having said that, she turned toward the door of the house: "So... sorry, but I can't play with you anymore. Now let me go. Please"
Bellum gave her that strange look again. She seemed terribly conflicted. And then, suddenly, she grabbed Charlie's arm and with a strength she hadn't shown before, she dragged her backwards. Charlie slid back and found Bellum's lips just millimeters from her ear: "No!"
Charlie's eyes widened: "What? So you can talk...?"
"Ssssssh!" Bellum immediately shushed her. "Mom doesn't want us to talk to strangers! I don't want her to know that I disobeyed her!"
Charlie was speechless. So those four people had known what she was saying the whole time, but they had just pretended not to understand her? "Why?"
"Sometimes strangers have come here, and they have bad intentions. Mom always told us to pretend we don't speak their language, so they stop being interested in us and go find her. She doesn't want them to hurt us... or us to hurt them" Bellum told her. "But you... you're not like them. You're different. You're good. I don't want Mom to do to you what she did to the others. So... run. Get out of here and never come back, and hope Mom hasn't noticed you yet!"
Charlie was having a hard time keeping up with that reasoning, but she finally understood it: the demons who managed to elude Cain and Abel's surveillance and get down there hardly had good intentions, but on the contrary hoped to use Eve for their own purposes. If they found someone, they would surely try to interrogate them to get some information about her. But if that someone pretended not to speak their language, they would quickly lose interest and move on, leaving Bellum and the others alone. That's why Eve had told them to pretend not to understand the language of the strangers who came there. "Why do I have to run away?"
"Mom doesn't like bad people, and anyone who comes here without permission is a bad person" Bellum answered her with a slightly scared voice. "But you're not a bad person. I don't want her to punish you. So go away! Do it now!"
Charlie felt a vice tighten her heart and a lump squeeze her lungs. Those words made her shiver more and more. For a moment she was tempted to walk away, but then she shook her head. “I can’t. I… I have to talk to Eve. There are people I care about who could get hurt if I don’t. I have to"
"Please!" Bellum whispered, holding her tighter, so tight that Charlie's arm turned blue. "If she thinks you're a bad person, she'll get mad! You don't want to see Mom mad! She gets... dark when she is!"
Charlie was sweating so much that a puddle was forming at her feet, but she took courage and said: "I told you... I have to talk to her"
Bellum was silent for a moment. And then she said: "Okay... maybe if Mom sees that you're not bad, she won't let you end up like the others. So... be a good girl, okay? Mom likes good girls. Behave well, be a respectful guest, be polite and honest. And..." and with that she leaned even closer to her ear, so much so that her lips were almost touching it: "... no matter what happens, even if you're starving to death, don't eat. I didn't tell you anything"
And after such words she let go of her and walked away from her abruptly, and then her expression returned to the calm expression she had had before. As if nothing had happened she turned and ran laughing towards her three friends, and went back to playing with them. She didn't turn around, she didn't speak to her again, she didn't give any sign that something had happened between them a few seconds before.
Charlie swallowed hard. What had just happened was testing her courage. When she looked at the door again, she felt like a little rabbit preparing to enter a wolf's den. But then, with an extreme effort of will, she moved her feet again, ignoring her shaking legs, and went inside.
Notes:
Here's a challenge: see who among you can decipher what these girls are saying. The only clue I'll give you is that it's not a real language; I created it myself using a numerical trick. The first one of you to figure out how this language works, and what the girls say to each other before the trick is revealed in the story will be mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. You have a little time, so give it a try.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 98): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161357
Among the lions (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173637400
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 152: Into the house
Notes:
The first person to figure out the trick to deciphering what Bellum, Pestis, Famis, and Mors say was Avp369: it's simply a matter of shifting the letters six times in the alphabet. This method is known as the Caesar cipher, and if you want to translate what they say, just look for one online (and I wish I'd thought of that BEFORE writing the chapter!). I also congratulate everyone else who figured out the trick, even if not that fast 😉
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Charlie entered the house, after all the warnings she had received, for a moment she expected to find mangled bodies hanging from the ceiling, but fortunately it was not so. The entrance turned out to be very welcoming, composed of a large red carpet and finely carved furniture. Everything was shiny and clean, in fact, it seemed as if dirt had never even entered that house.
After the entrance, there was a hallway. There were no doors: only hallways and rooms, completely accessible to anyone. Besides, not many people seemed to enter in there. Charlie hesitantly knocked on a wall, making a rhythmic sound. "Is anyone there?" she asked out loud. "Sorry for coming in without permission, I just want to talk"
Silence. The house seemed completely empty. Charlie thought for a moment that Eve was deliberately ignoring her, but she soon realized that she probably hadn't heard her: the house was so huge that as she walked down the hall at a certain point she lost sight of the entrance. There were hundreds of rooms and hundreds of hallways, all connected to each other, and even stairs leading to the upper floors. "Eve could be anywhere..." Charlie murmured. "How am I supposed to find her in this maze?"
Not knowing what else to do, she wandered through the rooms. In each room were cabinets filled with what looked like notes, and beyond them were tapes, cassettes, records, tape recorders, televisions, even record players. In addition to the cabinets were tables filled with strange objects, blackboards with numbers and equations, sheets hanging on the walls with strange magic symbols, and very strange objects. Charlie approached some of them and realized that both the technology and the magic of these objects were extremely advanced, even more so than those of Heaven. They were so complex that she herself did not understand what they were or what they were for.
Charlie looked at the notes on the cabinets, and her curiosity began to grow insistent. What had Eve written on those sheets? Even though her conscience warned her that it was not a good thing to read someone's notes without their consent, she finally gave in and decided to take a peek. She walked into a random room and opened one of the cabinets, and took a stack of notes in her hands. Hoping that Eve would not have appeared behind her just as she was reading her things, she began to look at them.
What she found was... strange. They were simple notes, but the writing style was... well, absurd. The words and sentences were written in a wavy, chaotic way, so much so that she had to turn the page several times to read it all. However, the more Charlie looked at them, the more she realized that in that chaos, the words seemed to form a sort of pattern. A drawing. It was... a root. A large root that branched out over and over again, each word a small filament, each letter a piece. It was all so convoluted that Charlie felt like her eyes hurt just looking at it. She couldn't understand this absurd stylistic choice, but trying to get used to the style, she began to read.
Those notes turned out to be a detailed description of the solar system. Strange, why had Eve taken up astronomy? Was it a hobby? Or was she trying to remember the mortal world, or rather, the lush Eden, when she could devote her days to science and research? Those notes were extremely detailed, talking about the brightness of the Sun, the position of asteroids, the trajectory of comets, the gravitational oddities due to the position of a large rocky planet like Saturn...
Charlie stopped and raised an eyebrow. Saturn, a rocky planet? You didn’t have to be an astrophysics buff to know that wasn’t the case. And yet, the notes described this planet in great detail: mountains, oceans, tectonic plates, even life. Yes, life. And not just on this imaginary Saturn; in those notes, it seemed like the entire galaxy was teeming with life… or at least, it was teeming until a few millions of years ago…
Charlie froze. Wait… millions of years?
She quickly went back and looked at the dates. The person who wrote them… was talking about things that had happened over a period of hundreds of millions of years. And the more Charlie flipped through the pages, the bigger the dates became. Before long, there were descriptions of events that spanned billions of years, tales of civilizations that had grown, developed, met, fought, traded, merged into great galactic empires, and then... vanished. In a sort of 'ground zero', every civilization described, no matter how evolved, no matter how peaceful, no matter how advanced in every scientific field, just vanished. As if there were a filter in reality that dictated that they no longer exist. And at every point where such civilizations disappeared, the writing was cut by the drawing of a vertical root, which like all the others contained within it some words: chronic death.
Charlie swallowed. Chronic death? What was that? She had never heard of such a phenomenon...
She tried to open other notes, and to her surprise, what she found was another description of the universe, but with substantial differences: this time, the rocky planet was Neptune, while Mars was gaseous. Again there were accounts of civilizations over the course of trillions of years, civilizations that were different from the previous universe, only in small details, but they were. The only thing that never changed was their fate: at a certain point in their existence, they vanished, and each time there was that cursed root that brought back chronic death.
Charlie quickly leafed through other notes, and found other descriptions of other universes. It was as if someone had taken the real universe, the one she lived in, and then photocopied it countless times, and just like a photocopy, each copy was a little faded from the previous one, creating errors in the system that generated alterations in this photocopy universe. And then, that same person had lived every single moment of each photocopy universe, admiring its entire long history, a history that literally lasted quintillions of years. But that wasn't possible: if that were true, the person in question should have had to live for... a period of time so long that there was literally nothing to compare it to. In comparison, the age of the actual universe was a mere blink of an eye.
Some universes were so messy that planets and stars couldn't even form, while others had the laws of physics and mathematics completely altered. With each photocopy, everything became more messed up and broken. Yet the fate of every civilization that was lucky enough to blossom even in those chaotic universes was always the same: the chronic death. As if someone periodically took an eraser and wiped out all life from the entire cosmos. Every civilization, even those that came to occupy entire superclusters of galaxies, traveling faster than light and enclosing supermassive black holes in megastructures that created infinite energy, had a time limit of exactly 890 million years; after that, they simply disappeared, and that root was always there, like the perfect final mark of their history.
And the more Charlie saw that cursed root at the end of the sentence, the more uncomfortable she felt, as if something inside her was shying away from the mere sight of it. Eventually she chose to put the notes back on the shelf and move on, because it was all getting too disturbing. That root... for some reason, Charlie felt as if it, in the last notes, had been looking back at her.
She moved on to the next shelf. This time there were not only notes, but also some strange containers. Charlie picked them up and read the labels.
Cartesiozine...?
Detetragammaton...?
Alterdecryptor...?
What was that stuff? They looked like pills or medicine, but Charlie was pretty sure that if she tried to take one she would regret it bitterly. She put the containers back on the shelf and took the notes, hoping to understand something more.
They were... studies of the soul. Not theological or philosophical, but actual scientific studies. There were explanations of the very nature of the soul, how to break it and how to sew it back together as if it were an object. There was talk of the transmigration of said soul from one body to another, and even how to take it and move it at will, just as if it were something you could pick up on the street and put in your pocket. There were descriptions of how to bind different souls together, with methods so ingenious that they made demonic pacts seem ridiculous. If any overlord had those notes in his hands, he would probably have a serious crisis of self-esteem.
But... the notes didn't stop there. There were studies on how to... compose a soul from scratch. How to put together spiritual characteristics so well as to create what could be called a perfect copy of a soul. The problem was that it was just a copy, and a copy was still a copy no matter how identical to the original, and the person who wrote the notes seemed to know this very well: the more the notes continued, the more... obscure the writing became. As if the person who wrote was angry and frustrated because they could not obtain a fully original product, but still only a copy.
Charlie started to feel really uneasy, because the person who wrote those things was starting to sound crazier and crazier: it was like they were trying to break into God's very own factory, steal the blueprints, and turn them into something new. The more she read, the dirtier she felt. It wasn't just a feeling, she actually felt something filthy crawling over her body as she read those blasphemous words. She decided to put the notes back where they belonged, but before she did, her eye fell on a note at the end of the page.
Why don't you keep reading?
Charlie threw the notes on the floor with a snap and took several steps back. Her breathing immediately became labored as she looked at the pages scattered on the floor. That note... wasn't talking to her, right...?
With shaking hands, she gathered her notes and reread the note at the bottom of the page. It was written... differently from the others. The handwriting was the same, as was the root-shaped style, but while all the other sentences seemed to have been written with the right hand, that one note had been written with the left. Charlie sweated coldly: "It's just... just a note" she told herself to give herself courage. "It could mean anything... I'm just being influenced... yes, yes, it's all in my head. Now I'll turn the page and... it will all be clearer"
Very slowly, she turned the page, hoping to find other notes that would have allowed her to justify what she had just read. She didn't know what: a conversation between two people, a fake debate, the author becoming schizophrenic and starting to argue with themselves, anything would have been okay. Instead, the first thing she found was another note, written in the same style, this time right above the page, as if it knew she would have looked there first.
Stop being such a coward. Read.
Charlie immediately closed the notes and put them back on the shelf, and then turned and ran out of the room. She didn't stop until she was at least three rooms away, where she finally allowed herself to catch her breath. "It can't be true" she told herself, desperately trying to think of a logical explanation. "I'm imagining it. It's just fear that makes me see things. Those pages... they weren't talking to me"
She looked at the room she had entered. It was like the others, filled with shelves and notes, but now there were also jars full of organs, stuffed animals, and skeletons. Several tables were arranged in every corner of the room, shelves of instruments that Charlie couldn't identify. It reminded her of a biology lab, but much more complex.
With extreme reluctance Charlie walked over to one of the shelves and took out a folder of notes. "Please don't talk about me, please don't talk about me, please don't talk about me...!" she begged in her mind, and opened the notes with an effort of will.
To her extreme relief, there were no strange notes. The notes contained studies of anatomy, both human and every other animal that had ever lived. There were detailed descriptions of dinosaurs that could rewrite the entire paleontology, information about animals and their behavior that would push any branch of biology forward by centuries, descriptions of entire genomes in minute detail. Some of the notes were written just like the pages of a book, with methodical illustrations. And yet... there was something strange.
Charlie hadn't noticed it initially, but then she saw that in the pictures the faces of the animals were... blurred. It was as if the person who had drawn them, so well that they seemed alive, had hurt their hand in that exact moment. The heads were blurry and the lines that composed them were poorly defined. In many cases they were so distorted that there was no clear face visible, but instead a... smile. A smile far too wide.
Charlie bit her lip: as far as she knew, very few animals could smile, since their lip muscles were not designed for it. Smiling was typical of humans or other primate species. Other animals expressed what was a human smile in other ways. Yet in all the pictures, those distorted faces of completely different species were smiling. Even animals like insects, or squid, or starfish. They all smiled. And the smiles became tighter and more exaggerated, in a way that shouldn't have been possible.
But the scary thing... were the eyes. They, like the rest of the face except for the smile, were faded, and yet you could see the fear in them. Those eyes were filled with a literally visceral terror, and they kept staring at the ground as if there was something under their feet that scared them. Charlie actually noticed that the animals' legs were bent upwards, as if they were trying to touch the ground as little as possible. It was as if the animals were trying to make their worst predator believe that they hadn't noticed it... and said worst predator was right under their feet. And for some reason, they were smiling in that plastic way, as if showing happiness was useful for not being noticed.
In fact, if Charlie squinted... the bases and roots of the trees... seemed to have eyes. Tiny eyes that stared at the animals like hungry predators. And the more Charlie concentrated, the more it seemed to her that all the ground, the stones, the rocks... were made up of tiny roots, intertwined with each other. All pointed at the animals, staring at them.
Charlie continued to leaf through the notes, and found more distorted images. Smiles that were increasingly plasticized and eyes that were increasingly frightened. The animals were in more and more unnatural positions to avoid touching the ground: they were raising themselves on their legs and fingers even though their own weight threatened to break their bones. Those that could fly rose as high as they could and refused to come down until they passed out. One of the images showed a dead spinosaurus with a broken neck; the description read: "It twisted its neck of its own accord. It preferred to die".
Charlie's fingers shook, because things were getting seriously scary. The notes contained not only animals, but also human dissections. Organs and tissues described in minute detail, and descriptions of systems more efficient than those. Soon they became studies of 'more efficient' bodies. But more efficient than what...?
Charlie put the notes back and looked around. It would take her ages to read everything in that house; those sheets seemed to exceed the amount of pages in all the libraries in the world, and not only that, but she was realizing that they had other ways of being read: the sentence that read one way meant one thing, if the sheet was folded on one side meant another. It would take her forever to absorb even a thousandth of all the knowledge contained therein. And in addition to the notes, there were also all those tapes, those films, those photos, those disks...
Finally, she decided she wanted to change her method, so she took one of those tapes. She chose one at random, which had the label: experiment 780,144,490. She searched for a while, and finally found a tape recorder to listen to the tape. However, when she got closer, she noticed a scribble on the side of the tape recorder, written in the same handwriting as those notes that had scared her so much earlier.
Now you listen to other people's things without permission, as well as read them? You should review your manners, naughty girl.
Charlie froze in place. Okay, that message was definitely meant for her. But how was that possible? Those words had undoubtedly been written a long time ago. If they had suddenly appeared she might have believed that someone was playing with her, but those writings were clearly decades old, maybe even centuries old!
She looked at the tape in her hands. A little voice in her head told her that it was better to listen to that message, put the tape back, and stop touching everything she found. However, in the end, curiosity won again and she inserted it into the recorder. There was a click, and then a female voice emerged from it.
"Diary of the experiment 780,144,490, day 1, 8:00 AM. Before I officially begin, I will proceed to explain what this project will consist of. As usual, I am Eve... well, not that there is anyone else here... and this is what I am about to do: I will create a new being from zero"
Charlie's eyes widened. That voice... she had heard it in Adam's memories too. It was definitely the same soft yet firm voice as Eve's. Her attention immediately skyrocketed.
"You heard it right: I want to create a person from scratch, without shortcuts or original bases; I do not intend to reproduce in the traditional way, or clone myself, or resurrect a dead person, or assemble a person from various pieces, or build a robot, also because all these systems, no matter how much I improved them, have always proved insufficient and in the end they succumb to the chronic death. No, this time I will literally have to create a new DNA, capable not only of building every single cell, but also of telling all the other cells how to behave, how to reproduce, how to feed and how to collaborate. This is without a doubt the greatest challenge I have ever undertaken... for now. According to my calculations, the person I intend to create will be composed of 65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 9% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% phosphorus, 0.25% potassium, 0.15% sodium, 0.15% chlorine, 0.05% magnesium, and 0.006% iron, plus another extremely small amount of zinc, sulfur, fluoride, iodine, selenium, chromium, and cobalt that I cannot predict in advance since I will have to adjust it as the body's metabolism takes shape. I will have to be extremely meticulous with these elements: one mistake in the dosage, and the basic structure of the DNA I am going to create will be altered forever, which would force me to start over. And then, of course, there is the matter of the soul... I can create a body and a mind perfectly, but without a soul, it is all useless. And the soul will also have to be created from scratch. At the same time, however, to ensure that this soul does not succumb to chronic death as has happened with all the others, I must make sure to create it completely empty: not an individual, only the shell that will serve to house the Essence, with no one inside to take its place. The success of the experiment will depend on whether such soul is strong enough to absorb the essence without succumbing, whether it can properly bond with the body, and whether the body itself can withstand this enormous stress. I am literally trying to recreate a human being as it was at the beginning of time, a perfect body capable of also housing the immense energy of the Essence; a sin of creation that aims to imitate the work of God Himself. So, I proceed"
The tape stopped for a moment, a sign that Eve must have turned off the recorder. Charlie had understood very little of what the woman had said, but what he had heard had still blown his mind. Had Eve tried to create a person from scratch? Not just a body, but a fully-fledged soul constructed artificially? Mimic the work done by God at the beginning of time, to give birth to something entirely new?
It seemed too absurd to believe it was true, and yet... after what Charlie had seen in that house, nothing surprised him anymore.
And then... again the chronic death. Why had Eve said that all other options were useless and succumbed to that strange death? And what was this Essence that she wanted to put inside the soul she was about to create?
As she was lost in these thoughts, the tape clicked and started again. Eve's voice came back.
"Day 18, 3:30 PM. I completed the first phase of the experiment. I poured all the elements previously described into a heated pool equipped with a constant automatic stirrer and an artificial electromagnetic field, and as expected, I obtained complex polypeptides and basic molecules, the essential building blocks for the creation of life. But this, of course, was the easy part. In the following days I performed countless stirrings, making these ancestral molecules interact continuously; and as was easily predictable, I obtained a lot of totally useless results that I had to dismantle again into basic molecules. But in the end, I managed to create what I needed: lipids and micelles were formed, and within these, protocellular elements. I could force the molecules to interact the way I want them to by using my powers, but that would mean introducing myself into the experiment, which would compromise it: I need the cells to learn to do their job, not for me to force them to join together and cooperate. Now that I have the protocellular material I need, I can move on to phase two: I will have to differentiate the cells"
The tape stopped again. Charlie scratched her head in confusion; it was really hard for her to keep up with all that scientific reasoning. She felt like a elementary school student who had suddenly found herself in an advanced college class. The tape clicked, and started again.
"Day 63, 11:30 AM. I built a tube that varied in temperature and electromagnetic charge depending on its position, which passed through the pool. The protocells started to interact with it, clustering around it: those that clustered around the heated part were different from those that clustered around the cold part, which were different from those that clustered in the middle, which were different from those that were far from the tube. This is the first differentiation of cells: the warmer cells will become endoderm, or the inside of the body, while the cooler ones will become ectoderm, or the outside lining. Now I have to move on to phase three, which is the first big challenge: how do I get the cells to understand what to do? It's easy to shape a body, but making it work is a whole other ball game; how do these newborn cells, with literally unique DNA, unlike any other living creature, learn to become muscles and organs? I have a few options available to me, which I'll explore in phase three"
The tape stopped again. Charlie waited impatiently for it to start again; even though she was understanding less and less, she wanted to know how the experiment had ended. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long.
"Day 378, 7:10 PM. I have finally completed phase three, and it took me almost a whole year. I found the perfect way: a wax sculpture. Let me explain: to create a sculpture made of metal, such as bronze, you obviously can't sculpt such a hard material, so the solution is to create a wax sculpture of the same subject; then you enclose it in a coating that can withstand high temperatures and with tiny channels inside it; then you raise the temperature, the wax melts and drips out, but in doing so it leaves its imprint, and so, when you put the bronze in the coating, it takes the shape of the wax statue; then you just wait for it to cool, remove the remaining impurities, and that's it. Well, that's exactly what I did with this body. I created extremely perfect wax sculptures, down to the smallest details, of every organ, bone, muscle, nerve, and even the outer covering that will be the skin; then I poured the cells into them and started an artificial selection, favoring the multiplication of the cells that performed their purpose and eliminating the infinite others that did not. In this way I made sure that these organ-shaped clusters of cells transformed into real organs, and in the end, only the cells that functioned well remained. It took me six weeks just to create the heart, but the result was an absolutely perfect striated musculature, capable even of responding to hormonal stimuli. Now I just have to move on to phase four: to unite all these organs into one. These are simple cells, cells that only make muscle, bone, blood, and they don't know what else to do. If I just put them together, it would create an immunochemical conflict that would destroy the body from the inside; I have to make sure that each cell in these artificial organs recognizes the others as its own. Fortunately, this won't be difficult: I'll just have to introduce specific retroviruses that I've modified so that they exchange pieces of genetic material with others, and by doing so, in a short time, I should obtain a complete DNA, which will combine everything I've created so far. At that point, I'll just have to put that single cell that includes all the others into an incubator and wait nine months for the fetus to grow naturally. However, I still have one extremely difficult phase to complete: the creation of a soul, and it will have to be a completely empty soul, devoid of any thought, consciousness or reasoning, ready to welcome the Essence"
The tape stopped again. Charlie bit her lip; even though she was only listening to a recording, the thought of creating a soul sounded very negative to her ears. It was as if some part of her, deep down, rejected such thoughts, considering them too blasphemous to take shape. The tape lay still for a while longer, and then started again.
"Day 1136, 9:15 AM. I have finally managed to complete the soul I wanted. It was... complex, to say the least. It's been a good two years since I started working on it. The basic idea was simple: to create a soul you need to gather a lot of spirit, and spirit is an emanation of the Holy Spirit, which is in turn an emanation of God; but since God is monad, everything in the universe is sprinkled with this spirit, which I can collect and gather. The problem is that this spirit that I gather is never pure: not only do I already alter it by gathering it, but it is also already altered by the moment it leaves God; just like a sort of Platonic cave, the spirit deteriorates as it moves away from the original source and comes into contact with something else. Therefore, the soul I could create would always be flawed, and ultimately the result would be no different from taking pieces of other souls and putting them together. I don't want that, I want a completely new soul, from scratch; and for this I resorted to transdifferentiation. There is a jellyfish, wrongly called immortal jellyfish, that when it is close to death is able to regress its cells to the polyp stage; well, I did the same thing with these fragments of spirit in my hands. I used extreme amounts of alterdecryptor, which forced the spirit to return to the previous stage it was at, and finally, after thousands of attempts, I obtained 100% pure spirit. This obviously wasn't enough: I had to shape this spirit to make it a soul. God had done it based on Himself, but for obvious reasons I can't base my creation on God, since I have no idea what His soul really looks like, so instead I based it on myself. I modeled the soul based on my own, which I already know can support the weight of the Essence. I literally created a soul in my image and likeness, but unlike my own, this one is completely empty: I have removed every detail that could create a separate individual. It is a shell modeled after me ready to receive the Essence. Then, as I had planned, I put the DNA I created into the incubator and let it grow, and then, in the third month, which is normally when the soul appears, I inserted the soul I had created into the fetus. It bonded perfectly. Now... I just have to wait another six months for the fetus to complete its development"
Charlie was starting to feel really anxious. She didn't know why, since nothing disturbing was happening, but for some reason her hand had moved a few inches on its own as if to turn the tape recorder off. She felt quite tense, and when the tape recorder clicked, she jumped a little.
"Day 1515, 11:30 PM. I have succesfully completed the creation of the person I wanted. The soul I created has continued to hold fast to the body, and over the six months of development it has become inextricably linked to it. As the nine months were over, I was holding in my hands an infant, created literally from scratch, with nothing in common with any other creature in the universe. At that point, now that everything had developed properly, I accelerated its growth: after all, before I insert the Essence into it, I want to have a body old enough in my hands. At the moment it looks like a sixteen-year-old girl; since I based the subject on myself, it is obviously female. I stopped at this age because, according to my calculations, if I can fully insert the Essence into it, the next two years of development will cement this union permanently. As you might expect, although the subject breathes, it is constantly inanimate: with a completely empty soul, it is virtually devoid of any thoughts, ideas of itself, feelings, memories, or any kind of personality, so much so that I have to hook it up to an IV to feed it. It's a matter of... hey, hey, calm down! Yeah, I know you want to start, give me a second! I have to record, in case things go wrong!"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. Who was Eve talking to? For a moment she thought she was talking to her creation, but there were no sounds of things moving...
"Yes, yes, I get it! Oh, fuck, how I can't stand your impatience. All right, I'm going to go ahead and put the Essence into the subject. I'll start with just 0.01% of it, and then gradually increase. First try..."
There was a moment of silence, but Charlie was sure she heard something: a rustling sound, like a sheet of paper running over a finger, cutting it, and then a ticking sound like a drop of blood dripping onto something... but it was different. It was as if the sheet had cut deeper than the skin, and that the blood was something more... spiritual.
"The subject seems stable. I detect no anomalies. Now... move the fingers of your hand. Yes... yes, perfect. At the motor level everything seems to work well. Can you open your eyes? You have to move the upper eyelids from the bottom to the top, and the lower ones from the top to the bottom..."
Charlie continued to listen as Eve gave more orders. Oddly enough, she spoke to her creation as if she had known it forever; it didn't seem at all like it had just woken up for the first time in its life. Charlie found this behavior not at all reassuring.
"Okay... you're doing great on the motor side. Now I need to hear the rest from you. Can you talk?"
There was a moment of silence. And then Charlie almost fainted.
"Yes..."
Every hair on Charlie's body stood on end like never before: even her voluminous hair, despite its thick weight, seemed to become porcupine quills from how stiff it became. Her blood seemed to turn to ice and her muscles became stiff as stockfish. Her heartbeat became so rapid it was a miracle it hadn't exploded in her chest.
That... that wasn't a human voice. Not at all. And not even the voice of a demon, or the voice of an angel. It was something wrong, corrupt, completely against the rules of reality. Something that should have never existed.
It was like... a rustling. The rustling of numerous leafless, misshapen, broken branches, using the wind to bang against each other and make sounds... and taking advantage of that to imitate a person. By combining the various sounds, they created something similar to the human voice, and they were aware that they were doing it.
Yes... yes, that was exactly what that voice sounded like: a tree trying to imitate the human voice.
And it was terryfing.
"Yes... yes, you did it! Do it again! Try to make other sounds..."
"E-Eve... I... I... feel..."
"Shhh, try to calm down. Don't get nervous"
"I can... hear the sounds! I'm... I'm seeing with... eyes...!"
"Please, concentrate. Can you describe to me what you're feeling?"
"It's... it's... I don't know... it's beautiful... so... so marvelous... finally... I... I want... I want more...!"
"Hey, hey, don't push it...!"
There was a cracking sound, like someone was removing IVs from themselves, and then a thump, like someone had tried to stand up suddenly and then fallen to the floor. Yet, even though it should have been painful, Charlie could only hear laughter coming from the tape. It was a laughter that seemed to contain pure desperation, so much so that Charlie had to lean on the table to keep herself upright.
"So... so this is what it feels like... this is what it feels like to be harmed... this is pain...!"
"You can't move like that, your muscles are still atrophied! Listen to me, please: first, put your hand around my waist, like I'm doing... there, there, good... now move your hip muscles up... like this... now that you're standing, put one foot in front of the other..."
"Oh... oh, damn... I... I'm really...!"
"Don't get excited. Here, now sit down. Lower yourself... like this... slowly, slowly! Ok, good"
"More... I want more...!"
"That's why you have to listen to me. Now I'm going to try to put more Essence into the body. You have to help me understand where the limit is"
"Ok..."
"Put your hand forward and continue to touch your thumb and index finger. Let me know right away as soon as your hand-eye coordination starts to get more difficult"
For several seconds there was no sound. Or rather, there were noises as if someone was moving something. And then the voices started again.
"11:38 PM. I am about to move on to the next phase of the experiment. The amount of Essence will be increased from 0.01% to 0.1%. We will see how the body reacts to a tenfold increase. What do you feel?"
"Nothing"
"Not even the slightest change?"
"I feel more... complete..."
"Let's continue then. Let's go from 0.1% to 0.5%..."
"Oh, yes... oh, yes... again...!"
"Concentrate! What condition is the body in?"
"Still intact... I feel an... itch...?"
"Mmm. The skin on the fingers is cracking. It looks like the essence is speeding up cell turnover, but there's no damage. Okay, let's move on. We're at 1%, the highest result we've ever achieved so far"
"Urgh... I... I'm still breathing... but... I'm struggling..."
"The internal organs seem to be undergoing the same process as the skin. We need to strengthen the immune system. Force the cells to decrease their reproduction..."
"I... I...!"
An extremely disturbing sound emerged from the tape; Charlie immediately put her hands over her ears in terror. Her legs gave out and she slid to the floor, where she curled up in a ball, and also crawled under the table. She wasn't doing it intentionally; it was as if her most basic survival instinct had kicked in and was screaming, and had taken over her completely, forcing her to hide as much as possible.
That sound was like a whale's cry, or rather something much bigger, combined with a child's scream and the screeching of two pieces of wood scraping against each other. It was the most horrible thing Charlie had ever heard, so much so that she wanted to throw up. Suddenly she felt something warm on her hand, and when she brought it to her eyes, she realized that her ears were bleeding.
"Fuck! It's collapsing! I need to put more enzymes in the...!"
"N-No... no... help me...!!!"
"I'm trying! I'm...!"
The tape stopped at that point. Charlie felt reborn when the horrible sound finally stopped. Her ears were bleeding so much it sounded like they were crying tears of blood. Her entire body was so stiff she could barely move her fingers.
And then, there was another click. And the tape continued.
"Day 1515, 12:00 PM. The experiment has... failed. Once the threshold of 1% Essence was exceeded, not only the subject's body but also the soul rejected it. Eventually, the body was completely stripped of flesh, leaving only bones, and the soul... well, it was almost completely consumed. I was forced to reabsorb the Essence I had placed into it. But... there are silver linings. This was by far the most successful experiment I have ever done so far. It is clear that I am on the right track. I just need to find a way to make the subject more resistant. There is... something else, too. The subject... even after I extracted the Essence, even after she was gone... it is still not dead. Its soul is consumed, but not completely: a small part of it survived, and it seems to have... copied part of the Essence. It has... rewritten that data, forming a new personality and therefore a new individual. Now this individual is... like a baby just born. Even though, for obvious reasons, the subject no longer has genitals, I believe it has retained the characteristics of the original body, so I assume I should consider it female. It is... a girl. I installed mechanical joints on its... her... naked bones to allow her to move. She shows an intelligence equal to that of an infant, she barely crawls, but... she follows me. It's as if she considers me her mother. She is not afraid like the other subjects, on the contrary, she almost seems to ask for physical contact. She continues to cling to my leg in an attempt to attract my attention, and every now and then she also starts to... emit a sound similar to crying. I don't know if she does it voluntarily or if there is some other reason. I decided that I will have to study this phenomenon better to understand it well, so she will stay with me. Given her cadaverous appearance, I have named her Mors. I'll try to... I don't know. I don't think raising her is the right word, I doubt she can grow up, but... I'll at least try to teach her to talk, to walk, to... well, do everything else. I need to observe her well in various situations to really understand what happened..."
Suddenly, Eve's voice sounded strange: it was like someone was grabbing her vocal cords and squeezing them. And from the sounds coming from the tape, it seemed like she was trying to push said someone away.
"... so I was thinking of... hey, hey, stop it, let me finish here... I was like, I was thinking of using... oh, for God's sake! Not now, okay!? I'm working!"
The disturbing sound erupted from the tape again, but this time it was a hundred times louder. Charlie could literally feel it digging into her bones, like millions of sharp fingers trying to tear her apart from the inside. Not only her ears, but her nose started bleeding, and her eyes, too; and judging by the confusion she was feeling and the fact that her regenerative powers were urgently kicking in, Charlie was sure that she wasn't bleeding from her ears, eyes, or nose at all, but rather that her very brain was being melted by that sound that made the word horror sound like a funny joke.
"I told you to stop! Oh, my... don't use that tone with me, do you understand!? I know you're impatient! It's not my fault that the experiment failed again, okay!? Shut your mouth! Don't force me to...!"
Eve's voice trailed off, and another one emerged from the tape: the same one that sounded like a tree talking. But this time it was more defined, more real. And it didn't sound like a tree at all, in fact, it was more like roots. Roots that rubbed, hit, and shook to simulate a human voice.
"HOW LONG WILL YOU LET ME MAKE YOUR CHILDREN SUFFER, EVE!?"
That was the point where the tape finally stopped. Charlie didn't move from under the table. She couldn't have even if she wanted to. Her body had turned into a stockfish, and she couldn't even breathe. Blood continued to drip from her ears and eyes, wetting her clothes. She had never felt so terrified in her life...
"Who's there?"
Charlie jumped like a cat when she heard that voice: this time it hadn't come from the tape, but from one of the other rooms. She didn't think, she just acted instinctively: trying to move as best she could, she crawled behind one of the closets and hid there. From there she could see a shadow appear on the wall, and immediately after that Eve's voice was heard: "What!? Did you listen to...!? I told you a thousand times not to touch my things! Who did this!? Bellum, was it you again!? What did you hear!? Where are you!?"
Charlie pressed herself even closer to the closet, as if hoping to merge with it. Eve looked furious and it scared the crap out of her. If she could have just disappeared, she would have done it right now. "Kids! It's... it's okay! Mom is not angry, really! We can talk about this! But you have to come out NOW!"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 99): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161375
Among the lions (chapter 12): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173637400
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 153: Eve (part 1)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie was so still she wasn't even breathing. She was pretty sure even the blood had stopped moving in her veins. Every cell in her body just wanted to stay as still as possible.
"Kids, don't make me lose my patience!" Eve snapped. "Come out, let's talk like civilized people! This is important!"
No.
No fucking way.
Charlie would rather stay hidden here for eternity, even if it meant dying of hunger, thirst, and sleep, and not move until all that was left of her was bones, and the bones had shrunk to atoms.
Eve was silent for a long moment, and then she sighed: "Kids... I know you're behind the closet"
Charlie felt like she was dying.
"Really, come out" Eve said. "I told you, I'm not angry. I understand it was... intense, but we can talk about this. Please, kids. Don't make me come over there"
The fact that Eve had used a softer tone this time calmed Charlie's fear slightly, enough to allow her to think again. She was terrified and absolutely didn't want to come out, but what was the point of hiding if Eve already knew where she was? Nothing changed now.
Finally, with an immense effort of will, she moved and emerged from her hiding place. "H... Hi" she murmured in a small voice, truly seeing Eve for the first time.
Until now, Charlie had only seen Eve in Adam's memories, and in them she had appeared only once in her demonic form, and he had almost completely covered her with clothes, probably because she didn't want to be seen like that. Now, however, she wasn't hiding her at all: instead of the veil and cloak she wore in memory, she now wore a white jacket that reached down to her knees, a shirt and pants of the same color, and a pair of gray shoes; the overall effect of this outfit made her resemble a typical stereotype of a scientist. Just as in memory, her eyes were blood red and she had small fangs, but now it was also possible to see a massive set of six horns emerging from her voluminous hair; these horns were bent inward at a very sharp angle, forming three concentric pyramids. And her skin had turned a light gray, and her veins were slightly visible and black in color; in particular, her hands were almost completely black, including the claws that had replaced her nails; or at least, the left hand was, since the right one was covered by a white latex glove.
Eve had immediately fallen silent, her expression somewhat shocked. "Uh... you're not one of my daughters" she commented. "Where did you come from?"
"Um... yeah, I'm coming from outside. Abel opened the door for me" Charlie said, showing her the key: "My name is Charlie. Charlie Morningstar"
Eve's expression became even more astonished: "Morningstar? You mean you...?"
"I'm Lilith and Lucifer's daughter, yes" Charlie confirmed.
"Oh. The gift my children gave them" Eve commented. "You've already talked about this, right?"
"Yeah, I know the whole story" Charlie replied. "Thanks for that spell, by the way"
There was a moment of profound silence, with Eve's expression unreadable. Charlie swallowed lightly, wondering how she would react. Would she be furious to have a Morningstar in the house, or...?
But before she could conjure up too many mental images, Eve put on a cheerful expression: "It's a pleasure! Damn, I'm so glad to meet you! Wow, you have your dad's face, but thankfully not his height! And your voice is even better than your mom's! You've grown up so well!"
This time it was Charlie's turn to widen her eyes. "Uh... thanks?" she murmured.
"Why that long face? Come here!" Eve exclaimed, and before she could react, she tried to put an arm around her neck and lovingly rubbed her hair, but maybe because she noticed she was unconfortable, she stopped an instant before doing so and just mimicked the gesture. "For once, I can be the aunt! Oh, you're such a cute little niece! You're so sweet and saccharine, I could eat you!"
"Um... metaphorically, right?" Charlie asked for reassurance.
"Of course, why? Do you know any other meanings?" Eve replied, and then she waved her hands and smiled broadly as if she were looking at something extremely sweet: "Oh, you're so adorable! I bet you were even prettier when you were a kid! But even now, you're gorgeous!"
Charlie felt a little uncomfortable to be treated that way by someone she had just met, but at least Eve didn't seem hostile toward her. "Well... I'm glad to meet you, too... Aunt Eve?"
"Aunt Eve!" Eve exclaimed with a delighted expression. "Oh, I've heard my kids call Lilith 'Aunt' so much, but never has anyone called me that! So that's what it feels like!"
"Well, now you know" Charlie said, trying to smile. "Does that feel good?"
"Oh, yes, beautiful! Extremely sweet!" Eve answered, but then she clasped her fingers together, and while she didn't lose her smile, her gaze sharpened. "So, since we're family... did you touch anything on the way here? Maybe listen to a recording? Even by accident?"
Charlie felt her blood run cold again. "Um... I..."
"Why so hesitant?" Eve asked, her eyes narrowing further. "You can tell me, I'm your aunt, I won't be offended!"
Charlie found herself sweating. "Uh... I got that" she said, pointing to the recorder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude..."
"No, no, I understand. I assume that with all these videos, recordings, and notes in here, someone would get curious" Eve said. "But... did you also listen to it?"
"No!" Charlie answered immediately.
Eve's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure? You didn't even turn it on once?"
"N-No! I swear!" Charlie said again, feeling her legs start to shake again.
The smile faded from Eve's face. "Really...?" she said in a decidedly more menacing voice.
Charlie trembled from head to toe. She didn't know if it was fear that was making her see things, but she was sure Eve's eyes were getting even redder. She tried to say something, but no sound came out...
And then Eve burst out laughing.
It was so unexpected that Charlie first jumped in fright, and then felt all the tension he'd been holding evaporate in a flash. Eve was literally doubled over with laughter. "Ha ha ha! Sorry, I couldn't help it!" she exclaimed. "You should see your face! You expected me to eat you or something like that, right? You fell for it! Ha ha ha!"
Charlie was speechless: "So... you're not mad...?"
"Of course not! There's nothing to be mad about!" Eve replied, wiping away her tears while still laughing. "Because there's absolutely no big secret in here! You thought that recording was real, right? It's just an acting experiment. Since I've been here, I've had a lot of free time, so I started making up stories. If you read my notes, you can find descriptions of entire worlds, which I later discarded. Everything in here is just me embarking on a new literary, theatrical, or cinematic experience. In that recording, I was just playing a mad scientist... terrible writing, by the way, that's why I discarded it"
"Uh... really?" Charlie muttered.
"Sure!" Eve told her, still laughing. "But I'm glad to see I was so good that you thought it was real!"
Charlie wasn't entirely confident, but decided to play along. "Oh... oh! It was all fake!" she said, trying to laugh. "Well... it wasn't so bad! You were good at pretending to be a scientist! I mean, creating life from nothing, even a soul..."
Eve didn't change her expression, but her gaze instantly became so terrifying that it froze Charlie in place. "Oh..." she said, and her smile widened. "... so you listened to it"
Charlie's heart seemed to stop. Eve wasn't doing anything, but her legs were shaking so badly she almost fell to the ground. "I... I...!"
"Tsk, tsk, you should be ashamed of yourself. You shouldn't tell lies" Eve said, miming the gesture of touching her nose, even though she didn't actually touch her. "Lies have short legs and long noses, you know that?"
In an instant, a flash: Charlie saw only a brief flash of light, and then a searing pain struck her at the base of her knee. She fell to the ground and realized that her legs had just been severed in half. Strange, toothy-mouthed worms were crawling into the wound and began eating her from the inside. At the same time, things that looked like a cross between hands and spiders jumped on her face, starting to chew on her and eat her nose...
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Charlie recoiled with a scream. The world around her returned to normal, but she still frantically felt her face, and even threw herself down and took off her socks and shoes to check that all the pieces of her legs were still there. "What... what was that...!?" she said, barely breathing.
In front of her, Eve had a confused expression: "What's wrong with you, darling? I didn't think I'd scare you this much..."
"T-They were eating my face!" Charlie screamed. "They cut off my legs... they were eating me from the inside... I saw it...!"
"But... your legs are right there" Eve pointed out. "And your face is fine, too"
Charlie curled up, continuing to feel her entire body. Her heart was pounding so hard it was a miracle her ribs were still intact. She'd felt it, something had actually chewed her up...! "I... I saw it...!"
"Damn... are you sure you're not hallucinating?" Eve asked, leaning closer, and she reached out to touch her forehead: "Maybe you have a little fever..."
Charlie immediately recoiled, not allowing her to touch her. It wasn't a voluntary movement: her entire body reacted on its own. Even when she stopped, Charlie continued to feel tense, and not figuratively: every part of her body was tense. She could literally feel the cells of her skin tightening as if they wanted to pop off and escape.
Eve stopped and then recoiled. "Okay... okay, I get it. I scared you too much" she said. "Look... it's clear you're not feeling well, and my behavior must not have helped the situation, and so you had an hallucination. Let's do this: come with me over there. There are some chairs, you can make yourself comfortable and rest properly. And I promise I'll keep my distance and not touch you"
Charlie shook her head vigorously, pulling away even further. Even though she knew Eve could grab her in an instant, she absolutely didn't want to let her get any closer. She was too afraid of...
Of what?
Charlie realized she couldn't quite remember what she'd seen. It all seemed blurry, like waking from a dream and trying to remember it. She clearly remembered the feeling of terror and horror she'd felt, but not the detailed images.
Was it really just a hallucination...?
Eve sighed. "Look... if you're scared about that tape recorder, I won't hurt you. I think your mother should have taught you not to touch other people's things, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do... well, whatever you're imagining. I just want to talk about this face to face. I'm not going to get angry, okay? I'm not going to scream or kill or eat you, if that's what you think"
Charlie swallowed hard. "Promise?" she asked in a voice so low only a bat could hear it.
"Promise" Eve assured her, sounding truly tired. "I won't even touch you with a fingertip. Are you going to get up now?"
Charlie took a deep breath, and then she tried to get up... though her legs were so weak that she slipped three times before she managed to get back on her feet. Eve offered her hand to help her, but then, seeing how she absolutely refused to be touched, she stepped back and waited patiently. As Charlie got to her feet, she nodded toward the hallway and signaled for her to follow. Charlie tried to follow her, but her legs didn't budge an inch; she felt as if they'd turned to stone. It was only with a great effort of will that she managed to force them to move. It was as if her legs had taken on a life of their own and were trying in every way to stop her from following Eve, so much so that (even though she was sure it was fear making her hear it) if she concentrated, she could almost hear them screaming at her not to go and run away.
Eve led her into an adjacent room, where there were no shelves or notes, but rather a very cozy sitting area with numerous armchairs and coffee tables. She sat her down in what was clearly the most comfortable, and then, in a solicitous voice, asked: "Would you like something? I'm not used to having guests, but I can offer you something nice. I have a yew and belladonna fruit salad in the fridge, and some pomegranate cakes in the cupboard. Or would you like some ripe apples? I have a basket full of them"
The words "Don't eat!" Bellum had said to her rang like a bell in Charlie's ears. "No, thanks, I'm not hungry" she said quickly.
Eve, who had already pulled the pomegranate cakes from the cupboard, looked apologetic. "Are you sure? You really look very pale. I think you could use something to eat"
"No, really, I don't want anything" Charlie replied hastily.
Eve shrugged. "Well, I'll leave them here. If you change your mind, help yourself" she said, placing the pomegranate cakes on the coffee table.
Charlie mentally sighed with relief that she hadn't insisted, but as soon as she laid eyes on the pomegranate cakes, she felt strange. For some reason, her mouth immediately watered and her stomach felt empty. Her hand was already moving to pick one up before she regained consciousness and jerked it away. "Thanks, anyways" she said, trying not to look at the pomegranate cakes, even though their scent still tempted her.
Eve sat down in front of her. "Listen, you... heard something earlier that would have been better left unheard" she began. "I'm not going to lecture you about not sticking your nose in other people's business, but I'd like you to at least understand that those are... things that shouldn't get out of here"
Charlie sank slightly into her chair. Perhaps a slightly wiser girl would have simply remained silent and nodded, hoping to be convincing, but instead she said: "That recording... is that really how that girl... Mors... was born?"
"Have you met my daughters?" Eve asked. "I hope they were nice to you. They're usually suspicious of strangers"
"They were good" Charlie replied, then she added: "Even though I don't know what they were saying, I don't understand what language they're speaking"
For no apparent reason, Eve raised an eyebrow. Charlie couldn't understand why. Had she realized she'd lied, but was touched by the fact that she'd lied to keep her from getting angry with her daughters? "Well, I raised them and educated them as best I could" she said. "Even though their birth wasn't exactly a... conventional one, as you might have heard, they're like family to me. Luckily, I have a lot of experience with children"
"Really?" Charlie asked, a little questioningly. "Aren't they a... failed experiment for you?"
"They are a failed experiment" Eve confirmed. "But that doesn't stop me from loving them. Since they were born, I've always tried to make sure they have everything they need. And believe me... they're really hard to handle"
"You've always kept them here?" Charlie asked. "Are they prisoners like Cain and Abel?"
Eve narrowed her eyes. "Believe me, sweetheart, you don't want my daughters to leave here. They've done it before, and it didn't end well. For them, it's all fun and games, but for the world around them, it's not the same" she said. "And anyway, I'm not keeping them sealed here. They can leave if I'm with them. That way I can make sure nothing bad happens"
Charlie wasn't convinced. "Are they dangerous?" she asked, thinking back to those cheerful girls that didn't seem harmful at all.
"More than you can imagine. That's why being a mother to them isn't easy... but I do it anyway" Eve replied. "If you're trying to make me look like a bad mother, give up. I've been terrible at many things, but not this"
"Abel and Cain don't think so" Charlie said.
"Well, children often don't understand when their parents are trying to protect them" Eve said. "Enough about that. Let's talk about the other part of the tape you listened to... the one that definitely scared you the most"
Charlie bit her lip hard. A shiver ran down her spine. "That sound... was terrifying" she admitted.
"Yeah, I can imagine" Eve murmured. "Damn, you've gotten even paler. Are you sure you don't want to eat anything? Seriously, you look like you're about to faint"
Eve wasn't wrong: ever since she'd sat down, Charlie had felt increasingly tired. She felt as if something was sucking the energy from her body and her stomach was becoming increasingly empty. The smell of pomegranate cakes was an ever-increasing temptation. "I'm fine" she said, trying to ignore the urge to eat something. "What... was that voice?"
Eve sighed. "Let's just say that was another failed experiment... a very badly failed one" she answered. "I was hoping I could fix it, but as you can understand, it didn't go well"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask...?"
"It doesn't matter right now" Eve quickly dismissed the subject. "All I ask is that you don't tell anyone about the... sounds you heard, or think you heard. Keep it a secret, and we'll be fine. Are we in agreement?"
Charlie wasn't at all. "Why did that... thing talk to you even after the experiment was over?"
Eve shrugged, but Charlie could clearly see her tenseness. "I'm afraid you're wrong" she said. "After the experiment was over, I was the only one who spoke"
"I clearly heard someone talking to you" Charlie protested. "It was the same voice from your experiment..."
"My experiment was gone, honey. It was just me and Mors in the room at the time. No one else" Eve replied. "I can play the recording back for you, if you don't believe it"
Charlie swallowed. "I... okay"
Eve waved her hand, and the tape recorder appeared before them. She restarted and played the whole thing back, but the final part, where that horrible voice asked Eve how much more she would hurt her children, never came. "See?" Eve said as the tape recorder stopped again.
"But... but I heard it!" Charlie exclaimed. "I... I..."
What had she heard? She clearly remembered hearing that voice, but... for some reason, everything was fragmented. Just like before, it was as if she'd been dreaming. What was happening...?
"Charlie, that voice couldn't have been there after the experiment ended" Eve said, her expression extremely apologetic. "Like I told you, it's from another failed experiment. I didn't mention it in the recording, but I tried to merge it with the new one. Unfortunately, the old experiment didn't survive. That's why I don't want my sweet Mors to know, I don't want her to feel guilty because she lived when someone else didn't"
Charlie was tearing her hair out. "But... but I... I have...!"
Eve tried to touch her forehead, making her jump and recoil rapidly; when had she gotten so close!? "Damn, you're burning. I can feel it without even touching you" she said with considerable apprehension. "Girl, it's not normal for you to be hallucinating so much. I really think you have a really bad fever. Why don't you lie down, cover yourself with a nice warm blanket, and eat something? I'm sure you'll feel better later"
Charlie pulled away, feeling her heart beating faster and faster. The whole situation was already scaring her to death, but every time Eve tried to touch her, she literally felt like she was dying. "Th-Thanks, I'm fine" she stammered, her voice barely audible.
"Charlie, if you looked in a mirror right now, you wouldn't say that" Eve said. "You're so pale, you look like you're about to faint. You really should sleep, or drink, or eat..."
"N-No, I'm not hungry!" Charlie repeated for the umpteenth time, lying through her teeth, as she felt incredibly weak and her stomach was starting to hurt. "A-And you promised not to touch me!"
Eve quickly pulled her hand away. "Sorry, I'm just worried about you" she said. "Wait... am I the one making you uncomfortable, honey?"
Charlie trembled: "N-No, of course not...!"
In a flash, the world around her seemed to crumble; it was as if reality had always been a veil, and someone had just torn it apart. Suddenly, Charlie saw in front of her face something that looked like a hand, but made of a shapeless tangle of tentacles and spider legs, or rather, what looked like tentacles and spider legs, but were actually made of what looked like thousands of roots fused together. That hideous hand reached her face, and brushed against her skin...
"AAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Charlie jumped up in the chair. She nearly fell over. "Hey, what are you doing?" Eve asked.
"Yes, yes! You're scaring me!" Charlie screamed in one breath. She was literally crying with terror. "Stop it, please!"
Eve was silent for a moment, and then quickly backed away. "It's okay" she said, moving away until she reached the wall. "Is it okay if I stay this far away?"
Seeing her walk away, Charlie calmed down a little. How could she calm down so quickly? And yet... all those visions... still seemed like a bad nightmare. She felt like she'd just woken up and realized she'd dreamed it all. But it was so real...
And to make matters worse, the pangs of hunger weren't helping her concentrate. Every time she breathed in the smell of food, it teased her and made her want it more. She felt like her stomach was tearing apart. She wanted one of those pomegranate cakes so fucking badly...
"Look, how about we change the subject?" Eve asked. "Tell me, did you happen to touch anything else while you were here?"
"No!" Charlie answered immediately.
Eve narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked again.
Charlie broke out in a cold sweat. "W-Well... I read something"
Eve immediately lost her menacing expression. "Good girl! See that by telling the truth everything gets resolved?" she said jovially. "I bet you have some questions. What did you read?"
"Uh... a description of the universe" Charlie replied, using the first thing that came to mind. "A lot, actually..."
"Oh, you've seen my simulation notes" Eve said, clapping her hands.
"Simulations?" Charlie repeated.
"Sure, on the computer! What else were you thinking?" Eve laughed. "Don't tell me you thought I created all those universes just to watch entire civilizations grow and die! That would be ridiculous, how could I possibly do that?"
"Well... actually..." Charlie admitted to herself that her hypothesis was a bit flawed. Or so she hoped...
"They were computer simulations, nothing more. I wanted to learn more about the evolution of the cosmos, so I went wild" Eve told her. "It's truly extraordinary, you know? The universe is so incredibly large and strange. Did you know that more than ninety-four percent of all the galaxies that you can see today are already so far away that it would be impossible for you to reach them, even if you were immortal and traveled at the speed of light? And one day, all the galaxies outside the Local Group will be so far away that they can no longer be seen or reached. At that point, the only thing left will be a single supergalaxy, made up of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and the other galaxies of the Local Group, alone in an infinite ocean of darkness... drifting in the void of space, slowly becoming darker and darker as all the stars die out, one after another... until the last star is gone, turning off the last light of the universe, and all life vanishes. There's a strange and poetic beauty in this, don't you think?"
"Um... well, that's certainly interesting" Charlie replied. "Is that what you... simulated in all those universes?"
"Well, yes. I was trying to figure out if one of them could have ended differently. But unfortunately, that's not the case" Eve replied. "Do you know the story of the famous fruit, darling?"
"Yes" Charlie answered truthfully. "The one that allowed evil to enter Earth..."
"Well, it did more than that. It caused a... small change in the structure of the universe. Before, matter and empty space were perfectly balanced, creating a continuous cycle of expansion and contraction that allowed the universe to be eternal. A perfectly engineered machine, a delicate balance" Eve explained. "But after that famous fruit, some of the ancient evil energy remained preserved in the cosmic void, accelerating the expansion. Humans called it dark energy... never was a name more appropriate. And because of this dark energy, the universe is destined to expand until matter is too diluted to hold together, pushing galaxies apart faster than the speed of light. In all my simulated universes, I have taken this detail into account... and unfortunately, the end result is an eternally featureless, cold, and ever-expanding universe"
"Wow... that's sad" Charlie muttered. "But why did you... simulate... civilizations too...?"
"Oh, that was more of a hobby of mine at first, but then... I got interested in them" Eve answered. "And it was time well spent, because by observing them and... sometimes doing something to make things more interesting... I discovered the funniest joke"
"The funniest joke?" Charlie repeated, somewhat uneasily.
"Oh, yes! Here, I'll tell you" Eve said. "There is a star. The last star in an empty universe, where all the other stars have cooled down and all the galaxies have evaporated. And there, on a small planet, the last man in existence waits for the last star to go out. He spends his days alone, always the same: he goes out, grows some plants using the little light his weak and elderly sun generates, gets some water, and then comes home and sits on the armchair, thinking nostalgically of when there were other humans, and dreaming of meeting someone". Eve's gaze narrowed and her smile widened: "And then, one day... he hears a knock on the door. Funny, right?"
Charlie's skin crawled. She didn't know why, but those words had scared her more than a little. "It sounds like a horror story to me" she replied sincerely.
Eve burst out laughing. "Exactly! That's exactly the joke: it's scary!" she said. "You'd expect that if you're the last man in the universe, then you'd surely welcome someone else with joy. A person hearing the end of this story should feel relieved, happy for that man who now has hope. But instead, it's disturbing! Human nature makes it disturbing! Because that man, as alone as he was, was once a god in his own world. There was nothing that could threaten him; he could shape everything as he wanted without answering to anyone. And now, instead, he discovers that there's someone else on the other side of that door! And it's scary! Instead of bringing relief, it brings terror! That's the joke! Ha ha ha!"
Charlie huddled a little tighter. The more Eve spoke, the more uncomfortable she felt. The fear in her heart showed no sign of abating; in fact, it grew stronger than ever.
Eve stopped laughing, and with a rather unnatural smile, she said: "It's the eternal question that scares everyone. Which is better? To be alone in the universe, or not to be at all? Because if there's no one out there, then all that awaits you is the cold cosmic void and barren planets. But if there is someone... then that means you have to share the universe with them... and maybe they are stronger than you... and maybe they want to hurt you... and maybe they're looking for you... or maybe they've already found you, and they're coming to you right now...". Her eyes narrowed: "Tell me, Charlie... what are you more afraid of? Finding out that you've always been alone in a dead universe... or finding out that you've never been alone?"
Charlie cringed under that gaze. "I-I don't know" she answered. "I've never really considered it... I mean, it's not reality..."
"Reality?" Eve repeated with a strange grin. "And who's to say the world you think is real is the truth? Who's to say it's nothing more than the funniest illusion ever? After all, your brain is just interpreting signals from the rest of your body. Who's to say you're actually just a fragment of consciousness that thinks the world is real? You know, if you look at it mathematically... there are much more probabilities that the world around you is fake rather than being real". She laughed: "It would be the greatest prank ever, right?"
Charlie held her breath for a few moments. Her heart was pounding, her lungs were barely functioning anymore, her brain was exploding with fear, and on top of that, her hunger had reached levels that were causing her serious physical pain. She couldn't take it anymore. "You know... I just remembered that... I didn't come into the house alone"
Eve looked surprised. "Oh, really?"
"Yes, I came in with Bellum" Charlie lied. "She was looking for you... she's probably still looking"
"Oh, man! She must be lost again, that girl is so careless!" Eve said, getting up and heading for the door. "Wait here, I'll go find her and then be right back"
And with that, without asking any further questions, she left the room and walked away. Charlie remained sitting still in the armchair, not moving a single muscle. Her ears seemed to have become as acute as a bat's, as she could hear Eve's footsteps even when she was far away. Only after several minutes did she return to silence.
At that point, she didn't wait any longer: she jumped up and ran toward the exit. She just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, to escape those walls and feel the fresh air on her face. Maybe she could make it before Eve noticed...
But as soon as she reached the door of the room, she stopped suddenly: she realized she was suspended in the void. Before her was only darkness, and the rest of the house had disappeared. Charlie let out a noise of despair and confusion, but as soon as she turned around, she realized that the room she was in was also gone. She was alone, surrounded by an infinite dark void. "What... where is everything!?" she screamed, and her voice was lost in the darkness without an echo.
And then she heard a voice behind her: "That was a lie too far, little one"
Charlie whirled around, trying to see something, but there was absolutely nothing in front of her. "Let me out!" she shouted.
"Not so fast. You didn't answer my question" Eve replied, and suddenly an eye opened in front of her: a red, shapeless eye, devoid of a true pupil, only dark swirls inside, dripping what looked like blood. "What's worse for you? Being alone in the void... or not being alone at all!?"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 100): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161414
Among the lions (chapter 13): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173637871
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 154: Eve (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Charlie spun frantically from side to side, trying to see something, but nothing. The darkness around her was so profound she felt like she'd gone blind. Shit, maybe that was it, she thought in terror. "Where are you!?" she screamed in panic.
Nothing. Absolute silence enveloped her. Yet, Charlie was sure she wasn't alone. Out of the corner of her eye, she could glimpse something: shadows even darker than darkness itself, passing at the edge of her vision and running away at breakneck speed. Shadows vaguely reminiscent of spiders and centipedes, but at the same time seemingly made of some hard, woody material, walking backwards, their legs bearing thousands of eyes staring back at her.
Charlie soon began to panic. She kept feeling something watching her, but she couldn't see anything around her. Soon, the absolute emptiness surrounding her turned into pure torture: she would have loved for something to jump out of nowhere and attack her, rather than just sit there and wait. The emptiness seemed so safe, but she was terrified at the thought of what was hiding.
In the end, she began tearing her hair out in desperation. "Aaaaah! Stop!" she screamed. "Let me out!!!"
"What's the problem?" Eve's mocking voice replied. "No one's hurting you, right?"
"I can't take it anymore!" Charlie begged. "Please! Let me out!"
"Does being truly alone scare you that much?" Eve asked in a strange voice.
"Yes!" Charlie replied. Any answer was fine at that point.
"As you wish" Eve said. "Stay in company, then"
The void suddenly lit up with a hellish light, as if the very core of space had caught fire from within. In the next instant, Charlie saw a human figure cross her field of vision: she leaped back, barely having time to see the person again before they vanished again. He was running, or perhaps falling, completely engulfed in flames; his flesh was peeling off in shreds, black and rippling, leaving a thick trail of smoke and living ash in its wake. The man, or what was left of him, wasn't screaming: the flames had burned his voice, but his face was still there, frozen in an expression of pure terror. His skin was wrinkling, his tendons were taut like cords torn by the heat, and his bones jutted from his elbows and shoulder blades, shiny and white like broken porcelain.
Charlie might have believed it was an illusion, a symbol, a metaphor for eternal pain... if it weren't for the look in his eyes. Those eyes, still alive, still aware, stared straight at her. And in that brief, eternal moment, the fire seemed not only to consume the man, but to absorb him into something infinitely worse. And just before he vanished, the man raised his hand and pointed behind Charlie, in the same direction he had come from. It almost seemed like a mocking gesture, as if he already knew she wouldn't like what she saw, but he still wanted her to see it, because if he had to suffer, then she could too.
Charlie turned, shaking, and a scream died in her throat. A few pieces of the man's charred flesh remained on the floor, their embers illuminating something: the void before her seemed to have curved, forming a corridor, incorporeal and floating in a feverish dream, yet in which every detail screamed tangible suffering. And in this impossible corridor, human bodies, or what remained of them, lay scattered in contorted poses, as if violently thrown by invisible hands. One dangled upside down from a torn cable, the skin on his arms peeled off to the bone, like inside-out gloves. Another, naked and chained to the wall, banged his head against the rusted metal, leaving streaks of crimson dripping onto the floor. Blood was everywhere: clots congealed on the glass, splashes on the walls, and screaming handprints scratched into the surfaces.
Charlie couldn't tell if those figures were actually screaming or if it was just the visual echo of their agony imprinted in the images. An eyeless woman was laughing, her mouth full of broken teeth. Two bodies were mating in a corner, but one was skinless, and the other looked long dead. A man was biting his tongue out, and another was sticking his fingers in his eyes, laughing hysterically.
Charlie couldn't hold out more than a few seconds: she let out a scream and fell to her knees, crashing into something hard and almost woody, like a twisted tree, though below her, as in every direction, there was only darkness and emptiness. She closed her eyes, hoping not to see beyond, but it was all in vain: it was as if her eyelids had become transparent, and even with her eyes closed she could see the horror unfolding around her.
In the end, she got up and, staggering and falling repeatedly, ran in the opposite direction: she didn't care where she was going, anything would be better than this. Or at least, that's what she thought, until she heard something crawling towards her.
Charlie felt bound by something, not physically, but as if the void around her were grabbing her and enveloping her. It forced her to lie on the ground, or what should have been the ground, just as if she were a patient on an operating table. A moment later, her arms were stretched out at her sides, held in place by leather straps caked with dried blood, while her chest had been incised with surgical precision: a clean, vertical opening, like a book opened in half.
Charlie turned her head to the side and saw her internal organs lying beside her, exposed to the air, pulsating, alive. Her intestines had been methodically removed and neatly arranged on a steel tray beside the body, as if someone were preparing an analysis or a sacrilegious meal. Her liver was dripping slowly, marking time like a visceral hourglass. The hands of an invisible surgeon, dirty, hurried, perhaps not even human, moved beyond the edge of her vision, cutting, pressing, inserting instruments.
Charlie trembled at the thought that those might be her organs, but forced herself to believe they weren't. She felt no pain and didn't feel like anything was missing. Terrified that the person touching those organs would lunge at her, she pushed upward, trying to tear the restraints... and as a result, she slipped out of her own body.
It was as if her skin had become an exoskeleton and had split open: like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, she emerged with a sound like tearing paper. She whirled around but saw nothing: neither organs nor the surgeon, only the shell of her skin, opened with a cavity in the center of the chest from which she had just emerged. But now it was... bigger.
No... it was she who had shrunk.
Charlie stared at her hands in horror, touching herself repeatedly to come to terms with what had just happened. Her smoother, softer, more childlike skin made her shiver. She hadn't gotten shorter... she had gotten younger. She was back to how she was when she was only five years old. It was as if her skin had only been a layer she'd acquired as an adult, like the layers on trees, and now it was gone. "N-No..." she stammered, her voice now much more shrill and childish. "I don't want this... give me my body back...!"
There was a cracking sound, as if broken branches were moving frantically. Charlie turned and saw that the skin that had just peeled off was swelling again. As if something had just entered it, it moved its hands and fingers unnaturally. Its face moved toward her and contorted unnaturally. Its eyes rolled back, and the skin began to crack along its cheeks. What looked like blood began to drip from its mouth. "Do you want me back, Charlieeeeee...?"
And with that, it moved toward her, running on all fours, as if she were a hideous fusion of a spider and an octopus. Its hands and feet twisted backwards, and its knees and elbows bent in decidedly unnatural positions. Charlie screamed and threw herself aside to avoid it, but it grabbed her by the hair. "Where are you goinggggg? Don't you want me anymoreeeeee?" it said to her. "You want to be aloneeeee? Ha ha! You're happy to be alone! Go! Go alone into the nothingness! Alone in the eternal darkness! Let it catch you! Ha ha ha! No one loves you, and you'll die alone! You'll die aloneeeee!"
"L-Let me go!" Charlie begged, trying to free herself from its grip, and as soon as she tugged, its fingers snapped as if made of paper, getting stuck in her hair.
The thing wearing her body turned its head, revealing eyes that were now empty, bleeding sockets and a smile far too wide. "Where are you running off to? Stay with uuuuuus! We'll get you sooner or later! We'll get everyoooooone eventually! No one runs away from us! Ha ha! First you, then everyone else! We'll get your faaaaamily! We'll get all your frieeeeeends!"
"No!" Charlie screamed, bursting into tears. "Go away!"
"Whyyyyyy? You'll be so aloneeeee!" the creature responded, falling to its knees. Its skin was rapidly decaying, falling to the ground in dust, but it continued to laugh. "There's nowhere to go here! There's nothing! The universe is emptyyyyyy! It's only us! Give up! Fall! Join uuuuuus! It's better than being aloneeeee!"
"Shut up!" Charlie screamed, clapping her hands over her ears. "An illusion... you're just an illusion...!"
"Reality is an illusion, and we are the only reality hereeeeee!" the creature said, now reduced to barely functioning flesh. "There was never anyone with you! It was only you who believed the world was real! The universe is just a fakeeeeee! We are what is real! We are heeeeer! She is one! She is everything! Stay with us! Let us show you pain and suffering you have never imagined, before you join her too! Let her devour youuuuuuu!"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Charlie screamed, slamming her fist into that face that looked so much like her own. The skin and flesh frayed at the contact, turning to fine dust that dispersed into the darkness.
Around her there was the void again, immersed in a muffled silence; a silence that was unreal even within an absolute void, as if space itself were holding its breath. She felt something, with a consistency similar to fog, enveloping her like a shroud. Then she saw it.
It floated in the nothingness, suspended as if time had stopped just for it: a tooth. A single human molar, yellowish, streaked with dried blood at the base, slowly rotating, defying all gravitational logic. And the root of the tooth was... absurdly twisted, and seemed woody, as if it were in fact a tree root, but diseased, misshapen, branching in unnatural positions. There was nothing else, just that tiny yet unnatural presence, like a fragment of reality plucked from a nightmare.
Charlie let out a sob and tried to walk away, but no matter how much she moved her legs, she remained more or less where she was. It was as if space was moving in the opposite direction, anchoring her where she was now. And then, a second tooth emerged from the darkness, then a third, then a fourth. In moments, the void before her was filled with them.
Dozens of teeth, far more than a human or any other animal's set, floated in a silent, macabre carousel, like rain in reverse. Broken incisors, canines far too long and sharp, cracked and blackened molars. One, still wet, even had a flap of gum attached. And beneath them, the deformed roots emerging from them had fused into one, forming a sort of terrifying mouth.
And there, between the teeth, Charlie felt something breathing.
A second later, the mouth opened and revealed its full horror: Charlie saw a darkness even blacker and colder than the one surrounding her. A huge chasm swallowing everything, planets, stars, and even black holes. The jaws moved and tried to bite her, and Charlie screamed into the void, but just as they were about to tear her apart, a laugh even more disturbing than the jaws erupted. "Uh-oh, good. I think we've established that you're much more afraid of not being alone"
The jaws vanished in an instant, melting as if made of wax. However, while Charlie welcomed this with joy, she was even more horrified to see the teeth melt away, exposing what lay beneath, which turned out to be torn, twisted roots. And all those roots had eyes, eyes whose color was decidedly alien, and after staring intently at her, they retreated into the darkness, and almost as if they were a door, Eve reappeared in their place.
The void responded to her presence, bending and bowing like a servant to its mistress. The walls opened, revealing more visions: men torn apart alive, bodies exploding soundlessly, familiar faces distorted by pain. Hands of flesh and metal emerged from the darkness, threatening to grab Charlie by the ankles. Blood began to flow like a river from who knows where, as if the entire darkness were vomiting pain.
Eve smiled, circling her like a shark stalking its prey. "Look at you. Already like this after just one minute?"
Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat. "One... one minute!?"
"Sixty seconds, to the millisecond" Eve confirmed with a wry smile. "I assume it felt longer to you"
Charlie trembled from head to toe. "P-Please... let me go..."
"Ooooh, why? We're just starting to have fun" Eve told her. "Up until now, I've only protected you from what awaits you, you know? You've barely seen a glimpse of what awaits everyone who ends up here"
Charlie curled up on the floor, crying bitterly. "Why are you doing this to me?!"
"Because I can" Eve told her. "And because I so little appreciated the lack of honesty you've shown me. Do you really think you can lie to me? I invented the lies, darling. Every falsehood you tell is as plain to me as if it were written all over your face. If your mother didn't teach you that good girls always tell the truth, your dear auntie will"
Charlie trembled violently. "I-I won't do it anymore... I'll tell you the truth..."
"Oh, I don't need to. Once I've unscrewed your little head and looked inside your brain, and extracted your very soul with red-hot tongs, I'll know everything you know. Every memory, every knowledge, every tiny detail, will be all mine" Eve said, moving closer and holding out her hand. "Don't worry, we have eternity ahead of us, and I doubt a new guest will arrive anytime soon. You and I will spend a lot of time together..."
Charlie closed her eyes, hugging herself tightly. "Please, help...!" she whispered to the void itself.
Eve's fingers closed on her head...
And then there was a burning smell.
"AAAAAAGH!!!"
Charlie opened her eyes again, and to her surprise, Eve had stepped back and was holding her hand. And that hand had literally flayed away, and all the flesh was burning. Charlie noticed, however, that the charred skin wasn't exposing bone, but something harder and strangely woody in shape. "Y-You...!" Eve hissed through gritted teeth.
Charlie was speechless; for a moment, she was so shocked that she even forgot she was afraid. She stood up and took a step towards Eve, but she immediately retracted. The burns all over her skin were smoking as if they'd just been touched by molten metal. "You... what did you do!?" she hissed.
Charlie shook her hand. "I didn't do anything" she answered truthfully.
Eve emitted a growl, and then she disappeared into the darkness again; there was silence, and then something around Charlie seemed to move. It was as if the very pitch-black void surrounding her had taken on a substance, and someone was waving it like a cloak. Charlie felt a kind of breathing, which seemed to come from the nostrils of every creature in an entire universe, behind her. "I knew it..." Eve growled. "You came here on the Lord's orders, didn't you!?"
"He suggested me to meet you" Charlie confirmed.
"I feel His presence on you" Eve hissed. She seemed furious about something, yet she didn't show herself or come any closer. "He... touched you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean" Charlie answered.
"You're protected. He protects you" Eve told her. "You're protected from everything under my control. That's why I can't touch you without burning my skin". Another breath came from the darkness, resonating with the violence of a dead star. "Why does He protect you? Are you a saint, perhaps? One of His prophets? Maybe another of His messengers to lead a people out of a desert?"
Charlie's eyes widened. So... was God protecting her? Was that why Eve couldn't touch her? Well, she'd been in His throne room and met four emanations of His being; surely He'd had occasion to place some protection on her. "I'm not sure what plans He has for me" she replied. "But I don't consider myself a saint, and I'm certainly not a prophet or anything like that. I mean, I'm still a demon... it would be a bit counterintuitive if I were a guide, right?"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I still remember that time He sent a burning bush to that adopted son of a Pharaoh and sent him to free the slaves from Egypt. He's more than once used people who should have been considered... blasphemous for His purposes" Eve replied. "It wouldn't surprise me if He were using you now... but for what? Why did He send you here after all this time?"
Charlie felt a gust of wind ruffle her hair, so strong it made her stagger slightly. It was as if gigantic nostrils had flared before her. "W-Well... I came to..."
"No, don't answer that" Eve told her. "I have no reason to trust your word, not after you've already shown me so little honesty"
"Listen, I'm sorry for lying to you before" Charlie said. "I was scared, and I did something wrong. I should have been honest with you from the start. But in my defense, you weren't exactly reassuring"
"Mmmmm" Eve murmured. Charlie noticed her voice sounding closer. "Are you saying it's my fault?"
"Well, a little bit" Charlie replied. "You've literally locked me in... I don't even know if this is even a place!"
Eve chuckled. "What pathetic excuses" she said, and Charlie thought she saw her smile before her. "So many words to describe your cowardice. Why would God choose such a helpless little girl? At least the one He sent to save France had a backbone"
Charlie narrowed her eyes, feeling quite offended. Eve seemed to be doing everything she could to get on her nerves. She already had a witty retort ready on her tongue...
But then she stopped.
She remained silent, there in the dark void. Even though she couldn't see her, she could sense that Eve was eagerly awaiting her reply. And indeed, after a long wait, she said: "Well, don't you have anything to say? Did I silence you?"
Charlie looked up, though she didn't know at what. "I forgive you"
Eve seemed to jerk back. "What?"
"I forgive you for your rude words" Charlie said. "I won't deny that I was wrong to lie to you, because it's right. And I won't deny that you scared me a little, because it's true. But I don't intend to start a fight with you and break the peace between us. Therefore, I forgive you"
Eve had fallen silent. Almost as if she were one with the void, it seemed to recede further, and even though there was still nothing around Charlie, she could feel less darkness surrounding her. There was a long silence, and then Charlie said: "You were trying to make me break my protection, weren't you?"
"What are you raving about?" Eve hissed.
"The Daughters of God... Truth, Justice, Mercy, Peace... told me to remember them when I met you... because they're the ones protecting me, right?" Charlie told her. "That's why every time I lied to you, or tried to deceive you, you managed to unleash your horrors on me for a few moments. They weren't hallucinations, it was you trying to seize the moment to get me, but my protection was always stronger. You knew from the beginning that you couldn't touch me, and this entire dark void was your last attempt"
"This is just ridiculous" Eve tried again to deny.
But Charlie didn't buy it. "You weren't trying to drive me crazy, nor were you having fun. You were just pretending, while you had a clear plan in your mind" she said. "You terrified me, and then you showed me that I can hurt you, because you want me, in my fear, to try to attack you. That's why you were now trying to piss me off. If I'd started a fight with you, I'd have denied Peace. If I'd denied that I was to blame for your anger, I'd have denied Justice, but at the same time, if you'd said it was all my fault, I'd have denied Truth. And since I had a grudge against you, I'd have denied Mercy"
Eve made a sound like a cross between a growl, a hiss, and the sizzling of an insect. "You wanted to make me fall into temptation, so you could catch me" Charlie continued. "As long as I remember and remain faithful to the Four Daughters, I am protected by God, and you cannot touch me. But if you manage to mislead me and I end up denying them, I myself will break this protection. That's why you are behaving this way, that's why you try to terrorize me, infuriate me, or disgust me. Because as long as I am protected by Him, you can't do anything to me... but you don't know if I can do something to you"
There was a deep noise, as if something very large were moving in a circle around her. But instead of footsteps or stomps, Charlie heard what sounded like the creaking of something wooden, as if branches were continually planting themselves on the ground and then immediately snapping. "You're smart, for such a child"
"I'm not a child" Charlie replied. "I'm two hundred years old"
"Which to me is nothing but the blink of an eye!" Eve growled. "Even two thousand years, from my perspective, is but a mere fraction of time... and time to me is nothing but a pathetic word"
"Maybe" Charlie said, narrowing her eyes. "But this blink of an eye I've lived has been enough for me to accumulate enough experience to understand that you're afraid"
"You insolent brat!" Eve roared. "You think just because you have His protection, you can bully me? I can still unleash horrors on you, horrors so terrifying that you'll turn insane just by hearing me describe them! I can't touch you, but I can show you things that will make you beg for the sweet release of death!"
"And why would you bother? You've already won!" Charlie replied. "I'm a prisoner in this dark void, right? Why bother with me? If I'm just an insolent brat to you, why don't you just leave me here?"
"It wouldn't be as funny" Eve replied.
But Charlie didn't buy it. "That's not true. You're scared. That's why you act like this, that's why you won't leave me alone, that's why you want to break me at all costs. Why? What are you scared of?"
A devastating roar erupted through the darkness, so powerful that Charlie not only lost her balance and rolled to the ground, but had to brace herself with her hands and feet to keep from being swept away. Her hair nearly ripped from her scalp, and her clothes ripped slightly. The sound was so disturbing that her ears bled, but despite this, she remained firm. "Do not speak of fear in front of me, child!" Eve roared, her voice amplified a billion times. "I was there when it came into the world! I am the one who created it! Do not think you know true fear better than I do!"
Charlie felt like a rabbit facing a ferocious wolf ready to tear her apart; instinctively, she curled up and hugged her knees tightly. But despite this, she didn't waver: "You may have created fear, but that doesn't make you immune to it! I know you've felt it, I've seen you feel it! Why? What scares you about me? I can't do anything to you!"
"I'm not afraid you'll do anything to me!" Eve growled back.
Charlie was silent for a moment. "Not... to you"
"What are you babbling about now?" Eve hissed.
"You're not afraid for yourself, are you? You know I can't do anything to you anyway" Charlie said. "It's someone else... it's someone else you're afraid for! Who are you protecting? Those girls out there?"
Eve was silent for a long moment. Then she said: "My daughters don't need my protection. They're much more powerful than they seem"
"But you're still afraid someone will hurt them" Charlie said.
"Everyone would hurt them if they could" Eve replied in a strange, sad voice.
Charlie shook her head. "I won't. I promise"
"Don't make promises you can't keep" Eve warned her. "As soon as you learn what they truly are, you'll want to erase them from this universe. You have no idea what they really are"
"I have no idea what their powers are, or their nature" Charlie confirmed. "But I just saw four girls out there who wanted to play and have fun, and who were happy to have a new friend"
Eve was silent again. She seemed surprised. "Did you see this?" she asked.
"Why, should I have seen something else?" Charlie replied.
"Almost everyone who came here or met them always saw them as a means to an end, or something to fear" Eve explained. "Why did you only see them for what they were?"
Charlie shrugged. "I tend to see the best in people" she answered. "When I saw them, I just saw girls who wanted me to play with them, and I did"
"Really?" Eve asked. "You didn't think about using them to get to me?"
"I tried asking Bellum, but since I thought she didn't understand my language, I ended up letting her. And when they asked me to play, they were so happy that I wanted to oblige" Charlie replied.
There was silence again. And then, the darkness and emptiness shifted, and a figure seemed to take shape from them. Eve reappeared before her, and after reaching her, she knelt slightly to bring herself into her new line of sight. Her expression had become very inquisitive, and a small light was present in her eyes. "You really are strange" she said. "You remind me a lot of my son Abel... but there's something... deeper in you"
"Deeper?" Charlie repeated.
"A deeper light. Something... more" Eve told her, moving her hand as if to caress her, though she kept her distance. "You have a different heart. Not strong. Not fearless. You're... brighter. I've met few people like you in my long life"
"Is that... a compliment?" Charlie asked, quite confused.
Eve pulled away with a disdainful sound: "But you're stupid. Ignorant just like the child you are"
But Charlie wasn't offended. "I admit I'm not very brilliant" she said with a chuckle. "Ask my friends, they'll all confirm you. I'm often emotional, I jump to conclusions, I rush things, I treat others childishly. Intelligence isn't one of my strong points"
Eve tilted her head to the side. "Then why would God choose you to come here and talk to me for the first time in thousands of years?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "Your only true quality seems to be kindness"
"I don't know" Charlie said sincerely. "Maybe... precisely because I'm so kind. After all, it was with kindness that I convinced Abel to open the door to me. And it was because of my kindness that Bellum grew fond enough to talk to me"
Eve's eyes widened. "Did she talk to you?" she said, sounding more shocked than angry.
"She tried to advise me not to meet you. I assume she was afraid you'd do... well, all that terrifying stuff you wanted to do to me" Charlie confessed. "She was afraid for me. She told me I was good and didn't deserve this fate"
Eve looked extremely confused. "Bellum... has never opened up to anyone so quickly" she murmured.
Charlie smiled. "Well, there's always a first time, right?"
Eve continued to stare at her in disbelief. She seemed to be encountering something completely unexpected. Her eyes were so searching that Charlie felt as if they were peering into her very soul.
They remained like that for a while, and then Charlie said: "Listen... what do you say... if we start over? I promise I won't lie to you again. This time, let's be honest with each other"
Eve took a deep breath. She stepped back, and the darkness around them bent as if solid. "Don't make me regret this" she warned her. "You won't like how it will end otherwise"
And having said that, the void disappeared around them, shattering as if made of glass. Charlie found herself in the same room with the armchairs where they had been before, and to her extreme happiness, as soon as she looked at herself, she realized she was no longer a child. "Yes! Finally!" she exclaimed, hugging herself. "Oh, welcome back, sweet two-hundred-year-old body! I've missed you so much! I swear that I'll never complain about you again! Oh, thank you!"
Eve rolled her eyes, then motioned for her to sit down again. "You wanted to start over, so let's start over" she said, sitting down in one of the armchairs. "Sit down, and talk. Honestly this time. I'll know if you'll lie"
Charlie nodded and sat down too. Maybe it was because she was a little less afraid now, but the armchair felt more comfortable. "Thanks"
"You'll thank me later" Eve said. "Now tell me why you're here. Why did He send you?"
Charlie took a deep breath. "I told you, He didn't send me. He told me to find you. I need your help" she said. "Everyone needs your help. Especially Adam"
Eve's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me?"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 101): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/175502701
Among the lions (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173638441
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 155: Eve (part 3)
Notes:
Let's clarify one thing: if you keep asking me EVERY FUCKING CHAPTER when the story will end, and I don't answer every time, it obviously means there's no point in you continuing to ask, because I too don't know, since yes, I have a few chapters already prepared, but I don't have the ENTIRE story ready. The plan is for this story to end between chapters 180 and 200, but it will vary depending on how it progresses and how much material I manage to fit in. All I can tell you is that there are about two arcs left. Once I know for sure how many chapters the story has, then I'll add it to the story edits; until then, stop clogging up my comments section with requests like this, because I won't answer anyway. The next person who asks will be the first user to be blocked, which I've literally NEVER done, but now you've really pissed me off. If I could, I'd finish the story tomorrow, too, but since I can't cut out so much material because otherwise nothing would be understood, I have to continue as I am. I warned you.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Maybe it was the fact that Eve couldn't touch her, but Charlie felt a little more confident. She wasn't stupid; she knew full well that Eve could still imprison her for eternity or drive her mad; she'd proven herself capable, but even so, Charlie felt a little safer. And besides, she doubted Eve actually wanted to. Unless she said or did something to infuriate the mother of humanity again, she figured they could just have a normal conversation.
Too bad they didn't seem to be getting off to a good start. "What does my ex-husband have to do with this?" Eve blurted out, her voice a little irritated.
"I assume you're not too happy to talk about this," Charlie murmured. "But, you see, the thing is..."
"Forget it" Eve cut her off sharply.
Charlie closed her mouth, confused. "Um... what?"
"Whatever you're trying to ask me, forget it" Eve said. "If my ex-husband is involved, I don't want to be a part of it. Find someone else to ask for help"
"Wait!" Charlie exclaimed. "Please, listen to me! I know it must not be pleasant for you, but this is a matter of life and death for everyone! Even Adam could be..."
"If he has a problem, he can get help from the big man" Eve said in a rather annoyed voice. "I don't care what angels..."
"Adam is not an angel anymore!" Charlie blurted out.
Eve froze. "Wait, what did you say?"
"Adam's not an angel anymore" Charlie repeated. "He's a demon now. He's fallen into Hell, and he's destroying it... and in doing so, he's destroying himself. That's why we need you"
But Eve hardly seemed to be listening anymore. Her face had gone pale, and she was rubbing her temples strangely. "No... no, no, this isn't right... it shouldn't be... it wasn't supposed to be this way..."
"Uh... what?" Charlie muttered, not understanding.
Eve didn't listen at all: she stood up abruptly and began pacing around the room. She was putting her hands in her hair as if she were solving a very complicated math problem, and her voice was increasingly close to a whisper. "That's not possible... but she's not lying... how... why didn't I see it? There shouldn't be this variation... what is...?"
"Eve...?" Charlie muttered.
"HOW!?" Eve screamed, whirling toward him, so quickly it made her jump. "How did this happen!? Explain!"
Charlie swallowed. Okay, something was definitely wrong, and she doubted it was just worry about her ex-husband. "Okay, I'll tell you everything" she said. "Try to keep up with me, it's a bit complicated"
Charlie recounted everything that had happened: her plan for redemption, her first meeting with Adam, their moral clash in Heaven, the battle at the hotel, Adam returning as a demon, the theft of the trident, the journey to Earth, the humans invading Hell, Adam absorbing all the souls, and finally the encounter with God. Charlie would have preferred to explain everything as quickly as possible, but Eve kept stopping her and asking for details: first general, then increasingly detailed. And as she asked, she had conjured a pen into her hand and started writing down what she said directly on the table, creating a strange pattern.
Charlie had to admit she was a little uneasy about this behavior. Eve had continued to appear extremely tense, but she didn't seem worried about the fate of the demons or Adam. It was like the tension of a scientist who had just discovered she had made a serious error in her calculations, and that this error could have set off an extremely dangerous chain reaction.
When they finished, Eve remained silent, examining everything she'd jotted down, moving her pen every now and then to make a new connection or write something down. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that even after Charlie tried to call her, she gave no sign of having heard. Soon she was chewing on her pen, quite nervously. "I don't understand... what's the difference? All this behavior is perfectly logical... I should have seen it... so why didn't I see it? Unless..."
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked her, a little impatiently.
Eve stood up abruptly. "Sorry, I have to do something" she said hastily, and immediately her gaze turned menacing: "Don't you dare move from this room or follow me, or this time you won't enjoy a minute of horrors, you'll have an hour!"
Charlie immediately stiffened, feeling terror grip her heart like a vice. Even though all the horrible things Eve had shown her were like vague dreams in her memory, she knew for certain that she absolutely didn't want to repeat the experience. Even if Eve couldn't physically harm her, that didn't mean she couldn't give her a heart attack from fear... or even take away her sanity. So she nodded immediately and this time remained obediently seated in her chair, all the while Eve ran out and walked away as if she had something very important to do.
Charlie waited impatiently, but didn't even think about getting up and checking. A couple of times, she heard a shattering sound, as if someone had picked up a glass mirror and smashed it violently onto the floor. Eve returned ten minutes later, and Charlie noticed her hair was slightly disheveled, her cheeks flushed, and her expression grim, as if she'd just had a heated argument with someone. "Everything... okay?" she asked hesitantly.
"Of course" Eve replied. "Why wouldn't everything be okay?"
"You look pretty upset" Charlie told her.
"That was unexpected news" Eve simply said. "But still, I'm missing the part where all this is my problem"
Charlie bit her lip: "Didn't you hear me until now? Out there Hell.."
"... is being invaded and destroyed by humans, incited by my ex-husband. So what?" Eve anticipated her. "Why should that matter to me? Humanity has been waging wars and genocides from... well, a very long time. From a purely logical standpoint, what my ex-husband is doing is not only understandable, but also beneficial in the long run"
"We're talking about people's lives here, not logic" Charlie pointed out.
Eve shrugged. "The deaths of billions in Hell could ensure a safe life for ten times that number of humans in future generations. Like I said, the numbers are on his side"
"Then why doesn't God agree?" Charlie replied. "He certainly had no qualms about cleaning up with the Great Flood, so why is He so opposed to this plan? Sometimes even the most perfect logic blinds us to the gravity of the situation"
Eve barely raised an eyebrow. "Objection in your favor" she admitted. "But tell me, what do you expect me to do?"
"Um... I don't actually know" Charlie confessed.
Eve chuckled slightly. "Seriously? You came all the way down here and risked my wrath without even knowing what you needed me for"
"They just told me you're the key to... I don't know, something that will fix this situation" Charlie replied. "So you must be useful for something. Couldn't you... I don't know... try to talk to him...?"
"Sure, that sounds like a brilliant idea. Let's have a man who clearly already has serious mental problems and is barely holding onto his sanity meet the ex-wife who ruined his life and even cheated on him" Eve said sarcastically. "I just don't see what could go wrong"
Charlie lowered her head in disappointment. But then she came right back: "Well, should you still try?"
Eve shook her head. "That's a terrible idea, and you know it"
"It doesn't matter! It's your responsibility!" Charlie exclaimed. "Adam, everyone out there, everything, is your responsibility! You said it yourself, you're the one who messed up! It's your duty to try and do something! Or have you gotten my father's illness, and you, too, prefer to rest on the few laurels you have and not care about the rest of the world?"
She immediately regretted speaking: Eve's eyes narrowed, and as she looked into them, Charlie lost all her boldness. It was as if every trace of courage had evaporated from her instantly, leaving only fear in her heart. Eve was just looking at her, but Charlie still had to put her hands on her knees to stop her legs from shaking wildly.
Eve stared at her intently for a long moment. And then, in an extremely cold voice, she hissed: "If you think I've been running away from my responsibilities all these years, you're more wrong than you've ever been in your life. But I have no reason to explain myself to you, much less tell you why I'm not interested in intervening. Now choose your next words very carefully"
Charlie swallowed. A voice in her head advised her to keep her mouth shut, but she replied anyway: "Because you might not like them?"
"Because you might talk about things you don't understand in the slightest. I've told you, you're as stupid and ignorant as the child you are" Eve said threateningly. "And yes... also because I might not like them, and I'm not kind to things I don't like"
Charlie took a deep breath to give herself courage. "You can't touch me" she reminded her. "You can't scare me"
In response, Eve stood up and approached her. She didn't even touch her hair, but brought her face mere millimeters from hers. "Liar. You can't lie to me. I know you're scared to death" she reminded her. "And even if you were stupid enough to believe what you said... I don't need to touch you to make you beg me to kill you. If you think Hell is just physical pain, you couldn't be further from the truth"
Charlie gritted her teeth, feeling the strong urge to curl up. Every hint of boldness had completely vanished. "I-It's okay. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you" she said. "I just... I just want to understand. If I'm truly as ignorant as a child, why don't you teach me?"
Eve was silent for a moment. For a moment, she seemed undecided, and looked at her as if she were a strange phenomenon. And although those rather menacing eyes captured much of his attention, Charlie, being so close to her, realized something she'd previously missed: not a single breath was coming from her. She wasn't breathing.
And then, Eve pulled away with a grunt. "I have no reason to explain my reasons to you" she repeated again, moving away from her.
Charlie lowered her head dejectedly. She knew she wouldn't get very far at this rate; it was clear Eve wasn't willing to listen. So she changed her strategy: "Why don't you take off that glove?"
Eve stiffened for a moment, then she quickly calmed down. "What does that matter to you?"
"I noticed you never take off that glove" Charlie replied. "Why?"
"It's a work tool" Eve said.
"Only on the right hand?" Charlie rightly asked.
"Gloves limit the dexterity of my fingers. I need them a lot, so I keep one hand free while I keep the glove on in the other and touch the dirtiest things" Eve answered.
"Well, you're not working right now" Charlie said. "Can you take it off?"
Eve let out a soft growl. "Why?"
"I'm just curious" Charlie answered.
"That's a lie" Eve hissed.
"Just as it's a lie that that's just a work tool, right?" Charlie replied.
Eve remained silent. And then, with a grunt, she removed her latex glove. The hand underneath revealed itself to be the same as her left, except for the paler color that showed it almost never saw the light, and something around her right ring finger: a diamond-like ring, composed of two concentric rings that fit perfectly together.
Charlie smiled slightly. "You still have it" she said.
"It's just an old piece of jewelry" Eve replied.
"For someone who can't stand being lied to, you truly lie a lot" Charlie told her.
Eve rolled her eyes, annoyed. "What can I say? Besides lies and fear, I also created hypocrisy"
"You shouldn't say that so casually, you know?" Charlie pointed out.
"When you're as old as I am, you don't care about such trifles" Eve replied. "Well? So? You know I kept the ring, so what? What difference does it make?"
"Well, it changes because I know you care" Charlie told her. "I don't know your reasons, or your motivations, or your intentions... but I know you care"
"A jewel from the past can be kept for reasons other than affection" Eve replied.
"Like what?" Charlie asked.
Eve didn't answer. Instead, she changed the subject: "If you want to appeal to my sense of community, the answer is still no. I don't know what God expects of me, and I don't care. If you have a problem, solve it yourselves; I have enough to do. And besides, and I'm completely honest about this, even if I cared in the slightest, I don't see what I could do. I can permanently stop my ex-husband, but I doubt that's what you want, so don't count on me"
Charlie bit her lip for a long moment. Then she murmured: "Why do I feel like you're just stalling for time?"
Eve raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying you seem a little too prejudiced about everything" Charlie replied. "When I told you about Adam, you clearly panicked about something, and then immediately tried to convince me you didn't want to do anything, when obviously that's not true. It seems to me like you're just trying to convince me you're a lost cause so I can go away, so you can be alone again and think carefully about what you just discovered"
"And why would I do that?" Eve challenged her. "You talk a lot, but until you have a real motive, it's just speculation with no objective value"
"I don't know. I don't understand you" Charlie admitted. "Everything you do seems to contradict everything you've done before. You're really weird"
"And you're really a bitch" Eve replied. "And stubborn and annoying too. I said no, and like I said, there's no reason I should have to explain that no to you. So please disappear now"
But of course, Charlie wasn't about to give in so easily. "Forget it. I'm not moving from here"
"Girl, don't make me lose my temper" Eve warned her.
"Well, lose it! I'm not leaving here!" Charlie replied. "I didn't come all the way down here and come back empty-handed! You can't just silence me because what I say bothers you!"
"I can" Eve told her, narrowing her eyes.
"So what are you waiting for? Go ahead!" Charlie challenged her. "Lock me back into the darkness and unleash every horror you can think of on me! You might make me lose my mind, but you'll only prove me right!"
Eve closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to contain herself. "The only reason you still have your sanity is because I'm treating you with kid gloves" she told her. "You better not..."
"I don't care!" Charlie screamed, leaping to her feet. "I already know, okay!? I get it, you can scare me! But I don't care! Because the world out there is going to absolute shit! Everyone is in danger, my people, my family, my friends! I don't know what to do anymore, okay? I'm desperate! You are literally the only piece on the board I have left, and since God, yes, the one with a capital G, told me you are the key, then I'm not leaving here until I get something out of you! If you want to make me experience Hell, go ahead, because to me it would be no different than leaving here with yet another flop!"
She expected another unemotional retort or a complete lack of interest, but instead Eve remained silent for a moment. For a fraction of a second, a faint light passed through her eyes. Her lips opened and closed a couple of times, and then she closed her eyes. Suddenly, she looked exhausted. "Just go away" she told her.
Charlie thought something was very strange. She was sure that for a moment Eve had been touched by what she'd said, but it was as if just feeling that emotion had required physical effort. "I told you no"
"Go away" Eve repeated.
"No! And if you had any humanity left in you, you'd know you can't convince me to leave!" Charlie replied. "Why are you acting like this!? The Eve I saw in Adam's memories would never have remained indifferent to a person begging for help! You cried your eyes out when your husband killed a T. rex in self-defense!"
Eve gritted her teeth and rested her forehead on her hand. Something seemed to be causing her great pain. "Shut up" she hissed.
"What happened to you to make you so insensitive!?" Charlie pressed her again. "You won't tell me what's going on in your head, you won't talk, how can I understand you!? You act like I'm the only one who knows everything, but you don't explain anything! I'm asking for a little human understanding, is that too much!?"
"Shut up..." Eve repeated. It looked like something was really hurting her.
For a moment, Charlie hesitated. Something wasn't right, she instinctively sensed it. But then, aided by all the strong emotions she'd felt up to that moment, she couldn't resist: "No! You said no to me, and so I now say no to you too! I want to know what made the sweet mother of humanity such a...!"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Eve roared.
Reality seemed to shatter before Charlie: it was as if the world before her eyes had always been a veil, and suddenly it was violently torn apart. What she saw was something so devastating that her very senses went into overdrive, and she could almost feel the synapses in her brain charring. It was like seeing the dark void again and all the horrors it had contained, but in an infinitely worse form: a sort of fusion of everything frightening in its purest form, as if all the monstrosities Charlie had experienced before were mere extensions of it. She managed to remain conscious for barely a few milliseconds, and that was all it took for her to see a world completely distorted, with every geometric and mathematical law completely shattered, in which acute angles behaved like obtuse ones and circles behaved like squares; predictability, causality, and every physical law or theory ceased to make any sense. All that filled Charlie's vision, or rather, all she could remember, was a nothingness that had form, a sort of infinite tangle of eyes, teeth, and tentacles, composed of dark extensions that vaguely resembled the roots of a tree, and from within which emerged the heart-rending screams of billions of souls. A sort of deformed cocoon that seemed to contain every instance of evil that ever existed.
It all lasted only an instant. And then, Charlie barely heard a pop, and felt a slight pain as her brain exploded right inside her skull. After that, she collapsed to the ground and didn't move again.
She regained consciousness much later, when her body had finished regenerating; she didn't know how much time passed, but for the first time since she was born, even the silent, dreamless sleep she should have felt while regenerating was restless. When she finally opened her eyes and saw that the horror wasn't before her, she felt as if she had been born a second time. And then, uncontrollably, the scream she hadn't been able to utter until then burst from her lips, resounding louder than ever. A scream so loud that a person tortured to death would have seemed silent by comparison.
Eve was beside her, looking extremely anxious. She was looking at her as if she feared she was truly going to die at any moment. "Fuck..." she whispered. "You shouldn't have seen that, I... I'm sorry... are you okay...?"
Charlie had literally gone white. Even her golden hair had faded so much it looked like straw. "No" she whispered in a faint voice.
Eve bit her lip. "Yeah, silly question" she said, clutching her hair. "I... it wasn't supposed to happen like this... I... I didn't mean to... show you... I told you to shut up..."
Charlie's body moved almost on its own: her lips tightened, and her hands clamped over her mouth, clamping it shut. Charlie did literally everything to prevent even a sound from coming out of her. The terror in her heart had forced her mouth shut so tightly she probably wouldn't be able to open it again for a few years. Not that she wanted that; she had half the intention of sewing her lips shut so she could stay silent forever.
"No, I didn't mean that! I... you don't have to... well... don't..." Eve stammered slightly. And then, as she showed that sorry face, a small tear emerged from her right eye. A tear that wasn't compassion, but pure physical pain, as if just feeling sorry for Charlie was tearing her apart. "I'm sorry"
Charlie trembled from head to toe. Even though she kept her hands over her lips, a whisper still found the strength to escape: "I want my mother"
Eve nodded slightly. "I know" she said, and raised her hand toward her: "Calm down... now I'll fix everything..."
The smell of burning flesh was felt again as Eve touched Charlie's forehead, but this time much less intensely: perhaps it was because she hadn't planned to hurt her this time, but the burns on her skin were much slower to form. Charlie suddenly felt much calmer, and her heart stopped pounding and her breathing returned to normal. And even though the memory of what she'd seen was still terrifying, it was like trying to remember something distant and vague. "W-What...?"
"I altered your psyche a little. You won't be traumatized by what you saw. I... removed the worst parts, and made the rest like a bad nightmare" Eve said, removing her hand. "I also slowed your heart and lungs and decreased the release of hormones in..."
Charlie crawled away from her a few steps. Even though she was much calmer than before, her face was still frightened. "What really are you?" she stammered in a thread of voice.
Eve gritted her teeth: "It's complicated. Please..."
"Stay away from me!" Charlie shouted, backing away again. "Don't bullshit me! I want to know what you are!"
"Stay still, please!" Eve exclaimed. It was as if she were trying to act worried, but the more she did, the more something hurt her. "Come here...!"
"No!" Charlie screamed, trying to get up and falling again, then crawling away: "Stay away from me...!"
Eve seemed to lose all trace of calm: "Oh, for fuck's sake, I told you to stay still!" she roared again.
Charlie suddenly found herself surrounded by emptiness, just as before. "No!" she screamed. "Not again...!"
"Now be quiet for five minutes!" Eve's voice growled.
Charlie was already desperate, but when she looked up, she fell silent. To her surprise, she could see Eve towering over her. It was when she saw her bend down and pick something up from the ground, and then feel herself being lifted, that she realized the void around her was actually a sphere no bigger than a football, but one in which the space inside was so distorted it seemed enormous. "Let me out!" she begged.
"No! Now learn a lesson: if someone tells you to shut up, to stay still, or whatever, you DO it! I can't concentrate if you continue to bother me! I'm risking of losing my... argh!" Eve growled, and it seemed as if something was stinging her head. "Ah, why do I have to explain myself to you? Now you're just going to stay there until I decide what to do with you!"
And with that, she placed the sphere on the coffee table, leaving it there like a decorative ornament, and turned to leave. "NO!" Charlie screamed. "Please! Don't leave me here! I don't want to be in the dark! I'm scared!"
Yesterday, she might have even been able to tolerate the utter emptiness around her; but now, she couldn't. The darkness reminded her of the... thing she'd just seen. The mere thought of it leaping out of the darkness and grabbing her terrified her.
Eve stopped and turned slightly toward her. Again, a compassionate light flashed in her eyes, and immediately she gritted her teeth as if it had hurt. And then she pointed her finger towards the small ball: "Sin of Creation: be the light"
Suddenly, Charlie realized that something was forming in front of her; for a moment she feared it was something horrendous, but then there was a flash and the light illuminated her. To her immense surprise, she discovered that a sun had just formed in front of her, and not only that: gas and debris were condensing around it, forming ever-larger spheres. Charlie was suddenly no longer suspended in the void, but standing on one of those spheres, which in moments grew as large as a planet, forming mountains, lakes, oceans, and even an atmosphere that made the sky as blue as Earth's. Finally, she found herself atop a sort of rocky cliff, surrounded by an ocean and vast plains of stones, illuminated by the warm light of the sun.
Charlie was shocked, to say the least. Had an entire solar system just been created from scratch around her? She looked up again, meeting Eve's gaze. "Now you're not in the dark" she said. "If you want to try to get out, go ahead. It's a small universe, the edge is only a hundred million light-years away from you. You are right in the center, so the choice of direction is yours"
And with that she turned again, and this time walked away without deigning her another glance.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 102): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/175502741
Among the lions (chapter 14): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173638441
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 156: Kiss
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Pain.
People used to say that the worst pain was the one you felt during the stab, and that it subsided afterward. Bullshit. The wound burned much more after the knife was gone. After all, the knife only stayed in the flesh for about ten seconds, if you were optimistic. The wound, on the other hand... stayed there for days, weeks, months.
Taken individually for ten seconds, the knife seemed to hurt more, but taken as a whole, the wound was the most painful.
And yet, Adam didn't feel the pain of a wound, even though he'd just been stabbed in the heart. No, what he felt was something deeper. A phantom wound, in his very soul. A memory imprinted in his flesh, which caused pain even if the wound was no longer there. He opened his eyes again. He had already realized he was in Hell from the burning smell (now, after thousands of years, he knew it by heart), but he was still annoyed to see the red sky of that cursed world. "Fuck me..." he hissed, trying to get up. "Lute? Lute, where are you...?"
Oh, right.
She was gone.
Well, that had been the right thing to do. There was no point in continuing a losing battle. It was much better to go back, regroup, and calmly think about the next move. Lute had done the right thing.
Anyway, it wasn't the time to worry about her; he had himself to worry about now. He didn't know why Lucifer or his filthy offspring had let him live, but it didn't matter. Speaking of which, now that he thought about it, how had he survived? That psychotic one-eyed lunatic had stabbed him...
But when he moved and his hands entered her field of vision, he froze.
They weren't his hands anymore. They were darker, more wrinkled. The nails had grown into claws. Even the joints were different, she could feel them: tighter, harder.
No...
Shit!
"Are you kidding me!?" he blurted, standing up, looking at his new body.
There was no doubt about it. Those bat-like wings, those horns, that tail. His entire body had changed. No longer an angel.
A... sinner.
"No... no, impossible!" Adam exclaimed, putting his hands over his face. "Angels don't become sinners! And I certainly don't! I'm Adam, damn it! The first fucking man! If anyone doesn't deserve to be a sinner, it's me! Why... why...!?"
God... had abandoned him...?
How...?
Why was he punishing him like that...?
"Is it because I failed...!?" he barely whispered. "That battle... was it important? Maybe it was necessary for His plans? And I lost, and this is my punishment?"
Panicked, he moved his hand and emitted one of his beams of light. It was still there, just a little more... dull than normal. "Okay... at least I still have my powers" Adam said to himself to give himself courage. "But now... what should I do? Should I go back into battle? But I don't even have a single soldier... wait, my girls!? Are they... like this too...!?"
He tried to contain his panic. He couldn't lose his mind. He was in a crazy situation... but he had to stay clear. If he went crazy, it would be the end for everyone. "Okay... if that's the case, they must be here somewhere..." he muttered. "I can find them..."
"Hey, are you new?" a voice behind him said.
Adam turned and saw a crocodile-like sinner approaching him. "Get the fuck out, this isn't the time" he simply said.
"Oh, don't be like that" the demon said, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him toward him. "Let's have some fun together..."
Adam grabbed him by the neck and looked him straight in the eyes: "Shut up, you dirty, disgusting creature!" he roared.
He was about to bash his skull in, but suddenly something happened that shocked him: the sinner's sins appeared before his eyes like the pages of a book. Adam saw them reflected in the sinner's eyes, and the sinner himself seemed to see them from the victim's perspective. It only lasted a moment, and then the eye contact was gone, and the demon fell to the ground, crying. "No... no, no, no! Stop!" he screamed through sobs.
Adam was speechless. He had felt something... something he hadn't felt since Eden was destroyed. "This power..." he muttered. "Let me try again!"
"No, no! Wait...!" the demon begged him, but he pinned it to the wall and looked at it again. He had no reason to pity such a being.
He tried several times, and finally was convinced. He had truly regained his ancestral powers. But how had this been possible? "Lilith..." he muttered. "Could this have been our agreement? It would make sense..."
That... could be a good thing.
"Come with me" he said, grabbing the demon, who was barely reacting now, and for good measure ripping off his jaw. "You've seen me now, so I can't let you go"
And with that, he wrapped them both in a cloak and ran off through the streets of Pentagram City. While there were certainly many sinners similar to him, and anyone who saw him would only assume a vague resemblance, he didn't want to risk it. Using his demon hostage as a guide, he found someone with an angelic weapon, wrested it from him, and then killed all witnesses, including that demon himself. Having done so, he disappeared into the first alley he found, flew to a window, and entered an apartment. After gaving take care of the owner, he began to think things over.
Well, now he had an angelic weapon, his divine powers, and above all, the ancestral powers that granted him control over the sinners' souls. That was something. But even so, he was still isolated in enemy territory.
Could he go to the celestial embassy? It was an idea. But how could he get in? The sinners couldn't do that. A real dilemma.
And then... what if his girls had really been down there all that time? Reduced to demons like him? If so, he had to find them and...
And then what?
What was he supposed to do?
He didn't even know why he'd ended up like this...!
His gaze fell on the mirror in the corner of the apartment. He didn't know what he'd done... but he could find out.
It was risky. He knew it well. But he had to know why God had abandoned him.
And so he did the madness.
He went before the mirror and stared intently at his reflection, and then activated his powers. His very soul opened before his eyes, reminding him of everything he'd done over those thousands of years. He relived the wars, the hardships, what he'd done that fateful day...
Nothing he wasn't aware of, in short...
But then he saw Charlie again.
Why? That damn girl had started a war for a fantasy. She was undoubtedly as stupid and arrogant as her father. Adam had her in mind from the first moment she appeared before him, her and that sense of superiority...
But then, he saw her.
He saw a Charlie he'd never seen before... or perhaps one he'd refused to see. He saw her again in every encounter, and felt her pain. The pain of someone who cared deeply for her people, yet watched them continually being massacred.
A pain Adam knew far too well...
No...
No!
"No, I... I thought she was making fun of us all..." Adam stammered as all the pain in Charlie's heart washed over him. "I didn't think she was serious... I don't..."
Vaggie also appeared before him. Adam relived the moment he'd exiled her. He could feel her pain as her wings and eyes were torn out. All for a child...
Because she'd felt pity...
And he was punishing her out of pure emotion...
"But I... I thought she... was on their side..." Adam muttered. "I didn't think she... that she thought... shit..."
He relived the last battle against the Hazbin Hotel. A battle he'd wanted himself. He'd led his girls into a fight he thought would be easy, and he'd failed to protect them. He could see them all die...
He could see them reborn as demons...
He felt their desperation at finding themselves in that form...
Because he hadn't protected them.
Finally, the magic broke, and Adam fell backward to the floor. He didn't even try to stay on his feet; he already knew he couldn't. All that pain... the pain he was responsible for... was now weighing on him like a millstone.
Now it was all clear. That was why God had abandoned him. He had failed... he had failed to distinguish good from evil. He had targeted a faithful soldier, a slightly foolish princess, and had led his girls to their own ruin.
He had failed to judge everything.
Charlie... Vaggie... his girls... how many innocents had suffered because of him...?
He had promised himself he would rid the cosmos of monsters, he had opted for zero tolerance. And now, that same zero tolerance had clouded his judgment so much that he hadn't been able to see the truth. And that was the result.
His hand tightened around the angelic blade he had stolen. He pointed it at her neck. One strike, and it would all be over.
It was the most honorable way.
It wasn't the first time he had suicidal thoughts, after all...
And this time... at least this time it would work...
But then, for a moment, his girls returned before his eyes. Alone, scattered, desperate. With no one to turn to. Destined to be tortured in that place of perdition.
Adam dropped the dagger to the ground. Tears fell from his eyes. He couldn't do this... not yet. He had to go find them... he had to at least try to make up for what he'd done to them.
He couldn't... give up... not now...
"What are you doing!?"
Adam paused. With trembling hands, he looked at the angelic dagger, and his face was reflected in it. A reflection that, due to the blade's shape, seemed to have become more distorted and deformed. "W-What...?"
"Why are you still holding back!?"
Adam trembled, touching the dagger and feeling the cold metal. He put his hands to his face, feeling a sharp pain in his skull. "I-I'm going crazy...?"
"You're already crazy. You're insane. You went crazy a long time ago, so why do you keep rejecting it!?"
Adam slid to his knees. His hands tightened, and his breathing became heavier. His head ached. There was something... something that was wrong... very wrong...
He'd never heard that voice before... he'd just tried to kill himself, and then he'd backed out... because he had responsibilities...
Wait... why was he speaking in the past tense?
All of that... had already happened, right...?
"Have you forgotten what they said to you? What they did? Their betrayal? And now you are thinking of giving up!?"
Adam took a deep breath... if it was even a real breath. "This isn't real... it's just a... dream..." he muttered, looking at his reflection in the blade. "You... you're not talking about this moment, are you?"
"This moment, or that in reality, what difference does it make? You're always thinking about giving up everything, right now when you're so close to victory!"
Adam shook his head. "It's not like that," he muttered. "The things I've done... the things I..."
"It doesn't matter what you did! It was all for the mission! Those foolish angels abandoned it, they abandoned you, they abandoned your world, and you know it! You're the only one left, and you want to throw it all away because some sandalless hippie told you you're wrong!? That you'll become something you won't even recognize!? Aren't you already!?"
"N-No..." Adam muttered softly. His head ached terribly. "It's not like that..."
"You think that pain is your enemy? It's your only companion. It's the only thing that's always been loyal to you, the only thing that never left, never betrayed you. And yet here you are, treating it like it's your curse. Fool! Pain isn't what broke you. It's what's trying to rebuild you. But you are too weak to listen, too blind to see! You know the truth. You know what they really need. They don't need a savior. They need a monster, something to strike pain into the hearts of the wicked! A monster that devours all monsters!"
Adam slid completely to the ground, feeling his head ache. His vision was now limited to his reflection, and it seemed to him that it was becoming increasingly distorted and dark. "You... who are you...?"
"They already called you a monster, didn't they?"
The eyes of his reflection turned blood-red, and real blood began to flow from the blade.
"PROVE THEM RIGHT!"
Adam opened his eyes with a start. His face was sweating. He whipped his head around, and saw his fingers gripped tightly around the handle of his axe.
Had it been a nightmare...?
He was greeted by a familiar mass of silver hair: "Are you okay, sir?"
Adam let out a small sigh of relief. His heart was still pounding, and seeing Lute's pale yet gentle face calmed him a little. "Yes, it was... just a dream" he murmured, rubbing his temples. "Where are we...?"
"At our hideout" Lute replied. "You fainted shortly before we returned here. Rest did you good; you regained your strength and healed from all your wounds"
Adam sat up. He was indeed lying on a bed, and his body was in significantly better shape than it had been after the intense battle he'd faced. He didn't know how long he'd slept, but it couldn't have been much: his demon body recovered much more quickly than a human one.
And then, if he slept too long... they would have attacked them already, since now that demon and therefore everyone else, including Lucifer, knew where he was.
Adam took a deep breath. Normally, he would have already told Lute to order everyone to pack up and prepare to flee. But now... what was the point? He had lost on every level.
Now they knew where to find him, and there was no other safe haven in all of Hell where he could hide. His enemies had the Ark, the last crucial piece of his weapon, and without it, he stood no chance against Lucifer. He had even lost some of his souls.
Perhaps... it was truly time to give up.
"Sir?" Lute called back. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Adam sighed. "You should leave"
Lute's eyes widened slightly: "What are you saying, sir?"
"Take your sisters and go away. Run far away from here" Adam told her. "I'll stay here. I still have many souls with me, including those of the Sins. I can use them as bargaining chips to extract a deal from Lucifer, thus guaranteeing you and all humanity no repercussions for what we've done"
Lute would normally have reacted with much more anger, perhaps punching the person who dared speak like that, but this time she didn't. Instead, she raised a hand and lightly caressed his forehead. Her face had an unreadable expression, but her touch was gentle. "Sir... are you giving up?"
"What else am I supposed to do? At this point, I might as well get it over with. I lost" Adam said. "Centuries of work, centuries of planning, and still... I ultimately failed. So close to victory, but it's still a failure. The least I can do is accept defeat honorably and protect you one last time"
"Sir..." Lute tried to say.
"Don't call me sir! I'm not your general!" Adam snapped. He put a hand over his face with a snarl. "Not... not anymore. I have failed miserably, as a general, as a warrior, as a father. I should have protected my soldiers, but instead I have done nothing but drag you all into the abyss with me. Redemption is real, so I have probably killed billions of people who could have been saved... somehow. I have hurt you with my own hands. I am the man who agreed to tear off Vaggie's wings and eye, I am the one who treated Charlie like nothing more than a silly little girl. I... am the one who destroyed the wonderful woman you were... who made you who you are now"
Lute didn't say anything for a long moment. "You only made me strong, sir"
"I made you a killing machine, and not a day goes by that I regret it!" Adam exclaimed. "Shit, I... that wasn't how you were supposed to be, you know? I broke you. I destroyed your innocence. I promised myself I'd never do it again, and yet I did it again. I made Vaggie take that test to win her back. I showed Charlie the evil of the world so she could become my instrument. What makes me different from the sinners I hated so much?". He let out a deep sound of contempt: "I'm like them now in every way... not just in appearance. It's no surprise I've fallen from grace. Maybe I always knew it deep down... but the mission gave me the strength to carry on. But now... it's over"
Lute was silent for a long moment. And then she said: "Perhaps you've made mistakes, sir, but... not with me. You didn't ruin me. You just... showed me a reality I didn't know. I chose to be who I am now, I wanted it. I could have decided to be anything else, but instead I chose this, even though I knew you wanted a different destiny for me. You have nothing to criticize; it was my choice, and I don't regret it"
"You never would have made that choice if I hadn't made you take that test" Adam murmured.
"Perhaps not. But then I would have been living a lie" Lute told him. "If it hadn't been you who showed me the cruelty of the world, it would have been someone else. You can't remain blind forever. And besides, that doesn't change the fact that I'm still capable of choosing. Following you was and always will be my choice"
Adam looked at her intently. "Why?" he asked. "Why me, Lute? If you truly became who you are now by your own choice, why did you choose to follow me? You owed me nothing. I'm just a stupid old man with complexes..."
"Yes, but you also know loyalty" Lute told him. "Your sense of duty, to your descendants, to your soldiers, to me... is something rarely found. So many years have passed, you had all the right to give up everything, but you can't. You can't because your sense of responsibility is stronger than your exhaustion. That alone makes you an extraordinary man"
Adam shook his head. "No... I'm just a man" he murmured. "Not an extraordinary man. This obsession of mine has made me wrong so many times..."
"True, you were wrong. But think of all the times you were right" Lute replied. "I chose to follow you because you stopped at nothing, you wanted to protect what was dear to you, and you were willing to do anything to do so. And when I chose you, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I knew you weren't perfect, I knew how perilous your path was, yet I chose you anyway. I chose everything you represented, including your mistakes and all the negative emotions. And no matter what happens... I cannot and will not regret it"
Adam stared at her intently. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Please go away" he said. "Go away, all of you"
"If you want to give up, fine. It's your choice" Lute told him. "But staying or leaving is mine. And I can tell the others you want us to leave, but again, leaving or not, it's their choice. And something tells me they won't abandon you"
"I could force you to leave" Adam grunted.
"Yes, you could" Lute confirmed. "But you know that, if that happens, we'll keep looking for you"
Adam remained silent. Only his breathing betrayed his thoughts. "And they say having soldiers who love you is a good thing..." he murmured.
Lute leaned against him. He could feel the loud pounding of his heart. "Why do you speak like that, sir? It's not like you to be... like that"
Adam snorted. "Jesus... showed me things while I was with him" he confessed.
Lute didn't seem surprised. "I thought so" she admitted. "What did he tell you?"
"I'm not sure I understand" Adam admitted. "He told me there's another way, but that I subconsciously refuse to see it. And then he told me that if I continue down this path, I'll become something that's no longer me. And he was right. Look at me. I've shed angelic blood, I've done things I promised myself I wouldn't do. If I continue like this, I really think I'll cross a line of no return. So... maybe it's best for everyone if I just let it go now"
Lute bit her lip. "Is there anything else?"
Adam clenched his fists. "He told me I'd kiss a poisoned apple, and it's not hard to see who he meant" he said with a growl. "I can't do this. I don't want to do this"
"Adam" Lute called back. He fell silent in surprise: it was the first time she'd addressed him by his name. "You make your own choices. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do"
"And yet it was prophesied to me" Adam hissed, placing a hand in front of his face. "I can't... do this..."
Suddenly, Lute's delicate hands cupped his face and turned it so they were both looking into each other's eyes again. Adam was a little taken aback when he saw himself reflected in those golden eyes. Eyes that seemed to pulse with their own light. "Lute, what are you...?"
She didn't let him finish: with a sudden movement, she planted her lips on his. Adam was completely taken aback, but still, he didn't try to resist or push her away. The kiss lasted only about ten seconds, and then Lute pulled away. "Do I look like a poisoned apple to you?" she asked, saliva still dripping from her mouth. "That's how much I value prophecies"
Adam was quite stunned. "Lute, you... you didn't have to do this just to prove your point... you don't have to force yourself to..."
In response, Lute kissed him again, and this time she was decidedly more aggressive: the kiss lasted much longer, and she didn't hold back from using her tongue. "I'm not forcing myself" she told him, barely breathing. "And I didn't do it just to prove my point"
Adam hesitated for a moment. He'd always known Lute had stronger feelings than his other soldiers; he could see it in her behavior, but he'd always attributed it to a greater loyalty and sense of duty. He hadn't thought she wanted him that way.
He could push her away, reject her right there. That would have been the best thing. Maybe then she would leave...
But instead, in the end, he returned her kiss. And she didn't need any further invitation, as her kiss became even more aggressive and ferocious, just like she was. It seemed like she'd been waiting for this moment for an eternity.
Finally, their lips parted again and they could look into each other's eyes. They both felt the other's breath on their faces. "I'm not leaving" Lute told him. "If it has to end here, so be it. But I don't want to leave"
"You could lose everything" Adam pointed out.
"Everything... what? I have nothing to lose. None of us do" Lute told him. "I was created only to fight. I didn't have time to be a child, nor a teenager. I've never had any purpose other than the mission. My wings, my halo, even my soul... honestly, they mean very little to me. The only things I have are the choices I make in life... and I choose you. I want to choose you"
Not an imposition, not a sense of duty. Just pure will. This was what moved Lute, and Adam knew he couldn't change her mind. "What if I truly surrender, and they decide to cut off my head?"
"I'll shield you even then" Lute replied without hesitation. "Don't feel responsible for me; make whatever choice you want. But respect my choice to be with you until my last breath"
Adam narrowed his eyes. Yes, he could have done that too. He had no reason to feel obligated to Lute. He could still let go of everything and let her do what she wanted. He knew she would approve of whatever his decision was.
Perhaps, if he bargained hard enough, he could get an eternity of imprisonment. There was a legend, of a people on Earth, in which an evil god was chained for eternity to suffer torture, but whose faithful wife remained with him to comfort him. Perhaps he could have gotten a deal like that. Lucifer wouldn't let him go, but Adam could have let himself be chained in the dungeons of his palace, leaving Lute free to come and go to keep him company.
But deep down, Adam already knew he wouldn't.
Not out of pride, not out of anger. But because he truly couldn't see any other way. Even if he gave up, the cosmos was already in chaos, and no matter how much he bargained, something would eventually happen that would cost millions, perhaps billions, of lives. And that's why he committed himself; he couldn't see any other path before him than the one he was trying to avoid.
Perhaps it was truly fate that it would end this way.
And so, he made his decision. "This time I'll have to use everything I have left, if we're going to have a chance" he said, his eyes glowing with an ominous light. "I'll need the help of my descendants one last time"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 103): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/175756886
Among the lions (chapter 15): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173638837
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 157: Colonization
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Wrath had always been a volcanic land, and for that very reason, it was where all the food in Hell was produced: the ash replenished the fields and made them flourish, and so the landscape of that Ring, with the exception of a few cities, consisted only of rocky lava mountains and vast cultivated fields. Or rather, that was the case until recently. Now, the landscape for miles was a scorched expanse, crisscrossed by infected demons and drones searching for new victims.
It was in this landscape that a portal opened for a fraction of a second, and two imps emerged as quick as lightning: Moxxie and Millie appeared behind a half-burned shed, both with weapons already drawn. The few zombies around them turned, but Moxxie raised his silenced rifle and fired at them, knocking them to the ground. "Okay, keep an eye on the clock. Stolas will reopen the portal in fifteen minutes" he whispered to his wife. "Hey... are you okay?"
Millie was staring at the farmhouse... the one that had been her family's farmhouse. It had been almost completely burned, like everything around them. Moxxie sighed and put a hand on her shoulder: "You'll see, your parents are fine. We'll find some clues"
Millie nodded. After much persuasion, they had managed to convince Andrelphus to allow Stolas to open a portal out of the bunker and go get Millie's family; the peacock demon didn't want to risk letting one of the drones into the bunker, much less losing a potential ally. Eventually, they had reached a compromise, and Andrealphus had allowed Stolas to open the portal for a few seconds every fifteen minutes. The owl demon would also go with Moxxie and Millie, but they themselves had refused his help: after all, if they died, someone would have to take care of Loona, and he was the last one left.
Moxxie and Millie entered the house. The interior was destroyed and burned, but at least there were no bodies. "That's a good thing" Moxxie said to his wife, encouraging her. "They must have escaped and..."
"What is that!?" Millie interrupted, hearing a rumbling sound in the distance.
Both she and Moxxie hid well under a window, and from there they could see a plane pass low overhead. The roar shook the walls of the house, and they both remained still until the plane flew away. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. "It was probably a reconnaissance plane" Moxxie muttered. "Let's be careful. If they notice we're still alive, it's over..."
Suddenly, they heard something creak behind them; they both stiffened and looked at each other, nodding. They moved silently toward the kitchen, then rushed in with their weapons ready. The person inside let out a scream and stepped back, raising a poker as a weapon. But fortunately, that person was someone they knew. "Sally!" Millie exclaimed, running to hug her sister.
"Oh, fuck, you're alive!" Sally said, immediately hugging her back. Tears rolled down her face. "Shit, sis, I thought...!"
"Shhh! It's okay. I'm here now" Millie said. "Mom...?"
"She's here. Our brothers too. We hid in the secret hiding place under the cellar" Sally said. "Luckily, they didn't see us. I was out looking for something to eat. Come, I'll take you to them right away"
Sally led them to the back of the farmhouse. The cornfield was still somewhat intact, but in the distance they could see flames rapidly advancing. They entered the cellar, and there Millie finally found her family. "Mom! Guys!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw them.
"Millie! Oh, thank Satan!" Lin almost screamed at the sight of her. "Luckily you're okay..."
"Where's Dad?" Millie asked, noticing Joe's absence.
"He left before all this started. He must have gotten away with it somehow" Lin replied with a smile. "You know, he's tough. He'll find us sooner or later"
Millie was too happy to notice, but Moxxie didn't miss the fact that Lin's fingers were shaking slightly. And he certainly didn't miss the fact that she pulled her sleeve down tightly to hide the bloodstains on her arm. Blood that definitely wasn't hers. "All clear" he said to the woman, nodding with his eyes to indicate he understood. "So, what's the situation here?"
"First the whole village was overrun by those robotic locust-like things, and then by the zombies" Sally explained. "Dad was out on something. Mom went out to look for him, but she was forced to come back before she could find him. It lasted for half a day, and then the soldiers showed up"
"Soldiers?" Moxxie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Human soldiers. They started burning everything down" Sally said. "They went into the houses looking for survivors, and we heard gunshots a few times, and then they burned everything down. We hid here to escape them. They're still doing it, look"
Very carefully, Sally opened the cellar slightly, and everyone peered in. Not far away, the grain was still burning, and this time, squinting, Moxxie and Millie could see people in the midst of the fire. People clad in heavy military fatigues, armed with flamethrowers.
Moxxie barely looked up from the cellar. "I think I know what they're doing" he commented. "They're burning what's left of the crops"
Millie bit her lip. "Why are they doing this? Food is useful to them, too"
"They probably don't want to use demon grain until they know its properties. For all they know, it could be toxic" Moxxie replied. "No... they already have enough supplies from their world. If they destroy all the fields, they'll make room for their own crops, depriving us of food sources. The less food there is, the closer the survivors of the initial attack will be to the cities to find food, and they'll end up prey to the zombies"
"So they're going to burn all our land?" Lin asked in a small voice. "They can't do that! This land has been in our family for centuries..."
"I don't think they care" Moxxie muttered.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out; everyone crept to the door to see what was happening. In the distance, the soldiers had stopped using their flamethrowers; two of them were dragging two imps from the ashes of the corn. One of them was middle-aged, while the other was a boy who looked only thirteen. "Hey, that's Mr. Jones! Our old neighbor" Millie said, seeing him.
"And that other one is his nephew. They must have been hiding in the corn, hoping not to be found" Lin muttered through gritted teeth. "They can't have been the only ones, that's why they shoot every now and then"
The soldiers threw the two imps to the ground. "We got two more, Corporal" one of them said.
"Good" the man presumably in charge said, and then held out his arm to the older imp. Neither Moxxie nor Millie could see what he was holding, but they heard a small siren and a small flash of red light. "This is negative. Shoot him"
"No, wait...!" the imp tried to scream, but the soldiers ignored him and opened fire, riddling him with bullets. In an instant, he fell to the ground dead.
The younger imp let out a frightened sound and put his hands over his face as if in a desperate attempt to defend himself. The corporal showed no sign of empathy and moved his arm toward him as well, but this time the light was green. "This one is safe" he announced. "Take him to the others, and don't harm a hair on his head"
"Yes, sir" the two soldiers holding him confirmed, and dragged the imp away, albeit with a strange gentleness, as if they wanted to prevent him from escaping but at the same time didn't want to hurt him too much.
Millie bit her lip. "Why did they spare him?" she whispered.
Moxxie shook his head. "I don't know. We'll figure it out later, now let's think about get out of here" he said. "Listen to me... Stolas will open the portal back to the bunker in five minutes. We need to be in the back of the shed by then. Whatever happens, we can't let any zombies or drones through; if they get in, it's over. The portal will only be open for a few seconds, so if you can't reach it in five minutes, run and hide and wait for us to come back for you. Don't make any noise or attract any attention. Is everything clear?"
Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's go!" Moxxie exclaimed, and slammed open the cellar.
He rushed out, pointing his rifle in every direction, and then signaled the others to follow. As quietly as possible, they ran through the farm, trying to reach the designated spot. However, halfway there, a plane passed overhead, making a deafening noise. "Shit...!"
The soldiers in the nearby field suddenly turned and ran toward them; evidently the plane had spotted them from above and alerted those on the ground. "Quick, go!" Moxxie shouted, aiming his rifle and firing freely.
Millie's family did as they were told. Moxxie managed to slow the soldiers down, but they quickly took cover, and their riot gear protected them. These weren't weak humans like the ones they normally killed; they were men trained for war and armed to the teeth. Moxxie soon found himself forced to take cover behind a shed, and Millie also threw herself at his side. "Fuck, I'm running out of ammo!" he shouted.
Millie looked at her family. They had reached the designated spot, and a blue light was enveloping them. "Stolas is opening the portal" she said to her husband. "We have to go!"
Moxxie nodded. "On the count of three, run with all your might!" he said. "One, two..."
Before he could reach 'three', two soldiers fell upon them from above. Both Moxxie and Millie let out a cry of despair as they realized their enemies had cunningly surrounded them. Millie quickly managed to push her attacker back, but Moxxie was caught and thrown violently against a wall; his wife tried to intervene, but the other soldiers, taking advantage of the lack of shooting, surrounded them and trained their weapons on her. Extremely reluctantly, Millie was forced to stop.
Both she and her husband glanced quickly at the spot where the portal had opened; It had already vanished, so Stolas had surely already known something was wrong. However, he couldn't just walk in blindly among them, and even if he were crazy enough to try, Andrealphus would stand in his way. Opening a portal there would put the entire bunker at risk, Octavia included...
The corporal quickly scanned both of them with a strange device, and it emitted a red light on both of them. "Both negative. Shoot them"
Millie was about to jump in the face of the nearest one again, but one of the soldiers stopped everything: "Sir, wait! Look!"
The soldier had pointed his device lower, toward Millie's belly, and it glowed green. "What?" the corporal muttered. "What does that mean? Is this woman guilty and innocent at the same time?"
Moxxie and Millie looked at each other in confusion. Guilty and innocent? What were they talking about?
"Sir, it's happened to some other squads. They reported it" one of the soldiers said. "It happens when... the demon is pregnant"
Millie froze at those words; for a moment, the air seemed to escape her lungs. For a moment, she even forgot she was in danger. Instinctively, she lowered her hands and touched her belly.
Pregnant...?
They were making fun of her, weren't they...?
"What do we do, Corporal?" one of the soldiers asked.
The corporal grunted. "We have no choice. Restrain her, we'll take her to base with the others"
"But sir, the orders..." one of the soldiers protested.
"The orders are to kill all evil demons and spare the innocents. If we kill this woman, the baby will die too" the corporal said. "Let's take her to base and hand her over to the doctors. They'll do the rest"
Millie looked at Moxxie. He too was shocked, to say the least, and didn't seem to know what to say. But the standoff was short-lived, as the corporal ordered, "As for him, kill him. We don't need him"
"STOP!" Millie screamed. "Don't you dare touch him...!"
Three soldiers grabbed her and pinned her hands, tying her tightly. She struggled furiously, but despite this, she couldn't break free. One of the soldiers raised his weapon toward Moxxie, ready to shoot...
"I'LL BITE MY TONGUE!" Millie screamed, and this time she managed to attract attention again. "Shoot him, and I'll kill myself! I'll kill both myself and this child, and it'll be your fault! You want that the baby survives, right!?"
She was bluffing, but she hoped with all her heart they'd believe her. And fortunately, they did. "Tsk! Typical of a demon, you know how to threaten even your own offspring" the corporal commented acidly. "Put a strap over her mouth"
"Sir, demons' teeth and jaw strength are much stronger than human ones" one of the soldiers warned. "He might still manage to break it and kill himself"
The corporal grunted. "Oh, all right. Tie him up too, we'll keep him alive for now" he said. "But keep him under fire. At the first misstep, riddle him with bullets"
The soldiers grabbed Moxxie and tied him up like they had with Millie, but they both breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that, at least for now, neither of them would die. They both glanced sideways toward the back of the farmhouse and noticed a fleeting, owl-like figure appear briefly. It looked like Stolas was keeping an eye on them with some magic; good, then, they just had to hold out until he came up with a plan.
The soldiers quickly dragged them to a helicopter and took off; it looked as if they wanted to solve the problem quickly. The helicopter took off and headed for the nearest Elevator. When Moxxie and Millie got a good look at it, their eyes widened.
The Elevator was no longer a long tube bisecting the landscape of Wrath: a vast array of platforms, enclosed areas, and landing pads for planes and helicopters had been built, and were still being built, around it. Each of these things used the Elevator's already solid structure as a support. Portals continually opened around and within them, allowing planes, trucks, and other vehicles to enter and exit. "What is this?" Millie murmured.
"We call it the colony" the corporal replied. "Get ready, you'll be spending some time there"
The helicopter landed on one of the platforms, at least three hundred meters above the ground. Moxxie and Millie were awkwardly disembarked and led toward the innermost part of the structure. As they walked, they could see what was happening around them, above them, and below them.
"Lower it! Be careful with that beast!"
Moxxie and Millie leaned forward slightly to look down. Below them was another large platform, on which were placed containers and cages filled with animals native to Hell. Some, like the fiery skeletal horses, were quite tame, while others, like the manticores and basilisks, had been sedated and restrained. In the center of the platform, two helicopters were lowering the inanimate body of a dragon, and several soldiers were approaching a huge fireproof container to enclose it.
"Hurry up! We have to finish before it wakes up!"
"Stay calm, they gave it twenty milligrams of etorphine. That dose would take down an African elephant"
"Tie those ropes around its mouth! Tightly, it can't breathe fire!"
"Cover its eyes and nostrils, too! The less it can rely on its senses, the easier it will be to manage when it wakes up"
"Fuck, that's magnificent. Did you ever think you'd see a real dragon in your life?"
"It's truly enormous. This thing weighs over six tons"
"We were lucky we weren't part of the team that took it down!"
"What? Was that your pet?" the corporal asked Moxxie and Millie, seeing them staring at the dragon.
Moxxie grunted. "No" he replied. "We're just curious. Why are you taking the animals?"
"First the crops, now the wildlife?" Millie growled. "What, are you trying to steal all our world's resources? Next you will burn the forests, drain the oceans, and steal even our air?"
"What nonsense. Which comic book did you read that in?" the corporal commented. "We're taking specimens of various species to study your biosphere. Our scientists want to examine these animals and study their DNA. They believe they may hold the solutions to many heart, lung, and rectal diseases"
"But it's not just that, is it?" Moxxie said through gritted teeth. "You're studying the flora and fauna because you want to come live here"
The corporal was silent for a moment. "Less talking, more walking, demon. Move!"
And with that, they began climbing up the Elevator. The entire base had actually been built around it, using its already strong structure to connect everything else to it. Moxxie and Millie could see inside the Elevator, which now contained what looked like large rockets. "Are those missiles?" Moxxie asked.
"Cobalt bombs" the corporal replied. "We're importing a lot of them. Your Elevators make excellent launch points"
"Launch points for what?" Millie asked.
"None of your business" was the only reply. "And I don't have to answer you"
Finally, they reached an area roughly halfway up the Elevator, which was considerably more heavily guarded. "Hmm. Too high up to escape by land, and too low down to try to reach the upper Ring..." Moxxie muttered under his breath. "The perfect place to keep prisoners"
And indeed, as soon as the doors opened, they found themselves faced with a large number of imps, baphomets, hellhounds, and all other types of demons. They were kept in several large rooms, separated from the others by walls and connected only by a corridor. The doors were not sealed, except for the entrance doors, but the military still systematically checked whoever left their area. Most of the demons were quite young: there were many children and teenagers, and only a few scattered adults, who tried to ease the tension for the others as best they could. Moxxie and Millie, however, were not left there with the others, but were taken to another wing of the facility, where there were hospital beds and many medical instruments. There, lying on these beds, were three other pregnant women, who turned when they saw them enter. Two human doctors were examining them, and one of them came to greet them as soon as they arrived. "I don't think it's necessary to ask what the need is" he said, looking at Millie. "Please, lie down"
Millie growled, and Moxxie's eyes flashed in return: "Don't you dare touch my wife...!"
"I just want to make sure the baby is okay" the doctor told him. "It's just a checkup. We won't hurt her"
"If she's good" the corporal said. "Tie the woman to the bed, I don't want any trouble. As for him, throw him in a cell"
The soldiers didn't need to be told twice and violently dragged Moxxie away; he tried to resist, but they grabbed him and took him away. "MOX!" Millie screamed and thrashed, trying to break free, but the soldiers forced her to lie down on the gurney and stay still.
The doctor glared at them. "Guys, please. If you stress the mother too much, the baby will suffer"
"Tell her. She's the one who won't sit still" one of the soldiers replied.
The doctor sighed. "Madam, your husband won't be killed, if that's what you fear, but rebelling like this won't help his position. Now, please, let me do my job"
Millie was furious, but she was torn between wanting to free herself with all her strength to run to help her husband and the terror of what might happen if the soldiers, seeing her fight too hard, struck her in the stomach. Finally, she forced herself to stay still, even though she remained tense as a fiddle. This was enough for the doctor, and he began examining her as if it were a routine obstetric checkup. Even though Millie would have gladly cut off his head, she still carefully monitored everything he was doing, to make sure the baby was okay... and he evidently noticed, because he said to her: "You can rest assured. The baby seems fine, and although your body has clearly been under a lot of stress lately, the fetus hasn't been affected. But I advise you to avoid any turbulent situations from now on"
Which translated to: "Be good and don't give anyone a chance to shoot you". Millie was tempted to spit in his face, but before she could, the doors opened and a new soldier, clearly much higher in rank, entered. "Miss Millie, follow me. They want to meet you"
Before Millie could respond, the soldiers lifted her up, still holding her firmly. She growled, but knew it was futile to resist, so she let herself be carried away. The soldiers took her to another wing of the facility, clearly reserved for high-ranking personnel, and pointed to a door. "Come in" they said. "And don't play any tricks. Remember, we have your husband, and unlike the other demons you've seen, he should be dead by now. We're only keeping him alive for convenience, so don't give us an excuse to eliminate him"
"Fuck you" was all Millie said. Normally, she would have added a kick, but given the situation, she held back and walked in briskly. The door slammed shut behind her.
The interior of the room was very simple: rather small, with only a desk and numerous stacks of papers, computers, and communication devices on it. It had clearly been designed not for comfort but for efficiency. Standing next to the desk was a man in his fifties, wearing a rather imposing badge, indicating he was the highest-ranking person. "Good morning, ma'am" he greeted her.
Millie had to summon all her strength not to tear the person in front of her to pieces. "Stay calm" she told herself. "They have Moxxie. You can't kill him..."
But... maybe she could take him hostage? That would have been a good option...
No... no, if it were that simple, they wouldn't have left her there alone with their leader. She couldn't make any hasty moves. Not while the humans had her husband...
"You may sit down, ma'am" the man said, gesturing almost gallantly to the chair. "You're pregnant, you should avoid straining"
"I can stand" Millie replied defiantly.
He shrugged. "As you wish" he said. "You don't need to know my name; you can simply address me as Colonel. I won't explain my role; just know that I'm the one in charge of colonization operations in this sector. As for you, you don't need to introduce yourselves. I know who you are"
And with that, he typed something on his tablet, and a photo of Millie appeared on the screen behind him. Numerous photos, in fact, and even videos of her during one of the IMP operations on Earth. "You and your husband have been identified as members of a group of demons who have frequently visited the human world" the Colonel said. "May I ask where your boss is? Blitz, right?"
"Why do you want to know?" Millie asked.
"Information" was the Colonel's reply. "The most fanatical out there would like to see all the demons who have visited Earth executed, and almost certainly they will be. However, the big bosses want to extract every possible information about this world first. We have reason to believe that your boss was acquainted with one of those you call Goetia, and therefore knows something about them. He might make it easier for us to analyze their powers or locate the artifacts they left behind, and of course, help us understand how to exploit them"
"Exploit them for what? Destroy this world even more?" Millie said, slamming her hands on the table. "Haven't you done enough already!?"
The Colonel didn't bat an eyelid. "We're not destroying this world, ma'am. We're cleaning it" he told her. "Believe me, if we'd wanted to destroy it, you wouldn't be among us now. We don't intend to exterminate you"
Millie gritted her teeth. "Well, you are"
"No. We're just eliminating all those who have committed what we might call... bad deeds. If you have so many bad people here in Hell, don't blame us" the Colonel told her. "When we're done, those of you who turned out to be good, or even just normal, will still be able to live"
"Yes, under your control" Millie hissed.
"Do you expect us to let you do whatever you want, even at the risk of your own revenge?" the Colonel asked her. "For your information, we're taking a risk in sparing some of you. Logic would dictate that we kill you all and call it a day. Are you familiar with the Great Filter theory?"
Millie had obviously never heard of such a thing. "What is that, a joint?" she asked, more out of contempt than irony.
"Ma'am, please. Try to be serious" the Colonel told her. The Great Filter theory is a solution to why the galaxy isn't teeming with alien civilizations. Today, we know it's empty because God is truly our Creator, and the entire universe is ours to take. But before, the most logical solution... was that a civilization must pass through several filters before reaching the level of a multi-stellar civilization, and that there's a filter greater than all of them, the Great Filter, through which no civilization survives. Well, one of the solutions to the Great Filter... is that it's a civilization that developed before all the others, and that it systematically destroys every other civilization it encounters. That's natural: why risk potential future competition when you can eliminate the problem right away? If there's one thing we've learned from our history, ultimately, it's that every civilization that develops first tends to subjugate or even exterminate the others. This isn't cruelty or madness... it's just human nature"
Millie clenched her fists slightly, feeling a lump in her throat. "Are you trying to say you're now the Great Filter of Hell? Are you trying to justify your actions by saying they're natural?"
"I'm not justifying anything, ma'am. I'm just stating the facts" the Colonel replied. "You demons were aware of the existence of humans, but you made a fundamental mistake: you underestimated us. You gave us time to grow strong enough to fight you, and yet, instead of preparing, you continued to treat us like cattle. Even if we hadn't received a divine message, sooner or later we would have destroyed your world. We have no reason to keep around a civilization that can appear at any moment in any corner of the world, that follows no laws, that doesn't hesitate to kill or exploit our citizens. It's fair to say that you've completely ruined your welcome on Earth. You've unleashed the most dangerous thing of all: the fear humans experience when they can't control a situation. This is the result. Humanity will not accept competition it cannot control, not even from a civilization on a different plane of existence than our own. Perhaps we would have been willing to leave you alone if you'd minded your own business, but since you've shown that you're happy to treat Earth as your business, we're doing the same. Except that our business is tantamount to complete colonization and systematic exploitation of resources"
Millie was silent for a long moment. She wanted to feel angry, but at the same time, her heart felt like it was clenching. "What do you want to do in Hell?" she finally asked.
The Colonel shrugged. "Your world is an untapped source of any kind of resources. New forms of energy, land for cultivation, even magic we can study. With all of this at our disposal, we can literally solve all of our world's problems" he explained. "This colony built around the Elevator is just the prototype. We'll build more, in the other Elevators, and from there we'll launch the exploitation of the various Rings. The most fertile ones, like the one you call Wrath, will be converted to crops, providing enough food for all the billions of people currently living on Earth. Others, like the one you call Envy, will be turned into fish farms. The one you call Gluttony will be exploited for wood, while the one you call Greed seems to be full of coal and oil. And then there are minerals, rare gases, entire oceans of pure water... a lot of stuff. With all this, the hunger for resources that currently plagues the Earth will be solved, and we will finally be able to provide a dignified life for all humans, not just a few"
"Stealing from Hell" Millie grumbled.
"It's not stealing if you take what's yours. In war, the winner takes all, the loser can only cry. You lost, we won. Hell is ours, so we're not stealing" the Colonel told her. "However, we're also researching the magic and powers that permeate this place. It's uncharted territory for our science, but even so, our scientists are already discovering remarkable ways to harness this mystical energy. It can be used to improve the efficiency of our machines, generate energy, or even cure disease. Some of our scientists, analyzing what we've found in what you call Sloth, already think that, with enough research, it will be possible to find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, or even degenerative diseases. Can you even imagine what this means for our world?". He paused briefly, and then he said: "And finally... it will also solve our pollution problem"
"How?" Millie asked. "You want to dump your garbage here?"
"Precisely" the Colonel replied. "Or rather, we intend to dump it in what you call Pride. After making it truly uninhabitable, of course"
Millie sweated a little. "Is that what you need the cobalt for?"
"We're building bombs that will have the most radioactivity ever seen. They're not very powerful in terms of destruction, but the radioactive material they'll release will be so much that it will make the entire Pride uninhabitable for thousands of years" the Colonel explained. "Right now, many areas of Pride are already radioactive thanks to our previous attack. As soon as we've finished our preparations, we'll detonate cobalt bombs everywhere. Even standing there for a few seconds will kill you. This way, we'll prevent the formation of resistance groups from the new sinners who will arrive in the future. They won't have time to hide: they'll die from radiation within seconds of their arrival. Then we'll just need to send drones equipped with angelic steel to put an end to their suffering"
Millie wasn't an expert in military tactics, but she understood the reasoning. The hellborns could be kept under control by grouping them in one place, but the sinners, since they came from Earth, could spawn anywhere on Pride. They'd have all the time they needed to hide, and over time, they could form secret communities and rebel. But if Pride became totally uninhabitable, then even that danger was averted.
"As you can imagine, this is a strategy that will ensure Earth's safety, but it will also render Pride useless. That's why we plan to reduce it to a landfill" the Colonel continued. "If no one will live there anyway, it won't matter how much we pollute it. Once we've completed our invasion, we'll use the portals to dump most of the garbage currently in Earth's oceans into that Ring. We even have plans for factories with portals installed in their chimneys, so as to not introduce excess carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, but into Pride. And, of course, it would make an excellent repository for all our radioactive and chemical waste. Some have even proposed sending portals into space and using them to dump excess satellites there, clearing the sky. There are many plans. After all, the more uninhabitable Pride becomes, the better for us... and our planet certainly won't dislike the cleanup"
Millie stared blankly. "Why are you sparing some hellborns?" she finally asked. "What do you want to do... to my child?"
The Colonel sighed. "Actually, nothing. If we had attacked before receiving a divine message, we would have simply killed you all. But the message ordered us not to kill innocents, and that's what we will do. All innocent demons have the right to live" he told her. "We will allow you to live in the colony with us. You will be integrated into the nation to which the soldiers who found you belong, and you will therefore have the same rights as their citizens. According to the unanimous decision of the United Nations, you will be barred from Earth for the first hundred years, but after that you can come if you wish. Of course, you will be subject to the same laws as everyone else, and so if you break them, you will be punished like everyone else". He sighed: "Most of the surviving hellborns are children, and various nations are looking for families willing to come here and adopt them. We will teach them to live like civilized people, so that as adults they can be better than their parents. In the hopefully not too distant future, these demons will be able to live in harmony with us"
"And you think they'll be grateful for that? After watching their parents turn into zombies?" Millie growled.
"We're not fools; we know there could be problems. But we're confident we'll be able to educate them well and extinguish the rebellious flame in their hearts. And even if things go badly, you're too few to pose a real threat anymore" the Colonel replied. "Like I told you, we're already being nice to you. We're just weeding out the scum and giving the innocents a second chance. We're confident they'll understand that. Trust me, we could have been much worse... just ask all the species we've driven extinct"
Millie didn't say another word, falling silent. It wasn't like her to be so submissive, but in that moment she felt drained of energy. Instinctively, she placed her hands on her belly, as if to caress what was inside. Seeing her do this, the Colonel asked: "Do you love your child, ma'am?"
"Huh? Yes" Millie replied. "At least I think so... I've never been a mother"
The Colonel laughed lightly. "I have a child too. Well... today she's already a twelve-year-old girl" he told her. "Do you know where she is now?"
"At your house?" Millie said.
"At the hospital" the Colonel contradicted her. "She's been fighting Huntington's disease since she was born. I have to pay an absurd amount of money every year to get her the treatment she needs, and even then she might not make it to her twenties. But since we discovered Hell was real and received that divine message, everything is changing for her. Now, with a new world full of resources, governments around the world are making healthcare free, and magic and all the things we found down here that were once imaginary are being studied to advance medicine in leaps and bounds. I volunteered to be among the first to go down here in person precisely because I hope that the sooner we finish this work, the sooner my daughter can go back to living like a normal person"
"And I assume your daughter will be happy when she knows her father traded an entire world for her chance" Millie said sourly.
"When your child is born, you'll want to do the same. It's the nature of parents" the Colonel told her with a sigh. "All the soldiers you see down here are in the same situation. Fathers and mothers who had the courage to come down here first, to a world considered the most hostile to mankind in the entire universe. They did it because their children are sick, or hungry, or poor, or live near horrible, polluting factories. Because thanks to this operation, their sons and daughters will finally be able to live in a world without war, without hunger, without poverty, with civil rights and fair laws, and perhaps even protected from disease. How those sons and daughters will judge their parents is of no concern to us. A parent would be willing to burn down the entire universe if it meant giving their child even just one more minute"
Millie bit her lip. Maybe normally she would have told that man to go fuck himself, but honestly, she couldn't argue with him. As angry as she was, she couldn't deny that she, too, would do anything, even the cruelest thing, to give a future to what was currently just a fetus in her womb.
The Colonel sighed and shook his head. "We're creating a new world here. One where our children finally won't have to fear what will happen tomorrow" he told her. "Maybe you're right, maybe they'll hate us. There are some fanatics here who think we'll be forgiven for every deed, but honestly, I myself think that after I die, I'll be reborn in what's left of Pride, burn in radiation, and then be killed by a drone armed with an angelic blade. But I don't care. One of the most terrifying things about us humans is that we're willing to sacrifice our humanity to save humanity. In the new world we'll create, there will be almost no reason to commit evil deeds; not only will our children hardly have to suffer, but their souls will remain pure, and therefore they will go to Heaven. If I can give my daughter a dignified life, both mortal and in the afterlife, then I'm willing to damn my entire existence"
"I understand you" Millie murmured. "I still think you're monsters. But I understand you"
The Colonel nodded slightly. "Thank you. Believe it or not, it's important to me that you understand"
Millie sighed deeply. "What do you want from me?" she asked softly.
The Colonel narrowed his eyes. "The child in your womb is innocent, so for the next nine months, no harm will come to you. You will be kept under close observation, of course, but until then, you will not be touched. I advise you to use this time to reflect on your actions and repent, and perhaps, once the child is born, our instruments will no longer identify you as deserving of death, and we can spare you. If that will be the case, you will be judged for your past crimes just like you were a human, and therefore you'll exchange death penality with a long time in prison" he told her. "The same, however, cannot be said of your husband. We do not need him to keep the fetus alive, and according to orders, he must be executed"
Millie broke out in a cold sweat. "Please..."
"Now, you can decide" the Colonel interrupted her before she could say anything else. "You can leave this room, return to the infirmary, and spend the next nine months as I advised... without your husband. Or you can offer to help us and do us a favor... such as telling us everything you know about the Goetia's powers... and in exchange, we can give your husband a few extra months, so he too, hopefully, will have time to repent, or at least time to see his child before dying"
Millie sighed. She knew she didn't have much choice. "What do you want to know?" she simply asked.
"Well, for starters, tell us where your boss is. Blitz, right?" the Colonel told her.
"He's dead" Millie answered. "We left him behind in a hospital in Sloth. He bought us time"
The Colonel grunted. "I'll send someone to find his remains. His skull will probably be put on display to prove our victory, since he's a familiar face now. But you'll at least get to see him one last time," he told her. "If he's dead, can you tell me anything about how Goetia magic works?"
"I don't know much about that" Millie replied. "But I know they use magical artifacts with their spells written on them, like the grimoire we used to travel to Earth. Find it and you'll have answers"
"Hmm. So we need to have these demons' palaces searched for such... artifacts" the Colonel commented.
"They probably brought them into battle" Millie told him. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were destroyed"
"We'll do the necessary reconnaissance anyway" the Colonel commented, and just then something trilled on his computer. His gaze suddenly became much more serious. "We're done for today, ma'am. You can return to the infirmary. We'll ask you more questions in the future. Take my advice and stay calm in the meantime, and don't get any crazy ideas: don't forget that your husband's life depends on your cooperation"
Millie nodded slightly and stood up, heading for the door; the soldiers grabbed her and led her away. "What a shitty situation..." she thought as she walked away. "I can only hope for Stolas. I hope he comes up with something"
Meanwhile, the Colonel had all called the base's senior officers back. "What's going on, sir?"
"We just received new orders. There's a new battle plan, with top priority" the Colonel told them. "Recall all mission teams immediately, and put the missile launch system on red alert. We have work to do"
Notes:
This chapter was primarily intended to give an idea of how the hellborns were coping with the human invasion of Hell. Originally, this part was supposed to span multiple chapters, clearly showing the dire situation the few survivors of the initial attack found themselves in. However, since I've noticed that many of you don't appreciate this storyline, and it's no longer all that important to the main plot, I've decided to cut many of the events that were supposed to happen. If enough of you want to know more, perhaps after this story is finished, I'll make a spin-off about the invasion of Hell. For now, suffice it to say that the humans, as previously implied, have essentially begun their large-scale colonization, studying the territory in greater detail and tracking down the survivors, whom they then analyze using the same method used by the robotic locusts, killing or sparing them depending on whether they are innocent or guilty. So, for obvious reasons, 99% of Hell's population can already be considered finished at this point, as they are either zombies or have been killed. This chapter also served to give an idea of how humans intend to exploit Hell, fully demonstrating how for them this is the solution to all the problems that plague them, and that what moves them most is not fanaticism, but rather the desire to protect and give a better future to their children (which is almost always what moves soldiers in modern warfare, in fact that is why propaganda exists). And as mentioned before, thanks to Adam's machinations they don't kill innocents (if he hadn't done anything, demons would be practically extinct by now).
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 104): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/175756886
Among the lions (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173638837
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 158: Preparations
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Even though she would have much preferred to be back with her friends, Cherri was happy to return to Hell. Or rather, she was happy to put as much distance as possible between herself and the first man capable of killing beings that could easily be called cosmic powerhouses. The further she got from Adam, the better... for her neck.
Too bad, when she reached Hell, she remembered one little detail. "Cough... shit... the radiation...!" she exclaimed, sliding to her knees and starting to spit up blood. "I forgot... Rosie's protection isn't holding up anymore...!?"
Well, it had been a while... almost certainly that gel she'd smeared on them had dried by now. And Cherri had had the bad luck to land right in the middle of a devastated city. If she'd landed far away, in some desert, at least the radiation would have been less intense, but here, at the direct epicenter of the explosions, it was impossible not to be affected.
"Ah ah ah! Cough! Nice! It tickles! Cough cough!" Niffty screamed in feverish delirium, laughing like a madwoman. Well, that's what she was after all.
"Shit..." Cherri muttered, feeling her body burning as if it were being burned. "Niffty, we have to find... shelter..."
"Eh eh! Cough! I like... urgh! Ha ha! Cough!" Niffty continued to cough and laugh at the same time, and soon she collapsed to the ground, unable to get up. Her small body began to break out in pustules.
"No, no! Fuck!" Cherri exclaimed, slapping herself to keep herself clear as her vision was becoming blurry. "We can't... we can't pass out... we have to... we have to..."
Technically, the radiation couldn't kill them, but if they succumbed to it, then the Ark would be left unprotected. Their allies could find it, but so could their enemies. They had to get it to safety...
Wait... of course, the Ark!
Cherri looked at the crate she'd brought with her. "Okay... you're supposed to perform miracles, right?" she said, picking up the lid. "Well, we really need a miracle now..."
As soon as she managed to lift the heavy lid, a flash of light blinded her, and divine fire erupted from within with such fury that it pushed her away. Cherri could feel the heat of the flames on her, and even though they weren't touching her yet, she instinctively shivered, as if she knew deep down that she couldn't heal if she burned herself with it. "Okay... how should I use you...?"
She tried to reach out for the fire, but it reacted as if it were alive: it wrapped itself around her arm and seared her skin. It didn't burn her, it just made her feel the pain. It was a clear warning. "What the fuck... can it move!?" Cherri exclaimed. "And how am I supposed to use that!?"
Adam had managed to tame that power and force it to do his bidding... but Adam's strength went far beyond anything Cherri could even imagine! She had no chance of controlling that fire with force. If she tried to touch it, she'd be incinerated!
Cherri gritted her teeth. Every breath seemed to bring poison into her lungs, and she could literally feel her internal organs burning. The radiation was cooking her alive. "Hey... if you're alive, can we talk about this?" she tried to say to the fire. "Give me a hand, please!"
In response, the fire moved like a whip, passing inches from her hair. Another warning. "Oh, come on!" Cherri exclaimed. "I know, you're a divine object, I'm a sinner, and the last demon who used you wasn't kind! But please! This radiation is destroying me!"
The fire stirred again, this time splitting into numerous tongues that danced almost hypnotically, moving like the fingers of a flaming hand. The same divine light they emitted intensified, burning Cherri's skin. It almost felt as if the Ark was screaming "suffer, sinner!" over and over again.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Cherri exclaimed, and, trying to keep herself upright on her knees, clasped her hands together: "Here, I'm begging you! I'm begging you on my knees! Give me a hand!"
The fire responded by sending a blast of heat at her.
Cherri fell to the ground on her back, but the pain was nothing compared to the pain in her lungs. She was literally vomiting blood by now. With an effort, she turned sideways and crawled back toward the Ark. "Please!" she begged as she continued to cough up blood. "I know, I've done wrong, I know it! I know I'm a bad person and deserve to be punished! But I'm trying to help you, too! If I pass out now, Adam will find you and take you away! You have to help me, and I'll help you!"
The divine fire ignored her words. In fact, it even seemed offended, as if it considered her attempt to negotiate blasphemy.
Cherri closed her one eye and gritted her teeth. She no longer had the strength to even lean on her elbows, and she felt like she was about to melt. "I want to help my friends!" she screamed in delirium, and as she did so, she grabbed Niffty and lifted her above her head: "I want to save her! If you're going to let me die, at least save her! For once in my damned existence that I want to do something good, help me, please!"
Without warning, the fire moved and engulfed her, and in turn, Niffty. Cherri suddenly no longer felt like her organs were melting, and instinctively took a deep breath. When she stood up, the fire had already receded, and she no longer had any signs of radiation poisoning. The same was true for Niffty, who looked around and then asked disappointedly: "Is it over already?"
Cherri ignored her. "Wow... well, thanks" she said to the fire. "Um... could you give me some powers too? Flying would be nice, and super strength too..."
The fire erupted again, forcing her away. "Okay, okay, I get it! You only help those who want to do selfless good deeds!" Cherri exclaimed, covering her face. "Can you at least get back in that box so I can carry you?"
The fire seemed to grunt in annoyance, but at least it stopped spewing out of the box like lava from an erupting volcano, pouring back in. Cherri reached out to close it, swallowing as the fire touched her as if it wanted to leap out and envelop her. "Look, I know I'm not a saint" she told him. "But you helped me, so... I'm not completely beyond help, right?"
The fire obviously didn't respond: it simply flared lightly, touching her, and when it did, Cherri felt as if it were touching her very soul. Instinctively, she grabbed her heart and squeezed it, feeling it ache. Bad memories flooded her mind, as if the fire had touched the most sinful parts of her soul. "Okay, I get the idea" she said, closing the box.
"Why are you sending it away?" Niffty asked. "It was nice"
"What are you... ah, why am I asking?" Cherri grumbled, preferring not to investigate Niffty's madness. She took the Ark in her hands and was relieved to discover that it no longer weighed as much as a block of marble, as if it had been lightened to make it easier for her to carry. "Okay, let's go. We need to find someone... preferably an ally"
"Okay! Leave it to me!" Niffty exclaimed, and began sniffing the ground like a puppy.
Cherri was confused for a moment. "Right... you did that on Earth, too" she said, a little uneasily.
They walked for about half a hour, and then Niffty stopped: "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, tell me" Cherri replied.
"I'm asking because I honestly don't understand everything" Niffty said with her usual innocent smile. "Is that guy in armor flying toward us one of the allies?"
"Guy in armor?" Cherri exclaimed, confused, but she didn't have time to ask herself any more questions: as if a meteor had just landed, the ground in front of her exploded, raising a cloud of dust. Cherri coughed loudly and gritted her teeth as she saw what looked like a man completely covered in heavy armor walking toward her.
"There, that one!" Niffty said, pointing. "Is that one of us?"
"Generally speaking, you could say we're on the same side" the man said, and the helmet opened to reveal a severed head attached to cables, protected by a layer of glass to shield it from radiation.
Cherri's jaw dropped in shock. "Wait a minute... you're that crazy guy who messed up Sheol! Mephistopheles!" she exclaimed, backing away.
"My name is Ahriman now" Mephisto replied. "I know it's a surprise to see me alive, but for your security you have to come with me"
"Stay back!" Cherri exclaimed. "I have an Ark full of divine wrath and I'm not afraid to use it! I hope it doesn't burn me too"
Mephisto looked at the Ark with some interest, then back at her. "I told you, we're on the same side. Cain and Abel sent me to get you"
Cherri's eyes widened: "You... are with those two?"
"Zestial planted a tracking device on your clothes so we could track you as soon as you returned" Mephisto explained. "As soon as we detected the signal, we moved. Cain and Abel couldn't come here because it's too far from where they can emerge, so they sent me. I understand it's hard for you to trust, but please follow me. I'll take you to a place Adam can't reach, and where you can inform us of how the fight in Heaven ended"
Cherri frantically patted her clothes and found a small device that resembled a bug. "Oh... that guy is really creepy" she commented. "Okay, I'll come with you, but I'm keeping the Ark"
Even though she didn't like it, she didn't have much choice. Whether Mephisto was truly allied with Cain and Abel or not, he certainly wasn't going to give up the Ark. If she refused to follow him, he would attack her; and since he'd flown toward her so quickly, he could easily fly behind her and rip out her spine before she could reopen the Ark. The best thing to do for now was to avoid getting killed.
Mephisto nodded. "So be it. Thank you for your cooperation, young lady" he said, and he pulled a strange object from his armor. "Please come closer. I'll take you to the Refugium right away, where you'll be safe..."
Cherri was about to ask what the Refugium was, but she realized Mephisto had fallen silent and was looking up. She looked up, and to her surprise, she saw numerous vortices that looked like something gelatinous and globular, flying across the sky, disappearing behind the dark clouds. "Uh, cute!" Niffty exclaimed, climbing onto her head. "What are they?"
"Something very bad" Mephisto said through gritted teeth, turning on his key. "Let's go to the Refugium, now!"
"You really have to see this"
Fizzarolli had led Blitz to a room near the hospital's roof. Not even an hour earlier, straying that far from the basement would have been considered suicidal given the number of infected and drones, but now the building was completely empty. Every single zombie had headed for the entrance and left.
They'd noticed because they hadn't heard the noise they made when they moved around the hospital for a while. Finally, Blitz, suspicious, had agreed to Fizzarolli's request to be sent on reconnaissance again. The imp clown returned ten minutes later, claiming the hospital was now empty and that something big was happening, so he took Blitz upstairs to show him.
And now Blitz had to admit that the effort of climbing all the way up there with a respirator and life-saving machine attached had been well worth it. Because when they reached the window, hiding behind curtains, of course, they saw the infected gathering in the middle of the streets, marching like an entire army, with the drones leading them like sheepdogs.
"What are they doing?" Fizzarolli asked.
"It looks like they're gathering" Blitz muttered. "The people controlling the drones ordered them all to go to the same spot. But for what purpose...?"
The answer came a few minutes later: the drones abandoned the infected, now almost entirely gathered in the larger squares, and then portals opened above them, from which fire bombs emerged, instantly reducing them to ashes. The zombies let out bloodcurdling screams as they burned, but they remained there, unmoving, allowing themselves to be struck. In less than a minute, not a single one of them was left standing. The drones flew among them to make sure they were all dead.
"There's your answer" Blitz grunted. "They were rounding them up so they could eliminate them"
Fizzarolli gritted his teeth. "They completed the invasion, and now they want to end it?"
But Blitz wasn't convinced. "No... something else happened. They could have just waited for the zombies to die on their own; in that state, they wouldn't have lasted another two days. There was no point in wasting weapons"
Fizzarolli didn't understand. So was there something else coming? But soon his face lost even more color: "Blitz...?"
"I see it" his friend said through gritted teeth.
Something was happening beneath the corpses of the now truly dead demons: it was as if the ground were turning. It swelled and shook a few times, and a strange substance, incorporeal but strangely gelatinous, which seemed to be composed of thousands and thousands of small globules, began to emerge from it. Finally, the ground spat the thing out completely, and it began to fly upward, straight toward the ceiling of the Ring.
Fizzarolli was speechless. "Those... were souls?" he muttered.
Blitz broke out in a cold sweat. "I don't like this at all" he commented.
Adam stood atop a mountain, absorbing all the souls that came to him. His body continually emitted sparks of energy as he attempted to contain the ever-increasing power. More than once, he felt like he was about to explode.
The souls of the hellborns weren't like human souls: they were much weaker, less developed, less energetic. There was a reason the overlords greatly preferred taking the souls of sinners rather than those of the much more numerous Hellborns. Even if some did, it didn't guarantee the same growth in power... unless, of course, they were powerful souls, like those of nobles or Sins, but obtaining those was easier said than done.
But even if they were weaker, if accumulated enough, they were a good source of energy, and Adam couldn't afford to be picky. As long as he held the Sins' souls, he had complete control over their Rings, and so as soon as the demons died, he could forcibly prevent their souls from merging with Hell and force them to come to him. Binding them to himself was even more difficult, but just as he had done with the Sins, he devoured them all.
He had to use all the power he could get, he couldn't afford to be picky. He would have preferred to have many Goetia at his disposal, so as to have very strong souls, but almost all of them had died in the first battle, and those who survived certainly kept a low profile. Every ounce of power was now crucial.
All he had to do was order his descendants to kill all the hellborns they had infected with their microdroids.
Luckily, all the nations of Earth were still under his control. All he'd had to do was send Lute to tell them to do it, and they'd done it. Sure, sending her to Earth when the fabric of reality hadn't yet stabilized after her escapade with the angelic embassy had been a bit difficult... but Adam had simply replicated what he'd done with Lucifer, only in reverse: he'd hurled a beam at his axe, and in doing so, it had cut reality, and that reality had been directed toward Earth. More than enough to send his most faithful angel to do the job.
Lute had brought the humans a very simple message: that it was necessary to kill all the infected demons immediately, without waiting for the expected invasion time, and it had to be done painfully. Even though this meant leaving more survivors free from the plague of the infection, the governments had obeyed her request, killing all the demons with fire, which was known to be very painful. At that point, Adam had simply had to bring the souls of the hellborn to himself using his control over the six Rings, and then bind them to himself by forming contracts: since those souls had lived in pain for quite some time, and their end had been even more painful, it was possible to bind them to himself with a simple ploy to spare them further pain. It was complicated, since unlike last time, he had to contact each soul to establish a contract with it, but even so, it was fine.
"Everything's ready, sir" a familiar voice said from behind him.
Adam turned and saw Vaggie. She had put on her Exorcist armor again, a clear sign she was ready to fight. "Good" he murmured. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Anyway... you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. If you've had a change of heart, you can go. You don't have to fight by my side if you don't want to"
He expected a curt reply, but instead Vaggie, to his surprise, gave a small smile. "There was a time when you never would have given me a choice"
Adam looked at her, confused: "What?"
"I was just pointing out that... you've changed too, at least a little" Vaggie told him. "The last time we were on the same team and I chose differently from you, you exiled me and left me maimed. Even after that, when you became a demon, you always wanted to make me do what you wanted. This time, however, you're giving me a choice"
Adam was surprised for a moment. Yes, it was true. "Maybe I'm just tired" he told her. "And I don't want to hurt you again"
"I think you're changing, even if you don't want to see it" Vaggie told him. "Maybe it's because you're no longer sure you'll win... but you're different"
Adam grunted. "Tell me something, Vaggie" he said. "Do you regret sparing that sinner that day?"
Vaggie shook her head. "Honestly, no. It's true, I don't know what that sinner did; maybe he really was a horrible person. But... I don't know, showing him mercy made me... feel like a real angel, for once. Do you know what I mean?"
Adam nodded. "Yes, I understand" he told her. "I think I've forgotten what it feels like to be an angel"
"You haven't been a demon for that long" Vaggie pointed out.
"I think I became a demon a long time ago, I just didn't have the body yet" Adam murmured. "I spent so long refusing to feel pity that I think I've forgotten what it truly means. I'm sparing these souls only because I've discovered that redemption is possible and want to study the phenomenon better, not because I feel pity for them. Perhaps, if I could feel that pity, or at least simulate it... things might have turned out differently"
Vaggie couldn't help but chuckle. "Weird, isn't it?" she said. "We started this with me having doubts and you trying to push your worldview on me... and we end it with you having doubts and asking me for advice"
Adam chuckled back. "Yeah, life is really weird sometimes" he told her. He paused briefly, and then he said: "Regardless of how this ends... I'm sorry. For everything"
"You already apologized to me" Vaggie reminded him. "Lute's the one who still gives me the dirty looks"
Adam shook his head. "That's just the way it is" he told her. And then he confessed: "You know, she and I kissed"
He expected a shocked reaction, but instead Vaggie exclaimed, "Oh, it's about time! Did it take the end of the world for you two to get something done?"
Adam looked at her in surprise: "Did you know she had feelings for me?"
"We all knew. I think there are still bets among the girls about who of you two would make the first move" Vaggie told him. "Even Charlie asked me if you two were together. Come on, didn't you see how she reacted when she saw you die? That's not the desperation of someone who only sees you as a role model"
Adam grunted. "Was it really that obvious?"
"Yeah. If you didn't notice, than you truly haven't had a truly romantic relationship since... sorry, nevermind" Vaggie told him. "You would have noticed the signs too otherwise"
Adam rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the jab. "What do you think?" he asked.
"Why do you ask me? It's none of my business" Vaggie replied. "And anyway, I don't think there's a problem. You both have the right to be happy. Maybe this will end with you two sitting in a mountain cabin like an old married couple, raising your daughter together"
Adam raised an eyebrow: "Why a daughter and not a son?"
Vaggie shrugged: "Personal preference. If I had a child with Charlie, I'd want it to be a girl"
Adam ignored her. "Well, thanks for your support... if you can call it that" he commented. "You seem strangely peaceful today"
"I am" Vaggie replied.
"Why?" Adam asked her. "I'm honestly shitting myself with anxiety"
"Because you're afraid you won't make it, or because you're afraid of the consequences of your actions?" Vaggie asked.
Adam grunted. "You didn't answer my question" he said simply.
Vaggie sighed. "I'm afraid of what the future holds, too. I don't know if we'll win, or if it will be a fair victory. I don't know if I'll regret helping you or be disgusted by it. But despite that, I'm at peace" she said. "I'm at peace because I still intend to do what I believe is right until the end. And because I'm sure that Charlie, in the end, will bring us the answers we seek"
Adam was silent for a moment. "So... you just have faith?"
Vaggie shrugged with a smirk. "We're angels. If we can't have faith, who can?"
Adam rolled his eyes. "What if you'll regret your actions?"
"I guess I'll slap myself a few times, I'll have a proper ice cream binge complete with crying, and then... I'll try to make up for the things I'll regret" Vaggie told him.
"And what if it's impossible to make up for?" Adam asked again.
Vaggie shook her head, though she didn't lose her smirk. "Until a few days ago, I didn't think it was possible for you to admit you were afraid" she said. "After this, I think nothing is truly impossible"
"Be serious" Adam grumbled.
"I am" Vaggie told him.
Adam looked at her from the corner of his eye. He seemed to be searching for some sign that she was lying, but finding none, he lowered his gaze. "Why do you want to fight by my side again?" he asked. "The Messiah himself told me I'm on a path of pain, and pain is exactly what you wanted to avoid. So why?"
Vaggie shrugged. "Because honestly... I don't think you'll ever get to the end of that path. Another, maybe, but not that one" she replied. "I used to think you'd stop at nothing, and maybe it's true. But now I've seen you in a more human light. That gives me hope... and I want to be as close as possible to you when something... well, something that will change everything happens. I don't want to miss the moment, or the chance to help you"
Adam sighed. "So, once again, you just have faith"
"Who knows? Maybe this time it's well-placed faith" Vaggie told him. "All the girls here already know what happened in Heaven; Lute and I didn't hide it from them. They too know about your doubts, your actions, and they have faith too. Some of them in you, some in fate, some in the future, some in God, but we all have it. Maybe it wouldn't hurt you to have a little faith in something"
Adam snorted. "And you? Do you have faith in me?"
"I have faith that by staying by your side and helping you when you need it, I'll truly see the man who taught me to fight again. The man who showed me how to hold a spear, who guided me, and who tried to make me a person who stood up for what was right" Vaggie told him. "Maybe... I've missed the person I called my master a little, too. I trust that when this is over, I'll be able to meet him again. Or at least... something similar to him"
Adam was silent for a long time. Then he shook his head. "Enough chatting" he commented, cracking his neck. "It's time to begin"
Vaggie nodded. "So, what's your plan to recover the Ark?"
"I don't intend to recover the Ark" Adam replied dryly.
Vaggie was surprised by his words. "But... the Ark is the final piece of your weapon"
"No. The final piece of my weapon is the power the Ark contains. A power capable of connecting everything, even the most distant" Adam replied. "If I were our adversaries, I would have already taken the Ark to a secret location I have no way of accessing. Searching for it would be pointless, a waste of time, and an intolerable risk. Therefore, the best option is to give up"
Vaggie bit her lip. "So?"
Adam raised his arm, which was briefly enveloped in a golden aura. "When I was fighting the archangels, I absorbed some of that power. It's a paltry amount compared to what I need, but if I can't have the Ark, then I must use all the divine energy I already possess"
"But you just said it's not enough" Vaggie said.
"No, that's not enough. But I can refine the Ark's power that I have to maximize its effect, and using such effect to multiply it. Just like a factory using coal to extract more energy than it would normally emit" Adam said, narrowing his eyes. "All I need is enough energy to start this process. And I need a lot of it"
"And that's why you absorb souls?" Vaggie asked. "You want to use them as fuel?"
Adam swallowed the last of the souls with a growl. "I need these because at this point it's imperative to use everything at my disposal. But I need a lot more energy" he said. "Fortunately, I don't have to worry about hiding anymore!"
And with that, he knelt on the ground and raised his hands, slamming a violent fist into the earth, cracking the crust.
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 105): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170161888
Among the lions (chapter 16): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173638837
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 159: The battle of Sheol (part 1)
Notes:
WARNING: This will be the last HCWM chapter for August, because tomorrow I'll go on vacation to Belgium, and as I already said many times, I haven't finished writing the story yet, so since I'll be gone for two weeks, I'm forced to put it on hold. IHIFTHMBAL, instead, will continue as usual, as Arc 3, currently in publication, is already fully written. The same goes for ATL. Therefore, for those who only follow HCWM, you'll have to wait until Tuesday, September 2nd before the story continues. I apologize for the inconvenience, but after two years of non-stop work, I too want to enjoy a relaxing vacation.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After Adam left, Angel tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Sure, Heaven's security wasn't exactly high, considering all the dead angels, and the citizens were staying safe in their homes, but he was still pretty sure that if anyone saw a demon prowling the streets, an angry mob would immediately chase him, armed with the classic torches and pitchforks. So he tried to blend in as best he could, using his many arms to leap from building to building and his white fur to blend in; luckily, in Heaven they built everything in white and blue, so it was easy.
He finally reached a fountain, where he was pretty sure a certain snake Adam had thrown away would land. And sure enough, he found it floating lifeless in the water. He dove in and pulled it out. "Hey, Pen, are you still alive?" he asked, shaking his face a little.
Pentious spat some water from his mouth. "Ugh... yes, thank you, Angel"
Angel dragged him out of the water, placing him on the flowerbed surrounding the fountain. "Well, at least you're not broken" he commented. "Look on the bright side; it would have been worse if you'd landed on a wall or the road"
"You know that the impact resistance of a liquid increases with the speed of the object hitting it, right?" Pentious replied.
"And you know you lost me at the word 'resistance', right?" Angel snapped back. "Come on, stop using such big words, you know I'm an ignorant. Get back on your feet... I mean, tail, and let's get out of here"
Pentious stood upright, albeit a little unsteadily. "What a day..." he commented. "Adam?"
"Back in Hell" Angel confirmed. "But he definitely took a beating, he couldn't even stand. And considering Cherri and Niffty had the Ark, our allies now have the upper hand"
"I hope so. Honestly, I trust Zestial less than I trusted you when you promised you'd clean the entire hotel" Pentious grumbled.
"Hey, I never went back on that promise, I just didn't specify when I'd clean it" Angel told him with a smirk. "I'll do it eventually, but if I redeem myself before I do it, then it won't be my fault, right? It's called a cop-out"
Pentious chuckled. At least Angel's joke had helped ease the tension a bit. Even if his smile didn't last long. "I know the answer is probably no, but... do you know anything about Cherri?"
"You know I couldn't have contacted her in any way" Angel told him. "I know you're worried, but she went back to Hell almost immediately, she had plenty of time to hide and think of a plan. And Adam can't possibly be looking for her in that condition"
Pentious looked down for a moment. He hoped with all his heart that his friend was right and that Cherri was okay. "Why didn't you go back to Hell too?" he asked.
"Oh, thanksssss, Angel, it wassss ssssso thoughtful of you to ssssstay behind to check if I were okay!" Angel said, imitating the snake's hissing voice, rather poorly at that. "I'm not leaving a friend behind, and anyway, we still have to find Husk and make sure he's okay"
"I'll do it" Pentious told him. "You go back to Hell"
"No" Angel replied.
"Angel, I'm safe, I'm an angel. And so is Husk. I can track him down easily" Pentious pointed out. "You, on the other hand, are a demon. If they see you, they'll capture you, or worse... kill you. So it's best if you go back to Hell right away. Husk and I will be back as soon as I track him down, I promise"
"Yeah, maybe it would be safer. But I don't care" Angel told him. "This time, I don't intend to leave anyone behind. I have to make sure we all get to the end of this safe and sound"
Pentious was silent for a moment, and then sighed. "I know how stubborn you are, so it's okay" he told him. "But only if you disguise yourself first. I'm not leading a demon around Heaven with only good intentions as protection"
Angel nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. How do we do it?"
"Well, for starters, let's go somewhere more secluded" Pentious said, dragging him off the road. "And then... let's hope we can figure something out"
"Good, here this thing will be safe" Abel commented, looking at the Ark of the Covenant.
Mephisto had brought Cherri to the Refugium less than two minutes earlier, and that was all it took to explain the situation. Cherri had been half-minded enough to go find Charlie, but since the door couldn't be reopened, she'd had to bite the bullet and wait. "I'll still hold onto this, though" she warned him.
"We're fine with that. As long as it's here in the Refugium, our father can't get to it" Abel told her. "Basically, it's already in the most secure safe in the universe. Whether you're glued to it or not doesn't matter"
Cherri grunted in annoyance, but she didn't protest further. Just then, Mephisto reappeared before them. "So, report?" Cain asked.
"The other demons have almost recovered all the human souls Zestial managed to steal from Adam" Mephisto replied. "With them, we can at least strengthen ourselves a little"
"How are you doing it?" Cherri asked. "You're not Adam. How do you manage to get all those souls?"
"A temporary contract" Mephisto replied. "When Zestial forced Adam to spit them out here, they began rebuilding their bodies, but the radiation from the bombs meant they were in constant physical pain. We took advantage of this to manually retrieve them and offer them a simple deal: an end to the pain in exchange for their power in this battle. As you can imagine, they're easy to convince"
"The more powerful we become, the better" Abel commented. "Even though Zestial dealt him a severe blow, our father remains a top-priority threat. If we want to capture him, we'll have to use everything we have"
"We have Lucifer and Michael on our side, victory is assured" Cain pointed out.
"I wouldn't be so sure. This is our father we're talking about" Abel said through gritted teeth. "Is he still absorbing the souls of the hellborns?"
"Apparently" Mephisto confirmed. "It's a good thing he doesn't have control over Pride Ring, or he would have reabsorbed the souls Zestial managed to steal from him as well"
Abel nodded. "Hmm. We need Zestial. We need to know where our father is hiding. If we have that information, we can attack him with everything we have"
"Our men are patrolling all of Pride, but it's difficult given the vast territory we have to explore" Mephisto explained. "We're using locator spells, but Zestial is shielded from them to prevent being tracked. If he's unconscious or knocked out, he probably won't be able to send a distress call"
"And of course, there's a chance he's dead" Cain said, sounding a little regretful.
Abel sighed. "If Zestial were dead, he would have made sure the message reached us somehow anyway" he told him. "He knew how important this mission was. We have to..."
Just then, a portal swung open, and two demons arrived, dragging a badly injured Zestial. "We found him" they said.
"Sorry, guys, the impact was pretty messy" Zestial muttered. "I have the information we need"
"Do you know where our father's lair is?" Abel asked.
"Yes, and we need to act now that he's weak" Zestial replied.
Abel nodded. "Whatever happens, he can't access the Ark of the Covenant, so it will remain in the Refugium. Once outside, destroy all the access keys" he said.
"Hey, wait a minute! So I'm stuck here!?" Cherri exclaimed.
"My brother and I are bound to this place. We'll return voluntarily in about half an hour" Cain explained. "There's no risk of being locked in here, if that's what you're worried about. On the contrary, as long as you stay in here, our father can't reach you"
Cherri was somewhat reassured by that. “Okay… so what do I…?”
“You stay here, that’s all” Abel simply told her. “Everyone else, follow me. As for Alastor…”
“I’ve already made sure he’s locked away” Mephisto said.
Abel nodded. “Good. Let’s go, then”
“Wait! Alastor’s here!?” Cherri exclaimed. “Seriously, what did I miss!?”
No one answered her. Abel flung open a portal, and all the demons present followed him through. Once outside, as agreed, they destroyed their keys immediately. Abel and Cain stayed in areas Charlie had already visited, knowing that otherwise their time limit would kick in: until the battle began, it was best not to waste even a gram of energy.
It was among the ruins of Pentagram City that they all reunited. Michael and Lucifer, who in turn had done nothing but systematically scour all of Hell, had come immediately when told they knew where Adam was. The two angels eyed the small crowd of demons with a rather strange expression; Mephisto preferred to avoid being noticed by them and put his helmet back on his head so as not to be recognizable. “Honestly, these people mean little to me” Lucifer remarked.
“They were never prominent figures” Abel told him. “Not enough to draw your attention, at least”
“Mhm” Lucifer replied simply. In truth, he didn’t seem particularly interested in that matter.
Michael, unlike him, was far more attentive. The revelation that all this time there had been a secret place hidden even from the king of Hell was unsettling. If that were true, then perhaps even he couldn’t access it… maybe. He would have to try, once this was over.
After all, the Refugium was currently of absolute use… but it could also become a fortress. Michael was not one to expect the worst from people, but after what had happened in the past few hours, he knew he couldn’t lower his guard. Adam’s sons were his friends for now, but he had no guarantee they would remain so in the future.
Their own father, after all, was living proof that someone once trusted could become dangerous…
“Enough talk” Lucifer suddenly said. “Tell me where Adam is and let’s finish this”
Michael raised an eyebrow at his brother, and Abel too seemed tense. Lucifer was far too quiet and his expression far too calm. That wasn’t like him. But ever since he had fought Adam, his whole demeanor had changed.
Michael wasn’t sure whether to take it as a good or bad sign. It seemed the battle had made Lucifer more cautious, or rather, more aware of what was happening around him. He no longer treated things with his usual lightness. Perhaps fearing, even briefly, that he had lost friends had truly left an impact.
Zestial raised a finger. “Up there” he said, pointing to the moon.
The news was surprising, to say the least. “Sheol?” Lucifer exclaimed. “But we devastated it last time…”
“No, you devastated the side facing Hell. Adam set up his lair on the opposite side” Zestial explained. “I saw everything in his mind. When he decided to start all this, he knew he had to hide somewhere no one would look… and as the saying goes, what better hiding place than in plain sight? Or in this case, above our heads. He used the same spells Mephisto and his people once used to reach the moon, and built an underground base on its dark side. All his hideouts here in Pride were just decoys, and whenever he needed to transport something or someone up there, he locked them in a truck so they wouldn’t see where they were going, drove for a while on some random road, then opened a portal. That’s why even the kidnapped overlords, not even Alastor, knew the true location”
“Makes sense” Michael commented. “None of us thought to check there. He would have…”
Lucifer waited no longer: he flared his wings and launched himself skyward, cutting through the clouds. Michael darted after him before he could accelerate too much. “Hey, what are you planning to do!?” he demanded, grabbing him by a wing just before he could leave Hell’s atmosphere.
Lucifer stared at Sheol in the sky. Now, without the shroud of black clouds in between, it was much more visible. It looked farther away than usual, likely because it was: he had pushed it back during their previous battle, after all. Not only that, but the entire face turned toward Hell was still covered by the ocean of molten lava he and Adam had unleashed. “I want to know where my daughter is now” he replied. “And I want to end this once and for all”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”
Lucifer didn’t answer right away, but there wasn’t much time for it anyway: a flash of light rose in the sky. The ocean of lava on Sheol’s surface seemed to explode upward, as if something had pushed from below; millions of tons of molten magma were flung out, falling like meteors. It was as though the moon was stirring from within.
Abel emerged from the clouds and flew up to join them. “What is that?” he asked as soon as he saw the moon.
Lucifer gave a grunt. “Looks like Adam’s stirring up trouble again” was all he said.
“Something is forcing its way into Sheol’s core, pushing from the opposite side. That’s what’s causing those upheavals” Michael said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about who it is”
“Why?” Cain immediately asked. “You, winged warrior, why would our father have any interest in descending into that celestial body’s core?”
Michael drew a deep breath. “Sheol was created to give a safe place for good souls to live before they could be welcomed into Heaven” he explained. “Ever wonder why the souls that entered it kept their human appearance, even in this realm?”
“I assume there’s some kind of protection” Cain said. “I’ve suspected it for a while, but now you’ve confirmed it”
“Sheol was created by the Father, and He placed part of His divine power into its core so that land could not be touched by the corruption of this realm. A piece of Hell where Hell had no dominion” Michael said.
“Sounds serious” Abel commented. “What could our father be planning?”
Michael shook his head. “I have no idea” he replied. “Let’s go!”
And with that, instead of flying to the moon, he opened a portal in front of them so everyone could follow. He and Lucifer entered immediately, followed by Abel and all the other demons. They found themselves on Sheol’s far side, still relatively untouched by the effects of the battle that had ravaged the other hemisphere... though here, too, deep cracks marred the ground, caused by impacts from the other side. Before them loomed a domed structure, clearly built to descend underground; most of the base, as glimpsed through the nearest fissures, was subterranean. And it was certainly sturdy: it appeared to have withstood almost untouched all the earthquakes triggered by the previous battle between the fallen angel and the first man.
Adam was there, seated on a rocky outcrop, still as a statue carved from war itself. His dull robe, still torn from the battle in Heaven, barely reflected the cold light filtering from the dim sky. At his feet, his axe was planted in the ground, ready to be raised at any moment.
However, no one rushed at him. They were all smart enough to know this wasn’t the real Adam: he’d never be so foolish as to expose himself like that. A quick check with mystical senses was enough to confirm it was only a hologram.
Abel stepped forward, dragging Cain with him, of course. “Father” he greeted.
Adam lifted his gaze toward them, his voice cracking the silence like a whip. “Sons” he said, each syllable struck like stone. “You’ve come. And you’ve brought the army. I expected nothing less”
“Father, no one here wants to fight” Abel told him. “You can still give up. Let’s talk like civilized people”
“Yes, I could do that. I’ve thought about it” Adam replied. “Give it all up, surrender to you… maybe it would be the best path. But tell me, you, in my place, would you do it?”
Abel’s tail flicked with clear nervousness. “I would… if I had something more important to protect” he answered honestly.
Adam nodded. “Yeah… you haven’t changed a bit, son" he said, with a strange tone. “And you, Cain? Would you surrender?”
“Of course I would” was the first murderer’s reply. “But only if I was cornered, or saw a better opportunity”
Adam chuckled. “You too haven’t changed. You really are my sons” he said. “May I ask if you’re getting along now?”
“We’ll be happy to answer all your questions… after you’ve surrendered” Abel told him. “Please, Father. We’ve waited centuries to see you again. Let us greet you in love, not in anger”
Adam closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “I’d like to, son. I really would” he confessed. “But the universe is now broken. The consequences of all my actions will be impossible to ignore, whether on Earth, in Heaven, or in Hell. If I don’t end this, there could be more death than ever”
Abel was about to reply, but another rustle of wings sounded beside him. Lucifer had landed, walking toward Adam. His expression this time was unlike any other: no challenge, no anger. It was unreadable.
No one could tell what he was thinking. Except Adam. “I remember when I first wore that expression” he just said.
“My daughter” Lucifer said to him. “Where is she?”
Adam shook his head. “I have no idea. I’m being honest here” he replied. “She had… work to do. God spoke to her, apparently. I don’t know what she had to do, but she didn’t want anyone following her”
Lucifer’s eyes widened slightly at the news that God Himself had spoken to his daughter and ordered her to do something. He hoped that, whatever Charlie’s mission was, it wasn’t too burdensome. And above all, that it didn’t involve martyrdom.
Adam gave a low, teasing grunt. “Last time, you failed to take me. I assume someone like you struggles to accept failure” he said. “This time, you have a second chance. Here, in the very place where we fought last time. One face of the moon for the first clash, the other for the second. Poetic, don’t you think?”
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. The tension in Adam’s words was palpable. “Let’s end this here” he told him. “If you want a second fight, come out here”
“Why? Last time, I was the one who came to you” Adam said. “Now it’s your turn”
Adam rose unhurriedly and grasped his axe, running the blade along one finger; the metal scraping his claw rang out in a harsh, dark sound. “Whatever happens, it ends today. I intend to put my all into this, so if you defeat me, you’ve won” he said. “You know where to find me. Come and get me, if you can”
The hologram vanished, and the entire area around them lit up. Thousands of magic circles flared into being around them, forming a single titanic magic circle. But Lucifer was not in the least impressed. “If you think you can get away with just this…” he said. “… you’ve already lost!”
And with that, he completely unleashed himself, revealing his true form before the stunned eyes of all. The power of the angel once dearest to God erupted in all its violence. His magic flared, and he began to tear into that of the magic circle, breaking it apart rapidly.
This time, the fallen angel had no intention of playing around.
However, the massive magic circle did not vanish. Even as Lucifer broke it, it was made of smaller concentric circles that activated independently when their link to the main one was severed. They were like gears in a mechanism forced to turn slowly by the whole system, but the moment the rest of the mechanism was removed, they spun with extreme speed. And that was exactly what was happening: as soon as Lucifer shattered the main magic circle, all the smaller ones that composed it activated and unleashed their fury.
Of course, it didn’t so much as scratch the fallen angel, who didn’t even seem to notice what was happening around him. It was, however, all too evident to the other demons behind him, who began to be struck. “Lucifer, you damn idiot!” Cain exclaimed. “You’ll end up hurting all of us like this!”
But Lucifer gave no sign of stopping. “Honestly? I don’t care anymore!” was his only response, and with the tips of his wings he struck the ground. The earth split at the impact, and a chasm half the length of Sheol tore open. It wasn’t a mere collapse of terrain: it was as if Lucifer had taken the moon and forced it open like an orange segment.
Abel backed away toward Michael in concern. “What do we do?” he murmured.
Michael narrowed his eyes. “It’s the first time I’ve seen my brother this determined” he admitted. “I’m not sure I can predict what will happen”
“Then let him play the hero” Cain said. Both Abel and Michael looked at him, and he shrugged. “What? They want to fight, let them fight. Worst-case scenario, we’ve got you, muscle-bound angel. If Dad’s about to die, you intervene; if Lucifer falls into a trap, you intervene. Either way, it’s better for you to stay back, so you don’t end up in the same trap or cause conflict between us. Always good to have a strong piece in reserve”
“That’s…!” Abel started to say, but then he fell silent. “… pretty logical”
“Obviously, I came up with it” Cain replied. “Dad and Lucifer want to beat each other up, so let them. We’ll on the other hand focus on completely cleaning out this stupid hunk of rock in space and taking everything that’s here. When one of them is about to lose, the big guy here will step in to stop the fight, and we’ll all head home with what we wanted. You agree, big guy?”
Michael let out a grunt, not at all pleased with the lack of loyalty in that strategy. But at the same time, he couldn’t deny it actually made sense. And since Lucifer didn’t seem willing to listen to reason, trying to stop him now would most likely provoke an internal conflict between them, something Adam would surely take advantage of. Better to let him go on and wait until the very last moment to put an end to the matter.
The violent destruction of the defensive magic circle and the sudden opening of the chasm had not been without consequences: numerous demons were struck by residual magic and hurled away at high speed. The magic circle had still been designed to repel any threat Adam might face, and while it couldn’t stand against Lucifer, the same couldn’t be said for the demons. As soon as the chasm opened, many of those who had been hit found themselves plummeting inside, crashing against the walls… except for one.
Mephisto also fell, but as soon as he regained a bit of clarity, he immediately activated his armor. A pair of rockets flared to life from his back, slowing his fall until it stopped just before he hit the ground. Sure, even if he had crashed, the armor probably would have held, but since his life depended on it, he didn’t want to risk damaging it.
He looked around, realizing too late that he had ended up in the very center of Sheol, just above its pulsing heart of pure celestial energy. And above it stood someone Mephisto had hoped never to encounter. “YOU!?” Adam exclaimed, his face like stone.
Mephisto staggered back, cold sweat dripping down his brow. “Shit…”
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 106): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/175666791
Among the lions (chapter 17): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/173639551
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 160: The battle of Sheol (part 2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
In the end, he had won.
Centuries of preparation, centuries of planning, endless years spent mustering forces, forging new weapons, preparing new strategies... all to get to that point. To prove to the entire universe that it was pointless to cling to a senseless morality emanating from an absent God. To demonstrate that all humanity, even the only one who was defined as sinless, was just destructive and violent.
He had understood it, long ago. Even as a child, in an era where humans could still admire the last living dinosaurs, and he spent his days silently enduring the torture of men stronger than himself, he had heard the stories of the birth of the world and of the fruit that had changed everything. Ever since then, it had sounded ridiculous to him that a simple apple could be the cause of so much suffering. But he had always been smarter than others, and so he understood.
The fruit had always been merely a scapegoat. In reality, humanity was born to dominate. After all, God had created mankind in His image, and God dominated all things, so why shouldn't mankind have within itself the pure desire to dominate? That desire to subjugate, enslave, and yoke everything to its command. A strength and ruthlessness that no other creature in the universe possessed.
God knew this, and that's why He deceived them. When He realized what He had created, He knew He had to take action, or humanity would destroy Him too. So He deceived them, placing them in a prison disguised as a garden, and keeping them happy with amusements and pleasures; and when that didn't work, He blamed all the evils on the fruit, so that humans would convince themselves they had been changed, that they had strayed from their original perfection, and so they turned to Him and obeyed Him in an attempt to return to that state of bliss, when in reality the true natural state was something far more cruel, bestial, hellish.
This is why Ahriman Tubal-Cain, as he was called back then, had spent his entire life trying to unravel this deception. He had completely rejected every word of God, and had risen through the ranks of his tribe alone, then expanded his influence to every other people nearby. His every action served to strengthen him, to create the ideal of the perfect man he so longed for. He discovered new sciences, new techniques, even discovering and establishing the foundations of metallurgy. And he did all this by denying the name of God, to demonstrate to everyone that even without Him it was possible to reach the highest peaks, and that no God could stop him, just as no God had ever come to help those he conquered and enslaved.
But Ahriman was still mortal, and as such, he still had to fall ill and age. As his age advanced and his hair grayed, his eyes became very sensitive to light, leading him to seek less and less exposure to the sun. Soon, he found himself spending almost all his time in his forge trying to craft new weapons, so much so that even his skin became unaccustomed to the sun, and the few times he went out during the day, not only was he blinded, but he also burned much more quickly than others. His servants and slaves began to whisper, saying that it was his own evil that was corrupting him, making him increasingly dark and distant from the light. The perfect image of a strong man he had built for himself began to falter more and more.
Ahriman was unwilling to accept it. He could not bear to be defeated in this way. He began to seek magic, summoning forces beyond normal comprehension, in the hope of making himself young again. But nothing could forever slow the inexorable advance of old age. And finally, in a fit of madness, he had taken the candles and thrown them to the floor, setting fire to his forge; everyone had fled, but he had remained there, welcoming the fire that burned him. "Let it not be said that a power greater than myself decreed my death!" was the last thing he shouted. "It was written by my own hand, as was everything else in my life! No one in the entire universe, no God that there was, is, or ever will be, was capable of putting me down!"
And with that, he burned in the fire, and even his bones were reduced to smoldering ash.
But that was not his end. He was reborn in another place, a darker one, and in another body, stronger, more developed, free of his mortal restraints. Hell was now his home, yet another prank devised by God to keep all humans under his control. But Ahriman vowed to break that control by leading the souls locked in Hell to rebel against their jailers and conquer the rest of the universe, proving that God's power was indeed fragile and that humans were the true absolute rulers. So he took to the streets of Hell and delivered a speech that inflamed the hearts of the demons, calling on them to take back what was theirs; and it was then that Ahriman renamed himself Mephistopheles, 'He who does not love the light'.
It hadn't taken him long to become adored, feared, and obeyed like a king. The demons hated him, but at the same time they saw him as the figurehead who could lead them to glory. But as he prepared his offensive, he began to feel dissatisfied. First, he could see that there were people far more powerful than him out there, and amassing enough strength to fight them would be extremely difficult. But above all, Mephistopheles knew he would never truly be able to form a united front to invade Heaven. There were too many humans who still bowed their heads to that false and lying God, and even if he conquered them, they would undoubtedly form pockets of resistance within his empire.
No... to truly win, to lead humanity to its rightful throne... Mephisto knew he was not enough. He had to find a champion, a man glorious beyond measure, admired by every human. A man he would then have to break, thus showing everyone the true nature of man and severing forever any connection with the Almighty.
And who better than the father of humanity?
Ever since he was Ahriman, Mephisto had admired the first man to bear the name Adam. He had often found himself fantasizing about his strength and power, desiring them for himself. The only human admitted to Paradise, the last link between mankind and the divine. If Mephisto could break her, the truth he had spent years uncovering would be clear to all, and humanity would have its fallen champion to lead them to shatter the pearly gates.
And finally, he had succeeded. It had taken him many years, exhausting work, meticulous planning... but he had done it. In the end, he had awakened the monster. He had demonstrated that even the man who hadn't eaten the fruit could be responsible for the atrocity. He had made him what he wanted. He had won.
So... why couldn't he rejoice?
Maybe it was because the end result included the fact that he had become a severed head.
"It's been five hundred years now" Cain commented as he cut off his horns, as he always did after they'd regenerated. "You know that almost no one out there remembers you anymore?"
Mephisto just grunted. "I don't care"
"Oh, don't be like that. Don't you want to be a little updated on what's going on out there?" Cain asked in a teasing voice.
"I don't care" Mephisto repeated.
"You never care about anything" Cain said, coming up to his eye level and giving him a little pat on the nose. "You know, my brother and I recently recruited a mute, and he's still a much more brilliant conversationalist than you"
"Is it too hard for you to finish cutting off my horns and not talk to me?" Mephisto muttered.
"Oh, come on, I can only piss off anyone other than Abel on a few occasions. It's the only thing in my fucking life, let me have some fun" Cain replied.
"Very interesting. The terrible first assassin is so bored that he needs to annoy a head to entertain himself" Mephisto commented.
"At least I can entertain myself" Cain said half-sneeringly. "The aforementioned head, on the other hand, is just a poor idiot with no future who can't even afford a book to read, and whose name will soon be forgotten by almost no one. A head so sad, so boring, so hated, that even if he doesn't admit it he clearly waits for my arrival from the second I left this room since when I finally return"
Mephisto gritted his teeth in anger... and shame. Being called sad and ridiculous was humiliating, but that wasn't what bothered him. It was that Cain was right: he had now been reduced to waiting for his return every single day, and every second seemed like an era. Because even that annoying voice was better than the deafening silence that constantly surrounded him, where his thoughts could overwhelm his now weak and tired mind.
He would have preferred to hear the screech of metal breaking, the roar of a tower collapsing, even the screams of the dying. Those, at least, could be ignored, silenced by the iron discipline he had imposed upon himself for centuries. But the memories, no. Those were thorns that never stopped digging.
His last memory of Adam was something that haunted him at night. He could almost see himself at Adam’s feet again, bloodied, his face swollen with bruises, his eyes filled with fear and rage… he could feel him breaking his bones, crushing his spirit, humiliating his will. Mephisto remembered how he himself had tried to convince him that nothing had value, that everything was expendable in the face of final victory: the very words he had regretted the moment after, when Adam had turned and fixed him with that frozen stare. A stare unlike any other. No longer the eyes of a man, but of something else.
Mephisto was haunted by those visions. At first with terror, of course: he had suffered nightmares so dreadful they made him scream, he who had once terrified nations with nothing but his laughter. But then, after the first decades, something else had come. The fear hadn’t gone away, of course, but it was now tempered by another feeling: the awareness that he himself had created that monstrosity.
Adam was not like him. He was not a bastard hardened by conquest, forged by annihilation. And perhaps that was precisely what Mephisto had hated most in him: his humanity. Now he realized it. And it was exactly that humanity he had tried to crush beneath his fists, to bend to the will of his cold, ruthless desire. And in the end, he had succeeded, and created something he himself had come to fear. Something whose birth had marked the end of Creation as it was known, cleansing the Earth with the Great Flood.
And Mephisto knew it was all his fault.
But the remorse didn’t stop there. No. The guilt that burned in him went far beyond Adam, far beyond the Flood. It was the accumulated weight of centuries of blood.
Every land conquered, every civilization broken, now came back to haunt him like ghosts in the sidereal silence. He remembered Aegra, a nation by the sea, where people lived in cities suspended like lanterns above the waters and traveled on ships. The inhabitants, descendants of Aclima, had long since forged a kind of friendship with whales, megalodons, mosasaurs, who patrolled their borders in exchange for food. And he had torn those cities down one by one, killed all those beasts, and now the screams of the people he had burned alive returned to haunt him.
He remembered Meryos, a city built on a high crag, where the last surviving descendants of Awan flew on the backs of majestic pterosaurs. They had resisted with courage, hurling themselves against his army like desperate swarms. Three times they had driven him back, and three times he had returned. They had been annihilated by fire projectiles, the wings of their winged companions shredded and raining from the sky.
And then there had been Ceryon, a city of living archives, where generations devoted their existence to preserving the memory of their species. It had been founded by the descendants of Luluwa, the most studious and intelligent of Adam and Eve’s children, with the purpose not of seeking knowledge to dominate like Cain’s lineage, but of admiring the beauty of Creation all the more by understanding it. Heresy, for Mephisto. He himself had incinerated those libraries, turned millennia of knowledge to ash, laughing that all that wisdom had been useless. Who knew how many centuries of the study of physics, mathematics, logic, designs of great architectural works, thousands of poems, stories, songs, tales, or even just simple notes: all vanished by his hand, the lives of thousands of scientists, writers, and poets erased in an instant from human history, never to be remembered again.
That was how Mephisto was, after all. He had made sure to sweep everything away each time he won. Entire pieces of human civilization that no one could rediscover, because he had reduced them to rubble.
How many lives had he shattered, how many mothers had he seen scream over the lifeless bodies of their children? Too many to be counted, too many to be justified by some vain idea of "survival of the fittest'. That had only been the lie he told his people, the ever-so-clever yet equally foolish lineage of Cain: that their dominion was natural, inevitable, almost destiny. But it was not destiny. It was cruelty disguised as law. It was an empire feeding on the bones of the innocent.
And Mephisto had been part of it. Not just part: he had been its leader, its executioner, its general, its conqueror. Proud. Arrogant. He had carried his banner over nations whose names he no longer even remembered. And for what? Because now, when he found himself alone, bound to that cold machine, all he had left was blood on hands he no longer even had and silence in his heart.
He could have gone on lying to himself. He could have said it had been necessary, that it had been the only way for his species to prosper. That it had been imperative for humanity to rid itself of God and rise against Him. That everything had been done for a higher good, and that it had been his victims’ fault for being too weak. After all, if they hadn’t been, they too would have realized they didn’t need a God, right? So if they kept worshiping Him, they deserved death.
But there, in that empty room, filled only with the mechanical hum of the circuits keeping him alive, he had no way to shut out the echoes of the past, and that prevented him from lying to himself. He knew he had been the cause of the Great Flood, he knew all his actions had brought nothing of value to humanity. His greatest victory had done nothing but reveal the truth: God could destroy humanity whenever He wished, and yet, even at the very moment they had deserved it most, He had still chosen to spare them. He had chosen to give hope, a promise for the future, of a humanity free from sin. A redemption, through the hand of a Being no one yet knew what it truly was, but of whom prophets were already beginning to give shape.
Mephisto knew that, in the end, he had not been right. Breaking the first man had not made humanity aware it could reign supreme over the universe. It had only given God another way to prove that He was the Absolute. In a certain sense, Mephisto himself had been His instrument. And now everyone, Mephisto included, was aware of His will.
In the end, he had lost completely. And in that defeat, he could do nothing but accept reality. That all his evil deeds had ultimately been unnecessary and amoral, without any great meaning.
There was no glory.
Only shame and cruelty.
And Mephisto could no longer delude himself that he had been a revolutionary, because now he knew full well he had always only been a butcher.
“Nothing else to say?” Cain muttered. “I suppose I convinced you”
Mephisto gave a grunt. “You’re a fraud” he said.
“Hm?” Cain murmured. “What do you mean?”
“Who do you think you’re fooling? You put on this act, swaggering and snarling, always pretending to be the toughest bastard in the room, but in truth you’re the most frightened of all” Mephisto’s voice was low, steady. “Don’t try to deny it. I’ve noticed how you cut my horns. Apart from the first time, when you were furious, since then you’ve always been careful. You pretend to be doing it in the most painful way possible, but in reality you don’t even inflict a tenth of the pain you could. You don’t actually like causing me suffering”
Cain fell silent for a moment. Then he shrugged. “Wow, you got me. Yeah, I don’t feel like going all in on you. So what?”
Mephisto was surprised by the admission. “Ah… you don’t even try to deny it?”
“Why would I? Who could you possibly tell? Sure, you can tell my brother, but he’s already convinced there’s something in me worth saving, so… it doesn’t change a thing” Cain’s lips curled. “Hell, I could use you as a confessor, you know? After all, you’re just a head”
A bitter taste filled Mephisto’s mouth. That had clearly been a jab, yet another reminder of his helplessness. He drew a deep breath. “How do you do it?” he asked. “You killed your brother. You did something horrible. How do you get along with him?”
“You mean how can I look him in the face without feeling like a worm?” Cain shot back. “Or how could you not feel like a worm for what you’ve done?”
Mephisto shut his mouth, and if he could have, he would have averted his eyes. Cain was far more deep than he let on, Mephisto had learned that after all these years, but he hadn’t expected him to read him so well. He didn’t know how to answer.
Cain stayed quiet. Then he sighed. “Ah, fuck it, fine” he muttered, sitting down in front of him like some kind of therapist. “Listen… I’ve been there before you, alright? I mean, not exactly like you, but I know what it means to screw an entire world to hell. I know what it means to want something your whole life and find that it gives you no satisfaction, just a bitter taste in your mouth. And above all, I know what it means to tell yourself a pile of lies to justify your actions, only to realize they were just bullshit to hide your poor, fragile soul. When I lived with my family, I was convinced Abel was usurping the place that was mine. I saw him as a fool, a sentimental idiot, a useless idler. And when I killed him, cursed by the big boss up there to wander the primordial Earth, I told myself I’d done the right thing, because now I could have the glory all to myself. It was only after I set to work that I realized how wrong I’d been"
“What do you mean?” Mephisto murmured. “You built the first city in human history. I was born there, when I was young it was still extraordinary…”
“True, but it wasn’t just my genius that created it” Cain said. “As I was building it, I realized what I was making wasn’t only mine. Abel was there too, in the small things: in the way of treating animals, in the way I built the dwellings, in how I placed the houses. When I made the first sheepfold, instead of building it for sheer exploitation as I normally would, I built it so the animals would be comfortable, the way Abel would have done, and I only realized it after I’d finished”
Mephisto let out a snort. “And that made you reflect?”
“Oh, no, it made me furious. I refused to accept that my brother had taught me anything, so I tore it all down and rebuilt it focused on doing everything my way” Cain replied. “But then… I realized that way was worse. My way, the method of absolute control and dominance, made things… broken. The meat was less tasty, the wool less plentiful, the soil more muddy… everything changed for the worse. Abel… had been right, in his small things. That was when I understood that my father had always been right: Abel and I were meant to work together. Abel wasn’t a fool, he simply saw where I could not, and he completed what I created with something that made it better. It was my envy that kept me from seeing it. And so… I had to admit to myself that I had never been right. I wasn’t the better one, we were equals, and I had killed my brother without him ever having any fault. It hadn’t been a defense of my birthright… only rage and envy”
Mephisto clenched his teeth, because what Cain said was exactly what he himself, though on a far greater scale, was experiencing. The awareness of having always been in the wrong, that was why remorse was so unbearable. Because now he saw everything with different eyes. Now he knew that every face whose life he had erased, every civilization he had wiped away, had seen him just as he had seen Adam when he had unleashed his rage on him. Not a man, but a violent beast. “And how did you go on?”
Cain shrugged. “I didn't. Your actions stick to you forever. You can’t erase them. ‘Moving on’… that’s just complete bullshit” he answered. “You can’t move on, can’t leave it all behind. You can only make sure what you carry doesn’t crush you like a fucking boulder. Screwed up once? Try not to do it again”
“Does Abel see it that way too?” Mephisto asked.
“My dear brother believes in the fucking second chances. I don’t. Honestly, in my opinion this world is shit, and I’m the first who should be punished worse than you. But after all… I’ve been wrong before” Cain replied. “Abel’s the one in charge now, and maybe that’s a good thing. He doesn’t try to control me. He could, easily: he’d just need to walk into a fully lit place to burn my shadow and make me suffer unbearable pain. He’s never done it. Even though he could silence me forever, never let me have this body, he’s always tried to balance the both of us. That’s why I trust his decisions, even if I call him an idiot”
Mephisto let out a light chuckle. “And why do you constantly act like an asshole?”
“You try surviving for centuries on primordial Earth, then we’ll see if you don’t turn bad” Cain retorted. “C’mon, everyone expects me to be that way. The first murderer, the first bastard, that’s the legend, right? Might as well give them what they want. I like the scary reputation; it makes hotheads back down”
Mephisto gave an amused snort. “And your constant bickering with Abel?”
“I enjoy pissing him off” Cain answered shamelessly.
Mephisto had almost expected such a ridiculous response. “You’re a terrible psychiatrist” he said.
“You instead are a good psychiatrist. I know, I did my research on you, even though I always say I don’t give a damn” Cain said. “So I’m surprised that a good psychiatrist like you hasn’t yet tried to get into my head or my brother’s, to convince us to let you escape”
Mephisto bit his tongue. “Would you have fallen for it?” he asked.
“Oh, hell no. Well, maybe Abel, but no fucking way you’d trick me. I’m your great-great-great-still something else-grandfather, don’t forget it: I’ve got the advantage of experience. I’d have stopped Abel from doing anything stupid, like letting you go. That’s what I’m here for, after all" Cain replied. “But still, you haven’t even tried”
Mephisto sighed. Yes, it was true, he could have tried deceiving his jailers. He could have ingratiated himself, using his experience as a deceiver and seducer, convincing them to give him a body or something to move. He could have escaped.
He could have fled far away, reached unknown places, vanished forever. He could have taken refuge in war as he always had. But for the first time in his life, Mephisto didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to conquer. He only wanted to stop feeling the unbearable weight of his past.
And yet, he couldn’t. Cain was right, remorse could not be buried, you couldn’t leave it all behind. That was his punishment. And so he remained there, bound to that machine, a broken king, a warrior in tears, prisoner of his own memories. The monster who had razed entire nations was now only a man who had lost all will to rebel. Because his worst torment was knowing that, for the first time, in his heart there was no battle he could ever hope to win.
Cain stayed silent for a long moment. Then he grunted. “Listen, asshole, don’t rely on my advice because it’s worth shit, but if you want to take it, stop jerking yourself off with guilt. There’s no big mystery to this: you can only ask yourself how to make the best use of the chances the future gives you. If you made a mess and you finally stopped enjoying it, then make sure it doesn’t happen again. Or something like that. I don’t know, you decide. I’m the first murderer, not the first crazy genocidal maniac”
Mephisto grunted. “You really think I could do something useful out there?”
“Hey, you’re a sharp guy. Batshit insane, but sharp. Even if you piss me off. But hey, from someone who made a mess first, I can say even a fucked-up bastard like us still has something to give” Cain answered. “Well, do what you want. Talk to Abel if you decide something. He’s the one who believes in reforming criminals; maybe he’ll even give you a chance. Just don’t drop my name when you bring it up”
Mephisto snorted. “Seriously? You don’t care if people know you gave someone honest advice? Is it such a problem if it’s known you’ve done at least one good thing?”
“That’s the point: I’ve done plenty of good things. But no one ever remembers them. So I might as well not let anyone know something they’ll all forget anyway” Cain replied. “And in any case, what would you even say? That I pointed out you’re a whiny bastard? Come on, no one will believe you. Just don’t tell it”
Mephisto fell silent. Cain did the same, continuing his work. And when he finished cutting the horn, he placed it with the others and stood. “Well, I’m done for today. See you when we’re dry again”
Mephisto watched him leave. “Do you think Abel would really… give me a chance?” he murmured before Cain walked out. “Even after what I did to your father?”
“Nah, that was a long time ago. Abel isn’t the type to hold a grudge if you apologize. He’s pissed at you for that story, sure, but if you play it right, he’ll listen” Cain told him. “As for me, I’ll grumble a bit for show, but truthfully, I don’t give a damn. I think you’re a bastard, but then again, so was I. I’d be a hypocrite to condemn you. Cain is many things… but a hypocrite is not one of them”
And with that he left the room and shut the door behind him. Mephisto was alone once more, surrounded only by the hum of the machines. Alone with his thoughts, and with Cain’s words echoing in his mind.
He closed his eyes, reflecting on them. As always, the furious face of Adam beating him to a pulp resurfaced in his mind. What little of him remained shivered. He didn’t know what he would do, but of one thing he was certain: he never wanted to meet Adam again in his life. Never.
Mephisto stepped back in a cold sweat. Even though he no longer had a heart, he still felt fear gripping him and squeezing him. And even though he no longer had a body, the old wounds seemed to burn again.
Adam was even more shocked than he was. "I killed you" he whispered softly.
Mephisto gritted his teeth. "Y-Yes" he muttered. "But not..."
Adam moved suddenly and was immediately upon him. Mephisto reacted instinctively and leapt backward, moving out of the first man's path. His robotic body activated all its defenses, covering itself with extremely hard metal plates. "How did you survive!?" Adam growled.
"Your children" Mephisto explained. "They saved my head, and as you can see, they fixed me up as best they could. They saved my life, and gave me a second chance"
Adam snorted like a bull. "So that's it..." he hissed. "How could I even think for a moment that anyone willing to side with a bastard like you could be right...!?"
Mephisto trembled. Adam's eyes were as merciless as they had been that day, thousands of years ago. "W-Wait...! At least listen to me...!"
"This time, I'll make sure you stay dead" was the last thing Adam said to him before charging back.
Mephisto was hit squarely in the center of his chest. His robotic body bent slightly, and the circuitry inside him snapped. The demon obviously couldn't feel the pain, but being damaged still meant risking his life... again. "There... there is no need of threats...!"
"It's not a threat" Adam told him. "It's a promise"
A second punch landed on Mephisto's body, knocking him aside. Much of the robot was now damaged. Fortunately, thousands of years of using the body had allowed Mephisto to perfect it for situations like this, and the circuits were already repairing themselves. Even so, the damage was severe.
Mephisto found himself once again amazed by the first man's strength. His robotic body was specifically designed to face powerful foes: made of extremely hard materials and engineered to be pressurized, so it could withstand impacts. It could have withstood an asteroid impact, yet he was constantly being damaged by those punches.
Adam grabbed him by the hand and lifted him up. "And unfortunately for you, I keep my promises!" he said, then he punched him in the helmet that protected his head.
Mephisto gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't just keep trying to defend himself. A piece of the robotic body on his shoulder lifted, and a small cannon emerged from beneath it, firing a heat beam straight at Adam's face. The first man was taken aback and let go, and Mephisto took advantage of the opportunity to at least get away a little.
His primary goal was to escape, of course, but even in the midst of fear, his rationality prevailed. He knew he would never be able to fly away and reach the surface of Sheol before Adam reached him. His best hope was to try to distract the first man long enough to open a portal to the furthest place possible and pass through, but even that was a Herculean task. His opponent's superior speed and strength were too great an advantage.
Instead, he could count on buying time. In a one-on-one fight, he was undoubtedly doomed to lose, but if he played well enough, he might have a chance of surviving just long enough until someone else arrived. This could be beneficial: Adam was now focusing exclusively on him, abandoning whatever else was on his mind. If he could keep the first man occupied, Adam might waste the time needed to carry out whatever plan he had, and thus inevitably be defeated.
With this thought in mind, he immediately activated all the weapons in his robotic body. Adam swung a fist toward him, and Mephisto responded in kind: in that brief instant, the demon's robotic arm strengthened and pressurized, and rockets ignited on it to give him additional strength. The two fists met, and both were immediately pushed back by the shock wave. Mephisto had to take most of the impact, but Adam felt it a little too.
Mephisto gritted his teeth. They seemed to be fairly evenly matched, but he knew Adam was still just warming up. And indeed, while he had trembled and sustained damage, the first man had regained his balance almost immediately.
He had to act quickly.
With his other hand, he released a quick burst of energy. The explosion of light and sound disoriented Adam for the briefest of moments, just enough for him. Mephisto fired a micro-drone, which whirred toward his opponent's face. It stuck to his face, blocking his vision and jamming two metal legs into his ears to prevent him from hearing.
Adam staggered back, not so much from pain or uncertainty as from surprise. "Clever" he was forced to admit as he yanked the drone from his face with one hand. Mephisto reappeared in his vision as he was about to strike him in the neck, clearly aiming for the nerves, but the first man moved too quickly and blocked him by grabbing his metal arm. "But that's not enough"
And with that, he punched him again. This time, a large portion of Mephisto's helmet shattered, and he crashed into a wall. "Shit...!" the demon thought in pain. "If we keep this up, he'll finish me off...!"
He channeled all his robotic body's energy into the repairs, but Adam was too fast for him: he was on him and ripped off his helmet completely, exposing his severed head. Then, looking at him as if he were watching prey, he gently took the head in his hands. Mephisto could immediately feel its weight, and knew he was aiming to crush him until his skull was crushed...
But before that could happen, the ceiling collapsed. Adam looked up, and Mephisto took advantage of the opportunity to fire rockets and quickly get away. However, the first man didn't chase him; in fact, he seemed to have completely forgotten about him. His gaze was fixed only on the angel who was descending before him.
Lucifer landed in front of him. They both looked into each other's eyes, not a word, not a sound. They paid no attention to anything that was happening around them. They could both see their own reflections in each other's eyes.
And then, the real battle began.
Notes:
Okay, I'm back. My vacation in Belgium was really relaxing, and now I can get back to writing this series. Thank you all for being patient and waiting. However, there will be a few small changes: since I need to reconcile some things in my life, publication (for now) will be reduced from three chapters a week to just two, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Thursday will instead be dedicated to the publication of Among the Lions, which will therefore be moved from Wednesday to Thursday. My apologies to those who can't wait to see the end, but I have a life too, so this will be the new schedule for now.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 115): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/179948011
Among the lions (chapter 23): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/174058900
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 161: The battle of Sheol (part 3)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lucifer's fists sliced through the air before Adam could even blink, a blur of motion faster than the eye of the first man could follow, even with his new faster-than-light vision. Sheol trembled under the force of the first strike, a shock wave that shook the heart of the moon and split the rock so much that even the surface cracked. Adam moved at the last second, avoiding the blow out of pure instinct: the fist passed just inches from his face, and the immense force was still enough to make him lose his balance and throw him sideways, and only after a couple of seconds did he manage to open his wings to stop himself.
The first man felt his survival instincts throb. His soul, forged by millennia of fighting, shuddered. Not even when he faced Gabriel had he felt this way. But despite this, he found the strength to mock his opponent: “You’re going to have to do better than that”
Lucifer didn't reply: what seemed like lightning flashed between his fingers, and then a beam exploded at Adam. The first man was ready this time, but he still couldn't see the attack or dodge it: he barely had time to raise his right arm to shield his face. The metal of his armor, which he himself had further compressed with his powers, so dense it would have remained intact even if thrown into the hot heart of a star, melted onto his own hand. The smell of burning flesh spread rapidly.
"You don't have to tell me" Lucifer said. His voice was calm, almost detached, but the tension thrummed in the air like a live wire. "I'm already doing better"
Adam's eyes glowed from the light emitted by the molten metal in his hand. With a grunt, he used his powers to instantly cool his armor. Then, he exhaled a huge cloud of smoke from his mouth, so thick it completely obscured the sight of everything further than half a meter, disappearing behind it.
But that wasn't enough for Lucifer. His vision adapted instantly, and that cloud of smoke turned in nothing but atoms far away from each other in his eyes. He surged forward, fists swinging, but Adam was already gone. The devil had to wait just an istant before the first man reappeared behind him with his eyes that shot thunderbolts: "Ultimate move: MAGNETIC CAGE!"
As soon as he let out a single bolt, the very air seemed to erupt: the dense air and intense internal magnetic field had created the same climatic conditions as a gas planet, and a single spark was enough to generate enough electrical power to vaporize entire cities in a fraction of a second. Yet, Lucifer didn't even seem to feel the immense flashes, and instead watched them almost boredly. Adam tried to take advantage of this to strike him from behind with his left fist, the only one not yet wearing molten armor, but the fallen angel suddenly turned and grabbed his wrist, breaking it clean. "Too slow" he warned him.
Adam gritted his teeth, but returned the look. "Too foolish" he replied, and even though Lucifer was crushing his arm, he still twisted his hand and scratched it.
The fallen angel's eyes widened and he withdrew his hand. Deep cuts had appeared on his skin, which were definitely not from the first man's fingers. Adam was strong, but not that strong. No, something else had cut him. "Did you put the material of Charlie's trident on your armor?"
"I did better" Adam replied cryptic. His left wrist repaired, and the flesh on his right hand regenerated, while his armor reassembled into its original form. "After all, I figured I could always re-melt it as soon as I'm done here"
Lucifer said nothing else. Instead, he raised his hand again, and this time the explosion that emerged was immeasurably greater. Adam spun around and spread his wings behind him, yet he could still feel them charring and his armor melting ever more rapidly. Despite activating every defense at his disposal, the energy pouring down on him was so immense he felt like an ant trying to hold up a mountain.
It all lasted so quickly that a blink of an eye would have been enough to miss it. Then Lucifer leaped upon him and punched him in the spine. With that, speaking chains appeared from his wrists and dug into Adam's body like harpoons, finally enveloping him completely. The first man felt so compressed it was like being crushed by a hydraulic press. His bones cracked and his organs were crushed.
Lucifer didn't stop there: more chains appeared and lodged themselves in the first man's eyes and mouth. He was clearly blocking every possible way he could reach out. With that, he moved his hand, and the rocks surrounding them closed in around Adam, each one becoming so dense and heavy they were practically matter from a neutron star. A single one of those rocks now weighed hundreds of billions of tons.
At that point, he finally stopped. Adam was completely crushed and immobilized. "Submit" Lucifer ordered.
Adam couldn't respond with his mouth, but his soul was still there, and Lucifer could sense what he was thinking. "Never...!"
"You don't have much of a choice this time" Lucifer told him. "You taught me: don't let your opponent breathe. Well, you were right. Submit to me now, hand over your soul, and free the ones you still hold captive. Otherwise, I'll continue to crush you until that overlord who already kicked your ass once comes here and forces you to free the souls again, leaving you completely defenseless"
Contrary to popular belief, Lucifer knew how to command respect when he wanted to. He could be intimidating and dark like few other people. But this time, it was different: his was an unusual coldness, something Adam himself couldn't recall ever seeing on him before. "You want me to give you my fucking soul...?" the first man hissed, obviously not with his lips but with his very spirit.
"I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but at least I can finally keep you at bay" Lucifer told him. "That, or you die as soon as I manage to make you spit out the souls you're holding captive. I won't hesitate this time..."
Before he could finish, his senses alerted him to movement behind him; he turned just in time before Adam swung his axe with all his might, several times faster than light. Lucifer raised a wing to shield himself, but the indestructible metal still pierced part of it, splashing blood on his face. "What? How is this possible...?"
Adam tried to take advantage of his confusion to punch him, but Lucifer intercepted it and, leveraging it, threw him aside. He took a moment to look at the Adam he had imprisoned, who was dissolving. "Hmm. I see. You used the same trick as Alastor" he said. "You created a shadow to fool me, and then placed a small part of your soul within it to confuse my perception. Clever move"
"Should I thank you for the compliment?" Adam mocked him.
Lucifer didn't change his expression. "At this point, I wonder if I'm looking at the real you or another copy"
"Do you really expect me to answer?" Adam replied, swinging his axe. "Less talk, more action. Let's continue!"
Lucifer didn't reply, not even an 'as you wish' or anything like that. Just as Adam had asked, he acted. A new burst of energy was emitted from the center of Sheol.
On the moon's surface, Abel was watching the flashes of light coming from the cracks Lucifer had opened. His face was seemingly calm, but his gaze was quite grim. "Hmm. Looks like they've started" he commented.
"They obviously didn't want to wait" Cain said. "Well, let's get on with the job. Hey, big man! Can we count on you to keep an eye on those two belligerents?"
Michael looked at him a little annoyed, but nodded. "Are you sure it's not best for me to intervene now?"
"And fall into a possible trap? Don't be so naive" Cain replied. "I told you before: we're staying back, so no matter how this turns out, we won't get involved and can intervene when they've both run out of options and are tired and weakened. Look at two tigers from the mountain"
Michael raised an eyebrow: "What?"
"It's a figure of speech" Abel explained. "As much as I don't like it, it's actually better this way. If Dad has a trap in mind, then if we all attack him at once, we'll all be caught in it. If we stay behind, only Lucifer will be affected, and we can step in to help him once we figure out the real plan. If there's no such trap... well, we still know Dad will do anything to win. If we try to stop them now, he might take advantage of the distraction we've caused to attack Lucifer. And I'm pretty sure the same goes the other way"
"Yeah, those two are at loggerheads now. Let's let them figure it out on their own" Cain said. "So, big guy, I'll say it again: can we count on you to keep those two from killing each other?"
Michael nodded. "I'll make sure they don't die"
"Good. Then we'll take care of the rest" Cain said. "Come on, little brother. Our father's base is now unprotected. Let's go get everything inside"
Abel nodded and took off, leaving Michael behind. He would have preferred to stay behind to monitor the situation, but he knew his older brother was right. This was the perfect time to recover all the overlords, capture the Exorcists, and maybe even find something else, like the Tree material Adam hadn't used yet. They couldn't miss this opportunity.
As he flew, he noticed a black shadow creeping near the base's gates. "It looks like Zestial has already entered"
"Let him do it. Carmilla is needed by Father for some reason to piece together his weapon, so freeing her is a priority" Cain told him. "Even if Zestial runs off to the Refugium like a coward after finding her, he'll still be doing us a favor"
Abel nodded. "How much time do we still have?" he asked, feeling the pull of the Refugium already growing on him.
"Enough for what we have to do" was Cain's only answer. "Assuming, of course, you start working instead of talking, muscle head!"
Abel listened to his brother and headed for the main door; behind him, the numerous other demons they had brought with them were gathering, ready to fight. Abel landed in front of the door and grabbed it with his mighty hands; with a violent yank, he tore it from its hinges. The metal was very strong and clearly designed to keep out powerful enemies, but it quickly succumbed to his might.
But before they could enter, a massive electrical discharge erupted from within and struck Abel squarely, sending him back a few steps. "The prodigal son chose the wrong time to come home" Lute said, walking toward him. "You should have stayed in your hole a little longer"
Abel looked at his chest. The spot where the discharge had struck him was still smoking, which was no small feat considering his resistance. "How?" he asked.
Lute raised her hand, and more blue discharges formed in it. Other Exorcists flew beside her, and they too began to glow with fire, heat, or other forms of energy. "Your father has many methods at his disposal to protect his soldiers" Lute told him. "And the bond that unites us to him is much deeper than you think"
Mephisto had taken advantage of the battle between Lucifer and Adam to retreat, but he hadn't fled. Granted, he hadn't planned on intervening, but he'd still remained behind. As soon as he'd gotten a safe distance away, he'd stopped and returned to observing.
The self-repair program in his robotic body had been partially damaged, but it was still performing its function well. Mephisto had used the time available to ensure his essential life systems were operational again, and that his defenses were functioning as best they could. He knew they were unlikely to be of much help, but it was still better than being left alone with two demigod-like beings with no protection.
Among other things, his robotic body was equipped with camouflage. Mephisto had had thousands of years to perfect it, so he had considered every possible scenario in which he would need to hide. His devices had color, infrared, ultraviolet, thermographic, and at least a dozen other camouflages. Of course, if Adam or Lucifer had actively searched for him, they would eventually be able to detect him by sensing his soul, but given the situation, that wasn't a risk.
Safe in his hiding place, Mephisto quickly began to assess what he was seeing. Adam was using puppets to fool Lucifer, and indeed, for the moment, he seemed to have a slight advantage, but Mephisto knew it was actually a poor result. "This is senseless" he thought. "Is that really all? Adam has already squandered the only opportunity this trick was offering him. Now that Lucifer knows, it's impossible for him to sneak up on him"
Mephisto wasn't an expert on angels' senses, though he'd tried to study them, but assuming they worked like demons', then the stronger an angel, the more acute their senses. Adam could use his abilities to hide, but approaching Lucifer from behind now that he was so wary was impossible.
Was that really all there was to it? It didn't make sense. Such a crude plan had no hope of succeeding, and Adam surely knew it. Had he really staked everything on that first attack from behind with his axe to kill Lucifer, and now he didn't know what else to do?
Lucifer seemed to think the same. "Is this all you got?" he asked. It wasn't spoken in a bored or derogatory voice, just in the tone of a casual question, as if he were talking about something trivial.
Adam growled. "You should be asking questions like that after you've at least defeated the current trick" he said, twirling the axe in his hand. "And for now, you're..."
Lucifer opened his three mouths, and a beam that seemed to be made of pure stellar energy erupted with unimaginable power. But it didn't aim at the Adam in front of him, but slightly to the side. The beam collided with a strong metal barrier that emitted a sound that reverberated everywhere. Only when the beam died did it reveal itself to have hit Adam's indestructible axe, which he had held in front of his face to protect himself; a moment later, his duplicate vanished in a blur of shadows. “I've already defeated your current trick” Lucifer told him.
Adam gritted his teeth. The axe had protected him from the immense heat, but it had still melted part of his fingers and seared the rest of his body. "You... how did you find me...!?"
Lucifer flared two of his right wings violently, and Adam was thrown to the ground by the shockwave alone. Much of his armor cracked violently. "You can hide yourself, but not your weapons" Lucifer told him. "You're too weak to hurt me in this form using your strength alone; you need your axe, or at least the material from the Tree. You can hide your soul, but you can't hide the energy signature of your axe. It's unique in the universe, and you only need to know it to detect it. And I was there in Eden, too; I have that signature implanted in my memory. I just had to follow it to understand where you really were"
"Fuck..." Adam muttered. "I could have still given my axe to a copy"
"Yes, you could have. But some of that material is also on your armor" Lucifer reminded him. "And unless you have time to strip each time, you can't get rid of it. But I didn't need to look for that... I knew you wouldn't separate yourself from the axe. It would be foolish for you to deprive yourself of your best protection and weapon"
Adam snorted. "This motherfucker..."
Lucifer was on him before he could do anything else: he snatched the axe from his hand and threw it away, sending it crashing into a wall, then pinned him to the ground with all six hands. "You lost"
Adam gritted his teeth. "Not yet!" he hissed, and his eyes shot out beams of nuclear energy, hitting Lucifer squarely in the face. It wasn't limited to the energy of an atomic explosion: it rapidly increased, reaching levels of heat equal to the hearts of the hottest stars.
But Lucifer didn't move an inch. "If you think you can hurt me with this, you're wrong" he told him.
"I know" Adam replied. "I'm distracting you!"
Behind Lucifer, a shadow grabbed the axe and yanked it from the wall, then hurled it straight at the fallen angel's back. A clean blow, one that would undoubtedly have caused serious damage. The axe flew, spinning in a perfect trajectory...
But at the last moment, Lucifer raised a hand and in a lightning-fast movement grabbed it by the handle, blocking it. "Yeah... I thought about that too" he said.
Adam gritted his teeth. "Fuck, now you've suddenly become smart...!?"
Lucifer squeezed him tighter, breaking a couple of bones. "Are you surprised? You've gotten smarter too after your world collapsed" he said in a cold voice. "You made a fatal mistake. You snapped someone you can't defeat yet. You knew that, right? You knew it's one thing to face me before when I didn't mean to hurt you, it's another thing to face me when I'm in the throes of rage... and it's another thing to face me after you made me realize that sometimes you have to be ruthless. That's why you wanted to retrieve the last piece of your weapon. But you've been unsuccessful. The Ark is now out of reach, and now you find yourself facing someone who's had time to calm his anger and reflect on your words"
Adam let out a strangled grunt. "Fuck... so I finally managed to get you to understand, huh? I've always wondered what you'd be like if you'd experienced even a fraction of what I had to experience"
"Yeah. And this is the result" Lucifer told him. "My mind is cool now, Adam. I may not be a planner like you, but don't think I'm stupid. As you had saw, I can see through your tricks"
Adam looked at him defiantly. "You're good, I admit. But there's still a fundamental difference between us"
"And that's what?" Lucifer asked.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "I've got countless battles under my belt, bitch!" he shouted, and a moment later his body seemed to explode with energy from within. Lucifer's eyes widened, and a moment later, Adam actually exploded, hurling chunks of blood and flesh in all directions... but strangely none in the fallen angel's direction.
Lucifer was confused for a moment, but then he realized that all those fragments, instead of scattering randomly as he'd initially thought, were converging behind him, but by then it was too late: Adam reformed completely, and then vanished into the shadows, completely out of sight. "Hmm?" Lucifer muttered. "Did you let yourself explode so you could regenerate outside my grasp?"
"Your daughter gave me the idea" Adam's voice came from somewhere. "When I threw her into the Sahara, she knew she couldn't survive, so she focused all her energy on protecting a part of her brain. A tiny part, which contained the command for her body to regenerate as quickly as possible. By doing so, she quickly recovered and continued to fight me"
"I see" Lucifer commented. "You blew up mostly the core of your body, so the shockwave blasted your brain away, but left pieces of it intact. I assume you'd put the command to rebuild yourself there, and also the exact location to do it"
"Exactly" Adam's voice answered him again. "I'd compliment you if I didn't hate you"
"Having been in countless battles means you can learn from your opponent, huh?" Lucifer murmured, looking at the axe in his hands. "Now that I have this, I can't find you anymore... but you've lost a precious weapon. And now that you've destroyed your armor, the other weapons you created with this material are also useless. Aren't you taking a risk?"
"A real battle is always a risk, Lucifer. You always have to put your life on the line. The only thing you have to ask yourself is how much you're willing to risk to win" Adam's voice answered him.
Lucifer snorted. His three heads were moving in every direction, trying to figure out where Adam's voice was coming from, but he already knew the first man had used some spell to ensure it wasn't coming from a specific direction. "You know what? The more you talk, the more I'm relieved you're the only one you are now. Because as crazy as you are, you're at least motivated by what you believe to be a good cause" he said. "If someone like you were motivated by true evil, I can't imagine what you'd be capable of"
"Yeah. I think so too" Adam's voice answered him. "That's why I wanted your daughter as my contingency plan. But whatever happens... you won't see it"
"Unless I get the upper hand" Lucifer retorted. "Those are strong words, for someone hiding in the dark"
"Even yours, for someone who can't even find them, his own words, a monkey" Adam replied.
Mephisto narrowed his eyes as he took in the scene. Okay, so Adam had proven he had a lot of strings to his bow, and he was even willing to sacrifice his physical safety to deal a blow to his opponent. But still, he was still at a disadvantage... too much of a disadvantage.
Even though Adam was managing to survive, no small feat, he wasn't inflicting any damage on the fallen angel. It was like watching a man face off against a mosquito: no matter how well the mosquito evaded his blows, it was still incapable of inflicting a real wound. While Adam had alternative plans to avoid being killed or captured, any effort he made to kill Lucifer was futile.
...
Wait.
Mephisto was starting to get suspicious. Now that he thought about it, Adam didn't want to kill Lucifer. Or rather, he did, but not right now. Adam wanted to face Lucifer when he was at the height of his power, when he had completed his weapon.
Mephisto had studied Adam for centuries, and even after their final battle, he continued to monitor him through his associates, especially Zestial. When this whole thing began, he had done his best to build a solid psychological profile of the first man, hoping to anticipate his next moves. What he had concluded, after piecing together various testimonies, his own experience, various events, and the accounts of Cain and Abel, was that Adam's mind was dangerously unstable (he himself had helped make it so, after all), but it remained unshaken by his fixed goal: to rid the Earth of evil and protect humanity. But amidst this goal lay a subset: Lucifer's death, which Adam held most responsible for everything he had endured.
But this death wasn't meant to happen randomly. Adam didn't want to throw Lucifer into a furnace and wait for him to die alone, or plant a bomb under his bed, or poison his coffee. No, he wanted to face him. He didn't want to end their story with a trap, but with one final battle. Because that was Adam's way of showing that he had truly finally won over his enemy, the man he'd never been able to defeat and who had taken away the thing he held most dear.
Yes, that was how Adam wanted it all to end: a final showdown to prove to the entire universe and to the first man himself that the king of Hell wasn't invincible. That the person who had once been at the pinnacle of the hierarchy had fallen. That Adam, who had previously been under Lucifer's thumb, was capable of taking his revenge.
That's why Mephisto sensed something was wrong. A normal person would have thought that Adam would try to harm the fallen angel, get what he came for, and then go build his own weapon and return to end it once and for all. It would have made sense, given that the indestructible axe could indeed inflict serious damage on Lucifer, assuming it could hit him. But that wasn't how Adam reasoned. Adam didn't want to damage Lucifer too extensively; he wanted the fallen angel to be at his best for their final fight.
Mephisto bit his lip. Until then, she'd tried to understand Adam's plan, assuming he wanted to do something to hurt Lucifer, so he could at least survive. But... what if that hadn't been his intent at all?
What if... Adam never really intended to defeat the fallen angel?
Lucifer remained silent, waiting for the slightest movement. The wait seemed to last forever, but then it happened: something moved behind him, and he acted immediately, flapping a wing. Adam regained his visibility and was thrown to the ground again, falling heavily.
But before he could use this to strike, something struck him: the hand holding the axe felt a sudden sharp pain, and he instinctively opened it, dropping the weapon. Adam opened his hand, and the axe immediately flew back into his palm. "What?" Lucifer exclaimed, looking at his hand, discovering it covered in cuts even though there were none. "What dirty trick is this?"
His angelic energy erupted from his palm, seeming to sizzle. A moment later, a small metal sphere with a tip, undoubtedly made from the same material as the axe, appeared and fell to the ground. "What is it?" Lucifer asked.
"A drone" Adam replied, standing up. "Vox built them for me in his spare time. I never had the indestructible material on my armor; these drones were just sitting on top of it. As soon as you destroyed the armor, they spread all around us. The amount of material inside them is too small for you to feel, but it's enough to hurt you"
"You..." Lucifer was already speaking, but another drone appeared beside his ear and slashed him, causing him to whirl around and shatter it. As soon as he turned, Adam was already gone again.
Lucifer clenched his fists. Adam could now attack him with the drones, dull his senses, and then strike him with the axe. He had to reduce the threat to a single opponent immediately. And so he brought all six hands together, along with his wings, and a bubble of energy began to form between them. "It won't help you" Adam warned him. "You can't destroy the Tree's material, you know. And I'll just have to use my powers to repair the drones to have everything back exactly as I have now"
"Yeah" Lucifer said. "But you won't be able to do anything if I throw that material away from here faster than you can catch it!"
The energy bubble transformed into a disk, and then into what looked like a glowing donut spinning at high speed. Lucifer raised it above his head, and then it exploded. A wave of energy unfurled, but instead of going in all directions, it expanded more to the right and left than up and down, just like a donut.
Mephisto realized what was happening just in time, and quickly calculated the potential trajectory of that attack: he knew he would never be able to dodge it, so he knew where to run first. He flew upward just in time, barely dodging the wave, since even though it was expanding horizontally, it still grew at least three hundred meters high.
In just ten microseconds, the entirety of Sheol was literally split in two. The moon was sliced in half with extreme precision: every single piece of matter in between was instantly pulverized. The drones disintegrated, and the indestructible material within them was hurled in a matter of moments far beyond Sheol's orbit, plummeting into the void at speeds impossible to contextualize.
Only the core remained intact: the rest of the moon was mere matter, but it was pure divine energy, and it took more than a little to shatter it. As soon as it was exposed, it radiated a bright crystalline light through the gigantic rift separating the two halves. Lucifer was illuminated by it, and so was Adam, who reappeared unscathed, holding the cross of Jesus in one hand and the pieces of indestructible material in the other. "Nice move, but it didn't do you much good" he teased him.
Lucifer snorted. "I forgot you had it" he admitted, looking at the cross. Adam had obviously altered space to escape his blast and retrieve the pieces he'd scattered. "At least I destroyed your drones"
Adam snorted. "Well, I can still throw these at your face" he said, clutching the fragments.
Lucifer spread his wings and arms: as if moved by an invisible force, the two halves of Sheol moved away from each other. In barely a second, the dividing line was already at least a hundred kilometers wide, further exposing the core. Adam and Lucifer landed on it, illuminated by the light it emanated. "Now you can no longer use shadows to hide" the fallen angel said. "This time you will not escape"
Adam smiled defiantly. "I have no intention of doing so" he replied, and immediately knelt down and placed a hand on the surface of the core, while what looked like liquid fire emerged from his arm. "Absolutely no intention"
Notes:
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 117): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170162350
Among the lions (chapter 24): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/174058918
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
Chapter 162: The battle of Sheol (part 4)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Zestial had entered the base using a very clever trick: a coating of flammable liquid he had smeared on himself. This way, as soon as the Exorcists had opened the door, he set himself on fire and threw himself to the ground, and everyone simply assumed he was already dead. Of course, none of those winged soldiers knew that he was fireproof, so they thought they had accidentally killed him in the chaos.
So he had crawled inside, first slowly, then faster and faster, until he was far enough from prying eyes to stop burning alive and instead use his natural black color to blend into the darkness. He quickly made his way through the corridors with a clear purpose in mind: reach the imprisoned overlords and set them free.
After all, he didn’t care much about how the battle would unfold: the priority was still to deprive Adam of resources. That was the essence of war: if you know what your enemy needs, you can take it away and weaken him. And Adam needed Carmilla to forge the weapon he had in mind, so if Zestial took her away, it would still count as a victory. And if he happened to rescue the other overlords in the process... well, every extra person was an advantage.
Fortunately, the base wasn’t too complex: after all, it hadn’t been designed to hide something, but to contain it. Labyrinth-like corridors were typical of places where you wanted to keep whatever was inside hidden, but that clearly wasn’t the case here: Adam had always assumed he would finish his plan before anyone discovered his hideout, and he himself was not a patient man who would tolerate long, complicated paths every time he entered or left. As a result, the base was linear, clear, divided into well-defined levels, and easy to navigate.
At last, he reached the bottom, the place where he would presumably find what he was looking for. But he soon realized something was off: the place was empty, which was normal, since the Exorcists had gone out and the overlords were almost certainly locked up somewhere, but... there were missing pieces of equipment. Zestial had never been there before, but his sharp eye, always ready to analyze every detail, could tell. There were tables with neatly arranged tools, and then nothing in between them, as though something that had once been there had been taken away; there were pieces of machinery lined up next to each other, but with a gap in the middle where something should have been; and there were many other similar signs, and Zestial knew that if he stopped to examine more closely, he would find plenty more inconsistencies. “They took something” he found himself thinking. “And they moved it somewhere else... but where? And what exactly?”
Part of the answer came to him shortly after: no matter how hard he looked, he found no trace of the melted trident material, which should have still been there since Adam had only used a small part of it to make the axe. Therefore, it had been taken away, and presumably the other tools had been used to forge the famous weapon Adam had spoken about. Yet, something didn’t add up. Either Adam and the Exorcists were truly messy, or judging by their position and what had surrounded them, the things that had been taken away did not look like typical forging equipment...
While searching, he came across some sheets full of calculations. “This is undoubtedly Carmilla’s handwriting” he thought as he looked at them. “Blueprints? No... there are no drawings, only calculations. This is density... or composition...?”
One of the things Zestial could hardly stand about Carmilla was her habit of never using units of measurement, since she already kept them precise in her mind. Not only that, but she often skipped steps in calculations because she had already worked them out in her head. Which made it very hard to figure out what she was writing without her there to explain.
“Whatever this is, these numbers are absurdly high... I don’t see a single one with fewer than forty-five zeros” Zestial thought, trying to reason through it. “Is this energy? But what could generate so much energy? This is more than the Sun could produce in ten billion years... maybe a quasar? Could be, but what does a quasar have to do with this?”
Too many questions, too few answers. Zestial decided he would just ask Carmilla as soon as he found her, hoping she was still in a good mental state. After all, speculating was pointless, especially with so little time to spare. “Come on, where are you...?”
Suddenly, his instincts flared, and something nearly struck him from behind: he ducked just in time to avoid a colossal demon leaping at him. The ground shook as the dinosaur-like creature turned toward him with a growl.
Zestial’s eyes widened. “Zeezi?” he murmured, recognizing her. “What are you doing? What... ARGH!”
What looked like a blue lightning bolt struck him square in the back, making him stagger. Zeezi took the chance to grab him and hold him in place while more electric shocks struck him, again and again. Zestial let out a fierce growl, then produced a burst of green fire that forced the dinosaur overlord to release him: as soon as he was free, he lunged at whoever had been shocking him and landed a punch. Only then did he recognize him: “Vox? What the hell is...?”
He immediately stopped speaking as soon as he saw both Vox’s and Zeezi’s eyes. Not only were they empty and glassy, but they also showed circular lines moving from the pupils to the base of the eye. “Of course... hypnosis” Zestial commented. “Adam copied Vox’s hypnotic powers too, which means he can control you. Smart move... why waste half your forces defending something that can already defend itself?”
Vox and Zeezi charged him again, and more overlords emerged from the shadows to all jump him at once. This time, however, Zestial was ready. “I don’t have time for this!” he snarled, blasting them back with an explosion of flames and leaping onto a high wall, using his spider-like traits to cling to it.
From there, he quickly scanned each overlord in front of him. He had memorized everyone Adam had kidnapped, so he recognized them at a glance. “They’re all here... except Carmilla” he said in a harsh voice. “Where is she!?”
Abel let out a grunt as Lute struck him again, this time harder. “I’ve been ordered not to kill you, boy” she told him. “But nothing about hurting you really bad!”
“Urgh… boy? I’m much older than you!” Abel shouted, shoving her aside with his shoulder.
“In that case, you should know when it’s time not to hold back!” Lute shot back, flying into the air and hurling a bolt of electricity at his back.
Abel grunted. Those lightning bolts weren’t hurting him much, but they were definitely annoying: Lute was meticulously aiming at the most sensitive spots on his body and at areas with the most nerves, so every hit sent a jolt through his entire system. Years of military training had clearly not been wasted.
Abel also glanced at what was happening around them. The Exorcists were all displaying strange abilities: some were throwing fire, some beams of light, others were freezing their opponents. “How is all this possible?” he asked, trying to make sense of it all. “Was this my father’s doing?”
“Through the contracts binding him to his soldiers, he passed on some of the powers he absorbed to us” Lute confirmed.
Abel snorted. Even though the situation wasn’t simple, it was clear they were still far from being in a true crisis: the demons he had brought with him were still able to push back the Exorcists quite easily, even with their new powers. “Surrender” he ordered. “Even like this, you have no chance of winning. We’ll spare you if you do”
“Spare us?” Lute chuckled. “Before talking about sparing us, you need to actually be able to kill us, fool!”
And with that, she launched herself at him, using the electric surges to propel herself faster, but this time Abel didn’t just stand there and take the hit: he swung his elbow violently, smashing her square in the nose, and while she was dazed he grabbed her with one hand. “I could do it” he told her. “Don’t abuse my mercy”
“Then do it, idiot!” Cain shouted at him. “You’re not using angelic weapons, she’ll survive! Rip out her spine and let’s finish this!”
Abel seemed to consider the idea for a moment, hesitating. Lute, on the other hand, didn’t wait. “Listen to your brother, he’s smarter than you!” she taunted, kicking him in the face and zapping him with another bolt.
Abel clenched his teeth and slammed her down across his knee with brutal force. Lute tumbled to the ground with the unmistakable sound of breaking bones. “Stay down” Abel told her. “If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead”
But to his surprise, Lute got up as if nothing had happened. “Another moralist” she said in annoyance. “At least act like a warrior!”
And with that, she rushed him again, but this time Abel didn’t hold back: he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the ground with enough force to snap it. “Mh. One less” Cain remarked. “Hey, if you want, I’ll handle the others”
Abel didn’t answer him. His gaze was fixed on the rest of the battlefield. Only now did he realize something strange: the number of Exorcists wasn’t going down at all. Even when they were mortally struck by the demons’ attacks, their numbers stayed the same, and there were no corpses on the ground. “Where are they all…?”
Lute suddenly got back up and wrapped herself in crackling electricity, darting like lightning and landing a strike straight to his right cheek, knocking him sideways. “Like I told you, before talking about sparing us, you need to actually be able to kill us!”
Abel rubbed his cheek with a growl. Under normal circumstances, Lute should have taken at least half an hour to revive. “Of course… Zestial’s report mentioned this ability” Cain commented. “They cannot die as long as they’re bound to our father. Their regeneration speed is also extremely fast”
“Yes, I noticed” Abel said. Things were getting trickier.
Lute smiled in satisfaction. “You can hit us as much as you want, we’ll always get back up!” she told him.
“Then we just need to lock you away somewhere you can’t fight back” Abel replied, not showing the slightest hint of fear.
Lute immediately stopped smiling. “Bring it on then!” she shouted, hurling herself at him once again.
Lucifer watched as Adam channeled the power of the Ark into Sheol’s pulsing core. The divine fire burned the first man’s arms and hands, but he did not relent. It was as if they were standing atop a sun, and Adam was trying to tame it like a wild horse. “Not so fast!” Lucifer declared, hurling a beam straight at him.
But suddenly, a section of the core rose up and formed a kind of barrier in front of Adam, and both the barrier and the beam cancelled each other out. The first man smiled in satisfaction, savoring the fallen angel’s tense and confused expression.
The divine power of the Ark was meant to unite. To bring together, to merge, even that which by nature could not be joined. The instant Adam had plunged the Ark’s power into Sheol’s core, he had suddenly felt like he was part of it. He could sense the immense, pulsing energy, so powerful that its very existence kept the darkness of the dark realm at bay across the entire moon. An ancient light, like that of a star, but different, more spiritual.
Adam couldn’t help but smile, then pushed himself even deeper into the core. It wasn’t a pleasant union: he was like a mosquito trying to pierce the hide of a great beast to drink its blood. He was struggling, struggling greatly. If he had possessed more divine power, he and Sheol’s core might even have become one, but as things stood, he was only a tiny insect trying to draw a little of that energy. “You were very kind to bring the core out into the open” he said to Lucifer.
The fallen angel growled. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked him. “Are you trying to use the core’s energy to refine what little Ark power you have? It won’t be enough, even if you drain it all. I know this for a fact, I was here when this moon was created”
“I know. I was here too” Adam replied. “And I have no intention of absorbing the core’s energy. I know perfectly well it would be useless. What I want is divine power, true divine power”
Meanwhile, Mephisto was watching everything from what, from his point of view, was a peak, but which, from the perspective of the cosmos, was just a slightly raised section of one half of Sheol. Gravity was rather messed up, but in his position, and using his abilities, he managed to stay relatively balanced. From there he could keep an eye on the situation, trying to figure out what was about to happen.
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “And where do you expect to find this so-called true divine power?”
Adam answered with a smirk. “Why spoil the surprise? Instead, let me show you a new trick” he said, raising the cross of Jesus. The space around it began to tremble slightly, not violently, but more like ripples moving across the surface of water. A column of energy rose from Sheol’s core and wrapped around Adam’s hand, charging it immensely, before he shouted: “Ultimate move: COSMIC EXPANSION!”
In an instant, Lucifer was hurled away, past the fissure he himself had opened, past Sheol itself, so far that after barely a second the moon was only faintly visible in his field of view. It wasn’t Lucifer who was moving, space itself was. As though something had just stretched it to the extreme, space was shifting horizontally, pouring out through Sheol’s fissure like an unending tidal wave. It was as if someone had taken the expansion of the universe and accelerated it to a ridiculous degree, but only for this region.
Lucifer immediately flew back toward Sheol, accelerating so fast that light itself would have seemed slow in comparison. He rushed toward the moon, but the closer he got, the more space expanded exponentially. Soon, the space before him became a perfect void, because every particle entering it had already been hurled light-years away, even the photons themselves.
Adam let out a satisfied sound as he watched Lucifer struggle to return. There was something strangely gratifying about seeing him flail like a duck and still move only a few meters per second, humiliating for a being who could surpass the speed of light tens of thousands of times over. But Adam didn’t have much time to enjoy himself, because a portal opened before him, and a punch sent him crashing to the ground.
Adam let out a pained grunt, tasting blood in his mouth. A moment later, a familiar hand grabbed him and pulled him up, ethereal chains seemed to emerge from it, binding him. “Ugh... Michael...” he muttered.
“This ends now” the Taxiarch said seriously, holding him tight.
Adam struggled, striking the archangel a couple of times, reinforcing his blows with all the powers he had absorbed, but he barely managed to draw an expression of mild annoyance. He knew he would never break free from that grip. “You waited for me and Lucifer to finish fighting before stepping in, huh?” he commented.
“It’s not my usual method, but I have to admit this time it was effective. It kept me from being thrown into the void like him” Michael replied, glancing at his brother, who was still far away and struggling to approach in that ever-growing space. “Look at the mess you two have made. I’ll have plenty of work to do once this is over"
“Gnnn... whose idea was this?” Adam asked. “It’s not like you to hang back from a fight. Who convinced you? Abel? Cain? Or... someone else?”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “Your son Cain” he admitted. “And if you’re referring to the other demons we brought along, I didn’t know about them until just now. As soon as I’m done with you, I’ll deal with them”
“Always later, huh?” Adam muttered. “Well, I don’t intend to wait. I’ve already done it, Michael. I’m one step away from victory. One last strike, one last mission, and I will finally have what I’ve always wanted. My plan is about to be completed, and you know it”
“And you know I won’t let you do it” Michael said.
Adam narrowed his eyes. “I know” he said. “I’m sorry, my friend”
Sheol’s core trembled, and a new column of energy rose, clearly aiming to strike Michael, but the archangel dodged with apparent ease, again and again. “You can’t stop me with so little” he warned.
But Adam didn’t seem discouraged. “Do you know why this core is so special?” he asked. “It’s a furnace of energy, but even though it isn’t vast, it can still hold back the darkness and prevent it from wrapping around this moon. And do you know why? It’s like a vacuum cleaner, but in reverse. A vacuum cleaner is much weaker than a car engine, but because of how it’s built, the wind it generates is immense compared to the slight air disturbance of a much stronger engine. Here, it’s the same. This core was created solely to repel the darkness that permeates the dark realm. Its energy isn’t remotely comparable to, say, yours... but because of its different nature, it repels darkness far better than you do”
Michael continued to dodge the columns of energy with ease. “And what exactly are you trying to say with this?”
“I’m sure you can figure it out. A vacuum cleaner can do two things: blow air out... or suck it in, trapping everything in its path. All you have to do is reverse the factory settings, and you get one or the other, both with the same intensity” Adam said. “This core is the same. The energy within was placed there to keep the darkness away. But now that I have connected to it with the Ark’s power, I can reverse that setting... and give it a new target”. His face darkened a lot. “And I... need divine power, to refine the Ark’s power I already have and multiply it enough for my goal”
Michael was silent for a moment. Then his eyes widened, not in fear or shock, but in something closer to... droop. “Adam...!”
“I’m sorry. I never wanted this” Adam told him. “But I must have what I need... one way or another”
And having said so he raised his right hand, and another column of energy appeared behind Michael, bending towards him. The Taxiarch tried to dodge, moving with all his speed, but it was useless: the divine power of the Ark, amplified by the pulsing heart of Sheol, allowed that attack to reach speeds far too great for the archangel. The force that struck him was like an invisible hook sinking into his bones; the beam wrapped around him, pierced through him, and in an instant Michael felt his body grow heavy, as though he were sinking into the ground, even though he was still flying. At the blow he let go of Adam, who was finally freed and flew back to the surface of the core, and broke the ethereal chains with all his strength.
The pain came right after. It wasn’t like being struck or burned, no, it was none of those sensations. It was more like something was digging inside him, tearing away whatever held him upright. As if a dark hand had attacked the sun itself and begun to rip away its warmth. The divine power, the energy that had always sustained him and granted him unmatched might, began to vanish from his skin, his bones, his breath. His heart pounded harder to compensate, but every beat seemed to push away another fragment of what he was.
Every nerve in his body caught fire. His muscles went rigid, then began to give out, as if being sucked away from within. His blood seemed to thicken, slow, almost stop in his veins. Michael felt a burning in his eyes, not from anger, but from sheer physical strain. It was as though even his sight was losing strength, the edges of the world fading, the colors of the sky dimming before him.
Adam stared at him with a tense expression. His fingers trembled, even though he himself was the cause of what was happening. “Forgive me, my friend. But I need your strength” he said. “Your immense power is not yours. It is a gift from the Almighty. It is His very power that He placed within you when He forged you, the same power that lies in all the mightiest angels”
Michael let out a groan. Everything Adam said made sense: he, like all the first angels, Lucifer, Gabriel, Azrael, and all the others, had been forged by God with His power. Not an absolute power like the one contained in the Ark, but a limited one… and yet still divine power, of the same nature. If the Ark contained the pure power of God, then the primordial angels were that power given form, tainted with matter.
“Once I refine the Ark’s power with yours, I will have enough divine power for what I have in mind” Adam said. “It will not be absolutely pure anymore… but it will be enough for me to accomplish my goal”
Michael growled, but the sound that came from his throat was hoarse, weak. His muscles trembled, the veins in his neck taut like ropes. He moved his wings, feeling the strain in them, trying to get away, while the column of energy continued to drain every drop of power from him. Every movement felt slower, weaker; even the air, which he had never even noticed when flying, was now beginning to feel dense.
“I won’t take more than what I need” Adam reassured him. “I know the procedure isn’t pleasant, but it will not cause you permanent harm. You’ll recover soon. And when you’re back on your feet, if you want to punch me, I won’t stop you. By then, I’ll have already completed my plan, I’ll have no reason to keep you from venting your anger”
Somewhere behind him, a white flash cut through the scene. Lucifer arrived with a roar, fist raised, charging Adam at full speed. But Adam didn’t move an inch: he merely raised his other hand, and the Ark’s power burst forth from him, creating a barrier of divine fire that repelled the fallen angel in a blinding flare. Lucifer was forced to retreat, and he noticed that Adam’s arms were no longer burning as before: the fire still surrounded them, but it seemed weaker. It was no longer the Ark’s pure power, it was already being refined, like gasoline distilled from crude oil, using the Taxiarch’s energy.
Michael tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond. His legs were dead weight, his arms felt like lead, his wings frozen stiff. His breath came short and ragged, as if breathing that air was suffocating him from the inside. Every fiber of his being screamed, not from physical pain, but from loss. It was as though a part of him was dying.
His senses dulled. The world around him became distant, its colors muted. He could feel his heartbeat slowing, could feel the warmth of his divine power draining away, not just from his skin, but from his very spirit. It was like drowning, but without water.
Far away, Mephisto continued to observe the scene. The sensors in his robotic body fed him real-time data, but every calculation, every strategy, every possible variable that passed before his eyes gave the same result: any attempt to stop what was happening would fail miserably. No plan could stop that column of energy, it was powered by Sheol’s very core, and stopping that core was impossible. All he could do was watch as the Taxiarch, who had once repelled his entire army, was slowly dragged to the ground like a mere mortal.
And Mephisto felt a weight in his stomach, even though he no longer had one, a knot that had nothing to do with fear. It wasn’t terror at losing, but the impotent rage of witnessing something he could not prevent. Something he had once dreamed of seeing, humanity overturning the natural order and felling even angels, but this time he was on the wrong side… metaphorically speaking. And he knew that once this sinister process was complete, Adam would have what he came for.
His breath grew shallow, his hands clenched until the metal creaked. He would have given anything, in that moment, to be down there, to stop Adam with his own hands. But he was just a demon, too weak to stop what he himself had foolishly set in motion centuries earlier, and that knowledge tortured him.
Michael’s wings gave way, and he fell atop Sheol’s core. It was hot, almost liquid beneath him, and his fist clenched into the ground in a desperate gesture. It was instinctive, as though holding on to that hostile world would keep him from being completely drained. But his strength was abandoning him: every muscle, every tendon lost its tension, and for a moment he thought this might be how he would die… not in battle, not under the swing of an axe or a sword, but emptied, drained, reduced to nothing.
The pain sharpened. It was no longer just a sensation of loss, but a true physical torment: his chest burned as though his lungs were shrinking, and every breath was an internal scratch. His heartbeat became a slow, heavy drum, each beat making him jolt. He felt his skin grow cold, a clammy sweat running down his back as his hair stuck to his forehead.
Lucifer shouted something, maybe a spell, maybe a curse, but no one could hear it. Around him, thousands of magic portals opened, releasing energy capable of obliterating hundreds of stars, but once again when he fired the beam, Adam was already gone, and even the beam, traveling thousands of times faster than light, couldn’t reach him. Like a bullet that kept flying forward with all its force, but no matter how fast it went, it was always too far from the target.
After all, no matter how fast an object traveled, it couldn’t outrun space itself if space was expanding faster…
Mephisto watched Lucifer grow ever more distant, and a moment later his fingers rested on the transmitter of his robotic body, ready to call reinforcements, order a retreat, do something, anything, but he realized there was nothing to say. No matter who he called, no one could get close to Adam without being thrown away… and if someone like Lucifer, who could move thousands of times faster than light, perhaps millions, couldn’t match him, what hope did anyone else have?
Wait a moment…
Mephisto’s mind suddenly caught a detail. If space was expanding so dramatically all around Adam, how was it possible that Michael was still in the same place? Surely, at that point, the Taxiarch was not actively moving toward Adam to counteract the expansion. Logically, he should have been flung light-years away in seconds.
“Of course… the epicenter of the expansion isn’t Adam himself, but the entire area that he and Michael occupy” Mephisto realized. “Which means that, theoretically, within that area, you can remain still…”
He immediately thought of a way to tell Lucifer, but quickly realized he had none. And there wasn’t much time. Someone had to act now.
…
Ah, screw it.
Mephisto carefully calculated the coordinates, then opened a portal directly between Adam and Michael: the column of energy found an unexpected opening and part of it poured through to the other side. The first man’s eyes widened in surprise, but another portal opened in front of him, and out of it came Mephisto, who grabbed him around the waist like a rugby player, tearing away part of his control. “You…!” Adam hissed.
Mephisto wasted no time and began punching him in the face, while behind him more portals opened, siphoning the energy elsewhere. He hadn’t used this trick before because he assumed it wouldn’t work in constantly expanding space, but now that he knew the entire area was stable, he had no intention of holding back. The more energy he could divert, the better.
Well, at least that was the plan. Because Adam wasn’t about to stand there and let him do it. Mephisto managed to land at least ten punches only because he had taken him by surprise, but as soon as Adam recovered, he grabbed his right hand and shoved him back. With a violent punch, he shattered most of his helmet. “This is the attack you’ve planned after all this time watching me like a rat?” he asked. “It’s an insult!”
And with that, he grabbed Mephisto by the limbs and smashed his back against his knee… or at least, he would have if Mephisto still had a spine, but even so the damage to the robotic body was extreme. The self-repair systems went into overdrive, trying at least to keep the vital systems functional. Adam grabbed several of his cables and ripped them out violently, sending electric sparks flying. “Fool! I could kill you in a second” he said. “See how fragile you are when I strip away what doesn’t belong to you?”
He probably would have kept going until Mephisto was in pieces, but soon he had something else to worry about: Michael, now that the column of energy had weakened so much, let out a furious roar, generating a massive shockwave that severed the link with the divine fire. He probably wanted to get back up and fight, but when he tried to do so he collapsed with a thud. The only thing he could still do was keep breathing, each breath heavier than the last.
Adam felt a flash of fear for an instant, but then he calmed. “If you thought he was going to stop me, you picked the wrong moment” he said to Mephisto. “You should have intervened right away, not this late”
“Yes, you’re right” Mephisto replied, then pointed his hand toward Michael. “But I can still stop you from going any further!”
And with that, a small cannon on his palm fired, blasting Michael backward, beyond the threshold where the super-expansion began. “NO!” Adam roared as he watched him shoot away at insane speed. “Come back here!”
He hurled Mephisto aside and immediately nullified the spatial expansion he had caused, and using the cross of Christ, he pulled Michael back and wrapped him again in his energy. “What did you think you were doing? Throwing him into the void?” he growled at Mephisto.
The demon grinned. “No, I just wanted you to shut off that annoying spatial trick of yours and let the cavalry in”
“What?” Adam muttered, but a moment later his instincts went into overdrive, and he immediately grabbed his axe and raised it in front of his body. Lucifer arrived a fraction of a second later, striking him so hard that he was hurled away from Sheol’s core.
Taking advantage of this, Mephisto grabbed Michael. “Okay, buddy, give me a hand?” he asked, but got no reply. “Okay, you’re already gone… and I’d better be gone from here too before one of those two wins”
Lucifer struck Adam repeatedly, blow after blow. The first man was being pushed back fast, and he opened a portal behind him to reappear at Lucifer’s back. “It won’t work again!” Lucifer growled, spinning around immediately.
Adam cloaked his eyes in shadow. “Not with me, either” he said, and taking advantage of Lucifer’s brief confusion, he flew straight toward Sheol’s core. Mephisto feared he would reach them, but Lucifer freed himself at once and struck Adam, hurling him into an entirely different part of the core. “Okay… I’m out” the demon said, opening a portal and vanishing, dragging the Taxiarch’s body with him.
Lucifer threw Adam to the ground and pounded him with punches, making him spit blood. “You’ll pay for this!” he roared.
Adam, with what seemed his last strength, grabbed his face. “It may no longer be divine power in the truest sense, but I’ll make do!” he cried, and around them a new column of energy flared open and struck Lucifer. The fallen angel was ready this time and immediately deflected the attacks, but one of them managed to pierce his neck and draw out a small amount of energy.
And that small amount of energy, it seemed, was all Adam still needed.
There was a sort of explosion of divine power, hot and blazing. Lucifer was hurled back several meters, and Adam rose to his feet. Divine fire blazed in his arms, enveloping them as if trying to consume him. “I have what I came for” he said. “With your permission, now I retreat”
Lucifer leaped at him and slammed him back into the surface of Sheol's core. "You're not going anywhere!" he warned, raising his hand to strike.
Adam showed no sign of concern. On the contrary, he began to vibrate at high speed, and in an instant he passed through the molecules of the core, escaping Lucifer's grasp. He emerged behind him, perfectly intact. "Don't worry, I'll be back with you in half an hour at most" he said with a smirk. "Then we'll really be done with this. Wait for me, Lucifer, because we'll have one last musical number. Just you, me, and the universe watching your downfall"
Lucifer let out a furious grunt: "Not if I stop you from running away now"
"Funny. There was a time when you would have been arrogant enough and confident enough in your own strength to let me go and face me again" Adam said with a chuckle. "Glad to see you've learned at least something in your miserable existence"
Lucifer lunged at him, and Adam immediately raised a barrier. Then two, then three, then five, then ten. He built numerous barriers around him with the strongest materials, the highest density, the strongest magnetic field, yet Lucifer still smashed through them all with a single punch, continuing to advance.
But at least he was slowing him down. Enough for Adam to say one last thing. "You know... maybe I was wrong. Maybe there's only one real difference between us. I've made many mistakes in my life... you've only made one" he said, narrowing his eyes. "Being born"
Lucifer let out a snarl and broke through the final barrier: his hand reached Adam's body with extreme speed, perhaps even faster than the fallen angel had anticipated, and pierced him clean through. Innards and even part of the bones exploded from his back, pouring into the hot core of Sheol. For a moment, Lucifer hesitated, thinking he had truly just ended the first man's life.
But as soon as he recovered, he realized that what he had pierced wasn't the first man's body at all. Instead, hanging from his arm with her chest smashed in was an Exorcist. She was spitting blood and trembling, but she had a smile on her face as she looked at the fallen angel.
Lucifer gritted his teeth. "Sure... he can switch with all his soldiers. Which means who knows where he is now" he hissed furiously. "You, speak up! Where did he go?"
At this the Exorcist simply laughed. "Long live the king" she replied with a wild look, and then she opened her uniform to reveal a small bomb under it. It exploded immediately, instantly disintegrating her and spraying blood and bits of flesh across the fallen angel's three faces.
Lucifer grunted furiously. Fuck, he should have seen that move coming. Adam wasn't afraid of dying because if he was quick enough, he could switch with his soldiers, and he had no problem doing so because his soldiers couldn't die as long as they were connected to him. He should have known he had that backup plan. Maybe Adam had used the move so little that Lucifer had forgotten about it... in fact, that had probably been the intent.
Lucifer looked at the blood on the ground and above him, and then at the pale surface of Hell peeking through the two halves of Sheol. Adam had finally escaped again, and this time he had everything he needed. He was ready for the grand finale.
Lucifer closed his eyes. So be it, he told himself. Half an hour, Adam had said. Very good. Like a small virus, he settled on the surface of Sheol's core and began rebuilding his power. He too would have been ready.
Notes:
Okay, I'll be completely honest with you: I just wanted to finish this battle. Honestly, this was the hardest part of the story for me to write, not because I didn't have any ideas, in fact, there were plenty (the original plan called for much more character interaction, their emotions, their thoughts, the impact of their decisions, and much more), but because for some reason I couldn't find a way to write it. I felt much more comfortable with other parts of this story, perhaps because elsewhere there were more twists and turns or genuine ideological clashes, whereas in these four chapters it was all pretty much a fight and that's it. So in the end, I decided I really didn't feel like writing this and cut everything I could so I could get back (in the next chapter) to Charlie and Eve right away and then move straight to the real, final showdown between Adam and Lucifer, which are much more interesting to write and even more interesting to read. So, if you think these last three or four chapters were too rushed, it's because they are, and I'm not denying it. I apologize, but I really couldn't write this part. Sometimes a writer finds themselves faced with stories they can't quite capture in words as they would like, and this was one of those cases. These chapters were so hard to me to write that I literally wrote the future chapters before these ones. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe in the future I'll feel inspired to rewrite them, but for now I just wanted to get them out of the way and call it a day. So please be patient with the quality of these last chapters and wait for the next ones to return to their previous one.
If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie - Arc III: Famine (chapter 118): https://archiveofourown.org/works/60541765/chapters/170162269
Among the lions (chapter 25): https://archiveofourown.org/works/66584716/chapters/174058927
My Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/faberown?source=share
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