Chapter Text
Approximately 500.000 years ago: Earth
The angels were gathered around their leader in the exact middle point of a beautiful clearing. The sky was shining a radiant blue, clouds drifting by, scattered and lazy. The pond in the clearing was still and tranquil, the water a crystalline mirror of the heavenly beings, fishes swimming without a care in the world. Tree leaves and grass swayed in the breeze.
“Sera, are you sure about this? Can we really please Him with this new entity? We made so many others to populate His magnificent realm of his creation, but this one is…” Abatur asked
Seraphiel, or Sera as she liked to be called, head and manager of Heaven, in the form of a beautiful, tall and cheddar-brown skinned woman. Her hair reached down to her round hips in long, silver curls. She looked at Abatur with calm and determined eyes, shining purple pupils accentuating the white of her irises and blue-grey sclera.
“Yes! This place, the center of this world, is the culmination of all His creation. From plants to animals. From rocks to water. And now it shall have a guardian and caretaker in His image. I am sure He’ll look at us with pride, once we show it.” Sera’s voice was laced with the calm of billions of years of existence, but underneath the conviction and knowledge, there was a hint of longing.
Sera knelt down and in her hands gathered a generous amount of dirt, and lifted it above her head.
The angels around her started to hum in unison and golden-white light spread, gathering at the handful of dirt in Sera’s hands. Two angels among them began chanting, Artiyail and Hamaliel.
“By hand, by will, by birth and death.
We mold the void, we call the soul;
And shape from dust the living whole.
We call the flesh, We craft the bone,
From soil shaped, to stand alone.
Rise now, form, from dust and He—
By will, by word, We make thee be.”
The light entered and mixed in the dirt. And expanded. A shape formed. It was what would be called a man, the first and only, almost 9ft tall (275 cm), auburn and wild short hair. His appearance was incredibly handsome, fair olive skin, physically fit, broad shoulders tapering to a toned waist, muscles lining his physique but not in an extremely bulky manner. His jaw was square and accentuated by a small stubble on his chin. His nakedness revealing his well endowed privates.
Sera looked down and touched the First Man’s cheek with her right hand in a tender manner. “The greatest work of the angels. A present to the Creator. Receive His breath and live.” Pure white light gathered in front of Sera and she blew a breath at the man’s face, and his sky blue eyes blinked awake. “Welcome to The Garden Adam.”
Adam looked at the faces surrounding him, existence being a complete concept in his mind. He knew who he was. Why he was. The imparted knowledge of the angels entering his mind in waves.
He saw the green grass and trees of many varieties, the birds and creatures waiting among them. Then his eyes focused on the lady in front of him.
An innocent and somewhat confused look adorned his face for a moment, almost like an infant about to cry for his mother, but quickly vanished and he scanned the angels. “I… I… What am I?”
An angel with four wings, black and deep clue, with purple streaks running through them, and deep black eyes filled with spots, approached Adam.
“You are a human. The First, only and most perfect human. You’re our Adam. Hello, I’m Abatur.”
The words of the angel penetrated Adam’s mind and soul. He was human, their creation, their perfect present. Sera was the next to get close, her six white wings fluttering gently, she touched his arm and her warmth radiated inside him, making him look up at her with full focus.
“This place is the Garden of Eden. And it’s yours to enjoy Adam, but your mission is to care for it fully. All the beauty and creations of this planet is concentrated here, you must keep it perfect, like you.”
Sera’s eyes bore into his with a kind but firm gaze. A gift as well as an order.
“Yes, I’ll be perfect and keep the Garden perfect too. “ Adam said, eager to please Sera for an unknown reason. Something inside felt immense happiness when she talked to him. When she looked at him like that.
The other angels touched Adam’s body too, some in admiration of their work, others testing the new creature, some in affection and some kept their distance in respect and caution.
Adam’s eyes looked at each angel in turn, none resembled him exactly, he knew they were different from him, they were greater, his creators.
Briefly he spotted a hidden figure behind one of the trees outside the clearing. Six folded wings on its back, like Sera, but this one was smaller than him, and the hair was long and blonde. The eyes had a curiosity like his own, even somewhat of a mischievous glint.
Lucifer observed his sister’s creation from afar. This human she made in the newest attempt to please their Father was very interesting to him. The first being that was not an angel and had sentience. He wanted to get closer, but the others might reject him. After the last mess he made when he got curious, they wouldn't be too keen on him playing with their toy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2020s: Hell, Ring of Pride
“Still can't believe we built an entire hotel from the ground up in a week. Magic is too awesome.”
Angel Dust, the original guest of Hazbin Hotel, was sitting in the newly remodeled bar area of the hotel, his lower arms crossed, one holding a drink and the other supporting his head.
“Say that again. There are drinks here from very high class and rarity, the only problem is gonna be when new guests start pouring in and they all begin complaining to the bartender.”
Husk was currently organizing and cleaning the many, neat rolls of bottles on the shelf behind the countertop.“Satan’s Breath, ahhh. This is good stuff.”
“You really think we're gonna have new guests? It's not like sinners will line up for the redeeming treatment when we didn't even prove it could work. The whole object of this place is still up in the air.”
Angel took another swing of his sweet and slightly bitter drink, while the winged cat refilled his cup. “And Heaven could come back for vengeance any time. We did kill the ‘First Man’, after all!”
“That dickhead deserved it! If there is an example of Heaven's hypocrisy it was him. Nifty did us a favor.” Vaggie took this moment to enter the conversation and also sit at the bar, but didn't drink, she never did. Harboring no love for her former boss, that also attempted to murder her girlfriend.
Angel snorted a little. “I know the guy was a jerk, but he's dead now. Let's have a little respect for the fallen and be better than those winged narcissists.”
“He didn't care about the souls he killed. Though I guess you're right Angel, dead and buried somewhere. And about Heaven, Lucifer just vanished to try and find out how that situation is gonna unravel. So we can only wait.”
“That's a relief to hear.” Said Husk as he placed a filled cup in front of Vaggie. “Non-alcoholic.”
“Thanks.” She sipped her drink.
“Say, what's toots doing ? Since her daddy ain't here no more.” Angel asked.
“Worrying about how to redeem sinners. Her relationship to Lucifer did somewhat improve, though I'm not sure exactly how it's gonna be from now on. She is more focused on the hotel than ever, said that we have to show everyone there is a chance for salvation.”
“How does she plan to do that?.”
“Therapy sessions? Focusing more sinners individually rather than as just a group. We just need one success case. Undeniable proof. Sir Pentious was the perfect candidate, he was almost there until…”
Vaggie got quiet. Everyone's heads sagged a little and the mood soured. Pentious’ death was still a fresh wound, but his sacrifice for his friends would be remembered by them forever. They had put a giant painting of him in the main hall of the hotel entrance, honoring their fallen comrade with this small gesture.
Angel raised his glass to the others. “To Pentious, we'll never forget you buddy.” The others copied his move and downed their drinks.
“He wouldn't want us mopping around thinking of him. Let's go see if-”
Angel's phone began vibrating. Husk's face immediately assumed a frown and Vaggie lifted an eyebrow.
“What's does that fucker want with you now?” Angel pulled the phone out swiftly, ignoring Husk's question for now, and answered it.
“Val. What do you want?.” Angel answered, still defiant in face of the owner of his contract. Husk almost smiled with pride.
“No, I can't ri-... But I… yes, yes. I know. I'll be there.” Angel turned off the call and pocketed his phone again. “Sorry to cut it short guys. Looks like it's back to work for me. See ya.”
He moved to the exit front door. His head cast down a little, but he quickly put on the Angel Dust smile and attitude, and kept moving.
“I thought Val had given up on Angel. He hasn't had to do a shoot in at least 3 weeks.” Vaggie turned to Husk with her comment.
“An overlord never gives up a soul. Especially an insane asshole like Val. He must have been occupied with something else and now showed his face again.” Husk said as he cleaned Angel's glass, with some degree of irritation.
“I don't really believe in redemption, but if something is holding Angel back from it, it's his deal with Val. And we can't do anything about it.”
Vaggie looked at the anthropomorphic cat with wings for a few seconds. They had all gotten close in the months following the extermination battle, but Husk and Angel had become somewhat more friendly than Vaggie would guess possible from their respective personalities.
“Is there a way out of the contract?”
Husk gave her a look like he had not only explained this to someone before, but had been mulling this exact thing in his head for a long time.
“Not unless stated in the contract. At least to my knowledge. Besides to just kill Val outright, and some overlords are so insane that as a guarantee, they put a death line in the contract.”
Vaggie was puzzled. Her knowledge of contracts was very limited. Heaven didn't have any equivalent system, and she had not been in her for that long. She guessed that now she would fit under the fallen angel category.
“A death line?”
“Yes, in case the overlord or owner of the contract gets killed, then all souls under him also die. It's like a soulbind. A contract may only be dispelled if both parts agree together, and Val will never release Angel of his own volition.”
“What if we could check his contract, and kill Val if there was no death line?”
Husk lifted an eyebrow at Vaggie, she seemed more interested than if it was just for the sake of Angel. Then he remembered Vaggie was in a similar predicament with her girlfriend and Alastor. Unconsciously Husk lifted one of his hands to his neck.
“Killing an overlord is no easy feat. Even with the power of the princess of Hell and an ex-exterminator. And Lucifer wouldn't help, he can't. By ancient agreement with the overlords, unless he is provoked or attacked first, we can't ask for his help.”
Vaggie tightened her fist a little. Frustration at their lack of options showing. Angel was their currently, only and best adjusted guest, the contract could be the only thing holding them back from undeniable proof of redemption. Not to mention the agreement Charlie made with Alastor still looming over her.
“Damn it.”
Nifty passed by, running after the insects, cockroaches seemed to be permanent, no matter how many times they cleaned.
“So we are stuck waiting on all fronts, great.”
“You know, when you're unable to do something about a problem, no matter how much you try. It's best to take a breather and do other things. Maybe the solution can present itself later for us.”
“Why do you choose the most random moments to give advice like that Husk?” Vaggie asked, a little smirk playing on her face.
“It's a gift and a curse.” He smiled at her.
At that moment, a blinding golden light invaded their windows and the ground began to shake.
“What the-?”
Husk shielded his eyes with his wings and tried to keep all the bottles in the bar intact. While Vaggie used her hand for her single remaining left eye. She recognized that light, this was angelic magic.
The shaking was moving dust and objects across the floor, if it persisted for much longer, the structure could start to break down.
Until suddenly, the shaking and the light vanished, just as they had appeared.
“What was that ? Hell quakes don't usually accompany a light show.” Husk said as he balanced at least seven bottles in his arms and one tightly secured by his tail. Wings stretched to hold the shelves upright.
Vaggie ran to the front door, just as Charlie and Nifty came to check what had happened. She pushed the big, ornamented, double doors wide open.
And her single ivory eye enlarged with shock.
The view of the hotel hadn't changed with the renovations, it was still on that same hill that overlooked this part of Pentagram City. But now something huge was missing.
The clock tower. The tower that counted down for the exterminations and the sky piercing monument atop the Heaven embassy, was gone.
“They took it. Are… are the exterminations over ?”
Husk asked from behind them. Charlie and Vaggie looked at each other, and without a word moved to get the car. They had to check, had to see up close.
“W-wait for me!” Husk said, and Nifty just stayed behind, one building more, one less, what difference did it make for her. Now the cockroaches, those were the real danger.
Arriving at the location of the old embassy, many demons had gathered already. All chatting incessantly. All with hope and worry at the same time.
Charlie got out of the car first, and the crowd of sinners immediately parted for her. As she reached the once embassy of Heaven…
Nothing remained.
Where the building and the Clock Tower used to be, now there was just an empty plot of dirt. Like the entire thing had been lifted and carried off.
For 200 years, ever since Charlie was a little girl, that Tower had stood there. Counting the days till the possible deaths of any of the sinners of Hell. The deaths of her subjects. The second death for these souls.
And now, it was gone.
“Vaggie…” Charlie looked at her lover with uncertain eyes, red pupils dilating into apprehension and hope. This could mean the end of all their efforts. That Heaven had finally seen reason and stopped killing them.
A golden portal appeared in front of Charlie and her father Lucifer Morningstar walked out. Still wearing his ringmaster outfit, but his hat was in his hands, and his posture was slaking.
“Dad, what… What happened? Did Heaven say anything?”
Lucifer wasn't even looking at her. Only at the empty plot of land. His eyes were open wide, and darting around every inch of it. Then up to Heaven, as it could be seen in the sky.
“I-I don’t… They shut me out. Sera, she…” His breath was coming in small gasps. Moisture coating the side of his eyes. “She never did this before. Even after my banishment. Sister… why?” He was mumbling to himself as he looked at the great, white cloud in the sky.
Charlie grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him fiercely. For a few moments Lucifer showed no reaction, until he silently put his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His form trembled a little in her embrace.
They stayed like that for some minutes. Lucifer slowly calmed down. Charlie broke the embrace and looked at his face. “Dad, do you think the exterminations stopped?”
Lucifer looked at her with a mix of dread and fear of hurting his daughter's feelings. “They have closed all ties to Hell. After the battle, maybe Sera is even more scared that Hell can rise against Heaven. I can really say for certain, but from what I know of them, and her… It might be even worse than the exterminations.”
Charlie held in a breath and looked at the sinners, all paying attention to the giant empty space. They weren't looking at her or her father, but her friends were. Husk, Alastor, Rosie and Vaggie, all looking at her.
“Well, that changes nothing. We were doing this whole thing without Heaven to begin with, and we’ll show them by redeeming a soul. That Heaven and Hell don’t need to be enemies. We won the fight, but we are still in the war, and this time, there will be no more bloodshed.”
Her words, born from an innocent and idealistic dream, gave some form of comfort and objective to her friends. A way forward, for as foggy as the path may seem.
“Let’s go back to the hotel everyone, we need to attract new guests!”
With her words the group turned and marched off. Rosie returns to her cannibals and Alastor disappears in a plume of dark vapor.
Lucifer, though, does not move. He looks at his daughter’s back as she guides her companions to her big dream. Under his breath, for only himself to hear, he says.
“She cares so much. Just like you did Lilith.” Then enters another portal.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2020s: Main City of Heaven
“Sera what are you doing? This is not the way to go. We just discovered souls can be redeemed and you cut all contact with Hell? You even withdrew all non-essential angelic beans from Earth. Why?”
Emily asked, as she was running after her superior. Her blue dress fluttered in her rushed state. Sera turned to her with sharp eyes and tightly pressed lips. The taller angel emanated an aura of authority and pressure.
“Emily, stop! Only you and I know about the sinner. We can’t let anyone else know about him, and that’s why he’ll be locked away until I decide otherwise.” Sera turned and kept walking, heavy and focused steps.
“The sinners have won a beetle against the exterminators. That has never happened before. These are the first angel deaths in billions of years, I won’t let it happen again. And Adam…” Sera paused for a moment, an emotion Emily never had seen before crossed her face. Then vanished into the hard frown again.
They burst through a set of double doors into the outside of the building. Sera’s six wings unfurled and she took flight.
“But they can be redeemed. We don’t need to fight them. If we show Sir Pentious to them, we can persuade them to not fight. What happened to Adam was… I also…”
Sera turned to Emily mid air, eyes this time blazing with fury for a moment.
“You think those… mistakes would back down? That they would see reason for a second chance at something they already fail and now take pleasure in doing? No, Emily! The ones who do not deserve or want redemption will keep fighting. They will fight all the more if they know one of them made it here and they have been left behind.” Sera’s chest was rising and falling with each enraged breath, but she quickly took a composing breath when Emily’s face contorted in slight fear.
“Heaven chooses who enters the gates, there is a reason we don’t know how this is done. We cannot disobey the rules. The last time an angel did that, Hell was born. I won’t let something like that happen again. Until I find a permanent solution to this… unnatural development, Heaven will seize contact with Hell. We’ll keep watch, and you will listen to me, understand Emily?” The words were harsh and final.
“Y-yes, High Angel.” Sera flinched a little at her official title coming out of Emily’s mouth. She had told her long ago to treat each other by their names, an attempt to build a closer relationship with the young seraphim.
“Good. I must talk to the head of cherubs next. You can go check on the sinner, make sure no one will find him.”
With that, they parted ways. And Emily slowly glided to the Holy Sanctuary, the main facility used as a hub for coordination of the city. Heaven had no Jails, so Sera had to improvise one in the basement, hidden from all workers and administrators.
She entered the building, casting one look back at the city full of good souls, and wondered if not all good souls were gathered here.
“Adam is dead! Your daughter and ex killed him. Your deal is done, nothing keeps you safe here anymore. So you better get up and help me deal with those scum you created.”
Lute had thrown Adam’s halo to the sand in front of Lilith. The queen of Hell was dressed in a dark purple swimsuit, enjoying the sun and waves. But when Lute uttered those words, she took off her glasses and dropped them in the sand.
“What..” It wasn't a question, nor an accusation. But the voice of someone who genuinely was not believing what she had just heard.
“Exactly what you heard. Adam, he… he is dead.” Lute looked to the side. Using her professional voice, she may not be wearing her exterminator mask, but she was hiding something.
Lilith slowly got up and moved to gently grab the halo that carried the name of someone who shared years of existence with her. There was no real love in her heart for Adam, not exactly, she had burned that bridge thousands of years prior. But he had been her first husband, she had been made for him. You can’t erase history just because you wanted to. And in recent years, although Adam had become the biggest douchebag in all of heaven, there was still a side to him that took Lilith in.
Very quickly suppressing her emotions to deal at a later moment, preferably when the lieutenant exorcist was not present, she frowned and looked up.
“You are gonna take care of your arm first, or take a shower at least?”
Lute was still covered in blood. Her’s and Adam’s. Her right arm missing from when she ripped it off completely in the battle.
“I barely feel it. but… it's good to stay in top shape. Sera has decided to cut contact with Hell, no portals, nothing. So we are stuck until we can come up with a plan and present it to her. And believe me, I’ll kill every sinner in Hell. And if you don’t help me, I’ll kill your daughter too.” Lute gaze could freeze fire, but Lilith hadn’t exited for so long without picking up the ability to remain composed under pressure.
“Lead the way… Commander of the Exorcists.”
Lute’s gaze lost some of its bite, though not for long. She made her way to a secret passage leading to the Exorcists headquarters. Lilith following.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2020s: Hell, Ring of Pride
“Mother, what should we do with the body?” Clara asked.
They were under the angelic weapons vault for the Carmine Weapons Dealer manufactory. The weapons were stored here, until Carmilla herself or her most trusted artisans took them for melting, remodeling or direct sale. Currently her daughters were taking storage of the most recent haul of weapons and armor recuperated from the battle at the hotel.
Swords, axes, helmets, and spears were mounted on the walls, and in the middle of the room there was a big table, normally used for appraising items.
“The cannibals got to most of them, but we managed to secure this one. The body of the First Man. What secrets do you think it hides, my daughters? Odette, please clear a time on the schedule so we can have a proper analysis done.”
“Yes, mother.” Odette responded, adjusting her red lensed glasses, they gave her sharp features a professional look, accompanied by her tight bun of blonde hair. Different from her sister, whose attitude was a little more relaxed. She noted something down on her notepad and lifted her eyes to the table.
Atop which lay the body. Still in purple robes, wings folded to stay in the confines of the table’s surface. Almost close to 7 ft tall (210 cm), the face pale, heavy bangs under the eyes, and a light-brown colored, short hair and beard stubble. His chest was still covered in golden bloody stains.
“Must be just like the body of any other angel. He is dead, there is no more magic in the carcass to use.” Clara noted, hands on her hips.
“We’ll only know for sure once we look inside C.” Odette responded to her sister.
“Let’s go girls, we have new weapon designs and business deals to attend.”
The girls moved out of the vault first, Carmilla just behind them.
B-DUM
Carmilla looked back over her shoulder, scanning the room for a moment.
“Must be imagining things.” She exited the vault.
Leaving the body of the angel/first human to rest on the cold steel.
Chapter Text
Approximately 450.000 years ago: Earth
Another day of Adam caring for the Garden of Eden in all its splendor. He had lost count of how many days had gone by, but the garden was never dull. The animals and plants needed constant care, and every so often the angels would bring new specimens for Adam. The angels themselves had become Adam’s friends and mentors in a way. Especially Sera, who had come to check on Adam every so often more than the others.
But today the one angel near him was not Sera, if Adam had to describe, this was the closest angel to him, besides the woman who had made him.
Its form was that of a woman, with white pearly skin and red hair tied in a long ponytail. She was the same height as Adam, and like all angels he had met, incredibly beautiful, and of course, as every angel and Adam himself, she was fully naked.
Her eyes were completely void white, which gave the impression she could not see, but atop her head sat a pair of golden, spinning wheels interlocked. Many all seeing eyes covered them, like a crown that watched everything.
“Have you learned to take care of the lions yet? I thought it was going to be a challenge deserving of the perfect man’s attention.”
Adam turned his head to her as he collected ripe fruits from a bush, the smile on his face radiant as usual. “Yes Raziel, I did. It was tricky with the claws and big fangs, but they purr like cats when I scratch their necks. I was thinking of naming them, is that a good idea?”
Raziel laughed joyously, her bright red lips spreading in a toothy grin.
“That is a magnificent idea Adam. Maybe you can name every animal of Earth's dominion one day. You do a perfect job caring for our Garden, keep up the splendid work and all of Heaven shall recognize your name.”
Raziel made a big, hard cover book appear in her hands. She opened it and with a summoned quill, wrote something Adam couldn't see, then closed the book again.
“But I can tell you have a question for me dear. You always have questions for me.”
Adam finished wrapping the berries on a leaf, turned to the pond and sat on its border, his feet splashing in the water.
“You can always tell huh, Keeper of knowledge.”
Raziel sat by his side. Touching his shoulder with hers. “Keeper of Secrets, hehe. And out with it, you’re not a good liar.”
Adam sat looking at the animals, birds, insects, even the fish in the pond. “I can’t help but notice. All of them, all of these creatures, have pairs. Why?”
Raziel made a show of thinking for a second. “I could tell you all the biological reasons, and I’m sure you would grasp them quickly, but I don’t believe that’s what you’re looking for. So I’ll give you the short answer, because their creator wanted them to reproduce, to live among each other, and cover the Earth with life.”
Adam thought about Raziel’s explanation. It made sense, but his mind also jumped to the next question, one he had been asking himself for quite some years now. “Then why are there no more humans ?”
“Oh dear Adam, you are the first sentient being besides us angels. You are perfect and every other attempt to replicate you would be inferior. You were made with a specific purpose, and you have realized that to the best of your abilities, though truly asking such a question may reveal you're not as perfect as we imagined.”
Adam's eyes enlarged, scrambling for the right words. “No, I-I was just curious, that’s all. You know me, can't help but look for new things and reasons. But if that’s the will of the angels then I have nothing to ask about, haha.”
Raziel looked at him softly, affectionately. Then she petted his hair. “Our sweet and adorable Adam. You work so diligently on our orders. Keep being a good boy and good things will come your way for sure, aren’t you happy in this Garden?”
Adam nuzzled her hand with his head. Appreciating her touch. “Yes Raziel. I couldn't be happier.”
+
“He is lonely Sera.”
Sera and Raziel observed Adam from afar as he was picking at the fur of a bear, the animal lazily lying on the ground. It had been a few days since Raziel’s last talk with Adam and now she was reporting to Sera directly.
“Lonely? But I thought Artiyail had removed all negative emotions from him when we created the project for humans.”
“Artiyail can’t remove emotions completely. A living organising needs negative emotions like fear, hunger, pain, to know when it is getting hurt. When it needs to do something. So he only dampened those emotions, removed their knowledge and self realization, I doubt Adam himself recognizes what he is feeling.”
Adam was humming the song of a bird he had heard, somehow he had picked up the sound and turned it into a full song in his head.
Sera looked almost hurt, feeling the pain of her creation.
“We angels don’t deal with such emotions as we were already made in coalescence. We are not exactly like living things, but Adam has a mortal vessel, even though he does not age or feel sickness or any ill thanks to our power infused in him, he still feels more deeply.”
Raziel kept talking, her eyes also focused on Adam.
“What do you suggest we do then? The angels already visit him, me included, and very often.”
“Very often for us Sera. Once every few months is barely a blink for us, but for Adam, it's a long time… maybe give him a companion. The other animals have mates. Maybe one could be the solution.”
Sera did not respond. She just stared at Adam. His smile never wavered and the bear lifted its face and licked Adam’s, slobbering him in saliva.
+
Sera approached Adam’s sleeping form quietly. Careful not to wake him up. And she did something she had been doing every time she caught Adam in the situation, she knelt by the shade of the tree he had chosen, and placed his head gently on her lap, running her fingers through his hair. Adam unconsciously leaned into the touch, but otherwise stayed in nap land.
Sera herself didn’t completely understand why she did this, but it always gave her a warm feeling inside to see Adam relax so naturally at her touch. Her eyes were serene white and blue, her face adorned by a soft smile.
She gently whispered so as to not disturb him. “I’ll provide a mate for you, my perfect Adam.”
The next days of Adam’s existence were filled with activities and discoveries in the Garden, but no matter what he did, what he ate, what new animal greeted him. Nothing was close to being like him.
The angels hadn't visited him in a while, and even though they could spend months without making an appearance, Sera would always pop up here or there to ask how he was doing. But for the last few months she hadn’t been to the Garden either.
Adam couldn't name the sensation in his chest, but he guessed it had to do with not seeing his creators. So when Sera showed up one day while he was swimming in the pond, the smile on his face was as large as he had ever managed. “Sera!” He ran to her as fast as he could, the breeze freezing his wet, naked form, but he didn't care one bit.
“Adam. How have you been?”
Sera smiled as Adam stopped in front of her, almost balling on the soles of his feet.
“I’m fine. How are you? How have you been? How are the other angels?” Adam asked in rapid succession.
“I’ve been good as usual Adam, and the other angels too. We’ve been working on a special project. And there is someone I would like you to meet.” Sera moved over to stand to Adam’s side and a figure came out of the woods.
She was almost the same height as Adam, some 8-9 feet tall. Her hair was a golden blonde. Her skin pale, almost pinkish in color. An hourglass figure with round hips and supple bosom, though still slender. An impeccable picture of beauty. And the same crystalline blue eyes that reflected Adam’s own. A crown of twigs and branches adorned her head.
“Adam, this is Lilith. We made her for you.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2020s: Hell, Ring of Pride
Charlie entered through the double doors of the hotel entrance, new resolve in her eyes, long blonde hair swinging behind her, while neatly arranged in a ponytail. She was wearing her usual red tuxedo-jacket and outfit. Vaggie and Husk tailing behind her.
“Okay! We need to redeem a sinner. And we only have Angel to show for it, which we can do nothing because Valentino has his soul. Great. So next plan, we try to find new guests, or convince Alastor to take Angel's contract from Valentino.”
Said radio entertainer showed up behind her, making her jump in surprise. Even though he had been here for six months, that still scared anyone.
“Oh my darling that won't be possible. For one, I don't do favors for free, and two, I have nothing to gain from our spindly friend.”
“Or you're just still weak from the beating you took from Adam.” Vaggie was probably the only person who had the balls to say this out loud. Didn't mean she wouldn't die for it though.
“What did you say my dear ?” Alastor said, his smile didn't move a millimeter, his voice distorting with static.
“Nothing.”
“Good. I would hate to have a special broadcast entitled ‘Song of an Exorcist’.”
“That's enough Alastor, please don't antagonize my girlfriend. You've made your position very clear, thank you.”
Charlie passed by Alastor and sat on one of the sofas, foot tapping in thinking. Husk moved to get a new drink and Vaggie sat beside Charlie.
“We have, admittedly, limited options. But we can still try to get more guests. I'll spread flyers, maybe we can show that promotional video Alastor made. Our current reputation might help.”
Alastor piped up to. “The sniveling sinners of Hell are, in fact, elevating your reputation. You've given them hope. Delicious, fickle hope, hahaha.” Vaggie gave him an angry frown, and Charlie just looked deadpan.
“You're right Vaggie. I'm gonna try to reform our recuperating program. We must help anyone who comes to our door. No matter how despicable, if they really want a second chance we'll give it!.” Husk brought two bottles, one of non-alcoholic for the girls, and one of whisk for himself. Turning on the TV as he sat on a sofa.
“Good afternoon you bunch of deepshi- citizens of Hell. This is Katie Killjoy.”
“And Tom Trench, from 666 news.”
“Shut it Tom. Hot news! The Heaven Embassy, which stood at the end of purgatory street has vanished completely in a blinding beam of light. “
“Sinners of every age have gathered at the scene where once the Clock Tower stood.”
Katie grabbed by the neck and squeezed.
“Witnesses report the presence of the King of Hell and the little princess at the scene. Though only briefly. Information still pending on if the exterminations are really over or not.”
Katie released Tom from her chokehold.
“H-hope s-ssso. Ah.”
“In other news… Power up for grabs, with the exterminations currently gone, the overlords have begun to move. Trying to amass the biggest number of souls to their ranks and overpower the others. We really got a fucking gigantic number of overlords in this place, almost more then my dick has inches.”
“What ?” Katie shoved Tom's head on the table.
“Stay tuned for our next segment. Vox tech, how to protect your soul, by giving it to us.”
Katie turned and got her head close to Tom. “I'll split your asspussy open later.”
The channel turned to a fashion show, Husk with the remote pointing to the TV.
“Awesome, like this place already doesn't have enough problems.”
Charlie's eyes enlarged, and if possible, a light bulb would have shined atop her head. “What if we use that ?”
Vaggie, Husk and even Alastor looked at her. Two with puzzled expressions, one with just the same creepy smile.
“What if we advertise the hotel as a safe place for anyone ? Where the overlords can't get you ? Then at least some sinners would come to us. And Alastor protects the hotel from other overlords, he was never interested in souls much.”
“Splendid idea my dear, the more wayward trash, the more I can enjoy seeing them squirm and fall into psychological despair.”
“Bad phrasing but I like the motivation.”
“Fine by me.”
“Babe, that's actually a good idea, but are you sure they won't just come here for safety and not try to redeem themselves ?”
“We cross that when we get to it, Vaggie. For now the first priority is to bring at least one new sinner. Uuuuuu I'll go draw the design for the posters.”
Charlie rushed up the stairs to her room.
“Thank God she doesn't do drugs or we would never sleep.” Husk remarked.
+
B-DUM… B-DUM… B-DUM…
Atop the cold steel table, the body of the first man lied.
No one looked, no one bothered. They had forgotten him, put his existence and death out of their minds. This was Hell after all, nothing mattered beyond the next fix, the next drink, the next pleasure. Here the only figures of importance, worth remembering, were the powerful and the cruel… maybe it wasn't that different from Heaven after all.
Golden blood began spilling from the wound in the chest once again, as the vile insertion started to close, and the blood changed color. What was once golden nectar, became red crimson, then darkened further into such a vile black, if anyone had seen they would swear it was tar.
Ever so slowly the body began changing too. The burnt-brown hair and stubble blackened, with some streaks of red thrown in. Atop the head four horns emerged. Two from the front of the head, curving forward then upwards, like a goat’s. The other two were smaller, and curled from close to the sides of the head, in a spiral pattern, ending behind the ears.
The ends of hands and feet became dark, the skin took a black-burned shade, nails growing into sharp ends, like claws. The once pale olive skin, now even more white, like it had been covered in ashes, and the bangs under the eyes became darker, more pronounced.
The golden, shiny wings began losing their feathers. Shedding and growing scales. Now they resembled webbed, leathery bat wings, but much larger and covered in scales on the joints.
Hours had gone by.
B-DUM… B-DUM.. B-DUM.
Adam gasped, a giant breath evading his once empty lungs. His eyes shot open violently and he choked. Turning to the side he began vomiting and spatting golden and black liquids. His own blood, spilling to the ground.
He fell from the table, wheezing and scratching at his own throat. Agonizing for air. When he finally stopped spilling his insides to the outside, his breath came in labored gasps. His body hurt, pain was everywhere, and unfamiliar places ached.
Finally he got a hold of his struggling and weakened limbs, looking up. The place was completely unrecognizable. Strange objects adorned the walls, the entire room was made of a material he did not know for sure, but guessed it was what Raziel had called steel once. Trying to get up, he braced himself on the very messy table, from feathers to blood, the table looked like a dissection took place.
Adam’s head was pounding. Struggling not only to understand but to adapt to this new environment. Something was constricting his movements. Looking down he saw that his body was covered in some type of silk or thread. Like someone had taken a spider's web and condensed thousands of them into this multi-colored prison for the body. He battled with his garments for freedom, removing to tearing everything, down to even the strangest one over his privates.
Once he was done he scanned the room once more and his eyes landed in a small mirror by the side of the wall. It wasn't much bigger than his torso, but it gave Adam clarity.
“Who are you?.”
He was looking at his own reflection, that he could tell, he had done so in the pound a million times over. But this wasn't him.
Adam was tall, this man was at least 2 feet shorter. Adam had auburn hair. Adam was lean and strong. Adam was handsome. Adam was perfect.
This man was fat, large guts. Black and red hair. Ashen skin. Bangs under the eyes. And worse, the face.
His eyes had black sclera, and gold and red iris, with black pupils. His canines had become much closer to fangs. His ears were pointier. Lips a faded shade of pink.
Then began to notice the more bizarre and otherworldly parts of his appearance. The black, white and red spiraling horns on his hand. Black being the dominant base color, red covering the middle to the end of the horns, and white streaking across them in small patterns.
The red, leathery and scaly wings he now had. He could feel them. Every centimeter, nook and cranny. How they could extend, how strong they were, the magic to fly present. Which could only be magic, Raziel had lectured him once on how bird wings worked and how angel wings would physically never be able to lift them.
He analyzed his strange anatomy for a few more minutes, until finally coming to terms with it. Still very much terrified and uncertain. His heart kept hammering in his chest. Was this a test of the angels ? Did he not take good care of the Garden ? He must have eaten a rare species of fish by mistake again. Oh Raziel would be furious, and Abatur would scold him. And Sera would…
Adam felt sadness in his heart. He didn't recognize the emotion consciously but his brain seemed to be able to do the leg work for him. Like he felt this many times before. Which was very abnormal, he had never felt sad, he knew the word but the association to an emotion was almost impossible for him. So how come he felt sad ?.
Putting aside all his questions for now, he decided that most likely this was a test of the angels. To see how he would adapt to this new situation. Maybe he would get some sweet fruit by the end, hehe.
So first thing to do, get out of here. He looked around at the room. The strange and sharp objects mounted on the walls seemed made of different material than the room itself, but none of them had a clear use in his mind. He saw one that looked like his head, but different, when he took it in his hands it had almost no weight and was empty on the inside.
The objects were useless. But they did reveal something, the only wall in the room not covered in them was one that had a rectangular shape in the middle of it. Was this some kind of passage ? It reminded him of a cave entrance with a boulder in front of it. So he made his way there.
And at that exact moment was when the door opened. Odette and Clara were walking in.
“Remember C, mother wants to prepare the body with care, so don’t grab anything from it.”
“Relax, I know how important this is. I never take the important stuff anyway.” Said Clara as she pouted at her sister.
“You’re so spoiled. Mother always let you take the things for you back alley dea-” Odette’s eyes enlarged. Pupils dilating. Body freezing to the spot.
Clara, always the more oblivious one, kept walking and talking, while looking at her sister. “Am not! And you liked the last time I to- Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” She only stopped when back bumped into Adam’s chest, then she froze too.
Adam for his part was making a very hard effort to understand what the people (?) in front of him were. They had a generally human form, which he had only seen in some of the angels and himself, so that left animals out. They had horns like him, and they were wearing that silken body prison too. He had never seen this before but strangely he felt conflicting emotions inside him. A kind of kinship with these similar beings to himself, and a detestable hate and disgust for the creatures in front of him. Though both these feelings were only echoes in his mind at the moment.
“Clara. Back away slowly.” Odette’s eyes were darting around for a weapon, the room was filled with them, but at the moment they were behind the naked demon in front of her. Clara’s breath had snagged on her throat and didn’t have plans of coming out. Like a statue trying to move, her head turned agonizingly slowly back, and her red and white eyes met black and gold.
“HOLY SHIT!” Clara suddenly dashed to her sister, grabbed her by the arm and madly dragged her through the corridor. Odette catched on quickly and also started running. Adam, immensely confused, runned after them, his curiosity about them combined with the fear that gripped his heart when one of them shouted, splurged him on to follow.
“MOTHER! INTRUDER! AT THE ANGELIC WEAPONS VAULT.” Clara screamed as she ran up the stairs, Odette right behind.
Adam, hot on their tails, was catching every strange detail of the structure around him. The vault was connected to a stairway by a single corridor, and the stairway ended on a hidden passage to the inside of a main hall. Many ornamented weapons, objects and other things lay about the area in many desks, glass cases and pedestals, this was a trophy room.
Odette reached the nearest glass case and opened it, taking out a pair of black and white ornamented pistols with long chambers. Clara took a trident that was mounted on a pedestal, the weapon had an intricate wave design on it, with gold details and a blue shaft.
Adam came out of the hidden passage, and stopped, admiring all the very pretty yet sharp things in the room.
“Stop right there. Who are you?” Odette screamed at him. Her brain not yet recognizing the very changed man in front of her.
Adam barely registered what she said and tried to get closer so he could introduce himself. Odette shot at him.
Odette was a good markswoman, being the daughter of an arms dealer she had to learn. But in her panic at being attacked in her own house, coupled with using unfamiliar weapons, she hit Adam only once in the left arm. The bullets weren't celestial steel, but they did hurt all the same.”
“AAAAAHHHHH!” Pain exploded from Adam’s arm, he clutched it with his hand as black blood oozed out of the bullet hole. The piercing feeling radiated up his arm. A feeling he had never experienced before, his mind immediately went blank with pain. But his body reacted fast.
In a split second, his wings opened wide, and he shot to the side. A big, stained glass window stood in his way, he lowered his head and obliterated the glass with his horns. Once he was outside, his wings did the rest of the work, lifting him in the air and flying in a random direction in fear.
Back in the trophy room, Odette and Carla exalted with relief as their mother burst through the door with some guards behind.
“What happened ? Girls, are you okay ?”
The guards moved to the broken window as Carmilla held her daughters protectively to her chest. “We're alright mom. An insane demon just appeared in the angelic weapons room.” Carla said as she nuzzled into her mother’s embrace. Odetter was already disentangling herself to fully explain the situation.
“We entered the vault to prepare the First Man’s body, but that naked demon was already inside. Carla screamed and we ran to get weapons. I managed to shoot at him but he flew away. Don’t worry about the weapons mom, he didn’t have anywhere to hide them, and wasn’t caring anything with him”
Carmilla gave Odette a small, pressed lipped smile. “Your safety first Odette. The weapons are secondary… How did a naked demon managed to enter the angelic vault? The wards should impede any type of magical teleportation.”
“I don’t know. We’re gonna have to upgrade security for sure now. Maybe move the vault.”
Carmilla had a suspicion that wouldn’t be really necessary, and that this wasn’t just a simple break in. “Leave the weapons. The guards will take care of this mess. Let’s do a check up on you and see about new magical wards for the vault.” She turned and herded her daughters to another room. The guards knelt and began collecting the broken pieces of glass.
+
Just as Adam ran after Odette and Carla out of the vault, the blood, feathers and other fluids on the table and ground began to rise in the air, unifying into a ball of black and gold slime. Dark and red light emanated from the ball and a distorted hum echoed inside the room.
“Blood to bind, and feather to frame,
Hollow the heart, yet call it a name.
Drip by drip, the form is fed—
Stitched from abyss and the screaming red.
No soul was given, none was owed—
But still it stirs, and still it grows.”
The resulting black liquid assumed the form of a tall woman. 7 feet tall (214 cm). Long black hair falling to the halfway point of her legs, with one part of the left side being shaved, some streaks of gold dancing among it. A very attractive figure, with thick round hips, and medium breasts took shape. She was not slender, but curvaceous and sculpted. Her skin was grey, but her hands and feet were colored burn-black, claw-like nails extending from them. Her features were sharp and dangerous, a triangular jaw, two red eyes with black iris and golden pupils. Long and pointy ears. Her teeth were all fangs, the smiles spreading unnaturally on her pretty face. She was naked, her perfect skin reflecting the light of the room.
“The bitch is in the house baby! HAHAHAHA. Millenions of wait, and finally…” She took a deep breath, then exhaled.”...Alive”. Her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her black lips, the long muscle coated in saliva, and for a second, a single red eye blinked from it, disappearing again in her mouth. “So much to do. So much to feel! Don’t worry Adam, I’ll find you later, hehe. For now, what does this pit offer for me ?”
She walked out of the room, leaving behind no trace of her or Adam’s previous presence in the otherwise clean place. When she got to the trophy room, one guard was kneeling down collecting glass, the other having gone to procure cleaning materials and help.
“Oh good! Lunch. I’m a growing girl after all.” She grabbed the guard by the head, the other hand pressed his muzzle shut, and by into his neck with her sharp fangs.
The guard began convulsing violently, his body trembling in spasms. Then his entire frame constricted into itself and was sucked like a vacuum to the inside of her mouth. Once it was over she licked her lips clean.
“Ah, nothing better than souls for a hungry bitch like me. Though I could do without the fur, It’s stuck in my teeth.” She took a look around the objects in the room, and some picked her interest. “Uh, birthday presents. Yay!” She threw her hands in the air in elation, and moved first to a set of clothing displays, picking different items.
One pair of ripped black pants. A white undershirt. A red trenchcoat that she ripped the sleeves off. A pair of long, fingerless, laced arm gloves, black color, with red laces. A pair of black, knee high, spiked boots. And a wide-brimmed coachman's hat, dyed to the same deep crimson as the coat, with a sleek black band around the base of the crown.
To complete the look, she got a black and white spike choker, and a pair of light-pink lanced panties and bra.
She admired herself in the mirror after changing. “Hot stuff.” Then she looked at the weapons. “As for toys, hihihi.”
She chose the same black and white pistols that had shot Adam previously, setting them on holsters inside her coat. And a black and red blade on her hip, the blade was the dangerous fusion between a cleaver and a sword, broad cleaver-like blade with a matte black finish and a glowing red edge.
“Now let’s get out of this place, my lovelies.” She looked at the window Adam had smashed through, jumped outside and scaled the wall with ease. Disappearing among the rooftops.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The 2020s: Main City of Heaven
Emily was once again making her way to the improvised cell under the Holy Sanctuary. She had been making visits to Sir Pentious everyday for a week at this point, ever since he arrived in Heaven. She felt like this was her responsibility, since the reformed sinner couldn't interact with other citizens of Heaven or even leave his room, according to Sera’s orders.
And so she entered the hidden corridor that led to the room. At the end of the corridor there was just a simple wooden door, with a brass handle and two wings in the middle of the wood. Emily entered.
The room was spacious and connected to a wide bathroom. On one side there was a couple’s bed for comfort and a nightstand with paper, pens and projects. On the other there was a TV, game sets, bean bags and a comfortable sofa. Even in a corner that Pentious required, there was engineering and mechanical equipment/books. Emily provided this for him.
Even jail had high standards in Heaven. Pentious turned to her, he was currently reading a book on lasers for micro-surgery. “Hello misssss Emily. Good day! How is Heaven on this beautiful morning?”
Emily got closer, setting some tea on the table, and sat on the sofa. “Everything is well, Penty. How are you feeling ? Again, I'm very sorry for keeping you here.”
Pentious closed the book, and put it beside him, fully facing Emily. “Oh don't worry. You've made the situation perfectly clear already, Miss Emily. I understand why I'm here.”
Pentious had already been a good person when he was last in hell, though with his ascension his personality took a very good boy turn. Physically he was still a naga, though his scales were now mostly white and yellow. His hood also had split into six points and his closes had slight alterations beyond the color differences. But now the previous ideas of death rays and conquest had been left behind. Pentoius wasn't sure if this was a difference in the environment, his position or just some magical aura Heaven presented over the human souls who became angels, but now all his normally violent or dominating tendencies had changed to healthier outlets.
Now he had asked Emily for books on technological advancements Heaven had, as well as lab equipment for his own experiments. As a merit he was proud none had exploded yet. That is not to say that he became a different person, he was still kind of awkward, excited about his projects, and had small difficulties with social interactions, specially with females. But he had acclimated to Emily by now.
“G-Good. So how are the books I got you ? You get any inspiration from them?” Emily said. Still a little unsure if Pentious actually believed her and was comfortable with the situation, she sure wasn't.
“I am indeed inspired. Here in Heaven the technological development seems to be incentivised. Even accompanied by magic in some ways. I had previous experience in the field when I created my Eggy Boyz, but I don't think that would be a good idea here.” Pentious hissed a laugh. “I hope they are alright back in Hell. Or that their deaths on the battlefield were glorious.” Indeed all Eggy Boyz had perished in the extermination battle, a fact that Pentious chose to conveniently forget.
“You mean you created life, Sir Pentious ?.” Emily asked, puzzlement in her face.
“Yes. Though not a very intelligent or useful life. They were a combination of soul splitting magic with some demonic eggs. And a bit of my scientific genius, though it's best to leave that in the past. How is Heaven doing right now ?”
Emily squirmed and looked to the side a little. The details of Heaven’s current state were actually easy to explain, but a bit shameful to admit. “Heaven is… stagnant at the moment. We ceased all operations on Earth to limit contact with demonic entities. And any contact with Hell itself is forbidden. Worse still, our scrying orbs stopped working for some reason and that has made Sera believe Hell's forces are preparing something.” Emily took a sip of the tea to calm herself. “We've been locked in endless meetings about what to do, how to act. Maybe send spies ? To check the current situation, but bureaucracy is slowing things down more than I would like to admit.”
Pentious looked at her with sympathetic snake eyes. “I understand. When I was alive the bureau of scientific research was also on my tail when I tried making advancements. Something about the validity of human test subjects. By the way could I talk to you main designer for most of your engineering, there are better models they can use.” Emily opted to ignore the last comment. And her eyes became a little downcast.
“Sera is very worried. I feel she had no time to mourn the loss of Adam. Even though I haven't really sat down and…”
If you asked Pentious his opinion about the douchebag who had killed him in a second, he would have said good riddance, even with his new heavenly adjustment, but he could see Emily had some connection to Adam. So he just placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Were you and Sera close to Adam ?”
Emily took a moment to think. She knew Adam had been the one to kill Pentious a second time, and the state his personality was in when he did it. So she had a bit of trouble placing the words correctly.
“I had known Adam for a long time. Well for you humans it would be a long time. I met Adam as soon as I was created by Sera. About 179.000 years ago, that's also why she treats me like a child. In her eyes that have seen billions of years, I still am.” Emily adjusted herself better and took another sip of the tea.
“Adam was very different when I met him. He talked a lot with the angels, even though we were very occupied. He taught me so much about everything really, he said he learned with Raziel. But about 300-200 years ago he… he changed, at first it wasn't bad at the beginning, he started doing music concerts and wearing that ugly mask, the human angels loved it, but he was still gentle and caring, we would still watch movies and talk about human stuff. But after a while his swears became worse, his personality became nasty, and he started calling Sera, his Manager…”
Emily stayed quiet for a few moments, her fists tightened and the corners of her eyes became moist.
“You know, Sera made him five centamillenniums ago, then she created me, so in a way he was kind of my…” Her shoulders trembled and she drew in her legs. Pentious moved in to coil his tail around her and put his arm on her shoulder, but not saying anything.
Tears descended Emily's cheeks, and her body trembled with sobs. She was openly crying now.
Sniff…”Sera wouldn't like me to say it… sniff… because it's against the rules… but he was… he was…”
She was remembering something.
+
Approximately 150.000 years ago: Heaven
Emily was observing the human world through the scrying orb, as she often used to do. When Adam called her from behind.
“Em! What are you watching ? My descends again ? Are they doing well?” Adam came closer to watch with her.
“They have been trying to take down that animal, it has thick fur and a giant trunk.”
Adam smiled and let out a laugh. “Ha, that's a mammoth. They are doing it! They are so cool. I used to just run away when things like that came close. See that, they are leading it to a corner. They will do it.” Emily and Adam watched as the primitive humans with furs pelts and spears, drove the mammoth to the mouth of a crevice, and spent a long time throwing spears at it, keeping their distance for security, eventually the beast lost the battle and dropped to the ground. Adam threw his arms in the air and screamed.
“YEAH BABY. They did it, hahaha. Of course they are descendants of the perfect man.”
Emily didn't share in his elation though, she was looking at the mammoth, the beast had been hunted and killed before its natural time to die, and Emily's compassion made her sympathetic for the animal.
Adam noticed this and brought his arms down, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know. It 's sad. But it's survival too. They'll use all parts of that animal, never wasting anything, and good people only hunt when necessary to survive.”
Emily looked at Adam and asked. “You used to be friends with all animals in the Garden of Eden, right Adam? How did you manage to… hunt them after… you know.”
Adam's face assumed a contemplating look as well. “My family needed me. My children couldn't hunt alone, so I had to step up. Yes, in the beginning I couldn't kill a fly. But hunger and mouths to feed was a great motivator. What Raziel taught me in the Garden and my experience with the animal proved extremely valuable, even though the ones outside of the Garden were completely different in their nature.” Adam looked at Emily with resolve in his golden eyes.
“They will survive, and if they are like me, they will come up here. And you can ask them how they felt too.”
Emily appeared to have understood the situation better. “I'm not good at making friends. You're the only one that talks to me other than Sera.” Adam put one arm on her and began guiding her outside.
“Oh you'll learn in time. Now what do you say about a sky race ? You lose of course hahahaha.” He shot to the sky with a beat of his golden wings.
“Hey, that's cheating. I'll win this time!.” Emily's six silver wings lifted her after him.
+
Approximately 20.000 years ago: Heaven
Emily accompanied Sera much more into her administrative role, taking care of humanity and God’s creations on Earth and the universe. Which left little time for fun, or interacting with humans directly. She had to admit it felt kinda lonely to just watch and never talk to them.
She was also worried about Adam as of late. With the alarming increase in human population the angels became very busy, and she barely had caught a glimpse of the First man in a while. Most times he was by a pond on the outskirts of the city, so today she caught a break and decided to visit him.
He was there, alone, sitting in the small pier, his feet and wingtips splashing softly in the water, and he was singing.
“I'm always chasing rainbows
Watching clouds drifting by
My schemes are just like all my dreams
Ending in the sky
Some fellows look and find the sunshine
I always look and find the rain
Some fellows make a winning some-...”
He noticed Emily and stopped singing, turning to her. “Em! Hey, come to see the greatest man? haha”
Emily landed beside him and also dipped her toes in the water. “Yes Al, had some free time. What song was that? It sounded kinda sad.”
Adam’s eyes glazed a little, like a faraway memory. And he turned to look at the water. “It’s just a song I heard once. Don’t really know why it stuck with me, but it’s not my own.” Emily watched him, her curiosity was strongly nagging her to ask more about it, but she got the impression this wasn’t something Adam wanted to talk about, so she changed subjects.
“I haven’t seen you around the city recently. Are you spending more time with the human angels ? I'm sorry me and the other angels can’t come to you often, the work is just very taxing.”
Adam laughed at that, and petted Emily on the back. “You and the other angels don’t need to worry about me Em. I’m Adam, the original human, I can take a few moments alone. And the other humans adore me. You gotta worry more about yourself little sis. You and Sera work too much.”
Emily froze at that. No angel called each other sister or brother, Sera had always shot down when angels tried copying humans, and referred to each other with familial terms. This was the first time anyone had addressed her with that level of closeness.
But for some reason, she didn't feel bad about the term, she actually felt… good, a bit giddy to be called like that. So instead of acknowledging it, she just stayed quiet, and leaned into Adam’s side, as he began humming one of his quieter happy songs. And they spend some time like that, watching the clouds, and running their feet in the water.
+
the 1990s: Heaven
Emily was even more occupied now. The human population was exploding, problems left and right. And apparently most of the dead souls were going to Hell. Even though more people were dying than ever before, most of them didn’t get to set foot in the pearly gates. Emily started to ask dangerous questions. What made a person go to Heaven ? Who decides who can go up or down ? What really were the rules ?
Whenever Emily wanted to ask those questions to Sera, she would get scared. Sera had always said that angels didn’t question the rules, and that the one time an angel did… Well Hell exists now.
She also hadn't seen Adam in a long time. He had some job he said Sera gave to him, had started going to Earth and spending years hidden among humans. And worse, started wearing that stupid mask.
Emily hated that mask. It was ugly and reminded her of a demon. It also hid Adam’s golden eyes and bright smile, that she hadn’t seen in so long. But maybe she had a chance today, Adam sent her a letter calling her to a spot outside the city, he said the come prepared for a party, whatever that meant. So Emily had moved a few pieces and allocated free time to see Adam tonight, and she planned to actually talk to him today.
+
Emily reached the clearing just as the light deemed. There was no actual sun in heaven. If the angels wanted the entire time could be only daylight, but for the sake of human souls' mental stability they decided to adapt to the night and day system, with a bit of extension to the daylight hours.
To a side of the clearing was a small podium. Music instruments stood waiting. Emily immediately thought Adam was gonna try something, he had spent so much time in the human world, and always liked music, so putting two and two together was easy. Although Emily still felt apprehensive, Sera had no problem with human songs in general, but from her times watching and some interactions with Adam, she knew the humans had some songs Sera definitely would disapprove of.
She settled among the crowd of human angels and even some angels Emily had not seen before, many of them used a strange grey outfit with masks that looked like the one Adam had. Speaking of him, he had just got on top of the stage, near a microphone.
“Hello bitches! You ready for the greatest fuckin’ rock concert you have ever seen ? Then listen to the one and only Dickmaster Adam!”
He waved his hand in the air and a golden guitar formed. Behind him some of the angels with grey outfits took place on the other instruments.
The concert was loud, energetic and filled with adrenaline.
Adam had chosen songs that Emily didn’t know, some she could see being played in heaven, others littered had the word Hell being elated in it.
The concert consisted of songs of all ranges, from Kiss to AC/DC, some by Bon Jovi, Metallica, Nirvana. Adam didn’t care for cohesion in his tone of music, not even fully in genre. Rock was just a general description for him. And of course he had to end with one made by him, entitled ‘First Man Up’.
When Emily finally caught her breath again and saw that Adam had finished the show, three hours had passed. The hours she would never forget, and none of Heaven either.
The angels around her couldn't stop screaming Adam’s name. She was pretty sure the entirety of Heaven had shook as he was playing. Adam moved to the backstage and Emily, determined to still talk to him , flew to the back part of the podium.
Some of the grey angels got in her way as she approached Adam, which made no sense by the level of authority Emily had in Heaven, but they did stop her. Until Adam noticed and got closer. “Hey! what you doing Bitches? Let her pass.”
The angels parted, and Emily noticed that all angels in this particular attire and mask were female. Whether that was some type of uniform for Adam’s troop or fans she had no idea. She walked past them and headed for Adam.
“Adam. What was that? It was… incredible… Sera is gonna scold you so bad.”
Adam laughed, cackling at Emily’s worry. “No she won’t. Trust me, I am immune to everything… So you liked my show huh? I knew you would, who wouldn’t like my fucking show?”
Emily had noticed Adam’s constant swearing at this point, he could engage in swears before but now he seemed to not go a sentence without a foul word. “Adam, I got some free time. You want to hang out?”
Adam had turned to one of the girls and was dealing with business, it looked like he was gonna reject her offer for a second. But then he turned to a specific angel and said. “Lute, take care of everything for me, danger tits.” The angel did a military salute and proceeded to shout at everyone else.
Adam touched Emily in the shoulder and whispered. “Let’s go to my house. I have so many new things to show you sis.”
Emily immediately turned to follow him. Not for the promise of novelty, but because she just missed him in general. Adam’s house was not exactly very well known. He also had an apartment in the city where he spent most of his time and brought visits too. Emily had heard some rumors about women entering and going from his apartment all the time, and while sex wasn’t frowned upon in heaven, promiscuity definitely was.
But Adam’s house was another matter, to date she had never seen anyone outside very few angels– herself and Sera included– being invited to it.
When they arrived Adam took his mask off and sat it at the side table by the entrance. He asked the builders of heaven to make the house in a very simple style, White walls, picket fence, chimine, it was a house, but not very show-off-ish. One store, a kitchen, his room, a living room and a couple bathrooms.
“Emy, there is so much that humans have invented in the last few years. Even without the powers of Heaven. There are movies and music, ah the music, I gave heaven a taste of it today. They loved IT ha!.”
Adam wore an ear splitting smile, one Emily hadn’t seen in years. He was dancing like a fool too. Emily had witnessed the changes in Adam over the years, from his gain in weight, to his obsession with the modernity of his descendants. But because he smiled so brightly at those things she never had the heart to tell him they were wrong, or even a little much. Today was no different.
“So, what did you want to show me?”
Adam turned to her, smiling all the way and yelled, “Movie night!” Then proceeded to drag Emily to the sofa in the living room where he plopped her down and unveiled rolls upon rolls of small black rectangular boxes.
“Which do I show you first? There are so many. How do I make you love this immediately ?”. He questioned as he brought each one to his face and looked at the titles, putting the ones he thought were not a good idea to one side, and the possible choices to the other.
Then he stopped at one in particular. Smiled like a cat and inserted it inside a bigger boxed shaped device connected to the TV. Then he ran back to the couch and sat by Emily’s side. “Knowing your cutesy personality, you're gonna love this Emy, haha.”
And the movie started, they spent the night watching movies. Connecting in a way that Emily didn’t do with anyone else in heaven. And that experience had been the first time Emily watched The Lion King.
+
The 2020s: Heaven
Emily was openly crying like a child. Sobs and wails raked her body as she embraced herself and leaned into Sir Pentious. Pain and sorrow griping at her heart. “I want my big brother back!”
She lost track of time as the words repeated from her mouth over and over. As the tears didn’t stop spilling. Angels weren’t familiar with the feelings of lost, or longing. Emily more than anyone else, and now it tore at her soul.
The loss of something she hadn’t really considered, that she hadn’t paid much attention, but that had become so important to her.
Sir Pentious was the only witness to the first time a seraphim had looked not like the most powerful being in existence, but as a girl who missed someone dear to her.
Chapter Text
Approximately 450.000 years ago: Earth
Lilith was acclimating well into her, quite literally, new life. Sera had made Lilith from Primordial Dust only a few days ago, and imparted only enough knowledge on her so she could be functional, just like she did with Adam. So Lilith had to learn how to take care of the Garden of Eden from Adam, since he had learned from the angels.
That was all fine and good by her. Adam was like an over excited cub around her. Pointing out things, teaching how to plant seeds or treat animal wounds. And when he tried to compliment her it was so adorable seeing him squirm and not find the words to use.
The only thing that bugged her a little was that the angels in general never came to talk to her. Only Sera did, the rest would flock to Adam whenever they made a visit, which admittedly was not that often, so she just put the thought out of her mind.
Today though, Adam was showing her how to fish. Which consisted of entering the water and catching it with your bare hands. And a bunch of brutish manhandling of a scaly, aquatic and possibly teeth having little thing. She had been watching Adam standing still in the pond for a while, waiting for the fish to come to him, and splashing in the water for a second, only to resurface empty-handed.
“I'll get it. It's just that it takes a bit of luck. Fish are very slippery.” He said. Like he was excusing his lack of success. Lilith only found it kinda funny and cute, how he had to prove something to who knows who. But even she got tired of just watching and waiting.
She looked around and saw one of the birds eating a worm from the dirt, another was picking at a berry, and she got an idea. Getting up, she took one of the berries and a worm from the ground, and entered the pound with Adam.
Adam looked puzzled at her, and opened his mouth. “What are you doing ? I said I was gonna catch it first to show you how it's done.” Lilith didn't like when Adam talked like this, it had happened very rarely, but he had a stubborn streak, set it his way of doing things. But instead of talking, she just put her hands with the berry and worm in the water.
It took a few seconds, but the fish began coming to investigate the curious food source, if it was by taste or smell Lilith had no idea. But her strategy worked, and Adam took notice of this, jumping at the fish that had gathered and resurfacing with a triumphant smile, one in each hand, flapping around.
“Hahaha. Yes. How did you know that would work ?”
Lilith gave him a small smile. “I'm just good like that, haha. The birds gave me the idea.”
They got out of the water and started making a campfire. One of the first things Adam had taught her was how to handle fire, and he had been very adamant about how she should only do it for either warmth or fish making, and only in a campfire. She didn't understand why though, and Adam just said it was what Raziel had taught him.
Lilith had never met Raziel, so she just sort of ignored that. Making the fire with whatever was around in their little firepit.
All days had been spent like that, Adam showing her new things, exploring and spending time together. He wouldn't leave her side unless he had a particular task or an angel was visiting.
One day Lilith was exploring the Garden, Adam in tow as usual, when they reached the outer gates. The Garden of Eden was separated from the outside world by white, golden adorned gates in all its perimeter, said bars were also covered with beautiful vines of flowers of all species and colors.
Lilith touched the bars and looked outside, but there was a thick veil of fog covering the perimeter.
“Have you ever seen the outside, Adam ?”
Adam had no particular expression on his face as he replied. “No. Why would I? There is everything we need here, all species of animals, plants, everything in the world is found here. And Raziel says the outside world is dangerous, unpredictable.”
Lilith looked at him with deadpan eyes. Sometimes Adam looked almost too innocent. He never questioned, never thought about what would come tomorrow, or what was beyond the gates. His curiosity was limited to the things he had in his line of sight. But Lilith couldn't help but ask herself what lied beyond these golden gates.
“Do you think the angels would let us see outside ?.”
Adam lifted an eyebrow. “Why ? There is nothing there. Come on, let's go back, there are a lot of fruits to collect, you're gonna love peaches.”
And there he went, once again leading her to what he wanted. But before following, Lilith cast one last look behind her, to the fog, the mystery. Then she followed her mate once to the peach trees he wanted to show her.
+
The 2020s: Heaven
“Order, please. I know the scrying orbs' sudden lack of function is alarming, but we must remain calm.” Sera had been trying and failing to put the worrying angels of the court and Heaven officials around her in a focused state of mind.
The exposition of the exterminations had been somewhat mitigated, by keeping it among the top brass, but rumors were hard to control, and Sera’s authority had suffered greatly for the fact she sanctioned said acts of despicable violence. And the heads of Heaven had practically separated into two groups, one that believed her actions were justified by the threat of Hell's continuous growth in soul population, and another that firmly kept the tenant of angels never resorting to violence.
Even worse was the fact that fear spread equally among both factions once the scrying orbs stopped working. Looking at Earth was still viable, but Hell's view had completely turned into a swirling mass of red and black.
“We should send units to Hell, someone that can tell us what's happening there.” Said Melial, one of the heads of Heaven security. Many agreed with his comment.
Sera on the other hand. “Not yet. After recent events we can't risk Hell's attack on us. Even more so by sending armed units there. I will not supply them with more weapons.” Some other angels nodded their heads.
“You haven't told us the complete truth Sera. What happened in Hell? Where is Adam and more than half of our extermination forces? The human souls are starting to question his absence, you know they adore him like a rock star.”
The entire room paid attention to her now. Silence falling after Juryas’ question. Sera was the Highest authority in Heaven currently, naturally explanations were in order.
Sera looked around, steeling herself with a breath. “The exterminators were sent for a regular mission at the orders of Adam and myself. But on this mission they came into conflict with unknown forces in Hell. The surviving angels attributed the identity of these forces as Hell's overlords and powerful sinners.” She had left out that Lucifer and his daughter were involved. One more blow to Heaven's structures couldn't be afforded, and their dealings with the fallen angel were always precarious to begin with.
“Adam, leader of the Exorcists, and 756 of his fighters perished in the combat. The rest, seeing no alternative, retreated.” A collective gasp filled the room, and more hushed conversation started. Sera almost regretted revealing that.
“We currently don't know the forces Hell is in possession of, but I have been informed by the surviving lieutenant that they also received significant damage, and thus will be unable to launch any type of counterattack on Heaven. And I plan to take advantage of this and move as carefully and effectively as possible in our future decisions."
That calmed them down a bit, but some of the angels who knew Adam spoke up. Abatur was first. “We should have a period of mourning for the loss of Adam.” Others like Hamaliel and Artiyail agreed. Sera’s hand tightened on the table, some of her nails digging into it. She couldn't afford to stop, to think about anything else besides the current situation, specially to mourn…
She just couldn't afford it. “No. The human souls still think Adam is just away on Earth or something else. Keep it that way. For now let's take time to think about the next steps. Remember, maintain the current state of affairs as secretive as possible.”
She flew away soon after, in the direction of the Exorcists’ quarters, to reconvene with Lute and the surviving forces. The Exorcists weren't officially part of the heavenly host for fighting, but they could still be useful.
+
Lute And Lilith had just gotten to the secret Exorcists’ quarters. It was exactly as the name implied, a military base far enough away from Heaven City to be hidden, and serve as the sleeping quarters for the exorcist angels. They weren't forbidden to interact with other angels, just to reveal who they actually were and their purpose.
The Exorcists were angels created with the sole purpose of killing sinners in the exterminations, loyal to Adam and equipped with a natural thirst for combat. They hated demons to the core just like their leader, but also had the capacity to live among normal angels. None of them were older than 230 years old, most having been created at the same time, all named by Adam, all females, Adam's girls as he called them.
When Lute and Lilith arrived, they saw the survivors of the battle still liking their wounds. Some still had bandages, others were sulking or training, and all had forsaken their helmets. The objects were pulled together neatly in a separate area, a piece of Adam’s mask was in the middle of them.
“Let's take care of your arm and clothes first.” Lute had the terrible habit of not cleaning her uniform from the blood of battle. She believed that would scare sinners, but in turn it made her smell very badly, and she had not cleaned it yet, Adam's and her blood was still staining it.
Lute hesitated, the halo in her hand and the blood on her uniform were the last thing she had of her former boss… of Adam. Eventually she conceded, opting to put on a set of civilian clothes Adam had given her. He had given clothes to all of them, saying his bitches had to look cool.
A pair of shorts, slightly ripped. A white top with the words ‘Dick Master is Number One’, that left her stomach exposed. And a simple pair of white sneakers. Her left arm was covered in bandages already, maybe someone could heal it back to normal, but Lute had other plans for her severed limb.
Lilith eventually returned from wherever she had dumped her uniform and brought with her a bottle of wine. Who knows where she got the stuff, she seemed to always have one close by, maybe some demonic magic.
Lute basically despised Lilith, for many reasons in fact, but the most prominent one was that Lilith was a demon, the first demon. Lute had not much knowledge about the history Adam had with Lilith, beyond what most people already knew, but she loathed the woman for having left Adam and brought about the birth of Hell with Lucifer.
“I'm not sharing a drink with you.” She said.
“Don't think about it as sharing. Believe me, nothing better than wine when you just don't wanna think.” Lilith poured two cups and let the bottle sit between them on the table. The other girls observed from afar, but didn't get close.
Lilith observed her for a while. “You want revenge don't you.” It was not a question.
“I'll kill every last one of them. Including your Lucifer and your damned spawn.” She took a swing of the wine. Sweet. Strong. Good.
“You can do whatever you want if Lucifer. But don't you dare touch my daughter. Adam made a deal with me. I gave him the idea for the exterminations, I provided the chaos to help you. If it wasn't by me, you wouldn't even exist in an indirect way. You own me.”
“I don't own you shit!” Lute slammed her hand on the table. “If it wasn't for you he would still be alive. I would… I…”. Her nails were digging in her palm.
“Don't try the blame game with me Lute. I've been playing that since the beginning of humanity. I'll help you get your revenge, but you leave my daughter alive, and honor Adam's deal with me, okay?”
Lute wanted nothing more than to bludgeon the woman to death with the wine bottle, the fact that it wasn't celestial steel was an advantage in her mind. Before she could though, the other women in the room expressed themselves.
“YES! LET US FIGHT.”
“I want revenge.”
“For Adam!.”
The room became a choir of 244 voices repenting the name of their dead leader.
“I'm never going to understand you all. Adam was a dick.” Lilith said.
“He was our dick.” Lute retorted. “And you made him that way, in part. Never gonna thank you for it though, you cunt.”
“Be that as it is. You all have to heal first, and I doubt Sera will let you re-enter Hell so soon.”
Lute had to agree on that. She had heard Sera was closing all contact with Hell and definitely wouldn't let them grab a chance at revenge with their currently diminished numbers. “You are correct. So what do we do in the meantime?.”
“Training, and upgrade. Do you know what a gun is ?”
“Of course I do. But there isn't enough celestial steel for mass producing those. That's why we use bladed weapons.”
Lilith took another swing of her glass, emptying it and refilling after.
“I didn't say for all of you. You only have a few very strong people on their side, correct ? You just need one gun.”
Lute's eyes widened just slightly. “Were you ever this devious ?”. The question had a tint of disgust. Even though the exorcists were pre-disposed to like violence, they were still angels, resembling much more a group of violent barbarians, lacking any type of finesse or underhanded tactics, their preference was for killing upfront and personal, an honorable death.
“Not in the beginning. Those days were much more…” Lilith was searching for a word. Lute commented, “Filled with lies and challenges to Adam?”
“Calm. And serene. It wasn't the happiest I've ever been in my life, but it was close. The only moments I wasn't having fun or peace was when Adam was being a jerk. Or when he was clingy.”
“What?!” Lute asked in surprise. The demoness in front of her looked like she was lost in an old memory. And to Lute Adam wasn't clingy, in fact she had to fight for time with him, in between training sessions he preferred to pass in his bed, the random women he sometimes brought to his room, and the hoards of fans almost clustering around him after his shows.
They spent a lot of time together but most of that time was business first. Hell, she had only visited his house for the first time a couple of decades back. And here was this woman that said Adam, the First Man, DickMaster, dirty mouthed leader of the Exorcists, was clingy?
“Hahahaha. He hid that from you huh. Oh Adam, always so scared and angry.” She laughed, just a hint of mirth and sarcasm in her voice, taking another swing of wine.
“After my banishment to Hell, I only saw him again about 500 years ago… he was so different from back then…” She finished the bottle and got up. “What's your plan about your arm ?.”
Lute looked at her with raised eyebrows, still very much confused, but recuperated and stood up as well. “There is an angel here, he helped to create us. Azazel. He is in the lab, always.”
Lilith stopped for a moment, blinking. “Azazel… I knew a goethic demon named Azazel long ago.”
“Don't mention that! He absolutely despises that there is a demon with his name. If you bring that up he'll explode the entire complex. Adam did it once to fuck with him, we are still finding random scorch marks.”
They departed from the hall.
+
The 2020s: Hell, Ring of Pride
Vaggie was in the hotel lobby, bored. It was very early in the morning, or what passed for morning in a place where the sky was always dark red, and Charlie had hauled herself in her room to plan, or as Vaggie believed, scratch at the walls in vain.
It had been just about 8 hours since they spread the poster advertising the Hazbin Hotel as a safe place from the overlords or crazy people who thought they could fight Heaven when they came back for vengeance. Charlie was hoping that someone would show up, and that she would figure out a way to redeem a sinner into Heaven then.
Vaggie was more realistic on that matter, she knew a lot of the people here got used to Hell, that because it was so hard to get into Heaven, many just said Fuck It, and decide to live a life here. And because they hadn't proved redemption was real, faith in them was non-existent. She and her friends only had faith in Charlie's dream because they knew her, and had a semblance of hope for this damned place.
But there were so many hurdles in Charlie's way with this plan. Ones she herself couldn't even seem to realize.
So to be a bit more productive today, she decided to upgrade hotel security with weapons, normal weapons, Charlie wouldn't like them killing sinners, even if they were overlord lackeys.
So she spotted Husk, drinking of course, and promptly moved to intercept him.
“It's not even 7 yet. How can you drink?.”
Husk looked at her with a kitten caught eyeing the fish bowl. “I have my vices too, you know. And if I'm not gambling because I'm here, I drink, it's what I do.” He took a swing of his bottle.
“Well then today you come with me. Let's go to Carmine.” She grabbed his arm mid gulp and dragged him. Alastor, who was just sitting in a chair with a newspaper (Where did he get that?), chuckled slightly.
“And why choose booze and gambling ? Out of all vices, why not go clean? Huh.”
Husk gave a whine of a defeated cat as he was dragged, but at her question he took his arm from her grip and stabilized his pace beside her. “Not everyone finds good ways to cope with their lives. You came from Heaven, there were no vices for you besides killing, and you had enough of a consciousness to regret that. Plus, drugs didn't make my type and sex is good, but not as much as booze.” He drank another gulp of his bottle.
“Carmine huh? Gonna get us some angelic weapons again? She did take them all back after the battle. I don't think even Charlie has that much money to buy enough of them for everyone.”
“We're not buying celestial steel. And we are staying within hotel budget. Not gonna kill anyone.” They stepped outside the hotel yard, and Husk got a curious look on his face. “You know, I've been in this pit for a good while, but I never understood why angelic weapons can kill sinners and normal weapons can't. Even though Hell's denizens like imps and such can die to a common bullet or two. Care to explain to me ? Por favor.” Husk asked, mocking Vaggie's random spanish speech.
Vaggie almost stopped to slap him.“Okay one, I have no idea why I sometimes speak spanish either, something to do with my making process. And it's kind of a complicated explanation that even though they taught us, I'm not really sure about the validity.”
Husk shrugged his shoulders. “I'm curious, and we have time.”
Vaggie took a deep breath, preparing to botch a lesson some angelic reached gave her once, and talked while they walked. “It has to do with how a soul behaves once they arrive in Heaven or Hell. When you die, the soul leaves the destroyed vessel and goes to the afterlife, and when here, creates a new vessel, one made by the soul itself. That's why most people don't look human in Heaven or Hell, it's their soul form, the place also influences it, Hell makes you a demon, Heaven makes you an angel.” She looked at Husk to see if he was following the lecture, and he was giving her his full attention. Outside of drinking the alcohol that is.
“Celestial steel was created by the angels to make the soul leave the afterlife vessel. You see, because your soul now resides in this place and it was responsible for making the vessel, it's now much harder to disentangle it from physical coil, that's why even if you burn or end up obliterated, the soul reforges the body in time, though it hurts a lot. I think that's also how I got my wings back, desire of the soul…
So to kill souls for good, or at least unbind them from this realm, the angels created celestial steel. Though it's said the material existed even before Heaven and Hell were home to human souls, why they had it then, I have no idea.”
Husk retorted. “Why do imp souls die to normal weapons then?”
“Same principle as humans on earth, the vessel is not made by the soul, different rules apply.”
“And where does the soul go once you kill them in the afterlife ? Just disappears? Evaporates?”
Vaggie stopped moving. “... I don't know. They never told us that.”
“Maybe to keep you from hesitating to completely destroy a soul.” Husk mused as he finished his bottle.
“Or maybe they don't know either.” She said, and kept walking in the direction of the Carmine Weapons Shop.
+
Angel was tired.
Not physically exactly, Valentino had decided to make an 8 hour session of continuous shootings for videos or movies, Angel didn't care to ask for which, then locked him in a dark room for special patrons to use when they wanted. Angel had collapsed from exhaustion and slept for another 8 hours uninterrupted. Val himself did not bother him in that time, that in itself was fishy, but he had taken the chance to get out of the studio and back to the hotel for some time with his friends to lessen his mental anguish.
Only there was no-one here, besides the strawberry pimp smiling psychopath. He could see Nifty scurrying in the walls, repeating the word ‘roaches’ over and over, but she paid him no mind. And being honest, Alastor was barely intractable in a healthy state of mind, now? Better to make his way to his room and spend time cuddling Fat Nuggets. But of course the Radio Demon couldn't help drive the knife deeper in his brain, could he?
“Oh look! The Carnal anguish is back. Had a fun night out in town ?” Alastor, smile never wavering, said this in a pleasing and sing-song voice. Like a friend truly curious, but you could see that he genuinely didn't care for Angel beyond the pleasure he derived from seeing the spider rise in his manners and life choices, only to be dragged by the chains of his previous mistakes.
But Angel was tired.
6 months had passed since he met the Radio Demon, and for 6 months they didn't become friends. Alastor would make his cruel remarks disguised as polite conversation, and Angel would flirt with him because he knew the deer hated that. A comfortable back and forth. But after the battle, after Alastor had shown something remotely resembling care for this hotel, Angel thought they could move past all of this. He didn't enjoy putting on the flirtatious mask around his friends anymore, and Alastor seemed to be stuck in that still. Like his outfit and motif that had been stuck in the 1920s.
“Why do you do this, huh? Is it just your sick pleasure ? Is it that your twisted mind decided to change romance and sex for grabbing people's souls and ripping them out?” Angel fully turned to face Alastor, seemingly forgetting he was talking to an overlord.
Alastor just smiled wider. “Oh dear, what gave you that impression ? I was just keeping our little game alive. A shred of normalcy. Don't you like that ?”
“No! No I don't! I thought you had grown to be our friend. But then you take a moment like this to just… why are you like this?” Angel's frustration was palpable, whether it was months of the same game, or just general bullshit Valentino put him through coupled with Alastor's impossible nature, didn't make a difference. “You could have killed him couldn't you? Freed me from this since moment one. You could solve half of this place's problems by making people come and stay here. But you don't, just for your sadistic shitty ass personality. Because you don't wanna lose your playthings… You're no better than Vox or Val or any other overlord, you have no idea how it feels to be in chains. You're just a pathetic, unfeeling monster. And you know what ? I actually pity you for it”
Alastor's hands tightened. His shadow stretched to envelop Angel, and the room itself seemed to become darker. His size grew, his teeth became sharper and jagged, his black antlers extending from atop his head.
“Do not presume to know me, you disrespectful wrench.” He got in Angel's face. But the spider didn't back down, he was too mentally exhausted to even feel fear. “I could save you, just as well I could bring you to my show, make Hell lose their favorite whore in agonizing screams. But it's more fun to watch you keep struggling, hehe.” Alastor brought a single clawed finger close to Angel's face.
Angel didn't recoil, though his body was screaming at him to. “You can't. Not after that beating you took. And this… what you're doing now… is the only way you have to connect with people isn't it? You don't make new friends or partners, you just keep torturing everyone. I met some people like you when I was alive and down here. And at this point, I won't give you the satisfaction of ‘connecting’ to me in your psychopathic way.” Angel turned, and marched to the front entrance, not even looking back at Alastor's monstrous form. “You're a very lonely person, aren't you Al. Up there and down here. Maybe you should be a guest in this hotel too.”
Then he exited the building.
Alastor hadn't stopped him. He only looked, and for a single moment, barely more than a second, his face twitched, and he wasn't smiling. Before disappearing in a plume of red smoke.
The entire day after that, whoever got close to a radio, could hear the agonizing screams of some poor fool with very bad luck.
+
As soon as he was outside, Angel let out a shuddering breath and slumped to the ground. “God, that was nerve racking.” He thought about going back to the town, finding a random bar or drug machine and just having a single sip of something. Anything. Booze, powder, hell even some vapor of whatever new thing these sinners had made now.
And just as that want got stronger, the faces of Charlie, Husk, Pentious and the others flashed in his mind. He had gotten better, had actually improved. He couldn't go down now, he would show that stupid red idiot that he was better than him. So Angel grabbed onto that feeling, the one that wanted to wipe the smile off the deer's face and got up. If he couldn't find the others, maybe he could do something useful to not wallow in his own pity.
He decided to find Cherrie, the bomb obsessed girl had made friends in the hotel too, but was still resistant to actually be a guest. Maybe today he could convince her.
+
Charlie was exactly as Vaggie believed. Hair messed up, obsessing over a mountain of psychological and religious books taken from Earth, and biting so hard on a pencil that the thing might as well start screaming.
Oh why? Why in Hell's unholyness couldn't she figure out how to redeem a soul ? She thought it was just a question of better actions at first.
The ten commandments and all that. Don't steal, don't kill, don't lust, all the other things. But if it was that simple, many of the sinners would be in Heaven. So she turned towards the next best thing. Regret.
She had found some books that said if you believed in God and had regret for your sins then you would go to Heaven. But many of the sinners also had those qualifications.
She had actually found out in her research that many of the sinners in hell were actually normal, everyday people. Not murderers, psychopaths, drug abusers or criminals. But just your average Joe, even sometimes a person who stayed good even when they came down.
The thing was, once they got here and noticed that all the good they had done, and the restraint they had shown in life amounted to nothing. That there was no escape from the pit with all the other monsters in here. They just gave up, accepted and became bad too. A simple case of influence brought on by a lack of hope.
At last she arrived at the conclusion that either she would have to just wing it with the help of psychology, and good will. Or she would have to ask Heaven. The first option hadn't borne any fruits and the second proved useless because even Heaven didn't know what made someone enter.
And so she found herself here, at an impasse. Not wanting to fight Heaven when they came back for her, and not knowing how to move forward on her own.
She threw the book currently open on her lap to the bed, grabbing her phone and dialing her father's number. Their relationship had gotten a lot better recently, what with the whole reconciliation and fighting for their lives. But Lucifer still didn't like sinners, and still thought redemption was impossible, even though he gave his support to her, he didn't actually believe in the idea.
The rang once… twice… on the third one he picked up.
“Char-char, how are you ? I-I, aahh… I didn't talk, ah I mean, didn't think you would call so soon.”
“Well I was wondering if you had some time. There are some questions I have you can maybe help with. Plus the more I call, the more we stay in contact hehe.” It was a bit awkward, but they were getting there.
“Oh no. I'm not doing anything important… get away duck… ah I mean, where are you? Can-can I just portal there or do you need time ?”
Charlie got up and scrambled to get her room presentable. “Yes, uhhh, I'm in my room. You can just come, it's fine.” When she finished the words a golden portal appeared by her side and Lucifer stepped through, she could swear she saw a mountain of yellow ducks that were being thrown in the garbage or something.
“Hey sweetie. Need help with that pile of books ?” He pointed to the four that were in her hands at the moment. Then beat his cane on the ground once and the pile was neatly stacked on the side of the room. It wasn't the best use of magic but he was the devil so, who cares ?.
“Thanks dad. But I think I'm gonna need your help a lot more.” Charlie said, proceeding to sit on one of the chairs of her desk.
Lucifer noticed the serious tone his daughter was in and tried to smile while standing. He knew a few questions were coming his way.
“Dad, I need you to try and work with me here. Do you know how someone gets into Heaven ?” Charlie just aimed straight for the throat, no beating around the bush this time.
Lucifer's smile took on a nervous twitch. “Oh, w-well sweetie, asking the King of Hell how to get into Heaven is not exactly the move you should be doing hehe. When you were up there didn't you ask Sera ?.”
“I did. They didn't know either.”
Lucifer looked to the side. Damn it, he was hoping Sera had the answer to this one. Then his shoulders sagged and he just sat on a chair opposite to his daughter.
“I don't know what to say sweetie. When human souls started entering Hell and Heaven, well, we had no idea why they were doing that. And I was never the most knowledgeable angel in our father’s rules. So at the time we just discerned why based on their actions and arrived at the logical conclusion. Sinners go to Hell, the virtuous go to Heaven. I gave them free will and the humans decided to stain themselves with sin.”
Charlie got a hard look on her face for a moment. “You're the father of sin, dad.” She said in a deadpan tone.
“I was not. If it wasn't for the evil in humans my gift would have been perfect. They had so much potential, Lilith was… well anyway, Heaven cast me down. I'm stuck in hell independent of what I do now, forever burdened with taking care of this pit.” Lucifer said, disgust in his expression and voice.
Charlie rolled her eyes. Her father never cared about his position or sinners, it was her mother who actually imparted that quality on her. But he was not being any help, by diving into his own big head now.
“Dad, please focus. I want to get a sinner into Heaven so they know redemption is possible. So Heaven doesn't keep killing us. Help me understand how to do it!.”
“Charlie you gotta understand, I did this all before, there is no redemption. Jesus, you sound just like Eve! I don't want you to end up like her!.” Charlie paused at that. Her father never talked about Eve, beyond the story of the apple and a bit about her ending up in Hell.
“Eve tried redeeming sinners?”
Lucifer noticed his unintentional words and clamped his mouth, but by now it was out, and maybe he could say just enough to help his daughter try to help his daughter, or dissuade her. Either way was good parenting in his books. “Eve tried to get her children into Heaven, after most of them ended up down here with us. But it didn't work. Some of them just gave up being good. Like Cain.”
Charlie hadn't seen Cain in a long while. If there was a bigger jerk then Adam, it was his son.
“And the ones who tried… Well eventually Hell took them from her. She lost all hope. I don't even know where she is now. She was such a good soul Charlie. I don't want the same to happen to you, that's why I was so against all of this in the beginning. But if you still think you can do it, I'll help in any way I can. And one thing I can tell you, it's not just being a good and moral person, that I learned from watching Eve and her children. Outside of that, I have no idea. Sorry kiddo.” Lucifer looked at his daughter's downcast expression. Still arriving at the same answers as before.
“Thanks dad. And I won't give up, someway I'll make Hell a better place, I swear.” She got up and hugged him.
Lucifer was sure that in all his life, if the best thing he had done for the good in this world, had to be his daughter. And he was proud of her, no matter what path she took. “Don't mention it kiddo.”
When the hug was over, Lucifer opened another portal back to his workshop. “Call me if you ever need it. I'll come flying hehe.” Then he passed through, muttering something about getting rid of piles of ducks.
Charlie turned to her bed. After much thought and debating with herself, she realized she was much in the same situation as Angel, stuck waiting for something to change. Something to enter the equation that was going to make all of the pieces fall into place.
And it was with new resolve to keep moving forward that she fell into her covers and took a very much needed nap.
+
“Fuck! Val! Stop making your stupid porn videos and help me here.” Said Vox as he was angrily screaming at a bunch of employees about their reports.
Vox, Valentino and Velvette, or the Vees as the sinners knew them. Three overlords of relatively new ascension to power, that decided to group together to expand their sphere of influence and oppose the old overlords who just sat on their asses in their cowardly division of Pentagram City.
After the humiliating defeat the exterminators suffered at the hands of Lucifer and his princess, the sinners scrambled to be the first to find more angelic weaponry. Which proved hard, when Carmine was the one cornering the market on that specific material, and everyone else was just sucking their thumbs and pouting. But the Vees saw a better opportunity.
Without fear of Heaven, and with it gone, sinners wouldn't just die anymore. Their numbers wouldn't diminish. And so they kickstarted a mad dash for the new souls entering Hell.
The tenuous alliance between the old and slow powers would be their downfall as the rising powers gathered more souls and encroached in their territory. That said, no one thought this was going to be easy.
Velvette had gone out to complete backstreet deals, Valentino for some reason always thought porn would be the answer to everything (coupled with a good dose of Vox's hypnotic powers of course), and who was left to actually organize this whole mess and guide the forces they have? Vox. Because of course it was always Vox. These two idiots couldn't live without him, ugh, if he could just take their souls for himself, or better yet, shackle them to his will. Now that would be his magnum opus, right behind strangling Alastor of course.
But for now, he was occupied. And very angry.
Valentino was busily instructing a bunch of half naked sinners and even some hellborns into very different shoots. Contrary to popular belief and whatever Vox might tell you, he didn't dedicate himself only to porn movies. Though all of his pieces still included nudity someway or another. He had become somewhat of a Hollywood head producer here in hell, if you combined that with being a pimp. Of all the Vees he was the one with the most productive business. Velvette had her social media that made for perfect propaganda, Vox had his programs and news to dominate the masses, but he ? Oh he had their time. Their investment. Their curiosity and need for entertainment. After all, if you live forever as a damned soul, you need something to fill the time.
“Vox, sweetie, I can't. I have my own problems… Felicity no toys yet. Marcos, that's not your scene, go back. And someone get me a coffee, it's too early and I haven't slept a wink.” One imp left in a hurry and came back with a glass cup, filled with brown liquid, which Val drank greedily, not bothering to thank his employee.
Vox slammed his fist on the table again and quickly asked the souls in front of him. Some had news about skirmishes with other organizations, others had brand new soul contracts in their hands for him, and some had other things to say. “Stop talking, all of you!!”
He took a breath, his screen/face zapping in contained stress, and addressed each. “I don't care about the fights, either solve it or get out of my face. The ones who came for personal contracts, see with my assistant Gerald. The ones with contracts in hand, leave them and go back to your duties. The rest, solve it yourselves.” One of the employees asked “Wasn't your assistant called Raimond ?” Vox almost murdered him with his eyes, he recoiled and whimpered.
“Dismissed.”
All sinners left, the contracts now OK the table. Soul contract could take many forms, from a physical paper, to a digital one (Velvette liked these), to no form at all. And they could pass owners, that's why Vox sent certain employees to make contracts on the fly, his deal makers, or Crossroads Demons as they were known back when the other overlords were in power. They were bound by soul to him and in turn their contracts became his contracts.
The mechanics of selling your soul to someone else of little concern to Vox and the Vees in general, but they knew that the more souls, the more power one had. Quite literally, not only were souls bound to make whatever you wanted in accordance with their contract, but they also empowered their owner in different ways. For Vox, it made his screen control and hypnosis stronger.
He grabbed all the contracts and literally shoved them in his face, all being swallowed by the screen that composed his head. He would share them later with Val and Vel… or not.
He zapped, or became electricity for a second, his personal way of teleporting, and traveled through one of the many cables spread throughout the building. Reappearing right in front of Val.
Now, Vox was no prude, he had his fair share of hookers and usual women and men he chose to spend some nights with, but to him that all paled in comparison to the satisfaction of pure power and control. Vel and specially Val, had this… thing… for sex, that he did not know how to begin to comprehend. All that mattered is that it was useful, and all the other degenerates in this trash heap on fire, gobbled it all up, and threw their adoration on them.
“What exactly are you doing here Tino? Has your obsession reached new heights? Or has that demented spider whore infected your brain again ?” Val would have lost all patience with Vox at this point, but he had half a mind to not do so. “I'm making more loyal customers. The magic of cinema doesn't happen overnight. And no, Angel is still being a prick, ever since he started living at that hotel.”
Val poured a glass of something, offered it to Vox, though he didn't take it. “Why are you so focused on this single prostitute ? He's popular alright, but we have a hundred more. Just ditch him or use him in your movies, but stop losing time with him.” Vox was annoyed.
Val turned to him and looked at his eyes, or technically screen. “No. You have your thing with Alastor, let me to my own ambition with Angie. He thinks he can get better? That he can just walk away ? Never! I'll suck everything out of him slowly until I'm satisfied, and don't worry about my business performance. I already have five new movies in the making and one TV show. And I heard there is something new in the human world we could try, something called streaming or whatever, supposed to make a lot of money if we can dominate the market.”
The Vees, contrary to the other overlords, relied on novelty and modernity much more. Their influence came from the new inventions of the human world, but since sinners didn't have access to earth directly, they had to rely on word of mouth from the newer sinners entering Hell.
“Huff. Do what you wish then. When is Vel gonna come back ?”
Val had turned to scream another order at one of his actors, then refocused on Vox's question. “I don't know, why? Wanna take the edge off ? Relieve a little stress ? Hehehe.” He got really close to Vox. “I know you do more pillow talk with her than with me. Why? Something to hide, Voxy?”
Vox shoved him away, not with enough force to hurt. “No, you nymphomaniac. I am in charge of this mess, I gotta know where all of you are so I can plan accordingly.” Vox's screen face buzzed a little and his eyes glazed, then he said. “Time for another segment on the Vox Show. Have fun with your movies Tino.” He zapped back to his hide hole full of TV screens.
Val was left behind to keep his own workers in line. “Chico Loco. Okay everybody, let's start the next scene Size King: Revenge of the Amazons. Marcos come on, Lindsay start stroking that shaft!.”
+
The 2020s: location unknown
One dark figure stood in the middle of a red void. Their face masked by the shadows. They were overlooking Pentagram City from inside a portal and they appeared to be talking to someone, even though there was no one else around.
“It has started… yes I’m sure. Just as He predicted. We still have time though. How's the battle going ?... okay. Should I fully block Hell and Heaven from contact with each other ?... understood. As you command, Right Hand.”
The figure joined their palms together in a prayer, and energy exploded outward from them. The portal overlooking the city became unstable for a second, then returned to normal. Afterwards, the figure sat on a chair, comfortable and decorated.
“Let the show begin.”
maxence (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sat 02 Aug 2025 06:55PM UTC
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