Chapter Text
He squinted in the overlapping darkness. The lack of light, any light, unfamiliar to his retinas. The dominating redness of the room appears orange in his sight, sight that was now prominently overrun with tints of yellow, like it is when he wears his exorcist mask, yet he doesn't feel its weight on his head, nor the cold angelic metal against his cheek. His face almost feels metallic, flat. A constant coldness lingers above his head, as if something there is missing. He had tried many times to reach for his halo but his golden restraints kept him in place in the middle of the floor. Like some kind of animal. Like a monster. Like a sinner.
He looked around terrified, his heart stinging with every painful, heavy beat. He kept pushing his restraints, as if his efforts were of any use. The monotony of this realm was especially noticeable here. Everyone and everything around him blurred together in a red blob. On his left he was towered by endless rows of demons, bird formed demons not unlike the Speaker, staring at him with disgust, with anger. He tried to yell, but all that came out was air.
"You know squirmin' is meaningless, right?"
He snapped his head to his right. A sight much like the previous one, only this time the colors didn't blur in one. His eyes stang when they widened. A familiar anger passed his face. The very demons that drive his children to unholiness stood right in front of him. Towering above him as if they were superior. Flying behind the rest, the Sin of Gluttony stared mockingly at him, her gooey hair flowing violently behind.
"Let me go! Now!" The only thing that made him realize he yelled was the echo his voice left behind.
"Woah someone's demanding, eh?" The Sin of Greed pushed himself in the banter, snatching the chance to tease the man he thought he'd never meet. "You don't have any power here 'human' " he air quoted, his grin only growing with the man's growl. "You're at my mercy! Hah! Falling right in the hands of Greed!"
"What are you talking about?" The enormous Sin of Lust's soothing voice cut Greed's sickening laughs. "He obviously fell because of his uncontrollable Lust. This man is the only one who even thought about sex in literal Heaven!"
The Sin of Gluttony hissed from behind him "Sorry Ozzie, but last time I checked, little dude over here was so addicted to killing sinners he basically considered it his only source of fun! If that's not Gluttony then I don't know what is!"
"He literally murdered countless of his own people" the Sin of Wrath breathed from his enormous throne. Right in front of the sinner, so close he could almost sense the firey rage burning inside of him.
"Oh, are you kidding me now!" Greed snaps, pushing his weight forward "Not every sinner is here because of you! Let me claim some of them too!" Every Sin's gaze burned the back of his skull. "I mean...let US claim some... of course"
"Ok people, how about we keep it down, what do you say?" a voice, a way too familiar one, chimed loudly in the entire room. Silence ensued, everyone had stood up from their seats. Adams breaths quickened, his eyes burned.
"You!" He screamed and almost on command, from a dark cloud that resembled the shape of an apple, emerged the ruler of evil, the starter of sin, the king of Hell.
Lucifer coughed from the cloud of smoke, murmuring something about changing his teleportation technic. He cleared his throat and leaned against the side of the balcony he viewed the room from, right above Wraths head.
"That's right bitch! Looks like you can't escape this power dick!" Lucifer's exaggerated voice drove Adam insane. He moved against the chains, trying desperately to flap his wings. He felt their weight behind his back, he knows they're there. But they don't seem to be responsive anymore.
"Dad, it sounds weird when you say it like that..." He recognized that voice too. The princess. The little Morningstar duo came to torture him again as if they haven't already done enough. The Sin of Wrath smiled sensing the anger boiling within the new sinner.
"You fucking assholes! Let me go! I'm not supposed to be here!"
"Oh ho ho, yes you are!"
"I'm not one of them!"
"Them, as in the hundreds of souls --of your descendents, no less, that YOU killed? And for what? So you can make your little itibidy boring Heaven life interesting again!"
"It's not like that"
"Then what is it, Adam?" The princess chimed in, her demonic horns growing with the minute as the anger in her soul reflected in her eyes. "You killed your own kind!" Adams eyes narrowed, a darkness falling over the glass that was now his face "Your children! They could have all made themselves better, they could have redeemed themselves"
"No they couldn't have!" His yell was like a bite, sharp and painful, to him and to everyone else though the princess was unphased. Lucifer said something about not yelling at his daughter but he couldn't care enough to focus.
"I already fucking told you, princess, a sinner is a sinner, they can't change!" Whispers and chatter erupted in an instant, all of them judging him, calling him cruel, but he knew better than to listen to demons.
"They've fucking sinned! They fucked themselves up! They've caused unfixable harm to people around them, they didn't care if they'd come down here or not! Why should you care? Why should I care?" His heart sank with every word he spoke, suddenly he remembered how he got here, the anger that spilled through his heart as he yelled to the princess's face, then the burning pain that surrounded his back, then the numbness, then more excruciating pain --so much worse then the pain he felt when he died as a mortal, shocked by the feeling of angelic blood slowly running down his spine and staining the demonic soil.
"People like them are the reason everything is as awful as it is. I hate them! I hate all of them! Because they're like him! They're all like Cain!" Gasps that he didn't register echoed in the room "And he -- and everyone else, are all down here because of you!" He glared his eyes at Lucifer, barely making out his white form through his blurry vision. Whether it was blurry from tears or from anger, he didn't know. "Not because of me." He shook in place, catching his breath. Lucifer however seemed unphased by his accusation, in fact he looked rather pleased with himself, a lazy grin across his pale face.
"Looks like someone's still salty" the king whispered to his daughter, performing a thumping motion with his frame to explain his point. The princess didn't enjoy his silly mocking in this situation.
"You took everything from me!" The gold of his chains clanked against the cold marble floor. He swears he heard the Sins laugh.
"You took my wife...both of them" he drifted, his anger slowly fading into something more distant, more suppressed.
"I lost my sons because of you" he stared down at his hands suddenly seeing his son's ruby blood on them, remembering finding his cold body, his brother behind him, completely unphased by his sin. Abel's open head, bloodied and rotting. Abel. He shot his head up
"My son" he whispered "My son, oh God..." Tears welded up in his eyes, confusion overtaking the banter the demons had amongst each other. "I can't stay here!" He stuttered, Lucifer crooked his brow. "My son! I need to see my son, please! I can't be here!" His desperate yell was almost entertaining to the demons. Greed pried Lucifer to remain silent, so they can enjoy some quality torture, but the princess cooed him otherwise.
"Let me see him! I can't be here, there's been a mistake!"
"There's no mistake. You're a sinner now, Adam." She spoke, an unrecognizable to her authority that showed everyone she was indeed the princess of Hell.
"This is your punishment...for everything that you did" he sunk to the ground, suddenly unable to bear the weight of the chains around him, the absence of his halo, the immobility of his wings. He screamed, in anger, in anguish, cursing them all, begging God to help him, but he couldn't hear him down there.
"Should have thought twice before committing homicide!" Being judged by the very being that caused all his suffering, being forced to stay under his ruling, amongst the people he hates most, people like him, people like his son, makes his stomach turn. He despises his first son with all his might, and now Lucifer dares to claim he's no different than him. He whimpers, suddenly crying, begging from under his breath to see his son, that he'd do anything to leave. The only one who heard him was the princess
"Oh well, seems like we're all done here!" The king clasped his hands together, gleeful to leave the sight of all these demons "Court dismissed everyone, thank you for coming! How about branch, huh Charlie?" He suggested, poofing his cain into existence just so he has something to hold as they walk back to the hotel. Right as he turned on his heel, Charlie leaned forward on the balcony.
"Adam" she spoke, he slowly raised his head just a little bit, refusing to let the demons see his tears.
"You murdered my people, for years you caused so much pain and suffering to everyone I've known...you made me feel useless for not being able to help them." She stated, catching Lucifer's attention but not really Adams.
"For that I will never forgive you" Adam let a pathetic snicker escape him. He shook his head unconsciously. When will she understand that the ones she calls her people are unforgivable monsters.
"But...Heaven might" his eyes widened, remaining tears dropping down his cheek. The world shook. Everyone gasped. The commotion in the room was loud. So loud and so constant he only heard buzzing. His eyes shot up, right at the princess. It seemed as if she was trying desperately to sustain her anger. Trying desperately to show compassion and understanding. Though she'll never understand. His shoulders dropped. He can't tell if he was relaxed or tense.
"Charlie, sweetie, what are you doing?" Lucifer stuttered, trying to be calm for his daughter's sake.
"If you come to my hotel, I can help you find your forgiveness!"
"Forgiveness?" His voice felt foreign to him, he's disgusted by his own speech. "I don't need forgiveness! I'm the First Man! If someone is supposed to be in Heaven it's me!" His cockiness felt like a cover up for his trembling anxiety, from his ever growing fear that he's stuck in damnation forever and he'll never see his loved ones again. Lucifer frowned at his disgusting pride.
"Well then say goodbye to your son! Oh oops, you can't cause, he's up there" he pointed above aggressively, with a holier than thou expression "and you're down here!"
Adam blinked in place, the world stopping around him. His heart beat became distant
Everything became distant. He can't stay down here. His entire life he resented his descendants that sinned, the ones who followed his firstborns footsteps. Cain's actions haunted him his entire life and afterlife. He felt first hand the pain, the emptiness. He lost his child to a sinner. He simply wanted to stop the suffering. He's not the bad guy. He's not the one who hands out apples to his children, hoping they'd bite and choke on the fruits wickedness. He's not the one who bashed his son's head open with a rock. Sinners can't be redeemed. Once you sin, you sinned. Horrible people remain as such.
"If I manage to redeem you" he heard the princess whisper. Or at least he thinks it was a whisper. "...after everything you've done...then I'll know it's possible for everyone."
Yet a shimmering, bright part inside his psyche calls out to him. It burns his morals to ashes and fills his heart with something he hasn't felt in a while. The tinniest feeling of hope. Hope to go back. To witness the shine of Heaven. To pass the pearly gates again. To mess with his dear guardian Sera. To fuck around with his loyal lieutenant. To be with his son.
"Fine" he spat out suddenly "I'll help you spread your stupid fucking redemption propaganda!" He waved, probably pushing his luck, not like he cared. "If it works, it's only because I am who I am."