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Everyone knows its Adam and Eve.
Not Adam and Lute.
It was even Adam and Lilith before Lute.
No one knew where Eve was, and Lilith had no interest in Adam. Everyone just expected that to be it. End of story. Adam and himself. Fitting for the first man to be made alone and end up alone. Most winners didn’t even care for him. He was quite frankly rude, snarky, and had the mouth of a sailor. Everything against the good Christian values. Even Sera tried ignoring him. The High Seraph gave him his army, his extermination. Kept him occupied so that he wouldn’t bother the court.
The army of all women at his fingertips, the exorcists. “Badass” women who were made to kill. Yearly exterminations for population control. Year-round training for the top spot in the ranks. No one knew what they were. Certainly not winners, there were too many for that. Though perhaps a handful offered willingly to join. The common answer was that Sera had made them. They all looked the same. Short white hair, golden eyes, thin but curvy.
It wasn’t quite enough, of course he needed a right hand to fight alongside him. Abel was a contender, but he was content to tend to his sheep. None of the higher ups condoned the actions of this army, as Sera did not tell them. So, all that was left were the exorcists. He made them fight for the spot, weekly brawls, weapons, teeth, nails. Just no killing. Group after group advanced until just two were left.
In the end one reigned champion, lifting the knocked-out contestant into the air to show her superior what she had done. There was some applause, but Adam just picked his teeth through the mask. “Congrats Lieutenant. That’s your name now I guess.” She spat out some blood to the floor and dropped the girl in her arms. “Eh that’s a bitch to say, huh. We’ll go with Lute.” Her gaze went to her boss and she nodded silently.
Obviously, her role had taken a turn, she was no longer a soldier with a number. She was Lute, Adams right hand. You’d think at this point you could call it Adam and Lute. But she wasn’t needed. He needed her for extermination day and to control the army when the girls got rowdy, that was all. Nonetheless she stayed loyal. Running tasks for him, comforting him when he was drunk, listening to his guitar solos that seemed to last longer than the whole song.
Lute had begun to like the Generals company. She knew he didn’t care. She found herself recording his solos and replaying them to hear how he laughed or swore when getting the notes wrong. Replaying words hastily tumbled from his mouth after a few drinks. Replaying what he had asked her to get and memorising his favourite coffee shops. He didn’t need to ask anymore; she was there at 11am sharp with a coffee and his favourite food of the time. Adam would take it with a grunt and “Thanks, Tits.”
She rarely spoke unless spoken to. A “yes, sir” or “right away, sir” sufficed in most situations. When he required a response, it was to a short question. “How many troops are ready?” “How many fucks did you kill again?” “Uuuugh! Fuck, Lute! Paperwork is so fucking boring. Do it for me.” Or occasionally, “I’m thinking the pitch goes up but the notes don’t match, does this sound better?” “What do you want to drink, Tits? My treat.” “How do you feel about mangoes?” The Lieutenant liked those questions. She kept her answers short of course, couldn’t have him getting sick of her.
A few exterminations passed with more and more demons dying at the hands of angels. Adam grew closer to the girl. Spending time with her outside of office hours. He invited her out to cafes, pizza places, churros of course. They tried to get into Unicorn Polo, but Adam fell asleep halfway through the match and Lute just found it boring. Golf but on sparkly horses. When he had woken up, he took her by the arm, and they fled like it was a crime scene. The rest of the day was spent listening to the complaints about being bored. Adam didn’t notice the smile on his lieutenant.
The multi-plex was worse. Bright posters, Christmas movies, lights and décor everywhere. A few good shops, but the clothing didn’t fit Adam. He was bigger than most winners, not that she was complaining. Lute was content to window shop for the time being. She only needed her exorcist uniform anyway. All the clothes were too bright. White, blue, pink, and yellow. That was all you could see in a sea of shops. She browsed a bookshop as they walked past it, looking at the section dedicated to bibles.
A strange thing about the exorcists was that they weren’t given bibles. She had always assumed it was just too much to give 30,000 girls a bible each. With a glance to Adam, she ducked in and perused the selection. A simple paperback one was between better copies. Leather covers and embroidery hid the small version. She flipped it back to front in her hands before tucking it under her wing and walking out, waving goodbye to the shopkeeper as normal.
Back in her room, separate from the other exorcist dorms, she lit a few candles to read. Start from the start, she thought. She was happy to find that Adam was one of the first things she read about. Adam and… Eve? Her brows furrowed and she racked her brain for any mention of an Eve in their conversations. Maybe when he was drunk… head in her lap sniffling about missing Evie… She flipped through the pages, taking in the garden, the apple, the snake, their children.
Children…?
The murder of Abel, the sin of Caine. That couldn’t be right. Adam didn’t have children. And a wife…?
The exorcists were never told of this…
She closed the book and set it on her dresser to think. She raked her fingers through her scalp to try drag out the thoughts. He has a wife. He has a whole wife and didn’t mention her…? Maybe he had a wife. Maybe they had broken up. She hoped that they had. Why did he never talk about her? Lute sat on her bed, head spinning for answers. Maybe she listened a lot worse than she thought, having missed something this big. Her nails dug into her thighs and she shuffled to lay down.
Lute spread out on the bed for an hour or two before coming to the conclusion she would not be getting sleep. Now, it wasn’t proper for a Lieutenant to wake up the General to ask silly questions, so she did the next best thing and went through his house. She had the keys in case of emergency, so off she went, keys in hand. The porch light blinded her for a few seconds before she could fit the key in, but the door swung open regardless.
Pictures weren’t a thing in Eden, art was not a thing in Eden, there was no evidence of the girl. Soft steps contradicted loud snoring coming from the master bedroom, but it provided her background noise while investigating. The halls had photos of old band mates, old guitars, a picture of the exorcists. Lute slid a finger across the frame and noted the dust. No photos, however, had any significance to what she was there for.
Lounge had nothing, kitchen had nothing, study had nothing, music room had nothing. Everywhere the angel looked she left a mess behind her. Cushions thrown around, cutting boards and utensils scattered, papers laying haphazardly everywhere. Bookshelves! She ran around trying to find a room with bookshelves. Lute rummaged through them, pulling books out to fall to the floor in clouds of dust. Adam wasn’t known to read. She pulled out a bible and frantically flipped to the story.
Surrounding Eve’s name was hearts. Thin red hearts with pen.
Lute felt her stomach flip. Her hands went over the pages where the ink lay, nothing smudged. Nothing moved. This wasn’t new. The sound of her own breathing filled her ears; she didn’t have a chance. Being polite, memorising his favourite things, it would mean nothing. He had a wife, they had children. A Lieutenant meant nothing.
It really was Adam and Eve. The first humans. That was how it was meant to be, forever and always. Adam and-
“LUTE!?”
She winced and froze, squeezing her eyes shut. The snoring had stopped a while ago, but she was too busy panicking to hear it. Her fingers trembled holding the book.
“What the FUCK!?”
Lute dared to crack open her eye and look at the General. He widened his eyes and egged her to explain why she had broken in and caused a hurricane of a storm through his house.
“Sir. I was looking for something in particular.”
“Then fucking ASK me, bitch! The fuck is this shit!?”
“…It won’t happen again, sir. I promise.” She stood straight up, tucking the book between her side and wing again. She bowed her head and walked stiffly out the room. Frustrated swears and muttering came from behind her. She hadn’t meant to cause him panic. Walking down the hall she straightened out the picture of the exorcists.
A week after the late-night encounter, Lute had memorised the page. Where the ink hearts were, how one heart was slightly wonky, the shade of red it was. At night she couldn’t think of anything else, just the hearts surrounding Eve. Less sleep meant her training was getting lower in the ranks. Her past speed record had been beaten, her precision knife throwing had been proven weak, it even felt like her helmet was wrong when it used to be a second skin.
Lute talked to Adam less. Whenever she saw him, she’d bow her head and greet him with a “Good morning, General.” Which usually resulted in a grunt from the man. When organising exorcist battle patterns or training, she’d take over and let Adam just watch. There was no collaboration of ideas, not talking about which route was easiest. Just Lute commanding the girls and Adam on the sideline watching.
She felt her body getting weaker from skipping training, skipping meals, skipping outings. Her mind would always race with dread if Adam asked her out. She couldn’t beat Eve! Why would Adam even want her around! There was no point in it! Maybe he just wanted to rub it in her face.
Although… If Adam wanted an army of women… maybe Lute could impress him with strength.
Sure, Eve had her soft femininity, but she couldn’t lift 140kg! Lute could show off her strength, speed, and precision and Adam would surely love her! So that’s what she did. She stopped bringing Adam his 11am coffee and sandwich, instead training from 4am sharp. Her body grew tired from extra training, especially for not doing anything for weeks. She was regularly hitting targets with extreme accuracy, beating record times for flight tracks, winning every one-on-one match.
Lute’s legs shook at weekly meetings, her arms faltered carrying reports, her wings ached when trying to sleep. Everything, she thought, should have added to her confidence in Adam liking her. But nothing helped. No extra comments, nothing in meetings, not even a smile. Everything in her mind was screaming at her to stop, to rest, to take a break. But her heart tugged further, just wanting a bit from him, just a slither of adoration. Just wanted him to notice her.
Eve was the epitome of femininity. She was soft, kind, a mother. Lute was the opposite. She was tough, brutal, killed thousands. There really was no point in chasings Adam’s attention, he would never love her back. Not after Eve. Not after someone made specifically to match his soul. Adam and Eve were two parts of a whole. Adam and Lute were two whole parts. She could never be Eve, just as Eve could never be her.
“Everyone’s gone through their fuckin training for the day?” He flicked through a magazine as Lute stood at the ready in front of him, hands behind her back.
“Yes, sir.”
“And they all did good?” Adam yawned and flicked his gaze to Lute for a second.
“Yes, sir.”
“Who did the best?” He put down the magazine and shuffled in his chair, picking at his teeth.
“Vaggie, sir.”
“Lute, what the fuck is your problem.” The General looked her up and down, putting his hands on the table and cocking an eyebrow at her. He sighed loudly as he waited for Lute to respond.
She met his eyes, tightening her grip on her own hands behind her back. “Nothing, sir.”
“Bullshit, I haven’t been getting my fucking food! And you’re too quiet. You’re not fucking talking enough.”
Her gaze moved to the ground, and she wondered if telling him would be a good idea. Of course not! A lieutenant isn’t of rank to be bothering him with silly questions about his past relationships. Or current ones, if Eve was still around. She felt small. Adam was taller than everyone sure, but she felt herself shrinking in the intense feel of his eyes on her.
Her superior had asked her a question, she had to provide. Lute swallowed and tucked her wings around her shoulders, preparing her mind and mouth to speak.
“Who is Eve, sir…?” Lute felt her heart pounding in her chest as the words carefully came out.
He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “Just some bitch who replaced Lilith.”
“Who… who is Lilith…?” The bible story didn’t mention a Lilith...? could she have missed pages? Impossible, her stolen copy from the store and Adams copy didn’t mention a Lilith.
“Okay, fuck, we’re getting into this, I guess.” He shuffled to sit up and looked at the ceiling, thinking. “Before Eve there was this cunt named Lilith, we were like… technically supposed to be together forever or some shit, but this bitch ran out the fuckin garden. Couldn’t handle me blah blah blah. Uhhhhh what next. Yeah, God gave me Eve ‘cause we had to like make babies and shit. Best part of 900 years we were together I’d say…? Yeah she was nice. Hot too. Had a few kids, started the population on earth. Y’know the drill. I died, came to heaven, never found her again.”
Lute nodded along as her head spun. There was another before Eve… He had two girls before the exorcists… before her… She nodded and took a breath, straightening her posture back to ready. “Thank you, sir.”
“Yeah whatever. I got my girls now, and extermination isn’t too far off, right?” He went back to picking his teeth.
“A month or two, sir.”
“Sweet. Get to training those bitches then!”
“Yes, sir.” She walked out of the room, ensuring the door was closed before slumping into a wall. Hot tears stung her eyes. What was she doing. A lieutenant is not supposed to act this way! Crying!? “Pull yourself together, bitch.” She thought, gripping her hair and throwing her body to stand. Fists left crescent moon circles in her palm, digging just deep enough to hurt.
“He’s the first man, of course he had other women. You will never add to that number. There are so many he’d rather pick. Go to your dorm and stop bothering the general.”
Lilith circled her mind for days, what did she look like? What did she sound like? Why did she run? Who would run from Adam! She was handed the first man on earth; the first human ever made and ran away. Lute couldn’t imagine it. How much did Adam love her? He didn’t sound too distraught when talking about her…
Her breath filled her ears again and a scream ripped from her throat, sharp nails gripped her cheeks, pulling her eyelids down. Her body leaned and her feet scrambled to catch up, sending her slamming into the wall. Claw marks stretched into the ground as she tried catching her breath through ragged sobs. He could never love her. No matter how hard she fought, how fast she was, if she tried to be more like them. Adam had his girls; she was just his stupid little army replacement.
Silence filled the room as her eyes widened. Replacement. That was what she was. This army was a replacement. Why was it all women under one mans control? Why did they all look the same, was it how Eve looked? Was this whole army just a step down from his exes? Did he need a right hand or was she there to take Eve’s place. Lilith’s place.
The tears slid down her face quietly. Nothing filled in the stillness. Just her eyes tracking over the discarded book on the floor. Eve would be with Adam forever, just not physically. She knew that. He thought of her a lot, talking about her when drunk, singing about Eden, going to hell and seeing Lucifer, the man who gave them the apple. Eve was immortal, living on through all her daughters. Lute was not a child of Eve; Lute was created for war.
What a shit replacement of the birth of the world. The mother of all daughters and the murderer of all sinners.
Lutes head pounded from the force of tears falling from her, her breathing was too fast for her body to catch up. She choked on her inhales, holding herself tightly. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair. It kept repeating in her mind until she passed out on the floor of her room.
Several weeks went by and extermination day came. 7th extermination.
“-and exterminate demon ass!”
“Destroy that ass!” She beamed at him, hoping he’d glance at her.
The speech went on with her adding little comments between Adam. After this. After this she was going to tell him. Tell her General that she loved him. Even if she lost her rank because of it, even if he had other wives. Her mind spun with every possible outcome, but it was for the best. Too many sleepless nights had gone by and she needed an answer. She needed him to look at her, look at her with all his attention. Look at her and smile.
She rushed down to the portal with her sisters, sword in hand, screaming for battle. What she wasn’t expecting was the sinners to fight back. What she wasn’t expecting was for her to have to rip her arm off. What she wasn’t expecting was to watch the life drain from Adams eyes under her.
Clutching his halo, the only remains left of her General, she went back to heaven to drop to her knees and pray. Pray for what? She didn’t know. Anything that would listen.
“I love you, sir.”