The smell.
The smell of... eggs? Butter, meat?
Some kind of omelet.
The smell of some kind of omelet woke William up.
"Probably Emil again...", William didn't even have time to finish the thought before a headache immediately twisted him out of such a beautiful illusion. When he was an angel, he had never had such terrible pains, not in his head, not in his body. William was upset by this little thing, because he would have liked to be in the dark a little longer, but this was Hell....
"Hell is fucked up, that's the beauty of it. "No matter what you do, you get fucked. Physically, mentally, it doesn't matter. It's just the nature of the place, though the Sinners consider it their utopia." - Adam's brief description of Adam.
Having lived in this Hole for almost ten years now, William can sign every word. Sometimes he thinks he should have just burned in that Flame....
I didn't want to use the Weave. He should have, but he was too lazy... He just wanted to lie down for another hour or two....
" Company up!" - A loud shout brought William out of a light slumber, making him jump up, looking around nervously.
One. He was in his bedroom. Two, he had changed into his robe, his body had been washed, and his energy restored. The only thing William could complain of now was a headache.
His vision was normal, so William saw right away....
"Good afternoon... William." - The deep drawn out voice of a middle aged man... No, this creature looked more like cartoon characters or movie characters with their effects... It was as if the man had been plucked from another dimension.
"My Replicant..." - wheezed William, coughing, to which the Replicant immediately handed him a carafe of water, which William, with some delay to check with the Weave for danger, accepted.
Ordinary Earth water, stored by William in cisterns under the house.
"I prefer Stephen, but Senator will do as well." - hummed... Stephen, adjusting his glasses, setting down a
A plate of scrambled eggs covered with ketchup, herbs, and small tomatoes.
"Breakfast." - Stephen nodded, walking off downstairs, not even looking back at William, who...
Just stood staring at the massive back of the departing... Replicant, I suppose.
"Not human, no soul, the Lirds soul, as intended, adapted and dissolved, leaving no trace of its past incarnation... Did I make a mistake somewhere again?", William didn't like this trend. He was again making years of plans, long and painstaking preparations, only to have it all go to waste at the end, horribly "shitting himself," as Adam had said.
William was ready to kill-destroy-dispose of the Replicant, admitting total failure, deciding to do a full check before making a final decision.
The Replicant had no soul, but William, as the creator, could look into the Consciousness Matrix that was replacing its soul... A kind of "processor" or whatever parts of these electronic-magic things that automated mathematical operations were called.
...After some time. About five minutes, during which William didn't move once, he was... Puzzled.
Because it appeared that William had done it.
He did it.
The Replicant had no will, he wasn't trying to kill him or harm him in any way, he regarded William as a constant that he obeyed, because it was his nature, and to question or contemplate it was tantamount to admitting that he was a character in a book or cartoon. Stephen simply followed the protocol laid down in him, guided by his worldview.
...And he answered him based on his "character". The image that William had come up with when he was thinking about the ideal leader of his neighborhood. Strong and smart. Principled, who would not give up his principles until the very end. Would go all the way to the end in his goals without regard for the cost.
Naturally, with the welfare of William and his family in mind.
The Replicant cannot harm William and his loved ones by his actions or inactions. The Replicant obeys William as long as it does not harm the first rule. The Replicant protects and preserves himself as long as it does not violate the other rules.
The first of many rules in the Matrices of this and probably future Replicants... If this specimen passes all his tests.
William silently took a spoon from the plate of scrambled eggs, beginning to eat the dish. Delicious.
William had a do-o-o-o-o-o-ong day ahead of him.
...
Screams. The sounds of flesh tearing, the unpleasant sounds of bones snapping. More screaming.
William... Didn't know how he should react to something like this.
He was now overseeing Steven's acclimatization process in the Silence as his new supervisor, which meant, how could it be otherwise, the Dwellers were just regular Sinners. They had long ago memorized who their Overlord was, but for the Silence to have an assistant or someone...else?
Steven needed to explain to his new subordinates who now worked for him, they just didn't know it yet. So Steven did a series of interviews....
"Somebody kill that faggot already...!" - The crocodile sinner didn't have time to finish, because he was blown away by a battering ram in a white shirt. A haughty smile, confident heavy movements, sharp and deadly blows delivered with fists, legs or strange techniques from sumo or karate... William was not strong in earthly martial arts, just for the sake of interest, having downloaded and supplemented the Knowledge Matrix of the Replicant of Truth with everything he could. The result...
"...AAH! Why don't you fucking die?!" - shouted some white hedgehog... an anthropomorphic white hedgehog in a black mob suit. William had a rabble of all sorts, and it wasn't always easy for him to clean up.
Steven peeled off his shirt, which could just as easily have been rebuilt on the Replicant's body, revealing his broad and muscular chest, with clearly marked abs, clearly marked muscles and veins, but most importantly....
From his "heart", the place from which the swollen veins that were much stronger than they might have appeared, ran like an intersecting fluid, a black mass replacing Stephen's usual "skin".
He stretched his arm out to the side, glowering defiantly at the rest of the crowd watching the "new division of power" as they called such squabbles in the Sinners' neighborhoods.
"God's Miracle, s-son!" - Steven squeezed his hand sharply, grinning at Sinner and the crowd surrounding them. - "God gave me the strength, intelligence, and will to bring order here!"- Steven minted each word, speaking with a kind of bestial growl hidden behind normal speech. His eyes glowed red, and his grin almost turned into a grin.
"I'm your new Boss. Your leader, your Daddy, your Mommy. I'm your new world." - Steven grinned, catching a line from some machine gun with the palm of his hand. As if in mockery of the attacker, he just let them fire at his body while the bullets just bounced, ricocheting back or into the other Sinners. - "Our Lord God," Steven pointed with his hand toward Zephyr's mansion, the location of which all the Dwellers of Silence knew. - "Put me in charge of running this place. He set me apart from himself, above the others. I am his Will, his Strength and Power. I am his new Vice President, whom you did not vote for." - Steven grinned, hearing whispers in the background.
Stephen turned around, waving his arms as if he were on a podium somewhere, surrounded by his constituency, as if he were not among the corpses of the most brazen and criminal elements of the Silence.
" Do you want peace?" - The question, so silly, yet so... strange, asked by the new... 'servant' of Zephyr, Lord of Silence, alerted the surrounding crowd. Some, probably the most adequate and not yet completely lost Sinners faintly agreed, almost half-whispering in response to Stephen's call, which he somehow heard. - "You want peace, you want order in this Cunt you call your home?" - Stephen threw his hands up into the sky, as if pointing to the Hell that surrounded them. Some of the Sinners looked up, following Stephen. - "You can have it all now, get security, stability, and certainty of tomorrow!" - Stephen didn't shout, but his elevated tone could be heard by almost everyone on the ruined street. Roofs, windows, doors and interior rooms, even those at the farthest edges of the street, everyone could hear the new Senator.
Stephen walked around the circle, making sure to meet the eyes of every Sinner, as if speaking to each one at the same time, he embodied the change, he gave off an aura of confidence, the aura of a man who knew what he was saying. To some of the Sinners it seemed as if Silence had condescended to give them a new gift.
Stephen, as if hearing these thoughts, grinned, nodding.
"You will have what no degenerate and scum out there," Stephen pointed behind their backs, beyond the blue sky, "in places where lawlessness and violence reign, where the cannibal rules the ball, where your lives are worth nothing but a bargaining chip in the struggle of powerful Overlords." - Stephen's voice found more and more supporters. Each of them had similar thoughts in one way or another.
"The Lord of Silence - freely gives us all this. Gives us shelter, food, protection, he doesn't touch us, he recreated a corner of Earth in Hell, he gave it to us as a gift... Why not?"
A type of thought, different from Sinner to Sinner, but the same. Each Sinner, for some reason, as if at the snap of his fingers, began to trust and imbibe more and more of Stephen Senator's words. A strange Sinner, very much like the man Silence himself had created.
"Fuck on a fucking shovel!" - shouted one of the Sinners angrily, even a little desperately. A muscular, slightly shorter than Stephen himself, Sin-Bear, who, as it turned out later, was one of the bosses of some gang selling and distributing drugs in the Silence. - "His cunt I can smell even being in the fucking cloaca of the cannibal district, and this..." - Sinner jabbed his finger accusingly at the still grinning Steven. He slowly approached the confident Steven, who turned around to walk.
"You're just like the other politicians. One word, zero action. A faggot for deciding to stand at the helm while Silence doesn't give a fuck about the neighborhood." - the bear was sputtering in rage with each new word. - "So just shut the fuck up and fucking die!" - The bear began to deliver a quick, very impressive series of blows, straight into Steven's chest and abs, which just stood there, not reacting, unnerving both the Sinner, who had decided to attack, and the crowd.
The blows were so strong that they sent out a small sound wave, as if breaking through the sound barrier, but Steven didn't move, still looking at the bear with the same cocky grin. Such crushing blows seemed like mosquito bites, but many of the Dwellers knew that this Overlord could fight Rakus himself, for he was one of the deceased Overlord's main men.
The bear, looking at that cursed grin of his, sped up, but Stephen didn't move. He stood like a rock, letting the brave bear beat him.
Finally, the bear decided to take the final swing, stepping back a little from the still standing Steven, swung, as if storing the blow in two hands...
" HA!" - a blow to the solar plexus and stomach.
Steven grinned.
Nothing.
"What the fuck are you..." - Dazedly whispered the bear, which in the silence of the debacle was comparable to thunder.
A sharp stroke of air, a moment, and the bear was literally sealed into the ground. For the rest of the Sinners it all happened in an instant, Stephen stood looking at the tired bear, and then he kneaded his neck while the bear tried to collect its completely punctured belly.
"Someone who wants to help you." - Stephen called for his glasses and put them back on with a little too much pathos. A shirt, a black jacket, and even a cigarette, which had come from somewhere, appeared in Stephen's possession. Running the tip of the cigarette over his jacket, he lit it, lighting it.
"I've seen what lies beyond this corner of Paradise that's built here." - Stephen again addressed the crowd, which was listening attentively. - "I've seen how you've been treated, I've seen how much suffering and pain you've been subjected to." - Some of the Sinners shrank painfully, but now everyone in the crowd was listening to Stephen. - "I'm tired of it all." - Stephen puffed, pacing around the small crater where the wounded but alive bear still lay.
"I want to finish this." - Stephen, as it seemed to every soul, spoke to everyone. - "I want to end the lawlessness, I want to stop the constant deaths, I want to help all of you." - more whispers began to come from the crowd.
"...W-we've already survived this. We'll survive you too." - At the bear's words, Steven turned around, still wearing what seemed to be a permanent smirk on his face. - "You're just some fuck made by Silence. Just a dick trying to appear to be something you're not." - The bear stood up, shaking off the rags on his body. - "You don't know what it's like. Killing, robbing, raping out there, just to snatch a piece of your happiness, you don't know what it's like..." - Sinner's heavy breathing lit up the street, while the crowd, which included those who agreed with the Mid-Lord, listened to this peculiar "debate". - "Trying to live Sinner, annually snatching your life from those fucking angels flying in here to kill every one of us!"
"But you survived!" - Steven extended his arm sharply, pointing his finger first at Sinner Bear and then sweeping his hand toward the surrounding crowd. - "Each and every one of you has decided to go into the unknown, decided to start a new life, to change and snatch your damned lives back!" - Steven gesticulated vigorously, thumping his chest towards the end of his speech. - "You believed in Silence, who gave you shelter and safety, who protected and defended you during the Extermination, and now he made me to make you...!" - he looked at the crowd again.
"You have made your own Paradise!" - every Sinner turned to listen, some sighed excitedly, some grinned caustically, and some chuckled nastily... but no one interrupted Stephen.
"I have a dream!" - These were Steven's words that made the Sinners sigh questioningly, exhaling "what?", "what?!" and so on.
"I want to turn this place into Heaven." - Stephen spoke with inspiration. - "I want every Resident of this neighborhood to be able to look to the future with confidence, knowing that they will live and prosper the entire time they are here." - Stephen waved his hands to the side as if pointing to each soul. - "So that everyone can have a well-paying job, so that everyone can feel safe under the protection of the Silence Police, so that everyone can have the opportunity to become a fucking angel if they so desire!" - there were chuckles from the crowd.
" I want it all." - Steven turned to the bear, who was looking at him questioningly, recoiling slightly as Steven started to approach. - "How about we start right now?" - Zephyr's strange creature held out his hand, looking at Sinner Bear himself with a smile.
"..." - Sinner looked at the hand as if it was the Devil himself. He looked up at the crowd, searching with his eyes for someone of his own, and then looked back at the kindly smiling Stephen. -" We're all going to die sooner or later anyway." - The bear sighed, and Stephen didn't move. - "Why not live a normal life until then." - he shook Stephen's hand, and the crowd roared approvingly.
...The whole scene was watched by William, who was watching this production with barely concealed laughter.
"The replicant did it perfectly. There must be something of Lirds left in him, and the durability and strength... Stephen will be stronger than Lirds, and Alastor won't be able to kill him that easily, though... Depends on what his magic can do...", William thought as he watched the area being restored back to its original state by his Silence enchantments.
William still had to watch the progress of the Replicant of Truth and Honor, but he could already smell that things were starting to get better...
"And yet...", William paused, realizing a long forgotten thought that seemed to have died with the loss of Angel's ministry...
"It turns out... I have the rest of the day... free?"
William... William did realize that the things that used to take up most of his time had now been taken over by the Senator, who could be looked after by the Queen and the Crawlers, immediately alerting the one...
The Senator, on the other hand... He wouldn't betray or harm. Just like a normal person can't wish their heart or brain dead. The Senator thinks William is a part of him, a big part of him, to rebel or plot against him is simply foolish, he won't even think along those lines. The Senator has no needs of his own, no ambitions, only what William has laid down. He has no dreams, no goals, everything he has told the Inhabitants is a lie from the first and last word.
By weaving and mass mind effects, he was able to soften and adjust the effect of speech, so that the Inhabitants would believe that the Senator's words were the words of Silence, that he even preferred to communicate through third parties.
"Huh... Having our own Metatron... Adam would chuckle at such a comparison...", William shook his head.
He pondered his future plans until he came to only one sensible thought, after today's upheaval and exertion.
A healthy sleep for two days.
...
Pentagram City, Cannibal City, near the Embassy. 1939.
"
...That's when I learned that trying to ride a merry-go-round at full speed after having previously eaten cotton candy, fruits and vegetables wrapped in some flattened but tasty bread, and a bunch of other sweets was a bad idea.
It's embarrassing to admit, and not befitting of a lady, but I...*The next couple of words are crossed out* Anyway, you can see what became of that undigested food....
Mom and Dad took me to Lu-lu World for the last time, because it's closing for a while. Dad didn't tell me why, but those Sinners... They were strange, like... scorched? Like they'd been tortured, abused? I'd never seen such strange Sinners before, and my mom strictly forbade me to go near them.
Moreover, one of the Sinners decided to organize a fight with firearms, shouting something in German (I understand it, but I'm writing this for you).
As Mom and Dad later told me, something is happening on Earth. Something very bad. "Germadia" and "Iceland" (maybe not exactly, but somehow I remembered the names of the human countries (it's kind of like the Rings of Hell, right?)), that's where all the "fuckery" is coming from, as mom said. Yeah, she swears too. Very rarely, almost never, but still. It's Hell.
Anyway... If you hear German speech and you hear red marks on your shoulders or strange arrogant behavior, you better run, or hide. These Sinners, as Dad said, are very dangerous, it's like they're preparing the Ring for the arrival of their commander or something. Mom said it's some kind of plan by the people on Earth, that they want to take over Hell.
Dad said this has happened before, a lot of times, so you shouldn't worry about it, just get through it safely. If you want, you can stay at my house for the next few years.
* The next lines are crossed out with thick lines *
It's just--*next line is crossed out or smudged *
I mean, if you think you can't defend yourself, then please write and come to my mansion, it's on *The address is written in a strange way, as if it can't be read, the letters just don't sit in your memory, literally lurking in your mind* ...
...Sorry, I forgot that our house is protected, so... Just write and my dad will bring you back to us, okay?
How are you doing? I heard there's a strange Sinner in your Silence who's taken over the neighborhood. I hope you're doing well and the rumors are true.
Thanks for those feedbacks on my articles, I'm glad you have more free time and you're writing more often.
...Since that's the case, then...*The rest of the line is crossed out*
If you want, you can come over to our house, just for a visit. Is that what friends do on Earth? I'm sorry, I don't know much about human customs. My mom, Lilith, the First Woman, hasn't updated my knowledge of human etiquette in too long, but as far as I know, it's common for humans to come over for a friendly get-together.
*The line is crossed out*
I can come if you want! I can come without my dad or mom, I have two....
...I COMPLETELY FORGOT!
I have two goats, animated by my daddy toys that have become like family to me! Razzil (sometimes I call him Razzle) and Dazzle (aka Dazzle)!
Cute dragon goats that often help me with my chores, play with me, or help me with songs!
(How about we get together and play something sometime?)
I'd like to schedule and ask more, but my mom is calling for a lesson on handling the Royal Voice (my mom loves those names, though my dad often makes fun of it, often getting (they have these sexy games, sort of... I don't really understand their relationship on that side)).
Be careful and take care of yourself!
Please write more, I'm worried about you!
Your Charlie!!!
(->‿<-) (->‿<-) (->‿<-)
*Below and around the last lines are drawn the faces of a girl with red spots on her cheeks. With and without horns on her head.
"
William chuckled at the content of the letter, sipping a cup of tea while sitting on the roof of some cannibal district building.
After his Liberation, William had a lot of free time on his hands. He felt like an angel again and just a living soul.
Now he could, as before, just walk around on Earth, not combining it with his work in the church, where he had already earned a name of some kind of saint or just a good priest.
No. Just walks in the woods, after the rain, in the evening, in the morning. Occasionally transforming into the guise of "The Woodsman" to scare people or walk lost children home. William loved to watch the reaction of parents when they opened the door to him when they met children who had been out for a couple of days or had gotten lost. They looked at his figure, which was somewhere under three or four meters tall, strewn with branches and leaves, as if mesmerized.
Oh, and what to say that now his Defense was already twelve hours long... It was wonderful! It was as if he was finally breathing clean air, having taken the mountain off of him....
For the first three months, William had been following the Senator, helping him and monitoring his functionality and the mental state of the Matrices. No defects or malfunctions. It was as if he had turned Leards into a machine, slightly enhancing his physical and mental characteristics, completely remaking his personality to his liking.
After that, William could go about his business.
Creating new Constructs that perfectly complemented the power of his Silence, his personal and the power of his "Shadow Army". Quick reaction units that could be summoned to his aid to keep his opponent busy. It's embarrassing to admit, but a similar idea, 'Cover Behind the Minions' had been picked up from Alastor. William could often observe, through the Crawlers, that the latter preferred to leave the minions (the weakest Sinners) to his 'demons', which were more puppets than demons or devils.
Compared to his Constructs - Hell and Heaven.
William hummed a light tune as he watched a small horde of the 'very' Sinners described by Princess Charlotte, about whom William had heard so many interesting things...
Nazis. German soldiers who had been brainwashed by their dictator's propaganda. They had somehow come to believe that their race was the best and purest, that it was the race that would rise to the top, preventing a new "Kara", and would also be able to ascend to Heaven...
"There are clearly cultists among the Germans, if not worse... Otherwise they couldn't have claimed with such certainty, with such trivialities, that soldiers who kill, rape and torture the innocent - will go to Heaven...", William thought, watching the five Bestiaries hunting the squads of 'volunteers' from the Sinners that decided to follow the ideas of the 'Fashi', as they are called so far...
William had heard, and investigated personally, about their methods of warfare, interrogation, and holding captured territories.
"Just fanatics, piously believing in their lies... They themselves without realizing seal themselves the Pearly Gates... Most of them," thought William, while one of these fanatics, with a clearly recognizable likeness of a uniform and a 'mark'. A Slavic sun sign.
William would have laughed at the irony... But not in this context.
The creation of the first Replicant led William to other ways of creating Constructs, completely reinterpreting the process itself. It became more complex, for instead of "Vitae", William used only Aether, but the process itself...
The Constructs were stronger, smarter, and more dangerous. Not to mention William's own control of the weave energy.
Hunter. A semi-humanoid creature, with five or six pairs of upper limbs, one pair of lower limbs, covered with a special cloth that helped them hide and wait in ambushes. Black body material, similar to insect chitin. Refined and efficient movements that don't waste unnecessary energy on empty actions. If the Hunter strikes, he will strike for sure.
Instead of a face, it has a muzzle with a single ball-eye that allows the Hunter to see three hundred and sixty degrees, to see in a multitude of spectra, including magical ones that allow them to detect energy or Sinners' attacks, or to detect invisible traps.
Their job is to catch those critters that are themselves hiding from the main backbone of the Shadow Army. With them, Silence has become a truly peaceful place, for Sinners who trade or trade in the shadows have been hunted down.
Yes, his neighborhood had been called "dictatorial," restrictive, or simply "the lamest neighborhood in the Ring, where you can't even get a decent twist," but his Residents didn't complain.
By the way, that Sin-Bear that the Senator shook hands with is dead, and his soul became the prototype for a new type of Construct that became the first part of his Elite Force.
Valor. Large, usually under two meters minimum, though they could shrink to half a meter, knights of all shapes and sizes. Clad in a variety of armor made of the tough metal of Aether (William still had a problem with names), they served as guards, protectors, and guardians of law and order.
Wielding huge weapons, usually two-handed long swords, they delivered crushing blows, constantly changing their fighting style. It is a squad of Valorites that can take out a Mid-Range Overlord. A dozen would suffice, though support from Watchers, Scouts, and Suppressors was desirable. Each Valor was also equipped with a bow, which fired energy arrows of their own making. They have a separate stream, not interfering with the main stream or others, for the arrows.
Also... Valor can store the energy released in its core or by absorbing the residual energy of a defeated Sinner and release it in the form of long-range attacks. Sword waves... William didn't bother with names, but these Constructs liked to hit the enemy ranks with such attacks, or simply break buildings.
Right now, the Valor were working in pairs with the Bestiaries and Hunters. The Valor would create a distraction while the Bestias attacked from the flanks and the Hunters would strike from the rear, mopping up those who had escaped.
A perfect fighting combination. William rejoiced like a child, partially controlling the course of the battle. A sip of tea, a new 'move' in this strange chess game he could see from different angles, thanks to the Sliders and Messengers being perfect aerial reconnaissance, at least until they were shot down, for they were not fighters.
- Overlord... - a hoarse and low half-voice half-whisper, issued by another new Construct. Summoner. The specimen in question bowed and provided him with... Bound succubi and incubi... Three succubi and two incubi. Those were bound with a rope of the Summoner's energy, weakening the targets, causing them to sleep so they wouldn't kick. - They were in place, guilty... - echoed like ghosts from the movies... Hell movies, because there were already some movies with sound... Still without color, but it was progress for Hell.
The Summoner was a tall humanoid, made of similar "material" as the Hunter, with differences in build, clothing, and everything else. A robe made of fur, wrapped in a long fur cloak, with fur shoulder pads and a scarf or cloth hood. On the robe were depicted various Scandinavian runes, for good hunting luck, for strength, good luck in battle, and so on.
The various amulets that the Summoners made from the energy and souls of the Sinners themselves, giving them different abilities and properties, hung from the arms, necks, or belts of the Summoners, who wore bone-wood masks that completely covered their blank faces, leaving only the white eyes without pupils.
William had been inspired by the druidic themes he'd been looking at while studying the books Charlie had sent him, and so each Woodsman had antlers. Real good, medium-sized antlers that didn't get in the way of the Woodlanders, not the parody that Alastor had.
Completing the look was a glowing symbol of the full moon, in the manner of a third eye, which made those... Nothing changed, but William thought it added to their style.
Their task was to collect all possible ingredients, trophies from the battlefield, souls or the Sinners and demons themselves... In the Silence they were something between merchants of goods, bartering (and exclusively bartering!) things between Sinners, looking for something interesting, and, strangely enough, heralds, voicing the will of the Senator, that is, of the Silence.
They weren't dangerous on their own, but if there were at least two of them... still not a problem for the Middle Lords, but the weaker ones were killed with ease.
William waved his hand, to which Leshy immediately "atomized" the ball of demons into blue threads, sending them to his "dungeons" or simply places to store the bodies...
Succubi and incubi had a couple of interesting properties that William wanted to explore... That would help him and Sera and Emily communicate, oddly enough.
So far, the only thing that's gotten through is opening portals during the Slaying. No matter how hard he and Sera tried, they just couldn't change it.
And the succubi... They had some sort of seal that bound them to their lovers, allowing them to do "things" that made William want to research the phenomenon and replicate it. By tattooing himself on his shoulder, and Sera and Emily... Wherever they wanted.
With this, they would hypothetically be able to "communicate" without having to wait a year, plus, if Sera and William could extend the functionality of the "tags", they might even be able to communicate with words, as if in a dream. Even though communicating through images or emotions was obviously easier and better, but William sometimes just wanted to chat about something after listening to Emily...
Speaking of which.
Sera knows for sure he's in Hell, and Emily... probably guesses, since where else could he be missing, but Sera's taking a while to explain to the one about the Slayings. Fear, William can clearly sense it in their "calls".
Also...
"Good evening, my merry friend!" - A soft voice, as if from a radio program, brought William out of his thoughts. He turned around, meeting Alastor's ever-smirking Sinner Deer, looking at him with a kind of amusement. - "You should be more careful, for you never know what's sneaking around behind your back." - Alastor shook his cane-microphone at him judgmentally, arching his eyebrows, leaning toward him.
"Only if the hunter doesn't give off the smell of corpses and venison." - William replied, rising from his seat, and Alastor laughed, accompanied by laughter from the radio.
" Oh, what wit, my friend!" - Alastor waved his hand to immediately sniffle pretentiously at himself. - "But I washed the blood and scum off of myself recently, has the odor been absorbed?" - The smirk became a playful grin, and his eyes were filled with amusement.
Alastor had recently finished his program, which he had been broadcasting since the beginning of which he had also been broadcasting "screams of victims" and other things... What was in that program, William would not say, for lately he had been missing either in the laboratory, immersed in research, or on Earth. Or simply ignores Alastor's radio broadcasts, unless they are about something of interest to William.
"Yes." - William said, leaning on his cane, looking up at the sky, rocking back on his heels.
" Good." - Alastor replied bloodily, withdrawing into himself. His horns grew larger, a cross appeared on his forehead where the bullet that had killed him had hit, and his smile became a grin. - "All in all glad to know your progress." - Alastor immediately changed his tone and demeanor and replied good-naturedly.
William only shook his head, no longer speaking to the Radio Demon.
As William had recently realized, almost all Sinners had traces of their death. It wasn't a very interesting discovery, since William didn't care how they died, but still....
The same Alastor, as William realized when he looked at Stag's memories, Alastor had been shot with a shotgun under some circumstances. Alastor's memory allowed him to clearly hear the sound of the shot, and the falling body, with blood spurting from his forehead, clearly hinted at the cause of death.
Maybe it was something else, William didn't care.
"I beg your pardon, gentlemen. By being late, I have violated our deadline, wasting your time." - that was the voice and echo of Zestial, William was glad to hear.
The Sinner himself seemed to appear out of nowhere, which was Zestial's own favorite pastime, looking down at them.
"Zestial, what are you...!" - Alastor turned around and waved his hand. - "This is not an official meeting of the Lords, much less our usual gathering, no need to be so self-correcting, my dear friend!" - Alastor opened his arms as if to embrace him. Alastor didn't like to be touched, but William didn't care why, and Alastor wouldn't have responded with a joke or a threat.
"So be it, but our meetings will be shortened now." - Zestial blinked his two pairs of eyes as he came closer, standing beside William, looking at the streets being cleaned by his Constructs. - "My eyes are glad when they see such delight..." - Zestial said in a joyful tone and echoed, looking at the picture of the dying and screaming Sinners.
"I have to agree, for it is so exciting!" - Alastor said with a gasp, swaying on his heels, imitating William. - "Just standing around watching your monsters play soldier instead of personally cleaning out the scum is so-so mesmerizing." - Alastor said mockingly, still looking down at the street, leaning on the microphone as if it were a railing.
"Not a terrible fate, Alastor." - Zestial interrupted him gently, still staring down at the spectacle below. - "Moreover, for the sake of ... such..." - Zestial's tone of voice distorted, causing Alastor to look up at his acquaintance in surprise.
" Such? " - the sarcasm and playfulness was gone from Alastor's tone, who looked at the carnage below with renewed interest. - "They have a rather odd style, yes, but..."
"You didn't read my message because...?" - William turned his head slightly toward Alastor, standing across from Zestial, who was still looking at the Sinners below.
" Been busy on the radio." - Alastor shrugged, annoying William. - "But if the good gentlemen will allow it..." - At Alastor's ingratiatingly playful tone, William only snapped his fingers, causing blue lines to cut into the head of a shuddering Alastor, which...
Which was the first time in William's memory that he had an expression of... disgust on his face. The smile almost turned to a grimace of disgust, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"...They're doing THIS to people still alive?" - Alastor asked slowly in his clear voice, without radio effects. William and Zestial nodded.
"Such...outrageous times nowadays, when a human is turned into such...disgusting versions of themselves..." - There was disgust and hidden anger in Zestial's voice, and the echoes grew stronger.
The sinners below began to scream harder, for those began to naturally melt like candle wax. First their skin was torn off, then their skeletons, and only when they had experienced the full glory of the most terrible acid were their souls absorbed by the Bestia.
"Ho-o-o-o" Alastor's horns grew larger and four black tentacles appeared from behind his back. - "Yes we're dealing with clearly whacked out fanatics who want to turn our cozy town into their own fourth Reich, gentlemen!" - Alastor's joyful smile contrasted completely with the emotion in his eyes. His voice was fake, and green runes, along with all sorts of dark, ink-like monsters began to come out, while other, smaller tentacles came out, grabbing and tearing the "special" Sinners.
William found it amusing, given the views of the three of them, given the nature and interests of the two Sinners, but...
The three of them, now some of the strongest Lords of Hell, were de facto 'ruling' Lords who really disliked one movement that was gaining popularity on Earth. Especially given the effects of William's "Kara", which aggravated human minds even more. Torture became unnecessarily cruel, people were less likely to take prisoners or spare an opponent, but most importantly... The overall level of "evil" in the world increased greatly.
William had yet to deal with the problem, thankfully he had some free time, but....
Neither he nor Zestial nor Alastor likes such cruelty. They all understand and accept their natures and their new tastes, but none of them liked what might come if they allowed the Sinners of German soldiers, bringing their ideas and values with them, to gain a foothold in the Ring.
Already the generals, propagandists and other scum from Germany of this time, with all their propaganda and brutality, are going to Hell.
The three gentlemen did not like this trend.
So each of them came to a consensus.
"Exterminate this contagion from the Ring."
(P.A.: thanks to Roulette reader Syzdykovnurasyl! He basically drew some great art for the story, thank you very much)
...
Pentagram City. Silence. The roof of one of the buildings. 1945.
"
...by the way, Mom still asks for your recipes, much to Dad's annoyance.
After she got your recipe for "First Soup," then she... Got livelier? I'm not sure, but mom said it's from an old friend of hers. She's still wondering how you know that recipe, she's still asking me to find out, while Dad's keeping quiet.
That's it. I wrote about her wondering again (for the hundred and twenty-fifth time) about your knowledge of cooking and the fact that she knows an old acquaintance of hers. Here it is.
...How are you doing? I heard that your Overlords have started exterminating (horrible word, but for the first time I have to agree with it) those 'fascists'?
It's just...I can't quite believe what you wrote...*The next sentence is strikethrough*.
I MEAN, I BELIEVE YOU JUST--
I just can't fully believe that people can do that.
Dad, as soon as he found out you'd been writing to me, he was all, like, "I told you so!" and stuff like that! Yes even made up a speech for about five minutes!
Yes, my daddy raised me with the education that all Sinners are evil, psychotic and arrogant parasites, but that's not true!
Take you, Mister (I'm still waiting for you to work up the courage to just say your name to this lady-in-waiting. Daddy and Mommy won't kill you, I made a Contract with them! (verbal, at your death, I will move away from them and have no more conversation or contact, starting to hate them! (I'm not serious))), you're not bad!
You've been helping me all this time, supporting me in ways that my parents couldn't, that they still don't fully believe in my ideas, entertaining me, giving me funny books, writing interesting stories, explaining something of human culture, giving me gifts from Earth (those flowers and that cat are still alive, even though Dad says that neither he nor Mom wanted an Earth cat, especially as a gift from Sinner, but I've seen them play with it when one of them is alone! ), helped with bitch bitch Helsa, supported me with words when I needed it, listened to my complaints... *The list goes on for five more lines. With each line, the reasons become more petty and unimportant. The last line is crossed out with many lines.
...THERE IS!
(-╥﹏╥ -)
You're a very good friend! Literally the best! I'm sorry if I'm too intrusive... I get carried away sometimes.
(-╥﹏╥ -) (-╥﹏╥ -)
Anyway, did you know that recently Dad and I tried to eat a cake made by Mom? Dad really wanted to try the cake baked by mom, I did too.
So, Dad told me to stay up until two in the morning while he arranges Mother's sleep while I scout the kitchen area with the help of Razzil (Mom likes to leave mock guards, knowing my and Dad's love for sweets, she likes to eat too, but in a more restrained way) and Dazzil stands guard, warning us of danger.
...So, we were eating cake with my dad, having separated a part of it to my goats, when my mom found us... *Further notes can't be read, the words just can't be perceived by the mind*.
...Anyway, mom scolded dad, spanked me (and I'm almost a hundred and forty years old!), and then dragged me back to bed by my ears. She's been keeping her sweet tooth down for a week now by making vegetable dishes. I love vegetables, but I would like at least a candy bar. Mom won't even let me put sugar in my tea.
And daddy.
...Daddy says this "World War II" will be over soon, because that Fitler died on Earth when he got caught in the Ring last week or so. Do you think you and I have a chance of rehabilitating him? Open his eyes to what he's done or will do? Is this the way to prove to his father that every Sinner deserves a second chance?
I wish you a good day and look forward to writing soon!
Yours Charlie.
(Can you send some chocolate or candy with the letter? I'd be very grateful...)
*On the back of the paper, glowing with a dim golden light is a text that cannot be read by women (it says so in the upper-right corner of the text).
William. Remember I helped you with that one? Return the favor. There are a couple of good candy shops on Earth, one in America, one in Greece, one in the USSR, one in Germany, a couple in the Alps... Anyway: Charlie likes milk chocolate, ice cream (definitely strawberry) with a cylindrical cone, sweet apples, cotton candy with cherries, apple lollipops. Send me the same, plus Crimson Dessert cake, you get it in two pairs in Poland, from one bakery that ends in "LU", in that exact font.
Send it all through this letter, just spread the paper itself wider, embracing everything you need, and feed the Aether energy into that lettering.
The time is the end of this day.
If you don't get it, the Silence will be gone.
"
William sipped from his cup of tea, in which he was now trying to add ice, chilling himself. He didn't need it as much as he just wanted to try new variations of his favorite drink. William pondered on other varieties he could try to get on Earth, which varieties were suitable for keeping and growing in his Silence, and which...
William was just occupying his thoughts while in the background, somewhere outside his mind, Adam was laughing loudly, to the quieter and more polite chuckles of Lute. They were reading a letter that Charlie had recently sent, a couple hours before the Slaying. Adam had wanted to see the progress of William's relationship with the Creation Poisoner Family, making the naive William even believe Adam's intentions were sincere....
Big mistake.
Both angels, especially Lute, were tired, beaten not so much by other Sinners as by the buildings they had flown through, by bloodstains, which gave both Slayers a distinctive odor, and by the dust of concrete, or whatever they used for construction in Hell nowadays.
William... was glad to help his friends. The Shield Sisters were clearly in need of some rest, and the other Valkyries could appreciate his help if they flew into the Silence, where their strength was replenished, their minds relieved, and their shells restored to their former stamina. Their minds didn't even pay attention to it, postponing the realization to a much later, always different, time, and the fact of the "second breath" was not strange.
Adam and Lute continued to laugh, Adam even whispered something to Lute, which made her smile bigger for a few moments. Even though she was in what was supposedly safe territory, she didn't want to relax any more than necessary.
William rubbed his face tiredly, setting his tea cup aside on the cup holder and getting up from his chair.
"Adam..." - William's quiet voice, clearly conveying the full emotional spectrum available to the Fallen Angel. It felt like they were back in Paradise, with William and Lut reprimanding Adam.
" Oh-ho-ho-ho!" - Adam breathed heavily, putting the letter aside. - "I'll say one thing." - William didn't like that grin anymore. Lut, on the other hand, simply began methodically clearing the table for the three of them. - "Buying candy for your Princess, predator?" - William could have sworn that both angels heard the grinding of his teeth, and those were under the mask.
" Just a couple hours ago." - William sighed, picking up the letter, which immediately disappeared in blue lines. William snapped his fingers and the mess on the table disappeared as if it had never been there. Furniture and utensils, all vaporized as if it never existed.
"...How are you doing here?" - Adam asked in a gentler tone, taking a seat on the edge of the roof while Lute silently cleaned her blade.
"Clearly better than you." - William grumbled, summoning bottles of water, handing two to the angels, immediately opening his own, taking deep and powerful sips. Cold water from a spring in the London Woods, you could say it was sanctified, for it was the water that the ministers of St. Abel's drew from when the water was cut off for services or needed clean water for rituals. - "How are the Valkyries with all the casualties and losses of war?" - At William's words, the hololith of angels cringed.
"Terrible recycling, both me and the girls and the rest of you." - Adam sighed, and Lute nodded in agreement, not taking a break from her occupation, taking three sips, emptying the one and a half liter bottle in a flash. There wasn't the usual smirk on Adam's face, he wasn't even swearing much. He looked up at William. - "Sure you didn't fuck the Princess?" - Adam grinned, and Lute supported the commander with a weak chuckle.
"...I'm alive, not cursed, and I'm not hunted by the Queen of Sin and the Extinguisher of Light." - William sighed, shrugging his shoulders, looking out at the empty streets of Silence. Adam nodded weakly, lifting his gaze to the sky. - "Eve isn't in Paradise yet?" - William asked quietly.
" ...Either she's locked away somewhere in the bowels of Paradise by the oldest Seraphim at the mercy of God, or she's still flying." - Adam replied softly, keeping his gaze fixed on her. - "...She should show up soon, right?" - Adam's voice had a vulnerability that few of the First of Men could see.
"...By my calculations, she should enter Paradise in the next few years, no more than five years." - William answered, looking up at the sky.
Silence fell on the roof, punctuated by the sounds of the Slaying.
"Adam has cleaned up his stomach and also sometimes stands at the Pearly Gates for a couple hours at a time." - Lute interrupted the silence, causing Adam's face to crease already.
(P.A.: Also by Syzdykovnurasyl)
"Lut." - Adam growled a warning growl. William grinned, leaning closer to the Valkyrie lieutenant.
"Barely waits at the Gate with his arms open, sending Peter out, telling him to shut up, and already what's Adam doing..." - Lute's smirk was interrupted by a palm covering her mouth. Adam looked irritably at his assistant, who was not embarrassed by the new position, continuing to look at Adam with defiance in her eyes.
"When you're done, I'll flog you in front of the ranks." - Adam hissed threateningly, at which Lute gave a snide chuckle. William inhaled.
"Leave me out of your flirtations." - William said irritably, a slight crease in his face, looking away sharply. Both angels immediately forgot their squabbles, looking worriedly at William.
"...Just a malfunction in destroying the last of the Nazis." - William hissed angrily, answering the unasked question.
"That's why I couldn't find most of those scumbags." - Adam grinned, standing up from the edge of the roof, stretching his back, sipping that and stretching his arms with his wings. - "Did you finish off Adolf too?" - Adam asked, grinning slightly.
"Joined forces with two other Overlords." - William answered, stretching his stiff neck. - "Zestial and Alastor, if you've heard." - At the Fallen's words, Lute snorted.
"Spider demon, Demon of Decay?" - William nodded at Lute's words as she rose to her feet, also kneading her blood-stained wings. - "The second... Radio Demon?" - Lute spoke less confidently.
"Babostof?" - Adam said as both Lut and William stared at the First man in silence. - "Paphosor? Qualistor? Alex? Petya? Ketya...?" - With each new word, Adam's voice grew weaker until he lowered his head, scratching his cheek against his mask. - "That red half-deer is half-dick." - those words elicited a chuckle from William, nodding at Adam's words.
"A psychopath, a maniac operating in the twenties or thirties." - William looked toward Silence again, pointing his gaze in the direction of the famous radio antenna. - "Quite intelligent, knows when to back off, knows his limits," William admitted forcedly, to which Adam arched an eyebrow incredulously.
Lute simply stood silently beside her Commander, waiting for further instructions.
Adam continued to stare silently at William, which just rolled his eyes.
"He's my scarecrow for the other Sinners and Overlords. Helped me kill Nazis, trying to catch the ones that were barely here. Helped me kill Hitler, who proved to be a rather uncomfortable opponent." - William sighed heavily, looking tiredly at Adam.
"...Thought I'd kill the fucker myself. Cocksucker quickly climbed to the top of my take-out list." Adam pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders. - "I hope his soul is suffering?" - Adam asked casually.
"...You actually have a Sinners to Kill list?" - Not that this information surprised William, it was just that he had previously taken it as nothing more than a big joke by their Division. Adam and Lut looked at him like he was an idiot.
"You have a little over two thousand years, a desire to clean up humanity's most trash, and you don't start your own list of souls you want to send to the Second Death?" - Adam muttered wryly while Lut nodded importantly, covering her eyes. William blinked, nodding.
"You mean... Jack the Ripper, Vlad Tepes, Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, Julius Caesar... Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon?" - William asked with an uncertain intonation in his voice, glancing back and forth at Adam and Lute. Both rolled their eyes.
" Thundered one of my Valkyries, a Righteous One, killed by him, took him down about a couple hundred years ago, looking for his wives..." - Adam shook his head as if remembering something, shaking his finger warningly. - "By the way, if you find 'Dracula's Wife', get the hell outta here, the scum loves to bathe in blood baths, especially from the blood of innocents." - Adam nodded.
"Often the children's." - Lut covered her eyes with her hands behind her back.
"...Okay, I'll keep that in mind..." - nodded William, turning toward Alastor's tower.
"Ivanchik was killed almost as soon as he got here, about five or ten years later." - Adam shrugged. - "Julius was killed by other Sinners or demons, afraid he might start another Rebellion, and he had every chance, with his popularity at the time." - Adam shrugged, turning back to where his Valkyries were killing Sinners.
With the coming of World War II, with losses in the millions, the Slayers had been forced to recycle. There were more Sinners literally every hour, back then, before the Extermination, the streets were hard to push through, as Pentagram City looked more like a natural anthill, with that ocean of new Doomed.
"'Olympians,'" Adam grinned, "Died in the Fourth Rebellion, though some ascended to Paradise, taking new names." - The last part made William choke, much to the mutual pleasure of the two angels.
William looked dumbfounded at Adam and Lute, who answered him with snide chuckles. The battle of glances lasted only a dozen seconds, until William looked away with a wave of his hand as he relaxed his sheaths with two sighs of pleasure.
" ...Now that's something you should definitely be brought back for, it's something like that!" - Adam's face stretched into a smile, and he stretched his whole body, including his wings, fully upward. A large shadow, about two meters long, covered Lut and William.
Lut herself was more reserved than their boss, but she nodded gratefully to William anyway, carefully hiding the trembling in her knees.
" Anyway, Vilya." - Adam's tone returned to 'normal', as much as it was even possible with the amount of work he had piled on him. - "We're off." - He nodded to Lut, receiving her nod, both angels spreading their wings, preparing to fly away. - "Behave yourself, get on your friendship with the Princess, orders from the King of Eden." - at these words all three grinned, "Be sure to 'call' Sera and Emily, they really need a release." - William proudly ignored the smirks of the angels, shaking his head.
"I'll try to make it through another year." - William replied with a grin, waving his hand at the departing angels. - "Take care, Sera and Emily." - Adam nodded, lingering slightly as Lut flew forward.
Adam floated in the air. William stared at the First of Men's back, leaning on his cane, adjusting his slightly sleeping cylinder.
"She'll be here soon, Adam." - William replied quietly, lifting his gaze to the sky of Silence. Both souls clearly sensed the meaning behind William's words.
"...I will wait." - Adam replied in the same manner, spreading his wings, beginning his annual destruction of part of the Silence.
William took a deep breath, savoring the humid air. It was going to rain.
"...Why not take a walk somewhere in the woods, near the West End." - Covering his eyes, William said aloud.
He did so, traveling to his house, opening a portal there.