Underworld. Morning Dawn Mansion. Half an hour to the end of 1945.
Lucifer was annoyed.
This had nothing to do with preparing, organizing and hosting a celebratory dinner, no.
It had nothing to do with the fact that his dressed up women that were now laughingly setting the dinner table, discussing something. It had nothing to do with the fact that even for the sake of such a family celebration, they had decided to dress up in dresses. Black and austere for Lilith, with a white snake coiling around her figure, and black and white, white sundress underneath, black top, for Charlie. Voluminous and lacy dresses that would have been more appropriate for a reception than a family dinner, but no... These two wanted to take a new picture, and Lucifer didn't mind.
No. The reason for his irritation was that his wife Lilith, his LOVED and ONLY wife, for whom he had fallen and betrayed his brothers and sisters, wore some cheap and insignificant amulet that William had given her.
Charlie spent most of her time writing her ideas, dreams, essays, or whatever she wrote, exactly into William's gifted notebook-book. Not in his, which had been made and given to her on the same day Lilith wore his snake-shaped amulet specifically, no....
Charlie was pleased at his attention and gift, but continued to write mostly in the one from William. His beloved wife was happy about the gift, but she was definitely wearing the one that would annoy him the most on purpose... Lucifer didn't know what she was trying to accomplish, but he was clearly going to give this lousy girl the most brutal spanking...!
A bundle of parchment appeared next to him. The white-blue energy still remained on the material, but Lucifer didn't need that either.
He grimaced in disgust as he picked up the parchment, intending to crumple it if there was anything in it he didn't like. Barely touching the package, Lucifer found a small note written in Latin in his hand.
"
You were right.
"
The note read.
Humming, Lucifer unwrapped the wrapping, unusually careful for his earlier anger, seeing...
A black, almost spectral feather, a small piece of nimbus that he recognized immediately, as well as a new note.
"
Three hours on Earth, you can take Charlie somewhere to a park or a place to rehabilitate criminals. Should be enough for the three of you, but you'd better work up to it.
You know I'm not good at making things happen.
"
Lucifer chuckled softly, perfectly aware of two other similar bursts of energy near his women.
Lucifer didn't like prideful men, but he respected such a thing.
That William really might not be an arrogant asshole, that even in Hell he strove for power was a good thing.
He still wouldn't release him from his debt, but Lucifer appreciated the handout.
...Truth be told, Lucifer had no idea where to lead his daughter, especially if what William made up was true.
He certainly wouldn't come to the one... Someday to ask about it... only to help in acquiring the skill of restoring the halo.
Still, Lucifer liked the gift.
...
Heaven. The spire of the Supreme Seraphim. Three hours since the advent of 1946.
Sera was tired.
She'd finished her recent meeting early, only to make it to Emily's house in time to see her at their house, only to meet her not far from her office. Just as tired, all business... Sera barely recognized Emily.
The familiar tired look in her eyes, the slight irritation on her face carefully hidden behind her mask, the tired tone that occasionally slipped into a sharp tone, especially when discussing work.
Emily was tired, Sera noticed.
So, they spent their New Year's Eve in her office, finishing up the flood of paperwork that William's Song of Feather and Parchment, which Sera had mastered to the best of her ability, barely helped with.
Yes, she was an Elder Seraphim, she had worked in Eden, helped God create the Earth and worked on the Plan, but... when you're up to your ears in work, when you don't even have time to sleep, even such achievements and experience don't help you learn new skills. She had long ago regretted not listening to William, taking her time to learn his Weave. More like adapting it for herself, but still...
Sera had long ago sent Emily home while she herself finished the last of her paperwork. They'll celebrate Christmas a little later, in a couple hours or so, and then they'll go to bed amicably...
While Sera would try to get through to William. Wherever he is.
It's a habit of hers. She's been trying it since her thirtieth year, but to no avail. God, as if in mockery, would only let her feel some echoes, but no more. Sera had tried, but she just didn't have the time or the proper level of knowledge, for this area, "Communications between Hell and Heaven," was far beyond her expertise.
Sera rubbed her face with the palm of her hand as she placed the last seal, leaning back in her chair.
She knew William was alive and active in Hell. She knew he was also trying to think of something to solve her and Emily's problem. As usual, she'd left that to her assistant long ago, knowing it was only a matter of time before they were able to exchange words again, not images of emotion.
Sera's cheeks flushed slightly, and she sighed.
Those "calls" they'd had through Adam's portals had been filled with the desire to relieve stress, to fall back into each other's arms, and there had been no time for anything else. They only had a couple minutes before the portal would close for another year.
Sera stretched, filling her office with the crunch of bones, though there was definitely no such stupidity in her shell. It was just something she'd adopted from William. One of the many things the other had picked up from her lover.
She didn't even notice as she cleaned up her office, closing the door on the seal, turning around, only to meet Adam not far from the office itself.
"Hi, Sera." - Adam nodded to her, carrying a decent stack of papers. Sera sighed tiredly, gesturing with the palm of her hand to vaporize those in white light, moving them into her office.
If she were 'younger' she'd definitely take them to her home, but right now she just wanted to sleep, and work was so...
" Adam... It's unusual to see you at this late hour..." - Covering her eyes, Sera said. - "...I thought you were with your family, celebrating..." - Adam only grinned, putting his hands behind his head.
"Oh, I noted, just had to finish the last of my business so I could spend the weekend with Sif's family and Abel's company, that there's no way he's finding a wife..." - Adam shook his head and Sera nodded understandingly. - "Abel's a good man, but he's like a wall to women," Adam even tapped his helmet, placing his other hand at his side. Sera laughed softly.
They were alone in the hallway, not far from her office.
Not a soul in sight, all the 'late' workers had finished their workday as early as eight hours ago. Only Sera, as Supreme Seraphim of the Golden City was working late. She knew that even her brother Metatron was taking the day off, though similar to her, moonlighting at late hours. The rest of her siblings, with a few exceptions, were not working at all today.
"Did you want something Adam?" - Sera asked softly, examining Adam's figure.
The one was... amazingly efficient and energetic in recent years. Sera didn't know the reason why, but the man had literally from nothing just picked up and started...working. No banter, no jokes, it was like he'd been replaced. The first thing on her mind was to check his soul for Lilith or Lucifer's interference, but...
It was still Adam.
She hadn't looked into his memory, knowing full well the consequences, even for herself, but...
Adam pulled his figure up. Sera didn't look at Adam as a man, but she recognized that the fact that he had trimmed his 'father belly' had clearly benefited him, and the satisfied Battle Sisters and Lute only confirmed it.
Sera noticed that he was much less likely to be late. Meetings, paperwork, just promises to sit with Emily and entertain her... Only a couple of instances of protocol violations, but even those were excusable, because he'd been detained by other Seraphim, and Adam reported on each one. As he should.
It scared Sera and pleased her.
" Just a thought." - Adam swayed on his toes like a child in front of a parent. - "What's the deal with Eve?" - Such a question from Adam, asked with a very uncharacteristic calmness, knocked the air out of Sera. Her eyes widened as she looked into Adam's holo-eye, which was like asking her about the weather.
"Adam?" - Something was wrong, Sera realized. Adam was too calm about his long-lost wife, for normally he flatly refused to even let anyone speak her name, much less himself....
"It's just..." - Adam tapped his chin, shaking his head. - "...Virgil was doing something there..." - Adam stretched out each word as if recalling a long-forgotten plot of a book. -" Could it have something to do with Eve, or touch her in some way? Maybe she was influenced by this 'Song' too, maybe someone could have found her?" - Adam finished ingratiatingly, leaning closer to Sera, whose breathing was quickening.
"Adam..." - sighed Sera, whose shoulders slumped tiredly. - "You know that Eve..."
"Yes, yes, was banished-cursed-cursed-cursed, yes..." - Adam just continued almost singing, there was a strange wide smile on his face that truly frightened Sera. - "It's just, if even now, when there was another fuck up she wasn't even tried to be found..." - Adam's tone changed. He looked up at her, with the same frightening smile curving his eyebrows.
"...Will anyone even look for my wife?" - Adam looked straight into her eyes as Sera breathed heavily, glaring fearfully at Adam. -" Does anyone still give a shit about her, or has everyone decided that I'm such a dumb Adamic that I'm just going to find myself cooler bitches, just forgetting the other one, leaving her in some unknown place, in some unknown condition?" - Sera covered her eyes, fixing her hair.
Adam had brought up this conversation more than once over the millennia. This time, though... It was as if he had a new pivot, some reason to keep bending the line... Did it have something to do with what William had done?
"You know it's out of my hands..." - Sera's newfound firmness was shattered by what Adam said.
" Not even the fact that for some reason you asked me to look for something 'out of the ordinary' in the Ring of Pride?" - Adam said in an awfully high-pitched voice while Sera stared at him with widened eyes.
"What's wrong with you Adam!" - exclaimed Sera, throwing away the last of her politeness, truly concerned for her friend.
"Just a thought..." - Adam didn't relent, continuing to play. He put his hands behind his back, turning away, allowing Sera to breathe a little more freely. - "You know even Metatron can't see or hear us now, right?" - Adam's new words, new revelations and surprises for Sera.
"What are you getting at?" - Sera asked perplexed.
"To the truth Sera." - Adam dropped the whole game, his voice becoming sterner and rougher. Adam was angry. Really angry.
"...You know I have Duty..." - Adam was merciless.
" Fucking hell, Sera." - pressed his voice, Adam lowered his hands, looking down at her. - "I'm forced to go down to Hell every year, spend extra time looking for I-don't-know-what while you don't even think to look, or care in the slightest about my wife, Sera."
Adam had been awfully persistent today, and damn it, today was the day he'd chosen to be completely in his own right, asking her questions to which she had no answers.
"I don't know, Adam, and even if I did..." - Sera stroked her forehead with the palm of her hand, covering her eyes, but Adam didn't even think about relieving the pressure.
"Oath-fucking-oath and Duty, yeah, yeah..." - Adam literally spat out, somehow getting even angrier. It was like he was listening to something. Something Sera couldn't hear, making her even more alert. - "It's just that I'd like to hear a grain of truth from you Sera. Just one word of truth, not lies."
"Adam." - Sera said grudgingly, letting the anger in her voice that was usually enough to calm Adam down, but he didn't back down.
"That's what became of William, eh Sera?" - Adam's words jabbed painfully into Sera's soul, and she drew in a sharp intake of breath.
" That's enough, Adam." - Her eyes snapped open, but Adam didn't care about that either.
Adam continued to stand, looking at her with slight irritation.
"Just one truth, Sera. No one will ever know." - Adam's voice softened, reassuring Sera that she repeated after Adam, looking at him. - "Just tell me... How is my friend... What became of William?"
Silence.
They looked at each other in silence. Adam, unusually calm, and Sera, who had painfully covered her eyes.
...Her Duty tells her to say no to Adam. To think of something and tell the one as she had done before ....
"...But Sera?! What if Eve now...?!" - Adam, younger, more alive, was almost screaming in her face, to which she only frowned at the one, immediately calming the one down.
"Eve is perfectly fine, Uriel and Camael are watching over it, they are the ones...."
That was another lie, for none of the Seraphim could find Eve. Even the pleas to God Metatron were fruitless. It was as if Eve had vanished...
Sera closed her eyes.
"...It's not fair! Why just me! I'M THE ONE! I can get into this hole and my children can' t?!" - Adam screamed then.
He gathered the Council, trying to get them to let the wicked souls of his children and wife into Paradise. They just couldn't afford it. God had given them no instructions, and Uriel had made it clear what would happen if even one speck of Evil got into Heaven. It would simply burn.
"Negative, First Man." - Metatron's cold voice only served to inflame the First Man's anger more.
"Then throw me down to Hell so I can take care of my children as their Father should!" - Adam's new assertion was met with a series of oohs, exclamations, and tosses. Sera was worried.
"Exceptional, First Man. God's will states that you are Holy and worthy of Paradise, you..." - Metatron continued to broadcast from his lodge while Sera could only watch helplessly as Adam tried to help the wife and children he had promised Paradise to.
Which was never going to happen.
"Fuck all of you !"
Sera grumbled, shaking her head. Adam didn't interrupt her, unusually patiently waiting for her answer.
The image of the insolent angel that had come into her life like a hurricane.
A word here, a gesture there. A sweetness and a hot drink. A welcome silence filled with her favorite music.
Sera's face relaxes and her breathing calms.
A request to hand him a piece of his work. A small nudge for her to sleep while the assistant sorts out the papers.
She sits with Emily while meetings are handled by her favorite assistant....
A cheeky request, can't close her eyes anymore. She decides to play along with the cheeky angel that is soon to be Archangel, even... made the papers, covering for him....
New requests, new decisions, all easing her leisure time, freeing up time that was unprecedented. She had free time.
The fair, those moments under his wings, giving calm and protection. A kiss, an emotion that someone like her should never have.
Walks, That Date... Sex... She led Virgil to Eden, shielding even from the gaze of Metatron and Uriel.
"That's what your Duty tells you... But what are you... That Sera who likes chocolate milk bars along with hot tea and milk... Not Supreme Seraphim Sera..."
Sera opened her eyes, peering into the waiting holo-eyes of her interlocutor.
"William is in Hell, he has fallen to Hell." - Briefly, literally in one breath, Sera replied.
Adam answered nothing.
They stood in the empty hallway...somehow hidden from even Metatron's gaze.....
They stared into each other's eyes. Sera's whole body was tense, shivering like an aspen leaf in the wind while Adam breathed freely, as if he were in an open field.
Adam smiled softly, nodding gratefully.
"I'll look for him." - Adam lowered his gaze somewhere looking away. - "What would you like to put on Virgil's grave, back there on Earth?" - Adam asked, smirking good-naturedly. - "So...for New Year's Eve..." - Sera let out a deep exhale, it was like a rod had been pulled out of her.
She silently pulled out a dozen feathers, gathering those from all six wings, finishing with a detached piece of pearls in her halo, taken from her very soul. She silently handed it to Adam, who quickly took it, taking it gently in his palm as if afraid it might fall apart.
"...If I have free time, I'll stop by the grave and put it there... Maybe his spirit will dream about you, maybe say good night." - Adam said playfully, turning around.
"...Just go already Adam..." - Sera covered her eyes. She didn't have the energy to even try to respond, she just wanted to go to bed.
"Good night and Happy New Year, Sera!" - Adam stretched out, moving away from her, still standing in the bloody hallway.
"Good...Adam." - Sera exhaled.
She hoped Emily would understand if Emily went to bed right after a small meal.
...
The underworld. Silence. Zephyr's mansion. Six hours into 1946.
William rubbed his eyes, kneading those tiredly.
Surrounding him were calculations, papers and pens, even now writing what was assigned to them.
His mind allowed for several studies to be conducted in parallel at once, especially if similar or even remotely similar calculations or theorizing were needed.
William sipped from his cup of tea, setting it on the table while somewhere to his left, the Core was humming, processing and converting the energy from the Balanda project so that other mechanisms could distribute it to William's needs. Mini-constructs, which was far more useful than simple machines, freeing William up even more time, but...
It was complicated.
Working at once to expand the space for Silence, which had proved successful for his house, which had become much larger than it looked from the outside, or for his lab, which William had changed after all...
A vast room in dark purple colors. White floor and ceiling. The floor is decorated with carpets, various machinery and machines for calculations, needs, design and other things William needed... Not to mention the various staircases for this two-story laboratory, divided into two levels. The Labor level, where production and other manual labor of magic took place, and the Theoretical or Logical level, where William was now, comfortably seated on the couch, resting his papers on the table next to him.
He was working on rebuilding his wings according to the notes Adam had brought, working on rebuilding his body, for William had managed to "heal" and stabilize his hands by applying the right runes... Strength, durability, grip, energy conduction.... Sharpness and a couple of other meanings that were formed into a single pattern that even turned out beautiful, blazing blue energy on his gray-black skin, whose shade was getting lighter, giving William hope for healing and return of strength.
Was he also working on new Constructs of... animals? If he decided to expand the Silence by creating... Mists? His mansion is in the Forest of Mist, so... a secret place, a Sanctuary, hidden from other Sinners, accessible only to him and those he allows in... Mist? William will think about the name, leaving that one in case.
The animals should be precursors for his body modifications. Their shells should be bodies similar to angelic or demonic bodies. Such an experience should allow him to build up his hand for further research and modifications to his shell, allowing him to not only regain his former angelic one, but to greatly enhance that one, putting it even on the level of Hell...
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a... portal?
He turned around sharply at the golden light, from which a small box fell out. William frowned.
It wasn't Lucifer's light, he would recognize... This one was purer and....
"Adam?" - William thought aloud, taking the box that emanated such a familiar and... pleasant energy.
"Sera...," William remarked in surprise, opening the box....
A note overlapping the contents.
"
Took it from our mutual acquaintance after all. You know what to do with it. I want to see the smile of a fully fucked woman, because that one walks around like a murdered woman....
We'll have to wait with Fluffy, I haven't been able to get to her yet. They're watching.
Good luck.
Merry Christmas.
Adam. Lut.
"
William wiped away his tears.
"What an asshole he is." - William muttered with a smile, looking at the Seraphim's feathers and the echo of Sanctity taken from his very soul.
He dropped what he was doing, embarking on new calculations.
Project Call required completion as soon as possible.
...
The Underworld. The neighborhood of Silence. One of the streets in the center of the Silence. 1946, mid-January.
White snow was falling from a gray sky onto the clean streets of a strange neighborhood, in an even stranger place, a place where there should be no such thing as "snow" at all, for this place should not give peace or joy.
But the snow was falling. A sinner, or any soul, could feel the cold of frost, in this, a strange place, in this corner of a vast city. The cold of mid-winter, forced Sinners, especially those who were simply by their form vulnerable to the changing temperatures, to dress for the weather, or stay home.
It was here, somewhere in the center of a neighborhood known for its safety, cleanliness, and order, that a new stall opened, literally a small table with a large red banner that was strange for Hell - "Salvation for all who wish it," and below it, in smaller print, another one - "Recommendation from Zephyr Silence.
The sinners passed by, or turned their heads briefly in the direction of this strange sight. Not everyone knew yet, but they might have heard from rumors or word of mouth. The Princess of Hell herself sometimes walked through their neighborhood, saying something about "redemption". What and how redeemed, maybe debts to a creditor, maybe redemption in prostitution, or maybe getting rid of a drug addiction so the Sinner wouldn't get kicked out of the Silence, if not worse...
Only a couple of souls knew, or rather, just looked deeper, recognizing that the Princess wanted to help the Sinner get Redemption for his soul, sending that soul to Paradise.
Here she was now, dressed in the same gray cloak, the same blouse and skirt she had been seen in before, sitting at a two-chair table with some papers and books on it, while the Princess herself sat in the chair to Sinner's left, leaving the other one empty.
"...And how does this help me?"- a hoarse female voice, whose voice seemed to barely escape from the Sinner's throat that was now dialoguing with the Princess herself.
"I'm glad you asked!" - Charlie stood up abruptly, picking up a pamphlet from somewhere. - "Here, you can familiarize yourself with our offer here!" - A wide smile, the most honest voice that even the Ring's seen-it-all Sinners sometimes lost, and one of the best variations of looks and... purity?
A sinner, a half-naked satyr that had a goat's bottom and a human top... Unless you were looking at the skeleton of some animal, with an elongated muzzle, long horns wrapped back from the muzzle and... red eyes or sparks that gave off an unpleasant glow. Long hair that covered a not bad chest, while sharp bloody claws, instead of palms, took the brochure itself.
Charlie just nodded, smiling at Sinner's darting eyes. She read slowly, taking a long, long time, literally squeaking, even patient Charlie began to worry and thought about helping Sinner, beginning to think of words to help.
Until finally, the almost clean skull of an animal with red eyes, rose back up to Charlie.
"Fuck." - The husky voice was irritated and the eyes emitted a spark. Charlie's smile grew strained, that one shooting her eyes to the left for a moment, to a neighboring chair. With a barely perceptible nod, she met the Sinner's gaze again.
"What's not to your liking, Mistress?" - Charlie's voice was slightly raised, and the words were spoken faster than necessary. Sinner let out a breath that sounded more like the growl of a bear or a tiger.
"It doesn't fucking say anything about dough. Are you fucking with me?!" - Sinner leaned toward Charlie, towering over her, but Charlie didn't raise an eyebrow. That's what Charlie thought.
"The point of the Atonement is that you don't need money in Paradise, because there..." - Charlie's gesticulation was cut short by another growl, which was immediately silenced when the shadow of the Leader loomed over the two, causing Sinner to whimper. Sinner turned back to Charlie, in whose voice she could hear the irritation.
"Fuck you and your fuckup, 'Saint'." - Sinner spat out, throwing the pamphlet in Charlie's face, and strode off down the street at a brisk pace, filling the street with the clatter of hooves, heading south down the street.
Charlie only had to exhale heavily as she sank tiredly into the back of her chair, sliding down a little. A glass of soda was immediately placed beside her. Charlie didn't know much about such drinks, much less those invented on Earth... "Kaka Kopa" or something like that....
Right now Charlie just wanted some peace and... new ideas. Charlie quickly picked herself up in her chair, taking a quick sip from her glass, burping towards the end. Charlie covered her mouth with her hand, looking toward Zephyr with a slight redness in her cheeks, who for once wasn't wearing a coat or cloak, staying in his shirt and vest. He didn't pay any attention to her little mishap, much to Charlie's delight, simply reading the text carefully, nodding at something.
"You managed to get Sinner to read the pamphlet this time." - Zephyr's words only caused Charlie to fall headlong onto the table, groaning. - Good job.
"And how is it going to help me do ANYTHING if everyone keeps throwing the paper in my face every time!" grumbled Charlie, looking at the thrown pamphlet as her main enemy.
"Lack of results is also a result. You just have to..." - Zephyr covered his eyes, sipping a similar soda from his glass, wrinkling his nose slightly.
"Find an approach, yeah, yeah..." - Reached out to Charlie, covering her eyes.
Charlie was usually nice and kind, it was just... A couple of hours with no results and the fact that she was the one who had ripped Zephyr away from his business to drag him here, to her realization of an idea that would TOTALLY work....
"Better get cleaned up. They're coming this way." - Zephyr's words, which immediately roused Charlie, who had become her "a few minutes ago" self. As if this "incident" had never happened.
Sinner... Sinner, this time was of the 'insect' type. She was some kind of white-colored mantis, with red tips. "Legs", 'arms', more like claws and 'tail', had a red tint, and the hair, which was more like a very soft modified chitin also had red color on its tips. Including the antennae on the head.
The only thing human about Sinner was her feminine face, which was quite ordinary and beautiful... If you omit everything else... and forget the fact that Sinner wore no clothes, even if the chitin hid the "necessary".
Sinner's gaze was... interested, but her demeanor, and her slightly hunched gait, with her front claws held forward in a sort of protective stance... Sinner Mantis resembled more of a wary animal than a human.
"Almost 'empty'." - Zephyr's quiet voice from the left. - "Been through a lot, including about... a dozen to thirty-something deaths. Surprisingly few, but even that was enough to... it took its toll." - Charlie nodded faintly, trying to make her smile more welcoming.
Zephyr had told her that torment was not an idle sound to the Sinners. Every time the Sinners' bodies were killed by non angels, then the Sinners' soul left the body... only to be restored to the Sinners' 'flesh'. In a very painful way, as if the person's skin, muscles, nerves and every bone were first ripped off and every bone was broken, and then the consciousness was thrown over the horrible realizations of every moment of the process....
To the Sinner, the process is unconscious. He won't even notice it, but his soul... Zephyr repeated several times that with each such "rebirth" the Sinner loses a piece of himself. A memory, a small habit, what a word... A past life. Thread by thread, grain by grain, the size of which depends on the volume and "quality" of the torment of rebirth and what preceded it.
This Sinner was a good example. Animal traits Sinner adopts unconsciously, with a couple of deaths it just gets embedded in the features of the former person, as if it should be so.
Sinner, not at all embarrassed by her nakedness or showing her reactions to the cold, approached the booth, stopping three meters away, reading the text...
"...Good afternoon, Mistress!" - Charlie had heard, albeit not taken, Zephyr's advice on working on her smile, so she was trying to 'shrink' it, even if just a little. Barely. - "You wanted to try to save your soul and get Redemption?!" - It came out a little sharper and faster than necessary, but Sinner didn't pay any attention to Charlie's failure, just nodded, and after a couple of moments raised her eyes to Charlie, coming a little closer.
"...W-what is it?" - Sinner stammered and hissed. Like the previous Sinner, this one also had speech problems, more obvious ones. Her gaze was only slightly unfocused, as if she was making an effort just to stay 'here'. Her heavy breathing alarmed Charlie, who already wanted to help Sinner with her health, seeing that she needed it more, but she needed to "work" on her idea, maybe even....
"Atone for your Sins in life and in Hell to earn God's favor and go to Paradise, a place where there are no fears, death, pain and suffering!" - Charlie repeated the phrase she had learned that day, smiling a little wider.
- ...
Charlie looked at Sinner. Sin Mantis was looking at her. Charlie's eyes slanted to Zephyr, who was looking at their client with some strange interest, trying to get his attention with a twitch of his hand or the rhythm of her fingers drumming on the table. Zephyr merely nodded, and Charlie's smile faltered for a moment.
"...How?" questioned Sinner, to Charlie's surprise at being lost for a moment.
"T-that is, 'how'? How does a soul get into Paradise, how do you know a soul is worthy?" - Charlie's enthusiasm flamed again: her breathing quickened and her smile became "ordinary," that is, very wide, if not frightening to an outside observer. This Sinner was not one of them.
"How do you atttoooneee forrr yourrr sssins?"- Sinner hissed, painfully, wrinkling her face.
Her claws lowered and her posture relaxed. Charlie sighed, picking up the new pamphlet, at first wanting to hold it out, but after a moment of looking first at Sinner and then at the four pages of text, Charlie simply unfolded it to Sinner.
"Receiving the best therapy, discussing your problems, helping you accept them, living in a room, working to create an atmosphere conducive to healing!" - Sinner leaned closer, with each new paragraph running her eyes over the pictures outlining what was being described.
" A family and cozy atmosphere, supportive and understanding, no judgment or..." - Charlie listed cheerfully, but Sinner straightened up sharply, as if preparing to dive underwater, taking a deep breath, looking at Charlie with a strange pleading-threatening-pleading look.
" How do I remember... How do I understand... What's her face like? How do I remember?!" - Immediately, as if at a loss for strength, the Sinner grimaced again, clawing at her chest.
Charlie could only stare helplessly at Sinner, looking at the poor soul with panic and sympathy, then looking pleadingly at Zephyr, who was looking at Sinner without interest.
" ...Please..." - whispered Charlie, whose words were almost inaudible over Sinner Mantis' deep and loud breathing. With a sigh, Zephyr nodded, with a wave of his hand summoning the white-blue thread to...
"She! She!" - Sinner immediately uncurled, looking at Charlie with fear and interest. Zephyr made a couple more gestures with his fingers, as if controlling these threads, and Greshnitsa, like clockwork, froze, twitching slightly with each gesture. Charlie watched mesmerized.
"Lisa..." - Sinner whispered, tears streaming from her eyes. She turned to Zephyr, not even recognizing him as her Master, there was no fear or recognition in her.
" ...She... will she... be alright?" - Sinner asked in a clear and very vulnerable voice, pressing her claws to her chest. Zephyr only clenched his palm in his fist, and Shal appeared around Sinner, next to whom, as if growing out of the ground, the Summoner appeared.
" Yes. She's in a better place, not here." - Zephyr's words soothed Sinner, around whom Shal was wrapped like a second skin, while Leshy took her under his arm. - "You'll get help... just hang in there." - Sinner nodded, and Leshy led her toward the hospitals.
Charlie looked at Leshy with a puzzled expression, and then just settled back in her chair, with a sigh, resting her head on her cheek.
"Just scraps, nothing concrete." - Zephyr answered the unasked question by pouring a new soda, which Charlie drank immediately.
" I'm not getting anything at all, am I?" - Charlie said, staring at the bottom of the glass.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Zephyr's white and blue smile and soft gaze. Charlie's eyes widened.
" No one said it would be easy. Even opening your own store is a very difficult process, and what you set out to do..." - Zephyr grinned, stroking Charlie's shoulder, her palm covering Zephyr's palm. She stared intently at her lips, at her eyes, at Zephyr's palm, shifting her gaze back and forth. Zephyr shook his head.
"I'll put it this way. If you could settle this right away, Paradise would be just the thing to come here to witness the new Jesus Christ." - Charlie smiled weakly, laughing briefly. - "You've just found two more ways of doing things you don't have to do. Just take each case apart, consider everything that went wrong, and you can take two more steps toward your goal." - Charlie's eyes sparkled.
"Will you teach me?" - Charlie smiled broadly, squeezing Zephyr's palm. This one wrinkled his nose.
"...Sure, but what about..." - he looked at the now vanished booth, scattered with red flames, and Charlie immediately stood up, taking his hand.
"I want to!" - Charlie leaned over to him, almost right next to his face, looking up at him from below. A wide smile, a heavy breath that made the voluminous clouds of vapor clearly visible.
"...Let's go." - Zephyr nodded, grabbed Charlie's shoulder, and they disappeared in a white-blue flash.
...
Silence. The Church of Silence. 1946, first week of March.
Charlie was lost, confused, bewildered and just ...
Charlie had no words, because here... Here in HELL... Church.
No, Daddy had told her that Sinners had built and preached in churches more than once, but those made up their own religion, using that one more as a tool.
"St. Adam's Church, on the other hand... that one was created by her best friend Zephyr, who had built it... also to use for his own purposes, but those were to suit her friend.
"So that Sinners would gradually become imbued with my ideology, or rather the Will of God," was what Zephyr had told her when she first heard about it. Or rather, she asked, having seen the unprecedented - a Sinful Wolf with a Christian cross, not distorted or parodied, but a real one, praying! He just prayed, for crying out loud!
Charlie puts so much effort into it, and here--!
Charlie shook her head.
"We're way past that... I'm just... not right... not fit... not the best... I need to work on my mistakes!", Charlie thought as she looked around the church.
A simple building that could probably be found on Earth, as if drawn from somewhere rather than invented. She'd seen Zephyr's creations, figments of his imagination that were breathtaking in their elegance and beauty, what with the park near his home or the lake itself near the Mansion.
Charlie... it was hard to accept the fact that Zephyr was better at fixing Sinners than she was, that she'd been at it so much longer than he had, but... She was glad. Very glad that someone was genuinely trying to follow her ideas and was succeeding at something!
The past month... two months hadn't been as successful, as she and Zephyr had tried every idiotic... weird idea Charlie could think of. Charlie recognized that Zephyr had truly angelic patience for all those silly, as she now realized, contrivances for 'luring in the Redemption.
"Attempting to actively advertise and entice with advertising to find Sinners who want the Atonements is a failure."
Zephyr had told her not to forget about that item on her list, yes she had a list, of ways to Atone, for with experience Charlie could improve that one, but...
Even now, as the Princess herself was admitting that she had been wrong, she recognized the untenability of such an approach to something so intimate and personal. She and Zephyr had often discussed such a thing when discussing her methods, and therefore...
"You are distracted, Princess." - A soft voice, so much like her mother's, pulled Charlie from her thoughts. Charlie looked up from her notebook given by Zephyr, looking at her Sister.
Reverend Mother, as she had asked to call herself, though to Charlie she allowed just "Sister", but...
Charlie had seen, her mother had shown and told her, what the nuns of the church looked like, and Reverend Mother... to put it mildly didn't match.
Long stockings on folded legs, starting with black latex that highlighted a white cross. A black bathing suit blouse that completely revealed her wide hips, while her buttocks, barely rippling with Mother's frequent strides, were concealed by the Reverend's long, toe-length half-garment - half-cloak. White gloves, the white part of the blouse on the chest stand out against the black garments, while the nun's small "hat" adorns the snow-white hair that falls over the perfect face of a middle-aged woman whose eyes are covered by a black bandage.
"Cow," Charlie thought, looking at her Mother's voluminous breasts. Charlie was not envious in the slightest, not of Zephyr's servant's breasts, nor of her buttocks or hips. Charlie. No. Envious.
The fact that she'd asked her mother about her "future" size, giving her a good laugh... Just a coincidence!
"I'm sorry, Reverend Mother, I was just..." - Charlie replied awkwardly, averting her gaze. She wasn't sexually attracted to the servant, she just wasn't comfortable looking at a woman's beauty so openly. A human woman in Hell, which was weirder. - "Checking my notes."
"Nothing, child." - Mother nodded, smiling softly at the woman. - "The service is about to begin, do you wish to participate or just listen?" - Charlie lowered her gaze in thought.
On the one hand, Zephyr, God bless him, allowed Charlie to realize literally every idea she had, no matter what she thought of. He'd given her shelter in her house, covered for her from her parents, especially a week ago when the Von Eldritch's had come to visit again... Charlie didn't know the details, but her mom hadn't said anything afterward when she'd come home from her best friend's sleepover.
Charlie didn't want to burden her best friend even more. He already put up with her every screw-up, for which she was eternally grateful, so she didn't want to give him any more trouble by screwing up morning prayer.
"No, Reverend Mother, I just want to listen." - Zephyr's servant nodded, stepping back down the aisle.
Charlie retreated to the confessional that was to the left, in the wall recess, of the altar, covering herself with the door. It would be enough for her to hear, and to see....
The first Sinners began to arrive for the Sunday service. There weren't many, Charlie counted about ten, maybe twenty-three... Barely half of the already small church that the Mother herself had said would be expanded by Zephyr.
Charlie nodded with a smile at such a statement, pleased at her best friend's enthusiasm when she'd heard about it, and now...
The Reverend Mother began the service.
"Lost souls, my dear children!" - Mother didn't raise her voice, it was just that somehow the church was quiet enough, and the Sinners were strangely quiet. - "We are gathered here today to once again lift up our hearts, our souls, and our faith for the Lord who has turned his back on us." - Charlie heard whispers, but they went no further than words. - "Forgiven, we pray for forgiveness, for our salvation, from Sin, from His hand coming down here annually, for the harvest of those unworthy of His Grace." - Mother's voice was soothing and energizing at the same time.
Charlie didn't feel it, it was just the first word that came to her mind when she heard the heavy breathing from the hall, that they must have come here to do more than just "pray.
In fact, the idea of visiting the Church of Silence didn't seem so good anymore...
Recording a prayer? It's just words, and the Sinners themselves are hardly here for ideas of salvation....
"More like looking at a boobed nun," Charlie noted with irritation, resting her cheek against the confessional walls.
"God loves us!" - Mother exclaimed, shaking something. The smell of incense, real incense, Charlie could tell, filled the room, even her confessional. - "He hears us, he hears his children, his lost flock, desperately seeking Redemption!" - Charlie could barely hear the soft whisper that echoed her mother's words. Charlie's eyes glazed over.
"Did someone really...?"
The prayer was in full swing as Charlie tried to listen, trying to find that voice. She wished she had stayed in the audience, for the Inhabitants, as Zephyr called the Sinners who lived in the Silence, already knew her, albeit as a "quack" and a "blabbermouth," but they knew her! Charlie didn't tell Mom and Dad this, for obvious reasons.
As the Sinners began to disperse, and Charlie had already made it out into the hall, she caught a strange sight.
A sinner with a crescent-shaped head with a single red eye in the middle was trying to... flirt with Mother.
"...My son, leave your wicked thoughts, this is not His teaching." - Softly, but Charlie could clearly hear the irritation, the Sinner's Mother replied. For some reason, Charlie felt that the Reverend Mother could see the Sinner perfectly well, in spite of the blindfold. Perhaps even better than without it.
"But fair maiden, I am simply smitten with your...!" - Sinner even extended his hand towards the Mother as the air was parted and the crescent moon did not fall to the floor.
In silence, Sinner's body crumbled, in silence, Charlie could watch it disintegrate into white and blue lines, in silence, she could watch the Reverend Mother put away a half sword in the shape of a long white cross, with dark decorations and pointed ends of the guard, behind her back. Just behind her back, the sword-cross simply hung behind the Mother's back, as if it were truly anchored by God's Will.
"...So what else did you want to know, Princess?" - The soft smile was no longer so appealing, and the black mask was more frightening than interesting.
Charlie swallowed, smiling awkwardly, trying to talk herself out of it and go home to Zephyr.
Charlie had never found the Sinner, he was lost somewhere in the crowd, and without Zephyr, Charlie didn't want to go to church anymore.
...
Silence. The administrative center of Silence. 1946, July.
Charlie lamented that she was getting less and less time to go out with Zephyr and try to realize her ideas. "Practicing Redemption," as her mom called her activities while her dad chuckled derisively. Charlie didn't like that kind of parental banter.
"...You will have about ten minutes, each of the candidates will answer your questions as honestly as possible, or else they will simply be dismissed, or evicted from the Silence." - The cold voice of a middle-aged woman ended their little 'briefing'.
Big Sister, what looked like a female 'businesswoman' as Big Sister herself called herself, shoulder length black silk hair, white blouse with a red mini bow, black dress with belt, tights and shoes. The woman almost always had a cigarette in her hand, had the cold stare of her language teacher, and always addressed her as Princess, ignoring her comments and attempts at friendship altogether.
It seemed to Charlie that Elder didn't know the meaning of words like "friendship," "trust," and other important things. Of course, Charlie kept her opinion to herself, because otherwise....
A black stack struck next to her palm on the table she was trying to take notes on. Charlie jumped up, "yoknow," eyeing the tip of the stack warily.
"Have I been heard, Princess?" - The Elder asked with a strange sneer, to which Charlie only gave a smile and nodded.
"Of course, Mrs." - Charlie answered clearly and loudly, just as Big Sister had taught her.
She'd already made it crystal clear that Zephyr's explanation was far preferable to that... bitch.
Big Sister frowned, somehow catching Charlie's gaze and intentions, which she immediately straightened up, smiling broadly at her. They stared at each other for a while, until Big Sister turned away, going somewhere else. Charlie exhaled heavily, falling back against the headboard.
"What do you think of Big Sister?" - Zephyr stretched out contentedly, standing nearby, leaning against the neighboring desk of this office, watching her agony with a smirk and arms folded across his chest.
"Fuck you." - Charlie said lazily, accepting the water bottle as it flew toward her. Earthy, as Zephyr always was.
She'd seen Zephyr get crates of 'goods' from somewhere, but she'd never asked questions. Charlie knew it was a very personal subject, her upbringing and character allowing her not to pry into souls as much as she might be expected to. She waited patiently, albeit grudgingly, for Zephyr to tell her about it already, because she...
Charlie sighed, setting the empty water bottle on the table, which immediately disappeared in white and blue lines, disintegrating like an unwinding thread.
"...You didn't tell me you had a bitch like that in your servants." - Charlie stretched out, watching Zephyr's reaction, who just shrugged.
"Believe me, she was even worse before she got the job." - Charlie nodded at Zephyr's words, not questioning them.
"..."- Charlie waited for something... Just something for Zephyr to talk about.
She knew he didn't really like to talk about topics that were "empty" from his point of view, but... Charlie just wanted him to drop things sometimes and have some fun.
"And also tell me at least something about himself... so I don't have to pull it out with my claws...", Charlie thought irritably.
No, what Charlie had already told the tom was a brief history of her childhood, almost all the stories of her 'school' when she went to school with the other demons, the story of her friendship with Seviathal, her feud with Helsa, a bit about Goetia, something about Asmodeus and Beelzebub... other Sins.
Charlie had told him almost everything about herself, and he...!
Charlie took a deep breath.
"He just doesn't know and he doesn't know how... you just have to teach him, you just need patience...", Charlie knew the likes of Zephyr well. He, like the other Sinners, just didn't know about some things. If the other Sinners didn't know about Redemption and Paradise, then Zephyr didn't know how to communicate, so the responsibility for him and his education fell on her shoulders!
The Eldest Sister entered the room, literally knocking the rest of the thoughts out of Charlie's head, whose posture immediately reverted to 'strict, Princess mode'.
"The candidates are ready, please, Your Majesty." - The Elder smiled softly, addressing not her, but Zephyr... Charlie was not jealous. No.
She just wanted to scratch her eyes out and rip out all of that arrogant bitch's hair if possible. Nothing her mother hadn't taught her... But what her father had taught her....
Charlie smiled at her thoughts and followed the corridors of the building, which was, as Zephyr had said, almost completely copied from the one he had worked in when he was alive, so Charlie studied every part of the corridors, every office with interest, trying to get a feel for the culture of Earth.
Finally, they reached some office, with some door and an important plaque, the name of which Charlie was not interested in, because she was gathering her thoughts before meeting with those who were definitely interested in....
Oh, who is she kidding, that bitch just intimidated her workers, or did something similar, so they just want to fulfill the order, so as not to be "evicted", which is tantamount to murder.
She understood such a need, after all, Sinners aren't humans, and they aren't angels, but... She hated knowing that. As Zephyr had told her, "Ignorance is gold," Charlie didn't really want to know the details of her best friend's life.
The Big Sister read out the safety instructions again, about her employees... Charlie knows how to communicate with Sinners, she certainly won't listen to some arrogant...!
"Hello. Your Highness." - made an attempt at a bow, a humanoid sheep in a beautiful black and white dress.
"You've got to be kidding me...", Charlie's irritation was not caused by the fact that the volunteers were 'bought' to personal and intimate things that the soul must decide on its own... It was just that at Zephyr's place, for some damn reason, almost all servants or working women possessed rather impressive breasts.
"H-how does Zephyr like that?", Charlie thought with some sadness as she considered the size of Sinful Soria... and her mane of wool-hair... Charlie realized that Sinful Sisters deserved to be in Hell, but what did that woman have to do to end up here....
"Fucked goats and sheep. Zoophilia," came the calm voice of Zephyr in her head that came in behind her, invisible to the eye of a mere Sinner. - "Plus a couple other things you wouldn't want to know about... "
Charlie only nodded. This kind of communication was very convenient, even though Zephyr had said something about 'personal space', 'trust such secrecy' and 'closeness of souls', but to Charlie it was nonsense! Charlie trusted Zephyr! He had never once let her down, never once doubted her, never once called her dreams stupid and meaningless, never once tried to get her to play "aristocracy since she was from a so-called royal family"! Zephyr wasn't an arrogant snob whose feelings were complemented by duty and desire to possess her! He...
Only now, Charlie noticed that Soria was very nervous, watching her tensely, unknowingly thinking... Charlie raised her hands apologetically, smiling awkwardly. Soria didn't calm down, but seemed to get even more nervous.
"It's okay Soria, I don't want you to get fired or evicted." - she felt the Sinner's disbelief and wariness with all her gut while Zephyr chuckled behind her. - "I just want to talk to a capable and..."
Charlie, just as Zephyr had taught her, tried to make light dialog about Sinner herself. Honestly, once Charlie started and got used to it, the dialog became so easy! She imagined she was just talking to either Zephyr, her mom or her dad... her mom, yes. No excitement, just another demon at school.
...Truthfully, as it became clear to Charlie, which was basically what she thought, Soria wasn't interested in Redemption. So...
"...Why wouldn't you want to get the Atonement or save your soul by going to Heaven?" - Charlie asked with genuine interest, knowing full well, and hearing that Zephyr was recording behind her, in writing and with some kind of dictaphone. Soria, on the other hand, hesitated.
Sinner relaxed, her posture lighter, her hands free to move, and Soria was no longer holding her breath as she listened to Charlie, which the Princess was glad of. At least she was getting somewhere with the Sinners, just like Zephyr had said. You just have to try to find your own approach without trying to follow your mother's instructions completely.
"It's not like I don't know what it is." - Soria shrugged, looking away. - "Hell is a familiar place. Here I know everyone wants to fuck me, rape me, kill me, fuck a corpse, rape a corpse, eat a corpse, fuck..."
"I get it, Soria." - Charlie really didn't like the ease with which Sinner reasoned. That's why Charlie wanted to help the Sinners. - "And here?" - Soria met her gaze.
" In Hell, this asshole of a world, or the Silence?" - Sinner asked Charlie in a strange voice. It was beginning to seem to Charlie that even this soul, who had originally feared her, was thinking strangely of her for some reason.
"...Both of them?" - The awkward smile only made Soria chuckle.
"Fucked up, shit and dick multiplied by asshole, to the extent of dick." - Soria nodded, examining her nails. Sinner pulled out a small purse from somewhere, starting to fancy herself up. - "Quiet, though..." - Sinner looked away from her manicure, raising her head to the ceiling. Charlie did the same, seeing a simple stone ceiling "grid".
" Stable, I don't get killed once a month or six months, I can get good money, and the weather here...is...there. Unlike the rest of Hell." - The sinner continued her business, working on her claws. - "Paradise in Hell I'd say." - Charlie sighed, turning back to Zephyr.
"...So you're having a good time here, so much so that you don't see the point in leaving this place?" - Charlie said ingratiatingly, to which Sinner snorted and nodded, not taking her eyes off her important work. Charlie looked back at Zephyr, who shrugged.
"...What if Silence didn't exist?" - Charlie's words earned only a derisive look, with a snide smile that made Charlie blush.
"I'd be dickier, but basically the same." - Soria snorted. - "Girl, I don't even know if I want to go to Heaven if there are SUCH angels there that they kill us every year. " Charlie's face creased. - "And even if I wanted to..." - Sinner began to sway in her chair. In Charlie's opinion, she lacked the gumption and the image of the "rebel" from her school - ready.
"I read that the Atonement is long, painful, and not reliable." - Soria sighed, looking over at Charlie, who was listening to Sinner questioningly but attentively. - "It might not work, girl." - she looked at Charlie again with a look that spoke of experience. - "I'll get hope, I'll get aspiration, and if I shit myself and get rejected..." - The sinner took a deep breath as she continued her manicure. - "I wish I'd never tried."
"Why?" - Charlie's innocent question only irritated her.
"Can't you tell, Miss 'highborn ass'?" - Charlie sighed indignantly, but immediately lost her fervor when she saw Soria's face change. A face full of sadness and... despair.
"One mistake... a couple mistakes that probably cost me Paradise... That fucking 'Kara' that came down on Earth... I never would have reached Paradise, much less... If angels and God sent Kara to Earth, doesn't that mean they hate humans?" - A melancholy, almost hollow voice asked a dumbfounded Charlie Soria.
"K-kara! Angels and Heaven sent...!", Charlie had enough self-control and control not to ask stupid and personal questions, she decided to change the subject.
"...Ah-how would you like to atone for your sins? Wh-what are your sins anyway?" - awkward smile, stammering. Sinner looked at Charlie sullenly.
"Well done Charlie. Shitty as always,' ran the thought through Princess's mind.
"Fucking God." - Soria replied sharply, glaring at the claws.
"Lies." - Zephyr's caustic voice immediately brought back at least some of Charlie's former fervor.
"I figured it out on my own, thanks... " - It was easy to reply, akin to breathing or talking out loud.
Further conversation was not helpful. Charlie and Soria just chatted for the remaining minutes. Charlie told the Elder, and also very much asked Zephyr to talk to the Elder Sister about not firing or 'banishing' any of the candidates that....
Turned out to be even worse than Soria, which as further conversations showed, was the most "pure" of these Sinners.
She and Zephyr disappeared in a white-blue flash almost as soon as the candidates were over.
Charlie didn't want to socialize with the Elder anymore, nor did she want to be in this viper's den.
...
Underworld. Morning Dawn Mansion, Charlie's room. 1946, two weeks before the Extermination.
"What if we just ask them to leave?"
Such a strange, innocent and full of incomprehension question made William stop. He had stopped brushing and arranging Charlie's hair into some sort of ponytail, which was surprisingly quite pleasant, when the Princess, who had been discussing their "future first Slaying" with him earlier, gave it out.
William knew the answer to his question, but suddenly he just heard it.
" Who's to leave, Charlie? " William sighed, returning to a surprisingly methodical process, bringing pleasure to both him and Charlie.
" Slayers..." - Charlie replied in a quiet, timid voice, lowering her head slightly. - "I mean...! I'm the Princess of Hell, its heir, so if I ask..."
"Heaven doesn't care about all of Hell's titles, Charlie." - If Charlie had cat ears, they would have fallen down, and the sight of the sad Princess of Hell became even more unbearable. William sighed.
He put his arm around Charlie, who was strangely fond of such touches, always wanting body contact as a sign of support, appreciation, and simple expression of emotion. She always insisted on this way of expressing "their" emotions, almost always making a separate discussion out of it. William didn't mind, though it was still unaccustomed to him, but now Charlie smiled softly at him, which reassured William somewhat.
"...Why?" - William asked simply as Charlie fell onto his chest, her hair slightly tucked back.
" As you know," Charlie began importantly, looking up at him with her head cocked upwards, "we have... we haven't achieved our desired success rate..."
" Hovering somewhere between zero and one?" - William's snide tone was met with only proud, even ostentatious, ignorance, which made both of them, though Charlie tried to hide it, grin.
"...Therefore, all of those methods require substantial refinement!" - Princess Ada nodded grandly, sitting on Zephyr's lap on the softest mat in her room.
"Those kidnappings were not your best idea." - William chuckled softly, watching Charlie blush cutely, puffing up her cheeks.
"It wasn't supposed to be a 'kidnapping', just a data collection interview, who knew your monsters and the police would be around... and also the fact that almost all of those Sinners would be running away..." - Charlie stretched out, looking away, eliciting an even bigger chuckle from William, who began stroking Charlie's hair, habitually applying the same weaves he'd used on Emily and Sera. Charlie closed her eyes blissfully, almost beginning to purr.
- "And anyway, it's your fault that all your Sinners want to live with you, since they don't even think about leaving or ascending to Paradise!" - Charlie said, almost pointing her finger at William.
"Really?" - William grinned. - "I thought I'd done a good job creating a place where Sinners can forget about carnage, sin and cruelty..." - William stretched out his words, enjoying the increasing reddening of the cheeks of the one that had dropped William's spoken words as she admired the neighborhood itself.
"...So what do you think of this new idea?" - Charlie asked timidly, after a few moments of silence. - ... "I just want to try talking to the angels and...maybe they'll understand?" - Charlie paused, looking expectantly at William, and for the umpteenth time in her conversation with Charlie, he exhaled.
"...There's a Paradise Embassy for that, and Adam won't listen to us." - William closed his eyes and leaned back on the pillows, pulling Charlie, who had laid Charlie out on the floor for their comfort.
"You know the Head of the Slayers... Adam, don't you?" - Charlie asked uncertainly, looking up at William, who was staring out the window. Charlie didn't want to use the rumors of the Inhabitants for her argument, but it was a direction that came up often enough.
"...Helping him by revealing the locations of particularly 'dirty' Lords or Sinners who are on his list." - Knowing the impending question, and also seeing it in the girl's eyes, William nodded, starting to pet Charlie again. - "Yes, Adam has a list of Sinners to kill. It includes the 'stand out' personalities on like Hitler, Napoleon, Vlad Tepes... Gilgamesh, Zeus, and so on."
Charlie, oddly enough, didn't react to this admission in any way, or just chose not to focus on it.
"The Greek gods actually existed?" - Charlie's sincere interest again irritated William, because he had to literally walk through a minefield, afraid to say or tell his daughter Lilith and Lucifer something wrong.
" ...As far as I know, they've been dead for a long time, so you better ask your mom and dad." - At those words, Charlie just nodded.
A new moment of silence, and Charlie again....
"So about..." - Charlie's innocent, this time intentional, tone makes William sigh once again. Especially hard, palpably raising and lowering his chest.
"...Yes, we can try, but we will most likely fail, for these are angels we know little about, for Slayings may be the norm and part of this world." - William stretched, massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly as Charlie lowered her head again.
"...But there has to be another way, right?" - Charlie asked quietly.
" Even if there is, Extermination, so far, is the most effective, tried and trusted option for the angels to deal with Hell. " William covered his eyes, lowering his hands, leaving one on the top of Charlie's head, resting fully on his chest. - "We need to at least propose something worthwhile to replace the current method, justify its necessity, prove its effectiveness, and follow up afterward. " - Charlie's face contorted in awkward incomprehension, to which William, for the umpteenth time, sighed heavily and exhaled.
"We need to warn your mom, Charlie." - William said quietly as Charlie nodded confidently. - "But if she says no..."
William was sure that Lilith, being a loving mother, the closest thing to the concept of a 'normal parent' in Charlie's family would say no to such a dangerous idea for her daughter. The Day of the Slaying is considered the most dangerous day of the year for a reason, not even a demon born in Hell, which the Slayers try not to touch. The key word is "try not to touch," because if they do... they are simply killed... or simply killed for company, because the Slayers do not have time to sort out who is who.
Either way, William had confidence in Lilith.
...
Pentagram City. Paradise Embassy. 1946, Extermination Day, a few minutes before the Sweep begins.
William no longer considered Lilith to be a sensible parent, caring for her child, worrying about her health, safety, and just raising her sanity.
She just let her daughter go for a "walk" on Hell's most dangerous day. Just like that, and yes to the custody, and responsibility of William.
No, those threats of pleasant whispers in Lilith's ear, promising all sorts of "Personal Hells", "Eternal suffering when you'll just beg for a merit that will never come", William even let it pass through his ears, because strangely enough, he was used to Lilith, her character and just... the fact that William didn't give a shit.
He fell into Hell, survived a decade in Hell, became Overlord, and now he's friends with the Princess of Hell herself, much loved by both parents. All William fears is losing his soul in Hell, but not Lucifer or Lilith. Those are just going to torture his soul or whatever.
William is just a little disappointed in Lilith as an adequate parent, and he and Charlie are busy "preparing for the first official negotiations".
And now, while using the Weave in the air, literally standing a couple dozen meters away from where the Slayers' portal usually appeared, William...
William held Charlie in his arms, though it wasn't necessary, but the Princess herself had insisted on such a thing, no matter how silly and ridiculous it would look. The fact that William guessed to the point that the Sinners just might see the secrets of her dress hem doesn't count. William is just fulfilling a girl's whim.
Also, just as importantly, he was soothing the weave of Charlie herself, who was almost trembling with excitement, William... No, one must express oneself without self-censorship here.
William felt like an idiot, if not a moron, trying to get in the way of the fucking tsunami in the hope of asking it to stop. The funny thing was that, for some reason, William thought they might be able to do something. Just a foolish hope that the words of the Princess of Hell would mean something to the First of Men, an Archangel and a great man.
No, William realized the opposite and how they looked from the outside:
Two idiots and assholes that just want to do something morally right - stop the genocide...
If you don't think about who the Slayers are killing: rapists, cheaters, murderers, pedophiles, drug addicts, Nazis, and other filth, it's even scary. Genocide is such a popular word nowadays... William also began to understand Adam and his jokes. You'd go crazy without them.
It was two minutes to the Extermination, and Charlie was still not calming down.
William closed his eyes, counted to ten, opened them, and ...
A piano. The very same piano and musical instruments that once upon a time, it seems in a past life, had soothed him. Something that somewhere out there, the Apostle Peter had miraculously created to help a panicked soul. William didn't know what that tune sounded like to Charlie herself, but it sure helped the one that turned her head toward him, smiling at her.
"...If it doesn't work out, we always have next year...and then another and another..." - They both grinned, though Charlie's grin was a little strained.
She lowered her head, looking at William himself, who was concentrating on the Clock of Doom up close.
"...Thank you." - Charlie said quietly, almost inaudibly, to which William turned his head.
" For what, Charlie?" - William asked in the same manner.
"For all the help." - Charlie turned her head in the direction of the supposed portal, as if the Slayers were already there. - "For believing in me, for helping me realize every stupid thing, for... this." - Charlie grinned sadly, "For being so stupid, even though you could simply get yourself killed because of me." - William didn't like Charlie's tone.
"You're the daughter of the King and Queen of Hell, even if the Slayers wanted to, they just couldn't hurt you." - William's confident voice caught Charlie's attention. - The main thing is, "Say I'm with you, and then I'll be alive." - William grinned, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he saw Charlie's wide, happy smile.
"Good!"
Both of them turned back towards the portal, giving themselves to their "last" thoughts before the "fateful" meeting. William tried not to let the wind, that travesty of a wind, ruffle the hem of Charlie's beautiful red dress, which she wore for the occasion, wanting to appear before Adam and Lut in her best outfit.
Charlie, despite her strength and nature, weighed nothing to William, who, as he had discovered to himself, was much stronger... taki and not testing the possibilities and limits of the new runes. A big mistake on his part.
One minute to Extermination.
Charlie's growing nervousness, to which William again stroked her shoulder, using a familiar weave, causing her to subside but not stop the slight, almost imperceptible shivering.
Extermination in three seconds...
Two...
One...!
The portal opened.
William immediately felt, perhaps more strongly than ever in his entire time in Hell, a connection to Sera and Emily. He pulled himself back, focusing on the current problem that....
" Please go home!" - shouted Charlie, as the portal closed, and the Slayers, led by Adam and Lut, stared at them dumbfounded.
" ...What the fuck are you doing, baby?" - Adam's voice was genuinely excited and worried. He recognized Charlie at once, whose child she was and what this encounter could threaten.
"Please stop the Slayings and fly back to Heaven! I am the Princess of Hell..." - Charlie would have liked to go on, but just blanched, her curls able to hide her flaming cheeks.
The slayers looked at each other while Adam, with a wary Lute flying beside him as usual, simply shifted his gaze from Charlie to William.
"Sir, may we dis-" - A shout from one of the Slayers Adam interrupted.
"Cool your fuckin' ass, flatfoot!" - Adam shouted, not even turning toward the one who had spoken. - "Can't you fucking see whose snot that is?"
"Hello, my name is Charlie!" - Princess Ada waved her hand. That one carried no arrogance, pride, or desire to impress. Charlie truly just said a polite hello to the one person who had suffered the most at the hands of her parents. - "This is Zephyr, my best friend!" - William's face twisted and Adam's gaze became mocking and... understanding, which irritated William even more.
" I see you're not a fag... So you..." - Adam jabbed a finger at Charlie. - "You want to stop us." - Adam opened his arms, grinning broadly. Lute, behind him, folded her arms under her chest, putting on a scowl as her favorite saber hung in the air, which William knew could come to the immediate defense of her mistress.
"...Will you please stop?" - Charlie repeated awkwardly while William only sighed.
He was already imagining the newspaper headlines, TV shows and just Alastor's radio broadcasts about their 'incident', but he already had an idea of how to properly pitch it so that the Sinners would even respect or at least not spit in Charlie's direction.
"Fuck no!" - Adam grinned broadly while Charlie only frowned indignantly. Only William's clenched palm kept her from arguing with the First Man. - "Girls! Here we go!" - Adam's wings flapped, giving a signal of sorts, and then Adam flew over to Charlie and William.
"You heard your Commander!" - shouted Lut. - "Fuck them all, just annihilate those scum!" - picked up and lowered Lute's saber to the approving roar of the Force crowd.
Lut did not fly with her sisters, but flew up to Adam, "standing" behind him.
Adam, expecting this, grinned, looking at Charlie with a kind of irritation in his eyes, and began to negotiate.
"So what kingdoms and fruits have you decided to offer in exchange for us fucking off and giving up our favorite job?" - Adam said affectionately, but a little too fake for William's taste. Charlie frowned harder.
"...Will you please stop killing souls?" - Charlie reached out timidly, peering into the golden holo-eye on Adam's mask, the man only grinned patronizingly, tilting his head.
" Nope." - Adam answered simply, glancing over to Lut, who was surveying the area below them, around them. She simply nodded in agreement, covering her eyes. - "It's our job, and we angels don't just give up something like that." - Another nod of agreement from Lut.
"...You won't stop whatever I say, Mr. Angel?" - Charlie asked frustratedly, to which Adam nodded contentedly, along with Lut.
William knew that Charlie was making a "rookie mistake" in dealing with Adam, but he just couldn't intervene in any way. He just wanted to hear what would come of it.
'Damn Adam, his idiocy is infectious...', William thought with a bit of a chuckle as he watched the production.
"No shit, even if you put your boyfriend's soul on it." - another taunt reached its target, and Charlie's cheeks became even redder than her spots.
Adam had successfully thwarted Charlie, who was probably taking the event very seriously, when for Adam it was just another encounter with an "overly human" angel who resented, or was resenting, his methods, his attitude to his work, and whatever else angels who didn't know Adam personally but were forced to work with him might have noticed or thought of.
" O-he's n-not my boyfriend!" - Charlie shouted, recoiling slightly, thankful that she was in William's arms... that he'd put that weave on beforehand, a little fog hiding them... Sound, for the image was going to get into the hands of reporters and newspapermen.
William didn't like the joke either, but there was no stopping Adam. The bastard wanted to see this through, clearly assuming that they were being watched by at least Lilith, if not Lucifer himself...
"Not yet." - Adam nodded, supported by Lute, who echoed Adam's facial expressions.
"How in-you...!" - Charlie sighed indignantly, her cheeks still flaming.
" You're not going to stop, are you?" - William blinked simply, tilting his head.
" Nope, strangely adequate and reasonable, clearly an unfamiliar Sinner to me." - William restrained the impulse to simply cover his face with the palm of his hand. Charlie looked perplexed, first at the wide grinning Adam and then at William.
" А..." - The words of the naive Princess of Hell were interrupted by Adam folding his arms across his chest.
" Listen, Princess." - Adam's voice became more serious, causing the others to listen. - "We have a quota and a Duty. We're angels, unlike you scum, we don't throw words to the wind and we honor the oaths we've taken." - Adam spoke surprisingly calm, almost murderously calm. -" We have a quota for your town, which, surprise surprise, has overpopulation problems!" - Adam retorted irritably.
"Even if you have sex with your future boyfriend right here for our amusement, even if you make all the promises of peace, even if you just give us your soul, we just can't stop." - Adam looked directly into the eyes of a shuddering Charlie, who clung harder and squeezed William.
"...But is this the right thing to do? To kill so many souls, condemning them to suffering?" - Charlie didn't want an answer to the question so much as she wanted to know the angels' opinions and reactions.
"These creatures fully deserved their fate, they cannot understand the meaning of the mercy that Heaven showed them once upon a time..." - Lut's voice was cutting, sharp and cold, making Charlie flinch slightly.
" Shoo home and do what regular demons and faggots do. " - Adam waved them away like annoying flies. Charlie clenched her fists in anger, causing William to become very irritated with her pain. Charlie was small, but she had a good grip.
"But these are your children! God's children!" - Charlie exclaimed indignantly, stopping Adam as he started to turn around. William was just about to teleport out of here. Just to avoid Adam's wrath.
Adam turned slowly, like a predator preparing to lunge, toward him and Charlie, causing her to cling harder to William, looking up at Lut with a pained expression on his mask and shrugging apologetically.
" ...These 'children' as you call them, Princess, are rapists, murderers and degenerates of all sorts and species." - Adam slowly stretched out, smiling. - "These, 'children', have long since grown up. They've been killing on their own for a long time, torturing each other for a long time, eating each other and doing fuck all else." - Adam almost sang, tilting his head pleadingly. Charlie only clenched her fists tighter, making William's face twist in painful spasms.
"They fully deserved their fate, having had several chances on Earth when everything was explained to them, when they could have been given a dozen 'second chances', but those fucked it all up." - The smile was gone from Adam's face, and he looked at William with a frown.
"Just get the hell back to your house already, or I'll personally deliver your asses there." - Adam almost growled, causing Charlie to squeeze her head back into her shoulders.
" ...What if..." - Charlie tried, but Adam just shouted over the other one.
"FUCK IT!" - threw a hand with an index finger in Silence's direction, to which William only nodded.
He squeezed the palm of his hand on Charlie's arm encouragingly, to which she only looked at William with an expressive, almost pleading look. He shook his head, and a moment later Charlie nodded, her head lowered.
The last thing Charlie saw before the white-blue flash engulfed them was the Commander and his lieutenant diving downward.