The underworld, the Silence District. The Mansion of Silence. 1947, a week and a half after Christmas.
A golden light, supposed to bring Salvation, supposed to help weak souls, supposed to do what he simply can't... Inevitably to fail, to the Devil's ringing laughter....
The screams of a woman. The screams of a man. The screams of children and the screams of those around him.. . He hopes... hopes it's not the ones he's thinking of....
"Once, an angel said...Good intentions, pave the road to Hell" - Adam had once said. He had dismissed the phrase as a silly joke, but now, he suspected that Adam might have known something in advance, simply because of...
Red sky. Red earth strewn with ash and cinders and burned trees. Nothing alive. He stands in the middle of this wasteland, surrounded by horrible bodies. Ugly, exhausted, and doomed.
They all look at him, in their eyes hatred, misunderstanding, despair, resentment... But they all ask the same question....
"WHY?! WHY?!"
But William had no answer to that question. Not to any of those cries.
Or rather, he had one, but it was so pathetic, so arrogant, that even he was ashamed to publicize it. So he resigned himself to the fact that, to an outside observer who didn't know his soul, it all looked like the whim of an arrogant Archangel.
Which, in fact, it was.
But that's not the point. William, out of boredom, or from a hidden need, terribly hidden even from himself, decided to consider the question of these "nightmares" in more detail.
And so it turns out that if we believe modern earthly studies and books that Adam once brought him at his own request, then it turns out...
That William subconsciously, or consciously repressing, thinks about all the things he dreams about. No, William could confirm it, agree with it, but...
But not to this extent. It's not normal.
Yes, William is tormented by what he has done, but in a way he has already come to terms with it, so much so that he has started doing something about Project Light, wanting to create or find at least a minimally viable device to prevent the Distortion.
The rest of his thoughts, however, felt as if they were... imposed from the outside? William spent a couple of nights more fruitful than simply suffering from sleep deprivation. He took measurements with the Weave, controlling it with his mind....
So some of the nightmares aren't really his, but... other people's? Probably subject to the Distortion. They don't interfere with him purposefully, they just don't know that someone other than God is behind Kara, but... It's as if Hell somehow sends all the negativity and torment to him....
"Interesting hypothesis, worth testing on a small sample of the Warped, somewhere...", William's thought was interrupted not by a shout, not by intent, but simply by annoyance at the question being asked.
"...I still insist on massacring and purging those scum. They just don't understand words other than the language of violence." - folded his arms across his chest, Stephen, a.k.a. Senator. His chief and first Replicant, who was now in a white shirt and black tie. Pants and shoes were a matter of course.
"And thus we will scare away those souls who actually wish to reform or find Rest!" - exclaimed the Reverend Mother Mary. Still the same vulgar attire, still the same weapons, carried constantly for defense. The sincere indignation and reluctance for unnecessary violence in the soft voice stood in contrast to the Senator's rough and low voice.
Elizabeth, the Eldest Sister observing this, was only silently filling out the documents, reading and summarizing them, for the sake of telling William himself a summary of them later, without too much fuss for Silence himself.
They were in his office, his lovingly furnished study.
Now, three of his first Replicants were stomping on his dark wood floor, laid in a bizarre geometric pattern of triangle tops. They stood beside his imperial-style desk, which by the look of it consisted of black wood, on which were neatly arranged a glass of pens, with pencils, paperwork, stamps, a lamp, and a cup of tea, long since drunk half an hour ago.
Behind William, who was now sitting in a high chair with black leather upholstery, was a large arched window with almost Gothic bindings overlooking William's favorite forest, through which the morning light was now shining, filling the room with a pleasant illumination. The window was lightly covered by dark long curtains, monotonously black, made of some soft and velvety material.
On either side of William's desk itself, there were two racks of documents and waste paper, from which others stretched. All the documents he received from the Queen, from the Replicants, and his research into the Silence itself were sorted there.
The Replicant of Truth and the Replicant of Religion stood directly in front of William's desk, sitting peacefully behind it, while Elizabeth, as the most prudent of the three, stood by the racks like a good worker, cutting down on William's labor. Tom would have to write her some kind of bonus.
"The fact that Sinners find ways around laws is normal." - The Replicants' voices immediately fell silent as William spoke. All his creatures looked at him. - "With every decade, generations of Sinners change, we simply can't keep track of every one of a million million." - Stoically spoke up William, who had been enduring this squabble for the past half an hour.
"Even so, if nothing is done, these scum will just use our resources, which could have gone to more sensible things rather than ending up in the pockets of the slightly smarter remaining idiots, who will probably empty them out on substances or alcohol. At best!" - Stephen inserted his opinion, glancing at Maria.
"Even so, we can't just chop off the shoulder, we need to do an analysis of the total number of offenses in all segments of the District's population! Upper, middle and lower classes, and everyone in between." - said with a smile Replicant Vera, whose eyes, hidden behind a blindfold, fell on William.
" They all exploit flaws in the law, from small to great. These are Sinners, and this is Hell." - Elizabeth added distractedly to Mary's words. She was stacking the last of the folders, sorting them for William to analyze.
"But still...!" - began a new wave of argument, Stephen, this time bickering with the two Replicants. William held back an internal cry of annoyance.
No, the fact that the Replicants were taking away some of the work was fine, but the details...
They were specifically designed so that their minds were based on William's own mind matrix, in effect making them a variation of his mind, altered by the prism of duty. Radical rationalism, excessive compassion, and global optimization. That's what his Replicants were, holding back and balancing each other.
They consider him a part of themselves, they consider him their father, they consider him their God... All of these are mechanisms to guarantee the complete loyalty of already willless beings that there was no way they could physically go against him.
William was only worried about their "shelf life"....
From all of William's research, he realized that all Sinners' souls are subject to some sort of "Decay". That is, every doomed soul sooner or later becomes part of Hell. In one form or another.
The Replicants, on the other hand... were not so much unaffected by it as they allowed William to discover a small truth, making a quiet and unnoticeable breakthrough. William covered his eyes, distancing his mind from the annoying sounds of the three voices already there.
To give an analogy, assuming that there is some "list" of Sinners, and knowing Paradise, the Seraphim of God's Court has it for sure, or Metatron has it for sure, where all the Sentences are listed, from small to great.
And if your soul is not on the "list", you will not suffer Hell.
The analogy is inaccurate, lacking in detail, but that's how William restated it. Of course, everything is more complicated than a simple list, but the discovery that simply... by reassembling or completely changing the soul, in fact making a new being, he was able to get rid of the influence of Hell, because this soul was not guilty before God in any way, so "on paper" it was simply born in Hell.
Naturally, Replicants are not alive, in no way equal to humans or at least to Demons, who were created by Lucifer, but still, if this fact is true, then William had an option....
To simply erase himself and let a new Fallen Archangel be born. An option that William didn't like, but remained in the back of his mind as the most extreme, desperate plan.
"Though, if it comes to that, I'll just have Adam come up with something. Maybe he can get me out to Paradise while covering me from the rest of the surveillance," he shrugged, adding another item to the mental list of 'last resort options' above the one above.
"...But why not just make it so Sinners can live like humans!" - Maria exclaimed, looking at the two Replicants with judgment. Stephen chuckled, and Elizabeth sighed, wanting to say something, but William interrupted her.
"Legislation will pass to another Construct, an improved but simplified one, whose mind will be trained to create and modify laws as suitable as possible for the Silence and Hell as a whole. That way, we won't have to constantly spend time and energy changing things that the Sinners can get around." - spoke monotonously to William, whose stream of consciousness was also working on solving this problem.
"Optimized and efficient. I like it." - Steven grinned, shaking his head approvingly at William.
"It's better for all of us." - Mary folded her arms gently, looking at William with a smile.
"You should have expected nothing less from the Captain." - Elizabeth smiled, as if nodding to the outcome of her plan.
...And after all, that was only one of the topics on today's agenda....
Sometimes, William's irritation overpowered his guilt, which made him seriously consider asking Adam to arrange a meeting with Sera.
It was a stupid thing to do, but it was a danger to both of them, not considering their personal feelings, and not considering the situation itself, where William wanted to invite Sera to meet him instead of waiting until the next Extermination to talk to his... girlfriend like a responsible and mature Archangel, but....
William just misses simple understanding and sympathy, otherwise with these clowns, agreeing with his every word, only occasionally offering in response something useful, something better, he will just go crazy....
And yet, they promise to evolve, acquiring more and more personality traits that will inevitably irritate and bring mental pain to William...
William thinks of Adam's words more and more often each time. Too often for his mental health...
Hell is fucked up, unfortunately, that's the beauty of it.
...
Later, in the afternoon.
A red sky, an overhanging white pentagram filling it in a strangely harmonious way and the stars visible, with one most desirable to some, hated by others or a bitter reminder to others. The rest, the majority, just don't care.
"And yet, my dear friend, I am glad you have for once gotten out of your home and honored this joyous soul with a visit, Zephyr." - Zestial said in his usual manner, surprisingly really adding some joy to his voice. Albeit subdued behind the Spider's echo, William could really tell that the Sinner was actually glad to see him.
It was just an open day.
"Thank you for responding so quickly to the invitation, Zestial, and I apologize for being gone for so long. Been busy with personal matters." - William nodded, in his usual Silent role, looking at Zestial's 'new' cloak.
He had a strange way of wearing cloaks that William realized were part of him, but changed them in some details. For example, now he has white-gray tabs on his shoulders and ends at the floor, slightly diluting the color scheme of the Sinner.
Which William noted aloud, eliciting a short laugh from Zestial.
"Oh, I'm sure such important matters involving such souls required all the concentration possible from a mere Sinner." - Zestial's face stretched into an understanding smile, and in place of eyes in the all-green whites were red corneas with vertical pupils, all two pairs of them looking at him with amusement. - "It would be rude of me to disturb my friend, knowing how busy he is... and also to allow others to do so as well." - Zestial began to pull the words even harder, practically overlapping those echoing words.
"So much for the reason for such a quiet time... and a hint of return favor from an intruder to Lucifer himself.", William nodded to his thoughts, quickly casting a glance at the empty streets around them, where the Sinners were scattering in the distance, barely catching sight of Silence and Spider.
The reason for their fear and unconditional flight was simple - this was Hell. Not Heaven, not even Earth. If the Overlord decides to have fun, and a serene soul walks by, he will immediately do horrors to it to match his sin, and no one will say a word to him. No one wants to check or add to the rumors that go around every Overlord, and therefore prudently, though rather from the fear of losing the accumulated power and the pending torment of rebirth, run away, or try to kill themselves in advance.
Anyway, William hasn't paid attention to it for a long time.
" Oh, I am most grateful, my generous friend." - William bowed his head gratefully, lifting his cylinder. - "But, such a deed so pleasing to my soul I simply cannot leave it unanswered, so would you mind voicing how I might respond to such a noble gesture on your part?" - William began to voice what he wanted, under Zestial's approving smile.
" Oh, I was not seeking a reward by simply helping my friend, but if you insist, to refuse would be downright rude..." - Zestial began their 'bargaining', looking forward.
William was familiar with the song. He had spent the last century doing just that, discussing and negotiating with souls who wanted to take resources from him. So to discuss how Zestial wanted to try to get some "metal composition" from the Wrath, the Ring, controlled by Satan through his new connections, William had allocated an entire stream of consciousness to the bargaining, which was hidden behind many layers of abstract discussions, complicated words and innuendo, and just plain old half-lies.
The Fallen Archangel himself, looking up at the "Heavenly Pentagram," as William called the sky, was discussing his latest thoughts about Adam and the souls of his category, or rather his opposition to them.
William, remembering well the feel of the concrete of his building when Adam had tossed him around like a puppet, not giving him even a shadow of a chance to resist. It had sobered William again then, that he had barely gotten used to his certain superiority among ordinary souls, that only a large army, united and whole, which was already an unattainable phenomenon among these degenerates, could pose a danger to William.
...And then Lucifer happened, which finally showed the insignificance of William's fighting skills. Maybe it wasn't like that, but the distant reminder was overlaid on the general experience, and so William began to work on his combat potential, along with other projects.
He realized at once that he could not compete with ancient souls like Michael, Lucifer and Adam in combat experience. If William could "borrow" Adam's combat experience, the kind of reflexes that he could bring to his body as soon as he finished his "honeymoon" with Eve, as he would not mind helping the one who had given him back his wife, but even if he were to be able to work with weapons and have the sharpest reflexes of a peak human....
"No, it would still be foolish to give up on this venture, and so we need to flesh out a point of future conversation with Adam... or at least with Lute, if Adam's mind has some kind of defense...", William pondered, reasoning with Zestial about the meaning of the right deal and what it was, leading to the general idea of helping each other...
So, William came up with a simple but rather unobvious idea for the common man, because it violates a fundamental law of physics.
He decided... to try to make his body can move to another dimension, plane, time or space, the variation will depend on the opponent and his capabilities.
He wouldn't be able to be killed or even captured, definitely not immediately, unless they could touch his shell or soul. There will be ways to do it, but with such opponents able to bypass such Laws, allies will be needed in any case, and therefore it can be considered as a special case rather than a general rule.
William's idea is to create an Enchantment-Sign for his body and soul, allowing him to shift, if not the entire shell at once, but in the long run the affected part, and to bring this spell to the level of a reflex, so as not to rely on the reliability of the enchantment, William can become intangible, especially if he can make it possible for him to create Weaves in such a state....
"If one uses the reflexes obtained from Adam, the idea does have a chance of existing. It would definitely be possible to compete with the souls of Adam's power category... And assuming that with the help of Lucifer or the Seraphim to supplement that, then with Michael...", William let his mind daydream, leading another topic of conversation with Zestial, while passing between the good old ruined and burning buildings of Hell, filled with all sorts of sounds, from screams of pain to slaps of violence.
Anyway, William had been working on this project for about a month now, only just figuring out a way to shift at least part of himself to a different plane, beyond the reach of simple weapons or the physical shells of Sinners. A primitive level, since the attacks and influences of the same Goetia demons reach other planes of reality, but it was still a first step.
Plus, his recent experiments with formulas and Weave-Enchantment, to coin a new term again, had only just entered the stage where William was actively practicing that on the...
"...And yet I would like to ask a somewhat... personal question, dear friend." - Zestial's tone, with whom they had agreed on William's future attempt to get what the Overlord wanted, turned serious, bringing the Fallen Archangel's concentration back to the conversation.
"If it won't violate my Oaths and Treaties, then sure." - William nodded easily, tapping the tip of his cane against the corroded asphalt. They were passing... William glanced around quickly.
They were in the neighborhoods of Zestial, somewhere in a remote part of its factories, where there was a little less crime, for that was where the Spider's main business was, and where he was a frequent visitor.
Gray streets, a mix of eighteenth- or nineteenth-century English architecture and... German, European? Certainly not American, as William had noticed. The houses were well-maintained, relative to the rest of the City, somewhat cleaner and quieter, but that was the end of the differences, for even here there were murders and thefts in broad daylight. At least there were no fires.
"Not to be rude, but I was wondering about the latest news from last year, which has surprised me and the rest of the Lords." - Zestial began in a wary voice, glancing with upper and lower eyes at William, who turned his head slightly toward the Spider, lifting the corners of his lips slightly.
"What news has stunned such a stalwart mind?" - added a pinch of amusement to William's voice, adding energy to his right eye, meeting Zestial's eyes with it.
" Surprised headlines right after the Day of Perdition, dear friend." - Zestial's voice had lost its usual playfulness or cruelty, even the echo had become unusually calm, making the Overlord's voice unusually clear. - "Please dispel my ignorance, for my mind is weak beyond... believing that Silence, in the Fateful Hour, stood directly before the Rock rather than fleeing to his home." - Zestial stopped in the empty street, turning directly toward William. The fallen Archangel noticed with some surprise that there wasn't a single soul within nearly a kilometer.
Those that were there had melted away, naturally melting into thin air. Zestial must have decided to speak privately, for even the energy fluctuations in the range had become unstable.
"With the Princess of Hell herself, who is known in the Silence for her... unusual behavior and ideas that desire 'Redemption' and 'Salvation' for the soul of the Sinner." - Zestial's eyes squinted dangerously, still maintaining his mask of politeness, leaning slightly towards William. - "Some voices say that Silence himself actively contributes to, if not shares, the Princess's rambling and childish ideas." - Zestial's smile tried to appear mocking, but even William could see that it was fake.
William's reaction to this strange threat-question was... surprise.
"Zestial fears for his reputation?", William wondered, thinking of the first option that came to mind. William thought the sadistic gentleman wouldn't even pay attention to this news, though William was alarmed by another thing about it.
"We'll have to find those 'voices' and silence them... Also, introduce and modify special 'codes' without which it will be impossible to inhabit. One smaller one, with a brief summary of ten pages, and another with a couple thousand pages of explanations, where it will be written in black and gray, in their contract will be vetoed any disclosure of anything about the Silence outside of it...", William reasoned, making a few calculations in the blink of an eye.
What to do with those inside he would think later, but for now William finally did let the primal emotion interfere with his judgment. Surprise.
"The rumors are true, my friend." - William nodded succinctly, preparing his attack Weaves without changing his posture or voice in any way. -" I did help the Princess, both with her ideas and standing with her in front of the Slayers." - William shrugged, speaking in a calm voice. Zestial's eyes squinted even more, and he tilted his head.
"Does such a strong and great Overlord actually believe in such vast nonsense?" - Zestial said in a strange voice, as if he was... as surprised as William? - "But please quench my wonder, why on earth would Silence believe a child of the Devil?" - Zestial straightened up, not for a moment, keeping his eyes fixed on William's masked face. The fallen Archangel deflected his head and tapped his chin.
"I'd hate to lose such a pleasant and adequate ally, but if it comes to that... I haven't tried wiping the memory of souls yet, but if I can fix the shell by crumpling it a little...", William pondered, glancing at Zestial waiting for an answer.
William didn't want to lie, there was no point. Charlie's work was on his television, he was advertising it, the Princess herself was walking around his District, and rumors of the entire royal family visiting him had been floating around since the Princess had first appeared in the District. Any thinking Sinner would be able to put two and two together and realize that Silence's support was not without it. Whether forced or voluntary was a minor detail, the important thing was that Silence was cooperating with the strange Princess.
Zestial was a clever Lord, otherwise he wouldn't have survived for so long, although the fact that he asked about it directly and not in a letter could not be called "strange" and out of character in any other way.
"Simply because I want Salvation. If not for myself, then for other souls." - William shrugged, placing his other palm on the top of his cane. - "I want any Sinner to have the right to a second chance." - William rocked back and forth on his shoes.
"Is that all it is?" - Zestial asked in the same strange voice, tilting his head.
"The Princess's goals are naive, no argument, but they are as ambitious as the Queen's plans to storm Paradise." - William lifted the tips of his lips, raising his eyes to the 'rings' of Paradise, Zestial's gaze following him. - "Just wish there was at least a tiny bit of hope in this rotten place, Zestial." - whispered William, with a little surprise to himself, answering the Sinner honestly.
'The influence of Charlie's openness, which one becomes overly accustomed to...', William thought with a little irritation.
"Hope, you say... "- Zestial stretched out, not taking his two pairs of red eyes off the Rings. - "Does this Second Chance thing apply to this old soul as well?" - Zestial tilted his head back, looking at William.
"If you sincerely wish to change, wish to eventually give up everything you've gained here to ascend to Paradise, then yes." - William nodded to Spider, reciting part of Charlie's Manifesto.
"...Good to know." - Nodded Zestial, smiling -- a genuine smile. An unusually small, almost imperceptible, but smile. - "But let us continue." - Zestial's satisfied voice echoed back to him. With his huge paw, he beckoned William behind him. - 'There's someone I'd like you to meet.
William, still in a slight stupor, simply nodded, following Zestial's lead. The acrid distortions were gone, and it was as if the air outside was more pleasant to breathe.
"Is this the same Carmila Carmine, the ever-busy newbie Overlord taken under your dark wing?" - William said wryly, which did nothing to sway the stalwart Zestial.
"She is the very one, my friend." - Zestial nodded, not even turning his head. - "She was able to have all her issues resolved by the time you arrived today." - Red dots appeared in Zestial's green eyes. - "She's been wanting to meet Silence for a long time, rumored to be able to penetrate Earth." - Zestial pulled the words out contentedly, as if enjoying the echoes it produced. - "And what a potential worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with us...!" - began to exhort the dignity of the Overlord, taking up most of the weapons niche vacated by Alastor.
It was as if Zestial was advertising this Carmine. What a responsible, disciplined, pragmatic and never once a sadist, Zestial emphasized the last points separately.
William listened to Zestial's stories, listened to how Carmine "took care" of her subordinates, not allowing unnecessary casualties in her ranks, holding the Sinners with an iron hand, but allowing them to feel like "family"...
"I didn't know Zestial had principles... adequate and reasonable, not concerning production and killing...", discovering a new side of the ancient Overlord with surprise. A soft one, appreciating the inner core and morals of the Sinner.
After all, if Zestial's words were to be believed, that one was better than almost all modern Overlords, not reveling in violence, but simply acting as Hell dictated.
"What I didn't expect to find out today is that Zestial turns out to have versatility in personality, to have any semblance of a heart...", William's mind went over all the encounters with the Spider, recalling scraps of phrases, behaviors and wording that hinted at such...even noticing other possible hints of this...Spider liking to play word games!
"So Alastor...?!", William thought to himself with horror, losing the thread of the conversation with Zestial for a moment, forcing him to ask again about the beginning of the story of his acquaintance with Carmila.
No, the fact that Alastor was a psychopathic maniacal sociopathic cannibal who ate deer corpses and broadcast the screams of tortured souls on his radio show was out of the question, but....
William couldn't imagine that this embodiment of all Adam's stereotypes of Sinners could... be good, or have anything to justify his actions. He's a maniac that William realized was voluntarily engaging in murder on Earth for his whims, emotions, and pleasure. The pervert has a freakin' hard-on for that! He could naturally feel the emanations of arousal as he crumbled a company of Reich soldiers, for Christ's sake!
"Though... that one just might not have been physically capable of doing otherwise. He just might not have known any other way, and realized his actions when it was too late...", William forcedly admitted, remembering Frol's articles and medical journals.
People who lack empathy, who lack the fear of killing and really do exist, if those records were to be believed. Alastor could indeed be one of those, and thus similarly could have positive character traits...
"But that still doesn't change the fact that all of his current actions are vile, horrible, and full of senseless violence. He chose them, he could have tried to find redemption in the church, he could have tried to find help, he could have done a lot to, if not cure himself, then bring his inner beast under control.", covered William's eyes as they approached some sort of factory. One of many in Zestial's domain, even if this one was slightly unusual. If only in the fact that there were other souls and banners.
They walked past the shuddering guards, eyeing the passing William warily, who appeared to be humanoid demons with horns. Not succubi or incubi, more like Sinners, kept as human looking as possible, dressed in black robes with something resembling military armor plates, each holding a rifle... or it was a Tommislav, given that round magazine... William was not well versed in weapons.
They walked in silence through the gray-white corridors of the weapons factory, where, in the farthest part, there was a sort of assembly hall, the noise from which came as far as the entrance, and the rest was a warehouse or a sort of base. Zestial seemed to enjoy the sounds of the workers, machinery, and the general atmosphere of the factory, even covering his eyes as if listening.
William decided to follow Spider's example and chose a way to pass the time of their walk, rather choosing a route so that Carmila's subordinates would have time to warn her of the arrival of the two Overlords who virtually controlled the entire modern Pentagram City. William decided to try working on the Phantom, the very project whose purpose was to dynamically-actively transport a body to other planes or spaces.
Tapping his index finger against the top of his cane, William began to actively apply the formulas, attempting the first goal of transference to another dimension, allowing his fingertip to penetrate the polygonal diamond.
"Attempt number one, formula thirty-forty-three...," William highlighted three streams of consciousness, while observing the corridors of the factory.
"Here's the place we need." - stretched the echo of his voice in a "smile" Zestial, somehow strangely conveying his mood through this detail. - "Please, my dear friend." - Zestial slowly brought his long palm up, grasping with his sharp claws a ridiculously small hand compared to the Spider's paw, yanking it.
The first attempt failed. The formula did not allow the matter to be displaced, rather putting it into a different state. Memorize it and put it in a separate record.
Attempt number two, refined formula....
The room that opened was not different from the ones William had seen before. A gray ceiling, dark walls decorated with a semblance of rich interior, a general mishmash of workers and soldiers, like ants constantly moving each on his own task.
Amidst this controlled chaos, a single grayish-white figure, about two and something meters tall, towered. The Overlord didn't even seem to notice the arrival of the two High Ranking Overlords, talking to a couple of other Greshnik bears in work vests.
"Carmila, my dear!" - Zestial proclaimed cheerfully, immediately drowning out the other voices filling the room. All souls stopped abruptly, frozen and staring at the figures of William and Zestial. - "It is necessary to distract such a busy lady, but please give us a modicum of your attention." - Zestial nodded, lifting his cylinder. William repeated after his colleague, watching intently as Carmine abruptly sent the two workers away, abruptly issuing orders to the others, bringing the rest of the frozen figures back to life in the blink of an eye.
"Mr. Zestial." - Carmila exclaimed somewhat excitedly as she approached them. - "It is certainly a pleasure to see you again, and even more so... in such company." - Carmine hesitated a little, turning her attention to William, who was looking at the Sinner's figure.
A dark, tight-fitting suit on what was probably gray skin, a humanoid woman with an excellent athletic figure. A tight white sash encircles the belt, as do both of her wide hips, while the feet themselves are outstretched, toe-to-toe ballet flats carrying the elegantly moving woman. Large white paws, you couldn't call them hands, with long and sharp claws instead of fingers starting at the forearm, were in fact the only "hellish" feature of the Sinner.
That and a red-black-veined whiteness, with white eyes, with a vertical pupil. White hair, with small flecks of black lines, gathered in one part into small horns, the rest lowered into a tightly gathered ponytail, completed the picture of the predator, gazing warily at the Lord of Silence.
"And also the strange hair earrings hanging from the two white front ends of her hair...", William added lazily, leaning both hands on his cane, tapping his finger periodically against the polyhedron. The moment of silence was interrupted by Zestial, blazing with a strange enthusiasm.
" My friend, let me introduce you to Carmila Carmine." - Standing to the side of them, Zestial extended a long paw towards the designated one. - "A promising Overlord, threatening to take over her entire niche in the coming years, becoming the most powerful Overlord in the realm of weaponry." - Spider shifted his gaze to the Overlady who folded her arms across her chest.
"Carmila, this, as you may have heard, is Zephyr, Lord of Silence." - As soon as Zestial finished speaking, William repeated his cylinder gesture with a slight shake of his head, not changing in any way the expression of the mask that lifted the tips of his lips. - "My good friend and excellent partner, helping me in a multitude of areas, holding one, if not the most, popular neighborhood of our Cursed City!" - Zestial shook his head in William's direction, tucking his paw under his cloak-wings.
"It is an honor to meet the Overlord in person, of whom Master Zestial has told me so much." - Carmila smiled a duty smile, folding her arms behind her back and seeming to raise herself even higher on the toes of her feet. White eyes in an ocean of purple stared pointedly at William's masked face.
"Nice black stripe on gray skin... Attempt number eight, correcting the gravity vector...", William thought, shaking Carmila's outstretched large white, yet strangely graceful, paw-palm.
"I hope only good things, Mrs. Carmine. It's nice to finally meet the Overlord who blew up the headlines." - William stretched easily, immediately noticing the crack in Carmila's mask.
Zestial was right, she might actually have some kind of relative, or a close relative... maybe even his words about her morals and principles would be true. Especially judging by the emanations of her soul, as well as the echoes of the thoughts William had read.
"Now that the introductions are over, I suggest we gather for a nice cup of tea, maybe even from our mutual friend." - Zestial loomed over them both, almost coming between the two Lords. Zestial had already turned around when Carmila interjected.
"I would like to speak with Lord Zephyr in my office." - Carmine said in a firm voice, causing Zestial to freeze and turn around slowly. - "In private." - Carmine added in the same voice. Zestial allowed himself a moment of weakness, which did not escape William's notice.
"Is it already such an important matter that it must come before venting?" - There were notes in Zestial's voice that were unfamiliar to William before. Anxiety. Sincerity.
"Could it be that an ancient Sinner who has survived many enemies, even more who have killed in person, still have a crumb of humanity left? Could Charlie's theory really have a place?", William even interrupted William's calculations for a moment, watching with interest the flicker of a glance between the two Lords.
" Please forgive my rudeness, but I'd like to settle my issue with Silence first, and only then take up the... tea." - Carmila stretched out somewhat grudgingly, causing Zestial to chuckle dryly, glancing warily at William, who still hadn't moved from his seat.
" As my lady wishes... If my friend is fine with it, then I won't say a word against it either." - Zestial nodded, red eyes appearing in his green pools.
"If I'm not to be killed, but I don't mind having a word with the beautiful mistress." - William shrugged, trying to defuse the situation. It didn't work. Both Lords were still tense.
It was as if... they thought William was going to kill Carmila for any unnecessary word, as well as do who-knows-what to her soul....
"And they might actually think that...", William admitted to himself with some surprise, looking at his behavior and image from the outside.
A daring newcomer that was confidently making his way to the very top of the Cursed City right in front of Zestial's eyes. He was able to frighten Alastor, clearly indicating his ability, if not to kill and enslave, then definitely putting himself in a more advantageous position... Every time he was visited, with a "courtesy visit", a little threatening, expecting that having killed those idiots, they would return to their Lords and tell everything, but in fact they disappeared, giving rise to rumors....
Damn, and the fact that he never negotiates with anyone "over the top" could also have a negative effect on his image, making him someone you just can't talk to... And the rumors that he might cooperate or have a Pact with Adam himself, that is, the head of the Exorcists, which is the main fear of all Sinners in general...
"A grave miscalculation, on my part... Albeit not so grave, in view of the general attitude, but if it does end up making further deals with the most adequate Overlords so difficult...", William pondered seriously, walking with Carmine to her office, leaving Zestial somewhere in the past room when he threw something about 'preparing the table', retreating into the shadows.
Carmine walked ahead, literally pouring combat readiness from her soul, behind which also hid a grain of fear, completely suppressed and overcome, but still the very presence of such emotions were unfamiliar to William. He was not accustomed to being feared and afraid of souls below him. Usually, it was the other way around.
With such thoughts of the Fallen Archangel, they silently, in tense silence, entered Carmila's office, which was not so different from the general "architecture" of the building, except that the ceiling was more intact, the walls were covered with shelves with documents or books, the steel, minimalist desk was in perfect order, behind which was a red voluminous chair decorated with buttons.
The lighting in the room was as if purposely dimmed, but still comfortable to work in, which William immediately realized from personal experience. The pleasant smell of paper and ink, which seemed to have been artificially created, although it was definitely the product of a serious woman, whose graceful figure, tightly clad in her black suit, smoothly and gracefully approached the desk, leaning on the desk with one of her large white palms, standing with her back to William, as if contemplating the black wall with a picture of some people.
"I've heard that you, Mr. Silence, can 'grant wishes'. " Carmila began from afar, with detachment in her voice as she began their dialog. William chuckled softly, slowly walking closer to the table, tapping the tip of his cane with the tip of his finger striking the top of it now and then, sounding strange to Carmila, who looked on, for the sound would sometimes disappear, though a sharp claw would fall on the top.
"You heard correctly, Mistress." - William nodded, leaning on the opposite chair from the "main" one, seemingly less comfortable, but still as exquisite in the bardic style. - "Surely you could just as well have heard the price for such services." - William stretched lazily, waiting for Carmine's next words, which came only a few seconds later.
"...You demand reciprocal 'favors' from the Sinner that are within their power and dependent on the Sinner's request itself." - The tension in her voice had eased, replaced by more of a wary, albeit cloaked working tone, and she slowly turned around, sitting down gracefully in her chair, gesturing for William to sit down, which he promptly did.
"That's right." - William nodded again, continuing to play with his cane, getting happier with each tap. - "So what is this deal that requires the absence of our mutual friend Zestial, but allows you to speak it to Silence?" - William asked with a barely concealed chuckle in his voice, leaning back in his chair, which sagged slightly.
"We could have negotiated the price in advance?" - Carmila said coldly, folding her white palms into a lock, placing them on the table with a slight clatter.
"Naturally, but first I need to at least hear the request itself in order to set that price." - William replied with a chuckle as he continued tapping on the top of the polygon. Carmila didn't answer right away, running her eyes around the office.
"If the rumors about you being able to infiltrate Earth, freely visiting there and performing various operations are true..." - Carmila muttered, pausing in her sentence, immediately receiving an affirmative nod. - "...Tho could you demonstrate it?" - The tension immediately returned to Carmine's voice, and her posture became more anxious. William suppressed a chuckle.
Instead of answering, William silently reached out his left hand to the side, where he opened a small, circular portal, the size of a window, to Earth, where some city in Mexico was visible, William simply used one of the markings left by his Constructs, not even caring about accuracy. Just making a cute allusion to the background of the woman who spoke with a distinct accent.
Carmila's white eyes widened, and her nose was clearly meant to pick up the long-forgotten scent of an Earth city. William understood this reaction of the Sinners perfectly well. He himself had a similar one, albeit clearly weaker.
Letting Carmine contemplate the Earth for a few more seconds, William closed the portal, returning his hand back to the armrest with a small smile, looking at Carmine who bit her lip.
"Shall I get you something from Earth right now, for another demonstration, senora?" - William asked, letting a sneer creep into his voice as he twirled an apple from Earth's orchards in his hand. To her credit, Carmila quickly pulled herself together, blinking and taking a sharp breath.
"No gracias, senor." - Carmila shook her head, relaxing her shoulders slightly. - "I apologize for mistrusting your abilities, Lord of Silence." - Carmila bent into a semblance of a bow, to which William simply waved his hand, throwing the apple into the air, somewhere dissolving into blue lines. - "Then, I would like to ask you to help someone on Earth from..." - Carmila began to voice her, rather standard wish for a Sinner.
William needed to help the children, the rest of Carmila's loyal relatives on Earth. What would that help be? As it turned out, according to Carmila's own words, she ran a whole mafia clan in her country, running a very dangerous game, but still not crossing the "line", i.e. not dealing drugs, actively suppressing their trade, cooperating even with the police, as well as several other parts of the illegal world: slavery, child labor and other horrors, cannibalism, occultism and, William grinned, magic!
This last point had been added relatively recently, after the thirties, when the "Punishment of Heaven" had occurred, forcing all factions of Earth to start suppressing cults and magic, in a banal fear of repetition!
William had to use all his willpower, just to keep from laughing out loud. Paradise was actually using his Song to level the overall position of the church, greatly strengthening its position, as well as actively fighting Lucifer's actions, probably without even noticing it, or, even funnier, actively helping Paradise in the fight against cults, because he would have less work to do, so he could spend more time at home!
This news alone immediately lifted William's spirits. In his "fever", when he didn't even want to try to follow the Earth and its life, when he didn't want to touch Paradise in any way, he hadn't noticed such interesting news. It turns out that his Song did help people! Albeit not in the way William wanted, but even so...!
"...I really did succeed...? Even if it was used by Heaven, even if I was overthrown, even if I lost almost everything and became a Fallen... If I can...", William thought then, not listening to Carmila's stories about her family and relatives. It was as if he had opened a second breath, abandoning any other thoughts and actions.
I mean... If William could find a cure for the Distortion, which Paradise probably couldn't do, since the Seraphim are limited to Light consciousness, and Lucifer just doesn't care... Then, if he could fix his mistake, he could... Atone for his sins.
William didn't care what Carmila wanted. He'd fulfill it one way or another. Just because of such good news, which would still have to be verified, but what it did for William...
Gave him hope.
William pulled his finger out of the polygon, where only the tip had sunk into the material.
"...And I'd like to hear... I beg your pardon, are you all right?" - Carmila's worried voice caught William's attention, and he laughed merrily, which made Carmine even more wary, but the Fallen Archangel didn't care.
"Uh-oh, it's all right, Carmila. Everything is just fine!" - exclaimed a laughing William, causing Carmila to lean gingerly back in her chair, eyeing William warily. - "The price for your question is simple. A standard contract and a couple requests at any time I need it, and I will grant your wish." - William's mask copied his facial expression, she smiled sparklingly and her eyes glowed with blue energy.
William's hand created a contract that included all the points that the two Lords had made, William didn't even include anything from the still to be released Vault of Silence, which would have explained all the unusual wording that would allow William to get more data on the Aether.
William definitely did not regret his decision to meet with Zestial, for his Hope was in the most unexpected place, allowing him to breathe again and gain new strength!
William and Carmila made a Contract, where Carmila signed her real name, either foolishly or to prove something to him, William didn't care, he just stamped it with the soul of some Sinner and immediately offered to find Zestial and join him for a cup of tea, of course after half an hour of heart-to-heart talk, where William, to his delight, tried to understand and recognize Carmila, seemingly even earning some understanding, almost finally making her throw away her caution, making him almost a friend!
William didn't care about that. Carmine's attempts to use her sexuality to get something else out of him, her continued cooperation with him, where she promised to control the Sinners' gangs so they wouldn't cause trouble for his Lodgers, maybe even protect them....
No, William couldn't wait to start doing something about Project Light. Actually do something!