Chapter Text
Date: 10:26am Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 — The Day After Extermination Day.
Adam traversed through the solemn streets of Hell. Hell is 'home' of sorts, well, the closest he's had to one since his true home, Eden. Slowly, he passed by the 'clean up crews' of Hell, stopping to watch the unfortunate Sinners who worked for the Cleaning Overlord, Niffty. They were lugging the corpses of the deceased Sinners into piles while others stubbed the crimson blood off of the jagged streets. The other crew, the Sinners working for the Cannibal Overlord, Rosie, collected any remaining weapons left by the Angels as well as any corpses they deemed suitable to eat. Adam blinked a few times, realising he'd started staring again, it's not like it was going to be any different than the last thousand years this had been going on for.
Nervously, he looked away from the carnage surrounding him, now looking at nothing in particular. He was told by his creator, Sera, to make an effort to get his mind off of Eden. Adam didn't blame her for telling him that, he had spent thousands of years lazing around Hell doing literally nothing except writing songs he never published and attending meetings with Heaven, in which he never payed attention to anyway. At the same time, Adam also couldn't be bothered to 'take his mind off of things' by giving himself a productive hobby. He's had ideas but they all sounded stupid once he wrote them down. So instead, he did the most effortless 'productive' thing he could think of, going on a walk. He could've picked a better day to do this but, hey, at least there wouldn't be any Sinners around to ruin his already ruined mood, they'd all be too busy rebuilding or mourning or some emotional sh/t. Adam was always spared from Exterminations, so he struggled to sympathise with his fellow sinners, but he knew he should, he is the reason they're here after all.
Adam fidgeted with his red and black suit, letting out a loud sigh, there was nobody around to hear him after all. Finally, he was about to continue walking when he looked down at his feet, an automatic precaution to make sure he didn't trip, when he noticed a thick but dried, yellow stain on the ground in front of his feet. Thank Sera, he was close to stepping on it. It? What was it, anyway? It looked like dried blood but... yellow? No, golden. All Sinners Adam knew of bled red. Hellborn bled black. Maybe golden blood was a side effect of a Sinner's form or powers? His gaze followed the path of blood, it led into an alleyway. Strange. That clean up crew, which had now passed him by, left this area untouched. Did that mean that this Sinner was still alive? He ventured into the dark shadows, using his pyrokenesis to create a flame on his palm — lighting the area up fairly well. As he walked further down, the volume of blood increased, with a long trail of it on the wall, whoever got hurt must've leant against it or some brutal sh/t like that.
Towards the end of the alley way, there was a dumpster, another streak of gold decorating the top of it, dripping down to the sides. Dripping. It wasn't dried, this was recent. Adam's brisk pace became a sort of speed-walk as he spotted a pair of limp legs poking out from behind the dumpster. The smell of blood and trash grew stronger and much harder to bear, but so what? He was Adam. The first man. The Prince of Hell itself, he'd been here for almost as long as it had existed, surely he could handle some good old... gore.
Gore was an understatement. Adam didn't think the word gore could be described as an understatement. As he turned his head to see around the dumpster his eyes reaches a Sinner. A girl? A hot one that's for sure.
You piece of sh/t, why the f/ck was that the first thing you noticed?!
Adam shook his head, trying to focus on the issue at hand. Speaking of which, she was missing her left arm. Her body was slumped against the dumpster in a sitting position. Instantly, Adam knelt down to take a closer look at her, once he spotted no other injuries, he looked at her arm, or what remained of it. Only what was above where her elbow should've been was left in tact.
Examining closer, some bone and veins- arteries, whatever the f/ck is in someone's arm could be seen, were still oozing with blood, a lot of it.
Can't you use a belt to stop the bleeding... uhhh... F/ck. I didn't take any first aid classes! Oh my Lord, just stop thinking and just act, Adam, you b/tch.
Adam tied his belt around what was left of her arm in a miserable attempt to stop the bleeding, either way, she was a Sinner, so she should be fine if she bleeds out anyway. Although, he wasn't too tempted to witness her regenerate if she did die. He went to pick her up, but as soon as he touched her back, he felt more thick liquid, she was bleeding from her back too? He peered over and saw two long wounds on her back.
"What the f/ck?” Exorcists usually go straight for the kill, Adam could understand her blocking a hit and losing her arm but being stabbed twice in the back? Sadistic.
Adam groaned with a mix of anger and sympathy, lifting the girl into his arms, sort of carrying her... bridal style. Once he did so, he noticed that there was a spear on the ground, near where she was once sitting, awkwardly he managed to retrieve that as well. Trying to make sure she didn't bleed any worse from the movement, he glanced down at her. Taking in who she was, she didn't have an otherworldly appearance like most Sinners, she looked almost human, like Adam himself.
Damn.
STOP.
What? She's pretty.
Adam, she's going bleed out, all over your suit too.
Bleeding out doesn't affect- OH F/CK— She's bleeding out, I gotta go!
Hurry up you slow pr/ck!
"Don't worry, random woman. I'll take you somewhere safe, to my ho... house." Adam started running now, although it wasn't easy to properly sprint wearing a suit and carrying a whole @ss other person, but she was fairly light.
Surprisingly, Adam ran all of the way back to his house, well, it was more of a f/cking huge mansion than a house, Sera always liked to be otp. It was really agonising for such a simple task. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Adam, Sera wasn't home, managing some professional business with 'up above' that she had told Adam about but he didn't listen. Well, he did, he just didn't bother to remember it. He could've called up Emily to help but she didn't stomach gore very well and it's not like she wanted to see him anyway. So he dealt with the issue he got himself into, fairly successfully. Well, he is Adam, he thinks fast on his feet.
Date: 10:39am Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 - The Day After Extermination Day.
Adam sits on a lavish chair, adjacent to the couch the girl was resting on. He picked at the dried blood that he failed to wash off of his hands. Every once in a while, he glanced over to the girl. Her skin was almost snow-white, like one of those porcelain dolls that used to be popular, her hair was also white and had been cut into an asymmetrical bob with an undercut. Instinctively, he looked down at her injured arm, her stump had now been bandaged after Adam managed to Voogle how to deal with amputated limbs, although the wound had mostly healed over on its own by the time he figured it out. It was abnormal how fast a mere Sinner could regenerate from a wound like that, and one from an Angel no less.
The 'random woman' sported a black tank top and denim shorts, with white socks to cover her feet. Around her neck were silver military dog tags, perhaps she died in the army, some sort of war going on up on Earth? The Prince tried to take a closer look and read the information on them but he was too afraid of disturbing her in this state. Adam assumed she must be cold wearing that, despite how warm it is Hell and put a red, plush blanket over her, it was his so it easily covered her small stature. She looked like was out of some ethereal Shakespearean painting, it felt so out of place, considering the horror scene she was in when he first found her.
Then, he turned his attention to his belt, which had been lying over the arm of the couch since he took it off the girl. Adam glared at the golden fig leaf buckle on it that Sera had gifted to him.
"Ehh, Adam you should get over Eden and live in the present. Although, I'll still constantly get you things that rub what happened in your face." Adam spoke to the belt, doing a terrible impression of Sera's voice. "F/ck, I need to get a life. It's not like I'm going anywhere..."
Adam complained, chucking the belt across the room. As if on cue, he noticed the mystery girl move. As he snapped his attention back to her, he saw her groggily sit up. She went to use her left arm to lift herself up, only to fall back down into a lying position, her back surging with pain from the contact. "Holy sh/t, you didn't die."
Promptly, he stood up and headed over to the couch, leaning down to look at her.
"You doing alright down there?" Adam said in the least concerned voice possible. In response, the girl weakly sits up again, managing to register her surroundings. "Woah, easy there, Lady. Don't want you fainting again, do we?" Adam chuckled slightly, he was more himself when he was around other people... or maybe it was the opposite. The woman stared at him for a while, thinking of something to say, then her eyes darted around, noticing the spear propped up against the arm of the couch. In an abnormally swift motion for her current state, she drew the spear and pointed it at him. The blade was white and shimmery, while the handle was a golden colour. Adam jumped back in surprise.
"Step back! You..." She scanned the room again, keeping Adam in her peripheral vision at all times.
"Hey, chillax, Babe. Extermination Day is over, you're safe in here anyway." He raised his hands in a feigned surrender.
"Where am I?" Her hand was unstable and her gaze was unfocused, she shouldn't be moving so much. However, that didn't change the fact she was ready to attack Adam and was demanding answers.
"You're in my house. It's in the centre of the Pentagram. So we're pretty far from where you got attacked." He scratched his head nervously, waiting for her to put the spear down.
"You... You're a Sinner. Yet, you helped me?" She titled her head.
"Oh, I'm not just any Sinner, Babes. I'm Adam, the first man, the original d/ck. I'm sure you've at least heard of me." He chuckled to himself, as if he found it funny someone didn't know who he was.
"Then, why did you save me?" She point her spear closer to his chest.
"Uhh... because A - Why wouldn't I? And B - You're bad@ss as Hell! I mean, a Sinner surviving a confrontation with an Angel is rare. At least from what I've heard of." The woman looked confused by his remark, before turning to look at her back, noticing the wounds there, then she looked up as if she was expecting something to be there. "Are you okay? As cool as you are, I think you should sit back down before you pass out or some sh/t." Adam continued. She paused for moment, trembling a bit more now. The mystery lady dropped the spear and stumbled forward, instinctively, Adam grabbed onto her shoulders to keep her upright. "Okay, okay."
He took her moment of silence as an okay to move her and sat her back down as gently as he could, usually being a heavy handed person.
"So, uh, what should I call you?" He fidgeted with the collar of his blouse again.
"My name is Lute." She rubbed her left shoulder and looked away, trying to shake the phantom feeling of her arm still being there. It was as if she could still feel her fingers, wherever her hand was.
"Got anywhere I can take you to, Lute? Once you get better and sh/t, I mean." He slumped down next to her on the couch, his face tensing when he saw her flinch from the movement.
"I... I just got here." She looked back up at him, her gaze never wavering.
"Oh, you recently died, huh? You don't exactly give off 'Earth vibes' so I didn't realise." Adam laughed slightly, "Well, you're tough as nails, b/tch, I mean, damn. You just got here and you managed to survive a f/cking tussle with an Exorcist Angel?" Adam grinned, turning to sit facing Lute, leaning against the couch. "Right, I should probably explain what that is--"
"It's okay. You don't need to explain anything, not right now. I just..." Lute looked down at her stump, she went to touch it but her hand flinched away once she did.
"Nah, I get it. I mean you just went through hell and you've only been here what, a day?" Adam went back to sitting normally. 'Get your mind off of Eden'. That thought taunted his head again.
I suppose helping out a new Sinner would be a... good enough start. Sera did say I should try to be a bit better too, even if we are in Hell.
"You know... You could stay here. If you want." Adam suggested quickly, before slipping back into his egotistic persona. "Since I'm the First f/cking Man, Prince of Hell and all... I basically get free pass from all the f/cking exterminations and sh/t." He leans back onto the couch, putting his arms behind his head. "So, like, if you live here, all the Angels will skip this house on Extermination Day."
"Really? Aren't you royalty down here? Is it even allowed for me to live with you?" Lute rubbed her head, looking around the room again.
"Exactly, as the first d/ck to be made, I am royalty, which means what I want is allowed and no one can complain about it." He laughs obnoxiously.
"I see, thank you, Sir." Using her right arm, she goes to stand up again.
"Woah, hey, I don't think that's a good idea, Babes." Apprehensively, he stands up too, ready to catch her.
"It's... fine... I just want to see... what it looks like." She gestures towards the large window on the other side of the room.
"Right, Hell. It's something all right." He huffs, walking close to her. "Let's get you over there, I guess."
As quickly as he could, Adam assisted Lute in getting over to the window in his room. She was shorter than him, just reaching his shoulder when she stood up, not only that but she had a small stature so she was relatively easy to carry now that he wasn't running with her. Lute leant against the window with her right arm, looking out at the devastated landscape of the Pride Ring, smoke was spilling out from the torn buildings, the streets being lit by the red hue provided by the sky. This was her home now, there was no way to get back up from Hell. For the rest of eternity, she'd be stuck down here with Adam, the first man of all people. The sensation of her missing arm and her spine being on fire made her lightheaded, it hurt to keep her eyes open, it was as if Hell was spinning at a supernatural speed, with Lute stuck in the centre.
"Oh..." Lute muttered as she leant her head against the window, the cold glass cooling her forehead. She was burning up.
"Hey, you good over there?" Adam tilted his head to try and meet her gaze, just managing to catch a glimpse of her closing her eyes. "Lute?"
The bright light of the sky hurt Lute's eyes, but she felt weightless once she closed them. She felt short pang of pain on her knees as if she had fallen. She had passed out on the spot.
"Sh/t! Don't die, b/tch!"
Lute felt a sense of comfort and warmth envelope her body as she fought her own body to open her eyes, it felt like her eyelids had been glued shut form exhaustion. After a while, she fell completely unconscious. But it was nice, she was finally getting some rest and for some strange reason she felt no fear being vulnerable around this Sinner. Despite knowing how east it'd be for him to kill her, she decided to trust him, for now, it's not like she could go back anyway, she was going to be stuck with him forever.
That doesn't sound too bad, actually.