Chapter Text
She had no name.
She knew nothing, only that she was.
A concept eternal, the opposite to what was also eternal. An opposite to Light, but one that was content to remain by itself.
The angels had spoken with her, though no words were said, and gave her a form within Paradise.
And she was content, within her roots.
Watching. Listening. Observing.
As eternity passed by.
She was content.
Until she met him.
The First Man.
His name was Adam.
And Adam had been conflicted, worried for his wife.
His Lily.
And his friend, another angel.
She forgets his name.
But whenever the arguments between them grew, he would come to her tree. Not to partake of her fruit, and she never expected him to, but to simply hide away from the world.
After all, no one would expect to find him here.
He would talk, and she would listen.
It was where he gave her a name.
Roo.
Then came the Devastation. Where all of Creation shuddered as something fundamentally broke.
Even she shuddered, the sudden onset of power being completely unexpected.
The First Lie.
The First Act of Adultery.
The First Betrayal.
Adam had wept into her roots, his sorrow unintentionally nurturing her.
And gave her true life.
But she could not comfort the First Man, not as she was. However, she also refused to tempt him to partake of her fruit, so that she could be given form. Knowing that it would destroy him further.
But she comforted him from her shadows.
Then the angels returned and Adam was put into a deep sleep, and another wife was made.
Eve.
Innocent and loving.
A perfect companion for Adam.
And she was content again.
But the Fallen Couple could not accept their loss of Paradise, and so they took her fruit and tricked Eve to take it.
And Roo, not ready for the deception, watched as her corruption filled Eve’s soul before she could do anything, dooming it.
And Adam, dear Adam, afraid of being alone, afraid of Eve being left alone, partook of her fruit to join her.
Corruption filled his soul, but she was able to control it this time.
But even she did not expect what would happen.
Creation shuddered and roared as darkness tore through it, creating a new realm.
Her realm.
And she finally was finally given form.
The Fallen Couple were banished to her realm for unleashing her, and sought to rule over her.
She let them.
But then wars came as the descendants of Adam fell into her domain, as seeds of her darkness gave rise to demons.
Beings who sought to destroy what was already damaged and take that which was not theirs.
And so she continued to observe, until finally a great light pierced her realm and she witnessed Adam, now wreathed in light, lay waste to the denizens.
She saw the Fallen Star rise up against him, only for him to be thrust down by an even greater Star next to Adam.
And every year since then, Adam would come.
And she would watch.
And she grieved as she saw him finally be laid low, thanks to the machinations of the Fallen Stars.
But his soul still existed, and a piece of her was still within it.
So she acted.
“Adam.”
Adam did not respond.
“Adam.”
Adam felt like…he was floating.
“Adam!”
Adam slowly opened his eyes and stared at the shadowy figure in front of him.
“Who…are you? Where am I?” Adam asked as he looked around, seeing himself in a dark realm.
He was dead. Should be in oblivion, really…and now he was tired, not even mustering up the energy to curse.
“It’s been a long time, Adam…a long time since you sat under my shade and spoke unto my roots.”
Adam blinked in confusion before tilting his head in remembrance.
“Roo?”
A white light pierced through the shadow, a facsimile of a rictus grin.
“Yes…it is good to see you again…”
“I always wondered what happened to you after the Fall…” Adam muttered under his breath as he recognized everything now. The aura and power was reminiscent of Hell, but more…in tune with it, for lack of a better explanation.
“Yes…I became this, forced to stand by and watch as Creation was continuously ravaged. But my only relief was getting to see you, year after year…” Roo said. “And now you’re here, now you’re a part of me.”
Adam sighed.
“Is this the fate for those killed by angelic steel?”
“No, but when you partook of my fruit, a part of my essence remained inside of you. It was removed when you ascended to Heaven, but with your yearly visits, I was able to keep a part of myself with you.”
Adam looked around.
“For what purpose?”
“Freedom and Dominion.”
He shook his head in confusion.
“What?”
“I have been waiting for the moment to come, where I could throw off the Yoke of the Fallen Stars and remove them from their thrones,” Roo said as she approached him. “And now, you are here…someone worthy to take their stead…someone who can protect all of Creation.”
Adam stared at her.
“You want me to rule Hell?”
“Yes…all you have to do is accept my power into your soul…”
“...What’s the catch?” Adam asked, suspicious and rightfully so.
Roo sadly smiled.
“You will be my avatar, my power will flow through you, and in turn be retracted from the Fallen Star. However, that which you consider to be good, that which is Holy, will be excised from your Soul.”
Adam looked away.
“Then what would stop me from being just like them? From trying to rise up against Heaven in greed…from destroying that which I protected?”
“Because of your nature. All you wanted was to protect Paradise, to ensure a future for the children who made it. You would never raise your hand against Heaven, and by your command, Hell will become what it was meant to be. Punishment,” she whispered into his ear after appearing from behind.
Adam was solemn.
“And what do you get out of this?”
She grinned again.
“You…after all these millennia, I finally get to be with you.”
Adam stared at the hand that was holding his.
All he wanted was to protect Heaven and his own. With his death and the deaths of his girls, Heaven was now unprepared for an excursion. There could very well be another Archfiend approaching.
To say nothing of the Morningstar's.
All of Creation was at risk.
Heaven was at risk.
His children were at risk. Those who were worthy, who had climbed out of the mud, had been good and faithful, who did not deserve to have their Paradise taken from them.
And a father would do anything for his children.
“Is there…anything you can do for my girls?”
Roo smiled and opened her hand, silver orbs of light floating above it.
“I had a feeling you would ask that, your children are here…they were not sinner souls, as such, there was a little time after they were slain that I was able to grab their souls. Including the first.”
Adam cupped his hand and held the souls.
She was right.
Lyra was here, the first of the Exorcists to die.
Her soul pulsed in happiness, glad to see him.
“They will be your new army, empowered by me…and you will lead Hell into what it must be.”
He met her eyes.
“Damnation.”
Adam narrowed his eyes, resolute in his choice.
“Do it.”
Charlie sighed in relief as the Exorcists left, leaving behind their fallen.
Although a part of her was saddened at the loss of life, she had been left with no choice.
It was finished.
As she turned away however, a sudden pulse shook the ground.
They all turned and saw Adam’s corpse twitching.
“Impossible-”
Energy erupted from the wound in his chest, a hideous red glow that made her shake.
Adam groaned as he suddenly floated up onto his feet, everyone getting ready for battle.
Golden light was flashing from his body as he then collapsed to his knees, his robe disintegrating and his body deforming as armor appeared over it, the gold being replaced by red.
Of all of them, Lucifer was the most surprised as he could literally feel the Holy energy being erased and replaced with something else.
Something alien, yet familiar.
Adam’s wings lost their golden sheen, instead becoming skeletal in nature.
His robe dissolved away, revealing a now armored body.
Red light consumed him as he arched back and screamed into the heavens, the last of the golden light fading away.
Horns appeared from his head, splitting his skull as a helmet formed to hide his visage.
With a final roar, he flew up into the sky before disappearing into Hell’s skyline.
“What just happened?” Charlie asked in confusion and horror, having seen nothing like what she’d just witnessed.
“I…don’t know…” her father replied.
Adam landed in a forgotten piece of Hell, the site of the First Culling. Where the great Archangel Michael had struck down his fallen brother, thus ending the Great War.
Now powered by Hell itself, Adam plunged his hands into the desolate ground and roared as the very fabric of the Pit bent to his will.
A new city rose in the hellish landscape.
With dark spires and menacing edifices.
This would be the site of his new throne.
“Kaon.”
“A fitting name, Lord Adam…a fitting name indeed,” Roo whispered into his ear.
He then raised the souls of his girls close to his face.
“Will you stand with me one last time? Even knowing that you face corruption?”
As one voice, they cried out in unison.
YES!
With a savage grin, he planted their souls to the ground and used his power.
New bodies were created from the dark magic, first their skeletons rose from the ground, breaking through like weeds, then flesh formed over their bones.
They groaned and screeched as armor enclosed their bodies, his dark angels born anew.
Finally however, they were reborn.
As one they kneeled.
Adam grinned.
“Rise. For today, the scum of Hell will finally know Punishment.”
Creation was in shambles.
Adam, the First Man, along with scores of angels had been killed in the last Extermination.
But equally, Lucifer had been killed in Hell.
A war had spilled across all of Hell. With its leader dead, the restrictions on sinners were no more, and they now had access to all the rings.
Not that it helped much.
Adam’s army was ravaging all seven rings and with horrifying results. It seemed that any hellborn, from the lowest imp to the seven sins were finding themselves drained of power.
The Goetian families were nearly extinct, sinners had been eradicated in droves, hell’s population was receding at a rate never before seen.
A constant extermination.
Finally however, she’d been forced to ask for help.
Once the news had been given, an emergency meeting had been called.
Charlie Morningstar had been summoned to the Embassy.
“Charlie…I’m sorry about your father…” Emily said as she approached her.
Charlie sniffed but nodded.
“Thank you, Emily…”
Charlie was no longer the naive girl that had first entered the embassy, now battle hardened and weary from the constant fighting.
“Miss Morningstar, can you tell us how this occurred?” Sera asked.
“You don’t know?” Charlie spat.
“Know what?”
“Adam is alive.”
The two angels jerked back in shock.
“What?”
“Apparently, angels who die to angelic steel don’t die…they merely lose any holiness or good that existed within them, if it existed at all…” Charlie began to explain. “Adam was…reborn as a sinner, one powerful enough to resurrect his army and lead a crusade on Hell…”
Charlie, having been formally taught magic by the remaining Goetia, then showed a vision of hell, consumed by war.
Sera couldn’t believe it…
Exorcists flew around the sky in strange forms, firing upon sinners. They were no longer angels, instead dark creations that relentlessly slaughtered.
Sinners and all kinds of Hellborn, beings that you would never expect to even be near each other, were fighting together for survival.
And losing.
Charlie was at the front, using what remained of her power to lead her people.
“Our tragic war has ravaged Hell,” Charlie’s voice rang out from the recording.
It followed one of the Exorcists flying back towards Adam, his imposing figure striking fear in the battlefield as he fired magic from his new arm cannon.
He raised up the body of an imp by the head before crushing it.
“It is a necessary war, to return us to glory!” Adam’s voice rang out, much to the angels' horror.
Charlie uses her magic to clear the dust as she charges forward.
“We will not sacrifice our freedom!”
She kills some of the shades, mere automatons with no soul. The Exorcists wouldn’t stay down, no matter how much they tried.
Adam slams a sinner with his mace and Emily flinches as she sees his glowing red eyes.
“My army will bring this world to order!”
Dark magic spools around him as a monstrous creature appears behind him.
“Our defeat would mean the end of everything.”
“My victory will mark a brilliant new beginning!”
Asmodeus assumes his true form behind the army of hell.
“One shall stand!”
“One shall fall!”
The recording ends and Charlie bows her head in grief.
That battle was near the beginning of the war itself, when she’d assumed that they’d be able to turn the tide by working together.
She was wrong.
“I’ve…faced Adam many times by now, and I’ve been forced to retreat each time. No matter what I do, it’s never enough…”
She showed another recording.
Adam, on a skyscraper, tearing apart sinners with his bare hands.
“ADAM!” Charlie roared as she approached from the street below.
“Morningstar!” Adam growled, before he tossed away the halves of a sinner and leaped, flying at her.
‘What is this?’ Sera thought in disbelief, never seeing something like this ever occur.
The two crashed into each, plowing through a building before landing in a street, panicking sinners running away from them.
Rolling over each other, Adam finally pinned her down, snarling into her face.
“Sinners don’t deserve to live.”
“They deserve to choose for themselves!” Charlie snarled back, pushing his face.
“Then you will die WITH THEM!” Adam roared as he grabbed her and then tossed her down the street.
With a growl, his arms began to shift.
“JOIN THEM IN EXTINCTION!”
He clasped his hands together, the metal of his armor now forming a cannon.
Charlie charged forward and shot a ball of hellfire at him, the concussive force impacting his armor but he spun with it, landing on his knee and firing back.
PTOOM!
Charlie couldn’t even blink before she was launched back, slamming into another building before landing on the ground with a groan.
The recording ended.
“H-how did he manage to kill Lucifer? No sinner, former angel or not, could hope to stand against him…” Sera whispered.
“I don’t know…” Charlie whispered as she started to break down again.
Vaggie had to take over for her.
“There was a woman…she somehow empowered Adam and drained Lucifer of his power…so much that Adam was able to kill him…” she explained.
Now Sera was worried, a being capable of draining a Seraphim, fallen or not, of their power was a threat not to be taken lightly.
“Can you describe this woman?”
“We can do better than that,” Vaggie said as she helped Charlie gather herself and started another recording.
The recording showed another landscape of Hell.
And Hell was practically tearing itself apart.
A new overlord had appeared from outside of the edge of Pride (how was that possible?) and was wreaking havoc.
Anyone who faced them and their army was being destroyed, their souls being eradicated from what appeared to be another supply of angelic steel.
It worried her.
She wondered if Adam was involved, having heard no word of him ever since his disappearance.
She’d received a letter, requesting for help, and in turn, more souls that would try for redemption.
She should have realized that it was a trap.
With a groan, she felt herself waking up, being dragged by two soldiers in armor.
‘Are those…Exorcists…but how…?’
“Well, we enjoy our nap?” one of them asked, red eyes glaring at her from behind a mask.
Charlie weakly tried to move.
“Brawl, she’s coming to…”
“Stay down!”
Charlie’s head rocketed back from the blow to her face, blood going down from her nose.
“Lord Adam, look what I found,” one of the soldiers said.
Impossible.
Adam was alive and well, sitting on a throne above a flight of steps. His wings flared, their skeletal appearance making her shiver as crimson eyes now stared at her with disdain and hatred.
“If it isn’t Charlie Morningstar, I had a feeling you were going to be stupid enough to listen to that letter…but I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come alone,” Adam said from his throne.
“Adam…how?”
“You can thank your father…by killing me, I have unlocked a power that I’ve never known, and with that power I will take over Hell and turn it into what it’s supposed to be. Punishment and Torment for those worthless sinners,” he declared.
Charlie snarled as she was forced down and chains held her tightly. Even with her power, she found herself suddenly…weakened.
As if her innate power was being…drained.
“So this is the true you, I should have realized. Now that you’re not bound by Heaven, you can unleash your cruelty all you want, can’t you?” she accused.
Adam laughed at her.
“I suppose in a way you’re right,” he agreed, much to her confusion. “I discovered what angelic steel does to an angel, girl. It wipes out everything holy from them, leaving behind everything negative, now greater than before.”
Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at the guards around her.
An Adam that was already cruel, but still bound by Heaven’s morals…now fully unleashed.
“The Exorcists…”
“All the ones that fell at the hotel…now reborn anew.”
Charlie shivered.
“And that includes me…I have no more holiness, no more light…the only thing that remains of the old me, is my purpose.”
“And what’s that?” She challenged him.
“To protect Heaven and my worthy children. By ensuring that Hell never again rises up against them,” he declared. “Even if I can never return to my home, I will ensure that it remains safe.”
He rose from his throne and she noticed that the mace he had now was far more brutal than his ax.
“And to do that, I need to cut the corruption out at the root.”
He raised his mace, and she could see the angelic steel on its blades.
Adam smiled before twisting.
SLAM!
CRASH!
“I knew you were coming, Scratch.”
Charlie gasped as she saw her father snarl in fury as he burst out of the rubble.
“You waste of dust! Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson a second time!” Lucifer roared as he took his full demonic form and charged at Adam.
Adam merely smiled.
Lucifer lashed out with a punch.
Adam caught it.
Lucifer blinked in shock.
“H-how?”
“When you Fell, your heavenly power was stripped from you, so you used the power of Hell to fuel yourself,” Adam explained as he then twisted his wrist, making his opponent gasp in pain. “But now, Hell has rejected you…and so I will take your place.”
Lucifer gasped as he felt his power suddenly becoming weaker before roaring in rage.
“YOU DARE-AGH!”
“DAD!”
Falling to his knees, Lucifer coughed up golden blood from the punch to his chest.
“You…disgusting…VERMIN!”
He attacked Adam with full fury and the two began to clash.
He swung with his cane, catching the blow from Adam’s mace but felt himself being overpowered much to his horror.
Adam pushed him back before punching him and swinging his mace down, the edge of one of the blades cutting into his opponent before he kicked him, Lucifer dropping his cane in the process.
Adam charged and tackled him, using the moment to slam his fist onto his face with gleeful laughter.
Again and again until Lucifer was finally able to knock him off.
The two continued to clash while Charlie was freed by her friends who had come to her rescue.
“Guys…”
“We’re here, Charlie,” Vaggie said, holding her tightly.
Much to their surprise however, the Exorcists did not act against them.
Merely observing the fight.
Much to her disdain, she couldn’t take her eyes off the fight either.
Adam and Lucifer continued to fight, and Lucifer manifested a sword and fought earnestly, furious that a human, a waste of dust, could ever make him bleed.
Finally, Adam overextended and Charlie cheered as she saw her father redirect a blow before stabbing him in the stomach.
Her own stomach dropped as she saw Adam grin before wrapping his arm around Lucifer’s, pinning him, and then brutally striking him multiple times.
His hand charged with red magic and he shot a blast at Lucifer’s chest, burning away his coat, searing his flesh and sending him flying back.
With another roar, Adam tore out the blade, seemingly unpained by the wound.
They clashed again and again, Lucifer feeling himself frantic as he found himself weakening more and more.
“HOW!? HOW!? HOW CAN A WASTE OF DUST LIKE YOU EVER COMPARE TO A SERAPHIM LIKE ME!? ME!”
Adam smiled.
“Why don’t you ask her?”
With that command, Roo appeared next to him.
Everyone paused as they stared at the shadowy woman.
Sera’s eyes narrowed at the recording, the woman seemed familiar but without being able to read her magical signature…
“Who are you?” Lucifer spat.
She smiled.
“Why, Fallen Star? Do you not recognize me? After all, you’ve been using my power to support yourself all this time…”
Lucifer’s eyes widened in horror.
“You are…”
“My name is Roo. And I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long, long time.”
Sera’s eyes widened in horror.
With a snap of her fingers, the Exorcists then moved and started to corral Charlie.
Lucifer snarled as he burst forward and attacked them, driving them off.
“CHARLIE, RUN! NOW!”
He created a portal and was driving off the Exorcists but…
He wasn’t able to kill them.
‘THIS IS ABSURD!’ he thought as they struck at him before dodging away from his return strikes. With every action he took, he started to feel weaker and weaker.
“C’mon, Charlie!”
They quickly ran through the portal and she turned around.
“DAD, HURRY!”
“I’m coming, Charlie!”
Charlie gasped as she saw Adam approach from behind, something forming out of his right arm.
“DAD, LOOK OUT!”
Lucifer turned to her voice.
“AAARRRGHHH!!!! NO!” he screamed as the bladed arm pierced through him.
“NOOOO!!!!”
Adam’s hand was plunged through his chest as he raised him up. Energy pooling in his arm.
“Die.”
PTOOM
Golden blood erupted from his chest as the blast tore through his body, Charlie jerking back in horror.
Adam quickly ripped his arm out of him, Lucifer landing on his feet before he began to tilt.
All of Creation felt the sudden shift as he fell to the ground.
Charlie’s eyes met her father’s, tears pooling in them.
“Charlie…run…run…” he said as his eyes faded.
She tried to run forward through the portal again, her friends holding her down as the portal began to shrink.
“DAAAAAD!!!!”
The portal closed.
“I had fun that day.”
The four gasped and turned, backing away as they saw Adam in the room of the embassy.
“Adam…so you are still alive…”
Adam grinned menacingly as he walked, his mace scraping menacingly against the floor before he stopped and slammed the butt against the ground.
“Never felt better, Sera.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed in sheer fury as she saw the new ‘additions’ to Adam’s mace.
Her father’s horns, dangling like some sick trophy.
Sera remained silent for a moment as she stood in front of the others, much to everyone’s surprise.
“And what are your intentions now, Adam? Now that you have become…this…will you try and take back what you have lost?”
Adam chuckled menacingly an undertone of a growl in his voice.
“Does that strike fear into your heart, Sera? That I would continue what Lucifer started? How hurtful,” he said amusedly.
“You have lost your heavenly light…you’re here and not a single curse has left your lips…and you are a denizen of Hell. It would be foolish of me to think that you are the same man we loved, especially since you have ravaged Hell with war,” Sera riposted.
She had reason to worry.
Adam frowned.
“You are right…I am not the same man…but rest assured, my aims are not toward Heaven, besides, it is a necessary war, to ensure its protection.” Adam said as Roo appeared next to him.
Sera’s eyes widened in horror as she felt the dark presence.
“Roo…” she whispered.
“Sera, you know this woman?” Emily asked in confusion.
“Hello, Guiding Star…it has been a long, long time.”
“YOU!” Charlie seethed as she turned demonic. “Who are you!?”
Roo chuckled.
Looks like it was time for a history lesson.
“I am Roo. Named by the First Man himself when I was but a simple tree in Eden. I am what has existed in Eternity to counter that which is Good. By my fruit, was Humanity cursed and fallen, and in my essence did those who betray light enter.”
Charlie shook her head in confusion.
“You are…Free Will?”
Roo snorted.
“Free Will…is that what he called me? How amusing…but true I suppose, from a certain point of view. But to give a simple answer…I am Hell.”
Charlie reared back as if she’d been struck.
“You are…Hell?”
“I am, though I suppose you could say I am the personification of it.”
Charlie was starting to huff fire in her fury.
“How? How could you betray us? Betray my father? FOR HIM!?”
Roo chuckled.
“You say betray as if I ever had any loyalty to him…when in reality I merely let you Fallen Stars use my power…when in fact for all these millenia, I have been waiting for him,” Roo explained as she gestured to Adam.
“The First Man, he who bestowed me my Name. He who conversed with me when I was naught but roots and shadows, who nurtured me with his tears and tended to my branches. Who partook of me when all was nearly lost, to ensure the future of Humanity.”
She slowly approached Charlie, Vaggie standing in front of her protectively.
“Why should I have not taken my chance, when the opportunity was right there? And for that matter…thank you very much, Charlie Morningstar,” Roo sincerely said. “After all, none of this would have been possible without you.”
At that, the fire in Charlie just snuffed out as she fell to her knees catatonic.
“What?”
“Your hotel was nothing more than a building. You could have easily fled and rebuilt, perhaps even used the time between exterminations to prove that a sinner could be redeemed. Instead you gathered an army, armed them with angelic steel and killed angels…” Roo said as she approached her.
Charlie could do nothing but glare at her, tears falling down her face.
“And now, thanks to you, I have claimed Adam by his side, who in turn has received his angels. And Hell will now be what it was supposed to be.”
Charlie met her gaze for a moment before bowing her head in defeat.
“...What are your intentions then, Adam?” Sera asked.
“I have taken Lucifer’s place, and I intend to do what he should have done in the first place. Be its damn Warden. No Archfiend will ever rise again, no Overlord will ever grow that powerful, no Hellborn will walk the Earth, and no sinner will know peace,” Adam declared.
Charlie shivered in dread.
Her people would be destroyed, and she was powerless to stop it.
“Adam, wait!” Emily interrupted, finally having enough. “Things have changed now, a sinner has been redeemed!”
What?
“WHAT!?” Adam roared in fury and disbelief before turning to Sera.
“It is true…the day of the Extermination, a sinner’s soul appeared in Heaven. A Sir Pentious,” Sera admitted.
Everyone was silent.
Charlie began to weep, the sudden flux of conflicting emotions too much for her to handle.
She was right!
Her dream came true, a sinner’s soul was saved.
But with Adam now ruling Hell…
Adam unleashed a slew of curses, slamming his mace into the walls, desks and chairs before sitting down with a huff.
“...What would you have me do then, Sera?”
Everyone was taken aback.
“What?”
“I have sworn to protect Heaven. To prevent the same calamities that hurt us in the Old Age. I have sworn to protect every angel to ever exist…and now? Sinners can be redeemed? That changes a lot of things…if one of the sinners has reclaimed their place in Paradise…how can I turn my blade against my children in Heaven?”
Charlie looked at him in disbelief.
“What!? How can you say that! After all this time, all the people you’ve killed, now you want to try redemption!? Where was this during the Trial, our first meeting, this entire DAMN WAR-!”
“Stupid girl! You literally had no proof at all. This is the first (literally) damned soul to achieve redemption in NINE. THOUSAND. YEARS! Of course, I wasn’t going to believe you or support something with no precedent!” Adam snapped back.
He then pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Dammit all…”
“Perhaps a compromise can be achieved,” Roo stated as she walked forward much to everyone’s surprise.
“A compromise?”
“Hell must be reigned in, and it will be now that it is under Adam’s command. But perhaps mercy can be given to those who are truly penitent, and they may be granted the opportunity for redemption.”
“So I basically become their boogeyman…I can work with that,” Adam declared.
“In return, the Hotel can be made a sanctuary for its residents, a mark placed on them that excuses them from the Exterminations,” Roo said as with her magic she pushed Charlie to her feet.
“Charlie gets to see her dream and protect her friends.”
She then turned to Sera.
“And Heaven can oversee the process, ensuring that sinners are also progressing, while also receiving their reassurance that Hell will not rise up against them once more.”
Sera and Emily were silent.
Charlie was the one to speak up.
“And you? What do you get out of this?” she asked wearily.
“I have my Adam by my side, once and for all. Simple as that.”
Adam internally grimaced, frustrated but ultimately, his goal in protecting Heaven was ensured.
“I agree to the terms.”
All the others blinked in unison, shocked that Adam would agree so easily, let alone be the first to agree in the first place.
“All I care about is that Heaven remains safe, that my children are safe. That has been my duty for the last nine thousand years, and it will continue to be so until the end of time,” he solemnly declared.
Sera and Emily looked at each other before nodding.
“Heaven is also willing to accept these terms.”
The group then turned to Charlie who had bowed her head in defeat.
Her dream was possible but at such a great cost…
Still, if it meant an end to the slaughter, that her people could be safe.
“I accept your terms…” she muttered in defeat.
‘I’m sorry, Dad…I couldn’t do anything…’
The other occupants in the room looked away, catching her near whisper but refusing to comment out of respect to her.
Adam growled, the noise low and menacing, catching everyone’s attention.
“I don’t know why I’m doing this…”
He dropped his mace against the wall and took a few steps forward.
Vaggie raised her spear defensively but Adam merely glared at her before addressing Charlie.
“Look me in the eyes, girl…why do you care? You are the child of the Morningstars, the two worst things to ever be created in Creation and because of spite decided to screw it over even more! You should have relished in the destruction around you, in the enslavement of souls, been the Harbinger of Armageddon! You very nearly did at the last Extermination but still!”
He’d pushed Vaggie away at this moment, Roo being quick to subdue her. Emily and Sera tried to intervene but with a quick raise of his hand, they paused.
Charlie had backed away, falling on her butt and backing away in fear.
“I find you wanting to redeem sinners of all things, you are paradoxically kind and cheerful! I’ve seen you mourn your troops when by your very nature, a product of the First Lie, the First Betrayal, you should be sending them in droves to the slaughter, uncaring of them in any manner except to further your own goals.”
He slams his hand against the wall above her head.
“So why, Charlie Morningstar,” he continues, using her full name for the first time. “Why do you care? Why are you defying your very nature?”
The claws of his other hand were very close to holding her chin.
Charlie swallowed heavily.
“I just…I just wanted to help…I just wanted to prevent any more souls from being destroyed…I know what I’m supposed to be…but I don’t want to be that…” Charlie replied. “I never wanted to become some kind of destroyer…I just wanted to help my people…you might see them as just sinners, but to me, they’re my friends…and I’ve seen their capacity for kindness, their ability to be good!” At this point she was glaring at him, straight into his crimson eyes.
“I know they’re in Hell for a reason! But I also know in my heart that they can be redeemed! Just like Sir Pentious was! That’s why I stood against you! I choose to be kind! I choose to be good! You were just too blind in your own HATE to see it!” she spits out, her own transformation occurring as she huffs fire.
The room is quiet before Adam starts laughing and Charlie stares at him confused, wondering if he’s lost his mind.
He gives a large toothy grin, the metal of his body grinding against each other before sticking out his hand.
A crimson orb rested on his palm.
“Adam?” Roo asks, not in confusion but rather to make sure he knew what he was doing.
“It seems that I was wrong about you, Charlie,” he says and she knows that there is significance to him saying solely her first name.
Charlie stares at him confused before gasping as she realizes just what was in Adam’s palm.
With somewhat gentleness, he lets it fall into her hands.
“Plant this orb into the ground in front of the hotel…and tell him that his new life is thanks to me…that should put a nice dent in his pride,” Adam snorts as he rises, at the same time he grabs the back of Charlie’s suit and somewhat gently lifts her up before planting her on her feet.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Adam nods to Roo who then lets Vaggie go, the latter running to Charlie.
“I am done here…my army will enter a ceasefire, let the Princess organize what remains of Hell…we shall return to Kaon.”
“Adam, are you sure about what you’ve done?” Sera warily asked as she looked at the orb in Charlie’s hand.
“He will return far, far weaker than before…the leadership of Hell will now fall onto her head while I remain its Warden.”
He almost leaves once more but turns to face the angels.
“And Lute?”
“She misses you…”
“She must remain in Heaven…to lead the ones that still remain up there,” Adam declared before he grabbed his mace and took off his trophy.
“Give these to her…and let her know my desire. And that we will meet again.”
Sera nods and the angels disappear.
Everything is silent.
“Why? Why give me a chance?” Charlie asked.
Why now? She almost asks.
Adam looks at her and she sees…thousands of years in his gaze.
“All I ever wanted was Heaven’s safety. Your parents destroyed Creation, what we have is what we were able to recover. However…now that I’ve seen your resolve, and now that we’ve seen that redemption is possible…perhaps you can help fix it. It's either that, or I finish the job, once and for all.”
He walked away.
“Call me hypocritical, bipolar, insane, or whatever adjective you choose…I care not…I just want this to end already.”
Adam stalks off, leaving the Embassy as Roo disappears into his shadow.
Charlie can only stand there holding her father’s soul to her chest.
It seemed that the War for Hell was finished…a ceasefire. For how long, who knew?
All Charlie knew is that she’d have to pick up the pieces…and do her best.
So yeah, darker timeline I guess, plus a very OOC Adam though that’s due to Roo’s influence and his new Megatron style.
If you’re wondering why the lack of cursing well…Megatron doesn’t curse like Adam, so I decided to reflect that instead.
Also yes, the revived Exorcists get Decepticon names now.
Lemme know what you think plus any ideas for characters to get Megatron'd.
