Ch.9

Adam had never found the tree again. He tried several times, but whenever he stepped on the side of the hill, he lost the courage to meet the star's eyes.

So he ended up leaving there. Lucifer was quietly observing that.

Adam lost all of his memories of Lucifer. So he thought he had done everything, that he had done with Lucifer, all by himself. He thought he was able to swim, create or craft something, and climb steep rocks. He became overconfident as a result.

One day, Adam swam too far from the beach. Lucifer soared up from the tree and watched it.

Adam could make it before, but that's because Lucifer had been there and taught him how. It wasn't safe for him to do it alone.

Lucifer was concerned about him. But he couldn't expose himself to him. So he flew there and turned into the form of an octopus. Then he came up to Adam swimming and drew him to shallower water. Adam seemed startled at first, but Lucifer left before Adam saw him closely.

Those events happened a few times more. Whenever Adam wandered near a dangerous cliff or came up to vicious bears, Lucifer turned into a horse, bird, and snake and brought him to a safer place. And he always flew away before Adam tried to look at him closer. Even if Lucifer felt disgusted with himself, he found it gratifying to meet Adam like that.

...

The marriage of Adam and Lilith was not well. They could not be lovers or anything, but only enemies. Lilith despised Adam trying to control her.

"I'm getting sick of your whining, dickhead." The woman looked down at her husband.

"Why are you trying to get along with me? You don't even love me."

"Ha! Because that's what we're supposed to do!" Adam scowled at her, rubbing his waist where she had just given him a hard kick.

"Do you think I want this? You are my wife, and I'm your husband. You have to listen to me. That's our mission as humans!"

"Fuck you and Fuck your sense of mission," Lilith threatened. Adam grumbled, a bit intimidated. Adam shut his mouth until she left. Fuck. Adam groaned. That insane gangster.

She has to be mine, Adam thought to himself. I deserve to have her. I deserve to have everything in Eden. The world should be worshipping me. Because I'm the fucking man. I'm the most obedient slave of God.

The residue of removed memories had grown bigger and bigger. And it had perverted into a form of fury. It was impossible for Adam to love his wife. Because Lucifer had taught him what love is.

When heaven took Lucifer away from Adam, he lost how to love too.

...

Heaven attributed this failure of the marriage to Lilith. The angel elders didn't want to screw it up again. So they adopted that quickest and easiest fix once again.

They replaced her with a woman.

They created Eve.

It wasn't a big surprise for Lucifer as he knew about heaven too well. Adam was perplexed for a while, but adopted it soon.

But Lilith was shocked.

She had never felt betrayed like that much. When the rock of ages that she believed would be under her feet forever was gone, she felt like falling down into the darkness.

And she felt a violent anger.

But she didn't know what to do. She couldn't have a 'will' to rebel. That helplessness.

The one she could harm now, was only herself.

Lilith was standing on the edge of the cliff. She had tried to come up with a reason to live more while she had walked up to here. She couldn't find any, so she decided to stop living.

She closed her eyes, feeling bitter about having nobody willing to stop her.

"Lilith!"

The voice did not come from behind, but in front of her. An angel with pink cheeks was floating in the air. He was breathing hard as if he had rashly flown to search for her.

"Please, don't. Is it really what you want?" Lilith was a bit baffled but said in a dry voice.

"Why shouldn't I? The only reason I was born was to be the fucker's wife. And I fucked it up. I won't be needed anymore, angel."

Lucifer was fluttering in the air, and reached his hands to stop her from falling into the waves.

"But, why- why should you die?"

Then Lucifer realized. She couldn't have the idea of deciding her future by her own will. She didn't know how to value the worth of her life. Because the angels deprived her of doing so. Lucifer felt contempt for heaven.

"So, will you move so that I can finish what I'm doing, baby angel?" Lilith had never met this guy, so she thought that he was a new face.

"Alright." Lucifer flew back a few inches. Before doing it, he handed a fruit to her.

"I don't need a last supper, thanks."

"That's a fruit of knowledge." Lucifer hung his head low. He knew he was never supposed to do this. Never. But he couldn't let her die like this, while she had even received no chance.

Lilith widened her eyes. "...This is the forbidden fruit. I've heard we must not eat and touch it, or we will die."

"You won't die. But only your eyes will be opened, then you will know good and evil."

Lucifer told her before he flew farther away. "I won't force you, but... if you make a choice, at least, you should be able to judge by yourself if it is right or not."

Then he left her. She was standing alone looking at the horizon. She looked down at the fruit for a long time.

And she put it to her lips.

...

Lucifer was in deep thought. Even slight things in everyday life often triggered those memories back. Like written on a parchment, turned yellow and old but never faded.

"...So, isn't it amazing?" It took seconds for Lucifer to realize he was on the phone.

"Abou- what? Oh, yes. It is. That sounds good, sweetie." Lucifer merrily answered but obviously seemed like he hadn't listened to her at all.

But his daughter who was talking to him, Charlie, was too immersed in her plan to notice that. She was explaining to him that she was about to run the Hazbin Hotel for sinners.

"It will work, Dad! I will keep you posted. I was worried if you weren't going to like it, so... um, Thank you. Anyway, see you."

"Of course, haha! I love everything you like! Bye bitch- kisses!"

"I love you too, bye."

He could hear her hang up the phone. Lucifer ended up letting out a deep sigh. He always tried to be cool and fun in front of his daughter, only to act very awkwardly.

Lucifer flopped into the chair of the hell's king. He leaned on his back, resting all parts of his body on the chair.

His eyes darted around the place. The castle was too huge for one fallen angel. So he had filled the void with those piles of rubber ducks. That was his way of dealing with things that had been full once but were not now. He had been doing so for more than thousands of years.

But in the end, the memories came back again and again, filling the empty place like a fog.

He closed his eyes.

...

Lucifer gave the fruit to Lilith, and she took it. She ended up having free will. Her eyes opened to the new world and could see good and evil, right and wrong.

She could see what heaven had been doing was pure evil. She ended up seeing what they had deprived her of for her whole life.

She could judge it by herself. It's not the right thing to hurt herself. She had to rock heaven. She was eager to speak out, cry aloud, and show them that she was the owner of her life.

But she didn't have any power for that. So she hid herself in the forest. Luckily, or sadly, the angels didn't care about her being missing. They just supposed the first woman had gone or something.

Lucifer was the only one who cared for her. He noticed that Lilith had eaten the fruit he gave to her, and found her. From the moment of giving her that, Lucifer already crossed the line far. So he just showed himself to Lilith and confessed to her that he had watched two people for a long time.

Only then did Lilith get to know that the angel's name was Lucifer. The angel said he was the guardian of the forbidden tree. He looked grim. Lilith didn't know why though, Lucifer looked guilty about all of the problems. And he seemed to despise heaven like Lilith did.

"I need your help, angel." Lilith said firmly. "I have to raise a rebellion against heaven."

"No." Lucifer immediately answered. "Don't even dream. It would put everyone in danger, you, the angels, and all."

Lucifer couldn't mention Adam for some reason. But in fact, he was the one Lucifer was most worrying about.

"How about Eve?" Lilith snapped. "She is just like me. She has to live with the bastard who doesn't care about her. She will be used by heaven for her fucking whole life. With no choice, no freedom!"

Lucifer was silent. Of course, he agreed with her. Her words were exactly the same things that Lucifer and Adam had insisted on so far. But, look. what happened to them.

"... You can live here, Lilith. No one would find you." Lucifer softly said without meeting her eyes. "I will make a hideout for you. And, um... will get some food and drink! You just name it." Lucifer awkwardly smiled to comfort her. "If you need, I can make something entertaining with magic. Um, hey, do you like ducks?"

Lilith could tell he was nice. So she couldn't help but feel sorry for him about what she was going to do. So she just faintly smiled back at him.

Then one day, she stole the forbidden fruit while Lucifer left the tree for a minute to see Adam.

And she gave the fruit to Eve. The second woman on earth was pregnant at that time.

Lilith explained that the fruit would make her powerful like God.

That was not a total nonsense. If humans could have free will, they would fight on with her. Then Lilith could have power against heaven. I'm the one who pulls the strings, she thought.

"It will make you and your family stronger, wise, and free." from that benevolent voice, and eyes that told the truth.

Eve gladly accepted it.