Hazbin Hotel: Singed Wings

Underworld, 1948, 24 hours before the Extermination. Silence.

The Day of Extermination...

How much there is to say about it, just ask and do anything to survive, or just survive the consequences of the question asked of any soul in Hell.

Ask a Sinner, anyone who's been in Hell for even a year, he...

"Fucking mouth, I'm telling you the truth, I lived here, you piece of shit!" - shouted, almost tearing his throat out, the skinny Sinner. Blue-gray skin, visible ribs, almost complete absence of muscles and no cheeks, exposing sharp fangs.

Skinny but dangerous, deceptively weak in appearance. A type of Sinners who appear after major catastrophes or events on Earth. Napoleonic Wars, the Great War, World War II, and any subsequent crises. Any difficult times that cause the soul to reject God, embark on a dark path and not return.

"The answer is no. Please step back or lethal force will be used." - sounded the mechanical voice of the Construct, drowned in an ocean of similar cries. The nearest souls, standing practically in close proximity, regarded the words of the mechanism as a signal, raising their weapons.

The nearest Sinner, the one to whom Construct had responded earlier, swung his wooden stick sharply, the white shamanic tattoos on his body reddening to the color of his blazing eyes. The blow, unexpectedly swift, knocking and smashing the head of the nearest soul, was stopped by the Construct himself.

He grabbed the Sinner's head in an instant, squeezing the mechanical palms with an unpleasant crunch, each second causing more and more screams from the skinny Sinner, who was frozen in pain.

The sound of the shattered head caused the rest of the crowd to retreat, which had gathered near the small house, next to the "Dome", that transparent "wrapper" surrounding the famous Silence of the last century, where these souls, of which there were about a hundred or two hundred, were heading.

A suppressor construct, now composed of exquisite white material, whose limbs were now connected by a complex brown-gray machinery, more like muscles than what the most "senior" of the assembled souls had seen.

The Suppressors were no longer hunched over, which had been the cause of laughter and jokes to many souls outside and in the Silence, but now stood proudly at least a head above the rest of the crowd. Now, two squads numbering fifty Suppressors, a dozen of whom stood in a wall in front of the Silence's "reception point," were performing their function. They stood daily guard over the borders of a small "paradise" in a place of torment and suffering.

"Please, dear souls, the area of Silence is now closed, both because of the excess number of Dwellers and because of the impending Extermination. If there are indeed honorable Dwellers among you, please proceed to the nearest queue..." - filled the resulting silence with a soft, but clearly not "alive" voice of another Construct, which had visible female features, in the form of marked hips, thinner build, but standing taller than the "iron warriors".

"We're all fucking tenants here, let the fuck in!" - shouted another, resembling the last murdered man in his thinness but with bluer skin and ubiquitous chains on his body.

The new screams were drowned out by the tearing of flesh. A pair of Sinners, coming in from the side, were naturally lifted out of the shadows by the golden hand of one of the Suppressors. A stronger and taller version, instead of a right hand having a multifunctional dagger-sword-mace that could open and...

The three heads of the shells were gone. They were vaporized in the hot and accelerated plasma that burst from the Suppressor's "sword". The other two Suppressors, with sharp, stacked and coordinated movements, naturally tore apart the other two Sinners. The first one ripped off two arms, the Sinner didn't even have time to shriek as he lost his wolf's head, and the second Suppressor simply split his torso with his legs, releasing the guts of a mixture of hippo and bear, covering himself in red.

"Listen..." - A new voice of a doomed soul, a desperate soul wanting to find a sure refuge. New voices, new screams, new murders and new blood on the dirty, almost absent sidewalk. Such was the daily routine of the Constructs guarding the borders of the Silence. Every year, on the same days, the Sinners tried to pass into the Silence.

By force, by trickery, bribery, sex, substances or their magic. But unless the soul has a "mark", which is the result of a contract between the strange device of the Lord of Silence and the sinner himself, he is doomed to be killed.

"Listen, good mistress." - A softer voice, filled with kindness and gentleness, in which anxiety and fear were carefully concealed, the Sinner-Humanoid approached the Construct-Head. - "I would like to know where this line is located..."

The wide hat, with its golden translucent silk hiding the face of the Sinner in her tight black dress, tinkling with tiny bells hanging from the tip of her veil, slowly approached the tall figure.

The woman-like construct, somehow standing on two "points", without feet, on the tips of two sharp blades, lowered its empty face, which was replaced by a gem-like "mask" adorned with a golden wreath like ears or a semblance of a hairstyle.

"The queue is where it should be, if you are really a Dweller, you must know its place." - A hollow mechanical voice, resembling a woman's only from afar, answered Sinner.

"Of course, of course, and won't you let me..." - whispered Sinner, coming closer and closer, gingerly watching the shifting open brush of the towering figure, and casting a glance at the dark blue cloak of the Leader concealing the...

The answer followed in a sharp movement of the Leader's right hand. Gold split the air, literally "shooting" out in a wave, not allowing blood to even touch the pure blade. The body of the Sinner, from whose shadow a dozen more Sinners "fell out", was "shot" by Gold Suppressors, while the Leader, surprisingly for her height and scale, deftly pushed away the falling body, whose head in the air was hit by other Gold Suppressors.

The crowd of Sinners, once again settling down, subsided.

The face of the Leader, a jewel, flashed white for a brief moment, a brief moment that only the souls closest to the Construct could notice, barely able to move away from the massacre of the rest of the "shadow" Sinners, who had enlisted the help of the Sulvano Family, who specialized in shadows.

According to the Queen's reports, it was this family that organized the current infiltration event.

" Uh... High Lady, I would like to..." - began in a weak voice the nearest gray-skinned Sinner, part of the 'skinny' Sinners, but was interrupted by a new stroke of gold.

The body fell, and the Leader, abruptly beginning to move, began to naturally chop the shells of the doomed souls. New screams filled the air, covered by the nasty crunch of breaking bones, along with the foul odor of fried flesh, the remnants of the Golden's plasma work helping the rest of the Suppressors.

Which had been given orders for total annihilation.

...

" Uh... Look, I didn't chisel that tg..." - the Sinful Kraken was sweating profusely. That "walked" on tentacles folded in hard limbs, dressed in a simple port shirt, cut monotonous pants of cheap material. He spoke with difficulty, shaking not so much from fear as from the need for a new dose.

"Silence." - Heavy, low voice drowned out not only the defendant Sinner, but also the rest of the hall, with the rest of the jurors, who stood in a strange queue, because each of the gathered doomed was guilty of one offense or another.

A tall figure, nearly three meters tall, straightened up, tapping the blunt side of her golden spear against the pulpit, causing small flashes of lightning to illuminate the hall, lighting up the golden illumination.

The figure's upper body was clad in armor that looked as if it had been melted, as if it had been scorched right onto it, and the greaves, made identical to the upper part of the armor, were concealed by a dark, tattered cape.

The sinner shuddered as two snow-white eyes looked at him, pupilless and without emotion. A dark gold crown, designed as a sharp helmet hat, covered the long white hair that was blowing in the invisible wind.

The tall Construct looked intently at the shrinking Sinner, then "looked" at the other defendants.

"Sentence..." - stretched out the hoarse voice of the Court, the Construct of Justice, whose face was hidden by a dark scarf. - Death.

The golden spear ignited with lightning, and the body of the nearest Sinner became ash in an instant. The remaining Sinners shrieked, and two Valor Constructors took the next desperately spinning Sinners under their arms, planting them in front of the Court. Beside him, not far from the pulpit, a small white figure, remotely resembling the Queen, a simpler and altered copy of the Construct in charge of the Web, was sitting, taking notes, detailing a surprisingly large amount of text in spite of the sparse Court.

This time, and all subsequent cases tried, went faster, without listening to a detailed defense of the accused.

An order was given for a speedy completion of the work.

...

A ringing sound broke the intermittent silence of the hall.

A waiting room, a place where every tenth, maybe twentieth Sinner who has heard of the Silence wants to go.

The well-kept walls, with many figurative or geometric patterns, under the most diverse palette of colors, were filled with souls, daily or even hourly coming to try their luck for the silence of peace of mind in the Silence.

The ringing signaled the release of one of the cubicles, the small office where the interview took place. It was a small room, visible even from the hall, from which emerged the slouching figure of a cannibal, a species of Sinners who managed to maintain a human appearance, hiding their predatory nature to the untrained eye.

The empty black eye sockets were closed, and the dead man's skin was paler than usual. The Victorian costume was tattered, more out of desperation, for before the rest of the Sinners could hear the screams, pleas and threats from the stall.

The hall, filled with stale air, in no way disturbing the other dozens of waiting Sinners, began to fill with quiet whispers. Every Sinner had already familiarized himself with the rules of conduct, for he could not get here without it, and therefore they were much more mannerly than the rest of the group, whose shouts and reprisals could be heard outside.

Without a word, clutching tightly in her dark paws a small certificate with a short instruction, the small effeminate Sinner, slightly hunched over, more out of habit than necessity, went to the interview.

The silent footsteps of naked paws with sharp claws were comparable to thunder in the hushed room, a multitude of eyes followed closely the small shell of the Sinner, whose hair was replaced by large white-golden feathers, serving as a sort of crown for the all-white fur of the humanoid creature with a small tail. The small tendrils on her forehead and elbows were constantly moving, picking up the slightest fluctuations in the air, the source of which the blue eyes immediately followed.

Finally, after a dozen hours of waiting in the queue of the hall, a couple of years of queuing, this Sinner, left the place of many nasty smells of all kinds of Sinners, going to meet her little dream, about which she had been told so much.

A slam of the door and Sinner gets rid of the odors, so abruptly and strangely that she even froze, noticing the stranger's unusually quick disappearance.

"Welcome, New Soul, please take a seat and we will begin." - soft and "velvety" voice brought Sinner back to reality.

"P-please excuse me. We-I... I-I've come to..." - A hoarse high voice, almost nervous and fast in its pace exuded from the panicked Sinner as she examined her interlocutor.

He was almost human, what Sinner had once been. Black suit, black gloves, even the odor around the figure was clean, like hot paper or shoe polish, maybe even men's cologne....

No, what frightened Sinner was the face of the figure of the Checker, or rather the absence of it.

Instead, there was a third hand emerging from the middle of his chest, also in the sleeve of his snow-white shirt, now politely gesturing for her to sit down and holding her palm open, awaiting Greshnitsa's available certificate.

" Your certificate of passing the early tests, please." - Again, the voice was polite and soft, not coming from her mouth or any semblance of it. The sinner swallowed her saliva, carefully holding out the document, slightly wrinkled but still intact. - "Thank you."

Sinner stared at the wings, butterfly wings, sticking out from the figure's neck. Five or six, maybe ten or more, white wings with black patterns both around the edges and in spots on the very surface of this strange anomaly. Sinner had seen similar looks, but not this... abnormal.

Next to the Butterfly, as the figure was called by all the other Sinners with whom Sinner spoke, other, already real butterflies were flying, with the same wings that came out of the neck of the strange servant of Silence, those sat on him himself, on the walls, on the cabinets, on the ceiling, everywhere... The atmosphere of the dark study became... relaxing.

Sinner thought she would worry, would shake, would do anything but the right steps on the way to Silence. Her named sister, said that the "interview" process itself was broken down into many parts, for which Sinner prepared separately.

She quit drinking, quit the dust, started watching herself and worked a little on her instincts, getting them under some control. The agonizing years when she was forced to hide under every hole, saved only by the help of her sister from the Silence, bringing just exquisite food and water, taken, according to her own words, from their home on Earth.

Sinner was prepared for a lot of things, but not that... to naturally "black out" for the entire duration of the interview.

She remembered being asked her name, both her real name and her "local" name, remembered being... sort of asked about her habits, lifestyle, some background, and abilities...

Everything passed as if in a fog, as if in a dream, when she thought one minute and answered one thing, and then immediately forgot everything and answered another... The questions came one after another, no break or pause, Butterfly was like a machine, not sparing her soul.

"Well..." - A sharp clap of hands, Butterfly's satisfied voice, woke the shuddering Sinner, whose body had begun to shake as she noticed. - "I am compelled to report that in consequence of your interview, your characterization, and the background we have raised, I can state..." - Butterfly pulled and pulled, straining harder and harder against Sinner, who was bleeding on her shoulders with her claws, in an attempt to calm down and hug herself.

"You passed!" - "smiled" in Butterfly's voice, motioning the stack of documents towards her with his palm, making Sinner naturally deflate, sinking down into a chair. - "I apologize if I made you worry, may I-"

Sinner was no longer listening to this strange anomaly that even smelled 'not real'. She remembered her sister's words that Butterfly worked somewhere else in the Silence, in medicine, and that other, completely identical "butterflies" were in the other booths, whose features she simply could not see because of the tired veil in her eyes.

The only thing she cared about was the Papers, that should keep her safe. Secure at least some future in this hellhole.

Naked Sinner grasped the documents tightly, nodding and nodding at some of Butterfly's words, practically flying out of the office, walking as fast as she could towards the exit to the Silence, not even trying to look at the other, last, Sinner sitting in line. From what she had heard, the Silence was already full for this year, but enrollment had not stopped, for new spots had come from somewhere.

Ringing.

...

Church. Church of God, Church of Christianity, Church of the Bible, whatever they called the place that shouldn't be in Hell.

Not of the faith that shouldn't be here, not for the kind of souls that were here. The only thing Sinners, and other demons, could believe in was some kind of replacement faith, something that spread from the Ring of Wrath...said to be Satan himself.....

" Oh, lost souls...!" - began the Reverend Mother, opening her arms in a wide gesture, looking out toward the nearly full church hall with a smile. - "Today, on a day when there is nothing left until Judgment Hour..."

...

Work districts, places where jobs are created, where something is produced. For trade, maybe to keep the Sinners busy.

The place definitely had a purpose, but I can't remember it now.....

" ...Therefore, I bring the following to the table." - Big Sister's stern voice filled the hall with the assembled souls. Those were the Sister's most trusted confidants, those who "understood something", according to the Sister herself. - "The Cannibal Overlord has again sent some requests for some of our goods, this time it's costume jewelry, clothing, and kitchen tools. You know the purpose for yourself..."

Big Sister's words were supplemented by "slides", live pictures, as if from a television set, showing first the Cannibal Overlord, then some graphi...

...

Assembly Hall, more political in theme, there was more greenery here, more "live," more...

"I think we should get rid of the blacks, Mr. Senator." - the voice of the eagle, the Sinner in the form of a proud bird with a beak...

"Even for me it's too much, my friend, so I..." - the cheerful voice of the Senator, lighting a new thick cigarette, interrupted his interlocutor.

" But, wait, because..." - this and a couple other voices started a new debate, trying to justify their place, which they thought was....

...

" Doctor, I have a pain..." - the awkward voice of a demon, a "native" inhabitant of Hell, with white horns, sat on the couch that was within the white walls that found...

" Please, there's no need to be shy, there's nothing wrong with that." - a soft voice, the rustle of many wings, and the demon began to more openly admit his....

"You see, my wife and I have decided to try anal..."

...

"I'm telling you, I'm chewing here, you stupid fucking car...!" - shouted the voice of the Sinner, swinging his big arm, preparing to add a blow with a burst from a machine gun.

"Negative," replied the cold voice of the Suppressor on the other end of the 'entrance' to the Silence.

An explosion was heard from outside. Another Sinner had tried to blow up the Barrier, strapping himself with explosives....

...

William grumbled, rubbing his temple with his pen-free hand.

There was a slight ringing in his ears, short and not as high as before, but still as annoying as the buzzing of a mosquito or gnat.

He was back in his office. Or rather, his attention was completely focused on this moment. The streams of his mind were still busy with the rest of his business, but now, just for the sake of his remaining mental health, William decided to take a short break from his routine and...

" ...And then, we can try to push Adam through Eve...!" - broadcasted a disheveled Charlie, wearing only a shirt and pants. - "William, you still have a connection to Eve, don't you?" - big red eyes, even redder from sleep deprivation and excessive caffeine abuse, were looking at him now, and he blinked in response, squirming harder in his dark, comfortable and cushioned chair.

"Do you really want us to threaten the First with his favorite wife?" - William replied languidly, rousing Charlie, whose forehead showed small horns, which immediately disappeared, leaving Charlie frozen in a stooped posture.

Her eyes squinted, William didn't need an engineering degree to see the workings of her soul's thoughts. A nod from the girl, she turned around and scrawled a whole group of small notes on a blackboard from which a multitude of red lines ran, moving from it, to his wall, a couple to a closet, to another blackboard.

William only hoped there were no notes on his clothes, or rather his robe.

" Yeah you're right, I'm...m-me something's taken me away... Funny, really, where a desperate thought can take you, right? 

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ah-ah-ah-ah..."- With each word spoken less assuredly, spoke, if not gibbered Charlie. 

- "Uh... What was that other thing we were discussing?" - Princess Ada asked, turning around to face him, rubbing her neck.

" How to force a permanent end to the Slayings, the impossibility of which Adam spoke of the last time we met." - William replied, taking a sip of the slightly cooled tea. - "And to do so without proof of your idea, or without providing a sufficient alternative to the Exterminations, for you and I do not know the whole structure or history of Hell." - William broadcast monotonously, easily summarizing all of Charlie's words of the last few hours.

"Right, yes...!" - Charlie nodded, waving her fist affirmatively, smiling her wide, almost ear-to-ear smile. - "We just need to figure out how we can do what no one has been able to do in ten thousand years, and also figure out how it can replace genocide...!" - spoke Charlie as she held onto her temples, clutching her golden curls that had missed the evening and morning brushing.

"Why do I now know the hair care schedule of the female side of the Morningstar family? Why am I now compelled to follow it when needed? When did I become a servant of this house? When...", William pondered, trying to distract himself more from the other mental streams. It was difficult to do so with a tired mind, but the negative feedback from Lilith's new demands for a 'living reminder of her and her daughter' did its job and allowed the inner ringing to be drowned out at least a little.

" ...we could try asking the Sins, if not the most open members of the Goetia about it, but the Sins have already turned me down, and the Goetia won't just share the story..." - Charlie nodded to herself, tapping her fingers on her chin. - "By the way, how's the research going on this Warp?" - Charlie asked, changing her tone abruptly, turning a hundred and eighty degrees again, this time in a leap.

" ...In short, it takes a few more years of research, given that I'm generally going in the right direction." - William sighed, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand, kneading his closed eyelids. - "Why are you even so worried?" - William asked dryly, picking up the documents that had just appeared in his hands, which were made of blue lines out of thin air.

"The sooner we can stop the genocide, the more souls we can save!" - Charlie exhaled, clenching her fists, looking at William with a small smile.

" ...You know we're talking about those who deserve their fate, right?" - William asked with a hitch, putting his signature on the paper, gesturing for the rest of the stack of waste paper to disappear. - "Those who, by their deeds, deserved eternal torment? Rapists, pedophiles, murderers, psychopaths?" - William listed slowly, finishing his tea... William took a closer look at the mug.

Goddamn coffee. William was so winded that he mistook the drink of the gods for god-damned coffee.

"Is it actually... pretty okay? By the way, is that coffee or cocoa? Charlie treated me to her recipe... or was that yesterday?", William recalled the past twenty-four hours, staring at the empty bottom of the clear black glass.

" I know!" - Charlie exclaimed more quietly, folding her arms across her chest, turning her head away from her "wall of thoughts," as she called it. - "It's just... I still believe that every soul can get better, can get and deserve a second chance." - Charlie continued more gently, sighing.

"Just because they can get a second chance doesn't mean they'll want one, Charlie." - sighed, for the umpteenth time in the last few hours, William gestured for a cleaned and full mug of tea. William sipped the hot liquid, raising his eyes to the waiting Charlie. - "You know you're just forcing all these souls to follow your paradigm, right?" - William tilted his head to the side, looking at Charlie's averted eyes.

" Forcing?" - Charlie asked with genuine incomprehension, as if only now waking up, just as William was. Charlie moved closer, sitting down in the almost identical chair that William had, letting William's weave fill her body, sighing in relief.

" You think that only you know how to help everyone, that only you know the true path to salvation... I know a Seraphim that said exactly the same thing..." - William's smile caused the Princess of Hell to growl irritably, tapping her red hooves on the table.

"But it's not the same thing!" - Charlie waved her hands, leaning back and sitting on the edge of the chair. - "In Hell, souls suffer, harming their souls daily and doomed to personality extinction, if not worse!" - Charlie said, gesturing to try to visualize her words. -" How can wanting to help these souls get to Heaven be a bad thing!" - shouted Charlie naturally, looking at William with crimson eyes and protruding horns.

William wasn't hurt by Charlie's outburst of emotion, it wasn't threatening, just a flash of incomprehension and the stress that had accumulated over the past hours from worrying about his future meeting with Adam.

"Are you forgetting that some Sinners like Hell?" - William said evenly, taking another sip. - "That some Sinners just don't need salvation or Heaven. Maybe they feel good here, maybe they don't have anyone close to them in Paradise, or maybe they're just convinced they don't deserve it?" - William said, waving his palm toward the window.

"Of course they're fine in a place that's almost a carbon copy of Earth. Those just don't want to go anywhere." - Charlie frowned, muttering an irritated reply.

- "Just because my neighborhood is the most acceptable place to exist doesn't make an example out of it. If it wasn't, the Sinners would still find another place, any dump that would be as well honored as this place." - William nodded, looking into the eyes of a frowning Charlie.

"...What about the genocide? Does it disgust you to watch people being massacred?" - Charlie mumbled, wrapping her arms around the blanket that appeared on her, wrapping herself tighter.

"You're talking about those souls who also organize genocide for each other themselves?" - William raised an eyebrow, "Everyday someone declares a blood feud on another and slaughters them with the rest, brutally torturing them at best." - William said, finishing his mug of tea, sighing contentedly. - "All the more reason for this solution to be much better than the complete Purification of Hell that was before the Extermination, and the fact that the angels also cut off the eternal suffering that Sinners are supposed to experience, that is grace." - William shrugged, putting his empty mug aside, and began to study Charlie's notes in earnest.

"...Still, I think it's bad and wrong." - Charlie mumbled, tucking her legs under her, wiping her hooves with the flying towel provided.

"Any murder is like that." - William nodded, standing up and stretching, moving closer to the two record boards. - "But taking into account that the murderer himself deserves a punishment equal to his misdeed, then the Slaying could be considered such a punishment as well?" - William stretched out, looking at the sleepy Charlie with a smile.

"...Can I sleep over?" - Charlie asked with flushed cheeks, hiding her eyes in the blanket. - "Mom and Dad hinted again that they wanted to be alone." - Charlie added quietly, raising her eyes to a quietly laughing William.

"Just no more planning." the laughing William shook his head, "I want to meet Adam awake, because I'll remind him that of the two of us, only..." - William raised his index finger importantly, taking Charlie in his arms, weaving the mess away.

" ...I'm the only one who can stay awake for days without consequences..." - Charlie irritably interrupted a grinning William, getting comfortable in his arms. - "Wake me up when you have to get up?" - Charlie said, looking at the setting sun outside the window of the Mansion.

" Of course, dear." - laughed William, wrinkling his nose at the new ringing in his head.

Some idiot, or rather a group of idiots, had decided that blowing themselves up was a great idea. That was no honor to the Barrier, but... the souls of those morons William would take, making a new example out of such stupid degenerates.

He should make it a rule to take the souls of anyone who trespasses on his Silence.

...

A few hours later. The morning of Extermination Day 1948.

To be honest, William was starting to get tired.

No jokes, sarcasm, or exaggeration. William had spent the last couple hours getting used to the constant headache, the occasional ringing in his ears that had become almost native in recent years, especially before Exterminations, when the desperation of some souls exceeds their fear of the Lord of Silence.

Attacks, deception, entire schemes, if not more, by Sinners to circumvent, trick, or simply exploit the flaws in his system. William had Replicants, there were Constructs that could already do something to help at least partially... Even expanding the Replicant staff by three didn't help much.

Find out new information here, deliver it there, send the necessary instructions with documents to the one, solve the problem of disgruntled Sinners, because Replicants are not experienced enough, or rather can't adapt to the situation so quickly to be most effective....

William shook his head, trying to banish unnecessary thoughts, enjoying, as much as was even possible, the air of the morning Hell.

"I wonder... should we try to develop a theme with mental weaves to tweak some of the Sinners somewhat, making them like, if not better versions of, the Replicants?", once again William returned to the entertaining line of thought.

Right, why not just augment the Replicants with a better version of decision-making capability and develop their creativity? No, it's still possible to somehow build a schema-enchantment-formula for a different way of generating practical ideas for his creations, but it's complicated...

Anyway, William shook his head again, for the sake of distraction, turning his attention to the more practical aspects of his reality.

On the sort of pair of Sinners that were still walking around near the Embassy, if not in the streets of the Cursed City.

William was even a little surprised that there were idiots other than he and Charlie who thought it was possible to walk the streets of Extermination, maybe even get something to eat, if not something worse. Those, apparently, decided for themselves that if Silence and "some woman" could go out, then why couldn't they, the "real guys," do the same?

But even so, the only thing that really embarrassed William was not such an attitude of the Sinners to their souls, but ...

" Did you have to ask to be held in your arms one more time?" - William asked in a tired voice, holding the adult girl with both hands. His tired tone had prevailed for the past couple weeks, especially given the need for reform and change in the Silence, especially after the first space expansion tests.

First to try things out on 'volunteers' from the Sinners that would live there for a few months, preferably a couple years, and then we could create a small garden of our own... maybe even a sanctuary.....

" Yes." - replied succinctly and Charlie nodded, clenching her arms tighter around William's neck. Princess Ada dressed up in her ceremonial gown again, black gloves again, again a small crown on a golden waterfall gathered in a ponytail. The lush red dress, resembling a flower with its petals, developed slightly in the wind, exposing dark shoes on a dark human foot. - "You know mom would...! " - Charlie tried to turn up her nose, but William didn't let her waste his nerves.

"Your mother personally informed me of your current clothing, giving me recommendations for its care and cleaning from possible blood." - William's voice sealed with a sharp squeeze of his head into Charlie's shoulders, whose cheeks were beginning to blush. - All the clothes, Charlie. - William added in a grave voice, forcing the Princess to look away.

" ...Do I feel like it?" - Charlie said quietly, snuggling tighter against William. - "It's quieter and easier here..." - Charlie admitted almost in a whisper, allowing herself to relax and let go of William's tight hold on her.

" Just because Adam can't take you seriously, especially when the Princess of Hell herself can't just stand next to you on the platform?" - William asked rhetorically, already envisioning an answer so similar to another soul so close to him.

" Adam doesn't take me seriously enough as it is, so... Why not just enjoy something where I unacceptably lose?" - Charlie said calmly, raising her eyes to the Clock of Doom, whose golden hands were inexorably approaching the appointed hour.

" Worried?" - William changed his tone to a softer one, clenching his hands tighter. The corners of Charlie's lips lifted, and she shook her head.

" Oddly enough, no." - Charlie exhaled, staring at the spot above the Embassy where the portal should appear. - "I'm calm now, which is odd, because I remember exactly how I was pissing myself and... you off yesterday." - Charlie admitted, embarrassed and flushed in the end, not looking at William's mask.

"Maybe just burned out?" - William suggested lazily, watching as the streets below them became increasingly empty, with only the most foolish, if not enterprising Sinners, most likely the very first victims of the Cleanup, left to roam.

" Maybe..." - Charlie said aloofly, nodding. - "Uh... What about you? How are you feeling?" - The Princess asked cautiously, ready to immediately pull back and apologize, looking William straight in the eye.

A heavy sigh, the blue stars faded for a moment, lighting up with a new, dimmer light, looking back at the purple eyes.

"I prefer not to think about it." - William said dryly, receiving a short, slightly curt nod from Charlie, who fell silent and returned to her thoughts.

William followed her example, no longer trying to start a pointless conversation that had been discussed more than once yesterday.

They must meet Adam and the Valkyries, see their mood and disposition, beginning to adjust their actions and plans from there.

Then, Charlie and William must get Adam to talk to them, preferably somewhere in the Embassy, maybe in the air or somewhere else, even on Charlie's private balcony at Morning Dawn Manor.

William, on the other hand, will meditate. Disappear in a flash, ending up in one of the Embassy rooms... if he realizes from the remnants of the connection that Sera has decided to make the 'call' after all... If so, then... they'll talk... I guess.

If not, William would just join Adam and Charlie.

No more thinking about it, he didn't...

A burst of energy. Golden energy. Holy Miracle.

The golden portal reopened over the Ring of Pride. The extermination of one thousand nine hundred and forty-eight was beginning.

Charlie perked up, straightening up as much as was even possible with her position in William's arms, whose white palms stood out against the purple layers of the puffy dress. The Princess of Hell tried to give herself the most disposed look possible, something between Lilith's gaze and Lucifer's relaxed demeanor.

William, on the other hand... He simply covered his eyes, allowing himself to take in what was revealed. The light, almost forgotten, was like a breath of fresh air after twenty-four hours in a stuffy office. William...

He had "called" Sera more than once, knowing that it would be in the form of an abstract dream, full of emotion, he didn't even know how Sera or Emily perceived such a thing. It was simple, a dream with no words, no extra emotions or experiences. He could feel those... feel their sincere emotions, which was enough.....

But, now, they had to talk.

William even felt the urge to close himself off from the anticipated feeling, like the last coward, running away from the consequences under the thundering of his heart...

Surprise.

William exhaled raggedly, clenching his palms on the exquisite fabric.

Now, the Fallen Archangel knew that She knew, that She could feel him just as much, that She... had really decided to talk.

William tried to regain his breath, tried not to plunge into the sensation too quickly...

"Hello!" - Waved a hand at a smiling Charlie Morningstar, looking at the multitude of Valkyries flying out of the portal, frozen behind her...

"Howdy, Snowflake." - waved Adam's hand, with a slight golden smile and a relaxed look on his dark helmet, looking at the two-"My favorite pair of idiots, the Princess of this Cesspool and the amazingly brave, smart, handsome, strong Sinner." - Adam shook his finger approvingly. - "Give your shit, baby." - Adam waved his hand, smiling.

William... couldn't remember when the Adam he knew had smiled like that. He could remember how he had smirked at Lute, whom he had slept with before, when he was late, could remember how Adam had rejoiced at the absence of work, because he had done it in advance for some time, marveling that if you did things in advance, you could be free later....

This same Adam was... more alive.

"...Please go back to Heaven, we won't allow another rebellion ourselves?" - Charlie spoke less confidently, smiling embarrassedly as she looked at the Valkyries.

" Fuck no!" - Adam shook his head merrily, folding his arms across his chest, with Lute hovering beside him, looking at the Princess without a single emotion, not even the usual smirk or smile.

" I also made cookies! " - exclaimed the Princess, from the golden light embodying a steel tray with a still hot product with chocolate.

" О!"

" Really?!"

" How nice!"

"Sir..." - Lute tiredly exhaled, smacking her face with the palm of her hand. - "You don't know how to cast female voices." - Lut's bare eyes looked at Adam, whose hands were frozen on his cheeks.

"But it's so cute...! To think like this shit has any chance of stopping us!" - Adam's high, childish voice grew more cheerful with each word, returning to his usual tone, almost turning to laughter at the end. - "Ladies, fuck these assholes, too relaxed that even from here I can see the fuckers!" - almost laughed Adam, whose soft smile became a cruel grin in an instant.

William... saw Charlie's hands drop down, nearly dropping the honestly baked cookies, his Weave dissolving the failed "PP plan" into blue strands of energy. Fallen was trying to get used to the overly animated old friend that seemed to have a new source of energy, compared to the "old self" that seemed like a shell of some sort.

The black cloud of Valkyries let out a single battle cry, beginning to fly downward, straight at the fleeing Sinners, beginning the annual symphony of screams and deaths.

Curiosity. Caution. Joy.

William's head twitched, the rest of his thoughts erased from his mind, and his chest immediately grew heavy, beginning to press painfully.

Adam, along with Lute, flew up to them. The former seemed to be in some park, looking at them as they flew up, as if they were just housemates with whom to have a nice chat or scold someone. Lut, on the other hand, was glad to see them, meaning she wasn't looking at Charlie with a desire to kill, whose mask lacked the usual scowl and wariness in his holo-eyes.

" Howdy, Snowflake, what is it this time?" - Adam asked cheerfully, as if they had met a dozen times before, not for the second time, after a year's break. Lut was flapping her wings just above her Commander, holding a golden saber in her left hand. Her eyes gazed intently at the Princess, occasionally casting glances at the motionless William.

"...Can we make a pact?" - Charlie said in an uncertain voice, lifting herself from William's arms, turning her body toward the Archangel. - "We, as Princess and Lord, will be obligated to keep an eye on the Sinners..." - she began to recite from memory the points of the contract she had drawn up beforehand, curling her fingers, looking away.

"Nope, already been there, little one." - Adam shook his head, and Lute repeated after the Commander.

" ... " - Charlie's eyes began to run across the red sky, fingers beginning to graze against each other.

" ...How about...?" 

" You can look at the cards if you want, Snowflake." - Adam nodded favorably, continuing to smile, unnerving William and Charlie.

"Oh, thank you!" - Smiled gratefully at Charlie, tugging the edge of William's cloak. The blue stars of the white mask faded for a moment, and several small rectangular cards immediately appeared in Charlie's hands. Charlie's eyes raced over the text, moving from card to card, she paid no attention to the smirking Adam... looking strangely at William. Only Lute was the model of an angel, keeping an eye on the surrounding perimeter, nodding faintly to William when their gazes met.

" ...So... You still don't want cookies?" - Charlie asked aloofly, looking at the cards. Adam shrugged, Lut didn't react in any way. - "...Can we talk? Somewhere...discuss this matter more..." - Charlie chose her words carefully, hiding the cards in her hands, covering those with dark gloves.

Charlie didn't know Adam as well as William did, having only his stories... Also his parents' book, their short stories about the time in Eden when he wanted to control her mother... Charlie wisely didn't mention the latter, not in front of William, not in front of the Head of the Slayers himself, the one... just preparing herself for the possibility....

"No problem, babe." - Adam waved his hand lazily, nodding. He flew a little closer, Lut hovering silently behind him. - "What did you want?" - Adam asked ingratiatingly, leaning toward Charlie, who was suddenly uncomfortable with her position in William's arms.

William, and Charlie as well, was surprised at such...ease and cooperation from Adam. The former had expected at least a semblance of last year, maybe a little better or easier, but...

"If this is what a wedding year does to a person, I'm already scared for the future...", William thought, looking at an indifferent Lute, not reacting in any way to Adam's behavior.

It wasn't that Charlie expected Adam to come throw some kind of party to celebrate the return of his wife... She certainly wasn't hoping that Eve could somehow convince him that killing human souls was a bad thing....

" Actually... I'd like to talk at the Embassy? I mean, you know that's where demons and angels can sit down at the negotiating table, discuss important issues and..." - Charlie returned to her businesslike tone, doing her best to show herself as a serious and important figure. An important figure who was being held in her arms, but Charlie tried to ignore it.

Meanwhile, the screams, forgotten for a year, filled Pentagram City. The extermination was in full swing. Smiling angels swooped down, taking souls, Sinners ran, hid, some tried to fight back, but all inevitably found their second death by angelic steel.

The weak Lords, out of desperation or blind faith in their own strength, tried to put up a fight. Fire from lit bottles, lightning, various gases, fireballs, bullets, arrows, nothing the Sinners tried could even hit the Smiling Angels. At most, it would throw them off course, slow them down for a few seconds, some Sinners even managed to escape, only to find their second death from another angel in dark armor.

Charlie wrinkled her nose at the horrible sounds, the nasty smell, snuggling into William.

" No problem." - Adam didn't let anyone react, diving down in a flash, diving straight for the Embassy entrance. Charlie, William, and Lute had only to look at each other in silence before Lute repeated after her Commander and William spun through the air.