Work Text:
Emily walked down the hallway, holding a small white lily in her hand. She anxiously fingered at the soft white petals.
During the recent extermination, the first man Adam, leader of the exorcist army, was murdered in the battle, and to commemorate him there was going to be a funeral service held in his honor.
Emily had never been fond of Adam. Anytime she was around Adam, he’d constantly antagonize and annoy her. She especially came to despise him after she found out about the exterminations he conducted down in hell every year. The little trust she had in Adam was shattered the moment she learned about all the deaths that were on his hands.
But regardless, Emily had to show up to the service to at least show him a little respect. What kind of angel would she be, disrespecting the first man himself?
As Emily neared the end of the hall, however, muffled sounds of voices wafted from the room the service was being held in. It sounded like some sort of argument. Curious, Emily placed an ear on the door to hear what it was about.
“I don’t understand why I have to be at this stupid funeral service anyways! It’s not like it changes the fact that Adam is dead.”
“Lute, I know you’re upset, but please, calm down. The other angels of heaven will be showing up soon, and I can’t have you lashing out like this in front of them.”
Emily immediately recognized who the voices belonged to. The first was Lute, Adam’s lieutenant. Emily had barely spoken to Lute, but she always felt rather fearful around her. While Lute had never antagonized her the same way that Adam had, she’d always glare at Emily with callous eyes, as though she was silently judging her. And Emily could barely even look at Lute now without anger boiling inside of her after learning about the extermination.
The second voice belonged to Sera, the high seraphim of heaven, who Emily almost saw as an older sister. Even after the revelation that Sera approved of the extermination, Emily still respected her deeply, and hoped that she’d finally see that the extermination was wrong now that a sinner had managed to redeem himself.
“Who the fuck cares what the other angels will think?! I’m allowed to be upset all I want!”
“Lute, for the lord’s sake, please calm down. Everything will be okay—“
“Don’t act like everything’s okay when it’s clearly not! Adam’s dead, and nothing will change the way I feel about it!”
Then angered footsteps resounded, and Emily quickly moved aside as Lute burst out the door and angrily stormed down the hall.
Emily just watched for a moment in shock. She didn’t know exactly what to think. Even though she hated Lute for killing thousands of innocent souls, Emily couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. Lute used to do everything with Adam. If Adam went somewhere, Lute would be by his side. The two were seen together so often, rumors circled around heaven that they were secretly dating. Many joked that someday Lute would become Adam’s third wife.
Even though Emily had never entirely believed those rumors, she knew that the two were undoubtedly close. And part of her wanted to bring Lute a little comfort. After all, it was Emily’s job to spread joy to the souls of heaven. Even if part of her wanted nothing to do with Lute, the other part of her wanted to help.
So as quietly as possible, Emily followed Lute down the hallway.
Near the other end of the hall, Lute opened a door, rushed inside, and slammed it right behind her.
Emily hesitated for a moment before she carefully placed an ear against the door to hear sobs sounding out from inside.
Pulling her ear away from the door, Emily took a deep breath and knocked.
The sobs imemdiately went silent as Lute’s voice echoed out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Emily, the other seraphim. I was wondering if I could come inside for a bit.”
At first, all Emily got in response was silence. She was about to turn away when Lute grumbled in annoyance, “Come in.”
Reluctantly, Emily opened the door and stepped inside, feeling the air grow tense as she came to face Adam’s lieutenant herself. She was sitting atop her bed, holding Adam’s halo in her hand. Emily winced at the sight of the torn bone remaining from the arm she’d lost.
Lute stared up at Emily with her usual stern expression, which made Emily feel rather uneasy. Emily honestly couldn’t believe she was going to try and bring comfort to someone like her.
“What are you here for?” Lute asked coldly, narrowing her eyes at Emily.
“I noticed you seemed upset, and I just wanted to make sure you were alright…” Emily started, her voice trembling as she spoke.
Immediately Lute turned away from her. “It’s nothing. Now leave me alone.”
Yet still, Emily was persistent. Stepping forwards, she continued, “I know that Adam’s death is probably a lot for you… and I was wondering if I could help you at all.”
Lute let out a small laugh. “Help me?” She scoffed. “As if that’ll do anything to change the fact that Adam’s dead.”
“I know nothing’s going to bring Adam back…” Emily went on, anxiously taking another step, “But I wanted to help you feel better about it.”
“That would be pointless,” Lute said with a sigh, her grip on Adam’s halo growing tighter, “Nothing will make me feel any better.” Then she fell silent, lowering her head to look down at Adam’s halo.
Emily wasn’t sure what to say. She wanted to do something to help , but how was she supposed to help somebody who didn’t believe anything could get better?
For now, Emily simply continued inching forwards. She half expected Lute to protest, but Lute stayed silent, simply gazing down at Adam’s halo within her trembling fingers.
Emily kept moving forwards until she took a seat on the bed beside Lute. She remained silent, simply watching Lute curiously. Lute just sat there, eyes fixated on Adam’s halo as tears began to form in her eyes.
“I just… I don’t know what I’m going to do without him…” she muttered through tears, “Everything I did was for him, and now that he’s gone…” she sniffed, “What even is my purpose anymore…? And now that a sinner has managed to enter heaven…” she clenched her hand tight around Adam’s halo as she spoke, “Will there even be any future exterminations…?”
Emily remained silent for a moment, deep in thought. She’d never fully realized that the exorcist’s only reason to exist was to slaughter the souls in hell. They didn’t have a purpose beyond that one goal. So to possibly have that purpose ripped away from them? She couldn’t blame Lute for feeling upset.
“I’m sorry about that…” Emily started back up again, her voice soft and somber, “I never realized.”
Lute took a breath, trying to compose herself. “Listen, Emily, or whatever the fuck your name is, I’m sorry I was acting all pissed at you. I just… I’m usually not this much of an emotional wreck.”
“It’s okay,” Emily reassured her, “You’re allowed to feel however you’d like.”
“I just can’t help but feel upset,” Lute went on, running a finger along the edge of Adam’s halo, “I’ve taken orders from him my whole fucking life, and now he’s fucking dead…”
Emily was quiet. She honestly didn’t know what she say. What was she supposed to say to someone whose entire purpose was to kill and to follow orders?
“What good will I do as the new leader of the exorcists when I can’t even sit through a fucking funeral service without nearly having a panic attack?” She continued in a wavering voice, “I’ll never be able to live up to him like this…”
Emily found herself fingering at the lily once again, feeling the soft white petals against her fingertips. She glanced at Lute for a moment, then back at the flower.
“Listen,” Emily said slowly, “I know this probably won’t help very much right now… but here. Take this.” And as carefully as she could, she leaned over and placed the lily in Lute’s hair.
Lute put down Adam’s halo for a moment and raised her hand to feel the lily in her hair. “What’s this for…?”
“Flowers always make me feel better,” Emily said softly, “And perhaps a flower will make you feel better too.”
Lute was just silent as she carefully pulled the lily out of her hair and inspected it in palm of her hand.
“I know you may feel lost right now,” Emily said reassuringly, “But I promise, things will get better eventually. You just need to make it through this pain before things can improve.”
Emily hoped that these words would help, but instead anger flashed across Lute’s golden eyes.
“There’s no point in lying to me,” Lute said, raising her voice at Emily, “Nothing will get better. Adam’s dead. The person who was my entire world is dead.”
“But there’s so much more for you outside of following his commands,” Emily tried to continue, “Your life doesn’t have to revolve around Adam anymore. You can be your own person. You can make make your own decisions—“
“I don’t want to exist if Adam isn’t with me!” Lute snapped, getting right into Emily’s face, “I can’t be anything without him! Now leave my room!”
“But—“
“Leave!” Lute shouted again, tossing the flower on the floor in fury.
Emily was dead silent for a moment, frozen in shock as she stared into Lute’s angered eyes.
But then she backed away as she quickly murmured, “Right… I’ll leave now. I’m sorry for making you mad.”
“Good,” Lute said coldly, “And don’t come back.”
Quickly Emily shuffled back across the floor, and as soon as she was out in the hall, Lute slammed the door shut behind her.
Emily wished she could help more. But she didn’t want to piss Lute off more than she already did. So, giving up, she just started making her way back to the funeral service again. All she could do now was hope that Lute would take her words into consideration.
Lute curled up on her bed, holding Adam’s halo close to her chest as she fought back tears. Her entire mind was racing. Why did those filthy sinners have to take Adam away from her? She needed him. She was nothing without him.
Through her tearful eyes, she spotted the white lily Emily had given her, which was now lying on the floor.
Carefully, Lute put the halo down and got off the bed, kneeling down beside the lily. Picking it up, she ran a finger along the edges of its petals.
It wouldn’t do anything to help her. It couldn’t bring Adam back from the dead.
But even still, she took the lily back over to the bed. After sitting down, she began tying the stem of the lily around Adam’s halo. While she struggled a little doing it one-handed, she eventually got it in place.
Staring down at Adam’s halo, she thought back on Emily’s words. She knew she was her own person. She knew she was allowed to make decisions for herself. And her choice was to serve Adam; she wanted nothing more than to fulfill his wishes. Even if he was gone.
“I promise, Adam,” she whispered softly, “I’ll ensure all those sinners will suffer and die, just as you’d want.”