Chapter Text
Adam stared at the tree before him. There lay the tree of knowledge — of good and evil, the origin of sin. In another world, his wife Eve would take the apple and spell the downfall of humanity. Eve would vanish; no one knew where she went, nor could they find her. Rumors whispered she either fell into hell or simply ceased to exist. Nothing was confirmed, though some stories felt uncomfortably close to truth.
And once upon a time, because of this apple, heaven made some very questionable decisions that left the first of humanity in state it was in now. On Earth, good and evil walked hand in hand, violence and compassion, only pushed further by the appearance of demons. Who see his kin as nothing more than cattle. Toys to pass the the time and Hell's rulers did nothing to stop it. After all, humans should have never found out about nuclear weapons in the first place. Who knew items from hell would react violently when brought onto earth? It's like finding remote area throw away your trash.But the area in question is actually Earth. And his descendants, integrated it into their everyday life. Knowing, yet unknowing, that it was slowly killing them more and more. Maybe it even infected their intelligence. But then again, the other time Heaven tried to teach them, the Watchers incident happened. And so, Earth was primarily left alone. But still, they could have checked in more. He could have checked in more. Once upon a time, because of this apple, Lilith and Lucifer, both frustrated by their circumstances — one believing he was capable of far more, the other certain she was being oppressed — found themselves aligned in their discontent. Once upon a time, because of this apple; he and Eve would be thrown from their homes out into the wilderness to survive. One to toil away for the rest of his life, and the other to feel the pain she brought to this world. Adam treated his sons very differently . And due to jealousy and hate, his eldest son would kill the youngest, his brother, Abel. Because of this action, Adam would distance himself from his youngest son. After all, it was his fault, was it not? He should have raised them better. He should not have left him to Eve alone. Women's work, huh? What a fucking joke. Cuz' once upon a time, humanity lived practically wrapped in sin. Some could go to heaven, others to hell, and heaven barely paid attention to the ones still struggling below.
Adam and his girls would go down there every year for the last seven years to exterminate those shitty disgusting losers. Adam didn't regret what he did. The sinner down there were monsters. They killed, murdered, raped, plundered the world in chaos. What he regrets, truly, was allowing this world to exist so long.Truly, he wondered, how could Emily even say those were poor souls down there? What about the victims up here? Sure, they lived a life of luxury and probably would forgive their tormentors, but could any of them really change like that? People who've caused so much damage to lives, hurting people so horribly, how could any of them truly forgive them?Then again, he didn't interact much with the populace in Heaven, other than concerts or one hookup. Maybe that was another one of his faults.
Adam had spent a thousand years — ten thousand, to be exact — wondering what it would be like if he could stop this event from ever happening. Then he got his wish. Sort of. He went back, determined to stop them. A blessing, truly… except that wasn’t how it played out.
No matter what Adam did, in some shape or form, evil entered the earth. It didn’t matter whether he went with Eve or not. It didn’t matter whether he stopped her from eating that damn apple. One way or another, darkness found its way in.
Once upon a time, Adam thought back to his last battle with his daughters, fighting against rotten, stubborn sinners below, and remembered his final words. Worship him, huh? The greatest blasphemy of all. He wondered why the big man upstairs even allowed him to come back after everything he’d done. It took over a thousand resets just to reach this moment.
Adam thought back to the battle he lost. If only they were better prepared. If only they never left the angelic steel back down there. But then again, the idea of letting them slowly kill each other out by leaving the tools The tool for their destruction was also a good plan.
The final battle made something painfully clear: why had any of this happened in the first place? Lilith — left the garden because Adam pressured her. He admitted he could be a bit much, which was saying something. Lucifer disliked Adam because of Lilith — because he believed Adam repressed Lilith. Eve left him because she wanted to be more than just Adam’s wife. His wife. His children stopped speaking to him because his personality .Sera and the others in heaven’s council no longer looked at him with the same joy they once had.
Back to the beginning. He and Lilith were basically best friends. What had gone wrong? Lilith said that he wanted to control her. Back then, he didn't understand. All he did was follow orders. Was it so wrong? Was it so wrong to just want to help the people that basically created you and listen to them?Adam supposes he'll never really understand. Even after letting Lilith in Heaven after-their-deal, he never really did get a clear answer.
So Adam wondered: what could he possibly do now? There didn’t seem to be a way to fix this. Sin felt inevitable. Everyone would fall, and his family would crumble.
Unless… staring at the tree again… he would fall.
He had never truly eaten the apple, had he? Looking down at his unclothed body, he wondered. Something had changed within Eve when she took the bite. Would it change him too, at the very least? Maybe this time, he could be the example.
An example to all of humanity from now on to never take this fruit. Adam wasn't worried about Eve. Heaven will make a new man for her. At the very least, Eve would be safe, and any children that she have would be sin free. They would be happy. But Adam also thought if he did this, he would never see Lute again. And the others he grew to know would either cease to exist, or they wouldn't be the same, if that fucking sci-fi nonsense was to believed. Then again, the other option was to live his life all over again and go through the same problems. Adam knew he couldn't change himself, nor was he trying to. At the very least, he might do something truly good in the end. For his family.
Sera had already taken his rib, so they were in the process of making Eve. Soon, Lilith and Lucifer would tempt her to sin, but...
But what if the punishment was already delivered before that moment ever came?
Adam smiled. He reached out, plucked one of the fruits, and took a bite.