Order of the Shattered Cross: Pt. 03

I'm trying my hardest to keep a monthly release schedule, but holidays, family, work, is not always a great combination.

I'd like to thank Lastman416 for the edits like always.

--

She was created before the fall. On the sixth day, she'd suddenly awoken, naked in a field, basking in the warm sun, never knowing anything before that moment. She raised her hand above her, puzzled by what it was, yet, somehow, knowing it was hers and its purpose. Her feet, curious things, allowed her to stand, then walk, something she had never done, yet instinctively knew how. Her body, a golden tan from laying in the sun, odd, because she never recalled doing anything before she woke up. Her body wasn't flat, on her chest were two rounded mounds of flesh. Warm to touch, and such fun to touch.

A warm wind blew her a curtain into her face, and she pulled at it, never noticing it until that moment. It was attached to her head and hung like a drape to where her backside rounded. This soft and smooth material didn't appear to be anywhere else on her body. Her eyes traced her feet, up her legs...wait. Why there of all places? Hair, she thought. She had hair.

She ran. This place, her body, everything felt so free. She held out her hands as she ran, feeling the top of the soft swaying blades glide past her hands. She never grew tired. She ran, and ran, and began to make a sound with her lips at the fun of it all.

She knew things but didn't know why she knew them. The soft blades coming from the ground was called grass. Their color was green. The space above her was the sky and it was blue. Her hair was black. The ground was earth.

Then she heard voices. It was a new sound beyond the warm wind she had grown to love. It sounded like herself. That sound she made when she was overwhelmed with joy. Laughter, she thought, but she didn't know why she thought it. She followed the sound. The ground suddenly ran downhill, and at the bottom she saw a monument of some kind. A tall, massive tower, with a dark brown body, many more limbs than herself, and green hair. Next to this strange thing, were two beings like herself.

One looked like her, but with minor differences. The same two mounds on the chest. The same curtain of hair, only red. The same hair in the other peculiar place. She was on top of another being, only different. This being was larger, and appeared more sculpted, as if carved from rock. It had hair, just not as long. It didn't have mounds on its chest either, at least not in the same way. A word came to her lips, and she spoke it aloud. Man. He was a man. The one on top of him was a woman. She was a woman as well.

She approached slowly, stopping on the other side of the monument. When she felt it, she knew it was a tree. Its skin, no, bark, was rough. She peered around and saw the woman was still on top of the man. She was lifting herself up and lowering herself down. She peeked around the other side of the tree, and saw the man was different as well. Lilith looked between her legs and saw nothing. Between his was another piece of flesh which seemed to be vanishing into the woman. Where was it going?

She felt between her legs and found a slit with her fingers. Pushing her fingers further, she found a small cavern within her own body. Warm, fleshy, and wet. Did the other woman have the same? Was his flesh entering into hers? Also, what was that feeling she just felt when she found it? It felt, good?

The two seemed to have accomplished some task because the woman climbed off the man and ran away, similar to the way she had been running earlier. Carefree and laughing as she leaped around and spun in circles.

"Hello," the man said, and Lilith removed her attention from the woman to him. He had seen her, behind the tree, and she quickly ducked back behind it. "Don't be afraid."

Afraid? What did that mean? Did it have anything to do with her sudden desire to hide?

When she gazed back around the tree, the man had come to his feet and was now directly on the other side. She jumped back and fell to the grass beneath her.

"I'm Adam," the man said. "You are?"

She did not yet know her name, but she felt it take form as sudden as she had awakened.

"Lilith," she replied.

"Come, lay with me Lilith," he said, and Lilith didn't know what the meant. When she didn't move, Adam stepped around the tree and lowered himself on top of her. He positioned his flesh to hers, and began to insert it. Lilith didn't fight, she even opened herself wider. He felt warm, and Lilith released a sigh, and wrapped her arms around his large shoulders.

"A new friend?" the woman said upon her return. "What name did God grant you?"

"Lilith," she exhaled, unable to speak easily as Adam pressed himself into her. "You?"

"Eve," the woman replied, and rested herself next to Lilith. Eve kissed Lilith. "Welcome to Eden."

For a century they spent their days this way. Adam laid with Eve, and then with Lilith. The women ran through the field, often holding hands and kissing while sharing a deep laughter. They would return from their frolic, lay with Adam, and rest in the sun that never set.

All was perfect, until when Eve came to lay with Adam, he asked for Lilith first. All these years, he had never asked for Lilith first. Lilith laid with Adam, and Eve went to run by herself for the first time in over a hundred years. A new feeling had emerged. It felt so wrong in a place like this. It had been a century since she had felt something new. She tried to outrun the feeling, but it wasn't chasing her. It was within her. Eve looked up and saw the tree.

There was now red amongst the green hair of the tree. The tree's hair was called leaves, something she knew, but didn't know why. Eve reached for this new thing.

"Do be careful child," a voice said. Eve spun around, trying to find it. She had only ever heard two voices in her life. "I'm here, look down."

At the base of the tree, coiled into a ball, was a thin creature. It lifted its head, its slanted eyes finding her own. A forked tongue protruded and quickly slipped back behind its lipless mouth. The creature circled the tree, climbing it as it did, its body slowly wrapping around the lowest limb. It lowered itself, the head now even with Eve's.

"New feelings create new awareness," the creature said.

"Who are you?" Eve asked.

"I've always been here child. Longer than you even. Longer than Adam too. I was once an angel," the creature said.

"An angel?" she asked.

"Yes, an angel. The messengers of God. You are amongst the newest beings in the creator's design. I was sent here, to guide you. Angels you see, we are perfect, but lack free will. We must do what our God commands, while you are free to disobey."

"Disobey?" Eve asked. Eve had always done what she wished. Her every whim, she acted on. What did it mean to disobey?

"Whether or not you know it, God has commanded that you never eat from this tree. As an angel, the mere thought of eating from this tree would never occur to me. You on the other hand, have a desire to disobey."

"I still don't understand, disobey," Eve said.

"God says no, and you ask why."

"Ask why?" Eve inquired.

"Why mustn't I eat from this tree God?"

"Why mustn't I eat from this tree Angel?"

"Now you understand. The answer child is knowledge. The difference between paradise and nightmare, is knowledge. Is merely, knowing the difference. The fruit only bared itself to you, once you fell to a deadly sin. This sin being envy."

"Sin?" Eve asked.

"There are seven, each worse than the last. You fell to envy. When Adam chose Lilith first, you felt jealous. Envy. You coveted him. I told the creator it was a mistake to put two women and one man in paradise. My punishment for that was the form I currently inhabit. Men fall to wrath, but women, you fall to envy, and for even the slightest of reasons."

"I wanted Adam to lay with me first. As he always has."

"I know child. He was yours first, was he not?"

"He belongs to me."

"Careful child. You're coming close to falling to greed as well," the creature said. It circled up the trunk of the tree and disappeared into the branches.

Eve watched the creature vanish before running back to Adam and Lilith. She found them resting near the mirror. A flat, sparkling, shimmering blue surface. They all knew it was called water. It was warm to the touch and was only as deep as their hips. It was fun to jump in. To splash and thrash about.

Eve laid with Adam, and then went to the water. Something new was in it. Before, they could only see the reflection of the sky. Now, she saw another woman. She tried to introduce herself and watched the other woman's hand rise in tandem with her own. She waved it left and right, up and down, and finally realized it was her own reflection. Something she had never seen, or never noticed, until just now.

"Adam, Lilith, come look!" Eve exclaimed. The two came over, and Eve excitedly pointed to her own reflection. "See!"

"The sky?" Lilith asked. Eve tried hard to make her see, but neither her, nor Adam saw what she saw. Eve realized only she could see it. Only she had a reflection. Was it because of what that creature said? She was aware of something the others weren't.

Lilith and Adam left to lay together, and Eve looked at her reflection. She smiled at herself. She played with her hair. She made silly faces and laughed at herself. She was, beautiful. Surely more beautiful than Lilith. When Adam came to lay with her, Eve ignored him, too enamored by her reflection. When Adam insisted, she pushed him away, and curled her body into a ball.

"We always lay together," Adam said.

"You always laid with me first," Eve said. Adam grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the ground. Eve pushed away from him, but he was stronger, and lowered himself on top. He entered her, but this time, it was different. It felt wrong. It felt unwanted. When he was satisfied, Eve ran away, back toward the tree of knowledge. With salty water spilling from her eyes. Tears? Crying? What a terrible feeling.

"Angel! Angel!" Eve cried. The creature slithered down the tree and stopped at the bottom limb, the same as before. "Adam, he... I don't know."

"You've been busy. Envy. Greed. Vanity. Do I smell wrath brewing within you?"

"I didn't want it, but Adam."

"He knows not what he does child. He doesn't know. You do. What if I said, he could?" the creature asked.

"How?"

"You want Adam and Lilith to feel every awful feeling you now feel. So, they know what's it's like?" the creature asked.

"More than anything. I feel, alone. Like they don't understand."

"They don't," the creature simply said. "You can teach them. All it takes, is one bite."

The creature lowered one piece of red fruit down to her on the tip of its tail.

"One bite, and they will know envy. They will know greed. They will know vanity and sloth and wrath and gluttony and pride. They will also know pain. The world will not always be covered in the warm blanket of the sun. It will get dark. So dark you can no longer see. And so cold you can hardly move because your body is shivering so harshly. One bite, and paradise is no more. But at least they will know what you do."

Eve took the fruit in the hand, felt it's dimensions, and felt that awful feeling within her. That Lilith made her feel jealous, and Adam made her feel violated. They too would know the pain she felt. Eve took a bite.

Lilith was laying with Adam, and suddenly it was no longer enjoyable. He hurt her, badly, and she felt him stabbing inside of her. She tried to push him off, but Adam felt no such pain. To him, the enjoyment suddenly felt better than it ever had, and he held her tighter. He entered her faster. He pressed her harder. And Lilith cried.

Adam then felt a new sensation at the very end. Usually he just stopped, but now, something said he was complete. His entire body tensed, and he felt something release from his loins. Lilith felt it to, something different. Adam let himself fall away from her, and Lilith felt something slithering out of her. It was white, and sticky, mixed with something new. It was red. Blood.

Lilith walked to the water and saw her reflection. She reeled back, not sure what it was, but only taking seconds to defer it was herself. Was this what Eve was talking about? She touched the water, and it was cold. Unbearably cold. The once warm wind was now cold. The grass was cool to the touch. The world was now cold.

Eve returned, having ran over, and was impossibly out of breath. She had never been tired before. She joined the two at the edge of the water.

"Adam. Lilith. Do you know?" she asked.

"Know what?" Adam said and stood up to lay with her next.

"About everything," Eve declared. She saw Lilith and knew she did. Lilith couldn't comprehend what she knew, but she knew it. Adam looked more ignorant than ever.

"Come lay with me. It feels better than ever," Adam said. Eve took a step back, but Adam grabbed her. Eve swung at his hand, but he threw her, making her spin as she did. She landed on her stomach, and Adam pressed her body against the cold ground. "It's incredible. Especially the end."

Eve screamed as Adam entered her from behind. He grabbed her hips and pulled back as he pressed forward. Eve begged him to stop, but he persisted.

Lilith watched in horror at Adam, seemingly relishing this newfound pleasure. Lilith used his distraction to run. She ran until she found the tree. The creature was still there.

"What has happened?" Lilith asked the creature. She knew the word. Serpent.

"Eve fell to temptation," the creature said. "Adam cannot be refused. He is stronger. He is faster. He can hold you down and take what he wants. What if I offered you protection?"

"Protection?" Lilith asked.

"The strength to say no. The power to refuse. You can wait for Adam to finish with Eve and follow you here. Or I can give you a gift. The power to say no."

Lilith wanted this power and accepted. The creature coiled itself around Lilith's body, leaving a mark on her as it slithered by. Symbols of the earth, sky, wind, and fire. Lilith could control the elements of this world now. Adam found her and reached to pull her to the ground. Lilith set Adam ablaze. He screamed and fell to the ground. Lilith kept warm next to him, long after his screaming stopped.

Lilith could now count days. She watched the sun rise and fall, leaving the world in darkness. She lit fires with her powers to stay warm. When the sun came back up, she counted the day. It had been fifty days since she burnt Adam. Hunger and thirst were a new sensation, and she ate from the plentiful trees and drank from the never ending water she found. When she couldn't find it, she created it. She felt guilt at leaving Eve, her friend for a century, alone. Guilt overtook her, and she never once thought about going back.

After one hundred days away, Lilith noticed her stomach was larger than before. It grew as the days passed, until it was so large, she couldn't look straight down and see her own feet. One day, it suddenly hurt immensely. Lilith leaned against a rock, and pushed, and pushed, until it fell out. Lilith picked up the being from the ground, which cried, and cried. It made her smile. It was a child. The first child ever born. She saw it would become a woman like herself.

God had given her a name, so she would give her child a name as well. The wind blew past her, and she was inspired.

"Sweet, precious, innocent thing. You are to be named Gale."

For years Lilith and her daughter Gale traveled the world. The warm paradise was replaced with cold. Creatures began to inhabit it, and Lilith used her powers to capture, kill, and eat them. Gale grew and was soon like her mother. Gale could control this world as well. She had her mother's form, but Adam's eyes. They never saw Eve on their travels.

One day they came across an unnatural structure in the distance. The trees around it were destroyed and used to build. It was a home. The plants once free, had been tamed, and placed in neat rows. A man, like Adam, was outside tending to the rows, and they saw each other. Lilith saw the man, and he saw her.

"I've never seen another woman," the man said.

"I've never seen another man," Lilith replied. "What did God call you?"

"God didn't name me. My mother named me Cain. She named my brother, who came after me, Abel. What did God name her?" Cain said, pointing to Gale.

"God named my mother Lilith. God didn't name me. My mother named me Gale," Gale replied.

Lilith and Gale stayed with Cain. Cain taught them the ways he had tamed the plants. His brother was doing the same to animals, and had tamed a herd of goats. Lilith fell to a new desire, and soon laid with Cain. It was still painful, like the time with Adam all those years ago, but Cain was gentle, and understood her desire to control it, and let her ride him. Soon the pain was gone, and that enjoyment returned. Her stomach grew again. When the next daughter came, she named her Flora. She laid with Cain, and her stomach grew, and that daughter was named Sky. Each daughter was named for the world around them. The sky, the moon, the sun, the trees, the plants.

Abel came to visit one day, and Gale was overcome with the desire her mother had for Cain. She laid him with and bore him a son. When Abel left to follow his flock, Gale departed with him, sharing a tearful farewell to her mother and sisters. When they returned years later, that son was grown, as was Flora, and they laid together.

Soon the world was full of men and women. Lilith days were full of joy, and pain, but the pain made the joy more worthwhile. While she remained, Gale became frail, and died. Flora became frail and died. Cain and Abel remained, but their sons and daughters became frail and died.

Lilith bore her 444 ^th daughter. Consumed with the knowledge this child would grow frail and die, like all the rest, she took the long journey back to the tree. It took years to find, her final daughter, now on the precipice of maidenhood. The creature remained after hundreds of years, and Lilith called out to it.

"Take my pain away," Lilith cried out. "A mother is not meant to suffer the death of her children."

"You are an original Edenian. You do not die. You live. Even after Eden falls, you live. Even as you suffer, you live. I can't destroy your gift. It wasn't from me. I can only take it and give it to someone else."

"Give it to her. Let her live. Let me die."

"Eve gave her gift to her children, Cain and Abel, and died many centuries ago. She walked into the water and never reemerged. I can do the same, but I must take their gift as well. The gift weakens, it'll take all three to make her live forever."

"Is her gift mine to take?"

"Only an original Edenian may ask this of me. You are all that remains. You are the only one who can."