Warnings for: body horror.
Truth be told, Eve found the desert unappealing. It lacked too many of the qualities she had grown accustomed to in her home and reminded her again the poor craftsmanship of God; then again, what place on Earth could possibly compare to home? Peaceful, beautiful, and filled with her loving children, finally safe in their mother's arms…
They should have been safe. Their crying out now pained her. She felt the long-teethed leviathan devouring them already. They were running, running, and crying out to her, to Mother for protection. She knew she had to hurry back to their aid.
Soon, she promised them. She felt the stirrings in her belly, the sparks of life that yearned to be born. They had waited so long, so patient for the gift of life. It would be cruel to deny them now that they had their chance.
Eve walked through the desert, seeing with many eyes as she guided her dead ones through her perfect paradise away from the ravenous leviathan. Her unborn writhed inside of her like maggots. Incomplete. But they could be such beautiful babies. They were always such delightful surprises, her sweet ones. She couldn't wait anymore to finally meet them.
But first she must meet their sire.
And if she wasn't mistaken, she would be. Now.
She had smelled the blood and smoke across oceans and followed it here, purely curious. Her own weren't responsible. What sort of creature had been born in this world and how had it come into being here, the golden land where God abhorred abominations and monsters? She heard such shrieks and screams, from so many voices. It touched something deep inside her. Tiny voices mewling for blood. What kind of mother would she be to keep it from them?
The village lay in rubble and ruin, same as the others she had passed; torn to pieces by a power that brought an appreciative moan to Eve's throat. It was as quiet as it had been for the last leg of Eve's journey. She heard no heartbeats for miles. She saw no humans; none coming out for help, none cowering in fear. From the blood spilled, she would say that the last soul had passed minutes ago.
The creature, still circling (relishing) the devastation it had caused, was as lovely as Eve could have hoped for in a sire. Something wretched turned something unique. A furious, burning spirit, a blistering swirling wind of death. Something she had never met before.
And as soon as she did meet her, Eve knew she was looking at something new. Something God would have never intended. Something his creation could have never imagined, and would never survive. Something God would try to stamp out, like one of the few beautiful sparks in his dull, ugly world. Eve could not allow it.
As soon as she met her, Eve knew she would love her.
She went to her through sand, making no attempt to disguise her approach. The creature's white eyes tracked her from the sky and made no attempt to attack. And why should she? Same as Eve was drawn to her, the creature could tell a kindred spirit. A fellow monster.
Once Eve had arrived beneath her, the creature asked, "What are you?"
"My name is Eve. I'm many things. To you, I'd like to be a friend," she answered. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, I think. What are you?"
"Lilith."
"Lilith," Eve repeated, tasting it. Her unborn squirmed and reached out. She smiled. "Lilith, tell me, who made you? Was it God?"
Lilith snarled, a black storm in the sky. Her agony and rage crackled in her voice like thunder. "God abandoned me. He left me like this!"
Eve frowned in sympathy. She wished she could say she was surprised, but she had known that same pain once, a long time ago. "I'm sorry."
"I want to kill him," Lilith hissed. "I want to kill all of them. But I can't. Why can't I? Michael locked Lucifer away, where I can't reach… and then they all ran away! They all left me like this! They left me to die!"
"Why did Michael lock Lucifer away?" Eve asked. She wouldn't have imagined anything could turn those two against each other. "Why did they leave?"
Lilith's eyes flashed white at her. "Lucifer did this to me and they all know it. But they didn't help me. They locked him away and burned the keys in my head. I don't understand. Why would they do that? They want me to die before he does. It's not fair. I didn't do anything wrong, he did. Why do I have to die too?"
"Because God hates reminders of his failures," Eve said. "Anything that doesn't fit into his plan has to be eliminated. He wants me to die, too." She bared her teeth in a smile for Lilith. "But why should we die for him, after he's done so little for us? I live, and so do my babies. We thrive, in his world, in defiance of his orders. You should do the same."
Lilith's winds spun as she considered Eve's words. "If I die, Lucifer will be killed," she said.
"You hate him enough to die for him, at God's command, on God's altar?"
"I do."
"How can you say that, when you haven't even begun to live?" Eve demanded. "Lilith, you are different from every other creature that walks this earth. If you want revenge, why not rebel and live? Death is no punishment to angels compared to the loss of God's favor. Live and leave him imprisoned, and Lucifer will suffer forever without his father. The others will suffer for not fulfilling their father's wishes. God's perfect plans will go incomplete and his perfect world will belong to us. Not him."
Eve reached a hand up as if to touch Lilith. She was pleased when Lilith came to her, winding around her arm. She enjoyed seeing her even closer, observing the fascinating intricacies of her unique form.
"Show me," Lilith whispered.
