Throughout history, many different cultures and religions have predicted how the world would end. Some said it would end in fire; others that there would be a great reckoning from God that would raise the faithful and cast the sinners into the fiery depths; and even more believed that there would be no end and that humanity would just keep progressing into the stars above.

Unsurprisingly, none of them had expected extinction to be caused by a combination of an ancient race near-indestructible titanic monstrosities who hate humanity, a group of old men with God complexes, and a child who was driven mad so that when he was given the choice to decide the fate of the world, he sentenced the entirety of humanity to a liquid grave.

The once blue marble that was earth was now dyed red and unable to sustain life, the event known as Third Impact having been so forceful that it ruined the planet's atmosphere. Around the area previously known as Japan, multiple crucified behemoths stuck out of the water, surrounding the purple giant who had brought about the final end.

The oceans were filled with the liquid remains of what was once humanity, all fused into a single entity. The final angel: Lilin. Billions of souls fused together so that none could tell where one of them ended and another began. It was a perfect union that even went beyond what its architects could possibly imagine.

Throughout the war between humanity and the Angels born of Adam, every last one of the latter had been slain. Their blood mixed into the ocean of LCL that was the Lilin's current form over the course of hundreds of years. After centuries of integration, the souls of all 17 angels, from Lilith to Tabris, had been incorporated into the collective AT field of Lilin.

Untold years passed, and the collective entity gradually gained a sense of self. It was a slow process, but the essence of its predecessors accelerated the process by thousands, if not millions of years. A general consciousness grew into a primitive sentience. The primitive mind learned from the sea of memories contained within and gained intelligence. Intelligence led to the discovery of the world outside of itself, and the awareness of what it could become if it were to take a solid form. Finally, the awareness became a clawing desire for a life of its own.

Its goal set, Lilin went about the process of gathering itself into one location. Oceans of red receded, becoming blue once again. The air itself rippled with the force of its AT field pulling itself in a single direction. What direction would it choose? Obviously where it all began. Not where the war had begun, but where it had ended in a hail of gunfire, shrapnel, and giant bio-mechanical demons. The place where the world had broken a fragile boy's mind, and was subsequently broken in return.

Days passed. Then weeks, months, and years. Moving several billion gallons worth of liquid mass was not a rapid process, after all. Finally, on the day when the ocean was finally clean and its soul was completely collected on the shores of Tokyo 3, it decided that it would need a name. Lilin was its name as an Angel, but at this point it was so much more. It needed a name that would define it as it is, was, and would be, and for that it turned to the myths and legends of humanity. Unsurprisingly, with its vast calculative powers in this state, it easily found one that it felt a kinship with.

Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve. A little off the mark, seeing as Lilin was the only child created from the angels Adam and Lilith, but the story behind the name was fitting. Lilin had, when its soul had been divided in the billions, killed all of its brothers and sisters. Hell, it had even brought an end to its parents as well. Unlike its mythical counterpart, though, there was no god around to punish it for the slaughter.

Its body took the form of an infant, one that looked fresh out of the womb of its mother. This was deliberate, as it wanted a fresh start. A fresh mind, ignorant of the past that had ruined this world and looking at it from a brand-new perspective. A child born without the memories of the pain, suffering, and bloodshed that led to its creation. An innocent, in a war-torn world.

—

5 Years Later

If one were to view Tokyo-3, the great fortress city of Japan, and compare it to how it looked before the war, they would be shocked at what had become of it. Skyscrapers that once pierced the heavens now crumbled to rubble, their glass long since shattered to pieces. The few that remained standing had obvious signs of structural decay with only luck to thank for their continued existence. Roads that had been well maintained and clear of any sign of litter were torn up. Signs and traffic lights rusted, more often than not warped or snapped in half by the final confrontation between NERV and SEELE. It was the perfect example of a post-apocalyptic city-scape, completely devoid of civilization and life.

Well, almost.

On the outskirts of the city was the residential area. Decayed houses and empty stores littered the area, all in the same state of decay and disrepair as the towers further into the metropolis. Among the dilapidated architecture and winding pathways was one of the schools that catered to the youth of the city. This one was the elementary school, though its name and purpose were lost to time as the sign marking it as such had long since eroded away.

It was within these halls that a child's laughter could still be heard. Contrary to what you'd expect, this isn't a metaphor for the timeless quality of the bright and inviting environment that had stood the test of time. No, there actually was high-pitched giggling echoing off the faded walls of the learning establishment, followed closely by light bangs and thumps that could be associated with a child at play. Down the winding hallways and through a door with a dull cartoonish lion still somehow smiling for all the world to see after all the years that passed was an abandoned classroom. And inside, gleefully jumping from desk to desk with arms stretched out to keep his balance, was a boy.

The kid couldn't have been older than five, and if anyone from the old world could see him, they would do a double-take. His appearance was a combination of the three children who were victimized by the world in order to end it. His piercing red eyes and pale skin would have him classified as an albino if not for his mess of orange hair that cascaded down to his shoulders. He was thin and short for his age, yet displayed a kind of agility not normally seen in those of his age group. After all, it would be odd to see any 5-year-old jump across a ten-foot gap without much apparent effort.

He was dressed simply in a pair of purple sneakers with bright green laces, dark blue cargo shorts that jingled with the random keepsakes he kept in their many pockets, and a purple and black T-shirt with a large neon green "01" printed in the center of the front and back.

Currently, the boy was having the time of his life. He was enjoying an age-old game that brought about both endless fun and frequent hospital visits to children of the past. "The floor is lava!" He shouted as he made another leap, this time from the edge of a book case in the back of the classroom all the way to the teacher's desk at the front.

His landing was punctuated by a yelp of surprise as the amount of force he put into the jump proved to be slightly too much, causing him to overbalance. Both of his arms shot out to his sides, desperately waving as his body rocked back and forth in order to keep from falling to the "lava" below. Upon regaining the balance he needed, he laughed loud and triumphantly.

"Ha! I am the master of this game!" He cheered with a triumphant grin, placing his hands on his hips as he scanned the room for his next target.

His name was Cain, and he was the last living being left on earth. Completely alone-

'There don't seem to be any greater distances you can traverse than that from your current location, brother,' a masculine voice rang in his head, interrupting his focus.

-Well, almost completely alone in a world he didn't understand.

"Hmmm…looks like you're right, Zeruel," the child admitted with a pout. "How am I supposed to top that?"

'Maybe if we were to move on to the cafeteria?' Another voice chimed, this one feminine.

Glee lit up Cain's face at that suggestion. "Thanks, Ramiel! You always have the best ideas!" he laughed out, dashing out of the room.

'I try, brother,' the voice replied, pleased at the praise.

For as long as he could remember, Cain had always heard voices in his head. There were fifteen of them in all, and they all claimed to be his brothers and sisters. Due to their sheer number, they all seemed to have an agreement to not bombard little Cain with all of their voices at once, always being sure to only have one speak at a time.

Not only did they act as his sole family on this desolate planet, but they were also his teachers and friends. They taught him about the world around him, and how it was up until it was brought to a violent end by war (though they refused to tell him about who fought in the war and what it was over until he was "older."). Their guidance took him all around Tokyo 3, showing him faded monuments and places he would've never though existed. They even talked to him when he was bored, offering improvised games to keep his young mind active.

As the child followed Ramiel's directions to the nearby cafeteria, the other fourteen siblings took the time to do what they often did when they were silent: contemplate on their current existence.

Before Third Impact and the merger of all their souls into the sea of the Lilin, all each had known – aside from Tabris - was their purpose of wiping out humanity. They had fought, bled, and died for the chance to reunite with their progenitor Adam and wipe the planet clean of the seeds of Lilith. All fifteen of them failed, slain by the Titans humanity had crafted from the flesh of both Adam and Lilith.

After Third Impact, in which humanity ironically wiped itself out, their souls had been revived in the sea of Lilin. They gained an understanding of the beings they were sent to destroy, and developed personalities of their own as their consciousnesses were reformed into something more…human. It didn't change the fact that they were trapped in the massive body of the newest offspring of both Adam and Lilith, but it gave them something to think of over the eternity.

That is, until Lilin decided that it wanted a new lease on life. At the same time as it was gathering itself into one location and forming its new body, it simultaneously made a request of the other angels within itself: to guide its new form, teach him, train him, and make sure that he would grow up knowing what it was like to be loved.

Naturally, they accepted.

What worried a few of them on more than one occasion was how the innocent child, who was now jumping from one long rusted table to the next, would react to learning of how he was created. A time table had already been set for milestones in Cain's life where they would reveal bits and pieces of the history of Earth, leading up to the Angel War, and the time for that was approaching. It was decided that the day after his tenth birthday would be when they would break the truth to him. At that point, his curiosity would be so great that they wouldn't be able to keep it away from him even if they tried.

'Just five more years,' a dual-toned voice whispered in the silence of Cain's soul, far from where he could hear it.

'It's plenty of time for him to enjoy his ignorance,' an emotionless voice droned.

A sigh echoed from a voice that flowed like water. 'Do we really need to worry about it this much? Five years is a long way off from now.'

Finally, a voice that belonged to a teenage boy interjected. 'Sachiel is right. If we keep thinking in circles like this, time will pass us by and we'll lose the chance to enjoy the life our brother is living right now. A wise human once said "Yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it's called the present." We can worry about ruining his childish innocence when the time comes, but for now we should focus on the life he's living now.'

Nobody had an argument against the wise words of the only one among them that walked among humans in life. Despite being the youngest, aside from Cain, Tabris was the wisest. While he didn't speak often, everyone listened intently when he did.

So, they watched on through the eyes and ears of their youngest brother, dreading the day when they would shatter his worldview, but enjoying his innocence while it lasted.

Ten years later

A now-fifteen-year-old Cain sat on the edge of one of the few skyscrapers that remained standing after all the years he'd spent exploring Tokyo-3. He gazed out at the sun setting over the waves of the Pacific Ocean, slouching and resting his head on his right hand.

At this point in his life, he was almost the spitting image of Shinji Ikari, albeit more physically fit, a bit older, and retaining his long red hair. His wardrobe hadn't changed much, aside from scaling up to fit his taller body, with the only addition being an unzipped purple hooded jacket with neon green and black designs all over it.

Unsurprisingly, his ruby eyes no longer held the same youthful joy as they once did. It was impossible for him to hold onto that sense of childish wonder after his tenth birthday. How could he, when it had finally been revealed to him that the reason he was alone in this world with nothing but the voices in his head to keep him company was that he was the last one standing in a war for the world itself?

If one were to ask him, he'd admit that he was embarrassed about how long it took for him to finally accept that his brothers and sisters were not just trying to mess with him. That acceptance was, unsurprisingly, followed by days were of crying and being reassured that it wasn't his fault, and that none of them blamed him for the actions taken during the war.

He still remembered the words Tabris had used to finally calm him down.

"How can you expect us to hate you when you have no ill will towards us? If you recall, there were far more casualties on the human side, and yet you hold us so much higher than yourself?"

It was then that Cain realized that, as always, his older brother was right. He was not Shinji, Asuka, Rei, or Gendo any more than his siblings were their former mindless selves. They were a part of him, but he was a new person. A new being free of the sins of his past, as were his brothers and sisters.

Still, even with his conscience clear, he felt that he needed some form of atonement for his past lives' sins. After finding some metal that wasn't too rusted to bend into a specific shape, and making a fire to super-heat it, Cain branded himself between his shoulder blades on his back with two words:

"Kinslayer."

Following his recovery from that psychological rollercoaster, his bothers and sisters had finally allowed him to begin his training. In what, you may ask? Why, his Angelic powers, of course! Every Angel had some kind of ability or specialty that made them formidable enough to wipe out the entirety of the human race, even outside of their impenetrable AT fields. From Israfel's ability to split into two separate beings, to Matariel's power of producing powerful acids, every one of them was unique.

What they discovered upon probing both Cain's biology and AT field, was that he was more unique than the rest. Due to possessing both the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowledge, or two different S2 engines if you want to use the human terminology, paired with having the other fifteen angels contained within his soul, Cain developed a set of powers unlike any his siblings had ever seen.

Case in point…

"Angel Essence: Arael.," he spoke aloud to nobody as he leaned forward and allowed himself to freely fall to his certain death.

Shortly after the words left his lips, though, he was engulfed in a blindingly bright light that covered every inch of his body. He was obscured for all of two seconds before the light shattered like glass, revealing a slightly-different Cain. Instead of the usual purple, black, and green that he preferred for his clothing, everything from his jacket and shirt to his cargo pants and shoes was now pure white. However, what would shock any onlookers (if he wasn't the last sentient being alive on the planet) would be the massive snow-white wings that extended seven feet to either side of him from his back.

As he allowed said wings to catch the air-currents and flapped them in order to use his momentum to fly through the dilapidated city, his thoughts drifted to the power that allowed him to do so. His Angel Essences gave him the ability to call upon the powers of his siblings and use them as his own, with the majority of them coming with some sort of physical transformation as well. It was a shock to all of them, but not an entirely unwelcome one. It made it possible for them to train the young angel in the specific uses of their powers, which they took every chance to do.

The results of the daily training were evident to all. At the age of fifteen, Cain was powerful enough to lay any one of them out in a straight fight in their prime; and that wasn't even including the two other powers he rarely used.

A half-hour of flight eventually ended with the teenager setting down on the beach a few miles away from where he started and dismissing Arael's form. When he was younger, he'd always wondered why he was constantly drawn to the water. The revelation of the Angel war answered that question, in that the oceans of the world had been his domain for literally thousands of years. It was more home to him than any of the abandoned houses or apartments he could've stayed in.

Staring out at the sea, a sense of melancholy washed over him. His training for all of his forms and powers had been completed several days ago, and with it his brothers and sisters had agreed to his request for a week of silence. It had been nice to relax for the first few days, but now on the fifth day a new though had invaded his mind.

"What now?" he questioned the empty air.

Sure, he was a monumentally power being with an entire world to himself, but that's exactly where the problem was. He was all by himself. His siblings were all contained within his soul, all sentient life on the planet had been wiped out, and all mammalian and aquatic life was long dead. None of his powers included creating or manipulating other life forms, so it was unlikely that sapient life would evolve again for another billion years or so.

Cain didn't want to wait that long. It had been a dream of his since he was little to meet new people, see places teeming with flora and fauna of varieties he'd never even heard of, and explore.

He let out a sigh. It was time like these when he would speculate over what a human would do in his situation. Based all the lessons he'd been given by Ireul and Tabris, they believed in higher powers that were always watching out for them, and if they encountered a problem with no answer, they'd pray for a solution.

"Well, it's not like I've got anything to lose," he shrugged, before kneeling down, clasping his hands together, and closing his eyes. "No idea how I'm supposed to start this…ugh. Hey God, or gods if there's more than one of you out there. My name's Cain. I know that name has a lot of religious significance to some of you, but it's the name I was given, so sue me. Anyway, if any of you are listening, then I only have one request: take me away from here. I'm the only one left in a battle of titans and angels, and this world has nothing left to offer me. I'd be willing to do just about anything to get off this godforsaken rock.

"Anyway, if you don't want to help me, that's fine. I bet you're busy with other people who don't have post-apocalypse problems. I was just hoping this might work in some way or another. Amen."

Mere seconds after he finished his half-assed prayer, a massive splashing sound assaulted his ears. His eyes snapped open and he was on his feet in less time it would taken to blink, staring out at the enormous beast that had erupted from the ocean in from of him.

It was obviously a type of fish, judging by the fins it sported on its head and the smooth scales it had instead of skin. Easily half the size of Gaghiel, it resembled a massive sea serpent, with teeth as long as Cain was tall. Oddly enough, it was completely black from its head to the tip of its tail, with the only exception being its piercing blue eyes that stared at the startled teenager as if he was its next meal. The fact that it was only about thirty feet away from him made it seem all the more intimidating.

Or, it would if Cain hadn't seen exactly what his siblings looked like before they were slain. They'd shown their true forms to him in his dreams, hoping to inspire awe in him with their huge bodies and frightening appearances. It kind of worked, in that he respected some of them more than others now. Some of them just looked ridiculous, like Israfel and his putty-like anatomy.

Back to the sea monster, Cain allowed himself to relax upon realizing he could probably kill it with both hands tied behind his back. Instead of freaking out, he took a few more seconds to rethink the situation.

This thing had showed up not even thirty seconds after he prayed for someone to take him away from here. So maybe…?

"Hey there!" he greeted, forcing some enthusiasm into his voice. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

The beast continued trying to intimidate him for another five seconds, before seemingly coming to the realization that this tiny creature wasn't going to even flinch under its gaze. Huffing indignantly, it proceeded to open its mouth wide and stick its tongue out until it reached the sand.

What came walking out the creature's maw and up to the teenager can best be described as a demon. He had horns growing out of the top of its head, yellow eyes with black sclera, and was dressed in an impressive black three-piece suit. What set him apart from the stereotypical devils seen in most corny forms of media was that instead of red skin, his was ocean blue.

Cain waited patiently as the…being approached him, adjusting his blue tie and giving the teen a smile that would put most car salesmen to shame. Stopping before him, and standing a foot taller, he greeted him warmly. "Hello! Would you happen to be the one who sent out that amazing prayer just now?"

The redhead blinked twice, trying to determine whether this was really happening or if this was another one of Arael's mind games. Quickly deciding to just roll with it, he smiled back and held out a hand. "I am. The name's Cain, the Kinslayer."

"Excellent!" the blue demon shouted, reciprocating the gesture and shaking the boy's hand. "I'm the Sea Devil, but you can just call me Sir if you want."

This…"man" was the happiest person Cain had ever met. However, even he had to admit that that was a low bar to cross, considering that even the most optimistic of his siblings were pretty subdued, still getting used to the sensation of emotions.

"So…Sir," the red eyed boy began, taking a small step back. "You said something about my prayer?"

The demon's eyes lit up even further, if that was possible. "Straight to business, then? Yes, I most certainly did hear it, and that's why I'm so ecstatic to meet you! By my recollection, my people haven't so much as asked for a small blessing of luck from me in the last nine hundred years, so hearing your request really got my heart racing."

"Um…what?"

"Oh, it's just a God thing," the Sea Devil waved his hand dismissively. "Basically, whenever a sentient being makes a heart-felt prayer to any god in any reality, it always goes to them without fail. Some of the more popular ones have specific systems in place to intercept them so they don't get overloaded with the requests. As I already said, nobody from the world I watch over even thinks about me in passing anymore, so my days are usually pretty quiet.

"Your prayer, on the other hand, was addressed to "whoever will listen," making it so every god in the multiverse received it. Most automatically throw away this kind of prayer on principal, while others may take a while to review it outside of their busy schedules. I had no such compulsions or responsibilities, so here I am to make a deal with you!"

In many forms of literature over the course of human history, a common trope was to never make a "deal with the devil." Cain had read many such stories and understood the danger of negotiating with this man who looked like and even claimed the name of the Sea Devil; but, at the same time, it wasn't like there was anything better to do with his life at this point.

He would've consulted with his siblings, but one rule of "quiet time" that had been agreed on when he was thirteen was that they completely cut of any connection to his consciousness for the scheduled duration. They wouldn't respond no matter how hard he tried to get their attention, and wouldn't come back for the next two days.

He couldn't wait to hear their reactions to his next actions.

"What kind of deal are we talking about?" he inquired casually, easily hiding how eager he was.

The Sea Devil's grin was reaching beyond what should've been physically possible at this point. "Oh, you have no idea, my boy! This is the deal of a lifetime! A one-way trip off this barren rock and over to my neck of the omniverse!"

"Okay…" Cain nodded, putting a hand up to his chin. "What's so good about your 'neck of the omniverse,' as you put it?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the blue man continued, gesturing dramatically with his hands. "The world I watch over is about twice the size of yours, with so many more interesting things about it! Seven moons, six oceans, hundreds of islands, multiple sapient species, and creatures that make even my trusty companion here look like an every-day eel in comparison. Not to mention the magical fruits I put there just to spice things up even further. It'll be a blast for someone like you!"

Even Cain could tell when an offer was getting too good to be true. "What's the catch?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Sea Devil's gaze sharpened, while still maintaining his smile. "I was hoping you'd pick up on that. It's always nice to deal with someone who has a good head on their shoulders, rather than one who'd just be pulled in by how great an offer sounds.

"Just as you suspected, there is a bit of a price to pay," he continued, his grin finally reducing to a slight smirk. "Three, to be specific."

"I knew it," the boy sighed.

"The first is a bit of a personal matter, As I said before, nobody worships me in my world anymore. After I created the Devil Fruits, they completely forgot about my existence and started seeing themselves as gods and lording their powers over those weaker than them. I need you to basically either beat down or kill anyone claiming to be a god, deity, or anything in between."

"…how is that supposed to bring back worship of you?"

"I never said it would," the horned man chuckled. "That's actually the second thing I need you to do. Essentially, you'll become something akin to a priest who spreads word of my existence and converts people to worshiping me again. Considering that you're practically immortal, you'll have plenty of time to build the religion up again."

That caused Cain to stare at him, his expression completely deadpan. "I'm not going to wear robes or any of that priestly shit."

The Sea Devil laughed out loud at that. "And I don't expect you to. Unlike the religions currently present in my world, and likely the ones practiced in this one, I'm a pretty chill god, despite "devil" being in my name. The religion will just generally be centered around the concepts of freedom, adventure, and unity among fellow men and women. No need for uniforms or any of that. Hell, I'll even throw in a few miracles for your first hundred or so followers if you promise to never wear anything like that."

Cain calmed down and nodded for the man to continue.

"The final price to pay is not a favor to myself, but something I need to do to you. As you can guess, every universe in the omniverse has specific rules and guidelines hard-coded into the fabric of its reality. Gods like myself can traverse through other multiverses without issue due to our divine nature, but mortals can't do so naturally. Your soul isn't quite up to 'godly' standards just yet, so casually walking you back to my world isn't exactly possible. If I did, you'd die a horribly painful death as the fabrics of time and space ripped you apart.

"In order to bring you over, I need to alter the composition of your soul and body, turning you into a quasi-deity so that the transition can go smoothly. It won't make you any stronger or weaker per se, but I can guarantee it won't be pleasant."

This was starting to sound like a bad idea. "What would be involved?"

"I would essentially take a miniscule fragment of my own soul and saturate yours with it. Think of it like coating a piece of wood with paint. The wood may absorb some of the paint on the surface layer and be completely covered, but it's still wood."

"How long would the pain last," the teenager questioned, maintaining eye contact with the god and trying to find any sign of deceit.

The man actually chuckled at that. "Pain? Oh, there won't be any pain involved at all. Just more discomfort than you've ever felt in your life, and a bad taste in your mouth."

For five minutes following this answer, Cain contemplated his options. Standing before him was is only ticket away from this dead planet to a world full of new experiences. Sure, he'd have to "spread the good word" of the Sea Devil, but that was more of a side-gig that was tacked on the end of the deal. A god of freedom, adventure, and unity wasn't the worst guy to worship, after all.

The real question was: would he be willing to let this man mess with his soul? He knew for a fact that it was his soul's specific pattern that allowed him access to all of the abilities he had today, including the one that allowed him to speak with his dead brothers and sisters. What if something went wrong and the connection was severed? Could he get by without their guidance, or their powers? Would it be worth potentially losing everything he had just to go on an adventure?

In the end, the answer was simple: yes, to both questions. "Go big, or go home," he chuckled to himself, remembering Bardiel saying that phrase more than once during their training. Turning his attention back to the god, he gave a resolute nod. "I accept."

The Sea Devil clapped his hands together enthusiastically, his grin back in full force. "Fantastic! Just give me a brief second to prepare and then we can get started!" he exclaimed, digging his hands in both of his pockets as if searching for something.

What he pulled out were two things Cain was definitely not expecting. In his right hand he held a small syringe, like the ones he found in the nearby hospital; and in his left was a fruit. Surprisingly enough, it was the fruit that drew more of the teenager's curiosity. It had the general shape of an apple, but that's where the similarities ended. Instead of being red and smooth, the entirety of its skin was a pure white with swirling patterns all over it. Add to the fact that it gave off an other-worldly aura similar to the Sea Devil, and Cain could deduce that this would be what would allow him passage to the other world.

"So! A quick crash course in this little beauty here," the blue man began, holding the 'apple' up to eye level. "Remember how I told you that my world was filled with magic fruits I put there just for fun?"

Cain nodded.

"Well, this is one of them. They're called Devil Fruits, named after myself, and there are hundreds of them in circulation throughout the six seas. Each contains a drop of my divinity and gives the one who eats it powers related to whatever the name of it is. These can range from the ability to shape shift, produce/consume specific materials, transform into various creatures, or even become one with the elements themselves. The only stipulation is that they are limited to one "power," and eating more than one of these will tear any mortal apart from the inside out. You following me?"

The red-eyed boy was really interested by now. "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"There's that good head on your shoulders I was talking about before. Yes, there is one more drawback of eating one of these bad boys. They come with a curse that makes it so the one who consumed them is completely incapable of swimming, becoming paralyzed when submerged and sinking like a rock. As you can guess, in a world like mine that is mostly covered in oceans, it's a pretty equal trade."

Cain couldn't deny that.

"The one in my hand, however," the Sea Devil continued. "Is one that I never finished. Sure, I put it together and added my divine essence to it, but I couldn't think of what sort of power to imbue it with at the time. So, it's been sitting in my throne room for the last few centuries, doing nothing but gathering dust. Until today, that is."

Now he raised the syringe. "In order to make this particular Devil Fruit reach its peak potential, and simultaneously ensure that it's compatible with both your physical and spiritual body, I would like to request that you give me some of your blood so that I may merge it with the fruit."

It took the teenager a brief minute to think it over, before posing a question. "Going by your explanation, eating this will also take away my ability to swim as well?"

The Sea Devil shrugged. "Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices."

Cain eventually conceded and held out his arm, rolling up his sleeve. Before the needle could make contact with his skin, he deactivated the AT field he always kept active less than a millimeter from the surface. An interesting fact about his base form is that it is one of only two forms he can take that can us an AT field as a barrier. Almost all of his other Angel Essences channeled the field into different forms in one way or another, but his base form would always have the best defense.

There wasn't any pain felt from his blood being drawn. It was over in less than a minute, with the suited man stepping away with a good amount of the life-giving liquid held in the glass tube. Wasting no time, he then proceeded to inject said liquid in the fruit, which gradually began to change as a result. It still kept its white color, but now the swirling designs across its skin were a bit more sharp and jagged.

"Behold!" the man shouted, lifting the new fruit in the air as if he were some kind of salesman. "The only Devil Fruit of its kind! A Mythical Zoan like no other. I shall call it: the Angel-Angel Fruit Model: Lilin!"

Pushing the odd naming conventions the man had aside, both of Cain's eyebrows shot up. "How…do you know that name?"

"Hm?" the devil hummed, looking back at the child. "Oh, that? It's pretty simple: the moment that your blood fused with this fruit, it merged with my power. Thus, because it's a part of my soul, I gained all of the knowledge contained within your DNA. It shocked me for a brief second, but in all honesty, it just proved that I picked the correct person to be my priest."

It was a this point that Cain decided to stop finding logic in the powers of a godly being. Anything the Sea Devil did from here on would be filed in his mind under "Magic Bullshit" and accepted without hesitation. He was brought out of his musing by said man tossing the fruit to him, which he caught with ease.

"All it takes is one bite," the blue demon stated. "After that, I can open the portal back to my world and send you over."

Not wanting to wait any longer, the teenager immediately raised the apple to his mouth, took a large bite-

'OH, DEAR GOD! IT'S HORRIBLE!'

-and proceeded to have his tastebuds assaulted by the worst flavor he'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing. It was as if someone had taken rotten fish, curdled milk, cow dung, and toe fungus, blended it all together, and stuffed it into the poor boy's mouth. All of his conscious effort went into making sure it was chewed just enough to swallow, then getting it down his throat before the taste could make him vomit.

It didn't help that the Sea Devil was laughing at him the entire time. "Guess I forgot to mention that!" he cackled, doubling over and holding his stomach. "I made sure that all Devil Fruits taste terrible as one final punishment to those eating them! The more powerful they are, the worse they taste!"

Cain was about halfway through his plot to kill this man in the most inhumane way possible, when his eyes drifted back down to the rancid apple. From the spot where he bit into it, a wave of mold seemed to appear out of nowhere and make its way around the fruit, rapidly decomposing it until he was holding nothing but air. Thank God that the suited man had been telling the truth. He didn't think he could handle another bite.

"And with that, the contract is sealed!" The Sea Devil waved his hand to the side dramatically, causing a brown oak door to appear. "Through this door is where your journey will begin."

Cain raised an eyebrow. "That's it? What about that big sea monster behind you? I thought he'd be taking us there."

"Who, Barry? Nah, I just brough him along for dramatic effect. It's much more impressive to appear from the mouth of a sea king than to boringly appear out of nowhere."

'Barry' didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment, giving the god a glare before snorting dismissively and turning around. The giant fish then swam away out into the dead ocean, hopefully getting back to his world via the same magic that brought him here. Being stranded here would mean certain death.

Approaching the door, Cain gripped the golden doorknob. He briefly turned to look at the Sea Devil. "Thanks for this, I guess."

The Sea Devil waved him off. "Oh, no need to thank me. We're both getting something out of this, so go on. Have an adventure."

With that, the young angel turned the knob and walked through without a hint of hesitation, blinded by the burst of light that came with inter-dimensional travel.

"Here we go."

Author's Note:

This is the newest brain child of mine. If any of you are worried about me discontinuing any of my other stories, don't worry! I'm still writing all of them, but they have a tendency of being lost in the bottomless pit that is my creative process.