"Hello, Mama."
Eve replied, "Good morning, Jumella."
No matter how many millennia pass by, Jumella will always be struck by how different her mother's appearance was from their time on Earth.
Eve's once tan skin was now as pale as that of Lucifer himself. Her eyes now flooded with the color red.
How this place had changed her. Warped her. Her mother, her siblings, and all their descendants.
Not too dissimilar to how Heaven changed the shapes of winners, recalling the look on Daddy's face when he saw her new form after crossing the Pearly Gates.
Jumella lifted her mask off, revealing her true face: that of a sheep's, her dark hair having been replaced by white wool.
Before Jumella or Eve could speak, they were startled by noises from afar.
"Excuse me, Mama."
Her daughter turned around and walked to the railing to see that a small mob of demons had gathered at the castle gates, pleading for protection.
"Poor, wretched fools," she muttered, overlooking them, "Thinking their king gives a damn about them."
Eve raised an eyebrow as Jumella drew her bow.
"While I'm here, might as well…"
"Ah, ah, ah, Jumella."
The soft voice caused Jumella to turn around and saw that her mother too was surprised to see the new arrival, "I see His Majesty has decided to grace us with his company," sending a mock bow towards Lucifer Morningstar.
The King of Hell looked at her sternly, "You may carry out your Exorcist duties all day, but not on the walls of my castle. For decorum, after all."
Jumella placed her hands on the railing and sighed with annoyance before something high up in the sky and gave a nod, upon which she turned to face them once more.
"Very well, then," Jumella spoke evenly, "Dad."
Her polite smile towards the two royals did not change while a beam of angelic light rained down behind her and silenced all the demons' cries.
Eve and Lucifer looked up to see a large, rotund angel floating in the sky.
Oh, Adam is here too. How lovely.
The Queen turned towards her king, "Lucifer, I can handle this."
"I know, my dear," Lucifer, who had usually stepped aside for his wife's annual meetings with Jumella, spoke, "But tonight…"
Jumella interrupted, "You needn't worry. Sera and Michael have already told us that the treaty will hold. Your…", she gave a pause, "heir will be safe."
The king glared, "You are well aware that there are those in Heaven who would GUT Lilith if they…"
"Lucifer!"
Lucifer paused at Eve's sharp tone and wilted under her stern glare before turning to see that his words had struck a nerve: his stepdaughter looking stunned for a few seconds before developing a fierce glare of her own to level at him.
"How dare you!", Jumella bellowed.
Lucifer's expression softened, "Jumella, I'm sorry I-"
"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO HER?!"
Within a second, Adam was standing next to his daughter, glaring hatefully at Lucifer.
There were a tense couple of seconds before Eve spoke once more, "Hello, Adam."
"Eve," Adam replied coldly before turning his head, adopting a gentler tone, "you okay, sweetie?"
"Just a moment, Daddy," Jumella pleaded, to which Adam nodded in assent.
"Mama…"
"Jumella."
The Exorcist gave a heavy sigh.
The treaty that had begun the Exterminations had a stipulation that would shield certain parties from harm: Lucifer would be forbidden from intervening if no harm was done to Lilith, the Hellborn, or Eve and her immediate children.
However, there was a loophole in this clause: if any of the above tried to assault Exorcists in the commission of their duties or voluntarily submitted themselves to erasure, they could be exterminated while still keeping to the terms of the treaty.
This was the reason Jumella was on this balcony this day and on many millennia prior.
"Mama, I've come to ask…"
Eve tiredly said, "You already know my answer, Jumella. No."
"But…"
"I've told you again and again: no."
Jumella looked at her mother with an expression of despair before nodding, "Very well, then."
She turned around and began to take to the skies, "See you next year…Mama."
Adam began to follow when he heard his ex-wife speak, "Adam."
He grimaced and turned around.
Eve sent him a hateful glare, "How much longer are you going to use our daughter against me?"
Adam scoffed at her and her paramour, "This was her idea, Eve. She just can't believe you'd want to waste away here with the monsters who ruined all our lives on Earth. Can you blame her?"
Lucifer glared as the Angel commander flew off his balcony, then saddened when he turned to see Eve clutching the railing, breathing deeply.
"Eve," Lucifer approached cautiously, "are you alright?"
"Yes, Luci," Eve replied, "I-I'll go back and see Lili now."
Lucifer nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder as she reentered the castle.
Meanwhile, Adam and his daughter were flying in the direction of Imp City.
"Now then, to Abel," Jumella spoke softly.