Early 1800s
Morningstar Palace, Pride Ring of Hell
Eve was sitting in bed when the clock began to ring, giving a sigh as the start of the Extermination was being signaled.
She began to stand up when she felt her arm being tugged upon.
"Stay."
Eve turned to look upon the woman sitting next to her, her hair, long and blonde, and her stomach, swollen with the realm's future heir.
"Please…", Lilith pleaded, "you know how it always goes with her."
"Lili," Eve sighed at her wife and fellow queen, "you know this is the only time a year I'm able to see her."
Lilith gazed upon her sadly before releasing her hand.
As made her way through the halls, Eve turned a glance into Lucifer's study, seeing her husband in his usual position during Extermination Day, slumped over at his desk.
Eve stared contemplatively at him before continuing down the hall.
...
One morning, Eve stirred out of her sleep to find Adam gathering his bow and arrow.
"Adam?", she asked, to which her husband shushed her before leaving their hut.
Following him, Eve's eyes opened wide in surprise to see a deer in the middle of the settlement, seeming to have no fear of the humans present.
Adam began to draw back an arrow when…
"Daddy! Stop!"
The cry clearly spooked Adam. He let loose the arrow, landing in the deer's leg. Eve winced as the poor animal fell to the ground and began crying out in pain.
Adam turned to see his youngest child, a thin, short girl with her mother's raven hair.
"Jumella! What do you think you're- "
"Daddy, please d-don't", the child sputtered, tears in her eyes, "He's my friend! Just like you were friends with all the animals in Eden!"
As the commotion continued, Eve could see that her other children had also awakened and were approaching cautiously:
Her eldest twins, teenage Aclima and Cain, were approaching cautiously, with Jumella's own twin, Abel, following behind them.
"You've been feeding him, haven't you?", Adam muttered, this explained why the deer had ventured so close to their dwelling.
Jumella nodded.
"You've been out-", Adam paused and turned towards his eldest children, giving them a sharp glare, "And where were you?"
Aclima and Cain wilted under their father's glare, casting their glances at the ground.
Eve glowered at the tone Adam was using towards their children but held her tongue so not to draw out his further ire. Feeling a touch on her leg, she looked down to see young Abel huddled up next to her, anxiousness clear on his face.
She reached down, placed her hand on his head to comfort him.
"Do you have any idea what could have…" Adam huffed before turning to Jumella, "Go to your mother."
His frustration grew as his youngest stood by his side.
"Now"
"Daddy…don't…"
"Listen to him, Jumella!", Adam yelled, pointing at the deer that continued to thrash about on the ground, "The only thing your stubbornness is doing is making him suffer longer."
Jumella quieted down, her face taking on a tone of shame.
"Now, go to your mother."
The girl made a sprint towards her mother, who greeted her with an embrace as her tears began to drop.
"It's…it will be alright", Eve spoke softly as she cradled her daughter's face.
"Mama, I-I didn't mean to…"
Eve hushed her daughter and clung to her as Adam brought the knife down upon the deer's neck.
Jumella flinched as the animal's cries came to an end, turning her face into her mother's chest as she sobbed.
Adam turned around, his face softening at the sight, before, with a gesture, urging Eve to take their children inside.
He looked down upon his kill, solemnly. For nothing else, this meant dinner for his family.
Adam gave a sigh. He knew his daughter meant well, how entranced she always was when Eve told her stories about their past life in Eden. But he too knew that her well intentions might get her into danger on this cursed shithole.
Jumella should be living in Eden, he thought bitterly. They all should be.
If not for them…
...
Eve stood on one of the castle's balconies, overlooking the Pride Ring. The usual marks of Extermination Day were present: the Exorcists, spears in hand, rushing around, screams of sinners as they were being slaughtered, explosions of angelic light, etc.
She could glimpse her former husband in the sky, his hideous black mask and boisterous voice making it hard to miss him, but her attention was focused on another Exorcist. One headed her way.
This particular angel could be differentiated from her fellows by her mask being white instead of black.
This was one of the higher-ranking angels in Adam's cohort, known as the Angel of Mercy among Hell's long-time denizens, for her preference for quick kills instead of drawing the pain out, in contrast to the rest of the Exterminators.
She always was a compassionate girl, Eve reflected with a frown.
Eve stared as the Exorcist glided through the sky, carrying a bow, with which she was firing down golden arrows, with excellent accuracy upon any Sinner she spotted, leaving dozens of Sinner corpses crumbling on the streets below.
On a nearby building, one Sinner, in the shape of a spider, shivered in terror as she landed in front of him, got down on his knees, holding all of his arms up in a pleading manner, "Mercy, please!"
Must be a new arrival, Eve pondered sadly.
"I-I know that I've done…terrible things, but-"
He gulped as the angel put down the bow and drew a sword.
"Foolish sinner," the Exorcist hissed softly before impaling the sinner in the chest, "this is mercy."
As the Sinner's life faded away, the angel bent down and visibly whispered to him, "For it is better for a soul to cease than waste away here, away from Heaven's light."
Eve grimaced as the angel took notice of her and tilted her head, resuming her flight thereafter.
The second Queen of Hell stood still as the Angel of Mercy landed right in front of her.
"Hello, Mama."