At the beginning of time, there was nothing but the deep void, a formless darkness which had neither shape nor reason, a flowing see of never-ending nothingness from which raw potential spawned forth and which time held no meaning. Yet something had broken that darkness, a being of such light and purity that it was unfathomable, an architect who had finally found the perfect crafting material. When El Elyon saw this, He had smiled, knowing that He could at last start in his creation.
"LET THERE BE LIGHT!" He commanded, and the universe bended to his will. And as the day was crafted in the image of the Almighty, bringing life and joy, He knew that the light was good. From this light spawned forth the Heavens and its inhabitants, those whom the Spirit of God flowed freely into.
The Seraphim. The Virtues. The Archangels. The Cherubim. The Powers. And finally, the simple Angels. And they were Good. Just as their creator was, whom they deemed Good, and as creation was slowly solidified, His name was shortened to God.
But in separating the light from the darkness, El Elyon had crafted a shadow in creation, a dichotomy that separated existence. A firmament whose sole role was to simply exist to help give meaning to creation, but never to be a part of it.
And so as the ages passed, The Darkness spent billions of years in its solitude, watching as creation was crafted with the greatest of care, spawning great beauty into the universe. And it could not help but wish to be a part of it.
Creation had no place for it. God's Shadow, Darkness, Sin, Evil. And it knew why, for to allow Sin into the universe would allow Creation to destroy Creation, an act of destruction which was not meant for a perfect world.
And yet, God's Shadow yearned. And within its void, it sought to create. There was no official name for where it resided, a place sideways of heaven, a place that was never meant to exist yet existed all the same. God had not crafted it, nor had angelic hands, but God's Shadow still existed within it, eager to have something of its own.
But it could not, for Evil cannot create, only corrupt or copy. Its attempts to create angels created mockeries known as Daemons, and Evil's wrath burned against them. Within an instant they were born, and within an instant, death took them.
Next, It tried to create Virtues, yet only created the blasphemous Sins. They roared and raged as It broke them down, crushing them back into the raw stuff of creation, Satan roaring as his fledgling kingdom was ripped asunder with nary a thought. There was no room for their existence within the Sideways Place, and though God's Shadow knew that they could exist should the Sideways Place grow to be MORE, It could not help but feel disgust and contempt for its own creations.
As El Elyon's creation grew more beautiful, Evil's creations grew more hideous. Each attempt worse than the last, It raged at its own impotence, always watching the glory of God yet always kept apart, always trying again and again yet always meeting failure. Wailing in spiritual agony, Evil simply gave up.
The Sideways Place was little more than hundreds of massive floating islands, some turned sideways with gleaming red crystals making sad parodies of trees while others remained right side up, yet barring not a single hint of life, for the Sideways Place could not support it. Evil knew that there was a possibility that these islands could join, becoming seven rings from which beings known as Hellborn would arise in, but the thought of them disgusted it, for they were simply more mockeries made in the image of El Elyon's creation.
So it watched. It waited. It yearned. It desired. And one day, It felt a tug, and curiously, It found Itself within a wondrous garden. How could this be? It questioned, only to find that in the raw chaos of Tevel's creation, a hint of It's essence had unknowingly seeped in. For the first time since It's creation, joy filled the soul of God's Shadow.
Even as little more than a tree, It was content. It felt the true sun on its leaves, the true wind on its bark, the soft subtle caresses of the morning fog, and the brilliant light of God which it so desperately wished to be a part of. And then It felt a visitor near it.
Curious, It saw a creature approach. Man, God's Shadow recalled, having seen its glorious creation. Adam was his name. He rested beneath Its branches, weeping in despair, and God's Shadow could not help but reach out. The animals and the angels never dared tread near Its tree, but this man did. And It had yet to touch a truly living being.
Warmth was the first sensation it felt, followed by a subtle pressure. God's Shadow could not comprehend it, but It knew it wanted to feel more.
"I've never seen something like you before. Do you have a name?"
A true name? No, God's Shadow had never had something like that. Only a term to define what It was.
"Would you like one?"
God's Shadow stilled. It had desired such for eons, to be recognized by the Creator, even if only for a moment. Yet this man, this being so lesser it was nearly comical, offered to gift It one. A fount of sheer desire sprung forth from Its soul as Its tendrils spasmed around the man.
"You are much like the tree roots, aren't you? Sitting beneath the ground, beneath the shadows of the tall tree. Yes, I have a name for you.
God's Shadow could not help it. Deep within the Sideways Place, It smiled, knowing that at last, it would be given meaning.
"Roo."
Weeping in ecstatic wonder, Roo finally knew herself. No longer was she just God's Shadow, Sin, nor Evil. She had a name, and with it, came glorious purpose. Wrapping her tendrils along his body, Roo embraced Adam in the only was she could, pouring as much love as she could into the hug.
Adam returned her affection, smiling ear to ear as he embraced her in turn.
Roo knew what her purpose was now. It was to be there for this human, the one who had finally defined her. So as he kept coming back, day by day, he would speak to her and she would listen.
He would tell her of the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and the beasts of the land. He would tell her of those strange creatures which roamed outside Eden, terrible lizards and great furred elephants that El Elyon had told him about, prototypes for the perfected animals within Eden. And sometimes, he would even speak to her in hushed tones of the Great Beasts, whose creation was formed from the raw stuff of the earth. Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz.
Her favorite tales were those of sharks, whose maws were wide and filled with teeth. He had even brought her some of those teeth, and as they sunk into the trees shadow, she knew of them completely, and they delighted her.
But on some days, he would speak of them. Those who had hurt HER Adam. The conniving Lilith and the loathsome Helel. Her wrath burned against them, seething at the mere mentions of their name, of them sullying HER paradise with Adam. Whispering to him, she spoke of how he was better off without them, that he only needed HER. She would be the loving wife, who would make his days filled with joy rather than bitterness.
Adam had been touched by her kind words, and so he came to lay beneath her shade, day after day, and Roo yearned to truly be with him, in the way a man and woman should. But she could not create, only copy, and she had no means to copy a human form.
Until the day came when the First Woman approached her, followed by that loathsome Seraphim. Roo could feel the greed pouring from them, the desire for an endless MORE. But Roo could scarcely comprehend it. Who could want more when they were already in paradise? The First Woman need for nothing, while the Daystar lived in a kingdom of perfection. What more could they even take?
Everything, was the answer. It wasn't enough to be a primordial woman, one of God's handcrafted creations. It was not enough to be a Seraphim, one of the holiest of the holies. No, their pride oozed from every pour, the thought that they could be more. Should be more. That what they had was not enough.
Her anger rose even higher as she could smell the angel's stench on the First Woman, or rather, the First Harlot.
Roo raged within the tree as they pulled the fruit from it, for she could feel the hunger for her forbidden knowledge, the power that only Sin could provide. And she felt as the connection formed within them, cracks in their souls as their pride and greed became more than just mere flaws.
"Sera told Adam and I not to eat from this tree, that we would die if we did." Lilith scoffed, taking another bite from the fruit. "Just another lie to keep us caged."
"My sister is a bit…uh, dramatic." He munched on his own fruit, giving it a couple bites before he stopped. "Y'know with how tempting this fruit was, I thought it would taste better, but it's honestly kind of...what's the word?"
"Mediocre." Lilith looked at the fruit with distaste. "In fact, I think regular apples taste better than this."
"Who knew that the Fruit of Knowledge would be so…mid?" Helel tossed his fruit to the side. "Ah well, life has its ups and downs. So, Lilith, sweetie, you ready to head out? There are these awesome creatures that I made a while back, like ducks but huge, called Hadrosaurs. You're gonna flip when you see them!"
"We'll need some time to prepare." Lilith replied. The ground bulged near her as Roo manipulated the roots of the tree.
"Nonsense, I can just snap my fingers and make whatever you need! See!" Helel snapped his fingers, and a ripe pear appeared in his hands.
"No, I mean we'll need to wait for Uriel to leave his post." Lilith replied. "He'll see us immediately if we try to leave now. You know his eyes are always upon the walls of Eden."
"Ah, the scrying orb." Helel rubbed his temples. "Glad you remembered that."
"And we can't let Adam see us, or he'll go running to the Seraphim." Lilith said. "Then again, he's been avoiding me, so that part should be easy at least."
Roo could feel the jealousy wafting off Helel at the mere mention of Adam's name. "Sera's little pet can stay here while we-" Helel's eyes widened as he threw Lilith to the side, a jagged root erupting from the ground. "Are you alright?"
Lilith hissed as she touched the side of her leg, blood dripping out of a small cut on her leg. "I'm fine." She dusted herself off as she stood back up. "It tried to stab me with its roots. Can…can trees do that?"
"Not that I know of." Helel said. "C'mon, I'll heal you up once we're away from the tree." Picking her up in his arms, he flew away with her. Neither noticed as a droplet of Lilith's blood landed in the shadow, the tree drinking deep of the nourishing red.
Roo smiled, for now she knew how to make a woman.
Within the shadow, dirt was gathered, molded into the shape of a voluptuous woman. And as Roo sculpted it, giving it features she knew Adam would appreciate, she slowly filled the vessel with her essence. Not all of it, for mere dirt could not handle that, but it was enough. It would take days, weeks even, to reach completion. But it would all be worth it.
Soon, Adam would hold his TRUE First Wife in his arms, and paradise would be theirs.
TOGETHER!
AN: Yandere Roo is best Roo! The neighborhood bad girl is on the loose, and she's coming for the First Man! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make the dialogue sound more like Hazbin Hotel-ish, while Roo's was more biblical (due to her being basically being God's Shadow), hence the difference between the two. Also, wanted to showcase a little about how Sin/Roo actually works before the whole Eden Ordeal. Right now, the closest thing Roo is to what we know now, would be like a Fae or a Yokai, a spirit that can be benign but has the capacity to be pretty malevolent. Since Sin hasn't fully made its way into creation, with it being a mere crack that was completely on accident, it hasn't really finalized itself yet. Judaism Lore wise, currently, she's kind of like a Shedim in the sense that they are not God. Here's a wiki article to help explain it more:
Shedim (Hebrew: שֵׁדִים šēḏīm; singular: שֵׁד šēḏ)[3] are spirits or demons in the Tanakh and Jewish mythology. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in Christianity.[4] While evil spirits were thought to be the cause of maladies, shedim differed conceptually from evil spirits.[5] Shedim were not considered as evil demigods, but the gods of foreigners; further, they were envisaged as evil only in the sense that they were not God.
Since Roo is foreign to creation, I found this pretty fitting.
As for the current Hell, think of the Sideways Place as pre-War in Heaven Warhammer Warp. Since there is no sin in creation, there are no sinners to punish nor enough for demons to actually form, so it's less like the Seven Rings and more like Giratina's distortion world, just isles floating in a void because Hell as it is currently simply doesn't exist. And Roo wants to keep it that way. After all, if creation is ruined, she can't stay in paradise with her hubby! :D
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! As usual, you can read one chapter ahead on my p-a-t-r-e-o-n (Halo3vsloz)!