Chapter Text
Earth spins happily before landing on the plush couch, smiling wide as she plops back and looks out to the nearby window. Lunar can’t help but shutter at how… open the place was. No proper latch, no visible stains or messes. And the walls were too wide to put up his hammock.
But after that lovely chat with Moon, he sent them straight to the gluttony ring with a way posher hotel booking, after getting cleared to leave the greed ring, of course.
Though, with the proximity to the Chocolate Factory… he was tempted to take advantage of Earth’s status just this once.
Really, he knows any food here will be cheap, plentiful, and delicious. But that’s the trap after all. Nice people, food, and stores, all meant to pull you in and make you consume and overindulge. The only beings immune to the effect? Hellhounds, due to their origins and all. Not that they can’t overindulge at all, but that they just don’t suffer as many or as severe consequences, nor get consumed with it as much.
Still, he does quickly check his surroundings. The first thing, what is considered free. He even told Earth not to open or use anything until he looked over everything. Minifridge? Expensive as all hell, but more on a pay-once basis. Slippers? Also has a price. Soap? Free, unless it needs more than one refill during the visit they were booked for. The four water bottles? Free. Dog treats? Strangely, also free. Tv, only free with select channels. Anything else had to be paid for via a conversation with the front desk. Everything else was the same as any hotel, but he specifically takes the chocolates and throws them out the window.
“Alright, don’t touch the fridge, don’t open the seal over the slippers, and don’t overuse the soap.”
“Okay.”
Lunar looks over and sees her grabbing her suitcase, likely about to continue her project.
“I’m… going to check out the spot here. Stay in the room and don’t eat any samples the hotel gives you.”
“Got it! Though… when are we going to eat?”
“Remember the sandwiches and dried jerky?”
He can see her visibly flinch, but hey, that’s better than he was expecting. Surely, after the last week, he honestly expected her to have thrown a fit by now, but nope. She ate everything he gave her, without any unprompted complaints.
Still, he waved goodbye and made his way to his last stop.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This was the smoothest of the stops during this whole trip! With Moon able to actually do his work, he barely needed to stay over two hours while he did his part and look over all the details. And on the way out… he may have noticed three tickets for the CC and swiped them from a desk on the way out.
It’s not like the hellborn couldn’t wait and pay for the next one after all. And he even sold the third ticket to some crazed visitor so he could get his money’s worth. All that was left was to do this for two more days to confirm everything and conclude his visit. Though… he questioned which day he’d rather take Earth out to the restaurant. Today, he was really craving it, but then they’d be tempted to come back for the remaining time there. Maybe he’d ask Earth?
The walk takes a bit, even for him, but it’s all well as he scans his card in and makes his way up the stairs. Only when he’s made it up does he remember the elevator here probably works.
Oh well. Too late now.
He scans into the room and first hears Earth humming in the kitchen nearby. But when he finally spotted her, all he saw was brown before he averted his eyes with a hissed gasp.
“Earth! What the fuck?!”
He hears her squeak in surprise before hearing the footsteps.
“Oh, I apologize! But… I’m not actually naked.”
He glances up, sees ALL her curves and cringes back away.
“I don’t know what freaky stuff you did at the castle, but where I’m from, we call that naked!
“Lunar! Nothing ‘freaky’ is- Look, I… guess I can see why you’d assume… but the brown isn’t my skin. It’s a shaper.”
Lunar takes a breath and peeks just around a hand.
He takes his time as she stands there, looking awkward but not running away or attempted to cover up.
And… yeah. It was clear the first and second glances made heavy implications. But getting the chance to look, though he didn’t like looking for long, it was mostly the shape. Just curves, no extra features marks, not even anything he wouldn’t see on a human girl’s doll.
But he froze as she pulled back the ‘neck of the body suit only to see a watery arm sprout out like a floppy appendage.
“See? My body is made of water and algae… sort of. Like my face, I could solidify it to feel more like flesh, but I like the ease of letting the suit support my frame instead of mentally solidifying it all day or walking around all wavy and unsteady like a blob.” She giggles at the imagery, causing her exposed hand to shake and wobble a little.
“So… not naked.”
“Not naked. But I’ll go cover up now. It’s weird to be seen this way cause… you now. Just now but worse?”
He nods and he sees her walk of to the bedroom. It… looks too off with just the brown, but he can see her ‘arm’ reflate as soon as the water bit went back in the skin suit. Weird.
“So… You’re just water.” He questions as he looks away regardless.
“Yep! What did you think I was made of? I believe I’ve said I’m a water demon.”
“Not to me.”
“Not offense, but I thought you’d know.”
“Oh yes. With a brown ‘body’, a half-green face, and plant powers, I’d totally assume you’re strictly a water demon.”
He hears her huff a little past the hallway’s open door. Looking over to the sound of quiet talking on the TV, he now sees it’s displaying ‘The Wonderful World of Fungus”. Her pajamas are neatly folded on the table, so he just goes to look out the window. Off to the side, he can see the sketches of her new outfit.
“You know, I didn’t expect you to be back to early.”
“Yeah. Wonders after your boss finally starts working.”
He can almost feel an glare from her as she goes silent.
She was the first to get excited upon him hearing from Moon. He especially didn’t miss her muttering to herself and rubbing circles in her lap. But it was fine.
He notices the familiar silver teapot and takes a cup from her tea set.
“What’s today’s brew?”
“Nothing much. It’s to calm you, but sharpen your senses. Though, I did want to try it before… tonight.”
He groans.
“Earth…”
“It may happen this time, you never know.”
Lunar flexes his hand.
“Not even my usual wind stuff is acting up. It’s probably just not a good time.”
He was being honest. There were some days that even his normal powers don’t kick in as well. Not that he wanted to be super reliant on them, but they’ve usually never failed to kick in whenever he actually needed them, so he’s not worried.
But in this case, Earth has been trying to summon magic from him nightly, to no avail.
She’s tried to pry into when he started making ice, but while she claims it was when they first met, which he honestly forgot at this point, he tells her it was just that night. He also denied any dreams that occurred. She was nowhere near friend-level to spit his blood.
Thankfully, she was doing well with at least one project. Her outfit was nearly ready, after all the pockets are all sowed on after all.
“Soo0! Good news. I have tickets to the Chocolate Factory. Got it as a bonus.”
“…Didn’t you says those were expensive?”
“Well… I’m sure it would be less for them than me.”
He picked at his nails a bit, but looked up as soon as he saw movement.
He saw as she spun the dress before look back to him for his opinion.
Her skirt, now dress is a faded red, belted with a cream under a dark red fabric. Her neck and lower helm were decorated with a cream lace, while her sleeves had a bagginess and puffiness to them that seemed familiar…
Her leggings were striped, slanted and wrapping around each leg not unlike a candy cane. And her hair was pulled back in a link of puffs, tied back with a rainbow bow that did not match her outfit at all.
Though, now he notices what took her so long on the skirt… it had SO many pockets. Small thin ones, large deep ones. And some with covers. The red sashes, also dark red like her belt, were also draped around her shoulders (like a backpack) and around her skirt as it wrapped around her unevenly.
“What do you think?”
“Uh… Looks good?”
Earth looks down at him in a glance he could only assume was… gauging? Calculating.
The pause continued for a thick second before Earth lightly swished her skirt and smiled.
“I… really like it.”
“And you should. You made it.”
She laughs and he can’t help but pull his head back with a tilt.
“Lunar… Are you not used to complimenting a woman?”
“…I just said it was good?”
Earth gives a little sigh with a smile before sitting near him, smoothing her skirt.
“So… You said something about going to the Cocoa Place?”
He turns back to her.
“Yeah. We can go today or in two days. But I’m warning you now, the place is like a drug-laced web. You’ll never want to leave and you’ll remember this place’s food for the rest of your life once you do.”
“That… doesn’t sound good.”
Lunar blow a bit of a raspberry as he leans back on the couch.
“Eh. I’ve heard it’s like a human when they move far away from home or had a family chef die. Besides, just follow the rules and you’ll be fine.”
“The rules?”
Lunar shifts and glances over to the television as it ends the show for more evening channels.
“Oof. Looks like we’re going another day. Tonight is tuna sandwich day.”
He sees her purse her lips a bit, but he continues to pay no mind as he gets up to the kitchen.
“Want me to cook some ramen for you instead?”
“Yes please!”
He has to stop himself from laughing as he digs in his bag for the ingredients.
*_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sizzling is heard as Moon tries to think about literally anything else than his current annoyance.
Yes, he’d been working and thus now tired, but he’s restless.
Yes, Sun shouldn’t be making steak and potatoes since he’s supposed to be resting, still being sick and all.
However, it’s his time of the month as blood is slowly soaked up by the bandages he prepared.
Granted, it’s not actually monthly, but he can’t help but think of how his pain is similar in concept to a woman’s monthly cycle.
Since he’s a Sinner and all, he occasionally feels the pain of his death’s existence via the gunshot wound and detreating strength. And worse, he finds himself unable to sleep.
This made things awkward when this started while he was urging Sun to go the fuck to sleep yet again!
Thankfully, he was able to calm him down enough before the weakness kicked in and Sun went to bandage him up, per Moon’s directed instructions.
He can’t help but feel like Sun took joy in his suffering, as now the insufferable walking disaster has an excuse to not be pampered and to do work around the house without Moon being able to stop him.
Thankfully, the strength should return in a day, though the bleeding and pain will continue quite a bit longer. Thankfully his recompense only happens every so often.
He’s heard some weaker sinners don’t have to deal with this as much, if at all, while the more powerful Sinners… he just is glad he’s only somewhat powerful. And that he’s never sold his soul to someone, as that replaces the pain with some other punishment to the master’s control.
“Dinner’s almost ready!”
“Can you stop sounding so goddamn happy?!”
“Language!”
“Fuck your language Sun!”
A crashing of dishes suddenly reminds him that he’s better off not pissing off the being taking care of him right now. This especially rings truth as Sun approaches his sight. The meal in his hands as Sun gives him quite a glare. Not quite ‘I’m going to kill you’. More like… ‘I’m giving you life and I can take it away’ kind of message.
“…Sorry?”
Sun flips a very sharp knife out and starts to cut the steak. Moon shivers as the knife makes a clean cut and Sun slowly stabs the fork in the small piece before raising it up.
“I ca-“
His mouth is suddenly filled with the beef as Sun gives him the same amount of room to speak.
He feels his swallow go down thicker once it’s all chewed. And thankfully, the next bite is given more gently.
He almost wishes he didn’t bring back that steak when he went grocery shopping, but in his defense, he figured it would be Sun receiving the hearty meal.
“Got any favorite pictures for your box?”
Moon snaps back to the scene as he sees Sun address him, actually waiting with the next bite pulled back.
“Favorite… what from the what?”
“Sorry. I wanted to be funny. Your favorite movie?”
“Oh… um… I don’t know? You can put anything on.”
Sun, thankfully, gives Moon the fork as he goes to the cabinet to pick a film. As the angel sifts through the choices, Moon tries to eat his plate quickly before he can be fed again.
“Do… you have Snow White?”
Moon peeks over to where Sun shows the current selection of DVDs.
“No, sorry. I don’t really have too many Disney movies.”
Despite not even seeing Sun’s face, as he was faced away, he felt almost another stabbing pain in his heart upon his own words. He hissed, which stopped the pain as Sun quickly turned to him.
“D-Do I need to get th-the Eye-by-lo-fin? Will that help??”
“I-be-pro-fin. And no, it won’t help. This is just a Sinner thing.”
Sun hums a note and goes to look over the wound, right above his heart. The blood seems to be seeping through finally.
“There’s really nothing?”
“Nope. Unless you have some weird angel powers that neutralize my recompose.”
Sun looks down to the side, almost like in thought.
“It’s… like the opposite of Winners.”
“How so?”
Sun quickly sneezes into his elbow, something Moon had to teach him, then goes to grab the medkit with the bandages. Moon goes to lay down for the reapplication when Sun lets out a whimper. The angel is quick to use the table for stability, face twisted in pain as he holds tight.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. Just… a moment.”
Moon waits until Sun relaxes enough to move. He sees the angel reach for his blanket and scoot closer to him.
“Does the blanket help?”
“…Kinda? I think… it helps me feel like I still have my wings. Just… wrapped around me. Not being…”
Moon reaches to rub the angel’s shoulder when he stiffens. Moon tries to take the hand away, but the angel grabs it and puts it back. After a few moments, he sighs and lets go of the Sinner’s wrist.
“Sorry. For a weird moment, I… thought I felt it again. Your hand on… But that’s silly. It’s just a blanket.”
Yet again, a false smile is worn as he goes to undo the bandages. Moon opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates. The breath ceases and his jaw closes. Inhale through his non-existent nose, then he remembers something.
“So… how is my suffering the opposite of a Winner’s again?”
“Oh! Right! Well, Winners forget about their pain while Sinners apparently keep getting reminders of it.”
“They.. forget? Like, their whole lives?”
“Oh! No. Not all of it. They need an appreciation for their humanity after all. And everyone knows they suffered while living. But… I think for most, it fades and gets easily forgotten. It’s the compensatory or relevant behaviors that don’t leave so easily. Like who you trust.”
Moon can’t help but look at Sun in confusion.
“There’s people Winners can’t trust?”
Sun seems to take pause as he stops unwrapping the bloody layers. Though Moon can feel his blood run cold as he get a… very familiar look in his eye.
The first he ever saw, even with the mask obscuring most of his face.
But then, it goes soft.
“Some of the kids… they learn things. And it can take a bit of time and therapy to unlearn.”
Moon feels a stir in his heart as he feels something to be said. He needs a truth to be revealed.
“What happens to children that are killed in awful ways, accidental or purposeful?”
“…Have I ever told you about my youngest kid?”
“You have kids?!” Moon practically shouts. “I thought angels couldn’t-!”
“Not by birth. And technically, I only fostered a few. But… Dazzle was my first.”
Any follow-up remarks go silent as Sun twists the bandages between his fingers.
“She was seven, celebrated her birthday when she died. She didn’t have many friends, as she grew up poor. So when she was given her father’s favorite flavor of cake, no one but her parents witnessed her have an allergic reaction to the chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.”
The angel’s hands pulled at the bandages tighter before dropping them. He took off the last of the old wrappings and held some cotton to absorb the excess bleeding.
“Her dad yelled at her to stop overreacting. And her mother just watched. So when she appeared here… I used this form to help her. She… she was so shy Moon. So afraid of upsetting people and making messes, so many little things! But I think me being not so human… she ended up clinging to me more than anyone. And I let her. I was still an Archive Angel, so I would play games with her while I cleaned, let her nap in my arms as I did inventory and book scoping. Eventually, she begged to be mine. My daughter. But… by then I wasn’t feeling my best. By the time she asked… I was considering joining the exorcists. I didn’t want to expose her to my… problems. But she started crying when I’d leave and openly tell others that we were the… the bestest of friends.”
A tear formed in the corners of his eyes, which he brushed aside. With the extra mess cleared, he placed new absorbents over the wound and started the wrapping.
“Funny enough, the actual runners of the place suggested fostering. It was like a happy medium. She’d stay with me and I’d feed and take care of her half the time, then give her back to the home to participate in activities to advance her learning and socializing. I had to get a bigger apartment of a while, but it was very much worth it. You should have seen her face when she first got to come home with me. It wasn’t long before… before she called me ‘dad’.”
Moon now saw his tears flowing freely, but with a genuine smile this time.
“It… didn’t last forever. After three years, her mother came into heaven. She had been through therapy to recognize how she had failed as a mother in life, but really wanted to make it up to her now. She even married to another man, which she died with in the same car accident. They… fought hard for custody, and Dazzle was the main reason why they had to fight. She actually didn’t want to leave me. I… sometimes wonder what would have happened if I didn’t forgive her mother. But I did, and encouraged Dazzle to reach out again. They did, and she eventually accepted the reunification. But she did talk with me before she transitioned back into their care. Since we have birthdays very close together, and I kinda forgot exactly when I was created, she swore to always share her birthday with me. So in the very least, we’d be there in the biggest ways, and for every new step in her new life.”
Once the wrappings were finished, Moon slid to sit beside Sun and hold him close.
“Were… the kids you mentioned fostered like Dazzle?”
He hears a laugh between the tears.
“You mean Jamie, James, Howie, and Huey?”
“And… Evelyn? You said some kinds of Lyn.”
“Evelyn is Dazzle. But for whatever reason, she didn’t like her name. I kept telling her it was pretty, but she wanted a different name. So Dazzle just… stuck. It even matches her form as a deer. Dazzle Deer. And… not all the others were fostered. But… they all made up my fan club.”
“Angels can have fan clubs??”
“Kinda? All five stuck to me like no other children ever did. They celebrate every holiday with me and ask me to go for all of their events. Or… they did.”
Sure enough, he feels the angel sob against him and all he can do is hold on as the angel coughs, weeps, and loses his strength over the course of his sorrows. As the angel shook, Moon couldn’t help but let his claws out, which he made sure to not grip Sun with.
He… never even thought about the kid he himself left behind. All the ones he gave a last days of childhood… did they find out? How would they feel if they knew his family killed their loved ones, and he was the one that whisked them away? Could they ever hear that he never truly agreed to kill them? Or that their parents were despicable monsters? And that one kid… surely he was in heaven, right?
“Sun… please answer me now. Do all kids go to heaven?”
“W…What?”
He used his knuckles to rub circles onto his back.
“Do all kids go to heaven?”
“A… A majority do. Anyone who isn’t aware of sin…”
Moon had to quickly brace as Sun lost all strength, going limp.
Shoot, he’s burning up.
Looks like it’s time to switch caretaker duties again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It hasn’t stopped. At least not fully.
Somehow, Moon felt his strength return enough to pick up the angel and take him back to bed. While he made sure to give him food and drink on the side, the angel just lays there, dead to the world.
Unfortunately, Moon had to let him stay there. Still, it worried him as he never moved. Not when Moon finished his work, cleaned the kitchen, or even put Sun to sleep for the night. Even in the morning, the angel looked so depressed, so he had to move his work location to give Sun some peace to wallow. He went to the living room and turned on the television to display the news as he typed in his reports. He was getting some good headway, thinking of checking in on Sun, when breaking news blared on the screen.
Whoever-Joy or whatever started delivering shocking news that…
Wait. There was no way.
Moon ran out of the house to make it to the square as the reporters continued to describe a fawn-looking angel stepping out of the heavenly tower. In yet a weirder phenomenon, a group of Sinners started protecting her from any aggressors, though any that came close to her looked to be in some sort of daze. Not that Moon would waste any second to see if that effect would stand forever.
‘Dazzle’ or no, any angel in hell was bad news. And yet again, he ran like someone’s life depended on it.
Specifically, an angel’s.