Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Temperance is in their lab, earlier in the morning than most people would even think about getting up. They like to start early and work late. Their job, while most people dismiss it as unnecessary, but they know the value of it. They keep everyone alive and healthy through their experiments, and make life easier for everyone existing under the virtues’ care. 

Right now, they have the incredibly important task of watching over the human egg. The angel mother had entrusted it to them, knowing that they would take the job very seriously and keep the egg alive and healthy.

According to Temperance’s calculations, the egg should hatch in the next day or so. While they have no data on how long it takes a human egg to hatch, as it has never happened before, they can use the estimates from angel eggs. Their own angel assistant, Courtesy, took about three weeks to hatch from its egg. If they had to guess, they would say that the human egg would take, at most, four weeks. The angel mother had given them the egg about two weeks after she had laid it, which means that, about two weeks into Temperance’s care of the egg, it should hatch any day now. 

While they wait for the egg to hatch, they prepare for what a human might need. After extensive research on how the humans had lived before the existence of the Gaslight District and how they cared for themselves, Temperance has begun to gather everything they might need for the human. Water and food were a big need for humans, as well as a comfortable place to sleep and things to keep them entertained, but won’t kill them. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that, once the human egg hatches, the human won’t be able to survive anything that is thrown at it. It will have a limited, mortal life that could be taken away at any moment. It’s one of the reasons the seclusion of Temperance’s lab is the best place for it to be; there’s nothing around here to accidentally kill it. 

Temperance carefully checks everything he has set up. Everything that humans need to survive needs to be in very specific conditions. 

Humans need water with certain qualities that are incredibly specific. They can’t have anything that might potentially carry disease, and it also needs to be at a certain temperature. Only some humans had tolerance for warmer water. 

Food is also something that is very specific. It has to be in a certain condition; not too ripe, but also not too underripe. They also can’t eat everything. Some things make humans sick, such as grass and a lot of other natural plant life, though most animals are something they are able to eat. Not that there are a lot of the animals that the textbooks describe humans eating anymore. With the overcrowded population of the Gaslight District, there just wasn’t enough to go around for the animals as well, especially considering they were no longer needed for survival. So Temperance had found some of the old plants that are kept in the Great Garden in Heaven. 

The Virtue Hope keeps watch over plants and animals that used to exist in the human world, in hopes that one day they will be able to return to their natural habitat on Earth, as well as a flowing river of fresh water that should be safe enough for the human to consume. Hope had been glad to let him take some things for the human. 

“If they manage to survive, and bring mortality back to the Gaslight District, then everything here might be able to make it back to Earth!” they had said hopefully. 

“That is the plan.” Temperance had answered. 

“Good luck!” 

Now, only a week after that encounter, the food and water still look to be in good condition for human consumption. They would have to run multiple tests to be sure, and with the time they have, they probably will. 

First, they need to check the incubation chamber that the egg is in. 

The egg is kept in a small chamber that keeps it at a constant temperature, similar to that of the angel mother. Every morning, noon, and night, Temperance checks on the egg to make sure there are no cracks. This morning, like every other morning, there are no cracks.

Every once in a while, they’ll catch themselves wondering if maybe they’ve done something wrong, made a wrong calculation somewhere along the road, dooming this egg to death. They have to hold on, though, and they have to keep trying. They have to hope that they’ve done everything they can.

They run their tests on the different resources for the human for the rest of the morning. Everything still measures up to the quality that humans need. One less thing for him to worry about. 

Today, they have to meet with the angel mother and give her the report on how the egg has been doing. She requires this meeting once a week to ensure that the egg is getting the best quality of care possible and to make sure that it continues to survive. 

First, they have to check on the egg one last time.

They carefully open the incubation chamber and lightly move the egg around, checking for cracks and making sure that every side of the egg gets the warmth that it needs, the touch of another living being that it needs, even though Temperance wouldn’t consider themselves as a living being. They are more something in between, but according to their studies, it is close enough. 

This time, when they turn the egg around, there is a small crack. They can’t see the human within, but the cracking is a start. It should be out of the egg by tonight, if their estimations are correct. 

They head to their meeting with the angel mother, feeling more hopeful than they had in two weeks.

“Angel mother,” Temperance says as they reach the home of the angels.

“Virtue Doctor.” She doesn’t address him by his name, but rather by his title. “How is my egg?” 

“It is fairing well,” they answer. “I have ensured that it has everything it will need when it hatches, as well as keeping it in the conditions that I promised.” Same as it had been the past two check-ins with her. “There was a small crack in it when I checked on its condition before I came here. I believe it will be hatched tomorrow.” 

“Good,” she responds. “She will be strong enough to survive, if what you say is true. You are to treat her with the utmost care, do you understand?” 

“Yes, angel mother,” they say respectfully. 

“Take good care of her, and keep her away from your fellow virtues,” she requests. “I don’t want them getting their claws on her. She is far too precious.” 

“Of course.” Temperance wasn’t planning on letting any of them near the human, especially not Diligence. While they may not have it out for the human, they certainly won’t go out of their way to keep it alive. 

“I wish you the best of luck with your task, Virtue Doctor. Do not let me down.” It isn’t meant as a threat (at least, they don’t think it is), but it’s a lot of weight on their shoulders to make sure that everything goes well.

The human egg hatches late into the night. Temperance would have usually left the lab by now, but after several more cracks had appeared on the egg during the rest of the day, they hadn’t felt comfortable leaving it here to fend for itself all night. 

The human is small enough to fit in the palm of their hand, with pale skin and a small head of reddish-orange hair. Surprisingly developed for what Temperance had read human stages of life were from the textbooks, but this is one hatched from an egg. There were bound to be differences. 

They decide they’re going to stay in the lab for the rest of the night. They’ll figure out how to leave the lab and keep the human safe in the morning. Right now, the human is probably hungry and thirsty.

Two weeks later, Temperance is locked in the lab.

Sirens have been going off all morning, a warning that one of the rotlings from the Gaslight District is in Paradise Lost. Diligence has yet to find them, and the sirens are still wailing. The small human screams and cries, and while Temperance has tried to keep her as calm as possible, or at least quiet, they can’t. She has a strong personality, that much they know from the two weeks she’s been out of her egg. She only eats what she wants to, and her preferences are very specific. Every time they have to go get more food from Hope, they chuckle at her strong opinions.

Temperance startles as they hear the door open and slam shut. The pounding of footsteps from the virtue army thunder past, and they can hear whoever has just entered panting heavily.

Temperance picks up the weapon they’d kept with them, prepared to fight. They don’t know how, but they have to protect the human. 

Temperance steps out of their hiding place and puts the weapon between them and the intruder. The human is still in her pen. Though she doesn’t make a lot of noise, Temperance can still hear her quiet whimpering. 

“W-who are you?” they demand of the intruder.

The rotling turns around, looking startled. Though he is still rotting like the others of his kind, he still has a lot of his skin. There is a large butcher’s knife in his head, splitting his forehead in two.

“Who are you?” he asks with a thick accent that Temperance can’t quite put their finger on. 

“I-I’m not the one intruding here. You are,” they respond.

“I guess that’s fair,” the rotling responds. “I didn’t do anything wrong, though. I just wanted to see Paradise Lost. I’ve heard so much about it…” he trails off, as if lost in thought. 

“You should know better. Your kind is not welcome here.” Temperance says sharply.

“ My kind?” the rotling asks sharply. “My kind is only doing what we need to survive. You and your friends are trying to take our eternal life from us by keeping the human alive!” 

“The human is innocent!” Temperance snaps. “She hasn’t done anything wrong, and you all want to kill her for simply existing!” 

“Its existence is going to kill us! It’s only self-defense! And you speak of this thing as if it is alive,” he observes. His eyes widen as he sees something behind Temperance. He must have finally caught sight of the human. “Is that the human?”

“Stay away from her,” Temperance says threateningly. “She’s done nothing wrong.”

“I’m not here to kill her,” the rotling snaps. “Though my brother might be. I don’t know where he went.” 

Temperance doesn’t let their guard down. They don’t trust the rotlings. “How do I know you’re not working with him?”

“I don’t want to kill her,” he says, his voice softer than it had been. “She…she doesn’t look like she would hurt anyone. She…hasn’t done anything wrong, yet. And I believe that no one deserves to die for something they didn’t do.” 

Temperance relaxes a bit, though they keep their guard up. They don’t know if they can trust him, but they feel in their heart that his words are true. This rotling may not have many morals, but this is one of the morals that he has. 

“Look, how about we make a deal? I can help you, and you can help me,” the rotling offers.

“And what does a rotling intruder have to offer me?” 

“I can take her. Keep her safe from the rotlings and the virtues who would want to kill her. Dress her up as one of my own. No one would know she’s the human, and she could live a somewhat normal life,” he offers. “And all you have to do is get me out of here, preferably without being sentenced to Inferno.” 

Temperance can see the merit in that deal. A rotling, protecting the human, making sure the others accept her as one of their own? She would be much safer that way, even they have to admit that. But can they trust this rotling to keep his end of the deal? “How do I know I can trust you?” 

“I swear on an eternity in Inferno that I will keep her safe,” he says in a grave tone. “And you can hold me to that,” he adds.

“What is your name?” Temperance asks.

“Ken. Ken the Butcher,” he answers. 

“You promise to take care of her if I get you out of here?” they ask.

He nods his head. 

Temperance glances down at the human, weighing their options. This would be the best for her. Ken can keep her safe from the other rotlings, and she can have a normal life with socialization, things she could never have if she were to stay here with them.

“Please be careful with her.” Temperance gently picks her up and hands her to Ken. “And keep her safe. The others in the Gaslight District, they will kill her if they get the chance.” 

He nods “I understand.” 

“There’s a back way out of Paradise Lost through the labs. I can give you a map so you can navigate out of here.” Temperance says, digging through the papers before finding the map and handing it to the rotling. “And I suggest you don’t go looking for your brother, if he is here. It will only bring them down on you. Do you understand?” 

Ken nods slowly and solemnly. 

“Good. Please…please keep her safe.” they say. 

“I will. I swear it.” 

Temperance watches as Ken leaves, taking the human with him. She’ll be safe, with a better life. They know this. They’re going to miss her, but they know she’s in a better place.

Chapter Text

Diligence is the leader of the Virtue troops, protector of Heaven. They keep everything safe from the rotlings that live on the Earth below, sentencing them to Inferno if they dare even put one toe into where the Virtues reside. 

They’ve been able to keep their home well-protected over the years, but they remain constantly on guard. Just because they haven’t had a problem they couldn’t solve yet doesn’t mean that it won’t ever happen. 

They've made their home outside of the gates that lead into Paradise Lost, ensuring that every vehicle that came through the gates was there for a reason and wouldn’t be undermining the organization within Heaven, amongst the virtues or the rotlings that serve them. 

He’s at the gates early in the morning, standing watch in front of the hundreds of rotlings that serve in their virtue army. 

Like every other morning, at the same time, a truck comes through the gates, delivering important supplies to Paradise Lost from the Gaslight District. 

The truck today is being driven by two rotlings. One is skinny with a liquid-like substance dripping off his body, and the other is more round and has more muscle, with a giant cleaver splitting the top of his head in half. 

“Mornin’, officer!” the dripping one says in a thick Australian accent. “Everything should be in order!” He hands Diligence a paper on a clipboard.

A quick scan over the paper, and Diligence knows the assortment of weapons that should be on the truck. They walk over to the back of the truck and kick the door open, inspecting all of the contents within. It all seems to match everything on the paper. 

Their angel assistant, Perseverance, searches through the truck with its sharp nose to the ground. After it finishes, it looks towards Diligence, nodding after finding nothing out of order before climbing back up to their shoulder. 

Diligence, satisfied, returns to the front of the truck. “We are pleased. You may proceed, rotling.” They spit out the name like the insult it is. They stamp the paper with their seal of approval. 

“Thank you, officer!” the rotling answers, sounding excited. Slightly suspicious, but everything had been in order. Diligence trusts their process. It hasn’t let them down so far. 

When the rotlings enter Paradise Lost, Diligence returns to their place in front of the rotling army, guarding the gates.

The intruder alarm blares for the first time in over a thousand years. Someone has gotten in, someone that Diligence hadn’t authorized. It must be those rotlings, the suspicious ones at the gates earlier. They should have been more careful. 

“You are to stay here and guard the gates,” they instruct the guards. “I will handle the intruders.” 

They enter Paradise Lost, on guard. Their mechanical body has the ability to create any weapon with a simple thought, so they know they can handle to filthy rotlings. 

It doesn’t take them long to find the intruders, or at least one of them. The commotion is loud enough to echo through the halls, leading Diligence right to him.

The rotling is being chased by the rotling guards from within Paradise Lost, as well as over a dozen angels, pecking at him. 

“Get away from me, you bloody birds!” the rotling shouts. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m here for the human!”

So the rotling is here to bring glory to his home. Diligence can see the reasoning behind that, but that isn’t going to stop them from destroying the rotling. The human egg is not to be touched, by orders of the angel mother, who allows the virtues, which include Diligence, to maintain their power. The one condition she had was that the human egg was to survive until it was able to destroy the Gaslight District, a purpose Diligence can get behind. This rotling is not going to take that all away from them. 

“ You!” Diligence snarls.

The rotling looks up in surprise. “What? How did you find me?” 

“You’re not exactly subtle.” Diligence says, transforming their right arm into a sword. “Or hard to track.” 

“Shit!” the rotling snaps to himself before continuing to address Diligence. “Look, man, why don’t we work this out some other way? There was a bit of a mistake. It won’t happen again!”

“You are after the human egg, you filthy rotling!” Diligence snaps, threateningly stepping closer to the rotling. “There will be no discussion.” 

“Shit!” the rotling curses again, backing away from Diligence. “I have a family, man. My little brother needs me. You wouldn’t want to rip a family apart, would you?” 

“You should have thought about that before intruding!” Diligence lunges towards the rotling, swinging their sword in a clean arc.

The rotling barely manages to avoid their sword, though there is a small bit of green drip on the end. Diligence flicks it off with a single stroke before continuing to advance towards the rotling as he tries to retreat. 

The rotling tries to make a run for it, but Diligence continues the pursuit. They’ve lived here for thousands of years, the corridors memorized. They don’t even have to think about where each path leads; they just naturally know the answer, along with how to keep the rotling going exactly where Diligence wants him to go. 

“Where is he?” Diligence, with their keen hearing, hears the rotling say. The other must be somewhere around here. Diligence will track him down as soon as they’re done with this one. 

Diligence continues to chase him through the halls, never losing his stamina. The rotling continues to slow down as they continue to run further and further. Diligence only slows down a little bit, but not out of exhaustion. If they slow down now, they will be able to regain speed and catch up to the rotling when he least expects it. 

“I’m going to kill him,” the rotling mumbles. “Look, man, how about we call this a draw?” he calls over his shoulder to Diligence. “Or can we work this out some other time? Maybe in another few thousand years?” 

Diligence doesn’t answer, instead taking the time it takes the rotling to speak to speed up slightly, so close that they can almost cut him cleanly in half. 

“I’m gonna guess that’s a no,” the rotling responds.

What does he think he’s doing? Why does he keep trying to talk to Diligence when they have clearly shown they have no interest in anything other than this ending in death? He has charisma, they’re willing to give him that. 

The rotling barely manages to stay ahead of Diligence’s sword as they continue to run through the halls until they finally reach the gates to Paradise Lost, and the rotling runs outside of the gates. 

“See ya, Virtue!” the rotling calls behind him as he runs through the gate.

The guards that Diligence had left at the gates don’t chase after the rotling, instead watching in surprise as Diligence slides to a stop in front of the gates, angrily watching the rotling run down the street.

 He’s gotten away for now, escaped time in Inferno. But if he was after the human egg, Diligence knows he’ll be back. The egg has not hatched yet, and as long as it lives, rotlings will continue to come after it, hoping to cling onto their eternal life.

This rotling seemed different than the others. More determined and charismatic, and perhaps a bit more real than the others, who are all carbon copies of each other. This one seemed different.

Diligence won’t forget about him any time soon.