"I'll start," she said after a moment, turning her eyes back to her plate as she shifted some potatoes around with her fork. "I love the smell of fresh-cut grass, but it makes me sneeze."

Luce smiled at her, a little surprised by the random nonsensical declaration, but he wasn't at all shocked by the information. She'd been fascinated with the concept of smelling. "I love fresh air."

"Is that why you spend a lot of time outside?"

"How do you know I do that?"

"Because I spend a lot of time outside, and I see you almost every day."

"It's one of the reasons."

The other being he had nowhere else to be, but he kept that to himself for now.

"Well, as you can see, I love food," she said motioning toward her plates. "When I woke up, I felt like I hadn't eaten in forever. People always say that hospital food is horrible. When they find out I spent weeks in the hospital, that's the first thing they say—that the food must've been horrible. But I couldn't get enough of it."

"What was it like being in the hospital?" Luce asked.

"Horrible," she said. "Minus the food, anyway. They couldn't find anything wrong with me physically, so they said it had to be psychological, but the psychiatrist said I wasn't a danger to anyone, so I was free to go."

"So you left."

"So I left," she agreed, "and here I am."

She finished eating in silence as the waitress returned with the bill, casting Luce a peculiar look. Serah glanced at the check and pulled out some money, tossing it down on the table. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Luce's stomach. He hadn't thought this through at all. He knew little about the usage of money, but he knew human customs after years of observing them from the pit.

He knew he should offer to pay.

He just wasn't sure how to go about it.

Before he could try to materialize some money, or offer to pay her back or something, Serah was sliding out of her seat. "Ready?"

"Sure."

Luce stood up as she strutted passed him on her way to the door. Hesitating, Luce glanced at the apple in his hand before slowly bringing it to his lips.

He bit down on it.

It was crisp, with a sharp sort of taste, intense and sweet. He chewed for a moment before swallowing, shrugging as he tossed the apple down on the table, discarding it.

It wasn't half-bad, but it certainly wasn't worth losing your head over.

Something happened that afternoon in the garden.

As Eve consumed the apple, plucking another from the Tree of Knowledge to share with Adam, there was a shift in the air. A chill rolled down Lucifer's spine, crawling across his skin. He shivered from the unexpected sensation, blinking his eyes a few times, watching as redness crept along Eve's bare flesh. It was as if the blood had moved to the surface, flushing her a shade of pink, a sensation he felt echoing in him.

Feeling.

"What have you done?"

His Father's voice rang out right behind him, low and desolate. Luce smiled with satisfaction, turning his head, expecting to see anger targeted at His new children for disobeying, but His focus was on the Archangel instead. His eyes were full of pain, the same sort of pain Luce had seen in Adam's face the day he'd been injured.

"Your children," Luce said, "have been seduced by evil."

"If it was evil that seduced them," He asked, "what does that make you?"

The question stalled Luce. He just stared at his Father as He turned away.

The Wrath of God was felt for the first time that afternoon. The sunny sky was awash with darkness, the first storm descending upon the earth. Luce stood there, still leaning against the tree, and watched as the humans were punished.

Pain and heartache were cast upon them, condemning them to struggle for their disobedience. Stripped of innocence, their hearts were now tainted, hearts that no longer would beat for an eternity. They squandered His gift, He said, so He was taking it back. They'd no longer live forever. Someday, and soon, their hearts would give out on them.

Lucifer felt the smallest hint of satisfaction when they were cast out of the garden, these new mortals banned from Paradise. They couldn't be trusted not to eat from the Tree of Life, lest they get the idea to try to steal their immortality back. The unrest went on all day, lighting flashing and thunder rumbling, rain pouring down in waves. When it finally calmed down, the air in the garden settling, Lucifer and his Father were left all alone.

The anger faded, and as He turned to Lucifer, the Archangel once more saw His desolation.

"Why?" He asked quietly. "Why would you do it?"

"I wanted you to see your children weren't perfect," Lucifer said. "I wanted you to see they could be corrupted, that they could be infected by evil."

"I saw," He said, staring right at Lucifer. "I saw the corruption. I saw the evil. I saw it all, my son, and it started with you."

"It's not much." Serah's voice was a soft whisper as she hurriedly picked up a few stray things from her living room: a blanket covering the couch, an empty glass on the end table, and a pair of shoes discarded on the floor. "Sorry about the mess."

She cast a nervous smile toward the front door. Was it a mess? She wasn't sure. She'd certainly seen worse in rooms at the motel.

Luce stood in the open doorway, blocking the sunlight behind him, like he was afraid to come in any further. Was this a mistake? She was thinking it might be. She saw the man around town, always watching her, and after two strange conversations with him she invites him to her home.