Chapter Text
To Adam's confusion, the rest of the family felt it unnatural that Fiedla's mother had been awakened from the dead.
They welcomed her with open arms, made her comfortable and warm, because they knew her from before, but behind her back they shuddered in fear, or sneered at Adam for what he had done.
Suddenly, it was as though Adam's loving family, his mother and the mothers of his friends, the handful of lawful husbands of those women, who sided with them, were no longer as caring as they once were.
He didn't understand what he had done, and he didn't feel a thing even as a slow, seeping bitterness entered into his soul.
The only ones who didn't see the problem with the resurrection were grandfather Noah and all of his fellow angel-born friends, who were delighted by this turn of events, especially young Fiedla.
When Adam tried to explain his fears to Road, she fixed him with a hard look that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Don't worry about them," she spoke as though a sour taste were on her tongue, "if they aren't going to side with us, the true inheritors of Noah's will, then the flood may as well take them all."
Adam was slowly finding Road to be a very frightening person, but he didn't want to let anyone down, so he kept it to himself.
But it wasn't long until everything began to go terribly wrong, and their downfall started on the day a newborn sheep didn't make it an hour past its birth.
~*~*~*~
The twins had taken to making straw dolls for just such an occasion, and when Adam asked them for one, they both smiled gleefully and handed one over.
"You didn't have to make that much," he said as he eyed the pile of little straw bodies.
"There's one for every man, woman, and child here," they announced in one voice, "and the animals!"
"Tell Desires to stop watching them mate!" The more excitable of the twins giggled with a bit of malice.
Not wanting to get into that topic of conversation, Adam only answered, "I'll see what I can do..."
As he left, a quiet Road trotted behind him while clutching the edge of his tunic in her fingers.
Making their way to the animal pens, Adam was dragged backwards by Road coming to a dead stop.
Looking back at her incredulously, he dared to ask, "yes? What is it?"
With a barely concealed look of malevolence on her face, Road looked up into his eyes and questioned, "what do you think is wrong with Desires?"
What is wrong with any of us? Adam thought, and why does she look so elated to be asking me?
Does she really have that much of a grudge against God?
I hate him too, but Road...
"Adam, you are standing there with a vapid look on your face!" Road laughed meanly, gently pushing him towards the pens, "come on, let's get on with it!"
He ignored the stares from their mothers and their mother's husbands as they walked around to the pen containing the dead lamb.
Across the way, Desires was also there, looking terribly upset at the death of the dear, sweet newborn.
Noticing their arrival, he turned up his face to Adam and asked, "are you going to try what you did to Fiedla's mother?"
Adam only nodded solemnly and opened the gate so he could step into the pen.
The floor was covered with straw and sand in order soak up the blood and shit involved in animal care, and in the middle, the two adult sheep packed onto the Arc still licking and crying over the corpse of their baby.
Adam didn't care about getting dirty, just as he didn't care about the dirty looks from those who got up to watch.
He cooed and soothed his way in between the two sheep, and when he was close enough, he lifted the body's head gently and tried to imagine it alive.
Pure white and frolicking in green grass filled with wildflowers, stopping only to suckle from its mother's teat, laying its head to rest at nightfall protected by a farmers dogs.
Then he did what he did to Fiedla's mother and began pushing the straw doll into its mouth.
It didn't take long for Adam to realize that something was amiss.
The doll refused to go any further, and he heard the two parents around him start to react with fear over his actions; they were hurt and concerned by what he was doing to their baby.
As he tried to shove the doll further, the sheep became erratic, but he refused to move, and eventually, he was being shoved around, himself.
"Adam, get out of there!" He heard Desires plead, but he wouldn't move, and soon enough he felt the father of the lamb start to use his horns against him.
Adam kept both his hands locked over the mouth of the lamb, but nothing was happening, and he cursed under his breath before he was suddenly lifted into the air.
He knew what had happened immediately, and twisted his head until he locked eyes with Desires.
The younger man had his fingers splayed out, pointed right at him, and was walking his way around the pen to the doorway, dragging Adam with him.
"Desires, what are you-"
"You know, I personally don't care, but you were starting to looks insane," Desires said kindly as he towed Adam to the deck of the Ark, Road following behind, "I just didn't want you to be humiliated in front of the family."
'Insane' and 'humiliated' sounded like new concepts to Adam, but he didn't want to ask Desires, who was known to give long answers to simple questions.
So he let himself be put down gently by Desires, and the three of them looked up at the brilliant blue skies above them.
It hadn't rained in days, and grandfather Noah had been letting the birds go out, confident that they would return whenever they wanted to nest.
He was out there now, tired old hands shaking as a pair of hawks lifted off from his fist, making room for two nightingales to land.
Desires approached him slowly, holding his hand out for two hummingbirds, and Noah turned to acknowledge his presence with a nod.
"Adam's ability doesn't work on the animals, Grandfather," he informed the old man solemnly.
Adam and Road moved forward to stand beside Desires, and Adam bowed his head nervously, "I'm so sorry, Grandfather."
Noah said nothing, looking intently towards the vast oceans that covered their world.
Adam couldn't tell what it was, but something seemed different that day, as the lapping of waves against the hull of the Ark reached them up on the deck.
Finally, old Noah launched the nightingales into the air and opened his mouth to speak.
"I didn't expect it to," he sighed, "it is said that only us humans were granted true souls by God."
The three of them flinched, and Desires made an indignant sound, before adding, "and who gave them the right to determine who gets a soul and who doesn't?"
"No one but themselves, I suspect," Noah sighed again, even deeper and more ragged than the first.
Then Little Road piped up to remind them, "And to leave us floating here, without our Angels and without telling us how we shall live?"
Adam knew she had a point, but when Desires looked at him as though he should have some input, he only shrugged his shoulders.
Being the oldest came with a lot of responsibilities Adam wasn't sure he was capable of, and he could tell by the frown and shaking head that Desires didn't think so, either.
Rolling his eyes, Desires looked at the Clan patriarch and asked, "so what do we do now, Grandfather?"
A silence began to stretch on, and Adam could tell Desires was growing impatient, but then the old man lifted a finger and pointed out across the vast floodwaters.
"Look there," he mumbled, and the three of them turned to see a white-gray bird flying towards them, carrying something in its beak, its partner close behind.
As they approached, Adam realized they were doves, but he couldn't make out what the leader was holding until they landed on Grandfather Noah's raised fist.
"Ah, a twig from an olive tree," Desires said out loud, "and baring fruit, as well!"
Noah delicately plucked one of the olives and handed it to Desires, who sniffed it before taking the tiniest of bites from the flesh.
Road laughed as Desires made a sour face and said, "well, they're fresh from somewhere."
"You should have known better than to bite into a raw olive," Road pointed out.
Adam thought about her words, recalling the olive grove he once stumbled upon when he had free time with Joyd and Desires.
Eager to bring home a new food source, they spent many hours trying different preparations of the hard, black-and-green fruits, but the ones that tasted best had been left in a pot to soak for days.
Road was right; there was no need for Desires to bite into an olive he knew would be bitter.
Before Adam could think harder about the changes affecting all of his family and friends, Desires asked a question.
"What does this mean, Grandfather?"
The older man cleared his throat, and Adam felt something stirring inside of him at the sound of the patriarchs answer.
"It means there's land somewhere," his voice was loud in Adam's ears, though it was so low it should have been drowned out by the waves, "it means that Gods flood is finally receding."