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Oh I see! I guess I could do Nate then. He is one of my first Angel characters.

The Angel glared, "Because we are not like messy pathetic demons. We organize and have meetings." Sterling raised a hand, "Alright guys. You two can fight later. Right now, I know the Angels can find him. Kodi, it was nice talking to you. Both of you are dismissed from my office." --- Blake uttered, "Y-Yes sir..." Violet caught Blake before he could hit the floor. "I think we should call it a day. Most of your boys have been metaphorically torn to the bones." --- Salem bit her lip, "Sorry." She sniffled as tears left her. "It's about Blake. I'm worried about him. When he saw you like that, he was so angry. He left and then after I took you to Aunty, I went to back to the house. Blake wasn't himself. His anger possessed him. He was torturing Violet! He nearly hurt me! Aunty had to slap him out of it. When he did wake up, he was so sorry." She sobbed, "Oh Benny! I'm scared for him!" --- Bryce smiled, "Perhaps but I cannot say if she would accepted me as this. To love the supernatural or to love men." --- Death had done his best to keep his emotions in check. Once Azrael asked, tears dripped from his eyes. "I nearly lost everyone. That bastard and their minions will not stop until everything is theirs. For the first time, I was weak. I nearly cease to exist. I want to scream at God and ask him, Why? And now, I am to be a leader when my heart is wavering?" Raven looked through the books too, "I'm sorry I didn't save him. I should have done something." --- Ash said, "I highly recommend resting. As for me, I will stay with my family until I know their lives are safe." --- Vincent shook his head, "This is bigger than him or any of us. I think the royals of Hell are already on it. We just have to trust them and hope for the best." Elliot agreed, "We're not exactly stronger than a Demon or Angel. Or whatever they've got." --- Nate replied, "It's a quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet about love at first sight. Whoever this is, it seems like they have a thing for you. I don't think this was them. This is different. I'm still going to be on my guard though." --- Leo stopped playing. Letting his character get killed. "Are you ok? What happened?" He set the controller on the coffee table. Abaddon spoke, "There was a being called Uriel*. Only it wasn't Uriel, it was something else. It had all this power. It drugged the drinks. I could hardly do anything. Even Death was helpless. Please. We need to do something." --- Eris shrugged, "Fine. See ya when things blow over." She flew away. Dariel was passed out on the floor. Having used his strength to fight against the being. He had injuries but nothing life threatening. --- Jean leaned against Hannes for support. "Hannes, take us home. Protect our people. I can't do anything right now. I must rest." --- Nil chuckled, "Thanks." He returned the kiss. "I think you're pretty amazing too." --- James replied, "I did see they had other things like scarves and animals. I can try that." --- Abel took a deep breath. He raised his hands as his eyes glowed. The books on the floor soon floated up. Arranging themselves in alphabetical order before some books were placed on the table. Ones that involved topics of inter dimensional beings and different worlds. "There! That should be all of them." "Oh look who we have here! Of course brother Abel is here to save the day!" He turned to see Cain who wore brown pants, a green robe, and had curly hair. His eyes glowed green, "Goody two shoes like always! And looks like you even got a status in Heaven from dear old God." Abel's face went pale, "Cain! How? I thought you left." "Oh I did. And guess what? No one missed me! What a surprise!" "No! I missed you but you weren't listening to our father. You turned away from God. I tried to help but-" "Shut up! I don't need your sob story! What I want is for those new freaks to win so that I can finally rub it in your fucking dumb face!" Cain raised his hands, "Which means stopping you two from finding a solution." --- Charles held her close, "We will find him. We will save him. He's not so helpless as a human baby. I have forgotten that our son has powers. Even alone, he will be able to defend himself against their influence. He's our boy." Hades nodded. She appeared in front Carol. "Hey! You conscious?" --- Carter gently rocked her, "Shhh...It's ok. Let's go see who that is." He walked to the door and opened it, "Hello?" --- Lucretia was caught off guard by her question. It took her a moment before she spoke, "Your worship, I have always been trained since I was created to be a true Angelic soldier for Heaven. Thus that means I absolve myself of emotions and focus on the objective. However, things have changed since that day. Angels falling in love and speaking of affection. It is something that I do not understand. I find myself at a stupor. I believe emotions to be obstacles. Angels do not need anything because they already have the privilege of serving God." --- Phineas dropped to his knees. He pressed his hands against the floor as he cried. "No....There's nothing we can do." --- Adam held Daisy's hand, "I'm here for you." He nodded at Clementine. "It's ok. Give it to her."

No worries if you don't want to. If it helps I was just thinking like an alternate version of Nate, or Gabriel or any of your other Angels and how they might be if they chose to align themselves with Amelia* out of fear, loyalty, ambition or any other reason.

Had an annoying work day but other than that I'm fine. I'm not sure if I can really focus on being that character. If you can, I'd like some details to help me.

Hi, hope you're alright. I thought in the post with Raziel & Lucretia the Angel he sees pushing Lucretia around could be one of yours from the other world? 🙂 I thought I'd leave it open in case you like the idea

"Who are you?" Kodi asked, then realised his tone had come off more demanding than he'd meant. He had been caught off guard by the Angel as well as his words. Kodi didn't take his cool, analytical gaze from the Angel as he shifted in his seat awkwardly before asking, "How can you possibly know something like that right off the bat, with nothing more than a description? Seems more like a wild guess to me." --- Kris was still smirking to himself even as Violet complimented him. As he strode out of the hideout and towards the docks with her beside him, he glanced at her sideways and let his eyes wander briefly over her figure. "If you like this, then you're in for a treat," he said before turning his gaze forward once more. Drake, still bruised and exhausted, sat up in his bed as Blake had run into the room. "What is it? Did Kris find the Leeches hideout?" He asked eagerly. Convinced he'd left Benny to die at their hands, he wanted to make it up to his lost friend by getting revenge on the vampires that had attacked them. He jumped out of bed and wobbled dangerously before reaching out to hold on to Blake in order to steady himself. "I want to kill every last one of those rotten leeches!" he growled as he wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulders and began limping alongside him. Outside, Kris walked out onto the creaking wooden dock towards a beaten and bloody figure that was standing right at the very end. Drawn onto the wood around his feet was a large square rune with various symbols around it. It was giving off a faint, lilac glow. Most of the boys, Drake included, would recognise this rune immediately. It was a temporary prison that rendered its occupant incapable of leaving the small space. There was a large cinderblock chained to the figure's ankle. Kris held up a hand to signal to the rest to come to a stop. Audrey lingered near the back of the little crowd and watched passively, with an expressionless stare. When everyone else had stopped, Kris approached his captive before turning to look at the boys. He was no longer smiling as he removed his sunglasses to look at them all. He then held up a hand towards the vampire behind him. "This is the last vampire from the rats' nest of a hive that he came from. But he is not the last vampire in the gang that had attacked our boys. That turned our Benny!" "What?!" Drake gasped. "N-no! No! They didn't-!" He caught sight of the vampire peering at him through one bruised eye. His other eye had completely swollen over. To Drake, though, his gaze seemed mocking. Like he was taunting him just by looking over. His own eyes radiated rage in turn as he roared at him furiously, "I'll kill you!!" Cecil would help Blake to hold him back as it was clear that Kris wasn't finished speaking yet. "What these leeches have done will not stand!" Kris said. "A vampire killing a Trickster is a tragedy. But to turn one? To strip him of his powers and bring him down to their level?! An unforgivable insult! What's worse is these leeches have become bold enough to steal our powers from us!" Kris reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, holding it high for the other boys to see. "A Trickster has betrayed us and is selling trinkets to these leeches! Trinkets filled with powers stolen from other Tricksters!" Kris opened his palm, the ring hovered over his hand, then began to glow a hot red colour. As Kris removed his hand, the ring's metal began melting into a molten puddle on the dock. "I will find this Trickster, and I will make them pay for their crime! I promise you this. For now, though, we need to set an example. We need to show the other leeches what happens to vampires who buy stolen powers from this traitor! We need to show them what happens when they dare to attack my family!" He turned to face the vampire who glared back at him through his one good eye defiantly. "Go ahead!" The vampire growled at him through gritted teeth. He was trembling all over, but his expression, what little could be made out among the bruising, was resolute. "Get it over with! Burn me already!" "Burn you?" Kris laughed darkly. "What kind of lesson would that be to your parasite brethren? That they can expect a quick death? No. I want them to know, just like you will, that crossing me is a one-way ticket to an eternity of pain." Kris smirked cruelly before adding, "Say, how long do you think you can hold your breath?" The vampire's eye widened, and he had just enough time to stammer out the word "No-!" before Kris had shoved the concrete slab attached to his ankle into the ocean with his foot. The vampire was violently and suddenly jerked into the water, but not before smacking his face onto the end of the dock, leaving a spray of blood across the wood. The loud snapping sound right before signalled that the force and speed of the concrete falling had broken the vampire's ankle as it had dragged him down. Silence followed. Kris frowned. He had hoped to see some bubbles at least. Maybe a little struggling as the vampire tried to swim against the weight dragging him down. But no, the impact had knocked the vampire right out, and he'd sunk without any resistance. No matter. Kris knew the practically immortal bastard would wake up eventually, realise painfully that his lungs were full of water and commence to be in a state of constant drowning. The thought alone was enough to bring Kris at least a little peace. He turned to look at his boys, half wondering what they might think of their leader now. "Now, back to the hideout, all of you. Our normal routine will be put on hold while I try to find this Trickster. Spend that time training each other. Look out for each other." --- "I'm a Trickster who's been forced into vampirism and stripped of my powers, family and home. But sure, let's talk about your problems." Benny answered sourly through the door. Then he grimaced and sighed. "Sorry," he said awkwardly. "This hunger, it's... I'm not used to it," he shrugged to himself. "Just, don't leave me alone? Please?... What did you want to talk about, anyway?" --- Viktor listened as he sat next to him. Hearing his story, he frowned and gently took his hand in his. "I know my life was different but, I get growing up in that kind of environment... Your mother sounds nice. I wish I could've met her." he gave him a small smile. --- Azrael glanced at them both briefly as he re-entered the room and closed the door carefully behind him. "Um, I'm not sure," he answered. "But we must search if we're to stop them." He turned back towards Death and placed a hand on his lower back while looking at him with loving eyes. "The grounds are as secure as I can get them. The guests are leaving gradually as they slowly feel better. I've got Reapers patrolling the castle in pairs," he said to him quickly and quietly. Then he paused and gently cupped Death's cheek with his hand. "Are you alright?" he asked in a hushed, tender tone. Lilly watched their fathers for a moment, but feeling the restless need to do something, she got to her feet. "C'mon." She said to Raven before walking to the opposite side of the room from their fathers to search the other bookshelves. Every so often, she'd quickly wipe a tear away as she tried to focus on searching the pages of the books, but she could barely get the image of Bob slumped lifelessly against the wall out of her mind. - "I'll drink to that!" Cass laughed as he shook his hand and then momentarily turned a pale shade of green as he winced. "Ugh, maybe not for a while yet, though. I just wish I knew what they put in our drinks. I might've known a herb or two that could counteract the effects..." --- Neva looked from Vincent to Elliot and back again with a worried expression. "You mean like, kidnapped?" She asked, looking close to tears. "But we're going to find him, right? Will Mr Carter help us? He was a police man, maybe he can find him?" --- At the question, Tom looked up at the bouquet, noticing them for the first time. "Um, no." he shook his head with a thoughtful look as he tried to recall seeing anything out of the ordinary at the hotel, but he could barely think of anything other than what had just happened. A terrified look crossed his features as he looked at Nate. "You don't think it's them, do you? Mocking us?" It was a wild assumption, but given what he'd just gone through, he couldn't help but wonder if the two were connected. More than likely, they might've simply been delivered to the wrong room. "What does the note say?" - The game in question was Gang Beasts, and Oscar was chuckling away at the floppy characters on the screen as they seemed to desperately try to grip each other and throw the other off a moving platform. Try as they might, various obstacles, including themselves, meant that they were struggling to get a good grip on each other. "Ohh, almost!" He laughed as he had very narrowly avoided Leo's character throwing him off for the fourth time. "Can't catch me, I'm too slippy!" Atma politely faked a cough into her fist to get their attention. "Um, Oscar and Leo, this is Abaddon." - Shezmu smirked as he stared off to one side. "He is almost a man and will soon be one of the greatest soldiers on Earth. He doesn't need a mother, and I'd rather you didn't get distracted from the mission at hand." He said, not intending to come off as stern as he did. "Besides, it's not him I'm concerned for. He may be young, but he is a capable fighter. My guest, on the other hand..." He looked at Eris and smiled while giving her a short bow. "But that is my concern. Please, I've kept you long enough. We must get back." - Hannes was shocked to hear that this entity, whatever it had been, had managed to almost kill Death. A feat he'd been sure to be impossible. Numbly, he wrapped an arm around Jean's shoulders to hold him close. "My love..." he said slowly as he looked around at the mess. "I think we might be out of our depth on this matter. Perhaps we should go home and protect it, as best we can." --- Layla's eyes widened. The glow of his wings reflected in her eyes as she stared at them, awestruck. "Nil! Oh, wow!" She gasped. She brought her eyes back to his and caressed his cheek, while her own cheeks blushed pink. "You're amazing!" she grinned, then kissed him. --- "Oh, James!" May smiled brightly as she took the sweater and looked at it. "It looks great!" she said before hurriedly pulling it over her head and running her arms into the sleeves. She looked down at herself and ran her hands down the sides of the sweater. "Thank you!" she grinned while throwing her arms around him again. She took his hand, entwining her fingers in his as they walked towards the exit. "I'm glad you found a hobby that you like. Do you have any ideas for other projects that you could knit?" --- Samael smirked at Abel with a raised eyebrow. "Look who's got a backbone after all!" he chuckled. He then looked at the mess of books scattered on the floor below before shrugging. "Well, what do you suggest then?" he asked as he brought his eyes back to Abel's. "If you have a faster way to find what we're looking for, I'm all ears." --- "You can start by telling me we'll find him!" Amelia rounded on Charles, and as she said this, her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears. Her fury was laced with fear as she looked at him desperately for any kind of hope or comfort. In this moment, despite her fierce maternal determination, Charles would be able to sense her fragility. "Please? Just tell me we can find him. Tell me we'll save him. I need to believe it. I need to." David had covered his mouth upon learning what had happened. He knew without it being said that Charles was the only one in the room capable of comforting her right now. So, while they spoke, he thought desperately of ways that they could try to locate the young prince. He leaned against the bookshelf as his mind raced. A few ideas popped into his head, but he wasn't so sure about them, and one made his stomach churn at the mere thought. "Hades," he said quietly to her, in a serious tone. "Can you bring Carol and Damien here for me?" He knew he could just call them and they'd come running, but with telepathic callings, there was always a risk someone else could hear it, and right now they couldn't run that kind of risk. "You may need to find something to help Carol feel better after being drugged... and Damien might need some convincing. Do not use telepathy. Block your mind completely, if you know how. I'll explain why when you get back." --- Stevie grinned, both because of Carter's approval and because he'd offhandedly called him son. Not wanting to wake Rose up, he shrugged and pointed towards the staircase with his thumb. "I'll uh, I'll go and help with the nursery, then," he whispered before jogging as quietly as he could up the stairs. All the effort to be quiet was wasted, though, as a knock on the door caused Rose to stir and to complain with a cry at being woken up. --- "Destroyed? Certainly not. He's too important. Especially after our own Raziel* came to an unfortunate end." Clementine* shrugged. "No, our Queen wants him alive and obedient by any means necessary. You, on the other hand..." Clementine* walked over to Lucretia and stood in front of the stone slab she was pressed leaning over. She took out a small knife and held it under Lucretia's chin to force her to look up at her. Only as the metal would touch Lucretia's skin would she realise it was made of Demonic metal. "You might not be so lucky. After all, what's so special about you? You're just another lost Angel who failed in their 'holy mission'. In my world, your kind either bent the knee or were destroyed. Which will you be?" "Your world?" Raziel asked. "You... the portals! The rift!" he gasped "You're smarter than our Raziel* was, I'll give you that." Clementine* turned her head to look at him with a smile. "Clementine*. She wants them brought before her." A demon behind her spoke from a doorway, and Clementine's smile slipped. Her fun time was over. She withdrew the knife from Lucretia's chin, then nodded to someone standing behind them. Immediately, Raziel and Lucretia would be dragged to their feet. Looking over, Raziel could see Lucretia was being handled by an Angel... an Angel he recognised! But this one was one of the Angels from this Clementine's* world, not the one he knew. He wondered who it was that was handling him and dragging him towards a door, but he didn't manage to turn enough to get a good look. Before they passed through the door, Uriel looked up from his corner and locked eyes with Lucretia. He mentally sent her a secret warning to 'play along' if she wanted to survive. He then quickly broke eye contact with her and continued to hug the wall, terrified of what the others would do if they suspected that his spirit wasn't completely broken just yet. Raziel and Lucretia were both forced to walk into a wide hall filled to the brim with a mixture of rowdy, partying Angels and Demons. The crowd parted to let them through, and they were brought right to the end of the hall where a woman sat sideways on a marble throne with her legs hanging over one of the arms. She looked relaxed and... also familiar. "Amelia!" Raziel couldn't help gasping and immediately felt his captor smack the back of his head roughly. "Your highness or Queen Amelia*, to you!" he heard the voice of the man holding him growl into his ear. "Now, kneel!" He felt his knees kicked from behind, forcing him to drop to his knees. The same would be done to Lucretia next to him. He stared up at Amelia* in disbelief. She stared back with cold indifference. She then glanced at Lucretia just as coldly and pointed to her briefly. "I saw you through the eyes of others. You fought well... until Uriel* took your arm. From what I saw, though, you didn't seem to exactly 'fit in' with the others. Why is that?" --- Kasper looked over from where he was kneeling by the fireplace. He'd been having fun with the dogs and scratching their bellies up until this point. He frowned. "Is there something we can do?" --- "You're sure this will work?" John eyed Clementine warily. "It's not like I have any guinea pigs to test it on..." Clementine said nervously. She looked at Adam as they stood around her workspace. Daisy and Eve were standing nearby. "Please reconsider. If this goes wrong..." She tried to warn him. "Pregnancies have enough risks and complications already." "But it'll help Eden to grow faster, right?" Daisy asked. She was looking uncertainly at the beaker of pink liquid on the desk. "Theoretically, if it succeeds and you give birth in Hell, yes. But-" Clementine started. "But, this is why I was brought here, isn't it? The chance for a new Eden! This is my destiny!"

The Angel appeared. Showing that it was no tricks. He spoke, "What do you need?" "Ever heard of a rogue Angel kidnapping people? Or having a weird vendetta?" The Angel gripped his spear tightly, "There's one called John but he was destroyed. At least, we thought so. It seems he has returned. If he is using his power to prevent anyone from finding himself and Clementine then I must gather other Angels to combine our powers. Enough of our power should be able to counteract this barrier." --- Salem nodded, "Ok Aunty." She soon disappeared. Blake replied to Kris, "Yes sir." He soon ran to the bunk beds, "Hey Drake! You around? We're needed!" Violet looked Kris over, "Well well, looks like someone got their hands dirty. I gotta say that shade of red really brings out your good looks." --- Salem pressed herself against the basement door, "Benny? How are you?" She sat down and hugged her knees. "I'm just...I need to talk to you about stuff. Is that ok?" --- Bryce pressed his back against the couch. Feeling comfortable, "My father was a strict asshole but my mother was a sweet angel. Not literally. I only mean her caring nature was one that I'll never forget. Even when father would....Even with the bruises, mother still had that smile." --- Raven shrugged, "I'm not sure." He turned to Azrael, "Father? Would this realm's library truly have a topic of such creatures like we saw?" - Ash shook his hand, "To not getting hunted down every minute of my immortal life." - Hades glared as her aura surrounded her, "They did what?!" Charles appeared, "Amelia! Please Amelia! I wasn't implying that we give up! I'm just baffled for the first time. This being is different from anything we've ever fought. I just don't know where to start." - Vincent knelt in front of her, "Neva. You're out of time out. Oliver..." Elliot, though scared, had nodded to let him know it was ok to spill the beans. Vincent frowned, "Oliver was taken by someone. We don't know who or what they are but please don't try to look for them. I know you want Oliver back as much as we all do but I don't know what they'll do to you. I can't bear to lose you." - Nate spotted the bouquet, "Tom? I hate to ask but before the ceremony, did you see anyone strange at this hotel?" - Abaddon replied, "Then that's where we shall go." Both of them soon appeared in the living room of the mansion. Oscar and Leo were playing another player versus player game. Leo had gotten use to modern technology since Oscar showed him the ropes. Now, he was mashing buttons like a pro but that didn't necessarily mean he was good at video games. - Eris changed back into her harpy form. A look of worry hit her face, "Oh yeah. You sure you don't want me to tag along? That kid of yours seemed alright. I'm not much of a motherly figure but I wouldn't want anything to happen to the kid." - Jean wept over his hands, "I-I don't know. Death nearly died. This someone took an orb with power. It was awful! I felt helpless! Despite my abilities, I was too weak." --- Nil couldn't help but look into her eyes, "I'm alright now." His fairy wings suddenly appeared as his heart filled with love. --- James smiled, "Then you'll love this!" He held up the sweater. "It was hard at first but I went through the instructions. I estimated your size. If it doesn't fit, I can always make another. Making something like this was actually fun." --- Abel tried to keep himself composed. To show a sense of compassion since he knew how grave the situation was. Yet, he couldn't let Samael do this. He burst into tears, "ENOUGH!" His voice echoed. He lowered his head. "Just stop. I know we're all stressed but that's no reason to..." He sighed, "Just take a moment to look around. Look at the mess and tell me if this is how you want to organize your strategy." --- Carter was half asleep when Sebastian and Steve came back. He blinked out of his nap and lazily nodded at Sebastian. He smiled at Steve as he accepted the teddy bear. "Thanks son. She'll love it. I just know it." He placed the bear close to her. --- Lucretia let out a cry of agonizing pain. She writhed in her makeshift prison. "No! Raziel! I have failed you and my superiors!" She spit at one of the beings. "Even if I have to die, I will not let Raziel be destroyed!" --- Phineas Gage was reading a book in the living room. He suddenly gasped. The book fell out of his hand. Tears peeked from his eyes. "Something's wrong but I'm not sure what. I just know it's not a good feeling."

Kodi wasn't sure what to expect next, but he had his doubts that it would be an Angel that would appear. What Sterling described was blood magic, which was usually associated with dark magic and demons. Decorating the whistle with Angel blood, no less... unless the 'Angel' in question used their own blood? He'd be about to find out as he sat tensely waiting for this 'Angel' to appear. --- Audrey turned her eyes to each of them as they spoke. When Violet offered to work at the shop, she shook her head. "I don't need help with the shop," she said. Her tone was still stern and her expression unmoved. "You might've earned Kris's trust, but I'm not so easily won over." "Give her a break, Aunty." Kris's voice came from behind her. "She's not as bad as we thought." Audrey opened her mouth to speak and turned to face Kris, only to stop in her tracks at the sight of him. Head to toe, he was covered in blood, and there was something dark about his smirk. "Boys! I have a present for you. Follow me. Aunty, you should take Salem home. This isn't something you'll want her to see. Blake, go and help Drake join us," he commanded, and without further explanation, he turned and marched back out of the hideout. Aunty hesitated and quickly gripped Salem's arm to prevent her from following them. "Go to the shop. Don't let Benny out of the safe room, but keep him company through the door," she told her urgently. She was going to follow them herself to see what Kris was up to. --- "You haven't told me about your parents before." Viktor smiled and looked at him fascinatedly. To Viktor, this was a good sign. To him, it meant that Bryce had become comfortable enough with him to open up about his past. "What were they like?" --- He spoke sense, and Lilly hated that he was so right. Her anger boiled within her, but she could do nothing until they knew what they were dealing with or even where to find them. Taking a breath to calm herself, she nodded to Raven before wiping away her tears. "Where do we start?" she asked as she glanced over at the bookshelves. - Cass chuckled at Ash's reaction. "You should've seen it when the ceasefire was called. Most thought it was a false alarm because of how long the war had been going on. No one expected it to end." He got up and brushed himself off. He wobbled on his legs a little, but he shook his head and stood straight again, slightly annoyed that the drugged wine was still affecting him. "Personally, I'm glad it did." He continued. "Turns out some of you Hellions are pretty decent folk. Would've been a shame not to get the opportunity to meet you properly, instead of on a battlefield," he held a hand out for him to shake. "To new beginnings, then?" - David, still facing the bookshelf with his hand on the spine of a large book, paused when he heard her. He lowered his gaze and let out a heavy sigh. "I know what you mean. I feel the same way. Let's hope it doesn't come to that." He pulled out the large book and brought it over to the table. As he placed it down, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Come on, let's not lose hope yet. We might yet find something that could help us." He turned away from her, and his smile slipped as he went back to combing through the books. He'd said that to try to comfort her, but he wasn't so sure they'd find anything here. If the council had a way to be found, it likely wasn't hidden in Heaven or Hell's libraries. Especially not Hell's or Lucifer might've stormed their location himself aeons ago. But then again, would he have? As David thought this, a memory surfaced of Lucifer looking very friendly with Atma. She would've known the Council's location at the time, but he always showed her far more respect than he'd ever shown anyone else. If she'd ever told him where it was, he'd never given any indication nor bothered to do anything about it. Maybe he had respected The Balance more than David had ever suspected? Or more than Lucifer had ever let on, at least. As much as this revelation gave David hope that perhaps Lucifer hadn't been as brutal as he'd once thought, it didn't exactly help them get any closer to finding the Council's location. - Once they appeared in their home, Tom moved over to the bed and curled up into a foetal position. He was still shivering and sobbing quietly. In his distressed state, he didn't notice the large bouquet of red roses on the dresser that had been left there by hotel staff. The card attached to it didn't indicate who the flowers were for and only contained a quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette; “Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.” - It was true, Atma needed to sleep off whatever had been slipped into the wine. Even as she spoke to him, her movements were still sluggish, and her words were a little slurred. But she shook her head determinedly. "Something awful just happened. I won't be able to sleep even if I wanted to. Besides, Oscar might know something that can help. He's usually in the living room playing video games..." She tried to stand, but she barely had the strength. - Shezmu was at a loss as he watched Eris transform into a chicken. He chuckled and shook his head. "You are an enigma." He said in amusement. "But one I am looking forward to working with. Now, my blood is strong, so you may not need another dose for several days. I suggest you use that time to assist in locating the intruders." He fixed his tie as he glanced away. His cool and calm façade masked his concerns. "I must check in on my student and my... guest." - "It?" Hannes raised an eyebrow and looked around the room as he realised he'd missed more than just a fight with Uriel*. He recalled the distorted voice booming from Unity before her head had exploded. "Jean, my love, what else happened? Why does everyone look so grave?" he asked worriedly. --- Nil's shot scored another goal for his team. "Come on, team! Get the lead out!" Layla shouted excitedly to her team as they tried to intercept the ball again. She ran alongside, trying to intercept it herself, but just as she looked up, she realised she and Nil were running at each other. With just a split second to react, she brought her arms up to grab him and slow their momentum just as they'd bump into each other while also aiming her body to one side to soften their fall as they rolled a bit across the grass. She landed on top of him and giggled as she lifted herself to look at him. "Oops! Are you ok?" Just as this happened, Nil's team cheered as they'd managed to score another goal. --- Several minutes passed by, and during that time, Nurse Niles walked past the waiting room wearing his coat over his scrubs. He gave James a side-eyed glare as he walked past to head out of the exit. A short while later, Nurse May hurried into the waiting room and grinned at James. Her hair was up in a bun, and after a long shift, it looked a little messy. May, herself, looked tired and a bit frazzled. But seeing James waiting for her made the long, difficult day worth it. She hurried over to him, and just as he'd stand, she'd throw her arms around him. As she hugged him, she felt all the tension from the day melting away. "You've no idea how much you've just made my day better!" she smiled as she let him go. --- Samael turned his head to raise an eyebrow at Abel. "I'm good," he said, then kicked his foot against the bookshelves to cause the ladders he was on to wheel around the circularly shaped library, away from Abel. When it came to a stop, he again started pulling books out of the shelf and flinging them over his shoulder. "Why don't you make yourself useful? See if there's a library index or whatever in the librarian's desk." --- Neva had jumped at the sound of Amelia's shout, and she turned her head to watch Charles hurry up the stairs. She looked towards Vincent and Elliot worriedly. Wondering if something was wrong with Oliver and if she'd be allowed to leave the corner to see what was going on. "Daddy?" she asked uncertainly. Amelia read the paper over and over. When she heard Charles, she looked at him in disbelief. The way he spoke sounded like he'd already given up. "They have. Our son!" She snapped at him. Her eyes were wide with worry and rage. But he was right. They had no idea where they even are, never mind how they'd be able to defeat them. And this truth just drove Amelia further into despair. She didn't know how yet, but she wasn't going to let them get away with this! "We have to get him back! God, he must be terrified! I won't let them have him! I won't!" She vanished. Appearing very suddenly in Hell's library next to David and Hades. "Amelia-?" David started, but immediately she went about yanking book after book from the shelves, flicking through them quickly and dropping them on the floor. "Amelia, stop- Amelia!" David marched over and put his hand on her shoulder. Then he faltered as she turned to glare at him dangerously. "What's happened? Amelia, speak to me! Tell me what's wrong!" he pleaded with her as she continued to pull more books from the shelves. Finally, she screamed furiously and simply began tearing the books from the shelves, throwing them across the floor. "Useless! Aeons and aeons of information, and it's all fucking useless!" she raged. David glanced at Hades, then back to Amelia, unsure of what was happening or how to help. "Amelia, just slow down and talk to me!" "They took him!" She cried as she turned to look at him and frantically ran her hands through her hair. "They took Oliver! I have to get him back! They can't have him! They can't- but how do I get him back when I don't even know how the fuck to find them?!" She threw another book across the room just as she'd said the word 'fuck' as if to emphasise the word. --- "We're home!" Sebastian half-whispered as he poked his head around the corner to look in on Carter and Rose. "I'm just going to take the stuff upstairs and set up the nursery." Stevie quietly walked into the room and held out a little fluffy pink teddy bear for Carter to take. "I thought she might like this one," he said with a small shrug, wanting to be nice but at the same time not wanting to look soft. --- Searing white-hot pain in his shoulder awoke Raziel. He screamed and writhed but found he could barely move. In this moment, the pain, smell and sensation of his skin burning muddled his thoughts so that he could think of little else. Then, relief as the hot metal was removed from his shoulder. Sweating, groaning and breathing heavily, he looked around. He found that he couldn't move because his hands were tied behind his back and he was kneeling, face down, over a cold stone slab. His knees pressed up against the stone. He saw faces around him. Some he didn't recognise. Some confused him as he'd seen them not long ago at Death's ceremony. Then he saw Uriel, beaten and bloody. Cowering in a corner. A metal collar around his neck with a metal chain linking him to the stone wall that he was practically hugging. And in front of him- was that a dog bowl full of kibble? The longer he stared at the pathetic, broken Angel, the more he realised that he was looking at the real Uriel. Not the one that had attacked them in Death's castle. Then the familiar faces around them made a little more sense. "Dopplegangers?" He murmured. "I suppose you could call us that. Not entirely accurate, but it's fitting all the same," a small voice came from in front of him. Raziel turned his head to look upwards and saw a little girl with short, black hair and equally dark eyes. "Clementine! But no- not- not the real one..." Clementine's smile slipped, and she glared at Raziel coldly. "I'm not the pathetic Clementine from your world, no. But I'm certainly real." She looked up at someone behind Raziel that he couldn't see and nodded to them. "Her next. Quickly," she ordered. Her? Raziel turned his head to his left and saw that Lucretia was in the same position as he was. Kneeling over the same stone slab, only she was still unconscious. "L-Lucretia! Lucretia!" he tried to wake her, but just as soon as he spoke, a red-hot branding iron was pressed against her shoulder, just like it had been pressed to his. Only now was Raziel able to get a better look at the brand. It was an odd shape. Full of runes and symbols. "That symbol!" "You like it? It stops our prisoners from teleporting away. Welcome to your new home. We have such plans for you two." Clementine grinned. "What about the doc, here?" Someone behind them asked. Raziel couldn't turn enough to see, but he heard the whimpers of someone he could only assume was the doctor from Heaven's hospital who had been possessed. It would seem the doctor had since regained control of themself. Clementine waved a hand dismissively. "Collateral. Feed him to her pet." "No, please no! No!" they'd hear the doctor begging, and his voice grew gradually distant as he was dragged away from the room.

Sterling nodded, "I can summon an Angel here to tell me everything they know. When I exchanged my blood to this Angel, he gave me a white whistle made of ivory and decorated with the blood of Angels. This Angel should be able to help me find a lead." He took out the whistle and blew into it. --- Salem stood between Violet and Granny Audrey, "They are being supervised by her. It's a long story but Violet's on our side now." Blake nodded, "Kris pretty much showed her that we're not so different. She's been helping out ever since." Violet nervously smiled, "I've been seeing them as my own kids almost. Protecting them as best as I can. I know it won't change what I did to your granddaughter and I'm sorry for that. All I want to do is make things right. So whatever you need from me, I'm ok with giving it to you. Your granddaughter, Salem, told me you have a shop, right? I could work there to make up for a lot of things." --- Bryce replied, "That reminds me of the time when I was playing around as a kid. My parents were quite strict on appearances. My mother caught me running around and getting into dirt. You should have seen the look on her face!" --- Raven spoke, "And we will but right now we need to learn before we can fight. We hardly know our own enemy. Going in like that would be suicide." --- Ash moved his arm and wiggled his fingers. "Well, when your very existence is threatened, you tend to listen to the royals of Hell." He stood. "Thank you for...." He gagged. "My apologies. It's just hard to believe that you are an Angel who is helping me. Let alone one that does not wish to fight. Being civil with Angels is going to take some getting use to." - Nate nodded, "It's alright Tom." He looked at Azrael. "And thank you for the party even if it didn't end well." The duo would appear back in their home. - Hades was looking through books as well. Frustrated with everything that happened but trying her best to remain calm and focused. "David....If I have to, I will end my existence to stop this bastard. I won't let our family die." - Eris blushed as Shezmu kissed her. Once she ingested the blood, she transformed into a harpy. "Well well! Aren't you the forward type? And look at me!" She spun around. "I look sexy!" She transformed into a chicken, "And I can also be a cock! Just kidding! I was able to do this before." She laughed. "Hey check out my fluffy butt." As a chicken, she started shaking her butt around. - Jean shrugged, "Not really but sort of? I mean it left. Whatever it was. I think it got what it wanted or maybe it got tired of fighting? I don't know." - Abaddon raised a brow, "Shouldn't you rest? Surely, we can talk to him another time?" --- Nil seemed determined, "This is for all the marbles!" He would kick the ball. Aiming for the goal. Waiting to see if he would make it. --- Satisfied that the male nurse wasn't interested in May, he sat at a chair. --- Abel picked the book up and placed it on the table. He flew up to Samael, "Hey, I know you're under a lot of stress but it'll be ok. Let's try some breathing techniques." --- Charles read over the paper. "What can we do? I want our son back but if this thing is more powerful than us then who can beat it?!"

"I-" Kodi faltered, caught off guard as the agent offered him a vial of his blood. "No, I don't need that," he shook his head. "And you might want to be careful who you give that away to. You don't want any black magic users targeting you with spells made out of your own blood," he gave him a knowing look before glancing away quickly. Regathering himself, he sighed and looked at the Agent again. "The missing person is a roommate of mine. She's got long, straight black hair. Dark brown eyes. Slim build. She's a little shorter than me, I wana say... 5'5? Give or take. Her name is Clementine. I didn't see her all day. I left for work early, before everyone else woke up. Autumn-" He paused, then smiled a little to himself as he said, "My daughter." It felt odd to say it out loud, but in a good way. His expression then became more serious as he continued, "She told me when I got home that Clementine had gone out to get groceries, but by the time I'd gotten home, she'd been gone for hours. Autumn was worried. So, me and Harris, my other roommate, went to go look for her. We went to the bus stop outside the grocery store, but all we found were her grocery bags spilled all over the ground." Kodi leaned forward slightly, looking Agent Sterling directly in the eyes, and although he didn't really need to, he found himself half whispering to him. "I picked up her scent there. Along with the scent of an Angel and... I don't know what else. There was another scent, but I can't place it; it's nothing I've ever come across before. The trail was cold beyond the bus stop, so I can only guess that she was grabbed by this Angel and their accomplice, and that they teleported away with her. I tried to teleport to her, but I couldn't. Something is blocking me." He sat back as he finished explaining the situation, then gestured to the Agent. "So, what do you think? Can you help?" --- As soon as Violet reintroduced herself to Audrey, the old woman's eyes darkened and narrowed at the Succubus. Her lips thinned, and her jaw clenched as she listened. "You can start by staying away from my granddaughter, Succubus," she said to her coldly. She then turned to Blake. "Where's Kris? Why aren't you boys being supervised?" --- "Never!" Viktor grinned. "First, I reconnect with my sister, and now I'm going to be living with the man that I love. Today couldn't get any better!" He chuckled --- Lilly sat in one of the armchairs by the fireplace and stared at Raven as he spoke to her. She glanced at Death, who was already beginning his search among the books. Now that Azrael was far enough from them, she could feel his aura fading and her fury returning. "We need to find them," she said bitterly as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked at Raven again, her eyes alight with determination and anger. "I'm going to destroy them!" - "Well, I can agree with that." Cass sighed. Gingerly, he removed his hand from his arm as if half expecting it to fall back off despite it now being healed and reattached. "There. How does that feel? Can you move your fingers?" He sat back to catch his breath. "Astaroth... wait, THE Astaroth?! Man, I heard stories about you. You made quite a name for yourself back in the day. How'd you end up serving the newest Infernal Royals?" - "I think a lot of people here will be joining you in line to do just that," David said before nodding to her. "Come on, then. The sooner we find some useful information, the closer we get to bringing them to justice," he vanished to Hell's Library. There, he wasted no time and began wandering around the shelves, running his fingers along the titles. Whenever he found one that might be useful, he pulled the book out and added it to a pile on the table in the middle of the room. - "This wasn't Uriel*!" Tom gasped as he gripped Nate's shirt tighter. "H-he was just a soldier! The voice- the woman's voice- whoever she is, she's in control!" By now, Azrael had finished speaking to the Reapers and had walked back over to the couple. He hesitated before approaching and kneeling next to them. "Tom, I know you're frightened, and I hate to ask, but we need to know what we're dealing with," he said gently. "You said you heard a woman's voice. The link they had with you would have been a mental one. Did they 'show' you anything while they had control of you? Sometimes these things can be two-way. Did you manage to see anything on her end that might help us to track them down?" Tom stared off at Nate's wings and took several trembling breaths as his eyebrows knitted together. "N-no, I don't think... She just wanted me to watch what she was making me do..." Even as he said it, he recalled glimpses of images that he couldn't make sense of as the intruder had tried to seize his mind. "I-I don't know... I don't know..." he shook his head quickly before turning to bury his face into Nate's chest. "Tom, please. If you can remember anything-" Azrael pressed, but Tom's sobbing cut him off. "I don't know! I want to go home. Please, I just want to go home. Nate?" He pleaded, distressed. Azrael sighed and frowned. He glanced apologetically at Nate. "I didn't mean to press. Go and rest," he looked for a moment like he wanted to say something else, but he stood and turned to walk away. - Atma looked at Abaddon with a mixture of alarm and compassion. "No." She said, then shook her head and said it again a bit more forcefully. "No! That's not right. Don't say things like that!" She couldn't help herself. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder and cradled the back of his head with her hand while pressing her cheek to his. "I don't remember a lot, but I've learned a lot since I've been here. And I know that Devils don't live to punish. Not anymore, at least. Things change. Hell is changing!" She pulled back to look into his eyes and gasped as a realisation hit her. "I should introduce you to Oscar! He used to be a Punisher Demon! If anyone knows what it's like to go from that to having to adapt to a new Hell, it's him!" She looked at him with a small, hopeful smile. "Don't give up on yourself. I won't." - "Perfect," Shezmu smirked at the smiley face and snapped his fingers. The contract seemingly vanished into thin air. He stepped towards her and once again cupped her chin with his hand. "I hope I'm not being too forward..." he said softly, then pierced his lower lip with one of his fangs. A small amount of blood welled from the tiny wound, and he leaned in to kiss her. - "Don't let Shezmu hear you say that." Hannes chuckled weakly. He coughed and gripped his chest. "Ah, I think a few of my ribs have been broken," he winced and then smirked. "What I wouldn't give to have a sword like that, though," he half laughed. He looked across the room at the scene. "What happened to Uriel*?" he asked. "Did we win?" --- During the many moves, one elf kicked the ball and scored it into the goal. That elf was on Nil's team. Nil shouted, "We got this!" "Come on, let's show them who's boss!" Layla shouted to her teammates excitedly. She managed to intercept the ball and kicked it into the opposing goal, tying the score. --- Both nurses looked at James oddly. The male looked more offended than his co-worker. "Excuse me-?" he barked. "Niles, can you check on the patient in room 13, please?" The female nurse interrupted and proceeded to glare at Nurse Niles until he relented and walked away. She then turned her attention to James. "Have you ever worked in a hospital?" she asked him sharply. "Worked a fourteen, eighteen, or twenty-four-hour shift before? Had to tell a family that their loved one passed away and there was nothing you could do, been vomited on, been covered in other bodily fluids and then had to pull yourself back together to continue said long hour shift?" She raised an eyebrow at him with her arms crossed. Although her tone was stern, it was also gentle. She wasn't scolding James, but simply trying to educate him. "This job isn't easy. It's even harder when people judge us harshly for being human or when we get tired." She nodded towards the waiting room. "Go on," she said gently with a small smile. "I'll let her know you're here." --- "Oh, great. It's you." Samael said sarcastically as he threw another book over his shoulder. This one would land right next to Abel's feet, at which point Samael would turn to look at him with a cheeky smile. "Whoops, did I almost hit you? Sorry." He started looking at the books again. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Abel?" --- "Here, I'll go get him," Amelia said as she helped Charles onto the couch. As she hurried off upstairs, Neva turned to grin at him. She was about to approach when she caught Vincent's eye and remembered she was supposed to be in time out. Pouting, she turned back to the corner in a huff. There was a long pause of quiet from upstairs before Amelia's voice came very suddenly in a panicked tone: "Charles!" Upstairs, she was standing over the empty crib and holding a piece of paper in her hand, reading the words over and over again. It read: 'Don't worry, I'll make a better parent than both of you! Love, The Rightful Queen'

Sterling tsked, "Nearly got it. So this person you're looking for, can you describe them and the events that happened prior?" He took out a vial of his own blood from the little stand where he kept a few vials. "I imagine you also want my blood in exchange for me wanting to learn a bit about Demons. Most supernatural folks that I've met tend to want my blood first. They say it's special but I don't know why." --- Salem gasped. Blake was taken aback. His powers stopped. Letting Violet let out a sigh of relief. He blinked, "Auntie?" He turned. "Violet?" He looked back and saw a scared Salem. Tears dripped down his cheeks. "Oh god..." He collapsed to his knees. "I'm so sorry everyone! I didn't mean to! I just got so mad and then I couldn't remember what happened!" Salem ran to Blake's side and held him close, "It's ok. It's going to be ok. You're back now." Violet forced herself to stand as she held her arm. She walked over to Aunty, "Hey, thanks for helping out. Sorry about kidnapping your niece. In case, you didn't recognize me, it's Violet. I'm in my real form." She shrugged, "Anyways, if there's anything I can do to make up for everything then just let me know." --- Bryce laughed, "You might get tired after a while." --- Raven nodded, "I understand Father." At the library, Death said, "I know we are all upset. However, if we are to learn anything in order to beat this enemy then we must maintain our composure. Please help me look for anything that you would deem as valuable information." Raven replied, "Yes father." He walked over to Lily. "Hey I'm here. You're not alone in this." - Ash's antlers grew out as his eyes blackened. Pissed by what had happened and at the pain. "I am Astaroth! Bringer of pain to those who deserve it!" He caught his breath, "Yet it seems I was no match for this foe. Neither were you. Not a pleasant thought." - Hades gripped her own arms, "Guys...Just get to Storm's place and hang there for now. I know you're all Demons but this situation is different. Trust me. I'll tell you when we need extra muscles." Storm frowned, "Fine but don't hesitate to call us." Once the band disappeared, Hades clenched her fists. "When we find their weak point, I'm going to make sure they suffer every second of existing." - Nate rubbed the back of Tom's head as his wings covered him like a shield. "Hush now. It will be alright. For now, Uriel* is gone. We will find a way to take this monster down. Do not worry for I am here." - Abaddon appeared at the mansion. Still on his knees with Atma on the floor of their home. "Nothing. It's just....I was so scared for you. For everyone." He shook his head, "I was foolish to think that I could ever have any form of good in my life. I am a Devil. I suffer as I bring suffering to sinners. It is what I was made for. Nothing more." - Eris blushed, "Well, aren't you a charmer?" She flicked her finger against his fang. Drawing a smiley face on the signature area of the contract. "Ta da! How's that for a signature?" - Jean limply walked to Hannes. He soon collapsed from the wounds he received in battle. "Oh Hannes! I tried to stop him but I couldn't!" He silently cried, "It was nothing like I had ever faced. It was stronger than Shezmu!" --- Nil said, "Same here! I'll kick the dirt with you!" During the many moves, one elf kicked the ball and scored it into the goal. That elf was on Nil's team. Nil shouted, "We got this!" --- James squinted at the male nurse. "Is this a nurse too? I hope he has been obeying the rules." --- Abel appeared, "Now Samael! You should know better. We don't use harsh language in the kingdom of God." He picked up the books and set them on the nearby table. "And we most certainly don't throw his books either. Take a deep breath and think of your blessings." --- Elliot whistled, "Whoa! Fun party?" Vincent couldn't help but smile at his partner's comment. Charles smirked, "You could say that. Where's Oliver?" "Should be in his crib. I'm sure he'll be happy to see ya'll."

By the time Xenos had read his mind and ordered a different agent to escort him to someone else, Kodi had only barely calmed down and was somewhat disoriented. He watched him carry Reed away, hoping that the nervous and timid man would be alright. Then he turned to the new agent and followed him without a word to Agent Sterling. He stared with a mixture of curiosity, mild humour and incredulity at the various posters. He sat down when prompted and turned his attention to the agent. "Close. Demon," he answered him. "The uh, egg smell is usually a giveaway. It's sulphur. But then again, I could just be a human who happened to be around a few rotten eggs today." He half smiled and then sighed. "I'm looking for someone." --- Audrey's eyes widened at the scene. The second Blake's attack bounced off Salem's forcefield. She bristled and marched in front of her granddaughter. Being the wise old woman that she was, she knew that some situations required magic and some... simply required a shock to bring someone back from mania. So, instead of using any magic to stop Blake, she fearlessly marched over to him. In spite of her age and fragile body, she could move when she needed to. Once close enough, she brought her hand up and struck Blake hard across the face. "Enough!" She snapped angrily, her voice sharper than usual to really bring home the seriousness of the situation. In fact, it was said with enough assertion that it could've made an elephant feel as small as a mouse. When she spoke again, it was with the same energy as a parent or grandparent scolding a child for misbehaving. "Get a hold of yourself and look at what you're doing! You should be ashamed of yourself! Are you a man or a bully?! Apologise this instant, young man!" --- Viktor was taken aback by the decorations as he entered the home and set his bags down to one side. Beaming from ear to ear, he looked at Bryce and took his face in his hands as he planted a loving kiss on his lips. "It's perfect," he told him softly. He beamed again and bounced a little on his heels out of excitement. "I can't believe this is really happening. It feels like a dream. I can't wait to spend every day with you!" he gushed. --- "Father, no..." Lilly complained. She tried to sound assertive, but Azrael's aura was keeping her complacent, for now. He gently pushed her into Death's arms and kissed Death on the cheek. "I'll be with you as soon as I can," he told him. He then looked at Raven. "Look out for your sister. My aura won't keep her calm once you leave my presence. You know what it's like to feel the kind of fury and grief that she's feeling now. Help her through it." He'd watch them walk away before walking briskly towards the hall. - Seeing Ash in distress and knowing their resources for help were thin at the moment, Amelia felt torn between helping her guard and going to check on her son. She was about to rush over when Cassiel beat her to it. She gave him a thankful nod before turning back to Charles and helping him up. "Let's go," she said before vanishing with him. Cassiel was just about starting to feel better, having also been affected by the wine. He hurried over to Ash and knelt beside him. Having decided that it was no longer necessary to have his wings out, he'd tucked them away before his approach. "Geez, could you not have just brushed the feathers off?" he asked him as he plucked up the dismembered arm from the ground. He carefully picked all of the remaining feathers off and made sure it was completely feather-free before turning back to Ash. "Ok, hold still," he said as he pressed the arm against his shoulder and used his power to fuse it back onto him while also trying to heal his wounds. "Ok, oh boy, almost there... Just gotta-" He paused, still holding the Devil's arm, he used his free hand to lean on the floor as his vision swam. He took a breath and sat up again, using his free hand to continue healing Ash. Determined to help in any way that he could. "Aaand I'm back, don't worry. I've got you... I'm Cassiel, by the way. I don't think we've met." - David held the gift basket and sighed as he gently placed it onto the floor. He was in neither the right mood or mental state to even acknowledge the basket. All he wanted to do was focus on finding any way that he could to protect the ones that he loved. He looked at Hades. "I guess that means you're coming with me. Come on, we don't have any time to waste." - As soon as Nate got close to him, Tom jumped up and held onto him tightly. He was hyperventilating and shaking violently. "In my head! She was in my head! She took control of me! I-I couldn't fight her, I couldn't! I tried, but I couldn't! She took control and then made me watch! I heard myself talking, but it wasn't me! She-she told me-" he burst into tears. "She told me I-I was going to be her puppet and that when she was done with me she was going to- to-!" He glanced over at Unity's headless body and then hid his face in his hands as she began sobbing uncontrollably. It would be clear at this point that if Death hadn't intervened, then he would have suffered the same fate as Unity, and then there would have been two mortal deaths rather than just the one. Of course, unable to help overhearing this as he entered the hall to address the remaining Reapers, Azrael would pause in his tracks. Discreetly, he pulled out his Reaping book and flicked through the pages. He scanned a particular page carefully. With a frown and his eyebrows knitting together, he quickly closed it and put it back into his robe. He then approached the remaining reapers as he'd originally intended to do and gave them the orders to begin patrolling the castle and the grounds in pairs. He told them to watch each other carefully for any signs of possession and what to do if that should happen. - "What is it?" Atma said a little more worriedly. Her words were still slurred, but she seemed a bit more sober than she had been. "What's happened?" She asked while holding on to Abaddon. Of course, she had seen what had happened to Unity, but everything after that had been a blur due to the wine. She looked around the hall with a frown. She saw Tom having a panic attack and overheard snippets about being possessed. She saw Gabriel carrying out the body of a man who had been very lively earlier that day. She watched a Devil whom she hadn't even met yet tear his own arm from its socket to relieve himself of some agony. But most of all, from the general atmosphere of the hall, she felt a horrid sense of impending doom. Shivering, she turned to Abaddon and buried her face in his shoulder. "Abaddon, I'm scared. Take me home. Please? I want to go home." - Shezmu was continually taken aback and confused by Eris's forwardness. He noted that she said she was joking, but he wasn't so sure. Her mannerisms perplexed him. While he was usually confident and quite the smooth talker, he found her endearing yet baffling attitude was causing him to occasionally falter. Regathering his composure, he gave her a charming smile while taking her hand in his. "A Devil's contract must be bound in blood. Especially when the Devil in question is one such as myself." As he spoke, he brought her hand up to his mouth. While maintaining eye contact with her, he kissed the back of her hand. "Perhaps I can assist with this?" he asked and opened his mouth a little to let his fangs grow. He then selected her index finger and ran it over the top of one of his fangs. He didn't bring it to the tip of his fang, and his grip on her hand was loose. This was so that she knew she had the option of pricking her finger there or pulling away if she wasn't comfortable with this. - Hannes groaned awake. He felt as if he'd been electrocuted. "Jean?" he gasped as she sat up quickly and then winced. The last thing he remembered was trying to pick up Uriel's* sword. "What happened? Where is Uriel*?" --- "Don't expect me to go easy on ya!" Layla grinned at Nil. As soon as the game started, Layla was in her element. She ran around, dodging and weaving between them while dribbling the ball effortlessly between her feet. --- The new nurse behind the counter looked at James tiredly. By this time, the receptionist was nearing the end of a twelve-hour shift. "I imagine she's working." He responded sassily. "Be nice." Another nurse said as she rounded the corner. "Don't mind him. He's not used to the long shifts yet. Let me see here..." The nurse typed on a computer for a moment before looking back at James. "Oh, she's assisting in a minor surgery right now. All going well, she'll probably be a little while yet, but her shift ends right after. You can wait for her in the waiting room, if you want? We'll let her know you're here once she's out." --- Samael was in a hell of a mood after the confrontation with Damien. He had hoped he'd never have to run into Lucifer's student at all. Never mind everything else that had happened. "Stuck up little-!" He grumbled as he rifled through book after book while balancing at the top of some very tall ladders. Of course, with his wings, the ladders were a bit redundant, but he couldn't be bothered flapping them right now. Whenever he deemed a book to be useless, he simply threw it over his shoulder with little care or regard for the books. The sounds the books made as they landed far below caused the noise to echo through the whole library. THUD "Not my fault, he has daddy issues-" THWAP "And where does he get off telling me I didn't know my own brother?!" BANG "Sucker punching son of a-" He threw another one over his shoulder. --- At Elliot and Vincent's house, Neva was standing in the corner of the room with her arms crossed and a pout on her face. She had given Vincent some attitude earlier and was currently in 'time out'. As far as any of them were aware, Oliver had been set down to nap in a crib in the bedroom and was sleeping peacefully. What any of them had yet to discover, though, was that he was no longer in the crib, or even the house, for that matter. Elliot would not be able to pick up any strange scents in the house, either. Only able to smell his family as well as Amelia and Charles when they arrived. Of course, when they appeared, and Amelia was still helping Charles stay on his feet, upon first glance, they looked like they'd simply had a good time out.

Dick caught the pimp demon who coughed and gasped for air. He clutched his wound. The pain had kept him from being in the mood. Dick carried him to the medical ward where he would have his wounds tended to after an angelic bracelet was placed over his wrist. Xenos grunted at the pain on his side. He tilted his head to take a look at Reed. "I think he's passed out." He looked at Kodi, "Why did you come here anyways?" He raised a brow, "Ah! I see! Well, if you need help then I know just the person. He should be at his desk right now. I'll bring your friend here to be checked by our doctor. In the meantime, you can talk to the agent I mentioned. His name is Sterling. This agent here can escort you." Xenos picked Reed off the floor and carried him away. The agent walked Kodi out of the prison area. They soon reached the office cubicles. However, they walked past and found themselves deeper in the building. A basement of some kind. The agent opened the door. Revealing a bunch of pictures on a wooden board on the wall about mythical creatures and aliens. "There is someone who needs to see you." With all the junk about bigfoot and aliens lying around, it made the stuff about Heaven and Hell look more reasonable. There was even a large poster that had an alien smiling in his spaceship. The man sitting at the desk, Sterling, turned his chair. Most people would expect an unkempt mentally unwell individual with beliefs like his. However, he was well rugged handsome fellow with dark brown hair, a clean suit, and a healthy glow of cleanliness. "You know, you really should knock." "I'm not using that dumb Alien Door Knocker you have." Sterling shrugged, "You can go." Once the agent left, he waved Kodi over to sit at a chair. "Let me guess." He sniffed the air. "Angel?" Despite being human, he had been conducting research for as long as he can remember discovering the supernatural world. Wanting to learn more about it and become friends with those who were in it. --- Salem touched her hand and nodded. Once they made sure he was secured down in the basement, they used a potion to teleport. Witnessing Violet being surrounded by a harsh red glow as she cried out in pain. Blake stood across from her. His eyes displaying nothing but anger and hatred. He was lost in the darkness. Salem shouted, "Blake!" Blake turned to them. He raised a hand. Seeing nothing but destruction in his heart. Salem raised her hands and chanted. Summoning a force field that bounced his attack right off. "Please! Don't do this! You're not thinking right! You're only scared!" --- Bryce soon opened the door. Once Viktor stepped inside, he would soon a few party balloons and a banner hanging by the TV. "So I didn't really see much at the local dollar store when it came to welcoming someone. I ended up getting these other holiday themed stuff but it works, right? I even have some blood for us to enjoy." --- Death nodded, "Come children. Let us go find what is in the library. I know there are many great pieces of knowledge." Charles could hardly stand without Amelia's help, "I don't mind staying home for a while myself. I think I need to rest off the drug." Ash cried out, "Help me!" The angelic feathers had been continuously burning his arm. Or at least the remnants of what was left of them. He yanked his arm off as he screamed. Finding relief in the angelic DNA having left him but pain in the fact that his arm had been ripped out. Nate went to Tom's side. Soon, everyone would be leaving. Gabriel flew to Bob and carried him into the village where he set him on the grass. Raising his hands as the white flowers covered him. Abel continued to smile despite everything, "I'll go talk to good old Samael! You can count on me!" He snapped his fingers. A gift basket appeared in his hands. He flew and handed it to him, "For your troubles. You'll notice I added lavender lotion." He flew back and waved, "Bye bye!" He disappeared. Azrael's eyes widened at the voice he heard. Once it left, his grip on Atma grew tight. Clinging on to her with no way of knowing how to help anyone. Sobbing quietly as he clutched on to her dress with his claw-like hands. Eris winked, "Aw c'mon! Am I not your right type?" She snorted, "Just kidding. Anyways, that doesn't sound like a bad idea but I don't really enjoy cutting myself. It's not really my thing. Isn't there an easier way for me to sign that contract?" --- Clover had chosen who was going to be on which team. Once the teams were set, the game would begin. With Layla and Nil both being on opposite teams. A forest elf stood in the middle, "And go!" --- James had finally found his calling once he got the hang of researching everything on the computer. He soon made his way to the hospital where he held out a knitted sweater. "Do you know where Nurse May is? I want to show her this."

By the time Dick had arrived, Kodi was having trouble resisting the urge to vomit molten bile all over the pimp Demon. After the other Demon had threatened to continue going after Reed, his grip on the pimp's throat had tightened. His body had become rigid out of sheer rage. He'd only given Dick and Xenos the briefest glance when they'd spoken before; he resumed his murderous glare on the pimp demon. Why should he put this wretched creature back into their custody? He was a Hellion, after all, same as he. Which meant he had more right, more jurisdiction to punish this Demon as he saw fit. But, as much as he wanted to tear him limb from limb, he couldn't bring himself to. Because he needed their help, and taking justice into his own hands would severely jeopardise that. So, just as the Demon would begin to turn blue, Kodi's grip on his throat relaxed, allowing him to breathe again. With great reluctance, he flung the Demon in Dick's direction to catch. He then took a moment to catch his breath and gradually shift back into his human shape whilst trying to calm down. He looked over at Reed, checking to see if he was alright. --- Although his features were hardened, Kris nodded at Violet, thankful to have her help in all of this. He waited for them to disappear before turning his cold stare towards the cellar doors. The surviving vampires had to flee somewhere, and with dawn on the horizon, they wouldn't have had enough time to find a new location to retreat to. Of course, he was aware that this may not be the only hive of theirs in the city, and there are likely more of them scattered around in other locations. But for now, he'll make do with getting his vengeance on this sorry lot. Today, the so-called Hex Fangs were about to learn why Kris was a feared gang leader in his own right. He marched towards the cellar doors and flicked his wrist. The doors were flung open so violently that they came off the hinges and landed on the alley floor. In a silent rage that made him appear eerily far too calm, he descended into the darkness. -To Be Continued- --- "It's not safe, dear," Audrey said to her granddaughter. She carefully took the tea from her and looked at it curiously. "I know I like it strong, dear. But one bag is usually enough," she said as she lifted the two tea bags by their strings. "No matter," she let go of the strings, placed the cup onto the counter and waved her hand. The teacup split into two identical cups, each with one teabag and the same amount of hot water. She passed one of the cups to Salem. Hearing a heavy sigh behind her, she turned to see that Benny had finished the bag and was staring at the floor with a faraway look in his eyes. "I can never go home again..." He said quietly. "Nonsense. You're one of Kris's boys, and you always will be." Audrey said quickly, but Benny shook his head. "He hates vampires! And now he'll hate me! I can't even use my powers anymore! I'm not a Trickster anymore!" he sobbed. There was a mixture of anger and despair in his voice. "I shouldn't even be here right now! I should have died! They should have just killed me! Why didn't they just kill me?!" He glanced at the shop windows, towards the sky, which was steadily turning violet. He stood. "No, boy," Audrey warned, her voice full of worry. "It's the right thing to do," Benny said in a broken voice as he let the empty blood bag fall from his hand. His eyes were still on the sky. He could feel it coming. The sunrise. Even from the safety of the shop, he could feel the air around them getting a little warmer. He took a step towards the door. Audrey snapped her fingers, locking the door. Simultaneously, the blinds on the windows snapped shut. Benny stopped in his tracks and looked tearily at the old woman. "You won't stop me," he half-whispered. "Kris wouldn't forgive me if I didn't," Audrey replied. "Sleep now." She snapped her fingers again, and the newborn vampire passed out. With a heavy sigh, Audrey looked at Salem. She thought for a moment. "Help me seal him in the basement. He can stay there until we can talk him around. Once he's safe from himself..." She nodded and placed her trembling hand on the girl's shoulder. "Then I'll come with you to Kris's place to check on Blake." --- Viktor teleported to Bruce's door and knocked. He had one bag hanging from his shoulder and the other in his hand. His heart was fluttering with excitement. His relationship with Bryce was a first, and moving in was yet another first for him. But it felt right. --- "I don't think I've ever seen anything on the council here." Azrael chimed in numbly. He'd pulled Lilly into a hug to allow Death freedom to move around. She was sobbing into his robe. He absent-mindedly rubbed her back to comfort her while keeping eye contact with Death and Amelia. He was in too much shock himself to really feel much of anything, but he supposed he needed to be this way to focus on doing whatever was necessary to protect his family. He turned his gaze to Death. "The attackers seemed to be determined to get one of our children. Until we can find a way to protect ourselves, I'd advise keeping they stay closest to you. Perhaps you could take them to your private library for now. They can read some of our histories-" "No," Lilly growled. Azrael looked down at her. "I want them dead!" Her eyes began glowing green, but she was still exhausted, so it was only a faint glow. "I want them to pay for this! For all of this!" "Calm, Princess," Azrael said in his soothing voice. He emitted his aura, and with her current exhaustion, Lilly couldn't help relaxing as her eyes glazed over slightly. The glowing subsided as bitter tears still hung in her eyes while she stared off at the wall. Azrael looked back at Death and gave him a look of concern. Their daughter was grieving and angry. His earlier suggestion of their little family going to the library for now would serve several purposes. They could try to look for an answer in the books. Death and Raven could help Lilly through her grief. Additionally, it would keep them out of harm's way, as the library acted as a sort of safe room. "I'll rally what's left of our forces and put them on a patrol, in pairs, around the castle." Seeing Azrael stepping up to protect his family and realm had Amelia thinking about her own. She frowned as she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Hugging herself, she nodded to them. "Sounds like you guys have things handled here. I'm going to check in on my own Kingdom. Keep us updated. We'll be in touch, too, if we find anything." She said to them quickly. She was about to turn to walk away when she paused and looked at Death's family once more. "Keep safe, alright?" she said sincerely before turning and briskly walking back to the main hall, where she'd make a beeline for Charles. "How're you feeling?" She asked him anxiously. "I-I want to check on Oliver." She said to him quietly. Quickly. "I don't like this. Nothing feels safe. Charles, I want to go and check. I want to know he's safe." David looked exasperatedly from Hades to Abel. Closing his eyes tightly, he lifted his glasses and pinched the brim of his nose as he thought quickly. With a sigh, he looked at Hades. "I understand. But we can do nothing until we secure everyone and find out where our attackers are holed up." He looked between Hades and Abel for a moment. "Alright, here's the deal. One of you needs to come with me to Hell's Library to find out any information at all on the council. The other one needs to meet Samael in Heaven's library to do the same. Decide between you who's going where and let me know." He said to them before turning to Nate. Before he could get a word out, though, Tom jumped awake suddenly with a shriek and flailed around so erratically for a moment as if he'd just discovered a large insect on himself. He then sat up breathing heavily, and looked around with wild eyes. "Nate?!" David looked from Tom to Nate and nodded to him. "Go, he's going to need you," he told him before turning to look at Gabriel instead. "Would you mind?" He gestured to the band, who were grieving over Bob. "Help them however you can. Maybe cover Bo-.." he paused, the name dying on his lips as he needed a moment to keep his composure. "Cover him. Please. Put him in a more dignified position for now." He looked away for a moment. Not at anyone or anything in particular. He stared off at the ground as the weight of what had happened really began to sink in. Composing himself once more, he cleared his throat to look back at Hades and Abel. "So, who's going where?" Abaddon walked to Atma and knelt down. Holding her in his arms, "Are you ill?" "The wine was spiked," Atma said groggily as she rested her head on his shoulder. For a moment, she was quiet and seemed almost sleepy as her head lulled to one side. Then her eyes rolled back for a second. When she looked back at him, she smiled. But the smile wasn't the same as he'd seen throughout the night. It was off. Like someone else was smiling at him through her. It was a smug, knowing smile. She leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "She likes you, you know. You could have her. But can you protect her? I can give you the means. I can give you the life that you crave. You would only have to pledge your loyalty. Think about it. I'll be in touch," she smirked and gently ran her teeth over his earlobe, pulling it a little before letting go to tease him. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, she slumped in his arms again. Her eyes rolled back again before she groaned quietly. "Wha-? Did I pass out?" she asked groggily. "Ugh, what was in that drink?" Shezmu took a moment to contemplate his words before he spoke. When he turned to look at Eris again, he waved a hand by his side to conjure one of his blood-inked contracts. "I assume you're familiar with these Devil Deals?" He asked her in a relaxed tone. "Out of respect for a fellow warrior, I will be as transparent and plain as I can be. And know that I have no intentions of taking advantage of you." He began as he stepped away from the contract to give her the opportunity to step forward and read it, if she wanted to. "I am inclined to agree with your reasoning for taking a portion of my blood." He said as he looked curiously at some of the Décor of the room. "But you must understand, there are some minor risks involved for both of us, considering that the blood you're looking to take from me has now intermingled with my own. This contract is to outline those risks so we may conduct our business in a safe manner. First and foremost, I am very powerful. I don't say this to be vain. I tell you this because granting even the smallest dose of my blood will heighten your own power immensely. Aside from its already addictive properties, power itself can become something of an addiction. So, I must be careful about how much I give to you. With that in mind, the contract forbids you from using this power against my student or me." he turned to look at her again and studied her carefully. "The rest of the contract is standard for all who hold a contract with me. That you vow to complete one task of my choosing to be determined at a later date, and finally, you swear to pledge the firstborn of each generation from your line to my servitude. The last one is mostly for formality; they may very well end up living their entire lives without ever meeting me." He stepped a little closer to her and lifted his hand to cup her chin. "This wouldn't be a one-time deal. Once you sign this, you will only have to ask, and I shall give. Sparingly, of course. There is a fire in you that I admire, and I must admit that I am intrigued to see what you would do with such power. Especially now, when more than ever before, we are in need of such fierce warriors." --- "Are you kidding?" Layla beamed. "This is my kind of sport!" Eagerly, she moved over to a nearby tree to lean against it while doing some stretches on her legs. --- "Fuck!" Damien exclaimed as he popped into his apartment and kicked the leg at the bottom left corner of his bed. Having momentarily forgotten his strength, the leg of the bed frame had snapped and flown underneath the rest of the frame somewhere, causing his bed to fall at an odd angle. Seeing this just frustrated him further as he let out another "FUCK!" before placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes to try to calm down. "Why did I bother training you?" Lucifer's voice made him open his eyes, and sure enough, the familiar hallucination was standing near him with a judgmental stare in his direction. "Oh, shut up! You're not even here!" Damien snapped at him irritably. "And yet you continue to talk to me." The judgmental stare shifted into one of curiosity. "Why is that, Damien?" "Ugh!" Damien groaned and walked past him into the en suite, where he stood in front of the sink and began filling the basin with cold water. "But no, really, why did I bother? You inherited my throne for what? A few years?" "Shut up. You're not here." Damien mumbled as he stopped the water. He cupped some in his hands and began to splash his face with it. "It was bad enough that you allowed yourself to get destroyed, but now you're back, and you don't even bother to take my throne back. Do you know how insulting that is?" Lucifer's voice continued and moved around as if Lucifer was pacing behind him. "Shut up, shut up..." He splashed more water onto his face. "I chose you, you ungrateful twit!" Lucifer's voice growled into Damien's ear. Face dripping wet and eyes still closed, he gripped the basin. He tensed as if Lucifer was really in the room with him, and he was fearful of his wrath. He knew in the back of his mind that none of this was really happening, but in the moment, it felt and sounded so real. "What do you want me to do? Hmm?" Damien mumbled, though his bravery was wavering slightly. "She inherited it the same way I did, by succession, and he-... I didn't know you even had a- How do I compete with that?!" "Because they're not the ones I chose. They're not the ones I trained. And I trained you better than this." Damien opened his eyes, blinking away the water as he lifted his head slightly to look around the room. He was alone again. Running a hand through his hair, he counted himself lucky that James wasn't around to witness this. He wondered what was bringing on these hallucinations, but he didn't get much time to dwell on it. He shivered and looked at himself in the mirror. Although he looked completely normal, his veins were beginning to itch from withdrawals. He didn't want to be the one to always pop in on Samson, though. After all, he didn't want to appear to be desperate, and Samson had made it clear that what they had was casual, so he was waiting for his fling to call him this time. In the meantime, he'd just have to try and ignore his craving, figure out a way to keep his hallucinations at bay, as well as try to find out what the hell had happened back at Death's Castle. He glanced at his bed through the open door and considered that he could start by simply fixing what he'd broken.

The pimp demon glared back, "He's going to be my toy whether you like it or not. Maybe not now but soon." "Oi!" Dick, in his usual outfit, had a gun in his hands. "Don't worry mate. I've got this one covered." Xenos nodded at Kodi, "After much investigating and consideration, we let him become a secret agent." Dick winked, "And I'm here to help out. So, if ya don't mind, you can go on about your business." --- Violet replied, "I can stay with the boys. Just let me know if you need me again." Blake's anger made his headache worse until his aura burst out. Suddenly, tears poured out of his eyes. He sobbed as he dropped to his knees. Pressing his hands against the ground, "It's not fair! Benny didn't deserve it! Those fucking vampires, I'll....!" Violet frowned. She wrapped an arm around him. Keeping him close. "I'll take him to bed." --- Salem nodded, "Yes grandma." As she boiled the water, she thought back to the way Blake looked. His anger flowing through him like a large fire. She soon returned with Audrey's tea but found herself silently crying. "Oh granny. Blake was so upset. I never saw him like that. I need to see him. I need to know he's ok." --- Bryce was puzzled by the letter. He soon replied to Viktor, 'Can't wait to have you here!' He knew he would need help in figuring out just who sent this letter. Not to mention, he didn't want to try and scare Viktor away from living with him. Though he suspected Viktor was far braver than he thought. --- Eris found herself in a separate room with Shezmu. "Ok hot stuff. What's the catch?" Death shook his head, "All our books contain the names of those listed for their souls to pass on. Some of our books contain history on our realm. Perhaps there is something there that I have not seen before? It has been eons since I've gone through the library's collection. Almost all of our history and culture is now easy to remember for myself." Hades and the band had found Bob's body. Grim was the only one that screamed his sadness out. Having dropped by Bob's body and held him close. Hades growled before running out to David, "Let me find that bastard! They deserve to die slowly!" Nate nodded, "I'll make sure everyone stays away from there. Well, anyone else that is. But I really don't know who could possibly go. Maybe..." Just then, an Angel appeared. However, it was not just any Angel. It was Abel. The only blessed of Adam's children out of the two sons he had. Cain, however, was somewhere in Hell. Having never been seen for quite some time. Abel nervously adjusted his halo, "I'm here! I'm right here! I heard about the party not going so great. And there was some bad dark magic, right? Sorry I'm late." He held his hand out as a bag of sour cream chips appeared. "Anyone want a snack?" Abaddon walked to Atma and knelt down. Holding her in his arms, "Are you ill?" --- Clover waved a hand over the trees which connected themselves to each other like a net. A fae walked over with a soccer ball, "We play the same games as most humans. The ones that let us enjoy our time outside. Do you know how to play?"

Kodi heard the commotion from Reed and the man behind him, but his attention was on the other demon, who was still a threat. As he watched the Demon's hand plop to the floor, he found himself thinking 'What am I doing?! I don't have time for this bullshit! I need to find my friend!' He rounded on the pimp Demon and dove at him. Absolutely furious, he'd attempt to grip the demon by the throat and pin him against the wall. There, he would poise his tail tip over the demon's belly as a clear threat that should he try to break free, he would disembowel him on the spot. By now, his reptilian eyes had turned red, and their slit pupils were fixed on the other demon's face. --- "T-Tur-?" The word died on Kris's lips as he stared at Blake. He felt the unbridled rage building within him, but right now his boys needed him to be level-headed. He saw the pain in Blake's expression, and he lowered the shield as he walked towards him. "Let me look at you." He said calmly. Although there was a slight shake to his voice from his anger, he was making an effort to conceal it so as not to alarm or frighten Blake. He took the boy's face in his hands to make him look up at him. He looked carefully at Blake's eyes. He then took a step back and waved a hand over him, summoning a portion of energy to scan his body in search of whatever might be causing him pain. "Violet, someone needs to watch the rest of the boys back at base. Those asshat Hex Fangs will probably spend tonight licking their wounds, but I don't want to leave anything to chance. Someone armed them against our magic. Whoever that is might still be out there." --- As soon as Salem had vanished, Audrey turned to watch Benny carefully. If Benny could still move, he'd be looking at her sheepishly... or hungrily. He knew he felt ashamed of what had just happened, but at the same time, his hunger was very, very difficult to ignore. "I won't hold it against you, Benny. You're not yourself right now, dear." Aunty Audrey told him gently. "But once you've fed and you're feeling more like yourself again, I don't want to ever see you look at her like that again. Do you hear me?" she told him sternly. If he could have, Benny would have nodded. But Audrey's spell was surprisingly strong, so about the most he managed was a blink, hoping she would understand him. "Ha! One blink for yes. Good boy." Audrey chuckled. As soon as Salem returned, Audrey visibly relaxed a little. She hated the idea of her granddaughter surrounded by Vampires. Particularly given what had happened to Benny. "Good woman, that Blaire!" She praised as she walked over to Salem and took the bag from her. "Be a dear and make your Grandma a cup of tea?" she asked, wanting to subtly give Benny a little privacy for this next part, as she knew he'd have little self-control. Only when Salem would leave the room would Audrey place the blood bag into Benny's lap, take a few steps back and release her spell on him. Immediately, Benny would snatch up the bag and bite into it almost desperately and let out a quiet moan, which turned into quiet sobs as he began drinking. --- "I think that might be best." Viktor nodded and then saw the frown on Helena's face. "I promise, I will visit with him soon. I can't wait to tell him!" He beamed. Not long after, they'd be rinsed. While Helena and Allie would be in robes and getting ready for their massages, Viktor would be re-dressed and ready to leave. "I'll call before I visit. I don't want to drop in unannounced. I'm sure your security wouldn't appreciate that." He told them as he gave them each a hug. "Thank you," he said to Allie. "For looking after my sister. I'm glad she had someone around to make her feel safe and loved." He bent slightly to kiss his sister on her cheek. "I will see you soon." With that, he teleported back to the mansion, where he finished packing before texting Bryce to let him know he was almost ready to head over with his bags. Meanwhile, at Bryce's place, an envelope had been posted through his front door. Inside was a photo of himself, but taken from outside at an odd angle to capture the side of his face through the window, obliviously going about his business. On the back of the photo, written in what appeared to be red ink were the words; "Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I'll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise." Whoever had posted this through the door was long gone by the time Bryce would find it. But the message would be familiar, as they were a small part of the song 'Song: To Celia ["Drink to me only with thine eyes"] by Ben Jonson, written in 1616. Under the quote were written some barely readable initials that seemed to be hastily scribbled out as the mysterious messenger had apparently decided against leaving them before putting the photo into the envelope. --- "Father!" Lilly gasped and immediately threw herself into Death's arms to hug him tightly. Relieved she hadn't lost her family but grieving over Bob, she broke down into sobs. Azrael stood and looked from his family to Bob and back to Death. Today was supposed to be a happy occasion. What had happened?! "Azrael." Samael's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Give me a hand in Heaven's library?" "I-..." Azrael gave a lost look to Death and his family. "Have a heart and take someone else with you," David said to Samael. "His family need him right now," he added and then saw the lost expression on Azrael's face. "And I'm pretty sure he needs his family." "Well, who, then?" Samael shrugged his shoulders dramatically. "I'm fairly sure these doppleganger nutjobs aren't going to give us a break here. Time is of the essence." "I said I'd help!" Damien barked irritably. "You're the LAST person I want anywhere near me!" Samael snapped "I already know you're not Lucifer!" "But you were his doting apprentice! You actually looked up to that asshole!" "You didn't know him-!" "What, like you did?! I knew him better than you ever did, and I'm glad he's gone because now I can finally BREATHE!" "Enough!" Amelia snapped as she stepped between them just as Damien looked like he was about to square up to Samael. "Damien, back off! You're not going with him," she said, rounding on her brother. "Pfft! Whatever. He's right. He's no Lucifer. Lucifer wasn't a pussy." Damien scoffed sourly. "And yet, just like your daddy, he abandoned you. Face it, he didn't care for you! He only ever looked out for himse-!" "-Damien-!" Amelia shouted as Damien had shoved her out of his way, strode back over and before Samael could even finish his sentence he'd punched him in the jaw, knocking the Archangel to the ground. Samael cupped his jaw as he sat up and growled while glaring at Damien. Before he could get up, however, Shezmu had stepped in and with one arm had flung Damien down the hall, away from them. "Children!" He scolded them both in a sharp tone. "We have more pressing matters than your petty feuds!" he then gave Damien a stern glare and sent a secret, telepathic threat to him that caused Damien to tense up for a second. The spurned Devil then pulled himself to his feet, and in reluctant defeat, he turned away from them. "Whatever." He seethed before vanishing. "Some brother of yours." Samael huffed as he too pulled himself back to standing. Amelia turned and glared hard at him. "Like you helped matters," she hissed at him. "Besides, Shezmu is right. Isn't it about time you headed to Heaven's library?" Then, as Samael opened his mouth to speak, she added. "I'll pick someone and send them to help you." For a long moment, Samael stared back at her as she continued to glare. He then sighed and averted his gaze moodily. "Fine," he said before vanishing as well. "Well handled." Shezmu complimented her. "You too..." Amelia replied with a sigh as the tension in the air began to ease up. It would be at this point that Eris would approach Shezmu. For a moment, he looked at her as his own concerns over everything that had happened and the kidnapping of Lucretia clouded his thoughts. But Eris had raised a fine point. She could be helpful in the search for her and in fighting whatever enemies lay in wait for them. He considered her request, and admittedly, he was tempted to feed her small doses of his blood due to the added advantage of making her into one of his loyal thralls. "Come." He said to her with a charming smile and offered her his arm. "I believe we can come to an agreement that suits us both. Let's find a more private place to discuss the terms." Meanwhile, Amelia had turned back to the others. "What about your library?" She asked Death and Azrael. "Do you think there'd be anything there about how the council works? Where it is? How do they see or hear everything?..." She shivered as she glanced around, recalling how the others had been involuntarily used as mouthpieces for whoever their attackers were. "Anything that might help protect us from being possessed?" Atma was nursing her head in her hands with the rest of the guests back in the main hall. By now, Robb had stopped vomiting but was now snoozing against one of the walls. David had picked up the unconscious Tom and walked him back to the main hall to lay him down near the other guests. He looked at Nate quickly. "He's fine- or well, he's not injured. He was briefly possessed, though, so I guess 'fine' might be a stretch," he told him. He then stepped closer and whispered to him. "There's been a fatality," he glanced around and saw dust from where Uriel* and a few reapers had been obliterated during the fight. "Not just those..." he sighed and then glanced sadly towards Hades and the band. "I'm going to break the news to them, but please make sure none of the guests enter that hallway. It's not a pretty sight, and the others are currently discussing next steps. That being said, do you know anyone who could accompany Samael in Heaven's library? He's doing research on the council, or anything that might help us. I'll be going to Hell's library shortly to do the same." --- "Sure." Layla chuckled. "What kinds of games do you play?" she asked curiously.

Oh shit. Don't get too carried away. You gotta make sure you take yourself out of the writing zone sometimes. Speaking of which, I'm going to bring back that Australian hitman at some point soon. Not to mention that one officer whom I forgot his name but I'll take a look at our past messages to find his name. I'll think about how I'm going to put him in so I don't think he'll be around just yet.

I just wrote up an argument and a small fight. Didn't realise how it had affected me personally until I got up to get a drink and saw on my way back that my bf was giving me an odd look. I'd basically stormed off and back in with a grumpy look on my face and yet I'm perfectly fine xD Love being an empath sometimes hahaha

Damn! That's one way to keep things interesting.

So, just as a heads up. I kinda have a plan for how the big bad gets taken down. It's going to take a bit of time and for this version of Amelia to get some serious character development first. Plenty of opportunities though for side stories, particularly as there's a literal whole other world of alternative characters that could be entering and causing havoc in the main world. With that in mind, I'm guna keep encounters with the main villain to a minimum. But her appearances will almost always be brutal/devastating. xD In the meantime, she'll mostly be sending her loyal lackeys to do her bidding.

But they're awesome! Hell I can't even stand them! That's how you make a good villain.

The pimp demon dropped his now burning guns. He ran to escape but found his hand cut off. He screamed, "You fuck!" The man turned to see the commotion. Just then, Reed instinctively stabbed him in the back. Hitting his spine somehow. The man suddenly collapsed as blood dripped from his lips and pooled from the wound. Reed immediately covered his mouth and turned away. Vomiting at the sight. Having been affected by the teleportation and the whole situation, he passed out. --- Blake found himself drawing a blank as to why he was doing this. He caught his breath as his aura died out. "Benny.... He's been turned." He clutched his head. "Ugh! It feels like I'm on fire!" --- Salem nodded, "Yes Grandma." Not a moment later did she come back with a blood bag. "She says to ask her for help whenever you need it. She wants to do everything she can." --- Allie said, "Oh! Well, I wouldn't want to rush him. You two could move first. It really wouldn't be a problem." --- Dariel nodded, "You got it!" While Dariel was tending to everyone, Gabriel finished healing David. Gabriel rolled his eyes, "Don't worry. You're not pregnant." He smirked. Making his own joke in return. Eris looked at everything around her. She grabbed Shezmu, "Hey! Tall and handsome! Think you can give me some of that blood? Just enough for me to have the upper hand? Don't worry. I won't lose my cool as long as you give me a minimal dose." --- Lucretia cried out, "NO!" before she was taken. Who knew what horrors awaited her? --- Death's body glowed. His eyes opened wide as he floated off the floor. In the blink of an eye, he was not only healed but stronger than ever. With a new violet and ebony outfit that spoke of renewed confidence and love. He looked at himself then his family. Surprised by the sudden healing that took place. --- Clover and the other faes ran over. "How are you two? Are you still hungry? If not, we can start playing games!" Nil chuckled, "How about it, Layla? Feeling competitive?"

As much as Kodi wanted to run and help Reed, he found himself staring down two red barrels. He hissed again, and his scaled mouth twisted into a savage grin. "Careful. Some guns are too hot to handle!" He said before breathing fire in his general direction, hoping to make him drop the guns. If the pimp demon tried to run away, he'd swipe the sharp edge of his tail at him in the hopes of striking one of his hands. --- The vampires and Violet weren't the only ones shocked by what had happened. Before Blake had appeared, Kris had been about to conjure a weapon from his armoury, but as he watched, the Vampires were ripped apart one by one. He stood slowly, his eyes landing on Blake. Before he could say anything, he saw the way the boy had turned to Violet, and he reacted quickly. "No!" he barked and clapped his hands before thrusting them at Violet, creating a barrier of light between them to keep them separated. While they were focused on each other, the few surviving Vampires gathered up their severed limbs and rapidly fled the scene. "Blake, stop. That's enough!" Kris said to the boy firmly. "Talk to me. Tell me what's happened. Is it Benny? Did you find him?" --- Benny sobbed and rested his head against Salem as she tried to comfort him, but her words were little use considering he was staring down eternity. At some point, he stopped hearing her, and another sound consumed his hearing almost entirely. The rhythmic beating of her heart. His eyes moved to look at her as she'd been staring at the place Blake had been standing but all he could see was the faint blue lines networking under her skin, transporting her blood around her body. He could smell it. His eyes moved to her throat, and unable to stop himself, he opened his mouth while starting to lean towards her. "None of that!" Audrey said quickly. She'd waved her hand at him, and Benny suddenly found himself unable to move. "Salem, be a dear and take this to the lovely young lady at this address." She said as she walked over and handed her an envelope containing money as well as a small note which briefly explained their situation and requested a blood bag. "Her name is Blaire. Don't stop to talk to anyone else, do you hear? If any Vampire tries to talk to you, you teleport straight back to me. If you can get to Blaire, she'll look after you. Just don't tell Kris about this. You know how that man is when Vampires are involved. Bloody gang wars. They're never good for anyone!" --- "Really?" Viktor asked in surprise. "Would that be alright?" "Oh, you must!" Helena squeaked excitedly. "I would love to meet him!" "Oh, I was- um..." Viktor hesitated as he remembered what he'd been doing shortly before he arrived for this surprise visit. "I was actually in the middle of moving in with him. But I could call and ask if he wanted to do this first?" --- "Good lad." Amelia praised Dariel. She then nodded to Shezmu. "Your mentor must be proud," she said with a small pat on the boy's shoulder. "Look after them, will you?" She added while her gaze landed back on the drugged guests. "Get them water and help them feel comfortable until the drugs wear off. If any of them start to act strangely, call one of us." With that, she hurried over to David as Gabriel was healing him. "So what's the verdict, doc. Am I going to live?" David asked Gabriel jokingly as he felt his wound closing up. He then looked at Amelia as she approached. "So, we're all in agreement that we're basically fucked unless we figure out a way to stop- whoever the fuck it is- from possessing and spying on people." She asked them quietly as she got closer. "I don't suppose either of you knows where the Spirit Council is based or how it works?" David shook his head. "The council have always been secretive about their base's location and verrry selective about who they let join their ranks. They were supposed to be the highest command over all realms, aside from God himself." "What about Metatron?" Amelia suggested. "She left here shortly before it all... happened. Do you think she might've survived?" "Hard to say." David frowned. "I think if she had, she either would have rejoined us sooner or more likely went into hiding, given that whoever these attackers are, they're organised and powerful enough to take down the entire Spirit Council within just seconds of attacking them. I have an awful feeling that whoever they are... they're not amateurs." "What do we do?" Amelia asked worriedly. "For now, we regroup. We make sure everyone here is safe, first and foremost- " He paused, looking around. "They were after Death's children and Raziel. Where are they?" With his strength, Eris's blows barely phased Shezmu as he gripped her tightly. In fact, he had to refrain from using too much of his own strength so as not to snap her like a twig. He hadn't had time to savour the drink, but once he'd taken the Angelic blood from her, he felt invigorated. He sat up as he watched Eris stretching. Smirking at her, he wiped some of the blood from his lips with his fingers before licking them clean. "You have a deal," he responded playfully before getting to his feet and brushing himself off. As he overheard David's question nearby, his eyes quickly scanned the room and he noted several people missing. Not long after this realisation, he and the others would hear Lilly's screams from the nearby corridors. "Lucretia!" He gasped and took off running towards the corridors, practically flying past the others. --- "Oh, now, now. There's no rush!" The doctor said a little too calmly while holding his hands up. This caused Raziel, who had been watching Lucretia worriedly until this point, to look at the doctor oddly. "Doctor?" he said slowly. "All I'm saying is, you need to slow down. You've lost an arm, for goodness sakes!" the doctor laughed almost cheerily. "And it's not like you can really stop them, is it? Otherwise, you wouldn't be running like piss-scared little ants." "He's possessed!" Raziel gasped. "Of course I am!" The doctor laughed. "I'm everywhere. I hear everything. I see everything. It really is great to be the boss, you know." He chuckled lightly as if this were a pleasant conversation. "Oh, don't strain yourself, sweetheart." He said while holding up a hand to Lucretia. "Just let the drugs do their thing. You'll be mellow in no time!" he grinned as he glanced at the needle that he'd injected her with moments ago. "And then you're both going to come on a little trip with me. It'll be fun, I promise." "We're not going anywhere with you!" Raziel growled. "Oh, yes, you are. And do you wana hear the great news? Not one of your little friends will be able to teleport after you. Not where we're going," he laughed darkly, and before Raziel could run for the theatre doors, the doctor grabbed him, spun around, grabbed Lucretia as well and together they all vanished. -to be continued when Lucretia wakes up.- --- Tom fell unconscious to the floor as soon as the entity was knocked out of him. The orb that Raven had caught was not the entity that had taken over the spirit council, but a small portion of energy that was being used to possess people. Of course, the true culprit was currently holed up in the main headquarters of the Spirit Council, which made possessing people more or less the equivalent of using an intercom to communicate. When the orb was pulled from Tom, the being's voice could be heard cackling through it. "Did you idiots actually think I was somehow physically inside your guests?" they laughed. Their voice no longer distorted, and it was that of a vaguely familiar female voice. "This is going so much better than I expected! Your Death even killed himself for me! I barely lifted a finger!" they mocked. As it spoke, Shezmu rounded the corner and quickly looked around at the various people. "Lucretia? Has anyone seen her?" "I have!" The voice chuckled. "She's a little out of it right now. But she and Raziel are my newest guests." By now, Amelia, David and Damien had also rounded the corner. "Who are you?!" Shezmu demanded. "You'll get to know me soon. I have so much planned, but for now, know this. I am your Queen, and before long, you will all kneel before me or die!" The orb popped. Ending the conversation abruptly. "David..." Amelia said while trying to catch her breath. "Head to Hell's Library. See what you can dig up on the Spirit Council's headquarters. In fact, anything on the Spirit Council at all would help." She turned to Samael. "What about Heaven? Do you have a library that might also have answers?" "Worth a shot. But I'm gonna need a hand. It's pretty big." Samael replied. "I'll go," Damien said a little too quickly. As soon as Damien had noticed who Samael looked like, he hadn't been able to stop staring. Up until Amelia had spoken to him directly, he had assumed that Samael was another one of his Lucifer hallucinations. "No," Samael said irritably. "But-" "I'm not him." Samael snapped. "I know who you are, and I have no intention of feeding any delusions you might get. I'll take someone else, but not you and not Carol." As they discussed this, Lilly had moved from weeping over Bob to weeping over Death. She was now desperately pleading with him to stay with them. Azrael had managed to catch up to them and fell to his knees beside Death as well. "I can't-!" Lilly cried. "I don't have enough strength left! We can't lose him! Father!" Scooping Death into his arms, Azrael tearfully held him close and spoke softly to him. "My King. My love. Please hold on. Your Kingdom needs you. Your children need you... I need you," he kissed him softly. He emitted his soothing aura, but now it was tinged with the magic that they had used to resurrect Azrael not long ago. --- Layla smiled and wrapped her arms around Nil, resting her head on his shoulder. At some point during the party, Greta had gotten up and left quite hurriedly to return home for her curfew.

On the one hand, my newest villains are practically writing themselves and I'm exicted to see this story develop. On the other hand - holy hell they're turning out way more brutal and dark than I had imagined! 🫠

Reed nodded but could hardly run as fast as he tried since he was still dealing with teleportation sickness. The man appeared in front of Reed and cupped his chin. Bringing the knife close to his eye. "Now Now. We wouldn't want to end the fun, would we?" The pimp demon expanded his wings, "Go ahead reptile! Let's see what you've got packing in there. If you can dominate this, that is." He held out his own custom made studded red guns. Xenos appeared, "That's enough!" Transforming, he shouted, "You dare enter my facility and kill my men?! I will end you both!" The man threw his knife at Xenos. Reed only realized it was angelic when it made contact with Xenos. It pierced through his chest. Xenos collapsed to his knees and pulled the knife out. Tossing it aside as his hand burned from touching it. "H-How...?" Reed shouted, "Sir!" He glanced at the knife then the man. Both of them dove for the knife. Reed got it just in time. He stood with the knife in both of his hands. Shaking fearfully. The man grinned, "What's the matter nerd? Afraid of a little knife fight?" --- Salem cradled Benny's head, "Don't worry. We can help you learn to live with this. I have studied many things about vampires. I know most topics in supernatural creatures. We can help, right Blake?" She lifted her head up when she didn't get a response. "Blake?" Blake stood from them. His aura showered with the ragefilled red as his fists clenched. "They hurt my family." --- Violet soon transformed back into her demon form. "Alright listen here, you little shits!" Before she had a chance to fight, Blake appeared. He growled, "You took everything from him!" Just like that, Blake zoomed towards the leader and pulled his arm off. He punched a hole through another vampire's chest as he ripped his heart out. One by one, he caused carnage and bloodshed. In the end, all that was left was a grisly scene and a pissed teenage trickster. Violet covered her mouth. Shocked by what he had done. "Dude...That was...Are you ok?" Blake readied himself to attack her. --- Allie giggled, "Well I'm glad we're all getting along. After the mud bath, we should get rinsed off and have a massage. You could always invite Bryce over. Maybe we could do a double date?" --- Dariel nodded. He raised his hands and forced the guests back into the castle. Using his powers, he locked the castle doors. Ash nodded at Amelia and sat a corner. Gabriel flew over to David and placed a hand on his stomach. Healing his wound. Eris fought back as hard as she could against Shezmu. Putting herself on her back as a way to crush him. She did everything she could and yet it wasn't enough. When Shezmu's fangs reached her neck, she let out a cry. Soon, she was back to her own old self as the angelic blood was taken away from her. She gasped as she fell to her knees. Coughing up some feathers. "Whew! That was embarrassing!" She stood up and stretched her arms out. Cracking her back as she tried to relax, "Thanks man. Next time you want to get frisky, buy me a drink first." She winked at him. --- Lucretia said, "Unity has been taken over! There is a being out there that is wrong! It has Unity's power! We must get everyone to assist Death and his army!" She ripped the needle off. "I have to be there! I only came here to leave Raziel to your care. I must return!" --- Raven shouted, "Lily!" He shot out his own magic at Tom as a way to hinder but not hurt the person being possessed. Abaddon had thought about what the being said when Lily had showed up. Death soon ran over to the scene. At the witness of his daughter's friend being dead and the chaos that roamed the castle walls bringing harm to his family and friends, his eyes glowed. He raised his hands, "YOU ARE DEAD!" With all his energy, he forced the being to come out of Tom. Rendering it into an orb that was sealed with a powerful curse. Trapping the being in there. Raven caught it before Death could have dropped it. Death found himself feeling weak and empty. Having used all that was left of him to trap this thing. He collapsed to the floor. His skin appearing cracked as if it seemed he was slowly fading overtime. --- Nil laughed, "No it's alright. I know what you mean but I'm still not too sure about that. I mean I know this stuff is different than what I'm use to knowing and seeing but I don't know. All I know is that we're together in a place that feels right."