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Will replied, "You mean our officers? Why? Do they need to send a message Heaven?" --- Bryce pursed his lips in deep thought. He switched the TV on and flipped through channels until he found a soap opera. "Now, this is a treat. Reminds me of when some ladies would pretend to faint just to get the attention of their favorite man in the room." --- Raven's powers grew visually larger, "NO! You don't! You have us to help!" Death cast his own powers. Creating a hand of darkness that reached out to capture Lily. --- Nate smiled, "Of course. Preferably somewhere that isn't a church. Maybe we could do it here?" --- Leo sighed, "It's just...He's already fitting in. He's not even scared or questioning anything. I mean, he's even smiling. When I woke from ADIEU's trance, I was terrified and grief stricken." He rubbed his own arm, "I don't know. Maybe I'm just jealous that he's ok and I'm not. It's selfish to want him to feel bad like I did, I know. I guess I wished I had his strength." --- James said, "Movies. My friend, Damien, introduced me to television. I don't know enough though. I think you should pick the movie." --- Abel nodded at Samael as he was helped up. He had healed himself, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know my brother would....After all these years. Please don't be mad at him. He has every right to be upset. I never once tried to reach out to him after he killed me. Even when centuries had passed, I could have done something but I never did. His actions are inexcusable but I'm no better. I chose to ignore his pain and suffering. Now, he showed it to me." --- Charles's horns were raised up as he felt such anger towards Damien's disrespectful tone but he soon calmed when he understood. He nodded, "Then go. Just be careful. Who knows when that being will attack?" Hades rolled her eyes, "Geez! Don't get your panties in a twist, angsty." "Hades! Enough!" She frowned, "Sorry." --- Carter nodded. He gently rocked Rose, "Hey there. Sorry Rose. I guess I'm use to raising my voice. Now, I need to whisper sometimes. But you're ok. We're safe here." He softly poked her nose. --- Nate* snapped his fingers, "Her brother! She has a brother named Sandalphon! Do we have our own version of him?" --- Lucretia nodded, "Whatever it takes for you to know. I don't want....For the first time, I don't want harm to come to you. Not because of what her excellency ordered me to do. I may not understand any of you creatures but I would not find pleasure in the destruction of this castle or its occupants." She took a deep breath before letting herself succumb to his strength and bite. Feeling drowsy but also confused on many levels. Dariel shyly looked away as it did seem like a romantic scene. --- Phineas replied as he gently set him on the bed, "Probably something from Hell. I wouldn't be surprised. No matter what though, we have the toughest Angels in Heaven. They've been around longer than we have. I'm sure they know how to deal with this. I can only guess how many times something evil showed up and tried to bring God down." --- Adam sighed happily, "Yeah they are. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have someone's ass to kick." He stormed over to the middle of the brothel, "John! Get your ass over here!" ---

Kodi entered the room and closed the door behind him before approaching Will's desk. "Sir? I need your help. You know some Angels, right?" --- Kris gasped a little at the sharp pain in his arm, then watched her lick his blood from her fingers. "Good." He smirked. He snapped his fingers, disintegrating their clothes instantly. He then turned with her still in his arms, teleporting with her from the bed to stand with her pinned against the wall. From there, he'd kiss her neck again, a little more roughly this time as his hands gripped her thighs tightly. *Private time* --- "Maybe something romantic?" He asked with a smile as his eyes softened as he looked at him. "You can pick." --- Seeing Raven appear, Lilly ground to a halt. When she saw his power, her eyes lit up green defensively. She was prepared to fight back, if needed. "Stand aside, Raven! I need to do this!" she told him. She was vaguely aware that their fathers were catching up to them, but with Raven poised and ready to use his powers, she didn't want to take her eyes off him. --- Tom's heart fluttered in his chest. "You mean it?" he asked softly, barely containing his excitement. "Me and you? Actually get married?" --- "Um..." Oscar mumbled as he stared after Leo, uncertainly. "I'm not sure..." he turned back to the game and quickly showed Abaddon how he could play rounds against the computer instead. He then hurried up the stairs after Leo. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he'd catch up to him. "I know that look. Something is on your mind." --- "I drool a bit when I smell the pizza, too," May told him with a playful nudge. "But sure, let's take it home and maybe we can watch a movie while we eat?" --- God's favourite and cursed with damned souls who lay blame for their own sins rather than accept their own faults... Cain's outburst was yet another parallel of the hardships Samael and Lucifer had once faced. The resentment that had tainted and festered a once strong brotherly bond. Samael watched Abel plead with his brother, and it was like he was watching a re-enactment of his past. He watched this unfold numbly until Cain's fire struck Abel. He quickly turned to Abel and flapped his wings strongly in his direction to snuff out the flames. By the time he looked back, Cain had vanished. He stared at where he had been standing, and his eyes landed on a far-off desk. He watched in muted agony as the memory surfaced of himself, Lucifer and Raguel huddled around that desk, filing away old observations of the first humans while talking excitedly about what the future might hold. If only they'd known. Maybe they wouldn't have been so excited... so full of hope. Tearing his eyes away from the desk, he held out a hand to help Abel to his feet without a word. All while looking away from him. His expression was brooding, and his stare was distant. --- "It's none of your business!" Damien had jumped when Charles had appeared and snapped at him a little too quickly. He had reacted defensively after being caught off-guard. He then paused and looked somewhere between embarrassed and annoyed. Immediately, Damien's mind became an impenetrable fortress. Not that he hadn't been guarded to begin with, but with Charles in the room, he was making more of a conscious effort to conceal his thoughts. "Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the offer. It's something personal. Private," he told them. "I know this is serious, and I'll meet you at the library as soon as I can to help you. I won't take long." --- "Uh, yeah," Sebastian said as he reached the bottom of the stairs and he awkwardly stuck the screwdriver into his back pocket as he held out a hand for the woman to shake. "If you wouldn't mind coming with me to the office just at the top of the stairs, we can discuss the rates and fees," he said to her. He then smiled at Carter and Rose, who was still fussing in his arms. "While we do that, you could settle her." --- "Excellent question." Amelia* conceded with a thoughtful frown. "As similar as our worlds are, there is such a vast difference between events, it would seem. If I were to hazard a guess, she would have been answering to this world's Raguel, but according to the council's logs, he vanished recently." She tilted her head to one side. The thoughtful expression not leaving her face. "That Angel that burst in on us just after we got here. What's her name... Metatron? Perhaps if we have a Metatron* in our legion, and she wasn't one of the annoying Angels that preferred oblivion over serving me, she could take her place?" Amelia* shook her head a little. "But that'd be too messy. Too obvious. The Blood God would see right through it in an instant, and it might set him on our scent. No, we'll need to be more subtle. Find out where she lives and send someone who can blend in with the populace that surrounds her. Someone she doesn't know that can monitor and track her unnoticed." --- Shezmu studied Lucretia for a moment. Noting the fear in her eyes and the colour draining from her face. For such a formidable warrior to be this frightened... He moved to sit closer to her, much closer, while looking at her with hardened eyes. Despite his stony stare, his voice was delicate and comforting. "I will not destroy you, Lucretia. But I must drink from you." He told her simply. "My telepathy is strong, but it has its limits, and if there is a chance that you may be being watched, then I don't doubt that our enemies may also be listening to any telepathic activity. I will be gentle, and I will be as swift as I can be. It is only fair that I warn you that my venom can be quite... potent. You will need time to recover your senses afterwards, but if you will permit me, I can lend you a drop of my blood to speed up your recovery." Shezmu wouldn't bother telling Dariel to look away from this. In his mind, if he was to turn the boy one day, then he would need to learn how to do something like this properly. --- "If we're not safe in Heaven, then nowhere is safe!" Kasper said in a trembling voice as he let Phineas lead him upstairs. "What do you suppose has happened? Who would want to infiltrate Heaven?!" --- Clementine was a little taken aback by the hug, and not being used to such outward affection, she had instinctively stiffened as his arms wrapped around her. Then she felt how gently he held her and how warm his embrace was. She heard the softness in his tone, and she felt herself relaxing against him as all of her tension melted away. A rush of confusing emotions washed over her, and as she tried to process them, she brought her arms up unsurely before hugging him back, finding that she liked how it felt. She rested her head on his shoulder and savoured the moment, unable to recall a time in her old life, back when she'd been a demon, ever feeling a warmth such as this. It was enough to bring her to tears, and she sighed into a soft laugh. She didn't want to let him go, but reluctantly she pulled back a bit to look at him with a tearful smile "How do you disarm me so? But it worked! They're alright, they're really alright."

Raguel had visited Eden a few more times since his first visit, and gradually he learned how to recognise the feeling of being watched to know when it would be safe to meet with Lilith. A few Angels in Heaven had taken notice of his eagerness to volunteer to monitor the humans frequently, but only a couple dared to ask him about it. "What's so fascinating about them? They haven't even figured sex out yet." Samael asked as he assisted Raguel in filing away the Eden report in Heaven's library. "Not everything is about sex, Sam." Raguel shook his head. "They're fascinating because they're new and unpredictable. That's all." "Ignore my brother; his head has always been in the underdress of others." Lucifer chimed in as he carried over more parchments for them to file away. "I think I understand what you see in them, though. They have opportunities that Angels were never given." "How so?" Samael cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "Think about it. We were created instantly. God snapped his fingers, and here we are, ready to serve. The humans? They got a whole universe to themselves. An entire ecosystem of animals that they themselves adapted from. They were given more of a choice on how they adapted and grew than we were ever given. Simply put, they are and will be more free than we will ever be." "You almost sound jealous." Raguel teased. "Perhaps I am, a little," Lucifer admitted with a chuckle. "But, if there's one thing in Heaven that I'm glad of, it's our cleanliness and intellect. I wonder how long it will take those primates to grow to our level." "Perhaps eventually they will grow to a point that we could live alongside them? In Heaven and Eden. Wherever we choose." Raguel suggested, and the twins looked thoughtful at the idea. "Now that's a novel idea," Lucifer said as he filed away a stack of parchments into a folder. "I wonder what the sex would be like..." Samael added and received a swift clip around the ear from his brother. "Careful, brother, you'll earn our Father's ire by talking like that!" "But that's the next logical step, no? Combine our biology to make something else! Something new!" "Lucifer is right; we shouldn't be entertaining the idea. At least not until our Father says otherwise," Raguel said, looking slightly uncomfortable. He glanced up at the clock and smiled. "I must go." "Ah yes, to watch the humans. Have fun, Rags. Try not to fall asleep!" Lucifer called after him as Raguel eagerly ran out of the room. - Above Eden, Raguel watched them tensely. Something had changed recently about the humans. Adam seemed eager to try initiating sex, or at least what he thought sex was, but Lilith still wasn't ready yet. He followed her around and pleaded with her to just try with him. That perhaps she'd like it once things got going. She wasn't having it, though, and she eventually snapped at him to leave her alone for the night. Raguel feared Adam would go after her and attempt to force her. With their procreation being a high priority at the moment, he would have been forbidden to intervene if such a thing were to happen. But thankfully, Adam seemed more dejected than angry. He stormed off in another direction to 'take care of himself'. Raguel noted this quickly, but not wanting to hang around and watch him, he silently descended into the forested area where Lilith had gone. Cautiously, he approached her from behind. She was leaning against a tree and crying quietly. "Lilith?" he whispered to her, and she jumped a little before turning her head to look at him. "What's wrong?" he asked gently. She looked like she was going to talk, but her lower lip trembled, and she shook her head before hurrying over to him. She pressed herself against him, surprising him, and Raguel wrapped his arms around her. Despite her sadness, Raguel couldn't help feeling elated at her seeking comfort in his arms, and he cherished the sweet moment for as long as he could until she finally found the strength to speak. "I'm afraid," she whispered. "Of what?" "He's... he's just so..." She seemed embarrassed but pushed through. "Big... What if it hurts? What if it doesn't fit? What if I fail and don't have his babies?" "Ah..." Raguel thought about how to respond. Her concerns about Adam's size were understandable. The Angels had already noted that for the first of his species, he was well endowed. But thankfully, sexual education existed in Heaven. After all, God didn't want to be repeatedly snapping his fingers to make more Angels, so he equipped them with the means to procreate as well. "It's natural to be afraid of your first time." He told her gently. "Angels must do this too, and we know what it's like." "You do?" Lilith sniffled. She looked up at him hopefully, and Raguel couldn't resist gently tucking her hair behind her ear to move it away from her face. "Of course. The first time is always scary, but that's natural. You're only afraid because you've never done it before. It's new and unknown to you." "Yes!" Lilith gasped, thankful that Raguel understood her concerns completely. She felt truly heard. "But it will work." He reassured her. "And yes, he might be... big, but it will still fit, and you will still be able to have his children." "Will it hurt?" "The first time, maybe. But only a little, and then it will feel good." Lilith nodded in understanding and glanced away from him thoughtfully. Raguel frowned a little. After being upset by the conversation she'd had with Adam, he didn't want to send her back to him just yet. Besides, he might still be taking care of himself. "Come, sit with me a while?" He asked her, and she smiled at him. Her eyes still glistening from her tears. He brought her to a clearing, and they sat in the grass next to each other. He looked upwards at the stars and gently nudged her arm to make her look up as well. "Those spots in the sky are stars," he told her. "Stars..." she repeated while looking up at them in wonder. Raguel glanced at her and couldn't help staring. Captivated by her innocence. "Yes," he smiled. "They're very, very far away, but they give light to your world during the night." "And that?" Lilith pointed to the sickle-shaped moon. "The moon. It also provides light by reflecting it off the sun." "I know the sun... Not to look at it." "Yes." "Reflect?" She looked at him interestedly. Raguel smiled brightly at her and tried his best to explain as simply as he could the concept of reflections and how light travels. They then went on to talk about the stars, how they don't move and can be followed to navigate Eden. Eventually, Lilith was resting her head on Raguel's shoulder as they talked. "What is Heaven like?" She asked him. "It's like Eden," Raguel answered. "It's a world with its own sun and moon. There are many Angels there." "They all know everything, as you do?" "I don't know everything." Raguel chuckled and looked at her. "I know lots of things, though. Heaven has good teachers." "Can you take me to Heaven, one day?" Raguel hesitated before answering. "Maybe. One day." He wasn't sure how true that would be and didn't want to promise anything. He stared into her eyes, and the idea of them in Heaven together seemed a blasphemy, yet he found himself wanting it with all of his being. Her in the fields of Heaven, standing with him. Holding his hand as he taught her everything he knew. Holding her in his arms, like he was now. He should have stopped there. He should have pulled away, sworn never to return and urged her to go back to Adam. He should have gone back to Heaven and reported all of his secret meetings and taken the punishment for breaking the rules while remaining thankful that things hadn't gone too far. But that's not what he did. What he did, while lost in his desires and her eyes, was far, far worse. It started when he gently pressed his lips against hers. She tensed but didn't pull away. She clumsily copied his lip movements, and the feeling of her soft lips on his drove his desires further, pushing all thought of consequences from his mind until he could only think of her. He pulled her close to him and laid her down under him. - He awoke some time later and was a little confused by the stars overhead, and then the realisation dawned on him. Reluctantly, he looked down to see Lilith's head on his chest. She was sleeping peacefully, and they were both naked. "No!" He jumped, waking her up. When she lifted herself to look at him in confusion, he jumped to his feet and away from her. "No, no, no! What have I done?! I shouldn't have-! We shouldn't have-!" he stared at her for a moment and then quickly threw his clothing back on. He stepped towards her and gently gripped her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, I should not have done this to you! I need to leave, and we can never see each other again." "But why?!" Lilith asked, pained by his words. "Please don't leave!" "I must, and you cannot tell anyone what we did! It was wrong, and we would both be punished. Please, please promise me that you won't tell anyone!" "I don't understand!" Lilith began to cry. "What did we do wrong?" "You're supposed to be with Adam. Not me. I shouldn't have- I'm so sorry!" He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "Please promise me that you won't tell anyone what happened here. We will both be punished and hurt if you do." "I-I promise, but please don't leave. I don't want to go back. I don't want him, I want you! Our secret!" "No!" Raguel cringed at her words and felt guilty that he had taught her such deceptions. "No more. We can't, Lilith. You must go back to him. Have his babies. Live a good life with him." "I don't want him, Raguel!" Lilith cried. Raguel wrapped his arms around her and held the back of her head as she wept into his shoulder. "I know... I know... and this is my fault. I'm sorry." Reluctantly, he let her go and stepped away from her. "You need to forget about me," he told her. "No, Raguel, wait!" Lilith pleaded, but knowing this was for the best, Raguel had already taken flight and sped towards Heaven, leaving Lilith to grieve their love and their biggest mistake.

I'll be reading it then!

Will was on the computer. Organizing everything in the system. "Come in!" --- Violet blushed at the soft touch she felt. She dug her nails into his arm, "Oh I can make it so that I won't be satisfied until you've done everything!" She licked her fingers as his blood stained them. "Whatever kink you've got, I'll go for it." --- Bryce asked, "Any genres in particular?" --- Death ran after her, "Lilly! Wait!" Raven appeared in front of her. He raised his hands as his power appeared. "Don't! We can work together!" --- Nate chuckled, "Aside from the fact that she would hate that phrase, I'd say she won't want to miss the potential wedding." He swept him off his feet. "I mean, as long as you're down for one?" --- Leo bit his lip. He stood from the couch. Having a lot to think of after seeing how happy Abaddon was. "Nah! I'm getting kind of tired. You guys can play without me. See ya." He headed to the staircase. Abaddon cocked his head like a curious dog, "Is there something wrong?" --- James immediately covered his nose. "Maybe we can take pizza home? I think I'm drooling. I don't think anyone will see that as normal." --- Cain burst into tears as he shouted, "Enough!" His voice pushed everything back. His power having knocked over anything in the library. "You think I wanted to be like this?! I tried so hard to please God but nothing I did ever made him satisfied! He always hated me!" He pointed at Abel, "He was his favorite! That's why he gets to be here! And all I get are the damned souls who curse me for everything!" Abel stood up, "Brother. Please, I want to help. I never wanted you like this. I don't hate you. Cain, I love you." Cain's eyes widened. He soon glared as he shot out fire at the books. Abel threw himself in front of it. Allowing himself to burn for the knowledge they needed. Shocked and full confusing emotions, Cain let out a frustrated scream before disppearing. --- Charles said, "Damien? What are you planning to do? If it's anything you need help with, Hades can follow." --- Carter flushed as he awkwardly smiled, "Yeah it's fine. I sort of forgot how loud my voice can get." He gently rocked Rose. "Hey, it's ok. Sorry daddy made too much noise." He looked back at Sebastian, "Did we ever decided on a price range for my detective agency? I don't really know how much I should charge." --- Nate* wiggled his brows, "I can think of a few ways to enjoy my other self. Unfortunate, I can't get on with those plans. Oh well." He pursed his lips, "I guess I could get a so called head Angel to follow her. Someone that she could never say no to. Who do you have that Angels would kiss their ass to?" --- Dariel nodded, "Yes sir." He locked the door. Lucretia's face went pale, "I-I can't. They....Look into my head. My thoughts. It's the only way you'll learn without being noticed." --- Frederick knelt down, "It's alright. We're here to fight for you." Phineas helped Kasper stand up. Napoleon spoke, "I recommend resting. We will let you know if anything should happen." Phineas nodded, "Thank you. Both of you." He helped guide Kasper upstairs. "It's going to be ok. Let's just go to our room." --- Adam scoffed, "What? Oh no! You didn't ruin anything. I mean, I was the guy who threw up. I'm not exactly use to this stuff either. So, don't worry about it. You're fine." He gently hugged her. "Just don't be afraid to talk to me, ok? Like just now."

Yeah, it's been pretty exhausting. But at least it's over and done with now. Hope you've been doing alright as well. I duno if you've seen but I've also posted a blog about Raguel & Lilith. I'm going to try and get more of their backstory up as we go along.

Kodi appeared back in the police station. He walked over to Will's office and knocked on the door. --- "Just you wait," Kris said playfully into her ear as he nibbled at the lobe. "I'll show you just how much of a man I am." He sat up and took off his shirt, flinging it to the floor. Now that he was shirtless, various scars of different shapes and sizes could be seen covering his torso and his back. Some of them partially covered by tattoos of circular runes. One on the upper left side of his chest. One on his shoulder blade on the same side. Another on his left upper arm. Aside from that, his muscles were small but well defined. Her wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her to sit on his hips. "I want to make your legs shake, and I want to make you cry out my name," he told her while looking up at her with a playful grin. He kissed her neck while gently sucking and nibbling to leave his mark. "Just promise me you won't make it easy," he chuckled. "You'll have to make me work for it." --- "I'm not sure," Viktor admitted. "A movie sounds good. It'd be nice to cuddle up, I think." --- Azrael took Death's and Raven's hands. Watching them, Lilly was frustrated and agitated. She understood what Azrael had said, but she wasn't thinking straight. Her grief and need for vengeance were clouding her judgement. As Raven began to share the images with their fathers, Lilly could no longer resist the temptation, and she thrust herself towards them, her hands gripping Raven and Azrael's arm. Feeling this, Azrael's eyes snapped open, and he looked at Lilly with a mixture of anger and fear. "Lilly!" he scolded her. But it was too late; she saw everything she needed to. But she wasn't stupid. She wasn't about to go and just teleport there when there could be who knows how many enemies waiting to greet her. Instead, narrowly avoiding Azrael's attempt to grab her arm, she flung herself away from them and darted out of the room. "Lilly, stop!" She heard Azrael calling after her as she ran towards the armoury, intending to take one of the scythes and vanish with it to come up with a plan of her own away from both her father's protective hold. --- "Married? Were you planning on proposing to me?" Tom asked playfully. He blushed at his own joke and glanced away bashfully before clearing his throat. Lilith looked from her son to Tom with a knowing smile. "My son makes you happy," she observed. "He does, ma'am." Tom nodded. "He's the best thing that ever happened to me." he smiled and looked at Nate. Lilith, in turn, smiled warmly at Tom. She moved off of her seat to embrace him in a hug once more. "Be at home here," she told him as she let him go. She then moved to walk passed Nate, patting his shoulder lovingly as she went. She walked towards the kitchen at the back of the building. Tom had watched her go and then looked at Nate in surprise. "Did- did she just give us her blessing?" --- "You laughed." Atma chuckled at him fondly. "It's nice to see you smiling," she said as she rested her head against him sleepily. She was finally relaxed enough to feel as if she could doze off. "You're doing good, man. You're a natural at this." Oscar complimented him. "We can take it in turns, if you want to join back in?" he then offered as he turned to Leo. --- "You've never had pizza?!" May gasped with a mixture of surprise and excitement. "Oh boy, are you in for a treat! C'mon, I know a place, and I could really go for a meat feast pizza!" She led him further down the road until they came to a little pizza place. The smell of the food inside leaked out into the street as they drew closer to it. --- Samael had already been trying to process what he'd said when Cain's words wounded him further. He couldn't hide it either as he stared ashamedly at him. But Cain wasn't wrong. He did miss his brother. That and he was painfully aware of the parallel between himself and Lucifer, when compared to Abel and Cain. The only difference, of course, is Abel hadn't yet given up hope or become as bitter as Samael. "You should leave," Samael told Cain coldly while trying to mask the pain in his voice. "Cursed one," he then spat at him sourly. Trying to hurt him the way he had just been hurt by hurling old, scornful titles that God had given to Cain upon his fall. "Immortal one. Bloodthirsty one." His lips twisted into a cruel smirk as he tilted his head forward and growled, "Unforgiven one!" --- For once, Damien didn't have anything to say. He opened his mouth in surprise, and his eyes hardened at the seriousness of the situation. "They got the kid?" he asked after a moment, and he rose to his feet. He thought back to how hard Uriel* had fought and that he'd been destroyed by some unknown being that, as far as he could tell, hadn't even been in the same room at the time. And now this being had Oliver? Things were more dire than he'd thought, and this was clearly a direct attack. "Shit... fine," he huffed. He scratched his arm and glanced away from her for a second. "Tell them I'll be there. There's just... something I need to do first." --- As soon as Carter called out, Rose squirmed in his arms and complained at being woken up. She began to cry. Sebastian moved to the top of the stairs, a screwdriver in one hand and a part of the crib in the other. He looked down at them. "Is everything alright?" he asked. Seeing Rose crying and that Carter had company, he hurried down the stairs to help him. --- "That I will leave in your very capable hands. After all, you know you best." Amelia* said as she crossed her arms. Her eyes lit up, and she grinned at him mischievously. "Imagine if you captured him and we convinced him to join us. I'd have two of you running around! How chaotic would that be?" she chuckled. "Of course, any chance of that happening will likely go out the window the moment you fuck his precious Tom. But before you go, that Angel, Lucretia, she seemed... fickle to me. Have someone follow her. They can keep an eye on that pesky Blood God while they're at it and if she blabs, I want her destroyed." --- Shezmu listened to Lucretia, but at the mention of Uriel* he regarded her story sceptically. He already had his suspicions, but her outburst further confirmed that something else had happened. He narrowed his eyes at her and then looked at Dariel. "Lock the door," he told him gravely whilst nodding to the door to their home. Not to prevent anyone from leaving, but to prevent anyone else from coming in. Once that was done, he turned to Lucretia with a steady yet serious gaze. "The truth, Lucretia. Now," he ordered. --- The moment Phineas asked, Kasper shook his head and began to shiver. "N-no, I'm not a fighter, Phineas! You know that. I can't." Memories of his old family house flooded into Kasper's mind. Along with the beatings he received from his father when he refused to hunt vampires with them. Finally, the heartbreaking memory of Florian ripping his throat out when Kasper had finally found the courage to release him from his cage. Kasper wept into his hands. "I can't..." --- Clementine looked from Adam to the doorway warily. She didn't want to risk John hearing her if she were to tell Adam the truth. With no way of knowing if he was on the other side of the door, Clementine bit her lip nervously as she brought her eyes back to Adam's and she shrugged. "I-I guess I was just worried that my potion might not have worked or that it might be my fault if anything went wrong," she told him. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. She tried to smile at him reassuringly. "I've just never seen a birth before. I didn't know what to do and panicked. I'm sorry if I scared you. It was supposed to be a happy moment, and I probably ruined it."

Oh! I hope all has been going well.

Missed you too 😄 Just finished moving house (again) so hopefully should be online a bit more often. I've been getting ideas constantly lol

Nice! Also missed you 😄

Lilith and a much, much, much, much, much younger Raguel in Eden lol

In Heaven, the first Angels gathered to behold the creation of Eden. Among them, Raguel watched tensely whilst looking into the large glass sphere as God worked tirelessly in building this second world. They observed the spectacle of the big bang in awe. What followed was a rush of fire, rock and electricity. Raguel wondered if this was how Heaven was created. If they were to witness the same process that lead to his people coming into being. Such a thing was a deep honour to witness. Before long, a solar system had been created. In its centre, a mass of rock spun. Its shape shifted and grew as the gravity around it pressured its form into a sphere. Then the next miracle came. Water. And with it, an abundance of new flora which covered its surface. Microscopic organisms came next, breeding a diverse ecosystem that ran purely on survival instinct. No thoughts, no emotions, no souls yet. Just live, eat, breathe, breed and sleep. These organisms multiplied rapidly, and over time they adapted to survive in their world. Witnessing this, Raguel realised that this wasn't just a recreation of Heaven and Angels. Not merely just an adaptation of it, either. This was something wholly new and special. The life that grew and changed before his eyes wasn't being moulded so strictly by God's hand as Angels had been. Rather, the new life and even the new world itself was being allowed to flourish and evolve mostly on its own, with only its surrounding environments and God's occasional help to guide it along. To the other Angels, this seemed utterly chaotic, and they feared that creatures created on this world would abide by its own order rather than the laws that they regarded so highly. But Raguel was excited by this. This new life would be unpredictable and would have more freedom of will than they had ever known before. Evolution came next. Aquatic life. Insects. Birds. Reptiles. Then, gradually, primates. This was where God stepped in. Content with the evolutionary progress, he plucked some of the basic biological makeup from one of these creatures and mixed it with that of an Angel's biological structure. There was trial and error. Several different species of primates were created until finally, there was a breakthrough. The first human. A male born from one of those primates that had all of the Angelic characteristics, minus the wings. Adam. God called him perfect and separated him from the other primates. He created a garden to be a safe environment for his newest creation to grow in. He chose several Angels to assist in raising the boy. These Angels were ordered to teach Adam to speak and to study his growth. Later, these Angels would be adapted and take on the role of Life Spirits who not only oversaw the lives of Humans, but of everything else that lived in the universe. Death's realm had not yet been created, but in the creation of life and the discovery of souls, Death would soon follow. As Adam grew, it became clear what would be needed next for this species to begin to build. Using the same methods, God set to work, and by the time Adam had learned to walk, the first Human female was born. Heaven celebrated, and the Angels chattered excitedly as they tried to guess what these humans could grow to achieve. The Human pair grew together, and they grew to be close to each other. God ordered that the Angels leave the humans to live their own lives, and reluctantly, the Angels left the world. However, they continued to take it in turns to study and observe the pair from afar. Ensuring their safety at all times. Eagerly awaiting the day that they begin to procreate. But, frustratingly, as the Humans reached maturity, they both remained innocently oblivious to the process of reproduction. They were confused yet curious about the change in their bodies, but they hadn't figured out what it all meant just yet. Raguel's turn to monitor the pair came at last. He'd been keeping up to date on the new world and had been eagerly awaiting the day that he would be given the honour of travelling there and watching them up close. The instructions were clear. Remain unseen at all times, unless the Humans are in imminent danger. Study and note any changes. That was it. It was that simple. So, Raguel couldn't help feeling embarrassed later in the day when he would find himself accidentally standing face to face with the female. He'd been staying at a distance, hovering in the air and noting their every move. Parchment in one hand and a quill in the other as he jotted down a conversation the pair had been having. Lilith, the female, was expressing her frustrations that Adam was almost always near her and for once she just wanted to be on her own. At least for a little while. It would seem that Adam had some separation anxiety as he told her he didn't understand why she could ever want to be alone. At last, Lilith had had enough of the conversation and had marched off through a thicket, leaving Adam to ponder whether he had done something to upset her. Just as Raguel was scribbling away, he lost his grip on his quill and watched as it fell through the leaves of the trees below. "Oh no!" he gasped softly. He glanced at Adam, who looked like he was settling down for a nap. Lilith was somewhere in the forested area, but Raguel felt confident that he knew which direction she'd gone in. He tucked his parchment away. Silently, and being careful not to rustle the branches, he descended into the forest to look for his quill. "Oh, where did it drop?" he huffed under his breath as he moved a small pile of leaves to look underneath. Sighing in frustration, he turned to check a different direction, and then he froze on the spot. Ahead of him, Lilith had done the same, and they stared at each other for a long, tense moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but she had beaten him to it as she jogged over excitedly with a wide grin. "Hello Angel!" She said sweetly in the ancient tongue of the time. "I haven't seen an Angel in a long time!" "Um, yes..." he responded nervously. He glanced upward, but if God or any other Angel knew he'd messed up, they were being awfully quiet about it. Perhaps he'd gotten lucky, and no one was watching? "I'm sorry, I must not linger. You must return to Adam," he said hurriedly and began to back away. "But why must I?" she asked, in the same innocent and curious manner as she jogged after him. "I am always with him. Can't I talk to you? For just a little while?" "Um-..." Raguel hesitated. He'd been about to say no. To apologise again and to emphasise that she needed to go back to Adam. But her bright, inquisitive eyes captivated him. He'd never dreamed he'd have the chance to see these humans this close! And now that he was, and had apparently not been caught yet, he wondered if he could use this opportunity to really get to know these beings. Or at least, Lilith. He didn't want to risk getting caught by talking to them both, after all. This was what he told himself at the time, but later he would realise that he had been infatuated with Lilith from the start and had wanted her to himself. "Yes, alright," he answered her, and then he quickly held a finger to his lips as she looked as if she would squeal from excitement. "But you cannot tell Adam or anyone else. This is our secret." "Secret?" "Something that just you and me know," Raguel explained. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Lilith looked unsure for a moment and looked in the general direction of Adam. For a moment, he feared that she would refuse to keep a secret from him, but then she turned to him with that same innocent smile and nodded. "Alright, I promise. Our secret," she beamed. "What is your name, Angel?" "Raguel." He told her as his shoulders relaxed in relief. "I'm Lilith." She told him, and he grinned. "I know your name, Lilith," he told her. "You do? Is it because you are an Angel?" "I-uh- Y-yes. That's right. Because I'm an Angel." He lied. It had been his first lie, and it had felt odd. He hadn't realised that he could do that before. Lilith bounced on her feet happily as she moved around him to look at his wings. "We don't have these." "Because you are Human," Raguel said and then jumped a little at feeling her hand on his feathers. He watched her as she ran her hand along his wing. The fascination and awe in her face was so endearing to him. "Human..." Lilith repeated the word. "Why?" She turned her head to look at him. Her hand still on his wing. "That's... just how you were born." He tried to explain. "Like I was born an Angel." Born. A simplification of how he came into being, but he supposed in a way it was correct. "And when you have children, they will be human, too." "Children," she repeated and glanced off to one side. "With Adam?" "Of course." "I don't know." She shook her head. "I don't know how." "You will." He reassured her gently. "When the time is right, you will both just... know." She looked thoughtful as she stared at the ground. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, hiding her breasts. Raguel had to force himself to look at her face. At her beautiful, dark eyes. He felt strange. Then, immediately, he felt guilty and ashamed. "I've lingered too long," he said hurriedly. "I must go." "Wait." Lilith grabbed his hand quickly before he could fly away. "Will you come back? I like to talk to you." "I-I-..." he looked at her uncertainly. But the pleading look she gave him had him totally disarmed. "Alright. I will come back," he conceded. "But remember, you mustn't tell anyone." "I won't tell," she said, smiling as she let go of his hand. Even as she did, he found himself reluctant to let hers go. Tearing himself away from her, he took off to fly back to Heaven. He would need to report his Quill lost.

Sterling was confused but before he had the chance to ask, Kodi disappeared. Leaving him with his own thoughts. --- Violet moaned loudly as she reached for his backside. Gripping hard. "You are quite the man." --- Bryce nodded, "So, what should we do for your first move here? Watch a movie? Play a board game?" --- Death said, "You're right. At the very least, it'll be good to know where the Council room is at." Raven took a deep breath before holding their hands. Using his powers, he sent the visual to them. --- Nate couldn't help but smile at the nice moment he was seeing before himself. "We're not even married and you're already getting along with my mother. I'm glad." --- Abaddon soon repeated what Oscar told him. He was actually getting a better grip on it than Leo. He suddenly found himself laughing and smiling for the first time. Immediately, he covered his mouth. "What just happened?" --- James replied, "I would like to try this pizza. What is it?" --- Cain shoved him off. He stood with a cackle. "I guess we all miss him. Deep down inside." Abel healed himself before he flew to the scene. He casted a shield over himself and Samael. "Stop this! You don't have to be this way!" --- Hades frowned. She held back her tears but gripped her arms. "It was bad. There was nothing stopping that thing. It was too strong. That's why we need your brutality now. Please Damien. Your sister needs you. Your nephew needs you. Oliver's been taken by Uriel. Only it's not Uriel. It's something else." --- Carter looked at the photo. Recalling his own son. "I'm not sure. I think I'll get my fiancee down here to advise me on that. Don't worry, he's not human either." He called out, "Sebastian! I need to ask you something!" --- Nate* rolled his eyes. "Fine. So, how should we subdue that Nate? If I know myself, I'm not exactly easy to take down." --- Lucretia reluctantly took his blood then coughed at the horrid taste. "Raziel...I failed you sir. This Uriel* captured me. I nearly died but escaped. I had no choice but to flee. Since the angelic wristband was cut off when my arm was...Well, I was able to teleport out of there. I tried to save Raziel but their power was too strong." She touched her face. "Am I crying? Angels don't have emotions so why...?" Dariel ran over, "Sir? Do you need me to help?" She turned to the young man. Realizing that there was something worth fighting for. She suddenly screamed. With tears in her eyes, she said, "Take my blood! Destroy me! I am a useless warrior! I have failed Heaven!" --- Frederick and Napoleon walked over. Napoleon brought out his heroic voice, "Come now! You're all stronger than you may think. We shall teach you the ways of an Angel." Frederick raised a brow, "How are we going to do that? We're not the official teachers." "That doesn't matter. We learned from them and therefore, we shall teach you two what we have learned." Phineas looked at Kasper, "What do you think? It doesn't sound like a bad idea to know how to defend ourselves." --- Adam's eyes widened, "What?! No!" He raised his hands. "The baby's fine. I was just worried about you. I saw how John yelled at you. Believe me, I'm going to give him a good talk later. I just want to know if you're ok?"

"You may want to reconsider the relationship you have with that Angel," Kodi answered him. He was sweating a little but relieved as he bent down to help Sterling to his feet. For a moment, he'd been genuinely afraid for his own life as well as Sterling's. "I need to get some Angel friends of my own to locate Clementine... I have a pretty strong feeling that I should try to find her before he does." He said as he looked at him. "he said he wouldn't hurt her, but I don't trust him one bit. Thanks for your help. At least now I know what I need to do to find her." he vanished. Although he was only an acquaintance, he intended to go to Gabriel for help. After all, it wasn't like he knew many more Angels. --- Kris kissed her back, and for once, the thought that she might try to take his soul didn't even occur to him as he lost himself in her. He playfully threw her onto the bed and crawled on after her while kissing from her belly to her neck. --- Feeling her push him into the room and hearing the door slam, he whirled around and dropped the blood bag onto the floor. "No, wait-! Salem! I'm sorry!" He cried after her and flung himself against the door. "Salem, please! I didn't mean to! I-" he cried, then stopped to look at the reflection of himself in the glass window. The small amount of blood that had sprayed onto his chin when he'd dropped the bag. 'why the fuck did I do that?!' he thought to himself angrily as he wiped the blood from his chin with his hand. 'I ruined everything! I have nothing now!' From there, his emotions spiralled. Confusion, guilt, self-hatred, shame... it all surfaced, all at once and became difficult for him to control. Roaring, he began trashing the little room. Throwing small objects at the wall or onto the floor, and flinging the table across the room. When there was nothing left to destroy, he broke down into wailing sobs as he collapsed to his knees. Eventually, he calmed down enough to curl up in the corner, weeping quietly to himself. --- "Nah, wait until you meet her," Viktor said with a smile. --- Catching the excitement in Lilly's eyes, Azrael held out a hand. "No," he said firmly. "Just to your father and me. Don't forget, you two have your own destiny to fulfil. Closing the rift. Considering how keen the intruders were to try to get their hands on one of you, I have a feeling that the rift is somehow connected to their presence. We can't risk you. Either of you. We'll take the location from you for now..." he looked at Death. "I think we'll need to come up with a plan before we attempt to confront them." --- Lilith gave a sad smile but shook her head. "I have no need for it. All I could even want has already come back to me," she told him lovingly. Tom's own heart melted a little at how she spoke to him. He couldn't help smiling at her, and for just a moment, he had forgotten the horrors that had happened not long ago. Lilith took Tom's arm and brought him over to one of the tables to sit with her. Only showing Tom this amount of affection because not only was he Nate's beloved, but he was also not an Angel. She also got the impression, disregarding his attraction to her son for a moment, that this man had absolutely no interest in women. Which in itself made her feel safer near him than any other man she'd come into contact with, other than her son. "Come talk to me," she said to him. "Tell me of yourself." "Well, uh..." Tom stammered, unsure of where to begin. "Well, I was born in the US, but my parents came from Egypt," he started, but her lost expression had him at a bit of a loss as well. She wasn't familiar with Earth and its various countries or continents yet. "We've been living in France for a few years. I learned how to speak French pretty well during that time." "French...?" "Oui, je parle très bien français!" Tom beamed, but then looked a little lost again as Lilith looked even more confused. "It's another language." Lilith gave a small smile and nod in understanding, then asked him something in an alien tongue. Now it was Tom's turn to look baffled. "I speak Infernal," Lilith said with a smile. "It's another language," she added playfully to mirror him. "Oh!" Tom chuckled. "That's so cool! What did you say?" "I asked if you speak it." "Ohhh…" Tom laughed, "I guess you know the answer." "I guess I do. Perhaps we can trade. I can teach you Infernal. You can teach me this French?" "Sounds like a good deal." Tom nodded happily. "I know other languages too, if you want me to teach you those?" - "So, you see the orange character? That's who you're controlling. Mine is the purple guy. We it's like a kind of wrestling game. You gotta either throw your opponent off the ledge or find another way to defeat them. Here, let me talk you through the controls..." After a minute of showing Abaddon which buttons to press and allowing him some time to practice, they started their first round. - "You're welcome." Shezmu smiled at him, and he then turned his head away as he heard Lucretia's pleas for help. "I must go. Return to your studies for now," he told him as he stood quickly before vanishing. --- Tilting her head back, Layla let out little sighs with each of his kisses as they sent excited shivers down her spine. She let her hand wander over his chest and around to his back, eventually working her way down. [Private Time] --- "Oh, is that why he was moodier than normal?" She mumbled then chortled while covering her mouth with her hand, not intending to find the situation amusing but unable to help it. "Don't worry about it," she chuckled. "He tends to get a bit snippy with everyone, especially towards the end of his shift. I'm willing to bet that if anything, you just showed him you're not the type to be pushed around when he's in a bad mood." She hooked her arm around his and started walking with him again. "Now, how about that pizza? I'm starving." --- Samael didn't stop after knocking Cain back. He flew over to him and kicked him back down when he tried to get up before pinning him to the ground with his foot. "Knock it off, Lucifer!" He snapped, then froze with wide eyes as he realised what he'd said. --- "What, for real?" Damien asked in surprise. He narrowed his eyes. "I thought they could handle themselves. That my methods were too brutal," he folded his arms and stared at Hades. "What even happened back there, anyway? I only saw some of the action." --- "Um, here," Yvonne said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a photo. It was of her and her son smiling for the camera. She had her arm around his shoulders. The boy looked strikingly like his mother. His hair hung in loose brown curls, just past his ears. His eyes were the same shade of brown as hers, and his skin tone was just slightly paler than hers. Yvonne passed this photo to Carter. "Keep that as a reference, if you need it. I have a copy at home..." She fidgeted anxiously with her sleeve again while looking at the photograph in his hand. "So, um, what kind of rate do you charge for this sort of thing?" she asked and then held up her hands whilst adding, "Money is no issue, just so you know. I'd pay anything to see him returned home safely." --- Amelia* grinned at him, then faced the crowd of her adoring and loyal followers as she stood. "Today we are victorious!" She announced to them. The partying members of the crowd cheered and raised their mugs in reply. "Drink! Enjoy yourselves! But be ready tomorrow! We have much more work to do before we conquer this new world!" She declared before turning to face Nate* and walking past him whilst indicating for him to follow her. She walked into a separate room, which was much quieter than the previous one. She glanced at the sleeping Oliver in his makeshift crib, then nodded to Lilith* in thanks for watching over the child whilst she conducted her business. She kept walking into another room and waited until Nate* joined her before closing the door behind them. "Your mother has settled in with us nicely." She commented pleasantly. "I am grateful for her presence. And yours." She looked at him fondly as she leaned against a desk. "The vampire that I tried to take control of. This Tim? No, Tom. That was it. I saw a few of his memories as I pressed into his thoughts. It seems the Nate of this world has fallen in love with this daywalking vampire. The fact that their Nate looks identical to you grants us an opportunity. If you're able to take his place and convince this Tom that you're his Nate, you would be in a unique position to infiltrate them from within. The bad news here is, you're going to have to pretend to be monogamous to him if you really want to sell it." --- Shezmu appeared next to Lucretia and was shocked by her injuries. "Lucretia!" He bent down to scoop her into his arms. "I'm here. I have you," he said to try to comfort her as he teleported back to the castle and set her down on his bed. He looked her over and quietly cursed to himself as he realised he would once again need to share his blood today in order to save someone. He bit into the side of his hand and held it over her mouth. "Take a little. It will help," he told her quickly. "Where did you go? How did you get away?" he asked her urgently when he pulled his hand away from her. --- Kasper held on to Phineas tightly. The dogs were all whining now. One was walking in circles and occasionally growling. They could sense something bad and that it was close, but they didn't know how to track or smell it out. So, they all walked over to their masters to sit next to them and growl at anything that tried to get close. --- John was a little concerned by Adam running to Clementine, but before he could go after him to eavesdrop, Daisy had approached him with the baby to ask for help swaddling him. John glanced at the door that Adam had gone through and then back to Daisy before reluctantly smiling at her and agreeing to help. By the time Adam caught up with Clementine, she'd pulled on a cardigan and begun pruning a herb for her next batch of the elixir. She looked up at him as he approached her. She had already wiped her tears away, but her eyes were still a little misty. "Is everything ok?" she asked him as she quickly put the herbs down to face him. "The baby-?" she began, worried that something had gone wrong and that it would be her fault.

The Angel sighed, "Fine." He placed a hand on Sterling. Healing him quickly. "Just stay out of my way, demon." He disappeared. Sterling gasped awake. He looked around, "What happened?" --- Violet jumped on him. Making Kris hold her as she kissed him passionately. --- Salem was shaking. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she shoved him back into the room. Locking the door and running away. --- "Well, I kind of want to save them for your sister to hear too. Or would you rather relay them to her?" ,asked Bryce. --- Death was about to defend Raziel when Raven spoke, "I can show you. I need everyone to hold hands. I'll transfer the location to everyone." --- Nate smiled, "Yeah. Tom was the first human to make me really see the world for what it was. You could always find love again too, mom. Maybe not now. But someday." --- Leo gave him the controller. Abaddon sat awkwardly on the couch as he held the controller daintily. "What is the objective?" --- Dariel nodded, "I think I do sir. I...Thank you for taking me in." --- Nil gently placed her on the bed. Kissing her neck slowly. --- James flushed. He stopped moving, "I may have said a few things to him. I was...concerned about your safety. I'm sorry." --- Cain grunted as he was knocked into the wall, "Little brother! Always need someone to protect you, huh?!" --- Hades teleported to Damien. "We need your help. David needs you to train Amelia and Charles for a real battle." --- Carter said, "Could you describe him for me? What does your son look like?" --- Lucretia cried out as she was beaten. She soon found herself disoriented in the middle of a city. She curled up and cried silently, "Shezmu...I need help." Nate* smirked, "Sure. What's the plan?" --- Phineas ran over to him. He wrapped his arms around him, "Kasper it's going to be ok. We'll figure this out." --- John was tending to Daisy and the baby but he couldn't stop thinking about Clementine. "Clem! I need to talk to you!"

Shocked at the ease with which the Angel had grabbed his tail and didn't seem to be bothered by the razor-sharp edge, Kodi stared at him with wide eyes. He tried to pull his tail free and eyed the Angel's spear warily as the Angel spoke. "Who are you?" he demanded. He glanced down at Sterling, then shifted his face back into its human shape as he looked at the Angel pleadingly. "Heal him. He didn't deserve that." --- Kris grinned as he moved closer to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and teleported them both into his bedroom. "As you are," he said to her as he removed his glasses with his free hand and dropped them onto the bedside table. His eyes looked into hers as he cupped her chin. "No forms. No pretences. Just you and me and this bed." He kissed her deeply. --- Benny watched tensely as Salem opened the door and held out the bag for him. The room seemed to fill up with her scent. For a moment, he wondered if it was her perfume, but he quickly realised that the sweet scent he was smelling was her blood. His mouth watered, and he gulped nervously as he slowly moved towards her. His intention was to take the bag from her slowly and gently so as not to startle her. As he moved closer, he couldn't take his eyes off her. He reached out towards the bag, but his hand moved passed it, and his fingers caressed the back of her hand. He realised what he was doing and knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. His body seemed to move of its own accord as he drew closer to her and stared into her eyes, willing her to be still without really meaning to. His fingers glided from her hand, to her wrist and down her arm as he stood close enough to kiss her. He even contemplated it as his lips parted ever so slightly while he stared at hers. Then he caught himself. Realised what he was doing and gasped as he quickly pulled away. No longer willing her to be still, he gently yet quickly took the bag from her before turning to walk away from her. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-!" He breathed. Shaking a little. "I won't do it again. I'm sorry," he brought the bag up to his mouth and bit into it, drinking quickly as if quenching his thirst could also somehow quell his hormones that were now eternally magnified by vampirism. --- "I'd like to hear about those!" Viktor chuckled. He cuddled up to his side and rested his head on his shoulder as a contented sigh escaped him. --- "My love, I think you misunderstand," Azrael said to Death thoughtfully as he carefully took the book from Lilly and kept a hand on the page so as to stop the pages turning. "'their essence will be redistributed and processed into their successors, who will inherit their role and take their place. However, the process involves reincarnation and may take a lifetime or more before the new Council can reclaim its rightful place. During which time a power vacuum and chaos may reign in all realms.'" He re-read the section. "It's saying the new council members have yet to even be born or maybe even chosen at a young age, and that they must live a full lifetime before they can ascend to the position. While we wait for that to happen, there will effectively be no Council..." he explained. "And here, 'It is due to this dire possibility that the Council must remain at all times within the safety of the Council Headquarters, for leaving may inspire darkness to follow them home.'... this is a warning to council members not to leave the safety of the Council Headquarters, in case they'd be followed back by someone looking to overthrow them... Of course, Raziel wrote this. He had to have seen this coming to put that warning there. He was trying to prevent it." "If he could see this coming, then why didn't he warn us at the party?!" Lilly asked angrily. In her grief, she wanted someone to blame for what had happened. "He's a prophet. He's forbidden from directly interfering with Fate." Azrael said gently. "That's ridiculous!" Lilly said, outraged. She then looked at Raven when he spoke, and her desire for revenge rekindled in her eyes. "Where? Where did you see it?" she demanded. --- The Irish pub was looking a little more clean and homely by the time Nate arrived with Tom. Having been restless while waiting for her son to return, Lilith had been busy cleaning and exploring the little Inn. "My son!" She beamed when she saw them arrive and hurried over to throw her arms around his shoulders. When she stepped back, she looked at Tom curiously. "Your friend?" she asked, misunderstanding the term. "Boyfriend," Tom said nervously. "We're in love," he explained and then realised how he might appear, so he quickly tried to wipe his tears away. "Um, it's nice to meet you-!" Lilith surprised Tom with a hug that almost knocked the wind out of him. "Oh! um-!" he glanced at Nate with a small smile as he gingerly wrapped his arms around her. "I guess you're not a handshake person, then. Good to know." Lilith let him go and took a moment to take in how Tom looked before she looked at Nate. "You found love, my son?" - "Allies", Oscar nodded to him with a smile. "It's a way of bonding," he explained, hoping that putting it this way would help one as old as Abaddon to understand. "Here- why don't we start a new game?" He held his hand out to Leo to take his controller so that he could play the game with Abaddon. "We'll start on easy mode to get you used to the controls." - Shezmu reached out and touched Dariel's arm to stop him leaving. He looked at the boy carefully. Like a proud father taking a moment to admire his prodigy. "If this is something that you truly want, then I promise to turn you when the time is right. But you are still young. You're still growing and learning. If I changed you now, you would forever be... as you are now," he gestured to him in general, meaning he would forever be a teenager. "It is dangerous to turn someone who has not yet matured. Your emotions, appetites and lusts are not yet mastered, and my power would only magnify them tenfold. You would find even the smallest emotion difficult to bear. Do you understand?" --- Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Layla let herself get lost in his kisses. --- "What, Niles?" May raised an eyebrow. "I know he can be a bit snarky, but he's not a bad guy. He's just new and getting used to the long hours, that's all." She explained. "Is everything ok?" she then asked him, worriedly. --- Due to Abel's light, Samael had been momentarily blinded and ended up flying past Cain, into a desk. He blinked his eyes rapidly when the light subsided to try to see what was happening. He just about made out the figure of Abel on the ground, bleeding. Then he noticed Cain's attack heading towards him and dove out of the way. "Enough!" Samael snapped and flew at Cain again to slam him against the wall. --- "What?!" Carol snapped. Without waiting for Hades, she'd already teleported to Hell's Library. Meanwhile, in his apartment, Damien was doing what he could to ignore his craving as he thought about what had happened in Death's castle before his confrontation with Samael. He was still pissed off with Samael, but he couldn't help worrying about those possessions. He knew something awful had happened, but hadn't been around long enough to get the full story. He wondered if he should swallow his pride and see if his sister needed any help. --- "What happened? Who took Oliver? Did you see them?" Carol asked as she appeared in the Library. "No, just a note," Amelia said, and she took the note from Charles to pass to her. Carol read and re-read the note while she trembled with rage. "We have to get him back!" "One thing at a time," David said and held up his hands when Carol glared at him. "You know as well as I do what kind of power it'd take to not only find but also destroy the Council. What chance do you honestly think any of us would stand if we went after him now?" Carol crumpled the note between her fingers in agitation, but David made sense. "Then what do you suggest?" she asked, seething. "They need training... and an army. Carol, I think it's time." He said to her seriously. All at once, Carol understood. She glanced at Amelia and Charles. She looked almost sad. "Shit..." she sighed. "I mean... shit..." --- "It's my fault." Yvonne sighed as she sat down and rubbed her forehead. "I should have told him sooner. You see, his father was a Trickster. A good one. We were different, but we didn't care. We fell in love. One thing led to another, and I had his child, my son. Glenn," she smiled sadly. "When Glenn was just a few months old, his father died. It was... gang related." Yvonne paused and fidgeted with her sleeve again. "Glenn turned seventeen last month. He has his father's talents and my heritage. It makes him quite special. To some, he might even be seen as- as... valuable." Her lower lip quivered. The thought that her son could be kidnapped and sold for a profit turned her stomach. "We got into a fight a few days ago. He found out how his father died. I told him I didn't want him growing up around that kind of lifestyle. That I took him away from all of that and didn't tell him because I wanted him to have a normal life. But he wouldn't listen. Said I'd lied to him and he wanted to find his father's killers. I tried to talk him out of it. Forbid him from seeking revenge and sent him to his room..." The woman covered her mouth to stop a sob from escaping. "I went to check on him a while later, but his room was empty. I tried going to the normal police, but they haven't found him, and I'm worried they won't take his case seriously because they don't know how rare someone like him is." --- "Do you delight in trying to make me jealous?" Amelia* asked Nate* playfully. She then turned back to Lucretia and smirked. "Well, this works perfectly. You're already under orders to serve this Blood God, so why not use this to our advantage? We will send you back to him. Bloodied and beaten, of course. After all, we don't want him thinking that your escape was too easy now, do we? You're going to continue working for him, but you will be our spy. Tell him that you managed to escape, but it was difficult, and you were outnumbered. You're so sorry, but you couldn't save dear Raziel, here. Serve the Blood God without arousing suspicion. My soldiers will be in touch, replacing this world's counterparts, to give you orders. Oh, and Lucretia? Don't even think about double-crossing me. I'll be watching," she winked, then waved a hand for a couple of Demon soldiers to drag her away. From there, Lucretia would receive a fairly severe beating to sell the story of her 'fight for freedom'. They would then cover her head so that she couldn't know where to locate Amelia* and her army before dropping her off at a random location on Earth, to leave her there so that she could call Shezmu for help. Meanwhile, as this was going on, Amelia* smiled evilly at Raziel. "Take him to one of the rooms and keep guard. We will question him soon." She said while waving a dismissive hand. She then turned to Nate* with a cunning smile. "How would you feel about a little espionage? The Nate that I saw in Death's Castle is a spitting image of you." --- Tears slid down Kasper's cheeks, and he began struggling to catch his breath from panic. He had thought being in Heaven meant he'd be away from violence for good, but now he didn't feel so safe anymore. He shuffled into a corner and hugged his knees. "Phin-Phineas!" One of the dogs began whining, growling and pacing. They could sense something was wrong, but they couldn't figure out what. --- "I-I-..." Clementine stammered as she looked at Adam apologetically. She was adept at science, not midwifing! She felt utterly helpless as she looked at him and hated that she had no idea what to suggest. "I can heal her, just focus on the baby!" John snapped at them. "This was a mistake..." Clementine said tearfully. "I shouldn't have- this is wrong." "Clementine, if you're not going to help, then leave the room!" John shouted at her angrily. A loud, final shriek came from Daisy, followed by a ripping noise before she fell back and passed out. From under her skirt, covered in blood and other fluids, John pulled out a crying baby boy. Clementine held her breath, staring at the baby. Praying that her calculations had been correct and that the child would revert to ageing normally after the birth. So far so good, as the seconds passed while John cleaned the baby up and urged Adam to cut the cord, the baby remained in the size and shape of a newborn. She watched tearfully once the cord was cut as John urged Adam to go outside and place the baby on the grass while he tried to heal Daisy. As soon as the baby's skin touched the ground, the flora around it sprang to life. This new life then spread out around them, bringing all manner of vegetation in the surrounding location to life. It wouldn't cover all of Hell, but it at least covered the area they were staying in. "What happened-?" Daisy groaned, bringing Clementine's gaze back to her and John. "A miracle. Your child is here." John said to her gently as he helped her to her feet and pointed her in the direction of the garden. "Go, be with them," he encouraged her with a smile, and she beamed at them both before running out into the Garden to see Adam and their son. Clementine watched her go and wondered if maybe she'd overreacted during the stressful moment, but seeing it now, maybe she'd been mistaken? Maybe there was some truth to Eden being brought back to life after all. She looked at John, and immediately her heart sank to see the furious glare he was giving her. He stood and gripped her arm tightly while whispering into her ear in an acidic tone. "What are you playing at?" "I-I-" she stammered and quickly glanced at the doors to the Garden, but both Adam and Daisy were out of sight and earshot right now. "Are you trying to sabotage this?" "N-No! I just panicked! I-" "Get it together and stop frightening them, or you're going to ruin this whole thing!" he shoved her away from him roughly. "Now, get another batch. We need more babies if we're to restore all of Eden." Shaking, Clementine rubbed her bruised arm as she hurried out of the room.

The Angel rolled his eyes, "Oh calm down. I didn't kill him. He's just gravely injured." He caught his tail. "Now, let's make this clear. If you're worried about me hurting your demon friend then you can relax. I'm doing this to keep the peace between Heaven and Hell. As much as I hate your kind, I have to obey Heaven's rule. Got it?" --- Violet smirked, "I get it. Sore and tired after teaching those vamps a lesson. Now, you want to relax? Well then, what form would like me to be in?" --- Salem nodded, "Sure." She took a blood bag out of the cooler. Unlocking the door, she held it out for him to take. "Enjoy I guess. And thanks for worrying about me." She found herself looking at Benny in a different perspective. Was she falling in love with two boys? --- Bryce laughed, "Don't worry. If it helps, I can always mention my younger years. I did have quite a few adventures you could say." --- Death said, "Then that means people have been chosen for each council member to become like them. Gaining their powers and essence but they have to die to truly obtain it. If this is so and potential darkness could infect then we must find them. We have to place them in the Council Room once we learn where it could be. Yet, how can we? Surely, there are clues in this book? Or any indications as to where it could be?" Raven mumbled, "Council...." He looked at everyone. "I think I saw some kind of room. It was different. The power felt much stronger than anything I could fight against. This was when I was still trying to wage war on the world." --- Nate helped him stand, "Of course." He held his hand as they teleported in the pub. "Mother? I'd like you to meet someone very special to me. Tom, this is Lilith. Mom? This is Tom. My boyfriend." --- Abaddon stood up. Leo couldn't help but feel slightly disturbed by his weird lanky body. He grimaced as he watched Abaddon look at the controller then the screen. Abaddon pushed one button then saw the being in the TV move. "What are these creatures? How are we controlling them?" Leo's discomfort suddenly flew out as he chuckled, "They're not real. It's a game. You fight against your friends in silly battles." Abaddon raised a brow, "Friends?" --- Dariel replied, "Don't you want me to be like you? I've started learning a lot of vampire history. It looks like there's not many Blood Gods. I figured you wanted me to be-" Immediately, he flushed and shook his head. "Never mind. It was a stupid idea. Don't listen sir." He turned away, "I should get back to my studies." --- Jean's eyelids grew heavy, "Ok. Protect our people." He soon fell asleep. Exhausted from the battle. --- Nil caressed her cheek. "Likewise." He kissed her gently. --- James replied, "Did you not sense that man's hostility? He was watching us. I could tell." --- Abel let out his powers, "No!" The blinding light would have stopped everyone in their tracks. Cain growled as he sent his powers back. Abel clutched his stomach once it hit him. He fell over as blood dripped from his wound. Cain grinned, "Just like old times." He threw another attack at Samael instead. --- Charles nodded. He wiped Amelia's tears away, "It's going to be ok. We need this if we are to rescue our son." --- Hades said, "David is requesting you and Damien to be in Hell. They need your training. You see, Oliver was....taken." She had hesitantly said this knowing full well how pissed Carol would be. --- Carter's eyes widened at her transformation. However, he was more in awe rather than frightened. He smiled, "Ma'am you're talking to a vampire who has seen the craziest things. I'll be happy to help find your son. Have a seat." Once they were both seated, he asked, "Can you tell me what happened?" --- Lucretia replied, "His name is Shezmu. Under God's order, I am to follow his orders for the disobedience I have committed to Heaven. He appears to be stronger than any Angel or Demon. Perhaps even Devil. I do know that Blood Gods consume any preferred blood. I believe he has drank from Angels and Devils. I do not doubt your power but be cautious with him. He is a formidable foe." Nate* smirked, "I bet I can take him on." Of course, this being Nate*, he could only mean in bed. --- Fredrick frowned, "We're not sure. For now, we need to stay here and be calm." Phineas stood up, "This isn't right. I should have never given up my weapon if I had known something like this was going to happen." --- Adam ran over, "No, she's right! Something's wrong!" He turned to her, "Can't you do something?"

The Dryad 🙂

At first, Kodi was mildly annoyed at Sterling for standing in his way. Then his eyes widened in shock as he stared at the blood-stained tip of the Angel's spear sticking out of Sterling's chest. He watched the Agent fall, then stared at the Angel with a mixture of anger and disbelief. "You didn't have to kill him!" he snapped, then involuntarily semi-shifted into his dragon form. His tail shot out and coiled around himself defensively. He hissed, baring his sharp teeth as his reptilian eyes glared at the Angel. As the Angel spoke, he quickly realised that even if he could find Clementine, it would probably be best if he didn't. After all, if this Angel held such hatred towards his kind, he could only imagine what he'd do if he actually found her, seeing as Clementine had once been a renowned Demon who had made a lot of Angelic enemies in her time. "I can't let you do this!" he growled before lunging at the Angel, swatting at his spear with his tail while attempting to bite at him. --- "Really?" Kris glanced at the boys in the distance thoughtfully as they carried Blake away. "I'll talk to him... when he feels better," he promised. Then he turned to smirk at her. "Now, where were we before we were interrupted?" he asked coyly. --- "I get it." Benny shrugged. "But just... be careful, ok? Even if you love him, if things get too much..." he trailed off and looked away. He stared at the wall of his room for a moment before speaking again. "Hey... I'm still... I'm hungry. Could you bring me another pack? I promise I won't do anything. You can trust me." He stepped away from the door and held his hands up so she could see them through the little glass window. "I'll even stand away from the door while you come in." --- "Oh no!" Viktor laughed. "No, no, no! Don't you dare! You can't do that to me." his cheeks turned red, and he grinned while shaking his head, knowing that, despite her being blind, his sister would have more than a few embarrassing stories about him growing up. --- Lilly placed a finger on the page as she started to read aloud to them. "The Council of the Realms and Spirits, appointed by our Lord most high, govern and serve all realms and aspects of life in His stead. It is the duty and mission of this Council to uphold The Balance by any necessary means. The Council must always and eternally consist of one representative of each Realm: Life, Death, Saints, Infernal, Gaian, and-... Purgatorian?" Lilly glanced at Azrael and Death questioningly. As she had come from a completely different world, some of what she was reading didn't make sense to her yet. "To ensure the safety of His Council and deter any unsavoury ambitions, the headquarters of the council may only exist at a point where space, time, dreams, reality, and oblivion meet." Lilly paused, looking confused. "I don't suppose you know what that means?" she asked them. Azrael shook his head. "It sounds like a location only the Council is supposed to decipher." "And yet this entity found them..." Lilly sighed. But she kept reading, determined now more than ever that they'll find it. After all, if the entity could do it, why couldn't they? "Oh, this is interesting! 'Should the Council be defeated, their essence will be redistributed and processed into their successors who will inherit their role and take their place. However, the process involves reincarnation and may take a lifetime or more before the new Council can reclaim its rightful place. During which time, a power vacuum and chaos may reign in all realms. It is due to this dire possibility that the Council must remain at all times within the safety of the Council Headquarters, for leaving may inspire darkness to follow them home." Lilly paused, then brought her eyes back up to Azrael and Death's. "Transcribed by the Prophet of God, Raziel... That's it. That's all it says." --- "No!" Neva snapped. "We need to find him! He's just a little baby! We need to save him! We need to save him! We need-!" Neva had begun to throw an emotional tantrum, but just as she got started, she froze in place. Her eyes turned from brown to blue and glowed brightly for just a moment. Then they turned back to brown, dulled, and she fainted. A little mark appeared on her ankle. The scar simply appeared there without causing the girl any pain. Oddly, it looked exactly like the shape of a tree within a circle. The tree of life. --- "Wha-? Pub? Your mom?!" Tom gawped at Nate for a moment. Understandably, between finding Lilith, the Council meeting and the party, it wasn't like there had been enough time between those events for Nate to tell Tom what was going on. "Ok, you need to tell me everything, but first, let's just go there now. Please?" - "Well, uhhhh… " Oscar fumbled as he looked around the room, awkwardly trying to figure out how to explain this. While he thought, Atma moved over to one of the armchairs and sat down. Oscar then looked at the TV and then at his controller on the ground. He picked it up and stared at it thoughtfully. "The first thing I did, when trying to adjust to not needing to- well..." he stood and held out the controller to Abaddon. "I tried to find an outlet. Something to distract me for a while. A hobby, if you will. Mine is video games. I used to come to Earth even as a Punisher Demon when I had time to myself to just spend some time playing games and sort of forget what I was for a while," he explained. He frowned and looked down almost as if ashamed, as he admitted. "I didn't use to like what I was. It was a duty at the time... not something I chose to do. Something I just... was. It was expected of me. I needed something outside of that so that I could get to know who I am outside of my role, you know. It started with chess. Then, as time progressed, cards. Then video games came around, and I was hooked. In Hell, I was just a Punisher Demon terrorising damned souls for a living, but when I came to Earth? I became Oscar. Chess champion. Poker player. Geek. I became who I really am." He shrugged. "I- I don't know if that helps at all. I hope it does." - As soon as Dariel awoke, Shezmu teleported them back home. He would have to go back for Warren later. "A warrior is always interested in battles." He answered him understandingly. "But a good warrior chooses his battles wisely," he then scolded him gently. He brought his hand away and sat back to watch the boy carefully. "I had to dose you with my blood to heal you. You may become stronger and faster for the next few days, but this is temporary, and I will not be dosing you again, no matter how tempting it may be to you. My blood and the power that comes with it can become addictive. I do not wish to corrupt you in such a way, do you understand?" - Hannes sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Jean's arm. "What we have always done. Our best." He sighed and let his eyes wander across the room. "Besides, something tells me those attackers will have little interest in the likes of us. They're going for the larger prizes. Death, Heaven, Hell... So we stay here and protect our people. For now." --- Layla blushed and smiled while looking into Nil's eyes. "It sounds nice, and I'm sure you'll be a great King. For me, though, just being with you is enough. I feel like I can be myself with you. I feel free." --- May was taken aback by the question and looked at James oddly as they walked. "Of course not. What's brought this on?" --- Samael had already been prepared to fight, but being compared to Lucifer was enough to tip his anger over the edge. "We're beyond talking." He growled to Abel before lunging at Cain. He was going to attempt to grab him and teleport into Hell to throw him back in, where he fully intended to beat the crap out of him. --- "We will," David assured Charles. "I've sent Hades to fetch Carol and Damien. The three of us know how to train you. We'll need to train others in the same way. If this-this interloper, for lack of a better word, has managed to find and destroy the Council, then they must have a vast and dangerous army at their back. Which means you'll need to grow one too. That's not going to be easy with the way Hell is split as it is, but we'll have to try." "There's no time for all of that!" Amelia turned her tear-streaked face to look at him while still keeping her head pressed against Charles's chest. "They have our baby! They'll be trying to raise him to do God knows what!" "There's a way," David said calmly. "Have you never wondered why or how Damien was trained so quickly?" he paused, allowing them to consider this for a moment before continuing. "I should wait for the others before I tell you more. But for now, whatever you do, do not use your telepathy to call out to others. Or even in the same room to communicate, if you can help it. If you know how, block your mind completely. We don't know if they have strong telepaths as spies listening out for us." - Carol closed her eyes and felt the effects of the spell. She sighed in relief before opening her eyes. "Well, I don't feel completely better, but I don't feel as horrid as I was feeling. Thanks." She said as she put the bowl of sick to one side and pushed herself to her feet. "Did you need something, hun?" --- The woman walked into the building, then turned to face Carter as they reached the living room. She fidgeted with her sleeve for a moment before speaking. "My name is Yvonne Peterson. I'm, um, well..." She became nervous but decided that showing him was the best thing. Before his eyes, the seemingly ordinary woman transformed. Her olive skin became rough and bark-like. Her hair became matted, flowering vines. Her clothes changed into neatly arranged leaves, moss and flowers. Her brown eyes became a pale orange and glowed faintly. "Don't be alarmed," she said softly. "I am a Dryad. It is forbidden for my kind to reveal ourselves to humans, but you are no human. You can help." She gave him a hopeful smile before quickly changing back into her human appearance. "It's my son," she explained. "He's missing." --- "Clever girl." Amelia* smiled as she swung her legs around to sit in the throne properly. She leaned forward a bit, resting her arms on her knees as she looked down at Lucretia intently. "Of course, there is a price. Nothing comes free. The Blood God that fought beside you. Who is he?" she demanded as her smile slipped. Realisation washed over Raziel's features. Of course, she'd be interested to know about Shezmu. Blood Gods were a Devil's natural predator. He would be a threat to her. Or any Blood God, for that matter. He glanced at Lucretia. Wondering how she'd answer. However, he found it interesting that this version of Amelia hadn't encountered her own Shezmu* yet. Did he even exist in her world? He couldn't help looking up at and staring at the familiar Angel standing by Amelia*'s side and wondering how this version of Nate had come to serve this version of Amelia. In fact, how had this version of Amelia turned out the way she had? --- "Infiltrated?!" Kasper gasped at the news. "By who?!" --- John glanced over at Adam and shouted at him in annoyance. "Adam! Your wife needs you!" He, of course, meant the one giving birth. Not the one who had run out of the room in tears. Clementine rushed back into the room with towels and handed them to John as Daisy continued to scream. She couldn't help but notice the blood pooling underneath her. Was that amount of blood normal? It wasn't like Clementine was experienced in childbirth to know, but she had a horrid feeling that something might have gone wrong. "Is she haemorrhaging?!" She asked. "No, she's fine." John brushed her off as he focused on trying to help Daisy. "C'mon, the baby is almost here. You're almost done!" he encouraged her.

Sterling stood between them. Facing Kodi, "Look! I said I would help so just calm down and-" He felt something poke his back. Blood dripped from his lips. He looked down to see the tip of the Angel's spear in his chest. The Angel pulled the spear out. Watching Sterling collapse, "Enough out of that human. Look demon, I am not here to help. I am here to stop this maniac. He goes against God's way. So I will perform the spell with the other Angels. As for this human, he is useless now. Perhaps I should also end your life for being a nuisance as well." --- Violet shrugged, "Nah! I think you put up one hell of a performance there!" She frowned, "But we need to talk. Before you came here, Blake really lost his shit. He....tortured me. Now, don't go getting mad at him. He was going through a lot. I guess something in him broke." --- Salem replied, "I know but I don't want to let him suffer. He....I love him. I just want him to be ok." --- Bryce smiled, "Of course. It would be grand to see her. I wonder what embarrassing stories I can possibly get from her?" --- Death was moved by his words, "Thank you Azrael." When Lily started shouting, everyone turned to her. Death walked over, "Oh? What is it?" --- Ash raised a brow. Puzzled by Cass's behavior. Either way, he disappeared too. Heading to his family. --- Elliot said, "We're strong but not that strong." Vincent nodded, "Oliver will be fine but we need to leave this to Amelia and Charles. It's their child after all. And they have strongest power in Hell." --- Nate thought for a moment, "Oh! The pub!" He sat on the bed, "We gave my mom a bar to run that's friendly to everyone. Something for her to do and somewhere for her to feel safe. I think it's in Germany. We could go there. No one knows about that place." --- Abaddon let Atma go and crawled back, "Um....How do you stop being a demon of torture?" --- Dariel's wounds soon healed from the blood. His eyes slowly opened. He awkwardly looked away, "Oh um sir. I was hoping you wouldn't see me like this. I might have gotten interested in the battle. Sorry." --- Jean let out sobs as he curled up and covered his face, "I am scared, Hannes! Scared for us! For my people! What can we do?" --- Clover walked over, "You're always welcome to stop by anytime." Nil got up as he helped Layla up too, "Thanks. We'll be sure to see you guys soon. Thanks for the party." Clover smiled and waved as did the other elves, "Bye!" - Nil and Layla appeared in their home. He cupped her chin, "I think we just became royals of nature. What do you think?" --- James spoke, "May? None of the men in the hospital have tried to harm you, have they? Or touch you?" --- Cain laughed, "Boy do you remind me of someone! I sure do miss him and this fake version of him isn't really doing much for me." Abel shouted, "Wait!" He stepped forward and raised a hand. "Please. Both of you. We can talk about this." "Oh brother. Always trying to be peaceful. How pathetic and weak." Cain threw a fistful of his power at him. Abel motioned his hands. Creating a shield that made the attack bounce off. --- Charles replied, "Whatever it takes to get our son back! You have to teach us!" --- Hades raised her hands, "I could try a spell. Give me a second." Her power went into Carol as she did her best to lower the pain and sickness levels of the drug. --- Carter nodded, "Uh Yeah that's me. Come in." He made sure to lock the door behind her. Feeling as though she was running from something. "What's wrong?" --- Lucretia glared, "And if I were to then what would be the cost? God expects sacrifice. Do you?" --- Napoleon and Frederick appeared. Frederick said, "Not to worry! We're here to keep you both safe." Napoleon walked over to Phineas, "Heaven has been infiltrated but we still have our powers. We won't let them hurt the souls of this realm." Phineas lifted his head, "Them?" --- Adam ran over to a corner and vomited. It had been some time since his kids were born so he hardly recalled what happened.

At the Angel's words, Kodi had jumped to his feet and stared him angrily. His fists clenched at his sides. "Oh no, I don't think so." He answered Sterling without taking his eyes off the Angel. Seemingly forgetting where he was. "I promised I'd find Clem, and that's exactly what I'm going to do, with or without your permission, or your help. And I don't trust this backwards, racist Angel one bit!" --- Kris nodded to Violet after seeing Blake collapse. He scanned the small crowd of faces and noted that Audrey was no longer among them. She must've teleported shortly after he'd carried out the vampire's sentence. No matter. She never tried to stand in the way of how he ran things before, so he saw no reason that she would begin now. "Cecil. Drake. Take him back to the bunks and keep an eye on him, would you?" "Yessir." Cecil nodded obediently and took Blake from Violet. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled him across the docks towards the hideout. Although he was too weak to really help, Drake hobbled alongside him while exchanging a worried glance with Cecil. Once the boys were gone, Kris's eyes landed on Violet. "So, what did you think of the show? Not too brutal for you?" --- "He did all that?" Benny asked, glancing at her through the little window of the door. The window wasn't big enough to fit through, but it was eye level, rectangular and just small enough that they could see each other's faces. "I wonder where he came from... to have powers like that. Salem, I hate to say it, but what if whatever power he's got makes him dangerous? What if he doesn't snap out of it next time?" he asked worriedly. "I know you like him, and I do too," he then added quickly. "It's just... we don't know where he came from. What he's capable of. I've known you longer than I've known him. I don't want to see you get hurt, that's all." --- Viktor frowned but nodded understandingly. He was aware of how old Bryce was in comparison to himself. "I guess it was a different time," he commented. He thought for a moment before smiling at him and rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb. "The next time I go to see my sister, come with me?" He asked. "I just know she'd love you." --- Azrael listened to Death with a frown. His loving gaze never left his face as he let Death confide in him. He brought up his thumbs to gently wipe away his tears. "My love, you forget the miracle that happened before the disasters. We broke all expectations and traditions, and now we are married." He gave him a small smile. "So you needn't lead alone anymore. I am here. I always have been, and I always will be. This burden is ours to share, and if it means I get to declare my love to you in every waking moment, then I wouldn't have it any other way." He lovingly ran his hands through Death's hair before cupping his face and leaning his forehead against his. "They were bold when they attacked, but they made a grave mistake when they did. They underestimated our bond. Our love for each other," his eyes moved to the side to look at their children. "All of us." Lilly's lower lip wobbled when Raven spoke, but she refused to cry again. "None of us saw it coming." She said quietly. "We let our guard down... I won't make that mistake again," she said determinedly. She opened a book and her eyebrows knit together as she read the words. She then flicked through the pages quickly and seemed so enrapt in what she was reading that it'd be difficult to get her attention for a moment. Then, with a gasp, she lifted her gaze from the book while turning to look at them. "I found something!" - "Oh, you have a family?" Cass asked, sounding half surprised and half disappointed. "Right, yeah, me too," he lied, not entirely sure why he felt the need to as he stepped away from Ash and pointed behind himself at nothing in particular. "I er- should also go and- I should go. It was nice meeting you," he awkwardly lifted a hand to half-wave goodbye, then vanished out of embarrassment. --- "But you're my daddies! You're stronger than anything!" Neva said tearfully. "Oliver will be ok, right? We'll find him?" --- "Oh, great..." Tom sighed as he sat up and wiped tears from his eyes. "So, now I have a stalker too? Next, you'll tell me you have an evil twin or something!" he covered his eyes for a moment as a sob slipped out of him. Taking in a breath, he looked up at Nate. He was still frightened by what had happened. "Nate, I don't want to stay here. I don't feel safe anymore. Is there somewhere else we can go? At least until things calm down?" (Couldn't resist the foreshadowing xD ) - "What!?" Oscar dropped his controller. "I guess we're jumping straight to the point then..." Atma commented. "I was out of it for most of what happened, but from what I know, something or someone infiltrated and attached Death's castle during the party," she explained. "Oh, my God! Are you alright?" Oscar jumped to his feet, but by the look on his face, the news was still very much a shock. "I mean- Oh my God! Really? Someone attacked Death in his home? Who would even have the balls?!" "But that's not why we came down here." Atma pressed and looked at Abaddon expectantly. "It's not?! Because this sounds like a pretty big deal!" Oscar stared at them. "Abaddon is having trouble adjusting to the new Hell." She said plainly as she turned to look at Oscar. "I thought, who better for him to speak to than someone who used to be a Punisher Demon." Oscar was quiet for a moment as this sank in, and he moved his eyes to Abaddon. "Oh," he said in surprise, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "U-Um, alright. I mean, if that's what you want, but what about-?" "I'm sure Death and the others can manage for now." "Ok, um..." Oscar placed his hands in his pockets, still feeling awkward. "Then, I guess, what do you want to talk about?" - Shezmu headed back into the main hall, where he saw Dariel. His eyes widened; he had been sure the boy had only helped the poisoned ones while the fighting had been going on, and was confused by his injuries. He moved faster than any of the eyes in the room could register, and before anyone could blink, Shezmu was already kneeling at Dariel's side. "Dariel?" He said while bringing him into his arms. When he didn't get an answer, he hesitated before reluctantly bringing his finger up to his mouth. He hadn't wanted to risk getting Dariel hooked on his blood, but this would be the fastest way to heal the boy, and he had an obligation to keep him safe. He pricked his finger on his fang and then quickly brought it to Dariel's lips. While he waited for Dariel to awaken, he glanced around the room but couldn't see his guest, Warren, anywhere. Perhaps he'd fled during the panic? - "Alright, meine Geliebte." Hannes glanced across the room, seeing Shezmu attending to Dariel. "I expect our Blood God will be joining us at home soon," he commented as he brought Jean into his arms bridal style and stood. He teleported back to their room in the German castle and gently set Jean down on the bed. --- "Maybe we should go home? We can always come back to visit." Layla suggested as she blushed, wanting to have some alone time with Nil. --- "I can't wait to see what you make!" May grinned as they walked out of the building. She glanced over his shoulder and saw Niles smoking a cigarette and leaning against the wall. "Good night, Niles!" she called over to him. Niles looked over and saw them both. He stared at James first before nodding to May with an "mhmm," before turning his eyes away from them and taking another drag of his cigarette. May didn't notice any tension and turned her attention forward as she kept walking with James. "So, what shall we eat tonight? I was thinking we could grab a pizza on the way to my place?" --- Samael's wings shot out, and he leapt from the ladder before gracefully gliding to land in front of Cain. He swaggered confidently as he moved to stand between him and Abel. "You made a mistake coming to Heaven. You made a bigger mistake bragging about your plans," he told him coldly. "You're going to tell us what you know, and unlike your brother here, I'm not so forgiving." If there was one aspect of his appearance that Sameal shared too well with Lucifer, it was how menacing his stare could become when angered. --- Amelia buried her face in Charles's chest and sobbed as he spoke. As much as she wanted to believe Oliver would be strong enough to resist his captors, she was all too aware that he was still just a toddler. Devil or human, he was still developing, learning and growing. They needed to find him before his captors could twist or manipulate him to their will. "We're going to find him." She reaffirmed. Mirroring Charles's words. "And when we do, I'm going to destroy them for taking him from us!" "You will do no such thing in your current state," David said simply as he leaned against the bookshelves. "That goes to both of you. You're both very powerful and skilled, don't get me wrong. But you're woefully unprepared. Neither of you have been trained... As much as I didn't want to accept it, I knew this day would come eventually. It's time you both received proper training. Hell's kind of training..." He bit his lip before saying. "Lucifer's kind of training. And there's only a couple of us left that know how that training goes..." - As Hades appeared and asked her a question, Carol vomited into a nearby bowl. Still in Death's castle and sitting against one of the walls, on the floor. "Unfortunately..." She answered dryly. "Son of a bitch... Can't believe I was thinking about letting Uriel*-..." She paused and looked up at Hades. "Please tell me you brought something to take the edge off?" --- The woman at the door looked up at Carter as he answered the door. Her eyeliner and mascara had run from fresh tears, and she seemed confused when she saw the baby in his arms. She glanced at the frosted letters that spelt 'Carter's' on the front door to make sure she had the correct address. "Um, are you the-" she began asking and then hushed her voice to a whisper as if worried someone in the street would hear her as she finished "supernatural detective?" --- "God." Amelia* scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Like He cares. If he did, do you really think he'd let me take over the Heaven* of my world? And if your God cared so much, he would have smote me the moment I slaughtered your beloved Spirit Council. And yet, here I am!" She raised her hands with a smug smile. "So, obviously, even He wants me to win!" "Here, here!" A drunken demon cheered from somewhere behind them. Amelia didn't react, but her smile grew a little more. Raziel took this opportunity to look around the room. It was packed with Angels and Demons from this other world. Some were standing guard, and some were celebrating their victory with a few drinks. One thing was clear to Raziel: they were vastly outnumbered, and if this version of Amelia had really conquered the Heaven of her world, then she had an army so vast that it sent shivers down his spine to even contemplate. He turned his attention back to her as she continued to speak to Lucretia. "I remember you, you know. Not you you but the you from my world. You tried to fight me when I stormed Heaven's gates. You lasted a whole thirty seconds. It was pretty disappointing, actually." Amelia* grinned. "But maybe this version of you doesn't have to share her fate? Forswear your allegiance to God and pledge yourself to me. Not only will I let you live, but I will also grant you a role in my great and noble army." Raziel stayed quiet as he watched tensely, but even he suspected that this version of Amelia wouldn't just allow Lucretia to walk free, just like that. There had to be more to it. --- Frowning, Kasper moved over to hug Phineas. "Do we need to go anywhere, then? Should we hide?" Phineas's reaction was scaring him. If he didn't feel safe in Heaven, then where could they go? --- Clementine frowned at Adam but nodded. She took the beaker from the desk and gave a wary glance to John before turning to Daisy. Reluctantly, and with a shaking hand, she held it out to her. Daisy took it. She was also nervous as she held the glass for a long moment, wondering what would happen next. Worried that something could go wrong, but excited by the idea of it succeeding. Clementine was tempted to slap the beaker from Daisy's grasp, but, as if sensing this, John placed his hand on her shoulder and subtly squeezed a little too tightly as a warning not to interfere. Clementine winced a little, but her stomach was in knots as she watched Daisy bring the glass up to her lips. "Wait-!" She started, unable to stand the feeling that this wasn't right, but she'd spoken too late as Daisy downed the liquid in one smooth motion. They each held their breath and watched Daisy uneasily. "How do you feel?" John asked her. "A little funny..." Daisy answered slowly as she set the beaker down on the desk. Her hand then shot to her stomach, and she groaned. Visibly, her small stomach warbled and vibrated rapidly. She broke out in a sweat and dropped to her knees while panting as her stomach grew and grew before them. "What have I done?!" Clementine gasped. By now, John had let go of her shoulder and moved to stand in front of her while watching Daisy with a mixture of fascination and excitement. Within just a few minutes, Daisy's body had shifted through each trimester until finally, her waters broke and she let out a scream as her contractions started. Seeing this, Eve's face turned pale, and she ran out of the room. Jumping into action, John knelt in front of Daisy to look under her skirt. "Jeez! She's already crowning!" He looked at Clementine. "Go get some towels, now!" he barked at her. As Clementine ran off to find the towels, John started coaching Daisy between breathing and pushing.

It's ok. I'll figure out after I get your response.

Sure, I thought he could've been the one Raziel recognised who dragged Lucretia into the main hall with him. Maybe after forcing them to kneel before her, he moved to stand beside her? I'll leave that up to you 😄 I'm just typing up my reply now. Sorry for being gone for so long :)

That sounds perfect! But when should he show up? Is he just standing by her side? I could write that in.

Sweet, Alternate Nate's story would actually line up really well with being on Amelia*'s side. When overthrowing Heaven* she could've been the one to uncover the secret of Nate's parents. In return for him pledging his loyalty to her, she may have granted his mother protection as well as the opportunity for him to get revenge on Raguel*