Angels and Demons

I smiled at Cornyx's back as he walked away.

This was far better than I could have hoped for. Cornyx had given me a great advantage over the woman who controlled Engel's life, in exchange for information on people I never cared for, anyway.
All I had to do was work out the safest method to pass this on to Engel.

Only Cornyx knew of our connection, and it was better to keep it that way, therefore it would be wise to pass the message on through someone who was already known to be an ally of Engel, someone to whom anyone could have a reason to speak. James.
As the leader of the party, anyone might have business with him. But under what grounds could I get him alone?

It would be difficult to prise him from his post at the helm. While his status as leader made him safer to be seen talking to, it also meant that his abcense would be noted. I would have to wait for the perfect opportunity, and in the meantime, consider other options.

The demon faltered. He lowered his bat ever so slightly, turning his attention to Cornyx instead. Confusion flickered across his face as he took in the sight of the other angel that was now before him, and he stared down at himself before looking back at Grim.

"You're not an angel, are you?"

He frantically nodded. "I'm not!" he managed to get out. He gave Cornyx a grateful look, then made sure to look right back at the demon. The demon, who had to be something else--something powerful from the way he was feeling right now--rested the tip of his bat on the ground instead of holding it in preparation of a fight.

"My name is Griffith," he hurriedly added. "I'm normally a human."

The demon studied him for a moment, took a deep breath, and sighed.

"I guess I jumped to conclusions," he admitted. "The angels have been a major pain in my a** ever since I started sticking around with real life Team Free Will, and I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if they were behind something like this."

He stuck out his hand. "Dean Summers, at your service."

Grim looked down at the extended hand, then back up at him. He was giving him a curious look as he spoke; it was the type of look that made it seem like he was staring into his soul-

The look shifted. He was frowning now, and his head was titled ever so slightly to the side. Grim felt a horrible jolt of fear. This man was powerful. What was there to say that he hadn't just gotten an actual glimpse of his soul? He wouldn't have seen a human soul nestled within his chest! It would have been something different, something far from human...

Grim hurriedly shook his hand, then let his wings envelop him again.

Dean now turned to Cornyx, an absolutely furious look on his face. "Now that I've gotten that out of the way, how has ruling Hell been for you, Cornyx? As horribly good as it was back when you first started?" He gave him that smile that he had used on Grim before, made all the more intimidating by the pair of fangs he now sported. "And does this have to do with you, that snake lady, or that vampire you sicced on my baby brother? Because if it does, I'm really not in the mood."

Cornyx sighed. He'd seen this coming, but it didn't mean it was fun to deal with it. "Let's try to at least put some effort into keeping it civil, shall we? To answer your question, Boomslang, Engel, and Sieben are all back with the rest of the group, but if you leave things be they may..." he paused. "Sort themselves out. I'm not an idiot and I don't like her any more than you do, you know. And I chose which vampire I 'sicced on your brother' quite carefully. If it was anyone else I doubt he'd have remained in one piece. Now, if we're done with the utter lack of cordiality, would you like to tell us how you got here?"

Dean crossed his arms. He was still furious with the whole group after the aforementioned incident, but he was beginning to suspect that the crowd of angels and demons were all in a similar situation to him. "I don't know," he said. "It's like the ghost town all over again. I was out on a joint job with a group of hunters and my brother, and I suddenly ended up here when I was in the middle of talking to one of them."

"Well, we've all been in similar situations," Cornyx said. "Somewhere else one moment, wandering out here the next. Did you start off in that church?"

James was going to wait for a reply from Damascus when he heard a faint noise. When he looked back and around to scan the group, doing another headcount, he saw that Grim was missing, and saw Cornyx for a flash of a second before he disappeared. He held up a hand to Damascus to pause him before he could say anything.

"Cornyx!" he called out. "What's going on?"

Cornyx turned his head as he heard his name, then looked back towards Dean, gesturing towards the group. "Shall we?"

Damascus thought long and hard about James' bitter response. He supposed that he had been too hasty in assuming that everyone present would have anything other than a pleasant view of all of the chance interdimensional mix-ups, but he had never even considered the fact that James might have resented it.

Before he could piece together a response, James seemed to catch on to something happening. Damascus turned back with him to look at the tall man.

"I'll catch up with you momentarily," he patted James' arm gently and fell back a few steps, attempting to check on Sevy.

When he realized that his friend seemed to be in company with Siren and Stan, he made a quick little awkward detour. And, of course, he just so happened to walk into step with Boris. Though he had a whole list of anxieties he had been tackling, most of them were internal, and, he reasoned, could never be resolved through avoidance.

I could have brought the information to Schadel, but as heated as her last confrontation with Boomslang was, I couldn't trust her not to use it immediately.
So I had to bring it to James, or... would it be wise, to pass it on to him through someone else?
No, the less hands it was passed between, the better, it was safer that way, and less likely to be misconstru- oh.
Damascus was there. Why was he there?

I looked away, and looked back. He was still there.

Had he really gotten over it all that quickly? Or was he trying to make a show of being unfettered?
-No, Damascus was allowed to be there for no reason, he did not require a permit to walk where he pleased.
Should I have greeted Damascus? No, not after before, he looked so flustered, poor thing- but he looked fine, now-
I struggled to find something to say, but if I left it for too long, then I would have to continue to ignore him, and I was not prepared to do that.

"So how did your chat with uh, with James go?"

Whenever my sauve verbosity failed me, it was always around Damascus. Goddamn it.

I lamented this predicament for a moment, before I remembered that more important things were in the balance. Things that Engel's entire future potentially hinged upon.

Siren was loudly chatting with Sevy and Stan just nearby, providing a serendipitous cover for what I was about to tell Damascus.

"Cornyx caught my mistake." I whispered.
"But he didn't tell Boomslang, or anyone else. I believe that he won't, at least for the time being, but it's only right to warn you that I am still compromised."

Damascus nodded slowly, swallowed, and attempted to focus on the matter at hand. Why wouldn't his mind just clear? He was swimming up a stream to simply concentrate on the predicament Boris was warning him of.

"Oh, my chat was... fine. We didn't catch up for very long." He pondered Boris' compromise for a moment, worry lines creasing on his forehead.

His voice lowered, and he attempted to look inconspicuous as he moved in closer to be heard.

"Corynx is the tall man you were speaking with, correct?" He murmured, working through this verbally. "He was in Boomslang's party, but he doesn't seem that she has control of him like she controls Engel. That's either a good thing, or a bad thing. What did he want in exchange for his silence?"

He glanced over at Boris, fretting in his concern. "Is there anything I can do?"

"There is something, in fact." I whispered calmly, looking straight ahead. "It was nothing serious, he only wanted information regarding Kartiel and Rendra's reality schemes. For that, he gave me Boomslang's weakness. It isn't safe to discuss it at length, presently. Tell James to speak to me privately, I'll tell him the fine details, and he can pass them on to Engel."

"As for Cornyx... it seems he has his own agenda, one that doesn't require Boomslang. He's likely using us against her, because he has something to gain in the event of our success, and nothing to lose if we fail.
I should be safe, so long as we stay out of his way, and keep his betrayal secret from his colleagues."

Damascus nodded again, and looked ahead at James. "I'll let him know in a moment. I think he's occupied with-" he glanced around briefly, something he hadn't noticed before occurring to him. "Oh, Griffith and Cornyx are missing. That's probably what he's worried about."

Another thing affronted him, and he stopped walking for a moment. They had been wandering around in the forest for a good chunk of time, and considering how easy it had been for he and Boris to take a detour and get reasonably lost.

"How... how are we keeping track of how much ground we've covered? Or... where we are?" He frowned, and figured that he would ask James the same thing.

"I started out in these woods," Dean said, casting a glance in Cornyx's direction before storming out to join the rest of the group. He would have to bite back his anger and refrain from hurting Boomslang and that vampire until he was returned to normal; he didn't want to test his immortality out unless he absolutely had to.

In the meantime, he had another thing to deal with.

Or, rather, another person.

He glanced back at "Griffith", who was trailing behind him as he joined the crowd of people. The supposed human certainly wasn't one. His soul looked like it belonged to a god, but not a single thing about the man looked familiar. Even more strange, he didn't seem to recognize him. Every god knew who he was. He was more popular among the mortals than any of them ever had been; it was a benefit of being from a monotheistic religion.

He strode to the front of the group, bat still on his shoulder as he walked beside a demon with long hair and a tasteful suit.

As soon as the stranger emerged from the woods, James added him to the group's roster in his head. He took note of his appearance and his apparent attitude, even if suppressed. When the man walked up to the front to join him as he began to lead the group forward (yet again), he gave him a quick glance before returning his attention to their overall surroundings.

"I assume you're in the same boat as the rest of us. What's your name?" he asked. It was clear, however, that his intent on asking was not to have a casual conversation. He was just collecting information.

"This is Dean," Cornyx said. "Dean, James. James, Dean. James is the...honorary leader of our group, for the moment. You've already met Engel, Boomslang, and Sieben. Behind them is Melkyael, Mikael's nephew. There's Boris, Damascus, Sevy, Siren, Aquarius, Raiden, Stan, Rose, Zephyrus, and also Rose."