The Fall of Elfen High (IC, Closed)

[Nationstatelandsville]

Raphael nodded with a sigh. "We're basically just trying to disable Uriel. This isn't an attempt to spread democracy there - it's merely an attempt to save ourselves, then lock away Heaven. What happens there afterwards is not our concern. It's likely to destroy itself after Uriel is dead. I dislike having to condemn my brothers and sisters to this fate, but perhaps we can think of saving them after we aren't in immediate peril."

Fen set her feet down and leaned forward. "Wait, we're not going to save them? We're going to lock them in Heaven and let them die? Angels, too? Will there be a way to help them afterwards?"

There was a tiny, cheering Hilde blighting the Polynesian's imagination. Slaves and angels and who knows what else used as pawns left to suffer a cruel fate? Fen shook her head to banish the cruel vision. Some things just had to be, of course. She'd rouse the slaves because the outcome was necessary if the plan were to succeed. Yet she worried about living with the knowledge that she, a simple human who wanted to go out into the universe one day to champion the rights of Demons and Orcs, would have been in part responsible for the angels' cruel fate.

"People die," Aziraphale said coldly, "This is war. People do that in war. If we do not sacrifice them, Uriel will kill many, many more; including you, and each and every one of us here. It is simple mathematics.

I am willing to make that choice; if any of you are not, get over it or leave."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sanchez nodded toward the group. "Now, there are some groups you will be in, you Elfen Highers." he explained. "The library group, and the slave camp group. Crowley will be in library group. I'll be in the slave camp group, myself. We have a list of which group each of you will be in, so select what you wish."

Everyone with an @elfenhigh.uk account suddenly got a new email, explaining what group they would be in, if any group at all. It was divided between slave camp and library, and they would see where their name was listed. In actuality, you can state in your next IC post where you would like to go.

Crowley shrugged. "I'm going to open a portal soon that will lead us into Mecca. It'll take around half an hour to open that portal, likely, so you can bring in any extra things you have." he spoke again over the loudspeakers. "Anyone who isn't in the cafeteria, get in here, we're leaving soon." he barked.

A blue, swirling portal of light appeared in the front of the room. A second blue one appeared in the back. Two others appeared in the sides. Crowley shrugged. "We may as well keep an orderly line." he said by way of explanation. "Now then, queue up, alright? Everyone, come on in the queue and I should stop speaking on the loudspeakers." he cleared his throat, the loudspeakers made a loud screeching noise and then fell silent.

In his lab, Daisuke sighed. "Alright." he said. "May as well head down there as well. I'll leave my main body here, obviously, but I'll send in my two best android forms." The Daisukebot standing in front of them was joined by a second one. This may have given Ciel some interests about what they could do after the war ended.

The two Daisukebots shrugged at once. "I'll go with the library." said the first.

"I'll head down to the slave camps. Though, actually..." Three more appeared. "To go in the other groups. This will let me relay news on what's happening everywhere. Shall we?"

When they went down to the cafeteria, people had already started walking into Mecca. The city had prayers going on outside, hymns sung out in Arabic.

"We're just in an ordinary building." Crowley explained. "The Saudi government regularly does some industrialisation and expansion of the holy city. Then on their off time, they try to destroy any holy sites they can. Because I'm sure Mohammed would love his house being torn down like that." Crowley rolled his eyes. "Trust me when I say he would have been against the concept."

Sanchez nodded. "This isn't an ordinary building though. Well, actually, it is. Just part of the regular Saudi construction projects. Supposedly an apartment building, but nobody has asked too hard. Archangel Raphael here saw to that. This building has no occupants, and was designed on this ground solely so we would have an easy place from where we could open the portal."

"It was here, in fact, that Gabriel first materialised to go talk to Mohammed." said Raphael. There was a pause, then one of the students in Elfen High, a Punjabi coincidentally named Mohammed, raised his hand. "Wasn't that at the cave of Hira where he appeared?"

"No, not exactly." Raphael shuffled uncomfortably. "Gabriel showed up, intending to meet Mohammed directly in the cave, but he had just engaged in some interesting discussions with Michael-"

"You mean fucking." said Crowley.

"You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment." Raphael replied, returning to his point. "So he didn't appear directly in the cave, since the discussions went on for some time and he was tired. So he appeared in the market, since the portal was very easy to open here, he just showed up here, became invisible, and flew toward Mohammed instead of opening up some other portal at the cave which would take much more effort."

Crowley just sighed. "Anyway, this ground has some holy nature, because Gabriel first showed his lazy ass here, though the delivery was given to Mohammed elsewhere. So we're currently at an apartment complex built on this spot, in case you care for the historical context." The Punjabi seemed to be trying to reconcile this with his faith. A remarkably simple process considered the other things he'd know about the history of the world. Crowley paused, kneeling down, his hands clasping almost as though he were in prayer.

A bright white light emitted from the ground, shining in a three by three metre square. "Stay calm. This will take me some time." Crowley barked. Raphael too kneeled down, his hands clasped. A second square appeared in the ground, shining with bright light. "My square will lead us to the library, Raphael will lead to the slave camps. Tu piges?"

Other portals began to open, intended for the military troops.

Horn smiled, appreciating that last part, though it was mildly insulting. Sanchez rolled his eyes. "Your language is no longer the lingua franca." he told Horn. "Get the fuck over it."

The portals opened after half an hour, enough time to bring in any other forces that had been left behind. Odin walked toward them. "I came soon as I could." he said gruffly. "Just me for now, though the others will come soon. Couldn't get the other Pantheons interested yet. They don't want to cross Uriel unless it's too late."

"No matter." said a tired Crowley. "Alright then. Let's get going. No time for last doubts now."

He stepped down into his own square, vanishing. A Daisukebot followed after him, also vanishing. The others going to the library followed suit.

When they awoke, they saw an utterly massive library. No idea where even to start. The shelves grew to dozens of metres tall, stocked with millions of books. There were hallways that looked more like alleys, and stretched for what seemed like kilometres. The spaces between shelves was often a dozen metres. Crowley blinked. "Christ." he said simply, and ironically. "I hardly know where to start."

Nat will describe the slave camps soon, I'm tired.

---

Meanwhile, in Acardia.

Oberon's eyes opened, and the man sniffed, feeling something in the air. "Excellent." he said, his hand on his sword. He sat upon a throne of pure black metal, nothing that had been seen before on Earth. The Fae King had just sensed it. A portal had opened between two worlds. They had no idea what they had just done.

Angels and humans. Strange creatures, both of them. When Yahweh tried to create angels, he tried to remove their flaws, tried to remove their emotions. He was scared. Oberon had thought that desperation had been simply hilarious at the time, and he still did. Especially since those same angels would accidentally bring upon something Yahweh had never expected. They would become a harbinger of something much worse.

Oberon stood up slowly, electricity crackling as he did. His eyes focused on his crystal ball, and he watched the cosmos. All the cosmos. And he tapped the crystal ball, aware of how soon it would all so drastically change.

He smiled.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lily pulled out her phone, flipping through the tabs open in the browser to find her email,then reading carefully. She was apparently in the library group. "Grace, which one are you in?" she asked the girl next to her, continuing on with "I'm apparently headed for the library. Calliel's not going to be fighting with us, as he's likely with the rest of the angels, I suppose."

She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders, and put the phone away, resting her hands on the hilt of her sword, her foot tapping. Now that she had an assignment, she was impatient.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Caspian's eyes lit up like it was Christmas Day, a smile forcing its way onto his face. The anger fell away like a misty veil in the morning upon being subjected to the sun's warming rays.

"Dragons!" he shouted. "Excellent!"

He pulled the talwar out of his coat, brandishing it with his right hand. With his left, he pulled out the Smith & Wesson 12836 triple-plasma-action revolver, flipping it once before catching it.

He sort of hoped they did breach the shielding -- he'd be very excited to add "dragonslayer" to his list of accomplishments.

"Sure, ma'am." said one of the engineers. He was, as all good engineers, Scottish. The ship-castle began to fly off, but the man paused. "Ah. Ma'am, we're going through the universes, but it does appear we have a problem..."

The castle-ship shook, and the Scottish man looked down at his controls. "Dragons, ma'am! They're swarming around the ship, they're attacking! They might break through the shielding!"

"Deploy the defence turrets and alert all the knights on board!" Gwen instantly ordered, in an assertive tone. The queen herself promptly drew her sword Excalibur from its scabbard, brandishing it.

"If they manage to breach through the shielding, we'll have to engage them in the castle itself. This is not the first time we got sieged by an enemy, and I know that the battle will be bloody and highly dangerous. It's either us or them."

The turrets fired at the dragons around them, three massive beasts. They resembled Western dragons in appearance, their lizard-like faces holding glowing red rubies for eyes. Two had golden scales (literally gold), while the last had shiny black ones. One perched on top of the castle, screeching. The screech was audible - for whatever reason, these dragons did emit a sort of breathable atmosphere and gravity around them, because dragons did not make any scientific sense.

The turrets would hit the scales on the dragons, who used fire to wipe them out. They weren't inside the castle yet - they were still firmly on the outside. Gabriella withdrew her own sword. "We need to go outside with soldiers and fight them." she argued. "We can't let them get in and hurt the civilians."

[Agritum]

Caspian's eyes lit up like it was Christmas Day, a smile forcing its way onto his face. The anger fell away like a misty veil in the morning upon being subjected to the sun's warming rays.

"Dragons!" he shouted. "Excellent!"

He pulled the talwar out of his coat, brandishing it with his right hand. With his left, he pulled out the Smith & Wesson 12836 triple-plasma-action revolver, flipping it once before catching it.

He sort of hoped they did breach the shielding -- he'd be very excited to add "dragonslayer" to his list of accomplishments.

"Deploy the defence turrets and alert all the knights on board!" Gwen instantly ordered, in an assertive tone. The queen herself promptly drew her sword Excalibur from its scabbard, brandishing it.

"If they manage to breach through the shielding, we'll have to engage them in the castle itself. This is not the first time we got sieged by an enemy, and I know that the battle will be bloody and highly dangerous. It's either us or them."

The turrets fired at the dragons around them, three massive beasts. They resembled Western dragons in appearance, their lizard-like faces holding glowing red rubies for eyes. Two had golden scales (literally gold), while the last had shiny black ones. One perched on top of the castle, screeching. The screech was audible - for whatever reason, these dragons did emit a sort of breathable atmosphere and gravity around them, because dragons did not make any scientific sense.

The turrets would hit the scales on the dragons, who used fire to wipe them out. They weren't inside the castle yet - they were still firmly on the outside. Gabriella withdrew her own sword. "We need to go outside with soldiers and fight them." she argued. "We can't let them get in and hurt the civilians."

Gwen nodded solemnly. In a few seconds, a group of heavily armed knights who resembled something out of a Warhammer 40k campaign proceeded to flood the throne room. They were Gwen's Royal Guard. They were utterly loyal to their Queen, and some of them were even born on Avalon itself, growing up with a burning hatred for the Fae and their allies.

Each guard was armed with a shining longsword which was apparently quite mundane, except for what seemed to be a button placed directly on its hilt. When pressed, the blade of the sword would have started to vibrate at incredibly high speeds, severely fucking up whatever it managed to cut or slash through. Gwen didn't know if the vibroswords would have been capable of piercing the dragons' scales, but they were pretty much the strongest melee weapons on the whole castleship, excluding Gwen's magical swords.

Speaking of them, the Queen promptly proceeded to toss Cortana into Gabriella's hands, and Clarent into Gabriel's. They were no Excalibur, but they still were capable of incredibly high-powered magic attacks. After doing so, Queen Gwendolyn raised her hand, and motioned the group to move outside of the throne room and forward into battle.

"Gabriella, Gabriella, Caspian and Ivy, follow me and be ready to fight. This won't be an easy battle, and we need all the firepower we can muster, right now."

[Astrolinium]

The turrets fired at the dragons around them, three massive beasts. They resembled Western dragons in appearance, their lizard-like faces holding glowing red rubies for eyes. Two had golden scales (literally gold), while the last had shiny black ones. One perched on top of the castle, screeching. The screech was audible - for whatever reason, these dragons did emit a sort of breathable atmosphere and gravity around them, because dragons did not make any scientific sense.

The turrets would hit the scales on the dragons, who used fire to wipe them out. They weren't inside the castle yet - they were still firmly on the outside. Gabriella withdrew her own sword. "We need to go outside with soldiers and fight them." she argued. "We can't let them get in and hurt the civilians."

Gwen nodded solemnly. In a few seconds, a group of heavily armed knights who resembled something out of a Warhammer 40k campaign proceeded to flood the throne room. They were Gwen's Royal Guard. They were utterly loyal to their Queen, and some of them were even born on Avalon itself, growing up with a burning hatred for the Fae and their allies.

Each guard was armed with a shining longsword which was apparently quite mundane, except for what seemed to be a button placed directly on its hilt. When pressed, the blade of the sword would have started to vibrate at incredibly high speeds, severely fucking up whatever it managed to cut or slash through. Gwen didn't know if the vibroswords would have been capable of piercing the dragons' scales, but they were pretty much the strongest melee weapons on the whole castleship, excluding Gwen's magical swords.

Speaking of them, the Queen promptly proceeded to toss Cortana into Gabriella's hands, and Clarent into Gabriel's. They were no Excalibur, but they still were capable of incredibly high-powered magic attacks. After doing so, Queen Gwendolyn raised her hand, and motioned the group to move outside of the throne room and forward into battle.

"Gabriella, Gabriella, Caspian and Ivy, follow me and be ready to fight. This won't be an easy battle, and we need all the firepower we can muster, right now."

Caspian took one look at the vibroswords and cast his talwar aside. It would probably not be much help if the guards were breaking out those things. He also holstered (in his pocket) the revolver.

He fished about in his right pocket for a moment before pulling out a large, orange Husqvarna chainsaw with diamond blades. Much more the sort of weapon appropriate to the task at hand.

Running after Gwendolyn, he asked, "Do we have a coordinated strategy of any sort?"

Sanchez nodded toward the group. "Now, there are some groups you will be in, you Elfen Highers." he explained. "The library group, and the slave camp group. Crowley will be in library group. I'll be in the slave camp group, myself. We have a list of which group each of you will be in, so select what you wish."

Everyone with an @elfenhigh.uk account suddenly got a new email, explaining what group they would be in, if any group at all. It was divided between slave camp and library, and they would see where their name was listed. In actuality, you can state in your next IC post where you would like to go.

Crowley shrugged. "I'm going to open a portal soon that will lead us into Mecca. It'll take around half an hour to open that portal, likely, so you can bring in any extra things you have." he spoke again over the loudspeakers. "Anyone who isn't in the cafeteria, get in here, we're leaving soon." he barked.

A blue, swirling portal of light appeared in the front of the room. A second blue one appeared in the back. Two others appeared in the sides. Crowley shrugged. "We may as well keep an orderly line." he said by way of explanation. "Now then, queue up, alright? Everyone, come on in the queue and I should stop speaking on the loudspeakers." he cleared his throat, the loudspeakers made a loud screeching noise and then fell silent.

In his lab, Daisuke sighed. "Alright." he said. "May as well head down there as well. I'll leave my main body here, obviously, but I'll send in my two best android forms." The Daisukebot standing in front of them was joined by a second one. This may have given Ciel some interests about what they could do after the war ended.

The two Daisukebots shrugged at once. "I'll go with the library." said the first.

"I'll head down to the slave camps. Though, actually..." Three more appeared. "To go in the other groups. This will let me relay news on what's happening everywhere. Shall we?"

When they went down to the cafeteria, people had already started walking into Mecca. The city had prayers going on outside, hymns sung out in Arabic.

"We're just in an ordinary building." Crowley explained. "The Saudi government regularly does some industrialisation and expansion of the holy city. Then on their off time, they try to destroy any holy sites they can. Because I'm sure Mohammed would love his house being torn down like that." Crowley rolled his eyes. "Trust me when I say he would have been against the concept."

Sanchez nodded. "This isn't an ordinary building though. Well, actually, it is. Just part of the regular Saudi construction projects. Supposedly an apartment building, but nobody has asked too hard. Archangel Raphael here saw to that. This building has no occupants, and was designed on this ground solely so we would have an easy place from where we could open the portal."

"It was here, in fact, that Gabriel first materialised to go talk to Mohammed." said Raphael. There was a pause, then one of the students in Elfen High, a Punjabi coincidentally named Mohammed, raised his hand. "Wasn't that at the cave of Hira where he appeared?"

"No, not exactly." Raphael shuffled uncomfortably. "Gabriel showed up, intending to meet Mohammed directly in the cave, but he had just engaged in some interesting discussions with Michael-"

"You mean fucking." said Crowley.

"You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment." Raphael replied, returning to his point. "So he didn't appear directly in the cave, since the discussions went on for some time and he was tired. So he appeared in the market, since the portal was very easy to open here, he just showed up here, became invisible, and flew toward Mohammed instead of opening up some other portal at the cave which would take much more effort."

Crowley just sighed. "Anyway, this ground has some holy nature, because Gabriel first showed his lazy ass here, though the delivery was given to Mohammed elsewhere. So we're currently at an apartment complex built on this spot, in case you care for the historical context." The Punjabi seemed to be trying to reconcile this with his faith. A remarkably simple process considered the other things he'd know about the history of the world. Crowley paused, kneeling down, his hands clasping almost as though he were in prayer.

A bright white light emitted from the ground, shining in a three by three metre square. "Stay calm. This will take me some time." Crowley barked. Raphael too kneeled down, his hands clasped. A second square appeared in the ground, shining with bright light. "My square will lead us to the library, Raphael will lead to the slave camps. Tu piges?"

Other portals began to open, intended for the military troops.

Horn smiled, appreciating that last part, though it was mildly insulting. Sanchez rolled his eyes. "Your language is no longer the lingua franca." he told Horn. "Get the fuck over it."

The portals opened after half an hour, enough time to bring in any other forces that had been left behind. Odin walked toward them. "I came soon as I could." he said gruffly. "Just me for now, though the others will come soon. Couldn't get the other Pantheons interested yet. They don't want to cross Uriel unless it's too late."

"No matter." said a tired Crowley. "Alright then. Let's get going. No time for last doubts now."

He stepped down into his own square, vanishing. A Daisukebot followed after him, also vanishing. The others going to the library followed suit.

When they awoke, they saw an utterly massive library. No idea where even to start. The shelves grew to dozens of metres tall, stocked with millions of books. There were hallways that looked more like alleys, and stretched for what seemed like kilometres. The spaces between shelves was often a dozen metres. Crowley blinked. "Christ." he said simply, and ironically. "I hardly know where to start."

Nat will describe the slave camps soon, I'm tired.

Peter gave a low whistle, eyes wide, totally unable to determine what to even look at. There was so much! The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. "Iesu," he said with a flat voice, equally as ironic as Crowley's. "Is there... a computer or some sort of analog to the Dewey Decimal system? Is it alphabetized, at least?"

[Agritum]

Lily pulled out her phone, flipping through the tabs open in the browser to find her email,then reading carefully. She was apparently in the library group. "Grace, which one are you in?" she asked the girl next to her, continuing on with "I'm apparently headed for the library. Calliel's not going to be fighting with us, as he's likely with the rest of the angels, I suppose."

She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders, and put the phone away, resting her hands on the hilt of her sword, her foot tapping. Now that she had an assignment, she was impatient.

"Yours is the library group, right? Then we ended up in the same one, Lily." Grace replied, with a nod and a light smile. "Would you like to help me in setting up our weaponry and equipment for the mission, Lily?" she added, motioning towards a seemingly small white briefcase, which carried a blood red Hospitaller cross on its side.

[Swith Witherward]

Fen surveyed Aziraphale. He was correct, People die. She supposed a great many would die before this fight was over, and perhaps even more would die afterwards. That didn't mean she looked towards the battle with any sense of eagerness. Fen, a young girl who had been mistreated by humanity, didn't have the heart to rejoice at its passing. However, that was the whole point of being here, right? To save humanity? To save her world? She reminded herself that she wasn't saving the universe. She was just trying to save one small part of a sinking island and the few people who clung to it and their old-fashioned thinking.

I'll make peace with the universe when all is said and done, she told herself. It was a way of temporarily absolving herself of the blame she knew she would lay at her own feet once Heaven was locked and all inside doomed to perish. Fen had gone to Elfen High to become some potent ice queen and had learned compassion from vampires, demons and orcs; she was quick to forgive the people who had abused her, but she had learned to forgive herself for things beyond her control. To Hell with ice, she'd found her calling as a healer and a champion for equal rights.

"Oh, I'm so full of shit," she growled after the proceeding train of thought mercifully derailed itself. "Fuck 'em all and let whatever remaining omnipotent being sort them out in the end." Her head hurt. She'd woken up with a headache and feeling out of sorts. Now it was time to dupe some slaves and take over Heaven. Or something like that. Fuck yeah! She still wasn't very clear on exactly what it was she was supposed to be doing.

She shouldered her pack and followed the rest to the rally point. Then it was time; there was the cube. The Polynesian took one final look at those she'd come to know and appreciate and then stepped through the portal to the other side. She intended to move aside once she arrived so the next person to come through, if some lurking thing didn't take her head from her shoulders the moment she stepped foot in Heaven.

[Nationstatelandsville]

What everyone says about Hell is true; fire and brimstone, it smells like sulfur and death.

What nobody tells you is that Heaven does too.

In the dark of the night, the revolutionaries appeared. They stood in a grassy plain, or what had been once; the grass was now dead, wilted, yellowed. When their boots made contact with it, more often than not it disintegrated. The scant tree around them had long since died, turned black, and fell over; a mysterious yellow puss leaking from its trunk. The fruit had gone rancid, hand grenades of disease untouched by living creatures; not even flies and maggots dwelt here. Strewn about them were the refuse of the societal machine. Skyscrapers constructed of compacted metal, mountains of decaying food scraps and bloated corpses, and pyramids of overturned barrels leaking chemicals unknown and ungodly. The earth could not accurately be described as such; it had long since into a thick black sludge, like tar. It was best not to ask of what it was composed. A dank smell hung in the air; many there, who had fought in the Abrahamic War, knew exactly what that smell was.

This was the junkyard of the centuries. This was the dumping ground of the dead.

And yet, seconds upon arrival, Aziraphale took a deep breath and smiled widely. He was home, home at last. He seemed immediately reinvigorated, whether through the magics coursing Heaven or some deep aching in his bones mattered not.

Aziraphale blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dark. In the distance, a black blob moved in a straight across the horizon.

"It used to be," he began to explain, "that those who died virtuously could join the ranks of Heaven. It has not been that way in a very long time, not during my lifetime, not during Calliel's; not if you stick them on top of each other three times over. Uriel keeps humans as slaves now - but slaves are a finite resources. Slaves die. So, he needs a way to renew them. No one knows this but him, and now I, but he has been stealing the dead from a remote region of Hell for a long while now. Not a lot; only just enough. As his plans come to fruition, however, he's increased his intake. Tonight, he's receiving a mass shipment, who will be brought along in caravans to slave camps here, in the Wastes."

He turned to the others.

"The plan is simple," he said, "and extremely dangerous. We will steal a caravan, you will pretend to be slaves, and Calliel and I will drive it into the camp without anyone recognizing you, searching you, reading your minds, or flat out killing you for fun. That is the easy part."

[Constaniana]

William immediately felt like awful as he saw for the first time what Heaven looked like. It made London after the war look like a billionaire's Spanish holiday villa. Thinking about the reason they had come here was difficult to focus on, when the omnipresent stench of ruin continuously barged into one's mind, sinking its rusty claws into it and dragging it back into thinking only about the destruction and unfathomable desolation completely surrounding you.

"Come on, keep it together, you stupid git," William berated himself in his thoughts, "Think of something a bit better than this rubbish. English football and breakfasts, fish and chips, border collies, sheep, Land of Hope and Glory, Mum's birthday cakes, Hilde's tits, that one time Hilde finally gave in and actually wore a proper dress out to dinner and didn't advocate genocide or mass deportations once."

"So how would the guards do the mind reading? Is it something we could potentially block, or will we have no warning and no protection against it?" The knight asked quietly, feeling infinitesimally more cheery, "I'm assuming we'd make disguises of some sort to help us get into the camp without being recognized too. Or do we not have the time and resources to fashion them?" William continued.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ciel heard Crowley's voice blaring over the loudspeakers, saying that it was time at last, and then turned to Daisuke, who suggested to go over there already. His decision of leaving his real body back here was probably for the best, she thought as she glanced with disinterest at the second robotic body that appeared next to the first.

"I guess I'll have to wait until this is over to talk to you then." She said, pushing herself off the wall and following the Daisukebots towards the cafeteria, walking into the first portal.

Once the portals to the library and the slave camps had opened up, Ciel stepped into the one leading to the former location, coming out on the other side and looking at the massive bookshelfs surrounding her and the others.

"Holy sock puppet in a sausage factory." She said, the sheer surprise causing her statement to be devoid of curses.

Catching Peter's suggestions, she chimed in as well. "Perhaps there's a librarian. We could force the bastard to help us."

---

Meanwhile...

"So how would the guards do the mind reading? Is it something we could potentially block, or will we have no warning and no protection against it?" The knight asked quietly, feeling infinitesimally more cheery, "I'm assuming we'd make disguises of some sort to help us get into the camp without being recognized too. Or do we not have the time and resources to fashion them?" William continued.

"Kindly explain to me how we would go about hiding these, Brit." Frederick said, raising his arms.

[Nationstatelandsville]

William immediately felt like awful as he saw for the first time what Heaven looked like. It made London after the war look like a billionaire's Spanish holiday villa. Thinking about the reason they had come here was difficult to focus on, when the omnipresent stench of ruin continuously barged into one's mind, sinking its rusty claws into it and dragging it back into thinking only about the destruction and unfathomable desolation completely surrounding you.

"Come on, keep it together, you stupid git," William berated himself in his thoughts, "Think of something a bit better than this rubbish. English football and breakfasts, fish and chips, border collies, sheep, Land of Hope and Glory, Mum's birthday cakes, Hilde's tits, that one time Hilde finally gave in and actually wore a proper dress out to dinner and didn't advocate genocide or mass deportations once."

"So how would the guards do the mind reading? Is it something we could potentially block, or will we have no warning and no protection against it?" The knight asked quietly, feeling infinitesimally more cheery, "I'm assuming we'd make disguises of some sort to help us get into the camp without being recognized too. Or do we not have the time and resources to fashion them?" William continued.

Aziraphale shrugged, "There is no way to block angelic telepathy, save the usual methods; bullheadedness and bad cheese. We do not have any cheese on us, so you'll have to be extremely stubborn. Shouldn't be too difficult."

"In of itself," he continued, "of course, being resistant to telepathy should tip them off - and they're quite unlikely to let you live, in that case. So, try to be more creative than that. Make a false identity, think false thoughts. Trick them instead of fight them.

Or don't. They've seen every trick in the book, the experienced guards, and will see right through you. Hope we get lucky."

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lily pulled out her phone, flipping through the tabs open in the browser to find her email,then reading carefully. She was apparently in the library group. "Grace, which one are you in?" she asked the girl next to her, continuing on with "I'm apparently headed for the library. Calliel's not going to be fighting with us, as he's likely with the rest of the angels, I suppose."

She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders, and put the phone away, resting her hands on the hilt of her sword, her foot tapping. Now that she had an assignment, she was impatient.

"Yours is the library group, right? Then we ended up in the same one, Lily." Grace replied, with a nod and a light smile. "Would you like to help me in setting up our weaponry and equipment for the mission, Lily?" she added, motioning towards a seemingly small white briefcase, which carried a blood red Hospitaller cross on its side.

Lily nodded. "You're a Hospitaller?" she asked. "Interesting; wouldn't have guessed. I always appreciated their work, though didn't have the skills to really make a difference by joining them." She paused, then asked a more important question - "How can I help, Grace?"

[Constaniana]

Meanwhile...

"So how would the guards do the mind reading? Is it something we could potentially block, or will we have no warning and no protection against it?" The knight asked quietly, feeling infinitesimally more cheery, "I'm assuming we'd make disguises of some sort to help us get into the camp without being recognized too. Or do we not have the time and resources to fashion them?" William continued.

"Kindly explain to me how we would go about hiding these, Brit." Frederick said, raising his arms.

Sir Nilark scratched his head for a few seconds.

"Um....make some fake casts to cover them up?" He suggested not sounding too confident in his own suggestion. "I don't know. You seem like you could get away with having them right in the open and punching the dick off any guard who questioned you about them," William frowned as Az explained that ultimately they didn't have a way of avoiding having their minds read without getting promptly executed.

"Well, that sounds bloody perfect," he continued, knowing how Elfen High's luck often turned out. "But I suppose there's nothing we can do about it. How do they conduct the searches? Would I be correct in guessing the guards search every prisoner coming in for anything?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

Meanwhile...


"Kindly explain to me how we would go about hiding these, Brit." Frederick said, raising his arms.

Sir Nilark scratched his head for a few seconds.

"Um....make some fake casts to cover them up?" He suggested not sounding too confident in his own suggestion. "I don't know. You seem like you could get away with having them right in the open and punching the dick off any guard who questioned you about them," William frowned as Az explained that ultimately they didn't have a way of avoiding having their minds read without getting promptly executed.

"Well, that sounds bloody perfect," he continued, knowing how Elfen High's luck often turned out. "But I suppose there's nothing we can do about it. How do they conduct the searches? Would I be correct in guessing the guards search every prisoner coming in for anything?"

"Typically, yes," Aziraphale said, "Tonight, however, their measures have gotten a bit slack in the interests of time, as a result of the increased numbers.

As to your 'fake cast' - were Fred to do that, he would undoubtedly be noticed during the quick sweep the guards will do, and would be shot on the spot. They have no need for a mouth that cannot work. Understood?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Yes, I know." Richard noted. "He was in Lygos not too long ago. Bright young lad, very idealistic. But he was caught stealing some bread. So the king asked me to teach him why that was bad. So I did." Richard shrugged. "The proper term should have been Garang-gok the Fire Raped, really, but alright. Now, you need to know anything much before we get going? Any questions?"

The Englishman in the Egyptian's body jumped down from his horse and walked over to Richard.

"I'll be fine," he replied. "I'll learn everything I need to fighting. Now, let's get going to Jerusalem."

"Sure. But, brief explanation of world powers." said Richard, since I'm a bit too tired to write a good post where we end up in Jerusalem and I have to describe the fucking thing. What do you think I am, a wizard?

I'm so much worse than that.

"So, Jerusalem. Jews occupy that, quite Hellenised. A lot use this mixture language of Hebrew and Greek. Sounds rather odd at first. The Hindus live further east of here, starting around Afghanistan. You're in the Hellenic Empire right now, and you're from Egypt. Or your body is. The Nipponese have come out of their self-imposed exile to help in the war effort, and the Middle Kingdom is starting to wake up. Africa in general is being badly beaten - a lot of their gods and empires are dying."

[Constaniana]

Sir Nilark scratched his head for a few seconds.

"Um....make some fake casts to cover them up?" He suggested not sounding too confident in his own suggestion. "I don't know. You seem like you could get away with having them right in the open and punching the dick off any guard who questioned you about them," William frowned as Az explained that ultimately they didn't have a way of avoiding having their minds read without getting promptly executed.

"Well, that sounds bloody perfect," he continued, knowing how Elfen High's luck often turned out. "But I suppose there's nothing we can do about it. How do they conduct the searches? Would I be correct in guessing the guards search every prisoner coming in for anything?"

"Typically, yes," Aziraphale said, "Tonight, however, their measures have gotten a bit slack in the interests of time, as a result of the increased numbers.

As to your 'fake cast' - were Fred to do that, he would undoubtedly be noticed during the quick sweep the guards will do, and would be shot on the spot. They have no need for a mouth that cannot work. Understood?"

"Well, I'll trust your judgement on this one. Though I'm fairly sure if casts get noticed then the guards will certainly spot the fact that Fred has automatic firearms sticking out of his regular arms, and...never mind. I'm done with the questions. Let's just get this over with. How long should it take us to intercept the caravan?" William responded.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Typically, yes," Aziraphale said, "Tonight, however, their measures have gotten a bit slack in the interests of time, as a result of the increased numbers.

As to your 'fake cast' - were Fred to do that, he would undoubtedly be noticed during the quick sweep the guards will do, and would be shot on the spot. They have no need for a mouth that cannot work. Understood?"

"Well, I'll trust your judgement on this one. Though I'm fairly sure if casts get noticed then the guards will certainly spot the fact that Fred has automatic firearms sticking out of his regular arms, and...never mind. I'm done with the questions. Let's just get this over with. How long should it take us to intercept the caravan?" William responded.

"We'll have to separate one from the pack," Aziraphale said, peering at the lines, "Preferably the last one, for obvious reasons. How we'll separate them, though, is the difficult question."

[Constaniana]

"Well, I'll trust your judgement on this one. Though I'm fairly sure if casts get noticed then the guards will certainly spot the fact that Fred has automatic firearms sticking out of his regular arms, and...never mind. I'm done with the questions. Let's just get this over with. How long should it take us to intercept the caravan?" William responded.

"We'll have to separate one from the pack," Aziraphale said, peering at the lines, "Preferably the last one, for obvious reasons. How we'll separate them, though, is the difficult question."

"We wouldn't be able to try causing some sort of mechanical accident with the rear one, like breaking a wheel off, giving them a flat tire, spraining the mutant oxen's legs or whatever it takes to bring it to a halt, would we?" Sir Nilark suggested, "Given that they're pressed for time, is it possible the wagons in the front would leave the straggler behind, confident that it could fix up its problems on its own without making all the others late? As paranoid as Uriel may normally be, from what you've been saying I reckon his forces are willing to ignore the normally infinitesimal, if not non-existent risk of an enemy attacking them in what they assume to be their secure fortress in exchange for getting as many prisoners in quickly as they can."

The knight frowned, rubbing his forehead. "Or am I completely wrong about everything again?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"We'll have to separate one from the pack," Aziraphale said, peering at the lines, "Preferably the last one, for obvious reasons. How we'll separate them, though, is the difficult question."

"We wouldn't be able to try causing some sort of mechanical accident with the rear one, like breaking a wheel off, giving them a flat tire, spraining the mutant oxen's legs or whatever it takes to bring it to a halt, would we?" Sir Nilark suggested, "Given that they're pressed for time, is it possible the wagons in the front would leave the straggler behind, confident that it could fix up its problems on its own without making all the others late? As paranoid as Uriel may normally be, from what you've been saying I reckon his forces are willing to ignore the normally infinitesimal, if not non-existent risk of an enemy attacking them in what they assume to be their secure fortress in exchange for getting as many prisoners in quickly as they can."

The knight frowned, rubbing his forehead. "Or am I completely wrong about everything again?"

Aziraphale pat William on the head.

"Yes," he said, "but you're as right as we're going to get. Anyone here a sharpshooter?"

[Constaniana]

"We wouldn't be able to try causing some sort of mechanical accident with the rear one, like breaking a wheel off, giving them a flat tire, spraining the mutant oxen's legs or whatever it takes to bring it to a halt, would we?" Sir Nilark suggested, "Given that they're pressed for time, is it possible the wagons in the front would leave the straggler behind, confident that it could fix up its problems on its own without making all the others late? As paranoid as Uriel may normally be, from what you've been saying I reckon his forces are willing to ignore the normally infinitesimal, if not non-existent risk of an enemy attacking them in what they assume to be their secure fortress in exchange for getting as many prisoners in quickly as they can."

The knight frowned, rubbing his forehead. "Or am I completely wrong about everything again?"

Aziraphale pat William on the head.

"Yes," he said, "but you're as right as we're going to get. Anyone here a sharpshooter?"

"Well, I've got a good deal of practice in it in my spare time, though that's only with an antique bolt-action rifle I didn't bring, since I figured it wasn't too practical to carry out the battlefields of Heaven, and I didn't want to get a lecture from D about how this wasn't the stone age anymore, and I needed to use modern rifles instead of old school crap and whatever else the brat felt like spouting at me," William answered, before looking around at the others. "Though there's probably someone better qualified than me anyways…" he mumbled.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;
There are four seasons in the mind of man:"

---

There's a man in a grave, slumbering in a prison of wood buried five feet into the earth.

The wind blows over him, stirring the grass and crying out his name, but he does not wake.

---

"He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
Takes in all beauty with an easy span:"

---

D sniffed.

His eyes darted across five simultaneous video displays; an eye, an ear, a raven in each group. A young boy from an Iowan farm by the name of "Hughe", newly enrolled; an Egyptian girl, daughter of two refugees named "Muna", just arrived from a camp in what was once Cairo; a Scottish boy, a recovering drug addict freshly released from a juvenile prison called "Herman", sent to Elfen High by his parents to learn discipline the morning before; and an Italian immigrant to London who went by "Marcuccio", having been forcefully enrolled in Elfen High by his parents, who had unpacked his bag mere hours ago. All facsimiles. All lies. All D's puppets - robots - guided by his hand from the distance, controlled from this latest armor.

The fifth video display, the smallest, was that of D's reality; Daisuke, in his lab. D ignored him for now.

He took a breath, soft, of stale air. He was hidden behind the mask of his armor, a perfect replica of his face; only this face smiled, and D frowned. If there was a metaphor there, he was ignoring it.

D leaned his chin slightly forward, pressing a button on the helmet.

"So," the false D said, speaking its master's words as brightly as he spoke them darkly, "Shall we get back to work, then?"

D leaned back and sniffled, failing to notice that blood gushing forth from his nose.

---

"He has his Summer, when luxuriously
Spring's honeyed cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
Is nearest unto Heaven: quiet coves"

---

Lewis sniffed.

He moved restlessly about the hall of the library, muttering under his breath, which was (as always) tinged with whiskey. Banjie on his back, he supported himself on his cane.

"Christ!" he barked quite suddenly, "I'm gettin' antsy. Can't we just magic up a little birdie to find the book for us?"

He was eager for battle - this work, it didn't suit him.

"Why do we even need this goddamn book?" he demanded, "We should kickin' cherub ass right now, not readin'. Those fuckin' fluffy-winged brats are gonna' have the advantage!"

---

"His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings
He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness—to let fair things
Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook:"

---

Megan sniffed.

She stared at Lewis, or what might have been Lewis. He was not her Lewis, but could he be another Lewis, perhaps? Could he be someone else's Lewis, maybe? In whatever world he came from, would he have been hers or another's?

Or did it matter? This Lewis was nothing like her Lewis, deep below; where her Lewis was moral, he was selfish. Where hers was gentle, he was quick-tempered. Where hers was paternal, he was apathetic. Where hers was noble, he was cowardly. The two were nothing alike; and, yet, she was unsure. Could she really have married this Lewis, raised children with him, as easily as the other?

Her children. Her thoughts now fell to D; he had not come, she had made sure of that. But what of Rosalind? Where might she be? Megan had hoped she would be here, in this Library, a secluded location Uriel could keep her away from prying eyes. But now, she was unsure.

This was just like last time in every way but one; this time, Megan was ready.

"I'm tempted to agree, Aleister," Megan said, "We don't have much time."

---

"He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature."

- John Keats, "The Human Seasons"

---

Aziraphale sniffed.

He felt alive, for the first time in eons. The air, rancid, smelled as sweet as roses. The ground, black mud, was firm beneath his feet. The foliage, dead, was lively and green like the gardens of Babylon. His soul, gone, stirred as the long-set sun rested on his cheeks and returned invisible color to his cheeks.

He was home amongst the graves, alive amongst the dead. He had finally returned to Heaven; he had no plans of ever leaving. And he meant it.

It was a good thing, to die a good death. Better than to live badly.

Aziraphale pat William on the head.

"Yes," he said, "but you're as right as we're going to get. Anyone here a sharpshooter?"

"Well, I've got a good deal of practice in it in my spare time, though that's only with an antique bolt-action rifle I didn't bring, since I figured it wasn't too practical to carry out the battlefields of Heaven, and I didn't want to get a lecture from D about how this wasn't the stone age anymore, and I needed to use modern rifles instead of old school crap and whatever else the brat felt like spouting at me," William answered, before looking around at the others. "Though there's probably someone better qualified than me anyways…" he mumbled.

"Hmm?" Aziraphale said, stirring from thought, "Oh, I suppose. It doesn't matter, really. As long as we can pop a tire, a single tire, we're in the clear. Dispatching the drivers should not be very difficult."

---

The grave stirred, like a waking cat, and stretched.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"One tire?" Frederick asked after having listened to the talk between William and Aziraphale. He had since decided to sit down, the contingent of penguins he had brought along with him quickly getting to work and assembling into something vaguely ressembling a throne for their king to be comfortable. Quite efficacious, those penguins, though the majority had taken the igloos and gone through the other portals. Few suspected an igloo to be a dangerous thing. Fewer survived after making such a mistake.

"I could spray the caravan, I'd probably hit one of their tires. The problem is, I'd probably hit a lot more than that." He shrugged.

[Constaniana]

"Well, possibly shooting up the captives wouldn't help endear us to the people we're trying to convince to revolt. I could manage it with a magic blast, probably...though that would be rather noticeable..." said William.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to do that finger-beam rubbish of yours again," Excalibur telepathically spoke to William.

"What's wrong with that? I don't always need to do a full-sized Radiant Blast every time I feel like blowing something up with magic," Sir Nilark protested, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, but you don't need to look like Frieza when you do it. You're the best person who's used me in a long while, but I'm not having you acting like the purple alien bugger whose nuts never dropped. That's something The Cunt would want."

"I don't see how you managed to link Frieza and Azhoun together like that," The knight began to respond, before the magical artefact cut him off.

"Nein! Do not quvëstion me, Villheim! I vill nœt havscht zou carrying on like däs race traitor!" Excalibur screeched in a surprisingly good impression of Hilde. "If you won't listen to me I'm sure you'll listen to me if I shout at you in German, since it turns you on or something. Anyhow, ignore your stupid finger-beam idea. I've got this situation handled. Now whip me out so I can show off," it ordered. William complied with Excalibur's request, slowly unsheathing it and holding out from his body. The sword began glowing, shapeshifting into a rifle that looked like the ones the clone troopers used in Star Wars, complete with a magic scope and a great big old-fashioned bayonet on the end. Sir Nilark had the expression of a kid getting a brilliant, unexpected Christmas present.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" the Yorkshireman mentally asked as he gleefully inspected his new toy.

"Well, you never asked, really," the enchanted weapon replied. If it had a human body it most likely would have shrugged.

"Yes, because the first thing I think to ask my sword is whether or not it can transform into a Blaster rifle,"

"Not just a laser gun, you know. I can also turn into a battleaxe, a warhammer, toothpick, an umbrella, a torch, a coathanger, a cute toy stuffed narwhale, and a bikini," Excalibur bragged.

"Well, this is convenient," William said aloud. "And I imagine it can disable the caravan's tires. Well, is there anything else we should go over before we set off?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley frowned, looking at the huge scene around him. "So, this is Lucifer's library." he tapped his feet down on the ground. "Interesting. Very much so." He paused, looking carefully down at the floor.

At the cracks in the ground, at the wooden surface of the floor. He stood back up slowly. "This floor is not made of a normal surface. Well-" he paused, shrugging. "I don't mean it is some magical substance, though it likely is. It's just not one long wooden hallway. Look down at the cracks. See red light emitting?" he asked.

If they bent down and looked carefully at the cracks, they would indeed see some red light coming out of cracks in the ground. Crowley nodded. "Step back." he barked. He pulled out a wand, because he does actually have one. He pointed it down at the ground, which opened up, a table floating up and off the ground. A few metres below this table was lava flowing, bubbling.

"The floor is lava." Crowley sighed, his eyes closing. "Interesting. I do remember that game. Odd that it's here though...I suppose in the place we've arrived at, there are so many tables and other things floating here that we hardly know what's underneath us. Some other parts of the library are likely not as well constructed, and we'll have to watch our step." Using the wand, he set the table back down, allowing it to float once more.

"Walk carefully." he advised. "Try to avoid setting too much pressure on the ground, if you can help it." he walked cautiously forward, the group moving with him.

A bell chimed loudly in the distance, but from no discernible angle, and a young child's voice giggled. Crowley frowned, standing at attention, not wanting to give away he was a bit worried, though he knew he was doing a shitty job of it.

As they turned a hallway, they saw only occasional tables and stools and wooden blocks floating ahead of them. From one end of continuous ground to another was twenty metres - that space was covered by furniture floating along, making a path from one end to the next if you jumped. Crowley frowned. "Well, this isn't good. I don't wish to risk teleporting here, I don't know what spells Uriel may have placed. Guess we'll have to jump, if you all feel up to it."

He hopped along, moving down the makeshift floating path, not looking at the lava below.

Ahead of them, there was a sound of footsteps stepping towards them. When Crowley looked up, he would see several guards, faces wearing helmets that did not allow one to see their face, white uniforms with crucifixes in the centre of the chest. In their hands, they did not hold outdated weaponry - they held guns.

And pointed at them.

Floating on an unstable stool, Crowley spoke his thoughts. "Ah, bugger."