The Fall of Elfen High (IC, Closed)

[Astrolinium]

"Yep. Anyway, let's go now."

A snap of fingers, and suddenly, Jerusalem.

No, wait, it wasn't. Damien saw Jerusalem briefly fizz into vision, the temples and war and carnage around him, but it suddenly fizzed away...and was replaced by him sitting on the floor, watching Gabriel, Gabriella, Caspian, Ivy and Gwen come toward them. He would recognise only Ivy among this group, and nobody here would recognise him.

Gabriel - or a strange blond man to Damien - pulled out a sword and pointed it at the Egyptian. "You? Who the fuck are you, where are you here?"

Damien - a strange Egyptian man to Gabriel - pulled out a sword and pointed it at the Angel. "I could ask the same question," he replied. "My name is Damien Seward. Or, it was. Somehow I've taken control of my new incarnation's life and I'm trying to find out why. Last I knew, I was heading for Fae War Jerusalem. Now who the fuck are you?"

Caspian cocked his head to the side. "Seward... I've heard that name before. Aren't you supposed to be... dead?"

He also pointed the chainsaw at the man, as he was currently pointing a sword at a member of his party.

[Nude East Ireland]

Damien looked at Caspian. "I just told you, I'm in my new incarnation. If you listened, you might be one of the leads."

Then he looked at Gwen. "You too, babe. I just introduced myself, hasn't Crowley taught you people common sense? Ivy, nice to see you again. How big is Calliel's dick again? I forgot after I died. Now, let's go to Jerusalem. I'm sure there's some kind of bullshit anomaly there, or some big dumb Lovecraft monster."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Within the library, Jade would eventually be saved by Gwen, and TIE can roleplay out how that happens.

Crowley kept moving swiftly, but felt disoriented, as though nausea was overcoming him. He briefly slowed down, grabbing a nearby bookshelf for support as he felt limp and dizzy, his head ringing. Then the moment subsided, and he took a breath, unsure of what had just happened.

Hell of a time to catch the flu. He thought to himself. We're all buggered to kingdom come if this happens now and here. I cannot allow it to. He looked back, catching the look of concern on a following Daisuke's face. "I'm fine." he growled. "Have the rest caught up?"

"We lost a ISSR few soldiers, two students. Rose O'Brien and David Lee. They were- never mind, it doesn't matter who they were. We need to keep moving." Daisuke interrupted himself, but Crowley raised a hand.

"You're wrong on one, right on the other. It does matter how they were. I wish I had known that applied before to everyone. But you are right on the fact we need to keep moving. I'll keep in mind all the names at the end of this." he promised, the oath being given to himself with the world as the witness. He breathed in slowly. "I'm fine." he repeated, glaring at Daisuke.

Everyone caught up with Crowley, at which point he frowned. "I don't see any angels here. What the hell?" he muttered. He looked around himself, seeing that he was in a large circular room...of literature. Mythology. But not just Bibles or Korans or Torahs. There were books of every faith, some scientific books exploring the gods, and some books that Crowley was astounded to see. Hell, there was even-

"I wrote that one!" Crowley said in shock, grabbing the novel from the shelf. He pointed at the cover, written in ancient Greek. "This was a book on Constantinople. I wrote this, but it was long after Lucifer was killed. How the hell is it here in his library?" The astounded wizard said. He felt a curious nausea over him again, coughing. "This is not right." he said slowly.

Then a voice of a young girl spoke in all their heads. Hello? Are you visitors? Is Father with you? asked the young voice, speaking in an old Hebrew dialect, but one they all understood nonetheless, the words being heard as the language they most preferred.

Crowley jerked in surprise. He knew this voice...but from where? From when? "God?" he asked with a cynical chuckle. "No, your God left a long, long time ago..." he supposed he should be more surprised at the sudden telepathy and where it came from, but he was too busy with other emotions.

Not THE Father. Father. the girl said in their heads, sounding annoyed at the ignorance. MY Father. Lord Uriel.

[The Inritus Extraho]

"I believe that we should hurry up and follow the headmaster, Lily!" Grace yelled in her usual tone of voice, before ducking down and narrowly avoiding a flying burning book which was about to hit her right in the face.

The Liverpudlian girl promptly jumped on the side of a shelf, hanging from it like from a ledge, and offering Lily her hand. "Here, we can climb over the shelves and get away from there before the lava consumes everything. Take my hand, I'll boost you up!"

Lily grabbed the girl's hand, though she mainly climbed up the shimmering clear stairs she conjured up with a thought, visible only as distortion-ripples in the air. It felt like weeks had passed since the assault began... no, it was only recent, wasn't it? She nodded to Grace. "Absolutely! As fast as we can?" she asked, before she looked out, searching the passages for where the Headmaster had gotten off to. They followed him to the circle-room, of course.

Once in the room, Lily froze once the voice made itself heard, and looked at Grace. "You hearing it too?" she asked the girl who had saved her.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Within the library, Jade would eventually be saved by Gwen, and TIE can roleplay out how that happens.

Crowley kept moving swiftly, but felt disoriented, as though nausea was overcoming him. He briefly slowed down, grabbing a nearby bookshelf for support as he felt limp and dizzy, his head ringing. Then the moment subsided, and he took a breath, unsure of what had just happened.

Hell of a time to catch the flu. He thought to himself. We're all buggered to kingdom come if this happens now and here. I cannot allow it to. He looked back, catching the look of concern on a following Daisuke's face. "I'm fine." he growled. "Have the rest caught up?"

"We lost a ISSR few soldiers, two students. Rose O'Brien and David Lee. They were- never mind, it doesn't matter who they were. We need to keep moving." Daisuke interrupted himself, but Crowley raised a hand.

"You're wrong on one, right on the other. It does matter how they were. I wish I had known that applied before to everyone. But you are right on the fact we need to keep moving. I'll keep in mind all the names at the end of this." he promised, the oath being given to himself with the world as the witness. He breathed in slowly. "I'm fine." he repeated, glaring at Daisuke.

Everyone caught up with Crowley, at which point he frowned. "I don't see any angels here. What the hell?" he muttered. He looked around himself, seeing that he was in a large circular room...of literature. Mythology. But not just Bibles or Korans or Torahs. There were books of every faith, some scientific books exploring the gods, and some books that Crowley was astounded to see. Hell, there was even-

"I wrote that one!" Crowley said in shock, grabbing the novel from the shelf. He pointed at the cover, written in ancient Greek. "This was a book on Constantinople. I wrote this, but it was long after Lucifer was killed. How the hell is it here in his library?" The astounded wizard said. He felt a curious nausea over him again, coughing. "This is not right." he said slowly.

Then a voice of a young girl spoke in all their heads. Hello? Are you visitors? Is Father with you? asked the young voice, speaking in an old Hebrew dialect, but one they all understood nonetheless, the words being heard as the language they most preferred.

Crowley jerked in surprise. He knew this voice...but from where? From when? "God?" he asked with a cynical chuckle. "No, your God left a long, long time ago..." he supposed he should be more surprised at the sudden telepathy and where it came from, but he was too busy with other emotions.

Not THE Father. Father. the girl said in their heads, sounding annoyed at the ignorance. MY Father. Lord Uriel.

Lewis picked at his nose.

"Welp," he sighed, "this blows."

"Is that even possible?" Megan demanded, looking to Crowley, "I mean, of all of us, you would know. Can angels reproduce?"

"Could mean it metaphorically," Lewis sniffed, "Ye' know, secure the progeny of the nation and whatnot. How much ye' wanna' bet ol' Sodom-'n'-Gomorrah makes all of those winged bitches call 'im 'Daddy'? It's like Orwell, ye' know?"

"You've read 1984?"

"That what he called it?"

Megan sighed, "Either way, I find it unlikely. We've never heard Aziraphale refer to him as such, and he knows Uriel's Heaven better than anyone else. Even so, you would think that Raphael would have mentioned a child."

"Well, whatever," Lewis said, "Don't matter if we can't find the brat."

"He has a point," Megan agreed, "Where are you, dear? You don't need to hide from us. We won't hurt you."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Raphael frowned. "Are you certain?" he asked, shifting into the shape of a tall Chinese man to better disguise himself. He then paused. "Never mind. I will trust you. I'll keep in telepathic communication if necessary. Good luck." he said, going along with the slaves.

Calliel stared at his old friend. "What the hell." he said audibly. "I hope you know what you're doing, Aziraphale."

"Of course I do," Aziraphale said, "why wouldn't I?"

He removed from two of the dead a silver bracelet, tossing one to Calliel and slipping the other onto his own wrist.

"Glorified ID badges," he explained, "We'll need them to open the camp gates. I can handle the guards; just don't, under any circumstances, make eye contact with them. And do not be afraid to kill me."

Aziraphale threw open the driver's side door and stepped inside, "Get in. Humans and other potpourri, in the back."

Calliel stared at Aziraphale, shook his head, and got in. "Alright. Will you explain that ominous statement?" he asked his friend. Former friend. God knows what was going on right now.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Damien looked at Caspian. "I just told you, I'm in my new incarnation. If you listened, you might be one of the leads."

Then he looked at Gwen. "You too, babe. I just introduced myself, hasn't Crowley taught you people common sense? Ivy, nice to see you again. How big is Calliel's dick again? I forgot after I died. Now, let's go to Jerusalem. I'm sure there's some kind of bullshit anomaly there, or some big dumb Lovecraft monster."

"Well, there's dragons outside right now." Gabriella said.

Damien - a strange Egyptian man to Gabriel - pulled out a sword and pointed it at the Angel. "I could ask the same question," he replied. "My name is Damien Seward. Or, it was. Somehow I've taken control of my new incarnation's life and I'm trying to find out why. Last I knew, I was heading for Fae War Jerusalem. Now who the fuck are you?"

Gwen's Royal Guards promptly unsheathed their vibroswords in a menacing manner. Ouch.

The Queen herself smirked, crossing her arms "Myself? I'm Gwendolyn, Queen of the Britons, and these are the Archangel Gabriel, Gabriella, Ivy and Caspian. Coincidentally, we too were heading towards Jerusalem, before we were ambushed by a patrol of dragons. And now, Sir, please introduce yourself quickly. We've got a battle to fight." she replied.

"Oh, and Gabriel, you can find some star fighters down in the hangar bay, if you are interested in piloting one in battle."

Gabriel immediately went to the hangar bay, teleporting the rest with him. He looked at the TIE fighters around him with childish glee. "I'm taking one. Come on you fucks, let's do this." he said, hopping into one of the star fighters. Wires wrapped around his fingers, so he now controlled it telepathically. Nice thing that there wasn't too high a learning curve on these then.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ciel walked briskly into the circular room as she brandished her rifle slash chainsaw, following Daisuke, Crowley and the others as they ventured deeper into the library looking for... Whatever the hell it was they were looking for. Crowley seemed sickened by the room, for some reason. Or perhaps it was something else, but the best thing to do was probably to avoid dwelling on this place too much. Though given that they were looking for information in a bloody massive library, staying around was sadly necessary, which was a bit annoying. That, and the voice that suddenly intruded in her head and began speaking to her, and, apparently, everyone else. Intrusions were always annoying.

Hearing the woman say that they wouldn't hurt whoever was speaking, Ciel raised her eyebrow ever so slightly. They didn't know that, but whatever. No one needed to realize that. For now, she simply looked around the circular room, looking for any hideouts, or anything that looked like it could potentially be of use to the group.

"Also, who are you?" She asked casually as she walked around.

[Swith Witherward]

"How are you going to explain all the penguins, though?" The Yorkshireman asked.

Frederick shrugged. "I don't really have to. As far as anyone is concerned they have no relation to me. If they are in here, then evidently the angel slavers thought that they would be useful and snatched them along with the rest of us." He explained. "Isn't that right?" He asked afterwards, turning to the penguins who merely nodded energetically.

It's rather difficult to dwell on thoughts when surrounded by a flock of aquatic, flightless birds grunting and waddling as they settled into the caravan. A grin crept onto Fen's face despite her muddled mindset and she lifted her eyes to make contact with Frederick's own.

"They're beautiful birds," she ventured. She didn't know him on a personal level and hoped small talk wouldn't annoy him. The temperature inside the caravan dropped just a little to make the penguins more comfortable. Fen flicked a bit of frost from her fingertips and eased back in the seat.

Her gaze settled on Sir William next and she nodded to let him know she was fine. "I suspect it won't get any easier from here out? Just... well, just try not to die, Knight. Deal?" She flashed a smile at him and closed her eyes again.

[Lazarian]

Damien looked at Caspian. "I just told you, I'm in my new incarnation. If you listened, you might be one of the leads."

Then he looked at Gwen. "You too, babe. I just introduced myself, hasn't Crowley taught you people common sense? Ivy, nice to see you again. How big is Calliel's dick again? I forgot after I died. Now, let's go to Jerusalem. I'm sure there's some kind of bullshit anomaly there, or some big dumb Lovecraft monster."

"Well, there's dragons outside right now." Gabriella said.

Ivy stared for a moment.

"Well, that's for me to know and...not really you, to be honest. I'm sorry if that disappoints you. Damien? I'm...pretty sure you're dead. Like, actually, no, you most definitely died. I heard you were exploded?" she said, cocking her head to one side.

She sighed.

"You know what? It's not important. I'm an angel. You're not dead. Really, neither one of those things should have happened. And we're fighting dragons, so there are more important things to worry about right now. Kill dragons first, talk later." she said resignedly, pulling down the door to the TIE fighter and starting to crawl in.

[Constaniana]

"That sounds like a good deal, Fen," William replied, returning the islander's smile. Satisfied with Fred's reasoning for getting the penguins through, the knight shut his eyes as well, folding his arms across his chest as he let his mind wander. He worried about how Hilde was doing, even though he knew she would be with her bodyguards and the other Elfen Highers. His mental tangent rolled away from the mother of his child to the child itself, as William had been increasingly prone to do over the past month.

[Agritum]

"I believe that we should hurry up and follow the headmaster, Lily!" Grace yelled in her usual tone of voice, before ducking down and narrowly avoiding a flying burning book which was about to hit her right in the face.

The Liverpudlian girl promptly jumped on the side of a shelf, hanging from it like from a ledge, and offering Lily her hand. "Here, we can climb over the shelves and get away from there before the lava consumes everything. Take my hand, I'll boost you up!"

Lily grabbed the girl's hand, though she mainly climbed up the shimmering clear stairs she conjured up with a thought, visible only as distortion-ripples in the air. It felt like weeks had passed since the assault began... no, it was only recent, wasn't it? She nodded to Grace. "Absolutely! As fast as we can?" she asked, before she looked out, searching the passages for where the Headmaster had gotten off to. They followed him to the circle-room, of course.

Once in the room, Lily froze once the voice made itself heard, and looked at Grace. "You hearing it too?" she asked the girl who had saved her.

Grace nodded, with a distressed expression. "Yes, Lily! It's ...a girl's voice. And she's saying that her father is Uriel. She could be an angel trying to establish some stable telepathic contact with us." she replied, keeping her hands on the hilt of her sword. "Let's stay close, ok? I don't like where this situation is going."

[Nude East Ireland]

Damien walked past Ivy, sheathing his sword as he did. "Good to see you too," he replied.

Damien hopped into a TIE fighter, because why the fuck not? There were dragons, so he could probably fly a god damn starfighter. Wires wrapped around his fingers, which kind of freaked him out. Wires? I'm sure there's an industry for this, he thought. He waited until the others took off, because he didn't want to be the first to be shot down. That'd be just embarrassing.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Of course I do," Aziraphale said, "why wouldn't I?"

He removed from two of the dead a silver bracelet, tossing one to Calliel and slipping the other onto his own wrist.

"Glorified ID badges," he explained, "We'll need them to open the camp gates. I can handle the guards; just don't, under any circumstances, make eye contact with them. And do not be afraid to kill me."

Aziraphale threw open the driver's side door and stepped inside, "Get in. Humans and other potpourri, in the back."

Calliel stared at Aziraphale, shook his head, and got in. "Alright. Will you explain that ominous statement?" he asked his friend. Former friend. God knows what was going on right now.

"I am not the man I used to be," was all Aziraphale said in response.

Down the dusty road they drove, unnoticed by the train of angels long ahead. After a few minutes, they quite suddenly appeared at the edge of the camps; being completely dark, they had not noticed them until they were there. No magic was at work here, simply stealth.

Aziraphale drove up to a metal gate, the only break in an electrified steel fence. He raised his ID bracelet and a flash of magic appeared on the astral plane - the only magical influence they were willing to risk here, for fear of being detected. The gate opened and the caravan drove in.

They entered a complex of brick houses and buildings, not unlike a college campus; each building looked professional, like a municipal building. No one moved visibly about the place - it seemed empty, like a ghost town.

From the darkness emerged a guard, who approached the driver's side window. This guard was no angel, but an android, quiet and efficient.

"NAME," it demanded.

"Check my iris," Aziraphale ordered, his voice suddenly distorted as if through electronics.

"NAME," the android repeated.

"Do it," the angel growled.

A brief yellow light flashed in the android's yellow eye, "WELCOME, LEADER."

"Unload the slaves and take them to the rest," Aziraphale commanded, "You will then escort my associate and I to your commandant."

The android saluted. Three others appeared at the back of the caravan, armed with rifles, and opened the back. The first android marched off, towards the other side of the camp; Aziraphale nodded at Calliel and followed.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Within the library, Jade would eventually be saved by Gwen, and TIE can roleplay out how that happens.

Crowley kept moving swiftly, but felt disoriented, as though nausea was overcoming him. He briefly slowed down, grabbing a nearby bookshelf for support as he felt limp and dizzy, his head ringing. Then the moment subsided, and he took a breath, unsure of what had just happened.

Hell of a time to catch the flu. He thought to himself. We're all buggered to kingdom come if this happens now and here. I cannot allow it to. He looked back, catching the look of concern on a following Daisuke's face. "I'm fine." he growled. "Have the rest caught up?"

"We lost a ISSR few soldiers, two students. Rose O'Brien and David Lee. They were- never mind, it doesn't matter who they were. We need to keep moving." Daisuke interrupted himself, but Crowley raised a hand.

"You're wrong on one, right on the other. It does matter how they were. I wish I had known that applied before to everyone. But you are right on the fact we need to keep moving. I'll keep in mind all the names at the end of this." he promised, the oath being given to himself with the world as the witness. He breathed in slowly. "I'm fine." he repeated, glaring at Daisuke.

Everyone caught up with Crowley, at which point he frowned. "I don't see any angels here. What the hell?" he muttered. He looked around himself, seeing that he was in a large circular room...of literature. Mythology. But not just Bibles or Korans or Torahs. There were books of every faith, some scientific books exploring the gods, and some books that Crowley was astounded to see. Hell, there was even-

"I wrote that one!" Crowley said in shock, grabbing the novel from the shelf. He pointed at the cover, written in ancient Greek. "This was a book on Constantinople. I wrote this, but it was long after Lucifer was killed. How the hell is it here in his library?" The astounded wizard said. He felt a curious nausea over him again, coughing. "This is not right." he said slowly.

Then a voice of a young girl spoke in all their heads. Hello? Are you visitors? Is Father with you? asked the young voice, speaking in an old Hebrew dialect, but one they all understood nonetheless, the words being heard as the language they most preferred.

Crowley jerked in surprise. He knew this voice...but from where? From when? "God?" he asked with a cynical chuckle. "No, your God left a long, long time ago..." he supposed he should be more surprised at the sudden telepathy and where it came from, but he was too busy with other emotions.

Not THE Father. Father. the girl said in their heads, sounding annoyed at the ignorance. MY Father. Lord Uriel.

Lewis picked at his nose.

"Welp," he sighed, "this blows."

"Is that even possible?" Megan demanded, looking to Crowley, "I mean, of all of us, you would know. Can angels reproduce?"

"Could mean it metaphorically," Lewis sniffed, "Ye' know, secure the progeny of the nation and whatnot. How much ye' wanna' bet ol' Sodom-'n'-Gomorrah makes all of those winged bitches call 'im 'Daddy'? It's like Orwell, ye' know?"

"You've read 1984?"

"That what he called it?"

Megan sighed, "Either way, I find it unlikely. We've never heard Aziraphale refer to him as such, and he knows Uriel's Heaven better than anyone else. Even so, you would think that Raphael would have mentioned a child."

"Well, whatever," Lewis said, "Don't matter if we can't find the brat."

"He has a point," Megan agreed, "Where are you, dear? You don't need to hide from us. We won't hurt you."

Ciel walked briskly into the circular room as she brandished her rifle slash chainsaw, following Daisuke, Crowley and the others as they ventured deeper into the library looking for... Whatever the hell it was they were looking for. Crowley seemed sickened by the room, for some reason. Or perhaps it was something else, but the best thing to do was probably to avoid dwelling on this place too much. Though given that they were looking for information in a bloody massive library, staying around was sadly necessary, which was a bit annoying. That, and the voice that suddenly intruded in her head and began speaking to her, and, apparently, everyone else. Intrusions were always annoying.

Hearing the woman say that they wouldn't hurt whoever was speaking, Ciel raised her eyebrow ever so slightly. They didn't know that, but whatever. No one needed to realize that. For now, she simply looked around the circular room, looking for any hideouts, or anything that looked like it could potentially be of use to the group.

"Also, who are you?" She asked casually as she walked around.

Crowley blinked. "Reproduce? Angels? Well, yes. They usually don't, but they can. They were, after all, designed after humans, but without the flaws." he said, sounding distracted now.

Some visions were coming back, standing here...

---

He stood at the face of a cliff, staring down into a volcano, holding the bloodied corpse of some person he couldn't recognise, but he knew far too well. Fire was in his eyes as he stared into the depths of the volcano, the lava bubbling. "I. Want. More. Time..." he muttered slowly.

---

The vision disappeared as sadly as it came, but Crowley was doubled over by the suddenness of it, and how real it had seemed. He looked down at his own hands, and saw them glowing with white light. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled at the familiar voice.

Anyone else looking at Crowley would have no idea why he was looking at his hands, since they weren't doing anything, and were perfectly normal. They would not see the glow he did, nor did they know what was happening in his mind.

My name is Hope. I'm the daughter of Uriel. the girl explained. And I can't come out. A silence. I'm already all around you.

One remarkably astute ISSR soldier opened his mouth, speaking in a Northern Irish accent. "Oh my god, she's the libra-"

"She's the library." Crowley breathed out, and attention was paid to him because nobody cared for the Irish. "That's why we had to go through the floor is lava earlier. This bloody thing is a child. Uriel's child."

[Nationstatelandsville]

Lewis picked at his nose.

"Welp," he sighed, "this blows."

"Is that even possible?" Megan demanded, looking to Crowley, "I mean, of all of us, you would know. Can angels reproduce?"

"Could mean it metaphorically," Lewis sniffed, "Ye' know, secure the progeny of the nation and whatnot. How much ye' wanna' bet ol' Sodom-'n'-Gomorrah makes all of those winged bitches call 'im 'Daddy'? It's like Orwell, ye' know?"

"You've read 1984?"

"That what he called it?"

Megan sighed, "Either way, I find it unlikely. We've never heard Aziraphale refer to him as such, and he knows Uriel's Heaven better than anyone else. Even so, you would think that Raphael would have mentioned a child."

"Well, whatever," Lewis said, "Don't matter if we can't find the brat."

"He has a point," Megan agreed, "Where are you, dear? You don't need to hide from us. We won't hurt you."

Ciel walked briskly into the circular room as she brandished her rifle slash chainsaw, following Daisuke, Crowley and the others as they ventured deeper into the library looking for... Whatever the hell it was they were looking for. Crowley seemed sickened by the room, for some reason. Or perhaps it was something else, but the best thing to do was probably to avoid dwelling on this place too much. Though given that they were looking for information in a bloody massive library, staying around was sadly necessary, which was a bit annoying. That, and the voice that suddenly intruded in her head and began speaking to her, and, apparently, everyone else. Intrusions were always annoying.

Hearing the woman say that they wouldn't hurt whoever was speaking, Ciel raised her eyebrow ever so slightly. They didn't know that, but whatever. No one needed to realize that. For now, she simply looked around the circular room, looking for any hideouts, or anything that looked like it could potentially be of use to the group.

"Also, who are you?" She asked casually as she walked around.

Crowley blinked. "Reproduce? Angels? Well, yes. They usually don't, but they can. They were, after all, designed after humans, but without the flaws." he said, sounding distracted now.

Some visions were coming back, standing here...

---

He stood at the face of a cliff, staring down into a volcano, holding the bloodied corpse of some person he couldn't recognise, but he knew far too well. Fire was in his eyes as he stared into the depths of the volcano, the lava bubbling. "I. Want. More. Time..." he muttered slowly.

---

The vision disappeared as sadly as it came, but Crowley was doubled over by the suddenness of it, and how real it had seemed. He looked down at his own hands, and saw them glowing with white light. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled at the familiar voice.

Anyone else looking at Crowley would have no idea why he was looking at his hands, since they weren't doing anything, and were perfectly normal. They would not see the glow he did, nor did they know what was happening in his mind.

My name is Hope. I'm the daughter of Uriel. the girl explained. And I can't come out. A silence. I'm already all around you.

One remarkably astute ISSR soldier opened his mouth, speaking in a Northern Irish accent. "Oh my god, she's the libra-"

"She's the library." Crowley breathed out, and attention was paid to him because nobody cared for the Irish. "That's why we had to go through the floor is lava earlier. This bloody thing is a child. Uriel's child."

There was a long silence.

"LET'S BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN!" Lewis cried suddenly.

"Lewis, no," Megan scolded - Lewis immediately crossed his arms and harrumphed like a spoiled child, "Alright. Alright. Let's back the fuck up here.

Uriel, dark lord of the Heavens, somehow managed to place his infinitesimally small penis inside a vagina. I suppose that's not too difficult to grasp, given the tendency of megalomaniacs to 'charm' peasant women. But something killed the product when she was still - oh, let's say, nine or the equivalent thereof - and then make her into a fucking library. And, given this thing's name, all of this happened before the fall of Lucifer. And fucking nobody felt the need to tell us this."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Frederick had been waiting inside the caravan as it silently made its way towards the wastes and into the slave camps, all while contemplating his life.

Well, no, that's bullshit. He mostly just tried to figure out how exactly he had ended up as an imprisoned liberator headed towards slave camps run by a bunch of fascist angels who wanted to enslave humanity, aided by a bunch of people from a magic highschool as well as his very own penguin subjects. Then again, weirder shit had happened.

The fact that all of this was a ruse only served to further amuse him.

Suddenly, the back of the caravan opened. Frederick glanced in that direction and saw three androids, armed with rifles. Figuring that it was time, he prepared himself to be escorted to wherever. Hopefully they wouldn't question the machine guns. That would be troublesome.

---

"Well, perhaps no one knew. Crowley over there certainly doesn't seem to know, or perhaps he's just too busy staring at the hairs growing out of his hands." Ciel remarked mockingly, before looking all around her. Didn't look like a girl, certainly. Then again, that was to be expected, but whatever. "I don't think something like Uriel doing the beast with two backs with some angel chick would be a well-kept secret, but then again, the man is a tyrant, from what I've heard." She continued, before looking up.

"Anyway, Hope, we're looking for information on how to stop the Gotterdammerung. Would you happen to know where we can find that?" She asked, thinking that getting out of here soon was probably a good idea and that the girl could potentially help them out with that. If she wanted to, anyway, which may or may not be the case, though it was worth a shot.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Damien walked past Ivy, sheathing his sword as he did. "Good to see you too," he replied.

Damien hopped into a TIE fighter, because why the fuck not? There were dragons, so he could probably fly a god damn starfighter. Wires wrapped around his fingers, which kind of freaked him out. Wires? I'm sure there's an industry for this, he thought. He waited until the others took off, because he didn't want to be the first to be shot down. That'd be just embarrassing.

Damien wasn't.

The first guy who was shot down was a black guy in a different starfighter, because black dude dies first. After the black man had taken that sacrifice, Damien (wearing a black Egyptian body) was free to fight without worry of being the black man who died first.

They flew the TIE fighters at the dragons. They were massive beasts, snarling and roaring, their breath exploding flames on the shields of the ship. Some fire broke through the shield, landing on the surface of the ship where it began to do so damage.

Gabriel fired his missiles on his own TIE fighter at the dragons, attracting their attention. The three beasts turned their long necks and lizard-like heads toward the TIE fighters, breathing their fire upon those.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Crowley blinked. "Reproduce? Angels? Well, yes. They usually don't, but they can. They were, after all, designed after humans, but without the flaws." he said, sounding distracted now.

Some visions were coming back, standing here...

---

He stood at the face of a cliff, staring down into a volcano, holding the bloodied corpse of some person he couldn't recognise, but he knew far too well. Fire was in his eyes as he stared into the depths of the volcano, the lava bubbling. "I. Want. More. Time..." he muttered slowly.

---

The vision disappeared as sadly as it came, but Crowley was doubled over by the suddenness of it, and how real it had seemed. He looked down at his own hands, and saw them glowing with white light. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled at the familiar voice.

Anyone else looking at Crowley would have no idea why he was looking at his hands, since they weren't doing anything, and were perfectly normal. They would not see the glow he did, nor did they know what was happening in his mind.

My name is Hope. I'm the daughter of Uriel. the girl explained. And I can't come out. A silence. I'm already all around you.

One remarkably astute ISSR soldier opened his mouth, speaking in a Northern Irish accent. "Oh my god, she's the libra-"

"She's the library." Crowley breathed out, and attention was paid to him because nobody cared for the Irish. "That's why we had to go through the floor is lava earlier. This bloody thing is a child. Uriel's child."

There was a long silence.

"LET'S BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN!" Lewis cried suddenly.

"Lewis, no," Megan scolded - Lewis immediately crossed his arms and harrumphed like a spoiled child, "Alright. Alright. Let's back the fuck up here.

Uriel, dark lord of the Heavens, somehow managed to place his infinitesimally small penis inside a vagina. I suppose that's not too difficult to grasp, given the tendency of megalomaniacs to 'charm' peasant women. But something killed the product when she was still - oh, let's say, nine or the equivalent thereof - and then make her into a fucking library. And, given this thing's name, all of this happened before the fall of Lucifer. And fucking nobody felt the need to tell us this."

"Well, they probably fucking didn't k-" the Irish soldier began, when Crowley spoke up.

"I had no idea." he said, unsteady, but standing up. "No idea at all."

Frederick had been waiting inside the caravan as it silently made its way towards the wastes and into the slave camps, all while contemplating his life.

Well, no, that's bullshit. He mostly just tried to figure out how exactly he had ended up as an imprisoned liberator headed towards slave camps run by a bunch of fascist angels who wanted to enslave humanity, aided by a bunch of people from a magic highschool as well as his very own penguin subjects. Then again, weirder shit had happened.

The fact that all of this was a ruse only served to further amuse him.

Suddenly, the back of the caravan opened. Frederick glanced in that direction and saw three androids, armed with rifles. Figuring that it was time, he prepared himself to be escorted to wherever. Hopefully they wouldn't question the machine guns. That would be troublesome.

---

"Well, perhaps no one knew. Crowley over there certainly doesn't seem to know, or perhaps he's just too busy staring at the hairs growing out of his hands." Ciel remarked mockingly, before looking all around her. Didn't look like a girl, certainly. Then again, that was to be expected, but whatever. "I don't think something like Uriel doing the beast with two backs with some angel chick would be a well-kept secret, but then again, the man is a tyrant, from what I've heard." She continued, before looking up.

"Anyway, Hope, we're looking for information on how to stop the Gotterdammerung. Would you happen to know where we can find that?" She asked, thinking that getting out of here soon was probably a good idea and that the girl could potentially help them out with that. If she wanted to, anyway, which may or may not be the case, though it was worth a shot.

Yes. Hope said at once. They aren't far from here. I can lead you there if you like.

A stairway opened up beneath them. It had handrails, so they didn't fall into the lava. Below, connected to the stairs, was a floating room with handrails around it. It held a few dozens books. Those books are forbidden. They're high-class knowledge. Some regard the Gotterdammerung. Merlin and Fixban themselves wrote those.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Calliel stared at Aziraphale, shook his head, and got in. "Alright. Will you explain that ominous statement?" he asked his friend. Former friend. God knows what was going on right now.

"I am not the man I used to be," was all Aziraphale said in response.

Down the dusty road they drove, unnoticed by the train of angels long ahead. After a few minutes, they quite suddenly appeared at the edge of the camps; being completely dark, they had not noticed them until they were there. No magic was at work here, simply stealth.

Aziraphale drove up to a metal gate, the only break in an electrified steel fence. He raised his ID bracelet and a flash of magic appeared on the astral plane - the only magical influence they were willing to risk here, for fear of being detected. The gate opened and the caravan drove in.

They entered a complex of brick houses and buildings, not unlike a college campus; each building looked professional, like a municipal building. No one moved visibly about the place - it seemed empty, like a ghost town.

From the darkness emerged a guard, who approached the driver's side window. This guard was no angel, but an android, quiet and efficient.

"NAME," it demanded.

"Check my iris," Aziraphale ordered, his voice suddenly distorted as if through electronics.

"NAME," the android repeated.

"Do it," the angel growled.

A brief yellow light flashed in the android's yellow eye, "WELCOME, LEADER."

"Unload the slaves and take them to the rest," Aziraphale commanded, "You will then escort my associate and I to your commandant."

The android saluted. Three others appeared at the back of the caravan, armed with rifles, and opened the back. The first android marched off, towards the other side of the camp; Aziraphale nodded at Calliel and followed.

Calliel followed behind, very confused. And also quite horrified at the police state his home had become. And this guy came from fucking Heavensgate.

[Nationstatelandsville]

"I am not the man I used to be," was all Aziraphale said in response.

Down the dusty road they drove, unnoticed by the train of angels long ahead. After a few minutes, they quite suddenly appeared at the edge of the camps; being completely dark, they had not noticed them until they were there. No magic was at work here, simply stealth.

Aziraphale drove up to a metal gate, the only break in an electrified steel fence. He raised his ID bracelet and a flash of magic appeared on the astral plane - the only magical influence they were willing to risk here, for fear of being detected. The gate opened and the caravan drove in.

They entered a complex of brick houses and buildings, not unlike a college campus; each building looked professional, like a municipal building. No one moved visibly about the place - it seemed empty, like a ghost town.

From the darkness emerged a guard, who approached the driver's side window. This guard was no angel, but an android, quiet and efficient.

"NAME," it demanded.

"Check my iris," Aziraphale ordered, his voice suddenly distorted as if through electronics.

"NAME," the android repeated.

"Do it," the angel growled.

A brief yellow light flashed in the android's yellow eye, "WELCOME, LEADER."

"Unload the slaves and take them to the rest," Aziraphale commanded, "You will then escort my associate and I to your commandant."

The android saluted. Three others appeared at the back of the caravan, armed with rifles, and opened the back. The first android marched off, towards the other side of the camp; Aziraphale nodded at Calliel and followed.

Calliel followed behind, very confused. And also quite horrified at the police state his home had become. And this guy came from fucking Heavensgate.

Aziraphale and Calliel moved unchallenged through the camps, before reaching their borders. Just over the fence was a pleasant-looking garden with a stone path leading up to a brick house; not gray bricks of government, but red bricks of suburbia. It was a nice house; two stories, chimney, white shutters. Very classically American.

"THE COMMANDANT," the android said simply as it unlocked a gate into the garden. It stood still.

"Well?" Aziraphale inquired.

"THE COMMANDANT."

Aziraphale frowned. The machine was under specific instructions not to leave the camp, he realized. The Android Leader - or, rather, Aziraphale himself - had prepared for this after all.

"Right," Aziraphale sighed, "Come on."

He set on down the garden path, the android watching from afar.

This could be a problem, Aziraphale thought to Calliel, The commandant is an angel. He'll be able to recognize us.

---

The androids pulled the humans from the back of the caravan roughly, tossing them on the ground; two of them unloaded it while the third stood back, rifle raised and ready to shoot anyone who even twitched the wrong direction in the head.

It was no long before they stumbled upon the penguins, at which point they paused in confusion. Computers are fundamentally idiotic machines - they need very specific instructions to be able to handle anything. And there was no penguin protocol.

After a moment's deliberation, one looked to Fred, raising its weapon, "EXPLAIN."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Ciel grinned as she heard the angel girl's agreement to help then, and more so when she opened up a stairway beneath for them to traverse. Now that was the kind of thing one could get by asking nicely, and while she usually didn't care for it, sometimes it worked pretty well. Of course, maybe it was a trap, but hey, one couldn't just go around thinking everything was a trap without accomplishing nothing.

"Thanks, dear. You're the best." She called out to the library as she practically slid down the flight of stairs, making no use of the handrails and quickly reaching the floating room. Looking around the bookcases, she saw a tome that seemed useful enough, and moved her hand towards it to pick it up, before stopping.

"On second thought, someone else check these. They're forbidden, so they might be rigged to explode or some shit." She said. Now that was a reasonable thing to suspect from. Thus she simply stood off to the side, crossing her arms and waiting.

---

Frederick looked at the android and then at the penguins several times, blinking once or twice, before finally speaking.

"Ey, man, I have no idea! They were already there when your bird buddies abducted me!" He said, speaking in a voice that was completely unlike his own. One learns quite a lot of things when living among penguins.

Speaking of penguins, one was quick to speak up, likely to the surprise of everyone but Frederick himself. "Good sir, good sir! There is no reason to be confused. We happened to be in the wrong area of Hell at the wrong time and your winged friends captured us and brought us along after ascertaining that our capabilities would be useful to them. We are no different than these pitiable humans in that regard, I assure you." The penguin said in incredibly posh English.

[Nationstatelandsville]

Ciel grinned as she heard the angel girl's agreement to help then, and more so when she opened up a stairway beneath for them to traverse. Now that was the kind of thing one could get by asking nicely, and while she usually didn't care for it, sometimes it worked pretty well. Of course, maybe it was a trap, but hey, one couldn't just go around thinking everything was a trap without accomplishing nothing.

"Thanks, dear. You're the best." She called out to the library as she practically slid down the flight of stairs, making no use of the handrails and quickly reaching the floating room. Looking around the bookcases, she saw a tome that seemed useful enough, and moved her hand towards it to pick it up, before stopping.

"On second thought, someone else check these. They're forbidden, so they might be rigged to explode or some shit." She said. Now that was a reasonable thing to suspect from. Thus she simply stood off to the side, crossing her arms and waiting.

"Aleister?" Megan said.

"Ha!" Lewis laughed, "Hell hath no fury, Al, like a woman scorned."

Megan blushed, "No, no, not like that. I mean... I mean, if any of us can survive a trap, it's Crowley."

She narrowed her eyes and approached the headmaster, "...Al? Are you alright?"

"He's probably just got crabs again," Lewis said, waving dismissively, "Don't waste our time, nancy boy. Get this over with."

Frederick looked at the android and then at the penguins several times, blinking once or twice, before finally speaking.

"Ey, man, I have no idea! They were already there when your bird buddies abducted me!" He said, speaking in a voice that was completely unlike his own. One learns quite a lot of things when living among penguins.

Speaking of penguins, one was quick to speak up, likely to the surprise of everyone but Frederick himself. "Good sir, good sir! There is no reason to be confused. We happened to be in the wrong area of Hell at the wrong time and your winged friends captured us and brought us along after ascertaining that our capabilities would be useful to them. We are no different than these pitiable humans in that regard, I assure you." The penguin said in incredibly posh English.

The android paused for consideration, humming softly like a computer's fan.

And then it shot the penguin in the face.

"MOVE," it ordered the rest of the penguins "YOU TOO, HUMAN."

Its partner emerged from the caravan and pointed its weapon at the others, "MARCH."

The third android walked off, leading the new "slaves" towards the barracks - a large, long building, but nowhere near large enough. It opened the door, revealing row upon row upon row of slaves in bunks. Each bed was no more than four feet wide, five feet deep, and a foot tall; just big enough to accommodate them. The feet or heads of many slaves poked out. Each bed was stacked in rows of four - the bunks went on for God knew how long. Thousands. There were six of these buildings in this camp, Silvanigra. It was a small camp.

"IN," the android ordered. It was now that the Elfen Highers realized that the beds were surrounded by the huddled masses of new arrivals, all freezing and chattering as they no doubt were by now - desert nights are harsh. These were the new arrivals, and were at least as numerous as those who were in the beds, if not more so. They had not received sleeping arrangements, nor even uniforms.

Uriel was preparing for something; what, they could not know.

[Cerillium]

The android paused for consideration, humming softly like a computer's fan.

And then it shot the penguin in the face.

"MOVE," it ordered the rest of the penguins "YOU TOO, HUMAN."

Its partner emerged from the caravan and pointed its weapon at the others, "MARCH."

The third android walked off, leading the new "slaves" towards the barracks - a large, long building, but nowhere near large enough. It opened the door, revealing row upon row upon row of slaves in bunks. Each bed was no more than four feet wide, five feet deep, and a foot tall; just big enough to accommodate them. The feet or heads of many slaves poked out. Each bed was stacked in rows of four - the bunks went on for God knew how long. Thousands. There were six of these buildings in this camp, Silvanigra. It was a small camp.

"IN," the android ordered. It was now that the Elfen Highers realized that the beds were surrounded by the huddled masses of new arrivals, all freezing and chattering as they no doubt were by now - desert nights are harsh. These were the new arrivals, and were at least as numerous as those who were in the beds, if not more so. They had not received sleeping arrangements, nor even uniforms.

Uriel was preparing for something; what, they could not know.

Fen kept her downtrodden head bent towards the ground as she shuffled in with her companions. She was seething inside and wanting to kill everything yet horrified at the slaves' situation and so very driven to comfort them. The conflicting thoughts emanating from the duality of her mind were a static tap dance which manifested in trembling hands and supple lips pressed so tightly together that they reformed her mouth into a cruel, thin line.

Fen wasn't cold. Quite contrarily, she needn't use any of her magic to cool herself from tropical heat or warm rooms. Her spirit was far from broken as well. She saw huddled masses but the opportunist dark corner of her mind saw an army of pawns that could possibly be riled up. Thousands. It would take a charismatic voice. Perhaps William's or even Frederick's.

"Shall we get to work?" Fen muttered to her companions once she was certain the mechanical guard was well out of their hair. "I sense we might not have much time. They didn't search us. They didn't strip us down or even bother to number us. We might be moved out soon."

Her eyes surveyed the masses and she snorted. "The oppressed pray for salvation. They look for hope. We can use that to our advantage. The penguins might walk the length and spread the word, perhaps?"

[Rupudska]

Yuzuki looked through her large telescope from the bow of the Yamato.

"They've entered the slave base... and haven't even raised that much suspicion."

Impressive. This could actually work. Could also still go horribly wrong, but at least now there's a chance it'll work.

She pulled out a comm from her pocket.

"Yuzuki to the bridge. Commence launch preparations, and ready the fighters. We'll probably be moving soon, and I want to be ready to go the moment we need to."