{"submission_id":"797585","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"3275","keyword_name":"angel","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4726"},{"keyword_id":"236876","keyword_name":"arthurian","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"10159","keyword_name":"cyclops","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"379"},{"keyword_id":"398","keyword_name":"demon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"18403"},{"keyword_id":"3934","keyword_name":"demonic","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"771"},{"keyword_id":"10688","keyword_name":"demons","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"630"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11601"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519908"},{"keyword_id":"112296","keyword_name":"garuda","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"51"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46905"},{"keyword_id":"2197","keyword_name":"legend","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"496"},{"keyword_id":"191","keyword_name":"magic","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11599"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639903"},{"keyword_id":"3313","keyword_name":"monkey","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4908"},{"keyword_id":"1537","keyword_name":"mythology","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"495"},{"keyword_id":"1146","keyword_name":"vampire","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"3972"},{"keyword_id":"597","keyword_name":"werewolf","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"5589"}],"hidden":"t","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2015-02-25 07:15:47.751639+01","create_datetime_usertime":"25 Feb 2015 07:15 CET","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-02-25 07:07:30.705774+01","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"25 Feb 2015 07:07 CET","username":"Simoni","user_id":"279733","user_icon_file_name":"75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","file_name":"1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","files":[{"file_id":"1078691","file_name":"1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1078/1078691_Simoni_part_20_the_moroccan_tomb.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"797585","user_id":"279733","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"768fc8bca8936c5c108de2d74a03306f","full_file_md5":"768fc8bca8936c5c108de2d74a03306f","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-02-25 07:07:30.705774+01","create_datetime_usertime":"25 Feb 2015 07:07 CET"}],"pools":[],"description":"Holy freaking shitballs in a basket, does that really say twenty up there?\n\nWell, close to thirty really counting the side stories and more than thirty counting the bits I'm not putting on here for whatever reasons... but still, damn.\n\nYeah, this part was done to introduce a new character to the group. Alice 'Reshepia' Obsidian. Like Merihim, she's a demon, but unlike him she has total control over her host.\n\nShe's also sister to Uries, the angel who was possessing (ironically enough) her host's brother. While Merihim was a pagan god who sided with Lucifer during the spread of Christianity Reshepia actually was an angel who fell with Lucifer during his war with Yahweh.\n\nIts worth noting in this series that Yahweh isn't the all powerful creator that he's made out to be in the Christian faith. Rather he's a minor god who made it big and began to spread his power. Whether Lucifer was his own creation or just another spirit who followed him for a time is unknown though. Yahweh in this series is going to take his cues from games like Shin Megami Tensei. Arrogant, unyelding, self-absorbed, and caring only for increasing his own personal power and getting praise from all of humanity.\n\nIts more than just an ego trip though... when it comes to gods prayer equals power. The more worshippers a god has the more powerful they become. Still, he won't be showing up too much in the series, so it won't matter that much at all for now.\n\nIf it's not obvious, I don't have the best view of the Christian religion and Merihim's views somewhat reflect my own when it comes to Christianity and it's followers.\n\nStill, this was a neat chapter to do. We'll be heading to Ireland soon for the big dramatic jailbreak.","description_bbcode_parsed":"Holy freaking shitballs in a basket, does that really say twenty up there?

Well, close to thirty really counting the side stories and more than thirty counting the bits I'm not putting on here for whatever reasons... but still, damn.

Yeah, this part was done to introduce a new character to the group. Alice 'Reshepia' Obsidian. Like Merihim, she's a demon, but unlike him she has total control over her host.

She's also sister to Uries, the angel who was possessing (ironically enough) her host's brother. While Merihim was a pagan god who sided with Lucifer during the spread of Christianity Reshepia actually was an angel who fell with Lucifer during his war with Yahweh.

Its worth noting in this series that Yahweh isn't the all powerful creator that he's made out to be in the Christian faith. Rather he's a minor god who made it big and began to spread his power. Whether Lucifer was his own creation or just another spirit who followed him for a time is unknown though. Yahweh in this series is going to take his cues from games like Shin Megami Tensei. Arrogant, unyelding, self-absorbed, and caring only for increasing his own personal power and getting praise from all of humanity.

Its more than just an ego trip though... when it comes to gods prayer equals power. The more worshippers a god has the more powerful they become. Still, he won't be showing up too much in the series, so it won't matter that much at all for now.

If it's not obvious, I don't have the best view of the Christian religion and Merihim's views somewhat reflect my own when it comes to Christianity and it's followers.

Still, this was a neat chapter to do. We'll be heading to Ireland soon for the big dramatic jailbreak.","writing":"The gang would slowly drop to a landing in a small Moroccan airport, seemingly built into the middle of the desert. It was an old airport, barely in service nowadays, built during World War II for soldiers and less than legal immigrants trying to get out of dodge during the North African campaign. The sun was setting in the distance, Natasha stirring in her coffin as she feels the sun's grasp fade from the desert. Aisha had gotten herself cleaned up and dressed, changing out of her modern designer labels to a long white robe and simple sandals over her feet, that sword of hers still strapped to her waist, She kept her vow this far, not using her sword blade to spill blood, the zombie in the Nightside didn’t count of course as that wasn’t technically blood… well, the legends of the old knights were full of loopholes and such... \"Here we are.\" she says with a little sigh as she looks out the window to the vast, empty, desert outside...\n\nSimoni is off the plane first, glad to be in a warmer climate. She's in her sari as usual, the sand and heat not a problem for her. Lupe bounds out next, dressed as a human but still excited by the new smells and sounds in a very dog-like way. After her comes Nelen and Dawn, the cat laying across Nelen's shoulders in her animal guise, Nelen dressed as he always is. \"So, that old graveyard should be somewhere north of here, about an hour away. Any ideas on how we get transportation there?\" he asks Aisha as the rest of the group disembarks.\n\nAisha nods, \"There should be some jeeps waiting. Nelen can take one and I can take the other, you kids pile in wherever.\" she says, Arja nodding as she follows the group. \"I'll stay here and guard the plane just in case.\" volunteers Drusilla as Natasha walks to join the group \"I've never been here before, should be interesting to see.\" she says, sniffing the air as well, \"Even if I don't smell any prey around...\"\n\nStephy smirks at her, \"Like you wouldn't just pounce one of us if you got hungry.\" he teases, the fae opting to stay behind with Drusilla as his magic won't work well in such a hot area. Simoni giggles, climbing into Nelen's jeep as Lupe bounds into Aisha's, still acting like a wolf despite her currently human body. Dawn rolls her eyes at the dog, then climbs off into Simoni's lap and curls up, the warm weather making her quite drowsy. Simoni giggles and scratches her behind the ears as Nelen starts the engine, \"Right then, lets head out. I wanna get there before it gets extremely late. I don't know exactly how welcome magic is in Morocco, but best not to tempt fate.\" he nods.\n\nAisha nods, \"Yea, not exactly here on vacation…\" she agrees, the jeeps soon taking off in the direction of the old graves. Natasha was looking around, using her advanced senses to be sure there wasn't an ambush or anything, but it seemed like the group had avoided being followed, the only sounds around were the nocturnal animals of the desert starting their night...\n\nAfter a short drive they arrive at an ancient cemetery, some of the stones around it looking like they may well have predated the crusades. The graveyard is huge, but not very well kept, looking like it fell out of use at least a generation ago and perhaps longer. The grass is very deep and many of the headstones are so worn down that the names are all but illegible. Nelen nods to Lupe who shifts back into her werewolf form and breathes in deeply, \"... Lupe no smell hunters, it safe.\" she nods, hunters being what she refers to Clan Fullmoon as.\n\nAisha nods, \"Well this is the place then, it's the only burial ground this old around here left.\" she says as she looks around, \"He wouldn't just be in a grave, though, he'd be in a tomb of some kind.\" she adds. There were some crypts and tombs around, large buildings of stone, ornately decorated, but almost all in ruins. There was just one that still was standing fully, as if shielded from time itself, a large tomb of sandstone with the image of a pair of crossed swords over the heavy looking stone door, still sealed tightly shut...\n\nNelen looks it over, then nods, \"Yep, that looks right. No way this thing would still be in this good a condition without some enchantment.\" he comments, then looks at Dawn. \"In and out?\" he suggests, to which she grins and nods, changing back into her humanoid form before vanishing... only to wind up reappearing face first into the door with a loud SMACK!\n\n\"AGH! Ow ow ow OW!\" she yelps, clutching at her nose as her eyes water, Lupe letting out a barking laugh. Dawn smacks her upside the head as she walks back, \"Yeah, can't just teleport in and unlock it from the inside. Its protected.\" she frowns.\n\nAisha holds back a giggle at the cat, \"You think you're the only person with teleportation to try to get in there?\" she teases, looking at the door. \"Obviously you need to somehow show you're on the same side as him, but what's something that'd remain the same through generations no matter what...\" she takes the sword out, a burst of light filling the area (making Natasha hiss angrily, but thankfully not be burned...) but that does nothing, even as she presses every end of it she can think of the door.\n\nNelen thinks, then looks at the door and the crossed swords. \"Hm... I've got an idea.\" he suggests, looking closer and noticing that the image is actually a pair of stone swords wired to the door itself with rather sharp edges. \"Try cutting yourself on one of these.\" he nods, pointing at them. \"This thing is probably sealed against any not of his -blood-line, so you have to prove you're in it.\" he nods.\n\nAisha nods, \"Good idea, that'd be the one thing he'd feel secure in never changing.\" she replies, raising her hand up and slicing her finger on the sharp stone edge, her blood falling into a hidden groove and sliding down the middle of the door before, with a low hiss, the blood trail forms a crack in the door, allowing it to slide open and allow access to the pristine tunnel leading deep underground. \"Here we go.\" she grins.\n\nNelen smirks, \"Thought so. This isn't the first time Dawn and I have had to go tomb raiding.\" he comments as Simoni hesitates at the door, \"Nn... maybe I should've waited at the plane. My magic is no good underground.\" she murmurs as Lupe bounds ahead, sniffing around inside the tomb.\n\nArja nods at that, forming a ball of fire to light the way \"Wanna stand guard out here, just in case? Never know who's watching places like this.\"\n\nSimoni thinks, then clings to Arja, \"No.\" she nods firmly, thinking back to what happened in Texas, their trip into the underworld and all that. The last thing she needs is for someone like him to catch her alone.\n\nArja laughs, patting Simoni with her free hand, \"I'll keep you safe…\" she grins as he leads the way down. The tomb was honestly pretty simple, their mummy friend Sadeh would no doubt find the Moors horribly lacking in creative thought. Its main security system was the door and its magical wards (which in fairness, was a pretty secure system, it's almost impossible to spoof blood after all). The path was long, but fairly simple down...and then the group hears a voice. \n\nA young girl lets out a loud huff before speaking, \"I don't see why you're staying down here so eagerly, all you have to do is lie and say I tricked you and we both go home!\" \n\nThere's a pause before a boy's voice speaks, \"You know I can't do that, I literally cannot do that, nothing is keeping YOU here, YOU could just go home right now and leave me to my vigil...\"\n\nNelen blinks, then winces as his arm gives a sudden violent spasm. He grips it with his other hand and looks at it curiously, then shrugs it off when it stops. \"Something got Merihim all agitated just now...\" he mutters under his breath as Dawn gives him a worried look she motions for the group to stop, then takes a breath as her body begins to fade, then vanishes from view except for her eyes and mouth. \"Stay back, I'll see what's going on.\" she nods, creeping forwards as her eyes narrow until they're barely visible yellow slits in the gloom.\n\nUp ahead there was the central chamber, a large sarcophogus sat in the middle, an old set of Moorish armor on a dummy next to it, this was obviously where Aisha needed to go. Next to it was a stone jar covered in glittering golden writing that seemed to be carved into it. The problem, though, was sitting on top of the sarcophagus was what looked like a young girl, Arja's age with long red hair and bright red irises dressed in a leather pair of pants and a pink shirt, a pair of high heeled boots kicked off near her feet... Next to her, standing, was a boy of the same age, wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt, his hair was red as well, but his eyes were a bright gold. Nelen, or his demon at least, knew exactly what these were, the girl was a demon, the boy was an angel, and both were pretty damn strong despite their vessels, they had to be to have gotten in here without molesting the tomb. \"You're pathetic~\" the girl sneers at the boy, \"You're guarding BONES, you realize that right?\" she frowns, the boy just shaking his head \"You know I'm guarding something far more important than this tomb…\" he replies, eyes drifting to the jar.\n\nDawn winces. An angel and a demon, one of the divine and one of the infernal... that could be a problem. The demon maybe not, there's ways of dealing with them, but the angel... they're basically heaven's attack dogs, and they tended to be very direct in dealing with what they saw as a 'sin'... and given what Arja and Simoni get up to on a regular basis, yeah this could be bad.\n\nDawn sneaks back to the group and goes visible again, then nods, \"Yeah, we might have a problem... there's an angel up ahead. A demon too. They're both incarnated into human bodies, but... still... angel.\" she winces.\n\nAisha raises a brow, \"What? An angel and a demon are in the tomb, like, actual angels and demons?\" she asks as Arja shakes her head, \"Shit... maybe I can toss some clout around or something, those types' homes are basically one big bureaucracy...\" she says, looking to Nelenm \"You gonna be ok or do you need to leave? No shame if you don't wanna stick around, not sure how your... buddy... works when around other demons or angels.\"\n\nNelen is still holding his arm, \"I think I can manage. Unless its an Archangel I should be able to survive it...\" he nods as Dawn frowns. \"Yeah, sure beardy. You remember what happened -last- time we ran into one of those things. IF we hadn't gotten a head start and IF we hadn't passed infront of a Hustler store when we were running from it and IF I hadn't managed to teleport us five times in a row to put enough distance between it and us to shake it we'd both have been pillars of salt.\" she smirks, \"Sucked to be that porn store though.\" she makes a gesture with her fingers like something exploding as Simoni winces, giving Arja a nervous glance. Dawn nods, \"Yeah, they can sense when someone has 'sinned', and their definition of sin can be pretty damn wide.\"\n\nArja takes a breath, looking to Aisha, \"Well, we came this far, not gonna turn back just because someone with the divine version of a badge and gun is in the way…\" she nods, taking Simoni's hand and walking forward...\n\nLuckily it seems the pair were too engaged in their fight to notice the 'intruders' yet. \"Oh for... it's a GLUTTONY demon?!\" the girl says angrily, \"You're not holding the gates of Hell itself shut, you're keeping a fat little turd locked in a jar because he had one party!\" \n\n\"For one, he's the second in command to the Lord of the Flies, for another his 'little party' was making a village literally eat themselves to death.\" replies the boy in an irritated tone.\n\n\"Died happy~\" the girl grins, \"More than can be said for the people YOU'VE taken out, right sweetie?\" she coos playfully.\n\nNelen winces as his arm spasms again, his eyes starting to take on a reddish tint, \"Fuck...\" he winces, \"Guys, Merihim is getting really pushy here...\" he nods, struggling as he tries to keep him under his control, sweat beading on his forehead. Dawn hesitates, then looks to Aisha, \"Any chance you can just toss the sword in there and we can run like hell back to the plane?\" she asks.\n\nAisha looks apologetic, but shakes her head, \"It's a ritual, my ancestor's soul is caught in limbo until I can bring the sword back and re-bond it to him... It's not LONG, but I need a bit.\"\n\nNelen winces, a sudden coppery scent filling the immediate area, \"Fuck, too late!\" he gasps, then he goes limp for a minute before straightening up and smirking, his eyes a bloody red now. \"Right, you do your thing Spamalot, I'm gonna go say hello~\" grins Merihim as he steps forward, hands in his pockets as Dawn scoots closer to the exit, or at least making sure there's something between her and holy judgement. \"Hey hey hey! I recognize that voice!\" he calls out to the two in the next room, \"Lest this human's ears deceive me, and they might given how he likes his music, that is none other than little miss Reshephia before me!\" he grins widely.\n\nThe argument stops as Merihim makes his way in, the demon girl blinking a bit before smirking, \"Merihim? That you? Last I heard you were riding some wizard, surprised he lets you off your leash…\" she teases before nodding to the jar, \"Be a lamb and smash that open for mama?\" she coos as the boy frowns, \"You should know if the wards are broken divine judgement will fall upon whoever does it.\" he warns, the girl rolling her eyes in response, \"Oh please, Merry's tough, he can take a little 'divine judgement'…\" she pouts. \n\nMerihim would know the pair better than Nelen, likely. They were siblings, or as close as one got in their worlds, the boy remained loyal while his sister fell. Reshephia, or in her mortal name 'Alice' was a Shedim, a fallen version of her brother's band. Both of them were extremely adept at possessing or dominating mortals, even able to have multiple vessels at once, though obviously their intentions to their mortals were very different...\n\nAisha, meanwhile, was quick to join them, Arja following behind, she sets the sword down and kneels on the ground, quickly beginning to chant in Arabic.\n\nMerihim leans in and pokes it a bit, \"Huh, that's one of Beelzebub's boys in there isn't it?\" he asks, rolling his eyes, \"C'mon Reshy, I know I've been away from the pit for a while but you know how we wrathy boys feel about the bugs.\" he smirks, straightening up, \"Besides, if your brother is in here keeping an eye on him the he can't come bother any of us now can he?\" he smirks, looking her over, \"So... nice loli-suit. Did you pick it up today or have you been wearing it for a while?\" he asks, stroking Nelen's beard.\n\nMerihim is a Wrath demon, servant of the court of Sathanus while Alice/Reshephia is a Lust demon from the court of Asmodeus. The demon in the jar is a gluttony one bound to Beelzebub. Lust demons and Wrath demons tend to get along well (lust often leads to wrath, and vice versa), but gluttony is more tied to sloth and wrath demons simply don’t get along with them.\n\nAlice smirks a bit \"Got her a couple years ago, Urieas there is in her brother…\" she grins to her brother wickedly, \"You know how I hate seeing family separated~\" she teases, some venom in her voice at that. It was no secret she saw her brother's refusal to join her in rebellion as a personal betrayal. \"All he has to do is ask nice and I'll give her back…\" she adds with a grin, her brother frowning \"With all the memories of all you've used her for...\" he adds in, making Alice laugh loudly. \"I have a couple other meatsuits topside, keeping tabs on things, but they're just drones.\" She and her brother's kind were powerful, but having 100% control over multiple humans was taxing, most of them had one or two 'main' vessels and some 'drones' (the angels of course never used such crude language...) that were basically zombies shuffling through a simple routine, like a computer with slave programs.\n\n Her eye drifts to Aisha's ritual but she honestly doesn't seem bothered by it. The knight's soul was heaven bound no matter what, no reason to waste energy fighting a losing battle. Urieas, though, smiles at her, \"Your ancestor would be proud of you, Aisha, he knew one day he'd have a descendant who'd be strong enough to free him.\" he says before his eyes drift to Arja, raising a brow \"Hrm...\" he says, Alice's eyes soon joining, both divine creatures now staring at Arja...\n\nMerihim smirks, \"Don't even think about it choir boy. Yeah she gets up to some interesting stuff, but god would get very cross with you if you hurt her... or at least a god would.\" he sneers, \"Ah, but thats the problem with being a good little puppy for Yahweh isn't it? You're not very good at the whole 'thinking for yourself thing' when you gotta ask daddy's permission every time you have to take a piss.\" he laughs, \"Seriously though, you might be able to injure my meatsuit, and that'd be harder than you think, but I -would- be able to kill your host and without him you snap right back up to Heaven and have to explain to papa why the bug you were watching got loose.\" he grins widely.\n\nThe Angel just frowns as he looks to Arja, then Natasha, and the rest of the group, before looking to Alice. No one else could hear it, but Merihim could. This was an ancient rite, near every culture had it in some form, he could practically see the scales in front of him as the two argue over where each action went, both putting their thumb on the scale where needed before they both blink, snapping out of their seemingly short trance.\n\n\"Interesting...\" the angel says, \"I won't pretend you're all sin free... especially SOME of you…\" his eyes fall on Natasha and Nelen at that, \"Still... despite your sins, you're an interesting lot...\" Alice just huffs, looking like a child denied her toy as she crosses her arms, \"Yes, right on the edge in some ways... but still.\" she says, eyes drifting to the jar again, \"Make ya a deal, brother.\" she says with a wicked grin \"I'll leave, right now, you can keep the fly prince, to be honest this was just a favor to his daddy,\" it was true, while Alice 'freelanced' for gluttony a good bit, she was completely Asmodeus's follower, \"But you leave too. Once the black knight there finishes her rite this guy's soul's leaving anyway.\" she says, nodding to the suit of armor \"Without him this is just a forgotten tomb, no one has any reason to come here. She's gonna lock up when she leaves... RIGHT?\" she says, throwing a glare at Aisha, still focused on her work, Arja nodding for her \"Yep, we will!\" she replies quickly as Alice nods.\n\n\"So, come on, we've been down here for what, two years now? We're the only ones who give a shit about this guy, you and I both go, we call it a wash, you can even keep your wards on it to keep me from just walking back.\"\n\nMerihim nods, \"Yeah, this graveyard is almost totally forgotten. Hell give it a few years and it'll probably be a parking lot. Nobody will even know this place existed.\" he adds, \"Then your sister can get back to doing what she does best.\" he nods, glancing at her, \"Managed to seduce any more priests lately? I know at least part of that mess with the Catholic Church was you.\" he grins, nudging Alice with his elbow. He may not be one of Asmodeus's followers, but Wrath demons and Lust demons do get along well... after all lust does so often lead to wrath (and vice versa).\n\nAlice just grins, \"Oh a lady doesn't kiss and tell~\" she teases, her brother frowning, \"It may be a forgotten tomb but at least this way I can keep my eye on you...\" he says, crossing his arms as Alice grins, \"Completely right, I'm an utter terror alone, corrupting the innocent, stealing bodies, destroying lives, horrible, so horrible…\" she says with a wide smile, \"So! I'll submit myself for parole! I'll leave but I'll take my main vessel to a place where you can check in on me... I hear India's a lovely place this time of the year!\" She grins as she looks back to Merihim, \"Lookie, we even have a respected demon who can vouch for anything I claim!\"\n\nMerihim smirks, \"Mmmhmm, I'll make sure she behaves herself and only uses her infernal powers for good~\" he replies, grinning at the angel as Dawn's eye twitches. Truth be told Merihim creeped her out, especially since he could hijack Nelen's body like this... but two demons? \"Uh, do we get a say in this?\" she asks as Merihim simply replies, \"No.\"\n\nAlice nods, \"Sorry wonder cat, this is above your paygrade.\" she teases. Arja frowns, but nods, \"Fine, she's gonna come along anyway I assume, at least this way I won't wake up and see one of my maid's possessed holding a chainsaw...\" \n\nAlice blinks, \"Oh, you still may see that, but now you have a heads up, and isn't that really what matters?\" she grins wickedly before Arja speaks again, \"This is above DAWN'S grade, but not mine.\" she says in a firmer voice. \"You may not work for my ancestor but I still have rights, including the right to punish foreign demons that cause too much chaos and imbalance in MY domain, understood?\" \n\nAlice mulls that over before nodding \"Deal, I won't sic the forces of hell on you, as long as everything's all just and deserved, no randomly deciding Tuesday is throw holy water on everyone's bed day.\" Arja nods at that, holding her hand out \"We have a deal then…\" she says as the angel rubs his head, \"Fine, at least she's in one place... mostly.\" he sighs as Aisha finishes the ritual, standing as the sword glows bright white, making Alice and Natasha both frown and look away, likely hurting Merihim's eyes as well as it flies past them to join the armor.\n\nMerihim hisses and covers his eyes with Nelen's hat as Dawn's own eyes close, Simoni wincing a bit but seeming otherwise unharmed by the sudden glare... though as the light fills the room she feels like she can almost see something through it... though she can't get a good enough look to tell what.\n\nAisha smiles happily as she stands, sighing with relief as she sees the figure in the light, \"It's done!\" she says with a smile, seemingly not caring about the infernal deal around her as Alice grins, \"Perfect! Let's go home then!\" she cheers as she hops to her feet, her boots snapping to her feet as she does so. \n\nThe Angel sighs again, looking to Merihim \"I expect honesty when I check in, and I WILL check in. I'm sure there's plenty going on that you don't want your boss knowing about next time I'm down there, right?\" he says. Despite popular media angels and demons had nothing really blocking them from visiting the 'other side', though obviously most places that mattered were warded and off limits, it was just that neither side much liked each other's 'home'... Still, sometimes they had to visit on diplomacy or the like.\n\nMerihim nods, \"Yeah yeah, honesty and yadda yadda... Oh hey, um... Urieas was it?\" he asks, \"Yeah, we'll behave, but that imp that snuck in behind us might not...\" he smirks and, when the angel turns to look he lashes out suddenly with a bloody tendril covered in teeth. Dawn eeps and Simoni lets out a shocked cry as the angel's host falls one way and his host's head falls another. \"Whups, my hand slipped.\" he sneers, the divine presence in the tomb suddenly vanishing as the angel is banished back to Heaven.\n\nMerihim walks over to the urn, humming a soft tune to himself, then yawns, stretches, and makes a great show of 'accidentally' shoving it off it's pedestal with his arm, \"Whupsie~ I am so clumsy today!\" he laughs, then starts to make for the exit rather quickly as a huge cloud of horseflies bursts out of the urn and starts tunneling it's way into the ground. \"Right, time to go kiddies! Grab whatever looks like it'll pawn well and run!\" he cackles.\n\nAlice frowns at Merihim, \"Damn it I liked having matching vessels!\" she yells before bolting out of the tomb, the girls following quick behind before Aisha slams the doors shut and wipes her blood off, once again sealing the tomb up tight. The 'divine judgement' thankfully was exactly what it sounded like rather than some magic nuke. The demon got loose, but white light washed through the tomb, purifying it of any infernal taint as Aisha's ancestor found rest finally. \"You know,\" Aisha says, \"In a fucked up way you helped me out, so, thanks?\" She says to the demon as Alice huffs, crossing her arms, \"Seriously now I'm gonna have to find him a body that looks like this one's brother, know how hard it is to find a CUTE ginger kid?\"\n\nDawn and Merihim both look at Simoni, then at Arja, and then point to her, \"She can help with that.\" says Dawn as Simoni just stares at the doors, \"Um... is nobody going to point out that Merihim just basically killed a kid?\" she asks, \"I mean, he was possessed by something... but...\" she mutters, looking more than a bit rattled by seeing what looked like her brother decapitating someone.\n\nAlice shrugs, \"Does it help at all that the kid basically gets VIP status up top for being an angel vessel? I mean, and I don't mean to be morbid but decapitation is a quick way to go and getting the special treatment in heaven is a pretty sweet end result. Of the ways to kill a kid I'd say that was one of the nice ones.\"\n\nMerihim shrugs, \"Eh, had to make sure the kid died before choir boy managed to pull a flaming sword out of his ass.\" he replies, \"Otherwise I would've enjoyed myself~\" he grins. \"I mean, I wouldn't have shed any tears for that bug getting stuck in that pot for another few centuries before one of us freed him, but I -love- pissing off angels.\" he sneers. \"Y'know I used to be a god before Yahweh and his boys came along? Not a major one, you won't find me in any history books, but I had my followers and we had our rituals and ceremonies... and then along comes this group of Christians who try to convert my crowd, and when they say no the preachers leave and the knights come marching in...\" he grins, \"Not all us demons were angels who fell with Lucifer y'know, some of us were just pushed out by that power-hungry little prick and had nowhere else to go, so we sided with the guy standing against him. Now I get to have my fun tormenting the smug little fuck's followers and occasionally pulling stunts like that.\" he sneers, \"And if some little mortal gets caught in the gears and ground into pulp... thats just one little sacrifice to me~\"\n\nAlice smirks, \"Mhm, and vise versa is true. Mithra's an angel now for example, the small gods that played ball, kissed the ring and all, they got folded into the divine host, ones who fought... well…\" she nods to Merihim, \"Anyway, a vessel died, we're gonna have some angel CSI showing up soon, they're gonna see what happened and knowing my brother there probably won't be any repercussions since he knows I'll get him a replacement, still, would rather not have to explain to the spooks why we're here, so I assume there's a plane? You better lay low by the way, Merry, they know I'm here but if they feel you around things may escalate, want Raph down here checking things for 'cult activity'?\"\n\nMerihim actually does look disturbed at the idea, \"Ugh, that old bastard... yeah, lets scram kids.\" he nods, then Nelen's entire body shudders as his eyes change back to normal, the warlock stumbling as he collects himself. \"Fucking hell that always hurts...\" he mutters, stumbling towards the jeep.\n\n\"Right right, he gave me the general idea, lets leave, quick. I don't want to have to deal with a fully incarnated angel again.\" he nods, waving for the group to follow him as he regains his composure, climbing behind the wheel.\n\nAlice nods, hopping in the jeep as Aisha gets in the driver's seat of the other, Arja rubbing Simoni's back as they drive along back to the plane. In the distance there's a low rumble as Alice winces in pain, \"Damn it...\" she grunts \"Always hurts when a big guy gets here...\" she says, it seems 'Raph', or rather Raphael of the Seraphim, was checking the area after all. Thankfully with Merihim subdued he wasn't 'visible' unless Nelen started using blood magic in the area, as long as they got out of dodge without outing him everything was fine.\n\n \"See, say what you want about my bosses, but Archangels? Those guys scare the SHIT out of me…\" nods Alice as the graveyard lights up behind them.\n\nNelen nods in agreement, his head still throbbing. \"Yeah... there's a reason why so many pacts are made with Hell rather than Heaven.\" he nods, \"At least demons are willing to negotiate.\" he says, Merihim staying well hidden and totally inert as the group gets back to the plane. A minor angel like Urieas isn't a big deal for him, but one of the Seraphim... yeah, he'd need to call in a favor to take him down and he definitely didn't want to have to contact one of the princes. Even then it'd cause quite a stir, though the mundanes would probably write it off as an earthquake, or a sudden and inexplicable volcanic eruption. If only they knew that the Tunguska event was what happened when an Archangel and one of the seven Princes got in what was, for them, a fist fight.\n\nThe group re-enters the plane, Aisha getting the pilot to get airborne quick, \"Where you guys wanna touch down? We still need to lay low a little…\" she says before Alice raises a brow, \"We're laying low?\" she says as she makes herself comfy on a seat, grabbing Stephy and yanking him into her lap idly. \"Oh yea, we're laying low.\" Arja says, explaining the situation to the demon. \"Oh goodie, I thought I was getting a vacation not a fight with a genocidal nutbar with a blade that can even fuck up a demon...\"\n\nNelen rolls his eyes and buckles himself in as the plane begins to take off, \"For us, that is a vacation.\" he sighs as Stephy looks at Alice, then sniffs at her, then eeps and quickly jumps over to Trixie's lap. Demons and the fae have a history...\n\nAlice pouts as the boy hops off her lap, leaning back \"Well shit if he's got one of those weapons maybe I could call in some support.\" Demons and Angels had a special fear of those kinds of weapons. A werewolf lost its power, a vampire withered, but a demon or angel is a being of pure spiritual energy, if they get hit without a mortal body to take the blow they simply... stop existing... it was an incredibly dangerous weapon to them.\n\nEveryone, even Lupe, shouts \"NO!\" at the top of their lungs at that suggestion. Nelen shaking his head, \"We've got something that might work... maybe... its a long story...\" he sighs, \"Point is, we definitely do NOT want any of the higher ups from above or below getting closely involved here.\" he nods firmly, \"Besides, its moot. We know for a fact that Mammon already knows about this.\" he sighs as Simoni shudders, remembering how powerless they'd felt in his presence.\n\nAlice shrugs, \"Well I'm not about to go begging for help if you don't want it, just saying…\" she says as she stretches, \"Hey, you've got a plan though, that's good, last group of whatevers I saw go against one of these didn't have a plan and that didn't go well...\"\n\nSimoni leans a bit closer to Arja as Nelen sighs, \"Yeah, we had a close call already. We get the message.\" he nods as the plane reaches a cruising altitude, heading northward. \"So... Franklin is probably still jumpy after the ruckus we caused in the Nightside...\" he mutters, scratching his beard, \"... you guys wanna stop off in Paris or something?\" he suggests as the plane soars away from Morocco and the angelic presence therein.","writing_bbcode_parsed":"The gang would slowly drop to a landing in a small Moroccan airport, seemingly built into the middle of the desert. It was an old airport, barely in service nowadays, built during World War II for soldiers and less than legal immigrants trying to get out of dodge during the North African campaign. The sun was setting in the distance, Natasha stirring in her coffin as she feels the sun's grasp fade from the desert. Aisha had gotten herself cleaned up and dressed, changing out of her modern designer labels to a long white robe and simple sandals over her feet, that sword of hers still strapped to her waist, She kept her vow this far, not using her sword blade to spill blood, the zombie in the Nightside didn’t count of course as that wasn’t technically blood… well, the legends of the old knights were full of loopholes and such... "Here we are." she says with a little sigh as she looks out the window to the vast, empty, desert outside...

Simoni is off the plane first, glad to be in a warmer climate. She's in her sari as usual, the sand and heat not a problem for her. Lupe bounds out next, dressed as a human but still excited by the new smells and sounds in a very dog-like way. After her comes Nelen and Dawn, the cat laying across Nelen's shoulders in her animal guise, Nelen dressed as he always is. "So, that old graveyard should be somewhere north of here, about an hour away. Any ideas on how we get transportation there?" he asks Aisha as the rest of the group disembarks.

Aisha nods, "There should be some jeeps waiting. Nelen can take one and I can take the other, you kids pile in wherever." she says, Arja nodding as she follows the group. "I'll stay here and guard the plane just in case." volunteers Drusilla as Natasha walks to join the group "I've never been here before, should be interesting to see." she says, sniffing the air as well, "Even if I don't smell any prey around..."

Stephy smirks at her, "Like you wouldn't just pounce one of us if you got hungry." he teases, the fae opting to stay behind with Drusilla as his magic won't work well in such a hot area. Simoni giggles, climbing into Nelen's jeep as Lupe bounds into Aisha's, still acting like a wolf despite her currently human body. Dawn rolls her eyes at the dog, then climbs off into Simoni's lap and curls up, the warm weather making her quite drowsy. Simoni giggles and scratches her behind the ears as Nelen starts the engine, "Right then, lets head out. I wanna get there before it gets extremely late. I don't know exactly how welcome magic is in Morocco, but best not to tempt fate." he nods.

Aisha nods, "Yea, not exactly here on vacation…" she agrees, the jeeps soon taking off in the direction of the old graves. Natasha was looking around, using her advanced senses to be sure there wasn't an ambush or anything, but it seemed like the group had avoided being followed, the only sounds around were the nocturnal animals of the desert starting their night...

After a short drive they arrive at an ancient cemetery, some of the stones around it looking like they may well have predated the crusades. The graveyard is huge, but not very well kept, looking like it fell out of use at least a generation ago and perhaps longer. The grass is very deep and many of the headstones are so worn down that the names are all but illegible. Nelen nods to Lupe who shifts back into her werewolf form and breathes in deeply, "... Lupe no smell hunters, it safe." she nods, hunters being what she refers to Clan Fullmoon as.

Aisha nods, "Well this is the place then, it's the only burial ground this old around here left." she says as she looks around, "He wouldn't just be in a grave, though, he'd be in a tomb of some kind." she adds. There were some crypts and tombs around, large buildings of stone, ornately decorated, but almost all in ruins. There was just one that still was standing fully, as if shielded from time itself, a large tomb of sandstone with the image of a pair of crossed swords over the heavy looking stone door, still sealed tightly shut...

Nelen looks it over, then nods, "Yep, that looks right. No way this thing would still be in this good a condition without some enchantment." he comments, then looks at Dawn. "In and out?" he suggests, to which she grins and nods, changing back into her humanoid form before vanishing... only to wind up reappearing face first into the door with a loud SMACK!

"AGH! Ow ow ow OW!" she yelps, clutching at her nose as her eyes water, Lupe letting out a barking laugh. Dawn smacks her upside the head as she walks back, "Yeah, can't just teleport in and unlock it from the inside. Its protected." she frowns.

Aisha holds back a giggle at the cat, "You think you're the only person with teleportation to try to get in there?" she teases, looking at the door. "Obviously you need to somehow show you're on the same side as him, but what's something that'd remain the same through generations no matter what..." she takes the sword out, a burst of light filling the area (making Natasha hiss angrily, but thankfully not be burned...) but that does nothing, even as she presses every end of it she can think of the door.

Nelen thinks, then looks at the door and the crossed swords. "Hm... I've got an idea." he suggests, looking closer and noticing that the image is actually a pair of stone swords wired to the door itself with rather sharp edges. "Try cutting yourself on one of these." he nods, pointing at them. "This thing is probably sealed against any not of his -blood-line, so you have to prove you're in it." he nods.

Aisha nods, "Good idea, that'd be the one thing he'd feel secure in never changing." she replies, raising her hand up and slicing her finger on the sharp stone edge, her blood falling into a hidden groove and sliding down the middle of the door before, with a low hiss, the blood trail forms a crack in the door, allowing it to slide open and allow access to the pristine tunnel leading deep underground. "Here we go." she grins.

Nelen smirks, "Thought so. This isn't the first time Dawn and I have had to go tomb raiding." he comments as Simoni hesitates at the door, "Nn... maybe I should've waited at the plane. My magic is no good underground." she murmurs as Lupe bounds ahead, sniffing around inside the tomb.

Arja nods at that, forming a ball of fire to light the way "Wanna stand guard out here, just in case? Never know who's watching places like this."

Simoni thinks, then clings to Arja, "No." she nods firmly, thinking back to what happened in Texas, their trip into the underworld and all that. The last thing she needs is for someone like him to catch her alone.

Arja laughs, patting Simoni with her free hand, "I'll keep you safe…" she grins as he leads the way down. The tomb was honestly pretty simple, their mummy friend Sadeh would no doubt find the Moors horribly lacking in creative thought. Its main security system was the door and its magical wards (which in fairness, was a pretty secure system, it's almost impossible to spoof blood after all). The path was long, but fairly simple down...and then the group hears a voice.

A young girl lets out a loud huff before speaking, "I don't see why you're staying down here so eagerly, all you have to do is lie and say I tricked you and we both go home!"

There's a pause before a boy's voice speaks, "You know I can't do that, I literally cannot do that, nothing is keeping YOU here, YOU could just go home right now and leave me to my vigil..."

Nelen blinks, then winces as his arm gives a sudden violent spasm. He grips it with his other hand and looks at it curiously, then shrugs it off when it stops. "Something got Merihim all agitated just now..." he mutters under his breath as Dawn gives him a worried look she motions for the group to stop, then takes a breath as her body begins to fade, then vanishes from view except for her eyes and mouth. "Stay back, I'll see what's going on." she nods, creeping forwards as her eyes narrow until they're barely visible yellow slits in the gloom.

Up ahead there was the central chamber, a large sarcophogus sat in the middle, an old set of Moorish armor on a dummy next to it, this was obviously where Aisha needed to go. Next to it was a stone jar covered in glittering golden writing that seemed to be carved into it. The problem, though, was sitting on top of the sarcophagus was what looked like a young girl, Arja's age with long red hair and bright red irises dressed in a leather pair of pants and a pink shirt, a pair of high heeled boots kicked off near her feet... Next to her, standing, was a boy of the same age, wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt, his hair was red as well, but his eyes were a bright gold. Nelen, or his demon at least, knew exactly what these were, the girl was a demon, the boy was an angel, and both were pretty damn strong despite their vessels, they had to be to have gotten in here without molesting the tomb. "You're pathetic~" the girl sneers at the boy, "You're guarding BONES, you realize that right?" she frowns, the boy just shaking his head "You know I'm guarding something far more important than this tomb…" he replies, eyes drifting to the jar.

Dawn winces. An angel and a demon, one of the divine and one of the infernal... that could be a problem. The demon maybe not, there's ways of dealing with them, but the angel... they're basically heaven's attack dogs, and they tended to be very direct in dealing with what they saw as a 'sin'... and given what Arja and Simoni get up to on a regular basis, yeah this could be bad.

Dawn sneaks back to the group and goes visible again, then nods, "Yeah, we might have a problem... there's an angel up ahead. A demon too. They're both incarnated into human bodies, but... still... angel." she winces.

Aisha raises a brow, "What? An angel and a demon are in the tomb, like, actual angels and demons?" she asks as Arja shakes her head, "Shit... maybe I can toss some clout around or something, those types' homes are basically one big bureaucracy..." she says, looking to Nelenm "You gonna be ok or do you need to leave? No shame if you don't wanna stick around, not sure how your... buddy... works when around other demons or angels."

Nelen is still holding his arm, "I think I can manage. Unless its an Archangel I should be able to survive it..." he nods as Dawn frowns. "Yeah, sure beardy. You remember what happened -last- time we ran into one of those things. IF we hadn't gotten a head start and IF we hadn't passed infront of a Hustler store when we were running from it and IF I hadn't managed to teleport us five times in a row to put enough distance between it and us to shake it we'd both have been pillars of salt." she smirks, "Sucked to be that porn store though." she makes a gesture with her fingers like something exploding as Simoni winces, giving Arja a nervous glance. Dawn nods, "Yeah, they can sense when someone has 'sinned', and their definition of sin can be pretty damn wide."

Arja takes a breath, looking to Aisha, "Well, we came this far, not gonna turn back just because someone with the divine version of a badge and gun is in the way…" she nods, taking Simoni's hand and walking forward...

Luckily it seems the pair were too engaged in their fight to notice the 'intruders' yet. "Oh for... it's a GLUTTONY demon?!" the girl says angrily, "You're not holding the gates of Hell itself shut, you're keeping a fat little turd locked in a jar because he had one party!"

"For one, he's the second in command to the Lord of the Flies, for another his 'little party' was making a village literally eat themselves to death." replies the boy in an irritated tone.

"Died happy~" the girl grins, "More than can be said for the people YOU'VE taken out, right sweetie?" she coos playfully.

Nelen winces as his arm spasms again, his eyes starting to take on a reddish tint, "Fuck..." he winces, "Guys, Merihim is getting really pushy here..." he nods, struggling as he tries to keep him under his control, sweat beading on his forehead. Dawn hesitates, then looks to Aisha, "Any chance you can just toss the sword in there and we can run like hell back to the plane?" she asks.

Aisha looks apologetic, but shakes her head, "It's a ritual, my ancestor's soul is caught in limbo until I can bring the sword back and re-bond it to him... It's not LONG, but I need a bit."

Nelen winces, a sudden coppery scent filling the immediate area, "Fuck, too late!" he gasps, then he goes limp for a minute before straightening up and smirking, his eyes a bloody red now. "Right, you do your thing Spamalot, I'm gonna go say hello~" grins Merihim as he steps forward, hands in his pockets as Dawn scoots closer to the exit, or at least making sure there's something between her and holy judgement. "Hey hey hey! I recognize that voice!" he calls out to the two in the next room, "Lest this human's ears deceive me, and they might given how he likes his music, that is none other than little miss Reshephia before me!" he grins widely.

The argument stops as Merihim makes his way in, the demon girl blinking a bit before smirking, "Merihim? That you? Last I heard you were riding some wizard, surprised he lets you off your leash…" she teases before nodding to the jar, "Be a lamb and smash that open for mama?" she coos as the boy frowns, "You should know if the wards are broken divine judgement will fall upon whoever does it." he warns, the girl rolling her eyes in response, "Oh please, Merry's tough, he can take a little 'divine judgement'…" she pouts.

Merihim would know the pair better than Nelen, likely. They were siblings, or as close as one got in their worlds, the boy remained loyal while his sister fell. Reshephia, or in her mortal name 'Alice' was a Shedim, a fallen version of her brother's band. Both of them were extremely adept at possessing or dominating mortals, even able to have multiple vessels at once, though obviously their intentions to their mortals were very different...

Aisha, meanwhile, was quick to join them, Arja following behind, she sets the sword down and kneels on the ground, quickly beginning to chant in Arabic.

Merihim leans in and pokes it a bit, "Huh, that's one of Beelzebub's boys in there isn't it?" he asks, rolling his eyes, "C'mon Reshy, I know I've been away from the pit for a while but you know how we wrathy boys feel about the bugs." he smirks, straightening up, "Besides, if your brother is in here keeping an eye on him the he can't come bother any of us now can he?" he smirks, looking her over, "So... nice loli-suit. Did you pick it up today or have you been wearing it for a while?" he asks, stroking Nelen's beard.

Merihim is a Wrath demon, servant of the court of Sathanus while Alice/Reshephia is a Lust demon from the court of Asmodeus. The demon in the jar is a gluttony one bound to Beelzebub. Lust demons and Wrath demons tend to get along well (lust often leads to wrath, and vice versa), but gluttony is more tied to sloth and wrath demons simply don’t get along with them.

Alice smirks a bit "Got her a couple years ago, Urieas there is in her brother…" she grins to her brother wickedly, "You know how I hate seeing family separated~" she teases, some venom in her voice at that. It was no secret she saw her brother's refusal to join her in rebellion as a personal betrayal. "All he has to do is ask nice and I'll give her back…" she adds with a grin, her brother frowning "With all the memories of all you've used her for..." he adds in, making Alice laugh loudly. "I have a couple other meatsuits topside, keeping tabs on things, but they're just drones." She and her brother's kind were powerful, but having 100% control over multiple humans was taxing, most of them had one or two 'main' vessels and some 'drones' (the angels of course never used such crude language...) that were basically zombies shuffling through a simple routine, like a computer with slave programs.

 Her eye drifts to Aisha's ritual but she honestly doesn't seem bothered by it. The knight's soul was heaven bound no matter what, no reason to waste energy fighting a losing battle. Urieas, though, smiles at her, "Your ancestor would be proud of you, Aisha, he knew one day he'd have a descendant who'd be strong enough to free him." he says before his eyes drift to Arja, raising a brow "Hrm..." he says, Alice's eyes soon joining, both divine creatures now staring at Arja...

Merihim smirks, "Don't even think about it choir boy. Yeah she gets up to some interesting stuff, but god would get very cross with you if you hurt her... or at least a god would." he sneers, "Ah, but thats the problem with being a good little puppy for Yahweh isn't it? You're not very good at the whole 'thinking for yourself thing' when you gotta ask daddy's permission every time you have to take a piss." he laughs, "Seriously though, you might be able to injure my meatsuit, and that'd be harder than you think, but I -would- be able to kill your host and without him you snap right back up to Heaven and have to explain to papa why the bug you were watching got loose." he grins widely.

The Angel just frowns as he looks to Arja, then Natasha, and the rest of the group, before looking to Alice. No one else could hear it, but Merihim could. This was an ancient rite, near every culture had it in some form, he could practically see the scales in front of him as the two argue over where each action went, both putting their thumb on the scale where needed before they both blink, snapping out of their seemingly short trance.

"Interesting..." the angel says, "I won't pretend you're all sin free... especially SOME of you…" his eyes fall on Natasha and Nelen at that, "Still... despite your sins, you're an interesting lot..." Alice just huffs, looking like a child denied her toy as she crosses her arms, "Yes, right on the edge in some ways... but still." she says, eyes drifting to the jar again, "Make ya a deal, brother." she says with a wicked grin "I'll leave, right now, you can keep the fly prince, to be honest this was just a favor to his daddy," it was true, while Alice 'freelanced' for gluttony a good bit, she was completely Asmodeus's follower, "But you leave too. Once the black knight there finishes her rite this guy's soul's leaving anyway." she says, nodding to the suit of armor "Without him this is just a forgotten tomb, no one has any reason to come here. She's gonna lock up when she leaves... RIGHT?" she says, throwing a glare at Aisha, still focused on her work, Arja nodding for her "Yep, we will!" she replies quickly as Alice nods.

"So, come on, we've been down here for what, two years now? We're the only ones who give a shit about this guy, you and I both go, we call it a wash, you can even keep your wards on it to keep me from just walking back."

Merihim nods, "Yeah, this graveyard is almost totally forgotten. Hell give it a few years and it'll probably be a parking lot. Nobody will even know this place existed." he adds, "Then your sister can get back to doing what she does best." he nods, glancing at her, "Managed to seduce any more priests lately? I know at least part of that mess with the Catholic Church was you." he grins, nudging Alice with his elbow. He may not be one of Asmodeus's followers, but Wrath demons and Lust demons do get along well... after all lust does so often lead to wrath (and vice versa).

Alice just grins, "Oh a lady doesn't kiss and tell~" she teases, her brother frowning, "It may be a forgotten tomb but at least this way I can keep my eye on you..." he says, crossing his arms as Alice grins, "Completely right, I'm an utter terror alone, corrupting the innocent, stealing bodies, destroying lives, horrible, so horrible…" she says with a wide smile, "So! I'll submit myself for parole! I'll leave but I'll take my main vessel to a place where you can check in on me... I hear India's a lovely place this time of the year!" She grins as she looks back to Merihim, "Lookie, we even have a respected demon who can vouch for anything I claim!"

Merihim smirks, "Mmmhmm, I'll make sure she behaves herself and only uses her infernal powers for good~" he replies, grinning at the angel as Dawn's eye twitches. Truth be told Merihim creeped her out, especially since he could hijack Nelen's body like this... but two demons? "Uh, do we get a say in this?" she asks as Merihim simply replies, "No."

Alice nods, "Sorry wonder cat, this is above your paygrade." she teases. Arja frowns, but nods, "Fine, she's gonna come along anyway I assume, at least this way I won't wake up and see one of my maid's possessed holding a chainsaw..."

Alice blinks, "Oh, you still may see that, but now you have a heads up, and isn't that really what matters?" she grins wickedly before Arja speaks again, "This is above DAWN'S grade, but not mine." she says in a firmer voice. "You may not work for my ancestor but I still have rights, including the right to punish foreign demons that cause too much chaos and imbalance in MY domain, understood?"

Alice mulls that over before nodding "Deal, I won't sic the forces of hell on you, as long as everything's all just and deserved, no randomly deciding Tuesday is throw holy water on everyone's bed day." Arja nods at that, holding her hand out "We have a deal then…" she says as the angel rubs his head, "Fine, at least she's in one place... mostly." he sighs as Aisha finishes the ritual, standing as the sword glows bright white, making Alice and Natasha both frown and look away, likely hurting Merihim's eyes as well as it flies past them to join the armor.

Merihim hisses and covers his eyes with Nelen's hat as Dawn's own eyes close, Simoni wincing a bit but seeming otherwise unharmed by the sudden glare... though as the light fills the room she feels like she can almost see something through it... though she can't get a good enough look to tell what.

Aisha smiles happily as she stands, sighing with relief as she sees the figure in the light, "It's done!" she says with a smile, seemingly not caring about the infernal deal around her as Alice grins, "Perfect! Let's go home then!" she cheers as she hops to her feet, her boots snapping to her feet as she does so.

The Angel sighs again, looking to Merihim "I expect honesty when I check in, and I WILL check in. I'm sure there's plenty going on that you don't want your boss knowing about next time I'm down there, right?" he says. Despite popular media angels and demons had nothing really blocking them from visiting the 'other side', though obviously most places that mattered were warded and off limits, it was just that neither side much liked each other's 'home'... Still, sometimes they had to visit on diplomacy or the like.

Merihim nods, "Yeah yeah, honesty and yadda yadda... Oh hey, um... Urieas was it?" he asks, "Yeah, we'll behave, but that imp that snuck in behind us might not..." he smirks and, when the angel turns to look he lashes out suddenly with a bloody tendril covered in teeth. Dawn eeps and Simoni lets out a shocked cry as the angel's host falls one way and his host's head falls another. "Whups, my hand slipped." he sneers, the divine presence in the tomb suddenly vanishing as the angel is banished back to Heaven.

Merihim walks over to the urn, humming a soft tune to himself, then yawns, stretches, and makes a great show of 'accidentally' shoving it off it's pedestal with his arm, "Whupsie~ I am so clumsy today!" he laughs, then starts to make for the exit rather quickly as a huge cloud of horseflies bursts out of the urn and starts tunneling it's way into the ground. "Right, time to go kiddies! Grab whatever looks like it'll pawn well and run!" he cackles.

Alice frowns at Merihim, "Damn it I liked having matching vessels!" she yells before bolting out of the tomb, the girls following quick behind before Aisha slams the doors shut and wipes her blood off, once again sealing the tomb up tight. The 'divine judgement' thankfully was exactly what it sounded like rather than some magic nuke. The demon got loose, but white light washed through the tomb, purifying it of any infernal taint as Aisha's ancestor found rest finally. "You know," Aisha says, "In a fucked up way you helped me out, so, thanks?" She says to the demon as Alice huffs, crossing her arms, "Seriously now I'm gonna have to find him a body that looks like this one's brother, know how hard it is to find a CUTE ginger kid?"

Dawn and Merihim both look at Simoni, then at Arja, and then point to her, "She can help with that." says Dawn as Simoni just stares at the doors, "Um... is nobody going to point out that Merihim just basically killed a kid?" she asks, "I mean, he was possessed by something... but..." she mutters, looking more than a bit rattled by seeing what looked like her brother decapitating someone.

Alice shrugs, "Does it help at all that the kid basically gets VIP status up top for being an angel vessel? I mean, and I don't mean to be morbid but decapitation is a quick way to go and getting the special treatment in heaven is a pretty sweet end result. Of the ways to kill a kid I'd say that was one of the nice ones."

Merihim shrugs, "Eh, had to make sure the kid died before choir boy managed to pull a flaming sword out of his ass." he replies, "Otherwise I would've enjoyed myself~" he grins. "I mean, I wouldn't have shed any tears for that bug getting stuck in that pot for another few centuries before one of us freed him, but I -love- pissing off angels." he sneers. "Y'know I used to be a god before Yahweh and his boys came along? Not a major one, you won't find me in any history books, but I had my followers and we had our rituals and ceremonies... and then along comes this group of Christians who try to convert my crowd, and when they say no the preachers leave and the knights come marching in..." he grins, "Not all us demons were angels who fell with Lucifer y'know, some of us were just pushed out by that power-hungry little prick and had nowhere else to go, so we sided with the guy standing against him. Now I get to have my fun tormenting the smug little fuck's followers and occasionally pulling stunts like that." he sneers, "And if some little mortal gets caught in the gears and ground into pulp... thats just one little sacrifice to me~"

Alice smirks, "Mhm, and vise versa is true. Mithra's an angel now for example, the small gods that played ball, kissed the ring and all, they got folded into the divine host, ones who fought... well…" she nods to Merihim, "Anyway, a vessel died, we're gonna have some angel CSI showing up soon, they're gonna see what happened and knowing my brother there probably won't be any repercussions since he knows I'll get him a replacement, still, would rather not have to explain to the spooks why we're here, so I assume there's a plane? You better lay low by the way, Merry, they know I'm here but if they feel you around things may escalate, want Raph down here checking things for 'cult activity'?"

Merihim actually does look disturbed at the idea, "Ugh, that old bastard... yeah, lets scram kids." he nods, then Nelen's entire body shudders as his eyes change back to normal, the warlock stumbling as he collects himself. "Fucking hell that always hurts..." he mutters, stumbling towards the jeep.

"Right right, he gave me the general idea, lets leave, quick. I don't want to have to deal with a fully incarnated angel again." he nods, waving for the group to follow him as he regains his composure, climbing behind the wheel.

Alice nods, hopping in the jeep as Aisha gets in the driver's seat of the other, Arja rubbing Simoni's back as they drive along back to the plane. In the distance there's a low rumble as Alice winces in pain, "Damn it..." she grunts "Always hurts when a big guy gets here..." she says, it seems 'Raph', or rather Raphael of the Seraphim, was checking the area after all. Thankfully with Merihim subdued he wasn't 'visible' unless Nelen started using blood magic in the area, as long as they got out of dodge without outing him everything was fine.

 "See, say what you want about my bosses, but Archangels? Those guys scare the SHIT out of me…" nods Alice as the graveyard lights up behind them.

Nelen nods in agreement, his head still throbbing. "Yeah... there's a reason why so many pacts are made with Hell rather than Heaven." he nods, "At least demons are willing to negotiate." he says, Merihim staying well hidden and totally inert as the group gets back to the plane. A minor angel like Urieas isn't a big deal for him, but one of the Seraphim... yeah, he'd need to call in a favor to take him down and he definitely didn't want to have to contact one of the princes. Even then it'd cause quite a stir, though the mundanes would probably write it off as an earthquake, or a sudden and inexplicable volcanic eruption. If only they knew that the Tunguska event was what happened when an Archangel and one of the seven Princes got in what was, for them, a fist fight.

The group re-enters the plane, Aisha getting the pilot to get airborne quick, "Where you guys wanna touch down? We still need to lay low a little…" she says before Alice raises a brow, "We're laying low?" she says as she makes herself comfy on a seat, grabbing Stephy and yanking him into her lap idly. "Oh yea, we're laying low." Arja says, explaining the situation to the demon. "Oh goodie, I thought I was getting a vacation not a fight with a genocidal nutbar with a blade that can even fuck up a demon..."

Nelen rolls his eyes and buckles himself in as the plane begins to take off, "For us, that is a vacation." he sighs as Stephy looks at Alice, then sniffs at her, then eeps and quickly jumps over to Trixie's lap. Demons and the fae have a history...

Alice pouts as the boy hops off her lap, leaning back "Well shit if he's got one of those weapons maybe I could call in some support." Demons and Angels had a special fear of those kinds of weapons. A werewolf lost its power, a vampire withered, but a demon or angel is a being of pure spiritual energy, if they get hit without a mortal body to take the blow they simply... stop existing... it was an incredibly dangerous weapon to them.

Everyone, even Lupe, shouts "NO!" at the top of their lungs at that suggestion. Nelen shaking his head, "We've got something that might work... maybe... its a long story..." he sighs, "Point is, we definitely do NOT want any of the higher ups from above or below getting closely involved here." he nods firmly, "Besides, its moot. We know for a fact that Mammon already knows about this." he sighs as Simoni shudders, remembering how powerless they'd felt in his presence.

Alice shrugs, "Well I'm not about to go begging for help if you don't want it, just saying…" she says as she stretches, "Hey, you've got a plan though, that's good, last group of whatevers I saw go against one of these didn't have a plan and that didn't go well..."

Simoni leans a bit closer to Arja as Nelen sighs, "Yeah, we had a close call already. We get the message." he nods as the plane reaches a cruising altitude, heading northward. "So... Franklin is probably still jumpy after the ruckus we caused in the Nightside..." he mutters, scratching his beard, "... you guys wanna stop off in Paris or something?" he suggests as the plane soars away from Morocco and the angelic presence therein.","pools_count":0,"title":"Part 1.20: The Moroccan Tomb","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"35","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}