Welcome to Gaia! ::

Unfortunately, that meant the one who was coming saw them first. "Good afternoon, my Lords," said a dapper young man, and indeed he was very young. There could be no way that his physical age was any greater than Soah's; in all actuality, he looked to be at least a year or two younger. He seemed normal enough, but when he spoke the very glass windows of the house shattered. "Excuse me, my Lords," he continued past them, polished heels clicking against the path, a macabre smile gracing a face that might have shamed an angel.

He paused in the open doorway, chestnut-colored hair falling out around his cheekbones as he removed the bowler that had perched jauntily on his head. "I have messages," he said to the Sins who were still inside. The static increased in the parlor room. "The first is for Avarita..." Musingly, he pulled a stack of paper out of nullspace and tossed the first message away. "Lilith, the Queen Mother, says wake up." He mounted the stairs and tapped the side of Mandy's head. "'If you must be incarnated, treat your host body with respect,' she says."

Then he turned to Lucifer and Hilaire. "Luci, darling, says Her Majesty, what were you thinking with those drapes? 'No matter how black they are, that rug is red and it simply doesn't work.' Tch." Another paper joined the first on the floor.

To Claire and Ifrit, the unknown demon simply said, "She looks forward to meeting you one day," and tossed away the paper.

After a pause, he turned to Astaroth and bowed deeply at the waist. "Prince Astaroth. Her Majesty commanded me to give this to you." He handed her the final piece of paper. "She would like to visit the human world, and wondered if you would like to be her guide."

The man's first instinct was to ward the strange boy from the house, but as the windows shattered beneath the inflection of his words, Neil came to understand that the boy belonged there. "G'day," he respond automatically, standing up straight again and brushing off the glass that clung to his shoulders and hair. High and tense emotions, demons, houses imploding...all in a day's work, anymore.

"Let's go 'ome," he sighed tiredly, drawing Soah into a gentle hug. He wanted to know exactly what happened, because he had a feeling he would no longer be as open to helping Legion after this fiasco.

She stood tall, the wing protecting the two flicking the glass off and beyond the hallway before the leathery appendage resettled against her back. The Prince chose not to wear her feathery counterparts in such meetings; everything served a purpose, and she was well to do so this time. A strange and not entirely unattractive smile curved her lips, no less malicious but not quite as hideous as her previous attempts. She had been partially right about the visitor, but was no less pleased to see him. A sliver of pride found its way into her arched brow at the comment to her Ifrit and his charge; she did well with the fire demon, and she was allowed that spot of gratification.

Astaroth inclined her head in acknowledgement, her voice honeyed with familiarity and a near common courtesy. "Attis, sweet one, what a surprise." Tapered fingers accepted the parchment, although her eyes never left the boyish demon.

There was a brief but distinct flicker over her face, one that could have been described as near to joy as a demon was capable of showing before her smiling mask settled into place. "I would be honored to be in service to my Dark Lady," the Prince purred, "and would see to be a proper guide as She pleases." The Queen, coming to visit? Things were certainly taking a strange turn, although for worse or better had yet to be determined.

Lucifer was the first to sit up of the two. He bowed his head to Attis, and placed his hands on Hilaire's shoulders. He pulled her up so she could be sitting on her knees. Things were becoming serious if his mother was getting involved. He concluded it would be best to return to the shop and see if he could acquire some books.

Hilaire for once followed Lucifer's example and did not speak. This boy was clearly someone you did not want to anger. Especially if he shattered glass with only his voice. She didn't want to imagine what else he could do.

It was like a cold hand grabbed her heart and squeezed. A wet cough sputtered from the stairs. Mandy choked down a painful breath of air as fighting arms swung at the darkness. Her pretty brown eyes bugged with feral animosity, snapping upright... and then sagging back down from the pain. It wasn't so bad now that she thought about it. Just a dull throb through her body, radiating form her head. Maybe she was going into shock, or had a concussion. The only thing she could truly feel was the cold blood that seeped from her nose and mouth.

She felt a warm heat beside her and did her best to turn to Grim, but he beat her to it as the smell of death and a big pad of a tongue licked her face clean. "Yeah... thanks..." She greeted with a less than civil tone. Finally she became aware of sound and sight again and saw the others littering the hall, clearly interested in something else than her magnificent fall. "Yeah thanks for everyone's quick action... really..." Ow. A shaky hand brushed over a tender goose egg that jutted from the back of her head.

Oh yeah that was real attractive. What a bunch of ******** jackasses. Well, she did deserve it, a bit of it, but that kid needed a serious reality check and if no one else would she was glad to try.

"........ Jesus Christ... Who are you? Where are you people coming from?!" So this was what was attracting everyone's attention: another kid?! Really? ******** CHILDREN!

"Bite your tongue, woman... You will bury us all with that filthy mouth of yours..." Her ever-present guardian bellowed in his deeply rich voice.

"Excuse me? Our gracious hosts have been dragging their a** for hours, holding us here and for what?! They can barely contain us, let alone keep their guests protected or unharmed! I think I am owed a bit of an explanation, if nothing else!" Ohh God, shouting was not a good feeling. Her head sung like a tuning fork and she almost toppled back down the floor.

"And yourself, your highness," said Attis sweetly. He bowed one more time as she left, then turned his flat, oddly emotionless gaze to the others. "Forgive me for ignoring you, milords, miladies, but Her Majesty's wishes are tantamount to my own."

The demon looked young, sounded young, probably could be young, but something about him suggested he was much older than he looked. He smiled harmlessly at the remaining gathered Sins, exposing normal teeth. "Your Grace," he said to Lucifer, "Uncle. Grandmother would like a response from you on the matter of those drapes immediately."

Turning on his heel to look at Mandy, he frowned for a moment. "I thought Lamia's action quite quick," said the boy with a bit of a pout. Continuing with another formal bow, he said "Forgive me, I only just arrived. My name is Attis, and it's good to meet you. I come from Gehenna, the first circle of Hell. Forgive me for causing your hosts to leave, also; they must have sensed my arrival.

"However, now they may sense my departure. I have much to do to prepare this world for a visit of State..." He paused. "Although if any of you have questions, I'll do my very best to answer them."

"I'll replace them as soon as we arrive home. Perhaps I'll have Hilaire help me pick them out, as she seems to have an eye for color." For some reason, he was so unsettled by all of this. Nothing was sitting right lately, things were being too eventful. He was hoping for it to be boring, monotonous. But now the apocalypse could happen. That is really eventful, too much for him right now. He wasn't done having fun yet.

Hilaire gave a shy laugh. "Lucifer is a little color blind..."
All she could do was hope that she was saying the right thing. It would not be good to insult him, as she felt nothing could be done to correct it.