Welcome to Gaia! ::

Angela flushed. "Ah...okay," she said. Wow. Did he...just say that? It sounded rather suspect. Gah!

She turned away. "Fine...." Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she focused for a moment on her home, feeling the familiar tug that always drew her back there. She vanished from Kall in a shower of light and appeared on a balcony of her father's palace. It looked like spring in his world at the moment--everything in the courtyard was green and blooming. The sky was clear and pale blue. It was beautiful.

"Well," Angela said, looking around. "This should be interesting."

"The one we're going to fight is called Agares," Christine said. "An arch fiend--first Duke of the east." She stepped into the circle, feeling the air sizzle as she and Aetra were transported to Agares' layer of the Abyss, a flat waste land that appeared to stretch out infinitely on all sides.

Ahead of them though was a slight rocky rise, from which rose a tall, dark spire.

"They say he commands thirty one legions of fiends and demons and other evil beasties," Christine said. "Sounds fun doesn't it?"

**

"Y--yes," Angela said hesitantly. She cautiously stepped inside from the balcony and looked around, not quite fast enough to dodge being set upon by four servants who immediately started fussing over her hair and clothes. "Gah! Get off me!" she said, flailing as they started to drag her away by her arms, saying they would definitely fix her up right away as her clothing was entirely inappropriate for the palace. "Zeeen help!" she yelled just as they turning into a side corridor and hauled her out of sight.

"She always makes such a fuss," said a slightly voice from behind Zen. The voice belonged a man around Zen's height who looked more or less Human but for the pointed ears. And the long white hair. His eyes were pale grey like Angela's but also faintly luminescent. He was dressed almost entirely in grey and white and, oddly, despite the ornate silver trim and generally rich appearance of his clothes, wasn't wearing shoes. "You...must be Zensekai. My daughter has told me a great deal about you."

"Well we could," Christine said. "But it seems like it would be a fun place to hang out for a while. I'll bet there's a nice view at the top. But....." she paused, curious about something.

"Can you really just knock it over? I mean, those fiends coming out from that door are going to try to stop you, you know. Though they look pretty weak..."

**

"I know quite a lot about you beyond what Nimarien has told me. I am Mizrael," he said. "I am curious as to what brings the two of you here? Unfortunately my daughter's movements are often...difficult to track."

Mizrael smiled. "It seems like something interesting has happened. Do share."

**

Meanwhile in the palace, Angela was being shampooed, perfumed and forced into fancy, lacy items she normally would not be caught dead in.

Christine watched Aetra with great interest. His swirly eyes in particular were quite intriguing. "Well, I don't suppose need it later though you did mention needing a base...house...thing. Though that one does look a bit dreary.

"And...pointy. You can knock it down if you want. Maybe Agares will come out to play if you do."

**

Mizrael sighed. "Yes. That one always causes trouble of the most irritating variety. It's a bit troubling that part of me was used to create her. He took a breath and closed his eyes, focusing for a moment. "There is a disturbance on the lower planes though I am not sure where."

Looking at Zen, he said, "I am not sure I would be permitted to help you however but if I am...I will do so gladly."

He turned slightly and smiled. "That gown looks lovely on you Nimarien."

Angela stepped out of the shadows hesitantly, glaring at her father. "I have asked you repeatedly to call me Angela."

Christine grinned. Angela's boyfriend may be all shiny and have nice couches in his place but hers could destroy an arch demon's tower in one swing.

"Oh no doubt," she agreed. "Hey look! There he is....." She pointed to a dark, shadowy figure rising up out of the rubble. "He looks angry--we should go ask him about that proving his manhood thing."

**

Mizrael shrugged. "We have few rules but the ones in place must be followed." He turned to look at Angela, who looked lovely...and rather annoyed. "Nimarien...you look lovely."

Angela glowered at him. "So...what are you two talking about? Do you know where Christine and Aetra are Father?"

"Aetra--that is the name of this 'Darkness?'"

"Zen didn't tell you?" Angela asked, glancing at Zen."

Angela flushed red at Zen's abrupt compliment. She flailed inwardly. That idiot! Why did he have to say...weird things?

Mizrael smirked at his daughter's discomfort but turned his attention to Zen. "Were this creature confined to some mortal realm or other, I likely would be unable or unwilling to intervene. But I fear he is more likely to create a far more disturbance than just that."

"I will do what I can to locate him. In the mean time, I shall leave the two of you to...talk." He stepped away from Zen, turning to go down a long corridor, his body discorporeating before he reached the end.

Angela hesitated uncertainly, staring after her father. "So..."

**

"Must be Angela's pissy fae of a Father," Christine said. It seemed their little arch fiend friend was going to send his henchmen in first and so Christine tore the bandages off her hand, concentrating on that area to cause the wound there to bleed freely again. She drew the fingers of her other hand across the wound, coating them in blood before flinging it at the approaching low level fiends.

Halfway to them, the long streaks of blood in the air hardened to sharp, pointy shards of crystal, piercing them through easily.

"I doubt he'll help them," she added casually. "He doesn't do much but sit around and plot ways to annoy my sister or something. He's supposed to be a power or something but he doesn't act like it so I doubt it's any reason to be concerned."

Agares regarded Aetra calmly for a moment before he did what any self respecting arch demon would have done: he let out a howl of rage, drew his absurdly huge magic sword and attacked.

From where she was fighting of demony minion things, Christine just laughed. This was fun.

**

"Ah...unlikely," Angela said, leaning on the railing of the balcony. "I don't know if I mentioned this or not but he's sort of in self imposed exile. He doesn't really...interact with the rest of his race much. They had a falling out a while back and all that. So....there isn't really anyone he would actually inform."

"Well, I see two," Angela said. "Either we can go find them now, on our own or we can wait for them to cause enough trouble that some others also take notice and go in as a group."

"I'm not really worried about Christine but I don't know what Aetra is really capable of. I don't know what would happen if we rushed in alone."

**

"I'm good!" Christine called, dodging a blast of purple...energy...stuff. "Um...just....have at him and all that. I'm a bit busy--not all powerful over here, you know."

This was fun. Even if she was bleeding and covered in demon goo.