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 Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:56 pm
He hoped that the Prince would do as she said. The man might be curious, of course, as to why he was directed to this out-of-the-way room in a house that would be unfamiliar. He wondered, for instance, if Neil Argyle would even listen to Astaroth in this situation. All he truly wanted to do was get a handle on how the man acted- impressions by one of the Seven (the Two, for now) had given him an idea, but you needed to know before you started throwing oversouls into people.
Lucifuge grimaced and looked at his mistress. Her dark hair swayed in an unseen breeze, as it always did. Would Astaroth recognize the mistress in this form? Unlikely. He doubted that the Prince had ever met his mistress in the demonic incarnation. After hearing Lust's- always so much easier to think of them by their designation- story about the summoning of the Prince of Lies, she had been interested as he.
...And Soah had mentioned him. The door began to open with a creak, jolting Lucifuge out of his reverie. "Good evening, Prince Astaroth. And to you as well, Mr. Argyle. I believe we've met, but I'll reintroduce myself." He turned to face the door, but only after bowing to the Mistress. "My name is Lucifuge Rofocale. I am the Prime Minister of Hell, and this is my mistress."
His eyes darkened when he looked up after a courteous bow, but his face was thrown into sharper relief because of it. "You will not attempt to see her face." It was not a question.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:30 pm
She listened.
The man in question had been informed he would be meeting with someone; while it was never said out right, it was certainly implied that he had little choice otherwise. Neil had no reason to distrust Astaroth - other than the whole 'being a demon' thing, which he had learned how to overlook - and had not been adverse to the demand.
He was, however, having some second thoughts as he was taken through a new but not unpleasant house, lead by the shoulder with Astaroth's hand. The demoness had been silent the way over, and he had not tried to spur conversation other than the single question of, "Should I leave a note for Soyah?" It was answered with a chilling gaze, and the two had been on their way. Their path had lead them here - wherever that was - and he couldn't help but feel just a might bit uncomfortable with the whole thing. He was not good with secrets, which had made his existance hell thus far, but a demon with secrets...
The human started with a polite knock, but Astaroth had already reached over him and pushed the door open, the audible creak being the only warning their vistor would need. With a backwards glance to his keeper's unmoving face, Neil entered the room, eyes falling on a figure there who started to speak. Recognition flickered over his strong face, his eyes starting to shift over Lucifuge's shoulder to see the introduced mistress, but snapping his gaze back to the Prime Minister at the statement that followed. He really didn't want to be pissing off anyone that had Astaroth so up tight, which brought him to question just why on Gaia he was here.
"Prime...Minister," the satin voice of the Prince drifted over Neil's shoulder. He glanced at her again, a hint of confusion in his eyes; she had pronounced the two words differently, and while her expression hadn't changed at all, there was something off about how she looked. As if tension and anxiety sung in the air around her, but then again, perhaps that was just him.
Grey eyes lighted upon the so-called Prime Minister, giving a slight nod. "Neil Argyle." There was no question asked, and he already had a feeling it was best not to offer information to someone so important. And powerful. Even if he was wrong about his idea, he'd rather be safe than soulless. He felt the Prince's hand touch the small of his back, and somehow felt oddly comforted by it. Neil was not afraid - he had not been afraid but once during his time with Astaroth - but he was weary.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:48 pm
"You please me, Astaroth," said Lucifuge, brushing off his shirt. A bit of reddish dust had settled there; he looked up, and made a note to have that checked. You never knew, with houses like this one... "I am aware he's yours. Didn't we discuss this, my Prince?"
He looked critically at Neil. "A question for you, my human friend." A pause, perhaps intended to heighten tension, or maybe Lucifuge couldn't think of a good way to frame this question in his eerie lacking voice. He adjusted his tie, buying time with the human gesture.
His mistress removed the burden- her voice, when speaking, was genderless, but the face that emerged from the shadows behind Lucifuge was delicately formed and clearly female, but forgettable. Her dark hair covered all the recognizable features. Still... to hear a multitude speak through a human mouth! "Do you fear Us, Neil?" She reached for Astaroth, extending one pretty, pale hand. Her hair shifted a little in the omnipresent wind. "No. That is not Our question. We wonder, Neil, if you believe in God. Will you answer Our question?"
Lucifuge sighed. "Mistress..."
"Be silent. Legion command it." The Prime Minister fell silent, looking away. Even though the mistress spoke to Neil, her face remained turned towards Astaroth.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:08 pm
"One does not deny the request of the Prime Minister," came the smooth reply, even though that heaviness lingered in the air around the man. Neil thought he might have only been picking up on it because he was learning how to read Astaroth and her lack of expression, just as she fed off his emotions and reactions. He did not like this, did not like this one bit, but he had no choice but to see the situation through.
Bright eyes returned to the Prime Minister, not exactly fearless but with a healthy bit of consideration and careful respect. Neil gave a slight nod at the statement, again awaiting a posed question to actually answer, idly brushing the ponytail of his hair over his shoulder. Something moved, and the male demon suddenly had an apparation over his shoulder - or so Neil thought, but before he could look at it, he felt Astaroth's fingers all but pierce his back, prompting his eyes to shoot down to the floor and stare. The voice that then riddled his ears made him shiver involuntarily; it was not one voice, but many, and they seemed to be coming from one mouth!
His neck suddenly pounded with pain, and while he wasn't looking, he could tell Astaroth was not happy. He licked his lips in consideration to both questions posed, one in the form of a statement and one the question to inquire of questions. What a strange and disturbing way to speak! Neil wanted to answer, sincerely wanted to, but memories came with it. The answer was not simple, tied to the hopes and loss of all he had loved, to all he could lose again...
The Prince stood stalk still, eyes lowering as the face made itself known, not daring to look upon that which whispered commands into Lucifuge's ear. She knew all too well what was reaching for her, even before the name was spoken, but she did not flinch; she endured her position, eyes fixed on the Prime Minister's shoulder, the pale limb hovering within her field of vision. Astaroth was not addressed and would not speak, doing as any of her position should when faced with the Legion, and listening. She could taste the familiar tang of Neil's emotions, and knew that no words would have to be imparted from her lips.
"I will answer," he replied formally, allowing his honesty to come forth. "I dinnae know what I believe, Mistress." He did not know what else to call her, despite the term of Legion, and spoke of her only as he was introduced. "I believed, once upon a time, but..." He hesitated, a fresh pang of grief lacing through his gut. "I dinnae think I do anymore." Demons exist, maybe even angels, but God? Astaroth had not yet told him any part of the story that was in their contract, and could not tell truth from false; even if the Prince acknowledged the existance, would he still believe?
No, his faith had been abused. God smite me now, he thought bitterly, but I've only stood in the presence of demons. What else was there to believe?
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:17 pm
The mistress licked her lips, the sound audible in the silence. Her gaze shifted to Neil. "You do not believe in God," she repeated in those many voices. "That is good. We do not believe either. Prince, has my Lucifuge spoken to you about this?"
As if it didn't matter, she stepped forward to run her nails lightly along the edge of Astaroth's face. "Haa, you look like Him, Astaroth. We are pleased, very pleased..." She turned her gaze onto Neil. "You answered only one question."
Lucifuge touched his mistress's shoulder, still obeying the command to be silent. She brushed him off easily, but receded into the shadows behind him regardless. Her voices rasped out again, though; the message was clear. The mistress was not one to be denied even the smallest thing. "Do you fear Us? Answer me," she commanded, and there was a tone to the suddenly singular voice that made it nearly impossible to disobey.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:30 pm
Great. Mind games. First this thing-of-many voices says it's not a question, and now he's in trouble for not answering the not-question. Neil definitely preferred Astaroth over the indirect yet direct scrutiny of this Legion Mistress, not at all comforted or disquieted by Lucifuge's presence. While he was important, this One had some type of control over him, and therefore was only secondary in his awareness.
Astaroth kept her chin high and her eyes low, inwardly both pleased and revolted by the touch she knew very well could rip her face into something even a demon would blanch at. Her downward gaze intensified just a moment at the backhanded compliment, but because the voice was one of pleasure, she accepted it as gracefully as she could. "I know not of the purpose, Legion." No more, no less. And if her human had an inkling of a brain in that thick skull of his, he would follow her lead.
Neil kept his own eyes averted, his answer practically ripped him from his throat. "Nay." He was somewhat surprised by his own response, but it was the truth; he was not completely stupid, and had already decided that if Astaroth was willing to give his time to them that it would not compromise the contract. If the contract was yet to be fulfilled, they wouldn't kill him or give him irreparable damage. It was a grim consideration, to accept damage at all, but the idea of walking away unscathed wasn't something he was currently entertaining.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:43 pm
"He will enlighten you." It wasn't a question; Lucifuge straightened, and put his hands in his pockets. He made not a move to speak, apparently waiting for clarification from the lady who was his mistress.
They had been bonded for such a long time, he anticipated correctly her response to Neil's answer. "Leave Us," commanded the mistress, but her tone was pleased. "We would speak with this one alone."
Lucifuge extended one hand to the other demon. "Shall we, Prince?"
Ignoring that the two demons were still in the room, the mistress crossed her arms over her chest. "We heard from a compatriot of Ours that you had no faith in that sot who sits in Heaven, but were not sure We believed it." The gaze shifted elsewhere for a moment, then back to Neil. "Now We see it is true. However... There is yet more We want to know, before We make this offer to you."
Mimicking her earlier gesture with Astaroth, the mistress laid one hand on the side of Neil's face. Unlike the earlier gesture, her nails actually dug in, though she didn't move her hand. Otherwise, he would have had a set of long, parallel scratches. "Do you know you sin, human Neil?" Then, not waiting for an answer, she said, "Do you know who We are?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:06 pm
Her eyes could not watch, but she was aware, looking up and to Lucifuge as they were dismissed. Astaroth did not want to leave her human in the hands of the Legion, but she was as bound to Them here as she was in Hell. Her index finger gave a singular tap to Neil's back before lifting it, tilting her head to the side as she accepted the offered hand. "Please do lead, Prime Minister." Her face remained as statuesque as ever, not doing so much as glancing back, her gaze held only by Lucifuge.
Despair gripped him; he did not want Astaroth to leave him. He did not want to be left with this partial woman of many entities, did not want to even consider what the demon could possibly want with him. Something sharp against his cheek drew him from his own miserable thoughts, his eyes lifting but freezing once they took in the sight of a pale chin. Thin lips trembled with uncertainty, the absence of fear near startling to himself. It was like when he summoned Astaroth: he had no fear of losing his soul or being condemned to eternal damnation. The suffering in his heart was far worse, as far as he was concerned, a pain that again made its way through him.
"Nay," he breathed the answer weakly, followed by another faint, "Nay. Ye are Legion, but I am nae familiar with th'name." It came to light in his scrambling mind that she might have been indicating sex before marriage or not believing in God. Weren't those sins? Neil couldn't bear it anymore, his steely eyes finally moving up to meet the pretty but unremarkable face of his captor, his expression still one of consideration and discomfort.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:23 pm
Lucifuge stopped outside the door, let go of Astaroth's hand long enough to bow and close the door. "We will talk now," he said, indicating a comfortable pillow-top bench. "This place is safe. It is owned by one of the Seven Sins." He sat on one side of the bench- notably, the side towards the stairs. "Sit. We will talk."
-
Inside the room, the woman's frozen eyes stared back. There wasn't another way to describe them; they were nothing but iris, with the barest hint of a frozen blue. "We are Legion, for We are many." She smiled, an unremarkable thing except for the way her eyes flashed between the white-blue and an eerie pitch black while she did so. It seemed, for a moment, that the depths of Hell itself were contained in those black eyes. But she blinked, and the illusion of flame at the bottom of the Pit receded to their apparent natural color.
"Your sin," she purred, pulling her nails an agonizing inch down the side of his face before letting go. "is that you don't simply lack belief. You despair in your lack of faith, yet you wallow in it." She inhaled deeply, then smiled at him. "It is so strong." Each word had worlds upon worlds of meaning to it, meaning that perhaps Lucifuge might have understood. It wouldn't be clear to anyone who lacked full knowledge of the mistress's plan.
A pause, while she wiped her bloody fingers on the white dress. "We wonder..."
She touched one finger, one with blood still under the nail, to her lips. "...Do you know the-" Her lips quirked. "-Magnificent Seven?" With a more pronounced smirk she said, "Of course you do."
"We are bringing them here," she told him. "The Seven Sins." Finally she fell silently, sucking on the finger that had been at the edge of her lips before.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:47 am
Neil stared into the eyes of the multi-demon who was touching his face in any manner but tenderly. His own bright grey orbs were tinged with the barest hint of green and that was fairly acceptable for eyes like his; what he was beholding was something else entirely, giving him the impression of layers. Not even the glimpse into Hell Itself gripped him as much as those layers did, as though something or many somethings were sliding just beneath the surface.
No sooner was the sight dismissed that his cheek informed him that nails were embedded where they shouldn't be. There was pain, but it wasn't a sharp and screaming pain, instead a dull but deep and throbbing type, numbed by the words spoken and his minds desperate bid to translate the speech into something he could respond to. The warmth on his face lingered even as she pulled away, her crimson fingers confirming that his jaw was lacerated. Even in the face of Legion, another demon who would undoubtably require something of him, the receeding part of his rationality wondered if he would need stitches.
No question was posed, yet he felt the need to defend himself, as meager as the attempt might be. He, a mortal, before a being who was more than one, somehow thought that explaining himself would make it all better. Neil truly questioned his state of mind then, his lips set in a grim line, his words muted in comparison to the many voices of the woman.
"Th'Sins, aye, I know of them," he replied, even though that question had been answered. Why was he being told this...? "T'Gaia? What, nae enough sin among our kind?" Neil probably should have kicked himself as soon as the words crossed his mind, and certainly before they left his mouth; the crude cynicism he carried was prevailing again, the same tone he got with Astaroth when she said something to him he didn't want to hear, to bring a reaction out of him. It didn't occur to him that the Sins were a manifestation, a hierarchy of demonic values rather than the sins spoken of in his abandoned faith.
He did not lift his hand to touch the cut, did not do so much as move a muscle out of place; he would not expend any unnecessary efforts in the face of something like this. His words would get him in enough trouble, he didn't need to make it worse by inviting more bodily suffering.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:29 am
"Nae enough sin among Our kind," she mimicked, though she seemed to be taking it quite seriously. "You stand in a house owned by a Sin, Neil. This place-" The mistress gestured to the comfortable chairs scattered about the room, the wall filled with books whose titles were not written in any earthly tongue, the flowers along the edge of the window. "-is a human place. Sins are humans who bear the marks of their corrupted faith."
She began to walk- it couldn't be called pacing, because when she stopped it was to look at something, and she never walked the same path twice. "Have you not noticed Our work, human? Fights are more common. More and more people are arrested for public indecency, not to mention rape and other such violent crimes, every day." As she turned to face Neil again, the mistress smiled. "Our two Children," she said fondly. "Wrath and Lust." The 's' was almost a hiss, the t sound nearly silent.
Her gaze shifted again, away from the black tea roses on the sill. "Will you become one of Our children, Neil? It is not all sin and its causation. There are benefits as well..." A pause. "Your boy, for instance. Soah Dresden. Lucifuge has met him, We believe." She laughed, long and low, cold and cruel.
"You could protect him," she said, abruptly speaking with a single voice. "He would never even notice it... Since you are so inundated with Sloth already, your ability to control it would be phenomenal from the start." For a second, Hell appeared in the mistress's eyes again; the multitude returned. "It could be so that it would affect all but him, a profound melancholy and despair in God... Crippling."
The Mistress smiled. "And, of course, his safety." Something unspoken surfaced for a moment in her face, but she didn't put it to words. Whatever it was, it hadn't been for mortal ears.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:59 am
He would have sighed were he less of a man; the mimicry only reinforced why he wasn't afraid. Maybe if she'd been threatening, or even displayed something fearsome, he might be able to be afraid. But, as were the case with Merihem - and Astaroth, to a degree - the demons seemed to display some sort of immaturity that tired him. Maybe it was just a lack of caring on their part, but the human could not be afraid of something he felt was not necessarily a threat in the conventional way. If threats could be conventional.
Steely eyes only briefly looked away from Legion, not really interested in the room or house. He weas trying to understand how a Sin could be a human...but he supposed, in a way, it was no different than the demons and angels, those who stood for a thing or purpose. Crudely, he thought that Merihem must be elated that Lust was manifest, not even bothering to ask what two insipid souls would have agreed to be a Sin--
"What?" He stared, jaw slack with shock. She did not just ask him to be a Sin. Was she mad? He ignored the comments of fighting and debauchery, as he did not care to delve into his personal life and why he may or may not have noticed such things. Instead, he focused on the one beacon of life he had in his life, and that she had the audacity to bring him up.
His scowl was tangible in his voice. "Why? What do y'need me for, and why bring up Soyah?" As far as Neil was concerned, the demon was speaking in riddles again. Not only had she said that the affects of the Sin were everywhere, but she was asking him to become one, to further bring strife? Control over Sloth? "I'm nae a lethargic type, sorry t'disappoint," he frowned deeply. She was losing Neil in his understanding, but he was able to grasp the idea of protecting his Soah. Everything she was saying was like standing under a waterfall: he could hear every word, but it was deafening.
"Nay, let me try again." He had to concentrate to get his accent manageable, focusing on what was more important to him...and it was not the rest of the world, but a single, smiling blonde teen. "What purpose do yer Sins on Gaia represent?" While he was a bit slow, Neil was not stupid; if Lucifuge had indeed met with Soah (who had neglected to mention this, much to his charinge), did that mean they had their eyes on the teen? Would his acceptance of this...spare the young man further torture?
He was not happy, but he was listening.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:28 pm
"Sloth as lethargy?" The Mistress seemed amused, her smile becoming more pronounced as her gaze shifted again- she was always looking around- to the wall behind Neil's head. "No. Sloth is apathy, depression, and joylessness. You did not argue with Us before on this..."
She shrugged. "Our purpose is a noble one. By incarnating the Sins, We may thusly destroy them-" Her gaze became, more than vague, a needle-sharp thing "-while not harming the human hosts. But Our power is not enough to destroy entities with no form, or who exist on the other side of the Veil. So We bring them here."
"We want you to help Us destroy human misery," she said. "If suffering is destroyed, you will have protected your boy. Even before then, you may ask Our other children to avoid him. Thereby, you will protect him through your sin."
Her smile turned melancholy. "We said much the same to Lust. She was... quite distraught over Our rhetoric..." A tinge of regret entered those multiple voices. The mistress had not enjoyed threatening her second child- the first had not needed convincing, but the second... Her smile changed again: Now it was a superior grin. "She succumbed. They always do."
Then, as if remembering where she was, the Legion mistress looked up. "We bring up the boy to make you listen. Otherwise, Our words will fall upon deaf ears."
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:06 pm
Staring, he continued to feel lost. Was he arguing? It was something like culture shock, for all the knowledge and things accepted as kosher were completely different between his own race and the demons. He felt like he was missing a huge chunk of understanding, and perhaps that was his own fault; he had a contract to fulfill, and if Astaroth could help him make sense of the mumbo jumbo...
Cynicism curled heavily in his belly, biting his inner cheek to keep from making another snide and unwelcome comment. Nobility? Spoken by a demon? The notion was almost laughable, if not for the very singular reason that in all his time on Gaia and with all the faith he had put in God...the demons were here. The demons answered his plea for help. 'God' never did. The back of this throat was acidic with melancholy, something he was used to by then, a familiar friend. Misery loves company, as it were.
Irony couldn't have hit him more heavy handed as she spoke of ending misery. Wasn't that what he was trying to do with his contract? Not destroy it, persay, but to alleviate it. "Why would y'do that?" he blurted out in bewilderment. "And 'ow can being Sloth save anyone, if ye're trying te abolish th'very thing it is?" It was a small hole in the logic but an important one, like how an untreated wound could fester into something greater. It troubled him that he couldn't follow the conversation, for even spoken in simple terms, he could not fathom the scale of what was being discussed as casually as dinner plans.
Goosebumps broke out over his arms at the smile. No amount of emotion could make it seem human to him. The grin was worse, forcing him to look away; the words used, the tone even, they had to be for his benefit. To make him understand, before it came down to the wire. There was only one real question that weighed on his mind, and he would ask it after the others had been answered.
It seemed Legion already had his number, bringing Soah into play. How long had this been in the works...? Neil frowned and made no comment, hoping instead to take her attention away from his golden boy. The teen was not a bartering chip, not to him, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he caused Soah harm through his own lack of understanding. He couldn't very well prove himself capable of protecting the younger man if he failed in this endeavor.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:37 pm
The mistress shook her curls over one shoulder. "Can't We simply desire to do a good deed? Misery affects demons as well. It is a... charitable goal, is it not?"
She stared at Neil as if he had suddenly grown a second head, or perhaps a third eye. Somehow the idea of someone with as many voices- and as many souls, supposedly- as the mistress would not find a second head very surprising. "It has to be incarnated," she said. "Even We cannot destroy something without a form."
Her dress swished about her ankles as she returned to the chair where she had sat when Neil entered. "Do you agree?"
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