Playing with fire
The three of them exited Ashley’s apartment and got into Simon's car. He had done some work on it recently, and the old vehicle was not looking as much of a disaster area as what Ash remembered. As he turned the key, it only grumbled a little before starting up.
The drive took a few short minutes. There was a visible smoke column still rising in the sky from the location of the once Pleasure Chest night club and strip joint. As the car approached the location, the late night sky (early morning really) became muffled by smog, and smell comes under assault of the acrid stench of sulfur and ozone. Babble becomes slightly agitated, seated in the back as he was, until, one hundred meters or so from where the rubble and flames seem to begin, he reached over to the passenger's seat and touched Ashley lightly on the shoulder.
"This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends..."
"Not with a bang..."
In the background, the after effect of the symphonic disturbance could be clearly heard by Ashley. Some terrific celestial force caused this, rending asunder the normal state of the symphony, and wiping away the building and its occupants utterly.
In the near distance, the first signs of smashed concrete and rendered steel became apparent. A police and fire service line is apparent across the road about fifty yards from the disaster area.
Simon looked at Ashley, concerned.
"Wow.... this place was truly decimated. It's one thing to see it on TV... another to look at it with your own eyes." Ashley said as she motioned for Simon to park the car in a nearby lot.
Simon just nodded, speechless. Babble looked agitatedly about.
Once parked, Ashley got out and brought Babble out as well; her skin covered in tiny goosebumps over the discordant symphonic eddies that still whirled about.
Now what remained to be seen was if that police officer was still there.
With Babble and Simon in tow, she headed for the police line and what would hopefully be answers. For someone to just blow up the PC with this much power... they were either way up in the Hierarchy... or they would be really low, really soon.
So she headed toward the police line, looking about intently.
She wondered in the back of her mind if she was the target... and more specifically, if she was.... then who had she pissed off?
As her thoughts dwelt upon this, she spotted the officer who had distracted the camera man away from that red haired woman on the television screen on the news report, about twenty meters on the other side of the police line. The officer was crouched over a tarpaulin with a police camera man near him, looking over something lying in the rubble. Ash did not recall this policeman's name, only that they had distracted the camera from the mysterious Officer Logos. That latter person was no where to be seen. The crowd in this area was quite thick, but the police line firm and well enforced.
Babble was clearly agitated by the proximity of the fires and destruction, and it took all of Simon's attention to keep him from rushing back to the cover of the car.
Ashley was a bit agitated herself and stopped, turning to Simon.
"Could you take Babble back to the car? I don't think he likes it here."
Simon, still a little over awed at the level of destruction, nodded slightly, then focused. "Of course. Look, I will sit with him for a bit. You find out what you can, and we will wait."
"Thanks." Ashley said and then gives him a quick peck on the cheek and a smile.
"I won't be long..."
He blinked at her, as her back turned, and put a hand to the cheek for a moment, watching her walk away.
With that, she turned around and headed after the one officer; intent upon asking him about the location of Officer Logos.
She pauses in a dark corner, out of sight of mortals, and sang to assume celestial form.
Before finishing the song, she ensured once more that at least no one was watching her directly. She reasoned that if Logos is involved, then she would feel the disturbance in the Symphony and come looking.. thus saving Ashley the time and effort.
The song was complete, and Ash assumed her true celestial nature, as the faint accompanying cacophony of symphonic disturbance heralded all the molecules of her body disintegrating, and being stored themselves in celestial patterns.
Ashley didn't need a mirror to know what she looked like now; an exact replica of her female host with green skin and tiny budlike horns on her forehead. The horns annoyed her, for they marred what she thought of as a perfect body; the kind mundanes and celestials alike found beautiful.
Perhaps one day she would seek to create a Song which would remove the horns... but for right now she was busy.
The mundane world seemed distant and removed, as though seen from behind frosted glass. She walked forwards, crossing the police line easily. She found the officer who attracted her notice in the mundane world with ease. He was still near the tarpaulin, but was no longer looking at the mangled body beneath it. Instead, this figure, this officer, was staring right at Ashley, even though Ashley had not returned to corporeality yet. All she could make out of the figure was the eyes, the intent eyes, looking straight at her.
There was a moment or two of movement in the mundane world, which was hard to make out. Perhaps this strange policeman was making himself scarce... or perhaps he was looking for a secluded location himself. It was hard to say.
Ash sensed she had a few more moments yet in celestial form.
Ashley smirked a bit; though her overall facial expression was one of annoyance as she moves to find a place in which she can resume mundane form without causing a scene.
That the officer had stared right at her was proof that he wasn't what he appeared to be.
She assumed mundane form, in the darkness of the rubble, near where the officer had moved towards. There was a moment when the counter symphony filled her senses, echoing and announcing her arrival once more, and then it was gone. Around her there was a great deal of wreckage, obscuring both sight and sound from elsewhere in the disaster zone. The only sounds of the city were burning, crackling and the occasional howling of smoke wrought wind twisting through the ruined ground.
The police man was standing about seven or eight meters away, watching her. He was about five foot eleven, solidly built, and had his hand upon his pistol in its holster as he observes her carefully.
"Excuse me... ma'am." he said, as though pausing to consider whether that was the right form of address for her. "I do not recognize you. Who are you? And what are you doing here?" His expression was tight control, unreadable. His features were not familiar to Ash at all.
Ashley smiled back at the man and brushed at her clothing a bit, a bad habit she had when she changed forms.
"My name is Ashley... and I work... well I used to work at the Pleasure Chest. I saw the footage on TV and decided to come see what has put me in the unemployment line."
"Where is Officer Logos?"
Ashley showed no concern whatsoever for the revolver that his hand rested on, and simply stared into his eyes intently... searching for his Need.
Ashley found his eyes guarded and his Need hidden.
"Officer Logos?" He paused, with a thin and ominous smile. "Yes... I think I can arrange for you to meet her." His smile stayed dangerous.
He looked at her, and tilted his head, as though to say, all right, let's play this game out. "You realize that you are behind a police line here, ma'am." He took few steps forward, coming to within two meters of Ash. He held out his other hand. "If you will come with me, I will take you to speak with Officer Logos."
He reached to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Not so fast there....~officer~." Ashley said as she backs way from his touch.
"I am quite steady enough on my feet to not need your... assistance in standing or following."
The smile that was on her face before had been friendly, now it was just as dark as his own. It took skill to hide one's Need... and he seemed a bit to eager to take her to Logos for her liking. Ashley had not been alive for a millennia and not learned to notice warning signs when she saw them.
There was an intense moment of tension, as the officer almost snarled at her, but then held back, and the moment ended.
Ashley then gestured with one of her hands as her face took on the look of an innocent bystander before his eyes.
"By all means officer.. lead the way." Ashley said with just a slight emphasis on the word lead.
He paused, considering her, and then slowly lowered his hand, as if conceding even this small gesture caused him pain. "Just this way ma'am." He indicated with his hand, off behind him into the rubble, and stood aside, obviously intending her to go first, completely ignoring the obvious connotation of her words. He remained there, eyes firm, stance ready for any sudden moves.
"I am sure Officer Logos will be most interested to hear your story." He added slowly.
They walked this way for a short while, each carefully observing the other, neither making any unusual moves, until they topped the crest of a particularly jagged piece of debris, fully the size of a small house. There, in the shadow, right where the symphonic distortions were at their most intense, squatted a small woman in a police trench coat, cigarette in hand.
She was quite unimpressive by build. Her thin Celtic features, faintly freckled skin, and curly red hair, escaping from its unkempt bun, all painted a picture of organized relaxation. She stared intently down at the ground, where her free hand touched the concrete as though trying to feel from it what had happened here. There were no other officers or any other people near by in fact.
"Officer Logos?" said the man behind Ashley, very politely, as though ... fearful? ... of the tiny woman.
"What is it, Remiel?" she said testily.
REMIEL?
"There is someone here to see you, m'lady... She just appeared." His voice placed emphasis on the words.
Remiel!?! THE Remiel?
"You don't say..." she answered, raising her head to look up finally. "Who is she?"
Remiel? The Angel of Vengeance?
The ... man ... behind Ashley spoke softly. "I do not know, m'lady. And I know all who were Made by the Right Hand in the beginning. And all of their servitors. And all who fell. Which means she is an aberrant. Either a monster, or witch, or Lilim, or child of the Grigori."
Remiel? The Malakite servant of Gabriel? The one angel personally attributed with the most disappearances of the Fallen since Lucifer first spoke the word revolt?
"You don't say." said the woman, not changing her position. Pause. "Remiel... didn't you kill the last of the children of the Watchers yourself? When you were in the service of Uriel, in the six hundreds?"
Oh shit.
"I never claimed that m'lady." his voice was regretful, as though bothered by something.
If this guy was Remiel, that would make her...
Gabriel, the Archangel of Fire, chuckled at the other angel, and stood finally, looking Ashley in the eye. Her pupils were red.
"Well, Ms. interloper. What can I do for you?" She said quietly, in a voice that crackled like a dry log on fire.
Ashley felt her entire body grow just a tad bit cold. Sometimes in a Diabolical’s life, you had these days.... days when Hell was a better place to be. This beat out any she had ever had before!
Ashley had a choice... tell the truth... or be tortured into telling the truth. She may be a Daughter of Lilith.... and she may be powerful enough in her own right... but this was a stinkin ARCHANGEL!
"I came to find out who did this. You caught my attention." Ashley said as neutrally as she could; hoping that her disquiet didn't bleed through into her voice.
"Remiel here was kind enough to escort me to you."
Ashley tried to keep Gabriel as well as Remiel in sight; she didn't know which one was more dangerous. The discord in the Symphony didn't help matters either as she had to grit her teeth to ignore it.
Gabriel walked up to the other woman, cigarette held absently between two fingers. She just looked at her for a few moments more. "Indeed." She turned her head abruptly to Remiel, and quietly spoke. "Remiel, leave us."
The man behind could be heard to take in a slow breath, as though thinking about framing a question.
Gabriel continued. "She is not going anywhere unless I will it. Leave us. Now."
Remiel said nothing, but Ash could hear his receding footsteps. A moment or two more passed, while Gabriel watched his back. Finally she turned her attention back to Ash.
"I, however, know you, Ashikel. It is surprising that Remiel might have mistaken you for something else, but perhaps your attitude fooled him." sigh. "I occasionally need the services of a thug, and he fits the job description so accurately."
What was this? Who the heck was Ashikel? Why does Gabriel think it was Ashley? What was going on?
Gabriel paused, looking about the rubble. "So. We have a few decisions to make, you and I. I am sure we may take the threats as read, Impudite. Remiel there is always looking for new and interesting ways to add to his lists." Sigh. "But we use the tools we are given." She eyed Ash speculatively.
She thought Ash was an Impudite...
"All right. You want to live and I need some information. I could extract it from your burning soul, but I want someone working for me in the other side. So. You tell me who you are working for, what their interest is with this mess, everything you know about what is going on here," she waved her hand about her in the rubble, "And also all you know and all your superior shared with you about the silence, and you may get to walk away from here in one piece. With no eternal flames attached."
She eyed Ashley speculatively. Ashley's mind raced. Gabriel... talking terms with her? What in the name of any Power was going on? Something inside her, some Lilith endowed instinct, gave her a tiny glimmer of hope. She might yet walk out of this in one piece. If this Archangel was talking terms, any deal she made, Ashley could make Binding. It all hinged on what she said and did in the next few moments.
Ashley gave Remiel one last look before turning her gaze back to Gabriel. She had never come this close to death and this close to pulling off what would be the largest feather in her hat to date.
"Well... I suppose I shall have to start by telling you why it interested me in the first place. Simply put; I worked here and had left but a few hours before it blew. The Silence was bad for business."
Gabriel nods, with a distinct look of distaste, but made no comment.
"As for the Silence...." At even mentioning it, Ashley shuddered a bit, but continued to speak.
"As for it, I know nothing...."
The small woman's eyes tightened. Ash felt her breath quicken involuntarily at that gaze. Finally, the stare relaxed a trifle. "Explain exactly what you experienced in the Silence." She said without further exposition.
"Everything was fine one moment.... and then is when it hit, leaching all the essence from me. Since then it has been hard to accumulate it back." Ashley said with a distasteful look on her own face.
Gabriel seemed to accept this answer
If she lost what essence she had had... she had to wonder what it had done to an Archangel....
"This..." Ashley said as she gestured at the rubble," I have only a small lead to go on and that is why I am here...."
"And that 'small lead' is... ?" enunciated perfectly.
"The mumblings of a dying drunk about the "Red Right Hand"." Ashley said. It was the truth... just lacking the intricate details.
Again Gabriel seemed to accept the answer.
"And I work for whoever I feel like... which could end up being you... or anyone... depending on the circumstances."
Gabriel's red on red eyes became flat and violent for a brief moment. "Either you are monumentally stupid, or ..." her tone relaxed, "You serve Lilith." She nodded, taking a puff on her cigarette, thinking.
"I will assume for the moment the latter. It is the only thing that would make your last comment reasonable and sane, from a position of your own self preservation. All on either side of the War serve somebody, and those words are as much as a confession that you serve free will."
Her voice became more gentle, like the caress of a flickering flame across a large Yule log. "But, please let me be clear upon this, if I ask a question, I expect a clear answer. If I ask you who you serve, you do not give me a job description. You give me a name. Are we clear?" She tilted her head ever so slightly to the left as she looked in Ashley's eyes.
"Understood...." Ashley said, feeling the noose resting lightly against her neck. So far... so good...
Every word had to be watched oh so carefully. It would be hard to try and play an Impudite; but if Gabriel knew who she truly was, there would be no binding. Gabriel would gladly give her 'word' to someone she knew it meant nothing to... but a Lilim....
Ashley still wondered at why Gabriel had called her Ashikel, but short of ripping it from her celestial body, that would be the last question she would ever think to give voice to.
Another thought popped into her mind when she least needed them to distract her. Remiel had seen her Celestial Form... yet had said nothing to gainsay Gabriel when she had proclaimed her to be an Impudite. Surely Remiel knew a Lilim's Celestial form by now to be able to tell the difference. She silently wondered what Remiel was hiding....
Gabriel paused, thinking. Thin clouds of acrid smoke began to surround her, and she absently flicked the stub of her cigarette into the rubble. Her eyes were drawn away from Ashley, into the destruction, as her hands pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She lightly flicked out a cigarette and lit it, puffing deeply, before she turned back to Ashley.
"Milton and Nick Cave." she mused. "A dying drunk quoted Milton and Nick Cave to you and you figured it had something to do with this place?" she looked around, pausing again.
"Tell me more about this drunk. What did he say, why did it catch your attention. And why did it lead you into my grasp?" she smiled maliciously. "I will assume for the moment that the look of abject terror on your face when you realized who I and Remiel were was real, and you did not plan on meeting an Archangel here."
"Archangels don't just fall out of trees...and I can count the number of times I have been near one on 1 hand." Ashley said in her defense.
Gabriel smiled at her broadly. "That is right... Raphael gave up his Archangel status before the fall, didn't he? Something to do with wanting to work more with the people rather than being an administrator, I recall. No wonder you rebelled."
This was another one of those incongruous comments that Ashley has to stop herself from blurting out her desire for an explanation...
"As for the drunk.. I found him near where the bar used to be. I questioned him about this and he seemed....well... he seemed rather distraught about the whole thing as if he had seen something but was so
mind blasted by it he couldn't tell me anything.. other than that phrase and a bunch of other nonsense."
Gabriel frowned, and looked as though she is framing another question, when Ashley started to speak again.
"Now then.... why be brought to you? Simple.... modern television does you justice. You stuck out rather nicely for one who has the eyes to see. Though I didn't expect you to be Gabriel..."
She nodded in answer. "Fair enough." and again seemed to pause as though considering another question.
Now, Ashley thought, it was time to test the water to see if her boat stayed afloat.
"Now it is my turn to assume things. I will assume for the moment that you wish me to work for you. I will also assume that since you asked me far too many questions that you are in the dark about the Silence as much as the rest of us here. And lastly I will assume that you know no more about who did this than I..."
A raised eyebrow was the only answer.
"So... you need someone.... a Diabolical... to find out more about what is going on and then report back to you. This is something I ~can~ do; but it will come with a tiny price." Ashley says as she holds up her hand before Gabriel can blow up.
Gabriel just watched her, in the same kind of way that a tiger might watch a small bird fluttering while its leg is trapped under its claw.
"A realistic price Gabriel. I no longer have a disguise to use in Mundania, so I would need to be set up with one, a way to contact you... perhaps a small Song would do, and whatever you currently know about the Silence and this demo job here."
"Not much when you stop to consider the fact you don't have to track another Diabolical down to do the job and hope it is as amiable as I."
"Regardless of what you do, I am still going to be snooping around; so you might as well take advantage of what fate has dropped in your lap."
Gabriel chuckled, slowly. "One or two too many assumptions, dear." she said gently. "The last of them is perhaps the greatest. I have not decided if you will live or not. So you may, or may not, be snooping around, as you so eloquently put it."
There was the kind of lengthy pause that brings a dry sensation to one's throat and a tremble to one's hand, while Gabriel looked out, expression indecipherable, into the ruined landscape.
Finally, she broke the silence.
"An interesting position, I find myself in. You assume that I would need a Diabolical searcher. I had not even considered the option." pause again.
"All right. First, and foremost, from this point forward, you life will not be the same again. I will provide you with no mundane role, or position. In fact I will provide you with no material or spiritual support what so ever. You will have to rely upon your own tools."
"But, I will agree to you proposition, in part. You could be useful to me, perhaps. I am not entirely certain in what way, but I believe it is so."
"You are luckier than you could possibly imagine, Ash. Domenic and Laurence have been looking for an excuse for the last two millennia to take me down. If I had run across you yesterday, we would not have had this little chat, and all that would be left of you now would be your nickname."
What has happened to Domenic and Laurence? Ashley held her tongue again.
"Remiel will be unhappy. I do not recommend that you approach him again under any circumstance. That particular servant has broken his leash a few times in pursuit of his own word."
She nodded. "This is the deal. You work for me. Your 'snooping' is of some interest to me, but I have also one or two other tasks in mind. I will listen if you should call my name, in the same way that any superior might. You will no doubt recall the words for that particular summoning, from before the fall..."
Actually, Ashley has never attempted to summon any arch entity save her mother, and would not even know where to start... save by asking her mother about it...
"In return you will survive, and none of the servants of Fire will impede you, for as long as you are in my service. None, that I can control, that is..."
"And you will receive certain information."
"But, to ensure your loyalty, I will place upon your soul the mark of eternal flame, such that if you break your word to me, you will be immolated. Rather painfully. And irretrievably. You see, not only Lilith can make binding deals, little Impudite."
"And you are free to discuss this matter with your mistress. She and I will have a chance to renew our acquaintance in the near future, regardless."
Gabriel looked at Ashley hungrily. "Do we have an agreement?"
Ashley couldn't believe it!! Free of being bothered by Gabriel's lackeys!! It was almost too much to believe!
And there it sat in her lap....
"An agreement it is. You have my word on it." Ashley said as she sticks out her hand to seal their agreement. She could already feel the stirrings of a Binding... that sensuous harmony of power between two Aware beings... that it was an Arch... that made it all the sweeter....
She couldn't ever remember any of her 'sisters' pulling off something this grand... it was so big, her mother might even forgive her for asking about the Song to call an Arch.
Gabriel took the hand, and there was distinct burning sensation. Ashley resisted the instinct to pull her hand away, and Gabriel's grip was too strong, regardless. The burning ends, and there was a mark upon her hand, at the palm. As Ashley looks at it, it faded into nothingness as though it had never been there, but she knew the difference deep inside. She was Soul Marked by Divine Fire.
Gabriel in turn looked surprised. She blinked once or twice, frowned, the stared at Ashley, letting her cigarette fall to the ground.
"It seems you mother is up to her tricks again." said Gabriel suddenly. "Now, why would she pull this particular stunt, one wonders..." She remained there quietly thinking for a moment or two more, then reguarded Ashley with a small smile. "Against my better judgment, I like you, what ever your name is. You have guts, to pull this off." Pause again, then she shook her head.
"All right. My part of the bargain. Three questions answered fully, reguarding matters pertinent to the silence or this rubble. After that, I will outline what I have in mind for you. Now. Ask away."
Ashley knew she was not out of the woods yet. It was possible that Gabriel, Archangel of the Word that she once was, and archangel of Fire that she was now, would be able to break the bond they had just forged, if she really wanted... The difficulty would be in making sure she did not really want to ...
"OK... first question. Do you know if the Silence and this rubble were caused by the same person(s)?"
Gabriel answered immediately. "I have no idea. It is one of the theories I am working on establishing factual basis for. But I as yet have no evidence to suggest either way." She shrugged ever so slightly, then pulled out another cigarette and lit it, watching Ashley speculatively. Her eyes seemed to have deepened in shade, becoming dark enough to be called black.
"Second Question. Is the Silence caused be either Diabolicals or Celestials?"
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Well, that answers my doubts on your ignorance of this matter." she said after a moment. She shook her head. "I am not sure. I do not believe that it was my side, but I can not be certain, since I have not spoken to everyone on it." Shrug again. "Well, I doubt it was any at my level, unless it was Yves or Michael. None of the others have that kind of power. Above us... who knows what the likes of Uriel, Israfil, Azreal or Phanuel might do. They who exist where the Power is move in mysterious ways, and seldom inform we below about either their purpose or action." She seemed somehow faintly bitter at these words.
"Further, I can not speak with any certainty about your side. But I doubt it. Something as dramatic, or rather, as universal and dampening as the Silence was, is in my belief, beyond the power of any on the side of Lucifer, save perhaps Lucifer himself." She shrugged. "And I have not spoken to the Light Bringer in ages." She eyed Ashley curiously. "Have you?"
"I have no reason to talk to him." Ashley said, somewhat neutrally.
"And finally, are any of the higher ranking Celestials banding together to figure out who and why the Silence came to pass?"
Gabriel nodded. "Of course. Undoubtedly the same is true in the infernal land. When in doubt, you will find that celestial congregate together for security much as humans do." Pause, as she breathed smoke in deeply. "Or sheep."
A cloud of smoke wafted from her lips as she slowly added, "Well, two don't knows and a general answer. Not spectacular results, I am afraid." She smiled slyly. "All right, because of your fiery spirit, I will let you ask one or two clarifying questions."
Ashley knew there had to be a catch somewhere... there always was. But like it or not, it was too late to back out of it now. She was quite proud of only owing 4 favors to Lilith, and she didn't want to increase that number.
"What have you found out about this explosion so far?" Ashley asked bluntly.
Gabriel sighed. "Not very much I am afraid. It was symphonic song in cause, that much is certain, but a power use on this scale has not been made since the Tunguska incident..." She looked around again, slowly. "Well. Not by our side anyway. And mortals nuking things with tacit divine approval does not count."
She shook her head. "Whoever did this wanted to remove all evidence of their being here. Not delay the evidence to be found later, anyone can do that with an Ethereal Song of Shields, but to utterly obliterate not only the object of their anger, but all evidence that that object and the perpetrator had ever been here. And the entire city block and all its inhabitants."
"That requires a certain dedication, or utter ruthlessness."
Sigh. "All right. The weird drunk you mentioned might have been a Remnant, or maybe even the object of the destruction, or may have just been Foresighted. Regardless, the reference to the Red Right Hand, is pertinent. In the Bad Seeds song, the reference is to a celestially powered manipulator, making people dance to his own 'catastrophic plan'. The origin of the individual is unclear in the song."
"In Paradise Lost, the line 'red right hand' actually is spoken by a demon, and refers to God. The demon is scared of getting god angry again, you see, after the first fall, while they are all sitting around in the pit of hell bemoaning their fate. The full quote is;"
"'Should intermittent vengeance arm again
His red right hand to plague us.'"
"Evocative, huh?" She chuckled. "I never did find out who had a hand in Milton's education, my side or yours..."
She frowned. "But how does any of that relate to here?" She left the question open and paused for a few moments, eyes once more upon the wreckage.
Ashley squirmed under her skin as she thought about what to do with Babble. It was obvious that he needed healing... and Gabriel ~could~ help to arrange that... but at what cost? Would she still be able to Bind him for fulfilling that need?
Oh well... Babble held too much of a clue to not do something...
"I still have the drunk... but he needs healing in a bad way. He saw something... or knows something; though whoever left him behind blasted him a good one. He can't talk straight or even dress himself."
Gabriel opened her mouth as if to say something, and ever so faintly the noise of the reechoing destruction seems to rise a trifle. She pauses. Then spoke. "Well that is your problem." She said shortly.
"That is enough of a free lunch. Here is what I want from you. You said you were going to snoop, so get snooping. Find your own answers to the questions you posed to me. And then report in three days time all your findings."
She paused, frowning. And took a drag on the cigarette. And paused.
Then she looked at Ashley strangely. "And I want you to tell me one last thing. Where is your Heart?"
Ashley looked at the Archangel oddly. What was this nonsense about her heart?
"My heart? What has that to do with anything?" she finally answered, knowing that Gabriel did expect her to say something.
She in turn nodded slowly, then waved Ashley away, apparently irritated. "Get out of here. Remiel will be back soon, and you had better be gone by the time he gets here. I can not vouch for him."
Ashley nodded her understanding of that statement and left quite quickly; she certainly didn't want a run-in with Remiel when she had no essence. The thought of having to be reformed by her mother was the least pleasant thought in her entire mind. Her mother had never had to do that for her... and the favor owed by ~that~ would be atrocious!!
Looking about her, she carefully made her way away from the police line and back around to where she had left Simon and Babble... hopefully they were both still there.
Three days.... three days in which to find out ~something~ and find out how to summon an Arch!
*ugh*
And find someone to heal Babble so that he could tell her what he knew....