⍭he ℱallen

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In his haste the man had neglected to even close the door, something that had always told him when someone would either enter or exit the room. He heard footsteps and his foolish mistake bit him in the ass as he was immediately pushed away from his son. Such a manoeuvre was surely surprising and though he assumed that Alistair would have stopped him at some point, he was surprised to see that it was one of the nephilim children that dared to stand before him.

Caius was in total fear, the tears running down his face never stopping as his father had begun to work on it. His father said he would fix him, but Caius was not that gullible, he knew that it wasn't the pain he felt that his father was trying to fix. There was even more pain and it was maddening for him, but it suddenly everything stopped as his father was tossed away and Caius looked up at his saviour. "C-Cal..." Caius said softly raising his head slightly to take a glance at her.

Regulus could only stare at the girl and look at her hands as she tried to block his path. "Monstrous creations? surely you must be confused...that boy you so are protecting is already one of these monstrous creations you so speak about." Regulus said glancing down at his hand "Tell me girl...why protect this boy? for what purpose does this hold for you? what benefit?" Regulus said looking up before at her before slowly beginning to walk towards her.

Something bad was going to happen to them, that what he feared. He didn't care if it happened to him, but if it happened to Cal then he could never forgive himself. "Cal...please...don't worry about me...please leave..." Caius begged.

 

Richard awoke from his slumber pushing himself out of bed with his hellfire mist and striking with El-Harriss straight away. He wasn't wasting any time at the moment, because he knew that a certain fallen angel was waiting for him to get up so that they could both go and train again for the day. Maalik had guarded against the strike with his own blade and said, "well then, finally taking this seriously?" Richard didn't say anything in response. There wasn't much in a shift of him as to why he suddenly was super gung ho for training with Maalik, he still loathed the angel after all, but he once Maalik had taught him about the final application of his mist, he felt some form of duty start to form up in his mind. Something he couldn't shake off. And so, he was going to beat the **** out of his troubles.

Richard withdrew his blade and turned it back into a wand, just waiting for when their training would actually start. When the two arrived at the roof top, both drew their swords and stared each other down. Getting his stance ready, Richard barreled off towards Maalik and the two began to clash blades and powers. Richard kept his saber ignited against Maalik's ignited saber, whilst the two were using their hellfire mist to constantly hit one another and throw them off balance. In the end, the two powers were just attacking each other as best as they possibly could, simply because Maalik wanted Richard to get stronger, and more importantly, Richard wanted to get stronger.

 

Vincent Antonio Zeppeli
DAY: 55 - 3/4 | DATE: November 16th, 2013 [Saturday] | LOCATION: Hotel in Stanley, Falkland Island

Hana looked up at him and shook her head. ❝ Nothing nearly as interesting. I'm glad the lot of you are okay though. That creature Mammon scooped me up and carried me to the Underworld. His talons dug into my shoulders and as I struggled to get free, he dropped me in the Third Circle and I hit my head. I was out for awhile after that. The Dark Angels restrained me to a bed in Harbonah's room -- she died before you were added to the group -- and what I am assuming was a couple days later, Alice was brought in by Danel. It was just the two of us trapped in that room for a few more days until we finally started to devise a plan. We got Danel to let us out of the room and ended up running into Samuel who had Abaddon create a portal to bring us back here. ❝

She waved her arms to encompass their surroundings. ❝ Those kinds of things are difficult to manage and navigate. Abaddon is out of touch with that type of power and Samuel isn't strong enough so we just wound up where we wound up. It used up a great deal of his energy and he had been asleep until yesterday morning. And then the four of you found us. There wasn't nearly as much excitement, ❝ she chuckled awkwardly to herself.

Vincent chuckled uneasily along side her. "Well, thank goodness you're with us now." He really had no idea what else to say now. Under normal circumstances, after a little bit of chatting, he'd try to seduce the woman across from him and hopefully end up at her place. However, with a conversation like they just had, and the fact that she was already taken made that entirely out of the question. "Umm... So..." Desperately, he looked for something to say. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Hmm... I am a bit hungry." The familiar male voice came from behind Hana. "I woke up just a couple of minutes ago, so eating sounds great right now."

"Uh... How long have you been there?" The Italian male asked worriedly.

"I just got here," the tall, muscular male said as he stretched his arms over his head. "Why?"

"No reason." Vincent said casually. "Just didn't see you coming."​

 

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"Cal...please...don't worry about me...please leave..." Caius begged.​

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Cal shook her head. "Absolutely not." she turned her head to tell Caius. Cal looked back to Sariel with determination set on her face. "What does it benefit me? Absolutely nothing. It's not about benefits. Caius is my friend and this is wrong. He is your son. That's all that should matter. You're a horrible person for doing something like this. Caius doesn't deserve anything that you've done to him." She still kept her arms out. If he wanted to do anything further to Caius, he would have to go through her.​

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"I don't know what you think is going on, but this isn't acceptable. Caius loves you for some reason and this is what you're giving him in return. How dare you. The rest of us don't have parents and he does and yet, it seems like he's better off without you. Practice on your stupid machines and monsters, but he's not one of your test subjects, not anymore."​

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✴Day~55{3/4}☁Location~West Port, New Zealand☁✴​

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Kai pointed to his side. Two broken ribs. Brandon just had a concussion and some bruising. This whole angel healing thing, though, is mending me up pretty quick. The doctor's are already talking about releasing us. Elsie sighed out in relief. This was very good news indeed. She had a feeling the longer they stayed in one place, the bigger the disaster was going to happen... Whatever that was, she wasn't quite sure yet. Nor did she ever want to find out. You guys are okay though? The worst trouble you had was recruiting a kid? It must be weird having more normal people with. That Iris woman should be happy with the kid's parents having come along. The blonde giggled at the thought. "I hadn't really thought of it. Though he was looking for a job..." She scratched the sighed of her head and then shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, I guess I'll ask for his age later. He ran away screaming for his mommy when I told him what was what... I thought I killed the recruitment..." Remembering something, Elsie bent over and scooted her backpack in front of her, unzipping it and started to dig around. "So how are you liking this new thing? You don't have to write everything out anymore. Well, almost." Elsie pulled out a brown paper bag and then glanced around to make sure there were no nosy nurses or doctors around. "I brought you some donuts," she whispered, handing the bag over to him. "I didn't know what kind you liked, so I just got everything. Cream filled, raspberry filled, glazed, sprinkles, chocolate, you name it. I know hospital food. They give you stuff that taste like old people mush." Elsie made a face to show her dislike for hospital food and then looked up at Kai. "Want some coffee or hot chocolate?" ​

 

​

"...interesting..."

That was all that Regulus said as he continued to walk on. "So you say you do this for nothing at all, it makes no sense, but it intrigues me all the same....you speak of loving my child, but why should I ever approve of a failure...a piece of trash really..." Regulus said stopping before Cal "you interest me a great deal girl...I do wish to see how you work...what causes this selflessness I wondered" Regulus said raising his arm. He was going to grab the girl by the neck, but something stopped him. The hand he was going to use froze in it's spot as he stared down at a blade that had pierced the arm.

"That's enough...I can condone many things you have done before...but if you dare so much as touch her..."

Dull eyes stared over at the door way and stared at the source of the threatening cold voice. He stood by the by the doorway with his finger pointed forward and cold eyes. "Alistair...." Regulus said

"I suggest you leave them be" Alistair said walking inside the room with his eyes closed walking up to Cal and stood next to her. "You've pushed things too far Regulus...play with your demons...but not them...." Alistair said opening his eyes and stared over at Regulus with his narrowed amber eyes.

Regulus stared up at them but merely closed his eyes "Very well...my interest has shifted for now...however I do wish to see the result of all this...It will prove to be quite entertaining" Regulus said lowering his pierced arm before walking out of the operating room.

Once Regulus was gone Alistair let out a loud sigh and slouched a bit "maaaaaan....that was a bit too close" Alistair said.

 

Aside from getting out of the bed and showering Logam didn't do much aside from some unexpected practice with Samael. He held mixed feeling about training, while the eager part of him was happy, another part wasn't looking forward do going to Tier 1 again. Not due to difficulty, just cause he hadn't figured out how to beat it.

Much to his surprise, they weren't going to do Tier 1, but instead they were going to actually spare gainst one another. Just the thought of finally being able to punch the cryptic angel in the face made him happy. So without wasting another moment, they started their sparing match.

 

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DAY 62​

Saturday, November 23, 2013​

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Spoiler: Determination

On his feet his eyes opened, welcomed by the gruesome scene of death. There were no need for words, he understood the situation quite well, but even so he couldn’t help but chuckle. After so long it had finally happened once more and Alistair was quite ecstatic to begin the battle once more. Azrael sat once again in a far distance and in that far space were countless ghouls staring off at him ready to devour his flesh and nurture themselves back into existence.

The flames raged on prepared to devour anybody who dared to even come close to them and the heat was nearly unbearable. With one step the carnage would begin and he would suffer the hungry darkness of thousands of souls. A familiar cane appeared in his hands and Alistair held up the cane with a grin.

“Let us begin Arondight…”

The words were said, but nothing happened. The disguised form of his cane just remained as it was and the blade refused to show itself to Alistair.

“What the?...Arondight?”

Alistair was flabbergasted at the lack of response from the sword and no matter how much he called upon the sword with his soul it would not answer. The sword that he trusted had refused him.

“Do not mistaken Arondight for your own blade…”

Azrael’s words cut sharp and clean. Alistair’s attention was immediately sent straight as Azrael and he immediately gritted his teeth as sweat ran down his neck.

“Arondight is my blade…somebody insufficient as you cannot dare wield such a blade”

Azrael smirked and snapped his fingers as the blade disappeared from Alistair’s hands and left the man weaponless. Alistair’s eyes closed, having lost something that he felt a connection with was difficult, but he couldn’t falter over something like this in the slightest.

“Fine then...I don’t need Arondight…I’ll slice my own path with my own hands”

With this declared, curved blades appeared from both of his arms and with a quick motion both blades were flung towards the mob. Spinning with deadly precision, the blades began to cut through those that came in its way and Alistair immediately rushed forward ready to cleave his way through.

Slashing forward, Alistair continued on deeper and deeper into the mob. The path that he had formed began to clog up with the fowl bodies of the ghouls and the way that Alistair had used to enter the horde was now cut off. There was now no escape for him and the only way to get out was to move forward.

Heads were cleaved off and many limbs flew through the air as they were immediately cut off from their body. Sharp claws clung onto his body and dug deep into the flesh trying to rip off Alistair’s flesh, but Alistair would slice the opposing arms clean off and prevent such an action to occur. The fatigue grew and Alistair’s body began to slow down with each and every single second that passed.

With each moment the group of ghouls just continued to grow far more numerous than before. They were everywhere and grew to the point where the red haired man’s vision was purely covered by the numerous ghouls. It was a hopeless endeavour; one that Alistair began to believe was a task that Azrael set up to spite him. Was there another way that he needed to approach this? Was he a fool to have merely rushed into the fray like a mere beast hunting for blood? Doubt began to form and his end began to form.

His skin was the first to go, it did matter that there was clothes on it, for the hungry ghouls all they cared about was nurturing themselves and reclaiming what little existence they could. The tissue of his body, the meaty flesh that they so desperately wanted was next. Their sharp jagged teeth sunk in and began tearing away at his body, slowly ripping it apart as much as possible all until there was merely bone left. Organs fell, and when there was nothing left of Alistair the ghouls turned against each other, trying to devour those that obtained flesh so they could be complete.
The useless body merely rested on the floor, its consciousness fading away rapidly. Soon he would become just like them, lifeless and gluttonous, an empty husk of what he was desperately trying to reclaim who he was. Was this all meaningless?

“Well is it? Has everything you went through all for naught? You’ve bested fear, yet doubt holds you back”

Azrael’s voice was as loud as usual and just like before the angel would always point out his flaws. His doubt was the cause of all this, it dulled him and made him hold back. He couldn’t hold back, he told himself he would not regret his actions, whatever they would lead him to. He could still think, he was not gone yet. He could still fight.

The skeletal body rose to its feet as the very bones turned to steal. Even with his ascension the ghouls paid no heed to him, which proved to be a hefty mistake. The blade like bone struck forward straight through a nearby ghoul causing the ghoul to screech out as it corroded away into thin air.

He could feel it…

The flesh that was stolen, it was now returning back to him, back to where it should be. There was no hesitation as the blades formed from his arms and were used to slice the ghouls before him. He didn’t even give them enough time to even react as he slashed through each and every one that he saw. With each kill his body began to reform all the way until not a single wound was present. Clothes began to form on his body and Alistair stood with his eyes closed.

“Return to where you belong, wayward souls”

A smirk crept across Alistair’s face as he raised his arm and caused a blade to extend from it. With one swing of the arm the souls before him cried out in agony as they faded away, leaving a pathway to Azrael.

No time was spent as he rushed forward straight towards the angel of death. It was here that he would end this little game, but his eyes widened immediately as a single figure stood in his way. The figure was no different from the ghouls he dispatched, but it was strange, the ghoul’s body had begun to form into a much more humanoid form. Alistair did not waste a single moment, with his arm blade ready he lunged forward and slashed downwards at him. It wasn’t just that this ghoul was the last obstacle, but it was the sheer fact that something did not bode well for him about this ghoul.

The blade swung down, but Alistair met with resistance. The ghoul held the blade effortlessly in its hand and stared up at Alistair as flesh began to cover its body.

“Weak…”

The ghoul’s voice sent a chill down Alistair’s spine as he stared at the now recognizable face. It wasn’t that he felt fear…no…it was the opposite. A seething rage began to burn and Alistair’s eye narrowed as he gritted his teeth.

“you…”

“Weak as always….Alistair”

His mind snapped instantly and he rose his hand in sheer rage

“FATHER! YOU BASTA-”

His voice was cut instantly and he was too slow. Alistair wished to rip the man’s head off, but the man he called father had already pierced his chest with his hand. Everything began to fade, he would soon away, but he didn’t want this…he needed to kill the man he hated so much…but everything faded….

Panting and sweating Alistair silently rose up from the bed and held his head as he glanced around the room. "Damn..." Alistair muttered silently as he closed his eyes and sighed, trying to be as quiet so he didn't awaken his waifu mistress. The session with Azrael still burned in his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about it. The emotions of the incident raged on and memories he did not wish to think about roamed through.

Fully dressed he silently exited out of the room and began to rub his temples with a sigh. Things has been so complicated lately and this was definitely not helping him in the slightest. "Parents...that damn bastard" Alistair said as his grip on his temples tightened. He walked on until he came upon a familiar crossroad in the hallway and stared at the path that led to the operating room and narrowed his eyes. "Thats right...they all have parental problems as well..." Alistair said. Despite all that had happened Caius had remained the same, but at the same time he knew that it was deeply affecting the poor boy. Not only that he thought of the girl that dealt with him. "Maybe I should tell her..." Alistair said shaking his head before entering the nephilim room silently.

Taking his time, he silently tip toed over towards Cal's bed. Crouching down beside Cal's bed he began to poke the girl's cheek lightly with his "Psst...hey...hey Cal...psst...wake up...psst" he whispered trying to awaken the girl without awakening the others.

Cal rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and blinked up at the man. She sat up groggily and looked around in confusion. "Azrael? What's going on?" she whispered.

"Sorry to awaken you so early...but I have something important I need to tell you...meet me in the classroom..." Alistair said quietly before rising up and calmly walked out of the room without another word. Walking into the classroom he sighed as he took a seat on top of a nearby desk. He had no idea how this was going to go, but it was something he needed to say.

 

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Cal got out of bed in a confused daze. She wasn't really sure what to think of Azrael's wake up call, but she got dressed quickly. She left the room and made her way down the hall to the classroom. Cal didn't know what to expect. What did he need to tell her that was so urgent and private they had to go all the way to the classroom?​

​

She knocked on the door to announce her arrival before walking in. When she saw Azrael inside, Cal gave him a wave and stood in front of one of the desks. She looked up at him curiously. "What's going on? What was so important that we had to go all the way to the classroom?"​

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The sound of the door opening up caught Alistair's attention instantly and he immediately stared over at Cal as she walked into the room with a smile. "ah....sorry about dragging you out here like this...figured this place may be a bit more private" Alistair said letting out a small chuckle as he scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh. He sort of wanted to just forget everything, but that session still ran vivid in his mind and he didn't want to just ignore it.

"Look..first things first is I want to at least say I really am glad to see what you have done with Caius and his whole entire father issue...things could have gone a great deal more nasty..." Alistair said letting out another sigh as he closed his eyes. "and I'm sure things must have been tough for you...you...never knew your mother or father" Alistair said.

Maybe he was over thinking this, or maybe he was under thinking the situation, but regardless he needed to say it "...the blame for you never meeting your mother...belongs to me..." Alistair said taking a deep sigh. He was always so confident so it just felt so horrible to be so nervous for the first time. "....I was there when your mother died" Alistair said.

 

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❖ MAP ❖ OOC ❖ WEARING ❖​

❖ DAY ⟡ 62 ⦙ 2/5 ❖ DATE ⟡ Saturday ⦙ November 23, 2013 ❖​

❖ LOCATION ⟡ Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [Streets] ❖ INTERACTION ⟡ Jun Tae ❖​

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The plane had landed an hour prior and Hana and Jun Tae had spent the time wandering the streets of Rio. Every time Leo would start to think he was heading in the right direction, Hana would intentionally misdirect him, leading them down another path. He was starting to catch on. She chewed nervously on her lower lip and dipped down an alleyway. Hana tugged at her fingers and glanced anxiously over to Jun Tae.​

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❝ Raziel, we really shouldn't be doing this. Leviathan has been locked away for a reason and the Dark Angels could be watching us. We could be leading them right to the beast. ❞ She didn't want anything to do with the monster locked away beneath this city. The fact that the Angel of Mysteries went to such lengths to uncover his location was unsettling. ❝ You have to have noticed last week when another cord was cut. Someone else died and I have a feeling it was Jehoel, which can only mean bad news. ❞ Hana rocked back and forth, glancing uneasily up and down the alley.​

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"Ah.... Sorry about dragging you out here like this... Figured this place may be a bit more private." Azrael told her with a small chuckle. Cal nodded her head expectantly. What was so private? "Look... First things first is I want to at least say I really am glad to see what you have done with Caius and his whole entire father issue... things could have gone a great deal more nasty..." He sighed and shut his eyes. The only reason things hadn't gotten worse was because of Azrael interrupting. Who knows what Sariel would have done to her for stopping his experiments on Caius. "And I'm sure things must have been tough for you... you... never knew your mother or father. ... the blame for you never meeting your mother... belongs to me..." Azrael took a deep breath. "....I was there when your mother died."​

Cal stood in silence, her red eyes shifting back and forth on Azrael's face. Her face was blank of all emotion and her form was unwavering. She took a step forward and looked up straight into Azrael's golden eyes and a small smile spread on her face. "I know." she told him. "I've known the whole time. The Hall of Mirrors does more than just let you look for people and places. It lets you see the past as well. I know you are the one that operated on Mali and my's mothers, but you're not the one to blame. Momma Lu is the one that burned them up and Harbonah crushed our father." Her smile turned sad and forlorn. Cal chewed on the insides of her cheeks and her chest ached.​

"It makes me sad, but I'm okay and I don't blame you."​

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Alistair's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared right down at Cal's eyes. She knew all along, and even though he was expecting her to be the one in shock it had seemed things had taken the opposite result. His hands shook slightly as he continued to stare at the girl unable to say a word. She knew all this time, yet did not say a word about it, no...she did not even blame him for her own mother's death. More and more he realized what a strong girl she truly was.

The sadness he saw on her face was something he did not want to see. He had drudged up bad memories and from what she said it was merely pointless for him to have done so. He closed his eyes tightly before getting off the desk he sat upon and tightly embraced the girl before him. "I'm sorry...I'm....so sorry..." Alistair said emotionally. She said it wasn't his fault yet still he felt guilt for what had happened.

How long was it that he was this emotional about something? was it because he actually cared about somebody this time? His grip loosed his slightly so that he wouldn't strangle the poor girl, but he still held the embrace. "You know...I may not have any right to do such a thing...but I've always tried to act like a fatherly figure for you kiddos...heh..hard to believe with all my shenanigans...but still...." Alistair said opening his eyes calmly with a soft smile.

 

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There had been some form of weight lifted off of Lauren's shoulders when she found out Alice was still alive. When Lauren had seen Alice she had rushed to embrace her and was crying like a baby in happiness knowing she was okay. Alice really didn't explain to Lauren what exactly had happened, all she heard was that she was in Hell.​

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For the next few days, everyone was training with powers and everything, except Will and herself, but Will was avoiding her, so she felt alone in this. She decided to train herself through hand to hand combat for a bit, but things kept getting boring for her. She was too used to it.​

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When she had woken up that day at the hotel, she felt something in the room with her that wasn't Alice and she quickly turned to look for it. For a moment she saw a shadow, and then it disappeared. It made her jump for a moment and she nudged Alice awake and spoke, "Love, I think there is a monster in here."​

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Alice quickly shot up with a face of nervousness and looked around frantically, she got up out of the bed and opened up closets and looked under beds and the look of fear changed into a face of pure anger, "...Lauren, you aren't five years old, I don't appreciate being woken up over something like this..."​

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"You're the one who freaked out..." Lauren mumbled as she stood up and walked over towards her, "I was in Hell, where there are actual monsters. I-" Lauren quickly pecked her on the lips and grinned as Alice shot her a look.​

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Lauren walked into the bathroom to get dressed as she replied, "Well, it is gone..." Right as Lauren shut the door, she turned around to see the shadowed figure again and Lauren let out a quick yell and fell against the door.​

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Alice knocked and hollered to see if Lauren was okay and she mumbled in reply, "I'unno..." Lauren stared where the shadow once was and did nothing for a good long while.​

 

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Azrael stood up off the desk and wrapped his arms tightly around Cal's body. She had not anticipated the sudden embrace and her eyes widened upon contact. She wasn't used to being held like this. There was warmth and comfort in Azrael's arms. Her chest constricted and she felt tears sting at the backs of her eyes. She had never really cried before -- there hadn't been a reason to. This was a new experience for her and Azrael's arms brought her a strange sense of familiarity. "I'm... I'm sorry... I'm... so sorry..." he told her.​

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Cal buried her face in his chest. He seemed genuinely sorry. It made it hurt worse. There was no reason for him to be sorry. It wasn't his fault. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Cal had learned a few things during her time spent watching her parents lives in the crystal mirrors. She understood the severe personality differences between her half sister and herself. "Please don't be sorry," she pleaded with him into his chest.​

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"You know...I may not have any right to do such a thing...but I've always tried to act like a fatherly figure for you kiddos... heh.. Hard to believe with all my shenanigans...but still...."​

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"Alistair," she started, calling him by his name for the first time, "I appreciate everything you've done for us, even if the others don't." Cal sniffed and shoved her arm between their chests to wipe at her face. She lifted her chin to look up at him hopefully. "Will you take us away from here? I think everyone would be happier if we weren't here anymore. Women's angry. Annie's scared. Caius is broken." Her thoughts lingered on the only one that seemed genuinely pleased with living in He'll. She swallowed nervously. "You're a Dark Angel, which means you can create the mist portals. We could all go away and be happy. I even know how to break your curse..." she trailed off. It was one of those things he wasn't supposed to know about, but Cal was too curious and good at hiding to not know.​

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As he held the embrace he felt something wet begin to stain his shirt. She was now tearing up and this in turn did not bode well for his own emotions as well. She denied his apology and made it clear that it was not his fault. Even though he internally still held the blame it made him happy just to hear her speak like this. He never understood what he did to gain such scorn from the other children, but Cal was always the one who appreciated him and her words confirmed this fact.

His eyes immediately widened upon hearing his name being ushered from her. All those times he was called Azrael, was she now seeing him as a human instead of an angel? He stared down at the girl and she began to speak of something that made his heart-wrench. She wanted to get out of here, she wanted them all to get out of here. The first thing he would have said was "of course I will!" but just thinking about it made him realize that such a thing was something he could not say. "Please...endure for now..." Alistair said closing his eyes. The way things were going he couldn't say that they would gain the happiness they so wanted.

"Things are happening all around the world...something big is going to happen and until then I cannot do so....and...I swore to follow Lu...." Alistair said before opening his eyes and gave her a reassuring smile "But still...I promise...no matter what, I will do whatever it takes to get us all out of here" Alistair said before giving the girl a grin. "...we can all live in my big mansion and do whatever we want...we can have as much fun as we can and...be happy...." Alistair said almost as if his attention was drawn away by a happy memory. The scene he saw before him, he would make it a reality even if he was not a part of it. If his life was forfeit then he would gladly offer it to make his dream happen.

 

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"...we can all live in my big mansion and do whatever we want...we can have as much fun as we can and...be happy...."​

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That both was and wasn't what Cal wanted to hear. She wanted to go now, not later, but sacrifices had to be made for happiness. The was a slow clapping coming from the doorway and Cal pulled away from Alistair to see Momma Lu leaning against the wall. Her red eyes widened and she wiped tears away with the back of her hands. "Momma Lu," she breathed shakily.​

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"That was so sweet," she said sarcastically before pushing off the wall. "Who would have thought Alistair truly had a heart, even if it does belong to somebody else." Her bandages were back in place for the first time in awhile. She took slow, calculating steps forward that made no sound what so ever.​

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Cal looked at her adoptive mother uneasily. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.​

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"I was looking for Alistair and I happened upon a little show. My favorite part was when he said he had to follow me, then flipped and said someday you all can be together happily. I might have believed it if I was stupid." Momma Lu shook her head, chestnut bangs falling into her face. "Calamitosum, you cannot honestly believe you have 'cure' for his curse. There is no undoing it, for he chose his path. He was not forced to do it, which means there is no breaking his curse."​

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Her eyebrows narrowed and she looked at Lu pointedly. "That's not what Danel said." she countered.​

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Momma Lu shook her head with an amused smile, stopping directly in front of Cal. "Danel lies. He enjoys filling pretty girls' heads with promises of grandeur."​

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"He must always be telling you the truth then." she snapped regrettably.​

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"Excuse me?" Lu asked, not quite sure she heard right.​

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Cal sucked in a deep breath and stepped away from Alistair. "You said he lies to pretty girls, so he mist always be telling you the truth." She bit down on her tongue. Momma Lu's hand came down across her face painfully. There was a stinging sensation and her cheeks flamed red from the pain.​

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"You watch your smart mouth young lady. Alistair," Lu snapped, "let's go." She caught him by the wrist, leaving Cal alone in the room.​

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