"Carol..." He coaxed.

"Good job Angelpuff, look what you've done now." Sue grumbled at Diah. b

"I didn't do this," he muttered. "There's another reason she's so upset..."
Reluctantly, she leaned against him, wiping her eyes with her sweater sleeve. "Why do you care how I feel?" She muttered. "I'm just your tool. You could never feel anything for me."
"And there it is," Diah sighed. "He hurt her feelings."

"Carol, just because I'm not going to spew confessions of love left and right doesn't mean I don't care at all. Don't you think you're expecting a bit much from me?"

She pulled away. "Like I said, I'm tired of the double personality."

"Alright, I'll try to be myself around you more, alright? As long as you promise me that you'll never love me." He said, feeling a bit arrogant for being convinced she might love him at all.

She frowned. "I can't make a promise not to feel something. I have no control over my emotions. I can promise to try not to, or not to act on it, but I can't just make myself not feel it."

"Do both then, alright?" He spread his wings, letting one wing rest against his back while the other closed around her to block the snow that had begun to fall. "And I'll try not to switch personalities on you."

She looked up at him, her outfit shifting again to a black peacoat and jeans. "Honestly...How do you feel about me?"

"You know I have a strong habit of not telling you things." He said with a weak smile. "To be honest, I don't really know."

"That's a terrible answer." She put a finger to his lips, pouting her lips and looking up at him through her eyelashes. "You don't find me sexy?" She couldn't hold the expression more than a few seconds before grinning. "I hope not, because I'm terrible at being anything close to 'sexy'."

Jin felt a small jolt and he pulled her hood down over her face, "No kidding..." He mumbled with a small smile.

"You know Diah... You can't really interfere with them." Sue said sleepily. "I mean, if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. You just have to trust Jin to keep her best interests in mind. And if he loves her, he will." She turned and fell back so her head was resting on his lap, "Now, be a good pillow and stop interfering. Damned it's cold..."

"I can't see anything through the windows anymore." Elias commented, cuddling up to Marcus. "And you just had to give the heavenly scum your cloak..." He whined. Marcus seemed to not hear him. His eyes were unfocused, in the genera direction of the window, completely lost in thought.

"Hey!" She pulled it back up, glaring at him. "You messed up my hair. Speaking of which..." She smiled sweetly, cuddling up to him as she cooed, "Could you teach me that cool shifting trick, Jin? Please?"

Diah absently held his hand out, and a blanket materialized, hanging from his fingers. He laid it over her, then leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Didn't get any sleep last night...the rat-boy wouldn't leave."

"It's considered to go along with the Art of Deception, which is a demonic practice. You won't be learning any of that yet. Angelic magic is straightforward and simple, whereas demonic magic is rooted in 'evil'. It focuses on power through any means, the trading of power, life force, wealth, and knowledge. Master angelic magic first, alright?"

"'Rat-boy'? I'm not a rat you god-damned hamster!" Elias snapped. Marcus smiled bu said nothing.

"Oh hush, both of you." Sue said, cuddling up to the blanket. "Good Pillow, what a useful trick."

"Calling an angel 'God-damned' makes little sense," Diah pointed out.
"But-But..." She stroked her hair. "I wanted to make it long and pretty..."

"It's already pretty." Jin promised as he ran a hand through her hair, his face very close to hers. He pulled away, focusing on the road again. "We're getting close..."

"Some angel you are, nearly letting your 'child' get raped." Elias scoffed.

She blushed and looked away, suddenly very fascinated with adding little details to her jeans.
"I'm emotionally connected to Carol. She knew Jin would come, and I trust her judgement. If there is no need for me to get involved, I won't. Had he taken any longer, though, yes, I would have acted."

"Jin only came because Marcus tattled." Elias stuck his tongue out at the older man.

"Diah, stay in the carriage. This isn't the place for an angel, believe me." Jin put it flatly, an order. Marcus moved up next to Jin as the carriage stopped and Jin got down, sinking two feet into the snow. "Come on, Carol, Sue."

Sue got up, taking the blanket with her. "Marcus, keep an eye on those two." Sue called as she followed Jin.

Diah frowned. "I don't like this."
Carol turned around and reached out, her fingers brushing his arm. "Don't worry, Jin will take care of me." She then turned and hopped out, picking up a handful of snow and begining to pack it into a ball.

"Drop it Carol, now isn't the time." He said sternly, his wings rustling to be rid of the snow. "You must not show your wings here. Stay close and keep moving. You won't like what you see, believe me. There isn't anything we can do to help the people here, understood?"

Sue pointed, "See that dark area? That's the entrance. It looks like a cave doesn't it? Prisoners of war are kept here. Angels, frozen in their own misery, their power muted by the sheer aura of hell itself. There are a few of these places, but this is one of the largest. It's known as 'The Pit'."

"Then why are we here?" She asked softly, letting the snow fall. "I don't want to see people hurting...especially not angels...."

"Because one of the angels here will be your instructor, the reward for his service will be his freedom. I can't strike such deals too often, and they won't be happy with me for freeing one of their captives, but they don't have much say this time. And you have to come along because Angel blood is required in order to release an angel from the ice. It doesn't take much, don't worry, and while you aren't an official angel, you're still technically of their race."

She grimaced, liking the idea of going in there less and less. "I really have to? You couldn't just...put it in a bottle or something and I could stay here?"

"You need to do it Carol. It may sound cruel, but i want you to see. I want you to understand what this war has become, and why what you've become... what you're becoming is so important." He explained as they neared the entrance. Jin stopped in front of the frozen doors, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door open with a gust of strong wind. The primitive building was most easily described as a labyrinth. A catacomb of cells. Each cell held an angel frozen solid, chained to the floor or walls with varying amounts of security. Some had their faces frozen in screams, others were curled up silently waiting for the ice to overtake their bodies.

"When they're brought in their wings are clipped. They're chained into their cell and left there. Over about a week the ice slowly oats them, making it harder and harder to move until they're completely frozen. They can still see, hear, think, feel..."

"That's enough Sue." Jin said firmly as he started down the path between the first few rows of cells.

"It's currently 4,986 levels and growing, and these are just the angels important enough to be kept alive." Sue added before falling quiet.

For a moment she couldn't move, frozen in place by her own horror. She then quickly caught up with Jin and tucked herself under his arm, burying her face in his side. Her fingers dug into her palms as she gribbed his shirt, trying so hard not to cry.

Jin wrapped a wing around her, his arm resting around her shoulders as he made his way past the cells, the chains and such multiplying and growing heavier as they moved to the center. The angel Jin stopped in front of was chained up on display, it's movement restricted. It was clear whoever had caught him was proud to have done so. His wrists were not only shackled but pegged to the wall, his neck trapped in a metal collar, also attached to the wall. Forced on his knees he stared upward where his captor had been, an insane grin spread over what had been beautiful features. He had been trapped for too long. Skeletally thin, his cheeks were sunken in, and his eyes plead insanity.

"What a mess you've become..." Jin mumbled, his fingers trailing the ice over the angel's face as he eyes the cruddy long white shirt that made up the angel's entire outfit and the bruises and scars over the now frail body. "I hope he's not as lost in the head as he looks. Ready to free him?" He asked with a soft smile as he pulled a small knife from a pocket. "General Simon Isaac, heaven's pride."