Yoake stared in stunned silence at Lixi. She doesn't look that old, or psycho. She thought. Lixi's laugh had freaked her out a little. Joel's trying to destroy the entire human race? Okay, that CAN'T be good. Yoake may have been shunned by most of humanity, but they were the ones she'd ignored. The ones she hadn't were the people who did accept her, and it was because there were people like that in the world that she preferred living on Earth rather than in Hell. And I'm the one who's supposed to help him get what he needs....Well, there's no way in Hell I'm holding open the gates to Hell.

Shad narrowed his eyes in disbelief, but he was bound by the magic of the deal and thus had faith. He did not know the workings of the Universe outside of the Pagan Gods, and even that knowledge and power was left behind when he descended into Purgatory. And when the balance had been offset... he was of the understanding that the alignments were set in stone... and he was skeptical of even Lixi's story for herself. He supposed that it wasn't impossible for them to have choices. Hadn't he had a choice? But... Joel had reeked of Hell. He had already accrued a milieu of demons in his wake and he had been so convincing. To think that his leader would have once been one of his enemies was... baffling if nothing else. Now that he considered it... the number of followers Joel had had, how much had they increased since he had chosen? And all this noise over a woman? A woman! Not an overthrowing of the universe, not bringing equality to the realms... but something selfish.

He had been stupid to give up his flute, the last thing that tied him to his magic... for a cause that he did not know.

"Shad... Shad not know what to think of Mr. Joel." He'd had been developing the feeling that his master was only out for himself, albeit late. His smile turned serious. If his master did not care for him, then there was little reason for him to stay. But Joel had something of his, which kept him from any defiance. "Question for question," he said. "Has Lixi seen Joel carry... a flute?"

---

The both of them were awoken quite abruptly from their much-needed sleep, Martin having to be nearly dragged out of bed and Adja leaving Sophia behind, assuming that it was strictly energy-worker business that she was required up on the roof for. Imagine her surprise to see her brother heading in the same direction. She didn't speak to him. He made an attempt to speak to her, but lost the words he needed to say. When they came to the roof, the uneasy silence only continued.

Lixi thought for a moment. Eyes closed, she tried to picture everything that had been on the roof top. "I'm sorry friend, I do not recall. Last I saw him, both his hands were closed around my throat at one point, so if he has it, it is likely hidden. I truly do wish I had that answer for you." She was calmer now, having gotten the little burst out of her system. Now, more worried than anything about having ran her mouth off a little to much in her rambling outburst, she felt the need to get the conversation through the crack in this former gods defenses the last answer seemed to have made. "What is it, exactly, that Joel has a fertility god doing anyway?" She took care to deliberately omit the word 'former' when speaking of his position, and leaned in close, trying to look as compassionate as possible in this moment of calm within her mind.

-----

Crowley was just accepting a large book from a servant that he'd sent for while they waited when the Mayhir's appeared on the roof. He gestured for them to join he and Patriece, who was already sitting at his right calmly sipping at a cup of coffee, to join them at the table. "I had a terrible vision as I was sleeping. While my body rested, I traveled through a vein of energy that runs between the various realms of the other planes of existence. What Joel is doing is causing chaos and uprising on every level. Heaven is indeed inadequate to stop the army he has gathered, from the looks of it. And even if Lixi's plan to send Joel off to another world with Rosetta in toe does miraculously work, I still don't know that it will keep the rest of the creatures backing him from executing their plan."

Crowley mopped at his brow with a napkin, frantically turning pages as he did so. He paused for a moment, and pointed to something in the book, which Patriece was looking in with him. "Surely you're wrong Alister... That is, simply,... impossible. You know I would never question you, but perhaps you are...mistaken... this time?" The image made her usual permanent quasi smile fade to a furrowed look of concern, and she stopped sipping at her coffee, putting it down to toy with a small charm on her bracelet instead.

"No, Patriece. I know what I saw. Joel has his minions preparing to unleash him. If we can stop him at IronCity, get Joel out of his seat of power at least, perhaps we can sway the tides, for a while at least. But even if we stop this for now, I fear that it will be within the near future that we will have to face the devourer." He took the book from in front Patriece, and lay it on the table between the Mayhirs instead. A painting of men cowering in fear or laying dead on the face of the earth as unfathomably giant tentacles, each with dozens of spike toothed mouths in place of suction pads, stretched down through the clouds as far as the eye could see in the distance. "Joel intends to release Cthulhu, the strongest of the old ones, the devourer of worlds. Gods help us all."

"Shad... Shad overlook birth rituals with Chu Kwai. Joel employ Chu Kwai to help make sure the Half-children live long to fill potential. Yaoke originally meant just to touch iron, but human medicine man say mother strong enough for bigger purpose." Now he understood why he had wanted the half-demons, and how many years he had spent under his foot just so that he could free the woman in the iron. The things that he had been ordered to do... to people who would have been his followers in other times. He had to oversee it all... remember each one by name, by face, by scream... and he had to smile while he did it. It was fading now...

He could not think of any other questions to ask her... lost in his own memories and regrets. She'd had no answers for him for the last question he asked... but now it was not about the deal. It was about wanting to know more... to be able to control his own fate again. "Question for question. Does... Lixi hate Shad... for choosing darkness?"

---

Adja's heart nearly pounded out of her chest, and then dropped to her stomach. She knew that there was the chance... that there was the connection between Joel... and the Mad Arab... the Necronomicon. All that, she knew. But she didn't think that he would have the gall... she didn't think that he would would have the power to summon the Devourer.

But he wouldn't be summoning him. Her father would.

Her eyes grew suddenly wide, as if she were reading something displayed in the air in front of her. "No," she whispered.

All of this went over Martin's head. He looked at her, immediately worried because she got the same look in her eye that she was having a paranoid attack. "Uh... someone explain this to me. The hell is a Cthulhu? How do you even spell that?"

Adja began speaking quickly: her mind moving faster than her mouth. "Devourer of Worlds, High Priest of the Great Old Ones. A giant God from ancient times that's nothing but teeth and tentacles and bat wings." Her eyes moved to look at him. "Those who see, even catch a fleeting glimpse of him, lose their minds. I thought it was all just fiction... but I believe Crowley if he says that he's real. And if he is... and he comes here... he'll eat and eat and eat until there's nothing left."

"Hate? No no no. Lixi only hates Lixi. I don't even hate Mr. Joel, believe it or not. I gave up on hate a long time ago. Hate is a concept for demons and humans. Sadly most of my kin fell to it, which is part of why I wanted to leave. Hate serves no purpose for me." Lixi shook her head, gesturing softly to one side or the other with her hands when referring to demons and angels. The way the demon spoke had set into her mind for some reason, and she found herself mimicking him in a slight way accidentally, as though it was making it easier for her to feel attuned to who she was speaking to.

Suddenly, she tipped her head to the side and looked at him in quiet curiosity, contemplating his reactions to what she said. Opportunity may have presented itself after all. "Tell me then," she said, and lay her hands palm side up on the table, as though she were holding out something for him, though she offered no object in her empty palms. "Does Shad, hate Lixi, for what she is? For what she does?"

-----

Patriece, who had been silent since Crowley's reprimand, stood and quietly, quickly excused herself. Crowley nodded dismally as Adja explained. "He was unleashed here once before. Nearly half the world was swallowed up before he was imprisoned by the other gods. But the god of the angels, the god who currently watches this world, has grown arrogant, and lazy. He'll be powerless against him, especially with all of his forces currently dieing in the jaws of Joel's minions. I fear we may truly be at the end of all things."

Shad looked at her palms, a gesture of trust. He didn't know what to say to her, in all honesty. He hated her kind for what their God had done to him, for taking his people and being so indifferent towards his kind. But she was not her kind anymore. Now she was.. she at least she said that she was, for the most part human. And between the two of them there had been this deal, which was sealed in truth.

"Was time that Shad hate Lixi for what her people do." He put his hand in hers. "But time is passed. Shad trust Lixi, as equal. As one belong in Limbo to another."

But this exchange of information was not over. She had begun this, which meant that his question had to be the last one before the deal could be sealed. "Question for question," he said, the grin appearing on his face once more. "How can Shad help Lixi?"

---

Adja shook. She had suspected that the end of the world was coming simply by the way that Joel threatened her and the way that the events had unfolded. But she would have accepted any other scenario: The Revelation, Ragnarok, a bomb going off and simply wiping everyone out would have been preferable to having to face the Devourer.

"So... we're all going to be eaten?" Adja nodded.

"And he needs someone from this plane to summon Him. That's why he has Father."

The mention of his father reminded him of his second visit to the Oasis. "Adja, I gotta tell you something." He lowered his voice. "Crowley took me out of my body so I could see Lixi. And she somehow had a conversation with Dad."

She was still on the part where he managed to successfully leave his body and came back without being horribly mentally scarred. She looked at him as if he wasn't the same person she thought he was a minute ago. "You did what?"

"Look, that's not important right now. Yell at me later for it, I don't care. Point is, he told her that you and me need to work together."

"What could you possibly have to offer? He won't let anyone else on that roof except me."

"Listen to me, sis. I left my body. Don't you think we could use that?"

He was met with silence: reading his eyes as if they presented a possibility. She turned back to Crowley. "We still have three days, don't we, before we reach the ultimatum. If we fulfill his wishes and free Rosetta before he does something rash... and I can take my father out of his control before he opens the Void, do you think he would follow us?"

Lixi fought hard not to jump at the direct contact with this limbo bound god from the void, even if he was without power now, and even if she had been expecting it. Regret, fear, sorrow, anger, and hate all swirled almost overwhelmingly under his skin. "I uh..." her speach faltered as she did her best to push past his emotions that now sparked against her own mind. "I require two things to be successful in my tasks. One is only another trivial bit of information, easily echanged for any other information you may want from me. The other, may be a bit more burdensom, but I feel we could work something out."

Something, some part of herself deep inside shuttered at what she'd just said, what she was about to say. Lixi felt the pull of conflict in her mind, aware of what it meant if she were to fallow through and not only make, but construct and propose a deal. "The information I require, concerns a human man that is assisting Joel. The one who is to open the void. Does Joel keep him on the roof top with him at all times? Or does he let him rest elsewhere at times?" The information exchange had meant little to her state of being, people exchange and trade information all the time, but the promise for a promise she made next turned her ashen skin from the very pale grayish white to a soft shade of nearly greenish gray, as though she was rotting slowly as the words came out of her mouth. "Secondly... I need to get myself and Yoake safely to the warehouse that is warded against demons. There is a gateway within that will be opened in about 12 hours that will alow us to leave. We need to be there. If you can get us there, safely, preferably undetected, then I... then I will do whatever it takes to help you find and retrieve your flute."

-----

Crowley shook his head in aggitation. "What good could you possibly do against someone who can exist in the astral and physical realms simultaneously boy? You can't even get out of your body without help. And when you are out, that noxious molded beast beneath your skin takes over." Crowley's tone was bitter and resentful still, even after the mornings exchange.

Yoake gulped. "Um..." she started, almost afraid of what to say about her purpose in this whole thing. "I...I finally managed to get the reason I was born in the first place, even if it did cost me half my sight." She looked Lixi in the eyes, afraid to say it. She got up the gall to spit it out.

"According to the info Shad gave me...once the gates to Hell are open, I'm supposed to hold them open. And there's no way that I'm going to help this world get destroyed."

Shad smiled mischeviously. He knew that if Joel learned of this deal he would lose all hope of ever returning to his old status as a god, even only if of a small number of people... there was a chance that he would be cast into the Void for what he was doing. Yes, even good gods went to the Void, if their master so saw fit, and aiding in the overthrowing of his would grant him a hefty debt that he could not repay. But when all bets were off, he simply wanted his freedom. And to gain his freedom, he would need something that he once lost.

Here he found his loophole. His allegiance to Joel was strong, but the magic of the deal was older... far beyond the powers of the Fallen. While he was bound to Joel as his master, Joel was still servant to this magic. Yes. Within the boundaries of this bargain, he could use this angel to free him completely.

"Beard-man sleeps all times, but when Joel not need him, he sleep under building. Joel very generous to give him entire basement, but he not use it. He never move except for mumble." He melted back into a snake and slithered beneath the desk, reappearing again on the other side of it. "Shad hide Lixi and Yaoke, yes. Tell other demons is nothing to see. " He put his snakeish head against Lixi's ear. "Lixi understand, yes? Consequence if she not follow through with deal. Shad was caring god... but Shad not foolish." Then he drew himself back, human again. The smile on his face turned smug. "Whenever Lixi and Yaoke ready."

---

Exhausted as Martin was, he was even more fed up with being the punching bag. He stood. "Look, old fart," he said, the anger in his voice quite obvious. Adja moved to get him to sit back down and calm himself, but he pushed her aside. "I might not understand it when you talk about realms and heaven and all that. I might not get all this mystical shit you do. I sure as hell don't understand how you boning my sister is helping us save the world." At this, Adja winced, both visibly and audibly. He did not stop. "And in my life, I have been called stupid. I have been called weak, ugly, been called a sinner, a jerk, a thug, a tool, shithead and a bastard... but I will be damned if I let you call me useless." There was a pause, as if to allow Crowley to speak, but it was only to take a breath before he got to the meat of this outburst.

"You sent me to talk to her. Don't you think I spent some of that time coming up with a plan? She knows what I can do. She knows what to teach me. And if we have any luck on our side, she'll be in Cairo in the next eight hours to do that."

A plan was forming in his mind: having now had a chance to rest. If he could trust Vulture... trust her at all, and if he could learn to leave himself behind... then if they managed to not meet Joel's deadline and he got kidnapped, and likely killed, then at least he wouldn't be entirely gone. And... perhaps... if she was willing, he could accompany Adja inside her head to keep her from being completely under Joel's control while she followed through with whatever plan they had figured out. This all required Vulture's cooperation, and he would have to have a talk with her before they did this.

That's actually quite clever, she echoed in his head, reading his plan. Can't say it'll work entirely, but certainly clever. Perhaps you're not a complete moron.

"Yoake, I'll be happy to explain how that works as best as I'm aware of when we get to safety. Right now, all I need to focus on is getting you out of here, and getting myself back to Cairo where I can at least be of some help. I did not anticipate how bad this place would be." She spoke to Yoake as the Shad moved into his snake form.

She closed her eyes, suppressing a shiver as she felt the reptilian tongue flickering in the air as he spoke so close to her ear, and listened to his words. Before he pulled away, she put a hand lightly against the frighteningly smooth, scaly, body that pressed against her neck as he spoke next to her head, pushing him gently a few inches away, and turned slowly to look at the snake. It was strange to her how much he could still resemble the human while being the snake, even though all the features were different, or did the human perhaps resemble the snake? She was unsure, but it would be something to contemplate later, after all, she did just promise to help him find his flute, best to get comfortable with his visages now. Unsure if snakes truly had a cheek, she kissed the top of the creatures head, just above the eyes, as she knew that used to be the custom demons adhered to when making deals, as a symbol of trust and good will between themselves and the unfortunate receiver of the deal. She felt that in this matter, it had been she, who in fact, was the manipulator, the demon of the deal, not the shape shifting lost god who now would risk his own life to help them. The idea made her ill.

"We have about 12 hours, as I said, do you think we will be safer here than in the temple? Or do you think we should go at day break and wait out the rest of the time there? You've been in this city longer as it is now than I have, so I will trust your judgement, and trust you." How smoothly he'd shifted back to his human form, and between forms in general, was greatly of interest to her. Perhaps in the future there would be more to learn, more to be gained from this arrangement, if either of them survived.

-----

Crowley had been growing red with anger as Martin spoke, but when it came to his idea of Lixi as a teacher, he laughed, a cold, angry laugh. "Fine then. If that is what you wish, return to Cairo. You're not doing your sister or I any good here. Quar can help you with anything you require there." with that he turned to Adja, his face fading back to it's usual only semi flushed appearance. "Adja, my dear, I am sorry for this display of crudeness on both my behalf, and your brothers, please, do forgive me. I'm going to go find Patriece and see if I can console her. With or without her, I will return within the hour, and we can resume your lessons. Now, more than ever, it is essential that we keep pressing forward with your work. All my hope, all my faith, rests in you, my magnificent priestess." He left the table without another word to either of them, and headed toward the door to the stairs.

Yoake nodded, a bit on the nervous side. If we survive... she thought. To be honest, she had no idea where they'd be safer.

"Safety," Shad said when she asked for his advice. "Is illusion here." It was a hand motion more than it was a sentence. Round words with open palms. "Lixi and Yaoke safe here, but as they see... Shad still get in." He indicated himself. [color=sienna]"Shad special... but not only one. As time move on, Joel become more powerful... every day more demons arrive. Is important we move quickly while Shad still know climate, yes?" He resumed his insect form. The voice that came from his tiny, buzzing form was not small. "We go," he said before flitting out between the bars of prison.

----

"He doesn't trust you," Adja said when he left, just now realizing how true that was. She understood that he had only really seen her brother through her eyes, and that his fondness for her had warped it even further.

"Yeah. Less than you do," he said, still watching him go. "Didn't think that was possible."

"Martin, I do trust you." She leaned in closer. "Its her that I don't trust. She's poisoning you, Martin, in one way or another. She's eating away at you and both Crowley and I see it."

"Maybe you shoulda thought of that before you put the two of us together," he said sharply, and then immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. 'm just... pissed right now."

The two of them sat in silence before either of them made a move. Martin figured that their conversation was done and turned to leave. "You have a plan, don't you," Adja said before he could leave. "Leaving your body... you have a plan for it."

"Sort of," he mumbled, but she could hear him quite clearly in the still air.

"Are you going to share your plan with me?"

"Maybe," he said before leaving the roof entirely.

He left his sister alone with the feeling the weight of the world.

Yoake shrugged. "He may be creepy, but if he helps us get out of here alive..." She said, trailing off.

"He's not that creepy. Try spending a few years around Crowley." Lixi half smiled as she attempted to crack a joke. The deal with Shad made her uneasy because it was deal, but it left her feeling more secure at the same time, stronger somehow. "Come on, let's move." She quietly said to Yoake as she headed for the front door. It took a little work, but she managed to get the door open slowly enough to keep it from making to much noise. All she could do then was wait for Shad's instruction, and watch.

------

Crowley found Patriece hiding in her room. She'd thrown herself out across her bed like a tentruming child, and the bushels of skirt the her courtly dress sported piled around her like a dishevelled mint green cloud. "Lovely Patriece, what are you doing? This is no way for a lady and a teacher to behave." though he chastised her, he did so gently, and comfortingly as he came to sit beside her on her bed. He rubbed her back through the corsetted bodice of the gown, then gently touched her cheek as she calmed. "We need you now Patriece. Adja needs your guidence. You can teach her things that I cannot. She needs you. I need you."

Patriece burried her head in a pillow and wailed loudly, Crowley could barely understand what she said through the pillows muffling. "No no no no! No Alister! It is all to much! This is hopeless... we are lost! All of our world, all of lives, it is all lost! No more feasts, no more dancing, no more truffles and no more courtiers. Everything we have, everything we've built, all is lost! We will all be eaten, eaten by the devourer like swine!" she returned to her frantic sobbing, and didn't stop till after Crowley had softly shushed her and lifted her troso with his arms to pull her tightly in against himself.

"Now now, calm yourself my dear Patriece. We can not give up. If anyone can find a way to stop this, is it not us?" she grew still and eventually nodded meekly. "There's a good girl. Come now, collect yourself and come back to the roof, won't you please my dear?"

Patriece sat herself up, and looked at herself in a small gold mirror that she seemed to have produce out of no where. "You go on ahead. I will be along. It would not be fitting for me to be seen this way."

Crowley nodded to her, and left for the roof once again, leaving her to her make up. He shook his head as he approached Adja once again, and came to stand beside where she sat, placing one hand on her shoulder. "She can be a silly women sometimes, but she is gifted as a teacher. She will rejoin us shortly. Tell me, sweet Adja, what are you thinking in all of this, what are you feeling? What can I do for you, my sweet and gifted girl?"

Shad reappeared on the other side of the door in the form of a snake. For the moment, there were very few demons in the area, and now was a good time for them to set out on their journey to the warehouse. It was not far from the prison in respect of the size of the city, but there would be plenty of encounters on the way. "If Lixi and Yaoke are found by other demons, Shad no can help," he warned. While it was in his best interest to guide them with as little incident as possible, it was not feasible for him to strike against his brethren. He was limited to warnings, and if it came to battle he would be useless.

"We go now," he said, slithering his way away from the stink of the iron in the place. "Follow behind, Shad scout," he said, coiling his way around buildings. The haze had become thicker in the past few hours, making it more difficult for even him to see what lie ahead. He moved ahead, twenty feet or so. Around the corner, there was something that resembled a minotaur... which Shad himself would not have called it. To him, it was a bull spirit.

"Demon ahead," he said, doubling back to them so that he could whisper. "Big cow head, hooves. Walks like man does."

---

"I think I'm... severely not ready," she said. She had felt confident earlier, having now understood the power that she possessed. But with the increased threat of not simply the lives of the people she knew on the line, but everyone, she was unsure of her own abilities. "I'm very, very scared."

There were still, what? Two days left before she had to see Joel? She understood the basic concepts of her abilities, and she yearned to learn more, to learn all that she could. But she had the bare minimum, and it was going to take a lot more than the bare minimum to resist him.

Yoake silently drew one of her Colts and took it off safety, so that she could shoot it if she had to. She followed behind Shad, pistol at the ready. I hope I can still shoot with only one working eye. She thought. Giving up only half of her sight was mostly fuelled by the fact that she was an artist, but looking back in hindsight she should've traded something else. But what? She asked herself. Well, too late now. Like Lixi said, what's done is done.

She stopped as the bull demon was pointed out. There were no shadows to hide in, so she kept extremely still, hoping that, like with most other wild animals, it wouldn't notice her if she kept perfectly still.

Lixi nodded and calmly looked around. The building that they'd been about to travel around was a large office building called Oxford Center, usually comprised of layered plate glass and concrete levels. Now, it glowed orange instead of it's usual silver, most of it's glass smashed out, showing fire welling up within. Travelling within it would be treacherous, but perhaps it would be safer than travelling without.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yoake draw something, presumably one of her guns. "Unless that has a silencer on it, put it away." she hissed without looking at the gun. "You could have iron bullets loaded with holly water hallow tips and blessed by the god damned voice of god himself, and it would only serve to piss them off, maybe slow them down, unless you got something that can explode a demons whole heart. Keep those as a very very last resort." She watched quietly around the corner of the building for another moment, still unsure weather the bull or the buildings unknown would make a more fatal option. "Is their any other way around Shad? Maybe under the cover of the ground level hallway of the big building to the right? If we don't have to fight, I don't want to. Any struggle will just draw more demons in."

-----

"Adja..." Crowley sighed her name more than he said it, and dropped to his knees beside her chair, looking up at her compassionately. "None of us are ready for this. That fact that you are left with so much of burden, so suddenly, is beyond unfair. I can't even begin to comprehend how that must feel." tenderly, he grasped both her hands in his, and pulled them to himself, raising them to his face to kiss the back of each affectionately. "My dear girl, I wish I had some great and profound secret to tell you, some end all calming of the soul to make this easier, but, most regrettably, I do not. I'm scared as well my sweet Adja, more than you know..." his voice trailed quietly off as he repeated himself, looking up into her eyes all the while. "I'm more scared for you than you know."

"Shad not know what lie within tall building. Could be empty, could be nest. But if Lixi want to avoid conflict, Shad suppose no harm in trying. Bull-man not ever in good mood. Always mumble something about Theseus." He whirled around, leading them back to the entrance of the building, which had been smashed open. He slithered in, paying little heed to the broken glass. He skulked in the darker corners of the lobby area, searching for signs of danger before heading back to the girls. "Shad does not see, but does not mean is not there," he said, beckoning them to move forward.

---

Adja got to wondering why it had to be her, and not any of the other powerful Thelemites. Surely Patriece would be able to more effectively break open Rosetta's iron tomb, why should the burden be placed on her? But the answer was already there: she was powerful in potential, but still weak. Joel didn't want someone to simply perform the single deed and be done. He wanted someone that he could control, even past her original usefulness; another person to be under his heel.

Well, he's not going to get it, she thought stubbornly. As tired as she was, she was unwilling to simply just give in. She had never been one to simply give up just because someone thought it was hopeless. And if she had learned anything from her brother, it was that "hopeless" simply meant "try harder stupid."

"Well," she said finally. "Nothing has changed but the stakes getting higher. I still have to learn all I can if I'm going to beat him, so we had better get a move on."

---

Martin thought about packing, but soon realized that there was nothing that he had brought with him that wasn't already with him, so that simply left the mechanics of getting to Cairo... which he didn't know how to do. He didn't even know which way it was to the archway. He was simply lost. He wondered, for a moment, how long the flight would be to Cairo. Would he be able to get there by the time Lixi arrived? Could he pilfer enough money in time?

Of course, that line of thought all washed out the window when he saw a freshly made-up Patriece exit her quarters. He waved her down. "Patriece! Patriece!" I can't believe I'm calling on this shrew. Better than walking all the way to Egypt... though I hear Italy is lovely this time of year.

When he approached her, rather than letting her approach him, he set aside his loathing for the woman and spoke to her as if he had a deal to make. "I got one favor to ask and then I'm out of your hair for good. I need to get to Cairo, fast."

"We should avoid the lowest level. The shoping courtyard is to open with to many little stalls and hiding places where things could hide." Despite the mayhem, she did her best to smile in gratitude at the former god, then motioned for Yoake to fallow after Shad, so she could bring up the back, carefully watching to see that they weren't fallowed. The ever present feeling that they were being watched hung in the back of her mind, and since they'd been out here, she could have sworn she caught the breifest glimpse of angelic armor out of the corner of her eye, only to turn and see nothing but firelight reflecting off broken glass. Maybe she was just paranoid, but she was well aware that any remaining angels would be every bit as likely to kill the unalligned trio as the demons would be to take Yoake back for their purposes and rip the fallen angel to pieces.

-----

"Of course dear, of course. Now where is that silly women?" Crowley patted Adja's leg reassuringly as he looked around for Patriece, who he'd assumed would have rejoined them by now.

Patriece, meanwhile, was busy with Martin in the main hallway of the building below. The prospect of the worlds end had hit her hard, and she now couldn't even bring herself to put any effort into her usual degrading rudeness toward Martin. At his request, she only nodded. The upturned nose was level with the world today, her high strung brow relaxed and furrowed in worry. She even went so far as to loop her arm cordially around his as she lead the way to the arch shaped portal. She said nothing as they walked at first, but as they neared the arch she finally asked him what he hoped to do. "Have you truly found your own country so distasteful that you cannot abide my peoples rudeness? Or do you return to Cairo for other purposes?" she let go of his arm with little thought to it and set to readying his passage as she waited for a reply, touching certain spots on the velvet curtain covered stonework, whispering things as she did and forming the shapes of various gliphs with her fingers in the air. A puff of warm dry air soon pushed the curtains out slightly, as the undulated in the soft desert breeze. The portal was clearly open, but Patriece stood in front of the unopened heavy curtain, blocking Martin's path with small, frame, large skirt, and currently dismal green eyes, as she waited to hear his reply.

No, that wasn't right. He saw it, too, as he slithered his way up the out-of-service escalator to the second floor upon Lixi's advice. He had not considered that there might be danger for him as well in this. The two ladies had been the only encounter he had had in the past few days that wasn't strictly corrupted in nature. He was under the impression that the army of angels had been for the most part conquered, and only stragglers like this one remained.

So when he saw light reflecting off of an eerily clean surface, he assured himself that it was little more than a piece of dichromic glass catching the light of the warm glow and twisting it in odd ways.

He reached the top of the escalator, the second floor illuminated by little more than emergency lights and the occasional office light that was hastily left on in the middle of someone's escape... or perhaps their slaughter. It was inconsequential at the moment. Shad saw very little in this dim light, and the creeping haze from the war outside did not make it easier.

He flicked his tongue, smelled nothing but dust, and told the two of them to move along.

---

Martin scratched his head, trying to decide what, exactly to say to her. Telling her that he had now seen how unsavory he appeared to her kind would only serve to make her more unbearably annoying. And mentioning that the way he had been treated since he had arrived would only deserve a smart remark, he was sure. He had dealt with people like Patriece before, and he knew the game that they played with words. He didn't want to deal with it.

"I don't got time to deal with this, Patriece. Lixi is gonna be coming back to Cairo by the end of the day and I don't wanna waste any time."

When she didn't budge from her spot in front of the door, he began to wonder how hard it would be just to knock her down. She was a tiny woman, and for the most part she seemed afraid to even touch him. How hard would it be... just to get her out of the way so he could leave?

Yoake obeyed. I wonder...dare I tell Lixi about my modifications..? Probably not. She thought as she followed the ex-god up the busted escalator. "Damn this place is dusty," she commented, resisting the urge to sneeze.

"More suit than anything. The cities burning to the ground around us. I'm surprised everything isn't covered in ash yet." She whispered quietly to Yoake. "Keep moving, I'm going to fall back just a bit. I promise I won't lose eye contact with you two, even if you can't seem me. Just testing a theory." Lixi instructed as they rounded a corner in the hallway. From that angel, if someone had been falloing them, they wouldn't see her split off just yet. This was one of the longer sides of the octangularly shaped tower, so she'd at least have a few minutes to watch quietly for anything coming up before Yoake had to pause to let Shad scout ahead around the next sharp bend.

As the two moved ahead, she slipped quietly through the narrow frame where a long smokey glass window had been smashed out beside an office door. Lixi slipped the black glass beaded cowl of her armor up over her head, covering her loosely fettered hair and part of her face, and slipped into the shadows a few feet inside the room. She could hear the soft sound of the snakes body as it passed over the broken glass and debris, and Yoake's light footsteps up the hall. Focussing only on the narrow rectangle of low light through the smashed out window pane, she did her best to let her perception focus in her hearing, rather than trusting her eyes, who were limited to the 6x2 space. Surely enough, somewhere in the direction they'd came from, she caught a very soft noise. A single foot hitting a piece of broken glass perhaps, but stopping and replacing the silent step before it made a crunch, then another step, just barely causing the stationary escalators toothed gears to shift as weight was applied. Her pulse quickened as she drew both daggers and waited in the darkness for whatever she may soon see.

----

"And how, do you, know her?" Patriece half hissed half growled at him in French, and crossed her arms stubournly. Behind her, the curtains seemed to shutter and come alive, growing ridgid, as though they would turn to solid stone and cover the path at any moment. "I should have known this would have something to do with that ancient cunt. Anything evil that comes into our lives always must have something to with her. So tell me, what is she to you that you would run to the side of one so self serving as her?"

Shad stopped when he could no longer hear Lixi behind him, refusing to move forward until he knew that she wasn't getting herself into trouble. For this deal to be a success, it would require both Yaoke and Lixi to be alive at the end of it or it would be broken. It was a matter of self preservation that he refused to move on without her. Without her, who would be the one to retrieve his flute? the demon-girl was not bound to the deal in the same way as the angel, and he doubted he could persuade her to fulfill the second half of the bargain. No... no... he could not move on unless he knew that she was out of harm's way.

---

"You talk about her like that again, and I might have to break my rules against hitting little old ladies," he said, cracking his knuckles in preparation for what he might have to do. He could see the curtain starting to turn, and wondered how long he would have before the portal was closed again. He doubted he would be able to persuade her to do it twice. He moved to the left to get around her. She followed. He moved to the right. She followed. "Patriece, I don't have time for this. Étape de côté."

Yoake stopped as she noticed that Shad wasn't moving. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Lixi winced when she could no longer hear Shad and Yoake moving, well aware that they had not yet reached the end of the hall. To her great surprise, this seemed to work in her favor for now. A tall figure darkened the frame in front of her for the briefest of moments before disappearing into the room along with her. If whatever it was had noticed her, it made no indication. Lixi froze, looking out into the darkness of the room, searching for any sign of where it was now at.

Whatever it was had been bipedal, at least, and humanoid from the brief glimpse of it's silhouette that she'd gotten. Fortune smiled on her, and she saw it again at the far end of the room. It seemed to be trying to see through the matching window at that end, which was still intact. Lixi focussed all her energy into moving silently through the dark, and proceeded into the room in their stalkers wake.

-------

"No." Patriece said shortly. Holding her hand up to place her palm flat against his chest. "If you wish to get back to Cairo now, you will need me to move the curtains. The only thing holding you up is your own stubborn nature. You need only answer my question, and I will gladly let you out of my home as fast as your spindly legs can carry you. Now, tell me, what, is Lixiani, to a meager, infected, human, like you?" Energy, like electricity, crackled through her fingertips, and played against the soft fibers of his sweater, little sparks occasionally hitting the skin beneath.