Tea and Propaganda

Pat walks to his desk, and picks up the phone, dialing the office of the Seneschal.

The Seneschal's secretary answers within two rings, despite it being nearly midnight.

Daimon climbs up off the floor, and starts to make his way toward the couch.

Pat identifies himself with the proper passphrases, and asks to speak to the Seneschal directly, using the code words for an urgent matter.

Sarah helps Daimon to the couch, but only if needed. "Is there anything I can get you?"

Daimon says "Tea or somethin'?"

There is a brief pause, then the Seneschal's voice says, "Mazpatiel. What can I do for you?" You know the Seneschal is a Cherub of Judgement, who lives at the Supreme Court where the Tether is.

Liz is back at the hangar, in shock. "Daimon. Geased. Himeself. To. Judgement."

Daimon is a little crazy. Yes.

Liz thinks she drops a wrench. Of course she catches it before it goes anywhere, but she drops it.

Daimon . o O ( Seemed like a DAMN good idea at the time. )

Pat says "Jordan, Jada-dan, and Maasai are en route, to Ascend. I would like to recommend that they be allowed swift passage. Their report is distinctly urgent, and they bear an Oath for the Most Just."

Sarah stands, and studies the trembling of her hands for a moment. "Yes. Ah. Pat doesn't have any; I'll go and get some. Is there, ah. Any particular kind you favor?"

Daimon shakes his head. "No. I jus'... my nerves are jangly. I can't get to sleep like this."

Daimon is still unsteady.

There is a brief pause, then the Seneschal says, "Certainly. Is there anything else?"

Hitherby lands about fifteen bugs on Sarah's shoulders.

Sarah says "Ah. yes." She considers the bugs. "I'll be back shortly, then."

Pat says "Be cautious. The Game's eye is narrowing upon this city."

The Seneschal says, "So noted. Thank you for the warning."

Pat says "Of course."

Sarah departs the apartment with caution, including allowing Hitherbugs to scout if they accompany her.

The Seneschal says, "Judgement be with you," and puts the phone down.

Pat hangs up the phone, walking to the couch and sitting next to Daimon.

Hitherbugs, accompanying Sarah, wonder simply, "Mistake?" once the door has closed behind them. A few skim outwards to check for Demon Princesses hiding in the bushes.

Pat offers another cigarette.

Daimon takes the cigarette, and inhales blessed nicotine.

Sarah says "What are you asking about in particular?"

There are no Demon Princesses hiding in the bushes tonight. At any rate, no more of them.

Pat says "I...."

Pat trails off.

Daimon looks up at Pat. "Why do I have the feelin' I'll wake up tomorrow goin', 'Young Dai, what did you DO?'"

Pat says "Because you have, in the few days that I have known you, behaved more selflessly than a notable portion of the Host."

Hitherby says, "You understand Destiny. You understand why I pledged myself to him in this matter." A faint note of amusement enters the bugs' soft speech. "You might know if they are the same."

Daimon shrugs. "I have always felt tha' it was important to do th' _right_ thing, regardless if it is th' _correct_ thing or not. And.. uh... Sephar doesn't DESERVE to become a thing f'r the Game. I told ya... Game is Bad. Worth my time."

Pat says "In the space of an hour, you furthered the Word of an Archangel, made a personal sacrifice for a friend, and pledged yourself to the service of Judgement. By all rights, your name should be sung on the lips of Angels."

Sarah says "Mmm." She walks a little further before answering. "I don't know whether Daimon's hopes are well-placed or not; I am of Destiny, not of Judgment. I think, however, that your making of the pledge was a thing well done."

Hitherby wing-murmurs to Sarah, "Whether he deserves help is another matter, and one I am hesitant to commit on. For reasons that have little to do with his own virtues."

Daimon shakes his head. "You don't understand. Well, you don't understand why I do what I do."

Pat says "I would like to."

Daimon says "Well... the best thing to be, for me, is LIKE human. And the only way to do that is to be necessarily good. Or else we just sorta sink into the Hell system."

Sarah directs a smile this way and that, toward much of the swarm. "I think I might understand."

Hitherby considers. "Well enough." She follows Sarah's footsteps, relatively easy given her host, and adds, "Thank you. I would not wish to make the Great One wroth."

Pat draws on his cigarette. "You desire to be good?"

Daimon thinks. It's hard for him to think while medicated. "Well, I find it necessary to be good. Not a desire, as much as a condition of existance. But good is subjective."

Sarah says "Mm. I think we are all going to be doing some paying back of favors." She directs a vague smile outward again. "Without the painstaking measurement Daimon is accustomed to. Do call if you could use anything?"

Pat shakes his head. "No, Daimon. It's not."

Daimon says "Sure it is. Good is in the eyes of the beholder."

Pat says "With a small gee, perhaps."

Hitherby hums atonally, curiously, "A dismissal?"

Daimon says "Well, in general."

Sarah says "Not at all."

Pat nods. "There is a difference, though, between doing Good and doing one's best."

Daimon says "I just do my best."

Pat says "No, you don't."

Hitherby hums, "Ah." She murmurs, "I am glad I asked, then."

Daimon says "Sure I do."

Pat shakes his head. "You do Good."

Daimon says "I do what _Needs_ to be done."

Pat says "Yes."

Daimon reaches up, and rubs his temple. Then he gives Sepharbird a small cuddle, still be protective of freaked Kyriofriend.

Daimon says "And that's pretty much it."

Sarah laughs, a little. "It truly was just a request."

Pat says "There is a proper form to the Symphony, Daimon. The Symphony /Needs/ to be a perfect whole."

Daimon says "Hmmmm. I dunno. I don' hear the Symphony."

Hitherby says, softly, "I intend to stay near to you and Daimon, for a time. You are the most likely targets of malice. Unless you have spoken to Yves and he has given you other indications?"

Pat says "I think that you would enjoy it."

Pat says "As a pure form, it is a sense of Right. A sense of belonging, of being in one's proper place."

Daimon says "I dunno if I c'n imagine it. Besides, I've always done wha' I thought was best based on my own judgment. And tha's not infallible."

Sarah replies, "I have spoken to him. It's possible that he gave indications that will become apparent when the time comes, but none that I saw then." She lets out a soft breath. "I'd imagine that Daimon is most at risk. I will protect him."

Pat says "Imagine the perfect guitar riff."

Daimon says "Okay. No problem."

Pat says "The /perfect/ riff. Not a single burr of atonality, not a string one half-turn out of tune."

Hitherby hums like laughter. "I see no contradiction."

Daimon sort of furrows his brow. Then, after a moment, he says, "Okay."

Pat . o O ( Guitar metaphors. This may work. )

Sarah smiles. "Good. Neither do I."

Pat nods. "Now imagine that perfect music, that gloriously /complete/ sound, filling everything."

Daimon says "Hmmm. I can get to really loud speakers."

Pat shakes his head. "It's not loud, in the deafening sense. It's /pervasive/. That perfection touches everything, lingers everywhere."

Hitherby's hum walks up and down a major scale, with only a couple of extra notes, and she wonders, "Have you met Shannen?"

Daimon furrows his brow, takes a deep drag on the smoke, and shakes his head. "Hmmmmm."

Pat says "Hm?"

Daimon says "Everything?"

Pat says "Everything."

Pat says "All of creation."

Sarah says "Yes, I have. She's, ah. Bubbly. Why do you ask?"

Daimon says "Weird."

Pat chuckles. "If one was not used to it, yes. Weird would apply."

Daimon says "I mean, I hear A Symphony..."

Pat says "Yours."

Daimon nods. "Yep."

Hitherby is quiet for a few moments, and then murmurs, "She acted uncharacteristically."

Pat says "I hear my Symphony as well. But it not mine alone. My Symphony is Sarah's Symphony. It is the same Symphony that Sephar and Hitherby hear. The same one that sounds for Liz. We all share the same, without coercion."

Daimon says "Weird."

Daimon looks like he's TRYING to imagine this.

Pat says "It's a connection, Daimon. Not a bond, not a prison, but a connection."

Sarah frowns slightly, pausing in her step for a moment; she resumes walking somewhat more briskly. "How so?"

Daimon says "It sounds really.... hive mindish. Is it like bein' Hitherby?"

Pat shakes his head. "It is a community, in the purest sense of the word. Different facets of a single diamond, each one catching the light in exactly the way necessary to light the stone as a miniature star."

<> Pat says "Elohim are good with metaphor, I think. :) I hope."

Daimon says "So what, no one is ever alone?"

Pat crushes out his cigarette. "Never."

Hitherby says, "I am trying to place it. It is -- that she was -- unwelcoming."

Daimon furrows his brow, and looks like he's trying to work something out in his mind. "I can't imagine never bein' alone. I'm alone all the time."

Sarah says "In what circumstances?"

Pat nods. "I know."

Pat says "I don't want you to be."

Hitherby hums. "She explained that she had somewhere to go where a cloud of bugs would not fit in." She whispers a long downwards trill. "It is completely reasonable, which is why I accepted it. But -- she is of Flowers."

Daimon says "Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's bad."

Hitherby adds, "And she is *Shannen*."

Hitherby mutters, "Ask for the three greatest virtues of any form of life under the sun, and I can name them. Ask her how to bring things together, how to include ..."

Sarah says "I see your point. It is - uncharacteristic." She frowns, slightly. "It may have been an isolated incident. But I will watch. And Pat, of course, always watches."

Pat says "How long have you been here, Daimon?"

Hitherby bobs.

Daimon says "Alive? On Earth? In my Role? Or in this mission?"

Pat says "When was the last time you were in Hell?"

Daimon says "Three days ago."

Pat nods. "I have not seen Heaven in twenty-three years."

Daimon says "Wow."

Daimon peers at Pat, and looks impressed.

Daimon says "Do you forget?"

Sarah smiles, faintly. "She may only have been rushed."

Pat says "I come close, sometimes. Two days ago, with the Shedite, was the first time I have worn my Celestial form since I became Patrick Murphy."

Daimon says "Oh. That's... something. That's deep undercover."

Pat nods. "There were times when it was easier to think of myself as a man, to forget my purpose and my nature."

Pat says "It was then that I would listen."

Daimon nods. "I forget as well sometimes. I'm not workin' now, but sometimes I'm on the road for long periods of time."

Pat nods.

Pat says "How did you prevent losing yourself?"

Daimon shrugs. "Usually I got checked up on, or Terry called me, or something. I had alot of long walks, tryin' to remember why I was here, why I did anything at all. 'Looking for my soul' I called it."

Pat nods. "I went to the mall."

Daimon says "The mall?"

Pat nods. "Montgomery Mall. It's north of the city. I would find a bench and sit there. I would forget about Patrick for an afternoon, and I would observe. I would lose myself in the Symphony, listening to it swell about me, until I found my purpose again."

Pat says "It is always there."

Daimon says "I've spent quality time reading. Many boring hours on planes."

Daimon says "My Symphony is always there as well."

Pat nods. "But nowhere else."

Hitherby bobs. "I should hate to be a Triad," she mutters, as Sarah reaches the car or the store or whatever.

Daimon says "But nowhere else."

Hitherby explains, "Suspicion makes my eyes ache."

Pat shakes his head. "I do not believe I could bear the solitude."

Sarah smiles. "It needn't be suspicion," she murmurs. "Only watchfulness. Five minutes."

Daimon says "It gets lonely. It gets sad. Sometimes I get depressed. But I go on."

Pat says "Why? Why simply accept the detachment?"

Sarah ceases to chat while she shops, selecting a few things, paying promptly and getting back outside.

Daimon shrugs. "There's not much else to do. I used to think that it wasn't worth it to go on, but I learned to just laugh at it."

Pat purses his lips. He's not saying something.

Daimon says "What?"

Pat says "There is else to do."

Daimon shakes his head. "I am Lilim. I don't belong there."

Pat says "Everyone belongs there."

Pat says "If they want to be there."

Daimon says "No. We're an abherration. We're children of Lilith, which is like a dark form of humanity. We really don't belong there. We're born outside the light."

Sarah picks up again as she walks away from the store. "It's easy for watchfulness to become suspicion; easy also for that to become a habit. But not necessary, even, I think, for a Triad."

Pat says "When I was newly formed under Dominic's Word, I was sent to observe a gathering in Heaven, to learn the fundament of our society."

Daimon says "And?"

Pat says "There was an angel there whose form I did not recognize. I did not speak with her, as my instructions were only to observe. But for her appearance, I could make no difference between her and the other angels in the gathering. I was informed later that she was descended of your Mother."

Hitherby, outside again, wing-whispers, "Perhaps Cherubim vigilance is beyond thought, and has no need for explanations or worries. I am like the Ofanim -- my mind must always be moving, even as their whole beings must be. -- understand, this is not criticism but flattery and not vanity but self-awareness."

Daimon says "I've heard rumors of it happening."

Pat says "I will confirm them."

Daimon says "But not often."

Pat says "No. Not often."

Daimon hangs his head. "I dunno, Pat."

Pat says "What?"

Daimon says "I don't even want to _think_ about it. I appreciate that you... feel that highly of me, regardless if it's _deserved_. But I dunno."

Pat says "Why not?"

Hitherby hums thoughtfully. "In a similar way, a Seraph needs never suspect dishonesty. If you see my drift."

Hitherby drifts.

Pat says "This is not my assesment alone, Daimon."

Daimon says "Other then being _scared_, I'm no traitor. I've always prided myself on being loyal, if nothing else. Until... now."

Sarah replies, "I believe I understand what you are trying to say." She smiles, slightly. "This time. It's difficult for me to follow you."

Pat nods. "Until now."

Hitherby gives the short high hum that corresponds to amusement. "This is necessary. The universe would be incomplete if there were not an opposite side to every door."

Daimon says "And now I am a traitor. But Pat... It's what I have to do. It's what needs to be done."

Pat says "It's the right thing. It's the proper thing. It's the way things should be."

Daimon says "It's what I have to do to keep from being dragged home to hell and forced to hide."

Pat says "That's not the only reason."

Sarah agrees, "Quite so. And it can be pleasant to be confounded." She pauses; adds, "Excuse me for a moment," and steps aside to lean against a lamp-post, placing the shopping bag at her feet. Her laughter has only a slight hysterical edge.

Daimon says "Pat, I'm not a rebel. I don't make big waves. I'm just a little fish in a sea of really big fish."

Hitherby considers this for a handful of seconds, and suggests, "You are demonstrating?"

Pat says "What need is there for you to be, though?"

Pat says "There are cleaner waters."

Daimon says "Oh, I'm a _heretic_. And obnoxious. But I'm just an ordinary heretic."

Daimon says "I'm not special or anything."

Pat says "You are a heretic within the framework of a society that consists of deceit, selfishness, and pain."

Pat says "And you are exceedingly special."

Daimon says "That's hell in a nutshell, yes."

Sarah calms after a few moments, and lets out a longish breath. "I am - releasing a little stress. It was - not pleasant, to watch Daimon risk himself."

Daimon says "I'm _not_ special. I'm not Worded, I don't have any special toys. I'm just ordinary."

Pat says "You are compassionate, selfless, and striving for the proper path. Nothing further is needed."

Daimon says "I only do what needs to be done."

Pat says "Daimon, that's what I've been saying all along."

Hitherby flutters circularly above Sarah's head, and wing-mutters, "Ah. The attunement."

Hitherby wonders, "Lilith, or the Triad?"

Pat says "To you, what needs to be done is the /right/ thing."

Sarah replies, "Lilith. The Triad is fair."

Daimon says "And that's the best I can do. The right thing."

Pat says "There's nothing better."

Hitherby hums amusedly again. "I am glad to know that my misapprehension was shared."

Daimon says quietly, "I don't want to redeem, Pat. I don't _want_ to change. I had a hard enough time coming to terms with me as me in the first place."

Pat nods. "Alright, then."

Daimon says "It scares me to death."

Sarah lets out a long sigh. "I would rather have taken on the Geasa myself. But that was not an option."

Pat says "Why?"

Daimon says "Because I don't want to become someone _else_. Oh, I can deal with atonement and all that other stuff. But I don't want to wake up and be someone else and not be me, and not even remember what it was like to be me in the first place."

Hitherby hums a stern note. "It was, in fact, not."

Pat says "Who's to say that will be the case?"

Daimon says "T-t-that's what I heard. That's what I read."

Pat says "Pardon?"

Daimon says "Home. You know, from Yo-yos. They write what happens. They tell you what happens if you go Upstairs."

Hitherby admits, "Personally, I would rather that Sephar had taken it. It is not that I would joy to see Sephar in the service of Lilith *or* the Game -- but it was his responsibility, and not Daimon's."

Pat says "And what /does/ happen?"

Daimon says "T-t-that they make you atone. Or they erase your personality, when you become absorbed into the Symphony."

Daimon looks very nervous on this point.

Sarah takes a longish breath. "Lilith is - I hope - an improvement. And having done it may help Daimon. Certainly, I believe, it helped him in the Triad's eyes."

<> Hitherby has noticed that all of us angels have no personality, yup :)

Pat says "Daimon, I have been part of the Symphony since my creation. I will remain part of it until my destruction, God willing. Do you claim I have no personality?"

<> Daimon says "Yeah, well. None of you REDEEMED. :)"

Daimon says "No, of course not. But you were born there. It's different."

Pat says "No. It's not."

Hitherby bobs. "Lilith has genuine affection for Daimon."

Daimon says "Yes it is. It's... different."

Pat says "Daimon. I want to ask a favor. No strings attached."

Daimon says "Okay."

Hitherby says "She may not show it at all times, judging from his nerves, but he would have seen through *artificial* affection in his lifetime."

Pat says "I want you to forget what you've been told about Redemption. I want you to form your own opinions, on evidence presented to you as opposed to hearsay."

Daimon says quietly, "It's hard. I've heard lots of things."

Sarah presses fingertips to her mouth, lifting the shopping bag again. "She is," she comments, "a Princess. I attempt not to venture opinions about the motivations of such as she."

Hitherby buzzes cheerfully. "I make a habit of it."

Hitherby considers. "I mean, when you get right down to it, our world is shaped by twenty-eight people. Understanding them is pretty important. As best as one can."

Sarah hides a slight smile. "I understand that your Choir is said to be more capable in that sort of matter than mine."

Hitherby whirls around Sarah's head in an impromptu halo. "We are truly an excellent Choir." Then she twirls out two or three giggles at once. "Come now. Anyone can do anything."

Sarah replies, "Not quite true. And some things come more easily to some than others."

Hitherby chrisk-mumbles.

Sarah says "Yes?"

Hitherby says, after a moment, while whirling around faster, "I don't like limitations."

Sarah smiles at the blur. "You have fewer than most."

Hitherby says, "Once upon a time, there was a great scorpion king -- if I may tell a story?"

Sarah says "Certainly. Please do."

Hitherby says, "His name was Wanderer-and-Lord. He ruled a large swathe of desert, but he was not the most powerful scorpion in that waste. That honor belonged to another, named Shaker-of-Storms, who ruled a much larger bit of sand."

Sarah begins to walk again as she listens, if more slowly now.

Hitherby says "One day Shaker-of-Storms sent a message to Wanderer-and-Lord. Wanderer heard this message and then he called a great assembly of his people. The sands were black for dozens of yards around. And in front of them, he killed the messenger, and said, "I resign my throne." Then he walked away."

Hitherby says "His son followed him swiftly and asked, "What was the message?""

Hitherby says "And Wanderer replied, "It said that I must submit to him or be destroyed.""

Hitherby says "His son asked, "And why did you kill the messenger?""

Hitherby says "And Wanderer replied, "Because I could not bear that he would be emperor over me.""

Hitherby says "His son asked, "Then why did you give up your throne?""

Hitherby says "And Wanderer looked back at his gathered people, slowly dissipating, and said, "Because I could not bear that they were not kings.""

Hitherby says "That's the story."

Hitherby hums quietly.

Sarah walks quietly for some little time before saying, "I believe I understand."

Pat says "What have you heard, beyond the loss of personality?"

Daimon hangs his head. He's nervous and embarrassed. "That they take you, and put you somewhere, and let the... Malakim... use you... for their own pleasure. Not really my bag. And then when they're done, they hold you and tell you it's okay, it's okay if it hurts, because you're supposed to suffer to make up for the suffering you've inflicted on others."

Hitherby forms her Kyriotate-outline shape, and mutters, "Scorpions are not the nicest bugs, but all peoples have legends worth hearing."

Sarah considers that for a moment, too. "Hitherby? Might I write that down?"

Hitherby says "Of course."

Hitherby, who has eight bugs back at the apartment who are very deliberately not speaking, makes a disturbed noise. "It might be best to hurry back. Or not return. Daimon is -- speaking Hell."

Pat has had one too many shocks today to remain calm-faced and stoic. Instead, he looks completely aghast. "God Almighty..."

Daimon shakes his head. "I've lived through that before. I don't want to live through it again. Okay?"

Sarah frowns. "Their language? Or of it?" Her steps hasten.

Pat's mouth hangs slack.

Daimon says "I've already been a toy. I've done my time."

Pat says "Daimon."

Hitherby says, precisely, "His words are an embodiment of Hell. Although he does not mean them to be."

Daimon says "Hmmm?"

Pat says "That's...."

Daimon says "It's what I've been told."

Sarah frowns. "What is he saying?" She concentrates for a moment, sighs between her teeth.

Pat says "That's..."

Daimon looks at Pat, and starts to look very worried. "Have I done something wrong?"

Pat shakes his head. "Daimon...I...Give me a moment, please."

Hitherby explains, each sound assembled precisely and clearly from a dozen wings, "He has explained how Redeemed demons become Malakite sexual toys."

Daimon bites his lip, and looks away. He looks very pained.

Sarah blinks.

Sarah folds the bag around its contents, neatly, and gathers it in an arm.

Sarah then runs.

Hitherby trails Sarah, blessing wings.

Pat calms, after a moment. "Daimon. You have been terribly deceived."

Daimon says "It's I, it's... it gets worse."

Pat says "How?"

Daimon says "You... they... when you've atoned enough to be passed around... they... sell you off..."

Daimon says "You become a thing... an object..."

Hitherbugs, in the apartment, break their long silence. As loudly as eight bugs can, which is not much, they snap, "*Never*."

Pat says "Daimon, who says these things?"

Daimon says "Our Media. Publications. Rumors. It's just what you learn."

Daimon says "I work for the best person I possibly can who does the least amount of damage while trying to be the best person possible, without having to go _through_ that."

Pat says "Do they have good hair?"

Daimon says "I don't know."

Hitherbugs, in the apartment, rasp, "If this were true, I would not be here. I would be storming Heaven's Gates along with every last angel I have ever met, heard of, or seen."

Pat nods to the Hitherbugs. "Daimon, I serve the word of Judgement. Punishment falls within that purview. And I will swear to you that no such thing occurs."

Daimon says "But... I...."

Daimon just looks upset.

Pat says "You've heard nothing else. I know."

Sarah knocks. A lot. "Daimon!"

Daimon says "And angels kill us. And... and..."

Hitherbugs whisper, "I would let my soul be destroyed a thousand times over in the Great One's name, and that loyalty is *still* not enough to make me overlook such a thing."

Pat dashes from the couch to unlock the door.

Sarah presses in, brushes a kiss in the direction of Pat's cheek by way of apology as she thrusts her small package into his hands, and covers the last few steps to the couch in something between a run and a skid. She's paler now than she was when Lilith arrived.

Hitherby rejoins her swarms.

Daimon looks up at Sarah.

Pat closes the door, locking it and looking over at Sarah. "They've been saying..."

Pat locks his jaw.

Sarah says, looking sick, "Hitherby summarized. Oh, dear God, Daimon, no."

Daimon says "I didn't mean to _upset_ anyone..."

Pat says "Daimon, imagine Kobal being told he wasn't funny."

Daimon says "I... I think he would prove otherwise."

Pat says "What if there was no way for him to, because the people saying it wouldn't let him make a joke?"

Sarah sinks down beside the couch and presses her cheek against Daimon's knee. "Proof. I -" She swallows hard, and quiets, letting Pat talk.

Daimon says "He'd _remove_ those people, Pat. Forcefully. Permanently."

Hitherby says, voice wavering between harsh and soft, even within a single syllable, "Redemption is a promise from Heaven. Made in God's name. None of us would forget that promise, much less the *Malakim*."

Daimon reaches up a hand and lightly brushes Sarah's hair off of her face.

Daimon says "I.... I.... I just don't know. I'm so sorry I upset people."

Sarah catches at Daimon's hand, squeezes it gently before letting it go. "No. No. It isn't your fault."

Hitherby's voice becomes purely soft. "It was not you, Daimon. It was your words. When you explain what you have been told, there is a difference."

Daimon says "It _is_ my fault. I shouldn't have said anything."

Pat says "No, Daimon. It's the fault of those who speak that way, who spread a deception that vile."

Daimon says "You don't understand. I should be more conscious of how people feel. I shouldn't say things that will... upset people so badly."

Pat says "Sarah."

Hitherby says, softly, "I am not a Seraph, but I understand that a lie must be exposed to light before it can be shown to be a putrefaction."

Sarah shakes her head, looking up at Daimon; glances toward Pat.

Pat says "When are your friends arriving?"

Daimon says "Tomorrow morning."

Pat says "Not yours, Daimon. Sarah has a few people for you to speak with."

Daimon says "Oh. Sorry."

Pat says "It's alright."

Sarah pats Daimon's knee. "I don't know," she replies. "Whenever one is simultaneously both off assignment and willing to talk. It's difficult to predict."

Pat nods. "There's another thread I'd like to pursue, then."

Sarah says "Certainly."

Pat says "Would you believe your own senses, Daimon?"

Daimon says "Usually. Not right now, but usually."

Pat says "Then one of two things will happen first."

Hitherby falls to the floor -- much like snow, only not as cold and with more wings.

Daimon says "Okay."

Pat says "Either you will speak with Sarah's friends, or you will see Heaven yourself."

Daimon blinks.

Daimon says "Don't demons burn up in Heaven?"

Pat says "I've heard rumors of ways to avoid such. Don't worry, I have no intentions of asking you to burn."

Daimon says "Okay."

Pat says "And as for Sarah's friends, you may know some of them."

Sarah nods, slightly; then takes a deeper breath, and climbs to her feet. "Possibly."

Daimon says "I... I dunno. It might be really uncomfortable. I'd feel better taking my chances frying."

Hitherby crawls in circles around and around. Then she chrisks quietly.

Pat tilts his head.

Sarah retrieves her package from Pat, and steps into the kitchen.

Daimon says "I'm quickly becoming a nervous wreck."

Pat says "I don't want that, Daimon."

Sarah calls from the kitchen, "Tea, or cocoa?"

Daimon says "Tea."

Daimon says "I know. I'm working hard on getting ahold of myself."

Daimon says "I can't afford to fall to pieces."

Pat walks back to sit next to Daimon again. "I'll help, if I can."

Hitherby chrisks, plaintively, "It's *Heaven*." Mostly to herself. And she crawls around in circles some more.

Daimon says "It's hard. I'm becoming confused."

Pat says "I'll answer. As honestly as you want."

Sarah says "Hitherby? Would any of you like anything?"

Daimon says "Am I screwing up? And if so, in what respect?"

Hitherby flutters up into the air. "Cocoa is chocolate, yes?"

Sarah says "I believe so."

Hitherby says "I would like some, if it is convenient."

Hitherby says, quietly, "You are allowing your feelings of insufficient self-worth interfere with bettering yourself."

Pat shakes his head. "No. You're trying to make sense of things, and you only have one perspective to work with. It's not screwing up."

Sarah says "Certainly. A saucer?"

Hitherby calls back, "Please!"

Sarah busies herself in the kitchen.

Daimon says "So how do I make sense of things?"

Pat says "Look at other viewpoints. Ask questions. And try to look at things as they are, not as you've been told to see them."

Daimon says "I've been lied to all my life. I'm not sure what is true and what isn't."

Pat says "That's why we're here."

Daimon says "So how can I figure out what's best, when were all mired in this mess going on around us?"

Pat says "Practical application."

Daimon says "I don't understand."

Hitherby says, quietly, "God's grace lies within even a demon's heart."

Daimon says "I don't... really... believe in God."

Hitherby says, simply, "That's because you're not listening to Him."

Pat says "But, Daimon. He believes in you."

Daimon says "But how do I know?"

Pat says "You have faith."

Daimon says "I've never had faith."

Pat says "That doesn't mean you can't start."

Daimon says "I've always felt like, if there was a God, why did he leave me in Hell?"

Daimon says "Maybe it was some sort of lesson."

Hitherby says, quietly, "Faith isn't when you decide to believe in something. It's when you stop lying to yourself."

Daimon says "I dunno. I mean, I've seen the nothing in the eyes of souls condemned to Hell. Absolutely nothing in their eyes - no hopes, no aspirations, no wishes, nothing."

Daimon says "And how do you have faith, after you've seen that?"

Hitherby says "Lies are very subtle. Some of the lies will tell you you're a good person. Some will tell you you're a bad one. When you clean all of them away, you will understand faith."

Daimon says "I've done horrible things, Hitherby."

Pat says "And been absolved of them."

Pat says "By everyone but yourself."

Daimon says "I don't know. I'm not big on forgiving myself."

Pat says "Daimon, I can see guilt. It's a part of my nature."

Daimon says "I'm guilty all the time. It's just how I am."

Pat says "I know that you feel guilt, and I also know that it is unecessary."

Daimon says "If I didn't feel guilt, then I would have accepted what I've done as being 'okay'."

Pat says "It binds you."

Daimon says "It reminds me that, even in Hell, there has to be some personal integrity."

Hitherby hums a soft, sad tone, slightly off-key.

Hitherby says, thoughtfully, "I feel no guilt for your past crimes, yet I do not think of them as 'okay.' Assuming that my estimates of what they were are correct."

Daimon says "You can assume, and you're probably correct. I've always just sucked it up, reminded myself that I am a servitor who serves a higher power, and done them to the best of my ability."

Hitherby says "If I can loathe those crimes without loathing you, why cannot you do the same?"

Daimon says "I guess I can't separate the crime from the criminal."

Pat says "Why not?"

Hitherby says "Punishment, self-inflicted or otherwise, is a dangerous thing."

Daimon says "I dunno. I feel that if I had whatever it took to do them in the first place..."

Hitherby says "I understand the Princes are big on it."

Pat twitches again.

Daimon says "Punishment is a part of it, yes."

Sarah exits the kitchen, and sets a saucer of warmish cocoa in reach, then offers Daimon his cup of tea. Without a word.

Daimon takes his cup of tea. "Thanks, Sarah."

Pat says "Punishment must fit the crime."

Pat says "If it does not, it becomes torture, and no longer serves the cause of Justice."

Daimon says "But it certainly fits with the whole Hell thing."

Daimon says "You know, I refer to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, with the Hell Bardo state. Have you read it?"

Pat says "No."

Daimon says "I refer to this all of the time, because I believe it's accurate."

Hitherby hums amusedly. "Three guesses."

Hitherby lands a few bugs at the saucer's edge and sips.

Pat says "There is no reason for you to be in Hell."

Daimon says "It tells a story. There is a man who is about to cook a leg of lamb. Before he does so, his teacher tells him to mark it with a cross. Later, the man discovers he's marked his own chest. Hell is internal. It's just a place, but the torture does not come from flames or emptiness. The pain is all self-inflicted. You cannot escape from yourself."

Sarah suggests, "Best to explain your reference, then." She returns to the kitchen, fetches another pair of cups; the coffee she sets by Pat, the cocoa she keeps for herself.

Daimon says "I'm in Hell because I was born there."

Pat says "You stay there because you will not let yourself do otherwise."

Pat picks up the coffee. "Thank you, Sarah."

Daimon says "I'm too... I'm very loyal, Pat. It's something I need to cling to."

Hitherby says, "Sometimes, I think that we select our homes for ourselves. That angels are cursed because we can go so far wrong as to choose Hell -- and that demons are blessed in that they can go so far right as to choose Heaven."

Daimon says "I personally do not understand how Angels Fall. How can you give up everything you have for the empty nothingness of Hell?"

Hitherby makes a sudden amused noise, and says, "Perhaps that is why we see so few Bright Lilim. Most of them turn into Cherubim!"

Sarah glances toward Hitherby, eyebrows rising.

Hitherby giggles unashamedly.

Pat looks at Daimon. "Do you want a serious answer to that, Daimon? It will not be pleasant, given my interaction with the Fallen."

Daimon says "I think that you see so few Bright Lilim because when you detect a Need the urge to act on it and use it is great."

Daimon says "I'm listening Pat. I do want to _learn_."

Sarah takes a breath. "Carelessness, Daimon. Or mistakes. Or deception. And once begun, dissonance feeds upon itself." She pauses; glances to Pat. "That is correct, if not complete?"

Hitherby says "I hope I am not interfering with this, Daimon? I can be silent if you like."

Daimon says "Of course not, Hitherby."

Hitherby says "Just checking."

Pat says "We spoke of Symphonies earlier. The communal Symphony of the world, and the personal Symphonies of the Hellbound. I will tell you now, that a demonic Symphony is not original. It is not their own. It is the divergence that is taken from the Truth of the pure Symphony."

Hitherby hums.

Pat says "Those created in Hell know nothing else."

Pat says "Those who Fall..."

Pat says "Those who Fall drift far enough from the Symphony to know their divergence, to know that they are leaving the Light. And they choose their own perversion of God, incarnate in their hearts, and follow it into the Pit."

Daimon loses a little color. "How can anyone _choose_ the Pit?"

Pat says "Because they think they know better. They think there's a better deal to be had. They think that they can be above God."

Sarah says quietly, "Illusions. Vanity. Despair." She glances to Daimon. "Guilt."

Daimon says "But there isn't. Hell is just pain, for everyone involved. Even the Princes."

Daimon says "My sins are despair and guilt. And pride. But I can't understand how people would... choose... it. What kind of pain are they in that they think the Pit could be better?"

Pat says "Selfishness."

Hitherby says, softly, "Each step towards a Fall is a denial of one's own nature. Why should an angel ever do so? Because sometimes the choices we must make are hard. For any number of reasons."

Sarah says gently, "What kind of pain are you in, Daimon, that you think it could?"

Daimon looks sharply at Sarah. "I... me... I dunno. Just my pain."

Daimon blinks. "I can't understand choosing to be alone through selfishness."

Sarah answers, softly, "Just /your/ pain."

Daimon shrugs, trying to get rid of the subject.

Pat tries to feel Daimon's pain while it's still there.

<> Pat rolls the d666 and gets 5 3 CHECK: 1.

Hitherby says "Choosing loneliness and choosing selfishness are the same thing."

<> Pat says "Current emotional state. That's all."

<> Daimon says "Upset, embarrassed, nervous."

Pat says "There's no shame here, Daimon."

Daimon says "I... I feel like I'm laying on a psychiatrists couch. And yes, I've tried that."

Sarah sips cocoa, and smiles a touch. "You've an odd collection of doctors, then."

Daimon says "Indeed."

Daimon sighs. "I'm not _in_ pain, Sarah."

Sarah says "Aren't you?"

Daimon says "Why would I be?"

Hitherby hums, very very quietly, "I could prepare a list ..."

Daimon sighs, heavily.

Daimon says "What if I don't want to talk about it?"

Pat says "I think we need to pause for a moment."

Sarah replies, with a smile, "Then you have tea."

Pat leans back, sipping coffee.

Daimon sips his coffee.

Daimon leans back on the couch, not so much stoned, as just blah.

Hitherby says, "The cats claim that they invented chocolate, but that the secret was lost with the Missing Generation."

Hitherby clusters at the edge of the saucer cocoaline.

Daimon falls into a sullen silence.

Pat says "I would like to apologize."

Daimon says "For what?"

Pat says "For pressing."

Daimon says "No, it's okay."

Pat shakes his head. "I've made you uncomfortable."

Daimon says "Hardly. You guys have been the kindest to me in... for the most part, my entire life. You have nothing to apologize for."

Pat says "I insist."

Daimon sighs, and stares into his tea.

Daimon says "If you wish."

Pat says "I would not wish. I would, rather, wish for an even hand."

Daimon says "I just... I understand why you want to draw it all out of me. But it's been sitting in there for a very long time."

Pat says "Then it needs to be out all the more, Daimon."

<> Liz says ""But, Doc, I *like* my tumor. It's comfy."

Daimon says "I've gone through life believing that I've done something horribly wrong just in being born. It's not like being human, where you are born being dealt an even hand and you make what you want of it."

<> Daimon says "Something like that."

Pat nods, listening.

Daimon says "It's why I try to be half way decent. I was born with already being damned. How much worse can it get? There's nothing to lose. Of course, there's nothing to lose going the other way, either."

Hitherby says, quietly, "When you were born, a part of God was born with you, and a part of --" She considers. "A part of the denial of God."

Daimon says "I don't have any faith, because I wondered if my birth was just a random act of violence. I'm just another tempter. I fulfil Needs. I get geasa. I make people do stupid things. And I have to wonder if that's all there is to it."

Daimon says "I stare at my Sisters, and they're so proud of their collections, you know?"

Pat says "They don't question."

Daimon says "There's something wrong. But it's so easy to fulfill needs. I mean, not big ones, but it's so simple to collect, and strive to have the biggest collection, and then deal to make yourself more powerful so it's easier to survive so you can have bigger collections..."

Daimon says "Around and around it goes."

Pat nods.

Hitherby says "Perhaps the trade mentality of the typical Lilim exists to remove all possibility of genuine self-sacrifice?"

Sarah frowns, slightly, and folds her hands about her cup.

Daimon says "It seems pretty hopeless. Take for instance, Sarah's rather charming Need for more chocolate mousse. It made me feel good, someone needing something so simple and fun and happy. But a Sister would go and get it for her, and give it to her like a friend, a nice trustable girl, and then later, bite her lip, and say, 'well, I did give you the mousse, what do you mean you can't kill Shannen?"

Daimon says "Do you see what I mean? It's not Freedom. It's a TRAP."

Daimon says "And it's... unfair."

Pat says "Daimon."

Daimon says "A trade. I give up my time for you, and I bill you later."

Daimon says "Yes?"

Pat says "There is an Archangel who would be mildly irked at this quote, since it is of an apocryphal status within the religion he patronizes. But I find it appropriate."

Pat says "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy."

Daimon says "I... don't think I understand."

Pat says "Your Sisters are trapped because they do not realize the nature of the trap."

Pat says "You can see it for what it is."

Pat says "And because of that, you are above it."

Daimon says "I just wonder if the resonance can be used for something else."

Pat says "Must you claim a Geas if you fulfil a Need?"

Daimon says "No, of course not."

Pat nods.

Sarah suggests to Daimon, "Information, then. And even of the Geas - I would imagine Liz might have advice. Contracts are part of the Word she serves."

Daimon says "This is why I have to learn. I know so very little about how things really work."

Pat says "Our resonances are quite similar, actually. I may be able to help."

Daimon says "Reading a Need is informational. You get motivations. You know part of their personality. It helps to understand what is going on."

Daimon says "Not how they feel, just what they want."

Pat says "It's very similar."

<> Liz will, at some point, be happy to show Daimon how some of the more advanced attunements of Marc are rather like Geasa, only with prior consent in a very explicit way.

<> Daimon is going to become a permenant angelic Student. :)

Pat looks at Daimon. "Try to extrapolate. Read me, and tell me what you can learn from it."

Daimon reaches over and touches Pat on an exposed part of skin - hand to hand, maybe.

<> Daimon rolls the d666 and gets 3 6 CHECK: 4.

<> Daimon says "Level 4 Needs."

<> Pat says "Lvl 4: Demonstrate his Vigilance to Dominic. Lvl 3: Help Daimon see things clearly. Lvl 2: Get to the bottom of the Kobal issue. Lvl 1: Get closer to Sarah."

Daimon grins slightly. "That's sweet."

Pat blinks. "Hm?"

Daimon says "What you Need to do. I said it was sweet. Well, not proving yourself to Dominic, but still."

Pat nods. "Well. Now, extrapolate from that."

Sarah drinks cocoa, listening.

Daimon says "I know you have a strong sense of duty. You want to bail me out of my headmess. And you really..."

Daimon grins, looks at Sarah, and waggles his eyebrows.

Sarah regards Daimon mildly. And then, abruptly, pays a great deal more attention to her cup.

Pat says "Is that all?"

Daimon says "Well, no."

Pat says "Go on, then."

Daimon says "You like Sarah. You want to get to the bottom of this mess with the Boss, as do I. You want to straighten out my head... which I think is an interesting task. And you want to prove yourself to your Archangel, something I believe you won't have any problem doing."

Pat nods. "You know what I want. Start piecing them together. What does it tell you about me as a person?"

Daimon says "You have quite a bit of personal integrity. You take pride in your job. You feel that the pursuit of justice is an admirable one. And you have good taste in interests."

Sarah says, firmly to her cocoa, "If you're trying to get me to blush, Daimon, it isn't going to work."

Daimon says "It's too late, but you look very cute."

Sarah - inevitably - blushes.

Daimon gets a large grin, knowing his work here is done.

Pat chuckles. "Alright."

Daimon says "So am I even close?"

Pat says "Quite. At least to my perception of myself."

Sarah says "I would agree, on those segments in which I am even remotely qualified to judge."

Daimon says "So it's not a worthless resonance without the geas. Quite the contrary. It's just that inflicting a geas isn't really fair."

Daimon says "Unless, of course, it was used to enforce some sort of contract."

Daimon says reflectively, "And then the terms of that should be negotiated upfront."

Pat ponders something.

Pat says "Or as a fair punishment."

Daimon says "Or penance."

Sarah glances between them. "Community service?"

Pat considers this.

Daimon says "I can fix what is wrong with Lilim as a Band. I can't fix what is wrong with me as an individual."

Pat says "One thing at a time, Daimon."

<> Liz says "Cool. Let's start with the Game Sister."

<> Daimon says "Grab her, convince her she can play the Game the Fair way?"

<> Liz says "Sure, why not?"

<> Daimon says "If you can fix ONE Lilim...."

<> Liz is still feeling bad about the Impudite. Giving the Game Lilim a chance to fix her life would be a nice start.

<> Liz wouldn't mind going after the hear tof the Game Impudite, either, but that's probably not on Daimon's Top Ten List.

<> Daimon says "It's hard. Lilim don't WANT to fix their lives. They see nothing wrong."

<> Daimon just wants to be a student. :)

<> Liz says "Cool. What's your degree in?"

<> Daimon says "Life."

<> Daimon says "With a healthy dose of guitar. :)"

Daimon, in typical Lilim fashion, chews his bottom lip.

Daimon says "So what, you want to TRY this?"

Pat says "Do you?"

Daimon says "It would be an interesting experiment."

Pat nods. "It would be. May I forward a possibility?"

Daimon says "Sure."

Pat says "I can petition to have your service to Judgement attached to mine."

Daimon says "As mentor? I really don't know anything about the Law, to tell you the truth. I'm an entertainer. I have theater and music."

Pat says "As a mentor, and in way of experimentation. My corporeal duties would be a more accurate venue to test the theory than the current situation."

Daimon says "We're in a mess right now. But alright. I don't know anything. I'd be a pest and ask all sorts of things."

Pat chuckles. "I won't object."

Daimon says "Do you only work with Celestials? Or just headcases, like me?"

Pat says "Work with? In what sense?"

Daimon says "I mean, does your law only pertain to Celestials? Hunting down bad ones and hauling them in?"

<> Daimon says "On reflection, I have come to a conclusion. If you are going to go Bright, and you're trying out Archangels, Judgment is the BEST place to start."

<> Daimon says "It's not just because the universe is out to get me. IT's because you learn why people go Bright or why people Fall, and what is wrong with them and how the whole system works."

<> Daimon says "Wack, eh?"

Pat says "I haven't done that sort of work since my assignment here. I was selected out of the Inquisition for a long term position."

Daimon says "Okay, well, I acquiesce to your superior judgment."

Pat chuckles. "But yes. The Inquisition is charged solely with enforcing Heavenly Law."

Daimon says "I don't know anything about Heavenly Law. I'm starting out at square one."

Pat nods. "Then it's a good thing we're not in the middle of enforcing it."

Daimon says "True. Well, your suggestion is probably well founded."

Pat nods. "I will suggest it to Dominic at the time of my next report, then."

Daimon says "Okay. And I will not be offended if Dominic says no. I assume your Archangel is far wiser then a few dozen of us put together."

Pat says "Absolutely. Judgement incarnate implies a great deal of wisdom."

Daimon nods.

Sarah says "Daimon, how long does your - ah, contract - stand for?"

Daimon says "To whom, Judgment?"

Daimon says "Until this mess is sorted out."

<> Pat says "Daimon, Lilim of Eli in service to Heaven."

Pat says "And what then?"

<> Daimon says "Damn straight."

Daimon says "I go home, or I don't."

Pat nods.

Sarah smiles to herself, and also nods.

Daimon says "I'm leaning towards 'don't', no matter how utterly frightened it makes me. It's not like the Game isn't already after me, you know?"

Pat says "The Game knows better than to pursue past the Gates."

Sarah murmurs, "One would hope."

Daimon says "It depends on how all this turns out. What if I'm an utter failure at having a contract with an Archangel?"

Pat says "It depends on what sort of failure."

Daimon says "Spectacular?"

Daimon says "Under my own free will, I'm not going to start going around filling people so full of hooks they look like Celestial Porcupines."

Pat nods. "A good start."

Sarah says "Generally, yes."

Daimon says "And we have to decide what to do if and when my own free will is, uh, no longer a factor in my actions."

Pat says "Who besides your Mother holds Geasa on you?"

Daimon says "The Boss has some little things, but my Mother has several of my birth geasa still out on me."

Sarah pauses; then gives a small, startled blink. She doesn't say anything, though.

Pat says "Birth geasa?"

Daimon says "Oh, and the one for Sephar's freedom. Bt that was worth it."

<> Pat decides, idly, that the Gospel of Thomas suits Pat very well.

Pat says "More than you know."

Daimon says "Yeah, birth geasa. You know, she charges you for being born."

Pat blinks. "I did not know that."

Daimon says "It's true. And she can hand them to anyone she wants."

<> Pat | 67 Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking."

Pat says "Except for the three."

<> Daimon says "The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas kicks ass."

<> Pat wishes he still had a copy of The Other Bible.

Sarah murmurs, "I wish I could remember her phrasing."

<> Daimon says "Jung said, "Those who are tortured turn and become in themselves the Torturers.""

Pat says "Three for one, if I give my word that I will not trade them."

Daimon says "Except for the ones that I took the heavier price for, so she wouldn't."

Daimon says "I will happily do jobs for my Mother, without complaint."

Daimon says "But someone can come along and buy or trade for my birth geasa."

Pat says "How many remain?"

Daimon says "Out of the original nine? Four."

Pat says "And each one is worth?"

Daimon says "A week."

Pat nods.

Daimon says "So you have to be prepared for some random time in the future, I'll lose my free will for a week."

Pat says "What about conflicts?"

Daimon says "I will become Discordant, and I will die."

Pat frowns.

Daimon says "That's how it works, Pat."

Sarah presses fingertips to her lips, frowning.

Pat says "I was not aware that Discord was fatal to the Lilim."

Daimon says "Enough of it is."

Pat says "What terminates a Geas? Completion alone?"

Daimon says "Completion, or someone very mighty removes it."

Pat says "Such as?"

Daimon says "I'm not sure if just any Superior can remove one...."

Daimon says "I don't know. I've never asked."

Pat nods. "That is standard policy, mind you."

Sarah says "Standard policy?"

Pat says "Part and parcel of redemption, Sarah."

Daimon says "Oh. So do you get a 'so you want to redeem' packet?"

Pat says "No, but I can tell the particulars that I am aware of."

Daimon says "Such as?"

Daimon yawns, and pulls his knees up to his chest on the couch.

Pat says "You have to want it, to begin with."

Daimon nods. He looks sleepy.

Sarah leans forward, listening with interest. She glances at Daimon again from time to time.

Pat says "A petition is made to an Archangel. The particulars vary. Dominic holds a full inquiry."

Daimon says "To find out if the demon is lying?"

Pat nods. "And if not, to determine the length of probation."

Daimon nods. "Sounds fair enough."

Pat says "After the petition is accepted, the Archangel reattunes the demon to the Symphony."

Daimon says "And sometimes the demon bites it."

Pat nods. "Sometimes, yes."

Pat says "Which is, perhaps, the final test."

Daimon says "So I might do all this, and die."

Pat nods.

Daimon yawns again.

Sarah says quietly, "I don't believe it's likely."

Daimon says "So what is the difference between Probation and Atonement?"

Pat winces. "Atonement, as you described it, seemed to be nothing more than torture under the name of penance. To be blunt, it does not exist in Heaven. Probation is simply the time after attunement during which the angel is guided, as it acclimatizes itself to Heaven and its new place within the Symphony."

Sarah provides, gently, "The angel is treated differently only in that it is watched more closely."

Pat nods.

Daimon says "You have to prove yourself."

Pat says "No more than any other angel."

Pat says "I did not earn my assignment here with my rapier wit."

Daimon says "Was it on looks?"

Daimon grins.

Sarah hides a smile.

Pat chuckles. "No. I served in a Triad for several centuries before I was selected for a long-term post on Earth.

Daimon says "So what did you do in your Triad?"

Pat says "I levied sentence."

Daimon says "Sentence?"

Pat nods. "Punishment."

Daimon says "I have a feeling we're not talking community service here."

Pat says "On occasion, yes."

Daimon says "How bad?"

Pat says "Pardon?"

Daimon says "I mean, how harsh was the punishment?"

Pat says "No harsher than the crime. Yes, occasionally execution was deemed necessary."

Daimon says "Oh."

Daimon chews on his lip.

Daimon says "Were they going to Fall if you didn't kill them?"

Pat says "They already had. We reached them before they reached the Pit."

Daimon says "Probably better for them. Although I doubt they saw it that way."

Daimon says "I have a major death hangup. But there are worse things."

Sarah nods, silent.

Pat nods. "No crime, save for the Lightbringer's Rebellion, has justified exile to Hell."

Daimon says "They weren't saveable?"

Pat says "I do not know. Dominic refuses to speak on the matter."

Daimon says "Oh."

Daimon ponders this deeply.

Pat says "It was quite some time before my creation."

Daimon says "I meant the people you executed. They weren't saveable?"

Pat says "Oh."

Sarah smiles, very faintly.

Pat says "It was determined along the course of the inquiry that they were wholly unrepentant. In five of the sixteen judgements in question, the Fallen had slain at least one angel in his descent."

Daimon says "Oh. Oh geez."

Pat nods.

Daimon says "I've never killed anyone."

Pat says "I've never dwelt on it."

Sarah says quietly, "It's best not to dwell on it."

Daimon says "I couldn't do it. Just so you know. I couldn't."

Sarah says "I know, Daimon."

Daimon says "Why am I salvageable and they weren't?"

Pat says "You've demonstrated it through your actions."

Daimon says "I've just been being me."

Pat says "I know."

Sarah says "Yes, Daimon. Precisely."

Daimon says "Oh."

Daimon yawns.

Daimon says "Well, at least you don't have to kill people anymore. Although I think if they're going to Fall, it's one thing. If they Fall and kill people on the way out, it's another."

Pat says "There was one of Judgement I once knew. A Friend by the name of Canael."

<> Liz says "Perhaps Daimon could help find out what Falling angels Need in order to be put back..."

<> Daimon says ""The thought has crossed his mind...."

Pat says "We held the same position, in different Triads."

<> Daimon says "He's thinking, he's no good for this work. He can't kill people. Just can't. But hey, if you could redeem a bunch of Lilim..."

Pat says "At one point, he was the only one to return."

Daimon says "Ick."

Pat says "This is known to happen. Occasionally a Triad is outmatched, such as if we arrived to late, and the Fallen had acquired infernal allies."

Pat says "However, an inquiry is always called."

Sarah glances at Pat - but restrains the urge to lean over and touch.

Daimon is listening.

Pat says "It was a long hunt for Canael's Triad, and as such it was a long inquiry. I was assigned to the investigating Triad, along with a Seraph and a Cherub I had never worked with before."

Daimon blinks, and yawns.

Pat takes a swallow of coffee, and lights a cigarette before continuing. "The catastrophe was not the death of Canael's Triad partners. Not initially. Due to a catastrophe, Canael Fell, and fell under the sway of an envoy of Malphans."

Daimon says "Factions. Ick. Talk about Falling to become a jerk."

Pat nods. "He conspired with the Malphans to destroy the other two Judges. And then allowed himself to be attuned to by a Djinn, and made for the nearest Dominican Tether."

Sarah sets her cup aside, quietly, and rises; she paces into the bedroom, evenly, comes out with a blanket folded over her arm.

Daimon goes to join Sarah, hoping to be included in the shared cuddling under the blanket.

Pat twitches an eyebrow.

Daimon looks at Pat, grins, and goes back to his place on the couch.

Daimon says "Sorry. Old habit die REAL hard."

Pat nods.

Daimon says "So anyway. Factions."

Sarah, mutely, tucks the blanket around Daimon-on-the-couch.

Daimon gives a thankful look at grin at Sarah, and pulls the blanket around himself. "Thanks."

Pat says "The inquiry was handled inside the Tether, as was policy. Over the course of it, we determined what had occured. The deliberations were...uncomfortable. Canael had been a friend of mine, and my partners were arguing unwaveringly for his destruction."

Pat says "And he did not stop smiling."

Daimon says "Of course not. He was Factions."

Sarah shudders, quietly.

Daimon says "So he got someone to kill his other two Triad members?"

Pat says "He gave them into the hands of the demons."

Daimon says "Factions never kills people themselves. They're like Game, they con someone else into doing their dirty work."

Daimon nods. "Sounds about right."

Daimon says "So he was leading demons to the Dominican Tether."

Pat nods.

Daimon says "It didn't matter if you killed him, because he would 'get you' in the end. Standard demon behavior."

Pat says "The sentence was decided. Destruction. I had personal reservations, but I could not dispute the justice of the sentence."

Daimon says "Well, he was just another demon. Then again, I'm just another demon too. But I understand."

Pat says "I took up my sword and entered Canael's chamber. He knew full well what was due. I asked him, though. I asked him if he wanted to come back."

Daimon says "I bet he said yes."

Pat says "He smiled at me, and he said 'Mazpatiel. If I wanted to be in Heaven, I'd be there still.'"

Daimon says "Ouch."

Daimon pulls the blanket in closer around himself.

Sarah shudders, quietly, standing not far from Daimon.

Pat says "At that point, he was no longer my friend. He had become something broken, something filled with hate for all he was."

Daimon nodded.

Daimon says "So you killed him."

Pat nods. "It was the kindest thing that could be done."

Daimon says "That's a horribly sad story."

Pat says "It was a horribly sad event."

Daimon says "I'm so sorry, Pat."

Pat says "Thank you."

Daimon yawns again.

Pat drains his coffee. "You should sleep. The drugs are still in your system."

Daimon says "You have a helluva job. I'm just supposed to stand on stages in crappy small time clubs and pretend to be Funny."

Daimon nods.

Daimon says "I know. I've been woozy all night."

Pat says "It's been busy."

Sarah says "More than."

Daimon nods.

Daimon says "I think I've had enough adventure for a few lifetimes."

Pat starts turning off lights in the apartment.

Sarah asks, "Do you want to try for the bedroom, or would you prefer to pass out on the couch?"

Daimon says "Whichever is most convenient for you guys."

Pat says "If it's all the same, I may have need of the bed myself."

Daimon says "I'll sleep on the couch."

Sarah says "Ah. That works well, then."

Daimon says "Tomorrow will be--better."

Pat nods. "Sleep well, Daimon. God bless."

Daimon says "Thanks."

Pat says "Of course."

Daimon looks for a pillow.

Pat has throw pillows.

Daimon grabs a pillow, and between pillow and blanket he makes himself a Lilim nest on the couch.

Sarah smiles, and walks about the apartment, collecting stray mugs and returning them to the kitchen.

Pat says "Sarah? A moment?"

Sarah says "Certainly, Pat."

Pat steps into the kitchen. "Do you think it helped?"

Sarah says "All in all? Yes. I think so. But I think we'll know for certain in the morning, and not before. If then."

Pat nods, looking at her for a moment, and then holding out his hand.

Sarah pauses; places her hand in Pat's, tentatively.

Pat smiles, faintly. "Odd as it is for a demon to tell me what I want..."

Sarah blushes, slowly. "I suppose it would be ... useful relief of stress."

Pat says "If the experiment is amenable, that is."

Sarah says "I believe so, yes."

Pat nods, smiling a bit more warmly.

Sarah hesitates; asks, "Shall we?"

Pat squeezes her hand. "Yes." And leads her out of the kitchen.

Sarah follows, led. Still blushing.

---

Fiat Justitia