#discord: dagon

[hallowedmuses]

discord chat: breath taking and life saving

SUMMARY: Much to Aamon’s dismay, Dagon and Beel try something dramatic in an attempt to remedy the discomfort of their children. Belgirel proposes a plan to help cure the rest of angel kind, but they’ll have to draw alliances with an unexpected new friend. TRIGGERS: Body Horror, Torture, Illness, Death Mentions, PTSD, Depression WRITTEN WITH: @hallowedmuses (Dagon, Nadia), @offallenfeathers (Belgirel, Beelzebub, Murmur, Echo) @ofbrokenhalos (Aamon, Devour)

DAGON & NADIA: After arriving back to her room with Belgirel, Dagon changed her clothes with great effort and crawled back into bed. She watched the kids take the cocktail of fever medications but she couldn’t stomach it herself and passed on the offer. She was grateful when they laid back down beside her. Dagon wrapped her arms around them and pulled them close. Gods, they were so warm. Had they been this warm when she left?

“You made me snuggle Murmur,” Nadia muttered sleepily as she settled beside her. “I’m never going to live that down.”

“We can pretend it was a fever dream then,” Dagon chuckled. She kissed their foreheads and held them close. She was too tired to do much else. Fuck. She wished she’d done more with them before this. Why hadn’t she done more? Exhaustion and achiness had her pushing that thought away. She began humming the melody to the song that Beel had been singing earlier. Toward the end, as she drifted off to sleep, the kids fell asleep too.

Throughout the night, she and the kids were tended to by the Archangels. From time to time, Dagon could hear bits and pieces of their conversations as Belgirel described to them what had happened at the river and they all quietly voiced their concerns about the sick. Several times in the night, she awoke and frantically called to the nearest person because the kids breathing was becoming more erratic and their fevers were becoming more severe. Murmur’s rash wasn’t going away, and it was now accompanied with violent coughing fits that left him struggling to breathe as well as bouts of delirium. And Nadia…she was tanking faster than the full born angels and fallen. It was so sudden. Just hours ago, she’d been complaining about having cuddled Murmur. She’d gone to bed just fine. And then four hours in, Dagon was screaming for help because Nadia was having a fever induced seizure. Although the seizure had passed and Nadia was given an ice bath to cool her down, her breathing was still unstable.

Dagon tried to help in administering the breathing treatments and cocktails, but she was asked several times to take it easy. She didn’t want to take it easy. She felt…she felt, well, she didn’t feel sick. At first, she thought it was just a second wind of energy from all the panic she was feeling about the kids declining. She was sure she would crash and with the crash would come her death, but as time went on, it didn’t seem like that. They took Dagon’s temperature every time they took the kid’s temperature. Hers was going down as theirs was climbing up and up. Her coughing fits were further apart, and her breathing sounded much better. By some miracle, she was getting better…and they were getting worse.

She paced around her room as the sun began to rise. This wasn’t right. None of this was right. Why was she getting better? She of all people. A depression demon. Someone who at times spent more time longing for death than she did living. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right. She rubbed at her chest. The guilt was eating away at her. Dagon glanced at the kids who were now asleep, but their breathing was ragged and wheezy. Her chest hurt just watching them try to inhale. “It’s getting worse,” she tried to keep her tone even, but she felt like she was going to vomit again. Not because she was sick but because she was so fucking anxious. “There’s a healing spell for the breathing.” She stopped pacing and faced Beel. “It takes breath from one source and gives it to another.” And what better source was there than an Archangel. “I’ve never tried it before,” she forewarned. “But I’ve read about it. I think I can do it.”

BEELZEBUB & MURMUR: While Belgirel and Dagon went out, Beel just sat with the kids for a while. There wasn't much he could do. They were already asleep. Singing a lullaby to them didn't do much when they were already asleep, and it didn't help his nerves any. He didn't know how he was going to get through this. He'd lost his best friend, and sometimes, it felt like Nadia was all he had left of him. She was everything he felt like he had left of anything. She became his world the day she became his daughter, and fathers weren't supposed to lose their daughters. He braided her hair while she slept, cuddled up with Murmur. He wished that would've made her upset enough to show some life, but it didn't. He cried next to her, pleading, and praying that she'd get better. "If this is my curse, father, let it be mine and not hers," he begged. "I'll do anything, just stop this. Please. I'll kneel at your feet. I'll sing your praises. I'll be quiet. I'll be good. Just don't do this to her." He sobbed. For once, it didn't feel good knowing his father wasn't out there listening. Or if he was, he didn't care. He wouldn't stop this just for Beel's sake. What was his obedience worth anyways to a god who had the power to strip away all free will? He continued to beg and pray to his father until he heard someone walking down the hall towards their room.

He left the room when Belgirel and Dagon came back in. They looked rough, but everyone was feeling that way, sick or not. The vomit that was covering her was concerning, but he didn't want her wasting her energy on his questions. He left the room so Dagon could have some privacy while she changed her clothes. Once she was done, he came right back in. He brought them all their medicine. He didn't like the idea of not giving Dagon the medicine, and neither did Belgirel, but they both respected her decision. It helped the kids a little. They weren't fully awake, but they were awake enough to mutter a few words.

"You chose to snuggle me," Murmur murmured, reminding Beel of why his original parents had given him that nickname. "But on the bright side, if we die we don't have to not live it down."

Beel's chest tightened at the joke. Normally, he might've scolded Murmur for making it, but it didn't feel right at the present moment. "You're not going to die," Beel assured all of them. He needed to believe that.

"Damn, guess we do have to not live it down," Murmur sighed. His hand reached up to rub the rash on his face, but his arm didn't have the strength to move there. "Hurts," he groaned.

Beel squeezed Murmur's hand, pulling it back to his side. "I know, kiddo. I'm sorry."

The rest of the night didn't get any easier. Belgirel told them about the creature he'd come across. Devour had told him and Dagon about his siblings. There had been one he had called the Silence. From the fact that Devour could only taste food from the living realm and the creature they'd met could only repeat Dagon's words and not Belgirel's, it seemed like they fit the description of the Silence. Under normal circumstances, Beel might've been more intrigued, but as more time went on and his daughter's condition worsened, Beel didn't stay to listen to them anymore. He needed to be with his daughter. He couldn't sleep, especially after she had her seizure. He'd nearly died from a heart attack himself just from worrying about her so much. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He knew that if she died, she would just end up in the Empty, but it was torture watching her go through this.

At the same time, Dagon was getting better. He felt hopeful about it at first. Maybe they just needed to wait this out, and the kids would get better too, but they didn't. She got better and they got worse. He was too worried about Nadia to think about how that might've made her feel. "It is . . ." he said lowly, when Dagon spoke up to him. He didn't like it being pointed out how bad this was, but her tone implied she had more to say. "Okay, do it then," he answered, no hesitation in his voice. He was willing to do anything at this point. He didn't care what he had to sacrifice as long as he could help her even a little.

DAGON: She was relived when he said yes. She needed to do something, anything. She felt so useless. What good was her knowledge if she was too weak or sick to do anything? But she was getting better and she could do this. She nodded and rolled up her sleeves. "I need access to your lungs so unbutton your shirt for me," she instructed him before she turned to the children. She undid the first few buttons on their shirts to give her access to their lungs as well. Nadia wheezed and tried to mouth something that looked like mom in her sleep but she couldn't get the words out. "I know, baby," Dagon's voice cracked. She leaned down and kissed Nadia's forehead. "We'll make it better."

Dagon wiped away her tears before turning back to Beel. She guided him to stand against the wall near the bed. The spell was pretty physical so she needed him up against a sturdy base. "Before we get on with this, you need to know the risks. I know it doesn't change your answer, but I still need to tell you." For her own sanity, she needed him to know what he was getting involved in so he could give her informed consent to do what needed to be done. The lines between torture and healing were blurry and this was very much a gray area of magic that she did not like doing.

Dagon managed to manifest one of her snakes. She had it prick her finger and draw blood. The demon began to draw a sigil on Beel's chest with her blood. "The sigil I'm drawing will open your chest up in a metaphysical sense. You will remain whole throughout this procedure, but it won't feel that way. I'll need your blood to fully activate it. It's a palm to chest activation." Meaning she needed to press her bloodied palm to his chest to activate it.

"Once it's active, the clock starts. You'll feel hands, metaphysical ones, mine, enter your chest cavity. They will travel down to your lungs. From that point, you'll feel pressure on your lungs as the hands wrap around them and squeeze upward to harness the energy and breath within. It will hurt. Common risks for the patient, which is you in this case, are that the physician takes too much energy, collapses a lung, loses their way and hits a major organ, or gets stuck. Common risks for the recipient are low and limited to a physician's error of giving them too much of your energy causing their lung to collapse. Given that you are the Prince of Gluttony, they will also leave this procedure feeling hungry for a while. Common risks for the physician include time running out. I have until the sigil fades away and then your body will recognize my meta form as a threat and it will act accordingly." Her meta form did not stand a chance against his body's defenses, but she was quick and good at her job. She could avoid the physicians errors she read about in journals. She would find the lungs, she wouldn't be greedy with harnessing what she needed, and she would get out in time. "Do you consent to this procedure?"

BEELZEBUB: Beel followed her instructions without question, unbuttoning and removing his shirt. He was glad Belgirel wasn't in here at the moment. He didn't think he would've looked too happy about this, but Beel didn't care about his jealousy right now. There were more important things, and Belgirel was still working on other things anyways. He couldn't exactly avoid his responsibilities as the fill in leader of the empty just to stay with his girlfriend. She was doing better anyways, so Belgirel was starting to look less worried. Beel didn't have that luxury. That's why he was doing this.

He stood against the wall. Although he would've done this with or without the explanation, he listened to Dagon, so she could feel better about him doing it. Her hands didn't feel overwhelmingly hot anymore, and the blood actually felt a little cool on his skin. He didn't care about feeling ripped open. He'd just offered for his father to rearrange his guts last night. He was open to any amount of pain as long as it helped his kids. He waited for Dagon to finish before nodding. "Yes, I consent. Just do it."

DAGON: She knew Gears wouldn’t be thrilled with any of this both because Beelzebub was shirtless in front of her and because the spell was risky. But there was nothing romantic about any of this. They were two desperate parents just trying to ease the suffering of their kids and that was really the only thing on their minds right now. She would pull this procedure off as safely as she could. She nodded and took Beel’s hand in hers when he gave his consent. She needed to slice into his palm, but she relinquished her blade to Belgirel a few hours ago when the thoughts started getting particularly dark. So, she took the utility blade that was sticking out of Beel’s pocket and cut into his palm. Dagon used his blood to draw a sigil on her own palm that acted like a key to the one she’d drawn on his chest earlier. When she was done, she closed up the wound on his palm.

“Okay.” She planted her feet firmly on the ground in front of him and tried to steady herself. “I need you to take a deep breath for me and hold it.” She inhaled with him as he took a deep breath. While he held it, she exhaled slowly and pressed her bloodied palm against the sigil on his chest. The sigil began to glow as did both their eyes, and a wave of magic billowed around them as Dagon’s metaphysical hands entered his chest cavity. She could feel the warmth of his body, the flow of his blood, and texture of his organs. She needed to do this fast. The sigil was already starting to disappear little by little around the edges and she could tell that she was hurting Beel. She navigated her meta form expertly to his lungs. She didn’t need to tell Beel she found them. She could feel him tense around her as her hands wrapped around each lung.

“I’m sorry, cariño,” she apologized in a voice that seemed all too distant as she began moving her metaphysical hands in an upward motion to harness the power from his lungs. The hands of her physical form dug their nails into his chest as they tried to help her meta form hold the energy. Air did not want to be held, it wanted to be free. She was going against nature. He couldn’t scream for she was taking the literal air out of his lungs but she knew she was hurting him, she could feel his pain. She was crying for the both of them. “Almost,” she promised. “Almost.” The energy felt raw and heavy. It burned at her fingertips. The sigil was disappearing quickly now. She had to get out of there. She harnessed all that her form could handle and withdrew from his body. Both she and Beel took gasping breaths as he slumped against the wall.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized through tears. She needed to get this energy into the kids before it slipped from her fingers. She wished she hadn’t done this procedure by herself. She needed someone to monitor Beel, but she knew he’d want her to help the kids before helping him. So she walked to the bedside and placed a hand on each child’s chest. She recited a spell in Enochian and the energy from her hands, Beel’s energy, receded into the children’s lungs. Nadia and Murmur arched their backs and let out a gasp in unison as the air entered their lungs. Their bodies settled back down on the bed and their breathing calmed. For the first time since they’d gotten sick, Dagon didn’t hear any rattling in their chest. The wheezing was gone and they were breathing normal again. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou.” she kissed their foreheads quickly before going to administer aid to Beel. She grabbed one of the oxygen masks off the counter and secured it to his face. “They’re okay,” she replied as she kneeled down beside him. “You did good." She ran a soothing hand down his back as she continued to administer the oxygen. "It worked. They’re okay.”

BEELZEBUB: Beelzebub watched as Dagon's hand slipped into his pocket to pull out his archangel blade. Belgirel really wouldn't have liked that. Normally Beel might've said something jokingly about how he would've handed it to her if she asked, but now wasn't really the time for jokes. He didn't feel particularly humorous when his daughter's life was on the line. He appreciated her instructions, not for the warning they gave him, but for the fact that it allowed him to make sure Dagon wasn't in too much danger herself while doing this. She'd told him the risks already, but they were both willing and ready to sacrifice anything if it meant keeping their kids alive.

He took a deep breath as she instructed. Although his body wasn't at the point where it needed to breathe in order to survive, he still could do it when he wanted to. Her palm was cold on his skin, a stark contrast to how she'd been up until now. As the sigil glowed, he could feel it tapping into his energy. It tingled at first, but didn't hurt until her metaphysical hands went into his chest. His hands gripped the wall she had him leaned against as he tried to steady himself. It wasn't a comfortable experience with her going through his chest, but he was managing alright. It wasn't the worst thing he'd been through. He'd had a few injuries during the war that were pretty bad. When he was really young, he'd gotten injured more than a few times too.

He felt her hands on his lungs. His body instinctively wanted to fight and push her away, but he held it back. His fingers dug into the wall, and his mouth opened, trying to scream or reclaim his air or both. Neither happened. Instead of a scream, he made breathless clicking sounds. It wasn't just breath she was taking but his actual energy with it. He could hear her distantly, but his body felt like it was panicking without him, trying to fight back what it considered an infection. If she took too much time, it would've struck at her, but she must've gotten out in time. He couldn't really process it as his body collapsed on the ground without her, gasping for air it shouldn't have normally needed. His body was already trying to heal itself, and he shook as it did so painfully. His insides felt like they were burning as he sucked in the air around him.

Dagon was beside him suddenly. He sat back up, leaning back against the wall as she pressed the oxygen mask to his face. He couldn't respond to what she was saying, but his body relaxed a little hearing that the kids were okay. It slowly got a little easier to breathe, though his body felt completely exhausted. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Dagon. "Thank you."

AAMON: He was looking for Belgirel to check in on the kid. The reports he was getting were that Dagon was improving but it hadn't been a good night all around. The kids were declining rapidly. Belgirel's texts were suggesting that they might not make it through the night. He knew that would be hard on all of them, but Dagon and Beel most of all. As he made his way down the hallway to Dagon's room, he felt a wave of magic. The signature was familiar, hunger with a hint of depression. "Oh for fucks sake," he muttered. Had someone been dumb enough to leave those two by themselves in under these circumstances? He hurried down the hall and much to his dismay but not to his surprise, the energy signature was getting stronger.

He opened the door to Dagon's room without knocking. The sight was confusing to say the least. Dagon and Beel were on the ground holding each other. Beel's shirt was off and he had blood on his chest, but no visible wounds. Aamon's eyes traveled and he spotted the blood on Dagon's hands. Concerning. Then he spotted the breathing mask around Beel's face. He cocked an eyebrow and stared at his brother, both questioning and accusing. "Explain."

DAGON: She held on as she wrapped his arms around her and the reality of everything started to settle in. "That was so many levels of dumb and reckless," she replied as she listened to the rattling of his lungs. She didn't sound like she regretted the spell though. The kids were breathing normal again. She bought them some time and that would always be worth it. "Maybe I can just blame plague brain and they won't be so pissed off at us about it." The adrenaline was wearing off now and she was shivering again, not because she felt ill but because the stress and anxiety. She just wanted this nightmare to end. Unfortunately, there would be no end until there was a cure. All she could do was put bandaids on the problem and she was running low on supplies as it was.

Dagon startled and let out a small yelp when Aamon entered the room. She covered her mouth and glanced at the kids to make sure she hadn't awoken them. They did not stir. She eyed the older Archangel as he took in the scene. Fuck fuck fuck.  She wasn't oblivious. She knew there were multiple ways to interpret this and not all of them were exactly great--not that the reality of it was great either. Aamon's eyes took in the blood and then the mask before fixating on Beel. He always had an easier time blaming his brothers than he did her. "It was me," she began. "He can't explain even if he wanted to...I convinced him," and by convinced she meant asked, "to let me do a healing spell that would let me transfer air from his lungs to the kids." She bit her bottom lip. "It, uh, worked," she added in, hoping to soften the blow though she knew she hadn't. She could feel how annoyed he was with them both.

BEELZEBUB: He didn't fully disagree that what they did was a little dumb and reckless, but he didn't really care if it was either. They knew what they were getting into, and they chose to go through with it knowing the risks, of which there weren't really that many. They risked more by not doing it and losing their kids. If anyone was pissed at them. That was their problem. The only thing he was concerned about was how long this would actually last for Nadia and Murmur and if he would have enough time to recover enough energy to do this for them again when they needed it. However, he couldn't ask Dagon that right now. He'd only barely managed to get the words 'thank you' out to her before, and that expelled more oxygen that his body needed to recover.

He slipped off of Dagon when she yelped. He coughed and wheezed as he sat up, leaning back against the wall to see what had startled her. He thought it might've been Belgirel coming back. He was probably getting jealous of seeing them like this but Beelzebub just really did not care. It took too much energy to worry about that kind of thing. It turned out to be Aamon and not Belgirel, but he didn't look happy either. Beel didn't bother trying to explain. Like Dagon said, he couldn't even if he wanted to. He had neither the breath nor the energy to speak, but his hand in his lap flipped up his middle finger just a little. He recognized that Dagon was trying to take the brunt of the blame, which he didn't think really made a difference. Aamon knew him well enough to know it wouldn't take much convincing to get Beel to do something for his daughter, especially if it gave her more time to live like this. He pulled the oxygen mask down a little just to utter two words. "How long?"

AAMON: His sharp eyes turned away from his brother to look at Dagon when she claimed that this was her doing. He had no doubt that the idea originated from her. The magic was a little over Beel's head and level of skill, but not hers. He gave her a disappointed look. Still, he also knew that it didn't take much to convince Beel to do something, especially where his kids were concerned. Whoever left these two unsupervised was asking for trouble. "I'm sure he made that very hard for you," Aamon replied drily while he tossed her a pack of sanitary wipes. His gaze turned back to Beel. "Must've taken hours." He noticed the subtle middle finger that Beel gave him so he tossed his brother's shirt back at him with a little more force.

Aamon glanced toward the kids when Dagon replied that the spell worked. Their breathing did seem less labored than the last time Aamon was here, but their fevers were still unchecked. Whatever work Dagon had done to help them, this disease would undo it sooner rather than later. He rubbed his temples. "Twelve hours ago, you were barely able to breathe yourself," he lectured her. Better or not, she was in no condition to be performing that kind of magic. "Do you want to end up there again?" He looked at Beel. "And were you just going to let her?"

DAGON: She caught the sanitary wipes when Aamon threw them to her. She took out a few and handed them to Beel so he could clean the blood off of his chest. Then she took a few more to clean the blood off of her hands. It wasn't often that she elicited this kind of tone from Aamon but she tried to keep her head high regardless. Of course, that was easier said than done. "It was fourteen hours ago, actually," she replied though her shoulders deflated a little.

She blinked, tears forming in her eyes when he asked her if she wanted to end up there again. "I..." her voice cracked. "It's not fair, okay! It's not! I should be like that," She pointed to her children's unconscious forms. "And I'm not. And I don't know why I'm getting better and they're getting worse. It's not fair and it's not okay and it shouldn't be me." She was crying now. "If easing their pain and suffering means I end up right back where I was then fine. I'd rather be there than watch them deteriorate from the sidelines. I can't do that and you can't ask me to." She held her head up higher and a little more defiantly toward the end though that was offset by the fact that she was trying to wipe angry and sad tears from her face.

She turned her attention away from Aamon when Beel asked her how long the kids had before their breathing deteriorated back to its original state. She looked over at their sleeping forms and shook her head. "Anywhere from 12 to 24 if we're lucky." There was so much she didn't know about this illness. It was hard to predict. "Your body will recognize me faster and faster each time I do the spell so I can only perform that spell one more time on you. After the second time studies show that..." she trailed off because Aamon was still there and he didn't need to know that the third repetition was always fatal to the physician. "I'll tell you later."

She turned to look at Aamon again now that she was a little calmer. "Where is Raphael?" she asked. "You need to call them here. They need to start running test and take blood samples from me. I'm feeling better which has to mean my body is producing antibodies for whatever this is. We can use that as a stepping stone to try to create a vaccine."

BEELZEBUB: Aamon's sarcasm was pretty obvious, but he didn't see a point in arguing about it. It didn't make a difference whether it took a second or hours to convince him. It was always going to lead to the same thing. The shirt Aamon threw at him hit him in this face. Beel set it on the ground, so he could take the wipes from Dagon instead. A lot of the blood had already disappeared from the spell, so it didn't take much to clean it off. He felt sympathetic to Dagon when she broke down over Aamon's lecture. Although he hadn't even started being sick, he'd constantly wished that he could just trade places with his child, so it could be him that was sick instead of her. He wished he could've comforted her more, but he didn't have the energy to do so. He glared at Aamon instead for making her cry. The poor girl was already going through enough as it was without him lecturing her.

Twelve hours was such little time, and he didn't like what her voice seemed to be implying. He didn't think he could ask her to do something like this again. More than that, he didn't think Aamon would let them be alone in this room together after this. Whoever was here wasn't going to let them try it again. "Raph?" he asked as he buttoned his shirt back on. They weren't sick, so maybe they could do it the next time, and they'd be safer than she was. The problem was just that they were the main one looking for a cure. He didn't know if they'd stop what they were doing just to give his children more time. It was worth asking. Dagon seemed to have more reason to call for them at least. He could've asked them to do it when they showed up, but he worried that what Dagon wanted might've been too soon. She might've been getting better, but the plague still weighed on her body, trying to experiment on her blood might've taken too much for her.

BELGIREL: Belgirel had been trying to manage both the duties of leading the Empty and also trying to plan for what they were going to do about this plague. As it turned out, there was a lot to leading the Empty, especially during times like this. People were looking to him for guidance, and some of the people of the Empty just needed a voice to tell them when they were doing too much. There was a fine line between someone helping and that same person over extending themselves. The good thing was that he was starting to get better at recognizing those lines. He wasn't overly lenient, but he also wasn't just telling everyone no. He wasn't perfect at it by any means. There was a lot going on, and he couldn't keep track of everything. He designated a few people to handle looking out for that for him, and he just kept an eye on it as he walked around. The more serious part of his leadership was just deciding what they were going to do going forward.

He'd told his siblings about the interaction he and Dagon had with the creature at the river. The group as a whole started to call her Echo on account of the fact that she repeated Dagon's voice. At first, he thought that Echo had just relieved the symptoms of Dagon's coughing for a little while, but then as Dagon started getting better, he came to the conclusion that whatever Echo had done was a cure for this disease. Along with Raphael's help and the powers that Belgirel had gotten from Belphegor, they'd been able to determine that the plague Pestilence made was rooted in the Empty, which was why Echo had been able to heal it while their healers couldn't. She was a part of the Empty just like the plague, and just like Belgirel currently was with Belphegor's powers. Of course, those powers didn't give him any sort of idea of how to fix something like this. It seemed like only Echo knew, and it had something to do with that potion she'd given Dagon. Asking Echo for more seemed like the fastest solution.

He didn't know what to expect from Echo though. There were a lot of people who needed to be healed, and he didn't know how willing she would be to help him. Her behaviors were odd the last time he'd seen her, threatening even, and after what he'd seen of the Void. he wanted to be prepared. He donned his armor, only recently crafted by Angus with beautiful silver craftsmanship, and a dark green cloak pinned to the shoulders. A matching hood inlaid with chainmail covered the top of his head. Maybe it was unnecessary just to talk to someone, but if things went south, he wanted to be able to defend himself.

He knew he couldn't go by himself though. Echo had only seemed to be able to use the words Dagon said, so he determined that she simply couldn't use his words. He trusted Dagon most. She also knew the way to contact Devour, who he thought would be their best shot at finding Echo again to talk to her. Besides, Echo had met the two of them already. He felt like it was best to only talk to her as a small duo instead of a large group. It'd be less threatening that way. He walked back to Dagon's room to ask her if she was up for it. He didn't expect for Aamon to be there, but he was glad for it, so he could let Aamon know what he was doing. He heard only the tail end of the conversation as he approached. "They're busy helping some other people right now," he said as he stepped around from behind Aamon into the full view of the room. His left hand rested on the pommel of his sword, making it swing up and down in its sheath. "but I think I have a more immediate solution if you're up for it?"

AAMON: "Hmm, yes, the additional two hours really makes all the difference," he replied dryly while Dagon and Beel cleaned up after themselves. His features softened slightly at her outburst. Survivor's guilt. She felt guilty for feeling better, but still that was no reason to martyr herself. "I never said it was fair," he replied calmly. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away a bit of blood from her cheeks where her bloodied hands had previously touched her face. "But you cannot fight injustice with stupidity and recklessness. If anything happened to you, either of you," he glanced at Beel who was staring daggers at him. "These kids will bottom out." He smoothed out her hair. "Sometimes the road to hell was paved with good intentions. And even the most well meaning of spells will have repercussions that you didn't plan for." She was smart, probably too smart sometimes, but she was not invincible. "You two will not be performing that one again," he replied in a voice that did not leave room for arguing.

He raised an eyebrow when both of them asked for Raphael. Dagon was barely feeling better and already wanted to start having tests done on her. "It hasn't even been a full 24 hours, Dagon. We aren't starting shit until you've at least made it through a full day." He turned when he heard Belgirel's voice. What was with these three today? Two of them were out here playing doctor and patient and the other was dressed in armor like he was ready to fight someone. While Aamon wasn't opposed to fighting, you couldn't very well fight a disease like that. The other part of him didn't wish to see Belgirel don armor ever. It hadn't done him any good on the battlefield and he really didn't want to think about that. "It can't be any more insane than what's already transpired. What are you planning?"

DAGON: His cold sarcasm was exhausting and she found she preferred his rage more when it was just yelling, but he seemed to let up a bit once she started crying. It wasn't her intention to cry, she was just overwhelmed and scared and sad. She wanted the pain and suffering to stop. Not just her kids, but everyone elses too. Sure, there were more terrible ways to die than this, but this was still prolonged torture and she hated it. She sniffled as he wiped the blood and tears off of her face. She wanted to argue that it wasn't recklessness, it was a calculated risk. She knew what she was doing and Beel knew what he was signing up for, she made sure of it. While a part of that was true, he wasn't wrong in his assessment that if anything happened to her or Beel, the kids would deteriorate more rapidly than if they hadn't intervened at all. Still, she didn't think that was reason enough to sit on the sidelines. For now though, she knew that she and Beel would be heavily monitored to make sure they didn't try the spell or something like it again.

She took a step back from Aamon, her anger boiling over just a little when he remarked that he was not going to contact Raphael until she was better for at least a day. 24 hours. That time was crucial. It could make a difference between whether her kids lived or died. She couldn't wait a day. She was about to push back at the notion when Belgirel walked into the room. He was wearing a suit of armor that she hadn't seen before. Had her emotions not been running on high, she would've taken the time to admire every bit of the craftsmanship and the way he looked in it but right now she was feeling too strongly and all at once to really take it in. She was confused when he spoke. If he was dressed for a fight, he had to be talking to Aamon. Dagon wasn't much of a fighter. Most of her combat skill came from a magic that was too dangerous to unleash in a realm like the Empty. "What do you mean, baby?"

BEELZEBUB: Beel understood what Aamon was saying. If he died, he knew it would make his kids get worse, and the same went for Dagon, but his death hadn't really been a risk, and they had been careful to make sure Dagon's death wasn't a risk either. They knew what they were doing. If they hadn't done something, the kids would've bottomed out anyways. While he agreed that Dagon shouldn't have been the one to perform this procedure, he didn't agree that he should be disallowed from doing it himself. For Dagon, there was risk, for him there wasn't. He would've sought out Raphael before asking Dagon to do this again, but if he had to, he'd find a way to do it himself.

He looked up when Belgirel walked into the room. He'd been a little worried before about Belgirel reading into how he and Dagon looked together, but that wasn't a concern now. Now the concern was how this looked with Aamon scolding both him and Dagon and him sitting on the floor with an oxygen mask on his face. He pushed himself to stand up, taking in the fact that Belgirel was dressed in armor now. He wasn't worried about his recklessness as much as Belgirel's now. "What's with the armor?"

BELGIREL: Belgirel might not have been an empath, but he could feel the tension in the room, specifically between Dagon and Aamon. It was weird and uncomfortable. They usually got along so well, and Dagon tended to receive a lot of support from him, but she looked like she was ready to fight him. He looked at her and then Aamon and then at Beel, trying to connect the dots. Beelzebub was wearing some sort of oxygen mask and looked like he barely had enough energy to stand. There were wipes that were covered in blood, and Dagon's hands, despite being cleaned, seemed stained a little redder. "Wait, what do you mean? What "transpired"? What happened?" His own explanation could wait until he understood what was going on. He took a step towards Dagon. "Are you okay? Did something happen with the kids?" He looked over at the kids, but they seemed relatively okay. They actually looked like they were breathing better. "Oh, are they getting better too?" he asked hopefully.

DAGON: "I'm fine," she exhaled to release some of the tension in her shoulders and took a few more steps away from Aamon. "Physically, anyway." Emotionally, was definitely not fine. "They're not," her voice cracked and she shook head. "I just put a bandaid on the issue for now." She wasn't afraid to tell Belgirel what happened. He'd always know the truth of her even if the truth wasn't a pretty thing to see. She wasn't always pretty to look at and that was something he could take or leave. "I read about a spell that takes breath from one source and gives it to another and Beel agreed to let me take his. It required a little blood magic hence..." she gestured to the sanitary wipes. "So, that's why Beel sounds like a squeaky toy right now and why Aamon looks like he wants to use us both a chew toys."

BELGIREL: Belgirel didn't entirely believe her that she was fine until she clarified that she only meant physically. He wrapped his arms around her as her voice cracked talking about the kids. She'd been worried about them for a while, and he knew it hurt her that she was getting better while they were getting worse. He rubbed her back as she explained what exactly had happened. He wasn't really happy about it, not in the sense that he was upset with her, but he wished things didn't get to a point where she felt like she needed to do something like this. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you with this." He kissed the top of her head. Maybe if it wasn't just Beel and Dagon doing this, Aamon wouldn't have seemed so upset either, but Dagon usually knew what she was doing when it came to this healer stuff. While he knew Dagon probably should've been resting still, he assumed she'd know her limits better than he did. "But in the future can you text me to let me know when you're going to do something like this, so I can come help. No one should be subjected to dealing with my brothers alone." Beel shot him a middle finger too, but Gears ignored it. "Actually I wanted to ask your help with something if you think you don't need to rest more. That bog witch, I think she has the key to curing the kids and everyone else. I just need some help finding her and convincing her to help us."

DAGON: She eased into him, or rather into his armor, as he hugged her. "It's okay." It was probably for the better that he hadn't been here. The line between healing and torture was not always clear and that spell definitely weaved in and out of the line. She nodded when he told her to text him next time. "I will, but you have to promise you'll know your limits and bow out if the spells sound like too much." Belgirel had a hard time saying no to her requests for help, as did Beel. But in instances like this, she needed him to know himself and his limits because she could not manage the task at hand and a panic attack if one arose. She snorted when he replied that no one should be subjected to his brothers and Beel flipped him off. That was honestly preferred over the awkward tension that sometimes filled the room when those two were together. She was surprised when he said that he needed her help. So, they weren't going to battle. Or maybe they were. You generally didn't bring a sword to a friendly chat. "Who's definition of convince are we using in this case? The dictionaries or Aamon's?"

BELGIREL: He nodded. He'd had similar conversations with the inhabitants of the Empty. They were allowed to help with this plague on the grounds that they'd back out if it got too much for them. They hadn't had too many problems with that, and he'd been getting better at recognizing his own limits. "I will, but I don't think something like this would've been too much for me. It was just a little blood magic, right?" He could handle seeing blood, and if it just made Beel tired and a little breathless, it couldn't have been that bad. He was glad when his joke made her snort. As a depression demon, he knew she'd be sad often, but he liked when he could pull her out of her sadness even for a moment. He looked at Aamon when she asked what definition of convince he was using. In his eyes, Aamon was generally perfectly reasonable. He was stern sometimes, and he had a look that commanded authority and instilled obedience. Belgirel felt like that wasn't a bad way to convince someone. He shrugged. "Both? I don't plan to go in swinging a sword, if that's what you're asking. This is just in case things go south. I want to just talk, but if things get hostile, I want to be ready for anything."

AAMON: He leaned back against the wall and allowed Dagon both distance from him as well as the space to explain herself. He snorted when she remarked that the spell required a bit of blood magic. “Sure. Just a bit of blood magic to open up his chest cavity and allow your metaphysical form to enter through his sternum so you could dig your way past vital organs to his lungs, grip them, and then squeeze and harness the air and energy out of them.” He paused and glanced at her. “Malachiae Studium Torturae et Vis Medica, Page 622. I’ve read it too.” Under normal circumstances, he would’ve been proud of her use of torture, but these were not normal circumstances and her subject wasn’t a normal fallen angel.

He listened to Belgirel describe his plan. He wanted to go talk to the creature they’d named Echo. Aamon knew she was a Void sibling and from the way Belgirel spoke about her, he knew his brother thought there was something threatening about her. Dagon didn’t seem to feel the same way, but she tended to empathize with the strange and other worldly. It didn’t help that this being was a healer which seemed to endear Dagon more to her. He also simply did not like the idea of Belgirel having to use force on anything. Beel and Dagon had been meeting with the other Void sibling, Devour, for some time now but they still didn’t have a full grasp on what each sibling was capable of doing. The armor might give Gears the false self-confidence to think he could fight his way out of anything this creature threw at him. “I’ll come with you and we can convince her together.”

DAGON: She bit her bottom lip and shot Aamon a glare when he cut in to explain the spell. She was getting to that. Her eyes conveyed that he could have been a little less graphic about with his delivery. "I threw in an energy transfer spell in there that wasn't part of Malachi's original work." That was what made it a healing spell instead of torture. The original intent of the spell was essentially to choke your subject to death very slowly. She just...modified it a little. "And I had informed consent." She looked at Beel as if to say back me up here; I was pretty thorough.

She was relieved when Gears remarked that his intent was to just talk to Echo. The creature scared Gears, but Dagon didn't think there was anything melicious about her. Besides, you really couldn't force a healer to heal you with threats of violence. It just didn't work that way. She wouldn't have trusted Echo's potions if they were given over under duress. The line between potions and poisons was just as thin as the line between torture and healing. "I think she'll be amiable to--" Dagon was cut off when Aamon remarked that he would go with them. There was nothing about Aamon's presence that said I just want to talk. If anything, his presence usually said I'm here to make you scream. With Gears anxiousness and Aamon's predication for violence, the chance that this would escalate were pretty high. Dagon glanced at Beel and then back at Aamon. "You can't. Someone has to stay here and watch Beel. Did you want me to do that?"

BELGIREL & BEELZEBUB: It caught him off guard when Aamon snorted at Dagon's explanation. They didn't usually talk to each other like this, but then again, he'd missed a lot of time. Maybe this was how they usually talked to each other when he wasn't around. His confusion was only offset as Aamon's words registered to him, and he pictured that same thing happening to himself. His breathing slowed, and his gaze singled in on a fixed point as his mind wandered back to his past. He stayed frozen as the room fell away to darkness. He could faintly hear the others still talking, but all he could see was the Void, tearing out every piece of him. He didn't cry or scream or even move, but his eyes were miles away from the conversation.

"She did," Beel agreed. His breath was mostly back, though his energy wasn't. "I was going to do it either way as long as it helped, but she did tell me all the risks and asked me for consent." He didn't think his consent was all that important to Belgirel and Aamon, especially not Aamon, but it was better than just thinking Dagon just forced him into this.

Belgirel pulled himself back out of the memory and into the conversation when Aamon suggested that he come too. Beel was doing his best to look immature and too irresponsible to be left alone, not that Gears thought he needed to do much to convince Aamon of that. "I'm perfectly fine staying here by myself," Beel assured Aamon. My kids lives are in danger, but I know where to draw the line."

"I want to handle this without your help too," said Gears. "I don't want to overwhelm them with our numbers, not unless we have to. And while Echo has already met Dagon and I, she hasn't met you. I'm sure she's heard from Devour how great Dagon is, but she might not be as open if you're there."

AAMON: Normally, Aamon did not talk to Dagon like this. Then again, normally Dagon wasn’t this reckless. His anger with her and Beel did not come from a place of hate. On the contrary, if he hated either of them he would’ve been ambivalent about what they’d done. What was a little torture to him anyway? No, his anger did not from a dark place. It came from the fact that he loved them and they were being reckless with their bodies. Of course, he was never good at expressing those emotions so what showed on his face and in his tone was annoyance. “Oh good. She informed you of all the risks and you still said yes. That makes it all the better,” he deadpanned.

He glanced at Dagon and then back at Beel when she remarked that he could not come with for someone had to watch this dumbass. He knew what they were doing, but it didn’t mean she was wrong. The motherfucker would do something like this again. Maybe stupider. Maybe with the help of Asmodeus. With their lack of skill in this field, they might actually get themselves killed. “Somehow I doubt that,” he replied when Beel said that he knew where to draw the line.

He glanced at Belgirel when Gears remarked that he also did not want Aamon to go with him. He wanted to handle this himself. It hadn’t escaped Aamon’s notice how the kid’s eyes glazed over when he described the procedure Dagon had done. Gears did not have in him to torture which was fair. No one in this room expected or wanted him to do something like that. But did have have the capacity to fight? Or would he freeze if this Void creature came at him? Swords and armor couldn’t fight for you. “And if it comes to using force, what then?” Aamon asked.

DAGON: She sighed and dropped any pretense of continuing the argument. Aamon was going to be mad regardless because he wasn't happy with the fact that they'd put themselves in harms way, but she didn't regret it. And with neither of them really backing down on that, it wasn't going to go anywhere. So, she dropped it and let the Archangel stay mad. He would get over it in his own time and they'd be back to where they were before. That was how things worked with them.

What was more concerning right now to her was the way that Belgirel seemed to disappear from the conversation after the description that Aamon gave of the spell. While Beel and Aamon argued Beel's ability to understand where to draw the line, Dagon squeezed Belgirel's hand in an attempt to ground him back in the present. He seemed to snap out of it when Aamon insisted he come with them.

"There will not be any use of force." She was speaking to both Aamon and Belgirel now. "There are a lot of things that violence can solve, but it cannot force a healer to heal. If my kingdom was forced to do something like that at sword point, they'd poison your waters on principle alone. You cannot trust what a healer gives you when it's given under threat of violence. I barely survived what she gave me as is. If Echo declines to help, we won't force her but we will try to talk to her again in a few hours. Until then..." She grabbed a syringe and vile off the counter and went behind a small privacy partition. She drew a few viles of her own blood before appearing from behind the partition. She handed the viles off to Beelzebub. "I need you to get those to Raph. If Echo doesn't want to help us, then we need to help ourselves. Raph will know where to start, they just need the stepping stones." She knew none of them wanted to start a war or use force. Even Aamon was hesitant about it. "It's just a talk and it will stay as just a talk. Can we all agree to that for now?"

BEELZEBUB & BELGIREL: Beelzebub didn't drop the argument as easily. He actually found it a little humorous how Aamon was lecturing them about this after what he'd done last year. Now that Beelzebub thought about it, it must've been close to the anniversary of that day. "Yeah, you know," he took a deep breath with the oxygen mask. Talking took a lot of oxygen. "When she gave me all the details and all the risks, I thought 'What would Aamon do?' Clearly, I learned from the best." He didn't actually think ill of Aamon, both for what happened back then and for his anger with them now. They were all just scared individuals trying to protect their loved ones. They were all willing to cross certain lines if it meant it kept their people safe. It wasn't just the two of them and Aamon either. Even Gabriel most recently had pushed Andromeda away in the name of saving her and had only put her in more turmoil by doing so, but she was safe at least. For people like them that faced so little danger to themselves, that's all that really mattered was protecting those around them. It didn't mean they couldn't give each other a hard time about it. "It takes one to know one, huh?"

Belgirel didn't really understand the conversation that was happening between Beel and Aamon. He looked between them quizzically, trying to figure it out, but he got nowhere. He assumed it must've just been some inside joke between the two for something that happened while he was dead. Did Aamon go through a rebellious streak? (Aside from the actual rebellion of course.) The thought excited him. He pictured Aamon in the kind of clothes Andras wore, sledding down a mountain with no care to his safety on the shell of a tortoise going down towards the edge of a cliff. Maybe he was fighting a bear that was also sledding. They were weaving around rocks until Aamon used one rock as a ramp to jump up and over the bear, landing in front of it and knocking it off, making it stop and putting his foot over it to keep it from falling off the cliff.

Belgirel bit his lip when Aamon asked him what he'd do if it came to using force. He didn't want to fight. He'd had enough of it for a lifetime. Part of the reason for the armor was to intimidate Echo into thinking she didn't want to fight him either, but if he had to fight, he would. He felt only a little relieved when Dagon said that there wouldn't be any use of force. "She seemed to understand my threats pretty well the last time," Belgirel pointed out. Of course, her understanding of them was also to hold him down against his will to make sure he didn't intervene in her procedure of healing Dagon. He still wasn't really sure how to take that. He grimaced when Dagon went behind the partition and came out with her blood. He didn't know enough about medicine and healing to know how that would actually help, but he assumed Raphael did. "I can agree to that on our end, but I can't promise it from hers." He was still going to be wary of her at least.

Beel took the vials from Dagon. He didn't plan to leave the room, even if they were with Aamon, he wasn't going to just leave his kids. "I'll get Gabe to take it to them." His brother probably needed a reason to get out of the Avani's room anyways.

AAMON: His piercing stare continued to look through Beelzebub. He knew what his brother was referring to. They'd been upset with Aamon just as much as Aamon was with them right now. "You learn from no one and you take direction poorly," he replied in a bored tone. Had he learned anything, he wouldn't have done as Aamon did. It was always better to do as the Archangel said than as he did.

He directed his attention back to Dagon when she spoke up and said there would be no violence or force. He didn't doubt her assertion that you couldn't trust a healer who was coerced to help but if it came to that he didn't plan to test Echo's potions on anyone valuable. Still, he trusted Dagon enough when she remarked that this would simply be a discussion between themselves and the creature. Dagon was much more diplomatic than he was and negotiation tended to be one of her stronger skills. It was also just very easy to fall prey to her endearing nature and maternal instinct. "Very well, Your Highness," he replied, bowing slightly as he tipped himself into a recliner near the children's bed. "Let it be a discussion. For now."

DAGON: She tensed a little when Beel prodded further. She knew what he was hinting at. The irony of Aamon yelling at them for protecting their kids while also having nearly killed himself last year in an attempt to trade places with Gears hadn't escaped her either. But Belgirel didn't know about Aamon's suicidal streak and honestly they didn't have time to unpack that here. Thankfully, Beel only hinted at it and Aamon didn't take much of the bait that was being thrown his way. Dagon gave Beel a look that said please just drop it when Aamon started giving him a performance review. They could go on like this forever and honestly after what she just did to Beel he needed to reserve his strength. She didn't know what the next 24 hours would hold for them.

The sarcasm remained in Aamon's voice as he bowed to her, but she didn't take the bait. He was letting them go and he was going to let them do this their way. No violence, just a talk with a being who struggled to talk. She could do this. She nodded when Beel said he'd get the vials to Gabe. As long as they made their way to Raph, that was all that mattered. She collected a few more of her things and paused by the beside. The healer brushed aside Murmur and Nadia's hair and kissed their foreheads. "I'll be back," she promised. "Call me if anything changes." She told Beel before she left the room with Belgirel. On her way out, she pulled out her phone and texted Beel a message that said and can you also order room service or something? I'm starving but I really didn't want to deal with your brother's 'well, well if it isn't the consequences of your actions' look. She pocketed her phone again, before looping her arm through Belgirel's. "So, what's the plan, Your Grace?" Unlike Aamon's voice, there was no sarcasm in her use of titles. Had the circumstances been different, some might've even called it playful.

BEELZEBUB & BELGIREL: Beel rolled his eyes. He knew what Aamon was really saying. "I love you too, bro." He blew a kiss in Aamon's direction. No one wanted to be like Aamon, except, regretfully, Belgirel. He nodded when Dagon asked him to call her with updates, but he hoped their wouldn't be any bad ones. He didn't think he could handle any more bad ones. I'll mark it up to the fact that I'm always hungry, he texted Dagon back. He wasn't sure how long her talk would go, so he figured he'd wait a little while before ordering food.

Belgirel took Dagon's arm as she offered it to him. "I figured we could summon Devour the way the kids always did, and then he can help us find and talk to Echo. They've gotta have a better way to talk than just her repeating what's been said."

DAGON: She nodded her agreement when Belgirel laid out the game plan. She and Beel had already been meeting with Devour as emissaries so there were a few ways that she was able to contact the being. The easiest one was a pebble drop. She and Belgirel found their way to the rivers edge once again, only this part was much more secluded. Dagon looked around, a tad hopefully that she might see Echo or Devour just on their own but there was no sign of the beings for the moment. So, she picked up a pebble and held it in her palm. Her magic made it glow red as she placed her intention into the pebble. Once her wish to speak with Devour was firmly implanted in the pebble, she tossed it into the water and hoped for the best.

DEVOUR: He had not ventured to the Belphegor's settlement all week. Other things had occupied his time. He'd found a colony of large slugs deep within the Empty and spent some time taking care of them. But, it was hungry work and he missed his little friends. He figured he was due for a visit. He made it halfway to the settlement when he felt the pull of the wish pebble. Trouble was afoot. He knew because the wish pebble was only meant to be used for trouble.

Devour located the nearest source of water and dove into it. Without his friends around, he maintained no form. He was pure inky blackness that melted into the water. The darkness that was his form traveled quickly through the river channels and followed the energy of the pebble to the river's edge. He spotted Dagon and...not Chef. Normally, Chef was with her but this was not Chef. This time she was with some green tin man. Curious. He wondered if Green Tin Man had food.

Devour's inky form began to bubble up from the water. At first, he just looked like a vat of black oil, but slowly his humanoid form started to take shape. Once he was fully formed into the tall blond man that they were used to seeing, he glided closer to the pair but he did not come to shore. Instead he stayed in the water and everything below his torso remained hidden by the blackness. Now that he was closer, he recognized the Green Tin Man as one of the Belphegor's brothers, their twin. "Princess Mother," he greeted Dagon. "You seem troubled. Is everything all right?"

BELGIREL: He wasn't exactly happy about needing to talk to devour in order to talk to Echo, even if it was his idea. All of the Void creatures reminded him too much of the Void. Even if they were nicer, it felt like an old bully that acted differently depending on if other people were around you or not. Even when they were nice, he couldn't convince himself that it wasn't a trap. He felt like he was going to throw up when something rose up out of the water. His gut told him that there were hands in that water preparing to pull him in and drown him. He took a deep breath. Despite all his armor, he still felt vulnerable. He squeezed Dagon's hand. "We need your help actually. Our people are sick. Dagon was sick yesterday, but there was someone here last night who healed her. We were hoping you could help us find her. We think she might have been one of your siblings. She couldn't speak and just repeated what Dagon said."

DAGON: She hadn’t used the pebble method before so she really did not know what to expect while she and Belgirel waited by the shoreline for something to happen. She could tell that he was nervous so she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Things would be okay. They had to be. A moment later, she saw the river waters bubbling where the pebble had landed. Slowly, a black inky mass started to appear. This made Gears all the more nervous. Dagon squeezed his hand back to let him know she was here and he was safe. The mass seemed to melt away as Devour’s humanoid form appeared. He looked confused as he waded toward them. She smiled when he greeted her.

“Hello, Devour,” her voice was gentle as she curtsied to him. “Thank you for answering the call. I’ve seen better days,” she admitted. “I’m sorry I don’t have any food with me today.” She nodded when Belgirel explained what was happening. “The illness has affected Nadia and Mumur as well as my twin Andras and my right hand Seir. They cannot breathe or play or eat. Honesty is still okay and Chef is with the kids, but they don’t have much time left. We could really use your help.” She nodded again when Gears explained how she’d been healed. “The healer presented as a lovely sting ray,” Dagon recalled. “I think she is the sibling you refer to as silence. We’ve taken to calling her Echo. Can you help us get in touch with her? We’d be willing to offer her a fair trade for her services.”

DEVOUR: He stared at the Green Tin Man when he spoke but he could not fully concentrate on the man’s words. There was an odd energy about him, a kindred energy. That could not be. It should not be. The only Child of God that was supposed to radiate that energy was the Belphegor. “How are you like me?” he asked the Green Tin Man. “You should not be, but you are. How?”

His attention turned back to Dagon when she stated that she had better days. Indeed, she looked quite pale and gaunt though still very pretty. Her smiles were melancholy, and they did not reach her eyes. He knew deep sadness resided in her, but today it was not hidden in the waves of her soul. It was on the surface. “That’s alright,” he told her when she said she had no food for him today. “Though you look like you can use some too. Have you eaten?” He frowned when he learned of the sickness. Had he known sooner, he would have come to see his little friends. Whatever this illness was, it sounded bad. “They cannot eat?” He sounded horrified and sad all at the same time. It had to be devastating for the Duchess Nadia. He nodded at their description of the creature that helped them. That did sound like silence. He raised a brow when Dagon asked if he could contact his sister. He glanced at a dark spot in the water. It was not visible to them and blended in very well with the rest of the water, but it was visible to him. “She is here actually.” He splashed in the direction of the dark spot. “Sister, come out please.”

BELGIREL: Belgirel took a step back when Devour said he was like him. He didn't like the way that sounded. He wasn't like Devour, but he didn't think that Devour was specifically referring to himself but to his entire family. He was like the Void was what he meant, and that was an awful thought. He felt even more nauseous. He didn't want to be like the Void, a monster, a torturer, and worse. He wanted to rip off his skin. "I-" He looked at Dagon, not sure how much he should've been sharing with Devour. "It's . . . temporary. Belphegor had to go somewhere, so they left me in charge of the Empty for the time being."

He shook his head when Devour asked for confirmation on the kids being unable to eat. He couldn't help thinking about how Murmur would've made an inappropriate joke about that. He felt unsettled when Devour looked off to the side, as if something was watching them. Apparently, there was. He took a step back as something else started to emerge out of the water.

ECHO: The Silence, or Echo as these people now called her, had been watching the whole interaction. These were her waters after all. She was very rarely unaware of what went on in and around them. She'd been watching because she'd been worried that she was going to get in trouble for helping the mother Dagon before. Devour wasn't one of her harsh brothers, but she was still scared that more people might find out, especially with these two telling her business. They used their voices improperly, but it still interested her all the same. She rose up out of the water as if a pedestal was being lifted up under her, but it was just her recreating her form. It was different from last time. She'd gaged their reactions and determined that her form hadn't been quite right. This time, she'd studied Dagon, the tin man, and Devour's form, so when she rose up, she actually did look more like just a very tall human woman. there was no mouth on her stomach, and no sting ray shape, though a long black dress drooped from her shoulder to her wrist in a similar manner. A metal plated corset went over her chest. Like her brother, she only rose halfway out of the water. She did not speak yet because she had not been asked to do so.

DAGON: She could feel how deeply uncomfortable Devour's words made Belgirel. He already didn't like how much these abilities made him feel like the Void. Belphegor didn't like it for themselves either. But power did not make you something you weren't. The Void was the Void because of its actions; not because of its powers. Dagon held Belgirel's hand even as he backed away a little. "We'd appreciate it if that stayed between us," she added.

She smiled when he asked her if she'd eaten anything today. "I'm afraid I haven't been able to hold much down. But I did ask Chef to order food. I'll bring you what I don't finish," she promised. He seemed truly saddened by the fact that the kids were now in a state where they could no longer eat. She imagined that resonated with his own torture a bit. She glanced over toward the spot in the water that Devour was speaking to. The spot slowly began to take a humanoid shape, choosing to mold its form to something similar to Devour. "Hello, healer," Dagon bowed her head to the creature. "I wanted to thank you again for helping me. I am feeling much better. My children though..." her voice took on a new level of melancholy. "They are unwell and they need help. We are willing to offer a fair trade if you'll help us. Will you help us?"

DEVOUR: The tin man was uncomfortable though Devour could not tell whether that was because of the conversation or because he was wearing a tin suit. Perhaps it was both. So, the Belphegor was gone and they transferred their power to the tin man, their twin. "I will not tell anyone. It is not safe for any of us if that information got out. I have no desire to rule these lands. The responsibility is tiresome. But I cannot say the same for my siblings. I do hope those powers cannot be transferred to just anyone." His family was already upset that the powers went to a foreigner upon the Void's death.

He looked at Dagon sympathetically when she remarked that she hadn't been able to hold much of her food down. That, too, was sad. This illness was taking much joy from them. He perked up at the mention of leftovers though. "That is very kind, thank you." He was famished. He watched as his sister took form from the waters. She was getting better at looking more like them. He wondered if she practiced some. The little ones that she speaks of are my friends, he spoke to his sister mind to mind. If you can help them, please do. I will share my food with you and I'm sure they will share their words. The Mother will meet your terms if you wish to set any.

BELGIREL: Belgirel was grateful Dagon was here with him. It was nerve wracking to be around two of them at the same time. He wondered if Echo had that desire. He watched her as she listened to them. "As far as I know they can't." He hoped Echo was listening to that one. "Belphegor probably would've transferred it to someone else if they could have." It wasn't necessarily that he believed Belphegor didn't think he could handle it, but he felt like Belphegor didn't want him to have to handle it. Belgirel also just didn't want the Void family to believe they could just take this power from him or Belphegor. Even if Devour didn't want it for himself, he didn't want to risk that information getting to the others. He couldn't tell what Devour and Echo were doing as they stared at each other. Clearly, they had some other form of communication that he and Dagon weren't privy to.

ECHO: Devour had talked to Echo before about his new friends. He always seemed happy talking about them, but seeing them interact was a much more different experience. With their family, there was rarely ever happiness. Even with the Silence, Devour had not seemed too happy. They could not offer him the same sort of conversations as these creatures did, but she was learning. She hoped to share more words with her brother, so they wouldn't be trapped in the conversations of their minds. To speak was so much sweeter than to think.

Echo didn't have much of an understanding of what children were. They did not have that concept for their own species. Age was nonexistent here. There was no older or younger. There just was and there wasn't. There were no mothers or fathers or parents for them either. These creatures were different though. It was all so foreign. She relied on Devour and his connections to help teach her what those differences were. So children were the little ones then. Devour's friends. Your friends are sick too? she asked in her brother's mind. I have questions, but I am afraid to ask them. I do not want to admit to healing her, especially when that one is like the Belphegor. Our siblings will think I'm helping them, and they will be angry with me. I would like to help your friends, but I am afraid of the danger. I have no use for food. It will not protect me, so I must say,

"No..." she faced the two while she said it, so that they would know she was talking to them and not Devour, but then she turned to Devour again.

I do not have the words to ask them my questions. I would have many steep terms for this too even if I were to agree. For your friends, I can be more lenient. I will heal those two for you, as long as we can keep it a secret from our family. If we get caught, I don't want the others to think I care for these creatures. I do, but they cannot know that. Let them and these two think they must make a tremendous deal for my aid. The mother, she told me thank you, and I quite liked that phrase. It made me feel good. I want the words of the children that make them feel best. I know this is a steep price, but they must fulfill it for my help. It is the easier task for them to do. However, the tin man said their people were sick, which means there's more who need my help. That will take a hefty price, and I do not know if they can manage it.

DAGON: She understood where Devour’s worry was coming from. It, indeed, would not be good if the others found out about the power transfer. Thankfully, most of them were put off by the settlement and stayed away. It was too overstimulating. She hoped that would be the case in this instance too. She gave Belgirel a sympathetic look when he said that if it were up to Belphegor the power might’ve gone to someone other than him. It wasn’t the first time that Gears had voiced this kind of sentiment. They would have to unpack that later when everyone was safe.

The way that Devour turned to his sister, Dagon could see there was some kind of silent conversation going on between them. Echo’s emotions were complicated. She seemed conflicted by the request. Dagon hoped that Devour might be able to sway her. Her heart dropped a little when Echo turned to them and said no. Dagon dropped Belgirel’s hand as a deep sadness, her sadness, filled the space. She took a few steps away from all of them. She promised no violence and did not want to seem like she was escalating things, but she wasn’t always in control of this manifestation. The bracelet around her hand did a lot to keep the power in check, but it had its limitations. When Suds died, she couldn’t visit the Empty for a few days because of those limitations. It seemed that she was skirting them again. “I’m sorry,” she apologized and tried to reel the emotion back in. “Healer please reconsider. Name your terms and we will do what we can to meet them, but please reconsider.” She looked to Devour as if to say please, they do not have much time.

DEVOUR: He wasn’t sure he believed the tin man, but for his sake he would pretend to believe. It was easier than dealing with the possible implications of what the Belphegor had done. He would not tell anyone and he hoped none of the others found out. He nodded to Echo in confirmation when she asked if his friends were affected. The mother is their caretaker. I wish we had a mother, he lamented. There hadn’t really been a moment in his existence where he felt as cared for as his friends were by the Chef and Mother. She would not lie about this. He understood Echo’s hesitation to help. Their siblings were not always welcoming to the idea of helping or even interacting with the foreigners. If our siblings ask, you were not helping the Belphegor and their people, you were helping us. If we let them die, more of their kind will pollute our lands. It is better for them to live and be able to leave our home rather than die and stay here. There were many ways to spin this situation if the others found out. He would help his sister and he would keep her secrets as she kept his.

He felt Dagon’s sadness permeate the area when Echo declined to help. The energy reminded him very much of Numbness. His friends had said she was like the Numbness but he hadn’t seen that side of her until now. He was about to try to persuade Echo again when his sister turned to look at him. Relief flooded his body when she remarked that she would help his friends. Thank you, sister. “She says that she will help your children on the condition that her involvement in all of this is kept secret. She liked the way you said thank you. She says she wants more words that have personal meanings to the people she is to heal.” He paused to catch the rest of his sisters requests and nodded. “There are steeper requests for healing the others, but if you can meet her demands, she is willing to help.” What would you like them to do? he asked. They are desperate.

BELGIREL: Belgirel felt disheartened when Echo said no, but it couldn't have been as bad as what Dagon felt. She was trying to maintain it, but this was a serious subject for her. If she couldn't get those kids healed, they'd be dead just like he was. He wanted to fight Echo for saying no so quickly, but instead he followed Dagon the few steps away, holding her hand and squeezing it. "It'll be okay," he tried to assure her. "Beel should have gotten your blood to Raph by now, and it can't be long before they get a vaccine." He didn't actually know that. They never had this kind of thing for angels, and he had no idea how long it would take. Nor did he know if the kids would last that long.

He let out a sigh of relief when Devour said that Echo would help. It was such a quick change of answer that he wondered if there was some kind of mistranslation. Did Echo actually mean to say no? Or was Devour just saying yes for her? Maybe there was a way he could force her to do this. Belgirel was willing to turn a blind eye to whatever it took to save their people. "We can keep it secret," Belgirel promised. His face contorted into confusion when Devour said that Echo liked the way Dagon had said thank you. That was an odd inclusion into this discussion. "Thank you?" he asked. They could've said thank you a million times if that's all it took. "If she can heal them, we'd be glad to give her a whole dictionary of words. My little brother, Lucifer, talks almost nonstop." He especially talked when he was nervous, which was happening a lot currently. Belgirel himself felt nervous at the mention of steeper requests, but there was a lot they'd be willing to do. "What are the demands?"

ECHO: Echo felt guilty as the Mother Dagon's emotions became sadder at the sound of her 'no'. She didn't want her words to hurt. She was learning more about how they could do that. Words could make people feel better, like thank you. Or they could make them feel worse, like this no had. Thankfully, Devour translated that her no wasn't a definitive one. She was glad that they agreed to her first terms, even offering her more onto it. "Better." she agreed. She would always be glad to have more words. She looked back to her brother to communicate the rest of her demands. I want protection from the harm of the rest of our family. Protection for me, for you, and any of the others who wish no harm. The Mother Dagon reminded me of the numbness, and I worry that they need protection too. If they can find the Numbness, and ensure all of our safety, I will heal their people.

DAGON: She flinched a little when Gears touched her hand. Touching her when her suppression tools were struggling to hold her manifestation was like touching a live wire sometimes. He seemed okay still and she eased a little. His words held hope but she knew that if Echo did not help them there was no hope for her children. A vaccine took time. Her contribution, her blood, might save some people, but it would not save her children. While Death did not seem like such a horrible thing these days, they had so much life left to live. She and Beel had done so much to protect them from the horrors of the world and yet it all still ended in horror. She couldn’t have that. Her heart couldn’t take it. She let out a surprised little sniffle when Devour clarified that his sister was agreeing to help. It was such a drastic shift and Dagon didn’t entirely understand it. She wiped at her face and nodded emphatically when Belgirel remarked that they would keep it a secret. “You keep ours and we’ll keep yours,” she agreed. Words. Her demand was for words which could very easily be done. “The kids too when they’re better they’ll talk up a storm,” Dagon promised. She was so looking forward to just hearing them talk again. “You might wish they’d stop,” she laughed through tears. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of hearing them talk after this but she couldn’t say the same for others. She nodded when Devour remarked that there were other demands that were a little steeper. “Tell us and we’ll do our best.”

DEVOUR: The Tin Man tried to comfort Dagon, but her grief was intense. Devour could tell that this was her last chance to save her children. He found himself crying a little too. He wished he had something to eat. Eating always made him feel better. He was sure it would make Dagon feel better too. Thankfully, his sister offered something more needed than food right now. She was offering help. “I don’t think she’ll tire of their words. They have many interesting things to say.” They were very knowledgeable about food and other things that Devour had only recently started to experience. He listened intently to Echo as his sister relayed her requests to him. “She would like protection for herself, me, and any other peaceful beings who turn to your settlement for sanctuary,” he replied. His brows knitted at the next request. No one had seen Numbness since the Void’s death. Devour wasn’t even sure their sibling was alive. “She would also like for you to find one of our siblings, the Numbness. We have not seen them for quite some time and they were in a fragile state.” Numbness was always in a fragile state. It was the nature of their being. “If you are willing to agree to these terms, she will help.”

ECHO: Echo shook her head when the Mother Dagon said she might wish they'd stop. Devour knew her well. There was no way she'd tire of someone's words. "I. Won't. Wish they'd stop." She didn't know what interesting things they'd have to say. She'd never met them, but she trusted Devour's description of them. If he believed that they were interesting she believed them. She could see that her request confused her brother, but did he not worry about the Numbness too. She thought he might've been dead, but she needed to know what the truth was.

BELGIREL: At first these requests sounded reasonable to Belgirel. If their siblings were as bad as Belgirel thought them to be, it made sense that they might fear them too. He supposed as long as they didn't cause trouble, they could look out for them. It was a big decision to take in refugees, but he felt like it was one that Belphegor and Cupid would've respected. "We can offer protection, but we'll need to get into the specifics of what that protection entails. We don't want to go to war with your family if one of you instigates one, but as long as you are on our lands, you will have our protection so long as you aren't causing trouble. Devour didn't seem certain about Echo's next request, and it made Belgirel nervous. "The Numbness? How are we supposed to find them. The Empty is endless."

ECHO: Echo looked at Dagon. From the way Dagon had acted similar to the Numbness, that was why she thought she could find them. "You. Are. Sad. Have. Sad. Direction."

DAGON: “I don’t think I will either,” she replied as she wiped her tears. She nodded her agreement when Belgirel said that they could extend the protection as needed. She did not know which Void siblings would come seeking protection, but truth be told even if all the Void siblings banded together, which was unlikely, angel kind outnumbered them. They would be flattened by hell within a day. Echo’s last request was for her to find Numbness. Dagon had heard a little bit about this sibling before. He’d been compared to her kingdom, but she knew he was lost and possibly even dead. Trying to locate him would mean going out of the bounds of their settlement and into the unknown of the Empty. Dagon nervously looked at the woods beyond the waters. “I can do it,” Dagon nodded. “But I’d like five people cured before I leave.” Nadia and Murmur were a given, but she also wanted Andras healed. She couldn’t leave not knowing if her twin made it through the cure or not. She’d feel his death, the way all siblings do. And Belgirel would feel it too. It would throw them into a complete spiral. And then there was Mazikeen. She wasn’t super close to Maze, but Hell needed her alive and Dagon couldn’t spend the next century listening to Lucifer complain about finding right hands while not really addressing the truth of what was actually making him sad. Lastly, there was Zophiel. He was just a child – one that had a massive crush on her and Beel but still a child nevertheless. He’d been through enough with Suds having nearly eaten him. He didn’t deserve to die a painfully slow death on top of that. “I can’t track your sibling with all of this noise in my head and anxiety in my chest. I need it calm. I need to know that these five people are better before I leave.”

ECHO & BELGIREL: Echo nodded. The Mother Dagon must've had a preference for more words too. She could see that her final request troubled them a little more. What she was asking wouldn't be easy. It might have been impossible in fact, but even if they failed to find the Numbness, Echo still would've helped. She just wanted them to try. "Good. Is. the. illness. in. these five people. . ." She didn't have a word that meant same. She needed to know if the illness of the others was the same as the one Dagon had. That was what really determined if she could help. "As. Like. As. You. Your. Illness."

Belgirel tried to understand her conglomeration of words. It was hard for his brain to process, but he felt like he could figure it out. "Yes, they all have the same disease."

"I will help if you can do it." She agreed.

Belgirel was relieved to hear that, but not completely. "Could you just excuse us for a minute or two?" He asked before pulling Dagon far enough away where he didn't think they could hear them.

Echo turned to her brother as they both stood there waiting in the water. Do you want anything, brother? I could have them add something to my requests. Maybe we could have them give you more tasty food regularly. If they are to protect us from danger, they could protect you from hunger too? I've seen pairs of them bring blankets by my waters and having meals on them. We could do that if we were safe and they provided you food. It shouldn't be much more to ask if they're wanting me to cure five people before they go. Chef, he may provide the food, even though he did not make this deal, as a reward for healing his children.

Further away from the river, Belgirel stopped and turned to his girlfriend. "Dagon, you know I don't doubt your abilities normally, but are you sure you can do this this soon? You only just started getting better today, and then you did that blood magic with Beel. I know you want to help the kids and everyone else, but we've already got assurance that she'll help the kids. I know you'd want to see them recovering, and you took more than a few hours to start getting better. If you wanted to, you could stay with them while I just go. I don't have your same sense of empathy, but I do have Belphegor's powers. I may not be great at using them," mainly because he was terrified of even trying to do so, "but I could try to use it to figure out where the Numbness is." He didn't think that was something she'd be fond of either. As much as he worried about her, he knew she'd be worrying about him on his own too. It wasn't even just about him being on his own. He could've asked Aamon to come with him, and he would've been just as safe, but Dagon had to be sidelined during this whole plague just because she was sick. He knew she was itching to feel useful. He sighed. "Can you at least assure me if this is something you really can do or not?"

DAGON: She felt as though a weight was lifted off of her chest when Echo agreed to help. "Thank you, healer," she replied before stepping to the side to talk to Belgirel. He was concerned about her ability to locate the Numbness after having been sick for so long. She understood where the concern was coming from. For the past night she'd been hearing nothing but concerns about how she should take it easy. "I want to go with you," she replied. She couldn't go through all of this and end up losing him at the end because she wasn't there. Sure, she couldn't heal Belgirel but there were other ways, human ways, to deal with life threatening injuries. "I can do this," she assured him. "I'm going to need to eat before we go so I can focus on something other than my hunger." Her stomach ached so much and she was pretty sure she could eat a wagon of cheese fries right now. "But I can do it. It might take us some time. I can track depressive energies but there's no guarantee the energy I tap into is the Numbness. This place is quite sad. But if he's still alive, I'm sure we'll find him."

DEVOUR: He was thrilled that things were turning out for the better. The Mother and the Tin Man seemed to be relieved too. He knew time was of the essence for his little friends, but he also wanted his sister to feel safe while helping these people. He shook his head when she asked if he wanted anything added into this deal for himself. I’m all right. They feed me well enough and I steal the rest. He enjoyed the thrill of it just a little. Besides, he didn’t think friends made demands of one another in times like this. Chef would likely offer it anyway once the Little Chef was better. I likely won’t be able to come with you to the healing station. Too many of us in one location makes them anxious and raises suspicion. But I will be in the kitchen if you need me. He would remain close by until his sister was able to return back to her rivers.

BELGIREL: Dagon's response was about what Belgirel thought it would be. She was caught between leaving her kids or leaving him. It wasn't like he wouldn't try to stay safe, but if anything happened, he knew she'd feel worse for not being there. At least with the kids, she could be there when they got their cure. "Okay," he said acceptingly. He didn't think there was a way he could convince her to stay anyways. He just had to make sure she was sure she could do this. "I'm sure Beel can get you some food, and while he does, we can sit and rest and maybe make a plan for how we're going to handle this. But don't strain yourself. We can always stop to take breaks if you need it, or I can carry you on my back. Whatever you need." He nodded when she said it might take time, but they'd find him if he was alive. He walked with her back to the two Empty beings. "Alright, we have a deal then." He held out his hand.

ECHO: She thought it was odd her brother wanted to steal instead of just be given what he wanted. It didn't seem like a massive request, but she didn't pretend to understand all of her brother's strange ways. I wish it were not so. She didn't like the fact that so many of the Belphegor's people were scared of them. She thought it might've been nice to live among them and hear all their sounds. She hoped that this would be a step towards that. She looked at the tin man's hand when he held it out to her. She didn't know what that was about. "A fair trade," she agreed. "I need to make better feeling . . . Not food before I leave then can we go."

[actual-changeling]

it took me an embarrassing amount of time to make this but i hope the *checks notes* like five other people in this corner appreciate it

[ineffable-celestials]

Good Omens Roleplay Server

Hi hi, I know this isn't the usual thing that I post (even though what I post has been nothing at all lately) but I wanted to share this while I let more headcanons swim around my mind.

My friends and I made a Good Omens roleplay server on Discord since many others tend to scare us. We wanted to (hopefully) foster a safe community for others to explore their creativity! Of course, there is more than just roleplay and you can discuss Good Omens to your heart's content, but it is the main focus of the server. So please, give it a peek if you think you may be interested!

P.S. If the link doesn't work or expires, please let me know!

[vahingoniloinenlapsi]

Started drawing this while drunk. Now you too can enjoy this UwU

[buntress]

𖤐•°𐕣 Fallen Angel ID Pack 𐕣°•𖤐

[PT: Fallen Angel ID Pack]

Req By :: Anonymous

𖤐•°𐕣 𝔑𝔞𝔪𝔢𝔰 𐕣°•𖤐

[PT: Names]

Abaddon // Abel // Adam // Aether // Amon // Angel // Angelo // Ariel // Ash // Astrid // Axel // Azrael // Azazel // Baal // Beatrix // Beelzebub // Beleth // Belial // Cael // Cain // Castiel // Celeste // Chemosh // Dagon // Dara // David // Dina // Dumah // Evangeline // Eve // Ezekiel // Gabriel // Ian // Iblis // Jeremiah // Laila // Levi(athon) // Lucifer // Michael // Malaika // Moloch // Nathaniel // Orias // Phoenix // Qemuel // Raziel // Rosier // Saleos // Samael // Samuel // Solas // Tamiel // Theo // Uriel // Val(efor) // Xaphan // Yael

𖤐•°𐕣 𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔰 𐕣°•𖤐

[PT: Pronouns]

Ae / Aem / Aer / Aerself || Aeth / Aether / Aetherself || An / Angel / Angels / Angelself || Ar / Arch / Archs / Archself || Bea / Beast / Beasts / Beastself || Cae / Caem / Caes / Caeself || Che / Cher / Chers / Cherself || Da / Dark / Darks / Darkself || Dae / Daem / Daer / Daemself || Dei / Deim / Deis / Deimself || Dove / Doves / Doveself || E / Eden / Edens / Edenself || Ely / Elym / Elys / Elyself || Ha / Lo / Halo / Haloself || Hy / Hymn / Hys / Hymnself || La / Lamb / Lambs / Lambself || Mon / Mons / Monself || Om / Omen / Omens / Omenself || Sai / Saint / Saints / Saintself || Ser / Seras / Seraph / Seraphself || Sin / Sins / Sinself || Smy / Smite / Smites / Smiteself || Throne / Thrones / Throneself || Wi / Wing / Wings / Wingself || 🕊️ / 🕊️s 🕊️self || ☦️ / ☦️s / ☦️self || 🔥 / 🔥s / 🔥self || ❤️‍🔥 / ❤️‍🔥s / ❤️‍🔥self || ⛓️ / ⛓️s / ⛓️self

𖤐•°𐕣 𝔗𝔦𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔰 𐕣°•𖤐

[PT: Titles]

The Fallen One // The Unholy // The Corruption // The Revanchist // The Once Divine // The Corrupted Purity // Hy Who Fell From Heaven // Their Corrupted Purity // The Corrupted One // Dae Who Was Divine // The Corrupted Lord/Lady/Leige // One Of Hell's Court // Creator Of Discord Upon The Divine // The Sinner // The Disgraced // The Hellish One // It Of Corrupted Light

Note :: All pronouns can be replaced with whatever pronouns you prefer!

𖤐•°𐕣 𝔏𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔰 𐕣°•𖤐

[PT: Labels]

Aldertatterwingic // Angelius // Angelx // Anniople // Bewolkian // Bloodywingial // Brokenangelic // Brokenwingsdernic // Caninelenel // Corruptangelic // Crucifingelic // Darkangelcoric // Enfealian // Fallangelcoric // Fallenangelaesic // Fallenangelfangic // Fallenangelmoth // Fallenangelsproutaen // Fallencosmica // Fallenlexic // Fallenlovic // Fallenpridic // Guardilenel // Impurfallangelic // Ingeluse // Lovefangel // Nauticheric // Nosaboy // Purleydemonit // Relingelus // Serafernal // Seroanus // Unholy Omninoun // Vengefangel // Villangelgender // Viongelic

Note :: The first letter of each label is a link to the post coining it!

[dorokora]

Transients I want to see in Housamo (very very long list)

Just a list of transients I think would be interesting to see in Tokyo;

Land of Wa:

Momotarō

Issun-bōshi

Nue

Baku (a creature who devours nightmares)

Satori (a monkey yokai who can read minds)

Olympus:

Ares

Athena

Aphrodite

Artemis

Medusa

Persephone

Echidna (Typhon’s wife)

Asclepius

Ganymede

Odysseus

Caeneus

Lycaon

Eris (goddess of discord known for instigating conflict and manipulation)

Kitzeth:

Zmey

Psoglav

Baba Yaga

Zoryas

Domovoy

Stribog

Wojtek

Takamagahara:

Sukunabikona (a dwarf who is the god of hot spring and is frequently paired with Okuninushi)

Yatagarasu

Takemikazuchi (the one who defeated Takeminakata and crushed his arms)

Oceanic Realm:

Pele (Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and fire)

Kamapuaʻa (a pig-man who is the god of agriculture and is Pele’s husband)

Kāmohoaliʻi (a Hawaiian shark god)

Nanaue

Māui

Kapre

Muldjewangk

Tikbalang

Rūaumoko

Old Ones:

Mother Hydra (Dagon’s wife)

Shub-Niggurath

Gnoph-keh

Bokrug

Yig

Tir na nog:

Cernunnos

Medb

Scáthach

Cú Chulainn/Sétanta

Merlin

Ojáncanu

Epona (goddess of horses)

Eden:

Azrael (angel of death)

Metatron

Saint George

Samson

Gehenna:

Mammon (demon of greed)

Adrammelech/Andrealphus

Ares Goetia Demons:

Asmodeus

Gremory

Dantalion

Aamon

Stolas

Forneus

Andras

Camio

Furfur

Babilim:

Gilgamesh

Enkidu

Kingu (son of Tiamat who was killed by Marduk)

Inanna/Ishtar (also is Shamash’s twin sister)

Ereshkigal

Ninurta

Anzu

Deva Loka:

Vishnu

Lakshmi

Garuda (Vishnu’s mount)

Rama

Kumbhakarna

Vamana

Narasimha

Ganesha

Nandi (Shiva’s mount)

Agni

Karkadann (a mythical rhino)

El dorado:

Huītzilōpōchtli

Tlāloc (god of rain)

Coatlicue

Xochiquetzal

Camazotz (the bat who decapitated Ixbalanque’s brother)

Yggdrasil:

Nidhogg

Ratatoskr (squirrel messenger of the World Tree)

Baldur

Heimdall

Hel

Njord (god of the sea and is the father of Freyr)

Týr (had his right hand bitten off by Fenrir)

Great Spirit:

Urcaguary (god of treasures)

Nanook

Amaguq

Kamuy Kotan:

Rep-un-Kamuy (a sea god who is depicted as a Orca who is carefree and somewhat mischievous and armed with a harpoon)

Utopia:

Zakalwe (based of the character from the novel “Use of Weapons”)

Hourai:

Chang’e

Hou Yi (Divine archer and Chang’e husband)

Daoji/Ji Gong

Guan Yu

Red Hare (a famous horse owned by Lü Bu)

Xiezhi (a mythical creature that resembles a ox or goat with the ability to distinguish truth and lies and will stab liars with its horn)

Longmu (a goddess who raised five dragons)

Gonggong (had a fight with Zhurong and lost then broke one of the pillars that Nuwa had to fix)

Aaru:

Thoth

Ma’at

Hathor

Anubis

Bastet

Sekhmet

Sobek

Nephthys

Taweret

Hapi

Serket

Anhur

Rhodopis

Khonsu

Urban Legends:

Mothman

Ogua

Squonk

Burrunjor

Others:

Bishamonten (and the rest of the Seven Lucky God)

Genbu (The Japanese version of the Chinese Black Tortoise of the North)

Byakko (The Japanese version of the Chinese White Tiger of the West)

Lu Zhishen (from the Water Margin novel)

Dong Zhuo (Three Kingdom)

[one-coming-is-enough]

Every angel and demon currently employed with either Heaven or Hell has a way to get in touch with their Home Office. The app is called Discord. You're not sure who invented it, but it's a handy tool for your "back channel" stuff.

A message lands in your inbox. It's from Jesus Christ Himself and is marked URGENT! TOP PRIORITY!! ASAP!!!

You might want to open that.

Hey folks! Just so all the denizens of Hell know... Well, since the heat is out, as you've obviously noticed, I've given Beezlebub and Dagon the OK to start moving anyone who doesn't interface directly with souls as a necessity of their job to move into the empty offices Upstairs.

And since you have My blanket permission, it will not harm any denizen of Hell to enter Heaven until the heat is back on. So, anyone who does paperwork? Get moving to Heaven, you can enter unharmed.

To all angels and saints, especially the archangels... I expect you all to make our visitors feel welcome and show them to a quiet place they can complete their assigned tasks. There is plenty of room in My 1/3 of Heaven, and we are all part of the same company, even if we work on different floors!

Make. It. Work.

My phone is out, so I can only communicate with people in other ways, but I guess Discord is one of those "back channels" I keep hearing about!

Please pass this memo around in case I missed anyone!

@the-archangel-squad @the-angel-muriel @sandalphonsgoldteeth @you-all-forget-my-name @saraqael-the-sarcastic @michaelwiththegoodhair @theangel-aziraphale @thedemon-crowley @ask-eric-the-disposable-demon @ask-the-archangel-michael @fishyfiles @lower-management @duke-hastur @duke-of-torment @ligur-duke-of-hell

[ego-osbourne]

Does this do Anything for Anybody

Mehrunes Dagon in a dress made of fire

Might have had a little too much fun with this one :] if there is such a thing

Dress inspo below

Sent/found through Discord

[kaidanworkshop]

Workshop Progress: Post Summer Update

Hello Workshop followers! We've been hard at work over the last few weeks separating and voting on the second set of lines from our VA, as well as completing another commissionship session with Mr. Warren this past Sunday. While usually we feature the work being completed by all three teams separately, we'll be summarizing the current state of the mod in a single long post for this update; as we approach the finish line in wrapping up the framework rebuild, more and more of our staff are working with the CK & Assets team to assist with build testing and finalizing various features.

So firstly, the benchmarks we're most proud of:

All assets have officially been replaced with high texture models! Everything from Kaidan's physical appearance, to his armor and weapons, to the little cherry tree you can marry him under, have been updated.

The CK & Assets Team have completed their rebuild on all but two quest frameworks -- specifically for his personal quest 'Blood and Fire' and his Mehrunes Dagon quest commentary. Our nickname, pronoun, and outfit systems are all functional as well. All of these quests are now ready for line implementation and beta testing.

As of our most recent VA session, we are officially over 50% done with the total script revoice, with 836 lines out of the original 1400 projected lines recorded. The final total of lines will fluctuate a bit to accommodate the extra lines being added for the aforementioned new systems, as well as the new platonic Autumnwatch acquisition route, but it shouldn't be by very much. We will update the community with a final total in a future 'community receipt' post detailing our full business expenditures.

We continue to operate solidly under budget! Using the formula outlined in our budget breakdown post, we have enough money for approximately 7 1/2 hours of Mr. Warren's services ($1885/$250), but the remaining scripts should be completed in approximately 5 hours. As we get closer to our final sessions with Mr. Warren and the final total for that budget surplus becomes more concrete, we will be able to hash out the details of what else the community can vote to have added in the 1.0 launch. You can read about a few of those ideas here, but feel free to submit your own ideas via our inbox or on our Discord.

So what's next on our plate?

Completing the last of the framework rebuild

Continued line implementation as voting and splicing permits, as well as necessary subtitle corrections and emotive animations to match the new lines

Staff bug and beta testing to tweak new system functionality, as well as editorial reviews by the Writing Team to tweak in-game journal updates and other miscellaneous text

Finalization of new dialogue for acquisition of Autumnwatch

Scheduling our final 2 - 3 VA sessions (woo!)

Getting distracted by Baldur's Gate 3

Our Community Team will be setting up another series of livestreams to feature lines from our third commission in the coming weeks. This round of scripts included his commentary on the main quest & factions (College of Winterhold, the Companions, etc), the dialogue associated with gifting him books and having him read some of them back, as well as his personal quest involving Shadowgreen Cavern.

Thank you again for all of your continued interest and support!

[ladykailitha]

Stripper au!!!!!!!!

WIP Wednesday! Make me write!

Come join me in my discord for questions and headcanons!

Snippet

Leviathan and Dagon gave Steve a wide berth after that. Which honestly was for the best. Most of the dancers he got along with or at least tolerated enough to get the job done. He wasn’t there to make friends. He didn’t want enemies per se, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to go hoe and dry in his pillow over a couple of backup dancers with delusions of grandeur.

If anything he was pissed at their blatant lack of respect for Eddie. Like hate on him, he didn’t care, but he thought everyone liked Eddie.

He walked into the dressing room to get ready for his pas de trois with Eddie and Chrissy when he found Chrissy crying.

“Hey what happened?” he asked, running over to her. She held up her white leotard she had been using for the dance until Ellie got their color change ones made. It was slashed.

[prpfz]

this is a wild one boys. hi! i'm glitch, 25f. please be 18+ to interact with me for my own comfort and for the dark themes i'm about to dive into here! i'm looking to play some canon horror characters against some other canon horror characters, be they in books, movies, or games. be they survivors or other killers. aus and crossovers are so welcome! here's a list of who i play at the moment:

the smile entity - smile (i haven't seen smile 2 yet :( )

raatma - v/h/s/94

pazuzu - the exorcist

xenomorph (various castes) - alien franchise

mister babadook - the babadook

jean jacket - nope

pennywise the dancing clown - IT (2017/19 movie and book based)

sadako - ringu

they who are many - the thing

the colour - the colour out of space (lovecraft mythos)

father dagon - lovecraft mythos

cthulhu - lovecraft mythos

hastur - lovecraft mythos

death angels - a quiet place franchise

mr. grey - dreamcatcher

carnage symbiote (note this is a very horror-centric take on the character) - marvel

moder - the ritual

the entity thing - skinamarink

sam - trick r’ treat

gabriel may - malignant

satan - longlegs

deadites - evil dead rise

the wendigo - pet semetary (book based)

the beast - poltergeist

blade - puppet master

sil - species

gunther twibunt - the funhouse

christine - christine (film based)

the queen - lifeforce

and more!

if you're interested, give this a like or shoot me a dm. you can reach me on my discord as well: teethpaint

hope to write with you soon!

like or dm

[hallowedmuses]

discord chat: so hungry i could eat a horse

SUMMARY: Dagon comes clean to Beelzebub about a deadly creature that she’s befriended in the Mariana Trench. The two make their way there with some unfortunate company in tow. TRIGGERS: Trauma, PTSD, Depression, Body Horror, Animal Death WRITTEN WITH: @offallenfeathers (Beelzebub, Gabriel, Suds) @hallowedmuses (Dagon, Andy)

DAGON: She was anxious as leaned against the dock and picked at her lunch. Today’s environmental committee meeting was a disaster. She didn’t know what happened. Suds was doing so great these past few weeks but last night was a massive regression. She felt like it was only a matter of time before Gabriel found him. She couldn’t keep hiding the creature on her own. It wasn’t safe. She had a plan, an idea really, to bring Suds to Hell but she needed help. So, she asked Beel to come have lunch with her after the meeting. She needed to fess up to her antics and show him everything, but it was hard to know where to begin. “It looks like it’s going to rain…” she began mildly only for one of her snakes to escape her bun and nip at her ear. She swatted it away, annoyed with herself. “Alright, Jesus…” She surveyed the dock to make sure they were alone before sliding her lunch over to Beel. “I need your help.” She was pretty sure he picked up on that a while ago. “The creature Gabriel’s unit is looking for is a shark,” she began. “Prehistoric, large, one of your original designs maybe..." She bit her bottom lip. "His name is Suds. I've been hiding him for the past few months..."

BEELZEBUB: Ever since Valefar had joined these committees, they'd gotten more interesting. Beel wasn't fond of the idea of her being there, but surprisingly, she wasn't the drama this time. Gabriel had made them all aware of some sort of creature in the ocean that was attacking ships and eating massive amounts of sealife. It was upsetting the balance of things, and worse than that, when Gabriel sent his own people to deal with it, the beast killed and ate them. Thankfully, the Empty wasn't a bad place to end up now, but death was still a serious thing. They'd never be able to leave the Empty again. It clearly put a lot of stress on Gabe. Beel could see the frustration and guilt on Gabe's face for what happened to them, and he seemed desperate to stop the monster. On the other hand, Dagon had seemed panicked ever since the subject of the creature was brought up, though for different reasons. Every time the actions of the monster were brought up, she seemed to defend it with the same passion as a mad lover. It all made her seem incredibly suspicious. She was known to make friends with all kinds of creatures, and he was sure that everyone suspected that she was somehow involved in the reason why the beast hadn't been caught already. After the committee was over and Dagon invited him to lunch, he suspected that it wasn't just an excuse to have some of his cooking. It was actually all the confirmation he needed to know she really was involved in this.

It was amusing to watch her snakes nip at her. It was always an interesting display to when she was at war with herself, but in the end, the snakes usually helped her to the right destination. He took her lunch, beginning to eat it as she explained herself. He nodded for her to keep going when she said she needed his help. That was a given. The fact that it was a shark was a little surprising. There were some giant sharks out there that he'd made. A few were even still around, though they didn't cause many problems. They also didn't usually attack angelic units, nor did they have the power to actually kill them. "I don't think that sounds like something I would've made." Although the name she'd given the shark was a little amusing. It was close to the nickname Laute used to call him a long time ago. "Can you take me to him. I think I need to see him with my own eyes." Beel usually had a strong connection with his creations. Even if they didn't recognize him as the one who created their species, sharks tended to be relaxed around him. The better thing was that he could make sure the shark was no real threat to Dagon. Even if it tried attacking him, there weren't many things that could actually harm an archangel.

DAGON: Beel seemed annoyingly satisfied that she was asking him for help. Her snakes eyed him like they were debating smacking the tacos out of his hand. “Don’t. He’s just wearing a smaller, smugger look under there,” she warned her snake as she tugged it back into her bun. It didn’t surprise her that he didn’t want to be credited or associated with Suds, but she’d seen enough of Beel’s creatures to know his designs. If Suds was created by a copycat they were in some trouble. “Look, I know he looks bad on paper, but I don’t think nurture made him the way he is. I think something happened to him. The way I found him, he wasn’t in good shape...” Of course, she found him when he tried to eat her, but she was able to save herself and gain his trust. She got quiet when Beel asked if she would take him to the shark. “That depends.” The words were heavy between them. For a couple months now, things seemed like they were back to normal with the two of them. Dagon had forgiven the secrets that were kept from her, but this was a reminder that she hadn’t forgotten. She was still struggling and the act of asking one of them for help was still hard. “There’s ground rules to this. I found the shark, I make the final decisions. You don’t get to shut me out, okay? He’s my friend, Beel.”

BEELZEBUB: "It's actually a larger, smugger look, but it wouldn't be that bad if you didn't make yourself so obvious in that committee." Gabriel and Andy were probably just waiting for her to outright admit her involvement, not that they could actually do much about it. They'd have to go through a lot of channels, and in the end they wouldn't get anywhere. Dagon may not have been right to protect a monster that was killing angels, but Hell would still defend her if they needed to, though whether they'd defend her creature or not was a different story. "I'm not trying to disown him because he did bad things, Dagon," he promised. "I just really don't recall making something like this." It was possible he'd been on something if he'd made this. He'd been pretty chaotic when he was younger, and he had so many creations, he couldn't always keep track of them until he was looking at them, which is why he felt like he needed to see the shark first. "If I did make him, then he's my responsibility." He didn't mean that to say he was going to take over on what to do with the shark, more so that he felt responsible enough to help make sure that his creation was well taken care of and that it wasn't hurting people outside the natural order of things. "He wasn't in good shape?" he questioned. It was hard to believe something that massive could really go through any kind of trauma. It wouldn't have had any natural predators. If it was killing angels, the average fishing boats shouldn't have been a problem for it, and he didn't think Gabriel's angels would attack it without cause.

"Even if he did go through something rough, his actions seem more like animal instinct. He's going to eat the biggest things he can, which at this time seem to be angels." He didn't think it really made a difference whether it was nature or nurture that was making Suds act like this. It wasn't like they could give a shark therapy, and the amount of time Dagon was spending with it didn't seem to be helping. He recognized that Dagon was nervous. She'd asked for his help, but she still had reason to doubt that she'd be on his side.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not looking to hurt Suds. I know that you care about him, and I'm sure we can find something to do for him." He didn't know what that was just yet. He needed to actually see the creature's size and personality first. It'd make things easier if the shark listened to him like the others did, but if it wasn't his, he didn't know that it would. There was still another concern though. "But if a life is in danger because of him again while I'm there, I will stop him." He was mainly worried in regards to Dagon. She might've bonded with a lot of creatures, but that didn't mean they wouldn't hurt her if she got in the middle. If his presence upset the shark, it was possible she could get hurt, and he wouldn't let that happen. He didn't plan to take deadly force immediately, but he would do what he had to do to keep more lives from being taken. Suds might've been Dagon's friend, but he was killing a lot of Gabriel's friends.

DAGON: She gave him an exasperated, almost comical look. “Well, you try keeping these space buns under control!” She pointed to her hair. She might’ve known a thing or two about being covert, but her snakes weren’t always on the same page. Which is why they were in intricate buns and braids almost every meeting now. She was getting tired of being tied up. Restraining them never felt right. They were a part of her. She started undoing her buns. Maybe they would behave now that she was trying something that didn’t require so much secrecy. “Despite defending Suds at meetings, I don’t exactly feel great about what he’s doing. I just need more time to train him.” She shook her hair out, feeling relieved that some of the weight and pressure was gone. “We had a streak going for almost two weeks with only minor incidences. I know he can do it.” She felt her shark deserved a fair shot. Moving him to hell was the best shot she could give him.

She sighed and nodded when he assured her that he wasn’t trying to disown Suds. “Maybe seeing him will jog some memories. I haven’t had much luck digging up his origins. Most of those records are still in Heaven. Talk about paywalls,” she quipped. That was definitely a complaint she’d picked up from Declan. She nodded and frowned. “Yeah, poor thing.” Her snakes drooped a little at the memory. “He had spears lodged along his underbelly and jaw line. It took a while to get him to trust me enough to get them out. And he had scar tissue to hell and back, healed fractures that hadn’t properly set, chunks of flesh that were just gone. He must’ve fought something and came out on top, but for the life of me I don’t know what.” Whatever it was, she was pretty sure Suds must’ve eliminated it.

She didn’t agree or disagree with Beel’s statement. Suds was acting on instinct, but she also believed he could be trained to not be so aggressive and reactive. She didn’t plan to domesticate him by any means. Some form of aggression was needed to survive in the wild, but he had too much for something of his size.

Her snakes observed him quietly for a moment as they tried to assess whether they trusted his words. They dropped away into nothing but strands of hair once Dagon decided that she did trust that he wouldn’t harm Suds. “I want to take him to Hell. I’m not sure Lucifer will be thrilled about the idea, but I think it’s the best place for him. I’ll lay out the vision once you see him.” She knew that second part was coming before he even said it. She was just trusting that Beel’s first plan of action to stop Suds wouldn’t be violence. “All right, then you better trail behind and let me talk to him first so you don’t spook him with your very large, smug face.”

BEELZEBUB: Beel chuckled. "That's basically just asking me to keep you under control. They're a result of your subconscious after all." He could keep his own emotions in check, but he couldn't do that for Dagon. "I think if you said that to Gabe, he wouldn't believe it." The arguing between him and Dagon had only gotten heightened this time. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Dagon would defend animals, but he could tell that Gabe felt like Dagon just didn't care at all about the people who were dying. Beel knew that wasn't the case. Dagon was an extremely caring person. The problem was that it got excessive sometimes to the point where she only saw the danger around her. She had good reason not to trust a lot of the people at the committee though. Gabriel had kept the truth about what was going on with Bells longer than he had, which was probably part of why she elected to tell Beel the truth first too. "How exactly have you been trying to train him? And if you were doing well, what happened this time?" She was right. There hadn't been too many incidents, but he imagined there had to be something to set him off. Maybe he got startled or she let him get too close to where Gabriel's unit was searching.

"Maybe," he nodded. "I did make a lot of weird things back then. Raphael actually brought down some of those records of my creations a couple years ago." It had been the day that Belphegor confronted the family about the truth, and it was probably the only good thing that happened on his birthday that year. "I didn't get around to looking at all of them, but after I see him, I can compare them to him." Assuming he didn't recognize it immediately. He frowned at the description of the state he was in. "That sounds more like he went through a war than just a single fight." It made the whole thing sound more confusing. He wouldn't have been surprised by some of those injuries, but the others sounded like something he would've had for a lot longer than any injuries Gabe's unit could've given him.

"To Hell?" he asked, considering the idea. It would take some excessive terraforming, but they had people for that, and it would keep heaven off their backs if it kept him away from the angels and the rest of humanity. Beel already had some large bodies of water in his kingdom where they could keep Suds while they worked on terraforming more space. Food might've been an issue, but he needed to understand Suds more first. If they could sustain him on large fish, that might've been fine, but if he really did have a preference for eating angels, then that would be a problem. He'd have to hear what she had in mind for the shark once they got there. "Okay, I'll try to keep my smugness contained. Lead the way."

DAGON: She snorted and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I'm so glad your siblings aren't here. The amount of sex jokes they could generate from that comment alone would be my thirteenth reason,” she joked. She sighed when he said Gabe would have a hard time believing she felt remorseful for Sud’s behavior. “I know. I’ll make it up to him somehow.” She just needed a minute where he wasn’t stressing her out. She was sure he’d say the same about her which was fair. Dagon didn’t have anything against Gabe. She generally liked him. She knew his job wasn’t easy. In the past, she tried to make it easier by cleaning up the ocean at the very least. She and Beel had done a decent job at it. She just wished Gabe would leave this alone so she could continue her work. As a leader herself, she understood he felt responsible for this situation. She didn’t know Gabe all that well and frankly she was afraid that even if she came forward and told him the situation, he’d just want to take it over and she’d never see Suds again. The Archangels had already shut her out once by making decisions regarding her best friend. She had a hard time believing they wouldn’t do it again.

“I train him the way I train most of my animals. Build trust, establish myself as a safe person, keep them fed—that’s been the hardest part. I can’t make creatures at the rate that he eats them.” Which was why having Gabe’s unit work on replenishing the ocean would’ve been helpful to her and Suds in this process. “I’ve been tagging along on hunts with him though and redirecting him to eat creatures that are appropriate shark food. I thought teaching him command cues would be the hardest but he picked up on that fast. He responds best to the old war commands.” She made hand gestures that indicated stay, move out, and fall back.

She got a little quieter when he asked her what happened last night. “I don’t know. It came out of nowhere. We were just floating through the ocean. I was laying on his back stargazing and babbling like one does. We passed by the northern lights and he just froze. I hopped off his back to check on him and I dunno…there was this massive wave of sadness coming from him. It was deep. Like my Kingdom after the fall deep.” She’d never met an animal that experienced that level of profound sadness. It felt almost human. “And then it was like a switch flipped. There was nothing behind his eyes but rage. He went barreling for the nearest living thing which was an expedition ship a thousand knots away. By the time I caught up to him, he’d already eaten it and was looking for the next thing to eat. I got him to slow down and that’s when I heard Zophiel somewhere in the pit of his stomach.” She rubbed her temple at the stress of the memory. “He wasn’t supposed to be there. Apparently, he decided to disregard orders to stay out of the ocean until the situation was resolved. I talked him through how to trigger Sud’s gag reflex.” Gooseflesh peppered her skin. She rubbed her arms as if she was cold. “It wasn’t a pretty scene but he puked Zoph out. While I stayed with the kid and patched him up, he swam off and went on his rampage. When I found him in the morning, he was calm again but the damage…” she shook her head. She was lucky that Zophiel wasn’t hurt, but she didn’t think she’d be lucky a second time if Suds got triggered like that again in open water.

“I don’t know. I kind of miss ham-ster. That one was cute,” she replied when he said that he’d made some weird things back in the day. She was sure the designs that Raph gave him were probably most of his goofier designs. It was unlikely that Heaven would release the blueprints for something as hostile as Suds. She hoped Beel would recognize the creature, but at the end of the day they could still help Suds even if they were unsure about his origin. “I thought about that too,” she nodded. “That maybe he was one of our fighter beasts from the war and that he went dormant after Belphegor’s explosion, but I don’t remember seeing him on the battlefields or in the pens.” The only thing that looked remotely like Suds on the battlefield was Beel. “If Val gets to keep a dragon, I’m sure an argument can be made for letting me have a mega shark.” She smiled when he said he’d keep his smugness contained. “Thanks, Chef. That’s probably the hardest thing I’ll ask you to do today.” She was absolutely being facetious. If she got her way at the end of this, he’d be helping her move a massive shark into hell. She glanced around the dock one last time before jumping off of it and into the water. The demon shifted into her mermaid form and waited for Beel to join before starting the long swim to Sud's hideout.

BEELZEBUB: "I try not to think of what sex jokes they could make. We'd be here all day for that." Through life he'd learned that there was a sex joke for everything. He dished them out himself when he was in the right mood. The best thing to do was just not let it bother you and ride along with the joke. "I wouldn't worry too much about making it up to Gabe as long as we can keep your shark from eating any more of his people." Gabriel was just worried about the safety of his people as a leader. As long as he could see to their safety, he'd be okay.

He nodded, rubbing his chin as Dagon explained her training for the creature. He hadn't really seen the monster that had been attacking people, but they had gotten some descriptions from the deceased. The overall size of the beast seemed to differ in everyone's interpretations, which made sense. It was hard to consider details when you were about to be eaten to death. All they'd really gotten was that it was massively big and somehow managed to sneak up on full groups and eat them all at once, sometimes without them even being able to put up a fight. It spoke to why it would be hard for Dagon to keep it fed. Something that big took a lot of food, and if its prey was angels, that made it even harder to keep him fed. "That's . . . interesting." It made the creature that much more peculiar. So far, a lot of the information she'd given him pointed to the shark being involved in a war somehow, but how?

"Hmm." It was hard to think why any normal animal would have a reaction to an aurora borealis. Maybe the lights could've been frightening to it somehow? But the lights weren't overwhelmingly bright or anything. The fact that it was saddened only made it more peculiar. "It's not possible that we both just . . . forgot something like that being there during the war, is it? The auroras were a sign of loss for a lot of them during the war, but even if a shark was somehow there, he doubted it would feel anything that deep from lights, especially to cause it to go into a fit of rage.

"Zoph got involved in all of this?" He asked with exasperation. He assumed her story wasn't going to end with his death or else this conversation would've probably been going differently. As frustrated as Gabriel was now, he would've been much worse if Zophiel had been seriously hurt. Gabriel treated the Avanis more like family than his own siblings sometimes. Luckily, it seemed like Zoph was being smart enough to keep his mouth shut about the whole ordeal. "What about you? Are you okay? That couldn't have been easy to deal with." He'd seen some of the wreckage that Suds had done. Seeing all of that chewed up and spit out again woudl've felt like seeing the massacre that was the war. It'd be hard not to throw up just seeing it.

He chuckled when she mentioned one of his sentient food creations. "Yeah I liked those too. Definitely not sustainable though. If Gears had taken the time to look at them in the early days, he probably would've felt better about his own designs." All things considered, a lot of his little brother's designs were better than some of the things Beel made.

It really did feel like the creature had something to do with the war, but it was hard to picture where he would've fit in. Angelic warfare hadn't been in the seas. Beel might've turned into a shark on the battlefield, but he'd been a land shark. As far as he knew, this thing seemed confined to the sea. "Maybe God weaponized one of my rejected designs during the war and just had it ready in case the fighting took to the sea?" It didn't sound entirely logical. Maybe God might've used it to take away his safe space from him, but if that was the case, why was it only showing up now? "Maybe he's supposed to be my curse," he suggested. "Maybe he was supposed to stay dormant until a certain time. Once we got to a kind of good place, he showed up so I'd have to deal with my own creation hurting people." He still wasn't sure it was his own creation, but if it was, this might've made sense as a curse. Beel would've felt guilty and would've had to find a way to stop it, but God didn't account for them having other ways to deal with a killer shark besides just killing it.

"My siblings could make a lot of jokes off of that too?" Beel snorted. "In Val's defense though, she does need her dragon to keep guard of all her statues, and she can't even pet it. I think it'd be a better defense for you if you pointed out that Asmo is able to keep your twin." He giggled at his own joke before following Dagon into the water. His form shifted as well, taking on the features of a shark that allowed him to swim through the water quickly to follow alongside Dagon.

SUDS: It wasn't easy to find a place to hide a giant shark, especially one as big as the one deemed as 'Suds' was. Fortunately, the trench hid a lot of tunnels and hideaways, some big enough for the giant to swim through, though the size of the shark was actually fluid. It seemed to miraculously fit through some tunnels that might've seemed to small for it. That made keeping it in one place hard too. Although Suds had some affection for Dagon, he didn't always listen to her. Already while she was out, he'd been on the hunt again. It wasn't angels this time thankfully. At the bottom of his sea cavern was a whale that he was chewing on. He shook it around, spreading its blood through the water. It distracted him enough that he didn't pay attention to the angel and archangel approaching him.

DAGON: "They are incorrigible," she snorted. "That's easy for you to say. You have sibling privileges. Maybe I'll send him a nice gift basket or take Zoph off his hands for a week. He needs more redirection than my shark most days." At least the only danger Zoph presented was to himself generally.

 "He's not exactly a forgettable creature." It wasn't just his size but he had a pretty distinct personality. She was able to see more and more of it the more he trusted her. She was pretty sure it was even playing with her in some cases. "But God is capable of collective mindwiping so it's possible." If he wanted them to forget this creature, he could make it so. He didn't even need much of a reason in most cases to condemn a being to be forgotten. The monster that was God did as he fancied.

She nodded with equal exhaustion when he asked about Zoph's involvement. "He thought it was pretty cool until it wasn't which is usually how it goes with these things. I'm going to check on him in a few days to make sure his stomach's settled." It looked like he'd learned his lesson but she still wanted to make sure he was okay. She chewed at her bottom lip when he asked her if she was okay. "There weren't many survivors to heal. Just bodies and bile. It hit a little too close to home, but I'm okay now." She managed to get herself to the Empty were she promptly lost the contents of her stomach. Gears helped her to the shower so she could clean up but she still couldn't wash that feeling off entirely. Normally she wasn't around when Suds decided to go on these mass rampages. He brought her carnage sometimes, but it was usually animal bones. That was when they'd collectively decided she needed to bring Beel into this.

She knew Gears wouldn't like the fact that Beel saw that insecurity but there wasn't much she could do about that. "Everything is sustainable in the right environment," she smiled softly. "Earth might not have been the place for hammy and burgle and some of Gears creations but Eden made space for them on her lands." And Dagon made space for them in her heart. That was the hardest part of leaving home. She'd left pieces of her heart back there with all the creatures she couldn't take with her.

She listened as Beel speculated on the origins of Suds. "If he was God's weapon, I'm glad he got out of there and stayed out." Suds would've been pretty lethal in battle. Probably on par with the Archangels in terms of the level of damage that he could yield. She didn't think that Suds was his curse. The creature was violent at times, but his existence as a curse seemed to mild when the other curses were forced romance, death to true love, involuntary golden touch, and the void.

She groaned when he pointed out sex jokes could be made about that too. "You're right. I can't even make the standard suicidal jokes like i wish the shark would've just eaten me when there's a minor inconvenience. I'll do it anyway. It's better if I beat Asmo to the joke." She anticipated he’d have the most fun with all of this, but she could at least beat him to the punchline most of the time. “Andras is truly Asmo’s curse. Or maybe he’s Aamon’s,” she speculated. There was still no sign of what Aamon’s curse was.

Their swim through the ocean was quieter than usual. They weren’t met with nearly as many creatures. Suds had eaten a good portion of marine life and anything that he hadn’t eaten was in hiding. Dagon slowed down the closer they got to the trench. As they plunged into the dark depths, her form shifted slightly so that the scales on her tail and torso and the tips of her hair glowed with bioluminescence. Normally other bioluminescent creatures floated down here too giving the appearance of a bunch of floating lanterns, but they were all in hiding now leaving Dagon as the only source of light. She navigated her way through the caverns with ease before pausing briefly at one not too far away from Suds. She had Beel help her create a few seals, making sure to not develop their brains since they would only be used as shark feed. Once the brainless seals were made, she hauled them over her shoulder and gestured for Beel to stay in the shadows for a bit.

She approached the massive shark as he chewed on the whale bone. “Hey, friend,” she smiled and set the seals down next to the whale carcass. “I brought you some snacks.” She held out her hand to him and waited for him to gesture that it was okay for her to approach. When he gave her the cue, she swam closer and ran her hand along his snout to say hello. She gave him some affection, briefly taking the time to assess him for any new injuries. “You look well.” She patted his snout before giving him some space. “Eat up. We’re going to have a visitor.”

BEELZEBUB: "I think Andy would appreciate that as much as Gabe does." It was a benefit to both of them if Zoph stayed out of trouble, and Gabe could always use more reason to do less work. He nodded when she said the creature wasn't easily forgotten. He was more in line with her second thought, that maybe God made them forget the creature, but even if that was the case, why would they only rediscover it now?

"That's a good idea," he agreed when she said she was going to check on him later. Things like this didn't always catch up to you until later. He might've been too hyped up on adrenaline to really feel the panic of a near death experience. He grimaced at her description. It really did sound like the war. When he fought in the war, it was how he'd left things too when he fought in his larger form. He hadn't even had to use a weapon aside from himself, and it just left bodies like that everywhere. When he got off the battlefield, he threw up some of the corpses that got stuck in his mouth. Laute was usually there to clean them away, so he didn't have to see them for long. Unfortunately for Dagon, she had to deal with that herself, and she was far more empathic than Laute. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, but there was nothing you could've done for them at that point." Gabriel probably would have said something about how she could've kept Suds away from people if she told them all about him, and Beel was glad he wasn't here right now.

"I guess I should specify sustainable on earth then." He wasn't really bothered by the fact that they couldn't live on earth. "It was very nice of her to let them stay there. Maybe that's where Suds came from. If he was one of my old creations, maybe he slipped out of Eden. I know we're on better terms with heaven, but maybe they're trying to cover up his escape from there." It still didn't seem that reasonable, and it didn't explain why Suds would respond so well to battle directives or have war wounds.

Beel's shark form allowed him to swim through the water unbothered. He didn't glow like Dagon, but he didn't struggle to see in the dark, with or without Dagon glowing. As they stopped and he made almost lifeless seals for her, he considered the fact that he'd probably be doing this for a while. If they found a way to keep her shark, they'd need to make food for it almost constantly. It wouldn't be allowed to just keep eating angels.

He stuck close to the cavern walls as Dagon went into the opening where her shark was. From his vantage point he had to get a little closer to see around the tunnel, but what he did see was massive. He'd heard the description that the beast was big, but this was bigger than even his megalodon. In fact, it was almost as big as he was when he fought in the war. Obviously there were differences between him and the beast, but he could see why Dagon would think this was one of his creations. He waited patiently where he felt he'd be unseen until Dagon would tell him it was okay to come forward. He didn't want to startle the guy into attacking. He felt like he even he might struggle against it in a fight.

SUDS: Suds dropped the whale carcass when he heard Dagon calling out to him. He had already been eating, but his hunger never really stopped. He waited until she was away from the seals to drop down and swallow them whole before returning back to where he was.  She was so small compared to him, but he still liked the affection he got from her. He didn't always understand it, but she felt familiar to him, some times more than others. He at least knew he felt comfortable around her. She wasn't the only presence there though. He looked past her to the tunnel she'd just come through. He could feel something else familiar there. He swam towards it to figure out what it was.

DAGON: “There’s always one chaotic sibling in a bundle, but I think he’d give me an easier time than he does Gabe and Andy.” At least Zoph seemed to have an awkward little crush on both her and Beel. That made it easier to redirect him. Given what had just happened to him and the fact that he couldn’t really talk openly about it, Dagon figured he’d need someone he could talk to. So, offering to keep track of him had a dual purpose of giving Gabe and Andy a break and providing Zoph with a safe outlet to talk about what happened. She tried to maintain her composure when Beel assured her there was nothing she could’ve done for those people, but still a single tear made its way down her cheek. “I know, I know,” she replied softly. “I’m going to fix it. We’re going to get Suds help so it won’t happen again.” She was mostly trying to reassure herself at this point. “If he did escape from Eden, I’m not giving him back though. Finders keepers. He’s mine.” Granted, it was Suds who technically found her but she still thought the philosophy counted.

She observed as Suds swam closer to where Beel’s energy was coming from. He’d clocked him, but he wasn’t attacking which was a good sign. Dagon swam closer to Suds and placed her hand on the base of his pectoral fin to let him know she was there. She was absolutely dwarfed by the fin, but her glow could still be seen next to him. She took in the emotional temperature of the room. Things were still calm. “You can come out now,” she told Beel. She kept her hand on Suds, but slowly started swimming toward his snout as Beel’s presence filled the room. She stopped when she was finally able to see Beel over the massive shark. “Suds, this is my friend Beelzebub. He’s here to help. Beel, this is my friend Suds.”

BEELZEBUB & SUDS: "Usually several," he agreed. His family had Asmo, Gears, and Lucifer. Hers had Andras and Dagon (As much as Dagon could be reasonable, she also did things like this where she took in exceedingly dangerous animals). The Avanis had Zoph and sometimes Declan. He felt sympathetic to Dagon as the tears slipped out, but he knew there wasn't much he could say to comfort her on it. The way she said help almost made it sounds like he was a person who just needed to go to therapy. It was hard to grasp when most animals didn't have that much intellect to really understand trauma. Beel held his hands up innocently and chuckled. "I don't think anyone would take him away from you if that was the case, so long as we're able to keep him under control." Heaven was a little more lenient now. Beel knew that Michael was trying to get on better terms with Dagon too, and if there was a way to do that, letting her keep one of her pets was certainly a good start. Beel just didn't think Michael would let that come at the cost of (mostly) innocent lives.

Beel waited for Dagon's signal before swimming out into the open. His form changed to become more humanoid, but still shark-like, like if there was a shark version of a mermaid. He grew larger, so he wasn't just a speck to the shark like Dagon was now. It didn't seem that it was necessary though. No matter his size, Suds eyes were locked on him. The shark didn't seem to be listening to Dagon as he swam slowly closer to Beelzebub. Their heads tilted in unison as they observed each other, doing the same thing to tilt their heads the other way. Beel moved around the shark to observe it's distinctive features and injuries, and Suds circled around him as well. They both stopped at the same time after making their observations of each other. Despite them both behaving so similarly, they arrived at two different conclusions.

SUDS: After what happened to Suds, so much had been lost of his mind. He'd been hurt physically, but that was nothing compared to the mental damage. There were certain triggers for his memories. The auroras the other night had made him remember his brother who was gone. He couldn't remember his name anymore, just a sort of echo of his laughter and also a scraping headache of his dying screams. He'd been sad at first until the memory of the being that took him away infuriated him. The fury replaced the memories until he forgot everything again, but he was starting to remember more the more time he spent in this universe. He remembered the man in front of him. He didn't just feel like a reflection of himself. This man was him, before it had gotten so bad. A deep wave of sorrow passed over him, similar to what he and Dagon had experienced the other night under the northern lights. He remembered being that man, having a life. He remembered snippets of a family with Dagon. The memories weren't perfect, but their children had been. Even without remembering them fully, he felt the sorrow of missing them. If it was possible for a shark to cry underwater, he would've been. He pressed forward into Beel. It was the closest he could get to comforting himself and receiving comfort from himself.

BEELZEBUB: For Beel, he felt an almost immediate kinship with the shark. It wasn't just because it was a shark, but Suds felt oddly familiar to him. He reminded him a lot of himself, and he wondered if maybe God had copied the form he used to fight in during the war. The injuries the shark had were similar to ones he'd gotten in the past, but there were certain details that didn't match that either. For one, this wasn't a land shark like he'd been, and Suds also didn't give off the same type of energy as Beel either. He could tell that it seemed to recognize him, but there was also something . . . off about it. Suds felt wrong. Beel wasn't afraid of the shark, but something about it gave him chills, like a sailor sensing an oncoming storm. He looked over at Dagon to tell her what he'd determined when Suds charged at him. Underwater, Beel didn't have any sort of footing to stop himself from being pushed back. His arms wrapped around Suds's snout, holding on until he was pushed up against the cavern wall. "Woah there, buddy." He patted Suds as he nuzzled against him. He clearly wasn't being aggressive, but a giant shark still held a lot of power. He patted Suds on the nose and pushed him back, so he could properly address Dagon. "I have no idea where he came from."

DAGON: Dagon hoped he was right because she wasn't giving up Suds without a fight. She worked hard to train him and if they took him any progress he made would be gone. More importantly, she was attached to him. She'd given up plenty of things during the war and she was done reconciling her losses.

She swam closer to the walls of the cavern as Beel made himself larger. Suddenly the space felt very small and she wished she would've coaxed Suds out to open water, but this was the safest place for them to do this. She made herself slightly bigger mostly so she wouldn't be crushed by anyone's fin. That might've been the way Andras wanted to go but it definitely wasn't the way she wanted to. More light filled the room and illuminated the space. She watched with mild amusement as the two beings surveyed each other in paralleling motions. It was like watching two Golden Retrievers assess each other. As she watched them side by side there was no denying that this was Beel's creation.

Her amusement faded though as she felt a wave of sadness coming from Suds. The unexpected intensity of it stung at her chest. It felt like the air was knocked out of her lungs for a moment. She felt it magnifying her own powers. "Suds..." she started swimming toward him again, but froze as he started to charge into Beel. Was this it? Was the switch going to flip to rage like it had last night? Please, please, please don't. From her vantage point, she couldn't see much but she eased when she observed that the movements weren't violent in nature. The sadness in Suds chest seemed to ease but only by a fraction. As Beel pushed him back, Dagon swam forward. "Hey there, ocean eyes..." she hugged his snout by curling most of herself around it. "It's okay..." she uncoiled herself but continued to give him reassurance that everything was going to be okay.

She nodded when Beel said he had no idea where Suds came from. "That's okay, we'll figure it out. Like you said, our childhood was a weird time. Are you okay?" He seemed a little spooked and confused, but Dagon couldn't blame him. It had to be weird to be confronted by something that was clearly his with no recollection of having made it. Given what had happened to Beel and the fact that they were sheltering in a space that was created through his trauma, it was possible Suds came from that same deeply traumatized space of Beel's mind.

Suds was still pretty elevated as she kissed and petted his snout. "You did good, friend," she assured him. "Can you make him something to eat?" she asked Beel before turning her attention back to the shark. "It's all right," she soothed. "I'm taking you home where it's safe and we'll figure it out."

BEELZEBUB: Beel nodded when Dagon said that they'd figure this out, but he still felt unsettled by all of this. "Yeah, I'm okay. I doubt he could do much to hurt me anyways." He knew that wasn't what Dagon had meant. She probably felt his emotions as well as Suds, and what he was feeling was a mixture of confusion and fear. He didn't really know what he was afraid of. He wasn't afraid of Suds hurting him or anything like that. The shark clearly felt some form of attachment to him, but it was like he was a bad omen. Of what, Beel didn't know. There was also the fact that he didn't remember him. That in itself was concerning. His childhood was traumatizing, but he didn't usually have problems with forgetting. If anything, he struggled with trying to forget. He felt like it had to be something God made him forget, which just caused more pain for him. It was another one of his choices that God just ripped away from him. He wouldn't have just abandoned Suds if he knew about him. He patted the sharks snout. "I'm sorry. You deserved better than this," he said sorrowfully, though maybe part of his sadness came from Dagon's depression manifestation. It was hard to tell.

"Yeah, I can do that." He moved down to the lower half of the cavern to start creating more food for him. Dagon had said he went on a rampage the last time he got sad.

SUDS: If he had a better understanding of language, Suds might've had a reaction to what Beel said. He didn't understand that Beel didn't know who he was. All he could tell was that Beel didn't understand what he meant. He didn't know what was coming for him, and that also made him sad. Maybe with more time, he could gain back more of himself. If he could remember more of who he was, he could warn him before it got too bad, but he was mostly just an animal. As Dagon redirected him and comforted him, his mind became hazier and less focused. The cognition usually only came in small bursts anyways before he felt almost brain dead again. He took the food that Beel had made, chomping down on it and releasing more blood into the water. As he chewed on it, he nuzzled up against Dagon while she petted him. Like with Beel, it pushed her back into the wall, but he wasn't pushing too hard to crush her.

GABRIEL: While Beel and Dagon had been having lunch earlier, Gabriel and Andy had been watching from a distance. Luckily, Gabe literally had the eyes of a hawk, so they could stay far enough away without being seen. After what had happened the previous night, Gabriel decided to switch up his methods. It was obvious that hunting the monster wasn't doing them any good. The beast singled out his units, and he could never get there in time to save them. He hadn't even been able to see the thing himself yet, but from the committee meeting today, he knew that Dagon knew where it was. It wasn't really his intention to kill the creature, but he couldn't let it kill any more people, angels, humans, or otherwise. He thought that Eden would've been a better place for it. She housed all sorts of environments and all levels of dangerous creatures. The giant shark might've been massive, but her garden was ever growing. She could've made sure it had all the food it needed without it having to hurt anyone.

The trouble was just catching it. Dagon hadn't been willing to tell him anything about it, nor would she admit to having it. He wouldn't have cared about her keeping most creatures. She was usually good at keeping dangerous things, but it felt like she was really dropping the ball on this one. It was killing so many people, his people, and it was like she didn't even care. He wasn't all that close to her, nor did he know her life or what she was going through, but it frustrated him to no end that it felt like she was just letting these things happen. A part of him considered that she just had no control over the situation, which made this all worse. If she couldn't keep her beast from eating other angels, what if it got hungry enough to turn around and eat her? He had already started taking more and more of his soldiers away from the water. As much as he would've liked them to help with protecting the humans and replenish the oceans with more food for the creature to focus on instead of the humans and angels, they were losing more lives than they were saving. It wasn't sustainable, but it made it more likely that the shark would get hungrier. He was frankly scared for Dagon's sake, and she wouldn't talk to him about it. He unfortunately had to take the sneakier route. He wouldn't let her die just because she wouldn't ask for help.

He wasn't surprised to see Dagon talking to Beel after the committee. They were both close, and it made sense that she'd meet him for lunch. What he didn't expect was that Beel looked like he was involved in this too. He considered for a moment that if Beel was involved in this, then Dagon might've actually had some protection from danger, but if he was involved, why wasn't he speaking up about this either? Gabriel still needed to investigate then. "They're moving," he told Andy who had accompanied him. It had originally been his plan to have Andy pull Dagon away while he dealt with the shark, but with Beel there, he hoped it'd be less of an issue. After giving Dagon and Beel a moment to make some distance, Gabriel flew down to the shore and dove into the water. His body changed form to work as something more aquatic, a sea kelpie. It allowed him to blend in to the ocean background a little more and stay out of sight of Dagon and Beel.

It got harder as they got into deeper waters. Gabriel didn't really ever go down this far, and it was getting really dark. Thankfully, Dagon's form was glowing, and for a while, it was leading them right to her. Unfortunately, as they got deeper into the sea caverns of the trench, more aquatic life was getting in their way. He wondered at first if maybe Dagon and Beel had caught onto them, but they kept going anyways. "Where did they go?" He muttered quietly to Andy, trying to keep his voice low, so Dagon and Beel wouldn't hear him if they were around. It took them some time, but eventually they came to an opening.

A light glow illuminated some of the cavern enough for Gabriel to see the giant shark. "Fuck," he muttered. Even hearing about how big it was didn't prepare him for its size. Even as an archangel, he felt a little intimidated. He couldn't see where Beel was, but he could see the blood spilling out from the shark's mouth. That glow was coming from the same spot where the shark was chowing down. He recalled the glow they'd been following earlier. "Dagon!" Panic creeped into his throat. "He's eating her!" he told Andy as if she couldn't see the same thing he was seeing. "Get Dagon to safety if you can. I'll distract the shark." He swam forward toward the shark, summoning a spear that he threw right over the shark, intentionally only grazing the top of his skin. "Hey, get away from her!" he told the shark.

DAGON: Beel was rarely unsettled by things. There wasn’t much that they hadn’t seen in their long lives, but Suds was a first. His sorrow for the creature was genuine. Dagon squeezed his hand in silent reassurance. “We can’t fix what happened to him, but we can give a good life moving forward. I think your curse might just be adopting wayward souls with me.” Misunderstood, abandoned, and broken things always seemed to fall into their path. As Beel prepared food for the shark, Dagon continued to coo and babble soothing things mostly for Suds benefit, but occasional for Beel’s sake too. She always talked to her animals as if they could talk back. They never really responded but it didn’t matter. She went on to tell Suds about hell, making promises that they’d terraform him a big space with lots of food. She planned to get the kids involved in that part. They could use the practice designing marine life and ecosystems. Things were going to be okay. Suds emotions seemed to level out once he had food in his stomach. She laughed as he nuzzled her and accidently pushed her against the wall. She allowed him to keep her there as she continued to pet his snout.

ANDROMEDA: Today was a weird day, but she wasn’t surprised it was leading up to this. Dagon hadn’t really given them much of a choice. It was clear she knew where the monster was. Andromeda did not find her attempts to redirect them amusing in the least. It was hard to tell how many people had lost their lives simply because she was sitting on valuable information. So, she and Gabriel decided to follow the demon out to lunch, from a distance of course. Andy picked at her meal. Stakeouts were generally boring. For her vantage point, she could see that Beel and Dagon seemed engrossed in some kind of conversation and for his sake Andromeda hoped he was just giving her a detailed recipe for fish tacos, but Gabriel’s eyes confirmed that Beel’s involvement went deeper than that. She wondered if his ex had a habit of dragging him into things or if he was involved in it from the beginning. Hopefully he was at least telling her how dangerous and stupid this all was. Even Steve Irwin died doing Steve Irwin shit.

Andromeda followed Gabriel into the water and quickly changed into a merform so that they could follow Dagon and Beel. They had to maintain a good distance in order to not be detected. She and Gabe were protectors of nature, but neither were delusional enough to think they knew the ocean better than the two beings they were trailing. It was smooth sailing so to speak until they found themselves in the trench. It was easy to get lost in the caverns and Dagon and Beel were moving pretty quickly through the place. Thankfully, Dagon’s form had changed to allow for a faint glow but given how far ahead the two were, she mostly looked like a dot until she disappeared altogether. “She’s a depression demon. Maybe she’ll get sad enough for us to pick up her energy.” The two angels continued to travel downward as if they were entering some new circle of hell until they eventually saw that faint glow. Sure enough, it was followed by a slight melancholy energy.

Andromeda peered over Gabriel in time to see the giant shark. At first, she thought maybe it was Beel given its size but then she noticed the blood and how close it was to the faint glowing light. Andy nodded at the command to get Dagon, or whatever remained of her, away from the beast. As Gabriel threw his spear, Andy sprang forward and started barreling for the glowing mermaid.

DAGON: She was just about to get up from her spot and tell Beel that it was probably time to try to move Suds out to hell, but then a spear came flying just above Suds. It landed in the sand not too far from Dagon. The demon froze as she heard someone shout her name. It was stupid given how long he’d been dead now, but her first thought was Poseidon. “Beel!” she shouted as she backed herself further into the cavern wall. “Beel!” But it wasn’t Beel that she saw charging toward her. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to process Andromeda Avani coming right at her. “The fuck…”

BEELZEBUB: He appreciated the assurance Dagon was trying to give him, but he wasn't sure he could be comforted him on feelings he didn't quite understand himself. "I don't doubt that. I know that we can help him, but . . . I don't know. I just have this bad feeling. Something about the way he looked at me." He sighed. "I'll figure it out later," he sighed. Like Dagon had before, he really doubted that Suds was his curse. "It doesn't feel like a curse to adopt them," though sometimes it did make him wonder what could have been, and that hurt sometimes. He had moved on from Dagon, but that didn't necessarily mean he moved on from wanting a life like that again. He just went to work on making food as he listened to Dagon talk to Suds.

SUDS & GABRIEL: Suds had been through a lot of pain in his life. He'd been attacked and prodded, but most of it didn't actually do too much to him. As he snuggled up to Dagon, he felt the sharp sting of a blade scrape across his back. He didn't voice any pain. Sharks weren't known to make sounds, but he swirled around, chomping his teeth in the direction that the weapon had come from. He saw two figures. One stirred up more memories than the other. He recognized his brother, but the last time he had seen Gabriel had been after he died, and the Void strung up his corpse like a puppet to use against them. Suds wasn't going to let him hurt them again. He charged forward at him, only to notice the other one with him charging at Dagon. He froze for a second, looking between Andy and Gabriel, back and forth all in the span of a second before he charged at Andy.

Gabriel expected for the shark to come straight after him, most creatures didn't have much genuine thought besides just reactions, but he saw cognition in the sharks eyes for a moment. The problem was that it was considering who to kill, and unfortunately, it chose his best friend. "Andy, watch out!" he shouted at her. He swam forward, making it just in time to tackle her out of the way of the barreling shark.

Suds, being unable to turn that well in this space, slammed into the cavern wall. It shook the entire sea cavern and smashed a hole into the cavern wall. Debris rained down throughout the cavern but eventually settled. Suds shook himself before turning to the intruders. All real thought seemed to leave him, every one except for killing. He was full of rage now. It was all that he was. He only waited a second before charging at Gabriel and Andy again.

"Shit!" Gabriel muttered. He couldn't see Dagon through the debris, but he knew they couldn't go after her at the moment, not while the shark was after them. He hoped that Beel was nearby and could help her, but he couldn't see well enough to count on it. He assumed they must've split up at some point after he and Andy had lost sight of them. All they could do now was pull the shark away from Dagon and come back for her. Gabriel looked behind him at the cavern tunnels. They could try to lose it through there. "Hold on!" He told Andy. He shifted back into the form of Kelpie, so she could ride on his back. Once she had a good grip on him, he swam back through the tunnels as quick as he could. "We'll get back to Dagon after we get it away from her," he promised Andy.

Suds had no problem chasing after the two. All he saw was red. He'd nicked Gabriel's tail, and it was leaving a blood trail right to him. He raced through the cavern tunnels after him, going so fast that he couldn't turn well, and he crashed into walls several times. He didn't plan to let him get out of this alive.

BEELZEBUB: Beel had been focused on making food, letting it float up to Suds whenever he finished one. It was actually a fairly soothing process until he heard the sound of something hitting the sand, followed by a shout, the sound of chomping teeth, and Dagon calling his name. She sounded panicked, and he swam up from where he was quickly, following Dagon's glow. Suds was so massive that it was hard to see around him. All that Beel could see was that he rammed a wall and then fled down one of the tunnels. He made it to Dagon's side right after that. She didn't appear injured from what he could tell, but she looked just as confused as he felt. "Are you okay?" he asked. "What just happened? Where did Suds go?" He glanced over at the sand where a spear was stabbed into the ground. He recognized the design of the weapon. It stayed there for a moment before it recalled back to its owner. "Gabriel was here?"

DAGON & ANDROMEDA: She glanced at Suds when Beel remarked that there was something unnerving about the way the shark had looked at him. There were times she felt that way too about the creature, but she’d written it off as her imagination. When you treated creatures with a sense of personhood, it sometimes felt like they took on those qualities. But Beel had spent maybe 15 minutes with the shark and was seeing it too so perhaps there was some validity to what she was feeling. There was too much left for them to do and process so she left that thought alone for now. They could talk about it in the morning. She smiled when he remarked that it didn’t feel like a curse. She was going to ask if he was sure Murmur’s lack of a filter didn’t feel like a curse, but she knew what he would say. He loved those kids as if they were his own. Instead, she hugged him and held on a bit longer because he looked like he needed it before letting him go. Making food always helped him process whatever he needed to process.

Things were calm for a while until they weren't. Suds was quick to react to the spear by flashing his teeth at the individual who’d thrown it. But as soon as he saw that this was a two-fold attack, he turned his attention to the individual that was coming right at Dagon. “No, no, no…” Panic filled Dagon’s chest. “Andromeda go!”

Andy barely had time to react to the shark turning its attention to her. All she could see was rows upon rows of teeth with bits of flesh still stuck to them. Fear filled every bone in her body, but it did not paralyze her. She was about to draw up her own spear when Gabriel tackled her out of the way. The massive creature slammed into the wall as Gabriel pulled Andy forward and they went speeding down one of the open tunnels.

Dagon avoided the falling debris, but she couldn’t see anything over it. “Suds no!” she called after him once she caught a glimpse of his fin disappearing down the tunnel after Gabriel and Andy. A moment later, Beel was next to her. She was still trying to process what just happened, but she nodded to let him know she was okay. “Andromeda too. They must’ve followed us. I-I didn’t feel their presence until just now. I think they misunderstood Suds intentions and thought I was under attack,” she explained. She pushed herself off the cavern wall. “The switch flipped. He’s going to kill them. We have to get them into one of the smaller caverns.” They could mask Gabriel and Andy’s energy in one of the smaller spaces and ride out the wave until Suds calmed down. “They went this way, come on!”

Andromeda held onto Gabriel as he bolted through the tunnel in his kelpie form, but the beast was following closely behind them. All it would take was for them to hit a dead end and they would be shark food. The angel manifested her golden bow and arrow and took aim. She was hoping to take out the shark’s eye and temporarily blind him, but it was hard to get a good aim when they were moving so quickly through the water. She released her arrow, but it lodged into the shark’s dorsal fin instead of his eye. “He’s gaining on us!” she replied as she held on more tightly to Gabe. They needed to get out of this trench before it became their funeral hole.

BEELZEBUB: Beel took in his surroundings as Dagon told him what she knew. Beel hadn't spent much time with Suds, but it wasn't hard to understand the giant shark after spending even more than a minute with him. There was still blood all around Dagon from the seals Suds had been eating. He could see how that might've made it seem like Dagon was being mauled, but if Gabe and Andy had been following them, surely they would've known he was here. Beel wouldn't have just let something happen to her, but of course Gabe and Andy were already coming into this with their own ideas of Suds. They probably thought she got in over her head, but it didn't really matter right now. What mattered was what Suds thought, which was that they came to attack him in his territory. Beel looked in the direction that they fled through. There was a thin trail of red. He smelled the water as they followed after the group.

"Dagon . . ." he started. Concern and a little bit of fear filled his voice. "Gabe's bleeding. Suds isn't just angry. He's in a frenzy. And if he can actually make Gabe bleed. . ." It meant that Suds wasn't just a danger to angels but to archangels too. Beel had known that Suds was almost as large as he could be, but he didn't think he actually had the power of one. Beel didn't have much room to think that deeply as they swam through the tunnels, but thought of Suds's origins were troubling him once again. He wondered if maybe he'd broken off a piece of himself to make the beast. Maybe that was why he couldn't remember it. Maybe it took the memories with it. He still wasn't going to let it kill Andy or his brother. "We can cut them off this way!" He told Dagon as he turned down a tunnel that seemed at first like it was going in the opposite direction as the shark. "We wait here," he said as they got to a certain part of the tunnels. Beel could hear them coming in their direction. He made himself a little bigger, so he could keep Suds from going forward if he kept going down this way.

GABRIEL: Gabriel did his best to speed through the tunnels, but he was unfamiliar with them. Having a passenger was slowing him down, and so was the fact that his caudal fin, the main thing that propelled him through the water, had a tear in it and was bleeding. He didn't know if Andy was aware of it, but as long as blood was coming out of that, the shark would keep finding him. He was putting her in more danger by keeping her with him. Still, he kept swimming because it was all he could do to keep them both alive for now. "I know! I'm going as fast as I can!" he told Andy. He was praying on everything that they wouldn't come on a dead end.

His prayers seemed answered when he could see two specks down one of the tunnels. It was Dagon and Beel. He was relieved to see that Dagon was okay. Beel must've found her in time and healed her. The problem was that the shark was still close to his tail. He couldn't just lead it back to them. If he did, they might all be dead. He tried to keep an eye on his surroundings, even as he was barreling forward so fast. There was a split in the tunnels right before the tunnel where Dagon and Beel were. "Andy, I need you to trust me and let go of my mane." As he approached the split, he bucked her off towards the tunnel where Dagon and Beel were, using as much force as he could to make sure she got to them, before he went down the other tunnel. He couldn't turn all that well, and he hit the cavern wall. He did his best to recover and start swimming away, but Suds was faster. Gabriel screamed as Suds slammed him back into the wall. The cavern shook again, and the wall crumbled, blocking Dagon, Beel, and Andy from getting back to him this way. Thankfully, the debris falling provided Gabe a little bit of cover, so the shark couldn't find him immediately in it. Gabe was injured more though. He started swimming away, but the shark got the scent of his blood again. The chase was back on.

DAGON & ANDROMEDA: Dagon paused as Beel surveyed the scene. Suds had done enough damage to make Gabriel bleed? “That’s not…” she shook her head as she tried to process that. Most, if not all, the animals in creation couldn’t successfully bit down hard enough to actually tear into an Archangel. Even beings manifested by angels like her snakes barely caused a dent. “He can’t…” but he had. Where did this shark come from? She didn’t have much time to think on it as they continued to zoom down the tunnels. Archangels healed at a faster rate than regular angels but Suds had caught Gabriel’s scent. He was marked regardless. Dagon just hoped he’d heal fast enough to stand a fighting chance against the shark. She turned sharply to follow Beel down one of the tunnels, stopping where he’d indicated they could wait. “Two-fold barrier then?” she asked as Beel made himself slightly bigger. She figured he was going to ram the wall once Gabe and Andy were close enough. She could draw up wardings in front of the debris to act as a second barrier. She hoped that would exhaust Suds enough to be in a state where they could calm him down. It didn’t take long before she saw the spec that was Gabriel with Andromeda on his back followed by the massive monolith that was Suds. “Oh, they’re coming in hot,” she grimaced and got into position.

Andromeda furrowed her brows when Gabe said that he was going as fast as he could. She knew Gabriel’s speeds. He could go much faster. It only took her a split second to realize why he wasn’t going faster. She glanced backwards, regretting it slightly because every time she looked back the shark seemed to be closer than before, but now that she was concentrating on Gabriel she could see the injury to his fin. “Gabe you’re—” she whirled sharply when he asked her to trust him and let go of his mane. “Don’t you fucking dare, Gabriel!” Unfortunately, her protests were of no use. He bucked hard and despite her efforts, she couldn’t stay on. A moment later, she was skirting to a stop next to Dagon. “GABRIEL!” her screams shook the cavern as Gabriel pivoted down a different tunnel. Andy jumped forward to follow him again.

“Oh, what the fuck!” Dagon gave Beel an exasperated look when his brother suddenly changed tracks. She began tailing Andy, but just as they got to the mouth of the tunnel Gabe had entered, it collapsed in and blocked them out.

Andromeda slammed into the debris a couple times but the wall barely budged. She whirled on the two Princes standing before her. “I’m not losing another brother. Help me!” She slammed into the wall again and again.

Dagon gave her an empathetic look. Andromeda’s panic was deep and Dagon couldn’t blame her. She’d be the same way if something happened to her friends. She placed a hand on her shoulder.“Stop,” she told her. “It’ll take too long that way.” She glanced at Beel. “I think there’s a path on the lefthand side that converges with that tunnel.”

“You think?”

Dagon ignored the snippy remark. Andromeda was upset and scared and it was easy to lash out at them. “Go find your brother,” she told Beel. “But please be careful.” Gabriel was clearly drinking from the trough of stupid.

BEELZEBUB: Dagon was struggling with the reality of what her shark was capable of, but it didn't matter. That was the reality, but while it was horrifying, they didn't have the time to process it. He nodded when Dagon asked him his plans, but she didn't need him to answer to start working. She knew what he was doing. He prepared himself for Gabriel and Andy to come to them, but Gabriel wasn't reading from the same book that Dagon was. He should've come right to them, but instead, he veered down another path, throwing Andy to them instead. "Dammit, Gabe!" Beel muttered as he glanced at Andromeda. She looked like she was in far better shape than Gabriel, aside from being panicked and pissed off. He was going to tell Dagon to hold her back while he went after Gabriel and Suds, but then the walls came tumbling down. It was like the shark had the same plan he'd had. It was hard to tell if it was intentional or not. Sharks didn't usually think like that, but this wasn't an ordinary shark. Beel pushed on the wall to test it's strength, but even with him, there wasn't anywhere to move it. His guess was that it filled the tunnel far back. They'd be digging all day if they tried to get through this way, and by that time it would be too late.

Beel didn't think Andy would appreciate any comfort from Dagon, but it was better that they stay close to each other. He gave Dagon a look to tell her to make sure that Andy didn't get in the middle of this. "I will, but I don't plan on losing my brother either," he was speaking to Dagon, but he wanted Andy to hear that too. They both had family in danger here, and he wanted her to be aware that he was going to do everything to keep him alive. He turned around and swam quickly down the tunnel to find his brother.

GABRIEL: Gabriel's injuries were seriously slowing him down now, and with these tunnels so dark, he could barely see where he was going. He was pretty sure one of his arms was broken, but he couldn't stop. The shark was hot on his trail. They were both like fish in a glass case, bumping into the walls they couldn't see. The caverns were shaking constantly, debris raining down on them, but it didn't slow down the shark like it did for him. If he turned around, he was sure he'd see the shark's teeth right at his neck. "Beel!" Gabriel called out, hoping his brother would hear him and come to help him. Gabriel might not have thought it through on separating from the others, but he was smart enough to know that he couldn't actually fight this shark on his own.

GABRIEL & BEELZEBUB: "Gabe!" Beel called back to his brother, thankful to even hear his voice. "Follow my voice!" He hoped his brother would be able to. Caverns like this had a tendency to pass sound around strangely.

Gabriel did his best to listen to which way the sounds were coming from, but that was hard when he was also trying to avoid being eaten alive. "I'm trying! But I don't know how long I can keep going!"

"That's okay!" Beel tried to keep his voice calm, so he didn't scare Gabriel even more. He was also aware that Andy and Dagon weren't far behind him, and he didn't want to give Andy any more reason to jump into something she couldn't win. "You just have to meet me halfway! I'll get to you, I promise!"

Gabriel turned another corner quickly. Thankfully, the shark had more trouble turning. It went careening down a different tunnel, allowing Gabriel some more distance between them, but this wasn't the time to be relieved. He kept swimming towards his brother's voice, not looking back to see how close the shark was. "Are Dagon and Andy okay?"

Beel resisted saying something bitter about how they were never in as much danger as he was now. "Yes, they're fine. Just worry about getting yourself here now!" His voice was really close now. After going a little further, he could finally see him. Gabriel looked awful. His arm was bent oddly. The tear in his tail had gotten bigger, and he was covered in blood. The more concerning thing was . . . where was Suds? It didn't seem likely that he would just give up the hunt in the middle of a frenzy.

Gabriel saw that Beel stopped, and he stopped himself. Looking behind him, he was relieved to finally not see a giant shark chasing him. He felt like he was going to collapse. He sighed, slowly moving towards Beel. He could see Andy not too far behind Beel. He waved at all of them to let them know that he was okay. "Thank H-"

"NO!" Beel screamed as Suds came down through a tunnel that let out right above Gabriel. He opened his mouth as he plummeted straight down, chomping down once the archangel was in his mouth.

Gabriel let out a gasp as he lost every bit of air he had. When Suds raised his head back up, Gabriel's body hung half in and half out of the shark's mouth. He could feel the teeth slicing into his sides, and he screamed in pain. Suds didn't just swallow him down like most of his prey. It was like he was aware this time that his food might survive if he just tried to swallow it whole. He shook Gabriel's body first, spreading Gabriel's blood all around. Then he swayed his head from side to side to slam the body into the cavern walls. Gabriel wasn't screaming anymore. His body swung limply and lifelessly. Beel felt nauseous, but he was furious. He didn't accept Gabriel being dead, and he wasn't going to let this shark take his brother's life. He rushed forward at the same size as Suds, and he slammed into the shark, biting into his side. Suds tail whipped around to smack Beel away. He no longer saw Beel the way he had before. He was an enemy now. He swum around to circle Beel before lunging at him too. There wasn't much room to dodge in here, and he took a bite at Beel's side too. They both charged head to head, kicking up debris all around them. They looked so similar, it would've been hard to tell which one was which except for the fact that Suds still had Gabriel in his mouth, at least at first. As the fight went on, Gabriel fell deeper into Suds mouth. If things kept going as they were, Gabriel would be swallowed, and Beel didn't think they'd be able to get him out like Dagon did for Zoph. Beel looked back at Dagon for just a second. "I'm sorry, Dagon." He told her before his body changed from that of a shark to a merman. Archangel blade in hand, he stabbed upwards into the shark's heart. Suds squirmed for a moment before dropping lifelessly. Beel shrunk back down to his normal size. He pulled Gabriel out of Suds's teeth, carrying his body back to Andromeda. He grimaced as he moved. Gabriel had intense injuries, but there were plenty of marks to speak of the fight Beel just went through. A full chunk of skin had been peeled off his side, but he wasn't as bad off as his little brother. "He's alive, but you won't find anyone to do that here. Take him to Raph as quick as you can." Beel himself had used up too much energy and was too injured to be able to help Gabe anymore than he had, and Dagon was going to be going through too much pain to be able to help too. "And make sure he hears hell about this when he wakes up."

ANDROMEDA & DAGON: Dagon nodded at the silent order to keep herself and Andromeda out of the way. She was well aware this fight was far and above their skill range. She could only hope Andromeda would cooperate. She and Gabriel didn’t seem to be playing on the same chess board as Dagon and Beel were at the moment. She knew what Beel meant when he said he wasn’t planning on losing another brother either. She trusted that he’d find a non-violent way to get Gabe away from Suds, but if it came down to it she wouldn’t ask him to sacrifice his brother for this. She nodded her understanding. “Do what you need to do. Just come back in one piece.”

She watched as he swam away to find Gabriel. Andromeda was about to follow him but Dagon grabbed her shoulder. “Andy, we have to stay here. We can make ourselves useful in other ways. Gabe’s injured he’s going to need—"

Andromeda shoved Dagon’s hand off of her before whirling to look at her. Dagon stopped talking and the two stared at each other for a moment. In Andromeda’s opinion, Dagon’s was way too composed for someone who they thought had just been mauled by a shark. She didn’t have a scratch on her, her snakes weren’t even standing at a defensive position, and given how quickly she and Beel had shown up to the scene Beel wouldn’t have had time to heal her with that kind of precision. “You were never in any danger, were you?”

“No,” Dagon answered honestly. “Not from him, anyway.” But now they all were.

“It’s your pet, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve been holding back this entire time.” Her jaw clenched. “Where did it come from?” Gabriel was risking his life and it was all because Dagon didn’t want to tell them about her massive, angel eating pet. So they were going to talk about it now. “Did Beel make it for you? Is that why he’s involved?”

“He is my friend,” Dagon replied only for Andromeda to scoff. Dagon, again, ignored it though it was starting to test her patience. “Beel doesn’t recall making him. And before you ask he didn’t know about Suds before today.”

“You named it? Might as well have gone with Scrub Daddy.” She was exasperated. This thing was killing her entire unit and had Gabe locked in a pursuit, and yet Dagon was treating it like it was her pet.

“Yes, I named him. And I was training him—”

“Well, phenomenal work, Your Highness. Do you know how much destruction it caused last night? Or within the span of the last three months? Do you know how many friends I’ve lost? Do you even care?”

“Of course I care!” Her snakes snapped along with the sharpness of the words. “I’ve been trying to redirect you and Gabriel for months now to pull your unit out and focus on repopulating the marine life population. If you’d just listen—”

“If you’d just told us from the beginning we—”

“You’d what, Andromeda? Every step of the way today you and Gabriel have been in over your head and underestimating me the whole way through. I’m supposed to believe what? That you’d let me have any agency or control of the situation? That you wouldn’t shut me out? It was your best friend…the person you consider a brother, lied to my face about my best friend and the person that I consider my sibling. And you expect me to trust him just because some time’s passed?”

“Beelzebub did the same fucking thing and yet—”

“I’ve made Beel suffer for his bullshit plenty. And if you haven’t noticed, he didn’t get dragged into this until today for the exact same reason. Trust is earned, Andy. It’s not given.”

Andy stared at Dagon with calm composure but Dagon could feel the storm of emotions brewing underneath the surface. “You’re right,” Andy replied a bit too calmly. “Trust is earned. And you haven’t earned mine.” Andromeda rammed her shoulder into Dagon’s which sent Dagon sideways long enough for Andy to start swimming in the direction of Beel’s voice. She wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines and lose another brother. She hadn’t been there for Ramiel, but she could be here for Gabriel.

Dagon sighed and collected herself. Her form shifted again, still maintaining its bioluminescence but her snakes were now of the more deadly variety. Andromeda had taken off in the direction that Beel went, but Dagon took a different path that she knew would lead to the same destination. She arrived just as Andy entered the cavern where Beel was. It was just about that same time that Gabe came into view. Andy was relieved to see him. The shark didn’t appear to be following him. He just needed to make it over the—she screamed as the shark bit down on Gabriel. Andromeda lurched forward but Dagon’s snakes shot out and coiled themselves around Andy’s arms and legs. They pulled the angel further away from the scene so as to give Beel space to handle the situation in front of them.

“Let me go!” Andromeda demanded but Dagon’s snakes didn’t budge. The more Andy fought against them, the tighter the coil got. Andy felt helpless as she watched the shark swing Gabriel around like a rag doll. She wanted to scream and throw up and cry all at once. The scene was brutal enough that even Dagon had to look away. It was worse once Gabe stopped screaming. “Dagon please!”

Dagon felt for Andy but she couldn’t let her go. She’d only get in the way and make it harder for Beel to save his brother. “Andromeda, I know that you’re scared but I need you to listen to me.” She wouldn’t ask her to trust her because that ship was not in the dock today. “He can wound an Archangel. That’s not a fight Gabriel wants you in…”

“Oh fuck off!” Andy yelled at her. “What do you know about what Gabe wants?”

“I can make some educated guesses.” Mainly that he wouldn’t want his friend to die. “What’s your plan? I let you go and then what? You ram the shark? You’ll bounce off of him like a rubber ball. There are limits to what we can do, Andy.”

There were apparently limits for what Beel could do to stop Suds too. Dagon’s attention turned away from Andromeda for a moment when Beel called her by name. She saw him pull out his Archangel blade. The bioluminescence faded slowly from Dagon’s form and her snakes released their grip on Andromeda. Andy was relieved to see the blade and slightly annoyed Beel hadn’t used it early. He was finally going to put an end to this. She grabbed Dagon to keep her from intervening just as Beel stabbed the shark through the chest. Dagon’s scream echoed through the chamber like a loaded gun releasing with it a wave of depressive energy that forced Andy to let go. Her chest felt hollow as Beel brought Gabriel’s limp body forward. She was crying as she collected him. He was alive but barely. “He’s going to wish he was in hell when I’m done,” she muttered. Now that there wasn’t a risk of bringing a killer shark home, she opened up a portal to Heaven. She was done with this trench and its caverns. She walked through the portal and sealed it behind her.

Dagon had gone to Suds the moment Andromeda let her go. Her emotions were elevated as she stared at his lifeless body. It wasn’t just Suds there. It was Honesty. It was Courage. It was Belgirel. It was Belphegor. It was everything and everyone she’d ever loved and lost. She wasn’t going to lose him. She couldn’t. She pulled off her power dampening rings and dropped to her knees beside the shark. She placed her hand firmly on the wound and began pushing her power into him. She was able to bring smaller animals back to life, but she never tired with anything this size. She let out a ferocious scream as she unleashed a wave of healing energy. “Come on…come on….” she grunted, black spidery veins crawled up her arm. She was pushing too hard. “Come on…please, Suds. Please wake up.”

BEELZEBUB: Beel felt the depressive forces not long after he stabbed Suds. He knew it was coming, but there was nothing that could really prepare you for that level of overwhelming depression. As an archangel, he had more defenses against it, but when he was already feeling guilty about what he had to do, it made those emotions ten times worse. It was a miracle he was able to stand (or swim as it was), let alone carry Gabriel back to Andromeda. They were all crying, except for Gabriel who was too unconscious to feel anything, lucky for him, though he wouldn't be so lucky when he woke up and Andy had her way with him. Beel might've felt guilty about Suds attacking him, but he didn't feel guilty about him having to experience that. He deserved it, but at least Andy would make sure he got the help he needed as she left with his body in her arms.

Beel felt like he was going to collapse once they were gone. Dagon was still radiating depressing energy, but he didn't feel like he could do anything about it. Normally he would help her. He would've drawn up a ward to stop some of the power she was emanating, both to protect everyone else and protect her from the guilt over the damages. The problem was that he had no energy. He was covered in injuries, and the energy Dagon was radiating wasn't held back by her power dampeners this time. He felt so guilty. He felt heartbroken for Suds. He might not have known the shark long, but he'd felt connected to him. It felt like killing family or tearing out a piece of himself. He should've found a way to save him. Now, he suffered, and Dagon was suffering too. He pushed himself through the pain and the sorrow to swim back to Dagon and Suds. He let himself slide down next to Dagon and he put on arm on hers. "Dagon, you need to stop. I'm sorry. He's gone. You're just hurting yourself."

DAGON: She only became aware of Beel once he was kneeling beside her. She shook her head when he told her she needed to stop. She didn't care if she was hurting herself. She wanted to hurt. She led Gabe and Andy here. She was the reason Gabe threw his spear. She was the cause of the pursuit. Suds was gone and it was her fault. She pushed her healing magic a little harder, but it only made her sick. She let go of Suds as she turned in the opposite direction of Beel and puked. "It's my fault," she whispered. “You deserved so much better. I’m sorry.”

She rested her forehead against Sud’s snout. He didn’t respond or nuzzle her back. He was so cold. She was sobbing profusely, and she could feel her power building. Normally she kept a tight leash on it. It had been a very long time since she had a meltdown, but this one was a long time coming. “You need to go, Beel,” she heaved. It wasn’t that she was angry at him. Her anger was directed at herself and at Gabriel and Andy. She couldn’t contain the grief. He was already hurt and she didn’t want to add to it but she also knew Beel. It was pointless to ask him to go. No matter how hurt he was, he wouldn’t let her ride out her grief on her own. “I can’t—I can’t…”

She felt Beel’s hand on her back and the dam walls broke. Her grief exploded through the room causing the sea floor to quake around them. Dust and debris kicked up and a few of the caverns around them caved in. Dagon’s grief traveled on and upward. On the surface of the ocean, sailors began diving off of their ships and into the treacherous, stormy waters to be ripped apart and drown by the sea. The quaking of the sea floor triggered a tsunami that was now making its way to a nearby island. She was right when she said it looked like it was going to rain. A typhoon was building up in the atmosphere with the trench as its point of origin. There was no warning give and there was no time to prepare. Many lives would be lost as the demon mourned her losses.

BEELZEBUB: Beel felt ready to give up. He knew it was the depression talking, but it didn't sound like such a bad idea at the moment to let these cavern walls crumble and bury them all. He would've deserved it, but Dagon didn't. "It's not your fault, darling. You're not the one who killed him. I did. If you need someone to blame, blame me. I should've found a way to save Gabe without hurting him." The problem was just that his methods hadn't been working, and while he didn't want to hurt Suds, Suds seemed to have no problem hurting him. He was already hurt enough as it was. If the fight had gone on much longer, he probably would've been hurt as much as Gabe was, and if they were both out for the count, Suds might've gone on to hurt Andy and Dagon. He couldn't let that happen. 

"I can't go, Dagon." He couldn't leave her like this. Someone needed to be here for her, not just because she needed company but because he was scared of what might happen if someone wasn't here. If he left, and she killed herself, he would never forgive himself. Beyond that, he could barely move. Aside from the depression weighing him down, he was hurt bad. He didn't think he could get back up right now. His body would start healing a little at a time, but right now, he was stuck. "I'm not leaving you," he promised. As her grief exploded through the room again, he felt even worse. Everything hurt, emotionally and physically. He knew that this was going to cause massive damage, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything. He only leaned forward, letting his upper body tip over Dagon, so he could lean on her and wrap his arms around her. "I'm sorry. We'll get through this. I'm here for you," he said as they both rode out the waves of her depression. / END

[spell-bloom]

Skyrim modding is such an insane rabbit hole, like there was a follower mod called Daegon that was basically the mod author's self-insert. But the author is an E-Girl, so everyone swooned over her and her OC which was an Altmeri princess and she is such a cool and evil girlboss who speaks like a character from the Castlevania anime (low and really in your ears.) Oh and her father was Mehrunes Dagon.

Simps left and right loved the mod author (Kukielle) and loved Daegon. However, what they didn't know was how much the next update would break them. I believe there were dialogue options on being flirty with her, so the assumed opinion at the time was that the next update would expand upon her lore and make her marriagable.

However, Kuki dropped a massive update that rewrote everything. No more Altmeri princess or Mehrunes daughter, she is now an elf that was isekai'd into Skyrim with her demon boyfriend and they have sex and flirt in front of the player. You also cannot disable or kill the demon boyfriend either because that will completely break Daegon's AI and brick your save file. And the part that pissed off people the most is that there was no option to download the old, 1.0 version of Daegon anymore.

Discourse rose on the Nexus and modding subreddit about if a mod author should have agency on radically changing the entire story and concept for their character and if it was any good in the first place. And on the other side was Kuki's discord where everyone praised her choice of remaking her OC and pledging to doxx, harass and kill whoever critizes her and her mod.

[blackmarketvoices]

Who says they're the magic couple? I don't. It's time to explore some... other options.

Take two, ladies and germs. It’s gonna be a blast.

~

Black Market Voices returns with GONNA BE A BLAST - THE PODFIC

Fully scripted, cast-acted and with audio effects, we've come together for this little Yule Special and we hope you enjoy it!

LISTEN HERE WATCH HERE ...now also on your favorite platforms!

Stay tuned for future recordings! If you'd like to assist in upcoming acting or crew, contact Vmprsm on Discord or Tumblr.

Follow us on our official socials for future updates!

~

From the talents of:

- Vmprsm as the Narrator and Faroe AO3 Tumblr - CharlieGoLightly as Arthur AO3 Tumblr - Igneous as Kayne AO3

- Halberdier as Cthulhu AO3 Linktree - Brice as Scratch

- Kraiva as Bella AO3 Tumblr - Fish as Dagon AO3 Tumblr - Flamia as Hastur AO3 Tumblr Tumblr doodles

- Flamia and SSJTrinity as the Work Introduction SSJTrinity: AO3, Tumblr

Follow us on our official socials for future updates!

[clouds-terms]

Daedric Gender System Masterpost ⋯ genders & flag

A gender system based on the Daedric entities and deities from The Elder Scrolls. They are all kenochoric in nature (KEIN/KIN). You do not necessarily have to identify with the Daedric entity or Elder Scrolls to identify as these genders.

✧ COINAGE ; ⋯ January 5, 2022

✧ AZURAIAN ; ⋯ a gender that fluctuates with the balance of night and day, light and dark, as well as mystery and magic, fate and prophecy

✧ BOETHIAHIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to deceit, secrecy, conspiracy, treason, and unlawful overthrow of authority, and violence

✧ CLAVICUSIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to power, trickery, wishes, serenity, and bargains

✧ HERMAEUSIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to knowledge and memory, of the past and future as read in the stars and heavens, and seeking to possess all helpful and destructive knowledge

✧ HIRCINEAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to hunt, sport, and the Great Game to chase and sacrifice mortals. Can also be tied to lycanthropy.

✧ JYGGALAGIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to logical order and deduction, certainty and determinism, and upholding strict order above all else

✧ MALACATHIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to being spurned and ostracized, resilience through conflict, and community. Can also be tied to orcs.

✧ MEHRUNESIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to destruction, violent upheaval, change, revolution, energy, ambition, and hatred for mortals

✧ MEPHALAIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to lies, secrets, manipulation, discord, and seduction

✧ MERIDIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to the obscure energy of all living things, and honoring the cycle of life and death

✧ MOLAGIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to the domination and enslavement of mortals, and the harvesting and consuming of their souls

✧ NAMIRAIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to ancient darkness, shadows, spirits, decay, and all things considered repulsive

✧ NOCTURNALIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to night, darkness, shadows, secrets, strife, and luck

✧ PERYITIAN ; ⋯ a gender related to pestilence, plagues, and diseases

✧ SANGUINIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to hedonism, pleasure, debauchery, indulging in one’s darker nature (lust, sin, sloth, gluttony, and greed).

✧ SHEOGORATHIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to madness/insanity, uncontrollability, unpredictability, and the juxtaposition between the positive and negative aspects of mental health. Exclusive to neurodivergent people and/or those with mental health issues.

✧ VERMINAIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to dreams and nightmares, memories, evil omens, and psychological terror and torment

✧ Lesser Daedra Gender Subsystem

✧ DAEDRIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedra from The Elder Scrolls

✧ ATRONACHIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Atronachs. Subgenders: Air, Ash, Iron, Flame, Flesh, Frost, Storm

✧ DREMORAIAN / KYNIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Dremora (also called, by themselves, Kyn), connected to Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and/or Malacath

✧ AUREALIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Golden Saints (also called Aureals), connected to Sheogorath, opposed to Mazkenian

✧ MAZKENIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Dark Seducers (also called Mazken), connected to Sheogorath, opposed to Aurealian

✧ ORDERIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Knights of Order, connected to Jyggalag

✧ AURORANIAN; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Aurorans, connected to Meridia, Azura, and Sheogorath

✧ XIVILAIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Xivilai, connected to Mehrunes Dagon

✧ XIVKYNIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Xivkyns, fusions of Dremora and Xivilai, connected to Molag Bal

✧ DAEDROTHIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Daedroth, connected to Molag Bal

✧ CLANNFEARIAN ; ⋯ a gender tied to Daedric Clannfear, summoned by Xivilai and thus connected to Mehrunes Dagon

[momokotuharumaki]

A collection of memes I made for the Kaidan discord regarding Rei and Mehrunes Dagon.