"...hm." Gabe muttered.

"It's impressive she's made it so far." he said.

"On her own, anyway." he went on, before pausing. "Well... not on her own, but... well, you get my meaning." he clarified.

"Question is... how do I go about this...?" he then asked himself.

It was clear to Sari that he wanted to help... but he knew this had to be handled delicately.

And he feared he was rusty, and didn't wish to worsen everything.

"Hm." Gabriel muttered.

"All good ideas." he said.

"Though showing up suddenly and directly might go badly." he went on.

He then sighed and shook his head.

"Regardless, I suppose I ought to at least get a look at her." he reasoned.

"...thanks for telling me." he then told her quietly.

Gabriel merely sighed.

"Yeah..." he said.

He then thought for a moment, and left the building with Sariel, but while she branched off to go to her vet clinic, he made his way to one of the fountains, looking into the water. At first, he saw his own reflection, but after concentrating on what he was told... and picturing the curse in his mind, he touched the water with a finger, causing it to ripple outwards, and change to a scene of Erica's house. And he could already sense the immense power from the curse... but only because he was so connected to it (by his own doing).

He then shook his head, and sighed once more.

"Well... first we'll see if a little sliver of passive protection will help." he said to himself.

He got up from where he was, disappeared from where he was standing, and appeared somewhere close to Erica's house. Once there, he walked over to the rear of her home, and merely sat down against the outer wall, wanting to see if his mere presence there would abate the curse any.

Outside, Gabe took note of this mentally.

'Hmmm...' he thought.

'It's strong, but it DID dissipate noticeably when in my presence.' he noticed.

'She seems to have decent control over it... but something seems... off.' he then realised. 'It looks like there may be more to this than meets the eye.' he reasoned, scratching his chin.

For now, he would see if he could find a way to leave something of himself behind, in a hidden place. Something to act as a ward of sorts.

He also gave into an urge he felt, and crept over to a window, peering in to see if he could catch a glimpse of her.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes when he saw her, before withdrawing from his peeping position.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"This isn't good." he said.

"She's feeling the hopelessness and aloneness that the curse inevitably brings." he commented.

He crossed his arms over his chest and pondered what he could do for her.

Should he reveal himself right now? Was that the right thing to do?

And why did her curse feel slightly... off...?

After a few seconds, they knocked again.

And again.

And again.

And then then pounded on the door. And they continued to pound on the door, almost giving her a headache at that point.

However, just when she couldn't take it any longer, they stopped. Completely and utterly.

Before the demon appeared in her den, right in front of her.

"Rude." he said.

"Should never keep someone at your door waiting." he told her.

He chuckled darkly when he heard that.

"Our business is done." he said.

"How cute." he said further, more condescendingly.

"Our business is FAR from over." he told her as he approached.

"In fact, if you truly want our business to ever end, then you will help me." he then said.

"In a crusade in Hell."

He sighed.

"I had a feeling you'd say that." he told her.

"But I figured the direct method was worth a shot." he reasoned.

"Regardless, I can't have you remembering that I asked you to do that, or have any recollection of my saying that." he then said further, a very ominous tone to his voice now.

"So I think I'll need to ramp up your curse to the point where you will actively block out this encounter, as you will associate it with this pain." he grinned.

"But rest assured, you WILL join my crusade... whether you want to or not."

Again, he laughed.

"Authority?" he asked.

"Please. There is NO authority that can help you here." he told her.

"However, to show you I am not unreasonable, I shall leave, as hurtful as you're making it out to be." he then said, sounding like his feelings were hurt... but she could tell he was mocking her.

That being said, he DID make his way to the door.

But when he reached it, he suddenly darted his hand out and grabbed the wrist of her cursed arm... which was when she felt it become FAR more powerful and overwhelming than the last time.

"You'll survive this." he said.

"Good luck remembering this encounter, though." he finished cruelly, before stepping out the door and slamming it behind him, leaving her alone with this new nightmare.

As soon as Gabe appeared, he was frozen in place for a moment.

"Good gracious!" he exclaimed.

He then decided that the time for subtlety was gone, and he teleported himself directly into Erica's home, right where she was.

He looked at her for naught but a second, before he grabbed her arm by the wrist. And as he did so, the curse retreated. It wasn't absorbed from her, but it retreated back within her arm, hiding.

And it made her feel MUCH better than when Azazel absorbed it.

When Azazel absorbed it, she still felt like the curse was still 'spreading', but wasn't hurting her, but this? She felt like the 'spread' had actually regressed.