Ash stood over his foe, glaring down at the man, an eerie silence overcoming the meadow that had previously been their battleground. He was covered in cuts and wounds that seemed to glow an almost ethereal gold... but it looked almost like tarnished gold. His black and red hair was a mess, and his hands were covered in black flames that seemed to coat his fists with an unnatural darkness. He narrowed his eyes somewhat, before gritting his teeth and looking unimpressed.

What was he unimpressed with? The seeming attitude of his defeated enemy.

The man was burned. Severely. He had grievous injuries all over him, burns that looked like they'd never heal, and darkness creeping all over him. The blade he'd been using, the one that had caused so many wounds on Ash, lay broken into pieces off to the side, and the halo that had been atop his head was now cracked and shattered, slowly crumbling away now. Yet he looked back up at Ash, a cocky smirk on his face, and painful chuckles emitting from his throat.

"What's so damned funny!?" Ash demanded.

"You... you pawns would never understand." the man spat back. "You don't care. You're happy to be under someone's thumb. Doesn't matter who." he said further. "But it doesn't matter. Change will come. And you'll be forced to accept that fact that SHE is pointless and useless!" he declared.

"JUST GO TO HELL, ALREADY!" Ash yelled angrily in response, as he coated his right hand in all his darkness and flames, and slammed it as hard as he could into the man's chest. As soon as he did so, the man choked in pain and agony... before starting to laugh, almost maniacally. His body seemed to turn into an inky black and dark purple substance, as the halo crumbled small particles, turning into a small yellow crystal, and the puddle seeped into the ground, leaving nary a trace. That's what happened when a Fallen Angel was defeated and killed; they went to Hell and became a Demon.

Ash then sighed heavily, picked the crystal up, and turned towards a nearby tree at the edge of the meadow. He walked towards it, as a strange swirling portal appeared on it, which he just strolled through, the portal closing behind him. He found himself in a room that looked almost like a reception area, but there were no other doors that led anywhere else. There were some chairs about, what looked like a large monitor with a black screen on the far wall with a female elf-like figure staring at it, and what looked like a mail tube that shot upwards into the ceiling of the room. He looked at the crystal in his hand, before starting to walk towards the tube, though there was a bit of a hobble to his step.

"Damn it." he muttered to himself.

Ash looked over towards her, and was about to say something, before pausing.

"I... well... I don't know." he finally said. "I shouldn't have had that much of an issue with that Fallen, but as you can see, he really did a number on me." he told her. "...still won, though." he added, showing her the crystal.

"But something was... wrong." he admitted. "I mean... the whole time I was fighting, and... for a little while, come to think of it... something's been... off." he told her further. "And I'm not sure WHAT." he said further. "I just feel like something is... wrong. Like something is off-balance or some crap. And for the life of me, I can't put my finger on it." he continued.

"...and how he was at the end bothered me." he then revealed.

"Whenever I dispatch a Fallen, they either beg for forgiveness, even though they don't mean it, or they act angry. Like they're being dealt a shit hand, and they hate everything. Which... well, they usually DO." he mumbled.

"But this guy just... laughed. He acted like this was some great victory, even though I sent him to Hell."

"Maybe I'm overthinking it?" Ash muttered, before shaking his head.

He then placed the crystal in the end of the tube, and it shot up through the ceiling. He watched it go, before sighing.

"So." he mumbled.

"Any word on our next assignments?" he asked. "I know we usually know a little in advance." he said.

He then looked at the monitor, and bit his lip slightly.

"...and I don't like how that looks dead."

Ash watched her go to the couch and sit, before scratching his chin a little.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"The fact that this doesn't seem to be a 'me' thing is concerning." he admitted.

"What the heck is happening?" he wondered, making his way to the monitor and staring at it for a few seconds, hoping it would come alive with a message from Emelie.

But it didn't.

He then sighed heavily, and walked back over towards the woman.

"I don't like this." he said. "He seems FAR too victorious for this to be coincidence." he told her. "But I really hope I'm making this out to be more than it is."

Ash's eyes widened a bit at the last statement.

"Oh my." he said. "That would be a disaster, to say the least." he commented.

"But you're right, she HAS taken breaks before, and has just gone uncontactable for a bit." he admitted. "But... I dunno, for some reason I just have this feeling that there's metaphorical storm clouds a-brewin'." he told her.

He then sat down on the other end of the couch, and heaved a heavy breath.

"Bastard stole one of heaven's blades as well." he said. "I mean, when I defeated him and sent him to hell, the thing DID just turn into a regular-ass broken sword, but... he actually had a heavenly weapon on him."

Ash paused for a moment, before nodding again.

"That's a good point." he said. "And a good ideas well." he told her.

He thought again, before nodding and looking at the ceiling, leaning back in the couch.

"I'll contact her in a few minutes." he continued. "Make my way up to their realm and seek her out." he went on. "But for now, I just want to relax and take a bit of a breather." he said further.

"Because man, he put up a heck of a fight." he said.

"Seriously, dude was fighting with PURPOSE."

"Sounds like a plan." Ash responded. "Hopefully she'll have some info." he said further, wondering who she was talking about. There were a few liaisons down in Hell, but very few were ArchDemons. He'd look into it later, but for now, there were more pressing issues at hand. Hopefully falsely pressing.

"Just be careful." he said.

"I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, and you've been down there many times, but... man, sometimes you come back with stories of barely making it back." he muttered.

"The demons down there... some of them... just don't seem to care about the balance." he said further, pausing again and thinking about it.

"...maybe they're former Fallen, and are still resentful..." he wondered aloud.

"Thoughts for later. For now, we should gather some info."

"..." Ash was silent again as she said that, before groaning.

"Uuuuuuuuuugh." he let out. "Yeah, that's fair." he said. "Sometimes they REALLY decide that they don't like us for... whatever reason." he remembered. "It's never come to blows though, thankfully." he went on.

"But thanks for the luck. I may need it." he finished.

Sure enough, about 7-8 minutes later, Ash found himself at the entrance to the Archangel's realm. It looked like an iron gate to one of those closed-off communities, and he knew that they'd all be alerted when he stepped through.

However, before he could step through, he noticed that there was one of the archangels, Raphael, close by, on the other side, glaring at him, though he couldn't rightly tell which one it was immediately. As he had been warned before, it was probably Raphael or Michael. This caused Ash to just sigh heavily, and shake his head, before stepping through.

"Stop right there, Harmony!" Raphael barked, hastily making his way over towards Ash.

"Greeeeeat." he mumbled, as the archangel approached.

"Scram! This is not your territory!" he ordered Ash.

"I'm just looking for Asriel." Ash responded.

"I don't care! Get out!" Raphael ordered him again.

Raphael just growled at her.

"..." he was silent before shooting a sharp look at Ash, and then storming off, seemingly in an impotent huff. Ash just remained silent as this transpired, before looking at the woman that had joined him.

"Hello Asriel." he greeted her.

"Also, sword? Brother?" he then asked.

"Is something happening up here?" he asked further.

As he did, the battle he'd had earlier came to his mind... and the wounds he'd sustained from it seemed to throb a little, since it was now at the front of his mind.

Ash looked at her black eye and winced a little.

"Oooh, that looks a little on the nasty side." he said.

"But, anyway, I had to come up here." he told her. "Michael and Raphael be damned... metaphorically, of course... I needed to see if I could find some information. he continued.

"I recently fought with a Fallen, and managed to send him to Hell. However, he really seemed like he was fighting with purpose and reason, and not just hatred and anger." he explained. "And... well... he had a sword. A heavenly blade." he continued, gesturing to his body, and the faintly glowing wounds that still covered it. "...as these prove." he went on.

"I managed to break it, and it downgraded to a regular sword... now scrap, probably... but it was strange that a Fallen had such a thing to begin with." he reasoned.

"I came up here to ask if you had any info about it." he finished, though his mind was already seeing the connections that could be made here.