Colin's posts

About a minute later, Azazel showed himself, and froze when he saw Lilim.

"What the...?" he muttered.

"What happened here?" he asked the boy that had brought her here.

"Some creep was trying to get her, so I saved her." the boy responded. "I figured it was all right, seeing as we all agree that dark elves can be very bad news." he continued, before pausing.

"...aside from... the ones we know and trust..." he muttered awkwardly.

"I get what you're saying." Azazel told him, before looking at Lilim.

"They made a serious play for it, huh?" he asked her.

He nodded, and led her into the house.

"Right, don't collapse just yet." he told her.

"Dad!? Mom!?" he called out.

"Need some help, here!" he said.

"Coming!" said another male voice in the house. One that was DEFINITELY familiar to her.

It was a voice she hadn't heard in a long while.

Azazel.

"....you got it." they replied.

He then stepped up close to her, and she felt herself surrounded by, again, familiar mana.

They then disappeared in an instant, just as the one that was chasing her burst through the door.

"...damn it." he cursed.

Meanwhile, the two of them appeared in a backyard... somewhere... and she almost fell to her knees when they did.

"Sorry about that." he apologised.

"I'll get Mom and Dad. They might be able to help." he told her.

After he shut the door, they heard the voice continuing to call out.

"Right." the figure said.

"Tell me." he said to her.

"You want out of here?" he asked.

"I can get you away from here." he told her.

"I don't think I can deal with the one after you, but I CAN get you away from him." he went on.

"You trust me? Even though I'm a stranger?" he asked.

Just as she leaned against one of the walls, she heard a voice.

A sickeningly familiar, taunting, singsong voice.

"Ohhh m'laaaadyyyy...." the male called out.

"Where aaaaaare yooooouuuu?" he asked further.

That's when she heard ANOTHER voice.

One that she didn't know. But the presence that she suddenly noticed was familiar. It was weaker than what she would liken it to, but it was definitely there.

"Hey." the figure said from the shadows.

"If you want to get away from the creep, follow me." he told her, opening up a dilapidated door that was nearby.

Hal just sighed.

"That's understandable." he said.

"But... listen, let us help." he told her.

"Let me take you to our R&D lab, and they can have something made up for you." he suggested.

"It's hard to explain in words what needs to be hidden, but... trust me, if you let us help, and you a bit of a 'before and after' image in your mind, you'll see what we're talking about." he assured her.

"I merely wish to help you, as you have helped Azazel." he continued.

"Will you allow us to do that?" he asked.

Ryker thought for a moment.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Well.... hm." he repeated.

"Depends." he said.

"Depends on what you'd like to do. Be more active, be a little more relaxed, that sort of thing." he went on.

"I'd normally suggest fishing, but... well, that requires one being out on the water..." he then muttered quietly.

Just as she left, Azazel collapsed in his chair.

Hal checked him over, before disappeared from where he was.

Lilim was making her way down the hallways, before Hal appeared before her suddenly.

"Wait." he said.

"Please." he said further.

"It's clear that you've done a great service to Azazel." he told her.

"...if you're set on leaving now, while he's unconscious, let us help you." he went on.

"We can give you something. Anything. A clip, a small piece of jewellery, anything. It can mask your demonic look, and help you blend in."

As soon as that started to happen, the glamour that the ring was provided him was overridden, showing his true demonic form.

And he looked to be in pain.

Hal was ready to jump in and intervene, when he suddenly noticed that the mana was coalescing around Azazel's horn. Or... rather, the stump that remained from one of his horns.

"....eh...?" the djinn muttered.

"What are...?" he started to ask, before going silent.

'She can't be... can she...?' he asked himself mentally.

Azazel didn't seem to react to the laugh, but Hal could feel the darkness in it, and it unnerved him.

He steeled himself, though, and cleared his throat.

"The same thing that happens to all agents that are compromised." he said.

"He will be taken off of active duty, and his permissions regarding this building and the information within reduced severely, to the point of being nearly revoked entirely." he explained.

"A review will be done upon his request, and if it is proven that he is no longer compromised, he will be allowed to return to duty." he went on.

"And if it is determined he is STILL compromised... then he will be removed from duty... permanently."

Hal looked at Azazel and narrowed his eyes.

"Spill." he ordered his agent.

Azazel gulped and looked at Lilim for a moment, before looking back to Sharp.

And he told him everything. Everything he'd told Zeke.

That seemed to put Sharp in a VERY unimpressed mood.

"So what I'm hearing... is that one of my agents is essentially compromised." he summarised.

"Wh-what!?" Azazel exclaimed.

"It seems that this woman entering this realm has re-triggered what is left of your undying and forced devotion to her." Sharp responded. "And as the one in charge here, I cannot turn a blind eye to that, seeing as your loyalties are divided. And not in a way between yourself and Elizabeth." he added.

Azazel seemed to know where Sharp was going with this, and his heart sank a little, his expression crestfallen.

Azazel was silent, but nodded.

"Yes." he responded.

"She can." he told Hal. "She's a woman of her word, and you can trust her." he continued.

"...." Hal was silent, and just raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." he muttered.

"Tell me." he said to Lilim. "What power do you have over Azazel?" he asked her.

"Not only is he FAR more subdued and quiet than his norm, but he instantly seems to agree with you, or corroborate what you say." he told her. "And I mean it's as though he does it without even a millisecond of thought." he continued.

"Like a conditioned response."

"Hm." Ryker muttered.

"So you're becoming me." he said.

"The me that I used to be, anyway." he clarified.

"Used to be not a day went by when I didn't think that it'd be easier to just be done with it so my suffering would end." he told Eke.

"But meeting you and being with you taught me something." he went on.

"No matter how bleak and dark the future seems, you push through it. You wade through the sludge and slush, and you continue to push through it until you collapse."

Again, Hal was silent.

"............I see." he finally said.

"Yeah..." Azazel chimed in.

"She's kind of a big deal." he said.

"That would be understating it." Hal mumbled.

"So. Tell me." he then said to her.

"What can we here at The Unit do for you?" he asked her.