Colin's posts

Sharp accepted the card, and looked at the info.

"Mmhmm... mmhmm..." he mumbled.

"I see." he said.

"Fair enough." he told her, before pressing the comm button again.

"Please make sure there's a ride for Miss Calder out front." he said, before looking back at Erica.

"So how long will you be staying in San Francisco?" he asked her.

Azazel returned the hug, and left when she entered the secretary's office.

A few short minutes later, she was back in Sharp's office.

"Welcome back." he greeted her as she sat down.

"So." he said, pausing for a moment.

"How was it?" he asked.

"Was your tour guide informative?" he asked further, a very small smirk on his face.

"This is a great place to work, and it's secure." Azazel told her.

"So yeah." he muttered, as they reached the door to the secretary's office.

"Guess this is where we branch off." he said.

"It was nice to meet you, Erica." he told her.

"I'm glad I was able to give you the tour of this place." he said. "As well as start to give you some info on your mark." he then added.

"That in and of itself is a minor miracle." Azazel responded.

"But yes, you are correct." he said.

"This place is awesome." he concluded, as they walked through the hallways.

"But yeah, something should be able to be worked out." he told her.

"Sharp really pulls out all the stops for his employees." he finished.

Azazel just nodded.

"Right." he said.

"Zeke." he addressed the archangel.

"Azazel." Zeke responded, before he walked past them, and continued on.

Azazel then sighed deeply, and they continued walking.

"Archangels are... intimidating." he mumbled.

"That's the thing about this place." Azazel said.

"It's pretty much the only place where a demon and an angel can coexist." he told her.

"Ah-HEM." Zeke cleared this throat loudly.

".................right." Azazel muttered.

"Sorry, a demon and an ARCHangel." he clarified.

Azazel was silent for a moment, before he exhaled slowly.

"Fine. I'm fine." he said.

"I'll be fine." he told her.

"He has a gut reaction to get defensive around me." Zeke told her.

"To be fair, it's understandable." he went on.

"After all, my blood DOES scream at me to obliterate him. I can ignore it just fine, but it still happens." he said.

"Yeah... and I have to stop my 'flight-or-fight' response from triggering." Azazel chimed in.

"I see." Azzy responded.

"Well... if anyone can work something out, it's Sharp." he told her, as they left his dorm.

"I'm fairly certain there's a good chance you won't have to leave Canada." he went on.

"Like I'm sure people have said, Sharp is a-" he went on, before he suddenly seemed to freeze where he was.

"-miracle worker." Zeke finished, having just turned the corner from a perpendicular hallway.

"Hello once more." he greeted Erica.

"I'll take you there." he offered.

"I don't have much to do." he said.

"And it'll fill more time." he reasoned.

"Anyway, let's go." he said further.

"Think you might choose to work here?" he then asked her.

Azzy nodded in response.

"Hey, no problem." he replied.

"So... I suppose you should get back to Sharp." he said.

"Let him know you've finished the tour and such." he went on.

"Figure some stuff out from there."

Azzy just smiled.

"A curse, huh?" he asked.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it." he commented.

"Regardless, yeah, I can totally help." he said.

"And... that pretty much concludes the tour." he said further.

"You've seen all the facilities this place has to offer."

"I can also tell that you really don't have optimal control over it." Azzy said.

"Which is... interesting. And, I suppose, what the 'boss' wanted." he muttered.

"Mortals and mages struggle with understanding and controlling it, but we demons? It's simple knowledge and such." he told her.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Well, if we happen to see each other more, I suppose I can offer to help you." he then said.

"Inform you how it works, some tips and tricks on working with it, and perhaps unlocking its full power and potential." he continued.

"If you're interested, and if you end up working here anyway." he added.

"Yeah, it has a name." Azzy responded.

"See... hm." he mumbled, thinking about it.

"Well... it's knowledge that really isn't suited for human and mage texts." he told her. "Reveals too much about the afterlife and blah blah blah rules." he said, sighing.

"But you deserve to know." he reasoned.

"Aka Manah was... well, he was a nasty dude." he told her. "His name meant 'manah made evil', with the word 'manah being a pseudonym for the mind' here. Many referred to him as the demon of “evil intention', 'evil mind', 'evil purpose', or 'evil thinking'." he explained. "What he did was... he manipulated and amplified emotions, usually to the point where people would harm others, or engage in self-destructive behaviour." he continued.

"And that was fine and well for a time. I mean, he was a demon. Demon's mess with the mortals and all that. Nothing new." he said further. "...until he decided that it was time that one with powers such as himself was suited to a... higher position." he then told her. "Long story short, he staged a coup, failed miserably, and was... well.. removed from existence." he went on.

"However, his mana and such couldn't just disappear. That would cause an imbalance." he then explained. "So it was relegated to being something that mortals and mages could... 'inherit', so to speak." he continued. "And... well, whatever happened to them, happened to them. Not like the one in charge cared." he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"So... yeah. There you go." he told her, giving her SO much more info in the span of 5 minutes, than she had gathered during her entire life.

Azzy blinked a couple of times when he felt the air around them change. Things were heavier and thicker, but Erica noticed that he didn't seem to be phased by it at all.

He was aware of it, but didn't seem to be really affected by it.

He remained silent as she revealed more and more of the mark, until he saw the entirety of it.

"...huh." he muttered.

"The Mark of Aka." was all he said.