Colin's posts

She could tell she was hitting all the right notes. He had a good poker face, but she saw in his eyes. He was lusting after her, and in his mind, the jackpot sound was ringing loud and clear.

"Excellent." he said.

"Your pay is $15 an hour." he told her. "Plus room and board." he then said. "Food and accommodations are provided in addition to the pay." he continued, reclarifying it.

"If that sounds all right to you, we'll sign the contract and get started." he finished, looking her up and down.

"...I think this will work out QUITE nicely..."

"I'm a man that likes to be surrounded by beauty." he responded.

"Which is why, immediately, I think you'll fit in." he told her, approaching her and sitting down... very close to her.

"Tell me, why do you want this job?" he asked.

"What makes you think you'd like a job like this?" he asked further.

"I can be... quite demanding."

She was led to a room with lavish furnishings in it, and it was plain to see that the man that lived her and owned this place was a man of luxury and excess. She was waiting there for close to a minute, when a man that stood about 6 feet, with short blonde hair, wearing an expensive suit showed up.

He looked her up and down, and she could instantly tell he fancied her.

"Well, then." he said.

"You're... Roxanna, yes?" he asked.

"Applying for the position?" he asked further.

Zeke was silent for a moment, before forming a tiny orb of his mana, and placing it in Roxie's hand. Azazel stepped forward, and did the same, albeit he was a smidgen more on the hesitant side.

"...I'll do it." he then said to Anya.

"We're both demons, so it shouldn't be an issue." he reasoned.

Hal sat back in his chair, and sighed quietly to himself.

He hoped it wasn't too late. That there was still time to save this woman. The last thing that needed to happen was for yet another person to fall victim to the one dubbed 'The Collector'.

Tears started to form in Aly's eyes, but she wiped them away and nodded.

"Don't worry." she said.

"I'll make sure the pain stops and you can keep going." she told him.

"Just please don't given up." she practically begged.

"You still have life left in you, I know it." she went on, as she spread the salve, thankful she put some medicinal ingredients in it to help with his health problems... hopefully it would at least stem the pain.

Hopefully.

Azazel was silent, before shaking his head.

"Whatever, might as well try." he said.

"If I can deal with a full blast from an archangel nephilim, odds are I can survive being mana-tethered to a goddess for a short time." he reasoned. He then quickly looked at Zeke.

"And I KNOW that was an accident, and no serious repercussions came from it for anyone, it was just a comparison." he quickly said, knowing Zeke still felt a bit bad about it, and wanted him to know this wasn't digging it up to make him feel more such.

"...fair." Zeke responded.

"All right, you 4. Get moving and get this done. Stop this bastard and save this young lady!" Hal ordered them.

Hal raised an eyebrow when he heard that.

"In 10." he said.

"...well, can't say she doesn't get results." Zeke commented.

"But will YOU two be able to withstand being tethered to her, mana-wise?" he asked Azazel and Anya.

"Nooooooo clue." Azazel admitted bluntly.

"But at this point, seems we have no other option."

"It's not unheard of for demons to make deals with mortals, and it's under-the-table." Azazel then told Zeke. "The rules of Hell don't... expressly FORBID it... but it's still a little frowned upon." he continued.

"Ah, I see." Zeke responded.

"I just happen to know how to get the 'dirt' on people down there." Azazel shrugged.

"So we're going with Roxie's plan?" Zeke then asked.

"If YOU want to argue with a Greek goddess, be my effing guest." Azazel told him in an exasperated tone.

"Then it's probably Ebraxis." Azazel said.

"How do you know that?" Zeke asked. "Like, Anya didn't have an idea, and she has WAY more dealings with the infernal realm than you." he reasoned.

"A fair argument." Azazel admitted.

"But I have my ear open for things like gossip and information." he told him. "If nothing else, I am an amazing informant for demonic dealings." he said further.

"It's true." Hal chimed in.

"Anya is wonderful for the business side of things in the underworld, but Azazel has his ear to the street, so to speak."

Azazel had been shaken for a moment or two as Roxie shot him that look she did, but then shook himself back to being lucid once more, and exhaled slowly, making sure she was gone before he spoke.

"...geez, she's acquired more of an attitude since then." he muttered.

"Can you blame her, given what happened?" Zeke asked.

"Ok, fine, but I didn't do anything." Azazel responded. "The hell she shootin' those pointed looks at ME for??" he asked incredulously.

"A-HEM!" Hal cleared his throat loudly. "Back to the subject at hand!" he said.

"Ah, right." Azazel remembered.

"Well, I can recall two demons down there that are high-tier enough to make contracts with humans without needing to bond themselves to them, that have petrification-like abilities." he told them. "One is Ebraxis, and he loves messing with people... and the other is Meleena, who makes deals with men to claim their souls for her ever-growing harem down there."

Hal crossed his arms over his chest when she said this.

"30 minutes." he told her.

"That's a HARD limit." he said.

"Unless you are in there and have an in for the other three, we're brute forcing it." he warned her. "But if you CAN do this, then go." he said further.

Azazel was just silent for a moment, and got out of the way so she could leave.

"I know better than to argue with a goddess. Especially a Greek one." he mumbled.

Eke's momentary lapse seemed to garner Savra's attention, and they looked at him concernedly. Aly was gone for longer than they would have liked, but she returned with a bottle of water, and a strange salve-like substance.

"This might help." she said.

"I think this is a case where your animal instincts may be stronger than you intend them to be." she told Eke.

"If we can calm the beast, so to speak, you should be able to calm yourself and stop it from taking hold like this." she went on.

"It's probably happening because you also appear to be a little on the ill side."

Hal was silent, before looking at Roxie.

"All right, if you think you can get in there for an interview in the next 30 minutes, then do so." he told her.

"As for mana tethering, if it's YOU going in, then the demons are going to be hurting because of it." he warned.

"I can try and deal with it." Azazel responded.

"...granted, pretty sure her mana FAR outclasses mine, considering what is known to a very select few now. And only then, because we're not a part of this realm." he went on.

Zeke just crossed his arms over his chest, and thought about it.

"If he's made a deal with a demon, then yes... this is a situation that either calls for nuanced planning, or sheer brute force."

"See, that's the thing." Hal said.

"His place triggers NO alarms or anything for mana pings and such." he told them.

"But it's clear that SOMETHING is going on. That woman is undergoing some sort of gradual petrification process, and it's NOT like those that the gorgons use." he said further.

"I don't know if we have the time for an infiltration mission." he then admitted. "I don't want her to die when we have the chance to save her, and prevent her from becoming just another statistic in this sick creep's quest." he growled.

Azazel paused, and thought for a moment.

"...so there's a chance he's made some deal with a demon, is what you're saying?" he asked.

"We can't rule it out." Hal responded.

"As for how to get in, I get the feeling he has some serious barriers up, but your combined strength may be enough to bust through and take him down." he finished.