Colin's posts

"..." Sebastien was silent for a moment.

"...hand." he answered.

There was something in his tone, too. A lot of things, actually. There was the madness of him resisting to give into his primal self, there was a hint of someone else controlling him, probably vestiges of Vae's control... there was guilt.

A LOT of guilt.

He slowly looked at her, and she could see the struggle in his eyes.

And he also looked like he wanted to grab her... to have her... SO badly.

The guard was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"I don't like it." he said. "I was told not to let anyone in or out, unless specific authorisation was given." he told her. However, he then just shook his head, and took out a piece of paper.

"But... it's you." he continued. "... and you're the only one that can help Dr. LeBlanc right now." he reasoned. "The chief would let you in, I know that." he added, referring to Jake.

He then took the paper, and slapped it against the door, causing the seal to weaken, and the door to unlock.

"You got 5 minutes. Or until I hear trouble." he warned her.

Nate just exhaled slowly.

"Yeah..." he muttered.

"Yeah, it... seems so." he agreed reluctantly.

---

She continued to walk, until she stopped at one door in specific. It was the door to any regular holding cell, complete with mana restrictors and barriers... but it also looked like there was a demonic seal on the door as well.

One crafted by Azazel, it seemed. And it was strong. Odds are he'd had help in making it.

But it was there... because Sebastien was being kept in there.

Meanwhile, one of the guards that was on rotation looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yeah." Nate agreed.

"But... Erica is on the road to recovery, and Sariel should be up and functioning soon, according to Erica." he said.

"And Gabriel is staying with her." he told her.

"Seems his presence is... REALLY helping." he mumbled.

"I've not seen her look so calm since... well, she got here."

"Yeah." Nate responded.

He then stepped inside and shut the door, before sighing.

He then explained what little he knew, but everything he could extrapolate from what he knew. He described what he was doing when he felt everything, the scene he walked in on, and how Gabriel had taken her back to her room, and how he'd made sure she was reconnected to everything, before coming here.

"...long story short, Erica's mental state seems to be improving, and Sariel should awaken VERY soon, thanks TO Erica."

Gabriel could sense that his presence there was actually helping her... he could see it in her eyes... and just sat down in the chair that was by her bed. He just smiled at her, and sat back, so she could eat in peace, and silence, if that was what she preferred.

Meanwhile, Nate made his way to the office, where he saw Angela still looking a little shocked by what had happened.

"Uh, hey." he greeted her.

"I know what all that was." he said.

"And no, it's nothing bad, I assure you." he quickly added.

Nate was silent for a moment, before nodding and quickly disappearing out of the room, with Gabriel watching him, and then turning back towards Erica.

"...you're welcome." he answered.

He took the wheeled table that he'd set the food on, and brought it over towards her, making sure she could comfortably eat while still being in bed. And she could smell how divine it was.

"Waffles, as I said." he repeated. "With some syrup and toppings and such." he went on.

"Was the first thought that came to mind."

Nate and Gabriel exchanged glances, before Gabriel nodded and carried her out of Sariel's room. Nate followed, after doing a brief check on Sariel, and the three entered Erica's room.

Gabe gently laid her down on the bed, as Nate started to reestablish what she had connected to.

"I brought the food you wanted." Gabriel told her.

"Waffles." he added, as Nate looked towards the door.

Angela was going to want answers, and she was going to want them 5 minutes ago.

Gabe didn't say anything as he caught her, and Nate was quick to speak up.

"Do you mind having Gabriel carry you back to your room?" he asked.

"Or would you rather we used a wheelchair?" he asked further.

It was not that he didn't trust Gabriel, quite the opposite. But Erica was in a very vulnerable and delicate state right now, and he wasn't exactly sure what she could take, and what she couldn't.

So he made the offer.

If nothing else, he wanted to make it clear to her she was in charge of these sorts of decisions. She was her own person, and she was not under anyone's oppressive control. She was still to be kept in the medical wing to recover, but he'd hoped that allowing her these small decisions, as seemingly meaningless as they might have seemed, would aid her recovery.

Gabriel resisted the urge to pull back quickly from her, but he did flinch a little. He felt her tense up, felt her be as still as anything, but when she rested her hand on his arm, he kept holding her for a few seconds, before slowly pulling back.

"...she has a long way to go..." Nate said quietly.

"She may never be the same..." he then added, this time even more quietly.

"..." Gabriel was silent, before looking at Erica again.

"We should probably get you back to your bed." he suggested to her.

"...." Gabriel was silent, before looking at Sariel.

"I... I do sense no chaos coming from her now..." he admitted.

"But... Erica..." he said further, before instinctively wrapping his arms around her.

Nate saw this and had a moment of trepidation. She freaked out whenever someone entered the room.

How would she react to THIS?

Gabriel knelt down close to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Erica..." he said.

"How...? Why...?" he asked, before shaking his head.

"Erica, are you all right?" he asked her.

"You said Sariel should wake soon, but what did it cost YOU to do that?"

The first one to respond to this was Gabriel. He was already on high alert, and such a powerful sound echoing out gained his attention quickly. Honing in on it, he rushed to where he'd heard the core of it from, stepping into the room, and ending up almost stunned at what he saw.

"Erica!" he exclaimed, before noticing WHERE he was.

"S-Sariel?" he muttered.

"What...?" he wondered further, as Nate came rushing in next.

"What happened here!?" he asked, seeing Erica in the room with Sariel.

It had been surprisingly easy to convince Gabe to make her some food. Asriel and Raphael noted that all it took was Uriel coming to him and stating that Erica had specifically said she wanted to eat something made by HIM, to get him from sulking and growing angrier, to being hopeful again. He threw those negative emotions out the window right there and then, and proceeded to make her something he KNEW she would like. He made her waffles. Waffles with that little hint of ambrosia in it. Not enough to get her on the frisky side, but just enough to make it so that flavours of everything were boosted.

He made his way to the room and stepped inside, not 100% paying attention, as he set what he'd brought down on a nearby table.

"Frankly, I'm surprised you asked for-" he started to say, turning towards the bed, and finding it empty. She was disconnected from everything, and looked to have just vanished.

"Wh-what?" he muttered.

"Erica!?" he exclaimed, looking around, and then darting out the door and looking up and down the medical bay.