Colin's posts

Azazel looked over towards her, and nodded.

"Right, I'll head there-" he started to say, before Lunet interrupted.

"Just drop everything." she said. "Zeke said her life and well-being were on the line." she added.

That had been enough for Azazel, and he disappeared from where he was, appearing in Erica's home. He looked around, sensed her and the angels, and raced towards where they were, rushing into the room.

"....what the hell!?" he exclaimed.

"If she used her demonic mana to try and escape, can you interrupt it and stop her?" Zeke asked.

"Yes, most certainly." Azazel confirmed.

"Good." Zeke responded. "Do that. I'm getting a medic here, and getting Levi here." he added, as Gabriel shook his head. He then looked to the entrance of the house, wondering if the imposter would show up.

"Damn it." Zeke cursed.

"Sorry, Lunet, I thought I dialed Azazel's number." he said.

"Whatever, can you contact him? He needs to be at Erica's home. NOW." he told her.

"I don't have time to explain, but please. Call him and tell him to be here NOW. Erica's life and well-being may very well be on the line with this, and I am NOT exaggerating." he said further. "I'd say Cain works as well, but you said he's busy. Anyway!" he continued.

"I'll fill you in later, I promise."

"Erica!" both males exclaimed, as they saw her fall unconscious.

"She needs to be secured! NOW!" Gabriel barked. "Like this, she has NO free will, and Encrae can puppet her easily!" he exclaimed.

Zeke just nodded in response, before looking at Erica.

"She... uses demonic mana... not much can counter that... but other demonic mana!" he realised.

"Azazel might be able to disrupt it and stop her from using it!" he went on.

"Do it! Now!" Gabriel commanded him, which caused Zeke to nod and lift Erica up in his arms. He then tried to teleport away, but it was stopped, and he stumbled back with Erica.

"...that damned contract stops you from taking Erica away." Gabe growled, as Zeke grabbed his phone and dialed the first contact that he saw 'Callimachi' on.

"Erica!" Zeke exclaimed.

"...she is being held back." Gabriel stated. "...those that still remain under her influence... they CAN speak of her secrets." he said. "However... when they try, they are given a taste of pain. Immense pain. And the pain they suffer is just a taste of what's to come, should they continue to speak." he went on.

"That alone compels them to stop speaking." he continued.

"That's... that's horrible..." Zeke responded.

"That is Encrae." Gabriel replied. "So Erica is gravely injured, she is feeling the influence of omni-dimensional beings, and has some of Encrae's mana within her, still." he summarised.

"She can he helped though, yes?" Zeke asked.

"Her physical injuries can be tended to, the right person can remove the omni-influence from her, but Encrae's mana is an entirely different matter." Gabriel lamented.

Zeke and Gabriel looked at each other when she said what she did.

"...ignoring the 'Mistress' comment..." Zeke growled quietly, looking off to the side, with Gabriel sharing a similar look of disgust. "...it seems like Vanessa got way in over her head." he commented.

"Seems it." Gabriel replied.

"And while it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, this is information that is even MORE alarming." he stated.

"We need to get her healed, we need to rid her of those influences, and she needs to have her head on straight so that she can properly tell us where they might be." he went on.

"..." Zeke was silent, before looking at Erica.

"What can you tell us about where she is?" he asked her.

Gabriel's pupils shrank when he heard that.

"That book..." he said quietly.

"Book?" Zeke asked.

"Ezekiel, I should convene with the other archangels ASAP." Gabriel responded. "I want to pummel this imposter into the ground, but I think this might take precedence over that." he told him.

"And you need to get her help from... damn it, that Siren conduit is missing-" he then said, as yet ANOTHER piece fell into place. "DAMN IT!" he cursed loudly, looking at Zeke again.

"Get that conduit that works in Media Relations to look at her." he told him. "She needs, effectively, exorcising. On a MUCH grander scale than ANY demon, angel, or GOD." he declared.

Zeke let out an exclamation when he caught that glimpse, and Gabriel looked over towards him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She... that... I..." Zeke stammered, almost panicked, before shaking his head to mentally slap himself.

"She... she needs help, yes, but... but it's going to be serious professional help. Help that very few people can give." he went on.

"...stop speaking in vague statements." Gabriel growled.

"I'm pretty sure I glimpsed something akin to The Ancient Ones." Zeke clarified, which caused Gabriel to look suddenly stunned.

"...no..." he whispered, looking at Erica again.

At that moment, Gabriel could feel it. He could sense it. Erica was... broken. Vanessa had broken her. For now, anyway. She was not the woman that he knew she was. Because of what Vanessa did, it seemed like their relationship was... in dire straits. At the very least, there was a rocky road ahead of them. And the crushing despair he felt inside his heart was causing some very old feelings to resurface. But they were buried under seething, roiling rage.

He still had enough wherewithal to send for help, though. Whether or not the two of them could go back to what they had didn't matter now. What mattered was that she needed medical help. He took out his cell phone and called the one person nobody thought he would call; Zeke.

"You. Get to Erica's house NOW." he ordered, his tone promising trouble if Zeke wasn't there within the next few seconds. Thankfully, he was. He appeared just inside, and raced over towards where they were, halting abruptly when he saw Erica.

"What the...!?" he exclaimed, as Gabriel looked at him sharply.

"She needs medical attention. Take her to The Unit's medical wing, and let it be known that ANY Erica that ANYONE sees, that ISN'T this one, is an imposter." the archangel told the nephilim.

"An... imposter...?" Zeke asked, unnerved, which didn't seem to help Gabriel's attitude.

"You're not getting her medical attention. Why." he stated, almost darkly, to which Zeke responded by rushing up to Erica.

"Hey, I'm here Erica. It'll be all right." he assured her, kneeling down to her level, as Gabriel started to think about the imposter that was working with Vanessa... who had caused such pain.

That word. That one word that she had said.

'Mistress'. To hear Erica refer to Vanessa Encrae as 'Mistress' caused a massive rage to boil up from within him. Seeing her like this... pleading that he didn't help her because of Vanessa... it caused such fury deep within him.

His eyes filled with anger, and his teeth gnashed together, as he looked off to the side.

"...she is not your 'Mistress'..." he told her.

"And I will do anything and everything for you, Erica." he said further.

"I love you."

Gabriel looked... angry now.

He was angry that he'd been tricked. Deceived. Fooled. And Erica had been hurting all this time.

"And I'll make sure he tells me everything." he growled.

"I need to send you somewhere you can get medical treatment." he then told her.

"And so this faker won't try and hurt you."

"Erica, save your strength." Gabriel responded.

"What's happened?" he asked her.

"In my heart and soul, I know that you're you." he then said. "But... but what about the OTHER you?" he asked further.

"She has your mana, your soul..." he continued.

"This shouldn't be possible..." he went on, clearing confused and distressed.

Gabe almost fell back when he felt the rush of emotions, and then the bit of pain.

"...oh... oh my God..." he said quietly.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed.

"Erica!" he said, before laying his hands on her and starting to pulse some mana into her.

She needed healing. Bad.

And if nothing else, he could give her some emergency healing right now.

He watched her go, and shook his head.

"This place is something else." he said. "Almost as nuts as The Unit, and that's saying something." he muttered.

He then shook his head and headed off. He had work to do, calls to make.

---

She was there for about 15 seconds, before Gabe rushed into the room.

"...what the hell!?" he exclaimed, racing towards her.

"Erica!? Is that you!?" he asked.

"Wait... wait, weren't you....? Just...?" he then muttered, obviously confused.

"The hell's going on here?"

"Alchemy, huh?" Ty mumbled.

"Well, we have Kiah, and Aedan, and Robyn for that." he said. "And Ilias as well." he continued. "Moreso Aedan than any of the others, admittedly. And her son, Cain." he added.

"I guess we can try and get ahold of them, see if we can't get that mana print off of Sebastien or Cameron." he said further, thinking about it some more.

"At this point, we need to try all we can." he reasoned. "We can't afford to ignore ANY sort of path that might be opening for us on this." he went on, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'd love to try and get more information out of her, but... I think she did VERY well to get THAT much out." he mumbled.

"But it's something. It's a damn bread crumb, at least."