Colin's posts

Uriel just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I make no promises." he said.

"Just... I make no promises." he muttered.

With that, he and Erica started to head to her room... but Yuri seemed to already be interested in a particular area of her body.

And Angela could see where he was looking...

...where that odd marking was.

Uriel nodded.

"I shall." he responded.

He then looked over to Erica, who had returned from the front door.

"Hello." he greeted her.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to do a mana sweep of you." he said.

"Fair warning, there WILL be some discomfort, to put it lightly."

"......." Uriel was silent as Erica said what she said, the way she said it, and how she acted.

He slowly made his way to Angela, and gestured back to the one that lived there.

"....Angela..." he said.

"I can see what you were talking about." he commented.

"Something is... definitely not right here."

Got it. was the response she received.

Sure enough, about 4-5 minutes later, there was an impressive (and imposing) mana signature in Erica's backyard.

Angela knew it well.

They then heard a knock on her front door.

It was calm, but definitely sounded like it belonged to a large individual.

There was a moment of silence, before she received a response.

If it's a matter of scanning her... my Dad might be best for that. the text read.

I'll get ahold of him. Zeke then sent to her.

What am I telling him to expect? Or what is this for? he asked her in the following message.

Any sort of details that you can share? Or just tell him to exercise immense caution? he then inquired.

"...heh." he chuckled after a moment.

"So?" he asked.

"One would think that's a good thing, right?" he asked.

"Haven't things been better for you since I shut up?" he asked Eke.

"You life's been goin' pretty damn smoothly."

Hal was worried as well.

Erica was getting worse and worse, and it seemed like Azazel wasn't acting like himself.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"What is going on here!?" he asked aloud, feeling more frustrated than ever.

Do what you feel you need to. he then sent to Angela.

Let me know if I can help in any way. he added.

Hal read the text, and was silent as he saw it.

"....damn it all." he cursed.

Alarmingly, that goes along with some concerns that Aedan's been having in regards to Azazel. he sent her.

How is Erica looking? Overall? he then sent.

I know, bad, but anything in specific?

She was waiting... a bit longer than she would have thought or predicted. Normally Azazel would have responded with an immediate text, or just teleporting there ASAP. But she was waiting at least 2 minutes before he answered.

Yeah, sure. I'll be there when I get there. it read.

And that, again, was almost alarming.

It didn't give any information, it showed no sense of urgency, and it was little more than a pointless tautology.

In short... not something Azazel would normally sense.

"...." he was silent for a moment.

"He's fine." was the response Eke got, though it wasn't Ryker's voice.

It was the other one.

"He's sleeping. Well, mentally." he went on.

"What do you want, kid?" he then asked.

"What's got you awake?"

".....or not." Ryker replied with a small laugh.

He then managed to carry Eke to one of the sleeping bags and tuck him in, before throwing wood into the metal barrel and lighting it to the fire would keep him warm.

He was then silent, and sighed, before he felt a twinge in his head.

"Ngh." he grunted, before walking over a very large rock by the river, climbing atop it, and staring at the sky.

Hal nodded.

"Very well." he replied.

"I'll head back to the Unit. I should get to work anyway." he told her.

He then told Erica he was heading back, and Angela saw just how... deadpan and almost lifeless she was.

Hal then sighed, and disappeared from where he was, appearing in his office again.

"...I hope Angela at least finds some kind of clue." he mumbled to himself.

"Fair." was all Hal said in response to Jake.

He then proceeded to tell Angela about everything he'd witnessed since showing up there. How she acted, her reactions, and how they were odd, and just how much she didn't seem like herself.

As well as the marking he'd accidentally seen when she bent over to get him a drink.

"...she's worse than ever." he said.

"And not acting like herself. At all." he went on.

Zeke nodded and disappeared before she headed off.

She wasn't waiting long, before Hal answered the door.

"Angela." he greeted her.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." he thanked her, stepping aside.

"But I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't certain this was needed." he then whispered to her.