Alexian's Gambit

[Anonymous]

Sine was immediately alarmed when Selvice was ruthlessly plowed through the shop wall and impaled in the alleyway. Alexian, though still caught off guard by the abrupt spectacle, realized that the purple-clad man must be the real assassin that was hired by her chain of contacts.
And he was going straight for Sine.
Before the mercenary could finish the deed though, the massive Lycan intervened. Perhaps motivated by Alexian's words, perhaps merely fulfilling his fiery rage, Sizzlebeast brutally ravaged Nivious and effectively neutralized him for the time being.
After he said his piece, Alexian displayed a grave little smile. With her original plan in shambles, she required a new one if she hoped to bring down Skylance and Mother. And this was just the kind of promising start she needed.
"Then in Mother, we have a common enemy. I, too, wish to see her downfall. If you truly wish to see your vengeance against her exacted, then follow me, and I will lead you to her doorstep."
Sine, still bewildered over the rapidly changing course of events, was startled a little when Captain Venalis landed beside her, his eyes locked warily on Sizzlebeast. Before he could say a word though, Sine ordered of him, "Captain, rally the detachment and take them back to Province. I still have business here that I must attend."
As puzzled as he was over the order and the circumstances under which it was given, Captain Venalis nonetheless acknowledged and flew back up into the air.
Then, Sine called out urgently to Alexian as the High Seraphim began walk down the alley, "Alexian, whatever it was that you were meaning to tell me, then tell me. Obviously, this is an extremely sensitive matter, and the sooner I have the information, the sooner I can act on it."
Alexian stopped next to Sizzlebeast, glancing back at the Director. "And I will, in short order, Director Sine, for what I have to say concerns us all. I am taking you, and Sizzlebeast should he so desire, but to source of this knowledge -- Elial, and you may hear it from his voice."
When Alexian continued to walk, apparently on a course that would lead them to where the Archangel Elial was currently, Sine was reluctant to follow at first. She, like Captain Venalis, eyed Sizzlebeast warily with her one non-bloodied eye. Eventually, she caved in and briskly started after the High Seraphim's avatar, avoiding another look at the Lycan then.
Before she left the alley, however, Alexian stopped alongside the impaled Selvice. Though he obviously wasn't human, he still had a rough fight with the assassin Alexian indirectly hired.
She asked of him, "Are you alright?"

[Anonymous]

When Alexian returned her words to Sizzlebeast, he merely bowed his head as she passed by. This very day, the dreaded fire beast would make an unlikely alliance with a high Seraphim. He turned to proceed behind her as she continued by. His lupine ears twitched upon the mention of Elial, but no other reactions would show otherwise. Sizzlebeast knew Elial as deceased. But otherwise thought nothing of it. His fiery orange gaze turned to the beaten vampire's slumped form, still being held up by the sword.
As if life mysteriously returned to him by some miracle, Selvice brought both arms up and planted both hands upon the massive blade to push it out of his chest. This event left a lot of black blood speckled about on the ground around the vampire. The wound in his chest sealed up almost instantly, leaving just a hole in his bloodstained undershirt. He threw a smile towards the High Seraphim after he dusted himself off a bit.
"Death and myself have never been in good terms. He eludes me to this day." Selvice explained, obviously annoyed with his immortality. Sizzlebeast's beastly hand made its way to Sine's shoulder. He looked down to his former companion after attempting to get her attention.
"Forgive me, Sine. As Alexian said, we have been deceived. I suppose in your state, while you were under Mother's control, you said some thing that devastated me beyond repair. I almost destroyed that which I had once cared most about here tonight because of that. That cannot be forgiven by any means. Please do not hold tonight's actions against me." Sizzlebeast was apparently being sincere to Sine, not even showing the slightest concern to Selvice.

[Anonymous]

Alexian watched passively as Selvice freed himself from his sharp prison. She couldn't be sure of his true motives, but what she did know was that this man did have a part in saving Sine from certain death. And though that made him a major disrupter of Alexian's old plan, her decision was made and she resolved herself to be firm and committed to it whatever the outcome. As such, she harbored no ill feelings toward the vampire.
She said to Selvice, "You were very brave, and we are fortitous that you came to our aid when you did. And though it is quiet now, the greater threat above us all has not been quelled. Should you wish to continue to lend us your sword, then follow me and discover the true peril that drived this happening today."

Words were a lot more welcome to Sine than a massive, furry hand wrapped around her neck. The Lycan's pseudo-apology provoked a bit of introspective insight in her, however.
It was true that she had difficulty recalling anything after her Trial in Heaven. If she and Elial truly were under the sway of a High Seraphim, a rogue High Seraphim at that, then it was a matter of the utmost importance.
Already she could see the effects of such power allowed to run wild and unrestricted. Whatever she said and/or did to Sizzlebeast while under Mother's sway was grave enough to provoke him into an untold amount of rage and violence. The scariest part was that this incident could only be the beginning, merely a small piece in a much larger, more dangerous puzzle.
She took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, saying levelly after looking up at the Lycan. "I believe it would be in our best interest to hear what Alexian has to say about this matter. We need to know the truth."
Her voice didn't carry the tone of forgiveness, but it didn't carry the sting of a grudge either.
Sine started after Alexian then, who was well on her way back to Elial, who apparently was more intimate with the details concerning Mother. A full mobilization of the Vindication was looking more and more to be an absolute certainty.
Sine feared though that Vindication alone would not be enough.

[Anonymous]

"Bravery has nothing to do with doing my job." Selvice started to speak in response to Alexian. He cracked his neck from side to side and began moving towards the wooden building
"As for my sword, it is already under employment right now and my job just got away. To be honest, I only used you two to get close to Nivious. Calling Sizzlebeast along was only extra leverage, in case he managed to slip passed me." The vampire explained as he began to shift through the rubble in the room where he fought the mercenary. After a short bit of time of looking, he finally reached down and pulled his abnormally long katana out of the rubble. It was covered in blood. He then put it away without cleaning it off before turning back outside.
"You were right not to trust me, but at least I wasn't here to kill you. Unfortunately, I have work to do, so my time is short." With his last words spoken, Selvice leaped up and landed on the rooftop of the brick building. He looked down a threw a small wave to the three below.
"See you around, Sizz." Final words added and the vampire disappeared into the shadows. Sizzlebeast's eyes had followed Selvice the whole time he was up and about.
"I'll have to thank him later." The dark werewolf noted, still looking up where Selvice disappeared. Back to reality, the large bipedal lupine turned to his angelic companion.
"You are right, Sine. Perhaps we could look for your brother to explain to him of your former actions later as well." Sizzlebeast added, now showing signs of concern.

[Anonymous]

It was a shame that the vampire declined to join Alexian. His motives were self-driven, and it just so happened that herself and Sine benefited indirectly from them. It was hardly noble, but most likely necessary to achieve his ends.
And, as Alexian knew well enough, the world could be a cold and uncaring place, and sometimes people had to respond in kind to survive.
Sine, walking alongside Sizzlebeast with a growing easiness in spite of his earlier hostility, replied to him, "He may be the first of many, I'm afraid."


Alexian led the werewolf and Director across the city of Arca, finally arriving in a middle-class neighborhood far removed from the site of the meeting and attempted assassination.
The Inn she had chosen, Harbin's Lot, was neither rundown and dilapidated or expensive and fancy, and incredibly forgettable in design and appearance. Its unassuming nature was one of the reasons Alexian had picked it for Elial and Virtue to stay during the meeting.
Few people were up and about at this time in the morning, as the sun had yet to even paint the horizon purple, though some nightcrawling stragglers walked to and fro in front of the Inn. Alexian walked past them, and, trailed by Sine, entered the Inn and traveled down its hallway of numbered doors.
When she stepped into the building however, her face became gravely concerned -- Virtue had failed to reply to her mental summons.
Alexian's pace quickened, catching Sine by surprise a little, though the Director could sense the sudden urgency in the High Seraphim's stride.
Alexian tried several more times to contact her proxy through telepathy, to ask her desperately if anything was going on. No response.
Something must have happened; Virtue always replied to her inquires. Alexian could feel her avatar's heart beating faster and faster.
She rounded the corner.
There, the door at the end of the hallway marked 25, was left ajar. Soft light from the inside of the room poured out of the numerous holes that pierced the wood of the door with a deadly precision.
Bullet holes.
"Heavens no," she spoke a whisper of disbelief, hurrying down the hallway toward the room then.
"Your Holiness!" Sine called after her. With a confused glance at Sizzlebeast, she started after the High Seraphim.
Alexian burst into Room 25 then, looking frantically about its interior. The soft, magical light on the wall illuminated the room, showing it undisturbed aside from the damage to the door. There was no sign of a struggle, but Elial and Virtue were both missing.
And there was a single, typed note placed deliberately on the bed.

[Anonymous]

As if touching the note would somehow bring Elial and Virtue spontaneously back into the room safe and sound, Alexian swept across the room to grab it and read what it had to say.
The tone of the note was chillingly familiar:

My dear friend Alexian,
To quiet your prevalent fears, let me start by saying that Elial is safe and well. However, that may very well change depending on a few decisions you will make in the near future. It should be no secret to you that I could use your particular expertise, and that you need my help regardless.
That said, it is time for you to finally make a definitive decision. You need to go north, to the town of Hyoite, and wait there. I have something to show you there, something that should help your troublesome indecisiveness.
If you have Elial's well-being at heart, then compliance would be a wise move on your part. By now, I'm sure that death would do little to phase him, but I have many tools at my disposal, as you know, to create fates worse than death. You might not recognize him if you fail to cooperate, but he will still be very much alive -- much like Tangent, if you remember him.
Let's not kid ourselves, Alexian. Both of us knew that, eventually, it would come to this.
I simply had more initiative than you.

Sincerely,

The letter wasn't signed, but Alexian could tell instantaneously who was responsible.
"Your Holiness, what is it? What does it say?" Sine inquired, coming up behind the High Seraphim.
Enraged, frustrated, and deeply troubled, Alexian flung the note away and brought a hand up to cover her mouth. "It is Skylance. This I know for certain, for he is the only one with the means and drive to do such a terrible thing to me, to capture Elial and hold him against me."
For a few moments, Alexian paced around the room in an erratic pattern, thinking furiously to herself about the implications of the note. Sine was about to speak to her, but Alexian stopped.
Looking to Sizzlebeast, the High Seraphim explained, "Skylance is an angel that I, unfortunately, am acquainted with. A powerful angel, the prominent figure of his own city-state in Heaven.
"I did not tell you earlier, but Mother is in the captivity of Skylance. He must be intending to exploit her power in some manner, and he must not be allowed to do so. I intend to achieve two ends in one effort, to stop Skylance by slaying Mother, but now, he has the upper hand against me."
She paused for a second to inhale and exhale, then glanced between Sine and the Lycan, continuing, "He wants me to go north, to Hyoite, on the threat of torturing Elial if I fail to comply. There, he intends on 'showing' something to me. What he truly is planning I cannot know for certain."
Alexian lowered her head slightly, and Sine crossed her eye. "Is there any way to prove that Skylance is, without a doubt, behind this? I, for one, am not fond of him, and it would be my pleasure to start an inquisition against him, Your Holiness."
Shaking her head, Alexian's face was a dangerous mixture of anger and sorrow.

[Anonymous]

Though Alexian and Sine took off, Sizzlebeast kept a simple stride. He does not sense any threat nearby, so there was no rush. He had to crouch through the doorway to enter the room. When he did, he cause a glimpse of Alexian discarding a note. The werewolf kept a normal and unchanged stance and facial expression. There was hardly anything to worry about for him. Answers or not, he still had one goal in mind.
"Perhaps simply destroying Skylance himself would solve the current issue. I have the means to do so. I just need to know who to crush." Sizzlebeast spoke up after hearing Alexian's distraught explanation. To him, there were two choices in any given situation in life. There was compliance and defiance. His existence alone defies the very nature of life.

[Anonymous]

"Both, if possible... that would be preferrable. Skylance is no friend of mine anymore," Alexian resolved firmly, then sighed. "Still, it is Skylance who is in control now. We must endeavor to find a way to turn the tide against him."
She glanced at both Sine and Sizzlebeast, speaking then, "I will go north, and I will see what he has to show me. Come, if you wish, and my appreciation will be undying."
Affirming her allegiance, Sine nodded her head. "I will, Your Holiness. I am duty bound to see if Skylance truly has a hand in this scandal. If I can get a piece of concrete evidence, than I will assure his downfall, Your Holiness. Give me only some time to see a Caretaker, and I will join your cause in Hyoite, Your Holiness."
For the first time after seperating from Norriden and his cadre, Alexian felt the undeniable warmth of comradery once again. For a High Seraphim, she had found herself to be incredibly lonely for many, many eons, a problem that was only magnified by her family troubles and her best friend's self-imposed exodus from Upper Heaven and her terrible return.
She smiled at the Director, "Very well then, good Sine. I will be there, on the outskirts of the town's southwestern edge." And before she faded quickly out of reality itself, she cast another look at Sizzlebeast and said to him, "Now is your chance for vengeance, Sizzlebeast. Shall I see you in the north?"
With Alexian able to teleport, Sine figured that they certainly must have travelled out of range of the anti-teleportation field, and she soon followed suit in a bright flash of light.
At one point in time, Skylance was a symbol of hope for Sine and all of Province.
But now, he may be proven to be a malefactor. He may have even been the one who tried to have her assassinated.
It certainly was a good thing that Alexian could be trusted.