Mission Log, Day 26, Tuesday, September 28th, 1999
I hate that these cold concrete walls Thenaire calls home. No windows. What hour it is I cannot tell, shut away from the sun's bright burn. Sometime after dawn, plus a lifetime.
The deep dark of early morning still loomed when I maneuvered Dinhabah into Giles' kitchen for a little interrogation. Giles kept Adrienne in conversation while we discussed the matter of his "adventure."
And disappoint he did not; although still unable or unwilling to fully disclose information, he needed no coercion from me to talk. Best as I can tell, he was at the heart of the big disturbance in the Symphony Giles reported. Apparently less than a day before we returned from the Marches on our ethereal expedition, a Triad approached Dinhabah (the same Triad I met yesterday, in fact) and ordered him to bring us in for unraveling the Tapestry. Actually Dinhabah used the words "betray you." Was this Elohite putting friendship above duty?
But that's where his story gets interesting. He said he had some doubts about the mission, some small detail that made him question their legitimacy, and called them on it. Of course, they all stuck by their story...except the Seraph, who refused to confirm anything. And for the young angels who might read this, if a Seraph refuses to answer your question directly, it's because doing so would require him to lie to you and you just might notice the instant dissonance. Look for the eye-twitch. Gets 'em every time.
Point is, if it were true, the Seraph would have had every reason to say so. Sooooo...Dinhabah refused to comply. Feathers flew, songs jangled, attunements bound him with his own dissonance, and two days later Adrienne brought him here. Of course, that whole "and two days later Adrienne brought him here" part remains fuzzy. She told Arashiel he got into an argument and she helped him escape, which fits...sorta. Did they hold him for a while, torture him, or just beat the pulp out of him? Seems that would take too long in a sudden fight. Why wait two days to bring him back? Were they being hunted? Did the Triad take him somewhere distant and it took that long for her to drive him back? What about the songs that caused all the noise? Maybe a Corporeal Song of Entropy? How did she get him away from them? She doesn't seem the type to swing in on a vine and snatch him from their clutches. No, she'd be more subtle about it, avoid confrontation if at all possible.
Dinhabah hinted that he considered Adrienne a "problem" and clearly could not say more. Sounds like a geas at work. I did ask if she possibly worked for Death or the Game. He denied Death. He wouldn't deny the Game, which I took to be the closest thing to a yes he could manage under the circumstances. If Adrienne had contacts within the Game, perhaps she knew these Triad angels and worked a deal with them to "rescue" Dinhabah. In which case it wasn't much of a rescue at all, was it? Just another manipulation toward her secret aims.
What does the Game want with Boulder, anyway? Dinhabah said demons hold a number of positions in the local government, like the dead police woman (detective? chief?), and District Attorney, and maybe some seats on the City Council. But what they hope to gain...Argh! I can't see it, can't pull the pieces together.
So a group of angels seem interested even now in continuing to pursue the war against ethereals. These angels weren't exactly serving Judgment when they came in search of the keepers of the Tapestry. Could they in fact be serving Uriel, as Matt suggested? Are they or other ex-servitors of Purity behind the dreaded Scourge?
Dinhabah bore even more disturbing news...he has no heart. It shattered from dissonance sometime during his encounter with the Triad; our resident servitor of Judgment has become Outcast, denied entry to Heaven and susceptible to a Big Fall.
This is bad.
Naturally, Dominic could fix everything, but the merest suggestion made Dinhabah go ghostly white. Historically, Dominic takes a dim view on Outcasts; better to scatter their forces to all of Creation than risk a Fall. Add to that the fact that Dinhabah believes he has betrayed the word of Judgment, and you have one Outcast convinced his existence is over. Or Game-fodder, whichever gets to him first. You can't reason with an angel in that frame of mind; they don't see reality, only what they want to see. You know that Symphony we all hear, that purest interweaving of song which courses through Creation as God meant it to be? It becomes warped, distorted, grating to our impure hearts, and in its place we hear only what we want to hear, a parody of it, twisted around our hollow souls and minds. Believe me, it is very hard to reason with an Outcast. I'm so glad I have a Superior who doesn't buy into that touchy-feely crap, just fixes the problem and gets on with it.
[twitch]...[twitch]....
Just kidding! Geez...
But Dinhabah really was out of sorts, and clearly afraid of being found by Dominic before at least being able to prove to his boss that his actions were in the right. Not to mention he had ungodly amounts of dissonance and discord. Not to mention those unsightly and damning manacles. Simplest solution; get him away from the tether and somewhere safe until he can pull himself together. And after the tether, the safest place in Boulder is Rook's martial arts school.
Rook met us there. Somewhat ominously, and looking even more humorless than usual, he said he'd been summoned back to the tether in Colorado Springs where he'd left Victoria Strassen. Dinhabah was safe enough in Rook's nigh-fortress, so we left him and returned to the tether for a quick trip.
I resonated Adrienne on the way through. Not quite cruel, but a lot of potential. A lot of potential. Oh my. But she was not cruel at this moment, and certainly not fleeing justice, so I didn't plan to do anything about it. Yet.
We descended through the Grove's heavenly tethers to a room deep within the bowels of NORAD, were led from there to a conference room where Arashiel and Irad waited, along with that puckery angel Adriel. By the way, did you know he is a malakite, not an elohite at all? I would never have guessed.
Apparently it was Arashiel who recalled us. Victoria had been messing with her friend Sean and she wanted--needed--to know why. Okaaaay. Rook didn't twitch at this declaration, the same malakite who hours ago said even peeking in on her dreams would be a violation of his promise to her. Had he rescinded the promise? Something stunk here. But I had to admit, I was curious about this Strassen and how she fit in Daspit's organization. Arashiel asked her once more to volunteer information, which of course she ignored, while I took a peek at her soul. Oopsie. This one was not "almost" anything. Try "cruel and loving it." She actually enjoyed cracking people and bringing them to their fates. She and I had a future date with punishment.
Arashiel left, disgusted. Alone with the infernal soldier, I sang my Song of Truth once more in the hopes of extracting something useful from her. In spite of my success with the song, however, she stubbornly managed to not answer most of my questions. Either her dedication to Fate was very strong, or her fear of Daspit ouweighed her fear of us. I was at a loss.
Arashiel returned while my questions met silent lips. "We need to soften her up." Oh, thank you for that little tidbit, Miss Interrogatrix. But I didn't have any songs that would do, nor did I know anyone else who had those songs. Arashiel turned to Rook, who'd silently entered. "Convince her."
Um, did she know what she was asking for? Promise or no promise, he was still a malakite of War.
He threw her effortlessly against a wall.
Creationer Arashiel didn't even flinch. Hmm. Guess she did know....
But Rook did not stop, hauled her up just enough to punch her back down. A choked cry; blood splattered from nose to face and blouse and polished concrete. Still no word from Arashiel. He hauled her up again, cracked a knee into her face--
"Not the jaw!" I shouted, my voice spiking with irritation. He stopped to look at me emotionlessly. Rook, who gave his word that he would allow no harm to come to Strassen, now remorselessly pounding her into pulp...Arashiel, once fearing for Strassen's safety at Rook's hands, now practically ordering him to beat her. What in Hell was going on?
The questions began in earnest, more fruitfully this time, although not without the occasional violent reinforcement. And to her credit, Strassen never actually broke down under torture. No babbling whatever we might like to know. No begging us to stop. Nope, my song of Truth did its job well, squeezing truth from her reluctant bloody lips like water from a desert.
She did confirm that she served Daspit, although she would never quite divulge exactly what she did for him that would make her so important to him, important enough to kill Jael. Yes, he would most likely be found at the tether to Fate at Rocky Flats, and yes, she had met demons of the Game in his company. Most importantly (and she fought very hard to stay silent), Daspit held the word of "Heart's Desire," which explained the whole jacket-opening thing Strassen did with Susanna, the soldier of the Sword. Apparently the jacket is some sort of artifact which shows someone exactly what they want to see, mesmerizing them. Even Strassen doesn't know what they see. Sean was a target just so he would lead her to us.
I wondered as I stared at her--bloody and spent and defeated on the cold concrete floor--if she knew then that Sean might lead her to this. Finished with her, Arashiel and Rook left. I stayed. She looked bad, hardly moved. Nope. I don't think she had any clue she had this coming.
I shifted to my human vessel, gently began to clean her up. Her ordeal was over...for a time. She still had to pay for the souls she so gleefully corrupted, but that could wait. For now, there were cuts and scrapes and bruises to be tended to.
The Symphony crackled and ripped with a sudden flare of heat. I sensed Gabriel, but she was already gone. My heart pounded with the adrenaline of her passing and I hurried to the door. Arashiel walked by moments later.
"What was that?"
Coolly, "An archangel just came and took Irad away."
My eyebrows arched. I hoped this was a good thing, the redemption of a renegade rather than his destruction. No way to know but wait, I suppose, and pray.
When I joined the others, a palpable pall hung over the room, tense and uncomfortable. At least no one argued that we didn't need Strassen's information. Which made me wonder, what was Matt up to? I doubt he would be pleased with this little turn of events.
But thinking of Matt reminded me, so I passed along his news of the return of the Scourge to the Marches. Not surprisingly it distressed Arashiel, seeing as she made the final decision to release those ethereals who now faced a new slaughter.
Adriel filled in a few details on the Scourge. It is, in fact, ethereal, and appears as a white fiery light that burns all who cross its path. That still didn't rule out Purity, but it did seem less likely. I suggested old servitors of Purity might be somehow involved, but didn't mention the pseudo-Triad's fight with Dinhabah. In fact, I had to say alot without mentioning how I acquired my information, and I can't really say how successful I was in quelling suspicion.
But we did have a sticking point. Arashiel said stopping the Scourge should be our first priority and wanted my help, but I disagreed. We had a way to track Jael's killer through Arashiel's attunement, and that demon could be a direct ticket to Daspit, or the Game, or both.
And since when does Rook say to Arashiel, "I will do as you command," with a straight face?
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