September 9th, 1999.
Patient Arabis waits and waits at the Eason house...but the maroon car and its Soldier never arrives.
Jael and Matt continue making circuits of the block. After one such rotation, Jael and Matt notice that Elizabeth's car is gone. Come to think on it...so is Rook, although the angelic van is still in evidence. Jael thinks this is Odd. She begins to poke around. Matt interrogates the local plant life. The grass can only recall frustration, anger, and depression; the single aspen is lonely, but recalls that the 'grove' departed some time ago. Matt ascends to see Novalis, and leaves Jael to do her Cherub thing.
In Heaven: Matt goes to the Grove and waits around for the Lady to have time to see him. After a short time, he is granted his audience. Novalis reassures him that he is not a failure, but cautions him against acting out of anger, or resorting to violence too easily. She gives him another Force, and sends him on his way.
Bob and Arashiel contemplate the tapestry for awhile. Bob then decides that it might be prudent to go see Eli about it. Rashi is less thrilled about this idea (though she did try to invoke everyone's favorite Mercurian just a day ago to ask the same questions) -- she thinks Eli would want them to "be creative...and he won't answer the question anyway." Bingo, Rashi.
So the intrepid Creationers decide to go on Upstairs and see if the Library has any info on the Tapestry. (Do note, gentle reader, that this leaves Susannah and the Tapestry alone earthside.) The angels do much reconnaissance, with Bob taking Rashi's dog vessel for a walk, complete with...we all know what dogs do on walks, and what conscientious owners must clean up. Bob is very Elohite about the whole business, which Rashi finds kinda amusing.
So Upstairs we go, to Bob's Heart in Eli's Room. No, Eli is not home at present. The pair go out into the Hall of Creation, and come upon a Malakite sculpting a school of fish from glass. Arashiel stops to lend suggestions -- the Malakite is unsure about how to achieve the negative space affect he is seeking -- while Bob is...bored. But he's a good Elohite, and doesn't show it.
The Library proves to have no info on any Tapestry specifically, though a helpful little ferret reliever shows the researchers to the section marked Archangelic Artifacts. Eli has shelves and shelves of created things attributed to him...daunting. No books leap off the shelves and announce themselves as useful, and the discouraged pair go off to the human genealogy section to research the Eason family and see if there's any correlation between a hereditary line of Sword Soldiers and an Eli-creation.
Meanwhile, back at the Eason's, patient Arabis Sees Something. Marion leaves in the early hours of dawn. Rather than wait and guard an empty house (though, the pessimistic angel notes, demons are likely to come and wire the place for bombs the minute she leaves), Arabis follows Marion...to Susannah's house. Hmm. And lookie there -- the TICTOC car is parked across the street. How wonderful. Arabis goes to the window, tried to overhear the discussion inside between Susannah and Marion. Sounds like -- an argument. Something about -- cults, Elizabeth, crazy old women, and the Root of All Evil that happens to be doubling as the 'old rug' on the coffee table, here give me that, no, get your hands off it...
PING, says Arashiel's attunement. PINGPINGPING. The research trip is abruptly truncated, and the angels rush for the Sword's cathedral to access its Tether points and go back earthside. Laban-Lael helpfully provides a car for them, though Rashi doesn't mention exactly what the nature of the emergency is. Zoom! Off to Susannah's.
The blinds are down and Arabis cannot see into the room wherein the 'discussion' is happening. Frustrated Ofanraven flies round to the sliding glass doors, whence she can *just* glimpse the two women and the Tapestry. Hesitation for one brief instant: crash into the window and risk Symphonic noise and the departure of an alerted TICTOC, or let the women have at it? Symphonic noise. Arabis crashes into the glass door, doing a fine imitation of a dazed raven. As hoped, the women stop wrangling momentarily, and Susannah goes to the door to check on the poor bird. The merest second the door is open, Arabis darts into the house and flies into Marion's hair, entangling claws without hurting her. Marion has the predictable panicky reaction, and begins swatting at the raven, the Tapestry and Susannah quite forgotten. Susannah has a hunch that this fortuitous raven is probably another angel, and snatches up the Tapestry and barricades herself in the back bedroom.
Bang! the door flies open. The cavalry arrives -- Arashiel in her human vessel, and Bob looking like Bob. Arabis disentangles herself from the unfortunate Marion's hair and flies back out the way she came in to pursue TICTOC, assuming it hasn't already fled.
Bob resonates: Marion is angry, protective of Elizabeth, tired of our interference, and believes utterly that Susannah is dangerous (and responsible for John Eason's abandonment of her) and she, Marion, is in the right for acting against her. Bob tries to talk her down -- which fails, at first. Bob eventually slaps the hysterical woman to get her attention. Oh yeah. That helped.
Rashi secures Susannah and the Tapestry. Matt arrives, and the Elohim and Arashiel try to talk sense into Marion, who ends up being bitter and numb and hostile. They finally let her leave. Suddenly Eli appears (Bob and Interventions, I'll tell ya)walking up the street -- stops and talks to Marion, and she leaves smiling. Then Eli wanders upstairs, awards Bob another Force, and spends a genial time talking to his Servitors and Matt and Susannah and saying almost nothing useful about the Tapestry. As he leaves, Matt asks that he go see Jael so she won't feel left out. Eli promises to do so. Rashi and Bob conclude thereafter that while it seems to be a cosmic joke that the Tapestry is in Laurentian hands, Eli might not man it o remain there. Bob, ever helpful, tells Rashi, "It's *your* problem now..."
Arabis is off! She spots the TICTOC car and pursues. Songs fly, but her incredibly tough Ofanite mind resists any nefarious affects. Atone point, she is struck momentarily blind, but manages not only to avoid a messy collision with anything, but also to find the car again afterwards. Then, in a sudden unfortunate moment (the night for Interventions), her raven Vessel is struck by a hawk. The vessel, crippled, falls to earth and Arabis manages at the last second to flip the falling bundles of feathers so that the hawk lands on the bottom. Crack. Symphonic noise. The hawk is real and alive. Arabis disentangles herself, but finds her wing broken and the hawk dying and no help in sight. Of a sudden, a familiar van screeches to a halt by the side of the road, and out jumps Jael. Clearly that sneaky Cherub attuned to her. Jael rushes up, but Arabis is hopping and begging that she heal the hawk, heal the hawk! So Jael does, and as the hawk flies away, she heals a bit of Arabis' substantial damage, too. Then the pair get back into the car -- Arabis cannot fly yet -- to see if they can find TICTOC. Nope. Arabis is crushed. Then Jael mentions with some bit of concern that Rook is missing -- left his post and has not checked back in hours. Jael is worried. Arabis, who also knows Rook, thinks this is an Odd Thing. The pair drives back to Perry's house to have a look around.
They arrive, only to find a strange looking man sitting on the curb. It's....Eli! Jael and Arabis get out and go sit next to him. They sit mostly quietly, a contrast to the interrogation techniques of Bob and Rashi. Eli heals Arabis the rest of the way and refills everyone's Essence before he goes on his merry way. Then Jael calls Rashi, asks if anyone's seen Rook...and upon getting a negative response, says he must be missing.