On broken wings.. We shall fly

That question was the tricky matter, wasn't it. In his homeland Tesrael lived simply and wanted for nothing, only freedom to roam and hunt, and perhaps the right male accompanying him.
Here, however, he did have access to his alchemist captor's resources. "Riches from the human world. A safe and luxurious place to stay while you dwell in Terra. Whatever services a strong man like myself might provide if you return to our homeland also - bodyguard from overzealous suitors, perhaps that might suit your needs. If you doubt my skill, you could test me by... requesting that mortal creature be captured." He flicked his other wing upwards at the fleeing raven, still using his pinions for expressions whenever possible rather than his masculine form.

The human woman shifting submissively by like a zebra calf among lions, he watched warily. She was no threat thus far, and he gave none in return... so far. Of course, his alchemist captor looked like a harmless mouse, and he'd always remember the nuisance she'd brought.
 
Rhapsody stared at the tengu for a moment, examining him. She stayed silent until she had decided her choice. "Fine, follow me then," Rhapsody moved along and turned around to see the male tengu still standing there. She became irritated and arched her eyebrow. "Well? Are you not going to follow?" She questioned him.
 
An hour passes...


Like a shadow, his movements are like water and silk, standing as if he is pushed by another force. To the humans, his face takes many different forms. Depending on where they are looking, he might appear to be that young, handsome man. Or he might be an older gentleman, his short gray hair slicked back on his head, his face long and gentle as he takes a drink of whiskey, the warm liquor sloshing down his throat. Perhaps he looked like a young Irishman, black hair falling to broad shoulders, blue eyes still glowing, the only thing that never changes.


That is, unless you might be an angel looking. Or even half. The Angelic blood within one is what allows the sight of Azrael to be seen as his true self emerges to take the soul of the girl and tell her of her sins and that she might be able to still be saved, if she is able to embrace Death and the light of God. With a flash, his robes will hold his body, his wings, though nothing more than simple Heavenly light at this point in his reaping, spreading from the back of the grand Archangel. His steps are long and slow as his eyes begin to glow that heavenly blue, his face taking the shape of the true Angel, the glowing markings splitting from his flesh. His arms rise as if in an embrace, his gaze strictly on the woman who he must give unto Heaven.


To all but Angels and Demons, Azrael is no longer there. The great golden piece on his back begins to glow in the center, and his hands touch gently the head of the human woman, who suddenly stops dancing, eyes wide with fear as her soul comes to him, frightened and confused.


"Do not fret so, my dear." His voice is deep and lulling, singing with the music of Heaven as he takes the soul's hands. Her body drops to the ground, the heart murmur finally poisoned and ending her life, unable to be saved as the women she was with scream, which halts the live music in the room. "Death has called upon thee this night, and I am here to give thee guidance. Thou must make a choice now to embrace God and allow him to forgive thee of the deeds thou hast done in thine short life or to live in the After Life alone with the Fallen. Please, child, take this time to go into Heaven and become an Angel."


Strangely enough, the girl does not panic, instead laughing at herself at the irony. "I knew that would happen. The doctor told me I wouldn't live much longer. I guess this is my way of going out with a bang." She stares at her body a moment before finally looking up at Azrael, who smiles upon her a gentle smile. "You are beautiful...are you my Guardian Angel?"


For that, Azrael must laugh as time around them seems to stop a moment. Humans are ignorant beings, yet he loves them all the more with the passion of his great and noble God, his creator. "No, child. I am simply Death here to give thee final guidance thy needs to pass on. Go into the light of Heaven, and thou willst be met with the love of the Father forever. And perhaps thou might find thyself back on Terra Firma as an Angel, just like me." She nods, leaning towards him as he gives her his blessing in the form of a simple kiss on the forehead. With that, the soul disappears, and time resumes with the screams of the crowd and the cries of friends. Already, sirens can be heard.


Azrael now looks around. Though he is still invisible to the human eye, he spots the angels and demons around him. There even appears to be a couple halflings...Nephilim and other strange creatures. One is still on the dance floor, entranced in her own thoughts even after the music has stopped. For that he must smile and glide over to her, his robes tracing over and through the bodies of the mortals around him, his golden wings, still nothing more than the lights of Heaven, stretching across the room in their great expanse.


Ruh has begun to follow him now, padding across the dance floor, her body lithe and graceful as she pants with the heat. From his form, shadows seem to grow into the forms of cats, who leap and run around the area before seating themselves this way and that, as if guarding the bar as a whole. And as the sirens grow louder, Azrael places a hand on the young Nephilim, his touch empowering him with her name.


"Amaris, my dear," he says slowly, his voice singing that Heavenly song in that grand bass, "The music has, sadly, ended. Perhaps you would like a stroll with me?" Though the humans cannot see him, Amaris's Angelic blood would allow her to see his true form, his face gentle and timeless, though appearing older and wiser in years. A true Archangel. "It is a lovely night out, and Death is always a sad affair. I would love to have company on my way home, and perhaps your sweet young tigress...Lyra is her name, yes? Perhaps she can keep my dear Ruh company."


Ruh grumbles, seating herself at his feet. Something he's never understood was that, like Angels and Demons, Cats and Crows can see him no matter what. So though Ruh appears to be guarding nothing, she is watching her dear master even as he keeps his true form, his presence becoming a tad stifling in the area. And when he has finished asking his question of the young Nephilim, he turns, his hand falling from her shoulder, and glides out, robes ending in shadows as he disappears into the night, followed by a dozen glowing cats who surround a single, small white tiger, the only seemingly real creature out of all of them.
 
(( Apologies for godmod, Ce-mun, but I believe you'd approve.)) Tesrael gave the tengu princess a long stare. She gave no explanation to what she was planning and didn't negotiate further as to what price might constitute equivalent exchange. Abruptly he launched into the air, flapped hastily after the departing raven. The sleek, muscular male caught up on the long stretch, then twisted in midair in a zig zag as the foot-tall bird darted this way and that when he closed in, pulling his own modified shirt from his chest as he did so. Raven disappeared into that cloth piece as his speed and abilities made the mad chase look easy. Moments later he settled back down in the alley beside Ce with only a mild rise and fall of his chest from the exertion and not a hair tangled out of place in typical tengu bishoun elegance. In his right hand the shirt made a thrashing bag. He eyed the distant Rhapsody challengingly, then shifted his gaze to the human Ce beside him. "Keep this. Don't think of it as generosity to you or kindness not to seize your pet by its body, only preserving my own hands from its beak," he murmured quietly to her in a velvet monotone. With that he passed the shirt carefully to her grasp without releasing the ends until Ce had control.

With that he strode right up to Rhapsody. "You have me following you now, princess. You should also have the wisdom to save any tricks for someone else."
 
Rhapsody smirked as the tengu said that. "I haven't had tricks in years," She murmured. "Besides, you're the one who told me to take you to my home, didn't you?" She turned around to face him with a questioning expression. Rhapsody became impatient with him and turned around once more, walking into a new street.
 
(( Please, Dual Dragon, you'll want to delete the second paragraph. Tesrael passed the raven pet right back to Ce played by Sinderi while he was beside *her*. He was staring at "distant" Rhapsody as a way of saying that the demonstration was for her, a sample of his skills and a warning. ))

"To our homeland, the realm of Heaven that belongs to our kind," he asserted to Rhapsody's questioning expression as he followed apprehensively down her new street. "...It is my understanding that this magic can be performed from anywhere. You... must be taking me to your home because you require a ritual of some sort." It was an interrogator's flaw to give away information to anyone being inspected, thus helping their alibi. However he gave the suggestion deliberately, confident in being able to hear in Rhapsody's voice and read in her body language any falsehood.
"My name is Tesrael. Your name is-? And the place where you live on Terra is-?"
 
Devlin had really been just sitting around doing nothing. At one point he ordered a couple drinks. He looked back to see a girl studying what looks to be alchemy. He decided to inquire since he dabbled in a alchemy a bit because of his particular line of work. It's useful at times. He turned around and tried to strike up some kind of conversation. "Studying alchemy there I see. Those are some pretty complex stuff there." Devlin doesn't have a lot of experience, but enough to know that that was pretty complex. He got out of seat and took the seat next to her, getting a better position to talk to her in.
 
Kelpie went to the table that wanted the water and peanuts, but she had left already it seemed. Sighing with agitation, she threw out the wasted food and water. In all honesty, Kelpie was starving, but Sophia would have her head on a silver platter if she ate any of the food that the customers didn't eat. Full breed humans were a disgusting, wasteful breed that didn't deserve to live. For all they cared, all the other species could die out, but they had a purpose. They had to serve the damn humans so they could keep their layers of cellulite in tact. "Wasteful scum..."
 
The bookish girl Ensy looked up with a startle and a stammer at being spoken to by such an extraordinarily handsome man that also looked close to her own age. Devlin was so toned and perfect he didn't even look like he should be a "only" a real human though, and the expression she shone upon him was worship and awe. Unfortunately she rushed on at the mouth, rather than gather her wits in silence. "Hi. Thank you very much for noticing. Changing living things to the new beautiful color or shape you intend while keeping them alive is rather complex, but I could work on puzzles like these all day." She now came up for air, looked the handsome young man over admiringly and in detail as if putting down each line of torso and face down on paper or memorizing into a formula. "And what do you do? Aw, you don't look like the type to sit all day like me."
 
Reiko walked through the streets, the light making his eyes burn slightly as he rubbed them. He hated the city, always had, but there was an agenda behind this night. He had pissed off a few people he shouldn't and decided the only place he could possibly hide would be the city. "Why not" he muttered to himself as he walked the street.

Having grown wary of walking and not having anything to do he stopped at a fountain to recover his breathe and calm himself a little bit. Something caught the corner of his eye as he leaned down against the fountain, a waitress dumping food out into the dumpster with a hint of an attitude. But there was something else... he squinted and looked as she turned and recognized an odd pace. "Heh, finally something interesting in this deceased town of humans" he sang quietly to himself almost menacingly under his breathe as he started towards the building at a stride.
 
Amaris awoke from her stupor as a voice came to her. She looked up at him; clearly he wasn't a half-breed. Only then did she notice that the music has indeed stopped. How curious that she wouldn't even notice such a thing.

Death he says? She nodded up at him, agreeing. Then she looked at her white tiger, urging Lyra to join them. She wondered how he might've known her name, if he knew the way to heaven. But she shook her thoughts away. "How do you know who I am?" She finally asked him.

Lyra walked warily towards the duo. She watched as the other white tiger moved. Lyra was fairly large for her size although that has never been the matter.

As the group walked away, Amaris couldn't stop thinking of the angel beside her and what interest he has of her.
 
(No worries, I've deleted the second paragraph.)

"Not exactly a ritual, more of a portal," Rhapsody murmured and turned to a corner with rows of different styled homes. She then looked at the tengu as he had asked what her name is. She stayed silent for moment, "Rhapsody," She simply answered, then she sighed. "My place in Terra is in the North." Rhapsody's voice died down as she reached her home.
Taking out a shining key, she unlocked the door and entered, waiting for the man to follow along.

 
Just seconds was what it took the man to catch Cruor, she was rather scared of what he intended to do with the raven but he handed the struggling bird to her even before she could utter a yell or insult. She took the moving 'bag' from him with caution hearing the terrified caws of the bird. She gently pushed the captured beast against her chest whispering soft and sweet words to it. A few times she looked up and glared at the back of the tengu not knowing if she should be happy he had brought the bird back, or feel anger because he had captured it. A bird has to spread his wings and not be bound she thought as she carefully removed the shirt from the bird. Cruor cawed one last time and then hid his head in her hoodie again as she walked away with the bird.

Ce felt sorry for the waitress but she had left the correct amount of money by the table, that was good right? She just hoped it was still there and the woman would see it. Cruor was practically in shock by what happened, understandable after what happened to the poor creature. He trembled and she whispered to him again carefully stroking his feathers back in place. She saw someone dumping food and kept walking not really wanting to think about the poor waitress again, would her boss be mad at her? What if she was, was it her fault? The park wasn't far away actually just across a small court which was not connected to the alley.

"Calm down Cruor, we're almost there. "

She patted the bird as she walked through the old and rusty gates by the entrance of the park, sitting down on the bench closest to them. Slowly she let go of the raven and opened her hoodie to let him sit in it. Her head tilted back looking up at the nightly sky listening to the wail sirens which seemed to go in the direction of the alley.
 
Reiko heard the wail of sirens and quickly ducked behind the dumpster, trying to avoid any recognition. He waited for all signs of life to pass then climbed the wall and stepped into the top floor of the restaurant. Upon looking around he decided this would be safe enough, as it seemed only a few people lived there and wouldn't be back for some time. He sat himself on the sofa and after a while started to drift off into a light slumber.
 
Smiling a content smile, Azrael allows his human form to take shape outside the bar, his wings folding upon his back, his robes becoming a simple suit as blonde hair falls just to the shoulders of a man in his late twenties. Of course, for anyone with Angelic blood, the form of the Archangel is still there, his face still split with the glowing blue markings, his eyes still that Heavenly color. Ruh looks up at him now as the dozen shadows of cats are slowly drawn back into him.


"I know many things, Amaris," he says steadily, his voice now sounding slightly...younger...not holding as much of that timeless ring. "All I need is a touch, and the life of any creature is shown to me. That is my gift, and my curse. In order to give a soul to Heaven, I must know if that soul is worthy when I pluck it." Turning his gaze to hers over his shoulder as his hands slip into the pockets of his slacks, he smiles. "If you are wondering, were you to die any time soon, you would be worthy. Of course, the blood in you does not help, as the Archangels do not like Nephilim...but alas, if I send your soul, blood would no longer matter."


Ruh gives a huff as her master slows his pace, grumbling before looking back at Lyra, her nose twitching as she sniffs the air. She pauses, golden eyes narrowing slightly, tail flicking. She's never been one for strangers, much less for strange cats...Azrael is her master, and she likes none near him. Strange how she thinks this as Azrael has lived much longer than the young cat at his feet...but when one claims another, they don't much like to share.


"My interest in you, dear, is simple. I am the Angel of Death. And you have the smell of Life. I enjoy that, especially when one has the blood you have. Because you are part angel, I can spend some sort of time with you...and since I've never truly....studied Nephilim, as they never die, I would like to try studying now. My work for tonight is finished until another soul decides to attach itself to this world...and even then, I have many followers who shall help me in that endeavor. Were I not to have any...well, then I would be a very busy Angel, indeed." He has stopped and looked at her, blue eyes glowing as he gives her a gentle smile. Ruh sits at his feet, grumbling and leaning against him in her usual way, keeping her gaze on Lyra in warning. For Ruh, this is a strange night. Azrael never speaks to anyone except souls he sends to Heaven. That is the rule he lives by. There is no sense to mingle with the living when his job is to provide Death. It is a waste of precious time. After all, a human life goes by so quickly that, for Azrael, it only seems like a year or so.


But perhaps this is why he takes an interest in Amaris now. Perhaps seeing the trapped soul inside her, wishing nothing more than to see the Heaven her mother told her about, is what has triggered Azrael's interest. Perhaps the fact that she is Nephilim is what piques his interest. Of course...only Azrael really knows.
 
Lala sat there tapping a foot as she watched the goings on, she ignored the man and the waitress, though it amused her that a man deigned to gather his courage to sit near her. But she was also glad to see him go talk to someone else. That meant she wouldn't have to deal with him. She was absolutely surprised when she saw and angel perform a reckoning on a pour soul right in the bar. The looks on the humans faces were priceless, and the emotions coming off of them were delicious. Her master surely picked the perfect day to kick her out of the house.

She just kind of stayed where she was, Mufasa was curled up, acting as if the things going on in the bar weren't happening. Mufasa didn't even react when all the other animals came into play. His water was practically untouched, but it was there if he wanted more. Now though, what was Lala to do. The music had stopped and the wailling and screaming was getting to be a bit much. She watched as some chick who could see the angel in his form followed him, she chuckled realizing the woman was probably a half breed of some sort. She liked this place alot. Though it by far wasn't the best place in town it had character.

Now though, she was getting bored. Really bored, she needed someone to play with. She looked around not really expecting to find anything to interesting. She sighed and leaned way back in her seat, her head tilted over the top of the booth, her body sunken into the apholstery. She started to hum again, loud enough over the ruckus that everyone in the bar could hear. Well, that couldn't really be called humming, it was really singing. That didn't really matter, the song was interesting, it sounded as if the wind were mourning the dead girl in the middle of the floor. Soon everyone who'd been going nuts were calmed down by the gentle melody, and the sirens could be heard. Not that that would do anymore good then take the body away. The girls friend was of course still crying as she tried to explain things to the EMT's what happened, but she was at least calmer with the music.

Then they left, the dead girl, her friend and the EMT's, though she was pronounced dead at the scene. People who still seemed freaked out also left to get much needed rest after facing a completely random death which happened right in front of them. When Lala finished there wasn't even applause, it seemed dead quiet as customers went to their tables, booths and seats at the bars to drink and pay their tabs and such.
 
Devlin had barely understood what came speeding out of her mouth. It was near inomprehensible, but he knew it was something to do with advanced alchemy. He had also caught her question, which sort of startled him because in his line of work, telling about it would get him in a bit of trouble. He always had a backup job to tell people to avoid suspicion.

"I'm a college student. I've dabbled a bit in alchemy myself, but I never had much motivation to pursue it." Issac lied smoothly. It's somewhat true though. He had recently graduated college and left to work on pursuing his current career. He had been careful not to let details slip out.

Turning the tables on her would definitely prevent that. "So, how did you find an interest in alchemy?"
 
Tesrael studied Rhapsody critically as well as her home as he entered, braced for anything. The more wealth or comfort Rhapsody already possessed here on Terra, the less a payment in earthly material goods would matter to her, if she did indeed have access to powers that had been sealed away from him. She still had not demanded anything in return - she could be either a generous soul or bait for a consortium abducting supernatural beings for all he knew.

Talking to Devlin came a lot more coherently now that the first blush of being approached by such an impressive specimen had subsided. She thanked her lucky stars for the opportunity to sit next to someone this stunning and couldn't imagine why he was next to her. She rested her chin on one palm and tapped her cheek with the fingers while contemplating how to answer his question. "I guess it's that real life is so ordinary, why not escape it or make the world a little more fantastic - turn alleycats into great jungle cats with blue spots, or bring dreams to life. Then there's the logic of it. Follow rules A and B and you get C. In real life, there's so much that you can't have control over," she finished rather sadly.

"But college student. Right," Ensy said to Devlin, giving him both doubt and disappointment. "As fit as you are you might as well be one of those adventurer types like a video game or a knight from a storybook." And she wasn't even flirting by commenting on his body in point-blank tone, just expressing facts as she saw them just as if the merits of his body were black and white truth from a textbook. "Or, well, bounty hunter? Maybe that's a little more realistic? But anyway, student, sure. Bet you play a lot of sports though."
 
Kelpie sighed when Sophia finally gave her a ten minute break and sat in the lonely corner of the bar. She pulled out a photo of her and her mother and traced it quietly. Her mother was a saint among sinners to her--a literal angel--and her father was a filthy human that used Kelpie until they had Jezebel, her baby sister. The last time she saw her was the day of her birthday; apparently she was six now from what Kelpie heard on the streets.

Smiling, Kelpie thought of the stories her mother would tell her about what Heaven looked like. She said it was a perfect place without flaw. The gates are made of pearls and the roads are paved with the purest of golds. It was like a dream come true for Kelpie when she was a child. Stories like that were what got her through the day. Now, when she was kicked to the curb, she only had memories of those glorious stories.
 
Devlin was very surprised how she saw through his cover that easily. He maintained his face though. "Yeah I do play a lot of sports. And what do you do?" He had to keep the questions going to her. He took a sip of his drink and looked at her complex equations. He could only somewhat comprehend what it could mean. He shifted in his seat getting slightly nervous. What more of his history could she possibly uncover? He had already gotten himself in this and there was no way out. And she was also really cute, in a nerdy kind of way.
 
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