Yue

 14th October

11:03 GMT -5

"…sure what's happening to her blood."

The biomancer has finished making the attachment. They're keeping Ms Blaze unconscious for now, because the absolute last thing they need is for her to try using magic of any kind. Mr Cassidy was somewhat interested when they made the initial attachment, but as they moved on to the parts that were less visible he started reading the research notes Sephtian provided. Cranius on the other hand appears to have found the whole thing absolutely enthralling.

Sephtian gently touches the flesh of the left wing with his right hand. "The wings appear to produce the blood ex nihilo. No test we performed showed it having an adverse effect on any living creature. Do you have some reason for believing that something has changed?"

"The blood moving back into the wings isn't having the vitalising effect that it should."

"Risk to the patient?"

"Negligible in the short term, but she'll be carrying vestigial wings on back and have dangerously high blood pressure. Pure thaumaturgy isn't my field… There probably are non-biomantic fixes, but-."

"Fueh!" Cranius swivels to look at me. "Lantern. Let me speak mit zhem."

"Doctor, with the greatest-."

"I heff already build an Angel. I know how to do zhis."

"Assembling Ms Parish was considerably more simple than this-."

"Unt not everyzhing I learned from my former master has made it into my work in Aberrance."

I lift my right hand to my right ear. "Professor, Cranius would like a word."

Sephtian turns to look at the window. "By all means, Doctor."

Cranius clears his throat. "I assume zhat you are not able to directly mould zhe angelic tissues?"

"Normal speaking voice is fine-."

The biomancer nods. "They accept being grafted to foreign tissue without any sign of rejection, but it resists direct manipulation. If I had more samples it would be a fascinating subject to study."

"Yah, okay. I suggest taking small-"

Mr Cassidy's phone vibrates and he gets it out of his pocket to take a look at the screen.

"-samples of the tissue…"

"Ah, Lantern? I think you should take a look at this."

I turn away from the window and look at his oh… Darn it. "Is that live?"

"Yes."

A somewhat distant picture of the Angel I evaded in Eden -or a look-alike- stares back at me from Mr Cassidy's phone. And from the look of the surrounding buildings… About four hundred metres away. KordTech New York has good wards, and we added extra spells before attempting this, but…

"Do you actually have anything to do with Angels?"

"Haven't yet. And I can't say that I'm all that eager to start right now."

"Good Catholic like you?" He raises his left hand and pokes his left horn. "If that's a problem, you may want to consider the practical benefits of converting to Hellenism."

"Why? Would I stop being a Demon?"

"I suppose not."

"…should serve to convince-."

"Sorry, Doctor, Professor. Something's come up and I need to deal with it. Do you have everything you need?"

"No, of course not. We're going to have to work out whether Dr von Sch-."

"Is there anything you need from me?"

"Oh. No."

"Right." I raise my right hand to my forehead and focus on the groundskeeper working on flowerbeds outside, appearing alongside him for a moment before heading up into the air.

He doesn't bother looking around.

Since I'm not hiding my precise location now, I scan the Angel with a bit more effort than I dared while in the Garden. And… Yeah, alright, in the case of an Angel I've got no reason to be annoyed about him having wards that good. Or… Angels don't have free will, right? Would I..? Even be able to scan something that had no connection to the orange light? No, no, I should be able to… I mean, most forms of scan…

The Angel looks in my direction, despite the buildings in the way, and flies upwards on an intercept course. Flaming sword still in sheath, though I suppose that might change once it confirms who I am. Well, though I'd rather avoid a fight like this over a city, attacking me with a burning sword without openly violent provocation would clearly be grounds for self defence… But I don't really want New York to become the next Gomorrah. Heh, which is ironic, because the wings of the Angel who was responsible for that obscene slaughter are being attached to a Demon right now.

I stop about a mile from the surface and wait for the Angel to catch up with me. He appears to be flapping a little more than the Thanagarians do, probably due to using sympathetic magic to fly rather than Nth metal. When he reaches my height he stops about ten metres away with his wings raised and unmoving, his expressionless face studying me.

"Good morning. I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Whom am I addressing?"

2:1 "I am Zauriel of the Host of Eagles, Messenger of the Most High."

"And are you here for business or pleasure?"

2:2 "I am here upon the Lord's business. There was a theft from the Garden of Eden, from which the children of Adam and Eve are-."

"Let's not draw this out. It was me."

2:3 "You admit your guilt freely?"

"Yes. I needed the fruit, and I wouldn't ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do-. Unless I wasn't capable of it, obviously."

Zauriel nods. 2:4 "That is good. The most concerning possibility was that an agent of Hell had penetrated the Garden. Still, I felt the presence of the demonic most clearly. Do you have an explanation for that?"

"I just used a small amount of kaahuite as a distraction. And I certainly don't work for any Demon. I slew the First of the Fallen earlier this year, and Satanus is working really hard at getting on my bad side."

2:5 "I am pleased. That means that what comes next will be simple."

"It's my hand, right?" I pluck the power ring from my right ring finger and transfer it to my left index finger. Then I create a construct blade. "The penalty for theft?"

2:6 "I would not deprive a starving man of his means of obtaining sustenance. You simply-."

"Do I look like I'm starving to you?"

2:7 "Did you take the Fruit in ignorance of its nature?"

"Does scry proof, phasing power armour suggest ignorance to you?" I tilt my head to the side for a moment. "Some ignorance. I didn't know exactly how it worked. But I had a fair idea."

2:8 "You have not consumed it yourself. Do you intend to work some feat of magic with it? Or did you seek to use its properties for the benefit of another?"

"Yes? Look, really; I'm fine with the hand thing. Can we just-?"

2:9 "You are not required to maim yourself."

"Then what do you want? What am I supposed to do?"

2:10 "You simply have to repent of your sin and ask the Lord's forgiveness. And he shall be merciful and grant it, and your sin will be wiped away."

I stare, the corners of my mouth turning downwards. "Well that's not going to happen."