26th December
I'd like to go home now, please
As Mammon talks jovially to the three kings-. Well, two kings. King Aariel of the Lion Host was too badly injured to contribute much, and his retinue are still singing him back into reasonable health. Thanks to Diana his forces were in place to stop the break out overrunning the entirety of the Silver City's hinterlands, but he got rather a lot of green fire thrown at him when Neron stopped pretending to be Asmodel.
Someone else who's going to think twice before trying to talk his opponents down in future.
Diana and Dr Balewa are standing over Mr Excalibris's corpse. Diana looks… Sober. I'm not exactly feeling triumphant myself, but she could stand to look a little less unhappy about the death of the man who killed me.
"Is it safe to take it out?"
Dr Balewa closes his eyes for a moment. "I believe so. With the theurgists gone and Asmodel dead, his theurgical powers would return to their normal levels." He looks towards the kings, his eyes briefly alighting on me along the way. "Whether he returns to this place or goes to Hell, that is not for me to decide."
Diana takes hold of the Spear and pulls it free of his chest. His silver blood has dried, the cloth of his robes sticking to the haft for a moment before losing its grip. She takes a moment to examine the Spear. It appears undamaged, and the dried blood is flaking off on its own.
"So… We done?"
Dr Balewa regards me impassively for a moment, then turns his head to take in the battlefield. Damned souls traverse the area, occasionally signalling a medic or a sorcerer. Apparently they've got ideas on reconstituting 'dead' damned, as long as they're mostly intact. On other occasions there's an awkward moment as they find an injured angel and have to signal an extremely unsettled angel to tend them.
"The invasion has either failed, or succeeded beyond Mammon's wildest hopes."
"I'd laugh, but I don't think I can do that any more."
"Oh? Does he not benefit most from this outcome?"
I-. I can't narrow my eyes. "And what if he does?"
"It would not be beyond the abilities of a demon lord of his age and power to manipulate events in order to secure this outcome."
"And it could have been a sentient sock. I don't want to get obsessive about puppet mastering, particularly when I don't have a particular problem with the outcome."
"I have known Mammon a little longer than you have."
"Then feel free to keep an eye on him. It's not as if we're friends; he was just the least bad candidate available."
Diana's looking past me-.
"A ringing endorsement if ever I heard one!"
Mammon's smiling as he pats me on the midsection, and I undulate out of the way in order to keep him in full view.
"Yes, despite me not being exactly what they thought I was, the Kings of Heaven have -in their wisdom- decided to follow through on their pact with me. I will be returning to Hell shortly to… Cement my control."
Diana nods. "I hope that you use the opportunity to tend to those souls in your care more kindly than your predecessors did."
He leans towards her, his belly-. Ugh. "Let me tell you a little secret, in light of your recent personal revelation." He mugs magnificently as he looks left and right, pretending to check for anyone who might overhear. "Demons? Don't actually like other demons very much. My power rests upon the backs of the damned-." He straightens up, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps we should use a new word for them?" He shakes his head, wattle wobbling grotesquely. "Regardless, my power relies on them, their strength and loyalty. I'm no nicer now than I was a millennium ago. It's… The situation that's changed." He looks up at me. "Now, about your obligation to me-."
"What obligation to you? Zauriel killed Asmodel. Your deal for fighting Neron was that the angels recognise you as king. That's happened."
"5:1 Mammon, your actions have earned you a degree of forbearance." Raphael doesn't exactly look at ease with the situation, but perhaps he's at least happy that the demons and damned will soon be leaving. "But do not test us."
Mammon smiles innocently. "Heaven forbid."
"5:2 Orange Lantern. Asmodel's deceit and Karrien's wrath have caused both you and the Earth a great harm. As we continue our Holy work, these harms are things for which we must make amends. We would appreciate your input on what form our restitution should take."
I bite down my initial impulse to tell them to keep their grubby hands off Earth forever, without needing the low-key glare Diana sends my way.
"What happened to my weapons after I died?"
"I think Karrien and the God of Escapology looted your corpse." Mammon shrugs, and I think he's noticed just how repulsive I find his body. "With the pressing need to advance on Heaven, I haven't checked your mortal remains."
"Karrien was carrying the Sword of the Fallen." Blank looks. "The short sword Chantinelle used to kill the First? The blade is split in two?"
King Seraphiel nods. "1:1 A foul thing. I destroyed it when Karrien assaulted me."
Darn. No offence to Seraphiel… Not that I wanted him incarnated as a mortal-.
No, no, I did.
"Right. Can you resurrect the people who were killed?"
"5:3 Your nature makes it a little problematic, but I believe that we will-."
"Not just me. Mister Excalibris had a lot more people than just me killed."
He nods solemnly. "5:4 We will offer resurrection to all of those killed before their time who have entered our care."
"No. Everyone. Wherever they went. If you want to make up for that, you go to wherever they are-"
Mammon raises his right hand. "Except Hell."
"-or act through proxies or do whatever you need to do, and you fix this. And I want you to pay attention, because while you might not have thought killing them was necessary yourselves, you are part of the control mechanism for the system that allowed this to happen. Actually… That 'Mind of God' thing… Was that Asmodel?"
Raphael bows his head slightly. "5:5 We believe so."
"Not a giant man with a smiley for a head?"
"5:6 It… Why would you think that?"
Never mind, then. Boss Smiley seems a bit of an abstract thing for Asmodel to have invented, but..? Don’t know. Could have pulled it from.. my mind… Fine.
"What are you going to do to prevent anyone else doing what Asmodel did?"
"1:2 We will of course improve our security-."
"No, that just makes them work harder. Angels need the capacity to disobey evil orders. Zauriel knew his instructions were nonsense all along. Heck, even Gabriel was getting there. You-."
The kings look at each other, and I faintly hear a complex series of rapid musical exchanges. Raphael nods.
"5:7 We have a solution."
"Alright."
"5:8 We believe that you wish for us to feed every angel upon the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Quite aside from the work we must perform in repairs and penance, we do not know what the result of such a thing would be."
And… Yeah. I sort of assumed that they would, or… There might be some other way to do it.
"5:9 We will restore Zauriel to life, and send him to live and work amongst you. While he does this, we will study both the changes to his behaviour and his soul, that we may better assess the risks and rewards. If he remains a good man, we will offer this to others. Is this satisfactory?"
"Yes. Now, what do I do about getting my body back?"
A short time later
I wake up to the scent of blood and ash. Body… Robotic, and Donna still has my rings. Okay, I-.
I look up at the Masak Mavdil as it towers over the…
"YOU FUCKING FUCKS!"
