Much to Kate and Apollyon’s surprise, Lilith seemed in a good mood when she returned with Yushamin from their trip into the city.

“I take it the trip went alright?” Kate leaned forward onto the reception desk.

“The trip was great!” Lilith smiled. “Humans though…”

“Uh oh.”

“Yea, they left nearly all of our teachings behind. Everything is driven by greed, hubris, arrogance. It sucks but they have invented some nice things and their art has come a long way. I guess it’s to compensate for the misery they brought upon themselves.”

“It’s quite angelic in a way. A few humans took power and shaped the world to their whims. The rest just suffer in the world created to serve the few without knowing what to do to fix it, often even just thinking that there is nothing that can be done. And, of course, the few who believe that this is the correct way, the best way. Those are the worst. They don’t get anything besides making everyone suffer while someone rich and powerful gets all the benefit.”

“Truly the angelic way of life. Well, at least we can enjoy what they made and I can be sure that your friend Jolene won’t let them suffer long term.”

“It’s honestly quite calming to know that there is a very powerful entity who wants you to be well and has the knowledge to not accidentally fuck it up.”

Lilith nodded. “It’s something I wasn’t quite comfortable with until a few cycles ago. Today just reinforced what I realized: some beings can’t be trusted to act in their own best interest.”

“Like Gabriel.”

“Like Gabriel, yes.”

“What did you two even do out there today?”

“Food, looking at the museum, more food, going through some of the small local shops, and then dinner.”

“Find anything good in the shops?”

Lilith reached through a small portal to pull a framed picture from her home. “An art print, some form of reproduction of a painting made by one of the local artists.”

“That’s the ruins as seen from here. That’s really cool.”

“I thoughts so too and Yushamin nudged me to get something nice.”

Yushamin nodded solemnly. “A daunting task… you were quite hard to convince to get anything besides food.”

That made Lilith chuckle. “Hey, I wasn’t that stubborn!”

“Mhm. At least you were decisive when it came to the food.”

“Who can resist a curry?”

“I know I can’t. What about you?” Yushamin looked at the human who had just entered the library. It was Sarah.

“What about me?” She looked mildly confused.

“Can you resist a good curry?”

“Uhm… not really. Curry is just that amazing, in all its various forms.”

“You’re the journalist our head librarian hired, right?”

Sarah nodded. “I am, yes.”

Yushamin smiled. “Do you have the time to get kidnapped by two bored demons who need to have a fun time to distract from some annoying revelations?”

“A fun time…?” Sarah started to blush.

“Whatever we feel like. If you join us, you of course get to decide what happens. Wouldn’t want to break our new human.”

“I might need something to eat in a few hours and maybe sleep eventually but what can go wrong? Sure, I’ll join you.”

“Awesome. Shall we get going, Lilith?”

Lilith nodded. Sarah managed to get one more thing in before being abruptly teleported away. “Wait, you’re the Lilith?”

Kate giggled. “Oh dear. What have I done?”

Apollyon put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “The right thing.”

 

The rest of the month was strangely normal. No fae visitors, no angelic wrath, no eldritch interventions and no news from Azazel about the interrogation. At least the high inquisitors made sure the citizens of Wagadu had everything they needed to fix their mind control vulnerability.

The singular thing that Kate did outside of her usual duties was help Monica and Laura move into their new home, much to the joy of Missy, who finally got to move back into her shed.

This morning, Kate woke up in the arms of Nirrti. The two Nightmares had found out that their ability to influence each other’s dreams worked while they were asleep themselves. With both of them wanting the other to have a restful sleep, they could pretty much guarantee that they would have the best nap possible.

Kate stretched. “Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning.”

“That was amazing.”

“Yes, it was. What do you think of breakfast?”

“Making our own or going out for it?”

“Whatever you prefer.”

Kate slowly got up. “Let’s see what Avarice has today.”

“Hm… yes, something warm is a good idea. I hope she has those little muffins today.”

Avarice, owning a bakery in Sheol, indeed offered those little muffins today. Kate and Nirrti both opted for a warm breakfast option, grilled meat, hot muffins of various flavours and delicious dipping sauces offered a wonderful combination of savoury and sweet to start the day.

“What a life…”

Nirrti raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It’s incredible how good we have it. I’m so glad that this is my life.”

“Yes, this is great.”

“There is one thing I worry about though.”

“Gabriel.”

“Yes. I don’t like that I haven’t heard from Az about anything since we got him and the book.”

“That is worrying, true, but we are also old and patient. Those wars didn’t last decades or even centuries because there was so much going on. Some battles had years between of quiet between them. Years of planning and magical espionage.”

“I suppose so. Might even just be Raphael holding things up. He wanted to be there when we interrogated Gabriel. If he is held up, we tend to hold up our end of the bargain and wait for him.”

“That is possible, yes. Have you asked her recently?”

“Haven’t run into her for like two weeks. She is busy too.”

“As is the entire inquisitorium, I imagine. We brought quite the unstable element into heavenly politics. Oh, right… we demanded access to God’s belongings.”

“And Azazel is digging through that. Of course.”

Nirrti nodded. “That’s something that should be done before we question Gabriel, before we hand more information to Raphael and before anyone stupid enough to get in Azazel’s way starts cleaning up whatever storage room they put God’s junk in.”

“Let’s hope there is no one stupid enough. Last thing I want is another war. Or any war in my lifetime, however eternal that is now.”

“The last three weren’t fun, to be sure. Human wars are so much bloodier and more brutal, but every war, no matter who fights it, is a disgusting thing to be avoided. That said, even I, without much combat experience, will pickup my daggers to defend what’s right.”

Kate frowned and nodded. “I hate how violence can sometimes be the only solution.”

“I hope we can avoid it for a long time.”

“I have faith that we will. Jolene told me that Hell and its inhabitants, and my earthly friends, are on good paths. Not sure I want to rely on her guidance for the rest of eternity, but for now I am happy to know that she will keep nudging us whenever we get close to a worse path.”

“Hm, true. But, just as you said, I wouldn’t want to rely on her fully either.”

“Generally, our goals align with hers, but I need to know from Az if she has a plan for whatever happens when they don’t or when Jolene decides to not care anymore. And for me, well, as much as I like trying to make the worlds better for everyone, there are things I won’t do, lines I won’t cross and eventually I would rather be simply friends with Jolene than be someone who feels more like a pawn every time she nudges us. Not entirely sure that is her fault though… every time someone like Gabriel acts against us, the selection of good paths shrinks. With every good path gone, she needs be more and more vehement in defending what is left.”

“The other choice would be to give up on the angels or humans, and I wouldn’t want that either.”

“Exactly. So, I’ll follow along for now and see where this leads. She knows my boundaries and I trust that she will respect them. Not that I have much choice with someone so powerful.”

“Worrying thoughts… well, let’s move on to more positive things, shall we?”

“Like?”

“The raptor kittens are closing in on Gehenna and Dis.”

Kate grinned. “That sounds like a wonderful time.”

“Oh, it will be.”