Velhari

Content Warning:

Spoiler

Mention of domestic violence

[collapse]

Monica once again found herself surrounded by several important demons. This time Apollyon, Azazel, Eisheth and Sariel joined her and Kate in one of the library conference rooms.

The head librarian spoke first. “Thank you all for coming and apologies to Monica, I wanted to have this meeting sooner and I am sure not letting you know anything didn’t feel good. Sorry about that. Alright. As we discussed in our last meeting here, the defensive rings under the city can be used to send a pulse over this planet to find the needles we are looking for. That plan so far lacked the next piece. The inscription on the needle in which Lilith is imprisoned has to be read by a human and it is written in Atlantean. Until now, we lacked that human. Not anymore, you all know Monica.”

Monica waved shily.

Kate continued. “Monica can read Atlantean. All the pieces are in place to find and free Lilith.”

Azazel nodded. “We have all the pieces, yes, but we have yet to put them together. To that end, I have spoken to several demons at our research centres. The Academiae Infernalis is running scale model tests to determine how to best use the tools available and what repercussions that pulse will have. They will need at least a few more months to finish their tests. Meanwhile, I and the other inquisitors are preparing to deal with the potential diplomatic issues caused by simply running a magical shockwave across an entire planet. We will have to deal with the angels, RICA and their equivalents from other nations, and potentially the Fae, who are likely monitoring magical events in this reality. Speaking of RICA, Kate, superintendent Ramsey has requested a meeting with us both tomorrow. I told him to come here.”

“Alright, I will be here.”

“Good, thank you. That leaves one problem that needs to be addressed before Lilith can be freed. Monica, even if you can perceive the letters properly, we need you to be able to actually read the words out loud. Just being able to tell an A from a B isn’t enough. My position authorizes me to offer you nearly anything in exchange for your services here. We need you to learn Atlantean, how long will that take you and what do you want in return?”

“Uhm… I don’t know.” Monica was taken aback by that question. “I was okay at learning French in school.”

“We will send you the best teachers we have. And I must note that you give us the timetable, we have waited for twelve thousand years, we can wait a few more. You also don’t have to decide what you wish from us today. I just need to know if you are up for this.”

Monica nodded. “I am. I know this is more important than I am and, being utterly selfish, it is a way to be remembered for however long you guys live. But yes, I am absolutely on board.”

“Your enthusiasm is infectious. Kate already told you that your talent must remain a secret?”

“She did, yes.”

“Good. I would like you to talk to Sariel here after we are done to see about a way to offer you better protection than just what our librarians can offer. I trust ex-General Apollyon and ex-Inquisitor Eisheth to protect anyone within these walls, but outside is a different matter.”

“Of course, not a problem.”

“Thank you. Now, Lucifer, you wanted to add something as well.”

Lucifer nodded. “Yes. This entire endeavour is not my jurisdiction normally, but I would like to ask to be kept up to date on any developments. Additionally, I want to request that the Null Dagger does not go into the library vaults but is returned to Hell. While I do not doubt the security of the vaults here, we cannot track the dagger magically. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it might cause significant harm. We already know Ramsey wants it and I do not want him to have it. It is simply safer in Hell.”

Azazel turned to Kate. “I agree with Lucifer and would like to hand the dagger over to her after this meeting. Is that okay for you?”

Kate looked back and forth between the two demons. “Yes. On a similar topic, I would like to talk to you both about reassessing the contents of the artifact vaults here. I was told that many of them were kept here for a reason, I want to re-evaluate those reasons to see if we can make room. Without further expanding those vaults, keeping the dagger here would leave us with only a single empty vault. That is not acceptable.”

“I agree. Let’s talk about that once the RICA situation is sorted out and the dagger is safely stored in Hell.”

“Very good, thank you.”

Sariel spoke up. “Before we part ways for today, I want to offer the justiciars as additional security personnel in this city to ensure the safety of our associates and the defence system.”

Azazel took a moment to think before answering. “I believe that to be a good idea. You have to coordinate that with the librarians. Kate?”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “I am generally for having your people here, but I need to discuss that with the others. I will get back to you on that, okay?”

Sariel agreed. “Of course.”

“Then we part again. Thank you all for coming. Monica, as I said I would like to talk to you and Sariel in private. Everyone else, have a wonderful day.” Azazel got up.

Monica seemed to get along well with Sariel, so Kate left her to talk with the fallen angel on her own. Having left the conference room, Kate ran into Amaterasu, who looked rather concerned.

“Ama, is something wrong?”

“Sadly yes. Come.” The kami led Kate to the newly finished office where Laura was waiting for her.

“Hi, Laura. I was told something wasn’t right, can I help you?”

The young human looked distraught, fearful even. “I…” She choked back tears. “I fucked up.”

Kate sat down in the chair beside her. “You fear what I will do to you, right?”

Laura nodded. “Yea… and to my parents.”

“Your parents?”

“They made me tell them everything. I didn’t tell them about Monica’s special things about those letters, but I had to tell them about you… about everything I saw. I’m so sorry, please don’t kill me.”

“I won’t kill you. I won’t punish you.” Kate tilted her head looking at the bruise peeking past the collar of Laura’s shirt. “But your parents did, didn’t they?”

“Y-yea.”

“Ama?” Kate turned away from the scared human to look at the other demon in the room. “Can you tell Polly to come over and make sure Monica doesn’t leave after she is done with Azazel and Sariel?”

Amaterasu bowed her head slightly. “Of course.” She quickly left the room.

“First of all, you did the right thing coming here. We can fix this without hurting anyone. But looking at you, I get the feeling there is more to fix then just your parents knowing something they’re not supposed to. Was this the first time you were beaten?”

“No…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. It is simply easier for me to kill a hink by catching a strider, or two bird with one stone as you might say.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I just erase their memories of your answer and block that topic from their minds, they will figure out that something happened with you and keep punishing you. That is unacceptable. I need to talk to someone who knows far more about what I am allowed to do here and has more experience than me, but I have an idea. Optimally, we stop your parents from knowing our secrets and keep them from harming you in the future. It would be best if I knew how they harmed you, but I can work without that knowledge. Of course, I will only do something to them if you are okay with it.”

Laura shrunk back into her chair to think. “You can just read my mind… right?”

“I can. I won’t pry anything out of you that you don’t want to share, I promise.”

“I don’t want to say it out loud. That just makes it worse. Look for yourself…please.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Kate took a short peek into Laura’s memories. She had indeed been beaten. Her father grabbing her for her mother to swing a belt wildly. It was too much to keep seeing, so the Nightmare retreated from the human’s mind. “I’m so sorry… I can’t let that continue.”

“What will you do?” Laura sounded almost pleading for anything to be done.

Before Kate could answer, Apollyon entered the office.