Two hours later

Getting the various representation of Death together in one place at the same time proved to be harder than it originally sounded. Thanatos, who had continued to prefer to be seen as the Grim Reaper, had appeared quickly enough when called. Rowan whispered in his ear and the creature disappeared again leaving the room frigid and smelling of the grave.

Across the room, Master Christophe gently lowered himself to the floor, sitting beside the old warlord and Arthur. "My lords, I have something that must be discussed before we start on this plan."

"Now he's got doubts" Arthur grumbled, motioning Jenkins to join them. "What out of all the multitude of things that can and probably will go wrong with this crazy ass plan bothers you the most?"

The Library's Caretaker rolled his eyes at his former leader's sarcasm. "How is this any more mad then some of the plans you dreamed up during the time of Camelot?" Jenkins said, kneeling gingerly in front of others.

"I wasn't basing my whole plan on getting Death and her siblings to show up and help clean house. Death is unpredictable and unforgiving. We'll only get one shot at this." He glanced over at his father with a frown. "Well - at least some of us will."

"The plan can and probably is sound" Christophe began, casting a quick look across the room at both his Queen and the Abbot of the Temple. "But I am troubled by the presence of your sister in this mix."

Vlad raised one eyebrow. "Considering that most, if not all, the avatars of Death who will come to this hunt are doing so at her request..."

"And that's the problem" Christophe sighed. "Most of these representations of Death have an oddly uncomfortable interest in your sister and her ability to interact with them. Not even experienced Necromancers such as myself have had as much interaction with Death as the Queen. This could prove distracting at the worst possible time."

"For them or for her?" Arthur asked somberly.

"Both" Christophe replied. "While I sincerely believe that Azrael will not allow the horrors flowing from that Soul Cage to touch our Lady - the others might see it as a way to bring her even closer to them. To make her, as it were, one of them."

Vlad huffed in annoyance. "Wonderful. Our strongest link to Death and you want to what - send her to her room?"

Christophe smiled slightly. "No sire, I would have her take you and the mortals back to the Great Library and shut the door behind her to keep those tortured souls from finding a way out of this place."

"The whole point of having Death here is to make sure they don't escape - and I can guarantee you that's the argument she'll make if we tell her we need her to go." Arthur glanced over his shoulder at his sister. Rowan was standing silently in front of the crystal box that held the bloody Book of Shadows with an inscrutable look on her face, as though by sheer force of will she could make it's contents give her the information she required. He briefly wondered if, despite the crystal box, she could hear the voices coming from the Book. He frowned, not finding any answer for the question of what that horror could offer his beautiful sister to make her open its blood stained pages.

"And the other issue with that little hitch in our plan is I have no intention of leaving my children to face this horror without me" Vlad said coldly, long, bony fingers tapping restlessly on his leg - a sure sign of his shortening temper. The pain was more a dull ache now but just enough to make keeping his composure harder and harder to do. Like a toothache that never allowed you to rest. He was tired of the pain, tired of this game the mortals were playing with a book that should have been destroyed long ago, a book that was now a threat to his children and his people. And he was too tired to come up with a rational, elegant way out of their situation other than setting the room on fire and letting everything burn..

"Forgive my bluntness" Jenkins rumbled, looking at Arthur sternly " But it seems to me that in your current state you can only be a distraction to your children in the midst of this fight. I cannot speak for Mr. Carson or the librarians but those of us who have been on a battle field can see you are not as well as you would make out. I'm guessing the pain is dull now but will, once the blood you took in wears off, will become more intense. That little piece of metal needs to be removed and the wound dealt with and soon." He glanced over at the man he had followed into battles too numerous to count and frowned. "Arthur isn't inclined to be merciful at the best of times, especially if someone of his has been injured - and if things go wrong neither you nor I will be able to stop him.."

"IF things go wrong the young King will simply allow all those tortured souls to be pulled away and let the Death Reapers parcel them out to where they should have gone in the first place" Christophe agreed sadly. "Including the soul of that poor girl who was tricked into becoming part of this madness. And that, good knight, may be what needs to happen. This issue is that as was pointed out - it's only been a few hours for us in this room. But for that poor, innocent girl it maybe days or even years. It has certainly been an eternity for whatever else might still be living in that prison. There maybe nothing left of the Candice that first was thrown into the soul cage and only mad remnants of the others put in there hundreds of years previously." He glanced over at the huddled prisoners, his normally kind expression hardening. "Forgiveness is God's domain, Sir Knight - not mine. Nor my master's. Let the death angels come and make right what these hell-blasted mortal magic user have made wrong and let this world go on it's way in peace. That being said - I'm not willing to offer up my Queen as a casualty of this madness. She is talented where the Dead are concerned but I have centuries of experience in Necromancy - and even I am unsure just how well this will work." The older sorcerer glanced over at the young priest with a frown. "You and your brother should be fine - your not as close to Death's representatives as your sister - and this spell will require your Fire Spirit's flames to keep the mad souls grouped together and away from the still living beings in the room."

"You mean the three women still snoring peacefully in the corner?" Arthur replied with a snarl. "For all we know they may already have been taken over by some odd escapee from the box when those idiots pulled the Countess from it. Or they may have willing come along for the ride just to have a grand adventure. We're still missing two of them - how do we know those three didn't have something to do with why the others are not here? It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a devil dressed as an angel and trying to con their way into heaven."

"Your concerns for the two missing women are will founded but I doubt these three are possessed" Christophe replied thoughtfully. "Thanatos would have taken more of an interest in them when he was here. But Azreal can look them over to make sure. No - I was more concerned with the two servants of the Countess tied up in the corner. I would not put it past their harridan of a mistress to offer them up to anything escaping from her Book of Horrors as a way to distract us and escape her fate."

"Not going to happen" Arthur snarled. "I do agree that we need to send Father back to the Library until this is over and done with but my preference would be to send him with Galahad and my siblings. From there he can send a message to the Fae Realm and our Healer's tent to have a door opened for him. The Librarians should also go - they will be of no use to the coming conflict and I'd rather not give Flynn a chance to annoy one of the Death avatars with his eternal questions."

"No - I will not leave your side" Jenkins replied angrily. "If you will send away your brother and sister then I need to be here to stand at your back - if for no other reason then you need another sword to protect Master Christophe while you..."

"While he stands there, sword in hand, waiting for something corporeal to kill" Vlad snarked. "I have no love for the idea of ANY of my children being in the midst of this but Rowan understands Necromancy in a way neither you nor Khan do - and Khan's just big enough to drop you on your ass if you get out of hand trying to protect her from something she doesn't need protecting from." He sighed and motioned his son to help him stand. "And on that happy note master knight I think you and I should round up your librarians and be on our way out of the battle field - before we're unceremoniously kicked out." He leaned against the damp wall for a moment, gathering his strength for the walk to the door. "Don't fuss Galahad. My boy and his siblings have dealt with evil far worse than this - and your friends will not leave the field of combat if you do not. So..."

"So, little brother" Arthur said quietly. "Time for you to go."

Across the room - the Librarians and Master Khan were each, in their own way, waiting for the inevitable conclusion to their adventure.

"Bet Thanatos is sweet on Rowan" Jones commented from his corner of the room. He had tucked his lucky coin back in his pocket after Kahn had threatened to make it disappear into the ether if the little thief didn't stop playing with it and pay attention to what was being said to him. "He always seems to be the one to show up when she calls. Though have to admit - giving someone a human heart for a Valentine's Day gift is a bit much."

"Don't say that where Arthur can hear you" Stone warned, watching the Phoenix King seated beside his injured father with a worried look. "I don't think he'd think that was funny." He watched the old Warlord carefully, noting that the health benefits of the blood he had drunk seemed to be keeping the man stable and able to control his pain for now. How long that would last was anyone's guess. His son was leaning against him, one hand gently patting his parent on the arm as they talked with Jenkins and Master Christophe. "I wish..."

"Wish what?" Baird asked, looking over from her spot against the wall. She had watched Stone occasionally throw a furtive glance over at the magic users, a somber look on his face as he watched Arthur pretend his father's injuries didn't worry him and Vlad pretended he wasn't injured at all.

"Ever notice how Vlad and Arthur just seemed to be so...close? I've known a lot of guys who liked their fathers. Hell - I've even know some that loved them - but with Arthur and Vlad it's like a mutual admiration society. Never met two people who so admired, respected and loved one another like those two do. I guess I'm a little..."

"Jealous?" Khan whispered, rising up from where the three kidnapped women still lay snoring. "Yeah - I get that. Never had a REAL dad myself unless you count Master Leu or Master Christophe. Having Vlad just fold me into the family and count me as one of his own - it's kind of an odd feeling Nice - but odd. But much as he might love me - no one is going to measure up to his golden wolf cub."

"His what?" Stone asked, perplexed.

"Vlad's nickname for Arthur" Khan said with a laugh. "From what I've been told by some of my older priests - the old man was known as the Old Wolf. Most polite thing he was called - at least by those Fae who still remain exiled in the mortal world. Did NOT have a reputation for being warm and cuddly especially towards those he thought were a threat to his people. So - since he was the old wolf his son was always called the Young Wolf. Master Christophe said Vlad started calling Arthur his golden wolf cub when he was growing up because he was a blond like his mother and as much a fighter as his father. Still does sometimes. I've heard him do it when we gather at the library for a beer and conversation when he wants to get Arthur's attention."

"What does he call Rowan" Baird asked, her eyes never leaving the young Queen's still figure. The other woman's unblinking examination of the box and its contents was beginning to concern her.

Khan shrugged. "Princess, Angel, little hell cat... depends on what mood he's in."

"My father's men use to call me Battle Crow" Rowan called over her shoulder, smothering the slight smile that had formed at Khan's explanation of her brother's nickname.. "Even Seraphiel does sometimes - usually when he's mad at me. I keep telling them I'm not a crew but a cat but no one seems to listen. They keep muttering something to do with my being like the Celtic Goddess Badhbh who was known to cause fear and confusion among soldiers to move the tide of battle.ยด She turned back to her audience with a shrug. " I can't IMAGINE where they got that image of me from."

"I can" Khan laughed. I've seen you on a battle field during our war to free the Fae lands and you damned near scared the life out of me - and I was on YOUR side!"

A whispery sound of wings filled the room and a figure moved from the shadows and into the light. "Hey Ro! Thantos said you needed help?" The figure, whose black wings disappeared instantly behind her back wasn't QUITE as imposing as the previous spirit of Death had been. In fact - she wasn't imposing at all. She was small, short black hair framing a pixie face wearing Goth teen girl clothing and high boots. Other than the wings - there really wasn't much to identify this being as who she was - Azrael, the angel of Death.

Rowen smiled. "Hey Az! Yeah - this has all turned into a major cluster fuck and I really could use you and some of your brothers and sister to help out." She turned and gestured to the Librarians, making swift introductions all around.

Azrael peered worriedly at the old Warlord who had managed to straighten his back as he moved towards the group with Jenkins hovering worriedly at his back.. "You've been hurt!" she said with a frown waving vaguely at the blood drawing on his chainmail.

"Not so much that you need be concerned for me" Vlad replied with a sigh, taking Jenkins arm and leaning for a moment on the immortal Knight.

"Oh, I'm not" Azrael agreed cheerfully. "Father would have my head on a platter if I touched you. He's fond of you."

Arthur sighed. "Well I wish he'd shared that with me. I damn near took that idiot bitch's hands off for hurting him. And I still might if you and your siblings can't help us."

Flynn winced. "Maybe you should..."

"Watch his language?" Azrael laughed. "It's okay - I've heard it all in multiple different languages. No skin off my nose if he wants to be salty." She glanced over at the Countess, encased in her stolen human form and seated unhappily in the old tub. "So - She's the one Thanatos told me about? She's the one responsible for hurting the Old Wolf." The angel's soft brown eyes had gone cold and dark as she examined the sneering face in front of her. "I wouldn't['t be so high and might, if I were you" she said, tapping one booted toe in front of her. "It would serve you right if I fed you to the angelic choir. I knew a few Thrones and Seraphim who would just LOVE to tear you body limb from limb to get to that tasty snack of a soul an example to others of what happens to human's who dare think of themselves as the equals of the Heavenly Hosts."

"Angels can't kill humans" the Countess snarled. "I found many references to that in arcane books."

"Maybe they can't - but certainly can" Rowan purred, sliding a dagger out of her belt. "It would be my pleasure."

"Well - you may not exactly have to kill her. At least not in the way you're thinking. If Master Christophe is right, the body the Countess is currently occupying is technically already dead so tearing her from it's depths wouldn't count as killing a human." Flynn gestured at the old necromancer with a flourish, "Right?"

"Yes, I suspect that is the case" Christophe replied. "Even if there was only a millisecond difference between when Candice was forced out of her body and you were put into it for that one small amount of time - the body was technically dead. One of the many reasons I was hoping the Angel of Death would come to our aid. I was hoping, angelic visitor, that you would verify that killing this meat suit again would be no more than..."

"Killing a zombie?" Khan offered with a wolfish grin. "Kind of like the Walking Dead?"

"We really do have to start monitoring his television watching" Vlad whispered to his son. "It's not bad enough your sister has friends in strange places but..."

"Your daughter had an Angelic Reaper give her a human heart for Valentines day, you've probably slept with any number of elder Goddesses of Death and your worried about Khan's TV habits? Dude - you really need to work on your priorities." Stone moved over closer to Jones, allowing Baird to move to a better spot to watch the what was about to occur.

Azrael shrugged. "So Thantos is in the shadows and so is Samedi and Belen. And Morrigan is coming." She glanced over at the old man on the flloor with an apologetic grin. "Sorry but when she heard what was going down I couldn't convince her to not join in."

"Well this will be interesting" Vlad muttered.

"Why?" Stone asked, slightly puzzled. He, of course, knew what the Morrigan was a figure from Irish mythology mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom, death or victory in battle. "I know the Morrigan is most frequently seen as a goddess of battle and war and sometimes portrayed washing the bloodstained clothes of those fated to die. So I guess in that respect she could be a Death angel..."

"It's not that" Rowan chuckled. "She and dad have had an on again off again relationship since I was a toddler. She was summoned by an enemy of our family to try to use her power to open the Black Gates and put them in power before our family could be prepared for that event. Problem was - they tried to use me as a sacrifice to summon her and it pissed her off royally. Problem was - I was a fast little kid and got away from the. Bigger problem - I ended up running straight to the Black Gates way before it was time for me to be there."

"And a fun time was not had by all?" Jones asked, curiously.

"Not in the slightest" Rowan affirmed.

Jenkins stared aghast at his friend. "Was that how..."

"Yes" Arthur replied wearily. "That's how I lost her and found myself fighting for Camelot." He leaned carefully against his wounded father for a moment. "Weird thing is - Morrigan's summoning tore my sister from us and her rage at being used ended up bringing her back to us." He smiled ruefully at his oldest friend. "A tale for another day. I'm way too sober for that story."

"Morrigan has both honored my father for what he did to the enemy of our family for what they tried to do to me - and been pissed at him for letting me get out of his sight long enough for it to happen in the first place." Rowan shrugged. "She didn't take being used well."

"Anymore than you would have in my place." A silky voice, audible over the noise of battle, filed the room. A woman - young, with long, flowing red hair stepped regally from the shadows. Her clothing was black with a heavy cloak. Her hood was perched on the top of her head so as not to show much of her face. "Look upon me, mortals. I am the Morrigan." Her gaze swept over the group, ignoring the now stunned Countess and her minions, the goddesses eyes lighting on Rowan. "There she is - there is my little Battle Crow. How pleasing it is to see you again, young warrior."

Flynn stared in awe at this elder goddess - until Baird's elbow connected with his ribs. Wincing he manage to make a bow in the direction of the newcomer. "We welcome you, oh phantom queen of the Celts."

Rowan snorted. "Really? You're in the presence of the Angel of Death and Morrigan is the one you're going to go all polite on." She shook her head, still chuckling. "Hello aunt Morrigan. We're about to let some crazy souls loose from their prison and thought you might want to help beat them back to their appointed places of rest - Heaven or Hell. Doesn't matter to me if it doesn't matter to you."

"It never has mattered to me" the elder goddess purred. "Let my brothers and sisters come and let the games begin."

"This does not sound good" Flynn muttered to Baird.