The sun broke into Ezra's bedroom far too early, the sun shining onto closed eyes that didn't want to open. Secretly thanking God that it was Saturday and there were no pressing matters to attend to at the laboratory, and well, let's pretend he didn't see his beloved lab backward. With a resounding groan, Ezra rolled over, a smile on his face but a headache that didn't match his mood, he knew he earned it though, from the night before. Dreaming was a pleasure that night, confusing but still a much-needed break from the constant input of oddities that were overflowing the scientist.

As Ezra sat up in his bed, squinting at the world at large, rolling out of bed, his bare feet touched the cool wood floor, and slowly he meandered to the small kitchen. Tea was definitely called for, as was asprin for his current headache. A strange ache in his back to either side of his spine, he tried to think if he had fallen or bumped into anything, but thinking was causing more pain, so he decidedly stopped. Taking his time to go down to his sanctuary of books and silence, he sat in his chair, kicking his feet up on his hassock, his head leaning back. One thought ran through his mind over and over, though, did he actually meet someone last night, or was that a dream?

Anathema had risen from her sleep hours ago, already having had a coffee, feeling worlds better. Her mind clear, sharp, and on edge, determined to find out what had happened to her, she called upon her mother. A true witch, one that never faltered from the path of their descendants as Anathema had, sure, she learned all she needed, but practice it, only on rare occasions. Anathema liked auras more, and truth be told adored watching Ezras. There had never been another like it, in her life that she had ever seen, slowly she wondered if Crawley had one, she would have to try.

This weekend though she was going to avoid everyone, maybe get some sun in her backyard, maybe sleep. Definitely barbeque something, she hadn't in a while and needed a break from the last three weeks of insanity. There was just something not right with, well, everything, the serpent, Gabriel, the lab, just all was slightly off. Anathema was determined to get some answers, but going to the lab alone now intimidated her, at least a little. Curiosity, though, was a thing, and it was strong within her; she was a witch, and knowing the unknown was right up her alley.

Crowley was snoozing lazily in the tree, the heat lamps warming him thoroughly, highly content at the moment. Lifting his head in thought, his form shimmered to the floor; the serpent slept in the tree, his form invisible to humans, he had two stops to make on this day, one below and one above. Crowley hated both, but such was his life; something was amiss here, and well, Crowley needed information. A last-minute look around the lab and a quick listen for multiple beeps, and he snapped himself to the roof of the building. He unfurled wings of ebony lined with iridescent white, his eyes that of a demon, with a halo of an angel hung on him, he hated both. Such was a thing of his making, one of only a few allowed to live or that had endured.

Heaven was easier to deal with; in a way, Hell just lusted to breed with him, more or less, and well, they were just repugnant. Crowley was never sure how or why he existed, he never fell, he knew the stories, but someone from one of the warring sides had wiped his memory, and to him, it seemed like it frequently occurred, even though it was only once. Crowley had often wished that he'd figure out who did it. He remembered enough to do his jobs, remembered enough to know what he was, but never enough to remember his first position, or if it was years, it was just gone one day.

With a full stretch of his wings, he launched into the air, faster than most angels, he arrived at the main gates, Crowley was an arse, but that went with what he was, neutral to both. Walking in, he nodded at the angels who took a step back from him, ~fear me~ he walked with confidence, they knew he was not to be trifled with. As Crowley reached the central spire, he looked up at the splendor of the silvers, and golden etch work along the sides. It was beautiful even he had to acknowledge it, as he cherished it, a voice grabbed his attention.

"Crowley!" a smaller angel came running up to him, throwing angelic arms around his waist. "Hey squirt, whatcha up too?" his hand went into Azshaniel's hair, fluffing it. "Staahhhpp! Crowley!" looking shocked and holding his hands up, "Well, my bad!" he smirked as the childlike angel humphed. "So finally earned your wings, hmmm?" Azshaniel spun around, fluffing her tiny wings. "Taking over for cupid then?" pouting full cherubic lips, she nodded. "You'll be great. Anything I should be worried about?" she shook her head full of bright golden curls. While looking around very quietly, adding "Something is wrong on earth, Micheal is on the warpath, Gabriel is missing, and God is livid." shaking his head, "Joy.." with a last squeeze and a pat on her head he went inside.

Pure white marble, the Divinity of it all caused him to push his glasses up further to cover his demonic eyes. The halo over his head, absorbing and protecting him from the Divinity that his body craved and rejected at the same time. From far above he heard God call his name, and he stopped, he knew she had no patience before his thought was completed he was standing in front of God herself who had a slight glare, but concern on her face. Bowing his head, he averted his gaze just enough to not stare directly into her endless golden eyes. There was no end to them; you could get lost there, fall into them and never find your way back out, it was the same color of gold his demonic eyes.

"Crowley, why are you here? I can only assume it has something to do with what's occurring on earth right now, yes?" Crowley shrugged, which was typical, God had seen it for millennia now, she sighed irritatedly at him. "You're going to answer me this time Crowley, I don't have time for presuming. I have an Archangel missing, a strange reading where you are currently playing your games. It's not you but looks to be you, just different, and, of course, I will not hold your games against you; it is in your nature."
Crowley looked at her, asking plainly, "Do you have an angel or something like one at the laboratory where I am currently working?" God blinked at the genuine inquiry. "Well, that I can check. I am currently missing a few and one that Micheal just brought to my attention that has been missing for quite some time. Gabriel, he had an assignment, should have taken a few years, it's well over that now and no report."

Leaving the area in a wave of gold, and then reappearing just as fast, she nodded. "Something is there, and I don't know what, it isn't of my creation, it doesn't seem to be of Hells either. I want to say it's both, but I am not missing anyone with that much Divinity." looking at Crowley, "Why do you ask?" with another shrug, "To me seems to be an angel out of place, out of time, from somewhere else, but doesn't know it. His aura is something I have never seen before, ever." God smirked, "Have you ever seen your own Crowley? Yours is all your own as well, you know, it is unique unto itself as well. But, I digress, see what you can find out, keep me informed, I feel something on the horizon, what's the name?" Crowley had already turned to leave; he didn't need permission to come and go, he was Nephalem, not to be confused with the Nephilim. "I heard him say it in a dream, Aziraphale, seemed like something he would have gotten here," God said nothing but smirked. "Thank you, Crowley."

Crowley had already lifted off the ground and was letting himself fall off the edge of the city gates, the fall was fun for him, for he couldn't ever actually fall, but he was still a part demon. It was a faster trip to Hell this way. With a quick whizzing by his ears, his wings caught the air, he landed silently, the smell made it obvious where he was, firstly he stopped at his flat in Hell to check that it was fine, of course, it was, no one was stupid enough to bother him that way. Just the occasional, ~Hey wanna fuck~ which just disgusted him, even on his temptiest and needfully wanton of days, alone was better. Walking through his expansive flat, all was in its place, nothing touched, looking in at his bedroom, he groaned, he swore he would not use that bed here unless it was for his own reasons and with his choosing.

Being of both Heaven and Hell made his life an instinctual nightmare, navigating his instincts was as close to impossible as it got. Hell didn't care who or what they were with or how they were with them, there was no bonding here, only claiming; as long as carnal desire was met, all was good, the more violent, the better. Heaven, however, took their time in choosing, just the right one, forever bonding, gentle, caring, loving, a thread of both life and eternity stretching between the two mated angels. In a way, he envied angels for that, but in his case, he got the worst of both.

Crowley's need to find a mate was always, his desire always, the catch for him, it had to be the right one because he would only choose one for all eternity to bond with, which meant thanks to his hellish side he instinctually needed to claim his mate to form the angelic bond. It also couldn't be an angel, they wouldn't survive, and he sure as Hell wasn't going to pick a demon, even if he could, that left him with searching endlessly, for all eternity in the hopes of running into another Nephalem, like him. Good luck with that, there were three he knew of, two of them were mated and happy, his match was nowhere, he was alone for eternity. God played some bad jokes in her time, but this was just cruel as far as he was concerned, she may have not directly made them, but indirectly the angels and demons that mated sure as Hell did.

Sighing, he warded and locked his flat, "Crowleys Nest" as the demons called it, he walked to go see Beelzebub; hopefully, the flies wouldn't be overwhelming this time; he had threatened a fly swatter the next time they touched him. Crowley truly didn't mind Beelzebub, just the ones that waited around the Prince's doorways. Of course, there they were, Ligur and Hastur, thinking they were guards of the gates. At one time the two dukes thought they were higher of leadership and authority than Crowley, Hastur grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall, telling him what they were going to do to him. Hastur and Ligur learned quickly they messed with the wrong being, he was occult and ethereal, they learned and felt what Nephalem Divinity felt like as Crowley let it course through his wings, his body lit up with it. As Hastur and Ligur dropped to the floor, slowly bubbling and melting into a pool of goo, Crowley shook his head at them, "Don't ever touch me again, you pathetic shits."

Both Hastur and Ligur looked to the ground and backed away from him, allowing for a wide girth for him to enter the Prince's chamber. The door closed behind him, and the Prince actually smiled, "Hey Crowley, what do I owe the pleasure? See you're doing a few temptations up there, nice, nice, reports are just flowing in, but being angelically challenged, as well, I know its something we all overlook, not your fault, of course, but what brings you?" Crowley was taken aback by the reception, the lack of flies and deliberately glanced around him, was this a trap, he stayed near the door, he didn't trust Hell. "What information do you have on my temptation area, the people there? Anything?"

Beelzebub looked through the paperwork on his desk and nodded, "Seems there is an entity, well two, no..., three in the area you are at. I know for sure there is an actual witch, practicing but also not, still dangerous, something or someone we can't explain, and what seems to be an archangel of sorts? I would say be careful, and something is wrong there." Crowley nodded, "How do you mean wrong there?" Beelzebub proceeded and tossed paperwork towards Crowley.

"You see on that map, where you are there, it's a dead zone when you go in, we lose you partially, we lose the humans, and the witch. Then on occasion, we get readings like on the next page, that's a Seraphs Divinity there, and a high concentration of it, the problem is. Well, it matches yours. I mean, the Divinity could be another Seraph, but it moves when you don't, and the last few weeks, especially the last few days, it surges as though the power belongs here in Hell. See, the worry Crowley is, it matches my own power. The powers are together, and it moves as one, and then disappears each night consistently. On the last page, we caught an underlying pulse of energy. It's black and not ours, to me it looks like the curse of forgetting." Beelzebub shrugged, "I don't know, but we would like to find out what you can for us?"

Crowley looked through the papers flipping through the pages, analyzing it over and repeatedly. "Beelzebub, this page here, its a chart, what is it representing?" Looking towards Crowley, they held out their hand; Crowley moved to the desk and actually sat for the first time ever in Beelzebub's office. Their eyebrows shot up at that with a smirk and looked at the chart and the graphs. "Okay, it's human hours and bursts of energies; you won't like this, but Hastur is the one that found this. You might want to ask him, I'll tell you what I know but the rest he can tell you." Crowley growled, "We'll see if I need too, what is it?"

Beelzebub nodded and continued, "Alright, for the weeks before you let yourself get captured and instituted there, Hastur found a recurring theme of power there. At night almost nothing but by five in the morning human time, it would start to grow, it was a concern because there would be peaks of it, then it would move again and fade away." Pointing to the recent few days, "Here is where we thought it was you, but it isn't, see the blacked-out area, we can't see in there, we pick up on you because you're connected to us, but look." Beelzebub pointed to the map and an area, then the times and sudden surges of power. "I can't explain that. So either both Heaven and Hell are missing extremely powerful and high ranking beings, or well, it's another Nephalem, in hiding, or that curse that runs through that area is done on purpose and is keeping them hidden from all of us and themselves."

Crowley nodded and added, "Upstairs is missing an Archangel and has the same readings, they don't know what it is either, so I guess we are all in the dark, I have found myself in the middle of it." Crowley bowed and turned to leave, Beelzebub added, "Look, Crowley, be careful on this one, if there is something this strong going on, where neither Heaven nor Hell can tell, it's powerful, and you might be the only one that can...Crowley, if it is another Nephalem, its' connection to Heaven might be slightly more than Hell, I don't even want to go up against a normal Seraph, whatever this is, is a Seraph plus me. " Crowley turned his head, "Thanks, I will keep my eyes open, what's the worst that could happen?"

Crowley stepped out into the hallway and looked to his right, looking at the floor was Ligur and to his left Hastur. "So, Hastur, how was your time being reincorporated?" Hastur held back a growl, as Crowley fluffed his wings. "So you found this then, where you all managed to send me?" Hastur looked up and nodded, the frog on his head kept its eyes shut. "Answer me, was this an apology, with the hopes that whatever it is would be another of me or the hopes that whatever it is would obliterate me?" He turned to Hastur and looked him dead in the eye, over the rims of his glasses. "Honesty has never been a thing I could do, but a demon, so yeah, the lie is I wanted you gone." Crowley nodded, "Apology accepted, can you tell me your opinion of what it is? I would be interested to know now."

Hastur made a face that could only be considered a smile, maybe, but it was still gruesome. "First time was a blip on our radar, a few years ago, out of nowhere, then it was gone. It got stronger and kept up. I noticed it matched you, so I checked, and one time you were here when it was being detected. We sent you there, and since you have been there, you have gotten brighter, and so has the other energy, I watched the last week, but then the last two, three days, at least once a night it steadily got brighter, and then it exploded and vanished." Hastur quieted, that was all he had to say. Crowley thanked him, turned back to his flat, opened the door, closing it quickly, and couldn't hold back the smile, his chest hurt. Was that hope?

Without waiting, he snapped and was back on top of the Eden Laboratory building, and night had already fallen, he was bored again, perhaps a visit to Ezra. Still, he needed a place to call home there, so he didn't look obvious, something was wrong, someone was here, and he needed to figure it out, find them, save them while remaining a serpent.

Closing his eyes, he made the serpent move on the branches to show he was alive and okay, no need for suspicion. Nonchalantly he walked back towards Ezra's house; he looked at it from the road, next to it through some trees wrapped within them an overgrown cottage, he walked up to it and entered it. There was a bedroom, kitchen, sitting room, cozy library area, a garden in the back; everything was just overgrown. This was perfect; he made a call. He bought it as-is. The paperwork already signed, and on the desk of the realtor, he snapped his fingers, the front remained slightly covered from view, privacy was needed, but the inside groaned under his commands, turning back into its former glory, the garden in the back was tended, cleaned. From here on out though, he would tend to that garden with his own two hands.

Another wiggle of his fingers and the use of his ever-fluid and moving fabrication, Crowley filled the cottage with plush, but comfortable furniture. If Crowley was going to research and entertain people to figure out who was what, he was going to be comfortable. Crowley plopped into an overstuffed chair, snapped up a bottle and glass of his favorite wine, and looked over the papers again. Suddenly he felt something pulse through his house, just the edges of it, but certainly through the rest of the neighborhood. Glancing down at the paperwork, he noticed where that curse ran through the ground, Beelzebub thought it was a curse of forgetting.

Quickly he went room to room, window to window and then along the entirety of his property, warding it from all things, especially curses. When he closed his property line from all, he felt a weight lift off him that he didn't even know was on him. Standing at the edge of his garden on the far side and next door was Ezra's house, dead in the middle of the pulse. Crowley walked out to the street and just slightly further down the road was where the witches' house was, both were in the path of the curse. "Must be one of them, but who is doing this much to keep them forgetting just enough not to know what they are?" He scratched his head and felt another pulse coming from somewhere, he moved back to his warded area and saw it go through the houses.