Chapter 17a: Baphomet Hunters
Several hours earlier
"Adrian, Saralyn, you're with me." Meryl announced to the group, standing near the entrance of the church. The dullahan retrieved a small crate, and pushed the lid off of it. Inside was several sets of gray, nondescript clothing and hoods. On further examination, some of them had been modified for the Peacekeepers specifically. Two of the pairs of clothing had holes in the top of the hoods, seemingly for horned monsters. Naira and Ava looked the bland looking clothing over, shrugged, and put it on.
"How pretty." Naira remarked sarcastically.
"Like or not, these are going to be what you're wearing for the remainder of this mission. We've earned ourselves quite a reputation after Monoghon, despite our best efforts to stay anonymous, so we need to be even more careful now."
Sinclair leaned her head to the side. "What if we just used anthropomorphosis?" The entire group looked at her incredulously.
"Oh. Riiiight…"
"No. Thanks for reminding us of what we're dealing with. Who knows what crazy contraptions the Aperian Magical Sabbath could have in their buildings. It is a sabbath dedicated to making technology to keep enemies out." Meryl remarked. Cassiel flew off of one of the balconies of the church, dropping another box with a loud thud. Meryl pulled away the top to reveal massive amounts of knives with purplish pink blades. Rings were attached to the handles.
"Throwing knives." Adrian concluded.
"Exactly. These things are very powerful. They'll disable any device, or person, you throw them at. Just take care not to stab yourself." That last part drew a chuckle out of the group.
"I'd recommend each of you take ten each." The group gathered around the box of knives, taking their fair share, with the exception of Ava, who took fifteen. Meryl didn't seem to care.
"Ava, Sinclair, Jordan, Naira. You're responsible for capturing Hazel. I assume you've committed the orders I've given you to memory?" The group of four nodded their heads. Meryl turned towards Saralyn. "Make sure your guns are silenced."
"Already done." Saralyn held up her shotgun, an "X" inscribed on the barrel.
"Good. One more thing." Meryl reached under one of the churches pews and pulled out three large bags. She tossed one to Naira.
"What are these?"
"Bags. Used by krampuses to capture men, but they'll work nicely for our targets."
"Are you sure these things can contain a baphomet?"
"They're magically reinforced, so yes, it should be able to keep Zeraphine under control. Plus, the inside has an enchantment to make anyone inside calm down. It'll only take a couple minutes for them to fall asleep." Meryl opened the bag, presenting it to the group. "One of you, jump inside so I can demonstrate." The group stepped back, expressions of confusion on their faces.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Anyways. If all of you are ready, we're leaving now. The night is still young, and we need as much darkness as we can get with this mission." Meryl turned in Cassiel's direction. "Cassiel, I look forward to seeing you again. You should come visit Lescatie, sometime."
"In that case, I want to bring my friends." Cassiel stated.
"Be my guest."
Meryl and the others exited the church, and stepped onto the streets of Aerokon. The city was mostly dark, but Adrian could hear faint moans and gasps coming from the buildings. Saralyn chuckled.
"That's one thing we have in common with Aperia. Loud and obnoxious residents."
"Good. Let them make as much noise as they want, it'll make our mission easier." Adrian remarked. He looked to his group's destination; an average sized wooden house with the words "Aperian Magical Defense Sabbath" inscribed on top of the door. It looked way too small to house an entire sabbath, but Adrian knew it was most likely much larger on the inside than it was on the outside.
"See you when I see you." Sinclair bolted down an alleyway towards her destination with Ava, Naira and Jordan following close behind. Adrian watched as they vanished around a corner.
"Meryl, are you sure splitting the group up is a good idea?"
"They can handle themselves. Come on, let's get going. We don't want to keep Zeraphine waiting." Meryl pulled her gray hood over her head and began slowly advancing towards the Sabbath's building, making sure to stay close to the shadows. Adrian and Saralyn followed suit, only a few steps behind their leader. After a few steps, Meryl pulled them into a dark corner.
In the air in front of the Sabbath's headquarters, was a witch flying on a broom with her husband. The pair landed in front of the small building, the witch clinging to her husband's legs like a child. Meryl smiled. She crept out of the darkness, pulling out one of the realm silver knives she had brought with her. Holding the knife by the blade, she threw it as hard as she could at the witch. It collided straight with her head, knocking her completely unconscious. The dullahan ran towards the witch's husband, who barely had any time to register what had happened and jabbed him in the neck with another realm silver knife.
The dullahan picked the witch up by her hand and opened the door to the Sabbath's headquarters using her hand. Once the door was open, she laid the unconscious witch on the floor. She motioned for Adrian and Saralyn to come out of the darkness.
"Hide their bodies somewhere. Make sure you put them together for when they wake up." Adrian and Saralyn nodded their heads simultaneously, picking up the witch and her husband. Finding a dark corner for them to stay in, Adrian laid the man against a wall. Saralyn deposited the witch in the man's lap. Standing back, the two observed their handiwork for a moment. To any bystander, it looked like they had just gotten drunk and passed out in an alleyway.
"Good work, you two. Follow me." Meryl held the door open for them. Thankfully, the front desk was empty, the receptionist having gone to bed. The pair entered the building, and Meryl shut the door behind them.
Observing the room, the building appeared much larger on the inside than it did on the outside, a characteristic of hidden spirit realms built by baphomets. They appeared to be in a lodge-type building, with long tables and benches filling the room. Toys and candy were strewn across the tables, the full child-like nature of the Sabbath on full display for the trio to see.
"It's like we're in a playground. To think, these people are responsible for Aperia's magical defenses." Saralyn remarked.
"That's the Sabbath for you. Professional one second, then literal children the next." Meryl responded, sweeping a candy wrapper under a table with her boot. Suddenly, Adrian heard the sound of a door creaking from the other side of the building.
"Hide!" Meryl whisper shouted. The three of them dived under a table with a tablecloth. Peeking out, Adrian saw two imps and an arch imp "sneaking" towards a cabinet labeled "treats". The imps giggled, the arch imp shushing them in response.
Saralyn gripped one of her throwing knives, taking aim at the arch imp. Meryl put her hand over the dhampir's arm. "No use in wasting a knife on them. Let them pass, knocking them out is only going to cause a bigger commotion."
The trio waited under the table, waiting for the imps and the arch imp to leave. The small demons each took a small box of cookies with them before leaving. As they were about to exit, the arch imp looked towards the doorway that the trio had come through.
"Shannon and her big brother have been gone for a while now. I wonder what they're doing?" The arch imp asked, flying over to the doorway.
"The two of them probably decided to have a quickie in the alleyway and got carried away. You know how that girl is." One of the imps playfully jested. The imp's partner giggled.
"Well… They should've been back by now."
"Ah, who cares?! Let's just go back to our big brother before we get caught!" The arch imp nodded her head, flying over the table where Adrian, Saralyn and Meryl were hiding and back to her friends. The three left the lodge, shutting the door behind them.
"Like I said… Professional one second, children the next. Let's go. I'd rather capture Zeraphine before day breaks." Meryl crawled out from under the table and tiptoed to the door that the imps had used to leave. The dullahan opened the door a crack, peeking outside. Content that the coast was clear, she gestured for Adrian and Saralyn to follow her.
Exiting the lodge, Adrian and Saralyn got their full view of Zeraphine's own spirit realm. A city that expanded farther than their eyes could see. All of the houses were outfitted to fit the small childlike mamono of the Sabbath. There were a few witches and familiars taking their husbands out for a late night walk. Meryl surveyed the city, looking for the next place they could hide. Seeing a dark alleyway, the three ducked inside just as a familiar walked by, whistling to herself.
"Shit. This place is bigger than I thought. I've got zero clue where Zeraphine lives right now." Meryl peeked out of the alleyway, looking for a vantage point. "I've got an idea. We split up, that way we can cover more ground. It's risky, but we've only got six or so hours before people start waking up, which is going to make this mission way harder. I'll go to the lab, you guys head to the town hall to see if you can find any information on Zeraphine's whereabouts. When you guys find anything, meet me back at this alleyway. Got it?"
Both Adrian and Saralyn nodded their heads. Meryl crept out of the alleyway and down the street to the left, making sure to stay in the shadows. With that, Adrian and Saralyn were left alone together.
"Wow. It's been a while since just the two of us had been together during a mission. What was it, the Black Forest Prison?"
"Pretty much." Adrian reflected on his experiences. He would've probably died had Saralyn not rescued him from the prison.
"You know… I think I prefer it this way. Not to hurt the other's feelings, but… They can get a bit loud for my taste at night. Especially Naira and Jordan."
"I agree. Maybe after this mess with Aperia has been resolved, we'll retire and ask Meryl to buy us a house in Zipangu, or some other peaceful country. We'll go for walks on the beach, watch the sunset together, maybe visit one of their hot springs, then go home and have sex until I…" Saralyn began trailing off.
"Saralyn. We're on a time limit, remember? We have to capture Zeraphine before it becomes daytime. Meryl isn't going to be happy if she finds out we just sat in this alleyway and fantasized while they were out."
"Oh. Right. Later, then."
The pair snuck out of the alleyway, staying in the shadows. Thankfully, it was cloudy outside, so not much moonlight was reaching the city. The only sources of light were the torches illuminating the streets.
"A spirit realm, with a weather cycle. Zeraphine must be insanely powerful to create this place." Adrian remarked with a hint of concern in his voice. They needed to catch her by surprise, but would that be even possible with a monster as magically aware as a baphomet?
A man carrying a familiar on his back strolled down the streets. The familiar laughed as the man lifted her in the air, the small monster putting her hands in the air. Saralyn scanned the environment for any bystanders, before pulling out one of her revolvers and taking aim. A single shot to the man's head knocked him unconscious instantly, followed by another one half a second later to the familiar's head. The gunshot was barely audible, Saralyn having enchanted it with a spell of silencing after their visit to Monoghon.
Saralyn looked both ways down the street before grabbing the man by his feet and pulling him into the shadows. Adrian hauled the familiar over his shoulder and threw her into a nearby large crate. Saralyn gently pushed the man inside with his wife, and put the lid over the box.
"Take it easy on them, Adrian."
"Request noted." Adrian playfully quipped. Saralyn shook her head.
Looking up, she climbed on top of the crate, and onto a windowsill. Saralyn grabbed the lip of the roof and pulled herself up. Peering over the edge, she held her hand for Adrian to grab. Adrian leapt up, taking hold of her hand and the roof to pull himself up. Saralyn dusted him off as he climbed up.
"Do you see the town hall?"
Saralyn laid prone on the rooftop looking for anything that resembled a town hall. Squinting, she pointed towards a larger building in the distance northwest from their position.
"That's pretty far. We'd better get going, we're burning daylight here." Saralyn looked at Adrian, then at the night sky. She tilted her head in confusion.
"You know what I mean."
With that, the two of them began advancing northwest. They leapt from rooftop to rooftop in order to avoid any unneeded confrontations. Eventually, they reached the street where the town hall was located. Large windows wrapped around the building, giving an easy view inside. Adrian squinted his eyes, trying to look for anything of interest. A large map was in one of the rooms on the top floor. Adrian pointed to the map.
"I see. Is there anyone patrolling inside?" asked Saralyn. Adrian strained his eyes again to look for any guards; A few bored looking hellhounds and werewolves were walking about.
Canine monsters. Great sense of smell, hearing and eyesight. This is going to be hard…
Saralyn put away her revolvers and grabbed her shotgun off her back. "Time to put this thing to use." She looked at her belt. She had twenty spare shells, along with two in the barrels. Adrian drew out Ballista, and the two quietly leapt off of the rooftop and into the fenced garden leading outside of the entrance. Suddenly, the doors opened, two hellhounds walking out. Adrian and Saralyn both dived behind a circular fountain facing the entrance at the last second.
Unfortunately for them, the hellhounds had to pass the fountain in order to leave the garden. The pair slowly and quietly circled around the fountain, making sure that the hellhounds couldn't see them. As the canine monsters were about to pass through the gates, one of them began sniffing the air. Her eyes narrowed, staring back at the fountain in suspicion. Adrian mentally cursed his luck. The hellhounds looked at each other and began to walk around the fountain, one going to the right and one going to the left.
"Who's there?! I know the scent of every person that has come here before, and I don't recognize yours?!" Adrian mentally cursed again. He drew out his sword, putting his thumb on the switch that would eject the blade. Saralyn put her finger on the trigger on her shotgun. The two stood back-to-back, preparing for a double-takedown.
The two hellhounds fully circled the fountain, only to walk directly into Adrian and Saralyn. Saralyn blasted one of the hellhounds with realm-silver buckshot, and Adrian ejected his blade straight into the other's stomach. Saralyn finished off her stunned hellhound with a shot from her revolver, and Adrian jabbed the other hellhound in the stomach with one of the realm-silver knives he was given.
"Quick, get their bodies in the bushes." Adrian grabbed one of the hellhounds by the paws and began struggling with all his might to drag them into the bushes.
"Here." Saralyn grabbed the hellhound by the feet. Together, the two of them hauled the hellhound into the bushes. Repeating the process again for the hellhound, the two sighed in relief as they got back into a safe place.
"Why are these monsters so damn heavy?"
Saralyn pointed to one of the hellhounds' chests. "They've clearly been working out."
"Not making our jobs easy, that's for sure."
The sound of metal screeching came from the gates leading out of the garden. A man, unaccompanied strangely enough, began walking towards the doors of the town hall. Adrian snuck a peek over the bushes. The man looked familiar.
"That's Zeraphine's husband." Adrian whispered to Saralyn as soon as the man got out of earshot. "We saw him yesterday in the streets."
"Perfect. He probably won't want to be separated from his wife for too long. He should lead us back to Zeraphine in no time. All we need to do is stay out of sight." Saralyn responded excitedly.
A few minutes later, the man exited the building, holding several pieces of paper. Zeraphine's husband passed by the bushes, oblivious to the two stealth-assassins hiding behind them. As soon as he passed through the gate, Adrian and Saralyn began to trail him, making sure to stick to the shadows as much as possible. The man remained oblivious, clearly not considering the possibility of being attacked.
He probably considers Zeraphine's spirit realm to be a safe haven. This should be easy…
A group of early-rising witches passed by the man, waving to him and cheering his name. "Hey Alain! How is Zeraphine doing? Is she becoming less strict?" One of the witches asked.
"Sadly not. I'll let you in on a secret, though. When we're alone together, she's completely different. Much more submissive. Can't remember the last time she was on top. Heh." The man chuckled.
Alain. So that's his name.
"Don't tell her I said that, alright? You girls take care of yourselves." Alain kept walking, presumably back to Zeraphine.
"He seems like a nice guy. Hopefully he cooperates when we have to interrogate him." Saralyn whispered to Adrian.
"We've got mindflayers, no need for interrogation."
Adrian and Saralyn ducked into one of the many alleyways just to be safe, only for them to run directly into somebody. Adrian reflexively drew his sword and attempted to stab the person in the chest, only for them to expertly block the hit. The figure leapt back and pulled off their hood.
"Stop! It's me, Meryl!" The dullahan shouted by accident before cupping her hand to her mouth mid-sentence, her eyes widening. Alain turned back.
"Huh?" Alain started moving towards their alleyway to investigate the strange voice. There was nowhere to hide, except for the back of the dead-ended alleyway where it would be most dark. Saralyn grabbed Meryl by her collar and dragged her into the back of the alleyway. She drew her shotgun, preparing to fire in case their cover was blown.
Alain stood directly in front of them. He stood there for a few seconds, looking into the darkness, unknowingly staring into the eyes of his future kidnappers. He then turned away, continuing his walk back to his and Zeraphine's home.
"Fucking hell Meryl… Don't scare us like that." Saralyn sighed in relief.
"What was I supposed to do? I didn't know you were following him too!"
"Relax, you two. We're all together now. This is perfect, we can storm their house and get both right here, right now." Adrian told the dullahan and the dhampir.
The two of them shut up and began quietly trailing Alain again. Encountering a mercifully low amount of resistance, the three of them followed Alain to their house. It looked completely generic and inconspicuous for someone as high-ranking as Zeraphine or her husband. Circling the building, they found two windows facing into Zeraphine's bedroom. Inside, Zeraphine and Alain were busy enjoying themselves, completely oblivious to their surroundings. It was the perfect scenario for them. Meryl tossed one of the two Krampus bags she had brought with her to Adrian and Saralyn.
"Go around the house to that other window. On my signal, we break in and stuff them in. We've only got one shot at this. We cannot fuck this up, you hear me?" Adrian and Saralyn nodded their heads and circled the house to the other window. Meryl held up three fingers to the window. Then two. Then one.
Adrian charged full speed at the glass, smashing through it and landing in the bedroom. Alain looked over at them, an expression of shock and confusion on his face before Saralyn threw the bag over his head. At the same time, Meryl burst through the glass. Zeraphine reacted quicker than her husband, but not quick enough. Meryl snapped the back over the poor baphomet's head, trapping her.
"Who the fuck are you?! Let us out!" A voice came from inside Saralyn's bag, muffled but still sounding scared and confused. The sounds of magic energy came from Meryl's bag as Zeraphine attempted to free herself. Adrian looked over at the shaking bag worriedly.
"Don't worry, the bag will hold. She'll tire herself out eventually." Meryl closed her eyes and began to focus, trying to reach out to Sinclair and the others telepathically.
Sinclair, how are things going?
Splendidly. We got Hazel, nice and easy. You should've seen me jump down from Naira's back and capture the poor gremlin in one fell swoop. That shit was awesome.
Spare me the bragging. Are you close to the church?
Yeah, we're going in now. Her voice paused for a second.
Hey, wait, what the fu-
Sinclair?! Sinclair, what happened?! No answer.
Meryl's eyes shot open. "We have to go back, now!"
Chapter 17b: Apprehension and Interrogation
Aerokon
The first thing that greeted Cassiel when consciousness returned to her was a splitting headache. The aching was so severe that the dark angel reflexively tried to put a hand on her head to somehow calm it down, only for her hands to barely move. Cassiel opened her eyes, looking at her surroundings. She was in what looked to be a gray, nearly featureless room, the only things of note being the uncomfortable vertical stone slab she was chained to, a table, a candle, a barred window, and the door leading out of the room.
Cassiel tried to summon her magic to break the chains, but nothing happened. She tried to call out to the Fallen God, but she was unable to. Her heart began beating faster. She attempted to struggle against the chains, only for them to become twice as tight. Cassiel let out a wheeze of pain as she felt them press into her skin.
"Cassiel." A voice from the window spoke. Cassiel turned towards the window the best she could.
"Cassiel. My friend. My ally. My betrayer." The voice said with a hint of bitterness and sadness at the end of her sentence. "Do you know how much it hurts, to see how you have fallen? Both figuratively, and literally."
"What do you want?"
"I want names. And locations." The voice spoke in a low tone.
"Of who…?" Cassiel decided to play dumb. She needed to stall as long as possible to find a way out of her restraints.
"Don't play dumb with me. Do you think your betrayal just so happened to coincide with an increase in the Fallen God's activity in Aperia? I know you haven't been spreading all of this propaganda supporting the Fallen God alone. I want locations of where your fellow acolytes are hiding."
"But I have been doing this alon-" Cassiel's attempt to play dumb was cut off by the restraints tightening even more. She let out a shriek.
"What did I say about playing dumb, Cassiel? Give me locations, or the restraints will become twice as tight." The voice began counting down. "Five. Start talking!"
Cassiel struggled with all her might against the chains. They barely moved an inch.
"There's no escape unless you answer the questions. Four!"
"Why are you doing this, huh?! Is becoming a dark angel so unappealing, so disgusting to Ophelia, to everyone?!" Cassiel screamed through gritted teeth.
"Unappealing and disgusting doesn't even begin to describe what the Fallen God does to our kind. We are angels. Revolutionaries. Not blue-skinned whores that bend to the fetishes of whatever man can satisfy them. Three!"
I never thought about how Aperia viewed corruption… I was so focused on corrupting solely because I believed it would help Aperia…
"The locations, Cassiel. Give them to me. Your former boss is ordering you to give her information. Two." That last part all but confirmed Cassiel's suspicions. Raniel was interrogating her.
"T-the church in the center of the city-"
"We know about that one already, idiot. Our informant led us straight to your doorstep. We know that isn't your only hideout unless you were stupid enough to only make one base of operations. One."
Cassiel finally cracked. "A-alright! There's a-a-a portal in my personal quarters… It leads to Pandemonium. Don't make the restraints tighter. Please."
Outside the room, Raniel went silent. Faint voices could be heard from behind the walls. Cassiel shut her eyes in fear. Her former leader finally spoke again. "Did you create any more hideouts? Those two couldn't be the only ones you made."
"I swear, those are the only two I've established." She was only telling half of the truth. The portal leading to her Pandemonium base and the fake church were her only major bases. She had established several smaller bases, consisting of small spaces hollowed out in hills to abandoned houses and sheds.
The voice let out a chuckle. "Foolish. You should've just stayed with us, Cassiel. You aren't cut out to defy us. We've made countless examples of those who tried to spread their depravity to our beloved territories. Some were infinitely more cunning and intelligent than you, and yet they still got caught. And yet, you still thought it was a good idea to follow in their footsteps."
"What are you going to do to my followers?" Cassiel already knew the answer, but she still asked out of anxiety.
"We're going to do what we've always done to people who break the rules around here. Punish them."
"You're going to kill them, aren't you?" A painfully long silence followed Cassiel's question. The dark angel held her breath for a good fifteen seconds before Raniel spoke again.
"…No. But they're not going to leave this country the same people." The vague answer sent chills down Cassiel's spine. She tried to think back to her time in Aperia's military, if there was any punishment towards the Order or the Fallen God's followers that didn't involve getting executed. Being exiled didn't seem like it would change someone dramatically.
"What are you going to do with them?"
A long, long silence followed Cassiel's question. Cassiel knew better than to try and break out of her restraints. Her only choice was to wait and hope for rescue. But if her church had already been raided, the chances of Meryl and the others rescuing her were slim to none. As she was trying to think of another way to escape, she heard something from outside the room. It sounded like an argument between Raniel and someone else. The dark angel attempted to listen in on what they were arguing about, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly, the voices stopped, and the door opened. Cassiel's eyes widened.
"Cassiel." Ophelia entered the room, shutting the door behind her. Unlike Raniel's bitter aggression, Ophelia just sounded hurt. The seraph looked at her former ally with an expression of sadness and guilt.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." That wasn't the response Cassiel was expecting. She had no idea how to respond to that.
"Every year, we lose dozens of our angels to that depraved bitch. I've searching for something that could protect us from the Fallen God, but… Nothing has worked so far. It hurts, seeing proud and noble angels turned into complete sluts." Ophelia said, staring directly into Cassiel's eyes.
"It's sickening. It's why Raniel takes pleasure in obliterating those who have wronged her, or Aperia. She's a naturally vengeful person, which, despite her loyalty, has caused some issues over the years."
"Tell me something I don't know, Ophelia."
"Your… spreading of the Fallen God's faith has angered her, more so than usual. She treated you like a comrade. A trusted ally. Someone to fall back on in times of need. Your betrayal hurt her, and she's lashing out at you." Ophelia explained. "Raniel's methods were a result of bitterness and anger towards you. Aperia doesn't usually do interrogations; We have mindflayers to look through people's minds to find information. We owe a great deal to them. I imagine without their abilities; we would have fallen a long time ago."
"Are you going to mindflay me?!"
"Yes. You are going to show us everything you're withholding from us." With a snap of her fingers, two angels came into the room. "And after that, I will personally erase your memory so that you are never a threat to us ever again." Unwrapping the chains, the two angels grabbed Cassiel by the arms and forcefully walked her out of the room. The dark angel made no attempt to resist, already weak.
The door leading to the interrogation room opened. Raniel walked in. "You've dealt with her, I assume."
"Yes."
"Sometimes I think you're going soft. You can't just mind-wipe every angel that falls for the Fallen God's temptations and dump them off outside of Aperia. We should just kill them instead. Make the world a less perverted place." Raniel snapped.
"If we do that, every dark priest that catches wind of what we're doing is going to start bitching and moaning to the extremists. Hell, they've already done that." Ophelia calmly responded to her subordinate, despite her language.
"And if we leave them alive, they're going to start giving birth to more dark angels, priests, and valkyries. Believe me when I say that this world doesn't need any more of those. We already have way too much."
"Their birthrate is too low for that to be a problem. Raniel, sometimes I think you're letting your zealousness control you. That's something that the Order would-"
"You're comparing me to the Order?!"
"For fuck's sake Raniel, learn some self-control! Cassiel had been a contributor to our successes before she went dark, she doesn't deserve to be tortured!" Ophelia's calm visage vanished.
"I'm right. You've gone soft."
"You're dismissed. Go cool off, before you start causing problems." Ophelia ordered, ignoring Raniel's last comment. She watched as her ally stomped out of the room, her footsteps loudly echoing throughout the halls.
Ophaniel dragged the unconscious dark elf into the interrogation room, throwing her into a chair bolted to the ground. Leaving the room, she grabbed the dark elf's partner, a kunoichi. Retrieving a spool of magic-infused chain from a nearby closet, she wrapped both the dark elf and the kunoichi in the chain. Both their skins glowed slightly purple, indicating that any magic they had would be cut off. The valkyrie let out a chuckle.
They had walked straight into their trap. They were doomed from the beginning; extremists were used to every monster bending to their whims and supporting them because of what they were. But they were never prepared for one of their own betraying them. Ophaniel let out a chuckle at how ironic the entire situation was. Strangely enough, they had captured Hazel, their lead designer for Aperia's magical defenses. The gremlin had expressed her thanks at her rescue and was let free after a short debriefing about what had happened. One of the extremists had put up a decent fight; a wyvern rider and his mount, but unfortunately for them the valkyrie twins already had the element of surprise on their side. Nuriel had taken a minor beating, but she was still completely willing and able to interrogate the two.
A groan emanated from the dark elf, slowly regaining consciousness. The kunoichi was awakened by the sudden noise, opening her eyes and looking around with an expression of concern. The dark elf's eyes slowly met Ophaniel's, narrowing with her face becoming a glare of defiance. "Where are the others?" The dark elf demanded.
"Safe. For the moment." Ophaniel took out a notepad and sat down at the chair opposite to the dark elf. "Let's start simple. The two of you; what are your names?"
"Go to hell." The dark elf spat in Ophaniel's face. The valkyrie cringed and quickly wiped the spit off her cheek. The kunoichi remained silent, looking worridely over at the dark elf.
"Hello, 'Go to hell', nice to meet you." Ophaniel condescendingly responded. "I'm serious. Both of you, what are your names?"
"Fuck you!" Ophaniel was already beginning to dislike them. The dark elf was a defiant asshole while the kunoichi was a stubborn mute. Unfortunately, for them, she was the one with control over the restraints. Holding her hands out, she willed the restraints on both prisoners to become tighter. The dark elf let out a cry of surprise while the kunoichi grimaced.
"Ghhkk!"
"I suggest you improve your manners before it gets worse. Both of you, start answering my question. Now." Ophaniel threatened.
"Ava…" The kunoichi finally spoke, her voice quiet and muffled by the kunochi's mask. Ophaniel walked over to the succubus-ninja, and forcefully pulled down her mask.
"Say again?"
"Ava." Ava averted her eyes, looking at the ground instead of at Ophaniel.
"So, Ava. You seem like a more cooperative person than your partner. Are you up for answering my questions?" Ophaniel lifted Ava's chin so that she had to look at her.
"Don't tell her anythin-" The dark elf's protest got cut off by the restraints getting even tighter, yielding a scream from her.
"I suggest you ignore whatever your partner says. For your own good." The kunoichi's eyes flitted back and forth between Ophaniel and her partner, sweating. She had clearly not been trained in how to act in an interrogation, having mostly gone against enemies that would've simply kill her out of religious obligation instead of pressing her for information. Ophaniel decided to concentrate her efforts on Ava.
"The dark elf's name is Sinclair." Ava turned her head the best she could towards Sinclair, flashing a look of apology and guilt towards her partner. Sinclair looked back with an expression of anger and confusion at her partner's blatant disregard of her protests, but said nothing in response.
"Good, good. Now, tell me what you are doing in Aerokon. What is your mission? Did Druella put you up to this?" Ophaniel asked. Sinclair glared at Ava with an expression that screamed 'don't you dare', while the kunoichi's heart began beating so loudly that Ophaniel could hear it.
"W-w-w-w-w-"
"Spit it out!" Ophaniel yelled in Ava's face. "Now!"
"We had orders to capture Hazel… A-and interrogate her about Aperia's magical defenses…" The kunoichi looked down at the ground with an expression of shame as she leaked their plans to Ophaniel. The valkyrie smiled, scribbling something on her notepad.
"How could you?!" Sinclair screamed at her partner, enraged. "Do you not value the safety of your friends?!" Ophaniel let out a laugh.
"How helpful of you. However," Ophaniel walked back to Ava's side. "I can tell you are not telling me everything. Did you have further orders?"
"She's telling you everything. We know nothing else!" Sinclair exclaimed, desperate to stop her partner from giving their interrogator any more information. Ophaniel turned to Sinclair, a single finger held up to the valkyrie's lips to convey her message. The dark elf stopped her ranting and went silent.
"What else were you ordered to do? Where are the others? There were seven of you."
The kunoichi finally heeded her partner's message and stayed quiet. Ophaniel sighed in annoyance. Ophaniel held her hand out, preparing to tighten the kunoichi's restraints, when she was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Ophaniel lowered her arms and opened the door. Standing outside was a very cross-looking Ophelia.
"Matriarch." Ophaniel immediately saluted to her superior's superior.
"What are you… Oh, for fucks' sake." Ophelia looked over Ophaniel's shoulder at Sinclair and Ava. "Did Raniel give you orders to do this?" Ophelia asked with a shake of her head, exasperated.
"Yes sh-"
"Well, I am ordering you to stop. Tell Nuriel to stop too. Bring the prisoners to the mindflaying station, we'll get any information they have out of them there." Ophelia turned around and left, not bothering to see if Ophaniel followed through with her orders. "Raniel… What's gotten into you…" The seraph muttered under her breath.
Leaving Ophaniel, Ophelia walked down the halls of the barracks, straightening out her coat. She was about to leave when a messenger harpy flew down from the sky, landing in front of her.
"Matriarch! Urgent news!" The harpy chirped.
"What is it?"
"Zeraphine has been kidnapped! One of the witches saw what was happening, she was just in her room having sex with her husband and then some people broke into her house and stuffed her into a bag! It was so horrible, who would do that-"
"Are they still in Zeraphine's spirit realm?" Ophelia cut off the harpy's rambling.
"They are, for now. I'll fetch Raniel-"
"No! They've caused enough trouble tonight. Send another team of valkyries to deal with the interlopers." The harpy nodded and took off.
Ophelia watched as the harpy flew off. She herself flew to the mindflaying station, where Sinclair, Ava, Naira, Jordan, and Cassiel were being held. She had a feeling that with the information she was about to receive, that the interlopers weren't going to last very long in Aerokon.
As she was flying, she felt a strange, yet familiar and nostalgic feeling. She immediately stopped flying to focus on it. It reminded her of someone she once knew, but thought had died.
…Adrian?