Cecile had made sure that she waited a while before returning to the library to sign out another scrying orb. A difficult task now that she knew her son was now walking the mortal realm. Despite him being miles away, the brief chance to watch him made it feel like he was just an arms reach away. It was the closest she's felt to him since she had left him on that plane. She felt like a giddy teenager again, trying her best not to skip down the streets to the library.

She would admit she wasn't quite used to or fond of the look he had taken since his death, though she knew he had no choice. Seeing him again looking human, looking like how she had always remembered him was enough to get tears to prickle in the corner of her eyes. She knew now what he had done, but watching through the orb she could almost pretend she was ignorant to it all, she could simply watch her son and be reminded of all the good memories they shared.

Although this time she wouldn't be able to watch as long, she had made lunch plans with Pentious, but she was hoping to get a quick look at what her favourite children were up to. She was certain the two had now found each other and with luck, they may have found their son. She was really hoping to catch a glimpse of her grandson. If not she may be able to, seeing as she knew his name. It would likely be the only way to meet him. It was sad he would never really get to meet her.

It took no time at all to get up the stairs to the back of the library. She smiled sweetly at the cherub at the back desk. This visit was Deerie.

"Well hello Deerie, how has your morning been?"

She turned and the smile dropped the instant she found who the greeting came from. "Oh-uh, morning Miss. Cecile. I'm afraid you are no longer allowed to sign out orbs."

Cecile's smile also slipped her head tilting to the side just enough to signify her confusion. She had never heard of someone being forbidden from using the orbs, limited yes but out right forbidden?

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Have I done something wrong?"

Dearie ducked down to hide behind the desk remaining quiet. Cecile moved to lean over the counter top to see why the cherub had disappeared when a soothing voice pulled her gaze away.

"Greetings Cecile. I apologize for the restriction but I have a few questions I wish to ask you."

Cecile straightened up, turning slowly, pulling a warm smile to her face before facing the head seraphim. She slightly bowed her head in respect.

"Of course. As you wish."

A portal was waved open and she was directed to lead the way. She did without hesitation. It was an honour to have an audience with the seraphim's however she had a sneaking suspicion, this was not going to be a delightful meeting. She only hoped it wouldn't be long, she had no way of letting Pentious know that she would be unable to make it, and the poor thing would likely think she had stood him up.

On the other side of the portal was an office looking room where Sera took a seat waving for her to sit across from her. It had been decades, but she couldn't help but feel like a rambunctious student being sat across from a principal, waiting for their parents to show up. She had done nothing wrong so she wasn't going to let the odd choice setting shake her.

Sera pulled a file and set it in front of her opening it up. The silence in the room was likely meant to make her uncomfortable, make her nervous, but Cecile kept her head up with a warm smile on her face. If there was one thing she had an unwavering amount of, it was patience.

"You've only signed out a scrying orb once."

It wasn't a question, but the simple statement made it clear where this conversation was headed. With that small bit of information, she could start putting together her thoughts already coming up with answers to questions that were likely to come. She gave a nod.

"That is correct."

"It was to watch your daughter in law."

Another statement. Another nod in response.

"So you have a son." Sera didn't give her a chance to answer, already knowing. "And after a bit of searching I discovered, he never made it here, did he?"

'A bit of searching'. Cecile could have laughed. It was likely the Seraphim had made no effort to fill the file in front of her. It was likely the task was delegated to others. She was simply presenting others' work.

Cecile looked at her hands in her lap. She wasn't ashamed of Alastor, if anything she was prouder than ever. She had spent decades worrying about him and she now knew he would be okay and as much as it hurt that she wouldn't likely see him again, she felt blessed she got the few short visits she did get. He had accomplished so much despite being sent to Hell and she could rest well knowing he had learned and grown so much more since she had left him. He had looked after himself well the past decades and she had no doubt he would continue doing so.

"No, he earned eternal damnation in Hell," she answered with an even tone.

"Indeed." Sera's gaze turned cold. "So imagine my surprise to find that for some miraculous reason, you were able to watch him from the scrying orb. Sinners are told there is no way back to the mortal realm yet somehow your son has found a way there."

She raised her gaze back to the seraphim, her face neutral. "It would seem so."

"How could he have found that out?"

Cecile smiled politely, though there may have been a touch of smugness mixed in. She leaned back as if to think before answering, "I'm not too sure, but he has always been intelligent. Once he sets his mind to something, he won't stop until it's been remedied. I'm not too surprised he figured it out all on his own."

Sera closed the file leaning across the table glaring at her.

"Cecile, I know that you have spent time with your son here, on more than one occasion. While I could not help the court proceeding with the mortal girl-"

"-Ellen," She interjected, her glare hardening slightly. You'd think with all the trouble the girl made the Seraphim would have her name memorized.

"-yes. What I would like to know is how he got up here a second time and why you knew he was here."

"I'm afraid I can't answer that. I don't know how he got here, but I did what any other winner would have done. Alerted you to his presence."

Sera leaned back, eyeing her for a moment with a look of dissatisfaction.

"I am not a fool, Cecile. I am fully aware of the lengths a mother would go for their children. You told him about accessing the mortal realm and it has led to catastrophic problems in the human plane. Big enough consequences that now myself and others have to be involved." The seraphim's eyes narrowed. "Some might believe you are conspiring with those in Hell and I don't need to tell you that it would be very easy for you to fall if that is the case. I expect you to really think about your next answer because it will determine your place moving forward."

Cecile's eyes narrowed at the Seraphim, not liking how the tone of the little meeting had turned. She really had done nothing wrong and to be threatened with falling was harsh. It probably worked on others, afraid of such a fate, but she knew better. Even if a case was made there was no evidence she had done anything. The only thing Sera had was the connection that Alastor was her son. It hardly proved anything. The head seraphim was bluffing, and she was not falling for it.

"Tell me, what exactly are you suggesting?"

"That your loyalties are misguided."

"My loyalties?!" Cecile scoffed. "You believe he is there because I told him to?" She laughed. "Tell me how would that have helped him get there? No one has access to the realm except archangels, so if you are looking for someone to point the blame to, I am not the right person. But you knew that already didn't you? You're hoping to get information out of me that I simply don't have. You are just wasting both of our time. So if there is nothing else to discuss, I have a prior engagement to attend to, if you don't mind."

Cecile stood giving Sera one more heated glare before turning to leave the office.

"He's killing humans at an alarming rate with his blood."

Cecile's shoulder hunched and she laughed before turning with a look as cold as ice. "If he is indeed killing humans, you won't find their souls coming here, he'd be adding to Hell's population. Which, if I'm not mistaken, isn't a problem for you seeing as you send exorcists to kill them anyway. So I will say again, you're looking at the wrong person to point the blame to."

She wasn't certain she was being honest, she had no idea the kind of people her son killed, but if heaven was hearing whispers about souls that had been killed by demon blood then there was something else going on. Perhaps it was the reason her son was there in the first place, eliminating that threat. It made sense to send someone like him to hunt down another demon. The more important question would be figuring out how that other demon got their first. Regardless, she was going to keep her mouth shut on the topic.

She hadn't intended on getting so riled up, she was normally good at keeping her composure, but threatening her and her family was not not something she was going to take lightly. Not to mention this meeting was a waste of time. The seraphim had shown all of her cards making it impossible to point any blame to her. She had nothing, only an idle threat. The only thing she had succeeded in, is making Cecile aware that she was now going to be closely watched.

A thought came to her and she started devising a plan. She'd rid herself of Sera's watch, she'd just need a bit of time.

Cecile stormed out of the room only faintly catching whatever Sera called after her.

"He can not stay bound to that mortal girl."

Sera let out an annoyed sigh. That had not gone the way she had wanted it to, but she at least got important information. She glanced back down at the folder she had made with the information she had collected. She had not actually met any of them yet, but there were whispers of souls that had died from experimentation, something she thought the humans had evolved past, but clearly not. It only became a problem when the whispers started to involve the mention of demons and corrupted blood. She didn't think it was possible until Racheal brought to her attention that Cecile had managed to watch her son. What she couldn't figure out was how he had gotten there. It shouldn't have been possible. Although it also shouldn't have been possible for the demon to wed to a mortal either, that was not something she had control over. It also didn't cause too many issues. A demon on the mortal plane was going to cause a plethora of problems and the longer it took to send him back to hell the worse it was going to be.

Cecile was correct, it was only doable by angels and there was no way the demon could have gotten any help from heaven so it seemed like an impossible feat. Perhaps she should have waited a little longer to confront Cecile. There was a chance she may have acquired more information. Now the winner was going to be extra cautious, she was a smart woman.

She would need to find some of these souls and inquire about their deaths, something she had never been involved with. People didn't like to remember their deaths and if these stories turned out to be true, they would not be good memories for these souls.

She aimlessly flipped the file open again only half glancing at the pages as she flipped past them. Her thoughts froze as a name passed her gaze. Lucifer. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on that demon. He also had the ability to gain access to the mortal plane. Her face fixed to another glare. Of course this all went back to Lucifer. Only now they had proof he had gone against the laws he had signed years ago. This, if not dealt with carefully, could mean war.

First she would need confirmation of the demon killing people and the only way to do that would be to interview those recent souls. Once she had her proof she could summon Lucifer to court with all of their brothers and sisters to determine what would happen next.

She flipped the file closed, getting to her feet and making her way to see St. Peter. He would know where to find the winners she was looking for and when this was all finally sorted and everything was back to the way it was supposed to be; she was going to make sure that red smiling demon would be properly executed for all of the problems he had caused across all the realms. A sinner with that kind of power was not something they could risk. Perhaps the girl would go as well. She too, seemed to cause problems.

…

A few more weeks had passed and Sera's patience was wearing thin. She discovered that not as many souls were affected as she originally thought, but it seemed there was a new one every week or so. To make matters worse, none of them, not one, knew the name Alastor. They all kept using the same name. Dolion Tucker. A few even mentioned a cursed child.

It seemed Cecile was right, her son was smart. Not a trait she thought many demons had, but of course there were always going to be exceptions. She thought at first he had simply used an alias to hide who he was just in case, but to her horror she discovered that wasn't the case. No things were far worse than she imagined. There wasn't just a demon on the mortal plane, no, there were two. It was upon this discovery that she knew she would have to get the council together to figure out how they were going to fix this. There were humans at risk which meant this needed to be sorted out quickly.

Of course there was also the issue of what to do with Lucifer. He had been the one to instigate all of her problems it seemed.

Sera sat down at her desk a deep sigh escaping her at the thought of having to have another court case involving Lucifer. The last one ended with his fall and even though it was centuries ago, the thought still brought on a headache. There was also the problem of where to have the meeting seeing as Lucifer was not allowed into heaven for any reason and there was no way a number of high ranking angels were going down to hell, it was a recipe for disaster.

Out of the sight of anyone else Sera let herself slouch deeper into her seat. How had things become such a mess? She waved a golden parchment and light blue feather to her desk, dipping the tip of the feather into an inkwell and started writing. Lucifer was going to be summoned to court and the sooner he knew the better. It may give him time to build a case, but she wasn't too worried about it, he tended to be a bit slow on responding or replying to any letters. Sometimes she wondered if he simply ignored them. This was one he couldn't ignore though. And hopefully with it she would finally be able to get some much needed answers.

By the time she finished the official summons she was starting to get second thoughts. This was something that needed to be dealt with, but she knew Lucifer. This wasn't going to be an open and closed kind of case and if things turned sour, which was usually the case with anything that involved him, there was a chance this could go to war. It wouldn't have been a problem a few years ago, but now that the demons knew Angels could be killed and had access to angelic weapons, it was not going to be easy.

Sera gave the letter another read through with a non-committal hum. There hadn't been a war between realms on eons. And what would happen to the mortal plane while the afterlife was busy fighting each other? War was not an option, not at this time at least.

She put the letter down her head falling into her hands with a swallowed groan. Why would Lucifer let this happen? It felt like she and heaven had been left in the dark, like something was brewing in the background and was only now getting a small taste of the larger picture. There had to be a reason for all of this right? Lucifer wasn't now after a millennium deciding to break all the rules and laws he agreed to exceptionally knowing the consequences. There was no way he wanted war, but how else was this supposed to look?

Before she could put any more thought into it, Sera rolled up the summons and sent it on its way to Hell. She watched it go until it was no longer visible and she stood watching the spot it vanished from for a few moments longer.

"I hope you know what you're doing Lucifer," she whispered to the empty room.

A light knocking brought her back from her thoughts and she instantly straightened up before calling for her visitor to enter.

Upon seeing Emily she pulled a warm smile to her face. "Emily," She greeted. "What is it my child?"

In an instant the smile started to slip, finding Emily's jovial demeanor wasn't as exuberant as it normally was.

"Well," She started with a smile that was obviously strained. "I've got a winner that I'm having a hard time keeping happy. I tried all of my usual tactics and they'd work for a little bit, but just as quickly they're mad or upset again and I don't know what to do or even why?"

Sera nodded and gestured for her to take a seat across from her which Emily quickly took trying to hide her flustered state. "She's been here for years and I almost never had to work to make her happy, she just…was. But now out of nowhere heaven has become a sad place for her."

"I see. Well maybe you could take some time to follow her around and see what brings her joy."

Emily's shoulder fell at the suggestion, her eyes cast downwards. "She told me she was tired of being watched."

Sera hid her confusion instead asking, "Who is it?"

"It's Cecile. She said you forbid her from using the scrying orbs, making threatening accusations. I told her she must have been mistaken because I know you would never." Emily took to the air getting overly defensive. "But I don't know how she could believe you would do something like that."

Another groan was swallowed by the older seraphim as she waved Emily back to her seat. "You can tell her that she is no longer under surveillance and that I will regrant her access to the orbs as long as she agrees to only using them while I am present."

"What?! Sera, why are you watching her like that? No wonder she's not happy!"

Sera stood, her lips pressed into a thin line. She gently guided Emily from her office as she answered the best she could without giving away too much. "There were a few things I needed to discuss with her, but she was right, I no longer need to keep an eye on her. I'm sorry this caused you so much trouble Emily. I'm sure she'll be happy to know she needn't be concerned anymore."

Emily stared at her for a moment before she slowly nodded. Then like a light bulb she was suddenly relit. "Oh that's great she'll be so happy to know! I'll go tell her right now!" She didn't even wait for a response before she darted off, leaving Sera to herself again.

She turned back to her desk with a look of annoyance. "Well played, Cecile," she muttered to herself.

AN: Hey all! I hope you all are doing well. I'm thinking I may post a few more chapters in the next few weeks because I'm just super excited with what I have coming up and I'm a bit impatient XD So stay tuned all and see you guys soon!

Cheers!