The Word | Sic Transit | Credits
They return to the tether to find Ahazia having a shouting match with Invictus. She wants to get this over with, and has called for backup. Two Malakim of Protection are there, Granny and Barbara. They head to the Coffin House, a local crackhouse, where they meet up with Loki. There is an impressive shapeshifting battle between Appoggee and Loki before Loki slips away. They follow to the bridge, where Loki is finally pinned down and vessel-killed. Thor is there as well, and Invictus wants to vessel-kill him as well. The Valkyries show up then, and they let him go. They all head back to the tether again.
[Begin 2/19/99]
Malleus, intending to send a report to Michael about the situation, is surprised to see the Archangel himself show up for a chat. Michael takes Zenaniel aside for a private talk. Zenaniel returns looking dazed but happy.
Ahazia has a brief chat with Reziphel about Gabriel, whom she is concerned about.
Appoggee spends an hour or so writing up reports for Paul Lindsay. Zenaniel does some work in the frozen garden for Ahazia. Shilom heads for her office, and Rez leaves for Shilom's apartment to get his bike back.
Zenaniel remembers that Shilom said he needed some new clothes. He gets the address of a thrift store from Ahazia, and he and Appoggee head over there. Appoggee/Paul Lindsay waits outside, still in the police car.
Zenaniel finds some faux combat boots, and a long leather coat that is just a little too tight. He reluctantly leaves it, as he is worried about "sword lines". Meanwhile, Appoggee has left his policeman and inhabited one of the thrift store clerks, a young Asian woman named Amy. She is immediately confused by the cash register, and is unable to catch Zenaniel's eye as he pays for his boots and leaves the store.
Zenaniel walks up to Paul Lindsay, who is sitting reading his reports in his police car. He looks bewildered. Zenaniel demands that Paul tie his boots. Paul is more bewildered. Zenaniel, increasingly annoyed, finally realizes that Appoggee is no longer here. Paul drives away and Zenaniel sits on the curb to wait for the Kyriotate, who has just found out that she doesn't get off until 4.
While using his resonance on the humans walking in and out of the store, Zenaniel picks up a Balseraph. The vessel is that of a black boy about 13 years old, dressed in jeans, T-shirt, and jacket. The boy goes into the store, and Zenaniel follows behind. Appoggee/Amy tries to get his attention, but fails. The boy notices Zenaniel following him, and asks him if he'd like to go somewhere private with him. The intent of the proposition goes right over Zenaniel's head, but he agrees anyway. These demons are much more cooperative than he'd expected.
As Zenaniel follows the boy out of the store, Appoggee makes one last attempt to get his attention: she takes the demon's vessel, sending the Balseraph to wander the Marches, and is very suprised to find that this is no mortal. It takes all its forces to hold on to this one. The boy turns to speak to Zenaniel, who thinks he is about to sing a song. He claps his hand over the boy's mouth, and tells him to be quiet. Appoggee frantically makes the triangle sign, and manages to convince Zenaniel that it's him before Zenaniel breaks his neck.
Appoggee tells Zenaniel that this has to be a celestial, and Zenaniel tells him it's a demon, and what does Appoggee mean by getting in the way of his kill? After a brief heated discussion, they head back to the tether to meet Shilom and Rez. Appoggee looks in his pockets and finds business cards for a banker and a realtor, nipple clips, a pair of handcuffs, a coil of wire, and $80.
Meanwhile, Rez picks up his bike and then heads for the FBI building. A puzzled guard signs him in, and escorts him to Janet's office. Shilom/Janet takes one look at the doctor's scrubs Rez is still wearing and decides that's it, it's time to go shopping.
Shilom and Rez go to the Saks
Fifth Avenue near her work. The salesperson takes them to the
sportswear section, where Rez picks out biking clothes (black with a
yellow stripe), and a Calgary Flames
jersey. Then he tries on a suit, which looks good for about the first
five minutes. As Rez fidgets, his shirt pulls out of his pants, the tie
goes askew, and he ends up looking quite rumpled. All decide that perhaps
the suit is not such a good idea after all.
Rez wears the biking outfit and jersey, and Shilom tells the clerk to burn the scrubs. She and Rez head back to the tether. When they meet up with Zenaniel and Appoggee, an even more heated discussion ensues over what to do with the demon. Finally, they decide on a plan.
Shilom knows of an abandoned apartment house in Brooklyn where they can have relative privacy. They drive there, and go to the basement. The Balseraph's vessel is handcuffed to a pipe, and his ankles are wired together. He is blindfolded and gagged. Shilom and Rez go celestial, and Appoggee leaves the body as Zenaniel starts to strangle it. Zenaniel tells the boy that he must kill him, and suddenly Zenaniel is gripping empty air. The Balseraph appears celestially, and Zenaniel watches the ensuing combat.
The Balseraph's protestestations of innocence fall on deaf ears. He is shown no mercy, and the blows rain down on him from the three angels. Realizing defeat, after only a few seconds he rematerializes in his body. This time he allows Zenaniel to strangle his vessel to death.
The angels leave him with his pants down, and his hands cuffed in front of him, so that he will seem to be a victim of a sex crime. They take his money.
Appoggee, free at last, picks up a mangy dog and goes scouting for another likely human. Zenaniel uses his resonance on a black woman pulling a small cart loaded with groceries. Her fate is dark. Her destiny is to set up a shelter for homeless children. Zenaniel gives her his money, and the money taken from the Balseraph, $130.50 in all, and asks her to use it to provide for some homeless child. She is taken aback, but is persuaded to accept it.
Zenaniel next tries an Indian man, in his thirties. The most evil thing he has done in the last week is break his dietary laws. Zenaniel nods to the dog, and Appoggee slips into Utpal Metha.
It is now about 4 pm.
[End 2/19/99]
[Begin 3/12/99]
The angels go to the police station to see the evidence in the Sloppy Jo crimes. While there, they run into Gaudior, whom Shilom recognizes. They then go to Iglesias' apartment to search it, and find, among other things, a picture of Iglesias dressed as a Moche lord, and a message from Hanley on the answering machine.
Around 8 pm, they head to Utpal Metha's rowhouse in Brooklyn. His dog, a much cleaner specimen than the one Appoggee possessed earlier, greets them at the door. In the kitchen, one of the angels overfills the dog's dishes since they expect to be gone for at least a day. The dog looks on as though he cannot believe his luck.
Reziphel is feeling uncomfortable, but can't quite figure out why. The other angels finally realize that he has to go to the bathroom, but no one is willing to take him. Rez manages to figure it out for himself. He especially likes the whirlpool caused by flushing.
When Appoggee/Utpal checks the calendar and paperwork piled on the kitchen table, it finds a paycheck from an Indian food store. It calls in and learns that Utpal is scheduled to work tomorrow. Appoggee decides to find someone else. For now, it picks up a late-roaming squirrel in Utpal's tiny yard, which it reasons will take up much less room in Shilom/Janet's car.
At about 9:30, Appoggee leaves Utpal at the curb, waving goodbye to a
car full of people he's never seen in his life.
The ride to Allenwood is uneventful, if a bit unnerving. Rez has never
driven outside of the city, and gives free rein to his considerable
talents. Fortunately the traffic is relatively light in the Pennsylvania
countryside.
The angels arrive at the Allenwood Motel (RR1, Allenwood PA) around midnight. After much knocking, they rouse the night clerk, who checks them into two rooms at $65/night. Appoggee/squirrel remains in the car while this is going on.
Once in the rooms, Gaudior prepares to go dream-walking. Reziphel decides to go along too. Gaudior successfully hypnotizes him, and they materialize in the Marches. Gaudior shows Rez a little bit about how to move around; much to Rez's chagrin, Gaudior is faster than Rez is in this reality. Rez experiments with changing his form. He becomes a bird, and is trying out his wings when he sees a figure in the distance. It looks to be a woman wreathed in flames, coming from the direction of Gabriel's volcano. Gaudior has seen her before, though infrequently.
As she approaches, she blows Rez a kiss, which becomes a ring of fire. Rez flies through it, and is rejuvenated. He watches her as she walks out of sight, and then he and Gaudior spend some time watching the humans' dreamworlds, from the outside.
Meanwhile, Appoggee wants to buy a parrot, since they're less trouble than human servants and they can talk. Parrots cost quite a bit, so it decides to work up a little squirrel dance routine, and beg on the street for money. To do this it needs a hat. It is searching for something like that when it notices the conversation between Shilom and Zenaniel becoming ... interesting, and decides to search in Rez and Gaudior's room instead.
[End 3/12/99]
[Begin 4/2/99]
Shilom examines Zenaniel's sword and tries a few fancy moves with it. It goes sailing out of her hands, but Zenaniel catches it before it breaks anything. Shilom admits that it has been a long time since she's had any practice with a sword.
Shilom and Zenaniel talk a bit about the Balseraph they killed earlier, and how it was Zenaniel's first demon. Shilom tells Zenaniel that she could be his first, and Zenaniel asks why he should want to kill her. He is standing by the window, watching the parking lot. Shilom closes the curtains, and drapes herself across him, saying, "There are many kinds of firsts." She tries to unbutton his shirt. Zenaniel, not knowing what she means, stops her, picks her up, and puts her on the bed. He goes back to the window.
Shilom attempts to explain about humans and sex. She compares it to recreation. "What is recreation?" Zenaniel asks. "Sort of like cleaning the kitchen," she answers.
Zenaniel says that he was created to do a job, and that he has no time for recreation. Shilom replies that they have time right now, as they have nothing to do until dawn. When Zenaniel doesn't answer, she shrugs, says "Your loss," and heads for the shower, where she uses up all the hot water and towels.
In the next room, Rez and Gaudior wake up. Having seen Rez safely back, Gaudior goes back to sleep, and wanders the Marches until dawn. Appoggee/squirrel watches Rez curiously as he bounces on the bed (without disturbing Gaudior one whit), paces the floor, and in general fidgets constantly for the next few hours. As dawn approaches, Rez runs out of the room. He can be seen outside watching the sunrise.
