"Sinking", continued
Dec. 16th, 2004 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalNotes: In Nomine, rated PG, no warnings.
“Lurking in the bushes? I thought you left that sort of thing to your servitors, Dominic,” Micheal said, bristling in annoyance as he stepped between Judgement and where Zadkiel and Elsa stood.
“I was not lurking, Micheal,” Dominic insisted, “I’d only arrived a moment ago, but your conversation confirms what I’d already suspected.”
“Don’t tell me you already knew about Retzel.”
“Specifically? No. But I too was aware that Christopher was hiding something of extraordinary importance in the Caverns, and that Elsa was it’s designated guardian. Logically it follows that it was the same something that Eli had assigned to her care some sixty years ago.”
“You knew this and you said nothing?” the cherub of Protection said. Beside Zadkiel, Elsa gulped.
Dominic’s hood dipped briefly in aknowledgement of this Truth. “I am not Litheroy. My purpose is to judge the rightness of the Host’s actions, not announce them to all of Heaven and perhaps all of Hell. So long as Christopher did not do anything that warranted my attention, I thought it more prudent to let the matter stand.”
“And who knows, perhaps Eli would want to chat with Chris to check up on how his little lost Mercurian was doing,” Micheal noted acidly.
“Truth, though I did not know it was Andrealphus’ last servitor that they held,” Dominic admitted. “But returning to the matter at hand, there is information that you should be made aware of. Lust has chosen to provide evidence that proves that Christopher is indeed in their clutches, and being vilely tortured by Andre.”
Micheal drew his axe. “So why are we still sitting here?”
Dominic raised a black gloved hand in forebearance. “Andre also included a message. ‘Return my servant, and you shall have yours.’ I did not understand the meaning of this until I thought to connect it to Christopher’s secret in the Caverns, and do a search in the Archives for a list of Love’s servitors, showing which had definitely Fallen, and which had been destroyed.”
“No. No!” Elsa finally spoke, mantlling her black wings in anger. “Retzel can not be used as a bargaining chip, Lord Dominic! How are we to call ourselves angels, if we send one of our own, who has suffered in silence for so terribly long, to the Fate that she managed to avoid for twenty thousand years?”
“I agree,” Zadkiel added. “Christopher would not wish to be freed at the price of sacrificing an innocent angel, particularly one he is almost certainly Attuned to.”
Dominic shook his head. “I would not be party to such a dark bargain either. Nor do I imagine would War.”
“You imagine correctly,” Micheal said coldly. “So we’re left with one choice. We have to confront Laurence with Retzel’s existence. Allowing her to be given over to Andre for Christopher’s life is something that is so dishonorable that not even that moron of a Malakite would agree to it. Once we lay all the facts on the table, he’ll have to go along with a rescue plan.”
“I seriously doubt that he would agree to rescue attempt, though to his credit he would not sacrifice Retzel either,” Dominic said. “He has managed to convince himself, however False his assumptions might be, that Christopher is a liability to the Host that must be exorcised. And the simpliest method for that is allow him to become a martyr to Heaven’s cause.”
Through sheer force of Will, Zadkiel managed to control her emotions so that mere anger was visible on her face, rather than the raging fury that she felt in her Heart. “How is this possible, Dominic? Laurence is the Commander of the Host, sworn to battling Hell’s armies. Christopher is the Archangel of Children, for the Love of our merciful God. Whatever Christopher’s mistakes, and yes, he has made many mistakes since Druiel Fell, how could Laurence turn his back on one of the Host’s own, particularly one it’s most innocent?”
To her surprise, it was Micheal who answered. His face was grave, and the anger he’d shown earlier had dissapeared, replaced by sorrow. “It isn’t Christopher himself that Laurence fears is the true weakness to Heaven,” he said, “its his Word.”
“I don’t understand,” Elsa said, clutching her oath chains in confusion.
Dominic let out a deep, troubled sigh, then shared a brief glance with Micheal. Evidentially coming to some sort of mutual, silent agreement, the Archangel of War motioned for the Most Just to proceed.
“Allow me to tell you, Zadkiel of Protection, and Elsa of Creation, about the crimes of the first Archangel of Children,” he began.
TBC
“Lurking in the bushes? I thought you left that sort of thing to your servitors, Dominic,” Micheal said, bristling in annoyance as he stepped between Judgement and where Zadkiel and Elsa stood.
“I was not lurking, Micheal,” Dominic insisted, “I’d only arrived a moment ago, but your conversation confirms what I’d already suspected.”
“Don’t tell me you already knew about Retzel.”
“Specifically? No. But I too was aware that Christopher was hiding something of extraordinary importance in the Caverns, and that Elsa was it’s designated guardian. Logically it follows that it was the same something that Eli had assigned to her care some sixty years ago.”
“You knew this and you said nothing?” the cherub of Protection said. Beside Zadkiel, Elsa gulped.
Dominic’s hood dipped briefly in aknowledgement of this Truth. “I am not Litheroy. My purpose is to judge the rightness of the Host’s actions, not announce them to all of Heaven and perhaps all of Hell. So long as Christopher did not do anything that warranted my attention, I thought it more prudent to let the matter stand.”
“And who knows, perhaps Eli would want to chat with Chris to check up on how his little lost Mercurian was doing,” Micheal noted acidly.
“Truth, though I did not know it was Andrealphus’ last servitor that they held,” Dominic admitted. “But returning to the matter at hand, there is information that you should be made aware of. Lust has chosen to provide evidence that proves that Christopher is indeed in their clutches, and being vilely tortured by Andre.”
Micheal drew his axe. “So why are we still sitting here?”
Dominic raised a black gloved hand in forebearance. “Andre also included a message. ‘Return my servant, and you shall have yours.’ I did not understand the meaning of this until I thought to connect it to Christopher’s secret in the Caverns, and do a search in the Archives for a list of Love’s servitors, showing which had definitely Fallen, and which had been destroyed.”
“No. No!” Elsa finally spoke, mantlling her black wings in anger. “Retzel can not be used as a bargaining chip, Lord Dominic! How are we to call ourselves angels, if we send one of our own, who has suffered in silence for so terribly long, to the Fate that she managed to avoid for twenty thousand years?”
“I agree,” Zadkiel added. “Christopher would not wish to be freed at the price of sacrificing an innocent angel, particularly one he is almost certainly Attuned to.”
Dominic shook his head. “I would not be party to such a dark bargain either. Nor do I imagine would War.”
“You imagine correctly,” Micheal said coldly. “So we’re left with one choice. We have to confront Laurence with Retzel’s existence. Allowing her to be given over to Andre for Christopher’s life is something that is so dishonorable that not even that moron of a Malakite would agree to it. Once we lay all the facts on the table, he’ll have to go along with a rescue plan.”
“I seriously doubt that he would agree to rescue attempt, though to his credit he would not sacrifice Retzel either,” Dominic said. “He has managed to convince himself, however False his assumptions might be, that Christopher is a liability to the Host that must be exorcised. And the simpliest method for that is allow him to become a martyr to Heaven’s cause.”
Through sheer force of Will, Zadkiel managed to control her emotions so that mere anger was visible on her face, rather than the raging fury that she felt in her Heart. “How is this possible, Dominic? Laurence is the Commander of the Host, sworn to battling Hell’s armies. Christopher is the Archangel of Children, for the Love of our merciful God. Whatever Christopher’s mistakes, and yes, he has made many mistakes since Druiel Fell, how could Laurence turn his back on one of the Host’s own, particularly one it’s most innocent?”
To her surprise, it was Micheal who answered. His face was grave, and the anger he’d shown earlier had dissapeared, replaced by sorrow. “It isn’t Christopher himself that Laurence fears is the true weakness to Heaven,” he said, “its his Word.”
“I don’t understand,” Elsa said, clutching her oath chains in confusion.
Dominic let out a deep, troubled sigh, then shared a brief glance with Micheal. Evidentially coming to some sort of mutual, silent agreement, the Archangel of War motioned for the Most Just to proceed.
“Allow me to tell you, Zadkiel of Protection, and Elsa of Creation, about the crimes of the first Archangel of Children,” he began.
TBC
