Continued from Sisters of the Moon

After Nox discharged himself they had a chance to sit down and talk about what he'd found in the tunnels.  Dorian had already debriefed Lih and Sarkozy, but it was Nox's expert opinion he'd wanted.  And there really wasn't - Alistair Pavlo was dead - good and dead - Nox had decapitated him himself.  Surviving without a head would be hard-pressed.

The only thing left was to inform the girlfriend and his company.  The girlfriend was emotional but she had already prepared herself.  Dorian had stayed to comfort her for as long as it had needed.  

Now Dorian was standing in the lobby of Vaia Plus waiting for a meeting with Dr Flynn.  He wasn't Alistair's direct superior, but he was the CEO and he had taken an interest in the case from what he understood.  Though Dorian didn't really understand why he cared, but Dorian would indulge the man.

Dorian's sat comfortably in the reception area waiting on Dr. Flynn's last meeting to end.  The man was busy after all.  And it wasn't like Dorian had anything better to do.  Only a missing blood sample to find.  Nox was certain that was a dangerous thing to have out and about.  He couldn't tell Dorian why, but Dorian trusted Nox's assessment of monsters - he'd learned from a great hunter.  And Dorian was a cop first and foremost - not a hunter by any means.

Evelyn pulled her hair in front of one shoulder. Then pushed it back and pulled forward the other side. Nope, it was too schoolgirlish. She never worried so much in the past. Her advisor suggested a taut bun and a conservatively high collar in an attempt to “age her up.” Honestly, Evie considered the idea to change her look, but dismissed the entire idea in favor of her more traditional appearance. Here she was though, in the Members bathroom, staring into a cracked mirror, illuminated by bad fluorescent lighting, and Evelyn was questioning her life choices. Maybe the heels were too high after all?

Well. There wasn’t exactly a wardrobe of suit swaps in the last stall, so she was stuck with her current look. Evie shrugged and prepared her best smile. The underground hallways were busy with the typical traffic of staffers. She passed a couple of older Republican Senators, both of whom ignored her.

At the appropriate point, Evelyn stood from her place in the Chamber to seek recognition and address the Chair: “Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks.”

Without much fanfare, the Speaker responded in drone monotone, “Without objection, so ordered.” Evelyn smiled slightly then proceeded to the podium in the Well to give the speech. The Chair informed her that when her one minute had expired she would be allowed to finish her current sentence, but no more time would be allowed to her. It was typical House rules on Decorum and Debate in practice since Thomas Jefferson wrote the Order and Debate manual.  

Surprisingly, no flutters turned her stomach. She’d spoken the one-minute deliveries many times since her election. She was also quite familiar with the rules. For instance, although old tv cameras pointed their black eyes her direction, she was not allowed to reference the televised audience. Today, she was going to break several rules, but nobody would notice once they heard the topic of the following minute’s attention. Representative Avalon spoke to the sleepy members and the mindless glass like they were her best friends.

“Thank you Mr. Speaker for the recognition to address our colleagues in the House of Representatives as well as the American public.”

“As the only Powered Member of Congress, it is my sincere recommendation that the Chairman reconsider H.R. 8011, Global Century Integration Act. This act was declined by committee over the years, but I have new information to rewrite ordinances within the resolution that I believe committee will find favorable.”

She was of course referring to the proposed dissolution of the United States. It wasn’t the first time that Members spoke in favor of integration into the Central Custody of Dominion, but it was the first she spoke of it.

“Powered and non-powered individuals, channelers or non-channelers, may divide our entire world if we allow it. Global integration into a wider network of inclusion is a natural evolution during these times. I understand that I have previously taken differing opinions on HR 8011, but I have firsthand experience that has swayed my opinion.”

It was like she could feel the Speaker’s eyes burning holes into the back of her head. Luckily, her hair held its soft curl under the incinerating heat of old men’s judgment.

“I hope to solicit a bipartisan effort toward these ends and look forward to working closely with my colleagues toward a resolution that reinvigorates the country and serves the people. You will find these submissions in the hopper by the end of the day. Thank you for your time,” she said before the Chairman could warn her of the time allowance.

She folded her speech up and vacated the Well in order to retreat to her offices where no doubt the calls would flood in.

Vatican City, ~5 years ago

Angelika's arrival in Moscow was unceremonious as it should be.  There was no one to greet her at the airport.  There were no signs, no limos.  Just her baggage waiting to be claimed.  The Atharim were a secret organization that made no one think twice.  Angelika was a researcher first and foremost - that she worked for the Church was not something most knew.  Sante knew of course.  He knew her job.  He was a freelancer within the organization.  Someone they paid when someone needed help cleaning up a mess.  The Atharim weren't his only clients.  They'd met once upon a mission where the dreyken had escaped and killed three priests in the Vatican before it was put down.  That was over 20 years ago - how time flew when you were busy and having fun.  Their son, Simone was 7 going on thirty.  Such a strong head on him, so like his mother.  The thought brought a smile to Angelika's lips as she walked down Nikolskaya Street where the Baccarat Mansion once stood - where a crater now sat.  The entire building was gone -  melted.  

Such a tragic loss.  But with loss came new beginnings.  Eventually, things would settle down, but the more curious things in Moscow were happening.  Terror and gods reigned the modern world, but it was the unknown monsters from two hunters.  Granted those hunters were dead or worse now, but still, the problem remained of these unidentified creatures.  And the only way Angelika was going to find them was to find the traitor.  The girl was dead, but he wasn't.

He was being tracked and hunted by the Inquisitors and Angelika knew it would be no time before they found him.  And in the meantime, she would set up her lab here in Moscow, but first to commender a safe house with the right facilities to do the job.  It would need containment for the creatures as well as a place to set up the sterile facilities she would need.  Containment was of the utmost importance.

Mother: Anastazja Woźniak
Father: Iwan Helwing
Partner: Sante Ricci
Son: Simone Ricci

Age: 53
Origin: Warsaw, Poland
Occupation: Doctor/Scientist in the Atharim

Powers/Supernatural Powers: Atharim knowledge - intimate knowledge of the monsters the Atharim hunt.

Personality: Angelika is a hard worker devoted to the Catholic Church and the society within called the Atharim.  She is scholarly but enjoys her family time when she manages to take a break, which is rare.  Angelika can be short with people when they try to tell her about the monsters, she avoids fictions of all sorts her reality is strange enough to immerse herself into.  (strength: knowledgeable in all things occult weakness: poor people skills)

Description: Angelika has chestnut-colored hair that runs past her shoulders she usually keeps it tied back in a low ponytail to keep it out her face.  Her eyes are a shard darker than her hair.  She looks younger than she actually is thanks to lifelong beauty treatment and avoidance of the sun. (Dreyken and monsters typically lurk during the night and hide in the day time after all.) Angelika has an athletic build from years and years of martial arts training.

Biography:

The Helwing family has been part of the Church for as long as the family can remember.  And they have been with the Atharim for just as long if not longer, but it is not the cause that keeps the Helwing family with the Church or the Atharim, it is the mysteries of the unknown that pulls the family towards their own goals.  Every generation for as long as there have been Helwing's, a child has been part of the Atharim.  And in 2046 that is still the same, though Angelika does not go by Helwing.  Her father was a zealot of a man.  He believed with all his soul that the gods of old would return and one day try to rule the world.  He died chasing the mortal enemies of the Helwing's the Dreyken.  They are the reason the Helwing's joined the Atharim in the first place.

The story goes:  One long ago a man corrupted by darkness took the fiance of the first Helwing son in generations.  The man was cursed so the legends say.  He drank the blood of his victims with razor-sharp talons.  Helwing devoted his life to finding his lost love and in the mystery of the corrupted man.

Helwing met a man of the church hunting monsters of the deep.  A man-like creature with razor-sharp talons drinking blood.  Together they found his love, but she was long since dead, the creature kept her alive for years before she died of blood loss.  But they captured the creature alive and Helwing discovered many mysteries of the man who was not a man.

The man from the church told Helwing of the Atharim and all the glories of his travels and Helwing spurred by the mysteries of the unknown began his quest to understand these damned creations.  

Helwing went on to marry another woman - a woman inside the Atharim and born him two children.  Each child entering the Atharim, and ever since a Helwing has been part of the Atharim.  Father to son, and son to son on and on until Iwan died shortly after his wife gave birth to their only child - a daughter - Angelika.

Anastazja let the church take her daughter at thirteen and train her in the ways of her father, but the girl was never a Helwing except by birth, but she continued in the path of her father. 

Not only did Angelika continue with her father's work, but she also studied lore and traditions of other cultures as well as medicine far and wide.  She obtained her PhDs in forensic medicine, infectious disease, and anatomical and clinical pathologies.   The Helwing legacy proceeded Angelika but she made a name for herself.  Not just studying the creatures of the night, but how they affected their victims - how they died, what mechanisms killed them. 

In between her research projects with the Atharim Angelika found the time to fall in love, and have a son whose father raises him in Rome.  When he is 13 - another 6 years or so - he too will join the Atharim, but until then her son would live a normal life.  Angelika rarely sees her family due to her travels, but she loves spending time in Rome with them.

Angelika currently has an Atharim Lab in Vatican City underneath the Cathedral itself, but a strange new monster has brought her to Moscow - where their Regus had fallen and the worst of the worst was happening - a reborn god was in power and not just of Moscow but most of the modern world as they knew it.  Times were dire, but Angelika didn't care about the politics, only the monsters - just the monsters.

Anbessa lightly knocked on Sessie's door. "We need to go or we'll miss the train." He returned to the living room of his small house, now crowded with bodies. It was the two of them, along with Ibrahim and Rohama. And one more, a girl of maybe 15, Maryam.

Maryam- his heart jumped whenever he heard his mother's name, seeing her sign her love for him every single night- had been in the war lord's camp, one of girls he'd held captive. Not for the usual reasons, though. No, she was also g'brim, used by him to control the others. The girl had fought as best she could but the beast had controlled her. Power is no match for cunning, blackmail, and mental abuse.

While Anbessa and Ibrahim had subdued his forces, Sessie had sent word to the local authorities. Another g'brim tried to engage him but had been inexperienced. The man likely thought this would be a simple fight against men weaker than him. Anbessa, though, had trained for this for 5 years with Ibrahim. He had fought men who channeled before. The man and those with him had been forced to flee.

It was Rohama that reached the girl, somehow getting through to her. He did not pry but he suspected that Rohama was speaking from experience. Not just her grandmother's, he guessed. Whatever the case, when local and state forces came to gather up the boys and those loyal to their now dead leader, Bessie and his companions had disappeared into the night. Her family was dead and she had been taken from a village far away. They had only meant to teach her enough to be safe and then help her get home.

Between Sessie and Rohama, that didn't happen. And little by little, she became part of their family. 

Anbessa did his best to teach and provide while the women gave the real help- comfort and training, a listening ear and a motherly embrace.

In the meantime, the Legion had arrived at the orders of The Ascendancy. Eritrea was not part of the CCD. But the entire Horn of Africa was on fire- a humanitarian crisis, given the warlords and Al Janyar. He gave credit where credit was due. Between the locals and the Legion, eventually they were pushed back north. Eritrea and Djubouti were free for the first time in years.

And while their work continued now that the crisis had abated, their was a sense of relief in the air. Even a sense of peace. Sometimes people just needed a little help to see that they had strength. He knew this. Even before the Legion had appeared, their work as G'brim Qdus had inspired many to fight back.

They had settled down into something resembling normalcy when the call to Axum had come. He couldn't help the worry in his stomach. The Negus Mena's calls had always meant something would change. And he was happy at how things were right now. He wanted no more change.

Still, a call was a call. But Sessie would be with him. Whatever it was, she would be by his side.

@"Thalia"

Sterling ran through the streets of Moscow taking alleys and other short cuts she and Rissa had found over the years all the way to the University.  Mom and Dad couldn't keep tabs on her if she didn't stay on the roads like she was supposed to.  Her wallet was of course tracked but that was easy enough to disable and fake to stay at home.  No one would know she had slipped out.

The University Hospital was a large place she wasn't sure how she was going to find her cousin.  She didn't even know what he looked like.  This was probably a bad idea, but she walked into the front door and to the desk where people asked questions. "I'm looking for Nox Durante."  

The world around her felt clear and everything seemed more colorful as the woman in front of her blinked at her then smiled. "He was checked out just a little while ago.  I'm sorry, maybe you can catch him.  He was on the third floor."  Sterling was heading towards the elevators even as the woman said, "Though there are many ways out."

In her haste, she bumped into a couple holding hands...

The Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God, Patricus I.

Wiki page

The terrain was unstable. Aïdōneús chose his steps carefully. He twisted an ankle one time as a child. He could still hear the pop that cut short a runner’s exercise. He took up swimming later that season at the behest of the country club’s trainer. Turned out he had a knack for the sport despite a natural detest for the water. But once submerged, flying weightless, it was rather exhilarating. Besides, the exercise kept him fit.

The air was thin here also. It reminded him of Siberia, cutting wind included. He put a hand to his eyes, gauging the remaining distance. A sunless sky blinked from above, blinding him momentarily as his heart sank low.

Aïdōneús gathered the wool close, warm, but annoyingly scratchy. He preferred fur, a nice skein dyed black as night. Why was he here, he thought as slate scattered loose beneath his boots. Grumbling, he carried forward despite the unease growing in his belly - not from the menacing caverns stretching far below. 

His swimmer’s lungs - so accustomed to stretches between breaths - burned in the thin air. The darkness of a cave opened temptingly nearby, but with a sigh, he turned his back to the cold air. The hand went to his brow again, eyes piercing the sky with the same biting blue that snapped back at him. Then he saw it. A black speck at first. A frown deepened the lines on his face. It soared straight as a missile - a what? he thought. He stretched outward, trying to capture the demon with his very eyes.

The arc of its trajectory turned downward. It was then that he knew that something terrible was going to happen. When it touched the horizon, the mountain trembled and the resulting fires touched the heavens. Horror wrapped him tight as the shroud knotted his neck. Dozens of the demons darkened the skies sharper than arrows and mightier than bombs.

Power swelled his bones, but he spit out the taste of doom that silvered his throat. With his furious steps, the earth trembled. He’d not see everything he built cast down like this! The mountain bowed with his departure. Aïdōneús roared defiantly, and their aim was drawn toward himself.

He knew what had to be done.

The earth opened beneath his feet. When the maw closed, the fires were swallowed to its depths, and the darkness trapped them all.

Nikolai’s own cry of alarm woke him up, and the darkness sure to have been real, was banished to the four corners of his room by a swift flick of the power’s light.

He was drenched in sweat. Bad dreams plagued him like the ijiraq made good on her promise with nightly dedication. That had to be the origin of these nightly screenplays - or so his therapist suggested. A frown, and he got up. 3:15 AM was early, even for the Ascendancy.

He called Evelyn.

She was radiant, answering almost instantly. Her expression changed after the initial moment of gleeful surprise.

“Nik, it’s the middle of the night there. Whats wrong?”

He couldn’t help but look at the scene behind her shoulder. Daylight streamed into her office. No bombs blanketed the horizon. No hellish pits swallowed them all.

“You had another one,” she deduced.

“I just wanted to see that you were safe. You’re important to me.”

She chuckled at his austere gesture of affection. “Oh Nik, I love it when you talk like that.” She winked and some sort of spell was discharged. His shoulders relaxed, and his own face dropped the tension.

“What’s on your agenda today?” He asked, but Evelyn knew exactly what he really wanted. She filled the following minutes with the sing-song sound of her voice. He didn’t really listen to the details, but soon, he was laying his head back down, and had no idea when the call ended.