A Fallen Star Rising

“Pride is still aiming at the best houses: Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell; aspiring to be angels men rebel.”

Kicked back, high atop a church spire in Central London, boot clad feet were stretched out, legs sprawling to dip aimlessly, recklessly into the empty air. One arm cocked carelessly back beneath his head, long, calloused fingers played across his bare abdomen as he waited. His compatriot in rabble rousing and mayhem causing had said this was the day that he would get what he wanted. Night more like as the cock of his head would send burgundy wine gaze towards the Heavens. Like the swish slosh of the elegant beverage in a crystal cup, gaze was lackadaisical. Patience a virtue long lost, fingers drummed impatiently as eyes never stopped sweeping the sky, nor the rooftops. There was a far easier way to do this, but he was going to win that bet with the Prince of Nightmares if he had to tear off his own wings to do so.

Dressed in anything but the typical attire of the time, stonewashed black jeans were a loose, but perfect fit that hung low on his hips, bare torso giving off an easy gaze of the well attended treasure trail that dipped down below the fly of the pants. Back and arms were covered by a jacket left open that was a mish mish of ebony leather and onyx fur. As it hung there, cocked rather roguishly, a hand moved to flick back and forth the pendant hanging to settle about mid chest level. Hair a swathe of midnight strands that refused to be tamed, determined it seemed to make me look forever the goth boy with an attitude, he was considering dropping down to ground level and beginning to walk the darkened streets when the power struck.

"God Dammit to bleedin hell and back, Nox."

The flare of power that shot out across the skyline, not only just before the crack, but also during and shortly after would more likely than not have preternatural ears perking up across the city. He knew he should have just stuck to her time and not allowed his show off ass to bring her here. Not that he gave a damn whether she liked it or not, but stalking her on those grounds would have been far more interesting. Here there were limitations what even he was allowed to get away with without there being some major repercussions that didn't bare thought. Eyes took a moment to close, drawing to mind those live-wire blue eyes of hers. The streak of fuck off that semed to radiate from her made it clear just how stubborn she would be, and even now he could taste the challenge sweet on his tongue.

"Wait. Do not go to her right away as there are things that have to transpire first."

While limbs itched to go and find her immediately, his Royal Highness had a creepy way of being right when he said shit like that. So even as Devil may care attitude had him wanting to throw caution to the wind, post was held, body almost jittery like the aftershocks of a bad java fix. Some time would be given, though not much. If she did not fall beneath his gaze soon, waiting and caution would be thrown to the winds.

Thew wind whipped around her face, kicking black hair up around her stern expression. "Works alone my ass" She muttered before leaning back inside and closing the door. She took the stairs, and exited out the bottom past the guards who still dozed away on their watch. She locked the entrance to the clock tower behind her, no need for them to get busted.

Taking to the streets she walked, a preferred method of clearing her head. Something she could do, despite what time she found herself in. Strange as it was she believed the other girl when she said she didn't have anything to do with her appearance in 1896. Which left the gaping question who did? Not to mention the knowledge that she had no way of getting word to anyone back home. With the war coming in a few hundred years, there was no way to guarantee any message she left would even get through to Pan or the others.

Would they think she had just run? It wasn't absolutely uncharacteristic of her, especially considering how things had gone lately. Fuck her life this was bad. Then again, if she could find who had done this, she could always force them to send her back home again. Though how could she trust the individual to send her to the right time? In the end the answer was that she couldn't. All she could do was trust in herself. At least Spit-fire would be okay, her little sister had grown up into a force to be reckoned with.

So what was she going to do? Hell if she had any idea beyond finding a place to crash for the night.

His chosen perch allowed him an even more spectacular view then he had first realized of the city, though it was the occurrences atop the building where that energy had struck that most caught his attention. Body would go rigid then, long line of marbleized muscle and flesh, taught with a hint of barely restrained violence. There was at least one other up there with her, one who was struck through with lines of death and violence as tightly interlocked to her aura as some had signs of innocence and purity. All bets with Nox done and gone, he shoved up and away from his post. Plunging earth-borne at the same time as the unknown female did, there was no sudden vanishing and ceasing to the disturbance of air in the path she had been taking. For his body he simply let his wings snap and unfurl to catch himself and slow his descent to something that wouldn't shatter even his bones.

Realizing that the one he sought had come out only moments ahead of him, he let her maintain that slight distance of lead. Where his less corrupted brethren would be screaming at him to stop, that he didn't need to flaunt himself, much less his God given wings around so publicly, he only folded them in so they looked much like an odd backpack over the spine of his shirt which still was left hanging open. Moonlight as it filtered down from moon overhead and the random streetlamps that were passed by here and there caused him to look ethereal. Not quite as wraith-like as his companion in arms, but rather more a giant, winged monster from children's nightmares. That would be until one was given opportunity to see his face. Liquid, bedroom gaze brooked no opportunity for danger to strike at her, no matter where she passed through. Even were she to hit through the worst parts of London, she would be safe, assuming it was all based only upon her imposing, intimidating gait.

Which it was mostly due to that, a fact of pride which he would never deny her. Stories circulated even among-st his kin of the things she had been forced to endure because her -Guardian Angel- hadn't been there. Then when he had, it was to try to cage her and tame her under the guise of protecting her. he on the other hand would never do that to her. Not ever. I would simply be her Shadow in the Night, her voice of Angel-song to chase away what terrors Nox could not keep from her. Though she did not know that he had sacrificed his Halo and his place among the Host for a girl child he had never even met, likely would never meet, he would o it over again. A thousandfold times to be exact. Even just to walk now, like this obscured behind her and unknown, but the sheer proximity to her alone it's own sort of aphrodisiac.

She walked till after dawn, stopping long enough to buy a muffin from a bakery. If she had to hazard a guess it had actually been baked within the hour. Hand-made with fingers that had been rolling the same sort of pastry for the last thirty years. It was amazing, with the cool butter spread across it. Still she found it a weak exchange for the situation she was in. By the time she was finished she found herself in the company of a lovely woman who could absolutely help her rent a town house, and why yes she did take cash.

Two hours later she was standing on the porch of her very own lovely rental. The woman walked away with a month's rent paid in advance, as well as the full paperwork for the insurance. Something told Sam she would be needing the coverage, no need to utterly screw the company that didn't ask nearly enough questions. Smirking at the departing figure, the mage turned and slid the key into the lock, strolling inside she locked the door at her back and proceeded to ward the shit out of the building.

Several hours later she finally opened her eyes from her meditation,rising in a single fluid motion to her feet. The basics were taken care of, now to get to business. With a base of operations, everything else would be a cake walk. Now all she had to do was...

Was... Fuck. What the hell was she going to do? Right now her list of suspects was exactly zero. Zip. Nada. Maybe she had mistepped, maybe she'd assumed the ball was in her court when it wasn't. But no one had shown up to mock her. No great mocking villain for with which she could vent her rage. There was... nothing, and she was suddenly aware of how terribly lost she was.

This was one of the many reasons that he had made the decision to claim her as his. She was resourceful, and more often than not, she was cool under fire. At least long enough to get things in motion before all Hell broke loose. The men of her time, more like boys in his opinion didn't deserve her. At least not the ones that she had been consorting with. That was an irrelevant point though as now she was here and they were there. Having slipped inside the four walls as she was finishing up her albeit brief conversation with the woman who was lending her out the house, his skin vibrated as she set her wards up finally, just narrowly missing him. It wasn't that he didn't wish to converse with her one on one, no far from it. Simply enough put, he wanted it on his time, the terms under his control, at least in the beginning.

Sitting here and observing her slip into meditation, he took the opportunity to observe her intensely, no distractions to hinder his study this time around. Always in the future she was busy, or with someone, or when he would have reached out to speak with her, someone would walk in at that very second. It was a trial of patience, one that he had finally said to Hell with and made his own move. The fact that he and the Prince of nightmares just happened to be chums had made this whole little trip rather easy, though knowing Nox the way he did, whatever he ended up asking in return was not going to be easily remedied. She was worth it though, regardless of the cost. It would be his crowning achievement when he could finally show himself and not risk her attempting to bring about his destruction.

Watching her as she finally broke from her meditation to join the land of the conscious, he was more than content to sit out of reach, and out of sight until it seemed the right moment was upon them. So sprawling much as he had atop that church spire, fingers laced once more across still bared abdomen as eyes lowered to half mast, body going into a relaxed, though obviously still aware state that allowed for his own sort of meditation while never letting her out of his sight other then if she walked into another part of the house.

SO the first step was to figure out who the other Supernaturals in the city were. Suddenly she found herself wishing she had paid more attention in history. So it was 1896, didn't that mean world war one was coming up soonish? If the people if this world only knew what war would really be like in a couple hundred years. Thankfully she knew a great deal of vampires, and their immortality might prove to e exceptionally useful right about now. Admittedly none of them would know her, but offering up a bit of information was bound to gain her some ground, and more importantly some help. She had to get home, there was too much going on for her to enjoy this forced vacation.

A pang rang through her, striking her heart like a bell and reverberating through the rest of her. Spurred by the sudden breaching of their memory. Images and pictures of what everyone would be doing when they found her missing. IT gnawed at her that they might think she'd just run. A part of her, long familiar part asked her why she gave a damn. A question she had wondered often herself the the last few weeks. While she hadn't ever intended to be a leader, the role had settled firmly enough onto her shoulders. Of course, that meant she wanted to be taken seriously. Progress was being made, or had been until she ended up here.

So she slept, and an hour or so before the sun set she was up. Her wardrobe changed just enough that she didn't completely stick out. Dark colors helped. She kept her guns, nuts to anyone who didn't like it. Not that anyone was here to not like it. Dressed she headed out, stopping long enough to grab a bite she set to the streets of the old city. Vampires might be immortal, but changelings were magic. The Alley seemed like a perfect place to get a few answers. Forty minutes later she stood in front of the brick wall that would open to form the gateway. If only she could remember what the magic word was.

As he slept, he sat there and watched. It was almost irony that what he had once been, cast aside and sworn off to never enact again, he was now doing for a mere woman. There was nothing mere about her though. Not in his eyes. The Prince of Nightmares did not do -favors- lightly, and even with their association the price had been steep. Yet something about her had drawn to him. Whether it be her exotic looks, her wild, untamed personality... Or the fact that the darkness within her, the potential for it made her susceptible to being her own unique blend of a Fallen. When NOT if she did, he would be there, or at least close enough by that he would show her the ropes. Make sure that she flew again. Why did he care, that niggling little part of his brain asked. Because she was unique, you moron was his caustic response to himself. And because when I want something, I take it. She was the first thing he'd wanted in long enough that he was merely looking after an asset, he mused. One didn't need to make all that much of it.

So when she left, more properly attired than she'd entered into the game, he had to approve of the slight changes to her apparel. Another agreement was that she'd kept her weapon about her. Magic was both more and less dangerous here, leaving plain and simple human weapons the best defense on occasion. So he'd followed her. Far enough behind that even if he were seen he could not be accused of following her, but close enough that if she needed it, he could swop in, the avenging hand of Wrath to wreak havoc upon whatever dared bother her. It was clear though before far too long where her steps were carrying her and he couldn't help but smirk. It was logical that a preternatural creature out of their time would look her for help first. It was also a place that he could easily explain going as well without any awkward questions being asked. Not that he owed any explanations to begin with.

He stood and watcher stand there for long moments before it became clear that even if she knew a password was required, she had either never known it or did not know it now. It was an easy enough thing to cast a shrewd glance about to make sure the going was good before he dropped the illusion cloaking him and moved past her. A wall that to most was solid, nothing but a simple wall without the right words could be gotten around. A hand reached out, pressed close, but not quite against it. Letting his senses seek out the magic of the port-way, he didn't fight to go through it, or past it, but rather he let himself become one with it. Letting it roll and vibe across his skin, he began to carefully part, but not separate the strands of the very magic itself.

"If you're looking to go through, you'll want to be quick about it. They're typically not the most accommodating to people opening the channel this way."

There was no threat to the words. No malice nor any hint of condescension. Simple words as if he were but talking of the weather. Eyes had never moved to her either, just his voice as streams of energy began to ripple and shine like lattice appearing upon the stone. It took several moments but finally there was a clear path that would allow them both to step through before being closed swiftly after them. If she decided not to take his suggestion, then another route of action would simply have to be taken.

To a greeting she would have pulled a gun, to a threat she would have drawn and fired. Her temperament was not in anyway accepting, or patient. That the individual just strolled up and offered to help her boggled her mind a little. Or more, offered a solution to her immediate problem without demanding anything first. No veiled threats, no coercion. She hardly knew what to do with herself. By the time she decided that she should say something, anything. The path was open and clear.

Well. Her attention had mostly been focused on the magic he was working. A blink and a small flexing of her quintessence and suddenly she could much more clearly make out the lines of energy he was bending out of the way. Midnight blue eyes developed a silver star-burst around their pupils as she watched. If it had just been a wall Matter would have allowed her to just slide the bricks apart, as it was the Dreaming always proved to be a little more tricky. He was more convincing the magic to move aside briefly, then forcing it to move.

Impressive.

Since she could see the Alley on the other side, she mostly believed it would take her where she needed to go. Though there was no certainty, he was just as likely to be an enemy as everyone else. Shrugging more to herself then him she started through it. As she came up even with him she gave into her curiosity and glanced up to catch a look at his profile. The shaggy hair, thick lashes and intense eyes caused her step to half falter. He was pretty, hard to deny that. Nothing special. Or so she tried to convince herself as she regained her gait and strolled past him. "Thanks." Offered over her shoulder.

His pride would have been wounded by her almost complete ignoring of him had it not been for that ever so slight falter to her otherwise sure gait. Had he not been watching her far more than he obviously let on , he would have missed it. Lips curved into a smile of full male appreciation, not only of the view her turned body offered, but also of the fact that he had affected her, no matter how slight it may be. The port-way was far easier to open than he had made it out to be, though he had spoken truth when saying that they weren't exactly tickled pink with him opening it this way. Something about his unique kind effecting the magics that made it in an odd fashion that left residual, albeit small changes. Ones that if repeated too often or too close together could actually end badly. Quite badly in fact. It was not his concern though, not his care, his only reason for even being in the city that it was the one Eros had said he preferred.

Once she was fully crossed through, one hundred percent securely on the other side, he stepped through as well and it was indeed a quick close behind him.So much so that the audible pop rang in his ears, the rebound of his action causing a slight wash-over that his body absorbed with little more than a tingle to his fingertips. Okay, it was a lot more than a tingle, more of a bloody fucking Hell his fingers were going to feel as if he'd dipped them in Holy-Fire for the next week, but he'd done what he wanted. Long gait, half lope, have lazy sensuality caught him up to her easily. Walking quietly for a moment or two beside her, he cast a glance at her from his peripheral vision. Figuring it best not to start any heavy conversation, much less a conversation at all, he'd never been one for doing the wise, nor the right thing. Would you look at where that had ended him up ? Not that it mattered a whit. In the long run he was happier. Far fewer rules, far less structure, the ability to be where you wanted, when you wanted sat rather well with him.

"Ever been here before ? If not I can likely guide you where you need to go. My meeting isn't for at least another...Hmmm I am earlier than I thought."

Letting his words drift off, head was canted back to observe the sky overhead as if he were actually surprised by the fact he was so early. The tiniest of breezes sent spider leg fingers through his hair, the delicate little breezes wreaking havoc with an already tumbled mess. While he was easily taller than her, it was a piece of cake to set his gait to match her own as his meeting with the Prince of Nightmares while actually happening wasn't till just before dawn so he had ample time to spend doing what he could in this first given opportunity to garner at least her acceptance of his presence. He realized that this was not something that could be rushed, that she of all people would fight that the most as it would be the most suspecting that he wanted something or was going to try to use her for something. He'd more than done his homework upon her which told him that he wasn't going to have a lot of time. When she found out that he was the reason she'd been yanked here, she was likely to go the proverbial Apocalyptic on him. A musing gaze lit his features as he pictured her being able to take the form of his kind. She'd look amazing, absolutely exquisite. For now though he left the cards on her table as to what happened next. Hers would be the action and his the snap reaction.

Sam gave the Alley an appreciative look over. Oh it was different, older but still clearly home to those that frequented the Dreaming. It had occurred to her on the walk that the Changlings probably had time magic. She just happened to be good friends with a future queen of their kind, that had to count for something right? Now if only she could remember the name of the king of either of the courts in the late nineteen hundreds she'd be in business.

Her train of thought left her unsuspecting for the company she suddenly found herself with. Again. Another blink and her gaze was back to normal, back to that impossible midnight blue. His offer caused her to arch an obsidian brow. Here she was in need of something else, and like magic he was once again suddenly there to offer help. Then again, maybe he was just going the same way. She doubted it. "Your no changeling." If he had been glamor would have allowed him to pass the wall without the need to bend the rules.

She didn't slow her pace any, not that he seemed to have any trouble keeping up with her. Of course with a lanky frame like his it wasn't surprising. All those wiry muscles had to be good for something, other then running her tongue over. Sighing at herself, and the mental images that danced through her head, she kept her silence. Keeping from appearing interested, let alone too interested in his assistance.

Sam, Sam, Sam. Samantha. Trying her full name out on his mental tongue, he found that he actually liked it better than the short version that everyone seemed to call her. Said in just the right way, it was a name mean for private places, intimate settings. Moonlight in front of a roaring fire somewhere that was anywhere but a city. She didn't belong caged in a building of steel and glass anymore then he belonged behind Heaven's golden gates. Damned things were over-rated anyways. She was quiet for so long that when she did finally speak, the words more statement than question, a Gaelic shrug would seem his only response at first. It would be best to tell her, knowing that they ran a chance of passing by someone who knew him here. Much as he had no problem lying if he felt the need to, this wasn't one of those cased. Not on something so small and trivial that she would find out in the long run anyways.

"Point one for you. I'm not a Changeling, I just happen to know some. You could call me a Fallen Star, a Guardian fallen from grace. Or plain and straight an ex Angel, turned black sheep."

It was cut and dried answer, even for him. No run around, no loopholes to hide behind especially knowing some of what had happened back in her city. While he didn't know all of the details, he knew enough that his body while looking fully at ease, had shifted ever so slightly. Whether he intended to lay his claim to her or not, he wasn't going to leave himself some awestruck fool , and end up losing his head for it. Catching the sigh and remaining fully unsure as to whether it was over the truth he had just given her or her current situation, he decided to take the bull by the horns and say to Hell with the consequences. It was where he was going to end up one day, so he might as well prepare to go there sooner than later if things went badly in the next few seconds or so. If they didn't go his way, Nox was under strict agreement to send her back home so that she wouldn't be stuck her without a way back for God knew how long. The bastard was probably sitting up there even now counting the sins he'd committed in the past three days and adding them to his already overwhelming black-book.

"Look. If you don't want a guide, or if you don't like my kind or something, I can exit stage left. I tend not to enjoy being where I'm not wanted."

She pulled up short when he anwsered, fire ingighting in her eyes, turning them into a cerulean storm. Turning her head she looked hard at him, as if her eyes would show her more if she concentrated. It didn't help, but his admission hadn't earned him points with her for honesty. Too much recent memory of his kind was working against him. Forward momentum was started again and she shook her head at him. "I'll find my own way, have a good one."


She shouldn't have felt bad about giving him the brush off, he had offered her the perfect excuse. Still her conscience nagged a little even as she spoke. Still it wasn't enough for her to retract her words. From where she stood it was either hurt his feelings a little, or have him turn out to be an enemy and already too close. This was not a time she could afford to hesitate, and he. There was something about him that told her he could get close fast, that too was foolhearty, since she wouldnt' be here long.

"Samantha. Wait a second."

Balls boy. Yours just got way too big and are about to get ripped off, and that's if you're running on Lady Luck's side today. He was at least thankful of the fact that it hadn't broken out into to an all out fisticuffs right here. Yet. Those wine hued optics closed, knowing that he had just made himself look even worse, likely painted the world's biggest target directly on the center of his chest. There was no way he should know her name, no reason he should care even if he did. As a Fallen he wasn't meant to give a damn about a thing other than himself, and what he was about to do went against all of those expectations just as he had went against the mandates of Heaven, the cause to his initial fall. He opened his eyes again and finally stepped towards her, his body vibrating with a low thrum. Nothing defensive, simply preparing to ward off anything she might throw at him.

"I can send you home. Believe me or not. Hate me for what I am all you want, but you don't belong here. I know someone who has the access to the magic needed and if you won't believe me would you believe Changeling royalty ?"

While he didn't know Draven Silver personally, he knew someone who did. The very same someone who had brought her here to begin with, the same one who would be sending her back, or so one would assume. Wings appeared slowly but surely. Massive and black, the silken feathers they were comprised of sprouted to flare high above him before draping over his shoulders to lay elegantly. Arms didn't cross over his chest defensively, nor as some show of masculine standoffishness, rather they simply hung at his sides , head held high as he faced her head on. He would be lucky if all he got were questions, though if he were in her shoes, questions would be the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. He hadn't used any of his gifts of coercion, nor of manipulation. He'd simply kept his voice quiet. Low. The silky, midnight tangle that simmered forth from it wasn't anything but his voice when he truly spoke and wasn't trying to hide what he was.

"We won't have to go anywhere to find them either so you don't have to worry that the people I'm suggesting aren't the real deal. Besides, I'd like to think that you'd know if they weren't anyways, just like you knew I wasn't a Changeling when I opened the wall for you earlier. And really, you're going to tell me, powerful as you are, you don't have some way of knowing if I'm lying ? If you want to be stuck here though. Or come across someone who won't be willing to even try to help like I am, be my guest. I can't force your hand on this and wouldn't even if it were an option."

Adrenaline exploded through her when he said her name. Not the one that everyone called her by, even the Prince of the city used the informal version. No one called her Samantha. It felt like they were trying to talk to a different person, someone she had shut away years ago. It forged an anger in her that was quiet, like a flame that burned white hot. Midnight burned away into dawn within her gaze, Alice blue glittering like newly formed ice sang her threats with no more then a glance as she turned. His defenseless stance would have meant more if he hadn't activated some power to protect himself from anything she might throw at him. Not knowing if it would bounce off of him, reflect into the collective of people that flowed past them. He hadn't raised his voice, so no one was really paying them any mind.

Venom was poised to be injected in the form of words, lethal things, though never more sharp then when they came from the lips of a friend. While he was no friend of hers, there was something in the way he had spoken her name that made her think he was not in the same boat. That he knew far more, and she was set to use it against him. Then he unfolded his wings.

Black.

Like another angel she knew, another angel that had been the center of her world. That had broken her heart when he had broken his promises one by one. All beginning from that moment he had first thought she could ever not need him. Other then her sisters he had been the first person she had grown to loved all the way to her fierce, irrational, violent tempered core.

It made her hate this man. Demon... Fallen that stood before her. It also halted her her initial assault. Funny that only she would falter to strike out at someone that invoked such a reaction.

All this before his words about being able to send her home didn't register until after that. "Of course." She uttered flatly, as if it made perfect sense. That at least was edged in frost. She needed some weapon to wield against him, he'd hurt her without even trying. She was too proud to let that go unchallenged. "If you can send me home, then tell me why the hell I'm here."

'And really, you're going to tell me, powerful as you are, you don't have some way of knowing if I'm lying?' He wasn't. He was willing to help her, but why? Truth be told it would be wisest to just tell him no thanks, to find her own way back. IT was still a viable option, one that she was suddenly very seriously considering. First though she wanted an answer to her question. She needed to know why this dark, strange, undeniably beautiful creature was so desperate to help? Why he was unveiling himself in the middle of the street?

This is why God had created them. They were to be protected, in them the hope of the future or so the Creator had once proclaimed. His beloved children, even above the Angels themselves...She was no human yet she was so like one of them. For too many years, blade and fist, bolt and wing had defended his chosen but then he had seen the truth and in the truth he had fallen. Watching her stand there, seeing the inner tumult not upon her face, but finally looking deeper, there was a moment where sadness, pure sadness struck to the center of his being. Painful enough to wrench a wince to flash across his features, he let her think it was because of her barbed words. Truth be told, part of it was. Lowering the most minor of armors that he had erected around himself as protection, he stepped closer to her. Arms still hanging lose, he cast a glance around at the people passing by them.

"You're here because someone went through enough trouble to rip you from wherever you came to drop you down here. That clock-tower seems to be getting more action than the Jennies by the wharf side as of late. You must be someone of importance to make a stunt like that. You're going to need to cover your ears though. Possibly your eyes but I'm not sure. The only way I can easily contact the person you'll need would shatter your eardrums otherwise. As to the people passing us by, right now we don't exist to them so they're safe enough."

Where that explanation had come from or why was as good a guess from anyone because he had no clue why he had even bothered with the extra words. She was determined to see him as evil and the enemy, which he was. It would serve her well to remember that. Whether she covered her ears or not, he still stepped back. Letting the guise of humanity fall away, he did no take any different form, per say. Where he had been undeniably beautiful before, he now screamed other. From tip to toe and back again, he radiated power. It cast a fine sheen to his alabaster skin, made his eyes glow with an intensity that darkened the burgundy tones to an almost black. Wings flexed nervously, anxiously, as if they knew what was coming next. The last thing from his slips before he set free the summons shocked and appalled even him.

"הכעס של אלוהים it's my true name. If something goes wrong and we become separated, use it. It will guide me back to you, or the vice versa."

No definition of the name given, nor the name of the tongue which is was spoken in. Cursing himself because she of all people would know well if not perfectly how that name could be used against him. It was too late now. Letting his head fall back, he screamed. Not the typical shriek that one might have expected, but something that was both hauntingly beautiful while being deadly at the same time. It bounced off the buildings, pressed at the cracks and the weak spots of the magic of this place until it found the path it was seeking.What sounded much like an entirety of a song was merely him saying a name. One word.

"Nox."

"Tsk, tsk, Asheron, once Wrath of the Human God. Acquaintance or not, you dare to call me Prince of the Nightmare realm so rudely. I will assume that it is a matter of life and death to interrupt me in such a fashion."

He appeared without warning, an amalgamation of things darker than the night itself. At first a being of mere twisted shadow and inky black, from that darkness stepped a figure of masculinity so perfect that it rivaled the Fallen's own dangerous beauty. Black on black attire, the leather pants a second skin the shirt left unbuttoned from mid chest down. Where the Demon as you thought him was moonlight paleness, this newcomer was alabaster marble chiseled over sharply sculpted structure. His voice the silk of your darkest fantasy become reality, his eyes were hidden behind fine rimmed glasses, their depths and color currently unknown. Hair a mixture of golden honeys and burnt sands shot through with day-star blond, he was almost impossible not to become lost while looking upon.

When his glasses covered eyes turned to land on you, you felt his hidden gaze penetrate through to your very center, in your ears the dancing twist of screams of terror and moans of sheer, molten pleasure. Head canting as if he found something interesting about you, he still made no move to step closer. Not as if he were afraid, but rather as if he were showing a far greater caution with you than the one who had called him here was thus far. Never once turning his gaze from you, he spoke to the fallen again before directing the words following those to you.

"You're right, she is rather beautiful, exquisite in that untamed sort of way that draws many of our kind. Did she not just arrive her recently on the night of that energy wave ? As for you, Beautiful Lady of Fahllyn, do you find this time so horrible that you already wish to return to your own ?"

It was a great deal of information all of a sudden, a great deal more then her initial question was answered. Though she was unable to tell if he was the one that had brought her here or if it had just been a fluke of magic. That happened sometimes, paradox still existed and even in the age she was from it would only take so much bending before it backlashed. Though she kept her magic minimal to avoid such a thing, despite how terribly easy it would have been to magic up whatever she happened to need at the time.
All that effort and she had still ended up here. Then he spoke again, uttering an almost unpronounceable series of syllables. She committed them to memory then registered his words about them being his true name.

Why?

She took his advice a moment later, and covered her ears a moment before his scream echoed out across the Ally. It however was almost ignorable as he evoked his apocalyptic form. Almost.

When there was no spark of pain, she dared to listen fingers parting a minute distance at first, then finally ended with her hands lowering all together. She could almost make out the cadence of words, but the language was too alien for any hope of understanding.

Then the black silence between the stars took form, and appeared before them. She like the jade eyes girl from the bridge blinked at him more in surprise then awe. While she had never met Sebastian, his picture hung in Pan's office in the Tower. This figure was the striking image of the Ventrue. However with a title like Prince of the nightmare realm, he clearly was no vampire. Despite the alabaster skin.

He may have peered through to the center of her, but she was still all savage white flame, and metaphysical promises of retribution. The surprise melted away to her far more familiar expression of silent defiance.
His question irritated her, like he didn't know she had shit she had been doing. As satisfying as it would have been to tell him exactly what she was thinking, she decided against it. "I'm sure you're well aware of what I've had going on. Now..." Her gaze slid between the two of them. They suddenly had numbers on her, and from the look of it, power. " I hate to disappoint, but I find myself disinclined to accept your help, I refuse to be in debt to your kind. Let alone a member of it's royalty."

"If she won't accept our help, than send me, Nox."

He should have never summoned him here. The good looking bastard just had a way of making things worse half the time. He bit back a fluid curse that would have shriveled the prick's ana...She wasn't awed by his looks, more confused by them, it seemed. As if she'd seen them somewhere other than on the cocky royalty who stood there as if he had all the time in the world. He should have just reached out to the pampered brat's Father, King or not. It would have likely been a better option, at least with the scant few rumors he'd heard of the King's past. Another black mark on the board, another foul up he'd made that he'd have to rectify rather quickly. He had no clue what her reaction would be to his words, but maybe, just maybe if she saw his going back to her home without her as enough of a threat, it could possibly be enough enticement to get her to go to protect those she cared for from his supposed machinations.

"It is doubtful that you could ever disappoint me, Samantha, but believe as you will. Your people will likely be worried over your disappearance, and it wouldn't be a bad thing to pay my respects to Ash. I never did get a chance to thank her for what she did for my once kin. If her companion decides to get salty about it then he can be dealt with. It's not like I have any intention of stealing her from him. She'd likely castrate me or something."

The female Angel's name was all too familiar, the almost fondness of which he spoke of her offsetting with what you knew of Fallen. The Male, though un-named could only be one, the distaste in his voice all too clear and evident when mentioning him. He was a contradiction of things, seeming more an Angel than a true Fallen. Were it not for the coloration of his presence, and the almost malevolent vibrations that nestled just too close to the surface, he could almost pass for that which he had once been. Almost. It could lead one to wonder what he had been like before his descent from grace. Though his eyes were only upon the Prince, it would be unwise, foolish even to think that he had forgotten your presence so near to him.

"You're an intelligent woman but if you're trying to imply that I'm a Changeling, you're dead wrong, Ducky. A part of the Dreaming yes, but older than them by well...It's rude for a man to brag about his age or his prowess, so lets just say I came from before them. How Father ever worked with your kind is beyond me. Damned stubborn enough that you might as well be a human. As if he didn't have too damned much affection for them as well. It's about time he got his head back on straight. Though if you're so adamant about not going back and causing your people to end up worrying over you, that's your head, not mine. Though that shifter you were dancing with, you could do far better. As odd as the wild man is, his true flaw was that he's not giving someone like you what they deserve. You'll be the one to leave him though, not the other way around. It will only prove your strength of will far superior to his."

Gaze turning towards Asheron, a long slender, cylindrical paper wrapped substance was taken from a metallic case that somehow had been fit inside those second skin of a pants he wore. Lighting it with the strike of a singular match against boot clad foot, scents of sage, vanilla, and less nameable aromas began to circle his head. His terminology more befitting of your time than this one, he merely cast a half hear-ted shrug as if this was the least important thing on his list of issues that needed seeing to.

"If you're so insistent upon going and telling them where she is before they even know she's gone, I see no qualm with dropping you on their doorstep. In fact, I might even go along for the ride to see how many of them you kill before they kill you. Which they will you know. You of all people can't change what you've become and they'll strive to kill you simply because of the color of your wings. They won't even take a second to hear your side of things before they shoot. or stab. Or try to explode you from the inside out. They'll assume it's a trap, and you've taken her and have her locked away somewhere yourself. I don't see why it matters so very much to you. It's not like she's Ash to you."

Logic. It was strangely what he presented in no uncertain terms. Another drag was taken from the cigarette, the released smoke creating a Halo around his head that was almost amusing in how inappropriate it was for him.

"הכעס של אלוהים" She spoke his true name, and the sound floated off her tongue like she had been saying it for years. "Until I return home I bind you to my side." Whoever he was, the other figure was right. He would be cut down by her allies. Hell Des herself might do the job out of fear that he might return to his master and reveal her position. The words held power, and spoken with his true name he was helpless to refuse her command. She didn't take her gaze from him until she knew he understood.

Then she turned to look at Nox. "You." She took a step toward him, her anger flaring into something tangible as he started speaking of the Garou. "Do not got to judge the members of my pack. You wouldn't know loyalty is someone jammed it down your throat." Another step was taken toward him, as if she had finally found an outlet for her anger. "When you learn of duty then you can come and dictate to me about how one person is better then another." Her energy spilled out around her into an intangible win that whipped obsidian hair up around blazing Alice blue eyes.

"As for my Furian, speak of him again..." Every ounce of her defiance came to bare in every line of her expression. The way the words hissed put past her lips these words carried more of a threat within them then anything else had thus far. "...I dare you."

He couldn't believe that she'd actually done it this soon, done it at all. She could have had him un-made with that name, it was what, it was all he'd expected knowing how high her dislike for his kind were. Instead she'd just tied him more tightly to her than any ring, any wedding or hand-fasting vow could ever dream to. Aside from that, his true name, his creation name gifted by a Father who had cast him aside with so many others fell like music from her lips. The magic of the binding locking in made his skin crawl, though a magic far more potent, albeit in different fashions came from simply the way in which his name sounded falling from her lips. Eyes burned, pools of Burgundy wine set to blaze as for the moment all he trusted himself to do was nod his assent mutely.

That was when she started in on Nox.

Being one who when he chose to adhere to something followed it most literally, he was at her side, a masculine shadow as she stalked towards The Nightmare Prince. hearing each word she spewed out at him, her emotions upon the matters brought out were high. Like wildfire, they burned his skin with her closeness and yet he found he would have willingly walked into the very heart of that inferno. Each word growing worse, her glowing closeness to Nox in this temperament causing his unease to grow steadily with each step, it was those last three words, flung at him in such a fashion that he couldn't stand idly by on. He had seen what had happened to the last person to take that tone with Nox, much less throw a challenge in on the tail end of it. Not liking his authority, his person to be challenged, Nox was deadly, worse so when riled.

Thankful for the closeness that the binding had forced her to endure from him, he shot out in an angle, arms winding around her like metal vises as his wings shot open to their full potential. Ebony glory towered a wall between their bodies, his flesh a willing barrier between hers and the wrath of the would be Nightmare King.Having pinned her arms to her side when he grabbed her, he whispered against her ear.

"Stay quiet...Please Samantha. Just let him forget you're here for the moment."

If there was ever to be someone whom he would accept such rudeness, such utter disrespect from, it was not a Female, specifically not this one who knew nothing of him nor his lineage. At least he had knowledge of her and those that she called her pack. The mental snort was derisive, as of course he had done his homework before agreeing to bring her here. Rather he'd had it done for him but that was not the point. Power she may have, but it would be easily enough crushed, like a bug beneath his heel, especially here of all places. He had given her her due at first, having expected some type of outburst with what the knowledge he had of her said. This...This though was too much, especially in front of the few passerby that had stopped to watch quietly. He was a known face and while they had obviously not heard all of it, they had heard enough that he would lose face if he did not make her pay for it. Not that he had any qualms with doing it even without there having been witnesses to cause a more drastic need for it.

Sam would feel her throat begin to constrict as the very shadows themselves had begun to thicken, form iron bound fingers that grasped at her windpipe and began to cut off the flow that passed through it. The sensation wouldn't last long enough to be a true panic as the moment the Fallen through himself between them, his body wrapping around hers, a veritable pulsing shield of flesh and power, and surprising anger, their grasp was loosened significantly before finally being taken away completely as she he whispered those words into her ear. Granted they were spoken much too quietly, much too intimately for the Prince to hear, but such was the timing. His chuckle was everything that nightmares consisted of. The laughter from your worst nightmare being given breath upon the air as with not even a word, nor a motion, the crack of a lash tore through the air.

Time after time, she would feel the Ex Angel tense against her, though no sound was offered up. The worst that might happen was his arms tightening slightly around her which he made due note of. Amused when the Female's would be Guardian gave no ground, the air around the shielded woman and her living shield began to fill with black feathers. Looking damp somehow as if they'd been dipped in some form of liquid, it would be all too quickly explained to the woman who was being so protected. It would seem that Asheron could bleed, as the feathers were his, being torn from his wings, one by one before being tossed up into the air. A test to both of them, to the Male it was how much it would take for him to give her up for her due punishment for speaking as such to Royalty. To the woman herself, it was to see if his seeker's information had been correct. That the woman would not stand by and let someone be unjustly harmed. Which whether she liked Asheron's species or not was exactly what was happening.

"Come now, Ash. Is Wrath really going to stand here and let someone destroy his wings over someone he had brought here to warm his bed ? Oh wait. You didn't tell her that yet, now did you ? Let's see how quickly she plunges a blade between your ribs and unmakes you herself for that one. Then she'll be all on her own and I'll have the retribution that is my due."

Somewhere a changeling stood awestruck with glamor at the imagery of Samantha's silhouette held between shadowed wings and darkness itself, that was going to make one hell of a painting. The street had emptied, and even the armored guards were standing back. None of those involved were changelings, and the Dreaming for whatever reason would not let them pass. Walls of translucent stone springing up to bar the way.

She lost her breath quite literally in the face of his rage, but he earned only a challenging flash of her eyes. As if she were asking 'is that the best you can do? Alice blue orbs so brilliant they seemed to tint the air around them with frost.

Arms snaked around her, holding her arms at her sides, cutting away the choking force, dropping her back to the ground. It wasn't until the first crack of the whip shattered the air, that her heart sank. Realization striking her as sharply as the weapon itself licked his flesh.

He was protecting her. Why? Because she had bound him to her before she'd spoken her mind to the other creature. What was it about her that seemed to scream that she needed guarding? The very idea woke something that had been sleeping inside of her. Turning in the circle of his arms, she reached up and caught his face in her hands. His eyes were closed, but she stared at him, at the dark rings around his eyes, at the darker the dark lashes that gave the illusion he was wearing eyeliner.

She promised herself Nox would pay for this. When the feathers began to tumble down she silently swore it in every language she knew.

She called on her magic, and it answered, eager to be used. Prime erupted out from them, blasting back anyone standing close enough to be touched. Nox was the only one unfortunate enough to be within range, and in truth her target.

Fallen or not she touched her forehead to his, and inside her head told him how very sorry she was that she hadn't considered the consequences of her actions. Outwardly she turned, turned and looked at the prince of nightmares and bared her teeth at him in more of a snarl then a grin.

"Did you enjoy that?" The words were hissed through her teeth. What she was about to do went against all the laws of possibility. Even an Oracle of Entropy couldn't have hoped to call from nothing what she was about to produce. No one else on the planet could have done it, but her luck had never failed her. Even Sarah had admitted it was how she had pulled off so much of what she had in the past. An oracle could not, but an avatar, a manifestation of the sphere itself in that moment, could.

When her lips parted she uttered another series of beautiful syllables, it was not Ash's true name she invoked but his. The odds against it were astronomical, but that was nothing to her. With it's uttering the Dreaming sat up and began to pay more attention, what she was about to weave was ageless magic. "Kneel." She commanded voice resonating, and knew he had to though there was no arrogance in her expression. "I bind you prince of Nightmares. I bind you to this plane until you learn devotion. I bind your magic until you know patience. I lock you in human form until you offer kindness." Righteous anger flashed in her eyes. "And until you have felt humility I take from you your ability to dream."

The street rocked under their feet, but she was not yet done with her gaeus. "I send you, I send you to the one person in your miserable existence that might have patience enough to offer you a hand. Pray that there is at least one Nox, or you will come to know a hell blacker then any void your father has ever manifested."

Before he could respond the Dreaming answered for him and for an instant everywhere there was thunder with no sound. Nox was cast out into the world, and both Ash and Sam found themselves standing on a rooftop, an icy wind off the bay wrapping around them. Fahllyn had not changed much in her brief absence from it.