Owner	Pose
Hope Svelgate	Just when it seemed like things might get back to normal with the Angelic Host seemingly retreating from Manhattan, everything escalated. Only one Wellspring remains, half in this world, half in the next. It is the Wellspring of Death and it is under the dominion of Lady Death, who is notoriously bad at sharing. So it was that the Earth cracked, the skies darkened, and beneath the light of the Full Moon when the veil between worlds in this already thin spot was at its absolute weakest, a Hellmouth was rent open and Castle Winterhaven appeared upon Earth, bringing the Endless Graveyard with it, consuming many of the surrounding blocks as well in a sea of cenotaphs and mausoleums. The Army of the Dead patrols the streets and flights of winged demons soar in the sky as the foreboding gothic castle fortress looms large against the New York skyline. The closer one gets to the castle itself the thicker the presence of the Dead and other more Hellish creatures from the Endless Graveyard becomes. The clanging of metal and sounds of construction can be heard as the forges churn out an endless stream of Netheranium weapons and the urban terrain is forged into defensive emplacements. Someone is clearly done playing by half-assed Earth rules and bringing the full might of a Hell Lord to bear.
Cael Becker	Lady Death certainly knows how to make an entrance - but she's shown that time and again at the battles she'd joined, and the appearance of her castle in the heart of Manhattan was just the latest example. Still - Cael needed to speak to the woman, to try to secure the final member of their party into Duat, to ensure Jon's return - and a successful fix to the problems plaguing reality.     Cael approaches by the means she knows best - she's on her motorcycle, a red and black modern BMW built for extreme speed - speed that she can't really put to use as she dodges between headstones and shambling corpses on her approach to the castle itself - armors only in gloves, a leather jacket, and a motorcycle helmet as she navigates a sea of the dead. She can only hope they won't take any issue to her presence - though perhaps few of them could fly, if she had to retreat?     She hoped that would be the case, anyways.
Hope Svelgate	Cael is able to pass through the defensive cordon with relative ease. The undead soldiers are not here for humans, not this time. It helps that the defenses are still under construction, too. Had she waited even another day or two it might have been a different story, but the forces on the ground are largely occupied with preparing defenses, leaving the combat patrols to the winged creatures flying overhead, Angels tend to come from the sky after all. Winterhaven itself sits atop a rocky outcropping it seems to have brought with it from the other dimension. The road itself having buckled upward forming a ramp upward towards an apex where it is met by the castle's drawbridge several hundred feet up. Flanking the raised drawbridge on either side are two of those winged demons that comprise the bulk of Lady Death's aerial forces, floating their in the expanse between holding Netheranium weapons, like an unholy answer to Buckingham Palace Guards, protecting the gates.
Cael Becker	It's a relief that the undead don't hastle Cael as she makes her winding way through the graveyard, winding her way up and further up towards the castle. As she finally reaches the drawbridge, she stops, putting down the kickstand and dismounting from the bike. "I seek audience with Lady Death," she announces simply as she approaches. "As a representative of Jonathan Sims, Gaea's Champion." She's not entirely certain that the demons are capable of carrying messages to the woman - but what harm is there in trying?     It was certainly the smaller risk, compared to attempting to gain entrance to the fortress without express permision.
Hope Svelgate	The Demons look at each and then back at Cael. Their wings begin to beat harder as they fly closer, circling around the woman and her bike. "Gaea holds no sway here." One demon hisses. "You have entered the Domain of Death. The second demon chimes in almost finishing the sentence of the first. The creatures circle closer, looming figures of fangs and hellfire. "Enough!" A perhaps familiar-sounding gruff male voice calls from above. On one of the lower parapets stands Cremator, the mountain of muscle hellborn man that carried Lady Death from the field the first time Michael's spirit nuke was unleashed. "The Lady has agreed to see her!" Eyes of hellfire glare at the demons, who immediately shrink back like scolded children. Whereupon the drawbridge creaks to life, descending on clanking chains of Netheranium until it crashes against the road, bridging the chasm to the castle. By the time the dust clears, however, Cremator is no longer anywhere to be seen. The drawbridge leads into a courtyard, through a passage lined with murder holes, then down through another similar murder hole lined passage lit only by torchlight and up into the keep proper. In the audience chamber, upon a raised dais sitting her throne awaits Lady Death. To her right she is flanked by the massive Master of Hellfire Cremator and to her left, a reddish-orange haired young woman who shares similar fashion sense to Lady Death, though in red. Maybe it's a Hell thing. At the base of the dais the Nameless Wolves, a pair of Hellish lupine creatures, raise their heads to regard the visitor with hungry eyes.
Cael Becker	"Never claimed that she did," Cael answers in a dry tone, her gaze lifting towards Cremator to offer him a nod of acknowledgement. Once the drawbridge is down, she pushes her back across and into the fortress, taking her bike with her as far as she is able.     Somehow, she doesn't trust demons and the undead with her rather expensive motorcycle.     Once she's faced with any stairs, however, she puts down the kickstand and leaves it - her helmet, with gloves inside it, hanging off a handlebar. She even takes a moment to run her fingers through her hair before proceeding through the corridors to the audience chamber, stopping shy of the dais, and it's hellish wolves.     "Thank you for seeing me. I didn't expect to see something like this," she gestures around herself, "in the New York skyline. Think it'll fuck with the property values?" she asks - an amused smirk crossing her features for a moment.
Hope Svelgate	There is a glass of something in Lady Death's hand as she reclines upon her throne, the contents swirled about within by the rotations of her hand. "I am seeing you," The glowing white pits of Lady Death's eyes find Cael. "Not for who you claim to represent, but for who you are." A smirk crosses her face when Cael mentions the property values of Hell's Kitchen. "If anything it is an improvement over what was here before. If Michael thinks he can take my Sanctuary though, I will teach him to Fear, to know the terror that is facing his own Death." Whatever is in the glass is raised to her lips for a moment. "Now tell me, why are you here?"
Cael Becker	"Hey, sign me up for all that shit. Though - it'll have to happen on a field of battle other than the material plane, as he and his forces have been banished from it," more or less. Cael doesn't want to quibble about the details.     "We'll face him on the Astral Plane. I'm not entirely certain of all of your capabilities - but I have a means to get as many people as necessary onto the Astral Plane, in their corporal forms, in order to face Michael and his angels. I for one would love to have you along for that fight," she remarks. "Because I fucking hate Michael's smug fucking face." She pauses for a moment to see how the news, and offer are received. Perhaps all of this is old news to her?
Hope Svelgate	Lady Death listens, which isn't something she does for everyone, actually waiting until Cael has finished talking. "You do not understand the nature of this place." She glances in the direction of the young woman standing to her left. Satasha clears her throat. "The Sanctuary where the Wellspring of Death, as you all have called it, exists is a place inbetween, not wholely in one world or the next, where a great concentration of Earthbound spirits have thinned the Veil. Michael's banishment will not stop him from reaching here, because here is not wholely on the mortal plane. But at the same time is not wholely beyond it either as you have found. The area where the Endless Graveyard has bled through is a space inbetween where Michael very much can come just as easily as you can." Lady Death nods to the sorceress and the woman steps back again. "We will face him here, and here he shall fall."
Cael Becker	"I really don't," Cael agrees readily, looking to Satasha as the woman explains, giving her a nod of appreciation for the information, before her gave returns once more to the woman she came to see. So... Her key doesn't sound like it'll be much of a bargaining chip.     Well, fuck.     "Thank you for clarifying. I hope I'll be welcome to join in the battle with you. I still owe Michael quite a lot." Jon had said no vengeance... but she was still furious with the archangel, and she meant to deliver that pain back on him, if she could.     "Well. I guess I just get to the point. I fucking hate it when people waste time.     "Jon is going to die. He needs to in order to fix what's wrong with the world, and ultimately stop Michael from destroying reality and creating a new one with less free will. I think we're both equally opposed to that. One of our allies had a vision on who needs to travel into Duat - the Egyptian underworld - to help Jon finish his task, and aucceed in saving reality, and it turns out we need you to travel with us," she says simply. "So. Care to save reality with us and flip Mikey the double birds while we're at it?"
Hope Svelgate	If there is one thing in this world that Lady Death appreciates, it is vengeance. For her it is an ideal, practically a sacrament, a sacred vow. The need for it is something that she deeply appreciates. "You want to do battle against Michael?" The corners of her lips curl upward as she lifts the hand not holding the glass, palm up. Above her palm appears an orb of the that glowing blue fiery energy, the Energy Arcane. She blows it like one might a hand full of magic dust or a kiss in Cael's direction. Whereupon it zips off her palm and races towards Cael only to seemingly disappear as if it never was at the point it should have impacted with her chest. "Then do battle you shall." When Cael begins talking about Jon and foretold dream visions however, any mirth drains from her expression once more. "Yes, I was the one who told him that he is marked for inevitable Doom." To say that talking about Jon seems to displease her is an understatement. The more she hears, she begins to grind her teeth within her mouth. Few things irritate her more than anything trying to preordain her destiny or what course she 'must' take. "He is weak." She says it like a pronouncement, "And a fool who courts his own death even were were the Doom not placed upon him despite knowing what it would do to the daughter he claims to want to protect." Motes of Energy Arcane can be seen in the depths of her eyes, sparking and flaring in tandem with her rising ire. He surrenders himself when he should /fight/ and aids the enemy when the opportunity for a decisive strike arises!" Both Satasha and even Cremator take a step back from Lady Death and even the Nameless Wolves are looking concerned. Lady Death rises from her throne, standing to her full height. In this space with the energies of the Endless Graveyard all around she practically radiates raw power. "I will go to this Duat, not to save that pathetic excuse for a father, but to see Michael and his plans in ashes, but the first who presumes to command me will be put to the sword."
Cael Becker	"What... was that?" Cael asks, as the energy strikes her in the chest. She lifts one hand to touch where it should have impacted, but she feels nothing... Should she be alarmed by what just happened?     Yeah, but... if it let her do more harm to Michael? ...as long as the cost wasn't too high.     As Lady Death begins to rail against Jon, Cael grits her jaw - but she doesn't defend him. She can see, and practically feel the woman's ire. Trying to convince her to feel otherwise would almost certainly backfire. She stares down the heat of her ire, her jaw lifted and her expression determined. "I wouldn't command you," she promises. "But it would be appreciated if you tried to work //with// us to ensure we're successful in thwaring Michael and protecting," she gestures around herself, "all we hold dear."
Hope Svelgate	Lady Death stands imperiously upon the dais. "This assumes much. I have no intention of letting Michael walk away from our next clash. To attack me within my own Domain, he is a suicidal fool and I will show him the depths of his folly." She crosses her arms beneath her chest. "However, should the unthinkable happen and both he and I survive our clash, I will see him destroyed, even if that means travelling to this Duat." She's still simmering but eventually she returns to her seat upon the chair. "That was a mote of the Energy Arcane, my power." She finally answers Cael's question. "It will be useful in the days ahead."
Cael Becker	"It's my understanding that Michael cannot be destroyed," Cael points out. "After all - we've killed him time and again, and he always comes back, just as if it had never happened. Maybe the fact that we won't be fighting on the Material Plane will change that...? He'll be in your world, after all...?" What would happen if she did succeed in destroying Michael? Would reality cease to exist, like Jon seemed to believe?     After a moment contemplating this she asks simply, "How do I utilize it? 'Arcane' stuff doesn't come naturally to me. ...at all." She seems to have no qualms about admitting this fact.
Hope Svelgate	"Anything can be destroyed." Corrects Lady Death. "All that lives can Die. Nothing is beyond Death. Some are just more difficult than others. It is all a matter of -How-." Whether she actually cares about reality ceasing to exist as a result is an open question. "You don't." She answers when Cael asks about the mote of Energy Arcane. "It will fulfill its purpose when the time is right." Because that isn't cryptic at all.
Cael Becker	"Is something like him really //alive// though? He exists, but- ... Oh, fuck, am I going philosophical? Just shoot me now," Cael groans, pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead for a moment.     She lets out a sigh, then asks, "Will it let me fuck up his face? Or maybe burn //his// hands and feet?" Not that he won't just undo the damage as if it's never happened at all. "Pretty sure I can't give him a heartattack. I don't think he has heart - physically or metaphorically."
Hope Svelgate	Lady Death doesn't seem terribly inclined to debate the finer points of whether Michael is alive or not. But Cael's description of what she wants to do to Michael can't help but lighten Lady Death's mood again. "Cremator." She addresses the mountain of muscles standing to her right. "Arm her." The gruff mountain of a man gives a nod and reaches toward his back, upon which are far more weapons than any single being could ever hope to actually use, some seemingly too large even for him and yet somehow be bears their burden. A bastard sword is produced and tossed to clatter upon the floor in front of Cael. The weapon's blade is jet black like it is forged from the abyss itself, or at least Netheranium. It is also not straight but wavy and jagged as if meant to emulate jagged black dancing flames, giving the whole thing a serrated cutting while at the same time providing catches where an opponent's blade might be trapped. It is also hot to the touch, uncomfortably so, but not beyond the point of endurance. "That weapon is fueled by rage, the greater your rage towards Michael, the more powerful it will be in your hands. Careful not to get burned." Cremator gruffly explains. "A bastard sword to strike a bastard! I love it!" Lady Death cackles looking back to Cael, waiting to see if she will take up the weapon.
Cael Becker	Gifts from Lady Death. What price comes from accepting them? ... and what insult is caused by refusing them?     Or did either of those things really matter when all the really wants is to harm Michael as much as possible? It's not like she was incapable of wielding the thing - not with the gifts given to her by the amulet?     Best to stay on Lady Death's goodside - so she'll have at least some sway over her while they journey into Duat. That's what she tells herself, anyways, as she leans down to take the sword, holding it in two hands and giving it a few experimental swings. "Thank you," she says sincerely. "I'm sure I'll put it to good use."     She lowers it to her side before she asks, "Is there a way for me to contact you - when it's time to journey to Duat? Or should I simply come here again?"
Hope Svelgate	Lady Death just smiles. "There is no need. I will know." She says simply. But how? The mote? "The castle likely won't still be here after the battle, unless I decide to renew my Conquest of the Earth crush humanity beneath my boot, that is." She chuckles to herself. Was that a joke, does Lady Death make jokes? "Regardless, I will know and I will appear when it is time."
Cael Becker	"As you say," Cael agrees. She nods her head towards Lady Death before she adds, "Thank you for your gift, and for your willingness to work together on this. Mikey won't know what hits him." I mean - it's not a chair, but it'll certainly do. It'll most certainly do.     "I have no desire to waste your time, so if our business is concluded, I'll be on my way back." She nods her head to the dais - waiting for some sign of dismissal before she'll turn to go.
Hope Svelgate	Lady Death seems pleased when Cael takes up the blade. "Anything that hurts the Host and especially Michael is a gift all its own." She reaches out her glass bearing hand and a small winged demon flies in with a bottle almost as large as it is to refill the vessel. "Yes, we are done here." She tells Cael without even looking at the creature, which retreats once her glass is full. "When it is time to carve Michael a new asshole so he'll stop shitting from his mouth, you will know. Now go." The glass is raised to her lips. It was certainly an interesting meeting, but just what has been set in motion remains to be seen.