The ascension is nigh

Adam always found himself draw to Chicago no matter how many times he was dragged away from it. A windy metropolis in the state of Illinois, filled with its various peoples and their exceptionally busy lives. Reconnecting with Sammy despite his seemingly dark descent into whatever was nice Not that the two of them had the chance to talk while dealing with what could only be described as angelic vampires and odd children with penchants for knives. Not exactly something anyone wanted to look back on fondly, at all even. So that was why he found himself wandering out into the city and following odd rumors that were beginning to spread like wildfire. An odd demon searching for the angelic or something along those lines. That normally would have been right up the ginger cambions alleyway and yet here he was hunting through the dark supernatural haunts worked into society.

Unfortunate that humans with the idea they could hunt his kind was also coming into popularity. It must have been the television shows making the whole thing look like fun. Mostly the thrice be damned Buffy the Vampire Slayers and maybe even Supernatural to a lesser extent.

Regardless, here he was roaming through a small den of werewolves that had settled up in the underbelly of the city. Reeking of fur and what could only be described as illegal drugs. It burned his nostrils, causing Adam’s face to be in a perpetual state of looking as if he had stepped in something. Despite how valuable the information would be here, he could not help wanting to be gone from here as soon as possible. Hell, his style of dress made him stand out compared to everyone else that was here. Light blue hoodie mixed with camo pants tucked into boots did not exactly fit the underworld vibe.

Sitting in the corner and looking broody however was a massive success as one of the dogs in human form approached him with that shifty way of doing so.”So I heard you were working with the old dog. Never expected him to take up a leech as an ally.” They spoke, sounds as if swallowing gravel was a lovely past time of his.

”Isn’t it a little rude to start a conversation off like that?” Adam posed the question, downing the small glass of beer mixed what he only assumed as type A negative blood. The rank taste was enough of a reason for the guess, but his expression didn’t change any.

”Forgive me, normally my first words with one of your kind is die scum or some variation of that. I had heard that you were involved with cleaning up the New York Clan once. That was some good work.” He smiled wolfishly, downing a bottle of cheap stuff while keeping eyes on him somehow.

”I can’t take all the credit. I had some help cleaning up that hive of stupidity.” He was of course shooting the breeze, looking at those around him with a distrustful expression. ”I’d heard a rare breed of wolf was here…the celestial variety you might say.” This caused them to look at him oddly, face drawn into a scowl before calming.

”Rumors would have you believe that but many would say such a thing is impossible.” Giving a shrug the two of them would talk while the world went on.

Not that it would stay that way forever.

"Super dog... Wait no. Super angel dog mutt." Maste mused to herself, hopping up and down at the idea of him having been turned into a werewolf. However, her excited behavior only elicited a small groan from her guardian.

"Kid, the chances he became a werewolf are very small. He's a Nephalem. Not your normal supernatural." He'd sigh, stepping ahead of the girl to look at the scene in front of him. Not much to his eyes. But something.

"Yea! Well. I think it is kind of cute. And cool. And funny. Plus, that guy said the rumor was a half angel werewolf was in this den. Why wouldn't he be here?" Mastema shot back, jumping in front of the man and turning to poke her tongue at him before marching on ahead.  

"Yea... Rumor. One that could be as false as it could be right." The tall man would sigh, following after the girl. They were deep in the den of wolves and while he trusted the girl to look after herself... Well, he trusted that about as much as he trusted anyone.

Of course, they'd find a few dogs eventually, only the taller man avoided them and took the girl with him. They didn't seem like the kind that could help, mostly because of what they had on them. But, he stopped at one, who seemed to be with someone who was.. Out of place, if that was the right word. While they were not entirely alone, the other wolves around but out of the conversation, the man felt it was now or never. "Okay, girl. Go ask them."

"What! Bu-"

"No. You're the one looking for him. You ask."

Looking dejected, the young girl would look to the two. "Mm, fine." She'd take a few short, quick steps before stopping to the taller mans voice.

"Don't use that red stuff of yours for the love of all that is alive. Just ask." He attempted to warn her, but as if she knew what he was going to say, she bounced away towards the werewolf and the unlikely vampire, raising her voice to catch there attention, her hand stretched out as if holding something for them to see.

"Excuse me.. I heard the rumor that a half angel werewolf was around here. His name should be Jake. I would like to see him." She stated with a smile, right before her hand, once empty, grew a softball sized orb of red energy. A light smile touched upon her lips as a loud groan could be heard from the man she was traveling with. "Please? I would very much like to see this mutt."

Spending more time than he should have in a werewolf controlled establishment was not exactly anything that he wanted. Considering the fact that most of their kind did not have a positive opinion of his and would have happily torn him apart were they aware of him. Luckily that was not the case, so he was for the moment speaking about a supposed physical impossibility within the lycanthropic community. That of course being one of the mutts imbued with the essence of the divine, something that had never been heard of before. Even considered sacrilegious by a certain few within the world. ”The world is full of impossible things happening. I doubt that has ever been an issue before.” Adam noted with a light shrug as a small ripple appeared to move through the crowd itself.

”That may be but there are just some things that can’t happen. Angel blood doesn’t exactly mix with us werewolves without...disastrous results.” The lycan explained, hearing people continue to talk around them in voices that quickly began to hush. That was when an odd scent hit his nostrils, causing Adam’s face to wrinkle up in what could only be described as disgust. Someone spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone to what he could only describe as a girl in her teens. Early or late was unimportant in the long run.

They were looking for the exact same thing Adam was and that put things into perspective pretty quickly. ”Well shit, this is not good.” He muttered, rolling his eyes as the werewolf took note of that.

”Sorry, no wolves by the name of Jake around here. So why don’t you take that pretty little orb thing and go somewhere else.” The wolf he had been talking too only seconds ago turned from him and said to the odd stranger with a certain amount of seriousness before taking a drink of his whiskey.

The girls smile dipped as the wolf spoke, her left eye twitching for a moment before the smile returned and the small orb grew a little bigger. "Oh... You think it is pretty?" She spoke in a monotone like voice, her hand pulling it back as if she was going to throw it, her blue eyes seeming to slowly shift into a black like ink color, twinged with red. But before she could move any further, a shadow like tendril would whip from behind her and grip onto her wrist, keeping her arm still despite her struggles.

The tall man would now walk forwards, the tendril seemed to have formed from his own shadow as he came up to the three, he looked bored, but his eyes darted to every crook and corner, to every body that was near, the look of someone who was paranoid. "I apologize for the girl. She isn't a social creature." He'd sigh, finally looking to Mastema, who in return, looked at him with a angry glare, before she would finally admit defeat and allowed the red orb of energy to vanish into a red wisp, her eyes remained in their obviously demonic nature however.

With the danger gone, the tendril would recoil from the girl and melt into his shadow. The man would brush at his sleeve and straighten his tie, eyeing the wolf. "Allow me to... Reiterate the girls message. She is looking for the rumored angel wolf. Or any angel of sorts with the name Jake in general. Weather you have an answer for that or not, I do not care, but after that, I ask that you forgot we were here so we may leave this Den without any problems." While the man was busy talking to the wolf, the girl would shift her attention to Adam, her eyes curious.

Ina few seconds of her looking at him, he'd possibly feel a small knock along his head, not physical, more telepathic like, as if she was prodding at his head but not making it though, her eyes would widen and narrow, before she'd take a few sniffs, a gleeful smile touched her lips. "You smell full of death... Would you know where I could find him... The Mutt?" Her voice was low now, filled with curiosity and want. Was this deathly being the answer or just another among many that knew nothing. Her eyes begged for an answer, unaware of any sort of danger that could be present because of her actions.

Adam could feel the tension ramp up as the wolf responded to the strange little girl that was asking the strange questions. The way she moved showed that there would be some manner of retribution, until something stopped the less than stable looking little girl. Such an attempted attack did not jive with his wolf friend, who bared his teeth in a quasi-threatening fashion while watching every motion that she did while the vampire remained calm. Not like there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t defend himself against in the room right now. That was when her associate spoke up with an apology for her hasty behavior. ”I could tell.”The wolf noted with a shrug, seemingly undeterred from his drinking. At least there was no doubt this guy had some courage, even if it was liquid. ”Last angel we had through here was one of those...half human types. Looking for that Son of the Raven guy but he wasn’t called Jake.” He explained without any pause, seemingly causing Adam to look oddly before calming down.

”Now that’s some new information.” Adam noted to himself, furrowing his brows while the child approached him curiously. He moved away from her as much as he could, keeping those dark ringed eyes focused on her while considering the many ways he might have to protect himself. Despite the fact that by many it would have looked morally unsound. Still his eyes met with her, seemingly boring into them with laser precision.

”You know I was wondering why you smelled so familiar.”He mused, looking all the harsher. ”You remind me of someone a friend introduced me to once. Well, not exactly but you do smell similar to him. I wonder, what do you want with this mutt named Jake?”

The tall man would nod to the wolf, bowing a slight bit. "Thanks... We'll be taking our lea..ve..." The man would pause to look at the girl, who's smile returned with delight, the blackness of her eyes returning to a light blue as she jumped up and down, looking to the taller man.

"He knows! He knows!" She sounded ecstatic, and the taller man took note of the one who seemed out of place here, much like him and the girl. Frowning slightly.

The girl however, came even closer to Adam, her smile turning a little manic. "What do I want... What do I want... Mother wanted me to find him. Because she calls him a mutt... Would your friend be the Raven boy? Oh, you must take me to him. I must find the Mutt. Please? Pretty please... Am I saying please right?" She kept looking between the taller man and the vampire. Unaware of the look she was receiving from Adam, or more, not getting the message of it.

The taller man would simply kick at the girls shins a little. "Don't disturb the man..." He'd then look to Adam, tilting his head to the right till he felt a crack. Keeping it there as he looked at the vampire. "Could we perhaps make a deal when you are done here? Somewhere we won't be disturbing these... Fine individuals."

Adam now regretted  mentioning that he had smelled a similar scent before, mostly because the strange girl reacted in an almost excited fashion. The wolf however just rolled their eyes while letting the two of them talk. ”Ever heard of a concept called personal space? Because you’re all up in mine. Move.” Adam noted pointedly, letting the eye contact get his own influence off on her. Hopefully enough just to give him a little metaphorical breathing room while the girl began to act like a child. He had a feeling that Samael would not like having random psychopaths coming up to his door, but then again he wasn’t sure what her little friend could do. That was when they requested that they make a deal, which held in it a controlled threat.

Giving a sigh, he stood to his feet and looked the two over. ”I could give you two an address and you can work from there.” Adam stated, pulling up a napkin. ”Anyone got a pencil?” Someone seemed to just produce a pen, which was even better and so he scribbled down a small address. ”Go there and you’ll find who you’re looking for. Just try not to do anything like kick the door down...he’s a little jumpy.” Adam stated with a shrug, waving the two of them off and hoping they would take the little thing he gave them and go off. Not that he intended to just let them storm his...Sam’s little safehouse without making sure nothing went wrong.

Once they had left he would shoot a warning text and begin to follow a few minutes after they left. Where they would be going was a house not too far from where they were and how they did anything from there was upto the strange little girl and her guardian.

Mastema would step back at the mans word, almost as if she was ordered too and couldn't say no. But not a second later she'd be frowning, looking and playing with her feet as she questioned what exactly had just happened. While her attention was elsewhere, the tall mans attention wasn't, and he kept his eye on the vampire as they spoke. Nodding along and pulling a pencil out of his side pocket, passing it to the man.

Taking the paper and forgetting the pencil, looking the address over. "I thank you kindly. Mastema. Let us go." The man would start walking, and the girl, watching him, would frown to the vampire one final time before following after him.

Soon enough, they two would be out of the Den and on there way to the addressed location, the tall man seemingly having a clear idea of how to get there from here without much direction. "Don't get your hopes up girl. The chances this will lead us to him is small." The man stated as if it was a matter of fact, keeping his gaze ahead of him.

The girl however, was pouting, keeping her mood cheerful. "Well, maybe if you had let me get him when we found him before, we'd not be here. I kno-" The girl would be stopped as a series of shadowy tendrils rose from the mans shadow, his gaze glancing to her. She stared back for a few seconds before letting out a breath, and walking forwards, silent now, the man allowed the shadows to melt and continued onwards.

"Maybe, but you saw what happened. You do not harm the war goddess's interests when she is mere seconds away from them. You need to learn to not just be head on. Didn't your mother teach... Oh... Right." He'd sigh, going silent for the rest of the trip despite the girls mumbles.

Eventually, they'd reach the address, with the tall man walking up to the door and knocking a few times, giving the girl another look. "Seeing your track record, don't talk, don't threaten and for the love of Madeline. Don't use that red energy."

The knock would come to the door, Samael hearing it from across the apartment and rousing from whatever process of thought he had going on. Adam had sent him a warning not too long ago, leaving him wondering what exactly was coming his way. It wasn’t Jake’s mother from what he could tell and yet that gave little information as to what that something was exactly. The shadows would rise around the front door, forming s perimeter of sorts in a fashion that would go unseen from an outside perspective and he went to answer. Looking much like his usual self, save for a few dark veins showing from behind pale skin and his jawline now sporting light orange stubble. Still wearing the now worn leather jacket with a white shirt underneath, ever so faintly stained with a dark crimson. His expression didn’t show amusement in the least, stone cold being the correct descriptor.

”Well, this looks like an interesting pair I have here, and you are?” He made no motions to let the two of them in or even get out of the way with the door just open enough for him to pop his head out. Something about this felt painfully off, and Samael did not like the idea of being put in a strange position like this. In fact his thoughts has strayed to where Adam was and hoped that he knew what he was doing leading the two of them to him. Not that he was willing to put someone that important to himself in danger again, considering that he had nearly died the last time he fought demonic minions like at the very least one of them.

”Because i’ll be honest, no many good reasons for someone to come looking for me or well...come knocking at this door.”

The tall man would eye the man who opened the door, giving him a quick one over before sighing. Not the boy. The girl would share his disdain for not getting who she wanted, but her face would give it away much more then the dead pan look the taller man was giving him, one similar to the man was giving them.

"You must be the Raven boy. A pleasure. Assuming you're the friend who introduced pale to Jake. We're looking for the so called 'Mutt.' Well... She is. Introduce yourself girl." The tall man would look to her, who huffed, looking up at the ginger cambion, before huffing again.

"I am Mastema... Za... Zaapiel. And I... Am looking for my brother... Jake.." Her voice had taken a note of disdain at the word of Zaapiel, as if the mere word was poison. The tone could be said the same for when she said Jake, anger creased her face as she looked away, causing the man to sigh.

"I don't know if you want payment, not much I can offer but my own service, but she is looking for the supposed Mutt as the girl calls him. And. Well, you're her best hope, because it is hard to find a singular being in this city when certain events are not happening." The tall man would look over the man again, noting some details that spoke... A messy lifestyle this one led. Quite messy.

The girl would be looking back to Samael, still looking angry, but more directed at something else that was not present, leaving her just looking angry at the world as a whole.

His eyes centered on the older looking of the two of them, expecting him to be the greater threat of the two of them but then again he didn’t know what the little girl could do either. Either way his mind was working through what could and should be done with the situation before him, already thinking of ways that the two could be dispatched should it come to that. Being a fugitive from the law put his mind into that kind of state often. The moment they said they were looking for Jake, well he knew they were bad news. Especially from how the little girl smelled, which was similar to the little mutt boy he had taken to looking after. Add in the fact that the little girl saying she was his sister, now that was an interesting tid bit of information.

”You’re Jake’s sister?” He questioned with an arced brow, wondering what exactly was going on. If he had a sibling, likely it was that he would have heard of her by now. Unless she was an addition he knew nothing about or perhaps was just someone Jake didn’t want to talk about. There were so many unknowns, things he couldn’t just act irrationally upon. ”Well that’s news to me. Never heard about any sisters but that does leave me with a question of my own.” Silence dominated the air  for a good two seconds before he said anything else.

”Why are you looking for Jake?” Should they say anything he didn’t like, then he would have had the spikes of shadow sheer through the brick composing the front of the building in an attempt to skewer them.

She'd nod, frowning. It even looked as if she was going to say something, but the taller man held a hand up to stop her, his eye  boring into the ravens kid. Watching him for any kind of motion, eyes darting around, as if he was expecting some kind of attack.  "She won't give me the answer to that herself. Just that she needs to find him. Where she came from, why she decided now, won't tell me."

Looking to the girl, he wave her away, causing her to puff her cheeks out, looking a little red in the face. "What? But I want-"

"Adults are talking. Go blow up a bird or something." He'd sigh, the girl started smiling at the actual idea of doing such, so without a second thought, she bounded away, not out of sight, but enough she could look around for any nearby birds or other animal.

Looking back to the cambion, the tall man would step close, his eyes slightly narrowed. "I don't know what you know about the boy as of late. He's been busy. Always on the move and meeting very, unique individuals. The girl... As I know it, she spent fifteen years in a dimension of sorts where time moved a lot faster then here. And from what I've heard about there mother... The girl isn't exactly in the right mind." He'd turn his head to look for her, seeing she was looking to a nearby power-line.

Looking back to the man, he'd sigh, frowning slightly. "I've been helping her out of pity. You want me to do something, grab something, kill someone. Say the word. But lead her to her brother so she can... Have a family, meet him for the first time, I don't care. There are only so many people he can piss off. Mr Alba, a War Goddess. Might be a good idea to find him yourself. You're friends apparently." He'd step back now, to give the man more space, not that he didn't already have plenty of that with the door in-between them.

So what looked to be some manner of guardian for her didn’t even know what he was looking for and that made him...curious. Why exactly was she hunting for her brother and why was he just going along with what appeared to be a very disturbed child. Part of him couldn’t help wonder what was going on and why it had to end up on his doorstep. Yet he didn’t release the attack, even letting the shadows slink back to their neutral form while listening to the explanation being given to him. Jake being distant was a thing but Samael didn’t really want to butt into his life more than he had to. Considering that he had to deal with his own...psychotic episode in Egypt not too long ago. Just thinking back on it made him feel his own mood drop significantly and yet the idea of someone wanting to come to know their family.

Now that hit him in a soft spot.

”Alright, come on in. I’ll see if I can get a hold of him.” He motioned for the man and the girl were she paying attention to follow him while letting the shadows fade back to their natural patterns. Leading them into the apartment, which was oddly well furnished considering the exterior and Samael removing his cellphone from his pocket. ”Not sure if I can get ahold of him but i’ll try.” They would find a small love seat to sit on, as well as a recliner. The conjoined kitchen had seats but they didn’t look exactly overly comfortable. He would call Jake or attempt to reach him. Answering machine or the genuine article, he would leave the message anyhow.

”Hey Jake, when you get the chance I need you to come to my...safehouse. The Chicago one. It’s a family issue and will likely need you so I need you here now.”

The tall man would nod, looking back to the girl who seemed in motion to form one of those orbs of hers. He'd call out to her to get her attention before the orb could form, and motion her inside, something she complied to easily. Following the cambion on, the young girl would enter soon enough. The tall man would remain standing as he watched the cambion, the girl however, would take a seat, her feet swinging forwards and back.

The tall man waited till the phone call was over before walking up to the man a final time, still frowning. "If the boy is coming here, then I will take my leave, my part of this is done. Here." He'd hold out a card, with a number written over whatever writing that existed before with a red marker.

"Don't call less it is something important, one favor. I won't pick up, but I'll find you. Don't let the girl use her orbs and don't piss her off. If her eyes go black, you're doing something wrong." He listed off, before heading to the girl, whispering to her a few words, she seemed to frown at him as he then turned and went to leave, stopping to look at the cambion one final time.

"Oh, the werewolf I saw said something about a half angel, half human looking for you. Do what you will with that... And for reference, my name is Marcus, I prefer Shadow however. Good day, son of raven." With that, the man would walk to the door, but rather then leave the normal way, he would slowly melt into the ground, till nothing remained but shadows, and he was gone.

The girl would have watched him, before looking back to the cambion, smiling. "Huh.. He never told me his name... What is your name? Because the son of the raven seems... Boring.. No. I don't know the word." She'd frown, looking down at her feet. Her lips pursed as she mulled over the words in her head, unable to find one that suited what she was trying to say, a note that caused her to frown even more.


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the windy city, Jake let the phone slip back into his pocket. He had forgotten Samael was the one that gave him a phone. It had somehow managed to survive quite a number of beatings he had taken. When it rang, it had caught him by surprise a little, and he had answered, surprised even more to hear Samaels voice, but when the cambion was done talking, he had turned the phone off, which led to now.

A family matter... Jake didn't have much else going on right now, and with his current activity wielding little result. It sounded like a good opportunity to speak to Samael, they did indeed, need a chat, this family matter was simply icing on a cake of least likely to be fun, seeing as many of Samaels family were... Well, not very nice. Looking to the woman who was tapping the now unconscious bodyguard of hers with her heel, he'd shrug. "We'll talk later."

Her response was a nonchalant nod as he jumped into the sky and landed on a roof, closing his eyes to remember where he was, he figured the general area and started jumping, knowing the general way to go... Why the hell did Sammy want him for family issues?

Samael took the small card the odd man gave him and considered the name given to him. Nothing came to mind about where he had heard it before, but he did feel as if he had heard it somewhere before. A small nagging at the back of his head that would go ignored for now as he was given warnings about the strange little girl he was supposed to be looking over while they waited for Jake to respond. Yet the mention of a nephilim looking for him made Samael visibly frown. ”I...thanks for the warning.” He sighed, waiting for the girl to accept his invitation and close the door behind him. A life of running and throwing himself into danger had begun to wear on him. Still he was helping someone find their family, and he hoped that didn’t bite him in the ass.

”The names Samael but most just call me Sam.” He said, wondering if she would actually take the shortening or decide to give him a new nickname entirely. Not that there would have been any hard feelings about her doing so. After that was the call to Jake, hoping that he would get a response and in the end getting that. Luckily he did get a response, which lead to Jake saying he would come over but not how long that would take him.

Hanging up his phone he looked to the little girl who went by Mastema. ”He said he’ll be on his way here, so just...relax while you’re here.” Of course she was allowed to sit almost anywhere, considering this was not exactly the ideal image of a home. ”So...are you hungry? I probably have a few things around here that’s edible, maybe even tastes good.” Having to live with a vampire left his options wanting, considering that Adam hadn’t had working tastebuds in over a century. Guessing on scent alone left him with lacking food choices and Sammy ended up having to make a list for what he actually needed.

This was going to be an awkward span of time.