Who: Greed (notenough) and Ashley (trickyfingers ) What: Calling in a favor When: Late Friday afternoon; 10/23 Where: Greed's offices downtown Warnings: These two? Language, violence and general perverseness to say the least.
If it wasn't one thing, it was fifteen thousand others. Of course there would have come a time for Satan to return above ground from wherever it was he had disappeared to, but why in the fuck couldn't it have been when she had been standing there with three of Hell's kings breathing down her damned neck? Of course she could have just stood idly by and become a snack, much in the way of Envy, but something whispered to her that any trips down below might now be the usual fun times that she usually enjoyed, even less so when she wouldn't have the say as to when she'd breathe the sulfur-free air again.
It was one of the very few things that Raum would put his foot down about, so long as it was his choice to do so. He enjoyed his freedom, and in his mind, only Satan himself who held the right to take it away. Not some half-crocked bunch of lunatics running loose on a rampage because they'd lost the right to their toys. The prospect enough had been enough to drive him into hiding, in a manner he had never had to before. Granted, the pains had mostly been forgotten in light of regaining some ability to slide in once more with a particular human girl, it had been no easy task to suffer the daily discomfort of being a place that was only a step down from curling up on a church pew. No matter how hard she might have tried to hide away all that made her a product of Hell, there was only so much that could be done to try and deal with the Holy Spirit that damned near infused the entire place from the artifacts to the students who traveled it's halls. Each day she could feel the place crushing her bit by bit, bur she hadn't anticipated there to be any adverse side effects aside from those she inflicted upon himself.
What a rude awakening it had been then, after speaking with Satan and seeing that her pet had attracted another vermin, to discover that her efforts had proven too effective, depleting her Hellfire and locking any remnants away...to the very point where she couldn't draw on anything. She'd left the campus in hope of some distance easing up the overbearing weight, tried to mingle and feed on what evil he could find nearby, took the pleasure of holding another's life in the palm of her hands for a split second before it slipped away. Nothing worked.
Classes were skipped, the great charade she'd embroiled herself so into over the past few weeks was tossed aside in desperation to break free of the shell that she had been trapped within.
It was that same desperation that led her back into the city proper Friday afternoon. Weaving in and out of traffic with no flare but plenty of intent purpose, Ashley maneuvered the sleek car through pre-rush hour back ups and around delivery trucks until she came to a screeching halt in an underground parking garage. She'd only been in this place a time or two before, but it was enough, and it was a sure enough bet as to where she'd (hopefully) find the answer to her problem, much as it galled her to reach such an extreme. But really, what chance was there, when she was little better than mortal and couldn't protect what was hers? Not to mention that her presence had already been demanded, Ashley didn't know what else to do under such short notice.
Heels clicked against marble with lethal intent as she stormed through the office building, ignoring the secretaries or guards who called out to the strange girl moving through the place as if she had every right to. She paid them no mind at all, her temper fueling her and giving off a murderous aura all her own. There was one last desperate cry from a secretary perched outside the great pair of double doors that the young woman completely disregarded as she barreled through the heavy doors. The sonuvabitch sat upon his throne behind some great monstrosity of a desk like some great ruler that he thought himself to be. Ignoring the trail of security guards in her wake, Ashley stormed right up and slammed her hands down on the desk, glaring down at her questionably favorite toy with a gaze that was a far cry from the 'Ashley' that had been making herself at home another world away.
"Call off your fucking lackeys and don't give me any fucking shit about it. I'm calling in my God-damned favor, Ace."