A MESSAGE THROUGH THE EMBASSY...

[mommytron]

Before the official first communication, there was simply a quick whispering - young Felix Naberius the 3rd delivered a message from his mother's vision directly to Lucifer, told to make haste: Red blood on hallowed hands lock the gates tighter than ever. Light from above descends, the voice of the infinite will speak and beckon.

Not long after, the first official message is brought to the Princess of Hell - Sera wishes to bring some to the Embassy in person or over call. And she specifically requests her to call for her father to come, as the Speaker of God requested to see him.


It's a shocking direction after the radio silence from Heaven after so long - the Embassy had been altered already, the clock torn down, leaving only the structure standing. Sera waited in the main room, trying (and failing) to ignore the way the interior had been torn at by spiteful demons ripping away the monuments to the exorcists on the walls. The malice was... palpable.

But things should... no, would go right. Charlie had stepped up and promised to make sure security was good, and that after the Princess had spoken to the Speaker herself, well...

...The Speaker would be available for anyone to speak to, in a private room. She wasn't there in person, using a hologram to project herself... but she still massively filled the room with her presence and with heavenly light.

For those who weren't quite ready to talk to her or even go past Sera, they had another important addition - Emily and Abel were to come and participate in helping Hell more to begin Heaven's atonement for the wrongs it had committed.

Comments

The Speaker Summons Lucifer...

[mommytron]

[youknowwhothisis]

Nobody really makes a summons for him. Not... not in this sense, anyway. Humans would try and make rituals to him, blood offerings, and he'd be called to the Embassy to tolerate speaking with Adam.

But the source of the call was enough to make everything in him run cold, his heart to pound uncomfortably. But he couldn't just make some excuse to hide, claim he's too busy or anything. Not... not to them.

Not to the one being who actually... liked... him. Or at least didn't shut him out back in those old days.

So Lucifer took a deep breath, let magic flow, and stepped across miles of distance in a blink. To hear the polished marble flooring beneath his boots was a nostalgic sort of sound, and to his relief he wasn't going to be hearing Adam's dumb-ass air guitaring or... hopefully...? Not receive some awful news.

He needed another moment to breathe before the large double doors, hand to heart. Then, he used his own strength to ease them open and step through.

"...I am powerful, I am magical, I am spooky..." Affirmations. Those helped.

[mommytron]

Sera had curtly guided him towards the door, letting him know that the Speaker wished to see him now that she'd spoken to Charlie. She's using the hologram system, the seraphim explained - but when Lucifer entered the meeting room, the Speaker's light and presence made it hard to tell if she was anything but truly present.

Still, the doors shut right behind Lucifer as he entered and it brought the Speaker's gaze upon him.

She smiled. Her arms outstretched, and she hunched over, full of warmth as always.

"There you are, my Morningstar," she cooed in a soft voice, "We have much to catch up on. So many things are owed to you, my child."

Abel Is (Hesitantly) Here, Too...

[fallbackboy]

There's an unvoiced feeling in Abel's heart right now. He'd never really admit it to himself, nor would he really let it show. It doesn't matter, Heaven needs him to be here, and he will be here to help however he can. The speaker is depending on him, Heaven is depending on him to do...

Something.

In Hell.

Presumably saying "Sorry" a whole lot. Which, to be clear, he is more than happy to do, his father did something wrong here, did something horrible here!

When he was told, he didn't know what to do.

He still really doesn't. But he'll sure do his best!

[wildwarden]

Not going to lie, chief, she had no idea what was going on. Her memory was spotty at the best of times, and whatever information she had been given was still being processed given the short time since her arrival.

That said — she wasn't causing trouble or anything, at least? Just sort of curiously watching until she locked onto the nervous angelic being nearby. Night Sky slid up to Abel's side.

"Hey. You look like you're about to explode, sweetness. You wanna take a breather from all the apologies?"

[fallbackboy]

It was late in the day. Sort of? It's harder to tell in Hell when it's day or night. Everything looks more night-y in Hell, and it's not like you have any need to heed time when you're in Heaven.

But there's a new person!

Who seems nice!

And doesn't want to hit him with hammers!

"Hey! Uh, wow, love the look, um. Sooo, hey, sorry, for the whole, you know. Exterminations thing. Would you like a gift basket? It's got some really good taffies, salted caramels, oh, and these little teddy bears, super squishable."

[youknowwhothisis]

No, this was... this was right at the top of the list of 'most perfect opportunities gift-wrapped for him'.

He let himself emerge in a swirl of hellfire, a rush of heat and crackling energy before he clapped his hands upon Abel's shoulders from behind. No time like the present to make himself known, yes? May as well have some fun with it, put a little extra adrenaline in the kid's blood.

"WHERE'S MY GIFT BASKET!?"

[queercore]

Well, well, well... Dio wasn't planning on doing more than meet up with Peet in Pride today, but something is apparently happening at the Embassy. Pentagram City is a little bit of a hop from the Hellevator in Imp City, but...

...Yes, this is simply too interesting.

If they'd known this was happening, they'd have dressed up a little more! But a simple casual masc outfit would do - how weak are angels to sexual wiles? A little bit of unbuttoning on their shirt to let the cleavage have some air will help.

"Gift baskets? Is that only for Sinners~?"

[songbird_slayer]

When someone is looking like they're ready to leap out of their skin, she knew exactly what they needed.

After taking some time to occupy a chair and take a load off, get all three of them off of their feet, it was time to make the rounds again. The first warning is a gentle hand on the shoulder.

"...In through the nose, out through the mouth," was the quiet, patient tone with a small laugh mixed in. Perched atop her other hand, presented to the poor archangel, was a rather big and fudgy brownie.

"Then some chocolate to ease the nerves. You can take my chair, if you'd like. You earned a break."

[littletomato]

Getting by on charm and a willingness to skirt security protocols, one determined baphomet has made their way into a meeting with one of Heaven's ambassadors-

Perhaps inadvisably, but in the end, what could you do other than whatever you could?

"Hi! Iiii have come bearing gifts, actually? Um. I know that's probably not protocol, buuuut..."

How Many Angels Can Vibrate on the Head of a Pin

[em_pathyisnotasin]

"Sera! I promise, I'll be fine, I'll be carefulokaybye!" She practically vibrates her way through the portal.

---

Above her office room was, written with significant enthusiasm and a personal touch, rainbow letters on white parchment paper, "Emily's Office!!!"

(It also had a more traditional plaque beside the door that labeled it "Emily Lilivale")

...

Thirty minutes later

Oh. Oh, right, she would have to wait on sinners to show up. Right! She would just have to be ready for them at any moment! It's fine! She's got cookies, and taffies, and those little puzzle things that humans liked to have in hospital rooms. It would be fine! Oh, but what if they wanted something to drink other than water or milk or tea or coffee...

[wildwarden]

She really wished she could explain that, like, she wasn't here for the exorcisms, and everything she heard was secondhand, so really she shouldn't be accepting apologies or... whatever? But then that would give away that she wasn't even supposed to be there, and that she had been whisked away from another realm entirely that had nothing to do with earth.

All that to say — hi, Emily. She was here. Unable to read any of the signs because weird fey-elves from magical forests never had to learn how to read. She was definitely intrigued by the puzzle thing, though. So don't mind her pushing one of the beads around.

"Hi."

Sponsoring Security!?

[minimorningstar]

"Alright everybody!!! HI!! Hi, hi hi!! Thank you all for comiiiiing!"

Charlie's situated herself outside of the Embassy after asking (begging) for her close pals to help keep the building safe - there's a nice perimeter and some barriers that are keeping the very... uh... riled up crowd from just mob mentality charging the place.

"What the fuck is this about?"

"Fuckin princess is obsessed with heaven, traitor!"

"I want a gift basket..."

Despite the building brouhaha, Charlie kept a smile on her face and projected as loudly as she could. Don't mind a little sweat dripping down her brow. It's fine, she's fine!

"Heaven is here to make peace with us! And plan for reparations!!"

"Reparations?"

"No shit?"

"How the fuck do you say I'M SORRY for GENOCIDING you??"

"That's a GREAT question! That's why I'm going to be talking with them and advocating for all of you. We haaaave a very special guest, too - she's willing to talk to people one-on-one if you have questions about heaven! And if you're worried, I promise me or someone from my staff will join in to keep you safe!"


Are you one of the people she's asked to help? A resident of Hell with questions? Just wanting to pester her to give her a little break from trying to keep the crowd calm??

[wildwarden]

Night Sky was definitely the last one — although if she knew Charlie at all, maybe she would have volunteered to help keep people in check. Alas.

Either way, the best time for introductions was clearly now. She sidled up while the crowd murmured and bitched. If nothing else, the commentary helped her understand a little more about the extermination thing.

"Hey. You need a drink or something, sweetness?"

[strawberryredgrave]

"And that includes me." Chimed in the voice of the dragon sinner, casually walking into the scene and standing beside Charlie. Voices of surprise and awe fill the crowd, with Dante's presence providing a very brief distraction from the event before themHe gave her a nod.

"There's a lot of confusion and doubt about this whole thing, and I get it. Who the Hell knows what the next step is, right? Well that's what Heaven and Hell are hoping to figure out together, but that means wading through a lot of awkward stuff. So no biting at your stitches, alright? And I'll keep the peace, myself." He reassured with a smirk and a wink. All of Hell and enough of Heaven knew what the dragon was capable of, and he was certain that could ease a good chunk of the tension for now.

That hopefully included the tension the princess was feeling, His voice is soft when he turns and speaks to Charlie. "You alright? I can take over, if you need a minute."

[em_pathyisnotasin]

She's none of these things! She's a friendly, angel shaped projectile aimed directly at, "Charlie! It's so good to see you again!"

"They're attacking her already!"

"That's not an attack, that's a hug, dude."

"Oh! I'm sorry, did I interrupt you while you were talking to these people? I'm sorry! I'm Emily, it's so wonderful to meet you all."

"She's kind of small. Aren't they--"

"Psssh, she's so condescending."

"Is she the reparations?"

"Um, I don't think I can answer you all at once..." Ohhh, this isn't great. She flits from one to the next, trying to do so anyway. "Oh! Please don't touch my wings, they're kind of sensitive..."

[youknowwhothisis]

He'd been relatively quiet on all accounts with the embassy's revival and the heavenly visit. Could anyone blame him? Though they did seek to make amends, there was still that niggling little feeling of if he even should say or do anything.

...Because this- every bit of it- was his fault. Maybe it'd make things worse if he showed his face. But a lot of people were going, and he'd been summoned by someone he dreaded seeing the most, someone he feared may be the most disappointed of the lot.

When he arrived early for his meeting, needing some extra time to prepare himself mentally for what he surely knew was going to be a really rough chat, he saw someone who was having a rough time that may just be rougher as time went on. Crowds had a way of being... crowd-y.

This he could do. He was allowed to do this, at least, right? That's his kid out there! He'll show his support.

"Golly, I think the princess is doing a great job! I can't wait to form an orderly line and not cause trouble! #Girlboss, am I right??" ...By putting on a really awful, fake voice from his hiding spot in one of the nearby decorative shrubs. Could've been anybody.

[electroshark]

"Hay girl!"

Calls a voice from nearby, a shark demon with horns, rather wispy plasmatic hair, and a raised arm, clearly a hellborn carrying a duffel bag on her back with a big milk crate full of ssssoda bottles? Is that soda? It looks like soda.

"This is where the bash for Heaven's going on, right? I'm not late or anything, am I?"

[herewardbound]

"Her Highness is right. Nobody is going to harm anyone while we're here. You're safer here, honestly, than you would be walking down the street. So please, if you have questions, one at a time, we'll do our best to answer them, but one at a time."

Goro glanced over at Charlie, and leaned a little closer, dropping his voice. "Hey. Breathe, okay? You've got this."

[knight_in_sinful_armor]

It's just a light tap of a claw, almost dainty as the sinner touches two light digits against the princess' upper back.

"Charlie." Says the former-overlord, from behind her. His back is a mottle of scales, many of them present, while many are now missing.

[littletomato]

Curiosity had, often, compelled Solanaceae to do many things that others would have considered to be dangerous, insane, or perhaps even willfully stupid.

Getting involved in interplanar politics when they were supposed to be keeping their head down and very importantly not letting anybody know that other universes a) existed and 2: had visited this one- was decidedly a bad idea.

And yet...

They felt a chill run up their spine. Those dreams had been so vivid. Weapons that had threatened to annihilate all of Hell. All-out war once again...

What could they do? This wasn't like Vertumna, where the number of people involved were few and they occupied a position of relative power.

It had leapt to mind, unbidden, a conversation that he- they? She...

A conversation that Sol had had, once, a thousand iterations diverged- with their father, after... after the famine had killed Mom.

"What do I do? What am I supposed to do? Nothing I do is going to help this, and even if it could, I don't know where to start-"
"There's always going to be times like this, Sol. You just... do what you can."

And so, the night before the appointed time, they had been busy. Baking had been the order of the day, and they could think of no better opportunity than a recipe that had actually won an award!

Angels brought gift baskets, well so did I.

Boxes of baked goods laden into the arms of one determined baphomet appeared at the Embassy. Now they just had to get in without causing problems...

[electroshark]

And as Sol is standing there, planning their approach...

"Damn," Comes the voice from behind, a melodic femininity marked by a kind of smooth gutteralness like an echo from the bottom of a small watery grotto.

"you've got a cute ass. At least while you're carrying stuff." She says, the shark demon stepping into view with a grin, a heavy duffel bag slung over her back with one of her hands occupied with a milk crate full of bottles labeled as tonic water.

"You nervous, too? I swear, my tail's twitching at the thought of being near so many of those angels, ahah..."

[speckledfate]

Felix had tagged along - neither Sol nor his own mother had made any cryptic remarks or panicked fuss at the idea of him going, so... it was probably going to be fine?

There were only two... nay, three possibilities where things turned south, where a misunderstanding exploded quite literally-- so very few in the scale of the infinite possibilities.

So instead he's just... carrying baked goods. Two of the helpful bodyguard imps tagging along, in case Sinners get any funny ideas about hurting a young Goetic demon. Or that Goetic demon's friend.

"They seem so..." Felix started, an uneasy look on his face as they peered at the front of the embassy where only two angels currently were alongside the Princess of Hell. "...pastel?"

A Declaration Of War 1/4

[electroshark]

Sometime in the middle of the managed chaos of the embassy comes a rapid tonal shift. A series of hellborn, some carrying milk crates, others with instruments or duffel bags, even one with carboard boxes of baked goods manage to slip inside the defensive perimeter, seemingly in loose concert. All of a sudden, a shrill whistle sounds out, and eyes turn to look at the source. A sharkesque hellborn, probably a mix what with the glowy plasmatic hair and horns sticking out of it, holds her duffel bag out to one side in a hand by the straps, before she lets it fall to the ground to punctuate the silence with a bassy, echoing thump.

"Yo Angels, what's up, I'm DJ Electroshark Therapy!" She calls out, bright, confident grin plastered on her face. "We come bearing gifts and a message, courtesy of Overlord Zeezi!"

...And there's security heading over, Lex's grin only widening. Hands empty, out to her sides, no weapons or anything dangerous in sight.

"Whaaat, we're totally sincere! ...C'mon, you didn't think there wouldn't be any kind of Overlord response to this, did you? This is pretty tame compared to what it could be! ...Oh, just a smoke machine, glow sticks, party supplies, y'know? Nah, nah, no weapons or anything. I can absolutely promise nobody's gonna be doing any violence."

Lex's grin widens even further. "...But that don't mean nobody's gonna get fuckin' murdered today."

"Wh--"

Lex, grinning, sticks her tongue out, and then phases through him, stepping forwards in a cloud of plasmatic mist as the hellborn behind her plug in the speakers and the inexorable beat starts to play.

A Declaration Of War 2/4

[electroshark]

Lex moved up and took an overly elegant bow, too ridiculous to be anything sincere.

"So the angelic choir is coming to town, taking a break from your paradise to head on down to the depths of the dirtiest, grimiest slum, giving shallow platitudes while you think we're scum. But you know what I think when I see your glow? That you're boring as shit, and that you're lacking in flow. You're just clutching your pearls as you lift up a rock; we're a sideshow attraction, you're here to gawk, not talk!"

The shark flicked a hand out, gesturing to the angels from top to bottom before holding the inverted cross necklace around her neck and making a digging gesture with her other hand.

"But we don't need your condescension, we're thriving down here without your ascension! If we could only turn back from your last intervention, then your embassy wouldn't be a mess of dissension."

Lex said, jerking a thumb towards the walls next to her, the surface of the embassy covered in hatefully scratched messages.

"And I could forgive; really, how could I not? Not like we got a choice for this fuckin' lot that we've got. Give you a cheer, or you'll go on right back to the killing, nice choice! Good job! Give the angels top billing!"

With every line, the shark transformed, becoming smaller and smaller until finally turning into a nervous shark, visibly quivering as she spoke the last one.

"But why do you gotta be such fuckin' squares? Even with all that light, you couldn't scrounge up a beat? Our jams are tastier, sluttier, and heavens above, when you pull the rock the bugs are getting freaky under there."

Back to normal, Lex was grinning, making partial eye-contact as she went to grind a little against a nearby moth-looking Sinner.

"Now you've brought down some friends, let's introduce you to mine: her name is molly, she's just here to make your time more divine."

Holding her hand out like a magic trick, Lex's digits each managed to materialize a small pill between them, stamped with a stylized E.

"You're saying 'sorry I killed you' while giving nothing to chug; we want music you can still hear while you're wearing earplugs! No drinks, no skin, your decorations are piss, you got everything good, but we got everything fun. You're giving us trash, we've got gin spiked with tonic. Face it: fluffy white clouds ain't got shit on cthonic."

The shark pointed at each individual offending article, contrasting with the basic supplies she'd brought, before dropping tonic water into a glass, making it glow like a nuclear reactor.

"No wonder extermination was your entertainment when the best that you've got is fucking edutainment."