Daemon Exitus

Posted on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 5:35pm by Gideon Asher & Dominique LaFramboise & Nathaniel Cunningham & Jarrod Lask & Frederick Matthews III & Astaroth/Lily-Mae Arnett & Jason Baraghani

Mission: Daemoniacus Tribulatio
Location: The Swamp

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel outside of yourself? It’s just a mundane every day moment, nothing important, when suddenly, you feel as if you’re watching the scene instead of actively taking part in it. You could be washing the dishes or deciding what to make for dinner or dusting a shelf and suddenly, it doesn’t feel like you who’s doing it.

Maybe it was just a witch thing. Or maybe it was unique to Nicki. She didn’t know as she had never told anybody about it. But in any case, she’d been having that feeling all day long and it was starting to get on her nerves.

But now, getting ready to head into the swamp where the trap was already laid for Astorath, she was feeling quite herself. They just had to wait for their guide- an elderly man who had spent most of his life exploring and mapping the swamp.

Gideon slapped a mosquito that tried to drink his blood. "I'll keep all of that for myself, thank you," he said. "Where is our guide? I'd like to get this started."

The leaves began to rustle, then the breeze picked up. It began to sound like someone was running around the area in some kind of a circle. The sound of branches snapping joined the medley. The wind picked up even more until debris was flying everywhere. The howling of the wind was joined by the sound of a man laughing... an old man... who started whistling Dixie? Then the tune changed to something on the opposite side of the spectrum. Then, the singing started. Whoever was 'singing' didn't have a good voice at all.

"Gideon Asher lies a mouldering on the grave, Gideon Asher lies a mouldering on the grave, Gideon Asher lies a mouldering on the grave, oh we should be so lucky! The stars above in heaven are kindly looking down, the stars above in Heaven are kindly looking down, the stars above in Heaven are kindly looking down, on the grave of that Yankee Vampire! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, hey Yankee kiss my ass!"

The voice went on singing, using the old Union marching song to mock Gideon, whose face took on an exasperated expression. "Rufus Clay," he said. "You miserable, Reb son-of-a-bitch."

"Your guide was a stupid asshole and I scared him right away, your guide was stupid asshole and I scared him right away, your guide was a stupid asshole and I scared him right away, cuz this is my damned swamp! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, and now you're stuck with me."

Gideon sighed. "Nikki," he said. "Unless I'm mistaken, that is the voice of Rufus Clay, a no good Reb bushwacker I killed during the war. I have absolutely no idea how his ghost got into this swamp. As you can tell, he doesn't like me much. I suppose that's understandable. Regardless, it seems we're going to need his help. I don't suppose you could do your necromancer thing so we can communicate with him?"

"A whore fucked a gator and Gideon was born, a whore fucked a gator and Gideon was bord, a whore fucked a gator and Gideon was born, that no good Yankee scum!"

"Seriously, Nikki," Gideon said. "If you do your thing, maybe he'll stop singing, so pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Gideon's a Yankee pig and that's all that there is to it, Gideon's a Yankee pig and that's all that there is to it, Gideon's a Yankee pig and that is all that there is to it, and all Yankees fuck pigs!"

"Nikki, in the name of all that's holy..." Gideon pleaded.

“I’m working on it,” Nicki said, already scanning the area with her periphery. She made three passes of the group before she spotted someone dancing around like a lunatic, just on the very edge of her vision. Her eyes narrowed as she reached for the magic. “Kommst hier!” she commanded, and instantly felt the tug of power.

There was a popping sound and the translucent form of a bearded man dressed in the rags of what one of Bloody Bill Anderson's Missouri bushwhackers would have worn during the American Civil War appeared and started making the rebel battle cry.

A loud scoff sounded from the shadows as Fred Matthews stalked into the clearing, flanked by his beta. "Still being haunted by the spectres of your misdeeds in the War of Northern Aggression?" he asked with a sneer, looking for all the world as if someone had attached a piece of foul-smelling rubbish under his nose. "Quiet yourself Mr. Clay. Dead you may be, but it is Gideon Asher's soul that is damned for all eternity."

"Fuck you, too," Rufus said. "It wasn't the North that started the War of Southern Foolishness! It was us, plain and simple. Sure, Gideon killed me. But damned if I didn't have it coming! I was a brutal, murderous, godless, son of a whore. I used the call to defend the southern way a life as an excuse to do legal what my black heart had me doin' illegal before Bleeding Kansas! Murderin' and pillagin' and burnin', but now I was doin' it so's some rich folks could keep their slaves and their money." Rufus turned to Gideon and grinned a toothy grin. "Hiya, Gideon, you Pinkerton son-of-a-bitch! How the Hell are ya?"

Gideon sighed. "I'm fine, Rufus," he said. "And yourself?"

"Not bad," Rufus said. "You were right, by the way."

Gideon looked confused. "Right about what?" he said.

"I shoulda shaved this damned beard off before you hung me from that tree!" he said. "The damned thing itches like tarnation and has for the last 160 years give or take."

"Serves you right, I suppose," Gideon said.

Rufus narrowed his eyes. "Fuck you, Pink!" he shouted. The wind started to pick up again and the swamp water around them began to boil and bubble.

"Are you done?" Gideon asked, glaring at his old... foe?

Rufus looked as though he was going to raise spectral Hell. Then he stopped and laughed as everything settled down. Gideon stopped glaring, shook his head, and started to chuckle.

Jim resisted the urge to cringe, since they were supposed to be antagonistic, but he had the distinct impression that his Alpha wasn't really having to do all that much pretending at this point. He took a breath. The damn swamp gave him a complex every time he had to get near it. The entire place was oppressive, in a spiritual as opposed to physical sense. He wouldn't call the air malevolent, but he got the distinct feeling that the spirits that had made the place their home didn't care for them all that much. He channelled that into his voice. "Could we get on with it? We have better things to do than parley with the bitch and the beta male about their incessant desire to interfere with pack business," he ground out, sending a mental apology to Jarrod for the slight.

But, the insult went straight over Jarrod’s head. “Beta male,” he repeated with a vague grin. “It’s funny cuz it’s true.”

"Ready when you are, I think," Gideon said. "Rufus?"

"Yeah, ready," Rufus said.

Nicki resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Before we head into the swamp, I’ll need to call Lily-Mae’s soul,” she said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and the soul will remember what happened right before she- well, not before she died, because she didn’t die. But… well, you know.”

The process was one Nicki had used countless times before. Souls were useful when the deceased was the only person who knew the answer to certain questions. Sadly, they tended to not remember the moment of death, so very few murders were solved that way. But, when attempting to locate a will or even just get Aunt Ethel’s secret apple pie recipe, a soul could come in very handy.

It was a bit boring to watch, if Nicki was honest. There was no cool effect of a portal opening up or any light shining down from the sky or anything. It was just a bunch of muttering in German, followed by a small almost inaudible pop and the soul stood there before them. When Nicki opened her eyes, she saw a spectral sort of image of Lily-Mae. “Hello, Lily-Mae,” she said gently.

The soul stuttered, seemingly not realizing where she was, or that anyone had spoken to her, features frozen in horror. As her processing caught up, she began to scream. "No, I'm sorry. Stay away. Leave me alone," she yelled about, amongst other other seemingly random babbling. When she didn't seem to be coming out of it, Jim and Fred both acted. "Lily-Mae Arnett," they both snapped out, eyes flashing, throwing their own power at her to pull her focus back.

The sound cut off almost immediately, though it took the soul another few seconds for Lily-Mae to get it together. "Jim, Alpha, where am I? What are you doing here. Who is this woman who can control souls?"

“I’m Nicki,” answered Nicki. “A necromancer. We’re going to try to restore you to your body. And if we can’t… I’ll try to send you to paradise instead. But first, do you remember why you summoned a demon?”

The spirit trembled slightly. "Dreams. We started having dreams about the void. Earl and I both started having them. And then we started having them together. Who does that, have shared dreams? And with a vampire no less? They die, so they shouldn't dream should they? The grimoire said Astaroth has to answer truthfully any question put to him..." she trailed off, beginning to tremble again. "I... I can't think too much about it or I remember..." she stopped again.

Nicki’s head had turned slightly when Lily mentioned the void and she looked for all the world as if she was struggling to school her features into a neutral expression. “You… the void?” she said finally, voice carefully careless. She blinked once, twice. Then she turned to look at the group. “Anybody else have similar dreams?” she asked.

“Yep,” said Clem, who also appeared to be carefully schooling his features. The Altar of the Witches’ Guild was far more practiced than Nicki at hiding his thoughts. “Didn’t think much of it,” he said. “Weird dreams are common.”

“Yeah, same,” said Nicki. “Anybody else?”

"Hmmm..." Gideon said. "Fascinating. I dreamed of 'a' void. It held no significance to me. Not in the way it would to many of you. But remember, Hell holds no significance to me beyond being a place that demons reside. My faith is rather vague on the subject of an afterlife. One of the rabbinic opinions is that we go to a dark, quiet place to contemplate. I've dreamed of this before and it was quite peaceful. This was far from that. It was unsettling. It was dark and quiet, but also cold. Bone chilling. And I could taste fear. I'm a vampire, I've tasted fear in the air before, especially prior the Accords. But this was different somehow. As if... as if someone had captured the essence of fear, concentrated it, and projected that pure fear to fill, well, a void."

Matthews shrugged. "I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary," he said.

Jim thought for a moment. "I don't dream," he said, not offering any elucidation on that point. "But for some time I've been noticing a sense of impending dread or doom. I wrote it off as being about Astaroth, but perhaps there is something more."

Matthews cut back in again. "Yes, yes, all very interesting, but we have the spirit, and a guide. Could we please get on with it, before the next full moon, preferably."

“Yes, we’ll worry about the implications later,” agreed Nicki. She turned to the clergy. “Sorry about this traipsing through the swamp, but… are you all ready?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” answered Reverend Jones, tugging at her waders to make sure they were securely fastened.

“Have holy water, will exorcise,” added Father Mac a bit grimly.

“Then let’s go,” replied Nicki. “Rufus, since you chased our guide away, you’ll have to see us safely through the swamp.”

"Sure thing, little lady," Rufus replied. "Right this way..."

"WALK DOWN THIS PATH, YOU GRIZZLED OLD GOAT!" Shrieked a disembodied female voice. "AND I'LL HAVE YOUR BALLS AS TOYS FOR MY BATH!!!"

Rufus started, then laughed. "You already did, you crazy old crone!" he said. "And a good time was had by all!"

Disembodied cackling surrounded floated around the group of demon hunters and exorcists. "THAT'S WHY I WANT YOU TO WALK DOWN THIS PATH!!!" The cackling got even more maniacal.

Rufus chuckled. "Maybe later, sweets," he said. "I gotta get these folks where they're going."

"HMMM...." the crone mused. "I SEE... I SEE WHAT THEY WANT TO DO... OH... THIS SHOULD BE AMUSING... AND I KNOW JUST THE SPOT, MY DEAR RUFUS! DOWN THAT PATH TO YOUR RIGHT, IN THE PLACE WHERE WE DID THE THING!!"

"Uh..." said Rufus. "We done a lot things in a lot of places. This is a damned big place, and you have one Hell of an imagination."

"HANG ON," the crone said.

“Do I want to know?” muttered Jarrod, sounding half amused and half disgusted.

“Probably not,” Nicki muttered back.

There was a rustling sound and the sound of small wings flapping and a marsh wren flew through the group and landed on a branch near Rufus' head. The bird appeared to be doing something like whispering in the ghost's ear.

"Oh!" Rufus exclaimed. "THAT place where we did THAT thing! Why didn't you say so in the first place? Come on, folks! Thanks, Daisy Jean."

"OF COURSE, LOVER," the crone said. "COME FIND ME LATER! MIND IF I BRING MY SISTERS."

"Those weirdos?" Rufus said. He shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"THANKS SWEETHEART!" the crone said. There was another bout of maniacal cackling.

"Are you quite finished?" Gideon said when the cackling had faded. "Or are you going to dazzle us with mental images even more nauseating than you already have?"

"Oh fuck you," Rufus said. "And the horse that rode you in here." The ghost turned to Nikki. "Right this way, ma'am. Mind your step, folks. Some the holes you can fall into here ain't got no bottom, not sech as anyone's been back to tell of."

Rufus led the group through the swamp. As they travelled deeper into the swamp, their heightened senses dulled and a sense of wrongness threatened to overwhelm them.

As they trudged along, the Lycian’s began to glance around nervously. Most of them couldn’t put their fingers on the issue, but Nicki realized she couldn’t hear anybody breathing. At some point, Jarrod grabbed her hand as if making sure she was still there.

“I can’t smell you,” he muttered. “I haven’t not smelled you in a long time.”

Nicki took a sniff, regretted it because the scent of the swamp was so strong, then lifted Jarrod’s hand to her nose and tried again. “That’s weird,” she replied. “I’ve never not smelled you.”

Jim shuddered. The swamp certainly had its own power to it that was not welcoming to them. He took a deep breath and focused. He knew what cologne Fred wore. It was alcohol-based and smelt of citrus and cucumber, not natural smells for the environment. He took another breath and he could pick it up, but only by focusing on it specifically. "Try me," he said. "Focus on finding the chemical smell of the powder in my gun. It should smell sufficiently different from the swamp if you concentrate solely on that."

Tag all- anybody else have observations?

Rufus led the group along through the swamp, alternately singing Dixieland and John Brown's Body. Finally, they arrived in the Place Where the Thing was Done.

"Alright, yer here," Rufus said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have a spiritual experience! A three-way spiritual experience, full of filthy, vile fun that..."

"No," Gideon said.

"Excuse me, Pink?" Rufus replied.

"I said 'No'," Gideon said. "As in 'No, you're not going to fill our heads with horrifying images of you copulating with three crones.' Instead, you're going to silently bugger off. Understood?"

Rufus looked daggers at Gideon. "Or else... what?" he said. "I'm already dead. You're the one who unalived me in the first place. What more can you do to me?"

"Rufus," Gideon said. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't think me fully capable of finding a variety of ways to harm you, even if it takes me until the sun dies."

"I---" Rufus had been about to say something snappy, but, upon looking Gideon in the eye, he stopped himself. More sober now, he changed his reply. "See ya around, Pink... And thanks... for setting me free of that life. It was no way for a man to live."

And with that, Rufus floated off to have his 'spiritual experience'.

Gideon nodded, satisfied, and then gestured to Nikki that she should begin.

“All right, then,” said Nicki to the group at large while the clergy retreated to a safe distance to wait for their job to come along. “Who’s first?”

Matthews stood to the side. "Why not you? You're the one who insists on this farce."

Nicki thought for half a second, then shrugged. “Why not?” she said. “Who wants to go against me?”

“Against a hound?” asked a Bear- Nicki could not remember his name- incredulously. “You must think we’re insane.”

“That’s why we’re in here,” Nicki pointed out. “All we have is our muscle and any fighting skills. You’ve got at least 20 pounds on me. Odds are you could take me.”

But the Bear didn’t look convinced.

A small cackle sounded from the back of the group as a small woman prowled forward. "Smart bear. He may be stronger, probably by a lot, but you're definitely faster, better trained, and I'd be willing to bet far more willing to actually do harm. I'll have a go though. Could be fun, and a good test of the Skulk's teachings."

Nicki shrugged, pretending to regard the smaller woman with amusement. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll go easy on you.” It was, of course, simply trash talk. Nicki knew better than to underestimate any Lycan, but especially the small ones who volunteered for fights.

The fox rolled her shoulders and tossed her jacket aside as she moved to size Nicki up. She let out a sly smile. Sure she wouldn't be going for the kill, but she had no intention on pulling her punches or fighting fair in the slightest. She looked at the hound. Based on what she saw, Nicki was larger and definitely more built. Probably stronger too, so she would be depending on her ability to avoid the other and strike at weak spots. "Let the waltz commence."

Nicki knew her opponent, being smaller, would be faster than her. She was also very aware that she had never done MMA without her enhanced Hound abilities. That would make things even trickier. She didn’t know if she’d even be able to pull off some of the moves without the extra speed. But, she was going to have fun finding out. “I’ll let you lead,” she told the fox cheekily.

The smaller woman smirked as she took stock of the surroundings before springing, using strength to launch herself from the ground towards a tree. "See if you can catch me first."

“Oh come on!” protested Nicki, but she took off after the Fox all the same. The only thing she had in her favor right now was her muscles, which had developed very nicely since becoming a Hound. But her extra speed was gone. And she wasn’t much of a climber, so if the Fox decided to climb the tree, the worst she could do was sit on the ground and howl like a dog who had treed a raccoon.

---

Elsewhere, Astaroth had arrived and was waiting in a fit of pique. This was ridiculous. It didn't take much to work out that the swamp was likely chosen because of its dampening properties. Although, the demon would admit it was, at least, partially effective. The enhanced senses it got from inhabiting the werewolf skinsuit were certainly affected, leaving just the demon's inherent divine/infernal abilities. It would have to do. That along with superior intellect. Sadly, its newest pet was not present, but that was fine. It was playing a long game, and it was about time to ditch the current meat suit anyway. Turns out big things were happening, things that needed to be talked about on the other side.

After a few minutes of walking through the swamp, the demon could hear a commotion. It slipped sideways to get a good look. The entire island of misfit toys appeared to be present, and hound bitch was fighting a smaller woman the demon did not recognize. What was amusing, was the smaller woman seemed to be winning. The swamp did seem to be suppressing a large amount of the lycanthrope abilities as well. Interesting, and they did not seem to have noticed having an extra observer.

Meanwhile, the fox thought it was time to make her final move. She had been dancing around, using her speed to tire the hound out chasing her. She slipped sideways, seeing her chance, striking out to sweep the hound's legs out from underneath her. "You're dead, mutt."

Stunned, Nicki blinked from her place in the mud. And then, her face broke into a grin and she actually laughed. “Can’t say I’m surprised,” she said, taking Jarrod’s offered hand to get up. “Good fight,” she added with a nod of respect to the Fox.

Slow clapping emerged from nearby as Astaroth stepped into view. "Well, well, most impressive little one," it said looking around. "Come to have another go at getting rid of me?"

“Yeah, we were sort of hoping it wouldn’t be that obvious,” Jarrod muttered almost to himself.

“Can you blame us?” asked Nicki. “You’re trouble. Did you expect us to take that lying down?”

The demon laughed. "Please, you mortals are horribly predictable. There was less than zero chance of you not," it snarked. "And, hound, I am told most people find it better lying down, but then again maybe you prefer to take things doggie style. Not that I am one to judge on that." It paused a moment. "No matter, I see you managed to do me a solid and summon this meat suit's spirit. Combined with Miss Carter, this confrontation is pointless, as I have already won, of course."

As if on cue, the spirit of Lily Mae finally seemed to fully register where she was at and who was now standing opposite her. "Y..Y...You. You made me kill Earl and then sent me..." she trailed off again, whimpering.

Astaroth laughed. "Of course I did. You should really learn to read the ancient language used in a grimoire instead of relying on amateur translations, and maybe read the full explanation as well. That would have told you what kind of sacrifice to make. Of course, you did not, so I was able to take one of my choosing. I am sure your vampire beau is quite regretting that oversight now. Then again, it seems you might be as well. I did, of course, hold up my end and sent you where you needed to go to get the knowledge you seek."

Nicki yawned. “Oh, sorry,” she said. “Were you saying something?”

Meanwhile, Gideon, hidden in the shadows, had quietly positioned the clergy strategically around the area, spread around so that Astaroth couldn't take them out all at once. His friend the Cantor began quietly davening Psalm 91 in Hebrew, repeating it over and over. (OOC NOTE: I'm putting it below in English, but she, the Cantor, is davening in Hebrew).

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation."

Gideon quietly joined her, the two them davening in subdued tones. A single tear left Gideon's right eye and forged a path down his cheek.

Opposite them was the two Catholic priests, spread apart by several feet, also speaking Psalm 91. But they spoke it in Latin. Not far from them stood the Presbyterian pastor, her voice whispering the psalm in English. Opposite the Presbyterian, though they could not see him, was the Imam reciting in Arabic. It shouldn’t have been surprising that the three religions had the psalms in common, but that hadn’t stopped them from being surprised. Really all that was required was faith to expel a demon. The faith could be in the demon itself and it would still work, but each of the clergy clung to their faith in God as the ultimate authority.

They kept their voices quiet so as to not alert the demon too soon, but they spoke aloud nonetheless.

For its part, Astaroth barely registered Nicki, much less the priests. Contract terms were contract terms, after all, and the demon was still partially bound by the summoning ritual. Lily-Mae had asked for something and the demon was bound to ensure she had gotten what she asked for. Fortunately, that also overrode the dampening effect of the swamp, allowing for reaching out and grabbing onto the soul, pushing into the consciousness, causing an ear-splitting scream to reverberate around the area.

Jim held his hand up, barking out, "Don't interfere" to keep the lycans back. He was no expert, but he could sense that interfering in what was happening would be unhelpful.

Even Vampires had religion, and that religion had it's own, dark version of Psalm 91. Gideon had kept this secret from the others, knowing that some of them would have objected to it. Seeing that the demon was resisting, Gideon nodded to the other vampires present. Collectively, led by Gideon, they began to chant their version of Psalm 91, in a language so old and secretive that it was only known to vampires. It was a dark, eerie sound, a song of life, blood, death, and undeath. A song of things so dark that frightened even the darkest and most powerful of entities. A song of hunger. It's potential was enough to scare just about anything back to where it came from. But, alone against Astaroth, the suplicants would have had to risk bringing worse horror into the world uncontrolled. With the others also praying, this balanced the vampire liturgy and focused it. Still frightening, still powerful, but now only threatening to its intended target. Hopefully.

Perhaps it was because Nicki was a witch, or perhaps it was really that creepy, but whatever the reason did not change the fact that her hair felt as if it were standing straight up. She had to reach up a hand to pat it and make sure.

After a few moments the screaming subsided into whimpering as Astaroth pulled back. After a moment, the demon began swearing. "Fuck, fuck, shit, the most profane motherfucker of fucking idiotic cunts did you do" it exclaimed, clearly discomfited. It had never thought the answer to the idiotic werewolf's question was in THE Void. Astaroth considered itself quite a major player on the board, but it had no desire to be anywhere near any place that thing decided it was going to go.

The vampires and the other clergy continued to pray quietly while Gideon spoke. Instead of defiance, his voice carried an air magnanimity. "It's obvious you are beaten, Astaroth. Accept defeat, return that which you have taken and go, demon," he said. His voice echoed and whispered magically in the shadows of the Blood Magic he and his fellow vampires were envoking combined with the human prayers. "No good will come for you if you try to remain. Go, Lord Astaroth, and survive to fight another day."

This was the point where Nicki would normally bind the demon, but her magic was negated by the swamp, so all she could do was the let the clergy- and the vampires, it seemed- do their work.

The demon finally seemed to take note of the assembled clergy and the vampiric liturgists. "I admit to no such thing, but you are correct. Remaining here is not in my best interest. I plan to be as far away from here as possible as quickly as possible," it bit out. It looked at the soul of the werewolf. "I will permit this rabble to restore you to this mortal body. Your soul is now so tainted your entrance into the underworld is no longer possible," it said, its host body's eyes flashing as it prepared to be returned to its home. It paused for a moment, "For the record, I have not harmed the vampire witch, though she is likely far from here now."

Gideon's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean she's likely far from here now?" he asked, carefully restraining his rage. "Where did she go?"

"I do not believe I stuttered or spoke in celestial," Astaroth replied. "I showed her the path to reconnecting with her own powers and suggested she take a trip of self-rediscovery. I chose to neither know, nor particularly care, where, specifically that is. Now, if you will excuse me, I would rather leave before what you may well call an apocalypse shows up."

As much as Nicki wanted to demand answers from Astaroth, she wanted the demon gone much more. “Then go!” she growled. “And do not harm the body when you leave!”

The demon didn't bother responding, choosing instead to flash itself out of the body.

The body crumpled to the ground and Nicki held up a hand to still Jarrod for a moment. “Wait,” she said. “Give it a moment.”

A few seconds later, she spotted the faint trail of light as the soul was pulled back to the body. “Now!” she told him.

Without any hesitation, Jarrod sprang to work, performing CPR to revive the body quickly. Nicki could have magicked the life back into the body if it hadn’t been for the swamp, but Jarrod was an EMT, so why not let him do what he does best?

It took a few moments before Lily-Mae coughed and began breathing again. Consciousness was still a bit elusive, but considering the metaphysical/preternatural trauma, that probably did not qualify as too surprising.

After the demon had departed, Gideon scowled but said nothing. Better the demon leave before they changed their mind. The Blood Rangers would find Andy. Gideon would leave her be if it appeared she did not want to be approached, but he would find her. Few could hide from the Blood Rangers in general, and no one hid from Havildar Major Gideon Ben Asher Ibn Zechariah forever.