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Castiel intently regarded Lucifer. trying to gauge the depth of his commitment and the pitfalls involved and then unable to decide, turned back towards Halbrek. "Well, the normal practice, especially when we're in a hurry is simply to summon Azzie, to alert him of our interest in him, and then release him from the summoning circle. But that hardly seems possible now. From what I understand, the miserable little?fox has a never ending guarding duty. He would not be answering any summons, because you never know what could be contrived as a convincing decoy. In truth the entire thing is so ridiculous. it could be made up by an interested party," the angel?of war ?

suspiciously looked at Lucifer who noticed the glance and only smirked in response, neither confirming nor denying his involvement in the Ashtaroth affair.

?

"I suppose we might have to go there in person, because?when they seem me directly, they will know we need their help in earnest. By them, I mean Azzie and Sceerg of course, I highly doubt the other two friends would bestir themselves for anything smaller than a definite end?of the world, and possibly not even then. We would probably have to descend in our invisible forms, to avoid detection from the other realms we'll be passing on our there, then manifest at the entrance to Fire Realm. I was told they have some security issues and must?check out any visitor these days. At least a?charge of mine was under an impression of this kind, could be faster if their alarms simply recognize use and allow us to pass quickly through..."?Castiel seriously considered the plan. Perhaps, with great attention to detail than before, in case Lucifer had prepared for an eventuality like this and set some traps for the unwary down there.

?

Lucifer slowly shrugged in response to Halbrek's question,?amused by Castiel's thoroughness at first, he?instantly got bored and was ready to move on. "I don't need a formalized agreement at any rate. It is just for your sake. By getting down to business I mean that you, children, should quickly move on?with whatever petty reassurances you need. You know my needs, I know yours, that is all the list I need for my own sake. How the rest goes is up to you. Only whatever you do, you might want to do it quickly, in case your little emergency requires speedy solutions..." Lucifer ominously grinned but decided against further elaboration. Sometimes the mystery factor left to the imagination could be just as stimulating as any explicitly stated details after all. ? ??

Lucifer?feebly smiled in response to Castiel's objections and accusations. Ah, children, so delightfully na?ve, so willing to protect their self interest even if it precluded their learning. He was of course in no way deterred by?complaints levelled at him, anticipated them?and simply shrugged in response to Halbrek's endearing sulks.

?

"Oh, so you are afraid of every demon equally, and that is why you are not dealing with them, " he sarcastically inquired, but not wishing to waste his time on idle, if pleasurable exchanges, simply dismissed his own words with a casual wave of his left hand.

?

"So, let us say, that the rationalization behind why you must help me has not happened yet. It is not an outright lie by any means, but an alternate version of the future. Besides, if I wanted to truly convince you, I would not have clued your lover boy here on the nature of deception itself, a good illustration to the spell of illusion that is going to be cast on the two of you in the near future. And?he will have to shake it off the same way he did here, unless he is unable to do so and the job would be yours.

?

At any rate, now that you have officially thanked me for?demonstrating to you the power of illusion you will have to overcome to successfully work for me, the truth is simple. What I showed you?is on the way to almost manifesting into your physical reality. It can be prevented, possibly, but not when there are so many players interested in changing the outcome of this game, I gather.

?

In essence, nothing really changed between us. We can still find an agreeable solution to?our mutual problem. My offer of help stands, your assistance, well, I don't believe in coercing it, although I could. It would just spoil my grand game, the nature of which you cannot fathom now, nor in the future. I do not seek to deceive you, make up your own choices, and let me know what you choose. If you wish to risk playing on your own, go ahead, I won't be stopping you..." Lucifer smugly declared, crossing his arms into a comforting position on his chest. His smile grew as hungry as it ever got, because such choices presented him with the most opportunities for?intriguing maneuvers, no matter their outcome. ? ?

Castiel did not need lecturing on the matter of War, or archangels, he thought he had a rather good grasp of?the whole subject himself. But Lucifer's cunning speech did remind him of something. The whole thing, that tree nonsense, whatever things came out of it, strange new races, it almost swayed him, until his objection to Lucifer's lecturing tone reminded him of the truth as he knew it.

?

He may not be the most humane of all the angels, but did respect the Father's great work and his own duties required his presence on earth often enough. He did not remember a single darkly growing Tree, the way Lucifer was painting the picture, but a number of tall tree surrounded not only by the imaginary Adam family but by other numerous tribes, and having no?problems cultivating the Trees whatsoever.

?

And as far as other races were concerned, Lucifer was?either rewriting the entire history of humanity and this world, or?referring to an entire different period. When Castiel was?freely roaming the less inhabited vistas of the human past, he did notice hints of other races but even then,?however powerful they may have been, they were hiding their other self from the human tribes that had deadly weapons even then, and greater mystical prowess to boot.

?

Perhaps Leviathans and Behemoths would not have cared one bit about the numbers of human warriors that?would rise against them, but the higher races already vanished from the face of this world even back then, with few traces left and inaccurate legends to supplement the truth. So, most of what Lucifer just said, about virtually everything, was at least partially?untrue.

?

The angel of the war would once dismiss his entire diatribe as fake, but knew to think?in terms of a somewhat greater complexity these days. Lucifer must have mentioned the art of War on purpose, as if he wanted to encourage Castiel to see through the deception he so artfully crafted. And it?has been very effective until then, Castiel started experiencing the vision of what the Fallen Angel?has been mentioning as if he witnessed them himself. He started believing in them. So then, perhaps there was some half truth behind his words, some intention neither he nor Halbrek managed to decipher yet.

?

Perhaps crafting the illusion, and encouraging Castiel to break it at the same time was part of?the madness to his method.?As an Angel of the Lord, he was accustomed to simply accosting that which was so patently false, as a protector of imperfect human vessels, he?sometimes had to be careful in what he said, and the angel of war did not know which applied more?in this case. If he followed his idea that Lucifer wanted him to break the?illusion of the semi truth of the past, then perhaps Halbrek should be encouraged instantly to do the same. After all, she probably did not care about humans quite as much?to distinguish between the truth and her leader's fabrications.

?

"So, this must be classical Lucifer then," Castiel softly reprimanded, with?a hint of a smile he could otherwise display to demonstrate his triumph at unearthing the truth.

"I just realized that I was agreeing with you, with your version of the past, until I remembered it differently. All your talk of war, the need for our help and yet you are lying to us, about something, aren't you? I cannot figure out what is his game, Halbrek, but maybe now that you know he has not been forthright, you can figure it out, since you know him better," the angel firmly stated, not worried about challenging a superior being no matter the cost.

Lucifer watched Halbrek's movements with avid interest but he did not?object to?her rejection of the obvious desire. He would not mind being free, naturally, it hasn't happened in some time and he would have lots of fun with freedom when an opportunity presented itself. But in truth, he was rather enjoying the confines of the spell. They placed him in a certain category that he could loosely explore and he was the consummate artist, willing to?invest his utmost creative effort if it implied some kind of an advantage, which in this case, was subtle but just as true.

?

"Too much work? I hardly think so. the excuse of?every lazy person since the time of Job or maybe even Adam.?Let me rephrase what you just said to make?your statement more accurate. You find the mission I believed you could handle too difficult. Perhaps rightly so, your reputation may precede both of you, but who is to say it is accurate? Certainly not me. In fact, I applaud your willingness to admit?to such a weakness. Being aware of self limitations is important for projects such as this, where every misstep could lead to a downfall.

?

Naturally, being the charitable soul that I am, I would agree to your?change?in terms. Yes, witches could be of service there, and I have an entire coven I could supply you with, unless of course you have some other creatures demanding to serve you and capable of rendering a great service?" Lucifer wondered with a quirked eye brow. Whatever partners Halbrek could potentially come up with, he just knew he would find interesting as well, if not now then later on.

?

"At any rate, the Tree is rather dangerous indeed. Being the creative person that I am, I can find multiple uses for it by several parties, not every one of them intending to end the world precisely, but?even the nicely intended agents of unpalatable Chaos might not be able to control what they unleash, so I would rather not?risk the possibility with any?of the demons in question. For those who seek the destruction of our favorite playground directly , they could definitely numerous cohorts of warriors that would be controlled by whichever agency takes possession of the Tree. So it would be in?our best interests to contain the tree,?and you can feel free to use whichever resources you command towards this end..." Lucifer graciously allowed. ?

Lucifer began to pace back and forth, reaching all the way to the?summoning circle's boundaries but easily avoiding the pain that often accompanied a breach, due to infallible timing of turning back. "Do you know the story of Cain and Abel, the real one, not the fairy tale of the good son and the bad son? In fact, they were both good sons,?to me?at least, but Abel always was my favorite because of his remarkably unwavering loyalty. He made some of the first sacrifices to me in this land, and I rewarded him in return with all the usual gifts appropriate for he occasion... His flocks flourished, his land extended from?Mesopotamia to the Pillars of Samson,?I even extended him the protection from the non human races of the time, vampires being the least of them, obviously.?I think he was satisfied with the bargain, until the wretched Tree started?growing once again," Lucifer nodded to himself with genuine regret.

?

"I honored Abel later for his final sacrifice, there is a sanctuary in his name in the depths of Hell that is immune to prosecutions from almost every demon, my second in command being the?necessary exception to the rule. But all my honors aside, I was temporarily?staying elsewhere and wasn't watching.?So, instead of attempting to reach me first, Abel made the final sacrifice, asking his brother to slay him and sanctify the ground later. His bones did present an effective barrier to the things that crawled out of the Tree, and his blood was?beneficial at first as well...later it only forced a change onto the Tree children that made them so impervious to most human weapons. The unfairness of it all applied to Abel as much as it did to me,?the creatures were later being called Abel's children even though he was the one trying to stop them originally.

?

At any rate, his attempt proved rather effective, the Tree has not grown new roots on the earthly soul for millennia, it was forced to branch out into other Realms. And as you say, not many are willing to repeat his experience and leave their mark on the arcane lore in such an unpalatable?manner. Even so, I have a few followers who would give their consent for small or great favors, and with me to supervise the aftermath this time, the deal may be sweetened for the willing ones. The unwilling ones are needed for...balance of sorts," the Lord of Fire dismissively shrugged at the unpleasant notion.

?

"In truth, I am not the best with such ideas. The balance is required?through the magical nature of this world. It could probably be best handled by witches instead of me. They were the ones who brought the necessity to my attention. When you think about it, it rather makes sense. The creatures from a different world, changed by the blood of this world. The Tree that grows but not for its own sake. The dead bones?to counteract the encroachment of life. All very plausible and specified in the Book of the Damned apparently, but such thoughts make my stomach ache so I think little about it. Of course, I hold no desire to leave you unprepared for the confrontation, so this is how the Tree's creatures appear when allowed to bring their might into the world..."

?

With a wave of his hand,?an image of incredibly tall humanoids showed up in the air. Their features were savage, their bulk considerable,?their bodies covered with furs and headdresses, featuring the heads of unknown enormous animals. "Those were the giants of Legend, until they were changed due to Abel's sacrifice of blood. When he sprinkled his essence onto the ground?surrounding the Tree, the giants also grew thick ridges all?over their bodies. They cannot be seen now due to the furs?they never take off when alive, but such unexpected mutations allows them to survive most human weapons, animal fangs and occasional bolts of lightning.

?

They also have some primitive weapons,?probably nothing to worry about, but I never played with them myself. They shouldn't really be a challenge to any angel, even if they make the Earth quake when allowed to walk it, but when they come out?en mass, that becomes problematic for?me. After sufficient waves of them emerge,?older creatures still come after, and eventually one of their warlords, Ningizida, described in some very old books nobody?reads as the third Tribulation..." Lucifer expectantly looked at the couple, testing their memory and only smirked at Castiel's frown of ignorance. ?

?

"No matter, when you're ready, I shall teach you the specific boundary spells and then we will practice them on some minions of Moloch's I have been blocking thus far. I shall allow them to enter my?elevated presence and you could make sure they lose sight of you through the usage of boundary spells.?No skill is as full proof as the one tried in the field, I always said," the chief Hell lord smugly declared with a smile. ? ??

Relieved by the serious tone this conversation has been taking, Lucifer did not even bother to make any further disparaging remarks about Halbrek's?repellent physicality. A good joke could always wait for the right time to bloom and the best moment has not appeared just yet. At least the demonness proved her shrewdness asking the right questions. He may have expected as much but was reassured by the careful attitude nonetheless, it was no small matter he was going to entrust?to those youngsters and such precautions proved him to have made the right choice once again.

?

"Well, there are such things as Bloodhounds, for instance, a pack of Hellhounds dedicated specifically to locating otherwise hidden opponents. The blood magic could not hide you from them directly, although I shall supply you with additional sigils that would?lead them astray.?Additionally, a body that is not possessed by a demon but is necromantically risen, could be immune to some types of blood spells but I can teach you boundary spells to fend them off, unless you are already familiar with them," Lucifer half wondered with amusement, his gaze carefully measuring?his newest recruits.

?

"The standard way to contain the powers of the Tree has been to place a guardian?over it.?Sadly, we have all come to realize that?duration of the best guardian is rather short lived under duress so?the alternative might be to bury?two powerful but dead guardians(one willing and one not)?next to the place of growth, sanctify?their tomb with the customary sacrifices, sprinkle it with holy water or whatever other substances you have access to,?" The Lord of Fire briefly smirked at the irony of suggesting an item rumored?to work against him, and then grew serious once again.

?

"It is possible eventually to set a network of alarms next to the tree, in case it is doing something?unexpected all of a sudden. You don't have to watch it all the time. I have some witches I could send to stand guard, and that could become their single mission in life. Your job would then become to promptly respond to a threat the witches or other guardians could not counter, mostly the things that come out of the Tree when it starts stirring. None too pleasant of beings but surely not too much for a great angel and a powerful demonness to handle," Lucifer?softly murmured, allowing a sole mocking note to creep into his last sentence. Sometimes, in?undeniably important opinion, degrees of mockery were absolutely vital to motivate his followers into action, giving them?a chance to prove themselves against the implied?accusation of their incompetence. ? ??