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Rudolph Yerbler had to admit that the Circle of Lust has never been his favorite place. He should not have been affected by it at all, being immune to Hell's mechanisms after completing his training, but in this layer of Hell he often felt rather uncomfortable. The winds forcing his long blond hair in different directions seemed to have a bite to them that was intimidating and infuriating at the same time.? He had no doubt that the witch Mary Sibley felt?even worse when the image?of John Olden that would occasionally manifest in the win would make her shriek as if she were in agony.

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Rudolph himself had many false images acquiring substance and striking at him with brute force in the past, but at this time to his considerable surprise,?the?elegant youthful face of Salome presented itself and instead of?flying towards him?with all the due fury and needing to be dispelled, it lost its grim expression that every face wore in this place, began looking startled and then utterly vanished from sight.

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In fact, the winds began in themselves outlining a shape familiar to him, that of Aguares. That was something bizarre, the demon lord with the crocodilian tale may have been the softer of the?Circle overseers, but he never showed himself so openly to Rudolph. Something?very unusual was taking place here,?and?stranger still, the lines of the song Crowley had mentioned began floating back into his mind, vaguely recognized from his sojourn on Earth.??

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"Made my way to past a man's hollow
Even though it was too soon,"

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Rudolph slowly repeated the lines to himself and realized that for him, the comfort of the subsiding winds was not too soon in the least. There was more, he began to understand briefly, what his mentor had meant, without the Mark of Sorrow pressing on him so harshly, his?ability to think?was beginning to work once more.

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But all that could wait for another time, he knew, as he made the wind targeting the witch soften into a slow breeze. He did not need to talk to her, Mary's knowledge, artless little spells and even play for power were all insignificant here. The one important part here was her conflicted feelings, incredible passion coupled with fear, sadness, rejection, hurt, and a certain possessive love Rudolph could never have understood himself.

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It helped being so close to a woman whose willing bargain to be a witch made her easier to read. Her feelings may have been complex enough for any sane person experience, but Rudolph did not need to live through them, only to reproduce them as he drew his Lovers card. A woman dressed in Victorian cloths reclining?in an arm chair,?with?white wings sprouting somewhere upwards, half converging onto each other in an eager embrace. And?next to her, a gentleman?wearing an utterly alien looking, Roman toga, with black wings pointing downward.

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Although that was?only the first draft, the yellow haired demon found it pleasing for its contrast and the?darkly diverging energies it invoked.?Returning Mary Sibley to suffer the scourge of the winds, once he no longer needed her, Rudolph proceeded with his second, draft, slightly tilting the eyes of prospective?Lovers askance. Then, completing the image with a carefully constructed semblance of Crowley himself over the pair and?symbolizing his presiding capacity over the couple with?unnaturally long wings given to his master, Rudolph smiled in satisfaction.

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Drawing on the?torturous energies of the Circle of Lust, he invested them in his?Lovers image, and fed the feelings experienced by?Mary Sibley to the angel figure he had depicted, hoping that would be enough to ensnare him in a tangle even angelic powers would find hard to unravel. Rudolph wanted to experiment with a few more angles but whichever final draft he chose, at least he would now have something useful to take back to his boss.??

Rudolph Yerbler has been mostly quiet as he presented his master with the final draft. He still was not quiet satisfied with his artwork, there was more to be desired, a detail he missed, a nuance he had ignored and could prove vital later on. After all, their very unholy Lord was said to be hiding in the details.?But Crowley could sense the energy field around it, so he must have gotten the gist of it right at least, only his perfectionism demanding a more elaborate?reworking of the completed drawing. Resigning himself to just letting it go, a thing many humans appeared to be better at than demons, the?yellow haired demon proceeded to explain his masterpiece.

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"This?drawing should create a certain type of fascination for the angel. There is this germ of the idea that could be encouraged through this card, that he and the demoness do not see eye to eye. That they never will, in fact, see, eye to eye. That their relationship is over, doomed to failure, was from the start, that angels and demons cannot work together, especially when they have to actively oppose each other.

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You see, Sir, their relationship and the opposition is rather embedded in them looking away from one another. It creates a tension of sorts that can be exploited. Verbal commands would not do against such a strong will as an angel, or a powerful demoness, for that matter. But I have given you, in this figure that sadly but purposefully gives you little justice, over them. You can indirectly whisper into their ears, the thoughts you wish to encourage, so long as you do not force their complete separation.

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To a degree, as a couple, they are bound to your service. They are used to various spells, indirect assault of energy and other tricks those on your scale of power might employ. Their relationship is a newer thing, it seems. at least my contacts in the River Acheron who are privy to many things, have not heard?rumors of their encounters in the past. So with a relationship relatively new, which they no little how to safeguard, while I have a certain skill at exploiting,?you have as much influence over their partnership while it lasts, as you would over a small demon like myself.

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I have checked the lore, and there are many more demons who specialize in relationship than there are angels. The?few angels they could appeal to for help appear to be weaker, like myself, their only talent?having to do with encouraging or safeguarding a partnership. I would suggest, and leave it up to your wiser discretion of course, that?you instantly dispose of?such angels, they?are weak enough to be handled by the rank demons. After this small caution is taken care of, you should have?a?mostly unopposed control over the two. I would not say complete, because that would be careless on my part, but even when alerted to?nature of this card, arch angels like?Gabriel or Michael himself should have some difficulties at countering our,?I?meant to?say?'your' of course, hold over the couple..." Rudolph offered with a shy smile, very proud of his success despite?his initial doubts of accuracy.

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It was true that he got lucky, and could exploit a surprising weakness of greater powers only because they seemed to have developed a relationship, but he would accept any such major victory no matter what route it took to accomplish it or how much it had to do directly with blind luck.

"Precisely, they are bound into a union, and it is their union that this lacking image of you on top of them?is presiding over. You cannot spoil my work, of things go badly, I can always simply redo the drawing. I know exactly what brought on my inspiration and can easily retrace my step. But I am?happy that you see the potential in my work and would gladly assist you further.

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Do you think, do you know if?I will need any of this song you mentioned, by any chance. Would it help me to?understand more of it before we start, or will it matter? It had some strange effect on me thus far, if not an unpleasant one," Rudolph thoughtfully?considered after moments of hesitation. He wasn't exactly sure what?to do with his hint just yet, did not wish to overstep his bounds but did not enjoy staying in the dark when it could be detrimental either. ?

Rudolph Yerbler was not truly surprised by his mentor's outburst. Crowley often exhibited his temper precisely this way, without the slightest change in his tone. The only?strange thing he noticed at the sounds of such a well vocalized rebuke, was when Rudolph suddenly hear another line from?the song recommended to him by the King of the Crossroads.

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"I follow the sorrow song of the moon," the line came to him, isolated from the very first verse in which it could be found, as if there was a hidden meaning behind it. And no doubt, there was, for his boss to think of it.?<I have to follow my own quest," a likely interpretation assembled itself in his mind, without any direct thoughts of his to help it along.?It made sense of course, so Crowley's ability to jolt his mind into a puzzled frenzy helped after all, even if it wasn't in the manner he could have anticipated.

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"Of course Sir. I am sorry Sir," Rudolph sheepishly professed, as he apologetically bowed his head, his facial expression appropriately blank for the occasion. Trying to think about the other lines from the Song of Sorrow, his mind came returning to the one he had already considered and its interpretation, an image of a vague tall figure,?perhaps a symbolic representation of himself, finally coalescing in his mind's eye. He would have to think more on it later of course, since a more urgent question required his attention now.

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"Well, when the effect becomes tangible, and it could take a day or two, the figures in the drawing should be able to move, towards each other. They are structured as elements of representational magic, so their respective?real life?counterparts?would not feel the motion, except, in terms of emotion. For you to know for sure though when the desired result took place, well, it depends if you can sense the subtler currents of energetic exchange between them.?In truth I have never thought that there might be any kind of power you do not possess, Sir, and simply assumed you would?see, but there might be a more precise way than relying on such imperfect tools.

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If?I am wrong and you need to know as soon as it happens, but aren't able to notice the change in their energetic representation, then I could?design a spell that woud tie a change in the drawing to a physical object, similar to the human alarm clock, to alert you to the change. In a sense, that is how I can work with portals. Opening them my special way implies?the ability to craft something intangible even by many demon senses and then connect it to something that can be expressed in more tangible terms. All of my talents of various kinds seem to center on that aspect," Rudolph slowly spoke and?was struck by the pleasant realization that for the first time in a while, he learned something new about himself.?

"It is not supposed to happen this way," Rudolph?complained?embarrassed, not sure how well his mentor would accept such an admission.?He thought perhaps Crowley did something wrong, and since he had given the more complete control of the situation to his senior, he might not be able to fix the problem with the right kind of nudge, because reclaiming the?controlling potency?could be too major to stay undetected.?But now Yerbler could see it was somehow different, it wasn't about the power of the?nudge itself, but about what prevented it from taking place.

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"The energies cannot be moved at all. It's not that they won't move because the spell is wrong," Rudolph hastily explained, lest he be unfairly blamed for an error in judgment. "They are trying to swirl around but there is a deep impregnable wall that?limits the space into which they can move.?In other words, a different power is stopping the convalescence required.?The angel and the demon might be incredibly, unexpectedly powerful, but they should not be able to stop the energy at its tracks, only later should they be able to notice it and intercept it, if they are remarkably lucky, skillful and strong, and we are talking abnormal standards of strength.

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The only explanation for the small effect has to be that someone else, aside from them is out there, and not bound by the Lovers spell, they are the ones able to use their considerable powers or a shield built in advance to minimize such an effect..." Rudolph wondered, partially horrified and partially thrilled at the prospect of his seemingly insignificant?spell being possibly noticed by one of the fabled arch angels. The names of Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel?excitedly occurred to him, eclipsed only by the even more likely one, of Metatron.?

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He completely forgot about the scribe who invented the language of spells itself, but it wasn't his fault. It was difficult to imagine why such a senior angel would be talking to some middle ranking angel or demon in the first place.?He even excluded the arch angel from the list of those counter parts of his with a seemingly related talent that could neutralize his, but perhaps he got too eager when he promised such assurances to Crowley. Metatron's knowledge of the glyphs, of?the?changes they made unto the physical world, the gates that could be open, was more than enough in itself, his power to augment such talents should be staggering by all reports. If he was right, he had to think of something, before the boss got angry with him.

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"Well, I could build an advanced alerting spell then. It probably would not be activated until the two leave the presence of whatever it is they are surrounded by,?,When the?energies start appropriately moving, we will know they are on their own, and the spell is safe to enact.?At least you?were doing it right,?I knew you would have the instinct," Rudolph shyly complimented, not wishing Crowley's ire to?spill once more all over him for something he could not possibly control. ?

Rudolph happily nodded at Crowley's words and was going to simply proceed with the spell when his mentor's remark made him pause. Not wishing to incur the unholy wrath on his head right after he managed to assuage the savage outburst, Yerbler hesitantly offered. "My Lord, if you happen to lose the patience, with the spell potentially being triggered at an inopportune moment, this?Castiel might become aware of your involvement with it, if you simply drop for a visit. As I would not like you to experience the backlash of a good intention, perhaps you can let me know when you intend to visit him, then I will drop the spell and nobody will be the wiser..." the yellow haired demon slowly proposed, with a mild inner tremor accompanying an act of such boldness.

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Then the?tall looking demon returned to?working the alarm spell once again, finding refuge with?the familiar craftsmanship.?During his training years, the deceptively timid looking Furfur trained him?in magic similar to Enochian?but of a lower level of reality, and thus better attuned to his own special skill. "Practical magical arts do not require you to understand how reality works, that blasphemy is reserved for the angels. We are efficiently thinking lot, and we impose our will on the environment instead. What-we-want-to happen-is-more-important," the small demon?had emphasized each word with the rhythmic beat of his unnecessary cane onto the surface of the nearby iron pot, filled to the brim with sinners.

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They were a good team, Furfur and Belial, the first?covering the relevant theoretical aspects of the sigil theory, the later instilling in his students an indomitable will to make their image of the future?real.?After years of practice, that skills has become almost automatic. Imagining the future in which the defending presence retreats, the alarm triggers a strand of barely detectible energy spilling forth?towards a predestined target, and then conditioning the possible future with?a darkly glowing glyph of his making, a mere technicality at the service of a greater design. There were some rumors of course, and despite their seeming irrelevance, Rudolph rejoiced in collecting such bits of lore, that the glyphs were potentials of other worlds, that they stole energy from dimensions unknown. But not being Enochian, they still held less influence over the nature of the immediately useful reality and as such, even the higher demons believed in their usage.

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So many things could be achieved with a secret esoteric language?that nature itself might speak if it were inanimate, but for Rudolph, the?magical alphabet merely augmented his own magical ability of forcing connections and openings where none existed before. He reveled?in his talent and more so in?being useful to the only master who ever showed him kindness, He would borrow from his own soul matter if he had to, and?if his willingness to sacrifice could?help his mentor achieve his long term plans.?An alarm spell, though mildly taxing, was still utilizing his ability and allowing him to shine in the way he never could before and that in itself gave him as much satisfaction as any demon could hope for. ??