The Confrontation

She followed him, just holding his hand, but she could feel the urgency of the moment. She knew that his mom meant a lot to him, and quite frankly, she liked Alyssa a lot. Perhaps because she was always up to do stuff and never treated her like a kid. His question however made her sigh, looking down.
"I won't do as much as I'll make demands; I need to know if my mother is alright, I need to know why he isn't cooperative anymore," she said in a more thoughtful voice. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but no matter what she wanted the truth. Even if that truth was horrible. "And I plan to set things right ... I feel like I've wasted my time being hid away," she said, giving his hand a soft squeeze as they walked down the streets. It was almost peaceful at this time in Northern. Looking at the houses she wondered if people up here even cared about what was going on in the world. "I just have this feeling that things aren't as they seem."

He let her speak, though he couldnt say he liked hearing that she wouldnt do much. That wasnt really a plan, at least not other than confrontation. There were much more to consider. He also noticed the peace but he found it a little distasteful in a way, if there were people suffering up at the temples. "Okay, you may be right but what if he tries to hurt you again?" he said frowning a little because that was really all that mattered to him. He stopped and looked at her. "Saoirse, I cant just send you off without knowing that you'll fend for yourself, seeing I wont be there," he said, looking at her with a firm expression. "I know you love father, but he has been gone for so long... You have to also see him as a possible threat,"

"You think I'm not willing to fight for myself and my place in this world?" She asked, mostly cause she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Breathing out she shook her head a little. "Despite what you think I know more than well how capable our father is," she said, but she didn't have a plan. She got that it worried him, but she also wouldn't know how to plan this in the first thing about handling this. But she was good to work things out when she was thrusted in to a situation. She knew how to handle herself and she knew to trust her gut.
"Father has always been dangerous, but if he has done something to my mother then I ..." she trailed off not sure what to say but she just couldn't stand not knowing. "I need to know."

"I know that you've never had to fight before," he said in a snappy tone trying not to sound angry but it was a little frustrating. But she was right. It was only fair that she wanted to know what had happened. "I'm sorry," he said after breathing out, running his thumb over the back of her hand. He just kept quiet for the rest of the walk and soon they arrived at his and his mother's building in central. Looking up he furrowed his brows. "Do you want to come inside and say hello?" he said but it was fine if she rather wanted to go. It would probably just feel like stalling.

His outburst was expected, but to be fair she wasn't hoping for a fight. Rather she was hoping to resolve it with words. He did apologise which just made her shake her head a little, like he didn't need to apologise. She was just as worried about him, and she knew the pressure he felt like he was under.
As they reached the building she swallowed, looking up at the lit window. Last she had been here her and Amos had been fighting about their feelings. Or rather the fact that she had slept with Connor. It felt so long ago and so stupid. "I wanna say hi," she decided, mostly because then Amos wasn't seen as a liar to Leona. "But I can't stay long." Ant that was final.
Heading up the stairs she saw some empusas standing guard around the corner, silently watching, but they didn't intervene. They knew who they were. Inside the apartment everything had been moved around, and Alyssa was sitting in a hospital bed, her body still looking drained, but she was at least alive. "Saoirse? Amos?" She said a little surprised. It wasn't often the empusa was taken aback, but right now she was filled with happiness, getting up and a bit shaky on her legs, but she refused help from the clergy standing close by. She pulled the hybrid in first, kissing the top of her blonde locks before turning to her son. Reaching out she pulled her son close, feeling her eyes water a bit. He was alive, they were both alive. "What are you doing here? Why weren't you replying to my messages?" She asked clearly perplexed. Saoirse looked at the empusa and then at her brother. Messages? They hadn't heard from anyone for a long time.

He nodded at her decision and up they went. It was probably not the sight that Alyssa's guardians had expected to see, but here they were. Seeing his mother he felt the anger rise in him, wondering what the summoner had done to her that could've drained her like this. Had she not seemed so happy to see them, then he would've stopped her from hugging him while his finger was still infected. Her question made him frown a little confused as he looked at her. "I..." he tried but then he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I was tired of just waiting around," he then said. Looking shortly at Saoirse with a dont come for me now-expression, he showed his bandaged finger and looked at his mother. "I think someone was out to get us anyway. There was this old daemon... Or he just looked sicker than anyone I had ever seen. With a thingy on one of his eyes to cover it,"

Alyssa had to move back to sitting on the bed, urging them to sit down as well. She thought they had been safe, but as Amos showed his finger she sighed. "Tell me more about this man ... how did he look? Hair? Beard?" She asked looking at her son. She couldn't shake the fact that he had gotten infected, but it didn't sound like it was an accident. Maybe someone had been sent to hurt them. The described person didn't sound like anyone that she knew.
"The clergies haven't found a cure," she said but let the clergy in her room approach her son. "No, but we have found a method to slow down the spread," the clergy said calmly looking at his finger. With the daemons permission he would unravel the bandage, nodding a few times. "I can send for a healer and they will be here within the hour," he said, looking to Alyssa who just nodded.
Saoirse felt a bit nauseous. But she was happy to hear that at least something could be done right now to help Amos a bit. Buying time was better than nothing. She didn't say anything about her own symptoms. Instead she looked at Amos. "I have to go."

Amos just kept quiet once he had described the man. Now that he was thinking back on it, it was weird that the man had known him and he should have thought it was possible. As the clergy approached he let him look at the finger. It had gotten darker than when he had shown it to Conrad's brother, scoffing a little at the thought of it being able to be slowed down. "Well, I'm super allergic to whatever this is, so I guess we'll only see what happens," he said with a faint smile, keeping an eye on Saoirse in the corner of his eye. He nodded at her words but wasnt sure there was much to say. "Be safe. I'll see you back at Leona's," he said, just to not wake suspicion from his mother. Once Saoirse left, he waited a bit before he scratched the back of his neck. A little impatient, but he wanted to buy her time. "She's going to see Belial," he then just said eventually. He couldnt lie to his mother of all people.

Things were calm down in The Blocks, but that wasnt necessarily a good thing. The daemonic cult had also been scooping up people with the infection of all races, but unlike the clergies, their focus werent exactly on saving others. It was more a contain and observe thing that was happening. The only good thing about the cult's willingness to obey him was that he now had eyes all over the place. No one could come in or leave without him knowing. His eyes had regained some of it's white, but the black swirls were still present, all meeting at the center of his eye without overlapping the iris. He barely looked at himself anyway, so it wasnt like he was noticing the change. But being around these other daemons reminded him of how little he liked being around their own kind. Their words to each other were like whispers that crawled along the walls of the hallways. They wanted a new portal and they wanted it here in The Blocks were they would find out how to draw power from it.

Alyssa didn't know why her niece was leaving so soon, but regardless she pulled the trybrid in for a quick hug. Watching her leave she noticed how her son seemed to tense up, folding her arms in front of her chest as she waited for him to speak. But what he said next she hadn't expected, trying to get up from the bed, but not doing it gracefully. "She can't go see him, it's too dangerous ... Belial isn't himself anymore," she said as the clergy struggled to get her back in bed. "Amos you can't allow her to do this," she insisted.

Saoirse was moving through the streets. The closer she got to Southern the more she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. It wasn't just the pillar that seemed to loom over the city, it was the sense of dread all around. It was clear more daemons had moved in to the area, probably by force or maybe willingly. She soon enough reached the central point of Southern, looking around the town square as she wasn't sure where to go now. How could she find her father here?
Posted all over walls and light poles were posters about a specific cult, saying it was searching for infected people. That they offered safety in exchange for a chance to study the effects. She didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like some creepy experiment.

"I know mother," he just said with a sigh, leaning back into his chair as he wasnt going anywhere. He had decided to trust Saoirse and he wasnt going to change his mind right now. "It's out of our hands now," he said almost in defeat or rather determination, knowing it probably wasnt what she wanted to hear. He didnt like it either, not in the slightest, and yet all he could do was just hope that she would keep her promise and come back alive. "What happened in that room? When you were with him?" he asked, biting the inside of his cheek a little.

Southern was like a really bad nightmare for anyone who wasnt daemon or a part of the cult that had taken over. A human had entered the District, hoping to reach her apartment to grab some things that she hadnt managed to bring when she had initially left. A couple of daemons were looming around on the street, their hoods over their heads to mask their faces. One looked at the other and the third simply nodded. The two of them ran towards the woman that quickly realized she was being hunted. Screaming, she tried to reach her apartment but was grabbed before she managed to climb the steps to the old door. "NO! no no! No! Please let me go!" she screamed, the third daemon joining them as he handed one of the others a vial of something gooey and black. He didnt have to pull down his hood because anyone that knew him would recognize the markings on his hands all the way down to his fingertips.

Alyssa sighed as she was put back on the bed. However as Amos asked about the room she was quiet for a bit before she demanded the clergy to leave the room. It wasn't before they were alone as she disclosed what had happened. How Baal had slowly changed before her eyes, how the leech had latched on to her and how he had been talking about Buffy being gone. How he had told Alyssa about his plans, his need to complete this mission he had put himself in charge of. "He refused to listen to me when I spoke about you, Saoirse and even Buffy," she sighed, shaking her head as she looked down in defeat. Her hand clutching around a fistful of her baggy shirt. "I'm sorry that I failed you," she said. She had promised to fix all of this, to make it safe for when he and his sister returned. But she hadn't been able to keep Baal locked inside that room. And now she hadn't even seen Buffy. It was all too dark to think about.

Saoirse looked around as she heard the scream, following it as she reached the streets where three daemons where holding a human woman back. "Let her go," Saoirse demanded as she took a shaky step forward. It wasn't until she noticed the markings that she knew who was in front of her. "Father," she breathed out, quite horrified at what she was seeing. She shook her head, "let her go right now!" It wasn't just a plea, it was a demand.

Hearing the story as Alyssa explained, the young daemon just kept quiet but clearly suppressed his anger at what he was hearing. "Well it's just so fucking typical," he muttered, to then shake his head in disbelief. Though he shouldnt even really be this surprised, it was what he had expected of his father. To be weak and give in to whatever the artifact wanted. He had had a faint slither of hope and maybe that was why it was surprising him. Because he had been hoping for Saoirse's sake. He got up and went over to the bed where his mother was laying. Sitting down by her side he grabbed her hand with his healthy one. "You havent failed me. You're still here. And that was all that I wanted," he said, looking up at her with sad eyes. He was still fairly young for a daemon, even if he acted tough and grown up. The thought of losing the people he cared most about was terrifying.

The daemons turned their masked faces from the shadow of their hoods, looking at the trybrid. None of them seemed to answer her demand, as they just looked at her. The two other looked to the summoner for command. He just remained quiet as he looked at her. It was like there was something about her that he should have recognized but it was clouded, like a shadow overlapping the features that made her her. He waved the others away and they let go of the woman before heading down the street. He grabbed the woman by her shirt around her shoulder so she couldnt just wiggle free, turning his look towards Saoirse. "You cant stop this," he said in a rather cold tone as he grabbed another vial and led it to the struggling woman's face, but still looking at the trybrid. Like he was challenging her to try and stop him.

Amos was right, but that didn't make her feel less happy about what had happened. She had tried to be strong, tried to keep the inevitable at bay, and she had failed in the end.

Saoirse looked at her father as he took control of what was happening. How he held the poor woman as some sort of hostage. "Where's mom?" She pleaded, her eyes watering as she wasn't sure what to do. Amos was right, she wasn't meant to fight. "Dad, please ... please don't do this," she said walking carefully closer, her light marks reacting to whatever was happening to his flaring marks. "Dad, it's me ... Saoirse," she pleaded, her eyes watering.

He ignored the question because it didnt really make sense to him. But then again when he couldnt even recognize her, the last thing he considered was whether his child had left what they had considered safe and now roamed around this closed off district all alone. She was coming closer and he just kept the firm grip on the woman but placed the vial back in his pocket. It seemed that whatever paternal part of him that she wanted to appeal to was closed off. "Who sent you?" he just asked instead, letting go of the woman as he began approaching her instead. He clearly wasnt buying into what she was claiming to be. Stopping in front of her he looked down at her, taking off his hood to reveal his face. He hadnt really changed much other than his eyes, and the fact that the marks that had once only been on his throat had gotten longer, reaching a little further than his jawline.

The closer he got, the more it felt like her marks were burning. What was it with him? Luckily he let go of the woman who ran off and away from the area. As the hood was removed, she couldn't help but gasping softly as she looked at her father. "No-one sent me," she said, feeling her body frozen in place. "You stopped answering my messages ... Auntie says you haven't even been in contact with her," she said, trying to understand everything. He looked so different. Scary. "Dad, where's mom?" She asked, afraid to hear the reply. The two other daemons seemed to be watching them closely, ready to constrain her if she tried anything. "What happened to you?"

"You're lying," he just said coldly, even if she seemed like the kind that wouldnt lie in a situation like this. She spoke of her aunt and he just remained quiet, looking at her like he really was looking at just another stranger. He couldnt even see the eyes that would only remind him of Buffy. And then she did it again, calling him father and asking for her mother. "You're not my daughter, so spare your nonsense, child" was all he answered. He was done with this little game that she was trying to play on him. He reached out and placed a hand on her face, feeling the mix of daemon and seraph in her. He grabbed the vial that he had intended on giving to the woman, before he grabbed a firm hold of her jaw and opened her mouth. "I'll let you speak your truth before I'll let you have this," he said. But it didnt seem to matter what she would answer because he opened the vial and led it to her mouth. "Blood of Bael," a daemoness called, approaching them. "She has called for your presence," she said, making Baal stop mid-action, the vial a few centimeters from Saoirse's mouth. He just let go of her and turned, pulling the hood back up over his head. "Get the girl," he said before he went down the street.

Not his daughter? She had never heard more hurtful words. One thing was hurting her, another was denying her outright from being related to him. He changed tactics,
grabbing her and forcing her mouth open. Tears were running down her cheeks as she closed her eyes, not wanting to even look at him as he did this. He wasn't her father anymore, that was clear to see.
Then they were interrupted, her eyes opening as she stared right down the vial. The daemon spoke of a she. She? Who was she? "Is she a fenix?" She asked, but one of the daemons had to let out a laugh. "No child, no mere mortal could wield the power she has," a woman said before walking over to grab the trybrid. Saoirse looked confused, first she had held on to the hope that her mother was alive, that she would eventually show up when she came closer to Baal, but it sounded more like Buffy had been replaced. Saoirse was taken with them to the cultist hideout. Here she was placed in a room with other captives, some who weren't even infected.

Buffy had been busy. As soon as the cultists had realised who and what she was, not only to Baal but to the abyssus they had started seeing her in a much higher regard than before. She was still figuring out the light inside of her, but she always felt most in balance when she was surrounded by darkness.
She had sent for Baal, having discovered something in the cultist library that could help them understand their situation much better.

Buffy had changed more than just physically. Her mind seemed to have adopted an understanding for the ancient demonic language, and she was drawing upon that to learn more about what was going on. Baal entered. She herself were wearing a light grey dress, one that normally would've made her shiver with cold, but no longer was she bound by the fenix weakness. She looked up, her eyes scanning his face as he spoke of a child. "Did you bring it here?" She asked before he seemed occupied with what she had found. Getting up she moved over to a large book, pulling out some loose pages she had found within it.
"These pages match none of the books that are in this library," she said, showing them to him. The language was the ancient infernal, the one that had originated the daemons language it was today. "They speak of the Abyssus as a place of darkness and light," she said, pointing to a diagram depicting the old symbols. "The Abyssus wasn't always a place of torment, but some sort of middle ground between the good and the bad afterlife," she said leaning closer to Baal, not wanting other ears to hear the next part. "It was a place where you could rest before coming back to life."

As she asked whether he had brought the kid here, he just nodded. There was no reason to hide it, the cultists have been bringing in all sorts of people for their testing. It was just how it had to be, they couldnt meddle in the cultists lack of morals if they wanted to stay under their protection. He looked at the pages that she showed him, listening to her as she explained what she had figured out. "So it was once a purgatory?" he mumbled, looking at her as she leaned closer. He narrowed his eyes a little at her words before looking back at the loose pages. "All the light has been stripped from the Abyssus, making it only a place of torment, a finite ground that couldnt be left... well until now" he pondered, putting down the pages before he looked at Buffy. "Have you found out more about yourself?"

"Yes, a purgatory, a temporary place," she said, because she was surprised as well. As he mentioned the light and then asked about her, she sighed. "Well so far it's only vague prophecies," she said frowning. "But they all speak of the light as if it's a person, like the light will return as a physical being," she said looking at Baal with a worried gaze. "I don't know if it's what I am, it's too vague for me to really grasp it."