[crow]

Etta still giggled, and it was all Aram could do not to glower at her. "Maybe she just appreciates a handsome demon when she sees one. I know it'd be a shame to have to call him by some number." She gave a wistful sigh. "If only we had some of Jocasta's projects working here too... I'd like some eye candy."

"Well, I can promise to drop by more often then," said Neo, waggling his brows. Etta laughed outright at that. Neo feigned a wounded look, but it was true; he was too skinny to be conventionally handsome, though his smile gave him his own charm. "As lovely as this has been, we do really need to be on our way. Come on, Aram." He swept out as dramatically as he had arrived, with a flourish of his hand.

[crow]

"I'm not your lackey," came Aram's muttered reply, but he followed Neo out all the same. Jackdaw brought up the rear. He seemed to know enough to follow--- or perhaps it was merely because Aram had left, and he recognized Aram as his current master. Aram wasn't entirely sure how things worked, without a command spell or any specific key to tie the demon to an individual. Would Jackdaw do whatever he was told, by anyone? It seemed pretty unreliable, if it was like that.

"Did Jocasta tell you anything?" he asked. She hadn't been too happy to see Aram, but she got along with Neo just fine. Everyone got on well with Neo.

[crow]

Maybe she had passed on information to the older Sentinel, knowing that he was coming, and snubbed Aram out of spite. He wouldn't put it past her. But Neo glanced back at Aram's words, and shrugged. "Not a word. I guess we'll find out when we see him in action." He didn't seem perturbed at all by the prospect of this. Aram, for his part, only frowned, and stayed silent. If Neo didn't know, then he didn't know. Aram could ask Jocasta herself when he returned.

... Right, and she'd give him what he wanted, and they'd have tea and eat cookies with all the other half-finished demon filth she kept in that awful workshop of hers. He was probably better off asking their commander.

[crow]

The walk wasn't a long one. They were already in the district belonging to field command, after all. The most-used gate was stationed, and as a matter of practicality, the field command had set up around it. The bulk of the Sentinels' forces were dedicated to field work, and the other divisions didn't need to come and go nearly as often. Soon the great looming blue structure of the South Gate loomed into view.

Neo waved a cheerful greeting to the gatekeeper, who waved back with a smile. "Grand Saints," he said breezily.

"Grand Saints," repeated the gatekeeper, before abruptly stopping and doing a double-take. "What? You're not really going to that pile of rubble, are you, Neo?"

[crow]

It was hard to fault the man for his apparent disbelief. It wasn't a popular destination for the Sentinels. In fact, even regular folk didn't touch the place if they could help it. But Neo's grin just widened at the gatekeeper's stunned expression. "Of course! We've a special assignment today." He indicated Jackdaw. "Jo's given us a new toy, and we're taking him for a spin."

"Still, the Grand Saints... An order is an order, I suppose." The gatekeeper still sounded dubious, but he moved aside and began arranging the runes that governed the Gate. The glowing blue apparatus hummed, coming to life under the gatekeeper's minstrations.

[crow]

It took a moment, but eventually the gatekeeper turned to them. "Grand Saints," he announced. "It's ready for you, Neo. Whew, I haven't configured one in an age." He touched his fingers to his forehead in the Sentinel salute. "Good luck out there, Neo."

Neo responded with his signature smile. "Luck has nothing to do with it," he said. "Come on, Aram. Jack?" It was only after he called them that the gatekeeper seemed to notice Neo's companions. His gaze flicked over the still-glowering Aram non-committally, but his eyes widened when they settled on Jackdaw.

[crow]

Fortunately, they didn't linger. As soon as the door opened, Neo walked through, not even bothering to check whether the other two were following. Not at all eager to stay in the company of the gatekeeper, Aram followed closely behind. Jackdaw brought up the rear, apparently unperturbed by all the staring. It was probably just as well. Aram had the feeling that the demon was going to elicit that reaction for a good while.

"Just what is he, anyway?" Aram muttered under his breath. He should have been just a demon, and Jocasta's converts weren't so rare that they would elicit that kind of reaction. Maybe it was their destination, though Aram doubted that was all of it.

[crow]

More likely it was the demon's appearance. That, Aram could understand to some extent; it was hard to peg him for a demon at first, until one looked closely. Perhaps the gatekeeper had merely thought he was another Sentinel, until Neo had brought the demon to his attention.

The door closed behind them as Jackdaw passed through, sealing them into the gate apparatus. The walls and floor were all aglow with runes, pulsing blue with energy. At first there was merely the low hum that they had heard from outside, but soon the noise began to become more intense and high pitched. The glow increased in intensity, until it was impossible to see anything at all.

[crow]

When the light finally dissipated, their surroundings resolved into something completely different. They were enclosed by walls, but only just. There was no light beyond the faint sunlight filtering in through cracks in the ceiling. There was no return gate, and the runes necessary to mark a destination were inevitably bare-bones and well-hidden. It took Aram's eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness after the burst of light, but he merely stayed still until it passed.

Neo was not so reserved. "My, but that's unpleasant," he said, grimacing. A moment later, light flared to life in his hand, manifesting as an orb with a vaguely gold cast to it.

[crow]

The manifested light was but the least of Neo's gifts. As a son of Inias, even a half-blood son, he had access to a whole host of powers, which the Sentinels had only seen fit to capitalize on as much as they could. It helped that Inias himself was an ally to the Sentinel force. Much of Neo's training had been the god's own work.

Now Neo held the orb aloft, and tutted at what he saw. Their destination had clearly been nothing much, even before it was destroyed. The walls were plain and bare, devoid even of decoration. It had most likely been a storage room at some point, rather than anything of note. Perhaps that was why it had survived relatively unscathed, while most of the other buildings were reduced to rubble.

[crow]

But it was also in fact possible that the place had been set up by the Sentinels themselves after the fact, and constructed to look nondescript while still blending in with the landscape. Aram wasn't privy to that kind of information. Not that it mattered. What they were here for was for the trial. The gate was merely an entrance, and the small building merely window dressing.

Neo cleared his throat. "Here we are," he said. "Jack, if you would be so kind?" He smiled at Jackdaw, but the demon wasn't looking in his direction at all.

[crow]

Aram had forgotten the demon for a moment in his need to adjust to his new surroundings, but at Neo's words, he glanced at Jackdaw. The demon was staring at a wall--- or past it, since there was nothing of interest on the wall itself. "Looks like he's already on the trail," said Neo, pleased. "Come on buddy, the door's this way." He pushed open a rickety-looking door, which creaked dramatically before giving way.

Jackdaw followed when Neo and Aram stepped through, but he remained trained on the direction he had aligned himself toward. Neo whistled appreciatively as Jackdaw took a few steps forward. "If he really is sensing something, then he's something else," he said.

[crow]

Neo wasn't wrong about that. It would have taken the most sensitive, experienced Sentinels quite a while to read anything in this field of distortions, and even then they would have to know exactly what they were looking for. Even if Jocasta had somehow given Jackdaw a sample of what it was they'd loosed for him, his quick orientation alone was worth noting. As they exited the shelter, Aram realized it had been shielding them from the energies themselves. The dampening effect of the barrier would have made it even harder to detect anything from within. But Jackdaw never wavered, and merely continued to walk in the direction he had been going from the start.

[crow]

As for Aram, he was fighting off the wave of nausea that washed over him as the distorted energies assaulted his senses. He wasn't particularly gifted with detection, knowing only enough to function in a pinch, but what was here washed over him in great sick-making waves. He had to close his eyes a moment, fighting the sensation to lose his meal right then and there.

A warm hand pressed itself into his lower back. The nausea eased a little, and the sick-making energy faded back slightly, as if muffled. Aram looked up slowly, still afraid to make any sudden movements in case he upset the delicate new balance. Neo grinned back at him, and patted him gently.

[crow]

"They should've let you stay home," he said, a little ruefully. "I don't know why they had you come all the way out here. I'm fine, of course. That's the blood telling. But you--- you were human when they picked you up, weren't you?" His smile disappeared for a second, and his eyes grew briefly serious. "Do you want to go back? I can continue on alone if you need. I'll give 'em hell about it later too, if you like."

"I'm fine," came the immediate answer. Aram brushed off his hand, walking ahead. It wasn't really a lie. He didn't know what Neo had done, but under the effects, he could function. If he didn't feel his best, well, it was a job. He didn't want to be coddled.