((The following takes place the the day after the events described in Evolution.))
"And I shall count thee among my favored sheep, and you shall have the protection of all the Angels in Heaven."
- Noah 'Il Duce' MacManus
He's not been here in a while, not since dropping the note off to the girl who had greeted him. He doesn't remember getting her name, but there hadn't been anyone here to take the message, anyway. That day, it seemed, the Sisters had not been home, and he has seen no evidence that they have been here since. He doesn't think they abandoned the place...more like they took a hiatus of sorts. Why, he doesn't know. But then, he's not here to find out, either.
He's here to see if things are, for once, what they seem.
He glides over the landscape, carried through the air on blackened wings, and circles once over the Sanctuary. No signs of movement, from here. He's a fair ways up, but his eyesight is as good as ever - better, in fact, since the change. But this isn't a social call.
He drifts down and lands somewhat awkwardly - he's still perfecting that part - just outside the gates of the Scathachian Sanctuary, one of the most well-protected areas of Rhydin that he's come across, easily on a par with the Chamber of the Guardians. The last time he had been here, he hadn't been able to set foot on the grounds - actually, he hadn't been able to really approach the gates without being repulsed by the wards that protected the grounds of the Sanctuary from any infernal prescence that was not permitted to enter. Nor had he asked for that protection to be altered in any way for him - he was what he was, and there was no changing it. Or so he thought.
So now, he comes to it. The test, to see if, once and for all, that part of himself which he had despised the most has been wholly, irrevocably, removed, for good.
He can still feel the wards there, a faint pulse of magical energy that touches his senses, to him smelling faintly of ozone and something else he can't identify, something more pleasant. He folds the huge wings behind him, closes his eyes as he walks up to the gates, and, with only the slightest hesitation, steps into the magical barrier.
And is not repulsed. There is no shock, no sudden burning sensation that pushes him back and out of the Scathachian's lair. He takes another step. And another. And a few more.
And as he opens his eyes, he sees that he is inside the gates. On the grounds.
He has wanted this for so long, since Hazel had changed him the first time - proof that the demon is gone. And since he had first come to Rhydin, he has sought a way to enter this place without being punished, without being pushed away, if only to validate to himself that he does indeed work for good. There had been a couple times, while he had worked with the Sisters, that he had questioned that, thanks to certain influences on his nature, as he was.
But that is no more. He is born anew, and at long last rid of the demon that had haunted him for so very long.
With a smile, he begins touring the grounds. He has been curious for long enough - time for it to be satisfied.
"And I shall count thee among my favored sheep, and you shall have the protection of all the Angels in Heaven."
- Noah 'Il Duce' MacManus
He's not been here in a while, not since dropping the note off to the girl who had greeted him. He doesn't remember getting her name, but there hadn't been anyone here to take the message, anyway. That day, it seemed, the Sisters had not been home, and he has seen no evidence that they have been here since. He doesn't think they abandoned the place...more like they took a hiatus of sorts. Why, he doesn't know. But then, he's not here to find out, either.
He's here to see if things are, for once, what they seem.
He glides over the landscape, carried through the air on blackened wings, and circles once over the Sanctuary. No signs of movement, from here. He's a fair ways up, but his eyesight is as good as ever - better, in fact, since the change. But this isn't a social call.
He drifts down and lands somewhat awkwardly - he's still perfecting that part - just outside the gates of the Scathachian Sanctuary, one of the most well-protected areas of Rhydin that he's come across, easily on a par with the Chamber of the Guardians. The last time he had been here, he hadn't been able to set foot on the grounds - actually, he hadn't been able to really approach the gates without being repulsed by the wards that protected the grounds of the Sanctuary from any infernal prescence that was not permitted to enter. Nor had he asked for that protection to be altered in any way for him - he was what he was, and there was no changing it. Or so he thought.
So now, he comes to it. The test, to see if, once and for all, that part of himself which he had despised the most has been wholly, irrevocably, removed, for good.
He can still feel the wards there, a faint pulse of magical energy that touches his senses, to him smelling faintly of ozone and something else he can't identify, something more pleasant. He folds the huge wings behind him, closes his eyes as he walks up to the gates, and, with only the slightest hesitation, steps into the magical barrier.
And is not repulsed. There is no shock, no sudden burning sensation that pushes him back and out of the Scathachian's lair. He takes another step. And another. And a few more.
And as he opens his eyes, he sees that he is inside the gates. On the grounds.
He has wanted this for so long, since Hazel had changed him the first time - proof that the demon is gone. And since he had first come to Rhydin, he has sought a way to enter this place without being punished, without being pushed away, if only to validate to himself that he does indeed work for good. There had been a couple times, while he had worked with the Sisters, that he had questioned that, thanks to certain influences on his nature, as he was.
But that is no more. He is born anew, and at long last rid of the demon that had haunted him for so very long.
With a smile, he begins touring the grounds. He has been curious for long enough - time for it to be satisfied.