Owner	Pose
Askante	Ruins are rarely completely unoccupied in Sunnydale. There's all kinds of unwelcome nasty that tend to frequent those, the crypts and in general the environs of a hellmouth. It's dark, it's gloomy, there's a sheeting rain outside and occasionally the crash of lighting or a roll of thunder. Various spots in the burned and gutted church sound like a shower stall, for the fact that the rain pours in from the roof. Yet this was a church, it was unholy ground, it was a repository of dark magics and forbidden knowledge, once upon a time... and there's still one or two secrets it holds. A shadowy figure is making a bit of a ruckus in the area that used to be the adjacent-to tabernacle. Instead of black robes and cloistered monks, although there's still one or two reminants of that, there is a leather trench coat of the WWII variety, that really kept the elements out... and a tail. And a commentary. "WHere is it? Thieving magpies, they should have their eyes plucked out and fed to tiny, very angry honey badgers... Bad, bad, bad! BAD!" The voice is neither male nor female, is either a low contralto or a high tenor and it is speaking in a very ancient aboriginal dialect. Quills rustle irritatedly as the figure stands up tall. Seven foot easily and very not a human being. It looks like a demon.
Lucifer	The fact that there are ruins so close to Lux make for nice little trips when Lucifer is up for it. Churches, especially ruined ones that seep with unholy feels, are a lovely source for the King of Hell. Especially since they usually lay dormant for a while until someone comes along and tries to meddle in things. Not to mention there was a new presence that he could *feel* and he had to come and see if his inkling was correct. When he does make it to the tabernacle, hearing the ruckus and seeing the figure causing it, Lucifer's lips pull into a grin. He takes a step and then is suddenly sitting in a bit of the rafters, out of the storms way, and really just the perfect perching spot. A tilt of his head as he watches Askante reach their full height when standing tall, ears prickle at the commentary. He plucks an apple out of nowhere, shiny and red, polishing it on a sleeve and then takes a bite. "Honey badgers are an awful thing to wish on anyone. I suppose it depends on the item you're looking for that may have been taken...or is..." He gestures, "amongst the rubble still." A pause for a smirk. "I did wonder every so often when I would see you again..."
Askante	Askante stiffens. It's a thing to watch when you're scaled and covered in quills where hair ought to be. It can raise those quite frighteningly like a porcupine with a bad attitude -- black eyes lift, tiny little lights in the dark indicating where its regard sits... up up and up. It stares for a while, head tilting, utterly still otherwise. "I know you. I know you from... I not..." it pauses, thinks, leans the other way, then with a glance about the place, leaps for a wall and scurries up it to an overhang of the roof, hanging there by two feet and two arms, using the other two to reach balance and maintain brace as it leans forward toward Lucifer. "Apples...they travelled with a preacher man over this land, seed by seed. I remember that. Jump! Jump at the dark, jump at the warcries, jump at the flashbangs and a very sad time... things ate other things... when was that? You know Roanoke, yes? Scared people in a little wooden boat on a rock by the sea to the east?"
Lucifer	Lucifer remains quiet for the moment that Askante tries to remember where it knows Lucifer from. He thinks back to Salem, tries to remember the face he wore then. Little less 'modern' or 'metrosexual' in nature, more run of the mill rugged colonial type - cause he always makes sure he picks a look that will both stand out in a crowd but also blend in. Once he remembers, that's the face that Askante will see when it comes up to lean into Lucifer after getting closer to him. "Well I suppose that all depends on when you're talking about. Things eat other things all the time, even now." Lucifer offers gently, taking another bite of the apple in hand. "I do know Roanoke. Watched it from a distance but it wasn't my story to be involved in." A pause. "What draws you here, Askante? What was stolen?"
Askante	Askante's pitch black eyes widen and it clicks a finger, pointing the loooong digit, complete with an extra knuckle and very spindly nail, about an inch under Lucifer's nose. "Son of Yahweh. Yes. That was last time. Sad time, silly monkeys with silly rules, becoming monsters in the shadow of superstitions. They called you Satan." It nods, then looks down at the rubble, for a different perspective on the mess below. "I slept. When the west was won and lost, I went beyond and found myself a deep and dark to sleep. I woke up buried beneath earthquake, in a place that looked like a hostelery. That was not there before. I come out and everything smells rancid and the Crow's blessing is gone. Nobody speaks the same tongue! What is this time?" It gestures with a wild gesture. "Some thief took the Crow's Blessing, son of Yahweh! IT IS GONE! I am mad. Mad, mad, mad."
Lucifer	"They have called me many things, my old friend. Satan. Beelzebub. Devil. I am better known now as Lucifer, even tho my true name is Samael." Lucifer offers this much to Askante while listening to them speak still. Watch as they look down at the rubble below and takes another bite of the apple. "Ah. Yes. There, then gone again when things settled out a bit, like you seem to do. Appear at the height of chaos until it smooths over - never mattering how it gets smooth." He offers again with a slight chuckle. "No, old friend. Some speak the same tongue as others here, but the west was carved with a bastard form of English. Also, the Universe exposed itself." Explaining this as best he can. "The year is two thousand twenty nine." This is when he realizes the pendant he has always seen on Aske's neck is not there. This causes him to frown. "That is not good. We should find it, for it belongs to you and you alone."
Askante	"YESSSSS!" That declared in a little loud whisper, "Well, it belongs to itself, and to the people that gave it. Gifts. You are a poor keeper, if you lose the gifts you are given, no?" Askante's shoulders sag slightly, all four of them and it reaches out a hand, scruffles Lucifer's hair and smiles. "Prince of darkness is kind. Lots of things are not kind, but many things confuse what they are with what they do." It sighs and releases its grip on the roof and beam, hopping down to the church below, kicking a rock petulantly. It skitters off. "Two thousand and twenty nine? That is a long way from the firelight and the gunfire and the Steel dragons they called trains that carved the world into tiny portions. I saw a flying dragon of metal when I woke, tearing through the sky. The universe was always going to come; this is the place where things begin, eventually always things come to look at Gaia." It looks up again. "How to start looking, when so long has gone by? I cannot understand them, even when they speak this english. It isn't english." It shakes its head. "I must understand. Will I owe, or do you want what Askante can give?"
Lucifer	"You are not a poor keeper if someone managed to steal it from you. It must have fallen from you during the earthquake. Then someone found it." Lucifer offers before feeling his hair scruffled. "Careful how loud you say that, friend. I have a darker reputation to uphold." Though he chuckles and his eyes sparkle with a bit of mirth before he shifts to follow Askante, jumping from the rafters and landing gracefully to the church floor below. He scents the air a moment or two and then seems to think on a few things. "Ah. Yes. Airplane. Now people can travel further faster, cause they are always in a hurry." He offers the word for it and then thinks again. "I know of a group of people, they tend to have knicks and knacks...and I can smell a bit of them in the air. So they have been here. I am not saying they are the thieves, but they are where I can start for you." He holds up his hands then. "This one is on me, Askante. If you are so inclined to give what you can, then that is what I will take, but truly for this? You owe me nothing. It is my favour to you."
Askante	Askante bows. It's always been able to do that with a lot of flourish, owing to the number of arms - there's just something to be said for the fold over the one and the flourish of the other three. "I do not forget, only when faces are masks, but I remember again afterwards..." it chuckles, straightening and tilting its head again. The tail behind it lazily twitches upward in a curl, wends around itself and gives itself an odd hug, the tip claimed by one hand to hold, like an odd security blanket. "These are monkeys? Or are they ghu'ul?" Those that steal from the dead, though that little legend started having a curse attached to it. Belief has a fun effect on reality. "Oh!" it looks down at its chest and fishes through the charms. "Bonafide. Here. I have a bonafide." It's a scrimshaw fingerbone on a woven catgut thong. "It works, I think. Maybe it will point to the truth?"
Lucifer	"And I do tend to have worn many a mask. Mostly to serve my purpose where I am. To fit in for the time that is. And then change as times do for most people. My current look is a modern one. I should show it to you sometime soon so you will know it." Lucifer watches the tail hug after the flourished bow and then nods his head. Another look around given, to perhaps think on what scents he finds and where they might lead. "Monkeys? Ah. Humans? Yes. Yes they are. Humans that I and one of my lovers are quite fond of." If they have the talisman, it was not stolen in vain or with ill intent at least. Though Lucifer is more wondering if they've just heard of such a trinket. Then it looks at it's chest and fishes the Bonafide Charm. Lucifer tilts his head and then considers. "It might. We could try. Worst that happens is it doesn't work at all." He offers this much before reaching for the charm if it was offered over.
Askante	Askante removes the fingerbone. TO be fair here, every single thing that hangs and some of the things that glitter on Askante, has a little waft of the scent of power to it. Most are mild, but there's one or two potent in there. It's held on one long digit with a nod, "...Carved from the finger of a man wrongfully accused who died for a crime he did not commit, it makes pulls to the truth, by the pricking of the thumbs." Which is helful. Eventually. Not very helpful in the immediate, if the item is miles upon miles away. But there is always hope, no? "I never change my face. It never seems to matter, people see what they wish to see. You and a few others, you see what is there. Most do not."
Lucifer	Lucifer nods as he takes the fingerbone and listens to the explanation that comes with it. "So does it need to prick your thumbs because it's your talisman or do I just think about the talisman and can prick my own?" He asks this gently. There is a slight bit of hope that the talisman they seek is not too far away, but even if it is, at least there are people who can travel by way of teleporting. "I believe that is because we who can see what is there as we do not need to see anything else. Less what they wish to see and more they see what they need to in order to be warned. That which will make their blood run cold, or their hairs to stand on end. You tell people to go the fuck away without words in a very real sense."
Askante	"Oh," Now Askante has to think about it and has a moment of pause where it's holding its chin with both lefties. "I do not remember. An easy thing to cover though," pricking the end of its own thumb with one long nail, it drops a drop of red upon the bone, and flicks its finger a few times, so that the blood evaporates to ether. "I seem to remember that was gifted to me by a slavegirl called Mary. She knew Samedi, as I know Legba. Sometimes they called me Papa. Mo'... Humans are odd. I brought back her daughter for her to say goodbye." It looks up, considers Lucifer's notion then nods lightly. "It is possible that it is that way. It has always been that way though. Sometimes, I get curious as to what they see, but it is fleeting. I am sure sometimes, they do not see anything at all." It laughs at that.
Lucifer	Lucifer sets the fingerbone to levitate after Askante drips blood onto it, but he makes sure to tether it (in case it decides to 'pull' somewhere) so they can go with it. Or, at least, so Lucifer can go. He isn't so sure if Askante is keen to come with him. "Humans are odd. Sentimental at times. Nice, mean, good, evil..there are all sorts upon Gaia now." At least Lucifer knows a language to speak to Askante in or this conversation would have gone nowhere quickly. At the agreement to notions offered, he simply nods his head. "I could not tell you. Sometimes people speak of eyes in the dark, sometimes just a feeling but more physical than emotional. Like they knew something was there, just not what, and they wished not to find out." He's heard the stories, oh yes, and maybe fueled one a time or two himself.
Askante	There's a very real danger for the Daemon Askante, that if it became too well known in this time, it would spawn a whole slew of movies. Or would be chased by cryptid hunters with more hunger than common sense. It listens though and grins at the explanation of stories heard. Nice, white teeth, not scary at all. It's an oddness that. "Strange days..." it chuckles, a whispery little rustle "...and you have lovers now. Time was, many a temptation was thrown but you always walked back to the crossroads alone. Times -have- changed." The bone turns on its leather leash, pulling in a direction somewhat southwest. It is a faint pull though, like an insistant tugging at the sleeve. "The closer you are to the truth, the stronger its pull." And yes, thank the Powers for the Allspeak.
Lucifer	Lucifer slightly flushes at the memory of the crossroads, of always returning to them alone. Perhaps lonely, but the Devil never made that known. His story wasn't ready for such things yet. Now that he's abandoned Hell...well...many new doors have opened. "Do you trust me enough to take this while you stay here? I will return, my old friend, once I have found your missing piece." He watches the leather leash, sees the direction it's pulling in, but he won't move until given permission. Perhaps it knows why he asks such a thing. Perhaps it won't care. Lucifer doesn't *really* care, and yet he does at the same time. It's weird.
Askante	"YOu gave your word and you do not lie. The truth cuts a lot harder and deeper sometimes, than any pretty lie. I trust you. But I do not know how far, or how long, or where, or what has it. It should not be in the hands of monkeys though, it is not meant for them." Askante catches the flush, tilts its head a little, but comments only with a pat on the shoulder with two hands. A pat and a squeeze. "Nothing will bother me here. Things that looked ugly, things with horns and bad souls and lots of fear, they live and lurk all over this area. I can sense so much fear in this town that it saturates the soil. The people are all afraid of the strangest things. Gaia it seems has gone strange since I slept."
Lucifer	Lucifer inclines his head in such a way, respectful, a sort of flourish in his own right. "These words are true. I will ensure it does not stay in the hands of monkeys for any longer than I can allow it to. As in, soon as I find it, it's as good as yours again." Since he could likely come back here quicker. "Ah yes. Your own little domain of darkness where fears can alight so easily. Now that you're here it's quite unlikely that anyone will traverse too deep within the church's walls." He chuckles then before pointing. "I shall return as soon as I can my friend. Until I do, be well." And then he leaves, following where the fingerbone takes him.