Victorian England

Annalith looked at him calmly. "All I ask is that I will have my parents saved, allow me 4 years for us to help others that are sick, allow me to marry a person I love after that, and to allow me to bring one life into this world before you take my soul. Can that be agreed upon?" She asked as she took his quill pen. She was scared, but she was doing this for a good purpose.

"A year is better then an hour," she said as she took the parchment from him. The girl backed up and sat herself down onto the bed, reading the contract over a few times. 'Accompany me?' she thought to herself, reading that line over once more, 'Well, I suppose if it's what needs to be done, it'll be fine.' Her arm extented over to grab the pen. Then, with a swift gesture, she signed the contract, even taking the time to dot the i's with a heart.

"Here you are," Hazel handed the contract over to him, "all nice and signed like it needs to be."

Azzael nodded solemnly, "This is agreeable." He'd heard strange requests before, and as he listened to Annalith, she made more sense to him. For her, the end justified the means. It was sweet, stupid and naive, but sweet. He'd met her type before, but more likely than not, half way through her quest and finally accepting the fact that she was damned, she would corrupt. She'd learn just what a heartless place the world really was and she'd regret ever wasting her soul on its people. "Your parents' health and four years of service. And when you finally have a lover and child," he smiled to himself, "I will steal you away for myself." How romantic and idiotic, he shook his head. "Please," he caught her eye again, "sign."

Annalith gave a nod and used her blood on the quill pen for ink and signed her name. She already knew that she would be damned, but at least this way....she would have the chance to save her parents and help others as well. Once the contract was signed, it disappeared.

"Wonderful", Azzael grinned, snapping his fingers the quill disappeared too. "Glad we got that out of the way. But I suppose we're not quite done with the formalities yet, I still don't know you're name or title... and you have yet to give me mine." Azzael never cared what humans called him, but as "Azzael" he had a bit of a reputation on earth. It wasn't a particularly discrete name for an undercover demon. He'd had many other names through out the centuries, but those came and went with the times, so he never got attached.

"I mean, I know how touchy nobility can be about honorifics." While his face betrayed no hint of sarcasm, somehow he twisted the words so that his humor was obvious. This was, after all, just for his amusement.

Annalith let out a small giggle. "You can just call me Annalith. Or Anna for short. I don't really care about honorifics. And as for your name....hmm....is Aaron alright?"

Azzael nodded his acknowledgement of the arrangement. This preliminary work was always the most tiresome part to of any summons, but this was going along well for once. As much as Azzael had the creeping sensation that this might be a little bit more like babysitting than usual, he was at least relived he hadn't been summoned by some blustering idiot who wanted world domination or the suchlike. While amusing at first, those types were typically more demanding and overly time consuming. This little girl, however, most likely wouldn't cause him any trouble at all. In fact, it looked like he would have free range when they weren't off saving kittens from trees, and that sounded like a good deal.

"Well," Azzael checked his watch, "four years starts now." He smiled, "let's make the bets of it, shall we?"

Annalith gave Aaron a smile. "So...my parents are saved now...right?"

"Well, yes. In the long run." Azzael ran a hand through his short hair. "It'll take some time, and work on my part. I can do some minor magic now that will greatly improve their health. But it will only treat the symptoms, not necessarily the disease. I'll have to do a little bit of research on their illness before I can treat it. Healing is not my forte, but if I can't do it on my own- I'm sure I can find someone who can." He paused, he'd started to talk to himself a little. "But don't worry, I do guarantee their health. I wouldn't have agreed to this contract if I wasn't sure I could find a way to cure them." Azzael brushed imaginary dirt off his lapel. "If you're ready, I can start the process now. I'll need access to some basic kitchen ingredients, and of course your parents."

Annalith gave a nod. "I will make sure you have access to their bedroom and the kitchen. Though...currently there are doctors in their room. If you can get them to leave without hurting any of them, then I would appreciate it. Here is the key to their room." She says as she hands him the key.

Azzael took the key and pocketed it. "Right then, I'll get on that." He took a last look at the room and the girl, wondering exactly what he had gotten into with this one. Too late now, the contract had been made and he had to see it through.

Locating the door he turned away from the girl and headed for it. He didn't have any idea of what the layout of building beyond was, but he was sure he could figure it out. Besides, it would give him a wonderful opportunity to scope the place out. So, with key securely in his pockets, Azzael set out on the first part of his mission- to find a kitchen.

"Thank you. Now, as for curing you, the process will be as follows. I need you to tell me where I can find a few things." said Vincent, trying to remember the process to share demonic powers.
"I will need a Cherry tree, some dried wood, a bunch of berries from a Daphne plant, and somewhere to make a rather large fire. Any ideas? I could summon them myself, but naturally grown materials are always better. I will temporarily transfer some of my powers to you and guide you threw shapeshifting your body to get rid of the illness, and then your one year term will start." added Vinny, thinking about how much of a drag it will be to live in the mortal world.
Vincent didn't want to stay for a year, but he had to make sure the human didn't get herself killed, making the contract void. If vinny was truthful with himself, he slightly liked the girl named Hazel. Vincent decided to walk over to the bed and sit down beside her, but this time at a more reasonable distance.

"You're welcome," she said with a soft smile across her face. The girl lifted on of her legs and pulled his close to her body, wrapping on of her arms around it for comfort.

"Well," she started to say as she began to rub the back of her neck. Her mind was processing any where she knew of that they could find the said ingrediants that were needed. The only place that came to her, was the forest outside of the city. Though she wasn't too sure that they would be there, but it was a place to start. "There is the forest outside the city that we can look in, I'm sure there will atleast be some dried wood from any dead trees." Pausing, Hazel turned her head to look out the window. It seeme the clouds in the sky were begging to get thicker and darker as well.

"If we are going to look there, we'd need to hurry fast," she chuckled softly to herself, "it looks like it may start raining anytime soon."

Annalith went over to Aaron. "If you would like, I could show you around." She said quietly, standing in the doorway of her room. She had not been out of her room for awhile and this would be a chance for her to get out of her room and get a bit of exercise.

Poison Ivy watched the portal shift to another image. It was an earthly party gone wrong she presumed. Nonetheless it was a summons. The imp jumped in excitement and pointed to the portal. "It's calling! It's calling!" he screeched. "Take me with you, Ivy! I want his soul as well. You promised!" The imp's eyes growled with hunger. Imp's normally didn't accompany demons or shared a soul but it wasn't entirely unheard of, highly unorthodox, but not illegal. This imp usually found its way to Ivy and she enjoyed it's company since it had a resemblence to a child. Ivy laughed and smiled. "Transform into a human child with me and it shall be done," she whispered. Licking her lips she danced through the portal with her long raven hair swishing at her sides. She glanced around the room and her smirk quickly changed into disgust. Humans were intoxicated and sprawled on the floor. Some were running away and others were too drunk to move. One man was stumbling towards her, from where she made her appearance.

She looked at Adarius through the eyes of a sixteen year old human girl. In her demon state, she would be much older but she would have to settle for her current body. Her imp she called Junior skipped to her side in the form of a human boy. He looked about eight with curly blonde hair and blue eyes much like her own. Ivy stepped forward to greet her summoner. "You have summoned a demon, mortal," she spoke formally. "I am Poison Ivy, but here I am Violet Kage. I am your demon. I am here to aid you with your wishes in exchange for your soul." She said and glanced around the room once again. "What is your name?"

Azzael paused when Annalith spoke to him, she was also blocking his exit. He weighed his options, four years was plenty of time to case this place, he was only going to be living here after all. Also, he had no idea how close this girl's parents were to death's doorstep. Blundering about a potentially giant mansion wasn't a good use of precious human time. So, as much as he would liked to have been left to his own nefarious devices, a guide was probably a good idea at this point.

"That sounds lovely," Azzael gave another crooked smile. It really wouldn't, but it would be tolerable and potentially helpful. "Feel free to lead the way." He gestured at the door to make his point.
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Adarius didn't know what was happening any more. He was seeing things, the walls were melting and suddenly his skin feel like it was on fire. He had never experienced a trip this bad. Everything he heard sounded like he was hearing it from under the water. Shadowy figures were dancing everywhere in his vision, but one was more solid than the rest. She was walking towards him, speaking world that only came to him in jumbled bits and fragments.

Adarius swayed visibly on his feet, he was going to pass out soon. The not-so-subtle signs of over dose were on him now. His heart was beating out of his chest and every muscle in his abdomen were contracting spasmodically. Vomit welled up in his throat as he finally collapsed near the feet of the strange girl.

In a terrible, livid break from his trip, Adarius was just in-touch with the real world, for a split second to hear the girl's question and see her for what she was.

"Adarius..." He spit more blood and vomit up on the floor, "Please... help me."

Annalith smiled at him and started to lead the way. "This isn't a really big house. This is a townhouse we live in while we are in the city. There is my room, my parents' room and two other rooms that is for the one servant and the cook we have here." She led him downstairs. "Down here is just a living room and dining room mix. And a door to the kitchen right next to it. This place isn't very big. My father may make a good amount of money from his career, but he doesn't over do it with the money. All of our items were simple middle class types. None of us really have anything that would be more than 50 Euros or about $65.64 in US dollars." She said simply as she led him to the kitchen

"Rain? I don't think I want to be outside in that stuff, getting wet. It makes me dangerously ill, and you'd do best not to have me outside when its pooring. If we can't find the material we are looking for, then I shall simply summon it. I doubt that we will find a random cherry tree, but the berries from the daphne plant may grow there. I will attempt to delay the rain, but it will only last for an hour, two at most." said Vinny, thinking threw the different spells for teleportation that wouldn't kill the human.

*If I tap into the leyline that runs closest to the city, I could summon a portal that would dissipate at around the same time as the charm to keep away the rain. If the portal needs to last any longer than that, things are already f.u.b.a.r.* thought Vinny, summoning two pieces of magnetic chalk, employing his natural ambedextrous abilities to draw an inverted pentagram. As he filled different spots with greek and roman like writing, he began to chant in what sounded like poorly spoken french, or a mad-mans gibberish ranting.

"Nous demandons que les cieux demeurent fermés et pour voyager en toute sécurité de l'offre un sanctuaire."

As he spoke, he grabbed Hazels hand and said "Please step into the cirlce and close your eyes. There will be a bright light, and some discomfort, but I need you to picture the forest, and think of what it feels like. Any smells, sounds, the way the air tastes, anything." After giving the orders, a light started to slowly appear along the lines of the pentagram.

Hazel raised one of her eyebrow in confusion, it was odd that he mentioned getting ill from the rain. To her it seemed strange that such a powerful creature like a demon could even get ill. She shook her head a bit and shrugged it off, strange things can happen in the world, maybe even a demon getting sick. "That sounds like an alright plan," she spoke to him in a soft tone. In amazment she watched Vinny summon two pieces of calk and began to draw the things he was drawing. Never before had she seen the symbols that were apearing before her on the pentegrame.

Before the girl knew it, Vinny had grabbed her hand and gave her instructions on what she needed to do. She nodded her head at him and slowly walked into the circle, closeing her eyes as she did. In her mind she begane to visualize the forest, not just it's image, the the earthy smells, and the sounds of the animals that inhabited it. It was almost as if she could feel the grasses under her feet and the dirt between her toes, oddly enough it felt amazing to her, it had been a while since she even left her room.

Violet looked down at the boy sprawled across her feet. "Adarius," she whispered. "Do I help him, Junior?" Violet looked down at the human boy that gazed at the man with awe. "Help him," Junior said simply. Violet nodded and waved her hands in the air. She slowly marked five points in the air and drew her hands around them forming a five pointed star. The space infront of her face glowed as she continued to trace the shape. Chanting words of a long dead language, she placed her palm in the middle of the star that formed glass into the air. Her eyes glowed white whilte Junior beside her clutched onto the demon's hand as a portal opened up. "Carry him," she ordered to Junior. Without blinking, he grabbed Adarius by his arm and lifted him awkwardly. Violet put both hands into the star and soon their surroundings changed from the inside of a room with the remanants of a party to a dead silent abandoned square.

She stood next to a large fountain of an angel that was dry and dirty from years of neglect. Junior lay Adarius on his back before Violet. "May your body be cleansed," she whispered. She touched Adarius on his forehead and absorbed the negative energy from the alcohol overdose. He would awaken any moment feeling fresh and revived without a single hint of drunkness in him.

Violet looked around the square she was summoned to nearly fifty years ago. It was the center of a church complex. Then it was alive and running. Now it was deserted and secuded.

Azzael Followed Annalith as she explained the house to him. It was a little disappointing, but would do for the time. Azzael took note of anything that looked valuable- even if it potentially wasn't. He quickly had the layout of the house down in his mind. It wasn't terribly complicated, no getting lost at least. He was silents as they wounded their way through the house and towards the kitchens. As they approached what Azzael assumed was it, he realized he should probably get his ingredients list in mind. He would most definitely need salt, charcoal if he could find it, some variety of red wine, oil of no particular type, and hopefully the bones of last night's dinner would be available. Those were the staples he would need, animal fat candles would add mood but were not required as was the burning of sage, though that smelled pretty nice.

Azzael didn't really know where to start when he entered the kitchen, which thankfully appeared empty. But not knowing what he was doing had never stopped Azzael before. He headed for the first cabinet he saw.
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Adarius flickered back to consciousness, while he felt disoriented and sick, it was an improvement. Even as he opened his eyes, he could feel the sickness leaving him, it would take a while before he felt up to par, but he was improving at a steady rate. In a few moments he had enough energy to lift his head. Looking around, the world swam in and out of focus, but it was all coming together piece by piece. "Where... am I?" He mumbled and didn't really expect a response, little did he yet know of the demon standing near by him. Adarius couldn't remember anything, maybe a few blurry images remained, but they were out of order and had no meaning to him. What had he done? All he knew was he had the overwhelming feeling he had done something absolutely terrible.

Adarius pulled his elbows under him and pushed his torso up so he could look around better, that was when he saw her. Adarius fell back down, all his strength giving out on him. He did remember what had happened. It hit him like a brick and it was all in such abnormal crystal clarity. He had entered a contract with a demon- he was going to hell, but not fast enough.

Annalith looked on as Aaron had started to look around in the kitchen. "Is there anything particular you need from in here? Perhaps I can point somethings out to you if you need it." She said quietly.

Violet almost laughed as the human sat up and fell down just as quickly. "You are in the north east village in the Saint Mary Church Square. You have never heard or seen of this place, I assume? It was abandoned quite some time ago, Adarius. Rise, mortal. I have wasted my powers to save your life and I wish to complete the formalities of my arrival." She towered over him, looking straight down to his eyes. "My name is Violet Kage. I am your summoned demon servant." She tilted her head up and glanced around at the brim of the roof tops that threatened to cave in on the unstable buildings. Junior trembled behind her in excitement. He whispered inaudiably to himself.

Vincent whispered a small thanks as the air started to hum around him, and then their was a bright flash, followed by a deep quiet.

"It worked. Good. I will summon the things we need, since the rain seems to be getting impatient. No need looking for a piece of hay in a needle stack, or something to that extent." said Vinny, who started to wave his hands as if he was mad, distorting the air, the land, and existance its self, making a neatly stacked pile of wood, some tiny berries, a stone mortar and pestle, a box of matches, and a foot long cherry tree branch. He proceeded to make a small fire, which started to grow in intensity until it was a blazing inferno, five feet tall and extremely hot. The demon then took the mortar and filled it with the berries, grinding them into a fine paste with the club-like pestle. After the berries were the correct consistancy, Vincent grabbed the cherry branch from where it layed on the ground and started to scrap the bark off with his finger nails. Soon there was a nice pile of wood fillings, which where then mashed into the berry paste, while Vincent mumbled incoherently to himself. The paste turned a violent shade of purple, and started to smoke.

"Okay. Heres what you have to do. First you have to eat this, which will loosen your soul from your current body. Then I will say 'I grant you the powers I have been given', and you will say 'I accept the powers you have been given'. Then you will walk into the fire, and say 'Same form, cancer free'. Then you will walk out, and be cured. The paste loosens your soul by starting to kill you. You need to be nearly dead so that your body can be changed while your soul stays intact. The paste will make you feel like you drank lava, but you will have to continue with the ritual any way. I... believe in you." said Vinny, handing Hazel the mortar that was currently emitting a noxious smelling fume.

"I grant you the powers I have been given."

Hazel's eyes focused on Vinny as he began to summon the things that he needed. It was maraculous and wonderous for her to be witnessing such an occurence as such. She watched as the wood he needed appeared, the berries, a cherry tree brance, and even a mortar and pestle; though, she wasn't quite sure what the mortar and pestle was for, but she knew that she would found out soon enough. Suddenly she stepped back as they fire the demon had started grow more intense and larger. The heat of it was rather hot and she could feel it from the distance she was standing at. The past he was making looked odd, espeically once the stuff had started to smoke, was it suppose to be doing that?

"E...eat it?" she questioned as she was handed the motar that containd the odd purple paste. The scent caught her nose which caused her hand to suddenly cover up her face and nose. It was purtrid, how was he going to expect her to eat something so... fowl. Yet, she had to do it for it was the only way she could be cured. With her head held high she tipped the mortar and let the past slide into her mouth. She cringed, as vinny had said it felt as if she was drinking lava, however that felt like.

"I... I accept the powers you have been given...." she coughed a bit, the feeling in her throat seemed unbearable to her. With her last once of courage she turned and faced the fire, slowly, and hesitantly walking into it. The fire crackled and swished around her, it was hot, very hot.

"Same form, cancer free.." she called out, her body then felt as if her illness was lifted from her. Once she had said what she needed, she walked out of the fire.