Pheonix rummaged through her potions and ingredients and frowned. "I dont have anything specifically for possession, but I've heard that bitter root combined with fresh lavender and fennel seeds assists in controlling a possession." She said
“I have lavender, but I don’t have the seeds or the roots, do you? And what do you mean by controlling a possession? It’s not going to hurt him, is it? Will it make him weaker?” They gave a pitying glance towards their injured sibling. “Honestly, I’m not sure he can stand much more than he already is.”
As if to prove their point, Raphael whimpered from his spot on the floor. He then let out a barely audible growl, writhed around for a second, and fell flat.
"By controlling the possession, it wont allow the thing control him any more power than it already has. It wont help him, but it wont hurt him either. I can give him something for pain but we would have to take him to Heavenfell to treat the possession." Pheonix said, looking through the ingredients and sighing in relief when she found the fennel seeds
“Heavenfell? I don’t think he can go there without… well, without Falling, and in this state that might kill him. Is it possible we could, I don’t know, just…” they trailed off and threw up their hands. The long arms of their robes rippled like dark curtains. “This sounds insane, but could I get you to bring the treatment to him? I could give you my apartment name and number after we do the whole possession controlling thing, and maybe you could bring help there. I’d pay you to do it- no, I’d do more than that. Anything you want. Anything you need, if you can help me with this, I promise.”
"We shall see." Phoenix grinned, the thought of having the Angeley at her mercy was very tempting.
She took her Ingredients and crumbled them in a pot. Adding about 5 litres of water to them, she let the herbs infuse in the mixture. She then opened her wings and dipped the charred end of one in the water. The mixture immediately turned black and Pheonix threw the burning liquid on the male.
The noise Raphael made when Pheonix dashed the liquid onto him wasn’t quite a scream. He couldn’t really scream as much as whine loudly, but even that wasn’t close to what came out of his body. His mouth was forced open as a strangled, gurgling sound erupted from somewhere deep inside him, and the full bloody horror of it hit Sariel all at once. They’d been right. Something awful had been done to him; he no longer had a tongue. That was why he sounded the way he did, they reasoned, and felt very, very faint. For a passing moment, they almost wished he had died. At least he wouldn’t have had to have suffered so much.
The noise cut off as suddenly as it’d began, and its source slumped to the ground. Instantly his sibling was at his side, stroking through his hair and rubbing his back around the place where his wings would be if they were still out.
“It’s alright, Raphael. It’s going to be alright,” they soothed, lip wobbling, and his their eyes in their sleeve. Muffled, they continued, “Just hold on. We’re going to go back to my apartment. Gabriel will be there. Just keep holding on, El.”
To Gabriel in their head, they asked, ‘I need you to be at my apartment as soon as you can be.’
‘Sariel?’ His voice echoed around their mind. It wasn’t as loud as it usually was—he must’ve still been exhausted—but it was concerned. Concerned and relieved, that was. ‘You’re alive?’
‘We made a mistake. Whatever the thing is, it’s not what we thought. It possessed Raphael. That’s why you haven’t heard from him.’ Then, they added softly, their heart aching, ‘He’s in bad shape. Bad, bad shape.’
No response. Twenty seconds passed by, then third, before he finally responded with a soft, ‘Oh.’
‘I know I told you not to tire yourself out, Gabriel, and I don’t want you wasting more of your energy, but do you think you could-‘
A bright flash of light from behind them made them leap up in surprise. Gabriel, shaking, appeared, his whole body tense. When he saw Raphael, he darted towards him, dropped onto his knees, and slid up beside him.
“He’s- he’s-“ His hands skimmed the air above his skin like he was scared to touch him.
“Still alive, as I said, but just badly injured. The thing’s still in him. We need to get him out of here to somewhere safe. Like my apartment, which I believe is where I asked you to meet me.”
”How is it still in him? He’s not conscious! We should try and force it out somehow, like, like-“
“Pheonix made a mixture to help control it for now.”
For the first time, Gabriel noticed Pheonix. He reached a trembling hand out to them.
“I’m sorry for my impoliteness. I’m the Angeleyl Archis Gabriel, Valiant Knight and Holy Defender of Heavenloche, Bearer of Divine Messages. You must be the Heavenfell agent I was informed about.“ Less formally, he added, “Thank you.”
Pheonix bowed her head "you are welcome. Once your sister Pat's the price for my mixture, all will be well." She said and turned back to her tools, putting them away.
“Once my sibling does what?” He glanced over at them and audibly sighed. “I suppose we do owe you something. You are helping us greatly, after all.”
Sariel was too deep in thought to hear anything he was saying. They were studying Raphael intently. Whatever was inside of him, if truly dangerous enough to start what had seemed for a couple of hours like the end of the world, wasn’t something any of them could mess around with. If they were going to do something about it, they needed to get it done fast—before that thing found a way to escape or hurt someone else.
They hoisted Raphael’s scratched, bruised, blistering body up and looped their arms around him. He’d be easier to carry if they could get a good grip on him. While he was still in their arms, they shuffled over, grabbed their bag, shuffled back, and helped Gabriel to his feet. He was swaying like a tree in the breeze, all dizzy and unfocused, but he had a look of determination about him that would worry any sane person nearby.
“I’ll take us back to the apartment now,” he said stiffly. Before Sariel could protest, there was a brilliant bang, an excellent swirl of bright light in their vision, and the faint smell of smoke in their lungs.
Gabriel instantly ducked out of sight behind their couch. He popped up seconds later, breathing hard, his eyes as bloodshot as his brother’s, and coughed so dryly that it sounded as if a fine sand was weighing down his lungs.
“Gabriel!” They yelled, both scolding and worried, as they lay Raphael onto their couch. “I could’ve flown! Now look! You brought along Pheonix!”
Pheonix was standing frozen. The amount of 'good' magic that touched her soul was now at war with the 'Dark' magic. She forced the magic out if her body and casted a shielding enchantment around her body before facting the Angeleyl and glaring at them. "The next time you want to do that, warm.me so I dont come!" She yelled