[Damascus Arms Inc.] The Sins of Lying

The underground was a seedy place with both innocent magic shops and terrible criminals. So many crimes were committed in this rundown, shady area of town. There was a darkness to every city, and she was nestled in the middle of it. Vivienne marched forward past the prostitutes and the drunkards. She ignored the peddlers and avoided the thieves. Her brown eyes were dead set on one direction: forward. A serious expression remained etched on her face. The woman dressed similarly to a priestess, and it made her stand out. She appeared as if she should have been at a church praying, not going to a weapons shop.

The angel arrived at Damascus Arms Inc. She was here to refute an outrageous claim. The demon she had only briefly acquainted herself with stated that Heaven performed war crimes. This was a matter that was to be taken with absolute seriousness. She wondered if she should have alerted her superiors about this crazy rumor. She elected to keep her mouth shut in order to find the rumor's source. The first step was locating the man she heard it from. Surely via some interrogation and persuasion he would bend and point her in the right direction. Such claims tainted the reputation of Heaven.

And as a servant of Heaven, she just couldn't allow for that to exist.

Her footsteps echoed lightly as she stepped into the shop. It was nighttime; it was highly unlikely there would be customers poking in at this hour. It was much too late for that. She heard a few whispers as she walked into the underground. Apparently this street was a bad place to cause a ruckus. Vivi could only wonder why. Not wanting to wander in further without permission, she remained in the main room and examined the weapons on display. Such excellent craftsmanship....she was not really one for swords, but the blade she saw was quite beautiful. Appeared quite deadly too.

Her words against his rumors would certainly have that effect. At least so she thought.

@Maximum_Fatalis

Unfortunately for Vivienne, she did not have access to the angelic archives. She didn't have the clearance level for it. This fact always bothered her, but she figured that she would eventually find out. She would just have to keep working and getting promoted. Knowledge was valuable; she greatly desired it. It was why she was such a history nerd. However, this hidden knowledge was dangerous and could pose a threat to the superiors and to Vivi herself. For now though, she was left without any evidence to prove his claims were ridiculous, so she was stuck with just questioning.

"You seem very sure of yourself and your knowledge."

That smirk of his made her want to punch him, but that would not be appropriate. Besides, she could sense that this demon's power was far from minuscule. She would have to prepare for one intense fight, and she wasn't sure if she felt up to that at the moment. He was also intelligent too; the shop was rigged with advance security systems. With this, no one could spy on the two of them or accidentally walk into the shop in the middle of their conversation. Something told her that this wouldn't be a quick chat.

"So how about you express to me the reason why you feel so confident in these ridiculous claims of forced brainwashing?"

If it had to do with his source, then he would be forced to reveal where he obtained his knowledge. If it had to do with experience, then the burden of proof would lie on him. If there was no reason, then it would have to be dismissed as simple tomfoolery. Perhaps it would also signal possible racist beliefs. However, despite knowing so little about Damascus, something inside her told her that he wasn't just some salty demon. He had information, and it clearly made him think that he had the upper hand. All she could do was pry it out of him.

@Maximum_Fatalis

...Talking to the proof right now? What did he mean he was talking to the proof? His statement threw her off entirely. Was he implying what she think he was? If he was...then that concerned her greatly. Not only was he attacking Heaven, but he was insisting that she was actually a demon. How could that be? How could she have been a demon?! While she held no hatred for demons, her belief in her angelic state is what motivated her to work towards the ideal angel. If she actually wasn't a real one.....then what? Then why was she fighting her very nature?

Then she contemplated the possibility. If this were the case, then this may explain the struggle she had with certain desires. She found that she was...more lustful than the average angel. While she never acted upon it, she found it quite the fight to hold back her urges. She never understood why she liked sex so much; she didn't remember ever engaging in sex. Plus there was the factor of the mysterious archives. No matter how many promotions she had, she just didn't have clearance to there. Why was that? No one ever gave her an answer.

"....How do you know that I'm the proof?"

Vivi had a feeling there was an interesting story behind this. Her memory was still locked away, but her initial intentions changed. She went from trying to expose a lie to wanting to know the truth.

@Maximum_Fatalis

Vivienne listened to the story closely. Her eyes remained focused on Donny as he told the story of Vanessa Malphas. She was a powerful sorceress that fought in the war alongside him. ....She also did other things with him? Was she...his girlfriend? Was that what happened? She tried her hardest to recall something by examining the weapon shop owner's face. There was a level of familiarity there, but she couldn't pull up anything specific. She wondered what else she could look at. At the same time, there was a great deal of doubt due to her lack of memory, but why would he lie?

"Do you have any pictures? Any records? Something that I can read or look at?"

Even if this wasn't her, she found herself interested in knowing the mystery behind this disappearing demon. Were there others like her? Was this all true? Was Heaven really capable of being this cruel for the sake of its benefit? The foundation of her beliefs was slowly shattering, but she needed more to go off of if she was going to remember something. However, the name Vanessa also had a ring of familiarity to it...why was that? Did she know Vanessa? ...Was she indeed Vanessa?

"Was there anything else you knew about Sorceress Malphas?"

She spoke with a formality about her past identity as if it was a stranger. Pretty bizarre really, but she didn't know that yet. Her head felt a slight pain.

@Maximum_Fatalis

"I can't go to Hell. My superiors would raise the alarm.....I could even be accused of attempting to do something that would be worthy of stripping me of my status."

This still meant a lot to the angel for this was all she knew for one hundred years. While that wasn't much time for demons or angels, it felt increasingly significant to her because of her not remembering beyond that. Now she was left to process the fact that quite possibly she could have been lied to for a century for the purpose of serving Heaven's needs. Before she felt honored to be serving Heaven. Now she felt sickened by the idea of being a brainwashed lapdog. But she still didn't know for sure. She still didn't have the proof. Vanessa could have actually been dead.

Her eyes continued watching him. Vivi noticed the smirk faded away. He was taking this seriously now. Well, not like he wasn't before, but it seemed like he took enjoyment out of messing with her earlier. However, now he seemed bothered by something. Something within his thoughts was getting to him, and she felt the urge to comfort the shop owner. Vivienne stepped over and gently reached out to touch his arm. Her hand would caress his arm in an upward motion as it slid to his shoulders. Her other hand went to touch him as well.

The woman spoke not a word as she patiently waited for him to answer her. Then he talked about Vanessa. She....honestly sounded like almost the opposite of what she was now. Truly this Vanessa lacked inhibitions. She....kind of envied that, actually. Suddenly he mentioned another unexpected fact: she was a devoted mother. She was a mom? Wait, that meant that she had a family. She had kids. She had children.

Where were her children?

The angel trembled as her hands stopped trying to soothe Donny. Her eyes widen with horror. A massive migraine kicked in. Her lips shook as she tried to speak.

"She....had kids?"

Heaven separated a woman from her children?! That couldn't be! No.....suddenly the headache worsen. A giant hammer pounded on her brain. The pain was so bad that it brought her to her knees. Her teeth clenched as images rapidly flowed inside her mind. She suddenly saw herself looking over children. Children that she remembered. Babies that she breastfed. Toddlers that she played with. Kids that she hugged. They weren't kids from Manta Carlos or Heaven; no...she could tell from some of the scenes that they were in a different place. A place that she thought she had never been to but had heard about. She couldn't believe it.

They were in Hell.

"....Don-Don....."

She steadily began to remember. She even spoke to the demon via a nickname he would recognize. A distraught expression plagued her face.

"Where are my kids?"

The woman began to acknowledge them as hers. This life as hers. She was Vanessa Malphas. She was the missing sorceress from a century ago. This was the crime inflicted upon her.

Her whispers turned into manic shrieks that echoed throughout the shop.

"DON-DON, WHERE ARE MY KIDS?!"

She roared in a seething rage unbecoming of an angelic being. She began to break down as tears flowed down her face. Both eyes turned into mini waterfalls as she cried. She still could not get up from the pain. The magic blocking her memories was still fighting back, keeping her from recalling everything. The feeling of sickness gathered within her stomach. The world felt dizzier each second.

"Where the fuck are my kids?!"

The emotion of panic was laced throughout her furious tone. She could feel so many emotions at once, and it was overwhelming. How could they do this to her? How could anyone do this to her? How could this happen? How could she let this happen?

How could she forget her children?

@Maximum_Fatalis