There's a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit and it goes by the name of London...

At the top of the hole sit a privileged few making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo, turning beauty into filth and greed...

There's a hole in the world like a great black pit and it's filled with people who are filled with shit and the vermin of the world inhabit it.



I give you the darkest, creepiest and possibly smelliest place for a drink.
The bar is past history now we are in the worlds traditional piss up spot! London!

*Lady D kicks open the door to a decrepit and rather bleak spot known only because it stocked every kind of drink known to man. Oh and the bartender was something of a warlock too.*

"Vodka!"

*The most common place and over dramatic entrance over with. Lady D pulled up a bar stool*

*having just beared witness to the most over dramatic entrance, Aido turns to face the loud to-be-drunkard*

"Vodka? You come into a place like this where you can have ANY drink ever concocted and you just want vodka?!"

*turns back and takes a sip off his exquisite bourbon and coke*

"Who bit your nose off? I am a regular here and when I say Vodka I mean the real stuff. I mean the last Vodka ever made by man before the great wars and stored throughout the time when man went to war in great battle ships. In vessels of the sea that took the the sky. The stuff that has aged nicely and was refined over and over again until it is so pure and true that those who dare to drink weep. They weep as they tell of its beauty. That is why I drink Vodka."

Lady D then turned up her nose at the man and scooped the vodka up from the bar and swallowed it in one. The very taste of it brought a smile to her lips.

Samael opened the door only just wide enough for him to slip through and stood off to the side, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light as he scanned the room for a vacant booth. Seeing none, he instead headed for a slightly-less-crowded end of the bar with a scowl firmly on his face. He seated himself with a stool on either side of him and handed a wad of cash to the bartender.

"Whiskey, straight. As much as that wad gets me, for the rest of the night."

Ugh, London. He'd prefer to be back in Canada, where he didn't need to order, the bartenders already knew what he preferred...and knew when to duck.

"His drinks are on me" Lady D told the bartender with a glance at the new comer "He looks like he wants to drown his sorrows more than any other. Least he can do is to do it on someone else's money like the rest of us cheapskates"

Samael shrugged at the gesture and took back the wad of cash. Whether it was the cash he'd pinched from several small companies and withdrawn from cashpoints all over the city or the tab of someone else, it was all someone else's money anyway. His own would only be touched in certain emergencies...and as a way to throw the various authorities off his trail. Hence, not used at all in London, or even the UK.

The first whiskey was placed in front of him, and he quickly finished it, slamming the glass down for the next one.

"Now that man is my kind of drinker. Another for me" Lady D informed the bar tender and downed it in one. She turned her back to the bar and rested her elbows up on it. Leaning back she examined the ceiling. Wearing a long black cloak with red detailing. Under it she wore a fine gown as if she had been due to go to a ball but ditched last minute possible. The whole thing screamed money and lots of it. The real question was whose money?

"What brings you to the hole in the face of the world?" She asked the man having heard a distinctly foreign accent to his voice whilst ordering.

"Stuff," Samael replied shortly, tossing back his second and third glasses of whiskey. "And things," he added, halfway through his fourth.

He nursed his fifth, leaning his elbows on the bar as he contemplated how long he would have to stay in this hellhole before he could go back home to his Beast, and Velia, and Richard. This place was filthy, and strange, and old, and he hated being so far from his 'toys'.

"Bartender I do believe I need a new chair" Lady D said getting off the stool to look the man in the eye. Her eyes flashed all black for a second. The man nodded and from a back room three imps ran into the room bowed to the bartender and then opened a portal and dragged a throne through it. Lady D sat down into it as the imps all took to their puny wings and left the room. With a fuss at the door when they all got stuck trying to get through at once.

"So stuff, tell me about stuff and things too. I love to hear the tales and seeing as how we are all probably stuck here until the dimension storm blows over may as well"

Samael eyed his whiskey, shrugged and tossed the rest down, slamming the glass down again.

"Something a little stronger, barkeep?" he grunted, resolving to ignore the strangeness. It was enough that his dreams were going funky, now life - or something like it - was screwing him around too? Well, screw that. Time to get drunk enough to ignore it all.

He started unconsciously whistling snatches of a peculiar tune.

---

The door slammed open and the doorway was empty for a moment, and then the door was closed with a red-winged male standing just inside it. There was no movement between open and closed; it just was. His eyes glanced over everyone in the bar, hand hovering by his hip where a sword might once have been.

A moment later he descended the few steps to the main floor, and moved over to an unoccupied table near the bar. He glanced at the door nervously every so often, as though dreading what might come through it.

He made a peculiar gesture to the barkeep, who nodded, then moved out with a steaming red-blue-black drink that he settled carefully on the table before going back behind his bar.

Lady D now seated up on a throne on a slightly raised part of the floor where usually a band would be eyed the stranger as he started to whistle. She frowned and fished a monocle out of her pocket. She held it over one eye and looked at him again. Chuckling she shook her head.
"Stranger beings have walked into this bar but this night is going to take the cake. My personal view" she said and leaned back in the chair only to perk forward again as a winged being entered. She made a rather cat like sound.
If there a wolf whistles then this is the cat like equivalent.

"The company is certainly improving" she said and winked in the direction of the new comer.

"While the conversation is quite lacking," Fnydr retorted, taking a sip of his concoction and leaning back in his chair. He, Sintan and Tacbyen had just left after their last confrontation with Erua-...Nazaldeuh when the storm edge had hit and he'd lost track of all the others in the turbulence. They might have been blown to safety or, like him, drawn into the storm.

With his luck, E-...Nazaldeuh would arrive any minute.

---

Samael continued drinking.

"If you wish to remedy the problem with the conversationalism in this bar then I am all ears" Lady D said and for a brief moment she looked like a giant ear before flicking back exactly how she was. It was questionable whether she had changed on not really. Over by the bar the bottle of vodka picked itself up and sailed through the air. It tipped itself over the now floating glass and filled it before floating back to the bar.

Lady took no notice of this except to pick up the now full glass from the spot it had settled in upon the arm of the throne.
"Tell me your story. Anyone?"

"I fell. I rose. I fell twice more. End of story."

Fnydr drained his glass, slouching on his stool (chairs were really not good when you had wings sprouting from your back) as the potent mix took effect. Possibly the only beverage to truly affect angels and Vymmah, it was banned in most realms. Except, of course, here; which was in fact beholden to no realm in particular.

---

Samael shuddered as the vodka poured itself, and glanced curiously at the strangely-coloured drink the half-breed had. Maybe he needed something even stronger.

"Oi, barkeep. Strongest I can take. Four of them."

"He means that strongest that he can drink without ending up dead I am sure. Give him an Intergalatic gargle blaster" Lady D said with a very wide almost cherish cat grin on her face.

She took out the monocle again and looked at the winged stranger.
"Fell twice?" she said and tapped the glass against her lip thinking. It was riddle for her and her mind ticked about all the possibilities.
"I am going to say that falling over drunk does not count. Which means another dramatic fall. Ahhhh!" She said as it all managed to slot together in her mind.
"Love. How cruel it is" She smiled at him again "Infatuation is sooo much more fun"

The door opened and someone slipped through as quiet as a mouse. She looked about the room slightly fearful for a moment, then choose to wear a demeanor of someone whos having a nightmarish day. She slinked up to the bar a little unsteadily, taking a seat in the sudden silence.

Silence brought on by a girl slipping into this particular bar wearing a white and pink laced dress with a layered skirt and danty heels that wobbled beneath her unsteady steps. Though that illusion was brought to a stand still as the nearest glass on the bar sailed past the ear of the first person to whistle in her direction.

"If one more person tries to be all sweet and charming and nice I'm going to puke! Bartender, get me something that makes her vodka look weak and make it a triple!"

She pulled a large bill from her bra and slapped it down on the table, muttering and cursing worse than normal for her. Her eyes could kill at this point.

"Why don't we just make it a round of intergalatic gargle blasters for the whole room. My shout." Lady D said and grinned at everyone including the now slightly unamused bartender. He was used to strange folk in his bar but Lady D was still stranger than his usual customers. In fact despite her frequent visits he was not sure that he would ever get used to her.

"To sorrows and morrows. May you have many of the latter and your enemies suffer the former!" Lady D then drank to her own absurd toast.

She gave a stern glare at the bartender, "Make it a double gargle Blaster." She waited until the drink was before her, then picked it up and sipped it carefully and slowly with a look of annoyance all over her face. As the glass was finished, she put it down carefully on a placemat, trying to decide whether she wanted to smash the glass or simply throw it at a wall. "Bloody witches!"

Her eyes turned Lady D with a grin, "As the only person not to comment on my dress this evening, your in the benefit of receiving my most pleasant of company this evening. Perhaps you can let me buy the next round of drinks?"

She tried her best but the accursed magic was manipulating her words and actions into something more proper, well manured and charming. Though it didn't always work, the more she seemed to succeed in acting normal, the worse it became to overcome..

"Well now there is a tasty bit of magic. Tell me the tale of how it came to be and I might just consider removing it. I can do that" Lady D said leaning back in the throne looking at the room through the monocle as much as anything.

There was a brief moment of silence in which Lady D drew a small flute from one pocket. She played a single tune upon it and from nowhere a troupe' of three winged angels appeared. They bore musical instrument under their arms and halos above their heads. If it wasn't for the whole halo thing they might be taken for angels from heaven. No these were dream angels. Almost heavenly but just not quiet. They sat themselves down and began to play.

He entered unobtrusively, took his place at the far end of the bar, away from all the other patrons.

The barkeep wandered up and he whispered " Can you do me a bloody-mary in a shot glass and give me another glass full of ice?"

He hung his head and muttered to himself as his request appeared before him.

He looked up and into the barkeeps eyes, smiling warmly he thanked the barkeep profusely and began to pour the shot into the glass.

He continued pouring the shot into the glass untill it was full to the brim. Setting the still full shot glass to the side he began to sip at the now chilled bloody mary.

" Oh barkeep, can you leave the Tabasco? " He poured the Tabasco into the glass until the bloody-mary had turned a dark red.

He picked a napkin from the pile on the bar and began to clean his glasses.

She raised an eye to the angelic troupe, but at this point, she just shook her head. "It seems my neighbor is an old decrepit witch of unknown repute. Her talents includes many things besides herbs and old wise sayings though. For almost a year now she has been complaining about the levels of noise in my apartment, so I decided to make her a batch of my famous cookies as a apology gift. It seems the old bag doesn't like weed cookies though. She came to visit one day and the old bag placed a curse upon me. I have to be kind and courteous and well spoken, all proper. I even have to dress like a flipping ballerina all the time! And to makes matters worse, the old bag said if I got the magic broken, she'd call my bloody mother! And thats the last thing I need! Who else do you think pays for all of my charming habits?"

She scowled and slammed a fist into the bar, holding up 2 fingers. She was just beginning tonights drinking.

"I can always drag her kicking and screaming from the realm. By the hair too. At least so long as she isn't a being greater than myself, or I can tweak the spell. At least you won't have to be nice. You can be all things full of spice" Lady D laughed and made the vodka soar over to her and pour another drink.

"Ask me when I'm drunk & I'll give an answer. Until then I'll play it safe and leave the old bag be. My real estate agent however, he forget to mention I was living next to a witch! Think you can do something about it? I'd like to see him in a dress" She grinned wicked and attempted to skull her first glass, fighting the cursed magic attempting to make her drink it like a dainty cup of tea. By the second she gave in and simply began to sipping her drink, its taste lost upon her after her efforts to resist. "So what are you anyway?"

"Who me?" Lady D said innocently as the flicked a piece of paper through the air. Instead of it failing to make the distance it flew neatly across the room. It settled in front of the other girl. It was a charming picture of her real estate agent looking more uncomfortable and embrassed to be caught in a flowery summer dress and heels.

"What makes you think that I am anymore than I look like I am?" she asked with a smile as she innocently sipped her vodka. Her eyes breifly flashed red and then back to normal.

A female presence Wanders into the room, a long black hooded cloak covering her features, its got a strange lump in it almost as if there were wings hidden under it. she appears to be wearing a black and flame red version of the Japanese miko's traditional outfit. she also had a scabbard, complete with sword.

She sits down at the bar, as far away from any men as she can get. anyone paying attention would see a fiery wing tip, and a fire feather tipped cat tail poking out from under the cloak as she moves to sit on the stool.

"Give me the strongest thing you've got" she says in a rather hoarse voice.

"Thats another round of gargle blasters then" Lady D said and as she looked at the new comer through her monocle. The angelic band struck up another song behind her and she crossed her legs. The dangling foot swinging to the music.
"Nice tail" she told the new comer with a wink. Looking at the man drinking a bloody mary she made a small bottle appear on the bar in front of him.

"More kick than Tabasco. Its like downing some hellfire. Or was it magma. I forget what it gets compared to"

she sighed and pulled off her cloak, saying "Guess there's no point hiding it, since you so kindly shouted it out for the whole room to hear". Underneath the the cloak was a pair of large feathery wings, that appeared to be composed of fire. a cats tail was tipped in feathers of a similar type. a set of cat ears, again tipped in fire feathers, adorned her head, if you looked closely, you would notice that she had a set of human ears as well.

Her body was streaked with dried blood and battle field grime. Her clothes were torn and several parts of them were missing all together. the sword by her side looked well used.

"Sara Jean Tanner, Head Warrior-Mistress, for what used to be the Light-Phoenix brigade." she turned to the black clad woman who had talked to her. "And you are?"

"She didn't announce it that loudly dear, but perhaps it won't matter none the same. Though your hardly the most unusual being here, nor are you my Lady. Dragon Dancer at your service." She gave a wicked grin, her balance slightly off as her hair began to burn in matching colors to the newest of arrivals. "Some people call me a mimic, but thats just a shadow of the truth. If it weren't for this curse, I might be something completely else. Until then however, lets share a drink and forget your entrance." Her eyes gave a warm smile of one whos just given up on a day gone too far and decided upon a night that goes far farther than the day ever had before.

"Bartender, If I'm not completely drunk before then next while, I'll be placing this same very curse upon you that I now bare!" She drew another bill from her bosom and left it to be found in the bars filthy surface.

"I am the chill that runs down your spine. I am that half seen thing in the shadows at night. I am the feeling that cause the hair on your neck to stand up. I am the secret keeper. The sweet diviner. The blood fury. The night terror. The angel lament. I am me. My name comes and goes like whisper upon the wind. You have the utter delight of speaking to the Queen of the realm where all things are possible. Where all things begin, end and are in the middle most of the time. Queen of Dreams. But you can call me Lady D"

Lady D said with a sweet grin for the room as around her throne black shadows swirled up and around it. She stood up and the angels bowed to her and handed her two things. The first was a clear bottle of some sparkling liquid and the second was a blood red stone. The bottle flew around the room adding a drop of its contents to every glass in the room.
"I give you my power and my gift to good drinking companions. Sound and sweet sleep. A rare thing for people such as you I have no doubt" She said and took a seat again. The bartender dropped the shot glass he had been cleaning. He was staring. He had known that the mysterious Lady D was an utter enigma a mystery. Something powerful but the queen of a realm? No way he saw that coming. She acted more like a royal jester than a queen.

"My queen, I give you my blessing. As your watcher of all things, those that are and aren't, I smile at your realm and all within it. Allow me to share my greatest memories and moments of time with you my Lady. They will be an appeasing to your grand power and gestures within. Until then however, permit me to curse wickedly and drink myself to oblivion of the fresh morning in this decripid realm you have called forth."

She grinned and spun a small bubble of thought towards the women. Her smile soon turned to grimace though as she realised what was in her glass. "If I drink this, I'll sleep soundly? But what ever should I do my Lady, if I wish to end a night in anything but a sound sleep? What if I wish for desire, dream, fancy, madness and chaos to step up and take a night into my life, letting me walk their path of eternity with curiousity and a mad smile? However shall I continue? Should I perhaps pass this gift to another?" Her eyes gleamed with a wild fire, passion and fire mixing with her accursed state to form something suitable even to her long tailed tongue.

"Ahhh, so your the mysterious Lady D that I have heard so much about." Sara sat on her stool, and downed her Gargle Blaster in one shot. At the astonished look some of the other patrons gave her, she said "What... you didn't think I was human did you? Sorry kids But I've been drinking since long before you granddaddy's, granddaddy's father was but a twinkle in his father's eye."

She turned to Dragon Dancer "That is true... but technically I'm not supposed to drink... their trying to cure the habit... if they find out I was here I'm going to be in a lot of hot water..."

She muttered under her breath "Stupid high ups... never seen a day of combat in their lives... never seen a comrade die and been unable to help... never died them selves..."

She turned back to Lady D "I thank you for the gift... though you should know that I don't need sleep. Though I delight in the fact that should I choose to sleep tonight I shall be free from my nightmares."

She stretched, flexing wings and tail, being careful not to hit anyone. a loud pop was heard as her bones settled back into place. she looked at the barkeep "Another one please".

Dragon Dance smiled and lent a small ball of energy. "Did you know, I have a talent of balance. In trade for my current misfortune I can lend you the luck of a being with more lives than our lady here. Still I think you've already found your luck for this eve. Perhaps a moonlight walk later will bring about even more eventualities besides some luck lent by a stranger. "So Sara, what do yo do besides inspire fire amongst the hearts of others?" She took a swig from her drink, despite its gift, and smiled. This would do when her night was done. Not that she planned for it to be done anytime soon.

"And whilst I'm here, My good Lady, May I ask what brings you to haunt such a delicate place as this so often? It can't surely be just the drinks. With your talents thats hardly a restriction in wherever you go." She suddenly realized her tongue was being more polite than she had ever realized she could. She grinned a mad wild grin and began to curse, "Fuckity fuck! That blasted curse of politeness is turning my words into something that would make my Mother pale & my Father feint! I can't even curse about cursing!" She scowled, her thoughts turning dark enough to make a sailor whimper.

"Then perhaps for one night you would like the blessing of a loose tongue? A tongue that chooses its own phrasing is hardly what I would call a tongue but rather a puppet controlled by someone else's will. I am here to seek what everyone needs now and then. Inspiration. I am looking to create new dreams, more terrible nightmares and such things that will blow peoples minds should the remember it when they wake. essentially I am bored and this is amusing as anything right now" she said and smirked.

Someone else entered the bar and Lady D then looked a little bit sheepish. The new comer was tall wearing a long dark cloak with the hood up as seemed fashionable in this bar.
"How easily I am forgotten" he said to Lady D who actually looked a little bit like she had put her foot into her mouth.

Sara sighed "What do I do? I follow my orders" She downed another Intergalactic Gargle Blaster in one go. "I fight... Constantly...". She looked up at Dragon Dancer "I lead a group of... beings. Currently we go by the name Light-Phoenix Brigade. We fight almost constantly... some days I cant even remember what we're fighting for. Its like all there's ever been is the fight... nothing else" her voice had begun to take on a far away tone.

She was staring into space at this point. suddenly she looked down at the empty glass in her hand 'Barkeep get me another one... and better make it PanGalactic this time. No way am I gonna get drunk on a mere Intergalactic"

"Your offer of a night free to speak and choose my own words is intriguing. I'd accept but I'm sure it would take me far too long to articulate myself enough to say as such. For now however I think this one needs help more. A group of warriors? How intriguing. Allow me to offer my services in aiding ones woes and wearies from the field of battle. Please extend a wing towards me and I shall administer to it." She was actually smiling with a look of sorrow for this one, her words forgotten amidst the new information. Her hands reached expertly for a wing, guiding and stretching it out wards, where she began to smooth each feather, and stroke the bones with a tenderness and gentleness not normally found upon one with such a foul tongue and obvious and unusual lifestyle.

The new comer Smirked at Lady D and stalked over.
"Ahh" Lady D said "Ahh hello, nice to see you Daru" She said and smiled at him sweetly
"How easily I am forgotten. I leave your side for scarcely more than a moon and already you are seeking company with others" His voice was cold as ice and smooth as silk. He lowered his hood. Long black hair ran down his back. Pale skin and black eyes that were focused on Lady D.
"Now Daru you know I am not just yours" She said as Daru shot a glare at the men in the room. Glaring at each intently. Before moving over to Lady D's side.
"But if I am to be yours should you not cease seeking others?" He asked her as he approached leaned over her on the throne and ran a long sharp nail down her cheek. She whispered something in his ear and he took a step back from her. With a chilling look for her he sat in the second smaller throne that appeared.

Lady D's eyes flashed a blue breifly as she looked towards the poor tongue tied girl.
"Speak freely if you have the will to do so" she said and turned to look at Daru. The bar tender bought over a glass of something thick and red handing it to Daru.
"You have seen much battle and sorrows. I can erase that" Daru said to Sara. He got up and walked right past Lady D to caress the wing and sit next to Sara.

"Pffssht," Fnydr snorted at Daru's glare. "Ye've nowt t' fear frae me. Yon lass be pretty enow, but me own lady love be striking indeed."

Fnydr's hand snuck down to unconsciously rub his arse gingerly; striking wasn't just a description of his ex-lover's looks (though as with all angels, she had been beautiful indeed), Er-...Nazaldeuh had a fondness for lightning, especially when she was irritated or angry - two emotions that she inevitably felt whenever he was around. It was understandable, he supposed, given their history together...

---

Samael drank some more and, inevitably for one so human, eventually passed out. For several hours.

---

A candle flared for a moment before a spark flew up into the rafters. Strangely enough, it seemed to be giggling...

"Its more what you have to fear from her, beware the attentions and affections of the mistress of any realm. Dream is exceptionally generous with affection and destruction alike." Daru said dryly and Lady D fluttered her eye lashes at him
"What makes you think my gaze lies that way Daru?" she asked him and he gave her a deadpan look.
"Because He is an exangel and pretty"

"I'm still an angel," Fnydr pointed out, somewhat annoyed at their disregard of his disinterest. "I'm jus'...no' on th' best o' terms wi' th'Almighty."

He paused, before Daru's choice of phrasing impacted and he frowned. "An' I'm no' pretty, tis no' a word as describes a man ye ken. Could ye no' use words as is a tad more appropriate?"