shatteredservice | Deal with the Devil?

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Deal with the Devil?

It is still very early, though the reason that Dia is already up is not because he can't sleep, but because he knows it will be better to get his call to The Mage's Association done and over with by the time Set wakes up. That way if he does end up upset, he will hopefully have time to bleed off the stress before either Set or The Beast can pick up on it. The last thing Dia wants is to have to deal with bringing The Beast down after having had a stressful talk with The Association.

Because he knows this isn't going to go well. He knows the kind of shit they are going to tell him and he knows they are probably not going to buy the geis story one bit. It would be great if they did, but he isn't very confident they will. It would mean showing some common sense and decency--two things he's pretty sure they don't have.

Dia turns the phone over in his hands for a few minutes working up the nerve to dial the number. It is silly, really. He's charged into armies in the past with no worries; he fought off Caster's monster without blinking, but this simple phone call is giving him pause.

Dia sighs and sets the phone down to take one last sip of tea from the mug sitting on the bar. He runs his hand through his hair nervously, and then picks the phone back up dialing the number before he can find another reason to delay.

The phone rings for a few moments before there is a click on the line that Dia knows means he's being transferred. When the Association let everyone go out to live their lives, they were all given a number that would directly connect them to those within The Association who dealt with servant affairs.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he still doesn't have to talk to a secretary before he is put through to someone who can actually do something for him. Dia can't help but cringe at the fake cheer in her voice.

"Good morning, Cu Chulainn. What can we do for you?"

Dia isn't surprised that she knows what house is calling. He's always suspected that the number not only was a direct line, but also identified who they were. He's also not surprised that they assume that it's Set calling. After all, Set always said that they weren't going to talk to him if he could help it.

"Actually, this is Diarmuid. Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. He and I live together," Dia corrects her.

"Oh, Diarmuid, my apologies. We were told that you wouldn't be talking with us so I just assumed..."

Dia waves off her concern. It's just as fake as everything else, "It's fine and this is a different circumstance. Could I talk to someone in Affairs, please?"

"Has something happened?" Her voice is suddenly too eager. "You are fully aware of the details of your arrangement. If we need to arrange a detain..."

"You do not," All the politeness evaperates from Dia's voice and is replaced with just a hint of anger. "I just want to speak with someone in Servant Affairs."

"I would not advise trying to hide an incident, Diarmuid. It could easily lead to a violation of your contract. I'm sure you don't want that."

"I'm not hiding anything," Dia's voice is low and just a little dangerous, not that the secretary seems to notice. "I merely wish to talk with someone in Servant Affairs. Transfer me."

"Please understand, Diarmuid that there are many things The Association wants to talk to you about and haven't been able to since Cu Chulainn has insisted that we not talk to you."

"And you are not qualified to talk to me about any of them," Dia points out. "Now do your job and transfer me."

The secretary starts to say something else, but seems to decide against it. A moment later, Dia is relieved to hear a buzz as he is finally put through to Servant Affairs.

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"I think at this rate, it would be easier asking him than you."

Diarmuid is either deliberately witholding the information, or he honestly does not know about his own condition. On the other hand, the Beast seems all too willing to talk.

"Who knows? Maybe if he explains well enough, we can consider submitting to some of his requests."

Dia narrows his eyes at The Beast who is sitting just a short way away from him. He's finally stopped laughing, but the grin on his face doesn't make Dia feel any better.

"Are you sure you want to talk to him? I honestly don't know what he is going on about. It may be just a waste of time," Dia points out. He's actually feeling a little sick at the thought of handing the phone back over to The Beast. He had worked so hard to get her to consider pulling back the agents the Association had watching them. Now, Dia actually half expected to have some Enforcers break down their door any minute.

The Beast just sits there calmly despite his grin and despite Dia's obvious discomfort, holding out his hand.

After a moments pause, Dia reluctantly hands the phone over to him. At the same time, he mouths the words, "Be good."

The way The Beast's grin widens almost makes Dia snatch the phone back, but before he can The Beast jumps up and away from him, putting the phone to his ear, "Yeeeessss?"

"I'll be straightfoward. What is this "darker" thing you're talking about and how have you encountered it?"

The Beast laughs a little to himself, "You don't know what the dark is? That thing that corrupts everything? The thing that broke the Throne? What have you been doing so long? You're even more useless than I thought!"

"Broke the Throne!" Dia's exclamation can be heard clearly though he is some distance from the phone at the moment. "Now I know you are just talking insanity. No one knows what broke the Throne. Most certainly not you! Now give me the phone and let Set back up. I'm done."

"That's too bad, Little Bird," The Beast's voice is suddenly darker, more dangerous. "I'm just starting."

It was amazing, the amount of information he was giving away.

"You know what broke the Throne?"

Once again, her cool facade is broken. Excitement has crept into her voice.

"If this...thing is present within Diarmuid, then is it present within other heroes? Can the Throne be reconstituted if this thing is removed?"

The Beast breaks into uncontrolled laughter again and it goes on for quite a bit before he finally stops and composes himself, "Excites you doesn't it? Do you really think you meaningless mortals have any hope of recreating something that the World itself created? You don't have that power and neither do we.

"However, I will tell you this. Yes, there is part of that thing that broke the Throne still in my Little Bird. And if it is something that the Holy Sword of Light couldn't remove completely what makes you think you have any hope of removing it?"

"Stop this! Just stop it! There is nothing inside of me!" Dia's voice is strained, almost in tears. "Why are you lying about this? Don't you care that they will take me from you if you keep this up?"

"They won't," The Beast's voice drops in tone so that it is almost like a dagger, "because if they try to take you from me, I will take us both from this world. Geis be damned."

"Is there anything that would specifically provoke this thing into activating?"

If the Beast is going to be cryptic about that thing's nature, then she will skip to the next question.

"No, because there is nothing to activate! Please stop this!" There is a scuffle as Dia drops to his knees and buries his head against The Beast's leg. Even with the muffling, the tears in his voice are obvious, "If you are trying to get me to admit to the dark feelings still inside of me, I will! I still feel anger and betrayal and there are times when I feel like I'm worthless because of that! Now stop! We can discuss this later...just not now."

The Beast pauses, dropping one hand to rest on Dia's head while the other hand lets the phone fall away from his ear though not so much that his next words can't be heard, "Now was that really so hard, Little Bird?"

Dia makes a small broken sound against The Beast's leg, but doesn't say anything.

For a moment, The Beast's face softens and then he brings the phone back to his ear, "See, you should have listened. He was telling you the truth. All that I just said was a load of bullshit. Congratulations for falling for it so hard. It pretty much confirmed everything I feel about your little Association."

There is a sudden pause and a shifting that can't be heard over the phone. What can be heard a moment later is a soft confused sound and then a much louder exclamation, "Shit!"

Set doesn't notice the phone in his hand right away. He is too focused on gathering his sobbing lover into his arms. Only once Set's got Dia there and is rocking him, soothingly rubbing his back with his free hand, does the blue haired man notice what is in his other hand.

There is longer string of swear words before Set manages to calm himself and bring the phone to his ear, "You still there?"

As she listens to the events on the other end, she finds herself rubbing her temple.

"That was completely unnecessary."

Not only had he wasted her time with false information, but he had left his partner a sobbing mess. She isn't sure which matter leaves her more frustrated.

"And I was only asking so I inform my Enforcers on how to avoid provoking him."

"Avoid provoking who to what?" Set asks though he is paying more attention to trying to calm Dia than talk to her. "You realize you're not talking to The Beast now, right? This is Set and I have no idea what just happened. Apparently, this is one of those times I don't get to remember anything. So nice of him, don't you think?"

Set doesn't really wait for her to answer though he shifts the phone so he can hold it against his shoulder to free up his hands instead of just setting it down. Gently, he cups Dia's head in his hands and whispers to him. The words are too faint to be heard clearly, but their tone is loving and concerned.

"Your beast side harrassed your partner and fed me false information. If he had continued his facade for even a little longer, I believe it could have created a messy situation."

She remains quiet for a second, listening to Cu Chulainn comforting his partner.

"...Is he alright?"

"A messy situation? What the hell was going on?" Set sounds angry and confused all at the same time. "He was just going to call you to tell you about the geis. How did that become a messy situation?"

Set's thumbs gently stoke the sides of Dia's face wiping away the tears that are on his cheeks. His lover isn't actively crying anymore, but he's not talking either and his eyes are broken and distant.

"All right is really such a subjective thing..."

"Your Beast side took the phone and told me that there was a corruption inside your partner and it was being provoked. I was ready to order my Enforcers to apprehend him if that were the case. Please, stay away from those lies next time."

She sighs.

"Would you like me to hang up now and give you some time. You can call back, even if you might need to be put on hold."

"Fuck, I'm sorry. He really did make a mess of things, didn't he?" From the tone of his voice, it's a little hard to tell if Set is taking to Dia or to her, but the next words are for her definitely for her. "My Baby's starting to come around if you want to wait a little longer. I don't know that he would want things to end like this. He was really hoping we could come to some kind of understanding to help each other."

"Yes, give the phone back to him. If he is capable of doing it, I would like to continue the discussion."

"Okay, just be aware that I'm going to be listening. So no shit," Set looks to Dia who looks back at him with tired though slightly more focused eyes. "Baby, she wants to talk to you some more."

"Fine," Dia's voice is flat, though it does waver just slightly. He takes the phone back from Set and after a moment, puts it to his ear, "Yes?"

"Sorry."

Her tone is too calm for her to be sincere, but she still offers an apology out of formality.

"You are quite sure that there is nothing evil within you, correct? You feel nothing stirring when you are provoked in any way?"

Dia ignores the apology. He can easily tell just how insincere it is, "As far as I know, no there is not. What you need to understand, though, is that I have always felt emotion strongly but until these wars started, I never knew hatred or rage so when I feel them now it is like something dark is stirring inside of me. All I can guess is that is what The Beast was sensing. That makes more sense than there being some evil force inside of me. Why would something like that be inside of me anyway? How would it have come to be there?"

"You would know about that better than I. Anyway, for now, I will see about lessening the number of Enforcers. Please do not give me any reason to increase their number again."

Dia nods from where he is curled into Set's arms, "I thank you. You really have no reason to still consider my request so I am grateful for the second chance. You won't get in trouble for this, will you? Perhaps there is another question I could answer for you to try and sweeten the deal for the Association?"

Set grumbles a little under his breath, "Don't offer them too much, Babe. They will take you for all they can."

She taps her fingers against the table, thinking.

"I would like to know the purpose of your journal. Can you tell me that?"

Dia is quiet for several seconds trying to decide how exactly to answer her question without giving away everything. He is pretty sure that will cause her to take back her offer and Dia knows there is no way they will get a third chance.

His pause causes Set to give him a questioning look, but Dia just shakes his head no to keep him from saying anything. While he loves Set very much, there are times when he wishes that his lover would think a little more before he speaks.

"The journal was made to help Set and I find other servants to speak with and share stories with. As I am sure you are aware, there aren't really many other servants in the area anymore and with Set and I practically under house arrest, we don't have the chance to go and find others like us. The journal seemed like a good way to do that.

"We are lonely. Surely, you can understand that? And while talking with normal humans is great, there are just some things you can only talk about with fellow Heroic Spirits."

"I understand."

For once, she sounds sincere and sympathetic, as if she has experience with the topic.

"As long as it does not interfere with the Assocation's operations, by all means, leave it running."

Dia blinks, honestly surprised by her reaction, "T-thank you. But aren't you worried about how strangely it acts? Are you sure such a thing should be allowed to continue existing? You never know what else it might try to record. What if it records your agents?

"Not that I believe that you could actually do anything to stop it. Ever since its creation it's worked to preserve itself. There is something working through it. I just wish I knew what it was and why it chose me."

"If you have nothing to do with what it records, I do not think you can be blamed. I can try to find it and see what you've recorded so far, but I doubt I will be able to make any sense of it."

Human technology was a bother. This is why her phone is still rather primitive by modern standards.

Deal with the Devil?

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