The Brothers Grim (Phae, Casey)

Things at the Serendipity had been quiet for the last little bit as will happen on occasion. Unfortunately as we are all aware those slow, peaceful times should be cherished as they are all too fleeting and come far too infrequently.

The threshold opened and admitted two men into the haven of ‘lost souls’. Two men that would have passed unnoticed to most individuals, however to those that have means of perception more attuned then those possessed by mortals these two men stood out from the pack due to the intense aura surrounding each. The energy that was held in check by the clothe and flesh they surrounded themselves with, was quite substantial when possessed by a single being and now was staggering in its volume in the presence of two such beings.

The two men quickly scanned the bar in such of the object of their ongoing quest and not immediately seeing her decided to take seats at a table to the left of the door and deeper into the room then the bar extended. The two started the casual conversation of two individuals used to each others company when the larger of the two noticed for the first time that sitting at the table next to then was a smallish man, a dwarf perhaps, dressed in a miner’s garb. He looked almost to be petrified; as if no one had disturbed him nor had had any type of interaction with him for a period of time longer then is easily explained. The table was clean, unadorned by dishes or any other type of accoutrement associated with the consumption of food. The dwarf miner just sat there with the look of one who had maintained a position of observation long enough to have seen all that there was to see

“So what are we gonna do if she doesn’t want to come with us?”

“I don’t know. We’ll just hafta play it by ear I guess. My thoughts were that we were sent down here to see what she has been up to and just talk to her. I didn’t get the impression that we were supposed to bring her back. I thought that father wanted her to come back on her own.”

“Well yes, of course, father wants us to do everything of our own free will. He just seemed to be particularly hurt that she left with the others in the first place.”

“True. Whenever he does speak of her you can often detect a tone that does not fill his voice at any other time. She was, after all, placed by father in ‘his’ camp as the understudy to the Praise and Worship service. He must have seen that she would, by necessity, be spending a great deal of time away from home learning her craft.”

“Oddly enough I don’t see her around yet.” The smaller of the two men stated breaking the conversation and surveying the bar once more in hopes of seeing her. “I thought this was the most recent place she had been seen.”

“Fear not my brother, this realm has dampened your righteousness as happens to us all. I can still feel her, she is close at hand.”

“How about the gentleman behind the bar, what do you make of him?”

“He is Infernal touched, but I don’t believe he will cause us any concern. We were not told by father to expect any interference by Infernals. Father would most definitely have been aware of that possibility. Maybe we will have the opportunity to come back and take his measure when we have completed our current task, if he has been touched there cant be much left to his soul that is of any worth.”

“Ahh… but first things first. Casey has finally arrived.” He finished nodding his head toward the opposite end of the bar. It was there that Casey emerged from the double doors that separated the large common room from the back room that held the stores and a small grill.

The two most recent ‘lost souls’, both casually motioned to Casey to draw her attention.

Casey, for her part, stopped what she had intended to do. Visibly setting herself as one would that had begun to travel a road unintended, she set her jaw and resolved herself to the meeting to come. She easily walked over to the two men and inquired as to what the Serendipity had to offer on such a wonderfully sunny day.

Phae also noticed Casey’s reaction. He had know Casey for long enough to realize that she was not easily put off her game. Phae searched through his mind to list those things that could have the kind of effect on Casey he had just witnessed. Making the short list were beings that Phae had neither the will nor current disposition to meet face to face.

“Hello sister” the two gentlemen intoned simultaneously while nodding their heads at Casey as she stopped in front of their table.

Placing her towel and order pad atop the tray she carried she set the entire ensemble on the table. Looking at one then the other and back to the first she shifted her weight onto her back foot and crossed her arms across her chest. “Gabriel. Michael. What pray tell brings the two of you to my doorstep?” she queried.

The two ‘brothers’ immediately picked up on Casey’s tone. Looking at each other they both turned back toward Casey and raising and eyebrow. “Casey, dear sister, are you not happy to see us? It seems like an eternity since last we supped.”

Looking first at Gabriel then focusing in on Michael she said “Perhaps one of you Michael, dear brother. When you and Gabriel run in packs it can only mean that you are about doing father’s bidding.”

“Casey, that sounds as if you are taking an almost irreverent tone toward our father.” Gabriel replied.

“No Gabriel what you hear is not irreverence. It is rather the tone of one that has been cast out and forced to live on their own without the help of their father. I am doing quite well and have found my way. I do not need your help nor father’s intervention”

“But Casey, father wants you back.” Michael added.

“For more years then a human lifespan I asked, I cried…I did everything I could to let father know that I desperately wanted back into his house and you see where that has gotten me”

With intense interest Phae continued to observe the conversation between Casey and the two newest ‘lost souls’. His attention was drawn, against his will, to an elderly gentleman who entered the bar. The man quickly, despite his age, stepped up to the bar and looking Phaedrus in the eye said “Gimme a mug a date juice.”

Phae smoothly filled the man’s order and slid the mug in front of him.

“That’s the main reason I keep coming back to your place Phae. Well that and the fact that Casey works here.”

“How’s she doing?” Phae asked wiping the bar with his ever present bar towel.

“She learns fast and is not afraid to use her strength. The biggest obstacle is her inability to get angry at most things. Her celestial abilities are best controlled when she is angry. Unlike you she does better when she is angry.”