Since the war, Azrael had been quietly planning. His future, here, was becoming more and more permanent. The bloodthirst of the creatures of chaos pleased him, as did their hatred of Order and, more importantly, Mother. He appreciated the darkness of the cave, as well, the strange void-light that was now like a home to him, and the strength of the creatures he now surrounded himself with.

Here would be the perfect place, he thought, to raise his own.

He remembered experiencing it once, with the white-feathered one - Banshy was its name. Seeing himself within it, his shape and magic, a part of him carried on...oh, that was wonderful. But it hadn't lasted long. It wasn't that he was disappointed in his spawn, but that it had simply not sown the kind of brutal nature that he deeply desired. It had been softer, more thoughtful, perhaps one day a healer. And he did not mind that - he was simply not one to teach it those ways.

Not a failure - nothing he did was a failure! - but a child that he had raised and had gone its own way.

But this one was going to be different. Brought up in the forge. Brought up in Chaos. Azrael admired the force that hung heavily in the cave and corrupted the magic of its inhabitants. While he, himself, had no desire to abandon his own magic for it, give up his many styles of bright flames and deep darknesses, he yearned to have a part of it.

And the plan had formed - perfect, of course. Who to be the other half would have to be one of Vargas's own. He would not ask the Master directly, no, he doubted he would be afforded that honor (and those words were disgusting to even think, that he should place himself beneath anybody else!), but his spawn had proven time and time again to be worthy.

What about one that had once defeated him?

He stood up from where he'd been brooding and made his way towards the side of the cave where he knew where the beast lived. "RUBY-BETA," he roared into the darkness.

Soft snores echoed out from a small enclosure that was Ruby-Beta's very, uh, minimalist home. It was a simple hut of mud, straw, grass, and stone, of which it had built many, but the first belonged to the builder itself. Not that it had made any attempt to make it personalized at all. The only indication that anybody even lived in the house was a bit of freshly-picked bones just outside that it intended to clean up later.

It was currently dozing in the safety of its little house when the sudden earsplitting roar snapped it right out of its sleep. It jerked awake with a pathetic "Huh-wuh?" and then immediately realized who, in fact, was doing the very loud shouting.

It swallowed heavily, fur bristling a bit on the back of its neck. Shit, what did he want with it now? If it was another rematch it sure hoped that he liked looking around because Beta would be off to the other side of the caves for a proper nap where he wouldn't disturb it.

Creeping out of its hut, it turned towards Azrael, fear of him mixed with annoyance. "What? You wanna play hide and go seek or something?"

Azrael waited, not very patiently, all arms crossed across his chest. Burning eyes watched as the cat-like valkhound slunk its way out of the hut it called home. "There you are," he growled, starting forward. He thrust out a hand, as if expecting something. "Your stone. You'll give me a piece."

At the blank stare he immediately received, he snarled again. What, was it dumb or something? "You will give me a piece of your STONE. And I will give it LIFE. You do know how that works, correct?" His tail swished behind him. "It will not be yours - it will be mine. No responsibility on you. You are simply one of the few to have proven worthy enough to bear my form." What that meant was for Beta to figure out on its own as Azrael shoved his claws closer, glaring expectantly.

Azrael's announcement had all of Beta's acidic eyes widening with shock. He wanted...what?! It stared up at him, then flicked its gaze towards his hands, then back at his head. It didn't move, trying to figure out exactly what he was asking for and, more importantly, why. Couldn't he go to, like...literally anyone else? It didn't want kids! It didn't want that kind of responsibility, especially when it had never gotten permission from Vargas to father a brood.

It took a step back, opening its mouth to refuse, when Azrael continued. It paused. Well...if it didn't have to do anything but sit around, and if Azrael would be the one raising it, and maybe if it proved itself to be strong, then Beta would look better, having given it its stone. And honestly...what was there to lose here?

There was just the problem of it technically not allowed to have kids at the moment. Mmmm, yeah that could be a problem.

There was a moment of silence as Beta stared at Azrael's hand, contemplating its decision, before it looked up at his face again. "Yeah...you know? Why don't I go and, like. Ask. Because I'm kinda not allowed to just make spawn when I want."



...and here Ruby-Beta walks away to talk to Vargas off-screen and given permission...



Beta returned, almost slightly disappointed that it couldn't tell Azrael "no" and walk away all smug because he couldn't just do whatever the hell he wanted whenever, but still having no real problems with just giving a bit of stone and walking away.

It kinda wished that it was giving life instead, that would just be so much easier instead of pulling it out, but it knew better then to demand otherwise. "Alright, i guess it's fine, then. Here -" It focused magic where it knew its heart to reside and there was a sudden snap of light pain. And then a lot more pain as the shard of gemstone began to force its way out of its body. It cringed, claws scratching at the stone and coming up to paw at its chest until it felt the sharp edge and wrenched it out the rest of the way.

A splatter of blood on the stone, but no real wound to show, and Beta was offering it up to Azrael, wanting this all to just be over with. "Here - take it. And don't...fuck it up, okay?" It didn't think before saying it, but a flick of its eyes and a serious expression crossed through them, willing Azrael to understand - if he fucked up, it would look bad on both of them.

Business concluded, Beta turned to crawl back into its hut and nap the memory of pain away.

As soon as it was offered to him, Azrael grabbed the piece of blood-red ruby and held it up to the void-light, admiring that little piece of gemstone. Yeah, that would do. He wondered where it would be - glowing in the chest like him? Fangs, perhaps? Claws? A spike? It would look brutal anyway, like a strike of blood upon their pelt. Azrael wondered why it had to be internal on Beta - anywhere would have been better, if such a flattering gemstone were actually visible.

He watched the creature step away, thinking of its parting words. No, he wasn't angry that it had implied he could fuck this up, rather he understood. The creatures of the Chaos Forge understood nothing but the levels of power - levels that Azrael did not see himself a part of - and if this creature were to become a failure, then Beta itself could be deemed a failure.

But he would not fail - and neither would this spawn.

The second part of his plan, then, had him turning towards the Black Spire. He had never approached it too closely, but now he did, unflinchingly, getting close until he was almost a few feet away. Gazing into that oily abyss.

His eyes flicked down to the stone near its base and he crouched before the House of Chaos. He held the Ruby out and magic surged from himself to the stone. It trembled in his grip and for a moment he felt his confidence crack. Had something gone wrong? He could feel his magic almost resisting, shying away from the overwhelming chaos before him. There was a breath of silence as stone and magic resisted, like two magnets trying desperately to pull apart from each other, and then a soft snap as at last they connected and the ruby glowed faintly in his palm.

He released a breath he did not know he'd been holding and placed the stone before the Black Spire. He could already feel the faint stirrings of Chaos within him from being so close to the Spire, but it was not something he minded. He was already a force of chaos, without the influence of corruption, and this just took its place alongside his nature.

The now life-filled gemstone was beginning to take root on the ground already, to grow under the influence of pure Chaos. Azrael stood, staring at it for a moment, before turning away, leaving it under the protection of nothing but darkness.

*exit Azrael and Ruby-Beta