It is well-known in Hell that Valefor, Andrealphus, and Nybbas get along
very well. The Demon Prince of Theft works with both of them to promote
and enhance their Words while using them to steal the hopes and dreams of
humanity every day, through every act of lustful taking or media babble
that hurts innocent lives. So why would Valefor be jealous of either of
them? In a word, their children.
While visiting the Bordello in Shal-Mari, Valefor ran across the
beautiful daughter of Andrealphus, famous for her legendary role in the
corruption of the Grigori (to hear the legends tell it). On a visit to
Perdition, he ran across Rex, the idiot son of the Prince of the Media.
This got Valefor to thinking about how he could enhance his own image,
and (with Nybbas's input), he came up with the idea for the ultimate
femme fatale. She would be a master thief, an assassin, stylish, skilled,
and daring. Having come up with this notion, Valefor returned to the
Palazzo Furto and began work on his special Balseraph daughter, Valerie.
Valerie was perfect, at least, that's what the Prince of Theft thought
when he was done with her. The vessel he'd crafted, based on the
handiwork of Lust, was flawlessly beautiful and looked damned good in
skin-tight black leather. After she was trained by the very best, namely
himself, and granted up to 16 Forces, powerful Songs, and all of Theft's
attunements and Distinctions (no one said Hell is fair), he set Valerie
loose in Hell and on Earth.
The first theft of the daughter of the Demon Prince of Theft was in
Hades, where she copied and downloaded the sensitive information from
Asmodeus's personal computer and escaped without disturbing a single dust
mote. When word got around, Asmodeus was furious, but Valerie eluded his
best trackers, launching one-demon crime sprees across the mortal
spheres, targeting Tethers of War, the Sword, the War, and Judgment. Her
personal collection came to include an axe bestowed to a Malakite Master
of Valor by Michael himself, several Judgment badges, an old, broken
blade of one of Laurence's best Seraphim, now soul-dead, a shield once
worn in battle by Laurence, and the horn of a Calabite Baron of Victory
that had been ripped from its head by a mighty Cherub Master of Law,
among many other things. Angels and demons alike cursed her name, while
she gained a huge cult following in Stygia. Nybbas was quite pleased,
especially since Valerie video-taped all her thefts and the tapes were
played all over the Nybbas News Network, resulting in astronomical
ratings. Those ratings only skyrocketed on the day when Valefor, in a
personal interview, strode forward, rested a hand on her shadowy-black
scales, and proudly acknowledged Valerie as his daughter.
Valerie's notoriety wasn't without a price. After several raids on
Tethers and several daring escapes, the angels began to collaborate. Word
began to circulate through Hell of a massive score, of a meeting of the
Archangels at the Heavenly Tether of Notre Dame in Paris. As hoped,
Valerie's mind began to scheme. If she could hit the Archangels directly
at their meeting and get it all on film, her reputation would go through
the roof! Being a Balseraph, Valerie self-resonated herself into
believing that she could do it. Even more, she believed that she could
steal several things at once. First on her list was the Cloak of Dominic.
She planned on grabbing the Axe of Michael, the Sword of Laurence, maybe
Khalid's blade too, while she was at it. The big score, of course, would
be to actually swipe the Book of Names from Yves himself, preferably from
his very hand. Having scouted the place for weeks, she set her plans in
motion.
And she was promptly caught. Thinking ahead (and gritting his teeth),
Dominic consulted Janus. The Archangel of the Wind, knowing well that
Valerie would be scouting for traps, took no plan of action until the day
of the supposed meeting, save to have a hit-squad of his angels and
Laurence's roaming around Paris, waiting for the signal to strike. On the
day of the "conference", Janus gave the signal. His agents moved under
cover of the Disturbance raised by his arrival and that of Dominic and
Laurence. Several powerful Distincted, a swarm of lesser angels of the
Sword, and the Archangels of Judgment, the Sword, and the Wind were far
more than enough to subdue the shrieking Balseraph of Theft.
Capture, failure, forced dissonance into Valerie's soul. Her lies, the
delusion that she was uncatchable, crumbled around her. The notes from
all the dissonance that she suddenly endured forced her to look at
herself in the pure light of the Symphony. As Laurence prepared to strike
down the squalling Balseraph, she suddenly screamed her repentance and,
to everyone's amazement, all of the Seraphim present, including Dominic
himself, verified it as True. Janus immediately went to Redeem her,
thinking to claim her for the Wind. She Redeemed, but the result was not
what anyone expected.
When it was done, and a cleansed Seraph strode in the loci of the Tether
of Notre Dame, she immediately announced that she would not serve the
Wind, for it would lead her once more into temptation and perhaps to a
Fall. A stunned Janus whirled in shock, while Laurence and Dominic gaped
and the Servitors present stared with suspicion and anger at this
arrogant Seraph who so dared defy an Archangel. Without any further
warning, Valerie blew all of her Essence in an Invocation, begging an
audience of, of all people, Zadkiel, the Archangel of Protection. When
the Cherub Archangel arrived, Valerie threw herself at her feet, begging
to be accepted into her service. A rather surprised Zadkiel accepted,
taking Valerie and departing with her for her Citadel, and leaving her
three colleagues to gape in confusion.
Nowadays, Valerie works as Heaven's security consultant, providing
protection against the very same Thieves she used to run with. She's not
too popular in Windy circles, and the Servitors of Laurence, Michael, and
Dominic still view her with deep suspicion, but for once in her life,
she's happy and doing something she truly loves. So far, she has been
able to avoid Earthly duty. Zadkiel feels, rightly, that Valerie's father
will certainly want revenge on his wayward daughter...
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