Earlier that day, Michael and Baal had been trying to schedule an appointment with Lord Nergal, Chief of Hell's Secret Police, when a fiery portal opened. This was one of the smaller ones designed for communication rather than transportation. On the other side was the familiar compound-eyed, antennaed face of Lady Cruciata Carrionfly.
"I'm not allowed to travel, but I need your help," she said desperately.
"I suppose you've come to cry and moan about how you had nothing to do with anything and everyone's being simply awful everyone is being to you?" Baal snarled.
"Baal, she hasn't even said anything yet," Michael said, raising a calming hand. "Let's hear her out before we judge."
"I was actually calling to confess to my part in this," Cruciata said. "This all started as me wanting revenge for Princess Miasma choosing Rachel over me. But I... I think Dad and those crazy pastors want to take this way past what I was planning to do. There are times when I think they're almost treating King Lucifer like a higher priority target than Rachel or her mother. I think Dad and the pastors got the idea almost independently of each other... but they're beginning to communicate. I recently overheard Dad saying to Rev. Church 'I know what you and the other humans are planning, and I want to let you know that I have no problem with it. It's a bit of an everybody wins thing. You get to fulfill your order's mission statement, and I finally get to take my rightful place.' I'll give you three guesses what that meant, and the first two don't count."
"It does sound like an anti-Lucifer conspiracy..." Baal mused. "I've had an eye on that bastard Beelzebub for a while now... But what do YOU gain from blabbing, Lady Cruciata?!"
"I want legal immunity in exchange for leading you to Rev. Church's goons," said Cruciata, crossing her four arms. "I'll be killed for my crimes if we can't make a deal, but I think I'm more useful to you alive than dead. Besides, I no longer want revenge on Rachel. I honestly feel over Miasma ever since she slapped me. I think I'll focus on appreciating what I have; Pava is actually quite sweet."
"Deal," said Michael. "Help us, and we'll be willing to show forgiveness. What information do you have?"
"First of all, Adrammelech and Nergal are in on this," said Cruciata. "They hate the peace treaty and hope Dad will tear it up as soon as he's crowned the new king."
"But Princess Miasma is Lucifer's heir!" shouted Baal.
"Dad's been talking like she's on the hit list," said Cruciata. "That's when I first began to realize that my original plan was derailing."
"That's certainly troubling," Michael said. "Is there anything else?"
"Dad and I have the power to superficially disguise humans as demons without actually transforming them," said Cruciata. "Dad and Adrammelech can also cover up their human scents and energy fields, but Dad does it more convincingly than Adrammelech can. The Iron Knights have been sent to infiltrate the court."
"Where can we find them?!" Baal snarled.
"Let's start with Rev. Hank Cromwell," said Cruciata. "Rev. Cromwell is posing as Colonel Praelius. He's wearing the shape of a muscular demon with a human-like face but the fur and tail of a raccoon and the wings of a magpie. He should be in the offices of the Ministry of Defense snooping around for information he can use. Oh, something you should know about Cromwell! He's a Seventh-Day Adventist who's a new recruit to the Iron Knights, but he has a nasty temper. He hasn't killed yet, but I doubt he'll be able to start once he starts... and it won't take much down here to get him started. I know a man with the capacity to develop a violence addiction when I see one, and Hank Cromwell is that kind of man."
"Sounds like we need to pay a quick visit to the Ministry of Defense offices," Michael said to Baal before turning to Cruciata. "Thank you, we'll be in touch."
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In the present, Baal opened a portal to the Eighth Circle. "Your information was good, Cruciata Carrionfly," he said. "Michael's chaining up Rev. Cromwell right now. The idiot keeps asking Michael if this is some kind of Heavenly test."
"Happy to help," said Cruciata. "I want out of this out-of-control conspiracy, and only you and Michael can dig me out of it. Now, Dr. Abdullah Bashir's the tricky one. He was the one who stabbed Rachel Church."
"Ah, the dead one," Baal remarked.
"No, Dad faked his death," Cruciata explained. "Dr. Bashir was actually whisked to the Eighth Circle and given a new cover identity. This one's actually female. The 'good' imam is presently disguised as a serpentine demoness named Mabeuth. 'She' is posing as an aide to Wadd, the Ambassador to Yemen. It might take a while to find 'Mabeuth', though. 'She' moves around a lot in the court trying to gather information on 'her' targets' habits. Maybe 'she's' at the party Lilith's throwing for Rachel. Who knows?"
"Noted," Baal grunted. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you for your cooperation, Lady Cruciata."
"Anything to stop Dad from doing something stupid and get my charmed life back," said Cruciata.