Valerie, Daughter of Theft

By Charles E. Smith

**Flaming
Feather**

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...




Valerie
Seraph of Protection


Forces: 13 (she lost three in her Redemption)

Corporeal Forces: 5 Strength: 8 Agility: 12
Ethereal Forces: 4 Intelligence: 8 Precision: 8
Celestial Forces: 5 Will: 8 Perception: 12

Attunements: Seraph of Protection, Malakite of Protection, Aura of Divinity.

Songs: Corporeal Shields/4, Corporeal Forbidding/4, Corporeal Healing/3, Celestial Healing/5, Ethereal Harmony/4

Skills: Electronics/4, Emote/5, Savoir-Faire/6, Detect Lies/6, Knowledge (Thief tactics)/6, Computer Operation/6, Driving/6.

Vessel/Role: None as yet. Zadkiel has not crafted a new one for her since her defection. Her previous vessel was a tall, leggy blonde with green eyes. Her level-six role then was as a cat burglar.

**Flaming
Feather**

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