"Hm? A question?" Nate responded.

"Of course." he told her.

"No reason why you can't, after all." he reasoned, continuing to smile.

He set down his clipboard and pen, stretching his arms out over his head for a moment, before looking at her.

"Can't guarantee an answer if I don't know it, though." he laughed.

"Anyway, what is it?"

"..." Nate was silent for a moment, sighing.

"It's probably Sariel." he told her. "As in, the archangel Sariel." he said further, merely confirming it.

"She tried to help Agent Sharp and Cameron/Alicja a bit ago, but... well... it ended up massively backfiring, and she's... she's now in a coma." he informed her. "She cannot be moved up to the angelic realm, because what did this to her is preventing that, so we're trying to do all we can down here." he went on.

"...it's something that's stressing out Gabriel, Uriel, Zeke... a few more..." he continued.

"But we're trying our best to try and wake her... or even remove what's keeping her down and out." he finished.

Again, Nate sighed.

"All we know is that it's mana-based, and it's tied to Vanessa." he told her.

"And it seems to be STRONG. And... it's unlike anything we've seen before." he continued.

"The best way we can describe it is... like some sort of advanced curse." he muttered.

"As I said, it happened when she tried to help Cameron, thus interfering with Vanessa. Thus, that backlash." he said further, shaking his head a little, but making note about how Erica was suddenly a little more talkative.

"Sadly, because of this contract that Vanessa has, there's only so much we can do, as celestial and infernal help is barred away from her."

It had been surprisingly easy to convince Gabe to make her some food. Asriel and Raphael noted that all it took was Uriel coming to him and stating that Erica had specifically said she wanted to eat something made by HIM, to get him from sulking and growing angrier, to being hopeful again. He threw those negative emotions out the window right there and then, and proceeded to make her something he KNEW she would like. He made her waffles. Waffles with that little hint of ambrosia in it. Not enough to get her on the frisky side, but just enough to make it so that flavours of everything were boosted.

He made his way to the room and stepped inside, not 100% paying attention, as he set what he'd brought down on a nearby table.

"Frankly, I'm surprised you asked for-" he started to say, turning towards the bed, and finding it empty. She was disconnected from everything, and looked to have just vanished.

"Wh-what?" he muttered.

"Erica!?" he exclaimed, looking around, and then darting out the door and looking up and down the medical bay.

The first one to respond to this was Gabriel. He was already on high alert, and such a powerful sound echoing out gained his attention quickly. Honing in on it, he rushed to where he'd heard the core of it from, stepping into the room, and ending up almost stunned at what he saw.

"Erica!" he exclaimed, before noticing WHERE he was.

"S-Sariel?" he muttered.

"What...?" he wondered further, as Nate came rushing in next.

"What happened here!?" he asked, seeing Erica in the room with Sariel.

Gabriel knelt down close to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Erica..." he said.

"How...? Why...?" he asked, before shaking his head.

"Erica, are you all right?" he asked her.

"You said Sariel should wake soon, but what did it cost YOU to do that?"

"...." Gabriel was silent, before looking at Sariel.

"I... I do sense no chaos coming from her now..." he admitted.

"But... Erica..." he said further, before instinctively wrapping his arms around her.

Nate saw this and had a moment of trepidation. She freaked out whenever someone entered the room.

How would she react to THIS?

Gabriel resisted the urge to pull back quickly from her, but he did flinch a little. He felt her tense up, felt her be as still as anything, but when she rested her hand on his arm, he kept holding her for a few seconds, before slowly pulling back.

"...she has a long way to go..." Nate said quietly.

"She may never be the same..." he then added, this time even more quietly.

"..." Gabriel was silent, before looking at Erica again.

"We should probably get you back to your bed." he suggested to her.

Gabe didn't say anything as he caught her, and Nate was quick to speak up.

"Do you mind having Gabriel carry you back to your room?" he asked.

"Or would you rather we used a wheelchair?" he asked further.

It was not that he didn't trust Gabriel, quite the opposite. But Erica was in a very vulnerable and delicate state right now, and he wasn't exactly sure what she could take, and what she couldn't.

So he made the offer.

If nothing else, he wanted to make it clear to her she was in charge of these sorts of decisions. She was her own person, and she was not under anyone's oppressive control. She was still to be kept in the medical wing to recover, but he'd hoped that allowing her these small decisions, as seemingly meaningless as they might have seemed, would aid her recovery.

Nate and Gabriel exchanged glances, before Gabriel nodded and carried her out of Sariel's room. Nate followed, after doing a brief check on Sariel, and the three entered Erica's room.

Gabe gently laid her down on the bed, as Nate started to reestablish what she had connected to.

"I brought the food you wanted." Gabriel told her.

"Waffles." he added, as Nate looked towards the door.

Angela was going to want answers, and she was going to want them 5 minutes ago.