"You're welcome."

Cain is eventually taken to a meeting room with a large table and various charts, maps and chalkboards hanging from the walls. Dal-Mirdone and Louis are there among other people that exude similar auras of importance.

"Gentleman," Dawn announces to the room, "the situation is worse than expected. Cain, would you mind explaining it yourself?"

Cain looks longingly at the nearest chair, but remains standing as he explains the prophecy again.

Most people that were standing also stay standing, though some do decide to sit down during the explanation.

Dawn motions Cain do sit down once it's over, though this might be lost at the sudden sea of questions that ensues. People want to know how fast the process is likely to be? How reliable are prophecies? How preventable are prophecies? And variations.

Dal-Mirdone stands up, he does not completely quiets down the room, but he still is an imposing eight feet tall figure, even among peers he commands attention. "What do you know that needs to be done? To fight this?"

He sits down gratefully. "How fast? I couldn't tell you. How reliable? In this case, very. This prophecy has been repeated many times. What can be done to prevent it? ...I don't know. I do believe it can be stopped, or I wouldn't be trying. But what can actually be done, I don't know."

Dal-Mirdone closes his eyes and says something brief and prayer-like. Cain might notice that people color-coded like thing (and some who are not) repeat the prayer.

Someone else interjects. "Depending on the timescale we might be able to evacuate. Not to Elsewhere because it will get demons, but one of our attached worlds-"

"The prophecy sounds all-encompassing enough for that not to work," Dawn interrupts, "maybe."

"Do you have any idea how Elsewhere would fit in the prophecy?" Asks Fernando from the wall where he and others have only been listening.

Cain gives it some thought. "I... you must understand, it's very, very strange from our perspective that Elsewhere should exist. The High Heavens and the Burning Hells were created from the corpse of the great god Anu and his counterpart Tathamet, at the beginning of time, and Sanctuary was created using the Worldstone a few thousand years ago. Elsewhere, meanwhile, seems to just... exist. I believe you may be an entirely separate universe, not bound by our laws or prophecies. If so, your influence is our best bet, as it were, for averting this."

Very mythical Fernando doesn't say. Though, Sanctuary is a very unique world. Fernando (and many others) nods.

"If anti-spying wards work against prophecies," someone muses.

"Apparently bits of the prophecy still happened," Dal-Mirdone says, "so we might be invisible but the threat still exists. Of course, we are planning to help either way. And it's our understanding that sorcery does things your magic can't do."

"There might be a way to permanently destroy or neutralize the Evils," says the first someone, "do you know what sort of thing can kill one of them?"

"They can be killed as you would kill any other great monster," Cain says, "magic and steel and so on. But the problem is that once they are killed, their essence will return to the Hells and they will be reborn. Long ago, the archangel Tyrael showed my father and his companions, the Horadrim, how to bind these demonic essences within a Soulstone, trapping them. Unfortunately, the Soulstone is not a perfect prison; the Evils can still influence the world around them, warping the minds of mortal men and eventually convincing them to take the Soulstone upon themselves, freeing the Evil and granting it a new vessel. Worse still, the Soulstones were made from chips of the Worldstone, which was corrupted by Baal and had to be destroyed twenty years ago. Unless we find another way to bind the Evils, all we can do is delay the inevitable."

"If we delay in the scale of years we will have brought time to research a better solution, months would help," Dawn says.

"We have ways to influence minds or stop magic. Granted, the interaction between the two kinds of magic might be off and it would require a lot of lifeforce expenditure."

"If the Evils' essence is sufficiently biological we might even be able to steal it-"

"Whoever took it would be a sacrificial goat or maybe the next vessel," Dal-Mirdone warns.

"Do not take power from the Prime Evils," Cain says sharply. "It will end very, very poorly."

He sighs. "Delaying events... may be possible. I do not know what will come. But I will try my best."

"Do you know what crashing the Arc of Heaven could mean?"

"The Arch of Heaven is the source of all holy energy and the birthplace of new angels. It rests in the center of the High Heavens, above the Silver Spire. If it were to be destroyed, the Burning Hells would soon conquer all three layers of reality, as the dark power of the Black Abyss would no longer stand opposed."

"How could the folly of men destroy that?" Felix asks.

"Angels," Dawn says, "how do we contact them?"

Cain sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Angels... are dangerous. They hate demons, but they do not like humans. When humanity first appeared, their leaders, the Angiris Council, voted on whether we should be allowed to live. The tie was broken by one vote."

"And this prophecy probably does not endear our species to them," Dawn offers. "Should we hide from them?"

"Should we hide from them? Elsewhere and attached worlds."

"Assuming they have means to become aware that we exist."

"The main quality of angels is both a positive and a negative one: they care little for what happens outside their borders. They are unlikely to discover that you exist unless you make yourselves known to them. So, do not create portals to Heaven, but do not worry overmuch about them learning you exist."

"Angels might show up. A demon did."

"Hmm. You have a point. If that does happen, then you could make a temporary portal to Heaven and release the angel back; it would be worse for them to think you had kidnapped one of their own, than for them to know you can access their home plane. But neither is ideal. I believe you would be best served to release the angel into Sanctuary, where there are certain naturally occurring portals to the High Heavens, concealed among the clouds."

They have people taking notes who do take note of that. "We might not be able to create portals to the High Heavens," someone muses.

"Might bear testing," Dawn says, "but under very controlled conditions. Should we be worried that the angels are going to attack if they show up?"

"We already going to stretch our resources pretty thin. We have to cover demons and maybe angels shows up in Elsewhere and this prophecy business?"

Cain shakes his head. "Angels would not attack unless directly provoked. They tend to be very placid creatures, given mostly to artistic pursuits. Of course, when they are provoked, they are terrifying beasts of blinding light and righteous fire. But that shouldn't be a problem. On which note, I must once again recommend against opening a portal to Heaven, because there is every chance they would take it as a threat."

"I meant a portal to figure out if it was possible at all. But I understand."

Cain closes his eyes, very much looking his age. "Is there anything else we should discuss?"

"Lots," someone, one of the few gray-haired people, snorts.

"Yes, but this is a good point for a break," Dawn says. "We should ward you and your nephew requested, and we are offering for free, a couple of decades worth of Youth to you."

"Youth?" Cain's eyes open wide. "I... would this youth be taken from others? I've already lived a very long time."