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Ari's out collecting mushrooms on the Blood Moor.
Yes, there are demons, and zombies, and once he saw some bipedal cows with halberds for some reason, and yes, they could theoretically kill him. But he has a very sharp scythe, and he can conjure fire and lightning at his whim, and just in general, Ari can take care of himself.
Uncle Deckard told him not to go too far. Ari told him to go teach his grandmother to suck eggs.
"Fuck. I should have known, I thought she was suspicious, but she was our only option- Lorath, get up here, Henry's in some kind of bone cage-"
Lorath comes up the stairs, looking grim, and gestures at the bone spires keeping Henry caged. They bend open reluctantly. "Are you okay?"
He's followed up the stairs by Tyrael, who looks thunderstruck. "Where... where does that portal lead?"
Henry climbs out of the cage, trembling.
"Hell." It might either be an expression or an answer to Tyrael's question. "Ari, someone help Ari."
...so, is Gabe, next to Henry.
"What the fuck..." he looks around, notices who is not here. "Is Adria to blame for this?"
Ari's chains have already vanished, but he's on the ground and he doesn't seem able to get up. "I... I think the portal leads to Heaven. Adria... took my demonic power and consumed the Seven Evils. I feel so weak."
Tyrael goes ashen and runs through the portal before anyone can react.
Sorcery magical lifeforce analysis circle appears to manifest itself near where Ari is. Also, Henry and Gabe are standing next to Ari. So is Felix.
"You three should stay here, figure out how to help Ari. " Felix turns to the others. "We should go quickly."
The analysis reveals that Ari has been depleted of almost all his life-force except breath, which has practically doubled. He almost seems to be composed of breath alone.
Through the portal, there is a heavily wounded angel, who is yelling at Tyrael. There's also a wall, off in the distance, which used to have a gate in it but currently does not, as the gate in question is currently lying in splinters on the ground. Demons swarm through the space where the gate once was. The city beyond it is in flames, with angels battling demons in the streets.
The angel continues to berate Tyrael. "The Heavens burn. This is your fault, Tyrael. The Diamond Gates have stood since the light first broke over the High Heavens. Now they lie in ruins. You are the cause." He turns and vanishes in a plume of flame. Tyrael sinks to his knees.
"Diablo did this, not you," Li-Ming says. "You did everything in your power to prevent this."
"Long ago," Tyrael says dully, "my brethren and I voted to decide the fate of humanity. I cast the final vote that spared you from extinction. Now... humanity has birthed the Prime Evil."
"As much as we could argue about the philosophy of guilt and blame. What is Diablo trying to accomplish?"
"Diablo means to destroy the Arch of Heaven," Tyrael says. "To get there from here he will need to climb the Silver Spire."
"Great," Li-Ming says, "we've got a destination. Let's get moving. Tyrael, will you join us? Or will you sit here and weep like an infant?"
"You do not understand," Tyrael says, almost to himself. "Hope itself has been taken from us."
"Whatever," Li-Ming sighs, and strides off towards the shattered gate.
"Dude, I don't want to be insensitive, but I am having the strongest urge to just carry you on my arms. You're like the only one of us that knows this place."
"Auriel, the Archangel of Hope, has been captured. Without her the armies of Heaven cannot rally, and the day is surely lost."
"The day isn't lost if I fucking kill Diablo, which I'm going to do, with or without your help," Li-Ming calls over her shoulder.
"We are coming." Fernando says over his shoulder. "We only stopped because it's hard to tell when Tyrael is being poetic or saying useful information."
Tyrael seems too perplexed to effectively object to this.
Li-Ming and Lorath are in fine form slaughtering the demons at the gate. They clear a path into the city quickly, then everyone slips inside and starts towards the Spire and, relevantly, the Arch.
There's more demons along the way. A lot more demons. There are scattered angels fighting back, but they're severely outnumbered and, frankly, outclassed. This invasion force appears to be something of an elite, not that it's stopping the Nephalem.
The triplets give their best effort to help. Angels are sufficiently different from humans they don't dare to try sorcery healing, but they can regroup angels.
Felix is curious if there is any sign of Auriel.
One of the angels says that she's being held by the demon Rakanoth in the Library of Fate, wherever that is.
"We can't afford to get distracted from the main goal," Li-Ming says. "...well, I can't. One of you could probably go free her, but we don't know this Rakanoth character's power level."
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