After finishing the 5th slice, I let out a sigh. I knew that it is high time to stop this and get serious.
"That will be enough cake, Ibis," I said to him as he put down the slice he was about to serve. As an afterthought, I added, "For now," causing him to reveal a look of helplessness.
Now to handle the other two. Time would be fairly easy. I just go up to him and whisper a little spell causing him to wake up screaming (always so fun to induce nightmares). Because of the sudden noise, Neko(he really should come up with a better name) wakes up. I really do feel bad for her having to deal with Time every day.
"Come here," I say, gently putting the frightened cat into my arms. While stroking her fur (so soft) I say, "There, there, everything is fine."
"You are right, Archia, everything is fine. Thank you for reassuring me," Time says.
"I was talking to the cat," I reply coldly.
"But Neko is mine and what applies to her applies to me so you are reassuring me," he counters. I frown. He must be spending too much time with Stars.
I move toward Life. Now how should I handle him in the least violent way possible? After all, I can't get my hands dirty for such a simple thing. Oh, I know.
"Life, put away that dagger this instant, or I will confiscate all your daggers."
Snapping out of his daze, he glares at me. "You need a valid reason to do that."
"I am sure Heaven would be much better if the God of Life was not constantly distracted."
He looked like he was about to argue when he thought better of it. I provided a good reason that he could not argue against and so he could only put his dagger away while grumbling.
Still petting Neko, I take my seat. "Let's start the meeting."
"We all know why we are here. The Gods we had imprisoned in the Astral Temple have made their way out with the help of the supposed Almighty. Now that begs two very important questions. Why did two contracts appear and what should we do with the escapees?"
"For the first issue, I already talked with Contracts. It is most likely that the previous Almighty had chosen someone and was about to give them his power but at the last moment found a better candidate. Or the first candidate refused him and so he moved to his second choice. Either way, it does not matter much. We let the Almighty go so that he could choose a successor. We just did not think that he would go into the future to do so. But that does not matter much either. We just have to shape the new candidate so he does not end up like the last one," Time concludes.
"You spoke to him previously, no? What did you find out about him?"
"Well, for starters he is a complete liar."
"Really?" Life said, astounded.
"But the previous Almighty was so righteous. He would never pick someone like that," I added, disbelieving.
"It's the truth, I swear. Neko confirmed it," confirms Time. Nero gives a little nod of affirmation from Archia's lap.
"Who knows what was going through his head? All that matters is that that kid needs to change. I propose that we take turns to straighten him up like we originally planned," Life suggests.
"I agree," I say and Time nods as well. "He can start off with me. Spending time in the archives will not hurt." The two had no objections and so we came to a decision.
(Poor child, he will have to deal with avocados 24/7. Anyone will go crazy from that...I wish him luck. - Time)
"Now the second matter. What should we do with Atiri and the others?"