- Death -
Death was riding in front of the group as usual. He was wary of the neutral zones. The one between Sangmara and the Lycan territory of Vázoluna was considered to be the most peaceful, but that fact made Death more conscious of potential threats.
This neutral zone was a wasteland. The only things around were the remnants of former battles. The zone was clearly still seeing some form of conflict. That or gods were using it as a practice ground for their magic.
'I don't care how peaceful I'm told this place is, I'm not letting it lull me into a false sense of security.'
Sure enough, as though the universe heard Death's thoughts, a gigantic stone wall appeared in front of him.
The uništi were stopped and Death jumped off Hrom and conjured his scythe. He wasn't waiting for the enemy to attack. He pulled his scythe back and swung it towards the wall, cutting it down.
Lucifer had already jumped out of the cart and was flying, looking for the enemy. Mira had been flying above, but neither angel could see anything.
"I know where they are," Lucifer whispered to Mira.
Lucifer flew to the ground and placed his hands on the dirt. His eyes glowed brightly as the ground all around the group erupted in flames. The fire slowly began to spread out further and further until a voice bellowed.
"I yield, I yield!" The deep voice shouted.
Death returned his scythe and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Death grumbled.
Out from the ground by the downed wall appeared two slightly burnt figures.
One was a large being who looked part-man, and part-elephant with four arms and red skin. He was easily twelve feet tall, and only wearing yellow shorts with a burnt yellow sash wrapped below his extended stomach.
Next to him was a woman who had four arms, light-tan skin, and long dark brown hair down to her thighs. She was half the height of the man, wearing a red and gold top with matching shorts.
Death was thinking about the proper way to speak his anger.
"Gan, Lakshmi, if possible, can you please explain to me why you attacked us?" Death's polite tone was laced with anger. He was barely hiding his frustration.
Gan spoke, his voice booming out.
"We've been using this place as a practice field. The others knew you were in Sangmara and thought it would be fun to surprise you.
Gan's voice intimidated everyone besides Death and Lucifer.
While Death was having this conversation, Lucifer was screaming in his head everything he knew he shouldn't say out loud before joining in.
Lakshmi was much quieter when she spoke.
"Please forgive their stupidity. I told Vishnu you wouldn't like this, but he kept insisting. Before I could stop Ganesha he was already hiding underground."
Death was furious.
"Mm-hm." He grunted.
Death was still processing his anger when Lucifer stepped up to speak.
"Are the others underground as well?"
As Lucifer asked, two more beings appeared behind Gan and Lakshmi smiling.
Death was calming himself down before speaking.
'Persephone's cooking. Ra's beer. Tera's singing.'
"Shiva, Vishnu, good to see you again." Death said through his teeth. "While I appreciate wanting to include me in your practice, I will have to politely decline, as I am on a mission right now."
Normally Death wouldn't be as angry at the gods but found that all this talk of "bad feelings" combined with Cytus had put him a little on edge.
Shiva stepped forward and put two of his four arms on the back of his head. He had blue skin and stood seven feet tall. He had long black matted hair and was only wearing a pair of torn yellow salwar. He was muscular, with all four of his arms showing great strength.
"I believe a name like "Death" has to be earned. I respect your strength, but think you should have to prove yourself every now and again." Shiva laughed.
Death's anger was brought to its boiling point. Black smoke covered his face and his words echoed with strength.
"I have NOTHING to prove to you!" Death stomped a foot forward as he spoke.
Shiva wasn't expecting Death's reaction and readied his arms in front of him. Before Death could continue, Vishnu stepped forward and smacked Shiva on the back.
Vishnu was the same height as Shiva, with light blue skin, and wavy black hair down to his back. He was dressed similarly to Shiva, with his clothing being a brighter yellow. His body appeared less muscular than Shiva's.
"We meant no disrespect Death. We simply wanted to enjoy this rare opportunity, and have clearly overstepped our bounds."
Vishnu bowed and pulled Shiva down with him.
"Please accept our apologies." He calmly asked.
While pulling Shiva down Vishnu whispered to him.
"We want practice, not an actual battle. Does he look like he wants to have a fun match?"
Shiva looked up at Death who's shadowy form was fading. Gan had shrunk down to the size of Shiva and Vishnu, His head changed and shared similarities with Shiva. He decided to speak after seeing the two bow.
"I am sorry for the wall. I will remove it from your path immediately."
Gan removed the destroyed wall bowed to Death. Death calmed down and returned to a friendly tone of voice.
"I will gladly have a match with you once I've settled the issue with the unknown."
Vishnu lifted his head up along with Shiva.
"We look forward to it." Vishnu smiled.
The four gods moved out of the way of the group.
Death returned to Hrom, and climbed on. He felt mentally exhausted and swore to himself that if another god interrupts their travel he's wringing their necks.
'If only I could actually do that.' Death thought.
- Lucifer -
Lucifer was furious with what happened. He knew that the Hindu gods land was to the west of the neutral zone, but never considered that they might try to drag Death into their practice.
'If it was me what would I have done? Death has the strength to back up his anger, but if I talked how he did to Shiva I wouldn't have gotten the same respectful apology.'
Lucifer tried to snap himself out of his deprecating thoughts.
'Focus on what matters. Lycan territory, and how to avoid conflict in it.'
Lucifer had taken many different paths on past missions. He learned that as unwelcoming as the Lycans were, going through their territory was still preferable to going around. The east of Vázoluna was R'lyeh, which was an absolute no-go zone for humans.
The west was Olympus and while its rulers could be friendly to humans, they were quick to anger and had killed humans for minor slights in the past.
'I wonder what Hades is doing right now? I should visit him on my own when I get the chance.'
The sound of powerful magic clashing was carried on the wind. It was mostly drowned out by the uništi, but the occasional sounds of explosions would come through every now and again.
'I feel bad for Lakshmi. It must be a lot of work healing them over and over.'
- Cytus -
(Sometime after the group left Sangmara)
Cytus had been following the man through a forest for some time and was wondering where they were going.
"I understand you keeping information from me, but you should at least tell me where we're headed. If it's somewhere I don't want to be I'll just leave when we get there, so there's no point to this secrecy."
The man kept walking.
"It's a happy surprise, believe it or not. We're going to go meet a few beings who share a common interest with us." The man assured.
Cytus had considered killing the man the entire walk to wherever it is they're going. He held off attacking. He acknowledged that the man had found him, taken him to a healer, and that they clearly shared their hatred for Lucifer. These two things kept his bloodlust in check.
'I can't imagine there being a point to saving me and then killing me.'
"If you're worried I'll kill you once I know who you are, don't be. If I was going to do it I would have by now." Cytus smiled.
The man didn't respond.
Cytus had purposefully said that to get a reaction but was now finding himself more annoyed by the silence.
'Don't kill him. You need him.'
The two kept walking until eventually, the man stopped.
"We're here."
Cytus noticed something was off with the trees. His time in R'lyeh had given him a talent for spotting illusion magic.
'Must be his allies.'
The man flicked his wrist towards the air in front of him, creating a strong gust. The trees in front of him faded and revealed two people standing in a small clearing.
One of them was a muscular man with a short black beard and short black hair. He was wearing a purple robe and had bright purple irises. He was 6'1" tall.
Next to him was a woman with red hair that covered her left eye. She was wearing thin white armor that covered her whole body. She had white skin so pale it almost appeared to be glowing. Her scleras were black with gold irises. She stood 5'10" tall with a sword at her hip.
The woman spoke first.
"Can I say your name or is he still not informed?"
The man took off the black veil and responded.
"It's alright. I was just waiting for all of us to be here."
Cytus couldn't believe who it was and realized now why the man wouldn't want him to know initially.
"You were smart to hide your identity."
Cytus was resisting the first thought that came to his mind.
'Kill! Kill him! Kill him now.' The thoughts shouted.
He tried to quiet his mind by clenching his hand tight enough to make it bleed.
The man pulled out his echo and made a call. The voice that answered was Michael's.
"Yes Azriel, do you have more information?" Michael asked.
"I've found Cytus. He's in Vázoluna. He appeared to still be severely injured so I think you should hurry before he finds a healer." Azriel lied.
"Why didn't you go after him yourself?" Michael questioned.
"He was surrounded by Lycans. I think they made a deal with him. I didn't want to engage them in their territory."
"Good job finding him. Stay put for now. Ezekiel will be there with his team to help kill the monster."
Azriel made a wide smile.
Cytus was shaking with anger. He was keeping both his hands clenched, sure that if he opened them right now he wouldn't hesitate to put a bolt through Azriel's head.
"I should hope this problem is ended quickly, brother. I know how long we've waited for this." Azriel said.
"Of course. We'll finally have justice for Uriel." Michael responded.
As Michael finished his line Cytus went to shoot a bolt of lightning at Azriel. The bolt was intercepted by a stone wall. The woman drew her sword and the man positioned his hands.
"Hello? Are you under attack?" Michael panicked.
Azriel put his hand up to the man and woman and locked eyes with Cytus.
"Sorry about that. I think there's a fight breaking out nearby. You don't need to worry about me, I'm sure it's just some over-zealous lessers that'll tire themselves out."
"Okay. Be safe. We're not indestructible." Michael reminded.
"I will be and I know," Azriel said, ending the call.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I know how you feel, but don't throw this alliance away." Azriel pleaded.
Cytus lowered his hands.
"Just tell me the plan before I make the same mistake."