- Underworld -
Persephone came stomping in, ready to tear into Poseidon. The moment she saw the faces of everyone in the room she lost the fury she had built up. She felt exhausted. It was as if the weight of everything that had happened was finally hitting her.
Persephone sat down next to Peter, "Explain yourself..."
Poseidon retold his story once more, with the addition of "I'm sorry" peppered throughout. There was more pain in Poseidon's voice this time around. Peter felt a small pang of pity in his stomach as he heard this version of the story.
Persephone leaned back and let out a long exhale. "So, what's the plan, Lucifer?"
"Poseidon will come back to Hell with me and my team," Lucifer explained. "I'm going to have him help with the human affairs section. Having a more potentially recognizable god in Hell, that isn't a demon, should help with human integration."
Hades raised an eyebrow. "Still trying that, huh?"
Lucifer ignored Hades. "I have a more long-term plan but I need to wait for Death to be awake so I can coordinate some things with him."
"Yvere, ya can come in now," Peter said.
Yvere poked her head around the corner. "This doesn't seem to concern me. If everyone's good healing-wise then I'm just gonna go back to Death."
"No need," Death, in a groggy tone said from behind Yvere. "Why is he alive?" his tone shifted bitterly.
Death's words and tone drew full attention from the room. The tension that had just started to fade was now back. The renewed tension would be made far worse by Lucifer's response.
"Why did you lose consciousness?"
Death's hand gripped the frame of the doorway, cracking the blue stone as he spoke. "Is this because of Amaterasu?"
"What if it is?" Lucifer responded. "My battle, my victory, so it's my choice what to do with my opponent."
Everyone else's eyes quickly shifted to Death. This small back-and-forth had stolen all attention away from Poseidon.
'I can't believe I had these two as enemies,' Poseidon worried.
Death ripped a chunk out of the doorframe and threw it behind him as he walked in. "Sorry for the damage," He said to Hades while glaring at Lucifer. "YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF MERCY?!"
Death's supposedly violent entry had been mostly unexpected by everyone, except for Lucifer. Lucifer took a step forward so that he was closer to Death, surprising Hades, Persephone, and Poseidon.
Hades had a thought, 'No wonder you don't fear my brother.'
Lucifer quickly explained what his plans for Poseidon were before shifting to defend himself verbally. "It. Worked. Out."
Death turned his head and stared deep into Poseidon's eyes. "You..."
Lucifer stepped to the side and put his arm in front of Death's chest. "Satan's magic would be able to tell if he had any intentions of betrayal. On top of that, you know for a fact I would have turned him into a charred mass if any members of my team had been killed."
Death closed his eyes and turned to the doorway. He opened his eyes and spoke under his breath. "Everyone dies; you are not immune to consequences."
Death walked out of the room, leading everyone but Peter and Lucifer to release a big sigh of relief.
Hades looked at Peter, "I'm surprised you didn't intervene?"
Peter shrugged. "Seen it before. S'nothin' new."
That comment gave Hades more insight into Death and Lucifer's relationship. Hades looked at Persephone to see how she was handling all of this. He saw her face tilted up to the ceiling with her eyes closed.
"Let's move to a different room," Hades insisted.
As everyone started to filter out, Poseidon asked Lucifer to stay for a moment. Glares from everyone in the room were softened by Lucifer's reply.
"Go," He waved them away. "He's got no means to use his magic and I can easily kill him if he tries anything."
- Lucifer and Poseidon -
"What is it?" Lucifer asked.
"It's about the human integration thing you were talking about," Poseidon answered. "Is that really what you believe?"
Lucifer sat down across from Poseidon. "Why wouldn't it be?"
Poseidon's tone was careful, "It's just...I feel as if you would go a different route if it is what you truly believe. Something more...violent."
Poseidon nearly flinched as he finished his sentence. He had expected Lucifer to respond with anger.
"Look," Lucifer sighed. "I'm not Death or my father. I don't have the means to handle things how you think I would."
"And yet you fought me?" Poseidon's words seemed to spill out.
Lucifer looked at the broken doorframe. "There isn't a god in this world I would kneel down to and let kill me or those I care about. You were a threat, simple as that. Come on," Lucifer stood up, motioning to Poseidon to do the same.
Poseidon stood up, thinking to himself as he walked out of the room. 'You're lying. If you truly cared about "human integration" you would be working with that new god, Kahvis. I don't know what it is you truly want...but I know I should keep my mouth shut.'
Lucifer escorted Poseidon out while trying to ignore the voice in his head.
'Mercy?'
- Underworld -
Zeus rejoined the group after finishing his bath. He hadn't planned on listening to anything Lucifer was going to say until he realized Death was now a part of the discussion. The group was in one of the palace's dining areas.
Lucifer, Death, and Zeus sat at a round table while Hades, Persephone, Poseidon, Peter, and Sabu, were sitting at a table across the room. Everyone except for Poseidon was eating a meal that Persephone had prepared. After every bite of food, Persephone would look up at Poseidon with an angered stare that would shift to sadness.
Over at the table with Zeus, Death, and Lucifer there was an awkward silence. Lucifer knew he should wait for either Death or Zeus to speak first. Death didn't want to speak first because of his current frustrations with Lucifer. And Zeus was waiting for Death to lead the conversation. Lucifer noticed the stalemate and went to speak but was cut off by Zeus.
"I can't thank you enough for properly ending my father," Zeus thanked Death.
"That problem should have been handled sooner," Death responded coldly. "Surely I'm not the only one in this world who had the power to end him?"
"Well..." Zeus stalled.
Lucifer interjected, "It's because he didn't want his territory to look weak. Chronos's defeat was well known around the world and was an important factor in the respect given to the ruling gods of Olympus."
"Still," Death mumbled.
Zeus was frustrated at Lucifer's words but let the irritation slide since it seemed to be a sufficient answer for Death.
Lucifer didn't waste the current mood. He went right into explaining his plans for Poseidon with Zeus and Death.
"And how exactly do you think I should explain such a thing to the other gods?" Zeus tapped his finger on the table.
Lucifer leaned on his hand. "If the other gods know about this betrayal then we tell them that Poseidon is being sold to Satan as a slave. If the other gods don't know then you have nothing to say."
Zeus perked up slightly. "Why would I sell him instead of just executing him?"
Lucifer's eyes shifted to the side. "Because there's more value in that. A potential--albeit temporary, alliance with Satan over the offering of Poseidon is more valuable than simply killing him."
'I wonder how he's convincing Zeus?' Poseidon thought to himself.
Something was in the corner of Lucifer's vision. He ignored it and looked Zeus in the eyes as he spoke.
"You need allies now more than ever. I've seen more than my fair share of traitorous family members to be able to tell how deep someone's malice runs. I don't care for Poseidon but I can tell you his actions were more the result of a mountain of mistakes than a true intent to commit fratricide."
Zeus looked to Death expecting some kind of addition to what Lucifer was saying. Having not gotten any response he assumed Death must agree with Lucifer.
'I wonder how much of that you actually believe, Lucifer?' Death kept his thoughts to himself.