- Lucifer, Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu -
Lucifer and Tsukuyomi were having a back-and-forth while Amaterasu lied stomach-side down on two of her floating rings.
"I'm not patient," Lucifer argued. "I'm not kind, nor am I quick to forgive, BUT," he glanced at Amaterasu, "I know that those things are of vital importance to a functioning world, hence why I'm not the same piece of shit I used to be."
Tsukuyomi sighed, "Are you sure you would not prefer to settle this matter with a duel? Your duel with Amaterasu," he gestured in Amaterasu's direction, "seemed to do wonders for your two's conflict."
Lucifer looked over at Amaterasu who just shrugged while lazily kicking her feet. He looked back to Tsukuyomi.
"For the last time, I don't trust your magic. There's nothing to gain from a match other than more injuries."
Amaterasu yawned, "Brother, didn't you lose to the human? I remember hearing about mother threatening you for that."
Tsukuyomi shook his head. "I forfeited the match. I had gotten over-zealous with the challenge and could have hurt Xiao. Mother told me it was disrespectful to my opponent and the sanctity of duels to do so."
"I think her exact words were..." Amaterasu hummed for a moment. ""If I ever hear of you forfeiting a duel that you issued the challenge for again, you and I will have a match.""
Tsukuyomi shuddered. Lucifer had heard of what happened between Xiao and Tsukuyomi already but the part about Izanami's warning was new information. Lucifer asked Tsukuyomi about the incident.
"Why did you feel the need to show yourself to the Grim squad?"
"He respects Grim leaders," Amaterasu revealed. "Thinks that they represent that "balance" he's so fond of."
"Sister..." Tsukuyomi groaned.
Lucifer wasn't necessarily surprised by the information. Going off of what he had learned about Tsukuyomi's beliefs he could have inferred that Xiao might be viewed in such a way. He went to ask another question but was cut off by a hearty voice roaring over him.
"SO YOU WERE HERE!"
- Lucifer, Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, Susano'o -
Amaterasu turned over on her rings, "Where you been, Susu?"
Tsukuyomi folded his arms. "Sister's right. We have not seen you in some time."
Susano'o was the spitting image of Izanagi. Same thick black hair and strong frame. He had a boisterous confidence that his father didn't but it mostly seemed to irritate his siblings.
While the three siblings were talking, Lucifer felt an immediate, nearly overwhelming sense of distrust. After Olympus, and especially given his past conflict with Amaterasu, he assumed the worst. He remained calm as he spoke despite how on guard he was mentally.
"Training?"
Susanoo's laugh was a boom, "IN A SENSE! The Orohydra are in their breeding season. Vicious creatures, far more so than their original counterparts."
"How many heads did you collect?" Amaterasu asked.
"FEW DOZEN!" Susano'o laughed.
'The timing checks out,' Lucifer thought to himself. 'But why would he keep that a secret from his siblings?'
"I thought you grew out of that?" Tsukuyomi chastised.
Susano'o folded his arms, mirroring Tsukuyomi. "This is why I don't tell you anymore. Maybe if you explored more of the world instead of reading about it you would understand."
The three bickered, practically forgetting Lucifer was even there. The petty squabbling had put Lucifer's mind at ease.
'They would never go against their parents' wishes, and their parents would never go against Death.'
Before Lucifer could go to leave, Susano'o stopped him.
"I actually have a few messages for Michael."
Lucifer sighed, "I'm not the being to ask for that."
"NONSENSE!" Susano'o bellowed. "Siblings care for each other no matter what. Let him know that I still want a rematch and that Mido wants to speak with him. I think you being here has dredged up old feelings."
"I'll leave you three to catch up," Lucifer said, flying off in a rush.
- Lucifer, Peter, Yvere -
Peter was roasting skewers of purple and pink meat over a campfire when Lucifer landed. Yvere was standing and reading a book titled "Yokai leaders" with a look of confusion.
"Sabu's trainin' with the squad, Death's out getting drinks," Peter said.
"That's fine," Lucifer sat down across from Peter. "Susano'o finally showed up. He asked me to tell Michael a couple of things."
Peter pulled one of the skewers out of the fire and blew on it before taking a large bite. "Rmtch?"
"Swallow first," Lucifer sighed. "And yes. He also asked me to tell Michael to call Mido."
"The..." Yvere flipped through the book quickly, "Snake yokai leader?"
"Yeah," Peter swallowed. "Michael and her had a temporary romance."
"What?!" Yvere dropped the book.
Lucifer pulled out his echo. "I forgot we never told you. Peter, fill her in while I go get yelled at."
Lucifer stood up, leaving Peter to regale Yvere with the story.
"Long story short, Michael had just fought Susano'o and Susano'o decided to hold a Valhallan-style feast in celebration. The Hebi clan that the current leader, Mido, is a part of wanted to test her venom on Michael."
"BECAUSE SHE MISSES YOU I GUESS?" Lucifer shouted.
"Anyways," Peter continued, "the Hebi are prideful about their venom so the chance to test it on beings infamous for their resistance to toxin wasn't goin' to be missed."
"TELL HER YOURSELF!" Lucifer yelled.
Peter sighed, "One thing lead to another and the two started REALLY testin' the archangel resistance. I think it has somethin' to do with Michael's favorite color bein' green but I can't say for sure."
"Green? Really?" Yvere questioned.
"Ya'd think it be white," Peter shrugged. "I really don't know that much about it. Gettin' that kind of information out of Michael is impossible so everythin' I know is second-hand knowledge from witnesses."
Lucifer walked over and sat down with a flop. "Well, that was fun."
"Michael goin' to call or?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," Lucifer grumbled. "Said I owe him a small favor. I'm going to see if I can use this to get information out of Mido to help Xiao."
Lucifer grabbed one of the skewers of meat. He turned to Peter before taking a bite.
"Archangels are toxin immune, not resistant. Big difference."
"Yeah yeah," Peter rolled his eyes. "That hasn't stopped ya from tryin' every glorified poison disguised as an alcoholic drink though."
"I thought angel culture was strict on relationships?" Yvere asked Lucifer as she kneeled down to pick the book up. "Seems strange that Michael of all beings would have a temporary romance given how...representative he is of angels."
Lucifer shrugged. "Probably something to do with his favorite color being green. Regardless, angel culture is more strict about having children than anything else, which is probably why Michael didn't follow through on the relationship."
- Julius and Salim -
Julius and Salim were in the middle of a frozen tundra, sitting around an unlit campfire while discussing their plans.
"You know they call this area the petrifier?" Salim said as he looked around.
"We're not going to freeze to death," Julius assured. "Besides, this is one of the only places we can talk safely. Kage are all over the place. I trust we'll have Izanagi on our side but there's still the matter of making sure we aren't caught beforehand. I'd rather not run from Death until everything is in motion."
Salim hugged himself as he shivered. "Why are you so confident about Izanagi? He's been friends with Death longer than most gods. It didn't exactly go well for the others when they tried convincing Ra."
"Because," Julius cracked a glowing orange orb on top of the small bundle of wood between the two, "he's a man of statistics," he pulled his hand back as the fire ignited the wood. "He will always go with the safest option, not the one he believes to be more morally correct. The situation with the yokai leaders proves that."
Salim held his hands out to the fire. "If he chooses to side with Death...you understand what that means for us right?"
"We die," Julius replied casually. "Are you afraid we're too young to die? They say we lose our minds at a thousand, and yet here we are, far past that."
"How reassuring..." Salim chuckled. "We'll make the gods understand the strength of humans, won't we, Hazi?"
"Don't call me that, Baaz," Julius laughed.
- Izanagi and Izanami -
Izanami entered a candle-lit room. At the center of the room sat a cross-legged Izanagi. His hands were clutched together, their grip so tight the white of Izanagi's knuckles showed clearly. Izanagi seemed to shake slightly as drops of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"What do you see, dear?" Izanami asked politely.
In Izanami's mind, his eyes were open. A thousand separated images branched out in front of him. Each image played a scenario, most of which seemed similar at a glance. The subtle differences were only noticed as Izanagi focused on them before quickly switching to another. In his mind, he stood up and the images surrounded him in a dome. He looked around, panicked.
"No, no, it can't, IT CAN'T!" Izanagi shouted as he slammed his fists to his side, cracking the wooden floor. "I WON'T ALLOW IT!" he stood up and opened his eyes. The images in his mind appeared before him.
Izanami could not see the images, but she knew very well what her husband was doing.
Izanagi enhanced one image and then threw it away in anger. A thousand images were quickly reduced to a few hundred. Izanagi slumped to the ground, tilting his head slightly toward Izanami.
"I can't do it. No matter how many times I look, it's the same. Choosing Death is the incorrect choice. I don't understand how, but it is. What do I do?"
Izanami walked over and wrapped her arms around Izanagi. "Whatever you choose, I will fight beside you," she tightened her embrace. "When you told us to stay out of Ragnarok I had questioned the decision, most of our territory did. And yet, here we are, one of the most prosperous lands in the world because of that choice."
Izanami rested her head on Izanagi's shoulder. "Choose what you believe is best for us. Correct choice or not, it's important to remember that misfortune finds us all eventually. I never expect you to be perfect, no one does and no one should. What you are has always been more than enough."
Izanagi put his hand on Izanami's arm. "Thank you. I will not allow misfortune, inevitable or otherwise, to take what we have."