- Shiri and Lucifer -
(Past)
Shiri and Lucifer were having an argument in one of Hell's training areas. The other demons and yuki started to leave as the two grew louder. Lucifer spoke with a bitter tone.
"He's not kind, he's only good at caring for his own! There's a clear fucking difference between those two things!"
"He's done so much for you and you still disrespect him!" Shiri shouted as he was being restrained by two demons.
"Excuse me?" Lucifer's scowl deepened. "You're the only being in Hell that refuses to say anything negative about Satan! Even his closest guard knows he's not what you idolize him to be!"
Shiri shouted an insult back that made Lucifer fly over in a burst of flames. The demons holding Shiri let him go and flew off to go get Satan. The severe anger in Lucifer's eyes was unlike anything they had seen before.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF KINDNESS!" Shiri yelled as he knocked a tooth out of Lucifer's mouth.
"FUCK YOU!" Lucifer responded as he broke Shiri's nose with a headbutt.
Shiri was landing far more hits on Lucifer than he was receiving, and yet, still seemed to be losing ground. His hands throbbed with a vibrating pain, his head was pounding, his left eye was shut, and every swallow tasted of blood. His advantage of hits against Lucifer was slipping as he felt his body slow down. He couldn't believe Lucifer's tenacity.
"YOU'RE FUCKING PATHETIC!" Lucifer screamed as he knocked Shiri down. "YOU AREN'T WORTH THE TROUBLE!" he glared at Satan.
Satan arrived with a tall female demon. The female demon had black hair down to her thighs that she had tied in a ponytail. Satan directed the female demon to Shiri and moved to intercept Lucifer.
- Satan, Abaddon, Shiri, Lucifer -
Lucifer went to fly away but was stopped by Satan. Satan's gripped his hand on Lucifer's shoulder and spoke in an unnervingly calm tone.
"You better have a great reason for this."
Lucifer explained the situation. Satan let go of Lucifer's shoulder and sighed. The tall female demon helped Shiri up.
"Was it worth it?"
"Not now, Abby," Shiri spat out a few teeth.
Satan spoke to Lucifer. "Either you tell him or I will. You don't want me making a choice between you two."
Lucifer walked past Satan and up to Shiri. "What you're going to be told never leaves here," he looked back at Satan. "And that's not my rule, it's his. I know how much you love-"
"Watch it," Abaddon glared at Lucifer. "The fight's over. If you still have some aggression to take out then I can sub for Shiri until you remember how to act like an adult."
Lucifer explained the reason for his burst of anger. The look of surprise on Shiri's face was clear, even through the blood and bruises. Before Shiri could move to apologize, Satan cut him off.
"Don't, this one," He pointed at Lucifer with his thumb, "should know better by now than to react that way."
Shiri looked at Satan. "You've known this the entire time?"
'Shit,' Satan groaned.
Shiri persisted, "You're mad at HIM for reacting angrily? If I had known I would have never said what I did."
Satan crossed his arms. "Shiri it isn't as simple-"
Shiri ignored Satan and turned to Lucifer. "I'm so sorry," he bowed his head. "Please, forgive me, and trust that I will never share that information."
Lucifer sighed, "I just hope you understand now why I said what I said about that one," he tilted his head in Satan's direction.
Shiri glared at Satan and then shook his head. "While I don't agree with what you said...I now understand you're perspective."
Abaddon walked over to Satan and whispered. "What do you see?"
"Nothing to worry about," Satan grumbled. "I'll take this as a neutral result."
- Death and Izanagi -
(Present)
Izanagi was putting up a substantially better fight against Death than in their previous matches. Death was impressed by the improvement, if not slightly worried that Izanagi seemed a bit desperate.
'Have to stall for as long as I can,' Izanagi thought as he shot spikes of stone at Death.
Death was enjoying the match but couldn't help the feeling of bloodlust he was getting from Izanagi. 'He's striking with intent to kill,' he blinked and dodged a barrage of lightning bolts. 'Maybe that's what he thinks it takes for him to stand a chance.'
Izanagi was giving it everything he had to put up a good fight. He swapped between affinities at a rapid pace while also making note of Death's movements. He couldn't discern a pattern in how Death dodged but was getting a grasp on the timing. This was one of the most intense battles he had ever fought. Unfortunately for him, that intensity was one-sided.
Death had been avoiding certain tactics for fear of severely injuring Izanagi. He respected the quick improvement Izanagi had made but there still wasn't enough to push him. He swung his scythe down on Izanagi's spear, pushing Izanagi's feet into the ground. The moment his scythe's swing connected, he blinked behind Izanagi.
'NO!' Izanagi shouted in his mind as he twisted his foot and sent a stone spike up at Death.
Death blinked away. "I didn't know-"
Izanagi slammed his spear's handle into the ground. "ENOUGH!"
Strands of Izanagi's hair hung in front of his face as he calmed his heavy breathing. Izanagi gritted his teeth. This match was everything to him. He knew that the moment it was over, Death would go to call Lucifer, notice the echo was missing, and then leave. He replayed the image of Death killing Izanami in his mind to fuel his next move.
"I'm done holding back, friend," Izanagi faked a grin.
"Are you sure?" Death asked, concerned. "If we fight at full strength," he stopped. "You know my history. If you're prepared for that, I'll respect your decision."
Izanagi wiped the tear from his eye and pushed the strands of hair back onto his head. He tightened his grip around his spear's handle. The jewels on the spear started to glow brighter. The light from the jewels kept increasing in intensity until eventually, the jewels exploded.
"The only other being that has seen this is Izanami," Izanagi said.
A bubble of water appeared at the spear's point. The spearhead sparked with electricity. The handle of the spear had a spiraling ring of fire and wind form around it. A glowing green ring appeared on Izanagi's wrist as the fire from the handle passed over his hand harmlessly. Stone grew out of the bottom of the spear's handle and formed a point.
"Come on then," Izanagi said softly as he pointed the spear at Death.
Death conjured his scythe and repeated one thing in his mind. 'Don't kill Izanagi, don't kill Izanagi.'
- Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Kazuya -
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi sat in a stone room with no entrances. In the room with them was a shadow yokai. The shadow yokai sat with their back against the walls, their arm laid over their one raised knee. They wore red wrappings over their arm that matched their cloak. Their two white eyes were narrowed, and their white mouth was in the shape of a frown.
"I'm surprised mother left you on guard duty, Kazuya," Amaterasu mocked.
"Fuck you," Kazuya responded. "The other enenra only tolerate your behavior because of Lord Susano'o. I know better."
"Kazuya," Tsukuyomi went to join in.
"Quiet," Kazuya ordered. "The one time you two could actually do something for Lord Izanagi and Izanami, and you fuck it up," he shrugged. "Not really surprising from my perspective, but I'm sure they're devastated."
"HA!" Amaterasu laughed. "You really think mother and father stand a chance against Death?"
Kazuya huffed, "That's precious, it really is. You think just because Death embarrassed you, that Lord Izanami and Izanagi will meet the same fate? Do you even remember the name of the enenra you fooled into joining you for that fight?"
"We paid our respects for that," Tsukuyomi argued.
Kazuya's expression grew angrier. "The fuck you did. Paying your respects for that would have been letting Death kill you two."
"They don't stand a chance," Amaterasu put her arms behind her head. "I'm the only one here that's actually fought both Death and mother and father. Mother is hard-countered by Death's ability and father's long out of practice."
Kazuya shook his head. "If you're so certain about their loss, then tell me; why aren't you more concerned for their well-being? I know the answer is that you're an over-privileged, pathetic failure of a lord, but I want to hear the delusion you've convinced yourself of."
Amaterasu glanced at Tsukuyomi. "Two things; Death considers mother and father friends, a rarity for the [Hunter]. Secondly, mercy is a luxury reserved for the strong."
Tsukuyomi chuckled, drawing attention from both Amaterasu and Kazuya. "How about we make a bet on the matter?"
Kazuya's angry expression shifted to just irritation. "Why not?"
- Izanami, Lucifer, Peter, Yvere -
Lucifer was rambling, "There were theories about the human 'dream world' being a connector to this world, but given what I know about the human mind, I can, unfortunately, say that their dreams are the result of scientific properties of the mind, not magical."
Peter was impressed by Lucifer's ability to speak as if nothing was wrong. Izanami was completely absorbed by what Lucifer was saying. Yvere was rubbing her eyes repeatedly, not out of boredom or exhaustion, but because of a constant warm itch she felt.
Lucifer continued, "There's actually a theory in the human world that almost mirrors the Seventh Day in ideas. It-"
"Fuck!" Yvere said under her breath as she scratched her eyes harder.
Lucifer stopped and turned around. "You okay?"
Peter tilted his head to look at Yvere's eyes. "Yer rubbin' them red, you need to stop scratchin'."
The brief moment of Lucifer not talking snapped Izanami out of her absorption. She looked up at the purple sky as if waiting for something.
"Waiting to see the shift?" Lucifer asked as he glanced back at Izanami.
"The what?" Yvere clasped her shaking hands together to stop from rubbing her eyes.
Peter opened his mouth to explain, and in that instance, Lucifer and Peter locked eyes and had the same thought. Lucifer took over for the explanation while Peter slowly drew his sword.
"Enma's magic 'shifts' every hour, creating a distortion effect in the sky," Lucifer stood up and walked over to Yvere. "Gwyn and Lucius warned me about this," He lied.
"Everything alright?" Izanami asked.
"Warned you about what?" Yvere played along.
A distortion rippled throughout the sky and Izanami stood up.