When Suzaku arrived, Romonus, Azazel, and Mephisto honestly did not expect her to bring Amaterasu herself to this meeting. The three men met gazes, which communicated a single thought. An agreement to work together if Amaterasu tried to pressure them.
Romonus didn't need them as he was more than strong enough to kill her if he wanted, but having allies was better for dealing with things politically. Suzaku and Amaterasu sat down at the table 4-sided table. Once everyone was seated, Romonus started things.
"I believe we are all here because of our mutual problem. The Utsusemi Agency is made up of exiled members of your three organizations. Mostly, the 5 Priciple Clans as the leader of the Utsusemi Agency is from the Himejima.
Then, we also got exiled mages from Grauzauberer and Satanael from Grigori. We are here to agree on how to deal with them, yes?"
Azazel nodded with a sigh.
"Exactly. When Satanael defected, he took my research material, a class of unstable Sacred Gear users, and a treasure that belonged to me. I want to prevent my research from getting into the wrong hands, and I want to catch my former friend before he causes any more damage to the world."
Mephisto, who was sitting comfortably, said the same thing.
"Some mages from Grauzauberer also defected because they wanted to pursue dark magic that I didn't allow. They joined up with the exiled Principle Clan members, and the Grigori defectors as well. How can we forget those wizards from Oz who are involved in this?
In particular, Agusta, the Second Witch of the East and the possessor of Incinerate Anthem. Anything to say for yourself, goddess, since this is mostly your fault."
Suzaku frowned.
"With all due respect, do not speak to Lady Amaterasu with that disrespect."
Mephisto did not back down.
"If the shoe fits. Your Principle Clan members are all the same. You exile your own family or kill them because they do things you don't like. Those exiles sometimes move on, but more often than not, they join other organizations and plot revenge.
It has been going on for centuries."
Romonus looked to his right at Akeno this involved her. He reached out and held her hand.
"Agreed. Members of the Himejima clan killed Akeno's Mother, Shuri Himejima, and that was allowed under your rule, Amaterasu. She was not only your priestess, but she was also the wife of Baraqiel. What do you have to say?"
The goddess hid her face behind her sleeves, but the way her eyes were burning indicated that she did not like hearing that.
"I had nothing to do with that."
Romonus leaned forward and looked her in the eyes.
"Really? Because Akeno's great Uncle seemed certain they were doing your will."
Suzaku looked at Akeno, who was already looking quite angry. Her fists were clenched, and the same went for Baraqiel. Daughter and Father both looked like they were itching to attack Amaterasu for their loss.
"I can assure you that is going to change. I am the next head, and with Lady Amaterasu's blessing, those who were responsible for her loss have been punished."
Romonus gripped Akeno's hand before he asked the critical question.
"In that case, where is Shuri's soul? In Yomi or Heaven?"
Amaterasu answered that.
"I allowed her to enter Heaven. Even when she left the clan, she never ceased to pray to me. I never wished for her death and I mean that."
Hearing that made Akeno and Baraqiel relax that Shuri was not in Yomi. Romonus nodded to himself.
"Good. Now that the personal business is dealt with. We can continue with how we will stop the Utsusemi and prevent another from rising again. I already have the key to one of those things. I will take blood from Tobio Himejima and Akeno here to track down Hanezu Himejima to prevent their research from succeeding."
Azazel nodded to himself.
"While you do that, I used the information I got from Valerie's Sephiroth Graal to invent a Holy Sword Tracker. With that, I can find Arondight and Satanael rather easily."
Mephisto also had a way to track down his rouge agents.
"I have been working on something to track them down. I will search for the corruption released when they cast their dark magic. If the three of us work together, we will quickly track down all of the rouge elements and get back the kidnapped students."
Amaterasu lowered her hands as she spoke up.
"This also involves us, so I will be helping. I will send the current heads of the clans to search for the exiled members of their clans."
Baraqiel brought up an important point.
"How will you prevent this from happening again? They are exiled only because they are not born with your 'blessings,' which is a lie. Everyone knows the blessings are just the divine blood of your son's being more pure."
Amaterasu clenched her hands together.
"Yes, our human servants have done wrong, and that will stop. I guarantee it because they have exiled people who did not need to be exiled."
Azazel nodded.
"That is true because they also exile any Sacred Gear user, which is beyond stupid. Sacred Gears are some of the most powerful abilities one can be born with, and they push them out. The only reason your Principal Clans are still standing is because of you, the Shinto gods.
Only a few members of the clans are strong, which needs to change. We can do more good if you would be more open to further cooperation with Grigori."
Romonus looked at Akeno and spoke up.
"Plus, Akeno here is the first Himejima in centuries to fully awaken her Divine Blood. My lover Valerie used her Sephiroth Graal to draw out the blood of your 4th son Ikutsuhikone. You can feel it yourself no?"
Amaterasu noticed this because the feeling of Divine Blood was easy for her to feel. Especially when it involved one of her sons who had sired the Principle Clans. She had not said anything because Akeno did not feel like a Demigod.
She felt stronger than any Demigod because her Fallen Angel and Demon bloodlines had fused with it. That made Baraqiel exceptionally proud as it meant that his daughter had everything that made Shuri special and more.
He could not be more proud of her, but it made Amaterasu feel ashamed. Shuri did not need to die and all the exiled members were returning for vengeance.
"It appears I have allowed my descendants to get too far from my teachings. I think you are right, Azazel, that cooperation between the Factions is the best chance for progress."
Romonus nodded.
"Agreed. So let us work together to stomp out our current issue, and then we can start to work closer together. But before anything can go further, I would like a promise from you, Amaterasu."
The goddess wondered what Romonus could want.
"What kind of promise?"
"When all this is over, I want you to return Shuri's soul to me. I can easily resurrect her, and my lover Akeno would love to have her Mother returned to her, and so would my Father-In-Law, Baraqiel. Her own family murdered her, so my request should not be too extreme."
Suzaku's eyes widened at the idea of having her aunt back. She turned to her ancestor Amaterasu, who needed to make the choice. Romonus could just brute force it and take her back because, at this point, the Shinto Gods could not stop him if he wanted to invade.
He didn't think they could get past his immortal body, so he was more confident in himself. He could see how Amaterasu thought about it because resurrection was taboo.
Even if you could bring back the dead, should you is the question? For Romonus, the answer is yes, and it should be done more if you could. Since Romonus did say he had the Sephiroth Graal, which is known for that, she decided to agree.
"If Shuri agrees, then I shall allow you to bring her back."
Akeno and Baraqiel both smiled from the depths of their hearts that their family would be back in one piece. Mephisto smiled as he remembered his friend George Faust. Faust with all his magical skill could have prevented himself from aging easily.
He had just chosen to die as a human, which made Mephisto quite angry when he was younger. However, now that he was older, he no longer felt the same. Some people, like Shuri, who was taken before her time, were prime examples of someone to bring back.
"I am happy for you, Baraqiel. You and your daughter will certainly be happy to have her back. With that out of the way, we can take this chance to discuss what we will do when we finish with our incident."
Suzaku decided to speak.
"In that case, the other current heads and I are all young and more progressive. We wish to stop the practice of exile to those who do not deserve it. We believe that we have lost too many talents to old dogma, and I want to stop any more people like Shuri from being killed by their own families."
Romonus also had something to add.
"In that case, I have more to add. In a few years, I will become the head of the Bael clan, the highest-ranked Devil Clan of the remaining pillars. I can use my authority to cooperate more with Grigori, Grauzauberer, and the principal clans.
This can be a way to increase cooperation between different Pantheons and organizations. My magic mentor, MacGregor, is the founder of the Golden Dawn, and I don't think Grauzauberer and the Golden Dawn are at odds, are they?"
Mephisto shook his head.
"No, we are not. You learned under that old pile of bones, Dormuteth, right? I was his mentor when he still had flesh."
Romonus chuckled.
"Guess I went full circle. You taught him, he taught MacGregor, and MacGregor taught me before taking me back to his mentor. When are you going to teach me, Great Great Master?"
Mephisto chortled.
"You don't need it, but I am glad my teachings led to you being this strong. Are we all in agreement then?"
Azazel nodded.
"No complaint from Grigori or me. I am already friends with Romonus here, and I have been talking to the 4 Satans because of him, so no issues from us."
That just left Suzaku and Amaterasu to make up their minds. Would they agree to further cooperation or keep the status quo? Amaterasu, after a few moments of silence, made up her mind.
"I have decided to pursue more cooperation with Grauzauberer, Grigori, The Golden Dawn and Devils."
Romonus would have to call Serafall as she was in charge of foreign affairs.
"I will get my girlfriend Serafall to meet with you separately then. As for the Bael Clan, I will deal with that in a few years."
Amaterasu nodded.
"If there is nothing more, we can finally enjoy a meal. It will be a good way to finish up today."
No one seemed to have anything against the idea, so Amatetarasu called a waitress into the room to serve them a traditional Japanese meal. While the waitress was getting ready, Akeno turned to her Father.
"Dad, we are going to see mom again."
She was barely holding back her tears, which also made him tear up.
"We will. I am so sorry I failed you two."
Akeno shook her head as she reached out and held his hand.
"I should say sorry to you, Dad. I blamed you for nothing. I ran away when you were in pain, too. I am a terrible daughter."
Azazel patted Baraqiel's back, and Romonus nudged Akeno with his leg. They stood up and shared a hug, Father and Daughter. The sight made Suzaku smile as her Uncle-In-Law and Cousin were in good hands.
The idea of seeing her dear aunt again even made her emotional. Romonus was glad he could reunite Akeno and her Father. Unlike his own Father, Baraqiel was a good husband.
Even after her death, he had not stopped mourning her and keeping her grave clean. He did not have guards stationed around Shuri because she had refused them. In a way, Shuri herself got herself killed, but Romonus didn't say that.
Until she came back, he would not do that. After this, he would have to see his depressed Father to check up on him.
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(9 Chapters ahead.)