Eisheth accepted the hand with a sense of sinking doom. Of course, he was going to be there.
“This is a pleasant surprise Jophiel.”
Jophiel smiled wearily at Gabriel as she walked into the laboratories. “It has been a little while, but this is not a social visit.”
“They rarely are.” She placed a golden collar she had been working on down on the table. Littered about the place in perfect order were all manner of metals shaped into links and collars. She wondered what Gabriel had been constructing.
She turned those stunning and penetrating violet eyes on Jophiel “so what can I do for you?”
“I would like to request Griffins and something else if you have the time.”
“What would the something else be?”
“I need assistance in getting the European Union under our full control. There remain pockets of secular resistance and pagan resistance.”
“What of your Erelim?”
“There are not enough of them to cover all of the EU, trying as they are. It is just too vast an area to cover all the time.”
“What about the Heavenly Legions or Council?”
She laughed “Oh Gabriel, you know as well as I do that they are bloody useless.”
“Useless is an understatement Jophiel, but yes, I well know. So tell me, what did you have in mind for assistance?”
“I was thinking of silent stalkers to assassinate key figures and anyone else raising resistance in the EU. Something dangerous and subtle but not easily detectable.”
Gabriel held out her hand “Show me what you have in mind.”
Jophiel held out her hand, raising out of the swirls of orange magic was the image of a humanoid that looked mostly like a Human, same body structure, and same facial appearance. But their hands ended in long scythe-like blades akin to mantids. From its shoulders rose two sets of tentacles, like a parody of wings.
Gabriel took the image into her own hands, and the magic flashed pink, the image rippled as she investigated the design. “I believe I can make this to your specifications, a most intriguing design. If you have any other designs that come to mind feel free to share them, such good designs are rare to find in others.”
“Thank you, Gabriel, I have of course provided your fee.” She held up another spell which Gabriel took, a smile flicked across her face.
“So many Demons Jophiel, you have done well.”
“We managed to catch many of the Lilin fleeing Amsterdam, and Europe is plagued by the other races.”
“I will let you know when the first of these is completed for you.”
“Thank you, Gabriel.”
Chapter 33
Sariel and Lilith cut a very cosy mother and daughter image. Sariel sat before her mother who was using burnt and scarred hands to do her hair. Most of Lilith was still scarred, golden marks ran all across her once beautiful and flawless body.
Samael sat protectively next to her playing chess with Hecate while Tartarus and Erebus also played chess across the room. Nyx lounged with night magic above her, making constellations and shooting stars.
But the one person who should have been there was missing. “Where is Hades?” Persephone asked as she, Demeter and Hera walked into the room. She could not find her husband anywhere.
They glanced in her direction, but it was Sariel who spoke to her “He is in Hell with Lucifer.”
Persephone gasped as did her mother and aunt. Hades never left his realm, he had spurned the Surface long before the War of Heaven becoming increasingly reclusive. He didn’t leave his realm for any reason, he hadn’t left it for the War, he hadn’t left it when Hera had offered positions within her pantheon. He had stayed behind when she and her mother had left.
“Hades left his realm? He actually left his realm?”
They all smiled at her confusion, Hades’ unwillingness to leave his realm was well known. “Yes, matters of pressing concern have dragged him out of his realm.”
“What could be so dire?”
“Gabriel is raiding Hell for souls, the only person who can teach Lucifer to control Hell and thus prevent her is Hades but because of his Chaos poisoning, he is unable to use much magic beyond Hell.”
Persephone slumped down in surprise. She couldn’t even remember the last time Hades had left Hades, every time she had left he had always been waiting for her. It was so strange not to have him waiting for her return.
As Hera and Demeter moved into the room after her, they cleared the doorway for the pair behind. The room turned chilly as Asmodeus walked into the room with Agrat. The males all started squaring off at each other, but Agrat ran forward to her sister.
“Lilith, dear Lilith, I cannot believe that you are alive.” She threw her arms around her sister then held her at arm’s length “such scars! Who could have known that we could scar in such a way? Oh, and your hands, what a mess.”
Asmodeus was more detached “it is good to see you are alive Lilith, Agrat was most upset at your loss.” His eyes turned from Lilith to the beauty in front of her. She was a wide-eyed, innocent-looking thing with violet eyes, pale skin, and black wings and hair. “I don’t believe we have met.”
Samael interjected before Sariel even had a second to “Sariel this is your cousin Asmodeus, the Demon King.” He put a strong inflection on cousin.
“What a delightful pleasure to meet you cousin,” he said as he kissed her hand.
She stared at him even more wide-eyed “nice to meet you, Asmodeus.
Why is the room so tense? She asked her mother.
There have been issues in the past between us. Samael and my sisters, Asmodeus and a great many things. You watch yourself around him. He is very dangerous. Lilith was glad she had regained the ability to mentally communicate. It had been so strange being silent.
“Do you know when Hades will return?” it was Hera that drew the conversation back on track.
“Likely within the next few hours if previous behaviour is any indication. Lucifer will try and try but get very little in return. Hades will silently watch until Lucifer explodes then bring him back. Lucifer will then try with me but get nowhere.” There was clear amusement in Erebus’ voice.
“I see, so our little Prince of Darkness is not progressing very well.”
“No, I am not” eyes flicked to the door as Lucifer glared at them all. There were gasps from the few of them that had not seen him since the Fall. Curved red and black horns rose over his golden-black hair. His wings were a mixture of black membranes and black feathers. He held one violet eye and one red eye. Fire danced all across his form. “Is now a bad time Erebus?”
“Not at all Lucifer.” He held up an arm that turned into pure darkness. Lucifer marched across to grab it. They disappeared in a flutter of darkness.
Persephone launched herself out of her seat to throw herself at Hades. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her around while she kissed him. “I’ve missed you too Persephone.”
She leaned in close and rested her head against his and the rest presumed their communication had turned internal. After a pause Hades spoke “rooms have been set up for all of our guests, the banquet will begin in half a day, more of our guests should arrive by then. Now if you will excuse me.” There was no guessing why he and Persephone were excusing themselves.
“Come, sister, you’ll be in the same suites as before” Demeter took Hera by the arm while some attending Lampades came to take Agrat and Asmodeus to their room.
“Is it going to be this tense all the time?”
“Yes, it will be,” her mother said.
“Wait until everyone is here, then it will be very tense.” Her father said.
Suddenly this didn’t seem like such a good idea.
The Lampades had outdone themselves. The banquet hall was stunningly decorated with fairy lights, violet fires, and flowers. A much larger table than before had been arranged in the middle. It had been quite some time before it had seen much more than the usual number of di
ners.
Hades sat pride of place with his glowing wife beside them. Both of them were being very affectionate to each other. Sitting next to her daughter was Demeter and on her other side was her sister Hera. Next to her was Agrat and Asmodeus.
Next to Hades sat his glowering Protégé and on Lucifer’s other side was his other Mentor Erebus. Tartarus sat next to his brother and their sister sat next to him. Nemesis sat next to her mother, followed by the three Furies, Charon, Cerberus, Hypnos, and Thanatos. Samael sat between his father and wife. Sariel sat between her mother and Mentor, who had managed to make it to the occasion. She was adamantly chatting away to her Protégé about Victoria’s pregnancy and James’ Ascension.
On Brigid’s other side sat Naamah, she did not look happy to be there.
In the gap between sat Eisheth with her two children on either side of her. There had been a couple of spaces left, but for who most were unaware.
“What are we waiting for?” Naamah was in no mood to linger here.
“For all of Lilith’s sister’s to arrive.”
“We are all here.” She looked at the other two rolling her eyes.
“They are now Naamah.”
All eyes swung to the dark beauty gliding into the banquet hall. Dark olive skin, flowing black hair that belied gravity. She wore a long grey dress that started at her shoulders and fell to the floor. Gold and bronze ornaments decorated her wrists, ankles, neck and upper arms. On her brow, she wore a platinum crown bearing a large black opal.
Hades rose from his seat “dear cousin, it is an honour for you to join us.” At the same time, Naamah spat out “what is she doing here?”
Naamah bore a resentment to Ereshkigal, because of her, her contract with Inanna had been terminated short, as had all of Inanna’s servants’ contracts when Inanna had been held in Irkalla.
Ereshkigal swung her dark grey eyes, streaked with violet, an ominous sign, to Naamah “I am here to celebrate the fact that my dear sister is not, in fact, dead at the hands of Heaven’s Angels.”
There was a sharp intake of breath from Lilith’s maternal sisters while Ereshkigal smiled, “That is correct, Lilith shares my father and Inanna’s too.” She gracefully sat down at one of the empty spots smiling at Hades and his wife and also at Lilith and Sariel. “It is a pleasure to be here cousin, I do fear it has been a dreadfully long time since any of us have visited each other.”
“Well, we are honoured to be joined with Hell’s High Lord tonight.” He gestured to Lucifer next to him.
Ereshkigal flicked her eyes across to him “Lucifer. What a pleasant surprise, this is an honour indeed. Hell is the biggest of the Underworld realms, you are sure to be a rising star.”
He nodded to her and thanked her, but he had little else to say, he had had almost no interactions with Ereshkigal during his life. Like many of the Underworld Gods, she was reclusive and usually remained within her own realm.
“He is not the only rising star in the room. None of us should forget Sariel.” All eyes turned to the strange woman who had entered the room. She had a reptilian cast to all of her features, large Chaos starburst eyes, scaly ridges for eyebrows, no hair but two long platinum horns rising above her head and large pointed ears. She had ocean blue-grey skin though her feathered wings were a spectrum of colours. Her claws were platinum as were the two long fangs protruding beyond her mouth. She was beautiful in the way of all Divine, but it was a most unusual beauty.
“Honoured Ancestor, welcome” Ereshkigal rose from her seat to offer the seat next to her. Tiamat gracefully sank down into her chair and looked about the table “I believe that we are all here now.”
“What are you doing here?” spat Nyx.
All turned to watch her in surprise, most of all her family members. Nyx was perhaps the most easy-going of all the Primordials, they had not seen her this riled up in a long time and yet they were at a loss as to why.
“Lilith is my descendent, I care for her wellbeing and am here just like the rest of her family.”
“Why are any of us here? Every time we get together all we do is bicker and fight.” Naamah interjected.
“Do you care for our sister so little?”
Naamah turned to glare at Eisheth “Oh please, you hated her not that long ago. What about all the hurt she has caused us. Always stepping on our toes. Face it the only feeling we truly felt was relief that she would never interfere with our lives again when we thought she was dead.”
“At least she knows how to behave like a sister and look out for the rest of us.”
“Interference is not looking out for us.”
“I didn’t ask for her help, but she helped ease my birth, something went terribly wrong, and I could have died.”
“Oh please, no Divine ever dies from childbirth, that is a purely mortal weakness.”
“They can if they are suffering from Chaos poisoning. I had the same issue when giving birth.”
Naamah looked at Tiamat then swung her eyes over to Sariel “the only reason either of you had Chaos poisoning was because of her. Which is another point, she is far too dangerous. Something needs to be done to curb her power. Look what she did to Amsterdam, look what she did to her own mother, look at what she did to Eisheth and Tiamat. For Heaven’s sake an Angel causing a Primordial Goddess to feel pain. What is this madness?”
“It is because of that Chaos power that you are here to make such accusations. Sariel freed all of us in this room from our imprisonments. Yes, I suffered Chaos poisoning, but I am alive, and since when do you care about mortal cities? Their loss is nothing to you.” Lilith spat at her sister.
“I would like to see you even try to curb Sariel’s powers, what could you do against Chaos?” Tiamat eyes bored into Naamah.
“Just because one lacks Chaos does not mean they cannot fight one that does. Chaos does not grant you the right to do as you please.” Nyx spat out.
Tiamat looked at Nyx “You’re no longer talking about Sariel.”
“You bet I’m not. She doesn’t do as she pleases, she is the most considerate person I have ever met, clearly she did not get that from you.”
“I did not come here to be attacked Nyx.”
“Then you shouldn’t have come here.”
“What is your problem?”
“You! You fucking harlot. The problem is you.”
“What the Hell have I ever done to you?”
“Oh, like you don’t know.”
“I don’t have the faintest clue.”
“You stole Kuk from me. He was mine.”
“If he was truly yours, he would never have moved on.”
Starry darkness swirled off of Nyx in increasing deluges. She screamed, throwing herself across the table at Tiamat. Darkness shattered against swirling salt water. The two Primordial Goddesses had disappeared into their powers.
Starry darkness and salt water swirled around the room with increasing violence. Magic filled the air as the two powers assaulted each other. The maelstrom thundered across the floor, darkness and salt water being thrown in every direction. They crashed into the wall, smashing their way through it, tumbling outside.
The sound of their violent confrontation continued to get fainter and more distant until it disappeared as their fight spilled out into the Underworld.
“Should we be concerned?” Sariel asked of Tartarus and Erebus. They sat there with their lips pursed and a confused look on their faces.
They shook their heads “no, it is best not to interfere. Primordial fights are catastrophic to all those around. To try and intervene is suicide. They will either tire each other out after a month or two or one will be the victor.”
“But I could stop them.”
They laughed before they stilled. They turned considering eyes to her “no. You will not use your powers to interfere Sariel. You cannot stop every fight, nor can you win every battle. To fight is part of our nature. And this fight will highlight to the world that they cannot deny the presence of
magic.”
“This is exactly what I am talking about. Whoever heard of an Angel who could stop a Primordial fight? She is dangerous.” Naamah was accusing again.
“We are all dangerous, it is the nature of the Divine. Every one of us in this room has flattened cities and killed whole armies except Sariel. She is the most innocent of us all.” Samael defended his daughter.
“That’s another thing, whoever heard of an innocent Divine? Especially the daughter of the Betrayer and the Harlot.”
“Naamah you’re just jealous that the rest of us have children, and you don’t” Agrat spat at her while Lilith calmly said “The Harlot? I didn’t sleep with your husband, I didn’t try to take what wasn’t mine.”
“Oh yes, and look at the children you all have. You fuck your own son, Lilith gave us the Arch Angel Michael and the Chaos Goddess Sariel. Eisheth has given us two spawn, what will they grow up to be? Chaos Demons that rape the world.” She rounded on Lilith again “don’t talk to me about your husband” she spat the word “your marriage is a sham, you married Adam. Besides what do you expect when you marry a viper like Samael.”
“My children are not spawn” Eisheth cried, her children had climbed into her lap scared of the fighting while Samael turned on Naamah. “Don’t be such a conceited hypocrite, you had no problem climbing into my bed and moaning the house down. You’re just bitter that you could never compare to Lilith, you hate standing in her shadows which is all you have ever done. You thought you could out sex her, you sought to make me yours as part of your revenge. You think I didn’t know your reasons. I may be a viper, but you are a fool. No woman will ever compare to Lilith.”
Lilith reached out to grab his hand love shining all across her face. Their relationship might be very flawed, but they did truly love each other.
“You fucking bastard” she jumped up, flames tearing across her beauty.
Ereshkigal calmly added her input. “She is such a hypocrite. Samael is not the only lover she has tried to steal from her sister. She did try to steal Asmodeus. To so casually condemn Agrat for fucking her son and yet she fucked her nephew” Naamah blanched while Asmodeus turned to face the fury spilling out of Agrat. Ereshkigal smirked as she sat back in her chair.
A Gluttony Of Faith Page 34