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Chapter 168: Interlude 7

"Hello, Persephone, it\'s a pleasure to see you again. You look lovely, is that a new dress?" I kindly greeted the younger deity back. "Am I the first to arrive?"

"My hubby had it made for me for the occasion. Arachne barely accepts commissions from our side of the world these days, but he somehow managed to get this made in time." She beamed with pride. "And a few came early, come on." She eagerly dragged me through the Greek Underworld, easily navigating the layers of this sub reality until we stepped to the area she was \'hosting\' us.

With the brief pleasantries, Persephone disappeared again, attending to other duties while the other guests arrived.

It wasn\'t particularly extravagant, but then again, there wasn\'t a need to \'show off\' to us. It was more appreciated to have a smaller and warmer feel than anything.

"Izanami!"

"Lady Izanami."

Two voices greeted me.

"Oh Ereshkigal, its been too long." The smaller girl also came for a hug. This girl had always been a loner, even by our standards. It didn\'t help that much of her pantheon was gone, faded into oblivion or otherwise killed.

A quick greeting and I faced the second person. "Lord Yama, it\'s always a pleasure." One of the few deities that attends this little event that could claim to be my peer in age.

"Are we strangers? I thought you were calling me just Yama." The man laughed.

"Then what\'s with this \'Lady Izanami\' nonsense?" I pursed my lips, earning another chuckle from him.

"Sorry, been having the big-wigs visiting my little corner so much these past few years, it just slipped out." He held his hands up in apology.

"Speaking of \'big\', that big-headed, bald buffoon isn\'t here, is he?" I took a glance around.

Yama scratched his head awkwardly. "Ahah.... no. Ksitigarbha isn\'t here I wasn\'t going to invite him again after the last time."

"Izanami." Ereshkigal happily tugged on my sleeve. "You\'ll never guess what happened!"

"Something good happen in Kur?" I questioned.

"Un. I got over a hundred new souls since our last meeting." She did a fist pump into the air.

I looked up at Yama who looked away, a little red on his face. I held back a chuckle at the predicament. It was a not-so-subtle secret that Yama kicked a soul or two back to Kur every now and then for the younger deity. Yama\'s bosses would get very upset if they found he was doing something like that. Souls for a pantheon means power, none would willingly give up a single one without benefits or a fight.

Despite his intimidating appearance, he was a big softie at heart.

"I\'m happy for you." I patted the girl on the head, and she smiled brightly.

I remembered when she came into existence, such a cute little thing. Accidently stumbled into Yomi in her younger years, it was quite humorous to see her throw out so many apologies. She came to visit several times after that. I could still recall when she was covered in tears because her sister had spread rumors she married that stupid Bull.

"How\'s the turnout look this year?" Yama asked, moving towards a table set out with refreshments and snacks.

"Haven\'t spoken with the others in a while, I have no idea. To be honest, I almost forgot about this meeting until just recently." I shrugged.

"Arawn isn\'t coming. He\'s going with Lugh and some other Celtic Gods to a meeting with the Angels." Ereshkigal spoke up.

Ah, I had almost forgotten about that little \'relationship\'. I swear, it\'s like watching two teenagers try and flirt. The Celtic god of death, his wife died many centuries ago when the world was pulled into the Great War that took the Lord of Heaven. Him and Ereshkigal had gotten a little bit close since then and it\'s a bit cute how those two kids act.

"I\'m here!" The area exploded in a burst of darkness as a jackal-faced man walked into the room.

"Anubis, good to see you." Yama greeted.

The Egyptian God shot a thumbs up. "It\'s great to finally get a break, been looking forward to this for too long." He grinned. "Izanami, Ereshkigal, you ladies are looking great."

"Dammit you beat me." Another voice filled the room. Hel, the Norse Goddess of Death walked out of her own little portal. She sent a \'glare\' towards the Egyptian god.

"Better luck next time." He grinned.

I wasn\'t quite sure on their relationship, but they were friends and had been for a long time. I heard they used to play when they were children, but not much more than that.

"Hel, you\'re looking good." I gave the Nordic Goddess a look. Her hair was done up, and her wardrobe was changed.

"You think?" She looked down at herself. She\'d always been a bit of a tomboy, but she was wearing a dress this time. "Thought it was time for a change."

"Girl you lookin fine." Anubis gestured with some finger guns.

There was a small silence before Anubis and Hel broke out into fits of giggles. "Nirns, that was horrible."

"Couldn\'t help it." The Jackal-faced man laughed along. "But what\'s up? Do I need to go kick Bauldr\'s ass?"

Hel let out a tired sigh. "I\'m done with him; he won\'t bother to even look my way even after everything I\'ve done."

"Honey, you need to find a man who treats you right." I pat her shoulder. Hel was infatuated with Bauldr, but the latter never returned her affections.

"She\'s right, you deserve better." Ereshkigal was quick to offer comfort. As anti-social as the Sumerian Goddess was, she could apparently read the room well.

"Ohoho, just give the word, I know a few kids who would be right up your alley." Yama added, stroking his beard.

"If you suggest Horse-Face or Ox-Head, I\'m going to shave that beard off your chin." Hel deadpanned towards the Eastern Death God.

Yama cleared his throat and turned away in embarrassment.

Anubis burst out laughing and even Hel started to giggle.

"Takamagahara above." I face palmed. "Atleast you didn\'t bring those two again as well."

"I liked them." Anubis spoke up.

"Oh, you would, dog-head." Hel joked.

"Hey." He ran a hand through his fur. "Don\'t diss the head, you know how hard it is to keep my fur this gorgeous? Besides, they\'re good deities, even with their.....eccentricies"

"Feel free to take them then." Yama said without hesitation. "Heavens know they constantly annoy me about getting a \'vacation\'." The older God grumbled. "I give them vacations! Why do they always complain about work!?"

"Don\'t listen to them, you\'re a good boss, old man. How many other Gods offer Vacation Time, Sick days, and time off like you do? And the pay is well known even over in Egypt." Anubis pat his shoulder.

"Maybe I should take a page out of their books and just be ALWAYS drunk." His shoulders slumped.

"Rough few centuries?" I asked.

"Don\'t even get me started." Yama groaned. "I have to juggle several pantheonic underworlds and their respective Heads. The Jade Emperor at least gives me respect as the manager of Huangquang, but Indra just turns his nose up at me whenever he comes down, as if I\'m so far \'below\' him that I should be happy he even showed up in my presence."

I don\'t envy him having to deal with Indra, while also appeasing the Buddhists and the Heavenly Bureaucracy. There\'s a reason he\'s the most senior among us and I wouldn\'t even dispute that title nor want it.

"That reminds me. Lightning head came down the other day, looking for the soul of one of his playthings or something. Apparently one of his latest toys died over in Japan and he\'s a little miffed." He turned towards me. "He couldn\'t find it and left in a huff, so be warned he may come over and cause trouble."

I let out a sigh. "Okay, so I should expect him to arrogantly drop into Yomi and demand a soul from me, joy." I said dryly.

"Sorry." Yama lowered his head.

"Not your fault." I gave him a small smile. "If you\'re looking to take some stress off, ever consider getting an animal protector? Even just a familiar might breath new life into the place." I thought of Wilhelm\'s Sir Wiggles, and I considered getting myself something to keep me company as well.

"Oh, I agree!" Hel exclaimed. "Garmr is such a good boy, and I couldn\'t even think about him not being there with me through everything."

"I have no divine guardian myself, but I keep many different dogs in my own corner." Anubis added. "It does brighten up the place to have them all around."

"Even Hades has his Cerberus." Ereshkigal looked contemplative. "And all this talk makes me want one too."

"I heard my name." The realm shuddered, voice booming as the last person entered the area. He took on the appearance of a Skeleton, but still looked rather regal.

"Were you waiting for someone to mention you?" I deadpanned.

"He was." Persephone answered.

The regal skeleton slumped his shoulders, the atmosphere returning to normal. "Dear, why must you ruin the mood?" Hades let out a sigh.

"Leave the posturing for those lesser Gods, sweetie." She playfully pat his shoulder.

"Can we still talk about that? I still feel kind of bad." Hel silently waived towards Persephone, getting one in return. "It was so awkward; they wouldn\'t stop trying to show off or grandstand." Hel waived her hand flippantly. "And when we didn\'t respond to it, they just kept doubling down like they thought they were \'winning\' or something."

We\'ve tried to expand this little circle in the past. Death Gods from lesser pantheons and such. But they acted just as she said, continuously trying to one up one another, or show off in some way. We come here to get away from all that, so it was very much not welcomed.

"Ugh, I don\'t even want to remember that." Yama groaned again.

"With how much you drank, can you remember it?" Anubis laughed.

"Unfortunately." Yama huffed. "Anyone else have some of them try to reach out afterwards, trying to win some kind of favor?"

"Wait, really?" Anubis looked shocked, and we all shook our heads.

"Of course it was only me. Why do I always get the crazies?" Yama slumped his shoulders again.

"Let me guess, you were too polite to tell them to go away?" I asked.

"Haha, you know me too well." Yama laughed. "Well, I found a use for those two idiots at least. They never did return after spending some time with Horse-Face and Ox-head."

"Forget my torments, just let me borrow those two and I wouldn\'t need anything else." Hades shook his head before perking up. "Now that I think about it, it might keep my brothers from just popping in whenever they want." He looked at Yama with a gleam in his eye-sockets.

"Hey there, bone head, hands off." Yama chuckled. "Those two are my idiots."

As much as Yama complains about them, he would never betray his subordinates like that.

"Oh." Hades looked down at his hands. "Forgot I still was like this." His body shimmered, a shadowy energy enveloped him and the \'bones\' were peeled away, revealing something underneath. He now looked like a man, albeit handsome with long black hair. "Ah, that\'s better."

"There\'s my handsome man." Persephone kissed him on the cheek. Their relationship was really cute.

"It was so strange seeing you like that for the first time." I couldn\'t help but respond. "I never did hear the story behind that skeleton form."

"Bah" He flipped his hand. "Mortals spinning strange tales about me, it just kind of happened."

"It does add to your underworld ambience." Anubis gestured around. Though he was speaking about the Underworld as a whole, not this small little spot they made to host us. "Did you redecorate?"

"Persephone convinced me for something more modern." He looked down at his wife happily.

"The dreary look was so last millennia." She nodded.

"Perhaps I should give Yomi a makeover?" I thought out loud.

"Oh, if you do, please call me. I\'d love to give a hand." Persephone looked enthused by the idea.

"I wouldn\'t mind helping too, it might give me ideas in the future." Hel smiled. "Thought about changing things up on my end too."

"Speaking of changing things up." Persephone eyed Hel. "Girl, you\'re looking good."

"Oh, you." Hel beamed. "I wanted to try something new. Going to put myself out there and try to meet someone."

"Tell me if you want some help, I\'ll be your wing-girl." Persephone giggled.

That girl, ever the social butterfly.

"Speaking of meeting someone." Anubis spoke up. "Saw something interesting on that Devil-net." Anubis had a twinkle in his eyes. "Something about a giant monster and robot fight over in America with help from two \'mysterious strangers\'."

"I regret nothing." I said firmly.

"Oh Ra, it was you! I saw it and couldn\'t believe it." Anubis burst out laughing.

"What happened?" Persephone perked up.

"I was out with a friend, visiting America when a monster appeared. It looked very similar to one that shows up in various Japanese Media....and I wished for a souvenir." I said plainly.

"I heard of that." Hades spoke up.

"Wait, really?" Ereshkigal looked surprised. "You don\'t normally keep up with Mortal dealings, especially with things involving Devils."

"Those bats." Hades grumbled. "The only good thing to come from their existence is the Devil-net."

"Hubby does love his shows." His wife giggled.

"Well, this is a surprise." I eyed him. "All that talk about annoying Fallen Angels and Devils and here you are."

"Bah, I still hate them." The Greek God huffed. "So noisy, always causing trouble. Do you have any idea how many times one of them \'accidently\' stumbled into my Underworld from theirs?"

"A lot?"

"A lot!" He exclaimed. "And those damned \'Evil Pieces\' of theirs. One particular devil who \'accidently\' stumbled into my realm, who just so happened to have one of those abominable things, and just so happened to try and force it on one of my reapers."

"Oh, don\'t even get me started on them." Yama nodded along. "Had a few of them try to sneak into Huangquang when those things first came out. "

The corners of my lips curled up as his mention of Huangquang. Technically, his Underworld had many names based on him being involved with several pantheons. He specifically calls it Huangquang to annoy Indra. The Hindu equivalent being Naraka.

"I had the same." Hel looked annoyed as well.

"They never made it to my Underworld." Anubis didn\'t really care much. He hated the Angels more than the Devils by a large margin, and it was understandable why.

".....they never came to Kur." Ereshkigal looked dejected.

"Oh sweetie." Persephone was quick to console the Sumerian goddess who was almost like the little sister of the group. It was amusing because Persephone was the youngest among us and Ereshkigal was technically only below me and Yama in seniority.

"Cerberus just had some puppies...." Hades muttered. "Too many for me to take care of, if you want one of his pups..."

"Really?" The Sumerian Goddess perked up.

"You can pick one out later." The Greek God nodded awkwardly before turning to me. "But speaking of Devils....."

Oh yes. I forgot I never did explain what I was doing. When I appeared in the Greek Underworld, I merely requested access to deliver something to the Devils, the bloodied body in my hands. Hades just looked absolutely delighted and easily accepted my request with a comment hoping we\'d catch up at this next meeting.

"Oh, I heard about that." Yama looked at me with interest as well. "Something about you throwing the broken body of that Lucifer\'s subordinate on his door step with a warning? Well done." He praised. "That lot had been getting a bit too arrogant lately just because they had that brat enter the top 10."

"Wait, what happened?" Hel asked.

"You didn\'t know? I sent you the story." Anubis looked towards Hel.

"I can\'t ever figure out how to work those contraptions." She pouted.

It was funny how quickly we all took with such technology.....except for Hel. I think anything remotely modern just explodes in her hand. Well, when you\'re segregated from most others, you tend to find ways to amuse yourself. Something that allows us to connect to the entire supernatural world? That would be welcomed even for people like Hades that has a very obvious dislike for the propagators.

"There isn\'t much to say." I shrugged. "Okita Souji, his \'Knight\' was causing problems for a friend of mine. They ended up fighting and I delivered him back to his master."

"Hmm, a friend or a \'friend\'." Persephone\'s eyes sparkled.

"We\'re just friends." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"That\'s the Satan\'s Bastard, right?" Hades ignored his wife\'s antics.

"Indeed." I pursed my lips. "Wilhelm is a Half-Devil, with Japanese ancestry. But he has no dealings with the Abrahamic Factions."

Hades just grunted and gave a nod. "He has some sense at least."

"Lucifer\'s Bastard, huh?" Anubis rubbed his chin. "He as much a monster as his old man?" Again, everyone looked at me expectantly.

I guess it couldn\'t be helped. As much as most dislike the Devil faction for various reasons, none could deny that Sirzechs Lucifer was one of the strongest beings in the world. "He is still fairly young, but he has shown ability far beyond his age."

"Apple doesn\'t fall from the tree, I suppose." Hel just nodded. "How\'d you two meet, seems like an odd combination."

"It was by chance." I smiled wistfully. "I was drinking at a bar, and he came in himself and started chatting me up. We seemed to get along well enough, so we kept in contact a bit. Even after he found out who I was, he didn\'t get scared and run away. He even comes and visits me in Yomi."

"Aww, that\'s so sweet." Persephone cooed.

"He convinced me to reach out to my children as well. My youngest is even coming to visit me after so long."

"Kya!" Persephone quickly wrapped me up in a hug. "I\'m so happy for you!"

Such an excitable goddess, but it was nice to receive her affectionate hug.

"That Susanoo." Yama muttered. "Haven\'t heard anything from him in a while."

"Not surprising." Hades sighed. "No one dares to even think about another Lightning God on Olympus, otherwise my brother throws a tantrum. From what I\'ve heard, Indra is much the same."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Hel groaned. "Thor just goes on boastful rants whenever Zeus is mentioned, let alone Indra. I think he actually gets along with Susanoo, but I\'m not sure. I don\'t get invited to many Asgardian celebrations. Mostly just get secondhand accounts from my father so...grain of salt there."

"Perhaps I should have a word with my son, I hope he does not act like that." I commented. I don\'t know much of what happens in Takamagahara, I couldn\'t really say one way or the other.

"I should visit my mother...." Hades seemed lost in thought at my words, before shaking his head. "Well, how about we get this started?"

"Get started, you mean start bitching about our respective pantheons?" Hel snorted, already with a drink in her hand.

"Not an inaccurate way of saying it." Hades didn\'t dispute her words.

"Well, I need to vent or I\'m going to strangle my father the next time I see him." Hel conjured a chair and sat down. "Only ever visits me for one of his schemes! \'Hel I need your help\'. Can\'t you just come to say hello!?" The Nordic goddess threw her hands up in frustration.

"Don\'t even get me started." Yama followed suit, getting comfortable in his own chair as we sat down as well. "No one ever just visits the King of the Underworld just to visit. Eighteen Hells! Couldn\'t they just drop in to say \'hello\'? Am I that unapproachable? No, it\'s always because they \'need\' me for something. One of their mistresses died, or a distant descendant died and they want them to reincarnate with some good fortune. That damn Monkey is one of the few who just visits me to visit and he beat me up when we first met!"

"Bah." Hades slapped his armrest. "My younger brother always \'summoning\' me up to Olympus like I\'m \'beneath\' him. I don\'t even have a throne on the mountain ,and they demand I come and observe their \'council\'. When\'s the last time he just called me to come up and join in the celebrations!?"

I let back a small laugh. This was how these things always turned out. We catch up and find out what everyone had been up to recently. Then we just complain about our pantheons for a few days, drinking and doing our own little \'celebration\'. If there\'s one thing we all share, its that we\'re pretty much ignored by our respective pantheons, so this is usually a welcomed reprieve.

After Hades first rant ended, eyes turned to me. "I haven\'t seen my children in centuries. Forget Takamagahara, couldn\'t they just come visit me once in a while?" I huffed. They all nodded and offered words of encouragement.

It was nice to be able to let it out every now and then.

***

And we\'re back! It\'s been a very tiring week, and it\'s not even over yet, woooooooo :(. Had a lot of people asking me about Izanami and where she was, well, here\'s what she\'s been up to for awhile now.

If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my /astoryforone

We have a discord, come talk if you want to discuss the story or maybe want some spoilers or just hang out we talk about a lot of other things as well. Discord code -- JbwkdNDt7F