Author Note: (usually put this in italics these days, but forgot, then couldnt be bothered to change it.)

Enjoy the chapter. Remember to rate, review and comment on whatever you wish. More editing out of mistakes will be done later

And tell me what your initial impressions of Solomon are, I'm curious to know. 

*******************

"Lord Solomon, why is it that you disturb me?"

High above the Delphi stood two figures.

The one who spoke was a tall and lean youth, with a golden laurel on his head. Apollo.

"Did you not hear me, My Lord Foppishness? I want. My. Fucking. Egg!"

The other snarled back. 

For all intents and purpses he looked like a very cold, sharp man. From his crisp  grey waistcoat and tie to his slightly pointed leather shoes, everything about the man was very clean and tidy. 

Except for his slick black hair that was stylishly messy, that is. 

The man had eyes of silver with small flecks of gold mixed in, framed by rectangular glasses, also black.

His clothing consisted of a white shirt, the previously mentioned grey waistcoat and a long red coat that was currently left open with it's sleeves rolled up below the elbow.

His trousers were, again, black, completing the ensemble to give an overall feeling of refinement.  The kind of refinement on a level that very few could match--all in spite of his current visible animosity. 

There was nothing all too out of the ordinary about the man. Although his features were very well-formed and classically handsome, he'd only two things on his person that were truly eye-catching to the god.

One which was the saber hanging by his left hip. 

The other was located on his right ear where a cross-shaped earing that had a red gemstone in the center, with it's four points holding smaller blue ones, rested. 

Both of those items caused him to be wary. 

But what caused him more concern than those items was the knowledge of who this man was: Solomon.

"Apollo, let's not pussyfoot around. I know damn well you've got my egg in there. I may not know how you were able to steal it, but if I don't get it back, I'll turn you and your ship--along with every living person inside--into ash! You think I'd not sense it? That I don't know you keep tearing down it's seals? You've got ten seconds to give it back. Or you'll find out just how angry I can get..."

Apollo didn't back down, but even so he still showed some respect for the man as he replied. "I know not what you speak of, Lord Solomon. But I don't take kindly to threats. If you try and make a move against me and mine, I won't sit back and just let it happen. Try not to test my patience..." His tone grew more arrogant as he went on. A sign he was getting angered. Usually he wasn't like this, but if he was being threatened how could he not show his claws a bit?

He went on. "...It's grown quite thin these days..." There was a clear warning in his tone. 

"So be it. I gave you a chance, but since you seem determined to keep up with your lies and not do as I ask...Perhaps you'll be more willing to comply when I strap you to my Experimentation Table. I always did want to see exactly what it is that makes a god tick."

Solomon's wide smile bespoke a sick desire, full of dark promise.

The cross earing briefly flashed red and blue. 

Instantly a giant silver cross, at least fifty feet tall, appeared behind him.  

"Come out, Dantalion. Rise and subjugate all who oppose me!" 

A faint red light was emitted by the cross' enter stone. Fierce scarlet flames erupted forth, surrounding both Solomon and Apollo. 

The cross split down the middle, cutting it in half vertically. The cross then came apart. Similar to a doorway that led to a place unknown, one could see a world of flames on the other side. 

The hand was the first to come through. Black and red swirls for skin, marble-like, ending in sharp points. A human-like figure, but a little larger, with jet-black bat wings that stretched out of it's back. Each leathery wing at least ten or more feet long.  

Eyes that burned with a red light. On it's forehead, a red gemstone surrounded by four blue ones.

Dantalion, first of Solomon's Pillers. A Great Duke of hell, with thirty-six legions of demons under his command. 

Not all demons had a form like this. Dantalian, however, was special. He was a very old demon. Powerful. Primal.

And this was why Solomon was a troublesome fellow. Even if he wasn't one of the most powerful spellcasters of this or any other age, he would still hold the loyalty of 72 higher-leveled demons. 

Apollo, however, did nothing yet.  "Lord Solomon, I'll let you know this now. I, personally, do not have what you are looking for. And I know nothing about any "egg". Although...If what you seek is within my ship, you are free to look. But if you truly take the initiative to attack, I'll respond in kind."

Solomon paused, considering. No one would be able to tell what a man like him was thinking.

Finally, "...Very well. I'll not act recklessly for now. But--"

He broke off. His head tilted, as if listening to some unknown, unheard voice.

His expression turned cold and he aimed a very mean look towards the radiant god.

"What's the meaning of this, Apollo? You stand there, inviting me in, yet you fail to mention her presence aboard your ship?"

The god frowned, confused. " Explain yourself, please, Lord Solomon. Your words, clarify."

"Don't play the fool! Dantalion clearly sensed that Gehenna bitch's energy signature within your ship! So, you dare to steal from me, and now that I've caught you, thief, you try and lure me into a trap!" Fury could be seen from his every pore.

Apollo's eyes blazed. "Do not speak nonsense, mortal, Gehenna would never be--!" 

"More of your lies? Enough of this, Apollo. My Dantalion , whom I've carefully nurtured, could never be wrong about this!"

Solomon had long since "improved" Dantalion's abilities. Having once served under Gehenna, he intimately knew what the woman's energy felt like. The cold, dreadful feeling at the pit of your stomach, he could never mistake it for any other.

Solomon took Dantalion's special talents in sensing energy patterns and made it ten times more powerful! How could it be that he'd be wrong in sensing that woman?

Solomon doubted there was anything or any one that Dantalion could fail to sense when it's within range of his sphere of influence!

--Although I'm glad you think so highly of me, my liege, Dantalion's smooth, charasmatic voice rang within Solomon's mind. I should tell you now that despite my best and continued efforts, even I cannot currently pinpoint Lady Gehenna's exact location.

What? Solomon asked back, stunned. Bullshit, how could that be?

--Something far above my own power level blocks her from my view. This is the only explanation I can think of. I know she is in the area, but if you were to ask where exactly...it would be difficult. What's more, I'm still weak from being used for so long. Without rest. For days on end.

It couldn't be shown on his face, but that was definitely a complaint. 

Did you have anything else to do? No? Then stop bitching.

--I'm not some cheap whore you can use whenever you damn well please.    

Despite being in a seemingly master-servant relationship, it isn't as if they were his slaves. Were they truly unwilling to serve him, they wouldn't have to. Who other than the people involved could truly understand the unique bond that they had?

--But that aside... would you please change my summoning incantation?  

No. Solomon quickly refused. Besides, what's wrong with it?

--It makes you sound like a damn chunni, for one. And me by extension. 

...Hm? Did I teach you that word? Regardless, no. I like it. Sounds cool. Deal with it. 

To be clear, Solomon didn't even really need to use an incantation to summon his demons. It's just that there were a few downsides to not using one at all. Like them losing a little of their power, or having some abilities restricted when called.

--Fine. We'll talk more about this later. But listen, Lord Apollo seems to be saying something.

And indeed he was.

The god's eyes narrowed as he thought of Solomon's words. He muttered to himself. " Although I had just recieved notice of her being on this planet not long ago, I do not believe she'd have any reason to be here specifically. If she is, however..."

He trailed off. Once he was freed, he'd of course read the notice of Gehenna's arrival.

Solomon was growing annoyed. His egg was here, he was sure. And Gehenna was too. Coincidence? He didn't believe in bullshit like that.

Maybe Apollo really had nothing to do with it. But he couldn't be sure either way. If Solomon trusted the god then as soon as he went into the ship it was a possibility that Apollo and Gehenna could work together to bring him down.

 But, that woman, she had a  reputation. Would any of the gods work together with her?

Probably not. 

... Bah. Who cared what was going on? He just wanted back what was his. 

Wasn't it fine to just kill the god here? 

It's not like he wouldn't come back, albeit a little annoyed. Gehenna wasn't someone he'd want to fuck with if given the choice, but just grabbing his egg and running shouldn't be too hard. Although he would of course take certain measures to get aid quickly if it came down to a fight.

Gehenna was a very beautiful woman, but even Solomon wouldn't want to get in her way if he could help it. Woman was crazy. Solomon didn't do crazy. Slightly touched in the head, maybe, but crazy sadistic bitches who went on killing sprees for fun?

Nope. He wasn't into that shit.

"Oh fuck it. Let's just take this guy out. Been wanting to stretch my legs and test a few things out anyway." Solomon sighed, like it couldn't be helped.  

He'd completely forgotten his words from before about not acting recklessly. 

"Hey, Apollo!" 

He drew the god's attention. 

"Duck."

Never let it be said Solomon wasn't a very fair and honorable man. Giving the enemy time to prepare, was he not mangnanimous?

He gave a mental command to Dantalion.

In the next moment, the demon  pointed a single finger at the god. From the point of his claw, an intense red-black light was birthed.

It grew to nearly one hundred times his own size, eclipsing his and Solomon's bodies entirely. It was like a small black and red sun.

And it was then fired, with great speed, at Apollo's figure.

Seeing this, Apollo all but growled in displeasure. 

Solomon would learn that it didn't do well to anger a god!  

"This worthless attack, see how I break it!" 

A violent light enveloped Apollo's body, making him burn with a golden radiance.

He disappeared, becoming a mere streak of light, charging right into the giant ball of energy.

He threw out a single punch, causing an indent in the sun-like object before him.

It quickly collapsed in on itself as he entered. He directly went into the thing, not afraid at all.  

A huge explosion immediately took place, blowing away all the clouds in the sky. 

Was Apollo harmed?

Not at all.

He reappeared in front of Solomon, his hand flat, forming a blade of blazing heat that was aimed at the other man's throat.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

But somehow Solomon still had enough time to defend himself. 

His saber was unsheathed, blocking Apollo's strike.

Apollo's other arm flashed, and struck at Solomon's side--But his attack went right through.

An illusion? No, it couldn't be...

His first attack was blocked, but the other...This thing in front of him, just what...

Solomon smiled. It wasn't pretty.

" Knew you couldn't resist gettin' up close and personal."

"Don't be stupid!" Apollo snarled, ignoring the man's words entirely. "You believe Gehenna's here, but even so you want to fight me? What's the sense in--?!"

"Sense? What's that, can I eat it? Fuck off. I can't be sure you aren't an enemy, so I'll just treat you as one for now. It's simple, you know? "

"Bastard!" Apollo cursed at him. "Fine. If you insist on this lunacy then I'll be glad to play with you for a bit!"

All of this, Apollo knew, could probably be avoided if he mentioned that Solomon's little group of friends were his guests. But why should he? 

This man came to cause trouble, speaking nonsensical things, accusing him of stealing and working with that bitch Gehenna, even attacking him without provocation...

There's a limit to how unreasonable a person could be. If he was determined to fight, why should Apollo turn him down? 

Even if the man attacked the Delphi, Apollo wasn't worried. Because even if none of the others cared too much, that man, Lord Roland, wasn't a person who would needlessly let people die. Of course he'd step in.

So why should Apollo hold back? **

The only thing he was worried about was Solomon's previous words regarding Gehenna being here. Apollo didn't believe Gehenna was still within his ship, but also didn't think Solomon was wrong that she probably was inside at one point.

How had she even gotten in, though? How did he not see or feel her? But that was irrelevent right now. 

He didn't think for a second that he would fail to detect her if she was inside for an extended period of time. So she must have came last night, maybe, staying only a few hours or so. She had to have left by now.

Again, he was very curious as to why she would be there in the first place, but he could investigate that later. Perhaps it had to do with that item Solomon was after, that so-called "egg". He couldn't think of any other reason for her to be at his ship. 

For now he'd just waste a bit of time and see if he can't get Solomon to suffer a few inconveniences. 

"I'd start runing right about now. " Said Solomon, grabbing Apollo's attention once again. "This body's about to go boom."

As soon as he said that another head-splitting explosion rang out across the sky.

A large expanse of the sky went completely white for a brief moment.

Standing just outside of the explosion's range was Solomon. The body from before was just a semi-phyiscal contruct. Real, yet not.

His smile was still present and he hummed a small tune, not affected at all by being the target of a god's attack.

Dantalion and the giant cross was still by him, and his saber was still firmly in it's sheath. Why should he unsheathe it? There was no need. 

"That won't do much to him. He'll probably come to kill me in about four seconds. Time to suit up, then, I suppose?"

Dantalion grew alarmed.

--Wait, you can't be wanting to--

Solomon snapped his fingers.

Dantalion's body dissolved into red and black mist that rushed towards Solomon's body.

His current clothing was then replaced by a full set of armor, black with deep red runes swirling along nearly every inch. Moving soundlessly, as if alive. Which it was.

This was one of the perks of being the contract holder of a higher leveled demon. Normally no demon would ever be able to just reform itself into even a single a piece of armor. Actually, no normal lifeform would be able to.

But when you control the very state of being of that demon, and have the power, intelligence and special sort of madness to mess around with the body of said demon....then you can create something unique. 

Solomon was a genius. 

He was the most brilliant "scientist" in any universe. Or so it was said. 

Really, he was just a pervert. The kind of pervert that liked to build new and astoundingly deadly toys that could bring ruin to entire planets. Then casually toss them into other dimensions when he grew bored of them.

The kind of pervert that would indulge in inhumane experiments that would make even the most cold-hearted of people shudder. The kind that wasn't afraid to use his various abilities to do whatever he saw fit.

A man like that was, of course, insane. And dangerous.

Because someone like Solomon, the sort of things he was able to create and bring to life, the sort of knowledge he had at his disposal, without any real restrictions be it morals or ethics?

No one would be able to predict what he'd do, or what he wouldn't do. 

Which in itself was frightening to the extreme just due to the fact of what a man such as him was capable of doing, the trouble he was capable of sowing.

...All of this is just to show that Solomon was fully willing and able to take a demon and do all sorts of experiments on it to achieve some interesting result. This is how the current armor he wore came along.

He asked himself one day if it was possible to take a living thing and transform it into some wearable object, or weapon, like how he'd seen on some show he was watching at that moment.

The answer he came up with was, "Let's find out."

Then, after many trials and errors, the answer became a resounding, "Yes!"

Much to the dismay of Dantalion, who hated the feeling of becoming worn like this. 

Not to worry, though, no demons(Specifically, Dantalion) were harmed during the various experiments he subjected them(Dantalion) to.

 "I almost forgot how comfortable this felt. Hm, but maybe I should make you a tad smaller? You're kind of bulky as it is."

Solomon talked aloud.

--He's coming.

Dantalion, despite having many grievances about being further tinkered with, instead chose to be helpful. 

"Alright. Let's see how you hold up against a pissed-off god's strike."

This was, obviously, not the first time he'd used Dantalion like this. He'd had other of his Pillars go through this transformation, but Dantalion had been modified further not long ago.

Seeing how the modifications were working was something Solomon was eager to hurry up with. 

As such, when Apollo, rage written all over his face, charged at him once more, Solomon just let the blows land.

Like a shooting star, Apollo held nothing back. He dashed towards Solomon, coming up from behind and sending a vicious kick towards his back.

Solomon was blasted forward.

Before he'd traveled far, Apollo appeared in front of him again. 

A decidedly heavy punch was thrown out.

This went on for sometime. Whenever Apollo hit him Solomon would be thrown in that direction with great force. Then Apollo would give chase, and hit him again, redirecting him.

A god's attacks weren't to be taken lightly and Solomon felt like a train was being rammed into him everytime another punch or kick landed.

Normally when a person was thrown like this, when they were flying threw the air at such speeds and then abruptly stopped or changed trajectories, their brains would knock against their skull.

So Solomon should be dead dozens of times over just for that alone--had he been a normal man, that is. Luckily he'd thought of this problem long ago and. The skull-like helmet that he wore had spells in place to stop such a thing from occuring.

And even if it did occur, other spells were made so that any wound ofthat kind would be healed instantly. 

Plus it did help that Solomon's body was about as strong as any demon's due to him being contracted to so many. Their energy constantly streamed towards him, turning him into something that was human yet not, mortal yet not.

Wanting to kill him, that was no easy task!

The very instant Apollo landed a powerful blow to his solar plexus, Solomon was grinning like a little kid--not because he had any masochistic tendencies, but because he was extremely happy with something else at the moment.

"Fuck, more than 40% of the blows' force are being negated! Even more than I expected!" Was that not something to celebrate?! "But it seems some parts of this armor is weaker than the others...a shame. Going to have to work on that. I wonder how the wings will perform? Can they keep up with his speed? Let's try it!"  

Solomon gave a mental command and a pair of wings sprouted from his back.

These were not Dantalion's bat-like wing, however. No, these were hardly "wings" at all.

Rather, they were flames in the general shape of wings. Inky-black, a void-black that seemed to suck in the light. 

As for why they looked like this, it's because Solomon was still in the middle of developing them. And that was, in part, because he liked how they looked. So they were a bit rough around the edges.

Even so, he'd wanted to see how they worked. In theory they were not exactly supposed speed him up, not just that at least, but to more importantly slow down the world around him.

Make the time needed to travel from point A to point B that much quicker. While also distorting the surrounding space to make the distance that much shorter.  

To simplify it further...it would be akin to making numerous and continuous short-range teleportations? Like teleporting an inch or so forward each time, but very, very fast, and not stopping. 

No, maybe that was wrong. Perhaps it can be explained as just taking one step to travel ten steps?

Whatever the best example was, Solomon, right now, didn't really pay much attention to these kinds of thoughts. He put them in the back of his mind, focusing on the battle. 

The very instant he saw Apollo become a mere streak of light, he flapped his wings.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

It was a very weird sensation, because Solomon couldn't rely on his eyesight to be aware of what was happening around him.

Instead he had to create a "field" with his spiritual energy. Why? Because otherwise he'd not know anything at all about anything that was going on right now. He used his soul to see, not his eyes, as he simply wouldn't be able to see when traveling like this.

It was similar with Apollo. When traveling at the speed of light, how could he see? How would he percieve the world around him? He couldn't, not relying on his physical body's limitations.

Instead he used his godly powers. Because Apollo was a god that governed light, he would be aware of anything that was touched by light. He could "see" even thousands of miles away so long as light of any form was touching the person or object he wanted to look at.

There were exceptions to this, though. As evidence by the fact that Apollo could not see Gehenna anywhere near here.

He didn't use this part of his powers often since they were draining even for him. Well, he didn't use it regularily, but he would still use them whenever he traveled this fast. Just so he didn't run into anything he didn't want to. 

Apollo was very surprised when he "saw" Solomon flying along beside him. 

But he didn't dwell on this too much, Solomon was a very myterious figure and there wasn't much that should surprise people when it was in regards to him. 

Apollo raised a hand and sent a barrage of dazzlingly bright balls of fire at the man.

Solomon did the same, also raisng his hand and sending out dozens of energy blasts in response. Whearas Apollo's blasts were hot, his were cold. 

 One side of the world seemed scalding hot, while the other held a chilling coldness about it. 

Yet in terms of pure derstructive ability, Apollo was superior. 

If there was one advantage Solomon had, however...it was that he had many more powers at his disposal.

Apollo wasn't any great mage. He was limited by the powers he reigned over as a god. Light, heat, healing, prophecy, plagues, these were the extent of what he could do.

Solomon? He was much more versatile.

They'd not noticed how long they battled like this. 

Solomon threw spell after spell at the god, but to his annoyance they were quickly either countered, dodged or broken through.  

Solomon imprisons him in a black fortress of Dark Silver? Apollo tore a hole through it.

Solomon summons a giant Undead Bone Dragon--no, unfortunately, it was not those kinds of dragons, those unreasonable powerful beings--to fight alongside him? Apollo melts it down like it was a massive lump of butter.

Solomon brings up a dozen clones of himself and send countless projectile attacks at the god? Apollo answers by shielding himself in a caccoon of golden fire. 

Solomon tries a different approach and attempts to trap Apollo's mind in a sweet dream where countless virgin beauties were at his beck and call? Apollo slaughters every one of those bitches as if they were ugly, unwanted step-children. Therefore escaping. 

Solomon, having just taken a red-hot spear to his chest, was growing a little excited.

"Damn. Although not at Aries' or Mephisto's level, you sure can give a person a pretty entertaining fight!" Solomon praised. Despite having several bruises, cuts and burns that couldn't be healed too well at the moment, he was still letting out a fierce grin that spoke volumes.

Needless to say, Solomon was mainly just having fun. Like Loki and the rest of their little group, he enjoyed playing with his enemies. The fight. The thrill of it.

If it were Aries, he'd take all of Solomon's attacks head-on without reserve. Even that dream he'd sent Apollo into not long ago, Aries would first have a bit of fun with it before breaking out.

If it were Mephisto, he'd never give Solomon the chance to attack much at all, just cutting into him with his full power like a fucking maniac. Reveling in blood, carnage, with the same expression of excitement as that of a child who was playing his favorite game.

If it was Roland...Well, he'd probably take whatever Solomon gave out and send it right back. Just to mock him. Hm. Honestly it was hard to tell what that sadistic bastard would do.  

...Solomon had this impression of his old friend. He didn't give much thought to the fact that the other man only really grew "sadistic" when the fight was good enough to bring out those traits in him.

As he was lost in his thoughts momentarily, he was brought back to reality when Apollo conjured a very disgusting purple- green substance that bled out from his hands.

" Oh. Plagues? How boring."

Solomon's adrenalin rush slowly died down.

"I was having so much fun, too...Oh well. Let's just end this and get my egg. I need to save strength for if I have to fight that bitch."

Against Gehenna, if he failed to escaped with his precious item before she came for him, he'd need everything he had to battle her.

Because even when you wounded her, when you thought you could win, she'd just come back stronger than before. 

Dantalion. Open the Gateways.

--You wish to summon them all? 

Yes. I have  to prepare now. I'm reasonable sure I can beat this guy quickly , find my stuff, then get out of here before she can get to me. But in case I can't, or if she herself has the item on her person, then I can't take her on without at least this much.

Dantalion stayed silent. That frightening woman did indeed warrent such a thing. 

Dantalion shifted out of his armor form and returned to his original self. Solomon was back in his previous atire as well.

Seeing what was happening, a slightly winded Apollo grew suspicious.

The giant cross, which had hovered above the two combatants all throughout the battle, broke down.

It split into many smaller versions of itself and scattered everywhere.

Under Dantalion's meticulous control they formed a massive magic circle that stretched nearly a mile in diameter. The magic circle was very strange, each of the small crosses being making up it's core.

They became Keys. Keys to a multitude of Gateways, portals, that would soon pop into existence in certain places atop the magic circle. 

There were countless runes acting in support which would stabilize the area here so the portals didn't tear apart the space they were currently in--which would be very bad.

To make sure each of the 72 Gateways were able to sustain themselves and not have to drain all life on the planet to even appear in the first place. 

For Dantalion Solomon could just use an incantation to bring him here, or not use one at all if he was in a hurry and didn't mind them being a bit weaker than usual. 

Same with any other individual demon under his command. But if he wanted to summon all of his 72 Pillars at once, the rules changed.

Apollo grew pale.

He understood well what was happening, but didn't dare to disrupt the process. Were it forcibly tampered with, he'd not be able to escape with light injuries. Perhaps even his "soul", the essence of his being, would be wounded.

He could only watch as 72 of hell's strongest demons were about to descend all at once onto the Mortal Planes.

***

It's been about ten minutes now since they heard Sol's enraged voice.

Morrigan and Roland sat in their room along with Mercury, Aries and Mephisto. The latter two came upon Roland's call. Mercury came to visit Fenris, who was currently in her cat form and resting on Roland's head--something that apparently the girl took a liking to for some strange reason he couldn't comprehend.

Mercury used this disturbance as an opportunity to come by since she knew the girl would be awake, probably here to just see how the girl's mood was doing. Otherwise Roland didn't think she'd have shown up. 

As for Loki, he hadn't deigned to appear.

Grace was in her and Morrigan's room, still asleep due to a spell the woman wove around her, that little white fox--whom Roland wasn't sure if had yet even been named--nestling near her shoulder. As for Saren and James, he'd contacted them earlier and told them to wait in their rooms, to not worry. 

Reina and Lilith, he didn't know what they were doing but they were with their parents so it was fine.

"Why isn't he here? Apollo must have gone to meet him, should he not have already be brought in?" Aries grumbled.

"He sounded pissed off. Sol, I mean. What was it he was screaming about?" This was Mephisto.

"Something about an egg." Roland answered. "I think Loki mentioned before that someone robbed him and that he was searching for the thief. You think...?"

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"That he's here because of that? Yeah. Pretty much."

"A reasonable assumption." Morrigan interjected. "But it couldn't be here. Loki was in possession of this vessel for quite some time. No one here could have taken anything from Solomon. This ...egg...went missing before Loki brought the ship out. No one would be able to enter or leave the ship before then since even Apollo was incapacitated."

"True. And yet even so Solomon thinks it's here." Roland mused. "But why? No, he probably sensed it? But if he did sense it, then how could it be here? As you said, no one from here would be able to steal from him, even if they somehow had the ability to do so they wouldn't be able to reach him."

"Unless someone from outside, the thief, entered the ship after it was brought out." Mercury replied helpfully.

"You suspect one of the students." Stated Roland. He ignored the sharp way Mercury glanced at Morrigan every now and then.

"Quite. Had to be, right? Maybe Solomon couldn't sense his stolen item before because of the barrier Loki had around the school. But once the thief came aboard, with the item in tow...."

"They left the barrier, meaning Sol could sense it. Or got within close enough range for him to pick up the trail, which would be why he's only getting here now." Mephisto finished, looking indifferent to the whole matter.

Roland saw a few issues with that. "Even so, do you think any of the students could leave the academy without Loki knowing? Because I don't think they would be able to. Plus, there are other reasons it wouldn't be one of them..." 

It was pretty much the same problem with no one from Delphi being able to come and go as they wished. The students weren't just allowed to leave whenever they wanted, there were certain procedures that had to be followed first. At least, that's what Abigail told him some time ago.

Even if you thought that one of the students swiped the "egg" first before coming to the school, they all should have gotten to school way before this thief stole Solomon's egg. From what Loki said, it couldn't have happened all that long ago. So if all the students arrived before the egg was stolen, and they couldn't just leave once they were there, it was unlikely that it was one of them.

Roland didn't have to mention any of this, however. Morrigan, at least, given her position as a teacher at the school, wouid be able to see the problem with the culprit being a student instantly.

"Well if it wasn't someone from here and it wasn't one of the students, then the only people that are left who arrived not too long ago, had been missing for some time already, and are within the ship even now, would be..." Morrigan let the sentence hang.

"Your young wards, is it." Mephisto raised a brow, interested. "But I was informed by Loki that they were only gone for seven days of something like that?"

"They were. Seven days of this world. But Loki apparently neglected to say that they had most likely entered a sub-dimension." Roland informed.

"Ah, I see. And Solomon's home, even if he brought it to this planet, would work on different Time Laws. Could they have traveled to the not-so-distant past, then? Time gets distorted pretty easily, so it wouldn't be any surprise. Solomon appeared to have been searching for this egg for longer than just the week those kids were missing, afterall. And if it did happen like that, then that would explain a few things."

The man was right. It could easily have gone that way. Time was funny, so sometimes when traveling in sub-dimensions you could end up a few weeks or even a few years into the past. Time wasn't exactly linear, it all existed as a sort of giant, messed up ball of rubber bands were things such as this were not so rare.

So if the kids did have something to do with this, then their unique circumstances would, as Mephisto had said, explain some things. Let it make a sort of sense.

It's just...are they really capable of stealing anything from a man like Solomon? Did they have help? And if this was all true, if they did steal from him,  then where was this egg...? They brought nothing of the sort aboard. He was sure of it.  

"...Let's leave this alone for a bit. Anyway, you have all been sensing the massive energy fluctuations up to now, right?" Roland asked them.

"Of course." Aries said. " How couldn't we? Sol probably got Apollo mad, attacked, and Apollo responded in kind. But I doubt it's anything serious. I'm just wondering why it hasn't stopped yet. Is Apollo not going to tell Sol we're here?"

Apollo was a hot-head. He was generally fine, but wouldn't back down from a fight if some prick tried to start one with him. The god likely decided to teach Sol a lesson. And Sol already stopped the ship, so he has time to kill without worrying about the thief getting away. 

With his personality, a fight was all but inevitable between them. Even if he said he didn't wan't to fight, he'd still do it. And forget he'd ever said anything to the contrary.

Still, it's gone on for a while. Maybe fifteen minutes by now already? They should already have stopped and made up like good little boys. 

But whatever. Even if it was stretching on now, Aries couldn't see much of a reason for the fight to continue for too much longer.

All they had to do was wait, right?

He said so too

"Wait it is then."

Five more minutes passed in quiet.

None of them really made any further comments, comfortably silent. 

All except for mercury, who came up beside Roland and stretched out her arms to pick up her daughter from atop his head. A huge, toothy smile lit up her pretty face as she did so.

"Come here, Fenris, come to mommy~" She cooed. Her daughter was always so cute when she was in this form~

This was her present motivation.

Fenris opened up one eye to see the actions of her mother. When she saw that the woman was inching closer with her arm raised, she grew more alarmed.

She hissed, growling in warning. Her claws digging into Roland's head.

The girl swiped at her mother's hands when they were within range, not merciful at all.

"Ow!" Mercury sucked in a breath. "Damn unfilial brat. Hmph. Liking some stranger more than your own mother, the injustice!"

Fenris, not bothering to deal with the woman any more, closed her eyes once again.

Roland, on his end, found it a little discomforting to keep the girl--cat? He'd just think of her a cat for now--atop his head. Being clawed like that, albeit unintentionally on her part, wasn't a good feeling even if it couldn't pierce his skin.

As such, he took the cat off his head and rested her by his side.

Fenris looked at him from the couch's seat, annoyed. But she was tired, it was late at night still,  and so chose to not mind it.

Mybe another five minutes passed before Mercury once more tried to capture the girl.

She crawled up next to the couch under the amused stare of Aries and Mephisto.

Stretching out her arms slowly, she struck!

But Roland batted her hands away

"Hey!" She glared. "What the meanin' of this, handsome? It's a crime to keep a mother away from her daughter, you know."

Roland shrugged without care. "She doesn't want you to touch her."

Mercury spluttered, deeply offended by this. But she couldn't deny it. Snorting coldly at the treatment she was getting, she bitterly went back to her seat.

After some time Roland absently began petting Fenris. It wasn't really a conscious movement on his part. He liked cats, so seeing a big one with such soft fur by him, he just couldn't help it.

He didn't even realize he was doing it until Mercury unhappily spoke up. "What, so you can touch but I can't?"

"Hmm? Oh."

Becoming aware of it just now, he shrugged again. "Well she's not opposed to it, is she? Unlike with you."

"That's...!" The woman narrowed her eyes. "Ugh!" She huffed. 

What they didn't know was that, despite appearances, Fenris wasn't actually asleep! 

As for why she, who didn't usually like people to touch her, allowed this...it was because she was hungry. 

And as previously mentioned, this Roland fellow tasted great. No, the energy that leaked out from his tasted great. Although he himself probably would too. 

Again, not in a sexual way, but if she could have just a small taste of his blood one day...

She fantasied.

Getting back to the topic, she was eating his energy. Sucking it up. The only thing was that she couldn't do it in any large amount, sadly, lest he take notice of it. 

But even still, the warm feeling she got as she took in that energy of his was very pleasing. 

Mmm...

The energy she was absorbing, coupled with the way he stroked her fur, was too good. 

She couldn't stop a bout of soft purring from coming on.

But...! 

She absolutely shouldn't be blamed at all for this happening! 

Anyone in her position would! 

She rolled over onto her back, her legs and arms raised as she continued her purring.

When his hand began rubbing her belly, she writhed comfortably. Again, she absolutely could not be blamed for becoming like this, definitely not!

Roland didn't mind any of it. In spite of knowing that this was not actually a cat, and was in reality a godly being who was also the daughter of one of his friends...right now she was just a cat. 

So, this was fine. 

Unfortunately as this entire thing went on they had attracted a few weird gazes from the others in the room.

Mephisto was the first to say something. " Somehow this feel a little...wrong?" He muttered.

"What, that he's in the midst of taming our good friend's daughter?" Aries smirked.  "No, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Do you?" He found everything about this a little humorous.

"Were it any other person it'd seem business as usual for him, but with Fenris...hm...Loki would react badly to this scene."

"Yup. He would. That's why imma take a video documentary of it and show him." Aries rumbling laughter had a certain sadistic aspect to it. 

He quietly conjured a small camcorder from seemingly out of thin air.

Of those present there was still Morrigan and Mercury.

The latter had a envious look on her face. It was unclear whether that envy was towards Roland or if it was directed at her daughter.

As for Morrigan, she looked displeased. 

Finally she couldn't take it anymore, and stretched over her husband. 

She picked up the cat--Fenris--and dropped her on the floor.

Fenris promptly jumped back up the couch, taking a place on Roland's leg. Her tail flicked wih annoyance as she stared at the other woman. The petting resumed. 

Frowning, Morrigan gestured with her hands and an unseeable force propelled Fenris to her mother's bosom. The woman caught the girl easily, smiling happily.

"Dear husband, I would appreaciate it if you didn't feel up another woman so blatantly when in my presence. Rather, i'd like for you not to do so at all. If you truly have the urge, I myself am more than able to fulfill it."

Roland peered at his wife. "Morrigan, you do realize she's merely a cat right now, right? Is there really any harm in it? Besides. She's quite nice to pet. You should try it."

"I'd rather, not. Who know's where she's been?" 

At this, Mercury snorted in disdain. All but calling her daughter a stinking animal, the nerve!

She was so indignant that she almost let her daughter escape from her grasp. 

"Come now. That's a bit much. She seems very clean, you know? Smells clean too." He countered.

"And how would you know that? Do you mean to say you've been smelling her?" 

Now, she wasn't being fair. They all had keen senses, it's not as if they had to get up close to get a good sniff. 

But Roland didn't bother to say this to her.

Instead he took a more interesting approach, "I don't know. Maybe. I don't think I could be blamed for it if I have been, though. Because you know, the other day when you found us, I actually did get a rather opportune moment to take a whiff. 

And indeed, as you can imagine, her scent was quite appealing. Even now I can vividly recall the sweet fragrance she exuded at that time. That peculiar, tantalizing aroma that she gave out as I was embracing her soft, bare body from behind..." He trailed off, very deliberatly. He then looked to come back to his senses, continuing on. "It was, in all honestly, very nice. " 

There were expressions of shock all around in response to his words. They seemed stunned, a tad dazed, as they pictured the scene in their minds. 

Though Mephisto and Aries blanched, looking very ill at easy, Mercury was different. 

"Damn." She shook her head in wonder. "That sounded...kinda hot. Did that really happen? Has my little girl actually become a woman? But why does she still smell like she's holding her V-card? Wait...was it just some sort of foreplay? Couldn't get to the main event before Morrigan walked in? Is that it? Even so, to think my daughter would really take the initiative to go out and seduce a man...I really underestimated her!" 

Fenris, obviously still in her cat form, looked at Roland and the others. Even as a cat she looked as if she couldn't believe what was happening.

After a small struggle she leapt out of Mercury's arms, ran into the room Grace slept in, and came back out almost instantly with one of the blankets around her.

She immediately said, "It's a lie! I-I didn't do any such thing! ...Well, at least, I wasn't seducing anyone! It's not like that! Besides, he held me against my will that time!" 

Mephisto started. "Hold on, don't tell me...Roland, you couldn't have..." 

Morrigan, the only one who actually knew what happened that time that was being spoken of, only said, " My husband isn't such a person, as I should think you well know. And from what I know, Fenris was the one that attacked first."

Aries blinked. "So what you mean to say is that the girl who started the whole thing? That's...surprising. Who knew our little Fenris would be the one to make the first move..."

"No, I didn't mean attack in that sense of the word." Morrigan said.

Fenris struck while the iron was hot. " That's right! See, I sorta lost control of myself, and he had to hold me so that I wouldn't--"  

"Wait, wait, wait, my good daughter, you're really saying this? You went to him first? You couldn't control your sexual urges, and so pounced on him? Am I understanding this right?" Mwercury wasn't sure what was going on anymore. 

"That seems to be it?" Mephisto asked, unsure. 

"I don't think there's any other explanation, right?" Aries concurred. 

"So it's true, then, daughter? Have you actually become so bold, or just unable to help yourself? I can understand with a man such as he, but you shouldn't be so forward. Getting all hot and bothered over a man is fine, but it'll hurt if you don't take more care with your first time! You're a virgin, dear, and an ancient one too. Don't you know that for a person like you it can hurt if you just go wild like that without reserve? A person should usually just do as their body tells them in such situation, but someone like yourself, during your first, has to be more aware!" Mercury urged the girl to be more careful.

"What're you saying! I'm not some...somehorny teen!" Fenris hissed.

Aries head was starting to hurt. "Wait, back up. Fenris, we're not wrong, are we?" His voice became laced with impatience and irritation. "Is all that stuff we're assuming true?" 

"That's. Not. What. I'm. Saying!" Fenris glared, grounding out each word through clenched teeth and making sure they were all emphasised. 

"Then what are you saying?! Can't you speak clearly? " Mercury was exasperated, throwing her hands up into the air.

"I'm trying to explain, but you people aren't listening!" The more Fenris talked to them, the angrier and more miserable she got. 

She turned to Roland, who was just watching all this unfold with a very satisfied expression. For all intents and purposes looking extremely entertained. It urked her to no end!

"You!" She pointed. "You started all this! Tell them what happened!" She commanded.  

Fenris didn't want to talk anymore.

What set her off, though, was that right as she said this he actually had the gall to laugh!

Facing the severe glower the woman sent his way, Roland decided it was enough. 

"Alright, alright." He slowly sobered, agreeing to the demand easily. "Calm down, everyone. Fenris didn't do anything. She just looked like she had a bad dream and attacked me when still half-asleep. Not in the sexual way, mind you. It wasn't that nice. Rather, she tried to kill me? So I'm sorry to ruin whatever assumptions you may have had, but that's not how it is. And really, I'm not such a loose person."

This got a decidedly less surprised reaction.

"Anymore, you mean. And oh, so that was it?"

"Makes sense."

"...I'm a little disappointed..."

Mephisto, Aries and Mercury all voiced their understanding of the matter.

"Happy now?" Roland asked Fenris.

" Greatly." She sighed wearily, raising a hand to massage a temple. 

"Good."

"Wait." Morrigan spoke up for the second third time. "Fenris, about your actions just now...and that time before...Please refrain from doing so in the future."

The girl having a bad dream and making Roland stop her from going wild was understandable. But attacking him while naked was a bit much. 

Did she have to be naked? No. Where was the excuse for that, then? 

And Fenris just letting him touch her like this, even if it was in her cat form, wasn't something Morrigan approved of.

See, Morrigan didn't like them getting too close. Not that she would try to outright restrict his interactions with other women--she wasn't that unreasonable--but she was especially wary of Fenris.

The girl craved little more than a person whom she could care for, and whom would care for her in kind. And not in the way Grace cared for her. 

No, Fenris had always sought a suitable mate. Someone strong enough so that she wouldn't have to be.

A person whom she could share her life with. A person that would be able to make her time of abuse and lonliness at the hands of her kin worth it. 

Morrigan understood well that the girl wanted, needed, a person to lean on. It wasn't hard to figure out. She'd lacked a lot of love and attention as she grew up and that stayed true even up to now. 

To want someone who understood her, someone who was able to brighten up her day and make her truly feel happy for once, was perfectly alright. 

But Roland couldn't be that person. 

She could have anyone else,  Morrigan didn't care, but if Fenris came to like her husband then she couldn't accept it.

Morrigan was determined. She knew that there was a chance this cycle of his could continue many times more. Yet she didn't want to merely let herself become one among the many people he had left behind.

No, she wouldn't let that happen. He was her husband. He was the father of her child. 

Morrigan fully intended for her and Grace to be a part of his life, and a part of his later lives. She wanted to always be his wife, and wanted the three of them to always remain a family. 

Fenris didn't fit in their family. Morrigan once thought that perhaps she could share him if he'd ever had any other lovers or wives pop up, but she was wrong. She didn't want to share him with other women and didn't think that she should have to. 

So Fenris could remain Grace's friend, could become a sisterly figure to the girl. Could become friends with him, too. 

But that was it. In no way did Morrigan want to increase the possibility that this girl would fall in love with her husband.

Perhaps she wouldn't. But he already fulfilled the strength portion of the girl's criteria, even if the girl in question wasn't quite aware of it yet. 

So the possibility increased just with that alone, and would only increase the more time they spent together, the closer they became. 

Again, it was fine if it was anyone else. Just not him. 

The girl was damaged goods in many ways, but Morrigan didn't want her husband to be the one to waste the time fixing her. 

Don't misunderstand, even Morrigan felt that Fenris deserved happiness. The girl was a pitiable one, scorned and neglected by her own family for countless years already. Her scars were deep.

It's simply that Morrigan didn't want Roland to be the one to give the girl this happiness. To be the one to heal her.

That was all. It wasn't too much to ask.

And Fenris understood all of this too. Even now, as she heard Morrigan's words, she instantly knew why she said them.

But she felt the woman was overreacting. Fenris wasn't the kind of person to fall in love so easily. Obviously.

However there was something else that Fenris understood from this: Morrigan was very selfish.

The woman believed, or at least thought it was a possibility, that Fenris would grow too attached to her husband. 

Fenris didn't think this would happen. But knew that if it ever were to happen, Morrigan would flat out reject the idea. 

To Morrigan, Fenris' own happiness didn't really matter. If Fenris were ever to fall for Roland--which again, the girl doubted would happen--Morrigan wouldn't let her be. 

In Morrigan's mind, no other person could have him. Morrigan loved the man and it was a very greedy, possessive love. 

Because of that, there was just no middleground. Roland, for Fenris, wasn't an option. Even if Morrigan didn't say it, Fenris knew a line was being drawn. 

This is what can happen, and this is what can't. And even if it did happen, it wouldn't be allowed to bear fruit. 

That's basically what Morrigan was implying here.

Though Fenris didn't mind it. Not really. She didn't have those kinds of feelings for the man, so why should this matter to her? Plus, that man was Morrigan's husband. Grace's father.

Who was Fenris to even think of getting in between them? 

She was no one.

And it wasn't like the woman was saying they--Fenris and Roland--couldn't be friends, which is pretty much what they sort of were to each other right now.

So she just shrugged and said, "Yeah, alright, whatever."

And that was the end of it.

...Or it was for them. But not for Mercury. 

If Fenris could understand what Morrigan was not explicitly saying, how could she not?

Mercury was enraged, disgusted and supremely irritated all at the same time. Really, that Morrigan, how absurd! 

Who was she to say what her daughter could or couldn't do? Who she could or couldn't fall for? Was a person able to control their feelings? No, they couldn't. This was all a bunch of bullshit.

Fuck, if her cute and adorable little girl had her eyes on someone then Mercury didn't care who it was, she'd support it fully! 

And if the person her daughter had an eyes on was ever that fine, strapping, wet-dream-inducin' young'un over there... 

...Then no matter what this woman said, Mercury wouldn't watch her daughter only ever sit and pine for him instead of taking action all because of the words of some bitch-goddess like Morrigan!

Hmph! If her daughter ever wanted someone, she'll get him! Mercury would, of course, ensure it! No matter what methods she'd have to use! 

Not that she would have to. 

Mercury, being the most beautiful of all goddessses, would naturally have a daughter who was nearly as beautiful as she herself was.

What man, woman or Apache*** would be able to resist her daughter? Such a person doesn't exist!

...Of course, Mercury understood Morrigan's reasons... But, even so...!

Mercury continued to shoot daggers at Morrigan for some time before folding her arms and slowly calming down.

As for Aries and Mephisto, they didn't think too much about this. Mercury's sudden enmity for Morrigan wasn't lost on them, but as because they didn't even try to think about why it was so, they just shrugged it off and once more lasped into silence.

Even if they did know all the things that were going on between the three women, they would only choose to stay out of it. As would be wise.  

"So how long has it been already?" Mephisto asked, referring to Solomon's arrival.

Roland was the one to answer. "Around...30 minutes? I think." 

"That's a pretty long time..." Mephisto said, his brows furrowing. " I expected a short fight. Solomon getting Apollo mad, fists and spells being thrown, the usual. But it's gone on for quite a while now hasn't it? Just what could be taking so--"

As one, every person in the room froze.

"Sonuvabitch!" Aries cursed. "He's summoning them all? Here? "  The man stood up, confusion written all over his face.

"Shit, something must have happened. Solomon wouldn't do this unless something went very, very wrong." Mephisto also rose. 

"Mercury, take us outside. Now." Even Roland grew uncharacteristically serious. 

"Don't gotta tell me twice." 

Mercury wasn't stupid. Any force that was able to make Solomon summon all of his 72 Pillars at once like this was nothing to joke about. With all those high-ranking demons and fallen angels under his command, he had enough power to start a war with any of the other Pantheons and put up a decent fight for a while. 

And a Grand Summoning like this would summon not only his 72 Pillars, but it'd also summon all the demonic legions that those Pillars had under their own command. 

This would cause a lot of waves within Hell, as it was nearly one-third of all their forces.

For him to resort to something like this, things had to be bad. Very bad. 

As such, she wasted no time. 

But Fenris realized something. Looking down at her current apparel, she started backing away. "Hold on, wait a minute, I'm still--!" 

Too late. Every person in that room was instantly teleported away.

***

As the magic circle exanded even more, many Gateways were forming. Gaining power, calling out, getting ready to open.

While this slow process carried on, a loud cackle echoed throughout the sky as a crazed man raised his hands up into the air with glee. 

Despite his outward appearance seeming like that of a refined gentleman, possessing a scholarly air and handsome looks, he actually gave out the impression of madness at the moment.

"Ah, how long had it been since I last brought everyone together like this? Come, my pretties, come and say hello to Uncle Solomon! No, better yet...daddy?" 

--Not one of us shall ever call you either of those things. Or I suppose  Phenex may do it if you asked, but even she would loathe such a thing. Probably. Also, do not treat them like children. Really, you never change even after so many years...

Oh quiet, you. You need to learn to lighten up. Have fun. Do you not feel a bit of joy at having us all reunite like this? It's not everyday this happens.

Solomon knew that each of his Pillars had their own lives. So he only summoned  them all like this when the need was great. 

Gehenna, if he had to face her, was that much of a threat. Not many people knew just how much of a monster she truly was. But he did. 

--Pardon me if I'm not exactly bursting with enthusiasm. Going into a battle like this just isn't my idea of a good time. I value my life, thank you very much. I'm not like a certain somone who derives a sick sort of pleasure in courting death.

If anyone was capable of making the usually unflappable demon Dantalion scared, it was Gehenna. Few could kill people like him permanently. She was one of them.

Always such a sourpuss. Solomon chided. Does it not get boring? 

--Not, not really. Dantalion answered. He then tilted his head, becoming aware of something. He turned towards the ship, his swirling grey eyes curious.

--Hmm....I didn't feel it before since I was too focused on Gehenna's presence....but this feeling....Aren't these energy patterns....?

Noticing the demon's muttered words, Solomon asked, What is it?

--....If I had to say, I think a few of your friends are here? Most definitely .

What? Who?

--Well--

"Sol!"

" Hm? ...!!"

Solomon heard a very familiar voice calling out to him, but when he turned around he was confronted with a strane scene.

There, just a few feet behind him,was Aries decked out in full blood-red armor. As the man was very tall, he cut a very imposing figure. His helmet holding two dagger-like horns that jutted out from the sides, seeming distinctly blade-like.

With a giant warhammer. A warhammer who's head was so large, and who's was several feet long, that you'd probably only find the like in video games. Completely made of some dark metal that gave a very foreboding feel.

Something that only a very strong person could wield effectively. Someone like a God of War.

And this weapon was currently heading straight towards Dantalion's head

Solomon was caught off-guard, quickly erecting a barrier. The blow was negated but the barrier cracked, sending out small blue sparks.

His face darkened.

"Aries, dammit, who the fuck do you think you're aiming at!"

Aries only just now realized who the demon beside Solomon was, his face showing confusion. 

" Don't throw a fit, love, you can't blame him for this. He was a bit confused, expecting the worst. Obviously he'd think that was a evil demon or something, he didn't really have time to think.

We came here expecting a goddamn waarzone, after all. So please explain why there's nothing here. I mean why the flying fuck would you start summoning all your Pillars just to take care of Apollo? Are you an idiot? No, wait, don't answer. I already know."

Mercury came up from behind Aries and started drilling into Solomon mercilessly.

"First Aries, and then Mercury?" Solomon muttered. "Why would you two be here?"

"It isn't just them."

A new voice popped up. 

"Ro? And Morrigan....Fenris too? Wait, and even Mephisto? What're you all doing here?" 

Solomon at first thought this was some sort of illusion, but discarded the idea.  He'd know if it was. But then what was going on?

"Before that, call off the summoning." Roland looked at the magic circle, noticing that some of the Gateways were already opening. 

"No can do. I don't know why you guys are here, but do you not understand that that matchstick over there has Gehenna in his ship? I need to find my egg, I can't go in without some first calling some backup. What if I have to fight that woman? I'm not ready to die just yet." 

The man refused.

"Gehenna's... inside?" Mephisto, Aries and everyone else were shocked at this revelation.

Of all of them, it was Morrigan's reaction that was the most extreme. The woman went deathly pale, a look of fear and urgency coming to her eyes.

She gripped Mercury's arm tightly. "Send me back!" 

"Hey don't use that tone with me, woman, let me go--"

"Send me back now!" The woman's sharp, panicked voice gave no room for arguement.

She could only think of her daughter, in the same ship that had Gehenna skulking about in it.

She didn't doubt for a second Solomon's words about the woman being abaord. No, even if she did have doubts, she'd never leave things to chance. Not with her daughter in the picture.

Mercury flashed them away as soon as the last word was uttered from Morrigan's lips, not thinking at all about refusing her.

Just like that, they were gone.

Now it was just Solomon, Roland, Mephisto, Aries and Fenris. 

Solomon didn't know the reason for the woman to panic like that, but he didn't think too deeply about it.

He blinked. "I don't think I've ever seen someone willingly go to a place where that devil-woman was said to be at." 

"...That aside, even if that's true that she'd here, there's no need to call them all. Do you think we ourselves aren't enough to deal with a single person?"

This was Roland.

Solomon stared at him.

"...You say that because you don't know how scary that woman is." 

"He's right." Mephisto voiced his support. "If Gehenna's really so near, then...."

"We might need the help." Mercury finished.

"Hm...I don't think it would hurt to have more people here...." Aries shrugged. 

"I trust that Lord Solomon is serious about this. I don't know how it came to be, but if he says Gehenna's here, I think we need to consider the possibility that we may have to fight her. So as for him summoning more allies, I have no qualms with it."  

Even Fenris joined in. 

As she spoke, Solomon noticed something. "Why, my dear girl, do not not have any clothes on? Not that this isn't a feast for the eyes, but that...blanket, is it?...is a rather odd fashion statement, do you not think?" 

"It's not as if I wanted to wear it. It was a force of circumstance. Mind helping me out?" 

"Yes, yes, fine, if I must. " Solomon waved a hand and the blanket was replaced with a long shirt white that was able to cover half her legs. "Apologies. I don't have anything else that's suitable at the moment." 

"It's fine, thanks." Never let it be said that Fenris was an ingrate. She hated not being able to conjure things with a wave of her hand, or know how to use spells to store clothes in some special space. 

Maybe she should learn. Or get some storage ring. 

Because it felt like she was having to go naked in front of people a lot more often recently.

It'd be much better if she could learn how to not make her clothes disappear during transformations...but for that she'd have to ask her mother or father, which was a bit hard for her to do...

Besides, she'd never really asked or needed them for anything. Why should she start now? 

Meanwhile as this interaction was going on, Roland was torn. It seemed that everyone here had the same mindset. Their animosity for the woman was palpable. 

But if Gehenna was really here, and since he was pretty much certain she was someone from his past, he didn't want things to escalate into a fight.

If they saw her, they'd attack. He had no doubt about that. He asked Loki, Aries and Mephisto to not go after her, to attack her...but her showing up here would be taken as a sign of aggression to their eyes. 

"Look, Sol, just....don't summon them."

Roland hesitated, but still insisted.

"No."  The man didn't budge.

"I think that perhaps it's best to bring them in." Mephisto and Aries also agreed. They came here believing things were at their worst. And that may very well be the case. 

Gehenna, though they absolutely didn't fear the woman, was not weak at all. And they all were clear on the things she's done in the past. Even Lucifer, the overlord of hell itself, was careful in his handling of her.

 "You asked us to let her be, and if it was under another circumstance, we would.  But she's following us, or that's what it looks like. I'm sorry, but even if it's you, we can't ignore this."

Mephisto shook his head sadly. He knew that Roland asked him and the rest to leave her alone, but her coming to this place, he couldn't see any reason for it other than to cause trouble.

That was always her reason before, why would it change?

"What? Why would he ask you to do that?" Solomon asked.

"Direct that question to him. I can't understand it." Aries answered, sounding disgusted. "That vile woman, why shouldn't we attack her on sight? She's obviously provoking us."

"Maybe not, she's probably after my egg! But either way, yes, we should be rid of her."

Roland was adament. " Why can't you just listen to me this time? I want to talk to her. I can't do that if you all are busy trying to kill her."

"Why would you want to talk to her? Are you stupid? There's no talking to that beast." Solomon frowned at him.

"Be that as it may, that's what I want to do."

"Then you're a fucking fool. I like the balls it would take to try sitting down and having a civilized conversation with her, but I have to say: Don't bother."

"Wait...Roland, does this have to do with you past?" Mephisto was the first to figure it out. Loki, of course, explained everything about what he'd learned regarding Roland after they had that talk in his office. 

There was no point hiding it."...It might be. I don't know. I'm not sure of anything yet. But at least I think she might be someone from one of those times, so..."

Mephisto and Aries, along with Fenris, understood now why the man was saying these things.

But Solomon didn't.

"Hm. I don't get what you all seemed to be talking about, but whatever, I don't care. I'm here for my egg and that girl probably has it with her as we speak. So, I'm just going to continue with what I want to do."

Roland, seeing that the summoning was nearly complete, with over half of the Gateways already opened, tried to dissuade his friend once again.

Once all the Gateways opened, the entire Solomon 72 Pillars Pantheon would arrive. At that time there was no way this would end with anything less than a crazed manhunt. 

They'd tear the ship apart looking for the woman, and this item of Solomon's.

"Sol, just hear me out--"

"I. Said. No!" The savage face the man put on was up so fast that you'd not believe it wasn't always there. " I don't give a fuck what reason you have, I want what's mine and that bitch has to have it! Either get outta my way or help me."

"Solomon, just listen to me, I don't think Gehenna has anything to do with your missing egg--"

Despite agreeing with him on this point, the others stayed quiet. Even if Gehenna was innocent of the theft, could they just let her run around the ship like this?

And Fenris was thinking of Grace, too. What if, when the woman showed herself and a fight ensued, she got caught in the crossfire?

"There's no other explanation. but honestly, whether she has what I want or not is besides the point. You never saw Gehenna, I know you couldn't have. So you have no idea of the terror that woman personifies. After thinking it over...althought I loath the idea of fighting her... We may never get a better chance to take her out. I may never have the chance. She's here, in the Lower Planes, not under the protection of Lucifer. 

She's fair game!

And I have enough time to call my posse. Usually such an opportune moment would never happen. Plus with all you here? 

We should be able to do something about her once and for all. At the very least we can trap her here until we can get reinforcements. The other Pantheons must know she's here. Probably someone is already on their way. 

So, even if we fail now, we can try again later. You don't know her at all, the things she's done, the reason people fear her. If it were any of us individually, by ourselve, we wouldn't want to fight her.

But we have a chance to be rid of her once and for all. So I'm sorry. But if you stand in the way of that, you should know there would be consequences. I'm your friend, I've been your friend for some time now, but even for you...I can't do as you say. Not this time." 

Solomon was immovable. 

Roland didn't want things to happen this way. She was just one woman and even if she was here she had not caused any trouble whatsoever. Until she made a move, why attack her?

And he wanted, maybe even felt the need, to talk to her. For some reason, the thought of her getting hurt just...just bugged him.

It was completely irrational. He shouldn't feel that way at all. Not given what she had done to Grace. Yet even so, the feeling persisted. And he didn't think that Gehenna would hurt Grace again. He wasn't sure why, but that's what he believed. 

Again, it was irrational. It didn't make any sense at all. It was true that he didn't really know the woman. But still...

Hearing how hated she was, how much they wanted her dead, simply didn't sit well with him. It caused a dark feeling of anger to well up in him and he just had no idea why!

He took a deep breath, then looked the man in the eye. "Sol...please...even if you never give thought to another word from me again, just this once, listen to this selfish request of mine. Whatever happens after this, good or bad, I'll take responsibility for it. But for now, I'm asking you, as a friend, to stop your summoning and not start something here."

It may not have sounded like it, but as a man not used to lowering himself, this was fairly difficult for him. 

His words caused a stir among Fenris and the others. It felt like, if this wasn't resolved peacefully, something would change. They just wasn't sure what. Or why they felt that way.

Solomon shook his head. His eyes showed no sign of yielding. "I understand. But again, I can't pass this up. It's really is very, incredibly, rare that Gehenna is outside of hell long enough for anyone to make a move. And even when she goes out, it's also rare she's in any one place long enough for the Pantheons to do anything about it.

So...I'll do what I want. If you don't want to get invovled, then don't. Just, I don't know, fuck off for a while alright?"

That was not the right tone to use when talking to a person like Roland. "Solomon, I'll ask you one more time. Don't do this."

"Or what?" Solomon asked, his brow raised.

"I'll stop you."

The man snorted. "All talk. I don't believe you."

"Don't push me on this, Sol...." He warned.

Solomone rolled his eyes, not taking him seriously at all. 

"Did I not speak clearly, ol' pal? Fuck off or help me, I said. Is that not what I said?. So if you ain't willing to help...well..." He threw a very annoyed glance towards him. "...fuck...off!" 

"Fine. I'm done."

Roland, without warning, shot forward!

He knew the one who was really hard at work controlling the summoning ritual was Dantalion. 

So he went after him.

Faster than anyone could see, too fast to stop, he grabbed Dantalion by the throat.

And after whispering a small apology to him...took his hair with his other hand, and torn his head off his shoulders.

The body went lifeless as Roland's hands burned with an azure blue light. He then casually dropped the body, making it fall from out of the sky.

It slowly came to pieces, head and all, fading away into oblivion.****

Solomon wouldn't be more surprised even if the man had slapped his mother.

A shocked silence, then, "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!"

Solomon, along with Aries, Mephisto, Fenris and the previously wordless spectator, Apollo, all screeched at the top of their lungs.

Not paying attention to them, Roland turned his gaze to the massive magic circle above their heads

Knowing what he was about to do, Solomon screamed, "Matchstick, stop him! Stop him now!" 

This bastard, he wanted to kill them all!

Apollo didn't think about disobeying at all when faced with this situation, giving chase without complaint.

Roland was already off.

Apollo used his fastest speed, gripping a flaming spear in his hand and throwing it at the man before following to try and cut him off from the front.

The god had only just brushed past Roland, intending to stop in front of him before he could reach the magic circle. 

How could he expect that the spear would be caught right before it could hit, that Apollo himself would instead be the one impaled by it?

Because that was exactly what happened. 

In the few instances between Roland first moving towards the magic circle and now, he'd turned and picked the spear out of the sky before rushing towards and hitting Apollo with his own attack.

After than, the spear disappeared. Apollo's wound was cauterized. 

Roland grabbed the god and threw him at the others, then continued forward. The Sun God was down for the count, dazed.  Had that last attack not been laced with the other man's own power it'd do nothing to him. As it was, though,  it wrought havoc on his body. 

"Son of a bitch!" Solomon spluttered, completely enraged. He drew his saber, shouting, "Furfur, wake your lazy ass up! Strike him down!"

A surge of lighting erupted forth as he drew out the blade. No, the blade itself was made up of condensed lighting. It pulsed with an angry purple-blue color.

Solomon pointed his saber at Roland's back, not holding back at all.

Pillars of lightning rained down from the heavens.

Roland's body was blurred as the lightning rushed towards him, engulfing him in a bright light. Yet it made him pause for but an instant before he powered through it.

In mere moments, he'd already reached the magic circle.

Mephisto and Aries didn't stand still, they alway had chased the man. But it was already too late.

Roland, his body coursing with the lighting from before, forced the energy to heed his command. Causing Solomon, who had a connection to any energy used by any of his demons, to spit out blood. 

With the lighting now forcibly under his control, he directed it to his palm and a giant column of lighting struck out. 

Though it wasn't what he was originally planning, he used it anyway. 

And due to him injecting his own mana and spiritual energy into the lighting it was now much more powerful than it had been.

Despite taking a little internal damage, he was not affected at all.

The lighting, in a great show of light, tore the magical circle to pieces.

First there was great resistance, a high-pitched, scream-like wail....

But eventually the lighting pierced through. The magic circle, having previously glowed a bright blue, dimmed. Soon, it lost it's life entirely. Winking out of existence.

Solomon felt like his insides were being torn apart. A great pain, unlike any he'd felt before, spread throughout his whole body.

Everything ended, becoming silent. 

"...You...do you know what you've done? Every single one of them with feel this pain!"  Solomon snarled."You could have caused this entire world to suffer! Who knows what would happened"

If he had the time, he'd definitely call a few Heaven's Punishments down upon the man!

Solomon had never had someone disturb him when he was performing a summoning of this level. It was one of the few times he even used this method!

Not even he would be able to truly predict the outcome of forcing the magic circle to break down! 

Roland wasn't repentant at all. "I asked you nicely, Solomon. Several times. I considered myself very patient. I wouldn't be like that with many people, you know. But you refused to listen. You were all but forcing me to act. I tell you now: I do not want anyone to fight with that Gehenna woman at least until after I've found and talked to her." 

Solomon exploded. "You'd go so far for some murderous, bloodthirsty, evil bitch you don't even know?! You...You...I can't believe you're being so...!" He had no words to express the anger he felt.

This terrible pain, this soul-wrenching agony....they'd all feel it! 

To him, this was a betrayal. Even if he forgave the man, he'd still be pissed off for years to come! 

The guy didn't even know the woman!

"Ah...but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Listen, Sol, I need your help."

"Fuck you!"

"See, I have these four kids. Got some nasty curses on them. I want to show them to you, get a second opinion." He went on smoothly. "And, about your egg? I think I can help with that, actually."

Solomon wasn't having it. "Fuck. You!"

"Did I mention two of them are beautiful young women?"

"...How beautiful?"

"Hm...maybe they'll be almost as beautiful as Morrigan when they mature more."

"...Gimme a minute...My whole body hurts...."

Solomon's anger faded fast. 

***

As the whole event came to a close, Fenris and the other two gods present couldn't help feeling...odd.

Solomon, they knew, was certifiably insane. He was quick to anger, and even quick to calm down. 

But he didn't forget. Ever. 

Roland had done something that was a betrayal of trust to the man's eyes. Solomon, despite appearances, would harbor some resentment to him regardless of what the young man said.

This didn't mean their friendship was ruined. Every one of them had got in each other's way at some point in time. 

They were people who, for the most part, did as they wanted. Butting heads was not new.

But this was a little different. Roland was protecting, at least for now, a woman who's sins were innumerable.

He went so far as to go against one of his own friends for her sake, even if it was only so he could talk with her first.

Solomon was right. They may never get the chance to launch a all-out, well-prepared battle against her again.

And she was hiding somewhere in the ship. She didn't make a move yet but she would eventually. It was inevitable. 

So they'd have to be more on guard. 

Aries, Mephisto, everyone really, all had it out for the woman to some degree or another. They simply did not like her. Did not want her alive. Mephisto and Aries didn't care all too much most days, but even they would rather the woman not live.

Deep down, even if they would never truly admit it to themselves...they did have some fear towards her. 

No one liked Gehenna. No one. It was impossible. 

And Roland was choosing to let her run free close by. No one could predict what would happen from now on due to this.

Fenris herself was thinking abut someone in particular. Grace. As she thought before, what if she got hurt by Gehenna? It could happen. No one knew where she was, just that she was either still on the ship or maybe somewhere nearby.

Did Roland not even consider this? Did not realize she may get injured? Did the thought never once cross his mind

...Or was he just that confident that he could keep her safe?

Either way, she wasn't exactly how she felt about all this. She did learn that he wasn't a person that you could say no to easily, though, if that was worth anything.

He really did do as he pleased, did he not? Or at least when he actually decided on something then it seemed no one could say anything about it. Even his own friends. 

She liked that. She was much the same. She could be very passive, that was true. But when she wanted to do something, she did it. 

It's just that despite her estimation of him rising a little, she didn't know if she supported his actions. 

No matter what his reasons, wasn't he being a little too reckless? 

Fenris didn't dwell on it too much. It was pointless.

Instead, she made a promise to herself.

If it came down to it, if Gehenna caused trouble, if there was any sign of things going south, she'd take Grace--and Charlotte, if she could get to her in time--away to somewhere safe.

If things got to that point, she'd do it. She couldn't let two kids be caught up in all this. Their safety came first. 

********************

Author Note: 

**Yeah, he's sorta relying all on Roland here. Cuz he doesn't think the others would step in, or care all too much. He knows some the students are on his ship, but he's thinking, "Well even if Loki doesn't give a shit, even if no one else cares about Solomon messing up my ship to search for his lost item, that man would." So he can fight with an assurance that at least someone will stop Sol from doing anything drastic. 

Plus, he's mainly treating the whole fight like more of a duel rather than anything else.

And to be clear, Apollo at this point doesn't really think Gehenna is on his ship. He thinks that she was probably there at one point, but must have already left.

***Some people will probably get this, others may not. And those who do, you're cool. The others? A bit less so. I was heistant to even put this in, but hey, it's Mercury. I thought it'd be fine. You can even just ignore it, it's not important anyway.

****(Even if you skip this, go read the last paragraph please.)Yeah, of course Dantalion isn't dead. I may have said so before, but demons are very durable. And those who are part of Solomon's 72 Pillars are a bit special.

Usually they're normal demons. But as soon as he summons them they change a little. So even if their bodies are entirely destroyed, like how it is now, it wouldn't do much. Probably just send them back to where they were before the summons.

Not to mention that a demon, a higher ranking demon, is even harder to kill than usual demons. It's still possible for them to live even if they aren't part of Sol's Pillars and their bodies are turned to ash. Their souls are pretty strong, you know? 

Although, yeah, that dont apply to weaker demons. Like the guards of Asmodeus'. They could been killed, and he thought they had at first, because they arent higher leveled demons and therefore life-threatening injuries can still be fatal to them. 

Not everyone is like Mephisto, where they can take insane amounts of damage and walk away from it like it was nothing

As for his children, they are like Asmodeus in the way of being hard to kill. But against Gehenna, it wouldn't matter, they'd be killed easily by someone such as she.

Or this is how it should be. If i ever explained it differently before, or if something doesnt add up, let me know. I do tend to be forgetful when it comes to my own stories....

BTW, need to say one thing...Asmodeus is part of Solomon's 72 Pillars. But not all of his Pillars have all that close relationships with him. And they have their own lives, they just answer to him at times. Obviously you can see that Solomon has a special position within Hell. Lucifer, in particular, has mixed feelings about him. Just letting you know. Because even I forgot about that for a while. Only remembered after making this chapter.