"Well, we heard Allucius out on how she spent these last ten years," Selzion moved the meeting forward, "But what about the others? Auros, what did you do since our last meeting?"
"Tch, I really don't wanna have to talk about this, but..." He reclined in his seat, breathing heavily through his nose as he told everyone, "This Red haired lady's asshole husband trapped me on my throne..."
"Language!" Cecily cupped Cene's ears in a hurry, "And don't call Lune that!"
"Right, I shouldn't speak like that in front of kids. Let me rephrase it." Auros waited until she uncupped Cene's ears before grinning with a nasty idea, "Ahem, what I meant to say was BIG FAT STINKIN' FU-!"
"Aaaaaand Cene's ears are cupped once again." I narrated with a chuckle as Auros cussed Grim out for a solid minute straight.
"Auros, count to ten, please." Prylos kindly asked him to calm down.
"One two three, ABC, happy now?" Auros gave him a nasty side-Eye as he maliciously complied.
"But hold on, what do you mean when you say Lune Grimheart trapped you on your throne?" Aru gave him the benefit of the doubt for a second, "He's a mortal. Couldn't you just, y'know, crush him?"
"Well, physically yes, but I can't just go changing fate like that." He complained, "Besides, he outsmarted me with a game I wasn't previously introduced to, leading to me having to help govern the continent until they get back on their feet. Stupid humans, they've been pestering me with questions and pleas for almost an entire decade now...!"
"Hold on, a game?" Selzion seemed intrigued that there was something a God didn't know, "What kind of game, exactly?"
"The concept of solids." Auros stated.
"Pff." Selzion let out a light chuckle, "You got got by a solid?"
"Is that not something the human children like to do?" Prylos tried desperately to stifle his laughter as well, though a couple of wheezes could still be heard, "Bested by a children's game, how very Auros of you... Pff!"
"Bahaha! You damned idiot orc!" Aru didn't hesitate to openly mock him as Auros started getting embarrassed.
"Oh come on, I'm the God of Fighting! I solve problems with wars and physical disputes, not some damned back and forth honors system!" He slammed his fist on the already partially cracked table, making the entire mountain quake for a moment, "Tch, if you're just gonna mock me, then I'm leaving!"
"Going back to your throne already? What a dutiful leader you are!" Aru kicked her little legs under her chair as she giggled endlessly, "But still, if you're that averse to it, then your best bet is to prolong this meeting for as long as you can, right~?"
"Grr..." He thought for a bit before sitting back down, steam practically flying out of his head as he grumbled, "I'm not good with thinking..."
"But wait, Lune outsmarted you?" Issei asked the angry Fighting God, "Man, he really did do a lot of great things after we parted ways..."
"He's an interesting person, I'll give him that." Auros praised the late Grim personally, "Shame he died, though. Then again, that's what happens when you try to resolve things peacefully."
"To earn the praise of the Fighting God, I really don't get it." Prylos thought for a bit, "In Heaven, he really doesn't stick out that much. Just buried in the crowd, indulging in his selfish desires like the sinful human he is."
"Guys, I don't like this topic." Cecily kindly asked them to stop, though with a slightly angered tone at that, "I don't want to have to get into needless arguments with you, so please change the subject."
"Yeah, thinking of what could have happened is useless." I backed her up, "The point is that Grim is currently in Heaven, and right now our primary goal is to get him back."
"Yeah, I'd give up on that if I were you." Selzion said outright, "I understand you troubled yourselves by scaling this mountain to ask the Gods if there is a way for that to happen, but bringing a person back from the dead isn't something you can do."
"But you're the Gods of this world!" Othelia pleaded, "Isn't there some way to bring just one person back to life?"
"Yeah, if you could make the world and everything in it, can't you like, make a perfect copy of Lune just before he died?"
"We could, but..." Selzion tried to speak, only to get interrupted by Cecily.
"No, I don't want a clone. I want my husband." She respectfully declined the idea, "There is only one Lune in this world, and he's resting under the Willow tree in the island he bought. If I don't see that exact person in front of me, then I'm not accepting anyone else, no matter how identical they may be."
"Heh, guess you lucked out on the girl being picky, eh Selz?" Aru smirked.
"Now we at least don't have to listen to you explaining why cloning someone wouldn't be smart." Auros smiled before immediately realizing the issue in that, "Wait, no! I don't wanna save time, I wanna waste as much time as possible so I don't have to go home early! But damn, I really don't wanna listen to his bullshi-"
"Indeed, it seems fortune was on my side today, Allucius." Selzion spoke over the contemplating Auros, "The love of another human being is quite fascinating, is it not, Cecily Grimheart? Though it would be possible through many trials and tribulations on our part to clone Lune Grimheart perfectly, you still chose to not accept that false life of his in favor of the real deal. Not practical in any way, mind you, but beautiful nonetheless. Very few people would decline such a notion so easily."
Yeah, I'll bet, especially when you take into account that I wanted to practically jump out of my seat agreeing, no matter the cost. I just wanna see Grim again, and besides, if he's an identical clone, then that'd just be the same person, no? Well, if Cecily doesn't like it, I kind of feel like I have no place in objecting in any way. Call me a fake friend or whatever, but I'd accept the deal if I was the one being asked. Plus, maybe we could get a buy one get one free deal by throwing Carter in there as well. Just a thought.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
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"...So." Aru broke the minute long silence that ensued after everyone was satisfied with their answers, "What now? We gonna play board games or something?"
"Board games?" Eleanor furrowed her brows, "Aru, can't you be a bit more serious at a time like this? I get you're joking since you're showing off your fellow God friends and all, but please understand what we came here for."
"R-Right." Auros put the boxes of board games back under the stone table, "Exactly what I was about to say, ahem."
"You actually brought board games to this place?" I asked him.
"Nuh uh, bro." He moved his index finger left to right at me, "We always played games during our meetings. Though these guys don't wanna play unless everyone is present."
"So in other words, since Ouroboras reincarnated?" Cecily inquired.
"Bingo." Aru fingergunned, "Yeah, it just doesn't feel the same without him. We tried at the first meeting, but it really wasn't going as smoothly as we had wished for it to."
"If by that you mean we practically killed each other over a game of Monopoly, then yeah, I would have to agree with you." Selzion sighed, "Seriously, if you don't wanna play by the rules, then you should have suggested another game."
"Shut up!" Both Aru and Auros pointed angrily at him, "You cheated! Being the God of Knowledge is way too overpowered!"
"It's just not fun when you beat us so easily." Prylos added, "You bought early and efficiently, and before we knew it, every spot had your hotels on it."
"For once I agree with these two dolts." Aru rested her chin on the palm of her hand, running her finger through the cracks in the stone table created by Auros' thrash, "Darling used to make it sort of close between everyone by tactically going easy on the ones behind and tryharding on the ones in front. Sigh, that friendly attitude of his is what made me fall for him in the first place..."
"Which is just your way of saying you're an easy woman to please." Prylos jabbed.
"Wanna go right now, brother dearest...?!" She threateningly raised her fists at him, "I'll drown you in your own sweat!"
"It seems you need some more meditation, "dear" "sister". Because if you had that, you'd remember that we can't die." Prylos de-escalated her escalations by fistbumping her raised fist, "Please have a seat, we have guests over."
"Gahh!" She shouted as if letting all of her anger go, "I hate when you're right..."
As the room once again got a bit quiet, I couldn't help but think of Eleanor. These two have been joking about their relationship resembling a pair of siblings, but after seeing this, I can't help but agree. Certainly, their friendly jabs and the feeling you get by being pestered by your sibling is something they really nailed. Usually at around this moment, the older sibling would be the one to speak up, which means...
"Sigh, let's just forget about it." Aru gave in first, "Let bygones be bygones, but no more calling me easy!"
"If you say so." Prylos shrugged, but couldn't leave it at that, so he sheepishly apologized as well, "Sorry for calling you that, then."
"It's good." She fistbumped him over the table.
A touching resolution to a seemingly heated quarrel. Such a sight can only be seen in siblings, I suspect, and what's more, it seems that only those with siblings of their own can fully respect.
"Kinda reminds me of us, what with the quarreling and everything." Eleanor smiled as she whispered in my left ear.
"It may sound kinda stupid, but they kinda remind me of Carter and I." Cecily then whispered in my right ear, "We used to fight like that all the time, and I'd almost always be the one to apologize first."
"Y-Yeah." I kinda didn't know what to do in that moment, so I awkwardly nodded.
"Big sis Newwy..." Cene recalled the sister he so dearly missed as well.
Huh, guess it really is something universal between siblings. It's kind of wholesome, when you think about it. To people like us, who have someone we share parents with, it's nothing new. But I assume Issei and Othelia might not understand it as naturally as we do.
"So, you guys mind letting us in on whatever the fuck just happened?" Auros refused to stop swearing casually.
"I too am interested." Selzion struck a thinking pose, "Are you saying we as Gods should consider each other siblings? But we do not have parents, though, so the statement is factually incorrect."
"It's just something we made up on the way to here." Prylos filled them in, "Long story short - she's neither my mom nor my distant cousin, so we settled on sister."
"Older sister, mind you." Aru added with a wry smile.
"..." The two other Gods looked on bewildered before bursting out laughing, "I see! What an abbreviation! Then, may I ask what we are?"
"Yeah, yeah! Let us in on that as well!" Auros begged to be included, "Siblings fight all the time, so I at least want a reasonable excuse when I clobber you from now on!"
"Yeah, yeah, fine." Aru proudly stood up, "Then from now on, in order of age, the order is: Ouroboras, me, Selzion, Prylos, and the wee-est of siblings - Auros!"
Huh? Auros is the youngest? That's a surprise... Pheh. No wait, I can't laugh right now, he might squash me like a bug.