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And then the Drakkaren grabbed the lip of the hole and hauled himself upwards, coughing and spluttering as he slowly dragged himself out of the darkness-filled well, dark liquid dripping off him before a pair of strong hands grasped into his shoulders for a moment, pushing him back to a seated position before someone hugged him tightly and Cherry muttered: "Fuck, you're okay. Fucking hell, I was so goddamn worried about you, you prick."

"Cherry? You stink." Zerrex said dumbly, and Cherry mumbled, and Zerrex pretended that she wasn't wiping at her eyes as they shifted a bit together, before finally they drew apart, looking at each other quietly for a few moments.

Just as the reptile opened his mouth again, however, Cherry smacked him firmly on the skull with a fist, and the lizard yelped and grasped his skull as she shouted at him furiously, poking his chest firmly with every word: "How the fuck could you go and do something like that, asshole? Next time, at least let me know you're going to go and be stupid!"

"Cherry, I would have honestly lost my nerve if I hadn't gone for it right away." Zerrex said honestly, and Cherry sat back away from him, huffing and glowering before watching as the Drakkaren slowly stood up, and then Zerrex glanced down at himself, poking at his boxers before he mumbled: "Have I been wearing these for... how long?"

"Just about nine years. I've been very lonely and sulky." Cherry pouted at him, wearing only a cloth wrap around her breasts and a plain loincloth, with sandals covering her feet. She looked back and forth, and Zerrex glanced up before he stared at Mist, Shine, Desire, and Cypress, the four Iuratus all hanging in the bleeding vents in the wall and runes glowing weakly on their arms and legs, cables hooked up to their necks attached into the floor and apparently connected into the Well as Cherry murmured after a moment: "Although maybe not as lonely as them, Boss. They've been switching on and off with some of your other girls... Sin, Selena, hell, even Lily's been here, as well as sweet little Mercy and that blue chick. Some guys stopped in and added their own energies, too... Mahihko and Lone, of course, as well as Raze the jerk and Vampire the slut."

Zerrex nodded a bit, and then he walked over to Cypress, stroking a hand over her stomach before he looked over his shoulder at Cherry, and she grunted and put her hands in the lower middle of her back as she stretched, getting a crack after a moment and looking stupidly relieved, then she said mildly: "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Sin set 'em up, so you know, they're probably complicated as shit." She paused, then finally asked awkwardly, rubbing at the back of her head slowly. "You... you're better now, right?"

"I... I think so." Zerrex said softly, as he carefully shifted from one foot to the next, and then he looked down at his hand, examining it quietly before he looked up at Cherry, asking anxiously: "Do I... look the same to you?"

Cherry looked over him, then she crossed her arms and grinned, tilting her head towards him. "Same big dumb expression on your face, same fucking lack of social skills, same ratty-ass hair and it's grown down to your ankles with how long it's been. You look like a fucking retard but yeah, that's about the same as ever."

"I hate you." Zerrex said sourly, as he reached back and fumbled to try and tie his hair into a braid, but he got frustrated within moments and instead he threw his head back, shouting: "Sin!"

Before he could even say her name completely, a portal opened and Sin shot out of it, running into the Drakkaren and hugging him tightly around the neck, her glammer vanishing as she clutched into him... and Zerrex blushed, his arms out to either side as he looked down at her before she gazed up at him with visible relief in her eyes, stroking his face quietly as she murmured: "Lord Zerrex, I... I'm sorry." She straightened, nodding to him and blushing quietly as she stepped back, lacing her fingers together in front of her lap as she gazed at him embarrassment. "I... it's... I was worried about you. I'm very glad to see you're alright... but please, I'd like to do a full physical examination. Perhaps you could meet me at the Ravenlight Estate... we'll do it privately in your room, I know you don't like causing a big fuss and I'd like to check over your body before you endure too much stress... I'll just take care of this first."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he stepped forwards and stroked Sin's cheek gently, kissing her forehead softly before he murmured quietly: "Thank you, Sin. I'll be waiting for you there, then... and thank you, for everything."

Sin smiled up at him quietly, and then Cherry created a portal and waited for the reptile, Zerrex nodding to her and stepping into his room to find it in haphazard disarray, and he turned a glower to Cherry as she stepped through, who coughed and rubbed at her head awkwardly with a bit of an embarrassed blush. "Hey, you know that either me or Selena was gonna set up shop in here, Boss... feel lucky it was me. It might be kinda messy but at least right now you don't have to worry about her tackling you and beating your face in."

"Have you ever thought about how selfish it is for me to have so many wives?" Zerrex asked her mildly, as he brushed crumbs off his bed with a distasteful look before he recited a cleansing spell... and he was glad to see that it worked, the various substances Cherry had tracked into the bed vanishing before he sat down on it. The female only shrugged amiably, however, and then the reptile looked at her flatly. "Seriously. Maybe I'm just really vain. I'm not even here most of the time, anyway."

"Yeah, but they all really care about you. It might be weird coming from me, but there's more to love than just sex." Cherry responded after a moment with a wink, and Zerrex stared at her before she huffed and crossed her arms. "Well fuck you too. Seriously, though, don't be a tool. Lots of these people here love you... don't go spitting in the face of that, that's the kinda shit I pull and then regret later."

Zerrex grunted a bit, nodding after a moment, and then Cherry brightened after a moment before she walked over to the dresser, brushing several empty snack food bags and some thrown-aside porn and clothes off before she held up a wooden box that had a vaguely-sticky look to it, and the reptile leaned away with distaste automatically before she opened it and pulled out his nanotech armlet. The Drakkaren blinked, then he smiled at the sight of it, and Cherry said cheerfully, as she handed the fully-repaired machine over to him: "Priest upgraded it since we all knew it'd be a few years before you came back to the real world... you know, we didn't know how many, so he didn't do too much, but he still added what he could put on in a reasonable amount of time. Little bastard's got plenty of talent, I shit you not. It should be able to interface with machinery and shit better now, and he said something about including an auto-repair function... I mean, they are fucking nanomachines, they're supposed to be little robotic versions of god or some bullshit metaphor like that."

The Drakkaren rolled his eyes, but he understood what she meant: what made nanites so terrifying was the fact that they could be used for almost any purpose, even if a lot of what people theorized they could do was still mostly science fiction. He guessed that over the years, however, Priest had probably advanced the technology with both science and magic, and the nanotech armlet as it was now could have abilities Zerrex had never dreamed of... and to think, I just use the thing as a goddamn wardrobe.

Before Zerrex could toy with it, however, a portal opened and Sin stepped through, gazing at the Drakkaren fondly. He put the armlet aside, and Sin glanced around the room with a bit of a wince before she looked at Cherry and asked her in a gentle voice: "Would you please leave while I examine Lord Zerrex, Lady Cherry? I think he may be more comfortable being able to tell others the results at his own leisure."

Cherry glared at her, but then Zerrex held up a hand and motioned at her to go, and she huffed before standing and nodding, pointing at him threateningly. "But hey, if I come across Lily or Selena, I'm totally telling them what's up. In fact, maybe I'll just go and find them right now, and let them know you're just peachy-keen and getting your balls examined..."

"Fine, stay if you want." Zerrex rolled his eyes, making a face, and Cherry grinned triumphantly at this, crossing her arms before the Drakkaren added dryly: "That's supremely underhanded, by the way."

"You dig it." Cherry said comfortably, and the reptile grunted in distaste before the demoness propped herself up on a dresser, watching as Sin guided him to a sitting position before she picked up a bag and began to loudly eat some crunchy food from it, asking through a mouthful: "So like, it's okay if I masturbate while you fuck, right? 'Cause I been walkin' around with a dick again lately and it itches to be touched."

Sin showed a remarkable amount of grace as she ignored the other female, pressing her palms gently down against the male as she looked over him slowly before she murmured quietly: "Let's see... alright. First I'm going to check your visible anatomy, take your pulse, the usual. Then I'll do scans of your body, check if anything's wrong there... and finally, I'll check your demonic characteristics, to see if anything's changed, and I'll want to analyze your energy signature and ensure that you aren't physiologically breaking down."

The Drakkaren nodded, and then he closed his eyes and rested on his back, Sin's hands starting to carefully and professionally move over his body. The reptile followed her instructions as she gave them, feeling awkward and reminded of all the times Cindy had done this to him: it made him wish he could do something embarrassing like get an erection from the probing and touching of the female's soft hands, but her movements were far too focused and there was too much anxiety in the air as he did his best not to fidget.

She had sit up, lay back down, roll onto his stomach, bend in all manner of directions, stand up, touch his toeclaws, etcetera: the sheer thoroughness of Sin's examination was starting to become worrisome in itself, and even Cherry wasn't making nearly as much of an ass out of herself as she could have been, the tension in the air probably starting to get even to her a little bit. Then, finally, she let him sit down as she grasped his wrist and measured his pulse out, murmuring after roughly a minute had passed: "Your heart rate is a little bit fast, but that's nothing spectacular for you... it seems you still have the same anxiety problems as ever, so I'm going to go ahead and estimate that you have some slight high blood pressure, too."

"I've always wondered about demonic blood pressure." Zerrex thought out loud, and then he blushed a bit when Sin looked at him for a few moments, but the Drakkaren couldn't even think of a question to ask and felt too embarrassed under her serious eyes to say anything else. So instead he just let her go back to work, checking his breathing and his lungs - even though demons really didn't exactly need both, which he thought related to the whole blood pressure thing even if he wasn't sure how at the moment - and then she finally pushed him gently back to a position laying on his back before she held both hands out over his body, a faint glow emanating from them as she analyzed his body with her abilities.

After a moment, she frowned, then murmured quietly: "Your bones have changed... both in composition and structure. They feel... like your arm." She paused for a moment, then nodded to herself, opening her eyes as she looked down at him curiously and gently rubbed a hand down his chest, Zerrex tilting his head as he looked up at her. "You body is higher in energy content than it was before, too, but the stability is also far greater... and it feels like nonessentials have been removed from your body. I want to take a moment to examine your leg now, however..."

"Wait, explain that bit about nonessentials, first." Zerrex held up a finger, looking at her nervously, and Sin blushed a bit as she covered her muzzle before she nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry, I spoke haphazardly... what I meant to describe was that it seems like some of your organ systems have changed. While most demons and mortals possessed very opposing sets, when you were a demon as created by the Lucifer's Eye, you had... a sort of amalgamation of both. The mortal parts used for processing food that are unnecessary for demons, and a demonic heart that could pump your blood without the billows of your lungs, as well as a stomach that could process any organic material for energy without creating waste." Sin halted for a moment, then she smiled a bit. "Perhaps I should stick to the issue at hand, however. While you look the same on the outside... your internal organs are very different, but evolved, if I may use the term."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and Sin half-bowed before she carefully moved down to his leg, probing first around the crescent-shaped scar... but when Zerrex didn't protest, she first examined him her hands, and then scanned over the area. Whatever she found made her frown a bit, which made the Drakkaren wince... and then she said finally in a slow voice: "Odd."

Before Zerrex could ask her what was, she bent his leg in the wrong direction... and the reptile winced at the thrum of pain he felt even as his leg showed off an elasticity he didn't think he could possess without being double-jointed and without a kneecap. And then she released it as she reached across to tap his other leg a few times, before she said softly: "I'm sorry, Lord Zerrex... it looks like whatever else the process fixed, it didn't entirely heal your leg. Whatever else has happened, it sustained permanent damage... you seem to have lost your kneecap and developed some kind of strange joint system instead of it being restored to its former state."

The reptile frowned at this, and then Cherry asked Sin seriously, looking at her directly: "Exactly how bad is it, in plain words, babe. Does that mean he's gonna need a cane forever?"

Sin looked surprised at this, looking across at Cherry with a shrug. "Oh, no, not at all. It's more a matter of comfort, I suppose... Lord Zerrex will feel discomfort and some pain after, say, a long period of strain put on the leg, but he can walk and jump and run and probably even play those strange mortal sports if he wants to without much, if any, irritation." She paused, then continued in an honest, bland voice: "I can understand if you're disappointed, Lord Zerrex. Ixin and I promised a chance at far superior results to this, and while I'm somewhat glad of what I've seen so far, this falls short of my expectations."

Zerrex gaped at her, and Sin blushed before the Drakkaren reached down and grabbed her by the head, pulling her up as he leaned down and kissed her firmly. Sin looked shocked, and then Zerrex sat back and said dumbly over to Cherry: "Dude, my leg works properly now."

Then he leapt up to his feet, and he and Cherry both laughed as they took each other's hands and spun around in a circle, the two grinning brightly at each other before Sin cleared her throat and stood up with a blush. The two glanced over at her, and then she gazed at him with a bit of a smile, saying quietly: "I don't mean to interrupt your joy, Lord Zerrex, but we still have to examine your abilities and demonic characteristics."

"Which do you wanna start with?" the Drakkaren asked cheerfully, and Sin looked almost taken aback as the reptile walked over and sat back on the bed, Cherry grinning as she put her hands behind her head and leaned against the wall. "Demonic characteristics? The Expression or Personification?"

"We'll start simpler than changing form. I'd like for you to create a sphere of energy for me, first." Sin said softly, and Zerrex shrugged a bit before he held a hand out and easily did so, the reptile glancing down with surprise. It was simpler than he'd remembered it being... and he quenched it out after a moment, the energy sizzling over his fingers as he felt it being easily absorbed into his body. Sin nodded at this, looking more positive now before she patted his right arm quietly, where the swastika was tattooed. "And now produce your claw for me."

The reptile nodded as he held his arm out, and it flexed before the scales peeled quickly away, his hide seeming to twist itself free in long bands before they were left to look at his cracked, warped claw, which looked the same as ever. Blue light pulsed brightly out of the canyons and gouges here and there in the rock and metal surface of it, and before Sin could even ask him to, the reptile closed his warped claw into a fist and popped a blade out of his wrist, before he smiled slightly as he retracted it with ease, murmuring softly: "Feels easier. I think I've meshed more with the power of Mephistopheles."

The Naganatine nodded slowly at this, and she touched the arm gingerly, her cheeks faintly flushed as Zerrex looked up at her quietly... and then she shook her head slowly, drawing her hands away as she said softly: "It's very good, Lord Zerrex. I mean... your control has visibly improved. You're even suffering less crumble when you change the arm's shape and likely using a lot less energy... I think it makes for a very positive improvement.

"You... you can put that away now." she said finally, and the Drakkaren nodded, letting the scales return to his arm as it shrank a bit to become proportional to his other limb, and in moments his arm once more looked normal, the reptile flexing his fingers and wondering just how much his control had increased. "Now, what about your tentacles?"

Zerrex mused a bit, and then he held out his other arm, and a tentacle easily slid free of his wrist, the scales splitting open for the dark-fleshed, thick tendril to slip through, and he brushed lightly against Sin's face with the narrow tip of it, making her rear her head away slightly. He grinned stupidly at her, and then he made a face when Cherry reached a hand down towards her crotch, snapping his hand out at her as the tentacle instantly lengthened and snapped out with surprising speed and strength to snap against the back of her hand and make her yelp. "Stop that."

She huffed and rubbed slowly at her wrist as the tentacle retracted back into Zerrex's arm, and Sin nodded, then she asked softly: "Can you take on your Expression now, Lord Zerrex? It seems so far everything's working well."

The Drakkaren nodded, and then he closed his eyes and tilted his head forwards, taking a slow breath before he felt his demonic characteristics slowly pushing out, from his bull horns to the spines down his back... and then, when he opened his eyes a moment later, he looked back and forth in surprise as he glanced down at his hands, one jagged and warped rock-metal and the other a flesh-and-blood claw... before he frowned and looked up, asking Sin curiously: "I thought... I was supposed to be different?"

"You sound almost disappointed." Sin smiled a bit, nodding slowly as she murmured: "I thought the same myself... but from what I see, there were no major changes. That might remain untrue with the Personification, which we'll check after you've had a rest and a chance to talk with some of the others, but for now... I'm willing to put forwards that the changes in you are on the inside, not the outside. Your personality, body, and everything else has stayed the same, but your abilities have likely drastically refined themselves."

Zerrex nodded as his demonic characteristics slowly faded away... and then Sin sat down beside him as she ran her hands through his hair, carefully pulling the long white locks all out to the side before she guided his head in a slight turn and began to braid his hair, and the Drakkaren looked at the wall as he sorted through his own thoughts before finally asking her: "Since nothing's new with me, then... well... how have things been here?"

Sin began to speak, and Cherry cleared her throat loudly... which made Zerrex frown, since he recognized that pitch and timbre. Cherry had always used it when something had gone horribly wrong on a mission, and he asked flatly: "So who escaped from the Abyss or what God is running around Hell causing mischief?"

"Neither... it's more that several souls have gone missing from Hell." Sin finally said carefully, and Cherry mumbled something before the Naganatine sighed, looking over at her with exasperation as she continued to braid the Drakkaren's hair into a long ponytail. "It's not my fault, Lady Cherry. But Lord Zerrex knows us very, very well... and who would you prefer tell him? Either Princess Lily, who is currently panicking because she dislikes any breach of protocol and this offends her sensibilities and scares her to the core, or Princess Selena, who will likely show her deep love for Lord Zerrex by attacking him the moment she sets her eyes on him?"

Cherry opened her mouth, then closed it and simply looked sour before Sin nodded, then she continued quietly: "The souls that have gone missing are all very dangerous ones... and for the most part ones you have had some experience with, I fear. The top two on the list, unfortunately, are Tobias Wulfe and Nicolas Eagle."

Zerrex cursed under his breath, making a disgusted face: Tobias was bad enough, but with Eagle missing on top of that? He was a fanatic stalker who had showed his appreciation of Zerrex by permanently polymorphing himself into a bad copy of the Drakkaren... and then he had proceeded to start smashing up anything that went against the regime and hunted all of Zerrex's friends like prey. When they had caught him and sent him to trial, they had finally been forced to seal him inside a soundproofed, clear cube, just to get away from his insane babbling and depraved raving about just what he was going to do to anyone who hurt him. And once the Drakkaren himself had shown visible disgust at Eagle, the psychotic had lost his mind completely and started slashing himself out, screaming about how he was going to take revenge on the idol who had betrayed him before he was sent down into the Abyss to be chained up, possibly until the end of time.

Sin nodded quietly, and then she sighed, shaking her head slowly as she murmured: "The other two that have vanished into smoke are Augustus Randalls and a Dragokkaren Clone numbered 48452... but I think you know both better as Twister and Slaughterhouse Jack."

Zerrex nodded slowly, frowning in displeasure: Twister was a former member of the Goth Legion, and a danger not only to everyone around him, but himself as well, and the latter was a war criminal from the Great War, and almost a perfect physical copy of Narrius... although that wasn't to say he hadn't inherited his cruelty, as well. He couldn't tell which one was a greater concern... either way, they were both people who wanted him very, very dead, and neither cared about who got caught in the crossfire.

Twister, over the years he'd spent in Hell, had gone completely insane: originally, he'd been one of the saner members of the Goth Legion, although cold, callous, and never able to demonstrate any personal thinking ability. Twister had been like a loyal but dangerous attack dog, always at Zerrex's heels and waiting to be commanded to do this or that, or put his ability to control the winds to use for the betterment of the mission. But once he'd gone to Hell, the rules had all changed... and it was a bitter irony that the tortures he'd undergone had kept him sane only because there had been a set authority and order to them; the problems had only really started once he'd been turned out to try and think for himself in a world he didn't understand.

Twister had lost his mind, and Zerrex had eventually gone out to try and find and capture him: fortunately, he and a squadron of Royal Guards had been able to sneak up on the ex-soldier's location, and the squabble that had ensued had been brief, Twister seeming to half-wait for orders from his former Captain Ravenlight even as he grappled uselessly with him. He had then been taken to a prison facility and placed under magical restraints... but after a few years, they had moved him to a standard cell, and he had become almost a model prisoner, but always refused parole, desperate to stay in an environment where there was a social structure and set of rules he could understand and adapt to.

Slaughterhouse Jack, on the other hand, was the opposite: he was domineering, cold, and vicious, designed as a prototype 'Command' model for the clone soldiers by Mengele Tstegi himself, and assigned a position in the wastelands south of Ire at a hidden facility. When Albatross had uncovered this, Zerrex - still mortal then - had been sent to exterminate the threat posed by the clone production plant post-war in as quiet a fashion as possible.

It had been easy to get inside... but Slaughterhouse Jack had put up a hell of a fight, except his tough body meant the Drakkaren had been able to kick his ass and keep him alive even after he'd broken his skull and most of the rest of his body. He'd dragged him outside, and the Dragokkaren Enforcers and other clone soldiers had all looked horribly confused about what to do with their leader defeated... and Zerrex had simply taken over the facility with a single order to the nearest soldier to bring him a truck, and he'd brought some fifty clones and Slaughterhouse Jack to where he was supposed to meet Hez'Rannan forces... except then Irenic military had descended on the location like buzzards and a riot had broken out, and in the panic they managed to run off with the Command-model clone and Zerrex had barely gotten out alive.

Ire had declared itself heroes... again... and had promptly put Slaughterhouse Jack through a short trial, taped him saying a bunch of very derogatory remarks and other things that would make Irenic politicians look even better for 'capturing this villain themselves,' and then they had executed him with an old-fashioned decapitation. And in Hell, Slaughterhouse Jack had been quickly locked away in a Pit of Torment in the Northern Wastelands, where he'd quickly become a ravenous, bloodthirsty, revenge-driven monster.

The reptile made a face, and then he sighed as Sin finished his braid, not knowing how long he'd been lost in his own thoughts before he reached out and picked up the nanotech armlet, slipping it onto his arm and smiling as he felt the strangely-comforting feeling of it locking against his scales. He tapped in a command, and it beeped before the nanomachines spread over his body and formed perfect replicas of a black shirt and jeans... and then he rolled his arms slowly, letting out a sigh as he said to the ceiling: "This would be so much better if I wasn't already drowning in issues. Have you guys at least brainstormed a solution to the whole undead army crisis looming on the horizon?"

Cherry sighed, shaking her head as Zerrex looked over at her... and then he frowned as Sin looked at her feet silently, wringing her hands in visible agitation. He tilted his head... and finally, she glanced up and took one of his hands, murmuring: "I... I might have a solution. It's exceedingly dangerous but... I may have a solution for you, Lord Zerrex. Please, Miss Cherry, I... I need to talk to Zerrex alone on this."

The female frowned, but then she nodded slowly, looking at Zerrex before she walked over and patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Don't you push that pretty girl too hard now, Boss. She's fuckin' awesome for what she did. I'm gonna go tell Ixin about this stuff, me and him are kinda sorta getting along now, which is... you know, nice. Mostly 'cause we both like to piss Selena off. But I'm gonna let him know what happened and that she's still laying some heavy shit on you so to buzz off 'til you guys are ready and shit, okay?"

The two nodded, Sin blushing a bit, and then Cherry winked before she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. The snick of the handle was the last sound in the room for a long few moments other than their soft breathing, and then Sin finally sat down on the bed and Zerrex did the same, pressing their sides close as the Naganatine put her hands in her lap and looked at them steadily.

Finally, she took a deep breath and murmured: "Originally, there... were two of us, not just one, that Mephistopheles manipulated. Well, he manipulated all of us in some way, changed our bodies, our... very souls, perhaps, tarnished them and warped them... but... there was another female like me, who was transformed into something meant to breed an army... except in her, the process was very different. It went wrong... and Mephistopheles all but discarded her, had her breed with the monstrosities that... came out of me.

"I..." she halted, then swallowed thickly before she wiped slowly at her eyes, as Zerrex quietly rubbed her back and listened closely, careful not to urge her own but to also let her know that he was listening with his body language. "I... she... well. When it was all over and we came to Hell from Limbo, you know the punishment I suffered. But my sister, Anathema... could not be punished the same way. But she was also insolent, and wicked, and even after she was chained up, she continued to be as malevolent and forceful as she could. So finally, we... the Scholars, the Scribes, myself, and several others who are dear and yet lost to me now... were forced to attempt to banish her to another plane for all time."

Sin stopped, then she shook her head slowly. "It was a disaster. Anathema was killed... but death only made her stronger. Mephistopheles put a dark spark of life inside of her... the same spark that gives unlife to liches and other beasts. While I became known as the Great Mother, she became known as the Mistress of the Undead... and that spark that gave her the ability to bring the dead to their terrible state of not-life brought her back as well.

"It was... a bitter struggle. Finally, we separated her head from her body... and we dismembered her, scattered the pieces of her body across time and space. There is no way to collect them all... but her skull is still hidden in a crypt in Hell, that only I know the location of now." She looked down, murmuring softly: "With that skull, and my Naganatine blood... we can call upon Anathema's spirit, which will still be bound with her bones. She exists... somewhere outside of reality, or perhaps simply slumbers in the skull... but I know she's waiting for something to wake her up. If we can convince her to help us... the undead on the mortal plane won't be a threat."

"Sin... I know how much your family meant to you..." Zerrex said quietly, hugging her close to his side as she looked up into his emerald eyes with her own violet, and then he asked softly: "But what makes you think that she'll help us at all? It sounds like she'd prefer to use that undead army to ravage the planet, rather than save it."

Sin was quiet for a few moments as she nestled her head against him... and then she finally smiled faintly, whispering as she stroked his right arm slowly: "Because Anathema was bound to Mephistopheles... and his power resides inside you now. I think Anathema will aid us... even if she'll also want to stir up trouble. Please, trust me, Zerrex... I... I want to try and make her see the light, one last time."

Zerrex looked down at her quietly, thinking of their children, of the earth, of how much he cared about her and recognized that longing... and finally, he nodded slowly, saying quietly: "You always gave me a chance with Celestial, who had... become something far worse than it sounds like Anathema is. I will always trust you, Celestial... and I promise to follow your lead on this one." He paused, then asked slowly: "Where is the Crypt, anyway?"

"In the Forest of the Departed." Sin said quietly, and Zerrex made a face, but he nodded slowly: it made even more sense now why Sin had hesitated so long. The Forest was often depicted in mortal literature as the Forest of the Suicides... but there were more than the furious spirits of suicides that roamed that place. Worse still, much of the forest negated magic: it was almost impossible to portal into, and using any level of magic inside the forest would require spiritual and mental power on Sin's level... a level very few in Hell could match.

The Forest was vast, and also known to confuse travelers: trees moved, the very floor of the forest could rumble, paths could snake themselves in different directions. A person's sense of sight simply couldn't be trusted, but covering up one's eyes would be a deadly mistake: often, parts of the Forest weren't simply mischievous, but utterly hostile to interlopers. Trees didn't sound very threatening... but Zerrex knew that in Hell, they could be a nightmare to try and escape or fend off.

The reptile rubbed his head slowly, and then Sin finally smiled a bit, glancing up at him quietly as she wrapped his arms around his chest and rested her head against his body. "I think that... we need to settle you down and make sure your body is doing okay first of all, though... there's no need to put too much strain on you just yet."

Zerrex nodded after a moment as he hugged her close, then he gazed down at her with quiet entertainment as he replied: "Well, you know. I think that unfortunately, I'm going to have to deal with some strain sooner rather than later... it sounds like everyone's been pretty worried about me."

"You sound so surprised." Sin laughed quietly as she shook her head a bit against him, smiling faintly to herself before she said softly: "You have no idea how important you are, Lord Zerrex... not just because you're the High King, but because you're... a friend to all of us. You've done a lot for this world... fought for Hell, Heaven, and the mortal realm... and yet still you try and try and force yourself to do more. It's... inspiring. And you... I will never forget that you kept your promise to me in full... that your first act, was to free me from my punishment."

She looked down, then quietly pushed her hands against him, and Zerrex fell on his back, gazing up at her with surprise as she rested overtop him and straddled him in her long dress, the material pooling beneath her and one long, slender leg sliding bare as she leaned down and kissed his lips softly, whispering quietly: "Let me show you just how much I adore you..."

Zerrex looked surprised as her glammer vanished, the Naganatine leaning over him with a soft smile before she kissed his neck softly, then she slid backwards, trailing kisses gently down his strong chest through the fabric of the nanomachine shirt until she slipped off the bed and stood, slipping the straps of her dress off her shoulders and letting it slide slowly off her body, revealing her small breasts and smooth, taut stomach. The Drakkaren gazed at her naked form as he tapped a button to make the nanomachines covering his chest vanish, shifting awkwardly and putting his hands behind his head, and then she slipped back onto the bed and straddled him, gazing down into his eyes with soft entertainment as she reached a hand forwards and stroked it quietly under his muzzle. "My lover... tell me what you want..."

"Start slow." Zerrex replied softly, and Sin nodded as her hands stroked down his muscular chest, rubbing slowly over his body before she blushed a bit as he added with quiet entertainment: "And please try not to wear me out this time around, huh?"

The Naganatine leaned down and softly kissed him again, and this time he met her mouth gladly, working their muzzles together slowly as their tongues twisted and danced, the female leaning down and pressing her slender body against him as her hands massaged slowly up over his body and then into his hair, playing through his white locks and gripping gently into his skull as Zerrex's hands reached up and gripped lightly into her shoulders, lust and pleasure running through the minds and bodies of both.

The moment their kiss broke, Sin started to kiss slowly down Zerrex's strong, masculine chest, her hands drawing slowly down along his sides as he closed his eyes, the male breathing softly as he felt every gentle kiss draw a shock of pleasure through his body. Then he smiled slightly, letting his head fall back as Sin drew her tongue slowly up between his abdominals, the reptile grunting in growing excitement and arousal as he felt her hands working at the fly of his jeans at the same time.

She easily popped the fly of his pants open and undid the zipper in almost the same deft movement, and then her hands reached up and grasped the waistband of his pants and the boxers beneath, pulling them both slowly down as she let out a sound almost like a purr as Zerrex's thick black member was revealed inch-after-inch, the huge, flaccid shaft hanging down between his legs, her eyes looking hungrily at the male's huge member before she reached up almost admiringly to gently grasp the thick shaft, squeezing her fingers lightly into it as she breathed softly in and out before she began to stroke slowly up and down his length, murmuring softly: "I'll do my best, Lord Zerrex... but you know the way I get when it comes to sex..."

Zerrex looked down at her, sitting up slightly as he reached a hand up to stroke her face slowly, and Sin smiled up at him before she half-lidded her eyes as she leaned forwards and licked slowly at the head of his shaft, her long tongue twisting slowly around the thick penis before it dragged backwards along the underside of the heavy obsidian member. It sent a chill of pleasure through the Drakkaren, his shaft beginning to grow slowly towards erection before the reptile let out a surprised, pleased grunt as Sin settled her mouth around the head of his penis, her tongue playing slowly along the sensitive black tip of his member inside her jaws as she slowly pushed her head forwards, and the Drakkaren's breathing quickened as he felt her pushing firmly forwards, sinking more and more of his long, girthy shaft down her muzzle and into her throat while it was still mostly flaccid.

Pleasure rolled though the reptile's body as he slid a hand up to grasp one of her horns gently, breathing quietly as Sin gave a distinct sound of pleasure, feeling the reptile's shaft hardening much faster buried down her throat as Zerrex grunted softly, feeling incredible bliss running through his body at the talented female's movements before he grunted softly as he felt himself thickening and hardening up inside her throat, but Sin only massaged slowly at his waist and abdominals, seeming more-than-content to rest with the huge shaft buried down her jaws, girthy and hard enough now to grind against the walls of her throat.

Then, inch-after-inch, Sin drew slowly back as she reached up and grasped the base of his shaft, massaging slowly at his chiseled abdominals at the same time before it finally popped free of her muzzle, and she took a long gasp and closed her eyes in pleasure as the fully-hard shaft fell back and slapped lightly against Zerrex's solid abdominals, the huge, throbbing black member pulsing once as it grew to its full size and stiffness, and she stroked it slowly up and down as she leaned her face down and rubbed it slowly against the hot obsidian shaft that was already gleaming with her saliva, smearing some of her own drool back along her features as she pushed her face firmly along the thick, meaty member, first one side, than the other.

Then she slowly licked up the bottom of the hot, heavy cock, her arms half-wrapped around it and her hands gripping the lizard's huge penis as Zerrex rested back on his forearms with a soft grunt of pleasure, letting her continue to lick and tease along his throbbing, thick shaft with her mouth as he licked his own muzzle slowly, gazing at her with lust and tenderness. Then his eyes rolled up into his head in bliss when Sin leaned down and nuzzled between his testicles, pushing her muzzle underneath them to slowly lick up the underside of his tail, letting her tongue touch lightly against his rosebud at the end of its journey before she drew her muzzle back and lightly suckled on one of his testicles, one of her hands stroking the huge black tower of flesh before Zerrex said hungrily down to her: "Come on, Sin, how about we get to the main event?"

"Of course, Zerrex..." Sin smiled slightly up at him, and then she stroked a finger slowly up his huge member, saying teasingly: "But you know, it looks like you're sporting an extra few inches... and a little more girth. Perhaps your subconscious at least decided to add to this... although you know you were always perfect to me as it was, my lord High King..."

"We'll see how this does you, then." Zerrex replied lustfully, grinning bit as he glanced down at his shaft and wondering if she was teasing him or speaking the truth... but he did think he looked larger, and with how much Sin dealt with his penis... she would probably be able to tell before he could if there was anything different about it.

Before he could sit up or move around, Sin simply pushed him gently down onto his back, holding into both his shoulders as she gazed into his eyes, nose-to-nose with the reptile before she sat up on the Drakkaren's chiseled abdominals, reaching a hand behind her at the same time to guide the shaft upwards... and then she slid slowly back, sighing with a look of complete and total pleasure as the huge, girthy penis ground against the side of her tail-base and her taut buttocks, rubbing up against her lower back as she sat on his crotch and slowly massaged her fingers against his powerful abdominals, her vagina a furnace between her legs as the lips of her sex left a wet kiss on his groin as she slowly rose herself upwards.

Her hips tilted backwards as her tail rose high, her back arching as she leaned forwards, small breasts bouncing once as her body contorted in a way that let her grind her soft, hot sex along the top side of the male's girthy penis... and then she rotated her hips as she shifted to a squat to get high enough so that her sex rested squarely on the tip of his huge cock, one of her hands reaching down to grasp the base of the member and keep it pointed straight up as she breathed quietly, looking down at the male with adoration as he gazed back up at her with hunger and need, nodding once to her... and she nodded back, her eyes half-lidding before she pushed herself down only an inch with the faintest of moans, her head rolling on her shoulders as he felt the tip of his penis plunge into her enveloping passage... and then she dropped her weight and fell to a straddle, and Zerrex threw his head back with a groan of pleasure that mixed into the sharp half-sigh of Sin's as she plunged more than half of the male's thick, girthy penis into her body, and then she grit her teeth before she slammed her rear backwards in a single decisive, hard movement, her buttocks almost crashing down on the Drakkaren's huge testicles as her long, forked tail snapped to the side, the female throwing her head back and arching her body before she twisted her hips in a downwards screwing motion, and Zerrex grunted as she let out a long, low moan, gazing down at the male hungrily and reaching down to put her hands on his chest, her violet eyes full of passion and lust and love.

Zerrex reached up a hand to take one of hers gently, his other lightly grasping into her hip as she began to rock herself slowly but firmly up and down his obsidian length, moving at a solid rate and doing all the work for the lizard, the Drakkaren only needing to rock his hips in rough time with her easy movements as bliss ran through his body at the feeling of her passage clenching and squeezing around his solid obsidian shaft. Pleasure overran every one of his senses as Sin rode him with a look of delight on her features, her movements providing them both with untold amounts of ecstasy.

For Sin, after all, it was wonderful: Zerrex was one of her very few sexual partners, and it meant that every time they had sex, it was like a brand new experience for her, loving the feel of his shaft buried deep inside of her as her passage clenched and worked at it, her body stretched to accommodate the perhaps forty inches of Drakkaren cock as her fluids leaked around the massive member, making it easier for it to penetrate as her legs flexed, pushing her upwards before she relaxed and let herself glide smoothly back down the shaft. Her love of sex was rivaled only by her love for the male beneath her: and thus for her the experience gave her more pleasure than she could describe, as she gripped tightly into the reptile's fingers while the other pressed into his muscular front, breathing hard through her mouth as she moaned quietly, still tasting his delicious shaft on her tongue.

Her hips twisted, adding small gyrations to every movement to grind the huge member against the walls of her passage, and Zerrex squeezed into her waist with a grunt of pleasure as he began to thrust a bit harder in response to her movements, and Sin sped up her bounces, making each pass more powerful as well as she worked her hardest to please the male, her breathing becoming a bit harder as her small breasts bounced with every one of her movements. The huge shaft ground against the clenching walls of her vagina, the thick black penis sending waves of pleasure through them both as it penetrated into her depths, likely tearing into her very womb or past it but with only ecstasy for the two: it wasn't like any pain Zerrex could cause her with his shaft would quench Sin's lusts, either... more likely, it would just make her even more excited.

Zerrex grunted quietly, thrusting a bit harder up into the female, knowing that with her he never had to hold back as he grinned up at her with his eyes burning with lust, his hand squeezing hers firmly; it was nice for a change to let someone else do all the work, however, and Sin always knew just the way to treat him, as she moaned quietly, her gaze seductive as she looked down at him and his flexing musculature, her scales almost glimmering in the light as they worked their bodies together lustfully.

The male twisted his hips, grinding himself back against the walls of her sex as she gyrated in the opposite direction, and they both released sounds of pleasure at the feelings it sent through them both, thrills of shock and bliss through Sin and delight through the Drakkaren at the sensation of his shaft being gripped and massaged in a whole new way. Then the Naganatine pushed down, and Zerrex thrusted firmly upwards, slamming to the hilt in her with a squelch of fluids.

They squeezed into each other's hands at the burst of pleasure, and then Sin began to ride the Drakkaren faster and harder, moving up and down the obsidian tower of flesh as Zerrex did his best to keep time with her almost frantic movements, her vagina clenching into him with a strength that was almost painful as the reptile breathed hard, feeling himself being rapidly and violently milked by the female as their fingers locked together tighter, his other hand staying firmly planted on her waist as she looked down at him with another loud moan of bliss. The reptile could feel the pleasure becoming almost too intense even for him as her light weight slammed down into his groin with surprising force at every drop of her body but retaining enough control to never crush his testicles even as the lips of her sex kissed into his waist, swallowing his member whole as her buttocks ground down against the ample seed-laden orbs of the Drakkaren.

Zerrex could feel himself stiffening up as he grunted in pleasure, almost wincing as he felt his movements speeding up, falling out of time with Sin's only for a moment before she matched him with ease, the male's thick, large shaft vanishing again and again into the Naganatine's body, swallowed by her vagina with startling ease even with the saliva and lubricants from the female's passage coating it. Their bodies moved together fiercely as Sin's slam bosom rocked and bounced and the Drakkaren grit his teeth, then rolled his head back with a groan as the pleasure threatened to overcome him entirely, resisting the temptation as best he could even as her passage continued to clench and squeeze into him as the female rode him mercilessly on the bed, squeezing into her hand before he threw his head back with a loud groan as he felt himself fall over the edge, giving into his lusts as the fingers clutching her hip sank slightly into her scales, thrusting up into her as hard as he could as she shortened her bouncing movements, letting her whole body twitch with every powerful thrust into her and releasing a short cry with each piston of the male's cock.

Again and again and again, he slammed into her as his shaft stiffened up, becoming hard as rock, as metal... and then he threw his head back with a groan as he released into her, seed blasting up into her body in massive volleys that made Sin groan with ecstasy, her eyes rolling in her head as she shoved her hands down against Zerrex's chest and pinned him to the bed, her hips making rolling, rocking movements that milked the Drakkaren's shaft for every bit of seed it could fire into her as if from a cannon. Her body almost bulged with the amount he released as Zerrex's head rocked back and forth with an expression of stupid ecstasy on it, his shaft throbbing inside the Naganatine almost painfully before it finally began to slow... and then he rested, laying back as she dropped her head forwards and leaned over him slightly, the two breathing hard and their fingers still locked together as seed leaked out from between stretched vagina and solid length of cock, and then Sin whispered down to him, looking at him needingly: "Please... just one more time? Any hole you want... I just want to feel you inside me..."

"Sin... tell you what." Zerrex gazed up at her, smiling a bit as he reached his hand from her hip to quietly stroke her face, murmuring softly as she leaned down close: "You wait just a little while longer... and I promise, if everything goes well, I'll give you all the sex you want and more."

Sin smiled, and Zerrex rolled his shoulders as she slowly drew herself upwards with a quiet grunt, a bit more seed dribbling out of her body before his cock pulled completely free of her, and the meaty length fell back, slapping against Zerrex's masculine chest as a small steam of seed and other juices released itself from Sin's vagina before it closed... but much less than expected, as she hugged her belly and blushed. "My apologies, Lord Zerrex, but I couldn't get it all... and here, let me at least take care of that for you."

Zerrex nodded, expecting her to cast a cleansing spell... but instead, Sin leaned down over him and slowly dragged her tongue up along his shaft, sweeping his seed up as the Drakkaren grunted quietly and gazed down at her lustfully, feeling immense pleasure sweep through his body before she licked quietly along the side of his member, careful to not use her hands even as she nudged the huge penis upwards to lap her tongue along the abdominals beneath it, smearing seed all over her features and muzzle. It was a slow and careful process, but in time, Sin managed to clean up every inch of the reptile's shaft and chest... and Zerrex didn't know which she took more time with or seemed to adore more, a flush in her face from the steady dribble going on down between her legs.

But then she backed quickly off and cleared her throat, murmuring a cleansing spell to get the seed off her features, and Zerrex stood up and gave her a kiss, the Naganatine blushing furiously as his mostly-flaccid shaft ground against her thigh, his hands resting on her shoulders as hers grasped into his sides, their mouths meeting passionately and the reptile tasting his own seed when their tongues danced together... before he slowly pulled apart, and Sin gazed at him with shining eyes, clasping her hands together in front of her and bowing a bit to him before she said quietly, gazing at him fondly: "If you ever want anything... only ask me, Lord Zerrex, and for you, I'll do it. I can change my body, my shape, my size... and you know you're free to take me however you want, to chain me up or collar me or make me obey your cruelest commands even out in public..."

"Believe me, Sin, I know... you don't have to tell me every time." He stroked a finger under her chin gently, gazing at her with fond entertainment before he kissed her cheek, saying softly: "I like you just the way you are." He paused, fidgeting a bit, and then he murmured quietly: "In fact, I love you for who you are. So... so don't change, huh?"

Sin nodded as her glammer automatically fell back into place, the female sliding her dress on before she blushed when Zerrex looked at her thoughtfully, and then she tilted her head towards him, asking quietly: "Is something wrong?"

"No, just thinking... you don't always need that, you know." Zerrex said softly, and Sin looked down at her hands... and the Drakkaren wondered if the glammer made her see something different as well. "But hey, I'm not going to complain either way. I just think... you really have nothing to be ashamed of, with who you are."

"I know, Lord Zerrex." Sin said softly, and then she stepped forwards and hugged the still-naked reptile impulsively, Zerrex blushing before she said quietly: "Thank you for everything... I can see why Cherry and so many others are so eager to call you Master... you make an excellent mentor, among other things."

Zerrex smiled a bit to her, and then he finally reached down and pulled his pants up, pausing as his hand rubbed against his shaft before he glanced up and asked dumbly: "So do you really think I'm bigger?"

Sin sighed and shook her head, but the reptile could tell she was still flushed and aroused... and that even the mention of his penis sent a thrill through her. "Do you always have that on your mind? Is it really such a big thing to you?"

"Ha-ha, big thing." Zerrex said stupidly, raising a hand... and then he cleared his throat, reaching down to fiddle with the nanotech armlet he was still wearing and making it create another shirt for him, grinning at her dumbly as she looked at him with exasperation. "Dude, I like my dick. And I like big dicks. Hence, I want for mine to be huge. Yet not so huge it interferes with my everyday life, which is why I'll be very glad if I've retained my size-shifting abilities."

"Which you never use." Sin pointed out, and Zerrex grunted at her before they left the room, the Drakkaren still fiddling with his armlet. "But so far, I think you've retained all of your former abilities... you're just in an energy-tight shell this time, if you will. My main concern, personally, is that your personality might start suffering fluxes based upon the fact that you're an Incarnate-based demon."

"Am I still an Incarnation?" Zerrex asked her mildly, and Sin looked at him thoughtfully before she finally nodded, and the reptile sighed, muttering under his breath as he adjusted the armlet on his forearm. "Great. What use is it applying broad labels to higher-class demons anyway? Even in the middle-ranks you get demons with variances in their own species or breeds... and when it comes to demons like me, who were once mortal, they tend to have mutations a lot more often."

"Clerical reasons, but also because even Incarnations have patterns of development." Sin replied softly, and Zerrex rubbed at his muzzle thoughtfully as she opened the doors leading into the main hall of the Ravenlight Estate for him. Thankfully, it was empty... but Zerrex smiled a bit as memories of all the gatherings they'd had here returned to him, even as he listened to Sin. Not that we haven't argued about this before... "The main reason you're different is that... well..." She paused, then crossed her arms with a slight smile as they walked down the stairs to the hall. "I don't know why."

Zerrex staggered to a halt, staring at her, and Sin shrugged a bit, saying softly: "I can provide reasons and logical guesses for almost everything... but I'm not always right, Lord Zerrex, even as old as I am. I may be one of the First Breed, but there are Gods who are older and wiser than me, and more powerful as well... just as there are beings who are far younger, but have wisdom or at least answers for some problems I will never understand.

"For example, I don't understand mechanics at all... I'm sure you could teach me the basis of the science, but it's not something that stays in my mind, even if I have an interest in learning it." Sin continued, brushing invisible wrinkles out of her dress before she adjusted the straps of it, gazing at him with a soft smile. "You understand that, don't you?"

"I do." Zerrex nodded, making a face as he thought about when he was a child and attended school: it was always something he'd had zero interest in for the most part, but even though he usually managed along on most things, even when he tried hard at some subjects - mathematics in particular - he usually ended up failing. And even now, math didn't stick in his head past simple equations. "Alright Sin. Well... what can you tell me about me?"

The Naganatine looked down thoughtfully, and then she finally stepped forwards and hugged him tightly, and the Drakkaren looked at her with surprise before he hugged her quietly back as she murmured: "I can tell you that I love you, and that you're worthwhile. That I will always support you in the decisions you make and I respect you. That I will always try to understand the choices you make, and that you are a person who always works hard to do the right thing. And that you've made up for your past, Lord Zerrex: if you have sin, it's that you've spent too much time inflicting hatred and pain upon yourself."

Zerrex gazed at her quietly as she stepped back, then he stroked her face quietly, saying softly: "Thank you, Sin... coming from you, that means a lot. But I guess we shouldn't keep the others waiting, huh?"

He smiled a bit, and Sin nodded after a moment, closing her eyes and seeming to reach out with her mind before she held up a hand and created a portal, and the two stepped through it... and a moment later, Zerrex yelped as he was tackled by Selena, who promptly punched him hard in the face and gave him a bloody nose as the reptile's head snapped back with a gargle: "You stupid, selfish fuck! Fucking... fuck, what were you thinking?"

"Get off Daddy!" Mahihko yelled in a childish, scared voice, and he was restrained by Cherry when he tried to run forwards, as Lone winced and hid behind a counter beside Ixin. The mage sighed as he rolled his eyes, and Sin winced as Selena threw another punch into Zerrex's face, making his head snap to the side before he reached up and grabbed her under the muzzle, pushing her head forcefully upwards and making her curse and flail uselessly as she grabbed at his wrist, and then she squawked when Zerrex brought his other hand up and shoved it firmly into her abdominals, knocking her sprawling.

Zerrex leapt to his feet, wiping at his bloody face, and then Selena was back on hers, leaning forwards with her arms towards the floor and hands balled into fists as she shouted, spittle flying at the Drakkaren as he rose an arm defensively and leaned away with a wince: "Do you know how worried I was about you? Fucking hell, do you know what you put us all through? And you trusted that fucking asshole Ixin, that shit-eating bastard who tries to watch us have sex on a regular basis? You fucking idiot, what were you... what... were... what were you..."

Her muzzle began to tremble violently, and then she broke down into a sobbing fit, throwing herself against Zerrex and beating childishly on his chest with her fists as her head pushed against his chest, horns and fin rubbing against him as she half-yelled: "F-Fuck, how am I.... s-s-supposed to l-live without y-y-y-your s-stupid ass!"

Then Zerrex gently took her in his arms, feeling embarrassed for both of them as he hugged her close... but as she cried, it didn't matter, and he was glad to simply hold her quietly, rocking her slowly as Ixin muttered something about soap operas and wandered off. Then Mahihko burst randomly into tears and charged into Zerrex's leg, clutching at his waist and clinging to him, and Lone awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head and retreated quickly after Ixin to a lab table.

After a few minutes, Selena settled down and moodily turned away from him, her arms crossed... and Mahihko took only a minute or two more to settle down with a few gentle whispered nothings and a compliment about the little black dress he was wearing. It brightened Mahihko's features immediately, and he walked a meter or so away to spin around in it, before he said admiringly as he gazed up at Sin: "It's just like Momma's!"

Zerrex cleared his throat at this, and Sin blushed and waved Mahihko away, and he smiled warmly before he pranced cheerfully off. The Drakkaren looked at her mildly, his arms crossed, and she shrugged a bit, saying softly: "Mahihko and Lone needed a bit of guidance around Hell at first, and I was happy to watch them for you... I guess because of my glammer, Mahihko started calling me mother, and I don't mind it at all..."

The reptile smiled at this, and then Selena turned around and glared at him with her black eyes... and Zerrex wondered if he was about to be punched again before she grabbed his arm and pulled it around her body, pressing to him with a territorial look on her face as she mumbled: "Take it off, and I break it off, do you got that?"

"That's... the opposite of the way it usually goes." Zerrex said mildly, and then he winced when she glowered up at him, squeezing her closer to his body. "I understand, totally, you... this all makes perfect sense."

"Fuck. Undead armies, vicious gods attacking, and worst of all, those two nimrods..." Selena glared in the direction of Lone and Mahihko, who were staring at Ixin as the mage mixed a potion together, tossing them suspicious, nervous looks every now and then. "And of course, you had to go and fight off Loki and recalibrate yourself or whatever the fuck they did to you, and all without me. Fuck, you have no idea how worried we've all been about you, do you? And you didn't even say goodbye!"

The Drakkaren shrugged a bit, looking embarrassed as he leaned down to kiss her forehead quietly, and then he said softly: "If I'd waited even that long, they might have renewed the attack against the labs... it might have been my only chance."

Selena didn't answer, only clinging to him, and the Drakkaren sighed inwardly before he quietly led her over to where the wolves were now glaring at her distrustfully instead of Ixin, who was just finishing measuring out some powder into a spoon, saying absently over his shoulder: "Good to see you back, Zerrex. Give me just one second here, okay?"

"Yeah, it's good to see you back!" Lone said finally, sounding lame, and then he looked down embarrassedly, adding in a mumble as he rubbed at his head awkwardly: "I really did miss you and shit."

"I know you did, Lone." Zerrex said softly, and Mahihko beamed as Lone rubbed at his vest slowly with a bit of a smile... and then the Drakkaren squeaked when Ixin put down the potion he had just completed and seized him and Selena in a hug, the female kicking furiously and cursing loudly, but most of her kicks hit Zerrex in the legs instead of Ixin. "What the hell!"

"I so totally missed you too, Zerrex! Group hug, come on everyone!" Ixin called, and Cherry whooped and charged in, immediately hugging everyone she could encompass with her muscular arms as Lone and Mahihko shot forwards next, leaving Sin to roll her eyes and touch her forehead in exasperation.

The hug broke, and Selena immediately let go of Zerrex and shot at Ixin, who cackled and ran away. And then Cherry slapped Zerrex on the back, leaning on him with a grin as she said mildly: "And that has basically been what it's been like around here all damn day long for the last few weeks. Or years, I wasn't really keeping track."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, looking around Ixin's laboratory as he absently rubbed the tiny wolf still clinging to his leg, the larger wolf standing nearby and looking up at him adoringly before he finally held up a hand with a grin, proclaiming: "Since we're in Hell, Mahihko and I are totally finally learning about our demonic abilities and magic and shit."

The Drakkaren made a face at this, but he knew it wasn't something he could have avoided forever... but it worried him, nonetheless. As he'd learned over the years, becoming a demon wasn't nearly as glamorous as it seemed: sure, it had plenty of perks, but Zerrex had been able to remove Mahihko from Hell before the corruption had truly set in and manifested abilities in him... but now that he and Lone were back - and since they were in reality only one single being, receiving twice as much corruption from the environment - the two would likely have quickly developed demonic abilities.

They were bare of any characteristics Zerrex could see, however, which was a good sign... and then Sin leaned in, murmuring to him quietly: "Lone and Mahihko are two sides of a singular entity... but as such, they both manifest different sins. With their past life taken into account, they contain all the seven great sins... but each has a focal point around one particular sin."

"Lust and Wrath?" Zerrex asked mildly, looking at the two as the wolves nervously glanced at each other, Mahihko finally stepping back beside Lone.

He was surprised when Sin shook her head, however, and instead she said softly: "No... Lust and Greed. Wrath is something they both have plenty of, however... despite Mahihko's great efforts to spare the lives of people, he also does not hesitate towards violence... and in anger, he lashes out with far greater viciousness than Lone."

Mahihko squirmed a bit, blushing and looking at the ground shamefully... and Lone winced as he rubbed the back of his head slowly, before he finally looked at Zerrex and said in a quiet voice: "Mahihko and I are sort of... what did you call us, Sin?"

"Gemini. Like Mist and Shine." Sin smiled down at him softly, then she added quietly to Zerrex: "But different, in the fact that their combination is... so much smoother. As to demonic bodies... I haven't seen any manifest in them, yet, but strangely, their abilities are. I think because you were so quick to remove Mahihko from here, the demonic influence may be unable to seed much in the wolves... but on the other hand, perhaps it will take inflamed emotions to start the process, since Mahihko and Lone have both been taught strict discipline by you."

Zerrex frowned thoughtfully at this, nodding slowly as Selena stomped back to him, and he automatically pulled her close as Cherry huffed before grinning teasingly as the Drakkaren wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her against his other side, earning a dark look from Selena. "Well... what abilities do you two have, then?"

He glanced down at them, and the wolves blushed, Mahihko fidgeting on the spot before Lone finally said dumbly: "I can negotiate really well with people and... and stuff."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, and then he looked at Sin, who said with a slight smile: "Mahihko has developed a succubus-type allure that lets him draw people in, among other things... and what Lone's referring to is that he's found a natural confidence when it comes to... what was the word you used for it?"

"Fleecing." Lone grinned brightly at this, nodding rapidly, and Zerrex cocked his head as the wolf continued pompously: "I can barter the fuck out of people and get them to sell me anything for less. Well. Not other Greed demons, those fuckers... you know. They rip everyone off, so they know what they're doing and shit."

The Drakkaren sighed, looking at the wolf with exasperation as he shuffled his paws against the ground, and then he said finally: "I have to go and find Lily now, I think, and interrupt whatever fancy council meeting they're having. Sin, do me a favor and take the wolves back to the Ravenlight Estate... Mahihko and Lone, you two just listen to her, okay? I'm sure she's got some jobs you can do."

Mahihko nodded brightly as Lone mumbled something, but they both seemed to consent... and Zerrex looked at Sin, and she smiled before bowing to him and then creating a portal, saying softly over her shoulder: "I'll await you back at the Estate, Lord Zerrex."

With that, she vanished through the portal, and before Zerrex could open his mouth, Ixin bounded over and leaned in close, peering at him as he jotted away on a clipboard. Zerrex made a face, looking at him flatly, and then Selena reached up and set the clipboard on fire, burning it away to cinders in a matter of moments and causing Ixin to screech as he dropped it, then glared at her, rubbing at a burnt hand. "What the fuck was that for, bitch?"

"What the fuck were you doing?" Selena shot back, then she glared at Zerrex when he attempted to slip away, and the reptile quickly pretended that he had just meant to massage her back instead, rubbing slowly up and down her spine as he gave a little dumb grin to her. "Don't think about it, asshole. But seriously, Ixin. Do you think it was a good idea at all to do what you did? And now what, you're treating him like a science project?"

"I have way more respect for Zerrex than that!" Ixin said in an outraged voice, holding up a finger... and then he cleared his throat when there was an awkward science, saying flatly: "There's no punchline, that seriously wasn't a joke. Now listen to me, babe, and listen good: Zerrex there made the decision himself, and my job is basically to make sure that he's okay. Let me do my goddamn job, Hot Tits, or I'm going to have to do horrible terrible things to your face."

Selena snorted in disgust and rolled her eyes, and Zerrex sighed and slumped a bit, Cherry patting his back supportively before she said over to Selena clearly: "So I think Zerrex only hangs with you 'cause he pities you."

"You are so fucking dead!" Selena shot out from under Zerrex's arm to chase after Cherry, who evaded her quickly before charging off towards the door, throwing the Drakkaren a thumbs-up... and Zerrex quickly created a portal, muttering a hurried goodbye to Ixin before he leapt through to land on the Eastern Balcony of the Central Spire... and then he skidded to a halt, wincing and staring as he saw Ixin standing in front of him with a pleasant look on his features, a hand raised in a wave and his fingers twiddling.

"Hello." he said cheerfully, and Zerrex groaned and slapped his forehead, and then the mage cleared his throat, saying mildly: "On a more serious level, seriously. I want to make sure you don't explode, because I dunno who you'll take with you when you do. Hot Tits, I don't really like her but well... she's hot. On a seriously serious note, how the fuck do you put up with her? The tits? The pussy? The dick she gets sometimes? The crazy hardcore fucking?"

Zerrex looked at him dourly, and then he finally said plainly: "I love her. And I know she's got a little bit of a nasty personality... but well... I know she cares about me, and I can trust her, and I know she'd never hurt me... much, anyway."

The reptile reached up, rubbing at his still-sore nose a bit and flicking away some dried blood, and Ixin snorted in amusement, grinning and crossing his arms as he leaned towards him. "Facts are facts, pimp-machine: some of these wives are not like the others, some of these wives are just friends."

The Drakkaren snorted at this, but he had to glance away in embarrassment, looking down at his hand before he realized his rings weren't on, and he cursed, looking frantically back and forth as if that would help... before Ixin laughed and waved a hand, drawing his attention back as he said mildly: "Don't worry about it, I hear Sin took 'em off you and put them somewhere. Now Sin, see, she's a keeper. She knows that little pieces of metal on the fingers don't mean diddly-shit. I mean, mortals give each other these 'meaningful gifts' all the time, just like demons and angels, and how many of the fucks really honor the meaning behind them... and I don't just mean with cheating and shit, either. Giving into your lusts ain't the worst thing in the world, believe me on that..." Ixin made a face, glancing down as he muttered: "Now, go tell some friend or acquaintance all your lover's secrets... now that's real betrayal right there."

Zerrex stood awkwardly for a moment, not knowing exactly what to say and hating the way Ixin's words were slinking through his brain... and then the mage smiled radiantly, reaching out and clasping him on the shoulder. "But what the fuck do I know about what goes on inside your head, right? You and your girls all make one hell of a great family from what I've seen so far... and you know, my great grand... son... thing... Raze, you and him go together real nicely. I ain't so much into the gay porn, but wow, when you make him squeal, that's-"

The Drakkaren cleared his throat, and Ixin coughed himself after a moment, the two looking at each other uncomfortably before the mage finally stepped aside and bowed him towards the doors, saying dumbly: "You know, I'm just going to sit in the background and you go about your business and shit, how about that?"

"That sounds just great." Zerrex said finally, and he shook his head, clearing it before he finally took a deep breath and approached the double doors leading into the Throne Room. Before he could touch them, the Amazons standing on either side quickly opened them for him with looks of aw on their features, and Zerrex rubbed the back of his head and grinned dumbly at them before he walked into the Throne Room as all eyes at the center table turned on him, a few surprised mutters running through the table before the Drakkaren let out a sigh of relief as he saw the meeting was composed of people he knew: Lily, Amiglion, White, Little Arcy, Raze, and Francis. "Uh. Hi. Need to borrow Lily for a second."

"If it's about the undead army-" Francis started mildly, and then he sighed and dropped his head forwards when Little Arcy, Lily, and Ami jumped up and left the table, running quickly over to Zerrex. The two females smacked into him first, Lily hitting him around the waist and Little Arcy one of his legs, and he staggered before falling on his ass when Ami gleefully pounced on him, squashing Lily between the bodies of the males and making her wheeze. "Some dignitaries."

He looked over towards Raze, opening his mouth... and then he closed it when he saw Raze was gone as well, before he looked up and winced as the black-scaled Drakkaren stomped over to the pile of people, picking up Ami with one hand and tossing him aside before grabbing Little Arcy, prying her off, and putting her firmly down a few feet away from the dazed reptile. Finally, he grabbed Lily, and then muttered and made a face when she clung stubbornly to Zerrex, glaring at him over her shoulder and snapping: "Hey, out of order, matriarchal rights here!"

"Fuck your rights." Raze grumbled, and then he finally reached down and simply picked up Zerrex, pulling him against his powerful, light-armored body and squeezing him firmly around the waist as Lily held onto his neck, the male glaring back and forth challengingly at the mild eyes of Francis and White. "We'll be a minute."

"You're impossible." Francis said flatly, and White simply shrugged and leaned back in his chair, pulling a book out of his duster and reading calmly. The mouse tapped his fingers impatiently, watching as Zerrex finally was released... and then he called to the dazed Drakkaren: "Are you finished yet? I want to get this meeting underway."

"Oh, lighten up, Francis." Zerrex retorted, and he smiled at the others, holding up a finger to them as he walked past and said flatly: "If anyone wants this fixed fast, it's me. And I might even have a solution. But unprofessional or not, I've just finally gotten my goddamn body fixed. The way I work might drive you crazy, but you should know by now that I definitely have got my stuff together."

Francis looked like he wanted to argue, but then he simply sat back with a disconsolate mumble as Zerrex turned back to the group, smiling around at them all as he added quietly: "But Francis is right... what's with the burst of unprofessionalism, huh? You guys are usually all some of the most orderly people I know."

Little Arcy laughed a bit at this, smiling up at him as the little girl - dressed today in an adorable little sailor suit with matching beret - said warmly: "Now surely you don't mean me, Lord Zerrex! You remember how many times I went against the code to help you and your family out... besides, these ten years seemed longer than the thousands that often passed between us seeing you. Even with reports from Archmage Ixin, we never really knew your condition... nor could any of us see you, locked in that deep, terrible place."

Raze grunted, wrapping his arms protectively around Zerrex again, and the reptile smiled a bit, closing his eyes: Raze had been getting more and more open with his relationship with the reptile, and more and more comfortable with the fact that he was gay. Of course, while the white-haired reptile wasn't always a fan of the fact the other lizard liked to grab him and kiss him firmly in public or things like that, he did like how cuddly and territorial Raze could be... especially since Raze was a very submissive bottom most of the time, whatever his temperament seemed to be.

Zerrex rubbed gently along one of the male's forearms as Lily approached and leaned in with a smile, wearing her ceremonial armor but her face exposed as always... and Zerrex rolled his eyes, but he smiled amusedly in return as he kissed her cheek firmly; Lily, always polite and cultured, always so goddamn cute that even Raze couldn't find a reason to be mad at her. Then she took one of his hands and said softly, gazing at him fondly: "If I was too out of line, please forgive me, Zer... but I really have missed you myself." She glanced down, adding quietly: "It's been scary without you here."

"Yeah, we've had no idea what the hell we're supposed to be doing about this undead army." Amiglion piped up, and then he frowned and glanced over his shoulder towards the open doors, but the area was empty... and the Naganatine shook his head a bit, before he returned his eyes to Zerrex, making a bit of a face. "Crazy shit's been happening around Hell, too, I kid you not. Stuff like... fucking... evil spirits and soulless spirits, the real nasty ones even you have trouble picking up with your weird energy powers."

"Even Loki hasn't been too happy, or Ixin either." Lily added quietly, then she glanced to the side at the still-open doors, calling flatly: "And Ixin, please. Have the respect to either come in or stay outside."

"I'm happy where I am." Ixin retorted, peering awkwardly around the side of the open doors, and then he waved cheerfully at Raze, who groaned and slapped his forehead, turning away and heading back to the table. "Hi, great... whatever-you-are!"

Zerrex rolled his eyes in amusement, and then he approached the table with the others, asking seriously: "So what's our status, in that case? Have we gathered any more information about what kinds of undead we're dealing with?"

"Rotten corpses, for the most part... their behavior is similar to the classic zombie breed, as well, attacking and eating whatever they can get their hands on." Amiglion piped up morbidly, as he sat at his high chair, and Zerrex made a face: both at this and his goddamn chair, as he sat down in the plush but oversized frame. "Human troops are everywhere, too, all over the continent, not just in Ire... they're helping the undead, and it looks like their basic goal is to kill, kill, kill... probably so more undead can be brought to life." Ami paused and cleared his throat. "I mean... you know what I mean."

"Animated." Lily said absently, and Amiglion huffed as he glared at her before she looked at Zerrex, continuing in an authoritative voice: "We were just discussing their level of spread throughout the world with Francis, and how we can combat them... so far, however, we don't have a lot of ideas other than trying to use aerial tactics and magic against them. Demons and angels setting up walls of fire might let us cordon off a safe area... and the only other choice we have is wide-spread bombing runs, and I know how you feel about that."

"We won't use bombs. That would defeat the purpose of putting ourselves at risk to save mortal lives... I won't risk taking even one mortal life with a large-scale blast." Zerrex said quietly, looking around at the others, and everyone around the table nodded after a moment. If there was one thing he'd learned after all his years, after all, it was that innocent lives should never have to suffer for the guilty, and he wasn't about to go against that ideal now. "Sin has suggested another method of action... but you're going to have to give me the time to prepare for it and try to get to the item in question."

"Stop being so damn mysterious." Lily said flatly, looking at him dryly, and Zerrex made a face, rubbing awkwardly at his face before she frowned, leaning forwards: "Why the hell are you being so mysterious, anyway? Usually when it comes to at least this stuff, you're only an ass about it when you have a plan that involves you going into some horrible, dangerous place."

"Well, that's half of it." Zerrex admitted, and Lily sighed and rolled her eyes before frowning when the Drakkaren became serious, saying softly: "But it's just not something I feel like I can talk about. Just trust me on this. Amiglion probably knows what I'm talking about anyway."

Ami frowned at him when Zerrex looked at him pointedly, then the Naganatine glanced upwards and mumbled to himself before he blanched, leaning away from the table as he babbled: "Oh no, hell no, no fucking way. Dude, I dunno what Sin told you, but that is... that is not a helpful solution, not at all."

Zerrex looked at him flatly, and then Amiglion sighed and sat back, rolling his head on his shoulders rubbing at his bare face... and the reptile frowned, asking before Ami could speak: "Where's your mask?"

"I... decided I was too cool for it." Amiglion said after a moment, then he cleared his throat and twiddled his fingers together, saying finally: "Look. You never wear it, Lily never wears hers... I guess... I don't want to wear mine either, unless I gotta. Sure, it was cool for the first ten million years or so, but after that it got to feeling more and more like a goddamn chore, like I was just covering up my face to hide from everyone who knows that I'm like, the only Naganatine left in Hell asides from Sin, anyway.

"But that ain't important. What is, is that... well... look, if you're right about her... about this, I mean... then... well..." Ami hesitated, grinding his teeth together and looking nervous, and then he finally said morbidly: "You'll need a guide through the Forest of the Departed, and you're looking at him, right here."

"Seriously?" Zerrex tilted his head towards him, and then he coughed and cleared his throat when Amiglion gave him a sour glare. "Not that I don't trust you and your abilities, it's just that... you know..."

"Only Reapers can make their way through the Forest safely... and since I was designated a Reaper long before there were even really Demons... well... I've been keeping in shape and I think that I'm probably your best bet, much as I don't wanna be. Other Reapers are... you know..."

"Reapers." Raze grunted, and then he leaned on the table, ignoring Amiglion's sour look as he said in his cold, no-argument voice: "Then I want to come along as well. You could use some competent backup."

Amiglion shook his head at this, however, earning him a dark look from Raze even as he explained: "Too dangerous. The more people there are in one place at a time in the forest, the more likely the forest will try to screw with us and the more hostile it will become. Especially towards you, Raze... you're a godling, sure, but you were raised in Heaven and instructed by angels. Evil spirits will recognize that holiness around your body and home in on you like a fat dude on Free Flapjack Friday at a restaurant."

Raze made a face at this, and then he crossed his arms and looked moody when Zerrex said quietly: "I need you to do another job for me, anyway. Since this plan isn't guaranteed to work, I need you to assemble a strike force... angels will listen to you and Francis a lot better than they'll listen to most demons."

The Drakkaren made a noncommittal noise, but Zerrex felt confident that meant 'yes:' Raze just wasn't very good when it came to discussing his feelings or thoughts on things, at least in public like this. He nodded to him, and then he looked at Little Arcy, asking quietly: "What have the Prophets foreseen?"

"Nothing." Little Arcy said softly, and everyone looked at her with surprise, the young girl smiling faintly and shrugging quietly: "I mean, we haven't always been able to make predictions about the future that were accurate, and really we're more spellcasters, analysts, and historians than anything else... but well... it's like our vision of the future has been blocked. Everything's in shadows and darkness, no matter how near or far we look... and none of the predictions made years ago for this time period have come true. No great earthquake, no 371st Accord over nuclear weapons, no designs for the intercontinental bridge and the Oceanic Cities that were supposed to be fated to be built... and all this interest in space, it's... strange."

She stopped, and White looked up from his book, suggesting calmly: "Maybe it's because of the interference of these Old Gods everyone's been talking about... we've all agreed, even if silently, that the undead and likely even Animaxander are simply both symptoms of them, and they apparently have a leader who is also the most powerful of these beings... maybe his very power is influencing time and space."

"Faith is a powerful weapon." Zerrex murmured, not knowing why but at the same time feeling that it... just fit. And the others nodded slowly, before he looked up and said softly: "I think we're all in serious danger... and I don't like that we've got any kind of hostile gods heading towards the planet, not to mention the fact that the Prophets can't see anything, anywhere... but either way, we need to first get our problems in order and then start dealing with them, and the first issue to contend with is getting rid of those undead, followed by Animaxander. After that, we'll need to find a way to look towards wherever these Gods are... although I think we settled that argument when we discussed that before."

"The Observatory... but you and Sin don't have nearly enough time to do both things." Lily said softly, then she glanced across at Raze, saying slowly: "Perhaps Lord Raze's time would be better spent in going to the Observatory for us, with a few demons who would be able to help him deal with the dangers posed by the Undersea?"

Zerrex rubbed at his muzzle at this thoughtfully, but when Raze looked at him and gave the smallest of nods, the Drakkaren smiled a bit, saying softly: "Good idea. Although you probably are not going to be fond of the team I'm going to suggest for you, Raze." He cleared his throat, then said loudly towards the ceiling: "Sin! Bring your wards here!"

"What are you talking about?" Raze asked after a moment with a frown, and then he looked up in distaste as a portal opened, before he simply frowned with disgust when Sin stepped through with Mahihko and Lone, the wolves both looking awkwardly back and forth before Cherry bounded through the portal with Selena following moodily behind her. "I am not playing babysitter for all of them."

"What, what are we talking about?" Cherry asked dumbly, and then she winced when Selena smacked her firmly on the head, rubbing at it with a mumble as Lone and Mahihko looked at each other nervously.

"Watch your fucking mouth." Selena spat, then she walked around the table and sat down beside Zerrex, looking darkly at Lily as she clung to the Drakkaren's arm, and Zerrex sighed tiredly as she added with a mutter: "I ain't letting you go anywhere, Zerrex. Not until I've had my time with you."

"Raze, you know Cherry is competent, much as you two don't get along. And Lone's got a bad mouth, but he and Mahihko will follow orders you give them to the letter, and they both can harness electricity, which is one of the few useful elements to be able to control when it comes to the Undersea." Zerrex said softly, and Raze looked undecided, tilting his head back and forth with a frown. Then the Drakkaren paused, asking softly: "Who would you pick?"

Raze frowned at the table, then he looked up and sighed, nodding slowly: not only because his choices weren't feasible, but because he probably ended up with the same people, whether he liked it or not. Even powerful demons wouldn't be useful unless they were able to use electricity with some degree of expertise, due to the literal and metaphorical dampening effects the Central Spire's Undersea parallel had on magic. "Fine. What about Alastor, at least?"

"Can't, he and Carmen have been deployed to one of the cities, where evil spirits are possessing demons and causing a panic." Lily said quietly, then she smiled a bit, saying softly: "I'd go with you, Raze, but Selena and I will have to stay back here to keep everything in order."

Selena glared at Lily as Raze shifted awkwardly, and then the godling finally lowered his head and mumbled a quiet 'thank you...' but this, however, was overridden as Selena said darkly: "Zerrex, seriously. I don't want you going anywhere without me this next while."

"I'm sorry, but I have to." Zerrex said softly, and Selena gave him a furious look that tried to hide her unhappiness and her fear. The Drakkaren reached up and caught her wrist before she could hit him, and then he said softly, looking into her eyes: "This is bigger than all of us. Maybe even than Heaven and Hell. And Sin and Amiglion and I need to try and... get something that'll help us stop it. I'm sure Raze would be happy to have you on his team, but-"

"I am not working with Cherry. Fuck you, Zerrex, just... fuck off." Selena shoved herself away from him as she stomped away and created a portal, vanishing through it, and the Drakkaren sighed and slumped. He thought for a moment on how he'd gladly throw all this aside if Marina asked him to, but how he never did for Selena... and then Lily reached up and squeezed his shoulder quietly, and he glanced at her as she smiled faintly at him. But Marina would never ask me to, because... she knows all about my responsibilities.

He shook his head, and then Francis said calmly, as if nothing had happened: "Raze, you can go ahead and get your equipment ready, and Little Arcy, please fill in these wolves on what we've been discussing. Miss Cherry, I assume that as always you're ready for conflict, so go with Raze and outfit him with whatever you have to spare."

"There's time yet. I have one other stop I need to make and... something else I need to do." Zerrex said softly after a moment, and all eyes turned on him before he looked at Sin, smiling a bit. "I assume you'll want a moment to yourself at the Monastery, anyway... and Amiglion, you need to go put some good clothes on. But Raze, whenever you're ready to leave, go ahead and do so."

Raze nodded as he stood up from the table, and then he muttered a spell as he held a hand up above his head, his massive, gleaming sword appearing in it. It was shaped almost the exact same as Blackheart had once been, only slightly larger... and the godling placed this on his back after a moment, rubbing a hand against his silver breastplate as he asked coldly: "What am I going to have to kill?"

"Mermaids and sea-monsters, for the most part... but you should be able to operate the Observatory yourself with your divine heritage." Sin said softly, and Raze turned to her, bowing his head forwards slightly in a sign of respect he rarely showed to anyone. "I want to caution you, though, Lord Raze Atrox... some of the beasts you'll be up against may generate a psychic static that will tear your mind apart if they get close."

"I can deal with it." Raze said after a moment, flexing his powerful muscles, and Zerrex smiled slightly: despite the fact that Raze was a powerhouse of physical strength, the real terror of the godling came from his vicious psychic abilities... but few people realized that although Raze could easily throw even massive demons around like toys with his mind, he wasn't telepathic in the slightest... hell, he wasn't even too good when it came to trying to read a person's body language, much less their thoughts. It also meant, however, that he was far less sensitive than other psychics were when it came to anti-psionic attacks. "Is the mechanism complex at all?"

"It looks like a simple telescope, but it has a control system mounted to the wall... are you familiar with ancient demonic runes at all, predating Lucifer's Return?" Sin tilted her head, and Raze hesitated, but nodded after a moment, tracing one in the air and earning a nod of approval from Sin. "Correct. The system does not require precise coordinates or adjustments... only that you enter what you're looking for. Ask it to look for Animaxander... it should give you a view of him on the mortal plane first, but then you'll be able to tell the telescope to backtrack to other locations he's visited, and it should provide you with the information we need."

"You honor me, Lady Sin." Raze murmured, bowing to her, and Sin bowed quietly back before Raze looked over at Zerrex, then down at the wolves, were standing with Little Arcy, Mahihko obviously admiring her outfit before he jumped about ten feet in the air when the black-scaled godling snapped: "Hurry up! I'll meet you all at the first floor when you're ready."

He created a portal and vanished through it, and Zerrex hoped that this was a good idea as Cherry wandered over to him, rubbing at her head slowly as she asked him quietly: "You... you gonna be okay, Boss? And more importantly, you sure this is actually a good idea?"

Zerrex nodded after a moment, looking at Lily, who smiled a bit and nodded slowly herself. Then he returned his eyes to her, saying softly: "Yeah, I think so. Don't piss off Raze too much and keep the kids in line, will you?"

"I'll do my best for you." Cherry grinned a bit despite herself, and then she glanced over her shoulder curiously at Sin as she vanished through a portal, followed by Amiglion, who looked strangely quiet in the moment before he disappeared after her. "What's up with them?"

"Old memories, I suspect." Zerrex replied in a quiet voice, and Cherry nodded with a grim smile, before he patted her gently on the shoulder. "Get geared up and then go meet Raze, Cherry. He likes to be kept waiting even less than I do."

"Figures." Cherry muttered, and then she and Zerrex clasped hands for a moment, squeezing firmly before she turned and headed over to scare the wolves through a portal she made, and the Drakkaren watched her go before he looked around the room, watching as Little Arcy vanished with a wave and a smile to him, followed by Francis... and he looked down in surprise as White approached him calmly.

Despite being taller, Zerrex always felt that they were either looking eye-to-eye, or that he was the one who was looking up at the badger... and White said quietly, meeting his irises with his own cold ones: "If you need my help, Zerrex, you don't even have to ask for it... I'm offering it right now. Don't keep me on the sidelines for this fight too long... undead and so-called holy beings happen to be one of my specialties."

The reptile smiled slightly down at the badger, and then he said slowly: "Could you recognize and analyze the undead if you were able to take one down?"

"Like that." White snapped his fingers, and then he added mildly: "But unlike most of your gung-ho pals, I need myself some permission first to leave Hell. I'm not a demon, after all... some of us lost souls don't get any breaks even when we get thrown down into the Pit, you know."

Zerrex nodded slowly, then he said quietly: "Then you have my permission as High King and my blessing, White. I have a request, though..." Since I'm way too scared to call it an order. "See if you can capture one of those humans as well, and figure out what they actually are... they concern me almost as much as the undead prowling the streets."

The badger nodded back, then he tapped the brim of the cowboy hat he was wearing before he turned and left, and Zerrex shook his head in soft entertainment before he turned around, realizing dumbly that only he and Lily were left in the room now... well, and Ixin too, but he was hiding behind a pillar, pretending he was invisible. "So hey. You okay with this?"

"Not really." Lily smiled a bit up at him, and then she stood and hugged him tightly, and Zerrex hugged her back, holding her close as she murmured softly, resting her head against his neck: "But I think it's probably the best thing you can do at the moment. What did you want to do before you left, anyway?"

Zerrex laughed quietly, then he nudged her gently, saying softly: "Just a little side-trip, should only take an hour or two, I hope... just ignore any alarms I might set off in the Central Spire, huh?"

"And here I thought those days were over." Lily said ironically, before she looked to the side and added: "Ixin, I need you to come and discuss how to deal with the Undead situation with myself and the group of mages who I'm supposed to meet with."

"Fuck that." Ixin shouted irritably from behind the pillar, and then he squeaked when an Amazon standing nearby jabbed him with the tip of her spear, leaving a small gash in his side that he clutched at before falling over and flailing comically on the ground. Zerrex rolled his eyes, but he took the opportunity to kiss Lily's forehead quickly before he waved and exited through a portal, and Lily rolled her eyes before she turned towards Ixin as he sat up and glared. "Hey, I was supposed to follow him around all day!"

Zerrex arrived a moment later into a room he had visited before... but he was surprised to see that it had another visitor today, who was puffing quietly away at a cigar. Then he looked up mildly, his features aged but not as elderly as they had been when he and Zerrex had become comrades, and both of his arms intact as the wolverine growled at him: "'Bout fucking time I finally find you around here somewhere. Place is goddamn confusing."

"General Griswold?" Zerrex looked at him with surprise, and the old former General gave a grunt of acknowledgment, the grey-furred wolverine looking at him with dry amusement, scornfulness still glinting in his steely eyes. As the Drakkaren had always seen him, he was wearing his dark blue dress uniform from his days with the Irenic Military, the white shirt beneath pristine and his tie tied tight at his throat, all of his polished medals in place at the breast pocket. Zerrex wondered how the hell he'd managed to get his hands on all this... and then he paused as the General took off his cap and looked at him with a mixture of pride and entertainment, brushing absently at the fur between his ears as his scarred muzzle wrinkled in a grin that had all of its teeth instead of blacked gums. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You really think I should be in Heaven right now, son?" Griswold asked mildly, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before Griswold Anderson Lyson threw his head back and laughed rustily, taking his cigar out of his muzzle and absently tapping it off to the side before he winked and put it back into his grinning mouth, saying around it in a pleased voice: "Can't say I'm disappointed in you though, Zerrex, whether you're still obviously a few coins short of a dollar or not."

The Drakkaren only grunted at him sourly, and then they both turned to look at the broken shards of Blackheart, and the General sighed as he added distastefully: "This, however, is a damn shame. That Crow bastard really fucked up a hell of a weapon here, with a hell of a lot of history... something even Hell seems to appreciate, since I know you aren't the type to have it put down here yourself without some damn good reason to."

"It was used in the battle against Crow... against the Princess... against all our other enemies." Zerrex said softly, and then he glanced sideways at the General, seeing no distinct demonic characteristics on him, and finally he asked: "So, did you end up becoming a demon? Or did you get slapped with something a little more painful?"

"A bit of both." Griswold admitted after a moment, looking grudging as he leaned backwards and brushed absently at his lapels with his free hand. He sighed and shook his head, gazing up at the ceiling as he murmured: "Lots of time in Wrath, lots of time in Greed. Did I ever see a lot of suffering firsthand, Zerrex, and did I ever suffer a lot myself. And fuck, it got through to me after a while. It was damned nasty, but it got through to me... just like your stupid psychological programs got through to me." He looked disgusted at this, snorting and shaking his head as Zerrex smiled slightly at him. "Don't gimme that look, you bastard. Hate that hippie bullshit... hated it even more when they got in my head and made it all make sense. Some of that shit is torture-worthy, you know."

"And if it can get through to even assholes like you, then it's worth it." Zerrex replied grimly, and Griswold muttered under his breath before the Drakkaren prompted: "So, Pride or Greed?"

"Greed." Griswold finally admitted, shaking his head with distaste. "But because of my lifestyle, I'll never become a demon. I'm cursed, like a few other fuckers around here, to always maintain my mortal shape and strength... but hey, at least I got my arm back and a few years off my looks." The wolverine rubbed at his face with his free hand, then poked at his teeth. "And these grow back even after they're knocked out. Which is good, 'cause I still haven't learned to keep my fucking trap shut."

"So Griswold. Tell me what you think about Kafka." Zerrex said softly, looking at Blackheart through the protective glass surrounding it, and Griswold looked at him sharply with a frown. "And what the military advantages would be to him getting major support, or even into power, apart from the obvious ones."

The General looked down for a moment, then he pulled his cigar out of his muzzle, exhaling a plume of smoke as he said quietly: "As you should know yourself, Zerrex... being in power isn't what's important. It's how much the people love you: if they love you enough, they'll forgive any mistake you make, and not even the biggest contenders can move against you in public without taking the chance of becoming unpopular themselves. Even in this world, politics are driven by how many people like you, more than even how many voters you have: get the right people backing you, and you don't have to worry about going to the voters... the voters will come to you. Get the wrong people backing you, even if they're big corporations, and you might as well through your campaign out the goddamn window, followed by yourself.

"Kafka, well. You know my love of politics and my hate for anything anti-Ire. I ain't too fond of Balthazar, but I recognize he's a force for good... which is probably why I don't like him too much." Griswold grinned a bit, looking over at Zerrex, before he became solemn once more when the Drakkaren looked at him mildly. "Kafka's already dangerous. With a little more support, he'll be able to literally recreate the Nazi regime, except this time something tells me he'll be targeting more than just the rest of the mortal world."

"Griswold, I'm appointing you as an advisor to Lily on mortal politics, military and otherwise." Zerrex said softly, and Griswold looked surprised before the Drakkaren straightened and held out a hand to him, looking into his eyes squarely. "We might not exactly be all that fond of each other, but I do know I can trust you. And once we're done with Animaxander, I have a feeling we're going to have to deal with him."

The General nodded slowly... and then he said after a moment of contemplation: "Fine. But only 'cause I still feel like I owe you for old times' sake."

"And because you like power." Zerrex said pointedly, and the General shrugged in response after a moment with a grunt, blowing a smoke ring through his nose. Before he could reply, however, the Drakkaren looked over at the edgy guards standing at the doors, saying clearly: "Soldiers, escort this person up to the Throne Room and tell Lily that he's a new advisor for her council. See you around, Griswold."

The wolverine looked surprised, and then he was grabbed by the guards and half-dragged out of the room, grumbling the entire time and leaving Zerrex in peace after a moment. The reptile shook his head with quiet entertainment, and then he looked at the sword for a long few seconds before he reached forwards quietly removed the case protecting it, saying softly: "I think it's time now, old friend."

Energy sizzled over Blackheart in response as the Drakkaren put the glass covering aside, and then the reptile carefully reached forwards even as dark lighting crackled between the pieces, and he grasped the edges of the showcase, trying not to let the sight of the energy sizzling along the broken chunks of blade entrance him.

The top of the showcase easily lifted off as Zerrex created a portal behind himself with a look over his shoulder, and he carefully sidestepped his way through it holding the long wooden tray, ending up on a dirt road in the rocky, barren wastes of the Wrath Circle in front of a massive, barn-shaped structure. It seemed like a seedy place, Salamanders and Swamp Spines standing in a half-formed line in front of a window where a lazy-looking Cyclops leaned, but the reptile carefully made his way around the side of the barn, ignoring a merchant with a slave hooked up to a cart stacked full of goods as he called out to him about buying some used weapons.

The Drakkaren reached the back of the wood-and-stone structure a moment later, and he let out a sigh of relief as he saw there was no one here but a pair of Gigataur guards on either side of the huge sliding doors leading into the structure. They both looked bored, and the reptile cleared his throat to get the attention of the rusty-armored giants... and one of them looked down with distaste before his eyes widened, and he reached across to tap his partner on the shoulder, the Gigataur jumping as if awoken from a nap before he snapped a salute at Zerrex, holding his huge axe up in front of himself with his other hand as the first Gigataur asked eagerly: "What can we do for you, sir?"

"Just opening a door would be fine, my hands are a little full." Zerrex said mildly, and the two Gigataurs nodded quickly, grasping the enormous handles at either side of the doors and yanking it quickly open wide enough for an army column to march through. The reptile grunted his thanks, then he wandered through as the two looked after the Drakkaren with relief: not too long ago, they had both ended up on the bad side of the reptile and been taught a lesson for it.

Zerrex emerged into a smoky, dusty area that looked and smelled like an old manufacturing plant, huge furnaces vomiting up blasts of smog into the air that was dragged into rusty, clanking fans, demons of all variety standing at long assembly lines, anvils, and forges... and after a moment of looking back and forth, Zerrex caught sight of a demon wearing an expensive silver suit, the orca chatting away on a cellphone modified to work in Hell... and instantly losing his cheesy smile when he caught sight of Zerrex, a look of disgust appearing on his face instead as he stomped over, brushing aside several assembly-line workers. "Captain Ravenlight. Such... a pleasure."

"Hello, Silverfish." Zerrex said mildly, and the orca made a face of distaste at the old nickname from back in the Goth Legion. He paused, then looked back and forth, saying blandly: "Didn't think I'd catch you here, in this low-scale operation, but now I'm glad I did. Want to direct me to where you've got Garnet working, or should I just shut this down as well?"

Silverfish snarled, poking Zerrex's chest aggressively with one of his fingers, this one sporting a golden ring with a very large ruby on it. "Listen to me, High King, you can shut down my illegal operations but not ones like this. Even the fucking slaves are perfectly legal... what the hell ever happened to you, Captain Ravenlight, you used to be the one always pushing us to worse and worse deeds, now you're... you're ruining operations that could profit both of us!"

Zerrex only looked at him mildly, and Silverfish glared back... but then he began to tremble and sweat, and a moment later he quailed, finally dialing a number on his cellphone as he mumbled: "Bring Garnet up from the cages, send him to forge three. I've got a... customer... here... who has a project for him."

"Better." Zerrex said mildly, and when the orca began to walk away, Zerrex flexed and leaned slightly forwards, a tentacle pushing out of his back and lashing over his shoulder to wrap several times around the Greed demon, squeezing him tightly and forcing him to turn around as his eyes widened in fear. "Oh, and Silverfish? Remember that I don't need my hands to rip you apart if I really wanted to, got that?"

Silverfish nodded dumbly, and Zerrex allowed the tentacle to withdraw quickly into his back, his message clearly sent as the orca scuttled away before the reptile sighed and shook his head slowly, muttering under his breath as he turned and head down a set of metal stairs, ignoring the guards armed with mortal weaponry and walking past sweaty, hulking minotaurs and various demons of all shape and size, most of them wearing aprons and heavy gloves to protect them from the heat and fires of the massive, hexagonal-shaped forges.

The reptile halted in front of the forge, putting down the sword and crossing his arms as he watched a rusty metal door open at the end of the long column, and two guards led out a demonic bear wearing shackles, his body mostly hairless, pink, and rubbery, black burns dotting his form here and there and his black, leathery hands and wrists shackled in front of him, the chain between the shackles short enough to allow for barely any slack even with the metal manacles pressed almost together. His blackened feet were bare and the pants he wore torn and dirty, speckled with dried blood, and two pairs of large horns stuck from the top of his head, one pair pointing straight up from his forehead and the other set beside these to an angle, giving him a strange, crowned look as his almost-blind eyes looked back and forth quizzically, large nose snuffling at the air before he picked up his pace, shaking off the guards as he approached Zerrex and asked him in a rasp: "What have you brought for me to work with today? I smell a special project... a special metal."

"Some people would think you were a mole." Zerrex waved away the guards, and they went, mostly out of fear... but he was fine with that. In this slummy place, Zerrex didn't want to earn respect with these kinds of demons... demons that were weak, stupid, and easily manipulated by Silverfish into working for one of his many illegal operations, even if the Drakkaren couldn't totally prove yet that Silverfish was mistreating his prisoners and slaves: even demons he could trust like Garnet were dangerous convicts, after all, and this was part of his prison duty. "What I need is your help... this is my broken sword, Blackheart. I want to forge it back together."

"Can it be handled?" Garnet asked suspiciously, sniffing the air again, and this time he rose his head high enough that the thin metal collar around his neck became visible, the large garnet stone inside it gleaming: the thing that gave him his name, since he refused to tell anyone his real one, and Zerrex didn't feel like going through the lengthy process of digging it up. "There is... much energy. Hostile energy."

"Give me a moment." Zerrex knelt by his sword, reaching a hand over it hesitantly... and dark lighting sparked at him, the reptile wincing before he cursed under his breath and reached down to grab the handle of the broken hilt. Immediately, dark energy sparked up his arm, and the Drakkaren grit his teeth, clenching his eyes shut as pain tore through him, and he shouted in his mind: Goddammit, Blackheart, it's me! Your real master... you have always been a part of me, don't turn on me now, it'd be like losing a hand, an arm, a limb even more important than that... Blackheart, you were forged with my energy...

The broken pieces of the sword trembled, a faint blue glow growing over them... and then the dark energy surging over Zerrex suddenly halted, and Zerrex saw in his mind Crow grasp the sword and shatter it, saw Blackheart corrupted into a swirling whip... and then a moment later, the images reversed and he was back in reality, standing up and holding the damaged hilt in front of himself before he held it out to Garnet, saying quietly: "It's safe now."

Garnet took it hesitantly... and the moment Zerrex let go of the handle, he flexed his fingers and rubbed slowly at his arm, feeling like every nerve had just been fried as it tingled painfully, a bit of smoke rising up from it but thankfully going unnoticed in the heat and dingy innards of the factory. The bear, meanwhile, was now rubbing a finger against the blade, sniffing it and squeezing into the hilt, almost massaging it in his other hand as he whispered: "Yes, yes... it requires blood and energy, but you can forge the broken pieces back together with a little bit of help... but we need platinum, and adamantine metals... and the Masters won't part with such rare metals so easily."

"They will for me." Zerrex said darkly, and then he took the handle back from Garnet, looking at the shattered blade and murmuring softly: "It's time to put you back together, old friend."