263"This meeting is called to order!" the voice of Amaterasu Omikami, the leader of the Shinto Pantheon assuming the position of the chair of this conference, by virtue of being the host. One by one, the various members of the various factions assembled in the chamber grouping together along factional line.
Curiously, the three factions of the Biblical religion sat together as one group, which raised more than one set of eyebrows. Considering that the God of the Bible was not present, and to see the three squabbling sects of the same religion gathering as one raised a lot of eyebrows. Contrary to what many believed, after their great war, the leaders of the three factions had agreed to one condition which had to be adhered to by all three factions regardless of the nature of their relationship with each other. It was to promote a facade that the God of the Bible had been wounded in the last great war after killing the four original Satan's, and that he was in seclusion to heal and regain his strength which would take five hundred years at least. This was one thing that Michael, Azazel and Sirzechs agreed upon without hesitation. With the death of the Four Satan's and the God of the Bible, Christianity was at its weakest point ever. If the news of God's death were to leak out, it would mean the end of their faction as a whole.
The God of the Bible had a very fearsome reputation, and his thrashing of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Pantheon during the Rule of the Pharaoh's coupled with the emasculation of Rameses's soldiers by Moses had catapulted the Biblical faith into the top of the power leagues and cursed the Egyptian Pantheon to oblivion. It was that reputation which now acted as their shield. Even their most virulent enemies had grudgingly acceded to that line of reasoning. Even in their demented minds, the leaders of the original Satan faction of the devil race knew that it was only the reputation of the God of the Bible which shielded them from the other Pantheon's who regarded their squabble as an internal struggle. If that secret were to be leaked, the other Pantheon's would not hesitate to move. The God of the Bible had not made many friends when bringing his faith to the top. Zeus, for one, would not hesitate to strike in the least. Already there were subtle signs of Hellenism and Kemetism attempting to become relevant again in the mortal world. The spate of movies and literature in the mortal world regarding the adventures of Greek Demigod's and Egyptian mummies were a stark reminder that though their faith was not practiced openly, it still held sway over the mortal world in some form or the other.
"We are here to discuss the spate of events that recently occurred in Kuoh town, in Shinto territory, which was leased to the Devil Faction of the Biblical faith. On the third of November, the Fallen Angel Cadre Kokabiel, along with his followers, attacked the town with the intention of murdering the overseers of the town, one Rias Gremory and one Sona Sitri, both of them being the siblings of Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan, two of the Four New Satan's. As we understand, the goal of Kokabiel was to kill the two children, and in doing so incite a conflict between the Three Factions once more to escalate it into a global conflict, again. As the rulers of the Land, we were obviously concerned, and not wanting our land to be ravaged due to the capriciousness of third parties, we determined that the two children would need to be saved, and as such, according to the treaty we held with the Devil's, we voided their ownership over the territory. Then, we dealt with Kokabiel who fled the scene and remains at large," Amaterasu finished her opening statement, even as she gazed at Sirzechs and Serafall with an accusing glance, while Azazel awkwardly scratched his beard at being put on the spot.
"We are not pleased with this breach in our agreement," Amaterasu continued, with a frosty tone, even as the other Gods watched the representatives of the Biblical faction squirm at being put on the spot so blatantly.
"We handed over that territory to you, under ironclad guarantees that it would not become a new ground for your internecine conflict. We are not pleased with this breach of agreement. Furthermore, we are not pleased with your fantastic error of judgement when you left such a sensitive territory under the control of two inexperienced children, who clearly lacked the skills to administer such a sensitive posting. If we had not decided to take unilateral action, your siblings would have perished, and this world, including our lands would once again be forced to take collateral damage from your conflict. We demand an explanation," Amaterasu concluded, to which Sirzechs and Azazel tipped their heads in agreement at the points raised.
"Our apologies for what have transpired, My Lady," Sirzechs spoke out, rather deferentially considering the situation he found himself in.
"We admit that it was a lapse on our part for not placing adequate security in the territory. But in our defense, this was a remote location and its threat rating was deemed as insignificant. It was for this reason that we chose this location as a means to allow our young to expose and acclimatize themselves to the wider world. None of us could have foreseen the existence of a zealous lunatic who would throw all norms and common sense aside, and desire to burn the world to ashes to achieve his aims," Serafall spoke out in careful terms, while everyone considered her words.
"That does not excuse the fact that you cavalierly allowed two inexperienced children to venture into the world without adequate protection," Tsukuyomi spoke out in a soft tone, while Sirzechs and Serafall squirmed in their seats. "Considering who you are and what positions you hold, it was incumbent upon you to realize that your siblings would always be targeted, regardless of where they were. The fact that you allowed those children to venture into the outer world despite knowing this threat, willingly at that, calls your judgment into question. Either it was incompetence or willful negligence bordering on overindulgent nepotism at best," Tsukuyomi was brutally circumspect, while Sirzechs and Serafall were looking really put out at being put on spot like that.
"Lord Tsukuyomi, you are correct that my colleagues erred in judgment. Then again, it is an inherent nature of our race to be indulgent and willful when it comes to our own kin, which in hindsight can lead to such errors. Regardless of that, this was not done intentionally, I assure you of that much at least," Ajuka Beelzebub spoke out for the first time, while Amaterasu frowned.
"We have already considered that," she replied frostily, but the implication was clear. The Shinto were not pleased that their territory had been brought so near to open warfare again and they were making their displeasure felt.
"In light of this, we have decided to revisit our treaty with you and see if it is still worthwhile to still lease portions of our territory to your faction. At the very least, from now on, none of the relatives of the leaders of your faction will be permitted to administer or oversee such territories ever again. The incompetence of your siblings very nearly brought us to the brink of war. This is non-negotiable," Amaterasu warned, even as she noticed Serafall about to interject and continued unabated, while the female Satan fell silent after listening to a few hurried whispers from Ajuka. "As of now, the treaty between our factions stands suspended, and you will provide a list of overseers you have appointed for the territories that have been leased to you. If we find them unsuitable, then they will need to be removed. Once we review them, and if we have no complaints then our existing arrangements will resume. Refuse, and we will void the treaty and take back all our territories," Amaterasu warned at which Sirzechs frowned even as he considered how his people would react to such an ultimatum.
The reaction of the old guard in the devil race would be of clear outrage at such precipitous words. However, refusal would see them lose ground in the mortal world. Moreover, he did not miss the hidden implications in the threat. Rias and Sona would always have the black mark of being too weak to repel an assault on their territories marked in their records and it would affect their political futures. As a sibling, he detested his sibling being subject to such humiliation, but he had the larger picture to worry about. The said territories were too valuable to lose.
Grudgingly, he nodded his assent while Amaterasu had the barest hint of a smirk on her face.
"While this is all impressive," a lazy voice drawled out, "I am not particularly bothered about the fate of two no-name children or some worthless lay about of a fallen angel. What I am interested is in the person who defeated that mangy crow" from the corner of the table came a lazy drawl, with a voice laced with derision and contempt towards the Biblical faction.
The speaker was Loki, son of Odin Allfather, God of Lies and trickery in the Norse Pantheon. He was a tall man, with a lithe build and a long tress of hair tied up in a large ponytail.
"You have been playing host to some very interesting people, from what I have heard," Loki drawled lazily, even as everybody else became alert and focused on Amaterasu who maintained her composure with remarkable grace.
Sirzechs was thankful for the deviation as everyone focused upon Amaterasu, which eased the pressure upon the devils, even though it irked him in a corner of his heart that his faction was being treated as an aftermath by the other factions. He was not sure whether to thank Loki for his interruption or to curse the others for treating them so disparagingly. Wisely, he settled for being an ignorant bystander instead.
"What do you mean, Loki Odinson?" Amaterasu asked Loki, who glared at her sharply.
"Come now, Lady Amaterasu, did you really think that all of us came here because of two little devil girls being attacked by a nutjob of a fallen angel? None of us gives a damn about them, but what we care about is who you sent to defeat them. We would not have bothered if it was someone from your pantheon. But it was not someone from your pantheon who kicked that crow out, was it?" Athena asked with a smirk on her face, at which Tsukuyomi gave a grim smile as he looked at his sister.
"And why do you care about who defeated that crow? What does it matter to you?" Susanoo asked with a lazy drawl, to which Horus leaned forward.
"We care, because if what we believe is true, then one of the most important agreements which maintain the stability and the balance of power between the various pantheons is at risk of being broken. I say it with all due respect, we are all worried at the prospect of a new demigod arising from the Hindu Pantheon. No disrespect due to you, Lord Indra, but even you should know the carnage that can erupt when a Hindu Demigod goes out of control in battle. The cataclysmic battle between your own son and his rival in the great war of your pantheon was a prime example of that," Horus spoke out in a reasonable tone, even as Indra sighed and leaned back on his chair.
"And how did someone like that come to reside amongst your lands, I wonder? As far as we know, the Shinto have never dealt with the Hindu Pantheon. After all, both of you move in different circles," came the silky tones of Loki, who had a rather smarmy look at that, while Amaterasu looked at him with a heated glare. After all, Loki had just insinuated that the Shinto were someone who had no business dealing with a powerhouse like the Hindu Pantheon.
"He is not a Hindu Demi-god," came the dry tone of Indra, which stilled everyone at the table. "Whoever he is, he used our weapons, yes, but he is not a demi-god. I would know if he was. The agreement still stands," Indra concluded, to which there was a terse silence.
"And we are supposed to believe you, just because you say so?" Apollo scoffed with a derisive tone, as he glanced at Indra, who removed his sunglasses and looked at the young Olympian.
"Was that a question, boy?" Indra asked Apollo with a dismissive tone to which Apollo bristled and made to stand up, only to be pulled down by his sister.
"Even your father knows not to question me, when I say something. It seems the new generation of Gods in Olympus lack the etiquette required in dealing with their betters," Indra scoffed while Apollo purpled in rage, but controlled himself knowing that he was no match for the most powerful God in the world.
"But to comeback to it all," Indra paused even as he turned towards Amaterasu, "Young Horus is right. Our factions have had no dealings with each other. So, imagine my surprise when I learn that someone from Japan had recently used our divine weapons to throw a useless crow halfway across the world! So, I ask you, Amaterasu, who is it, and how did he come to be here? I guess he earned the right to use our weapons from Shiva, because I certainly did not allow anybody access to our pantheon's armory, and the only one who can override me are the Trimurti themselves. So, who is Shiva's new champion, Amaterasu, and what is he doing in your territory? Do summon him, because I would like to know who it is that has gathered the attention of My Lord Shiva," he asked with a calm tone, even though his anger was evident to all members present. Despite her bearing, even Amaterasu felt a twinge of terror as she looked at Indra's visage focus exclusively upon her.
The reaction to the aftermath of that statement filled the chamber with stony silence.
Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. Real life commitments make little time for writing.
