Sunday Brunch

Inside the perfect cub, everybody except the daughters of Artemis are asleep, considering the fact that they've slept for four days in a row. Apolline is meditating while Stormy and Arwen sing hymns with open Bibles as they make their way towards the Romanian boarders. They've been traveling for nearly 5 hours now, and bad weather has slowed their progress. Stormy's starting to feel tired, and she can hear that most everyone on board is hungry, including herself. They soon pass over a partly clouded area with sunshine. Stormy immediately knows where they are and shifts to the right.

Apolline feels the change in direction. "Stormy, what are you doing?"

"Just taking a small brunch detour. See where we are."

"Are you out of your freaking mind! We don't have time for such nonsense."

"Apolline;" says Arwen a little hungry herself; "Most of these people have had a very active night and haven't eaten since yesterday. It's almost noon. We should replenish our energy if another big fight's coming."

"Just pray and meditate;" demands Apolline; "Focus your energies inward. Everybody can replenish on spiritual substance, not physical."

"Are we going to eat?!" Diane wakes up excitedly as her stomach growls. King also wakes up and agrees, hoping to have something other than Tsampa.

"NO! We're not!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" adds Ban opening his eyes.

Elizabeth opens hers. She can feel that the babies inside her womb are demanding nutrients. "Yes, it does."

Gelda wakes up and is very thirsty. Zeldris also wakes up and offers her his blood to drink as usual, but his lover says she'll wait until he replenishes his energy first. Little Hana wakes up and is demanding food (that's not Tsampa) as well. The phoenixgon siblings are inching to be let out to hunt.

"Now look at what you've done!" yells Apolline. "Everyone, WE'RE NOT stopping for physical substance. Since it's Sunday, I'll preach on the reliance of spiritual food and teach you all how to meditate and pray properly!"

"Screw you!" says Ban.

"Yea, screw you;" agrees King and Zeldris. The phoenixgon think the same thing.

"That settles it!" says Stormy heading to the ground. Apolline keeps protesting. Merlin awakens and uses her magic to seal the goddess/demon hybrid's mouth, which angers her. The mage is looking forward to a good meal herself.

"You better remove that;" says Stormy; "She'll lose control if she gets too angry and loses her temper."

Merlin relents and unseals Apolline's mouth. Her eyes turn black, and a demon mark appears on her forehead. "My emotions are under control!"

"Doesn't sound like they're under..." Arwen puts her hand over King's mouth. "Don't say that out loud;" she whispers; "She can be very fragile."

"Don't whisper behind my back!" Elizabeth scoots next to her blood cousin and puts her hand on her shoulder. That's what she's always done for Meliodas when he starts to get too angry.

"Get your hand off me!" says Apolline rudely, shoving Elizabeth; "Only my sisters are allowed to do that."

"Be polite, Sister." Stormy moves and puts her hand on Apolline's should, as does Arwen. They encourage her to breathe and take her usual yoga/meditative position and find her center. It works, and she calms down. Despite seeing it from Meliodas, his friends nearly freak out by what they just saw, and also by how the sisters calmed her down. Stormy lands and undoes the perfect cub. The group's surprised as she's landed them literally between some farmland and a small wood.

"What's this?" asks Ban; "I thought you were taking us to a restaurant."

Wild wakes up and smells the most delicious wild fruit and game. He immediately goes after them. The phoenixgon go off to hunt.

"I'm cooking," informs Stormy; "This place has the best ingredients around."

She creates sheep to go gather ingredients from the forest and river. She sends Arwen with another group of sheep to go get some grain, wheat, oats, almonds, apples, grapes, blueberries, tomatoes, and peaches from the farms.

"You're not taking those without paying, are you?" asks King freaking out a little.

"It's fine;" answers Arwen; "It only takes one pinch of grain or wheat for me to produce a hundred pounds of it. Likewise, it only takes a piece of fruit or a nut, or it's seed, for me to make 100. It's part of my magic."

"Sounds good to me;" says Ban, who's just glad the locals won't suffer from missing a little food. "Your cooking is safe, I hope."

Arwen laughs. "You have nothing to worry about. Stormy's a master chef. She knows what she's doing, this is her forte."

"Unlike you;" says Apolline very bluntly.

"HEY! My cooking's not 'that' bad. It's better than the slop that Apolline makes."

"HEY! I resent that!"

"I'll help you out;" offers Ban.

"No need, thanks," answers Stormy; "Just relax, my sheep me help cook."

As the ingredients are being gathered, couples Diane/King and Zeldris/Gelda excuse themselves for some 'privacy'. Little Hana gets amused by a pond of frogs and butterflies and chases them. Ban, Merlin, and Elizabeth watch the little girl while Apolline tries to resume meditation. They can hear local church bells and music in the near distance. Jasmine seems to be humming along with the bells and hymns but remains asleep, along with Kagome.

Soon, Stormy and her magic sheep are cooking away with magic stoves, pots and pans, and all the stuff necessary. Elizabeth approaches her cousin as she cooks.

"Stormy, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Cousin Elizabeth, anything at all."

"Well." The goddess places her palm on her womb. "I was wondering about this hybrid thing. It seems that Apolline struggles to control her anger and demon powers. Meliodas does, too, as does Zeldris a little. They're both half-human, although we didn't know until a couple of days ago. I've never heard of full-blooded demons struggling like that. Do you struggle with that too, Stormy?"

Ban overhears and is also curious, as is Merlin. Merlin's always known that Meliodas and Zeldris were part human but never told her captain (she doesn't know about Isabella nor that she came from the exact same clan of people nearly 3 centauries before Merlin was born). Gowther has also known all this time but always assumed that Meliodas knew, so he never mentioned it. The other sins believed their captain to be a full-fledged demon, just as he did. Merlin has heard about others struggling with their 'dark' sides but has never really seen it aside from Meliodas himself.

"Wow, that's a complicated one;" answers Stormy as she and her sheep keep cooking. "Honestly, it's not an anger or wrath issue, it's an overall emotional and mental issue. It's also not a dark side or alternate personality either. Demon powers tend to be fueled by emotions more so than others, but it's not limited to demon hybrids. Goddess and other hybrid species also struggle, especially when mixed with human blood. Apolline is half-demon, half-goddess, and suppresses her emotions rather than feeling and dealing with them and dwells on the negative. Human hybrids are sometimes more powerful than, say, full-blooded demons or goddesses or elves and so on, but they're also a lot more emotional, mental, and spiritually complex. It's both a blessing and a curse, I guess. You should've seen me several years ago. I used to struggle with anxiety and uncertainty a lot, not so much anger or wrath. I was all over the place literally and struggled to control my powers. I had to learn to let go and let God. Quit doubting myself and worrying so much. I still need to remind myself regularly. The anxiety's still there, but it doesn't dominate me anymore. It's good to have an Achilles heal. Makes us stronger and much better people at the end of the day."

"That makes sense;" says Ban.

Elizabeth looks at her belly. "I'm pregnant with twins. They'll be part goddess, part demon, and part human. What should we expect with them?"

Stormy shrugs. "That's difficult to predict. Honestly, I'd say take it one day at a time. Give them the best childhood possible. Get to know your children and their potential, and you'll figure out what works for them. I'm sure they'll have struggles, but they should know that they can rely on their parents for support and guidance. Also, I'd say don't pretend to be perfect. It's ok for your children to know that their parents are vulnerable and have flaws. Just love them and be the best parents you can be."

Ban's listening and taking Stormy's advice to heart. There's no way of knowing what abilities his and Eliane's children will have or what their personalities and characteristics will be. The one thing for sure Ban hopes for his children is to give them the loving family and childhood that he never had, hoping they don't have to learn about suffering and the nasty side of life too soon.

Merlin comes closer; "Lady Stormy, do you know about that jewel that gave me so much power back there? I also want to know about devil fruits, Nico Rieka and her abilities, Germany, your mother, and this fortress."

"One subject at a time, please. I can't tell you anything about that jewel. You'll need to ask that Japanese girl about that. I can tell you a bit about devil fruits. Their true origins are unknown, but it's rumored that they were created by..."

Apolline, trying to meditate, overhears, and shakes her head. "Blabber mouth."

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Inside the Fortress spa, Iris somehow realizes that she's asleep and jerks herself awake. She's still on the couch covered with a blanket. Her brother's head, which had been leaning on her arm, is now on her lap. Meliodas had fallen asleep awhile ago. She herself had put on the blanket covering him. His face is still covered in syrup and chocolate stains, which makes her laugh. She remembers her and Nuri taking a few minutes to pray together and do a devotional. Her open Bible and pocket devotional book are still in her lap, underneath her brother's head. She must have fallen asleep while praying, and somebody else must have put a blanket on her. She gently moves her brother, stands up, yawns, and stretches. Nuri's actually asleep on the floor at her feet. She puts the blanket on her and gently places a pillow from the couch underneath her head. Hawk and Melidy are sleeping on a bed of blankets and towels next to the couch. Cringer and Karoo are asleep on the other side of the room, but Eyelash is nowhere in sight. The place is a mess, and she decides to clean up. She picks up all the scattered trash into trash bags and checks on the other guys in the massage room. Willie's still there sleeping, but Inuyasha, who'd been sleeping on the other massage table, is nowhere to be found, although his clothes are still there. Maybe he's just in the restroom. She really hopes he hasn't wondered off. She knows that he wants to retrieve his weapons, and she herself wants to check on Bluey and the cure and find out what Caelestis is up to. She hasn't felt the presence of Artemis, and this deeply concerns her. However, it would be best not to split the group up right now, so nobody gets lost or overwhelmed. They certainly can't afford to be discovered right now. Gowther's not around either. He must be checking on Bluey.

She can hear a repeat tapping sound on some glass. Myoga is inside a jar with air holes calling out to her. Nuri had placed the perverted flea demon in there after he slipped into their clothes, attempting to check out "certain" parts.

"Let me out of here! I thought you were the nice one."

Iris relents and opens the jar. However, she gives Myoga a very threatening look. Freighted, Myoga promises not to bother her again and runs to one of the back rooms.

Iris wonders if she should take a bath (or maybe a tightly sealed shower as she doesn't trust the flea) when she hears Melidy cry. The infant piglet is wide awake and ready for her next bottle. Hawk begins to wake up, but Iris strokes him, and he returns to sleep. She changes the piglet's diaper and warms up a bottle made earlier. She then lovingly feeds the baby and hums to her but doesn't attempt to sing as of yet. She's playing with Melidy when Myoga returns, asking her if she's seen Inuyasha. She checks again, and he's still nowhere to be found except his clothes. Myoga thinks he knows where the half-demon has gone, and Iris realizes it. She's wondering if she should go after him when she realizes that Nuri's now gone too. The pink robe and slippers she had been wearing are on the floor and her clothes are gone. The half-human blames herself for letting her guard down. She prays that Nuri's just going after Inuyasha and that they don't get into a fight. She suddenly feels a giant energy shift, as if something of emesis power has just left the fortress. Could that be Caelestis leaving the fortress. If so, what's she up to? And where's Artemis?

"Lady Iris, you're awake;" Gowther walks into the room carrying an unconscious Bluey. Iris runs to her, holding Melidy. Gowther explains that he found her like this and shows the young lady the dart still attached to her. It's obvious she's been tranquilized, magically drugged tranquilized. So strongly, in fact, that Gowther can't read her mind. Her vital signs are weaking as well. The goat sin also explains that the station and components Bluey was working on were destroyed, and some things seem to be missing from the shelves that Gowther is sure weren't missing before. Fortunately, Bluey was making some notes that she hide in her fur before she passed out, although Gowther can't read them are they are in a mixed Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Persian medical code. Iris can read some of this medical code, but Nuri would know a lot more than her. She quickly leaves two notes right next to Meliodas and Willie, straps a wide awake Melidy to her, and goes with Gowther.

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Inuyasha (still dressed in the black spa robe) is completely lost, although he won't admit that to himself. He's been mostly staying in the shadows but has knocked out and injured a few people who have spotted him, including two minor skirmishes. He's especially frustrated that he can't understand anybody. Still, Inuyasha has no regrets for not waking up or waiting on anybody. He doesn't have time to be resting, he must find the Tessaiga and its sleuth before that psycho goddess does any damage to them. Nobody but Inuyasha can use those weapons properly, but they could still cause chaotic damage in the wrong hands or even be destroyed.

Suddenly, somebody aggressively grabs his wrist from behind. "What do you think you're doing!"

It's Nuri speaking Japanese.

"What the hell?! What are you doing here and how did you find me?"

Nuri, dressed in a red cloak over her monk's robe, shakes her head. "Tornadoes leave smaller trails, then you do moron. What's the idea of wondering around by yourself and beating people up. You want to give us away, you idiot."

"Does it look like I care?!" Inuyasha lies; "I'm retrieving my weapons back and getting back to Japan. Kagome needs me."

"And you plan to get there how?"

Inuyasha just looks at her; "I'll figure it out."

Nuri swooshes in front of him. "You better not even attempt to take on these goddesses alone. If you rush in there half-cocky without a battle plan, you'll be losing way more than just your own life or sword."

"Hypocrite!" responds Inuyasha despite never having seen Nuri in battle; "You don't seem to be the type to think things through. We don't have time for nonsense like that! Get out of my way!"

The half-demon scratches the vulacish's face with his claws. She stands there unaffected. Inuyasha's not exactly wrong. Despite her smarts and experience, Nuri is notorious for losing her hair triggered temper. More often than not, it ends in disaster at such great costs, and she punishes herself for it afterwards.

Inuyasha struggles to move as Nuri holds him down. He's amazed at her strength level even with her volcanic powers depleted. But Inuyasha can get out of most sticky situations by fighting alone, and he makes his move. To his surprise, however, Nuri seems to predict what he's doing and gets him back. He tries again and she can match him move by move. Nuri has trained in and mastered many types of fighting styles over the years, including several types of martial arts, samurai styles, and Japanese street fighting, among others. She can practically predict what the half-demon is thinking and counteract his mostly unskilled moves. He challenges her to a fight. She pretends to accept, but at right the second, she takes out a tranquilizer and injects Inuyasha with it. He soon passes out and Nuri drags him back the other direction. They really can't afford a fight right now and being discovered. It isn't long before Gowther finds them, having traced their minds. Nuri drops Inuyasha on the floor and runs the other way, making sure to mentally block her mind so Gowther can't track her.

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Hawk thinks he's dreaming about the most awful smell ever. It literally smells like, SKUNK! He wakes up to find a pair of skunks walking past him.

"WHAT THE..."

He hears upset rambling nearby. Cringer and Karoo have been sprayed by the skunks. They're also chained together with prison shackles and iron balls and are dressed in black and white striped shirts that tie in front, and parts of their fur and feathers have been spray dyed pink and purple. Hawk moves, and he, too, is shackled to an iron ball. It's actually not that heavy to Hawk since he's much stronger than Cringer and Karoo, who can't even drag one ball an inch without their hardest efforts. The pig's also got on a black and white striped shirt on him. Cringer and Karoo scream, and Hawk realizes that he can no longer understand Cringer's words. Hawk wonders where his sister is when he realizes that he's chained to Meliodas. Breaking these shackles will be like ripping soft paper to the dragon sin, but he needs to wake up. Hawk tries to wake him when Meliodas grabs him to snuggle, calling for Elizabeth.

"Meliodas! Knock it off. I'm not Elizabeth!"

Hawk kicks him in the face. It doesn't affect him, of course. Then he notices his friend's face and screams. Meliodas's face has been painted on. He looks like a deranged, sick clown! The high pitched squill scream is enough to wake the dragon sin, who also screams when he opens his eyes to Hawk's face, which looks like a cross between a witch doctor and a totem pole mask.

"Hawk? What happened to your face?"

"My face? What happened to yours? And your hair?"

"My hair?"

Meliodas runs to one of the mirrors, completely unaware of the ball and shackles, and accidentally drags Hawk along. Both guys are freaked out by their faces, but Meliodas is even more freaked out by his hair! It's not actually messy or anything, but worse. His hair is completely slicked down neatly, as if it's been moosed! Even his two hair pieces that always stick up are completely moosed, hair sprayed, and gelled down. His hair feels as stiff as a board. He doesn't find this funny at all. His shirt and vest are also mostly unbuttoned, and his tie is undone, as if somebody started to undress him, then quit.

"Who'd do such a thing? And what the hell are these looks supposed to be? Hawk, what are you wearing?"

"Meliodas, please break off these balls and chains!"

"Huh?" Meliodas finally realizes he and Hawk are chained together; "Oh. I didn't notice this." He easily breaks the chains. Karoo and Cringer call out to him, pointing to the ball and shackles. Unfortunately, Meliodas can't understand them. "Huh? What's going on? I understand this tiger earlier."

"Meliodas, I'm sure they're trying to ask you to remove the shackles."

The dragon sin laughs. "Why? They look so funny struggling with each other like that. Besides, they reek of skunk."

"Meliodas, please!"

The dragon sin huffs. "Alright. I wonder what's with the strange shirts you're wearing. They're odd."

Meliodas breaks the chains. The tiger and duck rush off to find baking soda and tomato juice to remove the skunk smell. "Where's everybody else?" Meliodas asks. Hawk shows him the note from Iris. She and Gowther have Melidy with them and are helping Bluey in the lab. It also says Inuyasha and Nuri have gone off on their own. "Why is everybody leaving?" wonders Meliodas; "We all should be staying together. Besides, I want to bond with the sister I never knew I had."

"Says they'll be back soon;" says Hawk; "I'd rather keep my sister with me. Let's clean this stuff off. I don't want anybody to see like this, especially Melidy."

"No kidding," agrees Meliodas. They are completely unaware that Eyelash took pictures of them. Meliodas unbuttons the rest of his shirt. "That hot tub with soap bubbles sure sounds good right about now, along with a drink and something to eat. Hawk, will you join me?" Hawk's already had two baths today but agrees. It's been ages since he and Meliodas enjoyed a hot spring together. The pig takes off that ridiculous shirt, and for the first time, Meliodas notices that Hawk is indeed a little slimmer, if still very plump.

"Hey Hawk, have you lost weight?"

"Oh yea;" answers Hawk. "30 lbs. that I'm aware of. Don't want to lose too much more, but I don't want to gain it back either. I've got more energy and stamina than ever, not that I've ever been out of shape or anything."

That's true. Hawk's actually always been in pretty decent shape and had good stamina despite how much he'd eat as the Boar Hat's scraps disposal (although he did ALOT more for the tavern then just eating up leftovers, especially whenever the boss wanted to slack off, which was often).

Meliodas snickers. "Well, considering that a year-and-a-half ago you instantly lost 328 lbs. then gained it all right back in 6 weeks says anything!

Meliodas is referring to when Hawk nearly died saving him and Elizabeth from a possess Henderson and came back to life as a shrunken, two-pound size that fit into the palm of your hand. (Melidy was even smaller at birth but now weighs 4 lbs.)

"It was two months! And that was a fluke."

As Meliodas removes his shirt, it's obvious that he, too, has lost weight, which surprises Hawk. "Meliodas, have you lost weight too?

Meliodas gasps hearing that; "Man, I sure hope not."

They then hear muffed hollering. They find Willie rolled up in heavy carpet, with tape on his mouth. He freaks out at their faces before realizing its them. Despite trying to be gentle, Meliodas still hurts Willie by removing the tape and apologizes. As they role the monk out of the carpet, Willie realizes that he can't understand Meliodas, or Hawk. The dragon sin doesn't catch on and keeps talking to the monk as he normally would. Willie checks his clothes, and the language amulet is no longer there. Somebody must have taken it, and Willie believes he knows who. He was the only one who woke up and saw Eyelash in action, so the llama still red pajamas did something different to him instead of painting his face before injecting a temporary tranquilizer into him. These powerful but short-lasting tranquilizers are the reason that nobody woke up while Eyelash worked on them, although Meliodas's sleep Elizabeth hugging is the reason why the dragon sin isn't clad in a white and black stripped prison shirt.

Willie notices that Meliodas has indeed lost weight since just a couple days ago. This really concerns him, especially since the dragon sin's stomach is growling again. Unfortunately, there's no more food around except milk and coffee, plus sugar and some mints that the spa has. Meliodas isn't happy about this, but it's better than nothing.

Hawk and Meliodas wash off their faces before entering the hot tube. Meliodas tries to get Willie to join them, still not catching on that they don't understand each other despite Willie saying a short sentence. Having already been in there earlier, Willie declines and gets dressed to search for the amulet.

After Meliodas washes all that stuff out of his hair, the two old friends sit in the tube and the dragon sin drinks several cups of coffee with way too much milk and sugar. Hawk gets curious. "Hey Meliodas, are you and Elizabeth planning to have children?"

Meliodas nearly chocks on the mints he's sucking on. "Yea, eventually. Why?" Hawk tries not to smirk. "Oh, Elizabeth's been talking about kids. You excited?"

Meliodas just sits there twitches his thumbs, not even trying to hide the fact he's nervous.

"You can be honest with me buddy."

"Yes I know;" Meliodas exhales; "Just strange that you brought that up out of the blue."

"Are you apprehensive? You can tell me."

"Well;" Meliodas really wishes he had a drink and some real food to munch on, or better yet, Elizabeth or even his sister to lean on. "I do want kids, of course. Guess, I'm nervous, well, I didn't exactly have a good father as you know."

"Meliodas, you'll be a great father. A goofy one maybe, but you're so much better than Barbatos. Besides, you'll have the best babysitters around. Believe me, we've been practicing."

Meliodas smiles, feeling better. "Thanks, buddy, but no need to rush things. Not like it's happening anytime soon."

Hawk barely manages to hold back a giggle.

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Caelestis enters a hidden cave in a different part of Romania. She has several things with her, including Artemis's prison and the Tessaiga and its sleuth, along with the two pieces to the seal that Artimes had, the pink pearl from Japan and the meteor star from Krakatoa, Java in Indonesia. She enters some sort of workshop. A giant, ugly man, taller than Diane, looks up from what he's working on and lifts up his goggles.

"Madame Artemis, for what is the pleasure of this visit. Never expected to see you on a Sunday."

"It's me, Hephaestus you idiot!" says the Supreme Deity firmly, pulling down her hood. "Get your eyes checked you imbecile."

"Oh;" craftsmanship Hephaestus, descendant of the original male goddess Hephaestus (worshiped as one of many gods in ancient Greece by humans). "Beg your pardon Madame. You and your sister look so much alike."

"Don't call me Madame and don't ever compare me to her again. Now, remember my requests?" She dumps several items on the floor. "Now, get to work. I want new pieces or substitutes immediately. No debating."

Hephaestus eyes widen. "Caelestis, your highness, I thought I made it clear that..."

"What did I just say about questioning me!" Caelestis hits the goddess with lighting, injuring him. "I'll remove both of your arm and burn them to ash, then you'll have no arms or hands to work with." She picks up the Tessaiga; "You should be able to forge a new ankh from this. It's made from the fang of a descendant of the same blood line. I've got other materials you should be able to make new parts with as well. You've got the original blueprints."

"Actually, I don't even know if those are even the real blueprints or even exact copies, your highness;" the craftsmen explains; "Even if I could make new pieces, there's no guaranteed..."

"Just make them!" Caelestis is about to lose her temper; "If you don't have them ready in 24 hours, I will destroy your precious hands. That's not a threat!"

"Caelestis..."

The Supreme Deity immediately destroys all his craft work in the lab, many of which took years to perfect, devastating the craftsman. "I'll be back in twenty-four hours. You'd better deliver or else!"

The supreme goddess storms out of the cave. She has other stops to make. Hephaestus is doomed for sure, as are his precious crafts.

"That stupid woman, she'll do anything to restart the holy war, even if it's in another part of the world."

Hephaestus is startled. Nemesis, formally known as Lucy, appears. "Madame Nemesis? When did you get here?"

"I've been here. Thanks to this ingenius titanium sea prism stone shield you made for me, that ignorant old goat didn't even sense I was here."

"You'd better not relay too much on that shield;" informs Hephaestus; "It'll only go so far. Madame Nemesis, please help me out here. There's no way on God's green earth I can make substitute pieces in 24 hours. It took my great-grandfather two-years to make the originals and all the notes and original blueprints were destroyed. I believe the ones Caelestis got a hold of from that ancient hidden treasure in Athens are foraged. I know others attempted to make copies over the centuries, but they were destroyed."

"In case you forgot, I'm the one who put the idea into her head;" admits Nemesis; "All those substitute pieces are going to do is completely release the smooze with no way to control it. It'll take the world's strongest armies at least 500 years to destroy it all."

"Those pieces were meant to keep the chaos smooze from escaping, not to release it;" explains Hephaestus; "but only in the right hands with the right spiritual bonds. Our ancestors went through a lot of trouble to make sure they could never be recovered, but as to why they weren't destroyed, we'll never know."

"And the emperors are going to destroy Caelestis and all of Britannia when she releases it. Fortunately, I'M going to be the hero who stops it and reseal it. Then the Pacific Emperors will finally give me the means to become an emperor myself and I'll conquer all of Europe, once I eliminate those soon to be weakling emperors that is, then I'll conquer all of the Pacific too. Maybe even the world! Who's going to stop me!"

Hephaestus always stays out of his client's politics, he only cares that they love his handy work and doesn't generally care how it's gets used, whether it's for good or evil.

"How?" asks Hephaestus. "Where do you intend to get a beast to sacrifice and stop the smooze in its tracks. The purgatory beast in Germany won't be compatible with the seal."

"Of course not, idiot! I'm going to use a beast from the African purgatory."

"Good luck;" says the craftsmen sarcastically; "You've been trying to get in there for 2,000 years and haven't succeeded yet. The African purgatory is the most difficult to get into and the most hazardous."

"I don't need to get in there anymore, dufus;" explains Nemsis; "Remember that dimensional rift I caused with your device 15 years ago?"

"Yes, and the two beasts you pulled through it disappeared."

"Well, I've finally found them. They've been in Luxor's demon realm this whole time."

"So, are you returning to Luxor or are you planning too..."

"Exactly. I don't need to return to Luxor. I just need you to retrieve her from the inside out. The little one, not the big one."

"Of course, my lady. I'll get on too it right away."

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In the Luxor demon realm, Big Guy, Captain of the Scrapes Brigade, is standing guard outside Cleo's chambers keeping visitors away. The had received instructions from Gowther and Bluey earlier that morning on how to slow the viruses progress, buying the demon queen at least an additional day and reducing the possible damage on the humans infected. Jericho and Gulia are still ill, and Guila seems to be in danger of possibly losing her eyesight without the cure while Jericho's experiencing lots of painful muscle spasms. Margaret's not suffering as much as the Holy Knights, but her uterus has been infected, endangering her fertility. All of these problems can be avoided if they get the cure in time, but they must receive it within the next two or three days.

Big Guy continues his "torment" of Ramesses, making the demon cat get wet cloths and whatever is needed to make the ladies comfortable, all the while forcing jumping beans down Ramesses throat, which literally cause him to hiccup and jump while he tries to perform these tasks. Ramesses ask Big Guy for some scrapes, but he gives him the grossest vegetable scrapes, much to the cat's dismay. Angel is also with them, whimpering as her best friend lies upstairs fighting for her life. Big Guy won't let her go up to see her anymore at this time.

"BIG BROTHER, HELP!" Angel suddenly shouts. Big Guy sees a hand emerge from inside his sister's eye and starts sucking her into a vertex. "ANGEL!" Big Guy grabs her and tries to pull her out. Ramesses sees this and runs away, terrified. Big Guy pulls hard, but a black force emerges and pushes him back, even biting him hard in several places, forcing him to let go of his sister. It takes only half a split second for Angel to get pulled into the vortex and disappear, leaving her brother helpless to save her.