The Azure King's Last Life

Roland wasn"t fooled. In reality the campus was surrounded by a powerful barrier and the walls were only to indicate the boundary of the barrier. It was a subtle warning to any who attempted to come in uninvited.

In fact other than the students and staff few were granted access through the barrier. Roland was one of those few now, not that he couldn"t break the barrier anyway if he really tried.

The main building itself, he saw, had a beautiful and almost castle-like design with long windows in each cla.s.s. Through the windows you would see an arrangement of trees that students would pa.s.s by on their way into the building.

The trees were a variant of cherry-blossom trees that Loki had taken a liking to on one of the planets under his pantheon"s jurisdiction. At a certain time of year the trees" leaves would turn a deep, vibrant pink. These trees, however, bloomed year-round. Their leaves were made to posses a perpetual shade of pink. The leaf-filled branches fluttering in the winds left a deep impression.

It made you feel as if you were standing inside a painting.

The students themselves were all fairly young-looking. Though that didn"t matter for s.h.i.t since higher beings had much longer lifespans than humans. Their bodies would take many years to age once they got to a certain point.

A demon-kin could be 150 years old and still look 15. It"d take another century or longer before their bodies showed the same changes a human"s would after a year. Even then some people aged more gracefully than others and some races showed no signs of age at all no matter how long their lived.

G.o.ds, for example, were one of said races. Anyone with G.o.dly blood in them would be the same. They wouldn"t have all the perks of full G.o.dhood but agelessness was almost always one of them.

Roland took a glance at the students and thought he probably knew the parents of some of the brats.

The best and brightest, huh...yeah, he definitely knew someone"s relative. h.e.l.l he might"ve even known someone"s mother, if only for a night.

It was odd, though, being younger than most of his soon-to-be protégés. It gave a sense of dissonance.

He was looking forward to torturing the spoiled little tykes.

"Here"s the place you"ll be living in for the time being." They stopped at a huge, mansion-like building. "Go to the cafeteria whenever you"re hungry and they"ll whip up something for you."

"Neat." He didn"t really care. "There"s no one here. It"s a large place, why isn"t it being used?"

"Got too small." The woman replied candidly. " There were a lot more students than were expected and since they were left alone fights kept breaking out to establish the pecking order. Had to build dorms near the main buildings so we could supervise them."

"Fights? I"d have thought Loki would encourage something like that."

"Oh he did." Abigail"s eyes were as flat and dull as a science book."He even started spreading rumours to instigate more chaos. He developed a habit of disguising himself as one student, p.i.s.sing off another, then hide so he could watch the sparks fly from behind the scenes."

That certainly sounded like something Loki would do.

"And you had to step in, I"m guessing?"

A shrug. "To be honest I wouldn"t have cared either if not for the fact that they were noisy enough to wake the dead. I kept nagging Loki about it and he eventually gave in. I had to beat the students half to death a few times before that though."

Roland couldn"t help letting out a chuckle or three. "Really? d.a.m.n." He gave her an appraising glance. "I think you and I will get along just fine, Abs."

She furrowed her brows. "Please don"t. That overgrown gorilla calls me that and I"d rather not be reminded of the headache when I"m already busy taking care of a pain in the a.s.s man-child."

"Noted."

She paused. "And don"t take what Loki said to heart. I am NOT that guy"s woman. At all. I"m quite available, actually."

"Am I supposed to take that as a hint?"

"You can take it however you want, sweetcheeks."

If he didn"t know any better Roland would say he was being objectified just then. Not that he minded.

"Hm. Just so you know, I currently have no interest in you as a woman." Lies, every word, but it had to be said. "Nothing personal but there"s a lot of girls out there, I don"t need to be on Ares" bad side just because I wanted to have meaningless s.e.x with one."

And the heavens knew Roland was pretty much always up for that. When the women weren"t tangled up with one of his friends in an ambiguous and likely very complicated way, that is.

"I"m not asking you to, just saying. And don"t get me wrong, I get that Ares is a big catch but that doesn"t mean I have to want him. Me and him, as you might guess, have a bit of history. One I have no intention of revisiting. So you might want to be respectful towards your friend, and I totally get that. But I"m my own woman, dammit, and if I wanted meaningless s.e.x with you I wouldn"t be stopped just because you and Loki think I"m somehow Ares" property. You"d really just have to accept it."

Oh. Wow. Okay. Now there was just something about that last sentence that sounded a touch r*pe-y, right? But Roland ignored it.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, calm down. I wasn"t saying that at all. I just think it"d be better for me to stay out of whatever thing you and Ares have going on. "Cuz you"re right, I know there"s a thing."

She examined him for a moment. "Fair enough. Sorry," She added belatedly. " I just really hate that kinda stuff, you know? People tend to treat you with a bit of distance when they find out the Higher Plane"s most eligible G.o.d of War has you in their sights for reasons they know nothing about. I try to keep it under wraps but Loki"s a blabbermouth. Boy gossips like an old married woman."

Roland grunted, trying very hard to keep himself from bursting out with laughter. "Yeah, that"s a pretty accurate description. And it"s understandable. I get it."

"Good."

"So...Friends? Without benefits?"

"Sure. Friends without benefits." She smiled. It was a pretty smile. Roland earned himself a pat on the back.

It was surprisingly strong.

He later realized this might be the first strictly platonic relationship he"d had with a woman in a long time.

***

Roland took a short period of time to familiarize himself with his new home.

Heh. Home. He somehow thought the term inappropriate. He hadn"t had a real home since he left his mother"s birth realm. He just drifted from place to place, searching for a solution to a problem he wasn"t even sure he truly wanted gone.

That wasn"t a way to live, was it? Everyone had to have a home, a place you slept soundly.

Roland didn"t have that currently. He"d even almost forgotten what that was like by now.

He suddenly had the urge to return to that place. Maybe he would sometime, sometime soon, before he couldn"t anymore.

These thoughts were put to the back of his mind while he focused on the building.

It had around a hundred large rooms, each with a bed and bath. They had black marble and gold inlay wherever you looked. A chandelier decorated with thousands of diamonds hung in the foyer.

There were grand paintings, priceless antiques and red carpets.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg, friends.

None of that other s.h.i.t could compare to what he saw in the kitchen.

They had a f.u.c.king chocolate fountain!

A huge, 8-foot-high monstrosity that gushed the richest, most addicting chocolatey goodness Roland had ever tasted.

He had to admit, it made him a little hard.

Let it not be said that Loki didn"t treat these brats well.

After devouring half a gallon of the stuff Roland made a mental note to take the thing with him when it was time to leave.

Only strange thing is that he"d found some tracks near it. Cat paws. It led from the fountain and out to the foyer before disappearing, the marks clearly made of dried chocolate.

Had an animal gotten inside? He couldn"t sense anything near right now.

Roland hoped it came back. He loved cats. People said they were selfish a.s.sholes, and they can be, but treat them well and they were putty in your hands. Sol and Mephisto had often accused him of being a furry.

Given his track record with the beast clan women he couldn"t say otherwise. But come on, it was a cat. Running your hands over their soft, languid forms when they were all stretched out was downright therapeutic. f.u.c.k them.

Roland had to remember to be on the lookout for the animal. He worried the chocolate wouldn"t be good for it"s digestive system. Besides, he"d enjoy the company. Especially in a place as big as this.

He chose an inconspicuous room near the middle of the second floor to settle in at.

Roland thought it was time for a wash. He still had the thick musk of s.e.x hanging around him and while he wasn"t unfamiliar or very mindful of the smell he thought it best to not walk around smelling like a French wh.o.r.e in a place full of "impressionable youngsters" with noses similar to that of bloodhounds.

Plus he liked cleanliness and the sweat was discomforting.

He undressed and ran some hot water, then scrubbed himself clean.

It would be simple for him to cast a spell and rid his body of all filth but he savored the feel of warm water lapping against his skin. Not everything in life had to be done in a hurry. Sometimes it was better to slow down and enjoy the little things.

***

lt was half an hour later and all he"d done was gorge himself on chocolate and create ice puppets to alleviate his boredom.

He made a drama show out of the figures and had just let the main character walk in on her cheating lover when he got tired and decided he should address an important issue.

Roland walked to his bed and folded his hands across his chest.

"I"m going to take the gag out. Start wailing and you"re going in a pickle jar, understand?"

Fred, the body-less head, grunted in response. Roland took that as a sign of agreement.

He removed the gag.

"I want to die." Fred"s voice was deceptively calm.

Well d.a.m.n, that was a bad way to start a conversation.

"You"re already dead, bud. Can"t help you there."

"Please kill me."

"I told you, that"s impossible." Kinda slow, wasn"t he?

The man snapped. "I said, f.u.c.kING KILL ME!" His voice rang throughout the room. "You sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I can still feel my body! There are...things....under my skin, all over. I can feel them, their little legs. So many..." He went wild-eyed, on the verge of madness. Tears built. "Please, I"m begging you, let me go!" The immortal sobbed. "Please. Please. Please..."

Roland asked him not to but here he was, wailing.

Wow. He really was different from last time.

c.r.a.p, Roland thought. I broke him.

He felt a teeny bit sorry for the guy so he opted to make an exception and not stick his head in a jar.

"Uh, that"s not supposed to happen...let me do something..."

Roland took out the white bone blade, which made the man hysterical. He worked his facial muscles to the extreme to try and escape but seeing him jerk his mouth this way and that in an attempt to roll away just made the entire thing way too comical.

He ignored it and stuck the blade a few inches into the man"s skull.

The maddened screams were horribly, like a cross between a banshee with a sore throat and a middle-schooler going through p.u.b.erty.

Then all of a sudden he stopped.

His tears turned from ones of fear and pain into those of relief.

"Better?"

Fred didn"t even speak. His watery eyes just shifted down. His long, s.h.a.ggy grey hair cast shadows over his face.

He looked so pitiful and beaten.

Maybe he"d learn to keep his tongue in check now.

"Yeah." He managed to choke out. "Yeah it is."

Roland grunted. "Good. Now answer my questions or I turn it back on."

He had absolutely no idea if that was possible but better to let the man think he could.

"No!" A screech. "Please, I"ll tell you anything you want to know! Anything!"

"Your name?"

"H-Haden."

"Nope." Roland flicked his forehead. "Your name is Fred. "

"I...no...what?" He didn"t understand.

"Fred. You."

"...Yes."

"Next question. What are you?"

Silence.

I waved the blade in his face.

"Okay, okay, stop! Look, I"m just a freelancer, alright? I take contracts for money and carry out the orders of whoever pays me. That"s it, I swear!"

Roland squinted at him suspiciously.

He didn"t seem to be lying.

"And who were the people working with you?"

"What people?"

Playing dumb, or...?

"The corpses you saw? Those guys. Your buddies, remember?"

"I don"t know them though? I was just scared you"d kill me too, that"s why I freaked out. Though I thought it"d be better to die after...after that started. How would I know old dudes like them anyway?"

What the h.e.l.l? Old dudes?

"Look in the mirror, you"re not exactly a spring chicken yourself." Roland mocked. A sudden thought came to him just then, a possibility he hadn"t considered until now. "Hey, how old are you?"

"19!"

Roland was stunned into silence.

f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, wasn"t that my age? This guy...Indeed, so pitiable...

Roland felt incredibly awkward as he fetched a mirror from the nearby desk and held it to the man"s face.

"Who"s the old fart?"

"...."

The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Realization slowly set in on Fred"s face. He noticed how his every movement and expression were perfectly reflected in the "old fart"s" across from him.

He turned a sickly yellow-white.

"T-This isn"t funny...quit it..."

Roland spared him more suffering and put the mirror down.

He coughed. "It seems the organization you joined recruited you at an early age."

Roland thought whatever had been done to the other three had missed Fred since he died and was soul-bound to his head before the spell, whatever it was, got to him.

But now that he started the questions he realized that was probably only a part of the spell. This must be a failsafe. If for some reason it couldn"t kill them then it destroys whatever memories the person acquired since joining.

Roland felt that explanation made sense. Thing is they shouldn"t have been such chicken s.h.i.ts when he showed up. They didn"t know who Roland was, presumably, so, being immortals, they shouldn"t have been so quick to run.

Yeah some might feel the fluctuations of power Roland gave off and be wary, but to run so soon? That was pretty shady.

"This has to be a joke." Fred shook his head in disbelief. Or tried to. It was pretty hard to accomplish such a task when you lacked shoulders. And a neck.

"See anyone laughing, kid?"

Depression set in." I hadn"t even had a woman yet." He sniffled.

That was always one of the biggest regrets, wasn"t it?

"If it"s any comfort, you probably have. You just, you know, can"t remember."

"Ma was right, I should"ve never left home...."

Roland scratched his cheek. "...You know, let"s just forget about that whole me f.u.c.king your mother bit." Guy was miserable enough, right?

"What?"

"Eh, nothing, nothing." He cleared his throat.

"Oh." Fred vaguely recalled hearing about something disturbing when the man and his friend had been talking but it was slightly m.u.f.fled. He decided to forget it.

"What"re you going to do with me?" Fred shook his fright away and readjusted himself. Oh, he bounced back quickly, this dude. Roland felt slight admiration.

Stil. What to do with him?

Since he was neither fully dead or alive, what COULD you do with him?

He"d never be able to use any of his previous abilities again, his soul was injured and forced to live inside his head, and even if you reduced his head to ash he still wouldn"t die unless at least three Death G.o.ds got together to send him to the spirit realm. He"d just regenerate otherwise.

Or worst case the ashes would scatter, his soul in tow, essentially ripping it to billions of shreds, all aware and conscious of what"s happening to them, which would undoubtedly drive him mad. Cursed forever into an existence worse than what most h.e.l.ls could provide.

Roland felt worse the more he thought of it. Now he wouldn"t give to s.h.i.ts if it was your usual sc.u.m, but the guy, as he was now, had the mind of an innocent(?) 19 year old kid. It complicated things.

But what could Roland do? You rarely found a Death G.o.d in the first place, reclusive as they were, and you most certainly wouldn"t find them working together.

Why would they unite just for little old Fred the Head?

Once you cut off a limb with the white bone blade it was impossible for the two parts to reconnect. A G.o.d or immortal could destroy their bodies entirely and possibly regenerate everything from scratch(G.o.ds with certainty, immortals with a much lesser chance) but when you cut off the head there was no way to undo it as far as Roland knew.

So he couldn"t give him his body back and let him live as a semi-undead. He wasn"t able to send the man"s soul to the afterlife either....

What to do?

"Let"s just get you drunk for now."

The answer to all problems in life began at the bottom of a bottle.

***

Ever see a disembodied head thrown into a barrel of wine, then drink the whole thing dry in 10 seconds flat? Roland had. And it was amazing.

He really didn"t know what happened to the alcohol after it was drank. It was completely illogical that the stuff didn"t fall out of his throat. Because you could point his neck towards a wall, open his mouth and see the hung paintings. Weird.

It wasn"t, however, possible for the man to get drunk.

Apparently the sense of taste was fine though, so he had that going for him.

Again, Roland usually wouldn"t mind overmuch about the circ.u.mstances of some p.r.i.c.k but he had to admit, the man"s situation was one he empathized with. If slightly.

Then he realized what time it was and decided to place Fred on the windowsill, much to his annoyance, and left the house.

He walked along the large, straight path that connected the mansion to the main road which, in turn, connected to the main building.

He saw several students sitting on benches. Either making out, reading or talking to someone on their crystal tablet--basically the Higher Planes version of a smartphone but better since smartphones couldn"t connect you to other realms or download intergalactic p.o.r.n faster than a supercomputer.

Roland ignored the curious, questioning and sometimes heated stares he got and went on his merry way. Seems they noticed the new guy, huh?

It was mostly smooth sailing but one douche thought he"d be slick and tried scanning him with his spiritual sense. Roland promptly sent the guy images of himself being gang banged by a pack of wild dogs and he quickly backed off, likely feeling his b.u.m puckering up in response to an all too lifelike illusion.

Serves him right. Didn"t he know it was rude to probe someone"s body like that without even a h.e.l.lo? Honestly, kids these days were so disrespectful!

He soon reached his destination. Not even bothering to knock, he let himself in.

Loki sat on the same chair as yesterday.

"Oh, Roland. d.a.m.n, nearly thought you forgot about them. You"re here for the kids, yeah?"

"I"m certainly not here for your winning smile."

"He said, lying through his teeth." A snort. "Righty-o then, enough of that. Let"s go. They"ve stewed long enough."

The two made their way towards the nurse"s room where the G.o.d had dumped the children.

When they arrived the older looking boy was pacing restlessly from one side of the room to the other. The younger one wore a vigilant expression and took in every detail while the two girls were talking amongst themselves quietly in a corner.

Roland and Loki, being the guys they were, obviously noticed them first.

They were quite beautiful, both of them. The black haired one gave off a mysterious sort of allure. Her midnight tresses and fair skin created a pleasing contrast. There were many women with the same colorings. But what made this one exceptional was the cool, valiant aura she exuded. It was the kind that made a person want to see her shamed.

She was a tough girl, Roland surmised. Confident and composed. The type you wanted to see all red-faced and embarra.s.sed because of how serious she usually is.

Like you wanted to strip her bare just to see what kind of expression she made.

Not that Roland would do that here here but he knew from experience it was always fun teasing a girl like her. "Course her personality could be totally different from what he imagined but he was normally on point with his judgements.

Girl was likely a tomboy through and through. A real knight in shining armour to all the girls.

Hm, but what really caught a person"s attention was her eyes. They were a clear, deep gold that swallowed you in. The kind of l.u.s.trous color you got when holding a gold coin into the light.

As for her sister, she had magnificent ruby-red hair. Coupled with that flawless, jade-like skin and devilish figure you had yourself a world-cla.s.s vixen on your hands

Her lips had to have been the most lush he"d ever seen, too. They were exquisitely inviting.

Though her figure was not quite as thought-provoking as her sister"s Roland knew that her wide, innocent green eyes would easily capture the heart of any man.

He furrowed his brows when he got to the boys. They were golden-haired, with strong yet somehow delicate features. Masculine, but...something else too. He wondered if they had an Angel in their family history.

They bore chocolate-brown eyes and slightly tanned skin bursting with a healthy shine. They reminded him of Loki"s brother Thor, without the arrogance.

Or maybe Baldur would be a better example.

They would be quite popular with women.

He wondered which of them were the lovers of which. He thought the black-haired one would be with the older-looking brother, but who knows, maybe she liked the younger, more quiet one.

Not that any of it really mattered to Roland, he just found it fun to guess. If he had to say, he"d like the idea of the red hair and older brother more. The black hair seemed as headstrong as the older brother appeared to be so they matched well. Yet it"d be a boring combination.

Contrasts were where the bold, interesting parts began.

Ha, he was getting as bad as Loki and Sol now. He did away with the idle thoughts and focused on the matter at hand.

Somehow he felt something was definitely off but couldn"t explain it.

"Finally!" The older boy exploded. "Someone to talk to. Alright, speak up, who the h.e.l.l are you guys? Why are we here? How long do you intend on keeping us locked up?"

"We"re called the Order of Illicit Affairs and you"ve been accused of fornicating with the goats of your neighbor Jeb from down the road. You"re being kepts under quarantine until further notice. As for you little ladies, tsk, tsk, tsk, you get the paddle. Come, bend over and accept your punishement. For what you may ask? Well I"ll think of that later. Oh, actually, I just did. Incest. Yup. Nasty crime, that. Have you no shame? Think of the children you"d make. Yes I know you"re both women. Shut up. No further questions!"

Loki"s mouth spewed a bunch of nonsensical bulls.h.i.t that fried their brains.

"You...huh?" The young man was at a complete loss. Then he went scarlet. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you"re just making fun of us!"

"Yeah, kinda. But how can I know you"ve never f.u.c.ked a goat, huh? Hmph, maybe being here is just Karma coming back to bite you on your a.s.s the same way you did those poor animals."

The other guy was so angry at the idiocy he was laying witnesss to that he was panting heavily, on the verge of having a heart attack. Or on the verge of a.s.sault.

This was, of course, the only correct responses to Loki. Give him credit, most G.o.ds would"ve already tried lynching the annoying a.s.shat.

"Alright, quit it."

This could"ve gone on for hours if he didn"t stop it.

"But I haven"t even gotten around to the spanking bit yet."

"A shame. Now shut it."

"Fine." He turned back to the boy. "Hey there. Loki, G.o.d of good times and breaker of hearts. You may have heard of me. Please, keep your squeals to a minimum."

Everyone in the room except Roland went cold at the sound of the G.o.d"s name.

There was a strange mix of fear, veneration and a newfound dislike that came to life in the eyes of the two boys.

They had heard of G.o.d Loki, master thief. While warriors themselves, they were poor. They based their lives around the hunting of small-time beasts and criminals for cash and always longed for the talent of trickery and sleight of hand. To rob people blind and live lives of luxury.

As the most famous of thieves who stole from other G.o.ds without a care, Loki had always felt like a idol close to their hearts and they offered prayers to him every night, truly devout worshippers.

But the man"s words and actions just now....it somewhat made his image in their minds a bit tarnished.

No, couldn"t he be an imposter? No way THAT Loki would be standing in front of them like this, no way...

G.o.ds were lofty beings, an entirely different breed from the alien races who visited the world some few decades ago and made their presence known.

As for the girls, they got a whole lot more cautious.

News of the guy"s playboy habits had long since reached their ears. Rumors about the G.o.d were everywhere and his insatiable appet.i.te for women were chief amongst them. He was a s.e.xual devient who knew no bounds when it came to carnal pleasures and the number of women said to have been ruined by him is estimated to be in the thousands.

Needless to say, they had no liking whatsoever for the G.o.d.

"Those rumors are all lies, you hear me? I, my pretties, am a n.o.ble and righteous pervert. I don"t just go around forcing myself on women. And I"m quite offended you think I would."

Didn"t take a mind reader to know what they were thinking. The disdain in the black haired girl"s eyes were enough to let him know exactly what was on their minds.

"We would never think such a rude and disrespectful rumor about you would hold any truth, Lord Loki."

Lilith"s words were polite and carefully measured. She wasn"t sure if the man was truly the Loki she knew of--for why would such a powerful G.o.d be here talking them like this?--but just the aura she felt from him just now put her on edge.

She didn"t notice it at first but she did just then and whoever he was he was easily stronger than her by multiple times.

"You"re lying but I don"t care. Ro, you wanna take over? Talking to mortals is exhausting."

"Sure. Ahem. " Finally, on to business. "You, black hair."

"Lilith."

"Excuse you."

"That was my name."

"Bad omen, that. Should change it." He and Lilith, the first one, had a love-hate relationship. The woman had a delightfully skilled tongue but she was the most caustic person he"d ever known. It was half the attraction, but still. "Anyway, what"s the last thing you remember?"

Eyeing Roland with a odd glint in her eyes, she slowly answered.

"You mean before waking up here? A strange hall, for one thing."

"And?"

"And.... a strong light." She scowled. " A huge circle at our feet, something floating in the air. Some giant red ball."

"That it?"

"No. Then some weird men showed up, I think? I blanked out. I don"t remember much."

She stared. "Actually, wait." She looked at Roland. "I remember you too. You were with us. And...uh. Um." A faint red quietly rose to her cheeks. "You were....well. You know. Right?"

"You saw my junk and pa.s.sed out again?"

The two boys jerked. As did the red haired girl. They stared at black hair--No, Lilith--with odd faces.

Lilith scowled. "Basically. That was real, wasn"t it? I normally don"t dream about naked men."

"Oh it was real. I"m going to have to charge you for that, actually."

"I"m sorry, what?" She asked incredulously.

"Hey, don"t give me that look. Didn"t your parents teach you peeking is wrong? At least invite a guy out to dinner first before taking advantage of him."

Lilith and her sister"s mouth hung low while the two brothers" twitched upwards.

"You can"t be serious."

"Oh no, I am." Roland held up a hand and swore. "I have a strict "no freebies" policy. Usually to see me naked women gotta pay one of two ways." Roland said shamelessly. " And since you"re too young for my tastes that means it"s going to be the second."

"You...you"re not joking, are you?" Lilith felt a headache coming on. What the h.e.l.l was this? "d.a.m.n guy, it"s not like I wanted to see, alright? Who shows up to a place b.u.t.t naked!" She muttured fiercely under her breath.

"Obviously I am." He shrugged, ignoring the whisper. "The policy only applies to women, not little girls."

"I am NOT a little girl." Lilith said flatly.

"But are you a woman?" There was a certain twinkle in the man"s eye that made the question a lot more complicated than it seemed. She didn"t understand the implication at first but stiffened as soon as she did.

"Shut up."

"Good answer." Roland chuckled. "If you said you were what wouldd you do then, huh? I"m not exactly tight for cash at the moment." He sighed. "I guess I gotta let myself be accosted by you just this once."

The words brought a sudden bubbly feeling to her stomach that made her want to laugh. Every conversation with the strangers up to now were just so ridiculous.

Lilith didn"t know if it was the playful banter or what but she found herself slowlyly relaxing.

"And besides I was just trying to distract you from remembering the part of me carrying a severed head around and--Ah."

Too late. Lilith"s face was ghostly-white.

"Oh my G.o.d."

"Yeah?" Loki asked. "What is it?"

He was ignored.

"That"s right." She remembered. "You cut off a guy"s head! And whistled as you played catch with it!" Lilith accused.

This pretty much put them all on high alert. Red hair shivered and hugged herself while the boys frowned and tensed their muscles, ready to run or fight at a moment"s notice.

Geez. It"s like they were looking at some sort of psychopath.

"Sure, leave out the part where he wanted to boil my nuts in cow fat." Was it cow? He forgot but it was something like that anyway.

"You cut off his head. He was still alive. You cut off his head and he was still alive." Lilith muttered. She raised her face abruptly. "You wanted to track down his mom and make him watch you have s.e.x with her."

"No he"s dead, just not fully. Plus I"m not going to have s.e.x with his mother anymore. You know, it all sounds a lot worse when you say it like that." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Is there any other way to say it?!"

"...Offered to make him my son-in-law?"

"You"re insane." She took a deep breath. "Insane." As if saying it once wasn"t enough.

"When you get down to it, isn"t sanity just a matter of perspective? "

"No!" She yelled. "G.o.ddammit, you weren"t supposed to be like this! Rei trusted you, believed in you! But you"re just like those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" Her hands tightened with anger. "We wanted a hero...not a...a bloodthirsty monster with weird fetishes!"

Roland finally got what he wanted. "I haven"t been in the hero business for a while now, kid. " Being a hero was so ba.n.a.l. Never again."And what exactly am I supposed to save you from? The people from back then are dead, you know? Even if not, they aren"t here. So why don"t you feel safer? Why do you still look so scared?" His eyes sharpened to the point that Lilith almost thought he"d tear a hole through her chest.

As Roland thought, the Immortals weren"t what made them take such a risk by summoning him here. They may have been an immediate threat but they weren"t the only one. Judging from how the girl reacted there was something else, some bigger danger, that frightened her.

"I, I don"t know." She stammered. " I don"t even know why I said that just now." She had a troubled look.

"Who did you mean by Rei, then? Why did he "believe" in me?"

"Huh? No, Rei"s not a guy. I meant Reina. My sister." Lilith"s head felt like it"d explode. "She said something about the blood. The source. I can"t remember much else besides that."

Sister...The red hair? Roland turned to the girl in question. "So judging from your sister"s words just now, it seems that before your little case of amnesia you placed a lot of trust in a guy who never met you before. Or is pretty sure he hasn"t. How do you know me?"

Reina stuttered. "I, I, I don"t!" She shouted. "Um, know you that is."

Roland stared at her intently. "...We"ve never had s.e.x before, have we?"

"What?!" The girl"s entire frame went red. "No! Of course not!"

"You sure?"

It was a hard question to ask in front of her boyfriend but it had to be done.

He doubted it since she was so young but then again maybe it was a few years ago for him but a mere few months for her. Since some realms he traveled to worked on different time streams it wasn"t an impossibility that time pa.s.sed slower for her or faster for him depending on where they"d been.

He really didn"t get how she"d know him otherwise either. She didn"t seem the type for that stuff but Roland could be pretty convincing when he wanted to be.

"I am! Very! And besides, I think..." She began hesitantly. "That is to say, I think that if I did know you, I"d know? Or something...Yeah"

That might have been a very roundabout way of her saying he"d make an impression but it was so awkwardly done he wasn"t sure if it was right or not.

Whatever.

Next. "Alright it"s your turn now, Hemsworth." He jerked a thumb to the girls. "You know them?"

The two boys looked at each other.

The older one shook his head. "How the h.e.l.l would we?"

"Lying sack of s.h.i.ts." Roland snorted. "Don"t tell me at least one of you two aren"t paired up."

"f.u.c.k you."

"Fine, you don"t know them. We"ll go with that story. You know why you were with them being chased by a squad of Immortals, then?"

The younger one also shook his head. "We"ve never seen those two before. They aren"t girls you"d forget." Oh? So he was the smooth brother out of the two, huh? Unexpected. "We also don"t know why we were with them. However..."

"What is it?"

The young man shifted uneasily. "I mean that while we don"t know them, both me and Rhys feel...attached to them. Protective."

"Yeah, guys usually get a bit "protective" of beautiful women." Roland"s tone was bone-dry. "Don"t worry, kid, feeling possessive towards your girlfriend isn"t anything weird and you don"t gotta lie to protect them. We aren"t gonna hurt any--"

"No, we seriously don"t know them." The guy stopped him. "And the feeling of proctectiveness isn"t the same as what you"re talking about. They feel like family."

Roland cast them a doubtful eye. "You don"t look very much alike."

Loki chimed in as well. "Incest? You sick f.u.c.ks. I knew it. Though it"s a bit different from what I thought. But it IS a pretty common fetish... Still, keep the role play to yourselves."

"They aren"t our sisters." The older spoke through gritted teeth. "They just...feel like it. Alright? Leave it alone."

His face heated up with embarra.s.sment as he spoke, not daring to even look at the girls.

"What about you two? Feel the same?"

Reina and Lilith slowly nodded.

Lilith spoke first. "I definitely do feel a bit glad they"re here."

"That one reminds me of a big teddy bear." Reina pointed at Rhys.

The man growled at that but she just laughed it off and patted his back. A glower. Didn"t look to hate it though.

His eyes had softened at the contact.

Okay, Roland was convinced. Those weren"t the eyes you gave to someone you wanted to f.u.c.k.

"Know anything about why you guys called me here?"

Lilith and Rhys, the two older siblings, spoke up. "Whatever I just remembered is gone. I only recall playing with Reina in field of gra.s.s near our home, then nothing."

"James and I were tracking a bandit for his bounty. Ran into a magic beast. Huge f.u.c.ker. Thought we were dead but Jay disappeared and I blacked out soon after."

"Right. Okay. Good talk. Loki, let"s go."

The sudden announcement caused an uproar but they had already sealed the four behind a thick door before they could get a word out.

***

"Think they"re really telling the truth?" Loki asked.

"If they weren"t we would"ve known." Roland replied. Which was true.

How could kids like hide lies from them? They actually had several spells that could force the truth from their lips if they weren"t being cooperative anyway.

"So we"re keeping them?" The G.o.d asked, as if they were pets.

"I"d feel bad if we just threw them out." They didn"t actually have much reason to keep them around."Besides the red-haired girl"s got high compatibility with me, and isn"t that interesting? I"m curious to see what she can do."

Normally two people who were compatible would have similar strengths and potential.

But with Roland things got complicated, because this was only one body of many he"d had in his lives. And not all his bodies were equal. Some were stronger. Others were weaker.

As a celestiel being his source of power didn"t dwell in his physical form, see. He needed a vessel. Stronger the vessel, the more power he had access to.

And the strength of his vessels, his bodies, had a lot to do with his birth places as well. Since his body was made purely from the energies of creation surrounding the realm and all, not a birth mother. If he did have a birth mother he"d rely on the potential of his bloodline instead, which was also iffy but not impossible to cope with.

It just so happened that his birth place this time was a large realm with ma.s.sive levels of energies surrounding it, most of which went into creating his current body.

So his body, his current one, was one of the strongest he"d ever had. Which meant he had access to a LOT of his true power. Not all of it by a long shot, he"d say, but enough to put him at the top of the foodchain even among the G.o.ds.

Really made him curious as to what sort of being he actually was. He was almost certain he was a Primordial, but which? Most of them were lost to time, or reclusive as f.u.c.k, so it wasn"t as if he could just pick one up and ask.

That aside, what did his explanation have to do with Red-hair and her compatibility with Roland?

Well, it"s to say that she wasn"t just similar to any old body of his. No, she was similar to this current body, the strongest body he a.s.sumed he"s ever had before. And that meant that she could withstand enormous levels of power being poured into her.

She just didn"t have anyone to teach her how to take in those energies and make it her own.

She wasn"t like Roland who already had a source of power to fill his body. She would need to cultivate her own to gain power.

The upside to this was that overconsumption would never be a problem. Other people might explode if they tried to take in more than their body could handle and would require tempering before they can do it safely.

She, with her body"s capacity, would only have to devour and refine.

The downside?....She would need f.u.c.ktons of energy to kickstart her. Otherwise it"s be like using a drop of gas to power a sportscar. Simply cant be done.

Roland could imagine that any previous attempts at cultivating power would"ve ended badly, with her thinking she just didn"t have any talent. When really it was the opposite.

How far she can go, Roland wanted to see.

"Okay, yeah, I"m curious about that too." Loki"s eyes sparkled. "But just so you know, if you"re going to insist we keep all of them they"ll be your responsibility. Because I can"t promise they"d survive if we placed them among those psycho little s.h.i.ts. Hope you"re okay with them living with you, Ro."

"Eh, why wouldn"t I be? I can teach them a few things when I"m bored." Roland had a history of teaching mortals powerful, dangerous, and sometimes morally grey magicks or techniques for the fun of it. "Plus I"m sure Fred would like the company." A thought came to him. "Hey, by the way, you got any cats around here?"

"Cats?" Loki asked. "The h.e.l.l do you think this is, a petting zoo? "Course we don"t got any cats here."

"Huh. You sure?"

"Ro, please. I"m sure."

What the h.e.l.l...

Weird.

"If you say so." He shrugged. "Let"s see if they have any parents we can try contacting." It was only right.

"Think this is their home planet?"

"I"m not sure if they actually know themselves yet. They might"ve just a.s.sumed it is but who knows where they"ve been, or for how long? They have strange energy signatures clinging to them that I don"t recognize. Could be they"ve traveled to quite a few other realms and interacted with Higher Beings I don"t know the ident.i.ties of. Just use your Jedi mind tricks, I"m sure you"d be able to track down where they"re from. Then from that we can tell how long they"ve been gone, at least hopefully. They know you. They must"ve come from a known realm somewhere out there."

"True. Alright, cap"n. Gimme a minute. " He tilted his head. "Done. I know who they are."

"Well f.u.c.k, that was fast." Roland was honestly surprised.

A lot of realms and planets were similar but by looking through their memories Loki would"ve been able to pick out the clues and narrow down the locations. He"d still have to do some work though, usually.

But he found out who they were exceptionally easily this time.

"Because I didn"t have to compare places." He explained. " The girls come from a pretty well-known family and the boys are orphans so no need to contact anyone on their part. Since the girls are a bit more complicated though I"ll have to make arrangements for their guardians to come down. You can just take them with you. Show them their temporary residence and all that. Start your teaching tomorrow. "

" Alright."

He didn"t ask who the girls" family is.

Roland was mainly interested in Rein-red-hair--herself, he didn"t really care much about who the others were or whether they stayed. He only decided to take them under his wing for now to be kind. Watching and guiding Reina to see what happens is the only thing he really wanted to do at the moment.

Why they all partic.i.p.ated in his summoning was a cause for wonder, yes, but he wasn"t very concerned about it. Why would he be? He"s powerful enough to take on nearly anyone and would Fade a few years from now anyway. Following after the matter would only be...a possibly amusing distraction.

So what if there might be some conspiracy against him? Bring it. He"ll play along willingly. So what if they try hurting him or his? He"d just crush whatever"s thrown his way.

Why would he care who scurries in the shadows behind the scenes?

Before absolute power all strategies and tactics become useless.