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With the chaos that had ensued behind them, Zerrex and Loki were able to quickly charge up the stairs and ram their way through the enormous doors leading into the cathedral... and on his shoulder, Sammy growled and Anathema hissed before her voice whispered in his mind: Holy power to extreme levels permeates the air here... I can't use many of my abilities.

"What a surprise." Zerrex muttered, as he and Loki strode slowly through what looked almost like a gargantuan ballroom, thin, elegant pillars lining the edge of the hall and curving lightly towards a massive shrine at the back of the room. A red carpet led to this enormous golden cross, which had a radiant circle of silver hanging behind it and a massive, ornate stained-glass window that blazed with light and depicted images of angels that were somehow grisly and warped... and then Animaxander slowly walked out onto the red carpeting in front of a large, blue altar that sat just in front of the enormous cross, the human no longer carrying a bible but instead a terrifying great mace.

Zerrex looked back and forth as four golden-armored knights walked out from either side of the hall, each carrying a large, single-bladed saber and a massive kite shield that was large enough to protect them completely... and then the Drakkaren's eyes returned to Animaxander, sizing up the two-foot flanges on the head of the great mace as the butt of the seven-foot, black- metal pole rested against the ground, the lizard trying to decide if it was charmed or not as he asked quietly: "So tell me. Has the time for talk passed?'

"Unfortunately." Animaxander replied softly, and then he struck the butt of his great mace against the ground, and the armored soldiers assumed ready stances before he bowed deeply, saying mildly: "Please. Demonstrate for me just what the demigod of fools and the High King of Hell can do."

Zerrex snorted as he rose Blackheart to a ready position and muttered a command to Sammy, and the pseudodragon squeaked before vanishing, as Loki snarled as he swept Gungir out, shouting: "Cowards hide behind their words and the shields of other warriors!"

There was no reply, but no need to, as the golden-armored soldiers swept forwards, shields raised as they formed two lines aimed at either being... but Zerrex waited for them to come as Loki charged the four attempting to attack them, the otter demigod sweeping a hand out as dark energy crackled over it and smashing one of the soldiers stumbling as his spear guided itself over a kite shield and struck into the throat of the opponent, felling the first enemy.

The line of four soldiers smashed into Zerrex, two of them lunging with their shields and the outside pair of golden-armored enemies twisting at the last moment to stab their weapons forwards... but the Drakkaren blocked the attacks, holding Blackheart with the flat out towards his opponents and one hand on the flat before the enemy to his left rose his sword... and Zerrex spun, fast as lightning, and smashed Blackheart into his spine, the armor crumpling away in pieces as dust spilled out of the broken armor, before the lizard stepped forwards through the ruins of the solider to stab into the vulnerable side of another, making him gasp before he too dissipated.

The last two turned and rose their shields in a vain effort to protect themselves... but Zerrex swung Blackheart down, hitting the top of the shield and knocking the soldier to a low kneel before he followed up with a second chop that cut his helm in half and collapsed the opponent, and the final soldier attempted a mad charge, both sword and shield held out... and Zerrex sidestepped him before slicing his head neatly off, looking coldly across at Animaxander as Loki finished dealing with his own last three soldiers, leaving their armor burning with dark, joyless flames.

The two faced the human... and he only smiled callously, reaching a hand up to adjust the tall black hat on his head and then tightening his cape at his neck, before he easily hefted the massive great mace in both hands, looking from one to the other as he said softly: "Now do tell me... which one of you would like to die first?"

Loki snarled as he ran forwards, cocking Gungir back... and in a hard sweeping gesture, Animaxander swung the great mace out and smashed it into the demigod, sending him flying through the air to strike the wall opposite and fall down in a boneless heap, the otter vomiting blood as he stared in horror at the human before scampering backwards as Animaxander slowly approached him, cape flowing around him as he shook his head in disappointment. "Now, Loki... you were supposed to be a serviceable Emissary, as a god... and all gods know the rules of the Old Gods deep in their hearts, don't they? But you're just a traitor..."

He paused, then spun around and swung his great mace over his head as Zerrex ran towards him, and the Drakkaren skidded to a halt, the mace hammering into the tiles just in front of them and smashing a crater into the floor before the human gracefully spun in a circle and hefted the massive weapon off the ground as he swung it at Loki's head, but the otter ducked and covered his skull, pressing low against the floor before he scampered away... but Animaxander only rested the weapon on his shoulder, holding it in place with one hand as he laughed softly before looking at Zerrex almost kindly, saying in a patronizing voice: "When your allies turn out to be such weaklings, Lord Zerrex... I recommend you thin the herd."

"Shut up, scumbag." Zerrex said disgustedly, then he looked over at Loki, who was resting in a kneel with Gungir on his shoulder, his eyes locked on Animaxander. "We'll take him together, in turns, and wear him down. I'll attack first, then you can move in afterwards... if we keep him pressured, he'll make a mistake and we'll be able to take him down and hopefully get some information out of him."

"I would never betray my God..." Animaxander snorted, then he anchored himself in place, his eyes almost glowing as he gripped the pole of his weapon tightly. "Come at me with all your strength, Zerrex Narrius of Hell!"

"My pleasure." Zerrex replied coldly, then he shot forwards, lashing out with Blackheart... but the human blocked each hard blow with the pole of his weapon, grunting as he stepped backwards before suddenly shoving forwards and knocking Zerrex back, before he yelled wordlessly as he swung hard outwards with the great mace. The Drakkaren ducked under the attack, however, and slashed low at Animaxander's ankles, but the human stepped a foot back as he arced the huge weapon backwards and over his head, before smashing it down as Zerrex rolled quickly away before his eyes widened as the human pursued him savagely, grinding the great mace across the ground before he swung hard towards him.

Zerrex rose Blackheart to try and block, but the weapon was knocked completely out of his hands, his fingers pulsing with pain as the hard blow from the great mace sent him staggering backwards into a narrow pillar, and it was all he could manage to dive out of the way, skidding along the tile when Animaxander swung the weapon back along the same path to smash the pillar into pieces. The Grand Inquisitor smiled coldly as Zerrex climbed to his feet, and then his eyes narrowed as the reptiles right arm warped, the scales peeling off as it became a twisted claw slightly too large for his body. "Interesting..."

"You sure you want to keep going?" Loki asked dryly, and the reptile looked sideways at where the otter was standing with a slight smile, nodding. The demigod shrugged after a moment, and then he crossed his arms and rested back against the wall, saying mildly: "Good luck."

Zerrex grunted as he ran forwards, and Animaxander dodged the claw as Zerrex slashed at him with it, before a blade shot from the reptile's wrist and he swung back upwards, but the human easily blocked the blow with the pole of his great mace, snarling and then finally swinging the butt of the weapon upwards to wallop the Drakkaren hard enough across the muzzle to make him spin around... and he cursed, almost tripping over his own feet before he twisted himself back towards the human, only to stare in shock as the great mace swung in a violent arc upwards and smashed into his warped arm.

The great mace glowed at the moment of contact, and then Zerrex was thrown backwards as he howled in agony, his arm exploding into chunks of useless metal and rock as he fell heavily back on the ground and immediately clutched at his shattered shoulder, Anathema's skull hissing with pain in his mind as black ooze leaked from the terrible wound. He looked up, wincing as Animaxander prepared a finishing blow... and then the human staggered backwards with a curse as a bolt of dark fire hit him and the otter ran forwards, shouting with irritation that covered concern: "Get the hell out of the way, Zerrex, and put your arm back together or whatever the fuck it is you do!"

"Shut up." Zerrex mumbled, standing slowly up and wincing as he grabbed at his thudding skull with his hand, and then he shook his head quickly, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to focus through the pain as he watched Loki drive Animaxander backwards with a series of quick thrusts with the spear, the human looking frustrated as he parried each blow with the huge great mace. His body felt ablaze with pain... and it didn't take Anathema's snarls to let him know it was probably from some sort of holy power.

He dropped to a kneel as he concentrated, focusing the energy in his body towards his shoulder as he breathed hard, not letting the fight between Loki and Animaxander draw his attention as he closed his eyes, feeling whatever awful holy residue was left on his shoulder dissipating slowly as he concentrated on the power of Mephistopheles... and then he arched his back with a grunt as his arm slowly began to reform.

Let me help... Anathema whispered, and her bone armor slid sinuously over his body, snapping into place and interlocking with the metal and rock that was slowly growing out of his shoulder, and Zerrex stared at the skeletal claw that formed, the terrible rocky, metallic stuff that made up his arm taking root on the gleaming bleached bone and pulsing along it as the Naganatine laughed quietly, whispering: Mephistopheles' abilities are one thing I can easily interact with, Lord Zerrex... but try not to break anything this time. I want my bones back in one piece so we don't have to go grave-robbing.

A moment later, Zerrex stood and hissed through his teeth as his arm solidified once more into a warped claw, and then he paused before he held his hand over the twisted substance, feeling Anathema's confusion before he muttered a reshape spell... and instead of a warped, ugly limb, his arm shivered before excess rock and metal fell away as it reformed itself into a scale-plated, perfect replica of an arm, albeit a heavy-armored one. Silver bordered with gold plates lined the limb down to the sectioned, claw-shaped hand, and Zerrex snorted before he concentrated energy into a claw-tip and etched runes down the limb, continuing to chant the reshape spell, and then they glowed and locked into place when he stopped, the Drakkaren grinning as he strode towards Animaxander.

He was still locked in combat with Loki, who was teleporting back and forth around him, thrusting with the spear but never quite managing to strike the human... and then Animaxander swung the massive great mace in a huge windmill around his body, and Loki was caught in mid-teleport, knocked flying into a nearby wall with a gurgle before Animaxander charged forwards and speared the sharp ends of the flanged mace-head into his stomach, making the otter scream in pain.

The human dragged Loki along the wall, then spun around, bouncing him on the end of the mace as Zerrex skidded to a halt before the human slammed the weapon viciously downwards, crushing Loki into the floor beneath it and almost taking Zerrex down as well as the lizard leapt away, and then he cursed as Animaxander rose the weapon, the demigod laying broken and bloody on the ground, his clothes torn apart and his chest crumpled, barely even wheezing as his eyes bulged with hideous agony... and then the human asked softly, as he brought the weapon back a little further above his head: "How does it feel... to be unable to save your ally from his death?"

Then he swung the weapon forwards... before staring in shock as Zerrex reached up his now-regal arm and caught the holy weapon on his palm, a cold fury passing over his features as he said quietly: "I don't like people who pull shit like that."

And then Zerrex threw the mace-head upwards and grabbed the pole by the neck, tearing the weapon out of the hands of the human and leaving Animaxander looking helpless for a moment before he screamed when the Drakkaren smashed him back into the wall with his own weapon, and then the reptile spun the great mace over his head as Animaxander fell to a crumpled heap, and he swung it down in a violent arc, crushing the human into the floor and leaving the mace imbedded in his chest, a look of horror on his features as he gargled uselessly, the lizard looking at him with disgust for a few moments before he turned around and offered a hand to Loki, gazing at him with quiet concern: "You alive?"

Loki breathed quietly in and out as his body slowly healed itself, his eyes closed... and then he opened them and nodded slowly, reaching up and taking the Drakkaren's hand as he coughed hard and rasped: "Last time I took a beating like that was from you."

Zerrex laughed a bit at this as he slowly hefted the otter up, holding him almost like a baby for a moment... and Loki pointed over his shoulder, his voice breaking with his ragged, too-late warning of: "Fuck, look o-"

Animaxander smashed Zerrex in the spine with the great mace, sending agony through the Drakkaren as white energy flashed at the impact, and the two flew through the air together before the reptile spun around in midair, crashing on his back and throwing Loki off to the side before he hit a pillar at the opposite end of the cathedral, cracking it. It made the Drakkaren wince... but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it could have been, and he grunted as he slowly forced himself to his feet, rubbing at a bloody, purple, already-formed bruise on his back, as Animaxander strode angrily towards him, his wounds healed and even his clothing in almost-perfect order, the Grand Inquisitor shouting: "I will not be made a fool of!"

He held up a hand and fired a blast of white light at Zerrex, but the Drakkaren deflected it with his arm, the holy runes on it glowing white as the reptile said clearly: "I'm on to your tricks, Animaxander... unfortunately for you, I've gone and evened the score."

"Arrogant demon..." Animaxander trembled with fury, his face ugly with it and his composure visibly shattered as he began to stalk forwards, his great mace glowing with white energy as he said darkly: "I'm going to torture you in ways you cannot begin to imagine..."

"I can imagine a lot..." Zerrex paused as an object drew his attention to the far left, and he snapped a hand out, a tentacle shooting from his arm to seize around Blackheart before it pulled his sword back to his grip, and he rested it on his shoulder as he flexed his armored right arm slowly, his eyes narrowing at the human. "Shall we?"

Animaxander snorted in disgust, and then he flicked an arm outwards in a gesture that was almost dismissive, a narrow wave of glowing white energy shooting towards the Drakkaren... and Zerrex winced as he sidestepped it at the last moment, before bringing up his sword to slash into the neck of the great mace as Animaxander swung at him, his strength barely enough to let him repel the attack. He replied with a hard thrust of his weapon, but Animaxander shoved the pole of his weapon outwards and knocked the Drakkaren's sword into the air, before he swung hard... and not expecting him to go after his weapon again, Zerrex cursed and staggered when Blackheart was struck viciously by the great mace and flung through the air.

The human smashed Zerrex in the abs with the butt of his weapon, making him grunt and bend forwards before he swung viciously at his lower back... but the Drakkaren dropped to a low kneel before kicking a foot hard into the knee of the human, making him grunt in surprise as he fell to an awkward crouch himself before almost overbalancing due to the weight of his weapon. Instead, he turned his falling movement into a hard swing, but the lizard reached up and blocked the blow with his metallic forearm, and he winced as the weapon bounced off and sent an ache of pain through his body... but Animaxander cursed and fell on his rear, leaving him open for a long enough moment for Zerrex to reach forwards and seize him by the skull with his flesh-and-blood hand.

His arm crackled with sapphire arcs of energy before he released a blast straight into the stupefied human's face, and Animaxander was sent crashing down on his back with scream of pain at the resulting, conical explosion of blue energy, before the Drakkaren smashed his metallic hand down into the Grand Inquisitor's stomach. It sent an obvious burst of pain through him, but this time he managed to bring his feet up and smash them into Zerrex's abdominals, knocking the reptile staggering backwards to his feet before his hand touched against the cane still stuck in the back of his belt... and he pulled the weapon loose as Animaxander leapt to his feet and roared, swinging crudely at him at waist level.

The Drakkaren ducked low under this with a wince, and then he swung his cane in a hard blow into the human's stomach, and Animaxander gurgled as he staggered backwards before Zerrex swung his cane around in a an overhead strike that smashed into the human's skull, making him howl as he dropped his great mace and clutched at his skull. Immediately, Zerrex dropped his cane, doing what seemed most logical at the moment: he seized the great mace, dragged it around in a circle, and slammed it upwards as he hard as he could into the bent-over human's body.

Animaxander flew upwards with a howl of agony, shooting through the air like a rocket to crash through the ceiling high, high above, and Zerrex stared in shock, wondering if he'd overdone it before he winced and dropped the great mace, staggering quickly out of the way of the falling stone. The thick chunks of rock fell to the ground where he'd been standing moments before, large enough to have been more than painful had they hit... and then a roar of anger shook the entire cathedral, and the Drakkaren winced as he snarled at the ceiling. Is there something even worse here? Or did Animaxander somehow survive all of that?

"Fuck... well, we're in this deep. We might as well keep going." Loki muttered, and then he grinned at Zerrex, slapping him on the shoulder and making the reptile wince as he said mildly: "Join me up top when you're ready."

With that, Loki tensed himself and lowered his body in a squat, and then he threw himself upwards, a great blast of force seeming to propel him at the same time to launch him towards the rooftop before a pair of illusionary angelic wings appeared overtop his back, disembodied and strange but apparently aiding the demigod's flight as Zerrex watched him for a moment before he shrugged a bit before his eyes settled on a wooden door near the shrine, stopping only to pick up his cane, his sword, and to whistle loudly.

Sammy sprinted towards him from where he had been hiding behind the altar, and he leapt up onto his shoulder with a squeak, gazing at him with soft concern before he chirped gently as he nuzzled lightly into his cheek, the reptile laughing quietly as he opened the door, sword on his back and cane in his belt as Sammy communicated images and a basic but useful analysis of the abilities Animaxander had displayed.

He pushed through the door in the wall to reveal a set of stairs beyond, and the Drakkaren grumbled under his breath before he started up them, and then he winced when he heard another roar, breaking into a run and kicking down the door at the top of the steps to enter into a low-ceiled room with a hole in the stone floor... and when the reptile looked back and forth, he realized it reminded him most of a small attic.

But neither Animaxander nor Loki was present... and then the Drakkaren's eyes roved up to the ceiling, and an open trapdoor. He made a face at this, glad that at least with the low rooftop he could reach into it from here... and when the reptile carefully walked over to investigate it, he saw it led up towards open, bare sky above... and he could clearly hear sounds of combat above before he looked aside to Sammy, saying quietly: "Stay out of sight and out of range. Animaxander isn't anything we can exactly play games with."

Sammy squeaked after a moment, looking at Zerrex hesitantly, but when the reptile grunted, he finally nodded glumly and leapt away, and the Drakkaren hopped up into the shaft and quickly pulled himself up along the ladder, heading skywards as a ragged voice shouted: "Traitorous scum!"

"You're one to talk!" Loki's angry voice replied, and the lizard hurried himself up the ladder as there was a loud double-clang, and then a shape shot over the trapdoor before there was a loud thud, and the reptile made a face as he reached the top of the ladder, carefully leaning his head out to watch as Loki shot past, sprinting towards a bloodied Animaxander.

The human was stumbling, blood running from several deep, jagged wounds on his legs and arms... but more importantly, his chest looked like it had been hit by a cannonball, his skin a red smear over bones that were somehow still in place... but even now Animaxander was continuing to fight on the large, roughly-square area of the rooftop between three different-sized domes, swinging another great mace around savagely, this one ending not in a simple flanged mace head but instead a three-foot diameter human-head-shaped skull, with four vicious, axe-blade shaped gothic flanges at the compass points around the face and a crown of terrible, long and deadly spikes pushing out from the metallic skull.

Zerrex pulled himself out of the hole just as Animaxander howled and swung down at Loki... but the demigod teleported, the mace only smashing through mist before Loki appeared a short distance behind Animaxander, a snarl on his face and Gungir reared back... and then he threw the spear as hard as he could, and it pierced through Animaxander's back as the weapon glowed with terrible, potent power... and a moment later, the human dropped his great mace as his eyes rolled back in his head, falling to his knees and then slumping slowly on the spot as if bowing his head in shame, the spear pierced through his body as it crackled for a few more moments before the glow slowly died out.

"Too bad, Zerrex... looks like I got the kill." Loki said with a dry smile, and Zerrex gave a bit of a grim smile in return, only glad it was over. Slowly, the demigod walked forwards, asking softly: "But why didn't our good friend here dissolve when he died?"

Zerrex pondered on this as Loki reached forwards... and the moment before he seized on the answer, Animaxander screamed and grabbed his head, arching his back violently, and both Loki and Zerrex staggered away from him as he convulsed back and forth, howling to the skies: "I can't... I can't contain... you will... suffer!"

Animaxander screamed, and the sound distorted on itself before he reached a hand down and grasped the spear, slowly pulling Gungir through his own gut until it was all the way free with a burst of blood, the weapon crackling in his hand before he spun around and aimed at Loki. Zerrex winced, but the legendary weapon apparently knew its friend from its foe... and instead of whizzing straight at the demigod, its course twisted and it spiraled off the rooftop instead, Animaxander howling in frustration before holy, white flames burst up over his being... but Zerrex's eyes narrowed as he realized they had a core of pure darkness.

Animaxander writhed, staggering back and forth as he continued to scream, grasping at his head as his clothes and skin burned quickly away, before he dropped to his knees ,a mess of bone and muscle. His form shuddered, and then waves of blood erupted from his back before terrible, skeletal wings tore their way free, so putrid and terrifying they even went beyond the realm of 'demonic' as Animaxander's warped voice screamed again...

And then he laughed viciously, almost a cackle as he grabbed his great mace and shoved himself upwards... and the two stared in horror as the rest of his flesh and organs melted away like dust, leaving a grizzled skeleton floating in the air, terrible white light burning out of his sockets and jaws like a spotlight. His bones were not white, nor even yellowed: they were an ugly grey and brown, rocky, jagged, and twisted as the naked cliffs of the earth's most brutal gorges, the fingers of his hands thin and disjointed and his feet little more than thick blocks that ended up ugly talons.

And inside a ribcage that looked like a horrible set of closed jaws, pulsed a sickly, ugly red and black organ that was not a heart or anything else that the Drakkaren could recognized, attached to the ribcage by the means of thick, ugly strings of red and pink, the inner sanctum of his chest coated with a strange, mucus-like substance. It was a terrible, gross sight that made the Drakkaren look away in disgust, before Animaxander shrieked as he rose his great mace over his head, the monstrous end of the terrible weapon bursting into dark flame: "In the name of my God, I shall eradicate you!"

"Loki, I think we have a problem." Zerrex said mildly, drawing Blackheart as he looked coldly at the floating, monstrous skeleton, and Anathema hissed on his shoulder as the eyes of her skull glowed, saying sharply in his mind: It's an incomplete god, you need to be careful... but the holy essence has vanished up here, let me help you!

"How?" Zerrex asked in a bit of a strained voice, as the monster darted forwards and swung his great mace in an upwards arc, and it was all the lizard could do to duck under the attack before he leapt out of the way when Animaxander dropped out of the sky to hover just above the ground, smashing his great mace down where Zerrex had been a moment before and shattered a chunk of the rooftop, before the monstrosity swung viciously outwards with a scream, the blow almost hitting the reptile as he staggered to his feet and flailed one arm for balance, shouldering Blackheart with his left to avoid dropping it.

Like this! Anathema replied coldly, and Zerrex felt his metallic arm pulse with energy as it glowed faintly purple, the holy runes on it standing out in brilliant blue at the same time. The reptile grunted, then he winced as Animaxander rose the mace above his head and charged, and the Drakkaren acted on instinct, creating a sphere of energy in his armory hand and throwing it hard at the face of the skeletal monster, the blue orb tinged with a strange purple glow.

Animaxander blocked it with the pole of his weapon, but the resulting blast - purple rays of light shining out of the blue-tinged explosion - sent him staggering backwards, his defense broken and the beast disoriented as he howled in visible pain... and Loki immediately teleported onto the human's back, holding onto one skeletal wing as the other hand grabbed the back of his skull, blue lighting zapping over his head as the otter snarled and clung to him as the monster staggered and howled, shaking wildly back and forth.

Zerrex tried to lunge forwards, but Animaxander swung his great mace outwards, and the Drakkaren was barely able to raise Blackheart in time, bracing himself as best he could before he was knocked staggering by the hard blow, cursing under his breath before wincing as Animaxander continued the swing in a wide windmill that smashed Loki off his back, knocking the otter to the ground. The demigod grunted in pain and shock as he grabbed at his side, and then Animaxander swung the massive weapon around his body again before he smashed it downwards, but Loki teleported out of the way at the last moment, and the half-formed god screamed in furious anger.

The Drakkaren took the moment to shoot forwards as Animaxander grunted and tried to haul his weapon out of the stony rooftop, but one of the flanges had lodged heavily into the rooftop, and his boots slammed along the pole of the great mace, the Drakkaren snarling and the skeletal beast snarling before the Drakkaren smashed one foot down in the monster's wrist, Animaxander shrieking as his hand was knocked away as the lizard flew towards him and then slammed both feet into his ribcage and face.

The half-formed god flew backwards with a scream of shock, and Zerrex landed by the pole of the great mace as it clattered uselessly to the ground, the Drakkaren grinning widely for a moment as he pointed his sword at the skeletal beast, saying clearly: "I expected more from you, Animaxander... but for a freak even by supernatural standards, you really don't seem all that high and mighty."

Animaxander snarled in rage, and the light in his eyes glowed brighter as he flew into the air, his hands burning with dark energy as Loki appeared by the Drakkaren's side and asked sharply: "What the fuck are you doing? You really want to piss that thing off?"

"Yeah, I do." Zerrex replied mildly, then he made a face as Animaxander hurled several crescent-shaped blades of dark, terrible energy down at him, the Drakkaren swinging his sword back and forth as the blade glowed blue, shattering the blades of dark energy and turning them into harmless motes of sickly energy before he added sharply: "Just step back and let him focus on me!"

Loki nodded after a moment as he understood, and the otter vanished from his side as Animaxander howled and rose his hands high into the air, dark fire pulsing over his body before he shoved both down and released a solid beam of terrible, negative energy, and Zerrex winced before he rose Blackheart in front of himself, blue energy crackling over his body as he blocked the beam with the flat... but the power of the blast was enough to drive him sliding several feet backwards, the Drakkaren cursing under his breath as he pushed back against it as hard as he could... but the beam was draining his energy faster than he would have normally believed, and Anathema said darkly: Stop toying with him and showing off! We get it, you can put up with all kinds of energy, now kill him!

"I'm working on it." Zerrex muttered, and then he staggered forwards as the beam attack ended, Animaxander screaming furiously in midair as he spread his arms... and the Drakkaren snapped his left arm upwards, releasing two deadly tentacles laced with bones that snapped around the creature. He cursed in pain when Animaxander grabbed the tentacles, his bony wings flapping wildly as dark energy began to burn like acid through the appendages even as they crushed into him, but the Drakkaren stepped backwards and snapped his arm back, the tentacles ripping the skeletal beast downwards as they retreated quickly into Zerrex's body at the same time.

The tentacles tore apart in a burst of ugly blood, the ends of the appendages bursting into dark flame and vanishing instantly from around Animaxander even as he continued to fall towards Zerrex... and then Drakkaren swung Blackheart outwards with one hand, but then he cursed as he missed, the half-formed god arching his back before he swung a leg forwards and smashed the lizard in the face, knocking him staggering before he dropped down and slammed a foot into either one of the reptile's shoulders, his talons locking down into them before he flapped his wings powerfully and shot up into the air.

Zerrex cursed under his breath, wincing before he was flung hard, the creature laughing psychotically... and then the Drakkaren spun around in midair, throwing Blackheart hard as it glowed with blue energy, and Animaxander looked shocked for a moment as the reptile grinned... before he cursed as the monster brought both forearms up and blocked the blow. With his skin shed, his reaction time was even faster than when he'd been in human form... and the reptile had no idea how the hell he'd stand against this beast as Blackheart fell towards the rooftop, spiraling downwards as the lizard free-fell through the air and then he twisted, landing in a crouch and only grunting as he hit the stone a moment before Blackheart struck the rooftop hilt-first and then bounced towards Zerrex, the lizard reaching out on instinct and catching the sword by the handle as he slammed it home on his back and then he drew his cane out as Animaxander threw a boomerang of dark energy down towards the lizard.

Zerrex dodged this one, letting it smash into the ground and explode before he heard a gong in his head, and the reptile took up a defensive position mostly out of surprise as Anathema said irritably in his mind: Try this.

The reptile looked down in surprise as pain ran through his right arm for a moment before he sensed something strange and terrible lurking beneath the surface, as Animaxander laughed insanely in the air and held his hands up, charging some new attack... and the Drakkaren lashed his left arm upwards on instinct before a tentacle that looked far-more like the spinal cord of some monstrous snake shot out of his arm, a terrible, curled hook at the end of it as agony tore through the Drakkaren's body with every inch of the attack that passed out of his arm, and Animaxander looked surprised before the tentacle wrapped around his waist and the hook snapped into place around the bone-armored appendage, Anathema cooing in his mind: Sorry, darling, just borrowing a little bit of energy... but now here, let me help while you drag the fucker in.

As Zerrex seized the tentacle and pulled it downwards, cursing as he felt a throbbing pain in his arm even with the tentacle fully-out, Animaxander screamed, dragged towards the earth again before his body convulsed as a terrible purple lightning shot over him, his bones literally beginning to rot away before his wings exploded into shrapnel, and he fell towards the ground as the Drakkaren let the tentacle retreat into his body, cursing at the pain even that sent through him. Anathema was laughing in his mind, Animaxander crash-landing on his knees before he screamed and reached up, his dark energy useless against the tentacle... but after a moment, he clawed into the hook holding it in place around his neck, and he managed to snap it off after a moment, both Anathema and Zerrex snarling as the appendage retreated completely into the Drakkaren's arm.

Animaxander snarled in fury, then he looked down and dashed suddenly towards his fallen great mace, and Zerrex cursed as he created a sphere of energy and threw it hard at the being... but Animaxander simply slapped it away before he seized the pole of his weapon and tore it free, ripping up a burst of stone from the ground. He stepped forwards with a howl of fury, swinging the weapon downwards with a snarl... but Zerrex dodged backwards, before he winced when the half-formed god swung the great mace around before it hit the ground, scraping a scratch along the stone but adding the momentum to a spinning swing that the reptile was forced to leap high over, and then he stepped forwards, holding his cane tightly by the top and bottom of the cane as Animaxander swung viciously downwards.

The pole of his weapon connected uselessly with the body of the cane, and the lizard cursed, falling almost to his knees as his limbs trembled with shock at the raw power behind Animaxander's swing, as the skeletal monster continued to bear down, anchoring his feet against the ground as he snarled, the light glowing brighter out of his skull as Zerrex was forced down inch-by-inch... before the half-formed god screamed in surprise as Loki teleported behind him and wrapped his arms around Animaxander's shoulders in a full nelson, jerking him back against his body as lighting crackled over their bodies, the otter digging his face forwards against the monster's spinal neck to avoid a headbutt as he yelled: "Now, now's your chance!"

Zerrex felt Animaxander's arms jerked roughly outwards and restrained, the weight of the massive great mace twisting away as the monster continued to hold it by the pole for a moment, protecting his face automatically as he squirmed and tried to tear out of the grip of the otter as his body burst into dark flames, the demigod yelling wordlessly in fury and pain as he continued to cling stubbornly to the monster, and the Drakkaren snarled before he grabbed his cane like a baseball bat and swung the dragon-shaped head up under the ribcage and straight into the single organ of the beast.

Animaxander screamed as his dark fires burned higher, licking hungrily at Zerrex's body and charring his forearms as he cursed... before the eyes in the dragon head glowed, and white runes pulsed down the cane as Zerrex focused himself and fired a blast of blue energy down the cane as well, and the not-heart, living organ in the half-formed godling exploded into chunks, pieces of gore splattering all over the inside of the cage as he arched his back and shrieked, his dark flames vanishing in a concussive blast that sent both Loki and Zerrex flying backwards, Zerrex skidding on his back over the rooftop as the otter demigod smashed into the wall, grunting and sliding down it, his body covered in burns and one of his eyes burnt and whitened in his face.

The half-formed godling breathed hard in and out, clutching at his ribcage even as blood and pus and strings of organ leaked through both the ribcage and his hands, the light in his eyes burning bright before it slowly began to fade, bit-by-bit, as he whispered: "But I... was... blessed... holy... God... my God, my King of Kings... Athéos, please, avenge me!"

Animaxander threw his head back and screamed as the cathedral trembled, white light glowing around them as Zerrex felt energy biting into his body, scraping against him like sandpaper as Loki snarled and covered his face, vanishing from sight in a burst of dark mist as Animaxander began to glow gold, the light surging out of his eyes before Zerrex saw him explode in a terrible, violent blast-

He looked back and forth, staring in shock as he found himself sitting on a plateau in the mountains that gave the Row of Skulls their name, a quiet wind blowing as reality seemed to bent and twist around him, strange sounds whispering through his head before a muffled boom seemed to almost caress the reptile, and he stood up even as reality seemed to twist again around him, the Drakkaren looking down and watching from a shocking distance as Animaxander's great cathedral collapsed, golden bubbles of light seeming to rise throughout it and exploding with such force that the debris they tore up floated in the air for a moment, defying gravity before it dropped towards the earth, as visible shockwaves rippled through the fields. He stared in shock, looking back and forth stupidly... and then a soft, powerful voice said behind him: "You are an amazing specimen, Lord Zerrex Narrius... truly, you can endure through almost anything."

Zerrex slowly turned around, and for a moment his eyes couldn't even focus on the radiant figure standing across from him on the flat, long plateau. Reality seemed to vibrate around him, as if it was trying to connect itself to him or fed off him somehow, as if he was the one creating it, giving the universe life... and Zerrex swallowed hard before he asked in a voice that shook, hard as he tried to keep himself calm: "Are you... an Old God?"

"I am Athéos... I am the Elder God, the leader and oldest of the Old Gods." the being continued in its tender voice, and Zerrex felt both soothed and terrified as Athéos bowed slowly to him, and Zerrex was now able to make out a bit more of the divine being. It hurt to look at him, hurt like hell... but at the same time, he felt a terrifying, religious rapture as he stared at the being, at his radiance and his beauty and his-

Wake up! snapped a voice in his mind, and it wasn't Anathema, but Ravenlight, and Zerrex clenched his eyes shut, half-turning away for a moment before he focused himself, breathing slowly in and out and firmly pushing the variety of emotions he was feeling out of his mind before he turned to gaze calmly at the Old God.

The divine radiance of Athéos seemed to slowly fade out as the reptile looked at him, and he fought back even the feelings of serenity as he remembered the conflict he was in with this divine being, remembering the old meditations and teachings. He focused himself to be as a mirror, to not absorb, but to reflect... and he felt the faintest twinge of irritation float through the air, which made him smile as Athéos asked in a voice that was strangely sympathetic and tender: "Do you not trust me? How you have suffered in life, though... but can't you see, this is all for the greater good?"

Athéos approached him, and reality distorted a bit as Zerrex let himself stay relaxed, not sensing any hostility and not wanting to provoke a fight as his head finally ceased to throb painfully and his eyes focused in on the divine being. The outside of his limbs were clad in golden, stacked and scaled armor plates not dissimilar to the form the Drakkaren's metallic arm was in at the moment, and these were somehow molded against the white, flowing sleeves and leggings beneath them, staying in place and moving as if liquid by some means Zerrex couldn't understand. His feet wore only plain brown sandals, leaving the small talons on his three golden toes bare... and his body was covered by a beautiful, red cloth shirt and a flowing white loincloth edged in crimson, tied at the front in a loose knot and with a strange, triangular symbol Zerrex didn't understand near the top in gold.

A half-kilt made of golden plates studded with sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and even diamonds also hung around his waist, and around his neck was a golden chain attached to a beautiful, crescent-shaped golden plate with five gemstones on it, two beautiful round stones of lapis lazuli on either side of a brilliant white crystal that was too perfect and bright even for a diamond of the highest standards. On his second and fourth fingers on both hands were golden, beautiful bands, each with a priceless stone of a different color inset into it... and finally, Zerrex drew his face up to meet the Old God's eyes, looking into his face as he smiled and stood across from him.

He had the face of a bird, but no feathers: instead, simply grey skin, and a jutting, narrow beak. The beak, however, was strangely flexible, and filled with sharp, short but thick conical teeth like that of a feral predator, with a large fang near not the front but the back of both upper and lower jaws on both sides. These stuck out of its beak at a slightly-awkward angle, yet somehow did not detract from Athéos's strange beauty as he looked into Zerrex's eyes with his own dark, fog-colored irises, the lack of pupil not taking away from the focus of his gaze. They regarded each other for a moment, Zerrex taking in even the darker, almost scaly-skin that circled around his beak where it protruded from his face and the slope of what could almost be a nose between his eyes, until it locked into the beak... and even the gentle-swirl of dark fur that ran from the underside of the creature's jaw and in thin lines up the sides of its cheeks, just in front of a small pair of ears from which dangled bullion scarabs on silver hoops, but whether this hair continued or not was hidden from view by a majestic crown made of gold that fit the being's head perfectly, the front a tall, imperial half-crescent of gold and black platinum and blued silver and gemstones, and the sides more carefully etched, swirled gold.

He was maybe ten feet tall, majestic in every way, unarmed and yet exuding so much power it made Zerrex feel almost weak, as all kinds of emotions continued to pressure his mind... and then Athéos gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided him to the edge of the cliff, gesturing with his other hand as he said lovingly: "You do have a beautiful world here, Zerrex Narrius... and such vibrant life! But I fear that this whole world... goes against the rules of the Old Gods." He shook his head sadly, as sorrow dampened the air around them, making things seem literally bluer as Zerrex's mind did its best to resist a terrible assault of despair. "Your God, Naganis, went against one of our most sacred decrees... not only did he create twenty directly in his own image, he then tore the fabric of the universe that we, the Ancient Ones, created... and then he created life, life that was not controlled, not watched over, but left to evolve..."

Athéos shook his head slowly, and Zerrex looked at him, feeling that he should agree with everything the Old God was saying... but then he realized that again, that radiance, that blessed, lovely feeling had crept into his mind... and he gritted his teeth, forcing it out as Athéos continued softly: "For all the countless eons, we have wandered the universe, stopping only now and then to create a minimal amount of life and to develop it with care and compassion and kindness... and always, any infringement of our rules by any god was dealt with the same way. We... carefully cleaned up the messes made by other gods, to maintain a love and peace and order throughout the whole of the universe. After all, if mortal beings are allowed to evolve, well... you've seen what's begun to happen. Strange powers, mutations, and self-destruction... and this could affect other planets, or spread throughout the universe. Think of this physical plane... like a physical body. Even if you have a minor infection, you cleanse and wash it, don't you? You carefully heal it with compassion, and remove with neither pity nor mercy the bacteria that festers in the wound. That is our way, too... but on a much grander scale.

"And yet, Naganis did not only that... he separated worlds out of the universe, built whole dimensions..." Athéos shook his head in disappointment, and it was so overwhelming Zerrex felt like he'd been slammed by a tidal wave of grief, like he'd had every horrible experience all over again in his life as his legs threatened to buckle... but the strong hand around his shoulders seemed to give him strength, and the Drakkaren closed his eyes shut, concentrating again on blocking that serenity out, focusing on a single word: wrong. "Truly, so dangerous... what if the nothingness between the dimensions had leaked out? What if, even worse, the Unworld itself had leaked out? Pocket dimensions are one thing; they are merely maximizations of minimal space, like... building an extra room onto a home, perhaps that is a good metaphor. But entire dimensions? Even we, the Old Gods, never dared to do such things.

"Now, when we first met Naganis, we all did like and care for him... but his ideas were so radical, so dangerous, that we grew to distrust him, this... little, happy god that had come from his own pocket of nowhere, likely the end result of another rebel god's whims and experiments... and none of us were surprised when he left our fold, ran away like a child." Athéos shook his head slowly, a faint hint of disapproval on his face, and Zerrex nodded despite himself before the Old God continued gently: "We searched for him... but he hid himself well, as he hid his dimensions well, and we have passed this world before... but it, like many other worlds, was protected by a shield. A very clever ruse; it was enough to hide the true nature of the planet from us, and to trick any probes we sent towards the world into seeing only vapid wasteland. But your shield has lost its power... and when Naganis died, we all felt it. Light, energy, and thought... each of these things travel successively faster, although you have yet to discover that on your realm, I suppose, the nuances of the rare tenth-dimensional particles and the beautiful rhythm of photes, but perhaps I'm being narcissistic... after all, they are things I created."

He threw his head back and laughed... and when Zerrex gave only a dry chuckle in return, Athéos looked at him with a slight frown on his face... and it made it even easier to resist the terrible emotions and feelings and subliminal messages pushing on him from all sides as light and reality seemed to bend for a few moments around them. Now, he could feel Athéos leaning on him mentally, and yet Zerrex knew that this kind of psychic attack required not strength, but subtlety... and it seemed that was something the Old God lacked. "But Lord Zerrex... surely you see the point. Naganis broke the rules... rules set in place to protect the rest of the universe, and you surely do see the result of that. A Hell that is full of wicked, angry souls, a Heaven full of pompous, preening fools, a world already dying, covered in a population that grew too large to support more than a hundred years ago... and then which proceeded to autocannibalize itself not once, but twice. A world that now knows no meaning in life, or in death, confident of living forever in comfort... a world slothful and barren, full of malevolence and anger. Surely you see the wrongness in it, in what Naganis has done?

"But I am merciful... I am compassionate." Athéos gently squeezed him around the shoulders, smiling down at the Drakkaren as he said softly: "You have proven yourself to be a truly exceptional being... and in you I sense more power than in some of our most respected of gods. Will you not join me, Lord Zerrex Narrius? Will you not aid me, when the time is ripe? If we work together, we will be able to purge this world, this atrocity, like a stain, as well as knit Heaven and Hell back to the mortal plane so they may be washed away like sand in the tides... and I promise you, I shall grant you peace. Prosperity. Anything you desire... a world for yourself, and you may bring all your friends and family with you, every last one of them, without limit, without end."

Athéos held a hand out in front of Zerrex, his fist closed... and then when he opened it, a dove appeared in a soft, gentle glow, and it flew away after a moment, Athéos murmuring softly to the Drakkaren: "My power is infinite. Naganis was not even a fly upon the wall in comparison to my vast strength... and I ask you not to love me, or worship me, or even accept and respect me... nay, I only humbly ask for you to become one of us... and I shall grant upon you true godhood, instead of this... demonism that has befallen your soul."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and he looked down as Athéos straightened, smiling at him benevolently... before the reptile slowly turned towards him and said in a courteous, gentle voice: "I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your offer, Athéos... on the account of the fact that Naganis was not wrong in creating us. What is wrong is gods tyrannizing other gods, when they have the entire universe to wander... and it sounds like it must be a very big place."

Athéos's face slowly lost its smile, and he looked calmly at Zerrex for a few moments before he said in a voice that held the faintest undercurrent of a threat: "You may want to rethink your decision, Zerrex... after all, I told you that it was I who created this universe... and I am omnipotent in every way. Standing against me when I have made so generous an offer to you is not a good choice. Even Naganis, we would have tracked down after so many years of searching... there are very few corners of this universe left unturned for us."

Zerrex reached up and pulled Blackheart off his back in his right hand, letting the heavy blade slam into the ground as the Drakkaren bowed his head, and in a moment the emotions and the aura of serenity was gone: even the fear of this so-called Old God was gone, as his own thoughts took over, a grin spreading over his features as he looked up and said coldly: "I'm firm in my beliefs, Athéos. And don't you say the name of the creator of the Naganatine, of this world and the dimensions I know and love again... you aren't worthy of it. Sure, maybe you created this endless black blanket of space that we all float around in... but this planet is like a flowerpot in a greenhouse: unexceptional, uninteresting, and not worth your time, just like the dimensions of Heaven and Hell. I've listened to your words well, asshole, and I hear exactly what you're saying, though... you're threatened by us. You're threatened by the fact that we're getting stronger and stronger... by the fact that no matter what happens to this world, to the mortals, much less the races of demons and angels... we survive. And you know what? We will always survive." He snarled, pointing at the Old God, and Athéos's face twisted in anger, becoming hideous and vicious. "So bring it on, motherfucker. We might as well settle this here and now... because I will lay my life on the line to protect these worlds. I am no better than anyone else here... hell, my life is worth less than the innocent children of this world, because I've already stained my hands with blood and every day I worry my power's going to go to my head."

"It obviously already has." Athéos said darkly, and then he smiled coldly as his eyes flashed, and Zerrex felt agony rip through his body, knocking him to his knees with a gasp of shock and pain as he shook his head slowly. "I'm disappointed... but my power is infinite. This is where you die, Lord Zerrex... and to think, I saved you from that collapsing cathedral in the hopes that you'd see the light..."

"Then I guess your omniscience failed you." Zerrex snarled at the ground, and then he suddenly pushed himself upwards and swung Blackheart out, and Athéos looked startled before he was knocked backwards, grasping at his forearm... and then he trembled, hissing breath in and out through his feet as his eyes widened, body quaking with anger as the Drakkaren grinned coldly across at him, his body still throbbing, but with only moderate pain as the bird-faced Old God glared at him... and the reptile took Blackheart into both hands as Anathema laughed on his shoulder quietly. "And I thought you'd be harder to kill."

Athéos held out a hand, and a golden-handled, elegant sword appeared in it, the blade long, double-edged and thin, the pommel and stone inset into the ornate hilt glowing crimson as he said darkly: "Then let's test your strength, Lord Zerrex, and see if your ability lives up to the stories I've heard."

Zerrex snorted, and then he winced when the Old God rose a hand and smiled coldly, shoving his palm towards him... and Anathema's bone armor crumbled off his body, falling away to dust as the spirit of the Naganatine was shoved violently out of Zerrex's form, floating harmlessly in midair as she looked down at herself in shock, and Zerrex looked over his shoulder in horror at her before she vanished in a burst of dark flame as Athéos made another gesture, saying curtly: "Let her wander the ethereal plane for a little while... this duel needs no interference on the part of your god's toys."

The reptile narrowed his eyes, then he shot forwards before slipping to the side when Athéos stabbed towards him, letting Zerrex swing in at his side... but the Old God blocked the blow with ease before he repelled the sword, then he twisted his blade to try and knock the huge blade free from Zerrex's hand... but the reptile stepped forwards and grunted as he ground Blackheart forwards, and metal screamed against metal as Athéos was forced to push forwards instead, his weapon held tightly in one hand as he winced at either the sound or the effort of keeping his blade steady against the Drakkaren's as the lizard asked tauntingly: "What's wrong, you spend so much time giving orders to your lackeys you've forgotten how to fight?"

Athéos snarled, apparently just as vulnerable to emotional attacks as other opponents Zerrex had fought in the past, and then he shoved his hand forwards, sending out a blast of white light that knocked the reptile skidding backwards, blinding and deafening him for a moment as he cursed before he felt a terrible agony as the Old God's sword lashed back and forth over his body, and then he swung Blackheart hard outwards, before he cursed as Athéos seized into his flesh-and-blood forearm and jerked it out in front of the lizard, who was able to guess what was going to happen next... and he quickly twisted Blackheart backwards, almost looking like he was trying to stab himself in the neck, the flat of the blade falling against his shoulder and the edge of it touching his throat, but then the Old God's sword bounced uselessly off the weapon as he grunted in surprise, and Zerrex lashed the huge weapon outwards with his right hand as hard as he could.

It contacted with something as his vision began to fade back in, and a shape tumbled backwards against the ground before it scuttled up to its feet, and Zerrex smiled coldly as colors and details came back to his eyes, watching as Athéos stood up and snarled in disbelief and anger. They looked across at each other, and then the Old God shook his head in disgust as he took his sword into both hands, saying softly: "I will not be humiliated like this, Zerrex."

"Apparently you will." Zerrex responded shortly, and then he charged forwards, slashing outwards... but Athéos matched him strike-for-strike, their swords clanging together again and again before Zerrex tried feinting past him, slashing Blackheart hard to the side to try and catch him in the back... but Athéos threw his arms back and pointed his sword towards the ground just in front of his spine, catching Blackheart against it before he swung hard and twisted at the waist at the same time, and the attack not only nearly knocked Zerrex's sword from his hands and staggered him, it tore through his back and side, making his eyes bulge in agony before Athéos turned around and smashed him between the shoulderblades with the pommel of his sword, knocking him to his knees before the reptile gasped as the Old God stabbed him through the heart with the weapon, gagging and choking as he was hefted back to a standing position by the sword, and then into the air, Blackheart falling from his hands as he grasped at the weapon through his chest.

"Apparently I won't. I warned you... I am all powerful." Athéos whispered softly to Zerrex, and then he put a hand on his back and shoved him towards the earth, the Drakkaren gagging and then vomiting blood as he fell to all fours, trembling and shivering as a horrendous agony and breathlessness gripped him, and then the Old God rose his sword high to decapitate his opponent... but Zerrex clenched his eyes shut, concentrating before he vanished from sight just as the blade swung downwards.

Blue motes shot through the air before Zerrex reappeared behind Athéos, smashing him in the back with a knee, and the Old God staggered forwards before Zerrex slammed his fist into his stomach, making him grunt before another knee smashed into his thigh, and he howled and spun around, slashing outwards with his sword... but Zerrex vanished in a burst of blue before he reappeared at face level with the Old God, and Athéos had a moment to stare before a foot smashed into his face, knocking him staggering as his beak cracked from the impact force. Zerrex landed, then he snarled as Athéos slashed viciously across his body, the reptile grabbing at the wound before he vanished once more... but this time, Athéos simply lashed a hand out, looking irritated at best as his fingers ripped through the blue motes and caught several of them as they passed, forming them into a sphere... and Zerrex appeared behind him, standing holding his stomach, his scales pale before he fell slowly to his knees... and then he screamed in agony, his body torn apart and disemboweled, the scars covering his form bleeding as more blood dripped from his jaws and red tears ran from his eyes.

"A dangerous thing, using your own energy like that..." Athéos murmured softly, bouncing the blue ball in his hand as he smiled coldly, and then he rested the end of his sword gently on Zerrex's shoulder, saying quietly: "Someone with a little bit of knowledge could easily use that against you... and I am no toy of Animaxander's. Animaxander was a failed god, a useful but disposable tool, really... a fanatic I am not all that displeased to see gone. You, Zerrex... I honestly would have treated differently. You see, with some training and a few generous gifts... your energy abilities could have been used in ways you have not yet even imagined. It's too bad you challenged me... and now... you must pay the price for your arrogance and your insolence. But perhaps I'll keep this as a... keepsake. And a reminder to my vast universe... I am in charge here, and they will all suffer the same fate if they dare challenge me and my righteous benevolence."

Athéos brought his sword back to thrust... and then Zerrex looked over his shoulder, holding up a hand as he rasped: "Wait! One... just one question. That... that energy is... mine?"

The Old God looked confused for a moment, frowning as he looked down at the blue sphere... and then Zerrex snarled as he clenched his hand shut, and the energy in Athéos's hand pulsed once before it exploded in a massive burst of sapphire light, the Old God stumbling backwards, screaming in agony as he pinwheeled his arms violently, his sword flipping through the air and his body shredded by the enormous, pinpoint blast... and Zerrex turned around, yelling wordlessly as he used up every last fiber of resolve in his being to catch the sword and stagger-dive forwards, stabbing it outwards and feeling it contact with something, drive through something as he fell... and then he dangled by the hilt, his toes against the ground, breathing heavily as Athéos stared down at him in shock, the sword buried to the handle into his chest before he grunted and twitched.

Blood dripped out of his jaws... and then he slowly fell down to his knees, and Zerrex fell against him, the two breathing hard before Athéos began to laugh weakly... and the Drakkaren snarled, clenching his eyes shut as he rasped, his face resting against the Old God's shoulder: "What's so funny?"

"Did you really think... I'd do this myself?" Athéos asked after a moment... and Zerrex's eyes opened in shock, his pain-wracked brain jarred to a halt, feeling nothing at all as Athéos's arm slowly fell off and turned into golden shards of light. "This is nowhere near my true power... this... this was little more... than an illusion, a physical distortion... in the membrane of reality. Lord Zerrex... you are going to die... and you will have killed, done... nothing to stop me and my plans!"

Athéos threw his head back and laughed... and then he frowned, looking forwards as the Drakkaren fell back on his haunches and grinned mirthlessly, leaning back on his hands before he looked down and said weakly: "I would have liked to die, Athéos, I'll be honest with you. Power... constant war... fighting gods, even though even after all I've been through, I'm still not religious, I still think that there must be something... beyond you stupid fucking asshole divine beings... something not... arrogant or twisted or pretentious I... I've lost too much blood, I can't make sense anymore.

"The point is..." Zerrex clenched his eyes shut, snarling as agony ripped through him... and then he opened his eyes as tears ran down his face, whispering: "I can't die... not until you're dead, at the very least. Not until the world is... is... as safe as it can be. Not until I clean... clean up... the last of Narrius's mistakes, and... unfortunately... that means fixing what I can that... he messed up by... k-killing... Naganis."

Zerrex paused, then he slowly fell on his back, staring at the sky as he smiled faintly, whispering: "Naganis... I have never known his name until now. Sin and Amiglion... never... spoke of... it..."

"You've made a foolish choice, Lord Zerrex..." Athéos's tone was soft and venomous... but as he began to get up, cracks spread throughout his body, and then it shattered like golden glass, vanishing into nothingness even as his disembodied voice said coldly: "I am like nothing you have ever known..."

"Fuck off." Zerrex mumbled, trying to wave a hand... but it was too heavy, and all he could do was slump back and close his eyes, as the pain faded slowly into tiredness, and he smiled weakly up at the sky as his devastated body trembled once before becoming still and peaceful, whispering in his own mind: Let me sleep...

There was darkness, and no pain... and for a moment, Zerrex wondered if he was dead, before he opened his eyes as he thought moodily: Moot question. Technically I died a long time ago... ugh, if I'm still thinking crap like that, I must be... well... demon-alive.

The Drakkaren sat up with a grunt after a moment, shaking his head slowly as he rubbed at his face, aches and pains travelling through his body... and then he realized dumbly he was in his room at the Ravenlight Estate, except he had four IV needles stuck into his body, all of them hooked up to different drip bags filled with different-colored substances, which made Zerrex wince before he groaned and grabbed at his forehead. Then he carefully looked down at himself, and he sighed in relief as he saw that his naked chest was fully-healed... and he wondered how long he'd been out for, as he mumbled: "Goddammit, I hope everyone's okay up top..."

He looked slowly around the room, and saw no one was here... and the lizard mumbled as he plucked the needles out of his body, wincing a bit before he carefully climbing out of the bed. Beside it, he noticed, there was a pile of well-read magazines and books... as well as a chair that had been pulled up close. Slowly, Zerrex staggered over to his dresser, and then he cursed under his breath as his bad leg gave a loud throb, announcing it was unhappy with movement and wanted to get back into bed.

Zerrex smacked his thigh with his fist a few times, and his leg twitched after a moment as if deciding it was ready to work. The Drakkaren sighed to himself, continuing to mumble as he rooted through his drawers and absently wondered at the same time where the hell his nanotech armlet was, and then he selected his usual plain pants and boxers: there was no need to get fancy, after all.

He winced as he cracked his back loudly, and then he looked at himself and judged that sitting down was probably best. So slowly, he made his way back over to the bed, sat down, and sighed loudly as he wiggled himself into his boxers and pants, mumbling about the issues of cramming his malehood into his pants: then again, he thought it was more than a fair price to pay for how much he enjoyed the sheer size of himself, but he felt that today was one of those days where he was going to have a problem with everything he came across. Then the lizard looked back and forth before he saw his cane on the other side of the room, and he decided it might actually be a good idea to use it for its original intended purpose for a change.

He forced himself to walk over to it as if nothing was wrong, just to see how much it would hurt out of a mischievous sense of masochism, and it resulted in him mostly-hobbling to the doorway as pain resounded through his body. The Drakkaren let himself out into the hall, but the corridor was empty... and while he was tempted to call Sin, he figured it was better that he just check for himself who was available around the Estate first.

He knocked on her door, but she was gone: the other rooms nearby - belonging to Selena, assuming she was still living here, Lily, and two of his daughters - were also empty. Zerrex wondered morbidly if he was in a dream or an alternate universe, or some horrible limbo after succumbing to his injuries, and then he let himself out into the entrance hall.

It was also empty... and while the reptile knew he could take the cheap way out and go outside, that seemed like a far too easy option to determine if there were still people around here or if the mansion had been sold, and him along with it as some kind of... trophy or extra furnishing, and then he peered suspiciously at the stairs. Stairs were not his favorite thing in the world to begin with... and he knew from personal experience that on days when his leg really hurt, they became his mortal enemy. He decided to try going down them nonetheless... and the moment his bad leg touched down on the first one, he felt it cramp up, and his eyes bulged before the Drakkaren rolled down the stairs and landed flat on his back with a loud thump on the island, groaning in pain and sprawled out with one foot sticking out over the next set of stairs leading down, his head resting painfully against a step and throbbing loudly as he muttered: "Sure, I can take on the apparent god-of-gods, but I can't walk down the fucking stairs. Oh, fuck me."

He slowly sat up, wincing and rubbing at his head, and then he blushed a bit as several people entered the hall, staring at him with shock. Lily, Selena, Sin, and Anathema, the latter in physical form and looking as if she'd never been blown out like a birthday candle... and then they all exchanged looks before Zerrex rose a hand in a wave and said dumbly: "Hi there. What'd I miss?"

The four rushed over to him immediately, Anathema and Selena shoving at the others rudely before the undead Naganatine tripped the female at the bottom of the stairs, and she flailed her arms and blockaded the others, leaving the undead female to gleefully rush up the stairs and then sinuously twist around him, smiling delightedly as she stroked gently over his face. "Oh, Lord Zerrex, so good to see you alive and well... as fun as it would have been to have you as my... little undead second in command, I would have dearly missed your heat and your powerful heartbeat..."

"Get off me. You're creepy." Zerrex said flatly, and Anathema muttered before she wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, and he huffed, saying grouchily: "I can get up myself."

"Oh, shut the fuck up." Anathema responded dryly, and then she carefully helped the Drakkaren up to his feet, the reptile leaning heavily on his cane before Selena snatched it away from him and ducked under that arm, looking at Zerrex with embarrassment on her face... and perhaps for the first time, humility. He looked at her for a moment, and Sin and Lily exchanged an awkward look... before Anathema cleared her throat and said pointedly: "Let's take Zerrex back to his room and get him back in order. Then after we've all had our fun poking at him, someone should stay with him and let him know what's happened these last fifty years."

Zerrex winced at this, hoping that he'd spent most of that time in Hell... and then Selena said quietly: "I'll do it. But yeah... Sin, you should probably check Zerrex over, too, make sure he hasn't gone and upset any of his old wounds."

"Seriously, I'm still injured?" the Drakkaren asked dumbly, and Selena nodded a bit, which made Zerrex mumble under his breath. "Oh joy. Frig, Athéos must have really beaten the crap out of me."

"Athéos... self-proclaimed creator of the universe." Anathema muttered, and then she made a disgusted face, saying darkly: "And the way he dared to speak about Naganis..."

"Anathema!" Sin said sharply, a deep blush suffusing her face: "We are not to say the name of God, you know that... it is forbidden, we are... we are traitors. We... lost the right to, many, many years ago."

"Naganis would have forgiven us." Anathema murmured with quiet conviction, and Sin hushed, gazing at her softly before the undead Naganatine grunted, hauling Zerrex forwards and making him yelp as a bolt of pain shot through him from stomping down on one leg. "Come on, we need to get this ass into bed, stop your fucking around."

It was a fairly quick process, although Zerrex fidgeted the whole time Sin scanned over his body, while Anathema stood by in her bikini made of skulls with her arms crossed and Selena simply quietly sat back in a chair, Lily resting a hand on her shoulder. Then Sin stepped back, nodding after a moment as she said softly: "Now that you're awake, your healing has sped up greatly... you've been comatose for the last fifty years, Lord Zerrex... I have to say, we've missed you greatly."

"So have those years been in Hell time?" Zerrex asked mildly, tilting his head... and Sin hesitated before she looked at Lily, who nodded quietly: both to him and to her. It made him wonder just what had happened, and he looked at the two mildly, saying finally: "Fine, I'll take the bait. What the hell's been going on in Hell?"

"Not much, it's not that... we've just... been terrified." Lily said finally, looking down quietly before she murmured softly, squeezing gently into Selena's shoulder: "Cindy was the one who found you... and Silven helped her save you. They brought you down to Hell immediately, since the corruption here would aid in your healing, and we all knew it would be a long time until you were back on your feet... but we never knew how long."

She sighed, then murmured quietly, as Selena lowered her head: "We thought we'd lost you for a long time... even with magic and science and everything in-between, you slipped quickly down into coma. It was only recently that you finally came back to us and went from comatose to deep, deep sleep, similar to demonic hibernation. We had no idea when you'd wake up, but... here you are. And already causing trouble."

Zerrex grunted, and then he looked at Anathema, unable to stop himself from asking: "What happened to you? How'd you put yourself back together without all the king's soldiers?"

"I went down to the Abyss and made myself a few corpses, after White was kind enough to bring my skull back to Hell with your body." Anathema glanced down at her body mildly, and Zerrex winced a bit before she grinned at him. "Hey, those souls were far, far beyond redemption, Zerrex... or Boss, as I hear they call you. Now that I'm back in this plane, my spirit is able to easily rove back and forth, as long as that skull exists... it'll take more than a fancy banishment trick to get rid of me."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment, and then Sin cleared her throat as she looked at Lily, saying quietly: "Perhaps we should let Zerrex get some rest, however... and Lily and I, unfortunately, have some duties to attend to anyway. Selena... why don't you stay here? She's been at your side... constantly. She took very good care of you, Lord Zerrex, if... neither of you mind me saying so."

They both only nodded, the reptile looking at Selena quietly before he reached out and touched her leg, and Anathema said mildly: "I'm going to go find that pet of yours... Sammy, not Cherry. I like the little pseudodragon, he reminds me of you, but just a bit smarter. I suppose Cherry's fine too, though..." She mused for a moment, rubbing at her chin slowly. "Just sexually-obsessed."

Zerrex snorted with soft amusement, and then he shook his head slowly before Anathema smiled slightly and headed to the door, saying in a gentler voice: "Come along, sister, and Lily. Like you said. Let's leave them alone for the moment."

The others nodded, and Lily leaned in and kissed Zerrex's cheek, whispering a gentle 'good luck' to the reptile as Sin half-bowed quietly, before both left with Anathema, and for a moment there was only an awkward silence as Zerrex laid against his pillows in bed and Selena simply sat with her hands in her lap. Then, finally, the reptile looked over at her and said finally: "Thanks for taking care of me."

"Someone had to do it." Selena murmured in return, and then she cleared her throat before she reached out and squeezed his wrist gently, looking into his eyes as she said finally: "I don't want to lose you, Zerrex, but... I... I think I finally understand what you mean. Not the part about where you need to put yourself in danger, that part's fucking retarded, but the part about... well... how you need to hold on to someone until they die, no matter how they die. You almost died in my arms, but... without knowing... that I love you. That I was... sorry for everything that happened, that... fuck... I'm so fucking bad when it comes to shit like this..."

She looked down, and Zerrex gazed over at her for a few moments before he said softly: "I love you too, Selena. That's all that matters."

Selena nodded, trembling, then she rested her arms across his chest and dropped her head onto it, tears overflowing her eyes as she sobbed loudly, and the reptile gazed at her silently, reaching up to stroke the tears quietly from her cheek with his thumb before she took his hand, pushed it against his body, and gripped the top of it tightly with all her fingers, grinding her head down against him as she continued to cry loudly. For ten minutes or so, she simply squeezed his hand and let her tears flow, and Zerrex only gazed at her silently, not knowing what to say or do.

Finally, she sniffled as she sat back, rubbing at her face with one hand as her other clutched the reptile's fingers, looking down as she whispered: "I'm just so sorry for everything. I know I've treated you unfairly but... I don't want to lose you. Fuck, from the first day you arrived in Hell, Zerrex, you were mine, and you were my goddamn friend, and you still are... I love you, and I'm your wife, sure, but you're also my best friend, my very best friend..."

She quieted for a moment, and then she took his hand gently in both of hers, looking at him as tears streamed down her wet cheeks. "Zerrex... you... you stood up to something so terrible his omnipresence echoed down to Hell, that a simple... his fucking thoughts were able to make a copy of himself strong enough to attack you, to hurt you more than I've ever seen you hurt... even worse than that time the fucking Minotaur King ripped a hole in you.

"I know... I can't stop you from fighting him. And I know that with what's been happening, with the way that Hell is suffering and the dimensions are meshing together... I can't ignore it either, and neither can anyone else." Selena murmured, looking down as she nodded quietly and squeezed his hand slowly between hers. Then she closed his eyes, took a long breath, and finally said, as she gazed at him almost humbly: "I'll support you in anything you want, Zerrex... and I'll always make sure I remember my place when it comes to the Monarchy. You'll always be my little Zerrex, that fucking pain-in-the-ass pet that I was ordered to take care of, but... I'll... I'll really try my hardest to not be a bitch."

She laughed weakly, and Zerrex nodded as he reached his other hand up to rest on top of hers, saying softly: "Thank you, Selena... that means a lot to me, it honestly does. I... I do want things to work out between us, and I know that... well... you're more than a little territorial."

"Yeah, but think of it as protectiveness." Selena replied softly, smiling a bit as she leaned towards him quietly. Zerrex met her eyes, and then they shared a soft kiss for a moment before she reached out and pushed him firmly to the side, making the lizard grunt before she climbed into bed with him and threw the blankets over their bodies, curling herself to his side as she guided one of his arms around her shoulders and rested her head on his chest. He gazed at her with quiet affection as he squeezed her close, and then she mumbled: "Just hold me for a little while for now, though. I need that... maybe I even deserve that. You knew what you were getting into when you married me, anyway."

"And here I thought I'd never get you into that ring again." Zerrex murmured softly, reaching a hand down to quietly grasp her hand and rub a thumb over the ring once more on her finger, and she laughed a bit, blushing deep red. "And all it took was me nearly dying, which I seem to do every other week these days."

"More often than that sometimes." Selena replied quietly, shaking her head slowly before she sighed, asking hesitantly: "Why... why haven't you had me do much to help you out this last few times, Zerrex?"

The Drakkaren shrugged, looking softly amused as he gazed down at her softly before he said finally, stroking her face gently: "Because I'm selfish. Just like I've had Lily stay back as much as possible, too... you guys need to be kept safe, you, Amiglion, Lily, and Sin, even though I know I've had her help me a lot. I... don't want to lose you, Selena. And even worse, I know that if you or any of those others were to die, it would destabilize Hell.

"I know that... I know how you feel about yourself." he said after a moment, and Selena quietly looked down, nodding slowly as she closed her eyes. "But you don't have to feel that way, and you don't need me to... to be important. To be loved. You have friends, and... family. You have people who recognize and admire you, and that will never change, Selena. And no matter what happens, I'll never leave you... and well, we all know what the chances of something managing to kill me is."

He smiled a bit at this, and Selena hit his chest quietly, saying softly: "Fucking asshole. Don't go talking that shit and tempting fate, seriously... last time you did that, look what happened to you. You gotta take this shit seriously, Boss, and I don't mean your usual laughing-about-it-while-really-worrying-about-it. I mean you gotta fucking share with us every thought you're having on this son of a bitch... because fuck, if he scares Sin and Anathema and was able to chop you up into pieces like he did, he's gotta be a nasty threat."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he looked down, saying quietly: "What would you do if I said I was scared, then?"

Selena remained silent for a moment... and then she sighed and climbed out of the bed, slipping away from him, and the reptile looked confused for a moment before she crossed her arms and glared at him, saying firmly: "Then get on your feet, Boss. If the fucker's so tough, then we gotta get out of this rut and start training hard again, just like old times."

"Selena!" Zerrex whined, flailing his arms in bed and suddenly not wanting to get up as he crossed them and half-pouted, glowering at her. "Come on, we'll get in trouble and I feel like I've been beaten by kids with anger problems with baseball bats trying to crack me open like a piñata."

"Stop your fucking long-ass metaphors and get your fucking ass out of bed." Selena pointed at the ground in front of her, and Zerrex mumbled before he finally slid onto his feet, grunting before she added mildly, grinning at him as she stroked a finger under his chin: "Unless, of course, you're scared."

"What? Me, scared?" Zerrex looked offended, crossing his arms as he bristled a bit and glared at her, and she shrugged, only giving him a patronizing look in return that made him grumble and huff, before he created a portal and muttered: "Fine, then. Let's go and work on my abilities and stuff, you... you bitch. You really do love getting me riled up, don't you?"

"A little." Selena admitted, and then she winked and shrugged as she walked through the portal, adding playfully before she vanished: "You're hot when you're mad."

Zerrex rolled his eyes in amusement at this, then he followed her through the portal, stepping out into a wide wasteland somewhere in the Eastern Provinces. It was one of their old training grounds, and the Drakkaren knew it was a safe place likely even in these hectic times: far away from any city or settlement, in an area of Hell where life was unsustainable for plants and most wildlife even by most magical means.

"So lemme guess. Time for you to get big, is it?" Selena glanced over her shoulder, looking amusedly at him, and the Drakkaren shrugged with a bit of a smile. She looked at him for a few moments, and then she nodded slowly, saying finally: "It's probably a good idea anyway. As I recall, been almost a million years since your last full Personification. Holding it in for too long ain't good for you, for a whole bunch of reasons."

The reptile grumbled something, but the he nodded slowly, rubbing at the back of his head. "Yeah, I figured... I just hate doing it, you know? It... it shouldn't affect who I am."

"And it doesn't." Selena said gently, gazing at him with quiet amusement as she shook her head slowly and crossed her arms, smiling amusedly up at him. "For all your damn talk, you can't help but feel like of all the people in the world, you're the one who becomes someone else just 'cause your outsides change. After all... even with all this power and all the terror you had of it at first, well... you're still your annoying, asshole self instead of some tyrant who makes everyone do everything for him."

Zerrex grunted at her, and she rolled her eyes before spread her arms and looking at him imploringly, and he finally rubbed awkwardly at his face before stepping back and mumbling to himself as he reached down and undid his pants, pushing them and his boxers down, carefully stepping out of them before he reached down and folded them up, obviously stalling for time. Selena didn't even toss an insult at him, however, and it just made the reptile feeling all the more awkward before he cleared his throat and walked about ten feet away from her, half-covering himself with one hand as the other rubbed at his head. "I... guess I'll go ahead, then."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, and after a few moments, his body bulged before his demonic characteristics slowly pushed out of his body. His horns curled out of his skull as spines pushed out of his form and the scales fell away from his twisted arm, his musculature flexed, bulged, and expanded and his body slowly began to grow as he felt a chill run down his own spine... but he forced himself forwards anyway, knowing that in all likelihood, something would be different... but reminding himself of Selena's words and his own advice.

Finally, the Drakkaren looked up, and he blinked stupidly as he stared down at Selena, who now resembled a children's toy waving a hand irritably up at him. He winced a bit as he rolled his shoulders, then he reached his slightly-oversized, warped arm down and offered his palm to her, and she stepped up on it before he carefully hefted her into the air, whispering dumbly: "You look a little bit smaller than usual."

"You're way larger than usual." Selena replied loudly and clearly, looking relieved that the Drakkaren had remembered to modulate his voice: with their size difference, after all, normal speech to each other was made difficult. "Did you stop because you maxed out your size?"

"No." Zerrex shook his head, then he frowned a bit as he glanced down over himself, taking in his emaciated-seeming chest through which his ribs were visible, the monstrous organ between his legs that he knew could split from the one massive, ribbed-looking shaft into four dangerous tentacles and the house-sized balls beneath these, the way he was standing on massive talons but how his legs hadn't actually snapped back to full unguligrade stance yet... and he finally said after a moment: "I like being huge, but... I don't, Selena. I don't want to grow larger than this... when am I ever going to need to use it?"

"Duels, exceedingly-dangerous conflicts, likely against the Old Gods... we need to know your full strength." Selena said firmly, putting her hands on her hips and still somehow managing to glare at Zerrex as he looked at her sourly, his hair twisting back and forth wispily despite the lack of a wind in Hell. "Not every fight can be solved with you in your mortal form-"

"Uh, yes they can." Zerrex interrupted, and she threw her head back with a sigh, dropping her forearm over her eyes before the Drakkaren added: "Besides, in this body, I'm a huge target and holy power hurts me about a billion times more than it does when I'm just in my normal little form."

Selena muttered something, then she glared at him, turning around and leaping out of his hand, and Zerrex watched her plummet to the ground and land neatly before she strode a few feet away, turned around, and shouted a random holy prayer at him. Immediately, the reptile yelped and staggered backwards, his stomps shaking the wasteland as he covered his face... and then the gigantic demon looked back and forth querulously as nothing happened, before Selena cupped her mouth and yelled: "You started carrying around holy relics, remember? Think of it like poison, you've built up a resistance to it!"

"Well, then my demonic form is still useless everywhere other than Hell." Zerrex grumbled, crossing his arms, before he winced when Selena created a fireball and threw it at his face, before he simply blew it out before it hit him. "I seriously can't go tromping around on the mortal plane like this! What if I hurt someone?"

The demoness did a little angry dance beneath him, and the reptile sighed, rolling his eyes as he slumped forwards and muttered: "Fine, fine. I'll keep going. I'm just saying."

With that, he stepped away from her and closed his eyes, letting his body continue to grow and expand, but this time concentrating on not simply growing, but forcing any other demonic characteristics to the surface that might still be lurking beneath him. As he did so, Selena watched, her eyes sharp and thoughtful as Zerrex's height continued to increase, even as his legs bent backwards, knees snapping the other way as the bones visibly shifted places beneath the scale and muscle that covered them before his body started to change in ways she hadn't seen before.

Dark, black bone surfaced through the scales covering his chest, his ribs forming a natural breastplate over his body as he grunted, leaning his head forwards as his tail lengthened slightly, the harpoon at the tip becoming a deadly-looking arrowhead that split apart a moment later into four L-shaped prongs. A long, thin spike slid out between them as his tail snapped back and forth, the Drakkaren concentrating and gritting his teeth as blue light pulsed through the terrible cracks up the length of the reptile's warped arm as it seemed to jitter, the metal and rock that made it up darkening slowly.

Then the reptile threw his head back, barely his fangs with a wince before his eyes slowly opened and he lets his head fall forwards, breathing quietly in and out. The scars that still lined his body even in this form pulsed visibly where they weren't covered by some demonic characteristic of his, and the Drakkaren held his right arm out with a wince before he and Selena both stared as it twisted like water and became smooth and solid instead of warped, still ending in a thick, abominable claw. He looked at this, then down at Selena, who looked even tinier to the massive demon now... and he rolled his head slowly on his shoulders before he reached his smooth-as-gunmetal hand down, letting her climb up onto it before he lifted her partway up his massive chest and asked quietly: "What's happened to me?"

"Your demonic form has fused more with your Wrath side, I'd guess... but I'm somehow sure there's plenty of Lust left in you, still." Selena paused, reaching down to quietly brush against the reptile's strange, corrupt arm, and then she murmured softly to herself: "Warm..."

She glanced up as Zerrex looked down at her with a frown, and she cleared her throat before standing up, saying clearly: "When you take on your demonic form, you... express the characteristics of your sins... but remember like we discussed, the stronger the demon, the more of Hell's corruption it has inside its body and that's sunken into its spirit. It's the corruption that gives us magic and fuels our demonic powers... if you spend too long outside of Hell or a Hell-like environment, the body starts to rust, to lose some of its supernatural abilities.

"It's like... your willpower, Hell's essence, and the powers of Mephistopheles have all fused together inside of you, Zerrex." Selena said finally, stepping on the palm of the Drakkaren's arm as faintly-visible blue pulses shone up from small cracks here and there along its length. "In full demonic form, I bet you could control this thing better than you ever could in your usual little mortal form... fuck, I bet it gives you access to some of his other abilities, too. Your element is Earth, just like his was, after all... and I never could understand why after fusing with the Heartstone, you weren't able to utilize all his powers."

"Because you suck." the Drakkaren muttered, then he coughed and cleared his throat as he looked down at her dumbly, adding: "I... forgot I was about... how tall am I?"

Selena looked up and down his body, then she finally said flatly: "Probably a hundred and fifty feet, and most of that still idiot, I can see."

Zerrex looked awkwardly off to the side, and Selena grumbled under her breath before she finally shook her head with a sigh, saying grouchily: "Anyway. You at full size?"

The Drakkaren hesitated, then he said slowly, frowning as he looked down quietly: "I dunno. Something feels... you know. It's like I'm on the bench press or something, and working with weight I feel is too much... but after I finish my exercises and rest a minute, I think just a little more, and I end up being able to do it... do you know what I'm trying to say?"

The demoness looked up at him for a few moments... and then she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do. Then... let's stick with this for now, it should be more than enough. Put me up on your shoulder or something."

The Drakkaren nodded, carefully lifting her to his flesh-and-blood shoulder, and she stepped off by the large, jutting spike that stuck from it, sitting with her back against this protrusion and making herself comfortable before she said mildly, hands laced together in her lap. "We'll start with the basics as always. Shapeshifting, tentacles, then your arm, and after that we'll move into magic and testing your magic resistances. You're more resistant to holy powers than you used to be, but I'm betting even a few weak spells would cut a hole in you."

"Bitch." Zerrex muttered, and Selena didn't argue this point before he nodded and asked mildly: "Can we work on my Expression after we're done with my Personification?"

"But only way after." Selena held up a finger, nodding firmly. "Come on, asshole, get it moving. We don't got all day before they track us here, especially with how fucking big you are even by Hell's standards."

Zerrex grunted... but the two were able to work for several hours before they were interrupted, and long after the Drakkaren had shrunken down to his Personification, the stranger demonic characteristics that had appeared vanishing from his body and his huge arm reverting to its usual warped, ugly form... and the reptile very glad to be able to put his pants back on. As they were working on magic, however, Sin came through a portal with Lily, Cherry, and Anathema, the undead Naganatine the only one who looked content as she munched on handfuls of popcorn from a large paper bag.

The Drakkaren turned towards them, resting a moment and panting hard as he leaned on his legs, his head lowered and eyes mostly shut as Selena paced back and forth behind him, glaring at him and shouting: "Come on, is that the best you got? Where's the Zerrex I know, the one who used to be able to handle exercises like this without breaking down and crying like a little girl?"

"Still in bed, having this horrible nightmare." Zerrex mumbled, before he waved awkwardly as Lily crossed her arms and stood in front of him, Sin and Anathema on either side of her before finally added: "Hey, don't look at me, this was all her idea."

"Tattletale." Selena grumbled, then she cleared her throat and straightened as Lily turned a glare on her, the female looking awkwardly away as she said dumbly: "You know, there's this old Hell saying you probably know, Lily, it's about how you never try and force an old dragon to sleep, because-"

"Shut it." Lily said flatly, and behind her, Anathema leaned across to Sin and whispered something, and the Naganatine immediately covered her muzzle, her eyes widening as she visibly worked to hold in her giggles. Lily half-glanced over her shoulder, but then she disregarded whatever she sensed and instead returned her glare to Selena when she tried to slip away. "Can't you find some happy medium between either helping Lord Zerrex with his psychotic schemes and yelling at him all day long? Neither of those things is good for him."

"I am right here." Zerrex rose a hand, and then Lily turned a dark look on him, and he instead shrank back a bit, saying dumbly: "Nevermind, I'm not included in this conversation, so I'm just going to... go over there."

He slid carefully over to Sin and Anathema, and as Lily started to rant in earnest, the two Naganatine led him away a short distance, the latter still stuffing her face: a disgusting sight because with every gulp, the food visibly slid its way down her throat and into the organ he guessed was her stomach, which bulged and twitched as it digested her food. He looked awkwardly at this, then up at the bag of popcorn as he cracked his back with a grunt, asking finally: "Where the hell did you get that?"

"Cherry made it for me. I never had any idea that mortal foods were so delicious. And this is somehow made from corn?" Anathema peered down into the bag, then she picked up another handful, shoving it into her mouth and licking her fingers slowly as a pleased expression rolled across her features, sighing in enjoyment. "Oh, such simple things in life that are the greatest source of desire and joy, how without you I would feel so minor, incomplete..."

Zerrex looked at her blankly, and Sin smiled a bit as she said softly: "My sister studied poetry under God... I mean... Naganis." She looked skywards, wincing as if expecting to be cursed or struck down, and after a moment of nothing happening, she visibly settled herself as she quietly smoothed her dress out. "I've never understood it very well myself... but Anathema has always had a talent for both composition and deciphering it. It's another reason I was so sure you two would get along so well."

"So is it the heart of a sensitive artist that beats inside that bony, butter-covered shell?" Zerrex asked mildly, and Anathema blew a raspberry at him, spraying him with popcorn crumbs and making him wince back before he looked at her sourly. "Real nice."

"Cherry taught me that, too." Anathema said mildly, and then she stretched out before clicking her tongue, and Sammy popped out of thin air on her shoulder, looking back and forth before his eyes settled on Zerrex, and the pseudodragon immediately squeaked and tackled him, knocking the reptile flat on his back with a grunt as he collided with surprising force against the startled reptile.

"Sammy!" Zerrex laughed as the tiny beast jumped up and down on him, running crazily all over his body before clinging tightly to his face in an almost-hug, and the Drakkaren smiled a bit before he reached up, stroking gently over his back and then carefully extracting him from his muzzle as he said softly: "Good to see you too... I was worried for a little while that you didn't manage to escape from the cathedral. And what about Loki, how's he?"

Anathema and Sin exchanged a look, and Zerrex quieted before the undead Naganatine gazed imploringly at her sister, and finally Sin sighed and nodded, saying quietly as she reached out and touched his forearm: "We have no idea. Before Cherry returned to Hell with Captain Lazarus... I mean, Sir Vampire... and Sir Pettigrew, they did a short search of the area... but to no avail. With the time distortions affecting Hell more and more by the hour now, we can also no longer be sure of the time differences, either... sometimes time passes with equal speed, other times it moves far, far faster here than on the mortal realm."

Zerrex nodded slowly, rubbing at his head, and then Sin added quietly: "Ixin, however, does have news to report, which is why Lily and I originally came out here... although now I can see she's engaged with... other activities." The trio paused to look up, watching as Lily reached out and smacked Selena firmly on the forehead, and the female grabbed her skull, looking chastened as the golden-scaled demoness shouted something about being an enabler. "We should probably go ourselves to see Ixin, however... he has a lot of light to shed on the situation."