Chapter 176: Not for Free

Pazuzu

"Where is my father?" he demanded again, and when neither of them answered, he let out a low, dark chuckle. "Whether you choose to tell me or not is entirely your decision. But know this: your lives already hang by a thread. Draca will come for your realm next, and he will show none of the restraint I showed when I chose to spare the rest of you and destroy only a fraction of what I could have." He lowered his hand, and Elios sank slowly out of the air, landing in a heap on the floor.

"Which is precisely why you will tell me what became of his body, and why he is no longer where you sealed him."

Elios let out a strained groan, forcing the words out. "There is no reason we would ever explain ourselves to a demon. You came into our home, and—" He paused, struggling visibly. "I... there is a—"

Pazuzu lowered his hand, and Elios dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

"So you will not tell me," he said, chuckling darkly, and turned toward Caxton, still waiting quietly in the corner. "My servant here carries a rather unique gift. He can strip a god of their power entirely, and render them useless."

"I would rather die than tell you anything," Elios responded.

Pazuzu shrugged. "I could have killed you the moment I found you, but you are the God of Fate, and your power still has its uses, at least until I have what I came for. Stripping your power will not kill you, Elios. It will simply render you useless. You will become a fallen god who cannot die, less than human, forced to exist that way for the rest of eternity."

He chuckled lightly. "Do you believe you could endure that? Could you truly live your entire existence as nothing at all?" He laughed again, louder this time. "If you believe you can manage that, then by all means, allow Caxton to take what remains of your power." He lowered his hand once more, and Solmira dropped to the ground beside Elios. "Then I suppose I will simply take hers as well."

Solmira grunted, pushing herself upright enough to meet Pazuzu’s violet eyes directly. "What is it you want to know?"

"Ah. It seems you are far more reasonable than Elios."

"We share a common enemy. I have seen the visions myself, and they are never wrong. I know the gods and goddesses will die at Draca’s hand if we are ever found, which is precisely why I do not care about handing a pathetic demon like you what you want."

"Pathetic?" Pazuzu burst into laughter. "I am anything but that. In case you have forgotten, I am Pazuzu, the Demon Prince, and though I may not carry my father’s full strength, I am considerably more patient than he is. I do not kill my enemies quickly."

"What do you want to know?" Solmira demanded.

Elios rounded on her, his voice rising sharply. "Why would you tell him anything at all? Have you forgotten what he did to us, how he tore our realm apart? And now you wish to help him?"

"What else would you have me do, with Draca unaccounted for?" Solmira fired back. "Do you wish for the entire order of gods and goddesses to vanish alongside him? I am only doing this because Draca is evil, and I believe he has already woken."

Pazuzu said nothing, only watched them, one hand resting thoughtfully against his chin. He had been hearing his father’s voice in his dreams for two nights running now, proof enough that Draca had already woken.

He had already sent Caxton to search for wherever his father might be hiding, and what they had found instead had left even him unsettled: the seal broken clean through, and the body it once held either gone entirely, or never truly there to begin with.

"Did you seal my father’s body? And the bodies of the seven lords alongside him?"

Solmira shook her head. "When Castiel sealed Draca centuries ago, his body had already been broken beyond repair. Only his soul was ever sealed. The same was true for the rest of the lords."

"Then his soul escaped the moment the seal broke. Which means he is searching through the depths of the abyss for a new body to be reborn into. That would explain why he has not yet appeared, would it not?" he demanded.

Elios let out a heavy sigh and clapped his hands together. "His soul is likely seeking out anyone who carries a grudge against us. Someone we know. Someone the sins know. Someone you know. And when he finally returns, we may not even recognize him, not if he chooses to wear the face of someone already dead. Once his soul fully activates, the gods will sense it. We always sense when a god awakens."

"I should sense it as well, and yet I have felt nothing so far. Still, I know the Demon King’s awakening draws close, and I have no way of knowing which body he intends to claim." Pazuzu rubbed his chin slowly. "So. What do we do about it? Is there any way to change this, to seal them all away a second time?"

Solmira scoffed. "The gods are the only beings pure enough to seal the Demon King away, and yet you locked us up, stripped us of our purpose, and now come seeking our help regardless."

"No. I will not require your help for that. The sins are more than powerful enough to handle the Demon King themselves."

"Then why do you need our help at all?" Elios asked. "The sins cannot possibly—"

"The sins carry half a god’s blood in them already. They are more than capable, and the child of Lust’s power will surpass even my father’s, given time. They will manage perfectly well."

Elios sighed, lowering his head. "Then why seek our help at all? What is it you actually want from us?"

"Because I need your help teaching the mate of Lust how to cultivate properly."

Solmira and Elios spoke at the exact same moment. "What? What exactly are you trying to say?"

Pazuzu walked back toward his throne and settled into it. "In exchange for your freedom, and the safety of what remains of Elysium, the two of you will become grandmasters to the mate of Lust, and help see this world through to peace."

"And why are you doing this?" Solmira demanded.

"You already know why, Solmira. You are the Goddess of Prophecy. You know precisely what is best."

Solmira’s eyes widened the moment the words left his mouth, because he was right, and she knew it.

The truth of it was simple enough, even if none of them would ever hear it from him directly.

Every piece of this, all of it, existed to ensure Luceriel’s survival, and to see his father dead at last, the same father who bore no small part of the blame for his mother’s death.