Chapter 172

"Welcome back, Heather. And how was your little adventure?" The Ancient One asked while preparing some tea for all three of us.

"It was boring at first, but then it picked up. I got to fight an evil dragon guy, and I was winning until he summoned this crazy magic armor." Heather said, and the Ancient One nodded. I found it funny that Heather didn't even bother remembering Issei's name.

The Ancient One nodded to Heather. She turned to me and gave me a scrutinizing look as she sipped her tea. She set her cup back down. "I trust you kept Heather out of danger other than that?" She asked the Fallen Angel who was doing her best to not look nervous. She went to take another sip.

My eyes did their best to avoid her own so she couldn't see my expression. I didn't think Acting Level 4 was enough to work on her yet. She'd dealt with hundreds of years of bullshit. "Of course I did. I promised I would!"

The Ancient One nodded, glad that I acted responsibly and didn't put Heather into much danger. "That's good, then—"

I sighed in relief when she bought my lie.

"Layla fought Mephisto and killed his avatar!" Heather blurted out! "I got to watch the whole fight UP CLOSE! It was wicked!" 

"Pfffffff!" The Ancient One spat out her tea all over and started coughing! She quickly wiped her face and gave me one of the most judgmental glares I'd ever received before! "MEPHISTO!?" She shouted indignantly!

Heather then started to recount the entire experience in very accurate detail. She gave me a mischievous grin as she did so.

I looked at my wrist, where I currently wasn't wearing a watch. "Oh, would you look at the time? I'm afraid I'm late…for a thing. Bye, Heather!" Before the Ancient One could stop me for what would surely be a long interrogation session, I opened a portal directly underneath myself and fell through.

…

"Ooof!" I landed directly on my butt in the middle of my living room. A quick glance outside told me that it was nighttime. 

Ugh…I'd just woken up! I didn't want to go back to sleep already! I hate time zones sometimes.

I guess I'd just pull an all-nighter. I didn't really need sleep anyways. I was deciding on what show I'd be marathoning tonight when I heard some sniffling from nearby.

Asia was sitting on the couch nearby, crying, and a female SHIELD agent looked like she was doing her best to comfort her.

"What's wrong, Asia?" I asked in concern.

Neither girl had noticed my sudden arrival and were startled.

"Eeeep!"

The SHIELD agent went for her sidearm before she recognized me and stopped herself. "Please don't sneak up on people who are armed, Miss Layla." Agent Carter asked with a sigh. "As for why Asia is crying, someone is throwing lightning around the city like it's going out of style! Akeno went out to check it out, and Asia is worried for her."

Asia sniffled and wiped her tears. "I just want to know if Akeno is okay… The last time the city had a thunderstorm, some people died, and I couldn't help them…"

I realized the problem here. Asia was somehow feeling responsible for those deaths. As a girl who was granted miraculous healing powers, Asia seemed to feel that any life not saved was her fault, especially when she was located in the same city as all the hospitals that had power failures from the storms.

I walked over to Asia and sat down right next to her on the couch. I gave her a big comforting hug. "None of those deaths were your fault, Asia. The only one to blame was whichever mean God caused all the thunder and lightning. When we find out who it was, they will be punished…"

...

–Present–

I had sensed my niece's ascension to High Class across the city. That was followed by me feeling her fighting against a God. I rushed over as quickly as possible to make sure she was alright. I could tell that Akeno was more powerful than the God she was facing, but I still wanted to make sure she was alright. It was a good thing I did, because another God soon appeared to save the first one. They were about to team up against Akeno and her new friends right when I arrived.

'Are those the X-Men?' I thought in surprise. What were they doing here? The black and Yellow outfits they were wearing were very iconic. They also looked to be very tight and form fitting. I approved.

I descended towards the ground. My black wings and my aura of power, blanketing the area, didn't retract as my sandals made contact with the soil. Both were a show of my power, and that's what I needed to project right now. I was dealing with two gods after all. While it was true that they were both only in High Class, I was certain that wasn't always the case. Back when the Greek Pantheon had millions of believers in this world, these Gods were far more powerful. As their followers dwindled, so too did their powers.

[Idiots who could never find another source of power.]

And there really wasn't any changing that for the Greeks, in the end. Even if humans knew the Greek Gods really existed, no one would pray to them anymore.

[And why would they? Pretty much every single story about them involves the Greek Gods being incredibly cruel to their mortal followers.]

XXX

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