Chapter 123

C 123

"Listen well, people of Asgard." Hela's voice echoed throughout the throne room. "This is Layla of the Fallen. She is the woman I am courting and the future Queen Consort of Asgard. She will be treated with the respect she is justly due." Hela commanded.

"YES YOUR MAJESTY!" Everyone in the hall, from the guards to the various nobles all answered at the same time. I could immediately see that the looks of derision I was receiving had all turned into ones of reverence and respect. It seems like I'd suddenly gained a lot of pull in Asgard…

I was also impressed with Hela for managing to straighten Asgard out so thoroughly in such a relatively short amount of time. Just a few weeks ago these people were rioting in the streets and Asgard was on fire.

Hela nodded to herself with a smirk at the crowd's obedience. She then turned back to me. "I'm glad you are back. And who is this man next to you?" Hela finally acknowledged Kokabiel. I snickered at how annoyed he looked for being ignored by her in favor of myself.

"I am Kokabiel. The Angel of the Stars." Kokabiel declared as he spread his twelve black wings out widely. He was trying to puff himself up and look impressive.

Hela didn't look that impressed though. She just raised an eyebrow at his display. "And?" She asked sarcastically. 

Kokabiel lowered his wings and looked to the side embarrassed. "… And this one's older brother I suppose." He said while pointing at me. "I'm here to speak with Azazel."

Hela nodded. "You can find him in the west tower of the palace. He's set up some kind of makeshift laboratory there. He was researching alternate methods to travel back to the other Midgard. It seems pointless now though that you two found your own ways back."

Hela then told me that she was currently in the middle of Holding court to discuss the future war with Jotunheim. Laufi had technically killed Odin in his bed after all. Hela couldn't let that stand–even if that was what ended up freeing her from her prison. It would make her look weak to the rest of the nine realms if she didn't avenge her predecessor's death. I didn't want to disturb her during such an important meeting so I decided to go with Kokabiel to see Azazel. A retinue of soldiers escorted us through the palace towards where Azazel holed himself away in research. They left us at the door and proceeded to stand guard. They told me that they had to do their duty and guard Asgard's future Queen Consort. They looked at me with reverence when they said it as well.

…

"Layla! Your back! I guess my theory about where you ended up proved to be true then? That's great!" Azazel smiled and wrapped me in a hug. He completely ignored the fact that I wasn't alone and only greeted me.

"Eh-hem!" Kokabiel cleared his throat loudly and glared at Azazel. I could hear my brother snicker closely. Too quiet for Kokabiel to hear even with our enhanced senses. He was messing with him.

Azazel let me go before he turned to Kokabiel. "Brother!? What a pleasant surprise. I haven't seen you in close to 20 years. I had half wondered if you ran off to start your own branch of the grigori or something." Azazel said with a casual laugh. "Who am I kidding though? That would have been treason after all… And we all know the punishment in the Grigori for traitors."

Kokabiel gulped and I shivered. The punishment for traitors was 1000 years frozen in the depths of Cocytus. The cold will seep into your very soul and prevent you from dying or passing out. You'll be in frozen agony until someone comes to save you. 

Azazel laughed loudly this time before walking over to Kokabiel and patting him on the back. Kokabiel grimaced and looked uncomfortable at the gesture. "I'm just kidding brother. Seriously, don't be so stiff! You're obviously not a traitor after all.

"Yes…obviously…" My fellow ten winged brother replied. His voice was actually tinted with fear. 

[I don't think Azazel was joking there.]

'He definitely wasn't. Kokabiel technically hasn't done anything treasonous yet though. He didn't attack the church or steal any Holy Swords so there's no reason to actually punish him. Azazel was just letting Kokabiel know that he clearly knew all about our brother's schemes though.' I replied to the System.

"Tcch." Kokabiel clicked his tongue before turning and storming back towards the doors. "I need some air. You and I WILL have a talk later though Azazel!" Kokabiel declared before he stormed out of the room. 

I watched him go before turning to Azazel with a shrug. "He means well…sort of. He is incredibly loyal to the Grigori. He's just also completely fanatical at the same time." I said. 

Azazel sighed. "I know. During wartime, Kokabiel is definitely the guy I'd want by my side leading our forces. He's a brilliant commander and soldier. During peace though, it's hard to keep him from always causing an outer-factional incident. The talks of a potential peace treaty between the three factions actually started a few decades ago. That was right around the time he scurried off actually." Azazel explained.

"Wait? So the talks literally took 20 years to come to fruition?" I asked. 

Azazel shrugged. "Supernatural politics between three factions, that all have quasi-immortal members, takes a lot of time. No one was in a particular rush anyways since the majority of the fighting had stopped." He said. "Neither Michael nor I wanted to really declare peace with the Devil's either." He said with a grimace.

I nodded. Why couldn't we have gotten the canon DxD Ecchi-Devils? All they cared about were Rating Games and Boobs! I wouldn't have had a problem hanging out with Devil's like that! Rating Games and Boobs sound awesome! 

Instead we got the Soul Eating Monster Devils… 

[That's probably the influence of being combined with the Marvel Universe. Devils and Demons in Marvel are rarely not evil after all.]

'That's true.' 

XXX

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