New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Asmodeus looked at Astaroth next to him and shook his head slightly.

"You need to get your emotions under better control, young, foolish master. If not, you will never earn the respect of old shrews like these."

The twelve men that stood behind the Matriarchs had all stepped forth, weapons drawn, and auras of immense magic crashing into the four people in front of them

The one behind the head Matriarch spoke up.

"I recognize you, demon of old. What is a dog of Solomon doing here, away from its master?" he asked, his tone stern but calm.

Asmodeus looked at him and snickered.

"I see there are still people alive who remember the true faces of fear. But I am afraid you are wrong, little human. I am not away from my master, simply away from the old one."

The head Matriarch looked at Astaroth, whose face was dark, and whose eyes showed emotions that should never be in the eyes of a ruler.

"You are saying he is the new master of Solomon's demons? Please. Do not mock me. I may be much younger than you, but I am no fool," the older man said, his face turning into a sneer.

But the head Matriarch raised her hand, silencing him.

"Enough. This is not the place to be measuring cocks. I thought you knew better, Edelbart," she said, with disappointment in her voice.

The older man turned his head slightly to look at his master and wife before taking a step back and lowering his blade. He kept it out, but his stance looked a little less aggressive.

Then the old woman spoke again.

"I do not know why you came out of your prison, demon, but you are not welcome here. Either shut your mouth or leave."

Asmodeus creepily smiled at her.

"You are old, woman. But not old enough to give me orders. And certainly not powerful enough in that form. Why don't you take your true form, and we can have a true discussion?"

***

While they bantered, Astaroth had already lost focus on all this. He had been fuming so much, he barely realized when his mind was pulled inward himself, into a familiar white place.

What made him conscious of this was a familiar voice, soft and androgynous.

"Injustice. Lies. Accusations unfounded. Do you require power?"

Astaroth snapped out of his darkening thoughts, the darkness in his soul immediately simmering down, as he looked up to the winged humanoid in front of him.

"Hmm?" he hummed, still out of focus.

"False justice. Onerous claims. Fallacies. Do you require power?"

His words were simple, almost like a child still learning to speak. But their meanings were much more profound than they should have been, compared to a child.

"How would power change the situation?" Astaroth asked, his tone derisive.

"Wrongs become rights. Power to fix injustice. Do you require power?"

Astaroth looked at him, wondering what prompted the soul to reach out to him more lately. Was it because he needed more power than before?

Or was it the need to counterbalance the presence of the demon power he used so often?

Maybe it wasn't either, but just a will to be let free more often. He had no idea.

But why would he ever say no to free power? Especially in a time of need.

Astaroth was confident he could take them on. But he would have to use so much more of his strength than he wanted.

Also, if possible at all, Astaroth wanted to keep this violence-less. Even though they kept making him out to be the villain, in the story they so brilliantly distorted.

"Can you fix this mess without shedding blood?" he asked the angel-looking copy of himself.

The soul nodded its head once in response.

Then yes. Give me all the power I need. Let's put an end to this masquerade."

***

Outside his mind, the bantering had stopped abruptly when a surge of power erupted next to Asmodeus and the others.

Standing next to the demon, and in front of Phoenix and Rodney, was Astaroth with large white wings blooming from his back.

"Enough," he said, his voice booming.

The air shook to his words, the power in them vibrating the naturally thick mana in the room.

Again, the twelve men in the room stepped forward, weapons at the ready, but two words from Astaroth stopped them clean in their tracks.

"Stay there."

The men felt their souls tug at their bodies as if disobeying this command would tear them asunder. It was instinctual, almost like they were born to obey this command.

The Matriarchs felt the power reverberating from Astaroth's words and suddenly doubted his presence near them was a good idea.

But one of them was only looking with her mouth hanging.

The head Matriarch had met a person with a similar aura before. An aura of power that surpassed what was possible for mortals.

This was the same level of power as the mother of Themiscus. The Progenitor of Words.

Of course, this power was nothing like the progenitors and only felt like it. But she wouldn't know the difference if it spat in her face.

'Has a new progenitor been born?' she wondered, in awe.

But Astaroth could feel his very cells draining their of life force. Whatever power this new soul companion of his had given him was not something he should be using so freely.

So he needed to make this quick. And the best solution was bluffing.

"I have heard enough of your lies. You seem to want a violent resolution, so I am ready to give you one. Have you any last request before I end l of you?"

The threat took everyone in the room by surprise, even Asmodeus. And that was because he looked like the avatar of good, at the moment, but his statement was far from exuding the same righteousness.

"Wait! Let's not rush into something that drastic!" the head Matriarch exclaimed, her voice cracking before she started coughing.

All the other Matriarchs were nodding their heads frantically, in accord with their leader.

Astaroth could only smile inwardly, glad his stratagem had worked.

'That could have gone wrong. I'm glad it didn't.'