Jupiterran led Carl in silence for a while, pondering their discussion with earnest consideration.

"Apologies, I think you must be in a better mind for diplomacy now." He said upon realising he had been wandering silently for an hour. "If anyone makes a move for you, I ask you to let me intercept. If I do so, it will be to end the animosity. If you did so, it would only exasperate the situation."

Carl considered Jupiterran's proposal, it was far from what he planned, but had a multitude of merits he couldn't overlook carelessly. "Fine, but only once."

"Fair enough, I suppose I can't ask you to ignore multiple threats in a single favour."

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL: HOW MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT JUPITERRAN? ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM LILLIM: WHEN EARTH WAS STILL A BATTLEGROUND, HE TRIED TO CLAIM THE TERRITORY YOU WERE ACTUALLY RAISED IN AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. HE BUTCHERED A GREAT NUMBER OF YOUR AUNTS, BUT AS MUCH AS HE TRIED TO EXPAND HIS BORDERS, HE ALSO SHOWED GREAT WISDOM FOR A HUMAN. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM KYUBI: FROM WHAT I HEAR HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO MAKE IT IN TIME TO REPAY HUMANITY'S DEBT TO MY KIND, BUT HE WASTED TIME TAKING PRISONERS INSTEAD OF CUTTING A PATH AND FOCUSING ON SAVING US. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM TIAMAT: HE ONCE SLAUGHTERED A GREAT NUMBER OF NON-HUMANS, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DEPTH OF HIS PREJUDICES. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM FAYLORNA: HE MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS ON FAYLORN AS WELL I BELIEVE. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, HE WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A NUISANCE WITH NO ABILITY TO ATTACK SOUL-FORMS OR SPIRITUAL BEINGS, BUT THAT MIGHT HAVE CHANGED SINCE. ]

[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM BAHAMUT: HE HAS A STRONG SENSE OF JUSTICE, BUT HIS SENSE OF MORALITY IS THE JUSTICE HE FOLLOWS, IT MAKES HIM HARD TO JUDGE AND REACT UNPREDICTABLY. HE HOLDS HIMSELF TO THE SAME STANDARDS HE DOES OTHERS THOUGH, SO IT IS HARD TO CONSIDER IT DICTATORIAL SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. ]

Carl considered everything he was told carefully...

'His prejudice runs deep? Seems more like he brought into propagandist misinformation.'

"What troubles you?"

"You... You seemed to be surprised when I said it was humanity's separation was the reason for all this. What did you think was the reason?"

The question was met with a wall of rebellious silence.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, you're entitled to personal and private considerations."

"Never mind... I should ask out of polite courtesy if nothing else; How is your wife?"

"Well that's a whole other thing... I figure she's probably wasting her date day with Kyubi worrying about what's happening."

"When you say "date day", what do you mean?"

"I mean what you think, she is on a date with Kyubi today, then I think we decided I would on sunday... I can't remember properly, I immediately had my vehicle driven into the ocean by our gnome."

"So you have taken the fox as a second wife?"

"No, I have accepted her feelings for me and agreed to give them a chance to flourish. Klaire also became a bit bi-curious and even though we're married, we did so young, it wouldn't be fair for me to stop her exploring the stuff we're meant to at our age."

"I see... Well, humanity owes her a debt we can't hope to repay, so please treat her with respect."

"I will, but as for no hope to repay... I tailor-made a world for her and began restoring the species, so it may not be as great as it was."

"Tailor-made a world? Your creation abilities are clearly exceptional, but you can create whole worlds?"

"Err, I don't know about that to be honest, but I guess I did create four moons, so maybe... I can certainly change any world I own without much difficulty."

"Well, then... It seems I am indebted to you for correcting my failure to some degree."

"No worries, seeing her smile like th-..." Carl stopped talking and began patting his pockets in search of his slate.

"Is something wrong?

"I was going to show you the photo of her smiling... It seems a mischievous little daughter of mine pinched my slate though... Tiamutael, tell Ki-ko she's grounded tomorrow."

Carl explained that Tiamutael was the "dragon god" which Venusiah had been rambling about, that he could see and hear anyone he knew across any distance or barrier.

"The name is strange, a blend of Tiamat and Bahamut I assume, but that last syllable..."

"Celestial connotations, I used feathers from a half-angel. I didn't know it at the time, but they are a physical manifestation of the law of Infinity and I think it took a liking to my son."

"Which angel were they descended from?"

"I don't know, I wanted to contact them personally so my son could learn about the origins of his sum parts, but then a border was enforced between the two factions and we didn't want him to be scrutinised for being in contact."

"I will see it done and personally swear to protect the half-angel, his kin and their possessions and positions. Celestials are stringent beings, having a creature like that with no knowledge of what might trigger a wrathful rampage could be catastrophic to everything."

"Agreed and appreciated... Tiamutael, speak to Alysse, we should visit the angel at some point to help you understand that side of yourself. Oh and please don't refer to him as "a creature like that" you could just say "your son", how would you feel being referred to so derisively?"

"I see your point, apologies... We should stop dallying, the others will be waiting."

The walk was quick and familiar from that point onward, they merged into one of the hallways they had travelled the last time, then stepped into an elevator.

Winding through the familiar layout, when they came to the room with illusory antiquated study, Jupiterran stopped and looked at Carl. "Want to show off and try removing the illusion this time?"

"I would, but I might accidentally steal your divinity in the process and that would feel disrespectful... Speaking of which, do I owe you an apology for your eyes?"

"No... You owe none of us an apology for that situation..." Jupiterran mumbled the last part with clear disgust in his own part in it and then waved his hand and activated the elevator.

When it opened Carl saw something with his divine sight that he didn't see last time, a golden crack in the space above the table.

"Where is Plutinas?" One of the unknown variants asked.

The variant in question was a rather androgynous individual, as though he was just layered illusions of multiple people blended into their common features.

"Why ask? Were you not stalking us with your astral form this time Neptuna?"

"No... It seems his aura was too dense for my astral form to pass through."

"Aura? I didn't feel any when I approached."

"That's because he bubbled it out and around then opened it for you to pass, he did it by instinct from what I could tell. A trap so potential enemies have no idea they are cut off. It stopped me from seeing or hearing."

"Sorry, I have reason to extend a slither of faith to Marsian and Jupiterran, but the rest of you I trust about as far as I can throw you."

The variant Neptuna narrowed their eyes at Carl. "Is that an admission you are still not as strong as us, or an empty quote?"

"Oh I certainly couldn't take you in a fist fight, but I could strip you off your divinity, understanding of laws and ultimately finish what Margo started when he stripped away your immortality and that brings us to the matter at hand."

"I suggest you both sit." Marsian said from the far side of the table.

"Marsian, with all due respect, I asked him to let me intercept the first attack made against him in the name of diplomacy, he agreed but made it clear he would only ignore the first. The point is, I can hardly keep my word from a seated position."

Marsian nodded, then swiped a hand towards him and Carl and two of the empty chairs moved towards them. "The distance will make up for sitting down will it not?"

Jupiterran nodded, then he and Carl sat down.

"So, what did happen to Plutinas?"

"He underestimated the same person twice, he'll live if the pain doesn't kill him. His divinity channels were lacerated to ribbons, but his actual injuries were a few bites and nothing more. If I'm not mistaken Carl fed the left arm of his soul to his child."

"What did he do to warrant such treatment from the man who once returned his arm?"

"Aside from being complicit in letting my mother fall victim to Dracula? They tried to harm me in front of my children, they got their mother's protective nature." Carl shrugged as he leant back and scanned his eyes from left to right and back again.

"Well then, what did he do to warrant being fed to one of them by you?"

"Made my children engage in violence. Why don't you tell your bodyguards to take a seat as well, my daughter doesn't need to see to howl."

---Message from the author---

Officially hit over 900 collections since the last chapter, A massive thank you to everyone for your support.

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I have been trying to get the fan giveback feature a try but it just says "something went wrong" please let me know if anyone knows how to fix it.

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