4Ars Nova, October 13, 2019, 9:45 AM
Sirzechs waited with his fellow Maou and Grayfia in the ballroom of the Ars Nova. Today was the day when the Gods would gather together for the first time since the Beast was released from its prison and discuss their objectives for the future, the World Class Rating Games being among them.
Sirzechs smiled. This was going to be an opportunity for peace. A peace that would last, he hoped, forever for future generations to enjoy. The battle against Trihexa seemed to be the spark they needed to become a Pantheistic world in which all myths lived together in relative harmony.
"Looks like we're the first ones here," Azazel said as he appeared inside the ballroom. Next to him, Shemhazai and Penemue bowed as they saw the Maou. The other Maou bowed in respect while Azazel and Sirzechs pulled each other in for a brotherly hug.
"Good to see you, Red," Azazel said.
"You too, you old crow," Sirzechs said.
"How's the paperwork?" Shemhazai asked as they all sat down at one of the tables.
"Actually, it's been going well. Several people from the public have come forward, offering their assistance in helping us file them and get them done," Grayfia said.
Penemue lost all the emotion on her face when she heard those words come out of Grayfia's mouth.
"What…?" she asked.
Before Serafall could gloat about the effectiveness of her PR skills, the entire room shook violently. The glassware and silverware all rattled as they threatened to fall off the tables. The lights flickered as several deities entered the ballroom at once.
The first three arrived in a bolt of lightning, a sea mist, and a flash of grey light respectively.
The one who arrived in a lightning bolt took the appearance of a middle-aged man. He had a short beard and near-shoulder length hair. His eyes were electric blue and the air around him ionized as the smell of ozone could be sensed around the room. He wore a black pinstripe business suit with a lightning bolt lapel on his right breast.
The man who arrived in a sea mist was in contrast to the man in the suit. He wore a Hawaiian button-up t-shirt that was open slightly at the top. He wore open-toed brown Birkenstock sandals. He also wore light tan khaki shorts. Like the man, he had black hair and a scruffy beard with sea-green eyes.
Next to him was a woman with raven black hair. She wore a grey denim shirt underneath a grey jacket. She wore blue jeans and a pair of hiking boots. Her eyes were grey but not a dull grey that could normally be attributed to flint. Her eyes resembled storm clouds. Fierce and full of energy.
"Looks like Zeus is here. And he brought Poseidon and Athena," Shemhazai commented.
"Those two should just fuck each other already," Azazel said as Sirzechs walked over to greet them.
"Who?" Everyone at the table jumped when a voice spoke. They turned to see a woman standing there with two women behind her.
The woman who surprised (scared) them was beautiful like the sunlit sky. She had sky blue hair and emerald green eyes. The woman appeared to be youthful, even more so than Sirzechs and looked to be in her late teens to her early twenties. She wore an intricate and elegant red kimono with a white haori over it. Around her torso was a green obi. She also wore a black tate-eboshi on her head that was decorated with a sun crest that seemed to currently be in mid-morning phase, suggesting that the crest changed with the position of the sun in the sky.
"Damm it Amaterasu! Don't scare us like that!" Ajuka said as he clutched his chest. He could still feel his heart pounding.
"I'm sorry," Amaterasu said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Amaterasu-sama. I told you it was a bad idea," a woman with blonde hair said. She had a pair of fluffy fox ears on top of her head. Behind her were nine golden tails that swished slightly from left to right. The woman wore a golden kimono with a yellow obi at the waist. Her kimono parted at the top, revealing her shoulders and gave the males an ample view of her cleavage.
"I blame Kuroka!" Amaterasu said, pointing at a surprised young woman with black hair. Her hazel eyes lit up in surprise as her two cat tails stiffened. On top of her head was a pair of black cat ears. She wore a black kimono with a red obi and her hair was decorated with a headband that had two bells attached to it.
"NYAAA!? That was you!" Kuroka argued childishly, pointing at the Sun Goddess.
A flash of lights alerted them all to two new arrivals. An old man wearing white robes stepped out, followed by a woman with brown hair and blue eyes. The woman wore a silver dress with long sleeves while the man wore a monocle. The man smiled as he eyed all the women in the room, causing the woman to sigh and smack the back of his head.
"Ymir's beard, Frigg! That really hurt!" the man said.
"It was supposed to, dumbass. Geez, Odin, focus for a minute will you," Frigg said.
Following Odin and Frigg's arrival, other pantheons began to arrive as well. The Jade Emperor, as well as Guanyin, arrived almost immediately after Odin. The Persian Gods, Mithra, and Srosh arrived.
Mithra flicked her crimson red hair out of the way as her pink eyes analyzed the room. Every deity flinched under her gaze as she walked to her seat. Despite appearing as a fifteen-year-old girl, Mithra was one of the most powerful deities in the room and the aura she gave off sent chills down everyone's spines.
"Even after all this time, Lady Mithra still makes me want to shit my pants," Poseidon whispered to Azazel.
"Didn't you guys beat them during the Trojan War?" Azazel asked.
"Yeah, but that was because she and Verethranga didn't want to participate in something they saw as pointless," Poseidon said.
After several more deities arrived, Ra being the most prominent among them. He nearly crashed through the roof when he arrived with Set, Isis, and Osiris cursing their father's driving skills.
Ra merely laughed as he got off his solar boat and willed it back to the Duat. Ra had the appearance of an old man wearing white pharaoh's robes. His golden eyes shone with power as he eyed the room.
Behind him, Osiris stood there, shaking his head as his green eyes stared at his father. Isis walked over and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, her blue eyes and raven black flowing hair shining in the light.
"Haha! Most of you don't know this since none of you were even born yet but we haven't had a meeting like this since Ilu came to us with his pet project!" Ra laughed.
"That's right. It has been a while," Michael said as he appeared in the room with Gabriel in tow.
"Ah, Michael boy," Ra greeted. "How's life as God is treating you?"
"I have no idea how Father and Mother did it," Michael said.
"It's like babysitting, no?" Ra said, patting his shoulder.
"Honestly, I wish Elder Sister was in this position instead of me," Michael confessed.
"Ah yes, Ashtar was always the most prominent of the bunch. Even had the balls to kill off the newborns during Ozymandias's rule," Ra said.
"Moses told me to tell you that he's sorry for what he did to Ozymandias and Nefertari all those years ago," Gabriel said, turning to Osiris.
"I'll be sure to tell him. Don't worry," Osiris said.
"Oh, where's Az-nee?" Penemue said, walking over with Serafall and Grayfia following behind her.
"Eh. You know her. Public events were never her thing," Gabriel said, smiling.
"Gabriel," Serafall said, eyeing her rival.
"Sera," Gabriel said, smiling in a way that infuriated the small Maou.
Over at the side, Ra sat with Sirzechs, Azazel, Poseidon, Ajuka, Odin, and Zeus, conversing amongst themselves. Poseidon, Odin, and Azazel ogled the female populace as they mentally made notes at which one ranked higher if they were to do a pageant with all the devils, angels, and goddesses in the room.
Poseidon giggled pervertedly. A swimsuit contest between the most powerful female supernatural beings.
"Hey, they'll catch on to us if you keep looking," Azazel said, smacking his arm.
"Right," Poseidon said.
"And besides," Odin said. "Do you really want Osiris to come over here to saw your dick in half for staring at his wife?"
Poseidon shook his head as he looked away from the Egyptian beauty.
"Still though," Azazel said. "Who do you think is better between the two? Aphrodite? Or Isis?"
"Me, obviously."
The three jumped when they saw a woman with raven black hair, floating in midair. She giggled as her red eyes twinkled with delight. She possessed an alluring beauty and wore barely anything. All she wore a white ornate tube top shirt that looked more like a bra than a shirt. She also wore white short shorts and a black tube sock on her left leg.
"Inanna," Azazel said.
Inanna floated down to one of the chairs and sat down.
"So, what are we lookin at boys?" Inanna asked as she joined in.
"If the goddesses here were to be in a swimsuit competition, who would win?" Poseidon said.
"Hmm, I'm not as narcissistic as Aphrodite as to vote for myself," Inanna said. "Isis, probably. Or my older sister."
"Huh?" Odin asked. Inanna pointed to a blonde woman who looked exactly like her only she wore a black hoodie with a black skirt and black leggings. In fact, she just wore all black except for the golden tiara on her head.
"Ereshkigal?" Azazel said.
Inanna nodded.
"That looks like fun. Can I get in on this?"
Inanna turned and saw a handsome young boy with black and green hair that gave off the appearance of it being blue. He wore a black suit with green pants as his emerald eyes looked at Inanna.
Next to him was a pretty young girl with luscious violet hair and purple eyes. But even her young persona did not help in hiding her curvaceous figure. Like the boy, her face struck fear into Poseidon and Odin as they hid behind Azazel and Inanna.
"Oh, Shiva and you even brought Parvati," Inanna said.
"Hello, Ishtar," Parvati greeted happily.
"Well, I was bored with the paperwork that came with Indra blowing up and island so I dumped it on Vishnu and Brahma," Shiva said, leaning back in his chair.
"What about you?" Ra asked Parvati, finally turning around to talk to them.
"Lakshmi and Saraswati weren't so happy about me running off but, Shiva is right. I was bored," Parvati said. "Is that why you're here instead of in the Duat Ra?"
"Mostly. I just want to see what these kids come up with," he said.
"I'm not a kid," Azazel said.
"You're only as old as the Titans Azazel," Ra said. "To us, you're still a kid."
"You never treated Nee-sama like this," he pouted.
"That's because Astar earned her place and she was much older than you," Shiva said, sipping from the wine glass.
"Can I have your attention?"
The Elder Deities, Inanna, Odin, Poseidon, and Azazel all turned to see Serafall standing atop one of the tables, clicking a spoon against a wine glass.
"Thank you all for coming here today! We'll get to the discussion later but for now…," Serafall said, reaching into her pocket for her wand. She grabbed it and pointed it into the air.
"LET'S PARTAY!" she shouted.
The gods cheered as the party went underway. Songs were sung. Drinks were drunk. The gods cheered as Serafall and Gabriel entered a sing-off with Sirzechs and Michael facepalming. Set and Inanna settled an old bout that they had and began to arm wrestle. The two were evenly matched before Inanna's eyes glowed gold and Set's arm was embedded into the ground, shattering the table.
Parvati and Ereshkigal sighed while Ra and Shiva laughed at the sight. As Ereshkigal apologized to Sirzechs for property damage, Shiva's eyes narrowed as he sensed a spike in power. He looked at Ra, who was already scanning the Earth for the source.
Ra nodded, confirming that he had located it as Shiva opened his third eye. Everyone froze. Parvati looked at her husband in worry as the last time he opened that Eye, the Beast was wreaking havoc all over the Earth.
"So that's what's happening," Shiva muttered under his breath. His third eye closed and he smiled at them.
"Sorry, everyone. False alarm," Shiva said.
Everyone calmed down as they released a breath they didn't even know they were holding.
"Shiva-sama! Please don't scare us like that!" Sirzechs said.
Shiva merely smiled.
"My apologies," he said.
The festivities continued with several more deities arriving. Dagda and Lugh from the Celtic Pantheon, Belebog and Czrenobog from the Slavic Pantheon, and Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl from the Aztec Pantheon were the most prominent arrivals.
Sirzechs had hoped one more god would show up but she never did. Ophis remained aloof and never came even though the Great Red assured him that he would get her the invitation.
"Well, then, I think we should get our official business out of the way now," Sirzechs announced.
The occupants of the room turned to look at him.
"As you know, the Beast 666 was sealed due to the combined efforts of all the Pantheons in the world and for that, I would personally like to thank you. I know that most of you would have had the right to refuse to help us out considering what our followers did to yours," Sirzechs said as a chorus of agreements rang out through the room.
"But you didn't leave us out to dry and for that we thank you. Thank you for choosing the world over us," Sirzechs said, bowing.
Everyone clapped and cheered at Sirzechs's speech. Sirzechs stood up and summoned a massive treaty. One that would unify the entire Supernatural World under one banner.
"In this treaty is an outline for a form of government that would be similar in function to the United Nations that humans have," Sirzechs said. "I would like your help in hashing out the details before we move on. Take note, this could take a while."
The occupants of the room nodded as they all gathered around Sirzechs and began to discuss the treaty.
Minutes became hours in which several deities had back and forth debates about limits and representatives as well as the process of proposing international laws that all pantheons had to abide by when conducting business with other pantheons. Several pantheons such as the Greco-Roman Pantheon wished to have other pantheons keep out of their business with the Shinto and Norse Pantheons arguing that back that their business nearly resulted in the destruction of the United States.
"Okay, okay, here's what we have so far," Azazel said, calming them down. He grabbed the treaty and began to read from it.
"Ahem… so we have agreed that each pantheon is allowed to select two representatives to this new council. How they are selected depends on the pantheon however, a stipulation that was proposed by Belebog and seconded by Athena was that Pantheon Heads are not allowed to be representatives. Is that agreeable for everyone?" Azazel asked.
Everyone nodded.
"The second thing we agreed on is that any event that we have classified as at least a Second Class Event which is a major interpantheon conflict scenario or something similar is that we try and mediate some sort of peace between the two parties," Azazel said.
"What about a terrorist attack such as Qliphoth?" the Jade Emperor asked.
"In that case, the Pantheons unite together to eliminate the threat. In the case of a Zero Class Event such as Trihexa, we will do the same," Azazel said, laying the paper down for all of them to see.
Shiva's eyes drifted down to a section of the paper. "What is this one?" he asked, pointing to it.
"That is a hypothetical threat level. An Aleph Class Event, which is a complete extinction event in which all lives, even those of the Dragon Gods are in imminent peril," Ajuka said.
The Gods looked at him like he had gone insane.
"I said it's hypothetical after all," he said, shrugging.
"The third and final thing we agreed is that there be a Head Council that presides over the meetings to act as both the final say in any laws passed and to act as the judges," Athena said.
"How do we select such people for a position?" Mithra asked.
"We vote. Unlike the representatives, the Head Council members must be voted upon by the members of the Celestial Council," Odin answered.
The gods nodded.
"Is that it?" Amaterasu asked.
"For now it is," Zeus said, pulling out a pen. The Gods took turns signing the treaty and when it was finished, the treaty was handed over to Azazel to file and make copies.
"Our first meeting will be after the building is finished. I have a projected date of when we should get it done. Lady Athena and I designed the building ourselves and with the help of Lord Hephaestus and several other forge gods, we decided that the location for this building will be above Mount Everest," Ajuka said.
"When is the projected date?" Poseidon asked.
"Sometime after November," he said.
"Now about those Rating Games!" Lugh said.
The other occupants sweatdropped at the sight.
"Right so, here are the rules Ajuka proposed," Azazel said, projecting a large screen with several blocks of text.
Anyone can register as a King.
A King can register anyone on his/her team as long as the targeted person isn't on another team.
Note: The targeted person can be recruited if and only if, their King agrees to the proposal.
Devils with multiple Evil Pieces will be treated as 1 Piece for this tournament except for Gods or Deity Class Beings which will automatically be counted as 2 pieces or 8 Pawn pieces.
Teams win via the elimination of the opposing king.
Losing Teams will be eliminated.
The fifteen remaining teams shall participate in a battle royale.
The winning team will have their "wish" granted
Registration will be in Lucifaad. Please go to the old Capitol Building, Ars Goetia, to register and receive your pieces. The pieces will only work in the Tournament.
A scroll will be given to each participating King to alert them for upcoming matches, leaderboards, watching live matches, and to register their teammates.
"I guess all we need now is a name," Inanna said as she finished reading the rules.
"So, how do we decide the name?" Sirzechs asked.
Ra and Shiva looked at each other as shit-eating grins made its way to their faces.
The game the two Elder Deities proposed was Rock-Paper Scissors. There were many theories about this ancient ritualistic rite of combat to decide the fate of something of interest. Some speculated that this game was older than Ophis and Great Red themselves. That some absolute forces used this game to decide whether or not to create everything. Others say that the reason Ophis created the Khaos Brigade was that she lost a Rock-Paper-Scissors game to Great Red.
Several rounds of best two out of three matches were played. Cries of outrage could be heard across the room as deities were eliminated one by one. Not even the mighty Shiva made it to the final round.
Now, it was all on the last two players.
Amaterasu Omikami. Her proposed name was the Tournament of Power. Everyone loved it as it was a really good name for the tournament.
Across from her stood Azazel. Azazel was many things. A genius. An inventor. The former leader of the Grigori. Father to two and husband to one Cadre. But a narcissist? People always assumed he was but no one ever knew how far it went until now. His proposed name was… The Azazel Cup. Several people blanched at the thought of naming the tournament after Azazel. They might as well find a scapegoat and name the tournament after it.
Azazel stared down his opponent. A woman that was renowned as the most powerful goddess in the world. A being that rivaled or even equaled Indra in pure power. Though she was not officially among the Top 10, she had power equal to them.
Amaterasu looked at her opponent nervously. The man before her had power equal to a Satan Class Devil and at full power, rivaled the Pantheon Heads in power. His perversion knew no bounds despite the fact he was married and while she was confident she could outright kill him in combat, this match was not that. And in a match of cunning, the man before her could crush her like an insect.
Azazel and Amaterasu raised their hands, a trickle of sweat going down their foreheads.
Amaterasu gulped while Azazel furrowed his eyebrow.
"ROCK!"
"PAPER!"
"SCISSORS!"
"SHOOT!"
…
…
…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everyone cried out in despair and frustration while Azazel pranced around the room, high fiving everyone he could find.
Amaterasu was on her hands and knees. Her emerald eyes were now dull pits of toxic despair as tears flowed like a waterfall from her eyes.
"I'm sorry everyone. I failed you. I don't deserve to exist. Yasaka-chan. Hand me the tanto so that I may perform hara-kiri," Amaterasu said, looking at the Kitsune with dead eyes.
"Pull yourself together, Amaterasu-sama," Yasaka said as she helped the Sun Goddess to her feet.
"Alright, everyone. I think we're done for now. It's been… wow, nearly 48 hours since we started," Ajuka said, whistling as he checked his watch.
Everyone groaned at the prospect of doing more work but began to leave anyway. Amaterasu left in a vortex of black flames, still crying over her loss.
Ra walked over to Azazel and patted him on the back.
"And you wonder why I call you a kid and not Helel," Ra said before disappearing in a flash of golden light.
Soon, it was just the Biblical Pantheon that was left within the room. Penemue and Shemhazai had long since left as to catch up on any backlog that might have built up in their two-day absence.
"Hey, before you guys leave, I want to talk about Haru," Sirzechs said, halting the Archangels and Fallen Archangel in their tracks.
Michael and Gabriel turned around to face Sirzechs while Azazel crossed his arms.
"What about Haru?" Azazel asked.
"We've been discussing it amongst ourselves and even gained the support of the Elder Council for this," Sirzechs said. He inhaled deeply before saying his next words. "Haru is going to be promoted to High-Class."
Michael and Gabriel looked at each other before Gabriel looked back at Sirzechs.
"Yes, I believe that would be wonderful. He's done so much as of late. I think that he deserves this after everything he's been through," Gabriel said.
"Yeah, I agree with Gab-nee. Haru's been through a lot and the kid deserves a break," Azazel said.
"Hard to believe that you could be capable of raising a kid with such a good head on his shoulders, Otouto-chan!" Gabriel said, flicking his cheek.
Azazel grumbled as a tint of red appeared on his face while he rubbed his cheek.
"Well, if that is all, I'm afraid that we must take our leave. Thank you for inviting us," Michael said as he and Gabriel disappeared, leaving behind the sound of flapping wings.
"I'll go too. I need to check up on Vali anyway and maybe tell Haru what happened," Azazel said.
"Hey wait, Azazel! If you would, I would like to tell Haru personally. Rias is bringing her peerage in a few days. She says she has someone she wants us to meet," Sirzech said.
Azazel quirked an eyebrow before nodding. Azazel saluted them as he disappeared in the same manner as his older siblings did.
"Man, I'm really jealous of that instantaneous teleportation," Sirzechs said.
"Then go ask Zekram to teach you or something. He doesn't use magic circles to teleport either. Anyway, I'm going to go prep the lab for this weekend. See you around Sirzechs," Ajuka said as he disappeared in a green magic circle.
"I need to go tell So-tan about this. Bye Zechs-chan! Gray-chan!" Serafall said as she vanished in a sparkle of pink light.
Falbium merely nodded at them and stepped into his own magic circle and disappeared from the room.
"Just a few more days," Grayfia said.
"Yeah, things are really looking up for us," Sirzechs said as he bent down to kiss his wife on the cheek. The two interlocked their hands and disappeared in a flash of crimson light.
Hyoudou Manor, October 15, 2019, 10:00 AM
Vali sighed as he made his way up to the front door of Hyoudou Manor. He decided that now was a good time to check on Haru as it was getting in the way of his training. Possible scenarios of what he might find assailed his mind as he slowly reached for the doorbell.
What if he's dead, Albion? Vali asked.
[He's not going to be dead, Vali. It only occurred for a split second.] Albion said.
"You're right. This is stressing me out. I just need to see and then we can get back to training," Vali said.
The door slowly opened to reveal Naru, Haru's twin sister, standing at the door wearing nothing but a baggy shirt that was two sizes too large for her and grey sweatpants.
Naru looked up and saw Vali before standing straight.
"V- Vali! What are you doing here?" she asked. Oh Maou, I look horrible too! She thought.
"Oh, I'm here to see Haru. Do you know where he is?" Vali asked. His heart was racing as he talked to her.
"Oh, Irina and Haru went out to do groceries," Naru said as she and Vali sat down in the living room.
"I thought he'd be training for the games," Vali said as he looked at the TV.
"He is. It's just… today was his turn to do the groceries," Naru said as she grabbed her box of Krave Cereal which she had left out on the table. She grabbed a few pieces and popped them in her mouth.
"Want some?" Naru asked as she held the box out to Vali.
"Sure," Vali said as he reached into the box and grabbed a few pieces.
Vali looked down as he tried to formulate how to tell Naru that he sensed her twin enter the [Juggernaut Drive]. Deciding to take a leap, Vali looked at her.
"Hey, Naru. I don't know how to tell you this," Vali said.
Naru looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Haru. Your brother. I sensed him entering [Juggernaut Drive] a few days ago," Vali said.
"I know," she said.
"And so, I think we need to… what?" Vali looked at her like she had sprouted a second head.
"I know. He told me," she said.
"Wait, then why didn't you guys tell anyone!?" Vali asked.
"We did. We tried calling Ajuka, Sirzechs, Azazel, hell even Odin but no one picked up," Naru said.
"Oh," Vali said as he focused his attention back at the movie.
"Yeah," she said.
"What happened anyway? To make Haru like that," Vali asked.
Naru looked down.
"It's not my place to tell. You should ask Haru sometime when he gets back," Naru said.
Vali nodded before returning his attention to the movie.
"Yeah, I'll do that. If only to make sure my rival is still in one piece," Vali said.
"Tsundere."
A doorbell rang, catching their attention.
"That's them," Naru said, standing up and walking to the door. Vali followed her. The door opened to reveal Haru and Irina holding several bags of groceries.
"Here. Let me help with that," Naru said, grabbing some of the bags. Vali took some of the load off Haru and the four carried it to the kitchen.
"So, Vali," Haru said as he placed the bags down. "What brings you here?"
"Well, Haru, if you must know, I'm just checking if you're in peak condition for our upcoming fight is all," Vali said, smirking.
"I'm still up for it if you are, bastard," Haru said.
Vali smirked before becoming serious.
"What happened?" Vali asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Haru asked.
"A few days ago, I sensed you activate the [Juggernaut Drive] and now Albion says he can't sense Ddraig," Vali said. "So I want to know. Just what the hell happened?
Haru looked down at the produce he was holding, his grip tightening on the poor box. Haru sighed before looking at Vali. He was getting tired of telling this story. However, despite that, Haru told Vali everything that happened from the discovery of Rias and Akeno with another man to his meeting of Trihexa and his removal of the pieces.
Vali's face remained emotionless while Irina and Naru simply listened in the background. He looked at Haru for a few seconds before talking.
"Looks like they struck out," Vali said.
"Huh?" Haru looked at him curiously.
"Those girls. If they were willing to cheat on someone as loyal, kind, and supportive as you are, then they didn't deserve you," Vali said.
"Vali," Haru said as he looked at him.
"Don't let this bring you down, Haru. Find something new to fight for or rather, someone," Vali said, discreetly glancing at Irina. "Besides, if you go stale, you'll break our promise."
Haru looked at him shocked before his bangs covered his eyes and a small grin appeared on his face.
"I'd never go back on that promise, Vali. We'll have our fight. I can promise you that but not as enemies," Haru said, holding his hand out.
"As rivals," Vali said, grasping his arm.
"As brothers," Haru said.