Chapter 64 - Towards Hades.

(I lied. Seems I have a compulsion to write that I cannot just take a break. Here is today's Chapter.)

It had been about 2 weeks since he came back from the quest and he was in his room with the girls. Artemis slept in a different room and he saw no issue with it. Azazel told him the main injuries were healed, but he would need at least a month to fully recover. He was in bed once again being hugged on all sides. The girls all were annoyed they could not sleep with him when he was away and now they could.

They woke up every morning at 7 and their alarm should be coming in any moment. Some people have roosters they had a hawk named Grifon. He entered the room through the window and took a deep breath and screeched at full volume. They all frowned and got up. Natsume glared at her partner who landed on her shoulder.. Kuroka was snoring like a cat and Griffon got annoyed.

He jumped on the bed and bit Kuroka on the tail and she jumped. "NYAAA." She tried to slap him away with her hand covered in touki, but Grifon jumped on her hand and flew on Kurayami's shoulder. Kuroka glared at the bird while fully awake now. She rubbed her tail as it was very sensitive.

"Why do we let him wake us up?"

Raynare grumbled while she looked at the smug-looking bird. Esdeath got out of bed and began to strip and they all began to undress. Natsume while shy stopped trying to hide it and Kurayami just had to remove his shorts and put on his outfit.

He got to see all naked he was pleased. Lavinia helped him put on his coat and she kissed him on the cheek. Akeno frowned and walked next to him and kissed him on the lips. It started a thing that could get the best kiss. Kuroka wore a new Kimono same color and they all left the room together. They all left for breakfast where everyone came to eat.

They had a few servants to help them cook and the table was full. Baraqiel, Shuri, Koga, Shigune, Tobio, Sae, Kouki, Artemis, Azrael, Nico, and Annabeth. Kurayami had gone to get Nico a few hours after he came back to Japan and the boy was in a great mood as Bianca told Artemis she wished to see Nico when she wished as her reward.

They all sat down to eat and Nico loved Kurayami's outfit.

"Big bro, I want an outfit like yours. It looks awesome."

They all looked at Kurayami's outfit and they had to say he looked much better in this one than his priest one. Baraqiel was feeding some food to Dante who was a little devil. He was angry and had a scowl on his face. He tried to slap the spoon away and Baraqiel sighed. It was a side effect of his sacred gear that made them perpetually angry.

Braraqiel looked at Kurayami. "Son, when are you going to return the helm to Hades. We can't keep it forever as we need to give it back." Kurayami nodded.

"Today if nothing goes wrong. I have recovered from my wounds and it's just time for me to give it back." Artemis nodded.

"I think it is time to give back my uncle his symbol of power. Even without it, he is very strong, but he must be furious to have lost it." They had confirmed that Nico was a son of Hades in his training and his potential was far higher than Bianca. He could summon skeletons, open the ground, and shadow travel. He was interested in what his dad was like.

"What is my dad like?" Artemis looked at Nico and thought about it.

"Scheming, prideful, any other negative word you can choose, but I hear he is very gentle with his wife Persephone."

Nico didn't know anything about his mom as he forgot it. Tobio was sitting next to Sae who had Leo on her lap in his small form. Kouki has Bayakusha on his shoulder, Koga had Blitz, Natsume had Griffon and Annabeth had Liontari. All of Kurayami's pets were out in small form and it was interesting to see how many he had.

Ladon was still in a coma and recovering in his familiar space. Kurayami checked up on him and Ladon was going through massive changes. Kurayami was very interested in what he would become in time. Titus and Shin sat side by side eating and Shuri went to Dante who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. Shuri picked up her son and sat down at her seat and she looked at Kurayami. Dante seemed calm when he was with his mom.

"How are your wounds?" He looked up and stretched his body. It still felt a bit numb, but he did not feel any pain.

"They are completely healed. I was fine a week ago." She sighed as he was just too stubborn. Azrael shook his head at Shuri's worry while stuffing his face.

"The boy is like me the peak of our race. We can't sit still and that won't keep him down. Now he will become a pillar of Grigori." She knew with his might and his love of battle he would have a life filled with fighting. As a mother that was not something she wanted for her children, but that was the life he wanted to live.

After they all ate they all went to Grigori and Kurayami, Azrael, Azazel, and Artemis were in the main lab where a few blood bags were getting refined into small red crystals. Azazel looked at their interest and grinned.

"For the ones who don't know, with the help of Azrael we invented a way to recover our numbers. I used Kuroka's evil piece to see how she was turned into a devil and Azrael's spell and made blood crystals. They use the blood of Cadre and above and every blood bag can be used to make two crystals. The stronger the one getting turned the more is needed."

Kurayami found it was impressive. "So who are the ones getting turned first?" Azrael sat down on a chair and he explained. "We are using it on the demigods and they on average need about three to five depending on who their parent is. Clarise herself used 6 and her progress is insanely high. Even Ares is impressed."

Lavinia and Natsue were still human and Natsume was sitting on the big couch with the rest of the girls

"So are we going to get turned as well? From what I can see Fallen Angels are a race with almost no weakness and will be better so we live forever." Azazel nodded.

"Yup. I spoke to Kurayami when he was recovering and he decided to turn you himself if you two agree." Lavinia and Natumse looked at each other and nodded. They will get stronger and live forever or near forever with Kurayami. As things go they will die of old age and at the same time, they spoke.

"We agree."

Kurayami nodded. "Just step forward so I can do it." Both girls went in front of him and he placed his hands on their heads and a few drops of his blood fell on their heads and a red magic circle opened up under them and they felt their bodies change and get stronger. They both grew two pairs of fallen angel wings and they felt stronger.

Azrael nodded. "Your use of that spell is very good. There were no mistakes. Seems most of your lovers are fallen angels at this point." Raynare, Esdeath, Lavinia, Akeno, and Nastsum were now fallen, angels. Only Artemis was not one, but most of them were humans at the start. After that, they sat down and they started the real reason they were here.

Kurayami got the helm of darkness in his hands and they all quiet down. Azazel sat down on his seat. "So it is finally time for us to give old sack of bones his helmet. Sorry girls, but we already decided who is going. It will be Me, Azrael, Kurayami, and Artemis. No discussion."

The girls did not see the point at Esdeath, Raynare, and Akeno were all 12 wing fallen angels. Esdeath raised a good point. "I have a Longinous and I am a 12 winged fallen, so why would you go when your own sacred gear is unstable?" Azazel nodded.

"It is, but thanks to you and all the Longinous we got it is about 65% more stable than the start. However, I am going as we may not even fight and if possible we will have some discussions." Raynare shook her head.

"Than wouldn't it be better if we went too as we can put more leverage that way?" Kuroka sighed as it was never easy. "Well, how about we draw lots and we go with them. We all want to go, but a big group can be seen as hostile." Artemis was drinking some tea while sitting next to Kurayami and nodded.

"I agree that only one of you should come with us as even if you are strong you all need more time. Uncle is in the top ten and if he attacks a bigger group will be a liability. Kurayami and Azrael will be able to face him one on one and Azazel can hold his own. I am no weakling and I and Atlas only used about 30 percent of our full strength."

Kurayami sighed. "I knew you were holding back. At full power how much damage can you do?" She thought about it. "If I use my divine bow and go all out on the night of the full moon I could destroy all of Rhode Island." They all felt it was acceptable as Kurayami and Azrael could do the same. Natsume was the weakest and she was out by default.

After lots were drawn Esdeath was the lucky one and they all got ready to depart to Hade's territory. The girls who were staying behind got him in a big group hug and they were as close as sisters. They all wished Esdeath good luck and they set off. They just flew there and they had to descend as Hades was one of the lowest levels in the underworld.

As they went lower it got colder and much darker. Esdeath looked around with an uninterested gaze until Azrael however noticed she was tense. "I did not know you could feel fear." They all froze and looked at Esdeath who was bright red in shame.

"I am not sacred, nothing can scar-" Out of nowhere Azazel went behind her and yelled at the top of his lungs and she shirked and drew her rapier to cut him to pieces. Azazel was long gone and she cut huge gashes in the air. Kurayami patted her on the back. "That was cute." Artemis nodded. "Quite adorable."

Esdeath covered her face as she just showed something she had never shown. For the rest of the trip, they just said nothing as this place really was creepy. When they got to Hades it was how you would expect. Gloomy, dark, and full of lines of the dead trying to enter. Artemis had gone only once to her uncle's castle and she led them toward's it.

"Cerberus is a very strong foe and is easily at the ultimate class. The rest of them are all descended from him, but he is very friendly." Azrael nodded. "When I went to Tartarus I had to go through Hades to get there, so I met the big pup." Kurayami looked at him and he never asked before.

"Why were you trying to punish yourself?" Azrael sighed and looked at Artemis. "Artemis, what I am about to say, stays between us here. Can I trust you?" Artemis nodded. "I swear on the River Styx to not tell anyone you don't agree with?" Azrael's next words shocked them all.

"I am the murder of God. After God was weakened in the war he began to go insane and became more deranged and violent. I saw a chance and I killed him. It's why I fell from heaven and joined Grigori." Kurayami expected that was the case as when he heard that God died he kind of suspected Azrael. Azazel did not know how God died, and it made sense now.

They said nothing and kept going towards Hades palace. Knowing Hades a fight was going to break out if they were unlucky. Kurayami was kind of excited and hoped Hades lost his temper. Maybe he can get a Cerberus cub for it.