A/N: Can this Void God perhaps be reasoned with or worked with?

  Well, Sophia and Oren are going to find out one way or another.

  -x-X-x-

  Her senses must have been dulled before by her father's binding of her true domains because Sophia can see it clear as day. She doesn't need the device from the God Hunters, she doesn't need proof by way of normal metal shattering against his flesh. No, there's not a doubt in her mind that this Kingpin fellow is a god.

  And much like Oren has no doubt realized by this point, he's probably not just a god… but a Void God. After all, what's more likely? That a God of the Mortal Pnes has survived right under the God Hunters' noses in the heart of their power all this time… or that a Void God has inserted himself into Skycastle's criminal underbelly to keep an eye on things for his King?

  The most telling part of all, however, along with the most startling, is the way the Kingpin's eyes suddenly widen in realization as he sweeps his gaze over Oren a second time and seems to peer more closely at him. With a curse, the disguised god takes a startled step back and hisses in anger and fear.

  "God Killer! So that bastard Tyranos sent you to off me, did he?!"

  Both Sophia and Oren are caught off guard by both Oren being recognized and the strange confidence that he's working for her uncle. Before either of them can react, the room begins to fill with shadows at an armingly rapid rate. Of looks baffled and a little panicked even as his hand goes to the weapon at his side, while Oren foregoes his own sword in favor of the Celestial Dagger.

  However, Sophia doesn't think the Kingpin is going to stick around for a fight. A Void God masquerading as a mortal leader of thieves doesn't sound like the sort to stand and defend what's his. Just before the other god can completely disappear from view, Sophia sends a pulse of Misfortune in his direction and feels it tch onto something. And then… well, things get a little weird.

  There's the sound of cursing, something breaking, and a heavy thump. Oren moves in the direction of those noises immediately and despite the shadows making everything pitch bck by this point, Sophia trusts in the Otherworlder to get his target all the same. That's why she makes sure to call out to him even as he's moving.

  "Take him alive! We can use him!"

  There are further sounds of grunting and struggling, while Sophia moves herself backwards until she finds the door they all came in and presses herself against it to wait. Finally, her faith in Oren pays off as the shadows begin to fade, revealing a rather interesting tableau.

  The Kingpin, it would seem, took something of a tumble at some point. Oren had caught him and put him in a chokehold. The shadows had only faded because Oren had rendered the Void God unconscious via choking him out.

  Of, meanwhile, has his sword drawn and has clearly been trying to figure out where they are. Orienting on Oren now and seeing that the Otherworlder has his boss in his grasp, the big thug begins stomping over with an angry look on his face.

  "Oren!"

  Sophia's shouted warning comes just in time as Of swings down towards Oren's head. The Otherworlder's hand snaps up and grabs the bde between two fingers. Then, in a show of just how powerful Oren has really gotten, he yanks as hard as he can… and redirects Of's energy into a throw that sends the thug careening head over heels into the far wall.

  Unconscious and not getting up any time soon, the human man is left slumped against the wall even as the Void God that Oren choked out is already starting to wake up. Before this 'Kingpin' can fully come to, Oren has yanked him to his feet, walked him over to his chair, and forcibly sat him down in it behind his big ornate desk.

  Walking over from the door, Sophia smiles appreciatively as Oren puts his hands on the other god's shoulders and pins him in pce with a subtle yet effective application of strength. When the Void God is finally conscious, he finds himself unable to move and staring right across his desk at Sophia, who crosses her arms over her chest and gives him a thin smile.

  "It would seem introductions might be in order. I'm Sophia… Goddess of Misfortune and Folly. And you are?"

  The Void God struggles for a moment longer before scowling at her.

  "Never heard of you."

  Her smile becoming a bit more frigid, Sophia begins to tap her foot.

  "No, you wouldn't have. And I've never heard of you either, hence the need for introductions."

  Looking more confused than anything, the other deity finally capitutes.

  "… Lopov, God of Thievery and Shadows. Who the fuck are you? Where has Tyranos been hiding you? Certainly not in the Void."

  Smiling, Sophia shakes her head.

  "Certainly not. You seem to be under several misconceptions. First and foremost, we aren't working for your King."

  Lopov scoffs, looking thoroughly displeased.

  "Not my King."

  That's what Sophia liked to hear. Dissension among the ranks. Maybe this fight against the Gods of the Void wasn't so impossible after all if they weren't as unified as things had initially seemed. Still, they needed way more information if they were going to make use of this… schism, heh.

  "Oh? Is Tyranos, God of Conquest and Tyranny, not also the King of the Void? Are you not a Void God?"

  Squirming a bit, only to be forcibly pushed back down into his seat by Oren, Lopov gres at her.

  "Tyranos is a fucking psychopath. In a pce like the Void… you do what you gotta do to survive. He wants to be called King? Fine, he can be called King. But it don't make him one. Not much to rule over in the Void either, aside from the rest of us."

  The answer is a bit rambling, but Sophia feels like she gets the gist of it all the same. Basically, Tyranos was the meanest, baddest, and strongest god that Law had imprisoned in the Void. So when he'd id cim to the title of ruler, the other gods had gone along with it because they didn't have much of a choice. But that didn't mean they were all happy about it.

  "Well then, you'll be happy to learn that we feel the exact same way. Tyranos is no more our King than he is yours."

  Lopov looks incredulous.

  "You expect me to believe that when you've got Tyranos' pet Otherworlder at your beck and call holding me in pce? Don't be ridiculous."

  Now see, that assumption is VERY interesting. Because that means-

  "Gah!"

  Sophia blinks, pulled out of her thoughts by Lopov's sudden cry of pain.

  "Oren!"

  The Otherworlder pauses, having been unconsciously starting to dig his fingers into Lopov's shoulders to an uncomfortable and possibly even painful extent. To be fair, Sophia wouldn't take too kindly to being called her uncle's 'pet' either, so she gets where he's coming from.

  Meeting Oren's eyes over the top of Lopov's head, Sophia smiles.

  "Why don't you take this one, Oren?"

  Grunting, Oren leans forward, looking down at Lopov from above and forcing the Void God to crane his neck back just to make eye contact.

  "Your leader lied to you. He stole me from my world and fooled me into sughtering the Heavens. I am NOT his pet, nor will I ever do his bidding ever again. I would rather die a thousand times over before taking another order from him. And if I get the chance, I will stab a bde right through his bckened heart or die trying."

  There's a long beat of silence as Lopov processes all of this. Finally, the God of Thievery swallows convulsively.

  "O-Oh."

  Looking up at her, Oren grunts.

  "Before we came in, this one was talking about getting squeezed up top. Something about 'this not being the deal'. Might mean something."

  Oh? Sophia takes a step closer to the desk and uncrosses her arms, leaning forward as she pnts her hands palm down and stares at Lopov.

  "Is that so? Does it mean something, Lopov?"

  Looking thoroughly nonplused by this moment, Lopov just stares at her in confusion.

  "… Who the fuck even are you? The God Killer off his leash, a Void God I've never heard of… are you two the reason Tyranos is getting crazier by the day?"

  Sophia perks up at that. Now that sounded very interesting.

  "Speak on that. Crazier by the day?"

  Lopov grimaces, looking like he just bit into something sour. Still, Oren only has to grip down on his shoulders again and dig his fingers in a bit more before the God of Thievery gasps out a response.

  "F-Fuck! Fine… yeah, he's been acting a little more unhinged than usual recently. Last time us Void Gods all got together; he was announcing that we were moving against the Ancient Gods of the Mortal Pnes finally. Of course, someone like me… I'm not really cut out for those kind of battles so I got to stay behind, see?"

  He pauses for a moment, but luckily for him it's not long enough to prompt Oren to dig in again.

  "…We've been winning, but the losses… heard tell that some of us weren't sure it was worth it. It's one thing to sit back and let the God Killer or the God Hunters do all the work, but risking our own necks? There's been talk about maybe making a deal with the Ancient Gods of the Mortal Pnes. No point in escaping the Void if most of us end up dying, right?

  Grimacing in remembrance, Lopov scowls.

  "Tyranos didn't take it well when word of that discontent reached him. I've started hearing… other rumors. Gods and Goddesses are getting called in for one-on-one meetings with Tyranos. Those that came out said he was making sure they were with him one hundred percent of the way."

  Sophia can't help but tch onto part of that, repeating his words back to him in a questioning tone.

  "Those that came out?"

  Lopov huffs.

  "… Some aren't coming out. Most, in fact."

  Looking down at his desk where papers are strewn across the surface, the God of Thievery growls.

  "And now there's this shit. Tyranos ain't called me up to meet with him personally, thank fuck, but the God Hunters are starting to become a nuisance for my operations. We're supposed to have a symbiotic fucking retionship. I handle things down here, keep shit organized and the simpleton mortals in line. But they're fucking with my allies up top. Enough to make a god wonder, ya know?"

  Sophia's smile grows as she nods.

  "I bet it is. In fact… I think you're right to wonder. I think you're right to be afraid."

  Lopov's eyes fsh at that.

  "Oi. I'm not fucking afraid. I'm just justifiably concerned, that's all."

  Leaning forward a bit more, Sophia lowers her voice a fair bit.

  "It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you, Lopov."

  Oren's regurgitated words of wisdom coming from her mouth have a profound effect on the God of Thievery. His eyes widen and he sits back in his chair, just staring at her silently for a long moment. Sophia is quick to capitalize on that stupefaction.

  "He wants to kill all of you, you know. What? Did you think he would just stop at the Heavens? Or the Mortal Pnes? Think Lopov, really think about it. The Gods of the Heavens… gone. The Gods of the Mortal Pnes are one foot in the grave. Once they're all dead, what is Tyranos supposed to do next? He's the God of Conquest and Tyranny, not the God of Friendship and Peace."

  Lopov scowls angrily, his eyes darting back and forth for a long moment before finally, he explodes.

  "Damn it… we had a deal!"

  He's not arguing with her though. He's picking up what she's putting down and it's making him angry. It's making him very angry. Excellent.

  "You HAD a deal, certainly. But he's not the God of Deals either, is he? He's not going to stop until he's the st Divinity in the entirety of Creation, Lopov."

  Of course, what Sophia doesn't say… is that she's pretty sure this is all her fault. Fuck it's taking every ounce of her willpower to keep her composure. A gleeful cackle keeps threatening to bubble up out of her throat and she has to force it back down over and over again to keep it from escaping.

  Maybe it was always Tyranos' pn to kill off his fellow Void Gods and take over as the only deity left in the entire universe. It's certainly possible. However, Sophia isn't too sure. And even if it was… she's pretty confident he's going about things in the most ham fisted way possible. Nothing like the subtle way he'd fooled her and Oren into giving him exactly what he wanted.

  But why? Why would he do something so foolish? Why would he act in such a btant and counterproductive fashion? He was creating extra enemies for himself for seemingly no reason.

  Simple, really. Sophia's curse must have stuck. Misfortune and Folly… she'd poured every bit of power that she could into her st words to her uncle. Sophia hadn't held back even a little bit. She'd staggered the Ancient God too, visibly so.

  If even a small sliver of his current foolish actions were because of her, Sophia took great personal satisfaction from that. But it wasn't enough. And she certainly wasn't going to spill the beans on what she'd done either. Now THAT would be foolish and counterproductive…

  "… You're right. Fuck, you're right. He's going to try and kill us all off. He IS killing us all off, isn't he? Fuck. What do we fucking do?"

  Sophia lets her smile grow, stretching from ear to ear.

  "Ah… I thought you'd never ask."

  Hook, line, and sinker.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Sophia is proud of herself, fufufu. Next time, making a pn!

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