The Earth After Rebirth

"Pardon me for the intrusion your majesty but the leaders are here." Belial announced not paying their playing with the little ones any mind.

"Right, master we have to go." Hubris was much faster to stop than Kiro was, now that the puppies had taken a liking to him he'd taken a liking to them too, they were very cute.

They were slower to stop however as they tried to brake before all ten of them had a collision with Kiro's leg, immediately making them disoriented.

Kiro sighed, he'd forgotten why they were here for a second. He wasn't sure he should be in the meeting room with them but figured Hubris needed him to be there for support.

"Can't uncle Kiro stay? Please daddy!" The one named Eloise begged their father before Kiro could even take a step forward.

Hubris turned like he would swallow them whole but instead he asked, "what is a King?"

"The protector of the land!" They chorused together.

"What does a King do?" He asked again.

"He protects the land and the beings within it!" They shouted once again together.

It was apparent that they had been learning this over and over again. They didn't miss a beat and answered their father immediately and at the same time.

"Good good, your father and uncle have to take care of a lot of things to ensure the land is safe. Will you be strong enough to wait for our return? We may be gone for a long time."

The children were silent, they looked at each other with some degree of concern. They had just gotten their father back and now he was leaving again, it was unfair.

But the eldest swallowed his pain and stepped forward. "Yes sir, we can handle ourselves. Please return safely!" Little Kiro spat while his siblings were brimming with tears, he was sniffling too but he didn't let them fall. Find your next read on empireNôv(el)B\\jnn

Kiro could have laughed at this little charade if he didn't know better, so instead he said his goodbyes and promised to visit after they were done with everything they set to do. Which he didn't doubt will take months upon months, in real time.

He was glad that the time in the underworld and Asgard were synced now because he wouldn't be able to handle Hubris missing his children's years of growing up and the kids growing up fatherless, the bitterness they would feel was insurmountable.

'They'd probably blame me too.' He shuddered at the thought of ten hellhounds with Hubris' genes going after him.

As they walked the corridors to the meeting hall Kiro could see from the corner of his eye the little ones following behind and hiding when they think they would be caught.

Entering the meeting hall the leaders of their respective races were already there upon their King coming in they got up and bowed to greet him. Some had seen Kiro before and some have never, though they have heard stories since he played a big role in their previous war with the previous king.

"We greet the King and our esteemed guest."

Hubris growled in response, happy that they acknowledged his master's presence. He gestured them to take their seats.

There were a total of twelve leaders, here to represent each race of the underworld.

Hubris offered Kiro the King's chair which he denied vehemently. He instead maintained his standing position on Hubris' right side, a position that was Belial's but since he was someone he could not argue with he settled for the left side.

"Leaders of Abaddon, thank you for coming at such short notice." Hubris started, some were still not used to being under a single kingdom and it showed on their faces before they quickly erased that expressions.

"Thank you for hosting us." They all said in unison.

"Unfortunately this meeting is not under great circumstances, we have a problem a big one..."

The atmosphere in the room thickened. The leaders all looked at each other to confirm who was the guilty party amongst them, they assumed the problem was one of them and that's why they were called to an urgent meeting.

"What is it your majesty?" Aenon the previous king of vampires asked finally after several seconds of silence.

Hubris had paused on purpose to see if anyone would crack under the pressure but nobody seemed to have been doing something they shouldn't have been doing so he continued.

"The world which master comes from is in trouble and needs warriors like ourselves, this meeting is to ask whether you could spare some numbers?"

Nobody said anything for a while and Hubris didn't rush them either it was a big decision to make after all. They just sat in silence while they chew on his words.

"I'll ask this as respectfully as I can your majesty, but why should we help him?" The leader of the werewolves, called Ray, asked earnestly. "I understand he helped us in the past but are we obligated to do the same?"

Hubris shook his head, "that's why I'm asking and not ordering. This is entirely your choice but I want to let it out there that I, and the hounds will be going there to fight."

He didn't want to lead with the fact that they were fighting a world stealing god and it was very possible that the ancient could make its way down to the underworld to take theirs too. Hubris wanted to see who amongst the leaders was compassionate enough to agree while they thought they had nothing to gain.

Much like his father he believed a leader without compassion is a step away from a treacherous dictator. They didn't know it but Hubris was using this meeting to test the kind of people they were.

After several minutes in silence, Aenon was seen nodding his head.

"I'll speak to the vampires, I can't promise you many numbers your majesty due to our declining birth rate but I can promise you really strong warriors."

"Thank you Aenon, very generous of you."