Garfield took a cigar from his pocket and flicked it between his claws. "Care for one?"
"Thank you." Amenadiel accepted it without hesitation.
"Silver City has cigars?" Garfield asked.
Amenadiel nodded. "Yes. Occasionally, brothers or sisters bring back local specialties from the worlds they visit."
Garfield snapped his fingers, igniting both cigars. The two of them sat along the outer corridor wall of Asgard.
Amenadiel's legs dangled casually over the edge, more than ten meters above the ground below.
Asgard was perpetually springlike.
Its environment allowed its people to absorb ambient cosmic energy, converting it into sustenance and protection… enough to resist radiation, vacuum cold, and the hostile conditions of space itself.
The title cosmic race was no exaggeration.
Garfield exhaled slowly, releasing a neat smoke ring.
"Angela wasn't the real reason for your visit." He said calmly. "She was incidental."
"I'm the actual objective, aren't I?"
Amenadiel shook his head. "Not exactly incidental, but yes, you are the key."
"My father asked me to speak with you personally, Your Highness."
Garfield paused. "…You're serious?"
"I am. Those were his exact words."
Something felt wrong.
The ruler of the Silver City did not summon people casually, especially not cosmic predators with questionable reputations.
"Did Lucifer cause trouble again?" Garfield lowered his voice.
Amenadiel scratched his head. Compared to Lucifer's rebellion, this was hardly a secret, nearly the entire universe knew of it.
"No. He's been quiet lately."
"Honestly, I think if he were willing to apologize, Father would allow him to return."
Garfield steered the conversation deliberately, prompting Amenadiel to speak more about Lucifer.
Gradually, fragments of the past came together, and Garfield began to understand the deeper purpose behind this meeting.
Finally, Amenadiel spoke plainly.
"Your Highness, the Silver City needs your help."
He explained the current balance and imbalance between the Silver City, the Ten Realms, and Hell.
As Amenadiel spoke, the relationships between the three became clearer to Garfield. At its core, the situation was brutally simple.
"So." Garfield summarized, "The pressure at the front lines has increased, and God's forces alone are no longer sufficient."
"You need assistance, from the Ten Realms."
"Yes." Amenadiel did not evade the truth.
Garfield frowned.
What Odin had done back then, stripping the Ten Realms from the World Tree, had consequences far beyond Asgard's borders.
Something was off.
An uncomfortable thought surfaced.
What if Odin used the Space Stone when he severed the Ten Realms?
If so, the Space Stone Garfield carried, embedded within him, was no coincidence. Odin had deliberately cast it toward Earth.
Garfield did not believe in meaningless gestures from beings like Odin.
Perhaps the Ancient One had foreseen this as well. Perhaps that was why the Time Stone remained on Earth, waiting for events to unfold.
And perhaps her own death had not been an escape, but a calculated withdrawal, leaving the burden to Stephen Strange while her soul moved on, unshackled.
Beings at that level did not truly die. Even Odin, supposedly fallen, could still reach across space and fate, guiding Thor in his darkest hour.
The old god hid his depth well.
And the future ruler of the Silver City was no different, living quietly in a small New York church, choosing self-exile rather than destruction.
Unlike Odin, he had not been forced from the stage.
He had simply stepped away.
Garfield exhaled again, watching the smoke dissipate into the open cosmos.
The universe, it seemed, had been arranging this conversation for a very long time.
As for where beings like them went after death, it lay far beyond the ordinary cycle of reincarnation. It depended not on fate or judgment, but on where their attachments led them.
Death herself took an interest in such souls, though not enough to involve herself deeply.
She was perpetually busy and preferred to let matters unfold naturally, intervening only when it amused her.
Garfield flicked ash from his cigar and looked at Amenadiel sideways.
"So what do you higher-ups in the Silver City actually want me to do?"
"Let me make this clear first, I'm not selling my cat body. Two sugar-coated cannonballs are acceptable. Anything less, forget it."
Amenadiel paused. "I… don't quite understand what a sugar-coated cannonball is."
Garfield patiently explained the difference between a sugar-coated cannonball and an ordinary one, including the current chaotic situation at home.
Amenadiel fell silent, his expression growing complicated.
"So Mephisto has already been working with you." He said at last. "Earlier than we realized."
The Silver City had fallen behind.
For the future of the angels and for the continued resistance against Hell's encroachment, Amenadiel knew he would have to return and speak frankly with his father.
Some sacrifices would be unavoidable.
Noticing Amenadiel's increasingly strange gaze, Garfield scratched his head.
"What are you thinking about? Don't get any ideas. My household is already messy enough."
"I understand. Rest assured." Amenadiel nodded quickly.
Then he asked seriously, "But are you willing to help us, Your Highness?"
"Yes." Garfield replied without hesitation. "You can come to me if you encounter difficulties."
"As long as I can help, I will. But I don't work for free. Payment is non-negotiable."
Amenadiel's eyes lit up. "And the return of the Ten Realms?"
Garfield did not refuse outright. "That's possible too, if the price is right. And only with Odin's approval."
"I see." Amenadiel said solemnly. "My father will discuss it directly with the God King."
With that, the negotiation concluded. The rest would depend on how the ruler of the Silver City and Odin chose to bargain.
Garfield already had a rough idea of how the future of the Ten Realms might unfold.
Hell's pressure did not threaten only the angels. Odin understood that if God faltered, Asgard would inevitably be drawn in.
Facing the armies of Hell head-on was a losing proposition.
It was far better to let angels and demons exhaust one another.
As for cooperation between those two races? Impossible.
They were enemies engraved into one another's genes and souls. Since the moment of their creation, bloodshed between them had never ceased.
Odin was not worried about them joining forces. If, by some miracle, they did, he could simply order the open the Bifrost and erase the problem entirely, with a planetary-scale explosion.
A solution centuries in the making.
Meanwhile, the return of Asgard's lost princess sent shockwaves through the banquet.
Guests from every realm were stunned.
What was happening in Asgard? First a son appears, and now a daughter?
Gifts were suddenly insufficient.
The dwarves immediately urged Heimdall to open the Rainbow Bridge so word could be sent to Eitri to prepare additional offerings.
Other guests began frantically checking their belongings, some relieved they had come prepared, others realized they would need to return home.
Amid the chaos, two fair-skinned, long-legged elf women successfully intercepted Garfield on his way back.
Fran stood calmly.
Angie did not.
She grabbed the orange cat by the scruff and shook him furiously.
"You stinking cat, are you planning to marry that little angel?!"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream