IN> [Asmodeus Month] The Two Keystones (2/2) [fic

[Saxon Brenton]

To reiterate: contains the putrefying remains of In Nomine cannon that 
has been nibbled to death by rabid axolotls.
 
 
     Physically there was a dull, wet, meaty 'thunk'.  Supernaturally 
there was a snapping sound, something like a circuit breaker tripping. 
And then Asmodeus lay still.  Athena was disappointed that there hadn't 
been a more emphatic or even spectacular note to his end.  She would 
have to compare with Thoth if that had been how Dominic had died as
well.
     The excitement, however, seemed to have been reserved for his 
Servitors.  By her machinations Athena had set about to not just kill 
Asmodeus, but also his Word.  Distantly she heard the (very brief) 
screams of Asmodeus's Servitors and then their explosions as the demise 
of the Word of The Game reverberated through them.  Good.  Their 
explosive soul-deaths would maim, possibly even kill, anyone caught in 
the blast.  Even more of Hell's denizens removed from the able bodied 
list, then.
     Athena wondered idly if those Servitors of The Game who had had 
their Humanity attunement active at the moment that their Prince had 
been excised would have thereby been protected.  A pity she hadn't the 
time to properly investigate the matter just at the moment.  She walked 
across the room to a balcony overlooking Hades, passing the Prince's 
overturned and now obsolete chess board and pieces that lay on the 
floor as she went.  She had won a crucial victory.
     Without Asmodeus to coerce them the remaining Princes would soon 
fracture away from their sullen alliance of malice into openly warring 
factions (thank you, Malphas).  Lucifer would normally be expected to 
try and reign them in, but he would no doubt be distracted, confused 
and angry by his loss of control over his Interventions.
     She smiled.  That had also been deliberately engineered.  With 
his temper already shortened, Lucifer would be trapped between 
handling administrative duties that he'd traditionally delegated to 
The Game, or finding a replacement for Asmodeus.  The latter wasn't 
really an effective option.  There simply wasn't enough time for a 
replacement -- either an extant Prince or an upraised one -- to 
master the subtleties of Asmodeus's job; not with the Ethereals 
already slicing their way through the Host and about to descend on 
the Horde at any time.  But the former option was only borderline 
workable as well, and depended on Lucifer restraining himself from 
crankily obliterating any Prince that got out of line.
     Whatever the case, there was *no* chance of Hell coming to Heaven's

assistance in the way that they had co-operated in the Legion War.
     And what of the future?  Despite their newfound hyperapotheosis 
the ethereals were still far fewer in number than the celestials.  She 
did not put much trust in the claims that Heaven could be cut free from 
its place in the firmament and fall, screaming, onto Hell, where they 
would both mutually annihilate in an enormous explosion as positive met 
negative.  More likely a prolonged campaign of strategy, blood, sweat 
and combat would be needed to win the day.
     But no matter.  Whatever the bloodshed lay in the immediate future,

whatever the sullen state of Hell's perpetually overcast sky, Athena 
could tell that this was dawn.
 
 
---
Saxon Brenton   University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
The _Girl Genius_ comic of Phil and Kaja Foglio is now online at: 
     www.girlgeniusonline.com