On a planet further down Yggdrasil’s branches than any “civilized” world, Orochi found himself sitting at a marble round table with seven other gods and goddesses. Each god had a placard denoting their name and their domain on the table in front of them, which was useful since Orochi recognized few of them. He’d been sealed for the better part of the last five millennia, and most of the other guests were relatively young, so far as gods kept track of that kind of thing, so aside from Carlas: the time god who freed him, and Fieren: A god of forging and armor making, Orochi didn’t recognize anyone.

Though that didn’t mean much to a group of shapeshifters. Even Orochi had changed his appearance to one closely resembling that of a cobra-beastman to accommodate his host’s wishes. He was still vastly oversized for his race, but he preferred it that way. It served as a reminder to those around him, who he was and what he was capable of.

The— He hesitated to call it the sky, as the twitching and oozing mass of tentacles that surrounded the planet made that difficult. Aside from the nightmarish skyline, the rest of the scenery was quite beautiful: Waist high white flowers were as innumerable as blades of grass, trees of vibrant green produces succulent fruits by the hundreds, and the all-encompassing eye of the squid surrounding the planet cast a silver light down upon the planet’s surface.

Eden: That was this place’s original name. Once upon a time it was a paradise, unrivalled in beauty and security. It was the birthplace of dozens of races; however, all were eventually cast out for one reason or another. Now the planet belonged to the host of this little get together, and it was one of her prized possessions.

There was a flash of golden light off to Orochi’s left, which prompted everyone: save him, to look. Orochi knew who it was, after all, there was only one empty seat left and no one would be stupid enough to show up without an invitation.

A woman even larger than Orochi himself stepped around the table and sat in the high-backed chair at the head of the table. To call her obese would be an insult to fat people, as she looked twice as wide as she was tall. Eight spindly tentacles served as legs and carried her from to her seat. Her unnerving eyes were pitch black save for the silver pinprick in the center that served as her pupil. The pinprick danced wildly as she absorbed everything about the group sitting before her.

Orochi amused himself with the idea of the chair exploding into splinters the moment she sat down but knew it wouldn’t happen. Like the gods that occupied them, the table and chairs were divine in nature. It would take more than a little weight to break one.

The chair let out an ominous *creak* as soon as she sat down, and Orochi had to suppress a smile.

Fieren led the gods in standing and bowing to the newcomer. “Praise be to the mother.” The other six copied his action almost immediately, while Orochi remained seated. He would sooner bow his head to that Torga whelp.

“Orochi.” Mother’s voice was oily and slid over his ears like a vat of grease. Oh, how Orochi hated her voice. “Have you no respect for your savior?” She asked, her words ending in a gap-toothed smile that made Orochi wanna claw out his own eyes.

“I do. But I’ll not bow to you.” He responded flatly.

“You insolent—” Fieren began. Mother silenced him with a look and a smile that sent shivers down Orochi’s spine, even though it hadn’t been directed at him.

“No matter. So long as you do your part, I shall graciously overlook this breach of decorum.” She said grandly. “Now, onto other business. Where are we on project Ragnarök?”

“We’re advancing at a steady pace.” A young goddess replied immediately. She had raven colored hair, purple eyes with eleven concentric rings, and skin the color of gold. “Seven of the nine Origin seals have been deconstructed and the corresponding beasts have begun to move. However, we—uh— It would seem the devourer has somehow escaped his prison. If we don’t find a way to remove him from the equation, he could interfere with our plans.”

“Orochi will handle this matter.”

“Of course.” Orochi wished he could’ve left at that moment and do just that, but he knew the head cow wouldn’t tolerate it. So, he was stuck counting the seconds until he could leave and never look back.