I held up the ruffled collar of the clothes Loki had handed me. "You want me to wear this?" I asked incredulously.

"It's very fetching." Riviera nodded.

"It has !" I spat, disgusted, and tossed it back into the bed. "No fuckin' way am I wearing that Shakespearean bullshit. I'm a respectable Italian Man, and I will wear nothing less than a silk suit, if I must dress up." I said dismissively, and walked over to the small wardrobe I'd built.

I pulled out a black Silk Jacket, and the matching vest, shirt, and pants, then the dress boots.

"I bought these the other day... I felt like treating myself." I smirked, and dressed swiftly, shining my dress-boots to a sparkling finish. I straightened my tie, and smirked at Loki. " better than that frilly suit, eh?"

She huffed. "What is that supposed to be?"

"It's a Suit! How could you not know what-... ooooh, you left Midgard before the Suit was invented... then how did you know about Smooth Jazz?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I may have... popped back in, once in a while."

I blinked slowly. "You can get to Midgard?"

"Not with passengers, so don't get any big ideas." She narrowed her eyes.

"Well, anyway, this is the height of male fashion in modern Midgard. And it's the only fashion I'll wear, so get over it." I smirked.

She shrugged. "Fine. Let's go." She pulled up the chest of her strapless dress impatiently, and I hummed.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just get a Boob Job, or alter your human body to have breasts, instead of fighting with Hestia over her breasts?" I asked easily.

She glanced at me. "A 'Boob Job'? Sounds obscene..."

"It's a medical operation that women get to give themselves larger, or more perky breasts. Doesn't feel as real as the real ones, though." I waved a hand dismissively.

She blinked slowly, and Riviera raised her eyebrows. "How would you know?" She asked.

"I've held both types, and many of each. I was a bit of a Man-Whore in Midgard." I shrugged shamelessly.

"Oh? Were you paid well?" Loki grinned, joking... most likely.

"No... not really. ... I have something of a ." I grinned wolfishly, and walked past Riviera's shocked expression.

I sheathed my sword, and Loki called out. "You can't take a weapon."

I hummed and picked up my crystal Orb and a book of poetry to read, placing them in my pockets, then tossed my sword onto my bed. "Alright. Let's go, then."

I brushed my hair as we walked, combing it back away from my face, and then fluffing it, for maximum volume.

"Hmm. Very nice... you looking to catch eye?" Loki asked knowingly.

I just smirked, then shrugged, opening the door of the carriage for her.

---

"So what happens? At the conference?" I asked.

"Nothing I can tell you about... but we basically just argue about things." She sighed.

"Mm. Sounds like a normal conference. Will there be any reason why I'm going, if I'm not allowed inside?" I asked.

"First: to meet Freya. Second: to scope out your competition. Third: to claim the action of turning all of Freya's Rookies into Toads and Snakes. And Fourth: let Freya know that we know she cast that spell, and we have proof, which will throw her off her game. That way, we can... well, I, can Win today... and in the future. Are you clear as to your duties? Do you have a plan?" She asked.

I smirked. "." I murmured, looking out the window as I contemplated the sequence in which my actions would have to come about for maximum effect.

She chuckled. "I see... I'm sorry for doubting you."

We arrived, and I hummed. "We are late."

"Are we?" She asked, disinterested.

"I'd've liked to ambush her, not the other way around... I suppose that large-breasted silver-haired woman stomping this way is your enemy?" I sighed.

She looked out the window, and whistled slightly. "Wo~ow, that's out of character for her... so angry... I'm going to play with her."

"Not smart, Hell hath no fury..." I murmured.

"Hel is my daughter, and I say boo on you." She flung open the door, and came face to face with the enraged goddess of love, smiling easily. "Ooh! Freya Darling! Why so angry? Don't you know glaring like that will give you wrinkles?"

I exited the carriage slowly, and looked at the giant man with pig ears. "Loki... perhaps you shouldn't be... , right now." I warned her softly, then gazed at the goddess of love, bracing my gut against her good looks.

She blinked, clearly shocked, then settled into a studied flirtatious face. "Oh! And who's this handsome devil?" She completely ignored Loki, and also my statements, as if we'd been having a nice conversation, not exchanging death-glares.

I bowed my head. "Xavier Leopold Dorian, miss Freya. I must say, it is my maximum pleasure to meet you in such a way. Emotion and beauty are two stones in the same riverbed, after all. Also, I must say, your singing voice is also quite... . You simply must allow me the... experience, of hearing you sing once more, some time soon."

She blinked, her facial expression freezing in a neutral state, just as Loki's did. "Oh? I like that look, Freya, surprise is a fetching look on middle-aged women, for sure..." Loki smirked.

I gave Freya my most charming smile, and then placed Loki's hand into my elbow, squeezing it warningly. "And now, miss Freya, we must bid you Adieu, for now. This way, Miss Loki." I escorted her away from Freya before she ordered her giant to murder us.

Loki hummed. "I liked your comment about her singing voice. Well planted. She'll kidnap you soon, I'm sure you're aware."

"Of course. Though, that man, what's his name?" I asked.

"Hmm? Oh, Ottar. He's a Lvl 7, his title is 'Warlord'." She said easily.

I hummed. "I see. I'll need to separate the two, so Freya and I can have a 'Talk'... and I'll need proof of anything she says..."

"Easily done. I'll get you a voice recorder soon... and besides, anything she says, the Gods will hear it, so they'll be no escaping that." She shrugged.

"Clearly she has a way, because she got away with it before." I commented dryly.

She glanced at me. "True... hmph. Ah well. The conference is about to start. Stay here, and if anyone tries to interrupt, don't let them, on pain of death." She nodded seriously.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're expecting to be interrupted?"

"Yes. The Cult of Immortals always interrupts these meetings." She nodded, then went into a large audience chamber, with a huge round table in the center.

I hummed and turned towards the hallway, leaning against the wall.

Freya and her Ottar approached, and I gazed at her, showing a decent amount of interest, but not 'sex eyes', not yet. She smiled sweetly, and spoke to her Familia member softly. "Do not assist him, once the fighting starts."

He blinked slowly, and nodded. "Yes mistress."

She nodded and giggled in my direction, waving flirtatiously, and entered the room.

I smirked. "Wow... that's cruel. What if a First Class appears? Tsk..." I chuckled humorlessly.

He gazed at me for a moment, then sat down, leaning his massive back against the wall, the very picture of relaxation.

"No answer, huh? She didn't say you couldn't talk to me, just that you couldn't help me when the fighting started." I grinned.

He glanced at me, then looked ahead, still silent.

I shrugged. "Okay, big guy, I get it, you're the 'strong and silent' type. Then I'll fill the silence, cause I hate silence when I'm not working. That okay?"

He didn't speak, but glanced in my direction, and shrugged a bit.

"Cool. So how's your hunt for new rookies going, after I destroyed all your Lvl 1's the other day?" I asked.

His gaze slowly shifted to me. "" He rumbled softly.

"A-yup. They attacked me three times, in an alley, and in the Dungeon, and I decided 'Three Strikes, You're OUT!' So I got 'em all in one place, a warehouse the Loki Familia owns, and dropped some hallucinogenic compounds and mushroom spores into the crowd, then watched the magic." I started cleaning my nails with a small knife.

""

"Ohhh, don't get all pissy. See, I had a good reason for my actions. Your goddess is the reason I'm here at all! She Allegedly stole my poetry, opened a Dimensional Portal, and then, once I was here, sent her Rookie's after me, to either Poach me or Kill me!" I tsk'ed.

He glanced at me again, and I could sense him tensing to move.

"Hey, hey, no need for that. I said ''. Though, the attacks by your Familia members aren't alleged. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. The warehouse. I got tired of waiting for them to kill each other, so I dove into the fray, and beat them all to a pulp, then turned them all into a pile of snakes. It was quite ." I smirked.

He stood up slowly, and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. ""

I chuckled. "Alright, alright. I just wanted to say it. After all, if the God's can see everything, then they saw this conversation, and my work is done... mostly."

He hummed. "" He said, with no discernible malice, or sarcasm.

"Thanks." I nodded, smiling.

---

We sat in near-companionable setting for about half an hour, while playing a Word Game that was about naming a word that began as the previous ended.

I was winning thoroughly, because I used a lot of words that ended with X.

"Tang." He hummed.

"Ganesh."

"Hebrew."

"Wessex." I grinned.

"That's not a word." He glared across at me.

"It's the name of a country in Britain." I smirked.

He grumbled. "Doesn't count..."

"Fine... Weyland."

"Dawn."

"Nexus."

"Sauerkraut-"

The sudden sound of a rattling explosion filled the hallway, and I looked down it, to see several hundred people streaming into the hallway, screaming war-cry's.

I looked at Ottar. "She told you not to assist me, right? But did she say not to protect the Conference, or protect her?" I asked quickly.

He shook his head slowly, cracking his giant knuckles.

"Alright. Anything that gets past me is your game, but the rest are mine, understand?" I grinned.

He nodded firmly.

I summoned my armor, and sprinted at the crowd of people, summoning a shield, and my claws.

I rammed into the first ten people or so, (very narrow hallway,) and slammed them away from me, kicking out a solid Spartan kick, and clearing a bit of space for myself.

None of the front line people had a gods blessing, so they fell like paper-men, almost like Faceless Mooks.

I laughed wildly, the exhilaration naturally pumping joy endorphins through my body. "COME AT ME ALL AT ONCE, YA FUCKIN' PANSIES!" I laughed/roared, laying about myself in my favorite fashion, making sure not to ruin my suit.

My shield, being non-lethal, was my main weapon, at first, but after one of them cut my shirt, then sprinted past me as I checked the extent of the damage, I snapped.

"!" I roared, and threw lightning at the running man. He dropped, burnt to a crisp, and I turned to the rest of them. I growled at them all, pissed and done playing nice.

"" I barely recognized my own voice, as I casted my fully-powered Fulminate into the crowd.

The Lightning spread, like a sentient parasite, leaping from one host to the next, taking the electricity from their brains and nerves, gaining power, and searching for the one it couldn't kill.

I grinned, as several people at the back of the now-crisped crowd stood or dusted themselves off, relatively unblemished.

I sprinted into them as they weren't paying attention, and rammed the first one with my shield, while my claws grated along his thigh.

I flinched when he was only knocked back a step, and my claws did nothing to him. He grinned and hauled back a leg to kick at me savagely.

I dissolved my armor, bringing it close to my skin, and let him hit me. As his kick touched me, I wrapped around his leg, and spun, using his own momentum. (A repeat technique, but a very good one for people much stronger than yourself.)

His leg totally destroyed itself, and in his confusion, he started to drop. I was quick to use what was left of his momentum, as well as my own strength, to ram my knee into his spine, just at the back of his neck, where the skull and spine meet.

He dropped, dead as a doornail, and I turned to the rest of them, only to find them gone.

I hummed and looked down the corridor at Ottar, then grinned. "Looks like I didn't need you anyway, bud!" I chuckled.

He pointed behind me, and I ducked a Bastard sword, swinging directly at my neck.

The wielder, a tall human with Ice blue eyes, tsk'ed, and altered the course, stabbing downwards. I summoned my armor and shield again, and blocked it, then dug my claws into his stomach, reaching up and gripping his heart.

He froze, wheezing for breath. "." I growled.

He said nothing, at first.

"?" I asked the man.

He smiled. "I will live forever in Infamy, as a hero who slew the evil Gods!"

I ripped out his heart callously. "Okay, that's enough outta you." I tossed it aside, and then rent his body into fifty different pieces, just in case he really was immortal.

I stomped on the different corpses, reducing them to piles of charred bones and ash, and not much else.

The doors of the conference room creaked open ominously, and I hummed.