Gluttony Blossom II

Notes:

And now it's time to continue our tropical trip to usurp God! Good times all around!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes)

That left Lucifer and her cohorts exploring the streets of Nadi for someone who would take them to their destination. Beelzebub tried to ask for some fruit at the local market, but Lucifer summoned some peaches to satisfy the glutton's cravings.

Unlike Legazpi, Nadi was a small town with hardly busy streets and plenty of palm trees and houses. Another thing Lucifer noted was that there weren't as many churches here either. Temples and mosques dotted the neighborhoods, the most notable example being the gorgeous kaleidoscopic Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple which everyone stared in awe.

"At least we're never bored wherever we go…" Lucifer thought. Belphegor even muttered how the setting could make good inspiration for a future MMO expansion.

Just as they were moving on from the multicolored majesty, Maria noticed something behind the trees, watching them.

As soon as Maria warned them all, everyone turned towards the greenery. A faint shape darted out of sight but Maria caught her gazing at them through the foliage. It looked to be a… green woman?

Maria's eyes widened as she tried calling out to her. "Hey!"

The green woman panicked, jumping into the leaves and out the trunk like she teleported before running away.

"Wait!" Maria started running after her as Lucifer tried to grab her.

"Maria, stop! We don't know what she is!"

But the woman was already off. The others had no choice but to follow her. The demonic horde took flight as she chased after this very agile woman, their prey blinking in and out of whatever tree she could find. Maria was starting to wheeze as she made her way out of the town and towards an entire grove. The mysterious woman was about to spirit away, smiling as she saw her pursuers gone, only for Lucifer blocked her path with a smug grin.

The verdant beauty was about to run the other way only to find several vines wrapping around her ankles.

"Hey, what gives?!" she cried only for a titter to reach her eyes.

"Oh, you think you can overwhelm my magic?" Asmodeus taunted, "Honey, that's adorable but nothing escapes my aphrodisiacs."

Maria and the demon trio approached their new captive, finally getting a good look at her. Her skin from head to toe was a lovely shade of light green with white freckles adorning her cheeks.

Her mossy green hair resembled like a large bushel of leaves that formed a short hairstyle with a short ponytail in the back. A darker green top that adorned her boobs around Belphegor's size while leaving her midriff bare. Her matching skirt bore red flowers literally sprouting from the sides while her feet were as exposed as her stomach. Her rose red eyes darted in apprehension of her new company, even as Maria looked more confused at what she was.

"A nymph in Fiji?" Lucifer looked down at their captive. "Certainly not where I was expecting. You'll should work on being more discrete next time." The struggling nymph whimpered before suddenly steeling herself.

"You're one to talk! What are a bunch of scary demons and their pet humans doing walking around here? Actually wait, how could you see me?"

Maria had no short answer for that, but Asmodeus cut the nymph off, tightening the vines around her.

"We're not here to harm anyone, cutie. You got a name?"

"Um… Flori. And, w-wait, did you just call me cute?"

"Of course, I did-"

Lucifer shoved her salivating servant aside.

"Keep your panties dry, please. Anyways, yes, we're looking for directions to somewhere around here."

Beelzebub stepped forth, thinking a little kindness would help. "We're trying to get to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. Do you know the way? If you do, can you please direct us?"

Flori's face went stiff, looking dour all of a sudden. Before she could politely refuse, a much meaner voice spoke up.

"Sheesh, Flori, are you serious? Getting caught by demons?"

"It was an accident! Can you stop picking on me just this once?"

"Ooh, another one?" Belphegor wondered.

"Show yourself!" Lucifer demanded.

Another plantlike girl appeared from a nearby tree, identical to Flori in many ways but with a different fashion sense. Her leafy coif was styled into a curly bob, her outfit was overflowing with deep violet flowers that matched her eyes, and her strapless top revealed bare shoulders. Most tellingly was the much icier look in her eyes.

"Bunda, thank goodness you're here! These demons are looking for the Garden!"

The new nymph glared at the hellions. "Why should we help you? You're creatures of sulfur and fire. Why else could you be here except to destroy our homes and enslave us all, human or not? And we've already got enough of a pain around here, we don't need to get invaded too."

That got the group confused. Mammon decided to intervene. "Whatever do you mean?"

"There's this freaky anorexic demigod, Tantalus," Flori quivered, the others getting a chill from the name alone.

"You mean the degenerate that fed his own child to the old gods?!" Mammon blanched, "He's supposed to be trapped in Hell!"

"'Supposed to be,' yeah, sure…" Bunda groused, "Well, he's spent eons being surrounded by food and water without getting any so guess how hungry he is…

Lucifer may have only ruled the underworld for a short time but she knew all of their worst denizens from memory. "Okay, that is bad news. What has he done and what is he after?

"What did he do? And what was he looking for?"

"W-We were guarding this Flower…" Flori admitted only for Bunda to kick her head.

"Shut it, mulch-for-brains! That's supposed to be a secret!"

"Do you mean the Flower of Temperantia? That's what we're looking for," Beelzebub piped up, shocking the nymphs. A bunch of monsters like them knew about their sacred treasure?

"Did you ever hear about the angel who gave you that for safekeeping?" Lucifer asked with a coy grin, "Blonde, gorgeous as sin, red eyes, wings of light on her back?

Bunda stumbled back. "N-No way!"

"Oh yes, that was me. You happen to be talking to the one who gave your great-great-great grandmas that precious plant for safekeeping. Yes, I'm batting for the other side now but that's not your business. Now, Flori, tell me what's happening here."

Flori looked at Bunda to check. The shellshocked nymph nodded.

"Well, we were standing guard while some of our friends were playing in the canopy like God instructed us… when he just crawled in from out of nowhere… He started drooling, his eyes looking so hungry, and demanding for this special flower. W-We tried to defend ourselves but he pulled out this machete… D-Diced up some of our friends, hurt the others… And then he caught a bunch and took them hostage… I-I think he's torturing them for information on the Flower…"

Flori's eyes were swimming with tears while Bunda now looked a whole new kind of angry. Mammon, Maria and Beelzebub all looked aghast while the other three demons looked ready to throw up.

"Take us to the Garden and we can help you. Six demons, two nymphs and this extraordinary girl here should be more than enough for Tantalus. Trust us, no demigod can match us."

Bunda arched her eyes. "Why should we trust you? What's to stop you from whacking us as soon as Tantalus is gone?"

"Because without us, you're all doomed. I don't know about you, but I take it you care about these islands. If we don't get that flower, God's going to perform divine pest control and I doubt he'll spare Fiji."

The nymphs were completely lost for words. Plus, that Tantalus had taken several of their friends. They deserved to be avenged.

"Fine, we'll lead you there."

Asmodeus immediately released Flori from her bondage. Both nymphs took a bit to get situated as they lead the group to their destination.

Thankfully, their new guides were able to lead the Sins around all of the big tourist spots. Soon they went from the scattered trees and grass to a full-on forest as they approached the "Sleeping Giant" mountain. While nowhere near as huge as Mayon, it was still a sight thanks to its lush scenery and yet the real beauty still awaited them.

Lucifer looked towards Flori and Bunda, staring longingly at their hijacked home. The blonde could relate, already planning an even worse fate for Tantalus once he was recaptured.

That said, there was always a chance that Raphael, the Lively Virtue of Temperance, could pop up to really make things complicated. She turned to her comrades.

"Bub's going to need some backup"

Mammon and Asmodeus instantly volunteered, and Maria followed suit, hoping to quell the glutton's anxieties.

Beelzebub, while grateful, still frowned. "Can't I go look for it myself?"

"Out of the question, absolutely not. Taking on an enemy you know nothing about will be a disaster."

Asmodeus, having spent most of the trip eyeing up the nymphs, stepped in. "Plus the forest is not a safe place for girls like you. Remember about the PERVS out there who are staring at you."

Once again, the gang's attention shifted. They all stared at that same peculiar direction. Beelzebub, Maria and Asmodeus again looked disappointed while Lucifer and Belphegor appeared ready to revolt. Mammon, however, looked highly suspicious. All of this just made the nymphs confused.

"What are you guys looking at?" Bunda asked.

"Not important," Belphegor waved off, "I think I'll keep an ear out for the Virtues. Never been much for fighting anyway…"

The sluggish girl sneaked off towards the trees before something grabbed her tail.

She pouted for a bit before turning around. "And I won't go alone, Mom!"

Flori and Bunda then explained how they'd go in first to rally any other nymphs who managed to escape, Maria realized something. This would be her first exposure to an active threat since Michael or Belial. Now was not the time to be a damsel when she was supposed to keep Beelzebub safe too.

"Belphegor! I need a favor from you."

All eyes were now on Maria. They knew she hadn't asked for anything yet so what would it be?

"Can you summon that sword you gave me back in your MMO please?"

Belphegor was flattered to be the first one to give Maria something. She whipped out her tablet and soon a gold hilted sword appeared sticking out of the ground. Maria grabbed it, hoisting onto her shoulder before putting it into a matching sheath.

"Really, you want a weapon?" Lucifer asked, "I get it this is dangerous but-"

"Don't worry, it's for self-defense only."

Lucifer conceded, no better options hitting her. She was about to bid her the party farewell once more before tossing an apple to Beelzebub.

"Make it count Bub, and keep an eye out for an azalea with a golden sheen. You'll know it when you see it."

Beelzebub, having already bitten into the fruit, felt her stomach turn in both anxiety and determination as Lucifer held a hand to her cheek.

"Make us proud, Bub."

And with that the groups diverged toward their paths with the scavenger quartet entering the Garden of the Sleeping Giant.

All four ladies were instantly awestruck by the sheer natural splendor of the canopy. High-rising trees with so many shades of green that blocked the sight of the sky to scattered sunrays. Asmodeus and Maria took the time to admire and get whiffs of the various plants and flowers, most prominently orchids and Asian cattleya hybrids ranging from pink, red and orange. Mammon and Beelzebub did likewise with a watchful eye out for any standout flowers in the patch. They also observed some of the fauna such as barking imperial pigeons and Red-Throated Lorikeets perched on the branches.

Taking one last bite of her apple, Beelzebub looked at it mournfully as she realized that there was no going back. She chucked the core away and moved farther ahead looking for the Flower of Temperantia, only for Mammon to call out "Beelzebub! Don't go too far ahead, my dear!"

The youngest could only groan in frustration as she flew farther ahead anyway.

Mammon was surprised by her defiance. While Asmodeus gathered some of the flowers for her aphrodisiacs and some potions for her greedy cohort, Maria halted her own search and looked towards the two demonesses with disappointment.

"Do you ever wonder how that makes her feel?"

Neither knew what she was talking about.

"The way you talk down to her like that. It makes her feel insignificant, like you don't respect her." They both balked at that.

"C'mon of course we respect her!" Asmodeus shrugged off, "I mean, would she be a demon lord if we didn't?"

"But she doesn't see it that way, all your coddling is really demeaning to her. It's like she doesn't belong on her own throne!"

The bite in Maria's tone took Asmodeus by surprise. For Mammon, this wasn't the first time the girl had to set her straight. As the three ventured onward to catch up with Beelzebub, passing by a luscious pond filled with lily pads, both demon lords felt guilty about their ignorance. Mammon felt some clarification was needed.

"Honey, all our doting is only to make the poor dear feel loved and taken care of after all she went through in her past life."

Maria did a double take.

"Past life?"

"Surprised, aren't you?" Asmodeus interjected, smirking as she brought a lily pad to her lip, "You thought she was always a demon that just happened to look like a little girl? Oh no, she was human once with some type of gland disorder that caused her to age very slowly. By the time she was in her late teens, she was stuck looking like she was ten."

Maria, still trying to process that, kept listening as Mammon went on.

"And her good for nothing mother took advantage of the stunted growth, forcing her into a child starlet for the better part of her life. Her mother was her coach and kept her on one of the strictest diets you could ever imagine."

The trio ventured on with the birds chirping above. Maria listened, her eyes still scanning for Beelzebub or the flower.

"If you saw what she had to eat, you'd think she was allergic to fat or sugar," Asmodeus recollected. "She'd have to sneak it in and her mother would catch her, punishing her for daring to eat anything other than rice cakes and undressed salad. She put up with this crap for so long, literally dreaming of eating anything else. So, when she about to turn eighteen, she planned to raid a neighbor's pantry and treat herself as much as she wanted."

Maria's gut dropped, already guessing where this was going. A sudden rustle of leaves made her draw her sword, only for nothing to pounce on them. Just as the girl was wondering about lessons to actually use this thing, Mammon took up the story.

"She snuck into it and gorged on everything she could find. Blocks of cheese, cupcakes and pastries, soda and of course her precious meat, namely a freshly cooked ham. She didn't care about her figure, her fame or anyone catching her, she was finally happy. But, naturally, she was caught by the neighbor… the local butcher."

Both demon lords looked green. Maria's grip on her blade tightened, dread sinking into her.

"He was naturally furious about some random girl breaking in and cleaning the pantry dry. He forced Beelzebub into a cellar where he locked her in there with nothing but a gag. She was trapped there for days on end, the man planning on letting her out when she 'learned her lesson.'"

"There was no water or food down there and he ended up forgetting all about her. By the time he finally remembered, she had already wasted away and died from starvation."

Mammon had to swallow a lump forming in her throat, Maria looked horrified and even Asmodeus looked both angry to the point of retching but she and spoke.

"For her 'extreme gluttony', she was sentenced to the eighth circle and reborn as a Mortal Sin in Hell. When God was done with her, all she could do was cry and wonder what she had done to deserve this. Satan found her and, well you've seen she's a sucker for anything adorable. She whisked Bub off to Cocytus and told us everything. All we wanted to do was get the little thing back on feet. Even Belial couldn't say no to her!"

Maria chuckled at that, before something tripped her senses. She'd warn the others but Maria needed to hear the end of this.

"We showed her the ways of being a demon lord and promised she'd have all the food she could want. Once she learned how to summon her own food, you could see her smile from space."

Both demonesses remembered it like it was yesterday with Mammon concluding. "While Beelzebub was in her own heaven, that butcher got what was coming . First, Bub's mother finally did something useful and found her and had that butcher thrown in prison with everyone from the judges to his own lawyer demanding he be executed. Then when he got to prison, a bunch of Bub's fans cornered him and… Showed him what it was like to be on the other end of a knife."

While Mammon's soft-spoken voice was eerie, Asmodeus was clearly trying to contain her laughter. "And that was all before SATAN got her hands on him. Once he was down here, she tracked him down, used him as her training dummy for months then kept his head as taxidermy and erased his soul."

Maria wasn't fond of revenge but given that a man committed murder over what a few hundred dollars with of food, it sounded like karma being too appropriate. First on the wrong end of the legal system and then Satan's bottomless wrath.

Maria sheathed her sword as she sensed a peculiar energy down the mountain. The Flower could be close by…

The three scavengers caught sight of Beelzebub ahead, ducking behind a log. Maria's heavenly sense was in full overdrive as they rushed to her side. The little lord was peeking through a crack in the log as if she was preoccupied with something. All four watched the same thing.

Below them was a brush of trees with a gaping, circular opening. A large tree took center stage which held up more plumage than all the others, but the real sight was at the colossal tree's roots. Both Bub and Maria knew they had found the Flower of Temperantia.

True to Lucifer's word, the blossom resembled a green glow azalea with blue spots dotting the petals. The stem, however, resembled a lily and the whole plant was enveloped in a gold sheen.

Unfortunately, that's where the excitement ended. The surrounding grotto was dotted with the pastel-colored bodies of fallen nymphs. A few living ones surrounded the trunk of the tree where the flower was situated, looking mournful and frightened. Some of them looked almost as youthful as Maria, while others seemed more sagely and wise. Unlike Flori and Bunda, their plant adorning features were much more prominent and eye catching. One of them seemed have an entire shrub on her head.

There seemed to be something missing… Only for the infamous demigod to appear out from the thicket with his back turned to the Sins.

Though his face was hidden, they could make out everything else. An olive-skinned complexion with long, shaggy brown hair down to his neck. The skirt of what was once a toga was his only clothing leaving his skeletal back exposed, every vertebrae visible under his skin. Bunda was underselling it, Tantalus could make an anorexic look morbidly obese. And despite being all but skin and bones, he gripped his machete so hard his knuckles threatened to burst. The nymphs quivered at his presence.

"So…" Tantalus spoke, his voice rattling, "Have you reconsidered my offer? All I want to know is if this flower holds the nectar of the gods. Is that so much? Yet you still refuse to let me so much as touch it. I assumed that such verdant spirits like yourselves valued life… Unlike your friends."

He held his machete to one of the nymphs' faces, sneering at her flinch. One of the gutsier guardians summoned a vine from behind only for Tantalus to slice through it with a single backhand.

"Your paltry magic cannot hold me back anymore. That little bramble trap only worked thanks to the element of surprise. Now, I'll ask again: Does this flower contain the nectar of the gods? I must know if I can finally discover the recipe Zeus denied me so long ago."

He slammed the machete into the tree, the blade inches away from a nymph's neck.

"Your answer! Now!

"It isn't, we swear!" she all but sobbed. She was then silenced by a blistering slap across the face.

"Liars!" he crowed, disgusting the demons and Maria. While she was outraged at his threats, Beelzebub's eyes were drawn to her relic. While the Flower of Temperantia looked otherworldly, something kept her entranced. While a carnivore, she had tried vegetables ranging from roasted squash to zucchini blossoms, but there was a serious catch: she could lose her appetite forever. Tantalus was an obvious danger, but that eventuality scared her.

"Beelzebub, you're the most voracious eater I've ever known," Maria told her with a pat on the back, "You won't lose your love of food no matter what that flower does."

"True, but perhaps let's get that wretched demigod first?" Mammon whispered.

"Don't worry, Bub, we've got your back," Asmodeus said with a sly smile, "But trust me when I say that you'll be doing the ass-kicking this time."

That gave Beelzebub the confidence boost she needed. They hadn't tried to intercede and fight for her, this would be her first real chance! She did admit that a strategy could be usual in this case.

Mammon soon devised a plan and got the ball rolling as she took a brown flask from her bosom and chucked it down below, grey smoke swallowing up the grove. As Tantalus demanded that whatever did this show itself, the three demon lords flew down with Asmodeus carrying Maria.

The Sins darted towards with the tree with Asmodeus making her way towards the panicked nymphs. Tempting as it was to complement their allure, she pushed that aside to usher them out of the area. While the nymphs couldn't believe a demon was helping them, they didn't have any other options. They hightailed it into the forest just as the smoke cleared up, leaving Beelzebub, Mammon and Maria facing an incensed Tantalus.

"So, this is what the gods send after me? Two furies and a lowly girl playing with her father's weapons to stop me from achieving the recipe to their heavenly nectar?"

The trio naturally didn't take being insulted well. Maria and Bub readied their weapons while Mammon had a question.

"How did you escape your punishment? "

"Perhaps the gods found a scrap of mercy and decided to let me go. Unfortunately, I had to spend centuries crawling my way out of that wretched place before I made it here. All that time I craved the day I'd learn the gods' secrets, now I've finally found part of the recipe."

"We need that flower more than you do!" Beelzebub's exclaimed.

"Apologies, have you waited millennia for this? No? Then I'm afraid I can't have that."

"Now, Bub!" Maria shrieked.

In a flash of light, Bub ran over and swung her spoon at Tantalus's machete. The blade was flung into a distant branch. Seeing her chance, she made a dash for the Flower of Temperantia only to be stopped dead in her tracks as a dagger flew inches away from her face before hitting the tree.

"You shouldn't have done that." Tantalus said coldly, pointing at her before his finger morphed into an identical knife before firing again, pinning her to skirt to the tree

The flower was a foot away, but the knife embedded inches-deep in the tree's bark. As she struggled to escape without making herself indecent, Tantalus morphed his entire right hand into a huge utility knife before charging at her. Beelzebub prepared for the worst before Tantalus felt his left leg stuck to the ground. He looked back to Mammon's death glare with a flask in hand. He shot another blade at her, though she thankfully dodged. He turned his attention back to striking Beelzebub before another blade blocked his own. Looking over he saw Maria a defiant anger as her blade locked with his.

"Don't even think about it! Bub, you got this, we'll buy you some time."

Omake 3: Under the Sea

As the quest for the Flower of Temperantia carried on, Salem and Leviathan, with Behemoth in tow, continued swimming towards their destination: the Great Sea Reef. Salem turned out to be a good swimmer, able to keep up with the purplette's pace. The two have mostly traveled in silence, too busy admiring the sea life that passed them by. The artist makes mental notes to sketch the scene later.

He was also silently dreading what Leviathan kind of "test" had planned with her hydrokinetic powers. Who knows how sadistically relentless she'd be in comparison to Belphegor and Satan?

He was broken out of his thoughts as Leviathan called to him.

"We're here! I can't believe we're here! Look!"

The two finally come face to face with the Great Sea Reef. Schools of tiny fish in every color of the rainbow swam around. The sandy floor was dotted with less picturesque sea life like rock fish and cone shells. The coral itself ranges from blue to purple branches with black being prominent, standing out even more in the crystal blue depths.

The artist and demon lord were in awe of this natural wonder. Salem never thought he would see such natural beauty or ocean depths, having lived his life in a desert where all the color was constructed. Levi, however, felt a sense of bittersweet fulfillment as she gazed on at the Reef she studied so long ago as a human.

She felt like there had to be something else she could do until an idea entered her head: Why not make them into her summons.

She's broken out of her thoughts as all the fish and a wandering Behemoth swam away at something, the three getting ready for a whale or even a shark. They soon came face to face with… a swirling pod of spinner dolphins.

The porpoises swiftly bypass the three befuddled yet intrigued sightseers. A quick glance from both knew they were thinking the same thing as they swam up to get a better look at the sea mammals.

As soon as Salem caught his breath he and his demonic companions watched as about seven spinners of a pod of at least twenty-five, did their signature acrobatic twirl as they breached the water's surface.

Between their clicking calls and dynamic twirls, combined with the carefree ease that they moved, Levi and Salem felt like they were in a dream as they swam alongside this undersea acrobatic show.

Seeing them pull off these moves made Salem feel slightly envious, like they had long since mastered the abilities he was just getting a handle on. But sulking wasn't going to get him anywhere. Why not give it a try for himself?

He dove back under the Pacific before Levi could object, finding his focus like Satan taught him. His legs kicked so fast they blurred like an outboard motor while his upper body stayed still. Soon he breached the ocean again, twirling like a top with an outstretched fist as he climbed eight feet into the air before gracefully nose-diving back into the ocean… Just in time for a spinner dolphin to land on top of him.

The aquatic mammal squeaked in surprise while Salem struggled to get it off of him. Soon it was enclosed in a bubble. He looked to see Levi smirking as half of the pod were bubbled as well.

"That was actually pretty cool. I'd give it an eight out of ten if you stuck the landing."

"Thanks, I guess doing water polo as a kid really paid off."

"You? Did water polo? No offense but you don't really look the athletic type."

"Swimming in a desert is something you take when you could get. Plus, I've never been surrounded by this much water before. Hell, I could spend all day here if I could!" Salem beamed, as he did his own version of the dolphin's spin, getting Levi to chuckle.

He swam back toward the purplette, noticing that she still had the dolphins in her grasp floating above her. "So, what are you doing with those?"

"I'm going to make them into my summons. "

That got Salem intrigued. He's seen her legions of sea creatures but never wondered what the process was.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." She dove into the water as the bubbles above still held with dolphins swimming around inside. Soon she appeared with more bubbles containing an aquarium's worth of animals with parrotfish, wrasse, groupers, sea snakes, cone snails, clownfish Portuguese man-o-wars and even green sea turtles.

Levi effortlessly held all of these creatures in several massive spheres a look of determination. Gazing back at Salem's jaw practically hanging down to the water was, she giggled.

She then gazed at all these creatures, transfixing them with her crimson eyes. Her pupils ignited as she stared them down. As she recited an incantation in Latin out loud, a different chant entered their minds.

"Your will is mine forevermore, free from all suffering of the wild. So commands I, Leviathan, Demon Lord of Envy."

With a wave of her hand, now encased in blue and white, all the creatures were released as they grew and shifted into more of her unearthly underlings.

Salem could only gaze in awe as these creatures were transformed into demonic emissaries. All Levi had to do was dispel them with a flick of her wrist, before facing the astounded man.

"Okay, I'd be redundant calling that amazing, but why those creatures specifically?"

Leviathan was very flattered, but her face dropped as she spoke.

"Most of these are endangered animals, and I can duplicate them when I make them my summons. Who knows what humans can do to these poor animals in the next thirty years? Or even God if he wipes out EVERYTHING that isn't angelic?"

The gears in Salem's head started, throwing Levi off. She just assumed he'd write her off as nuts…

"I get it."

She blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from. Creatures like those dolphins and sea turtles are incredible. I'm no oceanographer, but I can respect creatures like these, they make life more interesting. Knowing that species like them exist and that humanity isn't the only one at risk here. Too bad others don't see it that way."

"You mean poachers?"

"Yeah, I once saw a documentary about people in Asia luring dolphins into caves or other traps and viciously slaughtering them. You know how many species could be lost?! And why stop there, how about the elephants or rhinos that are threatened daily?!"

Salem's face was turning red, Leviathan was nodding along to the list of injustices done onto wildlife and the environment, getting her riled up as well.

"Hitting the nail right on the head," She fumed. "That's just one of the faults of man I can't fucking stand."

"Yeah! And I'm a man!"

Feeling more unbridled fury at poachers and sadistic hunters, Levi summoned a massive tidal wave about fifty stories tall as Salem ducked for cover as the purplette collapsed the wave sending ripples throughout the water before cooling off and realizing she was alone.

"Salem! Behemoth! Where'd you go?! "

"Right here."

Leviathan yelped as the artist yet again teleported from out of nowhere, with Behemoth perched on his shoulder to boot.

"Can you stop popping up out of nowhere like that?!"

"I did it again? I'm sorry, I can't help it. Must be another one of these cartoonish abilities I have! Had I known that argument wouldn't have happened!"

Levi cut herself off pre-rant. She had been trying to be fair and avoid talking about Lucifer during this little exploration but now…

"Y-yeah… Listen Salem, I'm sorry I accused you. You caught me off-guard, and I jumped to conclusions. It might have come up with the others before, but I am angry with how I'm in the dark with Lucifer. Forget being her lover, I don't know if she sees me as anything. She's just so awesome though, and then you come along and you're doing these cool tricks… Who's to say she won't fall for you?"

Salem could only become look on at the ocean at hearing the Lord of Envy lay out her insecurities before chuckling.

"Yes, because I'm some suave lady-killer, clearly. I doubt she's clicking her heels wishing for me now, Levi. I am glad she likes me, but who's to say she'll see me as anything more than just an ally? And, unlike you, I can't control the ocean, no army of summons or even a sense of fashion like you do."

He even stood next to her, further highlighting his outdated striped swimwear versus her mermaid look, making the demon perk up considerably.

"So far, these powers haven't gotten me anywhere. What if I can't contribute anything to the battle? That'd make me cannon fodder, but you're indispensable Levi. Lucifer knows how you feel and still gives you some form of affection. It's better than nothing, trust me."

"I never thought of it that way…"

In spite of all the attention Lucifer gave Maria or the other Sins, Levi still was grateful for the occasional bone thrown her way like being gifted Salem's first painting. Knowing Salem had his own doubts about being useful or being noticed by the blonde they were both attracted to? She couldn't let him devolve into self-pity when they were supposed to be enjoying their day off. Though they still hadn't trained yet...

"Hey." Salem turned his attention to Levi.

"For now, let's call a truce. We both want Lucifer, maybe she'll get one of us someday, maybe both, if she's into that. But for now, let's not get into a love triangle or we'll both lose her." She offered a hand, Salem took it and the tension between them seemed to die down.

"Now with that said, we need to get some training done. What do you say?"

"Sure. Where do we-?"

He was instantly cut off as a sideswipe splash made him bounce across yards of water like a skipping stone. He rose up to see his new friend's playful yet devilish smirk on her face.

Salem mirrored Levi's expression with a new sense of excitement. This training now felt like a playful game.

Notes:

Okay, so a slight hitch in terms of the mad demigod with a severe eating disorder, but Bub will handle that next time!
Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave questions or comments below.