Hey guys, The Vaudevillain Veteran here. I know that unlike my last chapters this one is rather short, the reason being that I do not want to clutter the chapters with too much words and dislike how long it takes me to write such chapters with my last chapter taking me nearly 4 months to write. Thank you once again for reading my latest chapter and I hope you enjoy it!
"Shisui, are you alright?"
Mavi's concerned voice asked the young Uchiha as her and the group consisting of Juliette, Martha and Damian walked through the woods. The group had stayed in the ruins of Asfaleia for three days before unanimously deciding to leave the ruined city due to safety concerns. For the last several hours now the group had been walking towards Akreo, where Primera was reportedly residing since her self imposed exile from Lescatie.
"I'm alright." Shisui replied in an usually gravelly and slightly angry voice. Mavi wasn't convinced by Shisui's answer as throughout their entire journey, ever since she found him in that abandoned bathroom back in Asfaleia Shisui had been rather off. She couldn't put her finger on it but it was as if he was more on edge now, more...angry.
"Everyone! Stop!" Martha hushed out as she hid behind a bush.
"What's wrong Martha?" Mavi asked the Gremlin, as she too took to hide behind a massive oak tree.
"Orderites up ahead. And they're accompanied by a Valkyrie." Martha answered.
"...I still can't believe it. It can't be real...the Chief God is...dead?" One of the Order soldiers asked the Vakyrie.
"I'm afraid so human. The Chief God was murdered by an individual I had hoped never to see again in my life; Jashin. And what's worse is that he was accompanied by a group of individuals all wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them." The Valkyrie answered the Order soldier in a solemn tone.
"We can't just let them get away with this! We have to strike back and avenge the Chief God!" Another knight passionately exclaimed.
"Rest assured we will human. But know our main focus is to strengthen the remaining human city states that have not been overrun by the Demon Lord's forces, like how they overran Lescatie..." The Valkyrie further stated.
The mere mention of Lescatie made the other knights all eerily quiet, akin to how mourners at a funeral mourn the deceased.
"Those sick perverts...I saw them...I saw how Lady Sasha Fullmoon she...she... molested children...children. I was lucky to escape...my comrades...weren't..." Another knight muttered out in shock whilst clenching his fists.
"You left behind your comrades to save your own skin! You do not deserve to carry the title of paladin you coward!" Another knight spat out to the former.
"What was I supposed to do Harlan!? There were too many of them for me to fight alone! The true coward is that half breed elf who left Lescatie days before it fell!" The knight retorted back in his defense.
"Both of you, enough!" The Valkyrie irritably barked out towards the two knights.
Both knights immediately ceased their quarreling once they saw the angered Valkyrie shoot daggers at them with her eyes.
"I sense something..." The Valkyrie muttered out as she looked up in the trees, as if looking for something.
Without warning, she lunged at a bush opposite of where Shisui hid and grabbed a nearby unsuspecting Orc by the throat.
"Aha! I know that foul odor anywhere! Have you lecherous whores gotten so bold now that you've conquered Lescatie?" The Valkyrie sneered as she continued hold up the Orc in the air.
"Wait stop! She's not an enemy!" Shisui cried out as he exited his hiding place.
"Sir Shisui? What are you doing here? More importantly, why are you defending this...thing...?" The Valkyrie asked Shisui as she continued to choke the Orc girl.
"I've seen the mamono first hand. Please believe me, they aren't evil! They mean no harm to humanity and only desire peaceful co-existence!" Shisui desperately tried to reason with the Valkyrie and the Order knights who accompanied her.
"Don't listen to him! The boy's been bewitched and seduced by these creatures!" One of the knights said aloud.
"It seems so, you've fallen for their seductive charms. It's a shame, you truly were one of our finest knights Shisui and I deeply regret doing this but-"
"Put her down..." Shisui muttered out in a dangerously low tone.
"Who do you think you are instructing us what to do?" The knight named Harlan asked Shisui.
"You're nothing but a traitor to humanity. And turn coats like you deserve to be put in the ground." The other knight added as he unsheathed his sword.
Shisui tried to fight back, to try and physically stop the Valkyrie from further harming the Orc who squealing in fear.
Mavi, Martha, Juliette and Damian now revealed themselves in an attempt to quell this situation.
"You..." The Valkyrie muttered out as she looked at Mavi.
"Leave the poor girl alone." Mavi ordered the Valkyrie to do.
The Valkyrie merely scoffed.
"You monsters and all of your sympathisers deserve nothing less than death."
The Valkyrie stabbed the Orc clean through the chest with her massive sword. Various gasps of shock came from the group Shisui accompanied.
"That's what you monsters get! Don't be-'
"No!" Celeste the Valkyrie cried out in shock as she in her hand was not the Orc she had just gutted, but one of the knights she had accompanied.
"That's impossible! I literally had the monster by my throat!" She angrily exclaimed.
"Amazed? That's one of the gifts of the Sharingan; genjustu." Shisui coolly said as he held the Orc in his arms bridal style. The Orc, and even the group minus Damian all sensed Shisui's aura shift immediately. It was pitch black...completely tainted with murderous hatred. His sclera had changed from white to black and his Sharingan activated eyes glowed brightly.
"You had your chance, now I'm gonna do something that was long long overdue. Killing you bastards like the dogs you are." Shisui muttered out in a gravelly voice that was unlike his own.
"Damn you to hell!" Celeste barked out as she beelined towards his location; flying at him at breakneck speed in an attempt to put down the young Uchiha once and for all.
Shisui merely scoffed, not even flinching at the Valkyrie flying towards him. Right as she was inches from his throat the Valkyrie felt and saw her entire world change around her. Gone was the bright blue sky and green trees, which were replaced by a eerily red sky.
Celeste tried to move her arms, but found that they were nailed towards a cross that upon further inspection, looked exactly like the Order's cross.
"Where am I?" Celeste angrily barked out, trying her best to hide her steadily growing fear.
"You are in the world of Tsukuyomi where I control space and time. Here I am God and you are at my mercy."
"A God? You're a traitorous madman that's what!" Celeste answered "Shisui"
"Is that so? Are you Orderites just that stupid or just such narcissists that you see yourself as the hapless victims who did nothing wrong? This war could have been ended centuries ago, but you who were too proud to give up and accept an olive branch and continued to fight an "enemy" who did not desire to fight you."
Celeste groaned as Dark Shisui continued to air out his grievances towards her.
"Got nothing to say because what I say is true?"
"Like I will ever budge to your words traitor! All you have done is given us more reason to fight. You further prove why we need to resist the monsters effort to control us. Just look at yourself, you've allowed their dark energy to warp your mind and become merely a shadow of your former self." Celeste smugly told Shisui despite her current predicament.
"A shadow? No, this is my true self, what you see before your eyes is the real Shisui, not the naïve fool who still believes in the inherent "good" of humanity. (Scoff) as if humans could ever be peaceful by nature, now that is the funniest joke I've ever heard."
A piercing scream emitted from Celeste as Shisui stabbed her in the abdomen with his sword.
"Does it hurt? I'm going to be doing this over and over again for the next 72 hours. Every stab is for every mamono that was killed in the name of your god."
Dark Shisui proceeded to stab Celeste repeatedly over the next 72 "hours". Repeating the process over and over again.
Back in the real world it appeared to outside observers that Celeste the Valkyrie had merely stopped mid flight and collapsed onto the ground clutching her head and screaming in agony.
"Dark Magic! Be on your guard Klaudius!" The Orderite named Harlan warned his remaining comrade.
"You really think you stand a chance against me?" Shisui, in his "dark" form, whispered in Harlan's ear right behind him.
"What the-"
Dark Shisui's fist went through Harlan's chest clean. The Orderite coughing up blood look into Shisui's eyes with a gaze that was as if without muttering it aloud, was asking the young Uchiha why he had turned on the them.
Taking his bloodied fist out the Orderite's chest, Dark Shisui watched as his body crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
For a few silent moments Shisui stared at the dead corpse of Harlan with only a loathful glare. Turning his attention to the final remaining Orderite he slowly walked towards him.
"G-get away from me!" The final Orderite, Klaudius, cried out in fear as he backed away from Shisui, only to trip on a branch.
Klaudius stared into Shisui's eyes. He finally got a crystal clear view of the one who was formerly one of the top heroes of Lescatie. Shisui stared back at Klaudius with only burning hatred as he slowly walked towards him.
Klaudius' mind: (What's with his eyes? Why is his sclera black?)
Dark Shisui swiftly grabbed Klaudius by the throat. raising him above his own head.
"S-stop please! I have a family! A w-wife and a y-young daughter who s-still n-need me!" Klaudius cried out in absolute fear.
"A wife and a daughter you say?" Dark Shisui asked Klaudius.
"Y-yes. And I love them dearly." Klaudius stammered out.
"That's too bad. Your family will feel the pain all those mamono murdered by you pigs felt when I kill you." Dark Shisui answered as he increased the pressure on Klaudius' neck.
"Shisui! Stop this right now!" Mavi spoke out.
"Why should I show him mercy? Would they have shown us any if the roles were reversed?" Dark Shisui angrily asked Mavi, still holding Klaudius by the throat.
"Because killing in cold blood is not our way. It goes against our beliefs and most importantly it would only prove to the humans that we cannot be trusted." Mavi answered Dark Shisui as she walked towards him.
"Shisui. You said earlier that you see those who kill us in cold blood as monsters. Beware that when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also back at you." Mavi offered the young Uchiha powerful advice as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Shisui looked into Mavi's eyes completely surprised by her actions, and blinked quickly for a few seconds.
When he had stopped Shisui's sclera was now white again, and the murderous aura he had vanished. Looking at the Order soldier in his hand Shisui released him from his near death grip.
"What the...? What happened?" Shisui asked aloud as he looked at his hands.
"What happened? You finally realised that these Orderites couldn't be reasoned with, and you killed two of them." Damian smugly told Shisui before bursting into laughter at seeing the young Uchiha's unamused face.
"Why so glum? I told you that for the greater good humanity deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth. You believed me to be wrong, insane and yet..."
"You've learnt the truth just as I have." Damian confidently finished his monologue to the distraught Uchiha.
"Hell will have to freeze over first before I ever become like you." Shisui retorted back.
"Is that so? Your actions here prove otherwise." Damian replied back.
"Don't deny it. It feels good, no cathartic to see the life drain from the eyes of these bastards. You may deny it now but in time you will come to see my worldview that driving humanity to extinction is the only correct one." Damian further added in an attempt to gaslight Shisui.
Shisui's mind: (No way, it can't be true...what is he talking about did I...do all of this? Did I kill that man and that Valkyrie?)
Shaking his head as if to expunge the thoughts of what might have happened when he "blacked out" Shisui reaffirmed his stance against Damian.
"I'll never allow myself to give into my clan's curse." Shisui confidently reaffirmed his beliefs.
"Hmpf, time will tell if you will still hold onto your beliefs. All it takes for that one day, that one moment to completely shatter your beliefs." Damian smugly replied.
"That's enough. We are all allies and thus must not bicker with one another." Mavi stepped, towering over both men.
"Yeah and besides we need to find your half elf friend." Martha chipped in, reminding Shisui and Damian of their mission.
Damian merely scoffed in annoyance as he slowly walked away from Shisui to gather his thoughts. Whilst he was doing so he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Damian, why do you still cling to such hateful views?" Juliet asked Damian.
"Because I know how humans think. They only know you when you're of use to them, they kick you when you are down and once you've outlived your usefulness...you might as well be dead." Damian replied in a tone that seethed with disgust.
"Hate is a mighty strong emotion that saps the soul of all energy and joy. Why, I can see the effects hate has done to you." Juliet calmly answered Damian.
"Effects? It doesn't matter what-"
"It does. I can see it in your eyes, there's black bags underneath them, and your frame...it looks unnaturally thin. You've been neglecting yourself in your pursuit of vengeance." Juliet pointed out to Damian.
Caressing his cheek and giving him a soft kiss, Juliet looked at Damian's eyes once more.
"I know that beneath the anger and disappointment there is a good heart there. Your intentions while misguided are noble at heart. Now please Damian...rest...and allow me to care for you my love, you can let go of all negative emotions in your heart as from here on out I will ensure that you're loved everyday." Juliet passionately declared as she embraced Damian into a hug.
"So Mavi, what will we do with the remaining Orderites? Will we take them with us?" Martha asked her friend Mavi.
"Yes we will, we cannot leave them out here at the mercy of the forest animals who will no doubt attack them." Mavi answered.
"And what about Shisui...do you think...?"
"Do I think it's something severe. If left untreated yes, his hatred will consume him." Mavi answered Martha as she placed the body the now unconscious Klaudius over her shoulder.
"Speaking of Shisui where is he?" Martha asked for the whereabouts of the young Uchiha.
"Hmmm, he's likely ashamed with himself over losing control of his actions. Don't worry about Shisui Martha, I will take care of him." Mavi confidently reassured her best friend.
"Ha! I know you only want him because you're in love with him!" Martha burst into laughter as she pointed at the now blushing Mavi.
"That...may be true. But I do genuinely care about the boy. He's such a sweet and pure soul and to see him lose himself to such anger breaks my heart." Mavi answered in a sweet tone as she contined to blush at the thought of Shisui.
"Like I said earlier Martha we need to get a move on to find Shisui's friend. On our way though we'll drop off these Orderites at the nearest mamono village." Mavi added as without another word her, Martha, Juliet, Damian and Shisui continued their journey to find Primera.
(Meanwhile...with the Third Mizukage...)
The Third Mizukage, Ketsueki Takayanagi, casually strolled through the streets of Akreo's upper class district. The architecture in this part of the city was nothing short of immaculate he thought to himself along the golden crosses that adorned most buildings in this part of the city.
The Third Mizukage closed his eyes in concentration, recalling in his head the last few hours leading up to his arrival in the city having only arrived in the city approximately an hour ago.
"Excuse me, sir." A man called out to Ketsueki.
"Hmm, what is the matter?" Ketsueki replied back to the man in a calm and collected tone, holding his hands behind his back and not even turning around to face him.
"Lord Sibrand...he desires an audience with you sir." The man informed the Third Mizukage.
"I see. Take me to him then." Ketsueki commanded, to which the man complied without hesitation. The man led the third Mizukage to a grand castle that towered over all other buildings in Akreo, even towering over the main church of the city. Once inside Ketsueki scanned the inside of the castle and admired the art that adorned the windows.
Once arriving in the meeting room, the man lead Ketsueki towards an empty seat where he sat down. The room bore a striking resemblance to a court room, was it one? The Third Mizukage figured to himself but alas, he was snapped from his thoughts by the man calling out to him.
"You there, with the long black hair what business do you have in Akreo?" Sibrand asked the Third Mizukage. Ketsueki smirked, before standing up to speak.
"I am a very powerful man with vast knowledge that you should not underestimate." Ketsueki answered Sibrand in a calm and collected tone.
"What do you mean sir? Are you threatening us? Or are you here to declare your allegiance to the Order?" Sibrand asked Ketsueki.
"Do not misinterpret my intentions Lord Sibrand. I am merely offering to assist my fellow humans wherever possible." Ketsueki assured Sibrand that his intentions were not hostile.
Sibrand stroked his beard as he stared at the Third Mizukage intently. He did know whether to trust this man's intentions or not, especially when he remembered how when he first arrived to Akreo a few hours earlier that one is men was gravely injured. The Third merely excused his actions by explaining it was all a misunderstanding and that he would personally supervise his recovery. True to his word the mystery man did indeed heal the soldier he had incapacitated, which left him wondering...
"My Lord, what will you with our new guest?" One of Sibrand's advisors asked the leader of Akreo.
"Well so far he has given us no reason to distrust him...and on top of that we are dangerously short on both manpower and allies...not to mention losing Lescatie to those vile creatures..." Sibrand muttered under his breath as he kept his gaze fixed upon the third Mizukage.
"Very well then Mr..."
"Ketsueki Takayanagi, at your service." The Third Mizukage introduced himself as he bowed respectfully to Sibrand.
"Mr. Takayanagi. From this moment forth you are hereby our newest member of the Order. May the Chief God's soul watch over you." In a pained voice Sibrand inducted Ketsueki into the Order. Under normal circumstances such individuals who not be so hastily inducted but due to the recent severe losses the Order experienced in the last few days, namely being the painful loss of Lescatie still fresh in the minds of all of Akreo.
"Thank you, Lord Sibrand." Ketsueki, placing a hand over his heart gives his thanks for being accepted into the Order.
"It is our pleasure. You are hereby dismissed Mr. Takayanagi."
Following his dismissal from the main court house of Akreo the Third Mizukage took a leisurely stroll through the upper class area of Akreo which lasted a few hours. In that time he had walked around the entire city and while visitng the docks noticed a few unruly sailors engaged in a fist fight which greatly amused him. Returning back to Akreo's upper class district he arrivedat an edge of the city that overlooks the vast blue ocean. To his immediate left he notices that same green haired girl with the pointed ears from earlier also joining him to gaze upon the ocean. Her features are rather delicate Kestueki tells himself as his eyes eventually wonder to her neck, where he spots a black mark on it.
Ketsueki's mind: (That's Orochimaru's cursed seal of Heaven. Hmm...so this was the one he whose to become his next vessel it seems?)
Ketsueki knew in his mind that that seal was practically a death mark. Those who had it were cursed to a shortened time on this earth before Orochimaru stole their bodies for himself. During his time as the Third Mizukage of the Village Hidden in the Mist he had committed many morally heinous acts, from bringing in Kiri's infamous graduation system where aspiring Genin were forced to kill one another and thus gave his village it's infamous moniker as the "Bloody Mist" to forging a secret alliance with Konoha's Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru. Ketsueki lamented how back then he used to give Orochimaru bodies, both dead and alive to study to further his own twisted experiments in exchange for him becoming a sleeper agent of the Mist. Orochimaru too assisted him in the Mist's plan to kidnap the yellow flash's kunoichi student, turn her into the Three Tails Jinchuriki against her will and send her back to her village where the beast would run rampant and destroy it.
In the time from before he was brought back to the world of the living however, Ketsueki had plenty of time in the Pure Land to meditate his actions from when he was still alive and realised how utterly vile they were. It did not help that this "Jashin" figure forced him to enter this world to eliminate one of his own shinobi. The thought at being sent on a mission to kill a loyal ninja of the Hidden Mist village infuriated Ketsueki to no end and secretly had been planning how he could get back or at least hinder Jashin's and in turn also Orochimaru's plans.
"Excuse me, young lady. What is your name?" Ketsueki politely asked Primera for her name.
"P-Primera Concerto." Primera answered back in an emotionless tone.
"I am Ketsueki Takaya-"
"I know who you are, you're that man from Zipangu who was inducted into the Order by Lord Sibrand earlier today. I was there watching." Primera snapped back, taking the third Mizukage back by surprise.
"I see. At least we are acquainted with one another Primera." Ketsueki replied as he leaned against the ralings that protected him from falling into the ocean below.
"What do you want from me? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Primera asked Ketsueki in a voice filled with bitterness and contempt.
Ketsueki chose to remain moment for the time being, analysing internally with what to say next to this girl. It was painfully obvious to him now that she had bad experiences with other humans. Her disposition towards humanity reminded him of a certain masked individual he first encountered when Jashin had brought him back from the dead. Deep down though a part of Ketsueki felt bad for Primera, for she reminded him of his late protégé and former Seven Swordsmen member Ameyuri Ringo, who too was a social pariah until he took her under his wing and turned her into the brutal killing machine that garnered fear amongst enemy nations. Perhaps, Ketsueki thought, if he took this girl under his wing he could achieve a similar result and make her a cold hearted killing machine who would earn the fear and respect from those who scorned her.
"I noticed it earlier, that black mark on your neck." Ketsueki revealed to Primera his true intentions for striking up a conversation with her.
Primera scowled as she quickly adjusted her plate armour on her shoulder to hide her curse mark.
"Why does that mark concern you? It's nothing." Primera told Ketsueki in an irritated tone.
"Nothing? Dear girl...I know exactly what that mark is, and I can guarantee you that you will not live much longer if you choose to do nothing about it." Ketsueki warned Primera.
A look of worry comes across Primera's face.
"What I mean is that mark will eat away at your soul...until you become nothing but an empty vessel for him to take over." Ketsueki warned Primera once more.
"And who exactly is this 'him' you speak of?" Primera asked Ketsueki.
"Orochimaru. He is the individual who gave you your curse mark." Ketsueki answered Primera.
"Who is this Orochimaru you speak of? I have never heard of such a name before." Primera, a mixture between irritated and terrified asked Ketsueki as her thoughts spun in her head once more about this Orochimaru figure. Was he perhaps a dark wizard, hence why he gave her this mark? So far that seemed the most logical answer. But then why was she chosen Primera asked herself. Why did this "Orochimaru" choose her instead of someone like Wilmarina or Mimil who both had far more power than her?
"Orochimaru is from the same world as I and Shisui." Ketsueki answered cooly.
"Y-you're from the same world as Shisui? How? How did you get here?" Primera asked in amazement, wondering how this man could also be from the same world as Shisui. It just didn't make sense to her, she knew without a doubt that this man was simply a mage from Zipangu.
"I will answer that in due time. All I ask is for you to trust me and allow me to help you remove that mark off of you before it is too late." Ketsueki said to Primera, completely avoiding her prior question about how he got here.
Primera grunted, irritated that this man completely ignored her question.
"Come...there is much I can teach you." He offered a hand to Primera who for a moment contemplated on whether to accept or decline his invitation.
After a short while though Primera accepted his offer to train her and shook his hand.
"If you can help me get rid of this...thing. I'll join you."
(Elsewhere in the world...)
The branches of the tall trees swayed to and fro as the search party for Shisui jumped from treetop to treetop.
"Everyone...keep your eyes peeled." Itachi warned his allies as they continued to jump from branch to branch. In the corner of his eye Itachi spotted something highly suspicious. It looked almost like a bird but it was made out of what looked like clay.
"Everybody, stop!" Itachi ordered the entire search party to do.
"Itachi, what's wrong?" Ghilanna was the first to ask.
"I saw something in the treeline...it looked like a bird that was made out of clay." Itachi reported his strange sightings to his group.
"A bird made out of clay? That's ludicrous!" Inabi refuted Itachi's claims.
"Itachi's right, I heard it too." Naori now spoke up as she scanned the trees with her activated Sharingan.
Even Kakashi and Guy had taken to scanning the trees for anything out of the ordinary, especially keeping an eye for this so called "clay bird" that Itachi had spotted. The group had descended to the ground looking around for any enemies who might be spying on them. Finally after sensing nothing Itachi sighed.
"I sense nothing. Let's go." Itachi commanded the search party to do and soon they took off to the treetops once more, jumping from branch to branch to continue their search for Shisui.
High in the sky though, at least 2-3 kilometres up are three men sitting utop three giant clay birds. Said men are Indra Otsutsuki, Sasuke Uchiha and Deidara.
"They almost spotted us. Next time be more careful you imbecile." Indra scolded Deidara.
"Hmpf, whatever." Deidara dismissed Indra as he used his telescope in his eye to watch the Shisui search party from afar.
"And you're sure this is going to work? That by following them they'll take us straight to Shisui?" Sasuke asked Deidara as he looked down at the vast forest below.
"Of course it will hmmmm!" Deidara snapped back as he clutched his fist.
"Deidara is not an idiot Sasuke. His plan has already worked so far and when Shisui's friends do lead us to him we will be taking out two birds with one stone." Indra assured Sasuke in a calm and collected voice befitting of a leader that by following the search party it also saves them the time and effort to look for Shisui as they will lead the trio directly to him.
"And when we do I want dubs on Itachi hmmm!" Deidara spoke up once more.
"You seem to hold a fixation on this Itachi Deidara. Why are you obsessed with facing him in combat?" Indra asked Deidara as their birds contined to slowly fly over the forest.
"Why? Because he humiliated my art in combat with his stupid Sharingan hmmmm!" Deidara cried out in anger.
"What he means is that his stupid art was no match for the might of the Sharingan." Sasuke "corrected" Indra.
"What did you say you Uchiha scum!? I'll-"
"Both of you, stop it!" Indra commanded both Deidara and Sasuke to cease their petty back and forths.
Deidara looked as if he were on the verge of another comeback, glaring into the eyes of his Uchiha nemesis who likewise glared back at him.
"Need I remind you we all still have a mission to do, and once Shisui's friends lead us to him you can do as you please to his little friends." Indra reminded Deidara and Sasuke.
"Grrr...consider yourself lucky that I'll be able to show Itachi the superiority of art soon hmmm!" Deidara retorted.
Indra closed his eyes in an attempt to keep himself calm, Sasuke and Deidara were like two children who couldn't stop bickering over the most trivial of matters which greatly annoyed him, but he reassured himseld it will only be a temporary measure.
For after all, a little squabbling was a small price to pay in exchange for become a god king who would rule over his part of the world.