[h1][b][u][center]Legio[/center][/u][/b][/h1]
[i]Three hours,[/i] Legio mused as he sat in his place. Even when he was rushing his work, Ualla could be terrifyingly slow to act. Inevitably, if this weren't such a crucial situation, he'd have insisted that all life should take millions of years to develop "naturally", as if that held some benefit over creating what had already existed. Legio respected the lifegiver greatly, for he was ultimately the origin of humanity, and so of Legio indirectly, but he sadly felt they had all the time in the world to act. That to truly appreciate something, it had to take [i]aeons[/i] to occur. If Legio took as long as Ualla did to ferry the human race's ascendance to immortality, they would not have been half as advanced as they were by the start of the previous Roil.

Though his sentiment about who would lead in Sandrimor's place not turning into a war... well, that was admittedly a sensible enough suggestion. The throne room's lack of accoutrement was somehow deeper than the mere lack of physical decoration with the former King's passing; Legio could see a vision of Sandrimor coming in and taking his seat again as if everything were as it usually were, if he focused on the mental image, but he simply couldn't imagine this newborn mass of meat taking his place, couldn't imagine anyone else taking that seat and having things be better for humanity, save himself. He felt alone, at times, for it seemed only he truly saw a spark of possibility in them, in any mortal race at all.

And yet... if he gave up, they would be lost, as surely as the Roil's resurgence. He had to stay determined. Only then would the human race surpass its limitations.

In the meantime, [i]he[/i] approached. Zetsibo. His eternal bane, and one of the core reasons humanity struggled so much in Legio's mind. At the very least, he had confirmed he wouldn't be seizing the throne, despite presumably knowing how it'd inflict despair upon so many if he did; whilst Legio would have to think very hard before denying himself such an option, he also knew Zetsibo could simply be lying to try and cause greater depression later on. And in truth, a pact might help limit Zetsibo's efforts to delay humanity's ascension... though it'd also keep Legio from interfering with his efforts to further the despair of many other races. But alas, if it meant humanity would become immortal this cycle - and in such a crucial era of change, it surely had to happen soon - then he would do his best to make it up to them. Humanity came first, though.

Before he could respond, along came Amp's enraging remark. A secondary annoyance to the progress-crushing ambitions of Zetsibo, for ultimately her domains limited her far more so than Zetsibo's, but infuriating in her own unique way; he'd smelt her lack of concentration already, heard and prompty ignored her commentary on the King's "glorified title", but to hear her claim he called [i]atrocities[/i] upon those he sought to [i]immortalise?[/i] And the "crusade" he'd called had been upon a race threatening to wipe humanity out entirely! And he knew she was no fool, at that. She was well-aware that her comments were as insulting to him as she was to humanity as a whole; she was just seeking a reaction from him; he would not fall for it.

...then he struck upon a bright idea. Both a retort and a restraint. Oh, but that'd be [i]perfect.[/i]

'Well, Amp, if it is a crusade you wish to avoid, then I imagine you'll want to join this meeting,' Legio proposed, gesturing for her to follow him into Zetsibo's realm of despair and, temporarily, discussion. 'After all, I wouldn't wish to rile you enough that you seek to rend the mortals I govern asunder, and I'm sure you'd prefer to avoid that I do any such thing to your worshippers too.' An excellent trap: she'd be bound by the same terms and Legio and Zetsibo if she joined them and agreed to that pact, whereas if she denied this meeting now, and then sought to destroy his humans, he essentially had free reign to seek her destruction later. She had been offered peace now, in view of all other deities that had awakened as of yet, and so would implicitly seek destruction if she went on to harm his people, with or without agreeing to the terms laid out there. Legio surely couldn't lose in this exchange.