I'm afraid this is rather long.  Gomen nasai.  -_-;;

-EDG

--

"Idiot," snarled Asmodeus as he materialized in his chambers.  "Did he think I wouldn't realize 
his subversion?  Did he think I didn't have people watching him at all times?"  His voice was 
tight as he turned to that day's secretary, a Lilim with startlingly blue hair and a scar 
running down her forearm.  "Make a note to double all observation details until further notice.  
This is a dangerous time to be a Demon Prince, and I want to be informed of any further 
problems as soon as they develop.  Before they develop!"  The Lilim nodded and made a note, 
then sent the piece of parchment off into the Symphony with a low hum of disturbance.

Asmodeus turned to sit, but there was a form already in his chair.  "You," he snarled.  "What 
makes you think that you have the right to-"

"Calm, Prince Asmodeus," said Haagenti in a cool tone.  "It does not become you to make 
outbursts.  Are you not after all a Djinn, the noblest of all demons?  No, do not correct me; 
the Balseraphs wallow in self-deceit, their nobility degraded by their delusion.  It is the 
Djinn who are calm, collected; it is the Djinn who are able to keep tabs on us all, and make 
certain that we do not fall further into ruin.  And who is the chief of all Djinn?"

Asmodeus almost smiled despite himself.  "You may be right," he allowed.  "To what do I owe the 
pleasure of your visit, Prince Haagenti?"

Haagenti wrinkled his nose.  Already his new suit was decomposing.  "You and I need to talk," 
he said, his voice smooth.  "You may be of the noblest rank, but your methods are growing... 
how shall I put this?... unreliable.  Just this week we have lost two of our Princes to Heaven, 
and still more are likely to arise before this affair has ended.  What do you have to say of 
that?"

Asmodeus frowned.  "Two?  I knew that Vapula was possible, but... who?"

"You did not know, then?  Of course; your agents were killed too.  The Prince of the Media is 
no longer with us."

"Nybbas was killed in the flooding?  That explains some interesting news stories recently."  
Asmodeus nodded.  "We shall have to appoint a new Prince, I think."

Haagenti's eyes flashed.  "You may be of noble creation, Asmodeus, but never forget that the 
Nemesis assigns positions outside of your ranks!"

Asmodeus was so startled by this outburst that he actually took a step back.  "Of course," he 
said softly, recovering.  "We are all grateful to the Lightbringer."  He smiled.  "I will have 
to make some... recommendations, then.  As far as appointing a new Prince of the Media goes."

"Have you forgotten the other?"

"And another Prince of Technology.  How quick you are to catch my errors!"

Haagenti smiled toothily.  "I know the temperament of our lord Nemesis, and I know of the trust 
which he places in you.  It would not do to violate that trust, or cause that temper to flare.  
And even the best of us need reminders on occasion."

Asmodeus turned back to the Lilim.  "Make a note: I am to suggest a new Prince of the Media and 
Prince of Technology at my next meeting with the Lightbringer."  She nodded, and wrote this 
down, but did not vanish the parchment.

The Prince of the Game nodded, then returned his gaze to Haagenti.  "Now that we have had our 
little chat, will you excuse me?  I have scheduled a visit with one of my subordinates."  
Without waiting for the reply, he vanished in a puff of brimstone.

"Very dramatic," Haagenti murmured, "but you are doing nothing but driving the nails into your 
own coffin."  He stood, and looked at the Lilim.  "It is time."

She nodded, and laughed - a musical laugh - and the hum that had pervaded the chamber since she 
had arrived dissipated in a burst of trumpets.  Her horns folded in upon themselves and 
disappeared with a Symphonic pop as the Song ended.  "Now go!" commanded Haagenti, and she 
nodded and vanished upward, through the ceiling of the chamber, speeding for Earth, and thence 
for Heaven, as fast as her Song of Motion would carry her.

Haagenti smiled his toothy smile again.  "Ah, Asmodeus," he said, sighing happily and leaning 
against the Prince's desk.  "To have your naivete again would be refreshment beyond compare.  
But I have an appointment as well, I'm afraid."  He checked his watch, let his second Song fade 
and watched as his clothing knitted itself back together.  "Time to face the music."

A burst of Song later, he was standing in a richly-appointed antechamber.  Various demons and 
damned souls were milling about, obviously waiting for an appointment.  Meeting with the 
Nemesis was a deadly business, although most of these didn't know that: unless he had summoned 
you, you had to wait in the antechamber until he did.  If you left, your name was sure to be 
called as soon as you stepped out the doors; if you tried to trick him into meeting you, he 
would, but you were many, many times more likely to die for fooling the Lightbringer than you 
were to be granted a boon.

Haagenti had been summoned, and the receptionist - a pale Habbalite whose scalp had been flayed 
to reveal a bare skull - nodded as he stepped up, straightening his tie.  "Haagenti, holder of 
the Word of Gluttony, submits to the will of the Lightbringer," he said, dropping to one knee.

The receptionist nodded again, and a door opened behind her.  "Enter," called a voice from 
within.

Lucifer's chambers were not what most would expect; in fact, they were rather spartan, 
considering.  Although the room was spacious, there was but one decoration: the original 
manuscript of _Paradise Regained_, on a mahogany stand and encased in glass.  His desk was oak, 
as was his chair.  There were no cushions anywhere, no other seating, but a small shine on the 
floor before the desk showed where countless generations of demons had knelt.

Haagenti was glad to be tall enough to see over the desk as he knelt.

"My dread Lord Lucifer," he said, "you have summoned me?"

Lucifer finished writing a sentence and looked up.  "It has come to my attention that two of 
our Princes are gone from our ranks, a third is missing in action, and a fourth is dangerously 
close to sedition.  What do you know of this?"

Haagenti looked up, careful not to meet the Lightbringer's gaze.  "I know that Nybbas was 
presumed perished in the California disaster of several days past," he said.  "I know that 
Vapula was vessel-killed by Asmodeus for the crime of being a Catholic, and that he was last 
seen in the presence of the Archangel Eli.  I know that Asmodeus has been acting pridefully and 
with great wrath in the past weeks."  He stopped, and shrugged.  "I know that Valefor has 
killed the Archangel Janus.  I have not seen him since."

Lucifer looked over thin, rectangular glasses at the Prince.  "When was Janus killed?  We had 
reports of his interference at a Tether in Indianapolis only yesterday."

Haagenti shrugged again.  "I know that Janus was killed in the past week.  I watched it done.  
If he lives still... then my senses must deceive me, dread Lord."

Lucifer nodded, apparently satisfied.  "Thank you, Haagenti.  That will be all."

Haagenti stayed kneeling.  "If I might, my lord?"

Lucifer looked up.  "Yes?"

"How goes it?"

The Lightbringer frowned, but it was not of displeasure with his Prince.  "I cannot decide how 
to end the sixth chapter," he said.  "Have you any suggestions?"

"End it with a murder," Haagenti put forth.  "Kill one of the major players.  The readers will 
never expect it."

Lucifer smiled.  "An excellent suggestion, my dear Prince.  Thank you."

Haagenti returned the smile, but thinly.  "Thank you, my Lord.  Any other business?"

"No," said the Nemesis, already writing again.  "That will be all."

Haagenti rose and left the chamber.  As the door closed behind him, he spied another Prince 
entering the antechamber the same way he had, the hum of disturbance following him.  
"Haagenti," the newcomer said.

"Baal," replied the Prince of Gluttony.  "Troubling times, are they not?"

The Prince of the War nodded.  "Nonsense,"

"Prone to become more troubling soon," noted Haagenti, moving close, conversing in whispers.

"I don't think so," Baal replied, and then coughed softly.

"It's too bad," said Haagenti, wiping the blade on an already-red cloth, "that you won't be 
around for it.  Unlike the meddler, I know how to make my problems go away."  Baal slumped to 
the floor as Haagenti faded out of the antechamber, and there was nothing that the stunned 
demons could do as the Prince's Forces sloughed off into a Symphony that didn't even respond.