"My men need me." He walked past an angry Savitar, who was heading toward Apollymi.
"Why didn't you stay put?" Savitar snarled at her.
She gave him a cold, haughty stare. "I'm the goddess of destruction. Did you really think I'd stay put while they ate their way through my home?" She curled her lip. "I need you to get Sin after them. He's a Sumerian god, he should police the creation of his own pantheon and clean up their mess."
Savitar snorted. "You know if I do that, your granddaughter will be fighting right along beside him, don't you? The last time she fought the gallu, they almost converted her into one of them."
She hissed at him, "Why did she marry that noaccount Sumerian god? Fine. Don't tell them." She looked around the debris. "Strykerius, I expect you and your men to clean this mess up."
Stryker started to snap at her, then caught himself. Pissing her off wouldn't accomplish anything and they had a lot to do. "You know this isn't over. War will be back."
"Yes, I do know that. Thank you for reminding me. In the meantime, we should make some preparations. Anyone know a good exterminator?"
No sooner had those words left her lips than Jared, looking much better than he had last time they'd met, appeared beside Stryker. Dressed in a black leather jacket, black buttondown shirt, and black jeans, Jared's eyes were covered with a pair of opaque sunglasses. His auburn hair had been pulled back into a sleek ponytail.
The Sephiroth glanced around with a frown. "Looks like I missed a party. Good. I wasn't really in the mood to off demons this eve ning. Haven't had my coffee yet."
Savitar grimaced. "You drink coffee?"
His face was stoic. "No, but it was my pathetic attempt at humor."
"What are you doing here?" Apollymi asked him. It was obvious from her tone that she didn't appreciate an uninvited creature popping into her domain.
"I was ordered to protect him." He jerked his chin toward Stryker.
Apollymi folded her arms over her chest. "Well, I asked for an exterminator and look who appears. Want to take out War for us?"
"I can't."
She looked less than pleased by his response. "Why not?"
"Primal Source," Savitar said drily. "Jared was created to protect those powers. No one can make him kill them."
Jared nodded. "Exactly. Not even my own er can command that."
Apollymi frowned. "I don't understand. You can kill the Malachai. Weren't they born of the same powers?"
Jared sighed. "The Malachai declared enmity on the Source, thereby severing those ties. Because they threatened the Source, the Sepherii were able to attack and kill them. Until War makes a like threat against the primal powers, I can't touch him."
One corner of Savitar's mouth quirked up. "Well, don't you suck?"
Jared's features softened. "Oh, believe me, I couldn't agree more. Just be grateful it's not contagious."
Stryker ignored them as he considered what he'd inadvertently set into motion by wanting revenge. How simple it'd all seemed. War killed Ash and Nick, then him. Now there was a lot more going on here. "We have to find some way to contain War."
Savitar gave him a droll glare. "You're the one who unleashed him."
"Yeah, well, let's move on from the blame game. I was having suicidal thoughts and it seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect, not so much."
"Most major mistakes do," Apollymi said quietly. "Not many people carry out thoughts they know going into it are stupid . . . morons not included."
Savitar laughed. "Then that leaves you out, huh, Stryker."
He glared at Savitar. "For the record, we're not friends."
"For the record, I don't care."
"Enough, children," Apollymi said between clenched teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, we have a major situation playing out. We have to find and stop War, corral the gallu, protect Apostolos, and get Savitar out of here."