First Demonic Dragon

Abaddon’s hands were shaky.

He stopped what he was doing and dropped his arms to his sides, taking constant deep breaths to calm his nerves.

Whether it worked or not was questionable.

It was far more plausible that he had simply become tired of standing in one place for too long.

He reached for his robe again and pulled it on while ignoring the tremors in his hands.

The dragon clenched his fists until the shaking stopped. His firm claws became embedded in the softness of his palms.

Generally, pain had become insignificant to Abaddon over the years. But now, he was aware of a slight sting in his hands.

It was sobering.

Izanami quietly wandered into his closet looking for him. He took too long to notice her scent, and she snuck up on him before he could move his hands out of sight.

“Honey, are you…”

When her eyes settled on his clenched fists, her stomach turned in knots.

Abaddon hid his arms behind his back and forced a smile onto his face.

“That… Sorry. I’m probably taking too long, aren’t I…?”

Izanami closed the distance between them and took Abaddon by the hands.

His wounds had already closed up, but the traces of blood still remained.

Now, Abaddon was more embarrassed than he knew how to put into words.

“…Would you like to talk about it..?”

Izanami’s voice was as soft as the eyelashes of an infant. There wasn’t a hint of forcefulness or expectation anywhere to be found.

It’s what made Abaddon’s answer so much harder to give.

“…No. I’m sorry.”

Izanami knew her husband well enough that she wasn’t surprised by his refusal.

Though that didn’t mean she wasn’t bothered by it.

It had been… a very, very long time since the Nevi’im had lost someone.

And Abaddon, who was connected to his descendants, felt the losses more deeply than anyone could put into words.

“Maybe you should…”

“No.” Abaddon shook his head. “I have to go. It’s my responsibility.”

Izanami knew that Abaddon was going to say that too.

He took her hand and offered her a small kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for checking on me. But I promise I’m fine.”

Abaddon started to move past his wife when she suddenly grabbed him by the sleeve.

When he looked back, Izanami was dabbing his palm with a small wet napkin.

“… I’ll let you go for now.” She sighed. “But I’ll only accept your evasions for so long, Abaddon. Eventually, I will demand you talk to me.”

Izanami let Abaddon’s hands go shortly after wiping away the last of the blood.

She sidestepped her husband and moved past him while he was still stuck in place.

Even after she was gone, he couldn’t manage to do much other than hold his head in his palm.

‘When it rains, it pours…’

–

Kanami knocked on the door twice and waited.

A tense air lingered between herself and her brother while they waited outside. The slightly grey, overcast sky was more than indicative of how he was feeling at the moment.

Kanami bit her lip impatiently before she finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Abaddon, you-“

*Click!*

The door swung open suddenly, and an androgynous dragon with teal hair and eyes appeared.

He was initially carrying a tray of baked goods, but when he saw who was outside, he dropped everything that he was carrying instantly.

Kanami caught everything before it could hit the ground, smiling dashingly while doing so.

“Sorry about that… Hope we didn’t scare you, Dean.”

“G-G-J-J-J-J….”

“I guess we did…” Kanami laughed wryly.

She and Abaddon looked down at a much smaller dragon walking around in a diaper.

He seemed significantly less shocked to see Abaddon and Kanami standing there than the one beside him. Rather, his focus was on the orange juice in his sippy cup.

“Hello there, little guy.” Kanami smiled. “We’ve got a whole bunch of you running around at home. Seems like every time I turn around, there’s one more.”

The dragon hadn’t picked his jaw up from the ground yet.

“Who is at the door letting out all my cool air!? If it ain’t the emperor or the pizza man, shut it!”

Suddenly, a third figure came to the door. This time, it was a grey-haired older woman who looked to be at least 30.

When the door widened and she saw Abaddon standing outside sheepishly, she only remained upright for a total of three seconds before her body collapsed.

Dean didn’t even look back at her when she collapsed.

With the door widened, Abaddon and Kanami could see a house much like their own. One with four generations of a family living inside.

All of them were every bit as shocked to see Abaddon standing there as everyone else.

“Umm… We’re here to speak to the partners of Amal.”

Nine different men and women shakily raised their hands.

“Could we…. step inside? There’s something my brother and I need to talk to you all about.”

–

A series of soft hums played in the darkness.

They were heartwrenching, and dreadful. And yet they were beautiful and full of meaning.

Belloc flew through the darkness with a large duffel bag in one hand, and an even larger greataxe in the other.

Though he had no real way to distinguish where he was going, he proved to have no trouble finding his way.

He landed on what appeared to be nothing, and looked up with a saddened smile on his face.

“…Hi, Mom. I like the song.”

Suddenly, the humming came to a halt and a large glowing eye opened up in front of Belloc.

It’s violet glow was bright and warm like the sun. But it’s sadness was clearly reflected in it’s dreary appearance.

“Bell…?”

Belloc held up his duffle bag and smiled wryly.

“I kinda… thought you might be missing the comforts of home. Brought as much as I could.”

“You shouldn’t be here… It’s not safe.” Audrina closed her eyes again and the world went dark.

“Last I checked, you were the one on our enemy’s most wanted list. I’m just a regular-degular potential hostage.”

Belloc buried the end of his spear in the ground and unzipped the duffel bag.

“I brought some Hot Pockets.”

Audrina made a noise that was barely a laugh. “That’s very sweet honey, but I’m not your brother. Microwavable foods aren’t exactly super high on my list of favorites…”

“Yeah, I know, those are for me. I brought you one of those adult lunchable trays I can’t pronounce.”

“A charcuterie board…?”

“Yes. A charred-coochie board.”

“Language.” Audrina’s laugh was a hair louder this time. Belloc felt slightly relieved in knowing all of his efforts weren’t totally in vain.

“…I also brought your favorite bathrobe.” Belloc added.

Audrina smiled at her son sadly from within the darkness. “I don’t think I need my bathrobe right now, love. But thank you anyway…”

Belloc nodded slowly and tried not to worry that he was losing his mother.

“I also brought some flowers for Auntie….” He said.

“B-Bell, she’s not-“

“These aren’t mourning flowers, I promise. Just… a little gift is all.”

Audrina remained silent for a moment as she stared at her son.

Belloc was famous for his dry wit, asshole tendencies, and general lack of care around any subject that did not involve his various collections of paraphrenalia.

But as Audrina looked at him now, he was practically indistinguishable from that gentle young boy she had always known.

Perhaps that was why she found it hard to consistently refuse him.

“…”

Belloc watched as a large wing was raised up.

Underneath it, he could see a small candlelight vigil surrounding four bodies encased in stone.

He removed a bouquet of flowers from the bag, and walked over to his aunt’s body.

Looking down at the bouquet of flowers in his hand, he realized that it might be a little bit distressing in it’s current form.

He kneeled down beside his aunt’s entombed body and began plucking off the flower petals.

One by one, he decorated his aunt’s hair with them until he had no petals left.

Belloc stood up and realized that his mother had appeared beside him at some point.

He almost didner.

Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was slightly unkempt, and her face was a shade paler than normal.

She couldn’t take her eyes off Isabelle’s resting face.

“…She’s so beautiful.” Audrina sniffled. “I should have told her that more often, but I didn’t and now I might…”

Belloc wrapped his arms around his mother and held her close to his chest.

“It’s alright, Mom. Smart-Mom is working on a cure as we speak. She’s going to fix Auntie up as quickly as she can.”

Audrina nodded as she wiped her face of tears. “And… how is she..? How are all of them..?”

“They’re…” Belloc’s words trailed off. “Worried about each other. You. The usual.”

Audrina formed an even more bitter expression.

“I’ll be back home soon, I just… I couldn’t leave her.”

“I get it, Mom. Just know that we all miss you.”

Belloc materialized a bench for himself and Audrina to sit on. He also took that moment to pass her favorite blanket and a bottle of wine.

She didn’t seem in the mood to drink, but she happily accepted the blanket.

Together, she and Belloc watched the flames flicker around Isabelle’s vigil.

For a while, neither of them said anything. They were just content to spend time together as a grieving pair.

Surprisingly, Audrina was the one to cut the silence first.

“Bell..?”

“Yea, Ma?”

“I want you to be nicer to your sisters from now on… much nicer.”

If Belloc was surprised at this, he didn’t show it.

“Sure thing, Mom. Anything for you…”

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