First Demonic Dragon

“SON!”

Asmodeus sat up in bed with a start.

He paid for it immediately.

His body was aching in a way that he hadn’t known it could. If his muscles liquified in the next few moments, he wouldn’t have been all that surprised.

Even breathing hurt. His lungs felt like someone had used them as basketballs.

But for now, all of that was secondary.

“Stay still, mezanmi. You were having a nightmare.”

Imani came to Asmodeus’ side and placed her palm against his forehead. He was burning up.

“I-I need to..” He started to get up.

“You need to go back to bed…” Imani placed her hand on his chest firmly. “You have already done more than enough for today.”

Finally, memories came rushing back into his mind like a bad hangover.

His pupils trembled.

“K-Karliah, is she-“

“Aww. How nice of you to ask about me, handsome.”

Asmodeus rolled over and glanced at the floor.

There, a familiar burly, and monstrous figure lay across the carpet with a tablet over her face.

She met eyes with Asmodeus, and he immediately knew something was amiss.

“So I was the first thing on your mind, huh? Don’t you know how to make a girl feel special.”

Asmodeus stared at her apologetically. “…Did I hurt you?”

She scoffed. “Did you?”

Karliah sat up with her elbows on the bed and her face in her hands. Her eyes were filled with pink sparkles and skulls.

“I don’t think anyone has ever hit me that hard before. I think this must be that love thing all you softies around here keep babbling about.”

“If I’m lucky, it’ll just be a concussion.” Imani showed a smile that was not a smile.

Asmodeus shook his head at her. “I’m… sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Karliah suddenly looked much less interested in Asmodeus than she had just a few seconds ago. Even blowing air out of her nose dejectedly.

“Well, you just got considerably less sexy… I guess I’ll start pining after your son and daughter again.”

At the mention of Abaddon, Asmodeus started trying to get up again.

“He’s still trapped down there.. I have to-“

“You can’t do anything about that for now.” Imani insisted. “Believe me, you aren’t the only one bothered, but Karliah is right… we can’t open those doors again. If something got out then even with all of us there, we still probably wouldn’t be able to keep something from getting out.”

Imani shivered. “And if it were a named one, then… Kanami nearly has all of them put back after years of work. We can’t undo all her progress, no matter what the cost.”

“Is our son not worth any cost…?”

“If the cost would be paid with the lives and safety of others…? No. No, he is not. And he would tell you that himself if he were here.”

Asmodeus dropped his head.

He held the bedsheets in a white-knuckled grip. His gaze was plagued with the telltale signs of an inner struggle.

The oldest demons are selfish by nature. It was a habit Asmodeus had taken years to work on, but all of his effort was threatening to come undone.

Rather than just being a parent, he had to think about what his child would want first and foremost.

‘As if that weren’t the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place…’ He sighed.

Suddenly, he realized that he had been forgetting something all this time.

“Audrina. Someone should notify her too. If she doesn”t know already…”

When Imani took too long to respond, he looked up to find her biting her lip uncomfortably.

“It seems that she is missing too. We’re assuming that…” She didnt finish.

Asmodeus didnt need her to.

“Do you have any good news for me after my little nap..?” He rubbed his head.

Imani smiled wryly. “Let’s let our love come back first. And maybe she’ll have some for us both.”

–

“…I do wish that he had told me he was planning on doing something like this before he went… Though perhaps he didn’t because he believed I would try to talk him out of it. Your son is certainly a difficult one to look after, isn’t he?”

Yara smiled bitterly at a cup of tea.

“And to think that he was so obediant as a child. Hardly ever left my side either.”

She looked up at Asherah with watery tears forming in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t have thought at this age that he would start giving me so much to worry about whenever he left the house.”

The mother goddess touched her hand lightly. An understanding was seemingly passed between two mothers with troublesome children.

“Can you tell us how to get our parents back?”

“Or at least how to get throught the gate without opening it and letting a whole bunch of undesireables out.”

Asherah looked up at the doorway where four of Abaddon’s sons were standing around quietly with their arms folded.

Asherah tapped her finger on the table as she pondered the answer to his question.

“Well… I suppose that the first thing I should tell you is that you don’t necessarily need to worry.

The reason why your father was unable to leave a body on the outside world, is because he entered a prison.

That realm was formed to hold fouler things than what you can imagine. Beings exceptional in trickery, deceit, and malevolence. It’s not the kind of place one can have one foot in and one foot out of.

The moment Abaddon decideded to step inside, the realm forcefully pulled his consciousness there. It’s why he’s not popping up in any new bodies right about now.

Your mothers are also linked at the soul, and can even form the same entity… it’s no surprise that they were all taken too.”

“Then getting them back..?” Belloc asked.

Asherah sighed and ran her fingers over the rim of her cup “Well, the good news is that your parents aren’t like the other inhabitants. I haven’t stripped them oftheir status, so they should be able to summon the gates and leave at any time.”

Bashenga felt a migraine forming. “Why do I feel as though things will not be as simple as you say?”

“Ah. Well…”

Bashenga hated being right.

“Have you ever wondered why, no matter the universe, as soon as the horrors escape, they go right into hiding?”

“Yeah, because they’re afraid mom, dad, or the old man are going to burn all their asses and put them back where they came from.” Straga scoffed.

“Well… partialy.” Asherah admitted. “But more than that, they need time to adjust. It’s not easy for them to be out here at first. They’re like fish force-starting their evolution to walk on land.

The physics of that realm are different than any of the ones here. Disorientingly so, at that. They almost have to learn how to use their powers again. I fear your parents may face that conundrum in reverse.”

All the princes felt their eyes widen. Yara was the only one who seemed not to care about this revelation in the slightest.

Apophis seemed interested in it the most.

“But wait, if they’re going to be weak when they first break out, then why can’t we open the gate just a little bit so that we can-“

“No.” Asherah said firmly. “It doesn’t matter if you have the entire bright legion standing guard behind you. At least one of them will escape and that is far too many. It is an inevitability without your parents there to hold them at bay.”

Asherah held out her hand for Apophis and he begrudgingly took it.

“Sweet boy. I know your commitment to upholding your responsibilities is like none other.

That is why I am sincerely begging you- please do not try to open the gates, and make sure that none of your siblings do so either.

I know it hurts, but you must wait for Abaddon, Ayaana, and Zahara to return on their own. They have faced many challenges and come out just fine before. We have to trust that they will do it again.”

Apophis still looked a little dejected. Asherah gave his hand a firm squeeze.

“Besides, you must remember that your parents love you children more than anything else in existence. They won’t stay away from you for too long.”

Apophis let out a dry chuckle.

“Yeah, sure… but what are we supposed to do in the meantime while we wait for them to come back..?”

At this, Asherah shrugged.

“I suppose… keep each other safe. Keep each other sane. But please make sure that they don’t start hitting each other again.”

–

“… up. .et… p… Get up…!”

Abaddon’s head was spinning at ten thousand miles an hour.

He tried to open his eyes, and instantly regretted it. The colors were all so new, blinding, and indescribable.

Looking at them made him feel queasy.

“Get up, man, we don’t have time for you to lay around on your ass all day. You’re burnin’ daylight.”

When Abaddon heard that voice again, his mind instantly recognized it.

Hell, he couldnt forget who that voice belonged to even in all of his wildest dreams.

He opened his eyes again, and this time he could see a figure obscuring the bright colors. Allowing his eyes to adjust.

The figure was a man in his early seventies, but who could easily pass for someone in his fifties.

He was caucasian, with a permanent tanned hue to his skin from countless days underneath a scorching sun.

The man had short, sandy blnd hair that was only now starting to gray, and despite his short stature, he had a commanding aura.

He wore smart khakis and a crimson windbreaker with the letter ‘A’ across his right pec. Abaddon felt his jaw fall open.

“Oh, my god, it’s you…”

The man held out his hand to pull Abaddon to his feet. “What’s my philosophy?”

Abaddon knew the answer instantly. “…’Do your job’.”

“Damn right. So what are you waiting for then?”

“…Nothing at all.”

Abaddon took the godly hand of one Nicky Lou Saban, and pulled himself onto his feet.

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