First Demonic Dragon

On a slightly warm and bright spring day, four individuals were sitting at an outdoor table outside of a popular restaurant.

This was Nyx & Sif's first time actually stepping out into Tehom.

Since one of them initially refused to venture into lands she'd literally been kidnapped into, and the other couldn't be bothered with anything that did not concern Abaddon or Ayaana, their experience down here was particularly limited.

As such, they were relatively surprised by the overall beauty and normalcy of the place.

Sif in particular had several questions relating to the operations of their society, as well as how their economy functioned, or to be more accurate, didn't function.

However, she hadn't exactly run into a good time to ask any of that just yet.

Not with the way that the happy couple was whispering to themselves.

"Well what about..?"

"No, I think we should save something like that for Christmas. Ooh, what if we…?"

"That might work… but how would we-"

"I'm sorry." Sif finally interrupted. "Exactly what are you two talking about?"

Abaddon and Ayaana looked up at the other two residents of their dining table and seemed to finally remember that they were not alone.

"Our eldest children are having their wedding anniversaries with their first wives soon, and our second daughter's birthday is coming up around the same time. We're trying to think of good gifts for them." Ayaana answered.

"Though so far, we don't seem to have much in the way of ideas." Abaddon admitted.

"I see… that is very caring of you." Sif muttered as she ran her fingers along her braid. "P-Perhaps I should also…"

"We believe that might be quite nice." Ayaana smiled. "If you'd like, we can arrange to have a guide show you around so that you can pick up something for Thea and Nita yourself."

Once again, Sif felt herself be floored by the utter kindness and hospitality that she was receiving from the Tathamet family.

No matter the length of time she waited, she never felt disliked or unwanted by them, and by now she even felt comfortable enough to follow them out of the house on their date.

The fact that Nyx tagged along with them was sheer coincidence.

The golden haired godddess shook her head and smiled.

"You don't have to go to such trouble for me. I'll just ask Demeter to help me... Ah." Sif covered her mouth as if she'd made a mistake.

Abaddon smiled at her harmlessly. "It's fine, Sif, I'm not so fragile as to come crumbling down at the mention of her name."

While it was true that he wasn't going to lose himself and start bawling or anything, he was admittedly still a bit upset about the situation.

Friendship, like family, was everything to Abaddon.

And his relationship with Demeter was no different than that.

Despite her stoic demeanor, she had a surprisingly high sense of humor, was easily flustered, and she always answered his phone calls late at night when he was in need of someone to bother. (Everyone else told him to stop waking them)

But... she wanted more from him than he could give her.

And even if friendship was important to him, his commitment to his wives transcended all.

"...Is she doing well?" Abaddon asked.

"…Yes, she's alright." Sif lied.

"..."Abaddon said nothing as she waited for her to tell the truth.

"...Her feelings are quite hurt. Not just because you rejected her, but because you told her that all she feels for you is lust, and even attempted to make a joke of the situation."

Nyx and Ayaana's mouths fell open as they stared at the dragon in shock.

"Abaddon... you didn't."

"Honey... maybe that wasn't the best way to go about that situation."

The dragon let his forehead hit the table as he let out a depressed sigh.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have made light of the situation, but I sensed it clearly. Her feelings for me are only physical and will pass with time."

Nyx glanced at Ayaana and raised her hand hesitantly. "Might I say something?"

The girls cracked their knuckles.

"I'll be respectful, I promise!"

"…Go ahead."

Nyx turned to Abaddon and placed a hand on his forearm.

"Perhaps because of everything that you are, it is difficult for you to grasp this concept, but people can fall in love with you and it not be based solely on your looks.

You're a good man, and an even better companion. Sure it is easy to get wrapped up in the allure of your hair, face, body, and peni-"

Ayaana: "Nyx!"

"I'm sorry but he wears those grey sweatpants all the time at home and he doesn't have a shred of care for what he it can do to a woman's sanity or underwear-"

"NYX!"

"FINE!"

Begrudgingly, the night goddess was able to pull herself back on track.

"A-Anyway, my point is that her just because you instinctively feel the full weight of one's physical attraction to you, that doesn't mean that is all there is. Try to remember that when you reject others in the future."

Abaddon listened to every word Nyx had to say and when she was done, he felt even more guilty than before.

Even if he wouldn't change the fact that he rejected Demeter, there were better ways to do it, as the girls had pointed out."I should apologize to her." He finally admitted.

"You should, but give it some time, yea? Let her figure out for herself how to be around you and enjoy your company without crossing boundaries. After that, I'm sure you two will both be back to your normal selves. "

Abaddon glanced at Nyx suspiciously out of the corner of his eye.

"That's strange…you can actually be thoughtful? I thought you were only good for perverted comments and subtle stalking."

Nyx seemed to find his remark amusing despite it's obvious teasing.

"There are as many versions of me as there are multiverses in creation.

With an eternity of time to watch and study as I please, why must I always be so dignified?

Life is to be experienced, Abaddon.

And interacting with you and Ayaana makes me want to indulge in the more… passionate aspects of it."

Abaddon: "…"

Ayaana: "…Wow. That would've been much more profound if you didn't place your hands on both of our thighs as you said it."

"I can't help but notice that you haven't moved them yet~"

Abaddon and his wives swatted away Nyx's hands under the table and she rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Tch… so close."

""No you weren't.""

"Whatever!"

Abaddon opened his mouth to say something when a familiar prickly feeling bubbled up in his mind.

Craning his neck to look behind him, he surprisingly found Asherah and Azrael standing side-by-side on the restaurant patio.

"Oh, hello. Funny to see all of you here." Asherah greeted warmly.

"Is that… Sif?" Azrael muttered in wonder. "By the light, what are you doing here?"

"I've been kidnapped." She replied as she sipped a large and sugary pina colada.

"…Are you certain?"

Ayaana sighed and snapped her fingers to create two more chairs for the new guests. "You two may as well join us, since my date with my husband has already been interrupted by these two."

Nyx / Sif: "You're enjoying our company though."

"Yes, yes." Ayaana rolled her eyes as she suppressed a smile.

The two heavenly beings didn't stand around long and joined the table of gods for conversation.

"Now I wonder, what exactly has made the two of you come and visit us down at the bottom of creation?" Abaddon finally asked.

"Are we unwelcome? I thought it might be nice to show my son how you have transformed these lands in your image." Asherah said.

Looking around, the angel of death felt the descriptions of this place didn't do it justice.

Previously, if you told him that this big and bright city was the home of the first dragon and his descendants, he believed he might've fallen out with laughter.

This place just wasn't at all what someone would think of if they heard the word 'abyss'.

Even right now they were smack in the middle of a goddamn outdoor strip mall!

Jasmine Sullivan was playing on the outdoor speakers for crying out loud!

It was very easy to forget that Abaddon had spent time on earth until right this moment.

"Oh..? Actually, you two have perfect timing." Abaddon suddenly said.

""??""

The dragon smiled as he rested his chin in his hands.

"Y'see, I'm having just a tiny bit of trouble getting your siblings to get out of my stomach. Think you might be able to talk some sense into them?"

-

Inside of the heavenly realm, the streets were almost completely empty.

No groups of friends walking about in the streets, no harps being played from somewhere unseen, and not even an introductory angel standing guard at the front gate.

Michael stood on top of a building overlooking his empty home.

He hadn't seen a sight like this since the first days following Samael's rebellion; where everyone was either too shocked or depressed to leave their homes.

But now… there was just no one other than himself or his siblings here.

After Abaddon opened the gates to heaven, the archangels commanded all of their younger siblings to flee while they elected to stay behind.

It took an arduous amount of coaxing to get them to leave their greatest warriors and idols behind, but eventually they did leave with promises that they would return bringing help.

Michael was unsure if it would accomplish anything, or if they would even be able to find their way back, but he smiled and waived them out the door as if they had his full confidence.

'By this point, I am not even sure if we can be freed from this sort of trap with our greatest treasures still in our possessi-'

"Oh? Why is it so empty here?"

"Indeed… you didn't begin eating my siblings, did you Vovin?"

"Of course I didn't! You angels probably taste terrible."

"…Odly enough, this is a fact I am rather grateful for."

Michael listened to the flurry of new voices coming from one street over, and he felt his pupils tremble as his heartbeat quickened.

"Mother and… brother?"