First Demonic Dragon

Inside of Abaddon's favorite butcher shop, the dragon god was browsing through a row of alcohol looking for something that everyone could drink.

To celebrate Abaddon finally waking up, his battle in Asgard and the resurrection of his grandparents and Uncle, the Tathamet family was having a large feast tonight.

Normally, when cooking the group just use Eris' and Valerie's powers to make any food that they might need, but with them still in the garden abusin- I mean, chatting with Sif, no one wanted to disturb them.

As such, Abaddon had been invited to come out grocery shopping with the same daughter he'd been avoiding.

"Dad, you're seeming a bit sluggish today. Are you alright?"

"No, of course not, Thrudd-"

"There, right there! Since when do you call me by my name!?"

"Since your mother gave it to you..?"

"My name is Thruddie and I will accept nothing less!"

"You're making a lot of demands for someone who won't even walk on their own."

Thrudd looked appalled from atop her position on Abaddon's back.

Never once had he complained or even said a word about giving her a piggy back ride before, but now he was suddenly acting as if it were odd?

It didn't sit right with her at all.

This compared with the cold way he'd been acting today had made her feel a bit downtrodden.

"...Are you mad at me?"

Abaddon paused at the drop of a hat when he heard that question.

It was simple, but it brought with it an entire wellspring of memories.

He used to ask his human parents that a lot.

There were times when they would glare at him for simply existing, and in his attempt to correct himself and appease them somehow, the words would just fall out of his mouth.

'Are you mad at me?'

Funnily or rather unfunnily enough, if they weren't upset with him before, just asking the simple question seemed to set them off.

What ensued afterwards was usually never pretty, and always ensured he ended up in Imani's arms that night.

Abaddon had to stop his head from hanging low as he put down the bottle he had grabbed so that he could place his hand over his daughter's.

"Of course I'm not mad at you, Thruddie. Just having a bit of a long day is all, but it has nothing to do with you."

"...Is it about Mom?" she asked quietly.

"Partially." he admitted after a brief silence.

"...You guys aren't getting back together, huh?"

"I'm afraid not... We've already had our chance and things just didn't work out."

Abaddon didnt say the last part of his sentence, which was that he needed to find a way to remove Sif's crest so that she wasn't lusting after him so frequently.

"I'll always love your mother, you understand that, right?" He asked as he squeezed her hand.

"Sure..."

Thrudd slipped down from Abaddon's back sadly and left the isle and him behind.

He watched her sit down at a little seating area by the window and pulled out a pair of headphones before pulling them over her ears.

Courtney was also seated at the table waiting patiently, and Thrudd absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair as she watched her draw a picture.

Abaddon covered his hand with his face and dropped his head in exhaustion.

As he cursed himself for his blunder, a familiar and unexpected voice played in his head.

'She resembles you almost to a tee... It is quite miraculous what your powers are capable of, Tathamet.'

"I hope you haven't come to make me feel even more guilty, old man... My head is already ringing like mad."

'Oh? Might need to put down that bourbon then, eh?'

Abaddon removed his hand from his face and stared at the new visitor who had appeared in the aisle next to him.

Yesh picked up a bottle of red wine and held it out for Abaddon to take.

'This is a lot better for your heart. I recommend it wholeheartedly...See what I did there? Asherah says my jokes have grown stale after eternity, but I think that I can still spin the humorous yarn.'

"You cannot. I've my doubts as to whether you were ever capable." Nonetheless, Abaddon still took the bottle from the creator and placed it into his cart.

Abaddon couldn't decipher Yesh's facial features, but he did notice him slump his shoulders a bit as if he were disappointed someone else didn't find him funny.

Ignoring, his depressed act, Abaddon dove into what he believed to be the heart of the conversation.

"Have you come here to scold me for putting a hole in Asgard, for erasing deities, or for re-writing your constructed reality?" Abaddon asked as he walked past the old man.

Instead of answering any of Abaddon's questions, Yesh asked one of his own.

'You're in quite the turbulent state today. Will you tell me why?'

"Now you are interested in listening to the woes of ones beneath you? I would laugh, but again, headache." Abaddon pointed to his head.

'Consider it my repentance for not speaking to you clearly before. My ear is yours and yours alone in this moment.'

Abaddon ignored the creator and walked past him like he wasn't even there.

'Is it about your new relationship dynamics? I imagine that to be quite jarring.'

Abaddon paused again and let out a massive sigh.

Just this once… he felt like maybe it wouldn't hurt to open up.

Besides, if he was going to talk to someone about this, surely he couldn't do much better than the creator.

And so, he begrudgingly spit out the words that he had been keeping to himself all this time.

"...I feel disgusted with myself. I did not purposefully kill those gods to acquire this undeserved love.

It's as if I've forced myself on Sif despite knowing I killed her son, and stolen away Thrudd as if she is a simple monument to my contempt of Thor.

A monster though I may be, this is the first time I have ever truly felt abominable."

Abaddon felt a small withered hand pat him on the back.

Though he couldn't see Yesh's face, he could feel his warm smile.

'Perhaps feel this way because you see only the original timeline as 'real' and therefore meaningful.

When in truth, neither of them is less real than the other, and are simply lived lives from different perspectives. Granted, you did forcefully bring about this new one...'

"Ugh.." Abaddon was hit by a pang of guilt.

'But it does not inherently make you villainous, as you were unaware of the circumstances with which erasing Thor would create. Do you know what I believe, Abaddon?'

"That Nick Saban never should have retired?"

'What? No. He's earned his rest, as most of us elders do.'

"But we need hi-"

'Not the point right now, Tathamet...' Yesh rubbed his temples. 'I believe that you only agonize over the 'wrongfulness' of this turn of events because you love and want the best for those two.'

Abaddon couldn't deny those claims.

He wasn'tin love with Sif anymore, but he did love her, just the same as he loved Demeter, or even Nyx. (But he would never tell her out of worry that it would only add fuel to the fire.)

And Thrudd was practically impossible not to love.

As a goddess of thunder she had an electrifying, warm personality that had drawn him in from the first moment he saw her.

And they were so similar!

They even listened to the same kinds of music!

Belloc only wants to listen to anime openings while Straga only liked listening to heavy metal and sad-boy shit.

He was in dire need of someone to sit and listen to 'The Internet' with him and compare favorite records.

His daughter was a literal godsend.

'You want my advice? Treat them as your own. Regardless of the how or why, these are your family members now. All that you can do is ensure that they are in good hands.'

Abaddon admittedly softened up a bit and even started to feel less of a headache plaguing his brain.

But there was still something bothering him.

"Speaking of being in hands... Any chance you can remove the crest on Sif?"

'Hm? No.' Yesh waived his hand dismissively.

"...Is that a 'no I can't' or 'no I won't'?"

'Can't.'

"You are literally all-powerful and as grand as the human imagination, but you can't remove a single magical crest?"

'I'm sorry, would you want the matrimonial bonds between you and your partners to be malleable by the hands of any higher dimensional being whenever they wanted?'

"...No."

'That's what I thought. Hence the reason Asherah adjusted your crests to be permanent and incorruptible.'

"What? When'd she do that??"

'The night you hit puberty and your blood inherited your father's power.'

Abaddon was starting to feel that headache coming back."Why'd none of you ever tell me this?"

'You didn't ask.'

"Why would I ask if- Nevermind..." Since they were on a positive roll, Abaddon elected to just keep going instead of continuing to argue with the old man. "Then what am I supposed to do about Sif?"

'Do you want to have sex with her?'

Abaddon didn't know if the answer to that question was simple.

He knew he and his ex-wife were very sexually compatible, so of course he enjoyed sex with her.

But she was nothing compared to his Ayaana.

All ten of those women had his complete heart and his body literally seemed to scream for them when they were apart.

He didn't feel like it was right to give himself to someone who he didn't value nearly as much as he did them.

It cheapened a pure act and turned it into something more craven and depraved.

"…It's complicated." He admitted.

'I understand.' Yesh nodded. 'But you of all people should know that actions like that are distasteful when they are forced.'

"Of course I do, but I also do not want her to crave me to the point of physical debilitation. She needs to be relieved."

Yesh looked like he had something to say, but at that moment Courtney came running up to her father with her picture fully colored in.

"Daddy, look! It's us!"

The young girl held up a crudely drawn photo of what looked like a man and a young girl standing on a mountain of skulls with their weapons raised triumphantly overhead.

Most parents would be concerned, and understandably so, but Abaddon found it to be rather cute.

But then again, he was the kind of dad who believed that his daughters could do very little wrong in the first place.

"That's great, little miss. I just wish I looked that good in real life." He joked.

"It's okay, daddy! You still look decent to me!"

It had been so long since someone had attempted to imply that Abaddon was average in looks that he couldn't help but laugh at the nostalgia.

He lifted Courtney into his arms and prepared to introduce her to Yesh.

But to his surprise, the creator was already gone.

He felt a small weight get added to his pocket that wasn't previously there, and reached his hand inside to investigate.

Surprisingly, what he found was a small white card with just a few short words on it.

'You do not need my guidance or anyone else's in this matter.

Simply make the decision you can live with, and let all pieces fall where they may.

Everything else will work itself out eventually.

And remember that above all else that you are a good man.

Whatever path you should walk, do not take that knowledge away from yourself.'