First Demonic Dragon

Low munching sounds could be heard as father and daughter dined together underneath the shining gold tree of life.

Abaddon and Nubia had yet to say a word to each other as they continued to eat in silence.

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In front of them both sat wooden trays that were covered in grilled fish, fresh warm bread and a chalice of red wine.

Nubia had grape juice though since she technically was not of age.

Each of them was stuffing their mouths rather quickly; as they had already done the math and realized that they couldn't talk as long as their mouths were full.

This was now a silent competition of who was going to run out of food first and be forced to start the conversation.

'Damn it..!'

Without her knowledge, Nubia had unconsciously eaten her food at too fast a pace to make it last.

And for whatever reason, neither Yesh or Asherah were offering her any more!

They had likely already discerned her intentions and were now trying to goad the two of them into a conversation.

This was completely unfair!

Due to her hesitancy and a feeling of fear, Nubias voice came out much smaller than she expected it to.

"…Are you upset with me?"

Abaddon hadn't anticipated that his daughter would start talking so abruptly; causing him to choke on his own hunk of bread.

*A-Ahem!* "N-No, not at all."

"…Are you sure?"

"Yes-"

"You seem mad.."

"I'm not mad."

"…Moms say that when you're mad your ears crinkle. They're crinkling a lot right now."

"I'm not mad, child. Are you not supposed to be the empath here?"

"You're stuffing it all down so deeply I can't discern anything. I've been trying…" Nubia almost seemed disappointed that her prowess seemed to have plummeted.

In truth, Abaddon's mind had just aged significantly since his impromptu vacation in space.

It wasn't as though he was hiding things more carefully; Nubia just had to dig a lot deeper now than she normally did with everyone else.

"…Are you going to hurt him?" She finally asked.

'I want to.' Abaddon thought.

But he knew that if he said something like that then he would be validating her decision not to tell him in the first place.

He was quite worried that reacting in the wrong manner here would drive a wedge in between them; similar to what happened with Helios and Yara in the past.

'Be better than that old bastard, be better than that old bastard, be better than that old…'

Nubia's twin colored eyes bored into her father like she was waiting for an answer.

Abaddon eventually sighed as he put the small remainder of his food down. "Maybe one day… But not today."

Nubia had lots of experience with reading people, but in that moment her father was a real enigma.

He was outwardly calm as he drank in silence; his eyes closed and his mind full of thoughts.

"…I am very happy with them." Nubia volunteered.

"…That is all that matters."

No matter how long Nubia waited, Abaddon didn't say anything else.

She wondered if her father was intentionally keeping his mouth closed about how he really felt in order to avoid upsetting her.

Which in itself was also mildly upsetting.

Nubia may have had a younger body now, but she was still extremely old mentally.

She wasn't someone her father necessarily had to mince words with.

So what was he keeping inside that he didn't want her to hear?

Perhaps he didn't really approve of her relationships at all.

Just like before, the two of them ended up sitting in the silence of the tree.

Abaddon hardly budged a single inch, meanwhile Nubia fell asleep at the foot of the tree.

It wasn't until his daughter's breathing fell into her normal unconscious rhythm that Abaddon finally opened his eyes.

"…So you were upset." Asherah finally said.

Even if Abaddon wanted to lie a second time, the flames burning inside of his irises were a sort of dead giveaway.

"…My nerves seem to be the tiniest bit irked, yes."

"Then why did you not tell your daughter the truth?"

"Because it has nothing to do with her. And I don't want to say the wrong thing and make her believe I'm more accepting of her siblings' romantic choices than I am her own."

"Then the problem is with the individuals selected..?"

"… Adeline is a very sweet girl who just happens to be a little awkward. But Zheng is… not someone I want to trust with her."

Asherah started to ask why when Yesh suddenly threw a cup of water on Abaddon.

The dark red and black sparks running along his pants were snuffed out before they could evolve into true undying flame.

"…Thank you."

Yesh held up his thumbs and smiled.

"Haaaa…" Holding his head in his hands, Abaddon massaged his aching temples as he tried to keep his hands powers from acting up any further.

"I don't know what is wrong with me. Since assuming my responsibilities I have felt emptier. Angrier. I feel as if I am becoming irrate just for the sake of it."

Gulban, who was lying on the other end of the grassy field interjected. "How's that different from any other dragon?"

"Open your mouth again and I'll split your body apart from your belly to your brain."

"I apologize for my outburst."

Abaddon rolled his eyes before lying back on his stomach and burying his face in the grass.

Truthfully, he knew that he shouldn't care that much about Nubia's choice of partners.

However, when it came to Zheng in particular, his mind was dredging up his subordinates failure to protect Sif in Asgard- and Abaddon had to watch a woman he cared about immensely be dealt a mortal wound.

He didn't want to trust Nubia with that same man.

But he had already told Zheng that he placed no blame on his shoulders, and he meant it.

His anger was just causing him to think irrationally.

"I should have steeled myself more when Izanami tried to warn me of the prices to be paid… Very rarely have I ever experienced power coming at such a high cost as this." He muttered.

Abaddon felt himself moving against his own volition, but he didn't bother to investigate what was being done to him.

It wasn't until he was flipped on his back and suddenly much more comfortable that he opened his eyes.

He found himself lying within a hammock strung up by the tree of life itself.

He was comfortably rocking back and forth between the swaying of a breeze and the mysterious playing of a harp.

"Is this helping? Are you more relaxed?" Asherah asked in anticipation.

"…Hard to say."

Yesh waived his finger in the air and a photograph of Abaddon's wives appeared over his chest.

"…I believe this may be working."

True to his claim, the sort of lingering murder aura around Abaddon disappeared, and now he just seemed like a wild animal at rest.

'It seems as though becoming unbound has come with more unintended consequences than you would have expected.' Yesh finally said.

Abaddon suddenly sat up and stared at Yesh so hard that a question mark nearly appeared over his head.

"So I was right. You did suspend our contract."

'Yes.' The creator admitted.

"Why?"

'Your daughters bullied me into it.'

"Eh?"

'Nevertheless, I think this may help you more than you know in your current situation.' Yesh stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"How will unlimited power and an entire multiverse full of targets to exert it on help me control my budding anger issues?"

'Because you'll have to learn to temper your own emotions yourself so that you don't act upon these new impulses of yours. You'll be your own safety net.'

Asherah chose that moment to pat Abaddon on the head like he was a baby dragon all over again.

"Of all of your powers, belief in yourself is what will carry you the furthest. Set firmly in your heart and mind the kind of man you want to be, and you will never stray from that path."

After all of this time, Asherah had nearly the same effect on Abaddon that Yara and Imani did.

Her advice contained a distinctive firmness and warmth that was imperative sometimes for getting through to the overthinking dragon.

"But will you make us one promise, dear boy?" Asherah suddenly added.

"If it is within my power... You're not going to ask me to move in though, are you?"

'And if we were??' Yesh's face was difficult to perceive, but Abaddon could tell that his current expression was one of offense.

"I'll have to retract my previous statement. I can't lie with my wives comfortably when god and his wife are in the wing right across from me."

'We wouldn't spy on you.' Yesh shrugged.

"..."Abaddon stared at Asherah.

"...I find your intimacy fascinating. While outwardly depraved and lustful, you all facilitate a care and attentiveness to each other that wouldn't be possible without reaching the peak of emotional-"

"Alright, alright, I get it..."

"I've yet to observe you with Sif, but according to the words of Eris you two share quite the-"

"W-Why is Eris telling you this!?"

"She's a very charming conversationalist and is quite fascinated by your ability in physical intimacy. She especially appreciates your thoroughness in performing-"

"God, please!" Abaddon held up his hand.

'What?'

"N-No, not you, just... Please tell me what this promise is that you want..." The dragon was on the verge begging at this point.

Abaddon had never before in life been so grateful that his daughter was a heavy sleeper.

Asherah suppressed her giggle and got to the most important part of the matter.

"Yesh and I would ask that you would please not destroy any more souls that you come across, no matter how horribly they might provoke you."

Abaddon wasn't really sure whether he could say he expected that question in the first place.

But when he thought about it, it did make sense for them to ask something of that sort.

Afterall, they were the makers of all that there is, has been, and will be.

He figured that they just had their own sentimental attachment to every soul, irregardless of their affiliation and didn't wish to see them destroyed.

Or they could have just been trying to prevent him from messing with the timeline on accident again.

Since he didn't really have a problem with either, he didn't think twice about accepting.

"You have my word, Asherah. I will abstain from…"

*Buzz-Buzz!*

Abaddon's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and he found a message from Sif waiting on his phone.

Angry Rapunzel : WYA bastard?

A vein bulged in Abaddon's head as he started to text his own unkind response back.

He was halted however when Sif suddenly sent him a picture of Zheng, Adeline, and a human girl he didn't recognize at the picnic table.

'…God damn it.'