First Demonic Dragon

Izanami lifted up K'ael and spun him around while floating together.

"Mommy missed you so much, my darling boy. You've gotten so big and handsome!"

Everyone at the table slowly stopped chewing.

Izanami was generally a kind of difficult personality to get a feel for even when she was being normal, but this after-coital glow was really throwing them for a loop.

"When did you two get so close..?" Yara asked for everyone at the table.

Izanami blinked as she realized that everyone in the house wasn't caught up on Asherah's latest impactful revelation.

Izanami held her son out like he was a cartoon lion.

"Oh, sorry. It's been a few years since we found out, but it turns out that this is partially Kagutsuchi! He's been reincarnated!"

Mateo, Hera, and Nyx's jaws all dropped at the same time.

Helios and Yara were unfamiliar with the name, so they both just pretended that they knew what was going on while they googled the answer.

Nyx had sobered up remarkably fast. "I… What? How?!"

"I have no clue!"

"D-Did Asherah do this?! Or Abaddon?!"

"They said no." she shrugged.

Nyx was trying to come to terms with the fact that Izanami really didn't seem to care why the son who'd originally killed her was back in the body of an abyss dragon.

And you know what, if her friend didn't care, then she didn't either.

"Anything else we should know about??" Malenia asked.

"Well…"

At that moment, the party heard footsteps approaching from down the hall.

Three different figures emerged into sight.

Abaddon was yawning as he carried a still-sleeping Ayaana on his back.

While Abaddon looked exactly the same as he always did, Ayaana was a slightly different story. Her hair was noticeably shorter, and her horns were somehow missing.

Walking hand in hand with Abaddon was Sif, who, surprisingly, was the only one here who seemed like she'd had a full night's sleep. Though she was walking awkwardly…

"Morning." She waived.

Malenia raised her brow. "Morning.. I thought that Ayaana decided that she wasn't going to fuse for the time being?"

Abaddon kissed his sister on top of the head while silently looking at her plate to see what he could pilfer.

"Well, that was the plan, but the thing about that is... She's kind of stuck." Abaddon controlled a muffin to float in front of his face.

Pardon? Everyone at the table asked at once.

Helios glanced at Sif. "Then how are you free?"

Sif just shrugged. "I don't know. It might have something to do with me not having a name and stuff... I can still hear and see everything in their inner world; I just can't enter it... or them."

"Are they experiencing any adverse health effects?" Yara asked.

Abaddon gave the woman on his back a little shake.

Ayaana just groaned and dug her face deeper into his hair. "No more... Want muffin..."

Abaddon held out the one he was eating in front of her face. She sniffed it on instinct and took a bite without even opening her eyes.

"Seems fine to me." Abaddon shrugged. "Can't tell if that's only Bekka's hunger or... just regular hunger."

"Boffum..." Ayaana muttered incoherently.

Sif just peeled another muffin out of her wrapper and slowly fed it to her.

"Any ideas on how to separate her?" Yara asked.

"Gonna... run some tests with mom later..." Ayaana yawned.

Everyone at the table correctly assumed that she was talking about Sei.

Abaddon looked at the table and noticed that there were far more bottles of champagne than what these assembled individuals were capable of drinking.

"What's with all this..? Are we celebrating or mourning?"

Nyx became watery-eyed again as she refilled her glass. "Erebus cheated on me again..."

"No... what? I. Am. So. Surprised." Abaddon said in a monotone voice.

"Even more surprising, the sun came up today." Mateo murmured.

"Holy shit."

Abaddon and Mateo cackled in unison.

Nyx was imagining a plethora of colorful ways to castrate the two men.

"Aww, don't be like that." Abaddon chuckled. "You just need to do something to take your mind off it. Spend a little time out of the house or something."

"Yea..." Nyx twirled her finger around the rim of her glass before suddenly looking up. "Can I hang out with you today??"

"Hell no."

"WHY!?"

"Busy."

"With what!?"

"Dragon stuff."

Nyx turned her head. "Yara, make your son take me with him!"

"He's a little too big for me to still be telling him what to do, Nyx..." Yara smiled wryly.

Abaddon put on a smug expression.

"But you could be a bit nicer to her, my son." Yara finished. "Nyx is your friend, and she's in dire need of companionship. It wouldn't kill you to hang out with her for the day."

Abaddon wore a sudden look of betrayal.

"Just a suggestion." Yara smirked.

Nyx grinned evilly. 'Checkmate.'

Despite the night goddess' inner claim of victory, Abaddon still had one last trick to pull up his sleeves.

"Sorry. Mateo and I are going."

Mateo Vasquez was a great many things.

Fortunately for Abaddon, 'quick to catch on' was one of them.

"Sorry, Nyxie. Three's a crowd."

Abaddon and Mateo exchanged a small fist bump.

"I don't give a damn what either of you think. I'm going!"

Mateo scoffed. "You don't even know where we're supposed to go." He didn't either but he didn't care. He needed to get out of the house.

"So what, Fang-boy? My soul needs soothing and if the way I get it is by hanging out with you incorrigible maggots then that's what I'm going to do!" Nyx roared.

Abaddon and Mateo both put on offended expressions.

Nyx stood up from the table on shaky legs.

She drunkenly wobbled down the hallway while griping under her breath.

Abaddon seriously contemplated the potential ramifications of just leaving her here to fend for herself.

While Abaddon was busy contemplating his darker impulses, a small foot was placed on his cheek.

Looking down, he found Izanami holding their child up to his face.

"Try not to forget to say goodbye."

Abaddon smiled faintly as he planted a small kiss on the cheek of his child, and then his wife.

Blushing, Izanami pressed her forehead against Abaddon's chest. Real life still felt far too much like a dream.

"If you would… please give her my regards when you see her. Maybe even invite her over too." Izanami said hopefully.

Abaddon understood what she meant instantly and nodded. "Of course. I'll even drag her back if I have to."

Izanami giggled as Abaddon released her.

He then turned to Sif and gave her a loving kiss on the lips before passing her Ayaana.

"Are you sure you're not feeling strange or..?"

"If you ask me one more time, I may seriously kill you, redhead." Sif pulled his ear. "I promise I'm fine. My only problem at the moment is a helicopter husband and a sore back."

Abaddon remained overly cautious. "What's wrong with your bac- Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." Sif chuckled as she pinched him. "Seriously, between you and little Deathly Hallows over here, I am going to have a very serious need for a chiropractor in the near future."

Izanami winked at her and licked her lips possessively.

Sif fought back the urge to blush.

"Although… maybe it's a worthwhile investment."

Everyone at the table made uncomfortable expressions as if they weren't sure if they should still be there.

Except for Yara. She loved to see love in all its various forms.

"Uhh… Mornin'."

Abaddon's pleasant mood was suddenly spoiled.

He glanced over his shoulder coldly and found Ziz standing in the doorway. His usual brash and obnoxious demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

Neither Izanami nor Sif missed the feeling of Abaddon's blood boiling.

"Could I, uh… talk to you for a minut-"

Abaddon disappeared in a column of fire immediately.

-

"… You could've at least heard him out."

"I heard him breathing. That was more than enough. Anything else would've ended in me picking quail out of my teeth."

Abaddon and Mateo were walking side by side through the hallway of their home.

Both men were dressed but in much more leisure clothing than what they would ordinarily wear.

Abaddon was still very clearly boiling up about what had happened earlier. Leaving Mateo to try and unwind his best friend without also falling in the way of his wrath.

Oddly enough, Nyx was also following behind the two men quite closely. She just wasn't saying anything because she didn't want Abaddon to refuse to take her again.

"This doesn't make any sense…" Abaddon held his head in his hands. "I thought I had done my best to show Yemaja what a husband should be.

How could she go out of her way to pick a man who's the direct opposite of everything I've tried to show her??"

Nyx finally couldn't help herself and said her piece.

"…Maybe the bird won't be that bad."

Abaddon paused on a dime and turned around to stare at Nyx like she'd grown horns and a tail. Even Mateo was questioning her decision to speak up.

"…When did you even get here?"

Nyx shrugged as if the mystery was hers to keep for as long as she liked.

"Abaddon!"

As if the day couldn't get any worse, Ziz suddenly turned a corner down the hall and ran towards them.

Abaddon's blood began boiling hot enough to make lava seem like playdough in comparison.

"Boy… You are a kind of stupid that hasn't even been invented yet."

Ziz swallowed hard as he came to a stop in front of an irate Abaddon.

"That might be, but…I wouldn't be a man if I didn't come and talk to you myself."

The strangest thing suddenly happened out of nowhere.

Abaddon seemingly lost all of his hostility.

Instead, he smiled so wide that his eyes nearly closed and his lips almost split.

"Oh, I see… You want to be a man. Alright then."

Before Ziz knew what was happening, Abaddon lashed out and grabbed the golden bird by the head.