First Demonic Dragon

There were very few times in life where Abaddon had fully lost track of his train of thought.

But now, his mind was thoroughly trapped within a dense fog that showed no signs of petering out anytime soon.

He was replaying every moment of his life for the past nine thousand years. Most specifically, the memories he had of Thea.

Thea wasn't just his oldest child.

For Abaddon, she was a living breathing ray of light that gave Abaddon everything he didn't even know he was missing.

Raising her, more than any other experience, had taught him the true merit of patience, unconditional love, and adaptability.

Watching her grow up was both the most rewarding and the most difficult challenge of his entire life.

It was the hurt that never stopped hurting, because every time he thought that she had firmly cemented herself in his mind as an adult, she did something that made him realize that he still wasn't over it.

But now… he had no idea how he was going to forget this.

His daughter was going to have her first child today. And there was no amount of training or exercises that could have prepared him for something like this…

"MY BABY!!! MAMA'S COMING!!!"

Abaddon snapped out of his fog long enough to realize that he was in Thea's palace.

He didn't even remember leaving the meeting… That meant he probably didn't have the warmest exit.

He moved just in time to grab Valerie and Sif out of the air before they could rush through the door to Thea's room.

"Girls, wait!"

"YOU wait, fathead! Our baby needs us!" Sif responded angrily.

"Who're you calling fat head, muscle brain?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Should I have said fat heads instead?!"

"Y-You little-"

Abaddon and Sif devolved into a full-blown wrestling match in the middle of the floor.

Sif somehow managed to get behind him and wrapped him into a brutal headlock.

However, Abaddon was able to break out with relative ease and held his wife firmly in a firmly placed submission hold.

While the two of them had devolved into a literal fight in the middle of the hall, Valerie was free to make her run for the door.

And she had almost reached it, but before she could there was a familiar purple-skinned figure standing in her path.

"Sorry, darlin'. Our parents afforded us the courtesy of giving birth in private, so that means we owe our daughter the same." Audrina smiled.

Valerie clenched her knuckles as she prepared for a fight.

"Babe… I really don't want to hurt you, but our children come first! I'm getting in there by any means necessary!"

"I look forward to seeing how beautiful you look when you try, dearest."

Valerie hated Audrina sometimes. It was that vampire-like demeanor that just made her too sexy for her own good.

But today, she would not be swayed by breasts and thighs and silky, dreamlike hair!

Their daughter needed her, and she was going to make sure to be there for her no matter what!

"I'm going in too." Lisa appeared at her side. "Little Aubrey doesn't know the unbearable trials associated with giving birth and she will need someone to guide her through it."

""Us too!"" Erica and Tatiana stepped forward.

Only now was Audrina starting to grow slightly less confident.

Luckily, backup was not very far away.

"Drina is right, my loves."

"We haven't been called for, so we can't interfere. This is an important moment for them and we can't interfere with it."

Bekka and Seras arrived at Audrina's side to save the day.

Valerie and the others were beginning to sweat.

However, there was one very crucial weapon that the girls had yet to put into play.

Lisa said nothing as she stepped to the side.

The three women guarding the door sucked in their breath as they stared at Eris in all of her precious glory.

This was no longer a fair fight.

It was practically chemical warfare.

"My loves… would you please step aside… for me?" Eris asked while blinking her eyes innocently.

"Whatever you say, Pookie-butt!" Bekka had already started moving.

"B-Bekka, no!" Seras grabbed her and pulled her back. "We have to stay strong!"

"But look at her!"

"I know, but remember exactly what we're doing this for!" Seras pleaded.

A sudden sniffling noise drew both of the girls' attention.

When they looked up, Eris' big, round eyes had become slightly watery.

Seras' iron will crumbled like cheap granola bars.

A couple of feet away, Izanami and Asherah were standing against the wall and watching the entire scene take place.

Asherah could be seen holding little K'ael, who was caught between trying to understand why this woman had no face and dozing off to sleep.

"They certainly are a lively bunch, aren't they..?" She mused.

Izanami smiled fondly at them.

"I must admit to wondering.. if I will be able to fit in properly amongst them. I've never quite been so animated..."

Asherah turned her head to stare at Izanami as if she had just said something strange. "Isn't it a little late to be worried about something like that with all things considered...?"

Now, it was Izanami's turn to look at her, confused. "I don't believe I understand..?"

Asherah suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she had said something that she shouldn't have. "Pardon me... It seems I have misspoke-"

"Don't give me that."

Izanami suddenly stood in front of Asherah boldly. Her gaze was as unwavering as stone.

"I need you to tell me anything that might even vaguely be important. It will help me more than I can even begin to put into words."

-

A short time later, the door to Thea's bedroom finally cracked open and Jasmine poked her head outside.

What she saw was a field full of adults squabbling on her hallway floor. Her mother unfortunately among them.

However, it was worth noting that Abaddon and Sif were not so much fighting as they were blatantly kissing right in the open.

"...What are you guys doing...?"

The hallway immediately became unbearably silent.

"...W-We were just-"

"Trying to be considerate and-"

"Wanted to help so-"

A peculiarity of living with the Tathamets for a long time is that one becomes really, really good at listening to multiple points of view all at once.

Jasmine was able to get the gist of the argument relatively quickly.

"Well... we appreciate you guys wantin' to help 'n stuff, but how come you guys didn't just knock on the door and ask what we needed?"

"We... probably should've." Abaddon lowered his head.

The wives immediately followed his gesture.

Jasmine couldn't help but snicker.

As far as in-laws went, she was pretty sure hers were the absolute best in all of creation.

Even if they were somewhat dense and hard to keep up with sometimes.

"Do you want to come in and meet them?" Jasmine asked with a smile.

At that moment, Lisa looked up crestfallen. "You mean... We missed the birth?"

The sound of the wives' hearts breaking was practically audible.

Jasmine scratched the back of her head. "In all fairness, there wasn't really a normal birth like you guys were thinking?"

"Eh?"

"Well, Aubrey's stomach started glowing, and then Thea's stomach started glowing, and then there was this big flash of light and all of a sudden they were holding two brand spanking new baby boys. They didn't even come out dirty or anything." Jasmine shrugged.

The wives who'd had more difficult births were torn between extreme relief and extreme jealousy.

"Come on in." Jasmine widened the door.

Abaddon was the first to lift himself off the ground, and he helped the rest of the wives around him get to their feet as well.

Slowly, the couple wandered into the room and marveled at what they found.

While they were apparently outside bickering, Lailah was already inside.

She smiled at her loved ones as soon as they entered and beckoned them forward.

"What took you all so long? I was sure that you would have shown up quicker than this."

Cradled in Thea and Aubrey's arms were two identical-looking boys.

They both had rather sheepish, innocent looks.

Their eyes were similar to their grandmother's. Multiple vibrant colors that seemed to have originated from their multiple mothers.

Both of the boys had golden skin and scales that made them look like shimmering living statues.

Their navels both possessed black swirling symbols that looked curiously similar to Thea's.

Like K'ael, both had two chunky tails swinging from behind their backs to the tune of Aubrey's gentle humming.

Thea looked up at her father and smiled with tears running down her face.

He had never seen her so proud of... anything before.

For the first time in his life, Abaddon looked at Thea and did not see the child he'd raised—only the woman whom she had become.

Thea held up one of her young son's arms and made him wave.

"Say hello to Grandpa~"

- Unknown

Percival stood in a candlelit room, staring at a set of maps on a wooden table.

The crackle of the small flame was the only sound in the room.

Three more figures were standing against the wall, just out of sight of the crackling flame.

Eventually, Percival became tired of thinking for himself and simply held up the different maps on the table for his companions to take a gander at.

"What do you lot think? In the interest of personal nostalgia, of course?"

A figure moved out of the darkness and Percival saw a hand point to one of the three maps.

For a moment, the edge of Peecival's lips curled into a smile.

"You know what? I think that's perfect."