First Demonic Dragon

Abaddon was currently mediating.

This was probably the longest time on record that he had spent doing so ever since he got married and had kids.

It let him know one thing that he hadn't exactly put in the time to think about before.

He was bad at meditation.

Quiet for him was like too much cheese in Bekka's stomach. Didn't agree with him.

His home was always loud and chaotic. The sound of laughter was like an ever rolling storm that hadn't stopped for thousands of years.

He liked quiet sometimes, but he liked buzzing quiet.

Like the silent afterglow that came after he and his wives lied together at the end of a night of passion.

The difference between the two was a warm silence. Meditating to him now felt cold. Almost like being alone.

Growing accustomed to being alone felt like going a step in the wrong direction for him.

"Why am I doing this?"

He opened his eyes after a lengthy amount of time had passed. His eyelids almost felt like they had been glued shut.

Oblivion was a couple of feet in front of him- sprawled out on his stomach and reading something on an iPad.

"You're trying to peer beyond your current understanding of multiversal infinity to witness a crumb of totality- or the Omniverse. The domain over which we- and by that I mean I, but eventually you- hold an integral hand in molding."

"And why is that?"

"Help you understand the gravity of what's looming over your shoulder."

Abaddon stretched his stiffened bones and yawned. "I believe I may have a good enough grasp already."

Oblivion snarked. "Oh do you now? Funny as-"

The pure black scene floating around them was overwritten.

Storm clouds rolled in from all directions without so much as a single sound.

They fused together and grew in size until a living storm was formed that had an oddly sentient shape.

Bright currents of purple appeared to be running through the storm clouds like living lightning.

A face started to form along the clouds. Oblivion raised a brow.

He glanced at Abaddon and found that while he wasn't looking away, he probably should have been.

Ominous multi-colored blood was leaking from his three eyes.

He gritted his teeth and opened the two additional eyes in his face, and the one situated in the middle of his chest.

"Good shit, boy!" *Smack!*

"Ow!" Abaddon rubbed the back of his head and his illusion broke. The smack from Oblivion having clearly broken his concentration.

"And you did that why?" Abaddon hissed.

"I was proud of you. Wasn't that obvious?" Oblivion asked innocently.

Abaddon just grunted as he wiped his eyes. He wasn't by the whole 'chunky and innocent' act for a second.

And unsurprisingly, Oblivion seemed to know it.

"...You utilized what little of our connection that you could and paired my knowledge with your own imagination. That's good. Tenacious even. But there is a reason why I told you to peek. Not gaze.

As you are now, you are very, very, small. No different from a very big fish in a small pond-unaware of the ocean you swim in.

Forcing yourself to gaze upon the true face of Chaos as you are now would have rendered your eyes beyond repair. Be. Careful."

Abaddon smirked; his eyes blurry from discomfort and agitation.

"So I assume that I must've made quite the accurate depiction then."

Oblivion wasn't sure if he should say that his vessel was insane or just suicidal. The difference between the two is so hard to tell sometimes.

"...You came close, yea. Was that worth your sight though?"

"It's not my first time having difficulty seeing."

Abaddon manifested pair of glasses onto his face that were comically similar to Oblivion's.

"Enough parlor games." Abaddon sighed. "I need you to tell me how to keep Chaos out of my house and away from my wives. Is there a way to notify the Balance of her transgressions and see her punished?"

"...Not for us, I'm afraid." Oblivion admitted.

"What?"

"Our relationship would not exactly fit with the description of 'law-abiding'. I more than any of my cousins am supposed to be blank. Empty.

I should not want for anything or else It will affect my duty. I should have no personality.

Should we make the choice to alert the Boundary, or that eternal goodie-goodie Order, then we will be noticed, and see punishment along with her.

You will be gone. I will be blank once again. We will never have the chance to fully form... Shit is sad, isn't it?"

Annoying was moreso what Abaddon had in mind, but he didn't tell Oblivion that.

"So then our best course of action is...?"

"I can give you a sigil to inscribe that will help block her vision inside of Tehom, as well as inhibit her ability to appear there."

"A simple sigil can do all of that?"

"Mhm. If you put it in the right place. You might die trying to carve it though."

"What?"

"What?"

Both entities stared at each other with no small amount of stupefaction on their faces.

"Are you really going to act like you didn't just say what you just said?" Abaddon sighed.

Oblivion only shrugged as he sat down next to him. "It is a rune capable of obscuring the sight of xeno-dimensional entities, made by other xeno-dimensional entities. Did you think it would be as easy as drawing on a sidewalk?"

"I was hoping that for once something would be."

Oblivion patted Abaddon on the shoulder pitifully. "Keep hoping, big guy."

"Don't patronize me." Abaddon sighed. "Just teach me how to craft this rune."

"Sure, sure." Oblivion crafted up a piece of paper and began drawing on it.

"Oh yea, I don't recommend you showing this to anyone else by the way." Oblivion suddenly informed. "Except for maybe those brides of yours, anyone else who tried to look at it would find their minds melted. And no, I'm not exaggerating."

Abaddon suppressed a shiver. He'd have to make a point to keep this little note on him at all times- lest one of his daughters accidentally find the note of death while rummaging through his pockets.

"I will do that then... But why would the girls be unaffected?"

Oblivion stopped in the midst of his writing and slowly turned to stare at Abaddon with a dumbfounded look.

"You... I'm sorry. I thought you would have connected the dots by now."

"Dots..?" Abaddon tilted his head.

Oblivion put down his pen and paper.

He shuffled his body so that he could sit directly across from Abaddon.

"It really hasn't dawned on you? Why Chaos specifically chose your brides to be her vessels?"

"Their ability to fuse into Ayaana." Abaddon said.

Oblivion shook his head.

"A'Tivik.

A'Ghor.

A'Zieb.

A'Habbat.

A'Tellif.

A'Nuht.

A'Disat.

A'Tanti.

A'Une.

A'Kkraa.

Ten of your wives were all given ten different names when they became demons in the original timeline. The engravings on their essences have persisted even throughout two timeline resets. Why do you think that is?"

Abaddon's eyes widened as he felt his heartbeat quicken. His head began to pound and his vision started to worsen further.

"You're not saying..."

Oblivion looked truly concerned. "You more than anyone else knows exactly how demons operate. How they grow in power, and how they become named. You never wondered for even a second about who could have named your wives?"

-

"Old man! Wake up, old man!"

Apophis was busy shaking his father as he slumbered on the couch.

"Stop bothering him, Apophis!" Courtney cried from atop her father's back. "He's having one of those really important naps again!"

"And he can go right back to it after I sort this out!" Apophis stubbornly pulled on his father's hair.

"You're being a jerk! Good brothers don't over-police their sisters like this!"

"It is literally in the job description, now get off of me!"

"No! He already gave his permission so stop trying to-"

Abaddon awoke with a start.

He immediately sat up on the couch, and since Apophis was looming over him not moments before, their foreheads collided in a titanic clash.

Courtney just barely managed to get off of her brother's back before he was sent flying across the room.

...She was mildly amused and did her best to bite back a snicker.

Though her amusement only lasted until she laid eyes on her father.

Abaddon was visibly shaken in a way that she'd never seen before. His reptilian pupils were trembling like leaves in a harsh wind.

His strong chest rose and fell quickly, and he seemed to have a bit of difficulty gathering himself.

"Dad...? Can you breathe slowly for me?" Courtney took his hand.

Abaddon slowly regained his focus.

He looked down at Courtney's worried face and smiled at her reassuringly.

It didn't work as well as it normally would have.

"Sorry about that... How long was I down for?"

Courtney stared at her father with an unbelieving look. "A-A couple hours I think. What happened?"

Abaddon sighed as he fixed his hair that was unusually messy for some reason. "I have something to guard our home. I suppose you could call that a success in and of itself."

Courtney nodded slowly. "Okay then... Wanna tell me why you seem so-"

"Ugh.."

Apophis slowly lifted himself out of the new him-shaped hole in the wall. "And I'm supposed to be the one who's hard-headed..? Yeah right.."

When Abaddon's eyes landed on his son, he temporarily forgot all about the staggering revelation he'd just been privy to.

He practically teleported across the room and embraced his son with all of his strength.

Apophis, though briefly stunned, quickly hugged his father right back.

"...You're home. My son is home."

Apophis felt his chest tighten up. "Being a bit overdramatic don't you think..? I wasn't gone that long."

"Says you."

The young prince bit back his words. "...Sorry about the way I left. I just needed time to-"

"I understand. I just hope you won't leave again."

Abaddon pulled himself off of his son and smiled at him. Though that smile quickly disappeared when he noticed his bandaged chest.

"You're hurt. What happened?"

Apophis looked down at his chest and smiled wryly.

"Ah... A lot can happen in a couple hours I'm afraid."

Abaddon could already feel a concerningly large migraine forming.