First Demonic Dragon - Chapter 1054: We Missed You

Chapter 1054: We Missed You

Are you doing this because you care about her, or to protect yourself?

Echoes of regret rattled around in Abaddon’s mind until they were too loud for him to ignore.

He started to throw his head against the nearest wall out of spite, but paused when he remembered the reason why Sei asked him to stop doing that.

He stood alone on the rooftop garden. The soft grass grew even smoother and more vibrant underneath his feet the longer he stood on it.

After over five minutes of standing in place, the grass was nearly akin to a cloud. Perhaps that had added to his reluctance to move.

Bayle nudged the back of his leg as if to remind him what he had even come there for.

“Right, right… probably shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

Abaddon kept moving through the garden until he reached a deeper grove.

The trees here were more closely planted together. Working together, their leaves were better able to block out the sun.

The others thought it would be comforting. They were right.

“What are you doing here?”

Abaddon was surprised to find Belloc lingering around Isabelle’s statue.

He looked shocked to see his father suddenly sneak up on them.

Belloc clammed up. “Just… saying hi, I guess.”

Abaddon looked down at the flowers placed carefully around Isabelle’s feet.

“Little more than that, no?”

Belloc looked away while rubbing the back of his head. “I didn’t want Mom to think that Auntie had been uncared for.”

Abaddon was pleasantly surprised.

Belloc recoiled. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s gross.”

Abaddon brought down the fist of fatherhood on top of Belloc’s head.

“You brat.” He murmured. “You don’t have to act like you’re too cool for everything all the time. It won’t kill you.”

“Well, yeah, but then you’d never leave me alone.”

Abaddon rolled his eyes. If he didn’t know any better, he would swear that Belloc just didn’t like him.

“What is that?”

Abaddon looked down at the beaker full of blue liquid in his hand.

“It’s your aunt’s cure.”

Belloc immediately perked up. “Where’s mom?? She’s going to want to be here for this!”

Abaddon felt his brow twitch. ’So this is how my father feels when I don’t show him favoritism.’

“Dad.” Belloc urged.

Abaddon realized he’d been dangerously close to hitting his son over the head again.

He slowly put his arm down. “Sleeping, probably. She’s not exactly fully recovered from being back either.”

Abaddon moved towards the statue and hovered the strange cure over one of her hands.

He emptied the glassware over her head and stepped back when there was none left to administer.

Belloc waited and waited, but nothing happened.

He stared at his father suspiciously.

“You sure that wasn’t just blue Kool-Aid?”

Abaddon didn’t know what he was more offended by. The implication that he would mistake the two, or the fact that Belloc still didn’t know he didn’t even like Kool-Aid.

“Just joking, I know you think it’s gross.”

Abaddon snorted. “Just have a little faith and be patient. Your grandmother is one of the smartest women I know.”

“Oh, Granny made it? Why didn’t you say so?” Belloc was suddenly much more relaxed. “I thought you did at first and I was really concerned.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean? I possess the very same level of intellect that your mother does.”

“Yeah, but you don’t always do smart things so its harder to trust you.” He admitted.

“…Is it just your life’s mission to keep me humble or something?”

Belloc winked and held up two finger guns. Abaddon almost hit him again.

Bayle curled up at Abaddon’s feet; seemingly showcasing his intent to stick around and at least see Isabelle wake.

As Abaddon watched him, he felt his reflective mood from earlier beginning to return.

“Would my refusing to tell your sister about how she was born fall into the category of me not doing smart things?”

“We all know how we were born.” Belloc rolled his eyes in disgust. His parents were a bunch of dirty old people.

“I’m talking about Thrudd.”

Belloc quickly lost his expression of shock and stared at his father in a new light. He grimaced and brought his hand to his head.

“Shit… I should have known that Thor thing was going to mess her up, but with Bebe around, I just didn’t think she’d…”

Abaddon’s continued silence made Belloc stop talking himself. He closed his eyes and let out a deeply held sigh.

“…I don’t really blame you for being a little paranoid about telling her everything that happened. But Thrudd is Thrudd. I don’t think it would really change anything for her.”

Abaddon hoped that his son was right.

*Crack!*

Both men looked up when they heard a noise coming from the statue.

A hairline crack could be seen between a layer of grey stone. And it was spreading more and more every second.

Bell ran over to a particularly dark corner of the grove and knelt on the grass.

Repeatedly, he tapped on the darkest shadows he could find.

“Mom. Mom. Mom.”

“….”

Bell increased the frequency of his taps as well as the urgency of his calls.

“Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, mother, mother, mother, mother, mothe-”

A purple hand shot out of the shadows and covered Belloc’s mouth.

Slowly, Audrina’s head rose from the shadows, and her eyes were still half closed.

“Bell… I assure you that wasn’t cute when you were three, and it’s even less cute now.”

Belloc pointed to the statue that was starting to shake. Audrina woke up instantly.

She lifted herself out of the shadows without bothering to put on more than a simple silk robe.

Impatiently, Audrina circled her sister while stone flaked off her skin and landed on the ground.

One of her uncovered eyes suddenly opened dramatically.

She gasped, and the rush of energy sent the concrete flying off of her like shrapnel.

After so long without standing properly, Isabelle started to fall back on her butt like she was a child trying to walk.

Audrina caught her sister just before the fall.

She lowered her sibling to the ground, and her tears were already falling.

Groggy, Isabelle feared the worst.

“H-How long have I been out…? Oh my god… Did I miss a new season of Restaurant Savior???”

Audrina laughed as she sobbed all over her sister.

“You didn’t miss anything… Just your house getting demolished.”

Isabelle lost so much color in her face that she turned fair-skinned. “WHAT!?”

Audrina held her sister’s face and smiled at her tenderly. Her tears fell onto Isabelle’s cheeks and made it look as if she had been the one crying.

“You’re moving in with us, and your stuff is already here. As long as I live, I am never going to let my baby sister out of my sight again.”

Isabelle felt as if the lights in her vision had been cut off for a fraction of a second.

In one moment, her sister was a majestic purple-skinned goddess who was as frightening as she was beautiful.

But in the next, the two of them were nearly identical. Fair-skinned women with violet eyes and sharp horns.

Where Isabelle’s silver hair was a bit shorter, Audrina’s was long and came all the way down her back and spilled onto the grass.

What started as a small sniffle in Isabelle’s throat devolved into a fit of incomprehensible bawling.

The two of them held each other tightly as they cried. They may as well have been the only two people in the world.

Abaddon and Belloc were of the same mind and quietly backed away to allow the girls some time.

As they watched, Abaddon reached for his son’s head and Belloc braced himself to get hit again.

He was pleasantly surprised when, instead of striking him, Abaddon placed his hand on top of his son’s head affectionately.

–

Behemoth was in her room, lying on her back while she stared at the ceiling.

Ever since her last spat with Thrudd, the two had been staying in separate bedrooms, and Behemoth didn’t come out to see anyone like she used to.

However, that didn’t mean she was starved for company.

“I really think you are both making this so much harder than it needs to be. Couples kiss and make up all the time, so why can’t the two of you?”

Fiona was lying across Behemoth’s bed, reading a new BL manga featuring two characters that looked dangerously similar to people who lived in this house.

In between drooling and committing pages to her inner spank bank, she persistently tried to give out love advice for the warring couple.

“There can be no reunification.” Behemoth said obstinately. “Thrudd has insulted me by implying that I am not fit for battle.”

“Did you hear about what happened to your brother when he went out? Sounds like she may have been right.”

“Ziz is good, but weak. I am far superior to him in terms of strength. I should have been allowed to go.”

“I think you’re just feeling a little betrayed and don’t know how to deal.”

“I think you should stop coming into my room.”

“Then stop opening the door for me!”

Suddenly, there was a rather desperate series of knocks on the door and Behemoth let out a low grumble.

She crawled from her position to the door and opened it while still rubbing her eyes.

“No more company please… we are currently at capacity and I can’t take-”

“Bebe…”

Ordinarily, when Behemoth saw Thrudd sitting outside, she shut the door in her face.

But the fact that she was crying this time made that exponentially harder.

“I know we’re not talking right now, but… c-can you go somewhere with me?” Thrudd asked weakly.