First Demonic Dragon - Chapter 1210: Trudging Forward When The Time Comes

Chapter 1210: Trudging Forward When The Time Comes

Izanami wasn’t sure whether to follow behind her husband or let him have a moment alone with her daughter.

If things started to go in an unproductive direction again, she wanted to be there to at least keep the peace. She was also tired of her family being at odds.

As she started to follow in their tracks, she felt a tail wrap around her waist and yank her through the air.

Abaddon turned around when he heard a yelp come from behind.

Seras waved her hand at her husband as if she were ushering him out the door.

“Go on, don’t mind us. We’ll both be here when you get back.” Seras wrapped her large body around Izanami’s delicate frame and closed her eyes. “We’ll be borrowing your bed for a little bit, Peach.”

Gabbrielle narrowed her eyes.

“…Please do not-”

“Just to sleep!”

Abaddon and Gabbrielle gave the two of them one final look before disappearing into the floor.

Izanami tried once to get out of bed after they left, but Seras held her firm.

“I know it all feels a bit concerning but we should let the two of them deal with this on their own. I’m sure things will work out.”

Izanami wasn’t so sure. “How do you know that…? They can both be very stubborn, and we don’t even know where they’re going.”

“We don’t have to know everything. I think it’s alright to trust them on their own this time.” Seras nuzzled closer to Izanami’s neck. “Besides, did you see the way that she went to her father just now? I don’t think Gabbrielle would be as obstinate as you think.”

Seras’ words became more fleeting. She pulled the covers up to their necks and mentally turned off the lamp.

“…Seras, I’m not tired.” Izanami tried to tell her.

“Zzzz….”

In the end, Izanami lies there, eyes alert and waiting for her husband and daughter to return to the room in better standing than they had left it. Or for her wife to release her grip on her waist and chest.

Whichever came first.

–

Gabbrielle had seen countless depictions of mortality’s perception of Oblivion… From the dark and dreary to the absolute nothing from which Bekka was derived.

She hadn’t expected them all to be completely wrong.

It wasn’t just nothing. It was everything. The dark ocean from where all that has been forgotten will sink, and all that will be is fated to rise out of it’s waters.

It was loud. And quiet.

Her eyes could make out so very little of what she was seeing. Something that she had never experienced before.

These were things that went beyond her comprehension.

One and four-dimensional constructs, races of people with languages only her father would still know, as well as methods of science that would not even apply to their corner of reality.

It was all here. And yet, it also wasn’t.

That was Oblivion. That was her father.

“You shouldn’t be bringing her here.”

Gabbrielle looks up as a versionof her father appears above her head.

The figure is missing her father’s warmth. He lacks his devotion to her and her siblings that is seen with every interaction.

And yet, there is an underlying compassion in his voice that confirms he does care for her.

It is difficult to stare at him for long because of the power flowing off him. There is an absurd absoluteness to it.

He is all-encompassing like nothing she has ever known. In comparison to him, she feels small. Barely even worth mentioning.

Infinity was spawned from Oblivion. She begins to understand the true meanings of the phrases ’boundless’ and ’without limit’.

This was an Absolute. There were none like him.

Gabbrielle is unsure of how to behave. She instinctively holds her father more tightly.

“It’s just for a moment.” Abaddon says.

Oblivion shakes his head. “Do you still not understand how inconsequential the title of ’a moment’ is in a place like this? You shouldn’t be coming here either, as a matter of fact. You risk exposing us.”

“I know.”

“I have every mind to send you out and bar you from entering our realm.”

“Can you do that?”

“I can do anything. I was already annoyed when you kept summoning those heavy doors every time you came here. It’s unnecessary.” Oblivion spits.

“The visualization helps me to focus.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed your little need for handicaps. It’s never not embarrassing, I assure you.”

Gabbrielle watches her fathers interact with each other with a bit less timidity in her eyes than before.

She likens them to two halves of a coin. Oblivion seems to hold all of their logic and power while Abaddon slowly grows.

They exchange quips back and forth like brothers. Twins.

It has never been more apparent to Gabbrielle than it was right now; her father was sorely in need of therapy.

Eventually, Oblivion’s eye sockets settled on Gabbrielle’s small form.

She instinctively turns her head and buries it within her father’s neck. Though she is not a child, for the first time in her life, she actually feels like one.

The timidity she feels is akin to how young children react to strangers.

But Oblivion was as familiar to her as the hair on her head. That made her feel even more upset with her behavior. If she could have curled up and died, she would have.

She feels a hand rest on her head gently. She knows in an instant it is his.

Where her father’s touch reverberates with power, Oblivion’s conveys an emptiness. Gabbrielle feels her hearing fade. Her vision darkens.

In her mind, she can see a dream of herself asleep in her bed, as Oblivion places his hand over her head and sings to her peacefully.

Gabbrielle thinks, for the first time, that there is nothing truly frightening about Oblivion at all.

“…Be quick about it then.” Oblivion finally says.

Abaddon starts to snort. “I thought you just said-”

“If I hit you in our face, it’s because you kept talking.”

Abaddon can only roll his eyes and move away.

Or at least, that was Gabbrielle’s interpretation of how things went.

In truth, Abaddon hadn’t necessarily moved at all. He had moved the entire realm around to bring what he needed before them.

Gabbrielle looks up from his neck, finally.

She lays eyes on a large Behemoth made of white rock. Chained to the nothingness around him and weeping from the agony of this place.

Though he is great and terrible in stature, his soul is that of someone broken and bloody.

“…Is that?”

Abaddon nodded. “He gave me a bit of trouble before. I’m still-”

He coughs uncontrollably as if to enunciate his point. Gabbrielle’s worry is clearly written across her small face.

Abaddon feels almost relieved to see it.

“I’m fine, I’m fine… Sorry, that was bad manners.”

Gabbrielle tightens her grip on his hoodie again.

“Is there… no way for your other half to cure you?”

“…He has already given me the method. Though I remain on the fence about using it.”

“What could there possibly be to contemplate? You are not getting better, and the world is soon to be more dangerous.”

Abaddon feels slightly flustered at the question.

“I… just want to make sure that I do it for the right reasons.”

Gabbrielle was hoping that her father’s answer would make more sense. She was disappointed when it didn’t.

“I brought you here for this…”

Abaddon waved his hand, and a series of screens and visions rushed out of Bayach’al’s nose.

Gabbrielle’s scarlet eyes widen. “These are…”

“Everything we need to know about WorldJoiner and the army she’s bringing with her. Their tactics, their specialties, their numbers, the leadership… It’s all here.”

Abaddon shifted Gabbrielle to his other arm and placed his forehead against hers.

“And I want you to go over all of it with me. Because I am sorry. And I would very much like your forgiveness.”

Gabbrielle fell silent as she closed her eyes.

Abaddon is left reeling when she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him back.

“I’m sorry too…”

–

Izanami felt like no time had passed at all before Abaddon and Gabbrielle returned.

When they came back, Gabbrielle was sitting cutely atop her father’s shoulders, and there was a noticeable shine in her eyes.

Izanami believed that to be a good sign.

“Soo… how are things?” She whispers.

“”Fine.”” The duo say in unison.

Izanami grins more widely.

“That’s… really good to hear. Did you tell her the news, honey?”

Abaddon’s body tenses.

“Well…”

“What news?” Gabbrielle turns her head.

“You, my dear, are going to be a big sister again. Aren’t you excited?!”

Abaddon hears Gabbrielle’s heart crack.

Slowly, she turns her head towards the ceiling and stares at the heavens.

“…What have I done for you to torment me so…?”

Abaddon laughs nervously. “N-Now, now, don’t be so dramatic… Truthfully, we still don’t know how or when we-”

Suddenly, Gabbrielle’s door is kicked open.

Lailah rushes in, smiling in satisfaction and holding her phone to Abaddon’s face.

“Clear your calendar for next weekend, we’re going to your high school reunion!”

Abaddon’s jaw falls open.

He slowly turns his head towards the sky, a clear loss of will to live in his eyes.

“Old man… why are you doing this to us..?”