First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 1127: What An Abscence Does

“…I’m still stuck on the part where she tried to sleep with you.” Raphael recoiled.

“I would also like to hear more about that bit.” Yesh held up his hand.

“T-The point is..!” Asherah yelled abruptly. “We had a deal, Bekka. Now that the demons know about your mother’s powers, they’re too dangerous to keep.”

“She’s staying home, and we’re not letting anyone in our house for the time being. There isn’t any danger.”

“How long can you honestly say that? I don’t have to remind you of what kind of woman your mother is. She’ll likely start wanting to leave because you told her that she can’t.”

Bekka cursed her mother silently for being so famously hard-headed.

“I swore responsibility for her, and that hasn’t changed since we first talked.” Bekka insisted. “No one is going to be allowed to hurt my mom.”

Asherah was greatly unconvinced. Maybe it was her knowledge of demons’ tenacity, or it could have been Karliah’s stubbornness.

All she knew for sure was that she didn’t feel fully confident in this plan.

“I believe she has made her point adequately.” Yesh laughed so hard he deteriorated into another coughing fit. “If she is so confident, let her continue to bear the responsibility. I trust her…”

The family could tell his time was drawing to a close again. Being at the root springs was helping a bit, but Yesh still needed more time to rest. As well as a permanent way to recover.

“We’ve troubled you too much today. Forgive us.” Uriel clasped her father’s hand.

“An unnecessary apology. It is the joy of an old man to, for once, not feel as old as he looks. I have enjoyed my few moments of consciousness. If only it were not so fleeting.”

With the help of his daughter, Yesh lay back in the pool of warm water.

His eyes gradually fluttered closed, but he held his free hand out in specific directions like he could still see.

“Bekka, child, please come closer.”

Bekka felt slightly like she had been called to the front of the class to present. The pressure made her feel somewhat awkward.

When she took Yesh’s small, fragile hand in her own, she feared that she would crush it with the slightest application of force.

“You… are a good daughter to your mother.” Yesh wheezed slightly as he spoke. “Continue to be her guiding light and keep her protected from darkness. I believe that if you remind her of the immense responsibility on her shoulders, she will respond accordingly.”

“…I kinda already did that by yelling at her on accident.”

“Hohoho.. then it is your duty to make amends quickly while you have the chance. Life is too precious to spend it at odds with loved ones.”

Bekka was silent for a moment as she pondered.

“I’ll get her a really good leash.”

Yesh somehow looked even more physically exhausted. “Bekka… don’t be rude. Your mother may have her ways but she is still-”

“No, no, I think she’ll really like it! She can use it to train her subs!”

Yesh’s face lost even more color than before.

“…Right, then. As long as you believe she’ll be happy.”

Bekka smiled proudly. She was such a great daughter.

Yesh released her shortly after and held out his arm again without saying who it was for.

Abaddon sat beside the pool and took it.

One by one, everyone around them began to discreetly move away to give them privacy.

“…Do an old man a favor. Don’t spoil the climax of this reunion by holding this dark cloud over your head.”

Abaddon was silent as he stared at Yesh.

“You should resent me after all that has transpired. You are lord of all, and yet you aren’t even fit enough to run a lap around my living room. Because of me. Because of what I did to you.”

“You’re very broody today…”

“This isn’t a joke. You could have stopped trying to help me a long time ago, but you destroyed yourself trying to fix me. How can I not feel burdened by that?”

“You should not. I made my own choices, just as every man, woman, and child is entitled to. I was neglectful in your creation.

My hope was that by stripping away the negativity of your source material, you would emerge as a much kinder force for Order and Good.

But in my youth, I neglected the most basic fundamental law of emotion. For kind beings, having no one else to be kind to is a hell unlike any other. I condemned you to something you did not deserve. Thus, I needed to right he wrong.”

“And I repaid your charity by taking a bite out of your side.”

“I cannot say I didn’t deserve it. But it was at the peak of your madness that I learned to derive the most hope.”

“…What?”

“With every wash that you took through the well of souls, you got the faintest bit better. It was minuscule, but it gave me hope that one day you would be whole again.

That is why I have never been able to be angry with you for the choices you made or the setbacks you have inflicted on yourself. Falling or flying, stumbling or coasting, I am aware that this is not your final form. I enjoy seeing the journey you take.

When you find your way, I know that you will become a son, a brother, a husband, and a father unlike anything the universes have yet to create.

As long as you can remember your journey does not end when you make a mistake, you will be everything you were meant to be sooner rather than later. And my pride in you will be immeasurable, because I have seen it clearly even when my foresight has left me.”

Yesh’s dight had failed him. Abaddon considered himself lucky for that, briefly. He didn’t want Yesh to see him like this, or anyone else, for that matter.

He held his face in his hands, his hair helping to obscure his face from the light.

And yet, the water running down his hand was unmistakable.

Abaddon wished he had taken the chance to say something else. However, no words came out.

All that he could do was stand up silently and walk away, separated from any family.

Yesh’s mind was in and out. He felt Abaddon leave, and felt Asherah replace him.

“…What did you say to him?”

“…I don’t remember.” Yesh said sadly. “But I hope that it was something he needed to hear.”

As Yesh’s breathing became more and more unstable, Asherah realized she was experiencing his final seconds of consciousness.

Without thinking about it, she hugged him tightly. Her own heart was marred with strife and panic.

And yet, she wanted to give her husband peace of mind so that he could rest without anxiety.

“…You may rest peacefully. I will see to it that the world does not even notice your absence.”

Yesh’s words were as quiet as a whisper. As fleeting as smoke in a windstorm.

“This task… was never meant for one person to carry out alone. L-Lean on… our family… that is where we… derive our strength.”

Yesh’s body went limp in the water with Asherah still holding him.

A tidal wave of emotion thrashed against the dam of her heart.

And yet, Asherah kept her face neutral. She controlled herself even though in the moment she felt uncontrollable.

She slowly lowered her husband into the water, tucking his arms close in to his sides and even fixing his hair like a dutiful wife.

A hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder.

She looked back at Azrael, and saw his sympathetic black eyes on the verge of spilling cloudy gray tears.

Perhaps that was he metaphorical straw to break the camel’s back. Because from there, Asherah entered a downward spiral where everything that she had been containing spilled out.

The sound of her sobbing reached the highest of heavens and the lowest of hells.

And every living thing, everywhere, wept in unison with her, even if they did not understand the reason.

–

Asherah didn’t think she could recall the last forty-eight hours with full lucidity.

It was all like a blur. She said the things that were familiar to her, and went home to do the things that she usually did.

But with Yesh gone, Asherah’s home felt much more empty. She had become increasingly aware of the gaping emptiness of her realm.

The place that was meant to be her place of retirement was now suffocating.

Echoes of the past haunted her like ghosts. She remembered smiling. She remembered the laughter and the endearing philosophical discussion.

Never in life had she wanted something so desperately. Never before had she wanted something she couldn’t have.

Asherah knew that lingering around her home probably wasn’t a good thing for her to do. Even deities are not immune to having their minds slip into dark places.

And yet, she wanted to be alone for a bit. Time to process everything would hopefully make everything a little more digestible.

“Mother…”

Asherah felt her heart drop to the soles of her feet.

Slowly, she turned around to face the voice of the person she least expected to see.

Lucifer appeared in her doorway, in his usual black suit and cloak, with his hair tumbling freely down his back.

His eyes were conflicted. Watery.

Asherah, in her immense grief and loneliness, ran into his arms without understanding why.