First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 1141: Long Time, No See

These last ten years had been some of the quietest of Abaddon’s entire life.

While living on earth, he hadn’t done much of anything but raise his children, go on dates with his wives, and tour the world.

He engaged in acts of philanthropy between grading papers and building up the football program. Saving the lives of displaced people in war-ravaged countries and shaping the futures of impressionable young men.

His wealth and the nature of his existence aside, Abaddon had lived such a relatively mundane life that sometimes he forgot about his past.

He never thought that earth, of all places, would be where he found peace, but this place had slowly turned into a haven for him.

And it all threatened to come crashing down, just because he saw the one person he could not stomach.

Abaddon stood up abruptly. His muscles strained against his shirt and threatened to tear the fabric.

Ms. Regina Brown was a 65-year-old woman who’d been divorced twice and widowed once.

She regularly told Abaddon that, if she hadn’t had her hip replaced, she’d be walking around with him on a leash.

…She was never quite clear on just which of them would be holding it.

Nevertheless, when she saw ’Mr Carter’s’ veins bulging out of his biceps and the fiery look in his eyes, her old, needy heart couldn’t take it.

“S-Sufferin’ succotash…”

The old woman slowly collapsed to the floor. Cutting through the tense atmosphere instantly and filling Abaddon with a sense of relief.

“…Oh, thank god.”

’Don’t say that, she could have hit her head!’ Odessa elbowed her father angrily.

“Right, right.”

Odessa ran up to the old woman and immediately knelt by her side. She placed her fingers over her neck to check for a pulse and slowly tried to fan her face.

Michael warily stepped away when she came closer. He was timid about the idea of even watching her.

“I-I don’t want any trouble, I’ll go..”

The angel backed away and ran smack into Abaddon.

The dragon stared down at him with a neutral, unreadable look in his red eyes.

“Why are you here?”

Michael swallowed uncomfortably.

“I just… I-It’s been a while, and-”

“What?” Abaddon asked impatiently.

“I never received a response to my letter… And I thought that maybe… You would ignore my request.”

Abaddon unfolded his arms. His eyes went from unreadable to full of palpable disbelief.

“…You really are Lucifer’s brother, aren’t you, Michael?”

Odessa lifted her head.

’Lucifer? Devilman Crybaby?’

“Yes, honey, Devilman Crybaby. This is his brother.”

Michael did not know the context behind this nickname, but he was overwhelmingly certain that it was not something of a positive nature.

The archangel looked down when he felt a heavy gaze upon him. He met eyes with a young woman whom he could never forget.

That vibrant, orange hair haunted his dreams. Those bright green eyes seemed to pierce through his physical disguise and see him for the very failure that he was.

The fact that she was older, and her gaze had more depth than most adults, made him all the more uncomfortable.

’Hello…’ Odessa waved halfheartedly.

Michael’s entire body trembled. It became more difficult for him to breathe, and he had a hard time deciding where to look.

“Y-Yes, hel-”

“Hey, you one-winged shit. My adorable little angel baby is talking to you.” Abaddon placed his hand over Michael’s head and squeezed.

’Dad!’ Odessa hissed.

Abaddon let go of Michael.

The angel slowly met eyes with Odessa and lowered her head.

“It is my great honor to meet you, young one. I am Michael. Second Son of God. Fallen Leader of the Hellguard, and Disgrace-”

“Jesus…”

“Too much?”

“Yes, she just wanted to know what your name was, not the reason you’re on suicide watch.” Abaddon hissed.

Michael made an O shape with his mouth.

He turned back to Odessa with a slightly embarrassed look.

“…I am Michael. Just Michael.”

Abaddon brought a hand to his face.

Odessa’s eyes sparkled with recognition.

She ran back to her father’s desk, where she had left her things.

Rummaging through her backpack, she found her pencil case and pulled out a trio of glittery white hairclips.

Michael visibly stiffened at the sight of them.

Odessa rushed up to the angel and held out the hairclips.

’I think these belong to you.’

If Abaddon wasn’t standing directly behind him, Michael might have fainted along with Miss Brown. “That..”

’It’s okay. You can take them. I’m sorry my mom removed them in the first place.’

Michael was baffled. Abaddon even more so.

“…I fear I can’t do that, child. Your mother was right to take those from me, and I have yet to pay my penance. Those wings are-”

’Jesus, Auntie Uriel was right…’

Uriel stood on her toes and inserted the clips into Michael’s hair.

Given that he was currently in the disguise of an older black man with a flat top, there were very few words that could describe just how ridiculous he looked.

However, it wasn’t a problem for very long.

Seconds after the hairclips were inserted, they vanished in a glow of white light.

Odessa was impressed, no matter how many times she saw magic. It was only natural since she couldn’t do it herself.

’Wow… I hope that means something good happened.’

Odessa heard the sound of sniffling arise from Michael.

She looked into the angel’s face and found a single tear running down his face.

“…Why..? Why would you do this..?”

Odessa shrugged haphazardly. Her vibrant hair reflected the low light being emitted from her gave her a holy aura even greater than what Michael could have produced.

’My dad always told me holding grudges is poisonous. I like to start fresh with people when I have the chance.’

Odessa held out her hand for Michael to take. All the angel could do was stare at it.

The young princess looked down at her hand and had a slight realization dawn on her.

’…Yeah, I’m a hugger too.’

Odessa suddenly threw her arms around Michael and wrapped him in a tight hug.

If Michael’s eyes were not tied to his sockets, they would have surely rocketed out of their place and landed across the room.

Odessa squeezed him tightly and looked up at him with a slight pout.

’I’ll feel insulted if you don’t hug me back. Then I might tell my dad to eat you.’ She paused. ’Kidding. But you could have at least laughed a little bit.’

Michael couldn’t handle anything that was going on today.

His heart was beating out of control. He felt more shame than he could ever reasonably escape from.

No matter how much energy he put into his thought process, he couldn’t understand.

Why on earth was this young woman being so kind to him…?

Didn’t she know what he had done? That he was the reason why she was the way she was?

He couldn’t stomach feeling like this.

So in an act of cowardice, he fled in a flash of light.

Abaddon’s eyes hardened.

’…Maybe he wasn’t a hugger?’

Slowly, Abaddon looked down at his daughter with eyes full of exhaustion.

“Odie… why did you do that?”

’I thought he looked like a hugger.’

“No, I mean the hairclips. You should have kept them, they’re a very powerful-”

’Aw, it’s fine. Besides, lil shadow is all the protection I need.’ Odessa turned toward the ground. ’Ain’t that right, twin?’

Odessa held out her hand, and her shadow rose up from the ground to slap it.

“Okay, you may not need them, but Odie, they’re-”

’I’ve been wanting to give those things back ever since you told me why I’m not like you and everyone else…It’s why I carried them around for so long.

I don’t really want to carry around some token of someone else’s misery. Getting even with someone… it doesn’t really make me feel all that good. There’s too much animosity in the world already.’

Odessa looked up at her father and smiled. ’Besides, I like myself the way I am. So I can’t really make myself be mad at the one who inadvertently helped make me this way.’

Abaddon was at a continuous loss for words. There was so little of what Odie was saying that he could understand.

But that was his daughter. She reminded him so much of Thea, even though the two would have been like strangers to each other now.

Odessa was kind to a fault. She was forgiving, patient, and tolerant of everyone… She was so pure and good that sometimes Abaddon couldn’t believe she had come from him.

He couldn’t see that Odessa was the way she was because she was trying to emulate and live up to her idea of what he was. Or rather, the man she saw him as.

“…” Abaddon suddenly turned his head ninety degrees.

“Your brother’s here to pick you up… I’ll be home around six, and we’ll talk about this more later.”

Abaddon picked up a cap that was hanging on a nearby doornail and fitted it across his head.

He gave his daughter a single kiss on the forehead before he left her and headed towards the field.

As she stood alone in his class, Odessa was confused as to why, despite knowing she had done the right thing, she still felt like she had done something wrong…