First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 1150: Those Friday Night Lights…

*And that’ll do it for the first half, folks. The defending champions are down 21 to nothing, being completely shut out of the first half!*

The air during that November night was frigid, yet electric.

In a fully packed out stadium, the away stands were cheering with all of their hearts.

Meanwhile, the home side could only clap meagerly as their players jogged across the field toward their locker room.

Parents in the stands clapped supportively, but in the back of their minds, they suspected that they would be consoling their kids later after a blowout loss.

All eyes were on the head coach and his extremely beautiful new quarterback coach.

The two of them seemed locked in deep conversation, as if the current standing of the game did not faze them one bit.

“…I can’t believe it. I’m back for one day, and he’s already stolen her away from me.” Thea absolutely hated football season.

Gabbrielle patted her sister on the back apologetically. “Do not be like that, sister. Is it not well enough to simply see your lover happy doing what they love?”

Thea, Sabine, Aubrey, Aisha, and Nita all answered instantly.

“No.”

“Ah. I see.”

Before walking into the tunnel, Jazmine looked back at her wives and blew them a cheerful kiss.

…They were subsequently a little less mad than before.

“Bashie-Bear, say ah~!”

Thea’s annoyance returned with a vengeance.

Sitting beneath her were Gaia and Bashenga, who, for some reason, looked infinitely closer than they did the last time they were together.

The family had already received several stares due to the fact that what appeared to be a middle-aged woman was sitting in the lap of a twenty-year-old man and feeding him popcorn.

If someone was going to do something about it, they certainly hadn’t stepped forward yet…

“I believe I’ve hit my limit on buttered corn for now.” Bashenga sighed.

“Aww, are you sure..?” Gaia pouted. “You look so much thinner since the last time I saw you. I just want to make sure you’re taking proper care of yourself…”

Bashenga felt his heart, and his stomach waver.

You often do not recognize just how big a person is in your life until you are apart.

Bashenga had thought about Gaia numerous times while he was away.

He could not put his emotions into words, but he could remember her face and smile, and everything seemed to become clear.

The two of them had yet to say whether or not they had officially reentered their partnership, but things seemed to be trending in that direction.

They hadn’t separated since six that morning. Thea generally loved love, but she had to admit that seeing her brother not refuse Gaia’s advances was giving her whiplash.

She kissed him on the cheek earlier, and Thea was almost 100% certain that someone had slipped hallucinogens into her nacho cheese.

’Unbelievable… that should be me right now. And I should be naked. Eating grapes!’ Thea wanted to scream.

She really did hate football season.

–

When halftime ended, the team came out looking completely different than they did during the first half.

During kick off, their receiver caught the ball and ran it 99 yards for their first touchdown.

But despite such an incredible play, the real show was in the stands.

“FLEX BABY, YEAH!!”

Five overtly muscular men pulled off their shirts and revealed their painted chests.

Darius, Helios, Hajun, Absalom, and Hakon struck a series of poses as people stood up to take pictures.

The crowd went absolutely wild, and school spirit reached an all-time high.

“Odie!”

A group of girls at the bottom of the stands waved up at Odessa.

Her eyes sparkled excitedly as she turned to Lisa and grabbed her arm.

’Mom, can I go hang out with my friends for a little bit?? Please?’

Lisa looked back and forth between the four familiar young girls and her very own daughter.

*Sigh* “I guess that’s fine. But don’t go off for too long, remember this is supposed to be about spending time with family.”

’I won’t forget, don’t worry!’

Odessa kissed her mother on the cheek before she started making her way down the stairs towards her friends.

As Lisa watched her go, she felt someone move into the seat next to her who hadn’t been there before.

“So… she seems pretty popular, huh?”

Lisa smiled as she rested her head on her eldest son’s shoulder.

“Lailah was a bit worried about how she’d do at a normal school with her mutism, but luckily for us, your sister has quite the award-winning personality. She makes everyone around her feel special.”

Suddenly, Straga and Belloc leaned into their mother’s personal space.

“Even boys?” Belloc asked dangerously.

All of the brothers shared a uniquely intense aura.

Lisa, however, ignored them and pushed them out of her peripheral vision. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. Odie has had many would-be suitors, but she doesn’t seem to like anyone yet.”

The boys let out massive sighs of relief that made Lisa roll her eyes as hard as she possibly could.

“Don’t be so archaic. Your sister’s allowed to start dating whenever she feels like it.”

“Who decided that??” Straga recoiled.

“We did. You know, her parents?”

“There’s no way dad was okay with that.”

Suddenly, Valerie wrapped her arms around her sons’ necks and squeezed them tightly. “He wasn’t, but he wanted to keep having sex with us, so he got over it pretty quickly.”

All three boys recoiled at the very textbook definition of too much information.

Belloc had a particularly nasty reaction. The melanin in his cheeks became tinted with a sickly green. “What is wrong with all of you? Do you care nothing for our innocence??”

“Oh, hush, Karliah is your grandmother. We’re all super tame compared to her.”

The boys needed no further evidence of this than the sight of their very own grandmother getting rather up close and personal with a recently divorced team mom in leggings and Ugg boots.

“””…Fair enough.””” They conceded.

Apophis nestled closer to his mother. He spoke in a low voice so as not to alert the others to what he was talking about.

“I, umm… heard that there might have been some awkwardness going on between the two youngest… what’s that all about?”

Lisa sighed exhaustedly. The mention of the awkwardness seemed to age her by ten years a the very least.

“Just… personal choices, I suppose.” Lisa sighed.

“Like pineapple on pizza?”

“No, boy.” Lisa pinched her son’s ear and huffed. “Your sister wants to stay human. K’ael isn’t okay with that, so they haven’t been on speaking terms for a while now. We’re trying to fix it, but… your brother is very stubborn when his feelings are hurt.”

Apophis was shocked. The last thing he ever expected was for the problems between his siblings to run this deeply.

“So little bro just hates humans?”

“No, he’s more like your father used to be. Indifferent. His problem is that Odie wants the full human experience.

She doesn’t want us to help her with magic like Courtney did. She gets sick, she falls and breaks her bones, she’ll barely even let us help when she gets period cramps.

Your sister wants to age, eventually grow old, and eventually die at peace with her life. Your brother resents her for it.”

Apophis wrinkled his brow. “But I don’t get it. Death is not the end for our family, so why is he-”

“Your brother is worried bout everything that could happen before death, son. Odie could get into a car accident. She’ll age into someone he doesn’t recognize. She could get cancer and live in agony, or develop dementia and forget his name and face. He doesn’t want to see her like that, so he acts like he doesn’t want to be around her at all.”

Lisa couldn’t say whether or not her son was just being selfish or if he was trying to protect himself from a heartbreak that he knew was coming.

Either way, the lingering feud between the two of them had put a rift in their family that none of them was sure how to fix.

They had tried everything at this point. Sit-downs and counseling, patient talks and groundings, even trying to force them to spend time together.

Nothing worked. K’ael could hold on to a grudge for a very long time if he felt like it. His family just wished they didn’t have to learn that at his sister’s expense.

Almost every day, Lisa woke up remembering how the two of them used to be. K’ael followed his sister around everywhere, even after his body outgrew hers.

Now, just getting them in the same room together without yelling, a special occasion, or underhanded trickery was so much work that Abaddon and his wives were at their wits’ end.

And Apophis could see it.

He could perceive the aura of sadness and disappointment that hung around his mother like a cloud. She was torn between respecting her daughter’s autonomy and acknowledging the very real fears held by her son.

This conflict had aged her. It had probably aged all of his parents.

And Apophis felt a burden to do what big brothers do and try to make things right.

“…Don’t worry, ma. You can leave them to me, and I’ll handle it.”

Lisa’s lips curled into a beautiful smile.

She slipped her hand behind her son’s neck and brought their foreheads together.

“My dependable son… What would I do without you?”

Apophis wrapped his arms around his mother tightly.

“You’ll never have to find out, Ma.”

– Yggdrasil’s Roots…

The place was still and tranquil.

An all-encompassing silence settled over the roots of the great tree, and maintained such a strong grip over the concept of sound that not even the rushing water made a noise.

Yesh was alone here. Asleep, and locked in a deep dream whose contents were only known to himself.

But he was soon to have company he would have given anything to be awake for.

Wakey, wakey, little Aeon. Big sister would like a word.