First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 1217: The Third

Erica was a virtual whirlwind of zeal and giggles.

She moved about the room, tidying up the space in a way that was rare.

Erica was kind of a lot like Audrina used to be. She was a little bit boujee.

The phoenix wasn’t necessarily a slob, but heavy cleaning wasn’t necessarily her thing. She claimed it wore down her nails too badly.

But now, Abaddon was watching her polish mirrors, mop the floor, fold blankets, and pick chip crumbs out of Bekka’s fur.

All of this occurred in an estimated two minutes.

By the time Erica actually stopped her movement, she was sitting on the edge of the bed with Gabbrielle in her lap and brushing her hair.

Their child was not even fully alert. Abaddon could practically hear the static swimming around in her brain as she tried to process everything that was going on.

“Hwa…?”

“Hold still for a moment, dear. Tyson’s coming over. Everything needs to look presentable.l

Gabbrielle’s eyes fluttered closed as she resigned herself to just letting her mother do what she wanted.

That is, of course, before Erica clasped a hot towel over her face to clean it. Gabbrielle thrashed wildly from the sudden sensation of having her face wet.

She disappeared from Erica’s lap and reappeared in the arms of her father. The scathing look she gave her mother made her feel the tiniest bit guilty.

“Ah… too much?”

“What do you think?”

There was a knock at the door, and the parents turned their heads expectantly. Only one of the children actually bothered to knock before entering, so they already knew the identity of their new guest before they stepped inside.

“Come in, son.” Erica called.

K’ael stepped through the door like a phantom.

Gabbrielle’s eyes glittered when she saw her baby brother, and she reappeared atop his shoulders to pat his head.

“Why is my brother telling me that we have another brother that I have never heard of?”

Izanami waves at her son from the comfort of her reclined position.

“He’s not quite your brother, my sweet angel baby. But he is one of Erica’s creations. He was born at the same time as Jazmine and Claire. Like them, he came into the world as a fully developed adult.”

“But why have I never heard of him?”

“Well… he’s just kind of a free spirit, honey.”

“Like Grandma K?”

“No, honey, your grandmother is just a whore.”

Bekka starts to say something, but decides that there is little point in arguing against her and rolls over.

Erica suddenly releases an excited yip and claps her hands together. “Ah, he’s here! Come on, I’ll introduce you!”

Before K’ael can accept or refuse, Erica grabs him by the wrist and whips him out of the room so fast that Gabbrielle flies off his shoulder.

Sighing to himself, Abaddon steps over to the bed just as Izanami is getting out of it.

He lifts her into a princess carry without warning, prompting a wry smile to spread along her face.

“H-Honey, our child is still hin here..”

That is finally enough to make Gabbrielle leave the room for good. She holds up a peace sign with her baby fingers and disappears.

Abaddon rests his forehead against Izanami’s. “Any plans today?”

“I don’t believe so… Did you have something in mind?”

Abaddon nods, but doesn’t immediately tell her his intended plan.

But Izanami, after being married for so long, is adept at reading her husband’s mind even if he believes he is being secretive.

Her eyes are filled with emotion. “…Are you sure?”

“If you will accept me.”

“What a silly thing for you to even ask…”

Slowly, the two lean in and seem to be preparing to kiss when suddenly Valerie inserted her head between their lips.

“Hey, can I come too?!”

–

Flame is duplicitous.

It imbues great warmth and stability, but is also a source of terror and anguish. Without it, civilization and life as a whole do not thrive.

It was Erica’s intention to create three beings that she felt best represented the aspects of herself.

She did not intend for them to be seen as her children at first, since she did not carry them. But in some part, in the back of her mind, she had come to see them as such.

Claire was always intended to represent flame’s nurturing side. As welcoming as a hearth, and as good for the soul as a sweet song.

To know her was to love her. To be without her was to know a bitter cold.

As her polar opposite, Jazmine was powerful and dangerous. She was so devastatingly menacing that, were it not for her tendency to lose control of herself, her army could have easily replaced Asmodeus’ Black Legion as number one. Perhaps, she could have even challenged Monica.

Erica’s final creation, a son named Tyson, was intended to represent the clarity of flame. It’s light.

The girls naturally stayed underneath their mother, but Tyson, as light does, found himself travelling many places all over Tehom, making friends and acquaintances in his path.

The only issue with this was that Tyson gradually became unhappy in Tehom after being there for many years.

He had many partners and many children, but his life felt hollow and incomplete.

It took him over ten years to realize the reason.

Tehom didn’t need him.

Tehom was, thanks to centuries of intervention and careful design, one of the most peaceful realms in the great beyond.

There was no war. No strife.

Most importantly, there were no periods of darkness for him to illuminate.

He was intended to be a force of change and clarity. But how was he supposed to act as he was created if he was in a world where no problems arose?

Because Tyson was a pure phoenix, he was not bound to the same restrictions as the rest of Tehom’s denizens. He could leave anytime he wanted.

As a result, the only one who really protested when he asked to explore was Erica.

She had always hoped that, like her daughters, Tyson would always desire to stay in close proximity to her.

When he did not, she was noticeably upset by his choice. Something that inevitably cracked their relationship.

Even after realizing her folly, Erica has not been able to get in proper contact with Tyson for some time.

He was always in the middle of one thing or another… His efforts to be a beacon of light and an embodiment of hope take him all across the cosmos, not just on Earth.

If she is honest, Erica has somewhat come to believe that maybe she hasn’t tried as hard as she could have to repair her relationship with her creation.

This was something that she never really understood… until her memories of the previous timeline came back.

Unconsciously, Erica feared that by trying to repair things with her son, she would accidentally worsen them and fracture the relationship beyond repair.

But no more.

Erica would not be a coward. She would have her perfect family back together by being the perfect mother and reciting the perfect apology.

“Okay, okay… everything looks good so far…” Erica fussed over her three children, who were currently standing by the door.

Claire and Jasmine stood as rigid as arrows as Erica fixed their clothes. K’ael was beside them, completely confused as to what had happened to bring out this unnatural obsessive side of her mother.

“…I’m just going to say it. It’s too early for me to be wearing tights, ma.” Jasmine folded her arms.

Ercia slapped them right back down and fixed her posture. “Oh, hush, they go good with your dress. Besides, your brother always said you looked adorable in dresses when you were first born.”

“He also said bangs were my thing… motherfuckers be lying sometimes, ma.”

“Hush, girl.” Erica pinched her nose. “You see your sister’s not complaining.”

Jazmine glanced at Claire.

“…This bitch is asleep!”

She nudged her sister hard, and the phoenix snapped awake.

“H-Hmm, what?! Is it over??”

“Since when do you know how to sleep while you’re standing up AND with your eyes open??” Erica folded her arms.

Claire gulped. “Oh…practice?”

Their maker could only sigh.

“Girls… I know this isn’t exactly easy, but please, just bear with it. I want your brother to come back and see us and feel like no time has passed. Maybe he’ll even stay at home this time..!”

Claire and Jazmine glanced at each other unconsciously. Their eyes were filled with uncertainty, but they dared not voice it.

“…Sure, mom. We’ve got your back.” Claire nodded.

“Anything you need.”

“That’s my girl.”

The doorbell suddenly rang, and Erica almost jumped out of her skin without meaning to.

“He’s here, he’s here, he’s here!!”

“Yes, he is.”

A male figure stepped through the door like a ghost.

He was almost the spitting image of Claire and Jazmine, with only minute differences.

“Oh… Tyson..!”

As Erica started to embrace her son, she suddenly heard a loud thunk.

Turning around, she found her son lying on the ground, twitching.

“K’ael!”