First Demonic Dragon

The sound of Lailah’s feet echoed off the floor as she raced up the steps to a specific wing of the palace.

Her pupils darted back and forth as her mind raced at 1,000 miles a minute. Her heart and stomach were in knots and her blood was boiling.

It had to be a mistake. It just had to be.

Lailah threw open a familiar door and jumped headfirst into a new, pink realm.

Her beautiful face stretched and became harder and more serpentine. Her lips lost their full softness and stretched until they split.

Five heads, each as eerily similar and paralyzing as the net sprouted from her figure. Her necks elongated and gave her entire body a long, serpentine-like appearance.

She flew through the sky on huge, dark wings that could have blown away a mountain range with a single flap.

She flew off towards the far distance, where a palace was situated just out of her sight.

Lailah reached it in practically no time at all.

She dropped out of the sky and landed on a particularly high balcony on the largest castle in sight.

As soon as she landed, the doors to the balcony opened and a familiar face poked her head outside.

“Mother? What are you doing here?” Thea asked.

Lailah was still shaking and not properly able to control her inner emotional turmoil. “I-I’m sorry to show up like this… I need you to tell me about someone’s fate.”

Thea seemed a bit taken aback by the suddenness of her mother’s request as she opened the door a bit wider. “Alright… Well, come in and sit down first, and then we can-“

“Thea, baby, I love you, but I… I really can’t sit and wait right now…” Lailah said while fidgeting.

She held out the tablet in front of her daughter, and Thea instantly understood why she was having a hard time.

She took her mother’s hand and gently and led her to a sitting area on the balcony. “I’m going to help you Mom, but I need you to take some deep breaths for me now, okay?”

Lailah had a hard time being babied. Especially by the children whom she was supposed to look after and raise.

And Thea was even pregnant for god’s sake… She was beginning to feel even lower about herself.

It was shameful. To think that after all she had become, two slimy individuals still had this much power over her.

Her hair suddenly fluttered underneath her nose and tickled her skin.

When her eyes refocused, she saw that Thea was emitting a white light.

Her eyes had completely lost all definable features and become glowing purple masses of an unfathomable depth.

Lailah was always enamored by her daughter’s gift. When she used her powers, her eyes became like beautiful swirling portals that contained an unfathomable depth and sophistication.

They were frightening, yet beautiful. Lailah had rarely seen anything more beautiful.

And just for a moment, she felt more calm than she did on the way here.

“Ugh..!”

Thea suddenly blinked hard and shook her head in dismay. “I’m sorry, I can’t… It’s like they’re already dead, mother.”

Lailha’s eyes hardened once again. She slowly pulled her hand out of her daughter’s grasp and looked down. “…That would be nice, but.. So rarely have I been quite so lucky.”

“We’ll find them.” Thea grabbed her mother’s hand again, much firmer than before.

Lailah forced a smile onto her face as she kissed both of her daughter’s cheeks. “I will be the one to find them, my little butterfly. You will stay here and take care of your people. Leave all the old grudges to the old dragons.”

Thea still seemed unamused.

“You’re so stubborn… it’s always a miracle to me that you convinced so many people to marry you.”

Laialh smiled wryly as her daughter rested her forehead against her mother’s.

Lailah closed her eyes and let herself appreciate the warmth behind the gesture.

Though no words were transferred, the two knew exactly what words were lingering between them.

However, their beautiful moment was suddenly interrupted when they both heard a scream come from inside the palace.

–

Six archangels were staring at Izanami with slack-jawed looks.

Not just them, but the draconic soldiers lining the walls weren’t exactly hiding their intense skepticism.

If Izanami knew that things were going to be like this, she would’ve just fully taken the plunge and sat in one of their laps.

At least then, she would have had a reason to really make everyone here stare.

“You two have got quite the pair.” Raphael finally whistled.

Abaddon and Eris narrowed their eyes.

The angel held up his hands in surrender before the dragons could bite his head off.

“I’m just saying… Izanagi will lose his marbles.”

“Are you actually thoughtless enough to insinuate that I need to fear Izanagi?” Abaddon asked unkindly.

“No, you don’t need to fear him. But he is still a very influential old one who isn’t exactly your biggest fan, Abaddon. Or yours, Eris. If worse comes to worse then-“

“Izanagi is not the ruler of the Shinto faction. He cannot and would not declare war against us over something as private as my marriage.” Eris said calmly.

“Your marriage??”

Eris smiled as she interlocked her fingers with Izanami. “Indeed. Officially, Izanami will be my wife.”

“Semantics, Dear Eris. Everyone already thinks that all of you are married to each other and have been for thousandsof years. No one outside of your realm knows the truth of the matter.” Gabriel reminded.

Abaddon hissed as he rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry, is there a point to this?”

Jophiel reached across the table and squeezed his hand lightly.

“You need to understand how your new relationship may look to outsiders, Eldest. You’ve never taken a wife from an outside pantheon before. Some might suspect..”

“Favoritism?” Abaddon cackled. “I don’t see why. Izanami isn’t exactly the most involved in the Shinto community in the first place.”

“Are you calling me a shut-in?” Izanami suddenly asked.

“Are you pretending that it isn’t true?”

Abaddon and Izanami stared at each other for a few more moments before she relented and shrugged.

“I’m tired of talking about this.” Abaddon turned back to the table of angels. “If Izanagi is so childish as to take issue with our marriage then I will deal with it at the appropriate time.

But given that we are currently being besieged by an enemy who wants to bring about the death and subjugation of every god, perhaps he will be a bit wiser and remember that there are bigger fish to fry than his personal vendettas.”

Only half of the archangels looked fully convinced. The rest of them looked like they were already expecting and preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Aside from Izanagi’s potential temper tantrums, there was another reason that the group was wary about Abaddon’s choice to enter into a relationship with Izanami.

Several deities would take issue with their marriage, citing Izanami’s character as the crux of the problem.

The most powerful being in creation had suddenly decided to marry a goddess who had literally been killing humans for almost as long as they had been drawing breath.

Now that she so clearly had his ear and his heart, what would she make him do with all of that influence? Who would she turn him against? How would the Judicator’s dynamic with the rest of the gods change?

There were many things here to consider. And time may be the only segway into providing a proper answer.

But gods, despite their eternally long lives, were not patient. Who knew how they would react to the news?

The only one who was even partially aware of how this relationship might be perceived was Izanami herself.

Because a similar outcome had already occurred in her dream world, long ago.

But since that place was literally tailored to make her happy, she knew that its conclusion was much more sanitized than what actually might’ve happened in real life.

However, there could be no mistake. If anyone tried to separate her from her loved ones, she would not sit idly by and just let it happen.

Unbeknownst to everyone else but Azrael, Izanami’s eyes became much darker and lifeless than before. Promising frightening inner thoughts.

“If you’re done worrying about what I am doing at night…” Abaddon began. “We need to discuss next steps at some point.”

“I agree.” Uriel said hurriedly. “You have our congratulations, but nothing else is important. Can you tell us why you had us sleep in this uncomfortable throne room last night? What does it have to do with Chaos?”

Abaddon was glad that at least someone had decided to focus on what actually mattered here.

He lifted his hand and pointed across the room to the throne, or more specifically the four stone Ophanim guarding it.

“I needed to ensure that none of you would be hurt in the night. With those four, you were in perhaps the safest place in all of creation.”

Raphael sorted. “I would have much rather been at your house with a warm bed and blankets. Then I would’ve been comfortable and safe.”

Abaddon’s jaw set in place.

“No… He’s right.” Azrael suddenly said. “We were safer here.”

“And how do you figure that?” Raphael raised a brow.

Azrael didn’t even glance at his brother. He just kept staring at Abaddon with a blank look.

“…You want to tell them, or should I?”

Abaddon growled in a low breath and turned his head.

Raphael looked back and forth between his brother and his cousin several times. Each time that he did so, his eyes got wider and wider.

“No way… You telling me those coat racks are stronger than you?”