First Demonic Dragon

"You're kicking us out. I knew this day would come sooner or later. You're throwing us right out onto the street to make this place your own personal shag-ri-la!"

"Darius, you don't even live here."

"I come here enough that this news distresses me greatly!"

Abaddon handed the old dragon a box of tissues to stuff his bleeding nose with.

He refused to take it, and chose to bleed out instead.

"I'm not telling you to leave because I'm being cruel." Abaddon insisted, but Darius' dramatics persisted as if he couldn't hear it.

"If you were sick of us, you could have just said so, you cantankarous old beast! Instead, you walk around here smiling and acting like we're all good when you're actually thinking about-"

"Dad." Abaddon called.

Asmodeus responded by punching Darius in the side of the head. Now there were two unconscious dragons on the floor.

Karliah took the tissues Darius had ignored and stuffed them inside of her own leaky nostrils. "So why're you putting us out, handso- I mean, son?"

Bekka made a gesture to let her mother know that her eyes were on her.

"...Something's coming." Abaddon finally managed to say. "A new problem outside of Percival and Chaos. Something even Oblivion couldn't or woldn't tell me about."

Naturally, this made everyone turn to Eris, who was becoming the family's foremost expert on all things they weren't supposed to know.

Unfortunately, even she shrugged.

"T-Totality is... well populated." She settled. "And there are many beings and factions who would come to play inside of a dying Aeon. I couldn't predict which of them was coming even if I still had all of my powers."

That news was of a slight dissappointment to everyone. But it wasn't like it changed anything for them.

"So you're kicking us out because of these no-names?" Jazmine tsked.

"Firstly, I'm not kicking any of you out. This will always be your home. Secondly, if we were under seige right now, could you or your solders fight off an opposing army of enemies who were at least as strong as your mother and I?"

Jazmine didn't have to answer. Whether they could die or not, that didn't change the fact that they would be walking into a slaughter.

The mood in the room saw an immediate shift.

"So... What are we doing? Why do you want us to leave?" Stheno asked.

Abaddon strummed his fingers over the fibers of his grandson's hair. "Because we've stagnated." he said plainly.

His generals looked around at each other plainly.

"I'm not admonishing you. It's hardly something you can be blamed for after all. We have been at the top of the foodchain for so very long that we haven't necessarily tried to grow beyond established parameters... and we've been lacking a crucial instrument for evolution."

"Such as?"

"Uncertainty. Danger. All of our soldiers operate in the fieldwith a confidence that they cannot be killed. We've tried to simmulate it in excercises, but everyone here should know there's nothing like the real thing."

No one reacted, so Abaddon kept going.

"You have two options. Take your armies and explore as far as you can- discovering all that we are unaware of and finding battles that are worth our time. There must be something. Infinity demands it after all."

"And option two?" Hakon turned his head.

This part, even Abaddon was unsure of. But he wasn't going to be overprotective of his men any longer. They were ready to step up.

"You can take your armies downstairs and kill and eat Azathoth. I'll leave the decision about which up to you and your advisers."

Only now did the group show sort of visible reaction.

Everyone here was confident in their strength. But the enormity of the challenge Abaddon had laid before them did not escape their notice.

To an unininformed mind, one path seemed easier than the other.

But the Nyasir were not so naive. They knew that if Abaddon had given out these orders, then he suspected both would take an equally long amount of time.

"Can we really be away for that long?" Kirina asked. "What about Percival, and-"

"You have to leave them to us. We can fend them off for as long as we need to. We just have to make sure we stay in their line of sight." Abaddon insisted.

Belphegor had miraculously been awake this whole time, and he was just as concerned as everyone else. "There's something else you aren't telling us, isn't there? This all feels like it's moving rather suddenly."

Abaddon couldn't deny that. After all, if he hand't just taken an eye-opening nap on the bathroom floor, they would likely not have changed course. A disastrous thing to think about.

"Honestly... I don't want to spook any of you, but I cn feel that the end is near. The war is coming."

The same way that the others could almost feel Abaddon brushing against their backs, Abaddon could also feel the end war creeping closer.

Obviously, this wasn't something that he was supposed to know. But now that he did, he was going to take full advantage.

"The girls and I are going to help set up preparations while you're away. By the time you get back, we should have everything settled."

"And the children?" Asmodeus questioned.

Everyone noticed Jazmine staring at the children with a subtly agonized look. Their hearts hurt for her.

"...We can keep watch over the young ones. But I want you all to take my eldest with you wherever you go."

"And for our sake..." Lailah smiled sadly. "Please don't tell us where you take them. Or else this firm resolve you see right now may very well crumble."

Her joke, while intended to be lighthearted, was not at all untruthful. If she or the others thought too long about where they were sending their older kids off to, then they may very well combust and put an end to everything here.

Even now, they were trying to occupy their minds so that they wouldn't linger on the subject for too long.

But there was a small ripple they hadn't yet considered.

"What about Courtney?" Asmodeus asked.

Abaddon and his wives jolted as if they were hit with a curveball.

In unison, they all blurted out different answers to the question, surprising themselves and each other.

They stared accuaorially amongst themselves. Being in close proximity to a couple that wants to fight is never fun. It feels like you're watching a nuclear bomb be made without any of the necessary safety precautions.

Everyone wanted to leave the room so that they weren't caught in the radioactive crosshairs.

"...We'll... get back to you on that."

-

"What exactly do you wear to a godly trial anyway?"

Courtney rummaged through her closet like a madwoman. pullingout black outfit after black outfit with the occasional splash of leather.

The only clothes she really wore were sweats and t-shirts of diferent of horror movie icons.

It was a style that had never really failed her before. Then again, one could make the argument that she was hard carried by her athletic physique and natural good looks.

"Michael Irvin wore a suit and a mink coat on his first day of court." Aj sat up in her bed with a curiously large smile. "Might be the look the heavens would appreciate.."

Courtney giggled without turning her head. "My whole family runs hot. You think any of us would have a mink coat?"

"...Your siste-"

"Yeah, my sister totally would." Courtney realized.

She reached for her phone and started to text Nubia.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Aj stumbled out of the bed and nearly fell over trying to stop her from sending the text.

"Wait for what?"

"This'll be good practice." Aj took her phone and placed it beside her nightstand.

"Ugh, noooo..." Courtney whined.

"Just trust the process." Aj insisted. "Imagine yourself making one big comfy coat."

"The last time I tried this my boots came out made of rat poop."

"This time just don't think about rats. Or poop."

"I wasn't thinking about that last time!"

"You totally were. Remember, i was talking to you about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and you wondered if he ever got diarrhea?"

Courtney made a disgruntled expression. "I hate how you remmeber everything."

Aj could only smile proudly.

Afer a bit more convincing, Courtney relegated herself to giving her powers another try.

She took a second to visualize the thing she wanted exactly as she wanted it. She used extra time to make sure her mind was completely clear of anything but a nice, black, coat.

When she was ready, she started supplying power to her hands while she exhaled.

...And then there was a knock at the door.

*Thunk!*

A wooden carving of what appeared to be a mink coat fell right on top of Aj's exposed big toe.

He bit his trembling lip as his eyes watered- somehow forcing himself to smile as his body cried out in agony.

"G-G-Good try, forreal... y-you almost had it!" He held up two thumbs.

Courtney hung her head in embarrassent as she went to answer the door. Silently, she hoped she would trip and fall into a black hole that would swallow her up along the way.