First Demonic Dragon

Straga sat next to his mother as she slowly drank from the beer he’d gifted her.

Together they sat in complete silence as they stared out into the replicated cosmos in front of them.

On the surface, Valerie seemed fine but Straga couldn’t help but continue to think of the poor state he found her in. Even if she was doing her best to prevent him from asking anything about it.

"I’m surprised you thought to visit this place, baby-boy. You and Monica have been glued at the hip since she came back."

Valerie nudged her son in the stomach with a knowing look on her face. "Feels a bit like a second honeymoon, doesn’t it? You can thank me for passing down that flexibility."

"Mom!"

"Oh, don’t give me that." Valerie waved her hand as she laid back. "You were in your room for a week straight, I can’t pretend to be that ignorant even if I am drunk."

Straga’s worry for his mother practically multiplied at that moment.

Valerie was a sex deity, yes. But she was usually quite unreceptive to the idea of any of her children having sex.

This was the first time she had cracked a joke about his sex life before. Straga was somewhat worried that she may have been planning to kill herself.

"Mom… I don’t need to worry about you, do I?"

Valerie seemed caught off guard. She even flinched.

After realizing she might’ve taken too long to respond, Valerie plastered on a smile. "Now what kind of question is that? I wouldn’t be a very good mother if I was making my baby worry about me."

Straga almost rolled his eyes. "I don’t know about making me worry, but I do know good mothers don’t lie to their kids."

Valerie suddenly had a guilty look on her face. That was all Straga really needed to see.

"So… do you want to start talking now?"

Valerie just stared into her empty bottle. Saying that she felt stuck in place didn’t even begin to fully cover it.

Rather, she felt like she was being pushed towards an edge that she was dangerously close to falling off of.

"I… think I might have to leave soon." Valerie finally said.

"Like to get dinner?"

Valerie bit back a fit of laughter. "No, baby… Your grandfather can’t tend to the multiverse in his current condition. Since I am next in line, it falls on me to.. step up."

Straga finally picked up on exactly what his mother was getting at and his heart dropped as a result.

The work of a maker wasn’t for everyone. It is quite literally one of the thankless jobs that anyone in creation can have.

It’s a silent, 24/7 demanding role that no one will ever acknowledge you for.

Not only did Straga not want to see his mother be forced to take up such an arduous role, but he didn’t want to see her have to leave the family either.

Which gave him something else to think about...

"You haven’t told Dad yet, have you?"

Valerie just shook her head. "Haven’t had the courage to tell him just yet. Things are kind of tense enough around here with everything else going on and I don’t want to rock the boat further."

"Mom, you-"

"I know, I know, it’s not healthy or whatever. Don’t lecture me, boy, I changed your diapers not the other way around."

Straga narrowed his eyes in agitation.

The trickiest part about dealing with any of his parents was that they were firmly attached to their roles.

Just getting him to accept his help for basic things took a full day’s asking.

But Straga wasn’t going to keep begging his mother. Not today anyway.

If he had to, he would resort straight to the nuclear option.

"Mom… let me assume the responsibility of Maker."

Valerie blinked three times in a row, then laughed.

"No."

"I can do it! I got the Maker gene when everyone else didn’t, so I should be able to-"

"No."

"I also got dad’s ability to split himself so I could leave and still be right here with-"

"Straga!!

The sound of Valerie’s bottle breaking in her hands was even louder than the sound of her sudden outburst.

Valerie’s head hung so low that her chin was touching her chest. Straga couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her trying her best not to cry.

"I don’t…" Valerie held back her words when she felt too big of a sob coming on.

"…I don’t want to ask my son to take on a burden that is rightfully mine. Even if I were that selfish and self-serving, I still couldn’t in good faith let you go out there with Lucifer’s son about. It’s not safe and I don’t want that life for even a fraction of you."

"Well, what about what I want?!" Straga yelled back. His golden eyes were already watery. "Y-You can’t just make a decision like this for yourself! I’m not a child anymore and I don’t have to listen to you! I can make my own decisions now!"

Valerie lifted her hand up and placed her palm on Straga’s cheek. Ever so gently, she used the edge of her thumb to wipe away the tear that had started to fall.

"I know you aren’t. But I also know that you’re a good son who’s going to listen to me anyway. Because you have that much respect for me as your mother."

Straga wanted to yell back at her and tell her that she was wrong and that he was going regardless of what she thought.

But he couldn’t.

Valerie may have been a drunkard with a crude mouth, but she was an exceptional mother. Beyond that, an exceptional woman.

Straga had never and would never disobey her. And he had never hated that about himself before today.

Straga pushed his mother’s hand away and stormed out.

When the doors to the forge slammed shut, only then did Valerie reach for another bottle of alcohol.

She flicked off the cap and brought the lid to her lips with nothing else but silence to keep her company.

Valerie started to bring the bottle to her lips when she suddenly paused instead.

She hurled the bottle into the nearest star and screamed loudly from the bottom of her very soul.

-

"Can I have this?"

Gabbrielle looked up from her desk and turned around.

There, Yemaja had pulled yet another item out of her closet for what felt like the hundredth time today.

Instead of answering, Gabbrielle just posed a question of her own.

"Why are you even in my closet to begin with? Nothing I wear is quite skimpy enough to earn the Yemoja seal of approval."

"It feels like you’re trying to infer that I dress like a slut."

"You know what making an inference is..?" Gabbrielle asked, clearly aghast.

Yemaja hurled a hanger at Gabbrielle’s head that she caught with relative ease. She then went back to typing away on her computer.

"Why exactly has this need for my clothing come up all of a sudden?"

"I can’t want to change my look?"

"Sure, but that usually means a trip to Thea or Nubia’s closets. Not mine."

"I just wanted to change up my aesthetic a bit. Is that a crime?" Yemaja asked innocently.

Gabbrielle glanced at her bed, where Yemaya sat comfortably with her nose in her tablet.

"She’s going on a date with Ziz."

"ITS NOT A DATE!"

"She says it’s not a date, but it’s two adult primordial beasts going out to a nice dinner." Yemaya clarified.

"Sounds like a date to me..." Gabbrielle muttered.

"It’s just a little dinner. Stop sweating me!" Yemaja huffed. "It’s not like I’m going to start dating the guy or anything."

Gabbrielle was barely listening as she had already returned to typing. "I could see it happening. You’re both unbelievably full of yourselves."

Yemaja winked as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Can you blame me when I look this good?"

"I’ll take that as a compliment." Yemaya replied, also only half interested.

Meanwhile, Gabbrielle just rolled her eyes. "I hope you have a plan for getting this whole thing past Dad."

Yemaja paused as she looked back at her sister. "Daddy? I get he’s overprotective, but why would he care?"

"Because you just so happened to pick the kind of man our father hates the most. He may very well just kill him and serve him to us over the grill."

Yemaja’s expression paled before she forced out a nervous laugh. "W-Well yeah, but I’m sure he wouldn’t really overreact like that. I mean, he loves Jazmine!"

"Jazzy is confident, not arrogant. I promise there is a difference."

"Grandpa Asmo??"

Both Gabbrielle and Yemaya gave their sister a look that screamed ’Be serious’.

"Okay, well what about me?!" She finally yelled.

"You’re his daughter. He’s obligated to love you and you can practically do no wrong in his eyes."

"But if I wasn’t?!?"

Both girls just gave their sister pitiful looks.

"Ugh, I hate it here!!!"

Yemaja’s outburst was swiftly cut short when the door to Gabbrielle’s bedroom was suddenly flung open.

Straga came rushing inside in a huff, clearly, all bent out of shape and in a state of emotional distress.

His eyes settled on Yemaya and Yemaja and he frowned.

"I-I need to speak to Gabbrielle. Both of you get out."

Yemaya sat up and frowned. "Hey, we were here first, and if something’s wrong with you then-"

"I’m not asking!"

Two portals opened up beneath the girls and they fell through without being able to stop themselves.

He promptly shut the openings behind them and turned to Gabbrielle- just in time for her to slap him right across the face.