First Demonic Dragon

To the surprise of no one, Shin said 'no' with his entire robotic chest.

He didn't like leaving his kids in Abaddon's presence to begin with, even if he had no choice.

While he no longer harbored any thoughts of Abaddon being dangerous or predatory, that still didn't mean that he liked being indebted to him.

Shin would quite literally rather swallow a load of rusty nails than allow for that kind of thing to pass.

And so, the cyborg was all set to take his kids ou of the care of the dragon gods once and for all.

However, a bit of further prompting from Tatiana gave him pause.

When she reminded him that currently, no place in the universe was safer than Tehom, he was given a reason to pause.

Lisa made the idea of staying more digestible to him by offering to put Shin and his men up in lodgings that were not their own. Like a hotel, or even a newly constructed compound.

The final catalyst for the reversal of his decision was taking another look at the puppy-dog eyes given to him by two- soon to be three of his adoptive children.

Tehom was safe, secure, and had limitless resources like food and fuel to acquire without much work.

Shin couldn't justify refusing them any further.

The only one disappointed by the whole arrangement was Courtney. Her boyfriend was going from staying a couple doors down, to an entirely different building in the valley.

It sucked, but it was far from the worst-case scenario. This just meant that she had to study her teleportation magic a lot sooner.

While Valerie was out getting the order sorted in their lodgings, the rest of the group was in their room preparing for an entirely different kind of undertaking.

"We're going on a trip..?" Izanami asked nervously.

She watched her lovers waltz from their closets to their dressers and even towards the bathroom.

"We are." Abaddon responded with a duffel bag over his shoulder.

"You didn't think we were going to deny you a honeymoon and a proper ceremony, did we?" Bekka winked as she walked by.

Izanami felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "W-Well, I... don't you all think that with everything going on at the moment that there might be better ways for us to utilize our time...?"

Erica stopped in the middle of the hallway and approached Izanami with a large smile on her face.

She took the pale goddess' hand and held it against her cheek.

"This is quite a bit overdue. There may be things of great significance occurring at this point in time, but until we can actually do something about it, there is nothing more important than everyone else in this room."

"And Valerie!" Audrina reminded as she grabbed wine from the cellar.

"And Valerie." Erica nodded.

Even though her lovers were making the proposition very tempting, Izanami still had her own minor reservations.

"O-Okay, but the kids and..."

"I tried to take K'ael back from Imani and she told me that I could have him when she was dead. I think they'll be more than willing to babysit for a few months."

"M-M-M-Months..?"

Eris walked out of her closet carrying a stack of music records. "Time can be whatever we want it to be in Eden, my dear. We can remain vigilant on the outside and still give you the honeymoon you deserve."

Seras walked past carrying a load of fresh laundry. "Believe me, dear, if Percival or one of his flunkies pops up, I'll be the first to return. I've been itching for some action ever since my HUSBAND and WIVES left me in bed while a battle was going on!"

Abaddon, Audrina, and Bekka all poked their heads out of their closets at the exact same time. """WE SAID WE WERE SORRY!"""

"Hmph!"

Seras appeared to still be in a mood, and she went back to getting undressed without offering another word in response.

Izanami wasn't quite sure that she was in quite the honeymooning mood.

Eris' hand grazed against her waist and she looked up to find the green goddess giving her a gentle smile.

"Everything will be fine, I promise you. All you need to do is go and get ready. We leave in ten."

Izanami nodded with something of a nervous smile on her face. "I don't really know what I should pack..."

"Well, I'll spare you some trouble." Abaddon emerged from his own closet and Izanami couldn't help but notice that he was missing some very important garments.

"Eden is a world with no population aside from us, so... You don't really need to pack any clothes."

Izanami's face turned as red as her husband's hair.

She looked around and noticed that literally, everyone was either completely undressed or halfway there. Her obsession was skyrocketing.

She lifted a trembling finger and pointed towards the bag on his shoulder. "Then that is...?"

Smiling, Abaddon took the bag off his shoulder and unzipped it.

Toys, massagers, and restrictive cuffs of every variety. Izanami's nose spontaneously sprung a leak.

"I think that means she's ready to go now." Erica laughed.

She had no idea that Izanami was ready for a lot more than that.

While the girls helped Izanami wipe off her face, Abaddon realized that there was still something important he had to do before he just went on hiatus.

He found a quiet corner of the room, and closed his eyes to reach out with his mind.

-

"I could have sworn that I left it somewhere around here... but maybe I'm just getting insane in my old age."

Mira forced a smile onto her face. "T-That's alright, grandpa. If we keep looking, I'm sure we'll find it soon!"

Gulban let the meteor in his arms float from his grasp to join the rest of the space rubble.

"Ah, blast it all... It would be so easy if I could only recall that blasted thing... I can't believe I took those powers of mine for granted after all these eons."

Mira's ears perked up as she floated from asteroid to asteroid lazily. "Your powers didn't come back when Dad revitalized you?"

Sadly, Gulban shook his head. "'Fraid' not, lassie. I breathed in enough of your old man's magic mist to bring my body back to it's peak, but it can't restore that gift of mine. That's god-given, I'm afraid."

Gulban's body was a textbook immortal in nearly every way that counted.

He could fly. He was practically invulnerable. He could even survive in the cold vastness of space without the aid of any magic or a parka.

But his ability to create matter on such an immense scale as what a maker achieves, shows no signs of returning anytime soon.

Gulban was grateful enough that he wasn't still stuck in that withered old state and he could actually get around on his own again.

However, that didn't mean he didn't miss his powers. They were a part of him, just like any limb or organ.

The fact that they were gone now... it was tough to contend with.

He scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment after realizing that he'd been thinking for quite a long time. Inadvertently leaving Mira to sit in silence.

"Ah, sorry about that, lassie. Why don't we take a look in-"

The two immortal beings felt a disturbance from behind them and whirled around in alarm.

What they found was a giant red eye larger than any sun in creation.

"Dad!" Mira beamed.

The eye blinked, and it seemed to be smiling at the two of them fondly. "Hello, Mira. Are the two of you enjoying your time together?"

"Um, y-yeah! It's super exciting!" Mira nodded just a touch too hard.

Gulban was starting to get the slightest inkling that maybe his granddaughter was not as entertained by his old creation stories as she led on...

"Well, I'm sorry to cut your trip short, but you both need to come back home now. You won't find the key here." Abaddon informed.

Gulban folded his arms across his chest. "Now hold on a minute, I know that it's taken a long time, but we've just-"

"Percival has the key to your wasteland, Gulban. It's where he and his army have been holed up recently."

The old maker had a look of disbelief. "N-No, he... I didn't have it when... how can you know that?"

"My recent trip to Earth confirmed it. I invaded Lucifer's mind and was able to gain insight into his most recent whereabouts."

Gulban visibly deflated. The air left his lungs, and his feet became wobbly.

He sat down on the underside of an asteroid to catch his breath and gather his thoughts. Mira had never seen him look so broken up about something before.

But when she considered the symbolic nature of the item they were tracking, she realized that it made perfect sense.

Sometimes, the things that makers create just don't quite pan out.

And while usually, everything in creation can be recycled or repurposed to bring about something new and beautiful, there are, of course, extremely rare cases where this is not possible.

For this, Makers have their very own 'waste basket' of sorts. Their very own realm where they store the ruins of dead worlds and buried civilizations.

The realm is bound to that specific maker and the creator alone. Only Yesh could forcibly open that place without the key.

It was the last thing that Gulban had that still tied him to his powers and his former identity.

And now, it was in the hands of their greatest enemy, who could hole up there for as long as he wanted.