Abaddon, Ayaana, and Zahara were in their room getting dressed.
They were around midway through when Odie suddenly burst into the room with a thick binder in one hand and a giant energy drink in the other.
’What happened to that Samyaza guy?!’
Abaddon was visibly flustered.
"Odie, get out of here, your mothers are changing."
Odessa ignored her father. ’This is a body positivity household Dad. No one’s bothered by nudity but you.’
The proof of her claim was in the fact that neither Zahara nor Ayaana had rushed the speed at which they put on their bras.
’...Won.’ Abaddon rolled his eyes as he pulled a cloak over his shoulders.
Odie tossed her body onto the sofa with her nose still buried in her heavy binder.
’It says that after you and Grandpa beat up the guy then Granny Asherah turned him into sothing called a watcher. But where did he go after that? Does he just sit around staring at walls all the ti now?’
Ayaana quirked her brow. "...What exactly are you reading?"
’Daddy gave a book on the history of how he beca a god.’
"Because she wouldn’t stop asking questions." Abaddon sighed.
’I stayed up reading all night!’
"I woke up to fifty text ssages from her."
’And I ca in here because you only answered like sixteen at most!’
"So sorry." He said sarcastically.
Odie bead. ’I forgive you!’
It was hard for Abaddon to stay irritated with his daughter when she was this cute. It was as if his children were born to be his undoing.
Zahara ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair. "Honey, watchers are a very discreet force. They’re like the Ophanim, and only listen to Yesh and Asherah. Even we aren’t quite sure where she sends them or why, or even for how long. I don’t even your father rembers the last ti he saw one."
Now that Abaddon took a mont to ponder it, he realized it had been quite a long ti... a few billion years at the very least.
Odie blinked slowly as she looked up. ’What’s an Ophanim?’
"Oh. I forgot you’re not at that part of the story yet. Never mind!" Zahara held up her hands, avoiding spoilers.
Odie huffed as she went back to reading. ’I guess I’ll stay up reading for a second night in a row then... I gotta say, you guys have a lot of sex. I think you have a problem.’
Zahara and Ayaana turned to stare at their husband with glares that seed to ask; ’Just how much detail did you put into this book??’
"D-Don’t look at !"
Odie attempted to save her father. ’He doesn’t state it explicitly, but when every ten or so Chapters is ’then your mother and I had a picnic’ I start to feel like that’s code for sothing.’
"W-We like picnics." Abaddon defended.
’Not that much. And there’s sothing in here about mom wearing a collar. I knew that wasn’t for Camazotz like you said!’
Abaddon was sick. His image in the eyes of his innocent daughter was forever tainted.
Odessa began flipping through the pages nonchalantly.
’Gotta say, Daddy. You guys do so pretty stupid things in here.’
"Odie."
’I think you’re what’s called an unreliable narrator.’
"Odie!"
’And Straga told about this whole third tiline reset thing that just seems like a really big mistake and-’
"OKAY! Ti for you to go!"
Abaddon picked his daughter up by her waist and carried her towards the door.
’Wait, wait, wait!’
Abaddon sighed as he placed Odessa down. "What is it?"
His daughter made her eyes as big as saucers. ’Can I have so money to buy so new paint supplies and so winter boots?’
"..." Abaddon said nothing and just forked over his credit card.
’Yay! Thanks, Dad!’
Odie kissed him on the cheek happily before she ran off down the hall.
Once she was gone, Abaddon closed the door behind her and pressed his head against the door; too tired to go out anymore.
- Olympus
The sun was shining over the bountiful Greek lands.
An unfamiliar quiet hung in the air, bristling through the trees and weaving through the long blades of grass.
Abaddon had never heard this place so quiet. He would have given anything for the sound of fighting, debauchery, and rampant lust to return.
"Co to see our sad state of affairs for yourselves?"
Abaddon and his wives turned around.
Slowly approaching them down the white steps of Mount Olympus was none other than their ruler.
At the sight of Protheus, Abaddon and Zahara felt their eyes harden.
He wisely decided to stop in his tracks.
"...I’ll remind you that as you are now, you have no special privileges. The laws dictate that other monarchs not enter the lands of another without prior invitation."
"Then will you allow us to stay?" Ayaana asked regally.
"...I am unsure if that is the wisest decision to make for my safety."
"Oh please. You know we haven’t co here to hurt you so stop acting like a whipped dog." Ayaana curled her lip into a sneer.
"That tone certainly indicates otherwise..."
"Protheus."
The old titan sighed.
"I welco you, Pillars of the great Abyss. Please, be at peace here."
Ayaana smiled. "Was that so difficult?"
"Do you want to answer honestly?"
Sohow, she got the feeling that she did not.
"We’re here to let you know that the new judicator is looking into the disappearances of our your gods. Our entire family is supporting him in his effort."
Protheus shook his head. "So... the changing of the reigns is not as cut and dry as it would have seed."
Abaddon’s voice was painfully neutral. "Are you insinuating sothing, child?"
Protheus hadn’t been labeled anyone’s ’child’ in a very long ti. Now he was the one pursuing his lips and narrowing his eyes. "Only that it calls things into question."
"Questions are a constant of the universe."
"Yes, but this particular question will be about impartiality. And whether or not our new Judicator is truly incapable of it."
"My son-in-law is an upstanding young man. He’s loyal to his family but even more so to his responsibilities. If it should ever be necessary, he will restrain even ."
"We both know he has neither the power nor the years to accomplish such a thing."
"He needs neither. He is like my son. He needs only ask ."
"And if you were in the throes of your madness, you would not fight?"
"We aren’t humans. Family doesn’t harm family."
Protheus scoffed. "What lovely sentint... I wish that we could all be counted among your family for our safety."
"I wish that you were all pleasant enough to warrant that familiarity. But alas.." Abaddon shrugged with a half-hearted sigh.
Zahara and Ayaana fought the urge to snicker.
Protheus was not expecting their round of verbal jousting to end without threats or shows of fire.
"Hmph. Why are you all still here?"
"We need a list of the gods and titans who are missing. We also need to visit the last places they were seen."
Protheus nodded slowly. "Planning to rewind ti on the space? I’m afraid even you will find that difficult."
Abaddon smirked and turned his head away.
"Sothing you would like to say?"
"Just that you older titans are so arrogant. You’re all so certain that since Kronos taught you chronomancy that your understanding of it is higher than anyone else’s."
"Hearing a dragon talk about arrogance is most humoring. A pot and a kettle indeed." Protheus shook his head with a laugh. "For all of your power, even you cannot..."
Protheus slowly looked down at his hands.
The surface of his skin began to tingle, before slowly turning into a buzzing deeper within his tissue.
The calluses across his hands bubbled and softened into the kind of new white skin you might find on workers in a pleasure house.
Protheus felt his bones hum as they began to compress themselves.
His center of gravity was lowered more and more with every second that went by. The thick hairs that filled his beard began to fall out one after the other, while the hair atop his head was returned in full force.
His powerful muscles diminished one after the other and were replaced with healthy layers of baby fat.
The last thing to vanish was the wrinkles that lined his eyes, cheeks, and brow. Instead, they were replaced with taut, peachy skin.
Protheus looked down at his todlerified hands again. His scowl was fierce and adorable.
"...You’ve made your point. Now return to normal before I defecate on these steps nd make you clean it up."
Abaddon laughed from the bottom of his diaphragm.
He wiped tears away from his eyes as he returned Protheus to normal with even less effort than it took to change him.
As he wiped his eye of a tear, it seed like his mood was no longer one of annoyance.
"You know what? I don’t think we need you to take us anywhere. With your permission, I’ll just have a look around for myself."
Abaddon’s third eye snapped open, and the beings around it throbbed.
Protheus looked around as ti began to turn back on every single thing inside his realm..
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