Within a dark staircase, three individuals were slowly making their climb towards the top.
The repetitive thumping of a wildly out of control heartbeat was the only other sound that could be heard within the corridor.
Belloc suddenly stopped just shy of reaching his destination and turned towards the source of the repetition.
Sandwiched between him and Stheno was a young woman around nineteen years of age.
She had short, black hair that frad her face cutely and gave her a relatively innocent appearance.
She seed to be quite timid by nature, or perhaps it was just because she was wearing unusually fine clothes that made her feel self conscious.
"Are you nervous?" Belloc asked.
She blushed at the sight of his unaltered face and it took all that she could manage to stop herself from drooling.
"M-Maybe just a little bit…It's all a lot to take in, you know?"
"If you aren't ready, we can always go back to the room so that you can rest. Or maybe we can do a bit of sightseeing too."
The human girl seed to think about it for a mont before shaking her head.
"I-It wouldn't be right of to stay here without introducing myself to your parents and the rest of your family… I can't run from them too."
Belloc and Stheno smiled at their new lover sadly.
"lanie… perhaps we should return you ho if you still are having misgivings about being here." Stheno had miraculously developed an ability to speak less robotically in her ti away.
It was the only way a human girl like lanie could be so comfortable speaking to a literal demon from hell.
"You're going to say that after we've already co this far..?" lanie looked down at her exposed stomach and the black symbol sitting beneath her belly button.
It matched the one Stheno already bore too a tee.
"We're going to go back one day, I promise. But for now I want to experience the ho that you guys co from, and make our own mories. I'm kind of in need of so good ones.."
Belloc knew what the past few years of lanie's life had been like, so he didn't question her desires for even a mont.
If she said that she wanted to make good mories, he would do his best to fulfill that wish.
Smiling, he took both girls' hands and resud their path up the stairs.
"Then we'll make as many mories as you want, babe… before my sister kills that is."
"Eh?"
-
When the trio arrived on Eris' prized garden, three things imdiately caught her by surprise.
One was the overall beauty of the garden and it's inhabitants that was like nothing she had ever seen before on earth.
Another was the rich sll of grilled food in the air; more bold and flavorful than anything she had ever known.
But the third, and possibly the most important was the three very large, shirtless n who were flexing their muscles in front of a small crowd.
Darius: "Alright, alright, you see this here! Cobra back, baby!"
Hajun: "Feeble man with a feeble physique! That's got nothing on these arms of steel!!"
Helios: "I die for a short ti and you two begin to get overconfident. It falls upon to show you what REAL gains look like!!"
The three n let out their own distinctive war cries before flexing their muscles to the point of vein explosion.
"…We're going back to my room." Belloc instantly decided.
Once Stheno saw her brothers on the sidelines looking like they were about to join the contest, she too was ready to leave.
"I will just order take out."
"Good idea, babe."
The two gently turned lanie back towards the stairs and began leading her to safety.
"Wait a second!"
Before the throuple reached freedom, Audrina appeared in front of them faster than they could run.
'T-Tall..! P-Purple! H-Hot! Unbelievably hot!' lanie realized.
"Where are my darlings going, hm? Not going to introduce to this new friend?"
Audrina's glowing eyes shimred as she noted the tattoo on lanie's exposed stomach.
"Or perhaps this one is more than a friend…"
"Ma, this is-" Belloc began.
lanie's body broke into a full jitter and she dropped her head in a perfect 90 degree bow.
"M-My na is lanie, and I am very grateful to you f-f-f-for allowing into your ho!"
To really top off this embarrassing mont, lanie tried to replicate a courtesy that she'd seen on 'Ga of Thrones' and failed miserably in her endeavor.
Audrina laughed musically as she helped the human girl stand upright.
"You certainly are a spirited one, aren't you? How very adorable."
lanie thought her heart may have been about to stop at any mont if this extrely colorful and beautiful woman praised her again.
Now more than ever did she understand where Belloc got his looks from.
"Co with , darling. I'll introduce you to everyone."
Audrina moved like a ghost and slipped her arm around lanie casually- stealing her away before she even knew what was happening.
"Hey everyone! Co and et my new cute little daughter-in-law! Grandpas cover up first or you'll frighten her!"
'Too late..' lanie thought with a wry smile.
From that point on, lanie was sward by not just one beautiful dragon, but several.
Perhaps she should have been more prepared for a scene like this after getting to et Apophis and Thea already, but this truly was quite the jarring spectacle.
From the mont she was introduced to everyone, she was locked within a whirlwind of beautiful faces, eye-catching physiques and bold personalities.
.
A few of the older n from before quickly made jokes about her failed attempt at a courtesy and attempted to replicate it mockingly.
Belloc reprimanded the old bastards, but l actually didn't mind since she found them to be quite amusing.
Thirty minutes after arriving, various picnic tables appeared out of nowhere and the al was about to be served.
lanie ended up being led to a seat by Belloc's stepmother, where she promptly took a picture of her before skipping away.
"What was that exactly..?"
"Who knows." Belloc shrugged.
Glancing to the right of her, lanie found two more individuals there that she hadn't gotten around to eting yet.
Coincidentally, they also seed to be a couple, but the man was as pale as a sheet and sweating even though it was a little chilly outside.
'I'll just leave them alone for now…'
lanie soon rembered that there was one person here who she hadn't t whom was perhaps the most important of all.
"Babe, is your dad not coming..? I don't think I heard anyone ntion him."
Belloc opened his mouth to speak but paused when the winds began to pick up speed a bit.
"Speak of the devil… maybe you should put this on for a bit, love."
"O-Oh, okay…"
Belloc helped lanie tie a bandana over her eyes as a large creature suddenly flew over the roof.
It was a large, black creature wrapped in a glossy exoskeleton and with eight living tails swaying around it's body.
As quickly as it appeared, it vanished.
In it's place was only a single man carrying a young woman on his back.
When Abaddon's bare feet landed upon the grass, he surveiled the mbers of his family with a blank gaze.
As his eyes settled on a particular group, his expression shifted to one of absurdity.
"…Why the hell are you three covered in baby oil..?"
Helios, Hajun, and Darius all stood up and resud their flexing competition.
Darius: "Quickly, Abaddon! Tell these fools that my physique is unmatchable by-"
Helios: "Bastard, stop cheating!"
Hajun: "You've shapeshifted your legs, stop trying to fool us! You're much more top heavy than that!"
Abaddon and Nubia stared blankly at the arguing old dragons before tip-toeing away discreetly.
Once they were a safe distance away, Abaddon placed his daughter upright on the ground.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye like she was waiting to hear sothing from him.
Abaddon gave her a small nudge in the direction of her partners and she seed to take the hint.
Before she left, she hugged her father tightly.
It was only for a mont, but she could faintly sense a feeling of sha lingering deep within him.
Abaddon walked away from her shortly after returning her hug; leaving her mildly confused and worried.
'Co over here.'
Suddenly hearing a voice in his head, Abaddon looked towards a particularly dense grove of trees where Erica was beckoning him forth with her finger.
She quickly hid behind the trees like a shy woodland creature and temporarily dashed away his negative thoughts.
Abaddon ventured into the grove; searching for his beautiful wife while continuously being lured in by her charming laughter.
"Gotcha!"
Erica dropped down out of a tree and brought both herself and her husband tumbling to the ground.
She erged victorious as she claid her place on top of him with a smile.
"Have I told you how much I love this garden?"
"Only in passing…" Abaddon smiled.
Erica rested her head atop Abaddon's bare chest and began tracing his tattoos with her fingertips.
"This is the place where you first admitted my interest in you was not so one sided… and where I got to enjoy the feeling of holding you in my arms for the first ti."
Erica's warm and possessive personality soothed Abaddon's mind in more ways than one.
"Truthfully, I often have a lot of fantasies about that night and how magical it might have been if you took right there…" she confessed.
Abaddon's hands slipped below Erica's soft waist. "Well we could always-"
"Butttt for now I would rather know what you said to our daughter when you left with her." Erica smiled evilly.
Abaddon suddenly felt like he'd been cornered by the worst brand of sneak attacks.
"You cheat…"
"Don't worry, darling, I'll still reward you after you talk to , and I'll make sure to be extra thorough~"
Whether it was Erica's sultry tone, the warmth of her body against his, or the need to get his sha off his chest, Abaddon ended up spilling the beans with little provocation.
"I… didn't handle things as well as I should've. In fact, I could barely say anything at all to her."
Erica withheld all reactions as she listened to her husband's false heartbeat. "Okay… And why is that?"
"I dont trust Zheng to protect our daughter."
"…Might this have sothing to do with Sif?"
Abaddon nodded.
"I thought we were all over that dear."
"We are… but I can't help but harbor resentnt when I think of an instance where he could fail to protect her as well. I just want her to be safe."
Erica paused montarily before saying the words that would make this whole dilemma seem insignificant.
Abaddon was still thinking with human customs in mind, but if she could shift his perspective a little bit then maybe things would be different.
"If it makes you feel better, maybe you should think about it like this; Zheng and Adeline were the ones to submit to Nubia, so maybe you should reevaluate who's responsibility it is to protect who."
As if he was suddenly struck by lightning, Abaddon suddenly sat up with his eyes as big as the moon.
"…Holy shit, I think you just fixed ."
'You're so easy.' Erica giggled to herself.
Abaddon stood up with his red-haired wife in his arms and started walking back towards the rest of the group.
"Where are you going..?"
"To see our daughter." He answered firmly.
"O-Okay… but we're coming back here, right?"
The needy look in Erica's eyes made Abaddon wonder if he should take care of her first or go be a responsible parent.
Unfortunately, the decision would quickly be made for him when he sensed six different presences passing through the trees to et him.
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