First Demonic Dragon

- Unknown Location

Inside of a dimly lit room, Percival stood alone- trembling as he loomed over a misty cauldron.

Within it, he was watching a scene through the eyes of another him as he met a bitter- unenviable end.

The stone making up the cauldron cracked underneath his grip. All liquid inside of the ancient pot rushed out onto the floor.

His gnashing teeth parted only to spout hateful, vile drivel.

"How... dare they...! T-Those whores!!" Percival raked his claws across his chiseled face. One of his hands appeared to be missing, but growing back semi-slowly.

Percival raged about the room, thrashing obstacles in his path and behaving as if he were no better than a toddler having a tantrum.

Though the words he was spouting were far worse than mud or anything that might've came from a diaper.

"I'll kill them! I'll gut them!! I will see all of those whores and their children burned alive! I will use them until they're broken and loose and toss their grotesque leftovers into the laps of every demon under the banner of one of the seventy-two! I vow it! I swear it!"

Fueling his anger was a laughter that only he could hear- coming from the entity who hadn't even bothered to lift a finger to help him.

"Shut up, shut up, shut uppp!!!!!"

Hahahahaha! Why haven't they asked for your name indeed! My chosen spin quite the humorous yarn, don't they?

Percival picked up a table and hurled it all the way across the room. "Mark my words, old-one, I swear that I will-"

Percival suddenly felt his head tear in two. It felt like his very soul was being shredded to pieces.

He had a fetish and appreciation for pain, but this was an unthinkable, ungratifying hell.

Hold your anger all you wish. But you will not damage my new vessel and think that the life and dreams you hold now will continue to persist. Temper yourself. You may have your vengeance, but I suggest you make it a point not to forget who holds your leash.

-

Apophis found going to sleep to be easier than he thought.

Being back at home was extremely comfortable for him. His room, that was really a pocket domain similar to Thea's and Bashenga's, was just as he had left it.

Claire and Jasmine climbed into bed with him and sat on either side- lightly stroking his hair or shoulders.

The girls were both a little rattled.

This wasn't Apophis' first time being attacked or anything like that. The first prince had fought plenty of his own battles before.

But this was the first time that anyone had been so brazen as to attack him at their home, in the middle of the day, and for no real reason at all.

Truthfully, Claire was just glad that their youngest just wasn't there to witness it. Serana would have been quite rattled if she saw their husband, who she saw as invincible, get impaled by some random nobody.

Hopefully, she wouldn't try to come back until the hole in his chest had properly closed, or she may just faint on the spot.

Rita suddenly looked up at the door and stared at it for a long time. Claire followed her example.

There was a brief knock, and then the door clicked open from the other side.

Gentle, black-haired Sei poked her head inside while wearing a characteristically grandmother-like smile that put the girls' turbulent souls at ease.

"How's he feeling?"

Claire smiled bitterly. "He's strong, like his parents. So, the answer could be perfectly fine, or on death's doorstep and we wouldn't know."

Sei chuckled in a low melodic voice. "Well, let's see if we can't take a little look of our own and reach an honest answer, hm? I also brought along a little company."

Sei fully slipped into the room, and waddling behind her came a much more recognizable face than even hers.

"Hey.." Courtney waived weakly.

Claire rose out of bed- smiling happily. "What's with all the mystery cloak and dagger? Bring it in, stranger."

Courtney was closed in on by Claire before she knew what was happening. She hugged her as tightly as she could without breaking her.

"We missed you. You should've popped by to see.."

Claire finally noticed the bag her sister-in-law was holding. She smiled knowingly.

"Is that for him?"

"I thought it might... you know. Make him feel better." Courtney shrugged helplessly.

"Because of the fight?"

"A-Among other things."

Before Claire could ask what that meant, the two heard the sound of the bed rustling.

"Easy now. Did we wake you?" Sei asked as she helped him sit up.

Apophis shook his head groggily. "No more than the scent of rotel dip with doritos."

Sei went from smiling to rolling her unnerving white eyes. She grabbed his ear hard enough to pull it off in one swoop.

"You have a hole in your body. You're not eating."

"But I smell three meat! Bacon, beef, and hot sausage!"

"Sweetheart. Don't make grandma hit you, okay?" Sei smiled icily.

Apophis knew he might've pushed his joke just a little bit too far.

He sighed helplessly as he turned his gaze towards Courtney for the first time- smiling at her as if she were an old friend.

"Hey, kid."

Courtney felt her eyes begin to water. She nearly tossed the bag she was holding to the side as she threw herself into his arms.

"Ow!" Apophis winced.

"S-Sorry!" Courtney recoiled. "I forgot-"

"I was just kidding. Gotcha."

"..."

Courtney, Sei, Claire, and Rita, all took their turns hitting Apophis over the head. None showed the slightest care for the fact that he had already been stabbed once before.

-

"It appears to be a short acting curse..." Sei finally concluded.

She had been analyzing Apophis' body for the better part of fifteen minutes and was almost 100% certain of her hypothesis.

"These traces of magical energy I'm picking up don't work much differently from some brands of viruses or common colds for humans.

Temporarily weakening your defensive capabilities and immune system. The fever and nausia you felt were side effects."

"Shouldn't he be immune to stuff like that?" Courtney didn't care if she was over twenty years old, she still sat with her head on her brother's shoulder like he was still six.

"Well yes, but it's a small gray area. Nevi'im are immune to all magical and organic influences that would attempt to interfere with their souls, poison them, or permanently debilitate their bodies.

However, Nevi'im are slightly vulnerable to curses- and only curses that target the immune system specifically.

And as long as the effect is a temporary one, your body's instincts won't attempt to fight it off because it will sense it's going to go away in under thirty minutes anyway.

The only reason your wound hasn't healed is because your body is making sure you have no more infection left inside of you before closing up.

Whoever crafted this curse had to be extremely familiar with Nevi'im biology... I don't see how any outsider could have done it, unless..."

"Unless...?" Apophis discreetly reached for the bag of chips again. Claire grabbed him by one of his fingers and twisted it.

"There's... been a lot going on at home since you were away." Sei finally admitted. "You should probably let your parents catch you all up on-"

"The primordial Chaos and the son of Lucifer are both trying to kill us." Courtney blurted.

"""What!?"""

Sei facepalmed.

"....Technically, Chaos is only trying to possess your mothers and seems wholly uninterested in your father.

Lucifer's son seems to bear a grudge against any divine being who comes across his path, and since your family is full of divine beings, well.."

Sei looked up to see Apophis and his wives staring at her in horror.

"Ah… probably a bit too much for a day where you've already gone through so much, isn't it?For now, why don't you just rest and then we can get it all sorted out later." Sei started to leave.

"O-Oh, one thing.."

Claire suddenly retrieved a book from the side table and handed it to Sei.

The dragoness raised her brow.

By now, everyone knew Claire liked to use magic on books. Either to make them come alive or charm them with defensive measures.

But this was quite a bit of energy inside, even for her.

"You haven't been locking away deities in this thing, have you?" Sei chuckled.

"…"

"…You're serious? Who??"

Claire smiled bitterly. "Amaterasu was injured before the fight began… it's quite serious it seems. Can you help her?"

Sei shot a glance and her grandson and found him trying fairly hard to avoid her gaze.

She smiled as she accepted the book and backed out of the door. "I'll do what I can, you have my word."

"Thank you, grandmother."

Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"Thanks, granny." Apophis chimed.

Sei waived behind her as she stepped through the door.

"Can I eat yet?" He called.

"No!" Was her final answer before she shut the door behind herself.

Apophis flopped back onto his pillow- defeated and slightly heartbroken.

"There, there, bro." Courtney comforted. "There'll be enough for you to eat later."

"Mom's having hunger pains."

"…"

Courtney just handed her brother a bag of chips with a guilty look on her face. "Just go for it. If you wait then there may be no food left in the house by the time night rolls around."

Apophis' eyes sparkled. His baby sister was such a saint!

The serpent ate jovially, but slowly at his wives' request.

As Apophis ate, he curiously spread his sensed out over the entire house. A subtle- yet not so subtle way of telling everyone that he was back, and checking to see who was even here.

He was quite surprised to find that his aunts had returned home, along with their families.

But he was also incredibly surprised to find that there were a lot more people here who he didn't recognize. And they weren't dragons, but humans.

"You having some kinda sleep over?" He jokingly asked his sister.

Much to his surprise, Courtney began fumbling around with her fingers awkwardly.

"O-Oh, those are just the members of the order… they were on a mission with moms and dad but they came back suddenly, so they let them spend the night."

Apophis almost dropped his chip. He really had missed a lot.

"It's just one night, but still… Never thought dad would just let outsiders in the house like that." He shrugged.

Courtney swallowed and took a deep breath before divulging her next piece of crucial information.

"Y-Yea, well… not all of them are staying for just one night… I brought some friends from school and they're going to stay here for the time being."

Apophis turned his head slowly. "…What kind of friends?"

"J-Just a girl and a g-guy-"

"What kinda guy?!"

"A regular one!" Courtney's voice was uncharacteristically high pitched.

"Oh hell no." Apophis put all of his food down and wiped his hands.

"D-Don't make this weird-" Courtney began.

"Dad knows about this??"

"Of course he does, you know he's-"

"Hell no, where is he?" Apophis stood up.

Courtney immediately tried to pull him back into bed. "Don't make this a thing, he's sleeping!"

"He can go right back to bed after I talk to him." Apophis threw opened the door to his room and manipulated the space so that he was right in the middle of the hallway.

"DAD! We need to talk, old man!!"