After the phoenix princesses arrived, they were shown to their individual rooms by Nita.
Thea and Apophis stayed behind to speak to their parents and their new mother, with promises that they would come to meet the girls in a moment.
"...Are you really Thea's wife?"
Jasmine had been staring holes into the back of Nita's head for the entire time she'd been following her.
She wasn't sure if what she'd said earlier was some kind of joke that the entire Tathamet family was in on or not, but she didn't find it very funny.
.... For some unknown reason.
*Snicker.*
.... Although shooting a glance at her sister Claire, she seemed to find it downright hilarious.
Nita suddenly turned around with a knowing smirk on her face and nodded happily.
"Yes, I am. Is it strange?"
Jasmine opened and closed her mouth as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and it seemed like her brain was about to short circuit.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but... you're a maid! Did the emperor truly approve this marriage??"
Contrary to what Jasmine's question would have you believe, her question was not posed with a malicious nature in mind.
The way that she reacted was the same way that anyone would if they found out about Thea's relationship with Nita.
Luxuria was no small power anymore, so surely there would be any number of nobles presenting their daughters or sons on a near daily basis.
Even Jasmine's own mother had considered marrying one of them off to one of the princes from the dwarven kingdom, as that was just the way that the world worked.
For some reason, when Nita heard the mention of Abaddon's approval, she fought the urge to laugh out loud.
"Pffft..Hahahaha!"
"W-Why are you laughing at me??" She yelled with a red face.
"I'm sorry but you really don't know father-in-law at all! His third wife was a bookstore owner, his fourth wife was a small-time blacksmith, his sixth wife was an orphan, and his eighth wife was his nanny as a child.
He is not the kind of man who would ever stand in the way of someone wanting to marry one from a different background. And besides, he tends not to tell his children no anyway, least of all his daughters."
Both Jasmine and Claire blinked as they realized that they didn't know anything about half of the empresses.
The only ones who were particularly famous were Lailah, Audrina, Seras, and even Bekka, so most tended to think that his wives came from similar backgrounds.
"Then... why are you still acting as a servant?" Claire suddenly asked.
"Mmm... because I can? I'm not strong enough to follow them into battle, and I was already acting as a maid before so why stop now?
I want to contribute something to the family that has loved me so much, even before I married the first princess. This is the way that I do that."
Jasmine suddenly felt like her eyes had been opened and she suddenly found herself taking a small liking to this woman.
Suddenly she had a lot of questions and things that she wanted to know and stories that she wanted to hear.
About how Nita became a maid, how she ended up married to Thea, as well as what it was like to be married to her.
Although why she wanted to know the answer to these things... even she was not completely sure.
"Do you... have some time later?" Jasmine asked awkwardly. "I believe it might be nice to converse a bit more."
"Sure thing, sister. I'll return in an hour."
"I-I'm not your sister!"
"Fufufu~ Not yet!"
"Not ever!"
-
In Abaddon's bedroom, he had split himself into four, and held each of his wives underneath his arms.
As expected, Lillian wasn't able to go through with intercourse tonight.
She tried her best because she did not want to disappoint everyone, but ultimately no one could really get in the mood when they saw how badly she was trembling.
Memories of her last day alive were coming back to her in waves, and she couldn't stop them no matter how badly she wanted to.
No one judged her, and they even hugged and kissed her to make her feel comfortable, but she couldn't help but feel like she had lost something to Jeddah once again.
She fell asleep not long after, and had dreams of the man who'd hurt her being chased away and killed by her new family.
But Abaddon remained awake in bed, and stared absentmindedly into the ceiling.
He often spent his nights like this since he always fell asleep after his wives did, and he used this time to gather himself, think of steps for the future, and appreciate the present.
But tonight, his thoughts were not on those things, or at least not entirely.
He was actually thinking about his grandfather Helios and the request that had been asked of him.
Abaddon held up one of his arms that wasn't currently pinned down by a wife and reached inside of his dimensional storage.
The item that he'd pulled out was the water stone he'd been given as payment.
When asked about how Helios was able to acquire such a thing, the golden dragon gave a very intrinsic answer.
'I am old, and powerful. There is nothing I can not acquire if I desire it.'
Truthfully, Abaddon wanted to absorb the power of this stone.
With the timeline for his confrontation with the abyss drawing ever closer, he was always focused on gaining power.
Since he wasn't able to buy these things from the system anymore at the drop of a hat, he understood the immense opportunity that this presented.
But if he absorbed it, he would be locking himself into a contract and making a pledge to resurrect his grandmother.
In the event that he failed, Helios would have his head, and he wasn't sure if he or his wives had the power to subdue such a monster.
'Do you doubt yourself, my dear?'
Abaddon realized that one of his wives was not as asleep as he had thought.
Valerie was lying sleepily on the chest of his real body alongside Lillian.
She had noticed that he had been staring at the stone in his hand for quite a while, and was immediately able to guess what he was thinking about.
'I suppose I am.' he replied telepathically.
Valerie suddenly squirmed a bit in bed before she reached up and took Abaddon's hand in hers.
'You can do anything that you put your mind to, husband. We have all seen it time and time again.
If you need a little push to help you remember that, you can always count on one of us to volunteer.'
Applying pressure in her hands, Valerie made Abaddon crush the stone and a cool sensation spread throughout his body.
His veins suddenly felt like they were filled with ice water, and his eyelids became strangely heavy.
'This feeling...it is so familiar.' He thought dreamily.
Valerie's eyes widened as she realized what may have been happening.
Not wanting to get too excited, she tried to speak to him as calmly as possible so as not to break his trance.
'Follow that feeling, darling. The girls and I will be here when you come back.'
Valerie's words appeared to have worked wonders, and before Abaddon knew it his eyes had rolled in the back of his head.
- Earth: Western Pacific Ocean
In the deepest part of the ocean, sunlight does not reach to illuminate or warm the waters.
Making these depths the coldest and darkest place on earth.
For that reason, (and several others) very little is known about the Mariana trench.
And what is recorded so far is nothing compared to the true significance of these waters.
If one were able to travel deep enough into these depths, they would find creatures the likes of which had only been seen in story books.
Sea monsters.
This frigid darkness is their kingdom, and they pay ohmage to only one ruler, their queen that slumbers at the very bottom of the sea floor.
But for the first time in an eternity, one would see two pairs of icy blue eyes that were lighting up the darkness with their glow.
'?? ??...?'(What is this...?)
For some reason, the queen had been awoken by the feeling of something intruding within it's mind.
Normally, such a thing should be impossible, since as the personification of the chaotic sea, she was a being who should have been immune to any being trying to play within her psyche.
And yet she could feel that something was trying to communicate with her and bestow her with a sense of longing.
It was nauseating.
'Can you hear me, my child...?'
After being referred to as a child instead of a queen for the first time in centuries, the creature became agitated beyond belief.
'?? ??!? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ??????, ???????? ???? ??? ??????!? ????!!' (Who is this!? You dare disturb my slumber and placate me as a child!? INSOLENT!!)
Above the sea floor, one could see a storm seemingly rolling in out of nowhere, and the previously calm waters began to churn with a ferocity that would swallow any ship.
'Such a precious thing you are... I love you already, my daughter...'
?? ????! (YOUR WHAT!?!?)
The storm began to pick up in intensity, and bolts of lightning as large as skyscrapers fell onto the water.
The creature didn't know which it was more pissed about.
The fact that this strange entity was claiming dominion over her, or the fact that she actually felt as though she had a connection with it.
'I will come for you when I am able, my child... Your mothers, and your siblings will adore you the same as I do...'
'?????? ??????? ?? ??? ???????? ?????!' (Behemoth?! Caelum?! What do those urchins have-)
'No, my dear... not them... your true family will come to find you as soon as we are able, you needn't worry.'
'?????? ??? ???? ???????! ??? ?? ????-' (Family!? I am QUEEN of the depths! What need have I for-)
Before Leviathan could finish, she felt her connection with this mysterious being beginning to waiver.
The man whom she could hear so clearly before, now sounded faint and distant as if he were being pulled away.
'??? ????, ????? ??? ???? ???-' (You flee, coward!? I swear that I will-)
'I .... id.... ou.... fare.... my.... daugh....'
When Leviathan felt silence return to her mind once more, she was assailed with a terrible feeling of longing.
The implication that she would actually miss this insolent being only served to agitate her further.
'??? ??? ???...??? ??? ???!!!' (How dare you... HOW DARE YOU!!!)
That day, a storm the likes of which none had ever seen raged above the pacific ocean.
Hurricanes formed, lightning fell, and the ocean itself seemed to rage in a way that had only been depicted in mythology.
Where such a storm came from, no one was sure.
But the most religious humans believed it to be an act of god himself, and took it as a sign that the end times were near.
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience