Darius sat down at the head of his table, with all of his abundant excitement from before gone as if it never even existed.
The liquor was finally brought out, and no one, not even Valerie, seemed interested in drinking any of it.
The dwarven king finally uncorked the first bottle, and started drinking like he was trying to forget all of the boredom that came with being king.
"Alright, what's so important that all of you can't sit and enjoy a simple toast? I hope it's not to ask me to make you a weapon or armor, cause I'll only do that if you beat me in a game of drink!" He warned.
'...I'm not saying I'm interested, but I would totally kick this old man's ass in a drinking contest.' Valerie thought telepathically.
'We're sure you would, sister, but do try to focus.' Lailah reminded.
'Right... Audrina, steal me a couple of bottles when you get the chance.'
'Gotcha. You want dark liquor or clear?' She asked.
'Don't answer that, Valerie. Audrina is only allowed to get you clear. Dark liquor makes you want to fight.' Eris interjected.
'Yeah, but clear makes her really slutty.' Bekka reminded.
'Hey!'
'But that's not really a problem for our husband though, is it?' Seras added.
'Are you just agreeing with the part about me being a slut?'
'She didn't say that sister, she only meant when you're drunk.' Lillian said warmly.
'...I hate all of you bitches.'
In the end, it was decided that Audrina was going to steal two bottles of clear, with no chance for dark.
Oblivious to the heist his wives were planning behind his back, Abaddon finally told Darius the reason for his visit.
"I've come here today to give you notice. Ten days from now-"
"Are you about to request new materials from me for our trades with Upyr? Because usually my attendant handles all of that nonsense so if you want anything more you'll have to wring his balls dry instead of mine!"
Abaddon blinked several times as he stared at this man like he was a true enigma.
In either of his lives, he didn't believe he'd ever met anyone like him.
"Old man, I'm not here to ask you for anything." He muttered as he rubbed his temples.
"Oh? My apologies then, please continue." The small man brought the bottle to his lips once more, and gestured for Abaddon to continue talking.
"You have ten days before my army arrives from the sea and marches on your land. We will travel from city to city, and countryside to countryside, subjugating this entire continent.
Of course if your people surrender, then no harm will befall them and we will move on after they have taken my blood."
*Gulping noises continue.*
Abaddon: "..."
The wives: "..."
"Ah! That's good stuff!" *Uncorks another and continues drinking*
Abaddon let out a low growl and ever so lightly touched the bottom of the bottle that Darius was drinking from.
"Mmh!?"
Miraculously, the liquor inside froze within a few seconds, halting the King's alcoholic spiral.
"You take my words as air? Continuing to drink in my presence is more than a bit rude." Abaddon warned.
"Hey, these are my lands and I want to be comfortable! I offered you a drink and you didn't take it, but why does that mean I can't have any either??"
"I have just declared war on your entire nation and your only thoughts are of inebriating yourself?"
"Damn right, it's not like I actually believe you!" Darius chucked the frozen bottle over his shoulder and picked up another.
"...You...don't believe me...?" Abaddon asked in a low voice.
"Not one fucking bit! I know conquerers, monsters, and murderers and you my friend are none of them, or at least you don't actually hate me enough to be. You are just a man in need.
You wouldn't attack my lands unless I had something that you desperately wanted, so sit down, have a drink, and maybe I can help you without this business turning into a messy one."
The rate at which Abaddon's irritation left his body was rather swift, and all that was left behind was a man who felt like he'd been completely seen through.
But he maintained his stone faced demeanor, and shook his head in blatant denial of Darius' offer.
"The only way for you to give me what I need, is if you hand over your entire kingdom to me. Feeling that generous?"
"Not in the last two hundred years I'm afraid." he admitted.
"Then I can only take what I need, it is that simple."
"There are always more than one path forward, boy. A man who cannot see that is wandering around blind in a maze."
"This is no maze, Darius!"
Boom!!!
Abaddon unconsciously released his pressure within the dining hall, cracking the stone floor and obliterating part of the table closest to him.
All of the maids who were so openly oggling him before were now passed out on the ground, foaming at the mouth.
His eyes were glowing their distinctive red and purple color, and his teeth sharpened to a point uncontrollably.
It wasn't the dwarven king's fault, he had no idea that his simple words intended for aid would set the dragon off.
But the implication that Abaddon had any other path forward than this one was downright untrue.
If he did not conquer the dwarven and phoenix kingdoms, he would never evolve again and his strength would be insufficient.
The abyss would rip him away from his wives, his children, and his people.
Such a thing could absolutely not be allowed to happen.
But to stay beside them, he would have to destroy the lives of others and people that had nothing to do with him.
At his core he would always be a rather gentle being, and he would always feel guilty destroying the lives of others when it wasn't called for.
But so what?
No matter the amount of horrible or unspeakable things he had to do, he would always prioritize his loved ones above all else.
He could worry about all of the guilt he would feel from his actions afterwards, and pay his respects at the end of every battle.
As Darius looked at the raging dragon in front of him, he still could not bring himself to be intimidated or take Abaddon's threat seriously, and the desperation he noticed before was even more prominent.
"I see... Seems we truly have no other option then."
"No, we do not." Abaddon said venomously.
Darius sighed and looked around at all of the broken glass on the floor.
"I will not roll over for you boy. Regardless of my relationship with your grandfather, I am at first a ruler with his own interests and those of his people to think about."
His warning was simple, but it was clear.
'If you come I will fight you with everything that I have.'
"I do not need you to hand me anything, Darius." Abaddon turned around to leave not long after, and retracted his unholy pressure back into his body.
"I told you from the beginning, I will take everything that I need. If you do not believe me to be a conqueror, just keep your lips off the bottle long enough to watch as I prove your delusions wrong."
As Abaddon left from the direction he came, he could feel eight piercing gazes boring into his back, and his mind flooded with concern.
'I'm fine, girls. There is no need for you to worry about me.'
He didn't receive a response from them, but he did receive eight delicate hands across his back.
'We are here for you.'
'We are apart of you.'
'We will protect you.'
'We will fight with you.'
Even if Abaddon could not hear the girls' words, their intentions were more than conveyed through their touch.
This one simple action reaffirmed Abaddon's will stronger than ever, and any negative feelings he was harboring before had already faded.
-
"D-Don't you think you should eat a bit slower, princess?"
"Not really."
"Ah... Carry on then."
As soon as Abaddon and his wives arrived in Apeir, the first thing he did was send his daughters back home so that they would be safe if a conflict broke out.
Gabbrielle initially did not like it, but when her sister in law, Nita, promised to make apple muffins for her, she forgot why she ever wanted to set sail in the first place.
Leading to the current scene where the small chimera was sitting in Nita's lap as she consumed fist sized muffins like they were going out of style.
Nita was both entranced and concerned by just how far the little one's cheeks could stretch, and continued to pay close attention without making any real efforts to stop her.
As Gabrielle continued to show why she was the former embodiment of infinite gluttony, she saw a small figure clad in white pass by in the hallway.
'Oh... she's still upset.'
Holding up her hand, she made a gesture as if she were lifting something as she chomped away.
A cute yet confused cry was heard from down the hall, and anyone in the manor would have recognized the culprit.
"Uwah!?"
Pulling her hand inward, Gabrielle pulled Mira into the room through the use of her powers, and saw that she was fully dressed and ready for battle.
"Put Mira down! This is not funny!"
"I am not jesting, I merely am doing as I've been told. Your mood seemed to be deplorable so I stopped you from going outside before you could half the local wildlife population again."
Since she spent so much time with Mira, she was more often than not the one who had to prevent her from doing dangerous things.
"Muffin?"
"No!"
Truthfully, Gabbrielle has only asked out of courtesy and did not actually want to share, so Mira's firm rejection was a real relief.
"Why are you upset, sister in law? Come talk to us and put your daggers down." Nita said softly.
The young ice dragon looked down at her hands and realized that she had been holding her weapons since a while ago, but she didn't really remember grabbing them.
Gabbrielle scooted over and made room in Nita's lap before placing her sister down beside her and allowing her to begin her tirade.
"Daddy and mommies are mean, they made me come back because they said I'm not strong enough!! Since when is Mira not strong!?"
To be fair, Abaddon and his wives had actually told Mira that things were simply too dangerous but Mira took that as her strength was inferior to theirs.
"Well, you know their just concerned about you. A declaration of war could go any number of ways and they were only trying to protect you since you're still young." Nita said.
Mira didn't seem to like her sister in law's words all that much, and she picked up muffin off the table and bit it aggressively out of spite.
Gabbrielle was crushed internally.
Sighing, she finally decided to pose what she believed to be a simple solution.
"If sister wants to get stronger, then why don't you just do that evolution thing that people in this world are so crazy about? They'll take you with them more after that."
Her sister looked down at her little feet and made a sad expression. "Mira doesn't know how to evolve again... and daddy lost his power so he can't help like before..."
Nita had been let in on the lingering family secrets just like all of her sisters.
She knew just how great it was to be able to see your own evolution conditions, so the fact that Abaddon had lost such a thing would be considered a huge blow.
The succubus put on her best big sisterly act, and tried to console the young girl as best she could. "Aww, Mira... I know it's going to be hard but you can still-
"Who told you that? He is still plenty capable of telling you, his method just has to be different." Gabbrielle suddenly said.
She was so busy lost in the warm cinnamon-y taste of the pastry in her mouth that she did not notice that the room had become quiet.
Looking up, she found both Nita and Mira staring at her with slack jaws and disbelieving eyes.
"What?"
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