Chapter 361 The Second Prince of Sheol
While Abaddon braced himself for a raging Hel; his wives were in a different section of Helheim all together.
Nastrond is the Norse underworld's most famous torture destination that is renowned for it's cruelty.
To reach the shore of this hellish sea, one must pass through a deep and dark underground cave that goes on for miles.
The walls of the cavern are made from billions upon billions of twisted snakes that spew their horrible venom onto the ground endlessly; creating a shallow tide of horrible poison that dead souls must wade through.
This is the fate that awaits those who are guilty of murder, adultury, and oath breaking; the most unforgivable crimes in Norse mythology.
And this is also the path that Audrina and Seras had ended up.
The two of them were wading through these venomous waters amongst a carcophony of the wailing dead surrounding them; tracking the presence of their son.
"This place is… charming?" Seras said with a wry smile.
"Has becoming a goddess of joy made it so that you are incapable of being despondent?"
"I would not say that. If anything, it has made me more aware of the fact that moments of true bliss are fleeting and should be treasured while they are present.
But I am blessed in the way that any moment I can spend with any member of my family is a true gift for me. Therefore I am always joyous no matter what terrible circumstances we might find ourselves in."
"…You are certainly something else now. I believe that Eris might have some competition for our family's biggest sweetheart."
"You truly believe so??" She asked excitedly.
Audrina chuckled as they continued to slosh through the dark waters without seeing an end in sight.
The goddess suddenly dipped her hand in the waters sloshing at their thighs and inspected it curiously.
Though it was not affecting them seriously, a faint feeling like that of bathing in salt water could be felt from the waist down.
"Curious… do you believe that if we brought some of this for our son to drink he would be able to reap some benefits from it?"
"I suppose so… though his venoms are all of unparalleled lethality, they only affect the living. I wager that something like this would have an effect on the dead as well."
Audrina nodded as she created a small container made from ice magic and collected a decent amount.
"Do you think the rest of our children might be jealous if we bring home a gift for only one of them?" Seras suddenly asked.
Audrina froze like a deer in headlights as she immediately started looking around like they were inside a shopping mall.
"Y-You're right! We might hurt their feelings and make them want new mothers, so we have to get them something from this realm before we leave!"
"Right!"
Just as the girls reached a unanimous decision, a bead of light started to come into view at the end of the tunnel.
Coincidentally, the tattoos that sat within the girls' pants started to glow bright enough to be seen through their clothes.
Just as it occurred, they began to hear a new sound from within the tunnel.
Not of ghostly wailing, but instead fervent chewing.
Seras and Audrina braced themselves as they finally left the snake lined walls of the underground cavern and emerged somewhere different.
On a beach lined with black sand and corpses; a large dragon could be seen feasting upon the endless stream of dead that were trying to escape the venomous waters of Nastrond.
Their reprieve from agonizing within that hellish cavern was to have their corpses feasted upon by the famed 'Malice Striker.'
Curled atop the shore was an enormous black dragon that was comparable to a literal nightmare.
With deep black scales along it's serpent like body, and tattered wings that were very large and imposing; it dwarfed most Sheol dragons in terms of ferocious appearance.
His horns curled upward into the air and stuck out like the branches of a tree, while his violet eyes scanned the area in front of him as if he were constantly searching for his next meal.
As he finished chewing upon the last unfortunate corpse in front of him; his eyes landed upon two women of unparalleled beauty and grace.
Looking at these women made the beast feel strange.
Why did he feel such familiarity with them, despite having never seen them before?
As soon as he saw them he was filled with a strange excitement that he had no idea how to even comprehend.
Like the arrival of these women meant a return to safety and security.
But why did it feel like that?
It truly did not know.
But the one thing that was for certain was that it did not want to eat them.
Hell, it wasn't even sure that it could.
So instead, it lowered it's head, and inspected the two women closely.
A flurry of hissing whispers escaped it's maw, as the dragon had never bothered with human speech for as long as it had been alive.
*hissing* (You are not dead.)
Audrina and Seras both seemed rather surprised that they could understand the dragon without issue, and they were unsure whether it was because of the markings they bore or because they were dragon goddesses.
Nevertheless, Audrina nodded slowly as she smiled at the creature towering above her.
"That's right, we aren't. Were you expecting us to be?"
(Only the dead or beings with power over it can step into this realm and remain undamaged.)
Seras held up her hand and produced a deathly aura around her fingertips.
Nidhoggr inspected the energy curiously and found that it was extremely similar to a power that he also possessed.
It was no surprise that these women were able to come down here and stay for so long if they possessed a power that was made for this environment.
"We've come to bring you home, dear."
(Home? Dear?)
"Yes. We are your mothers and we've been wanting to meet you for a very long time. We want to take you home so that you can live amongst the rest of your family. Does that not sound wonderful?"
Nidhoggr looked like he only understood around half of what Audrina was saying, but for some reason he found it undeniable that these women were trying to show him goodwill.
True goodwill, unlike that of Hel who saw him as little more than a pet to be kept on a leash.
That alone would have been enough to sway him, but the mention of being taken somewhere made his nonexistent ears prick up.
Suddenly it was as if a whole new world was opened to him, and he was finally on the verge of breaking free from his confines.
(Can you help me achieve my dream?)
"Oh? Our little baby has a dream?"
"Go on, tell your mommies what it is!"
'…Who is the baby? Who are my mommies?'
""We heard that!""
The dragon shifted his body around uncomfortably as he decided to skip past their useless coddling.
(I want to break free from the roots of the world tree and travel to each of the nine realms, drowning them in my cold darkness and feasting on the souls of their dead. I would have the life of Odin for imprisoning me, and Hraesvelgr for provoking me endlessly.)
At this moment, most mothers would have been horrified to hear such a thing come out of their child's mouth and may even reconsider taking them home.
But Audrina and Seras were most certainly not normal mothers.
To them, there was no greater joy than hearing the ambition of their youngest son so loud and clear.
They felt almost as proud as they did when Mira first came to them for their permission to join the Euphrates.
"My sweet boy, is that all? As long as you treat your sisters kindly and get along with your brother, your father and mothers will help you get everything that you could ever want and more." Audrina said sweetly.
(Brother… sisters…)
-
Back in Sheol, Apophis was in the tub surrounded by all three of his wives.
Tiamat was seated firmly in his lap, while Rita and Claire were seated underneath each arm.
Suddenly, the young imoogi smiled uncharacteristically wide as he stared up at the glossy red ceiling.
Claire: "What is that smile for, beloved?"
Tiamat: "Has it dawned upon you once again just how lucky you are to have such beauties all to yourself?"
Rita: "I don't know why you're smiling, but it looks lovely so keep doing it!"
Apophis laughed until a tear fell from one of his red eyes.
"Yes, all of things are true indeed, my loves. But for some strange reason, I feel as if a long-held burden has been lifted from my shoulders."
Needless to say, none of Apophis' wives understood exactly what he was talking about, but in that moment they found his charm so compelling that they hardly cared.
-
(…These bargains are acceptable.)
"Wonderful!"
Audrina held her arms out as if she was going to hug the massive dragon and was oblivious to the smell of death permeating off his being.
"Come here, my darling. Let's go find your father now, okay?"
(Father…?)
At that moment, a horrifyingly loud and terrible roar ripped through the air and caused the sand on this unholy beach to rumble.
Though he was a primordial beast, Nidhoggr instinctively lowered his head and tail out of an unprecedented sense of reverence.
(That…)
"That's your father, dear. Don't be afraid of him. I promise you that he is the most amazing man that has ever existed, and there is no need for you to cower in front of him."
(…)
"Come along now, my son. He's a bit busy right now, but let's go watch him and show him our support, yea?" Seras said.
(…Alright.)
Audrina touched Nidhoggr on the snout lightly and his body became a mass of pure dark energy.
The energy entered into her glowing mark without leaving a trace, and caused the goddess to reflexively place a hand on her stomach.
"Well… I am happy that one of our children has come back to us, but I wish I had gotten pregnant the old fashioned way." She muttered in disappointment.
"As much as we sleep with our husband, I think that you can pretend that this wasn't an immaculate conception just this once." Seras reminded.
"Maybe…"
Seras rolled her eyes as she smiled and threw her arm around her sister.
"We can worry about that later, but for right now we should find a way to return his power to him."
"Right!"
Seras started back on the path up to the surface, but noticed that Audrina was not following.
She turned around and found her rubbing her stomach lovingly with a small smile on her face.
"Sister… do you think that husband would be upset with me if I named our child without waiting for him?"
Seras scratched her cheek as she thought about it before shaking her head.
"I don't believe so, seeing as how you clearly already have a name in mind. Can I be the first to hear it?"
Audrina smiled widely as if she was the happiest woman in any realm at this moment.
"I was thinking about 'Belloc'. Do you think he will like it?"
Seras showed a smile that mirrored her sister's exactly.
"I believe he will, sister. I can't wait for everyone to meet him."
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