First Demonic Dragon

Audrina could tell that her sister didn’t want to talk anymore. Though she may not have been fully aware of the reason why.

Normally, she would have kept pressing the situation. Pestering and pestering until Isabelle inevitably caved and spilled the beans about whatever troubled her.

But behaving like that is what had put them on the path they were on now. She told herself that she was committed to being better.

All that she had to do now was make her sister feel loved. Everything else could wait and take a back seat.

Still, she acted on a small indulgence. She placed her hand on her sister’s thigh in a warm gesture.

Isabelle didn’t flinch, and she didn’t pull away either. Audrina was happy with that alone.

Since their journey was not yet done, she went back to talking with Nyx not long afterwards.

And aside from their sexual habits as middle-aged women (ancient goddesses), the conversation soon turned a little bit heavier when Nyx suddenly asked about the mission at hand.

“So… we’re going to find your father then.” Nyx said awkwardly.

Audrina glanced at her reassuringly. “Why do you sound so uncomfortable saying that?”

Nyx shrugged. “As the queen of parental issues-“

“Giving them and receiving them.” Audrina reminded.

“I told you that Hemera and I are fine now.”

“What’s your daughter’s phone number?”

“Trick question, she doesn’t have one.” Nyx said with a superior tone.

Audrina pulled up a contact in her phone in less than twenty seconds. It depicted a photo of Apophis and Hemera on the beach having the time of their lives.

“…Since when does she know Apophis?”

“Christ.”

Nyx shook her head hard. “T-That point aside… Am I…”

“No, you are in the way of nothing.” Isabelle suddenly said. “What’s a little revenge without a spectator to bear witness?”

Nyx glanced at her with clear uncertainty in her eyes. As if this were the first moment she was noticing some signs of mental instability.

Similarly, Audrina was also beginning to show some mounting concern.

“…Why’re you both looking at me like that? It was just a joke…” She laughed nervously.

Neither goddess really believed that.

In particular, Nyx was formulating more questions in her mind as the minutes went on.

She knew almost everything about the family, but Audrina and Isabelle’s upbringing in the initial timeline wasn’t exactly a subject of her expertise.

Probably because Audrina didn’t like to talk about it. Nyx only asked her once what it was like to grow up with a sister, and she witnessed her friend shut down in a way that was quite rare.

Afterwards, Nyx never even considered bringing up the subject again.

Audrina paid her the same courtesy by not asking about her relationship with Chaos.

But now that they were actually on their way to meet with Dagon, Nyx was feeling that annoying urge to ask questions that she knew she shouldn’t.

“My Lady. I believe we’re here.”

The girls glanced outside the window at the landscape before them.

Rather than being a planet, it consisted of several floating landmasses out in space. Some of which were connected by vast bridges and separated by a set of barriers.

Perception of Gandora was blocked so as not to incite a mass panic upon nearing the residents, but the population was so thin that there was no reason for that.

“You know anything about this place?” Nyx asked Audrina.

The goddess searched her inner library of collected secrets to see if any of them happened to come from this place.

There were none. Which could only mean an entity above even her was blocking her view.

But for what?

“…Take us down.”

Gandora responded to her command by flying them down to the surface of the first landmass she laid eyes on. One that was opened and uncovered by a barrier.

The terrain was rocky and gray. Almost like an asteroid graveyard.

Isabelle was the first one to step outside of the palanquin. She was followed by Nyx and then Audrina.

Stepping outside, their escorts were already in a formation waiting for them.

Nyx noticed a lingering gaze on her from one of them, but didn’t say anything about it.

After her forty thousandth divorce, it was nice to know that she still hadn’t lost her edge.

“This place is barren…” Nyx murmured as she looked around.

“Not quite…” Audrina dropped her gaze towards the floor. “The few presences that I do sense on this formation are coming from underground.”

“Maybe that’s where all the air is?” Isabelle questioned as she waved her hand through the air. “Not like there’s much of it up here, and these colonies are all pretty thick..”

Audrina said nothing as she kept her eyes locked on the ground.

Her husband liked creating new creatures. Their lovely Lillian did too.

After an eternity together, Audrina had watched those two create all manner of new entities. Some fearsome, some furry, all adorable. (According to them.)

She had learned a lot about animal behavior during that time. Perhaps her biggest takeaway from it all was that if an animal is trying to get underground, it’s either because something it needs is there, or it’s hiding from something worse.

Judging by the atmosphere of the planet, she was inclined to believe the latter. She could feel the immense amount of panic and bloodshed that had occurred here.

“…Let’s find a way underground.” Audrina finally decided.

Gandora shrank down to the size of a large dog and followed closely on her master’s heels.

The group began moving across the landscape in a tightly knit unit. As they walked, Audrina wondered just how much of this had been seen in Lailah’s vision.

Soon, Audrina found a small metal hatch next to a strange flower field.

“Have you ever seen flowers like that?” Isabelle asked in wonder.

Audrina smiled wryly. “I’m afraid botany isn’t really my specialty. But I do know that… those plants don’t feel like they should.”

“Meaning what?”

“…They’re missing my darling’s touch.” Audrina answered.

“So that means..?”

“Probably best not to go near them.”

Isabelle’s gaze lingered on the strange, glowing flowers for a moment longer.

*Creak!*

Audrina pulled open the metal hatch, and a cloud of dust billowed out.

Audrina noticed that there was a locking mechanism on the bottom of the hatch. Whatever she was about to find inside here was definitely trying to stay hidden.

“My lady. Please allow one of us to be the lead.” Her lead escort bowed.

Audrina wanted to say no, but she could already feel her husband’s nagging worming its way into her ears.

“…Alright.” She conceded.

He moved to take point in front of the group and stepped down through the opening passage.

Once he made sure it was at least relatively safe, he nodded for the rest of them to follow.

Gandora closed the gate behind the group, and now they were all stuck inside a dark tunnel. Their only source of illumination came from the glow of their eyes and the flames on top of their guard’s head.

The group could feel that it went on for quite a while, so they unanimously decided to enhance their movement.

With just one step, they covered more than a mile. Occasionally, they would stop to inspect some sort of flyer or paraphernalia. Relics from whatever this place was like when it was alive and thriving.

But nothing that they found told them how they might have ended up in this state.

“Did you consider checking for echoes..?” Nyx asked after a long silence. Her voice was the first one to come out in a long time. It almost gave Audrina a jolt.

“Yes.” Audrina confirmed. “You?”

“Also yes.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” She confirmed.

Isabelle began to feel the tiniest bit annoyed. “I’m sorry, but for those outside of your social circle, would you care to explain to us what exactly echoes are?”

The soldiers seemed like they wanted to know as well, but couldn’t

“Echoes in time, dear sister.” Audrina explained. “Linear events that occur in a place have a way of leaving their mark on that location. Those with knowledge on how to manipulate time can rewind it back to those events like it’s a simple video on their phone.”

“…And you can both do this?” Isabelle asked with concealed jealousy.

“She’s better at it than I am.” Nyx admitted.

“That’s because she’s shit at studying.” Audrina shrugged. “Sei literally teaches a class on this at her college, offered to show her how to do it in her spare time, and she fell asleep by our pool instead.”

“T-The point is that there’s nothing here. It’s like nothing has ever taken place on this colony before we arrived.”

“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Empress, but… How is that possible..?” One of the soldiers asked.

“Asherah or Yesh would have had to come here themselves and wipe the past away. And since I know that they’d never do that, then that leaves only one other person.” She sighed.

Nyx scoffed. “Person. What a funny choice of words for a xenodimensional abomination.”

At that moment, the duo arrived at a large metal door.

Audrina could sense several presences behind it already. At the very least, two to three hundred.

Their guard summoned a ball of flame and prepared to blow it down.

“Wait a minute, L’asir.” Audrina held up her hand. “Let’s try a calmer approach first.”

“Yes, empress.” The fire spirit slowly put his hand down.

It was clear he was disappointed. His opportunity for mayhem had just gone right out the window.

He stepped aside to allow Audrina to walk in front of him.

As he wondered what she was about to do, he nearly fell on his face when she raised her fist and knocked like she was delivering a pizza.

“Hello..? Is anyone there?”

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