Abaddon and Gabbrielle ended up standing just in front of a large window in the iddle of the hallway.
Though Gabbrielle pretended that she wasn't looking at her father, she used her senses to observe him to the fullest extent possible.
Her fears seemed to have come true.
Her father felt old, very old in fact.
He used to look at everything with a sort of lightness and charismatic demeanor that was akin to a blind man seeing everything for the first time.
Or a young child fulfilling his dreams of becoming a superhero.
In comparison to the him of the past, this version seemed much more... hollow.
'So in the end, my fears came true after all...'
"Peach..?" Abaddon called.
Gabbrielle slowly turned around to face her father with a trail of tears already running down her face.
"Y-You haven't even said anything yet, why are you crying already?!" Abaddon panicked.
Much in the same way that Abaddon hounded his sons not to harass their sisters, his wives also got onto him about picking on any of their children.
He couldn't imagine the fallout that would arise if the girls found out that he made their sweet Gabbrielle cry again.
"...Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone...?" She sobbed. "You didn't need to go and assume your responsibilities like that.."
Abaddon's gaze was filled with pity.
"Yes I did, peach... I needed to understand the crux of what I am and what it means to bear my role. If I don't understand myself, then who am I?"
"You are my father! At what cost did the answers you sought come to you? Does the weight of the knowledge you carry and the things you have felt not burden you terribly??"
Abaddon didn't lie to his wives or his children, so it was hard for him to simply tell Gabbrielle the answer that would have solved all of her internal struggle.
So he confessed instead.
"...It does. And for a moment I nearly lost my sanity and reverted back to a less popular version of myself.
But I have good women at my side who love me sincerely, and a friend who only wants the best for me.
Together they were able to stay my hand and guide me back to a better mindset... they gifted me a new perspective."
"One that you haven't fully accepted it seems..." Gabbrielle didn't miss the fact that her father's hair was clearly more black than white.
"Gabrielle, I-"
"I liked the way you were before..! I liked my kind father who was larger than life and played with me even when I grew too old.
The one who sang me old soulful songs and watched cartoons with me until I developed an ability to name the characters.
The one who listened to my literature without batting an eye, and who learned to want better for mortals despite their imperfections because he raised two of them."
Abaddon's expression saddened. "I'm not a different man, peach... I still enjoy those things and I know their importance."
"You would have me believe that you are no different than before? That you still can see the world around you with the same zeal as you once did? Or will you see those things as... beneath you?"
"...I won't tell you that I do not feel... suspicious of them." He admitted. "But I will not let the things that I have seen change the way I treat you, or anyone else.
I will strive to always be the father who you have come to depend on above all. Nothing that I could ever see or feel would change that."
Gabbrielle fell silent as Abaddon wiped her face of tears and lightly pinched her cheeks.
"Despite your various attempts to kill yourself, you should know that we live very long lives, father. It pays well to never dismiss anything as an impossibility." She warned.
"Perhaps it does, but there are some things that a man knows for certain. I will always love your mothers for one."
Whether one earth is better than another is sometimes hard to determine, as there are upsides and downsides to almost every variation.
Which made picking out the right earth for Courtney a rather time consuming task.
However, Abaddon was eventually able to find one that didn't riddle him with anxiety at the thought of leaving Courtney behind there.
It was like the modern earth he was already used to, only supernatural creatures lived out in the open with everyone else.
Though they weren't exactly as powerful or dangerous as the brand he was used to either, so perhaps that helped preserve a bit of peace.
Crime was also relatively lower compared to other worlds, and this version of America also had free healthcare.
This was as close to perfect as they were going to get.
In front of a large and extremely prestigious school building, a lengthy black limousine pulled into the driveway and slowed to a stop.
The driver quickly got out of the car and ran around to open the door for the passengers inside.
A miniature bolt of black and white lightning shot out of the limo with an energetic look on her face.
Though the wives had already told the girls that they were going to dress her up nicely, they did it in a way that didn't make her daughter feel a need to kill herself.
She wore a neat, black and white dress with an image of a cute skull sewn on the skirt.
Try as she might've, Lailah couldn't convince Courtney to put on a pair of dress shoes no matter what she offered her as a bribe.
Instead the young lady wore a pair of black converse that were tied terribly by Courtney herself.
This was probably the first time since her adoption where she had actually combed her hair and straightened it- in addition to wearing her usual neat little bow on top of her head.
"Woah... school..!" She muttered, starry eyed.
"You live in a mansion, you know? One might think you've never seen a big building before."
Lisa was first to step out of the car, resembling the mature beauty of her husband's dreams.
Her bright yellow body-con dress clung to her so perfectly that it seemed like natures divine gift for her to have it on.
With her horns and yellow skin replaced by a more human appearance, she was much more stunning than fearsome.
"Now, you remember how you're supposed to address adults here, right?"
Courtney nodded. "Yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, no sir."
"Good girl! You're smarter than your brother already." (Straga)
One by one, rest of the wives emerged from the car while looking just as beautiful as Lisa.
PTA meetings around this place were sure to never be the same again.
"Honey! What's taking you so long?" Erica called.
"Sorry, love. Still trying to wrap my mind around all of this.." Read today on _em _pyr.
Abaddon finally stepped out of the car in the closest thing to respectable he had in his closet.
He wore a tasteful black polo shirt with short sleeves that left most of the tattoos on his arms in full view.
Instead of his usual sweatpants or gi he wore a pair of sleek grey slacks and leather wing tipped shoes.
In his human form, it was really obvious that he was Apophis' father; due to his bald fade and unnaturally colored hair.
Most might have considered it a sign of a midlife crisis to see a man in his mid thirties with his hair dyed red, but Abaddon looked so good that it was hard to care.
He took off the glasses on his face and his honey-amber eyes stared up into the sun like he was searching for an answer.
"I just don't understand... Why do I still have my powers?"