"Look, it's the new prince!"
"He's so adorable..."
"And look at the princess! I think my heart is going to explodeee!!!"
On a crowded street, many people were staring at the young prince as he passed by.
Though he wasn't walking under his own power.
Courtney was proudly carrying her brother through the streets, holding him up proudly for all of the people to see.
Bash had never felt so humiliated, but he was no longer struggling.
Perhaps this was because he was less inclined to fight now that the girls had freed him from his cute little onesie.
In lieu of his red striped pajamas, the young boy had been given his usual red skirt to wear, along with a dignified bit of face paint to mark the occasion.
He almost looked as regal and godly on the outside as he felt on the inside.
But alas, there were still... problems.
"Miss Xie! Look at my new baby brother! His name is Bashy and he's a cranky boy!"
Courtney held out Bashenga in front of a dragon-headed woman working at a street food stall.
"Oh my! You both are very adorable, princess."
The woman dropped down into a bow as a greeting.
Bash looked about as haughty as one could look within the arms of a five year old, which admittedly wasn't very much.
"...Your greeting passes for acceptable, woman. I permit you to kiss my feet."
"Fufufu, I would be honored."
Courtney made a disgusted face like she was going to be sick.
"Eww, feet are nasty, Mrs. Xie. I don't understand why you and my daddy like putting them in your mouth and-"
"A-Alright there, Courtney!" Abaddon suddenly intervened. "Let's just get a couple of fried apples and go, eh?"
"Okay!"
Mrs. Xie giggled and blushed slightly before bowing slightly in front of Abaddon.
She glanced at the empresses out of the corner of her eye, and their perfectly manicured toes.
'...Maybe my husbands would like it if I..'
Abaddon just pretended that he couldn't hear his follower's thoughts at the moment.
Once the family had their confections, they resumed their walk through the festival.
Bashenga kept his eyes open and his head on a swivel for the duration of their adventure.
Everywhere he looked, there were magical streamers and balloons within the air. Paired with the smell of various kinds of street cuisine.
There were banners with his face drawn on them and streets full of people all clamoring to see his exalted form.
They were jovial for some reason... but as for why, he didn't really have an answer.
Perhaps the alcohol was too strong and it was distorting their ability to think rationally.
"Bash, are you having fun??" Courtney asked with powdered sugar all over her mouth.
"If you'd like, we can take you to one of the children's districts and let you play a bit." Bekka suddenly asked; also with powdered sugar all over her mouth.
...And ketchup.
"You both remember that I am not an actual child, yes..?" By this point, Bashenga seemed exhausted from having to repeat himself so many times.
"But you're my little baby!" Bekka smiled.
*Sigh*
Bash had finally reached the final stage of grief. Acceptance.
Eris finally slipped over to save her newborn son from being smothered to death.
"Alright, you two. I think we've babied him enough for today, don't you?"
""No!""
"Well I do. You aren't going to keep making things difficult for him, are you?"
Bash started to think that he should have atleast left a duplicate back in the city or something.
"You don't seem to be adjusting well to your new home."
Bashenga scoffed but said nothing.
"You may speak freely, son. You will not upset me."
Bash didn't know why, but he reluctantly decided to take the plunge.
"...You've done something unnecessary. I do not require any of these soft things that fill your society. I am above all of this weak and feeble sentiment."
"And why do you think that?"
"It is who I am. I fill my ears with the tortured wails of the wicked and the destruction of universes, not the laughter of young children."
As soon as Bashenga finished speaking, he waited to hear Abaddon say something about his answer, but there was nothing.
Instead the air overlooking the cliff shifted, and Abaddon came to him.
Though, not in a way that Bash had ever seen before.
He was a massive dragon that filled his mountain peak view of Tehom.
With the return of his ninth head, Abaddon stood on two legs even in this form. Though they were backwards jointed; almost like a canine or a flamingo.
His feet were massive, with three clawed toes directly in the front, and two on his heel.
Abaddon's body wasn't so much as muscular as it was armor plated.
Practically every inch of him looked completely indestructible and dangerous. Even his knuckles had spikes now.
His scales had become a swirling mixture of red and black colors; almost making him look like he was adorned in tattoos with two kinds of ink.
At first glance he didn't appear to have wings on his back, but the twin jagged protrusions there seemed to promise differently.
However, his heads were the most eye catching think.
His snout had disappeared and his pair of eyes had grown larger; making him seem like more of an intelligent beast than one who wanted to end the world.
But still, seeing all of those heads assembled was truly frightening...
He held out a single finger over the mountain peak and gestured for Bash to climb on.
"Walk with me."
-
The sound of Abaddon's thundering footsteps carried on for miles.
Bashenga sat upon his shoulder in his adult form; watching the sights and waiting for his father to speak.
Dragons circled them overhead as far as the eye could see; all following their divine ruler as if he was about to bestow them with some sort of wisdom.
"You know... I believe divinity and knowledge make gods wasteful." He finally said.
"Hm?"
"We become so enamored with our divinities and our role within the creator's grand plan that we neglect to branch out.
And we Primordials may be the most guilty of this.
We think 'I embody this, so it must be all that I should have an interest in'. And as a result, we overlook all other parts of existing.
What if I denied myself love and children just because I am sex and sexuality?
What if your mother neglected her needs as a woman because she was solely focused on raising you and your siblings? (Eris)
Or if your other mother focused solely on study and ignored the fun, simple hobbies that she enjoys? (Lailah)
The same goes for you. How will you ever understand the significance of the worlds you destroy if you never stop and live in your own?
Learn what it means to create instead of destroy.
Accept your family's warmth even when you see it as beneath you.
You are going to be alive for forever, my son.
Discover as much about yourself as you can in that time. So that atleast then you can say that it wasn't wasted."
Abaddon's words left Bash with much to think about.
And because he seemed to need as much time as possible, Abaddon made no further comments and allowed him to work things out internally.
For the next few hours or so, the only sound that passed between them was the thudding of Abaddon's footsteps on the soil; and the gentle flapping of the dragons overhead.