Asmodeus cared greatly for his mother.
She was a demon queen and one of the most frighteningly unsettling women he had ever seen before, but she was very kind to him.
When all of his other siblings were already born by Lucifer's other wives, Igrat alone had yet to conceive.
This made her miserable. So much so that from the day that Asmodeus was finally born underneath a qlipoth, she doted on him endlessly.
Most demon mothers' idea of being nurturing is borderline torturing their children to make them big and tough.
However, Igrat had no intention on nearly breaking the one thing she never believed she would get.
So, instead she spent lots of time with Asmodeus.
Igrat told him her dreams for him and his future, not to mention the her hope that someday he would be the one to lead Hell's armies through the gates of heaven and burn it all to ash.
Those were good memories. Fond, warm ones found in the absolute most unlikely of places.
Asmodeus idolized her just as much as Lucifer. The only difference was, his belief in her never faded as he got older.
Over the course of thousands of years, he thought of his mother every so often.
Igrat was kind of a free, unburdened spirit, so she wouldn't have wanted him to sit around moping and missing her.
So he lived happily while sending her an occasional thought just to hold onto her memory.
He hadn't put much thought into what it'd be like when he saw her again.
But as he watched that door swing open and his mother step into view, he felt as if that was irresponsible of him.
He should have prepared himself for everything, but... how could he in good conscience ever have prepared himself for this?
-
A pale foot stepped out into the dining room hall.
It was followed by a slender, nude woman who was irrefutably attractive.
The only clothing she wore was a simple silver necklace around her neck with a green gem in the center.
She had mid-length red hair that was strikingly similar to Abaddon's and floated above her head with a life of it's own.
Her lips were deathly black, almost like a corpse with no life inside.
When she noticed the additional people in the room, her yellow eyes immediately betrayed her surprise.
Even though he was significantly larger, and more handsome than the last time she had seen him, a mother will always recognize their child. This time was no different.
And when she saw Abaddon and Kanami standing beside him, it seemed like she was almost overcome by emotion.
But then the strangest thing happened, and she resumed a sort of somber, almost timid look.
"Apologies for the late arrival... it took me some time to put myself togeth-"
"Who did that to you..?"
Asmodeus was already covered in black flame by the time he asked.
His sharp claws were digging into his palms of his hands and spilling golden blood onto the floor.
Asmodeus was different compared to when he left home hundreds of thousands of years ago.
He was a dragon now. More than that, a Nevi'im.
They are Abaddon's perfect creations designed with the ultimate grand destinies in mind.
Their eyes see through all without obstruction.
Which is why Asmodeus, and every other dragon in the room, could see Igrat's real form hidden beneath the glamor that she was currently wearing.
It was heartbreaking.
Several bruises, a large scar across her stomach, and her whole body that was tightly bound in silver chains that closely resembled her fabricated necklace.
"This is a bit of a family thing, you see? We can't have you trying to play hero and making everything worse."
"Maybe the three of us should just get to know each other a little better, huh?"
Abaddon assumed a blank look as he blinked his eyes in exhaustion.
"Babe, they're playing with me."
Seras flew in like a bullet and kneed Naamah in the temple so hard that her head nearly came off.
While still in midair, she rotated her body so that she could kick Lilith in the back of her head; sending both women flying in opposite directions seconds apart from each other.
She started to get to Eisheth, but Sif was already there, smashing her mace into her stomach, knee, and chest before bashing her over the head.
'...Hot.'
With his path now clear, Abaddon made his way towards his grandmother.
Since he was almost double her height, he dropped to one knee in front of her as he looked into her eyes.
He spoke to her gently, almost as if he feared that if he were too loud she would break like glass.
"...Do you know who I am?"
Igrat had a distant sort of look in her eye that Abaddon knew wasn't normal for her.
She turned her head away after staring at him for a brief moment.
"...I do. Or maybe I don't, I... I'm having a hard time remembering right now."
"Well let's just take things slowly and-"
"P-Please, just I need you to get away from me. He won't like it."
"He will be dead soon. He'll never get a chance to harm you again."
Abaddon gently reached for the metal chains around Igrat's body.
A swift yank was all that it took to break her free.
While she did look relieved, she still had yet to return to herself.
"You're going to be alright now. I promise you that-"
"M-My loves..?"
Nothing could have drawn Abaddon's alarm like hearing Lillian's voice crack.
He and the others found her kneeling by the split in the ground that Asmodeus had created with his first strike.
They immediately went to her side in a panic.
Abaddon tried to pull her into his arms and assess her, but she wouldn't go to him.
Instead she started hyperventilating as she pointed into the trench far below them.
Underneath the castle, there was a layer of golden energy patterned with enochian runes. Strong ones at that.
They were keeping 'something' locked behind the wall and inaccessible to all.
Movement caught their eyes and their hearts sank to the bottom of their feet.
The creature sitting behind the barrier was injured. And so weak that they could barely sense it even when they were standing over it.
A great golden beast, once noble and dignified was sullied with it's own blood.
Countless blades of light impaled it's body all over like toothpicks in a sandwich.
The creature; born with the seven heads of a leopard and ten horns ornamented like grand crowns, was missing six of each.
After nearly driving herself into fainting due to hyperventilating, Lillian finally broke down horrifically.
As she bawled tears of inky black, a horrendously loud scream escaped her lips that deafened every living creature in hell.