Most kids as they get older start to hesitate when it comes to entering their parents' room unannounced.
However, Courtney didn't really have that same hang up.
Ever since she was a kid, she would come into her parents' room whenever she liked at whatever hour the mood struck her.
But she had yet to ever catch them actually doing something inappropriate.
Sure she'd heard them say things to each other that couples drunkenly in love might say, and there were a few occasional butt grabs in public, but she couldn't act like they had ever scarred her for life or anything like that.
And on the rare occasion that their door was ever locked, she only ever had to wait a second at most before one of her parents unlocked the door and let her in.
This time, she didn't have to wait.
She opened the door on her own quietly and poked her head inside.
With one glance, she could see that their very large bed was full. Sometimes, she would come in here and her mothers would be fused together so that they could all lay with her father at once.
But she knew that as much as they liked that, she also knew they liked sleeping in a full bed where they were all over each other like a litter of puppies.
It was actually kind of cute when Courtney thought about it.
As always, the very moment that she stepped inside, only one of her parents woke up without being alerted.
A woman sat up in the bed; her glowing green eyes instantly lighting the room up.
She was one of the most beautiful women that Courtney had ever seen, but the beauty was not secular, it was reassuring. Just looking at her made Courtney feel like no matter what, everything would always be alright. As if she could overcome anything.
She held ut a scaly, but soft orange hand and beckoned her daughter closer.
Smiling softly to herself, Courtney went to the side of the bed and sat beside her.
Lillian leaned closer to her and rested her our head against Courtney's.
"There's my girl. You look tired. Was practice difficult?"
Courtney shook her head as she fell in to Lillian's hug. "No practice today, ma... Tomorrow won't be pleasant though."
"..." Lillian suddenly grabbed Courtney by the face and stared into her eyes.
Courtney felt her back begin to sweat.
"Courtney-Marie Andrea."
"Y-Yes ma'am..?"
"Why do I get the feeling that there is something you aren't telling me?"
"...I dunno, maybe you're just-"
"You got another ticket, didn't you?"
"...It totally wasn't my fau-"
Lillian pulled Courtney's cheeks until it looked like she was about to tear them off her face.
"I knew giving you that fast car for your first vehicle was a bad idea. How many times do we have to tell you that just because you're invulnerable that doesn't mean the people around you are?"
"I-I know, ma... I'm sorry." Courtney lowered her head.
"Say you're sorry to your bank account because you're paying for every ticket you get from now on. And we're not giving you any more money for the rest of the year either."
There was a small island in the room with a fully stocked bar. He didn't have to think very hard to remember who's addition that might've been.
An entire wall of this room had been cleared out and was like a shrine to the family. It had photographs, broken weapons, and the diplomas of the kids who went to school.
Another wall of the room had curtains drawn over it, and Abaddon remembered that being the way to the balcony.
But for some reason, his mind was really foggy this time around. He couldn't remember exactly what the view was like on the other side of those curtains.
"Dad? Starting to worry me over here..."
Abaddon's vision finally returned to normal. "Sorry... I think I'm just a little more tired than I realized."
As he relaxed, his appearance changed. His skin became a deep mocha brown, while his tattoos lost their splendor and became black.
He rubbed the weariness out of his eyes as they, along with every follicle of his hair, became a deep red color.
Courtney smirked as if she knew something that would wake her father up.
"You seem really out of it. I guess working on those four is harder work than you thought it'd be, huh M'anari?"
Abaddon froze and stared at Courtney like she'd just found porn on his laptop.
"You... Where did you hear that name?"
Courtney shrugged nonchalantly. "We learned about you in class today. Your myths and stuff are actually pretty cool. Except for the parts about you and moms boning everywhere all the time."
Abaddon rolled his eyes and gave her a flick on the head. "You brat. You never seemed so interested when I tried to tell you about them before."
"T-That's not exactly true... I was kind of just worried I might hear something unpleasant?"
"Unpleasant like...?" Abaddon raised a brow.
"I-I dunno. You're really old and stuff, and I know gods didn't really have a lot of impulse control back in the day, so I thought maybe-"
"That I would have issues with understanding consent, or bear a troublesome attraction to your aunts and grandmothers?"
"P-Pretty much..."
Abaddon smiled wryly as he held out his arms.
Even though she was embarrassed because she was already grown, she still came to his side and hugged him.
Abaddon stared off into space as he tried his best to dredge up memories from that time.
"Perhaps I might have done some unsightly things in that time. But your mothers are the only women I have ever lain with and the only women I have ever wanted. Nothing like you're thinking has ever happened. "
Lillian turned her face away from Abaddon so that he didn't see her blush.
It was hard for her when he left to live a mortal life. It was hard for all of them.
They must have cried enough to fill up every ocean on earth.
Their worry was that Abaddon would come back with a new love on his arm, or that he would just become uninterested in coming back at all.
But in a way, it may have been good for their relationship.
They had never argued over anything since he'd come back. Even though they'd been together for an uncountable number of years, they were still firmly in their honeymoon period.
And besides: knowing that even without his memories Abaddon would always be faithful to them was a greater gift than anything.
"So... What was it like for you?" Courtney asked. "Being the first ruler of all of South Africa?"
Abaddon stared off into the distance as he nonchalantly fixed her hair.
"It was..."