First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 733: A Replacement In Duty

When Mateo saw the portal open up in his office, the first thing he thought was that his old friend was about to come rushing in.

But upon second thought, he remembered that Abaddon had been fully barred from this world, and as such dismissed the thought.

For a brief moment he also thought it might be Lailah, but realized that she most likely had the same problem.

So then who was coming?

*Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.*

The room rumbled as a large four legged creature stepped out of the portal one leg at a time.

It's arrival was accompanied by a feeling of dread in the air, and a chillingly cold gust of wind.

Mateo and Hera looked up in horror at the rider of the great flaming beast.

A young woman with mocha brown skin and twin-colored eyes stared back at them with an expression full of amusement.

Her hair was both a snowy white and a deeply stark black. Perhaps reflecting her own double sided nature.

Two horns jutted out of her head and nearly poked holes in the ceiling above.

Bits of crumbs and a milk mustache sat along her rather childish looking face. This was only further enhanced by the brown bear onesie that covered her from head to toe.

"What's up!" Mira held up a peace sign as she finished the last bit of the cookie in her grip.

""Big sister!"" The twins cheered.

Apophis sighed as he lifted Mira from the back of Entei and placed her feet on the floor.

He created a handkerchief in his hand through magic and began cleaning up her face.

"What have I told you about coming out of the house without wiping off your face first..? You're going to have people thinking our parents don't care about us." He shook his head.

"Hehehe, sorry."

Technically, Mira is older than Apophis.

But since he developed an adult form faster than she did, and is a fair degree more mature, it's not uncommon for her to be treated as the little sister.

Mira would ordinarily have a problem with this, but actually it's kind of nice to have someone who helps you clean up behind yourself all the time. Even if it does come with a little nagging.

"What are you doing here?" Apophis asked once he was done wiping her face. "And showing up in your pajamas too no less."

Mira looked down at her figure before shrugging.

"I'm here to help look after the twins! Dad sent me to take over in your place while he gives you a check-up!" Mira beamed.

Apophis grimaced at her zeal and she immediately realized her mistake.

"I-I didn't mean it like I was replacing you or anything like that. I just meant that you didn't have to worry about the twins' wellbeing and stuff while you were gone…"

Mira's genuine endeavor to cheer her brother up was not as well received as she would have hoped.

But still, he forced a smile onto his face and hugged his sister sincerely.

Upon releasing her, he gave the twins and Mateo a final look before passing through the swirling portal.

"…I actually think he's really mad at me." Yemaja dropped her gaze to the floor.

Mira gave her a small nudge that was meant to dismiss her concerns.

"Don't be upset, you know how he is. For right now, he has to realize that everyone in this family is supposed to work together to help whoever needs it. And that includes him."

"You could have just left us to our own devices, you know?" Yemaya pouted.

"Absolutely not!" Mira smiled innocently.

Mateo and Hera had yet to actually say anything.

The two of them somehow ended up beside each other at some point; both of them unable to take their eyes off the preteen looking girl who'd just rode in on a large mythical creature.

Ordinarily, it would be hard to believe that Abaddon, the most protective father in the supernatural world, would send a delicate young child to act as a bodyguard for anyone.

But those people would be half blind as far as Mateo was concerned.

Because this was absolutely not a child and it was most definitely not delicate either.

"You… Yes, it must be you."

Ziz appeared in front of Mira with his hand outstretched and a look on his face that made her really uncomfortable.

"The other two were good, but you are the most fitting to be my consort. Our children will be…"

Ziz suddenly clutched his throat dramatically.

He gradually stumbled backwards and fell onto his behind; knocking over several things on Mateo's desk.

As he struggled to speak, vibrant orange-red blood spilled out of a new opening on his neck.

"Mira!" Yemaya complained.

"D-Don't judge me, he was saying weird things and trying to touch me!"

"You could have just broken his arm or something, you didn't have to cut his throat open!"

"It was a reflex! A reflex I say!" Mira held up both hands innocently.

Now, the entire room could see the icy blue knife in her left hand that certainly wasn't there before.

Mateo's entire jaw fell open. He didn't even see her draw it, much less swipe it across Ziz's neck.

He was as inspired as he was terrified.

Hera was just terrified.

"We're supposed to be helping them live longer lives, Mira, not cutting short the ones they already have!" Yemaya kneeled at Ziz' side and placed her hand over his open neck.

The purest sparkling blue water ran from her fingertips to wash over the wound.

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It took less than a minute for the opening to close up completely, and even then his vocal cords seemed to need some additional time to heal.

"I think he got off pretty easy though." Yemaja shrugged. "Can you imagine what dad would have done? There probably wouldn't be anything left of him to save."

"Yea! So I'm off the hook!" Mira nodded in satisfaction.

Yemaya shook her head. "Not really, sister."

"Aw…"

"And can you change your clothes please? You're embarrassing us just a little bit." Yemaja complained.

Mira looked down at her onesie while making a confused expression.

"…What's wrong with i-"

""Everything!!""

"Fine!"

Mira snapped her fingers and the fabric of her favorite garment unraveled itself to form new clothing.

In a sleek black dress with long flowing sleeves, the young princess looked a bit more mature and refined.

With elegance, she tied her long twin colored hair behind her head and allowed her sisters to get a good look at her.

"A pity.." Yemaja smirked evilly. "Our Mira is still stuck in a training bra."

"I will cut your head off, bitch!!"

After everything that he had already seen, Mateo was actually scared to introduce himself.

- Tehom.

When Apophis passed through the portal, the first thing he noticed was a very familiar perfume tickling his nose.

Lisa immediately went to Apophis' side the moment the portal closed behind him.

Her expression was one of immense worry as she cupped his face in both hands.

"I heard you weren't feeling well, are you alright..? What happened??"

Lisa knew Apophis wasn't the kind of child to complain even if his arm was cut off. The fact that Yemaja had to be the one to sound the whistle that something was wrong only made her more anxious.

"I'm fine, Ma. You know how Yema is. She's always blowing stuff out of proportion."

Lisa's expression remained unchanged.

She gently pulled Apophis by the hand and together the two of them sat on the couch.

He felt her give a reassuring squeeze that was loaded with motherly concern and sentiment.

"I know how you feel about being babied, so I asked the others to let me speak to you alone first."

Now that she mentioned it, Apophis was expecting his mothers to swarm him as soon as he came back home.

He could even sense them lurking on just the other side of the door.

"So I promise not to be overbearing, and I promise not to coddle you, so can you please tell me honestly what went wrong and why you suddenly fainted?" Lisa pleaded.

Apophis wasn't made of stone, and even if he was, Lisa's power of maternal love would have easily broken past such a rough exterior.

He sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously as if he were worried that saying the wrong thing would make him seem more feeble than he actually felt.

"It's not that big a deal, I swear. We had just found Ziz and were about to leave with him when I suddenly felt a little dizzy and my nose started bleeding.."

"Y-Your nose bled..?"

"You said you wouldn't coddle me, Ma…"

"Right, right, I'm sorry. Please continue." Lisa used every ounce of bodily control that she had to keep herself from crying prematurely.

"And then I just felt really sleepy. I thought I was closing my eyes for just a second but I woke up on my back." He finished.

"Alright… and do you have any lingering side effects at all?" Lisa asked.

Apophis debated lying for almost a solid minute, but in the end his character would not allow him to lie directly to his mother's face like that.

"I may… have a very slight headache." He admitted.

To her credit, Lisa didn't overreact despite how she felt inside.

She simply nodded along silently and gave her son a reassuring smile.

"We should get you checked out then, yea?"