Saige, terror dulling her glistening emerald eyes, merely stared up at the creature, her petite body trembling. She was surveying it, her pupils dilating and constricting as they flittered over it's face, searching for something to grasp onto, something to trust.
"Are you calm?" the creature asked, it's own darkened eyes latched onto Saige's, "do you trust me?" Saige nodded weakly, seeming strong despite the tear trickling down her pale cheek. Cautiously, the creature removed it's enormous hand from Saige's mouth, pity beating in it's heart when she let out a soft whimper.
"H-How?" she whispered incredulously, "i-is this a normal demon thing? Is this gonna happen to me?" the creature backed up slowly, assuming Saige would want some distance yet she followed, reaching out to run the backs of her knuckles down the skin of the creature.
"No, this is definitely not normal," the creature murmured, trying to focus on Saige's face rather than her freezing hand trailing ice down it's cheek. She gasped softly as two lines of frost followed the track of her fingers, turning the amber veins a deep blue.
"What are you?" she breathed, the soft pads of her fingertips continuing their path down the creature's neck and over it's collarbone. The creature sucked in a laboured breath, a shudder running through it as her fingers neared the brand. The second her skin made contact with the blackened mark, the deep amber glow returned, growing to a blinding peak.
When the light finally dimmed, the creature was gone and in it's placed was Kyree and Ambrose, hands still clasped together. Stunned, the two demon men and their daughter merely stared at one another, wondering who would be the first to muster up some form of communication.
"That was..." Ambrose began, stroking his fingers up the brand, feeling the subtle burning sear through his flesh.
"Amazing," Kyree finished his lover's sentence, a broad grin on his lips, "Amb, that was fucking amazing. Tell me you felt it, felt the power surging through that thing. It was exhilarating," Ambrose chuckled softly at Kyree's excitement, snaking an arm around his demon's waist and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.
"I did feel pretty invincible, baby," Kyree returned the gesture by wrapping his own arm around Ambrose's waist, adding his own twist by giving his lover's ass a swift caress.
"Kyree Landon, do not grope me in front of our daughter," Ambrose scolded playfully, leaning in close and catching Kyree's earlobe between his perfect teeth, "not that I don't love your hands all over me," Ambrose purred, a smirk on his lips.
"Ew, dads, stop," the playful nature between the two men dissipated instantly at one little word in Saige's sentence. Their gazes both snapped to her, startled eyes meeting nervous ones that averted instantly to the floor.
"You've never called us that before," Kyree marvelled, observing Saige's sudden fidgety behaviour.
"Sorry, it just slipped out," she murmured, her cheeks flushed and her lip caught between her teeth. Kyree exchanged a compassionate smile with Ambrose.
"Let it slip more often, my dear," Saige looked up, her emerald eyes somehow lighting up more than they already were, sharing in the two men's smiles.
"OK, anyway, I came down to wake you because Lucifer wants breakfast with us all, he wants to talk about tomorrow night," Kyree's brows furrowed in a bemused manner.
"Tomorrow night?"
"Coronation," Ambrose groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as the stress headache that had plagued him for the last month weaselled its way back into his mind, "I completely forget with everything that was going on with your trial and now this. God, I haven't even got a suit for you since..." Ambrose trailed off, obviously not wanting to relive the fact that his lover was almost taken from him the previous night.
"Can't you postpone it?"
"A demonic coronation can only occur during a lunar eclipse in the winter equinox. Either I get coronated tomorrow night or my sister takes my place and I don't get the opportunity for another 3 millennia," Ambrose took a deep breath, forcing a smile on his lips, "Saige, honey, can you go tell my father we will join him within the hour? Can you also ask him to book the tailor for tomorrow morning, for Kyree?" Saige nodded, her usual soft smile taking it's seat on her mouth.
"Don't be late, dads," she added as she brisked out of the door, closing it gently behind her. Ambrose turned his attention back to Kyree, an innocent little smirk on his lips.
"Still want that shower?"
"Azazel?" Kyree suggested, striding hand in hand down the hallway with his lover, "means fallen angel," Ambrose tipped his head side to side, silently debating the name. The hallway in the royal palace was beautiful. Stark white marble columns either side, paintings from various eras littering the walls, golden carpets somehow so clean they looked as though they were shimmering.
"Also means sacrificial offering, I don't like to think of it as a sacrifice. I mean, we surrender independence for unity but I see that as a gain rather than a sacrifice," Kyree nodded, pushing open the door that Ambrose had led him to. Kyree's eyes widened as the two men entered the grand dining room, all eyes latching onto them. Lucifer was sat at the head of a relatively large table, with a younger woman to his right and Saige three seats down to his left.
"Sorry, are we late, father?" Ambrose asked politely, pecking a chaste kiss on Kyree's cheek as his chair was pulled out from him. Once Ambrose was seated, Kyree took the seat next to him, flashing a soft smile at Saige.
"Not at all, Ambrose," Lucifer smiled at his son, his successor, "did you both sleep well?" Kyree couldn't help the slight snort of laughter than bubbled within him. They might have slept well if they had slept at all but, of course, a month apart left both of them aching for one another's touch.
"In a sense, yes," Ambrose replied, ambiguity at its finest, giving Kyree's hand a soft squeeze, careful not to extend the contact between the brand for too long in case their power decided to act up again.
"Kyree, I don't believe you have met my daughter. This is Essence," the young woman sat next to Lucifer flashed a bashful smile toward Kyree. She had long dark hair, the same hue as Ambrose's, and deep brown eyes. Her lips had the same fullness as Ambrose's, but she pouted too much, didn't hold her posture with the confidence of her elder brother either. She seemed like a meek version of Ambrose.
"Nice to meet you," she murmured, barely having the courage to look Kyree in the eye.
"You too," Kyree responded politely, detecting a wisp of irritation from Ambrose as he saw the frown curl on his lover's face in his peripheral vision. The five began eating, Lucifer having some hushed conversation with Essence, giving Kyree and Ambrose the opportunity to continue theirs from earlier.
"What about Samael?" Ambrose offered, catching Kyree's subtly drifting attention, "he was the grim reaper, accuser and destroyer. He was chief seducer as well, perfectly describes you," Kyree chuckled at Ambrose's absurd comment.
"Are you having a kid?" Saige interjected suddenly, her voice just loud enough to unintentionally catch the attention of Lucifer and Essence. Upon noticing her mistake, she grimaced, apologising softly.
"No, my dear, we are not having a child," Kyree ran his fingers down her arm, smiling tenderly, "we are trying to name the creature that appears when our brands touch, we can't just call it 'the creature' now, can we?"
"Oh, have you thought about Abigor?" Ambrose clicked his tongue softly as Saige's suggestion.
"Hmm, I've heard that name somewhere," he murmured distantly, lost in thought.
"He was the ruler of 60 legions in Hell, and a knight," Saige shrugged, simpering at the shocked expressions of the people around her, "I did a lot of religious theology in school."
"He was also one of the few handsome demons," Essence chimed in, staring innocently through her dark lashes at Kyree, that same lustrous look that he adored on Ambrose didn't look nearly as appealing on her slight face. Kyree actually caught an audible growl from Ambrose, noting the tension in the air between the two siblings.
"How many times have you shifted into this creature? This... Abigor?" Lucifer tried out the new name given for the creature, it sounded right rolling of the Ruler's tongue, menacing even, just what Kyree had hoped for.
"Once, earlier this morning. We don't know how to control it yet but it happened when our brands touched so we're assuming that contact triggers it," Kyree explained, keeping an eye on Ambrose as he glared daggers at his sister.
"Ky? When it happened, did your brand glow?" Saige quavered, her eyes fixed on the growing amber glow emanating from the brands on Ambrose and Kyree's arms. Kyree glanced down at his bare arm, the sleeve rolled up, cursing under his breath.
"Ambrose, we should-" Kyree didn't have time finish his sentence before Abigor stood in his place, the chairs he and Ambrose had been sitting on clattering back against the wooden floorboards.
"My God, he's beautiful," Essence breathed, her eyes wide, flittering all over Abigor's features. She would have marvelled, would have basked in the glow of amber from Abigor's slow pumping veins, if Abigor had calmed and listened to Kyree's whispers that is.
Instead, the creature appeared next to Essence, wrenching her from her seat by her tiny throat, slamming her petite body into the wall behind them. Her feet dangled, just barely grazing against the golden carpet as she gasped for breath, squirming in Abigor's iron grip.
"You're a slut," Abigor growled, his apathetic, colourless eyes latched onto hers as she struggled for air, "you always have been. Always wanting what you can't have. Always ruining his happiness," Kyree's whispers had grown to all-out screaming, his shouts pounding against the walls of Abigor's skull.
Abigor was not Kyree, and he was not Ambrose. He was a mixture of them both, a completely different personality. He was swayed by their emotions, taking orders from them no matter what. But when they fought, God it was agony when they fought. Each clutching at the control of the beast, their opposing thoughts and emotions ripping Abigor apart inside.
"Abigor, stop!" Saige's voice tore through Abigor's anger, the fury that was being fuelled by Ambrose, "please, you're scaring me," she sounded so frail, her voice trembling as she moved into view at his right. Abigor's large, char coloured eyes landed on her, immediately noting the fear in her pale face. The anger from Ambrose ceased, as did the desperation from Kyree.
Relief flooded the beast, his Master's were agreeing, both equally appalled at scaring their daughter. Abigor understood his place, understood he was no longer needed at that moment. Releasing Essence from his grip, and feeling some form of satisfaction from her whimper as her almost limp body hit the floor with a soft thud, Abigor returned to his dwelling in his Master's bond. Their separate bodies took his place and he nuzzled back into their brands, awaiting the next time he would be awakened.