Chapter One: I Can Not Do This ___!
Hi Guys! This is my first every fic and I just wanted to share it >.> Here's the link to the AO3 version if that suits ya fancy: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72451271/chapters/188661591
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New York was always beautiful during the fall, especially up-state New York. Tourists traveling far and wide to sight see the tree’s leaves. Whose only purpose is to fall off and die and falling to the ground is one of the human things Abaddon, High Princess of the Black Realm, will never understand. Turning away from the kitchen window, looking over The Undervale Hotel’s front yard and drive, to watch the older offspring scramble around getting ready for ‘school’.
“Esther, no knifes-” The Freeling Matriarch, Katherine, warned without looking up from her laptop as she sipped some coffee. The youngest Freeling girl groaned and took out two separate knives from her backpack, setting them on the table. Kathrine glanced up at her daughter, “Coat too”
“But mom! What if some monster attacks the school!” Esther complained, huffing as Katherine raised an eyebrow.
“We both know you’re going to be bringing black magic things with you even if I say no- so no knifes.” She said causing Esther to let out another groan before pulling a Bowie knife from her over sized green jacket and setting it with the others.
Katherine sighed pinching the bridge of her nose, “I will pick up a new box on my way back from dropping Esther and Ben off Abaddon, so in the meantime why don’t you have some yogurt? We have coconut.” She tried to appease the demon who glanced between her and Ben before settling down, “That is… agreeable.” He said getting down from his chair. Ben relaxed as he watched the demon get his yogurt before slinging his backpack over his shoulder, “I’m ready for school mom!” He announced, “I’ll go get the car started.” He said helpfully as he left.
Abaddon moved closer to the table and climbed into his normal chair reaching over and tugging on Katherine’s sleeve, “This vessel requires Froot Loops” He asked politely, or as politely as he could. Ben winced and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry Abs, I finished the rest of the Froot Loops off before you came down. I’m sorry”
The demon stared at Ben, his blue eyes turning red as one of them twitched, “You have made a very powerful-”
“Same!” Esther called slipping her own backpack over her shoulder as Abaddon stood next to her eating his yogurt. The two gave each other a knowing smile before doing their handshake.
“Shemon”
“Demon”
“Always be schemin’” The two said in unison before Esther patted her honorary brother on the back, wiping a bit of yogurt on him before leaving to join her other brother, from the same mother, in the car. Katherine closed her laptop as she stood, “Ok, I’ll be back in a few hours- if you don’t make a mess of things I’ll let you have Froot Loops for lunch, deal?” She asked grabbing her phone and keys.
Yogurt abandoned on the ground as the demon licked his fingers, thinking on it he nodded, “Deal.” He offered his hand which faintly glowed.
Katherine shook her head, “No need- oh and when you’re done with breakfast Nathan has something for you in the family room.” She called over her shoulder as she left the kitchen.
Abaddon tilted his head, “Something for me?” He asked no one in particular, but of course he did get an answer in the form of a voice in the back of his mind.
“That man is a saint, dealing with thou” Edmund, the vessels original inhabitant sighed, causing Abaddon to scowl, “He is no saint, he’s a fool, but he’s my fool.” He replied grabbing another yogurts out of the fridge, ripping the flimsy metal seal off as Edmund continued, “Would I am not fooled Abaddon, it almost seems like thou’ve grown fond of him”
That caused the demon to pause in his yogurt consumption, the mortal was right. When had Abaddon grown so attached to the mortal ghost? That caused something to stir in his slowly beating heart, which startled him slightly- a hand flying to grip his tunic above the organ, “...Silence, you know not of what you speak of.” He huffed putting his unfinished yogurt on the table. Edmund hummed silently, an air of… something surrounding his soul.
Abaddon scowled and hissed, “You know that you’re not allowed in the Freeling’s domain Stabby Paul-” He growled turning to face him properly, blue eyes shifting to glow red as Stabby Paul raised two hands to calm the small demon, “I had a question for Miss Katherine.”
Leaving the kitchen as he wiped his hands on his trousers, Abaddon headed down the hallway towards the communal family bathroom. Passing the chore and habit chart, he paused and stared at it. When the matriarch and her spawn moved in, they brought this as well, but there used to only be a picture of Esther and Ben on it. Now below their photos was one of the rare good pictures Katherine was able to get of Abaddon. He gently touched the two bat stickers in his row, one he got for remembering to bathe yesterday and the other for actually helping a guest last week. Abaddon frowned softly and looked up at Ben’s 36 cat stickers he received this month- and it was only the twelfth. Rage started to boil in his chest, only for his attention to break by a whistling behind him,
“Dyamn, Ben sure is one good kid huh?” Stabby Paul asked scratching his forehead with the butt of his stabbing knife.
Abaddon calmed slightly, “She has taken Esther and the boy to the human School, she will not be back for a few hours. Now leave her Domain or I will tattle- that’ll get me a sticker for sure!” He realized smirking as the ghost rolled his eyes.
“Do what you gotta man-” the ghost turned and walked through a wall as Abaddon chuckled to himself.
“If I spy misbehaving ghosts and report to the matriarch, I could get more-”
Edmund coughed before saying amused,”I am from the 1700s, and even I know that is called being a tattletale. And I do not think it will go well for thou.” That made Abaddon paused before rolling his eyes, head rolling as well, “What do you know, you’re just a soul!” He grumped continuing down to the bathroom. Pushing open the door and letting it close behind him, he turned, standing on his tiptoes to turn on the light. He didn’t see why he of all beings in this hotel needed to practice ‘hygiene’, but it made the matriarch happy and he needed another sticker- even Esther had ten more than he did! Grabbing his step-stool he stepped up and grabbed a spider themed hair-bush. He started to groom his hair as he felt a sadness welling up from Edmund, “What is it now mortal?” he asked as a memory flicked behind his eyes- one of Edmund’s mother brushing his own hair. Abaddon stopped the strokes for a moment before shaking his head, “Enough- I want my sticker” He said partly to Edmund, but mostly to himself.
The former king had noticed lately that he kept feeling what Edmund felt- or would have felt if he was in charge of the body. Something that shouldn’t have been possible with Abaddon in control. It was disconcerting to say the least. He sat on the stood and brought his knees to his chest hugging them, brush still in his hand. “I do not know where you have gotten this power over me Edmund, but I dislike it. If I asked Katherine to brush my hair- would that state you any?” he asked, getting a confused yet surprised feeling from the mortal soul, “I am doing nothing Abaddon… But I would appreciate that” The mortal replied. Standing once more and turning to the mirror, Abaddon resumed his grooming without another word.
----
Nathan looked up from the TV when Abaddon turned up, standing he walked over grinning, “Mornin’ Bud! How’d ya sleep?” He asked with a gentle smile.
“I haven’t slept in a hundred years” Abaddon replied in that adult way of speaking which was his default tone of voice. He says that, but Nathan knew that wasn’t true. Just last week he had stumbled upon his ward and niblings in a cuddle puddle in front of the TV fast asleep. Smiling, the ghost made his way over to the table where there was a notebook, a workbook, and a pencil. Abaddon tilted his head and followed his guardian climbing onto the chair standing and staring at the books. Nathan pointed at the notebook, “This one is black and purple swirled, the workbook-” he pointed to the item, “is primarily red.”
Nathan had gotten into the habit of telling Abaddon the color of things, which made no sense to Abaddon who would have no use for such trivia- he can’t see color. “...They are books, why are you showing me books? I cannot read Nathan.” Abaddon asked looking at the smiley ghost from the corner of his eye.
“Well Bud, I know you get lonely when Esther and Ben is at school, so I had the brilliant idea to teach you how to read and write!” He beamed causing Abaddon to raise an eyebrow.
“Katherine is making you.” It was not at all a question.
“Katherine is making me” Nathan sighed rubbing the back of his neck, “But this’ll be fun! I promise!” Abaddon hummed softly sitting down crossed legged, “...Will I receive a sticker?” He asked looking at the pencil and poking it like it might bite him. Something that wasn’t improbable given the hotels long and storied history. Nathan grinned, a knowing look in his eye, “I am sure Kathy will be more than happy to give you a sticker on your chart if you try your best!”
That got Abaddon’s attention, and he grabbed the pencil in his fist like a baby grabbing a spoon for the first time, “Let us begin!” he announced.
Nathan clapped his hands, “I knew you would be up to it Bud!”
To Nathan’s credit, he was a decent teachers, and to Abaddon’s credit he did stick with it longer than he did with the front desk computer. Abaddon glared down at the fourth page of the workbook. The notebook next to him covered in As, Bs, and Cs, but his frustration built as Nathan read the page to him again. “You can’t see the difference between the B and D can you? Neither can I- I always had issues with my letters… but this is even worse since the Alphabet changed so much over the last two centuries.” Edmund tried to soothe, but he was also frustrated. The mortal felt like he had when his school teacher belittled him for not understanding the letters.
Her ghostly brother paused and thought, counting on his fingers as he followed, “Baby d made Abaddon panic, and he called me father”, He said wringing his hands. He was filled with nervous energy, worried about his ward. Entering the kitchen Katherine sat the bags on the counter before turning to her brother, “He… panicked? That doesn’t sound like him at all, and what about him calling you dad? He’s done it before, hasn’t he?” She frowned, her arms crossed as fingers drummed against her bicep.
Nathan tried to keep his composure, but this was sightly frustrating for him too, “The baby d is like the baby b, but backwards” He read for the umpteenth time as Abaddon bounced his leg and tugged at a lock of his hair. His eyes darted from word to word which seemed to blur and unblur randomly- a headache building behind his eyes. He felt hot and sweaty, his skin itching as he tried to make a baby d… only to write another b. Then Nathan sighed shaking his head, “Oh Bud, that’s a b. we want a d! I know you can do this.” he said softly, trying to encourage him.
The hair pulling increased, small fingers wrapped around a lock as Abaddon tried again and again the frustration and shame building like air in a too full balloon. “Come on Bud! You got this!” Nathan, always the optimist said causing Abaddon to scowl. His headache reached a crescendo as his eyes hurt. Letting out a guttural scream that sounded like two beings at once, he pushed the books off the table as the family room’s window cracked heavily. Breathing heavily he curled up burying his face in his knees as he trembled. Nathan had stumbled back, eyes wide as he stared at the quivering child- quivering demon. He had never seen Abaddon act this way when he couldn’t do something, not even when he tried teaching the boy how to use a computer.
“Bud?” He asked softly rubbing an arm moving forward reaching out to place a hand on the youths shoulder. He was stopped by a sniffle. Was Abaddon crying? “Bud, whats wrong?” He asked kneeling down looking up at the child.
“My head hurts, my eyes hurts, I feel like my skin is being boiled by hellfire!” Abaddon cried sniffling, “I can’t do this!”
Nathan’s heart broke, had he pushed his ward to hard? “Bud, no- none of that! You are the King of Cobras and Shrimp! You can learn to read-”
Abaddon looked up, snot and tears dripping down his face and he sniffled, “I can’t do this father! I just can not!” He sobbed and bolted from the chair and to the nearest vent ripping the grate off and climbing inside. Nathan was stunned- not at Abaddon fleeing of course. He was used to that. But… did he… had Abaddon just call him… father? Gripping his chest and standing he looked at the abandoned vent grate.
----
Nathan paced the front lobby with his hands behind his back worried, not realizing he was going through one wall before turning and walking through it only to phase through the opposite wall. He couldn’t get Abaddon’s face out of his mind, how he looked so sick and stressed; eyes filled with tears with a face full of expression. He sounded almost like a normal little boy. Hearing the car doors slam was enough to snap the specter out of his thoughts. When Katherine opened the front door of The Undervale, arms full of bags containing yogurt (there had been sale) and a jumbo box of Froot Loops, Nathan suddenly popped up scaring Katherine into dropping the groceries.
“Something happened with Abaddon!” Her older brother exclaimed as Katherine sighed and knelt down to clean up the mess, “I was with him in the family room going over how to write a lowercase d and-”
“Nathan- Nathan!” Kathy yelled straightening with her bags again, “Calm down- Ten words or less, what happened to Abaddon?” She asked, concern on her face before heading towards the kitchen.
“I know! He kept mixing up his lowercase d with lowercase b and we were on the page for like thirty minuets and then he just- lashed out! He said something about his eyes and head hurting and how he felt hot. He loves being hot! Then he ran into the vents and hasn’t come out since, and that was an hour ago! And no, he hasn’t called me any fatherly title before- not that I mind it by the way. Heck, if I was still alive, I’d adopted him but that’s beside the point!”
Katherine crossed her arms and tapped her foot glancing at the kitchen’s vent, “That is odd… I could’ve sworn he had...”
“There’s something else…” Nathan murmured, “You know that scream he does when hes pissed- like really pissed?” He asked causing Katherine to sigh pinching the bridge of her nose.
“You mean the one that caused me to have to fully replace my windshield?”
“Yes that one, well… he did one similar but… different somehow. It almost sounded like two people were screaming at once and it didn’t have the same… demonic undertones if that makes sense.”
Katherine started to unpack the yogurt. If Abaddon was having a temper tantrum, might as well not add fire to it by letting his precious, thick bacteria cream spoil. Something Nathan said clicked suddenly, “Wait-” she stood up from the fridge frowning and looked at Nathan. “You said he was mixing up his b and d and had a headache right?”
“Yuppers, it was truly odd. He was doing so well with A through C too!” Nathan said sitting at the table looking truly worried.
It made Katherine slightly happy to see, seeing her older brother care and be responsible for once. “I wonder if he, or the ‘vessel’, has dyslexia. Ron and I thought Esther had it for a while- turns out she just hated reading anything that wasn’t about the occult or shady business practices.”
“...That.. makes sense actually.” Nathan said leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. “...So, what do we do?” He asked worried looking at his little sister, who hummed softly.
The demon prince laid there in a haze of exhaustion as he cuddled Nathan’s sweater shivering every so often. Why had learning the human’s alphabet affected him- affected both of them so much? Before he met the mortal, he would have climbed into a grave to suffer in silence; but he couldn’t nor did he want too anymore.
“Well, we could do some research- maybe I could convince the school’s psychiatrist to stop by and give him a proper exam.” Katherine said sitting across from him. She hesitated before reaching out and putting a hand over his; her hand phased through naturally and it felt slightly cold but the sentiment was the same, “I’m proud of you” She said softly, meeting his eyes.
Nathan was taken aback by her sudden praise before blinking and shaking his head, “No Kathy- this isn’t about me right now, it’s about Abaddon and what happened. I’m worried about him!”
“Exactly.” She continued, “I have watched you go into things and failed over and over again. But with Abaddon? Even dead you are an amazing guardian to him! Hell, you are a better father to Abaddon than Ron was to Esther and Ben!” She explained, “You are worried for him, you are trying to find solutions to help him learn- you haven’t given up on him. Not in life-” She poked her finger through his chest pointing at his still heart, “-nor in death. So yes, I am proud of my big brother, and I’m sure the kids would be more than happy to help us help Abaddon.”
Nathan was taken aback, but smiled softly, she was right after all- next to The Undervale, Abaddon is the first thing he’s taken this good of care of. “Thanks Kathy, you have no clue how much that means to me. Now what should we do once we find the little scamp?”
---
There was something with the vents of The Undervale that just settled something primal in Abaddon’s immortal soul. The endless ducts going to each room and even ones that the humans did not know existed. In the middle, however, was a large cross section about the size of a small bedroom. This was where Abaddon spent most of his time, it was filled with his prized bones, his favorite blender, and a small shrine built on-top of a stolen box with a photo frame and an urn. The small demon was currently trembling in a pile of shirts and hoodies he had rightfully snatched from his mortal family- his mortals.
“What have you done to me Edmund?!” He asked curling up tightly, a small fist clenching his chest as he shuddered. The demon didn’t feel as hot as before- but he felt a soul shattering tiredness and numbness. “I do not know what thou is speaking of Abaddon- you have brought this onto us...” the mortal soul whispered exhausted. Abaddon growled and punched the metal flooring of the duct room, body aching from the fit. Sniffling softly he moved over some and grabbed from a near by pile of clothing a familiar blue sweater. Laying on his side, his cheek against the cool metal of the duct, he curled around it, burying his face into it and breathing in the scent. Nathan had always smelled of hickey and grapes when he was alive… Now all Abaddon had were his clothing that was slowly loosing that unique smell.
“Do not be absurd… Demon’s do not love.” Abaddon lied.
Instead, he wished that he could just climb into Nathan’s lap like he had when the human was still alive, but he can’t. He won’t ever be able too- not ever… Nathan’s touch was lost to him. The familial pat on the head when he did something right, being carried to bathe after hunting down basement rats, curling up to watch TV during a storm. Tears filled the demon’s eyes as he rose once more. Moving over to the small shrine looking down at the urn and the photo he folded the sweater placing it on the packing box the shrine sat on. “...I am becoming weaker, and it’s his fault! His ‘mortalness’ is rubbing off on me.” He said softly scrubbing at the tears as he sniffled. He felt utterly pathetic as he stood in front of the shrine.
“I do not think that is the reason Abaddon, Nathan’s always super nice to us- I mean, if he wasn’t the one to pull us out of that god forsaken hole, were would still be stuck trapped. To take a page out of your book, if anything he’s a pawn to reach high shelf and getting Froot Loops. So there must be another explanation. Perhaps demons just can not read?” Edmund recommended to the demon who felt pure emptiness, “...Then why do I feel this urge?” Abaddon asked turning away from the smiling photo. He wanted to go back to when Nathan was alive. Where he would be given hugs and headpats for the most mundane things. Sure, the mortal still did so- but it wasn’t the same. As his vessels body continued as the demon climbed into a duct leading away from his nest, “Mayhaps… You have come to truly love the Freelings… Or at least Nathan and Esther”
---
“I do not know why I should! I do not need to learn to read-”
Kicking out the cover, Abaddon climbed out of vent and into Nathan’s study. Standing up and brushing off his shirt he looked up and saw The Chair. His heart felt heavy staring at it before he turned and walked upstairs. He looked around and saw neither the ghost or the Freeling matriarch, who would have most certainly arrived home by now, so hopefully he could escape outside. He wanted to go sit at the bottom of the lake for a few days. As he made a mad dash for the front door he was suddenly scooped up like a cat. Katherine held her nephew as he attempted to hiss and thrash about, but it was more of an unhappy wiggle due to the demon’s exhaustion “Release me!” he grumbled softly as Katherine held him to her chest.
To say that he was surprised was an understatement as Kathy held him similarly to how Nathan used to, “Hey…” She said softly walking towards the family suites, “Nathan told me what happened, want to talk about it?”
“What is there to talk about?” Abaddon grumped crossing his arms, and Katherine couldn’t help but notice how utterly exhausted Abaddon looked. She sighed softly combing a hand through the youth’s bangs, “You know, Nathan had the exact same look when he had a panic attack” She said climbing the stairs up to where their bedrooms were. Abaddon stiffened and looked at her curiously, his head tilted slightly.
“What I mean is… my brother isn’t perfect. He kept failing and giving up- then he’d get onto the next adventure, or cult apparently. So if he could continue, do you think you could? At least try once more when you are more calmer?” She asked opening the door to Abaddon’s bedroom- the one that he barely stepped a foot in. She sat him on the bed and crossed her arms staring down at Abaddon who suddenly found his hand’s more fascinating that her.
“Nathan needs something to do when I’m not around, so in a way you’d be helping me just as much as he’s helping you- and if you do your best I’ll give you a single sticker at the end of each week like I do with Ben and Esther.” Katherine promised causing Abaddon to look up at her before down at his hand’s again. He chewed at his lip as he thought, something Nathan used to do as well… He didn’t want the fit to happen again. Katherine sat next to him rubbing his back, “I can see you’re worried, Nathan and I have an idea on why you had such a hard time.” She smiled softly at him before continuing, “So if you work with us, we can- what’s a good word for it” She thought aloud, “Make it not as stressful. We can put ‘enchantments’ on your books” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it would do in a pinch. She knew the demon prince would through a fit if she said accommodations, and she didn’t want him feeling any weaker than he must be already.
Abaddon looked up at her, before groaning and rolling his eyes, “Fine fine- I will coddle the ghost” he grumbled tiredly.
“Ahhh! I am so happy to hear that Bud!” Nathan poked his head through the wall causing the demon to shriek and hiss loudly- his eyes flashing red. The specter laughed and came into the room fully before sitting opposite of Katherine, on Abaddon’s other side, “This’ll be fun champ, I promise!”
“That’s what you said about baths, then you proceeded to try to drown me!” Abaddon scoffed as Nathan gasped offended.
“I didn’t know you didn’t know not to sink under the water!” Nathan grumbled before laughing and hugging Abaddon as much as he could. He glanced at his baby sister who rolled her eyes and hugged Abaddon’s other side.
He tensed up between the two… Before slowly relaxing and breathing in slowly. Katherine smelled of perfume and paint, and Abaddon could almost smell Nathan’s scent as well- the two combined made him feel more at peace then before. His eyes were suddenly heavy, Katherine felt him leaning against her chest snoozing softly shortly after. She smiled as Nathan grinned trying not to squeal. She slowly maneuvered herself so she could tuck the child in for a nap as Nathan practically danced out of the room in joy- trying to keep his happy humming to a minimum.
---
That evening all three Freeling children were doing homework at the table. Abaddon’s leg bounced as he tried with these pesky baby ds again. Groaning he leaned back looking up at the ceiling. Esther looked over from what she was doing and it clicked instantly on how to explain to Abaddon on how to differentiate the two baby letters. Nathan tilted his head as she reached over to write something on Abaddon’s notebook, “Here look” She said to get Abaddon’s attention, “If you write out the word ‘bed’, you’ll see the difference.” She pointed at the b and the d. Nathan snorted softly as Abaddon growled tiredly and attempted to copy the word as nearly as he could. Looking up at his guardian, Nathan nodded smiling.
“I’m going hunting” Abaddon said tossing his book without looking, hitting Ben in the face.
“Hey!” The teen complained as Abaddon threw open the door and disappeared into the forest.
Katherine stood in the doorway, hands cupping around her mouth as she yelled to the demon, “Be home before ten!!”