Demon Queened - Epilogue

Devilla



Things didn’t exactly go smoothly from there. The conversation did - we all greeted each other, talked, and got comfortable. We also all laid into Liz for her impromptu world announcement, and got her to make a new one in which she clarified a few things. Like that judgement for the clergy should be reserved until she - or one of her representatives - could look into things, and that some of what they taught did in fact match her core beliefs. Like not murdering people, for example.

The effect upon the world, meanwhile, was rather varied. While it should have been impossible to deny that Liz was, in fact, the Goddess, humanity nevertheless found a way. Some of them, at least, argued that such certainty flew in the face of faith, and that this and this alone proved that she couldn’t possibly be the Goddess, because if she was they’d obviously feel... less certain about it? Quite frankly, their logic flew over my head, but the fact remained that the Old Church - as it was now called - had its fair share of followers, in various countries. There was even a kingdom or two where the church had remained largely in control.

Despite that, the war seemed to have come to an end. Demons weren’t exactly welcomed in most places, but without a center force uniting the world in creating a joint army… Well, most countries weren’t exactly eager to let another’s army march through their territory, even if it was to fight a completely different enemy several countries away. 

Of course, Lucy also had a part to play in the peace that followed. A human turned angel, and backed by Liz. Technically she was Liz’s secondary mouthpiece, as Liz insisted I remain her number one representative regardless of my complaints, but to the human countries she was far more appetizing to deal with than me. She spends most of her time flying from country to country, these days, meeting with foreign dignitaries and trying to build alliances. It's mostly through her efforts that demons are accepted at all in the outer world…

…Well, they’re accepted in theory, at least, but just because a king declares it so doesn’t mean their entire populace agrees. At the same time, while many demons would no doubt love to leave the tower, very few seem interested in living among humans. Instead, most turn their attention to the land outside the tower, which Liz helped to make fertile again. A small collection of houses can already be seen around the tower, a mere five years from the war’s end.

As for Abigail, she reluctantly took up Doll’s mantle and became the head general, in charge of the tower’s administrative affairs. At first, people were reluctant to listen to her - but between her harsh tongue, her hold of my ear, and her willingness to put change into practice… Well, let’s just say that I’ve caught wind of people referring to her as the shadow ruler of Dimona Tower. 

The 90th floor general slot, meanwhile, was filled by Chloe of all people. With Abigail and her helpers on the 100th floor dealing with tower administration, the 90th is back to focusing on inner security - including propaganda. She’s working hard to improve my image in the eyes of the populace, and to promote the idea of peace with humanity - and quite frankly, I’m not sure which of those tasks is going to be harder.

Speaking of changes among the generals, Araina had retired. Her replacement is now focusing more on external threats than internal issues. Because as much as Lucy hopes to build a future of peace and cooperation, it isn’t as if the world has suddenly run out of threats. People don’t need religious justification to hate or fear that which is different from them, after all…

That was a dark thought, though - and today was a day for bright and cheery things. Today, Lucy, Abigail and I had all gathered together. Today, our friends had joined us, sitting in chairs. Humans and demons alike gathered here, to watch us as we stood upon a raised platform. To watch us exchange vows, in front of a goddess many of us had long since given up on - or at least her avatar, as she couldn’t exactly descend in all her divine glory without ripping the world apart.

“And do you, Devilla, take Lucy and Abigail to be your lawfully wedded wives, to hug and to hold and cherish and kiss and do other things with for what we hope will be all of eternity?”

“I do,” I confirmed, looking into the eyes of my fiancees.

“Then it is my pleasure to announce all three of you wife, and wives! You may now kiss one another. But, like, hold back a little for the humans in the room, okay? They can be a bit uptight.”

I had to fight not to roll my eyes at that. Abigail didn’t - she could do it all she wanted, and nobody could prove a thing. Not even me. Lucy laughed, though, loud and clear and happy. Then she threw her arms around me and Abigail both and brought us into a kiss.

***

“So now what?” Abigail asked, looking between me and Lucy.

“I’m pretty sure you know what comes next as much as me,” Lucy giggled, already reaching behind her to undo the buttons of her wedding gown. “I might need some help getting this off, though.”

“I mean, obviously that,” Abigail confirmed, no doubt rolling her eyes once again. Not that it prevented her from going to help Lucy with the harder to reach buttons, though. “But I mean more in general. With us. We’re married! We have a house. Jobs. A stable future. So next is… you know what… right?”

“You mean…?” Lucy asked, her hands coming to a stop as her eyes shone in excitement.

“Mean what?” I questioned, uncertain what they were referring to.

“Kids!” Lucy answered, before Abigial could have a chance, spinning around and pulling Abigail into a hug before running over to me and doing the same. “It’s time to have the kid talk! I think we should have at least two, personally - one with me, and one with Abigail. Assuming you’re both alright with that?”

“I don’t mind,” Abigail replied. “But two, huh? One with my genes, one with yours, I’m guessing? We’re gonna have to be careful and make sure the kids don’t think we actually care which one of them is carrying our genes, or whatever.”

“We could have a third?” Lucy suggested. “One with me and you! I kinda like the idea, personally, but three…”

“Three seems like a little much,” I murmured.

“Plus, I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly eager to get pregnant,” Abigail stated. “Not when I have a full time job…”

“I wouldn’t mind?” Lucy said. “But I’m not really eager for it, either…”

“Then who,...?” I began, only to pause as the two turned to me. “...Oh…”

“Unless you don’t want to?” Lucy asked. “We could always use a surrogate, in that case! Or adopt!”

“No, no, I… I think I’d like it, actually,” I murmured, glancing downwards towards my currently flat belly. Not that I could actually see it past my tits. “A chance to be a mother… a proper mother, without the geas or risk of death, or… anything. Though… Are you sure it’s a good idea? With everything that’s happened - you know I’m essentially doomed to leave the mortal realm behind, don’t you?”

“In, like, ninety-five years,” Abigail pointed out. “That’s more than most demons get to spend with their kids, let alone humans. And it’s not like they won’t be able to visit us all up in heaven or whatever, right?”

“Right…” I confirmed. Still… “What if my godhood messes with them? What if they’re born with divine magic, and have to go through the same thing?”

“You say that like being a goddess is a bad thing,” a new voice chimed in. Liz’s voice. “Don’t worry! I’m not looking! I just… you know, I had an alert set up on one of the computers to tell me if you started talking about kids, because I wanted to make an offer when it happened, but… you never actually did talk about it until now, and now I feel like a total creep for listening in on your wedding night… but it’s for a good cause, I promise! I’ve got a plan that can help!”

“A plan?” I asked, cautiously. If Liz could truly help, I’d welcome it - creepily stalking our conversations or no - but… it was Liz…

“Don’t worry! I ran this spell by my parents! They okayed it as totally functional - it’ll make sure your kids are born out of holy or unholy magic, rather than divine. …I mean, they’ll still probably have access to divine magic. Kinda hard to get around that with you being in the equation, let alone the mom… but I can suppress it! They won’t even start to turn into gods until the first time they cast divine magic, and I won’t be unlocking that option until they’re at least twenty-one, so… Good idea, no?”

“Or we could adopt and avoid the issue entirely,” I pointed out.

“Though it would mean leaving mortal rulers for the first time in the tower’s history,” Abigail pointed out.

“That’s fine. I’m not entirely sure that an immortal monarchy is the best form of governance, in any kind…”

“I mean, agreed,” Abigail said, “but I don’t think now is the time to go changing things. Not when stuff is this unstable. And especially not when our strength’s half the reason the closest human nations haven’t been trying their luck against us…”

“Plus, I… kinda really want to have a baby with you,” Lucy admitted. “With both of you, preferably…”

“That’s the other thing!” Liz said. “I can totally make it so that the baby will share genetics with all three of you! They’ll be a whole new species! An angel-demon-demi-goddess hybrid! The spell will randomly select features from all of you, check them for compatibility, then mash everything that works together to create something completely new!”

“It… doesn’t entirely sound like a bad thing?” Lucy said, though I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“The way she’s describing it does no favors, but the idea itself seems sound…” I confessed.

“...I mean, I guess it would be pretty nice for any daughter of ours to come from all of us,” Abigail admitted. “Not that it’s needed, but… I wouldn’t mind?”

“Great!” Liz said. “Just put your hands on Devilla’s stomach, and I’ll cast the spell?

The three of us exchanged glances. I shrugged, and Lucy smiled. Abigaill… well, I’m pretty sure she rolled her eyes again, but she still reached out to touch my belly, which my wedding dress had thankfully left largely exposed. Lucy’s hand came resting atop hers, and then Liz’s finger came down atop. A surge of heat rushed through me, and then…

“Done!” Liz declared. “You’re officially pregnant! Can’t wait to see them!”

“You mean her, don’t you?” Abigail asked, obviously confused. “I mean, we’re all girls, so they’re going to be a girl, right?”

“I mean, probably?” Liz said. “Though I guess there’s always the chance of them being trans? Since you mixed a former human in, and that’s a thing that just happens sometimes. But mostly I said them because there’s two of them? I mean, duh?”

“...Two?” Abigail asked.

“Of them?” Lucy continued.

“You mean… twins?” I asked, to confirm.

“I mean, you were talking about having two kids,” Liz reminded us. “Plus, every kid deserves a sibling! I think. I’ve never actually had one, but like… it always seems so cozy on TV?”

“...Liz…” I said, through gritted teeth. “Did you just give me twins because it looked nice on TV?”

“...So, anyways, I’ve gotta go! Lots of busy Goddess things to do! Yup!”

“Liz!” I shouted, at the space where she’d previously stood.

Nobody said anything for a moment, until Abigail finally worked up the courage to break the peace.

“So… it sounds like we’re in for a tough time of it, huh? Seeing as how I”m not even sure how to raise one kid…”

“Maybe we can ask your mom?” Lucy suggested. “She seems to have done a good job with you!”

“Yeah, well… Maybe…” she muttered, her cheeks turning red. As the so often did when Lucy found a way to compliment her. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Lucy actually liked to see her blush.

“We’ll figure it out,” I declared, a soft smile touching my own lips. “As we always have, and always will.”

“Always?” Abigail asked. “We’ve only known each other for like, five years!”

“The best five years of my life,” I said adamantly.

“...Yeah, well, can’t exactly argue with you there,” Abigail muttered.

Lucy pulled us both into a hug, squeezing us so tight that I almost worried she’d snap my spine.

And then she said the thing that I’m sure was on everybody’s mind.

“So… can we get to the sex, now?”

~~~
Author's Notes

I don't usually do two chapters in a day, but I couldn't resist in this case....

I... I think that's it? I think... it's over? As a series, at least. I still wanna write some one-shots. Maybe even write out that marital sex scene, at some point? Though it didn't feel like quite the right note to end the story proper on.

I also have a sequel of sorts planned! I'll be making a bigger Announcement Post on that later today or tomorrow, but the gist of it is that I want to follow the trio's children. The story will be set some 25-ish years after the story's main events (or twenty-ish years after the epilogue) with the kids turning 20. Their parents want them to explore the world, and see what life is like outside the tower before they settle on what they want to do with the rest of their lives. So they go out... and through them, we see how the world has and hasn't changed over time.

My hope is to write something that anyone can read, whether they've read the original or not, but at the same time you can expect a fair number of references and familiar cast members to appear, so... I hope you'll look forward to it?

As mentioned, there may also be more one-shots with the trio planned. No promises on when, though.

I also need to start editing it, so I can put a 'remastered' edition up on Amazon? I'll be sharing the epub/pdf with everyone on the $5+ tiers as well, but I hope people will still consider buying.

Other than that... I got nothing. I really hope you enjoyed? And thank you, so much, for coming on this journey with me and seeing it through to the end...

I still can't believe it's over. (Even though, with a sequel and such, it arguably isn't...)