Chapter 411 – A Bird is Awake

*** Syro ***

Is Alzi asleep?

"Thinking about running off as well?" Ioelena asks.

"I completed my class," I say. "It seems I have a new purpose in life."

"Oh, what would that be?" Ioelena asks.

"Fixing people's mental issues," I say. "All three classes I was offered had to do with helping others overcome mental trauma. Soother of the Minds is the new class I picked, and the first Skill it gave me is for helping the women in the bed I'm in."

"Then go," Ioelena says. "Go help our wife. We'll be here sulking about when you all wake up."

"I guess I should," I say. I hope I'm not about to be passed around this family like some medical stone. I'll have to convince Alzi to let me do the healing in her bed or something. "I don't know where she is."

"I can show you," a Priestess says. I don't know when she got here, but she's leaving just as fast, so I hurry to catch up. Hopefully, Alzi won't be mad that I joined her in bed. I'm here to help her. Truly help her, not just lead her to a free fall like last time.

We don't walk through the dark temple halls for long. Kou is standing guard by a cave, so that should be the one Alzi is in. Who else is going to be with her? Is her other body also sleeping? Does she need all three bodies to be sleeping for my Skill to work? I'm sure one of the kids has woken up her other body by now.

"Is there something you need, Lady Syro?" Kou asks.

"I'm here to help Alzi," I say. "My new class helps with mental issues. My first Skill works on the women I'm sleeping with, and Alzi is sleeping right now."

"Yes, my Queen is asleep," Kou sighs. "Be quiet, and don't disturb them. They've had a long night and need the sleep. Thank you for coming to help my Queen."

"I know," I say. "I'm not that stupid."

This is quite the group. Nanoka is here to be a blanket, and there are six dragons snuggling. Alzi is a third of them, but still. I'm about to join six dragons in a bed without being invited in. But Kou let me in, so I just have to be nice and hope this doesn't cause Alzi distress like my other Skill did.

Just sleep with them. Alzi has too much going on to worry about me joining her. I'll just say I'm helping her, and she'll move right past me. I'm here to help and not take advantage of her. But if it does hurt her, I can just run off and disappear from her life.

I slowly move to the opposite side of the group from Nanoka and try to get some more sleep.

*** Elora ***

It was nice sleeping with my wives again. Shimmer was really warm in my arms. Our babies even woke up together, begging for more food.

I hope Alzi really is going to marry me. But my wives still deserve a second chance, even if I don't.

"Alright," Elyne says. "So, Elora, you gave birth to an actual Goddess. Alzi made it through a war without getting kidnapped, and we were there when she needed us, either for a ritual or to defend her against Queens. We actually did something right for once. What is going to happen next?"

"I don't know," I say. "Alzi promised to forgive me if I could give birth to Goddesses for her. But I've only given her one so far, and I don't know if that is enough. She seemed to accept me after the labor, but I don't know. I hope I did."

"You hope?" Shimmer whispers. "Please, ask her. I have too many kids in my womb. I need her. I can't live with not being near my mate any longer. I miss her."

"We all have reasons for Alzi to marry us," I say. "From kids, to actually showing up when she needs us. I think she brought me here to do a wedding. I just don't want to get my hopes up."

"Didn't she say something about weddings?" Geta says. "We're worrying about it too much. Alzi wants us around. We aren't going to be her beloved wives, but we'll still be her wives."

"I hope so," I say. "Priestess, can you show us to a room to pray? I would like to thank the Goddess of Dragons for helping Zarzi with her pregnancy. I know it meant a lot to Alzi. Geta, do you mind?"

"Come here," Geta says, reaching out for Lactation. "I have to get used to it. I have plenty on the way now."

"Of course," the Priestess says. "This way. But do know that the Goddess of Dragons could've ended the war, for the dragons at least, if she wanted to."

"Thank you," I say. "I know. But she didn't help them, I think. That's enough, or it was enough." I'm glad they don't stop others from praying to their Goddess. I don't know how selective they are about their worship. That part was never in the lessons. I doubt the Goddess will respond, but she should at least hear my thanks.

"She didn't. That is true, Princess Elora. Take your time. I'll be here to take you back to your room."

The Priestess motions to a small cave. I give her a nod and step inside. There's a small mat to kneel on and a small candle flickering to light up the room with a soft, golden glow. I close my eyes like I've done so often and find myself surrounded by white light.

"You want to talk to me?" I say. "What have I done to deserve the honor? Thank you."

"Kind of," Dragon says. "You are the mother of a Goddess after all, so I can't just ignore you. Even I don't have that privilege. Get some of your spine back; It's tiring seeing you flail about. Alzi is going to marry you, and you'll be her spokesperson for your Queendom. The face of the crown. So you need to stand tall again. Tall and proud. The woman before me can't do that right now. Yes, you fucked up. And then you fucked up again and again until you ran out of chances, and then you lucked into one more chance. But you didn't fuck up this time. This time, you did the right thing. You gave Alzi a child. Now, work on getting yourself ready for another. Honestly, Alzi will be an Empress instead of a Queen. You'll be the Queen, and she needs her Queens to be strong. They'll be pregnant constantly, but they have to hold their heads up high and know that if a child wasn't burdening them, they could take on anyone. You're closer to that than you think. Listen to your people, and you'll do fine. There's no need to thank me for Zarzi. I did that for myself just as much as for Alzi. There are a few royal dragon males in that brood. You can inform Alzi and Zarzi of that if you want, but nobody else for now."

"Yes, Goddess of the Dragons. Thank you for the kind words. I'm trying. I want to support Alzi."

"Good enough for now. You'll have your Mother's help for a bit. Go be with your child."

*** Alzi ***

I wake up with a smile. A real smile! I'm surrounded by my babies, still in their eggs, unfortunately, but Zarzi would've died if she had all of them tearing their way out of her. There's just a few weeks left before they hatch, and then we'll have to figure out how to handle them all. We'll see if Dragon gives in and lets me breed her for Phrogni. I don't know how that will work out. Breeding a soul. The things I get pushed into doing.

"Zarzi," I whisper. "How are you?" I can't forget to handle choosing my next classes. How much have I missed out on by not picking them yet?

"Tired," Zarzi says. "Fucking tired."

"Fair enough. You can rest here for a while longer. I need to do things, 'cause why would I ever get peace?"

"There shouldn't be anyone left in the realms that can hurt you. Just the Goddesses."

"Just Goddesses," I say. "I guess that's better than before. And Syro is here."

"Sorry," Syro says. "New Skill. I'm just here to help."

"Baby," Mommy says.

"I was just wondering. It's fine. We're going to get married soon. I was just surprised to see her while being covered in tails. I thought it was just us dragons in here."

"It was," Nanoka says. "But Kou thought you would like something soft to wrap you in. And then Syro came in shortly after me due to a new Skill."

"Thank you both for joining me," I say. "Zarzi, go back to sleep. You still need it."

"I need to stay by the eggs anyway," Zarzi says. "Go take over the realms."

"I don't care about the realms. But I'll take them over if it lets me spend time with my family," I say. Should I keep a body with her? It's for my wives. And she could use a massage. Victoria afterward, too. "I can leave a body with you. I don't need bodies to marry some women. But I can start figuring out what it can do for women. Wait, I need to marry you to keep my body around you, I think. I could test it by leaving it here, and the worst case is that my second body would reappear beside me."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot we aren't truly married," Zarzi says. "Um. I'll ask our Goddess what I can do to marry you. I would like to do that before they all hatch, but if we have to wait, that's fine. You showed up when I needed you, and that's enough for me to marry you happily. I hope I've done enough for you to marry me."

"I want to," I say.

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" a new voice screams out. Someone else is awake, it seems.

A blurry flash of fire storms in and snatches me up. My main body gets pinned against the wall, but it doesn't hurt, despite the position I've ended up in.

A naked true phoenix is before me, breathing heavily. Her hands are pressed against the walls beside my head, and her breasts are double my own max size, heaving. Her eyes are glowing orange, and her flaming hair puts Shimmer's to shame.

"I got you pregnant?" I say, tired of waiting for her to say something new. Should I reach out to her?

"You- You mated me! You didn't beat me. YOU DON'T DESERVE ME!" she shouts.

"Um, you wanted to make me your mate. I just had a bit of help to save me," I say. I really should just kiss her.

"I'm stuck looking like this for a year! A year! I'll be walking on two legs until this kid comes out of me. Are you going to do that again? Am I never going to fly again? I wasn't going to abuse you. You would've been safe in our nest. You would've been happy! I would've grabbed your wives and family, too. I'm not stupid. I came out to fight that damn sleeping bitch alone! For you! And this is what happens to me? Twice, I've come out to help you. Twice."

"Sorry," I say. "I haven't had a good history with women who want to take me. I hope you can understand that. I don't want to do that to you. You are right about helping..."

She leans in and forces me into a kiss. Her hands wrap around my back and pull me into her warm body. I feel my kids kick out to the kid in her womb. Annoying little kids, she's too small to respond! Leave your poor mother alone while her new mate kisses her!

"I want to kill you, and I want to fuck you," she says when we separate. "Tell me which one I should do."

"Love me? Um, if you want, I'll let you have a lot of time in your normal form and kids whenever you want them. I wouldn't mind spending some time in your nest as well. Is a Temple of Space nearby to make traveling easier or something?"

"I'm going to hold you to that," she says. "I'm going to have a kid. Soleil is going to be so mad that I'm pregnant."

"Soleil?"

"My mother. I'm Eterna. Your mate," Eterna says. "My Mother really wanted to give me a sister before I got pregnant. Would you be willing to give me a sibling?"

"Maybe in the future," I say.

"Good enough for me. Want to fuck?"

I'm never going to pick my new classes, am I?