Chapter 418 – Ritual for Knowledge

I probably should've told some of my wives I was leaving. But Geta is with me, and Kou should be able to send the message out. I should really learn how much they all need to know about where I am. But I am the Queen now, so I shouldn't need their permission to do things.

"You've brought her," a Silver High Priestess says. "I was wondering if the old Queens had a plan to kill her if they failed to win the war. I'm glad they didn't think that far ahead. This way to the Queen's room, Your Royal Highness."

"I didn't think about that," I say. "Well, she's alive."

"I can see, Your Royal Highness," the High Priestesses says. She opens the door for us and takes the lead, guiding us through the halls. "You didn't even know about her, so there was nothing to worry or think about. You didn't do anything wrong by defending yourself. I'm sorry for making you think that. Have you talked to the Goddess of Royalty yet?"

"I haven't talked with that one," I say. "I'm not sure if I want to see her."

"Haha, yes, she is a tricky one," the High Priestess says. "She needs to have all the royals supporting her, so she can never give too much away or pick a side. Don't worry too much about her, but you should visit her. Just have the Valkyrie with you, as I'm sure Royalty will try to get you to make a stupid promise."

I really thought I was done meeting new Goddesses. Maybe I can have Nanoka or Yumanea come with me to help out as well?

"Here is the room," the High Priestess says. "Thank you for your visit, Your Royal Highness."

"I've been here the entire time," I say. Having multiple bodies really is weird.

"It's still a visit, even if it didn't start when you came to the door, Your Royal Highness," the High Priestess says.

"I guess," I say. This one is an actual room, rather than a cave. I guess Queens get some extra privacy beyond what even the Priestesses get. I hope Zarzi gets a door soon, or I can just bring her into the castle or something. It would be interesting to see if the temple fights that.

But first, our kids need to be born, and we have to figure out how to raise all of them. Maybe I can ask Dragon about that right now as well.

The room is nice, with a bed, a couch, a table, and even a fireplace. Where the chimney goes, I don't know. Some strange rune, I'm sure. I put Elo down on the bed and sit on the couch. Then Kou sits down with me while Geta stands by the door.

"Welcome back," Dragon says, lounging in her stream of lava. "You haven't even been crowned, and everyone is calling you Queen. Quite funny."

"Is Zarzi going to be stuck here without a door to her room?" I ask. "And could you have done something to stop Yzzorres or whatever from killing a bunch of people?"

"Zarzi is free to go when the kids hatch," Dragon says. "And maybe. Probably. But I don't care. Yzzorres isn't strong enough to rule the world or anything, but no individual can stop her. And why should I intervene? She's earned her power. She went to help you. She risked her life doing that. Others should risk it besides her. And the chicken is happy to be your mate now. Be thankful."

"Those women didn't want to be there!"

"No. They were there to protect you. Are you willing to say you should've just given yourself over to that idiot Phollo? No. Death will be kind to those women. Respect their sacrifice publicly and help their families, and nothing will be lost. Phollo wouldn't have stopped her conquest after getting you."

"But..."

"Yes, if Yzzorres hadn't come, they wouldn't have had that final attack. You could've just killed the Queens. But that attack happened, and it ended well for you. Don't get mad about good things happening for you now. I can always tell Yzzorres you aren't happy with her gift. She'll correct that mistake, and I know you won't be happy with that outcome. The strong do as they wish, and that now includes you. Don't be mad that I'm not affecting the world a lot. I could make the world a lot more hostile for everyone if I liked. Would you like it if Nature and Justice came down personally? How about that Champion sitting in a cell? Would you like Justice to do more for her? Or Nature's Champion? Would you like her to come after you? I know you're about to ask me to do even more for you. But how much is too much? How much do you want us to do?"

"After all the shit that's been done to me? Is that too much to ask? Is it really too much to ask to get some help with hurting the ones who got to hurt me for free, and that the ones helping me don't suffer so much? A bit of help is a small thing to ask, I think."

"I like you," Dragon says. "I don't love you. But move on from this topic. You won't convince me I'm wrong. I did not tell her to go or to stay. Blaming me will get you nowhere."

"I guess that is what you would say about it," I sigh. "But I can still be mad about it. But yes, I have things I want. One is a ritual, so I'm not asking you to give me things for free. The other is just knowledge."

"That knowledge isn't for you to have," Dragon says.

I did not even think about what I wanted! "It is," I say. "I need to heal the old Queen."

"Then use your mana," Dragon says.

"It won't work."

"How do you know that it won't work?"

"Geta said something about it," I say.

"Sure, she did," Dragon says. "You wish to clear out her mana. Why not ask me to do that? Or go to Space or Fertility to ask them to do it? You don't need the knowledge unless you're trying to do something naughty."

"You..."

"But you're asking me to help you do it. Be careful with your logic, little one."

"I would still need the strength and ability to do whatever the fix is. Would it be so bad to let the world know how to fix the soul and mana? You must have a way to reverse the damage that was done to her. I'm trying to implement it myself, rather than forcing you to do all the work. You saved her life, and I want to finish the process, rather than you having to do the work."

"Before, I wasn't doing enough, and now you want me to sit back and relax."

"Kind of?" I say. "I would like your help with giving Zarzi and Elo their strength back through a ritual or something, if possible. I know I can help them get it back without your help, so it's fine if there is a problem with doing that."

"You really care about learning how to heal her afflictions and don't care about healing Zarzi."

"Zarzi, I already have ways to heal her in a week. Elo, as well, but first I need to heal her mana and soul," I say. "So, of course, I'm more worried about solving that issue."

"Little one," Dragon says. "Your intentions are very clear. You have someone else you want to heal as well, and you just stumbled into a great way to solve that issue."

"I..."

"There's no need to deny it. Fine. If you can do all the needed steps, you deserve it," Dragon says. "But don't come complaining to me when the other Goddesses get mad at you. I won't defend you then. The Priestess should be getting the strength ritual ready for you. You'll be the center of the ritual, and I'll pass the knowledge off to you during it. Just try not to die while using it. They won't care about Elo getting healed, but I'm sure your next project is not as innocent. Do not spread it far and wide. That will get you killed. Goddesses don't like others messing with mana and souls. There's a reason it took a ritual to fuck it up in the first place."

"Thank you," I say. "Why do you help me so much?"

"I made you a royal dragon," Dragon says. "I could've decided you were just going to be a normal dragon, or a silver one. Anything, really. Instead, I decided you would be royal. But then Fertility went and ruined my plans, and Sex sealed the deal. You were meant to be found immediately. Brought into the capital by Yumanea to live an easy life until you were ready to take over for the idiot Phollo. I don't need to go over the following events; you know them well. I owe you something for all that trouble, I guess. Besides, it's fun seeing you mess with everyone. We all know you met with the Demonness. What you plan to do with her isn't my business, as long as you don't plan to kill me."

"Why would I try to kill you?"

"I just told you that I'm one of the causes of all your problems," Dragon says. "But I don't think you wish to kill me. I just needed to make sure. Now, do the ritual and be careful if you ever meet Yzzorres. She is interested in you, but do something stupid, and you'll end up in her belly with no one to blame but yourself."

"Why wouldn't I have to meet the massive dragon that can kill me whenever she wishes?" I sigh, back in the room. Dragon didn't care about my comment? She probably still heard it. I wonder how much she gleaned about what I want to do. I didn't think about her at all, so it shouldn't be much. Probably just a good guess from a Goddess.

"Because the Queen is the one who is supposed to be able to call upon her in times of need, my Queen," Kou says. "Hence, Phollo being able to drag her out during the war," Kou says. "The Priestesses are already getting the ritual ready. It seems surprisingly peaceful for a ritual. Just some blood symbols, with you in the middle. I guess having a High Priestess, the current Queen, and an old Queen in a ritual for something so mundane would do that."

"Dragon seemed to be in a helpful mood," I say.

"That would do it, my Queen," Kou says. "They are almost ready. I guess they were already preparing before we came. You must have transferred the thought between bodies or something."

"I think I said something to Zarzi."

"Be careful, Alzi," Geta says. "Death is patient because they always come to her. Don't make her change."

"I'm not about to deny her anyone," I say. "At least I have no plans to do that. But what about the vampires? They seem really old."

"They can still die," Geta says. "But there are a number of reasons why they are limited to a single family besides Mai. Death takes all in the end."

"Besides the Goddesses," I mutter."Yes."

Well, at least she knows she doesn't get everyone in the end. I should probably warn Esmeralda that Death is certain that she'll be killed eventually. It would be a funny thing to talk about while I figure out how Quintella is doing. She must've given birth by now. Maybe even Lorlei as well. But I can figure that out later.

Time to sit in the middle of a bunch of blood and hope Dragon doesn't kill me for the knowledge.