Chapter 419 – Gaining the Knowledge

My third body scoops Zarzi up without explaining anything. I expected her to complain, but she just nestles into my arms and lets me carry her off. The Silver High Priestess directs my main body while it carries Elo through the temple. Another has to direct my third body. I don't know why Mommy and Zarzi's wives just follow me. I guess a Priestess directing you through the temple makes it clear that something is going on.

Also, it is a lot easier to carry someone when you aren't pregnant. I should've had Geta or Nanoka carry Elo here. I just got excited about everything coming together.

My bodies meet up at the entrance of a large cave. Why do I just call them caves? Aren't these just rooms made to look like I'm in a mountain? Whatever. Inside, a few Priestesses are drawing some circles on the ground.

Three circles in a row make it clear where Zarzi, Elo, and I are supposed to sit. What the runes circling the middle are supposed to mean, I don't know. But I'll trust them not to kill their Queen and old Queen and a High Priestess.

Am I going to have to worry about assassinations? There was an attempt on me when I was just a brothel whore, and I would certainly get more now. But not in a temple. Space or Dragon would warn me about that. Dragon could've just told me to stop instead of offering the knowledge to me. She wouldn't trick me. That would be Kitsune. Do I have to worry about the kitsunes?

You're freaking out, Alzi. Don't do that. She made a deal with me. She won't break it. I know Contract will find a way to get revenge on Kitsune if she kills me.

"Where should I put them?" I ask. I can set them down and take Lactation, which is such a strange name, from Elora, and have her test things out for me. Well, not test the ritual, but see if she has anything to say about the ritual, as I think all the Goddesses know the language. I'm sure she would signal me if something were off, and I'll have Elora offer her a buffet with me later, for making her work. It would be a good time to talk with Elora if I can find the time for that.

"One in this circle and the other at the far end, Your Majesty," the High Priestess says. "You go in the middle."

"Thank you," I say. Slowly, I walk out, letting my main body take the short trip so I can get my baby and ask about the runes. I could ask Geta, but I don't want to say it outright that I don't trust the Priestesses. That would be rude. I don't think anything bad is happening. I just have to be safe now. There is technically my daughter that could take over eventually, or my father, or one of the royals Zarzi gave birth to. The Priestess said something about being surprised Zarzi was a good Priestess, so they don't like her. A clear reason for all three of us to die.

Ok, that is probably a bit of a stretch. Stop panicking, Alzi, just because things are going well. You deserve this. You've treated the Priestesses well and will listen to the Goddess, unlike the previous Queens. They want me alive.

"You look worried," Mommy says. "Is something wrong?"

"No," I say. "I'm just stuck in my head. This is just to help Zarzi, and that is my grandmother at the far end. She is weak like Zarzi, so this is going to get them their strength back. I just thought about people trying to kill me at the brothel for some reason, and now I'm spiraling."

"It isn't an unreasonable concern," the Silver Priestess says. "Assassination attempts are a real thing. You can ask your daughter to check, or even the Valkyrie. We won't be insulted. You have the right to be careful, and we hope you are careful. We wish for you to be on the throne for a long time, and for that, we need you alive."

"Thank you for understanding," I say.

"You're doing a ritual just for me to be able to walk around?" Zarzi says. "You are a crazy wife. Thank you, dear, but be careful about rituals in the future. The only way they are cheap in materials is if someone is sacrificing a lot, like having a hundred babies trying to crush their insides to pulp. I'm not an expert on the rituals, but this one looks safe and has been set up pretty simply."

"It is safe," Geta says. "No one will die or be hurt from this."

"I hope Writing gives birth to reading," I say. "It feels weird to be asking my wives and daughters about runes and rituals."

"Everyone has their specialty," Mommy says. "Yours is closer to love and life than rituals. Don't try to take everything on yourself now. You have to spread it out, and you have more than enough wives for that."

"That is true," I say. "But it would be nice to be able to read more than children's books."

"That's more than I can read right now," Mommy says. "And I have no doubt you'll grow past that soon. Now, fix some women, and we can all have a big dinner. Bring the ones at the castle back down here, too. It should be as much family together as we can get. Have your second body set something up for the ones back home as well. And don't forget the kids."

"That body can't forget about them," I say. "It'll disappear if it does."

"Don't expect me to remember something strange like that," Mommy says. "Now go."

I shake my head and move to the middle. My third body finds a seat at the edge of the room. My second body puts a kid in a crib that the Priestesses must have brought in, and similarly sits down. I'm not taking any risks after what Zarzi said. I'm getting too much for what seems to be too little here. Dragon could've warned me about the true cost of this ritual.

'I could've, but you would've done it anyway. Just relax. It won't have a lasting effect on you.'

The Priestesses start up their chant, and the world turns red around me. I lose my awareness of my other bodies.

I'm in a pool of magma. Everywhere I look is magma. Above, below, left, and right. Not that I can see that far. I can't breathe in this. I...

"Calm down," Dragon says. "You won't die. Your kids won't be hurt. You won't have any lasting damage. As Zarzi said, a cost has to be paid for rituals. You want dangerous knowledge, so you get to swim under magma. You can do it. Last until the end, and the knowledge will become yours. Fail, and I'll only do the healing part of the ritual. I'm right here. You're safe. I'm not stupid enough to threaten your kids like War did. I'm not about to gift you free divinity that way."

Divinity? How was I gifted divinity?

"You attacked her soul when you were dealing with her. Why do you think things started looking weird after that? You started to see like a Goddess would for a bit. Space and Fertility have gifted you some as well through children. You even have more than my true dragon does. It's kind of funny how that works. You just don't know how to access any of it. Try to use your Skill on me; you'll find it doesn't work. You're safe. But it will hurt."

I have to stop myself from breathing. Can my mana do something for me? I try to hurt Dragon, but nothing happens. Listen to her, Alzi. Relax. But it hurts. Trust her. Fuck! Try breathing the magma, that should do something, right? Or can I command a bubble to form?

Aurora! She told me how to make other elements. I have to be able to make air. Just do that in my mouth, somehow.

"You're learning," Dragon says. "Good, good. I was getting worried that you would fail."

*** Geta ***

Why has the rune for knowledge been included in the ritual? They have to know I can read it. They even told me to read it, so they know I know it's there. Do they not know the runes? What knowledge would Dragon be offering Alzi?

Tanatsu. That idiot and her obsession with a single woman. Surely, Alzi isn't actually trying to help her. That would be a stupid thing to do.

Well, Death isn't going to like this. I'll have to get Alzi to never spread the knowledge. I want my Goddess to not care about causing death. Vampires annoy Death enough already, and there's no need for a new class of extremely long-lived beings to be born. The resurgence of true phoenixes and dragons is going to be enough of a hassle.

Alzi, you're going to be causing the Goddesses so many headaches now that you don't have to focus on just surviving.

I can see Zarzi and Elo gaining muscle in mere seconds. Without a thought, you asked for them to be fixed by a Goddess. What other crazy requests are you going to come up with after this? With each Goddess being worried that your growing number of daughters may turn on the established Goddesses, they won't tell you the true cost of what you ask them for. You and Fertility really have a good scam going on here.

Haha, and I have to go along with it. Death made that my duty. Good luck, Alzi. Get what you can out of them. Maybe they'll be more careful about what they let happen down here in the future.

*** Alzi ***

Creating air in my mouth to breathe sounded a lot easier than it is. My lungs are still burning; I can't just breathe naturally. It takes forever for me to create a useful amount of air, and I can feel myself running out of mana to create more of it. How long do I need to keep this up?!

"About until now," Dragon says.

I'm back in Dragon's cave. This time, she has circled around me with her dragon body, holding me tight. All the pain I felt is gone, I'm breathing normally, and I can feel the babies kicking like normal.

"Told you," Dragon says. "No lasting harm. Now, onto the knowledge you want. There are two ways for you to fix it. Three, really, but the third isn't something you would do. It involves killing kids, who siphon off the tainted soul. There's no need to worry about that. The normal method involves dissolving the soul and filtering out the wrong parts, then putting the soul back together. It's something that normally, only Goddesses would do. The demons have come up with methods of doing this, and you have one who at least knows some of those methods. Mana, as you know, is rooted in gates. When you look at your levels of mana, you are moving your vision into these gates. To fix it, you need to purify what is inside the gates. You'll leave with the medicinal formulas needed for that. Yuki and Kelly combined should be enough to create the needed potions. I haven't seen any more of what you're preparing beyond what I've told you. Elo may wish for you to not filter her sister's soul out of her own. If she doesn't want that, then bring her to me, and I'll handle putting her soul back together. Part of the ritual you just performed was the ability for me to fix Elo. In fact, you should heal her in my temple, even if you don't wish for me to intervene. I want her. You've rejected Phrogni, which is fair enough, but I want broods, and Zarzi isn't made for the sizes I want. Let Elo deal with the throne and carry the broods."

"I offered that," I say. "Through a different way. But I will do that. Thank you for the help."

"Just be sure of where you're going, and walk confidently. You've earned your position. Don't let others tell you otherwise. Send them to my mouth if they disagree."

"Thank you."