novelraw Chapter 480 – Meeting a Mother
Chapter 480 – Meeting a Mother
"Fuck, why am I coming along to deal with a bunch of fucking true beings!" Victoria asks. "Isn't Geta and Eterna enough to handle those shits?"
"My Mother is not a shit," Eterna says. "And I'm pregnant. We just want to be careful."
"That makes no fucking sense," Victoria says. "Do I fucking need to come or not?"
"Yes," I say. Why are we having this fight at the temple door? Didn't she know where we were going when she got in? "I'll give you some time off when we come back."
"Fucking fine," Victoria says. "I'll fucking go. You shits better not get me fucking fried to death."
"My Mother won't burn you," Eterna says.
"Isn't there another one?" I ask.
"Yes, she doesn't care about anything," Eterna says. "I doubt she'll even come around unless I call out to her and tell her I'm pregnant. My Mother has complained to her so much about the Queens through the years that she hides away unless something big comes up."
"Then we'll keep your pregnancy a secret," I say. "Wait, they showed up after I mated you. They have to know you're pregnant already."
"Oh, they showed up after everything, did they?" Eterna says. "How great of them. Maybe we don't have to visit them after all. Just skip everything. I'll make a new nest here."
"Sorry," I say. That night was terrible for everyone. Yzzorres really did deserve getting fucked for putting us all through that. All she had to do was show up to my meeting with Eterna that Shimmer promised, and it would've been fine. Instead, she had to kill a bunch of people. "I'm happy you're my mate. I wish it had happened differently, but I think it's working out. We should see your nest. You've been building that nest for a long time. Don't throw it away so quickly. Besides, I want to see it."
"Fine, we can go see those traitors," Eterna says. "They know what was going to happen. They probably don't know I'm pregnant. Though I'm sure Mother is guessing I'm pregnant. Assholes."
"Fucking hell," Victoria says. "Just walk through the fucking door. Space can fucking decide if our asses are going to your fucking nest or not. I want to fucking sleep or do a damn job."
"Ok," I say. "We have stopped rather close to our destination." Space may not be bringing Victoria with us. Or maybe Space will join Victoria and yell at me for waiting on her doorstep for so long. I take a step forward and show up on a mountain.
'Sorry, you did mess around for a while. You have places to be. Here comes the rest.'
'So it's me you're mad about me and not Victoria.'
'Both, she'll be coming around now. Don't be cursing and stalling at my doorstep.'
'Sorry.' The rest of the group shows up on the mountain. I don't see anything that looks like a nest, but I'm not a bird, so I could be missing something, or we're not quite there.
"Home," Eterna says. "Or close to home. Small walk this way."
"The view is beautiful," I say. I think I can see the dot of a city at the base of the mountain. I wonder if that's the capital. How many cities do the extra realms have? I never saw how many people they all brought to the war to even try to guess how many women they have. Kiyomi could've been tricking me with her empty city if she wanted. She wouldn't even need to get Yuki to lie for her; Yuki does that naturally. "Strange it's so warm up here."
"Think we're about to settle somewhere cold?" Eterna chuckles. "No idea why, but I'm going to say a Goddess is messing with things."
"That would make sense," I say.
"This way, dear!" Eterna says, heading away from the edge. "It's not really a nest, but it feels better to call it a nest. Things will be a little big because I'm rarely ever in this form. I do have to agree with Yzzorres about getting the people below to do things. They don't understand what a true phoenix needs. But I did get some massive blankets from them, and cushions. Phoenixes don't like sleeping on a pile of rocks and sticks; they just burn. Need something enchanted to sleep on."
"The rocks were comfortable," I say.
"Don't tell my Mother," Eterna says. "She has a rant for that. She has a rant for a lot of things."
"I'll do my best," I say. We start to crest a peak of the mountain, and I spot a cave entrance that burrows into the mountain, and then a large circular spot that has been melted over and over again into some strange flow.
"Here we are," Eterna says. "That's my resting spot when I want to be outside, and the hole is a cave with the rest of my space. My Mother is a few mountains over, and my cousin like to move to try and hide. At this point, she probably has a nest on every mountain."
"Fuck this is Goddess damn high," Victoria says. "Fucking see for miles."
"Yes, it's a pretty sight," Eterna says.
"Well, I can't wait to spend some nights up here," I say. "I'm sure the sky is filled with stars up here and away from the city."
"Yes, we have many more stars," Eterna says. "There isn't much more outside, if you want to take a peek inside?"
"I'm excited to see it," I say. A massive bed that's soft? Maybe I should've made the phoenix's realm my home. Perhaps I should see about Eterna's Mother before I get sad about not moving here.
Eterna claps her hands, and fire appears as we walk into the cave.
"Won't that fucking suffocate us all?" Victoria asks.
"No, I'm stupid," Eterna says. "You must've been with someone who can do this."
"I just know dumb shits that killed themselves trying this shit," Victoria says.
"The people who understood how to do it safely must have been with people who don't have such a foul mouth, Lady Victoria," Kou says. "Your kids are going to be teaching the others all sorts of terrible language."
"I'm not fucking pregnant," Victoria says.
"Of course, Lady Victoria," Kou says. "I have more work to do."
Victoria has lasted this long; maybe she'll make it a few more years before she gets her belly. But we're starting to get to the actual house portion of the cave. It's a lot smoother than Yzzorres. No jutting rocks. "This is a lot more welcoming than I thought it would be," I say.
"Yes, I have much better taste than the lizard," Eterna says. "Oh, don't mention her. Mother will be here immediately if you do."
"Someone's finally back home," someone says from deeper in the cave.
"Mother! Why are you in my home!" Eterna shouts.
"Because you've been gone for a long time," Eterna's Mother says. "I heard you were coming by eventually, so I waited for my daughter to come home."
"What if I wanted to spend time with my mate? Then I heard you were around to know when I lost, but didn't care to help your DAUGHTER fight the dragon," Eterna says. One of the phoenixes I saw before comes walking from deeper in the cave. She helps explain the massive size of the cave. She isn't as big as Yzzorres, not even close, but she's four or five times my height. Inanos would be like a baby next to her.
"I told you not to go," Eterna's Mother says. "Don't blame me for anything. Think that pathetic lizard cared to listen to those idiots? You just wanted to look good for the little lizard here."
"We could've made sure nothing happened. Saved lives, and proved our support to Alzi and done the right thing!" Eterna says.
"Right thing? Right thing? That's what you want to do? That's what matters to you? What has Alzi done for our realm? Fucked the princess? I don't care about some silly princess in the realm who couldn't do a basic job. I don't care about her getting some extra kids. Why would I care about any of that?"
"Because she's nice. Do you not care that I'm pregnant! Or that I have a mate now? You just care about Yzzorres!"
"THAT'S NOT ALL I CARE ABOUT!" Eterna's Mother says. "I have the right to be mad about that stupid, selfish fucking lizard. I would be right fucking with her in power if I had slithered away as she did. Stupid snake hiding in her hole. I fought to protect our kind when the realms cracked. I fought for our strength, and she ran! I died for our people, and she just laughed as I slaughtered her dragons in the fight. You want to see the hole I burned into this realm while being reborn? I fought from a little chick to the second strongest mortal being ever a second damn time! This was our time just to sit by. Nobody important was going to die. I told you to stay put, and you went anyway. I watched to make sure that damn little slithering snake didn't do anything stupid, and she didn't."
Died? Can phoenixes come back to life? That's cheating. No wonder Eterna's Mother was fine fighting. She had a backup plan to make it out alive. It sounds like Yzzorres would be dead right now if she fought in whatever she was talking about.
"Then why didn't we go talk to her?" Eterna says. "We could've worked something out and saved lives still."
"Talk to that idiot?" Eterna's Mother scoffs. "It would be easier to get the ancient dryad to leave the forest."
"She did leave the forest," I say.
"I'm not talking to you."
"Don't talk to my mate like that!"
"She raped..."
"I don't care! I'm pregnant, and I'm happy, and this isn't how this was supposed to go!" Eterna says. "You complain too much, and it gets annoying. I have a right to be mad at you for not helping me, but showing up anyway. You have no right to be angry with me."
"Ryze, give her a break," another phoenix says, this one in the human flaming form. "Sorry for not helping. I was confused about what was going on, then I saw Yzzorres just playing around, so I lost interest. I should've helped. Congratulations, Eterna and Alzi. It's good to hear we're getting more of us. Someone's just grumpy that she isn't the one who's pregnant right now. She knows Yzzorres is pregnant and that you have the teleporting tails with you. She's been yelling about it nonstop."
"Thank you, Eos!" Eterna says, running into the newcomer's arms. "Someone cares."
"She cares, she is happy that you're happy. Just too annoyed at the world to let anyone else see that," Eos says. "Come here Alzi. I can play Mother for a bit."
"Fine," Ryze says. "It was a stupid play, and I think things would've been better if you had listened, but fine. If you're happy, then that's fine. Oh, ok. It's been a while since someone other than us three has been in the mountains. I'm a little frazzled, I suppose. Thank you for being kind to my daughter, Alzi. I should've helped my daughter when she didn't listen. We can do a family hug."
Ok, the Kitsune realm is seeming a bit better. Ryze isn't the worst, but I don't blame Eos for running around trying to avoid her. Maybe I can make a room for her in the manor to escape to.