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"We have to run then; this place wonāt survive their attack!" Hermes said.
"Calm down, with Drake here, we should be able to safely transport everyone inside of his Divine Realm," Root anticipated my words. "However, this must be fate acting one last time to help us... once they all come here, Drake and his family will receive them, I am sure theyāre ready for anything at this point, their power... is immense."
"Youāre goddamn right," I nodded. "Iām ready, I want to beat the crap out of Umbral too, Amethyst will as well, right?"
"Hell yeah! Iām almost ready!" Amethyst said. "I said almost because I think I still need a bit more of training... Uh, how long until they get here?"
"A day," Root said. "But if we enter Drakeās Divine Realm, we can spend up to a week inside through time dilation, right?"
"Yeah, you sure know a lot about me..." I said.
"I am connected to Yggdrasil, and Yggdrasil is connected to Fate," Root said. "I saw some glimpses of future events, and I am now connecting the dots, trying to aim towards the best possible outcome..."
"I see... so your purpose in this world... I think I understand what it is," I laughed. "She wants a replacement in case..."
Everyone fell silent, as Root nodded.
"Yes... the other purpose of my existence, was that... if by any chance, Mother Yggdrasil perishes in the incoming great war..." Root muttered. "I must replace her and become the roots of this world, so it doesnāt end up destroyed. I am her Plan B... but let us work hard, and hope that we never see the day this happens."
"Yeah, we canāt let that ever happen!" Benladra nodded.
"Hm!" Kate agreed. "Weāll work hard and fight to protect our home..."
"Well said," I nodded. "So theyāre coming here, right? Is the Dwarven Kingdom at the east safe?"
"It should be... they will not target it," Root said. "Why? Ah, because of the dwarf princess you have with you... Hmm."
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing, it will be fine..." Root said. "Concentrate on getting ready... the battle that is to come will be a great one. You might have to call for the assistance of your other disciples..."
"So you know about Emerald and Surtr, huh?" I wondered. "Alright... Thereās Triton too but a week wonāt be enough, Iāll train him once this battle is over... Which Fragment of Oberon is coming? Do you know?"
"A very powerful one," said Root. "And one that has actual influence in this continent too... Itās called Stone, and heās his Dwarven Clone."
"Dwarf?!" Amethyst asked. "Seriosuly?"
"His Clones can be of any race and gender," Benladann explained. "Ruby isnāt here, but there was once another of his clones, who controlled her vampire family. It was a female vampire."
"Although his clones... sometimes they tend to disobey their common will and end up having their own agenda," I explained. "We donāt know what that "Stone" guy is planning though, but it wonāt be small."
"Heās probably coming after us, weāve never meet that clone but I know that he just wants the people we took away from him back into his labs..." Alma said. "This time, I wonāt let that happen, Iāll fight!"
"Alma, youāre pregnant, you canāt possibly fight!" Hermes said.
"I-I said I can...!" Alma groaned. "And... Ugh..."
Suddenly, Alma let out a pained groan, as she grabbed her belly and looked down, realizing something.
"Uuh..."
"Alma?" Hermes wondered. "Whatās wrong?"
"I-I think the babyās coming..." Alma sighed. "Aaah... I feel a little dizzy."
"Shit, already?! Okay, letās...! Uh, Root, can you help?!" Hermes asked.
"The area for her to give birth is ready and prepared, she should simply sit on the spring and let the baby come through the water, it will be much less painful that way," Root said. "Weāve done this two times already, thereās no need to panic, Hermes."
"Okay, sure, but Iām still going to panic, itās my kid after all!" Hermes cried. "A-Alma, come on, letās go...!"
"Iāll help my sister as well!" Callon said, as both men helped Alma out, carrying her to the room where she would give birth.
"Um, should I help? I can heal," Benladann said.
"That would be appreciated," Root said. "I can heal too, but my power cannot compare to yours."
"Alright!" Benladra nodded.
"But donāt go inside!" Benladann said. "Only go there once youāre needed.... or maybe just heal the area with your magic from afar, okay Benladra?"
It seemed her mother didnāt want Benladra to see the whole birthing process...
After we finished dinner, we heard Almaās painful cries as she gave birth for the third time.
"Augh! Aaahh! Uugh! T-There! Itās coming... itās coming out! Ahhhh! Ugh! Why is it so painful to give birth?! Damn it, Hermes! Donāt get me knocked up a fourth time or Iāll kill you!"
"Iām sorry Alma! I promise that this will be our last! ...For now."
And then we heard Alma hitting his head, followed by Hermes scream.
It was surprising how the man cried more loudly than the woman...
...
Some hours passed, and Alma had safely given birth. While that happened, I prepared inside of my Divine Realm, and the entire population of the refuge started moving inside. The goal was to not destroy this place nor bring it inside, as they were coming into my Divine Realm only temporarily. Alma made it clear she wanted to live somewhere else, and not inside of my Realm, as she felt it was "weird".
Well, I canāt argue with that.
Her child was safely born as t, and after an hour of giving birth, a bath, and being healed, she was back at full strength, carrying the baby in her arms while looking like nothing had ever happened to her. Her child was blonde like her, with emerald eyes, another adorable elf, this time it was another boy.
"I have yet to decide a name though..." she sighed. "But I think we can choose something in the following days."
"Yeah," Hermes nodded. "For now, letās go inside Drakeās Divine Realm. Is everyone inside?"
"I believe so," I nodded. "Root, youāre coming too?"
"Yes, but Iām leaving a part of myself back, we donāt want Oberon to think we left completely," said Root. "It would be wise if you hid your floating castle as well, Drake, for good measure."
"Donāt worry about that, theyāre already inside my Divine Realm," I nodded. "Letās go, thereās a lot of training left to do... but first, letās have dinner."
The people were quite amazed once they entered my Divine Realm, but accepted things faster than I imagined, perhaps they were already too used to moving around from place to place as Oberon chased them, so they accepted their new conditions quickly.
We had dinner with everyone else after that, and we also shared dinner with the new residents, who had the greatest feast they have had in ages... Root turned out to be an amazing cook as well as Alma, whose cooking was surprisingly really good. I guess she had truly become a household wife in every sense of the world.
The day inside my Divine Realm ended peacefully, training would resume tomorrow morning, and I walked with my children and their mothers to the Archetype Awakening Temple, their % had just reached 100%, and we were going to try to awaken their powers.
Well, only Benladra and Kate, Drakda had yet to reach 100%.
"Daddy, what do we do here?" Kate asked, standing in the middle of the pavilion. "Iām confused... How do we even awaken Archetypes?"
"Yeah I was wondering the same thing," Benladra said. "Mama and auntie awakened them but how do we do it? Any tips?"
"Honestly, the Temple did most of the work for us," Benladann said. "Youāll feel a tingle and then... well, something will happen."
"Itās better if you do this at the same time," Andromeda said. "I can feel that you two are connected as sisters, so you could help one another Awaken faster."
"I want to awaken too!" Drakda complained. "Mama, let me! Papa! Let me do it!"
"Calm down," sighed Miranda. "Your percentage is still not high enough, wait a bit more."
"How does it increase?" Drakda asked. "Should I hug papa and kiss his face more?"
"I donāt think thatās going to work anymore," I laughed, patting his head. "Letās train with Amethyst tomorrow, Iām sure youāll awaken by then."
"Hmm, ok..." Drakda sighed, he seemed a little grumpy.
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