“No. Faye will handle all of that. I’m sure she’ll have no problems taking the city and holding it under Bastion’s banner. I have the utmost confidence in my sister.”
“Sister? I don’t really understand—”
“That’s quite alright. I’ll explain it all later. For now, know that I approve completely of all that you’ve done. That I love you as deeply as I did before, if not more so. Now,” Thana said, stepping into the street and turning. She pulled her arm free of his and reached up. She gently brushed his hair with her fingertips, adjusted his armor a bit, and then ran her thumbs over his eyebrows.
“There. Go end this. I’m tired of this place and I would rather be home. Hannah mentioned something about a mansion on another plane? I admit I love the sound of that.”
Thana gave him another once-over and then backed up. Giving him her Sunless smile, she joined the others.
Runner felt the program in his mind come to a halt when he finally managed to get his thoughts under control.
Everyone is safe. Everyone is whole and healthy.
With that thought in his mind, there really was only one thing left to do. Challenge a god.
Runner wasn’t afraid though. Rike couldn’t harm him. Through manhandling his own pantheon he’d come to realize his abilities far exceeded that of anyone or anything else.
He wasn’t untouchable, but it would take something remarkable to take him down.
Runner had become something straight out of a fairy tale.
“Rike, I summon you per our agreement. Here and now.”
Tinkling bells heralded her arrival. Gentle sky-blue sparkles came together to form a woman.
She had brought herself into being perhaps forty feet from him.
She was about his own height. Dazzling sapphire blue eyes, delicate blonde eyebrows, and long eyelashes. Her lips were full, pink, and moist looking. An enigmatic and beautiful smile spread across her lovely mouth.
Golden hair spilled from her head to cascade down her shoulders in a shower. She had a figure better than even Sophia’s, and her dress emphasized that she was a woman of goodness and artistry. Allure and brilliance.
Runner had a hard time not killing her out of hand.
“As per our agree—”
Rike broke off suddenly as Runner’s divine core sprang out at her and enveloped her completely. Drowning in his power and essence, her aura vanished.
Tendrils of his overwhelming power wrapped up her wrists and ankles and began dragging her inexorably toward him.
“Now see here—”
Runner built up a huge tendril of his power and battered it into her chest repeatedly.
Having lost so many followers so quickly, she was weak as a mortal. The little defense she had crumpled like rotten wood under the extreme weight of his attack.
Falling to her knees at the suddenness of it all, she lost her ability to keep herself upright. Her arms were held above her head invisibly by his power.
Her core was laid before him, a bright blue thing that pulsed rapidly. Her face was a study of shock and horror in equal measure.
Ever onwards she was dragged, her feet scrabbling for purchase as her knees slid across the stones.
“Runner, I—stop, please,” the goddess pleaded.
“You will serve me in whatever capacity I see fit. Agree to this or I’ll tear your core out and eat it. I’ve always wanted a divine slave.”
“Runner, please. This isn’t necessary.” Rike tugged at the bands of his power that were locked onto her. They were like bands of iron holding a naughty child in place.
She came to a stop before him, kneeling and bound.
“I can serve you in so many ways without any type of obedience swearing. Allow me to be your divine wife. We can be equals. I’ll serve you like no other.”
“I have enough wives, both mortal and divine. You know what? I’m not playing this game anymore. You may serve as my slave,” Runner said without emotion.
He’d rather kill her, but Nadine would be sad at that.
Reaching out with a band of power, he tore her core out of her chest and brought it out.
Rike shrieked and sagged heavily, panting as her power was removed violently.
Collecting it with his right hand, he shoved it into his own core.
It dissolved into nothing, and he could feel her. Terrified, alone, broken.
Thrusting a violent spear of power into her empty core housing, he reached out and grabbed her chin, lifting her eyes to his.
Then he began filling her empty core with his own power.
Her core rapidly rebuilt itself out of Runner’s power. Once it was clear her core had been put back together, he eased up on the flow.
Then he slid a tendril into her new core and locked it into place.
Gently he closed up her core and sealed her up.
Her eyes were full of tears, spilling from her eyes and running down her cheeks.
“I grant you this mercy for someone I lost. You now serve my pantheon. Your keepers will be my Triumvirate. Your power pool is mine now, as are your worshipers and your dead.”
Grunting, Runner let go of her chin and looked back to his people.
“Kitten, Lady, Milly, Buttercup, could you please find us a place to set up camp? I need to have a quick discussion with the Triumvirate and our newest… minor goddess. Hanners, could you give us a little space but don’t go too far? I promised you a talk after all,” Runner said.
“Of course, dear heart. I’ll have a tent put up shortly. Come along. Now, you and you, I take it you’re his Paladins? We must discuss some things,” Thana said, turning to the two of them.
As everyone left he turned to Brunhild and Ernsta.
“Brighteyes, Angel. Thank you. I grant you the same boon that Minxy earned today. I’ll grant you whatever you want for one entire day. So long as it harms no one, I’ll grant it. There are no exceptions.”
Ernsta tilted her head to the side, regarding him.
“Anything, little lamb?”
“Yes, my Dark Angel, anything.”
Brunhild gave him a shining smile and looked to her sisters.
“Say nothing,” Brunhild said quickly. “We’ll make the best of this. We can spend three days as we wish collectively. Let’s convene after this to discuss it. If we make him open one of those planes we can expand it to six days with the dilation.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Runner complained.
“You said it, lovey, not us. Don’t worry, we’ll be gentle. Gentler than you are at least. Now, give me the leash to the big boobed blonde cow goddess. I’ll start on her training immediately.”
“Oh, sure. Here.” Runner undid the bindings on Rike and then pulled her up to her feet. Her hand was limp in his. “Remember what we talked about. You promised me.”
“Aye, aye. I remember. Don’t worry, she’ll be begging to be in your sheets in no time and asking to be a full partner. It’s honestly going to be easier than you think. She went too deep in her own rules and AI, that’s all. I can fix her up right quick. I’ve been there,” Amelia promised.
Holding out a hand to the goddess of goodness, Amelia snapped her fingers. Rike ceased to be in their company and vanished.
“Anything you three need from me immediately?” Runner asked them.
“Not at this time, dear. My youngest sister mentioned that you could keep these tethers in place at no cost to yourself?” Brunhild asked, taking a step closer to him.
“Ah, yeah. No worries at all. Is that alright?”
“Perfectly. I look forward to keeping this power increase. It also lets me come here whenever I like without being summoned. Have I ever mentioned you keep coming back to us with incredible benefits?” Brunhild patted his cheek lightly.
“I look forward to taking my prize. See you soon.” Brunhild gave him a winsome smile and then wasn’t there.
“I, too, look forward to my prize, little lamb.” Ernsta gave him a toothy grin and fo
llowed her sister.
Amelia bounced over to him and stole a kiss. “They’re totally going to ride you raw in your bed. As if I don’t plan on doing the same. Love you. Be nice to Hanners, she’s a gentle-hearted thing.”
Then Runner was alone.
Sighing, he turned his mind to the problem of Hannah.
Pivoting where he stood, he found the Thief already approaching him.
“Hey, fucker. So you went all god-emperor crazy when you thought I was dead, huh?” she asked him, peering at him from under her dark bangs. “Ripping out souls, screaming about skull fucking people. Whole nine yards.”
“Of course. All joking aside, I love you. You were the first person I met here, the first to ally herself with me, the first to show me what it meant to be… alive,” Runner explained, shrugging his shoulders.
“A world without you seemed impossible to fathom. So… people had to die.”
“A lot of people,” Hannah murmured.
“Not enough to replace you. I probably would have continued on to the mainland.”
Hannah dropped her eyes to the space on the ground between them.
“I don’t like this. It doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want this. But I want you. I’m willing to do what I have to do for my small piece of you. Sophia, that calculating monster, was right. She said yes when I said no, for the same reason. She knew my feelings because they were hers,” Hannah said, her fingers digging into the sides of her leather armor.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is… I don’t like this. But I love you. Want to be with you. Let’s… go slow and see where it takes us.”
“Good. That sounds perfect to me,” Runner said, reaching out with one hand to begin drawing her in towards himself.
“Hey now. I didn’t… fine. Whatever.” Hannah sighed and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Faye mentioned you could turn on and off pregnancy? Turn it off.”
Runner nodded his head, his hands settling on her lower back.
“At least for a little while,” Hannah said, peering up at him through her eyelashes.
“In the meantime, what’s next?” Hannah asked him quietly.
“Dunno. I figure we have all these resources, so I might start making more servers. More worlds. Many more universes. Let them run. Grow. Live.”
“Sounds interesting. Anything in particular you’re going to start with?”
“Actually, I was talking to Milly and Buttercup about old Earth. Once upon a time a group of thirteen colonies tried to break off from one of the kingdoms that eventually became a founder of the Sovereign.”
Runner grinned at her.
“They failed miserably. The burden of taxes after that revolutionary war prevented them from ever trying again. What if I made a world where they had actually succeeded? Could be interesting to watch.”
“Maybe.”
“Either way. I think I’ll start there. Let them win the war, through some really improbable odds and circumstances. Then they’ll live out their lives. Reading books, watching movies, having children. Never realizing that they’re just a gigantic what if scenario.”
“What if they figure it out?”
“Doubt it. Humans in general wouldn’t accept it. They’d probably call them crazy. Dunno. Maybe I bring them here? I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”
Epilogue - A Prelude -
7:01am Sovereign Earth time
10/02/47
“And that’s when he decided he wanted to dress himself. The shirt went on backwards of course. Pants, too. In the end he managed it after Hanners undressed him again,” Runner said, looking across the way to the three-year-old.
“Alaric is definitely pushing the envelope. You’d be proud of him, Sunshine. Really enjoys drawing lately.”
The little boy stood up, trundled over, and held up a drawing.
“Oh, did you draw something?” Runner asked with a grin.
“I did. It’s the mommas in our house. See, look.” The little boy swept his blonde hair back and then peeked over his own drawing.
“See, here’s the mommies. That’s Momma Anna. Here’s Momma Kat, Momma Woof, Momma Bird, Momma Than, and Momma Tree. That’s Momma Srit in the back. She’s watching. Up here in the sky is Nadine. Momma Nadine.”
“Oh, I see. Yes, that makes sense. Where am I?”
“Other page.” Alaric trooped back to his nest of papers and crayons.
Runner smiled sadly and looked up to the avatar of Srit.
It’d been a number of years now and there’d been no change. He watched the screens on occasion.
Srit maintained her control over all the technology of the Omega empire and had really sent them back a long ways. Whenever they got close to actually making a technological breakthrough that might put them back on track, Srit apparently knocked them back down.
“He’s been telling everyone lately that you’re out fighting the bad guys so we can all be happy together. That you’re the selfless hero. Biggest word he’s used so far. Selfless.”
Alaric came back and held up another picture.
“See, here’s you and me. Here’s Momma Anna with her big belly.” A little finger pointed at the dark-haired Hannah in her pregnant crayon version. “Momma Kat and Berit.” Another finger towards the red-headed Barbarian.
“That’s actually a good drawing of your sister. Do you want to show her later?”
Alaric shook his head and then pointed to a woman with giant wings. “Momma Bird.” Runner nodded a little.
“And is that Aubrey in her arms?”
“Yeah. She’s mad ’cause I wouldn’t share my toys.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Momma Tree told me to love everyone and share. I made her sad. I’ll share next time.”
“Good. Now, who’s that?” Runner pointed to a haystack with arms.
“Momma Woof. She said she wants to get a big belly like Momma Anna. I want a brother.”
“You have a brother. Three of them.”
Alaric grunted and then looked at his drawing.
Probably trying to find Thana and the twins.
Alaric pointed at a dark-haired smiley faced woman. “Momma Than. She’s telling Leon and Tero to not fight.”
“Mm. Sounds about right.”
Flipping the paper over, the boy patted the page again.
“This is Momma Tree with her big belly. That’s Nadine, Monte, and Lillian.”
Runner’s eyes flicked across Isabelle and their three children.
“Very good work, little buddy. We’ve got a big family, don’t we?”
“Yeah. Bigger.”
“Bigger?”
“Make it bigger.”
“Why’s that?”
“I like it. What about the god mommas? Will they get big bellies soon?”
Runner tried to keep the frown from his face. It was an innocent question but had problems on the back end.
“Why do you ask?”
“They seem sad.”
“And you don’t like that?”
“No. They hug me really tight. Momma Shadow gives me big warm hugs. Momma Erns watches me and plays lots with me. Momma Hild sings me back to sleep sometimes at night. That or Momma Fox does with her fire. It… makes the bad thoughts go away. They’d all be happier if they made the family bigger.”
“I see. Momma Fox huh? When did that happen?”
“Momma Shadow said that I should start calling her that.”
Need to talk to Minxy about that. Vixen isn’t part of the family in that way.
“Momma Than said it’ll happen. I asked her.”
“You, uh. You asked her?”
“Yeah. She said probably soon. Daddy’s heart is too big. Momma Fox, Momma Hild, Momma Erns, and Momma Shadow will get big bellies and the family will get bigger.”
“Err, right. Did she sound mad?”
“No. She laughed. Then the twins kept asking her when. That’s why she said soon.”
Need to talk to
Lady Death, too.
“Alright, kiddo. Go start packing up. We’ll need to get to breakfast soon. I’m going to finish talking with Momma Srit. Okay?”
“Okie. I wanna play with Nadine, Berit, and the twins.”
“I’m sure they’d be happy to. Go on, pack up.”
Runner watched Alaric hop over to his stuff and start collecting it.
“Well. That’s news. I’ll have to look into that. Anyways. Reports from Norman’s Port garrison say that the mainland is as bad as it’s ever been. We keep getting a constant flow of refugees. As soon as they swear in and don the amulet of the Triumvirate, we put them to work. Lots to do and all hands are useful.
“Our arsenal is already large and vast enough to drown the mainland and conquer it smoothly. Problem being is we’d end up nearly eradicating all life there. Religious wars suck.”
Runner thought for a moment.
“Minxy sent up a report last night that Rike’s doing well. She’s been civil this year. Apparently residing in Eden is doing wonders for her. Hopefully she comes around sooner rather than later. She’d be useful when the war comes our way. Because eventually it will. That or one side or the other will finally start to win and I’ll have to step in and conquer the entirety of the mainland.”
Runner sighed and held up a hand, moving it one way then the other. “Half a dozen of one, six of the other. Ya know?”
Looking up at Srit, Runner felt his mouth tighten up in a sad smile.
“It’s okay, Daddy. I’m gonna free Momma.”
Runner looked back to Alaric and felt his smile warm.
“Are you now?”
“Yes. Momma left me stuff. It makes sense, and I feel changes inside me each time. I’m gonna free Momma so she can come back and get a big belly, too. I’ll beat the bad guy.”
“Good. I’ll leave it all to you then, kiddo.” Runner stood up and stretched himself out. He was rewarded with a slight pop in his spine and he felt things shift around in his back.
Letting out a breath in contentment, he felt a sadness in his heart.
Srit’s first patch after her departure really was a doozy.
I wonder if I’ll ever need to build bathrooms.
Alaric walked over to Srit’s avatar and laid down a drawing he hadn’t shared with Runner.
Respecting the privacy of the action, Runner took a gentle hold on his son and took them back to the mansion.
Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 40
