*** Nature's Champion ***

I traveled so far from my tree. Too far. Maybe I could've asked Kiyomi to teleport me to it, or at least the edge of the forest. Save me a few days of travel. But I'm sure she's pretty pissed about me trapping her for a while, unfortunately. I was just following a Goddess. How could you blame me for that? I didn't try to kill anyone too much. I think.

It'll be quiet in the forest now with all the monsters dead. Those ugly things are all gone. Hopefully, that doesn't let everyone burn down the forests. I may actually have to fight if they threaten me too much. Damn Goddess fucking her territory over trying to get power she already had. But why have a brain when you can have a bunch of death and destruction!

"Complaining about your Goddess?" Nature says.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be complaining?" I say. Like I wasn't wasting enough time already, now I have to deal with our Goddess. Hopefully, the time below is mostly stopped. "You forced me away from my tree and lost us a war. I had to piss off Kiyomi, even. I never want to deal with the Kitsunes, and then you made me go after that crazy woman. You promised me peace if I held them up. I did, so let me be. I never wanted to be a champion, and I don't care to deal with you anymore." She doesn't even bring me up to a forest. Instead just a boring, empty grass field. She doesn't even show herself to me. Scared bitch.

"You could've done more," Nature huffs. "You just captured them and then ran!"

"It was Kiyomi, and she had help! Think I'm about to risk my life for you? No, that kitsune is a monster. The Kitsunes are getting too strong compared to everyone else. She can certainly beat out Phollo if you count her as a queen. I did what I needed in order to fill out your order and then ran. I haven't been in a true fight in a thousand years. Sure, I'm stronger than Kiyomi, but she's a bloodthirsty bitch, and she had help. I'm not fucking with her again. I like living, and I like my tree. I have both, or would you like to test how strong that new Goddess is? We had a contract."

"Think she cares about you, or has the power to worry about your dealings?" Nature says.

"I did my best to keep you from winning without just killing the army myself. If it hurts her father's enemies, I'm sure the Goddess of Contracts will enforce the contract to her best ability. Something you can't afford right now. You just lost all of your cheats. Give a Goddess something over you. It'll be great for me."

Nature appears before me, her breasts covering my face as she leans into my ear. "What if I kill you or your tree?"

"You don't have the power to kill me," I say. "My tree and I'll pray to the Goddess of Contract more and more till I'm just skin and bones. I'm going to make her a shrine and sneak into a city to create a temple to her. She'll get power over you. I'll love what she does with you. Justice has proven just how far the Goddess can go for punishments."

"Go run," Nature says. "I'll let them know how much work you did for me."

"They aren't all as stupid as you are. I ran the first fucking chance I got. Nature's army was the stupidest army ever to take the field. I have nothing to worry about. Go lie to the world, see how that works out for you. If I didn't have your dumbass looking over my shoulder, I would've never left my forest."

"My forest. The forests are all mine," Nature says.

"Not anymore. You don't have the power to watch over them. Now, I may not be Yzzorres or anything, but I'm making my way to your realm. If all goes well, I'll be the Goddess of Peace or not giving a fuck or something. Keep threatening me and I'll come to tear everything you have down."

"You don't have the drive to make it. Just like that useless dragon."

"Then fuck off. I've got nothing for you, and there is nothing I'm going to do to you," I say. Handling her loss with grace, I can see. Why worry about me when you can't do anything? Just hide for a while till you find some other women to scam into giving you a massive army and break the rules the Goddesses made. Maybe that's the problem. Contract will make all the agreements by the Goddesses binding now.

Nature really did push Alzi to destroy any hope of controlling the world again.

"Have fun hiding all the time," Nature says. "So bold to your Goddess, but you hide from all in your realm."

The sun is still high in the sky when she releases me. No real time lost to the dumb Goddess. Why did she have to pick me? I hate having her look at me.

Whatever, I'm a champion now. But my Goddess hates me. Eh, I guess I'm even then.

*** Nature ***

This dumbass wants me to go into her gaudy temple? No, no, she can come to me, or we can yell over the stupid divine realm.

"Your damn dragons didn't do shit!" I say. "What did you do? No support in keeping my army alive. Phrogni betrayed us. Some schoolgirls beat your champion. Even without your support, my army caused all the enemy Goddesses to tire out. And what did your dragons do with no Goddesses standing in their way? Nothing. They couldn't capture one little girl!"

"Shut the fuck up! They aren't my dragons. The fact that my champion was fighting that many women at once is amazing. She didn't have a damn class when I picked her up, and I was giving her justice for her lonely sister getting that dumbass walking into her shop. I built them to what they could be. This isn't my fault. Your army was the muscle, and you left them open to complete annihilation from a ritual. A ritual that took less than a damn day!"

"All of their Goddesses were in on it. What am I supposed to do when Death joins in a ritual? Why is she even taking an interest in this fucking war! Was I not sending her enough women? My beasts were dying by the thousands. What greed is taking her over! I'm better for her. Nature is filled with more death than this civilized world. Why would she support some whore!"

"Fucking protect some of the fucking bitches! They hadn't figured out how to kill all of those freaks. Just protect a few and let them push forward so your useless champion can actually join the attack. Add her to the fight, and we have everything."

"She had to keep Kiyomi since you couldn't get Phrogni to do it. Get a bit more control, and your dragons wouldn't have fucked everything. How many women were taken out of the fight due to that ritual? I did all the heavy lifting, and you just want to talk about getting justice for your stupidity and failures. You fucked everything up. I had it all, and you thought everyone would just fill in your twisted justice thoughts! Don't you fucking blame me. You just had to get some damn dragons to fucking take a bitch and mate the bitch and we'd have the world. Now you fucked us over! Give me some damn justice for your incompetence! You won't even come out of your hole. Think your stupidity means I'm going to come to you!"

*** Power ***

It just had to be at the end of the fucking war that this baby decided to come out. Has it even been enough time already, or does Fertility do the same thing as Alzi? At least she showed up for the labor. If only she were more helpful.

"Dear, just breath," Mother says. "You're a Goddess. It won't be like me, but it won't be that painful. You've been stalking Alzi's births too much."

"I have not been watching them. You don't get to tell me that shit! The most pain I've felt in my life till now was you raping this kid into me!"

"You're breathing too hard," Mother says. "Better. Now, when you feel your body asking you to push, then push. You're literally power. Use that to push this baby out. She wants out."

Calming down is easy when you've done this over and over. Why does she expect me to do it after her rage put this kid in me!

"Aahh!" I scream out. My body wanted to push then, right?

"There you go. One more time. Deep breath and then one more push. Everything should come out then. We have it easy."

Easy, my ass! At least she's blocked out those idiots for me. Maybe it is easy for me if I'm able to think so much.

"Push, silly girl," Mother says. "Push. There you go. I've got her, pretty little girl."

"Mind. Goddess of the mind. I have to live with the Goddess of the mind?" I say. Is this because I took over Syro's power?

"Don't be like that," Mother says, bringing my baby up to my head. Maybe it won't be that bad having her. "You're just worried you'll end up like me. You already love her."

"Fine," I say. "Am I going to be like you?"

"No, well, hopefully we do better than I did for the number of years before I met Alzi. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you as I am with Contract," Mother says. "We'll have play dates. You don't get to say no. It'll be for the kids and our relationship."

"It's our kid. You'll be coming around a lot," I say. This bitch is forgetting what she did to me already! It's our damn kid in my arms right now!

"Uh, oh, yes," Mother says. "Yes. Sorry for that. That wasn't a great moment for me. But it was important to do. Our kid. I really am a terrible mother."

"Glad you can say it," I say. "Going to fix that?"

"I'll try," Mother says. "I'll be here. I promise."

She moves into the bed, getting me to rest on her chest and supporting my arms to hold our child. She gives me a soft kiss on the head. And then I feel that third leg of hers. I did want another kid, but I doubt she remembers that. She's clothed, so I don't have to worry about her forgetting about our daughter.

I can relax for a bit. I hope. Babies have to sleep.