We had been flying for a couple hours by now and through an error of mine and a now missing village I decided it would be best to fly above the clouds to make sure that I do not get attacked... again.
In those hours I had seen jungles and plains and even a small desert area, I saw a rocky terrain that had a huge opening with what looked like a huge horde of green and red goblins coming and going along with hobgoblins with whips that would every so often smack one of the smaller ones. I saw villages with straw huts and towns that looked more out of old westerns, I wanted so bad to stop and go explore but everytime I started to descend even a little I would get a feeling of something pinching me. Come to find out that this damn armor has some kind of sentience and that it will let me feel some things but not others, and the pinching feeling is Kitsoma and Mara actually fucking stabbing me with their weapons!
I found this out because I had to stop and rest for a few minutes to recharge and Grace told me about it while laughing at me... Can you believe that? My baby girl is laughing at me as she's telling me that her mom and Aunt? Hmmm, that's an interesting question to bring up? But anyways, She's laughing as she tells me that they are just stabbing me!!! She then tells me that no blood comes out so atleast theres that I guess.
But Here I am in the air again and we are coming up on the 3rd hour of flying. I can feel the strain on my wings like I just finished a full round of dumbbell workouts and I'm going down slowly because my wings aren't being able to keep me up. Lo and behold there's that damn pinching feeling again, but I just ignore it and after a couple seconds it goes away and I see out of the corner of my eyes as Kitsoma and Mara's heads pop out of the armored carriage but soon duck back inside because the wind was blowing by at insane speeds. I should have warned them about that..... oops hehe.
I land with a thud and a small earthquake and soon the others start unloading off me as my armor turns back to normal. Kitsoma and Mara march up to me and within seconds I am barely able to breath because their hair was ruffled and twisted and kinky because of the wind. It was a mess, but it was so hilarious combined with the angry faces they were both wearing as they looked up at me like I was the cause of all this.
"You knew this was going to happen didn't you!" Mara said as she pointed a finger at me that was glowing black.
"You know damn well that he did! Just look at him laughing. That's fine, because we decided we weren't going to have any alone time with you what so ever this entire journey. HMPH!" Kitsoma said but the whole time she tried to be angry as she said it she was also blushing a violent shade of red.
"Yea... wait what? I didn't agree to that!" Mara started to agree but soon rounded on Kitsoma.
Kitsoma looked at Mara with a look and Mara soon coughed and turned to me. "'Ahem' What she said, We talked and because you did such an awful prank that we would not spend any alone time with you....." Her shoulders slumped down as she said that and you could tell she didn't mean it.
I played along and stopped laughing. "Oh please my beautiful wives don't do this to me! I'll do anything! Do not leave me alone to suffer the cold hands of the loneliness. What would I do without my two gorgeous loves by my side to endure this worlds terrible curse!" I was slowly transforming back to humanoid as I was speaking and when I was back I started to get a little shakespearean with it and placed my hand over my heart and one over my head as I leaned it back.
"Oh! The torment of being alone without you by my side is worse than a thousand deaths! To be forced into the hands of darkness is akin to my soul broken asunder again and again. I beg of you, oh goddesses of beauty and love, to what does this lowly mortal have to do to earn his place back at your side?" I ended it with a kneeling position as I looked up at them both with pleading eyes and prayer hands.
I was spitballing the hell out of this and just grabbing the limited knowledge of the famed writer as much as I could. Thankfully thanks to me hamming it up and going full shatner with my performance, The girls both ran to me and hugged me tightly. They kissed my cheeks a few times and laughed at me.
"That was god awful Vexsus, I've been to the capital they have a theatre there. I've seen some of the actors do what you did and I have to say you could give some of them a run for their money but just wow... so embarrassing hahahaha." Mara kept laughing as she hugged my arm and Kitsoma just stayed nodded and agreed.
"Well in my old world there was this guy wayyy back in my history that did stuff like that and I figured I'd try it out and overreact haha. So did it work? I figure we have a few hours of daylight left and that should give us enough time to set up camp and I was hoping we could.... you know...." I suggested while wagging my eyebrows at them.
Mara just smacked my chest lightly and Kitsoma just hugged me tighter and buried her head into my arm. I chuckled as I walked over to the others and we all started to get to work on the campsite. Kitsoma being the awesome woman that she is had made sure to that we had packed up seperate tents for everybody and a big enough one for us. Using my power I basically turned into the pack mule but that was fine. I knew it was just that kind of power and was A ok with that.
After everything was set up and I had a fire going, I set up a small spit over the fire and brought out a boar that I grabbed along the way and threw it on. I was no Romeo when it came to cooking but nothing could beat the smell of cooked pork. Soon enough the smell was wafting through the air and I could see as everyone was drooling as they looked at the slow roasting meal.
"Haha, looks like I should have brought another boar then. Why don't I wonder off and go see if I can find something else while you guys go ahead and devour this one?" I stood up and started walking off towards the woods while using detection and found a cave with a large creature inside that looked like it could satisfy my hunger for a little while.
"Honey are you sure you should be going off on your own? You tend to get into trouble when you do that." Kitsoma said while looking at me with worry in her eyes but I could see that she was side eyeing that boar so with a chuckle I just nodded and waved goodbye as I disappeared into the brush.
"Now, let's see here? Well first off, Gula? Are you there?" I asked out loud.
*I'm here, I'm weak but I have enough power to talk to you for a few minutes.*
I jumped up into a neaby tree and sat down and withdrew my presence in order to keep the nearby animals from bothering me while I talked.
*What is going on with you? Is something happening? Is Ira helping you? I'm in a forest now so I can send more offerings, you should have told me if something was wrong!*
*My dear... This is something you cannot handle yet, you may be strong but you are just a mortal. My brothers and sisters had found my hiding place and attacked me with the few branded ones they were able to raise into demi godhood. I used up what power you had offered me to escape and in doing so I killed 2 of the little shits who dared to lay a hand on me. I am resting right now in a realm under Ira's rule but I cannot stay here for long. I do need your help but only in the form of offerings, I can handle the problems up here, I'm sure you noticed that your system functions haven't been working lately.*
*That was why I wanted to talk to you but I knew that something had to be going on so I wasn't trying to be a bother. If the system needs to be offline or something in order for you to live than by all means do it. I can be strong without it and still offer you power. I know how to use my power without using the system so it's ok. If that uses up your power than just take it away and I will figure something out, I have a feeling that you giving me a system like that was more or less like a guideline and not actually a set in stone thing. It was more or less like a helpful little AI right?*
*'sigh' You are correct Vexsus, I didn't know how else to help you with how weak I am, but if you think that you can get by without this and well.... seeing as so far you have been, It will help me sustain my power for awhile longer. Thank you for this sacrifice Vexsus, This means so much to me. I haven't had a branded one in so long but to find you after all this time....*
*What? Gula?..... Gula?*
*Sorry Hon Gula is a little busy right now. I'm sure she had more to say but she was starting to get a little emotional and was gonna give away secrets you weren't ready for.* A female voice spoke up suddenly that had a southern accent.
*Who are you and what have you done to Gula!?*
*Just calm down now Sugar, I didn't do anything to her. As a matter of fact she is right here and doing good, I just had to stop her before she said anything else. By the way you won't know me so don't worry about asking. You won't even remember we talked Darlin'"
......
*Hey Gula? Did you hear me? I asked if the the system was like an AI and if it would help if you just took it away?*
*Hmm? Oh, Yea, sorry Vexsus just had an odd occurence but yes you are correct, it would save my power and help sustain my power. Thank you for this sacrifice Vexsus, When you go to sleep tonight I will get to work on fixing the Brand. Just to warn you it will hurt as with everything that happens to the brand.*
*I understand, just be patient and I will get you food here shortly ok? I'll talk to you soon.*
I jumped down from the tree and started walking towards the cave with the large creature in it. I didn't know what I was going to be facing but from the outline of the mana that encircled it, I was betting that it was some kind of magical super bear. I was super pumped to fight it and was thinking of using hand to hand to try and learn something new. Who knows, I just feel like this journey should be about new things and expanding my horizons. Good philosophy to have in any situation I guess.....
But as I'm walking there is one thing that just keeps repeating itself in my mind over and over again like a searing needle that just keeps digging deeper into my brain. It's a singular question that I know I won't be able to answer any time soon.