It was a snowy barren island that I stood at, where over the horizon there’s only the blue sky, no sun, no moon, kind of a weird snow globe island.

I am also surrounded by all the women that has took up the mantle of the Seeress of the North, including Ruith.

At that moment I only thought of one thing when I saw their faces.

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, SHIT…. YOU AND YOUR FUCKIN BIG MOUTH MARTYN…

To be honest I’ve calculated the risk, I thought that Ruith and maybe some Seeress like Lady Siobhan, Lady Catrin, and maybe Ruith’s grandaunt were going to snap at me.

But damn… am I bad at math, I mean… I know that they’re all her puppets but I didn’t expect all of them to relate with this story! Christ… okay, okay, no going back anymore Martyn.

“Ahh, so my story resonated with you girls huh? Well, you’re all dead wrong if you all think bringing me to your realm will spook me into retracting what I said to my two friends and Ruith!!”

“Ohhh you’re not scared enough?”

Ohh shit, oh shit, fuck she’s going to kill me!!

As I was about to be brutalized by Lady Siobhan, Ruith came into rescue and pushed her back, though from her face I could tell she was still very livid at what I said about her struggle.

She then asked me why I am provoking all of them and I just explained all of it, I poured out what I think about this mess and to be honest, as much as I’m very, very, scared of what they’ll do to me.

They’re all stupid to think that they could endure this kind of burden.

But what irks me more about this was the fact that they keep thinking of this shining knight of power that’ll save them, this false hope of freedom.

And for that fact they’ve lived and passed enduring this burden without asking any sort of help, without even trying to help themselves!

They don’t deserve a helping hand if I am being honest here.

Because of that the only one who gets to decide their freedom is Ruith, she is the one who is still living and enduring.

And… it came a bit of a shock when she decided she doesn’t want my help.

I knew right away she was in the deep end, these women must have done something so cruel to her to the point she wants to see them dread rather than achieving her own freedom.

But I am not gonna let her deny my thirst for a symbolic revenge, so I told her about my real motives on why I even tried lending them help. Then I gave her an ultimatum, either living the rest of her live suffering with that controlling bitch… or tasting the fruit of freedom, seeing and enjoying her world.

I don’t know if it moved her, she didn’t even responded to my ultimatum nor break the silence, instead it was her mother, already slapped five times after asking for her daughter forgiveness, but still persevere on asking forgiveness, a lengthy apologize at that.

She more or less admitted everything that made her into a terrible mother, hell, she didn’t even tried pushing the blame to that controlling bitch, she… actually took responsibility of everything.

I was really intrigued where this was going, well… until Ruith lifted her arm again.

But as she was about to strike her face again… something… miraculous happened.

Her hands stopped, mid-air, really near her mother’s cheek and… she cried, this cheeky girl cried and then proceeded to yelled at her mother. What she poured out was quite heart wrenching actually as I’ve seen this view, this yelling, this back talking, this… unbottling.

Then the fact that her mother, still admitting and taking responsibility of her faults and failures as a mother, was something else. Though it was a bit pushing, her wanting to be back in Ruith’s life was a testament really, a testament that she wanted to try, to mend, to prove that she can be a good mother for her again in her life.

Ruith… already moved, already went over her limit, now crying uglily in the snowy ground with her mother, who embraced her, forgave her.

I… don’t know… seeing this, irks me even more suddenly, I see something… that I wanted, from her, from mom.

I really want to forgive mom and moved pass everything, I want to love her, and I really want her to love me, to embraced me… I just, want her to be my mother again.

But that’s just a delusional dream of a broken boy, she… won’t see herself in the mirror, she won’t ever love me...

With Ruith having calmed down after that very heart moving moment, she responded to my ultimatum. Though before answering it, she asked me on what happen to the two of them.

I answered her as straight as I could of what happen to them and thinking about them again… I can’t really helped him, It’s Arthur’s own battle.

He is not a broken man that’s too stubborn to admit he needs help, he actually doesn't need help really, because he already come to terms and moved on from it, he is just really, really abhorred legacies, but her…

I lied really, Anne is legally dead, but she is very much alive and living her dreams in Europe.

After she heard Arthur’s and Anne’s fate, she, with full confidence, with a face signifying everything I need, asked me to save her and… with a nod and a smile in my face, I gave her what she wants and need.

Show time baby!

But before I made another grandiose speech for everyone, she… that controlling bitch, took the first move.

“Okay that’s enough, you think you can get away from me? I OWN YOU!!” She went near Ruith and her mother with hostile intent, about to separate them, but I, already have the greenlight, grabbed that controlling bitch’s hand and threw her away from them.

The other seeress that were surrounding us came to her aid and before she tried gathering support from them, I executed my grandiose speech.

“LADIES!” I raised my voice, trying to grab their attention. “Ruith here, has given her answer and she want to be saved! She wants all of you to be saved! So now I asked you, you ladies of the damned.” I took a breather. “Do you want to be saved from this controlling bitch?” I pointed at her.

Shocked and horridness could be seen in their face as I called the first Seeress a controlling bitch, but hearing my generosity, they one by one they flock to our side.

The first one was Lady Siobhan, though from her face I could tell she was still a bit livid at what I said, she set that aside for freedom from her mother was at a door’s step.

The next was Ruith’s grandaunt, and the rest were various Seeress that I don’t really know, even the Seeress that almost killed me came flocking too, though it was a bit jarring seeing her apologizing for me. But her sincere deep voice didn’t lie one bit.

“What?! you think you can defy me? I AM THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS!!! I am the reason why you can talk to God! I OWN YOU ALL!!” again with that line…

“BITCH SHUT THE FUCK UP!” I had enough of her. “You don’t own them! Whatever pact you made with your god doesn’t give you the right to use all of these women as your puppets, they’re all humans damn it, and you took away everything that they should have! Aspirations, dreams, whatever they are, you took them!” I yelled back at her.

“Then what about me?! I have aspiration and ambitions too!” Hearing that selfish remark, just made more disgusted at her. “I… I have been waiting for centuries! millennias!! To have that seed. Everything was already planned perfectly, but… you! why do you have to interfere!? What do you even gain from this?”

“What I gain? Something more than a naïve idealistic pleasure that’s for sure, it’s quite personal really, because people like you sicken me to the core!” I berated her.

“No, no, no, you… can’t take them away from me…” As she realized that I wasn’t some naïve idealistic boy, she broke down. “They… they’re all I have, all of them, Siobhan, Ciara, Cara, Maebh, Emer, Catrin, Ruith, All of you! all of you, you with names… beautiful names… you’re all I have!”

“Ohh… so that’s why your name is lost to history! What, did your mom named you bitch or something?” As I mocked her, she snapped as she suddenly lunge herself at me with ice like swords formed around her hands.

I was a bit caught off guard, but was lucky to catch it early, I even manage to counter and push her back.

“Another Raoul huh? well… whatever past you had, however brutal, sad, or depressing it is, does not give you the right to strip these women of their freedom!” But… me telling her off wasn’t any good, she was beyond pissed at me.

She was looking at me with death glares like an unhinge person, it was… actually like when Ruith’s eyes turned pitch black.

“I have enough of this, prepare yourself for something worse than death boy…” She pointed the tip of her ice sword at me.

“En garde, bitch…” One thing I’ll say is that I was scared, I am dealing with extraordinary people here, but I have confidence on my fencing skills, I have confidence that I can hold back and do some power display for these women. Just enough show of power maybe, enough to convince them that they can fight back!

So, I stood there, stood like the rock I have always been when fighting, with firm foundations as I am about to unleash my years-worth of fencing knowledge.

Her stance was awful, it was like some mad idiot that’s too angry to even try challenging me properly, but… she was still the first Seeress of the North, she has powers that I don’t know if I could really endure.

But again, I have confidence in my fencing skills, so I prepared my A-game to finish this nonsense.

My feet already bent, right foot on the front, left foot on the back, precisely 90cm apart, and the estoc on my hand, fully extended to the max and was awaiting her first attack.

After the brief lull, she finally came rushing to me as I was fully ready to receive and redirect her attack back at her.

But… a bright light suddenly appeared from our right side, it made her stop, it made me lose composure, everyone was looking at it and he, the one who brought me to this new world, appeared.

“Okay… that’s quite enough Annifyr…” He then reveals himself as he tones down that shining light behind him, he was a light skinned man, with an average physique, but I couldn’t see his eyes, face, nor hair as he was covering it with a white hood… he… looked like a knockoff Jesus really…

When he spoke to that bitch, Annifyr, all of the Seeress, saved for Ruith, instantly bowed down to him. Yeah… this guy is definitely their god, though I am quite curious why Ruith wasn’t following the others, I mean… he is her maker after all.

“Why… why are you here my lord?” The ice swords she conjured around her arm melted away as she asked him while trembling in fear.

“To stop you from doing something stupid of course! I mean I summoned him to my world for a reason Annifyr!” He… wasn’t mad, there was no hint of lividness nor frustration, he was just really concern of where this was going.

“Don’t call me that… you know I hate that name…” She said.

“Ahh… yeah, sorry I forgot.” He… apologized… the fuck? Is their god, really that polite? “But… like what Martyn said, you don’t have the right to strip these women of their freedom! Besides… you already have the important thing I promised to you, meaning this realm will not be yours anymore, you’ve strip them of their freedoms and now you’re going to gift them their freedom!”

“But, but…” She tried to make some excuse but she was cut off by him.

“Do the right thing, first Seeress of the North! please...” He reminded her, but... again... why is he so polite? “Ohh and Ruith! tomorrow at eight, as usual okay!” For a brief moment I spotted his face, though… it was only his smile.

“Y-Yeah… yeah! And don’t spoil my breakfast okay shiny! Mother is the only I am allowing to be in my head at breakfast!” She… spoke with her god quite casually and even enforced something on him… is, he really a god?

“Ohh!” Then I realized this was my chance for him to explain why my dad and his friends were chosen. “Lux! Hey! I want to know why you chose my dad! Did you also gave me those dreams? wait, hey! Are you listening to me?” I tried catching his attention but to no avail, it was… like he was purposely avoiding me as he quickly vanished through the air.

Well… in the end I did finish what I wanted to do here, subsequentially making the surrounding change again as the snow melted in our feet and all of the seeress, excluding Ruith, disappeared as well like their god.

Ruith’s study room came back to view again, and we were back at where we originally were.

Though I think that things should go by as normal now with even some holes patched, there was still one thing that still needs to be taken care off.

I… don’t know if I am ready to be a father, especially to twins if she’s right, but… yeah…

“I’ll… be there for them, IF, you’re really pregnant! It’s the least I could do to not be like my dad…” As I said to her, her face began to tear up again, it was of happiness of course, but she didn’t stop there, she even went as far as to hugged me, quite tightly.

“Thank you… thank you for everything Lord Protector…” Though it was a bit awkward for me, I couldn’t help but to feel happy and smile at the gratitude she’s showing to me.

“Yeah… it’s okay and call me Martyn! You, PROBABLY, are the mother of my children.” I was feeling a bit happy and let her be more casual towards me.

“Okay… Martyn…” As she said my name, our face just turned red like a tomato as embarrassment and awkwardness rushed to our head.

But… she kept hugging me despite that awkward bit, well until…

“I know you’re there Amadela!” Amadela then came out of the fray by entering Ruith’s study room.

“So, what…? Are you courting her now Lord Protector?!” She asked, with a bit of blush as well in her face.

“NO! why would you say that?” I denied what she concluded from her peeking.

“Yeah… he’s going to be my husband!” This… goddamn girl turned back to her cheeky form.

Ughh… this fuckin girl, still… it’s kinda nice seeing that her cheeky form isn’t a façade, but… god… how the hell am I going to explain this to Eleanna…