Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

This was getting annoying. 

I wasn't waking up. 

And this goddess wasn't letting me go. 

Or rather she wasn't standing aside from the door. 

Now granted, I still didn't know if just going out of this castle was going to let me wake up or not but it didn't hurt to try, right?

"Seriously, what do you want?" I said.

I couldn't look at her. She was beautiful- too beautiful and my eyes were being dragged down to various parts of her body. And those long strands of bandages could hardly cover so much. 

"You're the one who came here! And you were the one who wanted an audience! Isn't it rude for you to leave just because you got what you wanted?"

"If I'm being honest," I thought over it. Was it even okay to be honest at a time like this? but- "I didn't really come here to meet you." I tried to keep my gaze centered on her eyes, rather than the rest of her floating almost exposed body. 

She grimaced slightly- the creases on her face apparent. "Sometimes it's better to be a bit dishonest."

Unfortunately, I agreed. "Anyway, I'm sleeping. And about to go to war. I don't time to dream. Even if it means to be in the midst of a beautiful goddess such as you."

Well, technically I wasn't lying. She was beautiful. Though I kind of didn't care about beauty. 

She almost blushed, holding her cheeks. "Flattery will get you nowhere." She looked awfully bashfully.  "Though I could sleep with you once if you were to free me from here. Then again, sleeping with my nephew… hmmm…" she licked her lips.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm not interested in your body. And no, I'm not your nephew."

She looked at me, thunderstruck. In fact, a jolt of lightning descended from the ceiling and almost burned me- or would have if I wasn't an astral form right now. 

It did hit her though- no damage. 

"Fine… go…" She sobbed, sniffing like she had pneumonia or something, falling flat on the floor. 

She was floating no more. 

So, I tried leaving. I was floating- so I floated and passed straight from above her. 

But just a meter away- I felt stuck. 

I couldn't turn my head, and I couldn't feel much, so it was hard for me to understand just what was wrong. Hard for the first three seconds that was. 

Afterwards- "The hell you doing!"

The goddess had grabbed onto me, eyes pouring out liquid, face ugly. "I've been stuck here for over five thousand years." She sobbed in between the words as she shook me. "Don't go, nephew!"

"How is that my problem? Why should I free you? What do I get out of it? And I'm not your frigging nephew!"

"I-I I'll aid you in your war? How's that work?" She sniffed, trying to wipe the tears. 

"What if I say my beef was with the world tree?" I took a gamble. 

"Wait-what?" Her voice was small and the tears started disappearing. 

Illusion. 

This goddess was something else, that was for sure. 

"Yeah, you know Ashirnae right? If the dude's words are to be trusted, let's just say the world tree would soon eat the world."

"Are you kidding me? Why would it do that? It has plenty of life-" She paused. "Come to think of it. I did always wonder how the world tree had so much spare mana… But more importantly, you'd trust uncle Ashirnae but not aunty- Selisesta?"

If Ashirnae was Trerortra's brother and Trerortra was this woman's brother, then that meant the three were siblings. I should have figured out as much. 

"Keep thinking I suppose. It's fine wondering. And let go of me! And for the last frigging time, I'M NOT YOUR FRIGGING NEPHEW!"

'And where the hell did I hear that name before?' My memory when it came to names was still terrible. 

"I won't! You'll free me! Unless you do, you're not getting out of here!"

Wait, so she was the one keeping me sleeping?

'Did I come here because she wanted me to?' That'd explain why I could come here without there being any demigods being around me. 

Then again, that was just another possibility. 

"I can't free you if I stay here, remember? I have to free you in wakefulness!" Of course, that was just my guess. 

"Oh yeah!"

She let go of me. 

What an idiot. 

I quickly blitzed out of the castle and just outside the door, turned around. She was by the door, she couldn't cross. "Well, I have to go to war. So can't spend much time here. if I survive, I'll probably come get you for the final battle."

Keyword, 'probably.'

Her earlier playful tone and weird expressions were nowhere to be found. Instead, she just stared at me. no emotions. Just a stare. "I should have expected as much. In the end, you're just a mortal; just because you have godly blood doesn't make you a god I guess." She sighed. "Of course, you'll betray your words."

Betrayal, huh?

Yeah, I've had my fair share. 

But right now, something else mattered more. 

"Sorry but, I'm not nice enough to just go out of my way to save you or free you or whatever just because you asked nicely. I too have my own shit to deal with."

She smiled. "There's a thing called karma. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Think about it." her voice echoed and things started getting brighter. 

I was waking up. 

'So, she 'was' holding me here!'

Too bright. 

I woke up. 

'Karma, huh?'

My hand covered my eyes. 

I was still in the tent, there was someone sitting here, sleeping just next to my bed. It was the kid. 

I looked out and it was evening.

'I was out the whole day?'

Ahem! I cleared my throat and sat down. 

The kid woke up. 

"Hey, what's up?"

He yawned, looked out, and promptly stood up. "We should be moving, sir!"

I figured as much. 

The two of us got out. 

I washed my face.

The soldiers had already got their things packed. 

They were just waiting for me to wake up. 

And in fact, the kid had entered the tent to wake me up. 

But I just wasn't waking up. 

Neira meanwhile had gone hunting and was supposed to meet up with the army just up ahead. But since we were getting late, she should have been on her way here instead. 

I sighed. "Sorry for the wait. Got caught up a little in the dream world."

The kid giggled. "NO big deal, sir. Thanks to you, the men also got some rest."

I tried eying around to see if there were anyone suspicious- a demigod or something like that. But so far, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Anyway, with that over, we marched through the desert and met up with Neira just about half an hour later.. She'd caught seven fresh lizards just for me.