Keira had the look of pain in her eyes as he coated her hands in the honey. It was sticky and not at all what she wanted at the moment. “Thanks…” Letting her hands heal would be the worst time for her. Listening to Torn go on about the head she thought she heard about every possibility in the book where they could place the head for the time being.

Having one of the Misfits help her pack her gear into the bag she made sure they didn’t touch the blade. “Aunt Angela’s? Sure, it would be best there. Getting there will be easy enough..” There were not that many arches there in Parvpora but luckily for them Feeorin was one of Angela’s favorite places to go.

“Alright, but I swear you might only be in it for the topless clergy. Boys, we’re heading to the Goddess who Gifts Fertility and Holds the Cornucopia’s temple. If in luck, the clergy will nurse your wounds and more.”

-

The now showing goddess was in her garden watering her plants. Her voice rose to the skies as the plants danced. It was healthy for a gardener to sing to their spawn since it made them happier. A note struck through her head and for a moment she lowered the watering can. Her voice continued to sing the little ditty as she diverted the course of the intruders.  

As soon as they had stepped onto the jade platforms of the first trial the stairs disappeared and the crew began to free fall. The blackness turned into the skies and soon trees reached out and caught everyone without injury. “My my, we have been very busy haven’t we?” The goddess was still singing as she spoke. The trees lowered the crew to the ground.

Her free hand went to her baby belly and she smiled towards Keira. “Very, very busy indeed.” Angela put her watering can down and stroked Torn’s face. A low growl escaped Keira’s lips towards her aunt.

“Tisk tisk. I wouldn’t do anything with him, I’m just trying to imagine what it will look like when your father finds out.” Angela laughed and looked towards the misfits. “You all look terrible.” The trees were holding the hydra head as she looked up at it. “Was it being naughty again?” Her face twisted into a disappointed look. “Shame, I really did like this one’s skin.” 

“Aunt Angela, we brought it here so you could keep it away from its body.” Keira shouted but caught herself. “And to heal our wounded.”

“Just having a bit of fun my dear. I shall keep it in the safest space in my realm, of course.” She clapped and her clergy emerged. Some were topless as they came in to heal the Misfits.  Angela took Keira’s hands and wiped the honey away. “A brilliant idea. Yours?” Keira shook her head and nodded towards Torn. “Thank you for protecting my niece.” The area sparked with magic as the Goddess and clergy healed.

“Though you better think about protecting yourselves from your father,” Angela smiled and laughed.

“Torn isn’t going to meet my dad. Why do you keep bringing it up?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Angela gave them both a smile. "First heal up then we will talk." She waved her hand and the hydra head sank down into the earth of the temple.

Torn looked at Keira, his expression showing his surprise. “Your aunt’s clergy goes topless, too? As in, a whole temple-realm full of topless rosenites?” Torn didn’t really seem too exhilarated by the idea - he was by no means put off, but his reaction was based more in curiosity than arousal, in stark contrast to the Misfits who overheard. While the rumour quickly spread that bare-breasted relatives of Keira would soon be available for ogling, Torn smiled at Keira. “Well, the other guys seem enthusiastic. You should take that as a compliment. As for me…” Torn leant in, gave Keira a quick kiss, and copped a quick feel with a grin. “I have all the rosenite I need right in front of me,” he said, still smirking.

Torn and the rest of the Misfits, after having regrouped, followed Keira to the archway leading to Angela’s temple-realm and stepped through. Barely had the last of the men set foot into the archway before the world collapsed. With a loud cry of surprise, Torn and the rest of the group plummeted through oblivion, then through clouds, before coming to a soft landing in the canopy of several trees.

Torn had yet to figure out which way was up when the party’s host spoke up. “Well, I hate being idle,” Torn quipped in reply to the goddess’ welcome. He observed the goddess’ actions as the tree put him down, noticing the woman’s clever smile, the way she touched her belly as she talked to Keira, not quite managing to wrap his head around the events unfolding around him. He recoiled slightly as the goddess went to stroke his face, more out of surprise than anything else. This action, too, tugged as Torn’s subconscious. This goddess knows something, he thought, something we don’t. And it amuses her to no end, he concluded, even as Keira was growling at her aunt.

Angela was certainly not what Torn had expected. He was expecting a more matronly figure, more calm and loving, than the mischievous lady before him. He also noted how the goddess got under Keira’s skin - while he knew Keira had a temper, he was certain that the goddess took great pleasure in keeping Keira just there, on the edge of rage. He decided to step in and defuse the situation, not wanting to cause a scene in front of a goddess in her own realm. “We figured the safest course of action was to keep the parts in separate worlds,” he clarified, a bit relieved as the goddess shook her playful attitude off for a bit and addressed the matters at hand more seriously.

Torn smiled a bit smugly as Angela praised his use of honey to treat the burn, reveling in his (rare) intellectual feat. The Misfits, of course, began making a fair amount of background noise as the clergy emerged from their hiding places - mostly to hint none too subtly that they just needed a bit of ‘fine company’ to feel better. Much to his surprise, several of the priestesses seemed happy to oblige. Torn shook his surprise, and returned his attention to Angela once more. Why is she so keen on introducing me to Keira’s parents? He thought to himself, his instincts practically begging him to find out more.

Torn, priding himself on being good at communication, went through the entire encounter with Angela in his head, playing the different parts in various orders in order to uncover all of the context. She said we’ve been busy - and the way she said it was a bit off-putting. When she emphasized it, she touched her belly. She’s pregnant. She keeps bringing up Keira’s parents, and indicates it’s inevitable that I’ll meet them soon. As far as she knows, we’re just travelling companions, so why should we fear her father, who’s not a deity? A sudden rush of realisations came upon him. Wait. Maybe she does know more. She has that air about her - knowing something we don’t. And seeing as she is the goddess of fertility… With these things in mind, even Torn was able to put two and two together. He took a step to stand between Keira and Angela, looking at the goddess with a mix of scepticism and surprise. “Hang on for just a moment,” he said, scanning the goddess’ face as he spoke. “I… Are you implying that…” He cast a glance to Angela’s baby belly, before looking back up at the goddess. As his mind began understanding the implications and appreciating them in full, Torn let a brief expression of excitement flash across his face. “Are you implying that Keira’s pregnant?”

Angela chuckled a bit at Torn’s enthusiasm. “I like him much better than the other one. Though you do have the liking of being cocky.” She mused lightly as she flick parts of Torn’s hair about. “All well, still better than the other one that you had with you.” Angela waved her hand at Keira who was flustered at her aunt. Families played the embarrassing ones after all.

She was a different kind of motherly but at the same time she knew when to be serious. Her softer side would come out and she would do everything in her power to help, though she did like her fun. “By the way Aunt Ang, when did that happen?” The halfling looked towards the woman’s belly.

“Oh, you know a few months ago. Drae came home and adult things, that I’m sure you are aware of, occurred and little Miss Iva came in later and told us we were going to have a baby. Imagine that! The Fertility Goddess beaten by her own child!”

“The girl certainly has a gifted future as a seer. Shame she can’t control.”

“She’s only five, it will come to pass. I just wish the girl’s nightmares would stop. Poor thing needs sleeping potions to get through the night some days. Not even my powers can help what she sees.” Angela had thought about taking her to Mendean but went against it. They would get through it.

“That was the safest thing to do I’m afraid. Drae will probably want to look at it later and see if he can’t scavenge parts of it for who knows what. As long as it is in parts the hydra won’t reform.” She rubbed her belly a bit more and laughed a bit as the boy figured it out.

“We should let your men rest.” Keira was draining white fast as Angela spoke. The girl fell over and Angela let her hit the ground. “You should pick that up.” The goddess pointed to her niece and smiled. “We’ll relax inside while my girls take care of your men.” 

Waiting for Torn to pick up Keira, the goddess led them in to her temple. Making her way through the halls and to the stained glass doors she gently pushed them open. A pile of pillow sprung up and a bench for Torn as well. She snuggled into her throne and welcomed a pillow from a clergy member. “Thank you dear.” 

She motioned for them to be set down. “Please relax. Should I wait for her to wake up or should I just continue?” She looked like she was thinking on it. “They were only convinced not even four hours ago… Things can still go wrong but I really did mean you got busy.” Her eyes looked over Torn before going to Keira. Her demeanor changed as they were brought some tea. 

“Have you been together long?” She waited for the answer and laughed. “Sounds like Blaine and Toya all over again. When Jayden, Keira’s older brother, was born they had barely been together. Gods that baby was love at first sight. Boys are rare enough as it is for us but Toya had lost her only other son not long before. Jayden even looks like his mother, though I hope he doesn’t keep her attitude.” She picked up her cup of tea and sighed a bit.

“Blaine is protective of his family, he saw what losing Costel did to his wife. That and he is a father of three girls, four if you count Toya’s daughter from her first marriage. He might not take it well that a man he doesn’t know knocked his daughter up. Hell he might be mad at me and I had nothing to do with this.” She chuckled and sipped her tea.

Torn tried to catch Keira as she fell, though his focus had been primarily on the mischievous goddess in front of him, and so he didn’t notice Keira’s condition before she was already falling. Double-checking her temperature and breathing, he eventually picked her up, as the rosenite priestesses left with the Misfits, to take care of them - in various ways.

Torn followed Angela into the temple, ensuring he carried keira as gently as he could. He understood her shock - children were not on his mind, either, and he hadn’t even thought of the inherent risk of his sexual activity until that point. Torn, however, perhaps unlike Keira, was not scared by the concept - rather, he was excited, for it meant a new chapter in his life, one that was certain to present new challenges, and expand his legacy.

Torn sat down on the offered bench, placing Keira next to him, resting her head in his lap. “I uh… Well, go ahead and continue. It’ll leave me better prepared to support her when she wakes up.” Torn then listened to what Angela had to say. “Four hours ago? We were underwater, then, in Feeorin…”

Torn kept listening, gently stroking Keira’s hair. “A month, more or less,” he replied to Angela’s question about how long they’d been together. The answer seemed to amuse the goddess, but Torn was far more interested in hearing that she had to say than speaking himself. His mind was struggling to keep up with the implications of keira’s pregnancy - and Torn wanted to be as well-equipped to help her as possible when she woke up.

“I have no reason to be afraid of Blaine,” Torn said, “For two reasons. One, Keira would not, I think, let her father do me any harm. Secondly, I don’t intend to give him a reason. I’m not running away from this - in fact, I’m excited. I just hope Keira, too, can look at this enthusiastically when she wakes up,” he continued, his hand now resting on her cheek, caressing it gently. “Finally, I have seen what rosenites are capable of. On the off chance her father does act out of turn, I have a few tricks up my own sleeve.”

Torn thought for a moment, looking at Keira’s pale and unconscious form. “Children was never something I thought about,” he said finally, “it was just good fun at first, then something a bit more… Intimate. In truth, i had completely forgotten the, shall we say, basic function of sex.” he let out a deep sigh, then smiled. “But why worry? I can see from a glance at this temple that there’s a family waiting for…”

Torn paused, looking back up at Angela. “Them… You said they were conceived four hours ago. They, as in plural. Are you saying Keira is carrying more than one child?”

Angela chuckled a bit as a clergy member brought some wine in for Torn. “You are the only one of us who can drink in this room, so please do. I make the wine myself. I’m sure Keira had mentioned the Wine of the Gods but this is safe for you, I promise.” She snuggled into her pillow and sighed lightly as the clergy member put the goddess’s feet up on a stool.

“Feeorin is a beautiful place to conceive children,” she approved of their methods not that she had any say in the manner. “I’ll have you know I don’t choose when to get someone pregnant, not every time. Yours was in Parvpora, a complete and utter surprise indeed.” 

Thinking on his time with her niece she laughed. “Sounds like Toya all over again. She hadn’t been with Blaine very long when they conceived Jayden, Keira’s older brother. Though Keira made it past the age her mother first got pregnant at. Toya was only fifteen when she got pregnant by her first husband.”

Raising her finger she wiggled it at Torn. “That’s not exactly how a wolf tribe works. You may consider Blaine to be the alpha while Keira is just his pup. It all comes down to if Toya keeps him off and I think she will. Toya has a great love for her grandchildren, she has two as it is. If anything you have to remember that Keira is just seventeen. She is still very much Blaine’s little girl in his eyes. I do think it will be alright if anything Blaine might go out in the woods to cool off for a few days.” Angela laughed and smiled at him. “Rosenites are excited but I think Keira just didn’t think about the possibilities of it happening to her.”

Again a laugh came. “You might want to change your scenerio to werewolf. Blaine is a full fledged one and he has always been a man of honor anyways. If anything Toya will wrestle with him and no body wants that. My sister has a tendency to street fight for amusement… It is rather unsettling and not elegant for a person of her status.” She shrugged, “However, she would do anything for her children.”

Finally the boy caught on and she smirked at him. “She is a twin… Twins run in our family, very deeply rooted in fact. You have gotten her pregnant with two beautiful children, the sexes are yet to be determined but they are there. I can tell you, that they are from two different eggs and will not be identical so two girls, two boys, or one of each is possible.”

Keira began to stir as she brought her hand up to her head. “Twins… for real Auntie?”

Angela gave her a nod. “Take it in stride child. This will be your first pregnancy and twins are already dangerous. I would suggest always having a back up plan. Something may not happen to your twins but the fatality rate in mothers of twins is very high. Having a proper healer, of course, will get rid of that. I would suggest just keeping a gate spell handy just in case.”

Torn frowned at the mention of a gate spell. “I have no ability to cast,” he said, “and neither does any of the Misfits.” He thought for a moment, before looking back up at Angela. “Hrm. While I hate to ask for help, lady Angela, I was wondering…” Torn took a short pause. Without really knowing it, he turned on his charm, in order to become as persuasive as possible. “Keeping Keira - and the babes - safe, is more important than pride. Lady Angela, is there not some other way? As a goddess, surely you must possess something which can expedite transport to your temple?” As he spoke, he helped Keira sit up straight, while holding her close. “If not for the wayward adventurer, or your niece, then for the children. Like… A magical radish, or something.”

Torn looked at Angela, his heart pounding. For reasons unknown even to him, his desire for fame and glory was temporarily overshadowed by something else - a deep, burning desire to ensure both Keira and the babes she was now carrying, would be safe when the time came. Every fiber of Torn’s body was screaming for this reassurance - sending Torn into something of a rant. “I don’t care what it is and how it works. Neither do I care what I must do to earn such a favour. My only wish right now, is that Keira will be able to deliver safely. Whether that means staying here - which I am positive she would find soul-rendingly boring, no offense - or earning the right to carry a favour from you, is of no consequence. But please, I dare not rely on outside help for this.” He took a breath, and sighed. “And I… I kind of have a bad record when it comes to safeguarding casters,” he said, looking down in shame.

He looked at Keira briefly, hugging her closer, before looking back up at Angela. “I just don’t want to take any chances, if I can help it. So whatever I can do to earn it, I will do it. Just… I need a means to be sure that we can get back here, when the time comes.”

Angela looked thoughtfully for a moment and nodded. Holding out her freehand a rose began to form out of quartz. “This is a representation of the Gate Travel spell. It can only come here and should only be used in extreme emergencies or if you think her or the babies are sick. It can channel my magic so all you have to do is will it and the gate will open. As long as I don’t fall it will function.”

She held the stone flower out to Torn and shook her head. “Consider this an early gift. I will not risk my niece because of others wanting me to require payment. Toya would throw a fit anyways, and I would rather not fight while pregnant.” She reassured him. “My clergy and myself are available to you if you were to need it. It would also allow us to do check ups on the babies.”

Keira was blushing towards Torn as she had never seen him this worried about anything before. The girl snuggled into him as he hugged her and a smile crossed Angela’s lips. “You two have to depend on each other a lot more. If something seems off force her to come here, even if it is a little feeling. Situations change at a drop of a hat and we must always be aware.” 

After handing off the flower her hand returned to her belly and pet it lovingly. “You should go see your parents Keira. They will want to know about their grandchildren.”

“I know…” Keira looked over at her beloved and smiled. “Would you feel like to a trip back to my homeland of Arri? Meet my psycho mother and protective father?”

Torn turned visibly paler once the subject of Keira’s parents came up. No matter how fearless Torn may be about facing monsters in battle, this was an entirely different form of battle, one that Torn had never faced before. His inherent charisma and boyish charm might not work against overprotective fathers - in fact, Torn was socially adept enough to realise that his usual charismatic, carefree demeanour might actually make things a whole lot worse. To his credit, however, Torn took a breath, and nodded. “Yes. I think it’s only right that they be told now, rather than later. Let’s go.” He stood up, and looked at Angela. “Thank you for this, lady Angela,” he said, holding the quartz rose. “I’ll make sure we drop by on a regular basis.” He then gestured for Keira to follow.

On their way out of Angela’s temple, Torn made a confession. “I am honestly terrified of meeting your parents,” he said, as they walked through the halls of the temple. “I have seen what you’re capable of, and I can only guess what your parents can do,” he continued, rubbing his forehead. “And at the same time, what kind of adventurer would I be if I didn’t stand up to this? What it would mean to run away - that scares me even more.” He looked at Keira with a smile. “Listen to me rant. Thinking about this kind of stuff, and I haven’t even asked you the most important thing yet,” he said, chuckling. “So… How are you holding up?”

Finally Torn looked about as pale as his lover. It amused the goddess but she understood why he would be somewhat nervous. Blaine had always been a fearsome mate and parent. “Yes, I would hate that they hold anything against you.” Keira gave him a smile and it was reassuring as she gripped his hand. “I’m sure they will understand.” 

Angela tilted her head at the two of them. “What you both have is rare even for someone as old as me, I’ve only ever seen it a few times. Your parents are another example of the same bond. I would expect you two to cherish it.” The goddess pet her belly a bit more and nodded to Torn. “Think nothing of it. Though the next time you need a favor I might inquire payment.” She chuckled a bit more to herself this time.

Keira was quick on her heel as she followed Torn. Soon her head was on his shoulder as she stared up at him. “I’ll be there with you, one hundred percent of the way.” She gripped his hand softly once more as her voice softened. She laughed at him towards the end and shook her head. “I’m fine, past the initial shock of it all, I’m in love with the idea. We only just agreed to become a true couple and already thrust into parenthood. If Auntie hadn’t said she wasn’t involved I would have suspected this of her.”

Taking a deep sigh, she thought about the Misfits. “We should tell them we are going to Arri. I’m sure we’re be there a bit. So unless they plan on staying here for a while and occupying my aunt’s clergy we should tell them to go on an adventure without us. We’ll meet up with them but this is kind of important… For all four of us.” It was kind of weird to say but it made her smile.

Torn grinned at Keira, delighted to hear she was fond of the idea of parenthood. “I’m sure the Misfits would be happy to enjoy your aunt’s hospitality… And I dare say they’ll delight in making a bastard or three as well,” he said, grinning. He held his arm around Keira, pulling her close as they walked. “An endeavour I am certain lady Angela can appreciate.”

Torn kept walking, ensuring that Keira lead the way. He was, after all, clueless as to exactly how they would get to Arri. “I’m not so concerned about your mother. Nor your father, really - but… I don’t know.” He thought on it for a moment. “I guess, as the father of their grandchildren, I am keen to come across as… Reliable, if nothing else.” He shrugged, sighed, and rubbed his forehead. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m nervous enough to piss my pants, but I can’t put my finger on why, exactly. Might just be parental nerves, or something.” He looked at Keira, smiling again, showing that he wasn’t all that affected, despite everything.

“So how exactly are we going to get to Arri,” he asked, as they walked. “And how long will it take to get there?” While Torn was nervous, he was a ‘charge ahead and tackle the problem’ kind of guy, and so it was plain that he wanted the whole ordeal done with as soon as possible. “I’m anxious to get this wagon rolling,” he continued.