Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy (11 page)

With this in mind, he couldn’t feel good about the fact that he would be responsible for the execution of newly born Awakened. Newly born Awakened that had no chance to change themselves.

Around him in a semicircle stood pedestals devoted to major deities. Furthest to the left sat Erma, the Mother. Goddess of the infinite, the universe, she stood supreme over all others. From her sprang the world and all its inhabitants, from gods to bugs.

Next came Jurian, Lord of the Earth and consort of Erma. Keeper of nature and the soul of the world. From Jurian and Erma came five children.

First born of the couple was Brunhild. She who ruled the night and dwelt within the darkness. As a whole, the Sunless race prayed to all gods, but paid special tribute and attention to Brunhild.

Beside his older sister was Lambart the Radiant One. Keeper of the light and he who brought the dawn. Though he had no racial affiliation, much of the Human race prayed to him exclusively and forsook all others.

Playing middle child was Ernsta. Her portfolio was comprised of death and the crossing over to the afterlife. Each of the pantheon had their own “heaven,” so to speak, yet Ernsta played gatekeeper to all.

Last but not least came the twins, Rike and Rannulf.

Rannulf could only be described as evil incarnate. He lived for the baser things in life and sought out pleasure at the expense of others. Patron of murderers, bandits, cutthroats, and rapists, his domain was of a life wasted.

Rike was the polar opposite of her brother. She embodied every action that at its base would be attributed as “good.” The patient heart, healing hand, warm embrace, and loving smile. All the grace of the world lived in her.

Runner stood before them and contemplated his options. He started by placing a single gold coin in the offering slot located in the pedestal for each. Rannulf received his due for the sake of appeasement and neutrality if nothing else.

Using a stack of gold coins from his inventory, Runner paid Erma and Jurian an additional coin as a show of respect. Though they no longer walked the realm it felt the right thing to do.

Additionally, he paid another coin to Ernsta and Rike. Though their favor would be harder won, it wouldn’t hurt him to show contrition to them.

Unable to avoid the responsibility he felt any longer, he stopped in front of Brunhild’s pedestal.

When he’d begun viewing those he awakened as people, he hadn’t considered that he might end up killing the very people he had shaken from their ignorance. Now he’d dictated the hand of many people who could only play the role they’d been given.

Bowing his head in supplication to her, he slid ten gold coins into the receiver.

“Forgive me for my impertinence. Tomorrow, there are those who will be executed for the betrayal of their liege. For those who lose their lives, I ask that you grant them an afterlife of peace, my Lady Brunhild. Their choices were not their own, and they’ll be forced to atone for them. I ask only that you judge them as if they were blameless, even if they are not technically innocent.”

“Say I do exactly that,” responded a feminine voice. Snapping his head up, he found himself staring into the face of a beautiful Sunless woman. She had placed her forearms on the pedestal for Brunhild as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Leaning towards him, she managed to show off an impressive amount of cleavage without seeming to do so intentionally.

She could only be described as attractive and confident, from the aura she gave off to the way she held herself. Her simple white dress hung on her in a way that looked modest and a little dull for such a lovely woman. She had a fuller figure, which only enhanced her curves. She had features that ran along the real world’s beauty rather than the insanity the artists had run away with for most of the higher-end Sunless nobility.

Runner took a moment to flick his eyes upward and confirm his first thought. It of course was Lady Brunhild herself. Level showed only a series of question marks.

“What would you do for me?” she asked, her head tilting to the side.

Sighing, Runner reached up and pressed his hand to the back of his head. His mind winged its way through the varied responses he could give. He hadn’t expected this. He’d only meant to throw up a prayer and hope for the best.

Playing for time, since the best his brain could come up with was flirt with her, he dragged out three beetles from his inventory. When he held out two of the beetles to the goddess, she raised her eyebrows in response.

Breaking into a sudden smile, she laughed, showing off a set of normal teeth. Thinking quickly, he dropped his hand out of the frame and took a screenshot of the laughing goddess. She took a beetle from his hand and nodded her head at him.

“Thank you.”

“Second one is better.” He handed her a second one, then finished up his first and took a seat in a pew a few steps away from her.

“Excuse me for answering as you eat. Also, would you care to sit with me, my goddess? I hope you’ll forgive me, speaking to you as you lean over your own pedestal…well, I truly enjoy the view, I even took a screenshot of it,” he said with a smile. “But I don’t think I can hold a conversation with you like that. It’s distracting to say the least.”

Leaning heavily on his charisma stat, he slammed the ability for
Persuade
and
Seduce
.

You use Persuade on Brunhild

Brunhild is not Persuaded

You use Seduce on Brunhild

Brunhild is Seduced

Flirting it was then, since persuasion failed. He had really been hoping for P
ersuade
to work.

At least
Seduce
would throw her off balance and give him a chance to break the dynamic she had in mind before it even started.

“Screenshot? You’ll need to explain. I’ve been following you since your friend Hannah sent one of her prayers to me back in the woods. I still, as of yet, do not understand everything you say though.”

Coming around from the pedestal, she finished the first beetle and began on the second. Taking a seat next to him, she turned her mesmerizing brown eyes on him.

At least he now knew she’d been hanging around him nearly as long as Srit had. She could very well be close to Awakening if not already so.

“Think of it as an exact painting of the moment. Forever forward, I’ll have a picture of a laughing goddess displaying her wares, as it were. I could probably get you a copy if you really wanted,” he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. Turning slightly to face her, he tried to make himself comfortable.

Pressing her lips together at that, she waggled a finger back and forth at him.

“You will never show that to anyone else or I’ll curse you to the end of your days. And yes, the second one was better.”

“Why would I gift such a treasure to anyone else? I can’t guarantee I won’t use it for my own ends, though I can promise it’ll never be shared. Going to have to think of another name for you as well. Goddess of the night sounds almost like a pet name for lovers.”

Brunhild’s bright eyes grew round and became larger as she watched him. Her pale skin took on a light reddish hue as she digested his irreverent words.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re a knockout, and I’d love to be able to call you such, but you’re so far out of my league I’d be better off trying to sleep with a wolf. A nickname that fits though? Difficult. Strong, beautiful, independent, misunderstood, mysterious even. Sexy yet calming. Cool yet warm. Or maybe focus on one of your features? Give me a minute, I’ll come up with something.”

Putting his thumb and forefinger to his chin, he thought on it while giving time for Brunhild to recover. He’d wager a large fortune on the fact she hadn’t expected the conversation to turn this way. Perhaps her AI wasn’t that different from the others and still ran according to its programming. Maybe she thought he’d bow down in worship?

The goddess in question had now turned a deep red, to her very ears no less.

“Mm, so far I like Brighteyes. It’s more personal than your persona as a goddess. I mean really, have you looked in the mirror lately? Got some killer eyes on you. Bedroom eyes. As to your question, I’m not sure? What would you ask of me, Brighteyes? I have little to my name except a band of friends, a minor amount of money, and a bit of equipment. That and a burning desire for you to speak again. I desperately wish to hear more of your soothing voice.”

Brunhild watched him, unmoving. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d managed to break her or if her AI had locked up. He couldn’t quite remember if it was Thana or Katarina, but one of them had had a similar response.

“My lady Brighteyes, are you alright? I had assumed you were already Awakened. Was I wrong? Srit, is she okay?”

Reaching out a fingertip, he lightly tapped her on the nose. A warm tingle ran from his finger to his toes.

She is fine. Her AI was nearly to what you would call Awakened. You just pushed her the rest of the way, perhaps a bit roughly. Do be careful. If she decided to end you, there is little you could do.

The glowing brown eyes began to clear as she came back to herself. They focused on him as if to confirm her situation. Visibly she began to relax.

“Welcome back, Brighteyes. You had me worried. It isn’t every day a man gets to meet a walking fantasy, you know.”

Holding up a finger, she opened her mouth and then closed it again.

“Never will you address me as such in public, or to others.”

“Never? But it’s a lovely pet name for you. I suppose I could keep it to when you visit me privately. Hopefully more often than when I donate so large a sum? Don’t get me wrong, your very smile is worth every copper, but it would seriously limit our time together.”

Once more the finger came up and she hesitated. Reaching out, he poked her finger with his own, as if to point out it was hanging there.

“You’re incorrigible. Why are you like this?” she finally said, dropping her hand to rest at her side.

“Because you’re a woman first, goddess second right now. I don’t want a relationship with a goddess, I want a relationship with you, Brighteyes. You owe me an answer, by the way. What would you have of me?”

It was true, he didn’t want to have a friendship with her as a goddess, he wanted to call upon her as a friend. He didn’t exactly have a wealth of experience to draw on as far as flirting went, but he assumed it was working based on her responses.

“Ah? Oh. Yes. You, I would have you.”

“Tempting. Normally I’d already have pulled your dress off at such an offer, but I don’t think the church is the best place for that. I suppose we could make it work on one of the pews? I mean really, though, that’s just asking for the rest of your family to take notice.”

“What? No! No, not that. I would have you as my worshiper.”

“Nope, sorry. Well, unless by worshiper you mean pulling your clothes off. Otherwise, I don’t want a relationship with you as a goddess. Remember? I can’t be with you in any other function if I’m your worshiper. Make you a deal though. I may not proclaim you as my goddess, although I will proclaim my achievements publicly to your greatness, your mercy, your beauty.”

“I-I don’t. Wait, what?”

“It’s actually pretty simple. I will proclaim you as the benefactor of my actions though never worship you. I will encourage others to follow you, yet I never shall. The moment I worship you as a goddess, you’ll no longer be Brighteyes.”

Glancing at the in game clock, he realized he needed to get to bed if he wanted to give the medical pod any time at all to clear out the building chemical imbalances in his head he was sure he had.

Who in their right mind would repeatedly proposition a goddess?

“I offer you myself as a man would, Brighteyes, as an equal. Also, I really must be going. I’m afraid I’m not medically fit right now and I need rest. I’ll be sure to make time for you each evening to visit, if you so choose.”

Scooping up her hand, he lightly pressed a kiss to the back of it and stood up.

“This is not what I intended.”

“Would you still respect me in the morning if I had given in?” he teased. Tilting his head to the side, he regarded her for a moment longer.

“Hope to see you soon, Brighteyes, don’t keep me waiting. That whole waiting three to five days thing is absolute garbage.”

He waved a hand to her, stealthed, and slipped out the window without looking back. Secured back in his room, he crawled into bed, where he checked the screenshot of the goddess, then logged it into his image library and flagged it as “protected.”

Sleep came quick, and with fun dreams as a bonus.

7:05pm Sovereign Earth time

11/08/43

The king’s justice had been swift and total. Everyone involved in any aspect of the quests that related to treason were executed. From his own wife and daughter, all the way down to the cook. He didn’t blame the man, even if it did seem heavy-handed.

The son of the queen and chancellor had been removed overnight and sent to live with the remaining kin of the queen.