Carl didn't hesitate to lay down on the hard ground, being back in the shack made it seem like a reasonable thing to do. He had had to do it many times after the shack collapsed and they were waiting to repair the furniture.

'Never thought I'd say "I missed this", funny how life goes.' Carl thought to himself.

"Creator! Are you okay!?" Suddenly a small child jumped on him, though the weight was certainly not human.

Carl blinked his eyes open, it was Rhea and not far behind him, Gaia. "Yes Rhea, I'm okay... Well not injured at least."

"Rhea, contain yourself darling. Carl, what brings you here with such a heavy heart?"

"I-"

"Before you lie to me, I can sense emotions through the Earth." She smiled, making it clear she was there as a friend.

Carl smiled back then explained the situation, but not before he apologised for what happened during the battle with Dracula.

"Ah, I see... I admit, I don't quite understand, I can tell you now most men would kill to be in your position..." Carl was about to ask what made her say that, but she simply tapped her foot three times and continued. "...You have two beautiful women who love you and each other. Is it a bad thing to accept the feelings of a woman with whom you share a child, or to allow your partner to explore herself?"

"No, not bad per se, I don't want to stop Klaire from exploring herself and I don't want to outright reject Kyubi. I know many races have multiple partners, but that isn't what I wanted. I wanted to spend my life growing old with Klaire when I proposed, now I find out that I have failed to even pay her the attention she deserves and on top of that, I messed up so badly she started looking at others"

The conversation they had followed the path that the others predicted Carl to follow in regards to Klaire, then Gaia asked the other question. "What about the situation of Kyubi confessing her love for you?"

"That's more simple, ultimately it comes down to whether or not it's right for me to accept her feelings when I don't have those feelings for her."

"I see and I agree that seems to be a genuine concern, loveless relationships often lead to disaster."

"Klaire is finding herself attracted to her and Kyubi has accepted that, but with me she has confessed feelings I don't share, I don't want to agree and trap her in a one-sided relationship and if I was to sleep with her without loving her it'd feel wrong."

"Do you truly feel nothing for her? Sorry, but you hold affection and you're emotions are so strong, even my empathic abilities are confused."

"What? I don't think so, no, I don't"

"You don't sound so sure... I think I understand your biggest issue, you love your friends and family so intensely and at the height is your wife and family, as a creator your family is large. Like a candle against the sun, I think your emotions are strong enough to confuse your sense of what you feel exactly for who."

"I wish I could say you're wrong and I only love my wife, but honestly can't say you're wrong. I haven't even had the time to consider how I feel about individuals since I had to start caring for so many." Carl answered honestly.

"You're truly the most compassionate leader I've seen since Samael, the term "care for my people" typically refers to their needs Carl, the emotional burden that comes with loving those you are responsible for is immense and what we elder gods called Ishtar's curse."

"Please don't get me started on that issue..."

"Issue?" Gaia asked the question curiously, his emotions had become erratic in a way she hadn't seen before.

"Sorry, carry on, would rather focus on one thing at a time for now."

"Well, Ishtar was a gifted creator and fiercely devoted to everything she created. As a result she would often fall into lapses of deep melancholy and wrath when her creations were attacked, or fell out with each other and the one time she was rejected by her creation, she almost killed herself and only lived because doing so would have broken the other's hearts."

"Thanks for that glimpse into my future as a creator." Carl chuckled.

"Indeed, that dread and concern you just felt is what I mean, you didn't even consider that becoming personally attached to everyone in the faction's care would be so overwhelming. I have a suggestion for you."

"Please, because I have no idea..."

"Spend a day here clearing your thoughts. Bring all immediate issues to a conclusion. then spend some time reconnecting with your wife and then with Kyubi. Even if you decide that you don't love her now, you aren't a banshee and I think you should consider attempting that relationship making everything clear from the start. You may learn things about yourself."

"Is it okay to be in a relationship I'm not sure about?"

"Child, it is more common than you think. As long as everyone is open about their feelings and communicates properly, it is okay to simply see where things go... Even the law of Infinity doesn't know which future will come to pass."

Carl thought about everything they had discussed. "Thank you, Gaia. I appreciate you wasting your time on a human child's immaturity."

Gaia smiled with motherly warmth. "I hereby name this land the official diplomatic lodging of Carl Bashe-Reaga, now make some furniture dear, it will be up to the girls to give you a bad back."

Carl blushed and was about to say something but Gaia cut him off, telling Rhea to say goodbye and departing immediately after.

Carl rolled onto his feet from where he was laying and created a simple bed, a table and chair and then Tiamutael appeared.

"Hi, Buddy. Sorry, but can I have some time please? I'm sure Mum needs you just as much."

"I know, that's what I'm doing. Mum said that I should give you space but keep an eye on you. I'm not allowed to talk about where you are or what you're doing, but I wanted to bring you some food. Ki-ko made it and got upset when you weren't there to try it."

Carl grimaced then sat down at the table and Tiamutael teleported it in, immediately filling the room with a sickeningly sweet smell. "Err, what is this? Looks like meat, but smells like super honey." Carl didn't wait for an answer before taking a bite.

"It's a dish Kyubi taught her to make, it's honey glazed boar meat, but she got a little carried away and honey glazed everything with the sweetest honey we had."

"It's delicious, but I didn't know we had honey."

"It's from that elf territory, Kyubi went to extend an apology and ask for some time until we invited him and he seemed quite happy we took the time to contact him so quickly. He gave us about half a tonne of the stuff so she gave every family a share because it's healthy."

"Tell Ki-ko she is an amazing cook! Thank Kyubi for teaching her as well, I should be back tomorrow dinner time, I just need to process and get my head straight." Carl said putting his fork down to pull Tiamutael in for a hug as he sensed a bit of sadness which faded instantly.

"Okay Dad! I'll see you at dinner and tell Sis... I mean Ki-ko, my sis, not Auntie Sis."

Carl chuckled. "I get it, thank you Buddy."

Tiamutael waved and zapped away, when Carl was finished eating, he moved over to the bed and laid down to get some sleep.

"Creator, I am detecting a dozen creatures approaching, roughly human size." A gnarled voice said, waking Carl from his light sleep.

"Sentinel? What's up? I know you wouldn't just mention human settlers."

"I sense a level of animosity and their pace suggests they are approaching with something similar to predatory intent."

Carl stretched and stood up, then walked to Sentinel and petted his head as he yawned. "Go tell everyone to stay inside, I'll deal with this personally."

Carl continued outside, limbering up like he was prepping for a morning run as Sentinel gave those that remained a signal they had apparently prepared in advance.

'Are they in earshot?'

'I believe if you yelled they should hear.'

"HELLOOOOO! Can you all please stop skulking in the distance and hurry it up? I'm not in a great mood."

"Attack!"

The voice came from the dark beyond the limits of the settlement.

When they reached the limits, Carl couldn't tell if they were human or some kind of hybrid, or other species.

"Is there anyway we can avoid fighting, I'm not a fan if there's no reason."

"You harmed Lord Dracula. You will pay..."

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