"Wake up. Oi, wake up already. You've been sleeping for far too long." Maria felt her consciousness return slowly. Her body took its time to adjust to having a healthy supply of the life force.

Maria felt disoriented, but that did not stop her from leaning away from the goddess. Her instincts screamed at her to get away.

"Don't look at me like I'm going to kill you. I do not have any intention of causing you bodily harm. Be grateful that you look like the love of my life. Or I would have ended up sucking you dry of your life force." The goddess sounded worried.

Maria felt creeped out by recording that attention. She had not done anything and the female in front of him was showing her compassion.

"Where are we?" Maria asked.

"Still in Jamaica for now. But this place will not last for long. The tug of war going on between the magic is too much for it to bear." The goddess explained.

"And who are you?" Maria asked.

The goddess looked dumbstruck at Maria's question. Her eyes also held a little anger and disappointment that did not show up in her voice.

"Of course, you ignorant human creature does not know who I am. Listen carefully because you will only get this chance once. My name is gold. I'm the sponsor of the node on Gerna" The female sounded proud.historical

The shock Maria should have felt did not come. The numbness countered any feeling Maria had over this issue.

"Ah. I see. It was good to confirm. So, what are you doing here? And what happened to that book lady." To most people, Maria's questions might not have made sense.

But the goddess in front of her just sighed.

"She left. More specifically, you pissed her off. She doesn't care about this place anymore. She is not like me and won't help you out." Gold sounded certain.

"I see. So she's not going to be a problem for us? Then, what about you? What are you doing here?" Maria asked?

The goddess might have helped Maria out but she had also tried to kill her. The conflicting actions did not help Maria decide what to think about this new female.

"Me? I'm here to be disappointed. I thought you were someone else." Gold did not sound disappointed.

At least, her voice did not sound like that to Maria.

"Ok" Maria accepted her fate. Getting straight answers was out of the question for her.

"Ok? Just like that? You have no more questions for me?" Gold asked.

If she had been shocked earlier, she sounded beyond struck now.

"I don't have the energy or brain power to deal with you. And you still haven't answered me. Are you an enemy? Or a friend?" Maria asked.

"I can be both depending on your next answer. Will you come to the upper realm with me? There is going to be a war soon. I want you to choose the winning side." The goddess offered.

The creepy feeling intensified in Maria's mind. Was this some kind of sick fetish play for the goddess?

"No need. I can't leave this realm yet. I have responsibilities to take care of." Maria explained.

The goddess looked gained but also understanding.

"Fine. I understand. Don't expect me to show mercy to you next time." The goddess explained.

Maria thought she heard the goddess mutter 'like father, like daughter. They're both the same and I can't take it before she disappeared in thin air.

"Huh. It was a weird experience. System, are you there?" Maria asked.

[Does the user need any help?]

The mechanical voice replied. It felt normalising to hear that in her life again.

"Do you know who that was?" Maria asked.

[A node creator from the upper realm. Lady Gold ascended almost 500 years ago. She was the victor of the demonic war before your father.]

The system explained. For a system that was stingy with details, it decided to loosen its tongue considerably this time.

"Are you sure it is alright to tell me all this?" Maria asked. Mostly for herself.

[The user is authorised to view this information. The user has gained access to the upper realm database.]

The system informed Maria.

"I did? So, can you tell me how to stabilise Jamaica now?" Maria asked.

[Gaining user data....

Generating user maps......]

It did not take long for the system to tell Maria the answer.

And Maria wanted to laugh as soon as she saw what she had to do.

Of course, things had come down to this. The only way to stabilise Jamaica was to replace the node with another one.

And Maria had already done that.

Now all she had to do was to break the curse that had been cast on this continent and things would be alright.

"System?" Maria asked.

And the system did not delay in offering that information either.

"Maria. Are you alright? You look a little pale. Can I help you out?" The voice belonged to Venus.

The Princess had Yuuki and Kuro with her. The three looked a little out of breath but fine otherwise.

Maria wanted to confront the princess but her eyes moved to the beast behind her. Yuki looked flushed and out of breath.

But he also looked better than he had before. His face had colour and his eyes shined.

"I know how to save Jamaica. But I will need all your help. You will need to distract the queen and let me pass to Albest." Maria informed me.

As happy as she was to get the solution to Jamaica's problem, there were huge drawbacks for her.

Once the treatment began, Jamaica would go down in locked mode. Maria would be stuck there for the next few months.

And that was precious time Maria could not waste. She had an appointment to keep.

"Ewwww. Do you have to go? You can stay. a little while with me." Venus complained.

But Maria did not feel angry this time. She understood why the other female was behaving this way.

"I have to go. It is my call and someone is waiting for me on the other side." Maria consoled her.

The Princess looked let down but ultimately decided to give up.

"Alright. Do what you want to. I won't stop you." But her tone told Maria that she was unhappy.

Yuki just nodded at her words and gave Kuro a deep look.

"We will take care of the princess. I trust you to make the other preparations by this time tomorrow." Maria noted toward the beast

She had a lot of planning to do but she had her system by her side this time. She had information and the optimal route of strategy with her.

"I'll get things done." Maria could see that the trio was reluctant to leave her. But they did that anyway.

And Maria quickly made her way back to the cave they had reared previously.

The pool glowed a soft blue. The node held the centre spots and the water gave off a holy feeling.

It was one of the legends, the one that would be able to elevate Maria's curse. It was a legend because it would only appear when certain conditions were met.

And Maria had managed to trigger it to activate.

The pool glowed blue and the water started to evaporate. It would not disappear fully as long as the node was other so it did not worry Maria much

The rain was soft when it began to fall. It was sweet and chased away the curses of the land.

No one heard the dying cries of a forest chase. They were drowned out by the much louder cries of the beasts that took over the forest.

And Maria hurried through the forest among all this chaos. She used the night to make her way through the forest and toward the portal.

Maria did not turn around to say goodbye. There was no need to make things even more complicated. Jamaica would forget her soon enough due to her lack of impact.

"Maria, wait. I have something to say to you." Maria felt something collide with her as she passed through the portal.

All she saw was. a familiar pair of eyes before gravity took her down to the water's surface.

"Venus, what the hell? Go back. You need to go back." Maria almost felt panicked but the portal was shrinking.

It would not be possible to make it back without supernatural help. Even magic could not help Venus out.

"No. It's alright. I want to help you out so I'll stay. You won't chase me out, right?" Venus asked.

And Maria could only sigh as the portal closed and sealed Maria's decision.

She feared Neah's temper. But she feared the incoming future even more. Venus was trouble and Maria was stuck with her.

"Umm, where are we?" Venus asked. And Maria knew she was in for a long ride. She did not envy her luck and future self who would have to deal Venus.

.................

(This is the end of book one. I will not mark this book complete for now because of a potential Albest saga. I will post about it here when it does live.

Also, I'll be posting some bonus chapters as side-storied form this novel for now. Some will be general, others R-18. Hope you try them out as well.)