CHAPTER 256

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First of all, my apologies, I slept since last chap until today, I was overwhelmingly tired, and just now woke up.

Two, as promised here come the chaps.

I will post today 4 chaps, one right now, one in two hours, and two during my normal release hour. Fulfilling my end of the deal, again I apologize, I slept more than I anticipated.

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I stepped through the Ancient One's portal, to find myself in a leafy paradise, with trees as high as the tallest building I had ever seen, with every little bit of green being graced by the sun that seemed to kiss everything around with loving care.

Not only that, but the moment I stepped into the place, I noticed something.

The entire place was brimming with cosmic energy that somehow lacked all sense of hostility or rather capability for hostility. It was welcoming, like a mother welcoming her child after a day of playing.

"You feel it too, don't you?" The Ancient One said, reading my face.

"Yes," I nodded, looking around in awe, as the sounds of birds filled the air, creating a melody that was beyond captivating. I could actually hear the happiness in the chirps and sounds, it was surreal.

"Well, let's not waste time," The Ancient One said.

"Yeah, I will admire this place later," I nodded, opening my map to mark the place, finding it didn't appear in my map as part of anything in the universe, at least on my map, but instead as a pocket dimension newly discovered, [The Garden of Gaia], I suppose it was obvious now that I think about it.

"Let's go then," The Ancient One said as she started to lead the way towards Gaia.

As I followed her through the dense forest, I continued looking around, hearing the old trees around creaking ever so slightly, as well as the crunch of twigs under my feet every once and a while or the skittering of mice moving behind us in curiosity.

The mice weren't the only ones trying to discreetly follow us, in fact, from what I could gather by eye only, some hares, birds, boars, mountain cats, mountain lions, and more were following us, trying to be as discreet as possible.

What I found most curious was how they were all interacting together, more than once I had caught sight of a hare above a mountain lion, who seemed unfazed by the little critter taking a ride.

"We are here," The Ancient One said, bringing me out of my little nature trip.

"This place is beautiful," I commented, turning around to find myself in front of a small garden full of flowers and roses of all colors. In the back of that garden, there was a cozy-looking wooden house, one that seemed to be a tree that had grown just like that, as the house itself still had live branches with leaves brimming with life.

It was that, or the tree had been hollowed out without damaging it at all, keeping the tree alive.

"You came," I heard someone say, the voice sounding bright and captivating, almost as if every word coming out was part of a melody.

"Mother Earth, I present you, Alex Walker," The Ancient One said, pointing at me with her hand.

Before I could say anything in return, a woman came into view walking from behind the house a few feet away from me, holding some bags in her hands as she smiled our way in a warm way.

Her skin was starshadow-black and as smooth as a moonstone, her eyes were paradise gold, like two pods of liquid soothing light, her hair was coral-black and it was well kept above her shoulders in a floral arrangement, her lips were puffy, pillow-soft, of a red unique to her, her teeth were sparkling, giving her an angelic smile.

"Hi," I waved, blinking myself out of my trance.

[Gaia LV 2051]

She's quite powerful.

"Come!" Gaia smiled, moving her hand to signal me she wanted me to come closer.

"Well, this is where I leave," The Ancient One said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "She wanted to speak to you alone, so good luck."

I nodded without a word, walking towards Gaia, as the Ancient One opened a portal back to my office.

"I heard you wanted to speak with me," I said as I neared the Goddess.

"I did," Gaia nodded, signaling me to follow her inside her house with a simple tilt of her head.

"Has the Ancient One told you why I seek to own earth for the time being?" I asked, following her.

"She did, and I must admit, I never thought that old monster would wake up again, not this soon," Gaia replied, her voice carrying genuine concern as she looked down for a moment, "I remember the first war against him, I almost died during it. We were young back then, concepts without much power, we had just come to be, and found ourselves fighting. Me, and my siblings."

"How strong is Knull? Compared to you?" I asked, seeing this as an opportunity to gauge the threat ahead. I mean, she was the only being I knew that had seen the King in Black, her and Arishem.

"Hmm, well, if I had to say," Gaia said, musing over the thought as she opened the door to her house, "Stronger than me for sure, but my realms were never battle oriented, to begin with, so I was always racing against the tide in any battle department."

So I was still weaker than him, great.

"I see, I guess I will have a tough time then," I replied, following her inside the house.

"Sadly, you will," Gaia replied, as she walked to what appeared to be her kitchen to put her bags down, "This time, the war will mostly fall on your shoulders, as most of the Elder Gods that fought Knull during the first war and survived have no interest in helping during this coming one. Mostly because they have nothing to lose, as long ago they reached a level of power where they can create their own dimensions, ones not connected to the one Knull seeks to erase."

"Including you?" I asked.

Gaia smiled, a sad smile, "I would love to help, I truly would, but I simply can't. As I am right now, it's well beyond my powers. During the first war against Knull, I was pierced by the Necrosword right through my leg as I desperately tried to dodge his attack, the wound didn't kill me, which on its own was a miracle, considering our realms are complete opposites, nonetheless the wound it inflicted upon me, forced me to into a life of imprisonment, with my essence tied to Earth, my first creation."

I sighed, "It's okay, thanks anyway." I finished with a smile.

"If we had more time, around a few million years or so before his awakening, I would be able to help you," Gaia added, opening a cabinet in her kitchen to pull two glasses, "By that time, the anti-life energy that curses my wound like a pestering infection, would've been gone."

"Anti-life?" I asked.

"Yes," Gaia nodded, walking towards me with a glass full of water. "His sword curses those cut by it with it, and depending on the nature of your powers, and where the wound is located, the wound can be healed, or it will pester you for a long time, like mine."

"Good, at least I can heal myself," I replied, grabbing the cup of water.

"It's not easy," Gaia replied, walking over to her living room as I followed her. "Even if your powers, in essence, don't conflict with Knull's, the wounds will remain, the only difference is… they won't take billions of years to be healed, as mine will."

"I see, any advice?" I asked.

"Well, ideally I would say don't get hit," Gaia sighed, taking a seat on a small wooden chair inside her living room. "But, seeing as that seems like a… hard to follow advice, I would say, if the wound is on a hand or a leg, cut it out, and regrow a new one, if the wound it's in place you can't cut, I would use this." At this, she extended her empty hand towards me, as a small bottle appeared right above her palm.

[Essence of Creation and Light - Legendary Item

It holds part of what remains of the first hero, the Lifebringer One, a sentry of justice.

Consuming a drop of this will heal anyone, from anything.

Uses = 10.]

"I would recommend you use this only in the direst situations, I paid a lot for this," Gaia added, pushing the small bottle towards me, "It's one of a kind, quite powerful."

I nodded, grabbing the bottle, before putting it in my inventory, "Thanks."

Gaia smiled, pointing at the empty chair in front of her, "Sit, please."

"Really, thanks," I repeated, taking a seat.

"No need to, this is for my own benefit as well, if Knull wins, Earth will be consumed, which would eventually kill me, especially considering my life is tethered to earth as I heal," Gaia replied, with a smile.

"Still thanks," I repeated.

"Now, that's not the only thing I have for you," Gaia said, summoning a piece of paper in front of me, that once I looked at it better, I realized it was a magical contract, "I know enough to know it benefits me to have earth under your control, the others will probably throw a tantrum over this, but don't worry, I'll deal with that myself."

I said nothing, reading the contract from top to bottom while sending a copy to Jarvis and Ultron just to be sure, so far, it didn't say anything that I was wary of, but one could never know with these gods.

{Seems fine, sir.}

{Gaia is real? Hmm, I will need more information later if possible, as for the contract, it looks direct enough.}

I nodded, "Very well, I find this contract acceptable."

"Good," Gaia smiled, clapping her hands together, "You can break out of it at any time, there's no breaking clause. So don't feel chained to it after the war, if you survive that is."

I chuckled, signing the contract in blood that stated I would protect Earth to the best of my abilities during the upcoming war, in exchange for getting ownership of the planet, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I have hopes you will win," Gaia added, "But as you are now, you will die very fast. Especially fighting alone. By all means, you are stronger than I was back then, stronger than my siblings back then, but unlike you, we weren't alone, we had in our corner an army of Gods, Elder Gods, Celestials, and more, all together fighting Knull. An army you don't have."

"I will find a way," I replied, giving her the contract for her to sign.

"I hope you do," Gaia nodded, dropping a drop of blood from her index finger into a contract.

[Earth has been added to your territory.]

"I will," I replied, sure, Knull was stronger than me, but I would not give up, I would find a way to become stronger than him, I knew I would, I had faith I would, at the very least.

"Glad one of us is optimistic," Gaia chuckled, before her demeanor changed into a dark one, "A piece of advice. Don't trust those who you do not know, they build their castles in lies born from the truth. Don't let the snakes fool you."

"Thanks, I will keep that in mind," I replied, turning around, ready to leave her realm, but freezing as my eyes caught sight of something.

[Gaia - Mother Earth.]

Her title had changed?