The Innkeeper-Novel

Chapter 885 Evaluation

??460 3 A.M. Introductions

Hello!

I don't know if any of you saw but yesterday I received my first ever golden gatchapon!

We also hit 4million views!!

I've hit a number of milestones that I never expected when writing this book, but each one is more meaningful than the last because this was initially such a mindless pursuit of mine.

Nevertheless, I am incredibly grateful to all of you who send big gifts and small gifts alike, and those who support me with unlocks, votes, and comments at any time.

I'm aware that my story is imperfect, but I am thankful to everyone who has stuck with me so far as I try my best to improve it, day by day.

It makes the task of writing feel so much easier, and a lot more satisfying when I press that submit button.

That's all I wanted to say fr tbh.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…

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In the early hour of three in the morning, baby Straga awoke in an unfamiliar place.

A dark, yet very spacious and fancy bedroom, in the largest bed he had ever seen, and lying underneath the softestblankets imaginable.

He almost wanted to go back to sleep, but children famously have nothing if not an abundance of energy, and dragon children even more so.

Rubbing his eyes, the young boy looked around his surroundings and found all eleven of his parents sleeping peacefully, some snoring their lives away.

He had been sleeping comfortably on his father's chest before this, and sat up while calling out to him with clear grogginess. The source of thɪs content is ɴovᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet

"Pa... Wake up."

Like a stone statue, Abaddon's chest continued to rise and fall as he slumbered.

Straga used his small, pudgy hands and started trying to pull various sections of Abaddon's nose and lips.

Unfortunately, he learned that his father could sleep through anything just shy of a literal attack.

Coincidentally, he was just like Bekka, who just so happened be sleeping cradled underneath his left arm.

Straga tried to wake her up too, but she only muttered something about chicken legs instead; making her son giggle quietly.

Crawling free, Straga made his way to another body in the bed and decided to try his luck at waking another parent.

"Momma.. wake up."

Always the family's lightest sleeper, Lillian opened her eyes after receiving only the first nudge, and she smiled at her baby softly.

"Good morning, darling... Are you awake already?"

"Uh-huh."

"No chance of you going back to sleep, is there?"

"Nu-uh."

"Alright then...Are you just bored?"

"Yes. Let's go play!"

"Okay, okay." Lillian sat up and crawled out of the bed while holding on to her youngest.

Her feet had just barely touched the floor when a cool current swept through her brain, and not just her, but everyone in bed woke up begrudgingly.

Audrina: "Ugh.."

Abaddon: "Fucking hell…"

Valerie: "No, not now…"

"Yay! All parents play with Straga now!" the young boy threw up his arms in true bliss.

Lillian hated to be the bearer of bad news, but just this once it seemed she had no choice. "No, my baby. Unfortunately it seems like we have to see some guests firsts."

"Guests play with Straga?"

"Umm... maybe?"

"Go to see!"

"Alright, alright."

Lillian finally stepped out of bed and her family prepared to follow her, but she raised a had stop them. "You all can get some more sleep. I can sort things out on my own."

Erica: "Okay..."

Tatiana: "If you're sure, then..."

Seras: "You're so sweet, Lili..."

Generally, Abaddon and his wives would have put up much more of a fight to the idea of one of them going alone.

However, because Lillian was the one who offered to go, they didn't think much of it.

Out of all of the Tathamet family, Lillian was the only one who currently could not be killed.

Her divinity and marking of adaptation gives her the ability to evolve in any given situation by forcefully altering her genetic code to grant her spontaneous resistances or even nullifications.

Though she was a sweet woman who wasn't that big of a fighter, she had all of her family's confidence in battle.

After all, which is scarier?

The enemy who can kill you, or the enemy who cannot die?

Smiling, Lillian kissed each of them one by one before bidding them off to sleep.

As she walked to her dresser to slip on clothes, Straga looked over her shoulder and gave his parents a childish wave as he whispered his own farewells.

"Goodnight.. don't let the bed bugs bite...!"

-

"What is this Camazotz? Why have you brought us to the middle of nowhere like this!?"

"These are Camazotz' instructions. Camazotz is not permitted to bring you to master's castle as a security measure."

"Oye, he says he has a master now! Imagine this mjinga with a leash and a bowl!"

A chorus of slightly rowdy laughter erupted in the clearing and Camazotz ground his teeth in frustration.

"I'll gnaw on your bones, Orisha!"

"Delightful! I was in need of some exercise before I met The Red One!"

In the middle of the nature spirit biome, Camazotz was faced to face with a rather boisterous man in dark skin and animal furs.

His muscular physique made him seem like his body was molded from iron itself and he boasted the very noticeable presence of a war god.

They were surrounded by a group of no less than fifty gods from various pantheons, almost all of whom were still streaming out of the oversized hot air balloon basket they'd been brought in.

In the midst of their fighting, the inhabitants of this area suddenly popped out of the trees, bushes, and the ground itself.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know, but they're kind of ugly."

"That's just because we see pretty dragons everyday, Maxine."

"Oh, right."

"Contact our god, tell him that we are being invaded by ugly visitors!"

The veins in the foreheads of all assembled gods bulged uncontrollably from the insults they'd received.

One goddess stepped forward, wearing dark, greek robes and a skirt that was nearly short enough to expose all of her undercarriage.

Her red hair was odd, almost like a mass of living flame itself, always flickering, always disharmonious.

She dragged her empty, black eyes over all of the assembled nature spirits and glared at them hatefully.

"Y-You overgrown weeds! Have you any idea of just who you are-"

"Well, that one is kind of pretty."

"Yes, she passes."

"Hey flame lady, do you want to have sex?"

"I... What?"

Suddenly, a shadow fell over the gods assembled and they turned their heads towards the sky.

There, they almost fell over in wonder as a very large dragon came barreling out of the sky.

Different from the one they had expected to see, this one was more slender and feminine than the one that they had recently heard so many stories about.

With only three heads instead of seven, they were paired with beautiful orange scales and bright green eyes that illuminated the dark night.

"Yahooo!!"

Riding on top of the center head was a small boy who looked no older than three, who seemed to be having the time of his life.

Just before landing on the ground, Lillian's body went right back to normal and she floated down to the ground like a fairy.

"Again!"

"Alright Straga, but be a little patient, okay? We have tosettle in all of these new people first."

Straga looked like he rudely wanted to tell all of these assembled gods to go find somewhere to lie down so that he could keep flying with mommy.

At that moment, Camazotz, Persephone, and all of the assembled nature spirits either fell onto one knee or simply lowered their heads until their chins were touching their chests.

*Yawn* "Hello, Camazotz. This is our first time meeting, correct?"

"T-That it is, correct, ma'am. Camazotz does not know your name but he has seen your picture with the lord on the castle wall. Apologies for disturbing your rest."

"No, no, I assure you that you weren't the one who woke me. Isn't that right, baby boy?"

"Mommy looked bored without Straga!"

"No darling, I was just sleeping.

"Sleep is boring!"

"Maybe because you are young, but when you're old it becomes a necessity."

"Straga will never get old!"

'You're older than me though, technically…'

"You are one of his, yes?"

This time, a familiar man stepped forward to make his presence known.

Wearing his usual white suit and face paint, it was almost impossible for anyone not to recognize Papa Legba.

"I am his as he is mine." Lillian said flatly.

"Apologies, ti fi. I meant no disrespect."

"Which one might you be?!"

A loud and boisterous man leapt to the front of the crowd, the same one from before who was arguing with Camazotz earlier.

"My name is Lillian Tathamet. This is my son, Straga."

"Yo!"

In an instant, the youngest child captured the attention of almost all of the gods in attendance.

His cheeks were chubby!

His hair was soft and fluffy!

And just look at his little legs!

However, there was at least one person who would not be so moved by such biblical level cuteness.

The woman from earlier stepped forward, her discordant flaming hair acting as an indicator of her identity.

"Is the dragon not coming to meet us himself? I was expecting him to be a more courteous host, but It seems I was mistaken."

Lillian tilted her head when she felt an unusual amount of irritation trying to take root in her after listening to this woman's words.

Luckily, transcendent dragons were immune to all forms of mind control, so she felt no more than an itch in the back of her brain.

"My husband will address you all in the morning, after he wakes. In the meantime, I'll be in charge of getting you settled. Would you gods like to live together, or in isolation?"

A number of gods tilted their heads like they didn't understand.

Lillian pointed towards the sky and the eyes of all of the gods followed her finger.

Out of nowhere, multiple large landmasses appeared in the sky, right beside the floating continent.

"You all didn't think we were going to let you stay in the spirit's domain, did you?" Lillian giggled.

"These lands are preserved for them specifically, as they are this world's original inhabitants. You may not stay here without their say so."

"And we say no!"

"Here, here!"

"Banish the ugly gods!"

"Girls, please." Lillian admonished with a smile.

The childish- yet beautiful nature spirits fell silent, but they still continued to shoot the gathered gods the finger.

Another wave of veins bulged in their foreheads and Lillian fought back the urge to laugh outright.

"Well, I suppose you are in need of a bit of a better welcome. Would you like to have a tour of the home that our family has created?"