I have Nine Lives - Chapter 140
Felix knew that he couldn’t miss this occasion as it was something very important for both Lindo and Manitola.
And he was going to meet his godson, they had already found out its a boy a few months prior and told him.
In such a society, males were better seen than females. Unless the females proved themselves by using their strength and resourcefulness, but in general, women were looked down upon, so Lindo was quite happy Manitola was going to give birth to a boy.
Atleast even if he was going to be bullied due to his handicap, at least it won’t be too excessive as he grew up.
A useless boy would be bullied even by the girls, but a useless girl would be condemned to something that was rather unspeakable. Lindo had Felix as a backup if something happened to him, but who knew what would happen in the future? Who knew if Felix would become unavailable?
Even Felix himself didn’t know what would happen in the future even though his senses told him it wasn’t going to be anything nice, he actually wanted to talk with Siracha about it, but the man was always unavailable for some reason, seemingly as if he was avoiding the topic.
The location where Manitola was giving birth was top secret, as the shaman himself was going to help her deliver the baby. It was Siracha’s grand grandson, and even if he knew that he wouldn’t be able to become a fighter, he still loved him dearly.
Felix followed the instructions that the person that notified him gave arriving at a certain uninhabited house before entering using the door that led to the cellar.
There he took a right in the cellar and arrived at a wall that he punched three times. The wall then caved in, letting Felix enter the secret location where Manitola was currently giving birth, Lindo was pacing around holding his hands together, he was praying to Manitola’s God for both mother and child to come out safely of this ordeal.
The birth of a hybrid was very painful and exhausting for both mother and child, and Lindo was feeling rather scared of anything that could happen to them.
He loved both dearly, and he wouldn’t imagine himself living without one of them.
Manitola still had her other lives, but if the child died, he wouldn’t be resurrected!
Siracha was doing his best to calm Manitola down. As he used some calming salts and shamanic mumbo jumbo.
Which helped her somewhat ease her pain, the contractions on her belly continued as her water broke long ago. The head of the child was slowly leaving her entrance as Siracha encouraged her to push.
With a mighty final heave, the whole child left his mother’s body, and strangely… it was in a human form!
Normally the inhabitants of this planet were born in their primal form before slowly unlocking their humanoid one based on their talents, some would do it later, some sooner.
But there has never been a person that had been born with a human form!
The records never stated something like this, and from what Siracha analyzed, the child was both healthy, and he also had a good constitution, meaning that he could become a warrior!
The cute ears at the top of the child’s head were a mix between lions and a fox, and his tail was very fluffy.
He looked around curiously for a few seconds before he yawned as strength left his little body, his birth sapped him, both he and his mother of strength.
Siracha handed the baby to Manitola who was resting on the bed as she put her arms forward, she snuggled with her baby while she pulled down the gown on her chest area, making the sleepy baby wake up and attack her breasts with his mouth, drinking large gulps of milk.
The baby’s appetite was quite heavy as he finished the milk from one breast then moved to the other.
Lindo was quite happy to see his child being both healthy and having a large appetite, showing that he would become someone with grand stature. The hungrier the baby, the higher his bodily potential.
Siracha smiled as he patted his grandson’s shoulder and congratulated him and Manitola for having a healthy baby and being the first mixed-race couple who had gotten a healthy and strong baby.
It was quite the precedent as all of them thought that the baby would end up deformed or handicapped in some way or another, but it seemed God was on their side.
Manitola suddenly felt weak as her grasp on her child became weaker and weaker until she almost dropped him on her bed.
She felt sick as her face paled and she clutched her chest. The baby filled his tummy and was now sleeping soundly near his mother, unknown to him that something was wrong with her.
Siracha quickly got near her trying to get some diagnostic, only to realize that her life force was slowly being sapped by something.
It was very strange as the baby wasn’t the one who did that Siracha put his hand on her belly as he realized that she was bleeding internally for some reason. She had come out of labor safely only for this to happen, which was rather strange.
He couldn’t do much for her as he was a battle shaman and not a healing one, but she still had her lives to rely on so there wouldn’t be any problems.
Suddenly she coughed out some blood as she waved her hand weakly towards Lindo.
Lindo quickly got near to her as a pit appeared in his stomach, he didn’t know why, but he felt something wasn’t right.
“I have hidden something from you… the goddess blessings were taken back the moment I became pregnant.”
Lindo’s eyes widened in horror as he clasped her weak hand while asking:
“But… but… why?”
“*Cough* She told me that I was too weak for her liking even though I was her type of champion, she wanted someone strong like Felix. Someone with a deep pool of potential.”
“She gave up on me because I wasn’t strong enough even though I have done quite a lot during the war on the Sparron continent.”
“I gave her name some resound but she told me it wasn’t enough, that Felix’s God was quickly catching up from behind, and that her position was in danger. She wanted someone different.”
“I knew that giving birth to this child would leave me in this situation, but I couldn’t bear to tell you and make you have second thoughts, I know you love him dearly, but your love for me might eclipse the love for him.”
“I wanted him to be born in this world and experience life no matter how hard it would be to him, just like my mother did to me.”
“It’s because life is hard that we enjoy the small things like this. It’s because life is hard that I got to meet you and have this beautiful family.”
Tears started to pour down her pale face as Lindo felt her pulse slowing down and the deep red blood droplets on her gown were especially glaring in his eyes as tears slowly started to drip down his face as well.
“You can’t leave us! Our child just came in this world and you will leave him behind?”
“I’m sorry about that… you think that I don’t care about our child… but my time has come.”
Manitola’s face froze up as all blood stagnated in her body and her heart stopped, life left her eyes as the child near her woke up and started crying so heavily that somehow the ground around them started to shake.
A grand light appeared around the child’s body as if his aura was awakening. but it wasn’t a normal hex aura. It was a divine aura!
It seemed that after Manitola’s abandonment her goddess still couldn’t find anyone appropriate, so she decided to choose her child!
Lindo was glaring at the ceiling as he was ready to fly to the sky and fighting it out with the goddess that did this to his family. Couldn’t she have taken her blessing away after Manitola gave a successful birth and revived?
Why was she so cruel to the point that after the mother died, she decided to take the son as a champion.
His hatred was immense as a roiling sea and solid as a gigantic mountain.
He hated the particular goddess for what he did as he shouted towards the sky:
“NO MATTER WHAT WILL YOU DO, I WILL ONE DAY APPROACH YOU AND SLAY YOU!”
She could have saved Manitola but chose not to because of her selfish reasons, she thought that she might find someone better to replace her. Only to come back to the same place.
Lindo felt his heart hurt as he clutched his chest but looking at the crying baby near the corpse of his mother made him calm down as he put him in his arms and tried to comfort him by rocking him side to side.
Siracha looked at this with heartache, both he and his son lost their wives sometime after their children were born, and this happened to his grandson as well. Was this a curse for their family?
Felix looked at everything in front of him with a gaze that indicated he didn’t understand what happened…. how could Manitola die like that? Was childbirth really that dangerous?