Chapter 157 The Growth Survival Race!

"So, am I going to get anything else back?" I asked, and Kaedon shrugged.

"No clue; I wasn't the one that gave you your memories. The Hellios must have seen fit to give you whatever you remember. Now, get out of here before one of the women sees us talking like this. Just tell them that you got knocked out... nevermind, the damned Angel. Just leave your memories to yourself. You don't need them; you just need to keep doing what you are doing," Kadeon said as he walked back to the cubby hole that closed back up behind him.

I nodded, turned away from my father, and thought of Tallia.

A portal instantly snapped open to the backyard with women crowded around to try and get a good look inside. Even if they did, there wasn't much for them to look at. I walked through, and Tallia had her arms crossed.

"You took your sweet time," Tallia said, and I nodded.

"It was an important conversation, and I learned a lot, but not like I will here," I said, and Tallia stepped back, turning to Breya, who dropped the piece of cake she had been putting into her mouth as it hung open.

"You are kidding, right?!" Breya snapped as she picked up the cake from the ground and brushed it off while holding her stunned look.

"You aren't going to eat that, are you?" I asked, which broke the shocked look that gave me a frown.

"Do you want it? I don't want to share, but I will give you a bite if you insist. A small bite. I will be watching," Breya warned, and I slapped a hand to my face.

"No, you can have the cake," I said with a sigh.

"Good, I would have felt bad to tell you that I didn't really want to share," Breya said, taking a bite from the cake.

I really had to wonder where I knew Breya from and what kind of past we had, but I knew that our future would be nothing short of exciting. All the women here were something to me, but maybe not all of them had good interactions with me. Kaedon only said interactions, so that didn't mean just the good ones. Part of my time here might be trying to fix what I had wrought in the past.

? "Galio?" Eliza asked, and I turned to her and Chili, who was standing with shaky legs, both using walking sticks to stand.

"Oh, for the love of the realms and above. Why are you two standing and not sitting?!" I asked as I walked over to the smiling pair.

"We are in a competition!" Eliza declared, and Chili nodded.

"That, and it hurts more to sit," Chili added, and I rolled my eyes, pulling magic into my body, but Eliza threw up a hand, almost tipping over.

"Wait! We did not go this long for it to be all for nothing!" Eliza declared, and all the rest of the women cheered in response.

"Fine! Show me who can walk the best! This is the cruelest and most unusual thing I have seen to date, but if this is what you two want, let's do it!" I laughed, used the magic I had gathered up to life, and moved all the furniture out of the way, women that were sitting on them included.

Once everything was out of the way, and everyone was lining the makeshift ten-meter track, I cleared my throat. Both girls stood at the far end, and I raised one hand in the air.

"On the count of three, drop your hobo sticks and start the...." I said, trailing off and trying to think of a good name.

"The Growth Survival Race!" Breya cheered, and the other women cheered in unison, making me groan.

"You heard her, that thing!" I called, but Chili put up her hand.

"Do we go on three, or will you say go?"

"Three. Now, are you two ready?" I asked, and both girls nodded, dropping their sticks and throwing their arms out to the side for balance. "One, two... Three!"

Totally as impressive as I assumed it to be. In fact, I was pretty sure we could have just added a couple of turtles to add a little adrenaline to the event.

"You can do it, Countess!" Breya cheered, shaking a coin pouch.

"Show them who's boss, girl!" Nyala yelled to my surprise, but no amount of cheer was going to get these two to move any faster.

Each of the girls was taking halting footsteps that looked like they were sending shooting pains up between each of their legs. I could see the winces on each girl's face after each step, but the troopers were doing it.

As I assumed, the race didn't last very long, and to my surprise, Chili was the one that came out on top. I think Eliza let her win because she should have had more experience. Regardless, Nyala actually congratulated Chili, but I wasn't sure if that was her or Nya's choice.

Now that the race was finished, it was time to get everyone together for my training. That was what was supposed to happen, but everyone started to complain about being hungry.

"Senna!" Eliza called as I went over to her and Chili as the rest of the women spread out over the backyard.

"Already on it! Trina and the cooks have been preparing lunch since this morning," Senna called over.

"Thank you!" Eliza called, and I placed my hands on both girls, healing the two of them.

Both girls let out long sighs, and both came to hug me.

"Did you see?! I won!" Chili cheered, and Eliza smiled brightly.

"I almost had you, but you can sit on Galio's lap! You earned it!" Eliza cheered, but Chili looked over at her.

"We could both sit on... his lap, right?" Chili suggested, and I rolled my eyes.

How was I supposed to eat while holding these two?