Chapter 279
Hiccups POV:
It's been three days since I returned from my vision quest and in that time not much has happened since then other than me studying the capabilities of my new scythe which I had named my reaper scythe and it beyond my expectations. For starters it has the same abilities as it did when it was just a skull pendant except the black fog was a lot more powerful since it was faster and could actually be physical with things other than the victims meaning it could push physical things like doors down. In addition to this, it can spread out a lot faster and farther in more than just one direction meaning I could send the fog into an entire room from the other side of a wall and clear it out of all guards at once instead of just picking off the ones against the wall one at a time. In addition to this, the fog could now increase in heat and actually burn through things or set them on fire meaning it could cause a lot of damage. Along with all this, as a weapon it was also very effective since the blade could slice through gronkle iron as if it were a hot knife through yak butter plus it could actually cut into shadows and whatever wound appeared on the shadow, it'd appear on the victim. Other than that, nothing's happened besides me mastering the use of my scythe as a weapon, training a bit more under the Ancient One and enjoying a little down time with my family.
Now I was being led through the woods by my ninja and the Ancient One who was carrying a large wrapped bag on his back even though I offered to carry it for him, but my ninja was also carrying items of their own but they were all wrapped. It was then we came to a large clearing that looked as if it was just a normal clearing but the Ancient One and my ninja were looking at it as if it were sacred land. I looked around and using the eye of the dragon, figuring I could at least find a clue as to what this place was since they were keeping quiet about it for some reason. It was then I noticed a few things buried in the ground and it all made sense since what I saw was old rusted weapons such as katana's, sai, kusarigama, kunai, shuriken and more or to be more precise, the remains of the weapons. This was all I needed to tell that this was the place where my ninja and their clans made their final stand against Akuhei and where countless ninja met their end and my own ninja were imprisoned in their current bodies while also being enslaved by Akuhei.
It was then they stopped in the middle of the field and they took off the items loaded on their backs and unwrapped them to reveal various items which included a small wooden alter. I watched as they each prepared the alter and other things and although I offered to help them, The Ancient One claimed that this was something they needed to do on their own. For half an hour I watched them worked and prepare for something, but I had no idea what it was and figured it must be a ceremony to honor their fallen clans. Now the alter had been set and on it was a table cloth, a stone plate of fruit on the left side, a stone plate of fresh meat on the right, two candles on either end by the food, a bowl with lit incense and in the middle, on a small pedestal were broken kunai, a broken katana, a broken naginata, a broken pair of hook swords and a broken kyoketsu-shoge. It was obvious these were their original weapons and from what the Ancient One told me, their weapons were originally treasured by their clans, but they were destroyed in the battle against Akuhei and their remains were what they were able to keep hidden from him.
Once all was prepared, they all kneeled before the alter and prayed while I watched and silently offered my own prayers for those who were killed, trying to save Japan from the demon who would go on to enslave their masters and cause havoc across Japan. It was then the smoke from the incense flowed around the ninja and the Ancient One which was odd as there was no wind whatsoever, meaning the spirits were near. It was then the Ancient One began to chant and I noticed something happening in the field and was surprised when I saw ten balls of fire, water, air, earth and iron formed out of the ground and floated into the air and lined up with the balls next to each other and their own kind lining behind them. I watched as the balls slowly shifted and changed, pulling in more of what they were made of from around them and slowly take human shape.
Once they were fully formed, material seemed to form out of the ground and wrap them up taking the form of traditional ninja clothing with the fire being coated in dark crimson red, metal in dark grey, the wind in a storm cloud grey, earth in a very dark orange and the water in a very dark almost black blue. Then they really took form with boots that go right up to their knees with shin guards that also went up to the knees with the black trimmings on the edges a small curved black spike on the top of the knee guard. These lead to the pants which had three layered like armor on the side of the hip and a belt with an iron grey buckle that looked like the element each of their clans represented, holding a grey lined kimono vest closed. Their undershirts were going through their vests with slightly puffy sleeves and darker colored pauldrons on their shoulders and on their wrists to their elbow were arm guards which also had golden trim surrounding them. Then there were their masks which were like a hood but they have this cloth in front of their faces and also a bandana that's got iron studs around their head and tightening the hoods around them. Surrounding their necks were long scarfs which reached down to their lower backs and were flowing in the wind. (AN: If you're having trouble picturing this just google 'Overlord anime Hanzo' and picture that without the horn on their heads, in the mentioned colors and replace the gold with black iron.)
For a few seconds they just floated as sash's appeared across their chests with the clan's emblems appearing in the middle of them before small satchels connected them appeared on the backs, connected to their sashes. It was then colored glass formed over the slits of their masks and then they dropped to the ground before they all stepped forward and then dropped to one knee and bowed. I stared at this shocked before the Ancient One chuckled and said.
"Well this was unexpected." I turned to him.
"You seem to know what's going on so would you mind explaining it to me?" He turned to me and smiled before walking over to me.
"Hiccup, this was meant to simply be a visit to pay respect to the fallen ninja who were killed by Akuhei and letting them know you have defeated Akuhei and avenged their deaths while freeing their masters so they can rest in peace, but it seems like some of them have chosen a different path." He then gestured to the ninja. "These ninjas were the elites of each of their clans, under only the masters in skill and now while the rest of their fallen clan members finally free to pass on, they have chosen to remain in this world and serve you." I stared at them in shock since getting fifty new ninja warriors was not something, I expected to happen to me on this trip. "If you're wondering where they'll live, they shall be like my sons and hide within your shadows so they may come to you when they are needed." I nodded before turning to the ninja who were still bowing to me and out of respect for them, I bowed back as I said.
"Thank you for choosing to serve me and I look forward to seeing what you are all capable of in the future." They each gave a simultaneous nod, before like their masters, they disappeared leaving just me and the Ancient One. "Why do ninja always disappear like that?" He shrugged.
"I honestly don't know, it's just something we ninja have done for centuries and it became a thing." I nodded before we began packing up and heading back to the palace to let my family know about what had happened.
3 week later
It's been three weeks since the ceremony to honor the fallen ninja was performed which unintentionally gained me fifty new ninja warriors and since then not much has happened. The Ancient One had me spar with the new ninja which showed me that in addition to being incredibly skilled, I still had a long way to go since they pretty much beat me without any effort. I admit their skills were impressive and they all had shuriken equipped but each member of a group different also had their own main weapon that was different to the rest of their clans' group with the only other wielders of that type of weapon being a member of one of the other clans. Some of the weapons they used were the same as my original ninja but there were also other ninja weapons like tonfa, sai, yari, fukiya, kakute and multiple other types of weapons meaning that enemies would have a tougher time since they had variety when it comes to weapons and fighting styles. They'd also make rescue missions and attacks enemy base a lot easier since they were masters of stealth and infiltration so when the enemies realized that they were under attack, it'd be too late for them. The Ancient One had told me that I'd pretty much just been granted my own ninja clan and advised me to give the new clan a name and after a lot of thought, I decided on calling the clan 'The Dragons Fangs', since I ride dragons and dragons can breathe out the elements their clans represent. Other than that, I'd been spending my days sparring with them under the watchful eye of the Ancient One alongside Brant, Chara and occasionally my wives who wanted to enhance their fighting skills.
Besides that, our vacation in Japan had come to an end two weeks ago in which we had said goodbye to the Ancient One and come home to our island. As expected, we were greeted warmly, and everyone was surprised when they found out I now had an army of fifty ninjas who were each highly skilled in both stealth and combat. Of course, there were those who didn't believe they were skilled and asked for a few sparring matches and of course, the challengers didn't last a minute against the ninja. After this, I wanted to test out their stealth and infiltration skills by picking out a few bounty hunting targets who were known to be hard to deal with since they hid within fortress' when they weren't out causing trouble for others. With my dragons and my own skills, getting into their bases was easy enough under the shadow of night and then I got to see what a full ninja invasion looked like and it was amazing yet terrifying.
When attacking the first base, they took down over half the men without alerting anyone to their presence in under ten minutes and when the remaining men realized what was happening, they were already surrounded and had no choice but to surrender. The following bases suffered similar fates with the majority of their forces being captured before the remaining ones were surrounded and taken into custody. After that we'd raid their bases for anything we could use or sell like food, weapons, gold, jewels, art and of course go looking for any hostages or slaves to free and take back to their tribes and there were a lot of people from various tribes including the Berserkers, Outcasts and even those from Berk who were believed dead. Anyway, I'd drop them each off back on with their tribes after I dealt with the crooks and got the bounty for them and as expected, the tribes were overjoyed to have their members back. As for the treasures, most of their original owners had been killed so I got to keep them and while the gold, jewels and jewelry were placed in my vault along with the bounties, most of the artwork was used to decorate my home.
Unfortunately for me, it meant my fame increased and word spread about my ninja which got the attention of a lot of people, including a few bounty hunters who had been after the crooks for years, hoping to get their hands on the bounties. These bounty hunters weren't too pleased with me for bringing in the targets they'd been after for years since it was years of work gone to waste and they were eager to get even with me. Now most of them were easy to deal with since they'd come after me when I was visiting the bars where I got my bounty hunting jobs so a simple knock out with a single punch would get them to back off but there were those who were more stubborn. These were guys who pretty much demanded I give them the bounty rewards along with extra for all the trouble I'd caused them with some going so far as to demand a few nights with my wives. When it came to these men, I'd bring out my Anubis Khopesh and gave them a bit of pain which sent them running the second they were able to move again.
Besides that, nothing's happened other than us receiving a letter from Astrid's Aunt Hagatha claiming that her hut was going through some renovations and she needed a place to stay while it happened. Astrid asked me if it would be alright if her and her daughter Doreena stayed for a few days and I told her I didn't mind since they were family. Besides that, I really didn't know either one of them since they lived in a different village, on another island so the last time I saw them was at mine and Astrid's wedding and even then, we didn't get the chance to talk. We'd gotten spent our time getting ready for their arrival by setting up two of the guest bedrooms and had done some extra hunting since Astrid had told me her Aunt Hagatha ate more than my dad.
Presently it was early afternoon and I was in the library, sitting in front of the fire in one of my favorite chairs and enjoying a book while also keeping an eye on everyone using the eye of the dragon to look through the eyes of my automatons. Blanca was in a rocking chair in the nursery with Xiu in her arms, Brant and Chara were practicing their ninja stealth skills in the forest, Hadasa was tending to the fruit and vegetables in the glass roofed building and Astrid was in the training room practicing her tiger style. It was then I noticed a familiar purple Deadly nadder coming to land on the path leading to my house with a familiar rider on its back and I knew something was up. The reason is that this rider was none other than the mother of Astrid and it was easy to tell she was worried about something so I had the automaton watching her, get her attention and lead her out of the training room with me leaving the library to go greet my mother-in-law at the entrance hall. She pushed the doors open just as we came both arrived and the moment her eyes landed on us she said.
"Thank goodness you're both home you're both in danger." I was immediately put my guard up and asked.
"What is it?"
"Did a message from Hagatha arrive?" We nodded before Astrid said.
"Yeah, she said her hut's going through some renovations and she needed a place for her and Doreena to stay for a few days." Her mother sighed.
"I'm too late." Both me and Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Her home was burnt down in a massive fire that hit their village and they've been busy repairing all the damage done but their home is being done last since most of the village have larger families, so they've been hitting up all their family members for a place to stay." I replied.
"So, we'll just have them staying with us for a little longer than expected and while we're at it, I'll send a couple of supplies to help her village out." She sighed.
"It's not that easy Hiccup, she's like a zippleback that owes a life debt, you'll never get rid of her." She gestured to the room around us. "And once she gets a taste of this life, she'll sink her talons in and you'll never get rid of her or Doreena." I chuckled.
"Don't worry, I know how to deal with stubborn people." She shook her head.
"You don't know Hagatha the way I do but at least you can't say I didn't try to warn you." With that said she left before I turned to Astrid.
"Is your aunt really that bad?" She shrugged.
"To be honest, I don't know since I haven't seen her or Doreena since I was a little girl." I nodded.
"Well we'll have plenty of time to get to know them once they've arrived and settled in." She nodded. "So, when are they due to arrive?"
"They're meant to arrive on Berk sometime this afternoon, so we'll pick them up then." I nodded before I smiled.
"Well if that's the case then until they get here, I'm going to enjoy having you to myself for a bit." I then pulled her into me as she rolled her eyes before I brought her into a hard kiss which we both moaned into.
3 hours later
My family was all gathered in the entrance hall, waiting for Gobber and Grump to drop off Hagatha and Doreena who had arrived on Berk by ship a few minutes ago since no ship was allowed to dock on my island. It was then the familiar sound of a large dragon landing came from outside and I took a breath to calm my nerves as the sound of footsteps came to my ears and thanks to my ninja training to enhance my hearing, I could hear every step. It was then the doors were pushed open by Gobber who was carrying a few satchels as he said.
"Hey all, just droppin off the luggage."
It was then a large woman who was half as large as my dad in weight with her red hair tied back in a tight braid that began at the bottom of her neck and ended at the top of her shoulder blades, with green eyes and wearing a dark blue and brown dress with leather boots, arm bands and a black apron. It was easy to tell that this was Hagatha and she was followed by a woman who was the same age as me and the girls who had brown hair tied back in a ponytail with green eyes, with dark blue striped shirt like the vest Astrid used to wear with a knee length skirt, leather bracelets and boots, she was obviously Doreena. Both women looked around in wonder before Hagatha's eyes landed on Astrid and she smiled as she cried out.
"ASTRID!" She rushed up and hugged her. "It's been so long since I last saw you and that was when you were getting married." She then pulled away and her eyes landed on me. "And here's the man who became your husband." She quickly pulled me into a hug. "Thank you for letting me and Doreena stay in your home with your family." She then gestured to Doreena. "Speaking of family, I don't think you got the chance to meet my daughter at the wedding." She gestured to Doreena and I gave her a kind smile.
"I'm sad to say no but I'm looking forward to getting to know the both of you during your stay with us." They both smiled as Doreena said.
"I'm looking forward to it to Hiccup." Hagatha then said.
"Now let's get some introductions done since it looks like this family has gotten bigger since the last wedding." We then did our introductions with both women cooing at little Xiu and Chara while Hagatha made Brant blush, claiming he was going to break some hearts when he gets older and once it was all done, Blanca asked.
"Would you both like to rest after your long journey?" Doreena answered.
"That would be nice, so who's going to take us to our room?" I turned to her.
"You both will be getting your own room next to each other on the second floor." I snapped my finger and four serving automatons walked in, surprising Hagatha and Doreena. "These are just my serving automatons so don't worry since they're under my control and I haven't given them any type of weapons since they're just to help with the chores around the house." They nodded as the automatons took their bags and began walking towards the prepared guest rooms. "They'll take you both to the rooms where you'll be staying and once you've settled in feel free to explore the mansion and garden but please don't go anywhere else around the island without an escort since it's easy to get lost and some of the plants and environments can be dangerous to those who don't know them." They nodded before Hagatha asked.
"Before we go, if it's not asking too much trouble, do you think you could provide us with something to snack on?"
"There are bowls of fresh fruit in your rooms along with pitchers of water and on goblets." She smiled.
"Thank you." They then allowed herself to be led away by my automatons as I turned to the girls.
"They don't seem so bad." Hadasa nodded.
"Yeah, I wonder what Astrid's mom was so worried about." Astrid then said.
"I don't know what my mom was on about, but she's not one to exaggerate." I shrugged.
"Well they can't be that bad for us since we've all been dealing with the Jorgensons for long enough." There were mutters of agreement before we all split up to do our own thing.
5 days later
It's been five days since Hagatha and Doreena came to stay with us and to describe those days, one word could be used and that word is headache. It wasn't bad at first other than me needing to help calm them down when they saw some of my fiercer looking animals and waking them up after they fainted when they met Arachne. Besides those incidents, the main reason it's been a headache is after they settled in, Hagatha revealed she had a dream to be a singer and was grateful that my house was so big as there were a lot of rooms with great acoustics for her to practice her singing. Today though, both me and Bill were talking and then we heard Hagatha singing and went to listen since she didn't sound so bad and she welcomed the audience and offered to do a show for us. We agreed which is where the problem began since that was four hours ago and both me and Bill were still sitting in the library while listening to Hagatha singing with no end in sight. It was then she singing the word you, and held it so it hit a long and high note that I'm pretty sure would make my wolves whimper in pain which is when Astrid ran in and said.
"And you need a snack break to eat your roast leg of yak that's just come off the fire." Hagatha turned to us and quickly said.
"I'm taking a short break; we'll pick this up later." She then rushed off as both me and Bill let out sighs of relief.
"Long performance?" Bill was the one who answered.
"We've been sitting here for four straight hours, listening to her singing." I massaged my forehead with my fingers and began making my way to the door.
"I'm going to the tea gazebo to enjoy some tea with a little peace and quiet." Bill then said.
"And I'm going to take a nap in my families cave and then going to join my girls on a run through the woods in wolf form." I nodded and began making my way through while trying to soothe my growing headache as Astrid walked up next to me and asked.
"You okay?"
"Despite my growing headache, I'm good but could you please remind me how long she'll be staying with us."
"It'll still be a few more weeks before their people get to rebuilding their hut." I groaned.
"These weeks are going to be a load of headaches." She frowned.
"You're not going to kick them out, are you?" I looked at her in surprise.
"Astrid, I'm not going to throw them out since your aunt may be a headache, but she's family and I never turn my back on family." She smiled.
"I'm glad to hear you say that Hiccup." She pulled me into a kiss and when we parted she gave me another smile. "You go get some rest Hiccup; you're going to need it for tonight." She gave me a wink and I knew what I had to look forward to tonight and quickly rushed away to hide my blush and heard Astrid giggle.
Astrid's POV:
I watched the wonderful man and dragon rider I was able to call my husband before a voice from my side said.
"He really is a great guy." I turned and found Doreena standing next to me and I nodded.
"Yeah, he is."
"You don't know how lucky you are to have a guy like him for a husband, Astrid." I looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"He's rich, smart, adventurous, good looking, kind and just an all-round great guy who clearly cares about you and his other wives, with no favorites." I couldn't help but look down with a smile on my face as I thought about how true it all was.
"Yeah, he really is a great guy." Doreena sighed.
"Better than the guys I date." I turned to her with an eyebrow raised.
"What do you mean?"
"The guys I date are mostly lazy, boring, in debt with plans to sell off wedding gifts and most are only interested in either using me for my body or for my cooking." I sighed remembering how Ulrik treated me when I was hypnotized into basically being his loyal pet. (AN: Chapter 168)
"I know that feeling."
"Yeah, I heard about what happened with the Grown Hills tribe from a trader who was coming from there and told us about what a nightmare life has become for most of the husbands there." I nodded and couldn't help but smile, hearing how things were for the men who made life a nightmare for their wives. "And to make matters worse, my moms been pestering me to find a husband and has even tried setting me up with some of her friends' sons who I know to be lazy slobs." She took a breath. "If only there were more men like Hiccup since guys like him are rare."
"Yeah, I know the type, most of them only want you for your body or your services while guys like Hiccup who want to make their wives happy are hard to find." She nodded.
"I have to admit though, I'm surprised you allow him to wed other women."
"You can thank Blanca for that, it's a custom of her people that the leader be allowed to take more than one mate but it has to be someone that all his wives approve of and she definitely has to be good with the kids since in Hiccups eyes, his families happiness comes first." I saw a look in her eye that I didn't like.
"So, if a woman had the approval of both his wives and his kids then they can marry Hiccup." I nodded.
"He'd have to be in love with them first and they'd have to show how good they can be to the family." It was then she got a look that I didn't like.
"Please excuse me, I'm going to try out some new recipes I've been working on." I didn't get the chance to reply and could only watch as she rushed off and knew I'd need to keep an eye on this but for now, I promised Chara I'd help her train.
5 days later
It's been five days since my talk with Doreena and since then I understood why I didn't like the look on her face since it was the same look some girls get when they have plans to become another one of Hiccups wives. Ever since she has been cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for everyone along with making treats and snacks even though Hiccup told her she didn't need to work so hard. She'd say it's what she loves to do while claiming she wanted Hiccup to taste test them. Me, Blanca and Hadasa could easily see she was just using it as an excuse to flirt with Hiccup while showing off her cooking skills to him, so she'd seem more appealing as a wife. Now, it's not that I don't love my cousin since she was family but it was easy to tell the reason she wanted to be with Hiccup is because he's the first good guy she's met who she can actually stand a chance with. Another reason is Aunt Hagatha had been pressuring her a little bit since she enjoyed the comfortable room we gave her, the food she got, the great weather the island always had and more and if Hiccup married Doreena, she'd have an excuse to permanently move in.
The thing that drove all of us crazy though was how Hiccup didn't even realize that she was flirting with him and assumed she was just showing her gratitude for giving her and her mother a place to stay. I just hoped for some way to make him understand what she was doing, but Hiccup was as thick headed as any Viking and it would need a hammer to the head to get the point. It's because of this me and the other wives kept a close eye on her incase she tried to seduce him since we did not like the looks, she'd recently begun giving him. It was easy to tell what she was planning since we'd seen enough women give our husband that look and it always ended with us needing to chase them away when they tried to sneak into either the house or room we were staying in when we were on vacation.
Now though, I was walking to the room after grabbing a snack from the kitchen but kept an ear out for any sort of problems using my enhanced hearing. I heard Blanca and Hadasa in the bedroom preparing the bed, Brant doing his evening stretches, Chara sleeping in bed, Aunt Hagatha in her own room eating the fruit in her room and Hiccup getting ready for a soak in the bath before bed. It was then I heard the familiar giggle of Doreena coming from the hall that lead to the bath and knew that she was making her move, but I was not going to let her get away with it and made my way down the hall to stop her.
Hiccups POV:
I let out a sigh as I entered the baths room since it was a busy day with me needing to calm my father down after he received multiple complaints from annoyed farmers who's animals were driven out of their pens by Hagatha who was practicing her singing to them since she needed an audience and everyone else was busy today. I assumed they were really just trying to avoid her since in the days she has been here, she has given everyone singing performances that lasted over six hours with her voice reaching all around the village, driving everyone crazy. Anyway, after today's performance, I had to spend an hour trying to calm not only my father but also helping my mom calm down some dragons who weren't too big on Hagatha's singing. Along with all this I had to calm my wives down when they told me that Doreena was throwing herself at me through her cooking and I admit she did make me a lot of treats, I just marked it off as her being grateful for taking her and her mom in.
Anyway, I smiled at the sight of the steaming bath waiting for me and made my way towards the tub wearing my bath robe but as soon as I'd taken it off my torso, I heard footsteps. I quickly turned towards them and found Doreena approaching me with a plate in her hands, with a napkin covering it and wearing a bathrobe which was clearly the only thing she was wearing. I quickly pulled my robe back on and said.
"Sorry Doreena, I didn't know you wanted to use the bath first."
"Oh, that's alright Hiccup, I just figured you'd like a little something to nibble on while you bathed." She pulled the napkin off the plate to reveal multiple sliced fruit pieces that were sprinkled with sugar. "And if you like, I could stay and wash your back." It was then Astrid rushed in and said.
"I don't think that'd be appropriate cousin." She then took the plate out of Doreena's hand. "Please leave, I need to have a chat with my husband." She nodded and gave me a wink as she rushed off before I sighed.
"Well Astrid, congratulations!" I took the plate from her and put it aside. "You were right about Doreena."
"I told you, but what can we do since whether we like it or not, she is my cousin and her mother is my aunt meaning they're family so it wouldn't be right to kick them out." I nodded while looking down in thought.
"I'll think of something, but for now I need to soak." She nodded.
"Alright, but I'm joining you to make sure she doesn't try anything." I smiled.
"You'll get no complaints from me milady." She swatted my arm before going to undress while I took my robe off and got into the water and began thinking of a way to get rid of them both.
1 week later
It's been a week since I figured out the girls were right about Doreena and since then I've been doing my best to think of a way to get her and her mother out of my house without being rude or mean. Then during one of Hagatha's performances that I figured out a possible way to get them to leave the island and that was to help Hagatha achieve her dream of becoming a singer. Fortunately for me, I had made contacts with some pub owners and entertainers who had their own connections in the entertainment industry. It was through these connections that I was able to get her a chance to perform in a popular pub in the Grown Hills tribe village which was popular because it was known to have great performances in the evening.
I was able to convince the owner to let her perform in exchange for a bag of sugared dates since he got some from the bazaar once and like me, grew a strong liking for them. She still had to audition though, and I am glad to say she passed it, but I'm pretty sure it's because the pub owner liked the way she looked more than how she sang. I am happy to say that this meant she'd spent the last four days at the pub when it was closed so she could practice on the stage to get a feel for it and what songs would sound the best in the room. Now it was the night of her first performance and I was sitting at a table with my wives around me along with Doreena, a drink in my hand and looking around at the various reactions to Hagatha's singing and I had to say the reactions looked good with many people enjoying the singing and swaying to it. I think it was safe to say that the deal was sealed and with her village only being an hour away by ship, it meant Hagatha could sing at the pub regularly and since the place is filled with young wealthy traders, Doreena would have no trouble finding a good husband.
It was then that her song ended and everyone applauded and I smiled before I decided to check on what the owner of the pub thought of her show and if he'll hire her for future shows and fortunately he was also the bar tender. I walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools before the owner walked up to me and asked.
"What can I get ya lad?"
"Answers as to what you think of Hagatha's performance."
"She's a real performer lad, I can definitely see her performing here more often and with her village being so close, I intend to offer her a regular job as a performer." I smiled and it was only thanks to my ninja training to control my emotions that I didn't scream out in joy, but first Hagatha had to accept the job and I was going to do my best to ensure she did.
2 weeks later
It's been two weeks since Hagatha's first performance at the pub and since then I am happy to say that she has performed there six more times with more performances expected to happen in the future. Along with this, I'd been making regular trips to her village to deliver supplies to help them, help with the construction to speed things up for the people, but mainly it was to get away from Hagatha's singing since she'd been practicing more than ever now. She'd especially been practicing her long and high notes which was a pain for everyone since they echoed through the house, hurt the ears of my animals and woke up Xiu from her naps.
Now though, I am happy to say though that I've been able to speed up their villages reconstruction and finish it weeks before it was expected to be done. This brings us to now with Hagatha and Doreena standing in front of their rebuilt hut with me and my family standing in front of them. Hagatha pulled me into a tight hug as she said.
"Thank you for taking us in and for finding me that job as a performer in the pub." I smiled.
"It was my pleasure Hagatha and I hope your new job goes well and that you enjoy it." She let go of me and stepped back.
"You kidding me?" I raised an eyebrow. "I've finally achieved my dream of being a singer, the pay is great and there are a ton of great men for my daughter to pick out a husband from, so how could I not enjoy it?" I smiled before we said our goodbyes and headed home but the second we were all back in the house I let out a sigh of relief and turned to Astrid.
"The next time one of your relatives needs a place to stay, please talk to your mom first and ask her what they're like." She nodded.
"With pleasure, but at least now we can all catch up on the sleep we lost to Aunt Hagatha's singing and keeping an eye on Doreena to make sure she didn't try anything like when you were going to bath."
"Agreed but first, I need to take count of the food stock since your aunt ate more than my dad at every meal." She nodded before we all split up to get on with our lives.
AN: And that brings an end to this chapter and yeah, I know it's late and short but I've been having trouble with my Word here at home so I can only write at the office. Fortunately, I figured out that I could continue writing using the edit option for chapter I load onto DocManager so sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember to review since I was disappointed in the lack of reviews from the last chapter when I put so much effort into it. Have a nice day.
