Elsewhere in the realm of Gods, a few hours after all the rumours about Ares had finally been spread and verified...


    In a poorly lit, untidy room, a half dead female foxian was lying atop a bed. Candy lay on her side, firmly holding a knife inside her gut and slowly pushing it deeper. A small child, roughly seven or so years old, with fluffy ears was crying as she tried to stop her mother but her pitiful strength failed her and she couldn''t make her mother budge. The tears kept flowing as she kept rocking her mother but the knife just went further and further in. This had been going on for a few minutes now as Candy''s cultivation was enough to keep her alive far longer than she wanted to be. There was no expression on her dull face as she stared at the opposite wall, ignoring her child as she wondered if the afterlife would be kinder to her. She had every intention of finding out and her child was being a nuisance so she pushed the kid away, making her fall backwards onto her tail. The child cried out with another shriek, "MOM! STOP!" but this wasn''t the first time she''d been ignored. Candy was fed up. She''s been infinitely close to lashing out recently so, before taking out her resentment on the child, she took it out on herself. Maybe Cotton, her daughter, could live a better life if she wasn''t in it. Candy''s family would just snatch away Cotton but at least she wouldn''t be stuck in this dreary house anymore, kept hidden away from the world under lock and key with a miserable mother who spent every day staring at walls wanting to see what was on the other side of them for once. Candy genuinely believed this was for the best and she was convinced she had nothing to lose via her current actions. The bed was soaked in her blood and her vision was starting to fade as she twisted the knife. Cotton had given up and was just wailing on the floor.


    ...


    Candy was startled when a bunch of random memories flooded her head. Some life returned to her eyes and her complexion returned to normal as her breathing did too. She''d stopped pushing the knife in by this point and was already working on healing herself with some medicine she had in her spatial ring. She hadn''t fully comprehended the memories as of yet but she knew she absolutely had to stop killing herself so she removed the knife and threw it away from her. Candy struggled to sit up and look around as she regained her sense of self. The last few minutes felt like a waking nightmare, like she''d been backseat in her own body while some demon possessed her and did something irreparable. If Ares had taken any longer to clear the pagoda... Candy would have likely been a corpse by now... Ares would have stopped at nothing to bring her back but it wouldn''t change the present. It also definitely wouldn''t help the child she was in the process of abandoning... That was right... Ares, Enyo, Bellona, Cotton... Candy had more than enough reasons to stay alive and not to do something as stupid as take her own life. Even Cotton alone should have given her the will power to keep on putting up with her situation but she had been so out of it she believed she was doing the right thing. Her mental state had been in a scary place and almost gotten the better of her in a way that couldn''t be undone. Even if Ares went through hell on earth to resurrect her, Cotton would likely never forgive her by that point.


    Cotton was a clever child but really quiet. She bottled up a lot of her feelings because she wasn''t sure Candy would ever listen or take her seriously. Candy had been a useless parent and basically stayed away from Cotton despite being trapped in the same house together. In some ways, Cotton was a constant reminder of Candy''s terrible life and encapsulated everything she hated about her past. Or at least that was the way the Candy from a few minutes ago saw it. Her new lease on life, that had been transferred from her clone to her, corrected that stupid opinion on the spot. Cotton was her child and she needed to take care of her because she was a lovely little girl who was reliant on Candy to actually be there for her. In spite of Candy''s absence, Cotton had been a strong child but doing this in front of her was cruel and would be a terrible memory for her. In many ways Candy had been repeatedly failing Cotton and made her life just as hard as Candy''s had been. Ares had asked her to be a good mother and, although she couldn''t change the past, she could rectify the present. The depressed Candy only served to bring the mood down between both her and her daughter but the Candy with a spark of joy in her was better suited for parenting and now she could make use of that. Of course now wasn''t the time to pretend nothing happened and be all smiles, she needed to have a serious talk with Cotton.


    Candy got up off the bed and started walking over to Cotton as she went over everything again in her head. She''d been sold off to that strange scientist and he used ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, to remotely impregnate her. His aversion to flesh had actually driven him to discover a method to impregnate women without having to do the deed with them. A revolutionary invention that came from a weird place... Not that Candy was complaining, she didn''t want him anywhere near her. Her hymen was gone but she''d still never had sex so she was a little relieved on that end. She wanted Are to be her first, not some mechanical contraption, or worse, the scientist himself. It was a small thing to be grateful for but she was happy about it none the less. Having cold tubes shoved up her had been somewhat unpleasant, though, and was just yet another memory the old her had that made her feel sick of life. She''d been treated like some kind of farm animal used for impregnation experiments... But worse still, and arguably the worse memory of all, was that one of her children didn''t make it... She was supposed to have twins but, supposedly, one died shortly after Candy gave birth to her. Candy didn''t even get to see the child as the scientist had taken her away for good. Candy''s darkest moment and her loudest breakdown in this hellhole of a house followed shortly after. It made looking at Cotton hard because, again, to old Candy, she was nothing more than a reminder of literally every part of her life that went wrong. Her parents valued Cotton more than Candy because a child could be controlled. The scientist was more interested in the twin children and only used Candy to create and monitor them. Cotton''s sister was long dead. Everything seemed to revolve around Cotton and that made it hard for Candy to look at her without something evil brewing inside her. Candy resisted countless urges to hurt Cotton but it reached a critical mass a few minutes ago when Cotton started getting upset at the lack of attention and screamed her lungs out at Candy for all the times she''d been ignored. The words ''I hate you'' set Candy down this path because a truly disgusting part of her had wanted Cotton to live with regret for the rest of her life. Again, it bared reminding, Candy was not a good person necessarily. Still, this was clearly going too far. No matter how off the deep end she found herself this should never have happened and she knew that. The guilt she was feeling in this moment was eating away at her soul and she wasn''t even sure how to ever go about fixing it. This was a truly unforgivable mistake and she could only be glad it ended now before it got any worse.


    There was a lot that needed to be done as news of Ares would start spreading... No, it probably already had. Her family would be here soon, the scientist might even show up... Or maybe not... And the anti-magic God wouldn''t be pleased. It was all going to get quite messy but first and foremost came Cotton. This precious little child needed all the attention Candy could give her and everyone else could wait. Candy hugged Cotton and stroked her back while the girl tried to stop crying. Cotton kept sniffling as she held back tears after that traumatic experience and also because she couldn''t remember the last time she''d been hugged like this. She didn''t understand why her mother had randomly changed her mind about everything and was acting like a different person but she didn''t ask. She was worried if she did then Candy would get mad again and throw another life-endangering fit. The fact Cotton had to treat Candy like a baby was heart-breaking to Candy and she seriously wanted to reach out into the past and slap the ''her'' from a few minutes ago but, really, she knew that deep down that was the ''her'' of right now too. If Ares hadn''t existed, when she returned to her real body, she wouldn''t have changed. She''d just been a pathetic woman and that was all there was too it. She hoped it wasn''t too late to fix her daughter''s thoughts about her. There weren''t any misconceptions, it''s just that Candy wanted Cotton to know she wasn''t that person anymore. Cotton would still likely be the quiet and grumpy child she always had been but Candy still wanted to have a better relationship with her so she did the one thing she could and kept apologising while hugging the fluffy little foxian. Not only was Cotton her child but, now, she was also Ares'' and that made Candy feel a little better. Ares wouldn''t show up for a while but, when he did, she imagined Cotton would get along well with him. Maybe not even by choice as Ares would butt into her life in whatever way he needed to, Candy was sure of it.


    She picked up her daughter and sat Cotton on her lap as Candy stroked her hair, ears, and tails. Cotton had nine just like her mother but she had no control over them currently and they only came out when she was happy. She was clearly relieved things had settled down and she was enjoying the attention. Now that she''d stopped crying so hard and could actually listen to what Candy was about to say, Candy decided to be completely honest with her about everything. Cotton didn''t really know much about the reasons behind this entire situation so Candy was going to go over everything and make it all clear to her. Everything from her own parents all the way up until Ares and the pagoda. Cotton would probably start crying again multiple times throughout but it was better to tell her all of this now and explain why Candy was going to act properly from now on. Cotton had a right to know about why the old Candy was gone and what the future was going to look like from now on.


    It took Candy give or take three to four hours to go over literally everything and, that may have sounded quick, but even that was the condensed version. Still, the salient points had all been gone through in enough detail for Cotton to get the gist of things. She''d been silent for most of it and only made one comment at the end. "Mom was bullied?" Candy couldn''t help but chuckle. technically yes, she had, but that didn''t give her a right to bully her child in turn and she made that very clear. Cotton had every right to be upset with her but the little tyke just gave her a hug instead and made Candy tear up a bit. Things were already better than they ever had been and all it took what was Candy finally taking accountability for what she''d done to her daughter and keeping the memory of her new family in her mind. Cotton didn''t quite understand what it meant to have a dad because she''d never really interacted with the scientist for anything of than testing. It was more like reporting to a stranger than anything even close to a parental relationship. The stupid scientist was utterly worthless in that regard nut, in a way, Candy was glad. Like this, Are could be the father proper and the scientist could go die in a ditch for all Candy cared. As for the talk with Cotton, one thing Cotton had understood clearly was that good people had helped her mother and she would one day get to meet them. It was a bit simplistic a take away from everything Candy told her but she wasn''t too far off the mark. Cotton also felt a bit more peppy than usual knowing her mother''s slump was permanently gone now and that she wouldn''t try to commit suicide again. The memory of it was still frightening for her but there wasn''t anything that could be done about it other than letting Cotton sleep next to Candy and hold her if she ever had any nightmares about it. long story short, various promises were made and things were settled for now. This was something they would probably need multiple conversations to sort out in the long run but the one today had been a great start.


    DING


    Tsk


    Candy kissed her teeth as the system in place to notify her of visitors rang. She didn''t have a say in denying them entry, it was simply there to make sure she was decent when those who were calling on her arrived. The freedom to choose who could visit her? She wished she had that kind of luxury. As for who was coming around, it was likely her parents. It could very well be the scientist or the anti-magic God as well but, given how quickly her parents tended to respond to unforeseen circumstances, it was almost definitely them. After they heard the news about Ares and his proclamation of marriage to Candy they would have discussed the matter amongst themselves before coming to a conclusion on behalf of Candy... Well they would have if they could, things had taken a drastic turn now and with the support Ares had garnered they were no longer in control. If they spent all this time trying to come up with solutions to put them back in the driver''s seat but still wound up coming to talk to her, instead of just solving the ''issue'' without Candy, then it means they had no choice but to agree to Ares'' demands. All they were coming here to do was demand an explanation and maybe try to take Cotton away. Candy had all the power now though and she didn''t have to bend over backwards anymore. She was truly thankful to Ares for the gift of control she now had over life. It wasn''t complete freedom but it was enough of an escape from her current chains that she had some new breathing room to fight back against her captors. If possible, Candy didn''t want Cotton to be around for the upcoming talk as her parents would no doubt try and ensnare her in this but there was nowhere to hide her so Candy just kept her daughter on her lap and told her not to worry.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The door to the bedroom opened and two foxians strolled in without asking for permission. Candy sighed in relief inwardly when she saw that it was just her parents today. She had an extensive family and they were all annoying to deal with. There wasn''t a single one she ever actively wanted to see and days when multiple showed up were the worst. They only ever came around to pester her, though, so it was unsurprising they didn''t show up for a more serious conversation about her future. The male foxian, Citrus, wore a suit and a pair of glasses. He wasn''t much of a fighter but he was an erudite businessman who operated in places the law didn''t necessarily keep tabs on. On the surface he was the CEO of an automotive company. Behind that mask he was a profiteer, selling weaponised spaceships on the black market. Then there was Lime, the female foxian. Honestly, Candy knew nothing about her other than the fact that she was a manipulative bitch. She walked around with a smile on her face all the time and that was practically the only feature anyone could ever remember about her. No one knew where she worked, what kind of cultivator she was, or any of the thoughts running through her pretty little head. She was a darling of high society but an entirely forgettable woman outside her appearances. Whether it was because she liked to remain low key or because she just that uninteresting even Candy didn''t know. What she did know, however, was that this mother of hers could say some truly unhinged things while keeping that smile on her face. Point in case.


    "Give us Cotton you disgusting animal."


    And there it was. Right out the gate they were gunning for the one thing that could salvage this mess they''d found themself in. If they could kidnap Cotton, they could indirectly control Candy. They couldn''t force the issue because Candy was decently strong and things would not go well if she was injured thanks to all the allies she now had. They couldn''t fight her and they couldn''t take Cotton away without a fight. They didn''t even try and negotiate or probe to see how Candy would act now, they just went straight for the jugular. Or, well, it wasn''t ''they'', it had just been lime. Citrus sighed and took point because he was always the calmer of the two. Calmer but not more polite unless he was putting up a front and that was something he never needed to do around his daughter. "This plan of yours is idiotic. The outside world will think of you as some kind of gold digging whore. You were officially Sevorus'' partner and now this Ares kid? As far as the rest sees it, you''re bouncing from one famous man to another. Lowering your value like this to temporarily take a stand against us will only come back to bite you in the long run. When that Ares kid no longer has any interest in you, and your allies all magically disappear, what then Candy? You will have annoyed us for nothing. If you hand over Cotton now we will ignore this transgression. If you do not, when your support is inevitably gone, we will not go easy on you. You have value but what you''ve done has actively marred it and the list of people we can sell you off to is diminishing as we speak. Cotton is now worth more than you are so hand her over and we''ll sell you off one more time. After that you are free to go wherever the hell you want as long as it''s as far away from here as possible." Citrus was driving a hard bargain in an attempt to draw attention away from his predicament. Right now, the eyes of all of Ares'' allies were situated on him and that complicated every one of his businesses, legal or otherwise. Candy was off the market and so were all his war goods. Candy was like a hot potato and he happened to have possession of it right now. The best he could do was take Cotton and run. Cotton almost definitely had talent as a cultivator, even she hadn''t matured, so she was the main goal here. Selling Candy off again was him looking for a small benefit on the way out. Citrus had expected Candy to take this offer as he was aware of how she treated Cotton up until now. In fact, if he had come here with that proposal yesterday he would have gotten his wish. Now though...


    "No. Cotton is mine. I do not need you to grant me freedom as Ares already has. I don''t care what the rest of the world thinks of me. I will be Ares'' wife and Cotton will be our child. You cannot stop it so, if I were you, I would be looking for a way to make the most of it. I don''t doubt you''ll try and con him into accepting some sort of deal so you ought to get thinking because he isn''t so easy to fool. I have the power now. I know I can''t get out of this house but I demand changes to it. I want internet and a private investigator. Also, I want the damn lighting fixed and better meals for my daughter. I don''t care if you make me go hungry but Cotton eats well from now on. if you can''t agree to this I will go scorched earth and call in every single ally Ares has. I''m shameless so don''t tempt me. This is the best you''re going to get. Publicly, you will have the fundamental champion as a relative. Be content with that because you aren''t getting any more out of me or him."


    "... What do you need a private investigator for?..." Citrus seemed to be acquiescing to her request provided it wasn''t for nefarious means. It seemed he understood, before even coming here, that his hands were well and truly tied this time. He hadn''t expected Candy''s pagoda clone to go and marry a fundamental champion of all things. Citrus was shrewd but expecting him to foresee this event was an impossible ask. He''d been blindsided and had to go along with Candy''s demands for now. Maybe when Ares entered the picture he could try his hand at turning the tables. Right now though, Ares had become a living legend and opposing him would pit countless people against him. Winning here against Candy would come at a cost so great he would never recover from it, likely because he would be dead as doornails and six feet under.


    DING


    DING


    The visitor alert system rang again but Candy ignored it, the visitors would come in regardless of whether she paid it attention. "I want a private investigator to keep track of Ares and tell me what he''s been up to. He''s my husband and I care. You can choose whoever you want to fill this role and have him report to you as well, I have nothing to hide. Also, I want full control over who can see me and when from now on. I''m guessing Sevorus and Ject have shown up but I want this to be the last time they come anywhere near me. For now, these are my demands. If they aren''t met I will kick up a fuss and bring this whole place down with me. Again, these are my demands for now, there will be more in the future. Don''t you dare even think about complaining after all you''ve put me through. I know you have the stardust to fund each of my requests billions of times over. They won''t inconvenience you in any way so you should be thanking me for not asking for more."


    "..." Citrus narrowed his gaze at Candy but had no more words left to say to her. Lime did but they wouldn''t be anything other than vitriolic spite so he didn''t permit her to open her mouth. "I accept under the condition your internet usage is monitored. You can keep up with the rest of the world all you please but you aren''t allowed to communicate with it, that is my stipulation. I don''t trust you not to try and spread unsavoury rumours about me."


    "Fine. I won''t makes things difficult. I want to be done with you. When Ares comes and frees me, I want to leave and never look back. I will not expose you for all you''ve done provided you leave me and my family, my real one, alone. You can trap me here and keep concocting plans to try and get me to stay until that day comes all you want but when I''m gone, I''m gone for good. Remember that."


    As Candy finished speaking, two ''men'' walked into the room. One was a dragon, currently taking the form of a human, who looked fed up with something and didn''t want to be here. He had a lazy countenance and a perpetual scowl. Chewing on unknown plants with unknown side effects was a hobby of his and there was always something different between his teeth whenever anyone saw him. Candy sincerely hoped one of them killed him at some point but his immune system was unfortunately pretty well developed by this point so it was unlikely. Other than these specific features, Sevorus, the mad scientist, was completely plain and average in every way imaginable. Aside from him, there was also Ject, the anti-magic God... Or rather a clone of him similar to that of the one Terros had sent to work alongside Mako. It took a shape different to that of the real deal but still embodied the rough spirit of the God it was designed after. Put simply, it was a humanoid mass of talismans. No mouth, no eyes, no nose, no nails, no flesh. Just dry, yellow paper with countless inscriptions written neatly on them. This clone actually had a bit of power to it, more than Terros'', due to the nature of its body. Each talisman had its own effect and could technically ward off attackers or maybe even kill them if they were weak enough. The talismans could also disassemble from their current form, fly around, and reform themself. This was showcased as Ject took a seat by having his talisman''s fly over to the seat and reforge his body atop it. Sevorus opted to stand because he really didn''t want to be here long. HIs experiments were getting interesting now a days and he was too busy to care about this trifling matter. He knew what was coming but had been asked to attend this chat regardless and that irked him. Stupid people always did care about the aesthetic of things instead of the actual importance of them. This farcical show was hampering his experiments! Sevorus was the first to open his mouth and say his piece. "I do not care about Candy but I still wish to monitor Cotton. It isn''t anything invasive and it will not take more than a few minutes each month. Other than that I will continue to never be present nor get in your hair. If we both want nothing to do with one another I suggest we keep our interactions to a minimum but I will not permit you locking me out of this house."


    "..." Candy wanted to outright deny him but doing so would be hard. What he wanted wasn''t much and raising a stink about such a minor request would lower her bargaining power considerably going forward. If he just wanted to ask Cotton a few questions, take her temperature, and check her mana flow every now and then... She would have to allow it. "Acceptable but only you. Ject has no reason to show up anymore. In fact he had no reason to show up before this matter anyway. Ject, I did not pick you and I never will."


    The Ject clone kissed teeth it didn''t even have and the sound was like that of grating sandpaper. "Don''t think I don''t know why you picked Sevorus. I wouldn''t be shocked if you wooed this Ares kid just to try and stall my inevitable acquisition of you. Right now I''m too busy with war and nosy cultivators to deal with you but I will in due time. As you''re the one responsible for this I will make you regret it. This hounding I''m receiving from those ignoble rodents will cease eventually. In the mean time I will be paying exorbitant amounts of stardust to throw everything I have, and can find, at the pressure pagoda when it returns. I have a strong feeling when that Ares kid is toppled his allies will mysteriously drop their support for him and leave him in the dust. The cultivation world is fickle and you''ve bet it all on some brat from a lower domain. Fundamental champion? So what? No one is invincible, Candy. His clone will fall and then so will you. So I''ll abide by your demand for now but I''ll return eventually. Don''t go running away before then or I''ll have to track you down and that''s ever so annoying." The Ject clone''s talismans dispersed and exited the house and Sevorus followed suit. Lime wanted to hurl insults but Citrus led her outside. Not before one final attempt to to change the course of today''s events, though. He looked at Cotton and gestured for her to follow him. If Cotton left on her own Candy could say nothing about it. When Cotton shrank back into her mother''s chest and shook her head, however, he gave up and left for good.


    Cotton could tell all of these people were trying to be mean to her mother and so she shied away from them. Candy was happy to see this as it meant there was still hope for them yet. They just needed to outlast everyone''s persistence and then they would be home free. All that was left for them to do was enjoy their time together here for as long as was needed. The improvements to the house Candy had demanded would make things more comfortable for them, that as for sure. Candy estimated the changes would all be implemented in under a week so, until then, and even after, Candy planned on getting to know her daughter for real. She was a cute little fluffball and her pouting face was adorable! Bellona would love this cutie when she finally met her... Candy actually really missed Bellona as she was a great friend; not one she''d known long but someone she looked forward to spending more time with... Another solitary tear dropped from her eye as she already missed her new family. Lovable Ares, honest Bellona, and lunatic Enyo... She wanted nothing more than to share a drink with all again. Actually, she still had some drink in her spatial ring! The Conclave had drained a lot of her stash but not all of it! Booze time!... But now there was another question on her mind as Cotton looked up at her with beady eyes... Underage drinking... Yes or no? Hehehehehehe, yes! Once again, it bared repeating, Candy was an evil woman!