Soft breezes blew over the surface water, sending the steam and mist all around us. It was very peaceful. On the floor hosting the spring, there were koi fish, birds, and a pagoda overlooking it. Several genteel air elementals in the form of animals and humanoids were all around the floor frolicking and playing instruments. Because of the pregnancy, I needed to kill some time so I could give birth. I went up to them and asked them what they were doing near the Spring of Aether. They shrugged and said they just lived there and played music for the pleasure and leisure of the God of the Sky. That was cool. "What is the God of the Sky like?" I asked. One of them smiled at me and a gust of wind buffeted us. He must have been really excited. "The God of the Sky is all about freedom and letting us do what we want! We like to play music and we do so for him. Sometimes, he even comes down from his palace to listen and soak in the water. If you stay long enough, you might see him as well." he said. "Do you know about the ones on the lower floors?" I asked. "They wanted to fight!" another answered.
That was pretty interesting. There was no way I was going to tell them about how we killed them all. I looked at the centaurs and said "I think we can rest here for a bit. It is so peaceful here." They agreed and we all got on the pagoda. The air elementals sang and played until the others went to sleep. I was able to doze for a bit while this went on. As time went on, the twin colts were forming and growing inside my body. We got up when the others woke up and I looked around. The centaurs noticed my belly was much bigger. I just shrugged and said "My body is able to produce children really quickly. It's just a special power I have." I said nonchalantly. They did not look like they got it. However, it was not in their nature to question things. That worked in my favor. I then asked if I could get the some of the air elemental's instruments. They looked scandalized and refused. "No way! These belong to us and you can't have them." one said. "Oh!? Why not!?" I asked. "If you take them, then we won't have them to use anymore. You can't do that to us. The God of the Sky said so." the other said to me.
Under normal circumstances, I would not waste my time messing with non hostile NPCs like this. However, I was just killing time. I could tell that the ones at the pagoda were getting angry so I moved on to try and walk around the hot spring. That took the rest of the time. I guess that it was made to be deceptively large. I began to go into labor and I had to push both children out. Horses were not meant to give birth to more than one child at a time. It was apparently true for centaurs as well. After the second one, I was striken with 2 levels of exhaustion. You got exhaustion after exhausting the stamina bar. Going even beyond that for twice as long as your stamina bar gave you another. The first level came with a 25% debuff of all stats and abilities, the second took 50%. The third level was a tax of 75% of everything. After 3 levels of exhaustion, you died. The centaurs and some curious air elementals that were nearby helped clear the afterbirth and helped me into the water. The purifying properties cured the exhaustion instantly. The two children were helped into the water to wash them off.
