Nothing feels unusual when her neck pops and her body feels energized just as new. Her eyes are closed, still too sensitive to the light, and her body still sore from previous activities.
So she curls her lithe figure into a ball, draping the fluffy blanket over her head and sinks into her comfy mattress and—
She pauses.
Her body proceeds to bolt out of the heavenly comfort and scramble her bearings. Her vision was blurry and her mind, unorganized.
Were her previous assumptions of reincarnation wrong and just some kind of fever dream? Was it all a dream her mind cooked up for her to digest?
She smacks her cheeks. Not a dream. She was in reality. Sighing, she fiddles with her hair that reminded her of the earl grey tea she used to make once upon a time. She stands up on her feet, the white robes on her person overflowing like a blanket cloak.
Her ears catch the sound of wood creaking and groaning. It became louder with each step and stops in front of the door. To the room, she was currently inhabiting.
Stranger danger, her mind voiced, crooning.
The little goddess pauses. Then, panics. She looks around wildly and resolves to scramble under the bed when the door swung open.
She feels her antlers stick in some places, a noise in her throat voicing her discomfort at her current predicament. She hears a soft click and a few pops, but then her nose catches a smell.
She took a big whiff. It smelled like cinnamon but with a hint of something else. Another smell that seemed like… wheat?
In one moment she's in the darkness, the next she's bathed in light. She hears a rustle and goes to turn her head, but her antlers are stuck in the bedding. She does succeed in some movement, her eyes meeting a bright blue, almost green, eyes that stare at her in curiosity and uncertainty. Light blonde hair cascaded to the floor like silk and the girl could only watch the beautiful Goddess' eyes widen.
"It's okay, you're safe now." The ethereal beauty cooed. "It might hurt to get out because of your—" She gestures to her head, the goddess' eyes tracking her every movement in wonder.
Damn, she's really pretty. Her cherub cheeks pinked.
She opened her mouth to voice her thoughts but sneezed when tiny dust particles entered her nostrils. She sneezed again, to her embarrassment. "S-stuck." Her voice stutters out, small and high-pitched.
"I… see." Pretty lady sits and—well, not that she can see anything else from her ankles and up.
Suddenly, she's greeted with the relief of her discomfort and the supply of oxygen that she can breathe freely. Her eyes wander towards the woman and she gasps.
Strings of purple protruded her the woman's fingertips towards the bed that she hid under. Her other hand stretched towards her, purple strings lazily wrapping around her waist and bringing her to sit next to the woman.
The bed lands without a hitch, the blankets, and pillows fix themselves brand new.
"Whoa…" She breathes out in awe, "How in the world—How—Where—"
"Who are you?" She finally chooses to say, her eyes sparkling in wonderment and awe. Child-like wonder.
"My name is Salem. I'm your rescuer."
"'Rescuer'?" She repeats, confused. She's had only but good memories when she'd got here. Though the only downside was the energy she wastes every time she wakes up and has to fall back to her bed. "Rescue for what?"
She was just… content to be there—here. There was nothing to worry about, no adult life to prepare for, no more having to live up to the expectations of others, and many others that she could list.
"You were being imprisoned there, did you know that? Locked away and sheltered from the world—here." Salem gestures to the window. Trees obscured the view, but the sun managed to filter through.
"But-" she sniffs, looking ready to sneeze. "But I liked it there. Peaceful, and quiet, and…" She finally sneezed after some coaxing. The sweet relief that passed through could satisfy her for ages.
"Yes," Salem closes her eyes like a bringer of bad news and goes to put a tray of food on her lap. "But that's what I thought when my own blood sheltered me from the world." She pats the side of her, smoothing the green blanket on the bed, gesturing her to sit.
The goddess frowns. Her own blood, a parent. She takes a long glance at Salem's pretty face and takes an imaginary picture and places it into an album.
Salem held a wooden plate towards her. "You must be hungry for sleeping so long, so I've prepared some breakfast for the both of us." There were two pairs of wheat bread with a thin spread of unmelted butter on one side and the remaining had a think spread of berry jam. She got a small whiff of raspberries from the dark spread.
She forgets the question on the tip of her tongue, steering it to the topic of the food laid in front of her.
The little goddess watches the woman beside place the two together like a sandwich. Her mind questioned if there truly was the right way to eat jam on toast and butter on the other end.
Why couldn't she have melted the butter, though?
Ever since she's lived here, she's never had felt the need to eat. The animals she would see parading around her would leave after she'd interacted with them, so there wasn't thought to eat them.
That, and it felt somewhat wrong to eat the tiny animals that come and comfort her.
She reached for the piece that had jam on it and took a small nibble. She paused, swallowing. At least she still has her sense of taste, and the jam was indeed raspberry but with another added spice kicked into it.
It was great for a piece of morning toast.
No longer did she feel for pretentious manners. She took a bite of the bread and munched happily, the jam smearing on her face.
It wasn't difficult to enter the domain of the progenitor goddess. The animals surrounding the entrance scattered once they sensed her, clearing the path.
Geese sounded their presence. Squirrels chirped their discomfort. The birds that were hidden behind the red leaves of the many trees in the area camouflaged like an assassin.
The creations of the Sister Goddess were wonderful. It was unfortunate that mankind has made them a sport to hunt and a way to fill their appetite.
It was a maze, Salem discovered, a labyrinth of vegetations and flowery vines tangled each corner. Mystifying and treacherous. A way to keep unworthy outsiders out.
Of course, the God of Light would create such a pathway and Darkness his opposite would make it perilous.
An immortal child borne of their pact, proven successful and prospered humanity together. Books, journals, and texts that were in her father's grand library described the miracles that magic that this creation of the gods held.
A miracle like curing the depths of the mind and healing injuries. One miracle that urged her to come here was the golden blood that ran through the husk of the Gods' creation.
Blood that can make one invincible and healthy, but incredibly toxic to humans.
It was a miracle disguised as a trap. A destructive curse disguised as a blessing.
(... "Life and Death are a delicate balance, and they shouldn't ever be crossed with one another." …)
Light blamed humanity's greed that was formerly the worship. Dark had once retracted all his fascination for the goddess, envious of the worship this new deity held. Now he boasts that all his traits were in this faithful creation of theirs. Hate and greed create a dangerous kind of obsession, the darkness that all of mankind holds.
A pride that still continues to last, but not for long.
She goes there with the intent to take a vial of the mythical golden blood.
Instead, she kidnaps the entire thing housing it—the Goddess herself.
Salem didn't expect them to actually look human-like. If it weren't for the whisps of Light magic surrounding the air around the goddess, she would've thought it was a local's child lost in the domain.
She wraps the child snuggly in her large basket, a way she's been taught when she and Ozma traveled to the east.
One thing Salem didn't notice was the decaying orchids. In their places were lilies and marigolds.
So my email to this account isn't connected to my phone so I don't get the notifications. But once I got the email up and running on my phone- Oh boy, there was a lot of feedback.
It makes happy to see the old and new readers come here.
(April 21, 2020 / Chapter 3 will be out this or the next week. Stay tuned.)
-zakuro