"It's fine, my god! She had a heart attack, but I fixed her right up!"

"Thanks, Temp."

I put my clawed hand on her abdomen.

"What exactly happened?"

"My god, I think the alcohol was bad."

"Too much?"

"No, my god. Contaminated with lead."

I retract my clawed hand.

"Lead? Seriously?"

"Yes, my god. Not enough to kill her, though. The heart attack was likely brought on by the stress it caused to her cardiovascular system. She had a heart condition already; the lead and alcohol pushed it over the edge."

"Hraah. Thanks, Temp. Can you fix her heart condition and remove all the excess lead in her body?"

"Yes, my god!"

It's like everyone in my family had to die early. Except for that life-sucker of a mother, who probably—

"Huaaaah?"

Rh, Alessica's up.

"Easy, easy. You're okay."

"What?! Huh? W—wha... Where am I?"

"The Chronometric Temple."

She looks around.

"Am I dead?"

Hrah!

"No, this is my temple. I built it."

"Who are you?"

Reh. What?

"Chronovoid, formerly Rafien."

"Ehm? No, you. Agh. How can—"

"You said I was our mother's mirror."

"That—"

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it."

"No! No, it's— it's not that."

She looks around again.

"Are you SURE I'm not dead?"

"Reah, Alessica. You're not dead."

She snaps to looking at me.

"You— said... Rafien?"

"Reah. Former occupation, fast food eatery. Current occupation, deity. This is my temple."

I gesture to my grand Chronometric Temple.

She gives me a weird look.

"Why are you... Like that?"

"See-through and shiny?"

She nods.

"Who knows. I sure don't."

"When I was drunk, I can't remember..."

I activate Void Will for a moment.

This doesn't need to be a trial at every step.

"Eh? Oh. I thought you were Rafien because I saw you handling my parents' items. My mind replaced your clear figure with my brother."

"Alessica, I am Rafien. Reh, I was."

"What? No, how? He's been dead for—"

"I'm a Deity."

She looks at me oddly.

"I suppose that makes sense?"

"It doesn't, but never mind. I'd like to know why you brought that huge rock into your bedroom."

"Oh. Rafien always loved dragons. I figured, the only way a rock like that randomly shows up is if a dragon put it there. It reminds me of him."

"That's why you did that?"

She looks at me hesitantly.

"May I... Sit up?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I make a nice plush chair from Mana. Then, I offer her my hand. She doesn't take it. She gets up and sits on the chair.

"Rafien would've never done any of this."

"I regretted a lot."

"I couldn't let him go, though, because he was all I had."

"You seem to have a pretty decent husband."

"Oh, you met Kalai?"

"He checked himself into the psych ward."

She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds like him. No, I mean my blood relatives."

"They're... All gone? Even mother?"

She breathes in.

{*shwaaah*}

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm here. Though my name's changed."

"No offense, but I only half-believe that because I'm probably dead from drinking too much. Rafien would totally become a dragon in the afterlife."

"None taken— but you're lucky. I became a dragon in this life and saved you from dying. Drink less alcohol, or at least switch brands. That one has lead in it."

"Lead?"

"Same question I had. But yes."

"Then, where is this?"

"My planet."

"Yours?"

I nod.

"Rah. Dragons can fly, you know. Want a tour?"

"I like rollercoasters, but— I'm not so sure."

"One moment."

I scale myself up to roughly the size of a commercial passenger jet.

"How 'bout now? Think you'll feel safer?"

"You... Really are a deity?"

"Rhmhm. One ticket for takeoff, wanna fly?"

She mentally stalls for a moment.

"Eh. Why the hell not."

"Raha, great!"

I use Causal Decoherence to float Alessica onto my back. My wings grow out, then I push off. Slowly— to avoid injury. We fly up to the largest skylight, then out through it.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/140.png]

"Damn, this is wild."

"Reah, but it's pretty tame compared to my daily schedule."

"What kind of things do you do around here?"

"Rah, you know, the usual. Conquer planets, travel to other galaxies, eat said galaxies. Earlier today, I killed the deadly sin, Greed, as well as recruited Pride into my temple."

"The usual godly stuff."

"I call it deity stuff; I lost my god title."

"I don't get it."

"Me neither. Being a deity doesn't give me all the answers, unfortunately."

"So, why did you come back... Ra..."

She stops.

"It's fine. You can call me by my new name: Chronovoid. You don't have to say Rafien."

"Your name means 'time void?' Why?"

"Again, I don't know. I didn't exactly pick that name."

"So. Why'd you come back? Twenty two years. It's a long time to be gone."

"It's only been eight, going on nine days for me. I was reborn as a little lizard about nine days ago."

"Sounds like an origin story."

"It literally is an Origin story! Though, I came back because I was led to Earth by that rock in your bedroom. Bafflingly, it had our parents' items inside. I didn't even know Earth still existed before I was led right to your doorstep."

"You didn't know?"

"I had no idea this universe included Earth. This planet we're on right now is many billions of parsecs from Earth."

"Parsecs?"

"Rah, a parsec is equal to around three point three light years."

"I don't get it."

"Reh, hrem. That's around thirty one trillion kilometers. Earth is about twelve thousand seven hundred kilometers wide. One parsec is about two point four billion Earths long. The universe is really freakin' big."

She looks even more confused. Sorry Alessica, I'm not able to explain the size of the universe. Maybe I'll show it to you someday.

We fly over Chronomet's Nest. She looks down at all the dragons flitting about.

"I'm guessing those are more dragons? They're bigger than you if I can see them from up here."

"Raha, sis. I'm bigger than this solar system. They've got nothing on me."

"Wh—"

"Deity, remember?"

"I can't wrap my head around that."

Hrr. This could be fun.

"You want a visual aid to help you understand?"

"Uh, I guess so?"

"Alright, I'll transfer you. Rah, it's like teleportation."

"Okay?"

I transfer her next to my temple, now sitting in a chair in the same position she was sitting on me. Then, I transfer out to space, well outside the solar system. Finally, I scale to max size.

Nope! I have to stop because it seems I've gotten bigger yet again. Hreh, is this what they say about how dragons never stop growing? Nreh! But the result is the same.

I cast a light spell, then use Causal Conduit so it doesn't take a long time for the light to reach the planet. I check my mental map. Many are already gawking and pointing, but Alessica is looking around cluelessly.

"... Alessica, look up. ..."

She looks up, stands in shock, then instantly trips over her own foot and falls into the dirt.

Hreh. Normal reaction.

I pop a copy over next to her, then offer her my hand to get up. She goes to take it, sees it's my crystalline hand, then jerks her hand back.

She gets up and looks up to the sky again.

I wave at her.

She looks at my copy next to her.

"Deity, right?"

"Rmh."

"Your visual aid is plenty. I think it broke my mind, though."

I shrink, then transfer and merge myself into my copy.

"Reh, but now you know I'm larger than the other dragons. The only one who's bigger is Pride. He was smaller but we did an operation to fix his stunted growth. With a name like Pride, he's proud to have his full size back."

"He's bigger than you?"

"I have more potential than him, but reah, for now. My full size still isn't enough to compare with one of his scales. He might be galaxy-sized; we haven't tested for obvious reasons. I'm currently clearing out a spatial void I'll be using later, whi—"

"GALAXY?!"

"Dragons get pretty big, sis."

A long pause.

...

I think she's overwhelmed.

"Ruh, you wanna go back to Earth?"

"I've had enough giant dragons for today."

"I'll assume that's a yes."

I transfer us both back to her condo.

"Then, do you mind if I take that big rock?"

"I do. It's all I have left of Rafien."

"I can make you a replica. Or, no. How about I make you a model of myself?"

"Are you really Rafien?"

"Rah, yes! I was."

"Then, no."

"Hruh?"

"Come back to see me often. You can have the rock."

"I'd give you a hug, but, yanno. Dragon."

"Pffff."

She laughs quietly.

{"Hahaha."}

I materialize an inscription slab, inscribe it, then place it down on her bed. She points at it.

"What's that?"

"It can contact me; I'll come say hello. If you're ever in trouble or need money or whatever, same deal. I figure you wouldn't want me showing up while your husband is home. He didn't seem too happy that I exist."

"He's an atheist."

"Rah, right. I'm a deity."

"This whole situation is absurd."

"I feel the same way. Though, I've recruited a lot of good dragons, met many good people, and reconnected with you. It's all been worth it. Until now, I was worried about my past. Our past. You know what I mean."

She nods.

"Uhm, two things before you go."

"Sure, what's up, sis?"

"How long will you live?"

I grin toothily.

"Forever."

"Amazing! Can I have some money?"

"Hraw hraw hraw!!! Rawr!"

"Is that a 'no?'"

Roh, that was the hardest I've laughed in a while. I'm glad you're here, Alessica.

"Of course you can have money; dragons are all rich. Me especially. It's just hilarious you asked for my lifespan first."

"Well, aren't dragons more generous when you praise their incredible power? It's what Rafien; what you always said."

"Indeed. Now you have a choice between emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, instead of only sapphires. Good job!"

"Huh?"

"Did you think a dragon had paper money?"

"I suppose I did. May I have some rubies?"

"Only if you don't spend them on booze."

"Since you're alive, maybe... I can quit."

"I won't hold you to it, but let's not make temple visits a regular thing unless it's for fun."

"Deal."

I put out my hand.

She looks at it.

...

We shake.