“Now do you believe me?” the alluring voice asked her.

Ellie nodded vigorously, too stunned by…whatever the hell that was.

She had just been going about her day, ordering Uber Eats and doing her damnedest to forget that she was in Witness Protection, when the mystical voice of an invisible woman sounded out in her head. At first Ellie thought maybe she was going mad, or someone was playing a prank on her, until the voice’s owner did something…she couldn’t explain what happened, but now she was willing to believe the owner was someone with magic powers or something similar to that.

“What do you want from me?” she nervously asked, hesitant to even question someone who had demonstrated the kind of capabilities she had.

“I think the better question is, what do you want from me?”

“I think…I want you to protect me…for the rest of my life. Can you do that?” she asked.

The sound of laughter rang out in her head, and even though Ellie wasn’t attracted to women, she felt an undeniable pull towards the sound of that laughter. Like finding out what the person who just made that fairy-tale perfect laughter sounded like.

“Oh darling, you’re hysterical! Really, perhaps you’re more suited to be a jokester than a whore!”

“I am NOT a whore!” Ellie vehemently shouted.

“Oh? Perhaps you have a different understanding of the word than I do. You offer beauty, false promises, and nothing else, and in exchange, you take as much as you can from men without invoking their wrath. Does that sound about right?”

“Shut up! You have no idea who I am, or what my life’s been like! You can’t just come in here and judge me! You’re not a god!” she yelled.

“Are you certain of that, little shrew?” The woman’s voice, once pleasant and carefree, turned harder than steel in an instant, all levity evaporating.

And Ellie remembered what the person was capable of, and finally started to fear for her life, as prey did when it met a predator.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it, please don’t kill me, I’ll do whatever you want!” she begged, her fear lowering her voice to a whisper, as she slid against the wall and ended up on her knees.

“Oh, stop whimpering, little whore. For one such as I, your life has little value to it, as does your death. Though you are correct on one account. I’m not a god. At least, not yet,” she said, and the powerful woman spoke with assurance, as if her godhood was only a matter of time.

“Now…I want you to truly think about my next question. What do you truly desire? What does your heart yearn for above all else? What can you not live without?”

This time, Ellie listened to the powerful being who was an almost-god, and thought about the questions.

What did she want?

Money? It was nice, essential even, but she could always find ways to get it herself.

Love? She nearly snorted at the thought. Love was pointless, no, it was downright poisonous and painful. Her ex rotting in prison and scheduled to die any day now was a perfect example of how love could go wrong. She never wanted to feel that particular type of pain again.

World peace? …Yeah, no, she wasn’t Mother Teresa. People could go fuck themselves for all the help they’d given her.

Power?

Hmmm, it depended on what kind of power though. Oh!

“Can you offer me immortality?” she asked.

“Hahaha, you certainly don’t dream small, little whore. No, that is beyond my ability. Immortality must be earned, unlike other things.”

“Then, what exactly can you offer me? Is there a catalog or something?” Ellie asked.

“How about you tell me what you want first, and we’ll work from there?” the demigod countered.

Ellie had never had great experiences with the vaunted female intuition, but she could tell something was…off with this supposed demigod.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t in a position to do much about it. The only reason she hadn’t been killed yet is that the demigoddess thought she wasn’t worth her time.

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“Then, I want power. The power to stay safe no matter what. The power to make people do as I wish whenever I want. The power to not feel pain, of any kind, ever again.”

“And what do you offer in return for this…gift?” the near-goddess asked.

“My loyalty. I’ll,” Ellie gulped nervously before she continued speaking, “I’ll be your servant or, or your slave…” She thought that if she could be part of the woman’s group of followers, she might be better protected.

“Nice try, but I already have more servants and slaves than I know what to do with. Not to mention the amount of time and resources it would take to get you properly trained! No, offer something else,” she said imperiously.

“My beauty?” Ellie half-asked.

“Sigh, that will fade with time, little whore, unless you happen to be a secret daughter of the ****** bloodline. Tch, these damn restrictions…Besides, I’ve been called beautiful myself on several occasions. I hardly need your beauty to bolster my own.”

Ellie didn’t know what happened, but she wasn’t getting anywhere like this.

She had offered things that she thought the woman would accept, but she had been wrong every time.

Wait, wasn’t this practically a deal with the devil? A mysterious and powerful stranger offered whatever you want in exchange for your soul?

…Would she accept her soul as payment?

“How about my soul?” she offered.

A few seconds of silence followed her proposal, until the powerful woman chose to speak once more.

“Do you even know what your soul is worth, little whore?”

“Does it matter?”

Another eternity of silence ensued, when the woman spoke up yet again.

“Very well.” the woman said, before a subtle yet all-encompassing sensation surrounded Ellie completely.

“I, ********, in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Charter of the Ancients, hereby offer the minor boons of protection, resilience, and seduction to the little whore…what did you say your name was?”

Ellie tried to speak up before and object to the seduction part, but found herself unable to move or react in any meaningful way, until the woman addressed her directly, and her full legal name spilled out of her mouth without her consent. “Eleanor Rigby Irene Cordson.” She always hated that her parents named her after an old Beatles song. They weren’t even alive in the sixties!

“In exchange for these boons, the little whore Eleanor Rigby Irene Cordson, offers her soul willingly and without external influence or undue pressure. I request the Charter to stand witness as the pledge is upheld.”

And within the span of a few seconds, Ellie changed from a prisoner in all but name, to something…more. Something that transcended mere humanity and touched upon a higher concept.

Something powerful.

The power didn’t make her stronger or faster, or even smarter for that matter, but she felt…more of everything. Like there was a tiny fire in her heart, enhancing every part of her on its own.

“Congratulations, little whore. You’ve taken your first step on the path to greatness. You should be able to feel your soul now, and you’ll find my gifts for you in there. Play with them as you will, but don’t take too long. Your world is about to change, and if you want even the faintest chance of falling under my protection, you’ll need to be of use to me.”

Ellie felt the soft fuzziness inside her that was her soul, and the three…things that were hovering there. Just looking at them made her feel more secure.

“What do you want me to do?” she said eagerly.

Three years later…

“How many acolytes have you found so far, ******?”

“Sigh, only twelve. You?”

“Thirty. I’ve glimpsed their culture, and I must say, I expected more to be willing.”

“And this business with devils and souls, do you know who came up with that?”

“Haha, it hardly matters! Whoever instilled that idea among them deserves a gift of the highest order! They’re practically throwing their souls at us! And human souls have such a…specific sensation.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Chaotic, yet ordered. Fickle, yet resolved. They’re just so…contrary, without falling apart. I love it!”

“Don’t forget, we only have a small window before others find this place and the masses begin to awaken as well.”

“I know, I know, you don’t have to be so tiresome about it!”

“Apologies, little sister. It’s just, the chances of finding proper subordinates is growing more and more difficult, and the stress of the quotas we need to meet…not to mention, I heard some rumors that someone already Seeded a human ... before we discovered this place.”

“What?! How is that possible? There was barely any mana for the world to sustain itself when we came! Seeding a human before then would be impossible with the pitiful levels of ambient mana, not to mention it would probably kill whoever was hosting it, as they wouldn’t be able to feed it their own mana.”

“It’s an interesting topic of conversation, but it is just a rumor. Ooh, there’s another one about to end himself! I need to go, but I’ll see you later!”

And like that, the two friends separated once again, their recruitment efforts taking priority over socializing.

After all, without a god overseeing the populace, Earth and its surroundings were ripe for the taking, at least until more powerful entities took notice of the amount of activity going on and made their own claims on the newly awakened masses.