Huh…

That’s all I could think as L’vanah and her group disbanded.

They returned to their homes and eventually slept leaving me in a deep silence.

I had told myself that I wouldn’t interfere so long as the situation didn’t bear the possibility that I would be harmed but it seemed as though L’vanah and her fellow conspirators were adamant on their mission to make an enemy of me.

I returned to my Doll body and heard as Tal’s laughs filled the air above.

Seemed like she was having fun with Musa but, although I really wanted to listen to it voices some more, I summoned my Eshu doll and tried sending into it a separate Belt. It was dressed in a robe similar to the first one I took from the dying Pāttiram all that time ago in that it had no sleeves and was a deep purple.

It began moving in accordance to my will but I couldn’t see through its eyes.

“Any suggestions?” I asked as the doll swayed from side to side.

It’s eyes then widened and it stood upright before crossing its arms.

[Why are you asking if you already know what my answer will be?]

“I just wanted to hear your opinion, is all.”

Eshu’s burning red eyes narrowed.

[Huh… alright. Let me try seeing it your way. They may be plotting something but that alone isn’t reason enough to sic your hound on them. Wait for them to act and then respond in kind. After all, you’re trying to be a fair and just God.]

“My Lady?” Musa called as he and Tal entered the bedroom.

I glanced at Eshu to find that his eyes weren’t burning and his arms weren’t crossed, almost as if he hadn’t moved at all.

“Yes, my dear?” I asked while sitting up.

“Oh- we just thought you were elsewhere.” Musa said as he took his shoes.

Tal joined him in placing her shoes by the door.

The two then changed into some pajamas and joined me in bed but whereas I would usually wrap my arms around both of them, they chose to lay down by themselves at my sides.

I let out a groan before turning to Musa while my Eshu doll left the room.

I raised my brows twice but this made the young man frown in confusion.

“Well? How did it go?” I whispered knowing full well Tal could hear me.

Musa realized what I was asking about and, after chuckling, he grinned.

“I can’t say. You’ll have to ask her yourself.“ He smiled before turning over and letting out an exaggerated yawn.

“Goodnight!”

I bit my teeth and turned to Tal to find that she was staring at me.

“Yes?” She asked.

I took a deep breath before looking into her big, beautiful grey eyes.

“You… it has been a delight watching you grow and although I know you said you didn’t want anything for your birthday, is there really nothing else I can do for you?” I asked and my voice sounded a bit more desperate than I intended.

Tal smiled before reaching for my left hand.

I gave it to her and watched as she gently held it.

“You gave big bro and I these divine bodies. How could we ever ask for anything else?”

“Musa asks for things all the time.” I scoffed and this just made Tal giggle.

“That may be true but we are, at least for the most part, content. Everything else is… inconsequential.”

“Really?”

“Yes- but if you really want to do something for me, we could visit the Cavern. It has been quite some time since I was there.” Tal said making me nod.

“Good. Now go to sleep, young lady.” Tal giggled but all I could do was gasp.

“Do you know how much older than you I am? It would take a number larger than you can comprehend to multiply in order for you to reach the number of years that I’ve existed!”

“Yeah, yeah. We get it. You’re really old.” Musa snickered from behind me and the air froze from the amount of hatred my eyes were oozing as I turned to face a certain punk.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Please be nice, Musa. Also, Our Lady looks quite beautiful, considering her age.” Tal laughed and I considered, for a moment, pulling my moon closer and crushing these two assholes but I instead let out a maniacal laugh.

“Alright. I think that’s enough, no?” I asked and my voice alone was enough to make Musa and Tal freeze.

“Yes, My Lady.” They both said before closing their eyes to sleep.

I scoffed once victoriously and eventually joined them in sleep although we weren’t like ordinary organisms.

We couldn’t really sleep.

We could only drift only a state were we were less conscious of the moment.

.

..

Tal’s birthday eventually arrived and we made our way to the Cavern and were allowed into the abandoned city.

Large crossbeams and pillars lined the space. These served to hold up the City of Pele.

Beneath them were the buildings where the Chofumah once worked and lived.

The layer of Glass that lined the ceiling was to be untouched so as no to compromise the stability of the city above.

Tal led us to her home on the southern end of the Cavern.

We stood by the entrance of the small wooden house.

Musa and I allowed Tal some silence as she stared at the old place.

“It was all a blur to me… back then.” Tal muttered.

“It went from being a day just like any other to a rush for survival-“ Tal gasped before turning to face me revealing the panic writ on her face.

“Is Uncle Pazia still…?”

I nodded.

“Can we please visit him?”

I nodded once again before turning around and leading my children out of the Cavern.

I took a deep breath, taking in the fresh and cool air of the Elephantine Forest, and led the way back our ship.

I then took us all the way to Kupumzika where we landed on a landing pad on the roof of Hatua’s largest hospital.

We accompanied Tal to one of the rooms where Pazia slept. He was being kept alive by countless machines which fed his brain and other organs the nutrients they needed but he told me that he was fine with even thus just so long as he could live to experience the new age.

He, like all those of his kind, could not escape the death that was meant for him after pushing his body to heights which no normal humanoid could even think to survive.

He served as a Fire Breaker, fought in the Great Shrimp War and swam across the Ocean Makor.

He would go on to help build most of modern cities of the world.

He had also chosen to save Tal all that time ago and for that, I was grateful.

Musa and I decided to wait outside the room as she entered it.

We sat by two chairs across the door and watched it closed.

A moment passed and I turned to Musa before lightly kicking him in the leg.

“Traitor.” I scoffed.

“What? I think everything went according to plan.” He grinned but I just scoffed again.

I ruffled his hair while trying not to think about what Tal was saying or doing in the room.

Musa pushed my hand away and although I wanted to continue annoying him, Tal exited the room shortly after, prompting Musa and I to stand.

She gave us a weak smile and we smiled back before accompanying her back to the ship.

We made our way home and just as I readied myself to say goodbye to Musa, allowing him to return to work, he stretched his arms and groaned loudly before pointing at the exit.

“Let’s go to the beach!” He yelled but I tilted my head in response.

“Why?”

“What better way to spend this day than together, at he beach, beneath the beautiful sun and surrounded by our people?” Musa asked and I turned to Tal who I knew was on the more shy side.

I wanted to voice my concerns but she squeezed her fists and nodded.

“Let’s go!”

“I’ll make some snacks! You two get changed! I can just wear some shorts!” Musa yelled while rushing into the kitchen.

Tal smiled brightly before rushing down the stairs and into the bedroom.

I followed her inside and, after letting out a sigh, removed my gown revealing my form.

Well… the form of my Doll.

Neither I nor my children had genders in the same way a living organism would, instead we had forms that reflected our souls and my form was on the more feminine side.

I had no breasts or genitalia but my facial features were soft and rounded and I had wide hips.

It would be unthinkable for a goddess to go the beach in a Bikini so I instead opted for a flowery purple skirt which reached my ankles and single purple strip of cloth to wrap around my chest. Sitting on top of my head was a large, purple sun hat and even though they were completely unnecessary, I created a pair of sunglasses.

“What do you think?”

I tuned around to find Tal wearing an adorable, deep purple, skin tight wetsuit.

She also wore a purple head wrap and had the biggest, bestest smile on her face.

“Beautiful.” I spoke the only words that came to mind.

She reacted by shyly looking away much to my delight.

We then ascended to where Musa had prepared our lunches.

He gave us rushed compliments before running down to grab a pair of shorts only for him to return with what I refused to call shorts.

It was a speedo.

He must have noticed my perplexed expression but he shrugged at my reaction.

“What?”

“Those aren’t shorts!” I pointed out while Tal snickered as she packed everything into a bag.

“I disagree. If pants reach your ankles and shorts are short pants… then what I’m wearing are short shorts.” Musa nodded to himself as he joined me in following Tal outside.

“Err…” I wanted to argue that he was somehow wrong but he looked so happy in his delusion that I decided to let him be.

We eventually reached the western beach of the Island of Tablets and, as expected, many gathered to see their goddess.

It’s a good thing we hadn’t invented cameras or the internet yet otherwise, for the first time in billions of years, I’d have felt self conscious.

We placed all of our things in a beachside gazebo and, after placing a towel on the sand, I sat down and bathed in the sunlight as Tal organized our things.

Musa, on the other hand, lightly stretched and I got a bad feeling in my stomach.

“Hey, sis!” He called.

“Yes?”

“How fast do you think you could circumvent Our Lady?”

My eyes widened to their limits and I watched as a grin formed on Musa’s face.

“Mmm… I’m not sure. Why?”

“Let’s do it. Last one back here has to clean my place.”

“What? How is that fair?” Tal asked as she stomped towards her bother but the idiot dismissively waved his hand.

“Hey, if you’re afraid you’ll lose, you can just say so-“

“Alright, fine! Sorry, My Lady, we’ll be back in a moment. Or should I say that I will be back in a moment.” Tal scoffed as she stomped towards the ocean.

Musa chuckled before sneaking a glance at me.

I simply gave him a smile and, after nodding, he ran after Tal and the two body stood in the water for a bit as the crowd behind me watched in anticipation.

They were kept a few meters away by Caretakers although I didn’t mind if they got close.

I then blinked and what followed was an explosion of water.

Tal and Musa were kicking the water’s surface so hard as they ran on it that thousands of liters of water were launched into the air.

And I was right behind them when they started so I was soaked in water along with everyone behind me.

Whoever got back first would have won, yes, but they would also be the first to punished for getting me wet.