I continue walking around in a circle, the forest floor becoming flattened dirt as my feet pound into such a small area. After what had just happened I needed to think and keeping my body moving was greatly helping keeping my mind still. To prevent destruction in the village it was necessary to go up into the mountains a fair distance so my constant walking wouldn't cause everything to fall over or collapse. The village buildings really weren't that tough, it's not like they were built out of concrete or anything.

"How could I have been so stupid?" I yell out loud to myself.

Ordering that letter be sent out to the lord only made sense at the time. There wasn't going to be more shipments of lumber and their absence would have caused an investigation. But by obviously announcing myself to a ruling power like that whatever time I had to remain in hiding and learning my powers was now gone. It didn't even matter if the whole thing was public or not, the fact the military was now involved means that if they want to make me their enemy they will.

Do they even have the ability to kill a goddess? I don't know if such technology exists in this world. Will I have to start killing armies that show up to end me? They called the village a Goddess cult, something they see needing extermination. They clearly didn't expect me to show up which means goddesses are really some kind of myth in this world, regardless of their actual existence in the past. I exist so therefore there the ones in the past did as well.

These are the sorts of things I was thinking about as I walked around in the forest clearing. My plans for the future, how I could have stayed hidden for longer, and just generally thinking through scenarios that might be possible. I was driving myself crazy really.

"Calm down."

I come to a halt and slap myself on the cheeks. After that I take several long and deep breaths, slowing down my heart rate and breathing as much as possible. This wasn't the end of the world, this was going to happen eventually. There were lots of villages, towns, and cities out there that I've never seen. At this point I pretty much have to visit one of them.

Closing my eyes I can see that I have many worshipers in the nearby village which would mean I can at least travel there because of the territory expansion. There weren't enough people in the town further to the north for me to risk going there at the moment, but at least this other village would be a prime candidate. Taking someone with me from Doovlin would be important though, probably Miya.

Well this would be my next course of action. At this point I have nothing to lose. So with my plan in mind I walk back to the village. It didn't take more than a minute to get all the way back there anyway.

On my approach it could be seen that there was a large gathering in the middle of the town square, the defunct leaders of the village including Jenson all standing in the middle on a pile of boxes. Their goddess had sort of just left immediately after the soldiers ran off into the woods for an hour or more with barely an explanation of "going to think." I'm sure they were all worried about what exactly their future fate would involve. The least I could do is calm their fears. I'll fight even at risk of my own life for them at this point.

My thundering footsteps caused them to all hush and turn to look at me as I walked carefully through the village towards the village square. Once I was just close enough to gathered crowed to speak to them and hear them comfortably I carefully sat down and let out a long sigh. There would have to be some thought put into what I'll say to them, but I'm bad at speeches and winging it is sort of how I've always rolled.

"Hello everyone" I start. "I'm sure you all have a lot of worries and fears right now."

The crowd was silent, staring up at me like a flock of lost sheep, so I continued.

"Well first let me tell you I'm not abandoning anyone. They can call you a cult if they want, but no matter what kind of forces they send to attack you I'll be here to defend you, with force if necessary."

There was a great collection of sighs and I could feel the waves of relief in the gathered villagers. Now of course the questions started from various people in the crowd.

"What if they send more soldiers? Will you kill them?"

"Will we have to fight?"

"I think you should just stomp over to that jackass's castle and smash it flat!"

This last comment seemed to gain traction in the crowd and other people starting sharing in the sentiment.

"Yeah! You're a goddess! Why should you accept hostilities?"

"Go and show them who's really in charge!"

They continued to talk among themselves about how their goddess should assert her authority and whatnot. I started rubbing my temples and closed my eyes. This combined with my deep and drawn out sigh caused them all to quiet down and settle a bit. Miya was actually the next to speak, probably urged by her father who was standing next to her on the stage.

"Everyone please! Let's hear what the goddess has to say. She's always been peaceful with us, please don't suggest violence so unabashedly!"

There was still some murmuring among the crowd but it settled down again once I lowered my hands and opened my eyes. The look in my eyes must have been pretty intense as I felt a wave of fear wash over the crowd before fading. It would be pretty startling to have your goddess glare out in determination like I had. Visiting other locations was going to have to be the next step in the plan.

"Alright so here's the situation everyone. I'm going to come out and tell you you're goddess's plan so you have no reason to fear or falter in your faith."

I adjust myself in my cross-legged sitting pose and let my pause hopefully create some dramatic tension. That was supposed to make people pay attention more I remember.

"So. The local lord knows about my existence. This was inevitable. Do you really think a goddess walking around in the mountains was going to stay a secret forever?"

There was a murmuring again in the crowd as I look down over them, now with a much softer expression on my face.

"Obviously the entire kingdom is going to know about me eventually. I'm going to have to answer the prayers of many people from many villages and towns. What this means for all of you is something very important. You'll have to learn how to share me with others."

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This got them talking again. One man shouted up at me.

"But you're our goddess! We're the ones that found you!"

"That's right" yelled a woman. "You came to us first!"

I crossed my arms and frowned. "You realize you don't own me right? You act like this village isn't special or something. I mean this village will obviously be a holy place that people pilgrimage to as the birthplace of a goddess. That's pretty important right?"

While the reactions of the villagers were important I was especially interested in the group standing on the small stage. Miya unexpectedly looked nervous, worried about being replaced or something. The other adults were clearly thinking about the implications of their village being a holy site.

Jenson was the next to speak. It was pretty funny seeing him be all formal and serious about me now all of a sudden. Having your life almost end kinda helps people find religion.

"So goddess Jenna. What will we do once the lord and the nobles of this province decide to come to try and control you? Right now there is no official religion in the kingdom and they'll likely try to create one for you in order to better curtail your follower's influence."

I sighed and looked down at the ground, still with my arms across my chest.

"Yeah yeah. I'm obviously a threat to their power. Where I came from I vaguely remember there was something called the separation of church and state. Basically it meant the government and the religion stayed on one side of the room and didn't interfere with each other's business. I would want to take that approach. Any church that starts in my name will be wholly under my control and I'll avoid trying to rule the kingdom or whatever."

As the villagers sort of whispered to each other about what that meant and what that would look like another voice spoke up. It was the old man Jackson who ran the inn.

"A measured and wise response. As expected of a goddess such as you. There is one thing I would like to ask you if you would permit if great Jenna."

This caused the villagers to fall silent and turn to him as they wondered what sort of question he would ask. I as well lowered my arms and looked down to him curious. By the look on his face he was clearly nervous but you could tell he was stalwart in his decision to ask whatever it was.

"You have my permission to ask anything you want" I replied.

"Thank you goddess." He then cleared his throat. "There is one thing I've been wondering since we first learned of your existence that has been nagging at me and causing troubled thoughts. I'm sure many in the village might share in my concern but likely are too fearful to ask you. I am an old man and am not afraid to be struck down."

I almost felt like telling him to get on with it, but my silence seemed to be the clearance he was waiting for to continue.

"The goddesses of old were all goddesses of something. The sun, the harvest, life, childbirth, and so on. I know when we first met you that you had said you didn't know what you were the goddess of. I would never accuse you of lying but it seems unlikely you would be unaware. You have been hiding this from us so now I ask plainly."

He paused for a moment as the crowd waited on baited breath.

"What exactly are you goddess of?"

There was a silence so thick I could feel it. Small beads of sweat formed on my forehead and it was obvious to everyone that I was embarrassed and nervous about this question. It must look pretty damn suspicious to everyone that I couldn't even give an immediate answer to something so simple. The honest truth of course was that I had no idea myself what I was goddess of. Should I just come out and tell them? Would I look weak or stupid? After a few moments of thinking about it I decided complete honesty was the best option. I had nothing to lose anyway.

"Ahem."

I cleared my throat, pricing the awkward silence and causing a few people to jump in surprise at its suddenness. After a quick deep breath I placed my hands on my lap and sat up as tall as I could.

"Up to this point I've been going all in and I see no reason to change that approach now. Do you want the honest truth? I don't know what I'm goddess of. I thought at some point it would pop out at me or be revealed. Maybe my worshipers are supposed to choose for me. Really at this point I could pick something random if it pleased you so much. Deities are supposed to be manifestations of aspects and I couldn't tell you exactly what I'm supposed to represent."

With some difficulty I bow my head to humble myself before them.

"I apologize for failing all of you."

The crowd remained silent for what seemed like minutes. I had closed my eyes with my head still bowed, sweat forming on my forehead as I tightened my face in preparation for them rejecting me as some kind of fraud or failure. How long actually passed I had no idea, every heartbeat filling me with more dread for what was to come. The scenarios rushing through my head in a wild expression of imagination.

It was then that Miya's voice came up from below. It was calm and kind, the voice of someone trying to comfort another.

"Goddess."

I had been so preoccupied with my doom filled future scenarios I hadn't been paying attention to my goddess zone, so when I opened my eyes I was completely taken aback. There on the ground the entire crowd had gathered around my legs in a semi-circle, their faces looking up at me with such kindness and acceptance. Even that bastard Jenson was there. They all raised their arms and held out their hands towards me, those that were close enough touching my legs and feet.

"We all love you and are ever so thankful for you coming to our village." Miya continued. "We would never see you as a failure."

Various voices in the crowd spoke up in agreement. I could feel the overflowing wave of acceptance and love flowing out of them and into me, a form of worship so pure it made my heart feel like bursting.

My vision became blurry, tears welling up in my eyes and streaming down my face. I lifted my head and covered my eyes with one hand, my face blushing red from embarrassment as I cried in front of my worshipers. Even as I tried to control myself I couldn't stop the sniffling and tears. They all just stood there watching me, never once mocking me as I struggled to control myself.

Eventually after a minute or two, though it felt like a very long time, I was able to pull myself together again. With deep breathing I got myself under control, wiping my eyes and nose on my arms and dress. My face also faded back to its pale complexion as I looked down to the villagers again.

They had all stepped back again, giving me some space as I finished recovering.

"Thank you."

It was all I could think to say. After having an emotional breakdown in front of them if they still worshiped me it meant either they were crazy or I was really worth following. Probably a little bit of both to be honest.

"Well I didn't even get to the next step of my plan. I was going to go visit the next door village and introduce myself officially. You all wouldn't mind that would you?"

Miya smiled and walked over to in front of my knees. "You don't have to ask permission from us great Jenna."

The sun was beginning to drop low in the sky, the orange light of sunset already starting. It looked so beautiful, like fire glowing over the horizon. I wouldn't be able to visit anywhere tonight, it would have to wait until tomorrow.

I sniffed a bit more and smiled back at her and then to the crowd. " I'll have to go visit tomorrow. Perhaps during the time before I leave and while I'm gone I can ask you all to help decide what I'm goddess of. You all know me well enough to figure something out. You'll be coming with me right Miya? I'll need my high priestess."

Miya's father Duncan cleared his throat. "If I could make a suggestion. It would perhaps be best if we decided that before you left and introduced yourself to others. Miya will take a short while to prepare herself in the morning anyway."

This seemed like a good idea so I simply nodded my head. Then with arms still weakened from my emotional outburst I push myself to standing again. The crowd of people below was so tiny and yet all of them people I cared for so deeply. What would it be like for me once I had thousands of worshipers? The people in the other village that prayed to me I hadn't even met yet. It was the right thing to do for me to go visit them.

"If you excuse me everyone I have to go collect some things before nightfall. Thank you all for continued to accept me as your goddess."

There was a great cheer from the crowd as I turned to walk away. I was literally glowing with joy as I walked out of the village, my hair seeming like a lightbulb in the fading light of the day. I only barely noticed myself, though I'm sure the villagers were filled with even more devotion to my at the sight. At the moment there were so many thoughts swirling in my mind I had decided on a small overnight project to help me focus.