Way up on the peak of the mountain it seemed like the earth could touch the sky. The jagged rocks were bare and no green life was anywhere to be found here. Bitter cold was all that interrupted the otherwise empty landscape as if the planet was mimicking the void of space so closely hovering above. Thick ice coated almost everything as a light breeze carried small flakes of snow here and there. The air was thin and no living thing could survive here long.

Here I stood once again, a shining tower atop the lifeless peak. In front of me was the small stone building that served as Miya's crypt. This time however there was no raging storm which allowed the starlight to come down to earth. Looking up I could see the vast expanse of blackness was simply filled with dazzling lights of all manner of colors. It was beautiful. Was my old world out there somewhere? Or is this another universe entirely?

After a few more moments of stargazing I returned my attention to my left hand. This visit to the mountaintop I wasn't alone. Not only was Miya locked up inside me, but I held Timothy in my hand as I was full goddess height. Of course this high up he would die pretty quickly being human as he was. So to make it possible for him to come with me I had placed him inside a magical barrier, a bubble basically.

With a very deep sigh I bent over and placed the sphere on the ground by my feet. It wasn't like a ball that rolled around or anything so it flattened out some as the person moved along the ground. Once it was down I then shifted into my human size and stood in front of the sphere.

"This is where she's buried" I said solemnly.

Timothy stood behind me and stared forward at the small crypt.

"She is still inside you right goddess?" he asked in confusion. "So is she actually like dead at all?"

Of course he had a point. Miya wasn't technically completely dead since her soul was inside me. This burying her was just a show essentially. It had symbolic meaning though and of course a guy like him wouldn't understand it.

"It's alright goddess" Miya said inside me.

I thought back down to her while I sighed externally.

"Yeah yeah. I know he doesn't mean anything by it. Your burial is really more for me than anyone else I guess."

I walked forward, my boots crunching the old ice on the rocky ground. Timothy followed after me and had great difficulty not slipping and falling due to how slick everything was.

"Be careful" I said without turning around.

Once I was standing in front of the crypt I looked up at the ornate stone doors and sighed. This was the first time I'd been back here at this size. It was like visiting a graveyard in my previous life. The tall stone structure as lifeless as the body within. I turned to face Timothy behind me.

"Do you want to see her?"

"Is it alright if he does?" I asked inside simultaneously.

Both of them answered yes.

With full permission I turned back to the crypt doors and reached out with my tiny hands. Even at this size I had enough strength to open them, the indents that served as handles easily big enough for me to grip. As I pulled the doors opened with the crackling of breaking ice but slowly they swung out and exposed the light within.

The bright magical yellow flames I had left burning were still alight inside and kept the place warm enough that ice didn't form. While the room wasn't big it was as large as the average room in a house at least. There in the middle was the large stone slab and on that slab lay the body of Miya. The reddish crystal that contained her body was still intact, not blemishes or chips on its surface.

"Looks like I'm still safe" Miya siad with a smile in her voice. "The burial site you made for me really protects me huh?"

The doors were only open about a foot wide, just enough to let me and Timothy walk through them. Both of us had walked inside and left the doors open. Now that he was in here he could technically be free of the magic sphere as the flames would keep him warm, though the lack of oxygen this high up would still get him. So inside the bubble he stayed.

Timothy walked next to me and looked in awe at the crystal clad girl upon the stone slab. His face blushed red and it seemed he couldn't look away. The reflection of the room sparkling in his eye by firelight.

"Is that really her?" he asked quietly.

I just nodded, one hand on my hip. "Yup. Sure is."

He then walked closer to the body and looked over her whole body, the crystal of course keeping him from touching her at all. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he found Miya attractive, she was a beautiful girl after all. It was almost cute, though we both knew that was just a dead body.

"I wish I could have met her while she was still alive" Timothy said sadly.

"I think he likes you" I thought to Miya with a sly giggle.

Miya was blushing as she replied. "J-Jenna! I'm not that pretty right? Besides he has that other girl that already likes him!"

My giggle escaped me externally as well which caused Timothy to look over at me in confusion.

"What is it goddess?" he asked.

I just let out a small sigh and dropped my hand back to me sides. Then I took a step back into the crack in the open doors.

"I know silly" I thought down.

"Its nothing" I said aloud. "Come on now kid. Lets not let the dead distract you from the living. There's already a girl waiting for you at the temple isn't there?"

This caused Timothy to blush again, the embarrassment clear on his face as he knew who I was referring to. He hurried over to where I was standing and followed me out of the crypt.

"Goddess!" he protested. "You know I'm not established enough to have a relationship! Besides I'm devoted entirely to you so there's no room for a woman in my life."

This made me smile at his silliness. Carefully I pushed on the doors and closed them, the thick stone thumping shut loud enough to echo across the bleak mountaintop. Once it was shut I turned around and grinned up at him.

"Silly boy! Be assured your goddess has no qualms with you having a cute lady in your life. Your heart doesn't belong to me alone. So if there's a cutie that likes you feel free to like her back ok?"

Timothy was blushing even more now and fidgeted around in embarrassment.

"A c-cutie that l-likes me?" he stammered.

We both knew who I was talking about: it was Masiy from the temple. It was obvious she had a thing for him. Even though he didn't know it he had a thing for her too. It might not be conscious but he returned affectionate gestures to her.

With a knowing smile I moved in front of him.

"Alright lets go."

I leapt forward at him without warning and grabbed him around the waist. As my momentum started toppling him to the ground I opened a portal in front of myself that led to one of my worshipers in Doovlin. Both of us tumbled through the glowing circle and off of the mountaintop.

-------

On the other side of the portal was JJ's Drinkery in the middle of Doovlin. Timothy and I tumbled out of nowhere and onto the floor in the middle of the main inn area, the human of course being used to cushion my fall. It wouldn't hurt him of course as I weighed a much as a human child while the size of one.

With a small grunt I pushed myself off my landing pad and into a standing position. While I did this I dispelled the magical bubble around him as it wasn't needed anymore. I brushed off my clothing a bit and huffed.

Timothy groaned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking over at me with a almost pouting face. He didn't say anything though even though he probably wanted to.

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

The owner Jackson was helping the only patron in the inn at the moment, both of them jumping in surprise at the sudden interruption. They looked over to look at the disturbance and seemed relieved when they saw it was me.

"Hello goddess!" the man sitting said with a wave.

"Yes hello goddess" Jackson said with a slight smile. "Nice of you to drop in. Literally in this case it seems.

I smiled back and then reached out my hand to help Timothy stand to his feet. Even though I was much shorter than him I was unmoving and strong which gave him plenty of leverage to stand with even from a sitting position. He still let out a small grunt and once upright had to adjust himself.

"Is this one of your friends?" Jackson asked curiously. "He looks like some kind of priest."

I grabbed one of Timothy's legs and shook it around a little causing him to wobble and yelp.

"Sure is Mr. Juniper! This is Timothy from the capital of Norlov. He's actually my high priest!"

Jackson walked over to us and offered me a deep bow. He then turned to Timothy and gave him a polite bow.

"It's nice to meet you Reverend Timothy. Please forgive me if that's not the correct term, its been quite a while since we've had actual priests as I'm sure you're aware."

Timothy blushed again and clasped his hands together in front of his waist. He looked down nervously.

"No no. Um that's the correct word Mr. Juniper. It's nice to meet you as well."

I giggled and tugged playfully on Timothy's robes.

"He's a bit of a shy one isn't he? I haven't trained him completely yet have I little Timtim? You're just so cute I could eat you up! Wouldn't even be a single bite!"

This made Timothy blush even more and his gaze was firmly fixed on the floor at his feet.

"P-Please goddess! Don't even joke about eating me! T-That would be terrifying..."

Jackson let out a deep laugh and I joined in too. It was all in good fun and it wasn't meant to make Timothy feel bad. To help cheer him up I grabbed around his legs and gave them a tight hug, looking up into his face above me as he was looking down. I had a bright smile on my face.

Of course this made Timothy look up and away in embarrassment.

"We're just having a little fun Timmy" I said releasing his legs. "You know I wouldn't ever hurt you right?"

Timothy sighed and his blush lessened. "Yes goddess."

Jackson then put his hand on Timothy's shoulder and gave it a firm pat.

"The goddess loves you son. You seem to be someone she likes special, just like our high priestess."

That reminded me that I had both a high priest and priestess now. I wondered a little how they would work together once Miya was back but that was a problem for another time.

I cleared my throat. "You're not replacing Miya by the way Timothy. Now that I have a high priest and priestess you'll have to work together once she's back."

Timothy nodded, the reminder of his duties bringing him out of his embarrassment.

"Of course goddess!"

"Speaking of clergy and whatnot" I continued as I turned to Jackson. "I wanted to tell you about my temple. You remember those ruins I was first found in by Miya right?"

Jackson put his hand to his chin and nodded.

"Yeah I remember. Gosh that was so long ago! Well it was at the beginning of the year but that feels like a lifetime ago. What about it goddess?"

I crossed my arms across my stomach and tapped my left foot.

"I want that temple to be my main temple. The place everyone comes on a pilgrimage to see and venerate me at. The most important holy site for me."

"Pilgrimage?" Timothy asked.

"Yeah a pilgrimage" I replied quickly. "Its when someone who believes in a god or religion travels great distances to show their respects at a special place. In this case it would be to offer their prayers and worship to me at the site I was first found at in this world. This kinda stuff is important."

Jackson nodded and bowed to me again.

"It sounds like a wonderful idea Goddess Jenna. It honestly is quite wonderful feeling that our village still remains important to you. We'll be more than happy to care for that place. That is what you want us to do correct?"

I nodded and puffed up my chest.

"Yup! Though you don't really have to restore it if you don't want to. Even if you do you'll have to wait for spring obviously. Its much too dangerous to do in the winter. And thank you. I'll trust you to tell everyone else."

"Consider it done goddess" Jackson said with another bow.

"I will." I replied turning around. "Now Timothy and I need to talk about something. Come on Timtim."

As I dismissed myself from the conversation Jackson went back to his inn duties as Timothy followed me. We walked to one of the tables on the far side of the inn where I sat down. Timothy sat down across from me after I gestured for him to do so.

"So what do you need to talk to me about?" Timothy asked.

I put my arms up on the table and rested my chin on my hands. Something I could do without leaning over as my height put my head very close to table level.

"Its about protecting you" I replied. My tone was serious. "You see Miya died because I wasn't there to protect her at the time. Someone snuck her away while I wasn't paying attention. I won't allow the same to happen to you. Then once Miya's back she'll have the same protections I give you now."

He looked at me curious. "What kind of protections goddess?"

I let out a small sigh and leaned back in my chair, laying my hands on my lap as I looked at him.

"Well I was thinking of just shrinking you down and putting you in my pocket to carry around."

This caused Timothy to blush red and he fidgeted around in his seat.

"W-Well that would be really awkward goddess. W-Wouldn't it?"

His reaction brought a smile to my face. It was a silly idea to be sure. Maybe I only thought of it because he was so cute the size of a little bug in the palm of my hand and I wanted to have that size around me at all times. It wasn't a viable solution though sadly.

I let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Yeah yeah. The other option was some kind of protective charm or amulet I guess. You know what those are right?"

He nodded.

"I'm also going to give you super resistance to damage and the elements." I continued. I also put my left hand to my chin to think. "Maybe not super strength at the moment. I think that was the primary reason Miya was targeted before. Its easily offensive and therefore threatening I suppose. If you had purely defensive powers you'd be less likely to be targeted. That plus an amulet of protection."

"That sounds like more than I deserve goddess" Timothy said shyly.

I looked up at him across the table.

"Oh its worth it to keep you safe. You'll also spend most of your time with me of course. I'm not letting you out of my sight for long until you get used to your abilities."

He looked down in acceptance. "Yes goddess."

I stood up and smiled, walking around the table to where he was sitting.

"Its that or being a little buggy in my pocket." I teased.

This made him blush red again and he looked over at my nervously.

"N-Not that please goddess!"

His reaction got a happy giggle out of me. I reached out my hands and put them on his right leg. There was a inhuman twinkle in my eyes that reminded him of my divine nature.

"You ready for your powers?"

Timothy gulped and nodded. There wasn't really any chance he could refuse anyway.

"Don't worry this wont hurt" I assured him. "Take a deep breath and relax.

As he followed my instructions I closed my eyes and focused on my task. Clearing my mind I felt both his body and my own, visualizing the mana flowing within us. Giving him powers would be just like when I gave Miya hers.

With great care I took a lump of mana from deep within my body and imagined the properties I wanted for it. This magic would allow great physical resistance, but not immunity, so only the sharpest blades could pierce his skin. The heat and cold would bother him only as much as it would someone who normally was acclimated to those environments. Making him invincible would only make him an extreme target, but allowing only the most dangerous of temperatures to harm him would make his resistance believable enough to keep him out of the cross-hairs.

Once this magic spell was woven into a permanent enchantment I gathered it within myself and pushed it through my body. With great care I brought it to Timothy's body. The spell was quite large compared to him and I didn't want to overload his body. So slowly I pressed it into him and allowed his body to absorb it, like pressing a lump of dough through a strainer. The spell sort of spread out and covered his entire body like a cloak. This layer of magic allowing his entire body to be affected both inside and out.

After I was satisfied that the enchantment was firmly attached I removed my hands from his body and focused on the amulet instead. The plan was to have one that could be worn somewhere on his body and allowed for the negation of any attack no matter how fatal. This kind of magic would take a lot of mana surely, but creating magical items was something I'd need to do as a goddess. I also decided to add in a willing teleport to my person if the person wants it, at least when the amulet takes damage.

The amulet itself was a small golden amulet that's worn around the neck or anywhere on the body. It's the size of a man's palm and made of pure gold. A vibrant violet gemstone sits in the middle of the front and small green gems surround it. Six of them in a pattern like a hexagon. After picturing this I began materializing it into my hand in the world.

By the time the amulet was finished I was out of breath and panting. It had taken a huge amount of mana to fabricate but I had done it. Opening my eyes I looked down at the thing in my hand and smiled proudly. It was everything I imagined it to be.

Timothy was looking down at my hand in awe.

"Y-You made this goddess? For me?"

My face was beaming as I held it out for him to take.

"Sure did! I'll call it The Amulet of Timtim! Take it!"

He reached out nervously and took the amulet carefully in his hands. His eyes were sparkling with the reflection of the gold and gemstones. I'm sure he could feel its power even as a non-magic user.

I went back to my own chair and sat down with a sigh, the item creation really taking the wind out of me.

"Are you alright goddess?" Timothy asked concerned.

I nodded as I raised my left hand.

"Yeah I am. Now about this amulet. It will negate any attack you take completely regardless how powerful it is, but after that its charge is spent and it'll need to recharge. It can do that naturally over time with ambient mana but having someone like me recharge it would be faster. That's why it has a secondary feature where it allows you to teleport directly to my person after its charge is used. You'll have to will that to happen though. Do you understand Timothy?"

Timothy could tell by my tone that I was serious and he nodded solemnly. His hands closed around the amulet as he gripped it tightly.

"Yes Goddess Jenna. I understand. Thank you."

With this done it took a huge weight off my shoulders. His safety was really worrying me lately and now that it was taken care of I could let out a long sigh of relief. As I sighed I leaned back in my chair and flopped limp a little.

"Whew! Now that's taken care of!"

After a few moments I sat up again and leaned into the back of the chair, looking at him from across the table.

"While I'd love to do a field test of all these magical enchantments on you that'll have to wait for a while. All that took a lot out of me."

"Field test?" Timothy asked.

I just nodded and took a few more deep breaths. "Yeah. You'll find out when we do them I suppose. Lets just sit here and relax for an hour or so though. Sound good?"

He nodded and sat back in his chair as well, clearly feeling very happy about how much his goddess cared about him. It was true as well: his goddess did see him as someone quite special.

"Yes goddess!"