Secrets are things that can be difficult to keep from those that are close to you. This is one of the facts of life I had recently reminded of. Having to reveal the existence of Sub-Chan to Timothy was something I'd like to have avoided completely but sadly circumstances had left me in a place where I had no choice. Hopefully he never would tell anyone after I asked him not to. Thankfully he wasn't one to spread rumors, at least I didn't think so. I could only imagine how the public would react if they found out their goddess had an almost split personality. Well in this case it was more so the unconscious mind overriding the conscious, though the general public would never understand such a distinction.
The possible scenarios that might unfold should my secret come out was the current topic of my thoughts at the moment. There were plenty of ways to overthink the various situations that would come from it getting out and I was doing my best not to hype myself up too much. At the moment I didn't really have any other pressing matters to attend to physically so I was sitting in the middle of a forest thinking about things. Of course the topic of the undead was also on the list of thoughts, though after getting stressed out about it I had swapped to the current train of thought.
My musings were interrupted however when an important prayer, or collection of prayers, suddenly came in. It was another one of those instances where a large amount of people were all praying for the same or similar thing, this group coming from a small town up near the northern boarder again. The prayers themselves involved some strange robed figure claiming to be a mage who was visiting their town and asking about the goddess. I had instructed my worshipers all over to pray to me when suspicious things happened after all.
Another unknown mage visiting some of my worshipers? My eyes snapped open and would have normally been blinded by the sudden midday sun if it weren't for my goddess physiology. This was one of those critical situations that raised alarm bells in my head. Just the memory of the last mysterious mage and what they did to people made me jump into action immediately.
With almost no movement I jumped up from the cold ground where I was sitting into a standing position, my glowing portal already opening in the air before me. The magical symbols spun around with great speed as if the swiftness of the portal's summoning was effecting it somehow. There was no time to think about it though as I leapt through it and to the location of one of the people praying.
It was a middle aged woman who was currently hiding inside the doorway of a building alongside a few other women. My sudden appearance from a glowing portal in front of her caused all of them to jump in surprise and even a few of them to let out a shriek of terror. Their fear was short lived however as they recognized me almost instantaneously.
“Goddess?” the first woman asked.
I looked up at the woman and didn't answer. There was no time. Instead my left hand shot out and grabbed onto her own right hand, my eyes glowing as I accessed her memories. The information I was looking for was right at the surface of her mind of as it was the most recent to be added. This being the way the stranger looked and their last known location.
All of this took place in less than a second and without even speaking to the startled civilians I leapt into action. With a spin almost too quick for the human eye to follow I turned around to the door, my eyes returning to normal as I tensed my legs. Then with a jump I leapt into the air and out of the building.
My feet exploded into jets of flames as did my hands, my little body propelled through the air like a supersonic fighter plane. There was even a small sonic boom that echoed throughout the town as I blasted off down the street. These continued like continual thunderclaps as I boosted up and down each street, only stopping for a split second at corners to adjust my trajectory.
The current objective was to locate this strange mage and stop them before they could do anything dangerous, if indeed they hadn't already. I pushed such thoughts from my mind as my divine eyesight allowed me to scan the streets despite my extreme speed. The human eye couldn't even make me out as my flight took me too quickly throughout the streets to see, the winds kicked up behind me almost bowling people over.
Like a bat out of hell I frantically searched the town and within only five seconds had already gone over half of it. The townsfolk were standing in frozen silence as the world around me came to a halt as I sped through it. Thankfully my search was able to be cut short by the sixth second as I located my target after rounding a particularly large building. There standing on the side of the street was the same man that woman had seen.
He was a young man at least the age of twenty-five, his blue-green-ish hair reaching down to his neck. His skin was pale, his eyes a strange green, and his chin had no hair on it at all. As it typical with mages he was wearing a robe with a color identifying his magical attunement, in this case blue for water. Water magic wasn't the most immediately dangerous but it was still deadly if used correctly.
An angry yet focused expression came upon my face upon spotting him and I had to be careful not to grind my teeth. One last thunderclap marked my leap towards him, though no human could have ever expected nor witnessed my arrival. As for as the witnesses were concerned the little girl that was the goddess had suddenly appeared on top of the stranger.
My left hand grasped the young man around the throat and my momentum sent us flying through the air down the street. I had made sure to slow down enough to not kill him on impact but I wanted to send a message. He hit the ground underneath me as I was positioned with one knee on his chest, his body sliding along the dirt street for almost fifty feet before coming to a halt in a cloud of dust.
The look on the young mage's face was one of pure shock, his mind unable to even process what had just happened as it was locked up like a frozen wench. He was completely unaware of the townsfolk who were recovering themselves only to stand back and watch what unfolded.
For my part I was doing my utmost to keep my growing anger under control, the sheer audacity from these mages making me fume. There was not a pleasant look on my face, instead it being twisted in anger. Though to my credit as the dust settled my expression mellowed out into a cool rage instead, one honed by focus as my eyes locked with his.
The young man gasped and choked, half from surprise and the other half from my hand around his neck.
“Ack! Eh-Eha!” He said in attempts to speak.
My furious gaze darted around his face as I examined him, my voice coming out angry and short.
“A magic user huh?” I snapped. “Here to terrorize my villagers?”
Unable to properly speak the now panicking man instead shook his head as best he could.
I scoffed. “Like I believe that!”
My grip on his neck grew tighter and he started choking, his much larger body struggling helplessly under my pressing strength. He was clearly trying to speak and beg for something so I loosened my grip enough for him to speak again.
He first coughed and caught his breath, his voice still a bit hoarse from my grip.
“I-I only ca-came to speak to t-the goddess!” He choked out.
This surprising reveal caught me by surprise and my grip loosened even more. Yes my hand was still on his neck but my fingers released themselves from pressing into his skin. After this I just kneeled there on top of him with a look of confusion on my face while he continued coughing.
“You what?” I asked blinking.
Once again the young man spoke, this time his voice slightly less hoarse, though there was still a slight wheeze to his words.
“I-I'm a mage from Pheoa!” He exclaimed. “I-I came to see the goddess. The one that's rumored to have appeared.”
As her spoke I straightened my back while remaining with my knees planted on his chest. My expression had softened to the point of intrigue and bewilderment with my anger now completely gone. If this young man was really here to speak for me he sure traveled a dangerous road to get here. He came from an opposing kingdom in search of a being who he certainly believed to be extremely ultra dangerous. What possible reason could he have to do that?
At this point I completely removed my hand from his neck and put it on my left hip. I looked down at him with a now judgmental gaze.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“And what possible reason could you have for wanting that?” I asked sharply.
He looked up at me with a newfound sense of unease and smiled weakly.
“Well I- Well I heard that she's a goddess of knowledge.” He replied. “I wanted to learn from her.”
Well this was certainly an interesting development. I suppose it was only a matter of time before word of me got out to other kingdoms and people came looking for me. This young man however was here for knowledge and hadn't actually hurt anyone. Perhaps he was worth indulging a bit. He also clearly didn't know he was speaking to said goddess right now. I decided not to reveal myself just yet.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped off him, now standing next to where he lay.
“Oh really?” I said more to myself than him.
He started sitting up after he was free from my knees.
“Are you a mage from around here?” He asked. “Can you help me?”
I shook my head and sighed, muttering under my breath. “I'll be getting a lot more of this from now on wont I?” I then spoke up and addressed him. “I'll answer only two of your questions..So choose them carefully.”
Now that the young man had been free for several moments he had recovered from my rough handling much better and looked up and over at me with great curiosity and hesitation.
“There are so many questions I have about this kingdom and the goddess.” He said glancing to the ground. “How am I supposed to pick just two?”
A small smile came to my lips and I shook my head, my arms dropping to my sides.
“That's technically a question.” I replied with a grin. “But I'll tell you what. Why don't you go pray to the goddess at one of her shrines and contact her yourself?”
This made him perk up with excitement, though there was an overwhelming sense of nervousness in his eyes as well. Something to be expected when talking about meeting a goddess I suppose.
“Do you know where I can find one?” He asked in quite the polite tone.
I couldn't help myself and a small giggle escaped me.
“The townspeople will show you the way.” I said turning away from him. Then I nodded at some of the spectators. “Won't ya'll? Oh and...” I lifted my left finger to my lips and made a shush gesture.
The people I was looking at nodded immediately and then looked at the young man on the ground. They had also figured out that I was indicating to keep my true identity hidden, something they wouldn't dare go against.
With this situation taken care of I simply lifted my left hand and waved dismissively as I walked away. Then I jumped into the air at super speed and vanished from the sight of everyone involved. From their perspective I had been standing there and now I simply wasn't.
Once I was high in the air over the town I did one jet boost to send me careening through the sky off into the forest far in the distance. The final thunderclap surely made them all jump a final time as I found myself once again down on ground level. There was no crashing boom however as I used my jets to whip myself around in the air and land gently.
Now that I was here I would simply wait for that young man to pray to me and make my true appearance.
-----------------
The forest was on the knife's edge of winter with nary a leaf to be found on the trees. There were no great populations of animals to be found and most of the birds had migrated elsewhere in the world with the cold weather upon us. Even the ground was forming its first layers of permafrost that would be there until the spring thaw. The cold never bothered me anyway, my goddess body not really feeling its effects.
Thankfully I didn't have to wait long for the prayer from the foreign mage to come in. It was sort of weird just sitting here waiting for him to pray to me though, almost as if I was back in my old life waiting for a phone call from a friend. Familiar feelings aside however when he did give me a ring so to speak I got to learn a bit more about him.
This young man's name was Alphie Atterall and he was a mage from the northern kingdom of Pheoa. Apparently the town he was from was suffering under the rule of a particularly nasty lord, something that bothered Alphie greatly. His reason for traveling all this way to a foreign land was to find if this goddess was real and if so beg her to teach him more magic. Since he was a mage he felt if with a greater level of talent and power he could negotiate with this lord for better treatment of his hometown.
Such reasons for seeking knowledge and power were surely both justified and noble, something that gave him means to tug at the more sentimental areas of my heart. Hearing his earnest prayers made me decide to give this little guy a chance. So I made my move.
With the sigh of someone finally able to stretch I grew to my full goddess size, the trees around me being squeezed and bent over as my butt expanded over the cold ground. I remained sitting and was soon towering over the trees even without standing. Then I opened a small portal in front of me, big enough for only my hand, and reached through it.
On the other side was Alphie, still kneeling in front of the shrine built to me in the town. He was certainly surprised when my massive hand reached appeared before him and surrounded him. There was nowhere to run as the walls of flesh closed in on all sides and within an instant he was trapped within my fist.
Very slowly I pulled my hand back through the portal and opened it up with my palm facing upward. There in the middle of my palm was revealed the small and frightened man, no bigger than a beetle comparative to me. Of course he was quite frightened to suddenly see the looming face of the little girl he just been speaking too not long ago, though it was clear he had a level of reverence there as well.
Alphie gulped nervously and lifted himself into a sitting position. There was fear on his face but also a level of curiosity that was the kind that led people to their early demise.
“A-Are you the goddess?” He stammered up at me.
An actually pleased smile came to my face as I lifted him up closer to my face, just about chest level. I then spoke with as quiet of a voice as I could muster in order to not completely overwhelm him with its powerful volume.
“That's right.” I replied gently. “So you wanted to speak to me human?”
With my full might and size revealed somehow Alphie remained focused on his ultimate goal, his passion and drive overriding even his terror at being held in the palm of a goddess. He got up and kneeled in my hand, his hands clasped together as he petitioned me for aid.
“Please great goddess!” He begged. “Teach me how to obtain great wisdom!”
A little chuckle escaped me as I looked down at him. My attitude was one so gentle that even though he was afraid his fear was slowly waning from lack of threat. This was fine with me as I answered him.
“Well there's many ways to obtain wisdom.” I replied. “You can read it in books, learn it from others, or even from the heavens themselves.”
Alphie listened with rapt attention to me words and then looked up at my huge eyes with a pleading voice.
“Will you teach me goddess?” He asked. “Will you please teach me magic?”
There was a slight hint of indignation to my tone as I rolled my eyes.
“Do you think I have time to teach a human?” I exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how busy I am?” My right hand lifted up and my fingers tapped my chin. “I suppose I could implant some knowledge into your head if I really wanted to. Not sure you would deserve that though.”
Hearing my proposition made Alphie's face light up with surprise as was expected when someone heard they could be instantly made more knowledgeable. He thought for a few moments while remaining kneeling and then shook his head.
“N-No...” He started. “I want to earn the knowledge. Learn it myself.”
My smile returned and I looked him over again.
“Interesting. Why do you want to learn magic so badly human?”
Alphie lifted one leg with knee up and pushed off of it to stand in my palm. The soft and cushy skin of my palm made for very unstable ground it he took a few moments to get his balance.
“Well I-” He replied. “I want to learn magic so I can better help others!” He spoke with more confidence as he went. “Especially those from my hometown.”
Another soft sigh escaped my mouth and my fingers remained tapping on my chin. I made a show of pondering his request just to keep him on edge. My decision had already been made and I was going to help him. While I was unable to directly teach him I could think of at least one trustworthy person to send him to in order to learn: namely Ferherlyn.
Finally after almost ten seconds of silence I lowered my right hand to the ground again to stabilize myself and smiled in a reserved manner to the tiny man in my hand. The more I practiced the better I got at the aloof goddess act.
“Very well little human.” I said. “There is a city south-east from here called Vinedenne. It's the capital of this province and there you can seek out the mage Ferherlyn. He's an old man who works under the local lord Quarely Mettlelin. Seek him out and tell him I sent you.” I shrugged my shoulders slightly. “He'll find some way of helping you learn more magic. If not personally then with his connections.”
Alphie seemed ecstatic at this news and once again dropped to his knees on my soft flesh, his hands lifted together in prayer as he cried out with enthusiasm.
“Thank you Goddess Jenna!” He exclaimed, using my name for the first time since learning it today. “Truly you are just as merciful and beautiful as they say!”
“Yes yes.” I replied with another grin. “Aren't I?”
I then lowered my left hand down to the ground and carefully using my right pinched him between my fingers. Then with a slow and deliberate motion I moved him off my palm and planted his feet safely on the ground between my legs.
“No run along little guy.” I said. “I'm afraid I have places to be.”
Alphie nodded and craned his neck to look up through my legs at my head high up in the air. It was still overwhelming for him to see me in my full glory. Even people who knew me for a long time still got stunned from the sheer scale of the true size of a goddess.
“Of course goddess!” He called up to me. “Thank you again!”
With this new worshiper taken care of for the moment I stood up in the midst of the trees, my massive boots thundering down and causing minor earthquakes. The tiny man between my feet was now left to his own devices as I stepped backwards and away from him. Then I opened a portal beneath my feet and stepped into it, sinking down like into a lake and traveling back to my castle domain. The forest and sky soon vanished from my sight as the transport was complete and the portal closed.
Finding myself once again secluded away from the world I let out a deep sigh. These travelers from other parts of the world were going to continue weren't they? The prospect of a goddess actually appearing in the world was news that would certainly spread quickly, though it was likely to be dismissed as madness by most people. Mages on the other hand would likely take notice as they have twice now, their connection to the supernatural world much stronger than average folk. Not to mention their role in society demanding these rumors be investigated.
I decided to go visit Ferherlyn myself and talk to him about this new mage ahead of his arrival. A little preemptive discussion and planning would go a long way to make this new mage in the kingdom's introduction go over smoothly. Perhaps I could get some advice from the old man about how to handle theses foreign mages as well, or at least make him aware of their increasing regularity.