Kiara’s chest rose as crisp cold air filled her lungs to the brim. Her eyes flew open, taking in the vestige of a deep blue morning sky without clouds. Stars were still mostly visible in all their glory as the rising sun slowly erased them from sight in the east. The air was too cold. Kiara shivered as a gust of strong wind roared across her ears, bringing with it the memories of what happened before.

Ester… She thought of her friend, and how she’d been seriously hurt. She needed to find her, help her. The teen didn’t know what she would do if anything at all, but she promised the young girl long ago that she’d protect her. A promise she often failed in doing, though not for a lack of trying.

The scion’s mind stalled, and her muscles stiffened, as she caught sight of an endless expanse of rolling clouds beneath her. Kiara’s hand had been pressed against a solid floor, as solid as polished concrete. Yet, her hand was flat against… Nothing… A cloud rolled underneath her - skimming against an invisible floor as it’s top flattened and spread out before eventually reforming five feet away.

“You’re awake,” A familiar, sweet voice called out. “I almost thought I was going to have to drop you in a lake.”

Kiara turned to find the angel from before walking towards her. She was no longer in the nude but wore a simple white sundress that complimented her figure. Her small feet seemed to walk on thin air though it was apparent whatever reality-bending magic was happening, was happening beneath her too. “W-W-What’s going on?”

“Which part? The floating above the cloud ceiling, you wake up in the sky, me having wings or all of the above?” The blue-haired woman’s smile held a hint of mischief.

Kiara’s eyes expressed her disbelief in how casual the woman could just mention it all. “All of the above!”

“Well, let’s start with the first one. We’re up here because I felt it would make such a lovely spot for a picnic.” She glanced off to where the sun was breaking the cloud cover, casting the white clouds in a beautiful hue of orange as the light danced across the cloud top. “Second thing is because your cybernetic friend is a loyal dog - not that I mean it in any degrading way. She would not leave your side. So, your presence here is only on the spiritual level. The sensations you’re feeling is just a formality; so you don’t freak out even more than you are you and waste more of my time. Lastly, I am this world’s God. Capital ‘G’.”

“G-God…?” Kiara asked, latching onto the last answer.

The Goddess nodded. “Goddess, Creator, Hearth Mother, so on so forth.”

“So you… Created all life on earth?” Kiara asked. “Adam and Eve?”

“No~” The goddess shook her head. “I’m the big ‘G’ for this dimension or universe. It’s horribly complicated to describe in layman terms… Just think of each universe having its own little contained bubble that has a presiding deity that manages it. Each universe has its own pantheon that is the universe's fabric that we weave and patch. Your universe has its own deity, though a very offhand one. Cool guy, very righteous though, so I tend just to avoid him.”

“Does this mean I’m dead?” Kiara asked.

“Not really. I just ripped your soul out of your body, added in my magic temporarily to make sure the body doesn’t die, and bam. Here you are, having a conversation without your maid trying to fight me.”

“Ester tried to fight you? So does that mean she’s alive or did she… fight you spiritually?” Kiara asked.

The angel laughed as if the notion was preposterous. “Please, she doesn’t stand a chance fighting against me. Just in strength alone, I outclass her a thousandth to one and that’s being generous in her odds. No, she’s alive and healed. I tried to give her back her real limbs, but she was very, very insistent on keeping the cybernetic hardware. She’s guarding your body right in a town forty miles west of my temple.”

Kiara sighed as her nerves began to subside as she took a few deep breaths. She watched the cloud beneath her roll-on, revealing a sparkling sea; free of boats, pollution, and other things that filled the coasts of modern American. “I’m… Really not home anymore, am I?”

“No,” The Goddess’s tone softened as she sat beside her. “Truth be told, I kinda know what you’re going through. It’s going to be a tough journey ahead, that is if you choose to not kill yourself. This world is far more merciless than your earth. Monsters and magic live here. Death waits for no one.”

“You know what I’m going through?”

“Totes,” The Goddess nodded. “I used to be like you. Young girl dropped into something she had no idea about and suddenly forced the bear the weight of this world. Though truth be told, I’d technically created the universe before I became an immortal goddess, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“I have a lot of questions…” Kiara sighed.

She shrugged. “And I don’t really feel like answering them.”

“Not even one?” Kiara looked, her mind still swirling from having to process this all. Doubts swelled in her heart as if she wondered if this was just some mad cynical delusion. Maybe a nightmare even.

“Ask, and I’ll think about it.”

“Why did you save me?” Kiara asked.

Without looking, the Goddess answered. “Because it was the right thing to do, I guess.”

“You guess?” Kiara sighed even harder.

“Look,” The winged woman turned to her. “I don’t just stick my neck out for just any mortal. You did me a favor, though you obviously didn’t know about that. In turn, I saved you and your friend. That rock you brought into the temple? That was a fragment of my Pantheon. Yes - Pantheon. There are other gods in my universe. Since the first attempted coup a thousand years ago, I’ve been trying to repair it. You brought me the last missing piece. Though… You did ask for my help at first.”

“Does that mean you’re not the actual hard ‘G’ if there are other gods?” Kiara asked.

“No, it does mean that. They don’t have the ability to tamper with the Pantheon or create. They’ve just gathered enough faith to elevate them to a pseudo-godhood. I mean they’re gods in a colloquial sense, not in the hard ‘G’ sense. But that’s beside the point.”

Kiara then moved on to the last point in that statement. “And how did this… Pantheon got damaged?”

“Same reason a universe can have multiple gods, but only one God,” She answered. “It becomes pulled into too many different directions, and it breaks when those powers turn on each other.”

Silence fell between the two as they watched another large cloud roll underneath them. It was rather small, only a single person’s width and barely thick enough to block the earth below.

“So why are we here?” Kiara cut to the chase. “Why are we having this conversation?”

“I wanted to offer you a job,” The Goddess said. “I actually wanted your friend to work for me. She’s a hard right killer. I saw it in her eyes. She reminded me of a few people I used to know. Definitely could use her talents.”

“And that job is?”

“To become my Grim Reaper,”

“Like… Ferry souls across a mythical river of death… Or?” Kiara looked uneasily at the winged woman.

“Grim Reaper would be the official title and function, though you would function as my personal hitmen,” She answered. “Just accepting the job turns you immortal and your soul turns into a conduit that would help the Pantheon collect the souls for processing.”

“Well, first off,” Kiara ran her left hand through her hair. “Why the fuck does a Goddess need a damn hitman?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The woman smiled, then looked up to stars as the last of them disappeared. It was a beautiful smile, laced with malice. A sort of malice she’d once seen her on her father when he found the man who’d engineered her kidnapping. It was an expression that promised to leave death and destruction in its wake. It unsettled Kiara how much this woman… Resembled her dad in that smile...

⊆Ξ⊇

“You’re awake…” Ester’s low voice greeted Kiara as her eyes slowly slid open to reveal a small dim wooden room. She took a deep breath of the mid-autumn air, with it, came the calming scent of sweet peas that Ester wore like a fine silk scarf. She found herself on a rather uncomfortable bed.

A weak smile appeared on Kiara’s lips and she hoped her friend would give her a smile back. It only forced the maid to look away with a guilty expression as she sat beside her. Kiara’s smile fell away, replaced with exhausted concern. “What’s wrong?”

“I failed to protect you,” Ester mumbled. For once in the four years they’ve known each other, the maid finally looked like the child she was. “I had to protect you, and I failed. I am of no use to you anymore…”

Silence settled between them as Kiara let the words hang in the air. A war brewed in her heart, between slapping her friend or hugging her. Neither won out, though both were valid options in her mind right now. Several deafening silent moments later, Kiara decided neither were good, no matter how much she wanted to beat sense into the stupid girl or reassure her.

“You did,” Kiara whispered. The acknowledgment made her friend flinch. “As did I.”

“You what?” Ester whispered, her artificial eyes were normal. The only thing that gave away her current emotions was her dropping eyebrows and tears.

“Messed up.”

“How? I was supposed to protect you. It was my job to protect you!” Ester whined as her chest hiccuped. “I promised I’d protect you, and I failed, Ki.”

“I promised I’d protect you too, remember?” Kiara reminded her. “We promised each other after what happened because we stuck by each other. Both of us. Made. That. Promise.”

Ester sniffled before she glared down at her friend before she nudged Kiara’s bare leg. “That’s not making me feel any better.”

“It wasn’t supposed to,” Kiara gave her the most radiate smile she could whip out. And it worked. Guilt washed off the teen’s face and was replaced with a weary smile of resignation. “So, how about we put aside what happened. Nothing we say or do will change how royally fucked the situation we’re in right now. It’s just you and me, Est, and it’s not like before. We’re older, wiser, and stronger. So how about it, care to make another promise with me?”

“You know, when you act like this, I can totally see you being a member of the Cross family.” Ester chuckled before placing her hand over Kiara’s. She gripped it. “What do you have in mind.”

Kiara looked away, her eyes sliding to the straw roof overhead. Small nonuniform wooden beams supported the thatching. It looked old and worn, scarred by the years it's been there. It also looked well cared for. “Truth be told… I’m really scared right now. I’m not sure if I’m going to freak out later, or I've passed the part where I was supposed to freak out. My mind is a mess, dad is missing, my brother missing as well, and we’re in some unknown place without support. Yet… I feel… Numb.”

“I think that’s called shock.” A new voice appeared in the room, one that Kiara was familiar with already.

“Fuck,” Ester muttered under her breath. “Just when we were having a touching moment.”

“Mm. Don’t mind me,” The Goddess smiled as she sat on a table pressed against the far wall of the room. A room that was no bigger than 10 ft long, and 5ft across. “You can continue~” Ester growled in response, but that only made her smile all that more derisively.

“Why are you here…?” Kiara sighed as she gripped her friend’s hand. Overprotectiveness was a very nice trait to have in a loyal friend… Half the time.

“I came to see if you were going to accept my offer?” The Goddess’s smile died away. It was odd how quickly the woman went from play to pure terrifying business deity. “While I understand you wanted more time to think about it, there’s been a few… Developments in the last hour.”

“Like?” Ester and Kiara both asked.

“That ogre I called was one of the field marshals for the Demon Army. His absence will be noted in the next few days. He’d come this way on a forward reconnaissance that would’ve ended… Today, actually. Since we’re on the eastern coast of the continent of Eras… He would arrive back to report in about two days. Given the nature of goblins and their counterparts, being late wouldn’t be a surprise. So.. Two days at the earliest, five days at the latest.” The goddess announced.

“Once his absence is noted, and I do want to emphasize this part, they will send more than just a reconnaissance team. It won’t just be a few hundred goblins, it will be thousands; and it won’t just be a few hobgoblins.” She continued. “A few hobgoblins and an ogre isn’t a real noteworthy band, despite what adventurers say. Ragtag groups are child’s play compared to an organized group of goblins, hobs, and ogres. They’ll also be armed with more than just throwaway equipment.”

“And you came to tell us this… Why?” Kiara asked.

The Goddess shrugged. “Because I’m grateful that you brought me the last piece of my Pantheon. Like I mentioned, these things are quite hard to find.”

“You actually didn’t mention that,” Kiara quipped.

“Oh…” The Goddess had a thoughtful expression before shrugging. “Well, they are. Pantheon’s are technically unbreakable, and I was the first one to break one. Te~he~”

“That’s… Actually scary,” Ester said.

“Jokes aside,” The Goddess’s expression hardened as she sat up prim and proper. “I’m paying back the help you gave me by letting you know that there’s going to be a massive battle here soon. And you can use this to save yourself.”

“Why here, though?” Kiara asked.

“Because ‘here’ - is actually a place called Fort Redleaf,” The Goddess tapped her jaw thoughtfully. “It’s the ruins of an… abandoned fortified town my priests had built for pilgrims and travelers to rest in. It was called The Red Leaves' Spring. It used to be a beautiful place, lush with red maples… But that’s in the past, and to make a long story short, it’s not going to survive that attack. These humans are badly organized, unprepared, and from what I’ve seen in the last hour, they aren’t united.”

“So..?” Kiara asked again. “This means…”

“For the love of me…” The Goddess sighed. “Shall I spell it out for you? I’m letting you know so you can leave, find somewhere safe. Monsters and magic fill this world, but you have your cybernetic friend here to protect you. I’ve already aligned both your bodies so you can’t get mana poisoning like non-natives. You won’t be able to use magic, but I’m sure you’ll figure out what you’ll be able to do.”

“What about the people here?” Ester asked. “Are you going to help them?”

“Help?” The derisive smile returned to the woman’s lips. “These are the descendants of the humans that burned my shrines, killed my followers and friends, and corrupted my temples once I had to step away from the world to fix the Pantheon. They can all burn for all I care.”

“You’re supposed to be their crea--” Kiara’s protest was cut short as the air became charged with power. The autumn air became colder and the light seemed to drain from the room as the blue-haired woman’s eyes glowed brighter.

“I suggest you tread lightly,” The Goddess warned before everything slowly returned to normal.

“Not helping,” Kiara nodded fearfully. “Got it.”

“Can we help?” Ester asked. She didn’t want to help, but she knew Kiara had a bleeding heart that was known to get her way in over her head. It was better to get ahead of the curve before she crashed into it.

“Accept my offer,”

“To be your Reapers,” Kiara stated. “Your hit squad.”

Ester remained quiet as the woman nodded. “Yes. It’s a very simple arrangement. I’ll elevate both of you to ‘angels’ - half-divine beings that are harder to kill - and give you a sort of… A game like system to start you off. I’m not going to overpower you too out the door. No. That’d just be another repeat from a previous calamity, and I hate repeating mistakes.”

“And that would help these people… How?” Ester spoke up, still not seeing how the offer would help. “Being your hit squad isn’t going to help--”

The woman waved her off. “Don’t be too hasty. The devil is in the details. While, yes, you’d be doing my ‘dirty’ work; you’ll be operating on a very, very liberal timeframe. A perk of being immortal is that I don’t need you to bring the downfall of my mortal annoyances within a day or a week. It can take a year, or five. We can go deeper into that another time. My point is that you’ll be free to go about the world, so long as your duties are done eventually.”

“So that means I can… Help people if I choose too?” Kiara asked. “Like the people here?”

“I won’t lift a finger to help them because I’m petty,” The woman huffed and spoke the rest with obvious distaste. “That being said, yes. You’re free to help them, so long as your duties to me are done. If you die in the process of helping them… I’ll just do the job myself.”

“If you could do it yourself, why have us do it?” Ester asked. Being an orphan who grew up in the rag-tag Canal district of Eastern Los Angeles, she was a very cynical and suspicious person at the best of times. “Why go through all this effort?

“I’d like to point out that, no, this is not a lot of effort. It’s akin to passing the time by reading a book or taking a walk through a garden. Assembling the atomic makeup, and magical variables of the Pantheon while it's been damaged… That’s effort.” The woman stated matter of factly. “I’m doing this because I would rather not destroy the world. Making a unique creation is difficult and time-consuming by godly standards. Your world took the easy route. It’s generic and easy to manage.”

“How is it generic?!” Ester scoffed. “It’s a unique world in a vast--”

“Genric,” She waved her hand. “No magic, animals are pretty safe compared to other worlds, and there isn’t a different race besides humans. There isn’t anything noteworthy. The mortals just kill themselves over and over again, and their ruling deity doesn’t even need to step in - let alone manage his Pantheon properly. Since there’s no magic, there’s no real path for minor gods to pop up.”

“That still doesn’t mean our world is generic!” Ester sneered. “Yours is a basic carbon copy of some fantasy game!”

“Why, you little--”

“I-I-I think we’ve stepped away from the topic…” Kiara intervened, pulling Ester down into her arms as the maid attempted to step up to the Goddess of Creation. It was a very foolish thing, though Ester wasn’t known for her… Ability to keep cool when insulted. “So, if we accept, we’re going to have freedom in movement and choices?”

The woman glared at Ester for a few moments before turning to Kiara. “With conditions, but yes. When I give you an order, it will be followed. I don’t expect blind obedience and I don’t expect you to live every order I give. On the other hand, I won’t just be assigning you tasks back to back and for the most part, if things go as I have in mind, you’ll only be getting certain… goals, rather than targets.”

She continued “We’ll work on the specifics when we get to those orders. Despite what most people think about me, I’m not an overly demanding person. I just expect promises and deals to be kept.”

“And what happens if we break our deal?” Ester asked, still upset from the previous argument.

“I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself,” She shrugged. “Just because I’m a Goddess, doesn't mean I’m the arbiter of right and wrong. If you think something could be handled one way or another, please speak up. If, in the process of carrying out those orders, something makes you question them, do so. Keep in mind, you are going to be my defacto assassins and saboteurs. There will be certain orders that, regardless of how you feel, will be carried out.”

“Okay, but after that. What if we still break the deal and refuse those ‘will be carried out’ orders?” Ester pressed. “That’s what I want to know.”

“Instant death,” The Goddess smiled. “I don’t need to be present to kill you. I’d like to remind you that using you two is already taking an optional choice in my book. I want to send a message. To the lowest in the rung to the highest in it, that I will not tolerate this bullshit anymore. However, I tried doing it myself, and it’s more trouble than just wiping the whole planet clear in hellfire to start from scratch.”

“So.. We’re a test run?” Kiara asked, connecting the gist of what she was saying.

She nodded as she wagged her finger with a smirk. “I like that… Yes - yes you are.”

“And if this doesn’t work..?” Kiara asked.

A blue icy flame appeared in the woman’s palm. It danced violently, hungrily. It jumped side to side as it tried to devour its surroundings, only to be restrained by the woman herself. “Hellfire.”

“Well… I think I’ve heard enough. I’ll accept your offer.” Kiara said.

“Ki!” Ester gasped. “We don’t know enough--”

Kiara was beginning to think her friend was just begging to be cut off. “Please… Just… Give her your answer... “

Ester stayed silent for a few heartbeats and that was only because she pouted. “I’ll accept it as well.