The Chosen Goddess

Chapter#6

Slade’s POV

I hear her scream out in fear. My body moves on its own. No way… I know I need her to erase my sin… but I can’t believe I just saved her AGAIN. Not even I understand what made me save this woman from that knife-wielding man. No… I only did what I did to make up for my lack of foresight, my failure to predict that she would jump out in front of that man. That must be it… I feel a tiny bit guilty as well, but I decide to ignore that feeling. I press her pale, terrified face to my chest, and she clings to me desperately. When I touch her skin again, I can hear her thoughts whispering to me. Fear…? I don’t hear anything but that emotion. She’s shaking like a leaf, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a clue how to take care of a human.

“Tch…” I click my tongue in exasperation.

Damn it… I’m irritated with myself for some reason. I blame my annoyance on that woman. When I sit her down, she finally opens her mouth to speak.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen… Thank goodness…”

“Don’t ever do anything like that again.”

She flinches and trembles at my stern words. For some reason, that annoys me too. You’re a weak being without any powers of your own… Yet you jump out in front of a man with a knife to save another person? I don’t get you at all. I think, keeping my exasperation to myself. When I look at the frightened, shaking little human before my eyes, scolding her is the farthest thing from my mind. Instead, other words naturally tumble out of my mouth…

“You hurt?”

I know she’s not hurt. That much is obvious. But I still have to ask. Why do I care? I freeze at her next words. I didn’t expect to hear a sincere apology. Was she really scared…? I should’ve known that she would try and jump out in front of that man. That troublesome emotion ‘guilt’, rears its head again, forcing me to speak.

“What happened just now was all my fault. I’m sorry.”

I speak again, but it looks like the woman is too shaken. She can’t even stand.

“Stand up.” I gently reach out and touch the woman’s cheek to comfort her.

Just then, I hear some shocking thoughts.

If I stay with Slade… will this kind of thing happen again…? I’m scared.

I hear a whisper of terror from deep in her heart. It’s probably unconscious on her part. I instinctively rip my hand away from her skin. So, you’re scared? Being feared by this woman… That’s what I want… I live to terrify humans. I sneer in self-disgust before looking back to the woman.

“Are you sacred of me?”

“Huh? Why do you ask that?”

“I have the power to read the minds of people I touch. But I can only sense negative emotions. That’s what I heard when I touched you just now. Just fear. You’ve been scared of me before, right?”

The woman’s expression changes. She looks like she’s going to cry. But I force myself to continue to press her. I have to act like my normal self.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why the apology?” I ask. “Being feared my humans, being something that terrifies them… Being thought of like that actually makes me happy.”

“But…!”

“I need my powers. If you don’t want me to read your mind, relax. I’m not going to touch you any more than I absolutely need to.”

Why…? I wonder, if I could read my own unconscious thoughts, I bet I would find that I’m not at all happy about being rejected by this woman. No. I don’t care. I’m Slade, ruler of Scorpio… I am me. A part of me, however, is hoping this woman will say the words I long to hear.

“Why are you making that face? Humans only emit negative emotions to me, anyway. Terror, hatred, jealousy, that’s all.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask suddenly.

“Don’t you get that I don’t need your sympathy? You can’t do anything for me.” Slade says, annoyed. “You’re just another filthy human. You’re in no position to feel sorry for us gods. No god in the Ministry of Discipline needs your pity or compassion.”

“Say what you want but-!”

“Filthy humans are only capable of feeling virtuous emotions temporarily anyway. Everybody knows that, both the gods in Prayers and gods in Discipline.” I say one hurtful thing after another.

“You talk tough, but you didn’t abandon me. You did your best to save me. Thank you.”

Humans have always feared me. I’ve been hated, but I’ve never been thanked before, not ever. Not as a god and, of course, not as a human. Lots of humans can go on for days with lip-service and empty platitudes… But, in the end, each and every one of them cares about no one but themselves, and they see no need to be ashamed of that. That’s what I always thought filthy, immoral humans were like. But she said… ‘thank you’… I feel like something is going to change inside of me. I immediately ignore the feeling, pretending like I never felt it at all. I can’t let myself be influenced by your values. I can only exist because I hate and am hated. I’m a god of discipline. This woman, however, keeps looking at me, staring straight at me with piercing blue eyes.

“You’re always calling humans filthy and talking about how everything sucks… but you can be nice every once in a while.”

“You still haven’t fulfilled your purpose. If you died now, it would cause problems for me. That’s all.” I make myself speak coldly, spitting my words at her before turning away.

I do what I have to in order to act like my usual self.

Alecia’s POV

I’m still shaking too much to stand. I didn’t think coming here with Slade would be so scary. If I keep hanging out with him, will I see this kind of thing again…? Slade places his hand on the side of my face. But he rips his hand away an instant later. He asks me a shocking question and looks me straight in the eye. His eyes are black as night and I can’t even begin to guess what he’s feeling. He explains that he can hear people’s thoughts when he touches them, but he’s got me all wrong.

I was thinking about how I never want anything like that to happen to me ever again, not that I was scared of him.

“My feelings…” I mutter the word to myself.

He’s right. I’ve been scared of his power before. He must have sensed that fear. Not so much because he read my mind, but because I communicated that fear to him. I feel awful. I can’t believe I communicated fear to him right after he rescued me. I apologize and he acts defensive. For some reason, I’m struck by a sharp pang of sadness… Why is he saying things like that? Why is he smiling? It’s clear he’s not trying to put on a brave face. He truly believes what he’s saying. Seeing him like this makes me feel so terribly helpless. Slade is a god who lived in the Heavens, picking up humans’ negative emotions and punishing them. If he only ever felt negative things… It’s no surprise he grew to hate humans. Slade throws his words at me, cold and detached. Is it arrogant of me to pity him? How awful, to constantly hear nothing but negativity from people… With vestiges of fear still in my mind, positive feelings for Slade appear in my heart for the first time… If I had to describe this feeling in words, I would say I just feel sorry for him. His cold words feel like a knife to the heart. That reminds me… that arrogant god called Kazimir, from the Ministry of Discipline, DOES keep calling me a bug. For some reason, I had always optimistically believed that the gods loved humans unconditionally. That’s why I had always wished on stars and casually prayed. I had always believed that my prayers would be answered, and my wishes granted. Yet, the gods that I’ve actually met are selfish beings who hate humans. Not a single one of them is anything like what I imagined a god to be. But still… Slade talks tough, but… I sense something else behind his tough exterior. I whisper another thank you, but my whisper doesn’t reach his ears. However, in my heart of hearts, I’m happy that he saved me. I wonder if I can hope for kindness from the gods… No, from Slade… I ignored his instructions and jumped out to try and save that woman and her baby.

“You talk tough, but you didn’t abandon me. You did your best to save me. You’re always calling humans filthy and talking about how everything sucks… but you can be nice every once in a while.”

“You still haven’t fulfilled your purpose. If you died now, it would cause problems for me. That’s all.” His tone is as cold as ever.

He turns his back on me.

“The reason doesn’t matter. The fact remains that I’m standing right here thanks to you. I just wanted to make sure you know I’m aware of that.”

He doesn’t answer. Does he understand how I feel? It’s then that I notice the commotion happening around us.

“What’s going on? The police are here.” Says a man.

“Some freak was randomly stabbing people.” A woman explains.

“For real? That’s messed up…”

One police car after another pulls up to the scene.

“Did anyone see what happened?” The officer asks.

Things get more chaotic as people hear the commotion and begin to gather around. I notice a lone, strange man looking this way. What’s up with that guy? He’s staring at me. He’s dressed in odd, inappropriate clothes for the city streets. It’s as if he’s a military officer. But what would a guy like that be doing here of all places?

“What is it?” Slade asks me.

“There’s a weird man looking this way…”

When I turn to look back at the man, there’s no one there.

“Do you ALWAYS think you’re the center of attention?”

“No! Someone was really looking…”

“If you can argue with me like that, you must be okay now. Stupid woman. Don’t be so paranoid.”

Geez, the second I think he’s not such a bad god, he has to go and say something mean. Which is the real Slade?

“We need to move.”

“What?”

“We can’t teleport from here.”

“Oh, yeah…”

He’s right, we can’t just teleport away. We’re standing in the middle of a crowd. People would think it was some kind of Houdini trick. We make our way out of the crowd to a more secluded location.

“Are we going back already?”

“Yeah…”

“Then, can I go home when I get back to the mansion? Today’s my day off, I’d like to relax at home…”

He looks away from me and doesn’t answer.

“Hm? Slade? Slade! What’s wrong?!”

Walking next to me, Slade goes ghost white and presses his hand to his chest.

“What’s wrong? Come on!”

“Shut up… It’s nothin…”

An instant later, his whole body teeters and sways.

“Slade!”

On the verge of falling down, he leans on me. I hold him up, balancing him on my shoulder.

“Hey! Slade?! What’s going on?!”

Hang in there Slade!

“What’s wrong? That guy from before didn’t hurt you, did he…?!”

“Damn it…” He mutters. “I knew it used power to exist in a lower world, but I didn’t expect it to exhaust me like this…”

“Exhaust you? So, you’re not hurt? That’s good.”

“Good? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do YOU mean? I was just worried, that’s all. I thought you had been injured or something.”

“Stupid woman, how the hell would I have gotten hurt in that situation? More importantly, how long are you planning on touching me for? Gross.”

Slade shakes off my hands.

“Ugh, geez…” I mutter.

You’re the one who collapsed onto ME! Slade walks off without saying another word. I follow after him, jogging to catch up.

“Wait a minute, will you…? Your legs are way longer than mine!”

“Stub legs.” He mutters.

“More like I’m a tiny woman and you’re a tall man!”

“Don’t act all offended. You were the one who was a jerk to me.”

“Well, if you have enough energy to be rude, I guess You’re fine.” I quip back.

“Filthy human… Always a smart aleck.”

“Yeah, yeah… I know you hate touching me and everything, but here.” I hold out my arm to him. “Come on, hurry. Let’s go back to the mansion.”

He hesitates.

“Snap your fingers like you always do.”

Slade stops in his tracks.

“Were you actually worried about me?” He asks suddenly, changing his tone.

“Of course I was. But you said you’re okay, right?”

“Tch… Thick-headed woman…”

He walks off again like he’s trying to get away from me.

“Why are you walking away? Why don’t we just teleport-?”

Oh… Maybe his energy level is too low to use that kind of power…

“If there’s a problem, I wish you would just tell me.”

“Aren’t you humans supposed to be good at something you call ‘reading between the lines’? How about you give that a try.”

“That’s impossible. I don’t understand you…”

He scowls at me.

“I could teleport myself, but unfortunately I don’t have the power to transport you too.”

“I see… In that case, I’ll just go back to my place by myself. Later.”

When I turn to leave, Slade says something unexpected.

“Take me with you.”

“What?”

“Stupid woman. Show me the way back to the mansion.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know the way back to your own house…”

He looks bashful for the first time ever and I giggle.

“I just saved your life. Don’t make me end it now.” He says, crossing his arms and approaching me with a scary look on his face.

“If you kill me now, you’ll be stuck here like this until you recover your energy. You’d have to ride the train all the way back to your house in those weird clothes. Do you have money? Can you buy a train ticket?”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear your yapping. Consider your life saved. Time to go.”

Geez… All he had to do was be straightforward and ask me to show him the way. He’s already walked off and I call out to him.

“You’re going the wrong way! The station is this way.”

“Filthy human, why didn’t you say so sooner? Could you BE more inconsiderate? Don’t make me waste my time walking in the wrong direction!”

What the hell?! I roll my eyes.

“You walked off all on your own! By the way, do gods carry train fare?”

“Of course not. We don’t need things like that.”

“Oh nooo, then I guess you can’t ride the train.”

Teleporting, snapping his fingers… He may be a god, but he has no idea how to survive on Earth without his powers.