The Chosen Goddess

Chapter#3

Slade’s POV

Of all the creatures, a human? I can’t believe I have to associate with a filthy human. She agrees to cooperate. What’s that reluctant attitude of hers about? This would all be much easier if she would just do as I say without complaining about every little thing. But no, she has to act all self-important… It’s like she’s trying to make things difficult for me. Eager to rid myself of her unclean presence as quickly as possible, I send her home and slam the door behind her. By the time the door has closed, Izra, the problem child of our Ministry and Dion, the one who I’ve also been assigned to keep an eye on for other reasons, are already yapping away.

“I can’t believe she really went home.” Dion’s eyes remain wide with shock.

“I wanted to play with her more. Man…” Izra sighs.

“I’d never be bored if she were living here.” Percival smirks.

“You’re a perv.” I spit. “Nothing good will come from associating with filthy humans.”

“I actually agree with you for once.” Kazimir narrows his eyes.

He may be my co-worker, so to speak, but we butt heads a lot.

“Pfft.” I scoff. “For once?”

“I guess those ears are just for decorating the sides of your face.”

“Okay, okay, Kaz. You know Slade’s always like this.” Dion intervenes.

Tch… What an asshole.

“But you know, we really are lucky.” Dion adds with a smile. “To have found a reborn goddess so quickly after you being exiled to Earth.”

“Yeah! You’re right!” Izra agrees. “Plus, she’s SUPER cute!”

For a second, it looks like Dion and Percival are about to say something, but Dion just lets out a sigh and Percival presses his lips in a tight line. They both kept eyeing the stupid woman when she was here too… He said she was a former goddess… Could he know her from before she was human? The thought occurs to me, but I immediately dismiss the notion as irrelevant. Suddenly, their words run through my mind again.

“Did you call her… cute?” I ask Izra. “Only you could call a filthy human cute.”

“Huh? You don’t agree? I thought she was super pretty, too.” Dion adds.

“I have to say, she’s by far the prettiest human we’ve come across in the last few days.” Percival smirks.

“I know, right?” Izra grins. “She is a former goddess, after all…”

I can’t hide my disbelief. The simple fact that she’s a human disgusts me, I haven’t even been paying attention to her outer appearance. But now that’s all I can think about as I dissect what she looked like.

“They’re right.” Kaz adds with a frown and a huff. “She’s not bad for a human. And she’s got a backbone. I think she could prove to be useful.”

“I bet she looks really good when she’s moaning in bed too.” Izra blurts out, making me shift uncomfortably on my feet.

“Should I try and make it happen?” Percival smirks.

“Yeah, if you get the chance.” Izra smirks back. “Can I watch?”

These guys… They really are morons. Not a single one of them shares my opinion, but again, I wasn’t really paying attention to her outer appearance before. Then, the words that Izra and Percival said out loud repeat in my head and an image of her blonde hair spread along my pillow flashes through my mind. I shake it away before my thought process can even finish and glare at the idiots standing before me.

“Are you guys messing with me or something?”

“What are you talking about?” Dion asks.

“You’re overthinking things.” Izra adds. “Are you sure YOU’RE not the one messing with us?”

“True. You’re the one acting like you’re hot stuff because you saved her and now she owes you.” Dion adds.

“You know you’re lucky!” Reiterates Izra with a grin.

“Cut the s**t! Why the hell would I think I’m lucky?!”

Look at the smiles on their faces… These assholes are havin a go at me.

“Okay then, how about you give her to me? I’ll take REALLY good care of her.” Percival smirks again.

“Here we go.” Kazimir shakes his head in annoyance and storms back to his room.

“Like hell I’m going to give anything to you.” I glare.

“I knew it!” Izra claps as if he’s proven something to himself. “You DO want to keep Alecia for yourself, after all.” He smirks.

“I just want to get the hell off this filthy f*ckin rock and back to the heavens as quickly as possible. Isn’t that obvious?!”

The other gods are smirking as they look at me. There’s no reason for me to hang around here and take this.

“I can’t stand to be around you idiots for another second. Tch… You all make me sick.” Thoroughly annoyed, I leave the moronic gods behind and return to me room.

Upon returning, I collapse onto my bed without even changing out of my uniform. Earth… I never thought I would be back here again. So many things have happened in just the last few hours. Feeling what humans would call ‘tired’, I sigh deeply. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. I thought I had forgotten what it felt like. Just when I’m on the verge of thinking about my distant past as a human, I stop myself. Tch… Thinking about my past… This is all that damn king’s fault. I’m so pissed off. I can’t f*cking wait to get back to the heavens. Doing things people need in a place where people need me, that’s what I was born to do. In order to return there, I have to-

I squeeze my eyes shut, and the woman’s smiling face pops into my mind. Her blue eyes, as light as glass… her long silky hair… her shiny pink lips and straight, white teeth… When I look down at my hands, it’s like I can still feel the woman. She almost died, not once but twice, in a very short period of time… I wonder what she was being punished for? And why did I take her hand? I grabbed her without even thinking. Why? What made me jump to her rescue? As a god, did I take mercy on her? No, I rid myself of mercy long ago. Was it because I need her power to erase my mark? Yes. That’s it. That has to be it. But… it still doesn’t make sense. There has to be more to it than that. For some reason, I picture her tiny arms and body clinging to me in desperation, and how her long eyelashes fluttered when her eyes wavered with uncertainty. I guess the guys were right and I just hadn’t noticed yet… She is very naturally beautiful. What am I thinking about that for? I lightly shake my head to rid myself of these ridiculous impure thoughts.

“Damn it…” I whisper. “I never should’ve come to Earth…”

Feeling more tired and I have in ages, I flop my strangely heavy arms down by my side, and slowly close my eyes.

Alecia’s POV

A few days later, I haven’t heard anything else from the Gods. My days are quiet and tranquil. It’s like the events from that day never even happened.

“And then… after the last screening ends, all we have to do is clean up.”

“Okay.” I nod.

Brittany explains the rest of our shift.

“I’ll go tell the girl at the ticket counter to come back too… Oh.”

I look at the ticket counter and notice a group of people. They’re wearing clothes not at all appropriate for a trip to the planetarium. That’s… Oh no.

“Hello! Good evening!”

I hear Izra’s voice ring loud and clear.

“Uh, um… The screenings for the day have already-“ One of our staff members tries to stop them.

“Don’t bother with the human. Let’s go.” Kazimir says to Izra.

I look over and see Dion and the other guy too. It’s all four of the gods with the white suits and black armbands. Without even thinking, I immediately crouch down and hide behind the front counter.

“What’s wrong, Alecia?” Brittany asks me.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. I have a little more work to do… Can you take care of it for me? Please!”

“Huh? Alecia?”

I’m planning on sneaking out the back exit. There’s never anyone back there. I walk slowly as I crouch behind the desk and turn the corner. Just then, I bump into someone with a thud.

“I’m sorr- “

“You’re awfully forward, trying to throw yourself into my arms like that, human.”

Scared of the sight I know awaits me; I look up. I see Kazimir scowling down at me.

“Hi, Alecia!” Izra grins.

“It’s been a while.” Dion adds.

Izra and Dion are flanked on either side of him.

“When did you…?! Before I even start, could you please stop referring to me as a ‘human’? I mean, obviously I’m a human but saying that out loud sounds weird when we’re surrounded by humans… and you look human too…”

“There’s no need to use proper names with humans.”

“Seriously? Does that mean you think of humans as pets?” I ask, flabbergasted.

“In a sense, but we often think of humans as less than pets.” Dion explains.

How awful!

“And here I was thinking you two were the good ones…” I huff and fold my arms, looking between Dion and Izra. “Shouldn’t gods be warmer, more merciful, and tolerant… You know, nicer?” I ask.

“That describes me to a tee.” Percival smirks as he walks up behind me.

What kind of joke is that?! Yeah right!

“Anyway… You’ll draw too much attention here. Come this way!” I say to them.

I hide the four of them from prying eyes.

“What in the world did you come here for?!” I finally ask them.

“I wanted to take a field trip to Earth.” Izra explains.

“Whoa! Don’t walk out there on your own!”

Izra suddenly starts to wander about the planetarium, but I reel him back in.

“You’re so worried about me. I wonder… Have you fallen for me?”

“Are you out of your mind?” I stammer.

“What are you saying? If she’s going to fall for anyone, it’d be me.” Dion insists with a gentle smile.

“Alecia, who’s your type? Dion or me?”

The face of the harsh, intense god, Slade, pops into my mind but I quickly shake the thought away.

“Oh, or maybe… Is Slade more your type?” Izra asks, curious to get an answer.

“Um…”

I look to Percival behind me and for some reason, my heart starts to race under his intense gaze. They’re all so attractive, if they weren’t utterly insane, it would be easy to fall for at least one of them.

“Wait, okay, enough. If you didn’t come here for a reason, please leave! You stand out too much in those outfits!”

“We came for a reason.” Dion interjects.

“Oh?” I fold my arms across my chest again and wait for an explanation.

“We came to check on you.”

Why does he look so sad when he talks about me?

“What are you two looking at each other for?” Izra asks.

“Nothing.” Dion looks away.

By then, the screening is over. Customers start to walk out into the lobby from the viewing area.

“The bugs are swarming… What an eyesore. I never should have come…” Kazimir says as he looks irritated.

“Come on, Kaz! Wait for me! Later, Ale.” Izra waves, using a nickname he made up.

“Time to go, Dion.” Kazimir says.

“Alright. We’ll be meeting again soon, anyway.”

The gods soon mix into the crowd and disappear from sight. What did he mean by ‘soon’? After the gods leave, I look around the lobby. When I do, I see a little boy walking against the crowd, headed toward me. He couldn’t be older than 10 years old.

“You’re Lady Alecia!”

Looking embarrassed, the little boy bows.

“How do you know my name?”

“I serve the Ministry of Discipline… My name is Altair.”

Ohhh, he got separated from the gods…

“The gods just left. Did you come with the gods in black?”

“I’m not a lost child!”

Suddenly, Altair looks sad.

“I don’t really get what you’re talking about, but it’s not like that… Do you mean you work with the gods in black?”

“Yep! I’m a member of the Ministry of Discipline. We strike fear into the hearts of humans, punishing those who sin and do evil deeds…”

Punishing sins and evil deeds… That guy’s not a god after all.

“He’s the demon king of hell… Are you the messenger of the devil?” I ask, half-jokingly, referring to Slade.

“No! You’ve got it all wrong!”

Little Altair, now bright red, gets angry at me.

“The Ministry of Discipline is made up of gods with a prestigious history. They protect order and lead humans down the path of righteousness!” Altair raises his voice.

“Shh! Don’t be so loud! Brittany will realize you’re here…” I panic and put my hand over Altair’s mouth. “So, you work for the Ministry of Discipline. What do you want with me?”

Altair shakes off my grasp.

“I’m here to pick you up, Lady Alecia. Slade’s orders. Please come with me to the house of the gods when you finish work. I don’t know what Slade will do to me if you don’t…”

When he looks at me with those innocent eyes, I can’t turn him down. Besides, there’s no running from the gods, if that’s truly what they are.

“I understand. If you promise to wait until I finish work.”

“I promise!” Altair looks at me with sparkles in his eyes, but all I can do is sigh.

I finish work and go with him to the mansion. Altair brings me to the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere. I can’t believe my eyes.

“Here?”

I look at a creepy, run-down old mansion that sits atop the hill. It looks like a haunted house.

“The place I went to before was so beautiful and fancy…”

“It looks like this to keep humans away. The King of the gods used his powers to make the outside of the house look like this. Please, go in.”

We approach the mansion, and Altair opens the front door. When I walk inside, I’m greeted by the luxurious, palace-like interior I saw last time.