What is Taken, What is Given

We realized this could explain a great deal, so we listened in silence. After a moment, she gestured toward me with a single, accusatory finger.

“You were the last to arrive,” she began, her voice echoing with ancient authority, “appearing some time after the previous summons. Just like the others, I greeted you and presented you to this world. And, while you recovered your composure quickly, you were no exception to the rule that most spirits are restless upon their arrival. It was a typical introduction. The trouble began when I bestowed my blessing upon you.”

As she spoke, flashbacks of the incident surfaced in my mind.

“After granting you the fundamental blessing of language translation via thought transmission, I asked what kind of special skill you would prefer. You, in turn, asked what the maximum number of skills you could be granted was. I sighed and explained that, depending on your aptitude, you could only have one. That’s when you blatantly requested that I simply grant you my power as a Goddess, so you could grant yourself abilities whenever you felt the need. When I vehemently objected, you chuckled and claimed it was only a joke. But then… to my utter astonishment, you actually absorbed my power!”

I fought back a grimace. Fragments of memory, long thought vanished, resurfaced. I had a faint recollection of the scene she described. It really had been a joke. I’d heard stories about genies granting three wishes and people using their first wish to ask for more. It can’t hurt to try, I must have thought at the time.

“I absorbed your power? So the ‘precious’ thing you mentioned… that was your divine power?”

“Of course, it was! What else could it possibly be?”

“Well, Miss Goddess,” I retorted, putting a little extra weight on the final word, “when a woman says ‘my precious’ like that, it can imply a number of things. Especially that one ‘thing’.”

“And that is?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.

“How about you ask her?” I flicked my gaze toward Ms. Latina. “She seems to understand.”

Now aware of the true context, Ms. Latina looked rather contrite. Her gaze dropped to the floor in embarrassment as she muttered, “I-I’m sorry… again…”

“Hey, could you explain what he’s talking about?” Zephyra inquired, her curiosity piqued. I had assumed she was merely simple-minded when she pouted over food, but this woman was perhaps far more of an airhead than I’d anticipated.

“That is…” Ms. Latina hesitated for a moment before leaning in to whisper in the Goddess’s ear.

As she listened, Zephyra’s cheeks instantly flushed a deep crimson. Her eyes widened, and a hand flew up to cover her agape mouth.

“You… you pervert! Beast!” she stammered, somehow blaming me for her own naivety.

“Hey, you’re the one who caused the misunderstanding! Even if I did take your power, you shouldn’t have called it your ‘everything.’ That’s bound to be misinterpreted.”

“But… it really is my everything,” she replied, the blush on her cheeks slowly receding.

“Pardon?”

“My body is ethereal. When I said you absorbed my power, I meant you absorbed me. The entirety of my being.”

“Boss, you really ‘ate’ her up,” old Voktah chimed in again. I was starting to notice a pattern; he only spoke when he saw an opportunity to crack a terrible joke.

I shot him a withering glance, a sentiment mirrored in the sharp looks from Kyoto and Ms. Latina. A silent, unanimous pact was formed: we would let that one slide.

“Ethereal, as in you don’t have a physical form? Like a spirit? A ghost?”

“Correct. My body is not physical; it is composed of Aether.”

“Hold on, let’s back up. First, how did I even manage to take your power?”

“I am not certain. It is as if your very soul possesses a higher order of existence than my own. It simply asserted priority over my power as this world’s governor. Such a thing is utterly unprecedented.”

“Alright, I’m with you so far. The memories of our first meeting are slowly returning now that you mention it. But you also said I lost some of my memories and squandered your power. What was that about?”

“For reasons I cannot fathom, your transference to this world was incomplete, causing some aspects of you—your memories, most likely—to become sealed away. After being absorbed, I was similarly imprisoned within you, unable to act. As for you squandering it all… the seal eventually weakened, and I managed to break free for a brief moment. It was then that I discovered what you were doing. You had used an ability to tear through the realms and return to your home world, but you had done so inefficiently, at a cost of Aether that was far beyond your means. And by ‘your Aether,’ I mean the Aether you took from me,” she finished, groaning as if the memory itself caused her pain.

So, it wasn't a dream. I’d had my suspicions ever since I realized the blouse I gave to Crazy Mo that night was missing.

“Normally, personal Aether would replenish with rest, but in your case, it was completely expended. It was truly lost forever! You wasted my entire Aetherial being. It was never able to replenish because of the continuous consumption, which steadily eroded your Aether capacity and began to eat away at your very life essence. That is when your condition progressed from mere fatigue to a terminal illness. I was astonished you could still stand as if nothing was wrong. The agony of having one’s life essence consumed should be unbearable. Most would lose their minds in seconds.”

I had felt some discomfort, but nothing that drove me to madness. The sensation was almost nostalgic, like something I experienced daily in my youth.

“That incident you’re referring to… that must have been when I returned to Terra through that strange spatial rift. I do remember feeling sick and exhausted. And glowing fissures had appeared all over my skin.”

“Precisely. The material that constitutes your body is implemented Aether. When the consumption began to devour your fundamental being, your body itself was being consumed.”

“Wait, my body is made of Aether? I thought you said your body was made of Aether and wasn't physical.”

“Yours and mine are not the same. My pure, ethereal Aether cannot be touched by physical beings. As a summoned being, yours is an unnatural body of solidified Aether, manifested to exist physically in this realm.”

“You mean all summoned beings have a body like mine?” I asked, gesturing to the other three.

“Correct. All of you arrived in this world as souls—ethereal beings, just like me. Upon your arrival, your physical forms were constructed from Aether. These avatars must continuously consume Aether simply to maintain their existence. It is much like conjuring a fireball; you must constantly channel your Aether to maintain its form, and the moment you cease, it vanishes. Your bodies are, in essence, continuously cast spells.”

“I see. That makes sense. So, was it you who brought me back here during that desperate time?”

“It was,” she confirmed. “Realizing your predicament, I was able to temporarily seize control of your weakened body, halt the wasteful expenditure of Aether, and tear open another spatial rift back to this world before promptly returning.”

“Such a critical situation, and I had no idea,” I remarked, genuinely grateful. “Thank you for saving my ass, Miss Zephyra. And I’m sorry for carelessly wasting your power.”

“What? Why are you apologizing? What’s done is done. I am not so petty as to hold such a trivial matter against you. And there is no need for thanks—it was only right to save someone in need! You can drop the honorifics, too. Just Zephyra is fine!” Once again, she was putting on a distant air. A moment ago she was berating me for my mistakes, and now she was acting all high and mighty. Could this woman be…

“A Tsundere Goddess,” Kyoto muttered under her breath.

“Alright, Zephyra,” I said, teasing her slightly. “It was quite noble of you to act so suddenly.”

“Hmph. Stop making fun of me!” She puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Seeing a mature, beautiful woman feign the distress of a child was surprisingly charming.

While Ms. Latina nodded in agreement, Voktah remained silent.

With hope shining in her eyes, Ms. Latina asked, “Does your story mean he can return to Terra, to our original world?”

“That would be correct,” Zephyra affirmed. “Though the Godly Aether he took from me is gone, the ability to create a spatial rift is now ingrained in his soul. It should be possible for him to open another gate to your world.”

“Then, please!” Ms. Latina dropped to her knees, grabbing the hem of my clothes as she began to sob, tears welling in her eyes. “I have to go back! They need me there. I have to protect them. I must return!”

“Please, stand up,” I said, helping her to her feet. “I don’t know how to do it yet, but I promise I will take you back. Zephyra, do you know how I can create that hole in space?”

“It shouldn’t be difficult. Blessing-related abilities can be awakened simply by will; a chant is not required. However, the effect can be amplified or cast more easily if a gesture is made or the spell’s name is spoken aloud. I cannot help you cast it, so try to recall what you were doing when you first created it.”

What had I done? I had been thinking about Boss Ren’s pizza, wishing I could have it one last time. Was that it? A simple wish?

“I get it. Let’s give it a try.”

I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on the pizzeria, on how desperately I wanted to eat there again. Ten seconds passed. Thirty. A full minute. Nothing happened.

“That’s strange. It worked before when I was craving my favorite food, but it’s not happening now.”

“Perhaps your desire isn’t strong enough right now,” Zephyra suggested. “Even though blessed abilities are simpler than standard spells, you still need to grow accustomed to using them. Try to think of another powerful, recent impression from your world.”

Something recent and significant from Terra? The last one would have to be…

I focused on the memory of Kazir and me on that rooftop, talking down the suicidal man. Then, poof. With a sound like tearing silk, a shimmering fissure in reality materialized before me.