Heart to Heart Adversity

Despite the enchantments to keep the building rather temperate, the guild master’s office feels chilling.

“What to do with you all now?” Xentel mutters from behind his desk unable to hide his own confusion.

“Sir, if I may.” Nir meekly interjects. Xentel merely looks at the large man with a nod. “We shouldn’t do anything.” The master says. All the others in the room, except myself, look at the man as if he is a moron or in surprise. “She’s a goddess and we’re just people. There’s nothing we could do to stop a curse from her.” The master explains his reasoning.

“That’s, a good point.” Bergenia responds before looking down at the floor with her chin in her fingers. “But we need to do something for these children.” She says. “They are in our care after all until they leave these halls.” The master adds looking up at Nir.

“Please both of you.” Xentel interrupts with a raised hand before the two can begin to argue.

“These people are so dull.” Cedric’s voice says from my side. I look up from my feet in confusion to the sight of the old man. “Duty this and duty that.” The old man mockingly states.

“What do you want Eris?” I inquire anger escaping with my words. Gold begins to fill the periphery of my vision. “Not now.” I say putting a hand to my hand and closing my eyes.

“Now’s as good a time as any.” Eris says with her real voice. “A curse from Skadi is definitely something.” The goddess adds. I open my eyes again to see the goddess getting up from the seat next to me as if she is getting exorcised. What a bizarre being…

“Just answer me straight for once!” I exclaim in frustration at my supposed patron.

“Skadi really shook you, huh?” The goddess’s voice is oddly gentle. Before she continues she bends down and wraps her arms around me in a hug. It feels, nice and comforting. “She has never liked me. I’m not even sure how she found out you were here.” Eris explains with a voice full of maternal care. So, strange.

“She called me your vessel.” I mumble into the goddess’s large chest.

“Oh no…” Eris says while pushing me away from our embrace. “That’s bad.” She mutters before standing up. “That’s very bad.” She mutters again as she begins to quickly pace in front of me. I watch the curve of her hips and butt. Before quickly closing my eyes, now is not the time to ogle a goddess!

“Why is that very bad?” I ask the pacing woman opening my eyes once more.

“It’s bad because that means she thinks I possessed you.” She swiftly responds with just as sudden stop of her pacing.

“Why would she think that?” I exclaim in terror.

“Because-” The goddess says kneels down again and puts her strong hands on my shoulders “-and I cannot emphasize this enough. She despises me.”

“Wait…” I say with a realization. “When I was struck by anti-magic. Was that Skadi possessing the examiner!?” I ask with even more fear somehow.

“That would make sense.” Eris replies letting go of my shoulders. “But how would she know you were going to be with that examiner specifically?” She more so asks herself aloud than to me resting her chin in her hand. A moment of silence falls between the two of us. I have no idea what to say in this situation, it is way above my pay grade. “No, no, no.” Eris says breaking the silence after what feels like an eternity.

“What is it?” I ask terrified to know the answer.

“Etügen…” Eris says with eyes wide. An expression of fear crosses the beautiful woman’s face. Not something you ever want to see on the face of a goddess who is supposed to watch over you. “She must have found out and then told Skadi.” She explains. “You see, in this world’s stories about us.” She continues looking at me with a much calmer expression. “Etügen is the mother of Skadi. And both of them despise me because I am the head god of war.” The warrior explains further.

“That doesn’t exactly explain their hatred though.” I say with a perplexed expression.

“You see, war means bloodshed of nigh countless peoples.” Eris explains suppressing a smile at the thought of all the death. “Both of them are nature goddesses so they view something like that as antithetical.” She adds with a sigh.

“But death is a natural part of the cycle of life.” I reply still confused.

“It’s the supposed meaninglessness and amount at one time that they have issue with.” The goddess answers with a frown. A silence builds between us once more.

“Why did you pick me?” I ask breaking the silence as my vision begins to have streaks of gold once more.

“I love the most unexpected choices.” Eris answers with a smile akin to a parent proud of their child’s accomplishments.

“But what made me so unexpected?” I inquire. “I was just an office worker.” I add.

“You have no accomplishments worth noting, true.” The goddess gently replies. Ouch, it is true but it still hurts to hear. “But the way you died.” She begins with a smile. “It was truly amazing.” She continues. “Despite the fact you knew you would die. You still saved those children from being shot. You took the bullets for them.” She finishes.

“That’s…” I stammer as my jaw goes slack. A silence begins to build between us again. “That’s how I died?” I finally find the words. My golden vision begins to blur as I tear up. “I really did save those kids.” I blubber aloud through tears.

“Only through adversity and strife, can people’s true selves be revealed.” Eris responds wiping away my tears. “In that moment of adversity, I knew you were exactly who I wanted, no. I needed to give a second chance to.” She explains while standing up. “And that is when we met.” My patron adds with a warming smile.

“We’ll keep an eye on them going forward, since there’s not much else we can do.” Xentel says with a sigh. Eris is gone and the guild master’s room is back to how it has been. “I’m sorry this has happened to you applicants but this seems to be all we can do for now.” He explains with resignation.