Uraina and the truth

“WHAT!?” Mina screeched. “I’m not… why would you think I’m here to kill you?!”

“Oh come on, don’t play dumb with me.” Uraina said with a roll of her eyes. “Why else would you be here? You learned why you were brought here, heard stories about how I’m a wonderful and kind goddess, and decided you could come kill me easily. Well sorry to tell you, but I’m not going down without a fight.”

As she said that, Uraina began summoning powerful gusts of wind around her in a threatening manner. Mina however barely even noticed that over her complete confusion.

“Wha? What do you mean?! I’m not some God killer, I’m Mina! Mikwan Sloan! I’m your chosen one!” Mina exclaimed. “Athan and the others got their hands on a magic summoning circle, then used it to ask you to send them someone to help you save their kingdom, your kingdom, from an evil organization and a corrupt king! You chose me to send to them. I am your chosen one!”

Uraina looked at Mina in confusion, not quite lowering her guard yet, but allowing the gusts around her to dissipate.

“Chosen one? Kid, I don’t DO chosen ones, of any kind.” Uraina said. “And if I did, I certainly wouldn’t choose you. Maybe if you were a few years older, then I might consider you, but not as you are right now. I have no desire to deal with children.”

“But… but… but…”

Mina was completely lost for words. Uraina, the goddess that had supposedly chosen her, genuinely had no idea who she was, nor did she even seem to want to know her. Worse, Uraina thought she was here to kill her!

Uraina watched as Mina’s face warped in shock, confusion, and despair, and realized that things weren’t as she thought they were. So, she let out a sigh, lowering her hands completely.

“Come on, follow me.” She said as she walked past Mina towards the living area. Mina wordlessly followed, and Uraina made her way over to one of the many beds which she proceeded to gracelessly flop back on. She then patted a hand on the bed, wordlessly telling Mina to sit beside her, which Mina timidly did.

After a long moment of silence, Uraina sat back up and looked Mina in the face.

“Alright kid, looks to me like you have no idea what’s really going on, do you?” Uraina asked, and Mina shook her head.

“*Sigh* Alright then. Let me lay it out for you.” Uraina then said. “That summoning circle that brought you here? That wasn’t meant to bring someone chosen by me. It was meant to bring someone to replace me.”

“Replace you?” Mina questioned.

“Yep. It tore you from your world, tore some of my power from me, mashed you and it together, and plopped you down in the middle of the circle.” Uraina explained. “The goal of those things is that the person that was summoned would grow in power till you were finally strong enough to fight the god you were to replace, taking their power after the summoned beat them. Then, the summoned person would take the god’s place, and be under the complete control of the people that summoned them in the first place.”

“That… that’s why I was summoned here? So, I could replace you, then they would use me?” Mina asked, horrified.

“Yep.” Uraina confirmed.

“But, why? Why would they want to replace you? I thought everyone loved you?” Mina questioned. This time, Uraina let out a deep, truly weary sigh, and for the first time she looked hesitant as she spoke.

“It’s because… I’m growing weaker.” Uraina answered, making Mina go wide eyed in shock once again. “Not just me, a lot of the gods and goddesses in this world are growing weaker, to the point where it’s possible we may lose our power entirely eventually. Not for a while, even by our standards as deities, but it seems to be an inevitability at this rate. So, the humans came up with this summoning idea, to summon people from your world to replace us, and in the process some less scrupulous humans came up with a way to take advantage of that to gain more direct control of our godly power.”

“Wait, you’re dying?” Mina now questioned.

“I feel like ‘dying’ is a bit simple of a term for what’s happening, but to put it in such simple terms, yes.” Uraina confirmed.

And once again, Mina was stunned, something that had been happening a lot lately. Uraina gave Mina her time to think, to digest everything she’d just learned. She certainly needed it. The two sat there for who knows how long. Uraina relaxed on the bed and relaxed while Mina sat stiff as a board while she processed. But eventually, when she felt she’d given Mina enough time, Uraina spoke up once again.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Uraina asked.

“… I don’t want you to die.” Mina replied. “Is there anything I can do to help stop it?”

“As far as I’m aware, no. I’m not even sure why I’m growing weaker to be honest, so there’s not much a point in trying to fix it right now.” Uraina said. “But don’t worry about me right now, live for yourself. I prefer it when people do that. Tell me, what do you want to do?”

“… Can I ask you something first?” Mina said after a pause, and Uraina gave her a nod. “I said earlier that I was summoned to help save the kingdom from an evil organization and a corrupt king. But, does that organization even exist? is the king actually corrupt? Or, do you not know?”

“Heh, give me a little credit for being a decent god kid. I may not care too much about all the details about my kingdom down there, outside of how much they worship me, but I do keep tabs on them.” Uraina remarked with a light smirk. “But to answer your question, no. There is no evil organization, there is no corrupt king. The old king died of natural causes, and rule of the kingdom was naturally passed down to the king’s only biological son, who’s been doing his best to live up to his father’s legacy.”

“But, all the bad stuff he’s done? All the strange rules, and everything else he’s done?” Mina asked.

“It’s because the new king’s an idiot.” Uraina said frankly. “He’s self aware of his own idiocy, and does his best to make up for any mistake he realizes he makes, but he is a huge idiot. He’s genuinely trying his best, but ironically his best is probably worse than if he just tried to coast along.”

“Oh, that actually makes sense.” Mina said. She then thought for a moment more before turning to Uraina with resolve.

“I came here to talk to you and see if you had a way to possibly send me home. Can you do that?” She asked, and Uraina thought for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, I think I can do that, though it’s going to cost you. Not only are you going to have to give up my powers, but you’re also going to have to do me a little favor to help me get the power boost to send you home.” Uraina said.

“I thought so, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” Mina declared, putting a smirk on Uraina’s face.

“Alright then, I like that spirit.” She said with a nod. “In that case, one of my shrines is currently under the control of a phoenix. I need you to kill that phoenix, and the cleansing of my shrine plus you returning my power should give me enough of a power surge to send you back? Deal?”

“Deal!... Um, where is the shrine?” Mina then asked. “Do you have a map, or some kind of magic compass or…”

“Heh. Or, I could just use our connection to put the location into your head.” Uraina said as she tapped Mina on the forehead, and Mina suddenly knew exactly where the shrine was.

“Oh, wow. That’s cool.”

“Of course. Now, while you’re more tolerable than other kids, I have company coming relatively soon and I’d like to clean up a bit before they get here, so why don’t you head off.” Uraina said.

“Alright, but how do I leave?” Mina asked.

“Just close your eyes and imagine going back to your body in the church.” Uraina answered.

“Back to my body?” Mina was incredibly confused.

“Yeah, you’re not physically here kid. You’re just a mental projection right now.” Uraina said, and Mina looked down at herself, finally noticing she didn’t have feet.

“Oh… huh. Alright, goodbye Miss Uraina.” Mina said.

“Bye Mikwan.” Uraina replied.

Mina then closed her eyes, and returned to her body.