What is the right path?
The alarm clock goes off, indicating that another morning has arrived. After a few attempts, Alexa manages to silence it, still half asleep. She gets up and notices an empty inflatable mattress on the side of her bed with her blurred sight. It's when she remembers that a goddess slept with her last night. "She sure woke up early," Alexa thought, but it was only natural, considering what Caelia said goddesses being able to control their sleep. That means that Caelia is like a machine that turns on and off, something like cell phones, maybe? But even cell phones need power to stay connected. Where would her energy come from then, if she doesn't eat or sleep?
Realizing that she was having a reverie, Alexa gives up thinking. It was too early for this. In any way, Alexa would love to have a skill like that, although it would probably be more useful for Mark who usually sleeps at the most random times of the day.
Alexa leaves the room and goes down the stairs. In the kitchen, she finds her mother preparing breakfast. Caelia was still nowhere to see.
"Good morning."
"Good morning. Where's Caelia?"
"Wasn't she with you?"
"No... it looks like she woke up early."
"How strange. I didn't see her."
Alexa leaves the kitchen and goes to the bathoom hoping to find the goddess there, but she finds only Cody brushing his teeth. Then, she goes to the living room, but again with no results. She checks the other rooms of the house, but not even a trace of her. After spending her last drop of hope, reality comes to the fore. When the thought that the goddess may have fled from home while she was sleeping comes to mind, her blood freezes.
"She woudn't..."
She runs towards the entrance of the house while several thoughts run through her head. After everything she did for Caelia, after warning her so much to not complicate things, she runs away from home without warning, throwing all of Alexa's effort away. She couldn't help but feel angry.
"Caelia!"
She opens the door.
Caelia was there, standing in front of the house with an animal in her hand.
"Oh, Alexa. I found this invader walking by. What should I do?"
Caelia shows the animal to Alexa, holding it by the neck in an inappropriate way. Alexa's blood returns to its normal temperature upon realizing that Caelia hadn't done anything stupid - yet.
"Invader? It's only a cat."
"Cat?"
Caelia brings the cat's head at the height of her sight to better analyze it. The animal flapped in the air, unable to do anything against her.
"Leave him! He's harmless!"
"Really?"
She throws it away without concern, as if it were a mere object. The cat runs away scared. Caelia's nonexistent delicacy irritates Alexa, who takes a deep breath.
"Why are you scared of a cat? Are you really a goddess?"
"In the past, the civilized beings used to protect their territory from animals that they didn't own. Intruder creatures were often associated with bad events, such as pests and damage to crops..."
"Wait, wait! You're thinking too much about it!"
After four thousand years, it was to be expected that the relationship between humans and animals has changed, but but none of them has thought about this in the moment. For Caelia, the cat was just a wild animal that would cause problems for Alexa's family if she leave it be.
"Anyway, don't mistreat any animals! And please, when you leave the house, let me know!"
Alexa enters her house again. The morning had barely started and she had already experienced enough stress. In the kitchen, her mother had already finished breakfast.
"Found her?"
"Yes, she was bullying a cat."
"Excuse me?"
Disregarding this brief scare, the morning went on like any other. Alexa fed herself, brushed her teeth and now was changing clothes in her bedroom, while the only thing Caelia was doing was watching her.
"Where are you going, Alexa?"
"School."
"Oh, that's right. Children like you go to educational institutions until a certain age, don't they?"
"Yes, but I am not a child."
"Can I go with you?"
"Of course not! The attention I received yesterday was enough, if you show up out of nowhere it will be the end of my life!"
Caelia saddens. Of course she was curious to know what a school was like, she never had or would have an opportunity like this as a goddess.
"So, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"
"Hmm... I don't know."
Alexa looks at her computer. In a moment she thinks about suggesting her to use it, considering that she could learn several things about the society and the current world through the internet, but how would she handdle it without knowing anything about technology? Instead, she decides to use plan B.
"Why don't you take a look at my comics? There's a lot on the shelf."
"Comics? What is that?"
"Something like illustrated books. You can read, can't you?"
"Of course I can!"
"Then, it's all good. Try not to cause any problems until I arrive. See ya."
Alexa leaves her home and heads toward the school. At the moment, there was not much she could do for the goddess, so she wanted to leave her alone for a while to prevent her from attracting attention. If anyone found out that she was harboring a goddess inside the house now, it would all be ruined. The next step would be to get a job for Caelia. She couldn't even imagine how she would do that.
The school was the same as the day before: the same awkward looks of her classmates and the same hopeless friend sleeping beside her. This time she wastes no time hitting him on the head.
"Wake up!"
"Ow! I already told you to stop doing that!"
"Shut up. I need to tell you something."
Mark straightens his posture on the chair and gives a worried sigh.
"Here comes..."
"The goddess is in my house."
Mark does not react. He takes a few moments to process this absurd information.
"You're lying."
"I'm not! I'm serious!"
"What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything! She just showed up!"
If it was anyone else hearing this, he would definetily freak out, but Mark was smart enough not to act in a way that would make him suspicious. Instead, he thinks about the possible outcomes of this occurrence and the best ways to deal with it. After thinking about it, he comes to the conclusion that ignoring the goddess would no longer be an option. She was directly attached to Alexa now, and anything that happened to the goddess could affect Alexa in some way. He must make sure that Alexa makes the right decisions from now on so as not to make the situation worse.
"And now? What do you intend to do?"
"She needs a job."
"Impossible. She is a goddess. What kind of job are you going to find for her around here? At the convenience store?"
Mark was right. It was too risky to get the goddess to work, even in a not-so-busy city like this. Her reputation was big enough to make any remote place famous in a matter of seconds. Alexa knew that too, but she couldn't just leave the goddess without doing anything at her home. She had a plan to get Caelia to find a place in this world, and getting a job seemed like the best way to do that.
"It's true... but I need to do something. I can't hide a goddess forever."
"And that's why you want to get her a job?"
"Well, she wants to find herself in this world... I thought that would be the next step..."
"You're being too superficial. Try to think ahead. Do you think she wants to be anybody?"
To be fair, the goddess had a certain discomfort when people compared her to something other than "a goddess". But how would she be a goddess in a world where goddesses are outdated and unnecessary?
"I thought that after suffering so much in the past as a goddess, she wanted to have a more human life..."
"Of course not. It's the opposite. It's because she has not succeeded in being a goddess that she feels so lost and lonely now. If people's expectations were not important to her, she would just ignore them and do whatever she wanted. But that does not appear to be the case. She cares what they think about her, about her reputation. What do you think they will think of the goddess if you make her work in fast food or something?"
Mark's explanation crushes Alexa's expectations. Now she was as lost as the person she wanted to help. This seemed to be a hopeless case, no matter what happens.
"So there is nothing I can do..."
"There is."
"Really?"
"Yes, but it will be hard. Are you ready?"
How could she not be? She had already embarked on this adventure, there was no other choice for her but to move on. No matter what difficulties she faced, she had to do this. Expecting a ingenious and overly complex solution from Mark, she nods in agreement.
***
It's a lively day in the elvish village. People came and went, some carrying goods, some walking with their children, some exchanging money... villages like this were scattered throughout all countryside, moving their economy mainly in primary sectors, such as agriculture and extraction. Despite the large miscegenation across the continent, these villages generally have a very homogeneous ethnic identity, as is the case with the large elven community present in this place.
And among these busy people, a single individual draws attention. An excessively beautiful woman hinders the commercial movement with her quaint appearance. Her sulky face was the only thing that prevented others from getting close to her, although that still didn't detract from her beauty. She didn't mind walking right in the middle of the street without the slightest care about her arrogance and people had no choice but to make way for her. She keeps looking to both sides in order to find some piece of valuable information, but the turmoil she's involuntarily causing makes this task difficult.
"There is nothing in this city but merchants. I won't get any help here."
And then she passes by one of the many stalls of that marketplace, one that catches her eyes, not because of its goods, but because of a portable television that the salesman was watching. It broadcasts a report of Asteria's lastest events and the consequences of the emergence of the goddess Caelia. Upon hearing his sister's name, Aquoria abruptly puts both hands on the counter and draws close to the television, scaring the salesman who hadn't noticed her presence yet.
"Caelia! You're alive!"
It was a relief for Aquoria who was at a loss as to what to do until then. Now, she had a path to follow. She takes the salesman by the shirt and looks him in the eye.
"Where is this Asteria city located? Tell me!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone