Maya paused in thought for a second, while her friend took the same moment to examine her more closely.

Chae-Won grinned and leered. "Nice body. I'm glad to see your boobs filled in like you wanted-"

"Shay!" she responded in shock, then exhaled. A faint smile came to her lips, as she again asserted her thoughts. "Okay ... either clothe me, or get naked too."

With a wave, a toga appeared; a perfect match to the other.

"But what if I wanted to see how you have grown, too-"

"Later. For now ... I missed you!"

It didn't matter if one of the duo were a goddess or not; this was a reunion par excellence. Tears and happy words and questions and oh so many more things sprang forth, answered or not, to be a first meeting as well as a reintroduction between friends.

"But, how can you be here, Shay? You ... died-"

"Yeah well, a strange thing happened on the way to the mall. Somehow, I got shunted to this world, sent back in time too while the flirty entity was doing his work; the deities used me as their messenger, somehow I got introduced to the pantheon here-"

"The entity I came across was not flirty, but more than a little condescending. But ... what? Pantheon? Say, are you, you, um, really a goddess?"

"Yes. Lightning bolts, blessing births, and everything. Um, yeah, uh, let's skip that for a bit. We have to catch up! Hey what's been happening on good old Terra Firma since I'd last seen it? Is it still in one piece, or ... blown up maybe?"

For a second, Maya felt maybe Chae-Won became evasive, with all this skipping the rest of it. Maya needed Chae-Won to tell her the whole truth, but ― she didn't know the first thing about what to ask, only to play along with the tale.

"Oh, no, it's still alright. Well, you know. The politicians and the rebels, they all still do what they were doing before, just the faces change. Bits of new technologies come out every so often; the latest fads in some circles seemed to be 'wearable tech'. Devices you wear, like 'smart glasses' and wristwatch like things which link to your phones-" Maya paused. "Eh, it's technology; maybe that stuff doesn't fit for this world? No need to mix and match it to here; it might cause a problem."

Chae-Won clenched her face; a striking appearance which indicated maybe this might be happening here in this world, right now.

"What the fuck, Shay? Something wrong here? You can tell me."

"Um, I-" A sudden stream of tears came forth, and the goddess leaned against her friend's shoulder once more; this time, to almost collapse under pressure. "I'm sorry! I'm all alone now! The other deities, they left it ― and they left this world to me to deal with! And in my failure to, to lead the world, to protect it ― there's this plague, and-"

Maya felt Shay's grip grow tighter, maybe too tight for comfort; but she rested a gentle hand on her friend's back, and just soothed. "Shh. It's okay, you aren't alone; we'll think of something, together-"

Chae-Won eased up, and let the tears flow again, safe in the sense of having a friend, maybe the only true one she'd had, in some time.

"I got your back, girl," Maya soothed more. "You aren't alone-"

---

After some time of this, Maya felt a need to bring this some place else than the patio, and then asked about going somewhere more comfortable.

"Ah, right, let's head inside. Sorry about all of that; I'm ... such a poor friend, aren't I-"

"Nope. You've had a hard time too, maybe, but that doesn't make you a 'poor friend' in my book."

Coming to a stop inside, Chae-Won gestured to the sofa. Both sat and relaxed within it.

"Maybe, you could start back at the beginning of the story, back when you ... left Earth?"

Chae-Won exhaled, glanced at her friend, and tapped her fingers against the wood grained armrest at her side. "The beginning, you say ... oh, that was the easy part. Getting raped, being knocked around by some tough guy, dying and waking up somewhere else. Ferrying messages, building contacts to mortals-"

She paused, turning her head aside and covering her mouth to cough, though both of them knew this was merely a delaying tactic.

"To begin, the pantheon wasn't so formalized, like the Greek or Roman ones of Earth were; in my mind they were ready for epic tales to be written or sung of them. I had thought to introduce some of the former remembered cultures to this world, and maybe make my mark here. Also, the core name of this world was not Juno from its start point, but it had some mixed alphanumeric designation by default; the deities really did not have a sense of style-"

She again halted; Maya wondered what had happened to make this so hard to admit. "Go on."

"But it's not important, or at least not immediately so. I did recommend a few changes, and got permission to recall a lot of locked memories, my memories, no our memories too, in searching through all my former thoughts. Remembering the days you'd come back from school and I'd be waiting already, eager to learn, eager for you to show me your studies in school, and bring back library books? Eager to look through your world history book and studies of the world I thought I would never see? Well yeah, a lot of this Greco Roman theme included, nude marble statues, was inspired from what that book showed of the possible ancient cultures-"

"You mean, all of this layout-" Maya extended a hand, "-came from all you remembered of our times in youth? Of all the times you would grab my books and stare at those images, minutes at a time? That?"

"Yeah of course! I liked you and ... I mean, I really liked being your friend, first. I was a dirty orphan from the slums, had no sponsor to get into a school, rejected even in my own country, even your father could not help me. But meanwhile, you were clearly different but you were on a path to education, travel, and more. I was partly jealous and partly in awe of you; not just from you telling me the ancestral meaning of your name." A sly grin crossed the goddess' face. "Hey. Remember when we played around? The times we'd play around the schoolyard in the hot summers, we would go here or there just so we would not be bored? And you fought to get me into the swimming pool; you said I had as much right to be there as anyone, because you'd be there to protect me too?"

Maya had to think to recall it. Up to two decades previous to her dying, the two of them began their inseparable nature ... to end at Chae-Won's death, thirteen years ago. Also, a flirty mention of 'playing around' did certainly bring up one shocking memory, of her father barging into her room when she and Chae-Won were bared-

Thankfully, on Maya a blush could not be seen; but on Chae-Won her rosy cheeks were glowing.

"But I never thought of you as a 'dirty orphan'; you were my friend too! I liked you just as much. I feared you would somehow listen to how the others always called me a 'black demon child' and other nasty names-"

"But I never would. I never could abandon you. Even in death, and coming here, I still often wondered ... I wonder what Alemayehu is doing now?"

For a moment, the smile on Maya's face slowly fell to one of neutral passivity; and then even this vanished into a slightly soured look.

"Not well, for me. I admit to falling apart. After you ― well, after I lost you I fell into a depression and a hyper form of anxiety. Took me years to get out of it. Then five years before I died, my parents died; but by this time I was back in the Korea you remember, trying to work through the depression again. Bad jobs or no jobs, almost starving at times, doing things I don't want to tell you ... it hurts; the past really hurts. Dang, girl, I fucking missed you!"

Maya leaned over in the sofa, to recline her head into Shay's bosom. She felt the warmth and peace she hadn't felt ... in some time.

A mutual arm came across her back, and Chae-Won began a gentle rubbing to console her. It felt good; too good. Maybe she wouldn't want to leave here-

"I don't remember you swearing though, Maya."

"Aah, yeah as a chid I was raised to be 'proper'; but later in life ... things turned a different way."

"Oh. Well it's not that I hate it, it's that I don't think of those words as, 'positive' words."

"Hey it's okay, I'll watch my language then, if you want me to. I only ever took it up because of bad friends. I mean if I have you, and you are a good friend, then I don't need to swear or be angry."

A third being entered this conversation.

"Ahem. Mistress. You wished to be reminded of the time table?"

The goblin clad in a toga ― seeming to be nothing more than a butler or manservant ― inserted this comment to his goddess, speaking in perfect recognized words for both of them to hear. Not what Maya had expected; maybe this world had more to reveal, more to surprise her with.

"Stop it, Karst ― this is a reunion with my old friend!"

"Oh I'm so old now, Shay?"

"You, stop it too, Maya; you know what I mean."

Maya actually chuckled, for once, back to her former playful nature.

"Maybe ... before I decide how much I wanna tease you back, maybe you should explain more about the past, and this so called time table?"

"Oh well ... it's not a pretty history, especially how I broke the world, but as I speak, it will be the truth-"

---

After her "death", Chae-Won got sent into a new world, and sent back in time, though unknown to her for this latter point. At a current guess, she got dropped two centuries earlier in time, but got busy so she could not look up her old friend. And, work for the deities was just ― busy activities, never an end to the list of what came next. Building ties with mortals, bringing the words of deities to cultures which were otherwise godless heathens, helping to form the pantheon as more styled to what Chae-Won recalled of them-

"You know, it was easy enough to do this," she claimed. "We developed a new skill domain to view, copy, and write an entity's life experiences ― all I had to do was let it do its thing on my brain. Sort of a 'memory printer' which transcribed all I saw into printed form. Plus I got to see and remember all our times together-" The blush returned in force. "Good times."

The story resumed. One of the changes which came from these printed memories, was how the world she came from had a proper name accepted by all. Earth, for the Terran humans. But for the world with a strange alphanumeric code, the gods selected a new name and told it to the people. Juno, with the meaning of youth; but it drove some cultures to value youth more, to value less experience and lore of the wiser, older ones of society. Chae-Won also told them what she knew of her old world's science and technology, of advancement and to share information across great distance, to reach for the moon and stars-

Simply put, it became too much for some people to just listen to; some went to the extreme cause of being "separatist" and others were "unitarian". Some unitary cultures of this world got obsessed to remake all she had told them; and the one leader, some crazed general, thought to "force unity" on the separatists. As if they thought she commanded it to be done ― not just to take it as a story of who and what she was.

So strangely, she, a mere messenger, arose within the pantheon as if she were one of its members. One by one, gods and goddesses turned either mad, indifferent, or wholly jealous of the new things and the ways to distract or motivate peoples. This could only pull apart a pantheon she sought to support, not the other way around. The first goddess to give up was soon followed by another, and then a third-

All in all, from the previous thirty deities, at the end of the two centuries, only Chae-Won remained ― the others having given their domains and powers to her.

And then, the plague; the change happened to all.

Little more than half a century past, impressed by some of the same science type of things ― one culture grew too advanced; so they took to chemistry, biology, and genetics. They began to perform a research on living sentient beings; as had a pre-war Germany on Earth, so this culture sought to breed their own race of "super men". A few virulent diseases popped up the likes of which this world had never seen before ― and then, she knew. Chae-Won knew, she was at fault, for having tried to impress upon this world her previous world's lore and wisdom.

"I didn't know! I couldn't have known!" Chae-Won now buried her head in her friend's lap. Maya's soothing of her could not stop the tears yet, as she spilled the most cruel secrets of the horrors the humans would unleash in this time of the story. "One scientist with an agenda turned to forms of control, promised to make the peoples' fears go away, and then spread a hateful ideology! One of control and manipulation of the 'lesser races'! Backed by the viral vectors! The war lasted a half a decade, but changed ninety nine point ninety nine percent of all peoples! Only zero point zero one percent of the original population still lives, but changed ― the rest are all changed to a form of undead!"

"What change could do that, create undead?" Maya asked, but could get no answer for some time ― Chae-Won was beyond hyper frantic, a state her friend had never seen before.

---

In what amounted to a whole day of crying passed ― Maya saw a full day/night cycle lapse here ― until Chae-Won was again consolable through some means the next morning. Both sitting upright, trying to stay calm and collected, Maya calmly sipped the tea which her friend's servant had brought, while Chae-Won ignored any refreshment.

Maya looked to Chae-Won with moral support; she returned it with a worried but small smile. "I'm ... okay. The truth is ... I really feared having to tell anyone this, having to admit how deep a fault my actions have done. But, the time for tears needs to pass, if I ... if I can do something to fix it-"

"We, bubs, we."

Chae-Won had a tremor in her lips, which belied how turbulent and thorough her emotions ran, even now; but she accepted this word of support. "Thanks, my friend ... but I'm thinking, this is far beyond even me, so ... you can't-"

"Hey girl, am I gonna let that stop me? Think it can stop us from doing something together to fix it?" Maya flicked a finger lightly on the goddess' dim glow of a forehead, a sign of the old days to remind each other of the old times, of togetherness. "I'm in it as deep as you're in it, bubs."

"Yeah ... um ... sorry, for summoning you, and all. You had a better life back there-"

"I died."

"-died ... um, oh."

"Nobly. Or, ignobly, if so possible. In the same place and same way you did, too. Eh, well maybe not the exact same way; I cannot be killed by rape alone; someone hit me hard."

Chae-Won betrayed her shock with wide eyes and opened mouth, with a trace of horror in how her friend had followed her own path, with such a desperate struggle to the same end.

"But ... maybe, the same guys ... the same way?"

"I dunno, no way to be sure; they were never identified. Did one guy have a cigarette burn over his penis, and another a round birthmark on his right hip?"

A small nod betrayed the fact they were in the goddess' memories.

"Anyway; I died. But at least to the last breath I tried to save a girl who reminded me of you, that I leapt into action to ... it doesn't matter now, I guess. So; back to your story?"

"So. To fix it. I, or we, have to break the world ... again."

"Hmm. How so?"

"First, it should be no surprise to you," Chae-Won smiled weakly, for the first time in so long, "for a fantasy world like this to have many types of magic. An elemental magic, a magic by its domain, magic of thought, and so on. Basically, like if you can think it, in some way it could come to be. The pantheon was meant to mitigate the worst of the skills and spells from happening, by their intent to limit the overuse of magic ... with exceptions. But mix in a few years of some culture mixing magic with biochemistry or genetics, and ... voila. Dreams may become reality, and some dreams are like a nightmare to begin with. Add in a sentient curiosity and creativity, subtract out the deities who had left or had no more power of magic oversight, and, boom. Instant plague, ready for the highest bidder. In this case, the genome forced the plague cultures laced with magics to change, to boost the creation of artificial undead."

Maya held Chae-Won while she thought of all she'd seen or heard in her life, of the literature and movies ― zombies, skeletons, reanimated dead who go home again-

"Oh. I see. Fuck. Oh, yeah sorry-"

"Aha, 'oh I see' ― is right. Which is the reaction I had the very first moment of an outbreak, followed by the 'oh crap what do we do now' mania. I didn't think it my fault at first; only that the people were misusing the ideas and ideals behind the science and technologies which I declared to them. At first I thought these mortals would sort it out and self correct the issue. But by the time the first wave of research scientists died out to their own viral vectors, we knew it would take more. By this time too, those who could do something were gone or inactive; or those who could do something, unprepared at how fast the virulence grew, could not do enough. Aided by new magic, these grew, broke the world magic balance, and created their own mana storm. Have you ever seen a mana storm from viral vectors? No, Earth never could. Well you will, from the inside, and maybe survive. It assaults a body, and turns it either into a mass of organic goop, or converts it from living to dead to undead. And maybe one in every thousand 'survivor' lives four more weeks before popping like a balloon, unknown to have the virus, pop like a balloon and spread the viral spores-"

"Okay! I get it! Virus, bad! Mana storm, bad!"

"Ha- sorry, I got a little ... carried away. Teehee."

"The solution, can you find a-"

"Eh ... yes, and no. Yes, because all magic and mana are detectable at some level, this virulence being no exception; if it has an effect in the world, it can be seen somehow. No, because I need more mana control than I've ever had, and a constant rate of it for longer than the virulence has been on this world. Basically, I need to install something like we had in that one handheld gaming systems' game, what was it called-"

"I forget what it was, I lost the game after you died; had to leave a lot behind, and never picked it up again. But yeah, I sorta remember small bits of it, so I know-"

"In this world, it has to be a system of magic nodes made from my essence, dispersed around the world, to boost my input and output of mana in dispersed places. The trouble is ― the list of problems which prevent me from the work is growing. Now, the survivors are too dispersed, too not trusting, too not willing ― for them to come together. So all I've done lately, all I've had the energy to do is to help them along and gift them foods, clothing, boons on building structures-"

"Wait!"

"Yes, Alemayehu?"

She smiled at the full use of her name, at a time like this. "What are they doing for you? What do they offer in return?"

"Well, uh ... nothing, I, guess?"

Maya wrinkled her brow, while focusing upon the words. "Nothing ... you, guess ... fuck it, not sorry for swearing; that stops NOW!"

"But if I don't give them something, they'll all die out-"

"No I'm not saying stop giving handouts to those who truly need assistance; just, stop doing it without 'in good faith' actions from them, in return. Do they worship you?"

Chae-Won bowed her head. "No."

"Do they at least treat you respectfully?"

A much smaller but similar 'no' could be heard from the down-turned face.

"What the f- What the hell do you mean with that?"

"Some ... many laugh at me, call me a foolish or stupid goddess. Some might ― they throw rocks, or launch arrows-"

"HOLY FUCK!"

Maya sighed, head exploding at the level of trauma this world, this goddess, these people must have seen, to go so far astray.

"Like I said. We will do this, together. But as of now, please ― stop giving them everything for nothing or for no reason but generosity! Have them value what you do; respect your own life as well!"

Chae-Won stared at her friend. "But they need-"

"I know, Shay, it's a hard choice. I've had to, well, do some things I did not want to do, too ― in the name of survival. It sucks, it truly does. This might be hard on many of the survivors; a few of them might even starve or just plain give up, before your hopes are realized. But ... those who truly survive will be stronger for it, and more responsive to your own needs, and ... a better boon to you than you to them."

"I don't know-"

"Please, try."

---

Chae-Won stopped, not wanting to doubt her friend; she felt in some small sense, Alemayehu must be right, must be certain of the logic behind it. What lesson in life did she learn, since Chae-Won had died there? Was it something Chae-Won should have learned, before coming to this world herself?

No. Chae-Won had her own life, here, now. While she might miss the street foods to the point of wishing she could go back for just a few hours, in the end this was just a faded dream. A girl could dream, but a woman must face reality. And only a resolute goddess could stand up to the fate, or make it bend to her.

Chae-Won and Alemayehu, they used to be so good together, so much a team ― while she might have feared Maya leaving her, she dared hope it never ended.

A few thoughts, from the frantic times half a century ago, returned. A hope.

"You, have ... a plan?" she asked.

Maya soft punched her in the arm, like old times. "That's the ticket, girl! Chin up, shoulders square, back straight, and all that!" A gentle chuckle came from those now smiling lips. "Yeah, a hint of a plan, at least. First, we need to cause a big scene; second, we need to inform all the people a change is going to happen; third ― um, I'll get to it-"

"Aha, who's on first, now?"

At the extended tongue, Chae-Won tried to reach for it but missed; this old teasing game brought forth another giggle, delaying the planning. The moment subsided, with soft sighs of released tension from them both. Chae-Won slowly let loose a yawn, unable to hide her state.

"Eh ... I don't think I've slept well in, oh ... half a century. Give or take a year."

With the power of suggestion alone, Alemayehu also gave in to a giant yawn, letting it rumble out like a lion on the African savannah her ancestors might have hunted.

"You and me both. Well, me in sentiment, at least. Need a bed-"

Chae-Won pulled her friend up and onward, through a set of doors, to the waiting bedroom. Before either of them could turn to the bed, Maya grabbed her tight. "In case I haven't made it clear, I am so glad to see you. I missed you, more than you know-"

Chae-Won moved her face, lips to cover her friend's. The lips met and glided over each other, parted ever so softly, and a tongue passed teasingly to the other side, to meet one in return. Neither one forced or resisted the deed; but both lived in this moment. The swell of saliva mixed, both hearts rejoiced, and-

Her friend pulled back. "Um, ah, I'm not ... I don't do that- Dammit you're gonna make me say it a second time, aren't y-"

Chae-Won grinned. "It's okay, I'm not, either; still not. I want a man with me, too, and I've had ... men, as a goddess can. Doesn't mean I won't enjoy this any less than you will."

"Ha, me neither. Enjoy it, I mean."

And both of their lips met again.

---

A sheer day full of fantasy, frolic, and fun later, and the two of them ― both fully nude ― were finishing the late dinner Chae-Won's servant brought to them in bed. Maya bit into what was clearly a wedge of a grape scented fruit the size of a watermelon, her right hand still caressing the goddess' glistening wet crotch, while Chae-Won nibbled at a puffy mallow like thing with a sly grin.

"Mistress. I remind you again. The time table."

Chae-Won rolled over in a deliberate slowness, pulling away from Maya's fingering, and Maya watched the goddess' breasts roll to their new resting place. Not the only change; both smiles fell to numb acceptance, Chae-Won tossed the sweet mallow piece to the food tray, a good four meters away ― it landed right on the center.

Then Chae-Won softly rolled back to the other side of the bed and sat up, dangling her feet off the edge to the floor.

"I ... shouldn't have ... done this-"

"Hmm. I didn't complain in any of those hours, did I Shay?"

"No, but; it might make things ... complicated."

"Hmm? What? I don't see this could possibly affect how you introduce me to your world's citizens-"

"That's just it. I ... sort of already ... wrote you into the world story."

"Oh boy this I gotta hear."

---

To all the inhabitants of the world named Juno, the World of Youthful Growth, they knew of the newest goddess to the pantheon, Chae-Won the Goddess of Science and Technology. They knew she had a harsh life, growing up as a young goddess, before she knew she had these deific powers. A tale whispered somewhere, maybe from her own lips, told how she had a love, another woman ― deities were strange, gender didn't seem to matter like it did for mortals. And this other woman did not have the same fate to be a goddess as did Chae-Won. Yet they loved each other, from their first days of childhood, to hopefully extend into times long lived.

To them, the few who maybe first heard this tale almost two centuries ago, this other woman who she loved could only end up dying to old age, some day. But fate would choose another path; this woman, Alemayehu, would sacrifice herself so Chae-Won would not have had to die. Alemayehu preceded a normal death by many years, but in so doing, rescued Chae-Won from a certain group of four pursuers, whose names shall never be known to this world.

So in agony and despair, awaking to her deific powers, the goddess Chae-Won took the body of Alemayehu and broke it up, took pieces of her and buried them in far distant parts of the-

"What wait, wait, wait, fucking WAIT! Wait a gosh darn second bubs, why'd you make me not just dead, but dismembered and buried everywhere?"

"Eh ... well you know, a lot of myths from Earth had some line about this or that member body being made into part of creation-"

Chae-Won managed a weak smile; but she was sweating. Just a trace of it, beading up faintly on the body parts which would emanate such sweat.

"Not cool, not funny. Oh I know, I wasn't here at the time; but still-" Maya stuck her tongue out, held it there, but Chae-Won was too flustered to make a grab at it. "Well it sucks, is all I have to say. So how do I get out of being 'dead'? Besides me being here? Necromancy? A deific reincarnation or rebirth? Oh wait I don't suppose that would work on me since I'd already been dead ― and you know, transferred here just now. You know that previous angel entity, it said I was preselected or something, ah 'pre-matched' I think it said, to come here-"

"Huh? What?" Now Chae-Won had an entirely different reason to worry. "I ... I did no such thing! I don't know, who could have selected you before this, but-" Her face went ashen, as a thought came to her in a fury. "Oh, no. Oh, crap. Oh no, ohno, ohnonono!"

"What? What's the matter?"

Now Maya began to worry too. This was yet another side of her friend she hadn't seen yet, but matters must be dire if she went to all those syllables of desperation.

"I think I know who it could have been," Chae-Won whimpered; and as she pulled on clothes and exited back to the patio, Maya did likewise. "It has to have been-"

A long distance cackle rang out in the goddess' domain; then on the patio not but four meters from them, a new god appeared. A two and a half meter tall fiery red skinned man, demon horns to each side, had stood with bared chest, smooth pecs looking well oiled and shiny. Sharp piercing eyes of red luminous irises on black orbs seemed to spear both of them, Chae-Won more than most.

This being could intimidate others ... without even trying. Could either Chae-Won or Maya have a chance to defend against such a person ― separate or together?

"Kervan, it was you," Chae-Won breathed, the color seeping out of her already pale face. Her body went limp; she barely had the strength to stay standing.

"Hello, Choony," he bellowed in a deep bass. "This is payback, for ruining our pantheon, for ruining our world, for ruining our lives. I promise, your end will come, when you least expect it."

Chae-Won trembled, then fainted. Maya could not move fast enough to catch her, even if she'd wanted; her legs couldn't work.

This deity, Kervan, looked them both up and down, cackled once more, then vanished with a last cackle following his disappeared self.

Only then could she move ― to look down ― Chae-Won had lost bladder control, leaked some urine to the patio tiles. But for Maya to examine herself, after the tense moment ― so had she.

'How could a deity cause such a scene, and drive us to such a fear-'

Seeing the state of her friend from this encounter, her weak knees finally buckled, and she also fell.

---

The loyal servant saw this scene, no less intimidated than the two women had been. Karst had reminded his mistress, on more than one occasion ― the time table. Did she not know this was going to happen at all?

Karst sighed, looked around, and saw the other servant already cleaning up his own mess. A mere cleaning spell took care of the toga, the floor, and maybe even the stink lingering from the bladder leakage.

"Buh," came out as a strange vocalization. Again Karst let out a sigh, moving to a kneel by his own standing spot, to clean up his place.

Then, he and the other could go immediately to their mistress' side, and her lover's side, clean them and take them back inside. This was the solemn duty of a servant: to serve and protect his or her master or mistress. Now that Mistress Chae-Won was the last-

Wait. Karst felt like his head was hurting from this thought. If she was truly the last one ... how in the heck could former Master Kervan appear?

Or, was this not truly Kervan, but some ... afterimage, or "thing" left behind of Kervan's soul?

Whatever entity behind this moment of raw fear was, it had no less power to cause such a reaction in his mistress and her lover, as would the former master.

Karst pondered the logic of it.

Deities had their realms, spaces which shrank or grew with the power of the deity. Either on ascending as a mortal, or as a servant of a deity who grants them power to ascend ― they would create a domain linked to their soul, their existence. Each deity had one which was unique to them. And within a realm, a deity's power was ... well, not "absolute", as other powerful deities could visit ... but enough to mold it, to shape it into something which represented them, as a residence and 'center' them.

To ensure deities could be safe in their own domain, the first god had setup a 'system' which mitigated the force of outside beings' strength of self in others' domains. A deity within his or her own realm had a boost to their powers, no surprise, but more than quartered in other domains. Compared to in her own realm, Chae-Won could have only a fifth of her own power in the mortal world, and five percent of her power within another deity's realm. Situations could increase or decrease the multipliers and divisors though.

But the entity they thought of as Kervan, the one thought to have gone from here ― he exuded such power, no restraint, embarrassing them all. This would only be possible, if ... if either he never left, or he left a significant part of himself behind.

To think either was ... too much to comprehend.

Either option was possible; both options were not possible. As a being who gave his obedience to a goddess, he knew what she had told him. Chae-Won told him he would receive a boost to his own abilities. Hmm; he did feel more ... just more, when Chae-Won brought him to join her in this realm. But maybe the god Kervan did not go away, or did not fully turn this domain over to her ― should she truly have more power than she did? Aah, if she should have grown more, this trickery would amount to sabotage, by the other god Kervan.

Karst still could not understand. What could a god who would pretend to leave have to gain by staying in secret? Or, what would a god who does leave have to gain from putting a thing in place for after he went? He did not understand; not the why, not the how, not even the what was done.

---

In the mortal realm, one minotaur adventurer swung his hammer at the advancing crowd of skeletons. He bellowed to confuse or disrupt their slow crawl, to no effect. These undead did not have any fear ― they only kept moving slow as a mass of undead bones and energies.

Behind them, the more devious zombies, just as not living, but maybe on the edge of thought. Some of them seemed to have a plan ― did some of the zombies have control over teams of these skeletons? Such was a strange thought; one which his adventure guild mates would say was irrational. Hard to tell if a zombie could control a skeleton; but the minotaur did, from a taller height, see some odd arm movements in one of the zombies, as if some "communication" was being done.

Aborting the call to put fear into skeletons who do not feel it, the male minotaur dodged a skeleton's swipe ― a minotaur female once his mate ― and let his rage flow. For each swing of his hammer, he might take out a good half dozen of the bone men who approached as one, and maybe more if they grouped just right. But for the life of him, he could not bring himself to attack the minotaur skeleton of his once wife. Oh, if he defeated a skeleton but did not bury it or pray over it, it would again arise the next day ― but still, he was powerless to defeat her, at her presence.

If something did not change ― before long, he would run out of his stamina, and then even the weakest skelly might beat him, or together they would overpower him. To be honest, at this point he was not sure he wanted to endure. Maybe it was then time to join his wife, in this throng of ― no, never.

Where were the deities? What could they be doing? Or no, why would they let this continue?

For a second, he forgot ― he recalled when she was alive and part of his adventure team to find a new cave and tunnel to build their new home. But a glancing blow brought him back ― her weapon hit near his left horn, cracking it at the root to his skull. "Fuck!" He bellowed again in pain, head tilted up to the sky ... as if it would help. Beyond common rage, he turned back to slam and swipe his hammer through wave after wave of skellies-

In his state, he'd cleared out a lot in the path he'd taken; to the point he was near the rim of the mass of them who encircled him. Just a ways further, and ― now he could advance to attack the zombies-

A zombie was not immortal, not if you were able to defeat them. But en masse, a swarm of them too, even a dozen, they were as much a problem as a hundred skeletons were. Even if he could not defeat all ... if he could thin their numbers, one of the other party members he came here in advance of ― they might finish the rest.

"Chae-Won! I believe in you!" he shouted his faith in the goddess. "Help me now! Help me win this!"

In the sky, a deep laugh seemed to roll.

That was not the voice of Chae-Won-