Age-Old Questions

      Otlene had two options. Either go back to her home and destroy her cousin with her new godly power. Or leave and become a goddess of the woods. Both sound appealing, but she could only pick one.

           If she went back, the look on her cousins’ face would be etched into her mind forever. The anger. The failure. The fear. Challenging him to combat and tricking him into thinking he had the upper hand. Dodging his attacks, rolling out of the way of his axe. Shielding her infant horns and antlers under her hood. Patiently waiting for the reveal, shedding her cloak and watch him die by her hand.

Her revenge! How sweet would that be! Being the last thing her shit for brains cousin ever sees. His failure to kill her, and nature would be on her side. But wouldn’t she be shunned? Would her father look away in shame of his bloodthirsty daughter? What would Gea think? Her deceased love rising from the dead only to kill her trusted friend? If Gea looked away… Otlene could never live her immortal life with that.

So, should she leave? Leave her home, her life, her people behind? They needed her to protect them! If she left… her home might be destroyed by invaders. But she would be free. Freedom. A foreign thought. Free, to do whatever she wished to do. An immortal life. She could become the most hated deity amongst the people she used to walk with. She could become hated, then loved, and hated again. And she would still have time for renewal and start again. For she had a forever life, while they had a limited one.

But wouldn’t she be alone? The deities she once worshipped still looking down on her? No city to rule over, no friends to call family. No family to call friends. Roaming the earth with no purpose, no fate. Always destined to not be contempt with her new life. She could never live her immortal life alone.

“Hello little Goddess!” Came a voice.

Otlene turned towards the cave entrance to see a figure standing there. Tall and slender. With the torso and head of a man, but arms and lower body of a cat. Alios, God of Trickery.

She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, her metaphorical shield. By instinct she dropped to the ground on her knees and bowed.

“Come now, one omnipotent shouldn’t treat the other in such a way,” he said.

“Right…” she muttered. Standing up, she suddenly stepped back. Alios was way too close for her liking.

“Still hiding away in your cave? You know, there is a whole world for you to see! I’m sure the pixies would love to help you hone your new abilities,” he offered.

Otlene pulled the rest of her cloak closer, trying to disappear. “I do not wish to anger your wife with my presence.”

Alios dismissively waved a paw. “Bah, she’s paranoid. Poor las, always worrying, never living. I advise you to leave her be, otherwise you may pick up her habits.”

           “What do you want, Alios?” His name felt foreign in her mouth.

           “Well,” he began, “you are still in your sad lonely cave being sad and lonely. It’s quite a lovely day, why don’t you come out?”

           She sighed, “If you must know, I am in the middle of a very difficult decision.”

           “I can see that. The age-old question, stay or go. Am I correct?”

           “It’s not-” She began to argue.

           Alios held up a paw and cut her off. “Yes, it is. Aren’t you aware how many stories start with this dilemma? If the hero should stay in his home or follow the call to adventure? Sure, he could stay in his home, but he will soon be forgotten by the man who choses to follow the call.”

           “It isn’t that simple, Alios. It’s a matter of revenge-”

           But Alios cut her off again. “Revenge rarely gives the catharsis we hope it would. Whatever happened to you, whoever betrayed you? Their actions will soon catch up with them. You need not apply.”

           Otlene furrowed her eyebrows and turned back to face the cave wall. She had no time for this trickster God who only wanted her to do what he wanted. He was probably trying to coerce her out just so she could fulfill whatever prank he had planed in his twisted mind.

           “I want you to be happy,” he said suddenly, “There is no happiness in this dreary, dark, cave.”

           “Your pretty words wont trick me, Trickster God,” she snarled.

           “I’m not trying to trick you. I want all of my fellow Gods to be happy. But you are being unnecessarily stubborn, Otlene. A nature Goddess cannot spend her whole immortal life in one cave. There are other caves, there are other lands for you too see. A whole planet that is full of people who need a Goddess to pray to for fertile land and fertile bodies. A Goddess to pray to for new crops and big game. How can they pray to such a being, if she is crippling herself to one cave?

           “You have a chance to move on, to get away from this place. Your memories will only haunt you more the longer you stay. To the mortals down below you are dead. No matter what you do, no matter who you think you have to kill, you are not what you used to be. I am not here to force you out of your cave… but I believe leaving this place is in your best interest.”

           The sounds of his paws faded away, and she turned back around to see him gone. It was odd. His words sounded genuine, a big difference from what she had been told about him as a child. And Otlene hated to admit it, but he was right. There was nothing for her here, not anymore.

           She got up from the back of the cave and went to the cave mouth, the view of her former home was all she saw for so long. But in the distance, there were forests and maybe a dessert? How had she not known? Alios was right, she had been crippling herself. But not anymore.