Reincarnated as the Only Human

Chapter 476: Answering Prayers

Chapter 476: Answering Prayers

Demetra PoV

The void around me was as cold as ever, but I had long since become accustomed to the feeling of nothing at all against my skin, the primordial energies of creation and of nothingness washing over me in ways that no mortal could ever understand.

It was from this that I had been born, all those millennia ago, and many of my fellow Goddesses were born of this vast expanse of nothing and everything - at the very least, the Goddesses that I cared to remember and cared about.

There was nothing to do here except to reminisce, something that was horrendous normally for someone as troubled and angry as I was, but the comfort of being back where I had been formed was unable to be achieved anywhere else.

Even the rich, vibrant jungles or vast fields of bountiful crops couldn't compare to this filled to the brim with nothingness that I was all too familiar with, and I just let my mind wander, thinking about the world that had caused so much anguish for me.

The voices of the mortals drifted into my mind even from this far away, their desperation and faux forgiveness disgusting me even more as I filtered out each and every single prayer, before pausing as an all too familiar voice filled that silence.

The voice of someone I had enough of an interest in to - at the very - consider listening to, though I knew that she wasn't entirely worthy of my attention either.

None of these mortals were, but as her words gradually formed inside my mind, I paused again, unable to sever the connection between us as I just listened.

'-ease, Goddess Demetra, might you bless me with the gift of motherhood that had been so cruelly snatched away from me? I've... I've found someone that I wish to create a union of blood and of love with. Her name is Astra, and... she's special. She makes me so happy and warm with just her presence, an-'

Astra..?

Humming to myself, I listened on for a few moments more before turning towards the dim glow of the world in the distance, contemplating what I should do.

I didn't think long, my curiosity overwhelming my melancholy as I found myself floating above the world itself, the distance that would take my peers a few minutes at the minimum being crossed in just a single thought for me.

So she was still going around and enjoying herself...

And to think she encountered her of all people... interesting.

Someone who had been abandoned by nature itself to be cruelly bereft of the ability to conceive, someone who had once been so desperately hopeful in her daily prayers to me when she pleaded for me to save her, to grace her with what she most desired.

My pity had long since dried up for mortals, but if there was one who scraped the bottom of my heart for just an ounce of it, it was indeed her; Renna Poinset, such a tragic fate she had been born into.

One that would have seen her presented with so many separate paths and choices to be made, one that would likely ruin her eventually as she grew older.

Gazing down onto the world of Teran, I found the red head kneeling beside an all too familiar violet haired woman, who was surprisingly praying not only to me, but to her other patron as well, someone who's attention was being liberally given whenever and however she wanted it...

Snorting, I shook my head and met her powerful, heavy gaze, not swayed by the sheer weight of those rainbow eyes that were filled with vast oceans of knowledge of all kinds; knowledge of how to hurt a Goddess being the one that was creeping just below the surface.

Knowledge we both had, of course...

"I've been paying attention to her, Reincantra. But she wanted a new lease on a life to live herself, not one that was coddled by us. Why should I ignore her wishes, hm?"

Reincantra's lip twitched as she narrowed her eyes, unable to help herself as she snorted as well before replying "Ignoring her wishes? No, you were just ignoring her. Ignoring me. She's managed to raise an entire family so far. Did you know that, or have you been moping around in that void all this time?"

"Moping around..?"

"Yes, moping around, sulking, brooding... shall I fish up some more synonyms for you? Because I can if you'd like."

A wry chuckle slipped past my lips as I stood back up, turning my gaze away from Reincantra and instead focusing on Astaria as I asked "Your a unique little Goddess, aren't you? Quite specialized... interesting. What do you think about her? Your charge?"

Hugging the book closer, the violet haired, red eyed Goddess pursed her lips and looked down at the thick tome in her arms, which was almost as large as her torso; and yet, despite being so small and fragile looking, I could sense the potential and power hiding beneath her childlike appearance.

"She's... fun. I like her a lot. I want her to be happy, and I want her to keep going forwards. Her, and her family. All of her family. Even you."

She looked up at me, and I chuckled again as those red eyes sought out my expression, but I had turned away and began to walk into the library, going to put the book away myself.

"Don't we all just want to be happy? Thing is... we can't. Someone's always going to be unhappy... things are always going to happen that make someone unhappy. Your book should tell you that, Astaria. Tell me, towards the beginning, does she not experience something that tore away her happiness?"

"She did... but she also moved on. Healed. Grew. Found happiness again not by herself, but with others. Her family. Why?"

"Why indeed~! Isn't that just fascinating, Demetra~? Such a simple concept, given to you by someone born not even a few days ago~! Perhaps you'll listen to her and not to me? The one who has seen this damn story play out more times than there are grains of sand on a beach~?"

The iciness of her voice made me smile as I shelved the book, and when I turned around she wast standing in front of me, her face contorted in a mask of anger that I had seen only a handful of times before.

"Perhaps I will listen to her instead of you, Reincantra."

Almost snarling at me, the Goddess leaned closer, only to grab my throat and drag me into the depths of the library, showing me the side of her that few were even aware existed.

When you know every story in the world... when you hold all of that knowledge, all of those memories, all of it close to your heart...

Of course you have darkness inside yourself that would be capable of unspeakable things.