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...

Thinking of Reincantra, I found myself in her library a moment later, specifically beside the comfortable bed that knew many intimate stories, where I found the Goddess lounging on her side, a book floating above her whilst a child nuzzled into her arm.

"Reincantra..."

Humming softly, she continued to read and caress her baby, who was looking between the two of us with confusion as she whispered "Mama..? Who..?"

"Hm~? Who? Ah, this character, her name is Astra. She looks like this, hm~? Quite beautiful, isn't she? And this... this is Renna Poinset, the current interest of the story~! Beautiful as well, but not as beautiful as Astra, right~?"

Looking down at the all too familiar figure of Reincantra, I sighed before taking a seat on her bed, my eyes landing instead on the many shelves as I browsed their contents for the book I was looking for; one that I had partial access to despite not being the Goddess of Stories.

Floating towards me, the book opened up to reveal the lengthy description of the 'Breeding System' that was formed from my own powers, its rules, conditions, and current status carefully inscribed onto each page.

"Currently, Astra here is praying to me - and by proxy, you, my pretty little girl~! See, it says here what she wants... She wants a way to 'heal' her new lover, that Renna woman beside her? It would make her happy, but she can't do it herself. Not without our help~!"

Considering her tone was just loud enough to constantly be entering both my ears and my mind, while low enough that she wasn't injuring the child cradled in her arms, I just rolled my eyes as I flipped through the pages until I reached the spot I wanted.

My finger landed on the page, and I paused for a moment, my lips pursed as I browsed the available skills and points she had, before just shrugging as I wrote down the thing that I wanted, and that she wanted.

[Breeding System: 179 -> 210]

[Skills [Fertility], [Hybrid Womb], [Closed Tubes], [Nectar of Life], [Nectar of Love], [Womb of Power], and [Futanari Alteration] can be combined into Skill [Lesser Body of Fertility] for (Remaining) Breeding Points]

[Combine Skills into new Skill [Lesser Body of Fertility]? Y / N]

"Hm~? That's odd... it's almost like there was ANOTHER Goddess who was supposed to be present for all of this finally showing herself in the story yet again~! Isn't that just fascinating!"

"Reincantra..."

"Oh~? Speaking of, there she is~! Demetra, meet Astaria, my new daughter~! Isn't she adorable~? Look familiar?"

Closing the book, I took a deep breath and turned back to my close friend, sometimes lover, and ever dependent yet spiteful woman Reincantra, who was 'smiling' at me as she sat up and propped Astaria on her lap.

Staring at me curiously, Astaria's long violet hair and striking crimson eyes were all too familiar, and considering the book that was hovering above Reincantra drifted down into Astaria's arms - and considering she hugged it instinctively when I looked at it - it would seem she was a special Goddess.

"She does. Who... ah, Areseta..."

"Yes~! Her Dama is Areseta, who came by to check in on one of her favorite charges. That Deerkin that found OUR favorite charge in Geard~? Sound familiar~? Or where you more than content to just... let Astra do as she pleases for the next few years, perhaps? Leave her alone and be hands off?"

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.