I've never been the type of person to believe in the supernatural. The thought of "Gods" and "powerful beings" always seemed so far fetched for me. Yet here I was, in some sort of frozen space, with a goddess speaking to me in my head. If you told me this would happen last week, I probably would've called you crazy.
"I- I don't understand, the Gods have been absent for years. You expect me to believe this after all this time you come back now?"
'It is true, we haven't interacted in a long time. However, this goes both ways," she explained. 'Humans abandoned the Gods long ago with the arrival of technology. It has only been recently in their time of strife that the humans have reached out to us once more.'
"And that's what I don't understand." Her explanations seemed to provide more questions than answers. "Why did you come back after so long? And especially after we abandoned you and the others. It just doesn't make sense."
'It is good that you ask questions Shin," Hermaya answered mysteriously, "I can't answer all your questions now but I assure you they will be answered eventually. Despite my past with humanity, it is still my duty to watch over all of you. I cannot interact with humans directly but I can lead them on the right path.'
Everything seemed to click together. "Well that makes sense, I suppose." There was no doubt in my mind the being I was talking to was a Goddess. With this overwhelming display of power and the story she told, everything started to make sense.
I persisted. "I have only one last question."
'Go ahead," Hermaya answered calmly.
"I'm sure you could've found many other more qualified humans to contact, and better yet someone that actually believed in you." I continued, "earlier you called me 'chosen', what does that mean?"
'It is the very reason I've contacted you. As I'm sure you've noticed, greed has blinded humanity for centuries. This lead them to the state they're in now. The planet humans once controlled has turned its back on them. Pollution has plagued your world, spreading disease and causing famine." She kept going. "Humanity is no longer welcome here, therefore it needs to be saved. I'm here to offer you a second chance, a chance to save humanity.'
"Why me?" I asked.
She gave an imaginary smirk. 'That is for you to discover.'
'Seriously what's the point in being ominous right now.' I thought, slightly frustrated. Hermaya wouldn't give me a straight-up answer. After all, I was nothing special, just an average 14 old middle schooler with a sister complex.
"I lied, one more question."
She chuckled. 'I thought as much.'
"What'll happen to everyone else on earth, those that are not chosen?" I was mostly worried about my little sister. "And are there any others besides me?"
'They will live the rest of their days on earth. Whether they find a way to survive is up to them." She continued smiling through her answer. "There are other Chosen that I have selected, no offense but the likelihood of success if you were the only one, would be slim. But in the future, I plan to select more Chosen by putting my followers through a trial of my choice.'
That didn't sound good. "May I ask what this trial is?"
'No.'
Well, that was quick. "Thought so. So what happens now? You say I'm Chosen, and that I've been given a second chance. What does that exactly mean?"
'You will simply be brought to another world to expand your influence there. You will not be the strongest, nor will you be the smartest species. You will not have the privilege of numbers to throw your weight around. In every sense you will be the minority. This in itself is a test. Preserve and prove to us humanity deserves this second chance.'
"Ah I see." I was wondering how this whole thing would work but It was starting to make sense now. It was rather simple really. "Go to another world and don't f*ck it up this time" is essentially what I've been told. Seems easy enough.
'In three days your time will come.' Hermaya got serious. 'I suggest you sort out any personal affairs before then.'
There wasn't much for me to do honestly. Other than my sister I had no definite attachment to this world. I had absolutely zero friends, my personality made it hard to fit in. And my relationship with my parents was so broken and distorted that I didn't bother to set things right with them. Perhaps this is why she chose me.
"I understand, I won't let you down!" I gave Hermaya a thumbs up and smiled eagerly.
'Good, I look forward to our next meeting...Shin'
A whirring sound suddenly replaced Hermaya's voice. Upon her withdrawal in my head, the space around me began to twitch. The air itself seemed to vibrate, and within a split second everything was back to normal. The believers had just finished their prayers and the ceremony had begun. Despite the lengthy conversation I had with Hermaya, not a single second had passed.
"Yep, definitely a Goddess." I chuckled to myself, recalling my doubt of Gods just this morning.
"Dummy, you shouldn't be talking to yourself during the ceremony. It's rude ya know." Kuruna pinched my cheek again while dawning an annoyed expression
"Ow! Neither is you resorting to violence!"
"Hmph. That's probably the smartest thing you've said all week. I'll reconsider my actions."
I decided to mess with her. "Oooh what's this I hear? Did Kuruna just admit she's wrong? Whaaaaaaaaaaat?"
"Yeah and don't get used to it. I'm usually right."
An hour passed and the ceremony wrapped up. The worshippers filed out of the church in a practiced manner while Kuruna and I pushed passed them. The sky was surprisingly clear once we left, a rare occurrence in this day and age. A smile crept onto my face as I gazed into the sky. I felt a tinge of excitement knowing my life now, would be interesting.