"When is the new god coming, Mom?"

A little girl in tattered clothing tugged on her mother's hand, her eyes wide with anticipation. Her mother responded with a tender smile, her eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight as she patted her daughter's head.

"Be patient, my dear. The Descension will begin soon. Who knows what god it'll be? If we're lucky, maybe it'll be a crop god?"

"Yeah! A crop god would be amazing! We'd never run out of food on the farm!"

The mother and daughter approached an expansive, beautifully architectural building. It resembled a church, though it wasn't used for religious purposes.

Inside, lines of candles cast a warm glow, and thousands of people gathered, chatting eagerly about the arrival of their new god.

In a world cursed with fragility, these people found solace and risked their lives for the chance to see a new god, hoping for blessings of fortune and well-being.

The ceremony soon commenced.

The excited crowd took their seats, anticipation hanging in the air. A tall man dressed as a priest walked down the paved path. Known for his lineage, his family had the gift of awakening newborn gods from their eternal slumber.

Soft applause filled the silence.

At the front of the faux church, an altar was laden with items meant as blessings, filled with the hopes of individuals yearning for their new god to grant them good fortune and health.

The man stood before the altar and bowed his head towards the people, who waited in excitement and fear.

"Everyone! We are gathered here today for the birth of a new god! We were all ridiculed by society. But we know that a god is born every one hundred years, correct?!"

"Yes, Father!" the people responded in uncanny unison.

"Then let The Descension commence!"

The man approached the altar and drew a knife from his pocket. With newfound determination, he slit his palm slightly above the altar.

His blood dripped slowly, filling the lines and crevices on the altar, despite the rate being only three drops per minute.

In ten minutes, the entire altar was filled with the father's blood, creating a pattern that seemed supernatural—like a hand desperately reaching for a crown.

[FWOOOSH]

Wind blew upwards from the altar, spewing the man's blood high into the air, some even reaching the roof. It seemed that something far more sinister was at work.

Screams of fear echoed through the building.

This had never happened before. Normally, a newborn god would have been summoned in shining light upon the altar, absorbing the priest's blood to rejuvenate and awaken.

But this time, it was different. The priest cowered against a wall, fear etched across his face.

"Everyone! Run away!" someone shouted.

Chaos erupted as worshippers fled the church. One knocked over a candle, setting fire to a curtain, and soon the entire building was ablaze.

"Mom, what's happening?" the girl asked her mother, pulling tightly on her wrist. Unlike the others, she wasn't panicking.

"We have to run away, dear!"

With a straight face, the daughter followed her mother back to their home.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the daughter was slightly different.