On a massive stone slab the size of many fields there was bodies. All the eye of Celine could see was countless bodies splattered across the floor. So much blood, gore, and horror that stemmed from generations of people all in this one place. And there was only one woman standing despite being physically drained.
Celine's eyes blurred as a small altar appeared in the center of the slab but she quivered. "Was this really worth it?" She questioned. All that she lost and all that she endured for this one moment. Was it worthwhile? If she had known this was the outcome would she have chosen to live peacefully?
Regret filled her mind and soul but she pressed forward to unlock the secret of her world. All she had ever known was this tower listing ten trials to be completed but what the reward for completing all trials was a secret to everybody.
Celine shakily veered at the altar, all she had to do was place her hand on it and she would complete the tenth trial of the tower. Only she had the right to unlock the secret of the tower. She looked at the battlefield with regret but stepped towards the altar with immense resolve. She placed her hand on it and the world around her began to shake.
Suddenly, many figures in complete black that couldn't be identified appeared around her. "That makes number 73," one said. "Looks like a girl. Good, there isn't enough of us," another mumbled. "I wonder what her sigil is?" "I hope she is strong." Different sentences came from each of the 72 shadowy figures Celine counted.
However, every voice was completely silent for the next moment. A boom following a mechanical voice whirred throughout every floor of the tower. "True God's Tower has been completed. Awarding divine power. Another god has entered the fray. Completion number 73. Commencing restart."
A huge burst of power surged within Celine and she couldn't believe it. "Divine power!? This is the way to become a god!?" She screamed in surprise. This was the secret the tower had been holding. "True God's Tower"was made with the purpose of creating gods. Celine knew no other way to achieve true divinity before today. A blinding light that declared the rise of a new god eclipsed the world before 'restart' occurred.
A woman rose up as the sun brightly declared a new day. She yawned and stretched and looked outside to admire the scenery. Sadly, that moment lasted for only two seconds before a realization dawned upon her. "Crap, work!" She scrambled around her house for clothes and to tidy up. The life of an office worker living alone in a small house truly was scrupulous.
She dressed all fancy in work clothes before she looked at something. A new mark appeared on the back of her hand. It depicted a sideways eye with an odd pupil staring back at her. There was no color except the pale skin of the woman's hand but it seemed to be emitting a purple hue.
"Sigil of Telekinesis," Celine mumbled and remembered everything. "Does this mean I've returned to the past? The days when I was overworked and underpayed," she laughed with a sigh. "Simpler times."
The next moment, Celine concentrated with her eyes closed. "Divinity," she could feel the energy of a god coming from her but she didn't know what to do with it. In the end, she was one of 73 special people to ascend the normal.
Forgetting entirely about work and looking in the mirror, Celine examined herself. "I look like the day I completed the tenth trial." The fair pale skin with delicate prettiness and long-flowing violet hair with eyes that looked as deep as the cosmos, Celine looked like a dream woman.
She presumed herself to be prettier than when she had completed the tenth trial because she hadn't remembered herself looking this good. She was good enough to live as a top model. "It seems the world has regressed but I am physically the same. Body, sigil, memories, everything is the same as the day I became a god."
"Good thing god's don't work!" She exclaimed in relief and flopped on her bed. "I should probably study my divinity soon and see what it can really accomplish. I've only seen gods a few times in my life but they were far stronger than us mortals. I wonder just how powerful this divinity is?"
Hours of laying down and doing nothing left Celine starting to question what she should do. She hated working and had no family or friends currently. "But the tower is coming soon," she mumbled. The day the tower arrives is the day she can meet all the friends she is supposed to make.
Suddenly, a thought appeared in her mind. "Aria Festria." Her mind paused. Her comrade. The smile that woman always had and the endearing but fearsome personality that carried Aria throughout the ten trials. The moments they spent together made Celine felt truly at peace. Before she knew it Celine was crying because at the end of all those good times was a single corpse among millions.
Regret was the only thing Celine felt when she had placed her hand on the tenth altar. She had lost all her allies and friends, effectively turning her into a nobody. At that moment she questioned if the reward was worth it. Could ultimate power bring Celine happiness if there was nobody left to share it with? Celine knew that the answer was always no.
In that reality Celine could never be happy, but now things were different. Immediately, Celine's conviction changed with ease. "My pursuit of power and reaching the tenth trial made me forget the greatest part of my journey," Celine thought about the moments she remembered with Aria.
She laughed at the jokes they told each other when sitting by a campfire during the night. Sometimes those two would huddle together in the cold of Antarctica as they fought for warmth. They would depend on each other in battles and they even gave silly names to some moves they made together. She never noticed it in her pursuit for power but these memories were far more valuable than the divinity Celine acquired.
The longing for those moments screamed in Celine's heart. She had never noticed it until Aria died but Celine depended on her to smile. This feeling of always wanting to be close to Aria made Celine realize what it was. Funnily enough, this is how love is described.
"Hah! Who am I kidding? She probably never saw me that way. We are the same gender after all. How would romantic implications even apply?" Celine scoffed. "The only way to know what she thought would be to… meet her."
The Aria she knew was dead, simply put. Celine's constant pursuit of power had caused her to not realize the greatest moments of her journey. However, in this reality? Thus, Celine's single goal was born. A goal so simple it might just be laughable.
"Power is secondary, all I want to do is meet Aria again. I'll have a laugh with her as a comrade and maybe we can have something more this time. No matter what, I'll enjoy every moment. Yes, there are other people I should meet as well. I remember some good times with them as well. My goal in this life is to meet my friends and enjoy the time I spend with them, how dumb."