The Goddess Incarnate

The room was especially clean and minimalist, even for hospitals. It was round, with sudden curves at several points which build up smoothly from floor to ceiling or the other way around. Hannah wondered was the fractal coverings of the walls were true wood, as it was very expensive to obtain. They were shimmering, indicating varnish, which was also very expensive. The lightings were hidden underneath the woods so that only the lights were allowed to be seen, not necessarily the lamps. The atmosphere was glowing with a soft golden light. Bright enough but not blinding.

There was a dark round leather couch with a glass coffee table. She had those in her manor, but she fully aware that those materials were rare and expensive to be bought by the majority of people. Wood, leather, and glass were signs of wealth. She wondered why Dr. Makin brought her to this room. Was this his late father's secret office? His secret lair in amassing his great wealth? There was a large wooden desk on one side of the room, with glass covering its surface. The wood was brilliantly sculptured so its legs looked like heavily ornamented elephant's legs. The chair was another combination of wood and leather, with the same legs.

"Whose office is this?" she asked.

"It's yours, Your Highness," Dr. Makin answered.

She was taken aback by the outdated title. 'Your Highness'? She took it as a slight, but responded calmly, "I'm not royalty. Please stop it."

"Oh, but you are," said Julian.

She felt something in her gut, but she decided to follow along.

"My office, you say," she said, "I already have one. Why do I need another one here? This is such a waste."

Dr. Makin answered, "your father left this office just for you, Your…"

"Use 'miss', please, Dr. Makin," she insisted. She caught the doctor shot a glance towards Julian. He was just a doctor, with no skill of masking his intentions. He was probably born from a humble family. This was all Julian's doing, but for what, she didn't know.

She raised her hand towards Dr. Makin to stop him from talking, and turned around to face Julian, "so, why are you bringing me here?"

Julian looked surprised, "ah, Your Highness…"

"Miss."

"Yes, Miss Hannah, you're very perceptive. I … uh… will you be so kind to sit down? Please?"

Her heart was pounding she could hear it from inside her ears, but she walked in a way she hoped to be looked confident, around the front part of the big desk and to the chair. It was more beautiful the nearer she got. She sat slowly, ran her hands on the glass surface of the table. It only adding coldness to the coldness of her palm. She braced for whatever would come her way. His father taught her well, and she would not tremble.

"This is, for lack of a better term, your royal seat," Julian started, "I served your father for this time of prophecy. It was written in the Holy Book, that this day would come."

She looked into his face, there was total faith there, but his eyes looked somewhat off. She intended to listen for what he was about to say.

"You are well versed in the Codex, you should know what It said about the End of Times…" he continued.

She saw that another lady came in from the door where they were coming. She shared the same look as Julian's.

"Yes," she answered, "the return of Aster on earth. I'm aware of that."

"Good. I taught you well," he said. 'No. I taught myself well,' she thought to herself. She learned the Oi Ierés Theés Codex from when she was ten to her twenties and started to be convinced that the magical things inside of it were just a myth. The realization set her mind free.

"It was said," Julian continued, "when the world is full of sin, the diseases started to infect all human beings: good or bad, Aster will come onto earth to rule, and remake the world as she was intended, long before Bel destroyed it with Her black influence shrouded in happiness."

"It is said," she answered dutifully as if she agreed. She saw behind Julian more people were gathering, some of them walked into the room, and some created a row. They all looked the same: androids.

"We are very blessed to live in these times, Your Highness…" he used the blasted honorific again. She let it slide, "… because Aster let me raise Her. To be there from the very start of Her life on this cursed earth. Now I have the honor to give Her the place where She can rule the earth…" he motioned his arms around at the general direction of the room, "…where I can be Her advisor, on how to change the world."

She never thought that the deranged eyes of the man truly came from his madness, but now she was sure of it. This man convinced that she was Aster who rebirth from the earth. On the other hand, the belief that she was The Goddess incarnate gave her some consolation. She could order this man to stop, or at least he would listen to her when she would expose how ignorant of him to think that the myths should be read literally. He should know better, and she, like Aster, was disappointed. She smiled at the thought, ignoring her heart which still beating fast and hard.

"You are the Goddess incarnate, Miss Hannah…" he said dramatically as if it was a revelation only himself came across.

"I doubt it," she said finally, "The Book is only a myth," she stood up.

Julian's face darkened, the whites of his eyes turned slowly to red. His high blood pressure should end this stupid conversation, she humored herself.

"How dare you?" he said under his gritted teeth.

"I do not insinuate that a 'myth' is equal to a 'lie'," she continued, "there are functions of myth: cosmological, metaphysical, sociological, and pedagogical. We acknowledge that the latter three functions were still important for humanity. But cosmological…"

"You're saying it's a lie?" he fumed.

"I'm saying that the stories lost their cosmological functions, in our modern times," she concluded.

"That is heresy, Your Highness," he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "you need to renounce those words, or… or…"

"Or Aster will set Her wrath upon us all? Didn't you say that I am Her? Or are you changing your mind?" this needed to stop. She needed to halt this nonsense and get back to what she needed to do: to minimize Angkara's trouble and protect her assets. Her two establishments seemed to be connected with today's tragedy. Could this be…

Seeing that Julian still tried to find something to say, she continued, "you see… you need to stop this nonsense, Pater Julian. All of it. Not just your effort to create your own Aster's incarnations, but your own 'Bel's curses.'"

He shot a look towards her.

"You created this mess, aren't you Pater?"

Several emotions ran through his face. None of it was kind.

"You're easy to read, Pater. Such a road you take just to make your religious dreams come to realities. You should stop this, or…"

"OR WHAT!!!" he yelled.

That was surprising, but she anticipated it, "or I'll fire you from your post. I'll take all of your privileges as our family's religious leader. You will be handsomely paid, and you will live peacefully until… your time comes."

"NO," he exclaimed, "no… no no no… no. You are still my Aster. And you are only testing my faith."

He was mad.

"Lock the Goddess in Her Throne Room!" he yelled at the androids, "don't let Her go until She can see that I'm right. Until I can prove to Her that I am Her True Prophet!" He turned back to her, "you'll be convinced after I take you to him!"

"Him?"

"Aster's Hero."