What would you do if one day someone asks you, "Do you want to be a god?" What will your answer be? What if you said yes but the god you become wasn't what you expected? Will you regret it? Sky Goddess Chapter 1 A story of adventure in a fantasy world. By Shinieris

Michael Albright, recently graduated from a renowned university in the field of mechanical engineering (aerospace) sat on his chair watering a crop field. He was playing Black & White, a god-game from Bullfrog Studios, touted as one of the greatest god-game in existence. He enjoyed playing god and saving his people from rival gods intent on destroying his people. He saved and closed the game soon after thwarting another attempt at an invasion of his villages and prepared to go to sleep.

That was when an MSN IM window popped up on his screen. He looked at it and saw that it was from someone using the ID sky_kingdom@hotmail.

Sky_kingdom: Would you like to be a god?
M_al: You mean having powerful magic and being worshipped by devoted followers?
Sky_kingdom: Yes.
M_al: Of course! Who wouldn't?
Sky_kingdom: Understood.

Then he stopped chatting. Michael didn't dwell on it too much. Probably just some psycho who thought that magic was real. Michael went to bed shortly after. He had a job interview the next morning.

------

Shine bright,
mother moon.
Howl strong,
wind spirits.
With my voice I request,
open the Worldgate.
Be they gods, spirits,
or demons,
open the gates
and hear my wishes.

As he finished his words, he threw the crystal in his hand into the marble wishing pond in front of him. Once he heard the sound signalling that the crystal had hit the bottom, he tapped on the water's surface with his palm and said,

Open the Worldgate.
Come forth, god, spirit or demon.
Face you, I shall,
Like the great hero Mereth,
once summoned the goddess Gloria.
And like the summoner priestess Lerialia,
once summoned the demon Asfodus before him.
Come forth and recognize my worth.

Soon after he finished, the surface of the water glowed a golden light, as if answering his challenge. There was a deafening sound, as if the world itself was being ripped asunder. The warrior's courage faltered, but his resolve remained unbroken. Men had failed him, weapons had failed him, faith had failed him. What was left was to rely on this one final chance to save his people, whether it be his doom or his salvation, he prayed that the gods would grant the latter.

Suddenly the trees around him and the wishing pool caught fire and burned fiercely as if an unseen hand were constantly adding fuel to its flames. Winds buffeted him from all sides, making him lose his stance, but he stood firm, on two legs, feet rooted to the ground. Then rain fell and despite the heavy rain, the burning trees showed no sign of snuffing. It was then that the ground under his feet cracked dropped into what appeared to be an underground cavern. He was barely in time to grab the edge of the marble pool and hoisted himself upward, he saw a scene that awed him for the rest of his life.

For in front of him, standing above the glowing surface of the pool, was a woman so breathtakingly beautiful he thought he was already with the gods. For a long moment he stared at her, unmoving, save for his own breath making mists in front of him. He failed to realize that his breath shouldn't be making any mists in the middle of summer. Only when a lightning struck near him did he remember his purpose, the reason why he summoned her.

A goddess, a spirit or a demoness? he wondered to himself. Any of which was fine to him. If she was a goddess, he would offer his services as her warrior in the afterlife. If it was a spirit, he would offer to be taken as a servant in her world. If it was a demoness, he would offer her his soul. All to save his people from the wretched hands of Molodhir.

Then she opened her eyes, and it glowed the same colour of gold as her luxurious hair. "What the hell?!" was all that she said when she saw him.

"I am the one who summoned you. Pray tell, are you a god, a spirit or a demon?" he asked.

"Summoned me? Are you freaking nuts? Who the hell do you think you are? And isn't it obvious? I am none of the above. I am a human. Now, what the hell am I doing here? I was about to attend a job interview. Oh wait, is this a dream?" she rambled.

"A human? That can't be right. Let me see the instructions again..." he took out a scroll from his belt, "... Hm, I did everything right. I should be getting a god, a spirit or a demon... Did I get cheated out of my money?"

"Okay, one, you're high. Two, if you're not sending me back, then I'll walk back on my own. I won't have anything to do with a damned headcase," she said as she walked on the glowing water as if it was solid and was about to cross the edge of the pool if she wasn't stopped by an invisible wall.

"Oww!!! What the hell?" she touched the invisible wall with her fingers and was rewarded with an electric shock. As she looked at her fingers, she noticed the long, manicured nails, the long golden hair falling down from her head and twin orbs on her chest, which elicited another scream, "What the hell?!!!"

"You can't leave the pool until you listened and granted my wishes, whatever you are," the man standing on the marble flooring of the pool said.

"You! What the hell did you do to me, you piece of garbage! If this is some sick joke, return me to normal now!" she tried to strangle him, but again the invisible wall stopped her.

"I will return you to your homeplace, but please listen to my wishes, great one," he said. To tell the truth, he wasn't sure how he would send her home. He only thought that once the wishes had been fulfilled, she'd leave on her own, hopefully without taking him along.

"Alright, fine. Let's be done with it," then she looked around. "I wonder if there's a place to sit," she said as the water under her raised itself from the pool and formed itself into a backless chair which nudged at her legs as it solidified. "Oh thank you," she said as she sat onto the water chair. She didn't realize it was made of water as she though it was one of those expensive crystal chairs that her father would love to own.

For the man in front of her, that was all the proof he needed to believe that she was anything other than a human. No human could create a furniture out of water, and no human could sit on water either, not to mention walk on it. "I wish for 50,000 pieces of gold flores in the form of a goldsmith's voucher," he said, hoping that he would be able to hire an army of mercenaries to fight Molodhir.

"You wish for what in the form of a what?" she asked.

"Is that too much? I'm not that valuable?" his shoulders sagged.

"Look, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about. How the heck can I fulfill a wish that I don't understand? Can't you just ask me to fix a pipe or something?"

"Okay, how about magic? Give me magical powers to defeat my enemies?"

"Whatever you're smoking, give me some of it. Jeez, to think that an adult man would still believe in magic."

"You don't believe in magic?" he asked incredulous.

"No, I don't. Santa Claus, tooth fairies, vampires, werewolves, Cardcaptor Sakura, it was all fiction."

"But you just-" he was about to point out that she just created a chair out of water before she interrupted.

"What?"

"Uhh, okay, then, give me a magical weapon that's worth a thousand soldiers?"

"I can give you a bomb that's worth a million soldiers, but it's pretty illegal to make and too risky. So I won't bother," she said as she yawned.

That pissed him off. "Then what the hell can you give me!"

"Nothing magical, for sure! To think that an adult man like you would still believe in fairy tales!"

"You just didn't want to give me anything, don't you?!"

"Damned right! I won't risk being caught by the cops or the FBI for someone I don't even know!"

He tried to calm himself down as he thought there was no use arguing with a greater being. "You say that, but maybe you've forgotten a very simple fact... you can't leave without granting my wish."

She looked horrified at the realization that he was maybe right.

"Once the sun comes up, people will come here and wonder, what is that pretty woman doing in the middle of the pool wearing next to nothing?" he grinned.

She looked down at herself and realized that he was right. She was only wearing a white toga that stretched atop her bosom and once she touched her pubic area, she realized that she wasn't wearing panties either. "Please let me fulfill your wishes." she pleaded, "But don't ask me for magic, I can't do magic."

He thought about it and came to a decision, "Alright, fine. I have thought about it and I know what you definitely can do," he said with confidence.

She looked at him with eyes full of hope.

"I want you to be my bride!" he wished.

"O-wait what?!!! Hold on, let's not be too hasty," she said before the pool glowed even brighter and she felt something constricting her left ring finger.

She raised her left hand and out of the light, she saw a metallic ring being formed around her right finger. "No no no! Take it back! I can't be anyone's bride!"

Of course not, she was a man herself, in the other world.

The man looked around his left ring finger and saw that he too wore a metalic ring that shined with a golden light. The sound of water made him look up just in time to see the glow of the pool fade and the barrier dispelled as the beautiful woman flew at him. He caught her just in time but the impact was so strong he fell backward onto the ground with her in his arms.

She opened her beautiful eyes, no longer glowing gold but her mundane eyes, with the colour of the ocean was nothing short of breathtaking. He also noticed the change in her hair's colour, from its original gold to a light brown colour. She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time and it took her a few minutes to remember where she was and what happened.

"You! How dare you make that wish! Now how am I going to go back home!!!" she cried as she beat his iron plate-covered chest with her small and frail fists.

He grabbed her fists with his own hands, only out of fear that she would hurt herself. His heart moved when he saw the tears in her beautiful eyes. He raised himself and wrapped his arms around her soft body comfortingly as she cried into his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for whatever happened. Once I have done my duties here, I will follow you to wherever your home is as I supposed to."

"Get real!" she pushed him away, "I don't want a psycho like you to follow me home."

"Hahaha, I don't know what this creature this 'psycho' is, but I'm sure it's not a compliment. My name is Farran, what is your name?" he said.

She was about to say Michael, but she deduced that it wasn't a name that suited the body she had now, "I'm Mickey," she said, not feeling comfortable with calling herself Michelle, the female counterpart of Michael.

"Miki? Isn't that the name of one of the sky goddesses?" he shut his eyes as he tried hard to remember, "Let's see, it's the goddess of... rain, or maybe snow. Or maybe it's the goddess of storm. I can't quite remember. I passed through a town that worshipped you a month ago."

"I think I'm going to need this thing that you're smoking," she sighed.

"Don't worry, my beautiful goddess. I'll find a way for you to regain the power to return to the heavens again. But until then, please become my bride," he said as he kissed the back of her hand.

She blushed at the attention and had no idea how to answer.

"Well of course, I expect you to give me lots of heirs."

That shocked her enough that she said, "No! Not on your life!"

"So you will give me lots of heirs after I'm dead?" he joked.

"No! Not ever!" she protested as she went ahead.

He quickly chased after her, taking her hand as he tried his best to charm her heart. He thought he would go back to the town's inn and rest before running away first thing in the morning. He head no idea what to answer the villagers when they found out that he destroyed the only path to their wishing well.

Then he looked around as he noticed for the first time. He looked at the ground, the trees and the sky. It was normal, which was wrong, as he clearly almost fell into a chasm shortly before his goddess appeared. And the trees should have been burned to charred husks now. He wondered if he had dreamt it all.

------

"So this is what you do?" Miki asked Farran as she sat on a fallen log, still in her white toga.

"Monsters needs to be controlled. Left uncontrolled, they'll attack villages and eat humans. Someone has to do it. Besides, some parts of their bodies sell for much copper," he said as he ripped out the tusks from the beast.

Miki looked back at her pure white toga, recalling their travel from the town where he had summoned her to where they were now. She had received weird stares from those they met on the road, and it embarrassed her greatly. Farran had given her his coat and his shoes, but she found out from a friendly merchant on their travel that priestesses like her was uncommon in such a backwater place and it wasn't the season for priestesses to go on a pilgrimage around these parts.

As they hitched a ride on his wagon, he further told her that not even priestesses who worshipped the God of Prosperity Takisus wore such high quality cloth such as hers. He asked her which gods she worshipped to have access to such material to which Farran said that it was a wedding gift by the priestesses of Mellori when they got engaged. He further showed the merchant their matching rings to the merchant, which drew curious looks from him.

"Where are you heading to, warrior?" the merchant asked as he inspected Farran's gear.

"Back home, far to the west. I travelled these lands for adventure. I had plenty and when I met my bride here," he looked lovingly at Miki, "I decided to go home and take over the farm. My parents will be happy to see that I've finally brought a bride home."

"West... where exactly?"

"Somewhere near Alfheim, it's a small village, nobody has even bothered to give it a name. Everyone thought a village that small would be the first to be destroyed during a war, you see, and there's plenty of wars in the west."

"I do understand the fickle state of the west... I'm sorry, we have never been fully introduced. I am Oros. I travel the Central Desert in search of treasures and trade opportunities," he offered his hand to Farran.

Farran shook his hand, "Name's Farran, former adventurer."

"And you, my beautiful lady?" he kissed the back of her hand, he noticed that her skins was so soft and fine, as if she didn't even exist in front of him.

"Miki. Nice to meet you, Oros," she said with a smile.

"The pleasure's all mine, milady. I am going to the city of Garnbrad, would you like to accompany me all the way there?"

"Oh, that's the opposite way of where we're heading to. I guess we'll just stop here and make our own way to Milesby," he said as he wore his battle gear and prepared to get off the wagon.

"We're not going to Garnbrad? But I thought-"

"Of course not, my love. We'll end up having to come back here to the intersection just in front of us if we go there. Going to Garnbrad will add another week to our journey, we don't want to keep my parents waiting."

"Good choice, my friend," he stopped at the intersection and helped Miki get down from the wagon. He noticed her feet and remarked, "That pair of shoes are too big for you, I assume it was originally yours, Farran?"

"Yes, the temple she was in didn't allow priestesses to wear any shoes, so I had to give her mine."

"Let me see what I have for you," Oros said as he went to the back of the wagon and rummaged around until he found a pair of women's travelling shoes. "Try this," he handed it to Miki.

"Hey, that fit very well," Miki remarked, pleased that she won't be walking in shoes 4 sizes too big for her.

"How much is that, Oros?" Farran asked.

"Merely 7 fitter," he said.

Farran took out his money pouch, as he explained to Miki, "Remember, 16 copper fitter equals 1 silver galosh and 10 galosh equals 1 gold flores." Then he counted 7 copper pieces and gave it to Oros.

"Thank you for your business. Have a good journey," Oros said as he urged his mules forward.

As soon as Oros was out of view, Miki asked Farran, "I thought we are going to Garnbrad?"

"He was acting weird after you told him your name is Miki. I can't bring myself to trust him. We'll have to walk around this area for three to four days before we go to Garnbrad. I hope he'll be gone by then."

"Whatever you say," Miki grumbled.

Meanwhile, as soon as Farran and Miki was out of sight, Oros took out a book and thumbed through the pages of parchment until he found what he was looking for.

"Sky goddess Miki-na-maresh. Supposedly the only sky goddess that had never touched the ground. No wonder I thought I had seen her before. It's that temple in Emelys, such uncanny resemblance to her idol. But why did a sky goddess come down to the mortal world?"

------

"Miki, be careful over there," Farran shouted while he skinned something with a weird name.

"It's OK, this isn't the first time I've been on a mountain, if you need to know," Miki protested as she gathered some firewood for their lunch, two rabbits that Farran trapped earlier.

"I really think you should've just stayed at the village. There's no need for you to come with me."

"Nonsense, I'll earn my keep. I'm not going to keep on freeloading on you," Miki argued as she dropped some firewood near Farran and went off to find more dry wood.

"But you're supposed to be relying on me. You're my bride," Farran said.

"Not by choice! It's all your weird wish that got me into this mess! I didn't agree to it, it was the magic that's forcing me to be your bride."

"So you admit that it was your magic that did it?" he said, but when he saw the face Miki made, he laughed out loud and joked, "At least I got to marry a beautiful sky goddess. Never thought I'd ever see a single sky goddess ever!"

"As I told you, I'm not-"

"Miki stop!" Farran shouted a warning, "Don't look forward!"

Miki indeed stopped, but in her curiosity, she disobeyed him and look in front of her. "Eek!" She jumped back as she saw the poisonous snake in front of her open its mouth and leaped towards her.

In a quick move, Farran stepped to Miki's side and swung his sword at the mid-air snake. His sword barely found its mark, but it was enough. Instead of a part of Miki's body, the snake ended up having Farran's sword in his maw and within seconds, the top half of its head was sliced clean from the rest of its body. Farran cut the snake's body into tiny pieces and threw it as far as he could into different parts of the forest just to be sure.

"Thanks for saving me," Miki said.

"No problem. I'm glad I'm nearby." Farran said as he dropped his sword and hugged Miki, "I'm thankful that you're not hurt."

Miki was still paralyzed from fear and couldn't move her body the way she wanted to. Had she full control of her body, she would've pushed him away. "Umm, I think it would've been okay if you're not here. I mean, you keep calling me the sky goddess, right? If I really am the sky goddess as you said, then it would be pretty pathetic if I got done in by a snake."

He push her at arms length and asked in disbelief, "Are you by any chance not aware of the myth?"

"What myth?" Miki asked. She was quite well versed in Olympian, Egyptian and Norse myths, but she doubted that it was what he meant.

"When the Goddess of Victory and the young gods won against their cruel fathers, they locked the elder gods inside the castle in the sky. They kept watch of the castle day and night, but they were tired from the war before and the constant watch drained their strength even further. If it continued, the elder gods would be able to free themselves and descend upon the mortal world in all their furies again. The Goddess of Victory then saw the danger, and for that, she gave birth to the sky goddesses, to watch the Sky Castle and inform the prime gods for any weakening of the prison. When the elder god Estuvi who held the sky fell ill, the sky goddesses took turns holding up the sky for seven months, until Estuvi regain his strength."

"Okay, what does this have to do with a snake?"

"The god of the underworld, Bosoldir-un-awel, was the only one who wasn't happy with this arrangement. He argued with the Goddess of Victory that he was one of those who fought with her and argued that because of his contributions, he should also live up in the sky. Goddess of Victory disagreed and punished him for his insolence by taking away his winged chariot, so that he will never be able to come to the sky kingdom again. When the Goddess of Victory gave birth to the sky goddesses, he became incredibly jealous and wanted them to be his consorts."

"What about the snake?" Miki asked, impatient.

"Snakes, worms and carrion-birds are Bosoldir-un-awel's symbols. He can control them and see through their eyes."

"I see, so you're afraid the snake wanted to drag me to the underworld?"

"Yes, by killing you who are now in human form, you will be going to his domain instead of the sky kingdom when you die."

"Why didn't you just say that? Why'd you have to give the whole history lesson?"

"Everything must be in context."

Miki snorted at his words.

------

"Isn't it disgusting?" Miki asked.

"It's a way of living," Farran answered as he pulled the trolley filled with the skin of half a dozen monsters as well as their tusks.

"I can't believe I came to another world and got myself hitched to a tanner," she said with her palm on her face.

"I'm not a tanner. I'm selling these skins to a tanner, there's a huge difference."

"Yeah, whatever. It's still disgusting."

"Shh!" Farran stopped as he signalled Miki to hide herself.

"Move along now, don't hold the line," a man wearing studded leather instructed while cracking his whip. In front of him a row of people, both men and women, and some young girls were walking slowly. Their wrists and ankles chained to each other and they looked paled and malnourished.

"Slavers," Farran whispered.

Miki agreed. "How barbaric. Where I live, slavery has been outlawed."

"Same with the place I came from too, but around these parts, slave trade is still a very lucrative business and the kings and nobles around these parts aren't willing lose the income from legalized slavery. In some countries, slavery is their main form of income."

"Such evil. I'm going to put a stop to it!" Miki stated as she got up but was taken down again.

One of the men overseeing the slaves noticed the shrub rattle, but thought it was just a wild animal.

"Are you stupid? Look, those men are armed and they know how to use it. Unless you can use your powers, even if you're a goddess, you can't win!" Farran whispered with his hand covering her mouth.

Miki pushed aside his hand, "Someone has to stop them!"

"I know, but this is not the place nor time. I can fight maybe two of them, but I can't fight twelve!"

"But there are more than 70 of the slaves, if we don't do something, they'll be subjected to lives so terrible."

"Let's go back to the village and find a better solution.

That evening, Farran and Miki went together to meet the village chief asking for help to save the slaves. Present were also the other elders and the young men of the village. Suffice to say, it didn't work out very well.

"How could you all say that? What if it was your wives, your daughters or your friends who were taken as slaves? Would you leave them behind too?" Miki argued.

"It is because of that fear that we are unwilling to take part in this mad quest of yours, priestess. There is simply nothing in it for us. In fact, simply helping you will put our village in trouble," the chief said.

"You've made a deal with the slavers," Farran said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Very sharp of you, warrior. We let them pass through our fields and we sell them supplies. In return, they leave us and our families alone. It has worked well for us for many years," the village elder explained.

Miki scolded as she stood, "You damned cowards! So you will watch other people's misfortunes while living in safety yourselves? Don't you feel guilty?"

"Of course we feel guilty, priestess. We are not evil people. But you must understand, to a man, his wife and children is most important. To a wife, her family is her life. How can we risk our families to help others when we are aware that the retribution will be swift and sure?" one of the elder women spoke.

"You priestesses aren't much better either!" one of the young men interrupted, "Your temples keep scores of slaves, even more than the nobles have in their entire estates!"

"Well, I don't know anything about the priestesses, I wasn't with them for long. But you must know that this is wrong!"

"Then why don't you tell the priests and priestesses to stop keeping slaves?!" another young man argued.

"If it was at all possible, I would've done it!" Miki argued back.

"Then you are no different from us. Your hands are dirty too!" came another young man's voice.

"How can you insult us like this when you've been doing the same!" another voice said.

By this time the whole village-folk had joined in the verbal lashing. Miki, unable to handle the noise and the way they were ganging up on her, pushed away all the men as she ran out the door. Farran would've run after her, if not for the crowd of young men blocking the door telling Miki to go back to her temple.

With tears in her eyes, she ran away from the village chief's house. She knew she should go back, or at least rest inside the bunkhouse, but for the moment, she couldn't do either. She hated her helplessness, her weakness. To simply watch as the young women, men and small girls being traded away as slaves, never having another day of freedom in their lives anymore. It made her collapse to her knees by the side of the road leading our of the village. Back in her world, she would've simply relied on the cops, the FBI or if needs be, she would have bought a gun and save them herself. Here, she was simply another weak woman, who needed protection from her man.

Suddenly she felt a hand holding a piece of cloth covering her mouth and nose from behind. She tried to struggle, to push her assailant away but another man took hold of her arms while another took hold of her legs. It wasn't long before the medicine soaking the medicine started to affect her and she fell blissfully into darkness.

Before she lost consciousness, she heard one of the men say, "Beautiful girl. We'll get a lot for her."

------

She got up in some kind of dark cell. Around her, she could hear sniffles and people whispering. She strained herself to hear, but failed to do much with her still groggy from the drug. Even staying conscious required an effort. She wanted to rub her eyes, slapped her face to wake herself up, but she realized that her hands were tied behind her back.

"Hello?" she called. She immediately heard whispers around her.

"Can anyone hear me?" she called again.

"Shh," came a voice from her left, it was the voice of an young woman, "Be quiet. They don't like it when we speak."

"My name is Miki, what is your name?" she asked the voice.

"Not that it matters, since they'll just change our names once we're bought. My name is Iria," the voice said.

"Bought? Are you saying that you're a slave?" Miki asked, horrified.

"Well, you're one too now. Were you a priestess before they caught you?"

Miki wanted to say no, but instead, she asked, "You saw them bringing me in?"

"All of us saw, it was about the only time we got any kind of light. You have such a nice dress, how much is it worth?"

"I don't know, it was a gift. Is there a way out of here?"

"If there is, do you think we'd still be here?"

"Quiet in there!" a voice outside said as Miki heard the sound of door being hit with something hard.

A moment later, two men entered, carrying them two buckets one filled with what seemed like some kind of slop while another bucket carried water. With the torch the men were carrying Miki was able to see the cell she was in for the first time. It was a room barely 10 feet long and 8 feet wide with no window whatsoever. But the room was filled with at least 20 women, some so young they should still be with their mothers. Most already looked like corpses, barely with a life inside them.

"Eat up, slave girls. The captain wants all of you healthy by the time we're in Salas." one of the men said before his eyes fell on Miki. Beautiful, fresh Miki with her high quality toga was a sight for sore eyes to him. Without saying a word, he started to undo his breeches and was about to drop it if not for the other man's intervention.

"Hey, the captain gave specific instructions that the merchandise must not be sullied in any way," he said.

"Aw come on, I have to get a piece of this priestess before they sell her off. You can have your way with her after I'm done," he said as he dropped his pants and advanced towards Miki.

The other man grabbed him by collar and said, "If you will not stop, I will have to inform the captain. I will not risk being fed to the sharks just to bone a single pretty girl. Before you say it's worth it, remember you will die if you put your dick into her."

"Humph!" he grabbed his breeches and retied it. "Fine, no point in risking my neck for just a slave girl."

Then they both went out and locked the door behind them. They left the torch inside, but all the girls knew there was no point in grabbing it and using it as a weapon. One of the girls, a pretty girl with black hair, probably around 15 years old went first to the bucket and reached in for the slop. She brought it to her mouth and she slurped it noisily, then she grabbed the single bowl inside the bucket and scooped a helping of water to quench her thirst. It wasn't long before the other slaves went ahead to drink and eat from the buckets.

"What are you waiting for? It taste like shit, but it's better than nothing," she said, Miki recognized the voice.

"Are you Iria?" she asked to which the girl nodded, "No thanks, I'm not eating that slop."

"Suits yourself," Iria shrugged, "But at least drink something. Dehydration is a nasty thing."

Miki heard the same thing from her physical education teacher back in school, so she slowly made her way to the bucket and realized something important. "I can't drink, my hands are tied behind me."

Iria then helpfully took the bowl, dipped it in the bucket of water and slowly gave Miki some water. Miki gulped it hungrily, she had no idea how parched her throat had become. A few drops of water dripped from her chin but there was no helping it, with her arms behind her, she had no sense of balance. The twin orbs on her chest wasn't much of a help either.

The sleep afterwards was uncomfortable to say the least. The smell, the position and the swaying of the ship woke Miki often. During one of those times when the swaying of the ship woke Miki up, she heard heavy footsteps approached and the door was thrown open by a big beefy hand. The slaves inside the room was startled by the sudden boom. No few of them cringed at seeing the big man at the door.

"You, priestess! Move your cute arse, the captain wants to see you," he said gruffly.

When Miki refused to move, he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her up to her feet. He pushed her forward, out of the room before going out himself and locking the door behind him. When she wouldn't walk, he spanked her butt eliciting a yelp from her.

"Stop that!" Miki protested.

"I'll spank you however much I want, temple whore. The captain will enjoy breaking you," the big brute said as he spanked her twice more.

Miki hurriedly walked forward, as far as she could from the brute. Even if her pride could be salvaged, the pain on her bum was so bad. She could've sworn his spanks hit bone. She resolved to not give him the opportunity to do anything to her anymore, especially not spanking.

"Ah, there you are, the priestess with expensive dress," a tall man, with bushy moustache and short beard said as soon as she came out into the open.

Miki breathed in deep, happy that she was no longer in that dank and dark cell. She took some time to feel the heat of sun light on her skin, the feel of wind running through her long hair and sound of birds in the distance. She felt strangely calm, but she wondered what will happen to her now.

When Miki didn't say a word, the captain said, "Now that I have a look at you myself, I agree with my crew. Such beauty, it's a waste to keep all that beauty and youth inside a temple. You will sell well in the slave markets of Estokar and Merinath. But first, I intend to sample you myself, hehe. I wonder if you're a virgin," he moved forward and and grabbed hold of Miki's toga.

"NO!!!" she cried, causing a golden light to shine from Miki as the power repelled the slaver captain that he ended up flying through the air until he skidded several feet on the ship's deck.

"How dare you!" some of the slavers stalked towards Miki, knives drawn and they didn't look like they were afraid of using it.

"Stop!" said the slaver captain as he got up and dusted his shirt, "I see, a high priestess then? No wonder your dress is of such high quality, and your beauty, you must have been using the gods' powers to keep yourself youthful and pretty."

"No, stay away from me," Miki cringed in fear as the slaver captain strode purposefully towards her.

"I wonder," he said as he stood in front of her and extended his hand towards her.

Miki closed her eyes in fear, right before she felt fingers on her cheek.

"It seems that if I touch you gently like this, your powers won't harm me," then he turned around and spoke loudly to his crew, "It seems like this is one priestess who likes to enjoy gentle love-making, men."

The whole crew laughed out loud as he further joked that all of them probably get a turn if they're gentle.

"Captain! Captain!" the arrival of a boy, gasping out of breath silenced all the laughter and took the captain's full attention.

"What is it, boy? I'm busy," the slaver captain said with disdain.

"An army! An army is approaching! The harbour master has let them through out of fear, captain!" the boy said.

"An army? Who would dare raise a blade against the Red Rock Slavers? How many?" the captain demanded.

"At least a hundred men, captain," the boy answered.

"All hands, raise the anchor and cut the mooring ropes, hurry!" the captain shouted orders.

"But some of our men are still ashore, captain," one of the sailors protested.

The captain quickly ran his sword through the sailor's body. "Any more complaints?" he shouted to which everyone wisely kept their mouths shut, "Somebody throw this carcass off board>"

Miki ran to the other side of the boat and saw from afar, a number of men were charging towards them. Some were carrying swords of various kinds. Some of them were carrying staffs and bows and arrows. Most were carrying farming tools like hoes and scythes. This wasn't an army, it was a group of farmers rising up to fight the slavers.

She was delighted to see that the person at the forefront, the one who lead them there were none other than the man who summoned her to this world. "Farran! Farran! Save me!"

Farran heard Miki before he saw her. He was parrying swordstrikes aimed at him from the slavers on shore. His heart lightened when he saw Miki's mildly glowing toga but it made him even more determined to reach her. The slavers, understanding that they were no match for the angry villagers in front of them, fled back to the ship, only to find the boarding plank removed and the ship started moving away from dock.

"No!!!" Farran cried when he saw the ship leave the dock and slumped to his feet.

"Hahaha, you think you can win against me?" the slaver captain taunted, "I'll be back with all the other slavers and we'll slaughter all of you and enslave your women!"

"Farran! Farran!" Miki cried as she watched Farran disappear in the distance.

"Oh, you're so noisy!" the slaver captain pushed her away from the edge.

Miki was thrown to the middle of the ship where she stumbled on a loose floorboard and fell on her ass. She winced as her hand fell onto a loose nail and drew blood. "Farran, save me," she sobbed, "Please, save me, anyone. Save me."

Just then Miki felt the wind stop. Not just the wind, the sound of the birds, the sea and movement of the ship also stopped for her. She opened her eyes and saw everyone was frozen in place, same for the clouds, the birds and the ocean waves. "What is going on?" she asked loudly.

"Did you summon me, mistress?" came a voice above her.

Miki looked up and above her head was a miniature woman, no higher than the whole length of her palm. She wore a dress of flowing silk, white in colour and had a serene face. In this world where everything stopped, the flowing of her silk laces as if it was constantly blowing in the breeze made everything seemed so surreal to Miki.

"Who-what are you?" Miki asked.

"I am the guardian spirit of wind, mistress. Is there any particular reason that you summoned me?"

"Can you help me? I'm captured by slavers and if I don't do something, I'll be sold as a slave," Miki pleaded.

"Mortals capturing a goddess? Thats... uncommon. Why didn't you just go back to the sky kingdom, mistress?" the fairy-like thing said.

"I'm not a goddess! Why do you and Farran keep calling me a goddess?"

"But that's what you are, aren't you mistress?" the wind spirit asked, "Unless that was supposed to be a secret and you came down without permission. Ah, I see, so that's why you have no contract with my kind. Your powers must have been removed when you left the sky kingdom."

"For the last time, I'm not a goddess!" Miki said with gritted teeth.

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret, mistress," the fairy-like thing said but she whispered softly, "Most of the time."

"Can you help me, please?" Miki begged,

"Of course, but to help you, we need to make a contract. Us spirits can't use our powers for anyone else, but if we made a contract, we can use that contractee's own power and manifest it using our aspect. In my case, you could use my aspect, wind, to manifest your own power. Would you like to make a contract with me, mistress?" the wind spirit said.

Miki didn't take long to answe. "Yes, what do I have to do?"

The wind spirit looked at Miki peculiarly and said, "Nothing, it's already done!"

"Ehh!!! That fast?" Miki asked.

"Did you lose your memories or something, mistress? It only needs agreement on the contractee's part," then the wind spirit suddenly thought of something, "Oh, it must be that you've been watching too many of those mortal spellcasters that you forgot how goddesses make contracts. Mortals are different, their bodies weren't created to channel magic so they need long contracts to remake their bodies and they need to chant the magic spells if they wish to summon us spirits. It's different with goddesses. To make a contract with a god or goddess means a great honour, and gods and goddesses' power also allows us to procreate. I'm still very young, but please take care of me, mistress."

"Procreate? How do wind procreate? Asexually?"

"Now now, that's not important right now. Don't you want to save yourself, mistress?" the wind spirit asked.

"Ah right, will you save me, wind spirit?" Miki asked.

"Now now, I'm only the vessel of your power, your tool, your weapon, your shield, anything you like. Imagine what you wish to do using the wind and it will be done."

"So if I want to use magic to fly to safety, I can?"

"Of course, that is one of the most common use for wind. However, will you be comfortable with just saving yourself, mistress?"

"What do you mean?"

"The slaves in the lower decks, have you forgotten about them, mistress?"

Miki gasped, "You're right! I can't just leave them behind. What should I do?"

"You're the goddess. Do what you wish, if you wish to destroy the ship and everyone in it, it's fine too," the wind spirit flew up and finally disappeared, but Miki could still hear her voice, "Until we meet again, mistress."

Miki was shocked awake by the loud noises around her as the slavers got themselves busy raising the sails for their journey. Miki wondered if what she saw was a dream but decided to test it herself and imagined herself flying. Nothing happened, so she leaned her back against one of the masts and weeped, calling for Farran in her despair.

She opened her eyes when she heard the sound of clanging metals. She looked up and saw many of the same villagers she saw storming the harbour earlier were flying towards the ship. Farran and some of them had already landed on the ship and was causing serious casualties to the slavers. It wasn't long before the rest of the villagers dropped onto the ship and took part in the fighting. In the end, the slaver captain jumped off the ship and escaped on his own.

The fighting was going on the villagers' favour and they were about to eliminate the last of the slavers when Farran shouted, "Stop! He's one of us!"

The other villagers looked at Farran and at the man in front of them, who was looking tired and about to collapse at any second.

"You! You were the one who stopped that brute from raping me yesterday night," Miki said as she recognized the face.

He bowed and said to Miki, "It was my pleasure. I am happy to serve a sky goddess."

Miki abruptly turned to Farran. "You told them?" Then she used the power of wind to push him off the ship.

"Help!" Farran pleaded as his iron armour weighed him down that it was taking all his effort just to stay afloat.

"I told you not to tell anyone that rubbish, didn't I?" she said as she saw one of the villagers threw a rope ladder down.

When Farran was finally back on deck, he explained, "But I had to tell them. They wouldn't listen to anything else I said. When I told them that you're a sky goddess who came to the mortal realm to understand us, they immediately offered their aid. I even got four separate villages to agree to send their young men to fight."

"Farran..." Miki pushed him down with her wind, then she stepped on his chest, "How dare you throw my name around. I'm really quite pissed with that."

"But I was doing it to save you!" Farran protested, while thinking that even when she was mad, she still looked gorgeous.

"Goddess..." came a voice behind her.

Miki turned around and saw that it was the same man who said her hands were dirty from being a hypocrite the other night, "We men of the village begs forgiveness for our rudeness last night. If it will please you, I offer my life in exchange for the lives of my village-folk. Please do not punish our family and friends for our evil tongue, Goddess Miki."

"Wait, this is so wrong. Idolatry is wrong," she palmed her face, "Look, you are all entitled to your own opinions, I won't punish anyone simply because they speak their minds." It doesn't even feel right to punish a whole village for insulting me.

"Then, what must we do to make it up to you for our mistakes, Goddess Miki?" the man said again.

Hearing her being referred to as Goddess Miki again made her eyes twitch. "For starters, turn this ship around."

"Aye aye, Goddess Miki! Everyone brace yourselves, we're turning this ship around!" the man said as all the men turned to grab something while he spun the steering wheel.

------

"How should we serve you, Goddess Miki?" asked one of the elderly women from a village called Whitree.

Miki had no idea to answer to that. In her world, Michael was a mechanical engineer, not a politician. Now she was not only supposed leader, she was also supposedly a goddess too. Trying to explain that she wasn't a goddess failed to convince them, as the men had seen her power as she flew them to the ship from the port as well as how she used her power to knock Farran off the ship. When they returned, the men told their wives and the women gossiped with each other until everyone thought that she could move mountains on her own by the next morning.

Today, three days after the incident, the villagers of the four villages who took part in the rescue, alongwith the villagers of the other two villages nearby (of which the port the other day was a part of) who heard of a goddess appearing nearby, stood together in the recently harvested wheatfields of Rownfeld. They were all looking expectantly at her, as if asking her to say something. She still had no idea what to say.

The representative of the slaves freed from the slaver ship and the recently discovered slaver warehouse spoke aloud, "We who owe our lives and freedoms to Goddess Miki shall construct a temple in her honour. A sanctuary that she can return to anytime she wishes and a place where all offerings can be made. We shall care for it with our lives."

Miki thought it was definitely possible. The total number of male slaves alone was at least a hundred men.

Then the village chief of Rownfelt, where they were at offered, "Of course, you are right. We shall set aside a plot of land in our village for the sanctuary to be made. Our men will work on it as well and by this time next harvest, the sanctuary will have been completed!"

"Why would the sanctuary be built in Rownfeld?" a representative from the village of Fismont protested to the agreement from his villagers.

"Because we sheltered the goddess," the village chief answered.

"You were also the ones who turned her away and caused her to be captured!" another village elder, from the village of Bearlis protested to the murmured agreements from the other villages.

"We didn't know! Had we known we would have supported her in the first place!"

"That's just an excuse!" someone argued as the whole field turned into a contest of shouts and arguments.

Are they freaking serious? They're fighting over who gets to build a temple for me? Miki thought to herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen! If I can have your attention, please!" Farran said as his voice broke through the verbal pollution.

"This is uncomely in front of your goddess. Do you think she would like seeing you fight and bicker among yourselves?"

The first part was wrong, but you tell 'em, Farran. Miki thought.

"As a sign of respect to her, I suggest that you find a peaceful solution to your problems with each other. Miki loves peace and seeing her people bickering is causing her much grief."

Don't put words into my mouth, Farran.

"That being said, I have a suggestion. Why not you agree to disagree. Do not build a big temple in any particular village."

Yes, please don't build anything dedicated to me. Idolatry is bad.

"Instead, build a huge sanctuary in between your villages!"

"What?!!! Farran, what are you doing?" Miki scolded, to which she was hushed by Farran.

"You know, that's a good idea," one of the villagers agreed.

"Yes, it's better than any one village getting more prestige than the others."

"I know just the place! There's a source of marble nearby too."

"I know that place, I used to play there as a child."

"If you boys are talking about Coln's Rock, then I agree, it is a good spot."

"Will need to clear the trees first, though."

By this time the whole crowd was excitedly talking to each other. Miki was feeling strangely faint and asked Farran to take her back to the house the village chief graciously asked them to stay in. Farran could guess how much this exerted her strength, but guessed wrong as to 'why'. He thought Miki was simply still tired from flying the men to the ship the other day. In reality, Miki was suffering from the mental abuse of having people worshipping her at every turn.

A few days later, Miki and the important men and women of the six villages went to the site of what was going to be the huge sanctuary to her. Apparently the six villages had pooled their money to acquire the services of a great architect in Garnbrad in designing her sanctuary. They also pooled money to buy the tools and materials for the sanctuary that wasn't produced in the six villages. Miki felt very touched. Now, if only they weren't focusing all that cooperation and energy on making a temple for her.

"If you approve of this site, goddess, we beg you to bless it so your power may flow freely here and our prayers can be heard," one of the elder who was once a priest himself said.

"How do I do that?" Miki asked.

"Official temples are often blessed by the blood of the gods it's dedicated to. It allows the land to become holy and prevents other gods from entering the temple grounds. Please use this silver dagger, Goddess Miki. It is my personal collection and no other gods has ever touched it," the priest said as he held out a beautiful dagger made of silver and sheathed in jewels.

Miki sighed. "Let's just get this over with." Then she ran the dagger across her palm and let the blood dripped onto the jutting rock in front of her. "Is that enough?" she said as she sheathed the silver dagger.

"The goddess has blessed the site! We can start construction at once!" the old priest cried followed by the joyful cries of the rest of the elders.

Miki felt herself getting old very quickly at that point.

"Goddess, if it's not too much trouble, will you also give us a blessing?" the priest requested with the other elders looking on with hope.

Miki looked at her palm, noticing that the wound had already healed without a trace and asked, "Do I have to cut myself again?"

"No no, we wouldn't dare! Just a small blessing is more than enough, if it's not too much trouble," the priest said as he knelt with difficulty in front of Miki.

Miki didn't know what to do. She looked at Farran and he just shrugged. So with no idea what she should do, she simply placed her hand onto the priest's head and thought, Cure his aching bones so he won't suffer when he kneels again.

She looked at him and saw a feeling of bliss radiating from him, then she withdrew her hand. The priest said thank you, then he got up. He looked shocked at something. The twisted his body, stretched and jumped about. Miki wondered if he went senile.

"I'm feeling great! I am no longer in pain!" the priest said as he jumped in happiness all the way towards the other elders.

Before long, there was a line of elders asking for a blessing. Some asked to be healthy, some asked to be cured of an illness, some asked to become strong again and some asked to be young again. Apparently Miki was able to bless all of them, to her horror.

"Farran, can't we go away somewhere right now?" she asked as Farran carried her in a princess carry.

"There's a feast tonight. It will be rude if the guest of honour doesn't attend. We can leave tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

That night scores of the old and infirm who heard how Miki blessed the elders came to the feast asking for Miki to cure them of their maladies. Then the men who would be builders of Miki's temple also asked for blessing to help them finish the temple as soon as possible. In the end, Miki had to cure and bless more than 300 people. Miki was so tired that they had to postpone their leaving for another day.

* Hi guys. It's my first posting since bigcloset came back up. I'm still writing Butterfly Gf, but for some reason, it has been pretty slow. This story came to me in a dream. I dreamed myself flying in the sky and having lots of mortals worshipping me. Man, that felt great!
** As usual, please leave a comment or feedback after you read my story. Praises helps me write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me write better. Thank you for reading.