Divinity Lost by MXP

Emma’s eyes fluttered open as sunlight streaked through her grimy bedroom window. Emma groaned as she massaged her throbbing forehead, the pulsating pain making her feel like her brain had swollen to twice its normal size, threatening to burst through her skull. It was a strange hangover, unlike any she had experienced before. She didn’t remember drinking the previous night. Okay, maybe a glass or two, but nowhere near what was required to get her drunk.

“Belle? Isabel?” She called out to her sister in a guttural voice. Memories of the previous night came flooding into her mind, causing her to freeze and fill with dread. “Oh, shit.” Emma looked around her tiny bedroom. “Goddess? God?”

Her room answered back with a deafening silence. She looked down at her body and noted she was naked, her feet dangling over the side of the oversized mattress that Alexandra materialized.

“Em?” Isabel asked through the bedroom door. “You awake?”

“I am.” Emma jumped up to her feet, her head punching through the ceiling, leaving a dome-shaped hole. “Ouch!” She ducked down from her nine-foot tall ceiling and was bending over deeply at the hips. “Shit.” Emma rubbed her head, surprised to find no pain or tenderness, and carefully brushed the fine, white plaster dust from her hair, watching as the powdery substance drifted lazily to the floor.

“What was that?” Isabel asked. “Em? Are you okay?”

“Hang on, I’ll be right out.” Shit, shit, shit. In a whisper, Emma said, “Alexandra. Where are you? Goddess, I need you to make me normal again—I can’t let my older sister see me like this.” She held out her hands, gesturing to her statuesque body. There was no response after several moments. “Goddess, where are you?”

Did Alexandra abandon her? Did she go too far, even though the Goddess told her not to hold back? Emma dropped to her knees, feeling hopeless. Where did it go wrong? I was good. The last thing Emma remembered was feeling the Goddess in her stomach. I didn’t kill you, did I? Emma poked her belly with her index finger, testing if she could feel anything. You’re immortal—a goddess. You can’t die from a mortal stomach. Are you just sleeping in there? Or are you mad? Did you give up on me and leave me freakishly tall as punishment?

Emma bent over until her face was on the floor. She said a prayer to Alexandra. “Goddess, please return me to normal. I’m sorry—sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to offend you. My actions were to serve you—to please you. Goddess, please.”

Nothing was happening. Emma felt her eyes welling up with tears. She made a fist and was about to punch through the floor when she made a stern whisper, “Make me small, goddamnit!”

Unseen powers enveloped Emma, and in a flash, she returned to her normal 5’3” stature. Her perspective changed in such a rush, it caused her head to spin and her stomach to lurch similar to the feeling of dropping 10-stories from a rickety carnival ride.

“I’m coming,” Emma yelled out to her sister. She silently thanked Goddess Alexandra for returning her height and looked around for something to cover her nudity. As she wrapped a silken bed sheet around her frame, Emma had to pause and get her bearings. She didn’t feel good. Her muscles ached—but not really. Her head was spinning, but it wasn’t really a headache. Emma’s skin felt icy, but was warm to the touch. “The fuck?” She couldn’t pinpoint her discomfort, but it was incessantly infuriating.

Emma answered her door to her sister, who had her fist up in the air, ready to knock again. She wore nothing more than an oversized shirt. A large mug of coffee in her other hand, with steam rising from the black liquid.

“You look like shit,” Isabel said.

“So do you?”

“Are you alone? Where’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know. I think she snuck out last night after we—”

“Wait,” Isabel said, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. “So you really fucked her? Holy shit, Em, you really are into girls, huh? How come you never told me before, bitch?”

Emma’s fingers clenched the bedsheet, her knuckles turning white as she recalled her sister’s shocking revelation from the previous night. “You never told me you joined a conspiratorial group against the gods. What the hell were you thinking, Belle?” Emma’s voice rose, mixed with anger and concern. “What if the gods found out this? You could be dooming your soul for eternity.”

As she spoke, Emma’s mind raced, wondering how much she could reveal to Isabel without incurring Alexandra’s wrath. She knew the Goddess had plans to toy with Isabel, and while Alexandra had promised not to hurt her sister, it did little to quell Emma’s anger towards Isabel’s reckless actions. In every myth Emma could recall, mortals who dared to defy the gods met with tragic, inescapable fates. And these modern gods were no different.

“It’s best you forget all that, Em,” Isabel said, booping her sister’s nose with her index finger. “If your girlfriend isn’t here, and doesn’t want to hang with me this morning, then well … see ya.” Isabel turned to head back to her room.

“Wait, stop. Listen, can you—not go? I can’t let you risk your soul like this.”

“Hey, I’m the big sister here, remember? You can’t tell a grown-ass woman what to do.”

“Isabel! Listen to yourself. How the hell do you think this is going to end? Gods are real! The afterlife is real! Souls—” Emma bent over and undid the anklet and dropped it onto Isabel’s hand. “Souls are real.”

“What is this?”

“They’re souls. Twelve of them.” Her words punctuated as she pointed towards each gem. “Isabel, these were wicked men, but their sins are nowhere near as bad as subverting the gods. Now they’re trapped here forever. Reduced to nothing but an anklet that I’ll wear—for special occasions.”

Isabel laughed. “Are you high or something?” Isabel looked closer at the jewelry, her enormous eyes focusing on the swirling white phantasms bouncing within the purple sapphires. “This looks really fucking expensive. How could you afford this?”

Emma wanted to scream the truth in Isabel’s face, but didn’t want to cross that line with Alexandra. She yanked the anklet back and held it tight in her fist. “If I can’t stop you from going, then I’m going with you.”

“What a great idea,” Isabel said in a mocking tone. “A journalist coming to my secret meeting. Hey, why don’t we save the gods the trouble and just livestream the whole thing? I’m sure they’ll ‘like and subscribe’ to our blasphemy.”

They argued some more. Isabel went back to her room to change, while Emma followed her every step, attempting to convince her to cancel her meeting. Isabel ignored her younger sister and slipped into jeans and shirt, unbothered if her sister watched.

“Don’t wait up,” Isabel said. She grabbed her purse and walked out of the apartment while Emma yammered on and on about her soul.

Emma had the door slammed in her face. “Fuck this,” Emma said, dropping the bedsheet to her feet and running to her room to dress. Like her sister, she dressed in jeans and a shirt. She slipped her bare feet into a dirty pair of pink Converse shoes, but forewent with the anklet, tossing it onto her bathroom counter, unconcerned with the souls. She was about to head out of the apartment, but couldn’t find her car keys in the kitchen junk drawer. “Where the fuck …?” She pulled half the junk out, but couldn’t find her keys anywhere. “Did Isabel take my keys?”

Thirty seconds had passed since Isabel left the apartment, and she was already sliding into her car while Emma cursed her name for stealing her car keys. Emma realized that her snake-of-a-sister must’ve swiped her keys. Of course, she thought, a wry smile tugging at her lips despite the situation. Sisters know each other too well. It was a given that Emma would chase after Isabel, and equally predictable that Isabel would steal her keys to prevent that very scenario from unfolding.

“Fuck!” Emma shouted. She slammed both her fists on the kitchen counter. “I need my goddamn keys, now!” Emma shut her eyes and calmed herself by steadying her breathing. Losing her cool would not help. When she re-opened her eyes and found her car keys on the counter between her fists. She had many questions … She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She had to catch up with her sister and learn more about this secret group. 

If Emma could learn more about it, she could hand over that intel to Alexandra, and further put herself in the goddess’s good graces. “Right-hand woman to the Goddess of Fear,” Emma thought. Not a catchy title. Maybe I can come up with something better. “The assistant to the Goddess.” Nah. What about “Assistant Goddess”? Emma giggled at her own little joke. The show The Office was her favorite, and she decided she would re-watch that show in the evening.

Emma bolted down the concrete stairs on the outside of her apartment complex, her feet barely touching the steps as she flew towards her sedan. In one fluid motion, she yanked open the door and practically hurled herself into the driver’s seat. As Emma fired up her car, she hunched over and groaned as a nasty wave of achiness attacked her muscles. Her clothes felt itchy, as if they were made of raw wool with lice on them, threatening to tear her skin apart.

She ignored her discomfort and drove out of the parking lot and headed west on the street. Emma made a right, left, right, and then onto the freeway. She sped through traffic, making quick lane changes, and dodged slower vehicles. In no time, she caught up with her sister’s red beater of a car cruising in the left lane. It was only then that Emma realized this was the first time she spotted her sister’s car since making chase. Was it? What the hell was I following then? It must’ve been highway hypnosis, she figured. She was definitely following her sister from the start, and just forgot about it. That damn discomfort surrounding her body was throwing her off.

=====

The Divine Defiance Club (No Gods Allowed!)

=====

Emma wasn’t sure what she was expecting from this secretive anti-god club. Maybe something dark, like a room with stained candles, people wearing black cloaks, and pentagrams painted on walls with blood. But instead of a dungeon at an abandoned medieval church, her sister entered a brightly lit community center, with buzzing from fluorescent lights, rundown furniture from the 90s, and burned coffee smell lingering through the halls.

Emma walked around the corners and kept out of sight from her sister, who made a beeline to a multi-purpose room in the back of the building. With the coast clear, she tiptoed down the hall, unable to shake off the malaise that overcame her. Was she confusing that with intuition? Was Isabel, and therefore herself, walking into a trap set by Alexandra? Maybe Melissa was taking matters into her own hands?

There was no way of peering into the room, but Emma wondered if she could eavesdrop. She placed her ear against the door when it suddenly opened, revealing Isabel on the other side.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Isabel asked.

Emma’s mouth was open, searching for the words to say.

“Oh ...?” a man asked, walking from the hall and heading to the secret meeting room. He paused, looking Emma up and down with a curious expression. “Who’s this? A new member?”

Emma nodded, a nervous smile on her face. “I am. She’s my older sister.” She pointed at a furious Isabel, who stood with her arms crossed, glaring daggers at Emma.

The man’s eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face. “Well, I’ll be damned! Two sisters joining the fight? Now that’s what I call commitment.” He chuckled, clapping his hands together. “The more the merrier, I always say. We could use all the help we can get, going against dem heathens that call dem selves, gods.” He stretched out that last word.

He stepped closer to Emma to whisper in her ear. “You’ve made the right choice, joining us. Together, we’ll show those bastards what real power looks like.” With a conspiratorial wink, he turned and walked past the girls, heading into the room. “Come on in, ladies,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.”

“Is he the leader?” Emma asked her sister.

“Fuck no!” Isabel spat. “Em, get out of here! You’re not welcomed.”

“I think I am.” Emma shoved her way past her sister and turned on her heel. “You can’t have enough mortals going against the gods, now can you?”

-

Emma’s concern for her sister dwindled as she spent time with the Divine Defiance club. Once again, her expectations did not match reality. She pictured military-like men, or a cultish team with face tattoos and piercings, all highly motivated to start a celestial war against the gods. But the room, configured loosely to resemble a classroom, could’ve been mistaken for the lobby at the DMV. Almost every demographic was there, from old to young, skinny to fat, well-off and the poor. They ate snacks and mingled, talking about how much they detested the gods freely and without consequence. They believed in the gods, as to not catch the ire of Melissa and to satisfy her law, but that didn’t mean they had to like them.

“Seriously, Isabel?” she asked, drinking fruit punch from a red Solo cup. “You expect these people to do what, exactly? I’ve been in book-clubs more militarized than this. Seriously. They used to hide their nines in hollowed out bibles.”

Isabel looked at her shorter sister with heavy, unamused eyes. “They’re not the reason I’m here. Syaara is.”

“Who?”

Isabel sighed. “You better keep this a secret, Em.” She shoved a finger into Emma’s chest. “Syaara is why I think we can stop the gods. She’s the real deal because she knows things about the gods and their power no one else does.”

“Like what?”

“Their powers aren’t constant. They became gods, remember? They inherited those powers as opposed to being born with it. Humans into gods. But it can go the other way. Gods to humans.”

“So, that’s the plan? Take away their powers?”

“In a nutshell.”

“None of that sounds plausible. Sounds too easy—and if that were the case, why hasn’t anyone stolen their powers already?”

“Because it’s not easy. But I believe in Syaara. We all do. She’ll make the world right again and strip god’s power from those megalomaniac psychos.”

-

After some time of mingling, Syaara entered the room, carrying a folded canvas, about the size of a bedroll, under her arms. She laid it on a table and unraveled it like the red carpet. On the canvas material were an assortment of knives and daggers.

“These are no ordinary weapons,” Syaara said with an accent Emma couldn’t pinpoint. Syaara looked older, possibly in her 50s or 60s, but maintained an impressive figure under her red leather jacket and black jeans. She held up one of the knives, its blade glinting under the fluorescent lights. “Each of these blades was forged with materials unknown to this world, in a far-off realm.”

Syaara ran her finger along the edge of the blade, a wicked smile playing on her lips. “With these knives, we have a chance to level the playing field. They will harm the gods, weaken them, and leave them vulnerable.” She turned to face the group, her eyes blazing with determination.

“I will arm each and every one of you with these powerful weapons. When the time comes, we will strike as one. If you have the opportunity, slice into the gods’ flesh, and you will see their divine powers rupture and bleed out like the ichor of ancient myths.”

Syaara’s gaze swept over the room, her voice dropping to a whisper. “With their powers diminished, I alone will know how to seize control of it. We will no longer live under the tyranny of the so-called gods. Are you with me?”

The club members clapped, hardly above the volume of a golf-clap, and chattered with each other. Nodding in approval of their leader. Syaara turned back to the canvas and resumed her speech.

“I will track the gods and text you when it’s time to strike. In fact, I’ll—” 

Syaara whirled around, her eyes wide with alarm as she scanned the room. Her gaze swept over the ragtag members, dismissing them one by one until her eyes locked with Emma’s. In that moment, Syaara’s words died on her lips, her train of thought derailing as she stared into Emma’s eyes. There was an intensity there, a depth that far surpassed the gaze of a mere mortal.

Unnerved, Syaara moved with deliberate steps, closing the distance between herself and Emma. The room seemed to hold its breath as she approached, the air thick with tension. 

“Who are you?” Syaara asked, just above a whisper.

“Emma …?”

Syaara shook her head. “Not your name. What are you?”

“I’m …” She shrugged. “I’m Emma.”

Syaara turned abruptly and dove for her knives, grabbing two daggers from the table. The knives spun in her palm, coming to a stop as she clenched them in her fist, an odd red shimmer traveling from hilt to blade. She turned to Emma, and in a growl, said, “I know a goddess when I see one.”

Emma’s eyes bulged. She turned to look behind her, expecting to see Goddess Alexandra, but was meant by the bewildered stares of the anti-god club. She looked back at Syaara, whose eyes glowed red, and was marching towards her, her steps punctuated by the clacking sound of her black leather boots.

“Wait, are you talking about me?” Emma asked with an elevated pitch in her voice, stepping back haphazardly as the demented woman seemed to loom over her. “I’m not a goddess.” Emma placed a hand on her stomach. Was she confusing her with Alexandra? Was Alexandra still inside her? That made some sense. What better way to infiltrate this club than using Emma as a Trojan horse? Goddess hiding within a mortal. You can come out now! Emma shouted in her head to Alexandra.

Syaara swiped her knives in the air, missing Emma as she leaped backwards.

“Syaara, what the fuck?” Isabel screamed. “That’s my sister. She’s far—and I can’t emphasize this enough—far from being a goddess. Leave her the fuck alone.”

“What game is this?” Syaara bellowed. “I sense great power in you, little one.” She pointed at Emma with the end of the dagger. “When did you ascend?”

“Huh?” Emma arched her back until it was parallel with the ground as Syaara thrusted the dagger towards her face. Emma bent back to a standing position with the dexterity of a ballet dancer. She placed the back of her hands on Syaara’s forearm and swept them back, trying to put distance between her and the shiny knives. This caused Syaara’s arms to flare outwards violently as if a blast of hurricane speed air struck her. Emma’s jaw dropped, feeling Syaara’s weakness as if she were a newborn.

Syaara spun around, arms flailing outwards in a controlled, almost choreographed manner, and then faced Emma again, sharp points of the dagger aimed at her head. By this time, everyone in the club had moved to the walls and those close to the door bolted out.

“Stop!” Emma yelled. “You got it wrong. I’m not a goddess. It’s Alexandra you’re sensing because she’s inside me.”

Isabel raised a brow, taking a step back from her sister.

Syaara shook her head. “I don’t sense Alexandra in this plane.” She jumped high in the air, pulling the daggers high above her head and coming down towards the ground where Emma stood. Emma rolled out of the way at the last moment, Syaara’s daggers tearing into the ground like wet paper, her knees shattering and cratering the carpeted floor. “All I sense are powers within you—powers beyond your feeble comprehension. You don’t even know you have them. That is how undeserving you are.” She snarled. “What right do you have with god’s powers!” Everyone in the room covered their ears from Syaara’s loud scream—except for Emma.

“Just stop. Let’s talk about this,” Emma said, gasping.

Syaara brought her blades together in an ‘X’ formation and grinded them apart, white sparks flying out. Syaara let out a war cry and sprinted towards Emma, her arms pulling back so that she could spear the little woman like a knight in a joust.

Emma’s mind analyzed the situation in a split-second and dodged to the left of Syaara, but also grabbed her arms. She spun around while holding Syaara’s wrist, blades unable to strike her, and shot putted Syaara across the room with enough force that Syaara flew parallel to the ground like a low-flying missile and burst through the wall of the classroom, sending splinters of drywall and furniture blasting outwards.

Emma stood still, shocked by what she did. She looked down at her trembling hands, disbelieving her action and still thinking Alexandra was working through her. She turned to face Isabel, who looked just as incredulous, yet cautiously took several steps back, away from her little sister.

Syaara created a new hole in the wall as she jumped back into the room. Her clothes ripped, her skin scarred. Her face contorted into vengeful hatred as she spun the knives in her hand, her green blood dripping around the hilt of the weapon. Horns protruded from her skull, curling like a ram. Syaara grunted, but not at Emma. Instead, she turned to face Isabel, who joined the group of frightened onlookers. Emma traced her eyes, but before she could put herself between Syaara and her sister, the demon was already charging with her daggers out front, screaming in a foreign language.

“No!” Emma leaped, and everything went black.

=====

The Pantheon

=====

Melissa paced before her throne in the grand hall of the Pantheon, chewing on her thumbnail as her mind raced. Colossal braziers, as large as ceremonial bonfires, burned brightly, hardly illuminating the grand chamber. Outside, ominous clouds, black as pitch, hung low over the Texas prairie. The earthy scent of petrichor permeated the air, seeping into every corner of the Pantheon. It was a primal fragrance, one that alerted mortals and gods alike, of impending rain that would soon sweep across the land. 

“Melissa, what was that?” Hailee asked, wearing a sleeping gown, her bare feet slapping against the marble floor. “Tell me you felt that, too.”

Melissa nodded. She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought hard. “I haven’t been able to reach Alexandra or Brad. Do you sense them?”

Hailee pondered for a few seconds before her eyes widened, shaking her head. “I don’t feel them anymore.” Hailee swallowed a lump before walking towards Melissa. “That has never happened before, right? I mean, we’ve always felt each other’s presence since we ascended. Do you think this is one of their games, or, or, did something ...?” She took a few rapid breaths. “Nothing’s out of their control, right? Melissa? When was the last time you saw them?”

Melissa’s expression was a mixture of concern and guilt. She sighed as she dropped into her throne, causing the red velvety cushion to compress under titanic weight. “After what those two did in LA,” she said, she sounded like someone giving a confession. “We had a heated discussion about their actions. I … expressed how disappointed I was with them.”

Hailee sat on her own throne and leaned over to take Melissa’s hand. “What do you mean by that? What did you say to them?”

“It’s none of your concern, Hailee.” The goddess looked away. 

“Did you threaten them or something?”

Melissa shot a glare at Hailee, her eyes glowing white. “I just said it was none of your concern, Hailee. Do not forget who you’re talking to.” A howling breeze ripped through the Pantheon, extinguishing the braziers, casting the throne room into a deep purple darkness.

Hailee let go of Melissa’s hand and recoiled in her seat, bowing her head towards the God Queen. Her hands trembling from the acidity in Melissa’s voice.

Melissa let out a long, drawn-out breath in regret, her eyes returning to normal. “Hailee, I’m sorry. “I didn’t mean that,” she said as she got up from her throne and kneeled down in front of Hailee. She gently took the young goddess’s hands and squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “I’m battling a lot in my head right now. My family doesn’t want to see me. My fellow gods are fornicating as giants on top of cities. Demons are making a presence on earth and attacking us. And now I think something terrible happened to Brad and Alex. Of all the shit that’s been going on,  I’m happy to have you as a goddess by my side. Remember that.”

Hailee nodded and smiled with glassy eyes.

Melissa was about to speak, but then stopped herself. She searched for the right words before continuing. “I grew up reading about Zeus and the Pantheon like most kids. I’ve always had a specific vision of what that looked like. Mount Olympus, towering gods, fantastical powers … I never—in my wildest dreams—thought I’d be like Zeus. Not only am I a goddess—but I’m the ruler of all gods just like Zeus. I wanted my vision to come to life. This building and you guys are the realization of my dreams as a little girl growing up reading those stories about the gods. I rule over mortals, gods, the earth, and the universe—”

“So why are things so fucked up?” she asked with a tender laugh, heavy with emotions from what Melissa was saying.

Melissa joined Hailee’s laugh and wiped a tear from her eye. “You’re right to criticize. This position doesn’t come with an instruction book and I don’t have a mentor to reach out to.” Melissa started patting Hailee’s legs. “But despite my powers and position in the universe, I live and let live. I have my rules, but I don’t dictate every aspect of a mortal life or the lives of my gods. You do your thing. Alexandra and Brad do their own things. But when those two destroyed downtown LA the way they did.” Melissa’s tone turned sour as fingers dug into Hailee’s legs. “I wanted my pantheon of gods to be like the gods of ancient Greece. Not some lewd display of power that could only be dreamt up by the deranged and sociopathic.”

Hailee pried Melissa’s fingers off her quads. “But Melissa, Alex and Brad are acting like Greek Gods. I’d say they’re way more tame, in fact. Zeus fucked half the women of Greece with and without their consent. And then Hera punished all of Zeus’s victims in awfully creative ways. Then there’s the patriarchy, women being second-citizens, mortals getting constantly fucked over, monsters, riddles, pointless quests, gruesome deaths—if anything, I’d say Alex and Brad are saints compared to them.”

Melissa sighed. She moved back to her seat and rested her head on the cushioned back..

“Maybe I’m biased,” Hailee said, “but aside from some hiccups—and my little incident with Jay—I don’t think our reign as gods this past year have been all that bad. It could’ve been way worse, all things considered. I think you have a romanticized version of the Greek Gods in your head, Melissa.”

“And is that so wrong?”

Hailee shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like you said. We each have our way of doing things. So what did you say to Alex and Brad?”

Melissa sighed, closing her eyes before explaining herself. “I knew I couldn’t physically punish them, as it wouldn’t faze them. I can’t ground them like I do with my son. So, I got a little creative. If they couldn’t behave and act like well-mannered gods, I threatened to take away something they cared about deeply. Or I should say someones.”

“Melissa?” Hailee worried. “You threatened to kidnap mortals they care about? Who?”

“A woman named Camilla, and another named Emma. They mean a lot to Brad and Alex, so I threatened to take their souls for my own. Send them to hell and torture them for eternity.”

“Melissa!”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It was an idle threat and nothing more. I always tell Carlito I’m going to take away his Playstation, but I never do. Well, I do … but I give it back. Eventually.”

“Damn. Well, I can’t say much I guess. I’m guilty of messing with Jay’s dumb fiance. Some gods we are, huh?”

The two goddesses looked down simultaneously towards a team of 20 mortal servants approaching them, their near silent footsteps picked up by the heightened senses of gods. They were pulling and pushing two large wooden carts, each filled with a dozen giant grapes, one cart for each goddess. The ropes they pulled strained and the wooded wheels squeaked, as their sandaled feet attempted to find purchase on the polished floor. They were dressed in something the ancient Greek peasants would have worn: cloth wrapped around the hips and togas for the women. They managed to transport the snacks between the bare feet of the giant gods.

“Did you order them?” Melissa asked with an infliction in her voice.

Hailee smiled bashfully towards the 2.5 inch tall servants. “Hey, you aren’t the only one that thinks of the Greek goddess treatment now and then.” She reached down and grabbed one cart and handed it to Melissa. She grabbed the other for herself, a servant almost going along with it, as his legs got caught on the ropes, but he pulled himself free in time. The servants then went to the feet of their respective goddesses and began worshiping them.

Melissa popped a green grape in her mouth and made a mhmm sound as she chewed. “Delicious.” She created the Pantheon gardens, growing fruits suitable and large enough for her gods. Each large grape was about a third the size of a mortal. She reached for another grape, revealing a servant stuck underneath the boulder-sized fruit. “Ooh, is that a yummy mortal to go along with my grapes?” Melissa teased as her fingers shoved the grapes out of the way and plucked the mortal woman stuck underneath.

The woman clung to Melissa’s fingers as she was brought to her face. She let out a string of excuses why she was there: like how she got stuck without the other servants realizing; how she tried freeing herself; how she respected Melissa, and this was all a misunderstanding.

“Mortals are my favorite snack,” Melissa said with a hiss, opening her mouth wide, revealing webs of translucent saliva. The mortal woman squealed and begged harder to Melissa for forgiveness as her enormous tongue extended and flicked the air just inches away from her, Melissa’s lips and saliva smacking wetly enough to echo within the chamber. And then, before it went any further, Melissa chuckled, “I’m sorry tiny, that was a poor joke.” She lowered the mortal down on her lap, and dropped her off with enough care that the mortal woman didn’t even feel the differences in G-forces from the rollercoaster ride that was Melissa’s arm movement. “There’s no reason to be scared around me, little mortal. Far from it. In fact, I’m thanking you, and everyone here, for making it all this way to my home, just to worship and serve me. You all bring me so much joy.”

The woman’s heart was still racing as she tried balancing herself on Melissa’s thigh. She didn’t know what to do or what was going on. She dropped to her knees and worshiped the goddess. The goddess may be in a good mood now, but she’s seen the fiery Latina’s emotions turn on a dime and make mortal lives a veritable hell.

“You don’t have to worship me right now,” Melissa said. “You’re officially on a break, I declare.” Melissa then looked down at the servants near her feet and said, “That goes for you all, too. Everyone, take ten.” 

Hailee’s worshipers looked up to their respective goddess, to which she smiled and nodded. “You heard the God Queen. Enjoy your time off.”

“Here—” Melissa took a grape and split it in twain with her incisor teeth. One half went into her mouth, the other, gripped between her fingers, she gave to the mortal woman. “Eat this. I bet you’ve never tasted the fruit of the gods before.”

The woman took half the grape, which was the size of a Thanksgiving turkey to her, and thanked the goddess. She took a hesitant bite of the grape and nearly kneeled over by the total ambrosiac taste.

Hailee felt Melissa’s warmth radiate throughout the throne. It relaxed her seeing Melissa loosen up with her mortals. 

“This was a good idea,” Melissa said to Hailee, as she popped another grape into her mouth while stroking the back of the mortal on her leg.

“Your welcome, my goddess.” Hailee beamed.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. We have to search for Alexandra and Brad in California.”

=====

Emma

=====

Isabel sat in the middle of her younger sister’s palm, the warmth of Emma’s skin enveloping her like a living, breathing mattress. Her weight hardly caused an indentation to the thick skin underneath her. Her sister’s palm was the size of a midsize sedan, and was cupped with her fingers soaring past her head like massive, fleshy obelisks. Isabel took shallow breaths as she absorbed her surroundings, the air around her thick with the scent of her sister’s favorite coconut lotion and sweat. While continuing to stare up at her sister, Isabel’s fingers traced the lines that made up the prints on Emma’s palm, feeling every ridge, bump, and imperfection.

Isabel never feared her sister before, but sitting in her giant palm as if she were a toy, some three hundred feet up in the air, caused some alarm. The wind whipped around her, carrying with it the distant sounds of the city below that seemed insignificant from this height. Isabel focussed on her sister’s eyes, which were larger than a fridge with pupils bigger than serving plates, the iris a familiar shade of blue that seemed to stretch out like a pond. She swallowed a cold lump, her mouth dry and her heart pounding in her chest. “Em?”

Emma sighed in relief seeing her sister safe, cradled gently within her palm where she’d let no harm befall her sister. It took a few moments for her mind to catch up with the realities of the surrounding world. She was a giant—towering over the suburbs like Godzilla. Emma wasn’t sure how big she was. She was nothing like Alexandra when she attacked LA. But looking at her sister, she estimated tiny Isabel to be around an inch tall compared to her.

The last thing she remembered was the demon lunging forward, aiming those deadly daggers at her sister; the image burned into Emma’s memory. Emma jumped in front and gripped her sister at the last possible moment. 

Things got hazy there.

Emma’s vision blurred, and her mind was sent reeling. Subconsciously, her mind must’ve acted on its own, choosing to grow into a mega giantess as a defense from the dual-wielding Syaara. 

As Emma peered past her sister and palm, a wave of vertigo washed over her, making her feel as though she were teetering on the edge of a skyscraper. The suburb below stretched out like a miniature world seen at Legoland, a sprawling diorama of toy-like houses and cars scattered across a seemingly endless cityscape. The intricate details of the landscape faded into the hazy California smog, which reminded Emma she was not looking at mere toys, but the world from a different perspective.

The community center, its structure half-shattered and crumbling from Emma’s explosive growth, stood as ground-zero between a nondescript strip mall and a green, sprawling park. Emma stood on both landscapes, legs spread, standing tall in a strikingly similar pose to the Colossus of Rhodes.

Beneath her left foot, three empty cars lay crushed, their metal frames pancaked into a two-inch plate of compressed steel. The vehicles had crumpled like flimsy aluminum foil under the immense pressure of Emma’s weight under her cute pink Converse shoe. The giantess hardly noticed the destruction beneath her sole, the sensation of the cars’ collapse barely registering as a faint tickle under the sole of the shoe.

“Oops, sorry!”

As Emma lifted her foot from the mangled vehicles, screeching metal filled the air as the twisted remains of the cars tumbled from her sole and crashed onto the fractured asphalt of the parking lot where she once stood.

Disoriented by the unfamiliar scale of her surroundings, Emma took an awkward step backward, her other foot coming down on a grand pine tree that was as tall as her knees. The tree stood no chance against the immense force of her heel. The trunk splintered and snapped like matchsticks, the wood cracking as the tree catapulted towards the ground, sending pine needles blowing out like brown glitter.

The vehicles and trees were so fragile to her normal body movements, Emma grew concerned for her sister’s safety. Obviously, Isabel’s little body stood no chance against Emma’s newfound size and superstrength. “Are you okay?” she asked Isabel.

“What happened to you?” Isabel asked, almost lost in a trance.

“I—I’m not sure.”

Syaara burst through the damaged front entrance of the community center, her daggers spinning in hand. With a warrior’s stance and unrelenting determination, she charged fearlessly towards the towering giantess, unfazed by Emma’s new size.

“I wonder if Goddess Alexandra had anything to do with this?” Emma asked, mostly to herself as she looked at the demoness.

“Alexandra? What the fuck are you talking about?” Isabel asked.

Syaara cried out a demonic chant and charged towards the giantess’s feet, diving at the toe-end of the shoe, her daggers hardly penetrating the thick rubber hide of the shoe. She cried out again and stabbed the shoe, but her stabbing was mostly inconsequential against the white toe-section of the well-constructed Converse sneakers.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Emma said. “Molly wasn’t actually Molly. That was Goddess Alexandra in disguise. I ran into her while I was working on a story and—long story short—she knew you were in this cult.”

“Oh my god,” Isabel covered her mouth. “Alexandra knew …?”

“Yeah, kinda why I wanted you to leave this stupid club.” Emma plucked the demon Syaara from her shoe. “But Alexandra promised me she wouldn’t punish you, because she understood your anger to the gods. She wanted to infiltrate this group and figure out what was really going on. Looks like you had a real bad apple in the bunch.” Emma held up the demoness upside down by the legs while she tried stabbing Emma’s finger. But Emma flicked Syaara by the legs any time she got close, throwing her attack off each time.

Isabel’s mind felt like it was going to explode. “Goddess Alexandra! Really? I was seriously talking to her? And you didn’t stop me from saying all that shit about the gods last night!”

“She told me not to say a thing to you.” Emma wiggled the demon, trying to free the daggers. When that failed, she ran the demon into the tarmac of the parking lot, creating a canal through the lot using the demon’s body. Emma then whacked the demon a few times on a van until finally her daggers fell from her hand.

“Oh my god, oh my god. I’m so fucking dead. Molly was Goddess Alexandra. Wait!” Isabel planted her face into her hands. “Did you sleep with her? Did you sleep with Alexandra?”

“Uh, yeah—sort of. I guess. I slept with Brad, too.”

Isabel’s jaw dropped.

Emma took Syaara between her fingers and showed no mercy to the thing that threatened to kill her and her sister. Emma squeezed her index finger and thumb together until the demon squished under Emma’s godly strength. Like killing a flea, Emma rubbed her fingers back and forth until Syaara became nothing more than green sludge between her fingertips, forever ceasing its demonic shouting.

“Alexandra, Brad, and I, sorta had—” Emma cleared her throat. “We sorta had a threesome.” She wiped her hand of green demon blood on the grass.

“Threesome? You fucked two gods last night in our shitty apartment?” Isabel was about to stand, but stayed seated in the giant palm.

“Yeah, no big deal,” Emma said, the corner of her lips rising just a smidge.

“Uh, yeah, it fucking is. Em, Syaara called you a goddess. She said you had the god powers, and this comes after you fucked those two! Holy shit,” Isabel said, rubbing the temples of her head. “You knew how much I hated Alexandra, and you fucked her! You knew she was tracking me, and let me come here—not knowing she was … You two tricked me into this fucking game. Emma! How could you?”

“How could I? I’ve been doing everything I can to protect you.” A breeze picked up, and clouds came swirling in from the Pacific. “You should thank me for making a deal with Alexandra, not torment your soul for eternity after joining this stupid club.” Emma looked down at the community center and saw the rag-tag group evacuating through the destroyed walls. She said to the awe-struck crowd, “Goddess Alexandra knows about you all and what you’re planning. You’re lucky she’s giving you a second chance. Now get out of here and worship the gods like you should’ve been doing all along.” Emma’s voice bellowed.

They scattered like insects in the light.

“Em?”

“Yes, Belle?”

“Where’s Alexandra and Brad?”

“I don’t know.” Emma tilted her head, her mood changing, and the weather returning to a typical Southern California day.

Isabel gazed at her sister’s palm once again and recognized it as her little sister’s palm, but now it was a vast expanse of skin and creases. She couldn’t get over the staggering size, the palm alone larger than their sofa. As she tilted her head back to look up at Emma’s face, the sun disappeared behind her sister’s head, creating a radiant halo that outlined her hair in a soft, heavenly glow. Emma’s blue eyes seemed to look through Isabel’s soul, holding her transfixed with her sister’s stare. Despite being her little sister, there was something profoundly different, a divine aura that made Emma feel both family and foreign at the same time.

“Are you a goddess?” Isabel asked.

Emma giggled, mimicking the sound of rolling thunder. “Don’t be silly,” she said, her eyes scanning the surrounding area as she tried to process her new reality. The suburban sprawl surrounded her, save for the park. Emma decided she couldn’t risk causing more harm to people or buildings by wondering just anywhere. The park, with its wide expanse and few people, seemed like the safest option. Cradling her sister gently in her palm, Emma held Isabel close to her chest, just below her breasts, as she walked into the park.

As she entered the park, Emma marveled at how the towering pine trees now barely reached her knees. She tried making careful steps, but the ground trembled with every footfall, alerting squirrels and people from miles away that something huge was lumbering around.

At the far end of the park, Emma spotted a baseball field where a minor league game was in full swing. Emma’s face lit up with a wide, warm smile as she neared the field, her eyes sparkling with childlike wonder.

“Don’t mind me, everyone,” she called out, her voice gently rumbled through the players and spectators. “I’m just going to sit here and watch.”

With that, Emma carefully lowered herself to the ground beside the baseball field closest to second base. Her movements were slow and deliberate as she sought to minimize any further disruption by causing any earthquakes. She sat just beyond the play boundary.

In a world of goddesses and miracles, pantheons and giants, the mortals of earth were not unaccustomed to bearing witness to scenes that would’ve caused widespread pandemonium only 13 months ago. Alexandra had made dozens of appearances as a giantess in Southern California in the past month alone. So seeing Emma as a giantess wasn’t the strangest thing in the world, but peculiar. Who was this woman? She wasn’t any of the gods they knew. But she was a seemingly gentle giantess, which was a breath of fresh air.

Emma, for her part, simply smiled down at them. Her excitement at watching a baseball game with tiny young athletes from her new perspective outweighed any concerns about the impact of her presence. The baseball pitch was adorable, Emma thought. The distance between each base was probably as long as her shin.

The players and spectators watched with gaped mouths. Some ditched the field and ran straight for their cars. But most players stood frozen in their positions watching this mysterious giantess, looking back at them like a patient student seated cross-legged in the middle of a class. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you all,” Emma said with the sweetest face she could muster. “Please don’t let me interrupt your game. Keep playing, please. I’m just watching, I swear to the gods.” She held her right hand up.

“Emma!” Isabel whined from her sister’s palm that she rested on her lap. “I think you have to face the fact that you’re somehow a god now.”

Emma laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand, her chest rising and falling with each hearty chuckle. The outburst startled the baseball players, but she gave them a reassuring smile and waved her hand so they could continue to play. The pitcher nodded and turned back to the batter. He wound up the pitch and got the second strike. No fault to the batter, as the giantess casting a shadow across the field was slightly distracting.

“Stop saying that,” Emma said to her sister. “I guarantee you this is just Goddess Alexandra messing around. You know she can be a trickster.”

“She can be a bitch.”

“Shh. Don’t say that. I bet she’s hiding behind a tree, waiting to spring out and tell me I got pranked. I just have to wait-her-out and show her that being a giant has no effect on me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Look what I’m doing! I’m sitting in this beautiful park, enjoying the sunny weather, watching a tiny game of baseball. I bet anyone else becoming a giant like me would be a lot more mischievous. Not me, sister. I’m perfectly fine sitting here not messing with anybody or harming the city, and you know why? Because none of this is getting to my head.”

Isabel threw out her hands. “Are you seriously just going to sit around doing nothing?”

“I’m watching a game.” Her eyes focussed on the players and ignored her tiny sister. “Alexandra will come around and shrink me. Probably tease me and you for a bit. But she’ll come around.”

“Damnit Em! Shrink yourself. You’re a goddess now!” Isabel shouted.

A couple of players in the outfield called timeout and jogged over to the giantess upon hearing Isabel’s shrill exclamation. The young players stood in front of Emma’s folded legs and nervously played with their gloves.

The boy wearing a number 17 jersey asked, “Excuse me, Mrs. Giant Lady?”

Emma smiled with a cocked head. “Yes?”

“Is it true what we heard? Are you a goddess? Because if you are, we didn’t mean any disrespect, honest. We’ll stop playing so we can pray and worship you. Right away, we promise!”

Emma sighed and looked at her sister with annoyance. “See what you did?” she asked Isabel. “You got them worked up for no reason.” Emma looked at the trio of young players and noticed that the rest of the players were shivering in place. “I’m not a goddess. Please, for the love of—please don’t even think about worshiping me. The gods are playing a trick on me. I swear, I come in peace and you guys don’t owe me anything. Please don’t fear me.” Emma straightened up and in a cheerful tone said, “Now I came to watch a game! I wanna see some hustle out there.” She giggled.

The trio jogged back into the field and resumed play, comforted that the mysterious giantess wouldn’t smite them.

“Barely a goddess for a day, and you’re already lying to humanity,” Isabel said. “You’re just like the other gods.”

“Holy shit, Belle. Enough of the goddess stuff. I’m the same sister you’ve known and loved all your life.” Emma returned her attention to the game and saw the batter hit a triple. She let out a quiet cheer, loud as a megaphone to the players, and watched eagerly as the player slid to third base. “Besides,” she said to Isabel, “if I became a goddess—and that’s mighty big if—don’t you think something, I don’t know, big would’ve happened? Wouldn’t Goddess Melissa, I don’t know, knighted me or something?”

=====

The Goddesses

=====

On what had been a pristine, cloudless day, a sudden bolt of lightning split the sky, striking an empty field within the park. As the thunderous boom echoed through the neighborhood, two figures emerged from the wake of the electrical discharge: Goddess Melissa and Goddess Hailee, standing tall at their natural divine height of 150 feet.

The goddesses wore an attire inspired by the classic elegance of ancient Greek deities that Melissa loved so much. She was draped in a white toga, its gold-trimmed fabric hugging her voluptuous figure and emphasizing her ample breasts. The toga ended just above her knees, leaving her toned arms and a tantalizing view of her cleavage bare. Hailee, embracing a more daring interpretation of the divine dress code, wore a toga that left little to the imagination. The garment showcased her taut abs, an expanse of smooth dark-brown skin that drew the eye to her long, shapely legs. Her top, more of a bikini top than anything, seemed to defy gravity as it clung to her curves.

Both goddesses were adorned with an array of exquisite accessories that left no question of their godly status. Golden bracelets encircled their wrist and arms. Jewel-encrusted earrings dangled from their ears. Their feet were clad in lacy sandals, created with enough gold to make a nation rich.

The goddesses were hunting for Alexandra and Brad, teleporting themselves close to a celestial disturbance of interest. What they found was a giantess with wide-eyes and mouth agape, sitting next to an active minor league baseball game.

“Goddess Melissa,” Emma said, shivering. “Goddess Hailee.” She quickly and carefully set her sister on the ground, and then shifted her tremendous body into a kneeling position with her arms extended and her forehead planted on the grassy park.

Taking the cue from the giantess, the players and spectators on the field also dropped and began praying and worshiping the two goddesses.

Melissa walked straight towards the giantess, Hailee in tow and trying to keep up with the God Queen’s purposeful strides to the mystery woman. Hailee was half-expecting Melissa to excuse the mortals on the baseball field from worshiping, but that order never came. She was then bombarded by worship that was directed towards her by the little people in the baseball field that brought her warmth that never seemed to get old. Meanwhile, the mysterious giantess was whispering Melissa’s prayer on repeat, sensing the goddess staring at her head.

“Who are you?” Melissa asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Goddess Melissa. A pleasure to meet you.” Emma’s voice quivered. “My name is Emma Sinclair, and this is my sister Isabel Sinclair.” She pointed at her one-inch sister, who was also praying.

“I didn’t ask for her name, mortal,” Melissa’s voice cut through the still air. Hailee tugged on Melissa’s arm, causing her to turn back. Hailee gave Melissa a pleading look, which Melissa nodded. Melissa cleared her throat and said, “Why are you so big, Emma?”

“I’m—I’m not sure, goddess. I don’t know for certain, but I think Goddess Alexandra might’ve done this.”

Both Melissa and Hailee stirred when they heard this.

“Alexandra?” Hailee asked. “What makes you say this?”

“I was with Alexandra and Brad last night.” Emma was still in a prayer position, with her speaking into the ground, not daring to move unless given permission.

“You must be the ‘Emma’ that Alexandra told me about,” Melissa said. “Look up at me. What did you do to Alexandra and Brad?”

Emma shook her head. “Nothing, goddess. I swear. We were together last night, but when I awoke this morning, they were gone.”

Melissa turned and spoke privately with Hailee. The two goddesses had more questions than answers. Despite being in the city where Alexandra and Brad were last spotted, they sensed no trace of them. But there was something highly peculiar about Emma. She gave off a bright radiance only they could sense. Moreover, their godly intuition told them that Emma was speaking the truth. Hailee confirmed all the feelings Melissa was having. They didn’t fear Emma, but they felt they needed to keep their defenses up when speaking to her.

“Who made you this big?” Melissa asked, walking back to face Emma. Given their difference in height, Emma being 400 feet and Melissa being 150, even on her knees Emma towered over the God Queen.

“I think Alexandra, but I’m not sure. I was hoping she could return me to normal.” Emma shrugged. “Goddess Melissa, can you shrink me down? I’m not sure I enjoy being this large.”

“That would be best.” Melissa lifted a hand and focussed her powers to shrink Emma. Unseen powers left her hand and intertwined with Emma, but nothing happened. Melissa tried again, with more force, her eyes glowing as she clenched her teeth in frustration as she gave it her all, but her size didn’t budge. Emma remained a towering giantess, unaware of the godly powers blasted at her. “Odd.” She turned to Hailee and gave her a confused look.

“Let me try.” Hailee stepped forward and repeated Melissa’s actions. But after a minute of trying, her divine powers had no effect on Emma. “I can’t—she won’t shrink. What does this mean, Melissa?” she looked over her shoulder at the goddess who looked both annoyed and lost.

“I’d rather not have anyone—no matter who they are—talking down to me. If she won’t shrink, we grow.”

-

Both the baseball players and spectators looked up at the gigantic gods with rapt attention as their thundering voices discussed topics that made no sense to them. Their game proceeded with abrupt pauses: first from Emma’s appearance; then from Melissa and Hailee’s rock star appearance through a blinding bolt of lightning. 

They tossed their bats and gloves to the ground and worshiped their gods, fearing Melissa’s wrath, should they transgress in the slightest from her laws. As they bowed and sang praises to the goddesses, they felt an electrical charge in the atmosphere as the goddesses enlarged themselves to match the size of the larger giantess that was on her knees praying. Their sandaled feet expanded and plowed through the grassy field, churning the lush park, creating a crater of upturned dirt around their golden soles. 

Hailee placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder and guided her to rise. Emma plucked her sister, who was bowing near Hailee’s feet, and cupped her gently in her palm. “How’s the game?” Hailee asked, pointing at the baseball pitch with her hand.

Emma answered, and then all three gigantic women moved to sit in a line in the outfield, just as Emma had before. Isabel hyperventilated. She was back in Emma’s palm with both goddesses flanking her on either side. The three, 400-feet tall giantesses, sat with crossed legs in the park, sticking out like sore thumbs with the suburban neighborhood surrounded by homes and apartments. Hailee was close to first base and Melissa near third. Crowds gathered in the park to worship the goddesses as they spotted them from the streets. Some bolder worshipers prayed to Melissa, asking her to move Alexandra to a different part of the world, because of all the havoc she’s caused in their home city.

Melissa ordered the baseball game to continue. The young players felt completely frazzled, playing in front of such an unbelievable audience. But they did their best.

Isabel yanked on Emma’s finger and pulled her middle finger over her body like a blanket, trying to hide herself from Melissa’s view. What if she finds out I was working to overthrow the gods? What if she already knows? Isabel didn’t think she’d have to face the consequences of her actions so soon. If there was any hope, it was that her hunch that Emma turned into a goddess was true. This way, Emma could protect her from Melissa’s wrath, should it come.

“I can’t believe you’re both here and watching a game with me,” Emma said with a grin. “This is so wild.”

Melissa nodded and gently grabbed Emma’s free hand, her fingers interlacing with Emma’s. “I wish we were here in better circumstances. But the thing is, my gods, Alexandra and Brad, are missing. And for some reason, you seem to be immune to my, and Hailee’s, power.” Melissa idly played with Emma’s fingers. “You wouldn’t be hiding something from me—would you, Emma?”

“Goddess, of course not. I want to find Goddess Alexandra as much as you do,” Emma pleaded.

Melissa squinted her eyes and searched through Emma’s words, seeking malice or anything that would imply deception. But she found none. Emma was a squeaky clean girl—and further, Melissa could tell she was a genuinely good person. But something kept bothering her about Emma. There was power within this mysterious woman. She could feel it through their hand holding. And what was more disturbing was that it wasn’t like holding the hands of the other gods. There was something far stronger and more concentrated within Emma. Melissa pulled back suddenly, feeling an odd sense of dread as she looked into Emma’s eyes.

“Who are you?” Melissa whispered.

“I told you Goddess. I’m Emma.” Cheery as ever.

Melissa shook her head. “What are you?”

“A goddess!” Isabel said through Emma’s finger. “My sister is a goddess, and she’ll protect me from you two!” Isabel quickly ducked under Emma’s finger again.

“Sorry,” Emma said with a nervous smile. “My sister has a wild thought that I’m a goddess. She’s just shook up by my sudden growth spurt. Don’t mind her.”

Melissa and Hailee stared back at Emma with alarming realization. “Goddess …” they both said under their breaths.

“Oh, come on.” Emma shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t be a goddess just because …” Emma had a flashback of the previous night. She remembered what she said during the throes of passion. She forced Brad and Alexandra to submit to her. They didn’t take that seriously … Did they?

“What?” Melissa asked. “What are you realizing right now?”

“Umm.”

“Emma, you have to tell me.” Melissa said.

“Don’t do it, Em!” Isabel squeaked. “They’ll destroy you if they know!”

Melissa and Hailee shot a look at the tiny mortal, slightly annoyed that she dared to interrupt a goddess’s request.

“Emma,” Melissa sounded frantic, but tried to tone herself down. “Emma … What happened to Alexandra and Brad?”

“I …”

“Yes …?”

“I just realized I left the oven on,” Emma said. “If I don’t get back home, it might start a fire.” She rose to her feet, her gigantic stature alarming the players in the field. Emma turned and let out a whoa with what she saw. Worshipers filled every inch of the park. They prayed, played music, and danced in the presence of the goddesses. Emma—her senses being actualized for the first time, realized that a few in the park were praying—to her. “Oh, fuck.”

“Emma,” Melissa said calmly. “Emma, sit down. Talk to me.”

Emma looked down in her palm at her sister, who was gesturing her to run. Emma panted heavily as the gravity of the situation pressed down on her. “I have to go.”

“Emma, stay put.” Melissa tried her hardest to stay calm.

“Sorry, Melissa.” Emma vanished in a split second. Air crashed into the temporary void she left when teleporting, causing a terrific crashing sound that caused the mortals in the park to yelp out in surprise.

“What the hell was that about?” Hailee felt her adrenaline rising. “Should we be worried?”

Melissa looked around and noted all the mortals staring back at her. This was no time to show weakness. “Of course not, Goddess Hailee. Just one of Alexandra’s tricks.” She said aloud, but communicated something else to Hailee through their divine link. “We have a game to watch. Let us enjoy the last inning and then comfort Emma.”

Hailee nodded, playing along with the facade they needed to create to avoid panic. She looked down at the crowds of worshipers and cheered. “Why did you guys stop? Goddesses love a good game of baseball!” She lied.

=====

Goddess Emma

=====

Emma teleported to the parking lot of her apartment, standing nine feet tall while holding her 5’6” sister like an infant in her arms. She had a blank look on her face as she came to terms with her massive disrespect to Goddess Melissa—and, of course, her teleporting and re-sizing herself as if by intuition.

“Put me down!” Isabel shouted while flailing her arms.

Emma, still as a statue, obeyed her sister by dropping her arms. Isabel fell hard on the ground and grunted in pain.

“What the fuck, Em!”

“This is bad. This is so wrong.” Emma’s heart raced as her mind when 100 miles a minute. What did I do to Alex and Brad? Emma ignored her sister and ran up the concrete stairs to her apartment. She didn’t bother with the keys and just smashed through the front door as if it were made of cardboard. She went to the kitchen and opened the top cupboards, looking for Isabel’s vodka stash.

Isabel walked through the smashed front door and said, “Well, there goes our security deposit.”

Emma pulled the cork from the vodka bottle and drank straight from it, chugging the entire bottle.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

Emma lifted a finger to her sister, signaling her to wait while she chugged the entire bottle. Once Emma was done, she let out a 5-second burp, causing 30 mile per hour winds that almost knocked back Isabel. Emma grabbed another bottle of vodka, flicked off the cork, and started drinking.

“Em, I think we both know you’re a goddess now. And I highly doubt that’s gonna get you drunk, let alone buzzed.”

Emma stopped drinking straight from the bottle and let out another burp that rattled the glassware in the cupboards. The nine-foot woman turned to her sister and said, “It’s like drinking water.” She brought the bottle back to her lips and polished off the rest of the vodka.

“What are you so upset about? You’re a goddess now!”

Emma walked past her sister, her heavy footsteps echoing throughout the small apartment, the floor groaning and sinking under her feet as she walked. Emma dropped her ass on the couch, breaking some of the wood framing and squeezing the cushions flat under her butt. She then placed her legs on top of the coffee table and tried to steady her breathing.

“Belle, what the hell am I going to do now?”

Isabel chuckled. “Rule the world, I guess?” She sat next to her giant sister.

“Not funny. Melissa is the ruler of the universe. I respect her and worship her—I devoted my soul to her for fuck’s sake. Now … I don’t know what she thinks of me; especially after running away from her like that. What if she thinks I’m her enemy? What if she thinks I stole Alex’s and Brad’s powers?”

“So, you think you did now?”

Emma divulged every salacious detail of her encounter with the former gods to Isabel, revealing her theory that Alexandra and Brad had unwittingly transferred their divine powers to her. They submitted to her, as she asked, but they probably didn’t understand those ramifications coming from a god.

Emma’s bizarre day made sense now. While she hadn’t yet mastered the intricacies of her powers, she found her desires manifested effortlessly, like when she made her car keys appear, growing into a giant to save Isabel, and her quick thinking teleportation. She even shared the feeling of worship she sensed at the park.

“Holy shit!” Isabel said. “You know what this means? You have the power of two gods in you.”

“Oh, no.” Emma buried her face in her hands.

“Why does that upset you?” Isabel shook her sister by the shoulders. “You’re more powerful than Melissa! That’s why she couldn’t do jack squat to you! Oh shit, Emma, that means you rule the universe.” Isabel smiled widely.

“Rule the universe? But that’s Melissa’s job. I’m just a journalist.”

“Wait, so you don’t want to be a god?”

“No!”

“I got an idea.” Isabel stood up and looked down at her sister. “Give me your powers. Make me god. I’m the older sister, anyway. It only makes sense that I should be the ruler.”

“You want to be a goddess?”

“Fuck yes, I do!”

“But you hate the gods. Why would you want to be one?”

“Because I’d be better at it. Better than you, that’s for sure.”

Emma scrunched her face. “That’s kinda insulting.”

“You know what I mean.”

Emma shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“You’re a pushover Emma. You don’t have the traits to be a goddess. I do. I’ll fix everything that’s wrong in this world. Melissa and Hailee? I’ll put them in their place. Oh, and that Pantheon building? Who the fuck builds something important like that in fucking Texas? My Pantheon would be here in Cali. Next to the Hollywood sign. And it would be big and modern. None of that Greek shit. Oh, man. The possibilities of having so much power. First thing I’d do is stomp on my law firm and crush all those deadbeat lawyers. Actually, I wouldn’t just crush the law firm I work at—I’d crush all the law firms. Let’s see, what else …? I’ll date all the celebrities. No, not date. I’ll make them my little sex slaves. You got to shove a god up your ass. I’ll settle with Ryan Gosling, I guess. Oh, how can I forget about those stupid worship laws? Actually, I think I’ll keep those. Every hour, on the hour, I demand worship. No! Tribute.”

Emma had one brow raised as her sister’s list became longer with all the depraved things she would do. “Wait, Belle,” Emma interrupted. “I thought you hated Alex and Brad for abusing their powers. How would you be any different?”

“Because my shit makes sense. I won’t go around sticking skyscrapers in my vagina.”

“But you would crush them,” Emma said, tilting her head accusingly.

“Eh, that’s different. I’ll only do it to people who deserve it.”

“That’s exactly what Alexandra told me. And mortals hated her for it.”

“Don’t compare me to her. I’d be different.” Isabel pointed to her chest.

Emma shook her head and sunk back into the couch. “You sound a lot like her. But worse.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Wait, Em, are you or aren’t you giving me your powers?”

“I’m not. Not anymore.”

“Em! You said you don’t want to be a goddess.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Em!” Isabel whined. She settled back beside her towering sister, taking her large hand with both of hers. Isabel took a breath. “Okay, if I promise not to do those things … would you give me your powers, then?”

“Nope.” Emma closed her eyes as she rested her head on their mangled couch which, to Emma, looked like a couch designed for a child.

Isabel internally screamed. “Okay, okay. Maybe you don’t want to give up your godhood. That must be it. Well, newsflash, you have the power of two gods in you. So, what I propose is that you give me half your powers. You’ll stay a goddess and your older sister will also be a goddess. Win-win. What do you think?”

Emma opened her eyes and thought about this. “Hmm. It would make things like they were before. Four gods instead of three.”

“Right!” Isabel felt her excitement rise as she saw her sister contemplating this idea. She gripped Emma’s fingers tightly, feeling her warmth and smoothness against her comparatively small hands. “Both Sinclair sisters as goddesses. And if it makes you feel better, you can keep me in check—not that I would need it.”

Emma nodded.

“Think about it, Em! We can create our own Pantheon and rule half the world. What do you say? Please do this. Please think of me and what this could mean for everyone on earth. I know we can do a significantly better job than Alexandra and Brad.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Emma scooted up in her seat. “It’s way too much pressure having all this power to myself. I don’t want to upset Melissa, after all.” Emma placed her hands on an overly excited Isabel’s shoulder. “I have to will myself to submit to you. Give you half my powers and make you a goddess.”

Isabel licked her lips. That anticipation was killing her. She would make a fantastical goddess that would put Alexandra and Brad to shame.

“After I do this,” Emma said. “We’ll be equal with the other gods. I guess. Well, Melissa will still be the ruler, at least. And not me.”

“Yeah, yeah, do it.”

“Which means—”

“Don’t overthink it, just do it.”

“Which means I won’t be the most powerful.”

“No, this would be better. Two gods instead of one. Right?”

Emma lowered her hands from Isabel’s shoulder, and then slowly pulled her hands away.

“What? What the fuck are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re second-guessing this again.”

“I’m sorry, Isabel.”

“Emma! Turn me into a fucking goddess, right now!”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because if I do, I won’t be the ruler of the universe.”

“Emma?”

“I’ve changed my mind, sis. I kinda like the idea of being the most powerful being in the universe.”

“Oh, my god.”

“Yes?”

“You’re already corrupted with power?”

Emma laughed. “You were corrupted with power—and didn’t even have any. And you’ll never have any.”

“Damnit, Em! Make me a goddess, or I’ll tell mom.”

Emma pulled Isabel into a tight embrace, effortlessly lifting her smaller body onto her lap. Despite Isabel’s valiant struggles, she couldn’t break free from her sister’s godly grasp. Emma giggled, amused by Isabel’s futile attempts to resist.

“I don’t think it’s wise to spread these powers to just anyone,” Emma mused, her tone growing more serious. “I’m glad you showed me this, Belle, but I’m afraid things have changed. Your little sister is a goddess now, and that’s something you’ll need to accept.”

Emma paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. “Being the ruler of the universe doesn’t interest me. If Melissa wants to keep that title and responsibility, she’s welcome to it. However, I’ve come to understand that the power I possess is too great for just anyone to have—like you. For everyone’s safety, I’ll keep it all to myself.”

She looked down at Isabel, her eyes softening with affection. “I know you want to be a goddess bad, but it’s not gonna happen. But think about it—you have the next best thing. Your little sister is probably the most powerful being in the universe, and if you play nice, I promise to treat you well. What do you say, Belle? Can you accept this new reality?”

“You’ve gone mad,” Isabel said with a snarl.

Emma rolled her eyes and pushed Isabel off her lap.

“Damnit, Em! You’ll abuse your powers like anyone else.”

“No, I won’t.” Her voice rose. “Now, be a good sister and take off my shoes.”

“What?”

Emma laughed. “I get it now! I know why the gods love to tease. This is so much fun.”

“You need to make me a goddess or else you’ll get power hungry and go after Melissa and Hailee.” Isabel was searching for any excuse to claim some of the power swirling within Emma. “You can’t be greedy and keep the power of two gods in you.”

“Belle, remember who you’re talking to? I don’t give a shit about all this. I don’t want people to treat me differently, and I certainly don’t want to dominate the world.”

“You dominated two gods as a mortal last night.” Isabel threw her arms in the air. “Now that you’re a supreme being, what the fuck are you going to do now? You are way too dangerous like this, Em.”

“That was all an act last night. I was acting.”

“I hate you.”

“Belle, don’t say that.”

“Quit calling me that.” Isabel rolled her eyes. “I’m so fucking done with you.”

“Isabel, c’mon.”

Isabel stormed out of the apartment, making her way down the corridor.

“Fucking Emma … why is she so stubborn? I could’ve been an awesome god unlike that—“

Just as she was talking to herself, she looked up and gasped as she ran into a nine-foot tall Melissa. “Hello Isabel. We need to talk.”