Linda's eyes snapped open - too bright, too sharp - like waking mid-surgery. Her throat locked around a scream that didn’t come. The light wasn’t just overhead, it pulsed behind her ribs, under her nails, turning her veins into glowing filaments.
She tried to blink, but her eyelids felt welded open.
The pain crested, then shattered into something softer, warmer.
The light resolved into a face inches from hers.
Eyes like solar flares held her there, unblinking.
Linda’s breath hitched.
She’d seen coding errors crash systems with less intensity than that gaze.
She tried to speak.
Her tongue was cotton, her lips cracked.
The being - because nothing human looked like that - tilted its head.
No.
Her head.
The being was a woman - strikingly so - though her features seemed carved from marble lit from within, her dark skin threaded with slow-moving constellations. The smile she gave Linda wasn’t just warm...
It was the kind of smile that made your ribs ache.
The way sunlight feels after months of winter.
It felt like coming home.
"Welcome, little spark," She murmured, her voice resonating like a plucked harp string vibrating through Linda’s very bones.
Linda’s mouth worked soundlessly.
Words jammed in her throat as her brain short-circuited between oh god she’s beautiful and oh god I’m dead.
The proximity was unbearable, close enough to see the blazing patterns shifting in her irises, close enough to catch the scent of something like ozone and burnt sugar clinging to her skin. Her cheeks flared pink, pulse hammering wildly in her wrists, and her entire body rebelled against the sheer magnetism radiating from this woman.
"You’re staring," The being observed, amused.
"How the heck can I not?" Linda chocked out, a hand flying to her mouth after the words left her lips.
The being chuckled - the sound like wind chimes tumbling down a marble staircase - and carded her fingers through Linda’s hair. The touch sent a shiver skittering down her spine, followed by the horrifying realization that her head was pillowed on her lap.
The warmth of the woman’s thighs pressed against her cheek.
Linda went scarlet, her ears burning so hot she could’ve powered a small city.
"I’m sorry," The woman murmured - not mocking, not pitying - just achingly sincere. She leaned down, lips brushing Linda’s forehead in a kiss that tasted like thunderstorms and honey. "You died, little spark. That man in your world... he stole more than your wallet."
The words should’ve shattered Linda, but her voice wrapped around them like armor.
Linda swallowed hard.
Dead.
Twenty-seven years.
No family left to mourn her...
Just code rotting on some corporate server.
That was all that was left of her.
Her legacy.
Mediocre work.
A piece of a cog in the proverbial machine.
The thought hit Linda’s gut first, then the rest came tumbling out in ragged sobs. Her shoulders shook as she curled into herself despite the god’s lap beneath her. Her fingers clutched at the shimmering fabric of the woman’s robe, knuckles turning white.
"Why?" Linda asked, the word tearing from her throat raw, barely audible between gasps. "Why me? I-I didn’t—" She hiccuped, breath stuttering. "I didn’t do anything."
The woman exhaled - slow, heavy - like the weight of galaxies pressed against her lungs.
"Because your world is cruel," She admitted, fingertips tracing the damp trails on Linda’s cheeks. "No god presides over it. No one watches." Her thumb brushed Linda’s chin, tilting her face up. "But I try. When I can." A rueful smile flickered across her lips. "Even if it’s never enough."
Linda blinked - once, twice - her lashes sticking together.
"You’re not... from there?" Linda asked, her mind spinning.
"No," The woman murmured, her voice dropping lower, warmer. "I am Vael. A goddess, yes, but not of Earth." She explained, her fingers curled around Linda’s trembling ones. "My world is Velmoira. And I aim to help you."
Linda’s breath came in short, panicked bursts, her nails digging crescents into her palms.
This had to be a dream.
A coma hallucination.
A dying brain’s last desperate scramble for meaning.
"None of this makes sense," Linda whispered, shaking her head. "There’s no such thing as- as gods. Or afterlives. Or—" Her voice cracked.
Vael sighed, not frustrated, but impossibly patient.
Linda felt a thumb press gently between her eyebrows - where tension coiled like a spring - and suddenly, the air tasted different.
Sharper.
Clearer.
The scent of ozone deepened, wrapping around her lungs like an anchor. Her pulse slowed without her permission.
"Breathe with me," Vael murmured, and Linda realized she was already matching the rhythm of the goddess's chest rising and falling. "You are not dreaming," She said, fingertips tracing idle constellations against Linda's wrist. The touch sent tiny shocks of warmth up her arm, grounding her in a way no logic could. "Though I understand why you'd wish it were so." She paused, lips quirking. "But dreams don’t have this."
Without warning, Vael pinched Linda's forearm, just hard enough to sting.
Linda yelped, rubbing the spot.
"Ow! What was—" Linda protested, but the words died in her throat as realization dawned. Pain. Real pain. Vael watched, amusement dancing in those impossible eyes, as Linda's fingers trembled against her own skin. "Okay," Linda breathed. "Okay. So... not a dream." Her voice wavered, but something in her chest settled, like a rogue program finally bowing down to a firewall.
Vael's hands slid under Linda's shoulders, lifting her with terrifying ease, like Linda weighed nothing at all. The motion sent Linda's stomach swooping, her fingers clutching at Vael's wrists for balance. The fabric of the goddess's robes slipped like liquid silk between her fingers.
"Easy," Vael murmured, guiding Linda upright until she sat on the edge of...
...wait.
Linda blinked.
A couch?
The surface beneath her was plush but firm, cool against her thighs. She turned her head, taking in the vast, endless white stretching in every direction.
No walls.
No doors.
No dust or food or stains.
Just the couch underneath them - a sleek, modern thing - anchoring them in the void.
Linda swallowed.
"This is... minimalist," Linda managed, her voice thin. "Are you a millennial?" She tried to joke.
Vael actually laughed - a bright, startled sound that made Linda’s ribs vibrate - then shook her head.
"Not even close." Vale replied, smoothing the hem of her robe, constellations rippling beneath the fabric. "I just... don’t need much." A pause. "And I don’t have the power to spare on unnecessary things."
Linda frowned.
"You’re a goddess," Linda countered, her fingers curling into the couch cushions.
Vael’s grin softened into something wistful.
"I am," Vael admitted, lifting a hand - palm-up - as motes of light flickered to life above her skin. They pulsed weakly before dissolving like dying embers. "But gods bleed power too. Every time I pull someone from Earth, every time I bend fate?" She exhaled, and the air between them rippled with static. "It costs."
Linda bit her lip.
"So why-" Linda starts, but Vael beats her to the punch.
"Because no one else does," Vael interrupted gently. Her thumb brushed Linda’s knuckles, and the contact sent warmth spiraling up her arm.
Linda swallowed, turning the words over in her mind.
There was something beneath them -something raw and weary - but Vael’s grip was steady, her eyes soft. It didn’t feel like the whole truth, but Linda couldn’t bring herself to press.
"N-Now what?" Linda asked. "I'm dead. I understand that. It really sucks, but what happens to me now, Vael?"
Vael chuckled - a warm, husky sound - and tilted Linda's chin up with a single finger. The touch was feather-light but insistent.
"Now? Now you live." Vael answered, a slow smile curled her perfect lips. "A second chance. A new body, untouched by scars or exhaustion. A new world where you can be whoever you choose."
Linda hesitated, not dumb enough to believe she was that lucky.
"There's always a catch," Linda murmured, voice small. "Fine print. Hidden clauses." She swallowed, forcing herself to meet Vael's eyes despite the way they burned like miniature suns. "What do you want from me?"
Vael's fingers stilled against Linda's wrist.
The silence stretched, thick with something unspoken, until the goddess exhaled.
"This place..." Vael said, gesturing to the endless white. "...isn't my home. It's a prison." Her lips twisted into something bitter. "The other 12 gods feared me. My power. So they bound me here to rot for all eternity. A tale as old as time. I'm the forgotten one. The lonely one. The betrayed one. And... deemed the evil one by my brothers and sisters."
Linda blinked, stunned.
"But- you saved me," Linda whispered. "That doesn't sound evil."
"Because I'm not." Vael answered coolly. "I'm the scapegoat. Satan. The Demon King. The great evil the people of Velmoira are told to fear. I trusted, I loved, but it was turned against me when my guard lowered. All I want for you is to look into this, be my champion on Velmoira, and tell people the truth. Spread my truth and not there's. The gods and the people of Velmoira feed on each other in a manner of speaking. We grant them blessings, but their faith in turn keeps us alive. You see? I was too grand and I was toppled for it."
Linda swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry.
The idea of being anyone's champion made her skin prickle, she could barely advocate for herself in meetings, let alone an entire realm.
But the raw ache in Vael's voice coiled around her ribs like ivy, impossible to ignore.
"I-I'm not... brave. I'm not some superhero." Linda admitted, picking at her nails. "What if I fail?"
Vael grinned - suddenly, startlingly human - and leaned in.
"Ah, but here’s the thing," Vael whispered, conspiratorial, her breath warm against Linda’s ear. "With great power comes great responsibility."
Linda stiffened, then snorted despite herself.
"Did you just- Spiderman? Seriously?" Linda asked, eyes a little wide.
"Anyone can wear the mask, little spark." Vael responded, her fingers tapping Linda’s collarbone, light as keyboard strokes. "Heroes aren’t born. They’re made. By choices." Her thumb brushed Linda’s pulse point, steady as a heartbeat. "And I chose you."
The words settled between them, heavy as a server crashing under unexpected traffic.
Linda’s breath hitched.
She wanted to argue....
...but she couldn't.
How could she?
She had never felt like this.
Not with her family.
Not with her girlfriends.
Nobody.
Nobody had ever chosen Linda for anything, not her parents, not her colleagues, certainly not the universe that let her die in an alley like trash.
"Okay," Linda whispered, so soft she barely heard herself. "I'll try... for you"
Vael's entire face lit up - not metaphorically, literally - her skin glowing like sunrise through stained glass. She lunged forward before Linda could brace herself, wrapping her in arms that smelled like thunderstorms and something inexplicably sweet.
Linda froze as warmth engulfed her, specifically the crush of Vael's large chest against hers, soft and heavy enough to make her breath stutter.
"Thank you. Thank you..." Vael murmured against her hair between rapid kisses pressed to her temple, her hands roaming Linda's back like she couldn't believe she was real. "My champion. My little spark."
Linda made a noise like a deflating balloon, her entire face scorching. Her fingers hovered awkwardly over Vael's hips before she thought better of it and gripped the couch instead.
This couldn't be real.
This had to be some elaborate afterlife hallucination where her repressed gay panic manifested as a gorgeous goddess smothering her.
"I- uh—" Linda squeaked, her voice cracking as Vael cupped her face, thumbs stroking her burning cheeks with terrifying tenderness.
The goddess's eyes shimmered with unshed starlight, her lips parted in breathless joy.
Linda's brain short-circuited. If this was death, she should've gotten stabbed sooner.
"Now this is where the fun begins," Vael purred, snapping her fingers.
The air shimmered like wet pixels rearranging themselves. First, a full-length mirror materializing midair, then what looked suspiciously like a character creation screen from an MMO hovering beside it.
Linda's programmer instincts kicked in before her panic could. She catalogued the UI instantly and saw sliders for body type, hair texture, skin color, etc...
...and the forbidden Cyberpunk slider...
Linda blinked at the floating interface, her fingers twitching toward the holographic options before she caught herself.
"Is this...?" Linda started, then swallowed as Vael's earlier words clicked - ‘a new body, untouched by scars or exhaustion’ - her eyes widened like saucers. "Oh. Oh no. No no no, you can't seriously expect me to..." She gestured wildly at the sliders like they might bite her. "Customize myself like some RPG protagonist?"
Vael snorted but turned to fully face Linda, her expression softening into something dangerously sincere.
"Linda," Vael murmured, catching one of Linda's flailing hands between hers. "This is your second chance. You deserve some control over your own life. Change everything. Change nothing. But choose for you this time."
Linda stared at the sliders, her throat suddenly tight.
"So... I can just... pick?" Linda asked, voice small and dumbfounded, like someone had handed her the nuclear launch codes. "Even the... the parts I don't like?"
Vael's smile curled like smoke rising from a blown-out candle...
Soft.
Inevitable.
"You can," Vael murmured, fingers brushing Linda's hooked nose - the one she'd hated since middle school, the one boys had mocked, the one her mother called 'strong' in that tone that meant ugly. Vael pressed a kiss to the bridge, lips warm as summer pavement. "But you don't need to. This nose?" Another kiss, slower. "Perfect. And this..." Her hand slid down, palm cupping the soft swell of Linda's belly where her shirt had ridden up. Linda stiffened, but Vael just traced idle circles there, her touch dipping dangerously low. "Mm. Soft as clouds." She giggled like they were sharing secrets in a locker room. "And your mommy kink...?" Her whisper curled hot against Linda's ear, the words sticky as honey. "Sensational."
Linda made a noise like a deflating accordion, her entire body combusting. She yanked her shirt down with a violence that nearly tore the fabric, her spine ramrod straight.
"I-I don't— that's not—" Linda stammered, her voice cracking like a pubescent boy's.
Vael merely grinned - wicked, knowing - and booped the tip of Linda's nose with a fingertip that sparked faintly.
"Oh, little spark," she murmured, her voice dripping with amusement. "Did you think I wouldn't know? I plucked you from the void. Your soul's a book written in sunlight." She leaned in, so close her breath ghosted over Linda's lips. "And honey, I love to read."
Linda whimpered - an embarrassing, high-pitched sound - and buried her face in her hands.
"I-I'm not— I mean—" Linda stumbled as she took a shuddering breath, her fingers pressing hard against her eyelids until stars bloomed behind them. "Can we just—" Another whimper escaped her traitorous voice box. "Please can we move on to the body thing?"
Vael arched one perfect eyebrow.
"Of course we can," Vael replied, her fingers skating up Linda's arm - lightning skimming bare skin - before tapping the floating UI with a click that echoed like a vault unlocking.
Linda now knew that this goddess was trouble.
Big trouble...