The entity rising above the pool of water immediately commanded authority over the room. A goddess appearing out of nowhere in her full sparkling form.

What are the odds she’d be this lucky?

River didn’t trust it. Back in her world, wealthy people with tonnes of power and abundance don’t just give things out for free. For what they give away, the get back in equal if not doubled the amount.

When El’rra took careful steps towards the goddess, River immediately moved in between them. Then she made sure the children were at a proper feet away from the beautiful arrival of a luminous being with dubious origins.

El’rra shoved her off by the shoulder, almost tripping her. “I am El’rra, prima healer of the dark tribe council. My goddess, I am at your command.”

The goddess gave her a passing glance then beamed at River, opening her arms for a hug as she neared. “Long have I waited for you, daughter.”

Getting hugged by the softest arms imaginable, she frowned “My name is River. And I’m not your daughter.”

Amused, “Are you not?” Raising a delicate eyebrow. Her sheer gossamer gown rippled and shined to a blinding glow of moonlight. When it dimmed, she was standing on the edge of the pier changed and transformed.

River’s heart sank at the familiar sight. Shoulders seizing up, curling inwards. Dread swallowing her in a dark cloud. “Mr. Florencia?”

Natura Brumcia wore the body of a familiar elderly man. Stern face, bald head and a worn-out farmer overall with keys jangling in his belt as he moved forward.

Everything in River seized to flow. It had been years. Years since she had seen that severe face, that stony frown and that hand speckled with brown gray spots she used to stare at whenever he walked in a room. On instinct, her gaze watched his hands resting on the sides of his thighs. He wore a pleasant expression, a peaceful one. But she knew better. This man valued action before words. He would hit before asking questions.

A laugh came out from his throat, raising a limp wrist with a finger pointing at her. “You should have seen your face.” He paused to giggle. “I have waited for this moment ever since I created you.” His grin grew wider as he travelled around her, watching over every detail from head to feet. With an approving cluck of his tongue, he raised an open palm and she flinched, heart frozen in her throat. But the hit didn’t come as it always did. A portal opened over the pool dead-set at the middle. It was bigger than the regular doorways she could conjure. He chuckled as if hearing her thoughts, “Quality trumps quantity, daughter.” Same old, scratchy voice. A different knowing glint in his eyes.

The wide archway portal opened to a familiar sight of amber grasslands. A large black dog resting on the fields with not a care in the world. It was an ancient eternal beast, same one as before: half-human and half-dog.

Natura Brumcia whose semblance looked and sounded like her grandfather beamed with expectant pride, “And now for the real test.” He said, then whistled to a level where it reached through and beyond the portal. Its shrill call prompting the eternal beast to waken, ears springing up in alertness. It bounded on its paws, running towards the portal with its tongue lolling. The black dog ran with haste and once it got through the portal, its huge imposing aura became undeniable. Stopping besides Natura Brumcia, tilting its head as though he was listening to someone in the silence. Eyes growing unfocused. After a moment, it bowed down growing smaller and smaller. Morphing into the tiniest apple she has ever seen that it could have fit in the palm of her hand.

An old withered hand grabbed the apple off its floor and lifted it towards River. “Eat, daughter.”

“Not your daughter,” she gritted, willing air into her lungs. It had been five years. This frail old man had no power over her.

“Didn’t you call for me to fix your troubles?”

“Then don’t wear my grandfather’s face. It’s inappropriate when he is dead.”

Shrugging, “I was never really gone. I’ve been away for far too long from my own universe that I needed to come back and manage it again. A fake behagthi had made quite an empire over my absence and Inertia was simply straining over the imbalance. I had to make it right, go back to Inertia and fake my own death in a car crash before leaving.”

“W-what are you saying? And how do you know that? My grandmother was in that car crash.”

“You mean this grandmother?” Her shape changed again into a rounder, shorter body, back bending forwards in a slouch and the familiar patient face that greeted River stole her breath away. “My powers are vast, dear daughter. In time, you will learn how to duplicate yourself and shape the other one whichever way you desire as I did when I raised you as both grandmother Willow and grandfather Florencia. The lengths I did to see you grow up so well,” Natura Brumcia smiled as she wore her grandmother’s face “It was worth it.”

“B-but I.. my parents—“

“Ah yes, those naive fools. Won’t you know it? Those idiots actually renege on our deal once you were born. Changed their mind and wanted to keep you. Can you believe it? Me? An actual god of balance? And there I thought they would prove themselves to be a real challenge. They soon changed their minds once I promised them a child who would have a fairer complexion than you do. For some reason, a greater off-balance exists in your world merely based on colors. Preposterous, really. Darkness is the endless source from which all life flows. Why people are looking upon it with such disdain is beyond me.”

River took in what she said and felt a searing blast of anger erupting inside her. “My parents wanted me? They didn’t abandon me, then? You did it! You ruined my whole life. I could have.. I could have had a proper family growing up!”

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been born. Your parents were simply vessels for which I poured your spirit into. Your spirit I created. Emerging you from humanity was a necessary step I needed to take for you to grow into power.”

“Grow into power? What the fuck are you talking about? Were my grandparents ever real in the first place?”

A stony grin, “No.”

“You tricked me. You made me think I was abandoned by my parents. You disguised yourself and— and made me think you were two people!”

“We played a game. You and I.” She giggled in that sweet, adorable way her grandmother used to do. “A really fun one.”

She remembered the times when her grandfather abandoned her in the mountains for days as punishment. “I wasn’t having fun.”

“Did you? Aren’t you fond of games too, my daughter? I remember you begging for me to let you ride those giant carnival contraptions, play racing with the older kids, and even have itty-bitty you join us in our mountain hikes. How I missed that spirit.” Skimming a light finger over her cheek in a feathery stroke, “It’s amazing, really. This is the farthest any of my creations has ever been. Let me see how far you have come. Eat this apple.”

River slapped away the offered apple with such force it dropped across the pool in a light splash that turned out to be deafening in a silent grotto. “You think I would bend under your demands after you deceived me, betrayed me and hurt me in ways I’m still recovering from after all these years?”

The goddess’ old grandmotherly features grew dark and menacing, her wrinkled palms grabbing River’s head with surprising strength it slapped against her ears. “Fear not, daughter. The challenges I presented to you as your grandfather were nothing compared to the world of pain I’m going to introduce you to.”

“Haven’t you had enough?” she choked, struggling to escape their hold “What more do you want from me?”

“I want my daughter.” she said between gritted teeth “I worked hard. Been patient for thousands of years. Waiting for someone like you. Didn’t realize until recently that what I was missing was humanity. Your humanity. This pain, this hurt I’ve caused— it makes a dark symphony within you, teh?”

“Nothing justifies your abuse. Nothing. You’re fucking twisted.”

“No, I’m your fucking parent. Your true parent. One and only. No other. That means whatever I say goes by whatever means possible.” The apple hovered in the air by some invisible force, pressing insistently against her mouth “You will eat this one way or another. Even if I have to ram it through your throat.” The goddess brimmed with righteous energy. One that refused to be defied. It was an influence that insisted against her mind but she persisted with defense. She will no longer bend under her grandfather’s whims, goddess or not. But the divine stirrings magnified a feeling of unease down her chest, a riotous cloud of darkness that threatened to depress every drop of energy in her bones.

Fresh, sugary scent inflamed her nostrils, Me’ren’s voice blanketing her own barbed-wire energy, she commands me, River. My will is not my own.

A watery chuckle fell out of her. “This is just like you. Turning them against me. Same M.O. as before. You playing the sweet, innocent and kind grandmother and the doting grandfather so nobody suspects what really happens behind closed doors. Only now you play a beautiful benevolent goddess and I’m the outcast behagthi that gets to deal with the mess you made.” She looked into divinity’s gaze and found two spirits swirling in a circle within it. A supernatural force that seemed to mock her very existence. “You can’t bend me no more. I’m older, wiser, and—” A heavy weight crashed on the backs of her shoulders, knees buckling over as she dropped low on the ground.

“—a stubborn fool is what you are.” The tone of her scratchy voice morphed into a stern, male echo like harsh whiskey. “Do you really think you can go past my lessons or have you forgotten it at all? Never mind. Let me remind you exactly what happens when you disobey my orders.”

Some unbending force tied River’s wrists together, refusing any more movement. Her head went dizzy with an ache akin to a pressing migraine and she had to bow her head closer to the ground for some relief.

El’rra and Me’ren appeared , flanking on both her sides, stepping into place.

“My corrupted children,” Natura Brumcia said breezily, finally acknowledging them. “Show her what my love is like.”

If River could laugh past the pain right now, she would. Because she didn’t need to be reminded what her parent’s love is like. She knew it all too well.