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For many, many years, the Goddess has been watching over the lands of this world, doing her best to keep things orderly and functioning…to the best of her ability. Not everything can always be perfect all the time, and that’s what the people of her world help with! When they discover a flaw or something that isn’t happening the way it should, they pray out to her in the hopes that she will make things right.
But at some point, things became…too perfect. Working too well. Too-
“Boring!” She groans, laying back into her couch, made up of clouds from the cosmos. “There’s nothing here for me to do, everything just…works out on its own!”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” the other god asks, sitting in his chair.
“No, of course it isn’t!” She crosses her arms, turning her head to the side to look at him. “With total perfection, there’s no room for chaos! And chaos can be very entertaining.”
“So…what are you going to do? I don’t think the people would be too happy if their Goddess just came down and started destroying everything just so she can be entertained and fix it again.” The god rests his elbow on the arm of the hair, chin propped onto his fist. “I know I’d be mad.”
“Those people just do the exact same thing every single day, and have done so for multiple years now. Here, look-” She sits up as she pulls out a floating orb, displaying a human asleep in bed. “Molly is gonna wake up in 3…2…1.” Right on cue, Molly wakes, sitting up and rolling out of bed. “She’s going to make herself a breakfast of two eggs and some bread, then change clothes before feeding her sheep. She’ll head into town to get food for tomorrow, chatting with Lady Talia about whatever gossip has occurred. Every. Day. I swear they don’t have a mind of their own anymore!” She whines, putting the orb away.
“I see…” the god frowns. “So it’s the people who have become…predictable and complacent.”
“I guess.”
“So what if there were new people…?”
She squints. “What do you mean by that?”
“New people with minds of their own, in a place totally new to them. Bring them in from other worlds, have them start anew in here. Variety is a great way to be assured that things are all over the place.”
She gasps, getting to her feet, stars twinkling in her eyes. “That’s it! I need new people to come in and create in the world! I’ll need to find people with plenty of personality and imagination…oh, this will be so fun!” She poofs out of the room.
She spends a long time gathering up a list of people she finds to be best-suited to bring into her world, but once her list is complete, she summons each and every one into a grand hall, lined with many pedestals displaying books. They’re all panicked and confused, especially once she appears at the end of the hall, floating and regal, a dress like the starry night sky, long pink hair flowing perfectly, even with a lack of wind.
“Welcome, misadventurers. I am Lizana, goddess of these lands. I have brought you all here for your individual unique talents and abilities to explore this world and bring it to life!”
One person raises their hand.
“Yes, you there with the teal hair!”
“Right, hi, just a question. If you’re a goddess, why are we the ones bringing this world to life?”
“Excellent question! It’s because-“ and with a snap of her fingers, everyone is sent off throughout the world. “Phew, I almost had to actually have an explanation other than ‘I got bored’ for a second there. Well, time to see what they all get up to!”
She takes a deep breath, taking a more human-like appearance. Her pink hair stills, her dress changes shape and sheds its stars. Her once solid white eyes obtain blue irises and a pupil, and she reduces her massive height to an average human one. She materializes a mirror to look into, looking herself over. “Hmm, this is…acceptable. Best I can do while still appearing human, I suppose. Off I go, then.” And with a snap of her fingers, she heads down to the land.
And so it was, she joined in among the new humans to explore and build the world from a new perspective. Of course, she had to play by human logic and rules…as best as she can. She does still have every power and responsibility of a goddess, after all. So if she needs to…indulge in a small boost, or answer a prayer, she has every right to do so!
The humans who have lived in this world before seem none the wiser as to who the identity of ‘Lizzie’, as she’s introduced herself as, really is. Why should they be? She’s a totally new and different person just like all the totally new and different people! Yes, it is a total coincidence her and Lizana share pink hair and have similar names, who wouldn’t want such a cool sounding name, huh?
That being said, despite Lizzie’s best efforts, the people she brought in don’t seem as convinced. There was once she’d been called upon for help by the blonde one with the diamond scar-Martyn, his name is-as he was stuck inside of a cross-dimensional crypt.
She’d heard his prayer, excusing herself from whatever conversation she was in, disappearing behind a wall and reappearing in the crypt in her normal appearance. “You called for me, human Martyn? Do tell me what ails you and I can assist should the fate of my plans allow.”
“Uh, yeah…so, I pulled the lever in this tomb and the door didn’t open. I was just checking in if some sort of magic of yours or the Sun God’s had gone wonky, Lizzie.” Martyn responds, speaking casually as if he were talking to a neighbor and not a very large, important goddess.
She does her best to not act suspicious in response. “You must be mistaken, human Martyn. I am the goddess Lizana, not the human known as ‘Lizzie’.” He raises an eyebrow in response, and she just chooses to ignore it. “Regardless, the names are similar, so I can forgive you for this mishap. But for the future, be sure to address people properly while communicating with them, so as not to cause confusion! Now let me see…” She peers into the cross-dimensional magic, looking for what went awry. “Mhm, yes, yes I see…there has been two levers that appeared instead of one…you just selected the false lever.” She looks back at him. “I could point you to the right one if you’d like to, or you can find it yourself.”
“Nah, I’m alright. Cheers, Liz!” Martyn says, heading off.
“That’s Lizana to you, human Mar-oh nevermind he’s not worth it.” She rolls her eyes before returning herself back to where she had been before.
At some point she finds herself…a slight bit overwhelmed with living so incredibly close by to all of the humans. Meriport is loud and busy these days with the misadventurers stirring things up and breathing new life into the world. It makes it hard to focus on some of her duties, like answering prayers or fixing things. So, she packs up some materials, hops aboard Barnaby the Trusted Steed, and makes the trip far north to a space away from the others, untouched by any people who have been living in the world before. It was charmingly quiet, and…okay-looking. She gazes into the pools of water, letting her mind wander as she imagines how it would look if it were a lot cooler.
And well…she is alone out here…nobody for many, many miles…so it’s not like anyone would see or notice if she were to just change the landscape.
A massive set of crystals here, a waterfall there…a splattering of blue foliage, swirling pools cascading down into a river within a cave…oh! And don’t forget to enchant the waters with magical properties that react to the moon. Bringing about axolotls and treasure, only found at night. So as soon as the sun makes way into the sky, it will all go away. She takes a step back to look over and admire her work. It’s been a while since she’s undertaken such a big project like that on her own in person. Shame it’s so far away from anyone else, it’s far too wonderful to be left sitting alone with nobody to admire it.
…maybe if she shares out some of the delicacy that is the axolotls from the ponds, people will come over to get some of their own. Maybe they’ll even find some treasure!
“You’ve been getting really close with the new humans.” the Sun God remarks, sitting on one of the large crystal formations as Lizzie wanders through the swirling pools. “And they’ve certainly been doing a lot to build up places and breathe new life and inspiration into the world.”
“I know, right? I did pick every one of them for a reason!” She smiles, jumping down and splashing into a lower pool.
“You don’t worry that whoever’s in charge of where they came from might try to come looking for them?” he inquires, appearing on a lower crystal by where she’s at. “Would you not do the same if say, Rosalia or Mira went missing, and sensed some other god at their last location?”
Lizzie pauses and turns to look at him. “...I mean…maybe? But some of them were in seemingly abandoned worlds, so I’m not too concerned for them. Besides, it’s not like anyone hates it here. I’d send them back if they did.” She shrugs. “I’m not gonna put up a fight if anyone wants to take their people back. Just saying, quite a number of them seem happier here than they did when I was peering in on them in those worlds.”
“A number? Not all?”
“The others seem about evenly happy.”
“...I guess I’d feel better if you could personally prove that at least one person in particular is happier, because I don’t think he is.”
“Who?”
“That…one with the green streak. He seems like an odd, usually upbeat and friendly-mean fellow. But anytime I’ve gotten a good glimpse of him alone, he’s either frustrated or sad looking. I don’t think he’s happier here.”
Lizzie thinks back. “Well that can’t be right, his world was abandoned. He seemed alone and lost, reaching around in the void. But, I can try to find out the truth if you’d feel better. And I know just how to get the answers!”
Indeed, she’d seen it happen many times. There’s no better way for two humans to get to know each other better and open up about difficult pasts than going on dates or being put in danger. So by combining them both, it would most certainly make for the best way to find out more on Joel!
She sits waiting in the Wild Rose tavern, two bottles of rose wine at the ready. She looks out the window, absentmindedly watching the people passing by down below. She’s lost in thought when she feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns to see Joel there. “Hello there, you requested my presence?”
“Hello Joel! Please do sit, and here, I’ve purchased each of us a rose wine, the tavern’s specialty!” Lizzie smiles, motioning to the other side of the table. He takes a seat, looking out the window she’d been looking out of before. “I’m really glad you came, I’ve never done this before and I didn’t wanna get stood up.”
He looks back at her, eyebrow raised. “Couldn’t you just make someone show up regardless if they wanted, though?”
“Whatever do you mean? I can’t make people do anything. I’m no different than you are.”
“No, you’re-”
“Would you like something to eat?” She changes the subject quickly, grinning wide.
He stops talking, pauses, and sighs, clearly getting the signal this is not something to talk about. “Yeah, sure. What do they have here, I haven’t been in before.” He looks down at the bottle containing a serving of wine, fingers toying with the cork stopper keeping it shut.
“Oh, I’ve brought my own food in- it’s a delicacy of the Crystal Cove!” Lizzie goes through her bag, taking out a smaller bag and setting it on the table. She opens it up, taking out a cooked snaxolotl and holding it out towards him.
He widens his eyes, leaning slightly away. “Wh-” he glances between her and the food in her hand, alarmed and bewildered.
“Joel…? Are you alright?” she frowns, slowly lowering the snaxolotl. “Look, I know they look strange, but they’re very tasty and nutritious!” She breaks off a piece, popping it into her mouth and chewing on it.
He only looks more horrified, and…sad? He looks down at the bottle in his hands, gripping it between both of them. “The Ocean Queen would never…” he mutters just under his breath.
“What was that?” She tilts her head, looking over what parts of his face she can see from here.
“The Ocean Queen would never.” he responds, only loud enough for her to hear. He doesn’t look up, eyes fixated on his bottle.
“Who’s that, your ex?”
There was no reply that time. Guess that’s enough of an answer. Truly, she doesn’t know all the details of the different worlds she took everyone from. But that name seems…familiar. Oh-!
“Oh, haven’t I seen her in the crypt? Isn’t she dead?”
“Yeah, I…I guess…” in one swift motion, he lifts the bottle to his lips, tilting his head back and downing the wine.
“No, wait-!” Too late, the wine is gone all too fast. “Oh, you were supposed to save that for the next part of the date!”
“What, why!? You never said that’s what it was for!”
“I…guess that’s fair.” she sighs. “Well, suppose we should get a move on to the other part quickly, yeah?”
“Yeah...”
And so, Lizzie travels with Joel all the way to Maeve’s cottage, where the pair eventually end up going through the fireplace and into the Infernal Descent. She makes sure to talk with him as much as she can, getting to know him better, and what his history really is. Although, not once does he ever bring up the Ocean Queen again, skirting around the topic and directly avoiding answering anything with it.
So, lots of progress has been made, she thinks. She knows him better, and what the sore subject is that’s upsetting him. That Ocean Queen, who now lays in the crypt, must have meant something to him.
In the end, he ends up falling unconscious to an attack from a monster, and she swiftly sends the two of them out of there. She waits beside him as he comes to, offering to see him back to his base, but he turns it down, insisting his head hurts and he’d like the quiet.
She returns back to the cove, sitting by the water and watching the axolotls swim around in the pools. She hears a whoosh sound somewhere nearby, not looking over to know who it was. “Rather late for you, but good evening, nonetheless.”
“How’d it go with Joel?” the Sun God asks, looking down at her.
“I know what’s bothering him, and only vaguely why.” she shrugs. “I guess his ex is dead and in the crypt somehow? He’d never look at me whenever I tried to talk about her, so I’m on the right track…maybe he’s just mourning her, and that’s why you think he’s sad. He is, but not because he’s here.”
“Guess we’ll see if he ever perks up, then.”
“Guess so.”
There’s a silent pause for a moment as both just stare into the distance.
“…I think I’ll write him a letter, invite him out again.” Lizzie looks up at Sun God. “Maybe this time I can help with whatever it is he needs to mourn her properly.”
“That’d be very kind and generous.”
“Like for a start…I have to not bring any snaxolotls. Something tells me those were important to her.”