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Your toes dig into the dirt with every stride. You're running again. You zip past trees and through bushes.
Today is the day you escape.
For your entire life, you've been trapped under your mother's wing. She's always been extremely protective of you, given your half-human status. There is a part of you that appreciates having a loving mother, but the part of you that needs freedom always wins.
Getting away from the watchful eye of a goddess of the sky is no easy feat. And all of your escape attempts have only made your mother place even harsher restrictions on you. It almost feels like a miracle that you managed to find an opening to get away this time.
You've made it, though. You have officially climbed down the mountain that houses most of the gods. Your sprint through the surrounding forest is filled with a sense of hope. You've never gotten this far before. You actually did it.
...
Are those clouds... getting darker?
Yes. They definitely are. But it's not over. She might not have found you yet. Maybe they'll pass right over you?
By the time you press yourself tightly against a tree to hide, the storm clouds have gathered above the patch of forest you currently occupy.
Yeah, She's found you. You have to run.
Thunder cracks in the sky, illustrating your mother's fury. You don't get far.
A weirdly strong scent of dirt wafts into your nostrils. You know it's not the dirt around you that you smell. You know your mother's wrath far too well to mistake that fragrance for anything else.
It's the warm, earthy scent of lightning about to strike nearby.
The air feels so dry around you. A burning, tingly feeling is developing behind your eyes, and blood is dripping down your nose.
Your status as a demigoddess means that you will survive what is about to happen. That doesn't mean that it's not going to hurt.
You look to the sky and accept your fate. The nearly black clouds crackle with electric energy that is beginning to target you with a kind of precision unsuited for nature.
Well, there goes this attempt.
Exactly no time passes in between you being perfectly fine and you being struck by a bolt of lightning.
You cannot see; the light has blinded you. You cannot hear; thunder pounding directly into your eardrums has deafened you. You cannot feel.
Every muscle in your body tenses in an instant, forcing the air out of your lungs. Your organs feel as though they are stabbing you, betraying you from the inside out.
For a single, brilliant moment, you are on fire.
...
When you wake up, your skin is vibrating. There is no pain, because it all hurts. Then only some of it hurts, and pain returns once again. You want to throw up, but feel as though the lightning has evaporated all the food in your belly.
Your mother is holding you. Her fingers dig into the small of your back, poking just a bit deeper than any mortal can. A steady reminder that She can break you at any moment.
"Poor girl," Her voice reaches you through the numb, full-body ache. "I even held back a bit more this time, and you still couldn't stomach it. I suppose I'm just overwhelming to you, aren't I?"
You swallow to the best of your ability. So much of your energy is spent on remembering to breathe that it feels difficult to remember that you are upset.
Her gentle, destructive fingers guide your head until you are looking up at Her. She looks sympathetic.
You manually blink a few times, turning your gaze down in the hopes of Her not noticing the tears forming.
"Oh, honey." Her hand tilts your chin up. "I know. It must be so disheartening every time."
Her looming face drifts down toward you. "But when are you going to learn? I am stronger than you. I am faster than you. And, as much as it hurts you to hear..."
The lips of a goddess touch yours. She even tastes like pain. You might as well be kissing a thornbush.
Still, you can't help but momentarily try to initiate again when She pulls away. "...I am smarter than you."
Okay, now you're crying. This is awful. Your nerves get to you as you try to stammer out an apology. She shushes you quickly.
"You don't need to apologize. It's only natural that you'd try to escape. That's the human side of you." The ghost of a laugh escapes Her lips. "Your mother was much the same way. It was... endearing, really. Though she didn't last as long as you. Mortality and all that."
She lifts you up and places you onto Her shoulder. Probably just to be especially embarrassing. "Come now. Let's go home."
She giggles as she walks, Her hips swaying. "I almost feel like rewarding you for how far you got. Even if you were still nowhere near escape."
As you are forced to watch your mother's ass the entire way back up the mountain, you map out what went wrong this time. Maybe you should try going underground somehow. That way, She can't see you from the sky.
You have a good feeling about your next attempt.