The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

Eleanor was sitting on the edge of the couch, gripping her blode hair in panic as she leaned forward.

"What did I do...?" she muttered under her breath in a trembling voice.

"What did I do...?"

She pulled at her hair again, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before opening them and staring blankly at the empty space where Klein was sitting only minutes earlier.

"I just wanted to get closer to him... I just kissed him... Why did his temperature rise like that? Why did he look like he was in pain?"

Her hands slowly lowered from her hair, only to clench tightly in her lap.

A heavy, anxious feeling pressed against her chest.

"Where did he go...? Is he okay? What if something really bad happened to him because of me...?"

Eleanor bit her lower lip.

"I messed everything up..." she whispered. "I finally managed to spend time with him... and I ruined it."

She hugged her own arms and her shoulders hunched slightly as the worry continued to eat at her.

She didn’t know where Klein had gone. She didn’t know if he was safe. And the worst part was the growing fear that whatever happened to him... might have been her fault.

Her fingers curled tightly into the fabric of her sleeves.

"...Klein... please be okay."

At that moment, a soft light bloomed near the center of the chamber, and the Goddess of Life materialized.

Eleanor shot up from the couch so quickly that she nearly stumbled.

"Goddess!" she blurted out.

"Something happened to Klein, he was here, I gave him tea and cake, and then after I kissed him, his body temperature suddenly spiked."

"He looked like he was in pain, he could barely breathe properly, and then he just teleported away! I don’t know where he went or if he’s safe. Please, is he alright?!"

The Goddess of Life looked at her for a moment, and a faint smile touched her lips.

"...So he really was the mortal you were obsessed with. I had my suspicions, but seeing you this distraught confirms it."

"You don’t need to worry so much. The reaction he experienced was expected."

She tilted her head slightly. "I was the one who placed the aphrodisiac in the cake."

Eleanor stared at her in shock.

"...What?"

"I added a carefully refined aphrodisiac," the Goddess replied calmly.

"Something that would lower his inhibitions and intensify his physical response after close contact with you. I thought it might help your relationship progress faster. You’ve been circling around him for so long after all."

For a moment, Eleanor couldn’t speak "...You what?"

The Goddess of Life spoke "It was only meant to push things along. A little heat. Mortals often need a catalyst when their feelings are-"

"How could you?!"

Eleanor’s voice suddenly rose and her eyes burned with genuine anger as she took a step forward.

"You drugged him?! Without telling me?! He looked like he was in pain! Do you have any idea how terrified I was?!"

The goddess frowned slightly seeing Eleanor’s reaction.

"He’s not some piece on a board you can just manipulate because you think my feelings are moving too slowly!" she snapped.

"What if the aphrodisiac reacted badly with his body? What if something worse happened to him because of what you did?!"

Her chest rose and fell quickly.

"YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT! I NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"

Eleanor’s voice rang through the room as her chest rose and fell in anger.

The Goddess of Life was just about to reply, but then her expression suddenly froze in fear.

Something... appeared.

A presence behind her.

Her pupils shrank instantly as a cold sensation ran down her spine, something that no being of her status should have ever felt.

And the time flow of the world instantly stopped.

The Goddess of Life slowly turned her head.

Behind her... the reality itself distorted.

A black shadow flickered, and its unstable form glitched as if the world could not properly contain it.

Its shape was vaguely feminine, but it refused to remain consistent as parts of it phased in and out like a corrupted image.

Before the Goddess could even react, a hand formed from that distortion seized her by the neck.

"Ugh-" Her body was lifted slightly off the ground, and her divine aura instinctively flared only to be crushed instantly.

For the first time in a very long time, the Goddess of Life was terrified.

"̴D̵o̸n̸’̴t̷ ̴y̴o̸u̷ ̵d̸a̷r̴e̶ ̷̷i̶n̶t̴e̶r̶f̶e̶r̴e̵ ̴w̷i̵t̸h̷ ̵m̶y̷ ̸m̵o̸r̴t̵a̸l̷.̷"̶

She heard a beautiful voice, but it was layered with distortion, as if spoken through multiple realities at once.

The Goddess of Life’s hands trembled as she reached for the arm holding her, only to realize there was nothing solid to grasp.

"...Y-Your Excellency..."

Her voice came out strained, completely stripped of its usual authority.

"I... I understand..."

The Goddess of Life’s face drained of color.

She could feel it, the overwhelming difference in hierarchy.

Whatever this existence was, it stood far above the authority of a Goddess of Life.

The black shadow held her for a moment longer.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the grip loosened.

The shadow’s form began to fracture more severely as pieces of it broke apart into pure distortion before fading from the stopped time.

The beautiful feminine voice left one last echo in the air.

"̸T̵h̴i̸s̴ ̸i̷s̴ ̶y̸o̴u̵r̸ ̵o̴n̶l̷y̵ ̶w̸a̵r̴n̷i̴n̸g̶.̵"̸

The presence vanished, and time resumed.

But the Goddess of Life remained frozen in place for several more seconds as she weakly touched her own throat.

Eleanor blinked as she looked at the Goddess with a bitter expression "...Goddess, why did you do something like this?"

The Goddess of Life glanced at Eleanor briefly ’What kind of mortal is this Klein Faress for even the Excellency to make a move on me?’

’Is he part of some grand plan... that has something to do with the ’Battlefield’?’

’Does Azara know something? Is that why she is possessive of him?’

Turning to Eleanor, she uttered "It was a miscalculation on my part. It won’t happen again."

"That mortal is safe. He is in Spirit Realm right now, no need to worry."

With that, she disappeared from there leaving Eleanor stunned.

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