77 Backstories And Bargains (1/2)

”I have a loving family. They are the lights of my life. From my mother, Alma, to my wife, Sophia, to my daughter, Marlena.” Gustavo told me. There was a light in his eyes as he spoke about them. He smiled as he thought about them, and I felt the intensity of the love he felt for him radiate out of him. It was a tasty looking emotion, the sort that I might one day inspire in my own worshipers.

”What a delicious emotion...” I thought, idly. Gustavo fell quiet for a moment after he mentioned his family members, but he didn't stay quiet for long.

”I have two problems. One of them is pretty straight-forward. Comillas' fields aren't producing food in the same quantities that they used too. Althos had an interesting, albeit probably temporary solution to that problem. The other problem I have is a bit... well it's a bit more personal.” Gustavo confessed.

”I don't know how Alma knew about this...” The man said, before he sighed quietly. ”But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. She knows about so many things. My daughter is sick. My wife knows but she thinks I don't. I'm assuming they tried to keep it hidden from me out of love and a desire not to worry me, but I've noticed. I just... can't do anything about it.” The man confessed, revealing an awareness of the vague malady that was plaguing his daughter.

”My daughter can sleep for hours, but this isn't the sleep of the living. It's the sleep of someone who is slowly wasting away. Marlena's health has always been less than tremendous, but this is new. Her skin is clammy, her pulse is weak, and she is often delirious. She's suffering. She's told me so herself. I actually learned she was sick, early on because she told me directly.” Gustavo revealed, outing Marlena as the source of his awareness of her health.

”My daughter, my wife, my mother, and my community are my whole world. I'd do anything to protect them and ensure that Comillas can one day thrive.” The human said, looking at me earnestly. I grinned, my airy face contorting to physically express what I felt.

I took moment before doing anything else to pause and consider my options here. I knew that I could dramatically and powerfully wait until he was awake to heal Marlena. Or I could go ahead and heal her right now, showcasing the ease with which I could heal and save lives.

”On one hand, showcasing that my powers are real in a dramatic, flashy way is an excellent tactic to secure the loyalty of Gustavo... It's almost guaranteed to earn his worship.” I told myself.

”On the other hand, I am not a fan of allowing Marlena to suffer just so I can demonstrate my powers. It's not kind, or in the spirit of the subdomain of healing to prolong suffering to make a point.” I reminded myself, my words safely hidden in the vault that was my mind. The debate didn't last long, and my choice was unsurprising.

I targeted Marlena through my mini-map and her alone and focused on her health. I waited for a second until nothing happened. I sighed, and then activated my knowledge domain's ”See condition” power, which actually produced a result.

[Name: Marlena Mondragon

Conditions: Sleeping, fatigued (When awake), delirious (When awake), ravenous (When awake), perpetual nightmares (When asleep)

Hitpoints: 5/20

Disease(s): Sleep-Strike Disease

Disease information: Sleep-Strike Disease is a sleep disorder that causes those plagued by it to sleep for over half a day at a time. When victims are awake they are fatigued, delirious, and plagued by severe hunger. When they sleep they suffer from intense nightmares that they can't remember during the day.]

The disease was intriguing to me. It was, in a sense, a perfect disease for me to snag control over. If I needed to punish someone with a disease that at first might not look that serious I could smack them with it, and then harry them in their nightmares. This also made it good for singling out specific people I wish to punish, rather than punishing entire families.

I calmly activated my disease-domain granted ”Cure disease” power and targeted Marlena. The girl was immediately cured of the condition responsible for the suffering she had endured over the course of the last few days. I immediately filled out a notification to send her way when she awoke.

Seconds after I did that, I received a familiar notification. It was one alerting me to my newly acquired mastery over the sickness that plagued Marlena. I grinned as read over and then dismissed the thing.

”Well you can rest a bit more easily now. I have healed your daughter. She was suffering from a disease called 'Sleep-Strike Disease'. When you wake up, you can ask her yourself. She will tell you that Cosecha healed her. She doesn't know who I am, just that I healed her from the disease.” I declared, speaking in a proud manner befitting a god.

Gustavo's eyes opened wide in shock. He went still, but not before a smile burst across his face. I could sense, intuitively, that he wasn't entirely sure if he believed me. At the same time, I also received an alert that suggested that he was more hopeful than he was skeptical.

[Influence over Gustavo: 10%]

That alert widened the grin etched on my face. I could sense that what I had done had already, in essence, won Gustavo over. Now it was just a matter of waiting for his worship to come to me.

________________________________________________

Andrea and I had our gazes locked on each other. In her dream, I appeared as a darkly handsome winged-human. Andrea, or at least her dream-form, was that of a plain redheaded human in her early twenties.

”You know what would prove your divinity to me?” She asked. I shook my head at her, and she chuckled.

”Well that means you aren't omniscient!” She sneered. This slightly annoyed me, but I bit my tongue and let it slide. I wanted to be omniscient, it wasn't my fault that I wasn't. I let silence fill the air between us, as if to demonstrate that she still had the floor. Eventually, she realized this and spoke again.

”Fine. You know what could prove that you were a god, to me at least? Regrowing a limb. Even our most advanced science can't do that. If you can cause spontaneous regeneration of a limb, I'll believe that you are a god.” Andrea told me. There was an emotion I wasn't familiar with in her voice as she spoke. From this, I was able to infer that this might be something personal to her.

I looked at her sympathetically for a moment before speaking again. There was a deep emotion in her eyes that caught me a bit off guard. And in those eyes, I could clearly see an opportunity.

”Andrea... let's make a deal.” I began, smiling at her as I spoke. She looked at me, skepticism and quizzicalness mixing in her eyes.

”I will heal whoever you wish for me to heal. And in exchange, right here and right now, I grant you your most heartfelt desire. Beauty.” I told her, confidence audible in my voice. She listened to me, and paused for a moment. When she spoke, she had a question.

”Let's say I accept your deal. What I hear from this deal is that I gain two great things. What do you gain?” She asked, ultimately questioning my motives. I see gently at her.

”You live in a world far from my own Andrea. On the other side of the universe in fact. I want to start to gain servants and worshipers all over the universe. For now, my servants are limited to the world of my birth. In you, I can start to gain worshipers or at least servants all over the universe.” I explained. This caused her to give me a haughty look, one of disapproval and indignance.

”Do you think that granting me beauty is enough for me to become your servant?” She asked. I could hear the anger in her voice. I smiled and shook my head at her.

”I don't actually. But I think that granting you beauty will be a good first step towards you becoming my servant. It will show you that even across the universe I am a being of indescribable power who can cause real, physical change. A creature with powers you can't even begin to imagine.” I explained, speaking with such sincerity that it caught her off-guard. I could tell because she took a step back, as if afraid of me.

”Andrea, I am a lesser member of my species and even still I can do things that you couldn't imagine. I could teleport to your world, right now if I wanted too. From literally across the universe.” I said to her, beginning to explain just a few of my abilities.

”I possess the power to cure any disease in existence. I can free someone from the shackles of mortality with a touch, or cause them to age into dust by backhanding them. I can generate earthquakes, or cause a famine with a snap of my fingers. I can probably generate tornados and cyclones that can annihilate communities.” I revealed to the human, all while an ambitious smile crept across my face.

”I am not your enemy. I want you to become my servant, my worshiper. I have no bad intentions towards you or your species. In fact, you and I share a thirst for knowledge.” I told her, feeling as though I had emphasized my powers enough and now wanting to reveal what she and I had in common.

”I want to be omniscient. It is one of my greater desires. For now, though, I content myself with accumulating power. And the truth is, that if I can grant you the beauty you seek I gain a whole new group of powers.” I revealed, casually explaining why I had actually come here.

Andrea's eyes narrowed at that declaration. She speedily replied to what I said with an exasperated sigh.

”What do you mean granting me beauty grants you more powers? How? Why?” She asked, annoyed at what I was revealing. I laughed, and waited for her to calm down. When she did, a few moments later, I opted to be honest with her.

”I am a very, very young god Andrea so I don't know that much about all of this yet. But here's what I do know: there are things called domains and subdomains. Domains and subdomains are ideas, concepts, and laws given consciousness. Gods gain power, or 'influence' over them in various ways. If I use a spell I possess on you, to transform you into a form you find beautiful I gain powers related to biology. The first tier of powers related to biology.” I told the human, being candid with her.

Andrea looked at me and chuckled. She then sat down and sighed. ”So you entered my dream, probably through a domain or subdomain power, so you could grant me beauty?” She asked. I nodded at her. ”Is that your true form?” She asked, eyeing me up and down. I shook my head and spoke to clarify.

”I don't have a true form. It's been suggested to me that the gods of old did, but I don't. Instead, I can shapeshift into any form, of any size. I have a number of forms I use, though I have spent most of my time in a human form. Not this one mind-you, but another human one. One that doesn't have wings.” I revealed, speaking gently. I wasn't done either.

”Andrea, I can transform you into whatever form you find the most beautiful. I have no problem admitting that I'm using you, but frankly you're only benefitting from this deal. I am not asking you to become my worshiper, or to serve me. I would like for you to serve me, but for right now I am entirely happy to just make you beautiful. You have nothing to lose from this deal.” I told her.

I wasn't lying either. A part of my mind was keenly aware that the quest I was undertaking only asked that I use the spell on a willing target. I could easily target Milene and still be awarded the various powers that the domain would grant me.