Blessed Curse of Lust

After the classes ended, Yelena left the academy. She was looking forward to having some free time to finally test her new skill. Of course, to do that without gaining any attention, she would have to travel quite some distance from the city.

The girl walked over to the stables next to the academy. A quite large set of buildings. Since most students here came from more influential families, it was not hard to guess that many of them would have their own horses they wanted to keep close. Yelena was no exception to that.

She spoke with one of the stable hands and had her horse brought out. In a couple of minutes, he came back, trying his best to lead a rather stubborn and uncooperative white stallion out. The horse quickly changed attitude when he saw Yelena and walked towards her.

Yelena reached her hand and rubbed the side of the horse’s muzzle. The white stallion pressed his face into the touch. The stable hand was visibly surprised by how calm the horse was in Yelana’s presence.

“It is nice to see you too, Rampage! Hope you were not giving the people here too much trouble?” Yelena asked the horse, knowing full well that he likely was.

The name Rampage was not a coincidence. This horse, ever since he was younger, has been a complete menace. He would break out of his stables constantly and go on a full-on rampage around the mansion. The staff always had a hard time with it.

Not Yelana thought. She was one of the few people towards whom Rampage was acting docile and obedient.

Yelena kept rubbing a horse for a short while before she put the saddle on him and climbed on. She rode out from the stables and onto the streets of the city. She was heading towards the main gate. Once outside, she could finally pick up the pace and ride faster.

She didn’t have a clear destination in mind, but she knew it would take quite a bit before she reached an area where she surely wouldn’t be bothered. Even outside of the city walls, there were several settlements sprawled around, not to mention the farmlands that spread around as far as the eye could see.

It took about an hour to finally reach a suitable location. There was nothing around, and it was far away from the main road, so it was unlikely that people would come here. Yelena looked around; she was near a rocky hillside surrounded by trees. She couldn’t ask for a better place.

“Guess, this will do.” Lucia noted while observing the surrounding area.

Yelena got off her horse and walked up to the goddess.

“I would say that makes an excellent target.” Lucia pointed at the rocking hillside. “Should be enough to demonstrate the power.” Yelena looked at the place the goddess was pointing towards.

She had no reason to refuse, and she had been itching since this morning to try her new power out. She wondered just how strong it was. Normally, the mage bolt spell was a fairly weak one. It was one of the beginner spells after all. It was easy and fast to cast, so it had its uses even amongst higher-level mages, but its strength was negligible in most cases. This was a divine spell; it likely would be much stronger.

Yelena raised her hand and aimed at the rock that was about 30 yards away. She recalled that feeling from the morning when she almost cast the divine spell. Just as during that time, the pink magic circle appeared in front of her palm. She took a closer look at it. While it seemed like a normal circle, the differences were easy to spot. She had a hard time explaining what she was even seeing.

She decided not to dwell on it for too long. The power and knowledge the gods possessed were far beyond mortal understanding. She likely wouldn’t even understand half of it, even if she asked Lucia to explain.

Yelena took a deep breath, fixed her aim, and fired. A pink bolt of energy shot out with surprising speed. It was faster than an average mage bolt would be. It flew towards the rocks and made an impact.

The ground shook, and a huge amount of dust filled the air. Yelena was standing quite some distance away, yet the growing dust cloud reached even her. She covered her face with her hand and closed her eyes to protect herself.

It took a few seconds for the dust to settle. Yelena looked over the impact site only to have her jaw drop. It was impossible. There was a massive crater in the side of the rock wall, roughly 30 feet in diameter, with a depth of around 20 feet. In the middle, there was a small hole that led even farther into the hill. How far Yelena couldn’t tell, but she assumed the bolt itself dug its way very deep inside.

“Not bad, huh?” Lucia whistled at the sight.

“Not bad? That is insane! I mean… looking at the impact, it would be categorized as a level 4 spell. You are telling me this was just the most basic skill you bestowed on me?” Yelena couldn’t believe her own eyes.

She kept looking at the crater she left in the hill. No wonder Lucia was worried about releasing that spell inside the school. If the barrier couldn’t stop it, she didn’t want to think about how much damage it would have caused. She even feared there would be casualties from that.

“Something like that, yes. This is not, of course. The powers I gave you will come in handy in various ways. Some might not be as destructive as this, but I’m sure you will find ways to properly use them during a fight.” Lucia explained.

Yelena couldn’t even imagine exactly what powers those were. Seeing this, it was almost impossible to imagine what would come next. A moment later, a sudden dizziness hit Yelena. She stumbled and tried to stay on her feet. It was like she was hit with severe exhaustion.

“Easy there!” Lucia grabbed onto Yelena to help steady the girl.

“What… happened?” She asked, looking at the goddess.

“Nothing you should worry about. You are just a little exhausted from that. Unlike normal magic that uses the mana in the air around you, divine magic uses the accumulated divine power within your body. Since you haven’t got all that much yet, it gets a little overwhelming when you use the spell. Probably should have explained that before, shouldn’t I?” Lucia let go of Yelena, who now was able to stand properly.

“Yeah, some warning would have been nice.” Yelena chuckled.

She wasn’t mad, especially after witnessing the destructive powers of her new ability. It was just that she was really caught off guard by the sudden dizziness.

“I get it. That being said, for now, this spell should be something you only use in a last-case scenario. Once you do, I don’t think you will be able to continue the fight. Not yet, at least. So, make sure to only go for it when there are no other options.” Lucia warned her.

It made sense. Given how Yelena felt, she was also sure she wouldn’t be able to properly fight in this state. Using it early on would be dangerous, especially if her opponent could avoid the attack.

Yelena took a short break before deciding to head back. She was more than satisfied with the results and looked forward to seeing how her abilities grew in the future.

****

Lucia was lying back on a large circular bed. Deep purple sheets covered its surface with pillows of all shapes and sizes scattered around it. Almost completely see-through blue drapes hung around the bed, covering the woman on it, leaving only her silhouette visible to anyone viewing her from the outside.

The goddess was alone, a wine glass in her hand filled with a clear, purple liquid. She looked in front of her, silently sipping the drink in her hand, contemplating many things. Things were going well with Yelena. She was proud of how quickly the girl adapted to her unusual circumstances.

She knew the girl still had a long and perilous journey ahead of her. Lucia often wondered if this was really the only way. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t see any other possibilities. All that responsibility weighing down on that little mortal’s shoulder. The goddess couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

The door of her room opened, and another person stepped in. Tall, dignified, long blonde hair. She didn’t need to be introduced to Lucia; the goddess could smell her stench coming from miles away.

“Kytia, what a surprise! What brings you to my domain?” Lucia asked the seemingly polite question, but it was anything but.

Kytia, the goddess of protection. The same one, Yelena, met on her first day at the academy. The meeting that changed the girl’s fate forever. The proud goddess stepped inside and stopped after a few steps.

She looked over the bed, seeing the outline of Lucia, who was just lying on her bed. Kytia frowned; she knew full well that Lucia’s words weren’t at all polite or out of curiosity. There was maliciousness in her words.

“You know why I’m here. What are you playing at this time? You’ve done some reckless things in the past, but this? Naming some random mortal as your champion? Have you completely lost your mind?” Kytia was angry.

“Hah! Since when did you start to care about what I do, or about mortals, dear sister?” Lucia did not answer Kytia’s questions; instead, she maintained her hostile attitude towards the other goddess.

Kytia’s face twisted in anger. If there was something she truly hated, it was dealing with her rebellious younger sister.

“I care because you are going too far! Do you even have a plan, or did you just do that to spite me?” Kytia took a step forward.

“Arrogant as always. Not everything I do is about you. Yes, I do have a plan, believe it or not. Something that should have been done a long time ago. Something the YOU and the others keep ignoring.” Lucia was starting to get upset at this conversation as well.

Kythia stopped approaching, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Lucia’s silhouette. She had a feeling about what Lucia was talking about.

“This again? You can’t be serious! We've been over this time and time again. It won’t happen!” Kyita raised her voice and stomped her feet on the ground.

“You think so? The signs are all there! You all know it! You just keep ignoring it, sticking your heads in the sand, hoping it won’t happen again! You are fools! Every one of you.” Lucia snapped at the other goddess.

Kytia clenched her fist. She hated to have this conversation with Lucia again. She wanted nothing to do with it, but she couldn’t back down. Not anymore.

“You are still mad about that? You need to let go! It happened more than three millennia ago.” Kytia was screaming at Lucia.

“Fuck you, Kytia!” Lucia screamed back, and she threw the glass in her hand.

The wine glass flew past the curtains of the goddess’ bed and shattered against the opposite wall next to Kytia. The blonde goddess flinched for a second before she regained her composure.

“You act like three millennia was such a long time ago. Given all we've been through, it is almost like it was yesterday. Of course I’m still mad. I can’t forgive you. Not now, not ever!” Lucia crawled out of her bed and stood in front of the other goddess.

She was angry, more than that, she was furious. Kytia could feel it too.

“So what? You go ahead and recruit some random mortal to play as your pawn? Ruining her life, so you can prove your point to me?” Kytia asked.

“It is not fucking about you! I don’t give a damn what you think! Besides, since when do you care about a single mortal, huh? You might act like their benevolent goddess in front of them, but I know you. I know what you have done. I won’t let that happen ever again. I swore it that day three millennia ago.” Lucia was screaming those words; her eyes were burning with anger.

Kytia let out a long, exasperated sigh. She held out her right hand. A golden spear appeared in it. She grabbed the weapon and pointed the tip at Lucia. In her other hand, a golden shield materialized at the same time.

“I can’t let you do that! I’ll stop you from doing anything stupid if I have to.” Kytia declared.

Lucia laughed. She looked amused by the sudden hostility the other goddess was showing. Lucia raised her left hand and snapped her fingers. Pink sparks were flying out from between her fingers when she did that.

The next moment, Kytia’s weapons turned into golden dust. The goddess looked at her hands and then back at Lucia. The black-haired goddess’ dark, pink eyes were glowing brightly.

“Oh? You really think you can do that, sister? Were three millennia really that long ago? Did you perhaps forget who I really am?” Lucia started walking towards the other goddess.

Kytia flinched. There was a genuine fear appearing on her face. Each time Lucia made a step forward, her sister stepped back. She was trying to keep the distance between them, but soon she found her back hitting against the wall. Lucia kept approaching. Her glowing eyes were full of anger and disdain.

“Go ahead, try it! Better, bring the rest too! It doesn’t matter, and you know it. You can’t stop me.” Lucia’s voice was calm, but menacing.

The tanned goddess reached her sister. She looked into her eyes and leaned close. A smirk appeared on her face. She enjoyed seeing the fear in Kytia’s eyes.

“I won’t let you ruin my plans. You like it or not, I’ll go through with it. I won’t let the same thing happen again. Not now, not in the future, and if you try to stand in my way…” Lucia put her hand on Kytia’s throat and squeezed. “... I won’t be merficul.”

Lucia’s palm glowed with bright pink light. A chilling scream left Kytia’s throat. It was burning, but not her flesh. The pain came from much deeper. It was burning her soul, her very existence. If she were a mortal, she would have died just from the pain alone.

Luicia watched with a cold, expressionless face as her sister was writhing in pain. She then stopped and released her. Kytia fell on the floor. Lucia turned away and walked back towards her bed.

“Go! I don’t want to see your face anymore. Tell the others, I’m back.” She glanced back at her sister one last time.