A few years ago, someone's dreamscape
The figure of a lesser goddess from an RPG embraced the person gently in his dreams. He had... thought of her. Of how it would be to have such a deity close to him. That was not worship per se, but still counted.
Gods that know how to be small. Gods that are closer to earth, closer to us...
Yes, for him, it was a better notion. He liked her. A goddess that would not demand worship. A more... equal relationship.
Not necessarily humans taking the place of gods. Gods taking the place of humans along with humans would be just fine.
In his mind, the goddess was Chaotic Good. A free spirit that would help people. A goddess close to the "little guy".
Mankind was not made to kneel before gods. Mankind was made to join them.
Now, Lucas's dreamscape
"No... No... NO..."
Lucas was currently a 30-year-old chubby male. No wings, no sword. No power. In the one place where he really could use it.
A run-down apartment. Lucas lived in one, yes, but not nearly as run-down, not nearly as decrepit or as decadent as this one.
A screen took over most of the room. It had no controls besides a volume knob.
The chocolate rations were increased from ten grams per week to five grams per week...
Lucas looked at the screen.
"Increased from ten to five. They don't care about the meanings of words anymore. No, that's not it. Two contradictory concepts held as truth. Doublethink. There is the camera..." - He thought as he looked at a glass contraption - "So... this is it... I am stuck in my own personal hell."
He was oddly calm about it. The transformation into an angel of vengeance, now but a memory, had added a lot of mostly-benign swagger to her. But now he lacked the power to back it up. It was why he was this calm... wasn't it?
A major breakthrough was achieved today on the western front. This may bring the war with Eastasia within measurable distance of its end...
"SHUT UP!" - Lucas yelled out in a sudden fit of rage. He grabbed a chair and proceeded to break it against the telescreen.
The telescreen was unscathed. "Figures." - Thought Lucas dryly - "The one thing made to last in this damn place..."
Lucas panted... sat on the floor... and proceeded to write on a notebook...
"Winston wrote. So do I. So as to stave off insanity for just a few more moments..."
"Lucas! LUCAS! Please, wake up!" - Yelled Cass, in more and more desperation.
She'd have to live with it. It was her punishment for her arrogance. She would never be able to forget those eyes, the mantra being repeated over and over...
Shi walked into Cass's aura, not changing, as she was already animated - after a fashion. She sighed as she looked at Lucas and Cass.
Cass got up.
"You! You can do something, can't you? Please! ANYTHING!"
Shi sighed.
"I cannot. I am sorry. I work under the rule of the forces that imposed this order upon you. These are also forces you imposed upon yourselves."
"But... The genre..." - began Cass
"The genre is order. Those people can impose their order to it." - Shi sighed again. - "I am sorry."
Lucas began to scream and twitch. From the book, Cass knew what this meant. In her mind, Lucas was strapped to some sort of electric device.
Cass tried not to think of what her lover was undergoing, for no avail. She would have to live with it.
"Is that why you frowned before? Did you know this would happen?" - Said Cass, glaring at Shi.
Shi sighed. "I knew this was the most likely course of events. And I knew you would not destroy the world. Hence why I let you pass. I was put there as a stopgap measure, now that the border can be crossed."
"Why did you let us cross it?"
"Because your nature would not be fulfilled otherwise. It is who you are." - Said Shi, quietly. She then looked back.
Somebody was approaching.
Somewhere, a while before
The goddess opened her eyes.
"Huh." - She thought to herself - "So this figure had a worshipper-of-sorts in our era besides those Hellenic Reconstructionism guys, a few years ago. And under such an unexpected guise..."
Celine Andrews had been a common biologist before. The sun changed that.
Majorly.
"I am thankful for the information." - She thought and proceeded to wonder why she received this information. She also received an answer.
"Lucky girl." - She thought as she stepped through a portal.
"Two... Plus two... Equals FISH!" - Lucas all but laughed at his torturer. As if his situation warranted it. Quoting comic books at this moment didn't help matters, but it did make Lucas feel a slight bit better.
Not much else did.
He was currently strapped to a table, with electrodes connected to him.
The man looked at Lucas.
"We are fixing you. Do not resist. Two plus two equals five. We will be here until you believe it."
"Screw you." - Said Lucas, between bouts of pain - "Dystopias don't last. I studied it. I know they don't last, you moron."
"Does it matter? Suppose this regime only lasts for another fifty, seventy, ninety years. You will still go through this. And this one will last your lifetime. It should be enough for you." - The man said evenly.
"You're not here to break me, and you know as much. The object of power is power. The object of torture is torture. You're here to make me suffer. Well? Get to it! Maybe you'll finally make a mistake and END this!"
"No. You will end this yourself, Lucas."
The torturer looked at the source of the voice. Lucas looked at the figure that had entered the room.
"N-Neruite..."
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" - Asked the captor.
The woman stared daggers at him.
"It is your turn."
The man suddenly fell asleep. It was quite clearly not a peaceful slumber by the way he twitched and screamed.
The woman walked up to the table Lucas was strapped to, and helped Lucas up. She hugged him gently...
At that point, all of Lucas's pretense of calm in the face of what he had gone through went through the window, and the weight of this time in his personal hell finally showed.
She just kept holding Lucas in her arms, healing his wounds while he cried.
"Th-Thank you... Thank you so much... I... Goddess... Neruite, I..."
"Shh... It's all right. I'm here... These guys wouldn't resist a goddess. Not that it matters. You will take control of this place yourself."
She produced a spear... Or a lance. It had two wings on the tip.
She handed it to Lucas, who felt... strange...
A flash of light later, and a familiar angel woman stood where Lucas had been. Only, instead of her sword, she carried a lance this time.
"Wings for freedom. And the lance is self-explanatory. Dreams are rife with symbolism." - Said Neruite, smirking. - "Go ahead. Take back your mind and play merry hell on this structure... You earned it. When we're done, I have something to show you when you wake up..."
"A-are you sure she'll be okay?"
"For the thousandth time, yes, Cass." - Selene smirked - "Now let me concentrate. Also, don't mind if she calls me 'Neruite'. It's how she knows me. We go back a while.
"Is that Sumerian or what?" - Asked Cass - "And how do you know her?"
"It's from a... what." - Selene blushed a bit, not wanting to tell Cass her lover saw her as an RPG goddess - "And you don't worship a deity only with active worshipping. It's literally the thought that counts. By the way, I'm as much a goddess as that nice student of yours is, which is to say, 'only somewhat'. And no, I don't know the inner workings of the universe. I'll give you the run-down on what little I do know later. There's something I need you folks to do for me anyhow. Now relax a bit, you also went through a lot. I'll tell you more when you wake up."
Cassandra felt oddly sleepy, and laid down...
"Have pleasant dreams, child..." - Said Celine, or Selene, or Neruite.
Cass obliged. When the goddess of sleep tells you to have sweet dreams, you plain and simply do it.
