Vol 2. Chapter 3: A peaceful run through the city of the gods! (2)

“But you’re not Nerinne though?” I said as I stared at the goddess who had caught me in her arms and was now carrying me like a princess, a goddess with rose gold hair, golden eyes, and a white dress with small chains hanging here and there. There’s something about her that feels familiar and yet… I can’t quite put my finger on what that is. And that’s beyond the oh so, so familiar way to smile back at me that I almost fell for it. Almost.

“What? What makes you say that, darling?” she asked as she carefully lowered me onto the luxurious floor despite being surprised by my words. She even checked to see if her chains had left any mark around my feet and showed relief when she saw that they hadn’t. Seriously… that genuine expression of relief over my wellbeing, that deep care for mortals in general that I could feel in her touch, coupled with that hair, that voice, and that loving pair of eyes… I can see why anyone else would’ve fallen for it. Heck, I bet some of you weebs probably did fall for it. Still…

“There’s a few reasons that tell me that you’re not her,” I answered with complete confidence. Now, I know what you’re thinking. I’m crazy for believing that the goddess in front of me is not Nerinne when I just listed every single reason for her to be, well, her. But that’s the thing, they’re just like Nerinne but not actually her. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about. That said, there’s still this familiar something about her that prevents me from being mad at her for imitating Nerinne. Well, that, and also because she’s not imitating her to say horrible things like a certain other person.

“Mou… you’re really set on thinking like that, huh? And here I went out of my way to welcome you with this new form that fits your tastes more…” Seemingly hurt by my disbelief of her identity and my lack of appreciation for her efforts, the Goddess whimpered as she turned away to wipe away her fictional tears, only to then emphasize her—admittedly very nice and very, very large—chest by putting one of her arms under it and making it bounce in a tantalizing manner, all while stealing glances at me to see if that had done the trick… so cunning!

But still! I am unperturbed! Why? Simple. “Still not Nerinne.”

“Fufufu~, is that so? Very well, then let’s play a little game of ‘spot the differences’. Tell me what little things ruined my supposed disguise, and, if you’re correct, I’ll give you directions towards your true destination. But if you’re wrong, and I’m really Nerinne, well… you should be ready for the consequences, darling~. Especially since you were with another goddess~.” She said playfully as she dropped the hurt act and leaned forward while smiling amusedly… until it became kind of scary by the end, b-but she’s not really Nerinne, so I’ll be fine! Ahahaha… that dark Nerinne impersonation was on point though… ahaha…

“Dark Nerinne? No, I was just teasing you, darling. Nothing bad will happen, I promise, fufu~. Anyways, are you game? Or are you going to back down now after you’ve insisted this much~?”

“Oh, you’re on! There’s no plane in existence where I back down from a ‘spot the differences’ game!” I declared with my own well-endowed chest held high. Why? Because I wouldn’t be able to call myself a proper fan of my waifu if I wasn’t able to distinguish her from all her variants! And that includes some that are 99% identical to her except for that one pixel-sized mole on their little finger! That is to say, “prepare to admit defeat, goddess.”

“We’ll see about that, Auros. Now, go on. Start. And don’t worry about Isharnnat, I called in some favors, so she shouldn’t be bothering us for a little while.”

“That’s right! I forgot that she was hunting me since you quite literally pulled me out of it! Oh man, thanks… I really needed a break… She’s been such a hassle, and it hasn’t even been a day since I met her…” I said with sooooooo much exhaustion and relief in my voice as I sat on the floor… or more like on the very comfy cushion that this mysterious goddess conjured up just as I was sitting. “Seriously, thank you. And for the cushion too.”

“You’re welcome, darling~. And, if I may, give that girl a chance when things calm down. She’s well-intentioned, but sometimes her passion and drive push her into being a tad… extreme.”

“That’s an understatement… but, sure, I’ll think about it since you’re being strangely sincere with me right now, which is always best to pay in kind, and also because… you seem to know her well. Perhaps a little too well…” I said, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“My, there’s nothing to be suspicious about though? I’m Nerinne and she’s one of my best friends. Of course I’d know her well.”

I squinted at her. “Riiiiiiiight. And next you’re gonna tell me that you’re not playing dumb.”

“But I’m not?” she said, doubling down on playing dumb, which just made me move on after letting out a sigh.

“Anyway, the first reason is none other than… your scent!” I attested while pointing right at her like a fiery bird of a lawyer!

“Eh?! Really?!” Shocked and embarrassed, the goddess let that out as she reeled back a few steps and started sniffing herself. Then, seemingly finding nothing out of the ordinary, she turned back to me confused and pouting. “Of course I’d be confused, darling! I’m using the same perfume I always do and yet you come out and say something like that! Are you implying I’m stinky or something?!”

“Not at all. You are indeed using the same perfume Nerinne uses. But I am not talking about that scent. I am talking about your unique scent, as in the one that your godly being gives off by itself. Because while Nerinne’s scent is like that of a sakura flower, yours is more like that of a peach flower. A subtle difference, but a difference all the same.” I explained concisely while holding onto the glasses I pulled out of my soul’s cleavage and then put on to give myself the proper look, the look of an avid authority figure on the deeply cultural and philosophical field that is all things Nerinne.

“Fufu~, we’ll see about that. After all, if you’re an avid authority figure in that field, then that makes me the foremost one. And I can tell you that going for a peach flower bath rather than my usual one wouldn’t be out of character for me, much less just outright changing my scent with my powers to keep things fresh. You should know that well, darling~.” Countered the mysterious goddess with a confident smile and a very, very smug eyebrow rise, completely unaware that she had once again given me the ammo for the next reason. “What? When?”

“Just now, goddess. You see, Nerinne always calls me dear, and I always call her darling. We rarely do it the other way around. At most, we’ve only done it a few times.” I said with absolute confidence. So much so that if this was a novel, I’d tell you to go back and use a search tool to see that I am 100% right on this! That’s how confident I am on my Nerinne knowledge! Still, rather than backing down before the evidence I have presented, the mysterious goddess simply laughed.

“What else am I going to do when you’re being as funny as always, dummy darling~? I just wanted to change things up a little with our love names. That doesn’t make me another person altogether, fufuhaha.”

“Heh, I’ll concede that. But there’s still a couple more reasons that tie everything together in a very conclusive manner, so don’t get ahead of yourself, goddess.” I argued back, my smile unshaken, my eyes still fired up, and my heart set on winning this little game.

“Oh my, then those must surely be quite the convincing reasons beyond scent and a so very suspicious change of routine words, huh. I wonder what they could be about, darling~.” Hm, was that a hint of sarcasm in those words? Because it sure felt like it. Either way…

“…there’s no need for you to wonder since you’re literally wearing one of those reasons.” I stated, raising my hand and pointing at—

“The chains? That can’t be.” She interjected, panic tinging her voice ever so slightly. I wonder why, heh. “What are you saying, darling? I’m not panicking. I’m just surprised you’d use the cute chains on my dress as one of your ‘reasons’. They’ve always been there. Don’t you remember? They’re very important to me.”

“Really? Because I’ve never seen Nerinne use chains in any of her outfits, much less her usual white dress. Instead, she uses ribbons, lots of them. She loves to use them in everything she wears or makes. Especially her white dress. That one has a big ribbon on it.” I declared matter-of-factly, every word seemingly stabbing into the goddess as she twitched and yelped so much that I don’t think she’s faking it. Sadly, for her, I’m not done just yet. “As for using chains on others like you, she just… doesn’t. Rather, she uses ribbons in those cases too. Like, she tied up and dragged one of our maids when she tried to escape from her and the cute outfit she had for her. So yeah, no chains. At all.”

“N-No… chains? A-At all…? N-not even a… l-little one?” Oh dear, she really is not faking it… she is hurt… like ‘she’s about to cry’ kind of hurt! She even broke character! “…?! Wha-whatever do you mean, darling?! I-I never broke character! There’s no character to break after all! You were just seeing things! S-So just go on, unless you want to give up!”

“Uh-huh. I tooootally didn’t see you break character just now, much less wipe your teary eyes with your arm.” I said as I squinted at her once again and shook my head, not believing a single word she said. But oh well, we’re almost done anyway, so I might as well finish with the last reason! And that’s…“Those boobs! They’re–and I can’t believe I’m the one saying this–too big! That’s not Nerinne’s size! Look at these pictures! In not a single one of them they’re that big!!”

“Mou… I did tell you that I changed my shape into this as a welcome gift, did I not?” Said the goddess as she decided to try and hide her chest with her arms, acting embarrassed now despite trying use it to her advantage not so long ago. Also…

“That is exactly it, goddess. Because”—I stood up as my voice filled with naught but pride, love, and the absolute truth—“Nerinne has never felt the need to change herself to appeal to me. She knows that she already drives me crazy just the way she is. She’s known that since the very first moment I saw her.”

“Fufu~, is that so? I’m glad. I’m so glad.” The moment she said that, the smile of the mysterious goddess before me changed from being a facsimile of Nerinne’s to being hers and hers alone. That is to say, she was genuinely happy, and not just that, it was clear to me that she was overjoyed for Nerinne in a way that finally tells me what’s the deal with her. “Oh dear, it seems I got too emotional and gave myself away.”

“Indeed. So, do you accept defeat?” I asked to the goddess whose air changed from being one that was trying to imitate Nerinne to one that was… related to her, which explains the familiar feeling I had when I first saw her.

“Huhu, I do. And to be honest, you had already won fair and square with that last reason, but I just had to go and bind you to it myself, huh. I suppose that is just who I am, huhu. As for me being related to Nerinne, you guessed—”

“AUROOOOOOOOOOOS! I KNOW YOU’RE CLOSE! I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU GOT IN CAHOOTS WITH THE GOD OF MAZE-LIKE HALLWAYS, BUT THAT’S OVER NOW!! I’M OUT OF THAT CONFUSING MAZE AND HE’S BEEN PERMANENTLY DEALT WITH! AMICABLY! I PROMISE!” THAT DOESN’T SOUND AMICABLE AT ALL!! BUT BEFORE THAT, WHAT IN THE SUDDEN DIVINE INTERJECTION FROM ISHARNNAT?! AND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REVEAL TO BOOT!

“Oh dear, poor Labry… I bet she imitated how he acted back in school to make him give up… She probably used his old ‘maze of black flames and red truths’ speech too…” Murmured the goddess, not only revealing how Isharnnat did the poor god in with his totally cool idea from what some uncultured people would call his ‘dark’ past, but also the fact that there’s a school for gods. I wonder if Nerinne went to it. If she did, I’d have her use her old uniform to match with me and then muehehe… No! Wait! Stop! You have things to do, Auros! You can think of Nerinne in a school uniform later! Right now we have a reveal to resume!!

“AUROOOOS! I CAN SMELL YOU! YOU AREN’T RUNNING! GOOD! STAY PUT!”

AS IF!! Dammit! She’s  getting closer and closer to this floor! I need to run, but I refuse to leave without the info! So, I’ll ask you this hurriedly, goddess! “Are you a member of Nerinne’s family? Perhaps her older sister? And not the evil kind? Because that is what it feels like.”

She laughed. “My, you’re sharp. I am indeed a member of her family. And certainly not the evil kind. I abhor evil, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“That’s great! That means there’s no need to worry about the evil sister trope! But also, I’ve been wanting to meet you all ever since, well… ever since Nerinne and I got together. Sadly, lots of things happened and even now I gotta run before I can do things properly… Still, I’ll tell Nerinne to properly introduce us! Is that alright?” I said as I started to get ready to speed off once again.

“Of course.” She nodded. “But first, let me give you the directions you earne—"

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it! Giving me a little break from this whole thing was more than enough! Thank you for that! Gotta go now!” I immediately started running, but then I turned back around sharply, surprising the goddess! Why?  Because how could I leave her emptyhanded when she went out of her way to let me rest and recover mentally with that game we played! No sir! Nana Argento raised no impolite bum! That’s why I’m handing her these things I just pulled out my cleavage before running off! “Here have these pictures and vids of our daughters!”

“D-Daughters?! Eh...?!”

“Thank you once again! See you!”

“Wa-wait, will you really be fine without the directions?!”

“Yeah! She’s my lovely first heroine! I’m bound to find her! I just know it!” I exclaimed with a smile before I sped up and lost sight of her. Still… she was so surprised when I gave her all that stuff of our daughters that it’s almost as if…  Nerinne didn’t tell her family about them. Could it be that you were waiting for the right moment, and I just ruined it, darling? Hmm… if that is the case, I’ll apologize.

“OH! GUYS! THERE SHE IS! I FOUND THE RUNNING MORTAL!!” Ah! It’s one of the gods who gave me a high score for my landing! And he brought friends! Lots of them!!

“LEMME SEE!”

“HEY, DON’T SHOVE!”

“HOP ON EVERYONE! I JUST MADE SOME FLOATING STANDS SO WE CAN WATCH THIS MORE COMFORTABLY!” WELL, ISN’T THAT NICE?! I’M GLAD YOU GUYS ARE ENJOYING THE SHOW, I GUESS!!

“WOOOOOOOOO!! LET’S GOO!!”

“It’s really her! For a moment I thought she had been poached since we couldn’t find her!” SO SOUL POACHING IS REALLY A THING?! I mean, I know I shouldn’t be surprised since that other goddess did give me the chills before Isharnnat scared the crap out of her, BUT STILL!!

“But where is Isharnnat? It’s not as fun if she isn’t close behind!” DON’T JINX IT YOU FOX GODDESS WITH CLOTHES MADE OUT OF SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE COTTON CANDY!

“I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT AUROOOOOOOS!!! DIDN’T I?!” AND THERE SHE IS! RIGHT ON FRIGGING CUE!!

“AS IF I’D DO ANYTHING YOU TELL ME TOO!” I SCREAM AS I SPEED UP EVEN MORE WHILE EVADING ALL GODLY TRAFFIC AS BEST AS I CAN BECAUSE I’M SURE AS HELL NOT STOPPING!

“Hahahahaha! That’s it! That’s how a pursuit must be! Now, who wants to bet?!” OI, YOU COTTON CANDY FOX GODDESS!!

“Oho! Now you’re talking! I’m in!” High score-giving god, you too?! “40, 000 creation frameworks on her reaching her destination!”

HIGH SCORE-GIVING GOD!! HE IS BETTING ON ME?! AND HE JUST GAVE ME A THUMBS UP!! TO HELL WITH BEING ANNOYED AT THEM BETTING! THAT FAITH, I SHALL REPAY IT!

“Hahahaha! Then I just won because Isharnnat is so going to catch her!” OH, I SEE HOW IT IS, COTTON CANDY FOX GODDESS!! AND OF COURSE SHE’S BEING SMUG ABOUT IT! I’LL MAKE YOU EAT THAT SMUGNESS! YOU’LL SEE!

“Hey, I want a piece of that too!” Woah! So many gods want to bet at the same time that they all said it in sync!!

“Ok! No peeking into the future from here on!!” And just like that, the Cotton Candy Fox Goddess closed the bets, and everyone appears to really not be using their powers to peek into the future. Now that’s commitment! Having said that, I never imagined I would have gods betting for and against me while I’m running for my life from a scary goddess… Seriously, do gods have nothing to do? Ah, right. They’re using their powers to do both things at the same time.

“RUN, MORTAL! RUN!! RUN, MORTAL! RUN!! RUN, MORTAL! RUN!!”

“ISHARNNAT! ISHARNNAT! ISHARNNAT! ISHARNNAT! ISHARNNAT!”

AND NOW BOTH CAMPS ARE CHEERING! BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY AR—WOAH?! WHAT’S THIS?! WHY AM I SHIVERING SO MUCH ALL OF A SUDDEN?! THERE’S SOMETHING EXTREMELY OMINOUS BEHIND ME, ISN’T IT?!

“Goingtocatchyougoingtocatchyougoingtocatchyou!!!”

“EEEEK!! I JUST HAD TO CHECK!!” DAMMIT SHE’S TOO CLOSE! SHE’S TOO CLOSE!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! YAWUE!! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?! DON’T YOU SEE THAT SHE IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING BAD TO ME IF SHE CATCHES ME?!! WHY AREN’T YOU RESPONDING?! YOU WERE MY ONLY OTHER CHOICE SINCE SOMETHING SEEMS TO BE BLOCKING ME FROM CONTACTING NERINNE!

“Can’tletyoutellhercan’tletyoutellhercan’tletyoutellher!!” OH, WHY DOES IT NOT SURPRISE ME THAT IT WAS YOU?! Hm? Is it just me or did this place suddenly become much darker? Wait, why are storm clouds that look straight up cosmic suddenly gathering in the formerly bright infinite ceiling of this place? And why are they glowing ominously? WHO AM I KIDDING?! I DON’T EVEN NEED MY INSTINCT TO TELL ME THAT THAT’S SOMETHING BAD! I NEED TO GO FASTEEEEEEEEER!

KRAKATHOOOOOM!!

AND THERE THEY ARE! A DEFEANING THUNDER POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SHAKE THIS WHOLE PLACE AND TOPPLE SOME OF THE GIANT GODS, AND… A COSMIC ORANGE-RED-PURPLE LIGHTNING THAT IS SOMEHOW COMING AFTER ME!! WHY?! “IS THAT YOUR DOING ISHARNNAT?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… I haven’t heard or seen any thunder or lightning… It’s just you and me running…” WHAT’S WITH THE MUMBLING?! ALSO, YOU SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ROAD, NOT LOOKING AWAY!! SERIOUSLY, WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO SCARED ALL OF A SUDDEN?! I’M THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE SCARED NOT YOU! “T-That is correct! You are correct, Auros Argento! The lightning is not following me, it’s following you! That means he is on my side! Kakaka, if I do not catch you, the lightning will! Kakakaka! EITHER WAY, YOU ARE GETTING BACK TO YOUR BODY WITHOUT SEEING HER!!”

YOU LITTLE…!!! THAT’S IT! TIME TO USE BESTO TEA-LOVING UNCLE’S TECHNIQUE!! TIME TO REDIRECT SOME LIGHTNING!! “LET’S DO THIS!!”

To be continued… (cue to chibis of the gods watching everything unfold while eating popcorn and wearing 3D glasses just because)