I'm backkkk! Slightly later than promised, but I think you can forgive this small transgression. This is part 2 of the Aradia, Medieval Tuscany series. Hope you enjoy!
Fifteen years earlier…
In the centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the slowly dwindling power of the Roman Gods, a prophecy was spoken. It told of a child, born of the maiden goddess Diana, destined to bring back the Olympians' lost power.
"No," Diana said flatly.
The other eleven members of the council stared at her, expressions a mix between expectant, pitying, and annoyance. It made her feel like an animal caged in some exhibition.
"No," she insisted.
Zeus shifted uncomfortably, "My daughter, this may be the only way."
The idea of...procreating with a man sent a sort of shudder through her body that made her feel sticky and nasty. The idea of doing it with a woman...slightly more tolerable, but no less undesirable.
Perhaps she would talk to Minerva about the solution. She...well, the Greek aspect had no shortage of children over the millennia, and they were on good terms. She was sure there was going to be some loophole present.
She was silently in thought for the rest of the winter solstice meeting.
Diana entered her hut, a quiet dwelling that no one but her Hunters knew about, brushing against the black fur of her most recent roommate, a cat. It was a tiny little thing. She had no idea why mortals nowadays seemed to hate them. This particular cat had fled into the forest, away from a city that no longer tolerated them, and had thus fallen under Diana's protection.
She took a deep breath, reached into her chest, and pulled.
What came out was a silvery clear fluid, like moonwater. Her divine essence. She gathered it into a bowl, and left it on a countertop.
The easy part was done. Now she had to find a recipient, have them do the same thing, and that would be the end of that.
As for who that would be, she would simply have to figure it out later. For now, she left it on the countertop, and went off to do other things.
When she came back to check on it a week later, it was to discover that the Extremely Important Bowl containing her divine essence was empty, and the cat she had harbored was nowhere to be found. A cursory scanning of the bowl revealed it contained cat saliva.
Oh, she thought. The cat ate my divine essence.
Then she panicked.
"Hm?"
The Morning Star, the Overlord of the Pit, the Great Satan opened his eyes, and took note of three things.
One, that he was awake, which was unacceptable. Two, that there was a cat staring into his eyes, inches from his face. And three, that this cat had somehow slipped into Hell, past the legions of security, and into his bedroom.
This, again, was unacceptable. He made a mental note to smite a few of his underlings.
"Hello," he said to the cat, because despite his profound irritation at having his mid-afternoon nap interrupted, anyone who managed to accomplish such a feat deserved some degree of respect. Also, he liked cats. "Are you here to join the Legions of the Damned?"
"Mew?"
Perfectly understandable. The Devil relaxed against the bed and drifted off to sleep. A dose of sloth to complete his day. Look, he had to fulfill his daily quota of sin somehow, alright?
When he woke up, the cat was gone, and he couldn't be entirely sure the incident hadn't been due to the magic mushrooms he had consumed a few hours prior.
"Why." A twelve-year old paced in front of a cat. "Of all the people you could have chosen, why would you choose Satan?"
It had taken little effort to track down the cat. Diana had picked up tracks a few miles south of her hut, which had been a few days old, and elected to follow it, noticing with increasing horror that it was leading to a specific Pit.
After that, it had been a simple matter of sneaking in and making off with the feline miscreant.
Alright, that matter was not simple. In fact, the whole ordeal took several days, between not being spotted, plotting a path in, and making sure to leave a path out. Thankfully, the Overlord of the Pit had been sufficiently asleep (drugged?) when she finally made it into his room that she had not alerted him to her presence. She'll just send him a giant basket of magic mushrooms to cover her tracks.
The cat in question was licking itself, perfectly unbothered by the fact the goddess was having a minor meltdown. Diana could sense her own divine presence, mingled with the Devil's, and let out a groan of despair.
How was she going to explain that to her family? She would much rather go into hiding for the next century. Perhaps for the rest of her life.
Well, at least the problem of having an offspring was solved.
The child came into existence in the back of a shed two months later. An apothecary heard the noise, chased away the cat with a broom, and examined the baby with a critical eye.
"Well," she sighed. "I guess you're my problem now, aren't you?"
Tada!
Your options for next chapter are:
A. Aradia, Medieval Tuscany, part 3.
B. Iphigenia
C. Another AI chapter
D. Suggest your own prompt!
Hope you enjoyed reading, and leave a review!