"..."
Crunch
"...?"
Crunch
My body feels sore…
Crunch
My head hurts…
Crunch
I feel irritated…
Crunch
I can hardly think…
Slurp
"...But all I can hear is annoying lip smacking! Shut-up already!"
As if waking up from bed, Vex raises his upper body up with enough speed to create a weak breeze. Next to his side, a small girl is chewing nonchalantly. Preparing her words to speak, she swallows what's left in her mouth.
"Oh, you're finally awake, I see."
"Who the heck are you?"
Of course, the source of my annoyance is an annoying kid. Hold on a moment, since when did I fall asleep in the first place?
"I'm Shinash, the goddess of thoughts. Nice to meet you, strange man."
"Just call me Vex, Shinash…! Huh? Did you just say that you're a goddess?"
"Yep. More specifically, the goddess of thoughts–though I tend to favor intrusive thoughts the most."
"So, you're not the goddess who brought curses into the world?"
"Nope, not even close."
Dang it! I finally met a goddess face-to-face, and it's not the only one I needed…
"How do I know that you are really a goddess? I mean, you look like some regular child."
Blonde hair with small pigtails, hairbows, the body of a six year old, pajamas, lousy chewing…all the signs of a typical little girl.
"Deities can take on many forms, you know. I prefer this innocent, youthful appearance. Does that bother you?"
"N-no, but how did we end up meeting each other? It's not like I summoned you–I didn't even know that you existed before now."
It all happened so quickly, so my memory is a little shaky but the last thing I remember is that I was shrunken, riding on top of Lily's head until…until…!
That's right, some hooligan attacked me with some gooey substance! I couldn't see who was the culprit, though that substance feels somewhat familiar. For some reason, thinking about it so much is making my arm itch…
"?"
Hmm, that's strange. I don't feel anything right here…?!
"Huh?! My right hand–no, my entire right arm is missing!"
How come I didn't notice this or feel anything before? My left hand is my dominant side, so maybe that's why I didn't notice anything from my right…nonsense, I should have felt some pain or any sensation!
I can't properly function with just one arm! I'll have to get a prosthetic arm, but those are terribly expensive…what to do what to do what to do–
"Vex, you are stressing out too much over this. You should take it easy, you know."
There's no way that this little girl is telling me so casually to take it easy while staring at me as though nothing is unusual.
"Take it easy? You're telling me to take it easy? You expect me to be calm when my arm is inexplicably missing?!"
"While you were still unconscious, I ate your right arm. I was thinking about trying your leg next, but then you woke up. That's it."
"You did what?!"
"I said that I–"
"I heard you the first time! Why would you do that? Are you a man-eating demon?!"
Shinash puffs her cheeks a bit, pouting silently.
"Well, that's a little rude to say to a goddess, don't you think?"
"Eating a person's arm without consent is way worse!"
"Sigh, if you really must know, I ate your arm because…"
Shinash scratches her head, her mind drifting away.
"...because?"
"...Because I thought to myself, 'why not?'."
"So you ate my arm, permanently handicapping me, based on a whim? Are you stupid?!"
"I just thought about it and did it; it has nothing to do with intelligence."
"You are horrifyingly apathetic…"
This matter aside, I still don't know where I am or how I got here. The sooner I can get away from this psychopath the better.
"Vex, you keep wondering about where you are, yet you still haven't noticed the massive change in your appearance. Barring your arm, of course."
Right, I was so focused on other things that I didn't think to thoroughly look at myself. It's not usually the first thing on my mind since it's not particularly important most of the time…
Vex fully lifts himself up from the ground, now towering above Shinash.
My clothes are gone, but I'm not exactly naked. My body is translucent–I can see through myself, but there are no organs.
Did I…become a ghost?
"Yes, something to that effect. Though it's more so that you are in your soul form–a mortal's very essence of being."
"I didn't even say anything. How did you–"
"I told you already, didn't I? I'm the goddess of thoughts. It's only natural that I can hear your thoughts, right?"
"...I suppose that is logical."
While Vex rubs his chin perplexed, Shinash gets up from her crouched position to stand next to him. She pats down her pajamas, dusting herself.
"You have been waiting long enough, so I will be a proper goddess and clear your confusion. As you have noticed, you are no longer in your mortal body, but rather a soul. Presumably, that means you have died, correct?"
"That would be the logical assumption, yes."
"However, that wouldn't be exactly correct…though it's not exactly incorrect either. You are in a state of limbo–one between life and death. Think of it as being half-dead."
"So you're saying that I'm on the brink of death? Then where is my body? If I return to it, then I should become fully alive again.""
"That's impossible for you to achieve as of now. Your soul was lingering around your body, slowly drifting away due to your body gradually dying. I could sense your soul within this body, so I snatched you and brought you here. I thought you were a little cute, so I didn't want your soul to go to waste."
"You found my soul inside of a body…a body besides my own?"
"Yep, that's right."
"Then whose body are we inside?"
"A woman named Aisha Tackle. We are inside her body–her subconscious to be exact."
Aisha?! My soul is currently inside the mind of that crazy woman?!
"But how did my physical body and soul end up in Aisha's subconscious? That's impractical, even for a goddess."
"Oh no, you're mistaken. I only brought your soul into her mind because this is where I am currently abiding. As for your physical body, it was being indirectly digested in her stomach…well, it technically still is. The slime that your body is submerged in has prevented you from being immediately digested but your body is slowly, but gradually getting exposed to the acid. Hence your half-dead state."
"..."
My body is slowly dying inside that woman's gut. If my soul didn't gain consciousness, then I could have died without ever knowing how…
"Shinash, you seem to know a lot about Aisha. Is she a devout believer of yours?"
"Having believers in me would be nice, but unbefitting of a minor deity such as myself. I have been residing in Aisha's mind for quite some time–she is perfect for me."
"What do you mean by that?"
I can think of several descriptions about Aisha–the word "perfect" doesn't come to mind.
"Well, I beg to differ. When I give Aisha a thought, she not only considers it, but finds a way to do it better than what I imagined. People like her please me so much that I can't help but to frequent."
"I'm afraid to ask, but what kind of thoughts do you give her for instance?"
"Let me see…well, ever since Aisha has laid eyes on you, you have peaked her interest."
"I've noticed."
"Since that moment, I gave her the thought of something like, 'I wonder what that man tastes like.' I never expected her to do it since that would be impossible, but somehow the stars aligned and she didn't hesitate to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to taste you. I couldn't be any prouder."
"So it's because of you that she has been obsessing over me, even licking her lips at me! It's your fault that I am almost dead, boiling in Aisha's stomach! You would stoop so low to mind-control someone to do such inordinate things?!"
"That's an inaccurate way of looking at it. I'm the goddess of thoughts, not mind-control. I simply give thoughts based on what's already within the person's subconscious. For example, you had the thought to make Aisha sick as revenge for swallowing you, right?"
"!"
Vex's eyes widened, unprepared for such an assertion.
"Yeah, but that thought only flashed in my mind for a second before I disregarded it."
"Precisely. That thought was based on your true feelings deep within your consciousness. You decided to reject that thought, which is what most people do. I find that to be incredibly boring though–how could you not want to see what happens when you do something you don't normally even think of doing?"
"Thank goodness most normal people don't think like you…"
Without any apparent prompting, a portal rift opens not too far behind Vex and Shinash.
"Ah, it looks like it's time."
"Time for what? What's happening?"
"Aisha appears to be entering a dream state. She's about to start dreaming."
"Hmph, is she taking a nap after snacking on me? The nerve of this woman…"
"Come on, I know the thought that just came to your mind. You are curious about Aisha's dreams, aren't you? 'What would happen if I entered that portal?' is what you thought, huh?"
Vex folds his arm across his chest. Shinash, who has been previously nonchalant in attitude, gives a mischievous smile.
"That doesn't matter–I have no intention of seeing Aisha's dreams. Let's just move on from the topic of Aisha and subconsciousness altogether and–!"
Unprepared for the sudden force coming from the body of a small girl, Vex stumbles backwards into the portal rift.
"Oops, I suppose that you aren't the only one who is curious. I'll be watching from here, so be sure to tell me all about your experience later!"
Shinash waves at Vex as he falls down the portal, sinking deeper and deeper. Though he tries to reach out his arm towards the opening, it's all for naught.
I'm really starting to not like deities at all.