Unable to progress due to time constraints.
This chapter was supposed to be released two chapters later but the next chapter isn't ready so, I thought it'd be best since this doesn't affect the pacing.
Try reading with an open mind...
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Ishtar sat comfortably in her private realm, her loyal bull resting nearby.
A golden waterfall flowed before her — her way of watching the world, one of the few things the last god of Mesopotamia got up to in her free time.
This activity also had a different role, for years now, she had been keeping a close eye on things.
After all, Tiamat's last spawn was hell bent to destroy the Sumerian pantheon.
And Ishtar wasn't a fan of being dead.
She wasn't part of the gods who killed Tiamat, so why should she suffer their consequences?
But even if she managed to escape the destruction, a goddess without a pantheon would have been weak — easy prey for stronger beings.
That's why Ishtar had prepared.
Over the years, before the pantheon fell, she had carefully infected the minds of other gods, slowly weaving her influence like a spider spinning its web.
One of her greatest victories was forcing Gilgamesh to create a curse — a curse that allowed her to take control of Aphrodite's mind.
The poor goddess didn't even know that her "Authority" was nothing more than scraps she had allowed her to use.
By claiming Aphrodite's authority over Venus and all her other aspects, Ishtar had gained abilities that no one could trace back to her.
And when the massacre of the gods finally happened, she harvested their concepts and authorities for herself.
She didn't get their divine energy, but their powers? Those were hers now.
Ishtar had become a living pantheon, a goddess who carried the abilities of almost all important gods of her Pantheon.
Yet even with her newfound power, she knew Tiamat's child would never stop hunting her.
In the end, her only real hope was her dear sister.
Ereshkigal had been the one to help her lure Aphrodite in, the one who stood by her when they made their plan to survive.
Since Ishtar was never a sharp thinker herself.
Now, the two sisters existed in one body — a powerful fusion of their strengths.
'It's almost time to switch,' Eresh's voice echoed in Ishtar's mind, soft yet firm.
'Too bad you didn't find anything interesting ' she added with a hint of playfulness.
Ishtar was about to sigh in frustration when she paused.
There — in the golden waterfall — something caught her eye.
A boy that was being blessed by the planet.
His soul...was exhilarating to observe.
It seems she lost track of time observing this unique phenomenon of the planet empowering someone.
Before Ishtar could take a closer look, her realm began to shake violently.
'It's targeting me...!' Ishtar realized.
Acting quickly, she sacrificed a portion of her divine energy, sending it out like a decoy.
The damage would hit that instead of her core domain.
But she couldn't stay here since he appeared to be preparing an attack homed in on her.
' You should've just appeared in front of the boy like he asked ' Ereshkigal said exasperated at her blockhead sister.
' W-Wait, the boy said something? ' asked Ishtar she was too focused to hear that.
A gasp was heard through their connection as Ereshkigal as she said 'Could it be that you were so engrossed in his soul that you didn't hear a lick of what he said'
' No I heard everything' Ishtar lied through her teeth, too proud to admit loss.
'Stop Lying and Admit it…Could it be that you are in love ..?' Eresh said teasingly.
' NO ! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!' Ishtar said loudly trying to hide away from her sister who was about to go on a teasing spree..
My heart can't be won by anyone...hmph, I was just curious...
"O–" Eresh couldn't begin to speak as Ishtar continued on chanting the 'Shut up !Shut up !Shut up !' in her mind.
A golden sigil appeared beneath her feet, and in a flash of light, Ishtar teleported far away to avoid the boy from gaining further information.
Also to protect some delicate artifacts she had store over.
When she reappeared, she stood in a desolate, lifeless place — cold and silent.
The next instant she used her connection to observe through Aphrodite's eyes.
The skies above their land shattered like broken glass.
From the cracks emerged massive, ringed eyes — glowing crimson and gold, their patterns resembling the boy's own.
A terrible, grinding noise filled the air — like rusted metal scraping against itself, echoing across the world.
Then it came.
From each of those floating eyes, beams of light rained down.
But this wasn't ordinary light — it carried with it an aura of decay, scorching wherever it struck.
As the beams of light struck Mt. Olympus, Ereshkigal's voice echoed in Ishtar's mind.
'These things... they're powerful, but not entirely divine in origin. There's something... faintly human about them. I can sense it.'
Ishtar frowned but didn't argue.
Her sister had always been the one with an eye for detail.
Still, Ishtar's attention drifted away from the boy she had been watching.
With a casual flick of her will, she parted with another insignificant chunk of her divine energy, weaving it into a smokescreen to obscure her gaze.
"Interesting…" Ishtar murmured, a small smile forming on her lips.
'Yossha!' Ishtar cheered in her mind, her excitement bubbling up. 'I've decided! I want to observe this being rom a much closer proximity.'
'Oh?' Eresh's voice chimed in, her tone curious yet cautious. 'How exactly?'
'I'm going to manifest on Earth!' Ishtar declared proudly.
Eresh's voice faltered. 'Manifest? Don't you mean you're going to visit the human realm?'
'Nope,' Ishtar mentally grinned. 'You'll stay here, and I will manifest myself in a human vessel.'
'No fair!' Eresh whined, her voice laced with irritation. 'You want to leave me out of the fun! And how are you even going to manage that? There are barely any believers of yours left.'
Ishtar's smirk widened.
'Oh, Eresh... I'm more than just the Goddess of Love for Mesopotamia. As long as someone believes strongly enough — believes in love — I can always manifest through them.'
Her confidence radiated through their shared mind and Eresh couldn't come up with a comeback.
—
Saki Yoshida had always been easy to overlook — quiet, unremarkable, just another face in the crowd.
She wasn't ugly, nor was she beautiful.
She didn't stand out in her studies, and no one ever really asked about her life.
For a long time, that suited her just fine. Being invisible meant no one could hurt her — or so she believed.
But there's a strange cruelty in loneliness.
When you've been alone for too long, you start convincing yourself that any attention is better than none at all.
The first time she let someone use her, it had felt like a fair trade.
It was a boy from her class — one of those guys who floated on charm, never serious about anything.
He had smiled at her once, asked if she wanted to hang out after school.
Saki knew better than to believe he really cared, but she went anyway.
She wasn't stupid — she knew what he wanted.
And when it was over, when he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and muttered some excuse about having to be somewhere else, she told herself it was okay.
At least for a little while, someone wanted me.
That lie kept her going for months.
It happened again. And again.
Different faces, different names, but it always ended the same way — a goodbye, a half-hearted smile, and silence afterward.
Yet she kept going back — not because she enjoyed it, but because it was the closest she had ever come to feeling needed.
Even if that affection was hollow, even if it left her feeling empty and ashamed afterward, for a few brief moments… it felt real.
But the emptiness grew deeper.
She stopped looking in the mirror because she hated what stared back — a girl who let herself be stepped on just to feel something.
She tried reaching out to her so-called friends, but they had drifted too far.
No one had time for her — not unless they wanted something.
The worst part was how easily people forgot her.
She had given away pieces of herself, hoping someone might want to hold on — but no one ever did.
She remembered once overhearing a boy laughing with his friends.
"Saki? Yeah, she's easy... just smile a little, and she'll say yes."
That night, she went to her empty home and cried so hard her chest ached.
The kind of crying that leaves you empty — too exhausted to even feel sad.
From that point on, she stopped trying.
Stopped hoping.
Stopped believing that love — real love — was something she could ever have.
By the time she stood at the edge of the railway platform, her heart was already a hollow shell.
She wasn't angry.
She wasn't sad.
She just felt… done.
Done with being used.
Done with pretending she was okay.
Done with waking up every morning wondering what she was even holding on for.
As the faint tremor of the approaching train reached her feet, she felt nothing but cold acceptance.
At least this will be quick.
Her eyes shifted to the screen one last time. The time read 8:32 PM. The freight train was due any moment now.
This is it, she told herself. I'm done.
Her phone slipped from her fingers, clattering to the ground.
She didn't bother picking it up.
There was no one left to call, no one left to hear her voice.
The faint tremor in the tracks reached her feet, the vibrations growing stronger as the train's headlights became visible.
Saki's breath hitched.
Not from fear — she felt too hollow for that — but from the strange relief washing over her. It's almost over.
She stepped forward.
The wind howled past her ears as she leapt, the cold air biting her skin.
The world blurred — a rush of sound and motion — yet strangely, everything felt slow.
In that frozen moment, a voice called out — soft yet piercing, gentle yet undeniable.
"Do you really want this?"
Her heart skipped a beat. Her mind — numb for so long — stirred in confusion.
"Is this truly how you want your story to end?"
Saki's pulse raced.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Of course I do… doesn't matter anymore… doesn't matter...
But then the voice spoke again, softer this time.
"You still dream of love, don't you?"
That struck something deep inside her — something fragile, something she thought she had buried.
A memory surfaced — a younger version of herself, sitting by her window, writing letters to a future someone. Letters filled with silly daydreams about romance, friends and family.
She remembered burning them not long ago.
"Those dreams are gone..." she whispered to herself.
"But what if they aren't?" the voice pressed. "What if you could still find what you're looking for? Would you take that chance?"
"I… I don't know…"
The train's horn blared, a deafening scream cutting through the frozen second.
"Do you want a second chance?"
Saki's throat tightened.
She wanted to say no.
She wanted to let the emptiness win — to let the cold swallow her whole.
But somewhere deep inside, that fragile spark of an innocent version of her refused to die.
"…I do."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Suddenly, her feet struck the ground — but not in the way she expected.
She was still standing — solid, unharmed.
The train screeched violently, metal groaning and sparks flying as it derailed.
Cars buckled and twisted off the tracks, tumbling in a chaotic mess of steel and smoke — yet somehow, not a single piece touched her.
She stared blankly at the destruction.
Her breathing was ragged, her chest tight.
Then she noticed her reflection in a shattered window beside her.
Golden streaks now wove through her once-dark hair, glinting in the dim light.
Her eyes — dull and lifeless only moments ago — now glowed like molten gold.
The warmth she'd felt during that strange voice's plea still lingered inside her.
It filled her chest, spreading out like a fire — not burning, but awakening something she thought she had lost.
Hope.
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Power Stones and Reviews please