Long time ago, when gods were still children playing games, the Divine Mother blessed four of them with an element. She then gave them a small portion of the world to watch over, to nurture and to experiment upon it until they learned the importance behind each of their chosen destiny.

The Earth Goddess filled the land with thick forests of mystery, tall bushes of poisonous berries and fields of fragile flowers swaying with the whispering breeze. The Air God brought clouds of liberation and destruction, tornadoes and other calamities. The Fire Goddess made mountains explode in hot lava and the foliage burn under intense heat.

When he saw the two pranksters had almost made his sister cry, the Water God flooded the entire land with raging waters and told the Earth Goddess she could reshape the world in her image when the waters retreated.

So had the four siblings continued playing, discovering all of their powers until they eventually grew tired. With nothing else to do, they told the Mother about all the wonderful and awful things they had done.

She then turned the world around.

‘Behold!’ she pointed at some small moving figures, ‘these are humans, my children. They are in your care.’

From there on, the four siblings played with their new toys. They once again altered the land to their desires and watched how the humans reacted. They made them fall in love or start wars. They watched them hunt animals and sometimes themselves. Eventually, they got bored and again narrated everything to their Mother.

She turned the world around a second time.

‘Behold!’ some humans transformed in hideous and beautiful creatures alike. ‘These are demons and pixies, ghouls and living walkers. They too are in your care.’

Attached to the humans, three of them didn’t like the other creatures. Only the Earth Goddess embraced them all and continued paying close attention to their deeds.

With time, their portion became more crowded and they too old to continue with the game. As the three siblings could not understand their role anymore, she allowed them to try again, and again, until they learned their lesson.

They eventually passed the duty to their daughters and sons. Just like their parents, only the Earth Goddess loved every creature, while the three cousins were affectionate only towards humans.

That is why, every godly millennium, the Water sibling floods the world in frustration and forwards the mission to its offspring.

Yadda, yadda, yadda… that’s what my mother told us. She is the current Water Goddess and the kindest one among my uncles and aunts. I could stretch it and say she's the reincarnation of the Divine Mother – but that would be ridiculous since we all come from her anyway.

I’ve wondered forever what’s so fascinating about humans for the three siblings to keep a firm stand on their human-loving. It’s not like they are there forever and, surely, the other creatures residing in the small portion of the world are just as fun. I’ve asked my sisters about it and they brush it off – they aren’t interested since none know who inherits the throne among us five.

The new millennium is approaching fast and my mother has yet to make a decision. All the other gods have already chosen who to continue their line because they know my mother will flood the lands like her predecessors. Yet, every time I bring out the subject, she doesn’t seem as eager to talk about it like my relatives.

After asking around, hearing the same stories from my great-grandparents and their great-great-grandparents, after countless of books from the library of collected memories, I have made my mind – I’m going to the human world… also, I’m too bored of everything else, so I’ve figured I have nothing to lose.

I wish it had been that easy, for my sister Jiyoon sniffed my intentions way before I could make a move.

“No!” the girl dragged her long emerald dress over the white floor. “No, Hyuna, no!” She pointed at yours truly who huffed in the corner. My dress had a lighter shade of blue with a topaz jewel pinned between my s. Out of habit, my fingers tapped together and my hips swung right and left in a daring motion.

“Sister, please help me out. Mother will understand!”

“No!” Jiyoon snaps again as she turns around and almost stumbles upon the long train. “She clearly said not to go in the human world. They are weird and don’t forget the demons and all the other creatures and…!” she paused and tried to recall what else we had been warned against. “And bugs. Lots of bugs, spiders and snakes… and poop! Humans poop!”

Since our discussion had been going nowhere, my eyes instinctively rolled as she was listing all the gross things I could encounter. My dress was rather uncomfortable for the journey, so I fixed it by ripping the material until I exposed my legs from knees down. Stomping ahead, I ignored the gasping Jiyoon and walked out the balcony, the portion of the world my mother ruled over shadowed underneath our floating palace.

“HYUNA!” I had to rush, else Jiyoon might prevent me from fulfilling my curiosity. I climbed up on the marble balustrade.

“Sorry momma,” a wide smile appeared and my hands clasped tightly together, “but I want to go.”

Alright Hyuna, you can do this, my thoughts were rushing as I readied my first step into the darkness with eyes shut tight. Just then, I felt Jiyoon tugging at my dress.

“STOP IT! MOM WILL BE FURIOUS!”

“NO SHE WON’T, LET ME GO!”

“I SWEAR I’LL TELL EVERYBODY IF YOU GO!”

“JIYOON, LET GO!”

“NO, GET YOUR BACK INSIDE!”

“FINE!”

She wanted to make things harder? Good. With the jewel unhooked from my chest, the dress fell in loose folds over the floor and Jiyoon’s face. , I jumped.

Later, Jiyoon told me she saw a bright light flash over the skies and when she looked over the balustrade, I disappeared.

~*~*~*~

It felt different – of that, I had been sure the moment my body plunged through a vortex of colors. In the following instant, colors fixed over green hues and it was the first time I experienced something I only heard about: pain.

Apparently, landing flat on the human world wasn’t that easy. Also, the world seemed rather bleak at first, walls of soil all around me. Several tree roots popped here and there. One poked me in the ribs. Was it truly the world I heard about? Looking up, I could see my home as the brightest object in the sky. Humans must have it confused with something else but where were they? Had they been reduced to tiny particles of dust beneath my feet?

Uh.

...

Oh wait.

I’m in a hole.

Hyuna dearest, just go up that wall of earth and roots and yuck - what were those slimy pink things that crawled between my fingers? It shouldn’t be too hard. I am a Goddess after all. Once I found those humans, I had been positive they would recognize their caretaker and do my every whim while they let me observe their everyday activities like my mother.

Ah, almost there – why is this so hard?

Never realized I had been breathing until I reached the edge and used all the strength in my arms and legs to get out of there. Collapsed on my back, the sky never seemed more beautiful. Twinkling stars (that’s how humans call the various other god homes) littered it. They peeked between branches, them too full of leaves. Back on my , the crater before me stretched wider than my sisters’ bedrooms combined.

Oops.

Too bad for the grass, bushes and a few trees charred to the ground. On my feet, I discovered another thing – it was cold. For some reason, this… whatever, floating around me like the smoke out of uncle Air’s pipe made me shiver. It was also difficult to see anything ahead, each step cautiously carrying me through the clearing.

Why had they spooked us for centuries? The human world was lively with many sounds. I got confused for a second because I couldn’t concentrate on any of them. Gods loved it here for good reasons.

After wandering around and matching each description with what I could see, susurrant voices caught my line of sight. Outlines of what seemed to be a group of people slowly came into my view.

Finally! My welcome party had arrived. With hurried steps, they too seemed to had seen me as they stopped and looked ahead.

“HI HUMANS!”

I had been so excited to meet them! I couldn’t wait to see them in action.

~*~*~*~

The group of thieves stared. After successfully plundering the village they left behind, escaping had been a smooth ride so far. They stopped when they saw something moving in the mist, convinced it could only be an animal.

Instead, they were surprised to see a completely girl waving her hand with a grin on her face matching her sparkling eyes.

“…is that real?” one whispered to the boss.

“This is our lucky day, isn’t it?” Another grimaced while he drew his sword.

Among them, a more cautious fellow backed away from the group and took his head between his hands. “It’s a ghost! It’s a ghost! Run away!”

“Human! Why aren’t you talking?”

“Why does she keep calling us humans?” a fourth scratched his beard in wonder.

“Eh, who cares, a is still a . Right boss?” the first guy spoke again, dagger prepared.

“Right,” the boss finally replied, a man with a short ponytail standing upright and a ruffled moustache, “men – get her!”

They weren’t aware of two things: the girl wasn’t an ordinary one and someone followed them from the village with a thirst for revenge.

~*~*~*~

AN: Hello hello dear readers! Hope you liked it <3 please comment?