“Time to introduce myself, then.” Antl- Tzuyu smiles and gets up.

Tzuyu’s clothes start to change to some traditional dress, an old instrument appears in her hands, Gucci grows and stretches until it’s morphed into some sort of serpent, maybe a dragon. Sana was over the moon, she was giggling and cheering, while her parents were getting another trauma to work through in therapy. Jaebum had come and hugged his wife from the back, both not sure what to take from the events happening in their living room.

“I’m The Deer Goddess, it has been too long since I last received prayers, and your daughter is, now, my only follower. I decided to reward her dedication to me.”

“You mean to tell us that there really is a Deer Goddess?” Jaebum asks, still trying to wrap his head around everything.

“I am here and you can see and touch me, no?!” Good point.

“Like a goddess who is a deer, or a goddess of the deer?” Jihyo is the one to ask this time.

“Both? Neither? Does it matter?” Tzuyu questions, but continues before they can ask more stupid things. “Us, the gods of old, came to be in a different manner. Your new gods they were believed into existence by yourselves, whilst us, the gods of old, have been since the beginning of time and will remain after everything ends.”

“Oh.” Is the only thing both adults manage to answer before falling into a contemplative trance.

While her parents were busy trying to wrap their heads around what was happening, unable to deny the woman’s supernatural origins, as she had transformed right before their eyes, and the damn dog did too, Sana took the time to play with their guests. Tzuyu was more than happy to give all her attention to the child, knowing the couple would need a little longer to snap out of their reverie. 

“Chewy unnie!” The girl chirps, getting a humm in response. “Are you going to stay with us?”

“Yes I am, Sana-chan. You are my very special devotee, and I’m more than happy to be with you.” The goddess answers with a fond smile.

They do play for a while, Tzuyu had guided the couple to sit on the couch, and neither seemed to have noticed much, it was mostly because Jihyo couldn’t keep standing for too long, and the goddess wasn’t about allowing harm to come to her followers. Their trip was only disrupted when Sana came and demanded attention.

“Mommy, daddy, can Chewy unnie sleep in my room?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say, sweetie?” Jihyo snaps back to reality.

“Chewy unnie, can she sleep in my room?”

“Yes, she can. But mommy and daddy want to talk to Tzuyu unnie a little, can you go with daddy and wait for her in your bed?” The nurse asks.

Sana just nods happily and drags her father to tuck her in. Both women watch them go with fond amusement, Jihyo silently offers more tea, which Tzuyu gladly accepts, they remain unspeaking until Jaebum returns. The goddess, as it seemed to be her habit, starts speaking as soon as the man settles besides his wife, not waiting nor needing for anything to be asked or said.

“I’m staying with Sana for as long as I please. There has been too long since I last had followers, no one prays for us anymore. The new gods have taken over, and I haven’t had prayers in centuries, so here I am.” She sips her tea, granting the couple come time to take in the information. “I’m here to listen and answer to all of Sana’s desires, she is my only worshiper in so long, I’m making her my priestess and she will be blessed with extraordinary gifts.”

“So you are saying you intend on living with us?” Jaebum confirms.

“No need to bother yourself with that, though. I- We don’t really rest like mortals, I’ll just head back to my temple while you rest and come back in the morning. Don’t worry too much, though, I will know when I’m needed if I’m absent and will return in the blink of an eye.”

“Right…….” Jihyo draws out, a little dubious, still. “So, should I cook you breakfast as well, or-”

“Oh, please do, I love food. Don’t mind Gucci, though, he prefers handling his food himself.”

“Alright.” Jaebum just gives up. “Sana is waiting, Ji. Let’s go give her goodnight kisses and Chewy unnie can keep her company until she sleeps.”

They just head to the girl’s room to do just that, Jihyo giving up during the short walk. It wasn’t the craziest thing she had ever seen, working the E.R. for too long would expose you to every single insanity the human mind could produce, having a goddess declaring she will pamper your daughter wasn’t that bad afterall. Tzuyu is just smiling silently at the thoughts the couple were having.

Jaebum, despite being the first one to just accept it, was fighting internally, his rational side was battling his irrational father side and it was amusing the deity immensely. Jihyo, on the other hand, was pondering about the crazy stunts she had witnessed in her life and arguing that a goddess was actually a very good thing to happen to them, at least Sana was happy and not losing her positivity after losing her unborn brother, which impressed Tzuyu greatly.

This couple was strong, both took life face first and never backed down, accepting the hand they were dealt and making the most of everything, especially when it came to their daughter, both would kill themselves for their family, and Tzuyu regarded this kind of determination with utmost respect, one of the reasons she decided to bless this family, even if Gucci had argued they didn’t need to and she was just doing it because she was bored.

Maybe she was a little bored, but that wasn’t the only reason. Regardless, these were great people who had been unlucky in life but still fought teeth and nails to make the best of everything and give their child all the love and everything they could provide for her, and that, my friends, was something humans seemed to be losing lately. Our Deer Goddess was not about to dismiss such specimens just like that.