NOVEL NEXT 54: Heart-Wrenching Confessions
After absolutely hurling his spear forward, Casimir shaded his eyes and whistled as he watched it tear through the sky and punch Aelius backward. With Aelius disappearing and crashing into the ground, Casimir refocused his attention onto Morgana as she sent her own attack towards him.
Kicking the huge shard of ice, Casimir shattered it as Morgana came floating down in front of him. Grimacing as she began drawing upon more of her divinity as well, Casimir sighed as he came to terms with the inevitability of the battle’s upgrade in scale.
They were isolated, they were ready to fight, and they were willing to fight. Given these factors, the battle continued through the afternoon without rest.
During this section of the battle though, because the three most powerful fighters were outside the city, the commotion worrying and forcing the uninvolved citizens back into their homes calmed down bit by bit. Of course, with entire factions fighting still, it didn’t calm down by much, but it was something.
Amongst these uninvolved citizens, there were two in particular who were paying no attention to the fighting outside.
Valencia, knowing she’d have to talk to Astrid about the whole... “you’re a goddess” stuff, clued Astrid in over the past couple of days and weeks, saying she wanted to sit down sometime and have a serious conversation. Nothing too crazy, she just wanted to build some sort of mental preparation.
And... well, perhaps it was a bit of mental preparation for herself as well. It was weird to not talk through it, but somehow she didn’t feel like it was right.
Now, after spending a couple hours on the couch snuggling with a sleeping Astrid, the time had come.
With Astrid beginning to stir from her slumber, Valencia gave her a couple of wakeup kisses to aid in the process while getting up to get her some water. Grabbing a sweater for Astrid to put on as well to deal with the cold, Valencia let her have some time before preparing to begin the whole process of confessing.
Sitting down beside Astrid on the couch, Valencia let out a long sigh as a quiet tension began to settle between them.
It was awkward! So awkward!
It wasn’t like they hadn’t had tense conversations before, like any normal relationship, they had gone through their own fair share of arguments and disagreements. For the most part though the air remained calm and it wasn’t too bad to talk it out.
This one wasn’t even an argument, and it felt so much worse... Well, perhaps that was the exact reason it felt so bad.
“So,” Valencia sighed, taking a sip from her glass of water. “Well, as you know I’ve had some stuff I wanted to talk about. Ever since we’ve moved here I’ve wanted to tell you about this, but, well, I... haven’t been able to psyche myself up until now. I know it’s kind of a random time, but spending these few days totally alone with you has... given me the last push I needed. Also, don’t worry it’s not a you thing, it’s a me thing. Or well, it relates to us both, or uh... argh...”
Stumbling over her own words like a tranquilized snail, Valencia massaged her scalp as each exhale turned into a long sigh.
“Cia... a... are you breaking up with me?” Astrid murmured as a shaky tone slipped into her voice. Reaching over to grab Valencia’s hand, Astrid forced her to stop grabbing her own hair. “Don’t hurt yourself, it’s not worth it...”
“No, no, no, no,” Valencia shook her head before grabbing Astrid’s hand, “Sorry, I realize how that could be misinterpreted. It’s just, like, well, I’ve kind of been lying to you, Astrid... dear. I’m not quite who you think I am.”
“Hmm?” Astrid tilted her head, as a field of question began popping up in her mind. “We... we grew up together though? I feel like, if anything, I probably know you the best, no? Since we’ve known each other from our elementary school days?”
“I mean, yeah, kind of, er... well.” Valencia raised her hand before pausing and lowering it. “Well, yeah, to be honest, you do know me the best in terms of personality. More than anyone else in the world. But in terms of my identity it’s a little different.”
“Are you... secretly a spy?” Astrid poked Valencia's nose with a puzzled expression. “When would you have become one though?”
“I’m surprised you really don’t suspect anything...” Valencia mumbled as she took a sip of water from the cup Astrid raised to her lips.
“I don’t really think about things too deeply,” Astrid confessed with a sheepish laugh. “Anyway, sorry, continue.”
Taking a deep breath, Valencia paused for a moment. Squeezing Astrid’s hand, Valencia looked towards the ground with a long sigh. “I’m... I’m a deity, Astrid.”
Peeking upward, Valencia felt a huge weight lift off her chest as Astrid’s face didn’t morph into one of immediate disgust. With Astrid seeming more confused than anything else, Valencia wasn’t one-hundred percent sure she was in the clear but... things were looking better.
At least she had a chance.
Sitting back upright, Valencia leaned against Astrid as all her energy sapped out of her body. “Feel free to ask me whatever questions... obviously you deserve to... I’m... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner... There’s more, but I’ll let you get through this first.”
With her voice cracking, Valencia felt tears well up in her eyes for the first time in... well, heavens knew how long.
Astrid, faced with what could only be considered a shocking revelation, did her best to support Valencia. Keeping a hold on Valencia’s hand, she took a moment to just... gather her thoughts. With the usual carefree light disappearing from her eyes, Astrid actually thought through the situation and all the information instead of doing her usual ‘eh, it’s whatever’ strategy.
Squeezing Valencia’s hand, Astrid pat Valencia’s back a couple times. “H... How, exactly? We... we grew up together didn’t we?”
One long sip of water and stretch to sit upright later, Valencia began the long process of explaining the divine rebirthing ritual. Making a couple tangents to explain why she did it, Valencia then talked about the first few years of her new life until getting to where she met Astrid.
Ending off the long, but also short, story with a sigh, Valencia leaned forward into Astrid’s outstretched arms. “Well, the rest you know. After I met you, not much went on in my life other than the stuff we did together.”
“Mhm...” Astrid murmured, hugging Valencia with slow nods. Falling silent for a couple seconds, Astrid just continued to pat Valencia. “I don’t... hold this against you or anything. I can see... I can see where you’re coming from. But it’s also a lot to take in right now. So, I... I apologize but I’ll need some time to really come to terms with everything...”
“Y-Yeah, of course!” Valencia nodded, reassuring Astrid as a slight smile of relief tugged at the corner of her lips. “Take your time, yeah... totally, of course. I understand. Yeah. And, also, like... yeah, break up if you wan-”
“Shut it.” Astrid pressed Valencia’s mouth closed with a glare. “I’m not, okay? Stop bringing it up.”
Hesitant for a moment, Valencia nodded a couple times before readjusting her position and pressing against Astrid in silence.
Astrid, not having too much to say, spent a couple moments working through her thoughts while enjoying Valencia’s warmth. After a couple minutes of silence, she reached over and took a sip from Valencia’s cup of water. Putting down the cup, Astrid tapped her chin. “So... Well, what was the other stuff you wanted to tell me? Is it multiple, or just one thing?”
“Well,” Valencia confessed as she looked up to see Astrid’s expression. “You’re a deity too now.”
