Chapter 5 - And Then She Goes Supernova

"Heh, a simple yet resolute I'm ready, huh? Not bad, not bad at all, Sir Rezin. I'm impressed.", praised Ms. Celest as she walked nonchalantly next to me.

Hearing her praise, my mood got better, resulting my dizziness to evaporate a little,

...until a recent memory hit my conscience.

Remembering that long battle of sarcasms that she took part in before, I can't help but think that her praise just now might have actually been a sarcasm.

Understanding my train of thought perfectly, she smiled and confirmed sweetly, "Yes, of course it's sarcasm."

Dejected and completely defeated,

I lowered my sight towards the shining road we're currently walking on.

After the intense meeting with the Goddess, I was led by Ms. Celest to one of the trunks of Yggdrasil that led to Lady Rhea's world.

When Ms. Celest said 'trunk', I immediately thought of the brown wood that sticks out of a tree, complete with leaves and fruits dangled on the tip of each trunk. Instead, I was face to face with a shining silver road under my feet that connects with hundreds, thousands of paths, creating an insane amount of intersections and junctions.

Seeing this scene in front of me,

I, Rezin Emmett,

A topographically hopeless person since birth,

Is 100% ready to puke.

"Ahahahahahahahaahahahaha! Oh I can't believe this! Dying suddenly did not trouble you. Meeting a bear out of nowhere after death did not scare you. Participating in a consouling session led by a cry baby boomer did not give you anxiety. Being face to face with a legit bonafide Goddess for the first time did not drive you insane. But…", she cackled merrily and hit her thigh a few times, and continued,

"But seeing a road with a little bit too many paths makes you puke! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!", she laughed even louder, making my face even redder as a result.

"Hey, everyone has their own weakness, you know! Just like how talking with a Goddess makes your mental stability somewhat questionable, my mental condition got worse when I saw a hell lot of roads, branching to infinity!", I huffed irritably with both of my hands on my temple, trying to soothe my unbearable dizziness.

"Hahahahahahahahaha! Ah sorry, sorry, forgive me. I won't laugh again. I pro- HA -mise.", she said while still snickering a little.

"Well, anyway, Mr. Rezin, you really don't have to worry about getting lost or anything like that while you're with me.", she continued confidently.

"…Wha? Seriously? Don't tell me, did you remember all the paths and roads of Yggdrasil?", I asked in awe.

She smiled in response and said, "No."

Just as I was about to groan in exasperation, she giggled and said proudly, "But, I've got two of the best way finder with me."

I looked at her blankly and asked, "…Way finder? Is it like a… Google maps from my world?"

"Oh, even better!", then she gestured at her watch and explained, "This little wayfinder on my arm can show us the way to any location that exists in this era. From the little central square near your house to a dangerous volcano in the world 4 grade under, this little thing can always find it without fail."

Hearing her explanation, I looked at the little watch in awe. If I had something like this, I would never get lost again!, I thought.

"But only a soul scouter can have them.", she said while moving her watch away from my sight.

Once again dejected, I continued walking towards my destination next to her quietly.

Still walking, I looked up and admired the sight before me. Endless night sky and countless stars twinkled beautifully above me, with an infinite number of thin lines sprawled across the night sky, connecting each world with the other, the roads that led to a whole new world.

"…beautiful, isn't it?", suddenly a voice said to me, disturbing my trance.

Ms. Celest sigh heavily and continued, "Even after all this time working as a soul scouter, this view still gives me goosebumps. All those tiny little stars we saw twinkling away, are all separate worlds, with millions of life living inside."

"Doesn't this view make you feel small? Even if we are an aristocrat, a president, a king, an empress… or in your case, a chosen,", she paused a bit, and said,

"We are just… a tiny little speck of dust… playing their part in this intricate machine called fate, operating an enormous body called reality."

She walked a few steps ahead of me and looked back at me, "Not just us, even the haughty and prideful Gods are just a tiny cog, playing fate's game."

Hearing this, again I wondered… Why does this girl hate the Gods so much? Did the Gods ever do something bad to her?

I caught up to her, and she continued again, "You said 'you're ready' to Lady Rhea. Does that mean you're ready to blindly follow every one of her orders or her choices?"

I thought for a bit and shook my head. "I will only follow her orders if it sits right with my conscience. After meeting her today I feel like…"

"That the Goddess is not omnipotent?", she asked.

I nodded in response.

"Good, you're learning fast. That's right, in their own designated world, the Gods are omniscient and they are absolutely not omnipotent. They can feel rage, hate, dan fear too, like how that old hag Rhea contacted the office in panic when she noticed that her world to walking towards it's ruin."

We took a turn here and another turn a few metres away.

"You must never fully trust a God's judgement.", she said firmly. "This is the promise that I must ask of you to keep, not just for your safety, but also for the future of your new world. Is that understood?"

I looked at her in awe, and answered, "Alright."

Hearing my response, her mood seemed to be a lot lighter, she finally smiled a honest smile this time.

After a few more turns, I can feel my stamina nearing it's end. (Although, the fact that a soul can even have a stamina or can get tired at all is beyond me.)

Tired and still a bit dizzy, I asked, "…Hey, are we there yet?"

She looked at her watch and answered, "No, not yet. We still need to turn right, forwards, left, forwards, right, right, right, forwards, forwards, forwards, right, right, right, right, forwards, left, forwards, right, right, right, right, forwards, forwards, right, forwards, and left."

"…Huh?", I asked again.

"I said, we still need to turn right, forwards, left, forwards, right, right, right, forwards, forwards, forwards, right, right, right, right, forwards, left, forwards, right, right, right, right, forwards, forwards, right, forwards, and left.", she answered curtly, clearly annoyed.

I blinked a few times after hearing her response. "…Sorry, but what?"

She made a face and started groaning in exasperation. "Arghh, I said-"

SHALALALALALALALALA~

A majestic choir sounded from her big brown bag.

She stopped, groaned some more, and took out the halo thing from her bag.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask this before but is that a ha-"

"It's the second way finder I mentioned. It's called the messenger's ring. It works as both a way finder and also a direct telephone line to each and every God's voice. This ring also has one more feature, but it's not important right now."

Noticing something, I asked curiously, "Wait… but you are a soul scouter, right? Not a Messenger? Do soul scouters also do messenger work?"

Hearing my question, she looked at me blankly and said, "No. And yes, I'm not supposed to hold onto this ring. But unfortunately, our team's messenger just faded, and since I'm the only one in the team who can get to other worlds freely, I ended up taking on her job for a wh-"

SHALALALALALALALALA~

A majestic choir sounded again from the ring.

We both looked at the singing ring in response.

Ms. Celeste cursed under her breath and glared at the ring furiously. After a few seconds, she started protesting saying that she needs to finish her job first, then she said something about making sure the new chosen not to get lost. She kept on trying to persuade whoever it was that was speaking at the end of the telephone line to wait for a little bit longer.

After a few more pleading and persuading, the ring started to glow brighter. Seeing this, she said to the ring in panic, "No! Please, my Lord! If you forcefully dragged me away now, this chosen soul beside me is going to be hopelessly lost! He might even end up wandering alone in this space for eternity, not knowing where to go!"

In response to her pleading, the ring got even brighter.

Seeing this weird scene before me, I panicked, "Wha- What is going on?!"

"Argh! Selfish Gods and their selfish needs!", she shouted in disgust, let go of the ring, and rummaged around her bag for a pen and paper. She looked at her watch, and started to write down something on the paper.

At this point, the ring shone extremely brightly, it's light slowly engulfing most of Ms. Celest's body.

Realising this, she shoved her paper to me and explained as fast as she can, "I wrote the rest of the path on the paper. You must follow the instructions precisely, or you'll lose your way! Remember, it's right, forwards, left, forwards, right, right, right, forwards, forwards, forwards, right, right, right-"

An even brighter light cut both of my eyes and her voice off.

The moment my eyes finally adjusted again with my surroundings, I called out, "…Ms. Celest?"

No answer.

I looked around, scanning my surroundings for any signs of her but,

she was gone.

And I was all alone with my paper, in this dizzying place filled with paths and roads, under the vast starry night sky.