Miracles

"It's over now," Astra says.

I open my eyes. There is a feeling in my body I can't describe. It's like… rebirth, only that I don't actually know what rebirth feels like.

"How do you feel?" She asks.

"F-Fine."

I hold my hands up and look at my palms. Nothing is different, except….

The sliver of annoyance I get from Astra's silliness is completely gone now. She is… beautiful. Not in the sense that I am attracted to her, but her presence makes me, uh, comfortable.

Instinctively, I get up on my feet and open my arms.

"Oh, I guess we are hugging now," Astra says and accepts my embrace.

Her tiny body against mine reminds me of home, one that I never truly had.

I let her go.

That was weird. I don't know where that urge for a hug came from.

"W-What did you do to me?" I ask.

"You had a little taste of my divine love, that's all," she says.

"You can't just put the word divine in front of everything you say. It doesn't make it respectable," I say.

"Actually, I can. I am the literal embodiment of divinity, so technically, everything I do is divine."

"Fair point."

Why am I agreeing with her?

"Now, do you want to test out your new ability?" She asks.

"Sure. How do I perform miracles?"

"You can either put your hands together or not. The former amplifies the power but takes longer and requires you to close your eyes."

"I will try that out first."

I have seen this done so many times, and I have done it myself in the convent a few times, too, just without any magic happening.

I clap my palms together and close my eyes. "What do I do now?"

"Now, you can ask me to do something for you. It will depend on your affinity what you can ask, but since you have them all, you don't have a limit."

"What about the thing you did before? Like when you prayed for that kid's full belly?"

"That's also a factor. The more specific your request is, the more likely it will be fulfilled. If you ask for a stick to ignite into flames, that will require less divinity level and be more possible than say, asking to make a piece of meat cooked."

"Okay, so what now?" I ask.

"Start your prayer however you like, but it needs to be addressing me. O, sweet Goddess, O, our divine mother, whatever, then you ask for something to be granted."

"Alright."

O, sweet Goddess, let a breeze blow in my face.

I feel my hands getting warm, and then I open my eyes. There it is, a wind washes over the grass and brushes past us.

That's… incredible. The ability to make nature obey me? Wow. I might need a therapist to not get a superiority complex. Well, I guess almost everyone else can do this already.

"What did you do?" Astra asks.

"I prayed for a breeze."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Oh come on. You could have prayed for an earthquake or snowstorm, but you asked for a gentle breeze?"

So much power.

"Baby steps," I say.

"Uh, alright. Now it's my turn to try out my new ability."

"What?"

Astra points her open hand toward me.

"I, the divine Goddess, ask for thee to obey my wishes…" she chants.

"Wait, what are you going to do?"

"Scream on the top of your lungs, 'My name is Krissy'," she finishes.

Oh no.

Her hand glows for a second, and then it's over.

Nothing happened.

"Was I supposed to… do something?" I ask.

Astra grins and says, "The order is not like controlling a puppet. You are not forced to do something. I simply planted the desire into your heart to carry out my wish."

What the hell does that mean?

Oh, I feel it. Out of nowhere, an urge to scream pops up from my chest for absolutely no reason.

I stare at Astra while trying to oppress this urge.

"Go on." Astra chuckles and waves her hand in a circle.

It's too strong.

"My name is Krissy!" I scream.

"Yeah!" Astra joins me.

I clear my throat.

"That's… that's dangerous. I won't even be able to tell if what I do is my own wish or your command," I say.

"That's right."

"And you can't cancel it."

"No, I can't cancel a command, but I can cancel out a command. I could have ordered you again to not scream on the top of your lungs."

"What's the difference?" I ask.

Q

"Well, as you saw back there, it takes a few seconds for it to take effect."

"I see."

"Well, are you happy now? If you did the crystal bowl assessment again, which they are still using, right?"

I nod.

"Okay. If you do that again, actually, don't do that again. Some people will be able to tell your status as the apostle when they look at the result. It will get complicated then," Astra says.

"Why?"

"People think that the Goddess has forsaken them, right? If an apostle shows up during a time like this, people will think you will bring me back, which you can't, because you were the reason why I was gone in the first place. The church will make sure you won't be able to do anything else until your mission is accomplished."

"Wow, that's some responsibility."

"That's why I said it won't be that easy. Remember the ritual I performed just now? It's not just a formality. Every word of that is true. You will have to carry the sins of thousands upon your shoulders."

"What does that even mean?"

"You will find out soon enough."

"Um…"

"Well, keep trying out your miracles. I will go around and look for some yams so we don't go back empty-handed."

"Alright."

Astra begins walking away.

"Oh, Astra," I call out, not knowing what I am going to say next.

"Yes?" She turns around.

"Thank you."

What made me say that?

She smiles and begins walking back toward me.

Astra reaches her hands up and puts them on my cheeks. Out of reflex, I crouch down to her eye level.

"Kris, I know that I can be silly sometimes," she says, "but I truly want the best for the people and this world. As I said, you will be the harbinger of salvation. From now on, your mission isn't only to save your kins on Earth, but you also have to save Terradivina, do you understand?"

What is this warmth?

"Y-Yes."

"This is a moment of crisis. You might not understand as higher power did not exist in your world, but the lack of my guidance is the equivalent of shrouding darkness over this land. My people need you, Kris Kaplan. I need you."

Astra kisses me again on my forehead.