Souls

Chapter 1

Earth duty. She couldn't believe that the Old Deus is forcing her to go down. No one in Heaven has gone down to that planet in what she can only assume was a couple of thousand years. There never was a need before, the humans kept making more, and when there was too much they had their wars and things went back to normal. As long as the Gods kept getting their worship they never really cared what any of them had to do.

There was an incident a couple of centuries ago where this one barbarian clan tried to make everyone stop believing in the Gods, but they were swiftly dealt with. A little lightning here, a wildfire there, and some whispers in the right ears and they were wiped out almost in an instant. 

But unfortunately, Naia's situation was different. For the last thousand years, there has been a significant lack of souls coming to the afterlife, and since she was the Goddess of the afterlife, she was forced to take action, but was reluctant do to it. Last time she was on Earth, she had accidentally started a religion around her, the humans thinking she embodied the sun. While she was happy for the extra praise, her brothers and sisters were not. They let her have her little clan, but before they knew it they had taken over an entire county, and they still worshiped her. One of her brothers, Adven, pleaded with the Old Deus to let him wipe out the country and set the world right, but was refused. The act of smiting over ten thousand lives was generally looked down upon, and since they would die she basically got the souls anyway, so it didn't really matter. 

Naia walked down the corridor, the pure whiteness of everything blinding. She much preferred her own palace, nice shades of gray, splotches of blue and yellow here. It was pleasant to look at, and didn't give her a headache when the sun shone down directly on them. As she passed a pillar, a voice spoke up. "Going down huh?" It was Adven, glaring at her. 

She sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. Last couple of centuries there has been a significant lack of souls coming to me. Since the humans are still increasing in population, there should be no reason that I don't receive over a couple hundred souls a day, but I barely get ten. The Old Deus is demanding, that since this is my department, that I go down and investigate."

He walked closer to her, staring down at her. "Don't forget the lesson you learned last time. If you try anything, the old man has given me permission to cleanse anything you do. So please, mess up. I can't wait to burn your little country to the ground."

"You're just mad that they got me confused for you, it's not my fault they are dense. I came down and brought one boy back to life, and suddenly I run a giant ball of gas in the middle of nowhere space. Unlike you, I actually have people I need to look after. Elysium and Hell don't run themselves, someone needs to judge the souls. And before you try anything, I will be careful this time. The Old Deus has restricted my divinity while I am down there, see." She pulled up her sleeve, showing the sealing brand they had put on her. With that on she won't be able to do anything, she will basically be a human, but can't die.

Adven huffed, walking away. "Don't mess up. If you do, then maybe someone just might replace you, someone more suited to the job." Naia stared at him as he walked away. Talking with him always gave her a headache, his job represents him so well it's almost funny, a giant ball of hot air. She continued walking, exiting the Deus's residence, walking through the gardens unto the portal. 

"Going down M'lady?" The soul working the portal was always polite. He was an old man, one who respected all of the Divine. He was nice, but killed his abusive father so he had to work off his sin. Naia made sure he had a nice job, something not too demanding that might hurt him.

"Yes, I am. Take me to the fifth site, and hurry. I wish to be back before anything happens." She stepped onto the platform, mentally preparing herself. She never liked dropping.

"Right away M'lady. One moment please while I calibrate it for you." The man rotated a sphere, looking for the correct place. "My apologies, m'lady. My eyes must be going bad again, I can't seem to find the-" His finger slipped, activating the portal. Within a heartbeat, the platform fell beneath Naia, dropping her down to Earth and a insane pace. "Oh no... I've done it again." The man said as he watched her fall, the scream of surprise growing more and more distant.