The moment my mind drifted to sleep, I was instantly teleported to the realm of the goddess. I take it this is my soul traveling, not my corporeal body. I love this feeling I get from being in the goddess's presence. I almost feel like a puppy dog right now. I feel happy, content, excited, and full of unconditional love, all bundled into one. If I had a tail, it would be wagging right now. The goddess speaks to me, "You said you wanted to speak to me, Zoe?" I giggle a little, "Sorry, Goddess, whenever I am in your presence, I feel like a schoolgirl having a crush amongst a billion other feelings, and it is quite different from what I am used to."
The goddess smiles and giggles a little too, "You light affinity souls really are quite adorable. I would be lying if I said light magic users were not my favorite, but sadly, there are not many compatible souls for light magic at this time." The goddess sighs, remembering a time long since passed. Probably hundreds, if not thousands of years, judging by that sigh. An immortal being like the goddess must take a long time to make someone sigh like that.
I ask, "Goddess, what is your name? When I pray in this world, I want to pray to you by name." The goddess says, "I am one of many names, but the people of my world, Gaos, call me Aruna. The goddess of peace and light. I work together with the Goddess of chaos and darkness, Aella. Together, we bring balance. If one of us were to gain more power over the other, it would bring about the world's destruction. Right now, her followers are much stronger than mine, and we are nowhere near balance anymore. The world is filled with chaos, destruction, violence, discrimination, and prejudice. This is not Aella's fault. The number of souls that are compatible with light magic is fading away over time, and there is but one in this world now, and that is you. The others in this world have yet to awaken, and they are few in number."
I then ask, "Goddess Aruna, can you help me harness my light magic. My friend Ash told me I need to feel something, but I have a feeling that what I need to feel is not what he felt." The goddess then says, "You are right in that assumption. What you need to feel is different. What people need to feel in their hearts when they do magic is what they feel when they see me. That is the key."
I think that answers two questions: what wind magic users feel when they see her, and also what I need to do to harness magic. I then say, "I have a feeling it might not be that simple, though." The goddess giggles in a way to make my heart skip a beat, "That you are correct. The first time is always the hardest." She looks at me with care, "You will not feel as rested when you come to talk to me in your dreams like this. Your body may be rested, but you will still feel tired. Your soul needs rest, and you will need at least a day between talking to me to give it time to rest. I would prefer several days, not that I wouldn't want to talk to you; quite the opposite. I want to take care of my cute little project." She says as she boops my nose (like I do with Ash), and I feel smitten.
I then ask, now that I know we have a little time to talk, "Goddess Aruna, do you ever get lonely?" It is just when I see an immortal being like her, I can't help but imagine how lonely it would be. All beings you grow to love continuously perish and leave again. I would personally hate that so much. Though I am not going to say that to her face, though she may be an immortal goddess, I am quite sure she has feelings.
She furrows her brow, "I wish there were more light magic users to give me company." I then say in response to her words, wanting to help my beloved goddess, "I can try to find people who are compatible with light magic and train them to unlock their powers along my journey. Is there a way I can find light magic users more easily? Like a beacon or something. Maybe a special earring that beeps for light magic users, only heard by me to alert me when others are nearby, beeping faster, and then a solid tone when touching them to confirm."
The goddess smiles in approval, "Yes, I like this suggestion, my loyal soul. I will hereby bestow upon you this divine enchanted earring. You and only you will hear the beeping of nearby light magic users, and it will get faster when you get closer to them. When you touch them, you'll hear a solid tone to confirm. The earring will keep alerting you to another's presence until their magic has awakened, then it will go dormant again unless another unawakened light magic user is nearby." The earring she showed me was a beautiful yet simple golden hoop that looks like actual gold, not the cheap imitation shit I used to buy back on Earth.
I never really cared for jewelry, but a few earrings never bothered me, and my wedding band, which is not on my fingers anymore since I am in a new body. I miss that ring so much. It was black in color and very simple. To show my love for my wife, we got matching black rings, and it was very non-glamorous, which suited both of us perfectly. We do not really do the 'glam and the fashion'. We would rather spend money on other things that are more fun, like a cruise. Getting back on track with this earring, the goddess is putting on me. I feel a small connection to Liz through this earring. I did die wearing three of them in my ear, so I am sure the goddess chose this look just for me, and I really appreciate it.
She puts it in my left ear, and then I ask, "Is there a volume control for the beeping? Or do I just ask out loud, directing the question to you like 'Goddess, turn the volume down to 5'?" The goddess then laughs because I think she can read my mind. I am totally thinking of Alexa, the Amazon AI that many people have in their homes. I am giggling to myself, imagining a fake scenario: the goddess replying in an Alexa-style voice, "Ok, Zoe." The goddess says after a few laughs, "You can just ask me, though. If you can't talk to me, twist the earring. Turn into you to turn it down and away from you to turn it up." I reply, "That is great to know, and I am sure it will be useful. I will try not to bug you about that too much. It seems wrong to treat a goddess like Alexa."
I laugh, and the goddess joins me. I then laugh a little harder when I imagine maybe music coming out of the earrings like Alexa could do, like 'Aruna, play Baby Got Back by Sir Mixalot'. Just thinking of that makes me laugh even harder. I know this earring won't have that capability, but it is a funny thought. The goddess says after she stops laughing, "Don't worry about that. Remember, I get lonely up here, and I like it when you talk to me. You can bug me as much as you want. It looks like our time is up. You have a guest in your room. You won't be able to wake up while you are here with me. Until your next visit, my loyal Zoe. Please take care of yourself. I love you."
Hearing the one I love so much, in her presence, say "I love you" makes me feel like a giddy schoolgirl. I know she probably means it like a daughter or something, since she is a very old soul, quite literally, and I died in my 30s. My soul is probably that of an infant to her. The love I feel for her feels genuine, yet almost like I am being charmed by the sudden feeling when I am in her presence.
That and since everyone feels different in her presence, only light magic users feel this way for her. Is what I feel for her my actual feelings, or are they just because my soul is compatible with light magic? Or is it how I feel for her in her presence that I have an affinity for light magic? The chicken or the egg debate, but with the love I have for the goddess and my magic affinity.