The Moon Goddess' Chosen

385 Infuriating Request

“And what’s wrong with his eyes?” Katie continued to think out loud, “I wonder if those snakes bite.” Unknown to her, the goddess was starting to turn pale.

With a nervous tone, Celeste spoke up, “This is Asclepius, my nephew and the god of medicine. I asked him for a favour. He’s the one overseeing your treatment,” the moon goddess replied.

“Well, that’s nice to know. How long till I’m good to run about, Doc?” Katie grinned, completely switching her attention to the male beside her.

“First of all, never as a god for his name. You might just get yourself vaporized. Secondly, do not call me... ‘doc.’ I’d rather have my forceps thrown into a volcano than hear such an obnoxious acronym used to address me?”

“Yes, sir,” Katie replied in a small voice, drawing her lips into a tight line and staying quiet.

The god of medicine sighed, “Your situation is a complicated one. I’ve rarely spent this much time on a patient. I never thought it was possible for a human to injure themselves the way you did.”

“You’re trying to tell me that I’m reckless, aren’t you?” the girl groaned.

“Reckless has its limits. You were desperate,” Asclepius replied without a hint of emotion in his voice.

“Oh, come on, Ace. She was reckless if she could mess herself up this bad,” the goddess argued.

.....

“It’s only my opinion, but I say she was selfless. She thought more of others when the time came which is more honourable than reckless,” the man replied, “From what I’ve heard, the rogue king didn’t pose her much of a threat as he did everyone else and please, don’t call me ‘Ace’ in front of a mortal.”

“Did you hear that, Celeste? I’m selfless... and honourable... Oh-nah-ray-bow,” Katie wiggled her brows at the goddess floating above her.

Celeste giggled, “I’ve known that since you started training under the Chase family. You trained until your muscles were...”

“This is curious,” the caduceus-wielding god interrupted them.

“What is it, Ace?” the goddess asked and watched one of his flawless brows twitch in frustration.

“I know she damaged her spiritual vessel, but her natural body is in such good condition. It’s remarkable. At this rate, she would have been a force to reckon with even if she wasn’t one of the chosen... although, that’s only the case if she ever got the rest she needed and healed right,” the man responded.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katie asked.

“Well, it only means you’ve never had enough rest. Never had a real vacation. Either that or your body gave up on trying to heal itself completely because of the intense training you put yourself through. There is so much untapped potential packed in this body of yours,” the man replied before taking his eyes off the snakes for the first time.

“We stick to the original plan, Ace,” the goddess spoke sternly.

“Very well, my lady,” he bowed and waved the caduceus over the girl once more, “I’ll try to speak as simply as I can. The spiritual vessel is what one develops once one starts to tamper with the divine aspects and entities of this world.

In other words, gods... It allows you to wield divine energy. Depending on how strong of a vessel you are, the more power you can wield. Divine energy can be increased to a certain degree and the amount of power that one can contain within themselves can also be increased. What’s with this muscle structure though...”

“Asclepius!” the goddess snapped at the male god. Asclepius stopped his rambling and returned to his explanation.

“Sorry, I’ve just never seen anything like it. It’s almost impossible to ignore,” the man responded with a sigh, “Alright, what you, Katie achieved has never happened before, for someone to command more power than they should be able to. It’s no wonder you ruptured your spiritual vessel.”

“How long will it take for you to help me out? For my... ‘spiritual vessel’ to be healed,” Katie asked the man.

The man paused at the sudden question, taking his time to think it through, “Mortals are always trying to find out how much time it needs to do something. Not knowing that the less time you give something, the worse it turns out. If a tree is not nurtured with love and care, as well as patience, it would only wither or grow deformed. It explains why your body shows signs of so much exertion and next to no time for proper healing. Then again, I sometimes forget that human lives are so short.”

“You’re also dodging my question,” Katie sighed.

“If I was to make a rough estimate, I would advise you to get comfortable. You’re going to be here for a few years,” the man said to her, “From a year to a decade, it’s hard to determine how long, depending on how your body responds to my powers.”

Katie gasped at the time the man mentioned. It was a very long time he spoke of compared to how long she thought she would be returning to the earth, “That’s far too long.”

“Settle down, Katie. You brought this upon yourself, so you must live with it. There is another way for you to leave here quicker, but it might just bring the world to an end instead,” the woman replied.

“How do I ensure I heal in the least time possible?” the girl asked.

“Well, you do that by going to sleep the entire time,” Asclepius smirked, “I know that would give me all the peace and quiet I need to focus.”

Katie sighed and closed her eyes, “Wait, before you sleep. There is something I’d like to discuss. It’s something concerning the rogue king... and the way I would like you to bring him down.”

“Weren’t we supposed to just kill him and be done with it?” the girl groaned.

The goddess paused before speaking more softly, “I would like it if you didn’t kill him...”

Katie’s eyes snapped open, displaying a fury that burned deep within her. If it wasn’t for her paralysis, she felt like she would have thrust her fist in the goddess’s gut, “That makes no sense at all.”