Doldrums of Diwa
Deep in the inner chamber of the Temple of the Gods, the lone goddess Diwa sat atop a large overly ornate chair, more akin to a goudy throne fit for a king who thinks they are a deity than an actual deity. Diwa leaned her cheek into her hand and let out a long sigh.
“My Goddess.” A voice said, holding out a goblet. “The drink you requested.” the man said, kneeling in front of her. Diwa opened her eyes and laced her fingers around the stem of the goblet, bringing it to her lips she stopped. And sighed again as she looked into the cup seeing a red liquid. She’d requested water and yet again they brought her wine. Believing she was too good for such bland things as water, and only serving her the greatest wine the land could provide.
Diwa simply nodded and allowed the man to leave before swirling the glass, and it changed the wine to water. As she took a sip of the cool, clean refreshing water, the Temple guards near the door let the next person in.
Diwa hid her annoyance of handing out more miracles. A middle aged man approached and kneeled at the bottom of the staircase. “You’re holiness.” he began, “I come to beg of you to bless the forests to allow the trees to grow more quickly, my family…” The man kept speaking but Diwa had to start tuning him out, it had begun to become the same droning as everyone else. Keeping them happy was such a task, why in the world they’d chosen her of all the gods to start lumping powers on. There were once plenty of other gods. But power of a god comes from the power of the followers, and somehow the people had chosen her as their ‘god’ despite her once being the least active god. Some might call it lazy, but it was more that it wasn’t practical. She wasn’t a powerful god at the time, she was barely a blip to people who didn’t ‘need’ her. In hindsight that could explain why she was picked out of the entire pantheon. Attempts to simplify a complex goddess resulting in people attaching more and more personal things to her eventually she was one of the few left.
Eventually the man stopped speaking, she knew what he wanted without listening. Diwa closed her fist and when she opened it there was a rather large seed, roughly the size of a walnut. She held it out to the guard that stood by her side and he walked the seed down to the man, and placed it in his hand. And the man looked up at Diwa with reverence.
“Plant this near the last tree you fell. And do not harm a tree for three days and three nights, the forest will be revitalised.” she said, “But should you not follow my instructions, your forest will not regrow.” she said
The man nodded, clutching the seed to his chest. “Thank you, thank you…I will not fail your test.” he said, standing.
“It’s not a test…” Diwa thought. “Your belief shall see you through.” she said. The man looked at her again with tears in his eyes. Something that years ago would have moved her, now was just par for the course. The man held the seed tight to him as he made his way to the door. The moment he left she took another drink.
After a few minutes they let the next person in. “My goddess…” the man said, kneeling “Please bless my vineyard.” the man said, before going into the reasons why she should honour his request. She sighed, but the man didn’t hear. Eventually he stopped speaking.
She manifested a small bag filled with sea glass pebbles. “Bury this at the end of each row of grapes, and your yield will be bountiful.”
The man took the bag and looked inside confused, but nodded. “I will do it immediately.” he said, rising to leave. Seemingly more thankful he’d have a harvest then being blessed. She knew beforehand that his harvest would be large this year, the weather deemed it so. But belief is of course a powerful thing. The man would think the stones helped and she would be praised for doing nothing.
Diwa stretched in her chair adjusting. It was comfortable, almost too much so. She rested her hand on cheek again and leaned over, motioning with the other hand to send in the next person.
A woman approached, going prostate at the foot of the stairs. “Please my goddess.” she said tearfully. “My husband and I are trying to conceive a child, but are unable. Please help.”
Diwa, straightened up in her chair, and motioned to the guard next to her. And she whispered something in his ear. He stepped away a moment and returned with a jug, and handed it to Diwa. She held it in both hands and focused some of her power into the wine filled container. She handed it to the guard again, and he brought it down to the woman.
“Tonight, lay with your husband, partake of this wine. Do not drink it yourself. You must serve him and he must serve you. Allow each other to drink as much as you desire.” she instructed. “You must show your commitment to one another by allowing the other to drink from the other's hands.” she said.
The woman looked at the guard holding the jug to her. “You…this…” the woman started two sentences and finished neither. “Thank you… Thank you… I will…” she started to cry. Eventually being helped out of the chamber by two of the guards.
The magic was a powerful one, one of the few true miracles she’d worked today. Most things were a power of making belief itself give the result. And plant life being grown once again, wasn’t that powerful. All things grow back, it's a matter of just making it grow faster. But life of a person was much harder.
The day pressed on, small blessings and insignificant miracles spread throughout. And eventually there were no people left, and no one else allowed to enter, Diwa sighed and stood with a slight groan. A flesh body was nothing new, but she never got used to sitting for so long.
Diwa yawned and descended the stairs and headed behind the platform where the throne sat, to a room in the back. A large canopy bed with a plush mattress sat in the centre of the room, she threw herself on the bed and was out almost as soon as she hit the pillow.