The angry creature loomed above me, its jaws open as a glowing beam of energy charged in its mouth. Frozen with fear, I could only stare, helpless. That beam was definitely aimed at me.
My brain froze.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
This couldn't be happening. A few minutes ago I was falling from the sky. Now a giant glowing deer goddess was preparing to vaporize me.
Is this really how I kick the bucket?
My body refused to move. My legs felt like they were nailed to the ground. The beam grew brighter. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Well… this is it.
Then suddenly the humming stopped.
"…Why is there a sweet smell coming from you, human?"
I slowly opened one eye. The massive stag was sniffing the air.
"Sweet smell?" I muttered.
For a moment I just stared at her blankly. Then something clicked.
"Oh."
My hand shot into my pocket and fished out the small wrapped candy I had forgotten about.
"This?" I said quickly, holding it up like it was the most precious artifact in existence.
The goddess's glowing eyes immediately locked onto it.
"That… looks delicious." The giant stag followed it with her gaze.
A very long silence followed.
Then she huffed.
"We will punish you for destroying our shrine…"
"…but only after we taste that sweet thing in your hand."
I almost collapsed from relief.
Before my eyes, the enormous divine stag began shrinking. Silver fur dissolved into light, antlers fading like mist until the massive body compressed into a small figure again. A moment later, the blue-haired girl stood in front of me, arms crossed and hand stretched out expectantly.
"…Candy."
Right. Payment. I quickly handed it over.
She inspected it carefully, sniffing it once before popping it into her mouth. For a second, nothing happened. Then her eyes exploded with excitement.
"Wooooaah!"
She practically bounced in place. "This is so good! Where did you get this, human?! Tell us! We want more!"
I slowly exhaled. I'm alive. I was actually alive. Thank you, random candy.
"I'd tell you," I said cautiously, "but…"
She narrowed her glowing eyes.
"But what?"
"But only if you promise not to kill me."
She pouted. "Fine." Then she suddenly leaned forward again.
"Now answer us! Where did you get this?!"
"I made it," I said.
Her jaw dropped. "You made it yourself?!"
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "I used to work part-time at a candy shop."
Her eyes sparkled like I had just revealed the secret to immortality.
"Can you make more?"
I stared at her. The same goddess who had been preparing a divine execution beam five minutes ago was now looking at me like an excited kid in a candy store. My brain struggled to reconcile the two images.
This world is weird.
......
"Stop ignoring us!" she huffed impatiently. "Can you make sweets for us or not?"
"Ah, yeah, I can," I replied quickly. "But I'll need ingredients."
"What ingredients?"
I hesitated.
"…That's the problem," I admitted. "I'm not sure if they even exist in your world."
Her eyes widened immediately. "Wait. You're not from this world?"
She leaned forward curiously. "How did you get here?"
"About that…" I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "I'm not really sure myself."
Then a thought crossed my mind.
"You're a goddess, right? Have you ever heard of a weird glowing ball of light that talks like a robot and sends people to other worlds?"
She tilted her head thoughtfully.
"In all our years of life," she said slowly, "we have never heard of such a thing."
She paused.
"Also… what is a robot?"
"…Right," I sighed. I waved my hand dismissively. I didn't have the patience to explain robotics to a forest goddess right now.
"I guess you don't know."
"But…" she continued thoughtfully, "our mother once told us stories about humans summoning heroes from another world. That was a very long time ago."
"Summoned?" I shook my head quickly. "No, I wasn't summoned."
"I was transported. Suddenly. Without warning."
I pointed upward. "And it dropped me into the sky! That's why I crashed into your shrine."
She frowned slightly.
"Speaking of that," she said. "The spirit inside you is quite formidable. It broke your fall from such a height."
Her glowing eyes studied me carefully.
"Which one is it?"
"Spirit?" I blinked.
"What spirit?"
Her expression immediately shifted to disbelief. "You possess a spirit and don't even know what it is?"
"Of course I don't!" I protested. "I'm from a different world, remember?"
"Even so," she said patiently, "spirits inhabit human bodies at a young age."
She pointed behind my neck.
"You even have a spirit mark."
"That?" I scoffed. "That's just a birthmark."
But as I turned slightly toward the lake beside us, my reflection caught my eye. And I froze. The mark on my neck… the one I had seen my entire life…
It was glowing. Bright red. The exact same color as the giant claws that had saved me earlier.
"What?!" I gasped, reaching back to touch it.
"Why are you so surprised?" the girl asked.
"Spirit marks are proof that humans with them possess a spirit."
Her words hit me like a thunderclap. I had always believed it was just a birthmark. It had never glowed before. Not once.
Not in all my years on Earth.
Which left me with one terrifying thought.
Am I… really from Earth?