One of Us
A god among us? Everyday Scenes #1
When Aester was forced out of Olympus, she never expected to mesh well with the lower world. It was easy to scoff at the silly humans from up above, easy to laugh at their mistakes when she herself was not among them. Yet in the midst of the tangible world, her humor lost its ring, instead, twisting into cruelty.
She was no stranger to unfairness. She herself served as the water maid to the Gods, heeding their every call. Yet no one afforded her grace, and she was cast down from the heavens without a second thought.
One of her comforts was that, as a heavenly being, she was therefore better than the people around her. Human imperfections seemed so trivial, so petty.
And yet, the longer she lived among them the more she became sympathetic. The farmer’s plight moved her like it never had before. She wouldn’t deign so far as to call herself “one of them”, but Aester certainly knew what it felt like to want approval.
After all, that had been her own situation. Until that approval was so quickly withdrawn, carried away as a puff of smoke in the wind.
The only difference between her and the mortals was that she’d seen what she was seeking approval from, what they were seeking approval from. She knew definitively in their existence.
And yet, a piece of her felt jealous of the blind faith, the ability to believe in the best qualities of her former employers.
Maybe then would she truly be one of them.
