Eleven females stared back, none as confused as Ginny herself. All carried themselves with the weight of responsibility.
They seemed quite comfortable with their surroundings. Some smiled at one another knowingly.
Others remained quite serious.
And still, others seemed unfazed by the entire ordeal.
Ginny heaved. Words could not cover the spectrum of shock that reverberated across her body.
A single member, with brown hair pulled into tight twin pigtails, approached while the others watched. She patted Ginny on the back. "Hi."
"Where are my children?" Ginny immediately demanded, pulling herself back together as quickly as she had fallen apart. The woman again patted her.
"I imagine that this is rather difficult for you to take in."
"Where are they?" The braided woman lifted her hands.
"You must hear me out."
"Not until you tell me where my children are."
The woman crossed her arms bluntly. It was obvious that she was not one for verbal games. "We are your children. Sort of. I was getting to that. I am Taurus. The rest of my siblings go by Cancer, Gemini, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Carpicorn."
Water. She must have water.
A large tree shook forbiddingly in a rare desert wind. "How can you possibly be...?"
Taurus responded with flourish. "Let it not be said that your prayers fell on silent ears. The patient goddess Laetitia answered your cries for mercy in a way befitting of her plan."
Wasn't Laetitia that minor goddess rumored to not even exist? "Plan?" she instead inquired, not wishing to insult her benefactor.
"It is a plan to save the human race as we know it. And you are crucial to its success."
"How so?" Easily enthralled by her daughter's tone of major authority, Ginny felt rather embarrassed that she could not think of more poetic probes.
Taurus yawned, and recited her spiel as if it had been practiced, word for word."We were initially created from the fabric of Laetitia's robes, quilted into your body with the utmost care. You were among the chosen few on this miserable planet who remained uncorrupted by the goddess' gifts. Your pureness of heart made you the perfect incubator for a new breed of goddesses. As our vessel on to this moral plane, your good temperament has split evenly into each of us and mixed with our individual talents to create the ultimate army of good. Shortly, we shall depart to separate parts of the continent to spread our help in whatever way necessary - under the protection of the goddess, of course."
Her head uncomfortably spun with the new information. A few days ago, she had been a simple housewife. Today, she was the harbinger of a new age.
"And what about that one child?"
All eyes turned the direction of Ginny's gaze.
A sister had picked up the baby, examining it closely.
"It appears to be Virgo," she finally shouted to Taurus.
"Why hasn't she aged like the rest of you?" Ginny wondered when she could come to the end of these questions.
Taurus shrugged. This inquiry was obviously was not in her script. "Good question. A late bloomer, perhaps."
"Give her to me."
The daughter obliged, handing the child to its mother. Carefully, Ginny pushed a hand through the child's wispy hair.
"And when are you to leave?"
"Immediately."
It occurred to Ginny that it should have hurt, being simply used by the goddess as a biological oven, without even so much as a chance to learn about her children, but the baby in her arms had quickly become her entire world.
And she wanted to share it with someone special.
---
Next chapter
1 comments
Wow! That's intense! I cannot imagine. I am hooked on your story. The daughters are all very beautiful. I like the astrological signs names. :)
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