A newborn deity floated in space, drifting aimlessly through the expanse without direction; they took in the sights the universe had to offer, admiring the celestial bodies and star clusters. The flickering of different colored stars illuminated the distance into a rainbow of color.

“I feel odd.” She said to herself, “I think something is wrong.” He added as she furrowed her brow.

She raised her hands and stared at them, struggling to tell if they were young or old; from certain angles, they were smooth like a child; from others, they seemed worn like someone in their final years. Her drunken eyes fluttered as she struggled to understand where she was, her mind filling with memories of lives she assumed to be hers.

“I think these are mine, but they don’t match. How can I have reached old age more than once?” She asked as her head started to throb with pain. Grasping at her temples, she began to moan, then slowly, it became a scream as the well of memories consumed her. She started to cry as lives passed by her eyes; with each passing face, she felt a new emotion that continued to overwhelm her, adding to the mountain of emotions already burying her. Right as she reached her threshold, there was a deep siren, then, out of nowhere, a rusted ship appeared in the space before her; she could barely see it through the tears that flowed from her eyes, slowly drifting from her face and freezing. She reached out to the boat with one arm and held her stomach.

“Please, help.” She groaned as another deity stepped from the boat; lifting her up, he took her onto the ship, laying her down on a bed.

“I am sorry young one, but you will just have to endure what is happening; it will be over soon, and you will remember who you are.” His voice was coarse but calming.

Laying her down, he wandered back off the boat, took the frozen tears, and placed them into a jar. The sounds of the newly born deity resonated from his boat; he sighed as he slowly made his way back on board, waiting patiently for her to stop screaming. He sat next to her and slowly stroked her head. She curled up to him and gripped tightly onto his shirt, tearing another hole into it. He kept the jar of frozen tears below her and caught each one as it formed.

“It hurts.” She screamed.

“I know, child, we all do it, and this moment will never leave you; no matter how long you live, you will always remember it.”

“I don’t want to; it is too much; I want to forget!” She continued as she squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could.

“Shh, it will be over soon. Then you will understand and revisit this pain as if it were an old friend.” The man said softly, trying his hardest to calm her down.

The hours rolled by, and he consoled her every time she requested to forget; every time she begged for it to end, he told her that what she was experiencing was beautiful. The pain started to fade as the memories slowed, and she was left exhausted, lying half in bed and half on the man’s lap. He gently took her and placed her in the bed before returning to his spot at the helm; staring at his boat, there was a crackling of energy, and they disappeared.

The newborn deity slowly came back to consciousness, her head calm, memories no longer flooding her mind. She was finally able to move. She coiled her nose at the sight of the ship; the exposed innards boasted rust and warped supports, and her bead was stained with oil and tainted by rust that had fallen from the ceiling. The floor had no floor, just exposed hulls and ribs of metal designed to support the floorboards that it was lacking. She gingerly stepped from the bed and balanced across the metal ribs through the only door available. Glancing out the window, she watched as millions of asteroids surrounded the boat.

“Finally awake ae?” The man called out as he spied her standing in the doorway.

“I, where are we?”

“More importantly.” The man said as he sat down facing the newborn deity. “Who are you?” He said, pointing with a smile.

The newborn deity smirked at the question. “Well, that is obvious, I am, I’m… me.” Her smirk faded, and she concentrated as hard as she could.

“I am Alendra.” He said with a gentle tone. “And you are?”

“I am… Soldier.” She said cautiously, taking a deep inhalation through her nose looked back up at Alendra with certainty. “I am Soier; it is a pleasure to meet you, Alendra.”

Alendra widened his eyes in surprise.

“Woah, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone compose themselves that fast after such an intense rebirth.”

“I am sorry, did you say rebirth?” Soier said, dropping her composure.

“Yup, You, my curly-haired friend, have lived and died many times; now you have been reborn as a god. Congratulations.”

“Wait, so you have been following me all my life?”

“Well, actually…”

“Are you god? Are you everyone’s god, or just my own? If you are my god, why didn’t you know my name? Why do you have this boat? Where in the universe are we? Are we still in a universe? Is this heaven?” As Soier’s breath ran out, she gasped heavily. “Are we in hell?”

“Woah, you need to calm down, kiddo; that is a lot to answer. Give me one question.”

“I want to know the answers to all of them and more.”

“That is fine, and in time you will get those answers. But for now, let’s pick one.”

 Soier scrunched up her face and hummed to herself before opening her mouth slowly.

“The first one, have you been following me my whole life?”

Alendra smiled and relaxed back into his seat.

“No.”

“Then how…”

“Did I know?” Alendra interrupted. “Well, it is because all gods have to go through the cycle of life many times before they are born as a god. You would have lived as everything from a small cell to a proto-life through to massive multi-celled creatures, and your final form would be a creature capable of advanced self-actualization, otherwise known as higher sentience. Most of these seem to be bipedal hairless creatures who can learn quickly.”

Soier scratched at her head as she looked around the boat, examining the rust-covered walls.

“Second question, sort of. Why are you in a boat if we are floating in space? If we really are floating in space.”

Alendra laughed as he adjusted his seat.

“Yes, we are in space; I will allow you to sneak that second question in.” Soier grinned back to Alendra with pride. “I am in this boat because a very long time ago, I used to live in this boat, back in one of my past lives. Now I like to use it to get around the Eterna-verse. I don’t need it, but it makes me feel at home.”

“Then why is it so rusty? Were you homeless or something.”

“Yeah, I was; I snuck into abandoned docks and lived in their derelict boats when I was a mortal.”

“Then why live like this? Why not live on a big boat with beds, food, and staff?”

“What a wonderful Idea,” Alendra yelled, standing up. He waved his hands, and the boat started to creak and change. “Let us spruce up this old bucket of bolts.” He continued as the rust on the walls peeled from existence. The room they were in turned into an enormous ballroom with white walls and chandeliers; Alendra led Soier to the top deck, where they looked over the several tiers of the super yacht. Wait staff lined the walls, and there was a smell of fresh fruit and high-class kitchens drifting through the air.

“Yeah, like this; why not live like this?” Soier asked as she tried to explore, but before she knew it, the boat returned to the same old rusty mess. She turned around with an expression that begged the question why?

“I don’t live that because it does not make me feel good. These rusty walls are home to me; they sheltered me through some of the worst storms on my planet. Holes were ripped in her hull, and parts fell away, but she always had room for me to stay. It is not glamorous, but it is home.”

“That is dumb; I would live in a palace if I was you, with all your wooshing powers.” Soiers eyes lit up, and she turned back to Alendra. “Since I am a god, will I be able to do all those cool things?” She asked, waving her arms around.

“Eventually, you might want to figure out some more basic abilities first.”

Soier seemed disappointed and tapped a rusty beam with her foot.

“Why are you here?”

“What a good question, Soier. I am here because I like to help newborn gods find their way. Being thrown into a universe with nothing but the clothes on your back can be hard. So, naturally, I spend my time helping others.”

“Like me?”

“Just like you.”

“I think that is an excellent thing to do; I always believed in helping others when I lived on Earth. That is the name of the planet I came from. Have you heard of it?”

Alendra shook his head. “The Eterna-verse is a big place; it is impossible to know everywhere.”

“What is the Eterna-verse?”

“Well, that one is a little complicated. Since there are so many universes and multi-verses, pocket dimensions, and other realms, we group them all under the name Eterna-vere. Because no matter how many universes collapse or pocket dimensions burn out, there will always be one constant, the Eternal-universe.”

“Oh woah, that is cool. That is so cool. Can you explore them? Can I explore them?”

“You can go anywhere you want to go, do whatever you want to do. You are free to be yourself.”

“I think I want to help people like you.”

“People or gods?”

“Oh.” Soier chuckled. “I want to help gods, people, animals, and everyone.”

“That is a big task; if you want, you can come to help me help so more newborn gods like you. On the way, I can teach you how to grow, and you can help others too.”

“That would be amazing, can I…” Soier’s attention was grabbed as she spied the jar of frozen tears; picking it up, she listened to them clink against the glass. “These are my tears; why did you save them?”

Alendra turned back to the ship’s wheel, pointing to a door that suddenly appeared.

“That is your room; I hope you enjoy figuring out the many mysteries of the Eterna-verse.”