Before now, she was a woman in her late sixties, all her hair was gray, her back was bent, her joints were arthritic and years of breathing fumes from the kitchen had given her an acute case of pain, and coughing spells, and the local doctor had given her a few years to live.
All of that had disappeared a few days while in heaven, her youth returned and her hair turned black, the libido she had that had gone away for decades returned in a rush, and she was now six months pregnant, yet she still felt as healthy as an eighteen years old.
Dera did not know the father, but she did not care, as a woman of seventy years of age, she had gone beyond such social norms.
She learned that their lifespan had been increased to 140 years, double the amount of time given to a mortal, and their children would live even longer, and this trend would continue until everyone who worships the greatest of gods would live forever.
Also, there were rumors that those who were truly loyal to God would be called up to become one with the Angels, they would live forever, and their glory would never fade.
[What Rowan would have found amusing was that this sentiment was not far off from the truth, he was truly going to be watching and selecting the best mortals to merge with his Angels on the day of their death or even after they died. Their souls would inevitably come to him and he would decide whether to consume them or merge them with an Angel, their flesh was not needed for this process.]
She did not see the allure of living forever when she was a youth, but as age and sickness weighed her down as time passed, she understood the necessities of youth, a gift most would never appreciate until it was gone.
Dera no longer ran just a tavern but also a nursery for the kids, and recently she had found herself focused more on the kids than the tavern for a simple reason; it was impossible to make her customers drunk!
This was a seemingly stupid reason, but it was very important, as she could as well be serving her customers water.
Fermentation of wine was possible, everything grew quickly here and was very flavourful, every grape she had tasted was so delicious, that she found herself moaning with each bite, the wine made from it was also spectacular, but due to the same reason she was becoming younger, their bodies would quickly process away the alcohol.
There was potent alcohol of course, but those were filled with an enormous amount of Aether that their grapes could not yet contain. Although each generation of grapes that were harvested inside the Divine Kingdom was slowly getting better at absorbing and keeping Aether inside them, for now, there were no feasible methods for the people here to become drunk.
'There is also no reason to.' Dera thought. 'Everything a mortal could have ever wanted could be found here, safety, food, shelter, entertainment… What more could they ask for? There was no strife or wars, no currency, no rich or poor, everyone lived their lives knowing they were in heaven and it was enough.'
She had slowly found herself leaning towards educating the young inside their communities, a task that was giving her q great sense of pride and joy, and it was for the children that she was carrying the loaves of bread over for them to feed.
Dera had spent hours making each batch until they were perfect, having a long and carefree life meant you could place more time on doing the things you love.
Suddenly she felt a deep longing inside her, it was a feeling that was impossible to describe, but the closest she could call it was like approaching an orgasm at a breakneck speed, yet it was still rapidly receding away, it was like chasing a high you could never catch.
Her soul was released from her body and her body collapsed like a broken marionette, tumbling down the stairs, and nearly breaking her neck in the process. It was a good thing that her physique was now stronger, as that saved her from certain fractures.
The entire sounds from more than twenty thousand people who were partaking in their daily activities disappeared at once, but a short while later, every soul returned to their place.
The confused people would gather for a while in fear and astonishment before prayers and sacrifices were made to their god until they were assured of his mercy by the newly awakened Spell Weaver Diane and everything settled.
Although this event would ever remain a mystery among the mortals.
®
Circe and the lightning Kirin were inside the Trion Empire controlled territories and were on a planet called Booze Palace.
No one knew who exactly owned this planet, maybe one of the gods of Trion, most likely it was Bacchus, but it was famous as a place where you could find any sort of beverage in the galaxy, and even beyond the galaxy, there were also rumors that some special places here also had drinks that could not be found even inside this universe.
Although no one would believe those claims, even the gods themselves had not touched the edges of the universe, of course not everybody knew of beings such as the Chaos Door Labaletai who could effortlessly open portals between many universes.
The main selling point for this place however was the fact that it was a place that was safe, as all forms of violence were forbidden.
The owner of this planet was very powerful, and anyone who had broken this rule had been executed without any scruples.
The Lightning Kirin had been coming to this place for a while now and was familiar with the location to get the best drinks on this planet, and it skillfully maneuvered Circe through the crowd and all the other establishments that made this place home and business.
The bar Circe found herself in was not exactly the best looking but it was very neat, the patrons were sitting at their tables holding concoctions of various colors and quietly nursing them. The bar had only two floors, and the first floor held close to fifty tables and at least half of those were occupied.
