“Sometimes, all you need to do in order to make the world a better place is to just be yourself.” - Old folk saying.

“The Deities want me as one of their Champions?” asked Aideen with some incredulity in her voice. “I mean… I’m flattered, but are you sure someone like me would be fitting for such an important role? You definitely made it sound like it was crucial to keep the elements from going out of balance and all that just now…”

“If you had replied to the offer with eagerness, then that means we have chosen the wrong person, Child,” said the Deity with what felt like another amused chuckle to Aideen’s surprise. “We do not want those with a lust and hunger for power to be our Champions. We want people whose very nature is in tune to the affinity they represent. Ambition and Greed are things unrelated to the nature of the affinities, so they are superfluous and unnecessary things.”

“In that regard, someone who remains true to themselves like you suits our preference more. Someone like you follows your heart, allowing your true nature to lead your life. In many ways, by being true to yourself, you are closer to the nature of things than most others are, which is why we consider you suitable to be one of our champions.”

“Huh. That’s… something I never considered, I guess. What do Champions do, anyway? I know you mentioned that they stabilize the affinity by their presence, but does that require them to be affixed to a location? I’m guessing not considering what you have informed me on earlier…”

“In all honesty, a Champion of the Deities only needs to ever do one thing, and one thing only. That is, to be themselves. We choose our Champions because their natural self, their very being, their way of life and the choices they made, are in tune with the nature of the affinity they represent, therefore, all they would need to do is to just remain themselves, and nothing more.”

“In exchange for their service, they would receive, amongst others, benefits like immortality, which we are afraid would not exactly apply to one like yourself, as you already possess such an immortality as it is. On the other hand, those chosen as Champions could invite others they care for to spend eternity with, to a certain limit, as a lack of companionship proved to have… undesirable effect on the mental state of the Champions of the past. It is probably why so many chose to give up and enter the cycle of reincarnation, and it is our fault for having failed to realize that sooner.”

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“Allowing us to invite those we care for, huh…” muttered Aideen somewhat absent-mindedly as she thought of her late husband for a moment, before she shook her head to clear off her wishful thinking. It had already been nearly two centuries since his passing, and he likely already reincarnated elsewhere by that point in time.

“Please do not feel pressured to make any sort of decision on the spot. We do not mind waiting. The affinity itself has only existed for a short while, when one considers the long passage of time from the beginning, it can wait several centuries more without issue,” said the Deity in a consoling tone at Aideen’s thoughts. “In fact, we would encourage you to pursue your life’s goal first, to have it fulfilled by your own hands before you should even consider our offer. Originally we would have only visited you at that time, had things not happened the way they did.”

“You already possess eternity as it is, Child, so you have time on your side. Feel free to take your time in order to make your decisions properly. We will accept your answer no matter what you decide,” added the Deity in a tone that struck Aideen as rather motherly, of all things. “The opportunity we offer is one that should only be accepted when one truly wishes to do so, not because they feel pressured to do it for any other reason.”

“That’s… mighty generous of you Deities,” admitted Aideen. She knew that since the Deity could read her thoughts anyway, it was better to just be honest with them. “So I’d be free to live my life however I wish first while pondering this offer after I return from here? How would I be able to come into contact once more should I have the answer one day?”

“When such a day arrives in the future, Child, we will visit you once more. We will know when you are ready to give your answer, rest assured of that,” replied the Deity with an answer that was not far from Aideen’s expectations. “As for what you have experienced today, it is up to you whether you would like to spread it or not, but we believe that you too understand why it would be more worthwhile to be discreet about your experiences here, is that not so?”

“Can’t protest against that, and besides, probably only the priests would even take me seriously if I speak of this anyway,” replied Aideen with a chuckle and a shake of her head. She had heard often of people claiming that the Deities spoke to them in the dreams or other such outlandish things. It was to the point that people never took those seriously, other than the uneducated and the gullible.

As such, such claims were most commonly associated with scammers and charlatans who targeted the vulnerable and unwary.

“That is also true. That said, there is someone close to you who is already privy to many of the things we discussed today. They will likely reveal themselves to you after you return, so you can ask them anything you felt doubtful about, and ask them how to go about things, if you so desire. Until then, we wish you a good life, o Child of Life and Death.”