Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Thank you, My Lady," said the girl, giving one last curtsy as Wu Bai Hee dismissed her for the day. "I hope you enjoy your dinner!"

"How could I not when you are the one to make it?" chuckled Wu Bai Hee as she watched the girl no more than 12 years old running out of the condo. Turning her attention to the table with the food on it, she walked over and picked up the plate. Logically, she knew that it was all edible food on it, but for the life of her, she could not figure out what it was.

In the center of the plate was a stew or a thick soup of some kind, with chucks of something that may or may not be vegetables swimming in a red sauce and a tiny piece of bread on the side. There was no rice, no meat, no nothing on the plate that looked even remotely appetizing. And worst of all, she knew that this was the best the city had to offer because she was the one to implant it into everyone's head that she deserved only the best the city had to offer.

Sneering in disgust, she then went to the sink and threw the meal down the drain, pulling apart the bread so that it could fit better and not cause anything to clog up. She took her time cleaning the plate and sink, making sure that there would be no sign of the food left anywhere. 

"Do you know she thinks of you as the kind Goddess?" asked the woman who appeared in the middle of Wu Bai Hee's condo.

Turning around, Wu Bai Hee gave a curtsy of her own to the woman in front of her. "There is only one true Goddess, and I am looking at her," said Wu Bai Hee softly, her head bowed down. 

Demeter scoffed at the mortal in front of her. "Be careful that you don't start believing your own con," she warned the woman and watched as the mask on the mortal's face seemed to melt in front of her. "Much better."

"Why are you here?" asked Wu Bai Hee, going to sit down in one of the chairs. Just as she was about to approach it, the chair moved a fraction of an inch. Just enough to let her know that sitting down in it was not a good idea. 

Rolling her eyes, she stood before the Goddess.

"Am I not allowed here?" scoffed Demeter. "I am here to tell you that I am losing patience with you."

"I am sorry," responded Wu Bai Hee quickly, looking at the ground. It was not her fault Liu Wei, and the others seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth.  She had sent scouts out for two years now, and not one had come back with any information. "I think the woman with Liu Wei is dead if that is any consolation."

"You think she is dead? Just because you send people out to find her, and they can't? I will tell you right now that she is alive and well. Both of which were your responsibility to ensure didn't happen," said Demeter, looking around the condo. "Instead, you have set yourself up with quite the little con here, haven't you? All the humans in City A think of you as some kind of saint when, in fact, you would cheerfully throw them to the zombies if it benefited you."

"Yes, well, there are two types of people in this world. Those born to rule and those born to be ruled," smiled Wu Bai Hee as she studied her nails. "It is their honor to be of use to me."

"You really believe that, don't you?" laughed Demeter, and, with a wave of her hand, she transported Wu Bai Hee and herself into a desecrated alley. 

The Goddess pointed to a creature huddled in a corner, its thin clothes doing nothing to protect it from the crisp autumn wind. "What about her? Does she really seem like she is capable of ruling anyone? Or do you think she enjoys being rules instead?" asked Demeter as a man walked up to the huddled mass and, grabbing it by the hair, started to pull it away from its corner and down into yet another, darker corner.

Screams rose from the darkness, the creature pleading with everything it had but unable to form even a single word. Its cries and screams continued for hours until its voice gave out. Wu Bai Hee tried to back away, but Demeter held her arm in a death grip, her fingers digging into the other woman's flesh.

After some time had passed, the man walked out of the shadows, whistling a happy tune, while the creature crawled across the dirt and went back into its corner. It lifted its gaze as if able to see Demeter and Wu Bai Hee, meeting the other woman's eyes. 

Shuddering, Wu Bai Hee looked down at the ground, refusing to look into the eyes that were an exact copy of her own.

Demeter let out a chuckle, and all of a sudden, the alley disappeared, and the two women were back in the bright, beautiful condo that Wu Bai Hee called home.

"Find my son, find Li Dai Lu and her men," commanded Demeter as she stood up and brushed the wrinkles from her skirts. "If you don't, I will send you back to that alleyway, and you can remember exactly how it felt to be ruled."

Demeter, Goddess of agriculture, harvest, and fertility, disappeared just as the lock on the front door turned, and Zhao Jun Jie strolled into the living room. 'Oh, and congratulations,' came a voice inside of Wu Bai Hee's head, causing her to stiffen. 'You are expecting a little boy. Zhao Jun Jie has been praying so hard; how could I not answer his calls?'

Zhao Jun Jie strolled into the condo just as the last of Demeter's words echoed in Wu Bai He's mind. "I missed you," he said, pulling her into his arms and giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "How was your day?"

It took Wu Bai Hee a few minutes to respond to him after having that bomb dropped on her. "Just fine," she said with a strained smile. "How was yours? That is the more important question."