"After you left, this was how I lived, trying to become a new kind of god, a god different from God."
A basket appeared in her hand. The girl placed strawberries inside, occasionally popping a few straight into her mouth, yet there was no joy on her face, only repression.
"No commandments, no Immolation, no great fires, no floods. I don't want to punish anyone, and I don't care how people see me."
"In truth, my future Goddess, most people don't even know you exist."
Lucifer, disguised as a farmer, played around for a while. After picking a few strawberries, he lost interest. He liked dealing with humans, not crops.
"Michael isn't dead yet. If he were dead, then you would become God, just as God arranged. So we still have time—time that belongs to you."
"That is truly terrible news. Even though I already knew it, it still makes me depressed." The girl rolled her eyes, not at all grateful that her uncle had reminded her of this while she was happy. "Those are all things I don't want to know, things I should have made you forget."
"If you really did that, then you would be no different from God." Lucifer draped an arm around the girl's shoulders and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. "And we both know you're different from him. He's a monster. You aren't."
"Lucky you, my fallen uncle. So you already know the answer. I'm not God. I won't interfere with the matter of the Silent Gods. Though I very much want to help humanity, I have an agreement with Grandfather. As long as he lives, I will remain neutral, just like him."
The girl blinked and gave her refusal once more. She had no intention of revealing even the