Chapter 7
by 
Jim_jones
What form does her punishment take?
Around the town, people suddenly start to shrink
John looks around, and sees several people have suddenly started to shrink, recognising them mostly as bullies in the town.
Still reeling from the shock of seeing his mayor disappear, he’s surprised as everything around seems to grow a bit. Confused, he realises that it’s not everything else that’s growing, but him that’s shrinking. John’s not the only one affected by this sudden curse, looking around, he spots Emil, Finn, and Osric, a trio of bullies also shrinking down. He dimly recalls that they used to bully the shortest girl he knew, and figure that perhaps this is just a bit of divine retribution finally come to get them. Although he can’t figured out what he’s done to deserve to shrink himself.
Still slowly shrinking, John decides to return home, figuring he’d rather not potentially dwindle away to nothing where everyone can see. With a bit more effort than usual, he closes the door behind him and slides the bolt into place, the ungreased bolt making a satisfying clunk sound as it stops. With a moment to breathe, he pauses and finds that the shrinking has mercifully finally stopped. Using his meagre furnishings as a reference John estimates that he has lost somewhere around 11 inches of height leaving him exactly 5 feet tall.
Finding that this ordeal has taken a lot out of him and still feeling slightly crushed by the presence of the Goddess, he stumbles to the small kitchen on the side of the single room, grabbing a mug and filling it with water. As he greedily gulps down the sweet cool liquid, he allows some to splash on his face in a vain attempt to wake from this nightmare. Disappointingly, he merely finds himself even wider awake but notices at least that his clothes seem to have shrunk with him. Looking to the far wall at the small selection of other garments confirms that the rest of his wardrobe has shrunk too. Praising the Goddess for this small mercy, he begins to pace back and forth, the overwhelming presence of the Goddess fading away and allowing him to think straight again.
John pushes aside thoughts of where she may have gone from his mind, focusing on the issue at hand. As he does, he spots an out of place scrap of paper on the dining table. His interest piqued as he carefully lifts it up and reads it.
If you are reading this, I have given up my powers. I know not if I will remain aware of what was, or if that young Saethryda girl will have wiped my memory of who I was. If so, know that you used to be me, all powerful God of the universe, but have passed the torch to experience life under another’s thumb. Hopefully this new world will prove enjoyable, and the new Goddess makes interesting changes.
Having only a short time left as my power moves into Her, I have set up a way out if you so desire. The new Goddess will not be aware of this, but a safeguard left by the device that brought you here is now available. If you focus, you should be able to recall the location of a cave where I have left an artifact of great power, shielded from Her gaze. This artifact will allow you to transcend Her power. Should you wish to reclaim your position from Her, simply travel to this cave and reclaim your place in the divine hierarchy.
John rereads the note, shocked and confused he turns it over to see if there is more written on the back but finds only blank white paper. He doesn’t fully comprehend what the note is suggesting, from a young age he’s been raised knowing the Goddess as the one and only creator of all that is. But if what he’s just read is true then he can replace her?
What does our new mortal do?
