I accepted that Keru and me couldn't be together and that I probably never would see her again, but I hopped that she was happy in her new life.
I was totally unprepared for a man appearing out of nowhere and garbing me by my throat asking me what I did to prevent Keru from concentrating on her lessons on how to be a good goddess.
I was slowly suffocating, the human-looking being slowly strangling me. I didn't know why Keru couldn't concentrate or if I somehow was responsible. Hell, before that I didn't even knew Keru had difficulty! But I doubted whatever god was strangling me really cared about the answer, anyway.
Before I could loose consciousness, I saw a bright flash and heard Keru furious voice. "KOM! RELEASE RICK IMMEDIATELY!"
"But Keru! I'm just want you to learn about your powers and duties, unperturbed. That's why I'm killing that insignificant nuisance!"
"Insignificant nuisance? Insignificant nuisance?!? HE'S MY HUSBAND! MY BETTER HALF!! MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER!!! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!!" And on that she cut his arm, releasing me. On a blink she was at my side. "Rick! Are you okay?"
I tried to answer, wanting say I was okay, that a goddess shouldn't worry about me, but all that come out of my mouth was blood. Her hand hovered over my throat and a soft light slowly knitted it back, making me healthy again.
"You saved him?!? Why did you do that? He's just a mortal! You are a goddess, a being far above his comprehension!!!"
Keru snorted. "He may not be able to truly understand me anymore, but he doesn't need to. Because even through it pained him that we couldn't be together anymore, he still wished me good luck, still hoped I was happy. All ‘simple and unimportant’ mortal that he is, he still care about me. I can't say the same about my fellow gods, and especially not you."
"Of course I care about you, Keru! We all do!"
"No you don't. No god ever ask me how I felt or what I want. All you do is berate me for my poor learning skills or my attachment to mortals. And you, you Kom, even tried to have sex with me without letting me know that when two gods have sex together they fuse into a new entity. And when I still refused? You tried to rape me, not caring that who we would have fused into would have hated themselves to the point of self-annihilation. If that's how gods act, then I don't want to be one." And she started to extract all the divine power out of herself.
"Keru STOP! A mortal body can't support a divine mind! You'll kill yourself!!!" Shouted Kom.
"Being dead is still better… Than being a goddess…" Answered my wife before looking at me "I'll wait for you in the afterlife… my love." The last strand of life left her body while a final, content smile appeared on her face.
I openly cried, Keru's lifeless body in my arms, not caring how Kom will react. A faint part of me wondered how I could explain what happened and how the kitsunes were going to proceed.