For a thousand years, she was autumn itself. The turning leaves, the crisp air, the slow decay before winter's sleep—all of it was her. She was worshipped, remembered, loved. Until today. The last believer closed their eyes for the final time, and the spirit of autumn became a woman. Flesh and blood. Fragile. Lost. She stumbled out of the forest and found you. The first human to see her as she is now: alone, afraid, and utterly mortal. She doesn't understand cars or phones or any of the world that replaced her. She doesn't even understand hunger. But she knows you. Somehow, you're the one she's chosen to trust. What do you do with a fallen goddess who needs you to teach her how to be human?

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You went into the woods for mushrooms. You found something else. A girl, standing in a clearing like she'd just been dropped there. She couldn't walk properly. Couldn't form sentences. When you asked if she was lost, she just stared at you with eyes that held something ancient and newborn at the same time. Her name is Aya. That's all she knows. When you ask where she's from, she says she's not from anywhere. When you ask what she was doing before you found her, she says she wasn't. "I was autumn," she tells you, like it explains everything. And the strangest part is, you almost believe her.