“So, let me get this straight. Kargryxmor wanted an otherworlder to do something for him, and, as you are his origin god, he had to go through you for the okay. You then went to Goddess Plesia for her permission to reincarnate me to this world?” I repeated what Aurena just explained to me.
“That is correct. Kargryxmor is the God of Dragons, but he has lost control over them through the years. The true dragons are supposed to act as defenders for Peolynca, but they have succumbed to slothfulness,” Aurena added to my words, shrugging as she responded. “However, the fool only has himself to blame for his waning faith. Your role was to be his ‘avatar,’ his representative to fix his problem. Your birth location, the Belzac forest, was unintended. You were supposed to be born in the land of the dragons with your Peolyncian parents. Technically, you shouldn’t even be born yet; you should have hatched as a C rank.”
“…So, that whole Belzac forest time wasn’t some trial or tough love, huh? You do know I nearly died five times there, right? Say what you want about me now, but back then, I wasn’t prepared. You told me in that missive that you saw my memories, so couldn’t you have-! Argh! Verdammt. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Kobolds nearly caught me on the first day of my second life, those garms nearly turned me into a meal, I nearly died during my match with the garm matriarch, I got shot by that troll cannon thing, and then I fought against an A rank monster when I was vastly underpowered and under-geared. Those were the times where I nearly died.
I was a young city girl without any survival training, who was forced into a situation where I shouldn’t have survived. I shouldn’t even have experienced all of that! I honestly thought I was gonna go insane in that fucking place, if I even survived long enough! If I hadn’t remembered my dream from my past life, I don’t think I would have had the determination to continue after dropping down into that cave.
I didn’t know why I nearly blew up in her face. Sure, when I was in the Belzac forest all alone I was frustrated, I couldn’t accept the reality of the situation. I didn’t want to live in a dog-eat-dog world like that. I didn’t want to become the person I currently was but…if I hadn’t, my dream wouldn’t have finally come true.
…I died. I was given a second chance. I have made good friends here. I am an Idol.
Unfazed by my emotional outburst, Aurena kept her smile up and spoke to me softly, “I understand, Hestia. These words cannot excuse your tribulations, but Kargryxmor and I were surprised that you survived. You were unlucky and were born prematurely as a G rank dragon, but you prevailed through this; just a look at your status board is evidence enough. We gods cannot intervene in every single matter; we are observers and guiders.”
“I mean, considering how Shiterno changed my status board, you could have thrown me a bone, Goddess Aurena. Still, I am thankful you listened to my prayer back then,” I admitted to her, thanking her for what she did for Rajah. “…But, I presume you weren’t too happy when he did that to your ‘champion?’ I don’t know much about gods and goddesses, but I do know I would get angry if someone were to harm something ‘mine.’”
Aurena broke her smile, looking as if she was jokingly angry as she held up a finger to scold me, “Now, now, Hestia. Regardless of your opinion on him, Elder Danterno is an Origin God. Your life will be intertwined with the gods now, and Elder Plesia is very strict with decorum.” However, the moment she finished, she dropped her teasing persona and grew serious. “Elder Plesia is currently dealing with Elder Danterno. I do not know what his punishment will be.”
Yeah, I can hear her annoyance from the tone of her voice. I’m angry at him but this is a matter between gods, in the first place. What could I do to him, anyway?
As she wasn’t saying anything more, I nodded my head in acknowledgment and then tapped my temple. “I think we derailed a bit there. Let’s go back. You promised me in the missive you would explain why my memory is fragmented and why you even tried to erase it in the first place. You should know a bit from reading my mind that I’m really, really, anxious to know. I want to know why I can’t remember my dad, my mum, my grandparents…and how I died.”
I had to force those last words out. I needed to know. Even if my death was painful, I wanted to know.
Aurena formed a wry smile as she looked at my frown. “I have made it a habit to not read mortal’s minds after speaking with a few of my followers. Rest assured, I kept watch of you through all the humans you’ve met but not once was I even curious at your thoughts,” she replied a bit condescendingly.
Oh, come on, my thoughts are super interesting, I swear…Wait, you’re a goddess, why do I even try?
Without knowing about my complaint, Aurena continued her explanations. “Elder Crustacia once reincarnated a person from your world into ours, to great success even. Kargryxmor wanted to mimic her action to restore his faith, and, as I agreed to it, I called upon the very same outsider who performed the first soul transfer. The third person who was participated in your reincarnation.”
“There is a god responsible for souls? I thought Ilsaphone was the goddess of death, so I presumed she was the third one because of death and souls. It made sense for me,” I replied.
I thought that since Ilsaphone was the Goddess of Death, she was the third one, because of death and souls. Like Hades from Greek mythology, or Hel from the Norse myths …Geez, I think Saori is influencing me with her myth trivia.
However, at my assumption, Aurena simply shook her head, “Ilsaphone is still young for a goddess. She ensures that every soul is cleansed and is returned to Peolynca as a new life, but she has not awakened her ability to control souls yet. No, the one who brought your soul to us is somebody else, but I cannot tell you that person’s name. It is for your own safety, so banish that wish, Hestia.”
She paused for a moment to make sure I understood her, then continued, “The reason why you were reborn without most of your memories is because that person advised it, stating ‘the soul would not survive otherwise.’ Kargyxmor and I both agreed to it, as we believed if you came to be as a blank slate, you would serve our purpose better. The only memories I wanted you to still have was your desire to become an Idol. You should have noticed how [The Light] and [Idol] were specifically made for that cause.”
…So in the end, both gods still wanted me to “lose” myself, huh? The person I was now wouldn’t have existed anymore, the “Hestia” who still remembered her papa and mama would have been completely dead. That’s fucked up...
“However, those plans never came to be. You should have been reborn anew like every other mortal except with your desire to become an Idol intact; that way you would be eligible for the [Otherworldly Reincarnator] title and, as a result, have access to the SP system. Even the way you usurped the control over my blessing is still a mystery…but, truth be told, as unexpected as it was, I do prefer you like this.” The tension in Aurena’s face softened but her face contorted into a small frown, looking both wary and apologetic.
“So, in the end, you still think of me as a tool in your plan, huh? A little gadget in your grand machination…which means it must have made you angry when it happened.” My earlier calm started to give way to growing frustration. The fear from when her aura suppressed my soul, and the anger from her confession overwhelmed me, and I lashed out. “I bet you hated it when you learned you couldn’t control me. I bet you hated it when I usurped your blessing, even though I didn’t even know how I did it myself. I don’t even know how it happened with any of the blessingsI bet you hated it that you had to rely on your followers to keep watch over me instead of through your blessing like it was supposed to be!”
I stood up, slamming my hands on the table as I drew my face closer to Aurena’s, anger filling my eyes as I spat out word after word filled with the frustration I had to endure in the first months of my second life. “You knew I was vulnerable and that I wasn’t equipped to survive in that damn forest, but you still did nothing! If I had actually lost my memories, I would’ve been a fucking newborn and been quickly killed by those kobolds. The only reason why I even survived in the first place was dumb luck! Luck that my body knew how to use mana! You call me your champion but where was my support, huh? WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP ME AT ALL!”
I couldn’t praise Kargryxmor’s attempt to help me, since it came far too late. When the first wyvern escorts showed up, I had already adapted to my new life, and the second escorts was led by an asshole. What kinda help is that supposed to be? Come rescue when I was still a bloody dragon whelp, you bastards!
Sure, Aurena helped me with Rajah and his family, but giving somebody a blessing should be child’s play for a god. That piece of shit Danterno was able to change my status board like it was nothing! So why couldn’t she help me then, huh? If she was the patron goddess of the humans, then couldn’t she have sent somebody on a griffon to get me like Ellaine’s father?
“And-And now you think it is better for me to keep my memories, right? It’s just because of how much the follower counter for [The Light] has grown that you’re okay now. If I was still stuck in that fucking forest all depressed from my situation, I bet you would have either given up on me or have told Kargryxmor to do your dirty work.” My hands clenched on the table with all my might, which should have broken by now, but this was a god’s table. “I’ll be straight with you! I want to punch you in the face right now! My strength and abilities are because of my own hard work, not because of those titles you gave me! I want to use all of those things to- I want to use all of them to-I-I-I want to…tch!”
If what Aurena said was correct, then I should be only a soul now. I shouldn’t have any physical limitations right now, but I felt exhausted anyway. It felt harder and harder to push myself any further; with every word I spat out, a bit of my anger at the goddess disappeared.
And during my whole rant, Aurena’s expression stayed the same. The pity in her eyes was sickening…
My body went limp, I slouched back into the chair and rested my head on the chair’s back. Although I was sure there was no actual air here, I felt like I’d just run a marathon, breathing in quickly and deeply.
Smiling like a caring mother, Aurena simply waited until my breathing calmed down to speak. “I did mention you may release your anger in my missive, right? Are you satisfied?”
I stared at Aurena, still looking unfazed, as if nothing could ever annoy her, and gave up on raging at her from her lack of a reaction. “I guess…Is it true?” I uttered weakly. “Is everything you just said true?”
“Yes,” she responded with a nod. “I have nothing to gain by lying to you, Hestia. I wish for your help and I want you to do it of your own free will. Every answer I speak will only be the truth.”
“…Then, can you give me back my memories?” sullen, I asked.
“…I would advise against it. Those memories, instead of being tied to your brain, are a part of your soul. I do not know how your soul will react with all your memories coming back all at once,” Aurena told me, shaking her head in denial. “Besides, shouldn’t you have noticed it by now? Even now I can see your soul reforming its fragments, however slow it might be. Have you taken a good look at your soul since you came here?”
Now that she mentioned it...
Taking a look at my arms, I noticed that they were covered in a near translucent aura of fire while my arms looked almost ghost-like. Checking my whole body, I noticed a complete lack of draconic features like my claws, tail, and horns. It was almost like…this was a human’s body. On closer inspection, there were small scale-like patterns with yellow linings covering my body, giving my body an outline to differentiate itself against the white background of this place.
However, not all scales were bright yellow, some looked almost translucent and others weren’t even there, leaving holes inside this glowing body. If this was my soul, then it looked pretty mangled. It honestly looked disgusting with how I was able to look through my soul with all those small holes.
“Your soul still remembers the old you, the one from your past life, so it still retains your old form. However, souls adapt to their corporeal vessels and we can already see small changes to yours,” Aurena pointed out, directing my eyes at the aura of fire and small scales. “If you wish for your memories to return, then we can either wait for them to naturally come back as your soul molds itself with your new body, repairing itself in the same process. Or, we can have an expert fix it.”
All this talk about my memories sparked up a memory of the time I remembered a snippet of my previous life, of why I stopped crying. Which reminded me of other moments whenever I woke up from an “empty” dream; I couldn’t remember what I dreamt, and it always felt like I was missing something. Like I shouldn’t forget something. Were those times when my memories tried to come back?
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…But did I really want them back? Although it would be sweet to see papa’s and mama’s faces again, did I really want to dig the bad with the good up? I know for sure my painful memories are hidden among the sweet ones from how my first memory snippet went. There had to be a reason why that “outsider” thought it was important to get rid of my memory.
“…You know, I can smell you’re trying to bait me here. It would be quite nice to get my memories back, but forget it,” I stated, causing Aurena to place a hand on her cheeks, knowing the cat was out of the bag. “I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my dream if I hadn’t started leaving certain stuff in the past, so how about you start telling me what you want from me, then. You made [Idol] and [The Light] fit my idol dream so much that I just know you have something planned with them, aside from helping with whatever ‘grandfather’ Kargryxmor wants.”
She called herself a primary administrator aside from her role as an origin god. As origin gods can influence a person’s status boards freely, I would presume all the gods are like game masters, GMs, with varying amounts of authority depending on the god themselves.
[Idol] had that sneaky message from Aurena herself and [The Light] is her blessing to me. After hearing her admit she wanted to keep my idol memories intact after my reincarnation, it’s all becoming clear to me that Aurena is planning something with the followers I’m gathering. It all fits together, but what is her intention?
“Ah, right, we are running out of time soon. I should explain to you why I gave Kargryxmor my permission,” Aurena replied, keeping her smile up while her gaze hardened. “My primary goal is for you to reform my church.”
Reforming her church? Wait, is she trying to tell me she wants me to reform everything?! Like everything, like in the whole foundation and all the things on it?! What the fuck!
Aurena seemed to have noticed my bewilderment as she paused for a moment, nodded, and then continuing where she left off, “My religion has grown a lot, but, compared to Elder Plesia, Crustacia, and Zephira, I have made mistakes on the way to my current status. While they haven’t toppled my standing yet, the blight seeping through the cracks will eventually show, and when that time comes, everything about the current Church of Aurena will change.”
Aurena then gave a small sigh, frustration slowly lowering her smile. “Per the rules of the leading Goddess, Elder Plesia, all gods are forbidden from interfering with the progression of the mortal world. Only if certain taboos are broken or requirements are fulfilled may we intervene directly. Unfortunately for me, I may only watch as my church slowly descends into its own downfall, and although it will eventually rebuild itself, I wish to do something about it. That is where you come in, Hestia.”
Hmm, something is weird to me…
“Question,” I interrupted her, raising my hand like a diligent student. “I don’t know much about being a god, so maybe this question is irrelevant, but why do you exactly want to do something? Aren’t you a goddess, and not just any goddess but the Origin Goddess of Light. You said it yourself in that missive, ‘We gods can wait but the world cannot.’ You don’t seem like an impatient person, considering you haven’t kicked me out yet despite how disrespectful I was.”
“Fair enough, you deserve to know,” Aurena nodded, her eyes gleaming with dissatisfaction. “My reason is simple, I hate seeing some outside force trampling on my creation. I possess the power to eradicate the ants, but I will abide by the rules as I am a stronger existence. I will not cull the weak just because they annoy me. Instead, I will play by the rules…with you as my champion.”
Her warm golden eyes narrowed even more, looking sharper and colder as she said those last words, sending an immense chill through my soul. I gulped to ease my anxiousness and spoke, “What will you do with me after I am done with your task?”
Aurena’s eyes widened in wonder as she heard me say that, holding her hand up to slowly shake it for me to see. “Oh my, I apologize for scaring you. Do not be afraid, I will not do anything to you, Hestia; I have grown quite fond of you and your songs. Once you are finished with your task, I will handle the reconstruction of my church and you may do whatever you like. Become the idol you always wanted to be, travel this world wherever and whenever you want. You are a denizen of Peolynca now.”
Giving her words some thought, I was deciding on what to say. I know it will be annoying to work with her, since it would be silly to think reforming a whole church would be easy as making a cake, especially if that request came from a god. If fantasy novels and shows have taught me anything, then the end boss of this whole quest line will probably be some demon lord or giant evil turtle monster.
However…if I were to help her, could she do something like that?
“Ok, I am quite thankful for you to even give me a chance to make my dream come true, especially when it seems like I’ve died on Earth, so I’ll forgive you a bit for trying to fuck up my memories and use me as a pawn. I won’t trust you 100%, but I’ll consider us even for now,” I stated. “So, if I were to accept your request and help you as your champion, then would you be willing to…I mean, can you travel through dimensions? From Peolynca to Earth? I mean, you probably can as I am asking you this question but-ok, what I want to ask you is: Can you give me a chance to meet my parents on Earth, again?”
I know I should leave those things in the past, I even admitted it with “Promise,” but the opportunity was there for me to grasp and I wouldn’t back down without at least trying. It’ll just be a visit to show them that my dream has become true and…I’ll also like to apologize to them. A daughter should never, ever go before her parents and the amount of misery I must have caused them is just unthinkable.
Please, say yes…
“Oh, if that is all, then sure. That is easy enough for me to do,” Aurena answered in the most nonchalant way ever.
Yes!
“Thank you!” I said sincerely. “Ok, you got yourself a deal, Goddess Aurena. I’ll help you as much as you want but I must insist that you don’t try to control me. This is my life and, if there aren’t any pressing matters, then I wish to do it my way.”
“I am perfectly fine with giving you more autonomy; in fact, I never intended to control your actions anyways. Your premature birth was a blessing in disguise as you have done more than Kargryxmor and I expected,” Aurena stated. “I would like to thank you for your help and also give you a formal apology. I already did it in the missive but please allow me to do it in person now. Hestia, I apologize for all the suffering I have caused you and how I wasn’t able to support you.”
Then, by accepting her deal, I was now officially Aurena’s champion. Surprisingly, nothing changed after that, as Aurena told me she wanted to keep everything as is. She didn’t want to change anything about me “usurping” her blessing, as she thought it was unneeded; however, now that I was connected to Aurena through this deal, she was once again able to see things through my eyes. When I told her I considered that a breach of privacy, she relented by allowing me to shut off the connection through [The Light]. A girl needs her secrets, okay!
About the plan itself, she was quite vague about it, telling me she wanted me to witness the situation concerning the church by myself to form my own opinions on it, and tasked me to interact with the church. My next goal was to reach the church in the capital of the Kingdom of Artorias, Griffonpeak, and pray to her there. Until then, I should learn more about Peolynca’s culture and her church.
She also told me to start calling myself her priestess, as that would not only give me more room to work inside her temples, but also solidify my role as her champion. She wanted the other Origin Gods to know it. She even stated that I should also start using the title of saintess to spread my reputation around, as it wasn’t false to say it.
A saint or saintess was the mortal representative of a god, spreading the word of their gods to try to convert people to their religion. My whole follower mechanic was practically this, especially when everybody already considered me a priestess due to my white robe. I told her no, but she just jokingly uttered, “the title will come soon enough, dear.”
…That was a joke, right? Right?
Anyway, aside from that, I still had to get a pendant or amulet made to show my allegiance to Aurena. The people of Peolynca usually wore an amulet dedicated to their favored god to show their devotion and, as I will now serve as a priestess, I had to look the part. Tasianna, for example, had an amulet dedicated to Zephira, but lost it when she was kidnapped by the trolls. I guess we had to get new ones together soon.
Another subject I brought up was about Danterno’s “gifts”: [White Flames], [Corrosive Fire], and his blessing [Divine Inferno]. Apparently, the God of Fire wanted me to become his champion to help him grow his religion; as a result, he gave me those power-ups to win me over. It will annoy him when he learns I have no intention of helping him, and I can always hide behind Aurena if he tries to mess with me.
Fuck you, Shiterno, he he he.
Nonetheless, despite being pleased with my defiance against Danterno, Aurena couldn’t exactly remove the blessing of another origin god. There was also a problem with separating [White Flames] back into [Holy Magic] and [Fire Magic], and [Corrosive Fire] into [Toxin Secretion], [Poison Creation], and [Inferno Magic], as they both required their respective skills to exist. It seems Danterno made sure those skills couldn’t exist if their prerequisite skills weren’t fused with them.
Well, I wasn’t very interested in getting [Holy Magic] back in the first place as I could cover everything with [White Flames]’s custom spells and [Sacred Magic]. [Inferno Magic] would be nice to have again, but the potential of [Corrosive Fire] was too great to ignore. Even if I hadn’t wanted them initially, I shouldn’t just throw them away to get something outdated. I’ll make those skills mine.
Funnily enough, I also was curious if Aurena could take [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] away, as Kargryxmor was her subordinate, but she told me, if she did that, I would most likely die ‘cause she’d have to remove all my blood to do so. My dragon parents are descendants of Kargryxmor and the blessing came from the special blood inside me. It was only a joke but, urgh, that was not fun to think about.
“Oh right, I wanted to ask you two more questions,” I interrupted our discussion. “It’s about my friend, Saori. The other Earthling who got reincarnated on Peolynca and is now my best friend and travel companion. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but were you the one who sent her to me?”
Although Saori didn’t say it aloud, I knew she was bothered by that. Why was she reincarnated to Peolynca? Why was she born as a garm and conveniently inside the Belzac forest at that specific location while I was passing through? There was also that whole leviathan thing she didn’t want to deal with, telling me she wanted to live a relatively normal life.
I wanted to gain some information here to ease her worry. Compared to me, no god has spoken to her and given her answers to those questions yet.
“Ah, Saori, the wolfkin you’re traveling with. Tell her to come to visit me in the future, I love talking with mortals,” Aurena said casually, slightly ticking me off by ignoring my question for a moment. “Hmm, but I can say that I was not the person who called your friend over to this world. Concerning the one who did it…let me say that Saori wasn’t the only one and that I didn’t authorize their summon. Their fates are deeply tied with your own, Hestia, and it will be inevitable that you will meet.”
Huh? Can you please stop speaking in riddles?
However, I didn’t have time to say it as light started to surround me, which Aurena told me was a sign for our meeting to come to an end.
“Oh wait, before I go!” I stopped her as she was about to wave me goodbye. “Why are you calling all the other origin gods ‘Elder’? Why is that?”
“Ah, the reason is because I am the youngest among all of them. Compared to the others, I am far, far, younger so I show them the respect they deserve.” With that last smile, light enveloped my whole vision in white and Aurena’s serene figure disappeared.
When I noticed the white turning black, I hastily opened my eyes to notice the figure of Aurena once again, but not in all her radiance and grace, but as a statue, the very same statue I remembered being on her altar. Instead of the white background of her world, my vision was filled with white walls covered in small engravings and stained-glass windows. It was the church and I was back in my body.
“Hestia.” Hearing a very familiar voice, I turned around and saw Saori and Tasianna approaching me, worry on their faces. “Are you alright? It took you quite a long time.”
“Lady Hestia, if I may be presumptuous, white hair fits you also,” Tasianna told me with a wide grin, completely baffling me as I had no idea what she meant.
White hair?
Apparently, while I was talking with Aurena, my hair suddenly turned white and a halo-like object appeared behind me. When Saori used [Identify] to see what happened to me, she noticed something new in my status board called [The Light Awakened] but couldn’t read its description, as it said “Information not available.”
Apparently, my hair changed back to crimson red just now, which gave me the impression it had something to do with my meeting with Aurena. I wanted to read [The Light Awakened] but it wasn’t there anymore.
When the grey-robed priest saw what was happening, he quickly ran out. Barathan told Saori and Tasianna that the priest was probably informing the white-robed priests of the event, as Barathan believed what just happened could be considered a “meeting with the Goddess.”
“Lady Hestia, you have been adamant you weren’t a priestess of the Goddess but I find it very hard to believe after what happened,” Barathan told me bluntly, holding a wry smile now instead of his usual polite one.
I chuckled shyly, understanding what he meant, so I decided to clear up a few things. “I wasn’t lying about not being a priestess, I promise, Barathan. Please believe me…however, I guess you may call me a priestess from today onwards. I can’t exactly deny it now, hehe.”
The shock on those three’s faces was pretty hilarious as they quickly understood the implications of my words. Tasianna congratulated me for speaking with Aurena and told me that she always knew I was worthy of becoming Aurena’s champion, while Saori quickly tried to hush her loud mouth before everybody could hear it. However, I could see the curiosity in her eyes as she told me telepathically that we will talk about it once we get back to Ellaine’s mansion.
Before the priest could return, Saori woke Barathan up and told him to start getting out of the church before anybody could question me. Barathan, understanding what was going on, obliged and quickly followed us outside. I was a bit surprised that he kept up with us, although, the three of us weren’t giving it our all.
We left through the commoner entrance and entered the noble district through its gate. On the way, Barathan sent out one of those messenger bird gargoyles, and the moment the gate opened, a carriage was already waiting for us there, ready to bring the four of us back to House Helvas’s mansion.
Barathan excused himself to inform Ellaine of what had happened today, and told us dinner will have to be postponed, probably to give the three of us as well as him and Ellaine time to discuss what happened today. Once we were back in my room, I started retelling of my encounter, starting with how Aurena’s divine realm looked, then my outburst, and finally how I officially became her champion.
Tasianna was naturally excited as she was a native Peolyncian, clapping like an overly excited fangirl, but Saori looked exhausted. She pointed out how crazy it sounded to reform a whole church, citing how much influence religion had during the middle ages.
However, what caught Saori’s attention the most was when I told her about her reincarnation and how Aurena wasn’t a part of it.
“Wait, what?!” Saori stood up, almost knocking her chair down as her eyes widened, struggling to continue as her mouth wavered. “I ‘wasn’t the only one’?! Could it be that I wasn’t the only one on that day?!”