Chapter 1

The scene of carnage was more than a bit surreal. After all, it’s not every day that you see the aftermath of one’s own fatal accident. Or one’s own dead body, for that matter. I’d always thought that the whole ‘out of body experience’ thing was made up, or at the very least some sort of hallucination caused by the brain shutting down, or something along those lines. I’d never believed that a soul was real.

I was rethinking those assumptions.

The mangled remains of my Subaru could hardly be called a ‘car’ anymore. Rather, it more closely resembled those wrecks they show on drunk driving commercials. Even worse was the blood and offal spilling out of the crack between the driver’s side door and the snowy ground.

I stared at my mortal remains. Snowflakes sparkled under the light of the full moon as they fell all around me, slowly accumulating on the cooling metal. The 18-wheeler I’d crashed into was laying on it’s side in the ditch about a hundred yards further up the road. I watched, feeling more than a bit of relief, as the truck driver climbed out of the cab and made it down to the ground.

‘At least my stupidity didn’t kill anyone else…’

What else was I supposed to call it other than sheer stupidity? Doing 80 mph on a snowy highway in the dead of winter wasn’t my smartest move. Definitely my last, though.

‘I thought I could handle it…’

I mean, I was an experienced winter driver. I’d grown up driving in snowy conditions, and the all-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes should have helped keep me stable. It didn’t, though; not when I hit a patch of black ice while accelerating to get around the semi truck. Next thing I know, I’m going sideways down the interstate, and then the nose of my car is sliding underneath the truck’s trailer, and then… crunch.

It… wasn’t a pleasant way to go. Trust me.

“Well… shit. Now what?” I asked myself out loud.

The wind was starting to pick up a bit. Not that I could feel it, mind you, but it was starting to blow some of the powdery snow around. The storm was finally clearing up, and had been for a while. The full moon was still somewhat low in the eastern sky, between the eastern horizon and the line of clouds moving further to the west. The thin ribbon of clear night sky was quite beautiful, considering the circumstances.

A particularly strong gust picked up a fair amount of loose snow. I watched it swirl around for a moment. To my astonishment, the blowing snow converged together into an image, something of an illusion of a woman. Liquid moonlight seemed to flow into the image and light it from within, and a patch of the night sky seemed to wrap itself around her, until it appeared that the woman was wearing a robe made out of the night sky.

I blinked my spectral eyes. The image remained.

“Huh. That’s… new.”

“I think you’ll find I’m rather old,” the woman’s image replied.

I looked around; a police car with flashing lights was pulling up to the scene of the accident. I was pretty sure they couldn’t see me, since I was a ghost now, but they didn’t seem to be reacting to the woman either. Maybe she was some kind of ghost too? Or maybe…

“Are you… Death?” I asked, a bit hesitantly.

“No, child, I am not.” The illusory woman took several slow steps, closing the distance between us. “I am Selatura, Goddess of the Moon. What is your name, child?”

“Levi Shriver,” I replied. “And I’m not a child; I’m twenty-six.”

“I have lived so long that even the other gods are children to me,” Selatura replied, a hint of amusement in her voice. I couldn’t see the specific details of her face through the silvery light shining from within her being, but I could see the faint smile she wore. “Do not take it as an insult, child. It is not intended as one.”

“Call me Levi, then.”

“Very well, Levi.” The goddess appeared to look around at the scene. She approached the mangled remains of my car and ran her semi-spectral hand along one of the least damaged sections. “I am always surprised at what you humans can accomplish. In a world without magic, your kind always finds ways to make the rules of the universe work to your advantage. Such wondrous machines…”

“... magic?” I asked a bit incredulously. Then again, considering I was talking with a being who claimed to be a literal goddess, maybe the idea isn't so far-fetched.

“Mmm. Yes, magic. Most universes have it, you know,” she went on as she leaned in closer to inspect some part of the car. “It’s rather unusual to find one that doesn’t.”

“You’ve been to a few?” I asked. “Different universes, that is.”

“Oh yes. Even a goddess needs a vacation every millenia or so,” she said with good humor.

“Is, uh… is that what you’re doing here?” I asked. “On vacation?”

“No, I am not, though I may have to remember this place. It seems entertaining…”

“So, then… what are you doing here?”

“Recruiting.”

“For…?” I asked, gesturing at her to continue.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

She looked at me, her head tilted to one side in curiosity. “You know, you’re awfully disrespectful for a dead mortal. I am a literal goddess! And yet, you speak to me as if you are addressing an equal. What makes you think you can act in such an uncouth manner?”

“Well… hmm. Let me see…” I hesitated. After a moment of getting my thoughts in order, I shrugged. “Look at it this way. If you are a kind goddess, you won’t mind being addressed so casually. My lack of reverence should be expected; I’m not one of your worshippers, after all, and I lived most of my life as an atheist.”

“And if I demand your respect?” she asked.

“Then you’re not the sort of goddess I’d consider worshipping,” I told her rather bluntly. “Respect is never given, it’s earned. Otherwise, it’s only fear.”

She seemed to consider my words for a moment, tapping her chin with one finger. I wondered for a moment if perhaps I’d gone a bit too far; if she was a genuine goddess, there’s no telling what she could do to me.

After several long moments, Selatura asked, “If that is so, then how does one earn respect in your eyes?”

“Through action.” After a moment, I paused, and amended my statement. “Through competent action. By taking on one’s duties, and succeeding.”

“And what duties does a goddess have?” she asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Dunno,” I shrugged. “Never met one before.”

She laughed. It was a gentle laugh, ringing through the air like bells. Perhaps a bit motherly, as well; it had a certain gentleness to it.

“You are a strange mortal,” she told me with almost fondness. “Foolish, perhaps, but honest. I can… hmm, respect that.”

I chuckled at her wordplay; it was one of my guilty pleasures in life. Or, in the afterlife, I supposed.

She turned and looked at the mangled wreck of a vehicle I’d died in. Gesturing at it, she asked, “This was you?”

Embarrassment and shame welled up in me, and I found I couldn’t meet her gaze. “... yeah, it was.”

“A tragic death then. An accident?” When I nodded, she continued. “A shame you died so young. What did you do in life?”

“I’m a… I was a shipping manager for a factory.”

“Hmm. I suppose you often work this late at night?”

“No, not usually,” I shook my head. “I got off work hours ago. No, I was on my way home from boxing practice.”

“Boxing…?” she asked, looking at me curiously.

“Ah… a sport version of a fist fight.”

“Oh, pugilism. You were a pugilist?”

“Not professionally or anything, no,” I shrugged. “Mostly just for fitness, but I fight in amateur tournaments once or twice a year.”

“For… fitness?” she asked. “Are your people not well?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s that my country is so wealthy even the poor can afford a lot of food,” I explained. “That means that a lot of people are… overweight.”

“How strange,” she mused. “A nation where even the poor are rich.”

I shrugged. On one hand, I could try to explain the complexities of modern life, and the various expenses even the poor had to pay, but I decided that would probably take up too much of her time.

“Are you leaving any family behind?” she asked. “A wife, children?”

“Well, my parents and siblings, but no. No wife, no kids.”

“You never married?” she asked. “Isn’t twenty-six a little old to remain unmarried?”

“My mother certainly thinks so,” I snarked. “I just… never found the right partner.”

“I suppose I can understand your perspective,” Selatura nodded. “After all, I did not marry my own husband until I was several millennia old.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I chose to say nothing. Instead, I looked around. Several more police cruisers had shown up in the meantime, along with a fire truck and a pair of ambulances. The truck driver was wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the back end of one of the ambulances. Most of the police officers were setting out road flares and setting up roadblocks, but a couple were collecting evidence and taking photographs. I supposed they had to investigate my death to determine if anyone was at fault. I hoped the truck driver didn’t catch any flack for my stupidity.

“So…” I broke the silence after a moment. “What happens now?”

“Now? I suspect you’ll soon be ferried to whatever passes for an afterlife in this universe.”

“... so there is an afterlife?” I asked. “Can you tell me about it?”

“I am not permitted to say,” she said, looking away. I opened my mouth to ask further questions, but Selatura interrupted me before I could. “Do not ask any more questions on this subject, Levi. Even the dead are not permitted to know until… well. Until later.”

“... I see.” I frowned. “I suppose I’ll probably be gone soon?”

“Yes.”

I looked back at my mangled corpse, then up at the sky, before finally turning my gaze back on the goddess.

“Well, it was nice meeting with you, at least,” I said. I took a few steps towards her and held out a hand for her to shake. “For what it’s worth.”

Selatura looked down at my hand, then back at me. For a moment, I was worried that she wouldn’t take it, but my fears were unfounded. She took my hand in hers and gently squeezed it as we shook.

“It certainly was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Levi. Although…” she tightened her grip right as I began to withdraw my hand. “I may have a proposition for you, if you are interested.”

“... that depends,” I said slowly. “I’ll want to know the details before I accept, you understand.”

“Of course,” she nodded. Finally, she let go of my hand. “It is a bit of a long story, but I suppose we have time enough for that…”

I shrugged and nodded.

“Many generations ago, the Salvorin family dedicated themselves to my service. For more than a millennium, they have faithfully worshipped me, built shrines and temples dedicated to me, and performed great deeds in my name. Even when most of their friends and neighbors chose to venerate the New Pantheon and began to disapprove of their dedication to me, the Salvorin family stayed true. In return, I have granted them many boons and blessings.

In recent years, though, ill fortune, war, and illness has withered away at their numbers until only two were left; the elder, a man named Valens, and his daughter, Artesia. By yet another stroke of ill fortune, a plague descended upon their city, and young Artesia fell ill. Though healers did all they could to heal her body, and succeeded in that regard, poor Artesia’s soul had already passed on.

And so, Valens prayed to me and begged for my assistance. Alas, what he asked of me was beyond my power, for no god or goddess can bring back the dead; his daughter has passed on and cannot come back.”

Selatura paused and wiped a silvery tear from her eye before it had a chance to roll down her cheek.

“However, there is one thing I could do,” she continued, her glowing eyes boring into mine. “I can place another soul into her body, to take her place and become Artesia Salvorin in body, if not in soul.”

“... me,” I stated.

“Yes. You. If you are interested.”

“What would I have to do?”

“Swear an oath on your mortal soul that you will carry on the Salvorin family legacy, that you will worship me as Artesia’s ancestors before her, that you will perform great deeds in my name, and that you will spread my religion as far and wide as you are able.”

“I will not force people to convert,” I said, shaking my head. “I would consider that to be immoral.”

“I am not asking you to convert people at swordpoint,” she shook her head. “Rather, I ask that you provide a shining beacon, an example of what my followers can accomplish, so that all may see the benefits of worshipping me.”

I tilted my head to the side and considered the idea.

“And… if I fail?” I asked.

“That depends. If you try to the best of your abilities and still fail, I will not punish you in any way,” she said. “Only if you fail to try, or if you fail to give your best effort.”

‘Well, it’s certainly tempting,’ I thought to myself. ‘On one hand, I get a second chance at life. On the other hand, though…’

I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about taking on the life of a young woman during a time that, I surmised from Selatura’s reaction to my car, was far less technologically advanced than I was used to. Even if there weren’t any particular social restrictions to what I could or could not do, I would have to worry about hygiene. Women were particularly vulnerable to unsanitary conditions during day to day life, to say nothing about childbirth. And from the sound of things, I would probably be expected to ‘carry on the family legacy’ by having children at some point.

“... can I make a request?” I asked.

“You may,” Selatura nodded patiently.

“If I agree, will you let me keep my memories of this life, and is there a way you can give me the memories of… what was her name? Artesia?” I asked, to which the goddess nodded. “Let me keep my memories and gain her memories, and I’ll do it.”

“Very well, it is agreed. Take my hand,” she said, holding her hand towards me. I took it, grasping it gently. “Bring it to your lips, and our pact will be sealed.”

I hesitated, but only for a moment. Instead, I leaned forward and lifted her hand. My lips brushed against the back of her knuckles.

“It is done…”

Everything went white, and...

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