The girl opened her eyes slowly, before closing them again at the brightness of the sunlight filtering through a window near by. Her head was pounding, and she brought a hand up to her face to rub the sleep from her eyes. What a horrible nightmare she’d had… WAIT! Her hand shot to the space next to her on the bed, feeling for someone who would not be there. It wasn’t a dream, she and her fiancé had died in that accident.
*New Alert!*
New Skill Acquired: Adept Crafter!
(This skill was a gift from the gods!)
*New Alert!*
New Skill Acquired: Quick Study!
(This skill was a gift from the gods! A boost to help you on your journey. + 25% Skill Experience)
*New Alert!*
New Skill Acquired: Multilingual!
(This skill was a gift from the gods!)
The information the girl was receiving entered her mind, then flooded her vision with text boxes. It was nauseating at first but she slowly began to adjust as she sifted through the alerts. It looked as though the goddess had kept her word, and even included a couple skills to help her transition. If this world had any type of temples or churches she would have to go as soon as she could to give prayers and offerings of gratitude to the one who saved her.
She had never really considered herself religious by any definition before. In her old life she simply didn’t agree with their beliefs. Sure, she talked to the moon regularly, but never realized she had been heard. Maybe that is why she’d called to her in those final moments, to speak one last time with an old friend. Little had she known that would be possibly one of the best things she could have done in that moment.
With the last of this new information being sorted out, she reopened her eyes slowly. She let out a small groan of pain as the light still caused her head to pound incessantly.
“Diana!” A voice near by gasped in surprise once they’d heard her.
Was that her name? Were they calling for something or someone? She wasn’t sure. The girl freed an arm from under the cover and cracked an eye open before shutting it again quickly, and began waving her free hand in the direction of the light. Hoping the owner of the voice would understand she wanted the light dimmed. She heard rustling around the room and let her arm fall as she soon felt the warmth of the sunlight begin to fade a little.
“Oh, Diana darling… you had your mother and I so worried,” a deep but gentle voice said softly.
I felt the bed dip with the weight of another, much larger person sitting beside me. It made me feel small, what age was this body? She remembered the goddess saying child but that was a fairly broad term. If she had to guess she was likely 10 again, but couldn’t be sure. In her old life she wasn’t very good guessing age. Back then she would low ball her answers anyway, who wouldn’t want to hear they look younger than they are?
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Diana, that was her new name, of the young girl who had apparently passed in her sleep. Was it an illness? Was she in danger of dying again? She couldn’t allow herself to get too worked up right now, she had to start playing her part.
“Wha- where am I?” She coughed to clear her underused voice, as she opened her eyes and slowly scanned the room.
“Sweetheart you’re in your room,” the first voice, a woman who looked to be in her early 30s said as she walked across the room and knelt at the bed beside her. She gently took Diana’s hand in her own and kissed it gently before bringing it to her cheek. This was Diana’s mother, her new mother. She shyly pulled her hand away from the woman, but instantly felt bad as the woman frowned sadly.
“Who are you? What happened to me?” She asked, her voice quivering with feigned fear. She wasn’t actually worried about the people in the room with her, but she knew she’d have to sell them the lost memory act. It wasn’t necessarily an act, she had no memory of Diana’s life before waking up here. She just couldn’t let it get out that she wasn’t their Diana.
The woman stood slowly before turning away and brought a hand up to her mouth. Diana knew, she was holding back choking sobs. The man who had sat on the bed moved to wrap the woman in a tight hug before deciding to answer the girl’s questions with a question of his own.
“What do you remember, little one?” He asked, almost afraid to hear her answer.
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Once Diana had told the pair in front of her that she had no memory of her life, Diana’s parents excused themselves to let her to rest.
They were kind enough so far, and she felt awkward and awful that she’d had to do things this way. Those poor, loving parents had lost their precious child and were none the wiser. She actually worried that this may not have been the greatest decision. If she had stayed herself, she wouldn’t be feeling so bad. That was a lie, she still would have felt bad knowing a family would lose their child. The goddess had told her the child already passed on, that this body was a shell she was placed in.
A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts and she called the person in. A servant entered carrying a tray with a bowl and a cup on it.
“Good afternoon Young Miss,” the young woman greeted her, “The Lady said to bring you up a light soup and some water. You’ve been ill for days, a little something warm and some water will help you get some strength back.” The servant explained as she set the tray on a table by the bed.
“Can I eat at the table please?” Diana asked apprehensively.
“Of course, Young Miss, did you need assistance getting up?” The servant asked earnestly, offering her hands to Diana.
“That would be a big help if I’ve been out that long,” Diana smiled as she placed her hands in the servants. The servant held her hands and guided her to sit at the table, then placed the bowl and cup in front of Diana with a small wooden spoon. “It smells delicious!” Diana sighed happily as she grabbed her spoon to dig in.
“You know how the Lady gets when she..” the servant trailed off sadly, she must have been informed of Diana’s condition, and then quickly tried to correct herself, “The Lady started on it last night, she didn’t want to be… unprepared.”
“Unprepared?” Diana asked surreptitiously.
“Yes Young Miss, she knew you would likely be hungry when you awoke,” the servant stated, nervousness filling her voice. Maybe they were aware that Diana wouldn’t likely wake up and had been holding on, hoping she would.
She nodded in understanding to the servant before dismissing her from the room. She ate her soup slowly at first, wanting to savor its taste. Then she started to feel the hunger that had been suppressed, and picked up her bowl with both hands. She slurped the soup straight from the bowl, the shape of the bowl making it much easier for her. She knew it was a little uncivilized but right now she didn’t care, she just needed the food in her empty belly. Once she finished the soup she felt a little better, and decided to stay at the table and sip her water. She could go for another bowl of that soup, but knew it was better to start small since she was essentially waking up from a coma. Soon enough there was another knock at the door, this time she had multiple visitors!
The servant had returned, along with her mother and a new face she didn’t recognize. The man was tall with long gray robes disguising the rest of his shape. He pulled the hood that had been drawn up off his head and smiled at her. The first thing she noticed were his ears, they were pointed at the top! He was an elf? That started to solidify some of the guesses she had as to what kind of world she was now living in.
“Hello Miss Diana, it’s nice to meet you again, though maybe not under these circumstances,” his smile turned sheepish, “You may call me Griswalt, I am your family’s physician,” his smile became prouder and he gave a small bow. Great, how would she need to deceive him to make sure she wouldn’t give her secret away?