Several days had passed since the capture of the lich Barthenor and the subsequent conversations with the various humans I trusted most. The most prominent of which being Miya and her parents. Since that time I had spent a good deal of time searching my memories for all the information I could find on resurrection and the lich making progress. This was after all a common thread in fantasy where I came from so the information could be applicable in this world, especially considering so much of that knowledge was already.

While I wasn't loathe to trust Barthenor about such subjects its not like I could really trust him yet either. Thus he wasn't consulted on the matter of lichdom as additionally even asking such a question would raise suspicions of my own all knowing-ness. Ferherlyn on the other hand was a mage I could trust and so he had been consulted about this situation. With him I shared all the information I remembered about the types of soul transferring methods from my old world and we came up with a solid theory.

The issue of transferring souls always had a level of sacrifice associated with it and almost always involved the one having their soul transferring being killed in some ritualistic fashion. That was of course how liches were created, though in that case there was an added “act of supreme evil” that had to be committed as well. The basic principle remained that the moral wishing to become a lich had to preform a human sacrifice on themselves in the presence of their chosen phylactery and thus their soul would be freed from their body and put into the object for eternity.

Other times souls were transferred involved other methods of sacrifice either human or material. Usually by some big bad villain or demon who wanted to live forever or transfer bodies into some more powerful vessel, or even sometimes purely for survival. The cost of such rituals depended on the level of power of the soul, with more powerful souls requiring more sacrifice. Basically the cost of materials increased exponentially even if it was something as simple as gold offerings.

There was one common thread I noticed throughout all of the examples I could find in my memories however and upon it being pointed out to Ferherlyn he agreed with my assessment. The true common thread was the shedding of blood, be it human or otherwise. This seemed to be the secret to soul transference. Blood was the first thing anyone would think of when asked about life itself. Life essence, or in this case vitality mana, was the true secret. Of course human sacrifice provided plenty of both as the life was taken.

If I wanted to transfer Miya's soul back to her own body all I'd really need is a large supply of blood or vitality mana. An actual human being sacrificed on an alter wouldn't be necessary in theory. That was much more morally acceptable and even Miya agreed to take part if no one had to die for her. The only issue I could think of was the fact she was already separated from her body and within mine, so she wasn't able to kill herself to pass on her soul like a would be lich did. I however believed as a goddess I could simply shunt her soul over to her body.

What of the sacrifice? Its not like I could sacrifice myself to free her soul from my body, nor would I want to. However when it comes to a powerful supply of vitality and magical blood where else could be better than goddess blood? Long standing in both myth and fiction is the mighty power and following magical applications of the blood of gods. My blood would surely be enough to fulfill the requirements.

This theory was so well founded that I was willing to try it out, which was what I was preparing at the very moment. The entire thing was highly secretive as even if there wasn't any actual human sacrifice going on the mere hearsay of a goddess attempting such necromanic rituals would be extremely bad for public perception. This it was only Ferherlyn, Miya, and myself who were present to carry this out.

Just before coming to the ritual site I had gone up the mountain to the icy peak and collected Miya's body. It was perfectly preserved inside its crystal coffin and looked almost beautiful in its pale stillness. The crystal would be removed right before the ritual to prevent Miya from dying should the whole thing work of course.

The location this was going to take place was actually at the temple ruins I had first awoken near up in the Henjuk Mountains. Obviously the place was highly attuned to mana currents, or leylines, which was only made more obvious if someone with goddess sight looked at the ground there. Thus it would make the perfect place for the ritual as hopefully less vitality mana would be needed.

Ferherlyn stood on raised stone platform where a large slab had been placed by me to stand in as an alter where Miya's body lay. He was dressed in bright pink robes to symbolize vitality, not that these were strictly needed. This entire plan had made him quite nervous at first but he had come around when I basically begged him to help out. To a pleading goddess he had thus conceded and agreed to assist.

I was keeping myself at my true goddess size out of fear that being any smaller would somehow compromise the entire thing. I had been this size when Miya's soul had first entered me after all. At the moment I was kneeled next to the temple, my immense body looming over it and blocking out the light of the morning sun overhead. All around me snow crunched under my great weight and the winds above rustled through my golden hair.

The issue of getting my blood out of me had also been something of a puzzler at first. There were really no weapons made by man that could harm me and thus I feared getting my blood out of me would be impossible. There were of course plenty of tales of godly weapons that would certainly do the trick, but those either didn't exist in this world or I had no access to them. It was decided then that the only thing that could harm me was myself and I would have to use my teeth or fingernails to draw blood from myself. Hopefully not much would be needed anyway.

Here I kneeled in the place I had first met who would eventually become my high priestess, her lifeless body laying there on the stone slab in front of me. It was so small. I looked down and over to Ferherlyn with a determined look.

“I'm ready.” I said firmly.

Ferherlyn nodded and looked up at me towering overhead.

With him at the ready I reached down with my left hand and touched the crystal surrounding Miya's body. On my command it melted away into nothingness, the mana that had created it dispersing into the surrounding air. Then I placed two fingers from my left hand carefully on the cold body before lifting my right hand to my mouth.

Miya spoke up from within my mind.

“Are you sure about this Jenna?”

There was no doubt in my mind and my grim focus echoed in my thoughts back to her.

“We're getting your body back.”

I then looked over to Ferherlyn again and nodded. He then began his chanting which was really just a prayer for salvation in elvish that I was having him do. The actual incantation for such a ritual was probably pretty nasty.

I in the meantime put the very tip of my index finger into my mouth and bit down on it with my teeth. It took genuine effort to do real damage to oneself willingly and this was no exception. As I steeled myself for the pain I started biting down as hard as possible. It hurt so bad which reminded me that I hadn't really felt pain at all since coming here.

Miya's voice rang out with concern in my mind. “Goddess!”

There was no turning back. I would see this through even if it failed. It wouldn't fail though. It couldn't. As the pain spiked I felt the skin break. Suddenly there was a disgusting taste of metal in my mouth and while my mind was clouded with the discomfort I pulled myself together enough to remove my finger from my mouth.

That's when I saw it. Blood. On the tip of my finger there was a large blob of blood that already had a trail flowing down my fingertip like water. I suddenly realized that in all my time here in this new world I hadn't actually bled before. A goddess was bleeding. I was bleeding. The next realization to hit me was that I didn't handle the sight of blood well. Suddenly I felt faint and started tipping over as I began passing out.

No! There was a rising fire inside my soul that flared up as my mind faded. Its heat burned into my mind the reason I was doing this at all. I would save Miya's life and undo my biggest regret in this world. Searing focus burned away the blackness from my mind and I was pulled back into full awareness. I ignored the shocked human below me and lifted my right hand into the air above me.

“With this blood!” I shouted to the sky. “I call upon my father and beg you! Return my friend to life!”

Then with a swift motion I brought my right hand down over Miya's body where the fingers of my left hand lay and turned the bleeding finger around. A single drop of blood fell down and splashed onto Miya's cold corpse. It was enough blood to fill a bucket in human terms and stained her pristine clothing deep crimson.

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With this done I closed my eyes and focused deep within myself, searching through my body for the very soul of Miya. It was of course inside my head where it always was and my larger perception sifted through my own mana to find hers collected like a mote among a flood. I reached out with my mind and though my mental image wasn't there I could still feel a hand touching hers.

In this state there was no way to speak to her but we were communicating soul to soul. Miya and I could feel each other's wants and wills. She understood it was time and though fearful she took her hand in mine as I led her through the flow of mana. Down from my head we rode my internal currents like a river, our souls tightly clasping each other. It was such a personal experience that it was impossible to put into words.

Time itself stood still in this state and I had no idea how many seconds passed in the outside world as we slid through my body, though not long at all would have gone by in all likelihood. We swap through my chest and down into my arm, then down into my hand itself and into my fingers. Eventually we had made it down into the very fingertip that pressed itself into Miya's body.

This was where we parted ways and I knew that should this fail there was no recovering her soul back into myself. The fact this had worked at all so far was a miracle in itself. At this very moment we could be saying out last goodbyes. That is the sentiment that our souls shared with each other and while I struggled with the feeling Miya's soul had made peace with the possibility.

So it was that I finally let her go. My heart panged with fear but the last feeling I received from Miya allowed me to pass through it. I felt her soul leave my body.

I opened my eyes and realized I had been crying. Tears streamed down my cheeks and below I saw Miya's entire body was smeared with my own blood. Ferherlyn at this point had stepped back to make room for my gigantic hands which I couldn't blame him for. I removed my fingers from Miya's body and felt my cut already healing closed. The thought of my apparently regeneration passed quickly through my mind as I lowered my head down to be closer to the girl on the slab.

“Miya?” I asked in whisper, my eyes ever trained on her tiny frame.

It seemed like hours passed though only a few seconds actually did, my mind racing with the terrible possibilities as I waited to see what would happen. My disbelief then had to be countered by the sheer joy I felt when I saw the results of this experiment.

Miya's chest rose. Her chest rose up into the air and then fell down again as air entered and left her lungs. She took a breath! In initial shock I watched this happen twice over as the pale corpse before me had color return to its skin, faintly at first but more over time. Miya was alive! I could see her soul resting inside her body!

The seconds stretched out until suddenly Miya's eyes opened. The light seemed to blind her at first but as they adjusted she shifted her head about in confusion.

“Jenna...?” She asked weakly.

In an instant I had shrunk down into my human form and leapt over to the stone alter. With my relatively powerful arms I lifted her up from her laying position and held her close to me, an awkward sight to be sure. Tears of joy were still flowing down my face as I cuddled into the bloodstained young woman.

“Miya!” I blubbered. “Its r-really you!”

Miya slowly opened her eyes again and looked down at me. She felt strength start to flow through her body as I absolutely loaded her up with life giving mana to speed up her recovery. At first she looked to Ferherlyn who was respectfully keeping his distance. Then with a warm smile she looked to me and returned my embrace.

“Don't cry goddess.” She said softly.

I sniffled and turned my head to the side in order to wipe the tears and dripping snot from my face on my sleeve. Then I looked back up at her above me on the slab.

“B-But its really y-you!” I replied.

As if seeing me in such a state was somehow more comical than I might have realized Miya let out a small giggle and reached down to rub the top of my head with her left hand.

“It's certainly strange to see you smaller than me.” She said. “Well out here in the real world anyway. You are a very cute goddess.”

My tears had stopped and despite the implications of how I looked in front of humans I didn't care. It also came as a surprise to me just how calming receiving head pats from Miya was for me. As I continued regaining control of myself I tried to smile back at her.

“Y-You know you don't have to start calling me goddess again.” I said shyly.

Miya giggled again and removed her hand from my head.

“Alright Jenna.” She responded with another smile. Then she looked over to Ferherlyn and gave him a smile as well. “It's nice to meet you finally.”

Ferherlyn had been very quiet and making an attempt not to watch the tearful reunion. It was clear to him that he probably shouldn't be seeing this and was well aware he would be expected to take this secret to his grave. When addressed by Miya he suddenly jumped in surprise.

“Oh I-” He started. “I'm afraid- I mean its nice to meet you as well!”

The fumbling of the old man brought a smile to my face and helped the last vestiges of sadness flow through and out of me. I wiped my face again and stepped back from the alter so Miya could stand up.

“Yeah this is my high priestess Miya.” I said in a cheerier tone. “And this is the old man mage. But you know him already.”

Miya nodded. “Yes I've been able to see through Jenna's eyes this whole time. So I do in fact know who you are Ferherlyn.” She smiled at him. “I hope we can become friends.”

Ferherlyn nodded and blushed some due to nerves.

“I as well young miss.”

With the introductions out of the way Miya used her arms to push herself to the edge of the slab and onto her feet. It was clear she had to get used to walking again as when she tried to stand she wobbled and almost fell. I was there to catch her however and help her get used to having a body again.

“Hey!” I said. “Easy now!”

Miya gave me a cheeky grin and pushed me away from her so she could stand on her own. She wobbled a bit more but managed to stand up straight.

“I'm not the weak girl I was before Jenna.” She said teasing me. “I'm a powerful priestess now.”

This brought a small smile to my own face and I put my hands on her abdomen.

“Not yet you're not silly billy!” I replied. “Here let me juice you up.”

Using my mana I infused Miya with the same protections I had given Timothy and Jagger before, though I used much more mana to make them extra potent. Nothing would harm my high priestess again. I also loaded her up with all manner of powerful spells, as much as I could manage at the moment without reducing my mana too low. All of this took over a few seconds and she clearly felt the power flowing into her body.

“Thank you Jenna!” She said flexing her arms. “I can feel your power flowing through me!”

It was my turn to giggle and I stepped back from her. I jumped in surprise as I was suddenly reminded of the weather as some snowflakes drifted past my face.

“Oh right!” I yelped. “Here you need these!”

Because I had access to a pocket dimension I could easily store items for quick retrieval. Thus I reached around my back and pulled out a full winter fur outfit from thin air. There was a nice heavy coat and thick warm pants which I presented to Miya.

“Quick put these on.” I instructed. “You probably still have some rigor mortis or whatever so you can't feel the cold as well. Please hurry!”

Miya smiled and took the clothing from me.

“Alright alright! Don't panic.”

It took her several seconds to put on the clothing and afterwards she looked much warmer. The clothing she had on underneath was still soaked in my blood however.

“I'll have to change when I get home.” She said tying up the coat strings. “It seems I've been made quite the mess by a certain someone's selfless sacrifice.”

I blushed again and rubbed the back of my head with my left hand.

“Think n-nothing of it!” I replied quickly. “Besides it's already healed up.”

Ferherlyn finally spoke as he stepped closer to the two of us. He had his arms wrapped up tightly in his own coat.

“I'll make no coy remarks on the gravity of your sacrifice today goddess.” He said in a serious tone. “A goddess's blood is legendary in the history of mages for its immense power. We discussed as much before this ritual.” He then sighed and smiled. “I am happy that this endeavor had favorable results.”

I reached out and took Miya's right hand in my own, smiling up at her as at this size even she stood half my height taller than me.

“Speaking of happy results.” I said with another tear sliding down my left cheek. “Lets go see your parents.”

Miya let out a sudden gasp as she was reminded about them, the overwhelming events that were coming back from the dead causing it to slip her mind. She was still in some amount of shock after all. She looked down at me with excitement in her eyes and voice.

“Yes lets!” She exclaimed.

Without another word I stepped to the side and opened a glowing golden portal in front of her. The shining symbols spun around the outside circle as through it could be seen Miya's family home. Due to the light snow her mother was currently using a broom to sweep snow off the roof while her brother chopped firewood nearby.

Miya wordlessly stepped forward through the portal in a daze. She was likely looking at this scene and wondering if she was dreaming and would soon find out that it was indeed all real. There were already tears forming in her eyes as she saw her family moving about as the emotion of finally being reunited finally started kicking in.

I gestured to Ferherlyn with a flick of my chin to follow after me and with him right behind I stepped through the portal as well. He followed my lead and stopped immediately on the other side of the glowing door and it closed behind us silently. We remained silent and just stood back to watch and allow the family reunion to happen.

Miya's steps were slow and fumbling at first, either due to her recent resurrection or the weight of this moment. However as she gradually began to accept this reality her feet started speeding up and she hurried forward without slipping on the snowy ground.

Her brother saw her approach and at first looked shocked and fearful. He dropped the axe he was holding and stared as if seeing a ghost. Upon seeing me a short distance away however he realized what happened and began crying tears of joy. He called out to their mother who turned around in confusion, though she too soon had tears rolling down her cold cheeks.

It was all I could do but watch engulfed in my own swirling emotions as the two parties made contact. The group hug filled with cries of joy and tearful blubbering from both sides. Together the family embraced and though the father was gone at work at the moment that only meant a repeat of the scene was in the future. I could have easily grabbed him and drug him through another portal to join in here but decided against it.

No I was content to allow this to play out until they were ready for me to step in. Though forgotten for the moment they will surely demand to hear how this came to pass and I'd be more than happy to explain it. For now I'd just stand here with my mage friend and thank my father that this miracle worked out at all.