"Now then... Novos. We know the source of Celestine's voice. We should move on to-" Diane spoke, but something was on my mind.

"What did he mean earlier? What last treatment? Celestine has no memory of being here." I gestured to Charcoal Man.

I felt Mother's grip tighten, but it was Charcoal Man that spoke up. "When Celestine was less than a year old, she was suffering from constant bouts of shaking, headaches, and fainting, all combined. It is incredibly rare, and hard for my skill to identify the cause so we just treat the symptoms. Usually even children who are given constant treatment for such die before their first year. Celestine held on, though and made a wonderful recovery shortly after her second birthday."

"The first memory I have is falling out of bed as Celestine was asleep. Is the timing similar, Mother?"

I felt Mother jump a bit, hearing someone else call her Mother from her own daughter's mouth. I wonder if I could ever have a similar relationship to her as a child and a mother. I looked at her eyes, staring blankly in thought. "It... was about that time, I suppose? I hardly remember that, though. But I suppose?"

"Food for thought, then. Perhaps the seizures were caused by me as I was pulled into Celestine's body? Or maybe me being here cured them? Or perhaps it was all unrelated and I was pulled into her body from your healing methods? Hard to say." I mumbled aloud.

"Seizure? We do not know this word." Diane asked, probably looking for my otherworldly knowledge. I have no reason not to give it.

"It is a reaction to some brain disorders in my world, though it was only in recent memory that we have been able to treat it reliably. I believe doctors used the oil extract from a certain plant. It's nothing to worry about if such a thing doesn't exist here. But it might be worth looking into if such cases of disease increase. It's not contagious, so don't worry."

Charcoal Man cleared his throat. "We are off topic. We have a Voyager in our midst. I will go contact Head Priest Hohn for his guidance. But I suspect we will be having Celestine's Awakening performed early." Charcoal Man sits up and walks toward the stairs. That was good timing. I didn't want to sit here detailing the intricacies of marijuana to people in a new world.

"Awakening?" I know the word, but I suspect it has another meaning.

"Children in our city undergo a ceremony when they are eight years old. It opens their @%^$^#%*) for learning to channel magic." Diane adds.

"I see..." A new word. I don't want to question it, though. We'll learn it eventually. "Shouldn't Celestine be awake for this?"

"Ah yes. I got so caught up in our discussion I forgot." Diane said, then was about to move forward.

"Wait." I said, then turned to Mother. "Make sure to explain everything as best as you can to Celestine. I am still not used to the mind talk, so I don't want to scare her again. I need a bit of practice and I need her to understand that and not be afraid. Please, Sylvianna."

Mother nodded softly. Diane came forward and placed her hand on Celestine's forehead. I felt control wrenched from me and shift back to Celestine as she regained consciousness. I'll keep an ear open, but I expect Mother to just explain what already happened to Celestine in a way the girl can understand.

There's a lot more to think about now and much more I don't quite understand. The first being my existence. Worst case scenario I probably could have pretended to be a god. It works to my advantage far too conveniently that I am an existence that is known. I would like to know more about the previous Voyagers in this world, to see if I really am like them or if my circumstances here are coincidental with the hallmarks of a Voyager. It would be nice if I could find a living Voyager so we could compare notes.

The next topic was magic. So magic is something that needs to be unlocked, then taught. Who's going to teach me? The church? I would prefer to not be bound by religion, even if these gods they worship really do exist. But given the conditions of our home, I doubt Mother would be able to afford something like a private tutor. Celestine can barely read yet.

Oh, Mother finished explaining things to Celestine. Is it my time to try contact again? Hmm, no. I will wait. Celestine is shaking a bit, still. Her mind is all over the place. Bracing herself for me to yell again and trying to figure out why no one could get rid of me. But there's a new thought superseding everything else. She's marveling at the opportunity to use magic. We've seen Mother use mostly the light crystals and the occasional tool. But there was another form of magic she witnessed. Whenever Mother pulls up a book to read, she uses some sort of light magic to create a floating ball of light above her to illuminate the book. Pure magic without the use of crystals. That's what Celestine wants to be able to do.

I could hear slow steps on stone coming down the stairs. It sounded like the tap of two feet with the thud of a piece of wood on stone. It was slow enough and rhythmic enough, is it an elderly man with a cane? Celestine turned her attention to the stairs and sure enough a man in a black robe with a bright white cane was meandering down the steps. His hair was a mess of white and his beard covered his neck. So the image of an old man with a long beard is the universal symbol of wise-man? His robe was slightly different, though. Instead of the blue galaxy like we've seen so far, his galaxy was red. Is there some sort of significance to that color other than age or position within the church?

"What do we have here, now? Little Celestine. I haven't seen you since you were born. I'm glad you're doing well." His voice rose in pitch as he finished each sentence. It was an odd quirk in a land where language is partly based on speech inflections, but what he said still held the desired meaning. "And you have a new friend in there?" He brought up his cane and lightly tapped on Celestine's head. Not hard at all, just playful poking. Seeing it up close, it wasn't made of wood. It was bleached white bone. I don't think Celestine has even seen a tree in her life.

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Celestine didn't answer, she just looked down at her feet.

"Well, no worries. Though I am surprised to see a Voyager appear in my lifetime, and especially here of all places, we'll put that aside for now. So, are you ready to be able to make magic?"

She looked up at the old man and I can imagine the face she must be making.

The old man responded with a light chuckle and a smile. "Oh of course you are." There was another acolyte that was standing behind him. He was wearing a black robe, but his galaxy was yellow. I wish I could figure out the hierarchy of the colors. But the red and yellow seemed more important than the blue. The yellow acolyte was carrying a white robe. He walked forward and handed it to Mother. The old man spoke again. "We'll head back upstairs to prepare the ceremony. Now you get changed and come up with your mother when you're ready."

Celestine nodded and all of the acolytes moved to the stairs and walked slowly back up behind the old man.

Celestine reached for the white robe in Mother's hands. It was really soft. Softer than anything she had felt. Mother casually took off Celestine's sundress and placed the hem of the robe over Celestine's head. In the rush out of the house, Mother hadn't grabbed Celestine's twine sandals, so she was barefoot. But that didn't matter really because Celestine wouldn't be able to walk in this robe anyway. It was over two feet too long. She couldn't get her hands out of the sleeves. Celestine didn't complain, though. It was still a very soft material and she hoped she could keep it after whatever it is they were planning to do to her.

Mother picked Celestine up and carried her back upstairs.

The layout of the chapel was different. The first few rows of stone pews were removed. A decorative stone altar was placed on top of the middle stage. Seven colorful crystals floated around it with seven acolytes under each one. The only one in a black robe with red galaxy was under the largest crystal. It was the old man with his bone cane. The others had the hoods of their robes up over their heads, but she did notice one acolyte with a white galaxy robe had really long blonde hair that flowed down her chest from under her hood.

"The ceremony is ready. Please bring the child forward for the judgment of the gods." The old man spoke. His voice echoed in the room. A few people were in pews a few rows near the back in silent prayer. They were probably here before the ceremony was being prepared and they decided to stay.

Mother walked quickly to the stage, up the stone steps, and placed Celestine on the stone altar. "Lay down, baby." Mother said, positioning Celestine in the center of the altar and lowering her willingly down. She repositioned her feet, then pulled the end of the robe so it was straight down to the end. The acolyte with blonde hair moved forward and lightly lifted up Celestine's head to pull her black hair out and splayed above her head instead of having her lay on it. Celestine could see her face now. Her face was a bit rounded and she had a few wrinkles. Those were her only imperfections. While Mother's beauty was of youth, this blonde woman had a sort of aged beauty that I have never seen fit so well. Usually on Earth it is the men that get better looking with age. This woman defied that. While you wouldn't mistake her for someone young, you could not deny that beauty is the best word to describe her. I hope she's still around when Celestine gets that age so we can press her for her secrets. She gently patted Celestine's forehead, then returned to her position under the floating crystal.

The altar turned under Celestine and repositioned her head in front of the old man. He spoke loudly for all to hear. Celestine's gaze turned to a huge white crystal floating above her. "Due to circumstances we shall not mention aloud to %$#%## within the court, we of the high priests have determined the child; Celestine, daughter of Sylvianna and Daemon Tanett; must undertake her awakening ahead of schedule." Wait, did he just name Celestine's father? Celestine tried to look at her Mother, but some force was keeping her body still against her will. "We pray the highest gods share our judgment and will allow us to proceed."

Within Celestine's vision, all seven crystals above the surrounding acolytes started to light up. They didn't flash on all at once, they did so out of any order. The last one to light up was a dark gray one, that gave off an eerie light. Is this some kind of representation of the will of the gods? Don't tell me gods actually exist in this world.

While the gods' names could be easily spoken, they had little meaning in English so I took some liberties with their names here.

"Lumos, god of light, has given his approval and blessing to the child, Celestine." One of the acolytes said aloud. A bright yellow light connected the yellow crystal to the huge crystal above Celestine. She has begun to shake nervously.

"Aphrodite, god of fertility, has given her approval and blessing to the child, Celestine." The blonde woman's voice spoke next. The green crystal sent its green beam of light into the huge crystal.

"Fames, god of sustenance, has given his approval to the child, Celestine." The crimson crystal sent its red beam into the huge crystal. So this god didn't want to bless her unlike the other two?

"Messer, god of earth, has given her approval and blessing to the child, Celestine." A brown crystal sent the brown beam of light to the huge crystal. The huge crystal was now humming and vibrating above Celestine.

"Iroh, god of flame, has given his approval to the child, Celestine." The blue crystal sent a blue beam into the central crystal.

There was a pause for a while before another spoke. "Mortuus, god of decay, begrudgingly gives his approval to the child, Celestine." The gray crystal sent a thin beam at the central crystal.

There was some murmuring from an audience Celestine couldn't turn her head to see. Was that bad? I didn't make an enemy of the god of death, did I?

"Jupiter, god of the cosmos, has given his approval to the child, Celestine, and forced the hand of Mortuus, god of decay." The crystal above the old man sent out a beam of bright white light to the central crystal. "In accordance with the will of the gods, we shall borrow their power to awaken the latent abilities of the child and apply their blessings. To awaken the dormant power within her spirit to the power of the cosmos."

A loud snap echoed through the entire room. The crystal above Celestine had fractured. A rainbow of light descended onto her body and penetrated to our very being. The gravity of the world was lost, we felt no weight, but the pain... the pain was un-im-maginable. I take back what I said about drowning. This pain was worse. So. So much worse. It felt as if every inch of skin was on fire. Every organ screamed in pain, the heart was beating so fast that the blood flowing through the veins burned the vessels. Every hair on the body was a lightning rod and electricity was blasting through every orifice. Even the spit in the tongue and the urine staining her legs felt like acid. I want to die again. Please!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Celestine's scream split the stone below us. I screamed in her head and compounded everything. The breath leaving our lungs felt like fire. The body arched in pain and everything went black.