"Finally a volunteer," Lily heard a voice say as she opened her eyes. Wait, I have eyes again, she realized as she noticed that she was back in what looked like her body. The next thing she noticed was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, sitting across from her. The woman had waist-long blonde hair, and was wearing a purple dress that was almost see-through. Her most striking feature, however, were her unearthly deep-purple eyes. Lily felt unable to divert her gaze from them, as if her very soul was being sucked in. After some time, Lily realized she had been staring without saying anything, and she mustered the courage to speak up.

"Uhm, hello, my name is Lily and I don't really know what's going on here," she said, still unable to look away.

"Hello there, Lily," the woman said. The voice was soft, and it seemed to Lily that it was coming from inside her own head.

"This must be confusing, so I will explain some things. I am a goddess and you have entered my domain through a portal I opened in the great In-Between."

Lily's eyes went wide at that revelation, but before she could say anything, the goddess continued: "One of the worlds I'm in charge of is in danger, and I need someone to be my champion, so I opened a portal through which the souls of potential candidates could come through. It seems like you the In-Between decided that you are one such suitable candidate and showed the portal to you."

Lily took a moment to compose herself before saying anything. She didn't want to offend an actual deity, and she was still in shock from the events she had experienced recently. She had died, and then it turned out that souls were real, and hers had apparently found a way into a meeting with an actual deity (which as it turns out are also real). It was a lot to take in for a normal girl from Earth, and she didn't want to make some mistake which would have her soul damned for eternity, or whatever the punishment was for being disrespectful.

"You need not worry so much, I am not a vengeful sort. If it helps, you can call me Dahlia, as that is the name I am known in the world that is in danger," Lily heard the voice say. The words reassured her, though the knowledge that her thoughts were not fully private was unsettling.

"So you are asking me to be your champion and protect a world?" Lily said quietly. "Not to be rude, but I am not sure I am the best person for the job. That's a lot of responsibility for an ordinary girl like me."

"Don't sell yourself short, the In-Between obviously thought you were up to the task, or you would not have seen the portal leading you here," Dahlia said. "You can of course choose not to reincarnate, and return to the In-Between. "

"What would happen to me then?" Lily inquired, hoping to learn more about the strange place she was in and the afterlife in general.

"I am afraid that I am not allowed to give out such details to mortals. We gods have our own rules, which is in part why I need a champion, and cannot intervene myself," the goddess explained. "In any case, the decision is yours, and I will not force you to do one thing or the other."

"I see. Can you tell me something about the world in question then, before I make my decision," Lily asked.

"Judging from your memories and interests, you will like it. It's what you would call a fantasy world, full of monsters and magic, heroes and villains. I can't give you more specifics, but you would have my gifts to protect you and help you on your path," the goddess explained.

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Having calmed down somewhat, Lily slowly realized that the idea appealed to her. She had liked reading fantasy novels since she was a child, imagining herself as a great heroine fighting evil with magic. It was one of the escapes from her dreary life in the orphanage, and having an opportunity to play out those fantasies for real was enticing. She briefly wondered if all of this was some crazy hallucination her mind came up with, while she bled out on the sidewalk back on Earth, but deep down she knew it was real. She had really died, and now faced a choice of either returning to the dark void she had been in, or reincarnating in a whole different world. It was crazy to think that yesterday she was a no-name clerk in a dusty archive, and today she had the chance to become a hero, to be somebody. Lily didn't think she wasted her life on Earth, she did well for herself considering she was orphaned at six, but neither did she do anything of note, and now she had a chance to make a difference, to help people.

There is no way I can pass up that kind of opportunity, she thought as she finally made a decision.

"I'll do it. I will be your champion," Lily said with a look of determination, and the goddess nodded in response.

"Excellent, now we can talk about some reincarnation details," she said and smiled for the first time. It was a mischievous smile, one that made Lily question her choice instantly.

"Such as?" Lily asked with some concern.

"Well for starters, I will have to change some of your memories." Dalia answered

"In what way?" she asked. "Not all of them are great, but they make me who I am. "

"I cannot let you keep all your knowledge of Earth's science and technology and bring it to Teras. It is another one of those pesky rules we gods have to follow," the goddess explained, and Lily calmed down.

She didn't care much for science anyway, but she had twenty years worth of memories of people and places, and she didn't want to lose those. If she could not go back to Earth, she could at least keep it in her memory.

"Can't say I am very comfortable with someone changing my memory, but if it has to be done, so be it," she assented, and the goddess nodded, before continuing:

"You will also receive my blessings, but you will need to discover and learn how to use them yourself. What I can do however, since I am making your new body from scratch, is give you some skills to help you out. The rules don't allow me to make you far stronger than normal, but you will have skills as if you trained for years, so you don't have to start from nothing. After that, you will need to put in work to become more powerful, like everyone else," Dahlia explained and Lily nodded. That sounded fair to her, and she was glad she would not be defenseless to start, as she had no training back home on Earth.

Though that is no longer my home I suppose, she remembered, but her sad thoughts were interrupted by a shrill noise that sounded as if it came from everywhere in the room at once.

"We don't have much time left, so I better get started," Dahlia said and started getting up.

"But wait, you didn't even tell me what I am supposed to do once I am reincarnated," Lily said quickly, but the goddess just waved her off:

"You will be able to contact me through my temples on Teras once you are there. That is your first task, I suppose."

She stood up and started walking over to Lily, who let out a sigh as Dahlia revealed her full form, which was truly stunning. She must really be a goddess to possess such beauty, Lily thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by Dahlia coming to a stop in front of her. The goddess leaned in and whispered in her ear:"By the way, I might make some small physical modifications to your body. I am a goddess of love and beauty, among other thing, after all. "

Before Lilly could react to that information, Dahlia gave her a soft kiss on the lips. It was a chaste thing, hardly the most passionate kiss Lily ever had, but it set her whole body and soul on fire.

"Good luck!" the goddess said as she pulled back from the kiss. As she spoke, Lily noticed purple strands leaving the goddess, and entering her body before her own vision faded to black and she fell asleep.