I drift through the nothingness, as I have for a timeless eternity. I do not know what it means, but I know how it will end. As I arrive I know that I died. When I arrive I know how I will leave. I was touched by a… string of song, suddenly time exists again, my mind collapsing into a singular moment. It drags me with it, wrapping around me more and more. Thrumming with promise of the future, possibilities of all I could be and all I would be, opening up around me as it dragged me towards something grand in the distance and then in the height of its Song…

It stopped, like a splash of cold water I realised that I could think. Confusion blasted through my mind, incoherent scrabbling filling my thoughts. Over what felt like an eternity my mind cleared up and I came to realise I stood in a grand throne room, filled with heraldry I didn't recognise no matter how much I racked my brain. A polite cough drew my attention to the throne, instantly my instinct set me on high alert. On the throne sat a strange woman radiating a power I could never imagine having. Smiling as she patiently waited for me to come to my senses. There was something very dangerous about her, something… predatory. "Who are you?" I asked, I had no body, yet I knew I could speak.

"I am Ivarascha," the sheer weight behind her name was suffocating, threatening to sweep me away and back into the void I had just left. I had no doubt it would have if she hadn't wanted me here. "A goddess of this realm," she finished, I believed her. A few moments passed as I thought. "You have an offer for me," I stated with certainty, something in the depths of my soul just knew. Her smile grew wider and I felt the weight of her Voice shake me to the core as she spoke.

"Souls like you are rare, you were aware of your death weren't you?” It wasn’t a question. “Not only that, but you survived outside the bounds of existence itself and glimpsed the foundations of this world," she praised with a quirk of the eyebrow. I shuddered, she was impressed by that. She who could snuff me out like a candle was impressed at what I had just survived. What the fuck was that place? Her heels clicked against the floor and my attention was drawn from my thoughts. Without batting an eye she continued, "regardless of the feat. The realm was spinning you a life like any other. No memories, no boons, a normal life like any native soul." So basically normal death and reincarnation?

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"But I can… interfere with the process," she said with a smile that was all too kind. "Give you my blessing and spin it so you get to keep what you rightfully earned," she spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As if my decision was already set in stone, what a bitch. I examined her closely, her eyes, her skin, her ears her teeth, those fucking teeth. It all meant something important, but I couldn't remember what. I swallowed my nervousness, "what does it cost?" I asked, something about her set me on edge. I'd seen so many like her, deep down I knew I couldn't trust her. But she simply smiled, "you already know the price. You just don't remember the details," ass.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Attacking her would achieve nothing. I racked my brain, trying to figure out what she meant. But she was right, I already knew what her blessing was, I already knew deep down what the path she offered entailed. It promised a life of struggle, with many enemies and harsh restrictions. But it also offered me great power that very few did, a path of growth that most could only dream of customised to suit me. But my opinion didn't matter. It was all set already, all that was offered to me for my feat tied up in one neat little package. I would have gotten something else even without her, but not anymore. Not since she'd decided to package wrap this little "gift" for me. This was all a formality, she'd already screwed me over should I refuse. My subconscious had known from the start.

"Fuck you!" I shouted in rage, before I could even think anything a cold wave of dread rushed through me. Threads of power staking through my soul, threatening to rip it apart. Even as she smiled that same mocking smile. "Language!" She said like she was scolding a child. Slowly, ever so slowly the stakes that had paralysed me retreated, leaving me to think. She would make me miserable if I refused. Truly, I had no real choice at all. "Fine," I spat. "I'll take your damn blessing."

The goddess smiled a predator's smile with her fanged teeth, piercing red eyes grinning in victory. The fog on my memory slowly lifted, realisation of what she was sinking in even as she reached out her inhumanly pale hand to lift me up with invisible power.

"Then rise, Child of the Old Blood."

Thus spoke the Goddess of Blood and Conquest.