A week of fun, playing games, and looking at scenic spots, has passed.

Thinking back, the scenic spots got more and more strange. The first three days, we walked around to different nature mysteries that were just beautiful. Places like the blue flower field that looked like a lake until you got close, or the world tree… Yes, the real one. Apparently every world has one, even Earth.

The last few days, we flew around icecream volcanos and candy wonderlands… I just had to ask if they exist… it really was just a joke… why did they take me seriously?

Also, we flew around. At first, Nox and Silva took turns carrying me but I couldn’t take that anymore, too embarrassing, so I asked if there was any other way. Apparently, I have the feathers of the gods of life and death. Feathers for gods are like wuxia cultivation, not easy to get but each one is precious.

Now, I know what you are thinking, ‘can't you be all-powerful with those feathers?’ The answer is no. One reason is that they are not my power, so I can't control them, not that I can’t learn how to over a few years. The other reason is that it takes thousands of feathers to just fly, normally.

However, right now I don't have a body, so I have no weight to hold me down.

I obviously asked how I was still affected by gravity without any weight, but all I got was ‘it’s magic.’

Anyway, I can use the feathers to grow tiny black and white wings that can, kind of, get me off the ground. Combine that with some of Silva’s magic and I was flying like any other soul with 2 strange looking feathers on my back.

Best day ever.

They told me more about feathers after that. Not all gods need feathers. The god of creation and goddess of fortune, aka their parents, don't have wings, they don't need them. They created this system for their kids as a type of reward system. Do something godly, get a feather.

Doing nothing is also godly, so most of them get a free feather a year for that…

Back to the present. Today, we are going into town.

(Nox) “Look, you need to get used to being around other people. How are you going to live if you don't learn to at least ignore people staring at how different you look. Remember, you will be going to a world different to your old one.”

(Stella) (Don't want too.)

Look at my amazing progress! 3 words without problems!

Seems like only I was satisfied with my progress…

(Silva) “Stella, you haven't gone past 3 words for 4 days. Nox is just worried you won't be able to talk at all in your new body. I agree that you need to go to town. If you talk to a lot of people, maybe you will be able to get to the next step, even if that step is small.”

I know that they’re worried about me, but I can probably easily ‘speak’ more than 3 words, it’s just that I don't want too. I do want to see if I can choose who listens when I’m in a crowd though…

(Nox) “So, let’s go.”

(Stella) (Hold on!)

(Nox) “What?”

(Stella) (Why no Silva?)

That‘s right, Silva doesn't plan on going. He won't tell me why he isn’t going either.

(Silva) “I told you I can’t. I need to go… do stuff. I’ll be here when you get back though, so don't worry.”

When he says that, I can't help but be worried… Who won’t be worried when someone says, ‘don’t worry.’

(Nox) “Then, let’s go. Silva, see you later.”

(Stella) (Wait, don't want-)

(Silva) “Bye, see you soon.”

(Stella) (Traitor!)

And so, I get dragged out the door.

[10 minutes of useless struggling later]

(Nox) “We’re here.”

(Stella) (Go back, please!)

I look at him and plead. Nothing good ever happens in town, at least, not for me.

(Nox) “It's just town. How can anything go wrong?”

He just had to say it…

So we went through town… slowly. We window shopped strange stores like, ‘the Godly Alchemist’ and ‘Familiar Pets’ for about 3 hours. Except for being stared at by everyone we came across, it was fun. I even learned to control who hears my telepathy, so stop looking at me like that… I’m not a zoo animal…

Before we headed back, Nox decided to eat at a restaurant.

(Nox) “I’ll have… crispy dragon strips and a side of clover fries. Stella, what about you?”

(Stella) (Can't read menu.) See, the waiter didn’t notice.

Not that I even understood what you just ordered. Dragon strips? Clover fries?

(Nox) “Right, sorry about that. Then, 4 seasons soup and a magic grilled cheese. Grilled cheese is your favorite, right?”

When he first asked what kind of food I wanted when I was first allowed to eat solids, I asked for grilled cheese. Who wouldn't want to eat their favorite right after being restricted on food? I guess Nox thought the same way.

So, I nodded my head, and the waiter walked away.

I wonder what’s so magic about the grilled cheese? And ‘4 seasons soup’? I can't even tell what kind of soup it is, I’m kinda looking forward to this ‘god food.’

This stores slogan is, ‘god food is good food.’ it's too cheesy to me but I’m looking forward to it.

(Nox) “See? It wasn't that bad. You even had a little fun.”

(Stella) (Not over yet.)

I smiled to taunt him.

(Nox) “Fine, but you need to admit you had fun so far. I saw how you were looking at those puppies, no way you didn't enjoy that.”

I blushed and looked down. Touche.

So embarrassing… they were cute though. The mini fenrier was adorable, and the baby orthos were so cute with one head sleeping while the other was begging for food.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

That is not something I ever thought I would say. But who knew I liked dogs so much. I never got close to pets because… *Sigh* Nevermind.

(Nox) “Sorry I can't get you anything, but you will be leaving soon. Hopefully by the week after next week. You’ll need time to adjust to suddenly having a body after all.”

I’m trying to not remember that. I am having lots of fun here, but I know I can't stay forever. I’m only here because of the damage caused by the curse to my soul and my unstable emotions. No point in sending me somewhere else if I just suicide and return, not that I would. I might have accidentally starved while avoiding people if I was just sent somewhere after all.

(Waiter) “Here are your orders. Enjoy.”

She said and walked away. She looked at Nox with a pink face and completely disregarded me. Strange? Does she have a thing for Nox?

(Nox) “Ok, let's eat.”

Nox paid no attention to the poor waiter and just dug right in.

By the way, she only brought out Nox’s food and not mine… I don't think Nox noticed that though.

(Stella) (Is it good?)

(Nox) “Mum nom?” (Want some?)

Is this a form of telepathy? Ah, I understand them despite the language difference, is this an example of understanding spirit waves?

I nodded my head, curious about what dragon tastes like.

As I was about to take one of the dragon strips, the waiter suddenly appeared and spilled a bowl of hot soup onto my arm.

I panicked and tried to move but wasn’t fast enough.

Nox pushed the bowl away in a hurry and got splashed by the soup.

(Stella) (Nox!)

(Nox) “I’m ok Stella, just a small burn. You!”

He turned to the waiter.

(Nox) “What is the meaning of this?!”

(Waiter) “I-I d-didn't mean! It was an accident!”

(Nox) “You thought I wouldn't notice?! Do you think I am stupid?! Why do you want to harm the soul under my protection?!”

(???) “So what if she does?”

Some strange guy with blue hair comes out from the kitchen. Now that I think about it, this waiter also has blue hair, it’s just not as dark.

(Nox) “Lacus, Aqua, are you going against mothers will?!”

Suddenly everyone in the room froze. So that's their names, Aqua… water gods?

(Lacus) “Don't even think of accusing us of something like that!”

(Nox) “Then why did Aqua intentionally try to harm this soul? We both know it's impossible for her to drop food on a customer, especially if that food could hurt someone. She cares too much about this business to make a mistake like that.”

Everyone started staring at Aqua. Under the pressure, she finally spoke.

(Aqua) “Ok! It was intentional, but I-”

(Nox) “What ‘but’?! Stella never provoked you, never threatened you. How could she have possibly made you want to hurt her?! She never even spoke to you or got a chance to eat your food, so she can't have said something like ‘your cooking tastes bad.’ What could she have possibly done to you for you to try and scald her with soup?!?!?!”

Aqua stayed silent.

With no response from her, Nox turned to Lacus.

(Nox) “Can you give me an explanation?”

(Lacus) “Do I need too? That's only a human soul, even if my sister wanted to boil it, I would be fine with it.”

Harsh… I don't want to be boiled, that sounds painful. Did I do something wrong?

I looked towards Nox… He looks scary… like when he took Al… whatever his name was.

(Nox) “I see. In that case, Stella, I’ll take you home. Lacus, I will report this incident to mother. I wonder how she will react when she finds out you and Aqua tried to harm the soul she owes because of Forma.”

I nodded… Nox is scary. I don't know what he’s planning but I do know these 2 will suffer. Is Forma that ex-goddess?

Not only these 2 in front of me, but everyone in the rooms faces turn pale and they look like the world is ending after hearing what Nox said. I can't tell if they are more afraid of their mother or that smile that Nox has…

After dragging me out of the restaurant, he held onto my arm tightly, spread his black wings, and flew us home. At least it wasn’t a princess carry this time...

Inside the house.

(Nox) “Sorry about earlier…”

(Stella) (Told you so.)

(Nox) *Sigh* “Yes, you did. I will immediately go and tell mother what happened. Just wait for the good news.”

(Stella) (Wait!)

So, he left… I wanted to rub it in a bit more or at least complain about how my arm hurts. Still, it was a fun trip, for the most part. I won't make it too hard on him. Actually, I’m more worried about that burn on his arm. He didn't seem to react to it much but burns are always painful, I hope he’s ok.

I waited for a while and someone came through the door, but it wasn't Nox.

(Silva) “I’m back! Hey Stella, where’s Nox?”

(Stella) (Nox. Mother. Punishment.)

(Silva) “Whoa, what? Punishment? What happened?”

(Stella) (Bad water gods… hurt Nox… hope he’s ok…)

(Silva) “What?! Why would they... Aqua likes Nox. Everyone knows that.”

(Stella) (Aqua said… Intention to burn… me.)

(Silva) “WHAT?! Why those little… don't worry Stella, I’m going to-”

Halfway through his angered rant, the door opened and Nox came in.

(Nox) “You're going to what?”

(Silva) “Nox! Stella said you got hurt protecting her. What happened?”

(Nox) “I’ll tell you the details later. First, Stella, take these.”

(Stella) (Was I bad?)

(Nox) “What? No. You did nothing wrong. Now, take these, it's from those 2.”

He handed me feathers, LOTS of different colored feathers… aren't feathers like a power source for gods? Why did he give me these?

He noticed my confusion and started to explain.

(Nox) “These things will help you learn magic a bit easier in your new world. It's not much but it should offset your 16 years and make it easier for you to adapt. It's just a little apology gift from Lacus and Aqua.”

He showed that scary smile again… I got shivers from looking at it… scary…

I looked at Silva to see him shivering too. I didn't even want to know what Nox did to make those 2 ‘apologize’ like this.

(Nox) “So, Silva, what was so important for you to run off by yourself today.”

He just casually changed the subject. I’m glad but also scared that even he was avoiding telling us what happened.

(Silva) “What? Oh right! Stella, I went out to get you this!”

He said excitedly and shows me a white teardrop shaped pendant. It's pretty but… why is he so excited to show it to me?

(Stella) (Why so excited?)

(Nox) “This is… how did you?”

Nox looked surprised, is this something impressive?

(Silva) “I traded some rare plants to Iter.”

By the way, Silva is the god of nature. If he says that a plant is rare, it is. However, he can mutate a plant however he wants so recreating a rare plant using a common one isn't that hard for him, but it still takes a bit of effort.

(Nox) “I had heard he was making a new garden… but even for him, that thing isn't cheap. It costs at least a few feathers.”

Says the person who just gave me a lot of feathers.

(Silva) “No worries, he wanted those plants from me for a while so it was easy to convince him. Stella, this pendant it an unlimited storage device. It's like a games inventory only more convenient. As long as you own the item, you can put anything in and take anything out whenever you want. You can even store people or pets but anything with intelligence must be willing. Inside, time won't flow so you won't need to worry about them starving. If you learn magic in the future, you can use other affinities to store fireballs or something for emergencies. It also can't get stolen, if someone tries, it will teleport back to you after about 5 meters or so.”

Wow, the ultimate storage device. This will be much more useful than feathers to the me that knows nothing about magic.

(Silva) “There are more functions, but nothing you can't figure out on your own later.”

(Nox) “Enough of that, hurry and absorb the feathers. I’ll go make us dinner since ours was interrupted earlier.”

So, he went into the kitchen… how do I use these things again? Absorb? How do I do that? I also want to know more about this inventory… feathers first I guess.

(Stella) (Silva, how to absorb?)

(Silva) “You don't- Ohhh right, I forgot you’re… anyway, all you need to do is press them one by one against your heart. Make sure you wait for the one you are absorbing to finish before moving on to the next one. If you don't, you may not get all the energy. Do the same to the pendant to bind it to your soul, that way, even if you die it will stay with you.”

As Silva said, I pressed the feathers to my heart, not that I think souls have one, and they got absorbed into my… soul. It felt weird honestly. Like I suddenly got more blood in my nonexistent veins. After binding the pendant I was finally done.

(Nox) “Dinners ready. Eat up, then we’ll play for a bit before going to bed.”

(Stella) (Ok.) I’m gonna stop that holy war this time.

(Silva) “Alright, but seriously, why is every pope that gets into power so corrupt?”

(Nox) “I think mother designed the game so that power corrupts 99% of people. Hurry and eat so we can play.”

And we completely forget what happened at the restaurant earlier and moved on.