I was having the most amazing dream.
I was flying through the deepest, darkest reaches of the cosmos. I was formless and featureless, a pinprick of light insignificant to the other celestial bodies that surrounded me. I watched as I rocketed past billowing gas giants, their hues of vibrant orange and yellow a stark contrast to the blackness of space.
I passed other galaxies in my journey, all wonderfully crafted and teaming with life that I would never know.
I imagined myself waving to other stars that twinkled back at me as I shot by. They were all manner of glorious sizes and colors. From brilliant blues and purples to crimson reds and glimmering yellows, they were all like the jewelry of the magnificent cosmos before me.
And for a fleeting moment, I was one of them.
“Amelia.”
A voice like a whisper seemed to call to me from nowhere and everywhere.
I started noticing flecks of my light breaking away as I began to take shape. Fingers and toes, arms, and long legs, my light began to resemble my human form as I got closer to a planet in the unknown reaches of the galaxy.
It was then I realized my wonderful dream was coming to an end.
Within moments, I was no longer flying through space, but falling towards the land below. The wind was rushing past me, roaring in my ears, and making my eyes tear. Everything around me was a blur. I focused on the ground below me, rushing up towards me. If this was a dream, now would be a great time to wake up!
Nothing changed. I didn’t jerk upright in a panic in my bed back at home, gasping for air, drenched with sweat, and making sure I had a firm grip on something touching the floor in my bedroom. This was starting to look less like a wonderful dream and more like a terrifying nightmare! I was about to crash, and there was nothing I could do to stop it!
This sudden realization struck me with immediate panic. I couldn’t breathe. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it above the sound of the rushing air. I blinked aggressively to clear my eyes and looked where I was about to land for anything that gave me a prayer at survival.
I saw nothing but an open field with a lone building.
Is that a church?
I hit the steeple with a ferocity that had me tear through it like it was paper. Strangely enough, my body wasn’t fazed by the impact as I ripped through it and continued through the center of the church itself. I hit the floor with a sound that deafened my ears, and I felt the ground further give way to my impact. I finally came to a stop and was able to breathe again, a sigh of relief. Inexplicably, my body responded to my attempts at movement without any protests or pain and I was able to roll over on my back.
I inhaled deeply again as I stared straight up at the night sky, seeing no signs of the building I had just redecorated. No roof obscured my vision of the beautiful stars above. Just the dirt and dust that my entry had kicked up as well as two full moons.
Wait, moons?
I blinked and rubbed my eyes with my arm. I wasn’t imagining things. Hanging in the tapestry of the night sky were two full beautiful moons. I double checked to confirm I wasn’t hallucinating and noticed the stars were not in their normal places in the sky as well. None of the constellations I knew could be seen.
No Big Dipper, no North Star. I was no longer on Earth.
And I was almost positive I was not in a dream. A nightmare may have still been on the table…
So, if this was all real, how had I gotten here? How had I been shooting through space to arrive at this world in the first place? And more importantly, how did I survive?
I started to sit up for a personal inspection and realized that I was completely naked. Not only naked, but in a body that I didn’t recognize.
The first thing that was different was my hair was much longer than normal, flying in the completely opposite direction from my normal hair style of short and simple. Hair was so much easier to deal with that way! If I didn’t want to mess with it in the morning, I’d just put it in a bun or cover it with a hat or my hoodie. Keeping it a length like this would require constant care and styling… it would just be exhausting! I stayed in my room all the time anyway, who cared if my hair looked boring?
But now?
Now long purple locks flowed down my chest and back like a waterfall. It was straight and untangled, which was odd considering what I had gone through to end up here, but not nearly as odd as what I observed they were covering.
Boobs! Full and easily a handful or more in size. My chest was normally nothing to write home about on a good day, and this was way more than I was used to having!
After spending a moment or more coming to grips with my new assets, I realized my top half wasn’t the last surprise in store. Bouncing a bit after sitting up, I realized I also had some cushion to spare in the rear end department. I stood and ran my hands down my backside and hips and confirmed they were much more curvy than normal as well. And was it my imagination or was I taller now too?
What was happening to me?!
“You tell me!”
A voice! Was that the one from before?
I whirled around looking for its origin but saw no one in my little crater. The voice had to be in my head. I rolled my eyes and groaned. Turning into a drop dead gorgeous knock out was one thing. Going crazy is something I could have done without.
“Well, are you going to just stand there all night? We have work to do!”
The voice was feminine and ladylike. Mature, but also with a hint of childlike glee and mirthfulness.
“Who are you? Where are you?!” I called out.
“Why, I am the Goddess of course! It was my temple that you made your grand entrance into after all! And I sincerely apologize for the rough landing. This all went much smoother when I planned it out earlier!” she giggled.
She was amused with herself!
“We might as well get you started on your Welcome Packet!”
I could almost hear her clapping excitedly and then detected a curtsy in her inflection as she carried on.
“A proper introduction is in order! As I mentioned before, I am the Goddess, and I have summoned you to assist me with the protection of this world, known as Eitania! You may introduce yourself to me, if you wish, but I already know everything about you that is needed. Part of my vetting process to decide upon you as my champion after all!”
It was at this point that I decided my landing had jiggled some screws loose, but I didn’t see any harm in playing along.”
My name is Am—” I stopped.
She had known my true name. Had called out to me when I had been a speck in the darkness moments before. No one called me by my full name once Mom had passed away. Not even Dad. It was always just “Amy.”
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And I had hated it.
If this was real, as the Goddess was insisting, now was a chance to start fresh.
“My name is Amelia,” I proclaimed.
“I’m 17 years old and I like video games and reading!” I half shouted my pronouncement, attempting to make myself sound more impressive.
“Quite a body on you for 17!” she smirked.
The Goddess overlooked my obvious social inadequacies and continued like I was a person with their wits about them.
“This isn’t mine!” I shouted back into the empty night.
I must have looked insane, but I was past caring. If there were any onlookers out of sight nearby, I was in for quite an explanation anyway. Having a one-sided conversation with myself was the least of my worries.
Now that the focus was again drawn to my body, I looked down again to make sure I hadn’t imagined my earlier enhancements.
Yep, still there and as perky and bouncy as before! My hips were nothing to sneeze at either. Had everything truly been this big when I had first noticed them a few moments ago? And yet despite all the changes, something about my new body still felt oddly familiar.
As if she had been reading my thoughts, the Goddess chirped up, “Ah yes, I can explain that! As part of my summoning process, your old physical form was left behind. As compensation for your efforts that will be requested of you here, I took the liberty of crafting you a new body and pulled inspiration from your memories! My sincerest apologies if I have mis-stepped!”
She sure apologized a lot for a deity.
A body from my memories? Then it hit me: the long purple hair. The hourglass, very full body shape. The long and shapely legs. All of it added up to my designed avatar in nearly every video game I had ever played when they had a halfway decent character creator. Although truth be told, I largely stole her look from my favorite fantasy heroine.
This was going to take some getting used to.
“Back to the matter at hand. As I said before, you are now on Eitania, my world. Well, mine and twelve other gods.” Despite how important that last tidbit of information sounded, she seemed to almost rush by it as if they were an afterthought.
“The Gods were at a seemingly endless war with each other up until near a millennia ago,” she continued, “until the Gods of light were able to succeed at sealing the Gods of darkness away. Since then, the world has largely been at peace, apart from small squabbles between humankind and the other races.”
She paused here and audibly sighed, as if expressing this next point actually caused her physical and mental exhaustion. I could almost see her relaying this information to me with closed eyes and a weary expression.
“But now, the races who serve the Gods of darkness have broken the seal and they are again mustering their power to start up their age-old war against humanity and the Gods of light.” Her tone quickly shifted to one of hope, “and that is why you are here.”
I balked at her, “And you expect me to do what, exactly?”
This sounded like something way out of my league, yet I still had a tingling of excitement growing in me. This was the makings of stuff I dreamed about! The hopeless romantic in me yearned to leave my dull life behind and go on a magical adventure just over the horizon! I had done so countless times in video games and my books and otherwise spaced out frequently daydreaming about exploring some far-off world.
But even so, if I was now living my fantasy of being a “Chosen One”, the pressure felt so much bigger now that I was on the other side!
“I expect you to assist me in our efforts to prevent the war at large from breaking out again!” I loved how she emphasized “our”, as if I had already agreed and we were thick as thieves.
“Now don’t fret! You won’t be alone in this quest! I have a hunch that others will join us in our mission. I will be available to assist you to the best of my abilities and will provide you blessings and assist with your progress when you are ready for such things! I have already bestowed a few additional physical gifts on your new form.” And again, she giggled, “Pun not intended!”
I looked myself over again and I noticed the other subtle differences from my old body to my new one: I looked amazing!
My skin shimmered beautifully, a nice kissed pink color rather than the ghostly pale shade I had always been by staying indoors as much as I could manage. My legs and arms were toned and healthy looking. My flat stomach also had some nice definition to it. My shapely perkiness combined with some muscle and athletic tone in all the right places? I would have made a prom queen look like a peasant!
Whether I wanted to admit it or not, normally I was the unremarkable peasant next to the Queens among my peers. Back home, I was not counted among the physically or athletically gifted and had instead honed my body to fit my comfortable shut-in lifestyle on a healthy diet of hot pockets and staring at a screen.
Back home.
“Hey Goddess, believe it or not, I’ve heard of these kinds of situations before. In similar instances, the one summoned is also promised a reward or motivation of some kind. For example, say I complete our task, can I go home?”
“Home?” She sounded confused. “While I understand the idea of being homesick, I’m surprised you would ask to go back…” She paused for a moment before giving me an answer. “Well, I suppose that might be possible. I have the capability to send you back if you so desire, but we have so many bridges to cross until we get there!”
I wasn’t completely convinced with that response and didn’t know why she seemed confused that I would want to go back home, but at least I had asked. She also had a point: there were a lot of other things to keep me occupied till then. I agreed to put a pin in it for now.
Suddenly, the Goddess’ tone took a serious turn.
“One additional word of warning: the world dynamic here is probably very different from what you may be used to.”
She paused here, likely to make sure I was paying attention. If her serious change in tone hadn’t been so obvious, I would almost have accused her of being overly dramatic.
“I am acting of my own accord here, without any support or influence from the Gods of light or darkness. I have watched their war tear apart this world far too long. Our goals will likely not align with their grand designs, and you may run afoul of those on the surface who worship them, including Man. That will pose additional risks and problems of it’s own.
Again, she paused to give me a chance to soak that all in before asking,
“Do you understand?”
“I do,” I stated with a nod, and tried not to scoff a little.
I mean come on! What would fulfilling the role of the “Chosen One” be without grey areas and hurdles?
I detached myself enough from our conversation to realize I was still standing in the crater that had resulted from my landing. I hadn’t yet seen any witnesses to my arrival.
Good!
It meant my retelling of this story could involve something much more heroic.
And with much less nudity.
Not yet used to my longer limbs, I awkwardly climbed out of my hole to see what other damage my landing had caused and to further get my bearings on where exactly I was. To say the sight that greeted me took my breath away would have been an understatement.
I had nearly leveled the church. The crater caused by the impact of my landing was not large enough to encompass the entire structure, but the shock wave of the impact had succeeded in completely blowing away the rest. There was debris and broken furniture everywhere and a small breeze continued to whip up some dirt and dust in the air. There were also some smoke tendrils rising about from small fires.
I had, quite literally, come in hot.
There was one thing that survived, however. I was looking about, taking in the level of destruction that my arrival had caused and noticed that the altar for the Goddess survived unscathed. But even more miraculous was the surviving decoration behind the altar: a large stained glass window depiction of an absolutely stunning female figure that likely had stretched from floor to ceiling when the church had been standing.
It was immediately apparent this could only have been a representation of the Goddess. She was utterly breathtaking to behold! Words felt like such a primitive way to do her portrayal justice. I mean she was a Goddess after all! To assume she was anything less than flawless in any given form would just be absurd!
She was barefoot and floating. She wore a full length but simple white gown which hugged her features neatly. It had a slit up the side of her right thigh and it traced her long and cream-colored leg up to her motherly hips. Her full breasts also helped fill her gown effortlessly.
However, this was portrayal of her was not of a vain or sexual nature. It was more graceful and effortless in its purpose, to further express her beauty and the essence of her purity and perfection. The gown was sleeveless and exposed her smooth shoulders and bare arms which were extended with open hands, beckoning the viewer to grasp them, and be protected by her loving embrace.
Her head was adorned with beautiful, long light blue hair. It flowed down to her knees and billowed around her, as if she had full control of each sway from every strand on her head. Her face appeared soft and elegant, despite being portrayed in stained glass. Her full lips were drawn in the sweetest, softest smile that I had ever seen or felt I would ever see again.
Lastly, I took in her eyes, which were as golden and brilliant as the sun. Despite her perfection, they were easily her most striking feature and seemed almost the center piece of the entire portrayal.
“Wow”, I whispered.
“I know right? Glad they got my good side! Although, in hindsight, I don’t think that hair style ever really suited me. But it was the early 5000’s! Everyone was wearing it!”
I was so awestruck in taking her in that it took me several moments to realize that I was no longer alone. I spun around to see a beautiful woman staring at me from what appeared to be the old entry way of the church.
She looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed modestly. Her long blonde hair was styled in a thick braid that came down over her shoulder. She looked equal parts terrified and awestruck and I couldn’t blame her. Here was a naked woman standing in the remnants of what was probably her local church. And based on the rural area I remember glimpsing before landing, probably the only church.
What would I say? What could I say?
“….Hi…?”