I ran with purpose, right back to where this all started.

Tears started welling up in my eyes but even though I had left the boys behind, I still refused to cry. I ran back through the streets Noelle had led me through the night before. There was mild destruction scattered throughout the town as I made my way, but the monster attack appeared to be over. Other villagers dressed in combat leathers or borrowed armor were cleaning up from the ordeal or checking on other civilians. I encountered no further danger or resistance as I cleared the village gates and continued at a dead sprint up the hill towards the remains of the Goddess’ temple.

Dresses were not meant for running in, let alone a dead sprint. I was fortunate the thing was so short on me, otherwise I would have probably tripped and fallen half a dozen different times. I was also glad the girls had contained my much longer hair in the neat braid, keeping it out of my face while I beat down the path towards the temple.

I made my trip out of town and up the hill without the need for a break, but still panting and sweating hard as I made it to the top. Slowing down, I realized that while I was admittedly breathing hard, I wasn’t desperately gulping down air trying to refill my burning lungs. I had made the entire run from the square to the entrance of the Goddess’ temple in one full sprint Despite being pleased to learn She had also blessed me with vastly increased cardio, I had more important things to discuss with Her as I stalked over to the altar.

“Goddess!” I cried out to her. “We need to talk! Now!”

Nothing. Not even a whisper on the wind.

I felt all of my emotions start to bubble over again as I again attempted to connect with Her.

“Goddess, please! I need someone that understands what I am going through! I can’t talk to anyone else about what’s going on the way I can talk to you!”

Still nothing.

I was starting to get desperate. Feeling helpless and lost, I started to wonder if I really had experienced our conversation last night. Had I actually been so delirious after my arrival that I imagined the Goddess speaking to me?

I glanced over to my crater and confirmed it hadn’t up and vanished.

No! That couldn’t be right!

Last night had happened! I was sure of it! I knew I remembered shooting across the stars and then my plummet towards the surface and my landing, which had wiped out the church. There was no way that hadn’t been real!

Or had it been? Was I dreaming all of this?

Only one way to find out…

I slapped myself in the face as hard as I dared.

“Ow!” I yelped and rubbed my sore cheek, confirming this was no dream. I turned back to the altar and the stained-glass portrayal of the Goddess.

My voice started to go raw with my screaming, “Please, Goddess! I need you!” My emotions felt on the brink. I hesitated and looked down at the ground before saying, “I… I can’t do this. I can’t be who you want me to be.”

Finally voicing what I had been holding back up to this point, I didn’t feel better. Instead, I was just filled with despair, truly lost and alone.

Suddenly, I felt a warmth rush through and then surround me before I heard that familiar voice in my head.

“Had a bit of your over confidence shaken earlier, hmm?”

I shook my head. “It’s not just a confidence issue. I—” I stopped. It was so many things. Where did I even begin to explain that I couldn’t possibly be Her Champion? There was no other way to say it. She had just gotten it wrong.

“This is just too much! Have you seen what it’s like down there?”

I waved down to Bronzemead below. Images of the young girls being paraded about in basically underwear serving drinks to drunk and lecherous middle-aged men flashed through my mind again. I shuddered as I then thought of Roscoe lurking in the back of the bar, leering at them, and licking his lips like a wolf preying on his next meal.

Then the smell of the rotten undead and the sight of them feasting on the bodies of the villagers in the Square hit me next. People had died this morning. They had woken up thinking today would be just another day. Or maybe they hadn’t! Maybe they had woken up thinking today would be that day they got that new job or found the courage to buy that gift for the one they loved, only to have that dream smashed into nothingness by a twist of fate. By a girl who unknowingly destroyed their only line of defense from the supernatural forces in this world.

By me.

I collapsed to my knees and started bawling. Tears fell freely from my face and soaked the ground beneath me. This wasn’t a game. It was nothing like one of my virtual adventures. The choices I made weren’t real there. There were no consequences to my actions then. No one suffered if I picked some wrong dialogue or helped the wrong person. Now everything I did mattered.

And worse, everything I didn’t do mattered more.

My body shook. I sniffled. I bawled. I howled with despair. I hadn’t cried this hard or uncontrollably since Mom. At least then I still had Dad. He had been there to lift me up and tell me everything would be alright… until one day he wasn’t. We each dealt with her loss differently, and he became distant, burying himself in his work. And then when he passed, I barely felt anything at all. I had grown numb from the hole left from Mom, and I didn’t have any friends or other family to lean on. I was alone then, just like I was now.

“Everything will be alright. You aren’t alone in this struggle.”

I looked up at the stained glass, again immediately furious.

“You think just because you can read my thoughts, you can just tell me what you think I want to hear? That you can magically make it all okay? That my problems will instantly vanish?”

“What did you think this task appointed to you was going to be like? I warned there would be a myriad of challenges along the way, not just monster slaying. And while I know you expected to run into monsters,” She sighed heavily. “Monsters come in many forms, as I am sure you learned today.”

It wasn’t a hard stretch to connect the dots on that one. Roscoe easily fit the bill as an unexpected monster to overcome.

“Indeed.” She acknowledged, again reading my thoughts. “And it’s only going to get worse if you continue down this path. Roscoe is just one of many men with power and the freedom to abuse it.”

I stopped for a moment.

“If I continue?”

“I told you returning home was a possibility at the end. While I had hoped that wouldn’t be a request from you until we finally achieved our vision, I won’t hold you to its completion. If you wish to return home… if you feel this task is too great for you, then I can grant your wish.”

Gone was the cheeky Goddess from last night. She had been replaced with a more somber toned deity that understood my despair and hopelessness. One that, despite Her desire to help Her people, would fulfill my request to send me home if I asked. She was very much like a mother, letting nothing get in the way of consoling Her grieving child.

“What would happen if I said yes?”

I turned and gestured down to the village again, but the Goddess understood it wasn’t just Bronzemead I was implying. It was all of the lives I was brought here to protect and change for the better.

“They will continue to suffer. I cannot tell the future, so I know not how mankind will fair with the return of the forces of darkness and their rekindled war with the Gods of Light.”

Her voice turned to one of disdain as she considered what would happen if the Gods had their way.

“Man would be mere tools in their stupid games at best, an afterthought at worst. There would be suffering and death for all of those who call Eitania home before it would end, assuming it ended at all.”

“Couldn’t you just summon another Champion? I’m sure you had a laundry list of choices to pick from, right? There has got to be someone more suited to this task than me!”

I heard her sigh and could imagine her shaking her head, “There is none better. I searched far and wide before deciding on you, Amelia. You, alone, I have chosen. Whether you realize it or not, you are very special. There is no other like you.”

“Goddess, I know I told you this was something I could do, but I’m just a 17-year-old girl! This isn’t just saving the world from warring gods and monsters threatening humanity! This is politics and cultural and class divides and… and…” I stuttered before finally admitting the truth.

“I was wrong.” I clinched my eyes shut so tightly they burned. “So very wrong!”

I started crying again and punched the ground in frustration. I kneeled over further to rest my forehead on the ground, now cool and damp from my tears.

“I’m nobody’s Champion.”

I felt a warmth touch both of my cheeks, like two hands softly caressing them, and I felt my face being lifted back up. I opened my eyes, my gaze again resting on the stained-glass Goddess. There was no one there caressing my face, yet the feeling of warmth remained as I was lifted to my feet.

“That is why I picked you. I can sense the selflessness in your heart. I chose you because I saw the person you are, on the inside. You want to help people because you know it’s the right thing to do. You want to make a difference and make choices that matter. To have your life matter. These are traits your parents instilled in you, and they are an important part of what is needed here, in my world. They are an important part of what we both need, to accomplish this task.”

I could hear her smile as she said these words and my heart ached to hear that she still had faith in me.

“You know what it is like to experience love and great loss. You know the courage it takes to stand, even when all you wish to do is fall. Yes, the challenges you are realizing exist now are far greater than you originally perceived, but I know you can overcome them. You are my Champion.”

She hesitated for a moment before hitting me with an emotional haymaker.

“On your world, you were drowning in your grief. You were aimless, and while it was something you would have eventually moved past, you would never have been truly free of it. It would have controlled you and prevented you from realizing your true potential. Without your drive and passion, it would have been very difficult to follow through on your dreams. Here, in this world, I have given you the opportunity to start anew, to live a life where you could honor your parents’ memory and the wonderful traits they passed on in you. It would be a life that matters, a life that sparks change here.”

She sighed, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not implying you still couldn’t do this on Earth. You could live a life that matters there too. But I can promise you that, if you remain here, with my support you would have the power to change this entire world for the better.”

She paused while something soft brushed the tears from my face. Her words were warm and encouraging.

“And as I told you before, you aren’t alone….”

I turned and beheld Chad, Dorian and Ash all standing at the threshold of the temple, watching me. Each of them bore the same wide-eyed expression of shock and awe, but their stark white faces implied they were seeing something beyond their wildest imaginations.

It was in that moment I realized I was no longer standing in front of the altar. When the Goddess clasped her hands to my cheeks to lift me from my kneeling position of despair and self-destruction, she had not just lifted me to my feet. She had lifted me completely off the ground!

Not only was I floating a few feet off the ground, but I was also glowing brightly. My limbs felt weightless, floating effortlessly in the air. In the corner of my eye, I caught the sight of celestial looking wings that had materialized from me. They did not have a physical presence and I could not feel them as a part of me but based on the boys faces, I must have been quite a sight.

The wings and my glow faded slowly, and I felt the presence of the Goddess fade with them. Drifting back down to the ground, they felt safe enough to slowly approach me. Ash immediately bowed his head and addressed me like at the inn.

“Goddess.”

Dorian and Chad were speechless, an oddity for both. Chad started looking around for any other explanation of what he had just seen, while Dorian gently touched one of my hands before then running his hand up my arm, confirming if I was still real.

I smiled awkwardly as I addressed Ash first, “I told you before, I am not your Goddess made real. I’m just Amelia.” I smiled sweetly at him this time though, attempting to make up for our previous conversation.

He smiled back, “Okay, Amelia.”

I touched him gently on his head and stroked his hair affectionally like one of his big sisters might have, then turned to Chad and Dorian with a puzzled expression.

“Why did you three follow me?”

Neither of them seemed aware I had even asked the question.

“What—” Chad started, “What was that!” His face was full of disbelief and confusion.

“I didn’t imagine that right?” Dorian chimed in. “She was the Goddess in physical form for a moment, right? I mean did you see that glow, and those wings?” He flapped his arms wildly and looked back and forth between Chad and Ash for confirmation.

Chad still seemed unable to speak coherently, but Ash answered for him.

“She is a blessing to us from the Goddess, herself, Dorian.” He pointed at the crater not far from us. “Noelle investigated the shooting star last night and found Amelia here. She wa— is the star!” He waved around at the destruction. “She crashed here from beyond the heavens, and yet Noelle found her without a mark on her.” Ash blushed deeply before adding, “She was naked…”

I rolled my eyes. They didn’t need to hear that part. Why would Ash include that part?

Dorian got a mischievous grin on his face. “Damn! Why had I not been closer! I should have made that discovery!”

Taking advantage of their confusion about my identity, I joked to him, “Is that how you talk about your Goddess?”

He frantically and defensively flapped both hands at me and attempted to apologize, clearly flustered. “No, no! Merely joking! You’re the best! You’re the greatest! Always been my favorite!”

I started blushing uncontrollably, again feeling very awkward around him.

“Relax, Dorian.” I attempted to sound convincing, “I was just giving you a taste of your own medicine.”

He looked partially relieved, if not still entirely convinced that I couldn’t smite him down where he stood if the mood struck me.

Chad had wandered off to get a closer inspection of the stained-glass Goddess behind us. He had his mouth tweaked in a confused frown, face resting in his right hand, deep in thought.

“Chad?” I called, “Is everything alright?”

I hoped that my moment of being touched by a deity had not caused what little relationship we had to take a turn for the worst.

He finally turned to address me, “I believe your claim that you are not the Goddess. I also believe Ash’s claim that you are a gift from Her. Your presence a moment ago cannot be explained by any other paltry means.”

He strode back towards us, his tone now shifting to one of confusion.

“Unfortunately, these realizations now have me faced with many internal dilemmas. I still believe your future is entwined with mine, but how we become joined is a mystery to me. It has me questioning a lot of things.”

He halted directly in front of me, placed a hand across his chest, and bowed deeply, “I apologize for my earlier actions and behavior, Amelia.”

My eyes widened and mouth dropped open. Now it was my turn for disbelief! He used my name for the first time! It was not lost on me what this new revelation about me now meant to him. Dorian and Ash were also surprised. He reached forward and took my hand, but didn’t attempt to kiss it like earlier, instead placing his other hand on top of it.

He met my gaze, his blue eyes deep and powerful, “Ash appears to believe that you have been brought by the Goddess to accomplish a higher purpose or task. I vow to stay by your side until that has been completed.”

I started to blush at this level of seriousness and directness from him and found myself nervously wanting to look away.

But then he opened his mouth again and the moment was lost, “You have my word as Crown Prince Chadwick the 127th!” His signature grin returned to his sculpted face, and he added, “And, in time, you will see that you are destined to be my wife, and that the Goddess foresaw it was also your destiny to remain happily with me once your trials have been completed.”

I sighed and facepalmed with my other free hand.

He was so close.

Dorian lightly coughed beside us.

“Not to be overlooked here, but I am also going to see this new development through. The Goddess has now set something in motion, with you as a key piece. If Chad believes he is a key in these machinations, then I can’t see too many outcomes where I also was not meant to help you. Can’t leave Chadwick here to do all the heavy lifting!”

He then grinned and added, “And who knows, you might realize another handsome traveling companion is to be your match instead of some not-to-be-named uptight prince.”

Really? You too, Dorian? Didn’t these boys think of anything besides girls?

I knew I had asked myself one of the dumbest rhetorical questions ever as we all turned to Ash.

He smiled and shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t even a question, and then bowed his head again, “As a descendant of the Goddess, I also cannot see a path where I was not meant to share in your journey. I am by your side, now and forever, Amelia.”

Hearing him finally use my name rather than a title also caught me off guard, and I blushed a bit again while staring at the three of them.

Why must these cute boys be so proper?

After a moment, I composed myself and turned back to look at the image of the Goddess once again, sunlight shining through the window and bathing us in its warm glow.

“We’ve got work to do.”