Nora spent the next month training with her dad every afternoon.

At the dawn of spring, her parents woke her up early in the morning,

“What’s going on?” Nora asked,

“Today is The Blessing Festival.” Her mom said with a smile on her face. This was the first she’d heard of it.

“What’s that?” Her parents looked at each other then back at her,

“It’s a festival where all the four-year-olds get blessed by the gods.” Her mom said. Nora had never believed in any gods in her previous life but thinking about it these gods may very well be real.

“What does getting blessed do?” She asked, she figured it was something like baptism,

“Well,” Her dad spoke up, “you basically get cured of all curses and it guarantees you entry into the afterlife, no matter what you do in your life.” Curses? She’d never heard anyone mention them before. Were curses a problem for four-year-olds? “It also represents you becoming a person or an individual meaning more responsibilities.”

“Is the festival fun at least?” She wasn’t looking forward to getting blessed especially the more responsibilities part of it but maybe the festival would be fun. She always enjoyed them on earth.

“It’s really fun!” Her mom said, “You get to play all kinds of games and the whole religious district is filled with stalls and decorations.” She’d never been to the religious district before, but the excitement was obvious on her face,

“Cool! Are you both coming with me?” She hoped,

“Of course we are. This is your big day. No way we’d miss it.” Her mom said. Nora smiled at that,

“What should I wear?” She asked, her dad walked away whereas her mom pulled over the trunk with all of her makeup stuff in it,

“I’m going to be dressing you today.” Nora couldn’t help but be excited, she was never a big fan of getting all dressed up in the old world but she always loved nail polish. Maybe her mom would let her wear some.

“Can I wear some of your nail polish, mom?” Her mom smiled and pulled a little box out from the trunk. She opened it and inside was nail polish of all colors. “Is there any pink?” Her mom chuckled a little,

“Of course,” She said, pulling out a little bubblegum pink glass bottle. Nora always thought pink popped with the colors she wore in her previous life and since she generally wore darker colors in this world too, the same should be true. Nora held her hands out to her mom, tail wagging. She found it hard to control her tail’s movement when she was excited.

Over the next thirty minutes, her mom applied the nail polish and a small amount of makeup. Nora wasn’t really a fan of facial makeup but she went along with it since she got to wear the nail polish.

After her mom finished her makeup and made sure the nail polish was dry she, pulled out a dark blue dress.

“This is what you’re gonna wear today.” It looked far better made than any of the other clothes she had. Was getting blessed really that big of a deal?

“It’s pretty, I’ll look like you.” Her mom smiled and hugged her,

“Alright let me help you put this on.” Nora stood up and her mom put the dress on her. She also gave her some nice boots to wear. “Alright, are you ready?” Her mom was still wearing normal clothes,

“Aren’t you going to get dressed up?”

“This day is for you and the other four-year-olds. Not me.” That was disappointing, she’d hoped her mom would dress up with her.

“Ok. I’m ready then.” Her mom grabbed her hand and led her outside where her dad was waiting. He looked over at her and smiled,

“You look so pretty.” Nora smiled,

“Thanks.” He took her other hand and they led her into the city. They made their way through the market, which was much livelier than usual, with every stall opened and decorated with various symbols. She assumed they were symbols representing the gods. They stopped by the residential area where Belle and Leo lived. There Belle, Leo, and their mom Posie were waiting for them. She’d forgotten Leo was the same age as her.

Leo was wearing a nice-looking suit. She thought he looked cute. Posie and Belle were wearing basic normal clothes.

“You look so pretty!” Posie said, Nora smiled,

“Thank you!” Nora looked to Leo, “You look handsome Leo.” Leo hid behind Posie,

“Thanks.” It was barely audible, “Um, y-you look pretty.” Nora that he was so cute the way he stuttered and hid away. Her mom patted her on the head,

“Alright, we gotta go.” Her mom led them further into the city where Nora noticed a Castle towards the center of the city. She’d never seen it before.

“Dad, what’s that castle?” She figured it was where the leaders of the city lived.

“That, is where King Ezren and the rest of his family live.” He said casually. The King lived there? So this must be the Royal Capitol then. Actually, what was this city called?

“What city are we in?” Belle looked her like she was crazy,

“Dunar, everyone knows that.” Belle said. Nora nodded,

“Emm yeah... and what kingdom are we in?” They all looked at her like she should know this, but she didn’t remember anyone ever mentioning the kingdom's name.

“We are Citizens of The Kingdom of Ardun.” Posie said with pride, both of her parents rolled their eyes, I guess mom and dad don’t like the kingdom very much. Which made sense considering they were criminals involved with gangs. She’d never asked what happened to that rival gang, The Serpents, that ambushed her dad but she didn’t think now was the time to ask, especially with Posie there.

After a few more minutes of walking, they entered a massive cobbled courtyard surrounded by seven temple-like structures. There were three fountains in the center of the courtyard. Stone benches surrounded each. The entire place was filled with parents and kids playing various games that had been set up. Each game was led by a man or woman dressed in fine silver armor or fine silver robes. They must have worked for the temples.

She also took note of the fact that almost everyone there was beast-kin.

They made their way to the largest temple in the square. The building was white with golden inlay and filigree. She felt a warmth overtake her as she stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was a statue of a golden woman with a horn coming out of her forehead, in silver armor, holding a greatsword in the center of the room. She assumed that was the goddess of this temple.

Inside armored guards and robed priests were waiting at an altar in the back of the massive hall. They were similar to the ones running the games outside but their armor and clothes had a gold lining.

As they approached, the priests looked at them, and a woman with antlers in completely golden robes stepped forward,

“Welcome.” She said, Nora's dad lightly pushed her forward, she stepped up, Leo followed. “You are now four years into your lives. The Beast Goddess Ali’Min welcomes you into her arms and accepts you as her disciples.” The priestess waved them toward the altar. Nora approached boldly while Leo did so cautiously.

The other priests, who were also beast-kin like the woman, made a half-circle around the altar. The priestess in gold stepped up next to them,

“Leo, lay on the altar and be blessed.” Leo looked to Nora worry in his eyes,

“Go ahead.” She whispered, Leo slowly climbed onto the altar and laid down. The priestess in gold and the other priests all put their hands over him. Leo closed his eyes. The priests began to chant in a language she didn’t understand but, much like the other ritual she’d been a part of, the chanting sounded beautiful, almost ghostly.

The priests' hands began to glow golden and little motes of golden light floated down from them onto Leo. He seemed to relax and open his eyes. His body began to glow golden as well. The chanting grew louder as the glowing intensified. The statue of the golden woman emanated a bright glow as well.

The chanting slowly got quieter and the glowing faded until it was gone completely. The priestess helped Leo up. He had a smile on his face. He walked over to his mom and sister without even looking at Nora. It was like he was in a trance. Weird. Nora didn’t trust this but she didn’t think her parents would let her just leave.

“Nora,” Her head shot over, “It is now your turn to be blessed by Ali’Min. Come.” Nora’s heart was pounding in her throat. She walked forward and laid on the altar. She glanced over at her parents, they were both smiling. Their faces gave her some comfort. The priests raised their hands over her and began the chant once again. The golden glow was blinding, forcing her eyes closed. She felt a warm impact on her chest.

A cool breeze cascaded over her and the song of birds met her ears. She opened her eyes and saw the canopy of a forest above her. She shot up looking around. A thick forest surrounded her. Where was she? Directly ahead of her was a golden path cutting its way through the forest. She felt an urge to follow it.

She wondered if this was supposed to happen and if so why hadn’t her parents warned her. She followed the path for what felt like hours when finally it opened up into a small clearing. In the center of which there was a black throne with the same golden woman from the statue sitting on it, Ali’Min. She sat forward,

“Welcome, Nora.” Her voice rang through the air. Was this really a god? She couldn’t be sure.

“Hello, your Ali’Min, right?” Nora wasn’t sure how you should address a god, she looked surprised by Nora’s question.

“Yes. I am Ali’Min.” She answered with patience and kindness,

“So, you're really a goddess then?”

“Of course.”

“May I ask you some questions?” She looked curiously at her,

“I would love nothing more.” Nora wanted to know why she was reincarnated into this world. Up until now, she hadn’t given it much thought since no one around her would know anything about it, but this was a god, if she didn’t know no one would.

“Do you know who I am?” Nora asked,

“You are Nora Lynx, daughter to Bora and Azealia Lynx.” Was that all she had to say?

“Nothing else?” Ali’Min looked at her intensely then leaned back with a confident look on her face,

“Nothing else.” Even she didn’t know, Nora was starting to doubt that this was actually a god.

“You really don’t know anything else about me?” The goddess looked at her curiously, “Like the fact that I was reincarnated into this world.” The goddess cocked her head,

“Reincarnated, are you sure that’s what happened to you?”

“Either that or I was shoved into a baby's body as it was being born.” She didn’t like the second option.

“You have memories of this previous life?” Nora nodded, “Tell me, what was your name?”

“Natalie Moore but everyone called me Nat.” The goddess’s eyes glazed over for a moment then returned,

“Hmm, I can’t find this previous life you speak of. You say you’re from earth?” Nora again nodded. “I’ve never heard of earth.” She sat silent for a few seconds before raising her hand, “Come here.”

“Why?”

“You know most people who get blessed aren’t sent here,” Nora cocked her head, “only those who have been cursed are sent here.”

“I’m cursed?” She said worried, she was sure this had something to do with her reincarnation.

“Yes, and it’s quite a powerful one at that. So, come.” Nora walked over and put her right hand in the goddesses. She could feel warmth flowing from her, then she screamed in pain as her hand and arm felt on fire.

“Fuck,” She said that in English, “why didn’t you tell me you were going to put magic into me?!”

“Is something wrong with your hand and arm?”

“Obviously, I thought you were a god, shouldn’t you know this stuff already.” She frowned at that,

“I’m not omniscient and I am trying to remove your curse.” The pain continued to rage, she must have poured a lot of mana into her, usually, the pain would lessen.

“You know this hurts a lot,” Nora held her left hand out this time, “Just get it over with and send me home.” Ali’Min was still frowning but grabbed her hand. She could feel the mana pour into her, warm and cool at the same time, different than usual. It traveled up her arm, over her shoulder, down her chest, and into her stomach. It surrounded her mana pool, she could feel her pool straining against the constricting force of this god’s power.

She felt like she was going to puke. She could feel something being squeezed out of her pool and forced up her throat. It was thick and soft but really gross. It jettisoned out of her mouth toward the goddess. It was a blue cloud with electricity swirling in it. Nora jumped back, enhancing her eyes and legs with mana. The goddess grabbed the cloud and caused a million little golden explosions inside of it, the cloud sent lightning in every direction, Nora jumped to the side, out of the clearing, just barely avoiding it. The lightning petered off as the cloud evaporated into little bits of golden dust.

Nora stepped back into the clearing,

“That was awesome.” Ali’Min looked to her,

“You are free from your curse. I’m going to send you back now.” Nora was fine with that,

“Ok, see ya never.” She was still upset that she hurt her and she wasn’t afraid to show it, even to a god. The goddess waved her hand with a frown and Nora was back on the altar. The priests stepped away as she got down from it and walked back to her parents. All eyes in the room were locked onto her,

“What?” Nora asked, the priestess in gold spoke up,

“You were cursed.” Nora nodded, “How?” Nora shrugged, she honestly didn’t know and just wanted to leave this place. “Did you see the goddess?”

“Yeah, she was... interesting.” The priestess looked at her expectantly, “What?”

“Did she have a message for me?” Nora decided to just pretend she was given a message, she wasn’t sure why,

“Yeah, she said to be careful of serpents.” The priestess looked confused but Nora started walking out before she could ask her more. Her parents and Leo's family followed. As they got outside her dad stopped her,

“What happened when you saw the goddess?” Everyone else looked just as curious,

“She just removed the curse from me.” Nora didn’t want to tell them about her being reincarnated. “Can we just go play now?” Her parents looked at each other then back at her,

“Alright, let’s go.” They played for a few hours. Nora had fun but the games got pretty boring pretty quickly. Once they were home her parents sat her down. Her mom looked her in the eyes,

“What happened when you went to see the goddess?” Were they seriously bringing this back up?

“I talked to her about you guys then she destroyed the curse with some crazy golden explosions.” She thought going into more detail might satisfy them.

“That’s really it?” Her mom sounded worried,

“Yes. What are you so worried about?” They looked at each other worriedly,

“The gods can be very vengeful and they like to hold grudges. We’re just making sure you didn’t offend her.” Her mom said, shit she wasn’t aware of that. She had been kinda rude when she hurt her and she was rude during the goodbye too, but she thought it would be best not to worry her parents.

“I didn’t offend her.” They stared at her, “Ok?” They stared for a few more seconds then her dad nodded,

“Ok.” He said.