“G-G-Goddess?”

The girl struggled to even get a word out. At first, I thought she was shaken by the state of the church. Only after a moment did I realize her shocked face was only on me.

“What did you call me?” I asked.

She quickly shook her head, attempting to clear her mind, then slowly opened her eyes and smiled at me.

“My apologies. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me!” With that same sweet smile, she extended her hand in invitation.

To a naked stranger in the ruins of her Goddess’ temple.

“My name is Noelle. Noelle Magos.”

Her face returning to shock, she blinked and glanced around, finally noticing what was left of the temple

“What in the name of the Goddess happened here?”

I couldn’t help but smirk a little, wondering if she knew just how cheeky her Goddess actually was.

“Funny you should phrase it that way,” I responded, and I returned her greeting with my own. “And you can call me Amelia.”

I attempted to explain myself and my arrival in a way that didn’t paint me as a raving lunatic. Once I had reached the end of my tale, she covered her gaping mouth with her hand and exclaimed, “That falling star was you?”

Embarrassed, I responded with a gesture at my nudity and then to the chaos around me. “I wish I had a better explanation, I really do! I know it sounds crazy!”

She smiled and shook her head again. “No, I believe you. I have faith in the Goddess’ grand design. If she has brought you here, then it must be for a purpose of great importance!”

A small giggle escaped her lips as she looked around the remnants of the church.

“Even if she did destroy her own temple in the process!”

Her giggle grew slowly to uncontrollable laughter at the idea, and I couldn’t help but start laughing along with her.

We finally stopped, and she waved at me to come closer. “But we must get you clothed and out of the cold!”

In all the excitement of the evening, I hadn’t even noticed that it was very chilly out. The clear night air was frosty on my bare skin and I finally noticed my breath in the air. It must have been in the dead of winter here! A sudden breeze hit me, giving me goosebumps, and sending a shiver up my spine as I started shaking uncontrollably. She rushed to me and swiftly covered me with her cloak. She rubbed my arms fervently and started pulling me out of the ruins.

Shortly after exiting the ruined temple, I paused for a moment and turned back, trying to see if I could still sense the Goddess in my head. There were no responses to my mental attempts to call back out to her, but I still felt she was watching me take my first steps, amusement still in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The temple was on a hill overlooking a valley below, and we made our way toward the dim lights of the town nestled in it. Thankfully, the hour was late and two women, one naked if not for a cloak, slinking through town went seemingly unnoticed. While I had been a little ashamed of my exposed state when Noelle found me, I would have been mortified if the town lit up with my discovery.

Our destination was a modest sized two-story house a little way into the town made with brick and a thatched roof. Noelle opened the door and pushed me inside immediately, then looked for any witnesses before closing the door behind us.

“Mother! Father! Sisters! Brother! We have a visitor in need of attention!”

She called out in an urgent manner and rushed off further into the house up some stairs, leaving me standing in front of the front door, covered in her cloak. She returned quickly with some clothes and the rest of the family.

And they just kept coming.

Two, four, eight. Ten?? They poured out of the stairwell like a clown car.

From the narrow stairwell behind Noelle followed an older man and nine more women, each of them looking identical to Noelle, just in various degrees of age. They each had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and very fair and beautiful features.

The man, obviously their father, was shorter than nearly all of them with much rounder features and middle, but he had a big smile on his face despite being woken up in the middle of the night. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of blonde, with his dark brown hair in a messy comb over and a matching thick mustache.

“Well, well! Who or what has Noelle brought home this time!”

He leaned in and squinted at me curiously. Just as he was getting a little too close for comfort, the tallest one of them, barely taller than Noelle, grabbed him swiftly by his collar and yanked him back towards her.

“Edward! Let the poor girl be! Can’t you see that she’s in need of some clothes of all things?! And here you are getting within a hair’s breadth of her!”

Despite his heftier size, the woman then casually tossed him behind her and turned towards me in a kind manner.

“I apologize for my husband. What few rocks he has in his head aren’t always clinking together!”

She bowed graciously and introduced herself. “My name is Catherine.”

She opened her arms wide in greeting, “Welcome to the Magos family home!”

She turned to the passel of girls behind her, “These are my son and daughters. And of course, you have already met my eldest, Noelle.”

I took in the sight of all the children staring at me with great interest before realizing she had introduced one of them as her son.

“Wait one of these is a boy?”

I pointed in disbelief as one of the smaller in the group raised his hand sheepishly. Based on the expression on his face, it was clear this was a mistake that he had to correct often.

“Hi,” he said quietly. “I’m Ashley, but I prefer Ash.”

I looked sidelong at Catherine, and she just shrugged. “Boys are named Ashley all the time.”

I turned back to him and the other girls. They were between their early twenties and late teens, but they were all so flawless and fair that guessing who was older than whom would have been impossible. Had I not been told Noelle was the oldest, I wouldn’t have been able to figure that out myself.

I then turned to Catherine and realized that she too, was very vibrant and youthful for a mother of, Goddess how many did she say, nine? I originally thought she was just another daughter when they all first entered the living area. She, like the others, was a striking woman with long golden blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. All the children took after their mother. Not a brown hair or round feature from their father amongst any of them.

I had gotten so caught up in the family’s warm welcome, I had forgotten I was still naked! While we hadn’t been found by a slew of villagers, it was still embarrassing to be surrounded by the large family. I clutched the cloak tighter around myself and gave Noelle a pleading look. She understood my meaning and ushered me to a nearby room for some privacy

I had been handed a plain set of cloth pants and a shirt just to quickly get myself covered, but my question of being much taller than normal proved true as the shirt just came to my midriff and the pants barely to my shins. I must have been at least three to four inches taller than whichever female Magos these belonged to.

I left the room and saw that my audience had not drifted back to bed. Instead, they had all gathered in the living room in a circle like it was story time.

I amusedly wondered who would be expected to tell the story as I sat in the empty chair obviously meant for me. I was flanked by Noelle and Catherine, with Edward sitting next to his wife, and Ash on the other side of Noelle not far from me.

As I sat, Noelle let me know she had filled the family in. They knew my name and that I was the shooting star seen blazing across the night sky. I had been bright enough the whole kingdom likely saw me. The family was very excited about this turn of events and were all eager to know more about me.

“I’m afraid Noelle told you all the interesting stuff. I came here from the sky by the Goddess, and that’s really all there is to tell. I don’t even know much about where I am!” I admitted sheepishly.

“Well Amelia,” Catherine started, “You are in a village called Bronzemead not far from the capital of Torzoa in the Kingdom of Monera. We are a village dedicated to the Goddess and care for her temple up on the hill.” She paused before continuing, “It sounds like we may have more work than normal in the coming months, if Noelle’s story about you is true.” She didn’t seem upset however, she merely smiled and pat me on the knee.

“As for our family,” she gestured around her. “My husband, Edward, and I have eight daughters and one son. I am a descendent of the line created from the Goddess herself. She is the Goddess of many things, but nothing more than family and fertility.”

At this, I noticed Edward was grinning with the widest toothy smile I had ever seen. I saw Catherine glance at him out of the corner of her eyes but didn’t wish to encourage him further and ignored him.

“Descendants of the Goddess are blessed with the ability to bear many children and have large families, however we bear almost entirely females.” Everyone turned to Ash as she continued. “Our Ashley is a blessing from the Goddess herself,” Catherine said, beaming.

Ash noticed my attention above the rest and started blushing uncontrollably.

“We are healers and helpers, assisting those in need selflessly, as the Goddess would expect of us. Noelle frequently brings home a visitor or two that needs a roof and a good meal.” She continued to smile proudly. “Only now, it seems her good nature has brought us an Avatar of the Goddess herself!”

I broke my attention on Ash and jumped up from my chair, backing away slowly. “No, I think you’ve got the wrong idea! I may have been summoned by the Goddess, which I am also still adjusting to, but I assure you I am not her avatar!”

“While that may be true, your arrival as a star has been foretold in an ancient prophecy of the Goddess. This only further cements your connection to her.” Catherine then looked at me coyly, “Your eyes also are a dead giveaway of her divine touch.”

I blinked back at her. “Pardon?”

Noelle filled me in, “Your eyes are the same golden hue of the Goddess herself. You saw her likeness in the stained-glass window? Your eyes have the same vivid quality.”

My eyes widened at this revelation.

I hadn’t had a chance to see my face in a mirror yet, but golden eyes were not a color I gave my character in my games. Since the Goddess had fashioned me after my character, I had just assumed my eyes were done the same. I personally enjoyed the idea of terrifying red eyes while staring down some NPC or villain in the middle of a cinematic.

I looked over the family, who all had expressions varied between pleading and hope.

I sighed and lowered my hands, exasperated.

“Look, the Goddess told me that I was brought here for a purpose, and I want to figure out what that is and work towards it. But I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be doing anything mind blowing tonight.”

The events of the night had caught up with me and I suddenly noticed I was very tired.

“I appreciate all your kindness you’ve shown me tonight, but can we hold off on the ‘prophesied Chosen One’ bit until the morning?”

Catherine and Noelle gave each other a smile before looking back at me.

“Of course, dear, you must be very tired! How thoughtless of us to put so much on you after you’ve just arrived!”

Catherine approached me slowly, took my hand and started walking me towards the hallway leading upstairs.

“You can get some good rest tonight and we’ll get you a good breakfast in the morning. We can answer your questions and help you get settled in tomorrow. Noelle, make sure she gets her own room. One of you girls can share for the next few nights while we determine new sleeping arrangements.”

“I— I—” I started before getting shushed and pulled forward by Noelle and her sisters. “Now, now, we won’t hear any excuses or back talk!” Catherine called behind us. “Off you go!”

Noelle brought me to one of the many bedrooms upstairs. “This is my room, but I can share with Felicia next door.” She gently pushed me into the room, encouraging me to get some sleep. “Get some rest and don’t hesitate to come get me if you need anything else tonight.”

She closed the door and I staggered tiredly towards the bed to lie down, my head swimming with questions and thoughts from the events of the last couple of hours. I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had never been awoken by a rooster call before. Up until that morning, I was sure their use as primitive alarm clocks were just a myth. I quickly shoved aside my annoyance at being awoken at whatever ridiculous hour it was as the delicious smell of something from the kitchen wafted through the bedroom.

Wait, why was I smelling food?

I whipped my head around, groggily taking in my surroundings. My long, purple hair flowed about me in messy tangles. I held my head in my hands as I struggled to get my bearings.

Last night hadn’t been a dream. I wasn’t home anymore.

I sat up and started to tame my flowing locks. My hair had remained flawless and perfect while burning up on reentry and crashing into the ground, but was not immune to bed head? I rolled my eyes and gave up on some of the more troublesome tangles. If it hadn’t been so soft and gorgeous, I would have taken shears to it.

That’s right! I smelled food!

I hadn’t been in a house that smelled like this in the morning in a few years. I could smell eggs and bacon very distinctly and the painful memories I had shoved deep down reemerged. Memories of walking into a kitchen where Mom was serving pancakes, sausage links, eggs, bacon. I’d walk into the kitchen to view a veritable smorgasbord of food on a bright Saturday morning, full of possibilities. She would turn and smile and tell me “Good morning!” and Dad would already be at the table, greedily huffing down her cooking that he loved so much.

Once Mom had passed away, with Dad working long hours day after day, I often had to fend for myself for most meals. So breakfast, for the last few years, had consisted of Pop-tarts, toast or some sugary cereal that was probably as bad for me as the bacon I could smell mere steps away.

I entered the kitchen and saw the entire family already awake and sitting in front of full plates. One sniff of the fresh crackling bacon on the stove was all I needed to tell me it was going to taste much better than soggy cereal.

Alongside the stacks of bacon were eggs prepared in various ways and toast with numerous different jellies on the side. There were also bowls of various fruits and berries alongside jugs of milk and what looked to be orange juice. The spread on the table looked like some sort of holiday feast, which made sense with how many mouths there were to feed. With me joining the table, we were a dozen hungry stomachs just waiting to be filled.

“Good morning,” Catherine greeted, in-between shoveling some sort of potato grits onto another plate on the table. She stopped and eyed me for a moment. Her mom instincts could probably tell something was off. “Everything ok, dear?”

I blinked away the tears and painful memories and put on a smile.

“Just feeling really hungry!” The excitement from last night had also left me famished.

She smiled again, “Please feel free to eat as much as you’d like!

I was about to do just that when there was a loud and vigorous pounding at the front door. Edward and Catherine jumped up quickly to greet whoever might be present. Also curious, the rest of the family trailed after them. I took a long look at the wonderful smelling food before me and grabbed a quick slice of bacon before begrudgingly bringing up the rear.

The door was already wide open when I joined the rest of the family. Filling the doorway was a tall and rather handsome man not much older than I. He had short dirty blonde hair that appeared wind swept, but as if it had been purposefully styled that way. He had icy blue eyes and a well-defined face.

He looked like someone important, and with the grin plastered on his face ear to ear, he looked like he believed it every waking moment. He was dressed in some fancy leather traveling clothes and a tunic that were mostly white with some red trim. Possibly his family colors? There was a red crest on his left breast of a lion, because of course. His clothes looked comfortable to wear but still fashionable and flashy with a touch of royalty to them. He finished his look with an ornate sword strapped to his side and was flanked by several men who were armored and possibly his guard, though none of them bore his family crest.

Royalty, indeed.

“Where is she?” He exclaimed loudly. “She is here, isn’t she? I was told this was the residence!”

He spotted me quickly while scanning over the rest of the family and I cursed myself for looking so vastly different than the rest of the family.

He spotted me and stepped into the house, brushing everyone aside like they weren’t even there. He excitedly took my hand and exclaimed, “This must be her! Perfect! You are everything I was hoping for and more! Of course, I will graciously make you my wife!”