I smile out the window. In the front seat Mom is yelling about something. Mom hated us. Or at least me. I was very certain it wasn't just me. Jenny was the newest baby. I could feel her body shaking with silent sobs. She would grow out of it. The rest of us had.
That was my last thought as I turned my head. Mom had turned to look at us in the back. One hand still on the wheel. I felt my eyes widen as I realized we were heading for the guardrail. I heard a scream. Somewhere in the back of my head I thought it was me. Then I knew it was me because Mom turned on me. I grabbed Jenny. I don't know why. Couldn't have told you why if you had asked. Just did.
Then we hit the railing. It was like the world slowed down. I saw Jenny's hair flying. Mixing with my own. Mom liked all of us to have long hair. Said girls with long hair were prettier. That if we wanted a good man we would need to be pretty.
I remembered last year when she had beaten me. Beaten me for loving women. I remember telling her I did not want a man. I liked pretty girls. I did not want to be one. She had not liked that.
The feeling of weightlessness took over. The car was flipping. That was little concern for me though as I saw water rushing toward me. We had been on the bridge. I tucked my arms tighter around Jenny. Tried to cover her head like they told us to do in an emergency. I closed my eyes as I saw us approaching the water then... Nothing.
Except somehow I still thought. Saw my life. I had not just liked girls. I had liked boys too. Though not as many guys as girls.
How my mother had hated us all for being girls like her. Even though we had no control over that. She seemed to think it was our fault that every single man left her. That we were the reason why none of them stayed. I remembered how I had hit a few of those men when they had come to our rooms in the middle of the night. Remembered how when we had tried to tell her she had told us to shut up. That good girls did as the men said.
How we had tried telling others only to be called liars. Told to stop making stuff up. That we were making it up for attention. Never mind the bruises. The broken bones.
Some had tried to run away away. Others had managed to get away. I could never bring myself to run. I refused to leave the younger kids to mom's wrath. Not that I could do much to stop her. Better me than them though.
I woke up in a building of black and gold. I was confused. Shouldn't I be in a hospital or dead? Instead I was in a Great hall. Like something from a history textbook. Some weird combination of the Norse large single room for gathering, Greek bath house, and Ancient Egyptian Palace. All around me were thrones. A throne of black skulls, another of roses and thorns, blood made metal, and more.
"Hello child." I turned to the front of the room or at least what I though was the front.
"Hello?" These three seemed different from the rest. A thin woman with golden skin, her hair fell in loose ringlets of red and gold. Her eyes a bright green. She was beautiful and commanding. Her outfit reminded me of snake skin. The man to her right was thin as well. His hair was long and black as night. His features were soft for a man almost feminine. On her left was another man. This one had short chopped hair that was red as blood. A wolf rested at his feet. It was that I noticed the snake around her shoulders and the other man had crows along the back of his throne.
"I have some questions for you," she said.
I shallowed thickly. It did not move the lump from my throat. "Okay."
"What do you consider yourself?"
I tilted my head to the side. Not sure I understood. "I do not understand the question Mam."
The red man snorted. "Do you consider yourself a boy or a girl?" She tried again, shotting the man a glare.
"Are you asking because I like girls more than boys?" I questioned.
"No, although that is interesting."
I shifted on my feet. I felt fabric brush at my ankles so I looked down. I gasped. I wore a beautiful regency style dress. I had always been more partial to the Victorian era, with full skirts, corsets, and the stories of men falling head over heels for a woman. School had taught me that love stories were mostly made up but I could still dream. "I guess I always considered myself a girl. I don't think I would have minded being a boy."
"Hmmm," she smiled with a raised eye brow towards the black haired man.
"Did you like 'girls' more for a particular reason?" He asked.
"You mean other than the fact they are nicer to look at?"
All three of them laughed at that as did several others around the room. "Yes, other than that."
I thought about it for a second, for a minute. "I like how they look at me. Not like they want something from me, but like I am needed. Like they need me. No that's not right. The attention certainly doesn't hurt but... The trust. That they would let me decide what and where we went. That they would listen and remember. That I could have control and they did not feel less because of it."
"Did you read a lot?"
"Yes," I smiled at that.
"What was your favorite thing to read?"
I blushed but still answered him, "Dark romance."
"You like the dedication, the worship, and desire in a relationship," the woman spoke up. "That is why you dated women. Males on Earth tend to forget how much a female should be worshipped. So that will not be a problem."
"Women should always have a say," the red haired male agreed. "It is an honor to have the trust of another."
"Do you know why you are here?"
"No," I say. "I thought death was it. The end. That you live. Then you die. That you just stop existing after that."
"You have been chosen to reincarnate."
"Like be reborn?"
"Exactly!" the woman said. She clapped her hands together. "You see we are Gods of another world. A world much like Earth in some ways. However, very different in others."
"Okay?"
"We would like you to be reborn on our world."
"Do I really get a choice?" I asked. "On Earth Gods don't really take no for an answer."
They looked between eachother. "Not really, no," she said. "Although you may make requests of us for bonus skills. We will of course aid you if you want to take a certain path."
"Bonus skills?"
"Everyone receives a system upon birth."
"Like in the comic books?"
"Yes!" She said with a smile. "It is just a basic system to start out with. Everyone gets the same starter system. Once you turn ten you will be able to pick a direction to grow to."
"Like a priest? Or like a dragon?"
"Both," the red man said. "Every system is unique to the person. Some chose job systems, others trait systems, a few mix the two or to become something else."
"Do I have to ask for everything now?" I asked. "Like if I decided I want to be a fighter in the future could I ask for a Bonus skill then?"
"She has a point," the black hair man agreed. "She does not know our world so it must be hard for her to try and pick skills to help with her future."
"Hmmmm," the woman said again. Then clapped her hands together, "I got it! She can visit our temples. If you think of something specific that we could help with in the future just visit the temple of the God who has that domain. Then you will be able to speak with us!"
"Is there anything we can grant you now?" the red haired man asked.
"An inventory skill, that will be helpful no matter what," I say. "If there is magic on the new world I request some kind of affinity to it. I've always wanted magic." I scratched my head trying to think.
"Easily done," someone in the shadows said.
"I honestly don't know what else to ask for. Maybe something to warn me of danger or a way to find out about other people?"
"Done and done," the red haired man said.
"Is that all you can think of?" She asked.
"I think so, at least for now."
"Then I think I speak for of us when I say we look forward to watching you grow."