"Do not speak so lightly of yourself, my child. What I need is something that you are perfectly suited to do. You see, one of my avatars is in danger, and the people living on that world are preparing to do the same thing that was done to your own."
Well that certainly sounded bad, but I didn't understand what it had to do with me.
"Not to sound selfish, but what do I stand to gain from getting involved with that? I don't know if you realized but I've gone through a lot in the past few weeks. I'll be happy to just reincarnate into some new body and put all of this in the past." I said, my tone firm.
Celeste sighed, "I had a feeling you might think that way. What I can offer you though is the chance to keep your memories, and I will bless your new body with a boon to guarantee you a long and fruitful life."
Their offer piqued my interest, "So you'll also let me be immortal in my next life?"
Living with immortality did sound like it would be fun, I didn't get to experience any of the benefits of it during my last life due to the unfortunate circumstances.
Celeste shook her head, "Immortality is a blessing I no longer give out to my children, I learned that lesson a long time ago. In your case I had merely made a temporary exception, this was just to ensure your soul stayed in place long enough for me to reach you."
This put a damper on my mood, but it didn't make me outright reject their offer just yet. After all, I would likely never again get the chance to be blessed by a being that rules over the cosmos.
"Ok, so no immortality. What other powers will you give me? I reckon I'll need something strong if I'm going to be able to defeat something that can kill your avatar." I said, trying to gauge what I could ask for.
"Do not worry, I will give you power so great that it will be nigh impossible for you to die from normal means." Celeste said, giving no further information.
I sighed, 'It seems like I won't be able to do much negotiating in this position.' I thought to myself, making up my mind.
"Alright then, Ms. Goddess. I'll take you up on your offer." I said.
Celeste showed me a brilliant smile when she heard that, her smile was so stunning that I had forgotten what I had even said just a moment ago.
"Wonderful! Well then, there's no time to waste. I have already made the necessary preparations." she said.
'Isn't this goddess forgetting something important?' I thought inwardly.
"Wait! You didn't even tell me what the task is! What am I supposed to do after I reincarnate?" I asked.
Celeste merely waved a hand, "It will all become clear to you in time. Just live out your life until then, Kane Reeds."
The flow of time seemed to halt as the stars flying past us came to an abrupt stop. When I looked down, I saw what appeared to be a planet floating in space beneath us.
I had read stories of what astronauts experienced when they saw the Earth from space, and the way it messed with your mind. However, experiencing it yourself was something indescribable.
The planet's horizon stretched far beyond what my eyes could see.
The planet also appeared to be very similar to Earth, with vast oceans covering much of its surface. The main difference though was that these oceans were a vibrant purple instead of the blue that I was used to.
'Well that's definitely an alien planet.' I thought to myself, not knowing if I should be excited or scared.
"It shouldn't be too bad for you to adjust, my children here are remarkably similar to humans. A few extra organs here and there, but nothing too drastic." Celeste said, not easing my hesitation in the slightest.
Celeste suddenly held out her hand, and I was unable to move as I was seemingly shrunk down to the size of a baseball and brought over to her palm.
"Now, don't you move! This needs to be done accurately, it'll cause a huge hassle if you end up in the wrong body." she said, not explaining herself at all.
I still had several important questions to ask, but I was unable to ask a single one as I saw Celeste was now winding up her arm like a professional pitcher.
Before I knew it, I was plummeting down towards the planet faster than a rocket.
The planet's terrain got larger and larger as I approached its surface, and I could see mountain ranges get closer in the distance as I flew downwards.
"F*ck! What the f*ck! I'm going to die!" I screamed, unsure of how to slow my descent.
As I flew through the atmosphere I noticed that the continent I was flying towards held an absolutely monumental skyscraper. It seemed to reach past the mountains and into the clouds, and it had to have been wider than an entire city.
It was too far away for me to make out many details, but this strange tower stood out like a sore thumb even from the lower atmosphere.
When I looked down I could see what appeared to be a large city slowly getting closer to me, and I began to wonder if I was going to die before I even had a chance to properly reincarnate into my new body.
Before I realized it, I had flown over the city and was still travelling past its outskirts.
I was beginning to worry that I would never stop falling, but I soon spotted a lone house in the middle of a vast, empty field.
Getting closer I realized that the house was actually rather large, and was more akin to what one would call a manor.
Unfortunately, I seemed to have been flying straight towards that manor, and before I knew it the walls were already in front of me.
My terrified shout was cut off by darkness, and then a strange sensation of warmth.
Moving around my arms, I could feel that they were different somehow. I noted that even my legs weren't moving the way they were supposed to.
This was not to mention that I felt almost wet and slimy.
However, I quickly noticed that I was moving. It was almost as if I was being pushed through something.
I quickly realized what was happening as my eyes were suddenly blinded by an intense light all around me.
'No way. Am I being born?' I wondered to myself.
'There's no way right? I was just flying through the sky a moment ago.' I thought, wondering if everything I had just experienced was an illusion.
I could hear a woman heaving out labored breaths, panting as they groaned and yelled in pain.
'That must be my new mother.' I realized.
I heard a man shouting as well. I had no clue what the man was saying, but his tone seemed to convey a mixture of excitement and worry.
'And that must be my new father.' I thought to myself.
I could feel that I had now been lifted into the air, and I strained my little eyelids as I forced them open. I wanted to see if I could catch a glimpse of anything.
I somehow managed to peel open my eyelids, which must've been a strange sight for my new father to see.
I locked eyes with the man in front of me, noticing that his ears looked much longer than they should have.
'Is my father… an elf?' I wondered, thinking back to the fantasy stories of my previous world.
He did have the telltale high cheekbones and long pointy ears one would expect from an elf. His hair was long and braided, and its golden hues stood out against the dim lighting of the room.
'Don't tell me I'm going to look like that!' I thought in horror.
My father was by no means ugly, so that's not why I was concerned. If anything, he was too handsome… almost pretty if I had to put a finger on it.
I shuddered at the thought of being reincarnated as a trap.
"Kane." I heard him say suddenly.
I wondered if I heard him correctly, was he saying my name? Maybe Celeste was responsible for him giving me the same name that I had in my previous life.
It also must've been quite eerie to see your newborn baby quietly staring back at you, mere moments after they were squeezed out.
I knew I was probably acting strange for an infant, and I didn't know if I should start fake crying or not.
My new father was evidently thinking the same thing, and I saw him staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.
I don't know what came over me, but I decided to play a prank on him. I just thought it would be really funny to wink at him, so I did.
Seeing this, my father abruptly shouted and threw me up in the air.
Half a second later he seemed to have realized his tragic blunder and dove forwards to catch me. I looked onwards in horror as I could feel myself plummeting towards the ground.
'I'm going to fall!' I screamed inwardly.
'I'm falling! I'm going to get brain damage as a baby!' I thought in terror, seeing that my father wasn't going to catch me in time.
I instinctively tried to put my legs underneath me, even though I knew they were nothing but nubs at this point.
Closing my eyes, I resolved myself to reincarnate a second time.
Surely she's planned for this, right? I figured Celeste would still be nearby to give me another try.
However, even after several seconds had passed, I had still not broken my skull open.
Opening my eyes, I saw something that left me stupefied.
There could be no mistake, for I was clearly floating in the air!
'This must be the blessing that Celeste bestowed upon me.. I can float!' I thought, not yet comprehending the true complexity of these powers.
I had to have been at least a few meters above the floor, and when I looked around I saw that neither of my parents were near me.
They were actually both staring at me in shock and horror.
"What?" I asked, trying to play it off.
"Bah?" was what I actually said.
When I looked back towards my father I saw that his eyes had glazed over from terror, and I watched helplessly as he fell to the ground with a thud.
'Is that guy really my new dad?' I wondered, not impressed.
Looking towards my mother I saw that tears were now overflowing from her eyes, but to my confusion those eyes held fear and worry.
I could now see that my new mom was actually a peerless beauty, perhaps not as gorgeous as my real mother, but a close second.
She shared the same golden hair and long ears as my father, and had similar elegant and defined facial features.
I watched my new mother and noted that although she looked sad, she was smiling at me gently. She beckoned me towards her with a hand, it was as if she was telling me to float closer.
'They want me to come? How do I even do that?' I contemplated, not noticing that I was already subconsciously floating in her direction.
My new mother grabbed me in her arms, enveloping me in her warmth as she wrapped me up with a blanket.
'Oh?' I thought to myself, suddenly feeling my age.
It took less than a minute for me to fall asleep, a sleep so deep that I didn't dream of anything.