The Origin Goddess

When I opened my eyes next, a dull haze surrounded me. I turned my head to grasp my surroundings, but nothing was recognizable. Like a dreamscape that I saw in the company of Lady Kaguya, it felt like another out-of-body experience.

I recalled being in the fake city built for me and taking the first step outside. And then, I woke up here.

A hand gripped my shoulder, causing me to whirl around and face whoever it was.

"Calm down, Claude. It's just me."

Eryn's outreached hand made me let out the sigh of anxiety that I was holding. Reaching out for her was the assurance I needed. Wherever she was leading me, I had no choice but to go forward.

"Where to?"

"Where else? Into the purple haze."

Everything that I had learned before about the attribute of purple had pointed to darkness and miasma. So suddenly being told that it was something else instead gave me pause. I had no choice but to trust in this feeling. It was the only thing I had left.

Hand-in-hand, Eryn and I walked through the dense purple fog. My heart pounded as minutes passed by. Hardly able to see anything, we were guided merely by a feeling – the ever-growing buzz of power looming ahead.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared from within, and along with it, a sense of familiarity. As if my body was reacting to it, the purple flames flared up all around me. The embers as it swirled blew towards the form, creating a connection of sorts. The fog was parted by it, revealing a lady resting upon a rock.

Long tresses of purple hair shifted and eyes opened, sending a piercing glow of purple towards me. My power was connected to hers, and I recalled right away where I had seen her last.

My feet instinctively moved forward, until I was right by her side. My first impression told me that she was not dangerous, that rather, I would only find a sense of comfort by her touch. She reached out and gently patted my head, giving a warm smile despite a tired expression upon her.

She was the 'Origin Goddess'. The one that I had met in the Divine Isles. The pieces clicked in place. The seal that I released back then had been keeping her contained for some reason. But now, I stood before her again, wondering what I should do.

"Welcome, Hero. Or rather, I should say that you are merely the heart of what once was…"

"Hero, huh? I guess that's what an Electi is supposed to be in this world. But what do you mean 'merely the heart'?"

"Much time has passed on this world since the hero named Claude was first summoned by me, enough that the lands have changed. And as time went on, cycles and cycles of incarnations resulted, bringing forth variations that differ far from the original."

The Origin Goddess reached out and took my hand. She slid off the rock that she was upon and pulled me forward. A gentle embrace, like that of welcoming someone back.

"Finally, finally, one that believes in my power once again!"

I could feel the sense of relief in her voice. I turned to Eryn, wondering what she thought of all this, but she stood there with a conflicted expression, silent to allow the goddess to talk. When I was let go, I could finally say what I had wondered this entire time.

"What the hell is even going on here? Please tell me what all this means."

With a simple nod, the Origin Goddess started her story. One that spanned a history more extensive than I could fathom.

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A world needed heroes – that was a fact, regardless of whether they came about naturally or were engineered to be that way.

For this world, called Legardia, the very presence of magic created irregularities in nature, hence the need for a balance of strength to fight against them. For many years, people toiled with what they had, magics and swords to fight against the beasts that periodically rose from the ground.

It was like the very planet didn't want them to be there. The beasts that fought against man always had a glow of purple around them, and over time, people learned that such a shade represented that of the enemy – beings that sought to purge the lands of humankind.

Kingdoms tore down their barriers and came together, seeing that they had no choice but to ally themselves for the greater good. And in the process of doing so, they harnessed an incredibly pure form of energy that could fight against this supposed darkness.

They took the form of cores, crystals of power that took their form once condensed by the highest levels of magic. These were bonded to humans and synchronized with their souls to create a boost in natural abilities. Not only could mankind harness energies that they couldn't before, but their very bodies went through growth as they experienced combat.

Still, that didn't seem to be enough. It was human nature to always look ahead – in preparation for the next danger, with stronger weapons, better abilities.

As such, it was discovered that the cores didn't operate at their full capacity when imbedded into the people of Legardia. The greatest minds were at an impasse.

If they could not ascend to the greatest powers themselves, then how could they take advantage of the core's full abilities?

Many eyes turned to the stars. Scouring the extents of space, they hoped to find a planet where these cores synchronized fully with its people. And after many years of long-range detection, they happened upon a single planet, light years away.

Its people were nothing special, carriers of no special abilities themselves. But they had built an entire planet full of wonders. They had connected people across the world in the blink of an eye. Their population was massive and continued to thrive. All without the wonders of magic.

Somehow, the cores resonated brightly when such a world was placed before them.

"This is it! A world of people that perfectly aligns!"

"They can be our hope, a power constructed to defeat our enemies!"

Many people were excited at this discovery, but there were dissenters as well.

"How can we place our faith on an unknown world, people that we know nothing about?"

"They could turn against us. Rise up and conquer us in turn!"

After much debate, the people finally decided on one solution. They would bring a single person over, a test subject that was flawed, easy to convince.

After months of preparation, the greatest magicians in the world poured over their formulas and invoked the grandest scale magic possible – transmigration of a living being across the expanse of space.

They first tested it on small animals, plucking them from the planet. If they happened to fail, such creatures wouldn't be quite so missed as if they were to target intelligent life. The halls of their grand summoning temple echoed with celebration as cats and cows and elephants successfully survived the journey, with no issues visible. They were given away to happy pet owners looking for exotic beasts.

Confident in their success, the magicians turned toward each other with grimmer expressions. It was now time to kidnap a human.

In their minds, they knew that their deed was an injustice, but for the sake of their prosperity, it had to be done. Still, robbing a person from their life would form guilty consciences, even more so if such a person had a happy one before.

But surely, of the 8 billion people on that planet, there was one that wouldn't mind a second chance?

"I found one. What about her?" one magic researcher exclaimed while looking through the magic telescope at the planet.

The viewing window homed onto a young lady in the streets of an urban district, alone in some alleyway. Torn clothing and blood marred her front, signs of a violent act moments prior. Blood continued to pool around her, an ominous indication of her final moments. Her consciousness started to fade even as the people looked on from another planet.

It was ironic that her end was seen by people not even on the same planet. The word 'fate' was thrown around. There was a mutual consensus on what they would do.

"Let's try it."

"Yeah, let's save her."

"She would die otherwise, so it makes no difference if we fail."

The magicians gathered immediately. Time was of the essence. If they could bring her over, magic could heal any wound, before the finality of death set in.

Immediately, the halls reverberated with the hums of words overlapping, a chorus of syllables not quite aligned in sound but in intent. A column of light burst forth and shot out towards the planet in question.

To the girl on that planet, it must have been the very heavens calling out to whisk her off. She noticed a warmth beaming down upon her, and instinctively, she placed all her remaining strength into the hand accepting it.

And in a matter of moments, her body disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood behind.

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Death seemed like all that was waiting for her, an unlucky girl that just happened to run into trouble. She was on her way home from work, when someone advanced on her suddenly.

Perhaps, she should have just let go of her bag and let the robber take her money. But for some reason, she didn't. She didn't think to. Her hands clenched harder upon the straps in fear, and that caused her to be dragged into an alleyway.

Everything happened so fast. She was on her feet one moment, and the next, her body was backed into a wall. Still, she fought on. A few sharp pains dug into her, until finally, a deep, cold thrust plunged into her side. Her eyes swam in pain as she slid to the ground, and all she could see was someone dashing away with her bag.

She had been stabbed. She was going to die. The heavens were already calling out to her, whisking her off in a warm embrace.

The girl's eyes popped open, and she stared at a room full of people.

Perhaps, she had a ghastly expression on her face as the person hovering over her suddenly pulled back before slowly approaching her again.

"A-Are you alright, Miss?" he calmly asked.

The girl looked at him strangely, as his lips moved differently than what he was saying. Still, she could understand his question. The thin veil of light appearing to coat his lips may have been the reason.

She couldn't have guessed that they were using language magic to compensate.

"Am I dead?"

"No, Miss. You are very much alive. We saved you."

She eyed the people in the room. Foreign clothing and architecture, like she was within a dream-like fantasy.

"Ha, I'm not convinced."

"You will… in time… But first, what is your name?"

"I am… Sistina."

"Very well, Miss Sistina. I know it may come as a surprise to you, but you are on a different world right now. And before you panic and tell us that we are crazy, please look upwards."

The man pointed, drawing Sistina's gaze to the sky. What she saw immediately caused her to shiver.

The magic telescope had zoomed in on the planet that she was on before, highlighting the neighborhood that she was in not long ago.

Her eyes scanned the city blocks, an overhead diorama of what she knew of her home. Her mind checked off every little place that was familiar, intricate details that slowly gave weight to her reality.

"Th-That is my home? That is Earth?"

"I believe that is what the people of your world call it. As for the world you are in now, we call it Legardia."

A hand covered her mouth as she tried not to gag in surprise.

"This is real? I'm really-"

"It was all we could do to save you, Miss Sistina. Us observers from across space coincidentally came upon your plight. I do hope you understand. A second chance doesn't come conveniently. We hope you will cooperate."

And that was how the first otherworlder came to the world of Legardia.