"Found you!"
A thunderous voice echoes through the air.
I'm floating over stormy waters. Lightning cracks and strikes around me, in every direction, as far as the eye can see.
In front of me, there's a woman.
It's a black woman, floating as well. She wears a patchwork dress of white, pink, and red. She has a muscular frame and carries an unsheathed sword in her right hand and a whip made of horsehair in her left.
Her face is covered by a red beaded string veil, leaving only her mouth visible.
I immediately recognize her.
"Epaheyy, Oyá!" - I salute her on the ritual greeting. It means "Hello, Oya!"
"Ohhh. I see that my daughters recognize me even in another world. Hello, Aurora. Or should I call you Aurea now?"
"Any you prefer, Dusk Mother. I wasn't expecting to meet you here..." I take a look around me. "Wherever here is."
"We are inside your dreamscape. I'm so glad I finally managed to find you. You ate the fruit of the Tree of the Enchanted Ones, right? That's what activated the link between your soul and me."
"Tree of the Enchanted Ones? You mean that mango-like sweet fruit?"
"Yes. That fruit links your soul to the ancestor spirits that roam the land. But as you don't have ancestors here, it linked you to me."
Her voice seemed to soften a bit as she continued.
"As the one responsible for the crossing of the souls to the land of the dead, I apologize for failing to protect you." She says, lowering her head.
"No, no... there's no need for you to apologize."
"No, I insist. It was my duty to protect you, and yet, here you are. And it took me seven years of your life for me to find your soul again. And I can see now how much you suffered in your new life here."
I was at a loss for words. Having a deity apologize to me wasn't on my 'one hundred things to experience before you die' list.
That deity being the one I worshipped in my past life only made it more awkward for me.
"But... Oya. Mother. What happened? Why did I come to this world?" I dare to ask.
"The main reason is Juno, though in this world she is known only as the Goddess. She made a mess of things here and then decided to call some heroes from Earth to clean up her mess. You were just caught up on the resulting explosion."
"What do you mean, heroes? Like, are there other people from Earth here?"
"Yes. Three heroes, plus all the other people like you. For example, in the cafe you were in, there was only one hero, but a total of eight people were caught up by the resulting spacetime explosion."
So... there are other people like me. And the heroes.
"Where are those people?"
"The three heroes will probably be received in the capitals of the main kingdoms in ten years. The other ones, I don't know. The only soul to which I have a connection is you."
"Because I'm your daughter." - in the religion I used to follow, the faithful were called 'sons' and 'daughters' of the deities. Though there were several deities, each person was the 'son/daughter' of only one of them.
"Exactly."
"But wait, ten years? Why will the heroes arrive in ten years?"
"Because that was all I was able to do. I interfered with the spacetime explosion so you would be reborn here 17 years before the heroes arrive. So you can be fully prepared by then."
"Prepared?"
"Yes... Did you notice anything wrong with this world?"
"Well... apart from the slavery and racism towards the nonhuman races?"
"Heh. That's one symptom of it. Let's just say that what she has been doing in this world is not well seen by most of us."
"So, am I to oppose her?"
"You sure are quick on the uptake. Yes. You'll be my champion if you want to."
"And that's the reason I was born as the daughter of a slave?"
"No, that was outside my scope. The only thing I managed to do was to change the timing of your rebirth."
I take some time to ponder what's being revealed to me, but then she interrupts my thoughts.
"I don't have much time left. If I keep this connection up, she might notice us here. So, let me just..."
Her voice trails off as she seems to focus on something. I feel something weird inside of me, like an itch in my soul, if that were possible.
Suddenly, I feel a surge of power raging through me.
[Adventuring System unlocked. See your status screen to access the system].
Huh?
"Okay, now you have access to Juno's system, but it isn't enough yet. Let me add..."
Suddenly, knowledge pours into my brain.
Language knowledge.
And at the same time, something else is swelling inside me, like a powerful light.
I feel my senses expanding, as if all the lightning that is raging around us had become part of my own body.
"Whaaaa???"
"Don't worry. This is my blessing, so you're more attuned to the lightning element. Just minor adjustments."
"Why...?"
"You are my champion now, so it's only fair that I give you the tools to face what's coming ahead."
"Why me?"
Even though she wears that veil, I can feel the sadness in her gaze over me.
"Because you're the one who was there when the hero summoning exploded. You're the only one who I can turn to."
"Will... other people who were caught like me also receive blessings from other gods?"
"Maybe, but probably not. I can't explain right now; my time in this realm is ending. Goodbye, my dear daughter."
"Wait... when will we be able to talk again?"
But it's too late already. She fades away, and the landscape around me starts shattering.
My consciousness is caught in a kaleidoscope of colors and feelings.
:::
I don't know for how long I have passed out, lost in the psychedelic dreamscape.
When I wake up, I'm inside a tent. Nothing here is familiar.
I'm tired of stuff just happening to me. What on Hell has happened to me this time? Where am I?
My head hurts more than when I had the worst hangover in all my life.