Raising a Hero

Chapter 2

I was moderately surprised when I woke up in a physical, not spiritual, body with my memory of the god in the library intact.

The first thing I did was check over myself to verify that his first promise would be fulfilled.

'First, your body will be restored to its prime. Every scar will be removed, every defect, you'll love it. You'll still age, but it will be at a slowed pace—think Methuselah-- and you'll be more resistant to diseases. Consider it a given, since your body was a bit worse for wear. Oh, you can still die. You'll just come back here, but best not risk it. Temporary resurrection like this isn't exactly something I can hand out like candy. It's a one-time deal.'

"You talk so much," I muttered, even as I stared in wonder at my freckle-less hands and arms. I had never been a big freckler, but as I grew older they'd pop up as a natural reaction to sunshine. I didn't even have that thick, ugly callus on my big toe that never went away, no matter how many times I ground it down. Thank god, literally. I swear that thing grew faster than government spending.

More importantly, the stretch marks from my first pregnancy had vanished, as well as the stretched-out flab of my stomach. My mahogany hair had grown to my hips, and when I pulled it around my shoulder to see it, it gleamed in the sunlight.

I was also glad to note I wasn't naked. The clothes he gave me were a little...medieval, being a blue peasant dress with a white apron (holy crap, I'm a freaking Belle from Beauty in the Beast). But hey, being not naked made everything easier.

'You'll find a lack of technology in my cute little world, but that's because I replaced it with magic. Innovation spreads out in that category. Isn't that cool? Tell me that isn't cool, I dare you.'

I took a look at my leather shoes, the rough, thick weave of the wool apron, and even found a cotton strip in the pocket to tie my hair back with.

'Personally, I think I'd prefer indoor plumbing to spells,' I'd said.

'Oh, well there's some of that if you go to the right places. But, point being, I'd like to equip you with some magic power to help you on your mission. Any requests?'

I hadn't thought too long on that, though he had jabbered on and on about elemental magic and divine magic and yada yada yada. It had to be something I could use to pay the bills.

And something useful in taking care of babies.

Yes. Something I could use to make my family well cared for.

I had no interest in power or anything flashy. Anything that caught attention was just trouble waiting to happen, especially if I wasn't going to be a native to this world.

I should have told him that. Heaven forbid I assume a god can read minds. Or maybe he did read my mind and just ignored it. Course, I wouldn't know this until later.

I reached into my other pocket to find the book he had pulled down from one of the many on the bookshelf. It even had a faint sort of sheen to it, and I thought I could hear the trees around me shiver. I took a look around, worried I was going to be jumped, but couldn't see why my godly brother would choose this place to set me in just to have me mugged. The little clearing I'd woken up in didn't even have any weeds, and the grass had been ridiculously soft.

'I'll make it so you can speak the language, but this can teach you how to write it, if you need it. Along with how to use your magic, though it should be instinctive. At least, that's how I tried to make it.'

Sighing, I put the book back and straightened out my skirt unnecessarily.

"Alright. Cool. I got this." I swung my arms a bit, eyeing the trees about me. "First order of business, some place to stay. Then a really, really long hot bath. Yeah. Maybe some chocolate."