Quartzsite, Arizona was always a small town during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn, but in the middle of Winter, after the New Year settled in, it would spring to life for a brief couple months. As the name would suggest, it was a town of stones, where merchants would gather and buyers of varying sorts would follow. Fossils, ingots, gems, geodes, pebbles and chunks of rock, and all manners between were on display. The past season had come and gone neatly, as the town once more returned to its usual slumber as March strode in, returning to the veritable skeleton crew of residents to enjoy their sleepy town.

Then the fateful day arrived, a day in late March as a sheet of mist swept across the land, leaving its mark upon the confused populace. The few thousand people were shocked and confused, much like the rest of the world as they grappled with their changing natures. One household found their arms replaced with wings, and their feet replaced with talons as they morphed into bewildered harpies. Another home found their family becoming equine as their centaur bodies revealed themselves. Yet the town managed to retain its calm as the people gathered to cope, as one individual rose to assist them.

It had been over a month since the incident now, and the small town seemed to have found a groove to operate from, becoming a remarkably comfortable place for any passersby as they frantically traveled between Arizona and the neighboring California for one reason or another. It wasn’t long before an inconspicuous shiny white car rolled off the highway and into town on an early May morning. From the car emerged a trio of people, each wearing black suits and sunglasses. A tall black man with short black hair sighed as he exited the car, his tan colleague with styled blonde hair emerged from the other side as he grumbled.

“C’mon,” the blonde-haired man grumbled as he glanced at the backseat.

“Hold on,” a light voice protested, as a pale woman emerged from the backseat. “I’m still getting used to this,” she pouted as her long snake-like tail followed her out, her hand pulling her long grape-purple hair behind her long pointed and lighter purple scaled ears.

“Geeze, Will, get your act together,” the man replied.

“I told you, it’s Medi now.” She frowned her tail wriggled in frustration while her sunglasses hid the frustrated glare of her purple slitted eyes.

“Yeah, right,” he said noncommittally.

“Mike,” she quietly whimpered.

“C’mon, you two,” the other man sighed as he waved them on, the fleeting hope of a smooth operation vanishing into smoke. “We have a job to do.” He walked towards the short white block of a building, the other two following. Medi gave them both an apprehensive look and hid a slight frown. As they entered, the tall agent walked up to the counter to confirm their appointment before sitting beside his two colleagues, Medi sitting upon her coiled tail in an effort to take up less room.

“Heh, that secretary is pretty cute, huh?” Mike gave a pleased grunt.

“I-I guess,” Medi moped.

“The heck? Don’t act like you don’t find her attractive. Or did that change too?”

“It’s not that I don’t find her attractive.” Medi shook her head. “But… it’s just different,” she moped. “It’s discomforting when people leer like that,” she sighed.

“Eh? You didn’t have a problem with it before,” Mike grumbled.

“That’s not true.” Medi frowned. “I just felt like I had to before,” she mumbled. “Otherwise, I’d have to…”

“Will you stop haranguing her already, Mike?” their colleague grumbled. “You shouldn’t be leering at women like that anyway, especially not on the job.”

“Tight-laced Tony strikes again.” Mike leaned back, frustrated by the comment. “Always so professional, sir,” he muttered.

“Mr. Roth.” A young woman emerged from a nearby hallway, Tony rising to meet her. “It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled.

Tony was taken aback by the young woman. She was rather young, younger twenties most likely, and yet her movements had a certain definition to them, befitting someone old and wise, matched with an aura of complete control. “So, I take it that you’re this Freyja we’ve been hearing about?” She nodded.

* * *

“So, you’ve come representing the government?” the woman asked as they resumed in her office. “The Magic Investigation Division, was it?”

“That’s correct.” Agent Roth nodded.

“So, you’ve been investigating magic for how long?”

“Only since that mist, ma’am. We’re fairly new, all things considered,” Medi admitted as her tail bounced beneath her. “We’re more like a task force at the moment though. After all, there wasn’t any need for a group like us until magic actually started popping up back in March.”

“I see, I suppose that’s true,” Freyja chuckled. “It took all of us by surprise too, myself included. So, what did you want to discuss with me?”

“We’ve come to discuss you, ma’am,” Roth answered.

“Me?”

“Yeah, like is it true?” Mike asked. “Are you really a goddess? Like the rumors say?”

“Mike,” Medi sighed. “Learn to ask things like that more respectfully.” Mike grumbled as she scolded him. “Asking a goddess something like that is rather rude.”

“Heh, I suppose that would attract your attention, wouldn’t it.” Freyja gave an uneasy smile. “It’s true, I’m the goddess Freyja, goddess of such things as love, sex, and… war.” She gave a sly smile.

“We would like to avoid that last one, ma’am.” Roth gave a stern stare.

“I’m certain,” she chuckled. “Now, what did you wish to ask of me?”

“For one, we would like to ask your cooperation,” Roth said, Freyja giving a thoughtful nod. “And we’d also like to ask you how you came to be here.”

“How I came to be here?” she repeated. “Yes, that would be quite the mystery to you.” She smiled elegantly. “I am rather confused by it myself. Well, I suppose I’ll begin with my birth here. While I go by Freyja now, that was not the case a couple months ago. Before that mist brought magic to this world, I was, or rather we were, just a normal girl named Chelsea. But when that mist appeared, I suddenly found myself in her body, and she began to awaken to my powers. We started working together to help our town, using my magic to give reassurance to the others. But then one morning a couple weeks ago, I was all that was left.”

“You mean, this Chelsea girl is…?” Medi asked with a hesitant frown.

“Not to worry,” Freyja smiled. “Chelsea isn’t gone. Rather, Chelsea and I have become one and the same. I still have her memories, her feelings, and her attitudes.” She smirked. “But at the same time, Freyja and I became one too. I guess both my selves simply merged,” she explained, Medi still frowning. “Please, trust me, there’s nothing to be sad about. Both of my selves are happy with things this way; it’s like we’re finally complete now. Besides, we weren’t terribly different in the first place. It was more that one personality was better versed in magic, and the other was better versed in Earth’s general affairs. Now I simply have both sets of knowledge and experiences. I’m just complete now. Reborn.”

“Reborn, huh?” Mike repeated, giving a glance to Medi.

“About that.” Roth clasped his hands. “When you say reborn, does that mean that you existed before in the past?” Freyja nodded. “Mind telling us about that? We could use any information you can give us.”

“I…” Freyja frowned. “I’m not certain what to say, in all honesty. My old memories are simultaneously rather clear, yet jumbled. I know much of the generalities of my past, but specifics are… odd. It’s as if they’re complete, yet detached from reality, but certainly still real. I remember, I had a husband named Freyr. I remember my fellows and some of our affairs, but specifics are difficult to recall,” she sighed. “It’s as if something else is missing.”

“Something else?”

“Like, they’re out of place or out of sync? I know the general feeling of the places where everything happened, but it doesn’t match up with how things are,” she sighed.

“Things have changed a lot since the time you probably disappeared,” Medi reasoned. “At least that’s what I and the others have figured out.”

“Others? Does that mean you’re like me?” Freyja tilted her head.

“Sort of,” Medi chuckled. “I have someone else in me too, though we prefer being separate, and she’s no goddess or anything. Her memories aren’t as clear,” she slumped, “but I think we were reborn like you were,” she explained as Mike looked away with a quiet grumble. “Oh, and there are others too. Like us, I mean.”

“To be honest, you’re not the first deity we’ve found,” Agent Roth explained. “Quite the contrary, we’ve found a number of others. And not just from your pantheon, but others too.”

“There are others?” Freyja pressed him.

“Yes, we’ve already confirmed the deities Anubis and Horus from the Egyptians, Ishtar, Enki, and Nergal of Babylonia, and Artemis and Dionysus of the Greeks,” Roth explained. “I believe we’ve confirmed up to a dozen deities at the moment.”

“I see,” Freyja mumbled in cogitation. “Would it be possible to meet them?”

“You’d have to be willing to work with us first,” Roth confirmed. “All we want at the moment is your cooperation.”

“I suppose I can for now, but it would depend on your conditions.” She nodded.

* * *

“That’s another one down.” Mike yawned as they returned to the car. “Good job, Tony,” he chuckled. “And I guess you did well too, Will.”

“It’s Medi,” she huffed. “And what do you mean ‘did well too.’ You just went quiet during the most important parts.”

“Geez, settle down,” Mike grumbled. “You’ve gotten so touchy ever since you became like this and that old snake started talking to you.” He opened his door. “I miss my old pal,” he mumbled. His quiet tone implied his private intent, but he knew Medi could hear it, ignoring her as she cringed from his cruel words.

“Medi?” Roth looked at her. He sighed and gently grabbed her shoulder. “Are you going to be okay?”

She gave a quiet nod as she heard Mike’s door shut. “Hey, Roth? Do you think I’ve changed? Since becoming like this, I mean. Have I gotten that sensitive?”

“Sure,” Roth confirmed. “You’ve changed a lot, and you are far more sensitive than you were before.” She frowned as he explained. “But that doesn’t mean you changed for the worse,” he said, giving a small smirk. “You seem a lot more comfortable, excluding when Mike acts like this. Before everything, I noticed you would struggle a lot, like you were always pushing yourself. But now… well, you just seem like you’re doing better, like you’re just more comfortable in who you are now, especially when she comes out. I can tell she’s helped you out a lot. And besides, there’s nothing wrong with being sensitive. I mean, you’ve gotten better at all the emotional reasoning, so that’s pretty helpful.” He gave a sly grin. “I’m actually pretty jealous.”

“Hehe,” Medi giggled. “Thanks, Tony.”

“No problem, Medi,” Tony said as he pushed up his sunglasses. “Now let’s get going. We’ve got reports of another sighting over in Phoenix. And we might make it there by tonight.”

“Right.” Medi smiled as she slithered back to the car.

“Mr. Roth!” Freyja’s voice called out, surprising the two.

“Is something the matter, ma’am?” Tony asked.

“I… I forgot to mention something. It’s not as strong as it was before, but I do have the ability to peer into the future. And before you arrived, I saw something.”

“What did you see?” Medi asked.

Freyja took a deep breath. “I saw a battle. It was between… gods, but I can’t tell how many there were. I think there were also some girls… or maybe they were adults? I couldn’t quite tell. But I think it’s coming. And I think you were there.”

Tony grimaced. “Tell me, do you know where they were fighting?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I get the feeling it wasn’t too far away from here. I could see some mountains, and the land seemed rather dry, like here, but beyond that, I don’t know.”

“That’s not a lot to go on,” Medi said, crossing her arms as she tried to think through the possibilities. She shook her head. “Much of America’s Southwest is a desert like this. It could be in California or as far as Colorado. Actually, any of the four corner states could be it.”

“Including this one,” Roth grumbled. “Which means it could happen where we’re going.”

“You think they’ll fight in a city?” Medi asked.

“I do.” Roth clenched his fist. “We’ve received word that a few deities may be converging there.”