After a heavy slumber among scattered fragments of dreams, a gentle nudge roused Naythen from his sleep. "Pallas? It's morning, love. We need to get you dressed to meet with the mayor," Berna said softly.

'Pallas?' Naythen thought to himself. 'Who is... Oh. That's me, now.'

He opened his eyes to the dimly-lit room, illuminated now by a single tapered candle held by Berna. The dark was calming and Naythen wanted nothing more than to burrow deeper into the covers. But Berna's presence coaxed him out of bed and he found himself standing next to Berna in short order. It was still disorienting being physically smaller than a woman of average height and Naythen fidgeted awkwardly with the hem of his linen gown to distract himself.

"Come, come, dear. Let's get you some breakfast!" the older woman said as she led the way out of the room. Halfway down the hall, however, a more urgent need made itself known.

"Uhm, excuse me, Berna?" Naythen asked with a shaky voice. "I really need to..." he trailed off, clenching his legs together, afraid to take another step.

"Oh, heavens me! What am I thinking? Of course you would need to go after being in bed so long! Quick, now, follow me!" Berna directed in a motherly tone. They doubled back down the hallway in the opposite direction past Naythen's room to a door set into the end of the hall. The door opened inward and revealed a simple room with a privy. It was little more than a wooden seat set into the stone wall of the building, a large hole carved into the seat and emitting a rather unpleasant scent.

Naythen stepped into the room and closed the door. He hiked up the hem of the gown, revealing a startling lack of undergarments. He barely gave his new anatomy a second's glance before plopping down on the seat and letting go. It was definitely not a sensation to which he was accustomed. When he had finished, he looked around to find something with which to wipe. Near his feet there was a large bucket filled with soapy, sudsy water. He reached into the bucket and discovered a rag, apparently made from some sort of animal hide.

Wincing with disgust, Naythen cleaned himself up, returning the rag to the bucket and pulling the gown down. He was even more self-conscious of the lack of undergarments as the air moving under the gown chilled his nethers. He opened the door, wearing an expression of both embarrassment and shame and did his best to smile at Berna as he stepped out. Berna gave a perfunctory nod and wordlessly led the way back toward the dining hall.

The dining hall was impressive. It was a large room, over twice as long as it was wide, with large windows made of smoky glass allowing the light of day to pour onto the table. The table itself ran nearly the length of the room and had space to seat over twenty people. There were only six people seated, however, waiting patiently for Naythen and Berna to arrive. Bowls had been set out with evenly-proportioned servings of some sort of mealy porridge and small handfuls of the berries Naythen had eaten the night before. Each place setting bore an empty ceramic cup and there were several large pitchers filled with what Naythen presumed was water interspersed among the items on the table.

"Ladies!" Berna announced loudly as they approached. "This is our guest, Pallas. She's the one that Nallus fished out of the river!" 

The other women at the table greeted Naythen with a smile here and a small wave there. Each was dressed in a fashion similar to Berna - plain, short-sleeved brown dresses. It was only now that Naythen noted each of the women wore a necklace - a simple leather cord with a silver pendant. The pendant was shaped like a crescent facing downward toward a bar with three circles on it. The shape held no meaning to Naythen, but it was likely some sort of iconography unique to their faith. Naythen wanted to ask about it, but had no idea how to broach the topic without being branded a heathen or worse. 

Instead, he took the seat indicated by Berna and the whole group of them bowed their heads in silent prayer. Naythen looked on with an uncomfortable expression on his face and waited for the women to begin eating in silence before doing the same. Breakfast was quickly finished and the women stood to begin clearing the table. 

Berna, however, quickly ushered Naythen away from the table and into a a room down the hall across from the room in which he'd slept. This room actually had a window which, like the dining hall, consisted of a smoky, translucent glass that prevented observation from outside. Along the two walls to either side were large wardrobes flanking a single bench in the middle of the room. Berna was humming an unfamiliar melody as she threw open the doors on the wardrobe to the right and began shuffling through the clothing hanging inside. 

"Let's see, now," Berna said, half to herself. "I know we have some acolyte dresses in here that should look just darling on you!" 

Naythen blushed, feeling increasingly self-conscious about this whole situation. Who would have thought that he'd be standing there wearing nothing but a gown, waiting to wear a dress? From his previous point of view, this situation was laughable. 'The cross-playing teenager forced to wear girl's clothing in another world! The latest isekai light novel... Except I'm totally living it,' Naythen thought to himself. 

After laying out several dress options, Berna busied herself with fetching some additional garments from the heavy drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe. "Can't have you running about with your nethers exposed, now can we?" she said with a laugh. 

"You mean like I am, right now?" Naythen said somewhat heatedly. 

"Only women are allowed anywhere in the church beyond the sanctuary, so you've nothing to worry about, dear!" Berna replied nonchalantly. "Now go ahead and get dressed and I'll meet you back in the dining hall." 

Naythen turned his attention to the clothing on the bench as Berna walked out and closed the door behind her. There was some sort of bloomers that covered the thighs, were cinched at the waist, and rose up to the level of the armpits to button in the front. Not the most flattering, but it was certainly less revealing than his current attire. Beneath that were several dresses made of different colored cloth. He tilted his head curiously at these for a moment before taking a deep, calming breath. 

With nothing to lose, Naythen pulled the gown over his head after loosening several of the buttons near the neck. It was the first time he had been nude in this body. He looked down nervously and felt... A bit underwhelmed, honestly. 

He knew how long he had lived prior to his untimely demise, but that didn't necessarily correlate to the age of his current body. If anything, he looked maybe fourteen or so? Not that he'd ever seen a naked fourteen year-old girl. That's illegal and gross. Still, it explained how small he was in relation to the other women in the church. 

Feeling oddly like an older brother helping his little sister get dressed, he turned his head off to one side as he slipped into the white linen undergarment and fastened the buttons at his chest. Naythen then spread out the dresses to get a better look at them. Ultimately, it didn't matter which one he picked, but there was some small, vain part of him that wanted to look nice.

He settled on a simple sleeveless dress with an A-line skirt that extended down to the middle of his calves. It was made mostly of a deep burgundy woolen cloth that reflected the light like a fine velvet. The dress had corseted lacing beneath each arm that tightened the bodice beneath the breast and created the illusion of more defined body curves. Satisfied that he had put the dress on properly, Naythen fumbled with his hair.

It was incredibly odd that he was just noticing his hair, but this had more to do with the fact that someone had taken the time to carefully weave it into a fishtail braid and thus his hair had been primarily behind his head and out of sight. Now, however, it was an obstacle with which he had to struggle, as it seemed to get stuck in something at every step of the dressing process.

He pulled the braid around to get a better look at it. The color was almost identical to the wig he had worn for Halloween. It was a rich, warm brown color - almost chestnut - with streaks of reddish and golden highlights visible throughout. It complemented the color of his dress well.

Naythen threw the braid back over his shoulder and was preparing to walk out into the hallway when he noticed the wood-framed full-length mirror that had been partially obscured by the open door when he and Berna had entered. 

Framed by the sunlight through the window, the young girl looking back at him in the mirror was absolutely stunning. She had large, icy blue eyes with long dark lashes beneath dark and neatly-angled brows, and a splash of freckles across the nose and cheekbones. Her heart-shaped face had fine features with a long, straight nose and full lips. 

For some reason, Naythen found himself beginning to cry. His heart hurt in a way that he found difficult to describe - almost like being presented with a gift you had always desired without ever being aware that you wanted it. He thought back on the words his mother had spoken to him on Halloween night and before he knew it, he started to sob. 

"Shhh, my daughter. Why do you cry so?" came a familiar woman's voice. It wasn't his mother, and it wasn't Berna, but it was familiar nonetheless. Naythen recognized it as the voice that told him to breathe in the cold from the darkness. 

Stunned, Naythen hastily wiped his eyes and scanned his surroundings for the source of the voice, but realized there was nobody in the room except himself. He looked back to the mirror in confusion. 

"Hello, my Pallas," Naythen's reflection said to him in that same woman's voice. Naythen staggered backwards, falling onto the bench in shock, his bottom cushioned by the remaining dresses onto which he landed.

"Who are you?" he asked of the reflection. "Am I losing my mind?" He could clearly see his mouth moving as he spoke those words into the mirror. 

"I cannot speak to your mental health, but I believe you to be sane," his reflection said teasingly. "As for my identity, I think you already know. After all, you've prayed to me daily for the past five years. You even decided to dress as me for your costumed dance," she added with a smile. "That was a bit of honor I've not had in many years." 

"You're... Athena?" Naythen asked incredulously. 

"Who else would answer your prayers and your dying wishes?" She paused thoughtfully. "I regret that I couldn't do more for you in life. My sphere of influence has diminished greatly with the rise of the followers of Yahweh. I can only act through proxies." 

Naythen thought back to his death. "You mean the owl?" 

"Yes," Athena replied with a distant expression. "I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything..." 

"So... how did this happen?" Naythen said, gesturing to himself, trying to change the subject from his humiliating death. 

Athena frowned. "Is it not to your liking? I used up most of my remaining Divine power to harvest your soul before Thanatos could collect it." She let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "I used my ties to my uncle, Triton, to craft a body for you from the waters of the river. And I named you after my cousin, friend and rival." 

"You named me?" Naythen asked, closing his eyes and shaking his head in bewilderment. "I thought I just said the name Pallas because I panicked and couldn't think of anything else?"

"Silly child, of course I would name my only daughter. It would please me greatly if you could accept this name as my gift to you." She frowned thoughtfully. "Honestly, I've never liked your name. What was your mother thinking with that spelling? I understand you mortals seek identity through distinctive monikers but that name simply felt pretentious to me." 

Naythen... no, Pallas blinked in surprise. "But what made you create this particular body? It's difficult for me to remember, but didn't I just ask for a body that nobody would laugh at?"

Athena glared at Pallas as though dealing with a fool. "Who would laugh at your current body? I modeled you after myself. Certainly, it's younger than your previous body, but you will grow into a fine young woman with time. I can guarantee your health."

Pallas didn't actually have an argument for that so instead asked, "Okay, but why a girl's body and not a boy's?" 

Athena laughed. "Can you honestly tell me that you did not desire it so? The effort you put into your costume was quite impressive. And you seemed to have a lot of energy invested into the outcome of the evening. I had assumed it was because you wished to announce that you were... oh, what's the word you mortals use for those who lived like the galli priests of Cybele? Transgender, yes, that's it." 

Pallas froze. Was she transgender? She had always dodged the topic when it was brought up, but perhaps there was some merit to the questions her mother had asked her? She had certainly felt out of place in her male body, and the attention she had received on Halloween night had felt very validating. 

'Holy shit.' 

Athena frowned sternly. "I'd prefer if my daughter avoided using foul language." 

'Wait. You can hear my thoughts?' 

"Of course I can. I poured some of my Divine energy into you in order to give you new life. You're my avatar in this new world," Athena said matter-of-factly. 

Before Pallas could respond, there was a loud knocking at the door. "Pallas? Are you dressed? You've been in there for quite a while." It was Berna's voice. 

Pallas turned her eyes back to the mirror, but her reflection no longer showed any signs of Athena's presence - it was just a plain mirror image. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Pallas replied, "Uh, yes! I'm dressed. I'm sorry, I felt a bit light-headed and sat down for a moment!" 

The door opened and Berna stepped in to appraise Pallas's appearance. "Well, don't you just look lovely! Here, sit down for a spell and I'll retie your hair." 

Pallas nodded and took up a seat on the bench after sliding the remaining dresses aside. Berna sat down behind her, facing away from the mirror toward the window and began humming a gentle tune as she worked with Pallas's hair. Anyone else looking on would assume the pair were mother and daughter from the content smile on the older woman's face.

From the mirror, a second image of Pallas stood facing the pair on the bench with an expression of mild jealousy.