Chapter 12 - Newly Born (???)

 

[ - content warnings: none yet suggested - ]

 

I came into being at the exact moment that my True Self’s shard manifested inside of this body’s ribcage. I woke up with centuries of memories that weren’t mine, but they informed who I chose to become now. I was Hekate. Had been Hekate, I guessed. Because I was now someone new, a new facet of the goddess Hekate, localized to the body of Amelia and Emily. I knew everything that Goddess knew about this adorable and driven system.

 

And being incarnated like this, it felt... good? I felt more focused, more alive, than I could ever remember feeling in any of the memories Hekate shared. Though, I realized I knew this was something that all of the many shards of Hekate reported feeling, once they were partnered with their mortal hosts. 

 

I also knew that there was a general hypothesis for why I experienced this clarity of thought. Before, the theory goes, I existed as part of the great Goddess Hekate, who was essentially a being wrought from the beliefs of Her people. Hekate was small enough on the grand scale of things to be a pretty focused and driven Goddess in Her own right, but as with all deities, no two of Her supporters viewed Her exactly the same way, so She existed as an aggregate of all of Her people’s perceptions of Her. 

 

This was actually the primary reason that I had now come to exist. I was a piece of divine material embedded in this mortal body. I was firmly entrenched in this timeline inside this body, with knowledge of how to effectively open channels to the Goddess’ power. I could focus in on empowering the mortals I now shared a mind with, and work to enact the Goddess’ will at the same time.

 

Speaking of which, I sensed stirrings outside of my own thoughts.

 

Ow, that was bright, Amelia said groggily. 

 

Ugh, did it work? Emily asked.

 

I dunno, Amelia answered. Hello? Anyone new around here?

 

Keys and crows, I couldn’t believe I was nervous about this! But technically these would be the people I’d be spending the rest of my mortal-ish life with, however it shook out. 

 

Ah, yes, that would be me, I thought to them both timidly. 

 

Stars! Amelia gasped, flickers of surprise and shock emanating from her, You’re really here?

 

Okay, I can do this, I thought to myself.

I really am, I broadcasted to them a bit more confidently. 

 

And you’re... part of Her? Emily asked. 

 

Yes, I answered, and now I’m part of you as well.

 

Well, welcome! I’m Amelia, Amelia said.

 

Yeah it’s good to have you here, I’m Emily, Emily said.

 

I decided we needed to have this conversation somewhere a little more colorful than the black void we all currently inhabited. The crossroads where they’d first met Hekate seemed like a fitting place to have our first meeting as a newly-expanded system, so I shoved the image of it towards Emily and Amelia, and manifested a body there for myself. I chose to be of average height, with tightly braided black hair, black skin, and a simple black dress with some of the many aspects of Hekate emblazoned upon it in silver thread. There’s a key over my heart, a torch on my right shoulder, a dagger on my left shoulder, and dozens of other symbols that people had long ago decided held meaning for Hekate all over the dress.

 

Amelia flickered into being across from me as a fair-skinned girl with big triangular snow-white fox ears and a similarly white and fluffy tail. She was clad in a white sundress with bright turquoise flowers on it. 

 

Emily appeared beside her not a moment later: her red fox ears standing tall and pointed in my direction, and her poofy tail swishing excitedly. She was wearing a deep red sundress with forest green vines entwining all around it.

 

“What should we call you?” Amelia asked me inquisitively. 

 

I thought for a moment. It had been among the first things I pondered upon waking up here. I had decided that since I was a part of Hekate, I would take my name from Hers.

 

“Kate will work for now,” I said with a smile. 

 

“Kate?” Emily said with a friendly smile, “I like it!”

 

“Yeah that’s not what I was expecting,” Amelia admitted, her tail wagging slowly behind her, “but it’s very pretty!”

 

“It’s a fragment of Hekate’s english name,” I explained, “And also I like it.”

 

I made a halfhearted attempt to hide the nervousness I felt, but I still felt some leak out.

 

“Hey you don’t have to explain or defend your name here,” Emily said kindly, “we’re both really happy to meet you.”

 

I inclined my head towards them, grateful for her kindness. “I’m honored to meet you both as well,” I said.

 

The three of us were silent for a few moments. I felt my nervousness brewing again. I tried to identify its source, but to no avail. 

 

Then Emily asked, “So what happens now?”

 

“I was about to ask the same question,” Amelia admitted.

 

I thought for a few moments more. “Now we let Lillian know that the ritual worked, I’d guess? I’m the newbie here, what do you two want to do?”

 

They looked at each other, and both their pairs of ears twitched towards each other. Vaguely, I could sense them communicating privately to each other, and I carefully worked to preserve their privacy by ignoring that frequency of thought. Not that it was easy to eavesdrop on their thoughts, I just wanted to block myself off from even the temptation of trying to listen in.

 

They turned to look at me in unison.

 

"Let's take a few moments to get to know each other, Kate,” Amelia said, “Does that sound alright?”

 

I nodded to her.

 

“Yeah, and how are you feeling? After having, you know, just incarnated or whatever?” Emily asked.

 

I hesitated. Had I been that obvious about being nervous? Or was this just them showing me basic kindness? Either way, I decided, I wanted to base our relationship on honesty. It was one of the foundational guidelines that Hekate had left me with. 

 

“I’m feeling nervous,” I admitted, “though I’m not sure entirely why.”

 

The foxgirls glanced at each other again, and I didn’t need any telepathy to know they were communicating.

 

Amelia spoke up first, her ears perked upright. “Would you like us to help you try and figure out what’s wrong, or would you like us to mind our own business?” 

 

I blinked. Honesty, I repeated to myself, stick to honesty. It’ll be okay.

 

“Some help would be greatly appreciated,” I admitted sheepishly.

 

“Of course!” Emily exclaimed, “What can we do?”

 

“I suppose we could try to get to the bottom of my nervousness?” I suggested.

 

“I mean, you were basically just born right?” Amelia asked. “It’s very normal to need some time to adjust to existence, I’d guess?”

 

I put a hand to my chin in thought, nodding. “I guess that makes sense.”

 

“So, how are you feeling aside from nervous?” Emily asked

 

I fidgeted with my hands, but held my gaze steady on Emily. 

 

“I feel very...” I searched for the word, “vulnerable, I guess? It’s, um... normal for Children of Hekate like me.” 

 

I said the last part sort of on autopilot. Where did that information come from? I sought out the memories, and found them clear as day. Children of Hekate was the name some of the pieces of divinity that Hekate had planted in willing hosts had taken to calling themselves. And there it was: each of them had re-shared some of their mortal life’s memories with Hekate later on. That information was available to me only in pieces and bits, the parts that the other Children of Hekate had wished to remain private are like voids in my memories.

 

I frowned as I sorted through those past lives that weren’t mine. It wasn’t like me to need so much time to process information like this. Although, I guessed I didn’t know what I was really like, not yet. Each Child of Hekate grew and matured differently, and their knowledge gave me a basic blueprint of what I could do to help my system mates.  

 

It was several moments before I realized Amelia was talking to me. “...Children of Hekate?” she asked questioningly.

 

“My apologies, it’s what some of those like me, the consciousnesses resulting from the piece of Hekate embedded in their hosts’ bodies, have taken to calling themselves,” I explained.

 

“Gotcha,” Emily said.

 

“I have a question for you,” Amelia said, “Do you want to be a part of our system, or do you want us to treat you as separate?"

 

I blinked in surprise, deliberated for a few moments, and then said, "Instead of answering that, can I ask how you would both feel about me joining your system?" 

 

Emily nodded my way. "Absolutely," she said, "we’re both open to having you join us, but we'd like to wait and get to know you a little better first before we make any big decisions about it."

 

“Of course," I replied, “I’m in no rush either. In fact, we can take pretty much all the time we want chatting here, I’ve sped up your perceptions.”

 

Amelia cocked her head at me. “What exactly does that mean?”

 

I smiled. “Since we’re inside your head, we can chat at the speed of thought, which allows us to spend a lot more subjective time here internally compared to the time that passes outside your body. It’s still been just seconds since the ritual was completed.”

 

“That sounds incredibly useful,” Emily mused.

 

“It can be,” I agreed.

 

Amelia stepped a little closer to me, edging forward until she was halfway between Emily and I. “So, what’s your favorite color?” she asked me curiously.

 

I laughed, then gathered the focus to discover an answer to the question.

 

“I do so love black,” I said, “that’s definitely my favorite for a myriad of reasons. Silver’s a close second, though.” I hesitated a moment. “What about you?”

 

Amelia smiled. “Mine’s sunset orange,” she said.

 

“Emerald,” Emily admitted, “And also uhm, purple.”

 

Amelia gave Emily a knowing smirk. 

 

I hadn’t the faintest idea what was occurring before me, and I must have looked lost enough to tip Amelia off, because she blushed bright pink and sent a flicker of memories my way. Memories of Emily and Amelia asking Lillian the same question not so long ago.

 

“So what’s Lillian’s favorite color?” I asked, puzzled that it hadn’t been included in the memories. 

 

“You’ll have to ask her yourself!” Amelia answered cheekily.

 

We spent maybe a half hour more of subjective time at that crossroads in our minds, getting to know each other a little better before going out into the world together. I learned that Emily and Amelia held a deep reverence for Hekate, and offered to extend the same worship to me, but I turned them down. It just... didn’t feel right.

 

“Are you sure?” Emily asked, when I told them so. 

 

“Yes,” I answered.

 

“You don’t look happy about that,” Amelia pointed out.

 

I frowned. “I guess I don’t... I don’t feel like a Goddess anymore,” I admitted, for the first time, to myself along with my two headmates. 

 

Of course I was nervous, I was no longer nigh-omnipotent. And even with all the vast troves of knowledge at my disposal I was quite limited in what I could recall, as I had little practice at accessing Hekate’s memories.

 

“Yeah, that’s got to be a pretty huge adjustment,” Emily said.

 

I gave her a slight smile. “I’m not a Goddess anymore, not fully. I’m a fragment of one. I just... don’t really know who ‘I’ am. ”

 

Amelia and Emily nodded. 

 

“Well,” Amelia began, “you’re our friend, for starters.”

 

My smile grew wider, and I felt genuine gratitude towards her. “Thanks,” I said.

 

“And you’re Kate, the newcomer to our mind who’s been put in a very vulnerable situation with complete strangers,” Emily added.

 

I hesitated. “Technically I know everything Hekate knew about y’all, so you’re not strangers to me, not really,” I said quietly, “but I’m a stranger to both you two and myself.”

 

“Aw c’mon Kate, don’t be down on yourself for just being born!” Amelia said. “It takes a lot of time and reflection to figure one’s self out, at least in our experience.”

 

I nodded to her. “Fair enough,” I said.

 

“And just because you know of us doesn’t mean you know us personally,” Emily added, “We’re super excited to get to know you!”

 

“Well, for what it’s worth, right back at you,” I said with a smile.

 

“I have a question for you,” Amelia said, “I’ve been thinking about what Hekate told us before we signed the contract that led to, well, you. She said you’d love your purpose in life, that you’d enjoy living in this different state of being. Is that true?”

 

I considered her for a moment, thinking. Did I feel nervous? Of course. But did I feel unhappy? No, not really. If anything my nervousness was bordering on excitement.

 

“I think I’m happy to exist,” I began sincerely, “I want to help you both, and to help spread Hekate’s message of change throughout the kingdoms.”

 

Amelia nodded thoughtfully, her tail wagging slowly. “Thanks,” she said, “that’s good to hear. I just wanted to check.”

 

“Yeah, and if there’s ever anything we can do to help you feel happier here with us, just let us know,” Emily added.

 

“Thank you,” I replied. 

 

“I think that’s all the questions I have for now, how about you Emily?” Amelia asked.

 

The red foxgirl thought for a moment, then asked, “How do you feel about our relationship with Lillian, and for that matter our submission to the Goddess Hekate?”

 

“I’m pleased that you two and Lillian seem to be getting along so well, and I’m glad that you have Hekate’s guidance in your lives. Also, please remember that I’m a fragment of the Goddess of Magic, which includes sex magic. It’s up to you two if I participate in either submitting with you or dominating you myself,” I replied with a slightly predatory smile. “Rest assured that I’m perfectly capable of doing many naughty things.”

 

Emily was grinning by the time I was done. “Hell yeah!” she said, “I’m so excited to learn more sex magic with you!”

 

Amelia was looking at me with a cautious smile. “I think we’d definitely be up for trying naughty things with you, once we’ve gotten to know you a bit better.”

 

“Of course,” I said, inclining my head to her. “I’m not trying to rush our relationship.”

 

“Good,” Amelia replied, “I’m not trying to slow it down.”

 

“Well I’m trying to keep it moving at a healthy pace,” Emily said. “Shall we go inform Lillian of the ritual’s success?”

 

“Let’s do it,” I said.