*They’re seriously having sex again? At the rate these two keep at it, it will take them nearly a week to get to Lissonna.*

*Well, she is the goddess of love, right? It’s… sorta her thing.*

*Well... We may as well just rest here for a moment. You can take over if you'd like so I can regain a little of my power.* 

Livia focused on the other presence in her mind and allowed herself to sink below the surface. As she closed off her mind to the outside world, she thought back about the extremely eventful day she had had. She had awoken in an abandoned temple hidden deep in the Everdark Forest. Well… technically she didn’t awaken, Kaley, the mortal who had been reincarnated in her body had. At first the girl had been terrified and alone, and as she wandered into the forest she became hopelessly lost. Livia wasn’t strong enough yet to make her presence known, so for now, she would just wait to see what the girl would do.

It wasn’t fair. Kaley had had an amazing life before. She had been an up-and-coming influencer with nearly 100,000 followers. Not the biggest number, she’d seen, but she was getting there! And now, that was all gone and she was stuck in this stupid place without any clothes, and she had absolutely no clue where she was and what was going on. It was not fucking fair! These things always happened to her. Why couldn’t she be like her friends who had all the luck when it came to looks, sponsors, friends, followers, money, fame, boys, and… everything. She had struggled for so long, and her life was finally turning around, and now she was here.

As thoughts of the unfairness of it all swirled in her mind, she felt something like a tingle inside her brain. She closed her eyes, and focused on that feeling, and it became more and more present. Suddenly she felt something… no… Someone sifting through her memories like one would looking through files in a file cabinet. Kaley focused on the presence and tried to figure out what it was. It noticed her attention on it, and it stopped what it was doing and waited to see what she would do next.

“Hello? I know you’re in there. I can feel you in my head looking through my memories. What are you?”

*Livia.*

“What’s a Livia? Is that your name?”

*Yes. And you’re Kaley Conners. Human. Mortal. Born in Los Angeles, California. You were 21 years old when you were killed by a… white flash of light? That’s strange.*

“No stranger than having a voice inside my head talking to me and waking up in a- Wait… did you say I was killed?”

*While I have no proof you actually died, mortal, the fact that you’ve been reincarnated in my body would suggest that you did. Why you were given my body instead of me is rather infuriating…*

“OK, wait. Reincarnated? Your body? I have absolutely no clue what’s going on. Why am I here?”

As Kaley began to get more and more upset, Livia’s presence became stronger and stronger. Just when she was about to collapse in a panic, she felt like she was being forced underwater. She struggled against the feeling, but it quickly overwhelmed her. Suddenly she was looking through her eyes, but it was like she was watching it on a screen. Everything felt distant and disconnected.

“Much better. I would apologize for taking over, mortal, but this is my body.”

*What did you do to me… and why do you keep calling me ‘mortal?’”

“I forced your consciousness… I believe you would say ‘out of the driver’s seat.’ I don’t think I can remove you fully, but I can at least use some of my power to maintain control. And I call you mortal because that is what you are. Or… were.”

Kaley felt Livia looking through her memories again.

“Ah. I see your world doesn’t have gods and goddesses that can take physical form. Curious. I guess I can explain a little just so you will stop panicking. It is making it difficult to figure out where we are.”

Livia told her all about the world she was now in, the type of people that lived here, about the various gods and goddesses and the fact that Livia herself was a goddess, and any other question that Kaley could think of. Livia answered with an annoyed boredom like everything Kaley was asking her was the least interesting topic possible. When she felt like she understood enough, she fell silent and waited to see what the goddess would do.

Livia made her way to a nearby village and stopped just before they entered. She held up her hand and a black orb made of swirling energy formed in her palm. She closed her fist tightly around it, and Kaley felt the sensation of something being pulled over her body like a second skin. 

*What was that?*

*Shadow. It makes me basically invisible. Better to remain hidden for now. Especially given our state of undress. We need to find out where we are, locate some suitable clothing, and figure out what the hell is going on. Why were you reincarnated in my body? How did I die in the first place? Answering those questions is my top priority.*

 Kaley mentally nodded and Livia walked into the village without another word. She looked around and listened in on the various conversations, making note of small details that would indicate things like the current year, where they were, the state of the country, and what was going on around them. Of particular interest was talk of a redheaded woman who had killed two men inside the tavern. While redheaded individuals weren’t all that rare, the fact that she used some sort of divine magic was what piqued Livia’s curiosity. She moved from person to person, listening for any bit of information she could get about the mystery redhead. She was small, maybe around 5’5. She was traveling with a very tall blonde half-elven woman and they had headed north towards another part of the Everdark forest. As Livia walked northward, she tried to recall the last time she had seen her sister, Eronica.

*Do you think your sister will know why we were reincarnated?*

*Doubtful. If she’s not busy fucking some innocent girl into oblivion she’s probably clueless to what’s going on. She’s… not very smart. Being the baby of the family and being completely spoiled by our parents and older siblings made her far too reliant on others. She was given everything she could have ever wanted, including powers that make people literally fall in love with her at a moment’s notice… She just always seemed to take everything and everyone for granted and instead just focused on what she wanted and what she thought she needed. She makes me sick.*

*It sounds more like you’re jealous of her.*

Livia narrowed her eyes and scoffed through her nose, but didn’t say anything. Why would Livia be jealous? It wasn’t like she wanted to be surrounded by beautiful women waiting on her hand-and-foot. She was fine sticking to the shadows, always listening but never actually being part of anything. She was fine relying on her Ravens to be her eyes and ears and experience the things she herself never got to experience. What’s there to be jealous about? Livia grunted in irritation as they reentered the Everdark Forest. 

After walking for about 10 minutes they came to a small clearing that had the makings of a small campsite. There were three disassembled tents and a large pile of supplies next to a fourth, but there was no sign of Eronica or the blonde woman. She was about to start searching the ground for any signs of where they might have gone, when a tree less than ten feet away exploded in a shower of wood and sap. Livia threw herself to the ground and looked around for an attacker, but growled in anger as she saw Eronica standing next to an extremely muscular half-elven woman. She was about to step out of her shadow and give her sister a piece of her mind when Kaley spoke to her.

*Wait! Our arm. It’s bleeding and there’s a piece of wood stuck in it!*

Livia seethed but knew that attacking her sister in a blind-rage would likely end badly for her. Especially with that blonde being able to throw rocks like cannonballs. She reached down and pulled the smaller pieces of wood shrapnel from her arm and then wrapped her fingers around the larger chunk. Her fingers were coated in a dark red, faintly luminescent blood as she yanked the wood free. Blood poured from the wound and she pressed her other fingers to the hole and closed her eyes. Her hand glowed with faint white light as her healing magic began to staunch the bleeding and close the wound. After it had mostly healed, Livia felt completely drained.

Kaley felt like she was being pulled out of quicksand with a sudden jolt, and she found herself back in control of her body. She studied the dark red line on her arm and then looked back at the other two women who were busy messing around with a giant rock. Despite Livia being forced out of the driver’s seat, Kaley could still feel her Shadow still covering her body. She searched her mind for Livia’s presence and found the goddess ‘resting’ quietly. Without any guidance on what to do, Kaley crept closer towards Eronica and the blonde.

After she watched them in awe for a bit, she blushed when the blonde suddenly scooped up the small redhead and smacked her ass. She started to panic as the pair began to walk towards her, until she realized that they couldn’t see her. Kaley followed them silently back to their camp and then sat down just outside of the small clearing against a tree. As the sounds of sex filled the air, She felt herself getting aroused. Ugh. Livia was right… Eronica only seemed to care about sex… and just being around her made everyone else go mad with lust. Kaley forced herself to her feet and walked further away from the camp and further away from the moans of ecstacy coming from the tent. 

After a few hours, Kaley was awoken by the sounds of laughter coming from the camp. She stood up slowly and brushed off the dirt and leaves that were stuck to her backside with her hand. After checking that Livia’s Shadow was still intact, she crept forward until the two women came into view. Drusilia, the blonde, seemed to be asking Eronica or Erin as she kept calling her all sorts of questions about Earth. As Kaley watched them packing up their camp, the questions from the half-elf seemed to happen randomly, like something just popped into her head. When they finally finished, Kaley almost jumped in surprise as Livia spoke in her mind.

*Judging from the questions the half-elf is asking, I think this Erin was reincarnated like we were. If she’s in control of her body it would explain why I couldn’t sense her presence when we got close to her. But there’s definitely some connection between her and Drusilia. Something that we can’t see. No doubt some side-effect of Eronica’s perverted magic at work. Did you figure out where they’re headed?*

*I’m surprised you didn’t just read my mind to find the answer.*

*I did. I just felt like you’d feel better about it if you thought I hadn’t. Humans are so particular about their privacy.*

Kaley didn’t respond, instead she ignored the irritation she felt at how dismissive the other occupant of her mind was of her and focused on the two women getting ready to leave. She remained still after they departed, knowing Livia would have little trouble following them. She walked towards the remains of the campsite and looked over what they had left behind. After she used some of the heavy canvas material of one of the tents to make herself a sort of covering she could wrap around her body, she managed to find a small rusted knife that had been left under one of the huge logs. She fashioned a sort of belt from strips of fabric and tucked the small weapon into it. 

“Well, I guess it’s your turn to take over ‘cause I don’t know the first thing about tracking.”

She focused on Livia’s presence and felt herself falling back into that void within her mind. Livia looked around and then studied the campsite, looking for anything Kaley might have missed. After she was satisfied she had learned everything she could, she set off in the same direction as Erin and Drusilia.