Event Private Finished A Special Wish

Riley was still giddy from her victory. It had come in waves over the days since it was announced, and since she'd spoken to March about her wish and hung his trophy up in her room.

Among the werewolves who were her neighbors, there was a healthy amount of debate regarding whether this really counted as a hunting trophy for her, since she didn't actually kill the beast. But she did engage in a hunt for it, and it was given to her by a god of hunting. There wasn't as much debate about whether it was cool; it definitely looked cool. Plus, they were outdoorsy types, and few people liked being out in icy wet cold. So the blessing it represented was incredible.

Riley cared more about the fact that it was from the Twelve. She looked up to them a lot. She wished she was more like them - ancient, aloof beings of incredible power, rather than some recently-reincarnated child. She kind of wanted to be like them - or rather, like the things that they were trying to become once again. Gods who mortals respected as such.

She needed to get in tune with her past - her divine soul had been through many lifetimes, and precious little of that experience was still available to her. Even if she didn't want to become those people that she used to be, because they may have been assholes - she had to understand them, and gain the understandings that they had acquired through millenia.

She sometimes wished she could just meet them. Now she could use her actual wish for that.

"March! November!" she walked quickly along the edge of the graveyard towards them, almost but not quite skipping.

Right. It was hard for November to keep a physical form together. But here she was. Riley began to realize that this was kind of a big deal, that November would strain herself so much on her account. "Thanks for being here," she told the goddess.

"This is really important to me," she added. "I don't... really understand who I am, cause of my memories from before I reincarnated. And a lot of times I keep getting these weird flashbacks when I want to be focusing on something else, so..."

Riley wanted to be able to meet the people she used to be. More than that, she wanted to stay in touch, and to understand. Hopefully, it would make the flashbacks stop, or at least make the worst, least comprehensible flashbacks more bearable.

But she had already explained much of this to March.

Riley's eyes were full of wonder as the gem fell into her hands. She held on to it for a while, just looking at it, appreciating how it was actually a gem inside a different kind of gem, and that was really unusual.

March had a good point. They should take a moment to figure out if it worked. Riley just saw one obstacle to that: "So... how do I use it?" Thankfully, November had a simple explanation prepared. It wasn't too different from any other kind of reusable magic stone that summoned ghosts. Riley had it figured it out in no time at all.

A being appeared before them: a lithe, androgynous humanoid with blue spots on its arms. They had a pair of wings, one of which was mostly made of a dark purple crystalline structure. They also had two pairs of horns, similarly purple and crystalline.

They looked around, taking in the appearance of this place, and the gods around them. Then, they spoke in an alien tongue: "...This is unexpected."

Riley, for her part, didn't know what to say or do. She stood, looking at the ghost she'd summoned in uncertain silence.

The winged being smiled at November, seemingly amused. They made a few gestures with their right hand, which Riley understood to be a sort of salute and sign of respect. They spread their wings, showing off for March. This was a spirit in good spirits.

They turned to Riley. "So, she-who-is-being-visited, what do you call yourself now?" Still in that unfamiliar language that Riley somehow understood.

"I'm Riley." Honestly, something about this being intimidated her, and she didn't know what to say to them. She was trying to muster her confidence.

"Riley..." they said it slowly, struggling a little bit with the R sound, but it was close enough. "In my last days, I often wondered what the next ones would be like. I am Navasjz. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me."

"Yeah! I wanna know everything!"

Navasjz smiled. "I'm sure. And are these two in your cult?" They were gesturing towards March and November.

"No, I, uh... don't actually have one, anymore." She seemed a little embarrassed by this fact. "They're gods too, though."

Navasjz was profoundly confused. They stared at the two.

Honestly, Riley would prefer if they stayed. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with any of the twelve, but she really liked them, and -

"I would prefer privacy," Navaszj said.

"Oh. Uh..." She gave up pretty fast on the idea of trying to keep them around. But she could at least express her appreciation to the other gods. "Well, thanks a lot for everything! Hope the year works out for you guys." They would say their goodbyes as Navaszj continued to watch them, uneasy.

Later, Riley would learn that Navaszj had only met one other deity before. It destroyed their planet.