Aria opened her eyes, feeling strangely refreshed. Her eyelids slammed tight, the shock of sunlight causing her to wince as she struggled to adjust. Slowly, they opened to a narrowed slit, and she moved her hand in front of her face to block out the sun.

  The sun… She sat up, the realization startling. Instead of cold stone, her hands touched smooth, soft grass, and as she looked around, it was not a dimly lit cell around her, but a pristinely blue lake that shimmered under the golden rays of the sunlight.

  Behind the lake, green mountains rolled into the distance, and kissing the lake’s edges were tall, beautiful trees with green leaves. The air was warm with no breeze, and an almost minty smell.

  Is this… Heaven? She searched for the figure who had visited her, but found she was alone.

  Alone.

  No cell, no Karlock, no Mortessas… And no Night King.

  She looked down at her hands as they began to tremble. Is this real? An intense fear gripped her insides as she pictured the tranquil surroundings suddenly fading away, where she would awake once more in the torture cell, Karlock gleefully slicing away at her skin.

  Wait a second… She studied her hands more closely, moving them under the sunlight. They were larger, thicker, her dainty fingers seeming to have disappeared.

  She jumped to her feet, and slowly the realization that something about her body was not right began to dawn. The sense that she was looking at everything a tad higher than normal, that her chest felt wider yet slimmer, the bulkier feeling of her arms…

  She rushed forward towards the lake, but could not see her reflection on its crystal clear surface. “What is going on?” Her hands flew to her mouth.

  My voice!

  It was not her lighter, more feminine voice but that of…

  “A boy!” Seraphina’s light tone was filled with glee as she appeared from thin air, floating a few feet above the lake. She giggled in delight.

  Panic seized Aria as she desperately ran her hands across her body…

  No. Not my body!

  “What have you done to me?”

  “I was ordered to make your new body as opposite from your original self as possible.” A mirror appeared in front of Aria. “I’d say I nailed it, wouldn’t you?”

  Aria’s jaw dropped as she took in the face staring back at her. Less delicate than her own face, with an undeniable boyish look to her cheeks, a harder cut jawline. Her hair was golden blonde, and her eyes vivid blue. It was a pretty face, but it wasn’t hers.

  “It’ll take some adjusting, I’m sure, but you’ll get used to it. It’s only temporary.” Seraphina shrugged her slender shoulders, appearing more amused than apologetic. She was child-like, with white hair and golden eyes. Her feathered white wings kept her afloat, and she twirled in the air as she hummed.

  Aria pushed the mirror aside a tad too harshly, causing it to fall and splash into the lake.

  “Hey!” Seraphina whined. “That’s an heirloom. I have to send it back. We don’t make this stuff out of thin air, you know.” She pressed her lips together as she snapped her fingers and the mirror vanished from the water’s depths.

  “You’re a priestess!” Aria accused. She had never seen one before, hadn’t thought of them much even as a child. Priestesses were servants of Amor, and rarely showed themselves among humans.

  “That’s correct!” She grinned from pointy ear to pointy ear.

  “Want to explain whose body I am currently inhibiting? What happened to the poor boy who owns it?” Aria crossed her arms, feeling the Dark gather around her.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Seraphina’s eyes went wide with panic as she held up her little hands. “Whoa there, Princess, I’m doing you a favor. We can’t draw the Night King’s suspicions, so you being a boy is the best way to make sure you seem like an entirely different person.” She failed at an attempt to stifle a laugh. “I can’t wait to see his face when he finally knows.”

  Aria’s brow twitched in annoyance. “I can still be a girl and be a different person! And you didn’t answer my question.” The sound of her voice, so much deeper than her own, aggravated her further. It was uncomfortable, knowing she was in a body that was not her own.

  A smug grin graced her countenance. “It is your body. There is no other owner. You’re a brand new human being. A fifteen-year-old baby, if you will.” Her grin quickly dropped. “It will self-destruct before you’re twenty-one, but we shouldn’t ever get to that point. Don’t have the time.” She waved her hand as if it weren’t an issue.

  “’Self-destruct?!’” Aria felt a fire spark within her belly as a dark fog gathered at her feet.

  “Tenebras Exilium,” Seraphina casually quipped, and the darkness at Aria’s feet dissipated as a gold-speckled gust of wind blew by. She sighed dramatically. “I expect better from you. You are the Chosen of Amor. Using the Dark is a quick way to end up on his bad side.”

  Aria stared at her blankly. “I haven’t been attuned to the Light since I was taken…” Her voice trailed off as she looked away, feeling a sadness dampen the fire that had been lit within her.

  Seraphina floated over and patted her on the head. “Now, now, the Light is always within you. We just needed to get you away from the Darklands. Go on, try it!”

  Aria reeled back from her touch. “Really?”

  “I’m running short on time here, so yeah, get to it.” She stared back expectantly.

  Aria sighed deeply. Okay, here goes nothing… She thought back to her training as a young girl, trying to summon it as she had the Dark, but there was no light for her to grasp. She shifted her feet, feeling irritation grow. The simplest way to call forth the Light of Amor is verbally, even if it’s incredibly embarrassing for anyone over ten.

  “Lux Caelorum!” Like a warm embrace, a rush of Light enveloped her, and Aria let out a delighted sound as her eyes grew wide. This feeling… It had been so long, and tears stung her eyes as she beamed at the Priestess.

  Seraphina smiled back. “Ah, there she is… Well, ‘He’.” She shrugged. “We’ll get the hang of it. Anyway, I’ve still got a job to do when I’m not guiding you, so…” She snapped her fingers and a leather brown satchel fell onto the grass next to Aria’s feet. “That should have enough supplies to get you to the Academy. Remember to be a good person, peace and love, blah, blah…” She vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Aria alone with the bag of supplies.

  “Wait a second!” Aria made a sound of frustration.

  No one ever told me Priestesses could be so annoying.

  Aria picked up the satchel, her head spinning to the point where she couldn’t think straight. Inside the bag was a spare set of clothes, a coin pouch, and a letter. She grabbed the parchment and began to read:

  Aria yelped as the letter burned, quickly vanishing to nothing but ash. She stood in silence, slowly realizing that something was off. Not just her body but… It’s quiet. Gone were the maniacs laughing in the distance, the screams of horror. Only the sounds of nature, the smell of life were around her, and slowly she began to laugh into the blue sky.

  I’m free!

  In a different body, and a different sex, but more free than she’d ever hoped to be. She would accept Amor’s second chance, though she felt strongly she hadn’t done anything to lose the first one. Either way, she wouldn’t be greedy. She was going to work hard, gain strength in the strange body she had been given, and free her true self from the Night Lord. Perhaps she’d even kill him and save the world from destruction as she once was expected to.

  Grabbing the satchel, she set off down the hill with no idea as to where she was going, only eager to go somewhere, to explore the world she had been locked away from for so long.

  So I have to be a boy for a couple of years. How hard could it be?