Temple of the Gods

As we enter back into the forest from the clearing we quickly came upon the temple. It was massive. It had white walls, with red trimming, black roofs that bent upward towards the edge of the temple forming a canopy of sorts. It spread across at about 20k ft in length, with a single tower at the center with multiple roofs stacked upon each other representing another floor.

I gazed in wonder at the right before me and I could sense incredibly strong SE radiating from the temple walls.

"It's beautiful isn't it, once every so often I would guide your mother here to pay homage to Parvarti. Sigh my condolences she was a great guardian and will be sorely missed."

"Thank you Ojisan," I said trying to hold back my tears. Wanting to change the subject I asked "Ojisan, this temple isn't, just for Parvarti, is it?"

"No child many gods, have shrines built here. Many different spirit beasts and the occasional human would arrive to pay homage to their deity."

"Come now, it's time you met her."

The three of us entered the temple which had room upon room littering the hallway. "Is her shrine in one of these rooms?" I asked.

"No these rooms house the shrines of lesser gods. Parvarti is one of the greater gods and has an entire floor, in the tower, dedicated to her shrine. We will be going to the third floor of that tower."

.

When we got to the third floor we entered Parvati's shrine. The floor was made with black and whit marble, the walls and ceilings of gold. In the center of the room was a statue with two figures facing opposite directions with their backs against each other. One side resembled the same beautiful woman I tried to save, while the other one looked similar just slightly darker and had four arms. Two arms were outstretched with warm welcoming hands, while the other two had their elbows lifted up and to her side, as her hands rested on the hilts of two swords mounted and crossing on her back. She also had another two swords strapped to her hips.

"Ojisan why does Parvati have two different statues?

The elder then responded, "Parvati has two forms she mainly utilizes one is for the nourishment of her people, while the other is for their protection."

Kujo then interjected "Yeah she is a goddess of kindness after all, but her other side is reserved for those who threaten what she wants to protect. Even when facing an enemy she will initially have two outstretched arms to try and resolve things with peace. She prefers peace to violence, but those swords she wields hold deadly speed and precision. Any enemy that perceives her kindness as weakness finds their bodies filleted. Many foes were dispatched this way without her using an ounce of divine energy."

"Shadow beast," Ojisan stated "you have a wealth of knowledge on our goddess, when did learn about such things?"

"Lets, just say that I met the four-armed Parvarti, and chose the peaceful resolution, and leave it at that."

I stared at Kujo with an accusatory glare.

"Relax Princess, I told you ill come clean after this meeting how about we get along with it elder."

Ojisan then walked up to the altar and placed incense in each available slot. Without a single spark, the incense began to burn all at once. The smoke they emitted completely engulfed the statues, and within an instance was sucked into them. The two armed Parvati came to life.

"My dear Knight, I'm glad I can officially meet under better circumstances, I know that you may be confused about our first encounter."

Without hesitation, I immediately spoke up. "No you burning your assailant wasn't too confusing, but being reborn as a panther that got confusing, oh and even better a female panther, while still maintaining my previous life's memory as a man is damn well confusing. Being harassed by horny males because of my super-infused heat pheromones was beyond fucking confusing!" I blurted out forgetting who I was talking to.

Kujo came to my side and whispered into my ear. "Mishi..um you do realize that you're speaking to a goddess, the same goddess that punishes disrespect. Case and point" while pointing at himself.

"Yes, Kujo, that's the name you're going by now right. Well, I'm not even the slightest bit mad about Mishi's abrupt attitude, considering what she just went through an attitude is more than warranted. You on the other hand sexually harassed a goddess as she was trying to reward you! You should be happy that I not only let you retain your personality and memories but paired you with your precious Mishi as well."

Now my scowl shifted towards Kujo. "What the fuck is going on!"

"Damn Parvati, could you let be the one to fess up before you go blurting your mouth."

"Well, considering how you made some transitions for her more difficult, it was warranted."

"Stop talking about me as if I'm not here and somebody explain to me what the fuck is going on!"

"Sorry Mishi, Parvarti winced, I get a little carried away when it comes to this fool. I can't reveal everything you want to know just yet, as I fear your mind wouldn't be able to handle it in your current realm. What I can tell you is that I chose you as my champion for two reasons, one because of how well I know you and two, because of the strength and courage you showed towards the end of your previous life. I need you here as a champion because this world's balance is on the brink of destruction.

Raksha is a demonic spirit beast and a mere minion to the true dark threat that is trying to tilt this planet's balance straight into the complete control of the denomic realm. You need to fight and overcome these forces to prevent them from destroying this planet which I adore. To do that you will need to get stronger and will also need to at times make hard decisions. You will at one point be strong enough to become a guardian to this entire world, but you will find that regardless how strong you become, you can't save everyone. You will face moments where your choices would save one group while destroying another at the same time. I know I'm placing a huge burden on you and for that I am sorry."

"But goddess Parvarti there were plenty of people more courageous and lived far better lives than me. So why me? Why not someone more qualified?"

"Well unlike the other people you were and are MishiPeshu, a panther goddess. In your life as a goddess, you erred in your ways. As a result, you were punished to be reincarnated as a human in a world void of spirit energy. This punishment was designed to open your eyes, teach you humility, and hopefully, better mold your character. When you came to my aid I was testing you to see if you had grown at all in this endeavor and my sweet Mishi you have far exceeded my expectations."

"So if I'm a reincarnated goddess, wouldn't that mean that Kujo…"

"Yes Mishi, Kujo is also a reincarnated god. But I think he should explain the rest right Huehuecoyotl, or did you go by Kojotl then."

Authors note: Huehurcoyilotl is an Aztec deity that loves to play tricks, which usually end up backfiring on him. Kojotl is how the last part of is name is pronounced "coyote" meaning coyote, I decided to use this as a nickname instead of referring to the whole name every time I referenced him.

Kujo then looked dejected, and before I could react my eyes rolled back into my head as I collapsed. Images and visions of the past flooded my psyche. Then I was witnessing a portion of my life as a goddess.