A/N: The Lady Starbright in this story is not me. She existed in my mind beforehand and I just used her name as my pen name.
More explanations
"Remind me why we are doing this?" asked Aly as she and Nimi rode through a haze of fine drizzle.
"We are doing this my friend, because our dear training master ordered it. Had you forgotten it?" replied Nimi who received a glare in reply.
They continued to ride until they were forced to stop by a stranger standing in the middle of the track. Two pairs of eyes were transfixed on the figure as they dismounted. As they neared her Aly found her voice, "Mother, what do you want with us?" she asked.
"I could be merely seeing how two female pages are fairing," the woman replied. She stood tall, emerald eyes blazing against her white skin. Fog draped round her like a dress and dew partially veiled her face.
"But Mother, Gods don't seem to just pop into the mortal realms for a cup of tea and a chat."
"Very observant Aly," commented the Goddess, "I have important matters to discuss with you."
"Us, Goddess?" questioned Nimi
"Yes you now take a seat my daughters and I will explain all," answered the Mother.
With that the two sat, along with a figure who had appeared from nowhere. So, as promised the Goddess explained. She explained how the future the Gods foresaw was unstable, and how there needed to be a force in the mortal realms who could aid the fight which was to come.
"A fight with who?" asked Nimi, to which She replied that they would know soon enough. She then explained that she bestowed on each of them an aspect of her power.
"Not all of that aspect though," she told them, "that would be too much for your bodies to cope with. This is my daughter Lady Starbright, she will guide you from the realms." At this, the stranger who had appeared earlier inclined her head and the Mother vanished.
"Err, so Lady Starbright, could you please explain?" asked Nimi.
"Of course I'll explain. There's no point in me being here if I don't. But please, just call me Abby," she asked.
"Abby?" Aly replied. "But you're a goddess!"
"Technically, I'm a demi-goddess. My father was a mortal, I just ended up living in the divine realms, not here," answered Abby.
"Care to elaborate?" asked Aly.
"OK, it's like this. My father and mother met one night and she became pregnant. She planned to leave me with my father once I was born but he died three months into her pregnancy. So I stayed with my mother in the divine realms. She named me Abigail after my father's mother. But living in the divine realms I had to become a god, so I became Lady Starbright, a minor goddess of stars and daughterhood. I'd have much rather stayed in the mortal realms, none of them are interested in doing anything with me because I'm so young. I got bored and used my powers, the gods told me that powers weren't meant to be for fun. I think that's the only reason some of them let me come here, to get me out of their hair. The animal gods and some of the minor gods are nice though."
"So you're saying that you're not a proper god?" asked Nimi.
"No, I shouldn't even have powers, things just got a bit mixed up," replied Abby.
"Can you please tell us about these aspects of the Mother's powers?" requested Aly.
"Oh yes, sorry. Well, the Mother has three aspects, one of which is reflected in each of us. Nimi, you are the Goddess's aspect of the mother, this means she can look into the minds of others and other places in the world. This is because the mother aspect looks at the here and now whereas the maiden looks forward and the hag looks back. I am the maiden aspect of the Goddess, this means I can see the possible futures. Aly, you are the hag aspect, this means you can see, and live through, events which have happened. There are other powers as well, powers related to nature. Nimi you are connected to earth, Aly you are connected to water, and I am connected to air. There is a fourth person which you will meet in the future who is connected to spirit. There is no fire because Mother Flame decreed many years ago that no mortal should have complete control of nature's fire, so instead each of us can partially control fire," Abby told them.
"I can't believe it. I'm thirteen and being called a hag," cried Aly.
"Sorry about that," replied Abby.
"But why the powers?" asked Nimi thoughtfully.
"Because not all gods follow the rules."