The plain-looking girl knelt at the cracked altar in the ruined, forgotten temple, her face pressed to the stone so that only her short mousy hair was visible.

A dim flickering light gradually appeared above the altar. The girl slowly dared to raise her eyes. “A…Aphrodite Ourania?”

“That is who I am.” The light brightened. “I have so few worshipers now. What brings you back to the old ways?”

“I want to be beautiful,” the girl whispered. “More than anything else in the world.”

“And you came to me?”

She shrugged. “It seemed worth a try.”

“I can grant that wish,” Aphrodite said. “But there will be a price.”

The girl looked up. “What…price?”

“You know the saying, ‘my body is my temple’?”

“Y…yes?”

“I want your body to be My temple,” Aphrodite said. “I shall make a space within you, and you shall be temple and priestess all in one. Your life shall be consecrated to Me. Is that acceptable?”

The girl nodded. “It is.”

“Very well.” The light sank into her body, and it began to change…