---

"Come on." Jill urged, guiding Sarah back to their table. She had to push Sarah down into her chair, as she was just standing there. "It's not so bad; we were already expecting to have to deal with this." Jill reminded her.

"Deal with what?" Mike asked, looking worriedly at the obviously upset Sarah.

"We ran into one of Sarah's coworkers on the way back from the restrooms. He's a real jerk." Jill explained.

"Did he recognize Sarah?" Mike asked. Jill nodded. "I see. This complicates things, doesn't it?"

"Yes and no. We were expecting to deal with this, so in that way it's not. If tonight's trip works out, though, then it complicates things some. But we knew we'd be dealing with this at some point, so it's not that different." Jill replied.

"I am so dead!" Sarah said.

"No you're not. I'll be there before and after work, and you can always change their gender if they give you trouble. That ought to get their attention!" Mike chortled.

"Let's try to save that for emergencies." Jill cautioned.

"There's no point in that trip, now." Sarah moped.

"Of course there is!" Jill admonished. "There's still Erica to consider."

That got Sarah's attention. "True, let's go give it a shot." Mike and Jill agreed, so they paid their bill and returned to Sarah's apartment. Sarah printed out the latest chapter of the story and turned to Mike and Jill. "Ready?"

They nodded, so Sarah opened the portal. They stepped through and found themselves on the sidewalk just outside an apartment building. Sarah closed the portal and looked around. "Uh, guys, I just realized something. The apartment number is never specified in the story." Sarah said apologetically.

"Will you be able to recognize the people we're looking for if you see them?" Jill asked.

"Yes, that should be easy enough. Laura's tall and athletic with red hair and green eyes, Melanie's a little shorter and slim with silver eyes and hair and porcelain white skin, and Veronica has black hair and wears Goth style clothes." Sarah replied.

"They sound pretty distinctive. If we wait here we should be able to spot them." Jill said hopefully.

They waited there for several minutes before Sarah said, "Maybe we should go back. I could try to open the portal directly into their apartment."

Mike shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea. With their abilities, if they thought they were in danger we could get seriously hurt before we had an opportunity to explain ourselves."

Sarah sighed and they continued to wait in silence. About an hour later they saw two people who seemed to appear out of thin air. They were walking towards the apartment building, though they both looked a little flush as if they'd been exercising heavily.

"That looks like two of the people you described." Jill said.

Sarah nodded. "Looks like Laura and Melanie." She agreed. They walked over to talk to them.

"Excuse me, are you Melanie by any chance?" Mike asked the silver haired one. The pair stopped and looked at them. They both looked somewhat alarmed and confused.

"Yeah, I'm Melanie. Who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Mike, and this is my girlfriend Jill and our friend Sarah. We were hoping you could help us." Mike replied.

Melanie's eyes widened in surprise and she turned towards Sarah. "You used to be a guy?" she asked.

Sarah nodded; unsurprised that Melanie had picked that up. "Yes, and I want to change back. Can you help me?"

"We'd better take this conversation inside." The taller woman suggested. They agreed and followed them to their apartment. Inside they found a Goth woman sitting on a couch watching TV. She greeted Melanie and Laura and looked questioningly at the others.

Melanie introduced everyone while Laura retrieved chairs from the kitchen. They all sat down as Melanie said, "Sarah here wants our help to be male again."

"Again?" The Goth, Veronica, asked incredulously.

"She was cursed by Venus, she was a regular guy before that." Mike explained.

Melanie frowned. "Venus is just a myth, isn't she?" she looked at Laura questioningly.

Laura shrugged. "I would have thought so, but I wouldn't have believed what we do was possible before, either."

"She probably is a myth, here." Sarah said.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked.

"I can open portals to other worlds." Sarah explained. "I use books to do it, somehow. I used a book on Greek and Roman myths to visit Venus."

"Yeah, right." Veronica scoffed. Sarah shrugged and opened the portal to her apartment. "What…the hell…is that!" Veronica exclaimed.

"That's one of my portals; it leads back to my apartment." Sarah replied.

"What's that you're holding?" Melanie asked curiously, noting the printout in Sarah's hands.

"Oh, uh, it's just the latest chapter in a story I found online." Sarah said cautiously.

"Is that how you got here?" Laura asked incredulously.

Sarah shrugged, "Well, yeah." She admitted.

"Does that mean we're just characters in a story?" Melanie asked worriedly.

"I don't think so." Jill said thoughtfully. "I've thought about this before, and I'm sure this world is as real as ours. After all, we're able to bring things back from the worlds we visit."

"And things that happen to us in other worlds stay with us when we return to ours." Sarah added, gesturing at herself with a grimace.

"Which is why we're here." Mike reminded them. "Can you help Sarah?"

"Let me see." Melanie said, turning to look closely at Sarah. She looked puzzled and then her eyes widened in surprise. "Woah! Your aura is really different! I've never seen anything like it! You're spirit's not just awake, it's screaming!"

"Huh?" Mike and Jill said in unison.

"When your spirit is awake, that means you're able to learn the stuff that we have." Laura explained. "Sarah's spirit is wide awake, but it's also extraordinarily powerful!"

"Yeah, if you were fully trained you could squash Ann like a bug! I didn't even think this was possible! Now I'm convinced you come from another world." Melanie said in awe.

"So that means I should be able to learn how to change my body back, right?" Sarah asked hopefully.

"We can try." Melanie said with a shrug of her shoulders, "But I don't know if it will work. Your spirit isn't just really powerful, it's alien! Your aura is totally different to that of any person I've ever seen before."

Sarah looked dejected, but she begged Melanie to give it a try. Melanie agreed and the two of them started working on getting Sarah to the point of being able to sense her own body with her spirit. While she was doing that Laura took Jill and Mike aside.

"Do you think this will work?" Jill asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Laura admitted, "but that's not what I want to talk to you two about. Your auras are just as strange as Sarah's, but in different ways. Your spirits are also awake. Very much so."

"Are we like Sarah then?" Jill asked in confusion.

Laura shook her head. "No, your spirits aren't nearly as powerful. But there is something strange going on with each of you. First off, you two have a love bond."

"Well, I know I love Jill, but what do you mean by that?" Mike asked worriedly.

Laura smiled, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. It just means you two are deeply in love with each other. I noticed Sarah has a similar bond with someone else. The strange thing is that Mike also has a bond, of a different type, with Sarah."

"Woah, wait a minute! Sarah's been my friend for years, but I am not in love with her!" Mike exclaimed.

"That's not what I meant." Laura said. "I've never seen a bond like it, but it's not a love bond. I don't know what it is, but it's totally different."

"Oh. Well, Sarah is like a sister to me, I guess. Maybe that's what it is?" Mike said thoughtfully.

Laura shook her head. "Veronica and Melanie are like that, but they don't have a bond. It's something else, I just don't know what."

"Okay, that's weird." Mike said.

Laura shrugged again. "I wish I could explain it, but I can't. I also can't explain what your aura is doing. It seems to be…reaching out, I guess…seeking something? It's very strange, but the strands are the same color and texture as the bond between you and Sarah."

"What could that be?" Jill asked, confused.

"No idea. Your spirit is a little more straightforward, though." Laura replied.

"What do you mean?" Jill asked.

"Your aura is a lot more like ours. It's still…alien…as Melanie put it, but not as much. I think you could learn to do at least some of the things we do." Laura explained.

"Like what?" Jill asked.

"I don't know. I would have thought you could learn everything we do, but somehow I get the feeling you're a little different. Maybe just the mental stuff?" Laura speculated.

"What kind of mental stuff?" Jill asked.

"We can hear the thoughts of people around us, and feel their emotions. We can also see auras, obviously." Laura replied.

"You think I can do that?" Jill asked in shock.

"Maybe." Laura replied with a shrug. A strange looked crossed her face and she turned towards Melanie and Sarah. "Damn, it didn't work!" she muttered.

---

 To Be Continued…