by Saless
Chapter 41

There's no need to shout, I can hear your thoughts. Vash said.

How long will it be before Jill can read minds like you? Sarah thought.

I don't know, I haven't been here long enough to see how she is progressing. If you stopped hiding things from her, it wouldn't upset you so much. Vash replied.

I'm not hiding anything from her! Sarah thought indignantly.

There was a pause before Vash replied. Perhaps you hide them from yourself, as well. Why do you do that? his mental voice sounded puzzled and curious.

I don't know what you're talking about! Sarah replied in frustration.

"Are you still talking to that fur ball on your shoulder?" Erica asked in annoyance.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Where's that temple at, anyway?" Sarah said.

Erica looked around and pointed off to their left. "I think that's it." It was a classical ancient Greek structure. As they walked past the columns they found the entire building was lit by hundreds of candles. A woman in a white robe approached them and spoke.

"Uhh…Erica, I think I've detected a flaw in this idea. You don't happen to speak ancient Greek, do you?" Sarah said after listening to the woman's incomprehensible speech.

"No, I guess I didn't think this through very well." Erica admitted.

She said she is a priestess of Aphrodite and asked if you are here to present an offering to her. Vash translated.

Can you tell me how to explain why we're here? Sarah asked.

It would be easier to ask her directly. Vash replied.

Won't she freak out if you do that? Sarah said.

We'll soon find out. he replied. Sarah looked back at the priestess and saw her eyes widen in surprise, and then fear. Okay, we should be leaving now. Vash said with some urgency.

What did you… Sarah began, but was interrupted by a scream from the priestess. She ran away, yelling something as she went. A moment later two men with short swords ran in. "Time to go!" Sarah exclaimed, opening a portal.

"What happened?" Erica asked as she drew her sword.

"Vash tried to talk to her." Sarah replied. "Let's go."

They stepped through the portal and Sarah hurriedly closed it. I don't think that was a good idea. she thought to Vash.

Agreed. Vash replied.

"That was a bust." Erica said as she sat on the couch. "How did you guys talk to Venus, before?"

"We just talked to her. Although she didn't really reply, she just got angry." Sarah replied.

"Maybe she didn't understand you either?" Erica said.

"We were able to understand her easily enough, so I'm sure she understood us." Sarah replied.

"I guess a goddess could translate languages easily enough." Erica said.

"Probably. Maybe with Jill and Vash working together we could hold a conversation without letting on that we're reading their minds to do it." Sarah suggested.

"Maybe you were right about waiting for Mike and Jill to go through any more portals." Erica said.

They spent the rest of the morning catching up. Most of the time was taken up relating the various trips Sarah had made to other worlds. They continued over lunch.

"So this Magician of Information said that you would be able to change back?" Erica asked after Sarah related their first trip to Xanth.

"Yeah. He said I had to, 'accept my femininity'. I've been a girl now for…" she thought back and added up the days, "fifteen days. I don't know how long I'll be stuck like this, but it's starting to look like it'll be a while." Sarah replied.

"You're not giving up, are you?" Erica asked with a frown.

"No, of course not! I'm just being realistic." Sarah replied. "Look at that trip to the wizard's tower. Who knows if he would have been able to help me, but we never even got that far! Elminster talked to us, but said he couldn't help us. Everywhere we go it's the same thing. The Magician of Information is the only one who held out any kind of hope at all!"

"I guess I can see where you would be discouraged. I'm not sure the Magician of Information's answer was much help, though." Erica said.

Sarah shrugged, "His answer suggested there's a chance, that's better than anyone else gave me."

"But just because your body is female doesn't mean you have to be feminine! You're still a man inside, and will be outside again. That's a useless answer!" Erica protested.

Sarah just shrugged and washed the dishes. "What do you want to do for dinner? I suppose most places will be closed today. I have some leftovers in the freezer I could heat up, or I could cook something." Sarah asked.

"Leftovers would be fine." Erica replied, then continued after a thoughtful pause, "What have you been doing about work? Was all that stuff about John and the others getting fired made up, or what?"

Sarah winced, as she'd hoped to skip the transgendered angle, at least for a while. "That was all true, but it was triggered by me going to work as a girl." She admitted.

"What?! How could you go to work like that? How would they even believe you were really Sean looking like that?" Erica exclaimed.

Sarah looked down uncertainly and mumbled, "I told them I was transgendered, and this was my real life test."

"What?" Erica asked, sounding confused.

"It's something Jill found online. When someone wants to live as the opposite gender as they were born they have to go through a real life test in order to have the surgery, and sometimes for hormones, too." Sarah explained.

"Wait, you mean you told them that you planned this?!" Erica exclaimed.

"What else was I supposed to do? Tell them I got transformed magically against my will when I was visiting a storybook world through a magical portal I create by unknown means?" Sarah asked pointedly.

"Well, no, but what are you going to do when you change back?" Erica asked.

Sarah shrugged and said, "It's a test to see if that's what's right for the person. I'll just say it wasn't right for me."

"But you look so different!" Erica protested.

"I know, but most people don't seem to notice. Those that do seem to dismiss it. I guess it's part of the curse, that everybody accepts the female me so readily. Some even think I was always female!" Sarah replied.

"You're kidding?!" Erica asked incredulously.

"Nope! You remember me mentioning Jim, the guy in my Astronomy class that kept bugging me?" Sarah replied.

"Yeah. You never did say what he was doing." Erica said.

"Oh yeah, I guess I didn't. He kept hitting on me." Sarah replied in embarrassment.

"When you were still a guy?!" Erica asked. Sarah nodded. "Did he think you were gay?"

"Apparently not. After the curse he acted as if I'd always been female and asked me out again. Some other people in my classes seemed to think I was always female, too." Sarah said.

"Why would they think that, you didn't look like a girl?" Erica said.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know. I'm still not even sure if they really thought that, or if the curse is somehow altering their memories or something."

"That could be. It makes a lot more sense than thinking you were always female. But how will that effect things when you change back?" Erica asked.

"I suppose that depends on whether the curse is influencing their reactions or if they somehow got that idea all on their own." Sarah replied. "It's not like he was the first guy to react to me like that, after all."

"He wasn't?! How haven't I heard about this before?" Erica exclaimed.

"I'm sorry." Sarah mumbled, looking down in embarrassment. "I didn't want you to think I was gay, so I never told you. It happened a lot. Ask Mike, he's seen it dozens of times."

Erica looked shocked. After several moments of thought she quietly asked, "Have you ever gone out with one of these guys?"

"Ew!!" Sarah replied.

"So you were never interested, even now that you're a girl?" Erica asked worriedly.

"No way! I only like girls! That hasn't changed in the slightest." Sarah said vehemently.

"Are you sure?" Erica asked.

"Yes, I'm sure! Why would you think I would be interested in guys?!" Sarah said.

"Well, you are a girl now. And girls usually like guys." Erica said.

"Well as a girl, I'm a lesbian. Alright?" Sarah asked, exasperated.

"Okay." Erica replied, relieved.

"Come on, let's watch a movie or something." Sarah said, walking into the living room, and began looking through her movies. "Anything you want to see?" Erica joined her and their conversation was forgotten as they selected a movie and settled down on the couch to watch it.