The Bit Bucket

A Transgender Paranormal Romantasy

From the Paranormal Visitor Universe

Chapter 6: The Chimera's Truth

By Sasha Zarya Nexus

Can Fred figure out how his origin and his sister's origin might affect his ability to leave The Bit Bucket?

Copyright 2025 by Sasha Zarya Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note:

This book, in it's entirety, is available on my Patreon. BCTS will get weekly postings on Saturdays to complete it here. Patreon Free Members can read my new complete book by chapters, Things We Do for Love

The ancient resonance that had been building in the Bit Bucket reached a crescendo, and Fred felt something fundamental shift within him. The artifacts around the room hummed with increasing intensity, and the slate on the wall blazed with words that seemed to write themselves: The divided soul seeks wholeness. Truth reveals the path to reincarnation.

Gwen's ethereal form flickered as the energy surged through the medieval chamber. "Fred," she said urgently, "something's happening. The Bit Bucket is responding to your presence in ways I've never seen before."

Fred's Background Revealed

Fred staggered as memories flooded through him—not just his own, but deeper truths about his very nature that he'd spent thirty-six years trying to understand. The floating book opened itself to a page he'd never seen before, revealing diagrams of genetic structures that seemed to pulse with their own inner light.

"I'm not just different," he whispered, his voice filled with wonder and terror. "I'm a chimera."

The revelation hit him like a physical blow. All those years of feeling caught between worlds, of never quite fitting into the masculine role society expected, of sensing that something fundamental was missing—it all made sense now. He wasn't a man struggling with identity issues. He was literally two beings merged into one body.

"My brain," he said, touching his temple as understanding dawned. "My soul. They're female. They've always been female."

Gwen moved closer, her storm-gray eyes reflecting the magical light emanating from the artifacts. "Tell me," she said gently. "Help me understand."

Abigail's Story

The floating book's pages turned of their own accord, revealing passages written in flowing script that seemed to glow with inner fire. Fred read aloud, his voice growing stronger as the truth emerged:

"Abigail Hartwell, my mother, was twenty-five when she encountered the artifact. She was working as an archaeologist on a dig site in Scotland, investigating what they thought were medieval ruins. But the site was much older—ancient beyond human memory."

The images formed in the air around them as Fred spoke, conjured by the Bit Bucket's response to his revelation. They could see a younger version of his mother, her dark hair tied back as she carefully excavated what appeared to be a crystalline structure buried deep in the earth.

"The artifact was beautiful," Fred continued, watching the ethereal replay of events that had shaped his very existence. "A crystal formation that seemed to contain starlight. When she touched it, it opened like a flower, releasing energy that had been contained for millennia."

The vision showed Abigail gasping as waves of power washed over her, her body glowing with the same blue light that now filled the Bit Bucket. But she wasn't alone—the energy reached out, touching something precious she carried within her.

"She was pregnant," Fred realized, his voice barely above a whisper. "The artifact's blessing—or curse—affected me while I was still developing in her womb."

The Chimeric Nature

Gwen's expression filled with understanding and compassion. "The artifact contained genetic material from one of the ancient sorceresses. When it merged with your developing form..."

"It created a chimera," Fred finished. "A being with two distinct genetic patterns, two souls, two identities trying to coexist in one body. The male physical form from my father's line, but the brain, the soul, the magical potential—all female, all connected to the sorceress whose essence was stored in that crystal."

The Bit Bucket pulsed around them, and Fred felt the truth of it resonating in every cell of his being. This was why he'd always felt incomplete, why he'd been drawn to magic, why teleportation had seemed not just possible but inevitable. The female soul within him carried the genetic memory of powers that transcended ordinary human limitations.

"That's why I could teleport," he said, wonder filling his voice. "That's why I ended up here instead of one of the college's regular rooms. The Bit Bucket recognizes what I am—someone who doesn't fit the normal categories because I'm literally two people in one body."

Wanda Introduction

The slate on the wall began glowing more brightly, and new words appeared: The sister follows the brother. Blood calls to blood across the void.

Fred felt his heart skip a beat. "Wanda," he breathed.

Gwen looked puzzled. "Who's Wanda?"

"My younger sister. She's twenty years younger than me, but..." Fred paused, the implications hitting him like a thunderbolt. "If the artifact affected me while I was in the womb, and if its influence lingered in my mother's system..."

The floating book's pages fluttered rapidly, settling on a passage that made Fred's blood run cold: The artifact's blessing does not fade quickly. Those born in its shadow carry traces of its power, diluted but present. The second child bears the mark more lightly but no less truly.

"Wanda is a chimera too," Fred realized. "Not as dramatically as me—she's always seemed more comfortable in her own skin—but she carries the same dual nature. The same potential for magic."

Gwen's ethereal form solidified slightly as she processed this information. "And if she's sixteen now..."

"She's exactly the right age to be called to Aislinn's College," Fred finished. "Room 16 would intercept her if she attempted teleportation. But Gwen, if she's anything like me, she might not fit their categories either. She might end up here, in the Bit Bucket."

Identity Crisis

The weight of these revelations crashed down on Fred all at once. For thirty-six years, he'd struggled with an identity that never quite fit, never understanding why he felt so fundamentally divided. Now, knowing the truth, he felt both liberated and terrified.

"I've been fighting myself my entire life," he said, sinking to his knees on the medieval stone floor. "The male body, the female soul—they've been at war, and I never understood why I couldn't just be normal."

Gwen knelt beside him, her spirit-form radiating warmth and comfort. "You were never meant to be normal, Fred. You were meant to be extraordinary. The artifact didn't curse you—it chose you. It recognized something in your developing soul that was worthy of its gift."

"But what am I supposed to do with this knowledge?" Fred asked, his voice breaking. "How do I reconcile two identities that have been pulling me in different directions my entire life?"

The Bit Bucket pulsed around them, and Fred felt that ancient presence stirring again—not malevolent, but vast and patient. The artifacts in the room began to resonate with a harmony that seemed to echo the rhythm of his own conflicted heart.

"Maybe," Gwen said softly, "you don't have to reconcile them. Maybe reincarnation isn't about choosing one identity over another. Maybe it's about becoming whole—integrating both parts of yourself into something new, something complete."

Destiny Calling

The floating book's pages turned once more, revealing a passage that made Fred's breath catch: The chimera who embraces both natures becomes more than the sum of their parts. In reincarnation, division becomes unity. In reincarnation, conflict becomes harmony.

Fred looked up at Gwen, seeing in her storm-gray eyes the same hope and determination that had first drawn him to her three years ago. "You think reincarnation could heal the split in my nature?"

"I think," Gwen said carefully, "that the Bit Bucket brought you here for a reason. Your chimeric nature, your connection to the ancient sorceress, your ability to love across the boundaries of life and death—all of it has led to this moment."

The slate on the wall blazed with new words: The wheel turns toward wholeness. What was divided shall be made complete. The path forward requires courage to become who you truly are.

Fred felt something shift deep within him—not just understanding, but acceptance. For the first time in his life, the warring aspects of his identity didn't feel like a burden. They felt like potential. The male and female sides of his nature weren't enemies—they were complementary forces waiting to be unified.

"I want to try," he said, his voice steady despite the magnitude of what he was contemplating. "I want to attempt reincarnation, not to escape who I am, but to become who I'm meant to be."

Gwen's smile was radiant. "Then we'll do it together. Whatever you become, whatever form the magic chooses for you, I'll be there."

The Bit Bucket hummed with approval, and Fred felt the first stirrings of a reincarnation that would resolve the conflict that had defined his entire existence. But as the medieval walls began to shimmer with increasing intensity, he sensed that their decision had awakened something else—something that had been waiting in the depths of the metaphysical space for exactly this moment.

The ancient powers that had created his chimeric nature were stirring, and the path forward would require not just courage, but a willingness to trust in forces beyond his understanding. The real test of his dual nature was about to begin.